More Spring

Spring

I knew that when we moved here I would finally get to "experience seasons" for the first time. I was expecting a brilliant autumn and an exciting snowy winter. That was all great but I never thought twice about spring because I thought we had that in California. Well after the deadness of winter here spring is the most miraculous "new season" of all for me. I had been wondering how it could possibly ever happen and then it finally did. It rains enough here (except in the winter when it snows instead) that no one uses sprinklers. The grass and leaves and flowers grow when they're ready and it's breathtaking to me to watch all this stuff come back to life naturally. How kind of God to create seasons - I love them all but this season of rebirth is especially lovely.


I can't even begin to describe how gorgeous it is here right now. The birds are singing constantly and their song is so sweet and cheerful. There are adorable little robins hopping around everywhere. (I always see groups of birds and squirrels hanging out together on the lawn - it's very cute, like a scene out of Bambi) Daffodils appeared all over the place overnight....and then tulips of every color. The grass has come back to life and the trees finally have their leaves. It is absolutely delightful.


Sameer actually turned in his last paper YESTERDAY so he is done with studying for now. We're taking the day off and going to New York tomorrow to see Conan (a late birthday trip for Sameer). So, if you're up really late on Wednesday turn on NBC and watch the Conan O'Brien Show - maybe you'll see us. Apparently this is our month of fun (or should I say year?). We're going on a little trip to Boston and Martha's Vineyard this weekend! We have to get all the fun in now - we're moving to the South this summer and then maybe we'll become grown-ups.

Romeo & Cesare's

Today after work I walked to Romeo's - the best little corner store in New Haven. They have the most delicious fresh produce, bread and imported Italian groceries. Romeo is always around to give advice or teach people how to pronounce Italian words correctly. Since the weather has been nice I love to walk there after work to buy our fruits and vegetables. I'll miss it a lot when we move - I love little family run establishments.

I heard this from a customer in front of me in line today:

"Hi, I came here yesterday and got some food but I didn't have any money. I don't know if anyone wrote it down or anything but here's the money for yesterday..... thanks a lot!"

One more reason to love Romeo's......you probably don't hear that when you're in line at Albertson's.

Celebrations

On Saturday we went to Pepe's (a famous pizzeria in New Haven's Little Italy) to celebrate Ryan Pue's 30th birthday. Unfortunately Ryan wasn't able to join us. However, he did threaten our lives if we did not eat at Frank Pepe's at least *once* before we left New Haven!



After some amazing New Haven "apizza" we enjoyed a stroll around the lovely Wooster Square park and then had some delicious gelato at Libby's where we also bought some canolis to go (of course). After that we had to walk home again....and while the three miles there was very fun it's not always fun to have to walk another three miles to get home. Especially with a gut full of salami, sausage, pepperoni and bacon.

Time to Brag

I just have to brag about my amazing intelligent diligent husband. He got straight H's on his "report card" for the fall semester. We're definitely putting that one on the fridge. We've known about three of the H's for a while but he finally received his grade for the fourth class just last week. Apparently the professors can grade papers and turn in grades whenever they want. Now we just hope that his professors for SPRING semester turn in his grades in time for him to graduate on May 28th.

In case you're wondering, an H is good - the best, in fact. It was a little confusing at first. His first paper last fall had a big red H on it and we wondered if that was even worse than F but over here the grading scale is Honors, High Pass, Pass, etc......

strange sightings

The other week Sameer and I were walking to an evening lecture when we saw a frantic undergraduate running past us wearing a curly wig and carrying a large plastic cornucopia. A few minutes later we saw another one. Later that night as we were walking home we saw another student standing on the sidewalk blindfolded. We tried not to laugh. It must be that time of year. I think it was actually very fortunate that we didn't see anything worse.

Hey how you doin' ya wanna fried dough?

Boston...what a friendly city. This was only MY second trip to Boston - both have been far too short. I was there for about 3 hours a few years ago with Kasey. This time we were there for about 24 hours but unfortunately my experience was a bit tainted due to a bad throat/sinus infection that led to 9 days of incessant coughing. Thankfully, I am better now. My coworkers no longer sneer at me and suspiciously ask if it's contagious AND I am no longer sleeping on the couch.

