Photos

will be coming up as soon as I can get access to someone's camera. In the meantime, my vivid imagery and immersive descriptions should be all you need to imagine everything.

Still Day One, NYC

5:30

We arrived at Fordham University, situated in the heart of the Bronx. It was a little too late for the guided tour, so we drove a couple times around the block to get an impression of the campus instead. The college inside was shady and green, with widely spaced, lovely old buildings scattered across the grass. Although the lawns of within the gates were immaculate, the street outside was a different story. The sidewalks were covered with trash and the city outside seemed cheap, shady, and crowded. While we were there, two accidents happened on the street, and traffic around the campus was horrendous. It seemed like the gated campus inside would be very safe, but I wouldn’t want to go to a college where I would have to be shut within the gates the entire time.

6:30

We checked out NYU, which wasn’t one of our planned colleges, but because we were in the area and Fordham was a little disappointing, we decided to visit anyway. We took a break from driving outside a campus building and sat on the benches, observing the people walk by. The building we were sitting outside was tall and modern, all glass and granite and steel. The streets and stores were more welcoming, well maintained, and evenly spaced than the environment we saw outside at Fordham. Also, NYU was not gated, which made it seem more welcoming and less imposing.

Although there was no tour, we were able to walk around the buildings and spaces on campus, and we visited a nearby park with a fountain and stretched our legs. Overall, NYU seemed more friendly, modern, and chic than Fordham.

After NYU, we left New York for our hotel in Connecticut, ate dinner, showered, and went to bed, tired after a long day.

p.s. JENNA LIKES THE ISLAND MANHATTAN. SMOKE ON YOUR PIPE AND PUT THAT IN!

Day One (6/28/11)

7:30

We weren’t ready to leave yet.

8:10

After some last minute packing, breakfast, and showering, we finally got on the road. The drive to Philadelphia was pleasant, without enormous amounts of traffic, and we made it to U Penn without any more hitches. We drove up and parked in the hospital area, and then walked to the campus. The city around the campus was very accessible for walking and biking, and looked pretty clean and nice.

The campus was beautiful and shady, with lots of large trees and charming old buildings. We were directed to the information desk by a helpful student, and then the woman there pointed us to the room where students and their parents were sitting. We came into the information session late, so we only heard about the last fifteen minutes of it, where the admissions lady was talking about what to write in the essay and stuff. Then we divided up into groups and walked with our guides on a campus tour.

It was raining at that point, so while waiting for our ponchos (which the school very helpfully provided), the students went around the circle and told our names to everyone, and learned a little about U Penn. Some interesting factoids: 

- University of Pennsylvania is one of the only Ivy League schools with a large percentage of foreign and international students.  
- Over 100 languages are offered there, and if they don’t happen to have a language available, they’ll send for an expert who can teach in that subject.

After we donned our complementary ponchos and all looked like large plastic bags, we set out in the rain and walked along the main thoroughfare (which was unfortunately under construction, so we weren’t able to experience the full beauty of the green). We visited the residential buildings, where most freshman live, the engineering school, the Wharton school of business, the college of arts and sciences, and finally the athletic stadium, learning about Penn traditions and academics. Overall it was a very enjoyable visit, and going through the buildings we were able to imagine what college life would be like, studying with friends, sleeping in the dorms, and participating in the famous Penn toast throw.

After the tour, we thanked the tour guide and made a large contribution to the school in the form of souvenirs from the Penn bookstore. For lunch, we indulged in some Philly cheesesteak and meatball subs, and then we were on the road again.  

not really the trip yet but whatever

6/27/11

Today was the pre-tour celebration dinner. We (Addie, Phillip, Katie, Jenna, and Shirley) ate at Fogo de Chaó, an exciting Brazilian restaurant in Baltimore harbor. Instead of sitting down and ordering what we wanted from a menu, the waiters came out and brought us grilled meats on a spit, and we were able to sample whatever we wanted from each cut. We sat down and ate a salad (mine had lots of beets yay), and then a nearly endless procession of waiters came and offered us succulent ribeye and top sirloin and leg of lamb and pork sausage and whatever other meat you can think of all hot off the grill. It was pretty great.

After our enormous meal, we walked it in the inner harbor, watching the paddleboats glide by on the bay. Ambling down the sidewalks, I reflected a little on the colleges I might want to see (which were basically none because I had no preference), but mostly I was just happy to be going on a trip with my family. Driving back home, we were all full and ready to start out at 7:30 the next morning.

Welcome!

Hi! This is a blog following the harrowing and dangerous exploits of Addie, Jenna, Phillip, Katie, and Shirley on their 2011 summer college road trip. The one writing this is Addie. I will be the only one writing for the remainder of the trip, as I have taken it upon myself to chronicle our intense journey, which will probably be filled with narrow escapes, encounters with witches, and other general awesomeness. I'm posting the first couple sections all at once because I haven't had internet but I've still been typing up drafts on word, so I have a lot to say all at once. There will be two kinds of posts on this blog, informative, dry, probably boring ones, and ones that I want to write so I can remember funny stuff that happened. With that all in mind, enjoy!