niege/snow/nieve

There is love for the snow everywhere in NY. From indoors:



and outside:


... or even in the hood:

Je t'aime mon lapin.

Sojourn in the Upper East Side

John (the Scotsman) has been a savior from the anxious life in Brooklyn. With our apartment now full of other people, privacy and sanity have been compromised. Thus, why John was kind enough to leave me the keys to his apartment while he was on business in Spain. What this means is once again acquiring the time and space to be me. I can breathe. I can speak liberally, with a lack of censorship. It also doesn't hurt to have switched from our comfy couch to an even comfier queen-sized bed. I've been dreaming since I've been sleeping in a bed. A lot of the time about you. :)


This is a dream. Total isolation. Clean home (with help from Borjena, John's housekeeper aka Boom-bah).
All inspiration for my bourgeois ambitions.


With temporary residence in the Upper East Side, life has been more pleasant. Being close to the metro-north and to work are other pluses. His apartment is also in proximity of the Museum Mile. Though yesterday was in bulk about running errands in Brooklyn, I did manage to find the time to stop in to the Met:


But the ones that excited me the most were the new galleries, a photo-collage exhibit, a modern photography gallery and more importantly the gallery exhibiting a collection of the French art deco movement of the late 1910's well into the 20's.


There was a diverse set of mediums utilized, most notably a multimedia (gold sheets, silver plates, gesso and paint) mural constructed for a luxury liner's grand hall. Sculpture, drawings, jewelry, paintings... you name it it was probably deco'ed out, lol.

It's been snowing a lot. I think of you every time it does.

Longest. Day. Ever.

So I thought today would be a comfortable, pleasant day. I had planned on going to KirstenBosch Gardens with my friend from the NY, which seemed reasonable enough. At a fork in the trail after the more formal gardens were some options like "children's garden" and "useful plants garden," and also, "skeleton gorge."

Well, where did you think we would go? What we did find out was that skeleton gorge is really far away, and that after a while ( a really, really long time) we ended up AT THE TOP of Table Mountain! In shorts and sneakers. Up rickety ladders and chains.

What also seemed like a good idea was to follow the cable lift off in the distance and ride it back down. This also proved futile. It was not running.
So we had to hike back down, and spent a total of 6 hours (totally unprepared without even water or snack bars ) wandering Table Mountain in the sun.

I won't lie, it was actually pretty awesome. Photos tomorrow.

It's booked

So it's now booked. May 17-31st I will be heading to Cape Town. There will be pictures, there will be food, there will be cuddling and all sorts of nauseating couple stuff that we're being deprived of.

:)

Valen-times

Valentine's day

2/14

Happy Valentine's day babycakes. I truly hope you enjoyed your gift. Although the picture is completely unflattering and the frame much larger than I thought it would be, I hope you liked it.

Though I don't have you here to celebrate valentine's (which in theory would be my 6th year in a row celebrating it alone), I have you: this amazing boy whose energy and love transcends over the sea. You're my first valentine.


Gracias por las granadas.

Weekend excursion to Rhinebeck 2/5 - 2/7

(Dusk in the woods near the winter house)

I had failed to post about this. But thanks to John (the Scotsman), I found the refuge I was seeking from New York. We went up to the winter house (below) in Rhinebeck, NY a comfortable 1 and a half hour train ride up north.
Upon our arrival, we had some drinks and caught up while watching "Rosemary's Baby," the Polanski film starring Mia Farrow.

The following day followed a scenic run through the woodland roads of upstate.
As well as an excursion through the town of Rhinebeck. Quaint shops, acclaimed Italian restaurants and a bookstore that overjoyed me. I picked up a copy of Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights," the graphic novel "Persepolis" and of course, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" (which I got to read aloud to you via skype). We also picked up groceries to so that I can cook dinner.

I think that if you become the bread-winner and I the homemaker, you'll be pleased with my culinary abilities:
An Onion, tomato, basil frittata served with roasted rosemary and thyme potatoes (that looks familiar doesn't it). Yum! This was after I spent the afternoon soaking in the hot tub, drinking wine while reading the last bit of "A Hundred Years of Solitude." That night we watched "Away We Go," a film which reminded me of us a bit and thus think you should watch.

It was a nice weekend of just relaxing, good company and writing... Prepping me for the reality that is known as New York.

There are more photos up on facebook.

Catching up

I'm sorry I've been neglecting to post. Once I was a little behind, it seemed to avalanche.