So anyway, we had a delightful time once we reached our hotel. (Doubletree in Downtown Boston - my first experience with Priceline proved successful) Reaching it was quite a project though. You see, I had convinced my parents to rent a GPS system with their car. I thought it would be nice for navigating the one way streets in New Haven and it helped me to worry about them a little less when they were driving around without us. It ended up being great. We called her "the lady". In fact, I miss the lady. She guided us all over the place - from Mystic to Newport and home again through the back roads of Rhode Island. She's great for spontaneous excursions when you're already out and can't print up directions. All week she was a tremendous help. Sometimes she got impatient with us when we disobeyed her (every time we missed a turn she let out a half-sarcastic, half-exasperated "Recalculating...") but for the most part we all got along really well. But Boston - (the "walking city") has the most confusing roads ever. Even the lady couldn't figure it out, mostly because a lot of the roads are underground and she gets confused when we go underground. She sent us all over the place and we went through the same tunnel several times, swung around to Logan airport, paid several hefty tolls for roads we never meant to be on and finally found a nice person (who worked in a toll booth) who gave us perfect directions to our hotel. The lady seemed jealous. We put her in the trunk. (Note: I am not endorsing that you always and everywhere put your lady in the trunk whenever she disappoints you).


That night we had the best lobster bisque at a quaint little restaurant. I want to go back just for that bisque. The next day we had a lovely breakfast across the street from Boston Common, went to the JFK library then walked around downtown until it was time to leave. Everyone we came in contact with was SO friendly - at the hotel, at the T stations, on the T, everyone. Our favorite was the man selling fried dough on Boston Common. If you ever have the chance to eat fried dough in Boston do it.

Boston charm. I guess it must be the locals - they convey such warmth and chattiness and it seems to rub off on the tourists so everyone is happy and talkative. (At least it was like that for us) Every time we were on public transportation we were talking to strangers. Two girls on the subway even took our picture. That was a little weird but very funny. What a sharp contrast after having been in Manhattan the day before (there, they are more likely to take your camera). NY is fun but Boston, Boston is charming and lovely and friendly and sweet and I just can't wait to go back. The best part about Boston: the accent. It's amazing. A little of it trickles down to Connecticut so a few of my coworkers have a touch of it but almost everyone has it up there. It's pretty hard for me not to smile upon hearing it. We will be definitely be returning before we move.

Lighthouse Point, New Haven

Manhattan. Highlight of the day: Watching the snow fall gently in Little Italy as we sipped cappuccinos and indulged in decadent canolis.

Can you guess where this was taken?

Last Sunday

Well I thought I might blog everyday that my parents were here to give the family back home a play by play... it was a nice thought. Instead I'll reminisce a bit about the highlights from the week.

Sunday, April 1- we took my parents to our church service. We warned them that our service is a little (okay - a lot) longer than what they're used to at Grace Baptist. The service was great but the sermon seemed to go on and on that day. There actually is a biblical text that captures very well what the experience was like:

"And there was a certain young man named Eutychus sitting on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep; and as Paul kept on talking, he was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor, and was picked up dead" (Acts 20:9)

Just replace "Eutychus" with "Sameer, Whitney, Steve and Sue" and replace "Paul" with "Pastor Graham" and there you have it. After the closing hymn and announcements our pastor came to the front and apologized profusely, explaining that his watch had stopped and he didn't realize it until after the sermon. God had also made the sun stand still for Joshua, but at least they could pass the time by killing some Amorites.

Afterwards we walked downtown for lunch and a beautiful grilled chicken wrap with swiss aroused me out of my theologically-induced coma. By the providence of God, the honey-mustard in my wrap was accidentally replaced with *wasabi* mustard -- God breathed into my nostrils (and sinuses) the breath of life. And it was quite tasty.

We spent much of the remainder of the day at Kohl's and Bob's Discount Store looking for comfortable shoes for my mom. Poor mom - she thought that the nice "comfortable" heels she wears to work would fit in nicely with our pedestrian life. Oops. One day and several miles around Mystic and Newport taught someone a valuable lesson: namely, comfortable heels after a mile feels more like Chinese foot-binding. I actually can't believe I didn't warn her about this. Sorry mom, it's completely my fault!

