Moving into the city!

First week in New York City – CHECK!

First week of internship – CHECK!

First week of getting used to it – CHECK!

It´s been one week since we started our new life in the city. Everything is so different from New Paltz, and sadly a little more expensive. First things, first. Moving in. We arrived to the new place, we bought the food and installed ourselves. It is a very beautiful neighborhood and nothing like living in New York City. We started our internships which have been amazing! A lot of new things to learn and experience from the American culture. I really recommend you to first walk around and start getting to know the place. We all arrive and can get a little crazy with the shopping and the amazing restaurants, but believe me there is no need to. You live in the city were you have everything at the moment, there is no need to buy everything in one stop when you can buy one thing a day. Walk around, sit on the parks and enjoy it! It really has been a beautiful experience!!! I am amazed by it!

Let me know which places you recommend visiting!

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3 wonderful days in Boston

Around four weeks ago Fanny, Paula, Stephanie, Teresa and I decided to sign up for the school trip to Boston, and we got lucky. They only had five spots left, and we took them! Saturday morning we walked to the parking lot in front of the glass pyramid on campus with an aura of excitement. We were going to have a vacation from the vacation, awesome! The bus trip took around four hours and we arrived at the hotel around 3 pm. Directly, we resettled and then took the 4pm-shuttle in to the city. That evening we strolled around, drank coffee, had a great dinner with drinks at a bar and did some late night shopping. It was a perfect start on a girl weekend.

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Sunday morning started with a breakfast. We all were very surprised that they served scrambled eggs, bacon, bagels and fresh fruit. I guess we all have got used to the breakfast at American Best Value Inn. But as a matter a fact, I am going to miss the mornings in the breakfast area with Gale running around screaming everyone’s name. Back to the trip! After the breakfast we took the shuttle in to the city and we all were ready for good food, shopping and long walks. Unfortunately, the rain was pouring down. It did not stop rain for 12 hours. We bought umbrellas and still kept a smile on our faces. Because of the bad weather we decided to see an afternoon movie at the theater. 5.30pm we walked in soaking wet at the theater and bought tickets for the new Bridget Jones movie. I can tell you guys, it was a very long time ago I laughed that much at a movie. It was hilarious. After the movie we took an Uber to a tapas place that Paula had found and we summed up the day with delicious wine and tapas.

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And then it was Columbus Day. This day we had a scheduled tour in the morning so we checked out from the hotel at 8.30 and then took the shuttle in to the city at 9.15am. The weather was wonderful but freezing. This was the first time in the States that a have actually been freezing though I had a sweater, jacket and a scarf. After the tour, which lasted in 90 minutes through the main area of the city, we took the subway to the Harvard University. This was amazing. You have seen the university on TV and heard so much about it, so it was so cool to see it in real life. We strolled around on campus, went to the library, grabbed a coffee. We imagined being real students, weird but true. After this adventure is was time to head back to where the bus were suppose to pick us up.

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I have had a great weekend and I am so glad I signed up for this trip. I have done a lot of shopping, eaten great food and seen beautiful places. If you have not been to Boston, go!

 

ALL DAY BRUNCH IN NYC

Brunch: a meal that combines breakfast and lunch and is usually eaten in late morning. This defined our weekend.

During this past weekend we decided to go and visit the city. We arrived on Friday afternoon and left on Sunday evening. All of our weekend was about brunching. We knew that NYC was best known for their 24hrs brunches, so we decided to try it out.

On Saturday morning we decided to walk around and see which place looked the best. We were around the East Village were we saw a Mexican place called “La Palapa” that said CHILAQUILES!!!!

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We did not even think about it, and we just went immediately. Chilaquiles is one of Mexico typical plate, and they were delicious! The salsa was so good, I could have eaten all day long. As a Mexican I totally approve this restaurant as being 100% typical food. It tasted just like home, they even had Cafe de Olla with piloncillo! I can´t find more words to describe how good it was.

 

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On Sunday morning we decided to go and taste one restaurant called Cafeteria in Chelsea. We saw it on Instagram the night before and it looked so good that we decided to see it by ourselves. It was amazing! I order coffee, a croissant with homemade jam, and an avocado toast. I can´t even explain in words how delicious it was! And the best part, it´s 24hr!

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Our weekend was over, but am pretty sure there will be lots of other amazing restaurants to try! Let me know which other places in NYC are worth going!!

 

Another exciting weekend @New Paltz!

And yet again, another week has gone by!! I can´t believe that in less than 3 weeks we will be working and living in New York City! This past weekend was also full of new adventures, and places to visit while you are at New Paltz.

It was Friday afternoon when the girls came up with the idea of going all together to the Cinema. Some of us had already signed up for the ISP Apple Picking trip whithumb_img_6637_1024ch was located near the campus in the afternoon and was really nice.

