Boston to Denver through the south 4/16-4/21

My friend from CA was moving back to home from Boston so I did a road trip with her. We drove from Boston to NYC to Spring Lake, NJ to Charleston, SC to Hilton Head, SC to Jacksonville, Florida to New Orleans, LA then up to Dallas and Amarillo, TX then to Denver through New Mexico!!

Here is the documentation.

Leaving Waltham 4:52 on Thursday the 16th of April with our Dunkin Donuts coffee in hand!



NYC and our family beach house in NJ and being on the boardwalk




Onto Charleston and Hilton Head, South Carolina- to the deep south!







We decided to hit the road and drive 6 hours to Jacksonville, Florida opposed to doing another 14 hour day that we did from NJ to SC. We stayed at a motel and saw gators in the pond there! From JVille we headed to the Chattahoochee river- do you know that country song?? So then after hanging in the river for a little in the tiny town, we headed straight to New Orleans, LA!!












From NO Kelly and I headed to Texas- we drove through the night and got into Dallas in the AM for a great mexican breakfast then headed to Amarillo and camped a night in the Palo Duro Canyon- "the grand canyon of Texas."







From Amarillo we headed to Denver- about a 7 hour drive and saw the first mountain and we were like what but we are in flat dry Texas, seriously the second we drive close to the mountain we see the Welcome to New Mexico sign! So Kelly dropped by off at the airport at 9:00pm for a 9:30 flight to SFO and I made home for a couple day visit! It was a great quick trip and I am glad i did it!

ROAD TRIP!!!

My friend Kelly is moving back to CA from Boston and I thought what a better time than during spring break to accompany her on a cross country road trip!!

We left on Thursday the 14th of April, I put my books down, grabbed some Dunkin Donuts for the road and we headed to NYC to meet up with Kelly's good friend who works at the oldest hony tonk bar called Rodeo at 27th and 3rd in midtown. From the city we headed to my family beach house in Spring Lake, New Jersey. It was great, we took a break from driving, biked along the boardwalk and enjoyed the beach. Then we headed south through Delaware to DC to Virginia and the Carolinas where it was getting real warm. We stayed a night in Charleston after driving about 14 hours from NJ. Spending the morning in Charleston was great- it is such a classic old town, I would definitely go back. On the way to Jacksonville- our stopping point headed to New Orleans, we had an amazing seafood dinner at Skull Boathouse in Hilton Head South Carolina. I was told HH is one of the most beautiful places in the US- it is really nice. We also stopped on the side of the road headed to Savannah for some Carolina Peach Cider (the state doesnt sell alcohol after 7pm on Sat. all the way until Monday- so we just got peach cider!). From Jacksonville we passed through Tallahassee to Chatahoochee, Florida and made sandwiches on the river and took a little dip to cool off.

We are now in New Orleans with Kelly's cousin who lives right by Tulane and we are excited to explore all day Monday the 18th- then off to Texas!!

Crazy Times in Grad School

Wow- things have been ramping up lately. 6 weeks of school left and group projects galore. But I also got to go out in groups a lot last week- mostly unplanned. Last week on Tuesday I went out to open mic night at the Gaff on our local Moody street and saw some good music just to get a break (okay yes and see a cute guy) and I dragged Kristina out with me. Then Weds Kristina and I made our friends Kelly and Bree come over for some good mexican food and Modelo. Thursday night Kristina and I ended up drinking alone (beer cider) even though we were supposed to meet out subleasers who seemed liked cool guys but stood us up at the Mad Raven. Then Friday night (April Fools Day) Luke, Kristina's Boyfriend came over for dinner and we changed Kristina's water out to be vodka when she wasnt looking, she took a huge gulp and APRIL FOOLS! She took it like a champ and then there was left over so we all finished it. Then Saturday night we had the Asian Cultural Night our colleagues from Asia in our program put on and then we went swing dancing at Brandeis' inagural ball on campus. So basically 5 nights of drinking even though I still had class and meetings and reading and work to do. It worked out okay and was actually a really good week!

Now one more week before my big ROAD TRIP ACROSS COUNTRY for spring break from April 14th to the 21st!!! WOOHOOOO

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!

The Cape

Kristina and I went down to the Cape Tuesday through Thursday morning and while poor Kristina woke up Wednesday morning, she was in a nice home being taken care of by my amazing cousin, on MJ's side, who is also such a nurturing mom! Lucky us, I was fine, but being fed and pampered even not being sick was amazing too. I spent the day with Halle, 7 almost 8, and Jo-Ellen touring around some docks, walking on the beach looking for seals (it was wicked windy), eating clam chowder and Fish tacos, shopping for cape cod jewelery and eating scallops- and watching movies with the girls! Loved it- thanks Jo! I am so coming back in the summer for some cute coast guard boys- per invitation by Jo!

Here I am with Halladay Rose! I left with her wanting to stow away in my car!! And here is poor old Molly in the background!

Providence People

Friday night, a bunch of people in my program celebrated the beginning of our winter break (most students are going to DC for meetings with organizations) so we finished the week with Karaoke at my place! Andressa, from the phillipines, brought her karaoke machine and we did a solid 4 hours of karaoke! Then Saturday I dropped my friend from Niger off at Logan so he could see his family and I took his car to Providence to meet Steph, a good friend from college who has spent Thanksgiving with my family, her preggers sister Deirdre and her momma at the Gillete Stadium in Foxboro, Mass where the baby momma was craving red robin's, so we had burgers at the lovely chain. Then I headed back to Providence where Steph's mom lives on the water to stay the night and prepare for the baby shower on Sunday at the old Spague New England Mansion to celebrate. Then after the shower I drove into Providence and met my supervisor/friend Audra at the Providence Place mall for some fun. It was a nice break from school not having to do any work and taking a fun weekend away. Driving home was fun too- I definitely got to the the 95 and 90 well....not by choice.