Author: Samantha Anton

Going back home for Thanksgiving Break was an absolute wonder. I missed my family and friends so much! It was quite a tease considering it was just for 3 days and I was not able to do everything I wish i could have done being there. The weather was absolutely amazing though! almost 85 degrees everyday and just beautiful as beautiful San Diego is. There was a lot of marine layer at the beach though so the sun wasn’t visible but I did go surfing every morning of being there…man did i miss that so much. I was a tad rusty but I did it out of pure enjoyment and just being able to swim out in the ocean was refreshing. I had missed it so much. I had the chance to see my grandparents who came up from Mexico for thanksgiving which i loved becasue I am so close to them and had missed them so much. I as well saw 3 of my 5 best friends there, 2 of them couldn’t go home but we have a whole month together once Christmas break comes around. The anxiety of waiting to get there was so worth it simply because of all those factors. It is a weird thought to thing that after 2 days of being there I absolutely decided that I missed Boston and my friends here. It is crazy to think that after only 4 months you can grow to love and miss something so much. I did not want to leave San Diego though because 3 days was absolutley nothing at all. I just cannot wait to get these 2 next stressful weeks over with and have a month of freedom back in sunny San Diego with all my family and friends.

So the other day I went to my first concert in Boston! Which is a surprise considering that Boston has such a great music scene and there have been many concerts that I have wanted to go to but hadn’t had the chance to. finally i was able to go to one last Thursday to see one of my favorite bands, Title Fight. They were amazing! It was at the Royale which is a great and big concert venue. People are not crowded and the people that work there are extremely nice and welcoming! i cannot wait to return to see another one of my favorite band in February, Mumford and Sons. It is a great time especially if you go with a group of your friends. It isn’t too far either you can just take the T. I’m so glad i finally got to go. there are so many different concert venues all around the city and even by BU that host some of the most amazing bands and artists of our time. The TD Garden isn’t far from us either and a lot of big shot concerts are hosted there. I still have yet to go there even for a Celtics game which i’ve heard are amazing! hopefully I will go to one before the season is over.

I absolutely love Christmas time because of all the happy thoughts and the lights and the smell of winter! For the first time ever it feels like an actual winter simply because it is actually cold and there has been snow! Back home you do not see that at all because there are no seasons. As a way to celebrate me and my friend group has decided to do Secret Santa before we all leave! We all decided to do it next week after finals as a way to distress ourselves and get our minds off the fact that it is a stressful week. We all agreed on having it be a gift that is less than 20 dollars which can be extremely reasonable, the gift could be big or small but include more than just one thing. Our group does have guys and girls so we decided to not make it either too girlie of a gift or to manly per say. If a guy does get stuck with a gift that is kind of meant for a girl there can always be a trade off between the two. Also one of my good friends from Argentina has never experienced Christmas in the cold because in Argentina (aka the southern hemisphere) Christmas lands on summer instead of winter like for us. The other day I found out she’s never made a ginger bread house so we decided we would do that as well as the Secret Santa! I am so excited to do this with all my friends.

NERD! literally though. I’ve been living in the library for the past month I believe just swamped on homework and research papers on essays on essays. It has been extremely stressful and thank goodness there is a library I can resort to for a (sometimes) quiet environment. The library is such a great place especially since the Writing Center is right one the 3rd floor where I can go to if I have an doubt about a paper. The cafe downstairs is amazing as well because if you are falling asleep you can just go downstairs and get a coffee or a sweat bread, which I get almost everyday because I do tend to fall asleep. I am currently in the library finishing some last minute things that I of course have procrastinated in…typical. Considering that finals are coming up next week…ohmygodpanic!…it has been constantly packed with people being squished on a single table. There are people sitting in the halls and the book aisles everywhere. It is hectic and amazing to see how people in college intake the fact that finals are so close. I am so glad that I have one more week of living in the library although it is not all that bad. I always see someone I know whether it’s an acquaintance or a good friend. We take little breaks in between work to get fresh air or simply talk for 5 minutes and then get back to what we have to do. Not too many distractions.

So I know that many of my posts are about food and restaurants but I am a huge food critic and absolutely love trying new places. This new place that my friend Lucy and I tried on Sunday was amazing. Not simply because of the food but because of the environment and the way that getting ones food is set up. For starters it isn’t like a normal restaurant its sort of a buffet set up. When you walk in you are handed a menu and a card. You walk to the different stations which include; Salad-Soup, Pasta, Pizza-Panini’s. At these stations you tell the cook what it is that you’d like and while you stand behind the glass the chef prepares it for you, once you have ordered at that station you scan the card that was handed to you and it adds your meal to it. The place is a decent size so you go and find a seat. You enjoy your salad, pasta, pizza and once you’re done you go to the front and scan your card again and it adds everything up and you pay. It’s extremely creative and the food is absolutely amazing. I had the house salad and a spinach and ricotta ravioli with a marinara sauce, nom nom. It is at the corner of Stuart St. and Charles Place. If you have the time go and enjoy it is a great atmosphere to go with friends and it is cheap! which i love being on a college student budget.

For my diversity post I decided to do a simple one, moving from California to Boston and how differently diverse it is. For starters there are not merely as many foreigners in San Diego than there are here. The fact that there are simply 100 and something different colleges in Boston there are people that range from every type of religion, ethnicity, and sexual orientations. San Diego has many Mexicans because of the boarder but rarely do we see people from Asia, Russia, South America, etc. The change is quite amazing and is an experience that I am sure cannot be experienced anywhere else but here. Walking is the major form of getting places here but in San Diego it was impossible to walk as much as you can here and get to where you want. Diversity is a great topic to see where everyones mind is at and how they think. That is why I believe that the guest speaker we had about diversity and the Universities involvement is so important. Coming from someone that is across the continent diversity may as well be different. Probably not as different than someones experience with it if they were from Asia, South America, or Europe but it varies.

Yes another restaurant..so what i like to eat. Panera is a great place to go to especially in the winter. A hot bowl of soup and a sandwich or salad would do everyone good. I usually go there and just eat and I bring my laptop…they have free wifi. Its a great place to do work. It is a nice quiet environment with food, coffee, and pastries. Its not far from our dorm rooms either. Just walk down tremont towards emerson and it is at the corner of Tremont and Stuart Street. I recommend the broccoli cheddar bread bowl and the greek salad. nomnomnom

WINTER IS FINALLY HERE! and so is all the christmas activities that come along with it. Boston Common provides everyone with a chance to go ice skating on the frog pond. I went last week before Thanksgiving break and it was loads of fun! I was a tad rusty since I hadn’t skated for about a year but you get the hang of it after 10 minutes of just trying not to fall. It isn’t expensive at all and if you go with friends you’ll have a blast. I also found out that Tuesdays I believe are college nights so its $2 per person! everyone go and experience the fun and the adrenaline rush you get from it.

The dock that is right on the Charles River is a great place to just walk to and hang out! It has the prettiest view of Cambridge and of the Charles River itself. If you’re looking for somewhere to have a picnic at, this is the place. There are lounge chairs and always is packed with families or friends and even couples. It’s not a far walk from the dorms at all so if you can definitely make the trip there. There is also a park right before it so if you’re not feeling the dock, there’s always the grass. Bring a blanket, snacks, drinks and friends and have a fun afternoon.

-Samantha Anton