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.

White Washington

Last Friday a group of us travelled to Philadelphia, Washington and Baltimore. It was an enriching experience despite of the weather and the snow. Not only did we see beautiful white landscapes but we also learnt many american history facts. Although we didn't spend so much time in each place, we could enjoy the most significant landmarks from each city. I was really impressed by the Smithsonian`s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, specially the galleries about the Apollo space program and  the Wright brothers. I wish I could come back to Washington in summer in order to admire its great gardens and parks.

When in BA...

I love integrating technology in my teaching. Therefore, this post is about the new sites I've become familiar with in the different technology toolkits, and that I'm planning to use back in BA. 

First of all, there's Weebly.  This is a site which allows you to create your own webpage, in an easy, friendly manner. I find this site really useful, not only to use with my students, but also with colleagues or as a personal site. Secondly, I fell in love with Quizlet. There's a lot of theory that supports games and playing as effective ways of fostering learning. Yet, not many teachers make their students play. Well, I find Quizlet just perfect for making some teachers change their minds... Finally, last week I had the chance to explore Voicethread in depth. Even though I knew this site, I'd never had the chance to get to know all its potential as a collaborative tool.  

So far, these are three sites I'm looking forward to trying with my students, and I can't wait to see what we'll learn in our next technology toolkit class.   

Sitting in on The International High School

Two weeks ago, we visited La Guardia International High School. Due to the bad weather conditions, we arrived a bit late. Thus, we were only able to sit in on three classes instead of four, as it had been planned. The second class I observed was called "Spoken Word". Now, I'll come clean: I stayed in this class longer than expected, so I never sat in on the third class! The thing is that it was so fascinating to see all these students, whose L1 is not English, so engaged in the task. 

In the "Spoken Word" class, the teacher makes students listen to a song or read something, and then she chooses an extract or phrase to trigger students' free writing. All of them must write. Afterwards, some students share their productions with the whole class. As this is free writing, there are neither right nor wrong interpretations, and I just love this! It is an engaging task, no one feels ashamed to share their work and on top of everything, all students are required to use English. 

In the teachers' exchange after this school observation, some of us agreed on the fact that these students are intrinsically motivated to learn and use English, because they need it for immediate communication purposes. We consequently believe that this is why they responded so well in class. But to me, another key factor was the task and the project that task was part of. Once again, PBL seems to be working just fine :)      

The sign at the entrance

A mural made by the students in the "Spoken Word" class

beer tasting in Cincinnati, Ohio

This weekend I'm in Cincinnati, Ohio.
This is such a tiny city compared to NY! Yet, it's still charming. And I think it is important to be able to enjoy the beauty of all kinds of cities.
I went to a brewery where they serve you

the same beer they make. It was a fun experience, it reminded me of a the movie "drinking buddies". We don't have something like this (I think) in Argentina, I mean, places where you can drink the bear right from where they make it.  I think this is kind of fun and they told me it's the "new thing", but it is actually  something that goes back to the times before prohibition. Apparently, beer brewing in Cincinnati was big at those times. I'm glad it's recovering.

Here's Golden Ale, English Mild Ale, India Pale Ale, Porter...
Enjoy your beer!

On dogs...

On one of the rides to university a blind man got on the train accompanied by his guide dog.Although I had not seen a guide dog for a long ,long time that didn't seem as anything unusual as guide dogs can ride trains and buses for obvious reasons.What did catch my attention and struck me as a cultural difference was to see other dogs riding the train with their owners!Dogs are not allowed in public transport in Argentina unless their are carried in specially designed cage,or kennel.These dogs I am talking about where in the train with just a leash and they where moving about commuters' legs and feet while their owners were calling them sweet names and pampering then as if they did not see the rest of us commuters! I personally think it is a bit dangerous to have a dog in a crowded train car without a muzzle. Dogs are nice loyal pets but they are their owners ' pets not the rest of the world' s pets and it is a fact that they have teeth....what would have happened if those two dogs I saw in two different ocassions would have gotten angry or frightened??? I don't intend to judge or critize here I am just suprised at this cultural difference I encountered while commuting in the 1 line!

