Up in the air

Where to start... When you are in a place like New York, there is so much to do and see. It leaves no time to update my blog.

Right now, i'm on the plane, flying from New York to Miami. I have another 1,5 hours to go, so hopefully that'll be enough to write down my last 3 days...

Let's start with Saturday. I was still writing my blog, talking about what an impression Brooklyn made on me.

When I arrived and walked from the subway to Diana's place I noticed it's very much like Manhattan, but a lot quieter. Not that many sirenes and tourists :)

As I almost reached my destination I passed a house were the trash wash outside and on top was an open pizza box with two slices of peperonni pizza left. I new I was in New York, where the pizza's are the best of America. 

Anyway, Saturday: Diana was gonna show me Coney Island, the Brooklyn beach with roller coasters, freak shows, a big wheel, ... But before that we had lunch at her mom and dad's place. They live in an apartment in Coney Island where you can see the ocean from the terrace.

Her parents were very nice. They wanted to know all about me.

I had some traditional Russian/Jewish food which I tried except for the red beets. I must say, it was yummy!

Her parents wanted to set D up with a single guy they met. Haha, parents and the fear that their kids will not produce an offspring and die alone.

Her dad had a funny saying: Diana, if you don't knock on the door, it will never open.

After luch we went to the beach which now is a little deserted. But I can imagine in summer time it must be packed! Looked like a great place.

Then we went to Best Buy, an American version of Media Markt. Diana's roommate wanted the new Xbox Kinect. I was never a big fan of xbox and wii stuff but i have to admit, this Xbox Kinect is amazing! You don't need any tools anymore? No joysticks, no weird white remote controls to do bowling or some sort of sport.

Nope, with the xbox kinect all you need is you and a little space in front of your tv.

We got it and went home to install it.

Man, it's amazing... You can learn how to dance with an instructor, or think you are on an adventure in the jungle.

The only thing you need to do is move. I like it, finally computer games that make you move your whole body!

After warming up we got ready for our Saturday night in Manhattan :)

Kristin, my American friend from Pennsylvania came over and by 10pm we were out the door, a little tipsy already. It is typical American to get a little drunk at home before going out because drinks are expensive.

In Manhattan we went to a friend of Diana's to meet up. He lives in this tiny apartment which he probably pays a lot of money for.

Off we went. We hailed a cab and drove to this club called 49 something... It was in a basement.

More men then woman, which is always interesting and good music. Pop and R&B.

We 've been put on the list so there was no coverage to be paid and they got us a table.

Then one of the guys ordered a bottle of grey goose and some drinks to mix it with.

For a moment I felt a little like one of the girls from SATC :)

When we wanted to go home and stopped a cab to ask: 'Do you go to Brooklyn' Most drivers said: 'No'

Finally we just got into a cab and said where we needed to go. :)

On Sunday we were all feeling a little lazy and went for brunch in the Buttermilk Channel in Brooklyn.

This place was so good! We had to wait for a table for an hour but it was worth it.

Diana wanted to go see a movie on this lazy Sunday. And although I never want to go to the theatre on my vacations, I agreed. I mean, it's the most American thing to do on a Sundaynight.

Before we went to the movies, Diana took us to the Brooklyn walk. It's across Manhattan when you cross the Brooklyn Bridge. The view over the city was amazing. So were the buildings there.

If you wanna buy a standard apartment you'd have to pay 5 million dollar.

That's just an apartment, not even with a garage.
We saw one building which had a garage, it was the building of Heath Ledger.

Around that area we saw another FA (famous American) It was one of the guys from the food channels who had also been in Queer eye for the straight guy.

We went to BAM Rose Cinemas to see 'Love and other Drugs'

I don't even think it's out in Belgium yet It's about a guy who is so goodlooking and a real player.

He uses women to get what he wants. Until he meets a girl who dumps him. Since that never happened he gets interested in her and they fall in love.

It's an OK movie. I wouldn't say you have to see in in the cinema but it's a nice romantic comedy.Lots of nakedness too.

The cinema itself was small, the chairs were not as comfortable as Metropolis, Antwerp, but the good thing was: you could choose your own seat!

Monday, my last full day in New York. Diana had to go to work so I decided to go to Manhattan and wonder around my city. After all, it was a beautiful day. Sunny, not too windy, around 9°C. And, from what I've heard, it's still 15 degrees warmer than Belgium right now :)

I love wondering around the city. Went to Central Park, passed the Plaza, walked on 5^th Avenue, no shopping there unfortunately, my credit card wouldn't agree. I stopped at the public library and went inside.It's a beautiful building! I updated my facebook quickly with the free wifi and walked further to Bryant Park where the ice skating rink was set up.

