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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And just like that, summer fell into fall.

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Fall season has arrived! It is that time of the year where all you want to do is sit on a bench and enjoy the most beautiful view with a coffee in hand. And guess what? New Paltz has it. I am so happy that I actually will have the opportunity of enjoying all the seasons in one semester.Back in Mexico we don´t see seasons changing so dramatically, but here you will definitely enjoy it. When I arrived to New Paltz it were the hot summer days, now we have all the leaves changing color and falling into the ground, and while in New York City we will have the opportunity of enjoying winter wonderland.

While in New Paltz, the campus have really good places where you can go and take a walk while you have leaves falling all the place. I also recommend going to the Street Water Market where you can have a coffee watchithumb_img_6411_1024ng the mountain turn from green to red. It is really amazing!!! So, go out and appreciate what nature has given to us!!!

Let me know which is your favorite season :)[polldaddy poll=9546827]

Into the wild – Hiking at its best

The Mohonk Mountain Lake and House

Hello folks!

No, this time we won’t talk about zip lining, kayaking or tubing. We went HIKING last Saturday and it was great ! Our two lovely tour guides took us to the Mohonk Preserve (http://www.mohonkpreserve.org), so whenever you have the possibility to go there, you should definitely do so because it is just amazing! There are 85 miles of winding trails to experience, ranging in difficulty from beginner to advanced.

We started ourThe IIB Team ! tour early in the morning, all freezing because autumn arrived so suddenly and none of us was prepared for it. After a short introduction gWhat a view!ame where everybody had to present himself with some “true or false” stories, we headed towards the mountains where the colors of the leaves had already turned into orange and red.

After having walked for almost two hours, we had a little lunch break with an incredible view on the Mohonk Lake and the Mohonk Mountain House. The historic resort is located just beyond the southern border of the Catskill Mountains, west of the Hudson River. Our guides explained us that the resort was built by the twin brothers Alfred and Albert Smiley in the late 19th century and since then, has been operated by descendants of the Smiley brothers. Several famous people such as John D. Rockefeller, Theodore Roosevelt andInto the wild Julia Grant have stayed at this beautiful place. And rumors say that Stephen King likes to come over to get some rest and inspiration here…

Incredible colors We continued our way up to the Mohonk Sky Top where we had an amazing view over the whole preserve! It was absolutely worth walking and climbing (yes indeed, climbing as well!) that long to finally appreciate this view.

This was by far the best trip I’ve done during my stay in New Paltz so it will be hard to top that experience… But let’s see! I will keep you posted!

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Wandering around New Paltz.

It´s been 4 weeks now. It feels like yesterday I was getting on to an airplane and arriving in New Paltz, when suddenly it´s not. Time has been passing by so quickly that I feel I won´t be able to do everything I want in such a short time. This is why I decided to wander around the town. Here are some of the places I recommend you not missing.

This past Thursday we celebrated Mexico´s independence day! We all went to a Mexican restaurant in town called Mexican Kitchen , which btw totallthumb_img_6510_1024y tasted like thumb_img_6527_1024home, and I fully recommend it. After dinner we went back to the room and waited to do our typical Cry of Dolores at 12:00pm. VIVA MEXICO!!!!

On Friday we walked around and stopped for an ice cream in Delish. It was DELISHIOUS! You should really take advantage of the short hot weather in town to go and try the ice cream.
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On Saturday it was another adventurous day!! Kayaking at the Hudson River. My arms are still swelling, but it was worth it. We started the day early and kayaked for around 3 hours in the lower part of the river. Don´t miss the wellness center outdoor opportunities… they’ve been the best!

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And last but not least, on Sunday we went to the 26th annual Taste of New Paltz. It is a really good opportunity to feel connected with the town and to have small tastes of everything you can have and that New Paltz has to offer.

Traveling is discovering

Last weekend we were walking around in New Paltz and, suddenly, we realized that just across Main Street was an amazing and unique place called ‘Water Street Market‘. This is a beautiful place where you can find a lot of interesting shops selling art, antiques, fashion clothes and food. We decided to have lunch in a small restaurant called the ‘Cheese Plate‘, we ate some really delicious selection of cheese.  We had a great time!

 What a cozy place!
 
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A way to survive Phil prediction

Groundhog Phil is forecasting six more weeks of winter.

As here in New Paltz winter seems to be a no laughing matter, we have to find a way to deal with it.

Fortunately we are getting familiar with the campus, learning how to move crossing buildings, in order to keep indoor most of the way.

Here are some picture from the maze of corridors and stairs, between the Business School and the Student Union Building.

Super Bowl Sunday

Super Bowl Robot

Super Bowl Robot

Experiencing the super bowl in NYC was a whole new adventure. Being able to walk trough the streets during the big day was definitely something worth sharing. The city was full with enthusiasm and people ready to cheer for their team. Even if you weren’t a football aficionado, like I am, it was fun to be out and about feeling the spirit.

We were at times square during the super bowl and we were definitely excited to see all the happening and the special super bowl booth where they had a robot simulating to be a foot ball player. The ultimate American experience for sure!

The historical background

I’ m sure all of you are wondering what the name “New Paltz” means.

Well, I found that New Paltz has a good historical background, as it was founded in 1678 from a group of French Huguenots.

The Huguenots had to leave France during religious persecution; they first moved to Mannheim in the German Palatinate, and then crossed the ocean and finally settled near the Wallkill river shore, in the Dutch colony of New Netherland.

In Mannheim’s dialect Palatinate (Pfaltz) is pronounced Paltz, so, thankful for the hospitality they got, the Huguenots wanted to name the place New Paltz.

Nowadays is still possible to see most of the original settlement in what is called “Huguenot Street Historic District”.