Walk for Hunger

            On Sunday, I got up at 5:30 in the morning (after about 4 hours of sleep at Klaudia’s house) to take a bus to Boston to participate in the Walk for Hunger. The Walk is sponsored by Project Bread, and is a 20 mile loop that goes through Brookline, Newton, and Cambridge, raising money and awareness for the homeless people of Massachusetts. I walked last year, too, and had a great time; not only is it for a great cause, but I got to spend the day with my friends, outside in beautiful weather. The weather was better this year than last year, and I only got one sunburn (on the back of my legs, the one place I forgot to put sun block).            

           

          Both times I signed up, I told myself and retold myself that it was just a walk—how hard can it be? I think a lot of people would be surprised at how tiring and difficult it is, because the 20 miles feels a lot longer, but time goes by pretty fast if you have friends to walk with. It’s also a really fantastic walking tour of Boston; we walked by several colleges, past rows of beautiful townhouses, through the Commons, and around the reservoir.

            I think the best part about the Walk is that it’s not a competition; we weren’t running a marathon, trying to come in first place. Instead, we were all simply walking for the same reason, with the common goal of eliminating hunger in Massachusetts. My friends and I were able to take our time, stopping at our leisure to take pictures or grab a snack. It took about 6 hours to walk the 20 miles, and everyone was exhausted on the bus ride home. Unfortunately, I had saved all my homework for that night, so unlike many of my walking companions, I wasn’t able to pass out on my couch.

           

When the first Sunday in May comes around next year, I know I won’t remember the sunburns or the soreness, but I will remember having a great time. Any day spent with friends and not doing homework is heavenly, and I can’t wait to walk another 20 miles next year. 

Scavenger Hunt in Boston

          A few weeks ago, I ventured into Boston with some friends for a scavenger hunt of sorts. I consider myself to be from Boston, and I think it’s fair to say that my friends are pretty familiar with the city, so it was fun to be tourists for a day. After using my sister’s student ID from her art class to get a free train ride, we followed the freedom trail from North Station to the State House, wandering all over the city.

We spent a while in the North End, which is my favorite part of Boston because it smells amazing, especially in the morning. Passing by a bakery window that was piled with freshly baked bread was impossible to resist, and we shared a baguette while we wandered over to Faneuil Hall. We spent quite some time in Newbury Comics, where I found a Matt Nathanson CD for $5 and a Counting Crows album for $4 in the used CD section. I also couldn’t resist buying a large red magnet that reads “I Survived the William and Kate Royal Wedding, April 29, 2011.” I was really looking for one that I saw online that says “Don’t Panic, There’s Still One Prince Left,” but they didn’t have it.

           To accomplish the scavenger hunt, we split into two groups—the winner is still disputed, but I’m pretty sure my team came out on top. The various tasks we had to accomplish ranged from doing yoga in front of the state house to re-enacting the Boston Massacre, which involved me throwing a “snowball” (a square plastic container) at Gretchen. The questioning stares of other pedestrians just added to the fun. We also went to TJ Maxx to try on the ugliest clothes we could find, undoubtedly irritating the woman working in the fitting room.

Later that day, we trekked back to the North End for gelato, and I waited in a ridiculously long line to get cannolis at Mike’s. We ended up sprinting to North Station, and hurriedly grabbing coffee before jumping on the train home.