Not College Town, but the Mall

I woke up today. Not to music or the axious pounding in my chest, but to the graceful rhythm of my own morning routine. Judging by the sunlight entering the room, I didn’t spontaneously rise out of bed in the middle of the night to pee. I made a mental guess as I reached for my phone. It’s probably around 8 or 9. My eyes popped open as I stared at the digital numbers displayed on my phone—10:45.

I jumped out of bed, starting my regular routine to the sound of my roommate face timing her sister. I checked my phone anxiously. I knew the cohort would be traveling to College town sometime, but the time wasn’t officially set. After slipping on my clothes, I strode down the hall toward Shanti’s room, giving the door a knock. With no response, I repeated the action to Helen’s room. Still no response. Without much luck, I walked over to RPCC, all while calling the cohort without a reply. When I finally made it to the building, Justice picked up and notified me that the group left bright and early that morning. I made my way back to the dorms, the rain accurately reflecting my mood. I have horrible timing.

Although I was upset that I didn’t get to travel to College Town, I had a good day. Upon my arrival, Maddie and I agreed to clean the room after a week worth of snacks and laundry rotting in the room. I took out the trash while Maddie vacuumed the floor with the machine down the hall. It’s nice to know that our living quarters are sanitary.

Interestingly enough, the compost was located inside the building while the recycle was outside. I grimaced at the sign that noted that the alarm would sound if the door to the recycle bin is propped open. If I had my key card, I could let the door close behind me without worry and swipe my card to re-enter the building, but thinking that I didn’t need a card to throw away trash, I left it in the room. Remembering that someone was in the laundry room down the hall, I entered the room sheepishly, asking the person if she would be able to open the door for me.

With a bright smile, Ashley gave an okay and put her laptop down without hesitation. I’m glad I didn’t bring my card that day. It turns out, Ashley is Olivia’s roommate! I met Olivia during the orientation, and we bonded after realizing that both of us lived in the Bay Area. Ashley was very kind and helpful. It's reassuring knowing that there are so many friendly people living on our floor. Once the cleaning and vacuuming was done, Maddie, Daniella and I did our laundry. Once the   clothes were washed and the room was cleaned, Daniella, Elana, Maddie and I ran to the bus stop in the rain. It was time to go to the Ithaca Mall!

On the bus, we bumped into the lovely Olivia and Naz. They were heading toward the Ithaca mall as well, though they weren’t so keen to watch Inside Out. We had three quarters of an hour till the

Heading down to the bus stop, in the rain!

movie, so we wandered around the mall. The mall was small, but it had a good selection of stores. They had an American Eagle and Bath and Body works, but the mall wasn’t big enough for a Macy or Sears. It would be the opposite of the Hilltop mall, which was large by comparison but lacking in decent stores. We went down to the food court for lunch. There

Inside of the Ithaca Mall.

wasn’t a large variety of foods however. The courts offered burgers, sushi, pizza, and Chinese. I went for a bowl of Wonton noodles while the others ordered pizza. I couldn’t help but order the noodles. My grandma’s signature dish was Wonton. Although the noodles weren’t as good as my grandma’s, they did remind me of home. On the other hand, my

Giant pizza!

friends were munching on a super extra grande pizza. I had to hold in a grin as I compared the pizza portions to that of our German dinner last week.

We made it to the theater just in time, though we didn’t get the best seats in the house. After the movie, we decided to head back to the dorms. As we made our way back, Maddie stopped in her tracks and stared up at a blaring neon sign. We followed her line of sight so see what she was staring at. Oh boy.

Maddie admitted that she never played a game of laser tag, and as Maddie’s friends, it was our duty to ensure that she plays the game at least once before college. I’ve had some disappointing experiences playing laser tag, but this game made up for all the lost shots. At the end of the game, Maddie giddily went up to the reception for another game with Elana while

The great neon sign.

Daniella and I stood back to wander the remainder of the mall.

After the game, we wandered into a pet store, fawning over the animals until the bus arrived. We bolted for our ride under the pelting rain. Surprisingly enough, we bumped into Olivia and Naz once again! We got off behind the RPCC building and strolled in for dinner.

Afterwards, we met with the cohort. After Chan-Law finished the discussion about plans for the upcoming week, everyone sat back, faces squished together to get a glimpse of the Woman’s World Cup playing on Helen’s laptop while reliving the events of the day. My group was hesitant about discussing College Town, as I woke up late and missed their event, but after revealing my eventful day cleaning and visiting the mall, they were reassured.

I ended the day finishing the PowerPoint presentation and blogging. I’m glad that I have so many friends here in Ithaca!