Wednesday, July 7, 2010

I'm a real world traveler now, folks.

What a day, what a day. Or rather, what a couple of days.

From Peru to California to Boston, Massachusetts in only about 36 hours, with little to no sleep, I guess you could accurately say I’m exhausted. Exhausted, but happy to be here.

I started my day with an early wakeup and a sad goodbye to my home and my dogs, who I hadn’t seen in over a month. Off to school, goodbye to my mom, and then to my favorite airport in the world: San Francisco International, a friend I’ve seen all too much of lately.

You might hear my friends and Brown cohorts saying that the six-hour plane ride to Boston wasn’t so bad. They didn’t just spend about ten collective hours on a plane the day before.

Needless to say, I was incredibly relieved to be getting off the plane and into the famous humid Boston summer—a relief and wonder change of pace from Peruvian winter—that is, until I realized I had to drag my suitcase (forty pounds never felt so heavy!) across Boston.

About half an hour later, in shorts and air conditioning, I felt incredibly happy to be here. Boston is a gorgeous city, even the little I’ve seen in the few hours I’ve been here, and the weather is absolutely perfect. Everything went smoothly today, including a fun little quest to find dinner, stopping by Ben & Jerry’s for a cold treat, and a quick run to Borders, where some of us bought books, but I just bought the latest edition of Torchwood magazine, which is my guilty science fiction pleasure.

Now I’m back in the hotel, safe and sound, and while the heat is a little too oppressive for me, I’m relaxed and ready for tomorrow’s college tours and the free time to explore one of my mom’s favorite cities in the United States. It came highly recommended, so Boston, I’m warning you: don’t disappoint me.

I thought I’d feel a little anxious to be here, but so far, it’s just been a pleasant, nerve-free experience. I think since I’m in Boston right now, the fact that I’m going to Brown in a couple of days hasn’t really set in. In fact, the most stressful thing so far has been trying to post this blog entry, as the Internet in our hotel isn’t exactly reliable.

The most exciting and disappointing moment of my day?

After I landed in Boston, Lupe got a text informing her of Spain's victory over Germany in the World Cup today. I was pretty upset, to say the least. I truly thought it was Germany's year, but due to a bad call by a referee in their last game, star striker Thomas Müller was unable to play, leaving Germany without one of their strongest attackers. I guess I'm supporting Spain now, and I really hope I get to see the final match on Sunday, where hopefully, my favorite Spanish player, Fernando "El Niño" Torres will play, and redeem himself after his knee surgery left him playing below his potential.

2 comments:

  1. Marianna,

    Between you and Lydia these past couple months the two of you have done some serious traveling. You to Peru and her to Japan! What an adventure. DId I mention that i took a trip to Fresno? :-)

    I'm a bit surprised to read about you "dragging" your suitcase all over. The way you arrived at ECHS this morning it looked like you were able to "drag" both of your bags so effortlessly. Your's appeared to be the most efficient of everyone's.

    [About 20 years ago when wheels were first being put on luggage I had an upright expandable duffle bag with five wheels on the bottom. I was in hog heaven and knew my traveling experiences heading down to the Antarctic would be so much easier with that wheeled luggage. When my bag arrived on the baggage carousel in Miami what came up the ramp first was a bunch of miscellaneous hardware and wheels that used to be attached to my duffle. My fancy new luggage hadn't even made it past the first leg of the trip. What I was sure was going to be easy sailing for the next 18,000 miles turned out be nothing but hard work for me. Thankfully for all of you, the technology has improved since that fateful trip.]

    I find it amusing that you ladies are following the World Cup with so much interest. It's a different world, that's for sure and for certain.

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  2. Hahah well we're all Latin American, so that's a big part of it!

    And wheels don't help when you have to carry it up stairs! And let me tell you, it is not so easy to maneuver around the subway system with seven girls and their suitcases!

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