GREEN IN BOSTON

St. Patrick's Day was all that they say it is in Boston. Though they did not dye the Charles River green, Kristina and I still had plenty of festivities. Thursday on the actual day we started by heading to our friend Kellys aptartment (soon to be our May 1st!) and drinking guinesss at 2pm. We got Kelly all greened out and then headed downtown in beautiful weather- about 64 degrees! We had a blast with our irish coffee on the bus. Then we ended up the night meeting our friends Kris in our program and Kristina's boyfriend Luke.






Then Sunday the day of the parade, we started at our place in Waltham with about 10 friends with irish coffee at 10am. From there we drove to the T station- I did as I was the DD, and took the red line into Boston for the parade which was at the Broadway stop. We met our friends Connie and Lauren and staked out spot at the end of the parade on the sidewalk. Luke and I were charged with finding the Packy- which I learned is the name here for a liquor store. After a couple hours of cheering and beering, we had some quick Pizza down the street- which was literally madeness just trying to get anywhere. It was a warmer day, not 64, but not in the 30s like normal so we lucked out. Definitely the best St. Patty's day yet!

St. Patty's Day is coming!!

I am really excited to be in the best city in the US and maybe the world for Saint Patrick's day! Here is a glimpse of the parade on Broadway in south Boston Sunday the 20th.

http://www.southbostonparade.org/

3 Birthdays and One Long Week

This week was really long and good! I was at school every day this week for class, meetings, and seminars.
Monday we had a new professor for Monitoring and Evaluation, since it is a team taught class. Then Tuesday I was in Boston at BU all day which was great, then went for Seiyo Sushi in the South end to meet Kelly for her birthday. Kelly is Bree's roommate, and Bree and Kristina my roommate did Peace Corps Ethiopia together. So we have all gotten close and it was some good saki and sushi. Then Wednesday I worked on my food security aquaponics protein producing project for my final since Module (our 7 week course classes) are ending next week. I also met with a former Heller alum at the Education Development Center, and am hoping to have a summer internship with then, Then Thursday, I practically worked on HouseHold Economics all day- class in the morning, meetings in the afternoon and dividing up group work at night. I also managed to pick up a friend in the program from Niger, he was home visiting over break and stayed longer. Then Friday I worked 9-5 at the Office of Experiential Learning, where I have been working since October. It was great, I love my supervisor, she is about four years older than me and did her MA in nonprofit management at SIT (School for International Training- where I considered going in Vermont). We work really well together and are talking about continuing work this summer. Then Friday, Kristina nad I celebrated Rania from Egypt's birthday at her little apartment. We surprised her, and she fed us and gave us cake and Egyptian tea- all on her birthday! It was fun to talk about just laugh. I also discovered that most everyone in a couple there met their significant other at a conference of some type- so I guess I need to go to some conferences! Then Saturday from 10-4 we had a Pro-Seminar on Education and Gender with our Peruvian Professor. I have been trying to support this and push for it for a couple months now so it is exciting it is actually happening. I am really starting to see my community here too. Friends and colleagues with the same interests are in this weekend seminar with me (Binta, Julie, Shelley, Kristina, Mohammed). It is really great. So Saturday I drove with Julie into Somerville and we went to Macchu Picchu for our Peruvian friend Maribel's bday. It was great so many of our friends were there and the singer at the restaurant sang happy bday to her and we had Pisco Sour's and it was a fun night!