NYC 2026 - Week 7

Bushwick houses

Since Wednesday, the city has been coloring orange and blue as a tribute to its basketball team, the NY Knicks. I, too, felt the orange and blue hype while walking around in Bushwick . (Knicks in 4!)

OPEN THIS WALL

Hey you, my trusty readers. Thanks for being here again, reading about week 7 in this magical place called New York. However, magic isn’t always sweet and fluffy; it can be hard and painful at times. This week has had some high highs and low lows, but yet again, I learned how to take the punch, rest, and regroup. Just like my parents taught me: when you fall, you get back up. There is always a way.

Yes, I’m an ambitious girl with big dreams, and in writing, I have strong words and a powerful voice. But putting myself out there and using my real voice is still a muscle I’m training, as putting myself out there is often done with a (healthy) dose of doubt and fear. One must learn not to take rejections or failures (too) personally. So last week, I was presented with yet another lesson in this. For a moment, I fell off my dreamy big cloud and had a deep moment of despair. It was a day where both good and bad news made my core shake. The tension from these two incoming messages trembled deep into the layers of my Self and pricked a big balloon full of emotions open.

So let’s start off with the bad news. One of my new friends is an event organizer, so I saw an opportunity to host an embroidery workshop with them. Just a small and cozy get-together where a warm beverage, some pastry, and the activity of hand embroidery would bring people together. We planned it out, both preparing our own ends, but unfortunately, due to circumstances out of my control, the event was canceled. This, plus another sale of one of my pieces falling through, caused a crack in my faith. While I’m doing all the work, some things are still not clicking into place. This workshop was low-key, nothing too crazy, so why didn’t the Universe grant me this opportunity? What more do I need to do to have just a small breakthrough?

Then, the good news: I have help coming in from all kinds of unexpected directions, and this touches my heart, to the point where the layer of Naomi who believes ‘I’m not worth it’ was shaken to the core. I’m an only child. Throughout the years, I’ve learned to be hyper-independent, taking care of myself in all kinds of ways, mainly so that I won't need to bother anyone with my burdens. So receiving these donations, these gifts, from people who want to support my dream here, cracked me open. On Friday night, I couldn’t sleep. I tried shushing my head by binging ‘The Pitt’ (great show, by the way), but I saw the sun rising at 5 a.m. There was no escaping it: I needed to let out all these thoughts and emotions. I cried until I couldn’t cry anymore. Feeling empty but saturated at the same time, I fell asleep.

Fort Greene Park

Spent a sunny Sunday evening out here doing some embroidery

GEMINI VIBES

After five hours of sleep, I got up, had breakfast, and jumped in the shower. It was Saturday, and my friend and I planned to go dancing. Because if there is one thing a Gemini can do best, it’s switching moods in the blink of an eye. (Seriously, we forget stuff so fast sometimes.) What else was there to do but to shake off the bad feelings? And a Soul Summit party is the perfect place to shake that ‘bootayy’. I love all kinds of music and I’m always open to experiencing new things (yes, also a Gemini trait), but this discovery of house music parties is hitting the spot! Not only do my feet find the rhythm, but the crowd also knows how to dance and gladly showcases its special moves while connecting with each other over the soulful tunes blasting through the speakers. (And yes, I say blasting because they play music so freaking loud here, I regret not packing my Loops earplugs…)

My friend and I laughed, danced, and yapped the day away, leaving the party fully satisfied and my soul feeling extremely fulfilled. I arrived home, and when my head hit my pillow, I fell away into a deep, restful sleep.

Work in progress

I love the way the sun kisses these buildings with its golden light. Even the unfinished pieces look beautiful.

TRADER JOE’S

Full disclosure, this newsletter took me quite a while to put together. It’s a fine art to find what I want to share with you and what not to. Tapping into real life here also involves others, and as I try to be respectful to them, I’m not always as open about things as I wish to be—because a Gemini loves to yap about every little detail to entertain the crowd with interesting plot twists. That’s for the interpersonal experiences, at least. For the daily grind and everything about me just trying out new things, I have no shame in sharing my mistakes or misunderstandings.

For example, I’ve been hearing that I should go to Trader Joe’s, the supermarket, since before I arrived here. It’s supposed to be so freaking cheap. So, I planned this out. I needed a good night's rest and a good meal before hitting that, because I knew I would be overwhelmed. My stubborn ass assumed people were exaggerating. It often is that way, and I also sometimes feel as if people underestimate my ability to keep it cool. But honey, they were not wrong.

I arrived on Wednesday around noon. Slightly later than anticipated, but still. I came prepared with a list and two big, empty bags. Usually, I’m quite fast at finding my way in a new environment. There is usually a structure I can see and understand. But this time, that was not the case. I wanted to stroll through all the aisles to see what new things I would be able to try out, to broaden and expand my knowledge of the food people eat here. Lol. That was wishful thinking.

First of all, the first two aisles I walked past were too crowded. I couldn’t get in there to see what they had. Secondly, almost everything is unknown to me. The Americans are crazy when it comes to options, with seven different flavors or versions of a single product. And lastly, the people there were rushing, rushing, rushing. So slowly going past all the products was just not possible. It was a war zone, every man for himself.

After finding half of the things on my list and quickly taking some items that I recognized, I took my cart to the register. There were two lines in between even more sweets and snacks. (Of course, while waiting they still want you to buy stuff, go capitalism!) But the most impressive thing about this experience was the fact that there was not one, but two employees guiding people to the next open register. The first one got to choose the line of people to go first, and the second one stood on a small ladder that was overlooking the 30 (!) registers there were, shouting the next open number to the first person in line.

After filling up my two bags and leaving $80 on their bank account, I took the bus home and gladly filled my fridge with some healthy and nutritious food, though. Giving myself breakfast, lunch, and dinner for almost a full week. So I guess, in the end, the trip was worth it. Next time, I’ll just go even earlier, getting ahead of the big crowd finding their lunch and stuff, and continue to search for new foods and snacks.

With love,

Naomi/Numi