Waltham - Exotic and Patriotic!

I had never lived on my own with my little boy before, having spent the first 3 years of his life sheltered by my parents. It was scary for a bit, but when I finally found my groove of juggling him and 5 hours of statistics homework each night, I began to relax. Not really. But I got by with a little help from my friends.

One girl and I made up the "Appalachian Power Team" in our small class of 30 students. Except she was actually from suburban DC. But, we did bond over that sort of common shared regionality and a love of Marlboro Lights. We would venture into Boston for a trip to the MFA or to Concord to frolic around Walden Pond. This helped put things in perspective.

My boy started pre-school and half the kids were from other countries, which was awesome--especially having come from 99% American-born Caucasian WV. My neighbors across the hall were from Sri-Lanka! There were 3 Indian restaurants down the street from me! I reveled in the new-ness of it all. I became more cosmopolitan through osmosis.

There are signs all over Waltham for things like: George Washington slept here, or Paul Revere ate here. They're totally unassuming metal signs and nobody notices them (I think) except me! Houses have little signs saying when they were built (1700s, 1800s!)

The sheer history surrounding me makes me feel important. You can feel the ghosts here.