Beautiful Boston

I spent this past weekend in Boston visiting Meesh. I hadn't seen her in 2 months, so it was kind of a big deal. I took the Acela train up, and oh man, I kind of felt like I was back in Europe again. Why can't all trains in America be that smooth and quiet and nice? But actually, the only reason I took the Acela was because at rush hour, they're about the same price as Regional Rail- pretty sweet.

So you know it's a Micheliz weekend when there is absolutely no plan whatsoever after the point of arrival and it turns out to be a fantastic weekend filled with cool and unique events.
After about 35 seconds in the city, I kind of started feeling like Boston is a city made up entirely of students. The majority of people, everywhere we went, were students. And that's not really an exagerration. Hoards and hoards of students. And it's also interesting because you can definitely pick out a Tufts student versus a Harvard student versus an MIT student versus a BC student. It's really quite remarkable. And entertaining. So we're on the trolley going back to her place after dinner at Cactus Club (like Mad4 but smaller margaritas), and all of a sudden I look over and see this guy I knew from Penn- to which michelle responds, "You would just randomly run into someone you know in my city, wouldn't you??" Some things never change.

Now, I had been to Boston when looking at colleges 6 years ago, but I really didn't remember much of anything about the city. Let me tell you- it's one beautiful place. Seriously. I mean, it's a little like Philly in some ways, but just... nicer... and more lovely. The people are so... normal, for lack of a better word. Nothing like New York or Philly. The Charles River is kind of like the Schuylkill, in that it divides the city in half, but really not at all, because it's quite pretty and people sail on it. And the water is actually blue.
And I mean, where else would we randomly happen upon an ACappella festival in the middle of town? Nowhere but Boston. It actually turned out to be pretty cool, and we heard some decent music. Harvard's Low Keys were the highlight of our random sampling throughout the afternoon. And another thing- there were seriously more red heads (and we're talking bright, hearty red) than I've seen in one place in my entire life. Yay Irish.
Oh, and since Meesh and I tend to judge a city by its parks, I have to put in my two cents about Boston Commons and Public Gardens. I don't think I've seen a park quite like it in an American city. Seriously. Just lovely. That's really the best word I have to describe the entire city- lovely.
Fast forward to a little jaunt through Harvard's campus. At which point I decided most definitely that I'm going to seek out a joint degree at Harvard Business School and Harvard School of Public Health. Combining what I'm most passionate about with the prospect of living 2 T stops away from my best friend? Sounds like a plan to me. Never mind that I haven't experienced February in Boston nor that you can't do a joint degree between those schools, as HSPH requires another graduate degree as a prerequisite for entry... But I mean, hey, details...
We had tea (of course) at a completely PI (pseudo-intellectual) place called Algiers, in Harvard Square, and ate some rockin Thai food, also in Harvard Square.

Saturday night was a house party at one of the second year bio student's houses- so I basically got to meet all of Michelle's friends all at once. In a social setting. With beer. And not just any beer- this was a Magic Hat keg. Sweet. It was such a riot to finally put faces to so many names I had been hearing for the past 2 months. And it was also kind of crazy how different a social scene it was from anything we'd ever experienced at Penn. As in, Michelle and I were the only 2 dancing. Oh, and then we were joined by the only other two Penn grads who were at the party. Love it.
I also got to see Mitch, which was pretty sweet, and he Meesh and I had brunch on Sunday- maybe the biggest brunch I've ever eaten in my entire life. It was so good. I love Boston.
Finally, I helped Meesh decorate her room, since in her 2 months there she hasn't gotten very far with her walls. Just needed a little help and encouragement from her half to spend some money on wall art and then to do the actual hanging of anything requiring a hammer and nails. How do we survive without each other??

I made it to the Fung Wah bus with approximately 38 seconds to spare- another typical Micheliz moment. And then I got to enjoy the pleasurable 5 hour bus ride back to NYC. And by pleasurable I mean unbelievably painfully slow and frustrating. It's pretty awesome that Meesh will be there for, ohhhhh, at least 5 years, because I'm pretty sure I'm going to be visiting Boston a whole lot more.

Pictures will be posted once Meesh figure out how to upload pics on her new iBook... so it could be awhile :)