“Ok, so who is going to New York this weekend?”

I don’t know who wrote it first but the question was floating around on TWC students facebook statuses early last week. Columbus Day was coming up, and I was among the interns who wanted to go away for the long holiday weekend. In order to save money, I tried to confirm who was really going to share the price for the hotel room, because I knew that several had the intention but not many had confirmed. I was able to find 3 other TWC students: one from Puerto Rico and two from Mexico. Neither one of them had visited New York City before so I knew they would really enjoy their visit.

It was my second time visiting New York, I had the chance to visit it and represent FAU as a delegate for the National Model United Nations Conference in the spring of 2008, but this time I was not going because of work but for pleasure. The price for the bus ticket was $18 each way and the bus took around 4 hours; it dropped us a few blocks from Times Square on Friday evening.

I recommend planning for a trip like far in advance; I did not. I had a good time in the city as I visited places like the top of the Empire State Building, took the Staten Island Ferry (it's free and it passes by the Statue of Liberty--a good choice since getting to the actual statue is booked until Jan 2010), walked across the Brooklyn Bridge to get a nice view of Manhattan, and of course walked through Canal Street (where Chinatown and Little Italy are located).

Eating at “Caffe Napoli” in Little Italy, from left to right: Cristina, Miralys, myself and Lucero

Another tip is to go around the city with the fewest people. Why? Because people have different paces, some might want to put more emphasis on museums others might want to spend the afternoon watching a Broadway show. I went to all the places I wanted to while knowing that the two girls I was with would appreciate all the locations I wanted to visit. The other girl chose to go on her own (she is a fast walker). I took my time to check both the city and subway maps, and you should too! Therefore I felt more comfortable to go around the city as everyone's unofficial “tour guide”. We took the red double-decker buses that go to city’s attractions, since it allowed us to stay in a location as long as we wanted and later hop on the next bus to continue our tour.

Top of Empire State Building, Manhattan in the background

I enjoyed New York very much this past weekend, but it can be pricey when you do not plan ahead. TWC interns, if you have not had the chance of visiting it you should definitely do it. Why? I think that students who are looking forward to learning through new experiences and who have an opportunity to visit New York City can learn lots from witnessing and taking part of the city’s unique culture--a truly American culture.

On the Staten Island Ferry, Lady Liberty in the background”

An excellent start to my birthday week. I’ll find something to do for the actual day on Friday, and then my family is coming up from south Florida on Saturday (although this Saturday will be one of the two Saturdays I have a “Taste of DC’ class scheduled for the weekend). It will be a little hectic but I’m sure I’ll make it work!

At Federal Hall, where in April 30, 1789 George Washington was inaugurated as the first President of the United States