That’s it! My first week in Massachusetts has come and gone!

It’s so strange, to already be a week through this assignment, but yet have twelve more ahead of me! Mentally, it’s a struggle to find the balance between “I just got here” and “I’m ready for what’s next”.

My living situation with this assignment is by far the most interesting (and has panned out to be the most exciting!) out of the three I’ve done so far!

My Airbnb is an apartment, which I share with a woman named Jia! She is a researcher, a doctor from China, and a business woman! Her side gig is giving lectures and demonstrations about the tea from her hometown in China!

She is a fellow lover of traveling and experiencing new things, so when she invited me to tag along with her to a cooking class the day after moving in, I was SO game!

What did we learn to make? Homemade pasta and sauce!

Cooking/baking has always intimidated me, and I probably take it a little too seriously (as this picture may portray), but by golly, this class made the complexity of food science so much more fun!

(Not that it was a competition or anything, but the chef teaching the class said that I had one of the best doughs. Just saying.)

We also had a friendly competition going to see which team made the best pasta sauce. The three teams had different stages of sauces, ranging from practically made to just tomatoes. It was fun trying to find a balance in flavors and using different ingredients to do so!

Later this week, Jia had friends over and invited me to join in on the festivities! At the end of the evening, she gave us an impromptu tea lecture (which really stemmed from me asking all sorts of questions).

This is a tea cake one of Jia’s friends gave her! The tea is packed into a disk and then broken off whenever one wants a cuppa!

Jia had a great story behind this pot. It was made in her hometown and painted by a local artist. In the process of baking the clay and art, oftentimes pots crack under the heat. This increases the value of the pots that make it through the baking.

Friday night, one of my best friends and I drove to Newport, Rhode Island for a concert of a musician we go way back with.

Marie and I have known each other since our sophomore year of high school and have been close ever since. She moved to Connecticut for grad school, so when I found out I got this assignment and that she’d only be an hour’s drive away from me, we both kind of freaked out.

We first saw Rusty Clanton on a weekend trip to Nashville back in 2015. Since then, I’ve seen a concert of his in Columbus, but it was a sweet thing to be able to enjoy music with someone else this time.

Riley Moore is touring with Rusty, so we got to be introduced to a new voice and songs to fall in love with.

My favorite songs of Rusty’s are “Novels”, “Socks”, and “River and Spout”. I suggest you take a listen if you’re on the hunt for some good tunes.

Saturday, Marie and I explored Newport. We ate at a fun little restaurant called The Hungry Monkey (and who should we cross paths with but Rusty and Riley!)

Afterwards, we walked along the infamous Cliff Walk. Honestly though, Marie and I spent more time enjoying the ocean views than the extravagant houses. That’s just who we are.

Marie has an affinity for artistic expression, one of those being photography. This weekend, that came out in a few unassuming candids.

I cant say my eye for photography was quite as well-translated.

There’s so much yet to do and see and I’m quite ready for it.

Here’s to gaining a few more freckles, making memories, and seeing a part of the country that’s a stranger to me.