Meeting and Greeting Anew

Our previous chaperone, Joanne Whitlock, stepped down from her role in pursuit of a job and so another adult was selected to accompany the girls and I to Brown University. Maricris Cruzcat, a math teacher at Hercules High School, will be our new chaperone for the trip. 

Although we all met her during the Brown dinner in San Francisco, we wanted to organize a more personal outing in order to explore the new dynamic. Ms. Cruzcat recommended Tina's Place in Pinole, which has gotten some very excellent reviews. After everyone finished eating, we were to head over to the nearby park for an activity.

The food was excellent. I had the buttermilk fried chicken with waffles and a side of caesar salad. I was so unbelievably full about halfway through, but it was still difficult to stop eating! The mealtime

Buttermilk fried chick on waffles with a side of syrup. Yum!

My delicious caesar salad

conversation was also very enjoyable; I really liked listening to everyone talk about what they might like to study in college and what careers seemed appealing to them. For most of my peers, it's difficult to know exactly what you want to do for the rest of your life, especially when passion and practicality can be at odds. Nonetheless, it's nice to share our dreams with others and collectively lament the cruelty of the real world.

I always look forward to my cohort get-together: everyone is so nice and mellow, and I feel closer to them after every event!

Once we were full near the point of incapacitation, we walked to the small park on the other side of the block. There, we took pictures, joined hands, and took part in a very mind-boggling activity. According to the round, we had to either repeat and do as Ms. Cruzat said, state the opposite of, but do what she said, or repeat what she said but do the opposite of what she meant. To summarize, there was a lot of laughter and mess-ups. 

All in all, it was a very successful dinner. I look forward to having all of these lovely people join me on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. 

Ms. Cruzat graciously took a photo of us in the park.