Westport, Connecticut
Friday, August 4, 2023
Hello Again USA! It’s good to be ‘Home’!
As expected, I was jetlagged when I awoke in my friend Leslie’s place in Westport, Connecticut, on my first day back ‘home’ in the USA. Everyone asked me how it felt to be back. And frankly, I had no real feelings. I arrived in the US in the dead of night, faced much anxiety at Kennedy airport with no internet connectivity, wondered how I could possibly find my way to Connecticut from New York and then when I was finally in an Uber, I could barely keep my eyes open. So no, I’m sorry. I simply did not feel the same excitement when entering the US that I do when entering the UK! Yes, this was once home, but it is not home anymore. Now I feel like a visitor, like a tourist, as I have no house here and no car. It is an extremely strange feeling and one that is difficult to describe. I guess it would be clearest to say that when I moved to India, I got the US right out of my system. I know! It really is inexplicable, but that’s exactly how I now feel.
Getting Set for my First Appointment:
Leslie, my friend, is the consummate hostess. It is amazing how she has thought of everything, absolutely everything, to make me comfortable. She has purchased a bunch of groceries that she thinks I will use and like (regular milk, for instance, instead of the almond milk she uses). She opened every kitchen cabinet and pantry so that I could know where things are kept and can help myself to anything. Same with the bathroom. She is just the sweetest person. I told her that I would have some cereal for breakfast with some milk and that would tide me over through my first appointment which was first thing today: My annual physical with my internist, Dr. Nirmala Monteiro was at 9.00 am (I thought), but when Leslie dropped me off there, I discovered it was, in fact, at 10.20 am!
Now my friend Bonnie was supposed to arrive there at 10.00am to hand over the keys to my friend Mary-Lauren’s apartment in Manhattan where I intended to go after my doctor’s appointment. So I simply called Bonnie and asked her to come and pick me up a bit earlier—which she did. She took me to her home and there, over a coffee, we caught up on so many things that we are looking forward towards, including the wedding of her daughter Halle, later this month, which I shall be attending. Then, at 10.10, she dropped me off to my doctor’s clinic once again and I was all set for my appointment. Mind you, I was carrying a large suitcase with me—a suitcase I intended to fill with items from my office at NYU which I would be clearing out in the next three days.
As always, my physical with Nirmala (who is also a family friend) involves a lot of chatter, but the job always gets done. I had an EKG (which was normal), and all the other tests carried out, plus I received referrals to all the other physicians I see annually for routine check-ups. It all went well and, in an hour, I was out. I have another physical scheduled for next September.
Off to Get a New SIM Card:
Bonnie was waiting for me to pick me up so that we could go off to the next place: a visit to my phone provider service at Bridgeport as my US phone SIM card was simply not working. We googled the location of my phone service (Cricket) in Bridgeport and in about ten minutes we were there. I discovered, to my horror, that although we have been paying a monthly phone bill (deducted directly from our bank account), our number was cancelled a long time ago. Apparently, if you do not use a number for more than 60 days, it lapses!
Left with no choice, I had to buy a new plan for a month with a new phone number. So purchasing that plan took almost an hour but eventually, I left the shop with a functional phone and the ability to access the web. It is amazing how dependent we have grown on our phones and how insecure we feel if we do not have a working phone in our pockets.
Bonnie then drove me straight to Fairfield Railway station where I bought my ticket and got straight on the train to the City with one big suitcase and a backpack in tow.
Lunch at Grand Central Terminal:
By the tme the 1.05pm train reached Grand Central Station, it was 2.15 pm and I was starving. Of course, I had to get some lunch before I got on the subway to go downtown to NYU to Astor Place. Getting a burger at Shake Shack was a no-brainer and so down into the basement I went. I ordered my Shack Stack burger and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have to say that it really hit the spot. Fueled by my meal, I took the subway to NYU and found myself in my office in no time at all.
Beginning the Clearing Out of my Office:
When I first entered my office the thought of clearing it all away seemed really daunting, but I was surprised that once I set my mind to it, it went really fast. I started off by meeting Billy Helton, Associate Dean, who had a lovely reunion with me. He told me that boxes and tape had been left for me in case I wish to take any personal belongings away from my office. I told him that the majority of the stuff in my office were books. He instructed me to place these on a shelf outside so that anyone could help themselves to my library when they returned to teach in September. Much of the stuff needed to be junked. It was basically photocopied material from the many courses I have taught over the years. Some of the paperwork for courses I have taught in the past were sent directly to the recycle bin. I went systematically through one book shelf and one set of bookcases after the other—but after two hours, my back did start to ache and I was happy to stop, having made quite a sizeable dent in my endeavors.
