There’s about to be two Ruane girls in Boston… because my little sister was recently accepted into Northeastern! She flew from California to visit me during her spring break and spent a week living with me and my roommates on East Campus. Of course, I had a lot of schoolwork to do during that time, but I managed to show her some of my favorite places in the city, even unlocking a few new spots for myself!
- Museum of Fine Arts
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I’m no stranger to Boston’s iconic art museum, so I figured it would be the perfect place to introduce my sister to all the great things that city-living has to offer, especially compared to our little beach hometown with limited art access.
We spent a few hours exploring the Egyptian artifacts exhibits (one of my favorite wings of the museum) and the grand halls full of European paintings. I wish we could have stayed longer; the museum is absolutely huge! We’ll have to come back when she has free admission as a Northeastern student, but $27 isn’t a terrible general admission price to pay for the extensive collection the MFA displays.
- New England Aquarium
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This was a new experience for me, and my first time taking the T’s Blue Line—it’s like the Red Line, but a little bit cleaner!
Growing up in California, we’re familiar with the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but Boston’s exhibits are almost equally impressive. At the New England Aquarium, there’s a massive deep-sea tank, spiral-ramp access spanning three stories, and animals such as piranhas, jellyfish, and an octopus.
This was a bit more expensive than I expected, but with a New England resident discount (just enter your BU zip code when you pay), admission cost us $34 each.
- Garment District
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My sister and I are huge fans of thrifting, but this Cambridge store wasn’t one I had previously gotten the chance to check out! I was really impressed with their selection. The first floor is devoted to costume pieces and a massive pile of clothes spread on the ground that you can search through—it’s pay-by-weight, only $2 per pound for clothes from those piles! I found an awesome and only slightly stained trench coat.
Upstairs, there are more curated options, with pieces sorted by type and time period. I loved searching through the vintage blouses and coats, but unfortunately, my super cheap trench coat from the piles made all the finer options seem not so worth it in comparison. My sister loved the selection of vintage windbreakers and found an amazing 90s-esque jacket.
- BU Lecture
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Of course, I couldn’t spend the entire week off campus, so sometimes I took my sister along for the true college experience: to school!
She joined me for two AN101 lectures, an introductory sociocultural anthropology course, which I highly recommend to anyone looking to fulfill Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Research and Information Literacy, or Social Inquiry I HUB units.
This week, we were talking about the emotional difference between “spaces” and “places” with case studies and readings, featuring migration at the U.S.-Mexico border and the harsh desert landscape. My sister is going into Northeastern undecided, so I wanted to expose her to some classes I find interesting!
- Hanging out with my own Boston friends
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Finally, I realized that while she would be joining me in Boston, my plans to study abroad in the fall would leave her without me as an immediate resource as she is settling into her college life. So, I connected her with some of my favorite Boston people!
We hung out with some family friends in Brookline and Cambridge, in case she ever gets sick of seeing people her age and wants a family setting with a non-dining hall meal! In living with my roommates, I hope she has gotten a sense of what dorm life is like and knows that my friends will be there for her in the fall!
Boston is a great place to be, and I can’t wait for her to experience it on her own in the fall!
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