New York (finally)!!

Well, my post about my trip to New York is long over due. I've been home nearly a month now and things have been a little chaotic. I had a class that kept me insanely busy for two weeks, then I needed to write my blog posts for the New York class which are boring, academic, and not at all interesting so I'm not going to link you to that blog. Then I tried to cut my finger off, which made typing a might difficult (it still kind of aches and looks disgusting, but I'm dealing).

So here it is! The post you've been waiting for (I'm so sure *sarcasm*): my trip to New York!

Sunday

I got in Saturday evening and spent it sleeping mostly. Sunday I slept in and took my time getting ready so I could take the subway to Times Square to see my first show: "Pippin."

We stayed at the Leo House in Chelsea so it was a really short ride on the subway to Times Square. "Pippin" was the one show I paid full price tickets for in advance. I love (LOVE) musicals, and one of my favorite Broadway singers is Terrence Mann and I had looked up to see if he was in any shows while I was in New York. I saw he was in "Pippin" so I bought tickets. I didn't really know anything about the show before I went and saw it. And it was definitely the best show I saw that week.

I sat down and pretty soon the guy next to me started talking to me and I found out that he and his whole family had come special to see their son who was one of the lead dancers who also understudied for Terrence Mann. I was fan-girling so hard and trying not to show it. He kept leaning over to me during the show and pointing out cool things about the acrobats, the lead player, and some of the choreography (FOSSE!!), which was awesome. I love that kind of stuff.

Monday

Monday was the first day of the class itself. There were groups of school counselors (students and licensed) from schools from Oregon, Florida, Missouri, New York, and even a few students from Turkey. We started the day with just the students from PSU. We were originally going to go to Ellis Island but, alas, it was still closed from damages from Sandy. So, instead, we went to the Native American History Museum which is right next to Battery Park.

After walking around the museum a while, a few of us decided to run to the ferry dock to see if we could catch sight of the Statue of Liberty.

We then hiked up to Wall Street for a quick bite to eat before meeting up with the rest of the groups for orientation, which was a bit of a bust. Our "icebreaker" ended up being a lecture about Dominican faceless dolls which, while interesting, might have been more appropriate with the panel at El Museo de Barrio on Friday.

After the "icebreaker," we had a panel of students from the International High School of Brooklyn come and talk with us. They had some pretty amazing stories and it was neat hearing their perspective as well as hearing about the school itself, which is a pretty unique school.

The classes broke up for a few hours for a dinner break, but a few of us decided to hike out to Ground Zero to see the 9/11 Memorial. It was ridiculously hot. The ground was literally radiating heat we could feel through our shoes.

It was a little bit cooler by the Infinity Pool, but not much. I think the experience might have been a bit more emotionally stimulating if it hadn't been so ridiculously hot. Ugh!

After the memorial, and a quick detour to the waterfront after heading the wrong direction looking for the subway, we made a quick stop to change our sweaty clothes and shower super quick before heading out to see "Crossing the Boulevard," a multimedia presentation of stories of immigrants living in Queens. It was really fun and her book by the same name is full of fascinating stories. This video is about 10 minutes long, but it gives a really good feel of what the show is like.

I took a second shower, and headed to bed.

Tuesday

We spent Tuesday in Harlem. First we spoke to a panel of people who talked about working with African American students in schools. It was interesting, but had a particularly New York point of view.

We had soul food at Sylvias for lunch. It was SOOOO GOOD. I had fried chicken, candied yams, and collard greens. So very good.

After lunch, some of us hiked over to the Apollo Theater, which turned out to be closed. Sad! But, still, we saw it. On our way back, we saw a beautiful mural.

We got a little lost trying to find the Abyssinian Baptist Church, so we got there a little late, but it was very interesting hearing the history and seeing how involved that church is in the community, but we weren't allowed to take pictures. Sad day.

When we were done at the church, some of us headed over to the African Market which was a small market with handmade craft things. I didn't buy anything, but I was sorely tempted a few times.

Wednesday

This was probably the best and most exhausting day of the entire week. I loved (almost) every minute of it.

