Dinner Time Bonding

One day down, 29 more to go! What a way to kick off June. Yesterday we had the ILC orientation for the details of our trip, and today was the dinner with our cohort, as well as our chaperone and an ILC alumni. We had originally planned on having this dinner in May, however, due to our conflicting schedules, we pushed it all the way back to today. Mr. Hillyer, our chaperone, had suggested that we eat at Zachary's, and everyone agreed, so off we went.

Since my mom didn't like driving to unfamiliar places, she dropped off at Jun's house and I hitched a ride with her. Shortly after arriving at her house, we then headed straight to Zachary's. I haven't even heard of this place before, but I was sure that it would be good, because you can never go wrong with pizza.

Jun and I arrived at around 5:50 PM, where we also saw Rudy and Elexis waiting at the front. Surprisingly, we arrived before Mr.Hillyer, but it was no big deal because he shortly arrived after us. The inside of Zachary's was actually surprisingly small. Seating a group of 8 seemed like a difficult task, but our waiter somehow managed. Jun, Elexis, and I sat on the left side of the table, while Mark, an alumni from the ILC, Joanne, and Chiamaka sat on the right, and Rudy and Mr. Hillyer sat on the ends. 

Zachary's deep dish special

Most of our group was feeling rather adventurous today, so we decided to try Jun's special concoction of a pizza made with pesto, jalapenos, and salami. Surprisingly, it tasted pretty good. Even before the rest of our pizza arrived, we were already talking and enjoying each other's company. Mr. Hillyer talked about his past experiences with the ILC, while Mike talked about his summer at Penn. One thing that they both mentioned often was the weather. They said that it would be hot, hot, hot, so I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for this. There was never an awkward moment of silence at our table, and I was pleasantly surprised.

Once our pizza had finally arrived, I was amazed at how massive the deep dish pizza was, and I was only able to eat one slice of it! By the end of dinner, we simply sat and talked some more, in order to give our stomachs a chance to breathe. Shortly after, Rudy and Joanne left, so our group decided to explore the area. There were several other restaurants nearby, and there was even a bookstore that had a jazz band inside! We stayed inside until Elexis had to leave, then we continued walking around. After Elexis, Jun and I were the next to leave.

At the bookstore next to Zachary's

I'm actually glad that we had this dinner before our flight on July 1st, because it gave us a chance to get to know each other more, as well as hear about the experiences at Penn. At first I thought that it would be awkward everyone, but our cohort is filled with amazing people, and I'm positive that we won't have any difficulties with getting along. In fact, I believe we'll all be good friends after all of this, and I couldn't be happier to share this experience with them. I feel like this dinner brought us closer together, even just a little.

Picture time with Elexis and Jun