August 25, 2010 in Emery room 315, 7:42 am
of the events of August 24, 2010:
Yesterday we went to New York City as our first (and, I think, only) mission. Centennial I (my complex) had to be ready to roll outside near the Centennial I Commons by 6:20a. Richards, further down the road, had to be ready by 6:10a, so I'm not really complaining. Anyway, our driver was late so we showed up late at the mission briefing, but everyone else was late, too.
They showed us a video map of the world with where everyone was from. It went like this:
A group leader (squad leader)'s name would be shown and where he/she was from. Following them would be their squad, each showing where they are from. There was a dot for New York and a dot for the person's state of origin. A red line would move to connect the state of origin to New York. The only one as far or farther than me was this boy named Alex and he was from France. He's a pretty cool guy.
We were given an envelope of missions and four sealed envelopes to open at certain times. We had three meetings with different Lehigh alum that we had to somehow get to in the specified times. It was interesting to see the different jobs they had, but it wasn't very interesting, at least to me. Especially the last one, because we were all tired so we tried valiantly not to fall asleep. It was kind of funny because I saw a few people nodding but they'd wake up before he could notice them. It's kind of bad, but funny to watch.
So we had a photo scavenger hunt with a list of things we could do with certain sections requiring more or less. We had a budget of $200, with $50 reserved for tolls and parking along the way. Once parked, we walked down and our squad leader, Arthur, power-walked us to our first meeting (even though we were supposed to figure it out ourselves) because we were late due to traffic.
When we first stepped out of the parking lot, I looked around at the crowds and the taxis and the New York Times building (it was across the street) and said to myself: ohmygod! It wasn't as crowded as I expected, but it was pretty crowded for a Hawaii girl. People rushed past you like you were a rock in a river. If they bumped you sometimes they'd mumble something but otherwise they didn't – they'd hunch over and keep walking as if drawn by an invisible string to their destination. The thing in New York City is that it's the worst place to be a tourist. People rush around and bustle around, hardly wanting to stop to give directions that you can't walk and look up. Even if you stop and look up people will bump into you.
My first breath of big city air was like a punch in the throat. It was like Las Vegas crossed with fire smoke, crossed with mold and grim and ickyness. I immediately started coughing for a few steps before I slowly got used to breathing such noxious air.
Sorry to cut off so abruptly but I need to head down to breakfast. I have an hour to eat before I have to be down at the bottom of campus. I'll resume this tale when I have time.
Jya!
~E
August 25, 2010 in Emery room 315, 2:27 pm
of the events of August 24, 2010:
We went all over the place in New York. It was pretty cool. We visited the UN (very briefly), poked our heads in Central Park, walked around Times Square, saw the Trump Tower, and hit a few shops for souvenirs. We stopped by the American Museum of Natural History (or something similar) but didn't go inside. Most of the group wanted to see the 59-foot blue whale displayed there but it didn't matter so much to me, especially since we have one in the Bishop Museum. :/
I don't think there's anything much more to add. The air was pretty bad, but I got used to it. I think I'll be coughing up New York gunk for a while, but it's nothing too serious.
I don't have anything more to add about New York, so I'll go on my bed and do some reading. I'll write later tonight on today's events.
Jya!
~E
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