Author Archives: n.acosta

We are located uptown in Manhattan,

A small neighborhood that we brought life to.

Our food, music, and people have been the heart of the community for years since Trujillo.

We try to re-create our country, making sure here we do  feel safe sharing love for each other.

They say our streets are full of crime,

And hate against each other,

But what they don’t see is the love we have for one another.

Outsiders come, trying to push us against each other,

But at the end of the day we know we only have one another.

Our culture keeps us united even when back home that was not enough.

Our country is corrupted, we try to run away from home.

Washington Heights is the second Dominican Republic,

The place where many once escaped from crime back in our native country.

All the ones that came brought with them our culture,

Helping us each day wake up like we are welcomed.

Once we are out of our streets, we stop feeling welcomed,

It is a joy for us to be trapped uptown with the ones that look like us.

Some try to go back home, where they think they will find love,

But they end up being killed by the ones they love.

The ones that stay in our little Dominican Republic feel safer here than in the nation that gave birth to us, that is why we try to create a replica of our homes.

Our small neighborhood has given birth to stars,

Some like  Manny Ramirez, Arod, and even Lin Manuel Miranda.

People try to take those that make it as a role model, knowing that working hard

You can get there adding a little bit of luck to that.

We enjoy our music, food, religion, customs, and movies because at the end of the day, we are the only hope of our country in the exterior.

A Friday morning my friend Daniela and I decided to go into the Federal Hall to learn more about the economy of the country and to explore an unknown place for us. As we stand in front of the building from the street, we could observe many people, on their majority tourists sitting on the steps and taking photos of themselves in front of the Federal Hall. We assume the majority were tourists because they were wearing shirts that said “I love New York” which is considered something only tourists do. Next to us in the street, there was a tour guy from the tour company “New York Tour 1” where I used to work. He was explaining to a group of students how the first terrorist attack that happened in the city of New York was on that same place we were standing on and that the building in front of the hall stills today having holes of the mini bomb that exploded.

The temperature was around seventy degrees which caused more people than usual to be on the streets. As we started to maneuver to get around the folks that were in front of the building to go up the steps, I could observe many other tour guides with different groups of people. I decided to approach some of these groups as I was curious about what the tour guides were saying to them. Most of them were explaining the history of the place and some basics on how the economy of the United States works as the New York Stock Exchange is just in front of the Federal Hall. Others were talking about the Trump Tower which is on the same block, its construction, and how Trump managed to go from real state to creating his brand and be president. Once we decided to go up the steps, I could feel the sun warming my back which was comforting after such a long winter. Daniela and I stopped at the entrance of the building to take some photos like others were doing.

The doors of the building were clear with black borders. On them, different posters showed that you could not take photos with flash or have your phone’s sound on. Inside the building, there were many people, on their majority teenagers talking loudly in different languages. Dany and I proceed to explore the three floors of the building that we had access to. In the first floor, there were a series of small rooms that had different exhibits telling the history of civil war, congress, supreme court, and federal branch which were all started in the same building the Federal Hall is now located. As well, in one of the rooms, there was a film showing that talks about the different National Parks in New York. Many people were interested in the movie because as one of them was sayin; it gave her ideas of different places she wanted to visit while staying in the city. In the same floor, there was a small room showing little bags that contained gold inside, and a person who works in the Hall was explaining on how the economy used to rely on gold before paper money was created. She was saying how before you could even go to the bank with paper money and ask for silver or gold in exchange, but now we do not have enough gold to back up the amount of money in circulation. So, now we keep the gold under the streets somewhere in Wall Street with lots of security to make sure no one attempts to steal it.

After exploring the first floor, we decided to go to the basement where we just found huge lines to get into the bathrooms and many different groups of kids just hanging out and drinking water. Also, there was an unpleasant smell of sweat and marijuana. Once we figured there was nothing to see there we took the elevator right in front of the stairs and went to the second floor as we had no access to the third floor. As we walked out the elevator there was a series of rooms with boxes full of different documents,  but we were not allowed to go inside none of these rooms but an exhibit that was to our right. We were not truly interested in the exhibit, so we decided to take photos of the beautiful architecture of the dome.

Finally, this excursion was fun as it was the first day of the year that the temperature was high and we were able to be outside without coats. We also got to learn some history from the city and got to meet many people that were visiting from many different places. In the beginning, I did not feel so comfortable to be in a place where I have never been before, but being with my friend made it a lot easier and fun. In conclusion, I have decided that every week I will go to different places that I never visited all over the city as there is so much to see and learn about this multicultural city.

