Last days in New York City!!!!

We are leaving next Saturday and I am realy happy because I visited a lot of places here, in this beautiful city. On top of that, I met a lot of new good people. Today, I am really excited because we will get our course certificates. I feel that all my objectives are done. When I applied for this grant I had different objectives and I could experience them, I share clases in two different high schools here, I met ESL teachers, I learnt a new grammar method and American pronunciation, etc. What is more, I created my own proyect to share with my colleges in Buenos Aires to improve student´s skills. Thanks so much for giving me this great oportunity, so I could get my dream. Thanks Government of Buenos Aires City, Fulbright Commission, Institute of International Education and Saint John´s University, specially, Sue Peterson who is professionally committed with her job and she is allways listening to us.

Bicycle Riding in New York

Rent a bike and experience the bike riding in New York City! Whether you choose Central Park or the coast lines, just get on and ride. On bike you can cover a great amount of distance in relatively short time, plus you get in better shape and do not feel so guilty about the tons of donuts, cheesecake slices and cookies you already ate!

Me and my roommate rented a bike (one for each!) last Saturday morning for almost the whole day. Luckily, it was a beautiful day -sun rays beamed on our faces and filled us with new energy! We chose first to ride downtown along the Hudson, then to go over the Brooklyn bridge, ride around Dumbo, and get back over the Manhattan bridge. Finally, we headed east and rode uptown along the East River till we got back to where we started.

I highly recommend a bike ride if you still find the time! It was a marvelous experience and kept me thinking "I should definitely do this more often in my own town". So, I will probably get a bike when I get back home. :-)
     

A sunny day and the beauty of Central Park, what else can I ask for?

I had been trying to go back to Central Park since the very first day of our trip, but for different reasons I couldn't. However, my lucky changed last Monday. When I woke up and realised that it was going to be a sunny day  and told myself "this is the day", so I went to Central Park.

One of the best decisions I've ever made! It was incredible to feel the sun on my face while walking around the Park. The best part of it was to see children playing with their families and friends in the snow. Some were making snowmen, others were running around and some others were sledding down. It made me very happy to watch and be part of it.

I also visited some of the most important parts of the Park, such as The Beldevere Castle, the Alice in Wonderland sculpture,  the Hans Christian Andersen sculpture and the Balto one. The last one I liked the most because of the animated movie which I've seen tons of times. It's really moving.  

All in all, it was a wonderful experience and I hope I get the time to go at least one more time before I leave. Central Park became one of my favourite spots in New York City!

Two to tour

After a breathtaking view from the top of The Empire State Building, Jose and me decided to land on Staten Island. We grabbed the South Ferry, and we quietly contemplated the voyage all the way at dusk. Then, we caught a train, and got off half-way to take a glance at a picturesque village there. Quite soothing excursion!







Another island I visited was Roosevelt's. I took the funny tram with Vanesa, Mauro, Mariangeles, and Jose. The journey was short but very enjoyable indeed. After arriving, we got on a small bus that gently drove us across the island. Before long, we were making our snowy way by the river to reach the lighthouse. Another lovely outgoing!

A close encounter with Law and Order SVU

First, let me tell you that I'm not the fan  kind of person, but Law and Order is the only TV show I watch on TV and the only reason why I still pay cable TV, my mother and boyfriend are sick and tired of me watching the same episodes over and over. To me, this is the most New York City TV show on TV, even more than Friends. Action takes place on the real streets and even if you have never been in NYC before you can still get to know the city through this show.

So, anyways, last Sunday on our way to the Frick collection (which by the way it's really beautiful inside and outside and you should try to visit during your stay in NYC) on the upper east side, Sabri spotted a pink sign on the streets which announced that Law and Order would be shooting between Madison and 76 st on Tuesday. Sabrina already knows that I'm kind of a Law and Order fan because I even have a mug from the TV show, yes seriously, so she told me and shared the precious information with Dani, who is also my roommate and Law and Order fan.

Me and detective Rollins

So yesterday, when we finished our XWG lesson, we decided to see if we might get lucky and see some action on the set. As soon as we arrived to the streets previously mentioned we could see gigantic RVs and many many frozen young producers who kept going from RV to RV and talking on their speakerphones. It didn't take us a really long time to find out where the the actual shooting was taking place and surprisingly ICE-T said hello to us and we could even take a picture with him!

Ice-T and us

A later later we spotted detective Rollins on the set and she also let us take a picture with her, she asked us where we were from and we she found out we were Argentinians she said: "River or Boca?". She was quite funny and friendly.

So I think this was also a great experience, to actually see how my favorite TV show is filmed and to see the actors and actresses was A W E S O M E. Period. Even though we didn't see Olivia Benson, we do love you Olivia and I'm really sorry for my mother and my boyfriend but more than ever this is the only TV show that I will ever watch on TV.

Finally for those of you who are also Law and Order secret fans let me post the intro video, we all know the melody!

 

The Little Prince

We have been for a while in New York by now. I have been to many places: The Empire State building, several museums, the tram, Queens and more. Moira read an ad in a newspaper about an exhibit where manuscripts from The Little Prince. As it was a new place, Sabrina, Moira and I decided to go. The exhibit was held in The Morgan Library and Museum. Such a magnificent place!! We had the opportunity of seeing not only manuscripts by Saint-Exupery but extraordinary books. Three Gutenberg bibles, many medieval manuscripts, rare books, letters from Mozart and other precious objects are in display. But this is not all. We could delight our ears with an exquisite duo of violin and cello. The atmosphere was intimate and pleasant. The place seemed to be in a forest or the country, far away for the restless city of New York.
I may say that what struck my attention the most was the remarkable building that used to be Morgan residence. Its historical and glamorous office, his wonderful halls and to end with, the most remarkable, amazing and incredible library and have never seen. After visiting this place, I had to redefine my meaning for the word "luxury".

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Train Show

One of the self guided tours suggested to us is the Holiday Train Show at Grand Central Terminal. We went yesterday to Grand Central Terminal and besides enjoying the visit to the terminal, which is awesome, we had a great time watching the miniature trains going about the New York City country side scene and we could even see the Empire State Building with King Kong hanging from its top! Thousands of lights represented the stary night under which the vintage trains ran.