Started off with a 2 hour service at the Greater Allen African Methodist Episcopal Cathedral in Jamaica, Queens- yes that is a gospel church..it was like a concert at points! It's unbelievable how much energy and enthusiasm these people have every single week. As with the Jewish service we attended, everyone was very welcoming and there was even a bit where all guests and first-timers had to stand up and everybody near us came and shook our hands to welcome us and just make us feel more included and less like spectators. To top it off Jahmene Douglas was there too!! We were sitting on the balcony part of the church and I was looking at this guy near the alter before the service started and I started casually mentioning to a few people that he looked a lot like Jahmene but I couldn't think why he would be at a random church in Queens. Then I got more and more confident it was him until I was 100% adamant, but nobody else was very convinced so I didn't go down to talk to him. They mentioned during the service that it was him (also saying that he WON the X factor!) and I could see him every time I stood up- which was most of the service! I was going to go and talk to him and maybe get a cheeky picture at the end of the service but he and his 2 man entourage left just before the end.. gutted :(
Just about make out Jahmene in the black top
The rest of the day was spent in Chinatown :) There was a festival on today to celebrate the Chinese and Jewish communities' friendship which was called 'Egg rolls and Egg cream'- Egg rolls being what we call Spring rolls and Egg cream being a traditional Jewish drink. A few of us were brave enough to order the 'combo' of both delicacies! The egg roll was realllllllly good and the egg cream, well, it was chocolate sauce, milk and soda water- bizarre but surprisingly good..it definitely grew on me :) We also visited another synagogue and a Buddhist temple whilst we were there but I think we were all most excited about the food.. we went to a Chinese restaurant and just like at home we over-ordered so much so half of it is in our fridge! I was quite upset to discover when we were already in the restaurant that they served shark fin soup, which I strongly oppose if using real fins, but I didn't get a chance to see if they used real ones or prosthetics :/
Chinatown Synagogue
Confucius- founder of Chinese Confucian religion
Art from Museum of Chinese America
All in all a great day topped off by a very energetic bus ride home with random singing bursting out ranging from Oasis to One Direction to Disney to The Killers to Spice Girls to R Kelly- by the end of the tour we will have perfected a harmonised Bohemian Rhapsody ;)
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