This edition is a bit long, so you might want to pace yourself. :-\)

11.10.06 – 13.10.06

In short we missed our flight to New York on Wednesday night, so our plans to get there early and hit the ground running on Thursday we scrapped. We were also set back financially as we had to get a hotel room for the night in Jacksonville. Somehow I think we had left Tally too late. My friend came to meet me at 3:30pm instead of the 3pm as planned. Then we had to stop and do some last minute errands before the 2 – 1 ½ hr drive to Jax. We got there in the nick of time, but had a bit of a scramble looking for parking, and catching the shuttle to the airport. By the time we got there the US Airways agent was shaking her head before we even got to the counter. She said there as no way our bags would get through the security check in time for the flight, and that was the last flight for the night. So she placed us on the first flight in the morning. I think it was at 8am with a layover in Washington DC. On the first flight we met Ryan another FAMU student. His face looked barely familiar so I went up and spoke to him. He was our traveling buddy en route to DC. Even though he had an earlier flight to NY from DC we all got there the same time, since there were delays at the airport in landing.

It turned out to be good for him, because I am not sure how he would have gotten to the hotel, since he did not really know the name, nor address not phone number. Anyway we all got the Super Shuttle to the hotel in Chinatown. The hotel was small but in a good location. I got to live in Chinatown. Like the name says I felt I was in China for really. Everywhere there were Chinese people hurrying around, signs and menus had both Chinese and English. I loved every minute of it. The beginning days were very good, each day we took the streets armed with out 7-day unlimited subway pass and some maps. For me it was great being the navigator. And we exercised daily on the subway treadmills, down three million flights of stair and back up.

I must say that the subway system is a great engineering feat with layers of subway under the city of skyscrapers. Amazing, when we went to Penn station that was the most complex to me! We got out the subway and went up to the other level which I thought was the way to the street level, but no…there was yet another level to go up before getting the stairway to the street level. We also seemed to walk like 6 blocks underground. There was a whole other world underground with shops, restaurants, street performers \(break dancers, steelpan men etc.\) and connecting links to get the trains to New Jersey.

We also visited Ground Zero and the nearby church which is still a very emotional place for many. There were photos displayed of the 9/11 events, memorials and other paraphernalia. Some people were in tears just looking at the photos and remembering the ones they lost.  Quite an experience! Though it was a bit tainted when the people around me were in a hurry to leave and go shopping instead of visiting the other sites. Everyone had different priorities for being in NY, most students came to shop and it was evident while some came for research. For many it was their first time to NY, and so they maximized the adventure and came back to the hotel late and tipsy of drunk therefore missing the following day's class activity or getting there late. But hey, to each his own!

We also visited Top of the Rock - at the top of Rockefeller Center for a tour. The view was fantastic, and we were up there from daytime all through sunset and into the night.

14.10.2006

Today was a really long and interesting day in New York which began in Harlem and ended in lost in Little Italy. In the morning we had a guided tour of Harlem which was to last 3-4 hours but ended up lasting until like 4-5pm. I walked all day from 8am when we went for breakfast at Drew's Place. A pretty cool little hole in the wall, we met Jamaal yesterday when we swarmed down on his little establishment. He was the only cook making breakfast for like 16 students who all came in at the same time. So today some of us called in our orders and he had it waiting for us. Great guy, he handled it like a pro…good chef!

So we headed to Harlem and toured. It was pretty interesting. We walked forever then ate some soul food which was priced by the pound. We continued walking until we eventually got around to the largest church in the US the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine. The church was amazing; the architecture is fantastic, and very grand. I have never seen anything like this. We walked around and then left for Riverside Park. The day was really long, and I never got home until around 9:45pm. We had spent from 7:30 waiting, and walking on our way to the hotel.

15.10.2006

Today I wanted to go to church at St. Patrick's; my friend said she would go with me to church. I tried to wake her up all morning to go…she just rolled around in bed and only finally got up around 10:30am when I told her there was a mass at 12 noon \(There was a 7, 8,9, and 10am…missed all\). Eventually when she was finally ready at 11:30 we left to walk to the subway and catch the train. Got mid-town at 12 noon, so I walked fast to get there on time while she dragged behind. Eventually we got there and she said she was gonna wait outside. I knew it was because she wanted to go shopping…after mass she sat outside with her bags. Lol! Anyway, mass was really good and the church was packed with people. After church we visited this park I had to go to called Paley Park. A private park opens to the public. Then we went to another park the guy told us about dedicated to Rockefeller after having brunch. Then we ended up walking on the streets where they had a street market for a good long while. Then we left to go to MoMA \(Museum of Modern Art\) but when we got there it was half hour before they closed so we decided to come back on Monday.

