Different States

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It has been a while. Since the last post we have crossed five different time zones and four different countries with four different flights. After leaving Kathmandu we flew to Delhi where we spent two nights with Maan in an improved experience of India, despite the intial chaos of once again coming into conflict with a taxi driver getting us to the right place. From the airport we wanted to go to Paschim Vihar; instead we were taken to Vasant Vihar. It was half our fault though and it got worked out in the end after much boken communication, phone calling, and accepting our potential fate to wander the streets for a night. From Delhi we flew to Kuwait where we spent the night in a riduclously luxurious hotel, a novel break away from the places we had stayed in for the previous several weeks, and the next morning flew into the second stage of our journey: North America.

E and I had booked our flights nearly a year ago. There is no way we could have predicted that we would be visiting New York City during a storm warning for the largest snow storm the region would ever experience. The air was chilly when we left the airport, certainly a sharp change from the warmth of India and Nepal, and there was remnant banks of snow on the pavements, but it was incomparable to what happened the next couple of days. Our accomodation was an AirBnB-booked apartment situated in Washington Heights in the far north of Manhattan, where Spanish dominated shop signs and the towers New York is famous for sparkled in the distance. It had 24 hour electricity, running hot water, a flushing toilet, and a double bed with mattress and duvet. It was a welcome sight. Guy, who let us into the apartment, informed us of the coming storm - the first we had heard of it - but said it would likely amount to not much at all.

As we settled in, ordering burgers and having our first experience of American tipping culture (we, awkwardly, didn't have the 15% norm for the delivery guy but he seemed okay about it), I received an email from Niall saying he'd just heard about the weather warning too. He and Jenn were travelling from Toronto to see the city and hang out with us for a few days and if the snow was as bad as the news suggested then their plans - our plans - would be hampered.

All four of us met up on Tuesday morning in Central Manhattan. E and I waited in a Starbucks and as they came through the door I could feel an immediate change in my demeanour. During our time in Asia I had met interesting people, amazing people, and beautiful people but there is nothing like seeing familiar faces after so many weeks of strangers. Over cups of tea we talked and talked and considered how strange it was to be meeting each other after so much time (they had left for Canada eight months previous) in New York. This feeling never quite left us. We moved onto to Red Bamboo, the first of what would become a series of ridiculously good vegan restaurants and cafes in the US, where I ate macaroni cheese (or "mac 'n' cheese") and totally glutted out on its bland taste and simple texture. It felt good after the spice and variety of South Asian cuisine that I had come to associate with rapid ejections of fluid from my body. Then I had an Oreo cheesecake and basically just petite mort'd from its decadence. As the day went on the weather became fiercer so as we sought the High Line, a public park built into an old freight line above the streets of New York, we decided to take refuge in a bar. We spent the next few hours here, were joined by one of Jenn and Niall's old travel buddies, and generally avoided returning outside. Eventually we did, making the remainder of the way to the High Line only to find it closed due to the weather. It should have been expected really.

That wouldn't have happened in India, though. There were many immediate differences between South Asia and the West and one of those is health and safety. When E and I took to the water in Pokhara there was no questions about our experience in paddling nor five minutes of dull instruction before we could get in the boat. We were given lifejackets, climbed in, and pushed out. When E and I went paragliding there were no quetions asked, we simply strapped ourselves in and jumped. People are assumed to be able to make the right decisions for themselves. It was one of the most positive aspects of the cultures there and makes the West feel very mollycoddling. Still, who knows, maybe we would have slipped on the ice and plunged to our death over the side of the High Line?

By the next morning, New York had been hit by several feet of snow although nowhere near as bad as had been predicted. The storm had moved further east than meteorologists predicted and the lead scientist issued a public apology for the error that had caused all public transport to be shut down and all vehicles except emergency vehicles to be banned from the roads. Guy had been vindicated in his prediction. What that meant for us, though, was the opportunity to experience an almost desolate New York City. People were few and far between. The streets were large but filled with only occasional cars. The noise level was even lower than usual.

