My Day in New York City: Stressful and Exhausting

My sister had her convocation ceremony for her Ph.D yesterday at Columbia University.  When I finally got home, I was utterly exhausted.  I still am.  Here's how the day went:

• We took the bus into Port Authority at 1000.  We arrived at 1130.
• We took the subway from Port Authority to 116th Street (I think) and entered Columbia University campus.
• We ate lunch and waited for the ceremony to start.  We were finally seated at around 1445.  We were seated in the middle of a large tent surrounded by hundreds of people.
• The ceremony ended just before 1700.
• The reception was in a tent next to the ceremony site.  We left for the restaurant at 1730.
• We arrived at the restaurant for dinner at around 1800.
• Dinner ended around 1930 and we made our way to the subway.
• We arrived at Port Authority at around 2015.  The bus didn't load until 2045.
• The bus didn't leave until 2105 and didn't arrive back home until 2300.

It was a very long day.  I had forgotten how dirty and loud the subways in New York really are.  It was a very stressful ride.  I was hoping that there would be standing room at the ceremony that would allow me to put a little distance between me and the crowds.  That didn't happen.  I finally reached critical mass during the reception.  I told my Mom that I needed to get out of there.  We left as soon as was possible to collect everyone up.  The anxiety really started getting to me at this point.  I started getting snippy with everyone.  It was not pretty, but everyone just kind of ignored it and carried on with their day.  By the time I got back on the bus, I was exhausted from my experience.

That will be the last time I visit New York for a long while.  That city is like anxiety overload.  It is way to easy to have intrusive recollections there.  A lot of the sidewalks were in worse condition than in some areas in Iraq.  Then there was the air quality.  For a little while, I thought I was having an anxiety attack.  Then I realized it was the air quality that was making my lungs so tight.  Ratchet up the anxiety a little more.

Today, I am spending inside away from people and getting myself recentered.  While I wouldn't have missed the convocation yesterday, I can't do that again for a long time.  Regardless, I am very proud that I made it through the day without having a major breakdown.  I finally got to meet two of my sister's close friends that I had never met and dinner was delicious.

Now it's time for recovery.