My friends version of the story was we went to church, but she did not feel like doing mass, so she went shopping at H&M \(she was very excited cause everyone who comes to New York goes there to shop\). Then we went to a bunch of parks and finally when we got to the museum where she wanted to go it was too late and closing. Lol! Amazing how stories change, as she did not remember she went shopping in the street market. We just happened to bump into some of the other students. Imagine that in the whole of New York we met up each other. So back to the hotel we headed where we rested for a while and then headed out to get my friend a Louis Viton bag.

So down to Canal Street we walked…then a guy whispered to us... ''Are you looking for handbags?'' She said yes and he walked down and whispered to this lady with a baby. She gave him the baby and walked with us. Down the street she made eye contact with these two guys who got on the phone immediately after. We then went around the corner into a building and up a long flight of stairs, through some corridors and into a room where the guy closed the door behind us. There were three of us, so the other girl took out her mace. Then we realized the guys had called to let them know we were coming. We went into another little room packed with hand bags and she closed the door. Then my friend and the lady started bargaining. They eventually walked out with a Louis Viton travel bag and another handbag. My friend later told me it was illegal for them to sell the bags on the street, cause they were actual brand name bags they got off the truck or something. She said the last time she had witnessed a police bust. I could not believe this, they had me on the street smuggling illegal bags.

At night we met with the lecturers and other students and had dinner at Grand Sichuan. I had the Crispy Whole Fish. That was incredible! The guy brought out a platter with a really big whole fish in a sweet sauce. My table was really cool, with the Jamaican, the Columbian, the Ecuador guy, the Trini and some Americans. We had a good laugh at the days in NY. After dinner we walked back to the hotel together for the first time as a group.

16.10.06

Our second to last day in NY! Everyone else was leaving today, but we were staying on until tomorrow. Today we got up semi-early and headed down to the Van Allen Institute and Battery Park where we toured a bit. Then we made our way back to the hotel for checkout time collected the bags and took a car to Queens at my friend's aunt's house. It was quite a ride to go back to Manhattan from her house. We had to take a bus to catch the subway at the last stop in Queens…back to Manhattan. We ate lunch and visited the Museum of Modern Art which was really good. There was everything from the classical of Picasso to Architecture, Photography, Sculptures and Contemporary installations. We entered this one room and the lights went out, so my friend told me to hurry as they were closing, but as soon as she said that the lights went back on. Then I read the sign on the wall. This was actually a piece in the exhibition. A room where the lights went on and off in 5 second intervals depicting how we experience life; there was another called ''Rope'' where a rope hung from the ceiling to the floor and another called ''Window in a Prison Cell'' you can just guess what that was. Some were very interesting using video and still shot projections. T''was good!

After the museum we walked around 5th Avenue and walked up to Central Park then headed back to Queens. How could we ever know this would be one of the longest nights on the trip? We began the journey back at 9pm and never got to the house until 12:30am. Through a mixture of missing the stop for the connecting train and taking the wrong train, to the train no longer being express stops after 11pm. Yup! The express train which we could have taken which only stops like 11 times was off after 11pm starting today, so we ended up on a local train which stopped at every subway stop from Manhattan through Brooklyn and up to the last stop in Queens approximately 30 stops. Then her uncle met us at the subway and took us to the house.

17.10.06

After the occurrence of last night we were a bit afraid of going to far from the house in order not to get back late and miss the flight yet again. But everything we needed was in Manhattan. I had to make it to the largest camera store in Manhattan. How could I the aspiring photographer come to New York and not go there for supplies. Regardless of my friend not wanting to go…I was anxious to get there, so I got up and left her playing around the house and went to B&H Photo. Wow! The store was very large and had everything you could dream of as a photographer. The store seemed to be run by the Amish community as most of the salesmen were dressed in black with white shirts and had the hat with the long curled sideburns. The supplies I needed for class were definitely cheaper than in Tally-Ho so I was excited. I later met up with my friend downtown when she finally made it there and headed back to the house to go to the airport.

This time we got there on time and the flight was a bit delayed. On a small airbus we made it safely to Jacksonville where we spent the night at a Best Western. My friend had said with us getting in at 10:30pm it would be too late for the 2 1/2hr drive to Tally-Ho. However, we ended up staying up late and talking checking email and watching TV, so when I got up at 5am to drive back I was exhausted and went to sleep in the car. As soon as we got to Tally-Ho I had to go straight to work and then to class, do cleaning chores at my house and a class presentation all up to 7:15pm. A very long day!

Summary:

New York was fantastic! I loved it!!!! Now Tally-Ho is extremely hot. I miss the subway and being cuddled in soft warm clothes and scarves. Hoping Tally-Ho gets cold soon, so I can use my scarves. Oh! Another high point was visiting the Guggenheim Museum where there was an exhibition on the work of Zaha Hadid. Wow! Also visited the Metropolitan Museum which was HUGE! We barely got to see some of the Egyptian and African exhibits before they closed.