the city that never sleeps

In the Spring of 2013, Whit and I traveled to New York City with a group of friends for the Physicians for Human Rights Conference. The conference was fascinating, all with a focus on the then current health crisis and refugee population in Syria. We participated in discussions with human rights lawyers, physicians who document torture in physical examinations to aid in court battles for asylum status, and leaders in the community. The mornings were filled with solid discussions and we broke out into small groups in the afternoon for workshops on grassroots activism. The energy among the group was palpable, as medical students from across the country hashed out possible solutions to the current abysmal system in our country for dealing with poverty and immigration. The conference alone was well worth the trip to the northeast, but of course tacking on a few days at the end of the conference for purely selfish tourist reasons enhanced the short stay.

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Whit and I raced around NYC like chickens with our heads cut off! We would go out with our friends at night, and then rise before dawn to get going on our NYC bucket list. We visited all of the cliché NYC tourist attractions, including viewing the bustling city from the top of the Empire State Building, reliving the horrors of 9/11 at the base of the memorial, ferrying out to the Statue of Liberty, and arching our necks back to gaze upon the famous Rockefeller Center.

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We made many a chocolate stops: slurped hot chocolate at Chocolate by the Bald Man, guzzled frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity, and marveled at candy bars in Hershey’s Chocolate World and the M&M store.

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The first place we went when we stepped out of the airport was the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We spent at least four hours in that beautiful depository of art. We also toured the Museum of Modern Art and the American Museum of Natural History. The wildlife habitat scenes were incredibly realistic with expert taxidermy and vibrant colored backgrounds. I’m sure Whit tired of me taking a million years in front of each exhibit trying to capture the light perfectly. I wanted to take home a piece of every display to drool over again once I returned home.

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And of course, Broadway! We snagged tickets to both Wicked and Chicago during our long weekend in NYC. Wicked was by far our favorite with the unique sets and effects.

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NYC has so much to offer, and clearly a weekend wasn’t nearly enough time to make a dent in the list of attractions and sights. We hope to return to the “big apple” soon, but hopefully at Christmas time so we can visit the famous Christmas tree decked out in flashy red and green lights!


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