How Boston is different to South Africa... part 1

Some small differences that I've noticed here in Cambridge...

- They have traffic lights (we call them robots back home) that count down when you can walk and when it will stop
- They recycle paper, plastic, etc. in a major way
- There is a lot of waste, packaging is of high quality and everything is wrapped (our broom arrived in a huge box! so unnecessary)
- They have garbage disposals
- They don't have walls (and electric fences, etc.) around their houses
- They have 'refill' vouchers for your cellphone (we call them recharge vouchers back home)
- They say 'all set?' when we would say 'all good/ok?'
- They say that the shop 'carries' the item whereas we say 'stock'
- There are a lot of bicycles (not motor bikes)
- There are parks and play pens all over
- There are emergency/assistance machines all over for pedestrians
- Nobody gives out bank details for EFTs, you must either pay cash or write a check
- Service is great, most people are educated

A higher standard of living

I have noticed that Americans have a higher standard of living than back home in South Africa.

Security is not an issue - there are no walls, electric fences, alarms, etc. Anyone can walk right up to your front door. You can walk around late at night by yourself, it is safe.

Everything works - guess that's one of advantages of a developed country. Public transport is always on time. Online food ordering is the norm. Service is great, they deliver things when they say they will. The postal system is efficient. People are friendly and are willing to help.

Quality of life - all the packaging are good quality. Basic items are of good quality... things are bigger and better!   Roads are constantly kept clean. They recycle. There are assistance machines all over.

So overall, it seems that the US standard of living is better

Our Boston home

 

After staying 3 nights in a hotel, we finally moved into our apartment. Our bed and furniture has arrived. Went shopping at Sears and Best Buy at Cambridgeside Place Galleria. Also had a burger at Burger King, they have the best burgers :) It is tough shopping here if you don't have a car, they don't even have trolleys at the shops - so you have to carry your parcels around the mall and then all the way back home via bus/taxi. I've ordered a lot of things online, which is much easier, and luckily they will bring it up three flights of stairs to us. I also orded groceries online from Stop and Shop, what a pleasant experience, service here is just amazing. They sms'ed when the driver was on his way and again when the driver arrived.

We have also discovered grubhub.com, where you can order food online. We have our favourite Indian restaurant already, they make the most delicious kormas. we have been eating out or ordering in since we are waiting for pans, cutlery, pots, etc to arrive.

Food seems to be bigger, the Lays chips come in 297g sized packets compared to 150g back home. Everything else is also super-sized :)

So slowly but surely our apartment is becoming a home :)

 

 

Hello Boston

We arrived yesterday in Boston. What a beautiful, clean, quaint city.

We are staying at the Best Western Terrace Inn in Brighton for 3 nights while we sort out our apartment. Last night we have supper at a little Italian diner around the corner. We decided to share a large cheese pizza, it landed been 16 inches big! the biggest I've ever seen. Plus they also had extra large pizzas.

Today it is Athol's birthday and we are so fortunate to be spending it in Boston. This morning we had breakfast at the hotel, bagels with cream cheese and omelettes. We then went to Harvard Square, got cellphones, went to the bank and then we bought drinks and paninis from Starbucks and sat along the Charles River - beautiful! It was really hot and humid today and we walked so much. We then went to the apartment to fetch the key. It is a two bedroom unfurnished apartment on the third floor, it has a small balcony overlooking the gardens. It is very basic but more spacious than I expected. Our home for the next year :)

We then went on the T (i.e. this is the name of the underground subway) and went shopping for a bed and some furniture. So a very productive day indeed.

Every where we went today, we had such great service. So far I really like this city

4 days... yikes

Can't belive that next week this time we will be in Boston. Luckily it will be summer there, it has been very cold here in Joburg 0-16 degrees, our houses are really not made for the cold. Am not looking forward to the Boston winters :)

With so little time left we have decided to call off the search for a tenant, it would just be impossible for us now to pack everything in storage. There was some interest, but wanted a 2 year lease or wanted a maids quarters. Anyway, at least we don't have to pack up everything.

Am trying to buy furniture online, seems to work out cheaper if we just buy all things instead of renting, although they have lots of furniture rental companies there. Discovered that we actually need a cellphone urgently so that we can order things for delivery. Luckily we have booked accommodation at a hotel for 3 nights so that we can try organise things.

It is all rather exciting, almost surreal.

This is definately an end of an era, there will be a pre-Boston us and a post-Boston us. This has given us the chance to sort out a lot of things here... closure. We start afresh in Boston, everything will be different, different home, people, food, shops, groceries, brands, etc..... a break from South Africa, the crime, the politics, the corruption, the negativity and our usual routine. A chance to experience something new with my best friend. A year of fun, adventure and learnings.

My life at this point in time is perfect, I am happy and content. I am married to the MOST wonderful husband, I have a good job that I enjoy, we have a beautiful home and I have good family and friends. I have had such a forfilling and happy life, I am blessed in countless ways. If I died today, I would have no regrets. Such a great space to be in. I am truely lucky to be able to take off a year from work.

Good-bye Cape Town

Gosh time is just ticking by....

We were in Cape Town the last 3 days, to say good-bye to family and friends. It is never easy saying good-bye even if we are only going away for a year. Had a lovely family supper at Squires Loft at Grand West, supper with my cousin and her boyfriend at Canal Walk, lunch with a friend at Seluga at the waterfront and a nice lunch at the airport with Athol's mom. Our nieces and nephew are growing up so quickly, the next time we will see them they will be all grown up. We will miss them all, thank goodness for Skype.

Good-bye beautiful Cape Town, for now :) we will be back!

This week we've had a lot of interest in our house, still hoping to rent it out, but could mean hectic packing next week. We will need to make a call whether to keep trying to rent it out or just lock it up.

12 days to go... yikes!

Accommodation sorted with 2 weeks to go

We finally got apartment. Accommodation has been difficult to find. We did apply for Harvard housing initially but we didn't really like any of the apartments that came up in our 2 day window so we decided to try look privately. Little did we know that it was going to be a bit tricky since we weren't there. Also, broker fees are one months rent and accommodation in Cambridge is not cheap compared to what you can get here in South Africa.

We've been checking the Harvard housing everyday in case apartments become available. We saw one 2 bedroom apartment at Peabody Terrace and were keen but 2 minutes later it was gone! We learnt that if we really are interested, we were going to have to book it immediately next time as apartments don't stay available for long.

On Thursday night, I checked the website and behold there was another 2 bedroom apartment available at Peabody Terrace. We booked it immediately! We had an application with Chestnut Hill Realty but the service had been terrible so decided to go with this apartment instead. It is a 2 bedroom unfurnished apartment so we will have to rent furniture when we get there luckily there are many furniture rental companies there. So relieved that we have a place to stay :)