Today, while waiting in line for the bathroom at Starbucks, a young woman emerged from the bathroom, agitated at the lack of toilet paper. Five days ago, I sat on a busy dirt road eating a falafel sandwich from a sheet of newspaper. People, cars and donkeys heaved by in masses.
I am a carnivore, mind you. Well, not really, but certainly an omnivore, and even more certainly not a vegan. However, Lula's Sweet Apothecary, a ten-month old vegan ice cream shop on 6th Street in Alphabet City is a purveyor of delicious, creamy ice cream that just so happens to be dairy and egg free.
It is the end of summer vacation and fall classes have begun. But that's no reason to despair: You can still bring summer back by experiencing the Caribbean for a day with a short trip uptown on the 1 train. Located at 844 Amsterdam Avenue, you will find Krik Krat, a small Haitian restaurant that transports you into the Caribbean the minute you step foot through the door (Krik Krat is a Creole phrase used to begin what in English is known as a knock knock joke).
Just a few weeks ago I watched as four Buddhist nuns pulled ice cream cones out of a convenience store freezer. Nuns eating ice cream. Nuns on mopeds. Nuns jumping rope. Even nuns spinning poi. My favorite was definitely nuns eating bananas. After peeling them and breaking them into pieces, the nuns would pick up their chopsticks and have at it.