So I decided to take off to NY to be with friends for the weekend... my uncles passing away stressed me out a lot sitting in DC and I decided to destress myself... and boy am I glad I took the decision....

so off I went to take my first ever train ride to NYC on Amtrack... early in the morning at 5:30.....at first when I reached Washington Union Station I was confused since I didnt find any people at the station... Is this the right Station? Where are the people... turned out it was the right station and I reminded myself that I should not expect to see milling crowd in all railway stations the way I see in Churchgate, Mumbai.

So I landed up at my friends place - to find her son and her sons friend taking a bath .... memories of me scaring baby george during his bath time came flooding back to me... and I immediately jumped from behind the shower curtain on two unsuspecting 4 year olds... luckily for me the 4 year old didnt start crying with terror but laughed along... otherwise I would have soon been declared unsafe around children and that would have been an ignomious end to my weekend plans.... followed it up with a good lunch of dal and chapati... only to follow that with a disappointing exit by US (Yes, I support USA) in the football world cup..... in the evening we strolled to the park where my friend made a failedattempt to fly the kite and made claims about the kite flying that were taller than the actual length that the kite flew to....

next day after a leisurly brunch (yummy Cobb salad) and an unexpected shopping bonanza, I was picked up by my friend and taken to the suburbs of NY ..... and for the first time in my life I got to see actual suburban life in the US... with the white picket fences, large gardens, surrounding forest, the mail boxes which are actual out in the front loan and is actually shaped like a house (yes the one that is there in the Tom and Jerry cartoons) !!! My friend and her three kids were a delight..... especially the little one who was the same age as Baby George... and he spoke so much! I am generally not good with kids ( I only scare them)....so I was really surprised to see that they all kept asking me questions and were curious about me... hahah....

and now I am finally in DC... and will be here for the July 4th weekend... which promises to be a fun event... keeping my fingers crossed....