On Wednesday, I arrived in New York City, where I stayed with my cousin César Luis. We had a full day yesterday exploring the city. I had been to New York 3 or 4 times already, but we still mostly did things I had never done before.

We started out at the Empire State Building, where we got some great views of the city. César loves taking photos, but doesn’t like being in them, so I was basically his model for the day.

After that, we walked part of the High Line. It’s much nicer in the summer, but I had never been and wanted to see it.

Then we walked through Greenwich Village, César’s favorite neighborhood in NY, and dreamed about all the apartments he could live in if rent weren’t so ridiculously expensive in that part of the city. We also saw the Hudson River.

We had pizza for lunch and then went ice skating at Rockefeller Center. I almost couldn’t skate. My feet already hurt from all the walking we had done and the ice was so choppy from so many people skating on it, that I felt as if I were cutting with a dull knife and was more likely to fall. Luckily, the Zamboni came to the rescue and cleaned the ice. It was a lot smoother after that and I was able to skate.

Finally, we had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe and ended the night watching Hadestown on Broadway. It was really good! I had a great time in New York, but it was a very quick trip.

I drove to Boston today. Arriving in Boston always feels like arriving home. It’s the first time I’ve been back in the winter since I left in 2020 and Boston is either really happy or really upset that I’m back. It rained and snowed the whole drive here. It wasn’t terrible, but it also wasn’t fun. It was comforting to be surrounded by Massachusetts license plates though. If I were driving in Texas in this weather, I would have stopped at a hotel for the night to avoid all the drivers! I wonder if everyone around me saw my Texas license plate and steered clear of me. That’s what I would have done. I made it safe and sound though, and I’m going see as many friends as possible in the days ahead. It should be a good time!