NYC Adventure

Hey everyone! Yesterday was quite an experience. I traveled with 3 other members of my dance company to New York City because we were asked to perform at NYU.  It was the first time I had ever been on a train and gone to the city with anyone other than my family. It was a very big deal for me. Accessibility was a little bit of an issue, but overall it really wasn't that bad.

As soon as I got to Newark Penn Station, I had a little time to figure out where I was going because the others were running a little late.  Newark Penn Station is pretty nice. It's big and spread out.  There were elevators that went to each track and had to go on Track 1.  I bought my round-trip ticket in the little machine that was on the side and I like that because it's a lot quicker than waiting in line if you don't have a lot of time.  The train ended up being 6 minutes late. When I got on the train, they had a little area for people in wheelchairs to sit. On the way home, the conductor asked if I wanted to use the platform. I'm glad I did use it because there was a huge gap between the train and the sidewalk.  I was surprised at how quick the ride was. I guess I'm so used to getting stuck in traffic.

NY Penn Station was a little bit of a challenge.  In order to get onto the street, we saw that we had to take an escalator up. We didn't see an elevator anywhere, so we went up the escalator. On the way back to NY Penn Station, a man told us where the elevator was, so that we can avoid the escalator.  We also had difficulty trying to find the elevator to get on Track 3, so I went down the escalator backwards and that was frightening.  We kept trying to ask where the elevator was, but no one knew where it was.  

We took cabs to and from NYU, and they were pretty easy to navigate. We just had to locate ones that had a big enough trunk to fit the wheelchair.  

We got to NYU and it was beautiful!  There were these amazing paintings all along the walls.  We performed on the 8th floor of their cultural center in a conference room. Our director gave a speech on multiple identities and his experience being gay, disabled and Latino. Then, our group did a group piece, a duet and I did a solo. After the performance, we did a Q&A and the students asked us very good questions. There were about 15 students in attendance.  It was such an honor being asked to perform there.  

The whole experience was awesome!  Thank you to everyone involved with the event, especially my dance family who helped me every step of the way. It made the journey so much more manageable. I couldn't have done it without you guys! I love you all!