Everything here is all Christmas, on street corners there putting up trees to sell, in stores it's all Christmas carrols, on the buildings it's Christmas decoration... Fa la la la laaa la la la laaa....

I bought some street food for luch and walked on.

As I got to Times Square the sun was setting. The lights there are always mesmerising.

After the sunset I popped into Macy's to have a look around. I don't know why I do this to myself. Looking at all this great stuff but not able to buy it. Ugh...

For dinner I got myself a slice of pizza. You can't leave New York without having some real pizza. And yes, it's delecious... They say it has got something to do with the water here.

Anyways, I walked to the subway to get my train back to Brooklyn and pack my suitcase :-(

The next morning I said goodbye to Diana, I wasn't gonna see her anymore. Her roommate was gonna take me to the airport in the afternoon.

Diana said: I think you should move to New York! Man....I wish, she had no idea.

In the morning I went to Soho and China Town. Had some chicken brocolli with brown sauce and took my last subway ride home.

Vikky, Diana's roommate took me to the airport and after a smooth check in I am on the plane now.

On my way to Miami where, according to the pilot, it's 77°F (26°C)

I guess life could be worse :)

To my Belgian friends: keep warm!

A for America, B for Brooklyn

As the saying goes: you never forget your first love. Being in America again made me fall in love with it all over again.

It starts when I'm waiting in line to get my stamp.

Every time I come here, something changes. Last year they just needed a fingerprint of your index finger and thumb. This year it's all ten fingers. I guess I'll behave since authorities have my prints now :)

As I was waiting in line the officer in the next window looked over at me a couple of times and smiled.

My line was much slower so he called me next. Again a smile, a stamp and 'welcome'

I dunno what it is, but either American men know how to flirt way better than Belgians or I'm just more appealing to Americans then Belgians.

But hey, I'm not complaining :) With a smile on my face I went to pick up my suitcase and looked for the information desk to get a map of the subway trains so I could check which lines to take to get to my friends place in Brooklyn.

On the subway I looked around, there was an ad in front of me: 'I'll help you to get clear skin! Call Dr Z. and get a chemical peal'

Haha... Yep I was in America, the land of botox, chemical peals and weird diets. But of course also the land of big meals, big drinks.

I looked outside, the sun was starting to go down and there was this beautiful orange – pink glow over the skyline of New York.

I got this warm feeling that you get when you feel you are home.

As I got to my stop I walked for 15 minutes to get to Diana's place.

It's a really cool appartment where the elevator stops inside the appartment!

There is a small terrace to for BBQ's in the summer.

Man... I could live here!

As Diana and I talked about our time in Australia, we missed our contiki trip. Just having fun every day and doing new exiting stuff you wouldn't dare to dream of doing.

For dinner we went to this amazing Thai place in Brooklyn I forgot the name.

Walking around Brooklyn i love it.

Oh.. I got to go now. Gonna check out Coney island!

Later,

T.

Me, myself and I :)

Hello you!

Yes, it's me again. Yes, I am on holiday again. This time to familiar places. It's more a visit to friends than exploring new horizons. But then again, you never know where you could end up.

But.. There is something weird about this trip. I wasn't counting down, it wouldn't have matter much if i left now or in a week or a month. Which is weird.

I feel weird about this trip.

This morning when I got to the airport there were Americans everywhere. And for those who know me, I love Americans. I like their confidence, their will to communicate, their way of wanting to be someone in life.
But this morning... for the first time in my life, I had a bad thought. As they were talking loudly I thought: God, do you have to be this annoying?

OMG, did I really think that?

Could it have been the fact that I had no sleep at all last night, and that i was just a little tired? 

Or did I have too many things going on in my life so I didn't prepare for my holiday?

Or did I really change after going on my Ozzie roadtrip?

And if it wasn't my fatigue, then what was that?

Don't get me wrong my dear American friends, I love you all. And i still love the American accent and freedom, so you can imagine how shocked I was when I had an opinion I dislike in most Belgians.

I got on the plane, and so did my weird feeling.

Maybe I just needed to sleep. Since they needed to hose the plane down due to some ice it took a little longer before take off. I fell asleep even before we got off the ground.

I think I slept for half an hour. I was thirsty. But due to some rough weather the captain hadn't turned off the seatbelt sign yet so the flight attendants couldn't bring us anything yet.

I started to watch a movie with Angelina Jolie, but I couldn't stay awake. I dozed off.... Had weird dreams and I woke up again by the smell of food. Yummy.

