Boston
Dear Everyone,
I absolutely, positively, fervently, passionately, ardently love Boston. I was very worried for three very long, drawn out, stressful weeks that perhaps it did not love me back, but it would appear that it was just testing me.
To begin, I'm not technically IN Boston, I'm across the Charles River in Cambridge/Somerville. This does not mean I'm not still going to refer to the entire area as Boston, however; I just didn't want any confusion when my address is in Somerville, not "Boston." And since everything is very nicely tied together into one delicious package by a superb public transportation system of subway and busses, I might as well just refer to it all as one unit.
Here's what I came from: Parshall, Colorado. Beautiful, yes, but also:
-no internet within a half hour drive
-drama due to too few people to interact with
-one restaurant/bar
-no one my age
-no stores
-no cell phone service
-no nothing
Boston has the following:
-if you're standing in the STREET, there's probably a wireless connection
-if you're on the subway, UNDERGROUND, you have cell reception
-SO many people
-oh, about 150 colleges including Harvard, MIT, and Tufts within easy walking distance from where I live
-Bars: Irish, American, German, gay, swanky, hole in the walls, everything in between
-Restaurants: Indian, Italian, French, Ethiopian, Mediterranean, Greek, Turkish, sushi, Thai, Irish, American, nouveau cuisine, Brazilian, seafood, Chinese, Korean, Caribbean, Lebanese, steak houses, Burmese, vegetarian, vegan, five-star, no star, breakfast buffets, bakeries...
-one in four people here is a student
-BOOKSTORES! Everywhere!!
-there are 100 year old churches, government buildings, museums, businesses, town squares, parks, brick sidewalks, tree-lined sidewalks...
I'm so excited. If I want to join a soccer team for people that have never played, I can. If I want to learn to tango, I can. If I want a free couch, I can find one. If I want to see a museum, I can. If I want to see art, I can. If I want live Irish music, I can find it. If I want to practice my Spanish, I can find others who want to do the same. If I want to volunteer with youth-- too easy.
Finding an apartment when all the students are coming back to school, however, is not easy. Up until now, I've been sleeping on my friend Tabby's (she was my roommate in India) living room couch. And as I continued to search for an apartment, week after week, I began to wonder whether I'd ever get to move out of her living room.
Searching for an apartment is like a long, nerve-racking series of blind dates. First you try to narrow your search as much as you can: no apartments with rent over $600 a month, must be close to transit, must be near schools. I looked at places where they just wanted another roommate, not a place just for me. Cheaper. After that there are things you hope for: cool people to live with, in a pretty area, a room with a window that lets in light and not a view of the next house 7 feet away.
Then you go visit some places and discover that "cozy" meant the room does not fit anything more than a bed, or that "quiet" meant no one talks to each other, or that low rent comes with utility bills through the roof. Sometimes the people you meet are just plain crazy, too.
Or you go and meet the people, see the room and the whole place, and love it and cross your fingers... and then within 24 hours you're shot down for someone else, and you have no idea how they made the decision. Makes for a lot of paranoia.
But I visited one place last Saturday and really connected with the people, and loved the whole house. They emailed me 4 days later to let me know I was in the "top two"-- which.... gives hope... but of course it's hope that can be shot down awfully fast, too.
Long story short, they offered me the room!! I'm moving in next week. Let me tell about how cool this place is:
-They are along the bike path on the Davis Square subway (T) stop. This means I get to walk on a nice path, surrounded by trees, well-lit at night, with no cars and a bunch of people walking their dogs whenever I need to get to the subway. It's just lovely.
-They like talking philosophy, and making art, and camping, and listening to music, and having potlucks with friends, and volunteering.
-My room is huge, and has windows that'll get the sunrise and overlook the street.
-They have plants all over the place.
-They have art all over the place.
-They have books all over the place.
-There's internet, of course.
-There's a porch!
-There's a stained glass window!
-AND there's a bakery down the street. And we all know how I love bakeries.
I'm going to take the girls I've been living with out for dinner Sunday night to say thanks for letting me sleep in their living room. Haven't decided on which one yet, but it's going to be delicious.
Mostly I just emailed to tell about finding a place to live, since I'm still buzzing with excitement and relief. More about Boston adventures to come. I'm going to be sub teaching again and then next month I'll start work with a company that helps prepare high schoolers to take the SAT. Allow me to just say: I'm surprised how well I knew some things in high school. Like math! I used to know math really well! It's been 7 years since I had a real math class, and I'm a little bewildered... Anyhow, I'm most definitely in "review" mode :) That should make some of you happy...
