Inspired by Chef Basil & Does the office of Senator Edward M. Kennedy still exist today?

Hey everyone, What’s up y’all?! I’m back with another bloooog…

So, this week has been very exciting in the sense of all the new things and new the new site that I was working at.

Lil Bro & Big Sis ❤

He wanted to do it all by himself ❤

On Monday and Tuesday I was working at Boston Children’s Museum. Yes, that was my first time working there. My first impression were all those cute babies and the tiny lovely kids running up and down. It’s like you if you enter to this whole new world where everything that surrounds you is laughter, happiness and innocence. It’ll legit makes you forget about your problems and have you with a huge smile.

Tiny Flounder ❤

There, I was doing fishing and touch tank with Kamal, Erin and other coworkers. When we pull up the Crab Trap, there was the tiniest Flounder I ever seen in my life. There was also a tiny Crab so therefore, we decided to name the Touch Tank as the "Infant Touch tank." It makes it easier for us to persuade the kids to hold them and pet them without having the fear of the "big" claws that the regular older crabs has. It was very impressive how the smallest kids would be the ones to fish & patiently wait for something to bite their bate. Some of them made their parents to bring them multiples times, the same day just to use the rods and hopefully catch something.

Fried Black Sea Bass Fillet ❤

Fried/Baked Black Sea Bass ❤

On Wednesday, some of my coworkers and I were cooking with Basil. I was thrilled to see and learn what he was about to teach us. I remember the first time that I met him. It was at Captain Charlie’s  boat where we were fishing. He showed us two recipes on how to cook/eat raw fish which I really loved. I was literally talking about it to all my friends and family that entire week lol. But on Wednesday, it was different, we met in a kitchen meaning that we were gonna actually cook the food. We all introduced ourselves as he was setting everything up. He started to explain what type of fish we were going to cook which was Black Sea Bass, and the ingredients we were going to used to make two different recipes.

One of the things I really liked about it was the way he was explaining what he was doing as he was showing every step. He made eye contact with every single one who was present. He also, let us be part of his creation by allowing us to cut or spread the ingredients around the fish.

I was struggling for real!

Short story: So, as you guys may know I’m a little shy but also I like to be in things, and in this case I wanted to help. So when Basil said “Anyone would like to volunteer?” not even a second pass when I said “Me” without knowing where I was getting myself into. I was helping removing the skin & OMG! That was the hardest thing ever. I even started to believe that as soon I touched that knife something happened to it or the fish that just made it very hard for me to slide the knife. Guys I was literally trying, I put all my strength to it but I couldn’t help it.. That was tough!

That teached me a lesson and is that we shouldn’t take people’s job for granted, it takes a lot if time and dedication to make the job easy and enjoyable. & I could honestly see that Basil, besides all the difficulties that Fishing and preparing it to be cooked can bring, that was something he was willing to do all over again.  He’s enthusiasm and the way he expresses himself when it comes to fishing, can easily defined the quote “ Do what you love & you’ll never work.” & he may not realized it but that’s how people get inspired to follow their dream job.

Senator Edward M. Kennedy Office ❤

On Friday we all went to EMK (Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate.)  Were we got to learn the history of the Senates and also become Senators in training. We also get to experience the steps of voting by actually voting for what best suits each of us. Also, we got to see a replica of the office of Senator Edward M. Kennedy. What I love the most about his office is that the way he’s desk was arranged because it was facing the drawings and photos of his family which I think is the most important thing. At the end we head to the Senate Chamber were we all participated in a live floor and cast our votes. I really liked it because some of my coworkers were able to express their thoughts openly and were heard by us.

This week has been a very fun week were I got to experience different things that will help me later in my future. It gets better and better every week and I honestly can’t wait to see what I’ll be doing next week.

Hope you enjoyed this blog! & like I always say "Stay tuned for my next blog!"

~ Esther ❤

Kids Day Festival!

Happy faces all around

This Saturday I had the pleasure of working at the Kid’s Day Festival at Red Rock Beach in Lynn. Early in the morning Jahari, Patrice, Jennifer, Kimberly, and myself loaded into my car and stopped at the Courageous Sailing Center. Our first order of business for this event was to collect crabs from the traps we have at Courageous. We picked a few lucky green crabs from the traps and took them on a lovely car ride to the festival. When we arrived, we set up a large touch tank with the crabs we collected earlier. While Jahari, Kimberly, and Jennifer were collecting ocean water for our tank, they also found a handful of periwinkle snails, a few small hermit crabs, a small bright green crab the size of a quarter, and a crab who had just molted. I had never seen a freshly molted crab and was very excited to examine his soft exterior. We placed the new-found creatures in a bucket next to our tank and soon enough, the children came rushing in.

Patrice helping a little boy pet the crab

Tiny green crab

It was a very windy day, but the wind could not blow away all of the excitement. There were bubbles in the air, balloon animals floating about, and Disney songs pouring out of the speakers. Because our table was right at the beginning of the park, we were constantly busy showing the kids our cool collection. A lot of children loved the tiny green crab because he was so small and had tiny pinchers. Still, there were many brave children who jumped at the chance to hold a large crab for the first time. Even some adults got over their fears and held a squirmy crab. We had a few crab races on the table and the hermit crabs became bold enough to run around as well. One hungry baby thought a periwinkle snail looked pretty delicious, but we saved the little snail from becoming a snack!

Spiderman and a one-clawed crab

Once we were done at the event, it was time to release the crabs back into the ocean. A few kids volunteered to help us and had a great time saying bye to our ten-legged friends. We also took a couple minutes to explore the tide pools before it was time to head home. Even though this was an event for kids, I had a fantastic time. I guess I am still a kid at heart!

Sea you out there,

Jennifer Leiendecker

Ahoy Mateys!

Ahoy Mateys!

This Friday, I had the pleasure to go to the Atlantic Wharf for a day of fun activities. We were visited by campers and families all afternoon. It was an extremely hot and sunny day, but we were powered and energized by a free Boloco lunch! The activities kicked off with some fun stories with "Tony the Pirate!" After his pirate stories, we split off into separate groups to maximize our time with activities such as fishing, mural painting and touch tanks.

I was assigned to the touch tanks. We set up the touch tank, but the sun was so hot that it was practically boiling the water. We had to place an ice pack in it to keep the water even mildly cold. It didn't work too well, so we had to continuously change the water to keep the crabs alive and functioning for the kids to see. We got to spend our time explaining to the kids what type of crabs we were catching in our crab trap. They were mostly Green Crabs and we got to explain some fun facts about them. Females are usually orange and you can almost spell out the word green on its shell. Despite the hot weather, we all had an extremely fun time. It was nice to be able to do some of the activities I normally do in the middle of the city and not just on Spectacle Island.

Signing off,

Henry

Touch Tank!