Antonio’s First Trip to New York: A Memorable Journey
Introduction
1. Why hadn’t Antonio visited New York before?
Antonio’s family moved to Spain just before his 12th birthday, and he never got the opportunity to visit New York.
Chapter 1: First Impressions of the City
1. Why is it difficult to talk about a real New Yorker?
Since the city was founded, people from different races and cultures have come to New York seeking a better life. It has always had a mixture of cultures and religions.
2. How did passing through Times Square affect Antonio and why?
He was speechless because it was like seeing your favorite movie star in person.
3. Why did Antonio’s father say that the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood was tough?
It was very near the piers where ships used to arrive, and there were a lot of gangs in the area.
4. Why did Times Square remind Antonio of the Puerta del Sol in Madrid?
There was a building in Times Square where a ball comes down during the countdown to midnight on New Year’s Eve.
Chapter 2: Thanksgiving Celebrations
1. What does Thanksgiving commemorate?
It commemorates how the Native Americans helped the first English settlers in Massachusetts survive their first difficult year in the new world.
2. Which groups of people take part in the big parade on Thanksgiving morning?
Marching bands from high schools, a lot of clowns, and famous people who ride in elaborate floats.
3. Explain how the orphans’ dinner got its name.
Elaine and Jason have a group of friends who can’t be with their families for Thanksgiving. That’s why they call themselves orphans.
4. Why was Antonio surprised when he entered the loft apartment?
It was the largest apartment where Antonio had ever been.
5. Why are there newspapers written in Spanish in New York?
There’s a very large Hispanic population in New York.
Chapter 3: Subway and the Statue of Liberty
1. Why was Antonio happy to spend a day relaxing with Jason?
His body was still getting accustomed to Spain’s time.
2. What did Elaine tell Antonio about the subway in New York?
Elaine explained that the New York subway system was the first to have express trains, making trips shorter for people who need to travel a long distance.
3. Who gave the Statue of Liberty to America and why?
The statue was a gift from the French government in 1876 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the USA.
4. What made leaving difficult for the new immigrants?
They left their countries, their cultures, their friends, their families… all this made it difficult.
Chapter 4: Twin Towers and Central Park
1. How did Elaine feel about the Twin Towers?
Her eyes were filled with tears because it was a shock for her.
2. How was Antonio’s friend saved when the Twin Tower collapsed?
His extreme punctuality saved him because he had gone to a meeting 15 minutes earlier.
3. Why did the local administration buy an enormous piece of land in the middle of the 1800s?
They wanted to make a park for the city.
Chapter 5: Chinatown and Little Italy
1. Why did Antonio enjoy seeing New York by himself?
Antonio likes to wander at his own pace and see things that aren’t in the usual guidebooks.
2. Why was Antonio surprised when he saw famous people in New York?
They were doing normal things, and Antonio saw all of them in the middle of the day on very busy streets.
3. Why did Antonio feel that Peter was taking him to a different country?
When Antonio arrived in Chinatown, he saw lots of people, stores, and advertisements like China.
4. How does New York’s Chinatown compare with Chinatown in London and other Chinese communities in America?
New York’s Chinatown is much bigger and busier than London’s. It is also the biggest Chinese neighborhood in the United States and the biggest concentration of Chinese people in the Western world.
5. Why did Peter say that he and Antonio were changing continents?
Because later, they went to an Italian neighborhood.
Chapter 6: Knicks Game and a Great Burger
1. Explain briefly how Antonio prepared for the basketball game between the Knicks and the Nets.
The days before the game, Antonio read as much as he could about both teams and tried to watch any game that either team played on TV. He also bought a Knicks T-shirt for the game.
2. What was special about the way that the players were introduced to the crowd?
When the players entered, all the lights went out, really loud music began to play, and an exciting laser light show began. Each player ran out onto the court as his name was announced.
3. How did Antonio ignore Jason’s advice about acting like a native New Yorker?
He decided to speak with Woody Allen, who is famous, after the game.
4. Why did Antonio say he would never go to McDonald’s or Burger King again?
Because he ate a really good hamburger in another restaurant.
Chapter 7: New Year’s Eve in Times Square
1. How is Antonio going to spend New Year’s Eve?
He is going to spend New Year’s Eve with Elaine, Elise (Elaine’s roommate), and a few other people from the Thanksgiving dinner at a hotel nearby Times Square.
