Blue Deviled Eggs: From New York to New Year

So, this past weekend I was in NYC with my Focus program. We met at 4am in pouring rain on Friday to drive to the airport. Once we arrived we did your standard airport things--security, food, check in, etc--and proceeded to the gate to board the plane. Our plane ended up being a really small commuter plane so to board it we had to walk across the tarmac (see picture below). The storm complicated our travel (the plane was overweight) and they needed two volunteers to deplane and catch a flight leaving ten minutes later to laguardia (instead of jfk). For 400 Delta Dollars a very spontaneous Risa, who has always wanted to take advantage of such opportunities, volunteered to join two of her other classmates who volunteered earlier when the flight was overbooked. Well, then plane had to land in Baltimore to get more fuel...we finally made it to NYC. We grabbed a cab with our free ground transportation voucher from Delta and went back to one of the other girls' houses. Before we met up with the group we stopped at a neighborhood diner for some grub. Then we caught up with the rest of our Duke group at JP Morgan's Library and Collection. After that we went to the Museum of Modern Art, which is free on Friday evenings. We spent the night with Jackson, Mark, Pablo, Marc and some other fellows ;) We grabbed some food and called it a night. The next morning we went to the Cloister museum, which was the coolest thing I saw with Focus while on the trip. Basically, before customs really cracked down on this sort of stuff, people stole entire buildings and/or parts of them and made a museum of it in NYC. The architecture was spectacular. On our way back downtown to the Metropolitan Museum of Art spontaneous Risa jumped off the bus when she saw the National Track and Field Hall of Fame. Unbeknownst to her, there was some martial arts competition and the museum was closed :( The guy at the front desk let me in, though, so I walked around and saw cool stuff. I made it back downtown to the Met in time to meet up with the group and see some of the Renaissance exhibit. After a little bit, a few of us left to go find some tickets to a show for that night. A friend and I got some tickets for Gypsy which was starring Patti LuPone and Boyd Gaines. Between getting the tickets and showtime we spent time checking out fifth avenue and the surrounding areas. We also made our way to the top of a sky scraper. All in all, it was a really fabulous trip. Oh, and I'm a public transportation expert.

Back at Duke, it's now Rosh HaShannah. I spent the majority of my time at the Freeman Center (Duke's Hillel). Meals were tasty and services were well attended. Wishes for a wonderful 5769 to family and friends who may be reading this and who are Jewish.

Some New York Pictures: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2001310&l=f1a5e&id=1018950065

The cloisters: