Tag Archives: travel

Campus Visit : Bard College & Parsons New School

A Journey to New York City

The objective of this visit is to gather first hand information from the two colleges to enable a final commitment to one of them.

Another exciting adventure – to visit Bard College (Annandale-on-Hudson, NY) and The New School (New York City, NY)

April 20, 2018 (Friday)

Karmel will accompany Amelia to NYC.  For Amelia this will be familiar territory, for Karmel, a completely new adventure.

The Journey Begins
The Journey Begins

Meeting up in SFO for the long dreary red-eye flight to New York, New York.

April 21, 2018 (Saturday)

Arriving at JFK.   Then by Red AirTrain to Jamaica.  Walk to Jamaica Station and MTA to Penn Station.

Breakfast at Tick-Tock Diner.

Wandering around Manhattan.  Visiting the Empire State Building – views from above the city.

Empire State Bldg Lobby
Empire State Bldg Lobby

A view of the Empire State Building from their hotel room!  Wow!

Room With A View
Room With A View

April 22, 2018 (Sunday)

Start of campus tour.

[Very interesting to note the New School building is marked with the LEED logo… meaning it is recognized as an example of environmentally sustainable building design – as buildings go] ~Dad

New School Entrance
New School Entrance

The New School Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts Admitted Student Day in NYC

Parson The New School, NYC
Parson The New School, NYC

“Congratulations on your admission to The New School. You are now a member of an elite community of visionary artists, designers, and scholars ready to take on a world that doesn’t exist yet.

Throughout April 2018, we offer a variety of events for admitted students to celebrate your achievement and help connect you with our community. We hope you’ll be able to join us at one of these events, where you’ll be able to meet our admission staff, proud New School alumni, inspiring faculty, and fellow members of the incoming class.

Welcome to your future!” ~ New School at Parsons, NYC

Admitted Students Seminar

Welcome to New School
Welcome to New School

Parsons The New School Ethos

The New School Ethos
The New School Ethos

Many prominent faculty and alumnus talking about their experience at New School and their careers & passions.  Many are associated with the United Nations and prominent universities.

Visiting Chelsea Market

Meeting friends at Chelsea Market. Amelia has already made two friends in NYC.  One is a new student at New School and the other is Karmel’s childhood friend and her sister’s best friend.

Friends at Chelsea Market
Friends at Chelsea Market

There will be yet more people she’ll meet in the months to come.

April 22, 2018 (Monday)

Train from Penn Station to Rhinecliff, NY then on to  Hopson Cottage at Bard.

Views along the Hudson River

Bard College

 

Bard College

Bard College

“We very much look forward to your campus visit.

Your campus visit reservation is confirmed for Amelia Straight and 1 guest(s) on  MM/DD/YYYY at HH:MM PM.

The campus visit begins in the Admission Office at Hopson Cottage. Your tour begins with a short information session and ends with a Q&A back at Hopson Cottage. Your campus visit is usually about 2 hours.

If you are driving, please enter the following address into your GPS: 51 Ravine Road, Red Hook, NY 12571.   Free parking is available.

If you are taking Amtrak to the Rhinecliff, NY train station, there are local taxis, as well as Uber and Lyft, to take you to campus and back to the station.

Click here for directions and a campus map.

Please be in touch if you have any questions in the meantime; call 845-758-7472 or email admission@bard.edu.

Sincerely,
The Bard Admission Team”

Amelia’s Assessment

“It’s okay.  I was pretty excited going in,  Don’t really like the vibe or the people. I have to take studio art classes.  It’s required.  No one really wants to talk to me.  I think it would be too easy for me to isolate myself.  Don’t know how it works in the winter.  I don’t see any buses around campus.  It’s very artistic.  I’m pretty set on the new school.   Don’t want to have to take studio art classes. There’s almost no one here and it’s 2:30 on a Monday.  Lots of people in class I know.  Spread out on two different fields.  Mostly white kids and international students.  Very few to none American people of color.  Even in the tour I feel isolated and conspicuous.  Everyone else is from the east coast.  It’s the sort of east coast elite vibe.”

An Important Decision

“I want to commit to the new school.  I’m going to commit to the new school” ~Amelia

She’s now officially enrolled at Parsons The New School Eugene Lang College of Liberal Studies in the Global Studies program.

https://www.newschool.edu/lang/global-studies/

April 24, 2018 (Tuesday)

Heading home – objective accomplished.

College Addresses

The New School
66 West 12th Street

New YorkNY 10011

Bard College
Campus Road, PO Box 5000
Annandale-on-Hudson
New York 12504-5000

 

Philippines & Hong Kong 2016

June 3 – 6, 2016

SFO -> Shanghai -> Manila

Shared a taxi to the White Knight Hotel in Intramuros.