We were all going to wake up very early on Saturday so we thought this might be a great idea to hang out and don´t be so tired for next day. We went to the Apple Picking in the afternoon, and afterwards,Sully was playing anthumb_img_6649_1024d we decided to go and watch it. When I arrived I felt like I was in an 80´s movie theater as seen in movies. It was really different from the kind of cinemas we have in Mexico. We are used to big, and modern cinemas, where there are more than  10 movies playing and about 15 cinema theaters. Here at New Paltz there are only 4 or 5 movies and maybe just 4 cinema theaters. We arrived, bought our tickets, and of course popcorn and soda to watch the movie. Great experience!

 

 

 

7:00 am Saturday morning. Alarm went on. It´s hiking day! THE MOST AWESOME VIEW EVER!!!! The school took us to Mohonk Mountain were we met with the tour guides, and started hiking all the way up. We walked, ran, climbed on rocks, ate lunch in front of a beautiful lake, and everything was perfect. Could´t find a better way to end the outdoor wellness center activities. Really one should´t miss any of it! Register, register, register.

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To finish up the weekend, let´s go shopping! We found out that there were huge outlet stores about 45min ride from New Paltz, so we decided to rent a car and go there. It´s called Woodbury Commons Premium Outlets.Why did we rent a car? We looked up for all the optionsthumb_img_6769_1024 to get there and the cheapest one was by car. We arrived and it was so big, that we thought we would´t finish looking, but we did. It is an easy way to go and buy some things before moving to the big city!

 

 

 

 

My New York Bucketlist

Before I came here to New Paltz I did not have any expectations about the program, the town or the campus. Since I have had friends who did this program a year ago I have heard some information, but mostly, that information was about the internship and the time on Manhattan. Okay, now I lied a little bit. I thought the life here in New Paltz would be a little bit more college-like. Like the ones you have seen on the movies, but a little bit less hectic. Besides that, I did not have any expectations which have been really nice since you not get disappointed if something does not go the way you want to.

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Now, we have been here for five weeks and the time passes by so quickly. Because of that, and because of low expectations, I have done a New York Bucketlist! For those who do not know what a bucket list is, it is list of activities someone wants to do before he or she dies, in my case before I leave the states. So here we go:

  • Go to a Collage party – Since it is my first time at a real American college you need (read NEED) go to a real College party. We have tried to get to know some American students, but unfortunately with no further success. So we will see if we can make it in the three weeks we have left in New Paltz.
  • Fly helicopter over Manhattan – It was actually my friend who introduced this adventure to me because she did it the last time she was in New York. She told me that it was amazing and if you have the money and time you should definitely do it! So now I have been saving money to see Manhattan from above!
  • Go to Boston – A journey to Boston have I dreamt of before I even came to the U.S. Everybody keep telling me what a beautiful city Boston is and because of how relatively close it is to New York, this really is a must-do. We have actually booked a trip to Boston and we leave October 8th! So this “bucket” will actually be fulfilled.
  • Watch a Ranger’s game – Henrik Lundqvist is my idol and have been since I was a child so that would be so cool and watch him play in Madison Square Garden.
  • Eat a real, typical American brunch – I have not looked up any restaurants yet but something I do know is that I want to have one real, typical and big American brunch with egg, bacon, bagels, pancakes and avocado sandwiches! And a really good smoothie and fresh fruits.
  • Watch a Knicks game – I am a basketball player so this would be so cool! I saw a game in Chicago, Bulls vs Charlotte Bobcats, when I was 15 and that was amazing. But I think it is different now when you have been living in the city and be able to watch the game in Madison Square Garden.
  • Watch a late night show – If I could cheat a little bit, I actually put this “bucket” on the list when we got the tickets to the Jimmy Fallon show. I had not thought about it before Emilia hatched the idea. The show is the 24th of October, WOW! That is going to be so much fun!
  • Have drinks on a rooftop bar – This “bucket” I think will be completed first, after the Boston trip. I know that we all have been longing for a night in Manhattan on a really cool rooftop bar. It should preferably be with a glas of white wine in my hand when the sun is setting.

I will follow up with this post at the end of our New York adventure to see what “buckets” I have done. Do you think I will check all of them?

North America´s Longest and Highest Zipline!!

In the campus wellness center there are a variety of outdoor activities you can sign up to. I really recommend you to consider signing up to as much as you can! During this past weekend we went to Hunter Mountain. Hunter is a small town about 1 hour ride from SUNY where during the winter you can go skiing, and during the summer you can go ziplineing. It´s September now so we went ziplineing, which by the way is the longest and highest canopy of all North America!! The school takes you all the way to Hunter Mountain where a tour guide will take you all the way up in a lift to start the adventure. There are a total of 5 ziplines throughout the tour, but the very first one is the best! It about 700 mts tall! The tour guide told us that if the Statute of Liberty was to be down there we would´t even touch it with our feet. So, yeah it was pretty scaring at first, but after doing the first jump it was a magical feeling. To be honest I was super nervous up there, but I did´t have that much time to thinking through, so I just ran and jump into the woods. So far, one of the best adventures that New Paltz have to offer!

