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What a long flight. I left New York City on Monday night and got back home last night around 22:00. Phew. I slept like a bomb, but when my alarm went off at 6:00 this morning it felt like I was waking up in the middle of the night. 
I’ll get over it soon enough.
My weekend in New York was fun. Saturday afternoon, soon after settling in at the hotel, I went off to Times Square and stood in line at the tkts booth, which sells discount tickets for the day’s theatre shows. I managed to get a half price ticket to Phantom of the Opera. While I enjoyed the show, the thing that impressed me the most was how they managed the stage. Scene changes where over in moments, usually in the few seconds they had with the stage lights off. There was only one extended break of more than a few seconds, and that was the intermission. Too bad I didn’t get to see any other plays, but that’s probably good for my back account. Dollar prices for stage shows are expensive! Even when discounted.
Sunday I mostly spent at the American Museum of Natural History. That must be the most beautiful museum I’ve been too. But then life size models of various things always give me a warm, fuzzy feeling, whether it’s of penguins or plants. The museum has a lot of displays, and while the dioramas aren’t better than, say, those at the SA National Museum (well … I’m maybe being a bit kind), the AMNH have a larger selection of things on display, usually in better upkeep (much better upkeep), and often quite enticing and provoking. For instance, in the science section, they have this HUGE sphere (with a 23 odd meter diameter) hanging above everything. They use it to compare the sizes of various things: if the sphere is the size of the universe, then this teeny model is the size of the local cluster. If the sphere is the size of a blood corpuscle, then this little model is the size of a rhinovirus. For me, the sphere was one of the more impressive displays at the museum. My favourite, though, is a diorama of a whale taking on a giant squid, which was unfortunately too dark for a picture.
Anyway, I thought I’d mention that my favourite pic from this weekend’s post secret set is this one.
And in further news, technology (i.e., your ipod) is evil because it’s used for escapism:
http://gamepolitics.com/2006/11/18/bill-oreilly-slams-playstation-3-launch-gamers-ipods-tech-not-in-that-order/
In the past, you see, there was just alcohol and drugs. Noone ever used books, work, hobbies, relationships, music, sex, pets, relgion, politics, or children to avoid this “reality” thing.
I’ve finished my work here in Princeton sooner than expected, so my flight has been moved up; today I leave for New York, monday for South Africa. This weekend I’ll be staying at the Pennsylvania Hotel, right next to Penn station. The reviews for it have been a bit of mixed bag, but hey, I doubt there’s a single hotel in New York as shoddy as some of the places I’ve stayed in.
Yesterday David Fox (one of the Aluka people) showed me around the Princeton University campus. It’s quite a pretty place; full of gothic architecture, trees colouring and losing their leaves. Which reminds me that when I moved in to my apartment, the trees outside my windows were bare. Which probably means I’m in for a colourful show come Autumn. I’m looking forward to that.
I just raided the Aluka office fridge and tried my first root beer. My first thought was, “Bubblegum!” It tastes pretty much like those old Wicks bubblegums, which is really not what I expected root beer to taste like. I have to give it a large thumbs up.
Last night I ate at a mexican restaurant. No milkshakes. Do americans not drink milkshakes? Apart from this massive flaw in their menu, the food was pretty good. The whole restaurant had a Spur, “Family outing,” vibe. And the portion sizes were HUGE. Heinz’s meal came on three (i.e., two more than one) plates. I realised why the waiter asked me if I was eating light when I ordered a quasadilla: it only came on one plate. By the time I was half way through it, I was already full.
Two evenings, two restaurants, and no milkshakes! Who would have thought!
Last night Heinz and I went out to a fish restaurant called Big Fish. It’s fairly high end, and it charges high prices, but the food was good. I had sole stuffed with crab, which was really amazing. Somehow they made the sole almost crumbly, which went well with the texture of the crab. Instead of the usual milkshake — which they didn’t have on the menu, and which the kitchen said they didn’t make — I had a strawberry daiquiri, which was nice, but wasn’t a milkshake 
Today we ate with a group of Aluka people (the people I came to the states to meet) at a restaurant who’s name escapes me. The restaurnt brews their own beers, from which I had their “honey wheat” version. To my amazing-and-untrained-beer-tasting-pallet (TM), this one tasted much like every other I’ve ever had. Oh well.
Anyway, I spent the whole day in meetings and such, which wasn’t as bad as it sounds. It made a good change from sitting in front of the PC for the whole day, and it was interesting to see what the Aluka people are doing with our data.
Tomorrow I’ll be in Manhatten to demo some of our data. I’m looking forward to the trip, because that means we get to use the subway! Yay! A public transport system that not only works, but is convenient! Feels like I’ve died and gone to heaven.
After 24 hours of travelling, I have arrived. Heinz is busy sleeping off the after effects of being sleepless for most of the flight (8 hours to Dakar, another 8 hours to New York). I’m going to wait for tonight to sleep and see how that leaves me feeling tomorrow morning.
One thing about the states is how moving around it feels so much like moving around a fairyland, or some landscape where all the stories that we’ve ever been told plays out. So many of the tales that we take in every day, whether it’s TV, comics, cinema, games, are America centric — and I’ve been watching them for soooo long — that being in the states, and seeing police cars that are black and white and not yellow bakkies, or real fire hydrants, has a certain surreal quality.
And, oddly, I tend to feel both more at home, and a correspondingly larger amount of culture shock, in the States than in places like Kenya, Ethiopia and Mali. It’s a combination of thinking that something feels good and familiar, and a minute later wondering, “WTF, what are they doing?” For instance, I just came across a breakfast buffet where you get to use a waffle iron to make your own waffles. You spray it with non stick stuff, add the dough, wait for the machine to beep, and presto: one waffle. It’s the first time I saw a waffle maker at a buffet table.
Anyway, I need to properly sort out our hotel rooms. Then I’ve got nothing else to do for the rest of the day (it’s only around 11:00 am on the east coast), so I’ll probably land up wondering around a bit. See what there is to see.
Well, I just got back and now I’m preparing to travel again. This time I’m off to the states — to NYC and Princeton, NJ. I’ll be back in Cape Town the night of the 23rd. I’ve already got my visa (10 year visa, w007), the flight ticket, and my forex is being delivered to my office tomorrow. So I guess all that remains is my finding a book to read during the nightmarishly long flight across the Atlantic.
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