Boston Trip
Mood:  happy
Ok so I didn't mention it before I went but I spent this past weekend in Boston meeting up with a bunch of trans women I know. Obviously we didn't want random people showing up, hence the silence but it was a wonderful weekend. So many good experiences and I finally got the chance to meet a lot of good friends who I had previously only known via the internet and the phone. So the following is roughly the events that occurred in a chronological order. This may take a little reading to get through. Oh and if you were there and I don't mention you, my apologies.

Friday, August 20th
I'm currently in the middle of a rotation at school where I tend to get out around 5:00 pm. This definitely wasn't going to work since I had nearly an 8 hour drive (according to yahoo) to get to Boston and I was hoping to get there in time to at least meet a few people before I passed out. So I slipped out around 3:00 pm ish and rushed home to change (boy to girl mode) and finish packing. Now I had done my best to pack everything on Thursday but all night I kept remembering more things I wanted to take with me so I had a sizable list to cram into my bags when I got home. I had planned on getting out of the house around 3:30 and being on the road but time goes so much faster when you need it most to go slowly. So by the time 4:00 pm rolled around and I had only 3/4 packed and was trying to fix my makeup for the 3rd time I just sat on the floor in the living room (surrounded by everything I hadn't packed yet) and started crying. I think it was more the fear of spending a whole weekend as myself and meeting lots of new people and frustration with not getting off on time that triggered it, but poor T* didn't know what to do. So she gave me a big hug to stem my emotional outpouring (thank you estrogen) and started cramming things into my bags. Of course crying did wonders for my mascara so T* dragged me back into the bathroom and fixed everything. No idea where I would be (or how late I would have been) if it wasn't for her. She's truly my rock in all of this transition madness.

I managed to get on the road by 4:30 pm and for a while things went smoothly and uneventfully. Now it's not that this was my first time out in public in my correct gender, but it would be the first time I was going to spend several days straight as such. On top of that, because we'd be at a hotel, most of our time would probably be spent at restaurants, sightseeing, whatever (ie out in public) so I was more than a little apprehensive about the whole trip. I got a call from Reise (my roomy in Boston) about 2 hours out of Boston (around 8 o'clock) and found out I'd be meeting her and a few others at the T station (fitting :-P). Of course shortly after I got off the phone with her I got caught in a torrential downpour which delayed me by almost an hour. Finally, around 11:00 pm I pulled into the parking garage and found a spot on the very top floor. I called Reise back and found out they were in the basement of said parking garage which turned out to be the last stop for the T (not to be confused with T*). Very convenient. So I grabbed my bags, gathered what confidence I could and hopped on the elevator.

To be honest, when the elevator doors opened I was more than a little petrified. Here I was meeting people who I had become very close to through the internet, who I had formed friendships with and had gotten to know very well and who I had never met and had no idea how we would mesh and OMG I'm so much more shy in person. Everyone was so great though and the enjoyment of meeting them overshadowed my anxiety enough to keep my legs working until we got on the T. At least in my defense I had been out as myself for just a fraction of the time most of the others had. Infact, more than a few were already fulltime (give or take) so that's my excuse :-P Eventually we got to our stop and made our way up through the station to the street and our hotel.

At the bar in the lobby were a bunch of others that we were there to see but we ducked by quick and made our way up to our room for the evening. I wasn't ready for any more meet and greets and it was getting late already. Reise had been there for most of the day so she changed quick while I unpacked. As luck would have it, we ended up with a room right next to Jayne and Jess so I finished unpacking, changed and we headed next door. That first night we just spent some time chatting and I spent a lot time just sitting and taking it all in. I tried to be chatty but I was still overwhelmed from my long day and everything else so I ended up being pretty quiet. Not to mention my voice is still borderline mediocre to poor. Didn't help much.

