Hola from New York City!

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Hello all!

I am in NYC at the moment and will be in the U.S for the next 30 days or so. Well, did I pick a good time to come to Manhattan? I arrived just 24 hours prior to the chance of a BLIZZARD hitting the northeast, and it surely did hit!

The snow started Saturday afternoon around 4pm and as of right now, 3:30pm on Sunday it is still snowing—in fact it is snowing rather heavily right now!! Here’s a snippet of local report from the Associated Press:

Near-record snow descends on New York metro region
By Karen Matthews
Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- A near-record storm blanketed the city in 2 feet of snow on Sunday, stranding tens of thousands of air travelers and sending sanitation workers into overdrive to try to get the streets passable by Monday.

By 1 p.m., the National Weather Service reported that 24.8 inches of snow had fallen in Central Park, the second-highest tally since records started being kept in 1869. The record was 26.4 inches in December 1947.

The storm caught some New Yorkers by surprise, coming on the heels of an unusually mild January.

"It's sort of crazy because it was so warm a couple of weeks ago and now we have knee-deep snow," said Skye Drynan, walking her dogs Bella and Forest in lower Manhattan early Sunday.”

You can read the rest of the story here: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/N/NY_SNOWSTORM_BAOL-?SITE=WABCAM&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

I do miss the warm weather and sunshine of Costa Rica. However, there are a few things I’ve already enjoyed in the city:
--A good Greek diner;
--a perfectly-made chewy (but not tough) bagel;
--a slice of thin-crust pizza; and
--the wonderfully gruff attitude of New Yorkers!

I’m also looking forward to catching up on my movies. While Costa Rica does get a number of first-run movies, and fairly quickly, it sometimes takes a while and it is certainly very hard to see any off-beat/artsy/indy films in Costa Rica—perhaps San Jose.

Sitting at my place on the 25th floor in midtown and looking out over this snowy day has prompted me to consider whether I’m really a city or country person at heart. It is hard to say as I’m equally excited about both scenarios.

Being able to read the Sunday New York Times Sunday, particularly its Travel section, which I crave, while minor in the scheme of life, is a significant pleasure. In fact today, they had a really interesting article on Colombia’s coffee region. The article reminded me a lot of the San Ramon area: Still fairly unknown to foreign travelers but has much potential. Here’s a link to the article:

http://travel.nytimes.com/pages/travel/index.html (requires registration but if you go to bugmenot.com and type in the URL for the New York Times—www.nyt.com—you can get a free username and password).

One of my other favorite reads, if only for its “trash value,” is the New York Post: http://www.nypost.com/. It’s headline today is “No Kawn Do,” nothing that skater Michelle Kwan has dropped out of the Winter Olympics due to an injury. I just love the Post’s headlines.

Turning to my other favorite newspaper, The Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com), there are much more serious in their front-page reporting, discussing the health of Ariel Sharon as their lead.

Being able to walk down the street and pick from dozens upon dozens of restaurants almost makes me dizzy compared to the relatively thin choices in the San Ramon area. While here, I plan to have Thai, Vietnamese, more Greek, Italian, German, and of course, good ole American food!

However, I cannot help but miss many things at home in Costa Rica. Of course, on this particular day, I miss the sunshine and warm temperatures. I also miss the more laid-back lifestyle, and finally my dogs. As much as they drive me crazy, one cannot help but love them.

Okay, I am off to find a nice bowl of pho soup. More soon!

Pura Vida!

Andrew
[e-mail]
www.AngelValleyFarmBandB.com

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Photos

Snowy New York City
From the 25th floor....

Comments

[MELiSSA]

WOW LUCKY!
YOU ARE SOO LUCKY YOU GOT SOME SNOW!! WE GOT THE SMALLEST FLURY EVER!!!! ME ND LiZ MADE A SNOW BALL AND PUT iT iN THE FREEZER!!! i CANT BELiEVE iT iS STiLL THERE WELL G2G BYE ...MELiSSA..<333

[Debi]

Welcome Back!
Andrew! I can't wait to see you! Let me know if you need anything while here! Where are you staying?! xoxoxo Debi

[deleted_7293]

Fee Fie Pho... Yum!
Andrew, Don't envy you the cold but all that ethnic food, ¡sí! While I really DO like gallo pinto and refrescos (especially mora en leche), I also miss good Thai food which is not in evidence in CR. Hopefully by the time I get moved to CR next year there will be good Thai food somewhere there. Stay warm! Cheers, Paul M. ==

[AndrewNCostaRica]

Thai Food in CR
Paul: Have you been to Tin Jo in San Jose? It's the best Asian restaurant in the country by far. They have Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Japanese, and more. Check it out. All I can is: incredible! Andrew

[John U]

New York
Andrew, How can you be in NY during the high season in CR. Most people leave CR in Sept or Oct or Nov not Febraury :):):) John Michigan