by Anelisa

Created on: March 05, 2009

USA was my first trip to a foreign country. The Andrea Doria Ship sailed from Naples to New York in the spring of 1953. The Statue of Liberty was awesome for an eleven year old and I got more excited as we came closer to it. Coming from a small mountaeous village from central Italy was indeed a contrast to New York City but so adventurous.

The port was amazing with all the ships and cargos. I thought the Naples port was huge but the NY one was overwhelming. So many people and so much happening. The tall buildings were unbelievable. I kept looking up and up. There were helicopters and planes higher up. The sounds were so knew and so was the smell of the air after breathing the pure ocean air.

When my mother and two sisters got in a cab with our uncle I kept looking all around me and wondered how we did not get in an accident. People were all over and it was so noisy. None of us knew a word of English and my uncle had forgotten most of his Italian since he had immigrated as a teenager and never returned to Italy. My aunt was born in the USA. My cousin and his fiancee' had taken Italian in Fordham so they acted as the translators. Somehow we managed with lots of laughs. Everyone was hurrying everywhere and we did too.

We stayed a couple of weeks in the Bronx in a large apartment and visited many relatives we had in New York City. They took us all over. The escalators and elavators were new but intrigueing for me. The skyscrapers fascinated me and the subway. Seeing people from all over the world made the history and geography I had studied in school come alive. I was a little scared in the elevetator with such new faces but I got over it. The sounds of their languages was like a music I had never heard.

The Empire State Building, The United Nations, The Museums, Central Park, The Hudson River, Radio City, and so much more were so exciting to see. Modern Art was totally new to me and while I was fascinated with its shapes and colors, I couldn't make much sense of it. The Rouquettes in Radio city were fascinating and they looked so tall.

Shopping at Macy's and other department stores was a lot of fun. The clothes were so bright and colorful as well so very different. Our realtives kept buying us so much but I was unsure I wanted to wear such clothing. Good thing we were going by train to Ohio since our trunk and suitcases were totally full. We had to buy more suitcases for the gifts.

The TV and phone in the house were unusual for me. I occasionally went to a movie in

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