New York Stories!

Well, class... I'm including the "best of" from your NYC journals. It was really hard picking out the very best excerpts that particularly characterized the variety of your experiences! In fact, I had started reading some during the Western Civ. final, but I had to stop... Every time I had to break out in audible laughter (which was, well... a lot!) I finished in a convulsive coughing fit!

Not exactly conducive for freshmen taking exams, but pretty damn funny nonetheless! :-) I can't tell you how thankful I am (and have always been!) of your collective sharp wit, good humor and - last but certainly not least - great patience!!

And, now, without further ado... "Capstone Takes Manhattan"!!

(Ooops, one more "ado"... The photos here so far are courtesy of Robin Caron and my cell phone. Anybody else got pictures back? Send 'em to me! If they've been developed into prints and you don't have copies, I'll scan them and mail 'em right back to you!! This post will be updated as more memorabilia comes in... So, be sure to check back!!)

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Carla Santos: "April 28, 2006 @ 11:15 am- We are driving a mite bit slow and we need to speed it up a bit so we can make it to New York!

11:19 am- Matt just got WAY too excited over 'Where in the World is Carmen San Diego.' I was never a big fan...

2:06 pm- We find our way back on the highway after an hour+ pee break...

3:05 pm- Amanda wonders out loud if we will catch up to the bus. Matt responds with 'oh, we’ll catch up to it like it is a raptor and I am a raptor hunter!' (Matt quote #1)

3:34 pm- Matt leers at a tollbooth worker, I just laugh.

3:35 pm- Adam dies of dysentery. We don’t have time to stop to dig a grave.

3:37 pm- Matt runs over the rumble strip yelling 'Oh yeah, rubble strip, oh yeah!' (Matt quote #2)

4:03 pm- Brad is singing incessantly.

4:05 pm- Amanda reads my journal and cracks up.

4:12 pm- Go directly to jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200...

5:08 pm- Matt once again tells us that there are no brakes. It wasn’t as convincing as the first time...

5:28 pm- Brad is now singing 'Dream Weaver.' Matt is contemplating murder/suicide...

10:30 pm- I am super hungry. My stomach is eating itself. The Hostel is retarded. I am sweaty and in need of a shirt change. They are playing Pink Floyd…I am not a fan. I really need a beer. Kara and I are all about finding hott guys. We are getting stuck in a room with random people. Beginning to think I should have written the paper. Joe is pretending to eat my cookies.

April 29, 2006: 9:05 am- We had a wicked awesome night! Kelly, Kara, Amanda, Matt and I went to this place in Times Square called Chevy’s. It was the best Mexican I have ever had. The drinks were awesome! I had shrimp and crab quesadillas and a raspberry/strawberry margarita. Times Square at night is amazing! I got hit on at TGI Friday’s! I laughed hysterically..."

Andy Dunne: "This was the second time I visited New York City and definitely the first time I had stayed in a hostel. I found this experience to be a pleasant one. I have already been to the United Nations before so the tour we took was a refresher course. Going to the Metropolitan Museum was my favorite activity of the trip. It’s fascinating how much history has been collected from so many different civilizations. One of the most mind-boggling thoughts is how old these artifacts actually are. Two hours just wasn’t enough time to see everything...

Staying at the hostel for two days I met some interesting people. One night we met James from London, who was in the city on business. We talked about the variety of issues and it was interesting to see what he thought. Finally, it was interesting to have to go to Central Park in New York City to see my first raccoon walk five feet in front of me and jump into a trashcan. The New York trip is a good experience for the honors class."

Caitlin Hickey: "4/18/06 - Little did we know how difficult the Metro would be to buy tickets and finally find our way to 106th street. The Metro employees got so backed up because many of the ticket machines were so they opened up the door and just let us go through without tickets. Good deal, I saved $2!

We get off the Metro and walk a few blocks, on the corner we see this amazing castle-like building; 'Hey, maybe we’re staying there!' I joke. Turns out, the hostel was attached to that beautiful building. The hostel had an interesting décor and the first person we noticed was a black man from Spain who seemed to take a liking to Dave. We found out that the placements we were given were messed up and when all was said and done, Michelle and I were supposed to be in a room alone with a bunch of strangers. Once we got used to the idea, we were fine. Turns out, there were only three women in the room, who were sleeping when we got there at night and sleeping when we left in the morning.

