End of the Week NYC

            Even though our trip this week was extremely fun filled, all good things must come to an end. On Thursday of our trip we visited The Metropolitan Museum and got to see the Brooklyn Bridge. The Met was amazing and I wish we had more time to explore. We could have spent the entire day there and still would have had a hard time viewing everything. We visited the American Wing that had artifacts and paintings from the earliest times of Native American Settlers and Thomas Cole. I found it intriguing that Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage donated a lot of these artifacts as gifts to the Metropolitan Museum. Some of her gifts that I saw were a green armchair, a Firescreen, and a Bureau Table. The Oxbow by Thomas Cole was a gorgeous painting as well, one of my favorites as seen before.  Cole believed that you had to have a good hand on nature to create a significant studio painting. My favorite painting that I saw at the museum was titled In the Laboratory by Henry Alexander. This was one of my favorite paintings because Alexander showed a man hard a work in his setting making what seems to be medicine or some sort of potion, I believe its important to show a working man in a portrait because many landscape paintings portray beauty, not everything is beauteous in society so it is almost like living a fantasy as opposed to a working man which is extremely popular because you need to work for everything you want. After seeing everything assigned I fortunately got to visit the fashion and costume exhibits. There was a lot to see including both high-end fashion and affordable fashion. My favorite part was looking at all of the elegant gowns seeing how I’m obsessed with prom and still wish I was able to attend.

            After leaving the Met we traveled to the Brooklyn Bridge, which wasn’t as appealing as I thought it would be. There was a lot of construction taking place that blocked the beauty of the bridge. I don’t know why I was expecting more when coming to the bridge but I was a tad disappointed with our visit.

            Friday was departing day. I was sad to leave the city but happy to never have to stay in a dorm again. Today we got to see Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. Both two amazing places that I would probably never see if going on my own. I got to see some documents of those who came over to America from Europe and other parts of the world. The Statue of Liberty was outstanding and as perfect as I thought it would be. I am so thankful for all of the trips we got to go on because most likely I would not get to experience all of this stuff ever in my lifetime if traveling to the city alone or with friends. I learned so much and got to do so much in so little time this experience was seriously once in a lifetime. I can’t wait to go back soon to show my mom and my nana how to use the subway system and all of the cool buildings and tours we did along the way.

6/14-6/17

            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.

Departing for New York

            On our journey down to the wonderful New York City we made a few stops along the way. We visited Philipsburg Manor and Sunnyside. Philipsburg Manor is a working farm where a lot of trade took place. My favorite part of the tour was learning about slavery and what a typical day consisted of. Slaves were self-efficient and prepared food for themselves and their owners. Our tour guide really made it easy to enjoy and understand what life were like in the late 1600’s, early 1700’s. I enjoyed learning how they churned butter and the demonstration our tour guide gave us. It consisted of a rhythm motion that lasted for 30-minute intervals. It was extremely tiring which could be why you were considered a senior citizen by the age of 40. There was work other than slavery that took place on the manor as well. There was gristmill work, medicine work, and farming work that all played significant roles during this time period. Everyone was severely hard working during this time period and the work seemed really long and tedious. I am thankful for those who came before me to improve technology to where it is today. After leaving Philipsburg Manor we traveled to Washington Irving’s home known as Sunnyside. When we arrived Sunnyside reminded me much of Olana. The landscape was shaped to show the beautiful river as approaching Irving’s home before seeing the house itself. Irving’s home looked cozy but seemed small for all of the people that stayed there. He was accompanied by his brother and five nieces, four of which attended Emma Willard. I found that interesting because Emma Willard is right by my house in Troy. It’s hard to believe that troy was such a wealthy and prominent city that famous author’s nieces would go to school there. Overall today was a good day but I was eager and anxious to get to the city which I felt got in the way of the stops we made prior to New York.

LAST DAY IN NEWBURGH

            Today was one of my favorite house tours thus far. We toured Val Kill, Vanderbilt Mansion, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s house. I was actually extremely fascinated when it came to learning about Eleanor Roosevelt. She was the definition of a woman of influence. She was the first, first lady to use her power to influence others and change the meaning of being a first lady. Although both of her parents died at such a young age she was still driven to make a difference and make herself known. I really admired her love for people. She wanted to make sure everyone was treated equally regardless of their gender, skin color, etc. Val Kill was more on the cozy side rather than extravagant, which gave me a feel on Eleanor’s style as a person. It showed what was actually important to her rather than something to show off for her guests.

            My favorite home though, out of everything we saw so far in the program was Vanderbilt’s Mansion. Everything in the home was big and beautiful. Frederick William Vanderbilt was the grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt. He received the least amount of his siblings but turned it into 78 million dollars worth of revenue. Vanderbilt’s wife Louise had my favorite room of the house. She had a gate surrounding her bed mocking Marie Antoinette’s birthing rail to make sure the baby was delivered safely.

            Finally we visited FDR”s home which was also very nice inside and out. My favorite part about his home was the garden. Franklin, Eleanor and their dogs were all buried in the garden next to their home. I loved learning about FDR”s struggle with Polio. He had a special car that he could completely drive with his hands forgetting that Polio was even an issue. This car also contained a cigarette dispenser, which is rare to see in anyone’s car. Today was an eventful day, I learned a lot and was very intrigued yet excited to get home after a long week.