The CFR today was more interesting than I imagined it being. I can't pay attention when I just sit there and listen to people talk, but at the CFR it was more of a conversation between us and Mr. Husain. It was a very interesting conversation and I learned a lot about foreign relations.
The CFR was more interesting than I thought it was going to be, however the Intrepid was more boring than I thought it would be. It was cool to look at the stuff that was there, but I would have rather had a tour guide show us around to learn more about the exhibits and the ship. I still thought it was awesome and a great sight to see, I just think that it could have been better.
After the Intrepid we headed into chinatown which I thought was perfect for the world geography class. We got to see a lot of foods, shops, and people from a different culture. Some people even did some shopping.
We had the chance to drive around a little bit before we ate and go see the rockefeller, which I thought was really cool. New York as all these skyscrappers and I was really glad I got to see the view from the top instead of breaking my neck to look up at them all. We even came up with the great idea of put ziplines from building to building. Although I dont think the idea would look as good in real life as it does on paper.
Tonights dinner was really good. Im still debating whether I liked ellen's stardust diner or Sabarros better. My favorite was probably the pizza. Its amazing how common foods like pizza and hot dogs taste so much better than back home. I was really surprised when I got my first hot dog from a street vendor.
After we ate we had one last chance to visit times square and do a little shopping. This was probably my favorite day in times square because we had a lot more time and got the chance to go more places. It was also Friday night so we got to see the square when it was really alive.
Todays driver was the best driver we have had on the trip. Not because the others were bad drivers, but because he interacted with us and had fun with the group. On the way back to the hotel tonight he turned up the music and was playing with the lights inside the bus. The whole group was singing along with the radio. I can say that is the most fun Ive had on a bus.
I really enjoyed this whole trip and Im disappointed that it is already to its end. Ive got the chance to bond with some people from Culver that honestly I probably would have never had more than a few conversations with if it wasnt for this trip. I also got the chance to explore one of America's greatest cities and learn a lot in a few short days.
I want to thank the school for giving us the opportunity to go on this trip, and the proffesors and tour guides for putting up with us students. I hope they had just as much fun as we did these past few days.
Friday, May 4, 2012
New York: Day Three
First off I would just like to say that we had an awesome driver today! He might have scared the living crap out of us by driving so fast but he was super nice and reminded of the New Yorkers you would see on TV. At one point he actually rolled down his window and yelled at people and he would also honk at people. When we were driving back to the hotel he turned the mix up really loud and started flashing the inside lights, it was like having our own little party! Cool!
So besides having a really awesome driver, we visited the Council Foreign Relations or CFR. In the meeting with CFR with spoke with Ed Husain. Mr. Husain specializes in the Islam foreign relations and I learned a great deal about the events that have occurred over the last year in the major Islam areas. It was great to learn the Tunisia actually started the power of over throwing the government. The surrounding countries felt that if Tunisia, a little man, could do it then why couldn't they? While there we were allowed to take books and I actually took three. One is about the education reform in America. Another one is about the drug wars occurring in Mexico. Finally the last book is about the violence in Central America. I look forward to reading all of these books, especially the education one because I believe it will help me with Elementary Education major.
The second place we saw today was the Intrepid. I thought this place would have been interesting then it was. It was interesting only because of the military background I have. Also my uncle is retired Navy so it was cool to take pictures and send them to him. I sent him on of an old missile and he said he actually had the chance to see a real one be blown up. Also, I saw the airplane that Will Smith hit golf balls off during the movie I Am Legend. We started to get hungry and decided to walk across the street and get some food from a street vender. Let me just say this, this is the worst experience I had New York while here. I don't have much to complain because if this is the worst it was for me, then I think I made off pretty well. Anyway the street vendor ended up charging four dollars for a tiny hotdog and five dollars for a bottle of water. It was beyond ridiculous considering I had previously paid four dollars for TWO hotdogs. Needless to say I will never eat at this street vendor again and told all my friends not to eat there as well.