4-29-06 - We woke up this morning with a fresh start and even got to the UN plenty early for our appointment. Of course, because of the way this trip works, however, we ended up having to wait a whole hour until we actually went on the tour. Oh well. I found the tour to be interesting because I knew very little about what went on within the United Nations building. As strange as it sounds, I was disappointed that none of the flags were flying, I love the way a whole row of different nations flags look together. [Note from Robin Caron: "Our tour guide tells us that the flags are not out today because on the weekends the 191 flags need to be washed."]

Our next venture was Madame Toussaud's Wax Museum. Michelle, Der, Joe, Robin, Dave and I all paid the fairly high price for this museum. It was a riot. We had a great time taking pictures with fake stars, discussing who looked real and who didn’t and anticipating what star we would see next was. We also went through the 'house of wax' haunted house, and it was hilarious. Joe had Der, Michelle and Robin all clinging to him, while Dave and I sort of chuckled and walked behind. The museum was set up very strangely, but it was amusing. We expected it to be a little bit longer, but I thought it was worth my time and effort...

Robin was hell-bent on getting herself a coach purse, so Chinatown was our next stop. After walking around a little bit, we realized that to find these high priced purses, we must approach those people who are standing on the corner saying 'coach, gucci' etc. We did so and she said to follow her. Skeptical, the six of us trailed behind, at a safe distance. We got about three blocks away and she unlocked a door to let us in to a faux store front. Now she opened up a somewhat hidden door on the wall and there were three other girls and a hallway full of high priced name brand purses. We were a little bit nervous, but seeing other people there was comforting. Each one of us girls got a purse, even I, who is NOT that type of girl. It was definitely an interesting experience."

Amanda Hart: "It is 11 am and we have almost started our trip to New York... This is already looking like an interesting trip and I think that this van is full of crazy, crazy people... Carla, Kara, Matt, Helly and I took the Metro into Times Square. As we walked up the stairs from the Metro I was blown away. It was amazing. There were huge billboards everywhere, and huge buildings behind them, and there were people everywhere. I have never seen so many stores in one place. We ate at this Mexican place called 'Chevy's'; it was so good. We walked around for a while and then took a cab back to the Hostel around 2:30 am to try to get some sleep before a long day on Saturday."

Kelly Madore: "We took a cab back to our hostel. I felt much more relaxed and ready to conquer my new surroundings. I slept alright last night and found some clean showers upstairs on the fourth floor. This morning I went out for a great one hour talk in Central Park. Central Park is this beautiful peace of wilderness amongst the city surroundings. Being in Central Park almost made New Yorkers seem normal. People were juggling and walking their dogs...

After the U.N., Dan, Amanda, Brad and I went to a pizzeria. Then the four of us went to the top of the Empire State Building. We went up 86 floors! The scenery was amazing. The busy traffic looked like ants from the top. I went to New York City two years ago for 24 hours and really wanted to tour the Empire State Building, but never got the chance. I felt like I had fulfilled a wish....

The Metropolitan Museum was awesome. I saw Samuel Palmer's exhibit. Samuel Palmer's was my favorite because I could see how he evolved as an artist. The Metropolitan Museum had a hundred or so pieces of his work. Initially, Palmer seemed to focus on images of the crucifixion and of the plowman. Initially his works were drawings, etchings, and oils. Palmer seemed to find his niche later in his career in the form of watercolors of landscapes. I also toured the contemporary, impressionist, and photography sections. I was disappointed by the photography section, but the impressionist section was spectacular. I saw several pieces of Monet's and Van Gogh's. I had a great weekend! Now it's time for a nap!"

Matt Crellin: "If a word existed that could properly capture the New York City experience that I had while on the honors Capstone trip, it might be 'eclectic' or 'tomfoolery'... alright, or maybe just 'debauchery.' Well, since debauchery denotes excessive drinking and promiscuous behavior, I'll just say that the trip was excellent and (dare I say) educational... The "Jazz on the Park" hostel was an altogether eye-opening experience. Once I stepped inside, the very magnificence of the jazz greats, such as Duke Ellington, Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk, manifested their majesty in the form of squeaky bunk beds and what can only be described by some as a dead cat lodged in the shower drain...

