I really feel like I am getting what I wanted to get out of this experience. Last Friday, a couple of us out-of-staters went to Brooklyn for the latest Rooftop Films offering, The Way We Get By, a documentary about three elderly Maine Troop Greeters. It was exactly the type of thing I pictured myself taking part in here in New York. I mean, it's the type of thing I'd do anywhere, you know? GSA films or movies at the State Theatre at school, Rooftop Films in New York. Seeing intelligent, independent films is just part of who I am. The film was not actually on a rooftop this week, which was slightly disappointing, but we had known it wouldn't be, so it wasn't like we'd been surprised to find ourselves in the yard of a Brooklyn high school. It was a beautiful night for an outdoor movie regardless.
Any documentary about war or old people is bound to have its depressing moments, and this was about both those subjects. Each of the three people profiled was a great character. So compelling and raw. One question raised, by one of the troop greeters' granddaughters, who was leaving for Iraq as a helicopter pilot, really resonated with me: What is one life worth? If she dies but has already saved two lives, then isn't her sacrifice worth it? Of course, all deaths in war are preventable, but I think the deeper idea is that one life is one life is one life, and though it may not always actually be this way, the life of an American helicopter pilot is theoretically equivalent to the life of an Iraqi civilian is equivalent to the life of the leader of the countries that have put them in the positions they are in. Perhaps the saddest (and most selfless) line was from Bill Knight, the oldest of the cast, "My life don't mean a hell of a lot to me, but if I can make it mean something to somebody else, that's my endeavor." That just broke my heart. Mostly, I just wondered why? Why didn't his life mean much to him?
In general, the whole movie made me think a lot about life and what it's all about. All three of the people profiled were living alone, and though they had their "job" as Maine Troop Greeters, they seemed to have a very lonely existence. I would like to do something similar when I retire if a war (God forbid) were going on, but I would hate to be alone as an old person. I would never want my parents to live alone, and I would never want it for myself. I guess that's part of why people have children: to avoid being alone.
Saturday was much more of a light-hearted day. Despite having some anxiety once I discovered the ATMs I thought would take my bank card (aka student ID) actually did not, I got some cash and proceeded to get a great seat for Shrek The Musical (fifth row center), which was cute and funny, but not spectacular. The principals were all there, though, and all extremely impressive. Mad props to Christopher Sieber as Lord Farquaad for singing and dancing while kneeling the whole time! I walked around Central Park a little before the matinee, did a little window-shopping, read a chick lit book in Borders, typical weekend stuff, I guess. Though it's not every Saturday you go to a Broadway show... and see Dan Rather follow an usher down the aisle into the row right behind you. That was just an awesome random celebrity sighting. I think it was my first (besides running into the former Chinese men's soccer coach, whom I actually recognized, in the Beijing Airport years ago or the Judith Light lookalike - it may or may not have been Judith Light for real - sitting on the stoop of a brownstone in New York City a couple of summers ago). After the show, I met up with a couple of the other interns for dinner near NYU, where a car salesman-esque character convinced us to eat at his Italian restaurant, and tried Pinkberry and Red Mango for the first time. My opinion: seriously overrated.
Monday morning, I woke up extremely early - basically, I just took a nap from midnight to 2:30 - and went into Manhattan to see The Fray on The Today Show. We got to Rockefeller Plaza around 4:30 and were one of the first fifteen people in line. However, once they began letting people into the main area, we ended up in the second section back, because people with fan passes got to fill up the section closest to the stage. And once people began holding up their posters, we just had no hope of seeing the stage. A little disappointing, but we were right behind the platform that the personalities stand on when they go outside, so I saw Matt Lauer and Ann Curry and Al Roker way up close. It's probably not something I would ever do again, but at least now I can say that I had the experience of going to see a morning news show. I think my hat got on TV multiple times.
Tuesday was TFA (Totally Free Afternoon) Day, and it was a lot of fun. It was probably the happiest I'd ever seen corps members, which I suppose is the point. I'm glad we were able to provide at least a couple of hours of relaxation and entertainment for them.
Yesterday, I met up with Stacy in the afternoon because she happened to be in the city. She got something at Red Mango; I got a McFlurry. Finally, last night, ten out of the 16 of us OCs met up for dinner at a great Thai/Japanese place called Fusia. Probably the best Thai food I've ever had (though I'm pretty sure the place was run by Chinese people, based on all the Mandarin I heard among the staff). I highly recommend the curry duck noodle. I think it's so great that all of us get along so well and it's actually kind of surprising that there hasn't been any drama among us. It was just a really nice evening: good food, good conversation, good atmosphere. When I really think about it, it's quite unexpected that we've become this close in such a short amount of time, but I do have to consider that we live with each other and work with each other, so we are around each other all the time. I actually find myself picking up the mannerisms and speech of my co-workers, which is really amusing.
Summer is going by way too fast.
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