By the way, here is how we often blog. I (Whitney) write the post and it's really boring. If Sameer is too busy, it stays boring and I publish it. If he has a few minutes, he edits it and gives it his magical Sameer-touch. Given the way our personalities have affected (infected?) one another, it may not be as easy as you think to discern which bits come from whom. But you should still try and guess - it is good practice in redaction criticism, whereby you attempt to use literary criteria to determine layers of editorial activity within texts. Okay that last part was clearly Sameer.

Or was it?

Okay, yeah, it was.

My parents are here visiting us for the week. We went to Mystic for lunch and then ended up going to Watch Hill and Newport in Rhode Island. We thought about throwing some rocks into Mystic River but it was a little too expensive. Sameer had fun frolicking by the sea.And scaring birds.

Because we're car-less in wintry New England.... PART 2

We don't have to dig our car out of the snow today.....yay for not owning a car! The pedestrian life is a lot simpler.

Today was a little weird

Weather.com said it was about 40 degrees today. This was cause to rejoice. It was definitely the warmest day we've had in months. So we left our apartment this morning to go to church and there was this guy wearing only swim trunks and playing with his kids in the courtyard. Hmmmmm. Apparently 40 degrees is sunbathing weather here.

We went to church and enjoyed a great time of worship. After church a bunch of us always walk to a restaurant downtown for lunch. As soon as we started our walk we noticed that there were A LOT more pedestrians than usual. Whole families were out walking their dogs and pushing their strollers. The dogs weren't even wearing cute sweaters like usual. Spring was in the air and the sunshine was glorious. Everyone had come out to enjoy it. Then strange things started happening. First a whole family (mom, dad, 2 kids) walked by us wearing those ridiculous four leaf clover headbands that stick up in the air. OK. But St. Patrick's Day is next Saturday. I tried to pretend not to notice but it was hard not to laugh.

Then we start hearing helicopters and marching bands off in the distance. We arrive at the Green in the center of town and the whole area is more crowded than Manhattan at Christmas time. There is green everywhere. Beer is being thrown around. Dogs dyed green are looking pitiful while children are climbing the walls of the city courthouse. Now everyone is wearing those crazy headbands and all kinds of green accessories. They're selling the stuff on every corner. The streets are lined with Irish flags. People young and old are running around screaming with their faces painted green and there are random tables full of food all over the place. We suddenly realize that we are in the middle of a huge St. Patrick's Day parade. We push our way through the crowds and finally reach our destination. Unfortunately, it's closed. Every store and restaurant downtown is closed for the festivities. We finally walked past the mess and found an open food establishment - Bulldog Burrito, a very Yalie Mexican food place. We ate lunch and watched the strange green people pass by. On our way back to church a couple hours later we ended up walking into the actual marching band head on. This was THE most festive and enthusiastic parade I have EVER seen. I guess St. Patrick's Day is like the biggest holiday ever here. Or maybe everyone was just excited to get free beer.

Because we're car-less in wintry New England.....

I always have an extra pair of socks in my purse and also one in my desk drawer at work. You just never know.

I have stood in front of a hand dryer in a public restroom defrosting my feet. (one at a time, of course) You have to be shameless, flexible and have good balance. Fortunately I didn't get caught.

Along with the socks, I always have a pair of gloves, scarf, hat and ear muffs in my purse. I therefore have now become one of those people with a really big purse. People here call purses and bags "pocket books". I don't understand it - it's not a book and it certainly couldn't fit in anyone's pocket but my huge purse is still referred to as a pocket book.

I check weather.com every day. Actually three times a day. It's very important to know what temperature it is.

We often watch Jeopardy and play Scrabble. We get one channel and we have one game. When we want to have fun and don't feel like getting our faces whipped by the winter wind it's what we do.

We drink Tang sometimes. Yes, they still make and sell Tang. We wanted something to drink other than water and powdered Tang is easier to carry home from the store than real juice.

I own a really ugly pair of boots that are too big for me. I wear them all the time along with 4 pairs of thick socks to keep my feet in the boots. The things we do for warmth.....

Walk home from work.....

