The land of Far Far Away--in this case--New York

A trip to New York seems as good a place to start a blog as any.

Two weeks ago, as a result of my involvement with exchange students, I had the opportunity to go to the Big Apple for a workshop cum vacation. 9 years ago, when we first started hosting, I had no idea where this could lead--we were just hoping for an enjoyable experience that would enrich our lives and do some good for the (un)lucky student who landed in our home. And we did have enriching experiences. But by getting more involved, I've also gained opportunities to travel--to Washington DC (as a volunteer), to China (to visit one student's parents), and then this workshop. In addition, I was able to visit one of our former students who is attending university in New York state, which was perhaps even more rewarding than the Big City. After all, people are the most important.

On arrival at JFK Airport, my first job was to rent a car. To my chagrin, cars rent for upwards of $100/day. I COULD have gotten a better deal ahead of time over the internet, but put it off too long. For one third of the price, I was able to get a train ticket to Rochester where Albert goes to school. It also meant spending the night in Penn Station, deep under the ground in the middle of Manhattan Island, with subways and trains whooshing through the night, even deeper underground, in this city that truly doesn't ever sleep--although it does calm down at times. Sleeping on uncomfortable waiting area chairs is possible, especially if one can avoid the eagle eye of the attendant, who's job it is to make sure nobody puts their feet up on another seat!!

The next afternoon, after some more comfortable sleep on the half empty train, I arrived refreshed in Rochester. Rochester turns out to be a not shabby sized town on the shores of Lake Ontario. The Rochester Institute of Technology is a ways away from the Lake, and, for that matter, the train station. The taxi took me there for only $25.

Albert was a gracious host, as I knew he would be, and we spent the next couple of days (his spring break) doing a bit of sight-seeing. Renting a car, while still not easy, was certainly less expensive, and we travelled first to Niagara Falls, only two hours away. Having lived in Canada, I had seen them several times, but this was the first time in the winter, AND on the American side. They were less impressive than I had hoped, because the mist hid them from view, and the snow prevented us from reaching points with better views. It was also quite cold. Weather in the Tri-Cities became nostalgically warm and inviting. On the up side, we avoided the massive waves of tourists and the sticky summer weather. We drove back to Rochester along the shores of Lake Ontario, which brought back more memories than I knew I had of when I was younger and lived on the other side of it. It is huge and the other side was not visible.

The next day we decided to stick closer to Rochester and visited, of all places, Palmyra. I hadn't realized we would be so close. A 20 minute drive got us there, and two very nice sister missionaries took us on a tour of Joseph Smith's homes (the first small one and the later larger, more comfortable house), and let us loose in the Sacred Grove. As expected, the two Smith homes and everything else were in the excellent condition and quality that is a hallmark of the Church. Those little tiny houses were a lot roomier than they look to be from the outside. Even in winter, the Sacred Grove was beautiful, and the landscape was very comfortable and familiar to me, from when I was a kid. We passed the Palmyra Temple on the way as well. I'm not sure that going there did anything for Albert besides giving an education on early American life, but I was grateful for the opportunity.

We returned to Rochester and checked out the George Eastman (of the Eastman Kodak company) mansion and museum, and Albert had a chance to see more of Rochester than studying and buses made possible. Even after almost two years, I still miss Albert almost every day, so I was sad to leave him Friday morning and head for New York City, but going to New York to see the sights can't be all bad!! And, I knew that there would be soft beds in the luxury hotel and lots of good food on the pampered tours and activities that were coming up. And, from my adventures at the airport and Penn station, I expected there would be no snow. Turns out I was right. BUT it was raining buckets when I got off the subway and tried to find the hotel on Lexington Avenue, where the building numbers do NOT match the street numbers. Soggy and limp, I eventually found it and things started looking up right away....