The 16thof August 2016. My alarm clock woke me up
early in the morning. When I opened my eyes, my first thought was: “Oh my God!
Is it a dream? Can it be true that I`m lying
in a comfortable king-size bed in one of the oldest hotels of America, which is
at the crossroads of the 45th Street and Madison Avenue! Right in the center of New York! I can`t
believe it! ”
It was the second day of our stay in the Big Apple. We had
already visited many of the must see places the day before and were looking
forward to more. The second day was expected to be even busier for us since it
was our last day in New York. Nevertheless, I had my own plans for the day.
Even before coming to the US I had made a commitment to go
to St. Vartan Cathedral, which is 20 minutes` walk from hour hotel, according
to Google. So I got up at 7 in the morning and having put down Google`s directions
on a sheet of paper, headed for my destination. Google said that I had to go
along the 43d Street up to 2nd Avenue. So I started walking in that direction
and what struck me was that even at that early hour the city was still dirty:
the garbage bags were still there and the air was as smelly as the night before.
This was my first disappointment that came soon after overexcitement about the
luxury of Downtown Manhattan.
It took me more than
20 minutes to get to the place: once or twice I found out that I was off the
track and had to go back and forth to make sure I was on the right way. But
even after that I didn`t manage to do without human help: twice I had to stop
passers-by hurrying to work who nevertheless kindly helped me (using Google
though) to find my way.
When I finally got to the place, I was disappointed to find
out that the iron ornamented doors of the cathedral were closed or at least they
were too heavy for me to open. Anyway, not finding anybody around, I began to
explore the churchyard and saw a smaller door, with a notice next to it which
said that it was Gyulbenkyan Cultural Center. I opened the door, which was much
easier for me to do, and found myself in a small office with a guy sitting at
the desk. I told him I wanted to go into the cathedral but he replied
indifferently that there was nobody there and that their center had nothing to
do with the cathedral and that he didn`t know anything and could not help me. However
when I said that I was a visitor from Georgia and was leaving the next day, his
attitude changed all at once and he spoke to me in Russian. In answer to my
surprised look, the guy explained that he came from Belorussia and would be
happy to help me. (See how important common history is!)He led me along dimly
lighted corridors into the main hall of the cathedral, explained how I could get
out after I finished and vanished`.
When I was left all alone in the clean half-lit hall of the cathedral,
I felt so peaceful and comfortable that I didn`t want to leave it for a long
time. Finally I realized that I might be late for our ten-o`clock meeting in
the hotel lobby and hurried up. I took some pictures and left.
The way back was shorter: this time I didn`t have difficulty
finding my way and I dropped in at a grocery store to buy some food for
breakfast. I got to the hotel just in time for the meeting appointed by Neil.
Everybody was in the hotel lobby feeling excited not only about the forthcoming
sightseeing and shopping events, but also by the news that Neil was going to
give out some money to spend during the day.
After a short discussion of where to go and what to see it
was suggested that the whole group took a ferry trip around the Statue of
Liberty. Everybody agreed and in groups of five, each led by one of our
trainers, we headed for the subway station. That was my second disappointment.
No, I`m not saying that I hadn`t heard about the New York subway before, but
what I saw was worse than I expected. It
was completely different from any underground I had seen before: a terrifying
dark and gloomy place which was at the same time dirty and smelly with lots of
homeless people around. I would definitely avoid travelling by subway here,
especially alone.
Anyway, we bought
tickets from machines with the help of our leaders and took the train to the
harbor. I can say that I enjoyed the ferry trip since we could see not only the
Statue of Liberty, but also the city skyline and took lots of pictures, enough
for another book of National Geographic`s,
as Neil put it. However, what made the trip even more enjoyable for me was that
it was a good opportunity to breathe more or less fresh clean air.
After the ferry trip, we considered some options of where to
go and split into two groups: one decided to go to the Metropolitan Museum and
the other one chose to visit the American Museum of Indian Culture. I joined
the last one because ever since my first
time in the US I have been interested in American Indians and their culture. Some
of the members of my group said they were starving and instead of going to the
museum, went to the nearest café to have a snack, while the rest made for the museum entrance crowded
by some homeless people. However, when
we stood in a line for a security check I saw that my group mates standing in
front of me were made to take out all they had in their bags, even small
change. I quite understand their reasons for doing this but it`s not so easy to
wait until everyone gets out their stuff and puts it back when you are almost
exhausted. Besides, when I thought that I would have to do without water on a
hot day like that, I somehow lost my interested in Indians and backed out.
On coming out of the museum I wanted to join the starving
group, but they were nowhere to be seen and I decided to wander about the place
until everybody gathered at the museum entrance again. I started to explore the
neighborhood and was glad to see a nice little park just opposite the museum
with benches where I could stretch my legs after a long walk. But unfortunately
I couldn`t relax as I was surrounded by some really weird people so I had to
get up and go. The only clean and safe place for me was the nearby stores. So I
whiled away my time there and came back to the museum to find the other members
of my group.
After that we walked to China Town, which was the last blow
for me! I don`t even want to describe the district, otherwise my blog will turn
into a gloomy and miserable piece of writing.I will only say that by that time we were all so exhausted that we
could hardly stand on our feet. The scorching sun, the unbearable smell and
dirt made it even worse. On top of that some of the people would get stuck in
this or that cheap store and Nana had to literally fish them out of the crowds
of Chinese people. At last everybody had
gathered and we were ready to move on, when it turned out that Andy wasn`t
there. It took some time to find him and when he came back with a drink in his
hand he looked much happier than before.
Now I was terrified at the idea that we would have to go
back to the hotel by subway and was dreaming of taking a taxi, when I heard
Neil suggest going back by cab. However it was too early to say hurray
as catching a cab was not a very easy thing to do in one of the most crowded
streets of ChinaTown. We had to take three cabs and the first cab was taken by
the teachers who were planning to climb the Empire State Building, so I had to
wait for anotherone. At that moment standing in the sun sweating and breathing that
dreadful air, the only thing I was dreaming of was a shower and a clean bed! Of
course it was not only me who wanted a shower! You could easily tell that when
Nana jumped into the busy street to stop a cab! And oh what a joy, the cab
stopped! We jumped into the cab and I immediately fell asleep, in the cab!
The New York cabs was another discovery for me, because I
didn`t know that they were like prison cells from inside. Of course I
understand that it is for security reasons only, but they look really
frightening.
As soon as I took the long-waited shower and got into bed,
I fell asleep like log. I didn`t even hear my roommate Maia go out. As it
turned out later, together with Tiko and Nino Khabazishvili they went to see
the Empire State Building, something I was so eager to do! Not only did they
see it, but they even climbed it! What a self-sacrifice!
After a good rest some of the teachers went to the Fifth
Avenue for shopping but I didn`t join them. I wanted to go to Times Square
because I had been there in the daytime and this time wanted to see it at
night. As nobody seemed to be interested in going there, I decided to go alone
and I did it! I was so proud of myself for being able to find the way (considering
the fact that I`m not very good at it). Of course on the way back I went off the track a little bit.But just then I heard somebody speaking Russian behind me. It was
a couple of nice young people who live in New York and I asked them for
directions. They complimented me on my Russian and showed me the right way.
On getting to the hotel, I saw some of our teachers sitting
in the hotel lobby as tired as myself. We sat there for a while telling one another about the sales and our bargains until I went
up to my room and turned off! What a long day!
That was a day from the adventures of Georgian teachers in America.
With love,
Marina Kazaryan.