Wrapping up the summer (and beginning a new one).

In the last post, I said I would start at the beginning. Of course, time is relative -  so the beginning can be whenever I define it to be...but I think my last weekend in Boston is a good place to start. My summer was hectic. I had three jobs - I was an office assistant at the BU Department of Archaeology, a Spanish GED tutor in a public school in Chelsea, MA,  and a sales associate at Fossil, Inc. On top of that, I was taking a summer biology course, Animal Behavior (although let's be honest, the class consisted of sitting around and talking about animals and attending lab sessions where we fed ducks and squirrels - it was fun and not very hard....but certainly a time sink). Coincidentally, my last day for all of the jobs and the class (complete with a final exam) coalesced on Friday, August 10th. By that time, I was ready to explode. I had probably consumed more caffeine in the previous month than the rest of my entire life. So when I clocked out of my last shift that day, it was a huge load off my shoulder. I felt like summer had finally started. What did I have to look forward to? An amazing farewell weekend with my roommates and friends, and the imminent Tuesday when I would be departing for study abroad in Ecuador for an amazing 5 months.  Life couldn't get any better. 

That Sunday, me and my wonderful roommates Hernando and Tina went to the Blue Hills reservation in Milton, MA for some quality hiking and roomie bonding. 

This was after we climbed back down from a hill that was off the trail. From the looks of it, there had been a fire there recently (evidence that summers in Boston are more intense than I gave them credit for).

Tina carrying her fancy new CamelBak. She would have gotten a Nalgene but she spills the water on herself. CamelBaks are spill (and Tina) proof.

We tried playing extreme frogger but the were no cars.

Later that day, we ended up having lunch at a lake that was nearby (which I would have jumped into but then Tina wouldn't have let me back into her new car - bummer). We then ended up randomly going into IKEA (because why not?). Hernando and Tina bought a bookshelf for themselves. Seeing as I was leaving in  two days, new furniture was not a priority for me, so I didn't plan on buying anything. But somehow IKEA still managed to get my money - I just couldn't pass up a 1$ cone of vanilla frozen yogurt (no regrets).

For dinner, we decided to pull out all the stops and go out for a nice meal at a Hungarian-French-Afghan restaurant (yes, this exists). It was an interesting and quaint little place. Most of us ordered from the Hungarian menu - one notable exception: my friend Stephanie who went straight for the curry (those of you who get it, you know who you are). 

This is a stock photo of chicken paprikas. I did not take my camera.

In the end however, the owner ended up being kind of an asshole (sorry Beata Gabriela). I'm not going to get into details, feel free to read the yelp review. It was nice to go out with a few friends for dinner though - it's more about having good company than good food (or good service for that matter). 

All in all, an excellent day - and a great way to wrap up my last days in Boston. I have the best roommates in the world and some amazing friends that I will miss dearly while I'm away in Ecuador. 

Yes, I realize that none of this is about Ecuador. But like I said in my previous post, everything has its time and place. Like telling a good joke, you can't just skip straight to the punchline without a setup - I'll be getting to Ecuador soon. Next post, I promise.