Saturday, November 28, 2015

Welcome to Bahston

That's Boston, by the way. I do know how to spell it correctly, but that's how people pronounce it here. Some of them, anyway. 

     So why am I in Boston, you ask? Well, it happened like this: my RAs forgot to assign me to a prayer group, so last week, I decided to swing by M.F.'s prayer group because she's the only prayer leader I actually know. She and our mutual friend S.M. were the only ones there. We talked for a while, and M.F. invited me to breakfast the next morning so she could have some company while she studied for her semi-final. 

     Upon eating breakfast with her the next day, the subject of Thanksgiving break came up. She had apparently forgotten that I wasn't going anywhere for Thanksgiving and invited me home. I'm honestly not sure why I said yes, because I had been planning to stay home all week and write my little heart out (and maybe do some homework like a responsible college student). Three other people had invited me home with them already, and I turned them down in favor of a blissful week of solitude, so ... I really don't know why I said yes. 

     A day later, I found myself in a small car with four other people, driving towards Boston in the middle of the night on a twelve-ish hour ride. We arrived at 6:30 a.m. and promptly went to sleep. 


  I won't give you a day-by-day update of what I did in Boston (not much besides writing my little heart out), but I did get to see the ocean for the first time. The Atlantic, I mean. I've seen the Adriatic in Italy, but that's more of a sea than an ocean, anyway. My fellow Texan friend A.R. and I fed the seagulls with a bag of rolls that the kind cornerstore lady gave her for free. The shoreline was cold, rocky, and rugged, and the ocean was big and blue. Pretty much what I expected. I got some cool pictures, though! :D

     On Wednesday, M.F. and I went into Boston after she got off work. We didn't really have any plans other than finding Quincy Market. The building was built in 1826, apparently, and it's like a mini strip mall, except indoors and really cramped. It's basically a long hallway with a menagerie of food vendors lining each side. M.F. tried to talk me into getting clam chowder, but I migrated first towards the Italian pizza. Then the TexMex. Then the barbecue. (Don't worry, I didn't actually eat at all of these places, just browsed.) And then I saw the USDA Organic symbol and sprinted (figuratively) over to the organic salad vendor. It was a lovely salad, and I got a pomegranate Honest Tea, as well (also organic). *the "Hallelujah chorus" plays*

     After eating, we wandered around the shops and down to the wharf / pier / dock / whatever. A full moon was rising over the water, so we watched it rise and then went to the aquarium ... which was, sadly, closed, but I still got a keychain from the gift shop and almost bought a stuffed seal, too :D 

 
Surprisingly good. Who knew. 
   Then we just ambled around, looking at whatever struck our fancy. Upon returning to our original starting point, we ate dinner at a local shawarma restaurant
—aptly named Boston Shawarma. I'm still not 100% sure what shawarma is; I just wanted some because there's a famous Marvel Easter Egg scene in The Avengers where the group sits in a shawarma restaurant after saving New York from an alien invasion. That's the only reason I wanted to try it. It was good, whatever it was. It was basically a toasted wrap with chicken, lettuce, tomato, and some kind of sauce. We also got baklava, which was a nutty, buttery pastry. 

     M.F. and I returned to the train station and went home. I didn't buy anything except the keychain, but she got a hipster watch at Urban Outfitters. 

     What else did we do? Hmm. We had Thanksgiving lunch the next day and watched some Doctor Who. We may or may not be going into town today for a picnic at the beach (if we do, I'll be sure to update with pictures). Tonight we're headed home, and then ... the dreaded finals week begins soon. I don't think they'll be that bad, though. I have plenty of time to study :3 

     So that's been my week in Bahston. Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving! Go forth and don't do stupid things, lovely people. Ciao! 

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