Quelfing (not as dirty as it sounds)

I've been busy since returning to Peoria.  Working.  Unpacking.  Fixing pictures.  SEEING HARRY POTTER.  (Which maybe doesn't deserve caps.  I didn't love it, which seems to be an unpopular opinion on the interwebs.  But, the scene where Harry walks to his death?  Oh, the tears.)  In the midst of all this busyness, I have neglected to relate my Senegal Reunion Weekend.  Which was very awesome, and therefore totally deserving of a blog post. 

I was a bit nervous on Friday, because Mallory and Mary were coming around 4:00, and Liz wasn't coming in until midnight.  Mallory and I had had some epic adventures in Senegal, but I didn't know Mary at all, and I feared being the third wheel.  Silly worrying.  I love them separately, and I love them together.  You know when you find someone with your exact sense of humor?  Mine is irreverent, sarcastic, constant, and dry.  Previously shared with Josephine.  Now shared with Mallory and Mary.  Oh my word, they crack me up so hard.

We played Quelf on Friday night.  It's a game that advertises itself as random, and the advertising doesn't lie.  If there is one thing I like, it is randomness, so obviously, Quelf is my new favorite game.  I had to move my piece with my elbows and mime falling down an elevator shaft.  Kim had to belly dance.  I had to shout, "I command you to be silent!" every time someone laughed.  Mallory did a one-man can-can.  So much fun, every second.

At midnight, Kim and I went to pick up Liz from Midway.  I love that we can instantly reconnect and laugh, which granted, was made easy as I regaled her with my love life.  Some things were embarrassing in front of Kim, because I cannot quite get out of my mind that she is my spiritual mentor.  But whatever.  You're supposed to share your life with your mentor, yes?

Liz and I stupidly stayed up until maybe 3:00 a.m. talking even though we had to get up at 7:00 to go to Chicago!  The whole Forsythe fam came, plus Kim's sister Tammy, who served as our guide.  The main thing we did was walk and walk and walk.  We saw Grant Park and Millenium Park.  We saw the Spirit of Chicago and the new Marilyn Monroe statue.  We went to Borders and the library.  AND.  We ate at Ed Debevics, the restaurant where the staff is rude to you.

Our waiter was cute, let me get that out of the way first.  While ordering drinks, I was the only one to get water, which made him mutter, "Of course you do."  When he returned with drinks in hand, he stood behind me and said, "High Maintenence!" at which point I turned around and took my water, before realizing I had answered to "high maintenence."  Oops.

Ethan had been skeptical about people being mean to him, but he quickly fell in love with the concept.  So much so that he started hitting the waiter every time he walked by.  Travis also had a ball, and thought it would be hilarious to ask the waiter which one of us he thought had lived in Africa.  He chose Liz (of course), and then we all had a good time saying, "It was all of us!"  With this new information in hand, our waiter left.  Ethan hit him.  Our waiter shouted, "Stop punching me, missionary!"  Best.  Of.  All.

Also, all the waiters did a dance.  In the windows.  With twists and swim arms.  And our waiter didn't smile at all!  I leaned over to Nate and Liz and said, "Is it horrible that I have a crush on our rude waiter?"  Nate made a face, but Liz said, "Oh my gosh!  I do too!  Why do we always like the mean ones?"

Chicago was a win.  We were all dead tired when we got home to Joliet, however, and instead of staying up having fun, we fell asleep by 10:00.  The next morning, the four of us drove to church to hear Kim and Travis talk about Senegal.  Then it was back to the house to eat leftovers and wait for the Woodlanders and Friendshippers who came to the big Senegal reunion party.  Where we played Quelf again!  And it was still awesome.

I had a really excellent weekend, and I love Liz, Mallory, and Mary an awful lot.  It is nice to be around people like myself, who remind me that I am not totally weird.  It's so fun to have conversations that go, "I just got back from Mongolia.  How was your time in Nicaragua last month?  And how do you feel about leaving for Scotland next week?" without anyone being even slightly surprised or impressed about traveling.  Also we're all kind of weird.  Maybe that is a pre-requisite for living in Senegal?