Spend our first full day walking around Intramuros and along Roxas Boulevard in the heat.  Still jet-lagged.  Drank some excellent coffee at the White Knight Hotel – Batangas coffee!

June 7, 2016 – Tuesday

Departed Manila and arrived in Hong Kong.  We’re staying at the Eaton – Kowloon.  From the airport we took the K1 bus that dropped us off directly at the Eaton Hotel – Kowloon.  We arrived at the hotel very late.

June 8, 2016 – Wednesday

Spent the day walking around the Eaton Hotel.  Went to the night market on Temple Street.

Till We Have Faces
Till We Have Faces
June 9, 2016 – Thursday

Disneyland

Disneyland - Hong Kong
Disneyland – Hong Kong

We went to Disneyland with Maria, her daughter, Vivienne.  It was Vivienne’s first trip to Disneyland – her 6th birthday present.  She would never dream of going to Disneyland until now.

June 10, 2016 – Friday

Went to Hong Kong by Star Ferry and found the Mid-Levels longest escalator.

June 11, 2016 – Saturday

Hong Kong -> Manila -> Iloilo City -> San Jose

Hong Kong.  Woke up early to rain pouring down.  Packed up, got a quick breakfast at the Main Street Cafe and caught Bus A21 to the airport.  Our check in counter was in Terminal 2 but the gate was in Terminal 1.  Got through security, immigration and customs without a problem and headed off to Manila at 11:30 AM.  Arrived in Terminal 3 in good shape.

Manila.  Transferred by taxi to Terminal 3, got checked in for the next leg and waited.  A delayed flight and gate change and we were off for Iloilo City by 5:30 PM (late).

Iloilo City.  Arrived after dark and looked for a van but they were all gone already.  Had to transfer to another location to catch a van to San Jose.

Two hours later we arrived in San Jose welcomed by a small group of family kids and a motorcycle taxi waiting for us.

Checked in to the Adelaide Travelers Hotel.  Chill.

Continue reading Philippines & Hong Kong 2016

Philippines 2015

June 5-6, 2015

San Francisco to Narita, Tokyo

Waiting for a Flight to Narita
Waiting for a Flight to Narita

Narita (Tokyo) to Manila

Arriving at NAIA
Arriving at NAIA

Manila Hotel

 

 

Intramuros and Fort Santiago

Culasi

Christmas in Costa Rica 2012

December 22, 2012

We finally get a real vacation after years of staycations!  Departing from San Francisco International Airport (SFO), we head off to Costa Rica via Houston, TX.

Vamos a Costa Rica!

Costa Rica
Costa Rica

At George W. Bush International Airport, Houston, TX.

Waiting for a Departing Flight
Waiting To Depart

December 22-23, 2012

Casa de Luz
Afternoon Tea @ Casa de Luz

We’re just hanging out at Casa de Luz visiting with a retired NASA colleague, Brenda.

December 24, 2012 (Monday)

We’re staying at El Cafetal Inn, Santa Eulalia de Atenas.  While waiting for the bus to Atenas, we witnessed a pigeon landing on a power line and getting electrocuted.  

There was a ball of bright white light, a very loud explosion sound and the bird dropping from the the power line pole.  It had it’s tail feathers and parts of its wings totally blown off and couldn’t fly.  People came out of their homes to see what had happened.  The bird was stunned for awhile but then revived enough to try and evade some kids who had come  out to look.  Later, a man from one of the houses came out and caught the bird and went inside his house.  I don’t know what fate befell the bird

Fried Pidgeon
Fried Pidgeon

We went to Atenas and got my data card (dongle) set up.  Amelia bough a pair of boots and we had lunch.  Headed back to El Cafetal to fetch our things and head off to Casa de Luz.  We’ll stay at Casa de Luz for some days and join with Christmas Celebrations there.

Later we went to visit at local family who work and live around Casa de Luz.  It was really nice to see a Christmas Celebration in a village.  Amelia made friends with a girl in the family about her age and she was able to speak in Spanish – I think her Spanish teacher would be very proud of her

December 25, 2012 (Tuesday) – Christmas Day

Hung around Casa de Luz most of the day and enjoyed the company of Albert and his son A.J. from the British Virgin Isles.

December 26, 2012 (Wednesday)

Brunch with the neighbors.  Swimming pool time with my new found friend, Maria S.

Chicas de Hoy
Chicas de Hoy

We’re going swimming at a neighbors pool.

December 27, 2012

AMS is off to Atenas with her friend Maria.  They both wanted to get hamburgers in town.  AMS also will get a SIM card for her phone so she can make calls and send text messages.  They will take the local bus and be on their own]

December 28, 2012

Went to Dona Anna Beach.  Fed wild monkeys living in the trees.  Ate chicharones and a great meal at Cases de Cafe on the way back.  Really tired.

