Subway stories and swollen ankles

"You are in Brooklyn".
Those words are a nightmare for the tourists. I was on a Brooklyn bound train this evening and watched a European couple frantically leaf through their Lonely Planet-NYC book. The were comparing the guidebook with the MTA subway map and clearly it wasn't matching up. They weren't speaking English but it was clear by their expressions that Brooklyn was not where they wanted to be. Finally, a native muttered those four words to them and they promptly exited the subway. Brooklyn is amazing, just today I started an I heart brooklyn group on flickr. But lets face it honey, people don't come all the way to the NYC to go to Brooklyn. It doesn't help that all the rappers with street cred come from Brooklyn, or that in every show revolving around NYC paints Brooklyn in a shady light. Turn off your tv!

Meanwhile...I left work early yesterday because I was feeling ill. I woke up today and my ankle was swollen and I could barely walk. While in Boston, I wore some shoes that cut into the back of my heel and apparently it got infected and swelled up my whole ankle. "The stars aligned for you to have bad luck" is what my doctor said today about it. I have had the strangest ailments since I've lived here--I'm not even going to get into the time the doctors thought I had herpes in my eyes (I didn't of course). But I blame my ailments on mass transit, and sharing my life with like 3 million people.