I know you must call me crazy but I like airplane food :) It's like a Kinder Surprise for grown ups. You never know how it's gonna look like or taste untill you take the lit off. Haha...

It was delecious: tandoori chicken with vegetable rice. Yum!

Anyway, after the meal I was tryiing to figure out why I was feeling this weird.

Was it because I wasn't going anyplace new?

No... that couldn't be it. But what was it?

Frustrated I turned on my netbook and watched a movie I found more interesting: 'The Proposal'

Funny chick flick with gorgeous actors.

I liked it, laughed a lot. The couple next to me must have thought I was going insane haha.

At the end of a perfect ending to a love story I was thinking about my life again.

The fact that I really miss love in my life. The fact that I stuff my agenda so I wouldn't have to deal with the fact that i'm almost 31 and still single.

Don't get me wrong, I love my life. I just love life and every aspect of it. Yes, every aspect.

But lately, and I hate myself for saying this, I have this empty feeling.. I have so much love and no one special to give it to. And I don't even know if i'm the 'relation ship' type...

I'm a sagittarius. Known for there restlessness, and eagerness to find new & exciting things.

And than it hit me.

I know... I know why I feel this way..

No, it's not that I need a man in my life.

It's the fact that, for the first time ever, I'm not running away anymore.

I used to book a flight to get away... from me. I was on the run, every time.

When I couldn't deal with my own thoughts or feelings, I needed to get away.

But it's different now. Ever since my roadtrip through Australia and New Zealand I can tell I'v changed.

I had to deal with myself over there. Even if I went to the next city, me and my emotions were there with me all the time. On the plane, on the bus, on a mountain, in the shower...

I had my crash in New Zealand, next to a lake named Taupo. Beautiful blue water.

I crashed... For the first time in almost 4 years I faced my worst enemy: me.

I cried that night. About love I lost, love i still miss, people I hurt, people whom i let down.

My roadtrip was therapy for me. But this blog isn't about Australia, it's about America. My first love.

For the first time I'm going on a trip with me, myself and I. No more running...

I accepted myself as a travel buddy. Sometimes we get along, sometimes we fight and sometimes we cry. But for the most part we just smile to each other and take on whatever comes our way!

Love always,
Tania

E.T. phone home.

What a day my last day in Florida.
Plans were to go to Miami Beach and party, but my throat was not in a partymood.
Since Fridaynight my I wasn't feeling too good. And I felt worse on Saturday. I could hardly swallow, I felt nocious after eating something, I was dizzy and I had a terrible headache.
I felt tired all the time and could sleep anywhere.
Lilly still felt bad, for three days now she had no voice at all and she couldn't swallow a thing, not even her own spit.
But I guess she felt bad for being sick while I'm here on my holiday that she took me to the beach for 2 hours.
But at the beach, I was not feeling too good. Sitting in the sun only made my headache worse and I felt like I was burning even though I applied sunscreen 5 times in an hour. And at the same time I felt cold and had goosebumps.
Not a good sign.

I was supposed to go out with Carmen but I was too tired and felt sick. I was running a fever. Cold and hot all the time so Lilly and I stayed at home, both sick on the couch.
I said to Lilly maybe it's better to go see a doctor.
But she didn't want too.
That's the sad sad part of being an American... Health insurance.
Lilly hasn't got health insurance through her work and to pay it yourself it's too expensive.
(What we would pay for hospital insurance per year, an American citizen would have to pay this amount per month!)
So she rather stay sick on the couch, trying every medication she could get from the drugstore.

Since it's the weekend, going to the doctor is not an option. Besides, you always have to make an appointment with a doctor before you could see him.
Only option if you feel sick on a Saturdaynight, or a Sunday is to go to the ER.
I said I might wanna go to make sure I have no swine flu, since I am travelling to New York on Sunday for a couple of days, and I don't wanna stay in bed, sick.
Lilly said if it would make me feel better I should do it. But she wasn't going because without insurance, going to the ER could easily cost her more than a thousand dollars!

A hospital will always give you healthcare if needed, not like many of you think they only give you healthcare if you have insurance. But, you will always get the bill. And without insurance, it means you have to make a downpayment every month.
Money that you could have used for something else.

So today, I thank God for the sickfunds in Belgium who only costs us about 65 euro a year!

Anyway, to make this long story short. We both were sleeping at 9:30 pm on this Saturdaynight when we were supposed to get ready and party in Miami...
With some tylenol (good stuff) I went to sleep...

Carmen did ask me to maybe get a drink, but even though my mind said yes, my body said no.
And for me to say NO to party in Miami means I am really ill.