I decided to tag along with Carla and Kara for much of the day as we found smaller groups were a bit more manageable while traversing the city. We first stopped off at the World Trade Center to see ground zero. I cannot emphasize enough the power of this one location. Many years after the occurence of 9/11, the space is relatively clean but remains in a striking crater-like state. While the animation of the city circumambulates the site, the space once occupied by the twin towers in a vacuum of nothingness, save for some construction workers and steel debris. It's a very moving and hallowed space and I could not help but reflect on how much the singular event of 9/11 has shaped the world and inexorably influenced foreign and domestic policy. It was a highlight of my trip over the weekend."

Kara Haupt: "After lunch, Matt, Carla and I headed to ground zero... It was extremely moving, and it's something that I think everyone should see at one point if they are ever in New York. We were astounded by the children who didn't understand that had happened. There was such a generation gap. We would have expected children to know about 9/11 just like we were expected to know about Vietnam. After that point we had to talk around the area some to get our emotions in check. We used the time to talk about what happened to each of us on 9/11 and how we still feel about it...

For dinner, Matt, Carla and I headed to a sushi restaurant off of Times Square. It was the most elegant and trendy sushi restaurant I've ever been in, and the food was incredible. I couldn't rave enough about it later. Finally, we went shopping and gallivanting in Times Square for the rest of the night."

Dan Warren: "One of the most memorable experiences of my college career was the capstone trip to New York City. This trip was the first time I had ever actually been in the city before...

First, we gathered as a group and went to the United Nations for a tour of the building. The tour was very interesting because I was able to see many of the things that are talked about on the news. Also, as a political science minor I found it very interesting to learn more about an organization that has so much influence around the world. After leaving the United Nations, Amanda, Brad, Kelly and I decided to eat at a brick oven pizza restaurant on our way to the Empire State building...

After leaving the Empire State Building, we went to the Strand bookstore on our way to ground 0. The bookstore was a bit overwhelming because there were so many books it was difficult to find the ones that interested me. In the end I found the Civil War section and ending up picking up a couple of books cheap. After we left the bookstore we went to ground 0. Ground 0 was under construction but it was still interesting and touching to see the location were so many people lost their lives just a few short years ago."

Amanda Frithsen: "My overall favorite part of the trip was our visit to the UN later in the morning on Saturday. Although the wait seemed to take a while, and I wondered if it would be worth the hassle after going through security, by the end of the tour I knew that the wait was worth our time. Between what I had learned about the UN in International Relations class in high school and what we had discussed of the UN in Capstone class, I felt that I was able to appreciate the importance of what I saw. Not only that, but I now feel that I have a greater respect for the UN after seeing where they meet to accomplish great things."

David Barnes: "The second day we went over to the UN headquarters. We managed to arrive early and waited around outside for awhile. The UN tour was pretty interesting, and I thought the tour guide was good, but I was a little surprised at how beaten up the interior of the meeting rooms was; I had expected it to be more “hi-tech”... We stopped at the MET before we started for home. I was really impressed by the size of the museum and got to see some Van Gough and Monet paintings for the first time. I had never understood why Van Gough was so famous, but when I saw his work in person I immediately understood."

Brad Morin: "The morning greeted us with much sun and fun-filled day. We began the day with a great tour of the United Nations’ facilities. I was filled with such excitement to be in the same chambers that many of the great minds of our day gather and discuss world affairs and policy. There is much admiration to have for these individuals who dedicate themselves to global security and justice. Along the tour, we got to see many of the various gifts that have been given to the UN from some of the member nations. One of which was a detailed ivory sculpture of a Chinese village. It was exquisite...

We decided to make our way toward Ground Zero so we could understand the full impact of the attack. It was quite the moving experience. In the train station below the street, there was this booth where you could record an oral history of a person who was affected by the attack. There were two sample ones you could listen to and it was an incredible experience. The one we listened to was of two parents discussing their son who had died in the buildings, and I was quite moved, almost to tears."

Adam Ham: "The next day we went to see the UN, which was cool considering I had been to NY 3 times before and this was a site I had not seen previously... Once we finished with the UN, we all split into different groups. My group was Derek, Andy and I and the first place we went was to get some food because we were all starving. We ate at a sports bar near Times Square called Tonic. It was pretty good and the best part was we could watch the NFL draft on the big screen TV. After our meal, we actually went to Radio City Music Hall to see if we could get into the draft area. As we were approaching the front doors, three NFL football players stepped out a side door. I stood in awe as they passed by us. My awe was because of their sheer size and because of who they were. They were Michael Strahan, Amani Tooner (New York Giants) and Jonathan Vilma (New York Jets). Now, I don't know how much you know about football, but these are some fairly popular players and the fact that my football team is the Giants makes it even better. Unfortunately, I did not have a camera and my awe made me miss a chance at an autograph!"

