New England Aquarium

Dan and I finally used the free passes to the aquarium that Uncle Jon gave us months ago. The tanks and animals were relaxing, and while there were a fair amount of families it wasn't too crowded. It was fun just to relax and forget about grad school and job hunting and all of that for a bit.

Outside the aquarium was an enclosure for harbor seals. 

Penguins! They had three different types of penguins on display in this open tanks that you could look down into. We got there just in time to see the staff feed the little guys. The whole aquarium smelled like sardines as a result, but the way the penguins begged and wagged their tails was just adorable.

Here the rockhoppers live up to their names, jumping up on the rocks to get close to the sardine man.

This African penguin watched everyone suspiciously from his perch.

While these guys just begged for fish.

The blue penguins are the smallest penguins in the world. They wagged their fat little tails and cried because they could hear the announcer talking about penguins, but it wasn't their time to eat just yet.

So tiny.

 So cute.

So tired from all the begging.

Jellies

Tropical fish tank

A rockfish

 This shark was quite interested in Dan

 He kept swimming by and checking him out.

Octopus in another tank

 

Googly eyes 

The aquarium is basically a large room with ramps circling the central tank. At the top you can look down into the tank.

This is Myrtle, their green sea turtle who is at least 70 years old and weighs about 500 pounds.

She'd had her protein earlier, but it was time for her leafy greens. As soon as she saw the platform come down she swam up for dinner.

This was a northern fur seal that decided it was time for some attention. This picture isn't that great because of the glare, but look at his cute little face.

He was very itchy. One of the employees said he is molting.

But he also seemed to like posing for all the tourists.

A little squid. 

Cambridge Carnival

September 13th I went down to the Cambridge Carnival with some BU friends. Every year African, Afro-Caribbean, and Afro-Brazilian immigrant groups in Boston get together to celebrate their heritage, eat tons of delicious food, listen to great music, and hold a carnival parade.

The band up on stage was an all female Haitian group. Though I'm not sure they were all actually from Haiti.


At the front of the parade were Panamanian girls in their traditional dresses.




Then came the huge headdresses that reminded me of Mardi Gras Indians.

This first girl was soooo tired by the time she came to where we were at the end of the route.


Her friend helped her carry the outfit when he could


But she was a good sport and took pictures with anyone who wanted. These two Japanese girls obviously weren't part of the festival but the juxtaposition of cultures made for a great shot.


Close up of some detail work on her outfit.


This guy kept dancing suggestively and pointing to Cedony. She made a friend.



Some more beautiful outfits. I don't know which country they represented so I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.






















And lastly, I have to give this older lady props. That headdress looked heavy and yet she was still trucking after walking the whole route.

Demolition Derby

Over Labor Day Weekend, Aunt Kap and Uncle Jon took Dan and me to the Hopkinton State Fair to see our first demolition derby. Now, Aunt Kap and Uncle Jon go to a demo derby every year so they are old pros, but Dan and I had never been. The fair was much like any other country fair with greasy fried delicacies, games that may or may not be rigged, and lots of interesting people watching. The demolition derby was in a dirt stadium set apart from the midway. The field was long and narrow with bleachers along its length for the mobs to cheer and jeer the competitors. A truck drenched the field in water before each match, creating a muddy mess for the fight. A line of brightly painted yet dented and rusted cars made its way into the arena to the excitement of the crowd.



These redneck bulls lined up along the edge of the field, roaring their engines and expelling puffs of smoke to intimidate their competition. Tension mounted as the time to begin grew near, and finally the announcer had the audience count down to start. As the crowd shouted "GO!" the cars took off with a rumble, and began their manic mission to smash into one another over and over again until finally theirs was the only car left.





Three rounds eliminated many of the painted heaps until finally there were only the top four from each heat left. They limped into the field for a final fight, smoke at times clouding their movements and bursts of fire erupting alarmingly from their engines.



In the end, only one gladiator remained, but to the disappointment of the crowd it was number 28 who had earned his disrespect for his cowardly actions earlier. The audience called for his head, but there was nothing to be done and we filed out and made our ways home.