FAO SCHWARZ

Last Monday, I went to FAO Schwarz. It is a MUST SEE in New York City. My roomie, Lucia suggested to all of us to go there. It is a wonderful place for kids and adults.It is a toy world. I did not imagine so much place like that. So, now I recommend that place to visit and to buy some toys, of course!

Grammar and Phonology toolkits

On this blog post I will talk about two of my classes, and teachers, at St John's. I will focus on the grammar and the phonology toolkits.Why these two? Because for me they present new ideas and new ways of looking at such important issues as Grammar and Phonology. Tamara is so passionate that is impossible not to vibe with her!I had never before heard of X-word Grammar and I love the idea of it. Deep down in my heart I have always dreamed of some kind of simplified way of teaching the basis of the English language.Being older than the rest of my fellow scholarship patterns I learned English through grammar and in my days grammar was not a bad word. Then methodology changed, improved, got reviewed and grammar became the cinderella of the English classroom. With Tamara's x-word grammar I find hope for the teaching of grammar in the classroom. As I wrote to her in my Dear Tamara letter I believe there is a new door opening for the implementation of grammar in a fun, attractive and communicative way in the classroom. The phonology toolkit is another great discovery and experience. Joyce is so musical, so rhytmical that it is impossible not to want to deal with phonology and suprasegmentals in my classes back home! I am totally convinced, as she is, that not getting the right rythm and the right stressing makes non native speakers hard, and sometimes, impossible, to understand by native English speakers. And it is very frustrating to be using the right words, the right sentence structure and yet not being understood! I have heard plenty of stories of that sort narrated by adult learners after a trip to the States! So why put all the effort and work on teaching words, structures, verb tenses without teaching the melody of the language, the chunking and the correct lengthening of the vowels????? I am going back home to Argentina with an important toolkit for my classes.Together with my rubber bands, my maracas and my kabooze I am carrying my 20 x words plus the 3 hidden ones and a lot of fresh air and new ideas to implement. What is more, I am carrying in my heart the warmth of two great teachers: Tamara and Joyce. This is my homage to both of them. Thank you!

The Tenement Museum - or “The Time Machine” as it should be called.

Sometimes having no expectations proves to be the smartest thing you could do. I had never heard of the Tenement Museum before and did not know what to expect. Now I understand why Shae had said it was one of his favorite places in New York City. Before the visit, I tried googling it, but still I was not too sure what it was all about. So I decided to go with an open mind and let it surprise me. Boy, was I surprised.

This is not your traditional museum. As soon as you cross the door, you step into a time machine that takes you to an 1870’s German beer saloon, a kosher butcher’s, an auctioneer and an undergarment store. All throughout the visit, you can feel what the place must have been like. You can sit at the table in the saloon, visit the kitchen and interact with the different objects from that time. You can listen to stories from the people who walked those rooms, who drank at those bars, who sold at those stores.

Coming from an immigrant family (like most of us), I could truly connect with the stories we were presented. In fact, one of the immigrant boys who once lived at 97 Orchard St was a delivery boy for his parents’ business, just like my uncle, who delivered pasta on his bike to help his family make ends meet.

Both Buenos Aires and New York share an immigrant past, hard stories of exile, of broken families, of new opportunities, of a new life. It certainly changed the way I see this city now.

Crossing Staten Island!

Last Saturday some of my peers and I decided to venture into the coldness of Staten Island. We took the 1 subway to South Ferry, bearing in mind that we had to travel in one of the first five coaches in order to be able to get off the train. So if anyone is planning to go, jot that down!
So we took the ferry. As the sun was shining, it wasn't really that cold, but maybe we've just got used to it! We were able to get some lovely sights: Manhattan Island, the Statue of Liberty, some of the bridges, etc.

When we finally got to the Island, a very kind policeman advised us to take the train (not the subway, but the regular one!), so as to get to see the landscape. Moreover, we would be able to reach the end of the island. And he also suggested getting off at New Dorp, a station surrounded by restaurants and bakeries. So we followed his plan: we got to Totenville station, the very last one, and got a nice sight of New Jersey. Afterwards, we got the train again to New Dorp, and there we had the best pizza ever! Finally, we took the ferry back to Manhattan. In spite of the cold, we had an unforgettable trip. So, no regrets!

A little bit of history...