Icy Valentine's Day

We're having some kind of strange storm here in Connecticut. It's 17 degrees on the ground but it's above freezing where the clouds are so rain is falling and then turning into ice and we have a mess of snow, sleet, freezing rain and hail all over the place. It's very noisy. The local weatherman Dr. Mel (pronounced "Docta Mel" in these parts) keeps excitedly saying, "It's just an old fashioned Connecticut Ice Storm!" I've been listening to the news for about 20 minutes and he's said this several times. So are ice storms just not popular anymore? Were they more in style 100 years ago? I don't get it.

Being Cold Stinks - But not as Much as Fish Paste!

Just when I thought I was so tough that I could make it through the winter without buying knee socks, boots or thermals, we got hit with the coldest day Connecticut has had in two years. Yesterday all the public schools closed because of the risk of hypothermia and frostbite. Yale, of course, did not close. Walking to and from work in below zero temperatures with wind is miserable. "Mother" nature doesn't seem so nurturing when she's stabbing you in the face. The cold pierced through several layers, a down jacket, gloves, scarf, hat and a hood. We went to a party last night and I (stupidly) wore ballet flats with thin socks. It came in handy though, when a re-enactment of "The Nutcracker" broke out -- who's embarrassed for inappropriate attire NOW? Alas, the bones in my feet are still achingly cold and we got home 12 hours ago. So I searched and searched for cold weather bargains online and found some warm boots on sale from Lands' End for $19.99. I also got ear-muffs; a must-have in New England. I think my ears almost broke off yesterday. If only I could find a see-through face mask I'd be all set - plus it would be easier to rob a bank if the urge ever overtook me. Sameer got a few pairs of thermals too. Now we just hope that our cold weather apparel is delivered before we experience another frighteningly cold day. Fortunately for us it's warmed up now and we're back to our luxuriously "warm" 20 degree weather today.

In other news, our neighbors are cooking cabbage again today. You must be thinking - "That must be quite stinky." Well, it actually smells like Chanel No. 5 compared to the vile fish paste that they normally like to boil. The fumes from our neighbors' kitchen which infiltrate every corner of our apartment on a regular basis is by far the hardest part about living here. We used to stick incense sticks in the peephole outside the door to fend off the angry ghosts of the long departed sea-life, but it just ended up smelling like someone had vigorously beat a decomposed fish against a block of sandlewood for several hours. Candles? French vanilla fish paste. We even opened the hallway windows as well as our kitchen window in the dead of winter in order to arrange a grudge match: Mother Nature's Adamantium Wind-Knives of Shivering Death vs. Neighbor's Nasal Napalm of Withering Contempt (or "Korean Mustard-Gas"). Somebody go tell Magneto - fish paste shatters adamantium like a wrecking ball against a porcelain mouse. Anyway, after mother nature got her face kicked in, we were forced to experiment with various household chemical reactions. We won't bore you with the horrors of the failed attempts, but instead we'll close this post with an odor reducing tip: Q: Are you encountering a horribly noxious, seemingly omnipotently offensive gas seeping into your precious living space? A: Boil copious amounts of CINNAMON in an uncovered pot on the stove for SEVERAL HOURS. Repels the olfactory demons like a stink-fighting charm. CAUTION: remember to check the water level regularly, so as to avoid the spontaneous combustion of your pot and possibly your entire apartment. Don't be put in a position where you're forced to throw your body to the flames -- then the fish paste wins.

Princeton

Yesterday we went to Princeton so Sameer could talk to a couple of professors there. I got the day off, he skipped a class and off we went. We took the train to Grand Central in NYC, grabbed a couple cappuccinos and then ran over to Penn Station where we caught a train to Princeton. It was a pleasant day. Princeton is a very pleasant, pretty, peaceful place. We didn't hear a single siren. It was kind of weird.

Princeton is a very wealthy place. Even the squirrels there are unusually plump.

"Does this branch make my butt look big?"


.......we finished the day off with dinner in New York and then came home very tired with sore feet.

a light dusting

We're still waiting for it to really snow. In early December we had a couple inches one morning (and I saw five, yes five, snow related car accidents on my one mile walk to work) but other than that, it's been pretty mild. Here is the view from our bedroom window yesterday morning.