i have been...

Last weekend I was in Iowa.

This weekend I am in Boston.

At some point—hopefully soon—I will post about my adventures, probably in secret post-dated blogs. 

(But don't worry, I will let you in on the secret.)

boston day 2: beach style

Today we went to the beach. We got lost on the way up—classic—so we went to Rockport instead of wherever the other beach was we were going to go to. It was definitely rocky, but that made everything more fun! The beach we found was just little and we had an amazing picnic lunch then went for a hike on the rocks.

Jen lead the way and the rest of us followed.

Though Stephanie often took her own path.

In the end we reached the point of the rocks and were proud of our triumph!
(PS the girl in the middle between Carter and Jen is Jen's amazing roommate Jane.)

All over the rocks on the beach was this crazy green seaweed type stuff. I thought it made a great beard.

The tower in the background is where we climbed to. Once we got up there we read a sign saying that it was private property and we were to return back to the beach. Really, friends? Lame. But lucky for the owners it was late and we had to head home. So we left.

boston day 1: freedom!

Word on the street is that Stephanie had never been to Boston. What? So Carter and I (and Jen's tour book that I grabbed from her shelf on our way out the door) acted as her guides to the city as we explored it, tourist style.

This is the Harvard library named after Harry Elkins Widener, a Harvard graduate who died on the Titanic, supposedly for being unable to swim 50 yards to a lifeboat. His mother donated the money to the school to build the library in his name with the stipulation that all Harvard graduates prove their ability to swim 50 yards. Here we are holding our breath in hopes that the lifeboat will make it to us in time to save us.

The whispering arch on Harvard campus. It reminded me of the Incan temple where you could whisper into the wind and someone across the way could hear you.

Later we ran into James Dean...

and pretended we were statues at the Tanner Fountain on Harvard Campus. Obert Tanner was not only one of our ancestors but also the founder of the company my dad works for. Fun fact!

After that Carter somehow became imprisoned...

...and I was almost eaten by the Lampoon Castle.

Then we found our way to freedom by following the red bricked Freedom Trail!

Stephanie and Carter headed off with confidence, aided by the melodious sounds of a Mennonite choir.

My route was slightly more tenuous as my bag made it hard to keep my balance.

Soon we met up with John Adams and wondered at his resemblance of The Penguin from Batman.

We also participated in a poorly attended town meeting at Faneuil Hall. Stephanie had a lot of opinions.

I just took notes.

On our way back to Jen's apartment in Cambridge we spied the most incredible old man ever on the T!

Once at home Carter impressed Stephanie with his amazing new suit that he bought last week to attend his friend's wedding dinner today up in Georgetown, MA.

While Carter was at the dinner Steph and I, now reunited with Jen, sat upon our upturned umbrellas and ate amazing pastries from Mike's Pastry in the North End.

Jen got a slice of heavenly German chocolate cake.

Stephanie got an amazing fruit tart.

And I got a scrumptious apple...thing. An amazing end to an amazing day.

kayaking

(xkcd.com)

Jen and I went kayaking yesterday on the Charles River. A two-person kayak is the perfect excuse to go outside on a beautiful day and have a serious, in depth conversation with someone who can't escape you. It also makes you feel really strong because you managed to row it all around the river and avoid all the MIT sailboats with varying degrees of ease. If I lived in Boston I would two-person kayak every weekend. The only catch would be tricking Jen into being my permanent kayaking buddy.

JEN!

Today is the birthday of the beloved Jen Porter. I am up here in Boston visiting the lovely girl and could not be happier! In typical Jen fashion she has a plethora of activities planned for us this weekend, including (but not limited to) parties both Friday and Saturday to celebrate friends graduations, an art gallery tour, canoeing, and eating out at fabulous (most likely vegetarian) restaurants. I don't know how she plans it all while working 13 hour days. She is truly an inspiration to us all.

At this moment I am sitting alone in her kitchen, sipping water and taking care of some loose ends via the internet. I know that Jen will scold me if I don't leave the house until she gets back from work, but I myself have been working so much recently that it's a treat just to be able to sit and read and think and figure out how much money I actually do have in the bank and where the rest of it has gone.

