I'm done with week five, and it's scary that my time here in Boston is half over! I'm starting to fall in love with the walking, intelligent people, international feel...at this point Cambridge is looking like a real possibility for graduate school. We'll see...
Monday brought another great restaurant: Indian food in Inman Square...the saag paneer and naan were fantastic. The restaurant itself was two floors, but the first was where you ordered your food, and then it was served to you as soon as it was cooked. Apparently the mango lassi was also delicious.
Tuesday was a super-long day in lab: 9 am to 6:30 pm, followed by a bit of a break and then back from 10 pm to 12:30 pm. I love research. Fittingly, I spent my break eating dinner and then hanging out with a friend in "The Miracle of Science," a bar next to the frat house I live in. It's famous for its geeky MIT patrons as much as it is for the menu on the wall within a periodic table of the elements. I had my mandatory taste of Sam Adams, and I still stick by my avoidance of American macrobrews. Chocolate frosting and cookie dough taste far too delicious for me to want to waste calories on beer. However, this day in particular made me realize how much this scientific life suits me: even though I was doing quite a lot of work and staying busy, I still had time to hang out with friends. I like my future life, and that's a very cool feeling. I won't be bored, but I won't be in a constant state of overwhelmed-ness for the next six years. Oh, and then there was another 3 am fire alarm. Sweeeeeet...
On Wednesday, my mother and brother made their way to Boston on a very very early flight: 4 am is no fun for anyone. I worked all day in lab, giving them a quick tour of campus when they arrived at Kendall Square before we made our way to Bertucci's for dinner. Although it is a chain, the food is quite good: it's kind of like Olive Garden, but with more pizza and "red" pastas. They also have huge portions, which made my next few days filled with some amazing leftovers. Their rolls were also quite a hit: I ended up with eight extra to take home, a very exciting event indeed.
On Thursday, I didn't need to be in lab until the afternoon, so I spent the morning with mom and Jacob at the Science Museum. The exhibits were extremely well done and suited to the sometimes random and sporadic mind of a child: there is something new to look at or think about every five feet. Jacob's favorite was an actual prop from the first Star Wars movie (the new one): a Naboo starfighter. My mom's favorite was the Jane Goodall exhibit, and it amazes me how long she has been working with the chimps: she started in 1962 and has never really completed her time as a scientist. I am struck by any number of her quotes on the environment and the interaction between people and their surroundings. My favorite part of the museum was the butterfly garden: there is nothing quite like being claimed by a territorial butterfly or seeing a moth the size of my head (really. they were gargantuan). The chick hatching display was great, as was the playground physics exhibit. All in all, a fabulous (and very accurate) museum experience: I would highly recommend it to anyone coming to Boston. Thursday night was spent catching up, and another fire alarm (this time at 10:30 pm). I'm going to have to get a photo with Cambridge's finest before I leave...
Friday was a full day in lab followed by meeting mom and Jacob in Harvard Square for dinner. We ate at Mr. Bartley's Burger Cottage, an extremely cramped and loud establishment famous for its burgers named after celebrities. The sweet potato fries were also superb. Friday night was spent at the frat house watching the German film "The Edukators." I was expecting screwball comedy, but it turned out to be more Communist thriller. It was still good, though.
Saturday was a day of history as mom, Jacob and I walked the beginning portion of the Freedom Trail starting at Boston Commons. I took over fifty pictures in the Granary Cemetery, and it struck me as odd how much I truly enjoy graveyards. They embody an element of peace, as well as a reminder that our time on Earth is short and there is so much to be experienced, accomplished, and learned. It also gives one a sense of their age when so many of those buried at the cemetery were so young. Interestingly enough, the area where the Boston Massacre took place is now a T stop (subway). It's also mind-boggling to think that the bell hanging in the eaves of one of the churches was actually cast by Paul Revere, and it still sounds twice a day.
I took a nap that afternoon in preparation for the ballroom dance that night, and I'm definitely glad I did. Honestly, I had the most fun I've ever had at a dance in my life. There were no awkward Prom-like moments or gossip-infested drama. Instead, the room was filled with dancers of every personality enjoying themselves as they went from dance to dance and partner to partner. Everyone had their strengths, and some were much better teachers than others. The talent ranged from me (absolute beginner at partner dancing but with a little bit of dancing experience) to pros (people that are paid to dance and teach ballroom lessons). Amateurs compete at bronze, silver, and gold levels, and the dedication of many ballroom competitors is intense. It is great exercise, although my feet were really beat up by the end of the night. Even so, it's pretty cool that after about five hours of dancing I know the basics to samba, rumba, jive, swing, international waltz, foxtrot, tango and hustle. When you are at a social, they have a DJ as well as a placard that tells you what the next dance will be...I thought this would be helpful until I realized that really, the leader can dance whatever dance they want to as long as it is in the same meter (a fact that did not help me recognize which tunes went with each dance). The Viennese waltz was really tough: you literally FLY in the line of dance, trying like mad to take big enough steps and spot so you don't get too dizzy. One of my partners described it as a race to the finish line, and he's right. It was also cool being dipped and twirled and just being taught new steps and ways to think about dancing with a partner. My frame (how I stand and hold my upper body) is still pretty awful: it's hard to concentrate on arm placement when really all that is immediately worrisome is where my feet are going next. However, I'm told that will come with time. When all is said and done, I cannot wait until the second social dance...you can bet I will be doing lots of practicing between now and then!
Today, I went to the MIT museum with Mom and Jacob: the robots as well as the kinetic sculptures and the strobe photography were a hit! Next, I showed them around Central Square, and we picked up food for Jacob before heading back to the frat house. A friend here offered to play video games with Jacob, so mom and I were able to go out for seafood: apparently he had just as much fun with a game of pool, Scrabble, and Worms as we did with our crabcakes and stuffed jumbo shrimp. (as an aside, if you have never played the game Worms, it's pretty hilarious. The object of the game is to blow up other worms using a variety of explosive devices: while this sounds quite macabre, it's actually pretty fun.)
It's been really great to have my mom and brother here: I'm so glad they're seeing Boston as well as the things I do here. Time is really flying by, and it's hard to believe that all too soon I'll be back in Illinois for my final year of school. Wow...
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