After that angry experience we went to pick up our tour guide and headed over to China Town. If you ever get the chance to come to New York you have to go China Town. It is whole another experience. It smells extremely weird and you feel like you're in foreign country rather than the other way around. I bought a pair of pants for ten dollars in China Town that would have costed 20 dollars in Times Square. DEAL!!!
Before dinner we went and walked around Saint Patricks Church. This is the second biggest church in New York and where Jackie Kennedy attended church when she was younger. Her family even donated a alter to the church which is prohibited from being photographed. : ( We didn't spend much time in here because we were on our way to the Rockefeller Center to go to the top of the rock! I for one did not like the elevator up or down! We had to ride the elevator all the way up to the 67 floor! It was crazy! Once we reached the top it was beyond amazing! It was seeing New York from a whole new persecutive. We could see all the places we had been in the past three days and all the places we hadn't been. We could even see New Jersey. Being at the top of the rock is probably one of my favorite experiences of the trip. Today was defiantly my favorite day of the trip though. Although my the end of the day I was ready to just sit down and stop walking on my feet. I never knew my feet could hurt so bad from this much walking. I have no idea how people do it here.
After the top of the rock we and ate at Mama Sabarro's. It was an Italian buffet, which was delicious! It also provided us with plenty of food to last us the next day also but we weren't able to save any of it. When dinner was done we went and walked around Times Square and had a blast on our last night! I can't wait to return sometime again! New York truly is an awesome place to visit.
So besides having a really awesome driver, we visited the Council Foreign Relations or CFR. In the meeting with CFR with spoke with Ed Husain. Mr. Husain specializes in the Islam foreign relations and I learned a great deal about the events that have occurred over the last year in the major Islam areas. It was great to learn the Tunisia actually started the power of over throwing the government. The surrounding countries felt that if Tunisia, a little man, could do it then why couldn't they? While there we were allowed to take books and I actually took three. One is about the education reform in America. Another one is about the drug wars occurring in Mexico. Finally the last book is about the violence in Central America. I look forward to reading all of these books, especially the education one because I believe it will help me with Elementary Education major.
The second place we saw today was the Intrepid. I thought this place would have been interesting then it was. It was interesting only because of the military background I have. Also my uncle is retired Navy so it was cool to take pictures and send them to him. I sent him on of an old missile and he said he actually had the chance to see a real one be blown up. Also, I saw the airplane that Will Smith hit golf balls off during the movie I Am Legend. We started to get hungry and decided to walk across the street and get some food from a street vender. Let me just say this, this is the worst experience I had New York while here. I don't have much to complain because if this is the worst it was for me, then I think I made off pretty well. Anyway the street vendor ended up charging four dollars for a tiny hotdog and five dollars for a bottle of water. It was beyond ridiculous considering I had previously paid four dollars for TWO hotdogs. Needless to say I will never eat at this street vendor again and told all my friends not to eat there as well.
After that angry experience we went to pick up our tour guide and headed over to China Town. If you ever get the chance to come to New York you have to go China Town. It is whole another experience. It smells extremely weird and you feel like you're in foreign country rather than the other way around. I bought a pair of pants for ten dollars in China Town that would have costed 20 dollars in Times Square. DEAL!!!
Before dinner we went and walked around Saint Patricks Church. This is the second biggest church in New York and where Jackie Kennedy attended church when she was younger. Her family even donated a alter to the church which is prohibited from being photographed. : ( We didn't spend much time in here because we were on our way to the Rockefeller Center to go to the top of the rock! I for one did not like the elevator up or down! We had to ride the elevator all the way up to the 67 floor! It was crazy! Once we reached the top it was beyond amazing! It was seeing New York from a whole new persecutive. We could see all the places we had been in the past three days and all the places we hadn't been. We could even see New Jersey. Being at the top of the rock is probably one of my favorite experiences of the trip. Today was defiantly my favorite day of the trip though. Although my the end of the day I was ready to just sit down and stop walking on my feet. I never knew my feet could hurt so bad from this much walking. I have no idea how people do it here.
