Only in NYC...

Only in NYC, do you find young Chinese children decorating and wearing kippahs that they made at the annual Egg Rolls and Egg Creams festival sponsored by the Museum at Eldridge St.

Elderly Chinese men and women playing mahjong, while 20-something Jews watch and try to understand how to play.

Jewish children listening to Chinese live music.

A sofer and a Chinese calligraphist sitting side by side inside the Eldridge St Synagogue, demonstrating their written arts.

This was last weekend.  We spent the first part of the day at Governor's Island, enjoying the FIGMENT art festival.  First stop off the ferry boat - costume boxes for the kids.  Max and Nava were transformed into a packet of ketchup and a flower.

Governor's Island is incredibly peaceful since there are no cars, despite it being just a few minutes' ferry ride from Manhattan and Brooklyn.  Wandering around art installations, playing with found musical instruments, all while being encouraged to create and relax was an amazing start to the latest in what we've termed our "family adventure days."

The egg rolls and egg creams (which, we learned, naturally contain no eggs nor cream of any kind!) were an added bonus.  It's always fun to walk through Chinatown - it feels truly foreign, which of course it is as the majority of signage is in Chinese only.  I would love to know what all those vegetables and herbs and other products being haggled over by Chinese shop owners and Chinese customers actually are.  The Eldridge St shul, right on the border of the Lower East Side and Chinatown, opened its doors in 1887 to serve the Jewish community of the Lower East Side, and is still home to a small congregation today.  That's over 120 years of continuous Jewish life in one building.  And gorgeous to boot.

I love that the Museum at Eldridge St has embraced the diversity of the area, and in a way that feels unique to New York City.  Ferry boats, free costumes, art installations, multi-cultural celebrations - that's a good Sunday in NYC!