Liberty Trail

Boston was super fun. Did I mention that before?

A run down of my time there.

Friday - walked the city & saw Harvard & Fenway & Newbury and everything in between. Not advisable to do when wearing heeled boots. Everyone (except Margaret who came on Saturday) assembled at Alla's house. The gang: Me (Toronto - Canada), Matt (Toronto - Canada), Kerri (Ottawa - Canada), Eliot (originally Victoria, BC but now at Yale), Peder (originally Norway, but now in London, UK), Alla (originally from Russia/Kansas, but now at Harvard). Drinking ensued. Out for dinner (chowder consumed). Out for drinks at communist bar. Much drinks drunk. Many drunks drink. The next thing we know we are at a house party until 4am in which more drunks drink. Someone nearly falls down the stairs, someone dances all night, someone falls asleep on the bathroom floor, someone loses their jacket, someone goes missing for 1/2 hour, someone assumes that the missing person has been shot and nearly calls the police, someone meets a pyromaniac/newfie, and no one at the party seems to know who the hell we are. It was eventful. We all made it home in one piece. A typical Kenya night takes place in Boston.

Saturday - Alla & Eliot, being studious as they are, both depart early to go study for the day. The rest of us try to muster enough hung over energy to do something with our day. After a breakfast of crepes (some ate, some watched the eating), we dragged our dizzy heads over to the Boston Aquarium where we paid way too much money for a mediocre attraction. The best part was when we thought the seal was dead (not that we wanted the seal to be dead but it was kind of exciting). I think the aquarium made us all feel worse. It smelled funny and looking into the aquariums through that crazy thick glass made us all a little dizzy. And you can only make so many cracks about jumping in the tank to kill the manta ray before it gets old. So we head back to Alla's when Margaret arrived. We went to grab some food at a pizzeria (unfortunately we noticed after that they specialized in Chicago cuisine), where we caught up and I got the dish with the unfortunate name - Pork on a Stick. Who knew such cuisine existed? This is why it is important to travel the world kids - to experience such cultural marvels as Pork on a Stick. That night we head out for dinner again then boosted our energy with Red Bull & Big League Chew, we head to a bar and then another house party. Not as eventful unless you count when I knocked over a bunch of bottles and glasses. But nothing broke. Darn. That night we pow-wowed in Alla's room and were up late again. Taking unflattering photos and making fun of each other. I have to say, it was pleasantly shocking how quickly and easily we transitioned our friendships from Kenya to Boston, some of us not really seeing each other in up to 6 months, and here we were, having a great time again.

Sunday - Sad day as we head for brunch at a jazz bar and Peder left (Eliot had already gone that morning). Matt, Kerri, Margaret & I head to town (Alla went to school - I guess that's the life of a Harvard girl) and the girls shopped while Matt did Fenway. The day went by so quickly, Margaret & then Kerri left. Matt & I said bye to Alla over Boston pizza and sadly head to the airport. That's when we discovered that a flight was cancelled and that the systems were down so we were stuck in chaos. We decided to take advantage of the bad situation and enjoy one last Samuel Adams brew in the airport pub. Once things calmed down and we were issued handwritten tickets, we made it on the plane and head back to Toronto.

Man, I had a great weekend. I have to say I was feeling a little sad when I got back and on Monday. The weekend reminded me of the life I had back in Kenya. Seeing these friends brought it all back. Retelling the stories and looking at the photos together made it all real again and made me miss it again. But being able to see them again made me realize that although my experiences in Africa are connected to the place, little pieces of my great experiences and memories from Kenya are available to me through the people I became friends with.