After the top of the rock we and ate at Mama Sabarro's. It was an Italian buffet, which was delicious! It also provided us with plenty of food to last us the next day also but we weren't able to save any of it. When dinner was done we went and walked around Times Square and had a blast on our last night! I can't wait to return sometime again! New York truly is an awesome place to visit.
NYC!!!
The first thing we did in NYC today was went to the council of foreign affairs this was a great experience because i really didn't know about this at all and i felt like it was a very important thing that is very under looked by the government. I never knew how big of a problem things affected even us overseas and how even little things change their views about us and our views about them.
The second thing we went to was Saint pa tricks cathedral like all of these it was built in a cross shaped form had many very pretty windows and a huge amount of seating it was also very nice that there was a quite chapel for people to pray behind it all where your not allowed to talk or take pictures.It was a very very nice place.
The last place we went today was Rockefeller it was the best site i have ever seen of the city at the top you could see everything all over the city you could also see new jersey and other things it was very very nice it also gave me a big idea of just how big grand central park was and i really didn't know it was that big it was a great place to take pictures of almost everything in the city.We then wrapped up the day with a few last hours in time square.
The second thing we went to was Saint pa tricks cathedral like all of these it was built in a cross shaped form had many very pretty windows and a huge amount of seating it was also very nice that there was a quite chapel for people to pray behind it all where your not allowed to talk or take pictures.It was a very very nice place.
The last place we went today was Rockefeller it was the best site i have ever seen of the city at the top you could see everything all over the city you could also see new jersey and other things it was very very nice it also gave me a big idea of just how big grand central park was and i really didn't know it was that big it was a great place to take pictures of almost everything in the city.We then wrapped up the day with a few last hours in time square.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
NYC!!!!
Saint Johns cathedral was a awesome place it was built off the number 7 this sounds strange but it is true there is 7 windows, lights, chapels, pillars and many more things. This was truly a welcoming place and a amazing place i never expected it to be that big. The best thing i liked about the cathedral was the biblical garden.This had all the plants mentioned in the bible and it was really really cool.
The second thing we did was went to the Apollo theater this was a very interesting thing i never knew so many people had preformed there and signed the wall. Billy was a great guy with a great story to tell us about his life.
The last thing we did was went on a bike tour through central park i also never knew there were so many things in new York there is so much history that goes with new York seems like every building has a story behind it i never knew that so many people had been there i guess i never really though about it.Everyday New York tends to impress me more and more.
The second thing we did was went to the Apollo theater this was a very interesting thing i never knew so many people had preformed there and signed the wall. Billy was a great guy with a great story to tell us about his life.
The last thing we did was went on a bike tour through central park i also never knew there were so many things in new York there is so much history that goes with new York seems like every building has a story behind it i never knew that so many people had been there i guess i never really though about it.Everyday New York tends to impress me more and more.
NYC Day #2- BAM
Although today was not as close to home as yesterday, today was still a very interesting day.
We started off the day by visiting St. John's Cathedral. This was the favorite part of my day, by far, and a lot of that can be contributed to the fact that our tour guide in the cathedral was phenomenal. I really enjoyed the inviting nature that was emulated by the entire chapel, be it inviting to different religions, or people who focus their lives on different things. The incorporation of important religious symbols and numbers into the physical architecture also caught my attention. Being that I am a huge architecture nerd, I couldn't stop admiring the building, with all of its stone and impressive construction. Seeing the juxtaposition between Gothic and Romanesque styles in the cathedral was symbolic of the fight between good and evil in the world.
Next, we went to the Apollo theatre. This is such an important cultural icon in Harlem, and I am glad that I got to be a part of it for part of a day. Seeing people be passionate about something like that is very inspiring to me.
