New York: A Walking Tour

New York: A Walking Tour

As I sit now, back at my friend Joe’s in New Jersey, I feel I am finally able to reflect upon New York and my experience in that incredible city. In the two days I spent there, Joe and I traversed over 250 blocks and twelve miles of New York. We visited two museums: The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) and The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met), which collectively allowed us to view some of life’s greatest wonders, both natural and man-made; walked the entire length of Central Park twice and enjoyed lunch on its grassy lawn; passed by countless historic landmarks (including The Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Apollo Theater, Flatiron Building, Guggenheim Museum, NYU and Columbia University, Grand Central Station, Madison Square Garden and Penn Station, and many others); saw some of New York’s talented street performers; explored some of New York’s famed sections, such as Chinatown, Little Italy, Greenwich Village, and Times Square; and spent the night hanging out in Harlem with a good friend of Joe’s (and now me too!).

After I write all of this, it is almost hard to believe we packed this much living into such a short amount of time. From the moment Joe and I stepped off our train in Penn Station to the time we then stepped back on the train to head to Woodbridge (NJ), we were seeing and doing as much as we possible could. Each minute was filled with awe and wonder as I attempted to soak in and absorb everything I could about New York. Each block we traversed was a study in itself: the passing faces and the lives behind them provide an apt cross-section of America unlike perhaps anywhere else in the United States. Billboards, advertisements, scrolling marquees, shops, clothing, and other examples of pop culture tell the story of modern America and allow one to learn a great deal about our society and culture, both positively and negatively. From all of these ‘artifacts’ one is able to glean much about the values system in the US and better understand the image that is projected to the rest of the world about this nation.

As I walked around I also tried to imagine New York as it would have looked during its early years of existence. I thought of the millions of immigrants who came to New York seeking a better life and attempted to conceptualize what it would be like to give up everything I have and know in search of greener grass. As I ponder this, now retrospectively, I realize that my own upcoming move to Yemen is quite similar, and would like to digress for a moment to examine this similarity. Yemen, specifically Sana’a, will be entirely different from everything I currently know life to be: different language, religion (though this will not be difficult for me), culture, diet (something I am looking forward to!), transportation system, and so on. Perhaps the greatest differences between my quest and that of America’s early immigrants are the circumstances leading to my move. I am not moving to Yemen for lack of opportunity or employment in the US, nor because I am terribly unhappy or oppressed. I am moving because of a deep sense of wanderlust and a strong desire/passion to expand my world perspective and challenge my perception of life. I feel privileged, and indeed am, to have the ability to move out of my own volition and to move freely about this great planet we call HOME.

Back to New York, though. An interesting and somewhat ironic observation, or understanding, I made was while visiting both the AMNH and the Met. As mentioned in the beginning of this post, these two museums feature some of this life’s greatest wonders. The AMNH offers some of life’s greatest natural wonders including the great diversity of flora and fauna of planet Earth, the great expanse of the cosmos, and the earliest history of mankind, while the Met offers some of life’s greatest man-made creations including Egyptian artifacts and art; Medieval armor, art, ironwork, and weaponry; European portraits and sculptures; and an entire wing dedicated to Modern Art. The irony was this: here I am, in one of the busiest and most developed centers of modern civilization, surrounded by towering examples of mankind’s creation, and I sit studying some of the earliest, most basic, and, sometimes, tiny representations of mankind’s quest for autonomy over its milieu. In addition to this irony was the great disparity in the overall mood and environment between the hectic flow of traffic, both people and vehicles, throughout the streets/area of New York compared to the relative quietude and calm of these two great museums. These two museums were not without their own hubbub and liveliness; certain sections were much busier and noisier than others, but on the whole there was a noticeable difference in the atmosphere between the museums and the streets of New York. Perhaps nowhere was this more apparent than in the Modern Art section of the Met, which happened to be one of my favorite sections. This also happened to be the last wing or exhibit I visited prior to making my exit back into the streets of New York. It was because of this, I believe, that I noticed such a difference in the mood of these two environments.

In sum, I had a wonderful time during my brief stay in New York. It is truly unlike anyplace else and is rich, saturated in fact, with culture, activity, diversity, and human development. My only complaint about New York is that I was not able to stay longer. The great part about travel, though, is that it can be repeated and favorite places can be revisited (especially when you know someone in the host city!). There is much more I would like to share, but this short discourse will have to do.

Namaste,

JOE