you know you're in America when...

You know you're in America when the shop assistants walk around singing and just having fun while working - it just makes your day to visit stores with such people.
You know you're in America when everyone excuses themselves - even though they haven't done anything. 
You know you're in America when a stranger asks if Denmark has their own language, and last but not least you know you're in America when waitresses just start dancing when a certain song comes on!

We've been in USA for a bit over a week now, and we are slowly starting to realize that the Danish people are very reserved compared to the Americans. The Americans are just very outgoing!

This morning we - finally - had the chance to lie in. And if that doesn't make your day, then what will? A bit past 10 am, we took the bus to Georgetown. It's such a nice and colorful town with cute little houses. We walked down to Georgetown University where we got a guided tour around campus by a sophomore. It was very interesting to see a big university like this one and hear about what it's like to be a student there and all of their values at the school. But it also made you think about your own future, which we all have to make decisions about pretty soon :/ But all in all it gave an idea about what a university in the US is like - other than all the ones we have seen in movies ;-)

The small colorful houses - so cute!

Georgetown University - looks a bit like a castle

Georgetown University's mascot;-)

Afterwards we grabbed a quick lunch at a mexican restaurant nearby and went home. And for the first time in over a week we actually had several hours in our room to relax and write.

And there could hardly be any better way of spending our last night in the US than eating and having a good time at the Hard Rock Café! There were both great food and loud music. And again today we got a small performance from the waiters, which really created an atmosphere.

The waiters going crazy

Now we are enjoying the last night here in Washington DC and are slowly beginning to pack - it's going to be interesting if everything will fit into the suitcase :/ It will be good to get home, but on the other side it's also a bit sad thinking about leaving already..

a long, long day

Today we started out with the the U.S. Capitol, which is the most widely recognized symbol of democratic government in the world, and it has housed Congress since 1800. The United States is a country with many different opinions, but it's only in the U.S. Capitol that they actually can be heard and estimated, and it's here the phrase "e pluribus unum"" is being used, which means "out of many, one". We actually had a tour at the Capitol, which was alright, but the tour guide was a bit strange and a typical American, so it wasn't much we got out of her, but the visible part was still great because of the very beautiful building.

Pictures of the beautiful U. S. Capital with gold in the ceilings and luxurious paintings and ornamentations

Before we went on, we decided to see the Library of Congress, and we were very lucky to have the opportunity to see the Reading Room, which is open to the public two days a year, and one of those days were today! It was very pretty and fascinating to see, so it was definitely worth it!

The library of Congress

Then we went to the National Museum of the American Indian. The museum offers an possibility to explore the Native people in America, and it was definitely a fine museum, but we were unfortunately very tired, so it wasn't much motivation and energy we had.

Beautiful and unique Indian art

Later we went to the National Museum of American History, which displays the heritage of the United States in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific, and military history. It was interesting to explore the major themes from the War of Independence to the present day, and it had a lot to offer, and you got a better understanding of the nation and its people.

A bit about World War 2

One of Michelle Obama's dresses on a exhibition about first ladies through the years

Afterwards we went to some of the different stores, and then we bought some dinner, which we took back home to the hotel room, because we've decided to have a evening filled with relaxation, which is highly needed after a long day! :)

from the father of liberty to the perks of being a wallflower

Today we've been on a trip to Mount Vernon, which was the home of the first president of the United States, George Washington and the first lady, his wife Martha Washington. Mount Vernon is the most popular historical estate in America, and George Washington called it his home for more than forty years. He inherited Mount Vernon in July 1752 and when George took over the place, there were only six rooms, but when George died December 14'th, 1799, he'd added fifteen more rooms.

George Washington was named by one of his high-ranked French friends called The Father of Liberty, and as a symbol for that the Frenchman gave George a key to a prison during the French Revolution. It was also a symbol for freedom. Witch is two of the most important things in America - freedom and liberty.

Mount Vernon

Emma in front of the small houses, which held different kind of rooms

George Washington was also known as the wealthiest president of the United States, and one of the reasons was the fact that he'd a lot of slaves on his mansion, who worked for free. However, when he died he was out of debt, and in his will he payed his slaves free.

After being at Mount Vernon we went to a mall to shop, but because of the lack of money it didn't really happen, so we decided to get a hot chocolate at Starbucks - we'd been looking forward to that the whole trip.

When we got home it was time to get something to eat, and we ended up by going to the restaurant Hard Rock. That was awesome! The food, the atmosphere, and the service were all great. Later on, when we were preoccupied with our food, the waitresses started to dance to one of the songs by Beyonce. It was rather amusing!

