New Smiles and Bonds

Not so long ago my cohort and I were told that someone new had been positioned as our chaperone for this trip. I honestly was a bit nervous and hoping that we would get a good chaperone. I am not going to lie, I had some doubts although I was sure that it was going to be someone great. 

It wasn't until our dinner at Town Hall, where we all had the opportunity to meet our chaperone. I have mentioned her in my previous blogs and her name is Ms. Cruzat, she is a math teacher at Hercules High School where Ms. Whitlock also teaches. Throughout the dinner I made sure to communicate with her in order to learn more about her, but today was the day where we all came together. 

We met at Tina's Place in Pinole. I had never heard of the place until today at 5 PM.

Isn't this menu so cute?

The restaurant opened its doors at 5 PM for dinner and when I arrived there it was still closed but I met up with Ms. Cruzat, Aimee, and Komal. Less than a few minutes later, Bailey, Camila, and Lynda arrived and the doors opened and we went in.

The place was really nice, obviously it wasn't so fancy as Macaroni Grill but it was good enough. We sat down on our table and then looked at the menu. Once again there was so many choices which made it hard to chose what to devour for tonight.  The menu was so diverse and had so many plates to chose from. Everything sounded so good and I kept going back and forth but I came to a final decision; Caesar Salad and Pasta Primavera.

Table for the Brownies!

As we waited for our food to be served we nourished ourselves with some refreshing water. Then we began the introduction, and many of us have a little trouble speaking publicly, personally, and being open to each other, but once again we are spending about 2 weeks together this summer in the East.

Sourdough bread to start, and this time it is
actually cut into slices.

Then the bread was served, is it just me or almost every place we've eaten served bread?

Although I had already met and learned from the girls at our previous meet and greet it was nice to hear everyone introducing themselves especially to Ms. Cruzat. She has many things similar to us like being shy but I learned more than what I would've expected. Her homeland is the Philippines and she came here some years ago. Ms. Cruzat taught at a Middle School where she did not really have a great experience and then ended up teaching at Hercules High School where she has enjoyed teaching in the last 21 years. She really loves math like most of the girls and I do, so we have something in common!

We drifted into many conversations. I feel as if our comfort with each other just grew quite a lot in a matter of minutes and we spoke freely about anything and everything from school to driving, and sooner than we thought we were having very great conversations. We didn't even feel time run by and our dinner was served.

Caesar Salad makes me feel like I am on a healthy diet.

This Primavera Pasta was so good!

The great conversations did not stop there, and the big question came up: "What do you want to do after high school?" We all answered the question at our own pace and then it was my turn. I told the girls that I wanted to go to college and then go to med school, to become a surgeon. For me to share such details is a demonstration of how comfortable I feel with these girls.

After eating a delicious dinner we headed to a nearby park just around the corner to do some activities.

We stood in a circle and held hands while we did a few fun things together such as jumping: left, right, in, and out. We did a variety of patters and Ms. Cruzat instructed us with different directions. It was all funner than I thought. It definitely was a great way to wrap up the day.

I already feel like we are one little family and we have created a bond already and we have not yet left to the East just imagine when we come back.

Our  group picture to wrap up the day.