Day 3 - I already dislike this... the blog, not the city

So here is the story. I just wrote about a page and a half on this thing, and it was suddenly all gone. It only took me an hour, so why getting upset about it. But I do get the message, it only tells me that I was writing too much. So I will make life easier and shorten it (after my first reaction of “I don’t care I am not writing it anymore”).

Your first thought looking at this blog (assuming i) you actually looked at it and ii) you actually thought about it for more than a few seconds) might have been, “why the hell is she starting it at day 3”. Well, the thing is I was “told” to write this blog because I was away and “everyone has a blog when they are away, so you are supposed to”. Therefore I decided to start reflecting my away days, in my new home, away from home. (I could have said something simpler as “Sara in Boston”, but truth be said, is it really going to be my last home away from home…)

And you might wonder (again, assumptions) why I have not written before, if I already became that arrogant #%* from Harvard who does not have time for friends anymore? That is not the case (yet). In my list of priorities, having a bed to sleep and a house where I don’t have to walk in circles (to avoid boxes and open luggage) does come first. Sorry for those of you who thought I was going to continue to give up on sleep (one day I had to stop right?). So we (Mum came along to help out and laugh with me through the first days) unpacked, unboxed, and most of all, assembled furniture the best we could (anyone in need of spare screws for IKEA beds or shelves do email me at any time). And because God also rested on the 7th day, we did so on the 3rd. After all he is God so he needs to do extra time. Today was tourism day (and apparently blogging day)

Getting inspiration from the email Joana sent from Caracas recently, I dare replicate the idea and give you my first thoughts and impressions in points, being a banker (or in her case a consultant) one more time:

1. Everything here comes in super size. By super size I don’t mean family size (as we would see in Portugal). I mean super as in double family portions. Luckily enough the fridges come in matching sizes so we all get along very well. If you are not sure about what I mean, napkins come in packages of 500, unless you buy those super-fancy-and-expensive decorative or party ones (which we did). Also, filters for the coffee machine also come in 200 packages (here we went for a buy) which reveals itself helpful, specially when you find out that the machine did not need them after all…

2. Boston is the place to walk. It’s flat and the landscape really makes it enjoyable. Everything seems super close. Harvard Square is 15 minutes away, supermarkets 10 minutes, life seems good. Well, at least when you are on your way … there. This reality does not apply on your way back. For now I see two options i) Cab it or ii) Buy a trolley to do the shopping. Number is taking the lead but number two is looking more and more appealing

3. For those thinking I just took 2 years of vacation, here is one. As I go to pick up the “initial” course materials, I realize once again that the concept of distance here is very relative. The building was just next door as I looked for it, but definitely a couple of blocks away as I came back with two full bags (again, super size ones). One with 5 huge packs of case studies for the semester and another one with humungous (it was the best word I could think of right now) of text books ranging from cost accounting to finance to something saying “how to get unstuck”. (Not sure on what this last one may be about…)

4. Today I started checking whether people really meant it when they said Boston was a lovely city or if they were just trying to make me feel better about coming here. For now, it looks like number one applies. A river in a city always gives it a special enchantment, and the Charles River really does it for Boston. We did not make it to the Duck Tour (sold out for two days) or the Old Trolley Tour (not until tomorrow) but my obsession for the DK guide generally does pay off so we covered a full district (4 to go, as per the guide) including two churches, one library and a river walk (description to come when the camera shares the pictures with the laptop).

5. Hot topic in the city: mattresses. I know you are wondering (this one I am not assuming, if you made it this far, you must be wondering on this one). Oh well, I will take you out of your misery. You see mattresses everywhere, being carried in or out, being bought or sold, carried by hand or on top of a car (and often more than one). It is THE thing, I must say. They face fierce competition from shopping bags from “Bed, Bath and Beyond” but pole position should not be lost until next week!!

6. Last but not least, and with this one I give you a free gift on things to use against me one day but I had to say it. It does not seem like they use ceiling lamps here, they use sprinklers instead. That may explain why it took me so long to realize what kind of lamps I needed to buy for this weird lamps…

Writing so much, and for the second time, I leave you with this, time to grab the first book since I came here (other than the guide), let’s see how I do on that one…