NYC: Love at first sight

Yes, in my whole life I have never been to New York City. However, to make up for this I will not only visit as a tourist but live and work in this beautiful city.img-20160903-wa0000

But before I get ahead of myself, let’s start at the beginning.

Of course, I wanted to visit before moving to this incredible city. Therefore, I booked together with the other girls from IIB the trip organized by University to New York City. We left  New Paltz in the early morning to enjoy a whole day in the city.

The view of Manhattan before the bus entered the Lincoln Tunnel was already breathtaking. But it was even better when we got off the bus at Bryant Park. While walking down 6th Avenue I could not stop looking up at the huge skyscrapers.

After some lunch and shopping at Herald Square, we walked up Broadway towards Times Square to gaze at the huge luminous advertisings.

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We took the subway up towards Upper Westside to explore the area around our future home in New York City on 99th Street and Broadway. After looking at the street and not finding the exact building we decided that we were satisfied to just see the surrounding and sat down at a beautiful café called “The Earth Café” to enjoy some coffee and muffins.

 

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As Central Park is not far from the area we took a long stroll trough the park, marvelled the beautiful nature and envisioned how we will walk trough the park in autumn and winter and how beautiful it will look then. We made a stop at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir to look at the striking skyline. We then took a train from the 86th street back to Times Square and walk towards Bryant Park to catch the bus back to New Paltz.

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When I sat on the bus I knew I fell in love with this city and I eagerly anticipate to move to New York City.

 

 

 

Girls weekend in Boston

So last weekend all of us girls went to Boston. The weather was great and the city seemed so beautiful. It is really a trip that I could recommend to anyone!!Fil 009The day started by taking the bus to the train station in Poughkeepsie; once there we were picked up by the car rental company. When we had signed all the papers we were off! Me and Gaby took turns driving and it took about 3,5-4 hours.

We got to the hotel, called Verb, a very trendy retro hotel in central Boston that went all in (!) on 60’s details. We thought that we had booked a room for five but it turned out that it was only meant for four so three had to share one queen size bed. It was definitely an experience being 5 girls in one room sharing one bathroom in the morning 🙂

The first day we went shopping on Newbury Street that pretty much had all the stores you could think of. after shopping for many hours we went to Georgetown Cupcakes, a store that was recommended to Dina from one of her friends who had been to Boston before. I have never been a cupcake person but this was truly the BEST cupcakes I have ever tried!

Fil 008Strawberry Cheesecake and Salted Caramel. Delicious!!

After the shopping we went down to Quincy Market by the harbor (also a recommendation from Dina’s friend). The area was amazing with so many lights and musicians playing in the street. I felt like a winter festival or something but without the Christmas theme. To get into the Boston spirit, me and Dina had the Lobster roll and Dina also tried the Clam chowder! By this time we were exhausted after a really long day and squeezed (!) in to an Über and went back to the hotel for some well needed rest!

A New Paltz weekend

So we have now been in New Paltz for three weeks. This weekend the Mexican’s went to Chicago leaving me, Fanny and Pernilla to a weekend alone in New Paltz. Yesterday we went to our first house party. We started the evening by having dinner at Bacchus in town and had a few drinks before going to a house party further down the street. It was a small basement and not as big as I has imagined but it was fun!

 

Pernilla and I often talk about us being older than the others and how we like our early nights and a nice glass of wine in front of the TV but yesterday we were out til 04.30 which is a new record for us since coming here 🙂

Fanny & Pernilla at Bacchus

Fanny & Pernilla at Bacchus

That is all for me right now but we’ll see what next week will bring!

 

Camilla

Business casual in New York City!!! The Jingle ;-)

What a great day it was today!

Even though it was rainy, there were no clouds in my sky.

Even though it was cold, I felt so warm inside.

Even though I had no more than a few hours sleep, I sensed the energy running through my body, right down into my feet.

Even though I missed my parents and family so badly, their voices never seemed so close and loudly.

 

Who knew this time would have come for me? How could I have ever expected it, when only a few weeks ago I was struggling with troubles and praying for an opportunity to knock at my door?

 

The truth is that, one day you’re up. The next day you’re down.

It is the balance of life that you can’t live without.

 

Yesterday I was a student in New Paltz University.

Today I’m a New Yorker facing hugeness, and diversity.

I live on my own in a beautiful apartment.

I have a wonderful job in a HR department.

I give people a chance to prove their value, and despite the difficulties, it is never a failure.

Every day is different in this incredible city and I can’t wait longer for new adventures and activities.

 

Sometimes you get the feeling that all is going well;

Luck is right there, ringing at your bell.

 

The world is smiling to you.
Your time has come to shine and all your dreams are on their way to come true.

 

When these days arrive, you better ride the wave! Push yourself to the limit and don’t go far away.

This jingle is a way to show you the truth.

You can always be serious but also funny and cool. 😉

 

Hugs and Kisses,

Gaia.