Graduation Weekend

Wohoo! We've finally graduated from undergrad! Northeastern University was great... but I'm glad that it is finally over. Vicky and I had to do an extra year because of our School's co-op system... so many of our friends have already graduated. I don't think this was a negative thing. My 6 month co-ops were great. I did one co-op at the Irish Immigration Center and another at NU's Office of INternational Study Programs (a.k.a the study abroad office). My family flew in to support me and it was great to see them all. Since we are all spread out across the country, I do not get to see them very often. This was definitely a treat. They also had a chance to meet and visit with Vicky's family. Everyone got along wonderfully. This was definitely a great weekend and NU finally gave us our $200,000 pieces of paper.

We're Employed!

Wohoo!

We have officially beat the stats and found gainful employment before our graduation even rolled around. We will be walking at commencement in May, but until then Vicky is working at the Harvard Business School's Healthcare Initiative and I am working at Northeastern University's Department Of Residential Life. Vicky is new new her department, as a staff assistant, but I've been with my department for four years, since I worked as an RA throughout college. It'll be exciting to see where these positions take us. Neither of us have held full time professional positions anywhere for more than 6 months (thanks to NU's co-ops) and we can't wait to have stable positions that allow us to really sink our teeth in and excel in ways we never have before.

We're not college students any more!

D.C., Irene and Then Back to the Bean

Vicky and I were fortunate enough to attend President Obama's inauguration. It was great and was made all the sweeter because my lovely sister lives in D.C. and works in the capitol's political system. This meant that were able to hang out with family, attend this historic event and get some cushy tickets to a political ball put on by the Representative Barbara Lee (I think that's who set it up... ask Irene for the real details).

We took the bus down through NYC, Philly, and finally reached D.C. We were put up by Irene, in a home filled with strangers. Well, actually there were two homes... and we were in the new one. Irene was actually in the process of moving into a new apartment and was able to find her new one directly across the street from her old. This was great because it meant there was plenty of room for all. We could tell that people from around the country were flooding in for this historic day and the air was brimming with excitement.

We toured D.C. a bit and went to a movie. Then the day before the inauguration, we went to a public concert on the National Mall. The concert was great. At this point (two years later), I can't remember who was present, but I do remember that they were all world class musicians. I believe Willy Nelson, Jay Z, Beyonce, and more were there. They had all sorts of genres and styles, everything from choirs to jazz. It was awesome. Too bad it was all so cold.



What was even colder was the day of President Obama's Inauguration. It was frigid and we were out there for hours. We headed out early in order to get some prime seats. If you've ever been to D.C., you know that the National Mall is huge. Everything in D.C. is deceptively large. To organize this chaos, attendees were separated into color coded groups. Irene got us Silver Tickets which were pretty near the front. I think only two colors were in front of us and one of those colors were the honored guest up in front of the stage. Since we knew our area was pretty big, we decided to get a head start and trekked out right after lunch. Every block closer was a wade deeper into the sea a supporters. There were millions of people present... I think they estimate 2,000,000+ people. As you can see from the photo below, it was like a sea of ants and we were standing just to the right of to the pool near the white house. It wasn't easy to get there, but we did. We had to do battle in the streets and outsmart those around us. We first started on the left side towards the bottom, but backtracked and found an underground tunnel that brought us towards the top and to the right side.

Unfortunately, this is where we hit a wall of humanity that could not be overcome. We were stuck in a exceedingly long line waiting to get through the final check point towards the silver section. In the end, the police barriers were no match for the crowds and the group of people in front us crushed the plastic fence separating the silver from the blues. This was a huge advantage for us and we followed the rush to the front. Awesome. Rock it anarchy! As any good Schwoeffermann, we do love you occasionally. We had a good view for the swearing in and were able to hear everything loud and clear. But we paid the price with our bodies, which were slowly freezing throughout the entire ordeal. When we returned home, Irene greeted us, wrapped in a thick fleece blanket, watching the show on TV. Her snuggly warmth mocked our efforts, but I did not care. It was worth it for me. Vicky was a little more mixed. She was not as well prepared for the below freezing weather and was in severe pain by the time we returned. Sorry love. We even had to give her a discarded blanket to wrap around help her keep what little warmth she had.

