Thursday: Liz and Laura (I went to the Seryn concert with her in December) and I went to a Turkish party. There's a community of about 20 Turkish women in Dallas who hang out regularly, and Liz and Laura have become their friends. We went to one of the women's apartments, and had a super fantastically delicious meal, followed by chai in those hourglass Turkish tea glasses. So good. So Turkish. We talked about faith, education, and homesickness. I want to go back to Turkey.
Friday: Liz and I went to a movie theater at 6:30, an hour before we wanted to see The Bourne Legacy. It was sold out, so we bought tickets for the 10:30 showing. When we returned at 9:30, we were sorted into different waiting lines, so I listened to a couple on surely their first date, talking over each other, the girl giggling awkwardly and the guy loudly insisting that How I Met Your Mother is the "best freaking show on TV, no question!" Finally we watched the movie eating our traditional popcorn with M&Ms and Reese's Pieces. After midnight, we pranced to her car, fawning over Jeremy Renner's odd attractiveness and waxing philosophical about an action movie.
Saturday: We joined Liz's church at 8:00 for a service project at a nearby middle school. We worked with some of her home group members, moving one teacher's furniture from a downstairs classroom to one upstairs. I met some nice people, especially after lunch when there were just four of us who stuck it out to...sit in the room waiting for the teacher to return, only to leave an hour later because we couldn't think of anything else to do.
That night we dressed as flappers and went to Laura's (and two other people's) Great Gatsby themed birthday party. I worried that Liz and I had overdressed until we walked up the stoop and saw three guys wearing suspenders and drawn-on mustaches. Even their dog was wearing a bowtie. It was maybe the best thing ever--jazz music played, a silent movie ran in the background, girls wielded fake cigarettes, Laura tried a New England accent, and even the mixed drinks were popular in the 1920s. People mingled for the first couple hours, and I was struck that this was kind of my first adult party. People were dressed up, drinking but not getting drunk, making contacts and sharing stories. Then we played Fishbowl, and I completely fell in love with this group of people.
Sunday: I went to church with Laura in the morning, and it might be early to make broad declarations of commitment, but I'm nothing if not passionate. I love her church! It's small, and there are people of all ages. They sing hymns with a band, laypeople share personal stories during the service, and during Communion, they offer both wine and grape juice so no one is offended. There was a guest preacher, but he was hilarious and completely devoted to Jesus. The whole service was very much focused on, how can we as a church be better at loving God and loving people? Which is kind of the point of church, imo. After service, Laura introduced me to people, and others just came up to chat with us. It was so familial-feeling, and I am totally pumped to go back in two weeks.
That night Liz and Jessica and I watched the Closing Ceremonies of the Olympics. During the flashbacks to the greatest moments, we got stressed all over again, and fell around cheering for things we'd already seen. When the actual ceremony again, Jessica said, "This is the weirdest thing I've ever seen," and I said, "I love it!" and Liz said, "You've been really invested in Great Britain this whole time," and I said, "I have mixed feelings about our independence."
Amy joined us when she got back to Austin, and we ended the night making fun of poor dumb Ryan Lochte. When I went to bed, I realized, yup. This is home. And I love it.
:) I loved everything about this post. I'm so glad you're home.
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