Today was rest day. Boy did we need it! To wake up with no agenda-bliss!
I had a big load of laundry that needed attending to. I trudged it up to the local laundromat, and with a bit of assistance ( as usual for me, here)
While I was waiting on that, I decided to look for a pharmacy. The 7 yr old was the third casualty of the wonky broken thermostat with the heating system. He accidentally gripped onto a hot pipe in the bathroom to steady himself so the inside of his right palm was burnt.
I was given directions to the local pharmacy on Malcolm X St by a local. It was a fortress of a little building. You are locked out of the actual pharmacy but have a room in front where you can talk to the staff. They let me in and gave me all I needed for the little guy.
He felt much better after that.
We are feeling more relaxed in the environment we are staying in now.
It is full of far bigger characters just on the street, than I am used to encountering. One guy in the laundromat had his e on with music and he was getting down and into the rapping zone!! Another lady came into the local deli and went around calling everyone 'baby' and 'doll' and wishing us a Happy New Year.
The conversations on the sidewalk are far louder than I am used to walking past. Loud to the point of sounding like a fight.
After more resting, the 7 yr old and I went for a walk. We found a park and he had a great time playing there by himself.
At 4:30 we hurried to the soul food restaurant a frigid block away, to beat the NYE rush. Though it was half full, we were told it was not dinner time yet, so come back at five. We stood out there in the cold till 5..... Grrr.
The 7 yr old was being a little foolish and the boys were annoyed with him so it was a bit of a sullen group sitting in the beautiful restaurant. I had been telling the kids the history of soul food and why I thought it was such an important part of our US cultural experience. The 7 yr old was very absorbed by this and enquired of our waiter if there were slaves in Australia!!!
The food was tasty, nothing to write home about, but good hearty food.
Because of the 7 yr old's silly behaviour while waiting outsid the restaurant, he was put to bed at 6:30, and everyone else got ready to put up with a night of loud music below. But nothing!!! The tree wasn't even lit up. I was so excited, thinking revellers might have gone elsewhere. Yay. But at 10, the tree lights went, on and the whole house started to throb.
We saw in the New Year and went straight to bed. Ziggy's wretched clientele partied on till 4 and I was up for most of it. It. Was. Horrendous!!! And then, I woke up a couple of hours later and realised I was freezing!!!!!
All the heaters were off, and we cannot turn them back on, and the windows and air cons and fans we had on to push all the waves of hot air off us, had done their job too well!
Errgghhh!
Tomorrow: 911 memorial, Staten Island ferry, and Afghan food for lunch!!