I’m currently on a week long self-decided break from SURF (Adam is really lenient about when we work as long as let him know), and it’s split between Boston and New York City. To keep things more organized, for this post, I’ll just rehash what all went on in Boston.
I chose this week to take off because 1) my visa appointment in Boston was scheduled for June 28 and 2) Claire wanted to me and Kristiana to visit for the Fourth. So first up, I got the business out of the way with the visa!
Before I went to my appointment, I had time to kill, so I went to the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. I thought it was a really nice museum and totally worth it. Besides seeing the galleries they had an offsite gallery across the water (....Boston Harbor I believe???) so I also got a boat ride! They had this six screen video “experience” in that gallery to do with climate change. If I’m being honest, I got a bit bored, but there were couches so I chilled there for like an hour. In the actual museum, they had an exhibit of maximalism which I really enjoyed. From what I gather, maximalism is the opposite of minimalism and thus is interested in maximizing the interactions between patterns, colors, objects, etc. It’s very decorative, so I think that’s my sort of aesthetic. Another piece I liked was a room where they had several life size screens with people collectively together but in separate locations and separate screens if that makes sense.
I think my visa appointment went as smoothly as it could have. The visa officer was an interesting character. A bit unpredictable, but I liked him because we talked about stickers and he said he liked smelly stickers. Fingers crossed that the application goes through!!
After that, I took the T to meet Hannah. Three of my friends graciously welcomed me into their homes for the next three nights, so I’ll say a bit about each.
Hannah
At Hannah’s house we got dinner at an Indian place and frozen yogurt and caught (catched??) up. She lives in Lexington where there were the alleged first shots of the Revolution, so we also saw some of those monuments. One statue in particular had a quite interesting choice in lighting. Afterwards, we watched the latest Spider Man movie! The next day we walked around Newbury street and then I was off.
Priya
Next up was Priya’s home in Cambridge! We walked around Harvard and MIT campuses and took refuge from this pretty sudden downpour in THE only Curious George store in the world. Once the rain calmed down, we ventured on and had dinner in this student centerish cafe at MIT. The end of the day, we watched Ratatouille (2007) and some of the unfinished, deleted scenes. This was in celebration of the 12th anniversary of this cinematic masterpiece. I hope everyone else had a nice Ratatouille Day! Priya is also a huge fan of the movie, so it was very fitting.
Erin
As for the final stop on my tour of B Town, I visited the stomping grounds of our one and only Erin! As Erin very eloquently recounted the day in her latest post, I will avoid repetition and direct you there. From her mom's cantaloupe to her dad's zebrafish and the BTS poster in between, Erin's home was just what I expected it would be.
Despite the rain, we definitely made the most of our time together, and it was nice just talking and playing 20 questions. One day I’ll make it those swan boats (and the carousel)!
I’m so grateful that I was able to visit some of my friends before departing for what will be a while. Everyone’s families were so nice!! Also everyone had very interesting room and I liked looking at the decorations and bits and trinkets around :-) I feel like I took a lot of those types of things and set them up at Smith because my family was already in the process of moving, so it’s interesting to see the accumulations of other people that show their history and growth.
I’m already in New York by now, but I’ll save that for next time!
@ erin: I know! it was small but really well done! thx for being a hostess with the mostest
@emma: yeah, we were only in the store for a bit, but it is pretty interesting that it's the only one!
@naoni: omg why would you add that 😒 now that's officially on the internet for everyone to see so DISCLAIMER: i do NOT condone or participate in this libel and slander
You sounded like you had so much fun! It’s cool to see your friends in their “natural environment” and how they interact with their family. The maximalist thing seems like your style for sure (And I guess Adam is lenient about a lot of things... Including washing hands after using the restroom)
The maximalism exhibit sounds so cool and so does the curious george store. Can't believe it's the only one in the world but I guess that makes it all the more special
I think I know the ICA exhibit with the screens you're talking about!! My sister and I were talking about it recently bc we saw it last time we went! Such a cool museum :^) And I'm glad you had a fun time in Boston and got to see so many different perspectives on the city/different areas, hope New York is just as fun!