Test done, lease signed, time to head to Philly

Well, yesterday (Saturday) I hardly took a minute to breathe! I was up early and left my room (once again) before anyone else was awake. I headed down to Times Square, which I recently determined was named such because the New York Times building is right in that area (I could be wrong, but it sounds plausible). I then met with 2000+ aspiring teachers to take one of the New York State teacher certification exams. Well, I should have listened to Ben when he told me to stop studying weeks ago because it was the easiest test I've ever taken. I was in a room with about 1000 others and was one of the first few to leave. I'll get my results in a month but I'm not worried about that one at all.
My next mission was to procure a certified check for our lease signing that was scheduled for 3 pm. I am so thankful that I opened an account at Bank of America last month because all I had to do was march into one of the B of As (found on practically every corner) and have them write up the check. Katie, on the other hand, did not have it so easy because her money is still in a credit union in Dallas. After a bit of drama, her dad ended up wiring the money to the broker and she will pay him back next week. We both signed all the papers and that's it. I have a great apartment!
I then dropped a few things off at Sara's (stuff I knew I wouldn't need in Philly) and started walking around her neighborhood. I've found that the best way to get to know the city is to just start walking. I was getting a bit tired after walking about 40 blocks, so I decided to catch the next bus I saw. This was probably my best idea yet. Instead of paying $50 for one of those tours of the city, I used my metro card and had an excellent view of the West Side. I saw the Columbia University area, the Lincoln Center, Columbus Circle, and rode the bus right through Times Square. I asked a friendly lady where the bus would end up and she said Union Square, two blocks from where I'm staying at NYU.
I ended the evening with a private viewing of the Music Man on my great new computer and slept about 10 hours! Most of the other TFA people took this chance to have a night on the town, but I was just too exhausted. Nevertheless, it was a great day. Right now I'm doing a couple loads of laundry and in a few hours the buses will be here to take us to Institute. All of us have heard horror stories about how busy and challenging the next five weeks will be. I'm up for the challenge! I may not be able to write as much, but I will try my best.