The Field Trip

Hi everyone!

Like most of us, I really enjoyed our first field trip. I had already done the duck tour but this was very different. And although I visited a large part of Boston , it was something completely new and different !

Indeed, I did not imagine that the harbor and the islands were so beautiful. This is a typical landscape.

Who has never dream to live in this kind of houses on the sea borders?

The thing which surprised me the most is the island (I’m really bad to remind the names…:S) where some houses had been built for the poor. This was meaningless: these poor do not care to live close to the sea but they want to live next to their job and shops because most of the time they do not have a car.

This trip allowed me also to become aware of the distinct parts of Boston : the Economic center and the industrial center. And it permited to understand the functioning organization of the city.

So this trip taught me a lot about the city where I will live all the year!

See you in class!

Hello, everyone! How’s your weekends?? And a busy week is beginning again!

The field trip has passed for a week!!! But I’m still keeping a fresh memory~

2 weeks ago, when I heard the news of having a field trip, I was so excited and looking forward to it. I have been living in inner land for my whole life, so it’s very excited for me to have a small trip on a boat!

The weather was great~!! But I never thought that when the boat is speeding up, how strong the wind will feel!!!! If you ask me what’s the most impressive thing that day, I will definitely say the wind!!!!

At the beginning, professor Bruce made a brief introduction of the Boston Harbor. It was amazed to me that the first lighthouse of the US was built in the Boston harbor in the early 18^th century. And I couldn’t believe such a clean harbor was once seriously polluted. In 1773, a group of colonists in Boston threw ships of tea into Boston Harbor for officials in Boston refused to return tea taxes. I can’t imagine how hard it is to make this harbor clean as now after the tea party event.

When I just came this city, I never thought there are so many islands around this city. And among the 34 islands, the Long Island really impressed me. To be honest, the reason why I like it the most is its shape! For I have seldom seen a real island, and I always shape an island as a circle. It’s same to that I like Italy, because it’s just like a huge boot step in the ocean.

One more thing, I really love the small villas along the harbor!!! They’re so cute!!! How I wish I could someday live in one of them……away from the noise and stress.

Ok~ it’s too late ~~ good night guys~

See you tomorrow~

Monica

First trip, but definitely not the last one

It was really an amazing class last time and it's also the first on-boat class in my life(As well as the rest of my life,maybe).

The trip was an unforgettable experience which includes a nice breakfast in that Starbucks(The Double-chocolate Brownie there was fantastic), a lovely weather(not like this week), a fancy double deck boat, a series of beautiful islands with graceful or funny names, and a lot of stories about how do all this happened in the history of Boston Harbor.

What impresses me most was the value towards to envirnment and the resolution to completely change it of the government. They spent huge amount of money to clean the water and change the entire harbor from the dirtiest harbor to the clearest. Obviously, all the environment investment have already paid for themselfs. The real estate prospers because of the magnificent seaviews which conduce to the dreamed houses of most people , and the tourism .They all benefits from the improvement of the environment in Boston harbor. Furthermore, the intelligent idea of freezing the land in the "big dig" project really amazed me, it is not only a smart and daring idea but also a big decision made by the government. I think it all comes from the innovation of this city benefits from the advanced educational atmosphere.

I drew a picture about the trip we experienced right after last class, but I haven't find a scanner so far to put it in this blog. So I just drew another one on my laptop and here it is:

Mr. Berman said the next trip gonna be on the top of the tower at quincy market. I believe that must be a quite different view of this city compared to boat tour. So, look forwarding the next trip and hope that will not be the last trip for this semester!

Boat trip, boston life

Hi,everyone.

We all had this amazing experience aboard. I believe the memory would be deep inside everyone's mind, even after 5 years or more. It brought the whole view of Boston harbor to us. Unfortunately, it was too hard for me to hear Berman without a loudspeaker, and sometimes I just have to choose between standing among the crowed people and watching the marvelous city view, such a tough choice.

The whole trip took about 2 hours. We started our journey at Boston Long Wharf and our boat went across the Massachusetts Tumpike Bridge, toured near the Peddocks Island and Fort Independence, travelled over the Quincy Bay then we headed back. When I was at the edge of the boat and stared at the sea and the Boston City, especially the beach houses on the islands, I just assumed that there were a real toy kingdom. The houses were like Legos, while the sea was looked as a really huge green jello. This place is so different from China.

