The Rush and the Wait

"I am not taking you to the meet and greet dinner, dude. Too late! Take the bus," my sister told me around 5:10. 

"Dinner starts at 6:00. No problem. I can still make it ON TIME if I take the bus. I have literally gone to San Jose taking public transportation," I told myself, being frustrated with my stubborn sister. 

Unfortunately, google maps estimated that if I left at 5:10 PM then I would get there at 6:10 PM, which would be bit late. I try to be about 15-30 minutes early everywhere I go. 

My dad helped me out and gave me his debit card number to call an Uber. The Uber got to my place at 5:24 PM. I was taking a Uber pool, the cheapest version of Uber, so there was another passenger and we had to drop him off first before proceeding to our final destination. 

Through our commute, I discussed with the driver how expensive Bay Area is. The driver temporarily moved from Florida to California to explore the area with his wife. He told me how he lived 2 blocks down a beach and was renting a home for about 1,200 dollars monthly. Essentially, his family was making approximately the same in Florida, give or take some. I was shocked. 

I found Zachary's pizza to be very expensive but also really good. I ran in the restaurant at exactly 6:00 PM and looked around for the ILC crew. It was so overcrowded. As soon as I walked in, I noticed a long line near the front desk. For some reason, I felt that ILC'ers would be towards the front. But surprisingly, they were all the way to the left hand side of the counter. I had to go all the way around due to the long line to meet up with the folks.

While observing the pizza place, I noticed that there was no table for six, which I did not enjoy. There was a small table towards the brick wall, with 6 people gathering around it. I noticed a new face within the group as well.

The Brick Walls

Everyone greeted me as I sat down. Fortunately, they did not begin the Chicago discussion yet. 

"6:00, right on time," Don would say if he was with us. Unfortunately he was not. He emailed us prior to the event that he would be out at Stanford taking some pictures. 

We ordered two deep dish pizzas- a medium-sized veggie and a medium-sized BBQ Chicken. Our server informed us that we would have to wait a while for the pizzas. Taking advantage of the time, we discussed about our trip to Chicago. 

The new face was Jahnvi. She is an ILC'er who took the Physics of the Stars course at University of Chicago. She informed us about her trip experience- weather, campus, time dedication, blogging, free time, etc. Listening to her stories made me as excited as ever to head out to Chicago! 

John Hillyer, our chaperone, told us about his rules and expectations. I really enjoyed the conversation we had with him.

"Pizza's here," John says as the server brought in the two deep dishes. 

We dug in! The food was great. John told us about his time as a faculty member at Richmond High School and De Anza High School as we ate. My taste buds loved the taste of the deep dish pizza.

It had been about 1 hour and 40 minutes since we were there. I did not have a ride back home so Kayla offered to give me a ride. We all left. 

Max told us that he was walking home and Issac's parents picked him up. We waited from Kayla's sister to arrive all while discussing good books to read with John. As Kayla's sister arrived, we shook hands with Mr. Hillyer and drove back. 

Personally, I found the night to be super productive- from discussing the weather in Chicago with Jahnvi to talking about good books to read with John. Knowing Chicago before going to Chicago, arguably, is very important. :)