Last Friday, we went to the Tenement Museum in "Little Germany" (I love all these names for the different neighborhoods!) What an experience!! I enjoyed it a lot since not only did we learn about the history behind the building but also about the people who lived there through time. Our guide knew a lot and she was really nice, we could asked her about anything we wanted to know and most of the time no questions were needed because her explanations were more than clear. I would have liked to visit the apartments above the bar but I think I will go back to check that out on my own. 

It was surprising how the museum incorporated technology with their interactive boards and objects. The history behind each of the objects shown was incredible. I loved it!! Thank you for granting us the opportunity to get to know about immigrants in New York City!

Couple of great days and the real gospel experience

Choosing the topic for this entry has been quite difficult. The last few days have been fantastic for me, ever since our great visit to the Tenement Museum, I have experienced many great things in NYC, but I have to say that the most fantastic experience that I have had so far (even considering the last time I was here in NYC) was attending Shirley Caesar's concert at the legendary Apollo Theater.

A very nice lady who let me take a picture of her awesome outfit

Me after the concert Yeiiiii!

There are no words to describe such an amazing experience. I was, I still am, absolutely fascinated. Let me tell you how we found out about this, one of us brought the newspaper on Saturday morning and told us about the exciting news that there would be a free gospel concert in Harlem, immediately some us registered online to get in the wait list and we just hoped for the opportunity to get in. Fortunately, on Sunday some of my classmates were at the Apollo just in time for waiting in line, as time went by more and more people joined the line hoping that they would have the chance of listening to Shirley.

Since the very beginning I started waiting in line, I realized that this was a highly important event for the African American community, as many families and friends gathered in their best outfits. There are really no words to describe Shirley's concert, there was such a powerful energy inside the Apollo theater! Most of the people sang, danced (even older people with canes) and just let the magnificent music go through them. I can honestly say that this has been one of my favorite moments. Ever.

Finally I would like you to watch a video of Shirley Caesar, isn't she amaaaaaaazing?

We saw a statue of Jose de San Martin in Central Park!!! What an honour to to see the Father of Latin American countries' Independence being remembered here in NYC!!!

Natural History Museum, same as in the movies

 Last Sunday, Karina and I decided to go to the Natural History Museum. As it was cold and about to snow, this seemed to be a good plan. We waked across the central park to get there. It was amazing how the children were enjoying themselves, playing with the snow. Besides, the park looked gorgeous all covered in white, we also played like the children and started to walk through the slippy and hard snow, it was really funny when we almost fell down. After spending half an hour to walk only three blocks, we got to the museum. When we entered and I saw the giant elephants in the first gallery we stepped into, I instantly remembered the movie "Night at the Museum" and this happened again and again thorough the visit.
 I found the museum brilliant! everything there was appealing and educative as well: the enormous whale, the dinosaurs, the ocean life gallery!! and of course the birds section too since Argentinian Birds from "Los Andes" and "La Pampa" were exhibited there! The same with South American People where indians from Argentinian Regions "Patagonia" and "Chaco" were shown.
 Of course, there are still things I would like to see there, I hope to be able to go back before leaving the city!

 Last Saturday Sabrina, Eli and I decided to go sightseeing once again. We have a "must see" list (which we do not normally respect!) so we knew where we wanted to go. As we have been planning to take some pictures at the LOVE sculpture on the Ave of the Americas since we arrived, we decided to go there first so as not to get distracted and finally make it. (Though the sales/clearance signs at shop windows made us take longer to arrive, we managed to get to this site this time!)

Gospel. That was all we wanted!

Thanks to one of our classmates who has looked for and shared the information, last Sunday we went to the  Apollo Theater’s 80^th Anniversary celebration at Open House Weekend. We signed up for the wait list because all the tickets were sold out. We only knew that the Gospel music we were interested in listening to   started at 5 pm. and that we should be there by 4 pm to wait in the standby line. While we were waiting outside the theater, it became darker and colder and it soon started to snow. And still we didn't even know if such a suffering and effort would have a reward because it was almost impossible to enter due to the line of those who had bought the tickets was almost 3 blocks long!   

