boston

i went to visit my sister at Tufts University in Boston and was reminded again how much i love the North. so the people keep to themselves a little more, but the culture seems so much more immense.

she told me a really cool story about their mascot, this elephant, Jumbo. When PT Barnum (a Tufts alum or something) was touring with the circus, this little elephant stepped into the middle of a train track. Jumbo, seeing the little one about to get hit by an oncoming train, pushed him off the track. the little guy was saved, but Jumbo died. PT Barnum donated the stuffed remains to Tufts/the Medford campus and eventually the Univ. adopted Jumbo as the official mascot.

so for 86 years, the stuffed elephant was on campus and people would come place a penny in his trunk before exams for good luck and the football players would pull on his tail before the games. well eventually the tail fell off and was stored somewhere else. shortly after that, a fire destroyed the building where jumbo was housed. luckily, the real tail was somewhere else (i think)

the ashes were saved and have been passed on to each new athletic coach in a peanut butter jar.

besides this neato story, i also found out my sister is a DJ, makes good grades, has boys pining for her, is super cute, and is very wellspoken.