2. What interesting things can you see at Rockefeller Center at Christmas?
The most interesting things you can see at Rockefeller Center at Christmas are the outdoor ice-skating rink and the twenty-meter-high pine tree above it.
3. Why was Antonio surprised when he got to Times Square?
Times Square was already almost full, and he hadn’t expected it.
4. What was in the envelope which Elaine gave Antonio?
Antonio found a photograph of Elaine and him at the Empire State Building. She had also written a message on the back of the photograph.
Chapter 8: Broadway Show and Jason’s Debut
1. Why was Antonio worried when he checked his emails in Almeria?
Jason sent him an email saying that Antonio should call him as soon as he could. That made him think that something bad had happened.
2. Why was Jason so excited about being an understudy?
It isn’t a normal understudy for a normal theater. The understudy is for a musical in a Broadway show.
3. What was the good news that Antonio heard from Elaine when he arrived at the airport?
The”good new” was that the actor Jason was understudying for was sick. That meant Jason could act.
4. How do people who are not rich manage to see Broadway shows, and what is the problem with this?
There is a place in the middle of Times Square that sells half-priced tickets for Broadway shows. The problem is that they only sell tickets for shows that aren’t completely full.
5. Why was Antonio filled with admiration for Jason when he stood on the stage after the show?
He did his job very well. He sang his song beautifully, and the audience gave him a very enthusiastic ovation.
Chapter 9: Central Park Concert
1. What happens only twice each summer in New York?
The New York Philharmonic Orchestra plays only two times each summer in Central Park.
2. What is special about the Strawberry Fields garden?
Strawberry Fields is named after a famous Beatles song that John Lennon composed.
3. What are the main features of Central Park?
There are more than four million trees and plants and a lake.
4. What impressed Antonio during the concert in Central Park?
Antonio said that it was incredible that everyone was listening quietly to the music. In Spain, people like to talk too much.
Chapter 10: Broadway Softball and Free Tickets
1. Why is the Broadway Show League described as a mixture of culture and sports?
Most of the Broadway shows form teams with their actors and technicians for this league.
2. Why did Antonio Banderas want to sit with Antonio and José Luis at the softball game?
He didn’t know much about softball, and he also found it nice to speak with other Spaniards.
3. Explain briefly why Antonio and his friends had to meet at 11:00 am for a play that started at 8:00 pm.
Sometime between 1:00 pm and 2:00 pm, someone from the theater comes and distributes free tickets for the evening’s show.
Chapter 11: Yankees Game and Carnegie Deli
1. How did José Luis get tickets for Antonio to see a professional baseball game?
One of his jobs was writing about the New York Yankees baseball team for his newspaper, and so he said that he could get Antonio some tickets.
2. What is special about the New York Yankees?
It isn’t a normal team. The New York Yankees are the best baseball team ever, and they’ve been league champions 26 times in less than 100 years.
3. What most attracted Antonio’s attention during the game?
The drinks, because there were huge.
4. Give two reasons why Jason wanted Antonio to go to the Carnegie Deli.
Reason number 1: Jason thought that Antonio might like to have some typical New York food after the game.
Reason number 2: Jason also thought that Antonio would like to see a place that’s connected to Woody Allen.
Chapter 12: Coney Island and Roller Coaster
1. What three facts did Elaine tell Antonio about Coney Island?
She said that Coney Island was a popular vacation place for rich people during the second half of the 19th century, that Coney Island got the oldest amusement park in the US, and that in the late 1870s, some of the most elegant hotels in the country were there.
2. What changed Coney Island into what it is today?
The end of the subway construction in 1920.
3. How did Nathan Handwerker convince people to buy his hot dogs?
He convinced ten vagabonds to have a bath and then dress as doctors in white coats for free hot dogs. As people saw that doctors were eating Nathan’s hot dogs, they began to buy.
4. Why did Elaine ask Antonio to teach her the Spanish for”roller coaste”?
She was going to take Antonio to one of the first and most famous roller coasters in the world.
5. Why did Antonio look sad?
He was thinking that he had to return to Spain in the next few days. He will miss New York.
Epilogue
1. Why did Antonio’s face become red at his goodbye dinner?
Peter said that they all knew they would have to wait until after Elaine had visited him so they could visit him.