NY Survivor and The Met

This week has been going wonderfully! I'm learning a lot and really enjoying the things our professors have planned for us. Today was like a dream - we had class at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and discussed art all day. Yes, please! I'll update you on the day below, but first... a public service rambling by me about what I've learned about life in NYC so far.

Going to class and doing my homework is easy... but I've found that many other things are really hard in NYC! Any New Yorkers or previous New Yorkers out there... I doff my hat to you. You should win some type of award or be on the show "Survivor". Seriously. Maybe I'm spoiled in Texas, but I'm used to most things in life being relatively easy. Travel? Easy. Just drive your car anywhere you want to go. Eating? Easy. Just load up your car at the grocery store and make food for yourself in your home.

In New York, you can't take those things for granted. Travel? Difficult. Study subway map for 10+ minutes and walk 10 blocks, only to discover that you are walking the wrong direction. No subway stop near you? Just walk the 20 blocks to your next destination. Oh, you're hot, dirty, and your feet ache? Too bad - can't be avoided, but it'll be OK once you get on the air-conditioned subway car, right? Yes, unless the air-conditioning is broken on your train.

Food? Difficult. There is not a traditional grocery store in sight - only "delis" offering blueberries for a mere $5. OK, so you can cook for yourself, right? Wrong. How are you going to buy all the groceries you need and then get them home? You have to carry them 20 blocks home. I am incredulous at all the New Yorkers I see who make it look so easy. I finally wised up by watching the full-time residents in my dorm: they order takeout that gets delivered. This sounded like a revelation - have the food brought to YOU! So two nights ago, I ordered takeout from a neighborhood place. I got a salad and a little pizza that was actually big enough for lunch the next day. It was delicious and the whole thing (including tip) cost me $16. I was getting closer to figuring out the food puzzle. Today, though, I had to have something healthy or I was going to go crazy. I went to Whole Foods in Columbus Circle, got enough pre-made healthy food to last me a few days (that fit in one bag 'cause I had to carry it), and then took the subway all the way back uptown. I just heated up my fish & veggies in my little microwave, and they were delicious! So I think I will continue to trek to Whole Foods every few days. Here's a picture of my first delivery experience from last night, complete with hulu in the background.

Today was visual arts day. We had an artist come for the morning to teach us an art workshop. He was awesome, and he had us doing lots of activities including reading, acting, and creating art. We had to create a scene depicting something uncomfortable that happened to us, and then we had to make the scene into a sculpture made of paper. Below is a picture of me with my group members Mimi (teaches in New Jersey) and Sandra (teaches in Miami). We made a scene from my life, and I'm wondering if Brent can figure out what it is just from the pictures. We'll see!
Here is us acting out our scene in a tableaux or "freeze frame". Got it yet, Brent?

After our art workshop, we headed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the afternoon. Here's me with Jamie who teaches in New Jersey.

Just a little pic of our classroom. I mean, are you kidding me?!

Our teacher took us to three separate works of art and we spent about 30 minutes analyzing each one and doing activities right there in the museum. Here is a picture of us sitting on the floor in front of the painting we were working with. At this point we were talking to our partners about what we were noticing. Passerby at the museum gave us some definite puzzled stares. We looked like little kids on the floor! However, some people actually joined us! One lady sat down on the floor with us, listened to our teacher, and participated for a while!

Here is our teacher facilitating our session in front of a Rodin sculpture we analyzed. Seriously... this was my CLASS. It made me think that school really doesn't have to be boring. Why do we think that school is only school if it's boring and hard? What if I could make school more like this for my students... where they didn't even feel like they were at school, and they loved learning so much they didn't want to stop? It's possible... they do it with us everyday. Food for thought...

At the Rodin sculpture, our teacher had us re-enact the piece by getting in groups and making a tableaux as we did earlier in the day. We were all kind of hesitant to do this in the middle of the museum. He was like, "This museum is YOURS. Let's use it like it's ours. It doesn't matter what people think of us!" So we all got up and did it, right in front of everyone! Here's one group:

Here's my group:

I completely loved the Met and want to go back as soon as I can... probably Saturday since I can get in for free! God continues to bless my time here and give me so many inspirational moments. Thank you, Lord! Miss everyone back home!