First Boston Weekend

I'm in Boston. because I live here. Permanently. Hmm.....
I always forget how disorienting moving to a new place can be. Luckily, whenever I move, I am always able to piece together a haphazard network to get me started. Here in Boston I have my exboyfriend - who helped me unpack, navigate the T (NOT metro), and took me on a date to the Hayden Planetarium, the movie Juno, and Veggie Planet; there is my mom's best friend and fellow ex-pat who I call "tia" in the Brasilian style - she has invited me to dinner, offered suggestions on local gyms and looked into why I got no response on a resume I put in at BU (they hired internally); there is my uncle and cousin just 30 minutes away that I hope to see soon; and a friend I met in Brasil a few years ago - she was the first vegan I ever knew. So with my ragtag group of supporters I am not alone. But being alone or with friends isn't what makes being in a new place hard for me - it is finding my niche.
Sometimes the transition can be difficult. I have found that I don't do being cold so well, or unpacking (hence all the boxes still on the floor), or working out (it has officially been a week since I've done any exercise). The first two days here I wasn't liking my decision - I would almost be done with my degree if I stayed at CUA (nevermind the fact the program had almost nothing in my field of interest), DC is familiar and loaded with friends (nevermind that there were few Brasilians and opportunities to speak portugues), DC was warmer (nevermind the oppressively suffocating summers). I was wallowing a bit.
But a few adventures have brought me around. Going to my interview on Friday I got lost by taking the wrong bus. Now - how I can navigate Sao Paulo, a megacity of about 20 million, or NYC, a city of about 8 million, or even the comparably sized DC, of about 1/2 a million, without getting lost I don't quite understand. But I did - I took the 57 bus instead of the 66. The bus driver made my day though - he gave me all sorts of advice and tips and had a whole conversation with me about how it is supposed to warm up this week (in order to cheer me up a little). He was right - 42 degrees feels like a heat wave, honestly!
And then there was the interview itself (I made sure to call and say I was going to be late). The organization really seems amazing and I couldn't be more excited about the possibility of working there. "The mission of Summer Search is to find resilient, low-income high school students and inspire them to become responsible altruistic leaders by providing year-round mentoring, life changing summer experiences, college advising, and a lasting support network." Ummm....yeah! Sounds good to me. I have my second interview today and am hoping for the best.
I'm a little disappointed in Boston's vegan restaurant scene (I've been grossly spoiled by NYC). There is no Veg-Out Boston. There is for Chicago, Washington DC, San Francisco, Seattle and Portland, Denver and Salt Lake City - but not Boston. This doesn't bode well for my new city. So far I've eaten at TJ Scallywaggle's, Grasshopper (don't recommend the vegan cheesecake - the canned fruit topping is depressing and the texture is grainy, but all other food a go), My Thai Cafe and Bubble Tea (get the vegan cheesecake here instead), and Veggie Planet.
I really want to like TJ's food but I've eaten there twice.....and.....don't. I just don't think it is good food. The vegan cheese doesn't melt and ends up in chunky flavorless pieces. The bread and meat for the chikhin cheez sub was dry. The garlic bread was really bad - image taking a burnt piece of toast and dumping garlic powder on it, with little or no vegan margarine. It isn't pretty (I didn't take pics to avoid embarrasing them). But you know what - I'm going to keep giving them my money (I mean they are like a 5 minute walk from my house). I just really appreciate their role as a vegan community resource center. I support their petition to get bike lanes in Boston, I like their library (obviously) and that they make veg magazines available for reading, I like that they have a stated mission of building a progressive community. I've had the calzone, chikhin cheez sub, and garlic bread and not been a fan - but what do I know. Lots of people love their food so take my review with a grain of salt.
But my new favorite restaurant on the PLANET is VeggiePlanet. Their brunch was amazing and their business model is inspirational (they state 70% of their ingredients are local and they earmark profits for combating homelessness in Cambridge). They aren't quite as close to my house but worth the hike. I ordered the vegan oddlot on the pizza dough - the olives, spinach, garlic, and tofu-basil mash on that whole wheat thin crust - delicious! I handed the waiter my empty plate and said - yeah, obviously not that good. He replied, with concern, "oh - what did you have?" It took him a moment to realize I actually loved it and that is why I ate everything. I wish I had taken a picture but I was so hungry I couldn't wait. I don't recommend going hungry, especially during brunch - things move at a leisurely pace. Next time I am getting vegan waffles.
If you are ever visiting Boston, or live here, I highly recommend Hayden Planetarium at the Museum of Science. I went and saw the "Night Sky" program. Darryl, our "tour guide", was animated and passionate about teaching us how to look at the sky on our own. He showed us our very own urban sky here in Boston and convinced us (or me at least) that I can go out at 6pm, or 9pm, or 11pm, and see a variety of different constellations - even Mars! If you go on Friday night at 7pm admission is reduced to $6.50 (normally $9). Either price point is well worth it - and it is a great date idea.
To round out my conversion to liking Boston was my attendance at St. Anthony's on Sunday. The mass was in Brasilian Portuguese - and the church is just a mile walk from my house. It was a beautiful mass and (unlike when I was in Brasil) I loved that I didn't quite understand everything. My fluency has a long way to go but it isn't going anywhere if I don't practice.

On the Horizon -
There are other reasons right around the corner to increase my love of this newly adopted city. Frances Moore Lappe will be at Brookline Booksmith on January 21st (she wrote Diet for a Small Planet - a sacred text for all those who eat with purpose) and the Cure will be at Agganis Arena on May 12th (I LOVE the Cure). I'm sure more will appear daily and I'll keep you all posted.