Since I paid my most concentration on the spectacle, I only caught a little information that Berman gave us. I knew that a lot of islands got their names based on their shapes, such like long island, nut island and ragged island. And Berman illustrated us that Harbor was not as clean as what we see nowadays, for sewage caused a lot of pollution and Boston government spent millions of dollars to fix it. And there were many traffic bridges and express ways over the field, hence the government put out the 'Big Dig Plan' to shape the entire view picture of Boston Harbor, and it cost a lot. I think Berman spent these three hours not only just want us to look at Boston from sea, but also to feel the environment and to figure out how this city became so beautiful. I was so impressive by the struggling the government have done.

Suddenly, a sentence rushed in my head, which Berman said many times in the class, and it is ' I love this country and it is the most beautiful country over the world'. If the government always forces on the issues that how to make every citizen more enjoyable lives on more clean fields instead of making the rich richer, the country should be the most beautiful country over the world, shouldn't it?

Above all, I want to share a picture I took. A seagull was standing on the column of t

he bridge and glowed with sunshine. I thought it felt happy, so do we.

Have fun!

Siqi Wang

The Boat Trip! A way to Visit, Educate & Learn

Hi There Fellaz,

How ya doin’? Hope you all had a good weekend!

I have to start by thanking Bruce for organizing this first instructive field trip.

We all had a great time and learnt more about the city of Boston and its history.

For instance, facts like the big dig and the cleaning of the harbor allowed us to develop a more precise knowledge of what are the economic advantages and strengths of Boston city and how those two main events evolved and collided with the economic growth of the city and its region.

Indeed, the Big Dig is a project that revolutionized the urban life and traffic circulation within the city and its suburbs. Where is now what we call the green area there used to be a big highway. This precise highway was a major cause for noise and pollution and literally separated Boston in two.

The project ended up in costing Boston city billions of dollars as the project ended five years later than initially planned. Although, achieving this project has led to immense satisfaction and pride for the Bostonians since and has allowed the city’s economy to fructify the new signs of an upcoming wealth and develop itself in a new tradition of respect towards nature and the environment.

In other words, the Big Dig was a real success and appeared to be one of the most impressive achievements the city had ever made. Literally, they had to freeze some parts of the ground and dig under so that the buildings wouldn’t collapse. This was a grandiose engineering process.

At last, the cleaning of the Boston’s Harbor was another major achievement. Boston was well known for its merchant activities and its numerous shipping from one central point, the Harbor.

Therefore, this created a real need and challenge for the Bostonians. They were facing for the first time massive pollution of the Harbor and economic priorities. But finally the cleaning process begun and visitors and tourists can now come to see the harbor and appreciate fully the view of the 34 islands and its nature.

Since, Boston has officially turned into a much more ecological and pleasant city as of as much for its citizens, students or visitors. This has been a great change for Boston and appears to be nowadays a great example of a rapid evolution of the urban environment learning how to adapt its infrastuctures to the new worldwide ecological priorities.

See you guys tomorrow!

Terence

Boston Harbor field trip!

Hi everyone!
I thought going on a field trip to see the Boston Harbor and area around it was a great experience. I am from an ocean town and I know how much a harbor can mean for a town and its development. I thought showing us the history of Boston outside the classroom gave us, or at least me, a new way to look at Boston for my self and I think it will be very helpfull later in this class.
The harbor is very important in looking at Boston and its development historically. The harbor made it possible for Boston to connect with other towns and later internationally. I remember you telling us about a lighthouse we passed, and I believe it was the first light house in America, and it was the only way ships knew that they had reached Boston and how to navigate from that. Through trade and shipping the harbor set the ground for Bostons economy. Trading of fish, transporting ice, settlers coming in from Europe to settle in the city and because of this and much more Boston became one of the richest cities in that time.
I got the feeling from hearing about and seeing Boston this way that the Harbor and areas around it, is what it is today because of peoples hard work and devotion to the city. Today the Harbor plays a big part in Bostons economy; tourism, real estate, fish, trade, etc.
This trip opened my eyes to see Boston in a different way, not just as a beautiful city with an amazing harbor, but I am excited to learn more about how the different parts of Boston, for example the Harbor, affects and contributes to the community.
I will see you in class tomorrow!