After the Apollo theatre, we went to the Metropolitan museum. I've never been a very big museum person, but this is the most I've been interested. I really enjoyed seeing all the different styles of art from around the world, and from different time periods. My favorite piece of art was the sounding post used as an alert system in the jungle. In addition to this specific art piece, I was also very intrigued by colors used by many of the artists. I plan to do my senior thesis on color theory and it was very interesting to gather information from a place that I don't know if i'll be abel to visit again before that project comes to a close. Noticing that brown was the most prominently displayed color was a huge help to me in gaining information about color theory from other areas about the world.
We followed that with a Pedi-Cab ride around Central Park, then by dinner at Ellen's Stardust Diner. Finally, we returned to the hotel for another night's rest.
Until next time!
BAM
We started off the day by visiting St. John's Cathedral. This was the favorite part of my day, by far, and a lot of that can be contributed to the fact that our tour guide in the cathedral was phenomenal. I really enjoyed the inviting nature that was emulated by the entire chapel, be it inviting to different religions, or people who focus their lives on different things. The incorporation of important religious symbols and numbers into the physical architecture also caught my attention. Being that I am a huge architecture nerd, I couldn't stop admiring the building, with all of its stone and impressive construction. Seeing the juxtaposition between Gothic and Romanesque styles in the cathedral was symbolic of the fight between good and evil in the world.
Next, we went to the Apollo theatre. This is such an important cultural icon in Harlem, and I am glad that I got to be a part of it for part of a day. Seeing people be passionate about something like that is very inspiring to me.
After the Apollo theatre, we went to the Metropolitan museum. I've never been a very big museum person, but this is the most I've been interested. I really enjoyed seeing all the different styles of art from around the world, and from different time periods. My favorite piece of art was the sounding post used as an alert system in the jungle. In addition to this specific art piece, I was also very intrigued by colors used by many of the artists. I plan to do my senior thesis on color theory and it was very interesting to gather information from a place that I don't know if i'll be abel to visit again before that project comes to a close. Noticing that brown was the most prominently displayed color was a huge help to me in gaining information about color theory from other areas about the world.
We followed that with a Pedi-Cab ride around Central Park, then by dinner at Ellen's Stardust Diner. Finally, we returned to the hotel for another night's rest.
Until next time!
BAM
New York: Second Day
Today we visited a couple different places but my favorite places was the first place we visited, which was Saint John's Cathedral. This cathedral was HUGE!!! The door way alone stood 18 ft by 12 feet and there were two of them! Our tour guide had tons of knowledge on the cathedral which made it even more interesting. Did you know the cathedral is built in two different styles one is Roman and the other was Gothic. The cathedral is unfinished unfortunately : ( Even though people can tour the cathedral they still hold services there. It was also really interested because almost everything in the cathedral can be traced back to the number 7.
The picture above is the gothic part of the cathedral. It probably only represents about 1/4 of the length of the cathedral. Imagine something this HUGE!
Next we went to the Apollo Theatre. I'm not gonna lie this was only sort of interesting. I think it would have been more interesting to see an actual show. It was nice to hear Mr. Billy tell how about he started in the Apollo and has been there off and on for the past 48 years. It was also neat to hear all the stories of all the people he has met. On one of the walls in the theatre every person who has performed there has signed a wall. Seeing the signatures of famous people was pretty cool. I saw Taylor Swifts, 50 cents, and even Barack and Michelle Obama signatures. I'm sure not many people could say that.
After that we went to the metropolitan museum. There are 19 different divisions in the museum but we only had the chance to visit about 4 of them. I think my favorite piece had to be in the Roman era. It had tons of detail and was just overall fascinating. It was tomb stone that had a detailed carving of man and little girl with a sphinx on top. The sphinx was suppose to protect the dead from anything. The detail of the man was suppose to describe the lifestyle he lead. It was my favorite because of the detail and it was spectacular. It seemed as if everything else lacked a little detail, but I still liked visiting the museum. When we left the museum our tour guide, Gene Curran, had a surprise for us and it was a bike ride through Central Park.
