Thursday, September 25, Day 13

I started my day as usual with a coffee to go. The American coffee honestly isn’t the best I’ve ever had, but my host mom gets up every morning to bring me one from the nearest coffee shop. That small act of kindness always makes my day. Once, during my stay here in Wakefield, my host sister took me to an event where we had to get up at 4 in the morning and even then, my host mom went to get me coffee. By now, I’ve kind of grown to like that coffee anyway, and I know I’ll miss it.

The weather didn’t really cooperate today. We had actually planned to do the historical Black Heritage Trail tour, but it poured really heavily. Our teachers realized that the weather had kind of ruined the experience for many of us, so they came up with a solution: those who really wanted to do the tour could still go, but there was also the option to head to a coffee shop to warm up for a while. I was completely soaked, so I sadly passed on the tour and went to Dunkin’ Donuts instead. We got some more coffee, hash browns, and bagels, which I’ve become a huge fan of since the start of my visit.

After we had warmed up for a little while, we went to the Museum of African American History. There, we learned about the history of Boston’s Black community, especially during the 18th and 19th centuries. It was fascinating to hear about the role the city played in the fight against slavery and how important places like the African Meeting House were for abolitionists and for building a strong community. One of the highlights of the visit was an AI version of Frederick Douglass that you could actually ask questions to. He would respond with answers based on his speeches and writings, which made it feel like you were really having a conversation with him. It was such an interesting and creative way to connect with history, and it made me think about how powerful his words still are today. Overall, the museum gave me a much deeper understanding of African American history in Boston, and I’m really glad we got to experience it.

We went back to Wakefield a little earlier than originally planned because the weather was still pretty unpleasant, and our host families picked us up. In the afternoon, I had made plans with my friends to visit a place my host sister had recommended called Jordan’s. It’s honestly a bit difficult to describe. At its core, it’s a furniture store, but there’s so much more going on there that it almost felt surreal. Besides all the furniture, there was even a movie theater and a ropes course inside, which is such an unusual combination for me. To top it off, there was also an amazing ice cream shop where I tried a delicious ice cream sandwich. I really enjoyed the whole experience. Even though the weather wasn’t great today, we managed to make the best of it, and the day still turned out to be really fun.