Mass-ive Adventure: Day 2

Friday morning I felt slightly like I had been hit by a tow truck. My body was still shaken up by the time change and my eyes felt plastered into my face. Nevertheless, I got out of bed because today was to be a grand adventure. Nothing says welcome to Boston, enjoy your stay like a Fluffernutter, which Bucket made us at breakfast to take on the road. A fluffernutter? Yes, a fluff-er-nutt-er. While some may eat peanutbutter and jelly sandwhiches, people in Massachussetts eat peanutbutter and marshmallow sandwiches. The fluff is made in Massachusetts, and boy is it grand! Apparently some eat it every day for lunch at school (and have a million fillings, I am sure). I was excited to eat it later on.
Using Tom Tom, we ventured into Boston. What should have taken us 20 minutes took us an hour and a half. Basically we took a roundabout (oh sorry…the correct New England vernacular is “rotary”) three million times looking for exit 4! But it worked out great because we got a great too-er of the industrial zone of Boston (with doors locked) and Charlestown, a quaint little neighborhood. Finally, Tom Tom having been slapped across the screen a few times, we arrived at the Boston Common and parked the Saab. We were in BOSTON!!! Once up on the street, I was happy to find the subway quickly since I was afraid I would have to whip out my GPS on my phone and have the lady talk to me about where to find the subway – and then I would be a tourist! This wasn’t a tourist trip, people! We were locals all the way. So we took the subway like locals and hopped on the wrong line. Errrrrrr. We didn’t realize we were on the wrong line until we had almost reached the end. We made quick friends with the train driver who directed us back to the right path, and we were able to get back on track and on the right train this time. So maybe we were just a little too eager and hopped on the first train that came by!

We got to Boston College 25 minutes before my interview with the help of the Russian/Italian/Bostonian security guard. He had friendly eyes and tried to explain to us how to get to the social work building. Bucket wasn’t listening to half of it because she was trying to figure out his accent. After he explained it, we nodded our heads and headed to the first map we saw. Apparently neither of us take directions very well. With the clock ticking, we suddenlty heard a yell from a car behind us, and it was our Russian/Italian/Bostonian friend. He said he was headed in that direction and would give us a ride. My first thought was to not get in the car with strangers. But of course we got in, anyway! Where would the adventure be without a little danger, right? He drove us across the campus and began to exit the campus, and Bucket’s first thoughts were, “Well, I guess he’s taking us home with him. Good thing Jess is in the front seat; he’ll get to her first.” When she revealed to me her thoughts later, I pushed her into the snow. Some too-er guide! But we made it to the building safely. Don’t worry mom.

My interview went great. The head of admissions, Dr. Howard, was a nice bearded man and we talked for 40 minutes. I came out of his office excited about the program. It’s a pretty selective program, so I want to be optimistic about getting in, without getting too excited before I do. I hate the disappointment! But campus was beautiful, and to use a friend’s jargon, even “regal.” It was actually everything I ever wanted a college campus to look like. Harry Potter: Eat my dust.

We took the T back to Boston, deciding to stop at Boston University on our way back. The only problem was that there were three BU stops – East, Central, and West. When we stopped at the East stop, Bucket and I decided to get off, but I got off at the front and she was headed to the middle door. I waited for her outside the train but she never got off! Just as the train was about to take off again, I jumped back on, looking for her! She was just standing there by the door, looking sheepish among the throng of people. Apparently she hadn’t known how to get that door open and was knocking on it, at one point exclaiming in her trademark whiny voice, “I’m stuckkkkkkkkkk.” People around her just stared at her. She contemplated yelling to me, hoping to prevent a separation, but she was afraid she had already looked ridiculous enough when she knocked. It. Was. Hilarious. We took the Central stop, searched for the BU social work building, and found it looking somewhat like an innter-city apartment building spruced up with some ivy. Bucket decided that they were tyring to give us the real world feel of how we might live as social workers. Haha. It was a beautiful campus, though, and I’m thinking of applying there, as well.

We were starving by the time we got downtown again, and we ventured out to find the Cheers bar, a must-see on our Boston adventure. When at first we couldn’t find it, however, we paused, and I said, “You know, I’ve never even seen Cheers.” Bucket paused, thinking for a moment, and replied, “Yeah…me either!” So we let go of our need to sit in an old bar with probably bad food, and set out to find a hamburger place, following our acute senses of smell. After trudging around the narrow streets of downtown, we came upon a restaurant in a small alley called Kennedy’s. The place wasn’t busy, and two men outside told us it was good. So we trusted them, went upstairs, and ate burgers with Irish bacon. Mmmmmm….I would taste that burger for two days.

After that stone in our stomachs, we needed to burn the calories off like a hamster in a cage wheel, and went to find the skating rink in the Boston Common. At this point it was about 19 degrees outside and we were feeling it, but we put on the hockey skates and skated around the small rink with the rest of the rodents nevertheless. I got to see Bucket’s mad skills on the dullest blades in the world when she fell on her butt. The dull skates, I realize now, were merely an excuse.

When stomachs began having undesired reactions to the Irish bacon, we headed to the Saab for our trip back to Billerica, cold, tired, but oh so happy to have just spent the day frolicking through the city.