At Sunday morning Lilly woke me up, making handsignals she could hardly breath and wanted to go to the hospital too.
So I got up and we went to the Florida Medical Center.
We came in and first you had to fill out this form where you put down your name, address, name of the doctor and what's wrong with you.
Then you go to the registration desk and guess what the first question is they ask?
'Do you have insurance?'
I said: Yes.
Then other questions like: are you allergic to anything, how long do you have these symptoms, have you ever been pregnant, ...
Tbh I don't know why they wanna know if you were ever pregnant.. But anyways.
After these questions they put two wristbands on me, one that had my name on it (which I had to sign to confirm it) and another yellow one that said I had no allergies to any drug.
After that I had to sign many forms.
The first one was that the hospital could claim their money from you if your insurance is not willing to pay.
Then another one that said I gave them permition to examine me in this hospital and proceed with healthcare if needed.
Another form that I have no doctor in the US where they need to send a copy of my hospital visit to.
And the last form stated that everything between patient and doctor is confidential.
(I have no idea why I need to sign that, but I guess there's some insurance reason for it :)

After all the signing I had to go sit in the waiting room for my name to be called.

This lady yelled « Taaniya » So I got up to this next room.
There: another bunch of questions!
Are you pregnant? How tall or you? What's your weight? (which was not easy because she didn't know cm to ft or kg to lbs) Have you ever had surgery? Where you in Florida before? Did you had these symptoms then? And so on.
She took my temperature which was 99°F I think (so no fever anymore), measured my blood pressure (11/7) and the oxigen in my body (100%).
Then she walked me to ER room 11 said to put on the rope on the bed with the opening to the back and wait for the doctor.

This doctor came in, smelling of sigarets and while coughing/spitting on me he asked me with an Indian accent: You have flu symptoms?
I wipe his spit of my face and tell him: Yes, since Fridaynight.
Let's see your throat.
Yes your left side is swollen.
He listened to my lungs and said: "I'll have someone come in to withdraw some blood and a smear of your thoat so it's no strep."
And doctor Punjab was gone.

After 10 mins or so a nurse came in to take the smear of my throat and a young guy (I believe an assistent) was there to take some blood.
The nurse went away with the sample thing from my throat and the young guy was gonna draw some blood. Which, may I say, was the best blooddraw I ever experienced :) I didn't feel a thing, not even the needle going in!
Maybe they use thinner needles here, i don't know. But it was cool.
They also but this bandaid on my finger measuring my heartbeat and oxigen level.
The bandaid radiated some red light and I felt like E.T. phoning home. (as you can see in the picture)

Now the cool thing about the American ER is that they have your bloodresults within the hour. So the guy who took the blood gave me the remote, turned down the light and let me relax.
I watched a movie on TBS but I think after every 7 or 8 minutes of movie there were 10 minutes of commerials. And always the same commercials, ugh.
Lilly came to see me, she was in emergency room 7. They withdrew some blood from her too and she had to go for an X ray and give them a urine sample.

After about an hour the doctor came back, asking me if I spoke French or Flemish back home.
I said: Flemish.
He said: But your English is really good too.
I thought: Yes, better than yours :)
The MD told me my blood was okay and that I had pharyngitis. He said he 'd wrote a prescription for some antibiotics and said someone was gonna come to discharge me.
Lilly on the other hand waited too long to seek medical help and her throat was much worse. She couldn't eat & drink and had a hard time breathing. So she had to stay the night.

I got dressed again and waited for the person to discharge me.
Another man, who I hadn't seen before came in, introduced himself as Shane and gave me the prescription and my discharge papers.

Then, I got to the 'discharge' window, waiting for my bill.
I had a flat rate B which was 350 $
Thank God for creditcards.
I paid the 350 dollars and send the information to my sickfund in Belgium.
The prescription drugs were 12 dollars.
Haleluja to CM :)

So now I'm home ready to start packing. I won't see Lilly anymore before I leave, which is sad. But I told her if I can find a cheap ticket in the near future I'll come again and we will go out partying at Miami beach... But for now, I got a ER story to tell. But believe me, it's not at all like the series on TV, not as hectic and no gorgeous doctors....

Lobster...

Hi folks,

Today I went to the beach to have lunch with Carmen, Lilly's cousin. Because lilly is sick and in bed.
Since it was cloudy and even raining this morning I figured I didn't need sunscreen.
Because when it rains in Belgium it rains... But not in Florida! When it rains in florida it's for 30 mins and then it cleares up.
So when I got to the beach, i didn't had any sunscreen with me..... And that's why I'm a lobster now... Hopefully it will turn brown eventually and not peel. But you never know.

