One surprising aspect of my education has been that as I explore the the new heights of man's intellectual achievement, I have also traveled unsteadily into the low places. In the two weeks since I arrived in Boston, I have had several misadventures, a few of which I recount here for your enjoyment.
1) I went to my first day of work in the sort of dangerous high-heeled dress shoes to which I only submit my feet on such occasions. By the time the day was done, my feet were painful and bleeding, and I was anxious to head home at once. When I returned to the subway - called "the T" in Boston (for those who remember my travels in Washington, D.C., I must report that public transit here is somewhat inferior) - I found that the place where I had arrived only traveled one way! I returned to the surface to try and find a station that would go back to my new home in east Cambridge. I walked and walked around the square, bleeding heels staining my shoes red. At long last, I pulled off my shoes and socks and carried them, making quite a sight as I trudged up to a Boston University student and asked for directions barefoot.
2) The street where I live now, when walked at night, looks disturbingly like a cross between the "Shoeshine Girl" and Gotham City. It was probably a lovely neighborhood 60 years ago. We live across the street from an Italian Catholic Church with a historical marker where they had a wild festival with a marching band that brought the saints home at 10 p.m. last Sunday night. I dashed out to watch the parade in my pajamas.
3) My home is starting to look like a home, and we even have internet at last! (This is the explanation for my long delay in writing.) It is furnished primarily with pieces pulled by yours truly from the garbage as they waited for pick-up. Apparently this is such a transient area and transportation so difficult, that it is considered quite acceptable to find and reclaim a nightstand, a living room chair, a clothes rack, and a desk chair from the rubbish heap of others. Most of the pieces have obviously had long, full lives with at least two sets of owners previously, but I wipe them down with disinfectant wipes and hope for the best.
4) At my amazing cousin's (featured above) suggestion, I went to a grocery store located inside the underground tunnels of the subway. Although a true low point in the technical sense, I was thoroughly impressed with both the grocery options - everything from a florist to a very tempting bakery - and the idea of an underground grocery store.
5) I spent this weekend at a ward camp-out at a beautiful church-owned camp in New Hampshire. We woke up at 5:30 a.m. to go canoeing, did a triathalon, helped clear a trail for a service project (though the forests are so gentle here that further clearing was barely necessary), and - to my great amusement - helped pre-crack graham crackers and set them up on trays with chocolate, because the good sister in charge of snacks could not stand the thought of ward members making s'mores that might be messy. I was a little ashamed that after spending all week writing about the world's broader problems, I was spending my Saturday placing carefully cracked graham crackers in neat rows on a foil-lined tray, no less, but I got to eat all the rejected graham crackers.
I loved being in the forest. After just five minutes there I felt more myself than I have since arriving here, and I got my best night's sleep in New England on my little mattress in the cabin. I may be braving the city by necessity, but friends, I remain a country girl at heart!
1) I went to my first day of work in the sort of dangerous high-heeled dress shoes to which I only submit my feet on such occasions. By the time the day was done, my feet were painful and bleeding, and I was anxious to head home at once. When I returned to the subway - called "the T" in Boston (for those who remember my travels in Washington, D.C., I must report that public transit here is somewhat inferior) - I found that the place where I had arrived only traveled one way! I returned to the surface to try and find a station that would go back to my new home in east Cambridge. I walked and walked around the square, bleeding heels staining my shoes red. At long last, I pulled off my shoes and socks and carried them, making quite a sight as I trudged up to a Boston University student and asked for directions barefoot.
2) The street where I live now, when walked at night, looks disturbingly like a cross between the "Shoeshine Girl" and Gotham City. It was probably a lovely neighborhood 60 years ago. We live across the street from an Italian Catholic Church with a historical marker where they had a wild festival with a marching band that brought the saints home at 10 p.m. last Sunday night. I dashed out to watch the parade in my pajamas.
3) My home is starting to look like a home, and we even have internet at last! (This is the explanation for my long delay in writing.) It is furnished primarily with pieces pulled by yours truly from the garbage as they waited for pick-up. Apparently this is such a transient area and transportation so difficult, that it is considered quite acceptable to find and reclaim a nightstand, a living room chair, a clothes rack, and a desk chair from the rubbish heap of others. Most of the pieces have obviously had long, full lives with at least two sets of owners previously, but I wipe them down with disinfectant wipes and hope for the best.
4) At my amazing cousin's (featured above) suggestion, I went to a grocery store located inside the underground tunnels of the subway. Although a true low point in the technical sense, I was thoroughly impressed with both the grocery options - everything from a florist to a very tempting bakery - and the idea of an underground grocery store.
5) I spent this weekend at a ward camp-out at a beautiful church-owned camp in New Hampshire. We woke up at 5:30 a.m. to go canoeing, did a triathalon, helped clear a trail for a service project (though the forests are so gentle here that further clearing was barely necessary), and - to my great amusement - helped pre-crack graham crackers and set them up on trays with chocolate, because the good sister in charge of snacks could not stand the thought of ward members making s'mores that might be messy. I was a little ashamed that after spending all week writing about the world's broader problems, I was spending my Saturday placing carefully cracked graham crackers in neat rows on a foil-lined tray, no less, but I got to eat all the rejected graham crackers.
You can never have comfortable enough shoes
ReplyDeleteI hope your feet are healing. I would have volunteered on the chocolate! !
ReplyDeleteSounds like you've got quite a start to your adventure! Can't wait to hear more!
ReplyDeletePS. Pretty sure if we had a universal smores party the world's problems would be solved. ;)
My feet are nearly healed now, thanks! My roommates and I have plans to roast marshmellows over our gas stove for s'mores, because that is a mature use of our time...
ReplyDelete