This past weekend, I went to visit my wonderful friend Paul, who lives outside of Philadelphia. After a very short flight out of the very convenient Providence airport (about an hour south of Marlborough), I arrived in the very busy and confusing Philadelphia airport and Paul picked me up and took me back to Horsham. We saw an interesting sight on the way home-- a man walked over to the middle of an intersection in a busy street and started doing push-ups. Thank goodness the light was red. We didn't get very much sleep that night and woke up early to...go to school!!! Paul teaches seventh-grade social studies and I thought it would be a great idea to observe him teaching for the day. We had a really fun day and I learned a lot just by shadowing once. Paul's lesson was on comparing Gutenberg's printing press and the internet, which was totally great, because it helped the kids understand the revolutionary effects of the printing press, just as the internet has been incredibly innovative in the modern age. Paul is extremely creative and really connected well to his students. Friday was also a special day because the science teacher held an "Element Ball," where all the seventh grade students made posters of elements, had a cookout, and did a scavenger hunt. It was crazy seeing all the kids run around, but it looked like fun! I also talked to a couple of teacher's aides who were really encouraging and also talked to the eighth grade history teacher, who taught United States history, my fave. After school, we drove back to Paul's and then went to this delicious Mexican restaurant for dinner called Agave, where we indulged in chips and queso, seafood enchiladas and veggie quesadillas, fried ice cream, and coronas! This was a typical Paul and Greta dinner!
On Saturday, we woke up late and headed out to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, home to many Amish folks. We went to this Amish village and museum and learned many things about the Amish. For example, they will eat at Sonic and Chic-fil-a (my kind of people), they don't like getting their picture taken, their buggies have flash signals, they speak three languages, and they don't usually vote. Also, they make beautiful quilts and delicious jams and honeys. We departed the village and went to the highpoint of "English" culture (this is what the Amish call everyone else)-- the mall. Paul recommended this delicious frozen custard from Kor Bros. and we both had chocolate/peanut butter twist cones. I contemplated buying proactive solution but I didn't. Then we drove to Paul's alma mater, Millersville University. It was a very nice school and reminded me of Ole Miss, which I hope to visit soon but don't know when I'll get back there. After Millersville, we had dinner at a pub in downtown Lancaster and watched the Preakness. Go Big Brown, win that Triple Crown!! Both of us wanted to see "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," and we watched it at the theatre where Paul used to work. The movie was funny, a little vulgar (but nowhere near as distasteful as "Superbad"), and I think Jason Segel is so cute! He kind of looks like Brian without the beard (to me he does).
We planned to work out at least one day and went to Paul's country club gym on Sunday morning. We both worked out on the elliptical for a half hour and used the weight machines. After a quick lunch at Panera, Paul and I drove to New Hope (the town where he teaches) to see a community production of "Lil' Abner." Although I think the musical is a little hokey, it is still upbeat and humorous. I'll have to watch the movie soon. This was followed by another Paul and Greta typical dinner at an Italian restaurant, a few episodes of "Law and Order: CI" at Paul's house, and then I was back to the airport to fly back to Providence. I didn't get home until 1:15 am on Monday morning, but the weekend was fun. Most of the time here, I'm kind of anti-social (for several reasons) and I really miss being a social butterfly.
Monday was Brian's thirty-first birthday. We ate dinner at this wonderful sushi restaurant in Worcester, Baba, and will definitely return. My favorite roll had bananas in it and was delicious. Even though I didn't make a cake for his real birthday, I will make a rum cake for our dinner at Gretchen and Andy's on Saturday.
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