My experiences and adventures in four states were culminated (came to a conclusion) on the first day of the new year 2006. This is a story of awe in the vastness and multi-cultural identity of America.
On the eve of December 26, I left Philadelphia and went with my cousins in Greenwich CT. On the way, I fell asleep and when I awoke, the van was making a right turn at High Street, then at View Street. I stepped out of the van, and surprisingly, it wasn't as cold. There was something different in the air (maybe it's cleaner because it's away from the city or maybe it's the thrill of a new year approaching).
In my cousins house, all I did was totally "lounged"- I slept, woke up, watched tv. ate/ ate out/went to the movies/ played videogames/ took showers/ brushed teeth/ slept- then repeated cycle the next day with few variations like an excursion to NY. Could you believe that I sort of got sick and tired playing videogames (moderation is always the key, too much of something is bad). I did these activities during my stay at Greenwich.
On the 27th of Dec., my cousin and I woke up early and caught the 10 a.m. train to Grand Central Station N.Y. The ride was only an hour away. We rode the subway. It was an exhilirating ride to be cruising in the darkness of the subway and then to suddenly burst out, susnshine filtering its rays as the train temporarily wave goodbye to the Manhattan skyline.
It was crazy for my cousin and I to go to NY before the New Year's Eve celebration. By this time, NY was only beginning to gather its many party-goers/participants. Walking through the sidewalks, we inched our way like ancient Japanese women wearing wooden thonged-slippers. The usual tourist spots were packed. A lady fainted on the sidewalk, I heard the male accompanying her call for the paramedic. According to him, she was having a cardiac arrest. This was along the N.Y. Public Library (the one in the movie the day after tomorrow). We saw Times Square 4, where the famous glittering ball would drop on New Year's Eve.
We were going to go up the Empire State building but the line was almost a block long. We decided to see the giant christmas tree in Rockefeller instead. It was packed there as well. NBC was there and they hosted a no-obligation photo-shoot- free to the public willing ot wait in line. We passed the Gothic St. Patrick's Cathedral, and we went in this Romanesque church (I think it was called St. Thomas).
We continued our way up 5th Avenue towards the Metropolitan Art Museum. On the way we were distracted by the stores. We went inside Gap, the World of Disney store, there was even a line to go in FAO Schwartz. I decided to walke by the side and looked through the windows instead. We found an opening through the diner.
When we reached the Crown Plaza hotel and Central Park, my cousin pointed out that the Met was close. I didn't want to leave NY without experiencing a new New York- thing-to do so we rode the super expensive short horse and carriage ride around Central Park (not through its entirity instead less than a quarter of its perimeter). The ride was $40, and my cousins and I splitted the cost. It would have been nice but the driver was rushing. He would cut in front of other horses. He wanted it to be over in order to swindle the next "tourists." I'm hoping that the $40 would also the benefit the horse.
On our way back to the subway in 33th street near th Empire, we saw a gigantic snowflake suspended in the middle of the street. We saw snowflake light show blinking in-sync to a trans-siberian-esque christmas tune on the side of a building. We passed by a bazaar with an ice-rink set up behind the NY library.
For dinner, we ate at Maui Tacos. It was exactly like taco bell but it had a hawaiian twist to set it apart. They served some hawaiian tea and alcholic drinks. My cousins and I just ordered the $4.99 deal (two soft tacos with a small drink and a side tortilla chips and salsa).
We bought our tickets for the 9:15 p.m. train to Greenwich and before leaving NY, we saw another light show on the dome ceiling of Grand Central Station (GTS). With laser lights, the constellations on GTS came alive. They became dancing green, blue and aqua snowflakes. Rudolph also made an appearance.
I was hoping to go up the Empire and see the Asian Art collection at the Met, instead the NY experience I encountered was the expensive horse ride and the free light show. I'm a New York visitor and I know the things I do are only superficial/surface of the New York experience, but that's what a visitor does.
On January 1st, my cousin's family met up with my family in Atlantic City N.J. We ate at a buffet for a post new year's eve celebration and for my mom's b-day.
The "adults" gambled, and my cousins and I went to Ripley's Believe It or Not museum at the Boardwalk. The museum was interesting. We saw miniatures, learned fun facts and riddles, got tricked by mirrors, illusions and technology. The museum was a walk-in culturally mystifying labyrinth of magic. We had a picture galore. We took pictures of Dracula's victim, awesome models, gypsy manequin, old people manequin who were also taking pictures.
Before meeting up with my parents, titos and titas, my other cousin (who is also 21) and I decided to try our luck in the slot machines, while my younger cousins sat at the designated corner in Sands Casino. My cousin and I each exchanged a $10 bill into quarters. Putting coins in those machines and winning was total luck/chance. It didn't matter if you had some kind of ritual or lucky charms, it was all random. Out of the ten dollars I played I won four dollars back and lost it again. For our gambling souviner, I took a picture of my cousin side by side with a slot machine. Before my cousin could take my picture, a security person came up and told us that there were no picture taking allowed inside the casino.
My cousins tried to convince me to stay two more weeks at their house. But I couldn't do it because I had to do some things in Philadelphia before school begins again.
As I said in the beginning I experienced four states in one day, not just technically/physically passing by it. How was this possible? On January 1st, I woke up in my aunt's house in Greenwich CT. I ate brunch and attended mass at St Mary's (Greenwich Ave/Stamford). I saw the sun set behind the Manhattan skyline NY highlighting the ripples of the river with an orange/magenta tint on the way to Atlantic City NJ. I went home with my parents to PA, slept in my room, said goodnight to the waxing crescent moon, and woke up to the sunshining rays of Philadephia.