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So we went to Ellis Island on Friday for a field trip and our class missed a whole day of school! To tell you the truth, Ellis Island was the most BORING part of the trip…

Well, the subway trip was scary. The train was SOOOO packed, I mean really, and the whole class was spread all over a bunch of different cars, and the teacher (ms. burnett, homeroom teacher) kept switching between the cars, and she was there, then she was gone, and the class was just like in packs of 4 or 5 scattered around the train. We weren’t sure what stop to get off at so every stop we stuck our head out of the subway to see if the other kids were getting off…… that was crazy.

So then we finally got off the subway at South Ferry and walked until we got to the little park that’s at the tip of Manhattan, which is where the ferry takes off from. And then we saw some people waiting on line. And then there was this tent that they were coming out of (which we later learned was for security. Then there was more of a line outside of the tent. Ok…. this was going to take a while. Then it went on even farther around a corner, around ANOTHER corner, and then a final stretch that went on for a while. Then we saw that buses were just pulling up and dropping people off onto the line! So the class got into the back of the line. We waited for about an hour before we got to security…… so I bought a hot dog and some water…. stuff like that.

Then when we FINALLY got to security we did the whole thing, just like an airport, with the thing you walk through and the thing for our bags. Also, people with Timberland and Sketchers shoes had to take them off to be searched. (I have no idea) So I walked through the thing, and waited for my backpack. They stopped the moving thing at my bag. Gulp. They kept it stopped. Now, lets get one thing straight - I did NOT intend to stab someone with those scissors. Seriously. They were in my pencil case which I brought because we needed to write something on the worksheet. But apparently they thought I intended to stab someone with them (they were blunt scissors anyway!!!) so I had to open my backpack and give it to them. And they still have them! My harmless blunt scissors have been stolen!!!!!! If for some reason my lack of scissors gets me a bad grade before I get new ones then I’m suing whoever the people are who run the ferry going to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

So anyway, luckily the boat was there and me and the class got on (me scissorless) and it started, and there was a consession stand there so there was lots of junkfood to eat and it was fun and all….. until the birds decided to start attacking us. Okay, maybe that’s a bit of an overexageration, and some of the kids WERE feeding the birds. But still, they started flying alongside the boat and flying over us. Everybody pulled up their hoods afraid of being….. well, you get the point. Those who didn’t have hoods just screamed. (Solon was the loudest) Okay, maybe it wasn’t that bad. But they WERE swooping very close to us, and those sea gulls were scary. Boy, I should have brought my camera.

Anyway, we got to Ellis Island without any…. accidents and did the whole thing. I have to say it was cool and all, but I had gone in 5th grade, and we only had like an hour there (not 2 1/2 hours as planned) because of the super long line and super long subway ride. So that was that and that was the most boring part of the trip, actually.

Then it came time to get back onto the 1:30 ferry. About half of the class was there to get one and 1:20, and the other half was there by 1:25. And they wouldn’t let us on. They said that there were to many of us. Ms. Burnett, well - she said something like this: “What are you talking about? The ferry we took here was 4 times as full as this one! Come one, these kids need to get home! Their parents are waiting for them!!! Just let us on, there’s room! We were here on time!” The guys in charge of the ferry just said sorry can’t do it kind of stuff and the ferry started to take off. Ms. Burnett went on: “Hey! This isn’t right! These kid have to get home! We were here on time! There’s plenty room! Don’t ignore me! You just know that I’m right and your wrong!!!!!!” So the ferry took off and Ms. Burnett turned to the class, “I want all of you who have a cell phone to call your parents and tell them you’ll be late, and that they should call the ferry service and complain! It’s unlawful what they did!” So we just sat there talking, feeding the pidgeons, eating our lunch, etc. till 2:00 when the next ferry was supposed to leave. Marlin kept saying the the birds “Take me to your leader” and the birds opened there little disgusting mouths, and it was all red and they looked like they might bite him.

Then someone’s cell phone rings. “Hey - Ms. Burnett, Felix and Lizzie were on that ferry!” Ms. Burnett takes the phone and give Felix and Lizzie directions about how to not talk to anyone and sit on a bench and WAIT FOR THEM and dont’ do anything.

So the ferry came, no accidents happened including birds, Felix and Lizzie were sitting on the bench waiting for the ferry, and the train was pretty much empty on the way back, so we all could fit in one car on the way back. We got off the subway just as kids from school were gettting on to go home, so overall we weren’t THAT late. So, quite and exciting day, especially for missing school. But I’m not sure that I’m going to be able to write an essay about Ellis Island because it really was pretty boring compared to Ms. Burnett screaming.