The waitresses giving a small performance;-)

To end the day we, some of the other girls from the class, and our teachers went to see the movie The perks of being a wallflower starring Emma Watson and Logan Lerman in the E cinema, which is about thirty seconds from here. In the beginning we thought it was a really girly-girl movie, but it really isn't. It has a lot more depth, and we can highly recommend it.

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

hasta la vista Nueva York - hellooo Washington

Today we've really been on the move. We woke up at 4:30 am, because we had to check out of the hostel at 6 o'clock and then take a shuffle bus to La Guardia Airport, where we were going to take the airplane to Dulles Airport in Washington. The plane was not that big - it was at least difficult to see from the gate. When the plane finally took off, it was funny to see Manhattan suddenly become this tiny little place instead of this large city with streets that we had walked empty the last couple of days.

After our arrival, we took a new shuffle bus to our hotel; Harrington Hotel, and you can definitely feel that it's a hotel and not a hostel. We got a room with two double beds and two smaller beds, and we are only three people.

Our room at the hotel

Anyway, after an hour of unpacking we all walked together to The Mall, which is a national mall in downtown Washington and also an open-area that receives about 24 million visitors every year. Some of the things we saw was Washington monument, a monument which is made in honor of George Washington, The Reflecting pool, which is placed next to Lincoln Memorial, which you also might remember as the place, where Martin Luther King held his famous speech I have a dream. In the end, we saw The White House where Barack Hussein Obama lives.

There are lots of squirrels in Washington - there hasn't been a day without several of them, and everyone still goes "Nurrhh"?

The Lincoln Memorial with the reflecting pool in front, where Martin Luther King held his famous "I Have A Dream" speech. Many probably know this place from "Forrest Gump"

Group foto with the Washington Monument in the background

An attemp on a jumping foto - it's a bit harder than it looks like!

The Washington Monument on a sunny day

Lea and Sabrina in front of The White House

Sabrina, Emma, and Michelle in front of The White House

The day ended with a quick meal at the nearest Mexican restaurant, and now is a long-awaited sleep ahead of us.

fighting against time

Today the fourth and final day in New York took its beginning with a trip to the Spanish Harlem, where we went to El Museo del Barrio - a museum with latino artists. It was a guided tour on the exhibition Caribbean Crossroads, with discussions about some of the paintings. The guide showed how the latino artists had different point of views, and where they got their inspiration from. Many of the artists had painted places from their original country, although one of them were changed a bit and made much more colorful. All in all it was a museum with very different, and some very beautiful pieces of art. The fact that they have been painted by latinos gives an very different point of view than for instance the pieces of art at MoMA.

The spanish team at El Museo del Barrio

After the visit at the museum we went for a walk in Central Park - the enormous and world famous park in New York City. The feeling of suddenly standing surrounded by trees and bird song was such a weird feeling - no cars honking (the New Yorkers are VERY impatient), no traffic, but just nature and people having a good time in the wonderful weather we were so lucky to have.

Some of the very beautiful places in Central Park

Thereafter our own very intense program began as there was so much yet to see in New York. So we quickly grabbed something to eat and took a subway to the end of 5th avenue with Malou, Kamilla, and Anne, where we saw the square, transparent Apple Store. It was quite an unusual building. And not far away there was Nike Town, which didn't consist of more than 4 big floors! It's definitely American all the way through.

The transparent Applestore

Later after a bit shopping in these stores we went, after quite a walk, to the corner of Bedford and Grove Street in Greenwich Village to - of course - see the apartment that have been used in FRIENDS ;D Although it's not the apartment, they have been filming for the inside shoots, as the set is made up in a studio in LA. But this apartment is used every time they want to show that they are in their apartment. We are all huge fans of FRIENDS, so it was very fun to see the actual apartment.

              

The three of us in front of the apartment

But with very little time, the day continued to SOHO - a fantastic shopping place with all the great stores. Of course we had to prioritize a bit as we in no way would be able to visit all the stores we wanted to. But MANGO, Converse, Topshop, Adidas, and Victoria's Secret were some of the places that we wouldn't miss.

The American flag made of Converse shoes - kind of cool!

Tired - but happy - after a lot of shopping;-)

We hurried back to Times Square to eat dinner for the last time in New York City - it was very cozy and we had a lot of fun.

Unfortunately we didn't have much time, as Kamilla, Anne, and I (Sabrina) wanted to end New York with a trip to the 86th floor of The Empire State Building. After some quite long queues where the tiredness really had gotten to us, we finally got in an elevator and went up. And suddenly all the waiting time were forgotten in the light of the beautiful view from a balcony around the building. You could look down and see lights everywhere! To see so much of New York City from above was nothing more than amazing.

