By amrawi
What was supposed to be a college road trip to Boston, soon ended up in an under-snow mission against “ finding nemo”. With the new blizzard called “Nemo” cornering in on New England, we had to put on hold our various plans of duck tours, boat cruises and walks down the freedom trail.
Having booked our trip over a month ago, we were determined to make the most of it. With an eight-hour train ride and a diverse group of exchange students we were ready for whatever “Nemo” had in store for us. Of course I was a little too excited and didn’t understand why everyone was worried about the snow. But little did I know. Nemo you are lost, I don’t even see you. With the sun shining bright, and whole day of sightseeing ahead of us, we were very excited to see this college town. 
The first stop out of the train, was to head to the Quincy Market; the first open market in America. It was absolutely lovely; with different food options and deserts, the nine of us were running around each point at a different food stations. Well can you blame us? After an 8 hour train ride, I bet you would be hungry too? After observing the locals all enjoying seafood soup and shrimp flavored bread, I decided to settle for nothing less than “Boston Chowda”; voted Bostons' best clam chowder for 2 years in a row. And after enjoying the Calm chowder, I would definitely give it my vote! Absolutely amazing, and this coming from a Middle Eastern girl who her family is obsessed with seafood, you bet it was tasty!
After spending a little too much time there we then decided to take a trip down little Italy. Wi
th the three Italians traveling with us, they kept reminiscing at the various Italian deserts and coffee offered down this street. “OMG! Cannolini, that’s the national desert of Naples, Italy” yelled Dilletta, an exchange student from Italy. This waffle crusted chocolate chip roll was something I had never had before. Very crispy and really hard to eat! After little Italy we decided to rest a bit and then go have a nice early dinner at Mother Anne’s, so that we were ready for our long day tomorrow.
Okay Nemo I think we are close. A little bit colder, and more layers to add on, Harvard make room for us we are coming in! With loud noises and excitement we stepped into what is known as one of the best universities in the world. “4.5 GPA, 2200 SAT score and president of the Chess club, that’s how I got In” explained Jordan, a freshman at Harvard. So I guess that’s what it takes to get in Harvard! Anyone make the list? Honestly it was a beautiful campus but it was just missing something, to me it seemed pretty haunted. If there is one thing you have to do at Harvard apart from talking to the genius students, it’s to rub the left foot of John Harvard; the founder of the university. It has been said that with a little rub, good luck would be coming your way. 
With a trip down Harvard square, and mingling with the students in hopes of getting a little smarter, we were now off to do some shopping! Newbury street, our new favorite shopping destinations. With endless amounts of stores and restaurants it literally took us the rest of the day before we were ready for dinner. While waiting two hours to get seated at Joe’s American Grill (one of the best restaurants in town), a 35 percent off definitely put a smile on our faces as we left this delicious restaurant!
Nemo. We found you. Snow, snow and snow. I know now why Americans dread the snow. I understand, I really do. With heavy winds and snow smacking our face, it truly was not a pleasant feeling in the morning. The wind was so strong that we kept losing our balance. “I am Mediterranean! I am not made for this kind of weather” yelled Dina, an exchange student from Egypt. Our third day pretty much consisted of us trying to ease our way across the dense snow and winds and trying to keep warm. Adding the rest of the layers didn’t help, with -9 degrees Celsius, nothing was going to help. Thank you Nemo for not letting us go on the duck tour or go to the freedom trail. Payback will be soon.
At last we were back to DC, now when 1 degrees Celsius seems “warm”, then you can imagine what Nemo was all about. Despite Nemo and the coldness it was great seeing Boston and be able to see the difference between a college city and densely political state.