Friday, April 24, 2015
Thursday, April 23, 2015
What a Week!!
What a week. I never expected the things that happened and the things we saw. This week has seemed so long but so short. I've learned so much and completed things off of my bucket list like going to D.C. and going to the Air and Space and Natural History Museums. It was amazing to meet so many people, come closer to others on the trip, and have a few more laughs than before. It was an experience TRYING our best to refuse money to street vendors in New York. Some things that stuck out to me on this trip was the 9/11 Museum, the Lincoln Memorial, the Hard Rock Cafe, and the Washington Monument. I loved it all, every step, every mile, every fact learned, and I'm sorry it's over. As we head into Maine, I tell myself for me, the trip won't ever truly end, because someday, somehow, I will come back and remember this week all over again.
- Emily R
- Emily R
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
The Ferry Boat
Riding the ferry was entertaining. While on the journey back from the Statue of Liberty, everyone was falling back and forth trying to stay upright and the water defied them. Being familiar with boats and ships I knew a trick to not fall. Go with the flow. If you sway with the waves and fall in step with the tide, instead of rejecting and rebelling you will stay standing. Of course once you leave the ocean it's a completely different matter. I still feel it now, 10 hours after leaving the boat. I can feel myself still tempted to sway with the sea.
-Emily S.
-Emily S.
Lower East Side
The streets of New York are definitely an adventure not one
for the faint of heart. There are street vendors trying their luck to take a
bit more money from you, people speaking so many different languages you lose
count, and the general busyness of the city. Traveling to Chinatown was an
experience like I’ve never had. Our waiter definitely didn’t have English as
his first language, so it was creative trying to understand him and having him
understand us. We got it in the end, but it was a bit confusing at first. You
also could barely read anything in Chinatown even though they had English
translations, it was a bit bothersome being unused to being surrounded by a
language that you don’t know. Italian gelato from Little Italy was delicious,
and I liked it a bit better than Chinatown because it was generally easier with
language and people and food. The streets are a zoo, with the voices of
millions, the city air (nothing like the country back home), and the cars and
stores. Times Square amazed me with the billboards that lit up the night sky.
Advertisements for various companies flashed wherever you looked. To finish
this, I quote from the movie The Fellowship of the Ring in regards to NYC: “You’d
best watch your feet… else there’s no knowing where you may be swept off to.”
-Emily R
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Battle of Gettysburg
Today we went to see the stage setting for one of the
biggest events in America’s history. We saw the battlegrounds of Gettysburg.
Mile after mile of field, hill, woods, and rocky terrain. Perfect for a
historic battle. We boarded the bus and hopped on and off as needed to see
important landmarks. We had a very good tour guide who really knew the stories
and history of the land and we learned about the generals, the sides, the
soldiers, and the maneuvers. It was fun to pretend to be gunmen and “load” a cannon
with cannonballs and blow them off. Climbing Eisenhower Tower was a lot of fun,
trying to count all the stairs (122) and looking out to see the fields and the
mountains in the distance. Although it was a bit cold with the wind, it was a lot of fun and a big experience to
walk where the soldiers walked, see what the generals saw, and learn what they
all learned so many years ago.
-Emily R
Monday, April 20, 2015
The Mall on the Freedom Tour? ... Whats up with that?
After dinner tonite we were so far ahead of schedule that we needed to spend some "busy" time before our hotel arrival. And there it was ... A big ole shopping mall. We gave the kids an hour and what heroes we were.
Monday
Today was a really beautiful day spent outside. We walked
around the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial and the FDR Memorial. Also we ate
lunch by the Potomac River. I found it really nice to just sit, eat food, and
watch nature go by. There were fish in the water and even a turtle paddling
about seemingly for our own enjoyment. It was a good high 70s low 80s with a
really nice breeze. Perfect weather for just reflecting on what we had seen so
far on the trip. The things we’ve felt, enjoyed, and marveled at. It isn’t even
over yet, but we have seen so much. I wish I could’ve spent all day by that
water, with the view of MLK Jr. set in stone, the Washington Monument, and the
Jefferson Memorial around the edge. Today was the kind of day I loved, walking
around in perfect peaceful weather (minus the sore feet) to see amazing things.
After a few hectic days, it was nice to unwind for a bit in a small part of
nature in D.C.
-Emily R
Sunday, April 19, 2015
Thoughts at the Pentagon Memorial
I sat in front of the grave of the woman who was born in the
same year of my father, 1967. Her name was Marsha. She had died on the plane.
It makes you wonder, what was her story? Who did she know? Did she have kids?
Was she married? Who loved her? Why was she on that particular plane on that
particular plane? Did she have a dream? And if so why wasn’t she ever able to
reach it? I couldn’t move from the bench, I felt obligated to stay and connect
because after all we did have a connection, even if it was only minor. I wish I
could’ve met her, I wish I could’ve wrote down her story about her life. Maybe
then her passing would’ve been less bitter., for her family and for the random
strangers passing by who feel a simply minor connection.
-Emily
S.
9/11 Memorial Museum
Arriving on site of the 9/11Memorial Museum was…odd. The air
was still and the sky was completely clear, it was like even Mother Nature
herself wanted to honor them. The clearness of the sky made some of the tops of
skyscrapers blend with the atmosphere, like some beautiful optical illusion. We
shuffled into the building little knowing about the ground we stood upon.
After entering the building and successfully getting past
security, we split into smaller groups of our own choosing. I toured the museum with two others, Daniel
and Chloe. We walked down the ramp onto
an overhang, looking down on the artifacts below. My stomach twisted into
knots, feeling like I was going to fall. There was art and quotes all over. A
particular favorite of mine was a giant blue wall of painted blue paper squares
with a quote in the middle. ‘No day
shall erase you from the memory of time’ –Virgil. Among the art was rubble, stairs that
escapees ran down, a fire truck that got half-razed. They even had a foundation wall.
They displays that were showing all around the museum were
disturbing at best. Although it wasn’t the displays or the artifacts that
really hit me, it was the pictures. The museum showed pictures of all kinds,
the planes, the crashing, the firefighters, the debris, the attack itself, but
worst of all the chosen deaths of those who jumped. We walked around a corner
and there it was, photos and stories of the individuals trapped with no other
choice but to jump. I can’t imagine how
they felt, realizing that there wasn’t a point either way they would die. I
can’t imagine what was running through their minds that convinced them that it
would’ve been easier to jump. I can’t imagine the hopelessness they must of
felt to choose death over the small possibility of life. And that doesn’t even scratch the surface of
what they might’ve felt. People knew them, people watched them as their choice
was confirmed no going back. Their stories were absolutely heartbreaking.
-Emily
S.
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