Erin Miller

Morir Soñando

Apologies for the Spanish titles, it is just what happens when I start reflecting on my experiences in West Harlem. Whatever you are doing right now, wouldn't it be better with a free iced coffee? Dunkin' Donuts is having Free Iced Coffee Day! In connection with the event, they are also donating 80,000 bucks to the Police Athletic League's Youth Leadership Program. The PAL is the group that shuts down 151st street every weekday during the summer so that kids in West Harlem have somewhere to run and play some hoops. Free Iced Coffee day has helped me work towards one of my goals of enjoying the food of West Harlem and Washington Heights before I take off for the summer. So far I have had a farewell serving of pineapple on a stick, sliced oranges, a cheese empananada, un morir soñando, and free iced coffee that naturally comes with milk and sugar, (I can tell you that very few people in Washington Heights drink their coffee black.) Morir soñando means to die dreaming, which is what would happen if you were hit by a bus while enjoying one of these Dominican beverages made from fresh squeezed juice from two oranges and one lime, a touch of vanilla, chopped ice and evaporated milk -- amazing. I was dressed for work when I bought one from the Dominican man by the laundromat and we started making small talk about the upcoming Dominican elections before he asked in a grandfatherly way if I was married and told me I had a good figure -- I can tell you these morir soñandos will take care of that quick. I wonder how many of them I can get in before beginning my diet of Starbucks for the summer.