I woke up today with a sense of adventure. I looked at my alarm clock and distinguished the time: 6:30 AM. I quickly put on my clothes and brushed my teeth in anticipation of an exciting day. I hastened towards the front of the Bronson quad; the building where I live, sleep, and thrive. The weather was beautiful and perfect.
I met up with the ILC group and headed towards the local Starbucks just a few minutes away just like other restaurants. My favorite aspect of Brown is that Brown is a school within a small city with inhabitants and restaurants all clustered in a group. I never have to walk far to get a meal or just to hang out, just like a community. After slurping down my Green Tea Frap, we headed towards the group of impressive buses all parked on the curb.
My first thought when I approached the colony was wow. I thought that Brown was rich, but not that rich to afford 10 buses to transport 400+ students to Boston. As you can guess, I had to wait in line for some time before I actually got checked in and accounted for. It just so happened that Austin and Andrew were chosen to sit in the same bus with me. In some ways, I felt glad to have people that I know around me but I felt sad because I wanted to branch out with other people.
As soon as I stepped outside the bus, the view was spectacular. The sun was in my face, shining brightly. Cars zoomed by through the streets and grand hotels towered over everything else. I took a whiff of air and founded it to be humid and wet. The ILC group came together and decided that Austin and I were to explore the city while the rest shopped. I didn’t choose shopping because I didn’t want to spend too much money and that I was tired to shopping. Now my journey commenced.
Austin and I immediately located a map and marked the places in which we were about to visit. Marketplace was the first stop and it proved to be a noteworthy stop. On the outside, the marketplace looked like an old building but upon closer inspection, there was a thriving shopping center and food court inside. The various smells of food and clothing annoyed my nose as I tried to navigate my way through the crowd. People yelled “Get your Boston Clam Chowdah”, “Boston t-shirts for 50% off!”, etc. All I had to say was that it was an amazing sight within that small building much different from back home where stores aren’t packed tight and people constantly go in and out.
After exiting marketplace, we immediately sought out the wharf. The smell of fish attracted us towards the area and before long, we were standing face to face with a shipyard. Austin and I walked down the bridge leading towards the bay. Bars, seafood shops, and gift shops lined the bridge and it was impossible to sneak a look inside the buildings. We found fish, exotics, and Boston shirts in abundance. In particular were the jellyfish which were majestic gliding through the clear water. After taking a short break, we headed towards Chinatown.
While walking through the beautiful Boston Commons full of children, meadows, and trees. Unfortunately, I had disastrous nose bleed and my adventure through Boston was cut short. After healing from the bleeding, our decision was to take a cab back to the meeting place. Instead, we found Boston’s own Pedicab. The pedicab is a bicycle powered carriage that is used as a taxi to get people to places. It so happened that a pedicab came strolling along and we hitched for a ride. The rider was very friendly and he revealed that he was a college student who is trying to train his muscles to compete in bicycle races. I was surprised because he was a grad student pursuing a medical degree. He kind of relates to me because he goes the extra mile to accomplish things in his life. Riding through Boston, I had the best time of my life. I loved the wind running through my hair and the freeness that was associated with the pedicab. Unfortunately, the ride came to an end and we had to get off.
When I got on that bus to Boston, I expected to just look at old buildings and such, but I found more of Boston during this trip. I found the true part of Boston: the wharf, pedicabs, and friendly environment. In some ways, this was a wonderful and exciting learning experience for me.
William,
ReplyDeleteYou understand, don't you, that when they put you on a bus seating 40 people, that you're not required to sit with fellow ILC students. You're allowed to sit with anyone you want. If you want to branch out and meet new people, this was just such a chance. You don't have to be on a non-ILC bus for this to happen.
Sorry about the nose gusher. That's gotta suck big time.
It's not that I travel a lot but when I do I take a few photos. Actually, I take a lot of photos. One thing I'm remiss about, though, and this sets me apart from other photographers, is that I often forget to include people in my photos. It's people that help define an area.
You alluded to that in your writings even when you wrote about the way they were hawking the "chowdah" and the t-shirts.
This is just a suggestion from a failed travelogue photographer.
I'm curious, too, about the t-shirts that are always on sale but for you they were 50% off? Where are the consumer advocates demanding that these guys actually sell the t-shirts for full price before they can offer them at half price?
I'll try to include people in my pictures next time.
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