For me, the most immediate and impacting difference between South Asia and the US was the noise. Seriously. Even as we walked through the thick of Brooklyn, the noise of the world seemed dull. It is as though the gaps between sounds in this country are larger and formed of a thicker skin. Where India and Nepal contained a constant hectoring of car horns, dog barks, human shouting, and construction work, the West almost tip toes its way around people's eardrums. I doubt I will ever complain about noise in the UK again.

During snow we saw the One World Trade Centre, a very tall building that had far less security than I expected. We also visited Chinatown and Little Italy in our quest for something to eat and ultimately ended up at Pana Pizza where I had probably the best pizza in my life. We also stumbled across Bluestocking on our way there, a radical bookshop I'd read about and had hoped to visit, and after over an hour of browsing bought a copy of Capitalism: A Ghost Story by Arundhati Roy. It is a critical look at the development of capitalism in India and its local land and culture, something that I can perhaps appreciate a little better having seen a tiny bit of it first hand. After that we high tailed home where Niall and Jenn visited us for the evening. We cooked, they brought wine, and we had a great evening of conversation. There is something to be said for conversation with familiar people that doesn't require establishing quetions like where are you from, where are you going, how long for, etc. E really, really enjoyed the evening. I really, really enjoyed the evening. I think Niall and Jenn did too. They were the perfect people at the perfect time and I feel very lucky that they were able to make it.

Our last full day in New York went by pretty quickly. We did a lot of working, ostensibly to visit a social centre called The Base but ultimately failing to reach it, before heading back home for a nap. Our plane was leaving at 6am the next morning so we needed to be out the house by 3.30am. We were. But line works meant that we weren't able to make it subway and we had to jump in a last minute taxi to the airport. We checked in with just enough time and then sat on the plane for the next hour and a half whilst the flight was delayed due to the cargo loaders incorrectly loading the plane three times. It was frustrating as our connecting flight to Seattle was meant to be only two hours after the scheduled landing. Someone definitely lost their job because of the delay. Somehow, despite landing with just ten minues to reach our connecting flight, we managed to board before the doors closed. E and I grinned at each other because of our luck. We sat back and relaxed.

Our first night in Seattle was spent at the Green Tortoise hostel. Its downtown location ws ideal to introduce us to the meat of the city. Seattle is really beautiful. Like, REALLY beautiful. It is an almost idyllic mixture of green spaces, epic coastline, modern buildings and friendly people. There are also vegan places to eat out the wazoo. After the first night I have been staying with a couchsurfer, Colin, in the Northeast Seattle suburb of Lakeside whilst E spent a couple of nights half a mile away in Wedgwood with an acquaintance via the local Buddhist Centre. Sunday saw the Superbowl in which Seattle Seahawks played. America's love for the Superbowl is immense and there is no single event in the UK that can really compare to it. The whole of Seattle became a ghost town, even the buses had supportive messages programmed into their electronic displays, and E had the experience of a guy paying for everyone's drinks in Starbucks just because it was the Superbowl. Colin had a Superbowl party and despite my complete lack of knowledge about the sport the atmosphere was fun and I felt lucky to have turned up at just the right time.

Staying with Colin at the same time as I did was a guy called Chris, a well travelled person himself who had visited India a few years back. His experience of North India exactly mirrored our own in all its hardships and pleasantries. It is good to know that my experiences were not unique, that I didn't just do things particularly badly, and that it is basically a hard mode country. Chris also cooked a delicious tofu meal

Last night E and I went to a pub quiz with Colin, a pub quiz that was very different from anything in the UK. In true American style the whole thing was very slickly programmed and organised with a huge turn out of teams and some excellent prizes. We came 15th overall so we didn't do too well but it was a good evening. Now it is Tuesday morning and we are once again moving, this time to another couchsurfing host in the Eastern suburb of Bellevue. We'll visit one of the many vegan plces in the University District for breakfast (The other day we went to Pizza Pi in the same area and I had a pizza with macaroni cheese on top. Yep. Macaroni cheeze on pizza. Jesus fucking christ it was good.) before taking the ferry to Bainbridge Island and exploring the natural spots there. I really need to shower right now so I better go.

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