The last stop in this round of Alex’s adventures was New York City to visit my brother and his fiance. I flew directly from Cairo to NYC on Thanksgiving day. Unfortunately I was unable to sleep on the plane and was pretty tired when I arrived in NYC. I took the train to Hoboken, NJ where Ben and Anna live. Anna had prepared this huge feast for Thanksgiving and despite being so tired, I had a great time. I was also excited to hear the news of their recent engagement.
I was there for 4 days, 5 nights. After having been in Egypt I was a bit burnt out on being a tourist and avoided doing the touristy NYC things. Mainly just explored cool neighborhoods, record shops, Central Park and did some shopping. I hadn’t visited New York for well over a decade and couldn’t remember it to well. I was under the impression that it was all skyscrapers and busy streets. But there are some pretty quiet and pleasant neighborhoods there.
Now I have been back in San Francisco for a few days, staying at my parent’s house in Potrero Hill until I get settled in a more permanent situation. Adjusting back to life, back to work and back to reality in general. Already I am missing traveling quite a bit. This really was the trip of a life time and did inspire me in number of ways, both on a personal level as well as an academic/professional level. Perhaps the connections I made in the places I visited will enable me to travel abroad more in the future. We will see…
Now I am trying to write up my thoughts about the places that I have visited. Soon I will get back to work in the delta closest to home – the Sacramento San Joaquin Delta. With the recent new developments of Delta Vision and the pursuit of the National Heritage Area designation it is an exciting and eventful time of change in this region. Hopefully my research abroad can be put to good use as I extract lessons learned on sustainability of these other delta landscapes…
