Friday morning starts with a subway ride to Manhattan (man spills his malt beverage twice) and a walk through Washington Square Park (man offers us smoke and pills) to Crop Circle so I can try a preserved veg guokui (crispy stuffed flatbread). Farid will get a bite from Mamoun’s Falafel across the street. We stop later for something else to eat, and this lady tries to sugar scrub my hands in hot water (usually something I would enjoy), but “they’re too cold and it will hurt” was my response.

She’s not one to quit easily and tries another approach: the owner has traveled 12 hours to bring this product to me and has recovered from cancer. We have another lady rush her kids past us because we didn’t have our masks on (outside, which was allowed with distancing), and glared at us while she did so. We stop at the grocery store on the way home and have a pre-dinner snack at 645 pm. I’m already tired, but I’ll make it another two hours before I go to bed.

Sheela and Farid

Farid tries to wake me a couple of hours later, hoping a nap had helped, but the jetlag has me motionless. I’m up in the dark and go back to sleep. We walk to a late breakfast at Nick + Sons Bakery, and it’s 30°F out. I get a powdered sugar cinnamon roll (soft and light with a crisp top), a cherry chai danish, and a chocolate croissant. I could see limiting myself to a one-item limit per visit if I lived so close to sweet and savory carbs with a changing menu.

We watched part of Farewell Amor, a Portuguese film about an Angolan man with a girlfriend until his wife and daughter join him in NYC, some 17 years later. We meet up with Sheela, a local friend who looks like Jameela Jamil, and walk to the park for cider before going to her place for cheese, wine, and the movie, White Tiger. A Hindi film, it focuses on a poor Indian driver who becomes an entrepreneur. We leave there for a slice (cabbage, kale, potato for me) of pie from Best Pizza on our way to a Zoom dance party that will carry into the morning.

I had enough coffee and matcha to keep me awake until my ride arrived an hour after Farid went to sleep. This would get me to the airport on my way back to San Diego faster and easier than taking the trains in the dark. The airline is garbage, and the plane shakes a lot, and I wasn’t expecting the second round of snacks, so that was nice. I’ll make my bed after Fallon and her daughter, Brooke, pick me up, and be the first one to sleep.