Travel Alphabet History (I) Ice
In 1999 when I was 15, I went to the city of Boston with my boyfriend at the time. It was really only the second time I had gone anywhere in my life. While there I immediately fell in love with the city and everything about it and with a little coercing from my boyfriend, I decided to go to college there after high school. It was a huge college town afterall.
I lived in Boston from Aug 2001 to Dec 2004. I resided in the school dormitories freshman and sophomore years, moved into my own apartment for junior year, and rented the basement of someone’s house for the first semester of senior year (I finished my last semester in LA). I loved the accessibility of everything in Boston and I loved the history it had. The subway system took me anywhere I needed to go and I could also walk everywhere. Monthly T-passes were a must. I really loved Boston, but like every city it was a love hate relationship.
Freshmen year, my dorm was across campus so I had to walk through the Boston Commons every day to get to class and the dining hall. This was amazingly beautiful in the summer but hell in the winter. Unfortunately I was cold all the time and if there’s one thing I really can’t stand it’s being cold. I didn’t realize when I moved there that it’s basically winter 9 months a year in Boston. If it’s not snowing it’s raining and either way it is freezing. Boston had about one month of really great weather. It would get incredibly humid for summer and then freezing again for fall and winter. It's unfortunate that the one thing I remember most about living in Boston was the cold. It was so cold that I remember feeling sharp physical pain on my face when I walked outside.
There was so much ice in Boston that the sidewalks were constantly salted and sanded. I would walk to class across the street and my shoes and jeans would be covered in salt and dirty sand. Mountains of dirty snow lined the streets. Sophomore year my dorm room was adjacent to another girl’s room and we shared a thermostat. She had control of it and never turned on the heat. I was freezing all year. I would try to sleep with my door open to get heat from the common room. My boyfriend junior year had the pipes burst in his apartment one night. They had turned off the heat while they were out for the day and the pipes froze. We had no heat for one night because it couldn’t be fixed until the next day. It was the most cold I’d ever been. We huddled up together under the blankets seeing our freezing breath in the air. Even a space heater couldn’t help much. The heating bill when I had my own apartment was astronomical. I honestly couldn’t even afford to pay it so I only paid half until I couldn’t pay it any more. I’m actually amazed the power was never shut off in my apartment.
My last semester in Boston, I was renting a basement in someone’s house. His house was near the end of a subway line but the subway system was great and it didn’t take that long to get into the city. Walking to the subway stop was harsh in the cold. Even worse was being so bundled up and then getting on a crowded subway train that was so hot. There was no way to take off any layers, so I’d have to just wait there sweating under my coats until we reached my stop. As soon as I walked out, I was met with that painful blast of freezing cold air. I had a space heater on in my room whenever I was in there. I even put it in the bathroom whenever I took a shower and turned the hot water on full blast. Even now, Joe can’t comprehend how I can stand such scalding hot water for my showers. One morning I took a shower and was running late for class. I honestly did not have time to blow dry my hair so I ran out to catch the train. By the time I got to the train station five blocks away, my hair was frozen. There were icicles in it and I was the coldest I’d ever been in my life.
I decided then that I could never live in Boston on a permanent basis. It just wasn’t the city for me. As much as I loved it I just couldn’t survive there. I finished my last semester in LA where I remain to this day. It gets cold here but nothing anywhere near like Boston. It never snows here and I’m completely fine with that. Joe has lived here all his life and has never been in falling snow, which he does want to experience in his lifetime. I told him that I don’t miss snow in the least and I’m more than okay with never seeing it again for the rest of my life.
I lived in Boston from Aug 2001 to Dec 2004. I resided in the school dormitories freshman and sophomore years, moved into my own apartment for junior year, and rented the basement of someone’s house for the first semester of senior year (I finished my last semester in LA). I loved the accessibility of everything in Boston and I loved the history it had. The subway system took me anywhere I needed to go and I could also walk everywhere. Monthly T-passes were a must. I really loved Boston, but like every city it was a love hate relationship.
Freshmen year, my dorm was across campus so I had to walk through the Boston Commons every day to get to class and the dining hall. This was amazingly beautiful in the summer but hell in the winter. Unfortunately I was cold all the time and if there’s one thing I really can’t stand it’s being cold. I didn’t realize when I moved there that it’s basically winter 9 months a year in Boston. If it’s not snowing it’s raining and either way it is freezing. Boston had about one month of really great weather. It would get incredibly humid for summer and then freezing again for fall and winter. It's unfortunate that the one thing I remember most about living in Boston was the cold. It was so cold that I remember feeling sharp physical pain on my face when I walked outside.
There was so much ice in Boston that the sidewalks were constantly salted and sanded. I would walk to class across the street and my shoes and jeans would be covered in salt and dirty sand. Mountains of dirty snow lined the streets. Sophomore year my dorm room was adjacent to another girl’s room and we shared a thermostat. She had control of it and never turned on the heat. I was freezing all year. I would try to sleep with my door open to get heat from the common room. My boyfriend junior year had the pipes burst in his apartment one night. They had turned off the heat while they were out for the day and the pipes froze. We had no heat for one night because it couldn’t be fixed until the next day. It was the most cold I’d ever been. We huddled up together under the blankets seeing our freezing breath in the air. Even a space heater couldn’t help much. The heating bill when I had my own apartment was astronomical. I honestly couldn’t even afford to pay it so I only paid half until I couldn’t pay it any more. I’m actually amazed the power was never shut off in my apartment.
My last semester in Boston, I was renting a basement in someone’s house. His house was near the end of a subway line but the subway system was great and it didn’t take that long to get into the city. Walking to the subway stop was harsh in the cold. Even worse was being so bundled up and then getting on a crowded subway train that was so hot. There was no way to take off any layers, so I’d have to just wait there sweating under my coats until we reached my stop. As soon as I walked out, I was met with that painful blast of freezing cold air. I had a space heater on in my room whenever I was in there. I even put it in the bathroom whenever I took a shower and turned the hot water on full blast. Even now, Joe can’t comprehend how I can stand such scalding hot water for my showers. One morning I took a shower and was running late for class. I honestly did not have time to blow dry my hair so I ran out to catch the train. By the time I got to the train station five blocks away, my hair was frozen. There were icicles in it and I was the coldest I’d ever been in my life.
I decided then that I could never live in Boston on a permanent basis. It just wasn’t the city for me. As much as I loved it I just couldn’t survive there. I finished my last semester in LA where I remain to this day. It gets cold here but nothing anywhere near like Boston. It never snows here and I’m completely fine with that. Joe has lived here all his life and has never been in falling snow, which he does want to experience in his lifetime. I told him that I don’t miss snow in the least and I’m more than okay with never seeing it again for the rest of my life.