Saturday, January 14 was the best day of my life. I woke up very early (5 AM early, not 7:45 AM
Japanese drill early) to prepare for a grand journey to Boston with my two best
friends here at Dartmouth, Pranam and Meili.
Mission: to reunite with Caroline and Sharon from CTY, stay with
Priyanka at MIT, and meet Adam after hearing so many wonderful things about
him. After packing all the necessary
sleepover supplies, we boarded to Dartmouth coach at 7 AM and enjoyed a nice
nap on the way to South Station. When we
landed, Caroline and Adam were already inside impatiently awaiting our
arrival. I can still imagine Caroline
jumping up and down in front of the window and “glomping” me in the doorway,
blocking the other irritated travelers from entering. She must have grown since I saw her in
Harvard Square during summer 2010 — I actually fell this time! Although I was just shaking his hand for the
first time, it seemed like I had known Adam all along. I guess the chat sessions helped this past
year and a half.
The five of us took the subway to… some place in the middle
of Cambridge. I was already pretty
disoriented. I am not sure where the
destination was, but we waited in the lobby of a hotel until Sharon and
Priyanka came out of the MIT Coop. Wow,
it was amazing. I had not seen Sharon
since our tearful parting at CTY Skidmore in 2009, and she looked better than
ever! So much has happened since then,
as we followed each other’s college applications experience while sharing
memories and making new inside jokes… all on Facebook. It was overwhelming to have these wonderful
people by my side again. If you haven’t
read my post about Thanksgiving at Dartmouth, I suggest you do, because it was
such a fun day. Of course, Priyanka and
the Chatterjee family are the people who made it especially memorable. I remember she left a really great first
impression on me, not just because she’s Pranam’s twin sister, but also because
of her kindness, vivacious spirit, and brilliance. We had already shown her around our campus,
so I was excited for her to share her own habitat with us.
Adam and Priyanka gave us a tour through MIT’s underground
tunnel system, and even went shopping cart surfing through the corridor! On our way, we met up with some of Priyanka’s
friends and observed some epic glassblowing, a project that Priyanka has begun
during her January term. In the end, we
made our way outside and across the street to Masseeh Hall, Priyanka’s
dorm. It was so new and clean, just like
a hotel (apparently it used to be a hotel, but then became renovated to
accommodate MIT students)! I wish I had
pictures, I don’t know why I never took some inside. I’ll never forget how impressed I was with the
vaulting in the lobby area Priyanka’s room was small, but so cute and
tastefully decorated. After Meili and I
unloaded our bags there, we all walked to Flour, a famous café, for lunch. I ordered a delicious chicken-vegetable
sandwich and rich hot chocolate.
Everyone looked so happy, and I really enjoyed watching all the members
of our Shmob becoming familiar with each other!
From there, we walked down the street toward Harvard Square, stopping in
a quaint little shop on the way. It was
so Meili and Priyanka style; the jewelry was exquisite and there were so many beautifully
colored and patterned scarves to admire.
Despite my joking with Sharon and Caroline about licking the
John Harvard statue, we never actually entered the gates of Harvard. Instead, we stopped at a sandwich place for
Pranam and Priyanka to get some more food. The day was so gorgeous, after a week of snow
and bad weather; it was seriously a heavenly day, surrounded by sun, cloudless
sky, and the best of friends. From
there, Priyanka took the seven of us to “Sweet,” a cupcake shop. Those treats were so sugary, attractive, and
delectable, and the flavors were quite creative, from hot cocoa to red
velvet. We gathered at a Starbucks shop
to enjoy them together, and more fun conversation ensued. Afterward, we made our way to the Kofuku gift
shop, at my request. It’s such a
“kawaii” place, a little basement filled with imported Japanese collectible
items, mostly having to do with Hayao Miyazaki anime characters like
Totoro. I bought a sweet little white
Totoro to decorate my desk area.
My memory is not as extensive as it was last week. I am pretty sure from there we headed to
Newbury Street to engage in more shopping.
From second-hand stores to Anthropologie, the girls marveled at all the
clothing while the guys just smiled and nodded.
I’m pretty sure it was all worth it for Pranam and Adam at a little
dress shop called 344. Priyanka was
actually shopping for a dress to wear to a sorority semiformal, so the rest of
us joined in and thought it would be fun to model some dresses ourselves. And voila, Meili burst out of the curtains in
this stunning, jaw-dropping bodycon making the guys swoon! Everyone looked so beautiful. I was slightly disappointed that the sweet
little tube dress I tried on didn’t fit quite right around the bust, but I’m
glad I didn’t buy it on impulse since Dartmouth’s formal winter ball conflicts
with the Glee Club dress rehearsal (see later post).
That evening, we spent our last few hours with Sharon at a
nice Chinese restaurant. I wish I could
remember what tasty dishes we ordered…
It will come to me eventually.
Around 8 or 9 PM, we brought Sharon to the Ruggles stop via the “T” and
headed back to the MIT stop on the red line.
I was in utter bliss the whole day, walking beside Sharon and catching
up on life, and her time allowed with us was too short. I hope studying for that midterm was worth
it! ;) Maybe next time she will stay
overnight with us, wherever we decide to reunite. Maybe that place will be her house in
Schenectady.
None of us slept much that night; I think we received just
enough. Many of us napped in the fifth
floor common area until we were kicked out by the authorities. Caroline followed Adam back to his room while
Meili and I relocated to Priyanka’s room.
I felt pretty bad for Pranam, who technically could not sleep with us in
Priyanka’s room and had to stay awake between 2 and 3 AM to wait for another
friend let him in across the hall. I
woke up to him sitting at the end of my air mattress texting, and I wished I
could have let him have it instead of me.
Thank goodness the friend arrived a couple minutes after I noticed this.
I’ll continue this story later.