We prayed to God, and we finally got in and sat down. People shouting "Aleluya" and "Yeah, man" became crazy when Shirley Caesar appeared on stage. We really enjoyed being immerse in their celebration as if we were some of them. It was a pity we couldn't take photos inside but it would have been great to show you how we danced and waved our arms getting swept up in their way of  celebrating their own Faith. 

Now, thanks to Google, I know that Shirley Caesar is a very famous American Gospel music singer and songwriter who has received many awards and who was known as the "First Lady of Gospel Music".

Discovering New York !!

During the second week of my staying in the city I started enjoying its wonderful sights and views !!!Visiting the MOMA  "Museum of Modern Art " and the MET "The Metropolitan Museum' was an outstanding experience because I could have the chance to appreciate the magical views there and relax watching the Endless movie with a soft music !
Walking trough some of the wings at The Met Museum took me to different times and Universal cultures !
I was also fascinated at The Smithonian Museum of  American Indians because I was surprised to see that Indians who used to live and ' still survive "in the lands of my country were represented here !
The highlight of my third week in New York city was that I went with three of my partners to see the best Musical of the year !! Kinky Boots !,there are no words to describe my feelings about this Musical !!!...
Going to" La Guardia Community College" helped us to have concrete and relevant material concerning "a real class setting in NY city "

Amazing life stories uncovered under tons of layers of paint and in cozy but cramped rooms

I´m so glad Shea took us last Friday to see the Tenement Musseum in the Lower East side of Manhattan.
I really liked this experience: a hictoric old building and a knowledgeable guide who told us memorable stories about a big and close knit German community living in the neighbordood in the 1860s.

This is the Schneder's small bar. We learnt the important social role this place played in people´s lives in those times. It was more than a bar back then. In this part of the building we did a role play:  each of us played the role of  of one of the many people who usually attended the bar. We had to walk around the place and talk to each other in order to find the way to trade or barter our services with one another. It was a vey interesting and engaging activity!

In the same apartment we also saw the Schneider's small but homey bedroom. Some of us confessed we live or had lived in a flat smaller than this bedroom!

I´d love to go back and see the rest of the rooms open to the public! I won´t leave NYC without returning to this museum!

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Saturday at Staten Island

Yesterday morning, Lucia, Anahid, Melina, Pablo and I decided to take the ferry to Staten Island. Best decision ever!! 
It was a cold experience to be on board of the John F Kennedy, but to see Lady Liberty from the ferry was incredible. She looked so small from the distance and that really caught my attention. Once there we asked some police officer about which bus we should take to travel around the island. He was very kind to tell us that the best option was the train since it travels all across the island and at the end of its journey you can see New Jersey on the other side. Another officer told us about New Dorp, one of the train stop where you can choose among different places to eat. 
We took the train to Tottenville(last stop) and when we started to walk around I could not believe what I was seeing. Such beautiful houses; some new, others old and some others a little bit neglected as regards their appearance. The place was so quiet that we could only hear ourselves. If I could choose on a place where to spend some time just to rest, it would be Tottenville in Staten Island.
I almost forget!! We had the best pizza at Villa Monte, a cozy place in New Dorp. Totally recommendable!! 

I won the lottery!

Yeah, I won Broadway lottery! Last Wednesday, Moira, Romina S., Jose, and me, took a chance on Kinky Boots Musical at Al Hirschfeld Theatre, and we got the tickets! We arrived two hours and a half before the show started, wrote down our names, and after 30 mins, the raffle began. 'From B.A., Argentina, Jose...', the lady with the magic box shouted at the crowd. What a moment! A while later, we heard: 'From B.A., Argentina, Leonardo...', the raffle woman called out loud. What a moment, again! We had made it, two tickets each at a bargain price. And what can I say about the play? I couldn't believe my eyes or ears -best musical 2013. The performances, the dialogues, the choreography, the lyrics, were all terrific. Some of Cindy Lauper's songs moved me to tears.

Snow and Natural History

Last Monday campus was closed because of the heavy snow storm. Therefore, I decided to go to the Natural History Museum, even though the weather was so horrible that staying at the residence seemed like the normal thing to do. But I didn't care. I mustered courage and walked a few blocks until I entered the place. (Here's a picture of me in the snow storm, right before entering the building).

