Playing Catchup

Yesterday I walked around the Longwood/Fenway/Brookline area. Before that, however, I went over to Emmanuel College's Cardinal Crushing Library (such a terrible name!). The library is very different from U. Grant at WJ, besides the "duhhhhh" response, "of course it is going to be different Dave, they're two different schools." The Library here is very large and very spacious, but it doesn't have a lot of books. I feel like it might have the same amount as U. Grant but it is probably two times the size! So you're probably thinking what is in it then? Well there are some books, but mainly air. It has a huge open space that takes up two floors of the building. This open space makes the place claustrophobia friendly, but not noise friendly.

Picture this: You enter the Crushing Zone, it's quiet, the cool library air is absorbed by your nose. You have an itching feeling to run to a small desk and hide away until some obscure hour of the night, where then you will emerge victorious in your battle against a term paper...ok ok...so forget that last part but still going along with that image of peace and quiet, you ascend the stairs to the second level of the library and take a seat at a large table on the balcony like portion of the library. You open up your backpack and pull out your Macbook case. Then you rip open the velcro flap...BAM...the walls rattle, bookcases fall over, the windows break, and women run screaming for their lives. It may not have been that dramatic but it was damn close. Every move I made, every key I hit, every shift in my body made the loudest noise. At first I thought I needed to be more quiet but then I realized that this problem plagued everyone. I suddenly was included in a conversation between two women downstairs (so what if Molly was mad at Susie...why did I care?) or how I suddenly became a member of the guys finger tapping band two tables down. 

After spending a few hours in the library reading over critical articles on Wheatley and replying to emails that I had forgotten about from when I departed PA, I took a walk around the area. I spotted a food truck (finally I get to try one!) and decided that I would give it a try on my way back however they were gone by the time I returned. I was amazed at how many people were on the streets. It was around 6PM and I was standing at the crossroads of Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, so I shouldn't have been surprised. It had finally cooled off here so the exploration was really nice. 

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Today I walked to the Massachusetts Historical Society on Boylston Street, which isn't too far away. I think it took me about 15 minutes to make the trip but it was a great chance to see more of Boston. Something that I stumbled on that I thought was really cool was in the middle of all the traffic and high-rises was a communal garden. There were all different kinds of plants too! Some spots had vegetables while others had flowers. It seemed so peaceful and a great chance to beat the stress and congestion of the city-life.

Not my picture... but here's a picture

The MassHist (as I will refer to it) reminded me of how Fort Knox is portrayed in movies and on TV. I was buzzed into the building by a larger man seated behind a wooden desk surrounded by security camera screens. In his possibly German or Swedish accent (it was not a Boston accent) he asked me my reasons for visiting...I froze...was I in the right place? Had I entered the building to the Boston Mafia...I blinked rapidly and blurted out "Research?" He smiled and asked me for my basic information so he could print me out a name tag, which I had to wear AT ALL TIMES.

Then I preceded to a litte room off to the side and filled out a dense amount of paperwork...name...address...college...research intentions...etc...etc. After that I walked down a long glass corridor to another woman who briefed me on the system and how to ask for materials. Long story short, unlike other libraries this one has closed stacks meaning that you have to fill out a call sheet in order for a librarian to go to the stacks (wherever their hidden location is... in a vault beneath the floor?) and get the materials for you.

Today I reviewed the list of materials I was interested in looking at and read some information that I already had online. This is in preparation for actually asking for materials since you have to know exactly what you are looking for (I did but I was for the most part getting accustomed to the building/procedures).

As I went to leave the woman who took my badge asked, "And when will we be seeing you again?" I smiled and said, "Well I'll be here for a month, so you'll see a lot of me." She laughed and seemed very excited for my return.

Tomorrow I am going to attempt to board the T and take the green line to Government Square which is in downtown Boston. I definitely foresee a good story coming out of it!

Lesson of the day: Let people walk in front of you when crossing the street; they are a good indication of what lies ahead!