A very brief brief on Boston and a couple of other noteworthy thoughts…

May I just say that I simply loved Boston? Although the fact that the previous statement is a gross understatement, I should stop myself from further elaboration, since everything that I could possibly say would be based on first-glance impression and would not be anything new or anything better than good old wikipedia and a few of many other sources do not already say.

On the contrary, Waltham, a town about 10 miles from Boston, where Brandeis is located, did not look as appealing to me, neither at first, not at second or even third glance – although it did resemble Charlottesville a bit, but its shabbier, more working class version – a beat up, almost dying industrial town, kind of gloomy and depressing, especially on a cloudy day that casts that eerie feeling over the city and it starts making a complete sense why witches once inhabited the place back in the day (ok, I know, Salem is the place, but close enough, close enough indeed).

I did, however, like the university campus. I also love, loved, loved my new landlady, with who I immediately clicked, as we got engaged in an hour long conversation that made it clear that I liked her beyond our shared political beliefs and overall niceness. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m really starved for genuine female companionship, but there was something warm, open and motherly about her that was so comforting right from the beginning. The best to describe her would be something between the Wise Witch and Mother Sugar, so from now on, for future references I will call her Mother Sugar. By the end of our conversation we both admitted our liking of each other, a nine month lease was signed, deposit paid, move in date established, and I got a nice, furnished bedroom in a house full of books on feminism and Jewish history, all kinds of artsy and new-agey knick-knacks, and a baby grand piano sitting in the living room.

The proximity of Waltham to Boston with a less than twenty minute commuter train ride makes the thought of living in a small town a lot more bearable, although I cringe when thinking about coming winter and prepare myself for the worst, regardless the fact that most of my life was spent in harsh mountainous climate of the Caucasus, four years of which without electricity, heat or running water.

The three day trip went wonderfully well, birthday boy was pleased and enjoyed himself and Boston as much as I did, some awesome and not so awesome pictures were shot and the whole idea of the move started to look a lot more real and tangible.

And yet, like it has happened every time I’ve been away from Richmond, it felt so good to come back, good like you'd feel coming back home and once again I realized how much I really truly love Richmond and just how sad I’m going to be when it’s time for me to leave… A long, drawn-out lament that’s been looming for the past few days will be coming soon, so bear with me…