New York : A Bittersweet Goodbye - Part Two

Tuesday October 6th and Wednesday October 7th,2009: 

October 6th morning and afternoon - Bus Touring and New Specs:  After Monday October 5th's somewhat late evening we had a bit of a late start to the morning. We went to Chloe's and picked up Tesfaye and Azmera, who also slept in, and first went to lunch.  We headed in the direction of the Broadway Theatre where the Lion King is playing to see if tickets for the matinee were set aside for us. As I feared, Tuesday is a day when there is no matinee scheduled. When I spoke with Chloe she said she would look into the status of things and probably try to arrange tickets for the evening show, and in fact I then heard from Candice confirming we were all set up for the evening performance; I thanked her very much for her thoughtfulness, as Nanci and I had wanted to see the Lion King for a long time and thought it would be a great show for Tesfaye and Azmera to enjoy.

After sorting that out we first just sat around in the warm sun, Tesfaye and Azmera looking "cool" in their sunglassed,taking in the action in Times Square. Speaking of glasses, as Nanci and I had noticed before, Azmera's everyday prescription glasses that she obtained in Ethiopia were always sitting on a slant, and when I took them off and inspected them more closely you could see that they were all loose and the finish on the lenses appeared to be permanently scratched and have somewhat of a foggy film on them; we weren't quite sure what we could do about them, or if we had time to event try. We then decided to take up one of the street seller's bus tour promotions and do a Double Decker Bus tour of Manhattan from Midtown to Downtown, good for 24 hours with the ability to get on and off at different stops. Although sunny, there was a bit of a cool wind and I was wearing a very light shirt, but it was nice to sit on the upper deck nevertheless to fully appreciate the view.  The bus made it's way along the route of many of Manhattan's famous landmarks, and it was a great way for Tesfaye and Azmera to get a feel for the size, height, and hustle and bustle of  Manhattan.  While taking it all in, Nanci

and I again discussed what a shame it was for Azmera's glasses to be in such poor condition, especially since her eyesight is so poor.  On the spur of the moment we decided to try to find a "one hour" optical place to see if we could get her new glasses, and as I was in the midst of trying to find one through a google search our bus drove by an optical store with a "one hour" sign so immediately decided to jump off at the next stop. We walked back a few blocks to the store and asked if they could make a pair of glasses for Azmera in one hour (we were leaving New York the next afternoon). After getting a reading of Azmera's prescription from her glasses they said for a prescription like that it is not possible to do "one hour" glasses, but after checking they said they could have them ready by noon the following day.  We said: "let's do it!" They were very nice and proceeded to do a very thorough eye exam; it took a long time as she has a very strong and difficult prescription, with major astigmatism. I was sure that this would be a great upgrade for her and make her vision more precise than before. We had some fun picking out the new frames, and hoped that the glasses would be delivered  before Nanci and I had to leave for the airport tomorrow. The paradox of being fitted for new glasses is that if your eyes are bad you can't really tell how you look in new frames without lenses, so we took a picture of her wearing them on Nanci's blackberry and then showed it to her while wearing her old ones.

As it was now getting late in the afternoon, we then got back on the sight seeing bus when the next one came around, hoping that it would make it's way back to the Times Square area in time for us to make the 7 pm Lion King performance.  As it turned out, we made it back just in time to pick up the tickets at "will call" and were seated 5 minutes before the show started.  And what a wonderful show it was! The music, costumes, dancing and singing and overall ambience of the show was magical and captivating, and it gave Nanic and I extra pleasure to see the delight in the eyes of Tesfaye and Azmera.  After the show we went for a bite to a Pizza Restaurant near the theatre that my nephew Danny Miller recommended, and then returned our two young friends to Chloe's apartment.  To top off the evening, Nanci and I then bumped into my nephew and my sister Sandra and Norman Miller and their group of friends (in New York celebrating a number of their 60th birthdays), and I was swayed to join a number of the guys at a  Russion Vodka Bar; I did enjoy sampling a few different flavours of infused vodka, knowing full well that I may pay the price the next morning.

Wednesday morning, October 7th, 2009 - And now, the end is near...  The day when Nanci and I would have to bid farewell to Tesfaye had finally arrived.  We woke up reasonably early and finished our packing, and then gathere up Tesfaye and Azmera one last morning for breakfast and to accomplish two errands: picking up Tesfaye's Dutch transit visa and then dropping off an envelope Dr. Rick Hodes at the JDC office.  Being another nice and sunny day in Manhattan, we accomplished all those tasks on foot, walking quite a distance in the process. I must say that throughout the three days we spent in New York, Tesfaye and Azmera  did not balk at walking long distances. I am sure after undergoing such transformative surgery they have an extra appreciation that they are able to do it.  We were running a little late and so took a taxi back to Chloe's in order to drop off Tesfaye and Azmera and say our goodbyes. Our plane was leaving within an hour of Tesfaye's, but from different airports, so Chloe was going to be taking Tesfaye to the airport with her friend.  We had hoped that by the time we got to Chloe's, around 1pm, Azmera's new glasses would be delivered, but it was not to be. When I called the optiician they confirmed that the new glasses were on their way  by bike courier, but Nanci and I would just have to wait to hear how the finished version felt and wait until the next time we see her.