Meeting Amy at the Metropolitan Museum of Art:
I had made plans to spend the evening with my friend Amy Tobin whom I was supposed to meet at 5.00 pm. But having begun ‘Operation NYU Exit’ at 3.00 pm, I felt I could go on for at least another hour. Hence, I requested Amy to meet me at 6.00 pm—which was fine with her.
At about 5.30 pm, I left NYU, took the Subway Uptown to 86th street and then the 86 crosstown bus to arrive at the Met just a little after 6.00 pm. Amy was already at the Main Information Desk when I arrived there and we had a really affectionate reunion as she is one of my dearest American friends. We decided to spend the evening taking in the special exhibitions that are currently on instead of going to see our special favorites (I shall do that the next time I am in the Met with my friend Liz).
Accordingly, we began by heading straight to the Roof Top Deck. The Met, by the way, has late evening opening on Fridays and Saturdays—when the doors only close at 9.00 pm. This is a brilliant way to bring young folks into the Met. They make a bee line for the Roof Top Deck, as we discovered, where beer and wine flows, nibbles are munched and dozens of people take their pictures against the changing New York City skyline. I say ‘changing; because the horizon seemed studded with cranes and construction activity is rampant. Straight, tall buildings with (in my opinion) no design or character are reaching out for the skies as the city is growing ever vertical. Of course, Amy and I took pictures too.
We also stopped to admire the installation of Lauren Halsey who has used Greek and Roman classical architecture and juxtaposed it against her own background growing up in Watts in Los Angeles. Hence, African faces topped tall pedestals, four sphinxes flanked four sides, etc. It was all very interesting indeed. Next, we made our way to the ‘Buddhist Sculpture From India’ exhibition which was very unusual. Every item is a fragment from one of the Buddhist stupas in India. And finally (saving the best for last), we went to the see the Big Daddy of them all, ‘Van Gogh’s Cypresses’ which was a treatise on his use of cypress tress throughout his life but mainly towards the end once he went to live in Arles and St. Remy where he finally died. Two major works by Van Gogh were on display there: ‘Wheat Fields with Cypresses’ and ‘Starry Night’. Of course, there were a host of other canvasses, all of which features cypress tress as their main motif and I found it quite riveting indeed.
Pizza Dinner with Amy:
It was almost 9.00 pm when we finished seeing them all and decided to go out and get some dinner. As I would be making my way to my friend Mary-Lauren’s apartment at the end of the evening, we left the Met and walked towards 86th Street. There we found a pizzeria called Pizza Famiilgia and, as we were both hungry, we decided to get a slice of pizza each (Amy had the white pizza with ricotta cheese, I had the one with spinach and mushrooms). I paid $6.00 for a single slice! I rmember when you could get an entire pie for $6! I have to say that I am getting sticker shock at all prices in Manhattan. They seem to have skyrocketed since the last time I was here.Off to my Lodgings in Tudor City for the Next Few Days:
Dinner done, we stepped out on the street. I saw a bus that was going downtown and decided to take it (instead of the Subway) as my left knee had started to hurt so badly that I was actually limping. Amy was quite alarmed by it and told me she did not think it was good. I had no choice, however, except to rest my knee as much as possible. It was clearly a result of overuse. I had been on my feet for more than a week and my knees are simply not able to endure that kind of use. When I arrived at 42nedStreet, I hopped off the bus and since I had to walk about four blocks East to Tudor City where my friend Mary-Lauren’s apartment is based, I decided to take a cab. I was just not capable of taking another step as the pain was quite intense. It reminded me very much of the hobbling I had done, 14 year ago, in London, when I had contracted plantar fasciitis.
A cab was stopped at the traffic light when I decided to hail it and in another ten minutes, I was at the entrance to my friend’s building at 45 Tudor City Place. It is not an area with which I am at all familiar and it was almost 10.00 pm when I got there. Hence, I felt a bit disoriented, but decided to just get to the apartment and go straight off to bed.
The doorman, Franklin, was expecting my arrival as Mary-Lauren had told him I would be there late-ish. He saw me to the elevator in the lovely Tudor-style lobby—indeed I felt as if I were living in an Elizabethan mansion. Once upstairs on the 15th floor, I gasped at the view from the window. The Chrysler Building was staring right at me, lit up like a Christmas tree! It was just spectacular. All around me, the skyscrapers of New York City, in varied architectural styles, looked me straight in the eye. I had never seen the city from this height before and I was enchanted.
However, I did not spend too much time dilly-dallying as my knee was really painful. I brushed and flossed my teeth and got straight to bed, just pausing to thank God for an incredible day and for the amazing opportunity of having this grand apartment at my disposal for the next three nights. Everybody should be so blessed!
Until tomorrow, cheerio!
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