Four Months

Well, the end of my first semester of school means another thing: I've lived in Manhattan for a whole semester! Here are some things that I've learned in my time here so far:

• I still can't find good Mexican food. I don't have enough money to really put a good effort into the search, but I'm doing my best. I have a little place in Spanish Harlem scoped out for my next Mexican food adventure. I'll update you when I try it out.
• I've been to all of the cool, touristy places in New York that you might see on TV. However, the only one that I (or any local people, really) go to is Central Park, and I don't go to the particularly touristy parts of the park, either. I only go to Times Square if I absolutely have to. 
• It's actually illegal to honk ANYWHERE in the city except for in emergencies, even though not all of the streets have signs indicating it. On streets with the signs, there may be slightly less honking, but really, everyone just honks all the time. Day, night, doesn't matter. 
• NYC is incredibly safe. Incredibly safe. I know that some of you worry about me, but really, I'm not sure I could live anywhere safer. Each day, about six people are robbed in the subway. That sounds like a lot, but you have to remember that 5 million people use the subway each day. Not too shabby.
• Tourists love all parts of Manhattan. Sometimes, when I'm walking to the subway from school, I see busloads of tourists taking pictures of the block where I'm standing next to school. There's really nothing to see on that block, but that doesn't stop the tourists from loving it. Cracks me up.
• NYC has five boroughs: Queens, Staten Island, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Manhattan. I've been to four of them (seriously, I've got to get out to Staten Island...) Everyone in the metropolitan area refers to New York City as "the city." Most people who live in the city but in any borough besides Manhattan tend to refer to going to Manhattan as going to "the city." I live in Manhattan, so I never say I'm going to the city. If I'm going downtown, or to midtown, or to Chelsea, or to Hell's Kitchen, I just say that. I'm always in the city.
• Manhattan is full of neighborhoods. I live in one neighborhood and go to school in another, but they're really all connected to each other (although the neighborhoods I frequent don't border each other). So although I live in a gigantic city with millions of people, it's really a lot like living in a small town where you know the local grocers, just with the benefit of access to basically anything you want.
• You see lots of dogs here because people are out walking them, but cats are a total mystery. I believe that they live in the city because I see cat litter at the grocery store, but a real, living cat, well, I've only seen one in four months. One day, when walking around, I saw a cat. Then, a few hours later, I saw a three-legged dog. It's tough to say which one surprised me more. On the one hand, the dog only had three legs, but...