They Loved Manhattan.

Now that four months have passed, we thought it would be interesting to get reactions from some of the 7th graders who won the Westbury Arts’ contest and got to go to Manhattan where they visited they visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art, ate out at Dallas Ribs and saw the show Stomp.

Of the eleven students interviewed only three had never been to the city before. Michelle Chacon said she was surprised by how crowded it was.

Michelle says she remembers the Egypt section best “because that’s what all of us wanted to see.” For Delmi Ruiz, being in the temples was impressive. “They were the actual buildings that the pharaoh walked in,” she says. Berlinda Pierre Louis was impressed by the brightly colored Arabic tiles artwork. Ashley Farnum, who says she wants to be a dentist and keep art as a hobby, especially enjoyed seeing a work with paint splattered on it because resembled something she had painted. Cecilia Alejandra Mejia and Lorena Reyes were both impressed by the beauty of the museum. Hearing that the museum was the second largest impressed Olphiana Johnson. “It was awesome going in it,” she says.

When asked if they returned to the city and had to choose to see a show, visit a museum or eat out, it was a toss up between seeing a show (six) or eating out (five).

Rebecca McKenzie says she would like to see Aladdin on Broadway. Andrew Almonacy gave a big “yum” to the food he enjoyed in the city and Lorena said she would select eating out because of the possibility of eating something “amazing.” “The food may not exist where you are from,” she says. Ariel Andino, who wants to be a chef or something related in the culinary field, would definitely eat out.

Ariel says he was surprised to see that there is more to art than what he thought, while Diana Fuentes said she was surprised by everything she saw in the city.

Photo: Top row, from left: Cecilia, Rebecca, Michelle, Lorena and Diana.
Bottom row, from left: Andres, Berlinda, Ashley, Olphiana and Ariel.