I loved the sea animals part. Especially the blue whale and the squid and the whale diorama (which reminded me of a movie I like very much, which is precisely called The Squid and the Whale because the main character, a kid, used to visit this museum with his family).
Some parts I think I couldn't appreciate so much because there was too much information everywhere, i.g., the Universe Hall had information overdose, but that's OK, because, if you take your time, you can get to learn so many things, not just natural science, but even paleoanthropology.
But, all in all, I think this museum is a wonderful museum.
Also, I took a picture of the sign advertising the consumption of tap water instead of bottled one, which I found so cool.

A New York moment

This morning I took the 1 line at 86th St as usual. I got off at the 72nd to take the express line downtown, again, as usual. But before I could hop back on the 1 line --its doors were already closed-- I realized the express train was not going anywhere.
At first I did not quite understand what was going on. I thought someone might be blocking the door, which usually happens, but there was way too much screaming for that. I approached the conductor (yes, that person whose voice you hear on the speaker saying things like "please stay away from the door" and sometimes, if you're lucky, "have a pleasant Monday"). He was leaning out the window and explaining to a lady what the situation was: "They're complaining about a passenger. I can't get in to check because it's too crowded. I called the police so we're waiting for them now"
The police? NYPD? What a subway ride! I can't say I wasn't upset about the delay, but this compensated for the whole thing. I was about to see "New York's cops" at work! It didn't take long for the police to arrive. One officer got into the train and came out empty handed. "So now she's quite!" Someone complained. The police officer approached the conductor who explained the situation once again. However, they were soon interrupted by the passengers complaining again, this time shouting: "Get off! Get Off!" while hitting the car walls. This time the police officer went in and came out with the lady in question, who was swearing in a way I'd never seen before. She tried to get back on the train but they didn't let her, so she walked away and took the 1 train which had just reached the station. The doors closed on her while she was still using the f-word as loud as possible.
It was amazing! I learned new words (car, for the subway wagon, and conductor), I complained along with the rest of the New yorker commuters (although secretly delighted by the experience) and was only 5 minutes late for classes. It was worthy it!

Vincent in the Met

Vincent Van Gogh is one of the best known post-impressionist painters in the world, famous for both his style and specific themes in painting. His works include self-portraits, landscapes, still lifes, portraits of other people and paintings of cypresses, wheat fields, water-colour flowers and sunflowers.

In my opinion, some of his works are simply beautiful, but others are bold and defying, exposing things that might not have been especially "beautiful" or "worth portraying" for his time. And this is the case of the depiction of farmers working in the fields or doing house chores or a pair of old, used boots. Some people might find it difficult to find the beauty in these themes, but I think they represent very profound feelings: tough life during his times, the life of the everyday hard-working man and woman.



 

Last Friday many of us went to the Met. I`ve never been to this museun before and didn`t know how huge it was. Eventhough I`m not a big fan of visiting museums and spending long hours in them, I was surprisingly entertained during the whole time. Fortunately, Shea could come with us which made everything easier!!!     I left the museum with a nice feeling! This is a picture we had taken so everybody could be in it!!

 

To the Brookling bridge and beyond!

Even though our third week in NY has just started, I wanted to share what my roomie and I have done last weekend! We were interested in going to Brookling. At noon, we walked across the Brookling bridge and we could get the best Manhattan views! Then, we started walking by Brookling Heights which is a very picturesque neighborhood. It made me feel as if I were in an American movie! I couldn´t stop imagining which ones of those houses were the ones where Goody Allen, Eddie Murphy or Barbara Streisand were born. After a while we took a bus and we visited Prospect Park because we had read that it was designed and constructed by the same people who designed the Central Park: Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux, Once we started walking around the park, we started doubting which one was bigger or more beautiful. We found countless trees, a zoo, two ice rinks, a carousel and frozen lakes! It was getting cold and dark, and . However, my adventurous roomie wanted to walked on the lake´s frozen water! I had a glance and I could only see some ducks remaining there. Although I was quite afraid of dying while trying, I decided to take the risk and have fun! And it was worth it!!!! 

Love...love...love everywhere!

During my second week in NY I went to many interesting places. I walked a lot and I was delighted more than I expected. I have done so many different things that it seems to me that I have been here since a lot of time. I love the idea of walking in Manhattan without knowing which is the name of the following street! The only way I perfectly know is the one to come back to the residence from the campus! 

