Scenes of Central Park
me eating gelato in Little Italy
Inside Riverside Church in Harlem, where Martin Luther King Jr gave many speeches during the civil rights movement
Ulysses S. Grant's Tomb in Harlem
Street in Harlem, where I stayed with a family
I arrived in NYC on Tuesday June 17 and took the bus from the airport to Harlem, getting my first taste of NYC public transportation. I stayed with Mike and Lauren Hart, a missionary family in Spanish Harlem and fellow graduates of IWU. After dropping off my luggage, Lauren and her 2 year old daughter Zoe showed me around Spanish Harlem, the neighborhood where I will be in July. Spanish Harlem has the largest population of Hispanics in NYC, most of them coming from Puerto Rico, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic. Even though they all speak Spanish, there are a lot of conflicts and tensions among the different nationalities for many different reasons. Spanish Harlem began mostly with Puerto Ricans, and as more Mexicans came in, they felt like they were starting to take over their neighborhood. Also, there is underlying tension from the Mexicans toward the Puerto Ricans because the Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens and many of the Mexicans had to come here illegally, as it is very difficult for them to get visas. On top of that, these groups are racist against the Dominicans because they are black (descendants from African slaves).
I loved walking around spanish harlem, with all the signs in spanish and hispanic food restaurants and everyone speaking spanish around you :) We arrived at the church where I will be in July, a beautiful building built in the 1800's and still used today. We went inside and I mapped out how we will set up the Vacation Bible School in July. On Wednesday, I went and had lunch with a friend in the village, then walked around Little Italy and Chinatown. These town neighborhoods are right next to each other, so you can have one block full of pizza places and Italian flags, then turn the corner and have everything be in Chinese! It's kind of crazy like that in New York City. I know they call NYC the "melting pot of the U.S." since there are so many different people from all over the world in one place, but I dont really see much "melting" there because all of the different nationalities stay in their own communities with their own people...
I also took the subway a couple times while I was there, it's a great place to peoplewatch. So many people rushing to so many different places - businessmen going to work, tourists going downtown, kids going to summer camp, etc. After spending a few days in the city and seeing the traffic, I can understand why everyone takes the subway or buses there, it's just impractical and a waste of trime to drive! Wednesday afternoon I had a meeting with the pastor, his wife and 2 other people from the church at Spanish Harlem. I was a little nervous at first because I was leading the meeting (in Spanish!) but they were all really excited about the program we were planning and wanted to know how they could help. After the meeting, I went to a restaurant in Harlem with the Hart's where we were the only white people among all African Americans, but I guess this is typical for them since they live there.
On Thursday I took Zoe to Central Park while Lauren went to a doctor's appointment. It's kind of surprising at first that you could be in such a beautiful park right in the middle of this huge metropolitan city. We walked for over an hour and saw lots of animals and people enjoying a break from city life. When Lauren called after her appointment to meet up with us, I told her I didn't know where we were! haha It's so easy to get lost in Central park because you can't always see the streets from inside. Eventually we made our way back to the street and met up with her, then we walked the entire length of Central park, stopping outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a hot dog, before heading back to Harlem. I wanted to go to the Museo del Barrio, a Latin American Art museum, but it was under construction (as I discovered is very common in the city...) so we just continued to walk around Central Park, you could spend a whole week there and still not see every part of the park I think.
In the afternoon, I took a self-tour of Harlem: the Apollo Theatre, Grant's Tomb, Riverside Church, and Columbia University. I also stopped at a little cafe for a Nutella crepe, yum. It was fun finding my way around the city by myself, and I didnt' even get lost! It wasn't until I was walking back that I really realized how out-of-place I was there...all the stores were for getting your hair weaved, or African American skin care, or African head wraps and outfits. I definitely stepped into a different kind of culture there.
I came back to Chicago on Thursday night, and realized that I think I experienced more of the city of New York in those 3 short days than I have seen of the city of Chicago in my whole life! hahaha Still it was only a small taste of what that city has to offer. I'm going back to New York on July 20 and I'll be there for 2 weeks, and I look forward to taking an even bigger bite of the Big Apple!
I loved walking around spanish harlem, with all the signs in spanish and hispanic food restaurants and everyone speaking spanish around you :) We arrived at the church where I will be in July, a beautiful building built in the 1800's and still used today. We went inside and I mapped out how we will set up the Vacation Bible School in July. On Wednesday, I went and had lunch with a friend in the village, then walked around Little Italy and Chinatown. These town neighborhoods are right next to each other, so you can have one block full of pizza places and Italian flags, then turn the corner and have everything be in Chinese! It's kind of crazy like that in New York City. I know they call NYC the "melting pot of the U.S." since there are so many different people from all over the world in one place, but I dont really see much "melting" there because all of the different nationalities stay in their own communities with their own people...
I also took the subway a couple times while I was there, it's a great place to peoplewatch. So many people rushing to so many different places - businessmen going to work, tourists going downtown, kids going to summer camp, etc. After spending a few days in the city and seeing the traffic, I can understand why everyone takes the subway or buses there, it's just impractical and a waste of trime to drive! Wednesday afternoon I had a meeting with the pastor, his wife and 2 other people from the church at Spanish Harlem. I was a little nervous at first because I was leading the meeting (in Spanish!) but they were all really excited about the program we were planning and wanted to know how they could help. After the meeting, I went to a restaurant in Harlem with the Hart's where we were the only white people among all African Americans, but I guess this is typical for them since they live there.
On Thursday I took Zoe to Central Park while Lauren went to a doctor's appointment. It's kind of surprising at first that you could be in such a beautiful park right in the middle of this huge metropolitan city. We walked for over an hour and saw lots of animals and people enjoying a break from city life. When Lauren called after her appointment to meet up with us, I told her I didn't know where we were! haha It's so easy to get lost in Central park because you can't always see the streets from inside. Eventually we made our way back to the street and met up with her, then we walked the entire length of Central park, stopping outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a hot dog, before heading back to Harlem. I wanted to go to the Museo del Barrio, a Latin American Art museum, but it was under construction (as I discovered is very common in the city...) so we just continued to walk around Central Park, you could spend a whole week there and still not see every part of the park I think.
In the afternoon, I took a self-tour of Harlem: the Apollo Theatre, Grant's Tomb, Riverside Church, and Columbia University. I also stopped at a little cafe for a Nutella crepe, yum. It was fun finding my way around the city by myself, and I didnt' even get lost! It wasn't until I was walking back that I really realized how out-of-place I was there...all the stores were for getting your hair weaved, or African American skin care, or African head wraps and outfits. I definitely stepped into a different kind of culture there.
I came back to Chicago on Thursday night, and realized that I think I experienced more of the city of New York in those 3 short days than I have seen of the city of Chicago in my whole life! hahaha Still it was only a small taste of what that city has to offer. I'm going back to New York on July 20 and I'll be there for 2 weeks, and I look forward to taking an even bigger bite of the Big Apple!
