A Love Letter to NYC

Hello people! Are you annoyed by my alomst daily posts yet? I do hope not! This is gonna be a quick post so don't worry. I just wanted to let you guys know that my grades came out and I freaking did it! I passed which means I now have an official bachelor's degree! JOY TO THE WORLD! I can breathe again! And I also just sent out my three applications to Grad Schools in the US.

But wait, wasn't I applying to 4 schools? Well, yeah, the thing is all of them require audio files of you singing, all of them except MSM that requires a video. I had major problems with the video thing and when I finally got to record the video it was like a billion degrees (because November in Brazil equals hellish temperatures) and I wasn’t singing to my singing teacher’s playing. I didn’t really feel it with the pianist and don’t think I did my best, plus she missed notes, didn’t breath with me and made me altogether uncomfortable and nervous. So I decided not to apply to MSM since the deadline was December first and I didn’t want to send them a so-so video of me sweating through my repertoire. 

Why am I saying this? Well because the essay MSM asks is the following: If you were given a blank airplane ticket to go wherever you wanted, where would you go?

Now this nagged me through and through because the only place on earth I could think of was NYC and it’s ridiculous since MSM IS in NYC. But following my good friends’ advice I wrote about what I loved from the heart and since I’m not sending the application I might as well publish my love letter to NYC somewhere, right?

“Were I handed a blank ticket at this very minute, where would I go? I can’t help but think of any place but New York City. I know it sounds very ‘been there done that’ but I’ve always felt a very special connection to NYC. I’ve been there twice before and I must admit I never felt so much like I belonged anywhere else. I love how walking down the street I can see all kinds of people from all over the world, all sorts of different languages popping out in every corner. The city has an infinite number of completely different things to offer and every hour that I spend in that city I feel I’m learning and experiencing something new. I can’t help but think of NYC as a huge opera house.  That’s probably why I love it so much. You have many languages going on constantly and as many sorts of different types of people as you have different kinds of opera, modern, romantic, classical…

Something I adore in New York City is the people in it. Every single person I’ve met in the city has a special something about them. It’s like a special spice that everyone who lives there possesses and it comes out in the most amazing ways. From talking to restaurant waitresses who speak 4 different languages to extremely lovely old ladies who have worked as extras at the Met just for fun, I found a place where my words and ideas were finally understood. A place where being different is normal and I felt I could finally be myself and stop apologizing for having such a different taste for things. 

I think that the first thing I’d do when I got there is definitely go to the Metropolitan Opera to see about everything I can watch: performances and the opera guild talks and such. And I can say that if I were to spend a short period of time in the city, I would gladly go watch something at the Metropolitan Opera every night. After all it was thanks to their Live in HD program that I was able to see opera in a light I’d never seen it before and fall hopelessly in love with it, so that opera house in particular holds a very dear place in my heart.

But one thing I’ve always wanted to do and never could is explore the city fearlessly and with no rush. To walk through the streets of Little Italy and be able to go to their fantastic Italian festivals which have a ridiculous abundance in fantastic food and good mood. I’d like to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art several times so I can take my time looking at each work of art. Because even though I already feel incredible about seeing a Monet painting in the flesh I would have liked to have taken my time admiring it as opposed to having to tear my eyes off the canvas to look at my watch every five minutes. But I feel the thing I most want to do in NYC is have an everyday life and with time discover little by little what the city has to offer.

I cannot say how long I’d stay, I feel if I had the chance I’d never leave, at least not for a good five years. But if I had to spend a shorter period of time there, and I was able to call the shots, which I never am, I would stay at least a month. Then I think I’d be able to accomplish a little bit of what I desire to do in this amazing and embracing city.”

that's me in Central park and no, I wasn't planning on sending the picture attached to this

Cute, right? Never-ending thanks to Kim who edited it and corrected my grammar mistakes!