Elise

Wonderful First Field Trip

Hello friends, did you guys have a nice weekend? It was really a wonderful experience for me to go with our whole class for the first field trip. I think it’s a good way for us international students to learn the history of Boston. Hope there will be more opportunities to have classes outside.

Boston’s Harbor has always been a great port for its good conditions and it was once a main source of income for the local people. The early settlement of British made nonnegligible contributions to this harbor. They brought new technology and crops here, and soon made Boston’ Harbor booming. Boston is an economic center of the New England area, but I never knew why. After this tour I figure out Boston’s Harbor may make great contributions to the city’s development.

We went on board soon after Pro. Berman’s brief introduction to Boston Harbor. That was the beginning of the exciting time we spent on the sea. The scenery was fantastic when I was looking around from the sea. And of course it was quit windy on the boat. So exciting!! There were 34 islands on both sides, most of which are named after their shape, Long Island and Moon Island for instance. I couldn’t image how they were different many years ago compared with present. On our way, I saw the airstrip on the left, and the wharf on the right where there were so many containers.

We visited Quincy Market afterwards. Pro. Berman told us that there was once a highway running through this city which was quite noisy and was replaced by the tunnel now. When it comes to the Big Dig, I feel it amazing that this huge project cost too much and wasted lots of time while the Cleaning project was a big success.

I’m looking forward to have more field trips and learn more about Boston!

See you soon.

Junyue Pang

Get your cameras ready!

I love skylines! I especially love the Boston skyline! So I was very thrilled when I realized that there are actually two different breathtaking skylines. There is the beautiful view of the city's skyline from Charles River but now I think that the skyline from Boston Harbor is even better! I'm not sure if there are other cities, which can offer the same... My favorite waterfront building is the Custom House Tower, the 1910's "internet". That tower plus a telescope were all you needed in order to know what ships and what goods were about to arrive in Boston Harbor...

Our field trip began in the Christopher Columbus Park, Boston's first waterfront park. Then we finally got on the boat and we all saw this amazing Boston Harbor skyline. I actually still can't imagine how bad the waterfront used to be before the "Big Dig", because the Harbor is so clean and the Greenway so beautiful, but well, it cost a lot of money, too: project "Big Dig" was finished five years behind schedule and a couple of BILLION dollars over budget. At least it created over 20,000 jobs! Oh, and the best is that the project was financed by federal taxpayers... :)

The second big project in order to improve Boston was the Boston Harbor Project. Much less expensive but also of extreme importance to the city. The project turned the harbor from one of the dirtiest to probably the most beautiful and cleanest harbor in the country.

Here is another before-after picture of the waterfront:

The harbor used to be Boston's most important source of wealth. Shipping was very important. Now shipping is not as important as it used to be, but the harbor remains to be a very important place. Nowadays visitors and tourists come to see the harbor.

While on the boat, Prof Berman told us very interesting stories and anecdotes about literally EVERY island we saw (there are 34, but we didn't see all of them). Too bad that it was very windy and I could not always hear everything. I really liked Spectacle Island, which used to be two "drumlins" (a new word for my english vocabulary!)

To me it was very fascinating to see the 'projects' in Quincy: Housing for the poor by the ocean!

After the boat trip we went to Quincy Market, where our first field trip ended. I hope that the next one will be just as exciting, educating and fun!

See you in class,

Christian

Boat Trip to Boston Harbor

Hey everybody, hope you all had a great weekend.

Last wednesday we all went on a field trip with professor Bruce Berman to the Boston Harbor. It was a beautiful day with plenty of sun, which was perfect cause we were going sailing around the harbor and the surrounding islands.

The trip was very interesting because the harbor contains as many different cultural aspects as it does. For instance we saw the industrial part, the commercial, an old home for the mentally challenged, poor houses, the oldest functioning lighthouse, the airport and of course the newer luxury houses.

It seemed that every island have a story that help shape our and my understanding of Boston as a city.

