Open Water and the Concrete Jungle

These past few weeks have been insane. Actually, this entire summer has been insanely eventful.

Recently, I found two bedbugs in my apartment, which made me want to sterilize everything in my house. My landlord scheduled a series of sprayings, which meant that everything in my apartment had to be shoved and sealed in plastic bags.

The sprayings were going to happen at a very inconvenient time. I had another swim two days before the exterminator was coming, and my mom was in town the same week that the sprayings were happening (oh joy.....). And then we were supposed to go to New York for my brother's white coat ceremony. Because now he's going to be the useful kind of doctor.

Here was how the week played out.

Part 1 - The Swim:

I woke up at 7 to pack, pick up my friend and fellow racer Austin, and drive to Gloucester for the race. This race was in the open ocean, which meant that for the two weeks prior to the race, I had been checking the shark sightings around Boston. A week or two before the race, some dude got his leg bitten by a great white shark while swimming in the Cape.

I am really paranoid about sharks. I know the likelihood of getting attacked by one is really slim, but the thought of having my leg or arm bitten off, and thus extinguishing my dream of being a surfer bum, is too much to handle. And I've seen small sharks while snorkeling, so I know that THEY ARE THERE!!!

Luckily, there were no shark fins or seals (seals = shark food) at the beach. Just me, my fellow swimmers, and 1.2 miles of open water. The two goals I had for this race were 1) Not to get lost on the course and 2) To beat Austin.

I accomplished both. I am especially proud of beating Austin.

Part 2: The Bugs:

After the race, I had to wash, dry, and pack all of my belongings into plastic bags that needed to be piled in the middle of the room. I also had to clean and pack the living room cushions for the exterminator to spray them. This was a huge task. The worst part is that I can't find anything, and my room looks like my closets vomited and spewed their contents into a plastic mountain. This is why you are not going to see pictures of my swim until I figure out where all my cords are.

My mom nearly had a heart attack when she saw how awful the apartment was.

Part 3: New York

I take everything bad I said about New York back. Seriously. I used to go to that city, especially the area around Penn Station, and think, "I hate it here. There's too many people and not enough trees." I appreciate it more now than before.

First, we went to Brooklyn for my brother's white coat ceremony. My mom was REALLY excited. I hate to say this, but she is a classic Asian mother. This means that she feels the need to take pictures every 5 seconds. And flash is a mandatory part of taking pictures. This meant that if my brother and I didn't want to go blind, we needed to intervene. Luckily, she forgot her camera this time, and she isn't technologically literate enough to know how to use an iPad correctly, so we got off easy.

I also stayed with some friends on the Upper East side. Wow. It is beautiful up there. We went running in Central Park, saw the apartments on Park Avenue, and went shopping. Too bad I will have to sell a kidney to afford a place in that neighborhood.

That's the cliff notes version of the trip. I'll post pics of the race ASAP.