Day 18: Ride

What's the challenge?

To ride a bike around NYC.

What are you afraid of?

I'm afraid of being in danger.

How was the experience?

Note to self #1: do not plan on getting a Citi bike at 5:30pm. Since everybody was leaving their job around that time, there were no bikes left on the racks. I had to walk to 3 locations in order to find the one. When I was finally able to get the bike, I started to ride using only one hand and trying to record myself with the other one, bad idea. Note to self #2: find the right gadget to mount the camera on the bike. At first, I was extremely nervous to go in between cars and pedestrians, mostly passing through Times Square. Note to self #3: avoid Times Square at all times. After a while, I started to feel more and more confident about my riding skills and even enjoyed the ride. I made it! And I might even try it again when the summer arrives.

Day 11: Eat grub

What's the challenge?

To eat street food.

What are you afraid of and why?

For me, being sick is not an option. So I'm afraid of anything that seems unsanitary, sketchy or filthy (first time ever using that word btw).

How was the experience?

I come from a country where eating on the street is a big no-no unless you are very drunk after a party or something. In Venezuela, infected water related diseases are common. So, I basically grew up ignoring street vendors. In New York, street food is very popular and apparently everybody eats it. I've been utterly skeptical about it, but I finally decided to try it and face the fear of getting sick. I went to "The Halal Guys" on 53rd and 6th Ave, according to Foursquare that's the most popular one in the Midtown area. I must admit the food was delicious, super cheap and I didn't feel bad at all afterwards. I'm not going to go crazy over street food but I'll consider it more often than not!

Day 5: Become invisible

What's the challenge?

To ask for money on the street.

What are you afraid of?

Being invisible or going unnoticed. I like attention, I like likes and I like comments. I get noticed, therefore I exist.

How has this fear affected your life so far?

By needing so much attention all the time, I end up doing things to get noticed rather than to satisfy a personal desire. This allows me to get in touch with the outer world by deeply understanding the behavior of people around me, but it distances me from the internal world and the ability to listen to my inner voice.

How was the experience?

Ever since I moved to NY, the homeless has been a conversation subject between me and my husband. We were shocked by the amount of people living on the streets and we felt the need to help. A few months after and a couple bucks less, we practically became immune to homeless people and they became invisible to us.

In an effort to go unnoticed and deal with the feeling for a day (or a couple of hours), I sat down on the subway and on the streets holding a sign asking for money to buy Prada shoes. For the first two hours no one noticed me. At first, I was ashamed to do it, then, it was just uncomfortable and finally, I kind of enjoyed being invisible. For once, I was not running from one place to another worrying to be late for a meeting or checking my phone every 2.5 minutes. I was relaxed looking at the people passing by and getting in touch with my inner self. At the end of the day, I finally got 6 people to donate a dollar each, which I then gave to a person in need.

What will change from now on?

Oded Ezer, the amazing Israeli typographer, once told us that we are not that important and that we shouldn’t take ourselves too seriously. After this experience, I truly understood the meaning of his wise words. I will try to live my life acknowledging this thought because when we become invisible to others we are finally able to look inside and enjoy life as we want to, not as we should.

Day 4: Handle pain

What's the challenge?

To get a piercing.

What are you afraid of?

Pain. For some reason I believe that I feel more pain than the rest of the people. This might just be in my head, but to me this is real; so I try to avoid pain as much as I can. I'm glad my parents pierced my ears when I was born, otherwise this would've been my first holes ever! (I just did the second hole this time).

How has this fear affected your life so far?

I believe that the fear of pain has been more painful than pain itself. Living trying to avoid pain at all costs hasn’t been easy. Not only do I miss out on so many experiences but I waste so much time thinking about the ones I can’t avoid like a dentist visit, a blood test or a vaccine. I’ve been hearing this comment my whole life: Girl, what are you going to do when you get pregnant? And I really have noooo clue! 

How was the experience?

I followed Emily Weiss advice on Refinery29, so I went to this piercing and tattoo parlor in Soho, NY Adorned, which is really cool and has beautiful jewelry (but, very expensive though). I was super excited about the whole experience till the moment came. Everyone told me it wouldn’t hurt and that it was going to be very quick. Well, it wasn’t and it did hurt! Cassi, pulled out a HUGE needle and pierced my ear with no anesthesia whatsoever. It hurt. Then! She had to put the earring in! Whaaaat, the longest 5 minutes of my life! Good news is that I’m glad it’s over and I love my new rose gold pyramid piercing :)

Day 2: Embrace the unknown

What's the challenge?

To eat 3 oysters or more.

What are you afraid of?
I’m afraid of eating things that look, feel or smell disgusting. I try to avoid vomiting as much as possible (I know, pregnancy will not suit me well when the time comes), disgusting textures, flavors, and smells cause me to gag. A lot. In an effort to stay away from that uncomfortable situation, I embrace my safe food area which includes: pizza, mac’n’cheese, crunchy tuna roll, arepas, cereal and delicious looking things without eyes, tentacles or shells.

How has this fear affected your life so far?
This fear of disgust has limit my food choices big time; it has kept me from enjoying trips (San Francisco included), dinner parties and quality time with friends and family. People understand how picky I am so they have to always be careful not to take me to a seafood place or not to cook certain food when they invite me over. I don’t want to be the complicated friend anymore.

How was the experience?
I went to Balthazar for my parents anniversary so I ordered half a dozen of oysters for the first time ever. The challenge was to eat at least 3. It took me a few attempts before I could finally put the first oyster in my mouth. Everyone suggested to swallow the thing, I’m particularly bad a swallowing stuff (I don’t do pills, or shots either). That, of course, didn’t go well, so I immediately gave it back after gagging a few times. In order to complete my challenge I ate back the damn oyster and chewed it all the way… To be honest, it was liberating. I have to admit that I hated (deeply) the texture and even the taste, I still can’t believe people enjoy that, but at least I tried it! I ate another oyster to see if maybe the second time was the charm, it wasn’t. To change things up a bit, instead of going for my 3rd oyster I tried escargot (snail). I can only say it took me around 6 minutes to swallow that one. Equally disgusting. I feel brave I tried those two things I never thought I would; I’m proud of myself and now I can say I don’t like it and YES I’ve tried it.

What advice can you give others with similar fears?
I would say if you don’t want to sound stupid try the thing before saying you don’t like it. I did it, nothing bad happened, you can only feel proud about yourself after you do it.