Day Five: Erin Go Bragh, Lady Liberty, Times Square, and the Empire State

St. Patrick's Day is finally here and in celebration, all the students wore their finest green outfits. The second to last day of the trip would prove to be one of the most memorable. My mom and sister Alana joined us on the bus for the day's adventures.
Last night, I stopped at my house to pick up some St. Patty's Day props for the kids to make things extra festive. After taking several detours due to the flood we arrived at the Liberty State Park a little behind schedule. The building that we waited in for the ferry reminded me of the an old warehouse that had been renovated into a nice museum.

 While we stood around, the boys took turns showing off their impersonations of heel-clicking leprechauns.

The ferry ride over to Ellis Island provided an incredible panoramic view of the New York City skyline as the morning sun poke out from behind the clouds. Kawehi, Jayde, and Ms. Inouye led a group of students in a Hawaiian song, but then it evolved into some improvisation on the lyrics. I followed with some Jersey Shore impersonations that keep everyone rolling. Crossing the Hudson River was the first time many of the kids had been on a major body of water other than the Pacific.

I loved those first experiences and the excitement they drew out of the kids! We arrived at Ellis Island, and after problem-solving the timetable for a minute or so, we allowed the students to split into groups of three and venture off on their own. My mom, sister, and I decided to take a walk to the archives where you could look up on an extensive computer database any relatives who might have passed through Ellis Island between 1892 and the early 1900's. After securing a computer, I found the records of great-uncles from my mom's side of the family as well as my great-grandfather on my dad's side. Since my last name is very rare, it is easy to trace the genealogical trail to someone who has the same name.

We ventured around the museum and checked out the various exhibits about the millions of immigrants that migrated from Europe during the turn of the century. Outside along the wall with the names of the documented immigrants' inscriptions, I found another relative's name.In celebration of the Irish holiday, we sat down in the cafe and munched on the day's special, corned beef and cabbage. We had to gobble down our meal though, because the ferry was leaving for the Statue of Liberty and we definitely didn't want to miss that.

As we landed on Liberty Island, I witnessed another moment where the students were in complete shock and awe at the sight of the 180-foot oxidized Lady Liberty. Again, we allowed the students to group up and walk around the island to explore. When we rendezvoused at the front of the statue for a group picture, nearly all the students had purchased the foam green crown, which further added to their St. Patty's Day flare.

The whole mood was very happy and students felt so privileged to stand at the base of such a majestic statue. I fielded a ton of questions about how the U.S. transported it from Europe, why it was green, what the inscription meant on the book ,which led me to believe that their curiosity was hitting a high point. PERFECT!

The foghorn sounded, which indicated that the ferry was ready to leave. Back on the ferry, I sat with Kawehi and Kalei, explaining the cause and effect relationship between the influx of immigrants and the industrial boom that occurred in the country as a result. As they asked insightful question about the immigration process, I correlated it to the migration of immigrants to Hawaii with the advent of the sugar plantations. Meanwhile, we were taking bets on whether or not Ms. Skedeleski was going to lose her lunch due to sea sickness.

To our disappointment, she was able to hold her lunch down. =)

We unloaded off the ferry onto Battery Park, named after the fort that stood right there used as a defense against enemy ships in the early 1800's. We came across street performers, artists, troubadours and musicians and the whole place had a lively buzz to it. A group of street acrobats did a 20-minute performance that culminated into one of the guys doing a running full frontal flip over five participants. Pretty amazing, and the kids were totally captivated. As we waited for the bus to arrive, we came across a ball sculpture about 20 feet. in diameter that used to sit below the World Trade Center.

After the towers collapsed, it was badly damaged but as a symbol of the city's resolve, they relocated it to Battery Park, despite the dents and gouges in the metal framework. Just another eerie reminder of how gruesome that day must have been and the kids were very quick to pick up on it.

Back on the bus, we headed towards Times Square for dinner at the famous Dallas BBQ. Since we got there a little early, we allowed the kids to check out a couple of stories on the block. A solid majority followed an overly eager Ms. Skedeleski as she sprinted to the Hello Kitty store. I took a couple of boys to the Quiksilver store, where we became friends with the manager.

Quignon, Joseph, Peter, and I started a mini dance party and became the pro tempore mascots for 10 minutes. At Dallas BBQ, we continued to receive compliments for our students' excellent behavior. A hometown friend of mine stopped by to say hi and joined my mom, sister, and crew. Ms. Weida also had her whole PA family come too! It was great to spend time with friends and family.

The last stop of the evening was the Empire State Building. Even I hadn't been inside the tallest building in Manhattan so I was super amped.

A good college friend joined us for the ascent and she was so impressed with how well-behaved and engaging the students were. We took an elevator 80 stories up and had to hike up the remaining 6 flights to the 86th floor. The aerobic capacity of our students could be better after seeing some huffing and puffing. Once w reached the observatory deck, the sight was breath-taking.

We caught the end of sunset so there was a faint orange-reddish hue upon the horizon line that made the lighting perfect for pictures. As the sun faded and the night set in, the city lights looked like Lite-Brite (http://www.hasbro.com/litebrite/ for explanation) We could see how narrow Manhattan really was when we got above the skyscraper fray. Despite how crowded it was, we still got a bunch of awesome shots of the bridges, Chrysler Building, and other famous buildings. The light at the top of the building was green in accordance to the St Patrick's Day holiday. As we celebrated our last night in the city from over 1,000 feet high, we took a moment to appreciate our awesome time in New York I know that the experience in the city changed our kids' perception of the possibilities available to them One more night to go.