Besides learning about the the harbor and the islands, we also talked about how this part of boston used to look. Boston has done a great job on cleaning up the harbor. Before this harbor used to be filled with waste and pollute the air with foul smells. The harbor now looks great and is one of the most attractive places in Boston to reside.

Professor Berman also told us about how the green area of Boston used to be big highway divided the city in two and created a wall of noise and pollution. During a big and long process called "the big dig", the Boston city froze the ground so that they could dig under the building without them crashing. This was the first time this technique was ever used, and it worked as intended. As a result of this plan, the highway is now underground and where it used to be is now a green area full of life.

In all it was a beautiful and very informative trip, which learns you a lot more about Boston than any classroom assignment can ever do. The trip has definitely open my eyes in terms of Boston history and which opportunities the city has in its beautiful and unique harbor and waterfront.

looking forward to the next trip. see you in class everybody.

Ps. It is certainly not a problem having more than 70 students on a trip :)

Jesper

From Captain Alisa to my fellow pirates.

What a boat trip guys ! hun ! Windy but instructive !

Captain Bruce told us a lot last wednesday : about the islands and the Boston history ! But who's a better story teller than an 330 years old Lady Pirate! Here is how I have experienced the very old and quite more recent changes of Boston.

The first inhabitants of Boston were native americans fishers. With the pilgrims fathers arrival, it quickly became one of the most important trading harbour in the world. Almost all the english imports to new england arrived by those waters, that's how Boston ended up being the revolution's birth place. Ever heard of the Boston Tea Party ? All those retailers were fearless when it came to money! Trust my pirate's experience, they were tough guys who would fight to death to protect their goods!

We, pirates, use to love all those islands, in Boston Harbour. Pirates love Islands. It's the best places to hide ! I actually left a treasure on Castle Island. Here is the a clue: find the hot dogs !

Today there are 34 islands in boston harbour. All this sea front real estate has been taking worth years after years. Some people still use the islands as a shelter. Really mates can you believe this?!?! We pirates were the first to love those islands ! Who are the thief now hunnn ?!?! Bostonians used to use them as training camps for the fire fighters. They were sending there peoples who had the pledge or the cholera ! They even builted a house for the poor there!

But let me tell you about the Big Dig ! That's impressive. The city is "moving toward the sea" since many years. Indeed lots of wharf have been build during years and years and they started to fill in some sections. Water used to cover the whole quincy market!

Some how they decided to build a gigantic ugly highway witch was almost shaped as the water front. Obviously the city was way less appealing at this dark time! Even for pirate I swear! What a waste of money! Can you immagine how many bottles of rhum we coud have bought instead!
Speaking of what, our pirates lives were misarable at the time. The Boston bay was disgusting. the water was more smelly than me and my crew were !

But finally Bostonians woke up, they have been cleaning the harbour, which cost way less than the big dig ! Big dig was very efficient though. I have to admit, Boston is such a beautiful green and clean city know. I confess that I kind of enjoy my stay out of my boat sometimes!

Last pirate's tip: visit mysecretboston.com and try "la voile" french restaurant....

Fieldtrip

Last Wednesday we went on our first field trip. The main topic was the Boston harbour. Its importance and contribution to the city's economy and the development from a dirty, smelling harbour to one of America's most beautiful and cleanest ones.

Before getting on the ferry, we had a brief historic introduction. Afterwards we took a cruise through the harbour passing by the many different unique harbour islands. Boston's citizens, or who ever named the islands seemed to be very innovative and creative people. These talents are emphasized by the ground-breaking names of the islands. The longest one is called Long Island, whereas the green one is called Green Island.

After we have passed by the tiny pieces of land, we made our way to Quincy, a little city half an hour away from Boston. After several minutes we returned to the harbour of Boston, were we landed again.

We finally took a walk to Faneuil Hall were our trip ended.

Ferdinand

Field Trip

Hey everyone. Did you have a fantastic weekend?

I still feel excited every time I think of the field trip last Wednesday. Hope that this kind of activities will be more in the future.

