Live from Tarrytown, New York

Dear friends,

I have now survived one week's worth of life in New York state. I'm still unpacking, but can feel a moderate sense of accomplishment, now that I have the living room done. I owe KE and BB many thanks: they each donated a day and much energy, helping to get me settled. I have still to get a few key pieces of furniture, but I'm getting there bit by bit.

People have been kind to me here. The strangeness of the transition has mostly been two-fold: items like drinking glasses, nightlights and Pledge creep onto my shopping lists; I must now arrange my stuff taking into account the domestic aesthetic and not only whether all will hold in the space available to me. Furthermore, I now find myself in Yankee/Giants/Jets/Mets country, and I imagine this reality will only get stranger once the Olympics are done and the various sports seasons take over. I hear there's a Giants-Patriots football game on Thursday. Here we go.

This past week, I've watched the most TV I've watched since I was six, trying to catch glimpses of the Jamaican athletes. I've really missed being home, watching Bolt and Veronica and Shericka and Shelly-Ann and the other Jamaican athletes clear out the competition. My friends at home see the races before I do; I can never quite figure out NBC's schedule unless I'm glued to the TV. Meanwhile, the crowds in Half-Way Tree (in St. Andrew, Jamaica) cavort and bang makeshift instruments as their countrymen cross the finish line 14,000 km away. At the end of his 200m finish, Usain Bolt does the gully creepa (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL_VNI6kUYk), as does everyone else—a nation in solidarity.

My time at home finished up well enough. I managed to catch a little vacation at the end of my stay and didn't embarrass myself terribly at the swim meet: I came 4th, 6th, and 6th in my events. I was off most of my times by eons—I was really only in the races to finish—but did somehow manage to pull off a best time in the 50 back, which requires less stamina than the others and I haven't swum since I was 16! :) I still have to fill out some paperwork for the CLICK program (the photography workshop I was volunteering at), but hopefully, I'll steel myself to finishing that this week.

I hope you all are well; my internet access is a bit spotty at the moment, but—as always!—I welcome updates on your lives.
Two days till school starts!

Much love,
Katherine