Central Park and the tour was great! Our tour guide had great knowledge of the park and he was Russian so it may hard and interesting trying to understand the things he was saying. While in the park we visited Strawberry Field which Yoko Ono Lennon built after John Lennon was shot. It is a dedication to him. A list of countries is on a plaque when you first walk in and all those countries helped contribute to the park. That was pretty cool because its amazing to know this one man had a huge impact and still does on trying to accomplish world peace. It makes you wonder if these people were still around today would we be in all these conflict we are in today or would they have thought of solutions to them?
When we finished with the tours we went to Ellen's Stardust Diner and I will definitely be visiting that restaurant again when I return to New York. It was dinner and show. Wonderful! Be sure to go there if you visit!
Next we went to the Apollo Theatre. I'm not gonna lie this was only sort of interesting. I think it would have been more interesting to see an actual show. It was nice to hear Mr. Billy tell how about he started in the Apollo and has been there off and on for the past 48 years. It was also neat to hear all the stories of all the people he has met. On one of the walls in the theatre every person who has performed there has signed a wall. Seeing the signatures of famous people was pretty cool. I saw Taylor Swifts, 50 cents, and even Barack and Michelle Obama signatures. I'm sure not many people could say that.
After that we went to the metropolitan museum. There are 19 different divisions in the museum but we only had the chance to visit about 4 of them. I think my favorite piece had to be in the Roman era. It had tons of detail and was just overall fascinating. It was tomb stone that had a detailed carving of man and little girl with a sphinx on top. The sphinx was suppose to protect the dead from anything. The detail of the man was suppose to describe the lifestyle he lead. It was my favorite because of the detail and it was spectacular. It seemed as if everything else lacked a little detail, but I still liked visiting the museum. When we left the museum our tour guide, Gene Curran, had a surprise for us and it was a bike ride through Central Park.
Central Park and the tour was great! Our tour guide had great knowledge of the park and he was Russian so it may hard and interesting trying to understand the things he was saying. While in the park we visited Strawberry Field which Yoko Ono Lennon built after John Lennon was shot. It is a dedication to him. A list of countries is on a plaque when you first walk in and all those countries helped contribute to the park. That was pretty cool because its amazing to know this one man had a huge impact and still does on trying to accomplish world peace. It makes you wonder if these people were still around today would we be in all these conflict we are in today or would they have thought of solutions to them?
When we finished with the tours we went to Ellen's Stardust Diner and I will definitely be visiting that restaurant again when I return to New York. It was dinner and show. Wonderful! Be sure to go there if you visit!
Day 2
Today I thought was a lot more exciting than yesterday. Not because yesterday was boring, but because yesterday was more of a day of sadness and a day that really hit home emotionally. Today had more happiness in the sight seeing.
Our first stop was the St. John. Cathedral which was huge. I was surprised with how massive it was. It was an amazing site and the tour guide helped a lot with how much information she knew. My favorite part about that stop was probably the peacock.
Our second stop was the apollo theater. I think that the theater would have been better to see when a show was going on, but it was still cool to see where some very famous have performed. I think that Billy made the tour exciting, with out him the tour would have been very boring.
Central park and the bicycles were my favorite part today. Getting to see the park and get some history at the same time is what made it my favorite part. It was information you can't get by just walking around by yourself. Not only was the park cool, but the buildings around the park were amazing too.
Today was a very fun and exciting. I look forward to tomorrows events.
Our first stop was the St. John. Cathedral which was huge. I was surprised with how massive it was. It was an amazing site and the tour guide helped a lot with how much information she knew. My favorite part about that stop was probably the peacock.
Our second stop was the apollo theater. I think that the theater would have been better to see when a show was going on, but it was still cool to see where some very famous have performed. I think that Billy made the tour exciting, with out him the tour would have been very boring.
Central park and the bicycles were my favorite part today. Getting to see the park and get some history at the same time is what made it my favorite part. It was information you can't get by just walking around by yourself. Not only was the park cool, but the buildings around the park were amazing too.
Today was a very fun and exciting. I look forward to tomorrows events.
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