We also did a little shopping to buy me a new suit. Irene had procured us tickets to a fancy ball and I had to look sharp. The ball was in the basement of a very nice hotel. They had live music from D.C. godfather of Zouk (a regional sound that is only found in the District). From my understanding, these kinds of balls were taking place simultaneously across the city and while ours was very nice (tuxes and bacon wrapped scallops anyone?), it was not the cream of the crop. While we shook it zouk tunes next to middle aged couples in decadent threads, the Obamas spent his night traveling all around town dancing at 10 of the official inaugural balls.

Back Home, Safe and Sound

Hello Everyone,

I have finally finished all my globe trotting and I am now back in Boston, safe and found. Vicky and I had a great time and we are already beginning to miss the Mediterranean. In fact, she is now convinced that she is Turkish.

Spain was great because we traveled all over the countryside and saw many different faces of that nation. As we walked the sleepy streets of Zaragoza, we were able to explore thousands of years of history and give our Spanish some practice.

Turkey was great because Istanbul is split by rivers and the Bosforous Straight so we took boat rides everywhere we went. It is in the Middle East, Europe, & Asia and a little bit of everything can be found there.

Well, I am back and I plan on finishing up my stories on the blog. Also expect a whole lot more pictures online today.

Ottoman Palace Museum. The Blue Mosque. And the Covered Bazaar.

Hey Everyone.

We just had a pretty packed day and are pretty near exhaustıon. That beıng saıd we wıll keep thıngs breıf. Today we vısıted three hıstorıc spots: Ottoman Ruıns... a great mosque and the Grand Covered Bazaar.

Most of our tıme was at the fırst sıte. It was used by the Sultans of the Ottaman empıre as a dwellıng place and for offıcıal meetıngs. I belıeve ıt was fırst buılt ın the 1200´s or 1300´s and has sınce been expanded and updated to fıt the needs of each succesıve sultan. Sınce the Ottaman Empıre fell durıng WWI ıt ıs no longer used for royalty... ınstead ıt has been converted ınto a museum for travellors around the world to come experıence what lıfe was lıke for Turkısh Nobılıty. The palace was a combınatıon of ornate buıldıngs and beautıful gardens. And ıt ıs deceptıvely large. Some notable exhıbıts ıncluded a buıldıng dedıcated to jewelry and another dedıcated to body parts of the prophets. I thought the most ınterestıng jewelry were the 89 Karat dıamond headpıece and a suıt of armor decorated by a mıx of gold and dıamonds. As for the bellongıngs of the prophets... we were able to see Kıng Davıd´s sword... Moses´staff... John´s arm... and the Muslım´s prophet Muhammad had a number of belongıngs there as well(hıs beard... tooth... and footprınt).

As for the mosque we vısıted.... ıt ıs named The Blue Mosque(because of the elaborate blue ınterıor artwork). Vıcky(as wıth the rest of the gırls on our trıp) had to cover herself before enterıng. Many people were gıven blue wraps to eıther cover theır arms or theır legs. Vıcky just was told to put on the long sleeve shırt she had wraped around her waıst. That was annoyıng sınce ıt was really hot today. I don´t have much to say about ıt sınce I found ıt dıssapoıntıng. there wasn´t a dısplay for us to learn about or tour to follow... we sımply walked through ıt and stared at the beautıful walls. Saddly we have seen a lot of sımılar walls sınce arrıvıng ın Istanbul... so I was not as ımpressed as I should have been.

Next stop was the Grand Bazaar. It ıs essentıally one of the world´s fırst malls. It ıs a vast dıstrıct fılled wıth small shops sellıng tradıtıonal wares that have probably been sold there for hundreds of years. We spent a lot of tıme lookıng at jewelry but Vıcky dıdn´t pıck anythıng she lıked due to the overwhelmıng varıety. I had gone ın wantıng to buy myself a turkısh rug... whıch I dıd. A very nıce one at that. We also bought a couple of ceramıc souvıneers. One thıng about the shoppıng experıence... when we were lookıng around for rugs we were sat down gıven tea and spoke wıth a shop owner for about an hour about all dıfferent kınds of rugs. He was quıte the salesman and I walked a way spendıng more then I had hoped but I have never had an expereınce lıke that before and ıt was defınıtely worth ıt.

To answer my dad´s questıons... yes I have been tryıng out and enjoyıng Turkısh coffees... Turkısh Teas... my new Turkısh rug.... and we wıll soon be spendıng a day at a Turkısh bathhouse.

much love to all

tamu and vıcky