Momentous occasions

So, two momentous occasions have passed by, unmarked. The first, payday! I officially recieved my first check from the great city of New York. That was an exciting moment, and one that came none too soon. The second occasion: the end of interviews! In all, including group, follow ups and individuals, I did 38 interviews. Holy moly. The scariness of ranking my placement choices is over as well, as I turned in my list on Monday. I did a lot of second-guessing, but in the end you just have to turn it in and let it go. We find out our placements on Thursday.

Speaking of interviews, the article I posted last week about Ayn Rand came in handy shortly thereafter. In an interview the next day, I was asked, "What three people, living or dead, past or present, fictional or real, would you choose to have dinner with and why?" Whew, what a question to answer on the spur of the moment! I chose 1. One of my great-grandparents on my dad's side, because the family tree gets pretty shaky pretty quickly, and I would like to know more about where they came from and who they were. Then, since I had just read that article, I invited Ayn Rand and was able to talk intelligently with the interviewers about her life and books. They, incidently, had also read the article, and it turns out one of the interviewers greatly admired her. Point for me! Lastly, I invited Sr. Mary Galeone, my supervisor from last year, because she has the ability to communicate with all different walks of people. I don't need my dinner party to have lots of awkward silences, which I think would be the case with my great-grandfather, Ayn Rand and me sitting around the table...

Incidently, if the dinner was held at the apartment, we would have a table to sit around. Maren, Erika and I took the free shuttle bus to Ikea in New Jersey last Saturday to get a dining room table and chairs. I've never been to Ikea, so that experience was fun, but getting our dining room set home on the shuttle bus and subway was a nightmare. Each time I move something in New York I think it is the worst experience ever, but each time it is trumped by the next. It took us almost five hours to get home, and my arms are still sore! Moral of the story: I am never moving ANYTHING ever again.

This week, the Fellows have been divided into teams for a Scavenger Hunt across the five boroughs. So, just when we thought we were done running around the city, we begin anew. Today was fun though, I got to see parts of the Bronx I had never been to, even after working there for a whole year. On the way home, I had my first real celebrity spotting. They were filming the Sex and the City movie at a Starbucks near Astor Place; you could see Sarah Jessica Parker through the window and she also stepped out for a second with what I think was her kid. I'm not sure if it counts as a real celebrity spotting if they are actually filming, but still, it's the closest I've got so I'm going to count it.

That's all for now,