My First Week In Boston - From Delhi to Boston - The Beginning....

Author: Abhinav Bountra

Hi guys, my name is Abhinav Bountra and I am from India. Are you new in Boston, or planning to come to Boston or are you nervous to come to a new place....Here is some of my experience, when I just came to Boston.... my first week in Boston....


My family members and friends call me “Abhi”. I am an International student in University of Massachusetts and I am pursuing MBA in marketing and supply chain management. My closed ones describe me as a vivacious, straightforward and energetic young man. I have been a sports enthusiast since childhood and have represented my school and college for football, cricket, hockey, volleyball and athletics. I love to travel, and I am a big foodie. I like to try, new and tasty food cuisines. My friends Katie, Ryan and Yafeng have already shared their wonderful experiences  and I am feeling happy and excited to share mine😊.

                                                                                                                                                     
Before Arriving from India. I had already asked and inquired about the housing details and related departments from the University. I wanted to live in a safe place, close to the university and wanted to rent an apartment.  After communications from the concerned departments of my University and after going through the frequently asked question pages of the University of Massachusetts’s website, I came to know about useful information about good, safe convenient palaces for students to live near my University. I was suggested the Harbor Point on the Bay apartments, peninsula apartments and few places in Quincy to find accommodations. So, I got in touch with the concerned person for leasing, exchanged a few emails and documents and booked an apartment for myself few days before arriving in US. 

So, once I landed in Boston I had my own place here before hand😊. But the apartment which I rented was unfurnished. So I went to IKEA store, where I found and bought everything I needed, things like bed, table, chairs etc. Assembling these things can be a pain, but if you take help of a friend or two, that will make life much easier 😊, this I can guarantee from my own experience. I also searched and was advised to join some Facebook groups for example UMass Boston - International Students, Desi Student Association (DSA), Umass Boston - Indians. Through the informative posts on the Facebook pages and groups I came to know about the various Indian festival celebrations and events being organized in my campus and other universities in and around Boston. One very important advice .... people associated with some of the famous Indian restaurants and organizations in and around Boston, keep on posting details about latest special priced menus, offers, parties, festival celebrations for festive or holiday weekends. So, I would advice people who love Indian food or want to try Indian food or want to know more about Indian culture and celebrations, keep a close eye on these pages and posts 😊.Most of the universities in Boston, have similar Facebook groups being run by students, student associations and different clubs related to different interests and communities. Connecting and being in touch with these groups/pages will be very beneficial and helpful.

Through these groups one can connect with students from their respective universities, ask important questions, seek advice, make friends, even socialize. The groups helped me find roommate as well. I have shared some related links which were very useful for me.

https://www.umb.edu/housing

https://www.umb.edu/academics/graduate/info_for_graduate_students/faqs/life

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Umassinternationals/

https://www.facebook.com/desistudentassociation/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1389299341348418/

Oops.... I forgot to tell you guys about a very important “subject”- groceries and home utilities. I did my first grocery shopping in Boston from Stop & Shop. For shopping of groceries and home related products, Star Markets, Stop & Shop and Walmart made life easier for me.The prices here are reasonable. You can find almost anything and everything in these stores, be it vegetables, milk, eggs, towels, electric items, batteries....etc. The best part is that you will find many Walmart, Star Market, Stop & Shop and Best Buy stores in every neighborhood in and around Boston😊.
Also through the friends I made here and through some online search😉 I found out that there are some Indian grocery stores in and around Boston as well, from where one can buy Indian spices and related products and cook tasty Indian food. Below I have shared the names and address of some good and popular Indian stores with you all.
1) Little India - 438 Somerville Ave, Somerville, MA 02143
2) Madras Masala - 191 Harvard St, Brookline, MA 02446
3) South Shore India Market - 226 Quincy Ave, Braintree, MA 02184
4) Bombay Market - 359 Somerville Ave, Somerville, MA 02143
5) Patel Brothers -  425 Moody St, Waltham, MA 02453

                                                                                                                                  

For the first few days, I used Uber and Lyft for commuting from one place to another. The cost of using Uber and Lyft is much cheaper and less than the costs of most of other Taxi companies operating in Boston area. But for me, even Uber and Lyft, at times seemed a bit expensive for my budget. So, my savior for the transportation budget and my one solution to quick, cheap and easy to use transportation was “The MBTA” – Massachusetts Bay Transportation Department”. Like Katie and Ryan mentioned, the MBTA here very well connects most of the important and popular neighborhoods in and around Boston and that too at a price of $2.75 per ticket and $2.25 with a Charlie card. So, For anyone who is about to visit Boston, this link will be very very helpful https://mbta.com/

I love to explore and travel. In my first week in Boston, some of the places where I traveled through the MBTA were Quincy, Copley Square, Downtown and Park Street area. It was really good to get an insight of Boston and explore the city a bit for the first week. Boston is a very diverse city and there are many options available here if you want to give your taste buds a treat 😊. There are  many high, medium and low budget restaurants and a variety of cuisines  – Chinese, Indian, Korean, Thai, Mexican, American…...the list is long You must be thinking…...Which are the other popular places to visit in Boston? How I felt after visiting these places? what can be done there? Me and my friends will be sharing useful and interesting information with you all in our upcoming blogs. Stay tuned ....😊