Lunch at the beach was really nice. I could get used to a life like this. Now if only I would win the Lottery.... :) (NOTE the picture... I'm hugging my new best friend :)

Around 5pm, after I noticed I was burning I decided to get out of the sun. And where better to go than the mall.
I went to Sawgrass mall. This is one big mall! I guess if you would walk through the whole mall you'd do the 10 miles of Antwerp. Man!

When walking around in the mall I started to feel my throat hurting... Not a good sign. Hopefully I will not get sick like Lilly.
After buying shoes my throat started to hurt too much so I drove back home and stopped at the pharmacy for some tablets to relief the pain.
(And no, my throat was not a sign to stop shopping :) I need to use my creditcard for the visa contest right?)

So now I'm home. It's a bit sad to stay in on a Fridaynigtht... I guess I will have to come back to party on a Fridaynight in Miami :)
Tomorrow I'm going out with Carmen and her friend, maybe if lilly feels better she can come too.
And Sunday is already my last day in Florida :(

Goes by way too fast!!!

Who needs a six pack when you can get an eight pack? :)

Yesterdaymorning was a little cloudy, and as a Belgian you automaticly think it's gonna be like that all day. But not in Florida :)
The sun came out so I got to the pool to dive in and work on my tan.

After that I went to pick up lilly so we could prepare for our night out in Miami beach.
We were going to a place called Mango's. It's a bar on the famous Ocean Drive where there's a live band playing latino music and a dj playing latino & r&b in between.
It was a great place.

If you wanna see diversity, come to Miami. And I'm not talking about skin colour but about the variety of people here. Tall, short, trained, fat, old, young... (but not too young, you have to be 21 here >legal drinking age)

I tried the ocean drive cosmopolitan and two cuban mojito's Hmmmm...

The waitresses wore lingerie and you could tell they were screened by their looks and boobs.
The men wore these tight black and leppard shirts. And they could all dance. They would switch turns on dancing on the stage.

As the dj played thriller from michael jackson, this guy came on... Lilly and me were stunned.
His body was... WOW. I mean, we girls like to see men with a six pack, but this guy had an eight pack!
Probably gay, but nice to look at :P

So after some dancing with this cute Columbian, we drove back because for Lilly she had to get up to go to work...

You gotta love Miami :)

Thank God for creditcards :)

Today I was a true american, except for the fact that I don't like hamburgers :)

I drove Lilly to work today so I had the car to goof off myself.
I was thinking about sunbathing some more but my shoulders and chest were still a little pink so I let my skin have a rest today. It was too hot anyways.
So I did what most Americans do: I went to the mall :)
'Galleria' mall is like a 20 minutes drive from Lilly's place.
I loved it... The thing in America is that the people working in the stores need to be friendly to the customers which makes shopping a lot more fun.
Not like the 'Wijnegem Shopping' salespeople, working their 8 hours. Americans make sure you got everything you need.
So God bless America and creditcards :P

Here, everything is bigger, the roads, the drinks, the meals... And everywhere there are signs to warn you so you couldn't sue them for anything. For example they put up the yellow signs "wet floor" anywhere, so you couldn't sue them when you fall.
Today I had some sushi for lunch and the sign said: 'Eating raw fish is a risk to your health'
And I'm not even talking about the ad's on the radio: Are you hit buy a car? Then hire us so we can make you rich. Call 1800 lawyer ... today.
In the mall there was this stand where you could get information about how to loose weight.... on a cookie diet :)
You gotta love the crazy Americans.... My home sweet home :)

But, to every upside there's a downside.
I saw this story about people who lost their homes due to the recession and are homeless now.
Unlike the great system in Belgium to help unemployed people, there's isn't such a thing in the US.
People can loose everything here and it's sad to here these stories about a mom and her child looking for a shelter...
There are a lot of homeless people here. You see them everywhere in the streets. It's sad...
A lot of times these people are alcoholics or drug addicts, but I kinda understand why they need to be high of something. If you have lost everything in your life and end up on the streets. People look at you like you are nothing, so you start to feel like a nobody.
It's a vicious circle.
I know, there are many homeless people who do have theirself to blame. But not everyone...

Anyway, as I was going to pick up Lilly I saw this homeless man and gave him a dollar. Maybe to ease my concious... I dunno.

Lilly and I went down to the beachside to have something to eat.
We grabbed some dinner in a place called Aruba beach, a diner right on the beach. The sun had set and dusk begun.

A perfect way to end this perfect day...