Saturday, August 21st
The next morning we tried to get up and get ready early but two girls and one bathroom ended up slowing us down a lot. Eventually we made it downstairs and met a lot of the other women who were there. It's surprising to meet people that you have preconceived ideas about from your interaction with them online, very enlightening. We ended up splitting off into smaller groups with an agreement to meet back at the hotel around 7:00 pm ish to go to dinner as a group. I got a chance to wander around the Quincy Market area with Reise, Jayne, Jess, Megs and Kaitlyn (plus various others who popped in and out) for most of the morning and afternoon. It was great to hang out with other people my age with similar things going on in their lives. So much fun. It was rainy all day so we spent time running in and out of buildings to avoid the intermittent showers but it didn't dampen things. Eventually we wound up at a mall because Reise needed to find a strapless bra for the next day plus it's just fun to wander. She found one in Vicky's (which didn't work the next day, lol) with a little time to spare so we could get back to the hotel before dinner. Well, when we got back to the subway station near our hotel it was pouring and of course none of us were smart enough to bring an umbrella. We made a quick run for the hotel but we ended up getting totally soaked by the time we got there. Most of our group ended up grabbing the first elevator up but it was too crowded for all of us so Reise and I took the next one. Just as the doors were about to close an older couple got on with us. At that point I had settled in to being out in public (passing or not), but being soaked I was worried that the small amount of makeup I use was no longer there and I had a feeling I wasn't passing. I did everything I could to make my self as inconspicuous as possible but it didn't work. After a moment, the gentleman looked over at us and laughed and said, "Now you girls know why guys don't grow their hair out like that." Then he pointed to his balding head and said, "It's like rain on a tin roof with this thing though." OMG, one of the happiest moments of my life. Not that I hadn't been out in public before. Not that I hadn't felt that I had been "passing", at least at times before that. Not that others (who knew I was born male) hadn't told me I looked fine. It was the fact that he had no idea who we were and he had no reason to believe we were anything other than women. It was the first time I got feedback by someone I didn't know that prooved I was passing just fine. I still can't help but smile about it when I think back on it. We all laughed and parted ways when we got to our respective floors. Definitely my favorite experience of the weekend.

We got back to our room and dried off then headed down to meet the crew and head out for dinner. We decided to get dinner at a restaurant called Fire and Ice and since we were in such a big group and the restaurant was close by, we ended up walking. If you've never been there before, it's a lot of fun. You get to pick everything out and they cook it right there in front of you while you watch, plus the food is really good. Definitely worth your time if you're ever in Boston. There were 20+ people there so it was a bit of a chore to get everything going but eventually we were seated and got to eat. The staff was really nice and dinner was over much too early. Story of my whole trip. By the time we got back to the hotel it was getting late so we changed into PJs and went next door to Jayne and Jess' (our impromptu gathering site). We spent the rest of the evening chatting and wine...tasting :-P I got to meet Nova and Juri (wish I had had a bit more time to spend with everyone) and we eventually coerced Megs to borrow some of our clothes and change since she had to come in "boymode". Another fun evening.

Sunday, August 22nd
The next morning Reise and I slept in late and barely made our checkout time. We decided to wander on our own for the morning and ended up down near Harvard square. I was thinking very hard about getting my navel pierced while we were there but eventually decided to save doing it until I got home. We had lunch at UNOs which was nice without so many people. The waitress was really nice but I still wondered how well I was passing (yes I'm THAT paranoid) which kept me fairly quiet during lunch. Afterwards, we wandered around the park and sat for a while just talking. It was a nice day and I was definitely already missing Boston and all my new friends as my departure grew closer. We decided to catch up with the main group one last time before I had to leave so we called them and headed off. Well, as Reise was finishing up on the phone, some random scary guy approached us and said, "Hi ladies, if you want some weed, we've got some over there", and pointed to his friend. LOL Too funny. We respectfully declined and hurried off to catch up with the rest of the group.

The rest of the day flew by. I got a chance to see everyone I was really close with and to say my goodbyes and then wound up back at my car in the parking garage with Reise. We said our goodbyes (miss her lots) and suddenly I was on my way home again. It all happened so fast. I would have been happy to have another week to spend with everyone but I'd had a hard enough time getting two and a half days free. Overall, the experience was amazing and definitely something I'll never forget. Looking forward to more gatherings in the future (I hope) and a big thanx to everyone who showed up. It was a big step for me in moving forward and getting out and about.