first time at the laundromat (nyc day 7)
I went to a laundromat today for the first time! I've used central laundry services in college before, but this is the first proper coin laundry I've visited. Since I process new information slowly and have only seen coin laundries in movies (hi, Everything Everywhere All At Once), it took me a while to understand what to do. I must have looked like a fool, walking around blankly as I tried to figure out how many quarters I needed, where to get them, how to start the washer, and where to put my detergent.
I waited at the laundromat for the entire two hours it took to do my laundry because I'm paranoid someone will steal my clothes (don't laugh—people did that in college). I don't know if this is normal, but given how nobody else did the same I suspect it is not. Of course I would have rather spent that time elsewhere, but I found myself actually enjoying the time reading and watching other visitors come in and wash clothes or pick up large sacks of folded laundry.
After two hours at the laundromat, I came home and cooked dinner with my brother. This has been the first meal I've cooked from "scratch" (well, kinda) since arriving in NYC—eating healthily has been difficult here. Other than my own indolence, which is always the biggest limiting factor, dealing with the shortcomings of this shared Airbnb kitchen is frustrating. The knives aren't even sharp enough to cut skin, and there are no ladles, large pots, or mixing bowls. And finally there's the issue of time. I hate the feeling of doing chores until 9PM, after which I'm too tired and have scarcely an hour before it's time to go to bed.
But! I'm still proud of this curry I made with Ottogi curry mix and diced potatoes, onions, and carrots! We don't have a rice cooker so I swapped in Trader Joe's pearl couscous, which turned out to be scrumptious—I might even prefer its fun chewy texture to white rice. It's not hard to make at all but in my current mental & emotional state doing anything feels like an accomplishment.
Oddly enough, being in New York this week has felt like a surreal amalgamation of my past lives. I'm sharing a room with my brother again like I did as a kid, seeing friends from high school, and living in a city like I did in college. It's all been a lot to process, and perhaps it's too early to say but I'm surprised to admit that I'm not nearly as certain I'd enjoy living here as I imagined.
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