2. Queens

Kev is a natural.  Maybe not a native New Yorker, but has certainly become an honorary one after giving more than one local directions.  I'm not sure if we could be more different when it comes to embracing the city.
He knows the train system like the back of his hand.  He can drive in the city and have background noise at the same time.  He can feel a wad of bills in his pocket and probably knows he has less than 10 dollars.
It didn't take me long to notice I was the only one waiting for the walk signal to cross the street. I can now walk illegally with the rest of them but still grab the kids and hightail it across when a car comes.  Kevin comes a few seconds later, casually strolling along.

The first two months of the show, Kevin stayed with relatives.  We are very thankful for their generosity and certainly don't know what we would have done without them.  We thought it would be a little easier to find somewhere to live than it was.  Two months of house hunting later he has proven his finanical stability/impeccable character and has scored an apartment.
The first time the kids and I went to visit, Kevin was still in Queens with the relatives.  It was a bit of a shock seeing houses with no lawns, just concrete slabs, both in the front and back yards.  They love it there though - the life and bustle of the city. At the same time I was wondering how they did it, they were wondering the same thing about my upbringing, knowing that I grew up on a farm.  "So boring!" they said, as they looked on with pity.
My first major accomplishment came in the form of a train ride.  I, one of  the most directionally challenged individuals in history, brought myself and the kids home safely from downtown Manhattan without Kevin.  Granted, it was one train and we were the last stop but crazier things have happened with me in charge of accurate arrivals.

The city has begun to come to life for me.  It's surreal to see the things I've seen on tv in person, and at the same time heartbreaking as I listen to one woman's account of 9-11, realizing that that event was witnessed by the people all around me. So much has happened here, so much history. I recently finished reading Book of Negroes which was made even more poignant by seeing people here who can relate to coming from terrible situations, with nothing, to encounter more hardship, and somehow make a life for themselves.

We were sad to leave. Sadder for Kevin, saying goodbye to all of us.  But there's always Skype and it wouldn't be long before we'd be back.