Number 19: Boston Farmers Market

19. Buy fresh produce and flowers at a farmers market

Yup,  that says $1.00 for a box of raspberries!

I completed my first item from “The List” today. Clearly I am not going in chronological order to accomplish my list(proving that I can step out of my Type A box from time to time). And yes I made this trip this morning, hours before Hurricane Irene was scheduled to hit the area…What can I say? I was a woman with a plan and was feeling risky!

It took about 40 minutes to get to this farmer’s market. Two subway trains, an atm pit stop and half a mile walk later I arrived at the Boston City Farmer’s Market!

The deals were incredible. I felt like I was in the markets in Mexico. Everything from Produce, Grains, Breads, Meats, Fish, Nuts, Vegetables… were sold here. I estimate there were about 70 stands. And the best part of all, I spent $13 total and walked away with my entire week’s worth of groceries!

Prices:

 8 apples for $1

10 limes for $1

4 grapfruits for $1

 Mini Watermelon $1

Cantelope, $1.25

Raspberries were $1

Seriously, I looked over my shoulder a couple of times throughout this shopping hour(s). It felt like I was in the middle of a drug deal or something illegal.

But it was legal! The photo below proves it...

I had fun today, exploring the Boston Farmers Market and coming home to cook and chop and listen to music. It was a great way to unwind from my orientation week. Tomorrow, the reading begins… I think Im going to make Saturdays my days. Definitely need to have a day just for me (Harvard Homework not invited). 

The List

You may or may not know this about me, but I love making lists. I make grocery lists, daily to-do lists, clothing wish lists, bills to pay this month lists... you get the idea. The paper industry has made some pretty pennies from all the note pads I’ve bought in my lifetime!

AND, as I’m adjusting to Cambridge and graduate school life, I thought of yet another:

THE “What I Want To Accomplish While I Am Here” LIST

As I sat with these thoughts, I not only came up with things I want to accomplish while attending Harvard, but I went ahead and wrote out even the most ridiculous wants that came to mind (making snow angels on Harvard Yard is one of them).

Image courtesy of er3465; www.flickr.com

So here it is. UNIVERSE, help me achieve as many of these as possible please!

THE LIST:

01. Ace a class at Harvard

02. Take a class at the Harvard Law School

03. Take a class at the Kennedy School of Government

04. Write a masters thesis

05. Find a mentor  

06. Row Crew on the Charles River

07. Go to a Red Sox game

08. Make snow angels on Harvard yard

09. Buy my professor a drink at a bar while having a brilliant conversation

10. Go to New York

11. Go to Washington DC

     a. Visit the White House

     b. Visit the Lincoln Memorial

12. Go to a museum I actually get free admission into any museum in 

Cambridge and Boston with my student ID, so I’ve got to do this at least once! 

13. Go to a Harvard football game

14. Cook and host a Mexican fiesta in my new apt

15. Walk the beach of cape cod

16. Visit Martha’s Vineyard

17. Go ice skating

18. Have a picnic in the park

19. Buy fresh produce and flowers at a farmers market

20. Keep up with this blog! Post at least twice a month (Yes I changed it)

Every time I complete one, I will blog about it, picture included. 

Do you have any ongoing lists? A bucket list of sorts for just your WANTS? If so, I’d love to hear about them. And if you’ve done incredible things on the East Coast/Boston area, please comment so that I can add it to THE LIST.

Salem With a Good Ol' Friend

I took my parents to the airport last Friday and as soon as they were about to board the Airport Bus Shuttle, I saw my friend Anette coming off that same bus with her parents. We exchanged hugs and introduced our parents to one another... It turns out she and her family were in Boston on their family vacation! I ended up hanging out with her and her family for a few days this week.

Anette and I met exactly 4 years ago in Madrid Spain. We both attended UCs and enrolled in the same foreign exchange program to study abroad. We met the first day we arrived in Madrid because the program paired us up as hotel roommates. 

Here's a picture of us traveling Spain in 2007:

Market Place in Cordoba, Spain

It turns out her family is also into historical tours and site seeing. So they invited me to Salem, Massachusettes this week. And of course I went. Hey! School hasn't started yet...

Here's Anette and I in Salem four days ago:

Salem Town Square, Massachusetts

TV Land created an honorary sculpture of Tabatha from Bewitched to go in the city's town square. Since the town is known for the infamous witch hunts, they created a sculpture of TV's most famous witch.

