Perfect Day

It was rainy... and cold - being that it is nearing the end of May. But today was probably the closest I will get to what I imagined my perfect day in the city to be like.

I guess it started last night, when the Israeli came over. We hadn't seen each other since last Friday when he came to the Brooklyn Bridge with my students and me, and that wasn't exactly our most intimate experience. As soon as he got to my apartment, I felt sad and happy and really really anxious. We decided to watch a movie, although not much of the movie got watched and we ended up just stopping it after about an hour and going to bed. We had a really nice night, and my plan was to get up an hour before he did, so I could go to the gym. We both ended up waking up around 10 (I had been up at 9, and decided it was too early to go to the gym, so I went back to sleep). He tried keeping me in bed, and succeeded until about 11, when I did actually get up and go to the gym, leaving him alone in my bedroom. This is not something that I do lightly. I am not a very trusting person when it comes to leaving someone alone with all my stuff... although the thought didn't cross my mind until I was about halfway through my workout. I was definitely relieved to find him back asleep when I came back from the gym.

We showered and went to a delicious brunch in my neighborhood. It's a middle eastern restaurant, so they have middle eastern style brunches, which made the Israeli very happy. We had such a nice time just talking and sharing food, and I was trying very hard to keep the feeling of dread that this will be one of the last days I have with him at bay. He had to go to the eye doctor after brunch to get new glasses, and I was not planning on going with him. The place was all the way down in Brooklyn, off of Ave. U on the F. After brunch the plan was he was going to go to the eye doctor's and I was going to go home. He asked me if I wanted to come with him though, as we were finishing brunch. Being the cynical, jaded girl that I am, my immediate response was - I'm not driving you down there. He looked surprised, and said, No, I just wanted you to come with me, for company. I know I put my guard up when I need to keep myself from getting too emotionally attached to someone, and I'm pretty sure my immediate thought that he was using me stems somewhere from that. Feeling really bad about what I said, I of course agreed to go with him. It was a complex train ride, as the downtown F is not stopping at the station near my apartment this weekend, and it complicated things. We had a nice train ride down though, once we did in fact get on the train.

At the eye doctor (more like an eyeglasses store), I was the only person in the place that did not speak Russian. It was very confusing and a little intimidating. At one point I was getting hot water for my tea, from one of those cooler dispensers, and I (being a genius) could not figure out the contraption to get the hot water (there was a knob and a button...) the woman next to me started telling me how to do it in Russian. I, thankfully, figured it out at the same time, so I just smiled a thank you at her, and pretended like I understood. It was an interesting experience. But it was fun, helping the Israeli pick out new frames (which are practically identical to the ones he has now), and just spending the day together. After he got his frames, and we were walking back to the train, he stopped to get us some ice cream. It was a little cold to be eating ice cream outside, but it was so sweet, I couldn't say no.

He took the train halfway back with me, and when he got off, he said he'd call me when his brother left - that's next Friday. I know we're planning on spending a couple of days during the weekend next weekend, Sunday night - Tuesday pretty much. He leaves Tuesday morning, and then that's it. I can't believe it's been nearly 4 months, and I can't believe I am as sad as I am. Today was not really a noteworthy day of any sort, but it was exactly what I wanted.