I've always felt at home in Jen's apartment, probably because I slept here before any of her roommates did and before they had a kitchen table or bookcases or even a shower curtain. That was back in August, though I've been here once since then, in February, to interview at the North Bennet Street School. (To which I got accepted, PS, though I turned it down so that I can go to the University of Iowa instead and get my master's in Library and Information Science and the Book Arts.) As I surfaced after riding the T (Boston subway) to the Central Square stop and I walked down the bricked sidewalks, pulling my lime green roller bag behind me, I felt as if I was walking the streets of a place I used to live. Everything was familiar to me, from the graffiti art ally way by the food co-op to the rows of houses lining the streets, I felt as if this was a place that I had once belonged. Even ringing the doorbell felt strange: I should be able to walk right in! Boston will always be a city that is near and dear to me, even if I haven't actually ever permanently resided here.

I am so lucky to be able to take the time to come up here and visit with Jen for her birthday. Boston is a beautiful city and Jen is a beautiful person; she is one of my nearest and dearest friends. She always believes in me and give me the confidence to do whatever it is that I want to do. I love to talk about books and ideas with her, life plans and future dreams. I am a better person and friend when I try to be more like Jen: I am truly blessed to have met her our freshman year of college, a time that seems both so recent and so long ago. (Can five years really slip by so fast?) We have done so much together since that time. We've traversed the country (California, St. George, Boston) and then some (Mexico). She's helped me plan splendid parties and made me amazingly delicious birthday cakes. We've hiked, we've gone cross country skiing, we've gone down hill skiing. We've graduated from college together. I've been to her house for Easter. She taught me how to drive stick the night before we drove from California back to Utah in Zelda, her amazing little car. In so many ways I am a better person because I have known Jen Porter.

So, Jen, old British man that you are, I salute you on this, your day of days, your birthday!

boston's costin'

This weekend I went up to Boston for an interview at the North Bennet Street School and also visited my favorite Bostonian, Jen Porter! My interview was at 11 am on Friday, so I took the MegaBus from New York up to Boston Thursday night, then took the T (the Boston subway) to Jen's apartment. I've only been to her home once before, in August, as a stop on the epic Cassi and Jace roadtrip. She had literally just moved in and Jace and I helped her move the last of her things from her old house to her new place. The three of us slept there before either of her other roommates did. This time both the roommates were there, plus furniture and food. Very strange. I got to sleep on a blow up mattress instead of the floor and the shower had an actual shower curtain! It was like a whole new world.

Friday I went to my interview and while I was slightly concerned about getting lost and being late (because I am often both of those things) I ended up arriving 5 minutes early. Miraculous! I interviewed with Bob Delaney who is the nicest guy. He was a few minutes late for the interview because he was out buying pizza for the jewelery department so as an apology he brought me down a delicious slice of veggie pizza while I was talking to Jeff Altepeter, the head of and main instructor in the bookbinding department. What a man! Besides talking with Jeff, who was super helpful and answered all my many questions, I talked to almost all the first year students who are currently enrolled and got to see and learn about the projects that they've done so far and projects they're currently working on. I. Am. In. Love. Each student gets their own workbench where they can store all of their tools and materials and projects and it is amazing! The classes are small—each year only has 8 students total—and I got a real feeling of comradery when I was there. It was clear that they all loved what they were doing and got along with each other and Jeff, their instructor. I ended up spending about 2 and 1/2 hours at the school, just chatting with people and asking questions. If I get accepted into this program it would complete me.

the future

In two weeks and two days I will be home. 2 weeks and 2 days. 2 and 2. 22. Just like how old I am. Coincidence? I think not. While I know that I will be sad later, just like when I realized I was graduating, right now I am very anxious to just get the ball rolling with the rest of my life. Being here in Ecuador has been a really cool and enlightening experience and I am very very glad that I came, but sometimes I feel like I am just treading water while the rest of my life is on pause and waiting in the wings. Wow, talk about a mixed metaphor.

