Thursday, January 20, 2011

Playdates with St. Louis

My roommate Sophie calls our rendezvous with the St. Louis community, playdates. However juvenile that word may seem, it perfectly describes our time together. In December, they came to Smashville for a fun weekend of fellowship, dancing, Jersey Shore attitude, Preds hockey, playing in the snow, and an epic battle for our belongings around the neighborhood. This past weekend proved to be just as fun, but luckily, a little less dramatic.

They greeted us with soup and bread and a killer dance party on Friday night. STL knows how to cook, so while breakfast wasn’t served until 12:00 p.m., it was worth the wait. I left Saturday afternoon for home, but returned a day later. While we ate breakfast, I was entertained with stories about the previous night. Finally, Megan got Monday morning off work, so we piled into the Catholic Charities van and drove downtown to the Arch. We took a few pictures and looked at the museum. I was hoping to visit the zoo, but it was too cold. I guess I’ll have to go when I’m there for Madri Gras in March. Forest Park (which has the free zoo among other things) is only a block from their house.

After a lovely dinner, I was told to get dressed up, but nothing else. Apparently, they had planned a birthday surprise for me. We all put on our “sexy clothes,” and headed out. Chino navigated as I drove us to the Atomic Cowboy. When I entered, I heard music playing in the side room. It wasn’t until I saw the sign listing each night’s music that I realized that they had brought me salsa dancing. Jumping up and down, I gave Sophie a huge hug and sprinted into the other room with the other girls in tow. With my friends’ encouragement, I asked random guys to dance with me, forced the STL and Nash JVs to dance, and just had a great time.

Receiving the present of salsa dancing was so uplifting. It made me aware of how supportive not just my Nashville community is, but how we are all connected. I love sharing stories about community highs and lows, spirituality nights, and everyone’s work experiences. I can’t wait until Re-Orientation when I’ll be able to connect with some other friends and build relationships with the rest of JVC Midwest.

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