A few weeks ago, a friend of mine asked me if I wanted to spend a day in New York City with him. I'm always down for an adventure, so I didn't hesitate to say yes. Having not been to NYC in over a year, I was really itching to go and enjoy the day. Cities can definitely be overwhelming, but since I've been studying at Temple and living in Philadelphia for almost a year now, I wanted to see how I'd fair in NYC as a newly mended "city boy."

In the last few days leading up to the trip, I (by pure coincidence) experienced one of the most stressful weeks of my entire college career. I won't bore anybody with the details, but let's just say these days were packed with academic challenges, a few personal incidents, and barely any time to shower, shave, or sleep. The night before the trip, I ended up getting back to my family's house late after missing two, yes TWO trains home. As one can probably imagine, by this point I wasn't really feeling like going on any kind of adventure and wanted to spend the little energy I had on doing my mountains of work and sleeping.

However, one thing I hate doing is breaking promises. So I knew I had to just suck it up, go, and hopefully have a good time in the process. The next morning, after getting an hour of sleep, I forced myself out of bed and into the shower, and met up with my friend shortly afterwards. The weather was cool and slightly drizzly, but it didn't seem to be that big of a deal. Our ride to NYC was uneventful and surprisingly free of traffic, and we arrived in Manhattan at around 10 in the morning. Almost instantly, the elements of the Big Apple hit us hard.

The drizzle and the cold didn't seem any different than they were at home, but very shortly into our walk, we realized that an addition of wind partnered with the position of the buildings would do a number on our clothes. Within just 10 minutes, my shoes and socks were soaked and my whole body was considerably wet. The lenses of my glasses didn't stand a chance and I constantly had to take them off and wipe them. During this time, we were exploring stores like Macy's, the Nintendo Store, and H&M. We seemed to be drying off while in the stores, but we also seemed to be getting more soaked as the rain gradually got more torrential. Eventually, I bought an inexpensive knit hat at a store and was fortunately then able to keep my hair dry. For the entire day, the rain never stopped. There's a saying that a little rain never hurt anyone, which would have been true for us if the rain was the only thing that affected our trip, but sadly, it wasn't.

A little while back, another friend of mine - whose girlfriend lives in NYC - told me that as of late, many residents of the city have been walking the streets a little more somberly, still in shock and disbelief over the results of the 2016 Election. I'm not 100% sure if that's EXACTLY what the residents are upset about, but as my friend and I continued to explore the city, it just didn't seem like anyone was smiling. Even in the rain, Philly always seems to be a lively and upbeat place, but the same just wasn't the case on this NYC trip.

Now let's talk about the hecklers. As someone who understands how to be street smart, I wasn't expecting to be bothered by hecklers. Somehow, some way, the NYC hecklers on this day knew that my friend and I weren't from the area. We knew where we were going and didn't do anything dumb to identify ourselves as tourists, but the hecklers still came, still bothered us, and we just had to walk away. At one point, we were cornered by two con artists who tried to reach for our wallets and immediately ran off. I don't really understand why or how we looked so innocent and vulnerable. I've NEVER had a problem in Philly, and Temple is located in a neighborhood widely considered to be "rough," so the hecklers really made me upset. Fortunately, no money was lost on this trip.

This all sounds like a huge hassle, but at least we were able to eat some top notch food during our trip, right? WRONG. Not only is my friend the pickiest eater on the entire planet, but he said to my face "I don't eat when I go on day trips." I begged for us to stop for food somewhere when I couldn't take it anymore, and we ended up eating in the café at the Met. I had a just alright chicken sandwich and my friend had half of a chicken tender and a couple of fries (I can't make this stuff up). The last time I went to NYC, I was taken to this amazing falafel place in Greenwich Village, and my friends and I all ate while sitting in Washington Square Park. If I'm in the city, I plan to treat myself to quality food, and this sadly did not happen.

Speaking of the Met, going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art was the only redeeming aspect of this trip. The place is overwhelmingly big and filled with amazing works, and my friend and I had a great time looking at everything. Hopefully, I will get a chance to go back there when I'm having a better day.

To put a long story short, I went on a trip to NYC with my friend hoping for a good time after an extremely stressful week, but the rain and harsh NYC elements had other plans. Even when we were walking in areas with fewer people, walkers still felt the urge to touch and shove us for whatever reason. People don't do that in Philly, and no one in Philly would tolerate it. I love New York City, but whenever I go, it seems like a place that forces you to live with the bad, because the good is unlike anything else in the world. For the next few months, I'll stick to Philly.