The trip began with a brief introduction about the history of Boston's Harbor by Pro. Berman. As a city that once was a major shipping port and manufacturing center, harbor plays a significant role in the development of Boston, a harbor city. It was the harbors that brought so many opportunities to Boston. Nowadays, real estate and tourism become more important sources of income instead of trade. And beside the Marriott long wharf stands the Boston Custom House Tower, a part of which are handmade with sophisticated structure.

Turning around, I was amazed by the beautiful view. Unlike other harbor I saw, the harbor here looks clean, with an enjoyable smell of the sea. It has been a long time since I went to the seaside in Han Nan, an island in China and I really missed this familiar smell. Pro. Berman told us that Boston’s harbor used to be stinky because people dumped 280 million gallons of waste per day into the water. There was even a hit song called “Dirty Water” at that time. But the Boston harbor cleanup project came to rescue and represents the transformation of Boston harbor.

Aboard on the boat, we set off finally. Passing through the Dorchester Bay, followed by Quincy Bay, the boat went with the waves of the water. Pro. Berman showed us the islands along the way. There are 34 islands which were used as hospitals, jails and military bases. These days, one of the islands become a good place for kids to go camping in holidays and some become good places to invest in real estate. We were also told about the origins of the islands’ name, for instance, “Moon Island” where police and firemen were trained and the “Long Island”, are named because of their shapes. To my surprise, many islands I saw were part of huge glaciers that was one mile high and some glaciers formed the drumlins.

The public houses near the water were built for sheltering the poor because it was the most undesirable place to live. There were no supermarkets, schools and hospitals—In a word, a place cut off from the outside world. But now, some people are willing to give millions to own house here!

Another big project that cannot be ignored is the Big Dig project, which was aimed at replacing the highway which used to cross through the city to solve the traffic problem. In order to avoid bringing trouble to many citizens, they decided to build a tunnel and consequently, they figured out a crazy idea to do so: frozen the earth. At a cost of 18 billion dollars, ironically, the “Big Dig” cost more and spent more time than the “Cleanup” project. The good thing about the “Big Dig” was it created about 20,000 jobs.

Standing before the Faneuil Hall, we can see the trails left on the floor by water long time ago. Berman told us that three important things contribute to the development of Boston: the human capital, the innovation, and the money of the dead. Again, harbors help a lot by taking smart people and creative ideas from all over the world to Boston.

This interesting trip surely helps me to get better understanding about the history of Boston and the importance of harbor to the economy prospers in this area. I’m already expecting the next trip!

...

Hey you guys~How's your weekend?
The boat trip has ended for like a week till I start now to write something about it.
It was fun, as the first time of my life to be aboard a boat like this. Maybe that's the reason why the memory is still so fresh even after so many days.
Luckily, the weather was good, the sun felt warm and gentle. i was deeply moved when the boat was drove off the harbor. White spray bloomed out from the poop, scattered aside the water. Strong wind blew our girls' hair, with the thunder of the engine, we headed to the sea.
Sailing around the Boston harbor was like walking through the history. Every single detail, the height of the trees, the length of the islands' beach, the light colored sailboats, the smell of the sea, or even the building on land far away, formed into a story about itself.
The cleanup project and the big dig are the two top significant things to remember. No wonder the water could be so beautiful, this huge infrastructure had brought purity back to the harbor, and back to the Boston city.
Bruce said, right after the trip, "Boston's fortune is based on the dead men's money. " It came to me the question that--" Whose isn't?" This is like the cycle of the natural rules. People are making money from the death of others. New things grow upon the old ones. The example of the ice king shows a good example of that. Boston is using this, to build the entire city. We can never stop, making mistakes of excess and manage to make it up after that. It started from the very beginning, from 1773, from the Boston tea party. Maybe only history knows, business is crucial and fair, and all about the pursuit of freedom.
However, when we ported at the Quincy's, everything calmed into peace, especially the paranoid thoughts of mine. The houses aside the coast were really a feast for eyes. They were so gorgeous that when I looked at them, there became a warm spring flew over my body. Still, beyond the puzzle and stress of the city, you can find this kind of place, expressing the meaning of family and friendship. It was the moment when the boy next to me burst into words:" Ten years, I'll need ten years to own a house, to own a life exactly like this. " The man was so young, ambitious and cocky. That is, fortunately, we are so young to dream and fight for the dreams. Suddenly, the "declaration" made him outstanding. Perhaps we can make differences, according to this amazing age. Spray of the poop bridged a rainbow over the sea. Everything seems so pretty, and polished with hope. Maybe only history knows, it would know, what may happen tomorrow.


