NY Trip: Day Five

This definitely will be one of my shorter posts, but it definitely was an interesting day.
Having stayed up til 2 AM the night before, I made the executive decision to sleep in until 10 the next morning (not that it worked. I'm too much of a morning person). Once I was up and moving, I went into the practice rooms and had a nice long warm up. I was lucky enough to get a room with a window, and since it was open, I could hear dozens of other people practicing. It was actually pretty cool to feel like I was joining in this great cacophony of sound, no one more important than anyone else, and no one really listening to the others as they concentrated on their own improvement.
After Billy got done with his Italian test (which I quizzed him on the night before...turns out I speak decent Italian thanks to my five years of Spanish!), we went and got lunch. Another horn player, Abby, joined us, and she asked how my lesson with PK had gone (which I thought was cool. Lots of people asked how it went, what I played, etc.).
After lunch was probably the highlight of my day: visiting the Eastman bookstore. It's like a normal university bookstore, but with study scores and method books and manuscript paper. I was in heaven. I also couldn't help but splurge on three new horn method books that I've been needing/wanting for a while. I didn't get to stay long however, because I had a very brief window of time before Caitlin and Billy had rehearsal and I had to grab my stuff out of Caitlin's room.
I ended up catching a taxi to the Amtrak station, and got there about 45 minutes before my train. The schedule said that I'd get on at 2:33 pm and get to Penn Station by 9:45 pm. But, of course, not all travels can go smoothly.
Somewhere out past Syracuse, we hit some construction and were stuck moving very slowly behind another train for almost an hour (we actually came to a complete stop for around 15 minutes). I began to panic a little as I had been burning through all the classical music on my iPod. On the upside, however, NY State is really a beautiful place. It reminded me a lot of Washington, but with no mountains, and very few (if any?) evergreens. I ended up getting into Penn Station somewhere around 11:45 pm (a 10 hour train ride...don't sign me up again for a while), having spent the last couple hours seeing how many Beethoven symphonies I could listen to. I ended up listening to 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7. Perhaps today on my flight home I'll get to the last 4 of them.
My hostel last night was a very different experience than the earlier one. I ended up in a mixed gender room, full of adults (rather than the last hostel which mostly had people my age). I also got to experience the awkwardness of overhearing someone masturbate as I was going to sleep. So awkward, and yet I had to laugh at the ridiculous situation. What is a trip without some good stories to tell?
It's almost time for me to check out of my hostel and head out to the airport. I've truly loved this whole experience, long train rides and awkward roommates included. I've found a school that felt like home, teachers who were (and are!) fantastic, and a great goal to strive towards for the next few months. Plus, apparently my entire music department is waiting on the edge of its collective seat to hear about this trip. I never thought traveling would make me a sensation, but it has made me really feel like a new person. I'm so ready for the adventure of senior year, and can't wait to see what happens next!
See you soon, Seattle!
Allie