Derek Davis: "The thing that impressed me most was the Guttenberg Bible. With ink as bright as a brand new paint job on a car and a binding as tight as a new pair of shoes, the book seemed as though it has been made just the day before. Within the display room that the bible was in were maps displaying the ancient trade routes from Europe to Asia. After taking a tour of the United Nations building I went to a small sports bar for lunch and on the way got to meet a couple of NFL superstars. The view from Times Square was amazing and the throng of people on the city sidewalks can't be justified with the views on television. The NYSE was amazing and very patriotic and made me want to find a job in the city."

Joe Anderson: "Somewhat of a different, and maybe an odd theme compared to what other students have written about, I decided to focus my journal on the idea of harmony as a way to describe my experience in New York City. As a first-time visitor to 'The City,' my expectations of what I would find differed greatly from what I experienced. I usually enter large cities feeling anxious and a little bit stressed, but when I got to Grand Central Station, I felt nothing short of awe. Maybe it’s because of the grandiose nature of the city, or the surreal feeling you get when entering such a massive place after growing up in such a small town, but I felt no anxiety, and was completely comfortable in my surroundings. Something I think helped me feel comfortable, and almost 'at home,' was a sense of harmony in the city.

It’s a word that stuck in my head the entire weekend. It certainly started with going through the subways and the streets and listening to the beautiful music played by so many different people. I love listening to live music, not for the crowds or the excitement, but for the experience of witnessing true talent right before my eyes, and that’s exactly what I got in NYC. Seeing so many amazing musicians and artists everywhere I went just made me feel good about where I was and made me appreciate the diversity of the city so much. Music is an interesting thing – it not only entertains, but it has an ability to make you feel comfortable wherever you are, because it’s something anyone can relate to...

The other major experience I had that I realized was, in fact, a form of harmony, was my experience in China Town. No, not the black-market purse incident, but walking through the streets around hundreds of people. It’s something we had discussed in a Psychology of Groups and Social Organizations class, but I had never seen it for myself. If you think of walking down the halls of Alfond Hall, it’s not uncommon to bump into someone when there are only a handful of people walking by. However, in this densely populated area, where everyone was moving at different paces, somehow we seemed to all make it through without clashing. It’s a theory of group intelligence that not only applies to people working together to solve a problem, but also to the actions of crowds, and how a large crowd can create a flow, or harmony, or it can create massive disruption and destruction. Harmony was evident here, and in so many other places around the city. It’s certainly an experience I will never forget."

Amander Wotton: "The night brought us to Hooters and a Spanish night club. We had such a great time, and for a few of the people in my company, encountered their first cab ride. It was a relaxing evening that ended just shy of 3am. At 7 am we were ready to go again, headed for another walk, then to the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art. This was, out of everything, the highlight of my trip. I am a huge fan of American Art, contemporary, modern, historical, and on and on. I would have loved to have some extra time there, I became lost in rooms upon rooms of eloquent pieces that included (a few famous names for the sake of looking impressive): 4 Andy Warhol, a whole exhibit on Paul Klee and Kara Walker, 14 Picasso, 6 Matisse, 2 Chagall, a Bonnard, and 10 O’Keefe. The talent that was confined in the walls of the [Met] was enough to bring an art fan to tears. I had the time of my life here."

Michelle Gaspar: "The museum was huge, I got lost a few times looking for various things. I went up to the roof and they had a few sculptures up there. It was really nice to be up there and look down over Central Park. It was a great view! The strangest piece of art that I saw at the Met was up on the roof, it was a giant piece of glass standing straight up and then fake birds were glued to the bottom to make it look like the birds had flown into the glass. This made me think about the variety of art at the museum, because something that I think is strange someone else is going to think is beautiful and something I think is beautiful is sure to be thought of as strange by some other people. It is always interesting to think about perception and how I can be looking at a painting and the person next to me is looking at the same painting but we are both seeing two different things. I’m glad we had the opportunity to go to the museum even for a little while, I’m sure if we had spent the entire day there I still would not have been able to see everything."

(At right and left, scenes from the wedding at Saint John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church in Stanford, where we had parked the bus and the best man to-be kindly paid our 24-hour parking meter while we were in the city, taken when I dropped off an offering in the church office before driving home!!)

(Stay tuned for the postscript!)