Ellie Frist- Monday

Today, we went on a tour of the High Line! The High Line used to be New York Central Railroad Spur, but is now an elevated greenway of sorts! Along the High Line, there were many different forms of art. One in particular that stuck out was the piece by Simone Leigh called Brick House, which was a 16 ft tall bronze bust of a Black woman with a torso composed of a skirt and clay house. However, that was just one of the many works of the Highline. Richard, our tour guide, also told us about the architecture of the High Line and how it maintained its linear structure even while it was being transformed into the greenway it is today. Then, to escape the cold, we made our way to the biggest Starbucks in New York, where I bought a large hot chocolate!

Next, we made our way to the Tenement Museum. The tour of the museum is extremely interactive, with an actor/ actress playing the role of a real person who lived in the tenement house. My group met Victoria, who lived with ten other people in a three room "apartment". It was shocking that so many people lived in such a small space, I could barely fathom it. However, it was exciting to be able to learn about what life would have been like for someone who was an immigrant during that time. Being able to compare the life of an immigrant over one hundred years ago to the lives that immigrants are living today was fascinating. It shows that over time the overall story hasn't changed much but that the characters of the story do. Hopefully, one day this will change.

After the Tenement Museum, we went to a restaurant in Little Italy called Il Cortile. It was a great end to such a fun (and cold) day. I had a great dinner with many interesting conversations and tons of laughs. I have loved being able to get to know so many different girls on this trip. It reminds me of one of the many beauties of Winterim: The chance to get to know other people better. I wouldn’t have traded all of the laughs we had tonight for anything. I look forward to see what tomorrow brings!