Here we are blog family, at the end of my 10 months living in New York and I am about to embark on a six-week expedition around South America. I am pretty sure I blinked and my year is up. Did you even get a chance to miss me yet? Don't answer that. Rude. I know what you were thinking.
As a proper Jesuit-educated woman, I have been reflecting on my time in New York and as much as I hate New York, I also have loved it. New York is dirty, the trash is thrown on the streets to be picked up at random times throughout the week making it so there is basically trash on the streets everyday. There are rivers running through the subway tracks and people begging at every possible location you can think of, even inside frozen yogurt shops. People are grumpy, rude, racist, and snooty. It's a sad city that has insane disparities between the rich and the poor from the Bronx to lower Manhattan. But New York is also beautiful and wonderful and has so much charm to it at the same time. New York is flooded with history and resiliency, from surviving Hurricane Sandy, watching the Freedom Tower get built, suffering through a bitter cold winter, and waiting for the secadas to emerge all in just 10 months. I have met lifelong friends, learned to shove people to get out of a subway like a true New Yorker, gotten delicious food delivered to my doorstep at all hours of the night, stayed out until dawn, taken taxis that I thought might kill me, and have experienced diversity at its finest. Sure, New York is not the city for me, but it has been the most eye-opening, life-changing, and ridiculously fun year of my life. I have been so blessed to get to do so many insanely fun things with such wonderful people.
Most importantly, I graduated from Columbia University School of Social Work with my Master's of Science in Social Work on Wednesday, May 22nd. I cannot believe that I finished up school, for now. I say for now, because I really hope to get my phD in the future so I can continue my dream of working in health care policy. So who knows, maybe I'll show up again on the East Coast. I have learned so much from my professors at Columbia and I feel so extremely grateful for getting to study at one of the best and most prestigious schools in the country and world. I still cannot believe they let me in to begin with, not to mention gave me a degree! Suckers. But I graduated and am ready to embark on my career in social work. It's a scary world at there and sure I don't have a job, or an apartment in San Francisco, but I'm putting on my giant backpack tomorrow and my Birkenstocks and I'm going to go see the world, or at least South America because let's be real, I'm far too young to have any real responsibilities.
So here I go, out into the real world. In the meantime, Eric and I will be updating my blog throughout our time in South America, hopefully once a week for each country that we are in so stay tuned for that! We should have some hilarious stories because Eric doesn't speak a lick of Spanish so he's just going to follow me around and say "mi casa es su queso", I am sure. A huge thanks to everyone's support, love, encouragement, mail, email, text messages, phone calls, skype dates, and facetimes throughout the past year, I truly am humbled by your love and could not have made it through the year without you. You are truly amazing and special to me and I hope I go out into the world and make you proud. Wish us luck out there in South America. Oh yeah and here's our countries and dates in case you hear about an adorable couple getting held for ransom, that might be us...just kidding, kind of. But seriously, get ready to be jealous. Are you ready for this itinerary? I don't think you are.
Monday, May 27: Santiago, Chile
Wednesday, May 29-Friday, May 31: Mendoza, Argentina (lots of wine)
Sunday, June 2: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Tuesday, June 4: MY BIRTHDAY, WOAH, DON'T FORGET EVEN THOUGH I'M GONE.
Sunday, June 9: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Sunday, June 16: La Paz, Bolivia
Wednesday, June 19-Friday, June 21: Salt Flats, Bolivia
Sunday, June 23: Quito, Ecuador
Wednesday, June 26-Friday, June 28: Otavalo/Cotacachi, Ecuador
Sunday, June 30: Lima, Peru
Wednesday, July 3-Friday, July 5: Machu Pichu (if we still have enough money)
Monday, July 8: Seattle, Washington
I'm going to eat so many empanadas. Om nom nom. See you all on the other side!
XOXO,
Mandihattan
