MKLM in NYC

 You Went Where?

Me, Francis, Kathy, and Vicki on the platform to get on the train!

    For our last weekend in Ossining, a few of us decided it would be a shame to be a train ride away from Manhattan and not go at least once. On Friday after our last meeting, Victoria came up to me and asked if I would want to go into the city with her tomorrow morning? So, Saturday morning we met in the dinning room around 11am (it was a Saturday after all) and headed to the train station. By this point we had accumulated Francis and Kathy too!

Vicki and I on the train, as we pull into the station! 

    We set out towards the Hudson to catch the 11:30 train with our hats and gloves in tow for a December day in the city! When we arrived at Grand Central Station Kathy and I were both very hungry and decided it would be best to find something to eat in the station before we ventured out. Vicki and I both got New York Style Pizza and Francis and Kathy got hoagies and coffee! Kathy and I also stopped at a bakery where she got a lemon bar (she reports, the best one she has ever had!) and a cheesecake. I got a cupcake that was pretty stale, unfortunately. Then it was off on our adventure! 

You Did What?

    

Just left GCS and posing!

    When we left the station we got our first glimpse of NYC streets! It was pretty cool! We decided that we would try to head towards the Empire State Building since it seemed pretty close. As we approached it we could already tell the line was pretty long, but we still pushed father until we found the entrance. Before we went in, I used my handy dandy smart phone and googled how much it would be to ride the elevator to the top. After seeing that it was going to be about $50 for each of us... we decided that is not exactly in a missioners budget.

Francis in front of the Harry Potter Store

                                                                  Kathy in front of a Psychic 

 
The next thing we thought of to attempt to do was to go and view Ground Zero and the memorials of the twin towers and the 9/11 monuments. We saw that it was about 3 miles away but we didn't have that much on the agenda anyway so we started walking. On the way we passed Maddison Square Park, the Flat Iron building, the Harry Potter store, the Marble Arch and Washington Square Park! We went through SoHo, Greenwich Village, and Tribeca neighborhoods and finally made it to the southern end of the island. The monuments and the fountains were spectacular and awe-inspiring. It was an incredible tribute to the unnecessary loss of so many lives. I cannot begin to express all the feelings I had while on those hollowed grounds or my gratitude for the opportunity to do so. 

    As we begin our journey into other countries, cultures, and beliefs it is important for us to remember all the sacrifices others have made in the past to give us this incredible opportunity. We have to remember that we are now the outsiders and the minority. We are stepping on their hollowed grounds. We are the ones invading their bubble and asking, graciously, to be let in. It is not our right, but our privilege that allows us to do such things and we can only hope that they will welcome us into their homes and their countries. I said to Kathy as we were walking through the streets- 'it is so strange to be able to understand all the bits of conversation, I have been preparing for so long to not understand the language that this is catching me off guard' I only hope I can remember this feeling and strive to understand Tanzania as fully as I understand my own country and people. 

You Went With Who?

    As I said previously Victoria is the one who came up with this brilliant plan to use our empty Saturday to go into the city. She texted me that morning and asked if I was okay if Francis also came along and I was thrilled! 'The more the merrier' I thought! When I got down to the dinning room they let me know that Kathy was also going to be joining us and I was so excited! I love all my fellow missioners and the class of 2020 & 2021 (we are a combined class for reasons I'm sure you are all to familiar with). 

    I am sad that we will be spreading out all over the world sooner rather than later as I have enjoyed all of their company very much. But I am grateful for all of our shared charism and vocations as we understand and support each other through this process. We are all so blessed. If you would like to know more about the specific people that accompanied me on this mini-adventure go check out my last post where I introduced everyone in our class and where they will be going in just a few short weeks! 

The four of us shared a pole in the subway on the way back to Grand Central and I thought it would serve as a good reminder that we do not know the people that came before us or the people that will come after us that stand in this very spot; leaning on the same things we have to lean on, asking the same questions we are asking. We only know the ones who are with us in that moment and how we are one in the same. When it comes to riding a subway, there is no one better than another, no rich man or poor man, no black man or white man, there is only people getting to their final destination. We all need support and it is stronger with all of us.