That winter during the break, I joined a group of foreign students who were invited by a Baptist Church in Vermont to visit Dartmouth College. We could stay at the church which had a big dorm facility.

I took a Greyhound bus. Since I had the time, I had the opportunity to see New York covered with snow. It was gorgeous.

I stayed in a hotel near the United Nations.

First thing in the morning I put my warm Chilean poncho and started walking to see the UN building. I also planned to go to Central Park, mainly to visit the friendly squirrels.

I must have shown that I was in awe by the tall building by looking up with my mouth open. Suddenly I was stopped by a tall policeman who said something I could not understand. He was about 45 years old, I thought, and had very dark red hair and a mustache. He conducted me to the lobby of a hotel and put me in front of a mirror indicating my ears. My ears were purple. Then the cop asked me for a $5 dollar bill and told me to wait for him to come back.

I did not know what was going on at all. In few minutes he came back with ear muffs, a receipt and change. I was never going to forget that kind policeman from New York.