If I were to do it all over again, I would try to get into Harvard. It is just a place to be. You can sense it in the buildings, the campus, the people. It is radiating with academic spirit, research, diversity and comradery. It must be invigorating to be part of this. I have been following Harvard on Instagram for a while in the past and the portraits they show of their students are outstanding. Their individual talent and self-confidence are of unique nature it seems.
We spend an entire day at Harvard, after having arrived in Boston later the previous night, right at the edge of Cambridge to Somerville. Again, we have opted for an Airbnb accommodation and the maisonette apartment which will be our home for the next 36 hours is just charming. From the terrace, we have a view on Prospect Hill, where the first American flag was raised during the American Revolutionary War.
Our below neighbors Kenny and Casey are most welcoming and give us a tour d’horizon of the neighborhood and of what to do on Harvard Campus. Kenny is the “Harvard local” as he is enrolled in the museum studies program there, while Casey works as director of enrollment at Holt University. A lot of brains on the terrace.
Our main destinations are the old Harvard Campus around the Harvard Yard as well as the Museum of Natural History and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology. We find both museums to be probably the best we have seen so far on our tour. The impressive collection is intimate in size so that you do not get lost in the magnitude of offer. At the same time, the industrial style architecture of the museum building with a lot of cast iron elements in the staircases and the ceilings sets a unique aesthetic framework for the exhibits.
We start with the Museum of Natural History. The children draw countless sketches of pieces they particularly like, be it in the paleontological section or the various animal sections, mostly organized by regions of the world. We forget time and space around us as I follow around Leo while Juliane accompanies Oda, until we switch later. Two little biologists at work creating special memories for all of us.
Hours later, we realize that we are hungry and thirsty, and decide that we will just rush through the Peabody Museum, but what another marvel this is. Especially the part on Native Americans in our perception is very well composed and presented with a high degree of differentiation and sensitivity. And here we are again, dealing in silent observation with the most difficult and challenging topic for us on this trip. It is somewhat comforting to see this exhibition at the end of our tour, as we felt from various conversations we had around the country that with few exceptions, there appears to be just as little awareness of the issue as willingness to deal with it in a profound and critical way.
Thank you, Harvard, for an inspiring day on your premises. It is not difficult to see why you are the number one on your quest for truth. We hope to be back.
