To say that pedestrians aren´t granted the right of way would be an understatement...

Dear Candy,

I find walking to be a good way to orient oneself in a new city. I´ve been doing a lot of it here. Here´s what I think about it: In general, I´ve found the sidewalks, while lining lovely, sometimes cobblestoned streets of often handsomely-architectured buildings, to be quite narrow and littered with dog shit. This alone poses some challenges to the Fast-Walking New Yorker (a sub-sect of the Impatient American), as she tries to navigate around locals, who she begins to suspect are conspiring against her to be crippled, hand-holding, shoe-tying, watch-checking, cell-phone-answering, small-child-leading, long-lost-lover-greeting, or otherwise slow-moving, directly in front of her, at all times (This year, I will try to learn to take my time. ASAP). Let us add to this the fact that many intersections here don´t have traffic lights or stop signs. You can imagine what this does to one's nerves while riding in a cab, careening toward -- and just barely missing -- another (I haven´t learned the Spanish word for "yield," and I´m not sure it exists). But when you consider the unbelievable width of roads (I´ve counted up to 18 lanes of traffic!), the fact that pedestrians seem to be viewed more as targets than obstacles (especially by bus drivers), and, in instances of traffic lights, that they change not only from green to yellow to red, but also from red to yellow to green in a way that can surely only be interpreted as, "on your mark, get set, go!", you have what I´ve discovered as a pedestrian to be a truly terrifying experience. I call it "crossing the street."

Sorry about the Yoga dilemma. It was not my intention to sell you something useless and then flee the country with your money (¿Or was it? Maybe if teaching doesn´t work out, I´ll have a promising future as a con artist... or you will, as an identity thief). As for keeping a car in the Burg, I found alternate side parking took some getting used to at first (it sort of requires the same attentiveness as having a pet... not a dog, maybe, but a goldfish absolutely). After a while, though, I developed a rhythm that worked for me. And the benefits of having it to travel to such far and exotic Brooklyn locations as Spuyten Duyvil or Greenpoint, in my opinion, outweighed the inconveniences of the Monday/Thursday-Tuesday/Friday-Tuesday-Wednesday re-parking dance. I regret not leaving you my police parking pass (speaking of impersonating other people). TEFL classes started this week, and I´m excited about them. More on that later.

Today´s language lesson: Here it rains frogs instead of cats and dogs. In France, it rains ropes (there is a French chico, Didier, staying at Elsa's now, as well as the new American girl, Anna).

Salud,
Sandy