It was only two days ago that you were ready to go on the Freedom Tour. You had packed all the items you needed for the week in two bags.
Imagine that you are immigrating to another country with your family. Your parents want a simpler life for the family. It is getting too busy in America: the kids won’t get off the computer, the text messages are annoying, no one reads classic novels or writes anymore, and it’s too expensive to eat and pay bills. So, you are heading to Mongolia to live in a yurt, farm the land, and reconnect with each other. There are no Wal-Marts, Targets or stores of any kind. You will not be heading back to America. Your parents burned all their money and credit cards after they bought the oxen and yurt.
You have the same bag you used to pack for the Freedom Tour. This is the only bag you will have.
What will you pack?
This is how the students responded:
A chicken and some grain
hunting rifle
treats
boots
money
books
solar charger
lemonade mix
blankets
pillow
pictures
duct tape
sunglasses
junk food
purified water
Bible
bug spray
stuffed animals
journal
shampoo
bedding
fishing pole
12 pair of jeans
20 t-shirts
pictures of my friends
cosmetics
This is what the immigrants packed:
shawl
dress
books
comforters
tapestry
pillows
wagons
hats
china
treasured items
rings
gold earrings
rope
suitcase
rugs
We then discussed similarities and differences between the lists as well as how they would revise their original list.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Wow .. What a Day
Our day started off with a six a.m. wake up call – two in my case. After breakfast the day got started quickly. Right off we got on the bus to catch a ferry to Liberty Island. After a visit there we got back on the ferry to Ellis Island. By this time we were all ready to quit because the temperature was reaching the high nineties. After the third ferry ride you can imagine that the air conditioning in the building was very welcome. Getting to tour inside the museum was awesome! I couldn’t help thinking that some of my ancestors had come to America here. After the tour we got right back on the ferry! We docked in Battery Park in broiling heat.
CIAO BELLA!
After that, MORE walking in crazy heat! This time off to the 9/11 Memorial. It was absolutely breathtaking. Located where one of the towers once stood, gallons of water flowed into a rectangular basin, and drained. On the side rail, (it was quite wide) were the names of the deceased on that tragic day. After that groups were turned loose to find air conditioning and refreshment. Unfortunately, the heat had gotten to some people so walking was hard.
Well, with walking comes another destination, and for us it was the Seaport. On the way there my group walked down Wall Street and met some…..interesting locals. I made a comment about Occupy Wall Street and was promptly told to hush up unless I wanted to be arrested. Not long afterwards my friend was dubbed “Wonder Woman” by a total stranger. Finally arriving at the pier the groups enjoyed A.C. and a bit of shopping. By this time we were all pretty hungry so we hopped on the bus for dinner in China Town and Little Italy.
My group chose Little Italy and we had quite an adventure. We decided to eat dinner at a small place called Pastierno’s. The food was fabulous and we learned some Italian.
Bonjourno-Hello
Ciao-Hi/Bye
Graci-Thank You
Prego-You’re Welcome
Bella-Beautiful/Young Lady
Sciacca-Bounty
We used our limited Italian to converse with the staff.
After our dinner we walked down the street for some shopping and dessert. We all (team leaders too!) split some cannoli and most of the kids got some gelato to cool down. Sadly, The gelato didn’t compare to that from the Gelato Fiasco in Brunswick. We sat outside in 100 degree weather and savored the cold treat.
Surprise! Surprise! We got to walk back through China Town to our busses. On our way back we saw a man with a very thirsty-looking cat on his head! Once back on the bus everyone was happy to be in cool air, and heading towards the hotel and showers!
Driving to the hotel we took another bus tour through Times Square. The lights were incredible and every billboard vies for your attention. Times Square is New York’s hotspot and there’s always something interesting going on. There were two interesting things for us. First was the ‘Naked Cowboy” walking around in only boots, a hat, and underwear…….. The second, and I kid you not, was yoga! There were maybe a thousand people doing yoga in Times Square in the incredible heat.
But, that’s New York for you!Day 2
We started with the Statue of Liberty. Most of the kids I talked to told me they never thought that they would see her in real life! One of the girls I'm rooming with (Amelia) said that "she (Statue of Liberty) has stood there so long, and brought hope and excitement for people coming from other countries, it should do the same for me and my classmates."
The next stop was Ellis Island. Going to this island was a great opportunity for us kids; we've learned so much about Ellis Island throughout our years at Brunswick Junior High. The museum inside was amazing; the pictures, the luggage display, the recorded phone calls that you could listen to through a phone. The rooms were so big, I could only imagine how the immigrants felt when they got here.
Our next stop was Battery Park. We took a break there once we got off the boat from Ellis. It was a small park, but nice to get away from all the buildings. After that we walked to Ground Zero five blocks away. I would have to say this was the most emotional stop we had all day. All of my classmates, I could tell, were being very respectful, quiet when asked to be, and just took a moment to thank everyone who died trying to save innocent people. I saw this as a time to thank all those people, and to remember that it could have been a lot worse.
Next I'm going to write about is Seaport. The Seaport has a bunch of things happening around in and on it. We went into the mall first, so we could get out of the 103 degree weather. Most kids didn't bring money, not knowing we had shopping time. After the mall we went outside and waited for the buses to bring us to China Town. There, we just walked around and gambled/shopped at the street stores. I know most of the classmates I talked to said they got really good deals. I know I did! At this point every group was on their own with their team leaders. We ate in Little Italy! Then we gambled more! We walked down a big road to meet up with our buses and drove back to the hotel, but on the way we got to go through Times Square. This was the third time we got to see it; once in the day time, once at night time, and once at dusk. At all times, there were still the same amount of people. Crowds and crowds of people. We got back to the hotel at 9:45 PM, ready to go to bed.
-Quinn
Team Leader note: Gambling is really bartering (Ha Ha).
The next stop was Ellis Island. Going to this island was a great opportunity for us kids; we've learned so much about Ellis Island throughout our years at Brunswick Junior High. The museum inside was amazing; the pictures, the luggage display, the recorded phone calls that you could listen to through a phone. The rooms were so big, I could only imagine how the immigrants felt when they got here.
Our next stop was Battery Park. We took a break there once we got off the boat from Ellis. It was a small park, but nice to get away from all the buildings. After that we walked to Ground Zero five blocks away. I would have to say this was the most emotional stop we had all day. All of my classmates, I could tell, were being very respectful, quiet when asked to be, and just took a moment to thank everyone who died trying to save innocent people. I saw this as a time to thank all those people, and to remember that it could have been a lot worse.
Next I'm going to write about is Seaport. The Seaport has a bunch of things happening around in and on it. We went into the mall first, so we could get out of the 103 degree weather. Most kids didn't bring money, not knowing we had shopping time. After the mall we went outside and waited for the buses to bring us to China Town. There, we just walked around and gambled/shopped at the street stores. I know most of the classmates I talked to said they got really good deals. I know I did! At this point every group was on their own with their team leaders. We ate in Little Italy! Then we gambled more! We walked down a big road to meet up with our buses and drove back to the hotel, but on the way we got to go through Times Square. This was the third time we got to see it; once in the day time, once at night time, and once at dusk. At all times, there were still the same amount of people. Crowds and crowds of people. We got back to the hotel at 9:45 PM, ready to go to bed.
-Quinn
Team Leader note: Gambling is really bartering (Ha Ha).
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