This part of the Journal is a little messy in other words not day by day written. It was pretty much writing down whatever was in my head.
We then went to the port on the Hudson river to buy our tickets. The ferry was big with seats to fill maybe 200 people or more, the sun was going down as we hopped on the boat. The announcement from the speakers said this is the last boat that will not go to the island in other words getting on the wrong ferry. Shocked and dumbstruck, the five of us was hoping to see the freedom mark of the united states and the whole reason we came here at the first place just stood there in silence.
Our liaisons with pity on her face tried to comfort us by saying we would pass near the statue even though we couldn't go up close. yes the ferry made turns for the tourists on board to see the magnificent statue presented by the french for the liberty of the America as a country. A little history, Frédéric Bartholdi gave this statue as a gift to the united state to mark its freedom on 1876. so yeah, we tried to zoom in for a picture to the beautiful lady that gave a chance to see the country. I wished I could touch her, hoping and believing she would grant me another year here, everything was amazing about what I saw from afar.
As we got off the ferry back to Manhattan we were surprised by this giant horse with a policeman riding. it was maybe ordinary for the people of new york to see this sight but i had to capture the moment. So we asked the nice man to take pictures with us. He was glad and asked us what our purpose was; we told him we were exchange students and he gladly gave us a tour of the place.
There is a museum located in the port that had a big old book with lists of names of the first immigrants coming for every corner of the world to seeking freedom in this new country at the time. Our liaison Beth told us to look for our surnames and maybe just maybe we would find our relatives or ancestors trying to find a living in those days. We did find someone, it was my friend Mai who was from Georgia (the country) she said it would probably her great-great uncle that came to seek freedom from Russia in those days of war. We went about looking at the photos and memorabilia and trying to picture the scenes of this place in those days. Yes for these 5 exchange students it was something we wanted too, to have freedom, to live in this place as we fell in love every step of the way in this big city but it was time to go home, soon (like the lyrics to the song Fergie - Big girls don't cry).
We went down the subway waiting anxiously for the train to come, it wasn't boring; the people gave me entertainment; the tired and restless workers, the lovers, the pimps, the woman in the most fashionable state, the homeless, the ordinary, the geek it was like looking through a movie that these people exists in one spot waiting for the same train for the same reason, to go home wherever home is. If i wasn't so shy and afraid somebody tried to rob me I would probably take pictures of every person there.
We were back up on the roundabout where the big globe statue stood were streets were jammed up and cars, buses honked everywhere. Next to it, the glorious park the biggest in the world perhaps,the white carriages and horses were lining up waiting for people to take a ride. A romantic ride through the park? hell yes but not with the budget in my pocket so yeah just a picture. The night has taken place but at least the life of new york had just started as we strolled through. Cafes were opened, bars filled with people talking about their day. its as if the people had come together sharing the city was alive with people sharing their day with their loved ones. Tired from our walk my liaison Beth and her husband took us to a cafe or bar. we sat down ordered some fries and chicken wings and talked about the experience.
One of the exchange student and also a friend of mine David was from Germany, he saw people taking glasses of beer and he wanted one, he first asked for permission because we were under aged but he wasn't because the law in his country at the age of 15 you would be allowed to drink. So our liaisons looked at us and we had that curiosity on our faces so she bought us one glass to taste. It tasted amazing, it wasn't bitter like wine, but sweet and fizzy. Time was getting late for 17 year olds to wander around and it was time to sleep but we were too excited so thewhole night went with us telling stories of the past year and what was waiting for us when we went back home.
So our eyes still wide in amazement no matter how tired we are we girls still wanted to talk wanted to stay up. We all have the same thoughts; what will happen when we go back to a country? What is there to be done? What kind of planning is install for us? Well first off, my friend Mai had a boyfriend waiting for her back in Kyrgyzstan she said she would probably live together with him and find a job suitable to make a living. For a friend of mine from Georgia all she needed to do was work and take her bachelors degree. I had to go home and repeat senior year. the three of us wasn't close, i never really spoke to them when there was a gathering for the exchange students. we had our own group and i understood why couldn't blend together, we had different perspective in things, the rich kid, the poor kid, the religious kid, the atheist.
Speaking about our differences We (my friend from Germany and I) were having a discussion about evolution. He believed in the theory I did not. I knew we were never going to have a conclusion so I just told them the mere facts that if there was some kind of evolution humans from apes why would the apes still stay the same. Yes we have evolved since the dawn of time from being large broad shoulders to being small statures but again depends on the food and habitat of where we came from. for centuries research has been made to prove the existence of our evolution. We went around and around about the theory and it had to end about the existence of god. I do believe I had to make him believe and probably I did make him believe that blessings don't just come from thin air, there was always karma around the corner and the earth wouldn't make itself. well it wasn't such a good argument but that's all I had. It really depended on how we could actually interpreted it, like what Einstein would say that darkness is just the absence of light so you had to believe in something or a higher power to know that light would eventually come what about when this world ends it doesn't always depend on what the world thinks have we seen them thinking or even see the brains of the people we believed they made a difference in the world so everything we ever believed had faith in something bigger than us. Life ain't easy to predict or plan but yes we do put hope on something to make us relieved that tomorrow will be alright and according to plan. He had nothing to say when i put it that way so either I lost or he lost we would never know. I never asked him what he really thought in the matter after that but to me god does exist he always did in many forms and in many believes.
All this discussion or debate actually happened while we were taking a stroll in the biggest park the green in the middle of the skyscrapers. Central park has a lot to offer not only recreational to play around the park, but boats, drawing artist that drew Mai's face in caricature. the beautiful carriage with beautiful horses to carry you around to see this wonderful place. yes we went to the place where the fountain ends up in a flight of stairs beautifully crafted walls, where Kevin from home alone ran away from the wet bandits and also where Stuart little flew his yellow plane above the pretty fountain. Well that's all I got in my head when it comes to central park.
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