Salem was raining the entire time! And it was just as gloomy and eerie as you could imagine it to be.

Witch Trials Memorial
 When accused witches were hung, they were not given a burial or grave
so the bodies were thrown into the harbor. This is a memorial that was made
to honor the 19 innocent people that were hung during the witch hunts of 1692.

The Witch House

The 17th century home of Salem witchcraft trail judge Jonathan Corwin. It's now a historical museum.

Townsperson walking in the rain...
She was an actress, playing in a re-enactment of a witch hunt trial later that day.

Anette's familia standing in the rain.

Anette and her broken umbrella mid afternoon.

Finishing our day with some tapas and sangria at a local Spanish Restaurant!

Boston Site Seeing With The Parents

So my parents are only here for a week. They have mostly been helping me unpack, settle into the new apartment and buy some big ticket items like a new desk, shelving units and of course, the first round of groceries (THANKS PARENTS!)

And now its my turn to give back-- by taking them where they want to go. And that means TOURS, lots of historical tours!

Tuesday-- A historical tour of HARVARD. We learn about the $27 billion Harvard sits on. About the famous alumni network that includes celebrities and presidents. We learn about fascinating people who have buildings on campus named after them. For example, the inventor of the Poloriod, was a harvard drop out and sponsored the science building.

Quick Facts: Harvard is over 400 years old, making it the first college established in the U.S.
Celebrity Alums include: Matt Damon, Conan O'Brien & Natalie Portman.
U.S. President alumni: John Adams, John F. Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

The statue of John Harvard aka as the Statue of Three Lies. 

Lorenzo, our tour guide, talking to us in Harvard Yard

Wednesday-- The SAM ADAMS brewery tour (dont think this counts as historical, but is a tour none the less). Parents learned about the 4 main ingredients in beer: Yeast, Malted Barley, Hops and ? Can you guess the last one?

Thursday-- BOSTON City and FREEDOM TRAIL TOUR. Our tour guy takes on a character who lived in the 1700s and tells us his story of Boston. He shows us around Boston Commons, the oldest park in the US, the first public school and church, the site of the Boston Massacre and Boston Tea Party and tells us of the life of Boston's famous citizens: John Hancock, John Adams, Sam Adams, and Benjamin Franklin. Dad was stoked! He is quite the history buff. And our tour guide relived it for us each step of the two and a half hour tour.

Dad up in front conversing with our tour guide
(Note: Tour group size was 25 people, person asking the most questions--Dad)

Tour Guide in costume and character reliving the Boston Massacre.

Airport Mishaps and What Nots

Who doesn't like a good airport story?

Mom, Dad and I arrive less than an hour before departure time, all three suit cases are over weight capacity, security screening takes 30 minutes, I am caught with a swiss army knife in my purse, I am patted down from Head to Toe and "Orozco part of three" is announced over the intercom of the Airport three times as we sprint to our gate. Easily put, we pissed off many airport employees last night.

As expected, I filled each piece of luggage to its max capacity. I figure that I am moving across the country and will be in need of things, so why not bring everything if it fits? Luggage is not allowed to weigh more than 50 lbs and if it does, it is $50 fee/per bag. Or check in an additional luggage for $35. We chose the latter.

So mom, dad and I get on our knees right in front of the check in counters and open up each bag to move items around, and check in an additional piece of luggage.

Obstacle #2: We arrive at the security check point and there is only one line. The line is long and not moving as the new screeners take about one minute per person and include a vogue like pose.

Obstacle #3: OOPS! The man inspecting my purse pulls this out and says: "And what were you planning on doing with this?" As a result of this item, I got a pretty intense rub down from a female security guard (head massage included).

Obstacle #4: Dad also gets a rub down, as a result of his NO NO object:

What can I say? We love our wine and were hoping to celebrate on the plane. 

As Dad and I are getting patted down, the intercom calls: "Orozco party of three report to Gate 9". There are only 10 gates at this airport and yes! Gate 9 is at the opposite end. We sprint and make it as they are about to close the gate door. The man at the boarding gate scolds us saying that boarding was half an hour ago and the plane is  now late as a result of us. He rips the boarding passes from our hands and makes a snide comment about how he should have sent wheel chairs for us and wheeled us over. Ouch!

We make it on the plane and depart Oakland at 12:01am. I guess airport employees are cranky during their midnight shifts.