college tour

bean is going to be a senior in high school this year, somehow, so i suppose it makes sense that she's thinking about applying to college right about now (although, having lived without her for an entire year, m and i are in no rush to send her off again on her next big adventure). i took her to boston for a couple of days this week to check out brandeis and tufts, and we had a great time despite the official heat wave we endured.

first up was brandeis, right outside boston in waltham, mass. here is bean (on the right) beside the castle, which is the weirdest building on campus, housing a dorm and a coffeehouse. it looks like it belongs at storyland.
























she liked a lot of things about brandeis, especially their tradition of inclusivity and the influences of jewish culture. we had a sweet, slightly nervous tour guide, and we sweated like pigs. for lunch we found a macrobiotic restaurant in waltham called masao's kitchen where we ate plates of hot food in a space that was not air conditioned. we felt healthy but even hotter.

the next day we checked out tufts, whose mascot is jumbo the elephant.



















bean was very impressed with tufts - our tour guide was really wonderful, the campus is lovely, and she loved how close it is to the davis square t stop. tufts has an emphasis on globalism, international travel, and language acquisition that seemed like a great fit with bean and her interests. she asked lots of questions, and we're planning to return after school starts so she can get a feel for the campus when it's full of students. my mom came along on this tour expecting to be bored out of her mind, but she was pleasantly surprised!
























much iced coffee was consumed. above, iced americano from 1369, and bean with her brand new ipod touch, a gift from my dad!

mom took us out to lunch at the buddhist cultural center, one of my favorite places to eat in all of boston. again, the food is healthy as can be, but it is SO good. below, the lunch special, with the most delicious tofu skins and stir fried veggies and perfect brown rice. bean and i also had bubble tea.
























the next stage in bean's college plan is a trip to chicago with m to tour the university of chicago. she's also interested in checking out columbia, barnard, and nyu. i can hardly believe that in four months or so she'll have mailed off all of her applications.