You Got Me (Road)Trippin'

This weekend was wonderful. Nope, didn't head into the city for a cosmopolitan adventure. Quite the contrary. My friend Dave (you met him already) who is from Spain and goes to college in St. Louis, took a bus from St. Louis to Chicago on Friday. I picked him up after my classes and we began the four-hour drive through the beautiful and interesting state of Indiana (I am being sarcastic here) down I-65 to finally reach Taylor University. An oasis of fun times in a desert of brown cornfields, gas stations, and power lines. We visited our friends Joey, Libby, Dietrich, and Ashley from our semester in Spain last spring. Man am I ever a sucker for these little get togethers!

Grammar side note. Have trouble remembering the spelling difference between dessert (the delicious food) and desert (the place where a cactus grows)? Just remember: You always want more dessert to eat. Therefore, use the DOUBLE S in that word and leave the SINGLE S for the word describing the Sahara. 

ANYWAY. Back to travel updates. Besides these people being fun because of the memories we made in Spain, they are a fun time in America also. People can be a good time no matter where they are in the world. Who knew?!

Dave, Dietrich, Ashley, myself, Libby, and Joey. After Friday Night Live. 

We started the weekend watching Dietrich (the one in the Bulls jersey above) in his college's Friday Night Live skit show. It was hilarious! We then drove around for some slushies and shenanigans. We finished the night breaking Taylor's visiting hours as we all stayed up late and reminisced about our adventures and funny stories a year ago. 

Saturday was jam packed. After sleeping in (it was GLORIOUS to wake up at 11:00!) and getting lunch, we talked at the local coffee shop (super trendy and cute). Then we went grocery shopping for dinner plans, which involved us making Tortilla de Patatas (one of our favorite Spanish foods) for ourselves and lots of their friends from Taylor. It consists of a lot of eggs, potatoes, and olive oil, just for a quick review. That was followed by attending Taylor's school play, which was really well done. After that, we hung out and talked some more before finally going to bed at 1:30. I thought I was done with my memory making at that point, but alas, while we were brushing our teeth, Ashley caught the Zooey bug from me and told me on a whim to cut her some blunt, straight across bangs. So, there in Taylor's bathroom, I used a Wal-Mart scissors to chop some bangs onto my very trusting friend. So sophisticated.

Ashley and I at Payne's coffee shop. Just like old times in our favorite café!
Oh and PS I cut my hair off last week. That happened too.  

Tortilla de Patatas and garlic bread in the works. 

Our finished product!

This weekend reinforced to me the importance of not only those big life-changing experiences, but the people who are by your side while they happen. At dinner on Saturday the new people I met at Taylor seemed to keep asking the question: What was the best part of your semester abroad? I would scroll through my mental rolodex of beautiful buildings, the fresh air on my walk to school, my backpack packed for my weekend flights to new countries, and the language and culture that I grew to know and love over four months. But I kept saying the same answer every time I got that question: It was the people I met! No matter the oceans, country roads, and state borders that separate me from all these people from Sevilla, I will always hold them dear to my heart. 

Ahhh. Great weekend.