sherry

First field trip in Boston

I enjoyed this field trip we made all together ; yes it was worth to wake up earlier on this sunny Wednesday. I have to admit that I adapt myself very well with my new lifestyle ; indeed on Sunday I was on the beach in Rhode Island, in Newport, and as you can imagine I can’t expect such nices trips in Paris or in Metz …

I didn’t imagine that the main activity of Boston Harbor was the real estate, in addition to shipping, tourism, and industrial activities. The houses with each their squares of green grass are common here ; why not living on a boat ?

I learnt the megaproject of the « Big Dig » , a 3,5 miles tunnel, which was concieved in the 1970s in order to replace a highway and consequently, solve the problem of the traffic congestion. It’s unbelievable to know about the figures : its estimated cost, in 1985, was $2,8 billion ; its real cost reached $18 billion, which approximately amounts at $8 billion in the 1982 $... The second big Bostonian project was the « Boston Harbour Cleanup ». This project wasn’t financed by the Government as the previous, but by the Bostonians ; it can be an explanation of the speed this project was led ; it transformed the harbor from the dirtiest to one of the cleanest of the country. As a consequence, the Real Estate value varied a lot, and is currently the best investment that can be done in Boston.

A meaningfull data I remember is what makes the Boston story : the innovation, the human capital, and the money of dead ( and rich ) people. Boston was established in 1630 by English colonists; Harvard was created in 1636 ( I hope my memories are good, I read it in an old guide before arriving here … ), thanks to John Harvard wealth, a ministry of Charlestown, who left his library and half his estate to the institution after his death. Even though I’m in BU and proud of it, how not to be recognized when studying in the oldest institution of higher education ? This historic part is to remember that skilled people, european creations ( as well as churches ) remain definitely sources of the expertise of Boston, and still make it strong today.

I learned a bit about the 34 islands in the Boston harbor area, which belong to a National Park. I think Castle Island is not any more part of it, since it’s nowadays connected to the land by a road. What about this Island named Penikese Island, one of Mr Berman’s favourite one? It’s located in Buzzards Bay, and is now obviously primarily grass covered. I read that the state purchased it in 1904 for $25,000 and built a leprosy hospital to isolate and treat all Massachusetts residents with the disease. What a strange story...

The last memory of this interesting trip: when I left, the bare-chested “sailor” on the boat with us, gave me a kiss hand, a glass in his hand ... I think American people are welcoming enough! Thank you Captain Berman.

I’m sure to learn interesting and usefull things about Boston during this semester, by reading some of your posts and ... When is the next field trip?

Field Trip

Hi, everybody. Do you have a fantastic weekend?

Before arriving at Boston, I wonder that why such a city could assemble so many top universities and be a metropolitan area in the US. On September 22nd, Professor Berman gave me an opportunity to recognize this city deeply and think what makes Boston strong.

On Wednesday morning, enjoying the sunshine of Boston, I started my field trip. Living just beside to Charles River, I had not been to take a boat trip to look around the city. It is my first time to visit the Boston Harbor, which is mentioned by Professor Berman in the first class for many times. At the first sight of Boston Harbor, Berman introduced the Boston Custom House Tower to us, which is the most sophisticated building in Boston to contact with others in Europe or India. Then we boarded on our small boat instead of a luxury cruise that is not possible for just 6 dollars. During approximately one and a half hours on the boat, there is a brief introduction to those little islands along our routine from Berman who seems being familiar with every island here and knows the history and interesting stuff relating to each one, such as the name origin of several Islands and the cheapest but delicious hotdog on Castle Island. Those lovely houses on the islands are attractive to me. I wish one day I could have a trip to one of the 34-isaland and enjoy some days there.

