A few words about air conditioning

Take note of the air around you at this moment.  It probably feels deliciously cool upon your skin despite the rising temperatures and suffocating humidity that is summer outside the comfort of your indoor space.  I bet you didn't even notice it before I said anything.  You were just sitting comfortably, perhaps you were even feeling a bit chilly (this is a shout-out to all my ALF people, by the way), unaware of just how lucky you are to be enjoying the benefits of air conditioning.  Be grateful.  Be very, very grateful for air conditioning.  Because when it's hot and you don't have it, it's all you can think about.

And indeed, as you may or may not know, my New York City dorm does not have a/c, and as you can probably tell, it is all I can think about.  I fantasize about it.  I look forward to being at work and bathed in the cool air of the library - note that I did not say that I look forward to going to work as that act of going to work entails me walking a mile in the miserable heat of the city.  And I'm often reminded that I am from Florida, so I should be accustomed to the heat.  While this is true to a certain extent, we in Florida learned a long time ago that it is best to have air conditioning wherever possible.  We have air conditioning at home, in our cars, at work, even on school buses.  In fact, the man who invented air conditioning is from Florida.  The National Statuary Hall Collection in the US Capitol building holds two statues of important people from each state.  One of Florida's statues is John Gorrie, the father of modern air conditioning.  I learned this bit of trivia on my fifth grade trip to Washington, DC and have remembered it ever since.  So thank you, Mr. Gorrie, thank you.

Today's mileage: 3.05 mi

Oh baking, how I have missed you

A week or so ago I found out that there are kitchen supplies available to check out in the communal kitchen on the first floor of my dorm here in New York City.  Having accepted a lack of kitchen, and in turn an inability to bake, for the summer, this was an extremely exciting discovery for me.  I resolved to bake bagels at some point as those are one of my favorite things to bake, they require very few utensils and ingredients, and said ingredients do not need to be refrigerated.  My roommates were excited as well as they would no doubt benefit from the bagel-baking endeavor.  Thus, after collecting the ingredients from a number of different locations (the grocery stores here aren't what they are in Florida - read: they're no Publix), I turned over my ID in exchange for the key to the kitchen cabinets.  All went well except for a slight hiccup when it came to the amount of salt I had; a hiccup that was easily remedied by sweet-talking the RAs at the dorm front desk with the promise of a fresh homemade bagel in return for access to the staff stash of condiments.  Needless to say, they determined that a delicious bagel was worth a teaspoon of salt.  And soon the bagels were baked and two-thirds of them have already been eaten, leaving just enough for breakfast for my roommates and I tomorrow morning.  Having not baked in 6 weeks, this was a happy day for me and I look forward to doing it again.

Today's mileage: 1.11 mi

Monday, that's all

I finally got a chance to see Gina today!  We went and had some tasty falafel for dinner.  And I got a package from home!  Today was just full of wonderful surprises.

Today's mileage: 3.31

I have arrived!

I made it!  I'm in New York City.  Whoa.  My flight was so short!  Only two and a half hours - all of the flights that I remember taking have been to Europe and thus much longer.  And I survived the taxi, yay!  I got to my dorm as well.  Not much to say about it - it's a dorm.  I've been walking around the city a bit with my roommate Genevieve and we made a point to swing by Kmart for a fan as our dorm is not air-conditioned.  It is helping immensely.  And as we were walking around, we passed Zach Braff and Nick Zinner, the guitarist for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (ok, I only know this because Genevieve said so after we passed him).  Not a bad start, huh?

Journal Entry #1

My internship at the Guggenheim Museum does not begin until June 2^nd so at this point, I am still preparing for my trip. My flight to New York City is May 31^st and it is coming up very quickly. I have secured housing in Manhattan in the New York University dorms. Most of the time, I will not be at the actual Guggenheim Museum as the library is housed in an office building downtown. This is actually quite convenient for me as it is only about a mile from my dorm. The dorm is pretty ideal except for the fact that it has no air conditioning which, though I am prepared for the intense heat and humidity of summer (being from Florida), no a/c will be challenging as there is a/c everywhere in Florida. 

I have already befriended a few of my fellow Guggenheim interns. One girl is staying in the same dorm as me which is neat. Also, there is another girl who is coming from Gainesville, like me. I have also been in contact with the internship coordinator for the Guggenheim as well as my site supervisor about various details. The internship coordinator has emailed us about a couple of outside events that we might like to attend. One of these was a collaborative exhibition called stillspotting nyc and the other was a free program and reception for summer interns at the Sotheby's Institute of Art. 

Up until this point, I have been nothing but excited for my trip but I am beginning to get nervous. I am from Gainesville, Florida which is a relatively small city, especially compared to Manhattan. I am very glad that I participated in the study abroad program in London last summer as I feel more comfortable about going to New York City after having lived in another big city, even if for only three weeks. I also intend to blog about my experience this summer like I did for my London study abroad trip. 

As far as what I will actually be doing in my internship, I am not sure. In my phone interview, my supervisor mentioned a backlog of items that needed to be cataloged. One thing I am sure of is the museum culture seminars held on Fridays for the Guggenheim interns. These seminars will take us on field trips to art galleries and other cultural centers in New York City where we will learn about the various career opportunities in museums. No matter what I will be doing, I will be completing my MLIS in New York City, interning at the Guggeneheim - it is practically impossible to be anything less than an amazingly valuable and exciting experience.