When I was very little, I pictured Wall Street as a sacred nest full of insanely brilliant intellectuals who determine the direction for global financial and cultural development. The time for me to doubt my belief came sooner than I thought.

“Wall Street is not that intellectually exclusive after all,” I said to myself after getting lost trying to find a place that I knew was no more than three minutes away from the place I work.

With more and more daily encounters bearing a strong NYC brand, I am forced to get used to the idea that I am actually living in the big apple where everything could happen. Running into celebrities have literally been happening on a daily basis among Moxie members. Monday: Brooke Shields; Tuesday: Lavern Cox; Wednesday: Taylor Swift. It might not be long before we start a data sheet with the title: who is next?

Of course, interesting NYC experiences do not all come in the form of attractive celebrities walking down the street. Subway could be a great public transportation, but also a place where we could witness some very unusual situations. Abby, one of our Moxie girls, almost accidentally sat on a giant pile of poop on her first day to work. It would probably be a better story if she DID accidentally sat on that giant pile of poop. Nonetheless, the reason why subway seats have such unconventional decorations remains a mystery to us all.

So, two lessons learned from first three days of life in NYC:

1. Always on the look out for celebrities.
2. Shit happens on subways, literally.

The smell of NYC did not stop outside my workplace. While my director and all the other people I am working with in Sanctuary for Families are incredibly kind and helpful, I am surprised to see myself jumping into a pile of work in a professional setting that I am not at all familiar with. What surprised me even more was how fast I adjusted to this completely new lifestyle. While college life could be stressful, I could always find time for a refreshing walk or a short nap whenever I needed. In a professional setting, I am expected to be focusing on my work from 10-5pm. Instead of using a ridiculous amount of caffeine to keep myself awake, I found no difficulty in completing all my duties and read as many related articles on domestic violence and sex trafficking as possible. My job succeeded in keeping me awake and energetic, which is a really impressive achievement considering my obsession and super high demand for sleep. I feel lucky that I am working on issues that I am genuinely interested in, and have learned so much on the topic already.

It’s only been three days, NYC and its unique craziness are still slowly unfolding. Despite its fast-pace, stress and weird happenings, I think it’s safe to say I’m falling in love with the city already.