Except for the introduction to these islands, Berman let me know the cleanup project standing for a transformation of Boston Harbor. Before the cleanup projects, the water was so polluted that over 280 million wastes were poured into the harbor. Searching on the Internet, I found that there was even a song in 1966 called Dirty Water about the sorry state of water in Boston. After the government investment of 5 billion dollars to implement this project, both the water quality and citizen’s life quality have significantly improved, and Boston Harbor is transformed to be one of the cleanest in the nation even being safe for swimming. During the trip, I also saw some fertilizer plants using for cleaning water which contribute the current clean condition in Boston Harbor.
Another significant project for Boston is the Bid Dig. I can’t image that people can not listen to each other within 5 meters because of the heavy noise from the highway. As a result, there is even no window on one side of Long Wharf. The Bid Dig reduces the vehicle hours of travel and commutes and leaves a green environment for Boston Harbor.

Berman addressed for many times that it is harbors that provide the opportunity for Boston being a central commercial area and a metropolitan city. The shipping from all over the world brings smart people and numerous innovative ideas. They built churches and trained other people forming the foundation of so many famous institutions in Boston, which is the most important source for keeping Boston strong.

It is not only an interesting trip, but also an educational and meaningful guide encouraging me to broad my horizon to recognize Boston.

See you on Wednesday:)

Boat Trip! as the movie.. jajaja

Hi guys!! Ok lets talk about our boat trip… well, I’m here in Jaime’s room trying to write about it (by the way I think it was awesome, I had a great time and I hope we can do more field trips) and I think I need something to drink so my mind starts to work. I’m back here in the room with my coffee and my friend is almost done with the post…

Wednesday 22^nd of September was just the perfect day for a trip like we did. It was a sunny day and we got by the Starbucks in long wharf at 8:50 am. We drank a coffee and we were ready for the adventure.

I remember asking Paloma if she was all right that morning because the last time we took a boat (we went whale watching) one person "she" threw-up all around the boat.

Before going into the boat, Professor Berman talked about how important was the sea for the economic development of the city. He explained us that there was a very important building near Quincy Market because the watch of that building was the most technologically developed in USA. Also from that building they could see boats coming to the harbour before others.

After the explanation, we went where the boat was. I was the third one to enter the boat and I run to take a good place in the front part.

The boat started to go out of the wharf and professor Berman told us about the airport at one side and the boats at the other.

Then we started to see a lot of islands (I remark that they are 34). I remember Spectacle Island (that was taller because they used the Big Dig soil), Long island, Moon Island (where police and firemen use to train)… And Castle Island that is not one of the 34.

I also remember talking about the lighthouse, that worked manually and had a special pattern (Professor Berman talked about 1-4-3 and 30 seconds to say “I love you” if I remember well).

The Harbour was very clean and the reason is because they invested $5 billions on the “eggs”, a machine for keeping it clean.

By the end of our way, we reached Quincy Port (I think it was its name) and the teacher encouraged us to find the fertilizer by smelling.

Then, our way back to the harbour, enjoying the see breeze.

That’s all I can say about my experience on our trip. See you in class folks….

Sameer Mirwani Daswani

Trip to Harbor Islands!!!

Hi everyone!!!

I hope you all enjoyed your weekends as much as I did!

About the field trip we went on last wednesday, the first thing I have to say is YEY! I didn't

get sea sick! jajaja Earlier this month I went on a boat ride to see whales and I got sea sick for the first time in my life, so I was really worried that this would happen again... But it didn't, so YEY!

Anyways, now really talking about the field trip. I was thinking about the maps I saw in American Management class, and where we actually were on the boat, and I drew a little rout of what I think our boat did. Basically we left out of Quincy Bay through the middle of the 34 islands. We saw spectacle island to our left, that's for sure, but what I can't remember is if we say Long Island and Moon Island to our left or to our right. Looking at the map, it made more sense to think that this was our rout. Since the end of the tour was in the water treatment plant (which I looked up was in Deer Island) I guessed that was the rout we took. So there you go, nice trip through the islands!

