Lesson 7: Keep Your Camera Handy

When I lived in the Bronx, nothing too exciting ever happened in my neighborhood. Now that I'm in the East Village, I never know what is going to happen. I've seen some pretty interesting things go by my window -- marching bands, street performers, dogs on wheels -- the list goes on! After missing some pretty unexplainable events, I knew that I needed to make sure my camera was at the ready so that when the next ridiculous thing went by I would be able to capture it. I'm sure glad I had my camera nearby when an impromptu, Mexican Parade went by this afternoon! 

I'm studying for finals when I suddenly hear this lively music outside. I go to the window only to be greeted with a street filled with hundreds of people dancing to Mexican music complete with sombreros and other festive regalia. I took a quick photo, but realized only a video would do the trick. Take a look at what I was able to capture! 

Keep in mind that this was the end of the parade, so many more people had already gone by. I have no idea what they were celebrating, and a Google search yielded no results. Whatever the occasion, I thought this was great. Where else are you randomly going to have a Mexican parade go by your window?! I'm glad I was able to document this moment.

Lesson 7: When you live in NYC, you'll never know what is about to happen next. Make sure you have your camera at the ready to capture any unexpected moments!

A Photo Update

I apologize for the lack of updates! There are a few reasons for this: (1) I'm busy with law school; (2) I'm not doing anything too exciting in NYC; and (3) I'm lazy. So here's what I'm going to do. I'll post a few photos I've taken in the past few months, and then I'll promise to update more frequently. Also, please donate to Hurricane Sandy relief efforts if you can. You can donate at the Red Cross website HERE.

 

Here's the view from the top of my apartment building in the East Village. This was way back in September. 

  

On my way home from the post office one day I spotted a Dia de los Muertos celebration happening. I was excited.

 

On my way home to New England for Thanksgiving I got to see a lot of the preparations for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Here is the star you see on TV! It's right in from of the Macy's in Herald Square (by my old internship!). 

  

I was feeling touristy that morning, so I took a typical NYC shot. I mean, the sun wasn't even up yet, so I felt okay about it. Plus, when you're towing luggage through Herald Square most people think you're a tourist anyway. 

 

I'm obsessed with The Big Bang Theory, so I was super excited to see the F train decked out in BBT advertisements. Plus, it is extremely rare for me to get a seat on the F train, and, as you can probably tell, the train was really quiet this day. Bonus.

Coming from New England, I guess I never thought about how people in cities buy their Christmas trees. It's rather bittersweet for me to see the sidewalks lined with trees for sale. One block was really cool -- they had a guy playing live Christmas music on the French horn, and you basically had to walk down an aisle of the trees. The photo above shows the not so glamorous tree sales. Who would really buy from this guy? "X-Mas Tree"? Really? Okay, I guess you can't go to the nearby farm and chop one down, but at least get a better sign.

That's it for now. I hope to do some fun Christmas themed things during finals to get my mind off the tests and to at least experience the city. I'll have this up and running again in no time!