The amazing view from Empire State Building

les demoiselles d'Nueva York

Today we started out with MoMA, which is definitely a place you should experience, when you are in New York City. It was very interesting to finally see all the famous works of art that we have worked with in class, and one of the pieces that we saw was Les Demoiselles d'Avignon created by Pablo Picasso, which was so much bigger than we had expected! We've also worked with Frida Kahlo, but we were very disappointed to find out that her paintings weren't there, and her paintings were actually the ones that we were looking forward to the most...

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon by Pablo Picasso 

Different pieces of art

Although many of the paintings were very beautiful and interesting, it is still not everyting that can be considered as art - according to us anyway. Apparently bricks and pink shelves are considered as art!

Thereafter we went to the City University - Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, where we heard a lecture on "Latinos in New York" by Laird Bergard, which we were very impressed of! Laird Bergard was very committed but also very relaxed, which made the whole thing so much easier to understand but also easier to get acquainted with the conditions. It was very nice that we had the possibility to ask questions and discuss, but we could actually have used a bit more time.

The program ended at three o'clock, and after we managed to get lost in the building of the University, however, we finally got out to the 34th street, where we surprisingly found the much missed store from Barcelona, Mango. Afterwards we found this amazing store, Foot Locker for lady, which had all kinds of sports clothes, shoes, etc. It was very cheap!

We ended the day with a banquet with the whole class, because the French people are leaving tomorrow for Quebec, while we, the Spanish people, are the lucky ones of another day in New York! (;

Afterwards we went to get a few photos of Times Square, which is so filled with lights and people all over - it's quite amazing!

The amazing Times Square at night

It's all about prioritizing

Today we've been on a guided tour in Harlem, the northern part of Manhattan, where we rode a black and kind of scary bus - it was even bulletproof! Harlem is known as the place, where a lot of African-American people live and is also known as a very poor neighborhood. 81 % of the population is black, which makes Harlem the largest African-American community by percentage in New York City.

The bulletproof bus

We saw Apollo, which is the place where the stars in the old days, such as Michael Jackson, used to play and sing. We also saw African square where Nelson Mandela held his first speech, the building where Bill Clinton after his presidency has his office, the famous mosque of Malcom X, etc. We also went through Spanish Harlem, Harlem Valley, and Sugar Hill.

                  

And we were all ready to leave after a small lunchbreak - except a few;-)

It was quite special to see so many Afro-American people at the same place compared to Denmark, where we don't see them as often. But one thing is sure: They are extremely religious! Many people in Denmark consider them as very religious, but it's nothing compared to this part of Manhattan. We've never seen that many churches so close to each other!

When driving through the streets in Harlem you can't stop wondering about all the prejudices about Afro-American people. Many people consider them as nothing more than trouble, and for what you've heard about Harlem that would seem to be true. But, after having experienced Harlem, it's actually quite hard to believe. It seemed very peaceful and quiet, but it would probably not be your first choice if moving to Manhattan, because you'll always have the prejudices and stories in your head.

After the guided tour we went for a walk in the city with a Danish journalist, who've lived in New York since 2008. She told us about the multicultural society and showed us how you could see and feel the different cultures in the city. She could actually point to a street and say: "At this street mostly Puerto Ricans live" and "at this street mostly chinese people live" - it really shows how New York is a melting pot with all the different ethnic backgrounds.

Our danish journalist guide 

After that we went home and then it was shopping time ;D We started out with M&M's world, which really shows that the Americans have a tendency of overdoing everything! It was a complete store only dedicated to M&M's - with three storages! It had stuffed animals, cups, and pipes filled with M&M's so you can make your own personal mixture, etc. It was definitely a very tempting store..
Then we went on with the real shopping, and we have bought waaay too much, but it is only because we have found two Zara stores at 5th Avenue and this great, recommendable store Forever 21, which is placed on 7th Avenue - we love it! Four storages with all kinds of clothes and low prices. It has everything!

Now we are just so tired you wouldn't believe it's possible, but who wouldn't be after the day we've had? Sightseeing for six hours and afterwards shopping for another six hours. We've a long day ahead of us tomorrow, so we're definitely looking forward to some sleep, but it's getting late like the other days. But as we only have so few days to see and experience New York City, which has a LOT to offer, it can't be any other way. It's all about prioritizing, which can be very difficult - that's not only when talking about things to do and see, but also about money for shopping and food. But it seems like we have come to an agreement about skipping the pricy restaurants and big meals for dinner so we can use a bit extra on shopping (;