I've never been any good at writing blog entries because I never know what to say, so I'm just going to say what I found most interesting about this trip. First of all, the fact that the harbor didn't smell bad at all, was amazing. In all the harbors I've been in, there is this wierd, unpleasant, peculiar smell, and it's great that this harbor desn't smell like anything. I noticed this fact the first time I went to this harbor, but I simply found it wierd, I didn't know all the story behind it. Boston's harbor went from being probably one of the most disgusting harbors on Earth, to one of the cleanest, for sure. They used to dump 280 million

gallons of waste per day, that really had to stink! They built public houses near the water because it was the most awful place in town, and now there's probably people who would kill to live in such a place! I mean, look at it! Huge houses, their own beach... it's great! (oh, btw, this is a comment mostly directed to Mar, I'm using the pictures you posted on fb, because I forgot mi camera... so if you think they really look alike... it's cause they're yours! jajaja GRACIAS!!!)

Another thing that I found very interesting was the fact that before, these islands were part of a huge glacier that was one mile high. I can't really picture what this must have looked like, but it had to be increadible. Also, the Big Dig project was quite impressive, how they rerouted the highway completely and made a tunnel. It would have been great to see the before and

after of this project. Besides this, it was shoking to see how much the level of the water has changed during the years. This didn't only happen because of the tides, it was also because they constructed inside the ocean, but it's nice to see how they've left a little line across the city to show were the water went up to.

I've learned many things in this trip, geography and history, and I really enjoyed it a lot. If someone asks me now to name several Harbor Islands, I would know them for sure, because seeing them has actually helped me know the names, due to the fact that several of them are named after their appearance. I hope that the next field trip we go on, is as great as this one!

See you all in class!!!

Paloma

I've changed my idea of Boston!

Hi everyone!

Hope your week end was great!

A lot of times from when I’m here i talked to some friends that were at home and they asked me a loto f times how was boston, if i liked it and so on…

Before wednesday my impression was: nice city, nothing special a good place were to study but i don’t know if i really like it, but than we went on our field trip!

At the beginning i wasn’t happy at all about this trip, i was thinking of a tour of a dirty Harbour in the middle of a city with a lot of commercial boats and a bad smell, and it was definetly to early in the morning for me!

I had to change my mind as soon as i got out from the t: i saw the port and everything was perfect, nice weather i was with friends and was for sure better than every other else class i had till than!

We took the boat and we went around the islands, we saw the coast, the plane landing and the professor was explaining how all this just few years ago was totally different, how could it be possible? It was really hard with such a landscape to even think how did it look like when the sea was dirty!

It’s incredible to think at the big dig, the highway moved, the cleaning of the Harbour, the costruction of a all Island with the land took away for the dig and all the nice houses on the coast changed all the landscape!

In this moment I’m thinking: we really need something like this in a lot of places in Italy, but i know it is much harder!

I really have to thank the Professor (but also the weather that helped a lot…) cause now I’ve got an other idea to tell to my friends about Boston! Is a great city with people that really care about their bay, the sea and that worked hard to realize a better place where to live!

Hope to do a lot of other field trips so that i can learn much more about the place that gives me ospitality in this semester.

See you soon!

Marcello

Hi everybody!

I hope your weekend went great. I came back just a few hours ago from visiting Washington. If you have the chance to go I strongly recommend it, it is a fabulous city with a lot of historic monuments and interesting museums.

Focusing on the boat, our field trip was a great experience that helped us to have a different view of the city. We had a spectacular day, great weather and better company.

We started with a brief introduction of the professor in the harbor. There he gave us a little insight on the importance that the harbor had and still has for the development of the city.

Then we got on the boat. During the trip I was pretty impress with the previous use that the Island had. For example they were used as prisons or hospitals. (It caught my attention that the Shuttle Island was filmed there).

It was also pretty funny the name that the island were given (very intuitive). Long island, Spectacle Island etc.

Further on we learn about how the coastal has change over the time. Real state companies have gown a lot in this areas.

It is quite difficult to imagine how was the city before the big dig and the harbor cleaning. The harbor has go to be one of the dirtiest to one of the clearest thanks to the great investment the Bostonians did. After getting off the boat we walked to the Quincy market. We went through where the old high road was, and we all notice that it was a nice area for having a walk. The big dig was not only expensive but also very annoying for Bostonians, but after seeing the result everyone could say it was worth it.

To conclude it was very nice having a field trip with all the class. I hope we can repeat it soon.

See you all this Wednesday!

Cheers

Maria