We are staying at a university! It looks nothing like back at home in Illinois, but we have made it to school once more and something about that feels familiar. We woke up in dorm rooms today and got ready for the day with our roommates. We had the same desks, and chairs, and bedframes that seemingly every school across the country has and we even ate in the dining hall. First up for today: Spider-Man!
Last night, we had a watch party for all of the Spider-Man movies that Tom Holland was Spider-Man in to catch everyone who hadn’t seen them up on what was going to happen during the latest release and what we saw this morning, Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Since this came out just this week, we decided to go in the morning when we could get good seats. Besides, our routine is keeping us waking up pretty early anyways. Everyone joined in for the movie this time and it was really good! We won’t spoil anything in this journal, but everyone came out smiling and Marvel and Disney did their traditional end to one of these super hero movies where the loose ends are never tied up. Probably we’ll all be back watching another Spider-Man in a year or two.
After the credits rolled on the movie, we were approaching lunch time and we went back to Simpson University to check out the dining hall that we had been invited to. Wow, was it nice to have a buffet of food! There was orange chicken and rice, salads and fruit, and ice cream and cookies. While it was nothing out of the ordinary for a dining hall, the familiarity of the setting and the break we had from our own school made this meal just feel so good and welcoming. The other happy news is that we would return for dinner!
After lunch, much of the team went their own separate ways for activities. Those who had prom dates went thrift shopping for outfits, others caught up on sleep, did their own work, or went to explore the campus. At dinner, we were back at the dining hall eating tacos. The only other students on campus at this time are athletes who are getting ready for their upcoming season, so we had fun pretending as if we fit in. We each tried to give each other categories for what sport we should say we were in if asked other than a cycling team (Simpson University doesn’t have one as far as we know). The tacos were solid and we ended the evening with some bike and van cleaning before heading to bed once more in the dorms. Our tube supply was restocked at Walmart today, a basketball game was played, and we feel ready for the final leg of this trip heading to San Francisco.
