Since we had no early morning obligations we got to decide how early we would all wake up and get out into the city. We agreed on 8, to make the best use of our limited time in New York. For breakfast, we headed to the cafe right next door. Still feeling pretty full from my big steak dinner last night, I settled for some granola.
We got our food really fast, so we were out and about quicker than we expected. Since we had so much time before our main excursion of the day to Sarah Lawrence College, we all got a taste of Times Square and briefly experienced the true hustle and bustle of NYC.
Our first stop was outside a typical souvenir shop to pick up some postcards, and afterwards we wandered around - taking photos and simply admiring the enormous 20+ story ads that define Times Square. Even though it was only 9 in the morning, the billboards and screens were lit up and dazzling and I can only imagine how blown away I'll be when we finally see it at night.
As a group, we wandered into the Hershey's shop first, and though the $20, 5 pound blocks of chocolate were tempting, we ultimately decided against it and headed across the street to the m&m's shop.
We waited for about 5 minutes for the store to open, and we were cheerfully applauded on the way in as they opened shop for the day.
On the way to visit the huge Toys R Us just across the way (complete with indoor Ferris wheel), Simon was buffered by ambitious costumed photobombers, but luckily he emerged unscathed and only a little made fun of.
I was pretty blown away when I got inside, you definitely don't have to be a kid to appreciate the decor. Scale Lego models, a giant Tyrannosaurus Rex, hundreds of Iron Man figurines, and shelves upon shelves of toys and games was an astounding sight. Though we had to leave soon after our arrival I will definitely be stopping by again to get a better look.
Our next stop was the one and only Grand Central Station, an old piece of New York's classic architecture. The building was beautiful and we spent a long time on the concourse just taking pictures of the view and observing the people - trying to differentiate the tourists from regular commuters became something of a pastime. We grabbed lunch downstairs (Indian for Simon, Emily, and I) and relaxed for just a bit before eventually making our way deeper into the station to board out train that would take us north, to Bronxville, NY.
Sarah Lawrence College was just a short taxi ride away, and I have to say that we could not have visited on a better day. The weather was perfect and the sky was clear - only enhancing the already lovely campus and grounds. The first thing we did was attend a brief information session, led by a rising 5th year student involved in linguistics and humanities. She explained the elaborate study system
at Sarah Lawrence, which doesn't operate on majors and concrete courses of study. Instead, students at Sarah Lawrence interview with professors to decide which classes interest them, and take 3 each semester, which are then divided into lecture and conference means of study. Under this system, students meet independently with their professors biweekly to further explore the subject and prepare for a sort of final "project" (usually a lengthy research paper). After the session we were taken on a 2 and a half hour, extremely thorough and encompassing tour around campus with a very energetic current student. As she showed us different dorms, buildings, and on-site hangouts, she told us stories about her experiences, raved about professors and joked around.
Personally, the tour made me a bit more partial to Sarah Lawrence than the info session, and that might be due to our guide's enthusiastic nature. The unconventional learning style at Sarah Lawrence is interesting, but still mostly foreign-seeming to me.
Tonight we had dinner at Frisco with 4 Yale alums. They were some of the most interesting people I have ever met and I'm really glad I had the opportunity to meet them. Dinner as a whole was a very fun and eye-opening experience, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Though it's hardly the most important aspect of the evening, it would feel strange for me not to rave about the food - which was delicious! I had the lamb, and the we all enjoyed shrimp and crab appetizers as well as a plethora of tasty side dishes such as lobster mac and cheese, and creamed spinach. The dessert was amazing as well, we all sampled a variety of different cakes. For the majority of the time I sat with Chad, an attorney who deals with financial cases involving art - which sparked up many conversations about his work and experiences, as well as places I should visit while I'm here. He was extremely intelligent and so much fun to get to talk to - he had tons to say about every subject we came across and seemed to have an endless supply of advice.
Before the alums left, one asked if we were going to be busy during the next week, to which Simon replied that we were "jam-packed." After he replied that he might be able to hook us up with some events at Yale and possibly Harvard, I think it's safe to say that there's always room for peanut butter!
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