The New Home
When you grow up in Eastern Europe with American movies, you are likely to think that living in New York City means living in Manhattan. I had to face the reality of NYC geography - and more importantly NYC apartment rents before moving in. I spent a few months determined to live in Manhattan, even if I had to live on 195th street, until lucky circumstances brought me to Astoria to check out my (now) roommate's apartment. Alejandro and I have an interesting apartment setup."Our bohemian abode," as Ale likes to call it, is far from luxurious and the issue of proper curtains or extra plates is a little touchy, but we make it work and have a good time.
When you grow up in Eastern Europe with American movies, you are likely to think that living in New York City means living in Manhattan. I had to face the reality of NYC geography - and more importantly NYC apartment rents before moving in. I spent a few months determined to live in Manhattan, even if I had to live on 195th street, until lucky circumstances brought me to Astoria to check out my (now) roommate's apartment. Alejandro and I have an interesting apartment setup."Our bohemian abode," as Ale likes to call it, is far from luxurious and the issue of proper curtains or extra plates is a little touchy, but we make it work and have a good time.
Not to mention… There are apparently no Americans in Astoria. There are, however, a whole lot of Greek immigrants. In practical terms for me this means that I can buy Bulgarian food at a nearby supermarket, which I would otherwise have to order online at very high prices. The neighborhood is full of families and feels very safe even late at night – when I make treks to the conveniently located fair trade grocery stores that is open 24/7! Avocados cost $1 here; they cost up to $4 per piece in other areas. Thus, my erratic eating habits provided for, I have nothing to complain about. Except maybe the little child that starts screaming in the backyard under my window at 7am on weekends. Or the train service sometimes, which brings me to my next point:
Subway extravaganzas
The phrase "planned service changes" has become the bane of my existence. On any particular line these three little words are code for unpredictable adventures. Service changes are usually planned only in that they are known to some MTA employee somewhere, but not to ordinary subway users. On the rare occasion that notes about changes are posted at respective subway stations, they are intentionally unintuitive and no less complicated than tax laws. The N subway won't be going to Manhattan from 5:01pm to 12:01am. Great, I can still take the Q! Not so fast... When they say N, they really mean both the N and the Q. And when they give you specific hours, really they mean the whole weekend. And the next one.
Work?
My fellowship only truly started a few days ago due to circumstances that neither I nor The Rockefeller Foundation had the power to influence. Once Immigration Services issued my work permit, I immediately started working… sort of. My first day at the Foundation was in fact the annual picnic held by the various Rockefeller philanthropies. It was a full day at the family’s estate in Tarrytown, with a lot of free food and casual interactions in the sun (which were a bit awkward for me at first, given that I didn’t know a single person present). The picnic also included a free tour of the Kykuit home-turned-museum which houses a collection of antiques and works of art that any small or even medium-sized museum would envy.
At the office the next day, everyone was eager to meet me and talk to me and try to attract me to work on their respective teams. I found a giant bouquet of beautiful flowers on my desk with a cordial note from my supervisor (refer to the low-quality picture taken with my phone). My cubicle itself is the size of my single at Princeton last year. The office overall is splendid and, as I’m located on the 21st floor on Fifth Avenue, the view is a killer. While my colleagues have treated me with a great deal of special attention to help me adapt to the world of the Foundation, everyone has also been addressing me as an equal despite my lack of work experience. They all seem genuinely excited to have me, which in turn makes me genuinely excited to be here. Moreover, as I found out over the past few days, the timing of my joining the Foundation is quite peculiar. Not only is the hundredth anniversary of RF approaching, but there are also a number of brand new programs which I have the opportunity to work on and help shape during my fellowship year. RF’s leadership seems to trust Princeton fellows with complex and responsible tasks that could really educate and enrich a young professional, while preparing her for the dynamic world of public interest work.
I will save writing more about the concrete work I will be doing for later because, frankly, I haven’t done much work so far. Between attending orientation meetings, reading up on the Foundation’s initiatives, and eating free food, I have barely started to understand the intricate relationships among the various projects and programs currently underway. For example, today I was invited to a lunch panel on building up “resilience” in poor and vulnerable communities in the world. The panel took place after the champagne breakfast we had in honor of one of our distinguished colleagues who is leaving to work for USAID. After work, there is a staff gathering at a restaurant nearby. All in all, I’m loving my first days with The Rockefeller Foundation!
Subway extravaganzas
The phrase "planned service changes" has become the bane of my existence. On any particular line these three little words are code for unpredictable adventures. Service changes are usually planned only in that they are known to some MTA employee somewhere, but not to ordinary subway users. On the rare occasion that notes about changes are posted at respective subway stations, they are intentionally unintuitive and no less complicated than tax laws. The N subway won't be going to Manhattan from 5:01pm to 12:01am. Great, I can still take the Q! Not so fast... When they say N, they really mean both the N and the Q. And when they give you specific hours, really they mean the whole weekend. And the next one.
Work?
My fellowship only truly started a few days ago due to circumstances that neither I nor The Rockefeller Foundation had the power to influence. Once Immigration Services issued my work permit, I immediately started working… sort of. My first day at the Foundation was in fact the annual picnic held by the various Rockefeller philanthropies. It was a full day at the family’s estate in Tarrytown, with a lot of free food and casual interactions in the sun (which were a bit awkward for me at first, given that I didn’t know a single person present). The picnic also included a free tour of the Kykuit home-turned-museum which houses a collection of antiques and works of art that any small or even medium-sized museum would envy.
At the office the next day, everyone was eager to meet me and talk to me and try to attract me to work on their respective teams. I found a giant bouquet of beautiful flowers on my desk with a cordial note from my supervisor (refer to the low-quality picture taken with my phone). My cubicle itself is the size of my single at Princeton last year. The office overall is splendid and, as I’m located on the 21st floor on Fifth Avenue, the view is a killer. While my colleagues have treated me with a great deal of special attention to help me adapt to the world of the Foundation, everyone has also been addressing me as an equal despite my lack of work experience. They all seem genuinely excited to have me, which in turn makes me genuinely excited to be here. Moreover, as I found out over the past few days, the timing of my joining the Foundation is quite peculiar. Not only is the hundredth anniversary of RF approaching, but there are also a number of brand new programs which I have the opportunity to work on and help shape during my fellowship year. RF’s leadership seems to trust Princeton fellows with complex and responsible tasks that could really educate and enrich a young professional, while preparing her for the dynamic world of public interest work.
I will save writing more about the concrete work I will be doing for later because, frankly, I haven’t done much work so far. Between attending orientation meetings, reading up on the Foundation’s initiatives, and eating free food, I have barely started to understand the intricate relationships among the various projects and programs currently underway. For example, today I was invited to a lunch panel on building up “resilience” in poor and vulnerable communities in the world. The panel took place after the champagne breakfast we had in honor of one of our distinguished colleagues who is leaving to work for USAID. After work, there is a staff gathering at a restaurant nearby. All in all, I’m loving my first days with The Rockefeller Foundation!
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