Wherein I take on a (tiny itsy bitsy) piece of Manhattan

 I am slightly OCD, I'll admit it. I have to have cleanliness and order in my living quarters. (Apparently, that's a sign of culture shock, as per the booklet they gave us out at orientation. Wow, way to hate on good habits. No worries, I've had it since I was 13 or something).


Anyways, as per my inner calling, I spent the morning scrubbing the kitchen from top to bottom.

Well, actually, I'll be honest - I only really cleaned the counters. The splatter on the walls did not come off with industrial strength bleach, so was kind of at a loss there. But this was a heck of a task nonetheless.

Look how pretty, shiny and beautiful it is now!!! (Although we'll see how it holds up when my new roommates join me. Sometimes, it doesn't work out quite as well ...).

Now the only problem with this whole cleaning process (because let's be honest - I like to clean. I pump up my music, dance away and get to arrange everything prettily. What's not to love?) - well, the problem was that our window doesn't open. So not only was I sweating like crazy by the end, but I was cleaning with bleach. And there was something else ...

There is no vent for the stove. I repeat, there is nowhere for air to go. So no window, no vent and just me in a hotbox with some bleach fumes.

It was fun.

Now, I would've been happy to keep on cleaning (because, whoo, the bathroom definitely needs sprucing up), but I made the yucky decision yesterday to be social. (Note to self - meh, who needs to be social anyways?). So I signed up for a campus scavenger hunt.

Yea, so there was that. Also, lots of sweating because apparently noon is when New York becomes a sauna.

Thankfully, that did not persist into the afternoon. In honour of being a resident of this fine city, I have made a promise to myself to see one new bit of New York every week. Now to be honest, it's actually quite overwhelming to start - I mean, New York is HUGE and there are so many sights to choose from. (Decision anxiety, anyone?) But I knew I wanted something more low key to ease me in, so I chose ...

The High Line Park!

This park was constructed on an oil railroad that used to run above the city. Very very cool concept. The only downside was that it was MEGA crowded (probably because it's a Saturday). Still, I really enjoyed the sights:

The High Line runs from Gansevoort (but I climbed up to it on 14th Street) and goes until 30th Street. I followed 30th all the way to 7th (which meant I walked past Penn Station and Madison Square Gardens - more sights checked off my to do list!) and my original plan was to walk all the way until Columbus Circle before taking the subway uptown, but in  reality, it was just WAY. TOO. CROWDED. Now, as everyone knows, being in a crowded sauna is not so much fun, so I just hopped on the train then and there. Still, it was nice to see my tiny bit of NYC for the week!