I love New York City. I’ve been there only once before, as a kid with my family. This past week I conquered the city subway system, worked in the Queens Library system and visited a few New York City tourist attractions. My feet are exhausted. So is my brain. I feel as though I have returned from a trip to a country far far away. And in fact, many of the people I interacted with during my library and subway experiences were from places far away from the US. I ate food I’d never eaten before, heard languages I didn’t recognize, and some that I did, rode subways through neighborhoods that are very different from where I live, and tried to act less like a tourist and more like a New Yorker. I’m sure they saw right through me.

On my last subway ride, coming back down to midtown New York from Central Park, a young man gave up his seat for me, an old tired tourist. I took it with a smile.