Here's a summary:

Before James and Andre got back, I was in the house with Thea, Kirsten, and Alex. There were no extra keys, so I got locked out a few times. While trying to walk Cavendish, the closest mall.That seemed like a swell idea; he came over, I opened the gate from inside and then closed the door.

Oh no....

The front door locks automatically, and the button to open the gate was inside!! Now we were stuck inside the gate and outside of the house.

I ran to the last road that I hadn't checked, and found Thea. Thank God. I used her gate opener to free us and brought it back to her.

At Cavendish, I managed to spend $14 through Skype for internet, and gave up on the day. The following days continued similarly.
--

Registration was also a hassle.

I couldn't register until my US loan cleared, so I missed regular registration. When it cleared, I had to complete International Office Pre-Registration, then I had to go to registration late. Alas! They did not have my registration paper, and I had to visit the Humanities Faculty, who were unable to print another one. I was told to return the next day. I returned the next day to a hectic woman yelling that the faculty was closed to students that day. Ah, but I went passed her and saw the woman from the previous day anyway. They still could not print my sheet, but suddenly found it in the original pile anyway.

Ha.

Registration was a holy nightmare. I had to get permission of heads of departments to enter upper level courses. I met the head of the : French Dept, English Dept, Psychology Dept, Philosophy Dept, Mathematics Dept, Historical Studies Dept, Archeology Dept, Linguistics Dept, and almost the head of Statistical Sciences and Astronomy.

I registered for clashing courses. I registered again.

Business French IIIA was awful, and the instructor didn't seem to care that the one bookstore she asked to carry the book ordered far too few.

I went to Archeology and switched my major immediately. The Head of Archeology, and professor of my first course in it, was a very lovely woman. Always good to start off the semester by meeting interesting and intelligent people.

Decisions, decisions

Aiden isn't liking Cape Town. It has to do with all the issues with the paperwork, the drama that unearthed itself in the place that he's residing, the solitude and of course, missing me.

I support you Aiden and whatever you decide. I will fly to South Africa to visit you and keep you company. I'm with you in spirit until then. I will send out my application to UCT so that if I get accepted, we can explore South Africa together and provide ourselves with the company that love and we've grown accustomed to.

If you want to come back, I'll be ready to sleep on our couch sitting up until we figure out what to do next. Id be ready to finish my studies and get the real job I intend on getting or start off graduate studies at CUNY.

I just hope you make the decision on what you want. I'm confident in our relationship, as should you. That's the one thing that shouldn't affect the decision.

Of course I miss you, but I'm proud of you and encourage you, just as you have and do for me.

Either way, I'll love you.

C train

* Perhaps the greatest thing about having the iPhone 3gs is that I can upload things directly to youtube and THEN post them up on our blog directly.

One week...

We are now at a complete week of being separated by the sea.

The previous week was followed by some supposed "coping" on my part. This druggery that I had allowed myself to partake in was falsely justified. I missed Aiden. I truly did. Every night that I couldn't sleep, every day in which I knew I wasn't going to come home to his face.

So I avoided having any feelings by getting trashed.

No bueno.

The guilt of knowing how disappointed he would be to know was reason enough to sober me up at once. I want this for me (sobriety, getting my act together and ultimately growing up), but despite all this craving for it, I can't seem to follow through. But knowing that I could risk losing something so great (the greatness being Aiden and the wonderful relationship we've become part of) scared me to my senses.

He wouldn't want to marry, let alone be with, someone who drinks in excess, smokes and just has no desire or incentive to become a real person.

I'm not allowed to lose focus because not only would I fail myself, but I would also fail us.

I just need to remember two things:
1. I want this for myself
2. He loves me

That's it. That's all the motivation I need.

"There was a time when my world was filled with darkness,
And I stopped dreaming now, I'm supposed to fill it up with something.
In your eyes I see the eyes of somebody I knew before long long long ago
But I'm still trying to make my mind up
Am I free or am I tied up

I change shapes just to hide in this place but I'm still an animal
Nobody knows it but me when I slip, yeah I slip
I'm still an animal"

Shape-shift for a good, not to hide all the bad that you're partaking in.

Picking up the pieces

We've discussed this already, but I had a lot cut out for me upon your departure.

This is a little clip that shows to you our living room, an appropriate name for the room that I will now be living in.

oh... and I set up a youtube account to post videos on... So expect more visual aids.

you're my visual aiden :)