On December 5, some of the ELC Boston students and I walked over to Boston Common to watch the entertainment before the 72nd annual lighting of Boston’s Official Christmas Tree, which was given to the city by Halifax, Nova Scotia. On hand to light the tree were Mayor Menino, Blue Man Group, Canadian Mounties, New Kid on the Block Joey McIntyre, and Santa Claus, of course.
A little Boston history… on December 6, 1917, there was an explosion of a munitions ship in Halifax Harbor. Boston wasted no time in sending a train loaded with supplies and emergency personnel to Nova Scotia. Now the grateful city of Halifax donates a white spruce to the city every year (this explains the Canadian Mounties).
The students walked over early in order to get a good viewing spot. While we were all waiting for the show to start, we took some photos to remember the special night. Luis and Shalimar even brought their 3-year-old daughter Sofia, who can speak English just as well as some of our students. Ibraheem (a.k.a Marley), Carla and Aziz were very happy that we got so close!
The tree is located in Boston Common, just next to Park Street Station, in view of the Boston State House, and one block from ELC. A very picturesque image to say the least. The surrounding trees in Boston Common are also lit to make it a winter wonderland.
Current students as well as former students came to join in the festivities. We always love when members of our ELC family come back to join in our activities.
Umar and Faisal wouldn’t miss this opportunity to meet up with other ELC students. I know that I was happy to see them. Even the guy photobombing the picture was happy to see them!
Maddy’s sister, Eileen, a recent graduate of Northeastern University, even stopped by to take a picture with us. (Eileen never stops smiling!)
And even though we were all really sad because it was Carlos’s last week at ELC, I couldn’t help but smile for the camera!
The evening wouldn’t be complete without a photo of Ahmed Alghamdi, who I like to call, Mr. Oh My Alghamdi! We were hat buddies and needed to capture the moment.
Erika, Boston’s DOC and my co-pilot this evening, and I enjoyed the evening with our amazing students. We sang some Christmas carols, danced a little, and of course, posed for some photos!
At the end of the evening, we got as close to the tree as we could to take a group photo. We had to take some photos of other people so we could take their spot and then ask someone else to take our photo. Unfortunately, we had to ask a few people to take our picture. Surprisingly, in this day and age of technology, some people are NOT good picture takers. Photo tip: when you are taking a picture of a special Christmas tree, do NOT cut off the top of the tree!
Happy Holidays!
