freedom trails and pretzels

{August 2014}

This may sound strange, but before I ever went to D.C., I just knew deep down that I would love the East.  That gut feeling was only reinforced during my visit to Massachusetts.  

Emma and Whitney greeted me at the airport, and we were immediately dropped off in the center of the city.  After a sandwich that was too spicy for me to eat, we explored the city.  I was enamored by the parks, architecture, and historic sites.  Once we had enough of walking, we took the train back out to Emma's house and had a lovely salmon dinner on her patio with her family.  And then, sweet sweet Emma knew that I needed ice cream, so we went to a lovely place in her neighborhood where I had a pretzel cone.  Yeah.  Pretzel.  Cone.  Yum.

The next day was just as wonderful.  My morning started off with waffles made by Emma's sister (which she made for us every morning) and meeting with a professor at Harvard.  I was a tad nervous, but he was really nice and it was helpful.  I also fell in love with the HBS campus and tried really hard to not let my day-dreams get ahead of me.  After the HBS visit, we made up some sandwiches and went to Manchester by the Sea.  Whitney dunked me in the ocean.  It was really cold.  And I got mad at her.

After some good swimming, reading, and napping, we went to some place for tasty, greasy fish and chips.  And then Emma, once again, took me to a wonderful ice cream place on a cute little farm.  Chocolate truffle ice cream, mmmmmmmmm.

The next day was rainy, so we headed to the BFA.  (Whitney gave me a time limit to ensure that we didn't spend all day there.)  After...maybe just 2 hours in the museum, we got super dark hot chocolate and began walking along the Freedom Trail.  I inherited your love for rain, so I enjoyed every minute.  After hours of walking, we finished our day by eating at this Italian restaurant that is owned by the mob.  And then got cannoli from a bakery that is owned by the same mob....

Our final day was jam-packed.  In the morning we went to Concord to the site for the Shot Heard 'Round the World.  {I fell in love with Concord and want to move there and live there in a perpetual autumn.}  I met with Adam MacIntosh's sister at Harvard, where she recommended that I speak with the PhD Admissions office.  The woman I needed to speak to was busy, so we made our way over to MIT.  However, after I finished meeting with the MIT professor, I got a call back from Harvard saying that Karla was available to meet in 15 minutes.  So, I sprinted to the train, hopped on the train, and sprinted from the stop to HBS.  I think I was somewhat still presentable even though I was sweating, and it was really good to meet with her.

After that, I met up with Whitney and Emma downtown and we explored a little more before heading to a Red Sox game.  {My first-ever baseball game....oh wait, that's a lie.  I went to a Nats game.}  We got hot dogs and pretzels, but we refused to pay for the over-priced drinks, so instead we suffered in thirst through the game.  But it was still great.  And a great way to say goodbye to Boston.

the hunt for one French baguette.

So, you'd think it would pretty easy to find a baguette in Paris.  I mean, it's Paris . . . right?  A bakery on every corner, at least.

Well, go to Paris in August, on a Catholic holiday, and you'd be wrong.  Thursday morning Bethany and I set out for the day, planning on picking a fresh baguette on the way for breakfast.  But, we made it all the way to the d'Orsay without any luck . . . so we ate a few cookies and hurried into the line-less museum and rushed up to the impressionist section before it got too crowded.  

After four or so lovely hours, we decided we would fall over if we didn't have lunch soon, so we reluctantly left.  Again, searching for a baguette to no avail, we ended up getting salad at an open-air cafe (so not a shabby alternative).  We decided to give up on the baguette, and instead search for some ice cream while we wandered for the afternoon.

Turns out it was just as difficult to find ice cream as it was a baguette.  Every once in a while we'd see someone with a cone, so we thought we were close . . . but it was still a beautiful afternoon.

We finally made it to our evening destination.  We were planning on going to mass at Notre Dame, and came to find that it was the 850th anniversary of the cathedral.  So we were able to see a big event as well.

After mass, we met up with some friends (who were able to lead us to ice cream . . . . and we walked past 5 other ice cream shops along the way).  We walked along the Seine as the sun set, chatted, laughed.  I mentioned that I wanted to have a chocolate crepe before I left France . . . and so another hunt ensued.  Two hours and a few kilometers later, we realized that chocolate crepes no longer exist in France--only Nutella.  So we got waffles and sugar crepes instead and stared at the perfect view of the Eiffel Tower.  So . . . pretty much the perfect way to say goodbye to France.

We realized that it was going to be a bit more difficult to get to the airport . . . and even though we paid quite a bit to take a taxi to the airport, it was well worth it.  Maybe we shouldn't have taken a taxi though and just stayed in Paris instead.

I would have been just fine with that.

the rains in Africa

Oh my. This last week in Gulu was an absolute adventure.  From beginning to end.  

It started at 6:30 a.m. on Monday morning as we made our way to the bus.  We got on a mutatu and just rode. None of us were really sure exactly where we should get off, but luckily people in the mutatu were willing to help.  We finally made it to some obscure bus stop and waited on the bus for two hours before it left.  (Skye asked when we would arrive in Gulu, and the driver said, "Sometime between 2:00 and 7:30.")  As the bus went along, we would make stops in small villages and they would try to sell us things through the window.  One man on the bus purchased two live chickens.  

So yeah, that happened.  It was a beautiful drive though.  I had every intention to work on some reading assignments on the drive but . . . let's be honest, when does that ever happen when combining me and scenery?

We finally made it into Gulu around 4:30, went right to our hotel and started doing interviews with LRA abductees.  Fascinating.  We then found a lovely American cafe and had pizza and passion juice for dinner by lantern light.  (We may or may not have eaten there every night....sometimes for lunch too.)  Great atmosphere, good people, fun conversation, etc.

AND, fell asleep to a rainstorm.  Every night.  It was lovely.  Every day was spent working on research projects all day. (Which included riding on bodas to get from place to place--so much fun.)  And then at night we would go to the restaurant and eat and talk.  One afternoon, though, we got to take a little field trip to the bush.  Dream come true?  Oh yeah.

Along the way, we stopped to look at Kony's church when he was a boy (oh also--we interviewed one of Kony's top commanders) and heard drums . . . went running to find children dancing.  I joined them and looked like a fool, but it was so much fun.

On the 4th, we focused our food efforts on being as American as possible.  (It was the only thing we could do to celebrate.)  So I got a burger and Coke.

We finished our week on Friday with breakfast at the cafe (amazing pancakes and French toast, I was shocked).  After wrapping up everything for research, made the long drive back home.  Which included driving over the Nile and through a baboon sanctuary.  And past a sunflower field.  Pretty neat.

I'll admit, it was a bit hard to come back to the crazy streets of Kampala.