Christmas in Boston

I’ll begin this post by sharing something I wrote last week but forgot to post.

Yesterday I got on a plane again, this time coming to Boston to spend Christmas with Jose’s sisters. This is a new experience because I don’t think I have ever spent Christmas away from home but it will still be very puertorrican since we will be five puertorricans. I do feel very much at home because Jose’s sister is making us feel very welcome; I have my own room! I know it’s only for four nights, but still it’s very nice.

The main difference from being here and in Puerto Rico, so far, is that it’s really cold here! There was still some snow on the ground from a few days ago and it started snowing this afternoon. Snow is nothing new to me, I spent four years in one of the snowiest universities in the U.S., but that was years ago and I haven’t seen snow since my last winter there five years ago. If I survived four winters in Syracuse, New York, I think and hope I can survive four days in Boston.

We were planning on going to Boston this afternoon after lunch to walk around and see the city but changed our minds when it started snowing. We would rather try to go tomorrow when it’s supposed to be warmer, not warm, just less cold. I’m hoping it is so we can go see it because if I remember correctly it is a very nice city. Also I have never been there for Christmas so I’m just curious.

We have enjoyed taking selfies while we freeze outside, all bundled up in our coats, scarves, jackets, gloves, and boots. I thought spending two months in Florida, where it was colder than Puerto Rico, would help me get ready for this weather. I was very wrong, 49 degrees in Florida is nothing compared to 22 degrees and snow in Boston.

There is still more to experience on this trip, like seeing how it’s really dark outside at 5:00 p.m. I guess I really didn’t remember much about winter, just snow.

I wrote all that on Friday morning, before we did anything. Our plans later changed when it started snowing and we changed our minds about going to Boston. That was ok because we went the next day, from around 10 am to 6. We noticed how there weren’t that many people around and spent all day wondering why not even the stores were crowded, the weekend before Christmas.

We finally came to the conclusion that we were the only idiots who didn’t know or care that there would be ice on the ground. The ice made it pretty difficult and scary to walk, no one wanted to fall; I’m glad to say no one did.

The next day went to see the beach, not for swimming because we didn’t want to get hypothermia, but just to see the beached in New England. We also visited places like Salem and Marble head, where we did a little exploring as we walked around town. My favorite part was walking inside places to get out of the cold. It’s funny because the first time I visited New England was 2002 or 2003 or sometime around then, in the summer. My experience then was the complete opposite of this; first of all that was in the summer and second there was a heat wave. I remember the day we went to Boston and the Rest of New England was over 100 degrees. I was definitely seeing Boston with new eyes this time.

Finally, I woke up yesterday to my first ever White Christmas. I looked out the window and saw the whole yard looking like it was covered in marshmallows. I had forgotten how pretty it is no see the ground all covered in fresh, clean snow. I was afraid to go out because I didn’t know how cold it was but after lunch I joined most of the family on a hike around the woods next to the neighborhood. Most of us were camera ready to remember how beautiful it all was.

We also had the good company of the family dog, Cisco, who looked like a total pro in the snow.

That dog was having the time of this life running around the snow. I think we all caught a little bit of his happiness because even those not used to the snow has a wonderful time. And when I thought that was a nice end to a perfect weekend, on the way to the airport, our hosts drove us around the city to see the Christmas lights. So festive and beautiful, it was the perfect end to a great weekend.