January 30th, 2013 – FroYo…Finally

This morning began at 8:45 am when we left the Y and headed to Queens to see a Rooftop Farm called the Brooklyn Grange (because it started in Brooklyn). The farm was amazing, and our tour guide was very knowledgeable and positive. The farm is a profitable business, which was refreshing after hearing from nonprofits all week. The farm makes money by selling their products to restaurants, consumers, having events, consulting, giving tours, etc. With so much roof space in NYC, it is surprising that more farms like this haven’t been created.

After the tour, we ate at a Venezuelan restaurant around the corner and got arepas, which are similar to pita with vegetables, meat, and cheese in them. We came back together as a group at 2 and participated in a lecture about Critical Perspectives on Travel and Privilege, learning about what it means to be a study abroad student, what it means to observe people, and a little bit of discussion about US privilege. After, we watched a video of a lecture from the economist David Harvey and discussed “The Urban Roots of the Fiscal Crisis.” Then, a bunch of us had Japanese food for dinner. I met up with Anjan at pwc after and we got frozen yogurt and talked about India! He is very excited for me to go and is going to try and introduce me to his cousin there. Very exciting stuff. 

January 29th, 2013 – When Harry Met Sally…and then ate some matzo ball soup

This morning we had DIY time to prepare for our Neighborhood presentations. Our group met up for breakfast to plan, and we made a photo power point and organized our presentation about the “gentrified” downtown Brooklyn that we experienced yesterday. We all got back together as a group after lunch to present to each other. After, we listened to a lecture from the director of a new IHP Study Abroad program that is centered on climate change. He talked about how climate change can contribute to social injustice, violence, and inequalities in a country.

Then we had our first Culture and Society class where we just went through the syllabus and expectations. For dinner, a bunch of us walked to Bryant Park and then took a subway to the lower east side and ate at Katz Deli. Matzo ball soup….yummm. We walked around Rockafeller Center, and then headed back to the Y for the night. Rooftop farming tomorrow morning!!

January 28th, 2013 – You Guys Study Grass

Today we had another class called “contemporary urban issues,” which is co-taught by our three faculty. It also involves our individual research project, so we talked about that briefly and our proposals are due by the end of the week. I’m still not sure what I’m going to write about…but I’ll let you know as soon as I know. Other people have some really great ideas like researching how families eat meals together, or what does it mean for a girl to become a woman. We can do the project on whatever we want, as long as it is something that we can’t just look up the answer to on the internet.

Then we heard a lecture called “Bushwick to Brooklyn: From Ghetto to Gentrified?” which was given by our program director. He read his essay and then we talked a little bit about Brooklyn’s history and how gentrification is a double-edged sword. Then we were assigned neighborhoods for “Neighborhood Day.” My neighborhood was downtown Brooklyn, so we met with an agency there that works to insure affordable housing for residents in the neighborhood. Then we had to walk around on our own and talk to people, make observations, and experience Brooklyn life in a new way. We saw the very gentrified areas, where mom and pop shops were next to a starbucks and a “cheap” clothing store was across from an Armani. We ate Brooklyn bagels for lunch on our way to the agency, and we went to the Shake Shack for dinner…both of which were delicious.

Then the group came back together to talk about our learning community in more depth, and to write letters to ourselves that we will open again on the last week of the trip. We also discussed some generalizations about Americans and how we can work to overcome these as we go abroad. 

January 27th, 2013 – Alumni Network

Today we had another free day in the morning. A few of us went to the Brooklyn flea market with two alumni from the program. The flea market was really nice and in a really cool building, but was really expensive. The food was amazing though. We walked around Brooklyn for a while after, went to juniors to get cheesecake, and then headed back to the Y to get ready for the alumni dinner that night.

The dinner was at Colors, which is an interesting restaurant because it is a worker-owned restaurant. I’m still not entirely sure what that means, but I know that the restaurant belongs to a larger organization that deals with equitable rights. There were over 50 alumni at the dinner, even some people who had been students, fellows, and faculty on the program (so they had done the program 3 times). It was a great dinner with great company, and amazing to be in a room with so many inspirational people at one time. 

January 26th, 2013 – The Red Velvet Heart to Heart

Our first free day! What better than to head to Time Square to see a show!? Six of us went to the tkts line, which wasn’t a line because there was literally no one there, and we got tickets for avenue q. We walked around time square, went to the toy store and the Disney store, took some pictures, and then went to Ellen’s Stardust Diner for lunch. I was the only one who had ever been there before, and everyone loved it. One of the waiters sang a song from Les Miz and we all almost started crying because it was so beautiful. Then we headed to the theater to see the show, which was just as good as I remembered it.

After, we went to Grand Central Station and ate some red velvet cheesecake and sat around for a while talking. Then we headed to Korea town for dinner to a really good restaurant that had really spicy food. After, everyone on the program headed to a bar because it was one of our friend’s 21^st birthdays. When we came back, we all piled into our closet-sized rooms and had heart to hearts for the rest of the night. 

January 25th, 2013 – The Willi Wonka Paint Suits

Today started at 7:30AM when we left the YMCA and headed to the Rockaways, which were very heavily affected by Hurricane Sandy. We went to a church and heard from volunteers from AmericaCorps, volunteers who just went down after the hurricane and haven’t left yet, a representative from FEMA, and victims of the disaster. The victims had tragic stories and are still not in their houses, as is true for many of the residents of the Rockaways. They also said that within the Rockaways there are many different areas, and they were angry that the news only talked about them as one area. The richer parts of the Rockaways were redeveloped first, but the poorer parts are still dangerous and need work. The volunteers were impressive because they left their homes and jobs to come down and help, do not have any income, and won’t leave until the job is done. The media forgets that this is still a constant struggle.

After eating pizza with the victims and listening to their stories in more detail, as well as listening to them fight with the FEMA representative, we painted the church that we were stationed in to give back. This church had to be gutted because of molding, as were many of the buildings and houses at the Rockaways. It took a very long time to paint, but we had a great time doing it.

We went to China town on the way home and ate at a delicious restaurant called XO Kitchen. Then we went to a bar at night and sat around and talked about life, our aspirations, our families, etc. Great day with great company.