Over
the past few days we’ve been extremely from sun up to sun down. The city is an
interesting place and I’ve been enjoying everything possible so far this week.
On Sunday, our first full day of being here we were let loose to run around the
entire town of Manhattan on a scavenger hunt to learn the subway system.
Luckily for us we met a nice garbage man that helped us put all of the stops in
a good chronological sequence. The sequence made it easier along the way so
that we weren’t running around in circles repeating grounds that we already
covered. At the end of the hunt I felt very accomplished and it was followed by
a rather pleasant surprise. We got to go inside of the Freedom Tower, which was
an experience from the minute we walked through the door. Once we got to the
top of an exhilarating elevator ride we came across amazing views of the city
that you wouldn’t see anywhere else.
On
Monday we took a ferry ride around Ellis Island where I got to see the Statue
of Liberty for the first time in my life. It was as beautiful as I could
imagine and got me really looking forward to Friday. We then traveled to the
National Museum of the American Indian. The exhibits were all very interesting
but my favorite was Glittering World. The jewelry was hand made by the Yazzie
family and still continues to be made today. Jewelry was expressed as a form of
art. The most common color of jewelry used was turquoise. I learned that the
color turquoise represents friendship and acceptance. The Navajo people used it
when accepting you into their people. The color was often used during prayer
rituals, and still remains on a lot of the jewelry made today.
On
Tuesday we went to one of the places I was dreading the most, China Town. Last
time I visited China Town I had an awful experience. I felt that everyone was
too pushy and everything you could buy was junk. The walking tour of China Town
was actually really cool and I learned a lot about the area that I did not know
about before. We came across a tiny park where much of the Chinese community
gathers to talk, workout, gamble, play cards and more. I didn’t like the park
because I felt like a outsider. My favorite part of the walk was called the
bloody angle. At this point in the road you could be walking then the next
minute you were no where in sight. This is where a lot of gang violence took
place and it was scary to think about living there during that time period. We
also traveled to the Tenement Museum later on during the day where I saw what a
typical house structure consisted of and a family’s daily routine that lived
there. The houses were often five stories high, with 4 apartments per each
floor, with three rooms in each apartment. As you could guess that doesn’t make
much room to raise a family and everything and everyone was crowded, It was
very hot in the tenement because they did not have air conditioning. With the
amount of people living in one building there was a plethora of safety hazards
but during the rise of tenement housing there was no rules set into place so
many people suffered illnesses. Later that evening, I saw my first show ever on
Broadway. The girls and I saw Matilda and it was very cute enjoyable. I liked
seeing Matilda because I had a slight background of what the play was going to
be about based off of the movie, which was one of my favorites growing up.
Yesterday,
we enjoyed the first day in a while of the nice weather we had and toured
Central Park. The park is absolutely beautiful and had many things to do. We
walked for hours and still probably didn’t even cover half of it. If I lived in
the city I would love to run in there and see all of my pretty surroundings. My
favorite part about the park was the castle. I also enjoyed see the Cathedral
of Saint John the Divine. It is the largest gothic church in the entire country
and I’m sure many people have not seen it on just their average city trip. The
church was beautiful inside and out but I almost thought it was too big. I
didn’t appreciate the apartments being built right next to the church either
because it takes away from the beauty of the cathedral. So far the city has been great and I am
looking forward to seeing exhibits in the Metropolitan Museum and walking the
Brooklyn Bridge tomorrow.
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