~~Trip to prospect park~~

  The weather today was really good mild winds,slightly cloudy and pleasantly sunny. Few of my friends who went to Washington DC last week came running back to the NYC as they found that they couldn't afford to waste the weekend there.

  My Egyptian friend invited us the BBQ at prospect park in Brooklyn, it was an hour by metro from my place. Though there wasn't much choice for me in the lunch menu the few veggies I ate were really yummy. Then we took a long walk around the park. The whole walk my friend was bitching about the life in DC like how shops close early,how there was no sign of life in night and even for a grocery shop they have to walk 30 minutes to reach there. Only way I consoled her was she should be happy that NYC is just 4 hours from DC.

~~Soul food restaurant~~

  When I ask most of the friends in America (not in NYC) what is their favorite cafe most of them would reply Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks and when asked for restaurants they would say a famous chain like Olive gardens or Chipotle. I normally avoid those chains and try the local pop and mum restaurants which I even don't know the name , I just used to remember the street.

Today I had dinner with my Japan and Korean friend who were still in NYC. We decided to go to Harlem which have many small restaurants. We finally settled to eat in Sylvia's soul food restaurant which consists of foods traditional in the cuisine of African Americans. We were given corn bread for starters and had french fries made out of sweet potatoes for appetizers. Then I had rice with curry like thing made of okra and tomato along with black eyed peas. Waiter sensing that I m not finding the food spicy brought sauces and pepper to make it spicy and finally told me I can bring my own spices next time when I m in the restaurant. I had sweet potato pie for dessert which was really sweet.

The restaurant was near the 2 train station, I remembered my first time experience walking down to my room from that place. I have come long way from that ,Harlem 125th street is my favorite place to hang out with lots of cheap restaurants and shops it has become a part of my life in NYC.

~~Sunset in Manhattan~~

   The streets of Manhattan are built straight and runs along East to West. So twice in the year the sun rises and sets precisely in the aligned street grid. We call this event as Manhattanhenge. This event happened early this week.

~~Book I read~~

      When Sheila asked me a book to read I told her to read Shantaram, a book I really enjoyed reading long time back. This is a novel partially based on the real life incidents of Gregory Roberts, a criminal who escaped from Australian prison comes to India on a false passport and went on to live there for more than a decade.

  I have  a British whom I met in the subway reading this book and he was asking me questions about India and verifying the stuffs he read about India in the book. It tells the story about Indians from a foreign perspective. There are funny incidents like the bear hugs and driver Prabhakar's experiences, touching stuffs on how mismanaged the Indian slums are and how the people manage their day to day life. It also deals with the Mumbai mafia and lets us know how things work there.

~~Jokes~~

What makes you a New Yorker?
When you can tell the person next to you is not.


How can you identify a person from New york ?
Just wait they will tell you.

~~Difficult to say goodbye~~

With my classmates leaving NYC its difficult to say good bye ,The last few months were really memorable and I have learnt more things from my classmates . Last week I was attending farewell dinner with most of my classmates  invited me to their home country and assured me I will be given royal welcome. Few gave me some memorable gifts which I will treasure.

With most of my classmates leaving NYC its difficult to say good bye but things should move on, I have taken a break and come to Charlotte for the long weekend.

~~Guess the country~~

  We had our farewell reception last week and we were allowed bring guests to the function. So invited two of my friends for the reception.

So can you guess which country the girls are from? Each one is from a different country.

Clue- They are not from Asia or Africa!