Decided to try to recreate “Day Three” in retrospect since my attempt at the hotel flew away somewhere in cyberspace. In the a.m. students got to decide whether they wanted to site see Uptown or Downtown. The Downtowners went with Dave and Heidi to Rockefeller Center, NBC Studios(I want a 30 Rock T-shirt!), Radio City and then down to the Brooklyn Bridge to take a gander at the Statue of Liberty from afar. The chaperons said that Shannon had the winning line of the day when she looked out over the water and said, “oh there she is! She’s so cute, she’s so small!” I took 23 of them Uptown to Harlem. We got off on 125th and Lennox and headed towards the “Apollo Theater”.
Fresh mango on the street and sites and sounds and smells of African, Jamaican and Latino culture where everywhere. We stopped along the way to look at the vendors tables that lined the street and people bought earrings and gelato and just enjoyed the beautiful weather on such a historic street. Some had just read the “Autobiography of Malcolm X” and I’m sure the location held a different association for them.
At the Apollo we walked into the lobby and some of the kids started snapping pictures. I loved the security guard that said, “oh no, now hold everything-not in my house! You have to ask to take pictures.” Kind of a great lesson for them to know that sometimes it is disrespectful. She then explained that all the pictures had copyright and that unless one of them was standing in front of the photos , it was illegal.
We got on a bus and headed back downtown past Lincoln Center, Julliard and the New York City Ballet. I had them transfer to a subway at 42nd St. to head down to meet the rest of the group in China Town or Soho. (How fun is it for the 42nd St. Cast Members to be seeing those signs everywhere!) Some headed home to soak their feet, take a nap or deal with their blister(me)!
We then met up at 7:00 p.m. for 18 of them to see “In the Heights”(starring our choreographer/teacher from the day before-Luis) and the others to head downtown to NYU to see the Tisch School’s Composition Class Performance. Benny Olk arranged for our free tickets and the NYU neighborhood is just delightful. Brownstones and small coffee shops, frozen yogurt stores, and more and more small shops with jewelry and things students were attracted to. We hustled through quickly as we were running late. The show was packed and not everyone got a seat. The theme was fabulous. The dance students had to collaborate with a set designer and a musician to make a dance work. Not always successful but an intriguing project. None the less, it wasn’t only me falling asleep at the wheel. Kids were so beat. At intermission, I made the decision to not return. I hustled them out so they could get the energy of the neighborhood on the way back and not be home too late.
Bed check begins at midnight and Heidi had taken my duty the night before so I took her rooms this night. So much fun to hear their stories of the day and reality check what it has been like for them. You will hear many more stories that I will never know. That feels weird.
Florrie and Keara and Sophie and Mae have a great one from Fri. night about running into the old woman who was by herself talking about how her son in law wouldn’t let her dance anymore and somehow these girls got her talking and invited her to join us at the dance concert at the Y. It was only a few blocks away and actually we did have 2 extra tickets (but they didn’t know that). They linked arms with her and made her a pal. When it was sold out she started heading out to the street. Her daughter and son in law appeared outside and had been looking for her. Turns out they told the girls she had Alzheimer's. The girls were so sympathetic to her and all I could think about was the many friends who are dealing with parents in that situation right now.
Others did last minute souvenir shopping and we all met up at the hotel at 3 to take our Town cars to the airport. The doorman, Tim, arranged the cars when I decided there was no way we were taking the subway back to JFK with all that luggage. Too much time and energy we didn’t have on this leg of the journey, so instead of paying $5 to get back to the airport it cost them $10. Almost no one complained about that. (Good thing because Dave had left to catch his earlier flight in the a.m. and he started out for the subway to Jamaica Queens and they were working on the tracks so he had to flag a cab. He texted us with the info-gotta love these phones somedays!)
The plane ride home was not easy. More turbulence than one would have liked, but if you looked out the window in the calm times and saw the immense cavern of clouds we were in, it was gorgeous. We got in early(8:35p.m.) and wow, cell phones and minimal luggage checking.....I think the last student was picked up at 9:10p.m.
There it is.
A lovely trip(I think) was had by all. Give me a few years and I might consider again. They were delightful. Colleen
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