First thing, we took the subway all the way up to Riverdale then hiked (literally; all up hill with a set of steps that was, like, twice the length of the stairs of death up from the RB at BYU) up to a orthodox synagogue where we heard from Rabbi Steve who was absolutely amazing. He was very open to our questions and made it clear that no question was too odd and was very good at explaining things. He even took out the Torah and read for us the section where Moses comes down off the mountain and finds his people worshiping a golden calf. It was a very unique experience.

We were running a little late because we had so many questions for the rabbi, so we had to book it to the subway so we could get down to the Islam Cultural Center to hear from the imam there. We were able to inhale a piece of pizza before heading into the mosque.

 All the women were asked to cover their heads while inside the mosque out of respect, and everyone was really good about not complaining about it, even though it was really hot. Some of us wore them more gracefully than others. I am obviously new to this.

We then heard from the imam, the religious leader, who was very interesting, if a little bit controversial. Some of the Muslims in our group later explained that he was very, very conservative and that many, if not most, Muslims don't think like him. It was an interesting experience, but sitting on the floor for an hour and a half was a bit uncomfortable.

After grabbing something to eat and a quick shower back at the hotel, I went with the rest of the group to go see "Kinky Boots," show number two of the week. It was really, really great.

 And, even BETTER, we got to have a talk back after the show! It was awesome.

 My boss, Dina, has a friend in the show. If you happen to watch some of the online videos, he's the guy who does a back flip while wearing six inch heels. And he went to BYU! How cool is that? He's the guy in the red shirt, fourth from the left.

I had meant to get him to sign a program for Dina (and, hey, me too), but I totally clammed up. Totally regretting that. But I did get a photo in front of the theater. :)

Thursday

Thursday was another hot, hot day. We started out at the Museum of the Chinese in America. We had a panel, and then we walked around the museum a bit before going on a shortened version of the neighborhood walk.

 Our group broke off and ate lunch from Tasty Dumpling in the park.

 Then we headed into Little Italy for some shopping and gelato. It was so hot that we had to eat our gelato super fast while it melted, making us all feel a little ill.

 After a quick shower at the hotel, I headed out alone to try the lottery for tickets to Book of Mormon: the Musical. I tried twice and didn't get in either time. Nuts.

 However, I did get tickets to "Peter and the Star Catcher" which was a really cute play. Very funny.

Friday

By Friday, all of us were a little wiped. It was super hot and super humid all week and we were all a little the worse for wear.

We started off at El Museo de Barrio in Spanish Harlem, which was totally up my ally. After a panel, we walked around the museum which had some really fun pieces.

 We then took a short neighborhood walk of Spanish Harlem. We stopped at this beautiful mural which, coincidentally, was right next to lunch.

Myself and another girl tried for the Book of Mormon lottery again but didn't make it so, instead, we went back to Chelsea for a dinner of Tapas.

Saturday

I had all day Saturday to myself. I went out early and tried to get rush tickets to Matilda, but they sold out. So, instead, I got in line at TKTS and eventually the lady in front of me convinced me to see "Spiderman: Turn off the Dark." It was pretty ridiculous. The music was loud and fun (BONO!!) but the songs were cheesy even by my standards. But the acrobatics were really cool and having them fly out over the audience was really cool.

I was going to call it a day, but then I called Jesi so she could convince me to go see another show. I caught show number five of the week, "Once." It was pretty, but I hated the ending. Arthur Darvill from Doctor Who played the lead and he was awesome. Everyone played their own instruments on stage, accompanying themselves and sometimes dancing, playing, and singing at the same time! That was cool. Also cool, the set was a pub, and before the show and during intermission, people could go onstage to buy a drink. And then some of the actors came out and played like it was a real pub! How cool is that?

And then it was over. What a week! I obviously had a great (if sweaty) time. Did some great things, saw some fabulous shows, and all in great company. After my week there, I again reaffirmed my belief that I would never want to live in New York City, but being close wouldn't be too bad. If only for Broadway. ;)