summer in boston by Ankita D. '23

after experiencing this tumultuous year, it’s strange to be having a blissful summer. here are a couple of things that are making me very happy atm.

• exploring the Cambridge/Boston area
  • by foot — something i never did during the academic year. a friend and i walked to a 24 hour bakery called Bova’s in the North End.⁠01 Boston's Little Italy it was fucking incredible!! i got the chocolate bomb and lobster tail (it doesn’t have actual lobster⁠02 if you want this, go to Alive and Kicking Lobsters in West Cambridge in it, don’t worry) and both were delicious. there’s a dope park nearby with great views where we sat to eat our desserts. we also got massive (quarter) slices of pizza from a place called Ernesto’s on the same street…they were so bomb.
    

    the North End is lovely at night

    i’ve also checked out Quincy Market, the Boston Commons, parks like the North Point Park and Paul Revere Landing Park,⁠03 great for nighttime walks and the Harvard arboretum!

  • by bike — something i never got the chance to do during the academic year since i didn’t have a bike! bike’s are game changers, y’all. i’ve spent a lot of time biking through the Charles River Esplanades,⁠04 the riverside park that extends along the Boston side of the Charles most of Central Square, and Lower Allston. Boston is a completely different place in summer and i’m enjoying exploring it!

• kayaking — there’s a Charles River Canoe and Kayak location right in Kendall! i went on a cloudy Friday and holy SHIT it was fun. we started by paddling under Longfellow Bridge and then navigated through the Esplanades; the water went from a dark velvet to a milky pale as we twisted left into the greater expanse of the Charles. as we neared the Harvard Bridge, the wind picked up and it started raining, but we pushed forward all the way to the Western Avenue Bridge, which is near the Harvard Business School. it was totally worth it since the clouds dissolved after a few minutes and we were left with a brilliant blue sky. actually being in the MIDDLE of the Charles, after having crossed it countless times, was so fucking cool
  

  alongside the esplanade

  

  mit! ft. bomber tat

  i also couldn’t sleep that night because my shoulder was so sore. oops, guess physical activity ain’t for me

• working outside — a few weeks ago, i gathered the freshmen in my apartment to come chill on Killian Court⁠05 the lawn in front of the DOME with me. we bought a speaker and camera and read/worked/painted for a couple of hours. it was really nice! whenever the weather is good, i feel guilty if i’m not outside, so it’s great that we could utilize MIT WiFi to work and relax somewhere pretty and comforting. i’ve started to work by the river/at random places across campus ever since.
  

  there she Be

  

  it’s so damn beautiful.

• pretending to adult — this entails cooking, having some semblance of a work routine, and living with people who have about as much control over their lives as you do. but also, there’s something about charcuterie boards and kale salad really make me feel like i’m not just a rising sophomore who has no idea what she’s doing.
• barbecuing — my apartment has a communal area for barbecuing that we decided to use [safely] one day. i was really excited for it and made a TON of potato salad in advance, but then got heatstroke and nearly passed out. oh well
• blasting music while biking across the Harvard Bridge ⁠— god i can’t even describe how happy this makes me. i love how the wind⁠06 ok the wind tho...one time, my MIT hat flew off my head (even though my ponytail was through the little gap thing!!) and got caught against the very end of the bridge. it was a couple seconds from falling into the Charles when i finally rescued it. blasts in my face and how i can see the river stretching out on both sides of me. it makes me feel so fucking free

• playing guitar — i put my guitar down for a whole month while at home, but i’m currently living with at least five musical people, so i couldn’t not pick up one of their guitars. i feel like i’m steadily improving and it’s great!
• taking nighttime excursions — a friend and i found and explored a nice mall⁠07 Assembly Row in Assembly Square. it was almost eerie since neither of us has been to a mall-like place in…months? also, when some other freshmen came to visit my friends and i at our apartment, we headed to Killian Court and hung out for a couple of hours. lying on the grass with the stars over our heads and the dome at the back of our peripheries, we all felt small and insignificant and very non-sophomore-like. it’s crazy how freshman year went by so fast

• vibing — i’m writing this as i sit in the living room of my apartment with the rest of the people i’m staying with. we’re drinking iced coffee as we listen to OK Computer, occasionally standing up to dance, jumping on couches and coffee tables for extra emphasis, and screaming lyrics so loud that our eyes scrunch up tightly and sweat begins to bud on our foreheads.

it’s strange. i was supposed to be in Israel right now through MISTI, interning and teaching entrepreneurship through this amazing program i was really excited to participate in. instead, i’m still in Cambridge with a few of my closest friends, working remotely and spending my time exploring the places in the city that are accessible at this point in time. it’s crazy that i’m having such a good time, but i think this summer is a testament to the fact that you can have amazing experiences no matter where you are in the world or how constricting the circumstances may seem.

it’s crazy, really. but i’m happy, and fulfilled, and wary about how the next few months will unfold, but excited about what’s to come.