Culture Shock

Hello friends! Three reasons why I haven't written lately:
1. I moved from Brooklyn, almost 2 weeks ago now. The worst part was that with humidity it felt like it was over 100 degrees, and my poor cousin and sister had to help drag my stuff (and their stuff, we had a regular ol' caravan) onto the C train (having all sorts of elevator shenanigans on the way) to Penn Station, to get the Amtrak to Hudson, where another one of my awesome cousins picked us up, then to New Baltimore where my relatives live and where my dad was. It was a great few days there (as it always is) and then my dad, sister, and I drove the 6 1/2ish hours back to my hometown. So it was busy, and it was hard to say goodbye to Brooklyn. But actually not that hard, because it was SO. INFERNALLY. HOT. And due to a lot of people staying in our apartment, I spent the last night sleeping on a yoga mat that was half in the closet, so I was ready to boogie.
2. When I got home I promptly had jury duty, and out of the 180 people there, I was the 9th called up, subsequently got picked, and had to drive up to the county seat for 4 days. Being a unabashed nerd, I found the trial itself fascinating. We turned in a guilty verdict. I had wondered how I would feel about that--you're basically putting a man's life, so to speak, in the hands of 12 people, but he was so guilty. And as his crime was kidnapping his wife and doing a lot of terrible things to her (throughout their 18 year marriage, too) I feel zero remorse.
3. My parents have dial-up internet, so it takes a long time for anything to load on here, I'm too lazy to take my computer somewhere, and really, it's sunny out, and I have a lot of phenomenal people to see, so blogging is on the back burner. Doesn't mean I haven't missed you though! Because I have.

Anyway, culture shock. You wouldn't think you could get it within one state, but you can. I'm always annoyed when people think that NYC is full of sophisticates and that Upstate is full of bumpkins--perhaps "enraged" is a better word than "annoyed," actually. I was in line for the opera awhile ago (ha, that makes me sound like a twit) and actually had a woman say that Upstate "didn't really count as New York". You'll be happy to know that I said, as snappily as I get, "I believe that Upstate is more New York than New York City will ever be." I must admit that there are some noticeable differences, though:
--when I went to jury duty, there was not one non-white person in the room of 180 of us. That feeling of non-diversity was not something I've felt in over a year.
--my fam was heading out to dinner last Sunday and drove to 3 restaurants before finding one that was open. It was the Casino, so it was good and the lake was lovely, and it all worked out in the end, but it felt so strange not to just walk a few blocks to another restaurant (plus, most restaurants in Brooklyn don't really close, at least not for an entire day.)
--it's really nice not to have to buy my own food, or if I do, to just drive to Wegmans. I'm already getting spoiled. I have no idea why I didn't look for grad schools in close proximity to a Wegmans (seriously, what was I thinking?!) but I'm going to have to bring a bunch of their juice with me. I like to cook, depending, but it's a lot nicer when my dad makes Ratatouille with penne (as he did this evening) and the only thing I have to do is pour the wine.
--today I went to the dentist and the hygienist asked me about my grandmother (who also goes there) and how I liked "the city" and things she remembered from when I was there in January. That would not happen in Brooklyn, unless you had lived there a very long time, I think.
--also today, I went to pay a parking ticket and brought a book, because I am so used to waiting in lines (at the post office by my apartment, it was at least 15 minutes, when I had doctors appointments at the hospital, at least 2 hours). Of course, there was no line, and I was out in 5 minutes.
--the weather guy was saying how it was going to be almost 80 yesterday, and how horrible that was. Our apartment didn't get below 85, AT NIGHT, for the entire month of July. He also said he heard it was 88 in NYC, and how it probably smelled there. He would be right about that.
--the best 3 news stories since I've been home--1. the Amish man who was robbed while driving his buggy down the road (they caught the person who did it), 2. the goat who was stolen from the county fair, and was found behind the Chinese restaurant, alive, and 3. the horse who got loose in Falconer (or was it Frewsberg?), ran through Jamestown and dented a few police cars, before officers were able to subdue him.

Do I miss Brooklyn? I do. But for the moment, I'm just enjoying being here, with these people.