December 29, 2012

Spending the day in Atenas at an Internet cafe getting caught up on our Internet fix.  Planning the rest of our trip in Costa Rica.

Tomorrow we go to Alajuela and play.  Tonight dinner at Don Yayo’s.

December 30, 2012

Travelling  by bus from Casa de Luz to Atenas then to Alajuela and spending the rest of the trip there at Club Martino Costa Rica (dropped off at Zoo Ave).  The bus leaves at 1:15 PM from Casa de Luz and goes to Atenas (420 colones).  Then we transfer to another bus departing Atenas at 2:00 PM for Alajuela (640 colones).  From there we’ll be able to go out on day trips in all directions and yet still be close to the airport.

December 31, 2012

Visiting Zoo Ave and checking out the rescued animals and the small canopy tour (zip line).

Poolside
Poolside at Club Martino

Zoo Ave animal rescue and rehabilitation….

Hotel Martino, El Garrito

January 1, 2013 – Happy New Years

We rang in the new year with fireworks and sleep.  Went to Canopy San Luis and did a canopy tour (zip line). They had a very long (1,500 meter) Superman zipline.

Canopy Tour
Canopy Tour

January 2, 2013

[Today we take a quick trip into San Jose.] Walked to Barrio San Jose and had lunch at a “typico Tico” restaurant, La Princessa Marina.  Very good, very typical local food.

A Coke at La Princessa
A Coke at La Princessa

Then by taxi to Cuidad San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica for some urban culture.  We visit the Museos del Banco Central, San Jose, Costa Rica.

Pre-columbia Peoples and their Artifacts

Museos del Banco Central
Museos del Banco Central

Contemporary Art Exhibit – Lola Fernandez

Lola Fernandez
Lola Fernandez

We return by bus Tico style for $1.20!

January 3, 2013 (Thursday)

We return to Casa de Luz via public bus in preparation for our return trip to the San Francisco tomorrow.

Casa de Luz
Casa de Luz

January 4, 2013 (Friday)

Enjoyed our last hours at Casa de Luz.  Hugs and good-byes.  A drive to the airport and we begin the long return to our home in the US.

Arrived exhausted in SFO around 11:10 PM.  Shuttle ride home and a long sleep.  It’s really cold in Palo Alto!

Garden grown mandarino marmalade from Casa de Luz returns with us to Palo Alto as a souvenir!

Tall Ship Summer Sailing – 2012

Aboard the SSV Tole Mour in the Summer of 2012

7 Days at Sea / 278 Nautical Miles

SSV Tole Mour Expedition 534, August 4 – 10 (click here)

Ship GPS Location

SSV Tole Mour
SSV Tole Mour

[They’re sailing around the Channel Islands off the coast of California.  They’ll be learning seamanship, marine ecology, marine science, oceanography – but mostly they’ll be having a very memorable and awesome time.  What a great way to cap-off the summer.  What a journey!]

August 4 (Saturday) : Day 1

The journey begins.  Flight from San Jose (SJC) to Los Angeles (LAX).  It’s just two of us, my best friend Maya and I, on our first air flight by ourselves.

Intrepid World Travelers
Intrepid World Travelers

AMS:

When we got to LAX, one of our counselors, Shannon, a.k.a “Shanananana”, picked us up and we met the other kids who also flew into LAX.  They drove us to Rainbow Harbor, Long Beach where we gave our bags to the Tole Mour crew.  We then got our bunk numbers, our watch group assignments, and got outfitted with wet-suits and snorkeling equipment.

Arrival at Rainbow Harbor
Arrival at Rainbow Harbor

Continue reading Tall Ship Summer Sailing – 2012

Coloma “Gold Rush” Overnight Trip

The 4th Grade class had an overnight field trip to the Gold Country – to Coloma.  This is near Sutter’s Mill, the site where gold was first discovered in California. They were on their field trip for 3 days and 2 nights.

Gold Rush Country Girl
Gold Rush Country Girl

The 4th graders “lived like” the people who came from all over the country and the world in the mid-1800’s, by the thousands, to seek their fortune from panning gold.

Map of Gold Country (ca 1840's)
Map of Gold Country (ca 1840

They wore close to authentic clothing and each were given a souvenir green bandanna. They also panned for gold and found a few flakes.

Happy Gold Rush Camper
Happy Gold Rush Camper

They learned about how gold was panned from the rivers and streams in the area. They also learned about the history of California during the Gold Rush days.

This is the most memorable field trip for the 4th graders.

Continue reading Coloma “Gold Rush” Overnight Trip