The Wax Seal Stamp workshop was held in NVC in room 4-165. The event was about creating wax seal stamps, and there was a woman teaching it. The first thing we did in the classroom was getting the clay mound into a stamp form which was achieved by molding it with our hands. After we had to make the top of it flat. Then we drew our own personalized stamp design. Once we drew our design, we were asked to flatten the stamp again so we could take into the oven and make sure that the shape would not be ruined by the heat. Then we took the stamps into the oven and as it took some time to bake we were networking with the people in the room which became a great chance to get to meet some other people in Baruch as most people I know are from SEEK. After the stamps were almost ready, the woman who was leading the workshop showed how hers turned out and then she proceeded to return ours. Also, we had a variety of different wax seal candles that we could choose from. Everyone chose their candle and lighted it so it could melt. Then we would put the wax on top of a paper, and damp the stamp and then stamp it. This workshop was really interesting for me because I have never done anything like this before and when I saw people using stamps I never knew that they even had to wet it before stamping it into the wax, this way it was easier to remove. I had a lot of fun and will probably be part of the event again next year.

I have decided to visit the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Being from the Dominican Republic and having curly hair is not a good combination. I come from a country where even though more than half of our ethnicity is African, no one likes being called morena or black. These terms are generally considered negative, no matter how accurate they may be. Most people in my country categorize kinky hair as “bad hair,” and  Dominicans are taught from an early age that their hair is “bad,” and it has to be “tamed.” We deny any connection to our African ancestry and claim to be descendants of Europeans.

For me, growing up like this all felt very unreasonable, as I did not understand what was wrong with my hair; I liked it the way it was: Curly and natural. However,  when I turned ten, I began to see my older sister receive compliments from neighbors and family members whenever she would chemically straighten her hair. As I grew older, I inherited the same expectation.

At first, I was excited to get compliments like my sister would. So, my mom took me to a beauty parlor known for “taming bad hair,” and for making even the kinkiest hair straight. They processed my hair with many different chemicals, and it made my scalp burn. After that first time, it was mandatory for me to go to the beauty parlor every single weekend without fail; no one could see my hair curly anymore.

In 2013, my family moved to New York City and with the move came a great culture shock. Here, people were not openly judged by their skin color or hair type (At least not as much as they were back home in the Dominican Republic.) I saw so many women with huge kinky afros getting compliments from people on how beautiful and healthy their hair looked. It’s when I saw people for the first time in my life wanting to have curls that I realized that I did not appreciate my hair and that others made me hide something that I was born with: my hair type.

Every day in New York after I realized that all types of beauties are embraced started being way easier. By becoming a New Yorker, I realized that I could embrace my hair too and started wearing it out more often. This culturally diverse city made me realize that beauty comes in all sizes, shapes, and colors and that I have to love the things that make me who I am.

The Met Cloisters is a museum located in Fort Tryon Park, Upper Manhattan. This impressive museum has a view to the Hudson River, and its mainly dedicated to celebrating European medieval architecture. The museum has been constructed from French Monasteries and Abbeys that were brought in pieces from Europe and rebuilt in the upper level of the Park. This amazing museum has the power to transport you to medieval Europe while having your feet in New York. There are many pieces of art in the museum to appreciate such as Romanesque style arcs  which combines ancient Roman and Byzantine architecture.There are many different sculptures of saints, The Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ, and real mummies. The most interesting piece of art that I believe everyone should go see is  “The Unicorn.” It is a series of hangings that were made between 1495-1505. They believe that Anne, Queen of Great Britain asked someone to make this for her husband Louis XII, king of France. These pieces portray a group of nobles and hunters trying to hunt a unicorn. There are many ways to interpret these pieces of art, but my interpretation after talking to some staff of the museum is that they are narrating the unicorn’s death as the Passion of Jesus. The woman depicted as taming the unicorn can be interpreted as the mother of Jesus, The Virgin. The wanted unicorn can be seen as Jesus who is being hunted by the Romans who were looking for Jesus everywhere to crucify him. To conclude, there are many exciting things to observe at the Cloisters museum. There is a variety of interesting artwork that can teach you about medieval Europe.. It is nice to learn about history, and exploring this hidden museum in Washington Heights is one way of doing so.