But if I have to choose one of the places I liked most, I would say that it was the Central Grand Station. To tell you the truth, I was guided by my roommate Romina, who was the one that wanted to go there. I thought that it was like a common train station, but bigger than the rest. It was Saturday afternoon and it was snowing, so I thought it would be a good idea to keep us warm and safe. As soon as we were arriving to the entrance hall I could understand the reasons why my roomie insistently wanted to spend time there. Apart from being huge, its building is really picturesque. In the main hall there are stunning marble stairs, a four-face brass clock just in the center of it, tickets booth and ceiling painted as if it was a sky. 

There were many couples dressed up as if they were getting married and I didn´t understand why! Then, I discovered that there was a whispering gallery that makes it a really romantic place! When two people stand at diagonal arches and whisper, they can hear each other´s voices from across the way. And it really famous for murmured marriage proposals! I loved it!!!!! 

Museums Season

In the past two weeks, I've already visited four of the best museums this city has to offer: the National Museum of the American Indian, the National Museum of Natural History, the MoMA and the Met. As writing about each one of them would be a so much, I'm just going to mention the things I enjoyed the most in each of them.

What I loved about the NMNH was the exhibition in the planetarium called "Dark Universe". It was really like taking a journey in outter space, and I learned a lot, too. I've always been interested in the universe, I even have a telescope! So I truly enjoyed the show. 








Then at the NMAI I was able to see a statue that I'd seen in the movie "Black Swam", and which I really like. I know it's a bit scary, but I also think it's misterious and intriguing. 










Finally, what I loved about the two art museums was the fact of being able to actually see the paintings of artists I consider so great. At the Met, for instance, I took a picture next to Van Gogh's most famous self-portrait. And at the MoMA, the paintings of Frida, Andy Warhol, Picasso and Monet, among others, were truly amazing. Being in front of all those masterpieces was astonishing. I couldn't believe my eyes! 

Let's Go Knicks!!

Last Tuesday I went with Karina, Brenda and Romina to Madison Square Garden to watch NBA basketball game: NY Knicks vs Boston Celtics. It was amazing and the place incredible, better than I expected. The game was really interesting with many shows going on in between. I really enjoyed it. When I was there, I couldn't avoid comparing it with one of our football matches but I noticed that even though American people are as enthusiastic as argentinian, we tend to shout and swear quite more. 
 At the end of the match, an argentinian player (Prigioni) entered the game but we didn't realize it at first. We felt very proud when he scored!!
 All in all, it was a great show and we brought good luck to the knicks because they won!!!

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Last Friday, I visited the MET. It is wonderful! I really enjoyed the museum. I couldn´t see all wings because it is a huge place. I want to go back there.  In the impressionism sector, I got stuck for some minutes because some of the pictures there reminded me my uncle Benjamin, he was an impressionist painter.

Go Red Storm!

Last Saturday, I went to my first basketball game at Madison Square Garden. St John’s Red Storm were playing Marquette’s Golden Eagles. I’m not much of a sports fan, but I did want to experience first hand one of these games. The whole experience just blew me away. The massive stadium and its facilities, the dance squad and cheerleaders, the band, everything. I was so hypnotized by it all that I almost forgot I was there to watch a basketball match! But what actually struck me the most was the sense of belonging the students, their families and the alumni had to their school. Some of them went to the stadium with their small children or grandchildren, proudly cheering their team.

All in all, it was an unforgettable experience and, best of all, St John won by a landslide!    

three at a go

With some of my mates, I visited MOMA, AMNH, and MET -Shea kindly serving us as a tour guide in the latter. To describe the first, 'immense' is fairly small. One cannot appreciate it fully for the numerous works of art there! It's ambitious and provocative. The second museum sweetly reminded me of my childhood 'cause I used to visit a similar one in my home town when I was a kid. Moreover, last Wednesday, there were lots of school children walking around the building - "That's not a hippo, but a rhino", I overheard a teacher say. Last, I very much liked the third museum I went to. Shea managed to lead our curious attention to specific exhibitions, and share his expertise with us. Here is one of my favorite pictures there>