Losing My Religion...

?..not quite. Today was a very spiritual day indeed. It started early this Sunday with a religious service in Harlem. Gary, Jenny and myself ventured many many streets north of our digs in Midtown to attend a church service at the Convent Avenue Baptist Church. Gary had sourced this gospel experience on the interweb or some such thing. Quite exciting for us 3 intrepid travellers thinking we're to trek where few whites have been before. While we were excluded from the official 2 hr service due to our need to leave prior to the end of the service we had an opportunity to hear some wonderful gospel singing. We also missed out on the soulfood which was a bummer.

With a warm inner glow we walked across the road to a much smaller church. We walked into a small congregation, and after we joined in the clapping and dancing we were asked to introduce ourselves. Everyone then made it their job to shake hands with each of us. All 100 of them. Kids of all ages, mums dads, grandmums and grandpappies - all of them black and wanting us to share life with them. With a drummer and keyboard and 2 male singers, the house rocked. Loud and brash it was the most fun I've had standing up for quite a while. The preaching was what I would refer to as Southern in presentation, and was exactly what I had been seeking. We walked out with ringing in our ears and Jesus in our hearts. A heartwarming and humbling experience indeed.

We took a walk on the wild side from Harlem into the Bronx for our next nirvana moment, and something we had planned months in advance. A trip to Yankee Stadium. The Yankees had not won too many games since we arrived, with games being played most days. In fact we, yes we, were on a bad streak of losses.. of  course something had to go awry as the day had been going so well. So well, in fact, I became separated from Jen and Gary as we left The Dugout Bar to meet with the others who had the tix. With no ticket, no phone, little money and only a smattering of the American language, I prepared myself to watch the game from The Dugout. I knew the others would return when they were ready. Anyway, we all got in ans witnessed, while bathed in sunshine, a Yankees win in the bottom of the 9th innings with 2 out. A truly remarkable, and very Manhattan day!