Another trip to see my sister and I come back without any pictures of us together. I will have to rely on my dad to get me some. In the mean time, here is a synopsis of my trip and a few pictures.
The whole purpose of my trip was to attend my sister's graduation from Pratt University with her Masters degree. She is the first person in our family to earn a masters degree, so we are very proud of all her hard work.
The first day there I arrived a little before noon and took a cab to my sister's apartment in Brooklyn. Yeah, forget turbulence on the airplane or riding a crowded subway, taxi rides in NY are by far the most terrifying transportation experience ever. We ate lunch at her place and then hopped on the subway for some shopping. We ordered dinner in from a local Indian restaurant and headed over to the church building for FHE. My sister gave a presentation on her master's thesis. I really shouldn't try to sum it up, but here it goes. Her work was about the aquiring of knowledge through experience and relationships with other people. Can we ever truly "know" something for ourselves? Or is faith a part of it? Our interactions with others influence our knowledge by learning from their experiences as well. Anyway, there is of course a lot more depth to it and she did an amazing job answering everyone's questions. Then again, she has been accustomed to being grilled about her work for the last two years, so having friendly church members ask questions and make comments was a piece of cake.
After FHE, Grammy, Mom, Dad, and I headed out to the streets to walk to our hotel. I snapped a couple pics along the way. It was dark.
On our second day we took a long walk over to the Pratt Institute campus. We met up with Jess and had a delicious lunch at a deli across the street. I stuck around to help her clean her studio and wrap some paintings. She kindly walked me to the subway and I took it back to the hotel to meet up with dad. He took me to a show at Lincoln Center where we saw War Horse and it was amazing! The puppetry was incredible. I was in awe of the concentration and attention the actors took in bringing the horses to life. I was proud of us making it all the way there on the subway, eating at a restaurant I had actually been to before (right underneath the LDS temple across the street from Lincoln Center), finding the show, and making it back on the subway in one shot!
Wednesday was graduation day, so that consumed our entire day and rightfully so since it was the whole reason for our trip! We took a car to Radio City Music Hall, but Jessie ended up bailing a couple blocks before we got there because the traffic was so terrible! The line for family to enter the building was a few blocks long, so we got a nice view of Rockefeller Center while we waited. Radio City Music Hall was gorgeous. My favorite part of the ceremony was listening to the giant organ that rolled out from behind a curtain while a man played Pomp and Circumstance. Not so impressed with the singers, not going to lie. They were jazz singers and I'm sure quite famous and talented in that venue, but seriously, messing up the words to "America the Beautiful" (which were printed in the program) repeatedly really made it hard for me to enjoy the talent. The speakers were wonderful, though, and I thoroughly enjoyed hearing the success rates of Pratt graduates and also learning a little history from the school. When the students "walked," it was a combination of undergraduates, graduate students, and doctoral students, so it took a while before Jess made it up there, but I was so glad she wore red shoes! I was able to follow here easily.
After graduation, things were just INSANE outside the building, so we took the subway to SOHO and went to an all-organic restaurant for a family dinner. We were all starved and exhausted after skipping lunch to get in line for commencement. Jess had some items back at her apartment to send on the plane with mom and dad, so I opted to take Grammy and Mom straight back to the hotel on the subway and once again I managed to do it on my own without messing up! Jess is thinking about moving back there, so maybe I will get a chance to test out my subway skills again.
My trip ended with my biggest public transportation attempt yet...I took the subway for about forty five minutes up to catch a bus to take me to the airport. Not a bad deal for $2.55. I even got there early. Early enough to buy Peter and the kids some black and white New York cookies before I boarded my flight. I had a crazy time once I got home, though, being picked up from the airport (thanks, Meredith and Camilla), driven to my car, rode I-70 home, picked up the kids, went to Manhattan, then out to eat, and back in time for the Underwriter's show for Guys and Dolls. Whew! I am ready for a nap just thinking about it!