But really. For the first time in my life it seems that I have a real goal and I am excited to work towards it. And by work I really mean work because it is going to be really expensive to live in Boston and go to this bookbinding school, but I am so SO excited about it I can't even say. I figured out the financial logistics today and I'm going to have to make between $1500 and $2000 a month from December to August if I want to be able to pay for housing and just a third of tuition for the first year. I think I can do it. And by I think I mean I will because it will be so so so cool. And bookbinding completes me. That is all.

because yellow fever is good for no one

This morning I left Boston at 5:30 am. That's right, 5:30 AM. Why so early you ask? Because I needed to get back to NJ in time for an 11 am appointment to have needles stuck in my arm. It was great fun. Actually, it wasn't bad at all. I needed to get vaccinated against Yellow Fever and Typhoid for my up coming Ecuador trip. The Typhoid shot hurt because it went into the muscle but the Yellow Fever one just stung a lot. But I tell you what, both of those are nothing compared to what would happen if I actually contracted either of the two diseases. You know, lots of pain and possibly death. Yay for modern science! Think about it: vaccinations are shots OF THE DISEASE! And they keep us from GETTING the disease! We live in the future.

boston boston, bo-boston, banana-fanna, fo-foston, mi-my-mo-moston...boston!

Today and yesterday we were in Boston! With Jen! What could be better?! I'll tell you what: nothing. Jen is one of my most favorite people in the whole world and I have now decided that Boston is one of my favorite places. The plan is to move up there at some point in the next year. That's right: Portland is out and Boston is in!

When Jace and I arrived Saturday night we met Jen at her new apartment (which I am in love with) then went out to eat at a phenomenal vegetarian restaurant called Veggie Planet. That's right, I ate at a vegetarian restaurant and not only did I not complain about it, I LOVED it. If I continue to hang out with the Jace Face and move up and live with Jen I think I will become vegetarian through the shear force of peer pressure. Also I have developed a new-found love for vegetables. And not just the normal ones like broccoli and carrots, but eggplant, zucchini, and water chestnuts. Yum! 

After dinner we went to J. P. Licks where Jen, Jace, and I ordered peanut butter and chocolate chip cookie hard yogurt, oreo cake batter ice cream, and pistachio ice cream respectively. We ate it at the window bar where we had a lovely view of a young couple sitting at a table outside the shop where the boy would not stop touching the girl: hugging, kissing, rubbing her back, playing with her hair... Really, man? She's trying to eat. And so are we. My favorite part of the whole thing was when her parents, whom they had apparently been waiting for, showed up. Very classy.

Today I went to church with the Jen and, in contrast to camp where I felt really old, I suddenly felt like a baby: the average age of the singles ward is 28 and Jen, at 22, is the youngest one in the ward. It was pretty good: you could tell that the members who were there were all pretty smart, and not just because they are doing things like getting Ph. D's at Harvard. (Though several of them are.) The last hour was a combined meeting where we talked about what else other than dating and marriage? Makes me sick. To quote Jen, "If we talked about it less it would happen more." Here here. I just went to my happy place and tried not to let the talk of how being single makes us feel like we are less complete human beings and all that nonsense bother me. It helped to have Jen there because we could help each other out. She's the best.

After church we met up with the Jace who had been exploring the city all morning and went on a parknic (translation: picnic in a park) at Boston Commons. We ate cucumber and sharp cheddar pita sandwiches and strawberries with Nutella. It was the best meal. Then we went wading in the Frog Pond where Jace tried several times (unsuccessfully) to flip me in, then we took a nap. Seriously, probably my favorite day of the whole trip. Also, walking back to the T (Bostonian for subway/metro) we found a cell phone on a bench that was ringing. So we answered it. It was John. I said, "Hello, John. We just found this cell phone on a bench in Boston Commons by the Tadpole Playground." He said it was his friend's and he'd probably be looking for it so we said we'd leave it on the bench where we found it so he could tell his friend where to find it. It was a disposable cell phone which, PS, I didn't even know existed, and it was slightly sketchy. I hope its owner found it. Unless he was a drug dealer. In which case I kinda hope he didn't.

For dinner Jace made us AMAZING stir fry that we ate on a rug since Jen does not yet have a table in her home (a rugnic, if you will). Also, I just realized that when I'm with Jen I talk about food a lot. It is because she knows a lot about it. Also, when I'm with her I always eat delicious food. She is good for my health in so many ways! Except for the cookies... After dinner we made chocolate chip/snickers cookies that were huge and tasty and then we went into sugar shock and fell asleep. Well, more or less.

Also, the vest was there.