OK, seriously, I'm done now. So much love to everyone, and sorry if I couldn't be clearer with my plans while I was in Colorado. I shall be much more accessible now.
love,
Emily
I absolutely, positively, fervently, passionately, ardently love Boston. I was very worried for three very long, drawn out, stressful weeks that perhaps it did not love me back, but it would appear that it was just testing me.
To begin, I'm not technically IN Boston, I'm across the Charles River in Cambridge/Somerville. This does not mean I'm not still going to refer to the entire area as Boston, however; I just didn't want any confusion when my address is in Somerville, not "Boston." And since everything is very nicely tied together into one delicious package by a superb public transportation system of subway and busses, I might as well just refer to it all as one unit.
Here's what I came from: Parshall, Colorado. Beautiful, yes, but also:
-no internet within a half hour drive
-drama due to too few people to interact with
-one restaurant/bar
-no one my age
-no stores
-no cell phone service
-no nothing
Boston has the following:
-if you're standing in the STREET, there's probably a wireless connection
-if you're on the subway, UNDERGROUND, you have cell reception
-SO many people
-oh, about 150 colleges including Harvard, MIT, and Tufts within easy walking distance from where I live
-Bars: Irish, American, German, gay, swanky, hole in the walls, everything in between
-Restaurants: Indian, Italian, French, Ethiopian, Mediterranean, Greek, Turkish, sushi, Thai, Irish, American, nouveau cuisine, Brazilian, seafood, Chinese, Korean, Caribbean, Lebanese, steak houses, Burmese, vegetarian, vegan, five-star, no star, breakfast buffets, bakeries...
-one in four people here is a student
-BOOKSTORES! Everywhere!!
-there are 100 year old churches, government buildings, museums, businesses, town squares, parks, brick sidewalks, tree-lined sidewalks...
I'm so excited. If I want to join a soccer team for people that have never played, I can. If I want to learn to tango, I can. If I want a free couch, I can find one. If I want to see a museum, I can. If I want to see art, I can. If I want live Irish music, I can find it. If I want to practice my Spanish, I can find others who want to do the same. If I want to volunteer with youth-- too easy.
Finding an apartment when all the students are coming back to school, however, is not easy. Up until now, I've been sleeping on my friend Tabby's (she was my roommate in India) living room couch. And as I continued to search for an apartment, week after week, I began to wonder whether I'd ever get to move out of her living room.
Searching for an apartment is like a long, nerve-racking series of blind dates. First you try to narrow your search as much as you can: no apartments with rent over $600 a month, must be close to transit, must be near schools. I looked at places where they just wanted another roommate, not a place just for me. Cheaper. After that there are things you hope for: cool people to live with, in a pretty area, a room with a window that lets in light and not a view of the next house 7 feet away.
Then you go visit some places and discover that "cozy" meant the room does not fit anything more than a bed, or that "quiet" meant no one talks to each other, or that low rent comes with utility bills through the roof. Sometimes the people you meet are just plain crazy, too.
Or you go and meet the people, see the room and the whole place, and love it and cross your fingers... and then within 24 hours you're shot down for someone else, and you have no idea how they made the decision. Makes for a lot of paranoia.
But I visited one place last Saturday and really connected with the people, and loved the whole house. They emailed me 4 days later to let me know I was in the "top two"-- which.... gives hope... but of course it's hope that can be shot down awfully fast, too.
Long story short, they offered me the room!! I'm moving in next week. Let me tell about how cool this place is:
-They are along the bike path on the Davis Square subway (T) stop. This means I get to walk on a nice path, surrounded by trees, well-lit at night, with no cars and a bunch of people walking their dogs whenever I need to get to the subway. It's just lovely.
-They like talking philosophy, and making art, and camping, and listening to music, and having potlucks with friends, and volunteering.
-My room is huge, and has windows that'll get the sunrise and overlook the street.
-They have plants all over the place.
-They have art all over the place.
-They have books all over the place.
-There's internet, of course.
-There's a porch!
-There's a stained glass window!
-AND there's a bakery down the street. And we all know how I love bakeries.
I'm going to take the girls I've been living with out for dinner Sunday night to say thanks for letting me sleep in their living room. Haven't decided on which one yet, but it's going to be delicious.
Mostly I just emailed to tell about finding a place to live, since I'm still buzzing with excitement and relief. More about Boston adventures to come. I'm going to be sub teaching again and then next month I'll start work with a company that helps prepare high schoolers to take the SAT. Allow me to just say: I'm surprised how well I knew some things in high school. Like math! I used to know math really well! It's been 7 years since I had a real math class, and I'm a little bewildered... Anyhow, I'm most definitely in "review" mode :) That should make some of you happy...
OK, seriously, I'm done now. So much love to everyone, and sorry if I couldn't be clearer with my plans while I was in Colorado. I shall be much more accessible now.
love,
Emily