The final morning before presentations was easy going, but I made it over to my new favorite restaurant for lunch. SLA is an amazing salad and bowl place that was about a block away from the Bicycle Hotel and there was one I went to in Utrecht as well. Healthy, delicious, and moderately priced for fantastic dishes of all sorts of good greens. I just wished they had one in Copenhagen, or maybe even Portland.
We met at Cafe de Jarden at 2 in the afternoon for our final meeting together. After presentations upon presentations about people’s research and a look back at all the cool stuff we did on the trip, it finally begun to set in that this was the last time for a long time I would be seeing some people. Many folks were heading straight home, a few traveling around Europe for a few days or weeks, and even Jaden was staying another month studying Spanish in Oviedo. I sat there, curious what life would be like in the states when I returned nearly five months from now. A few folks were talking about making changes in Eugene beginning as soon as they got back. How could I apply all that I learned in the last month to issues going on back home when I continue to have new adventures and challenges hundreds of thousands of miles away? I suppose that’s what this blog is for. I suppose that’s why we wrote postcards to our future selves on this night to remind us to fight for safer streets, reducing carbon emissions, and increasing bicycle infrastructure. I suppose some things will stick with me after a life changing 6 months. Hell, some things already have.
Gifts, “senior” superlatives, and Dylan’s brilliant idea of writing little notes to one another brought us out of the afternoon and into the evening. An amazing three course meal meant that I had strictly eaten fantastic food for the day. Photos from the trip flashed on the projector as we ate our final meal together and reminisced on our short, but eventful time together. At the end of it all, the majority of the group felt the best way to go out was to sing our heart out one last time. We met at a karaoke bar that was occupied by just the bartenders when we walked in. Shortly after, an Irish man, who had quite the voice for some classic rock hits, came in with his mother to sing to her. Song after song, the Stroop Troop (named after the group’s new fallen love for stroopwafels) stole the night away. Adam and Floris, our good friends from Austin Adventures, did not do too shabby either. I think we were pretty good for business for the bar because we got the place packed by midnight. There were three songs that took my crown for the night. First off, Sean did an amazing rendition of Tom Petty’s Free Fallin’ and it turns out that Sean should actually sing for a rock band. Next off, Adam and Floris stole the show for Let it Be by the Beatles and replaced every ‘Let it Be’ with ‘Penelope,’ the name of Adam’s new daughter. Finally, Erik and I, who have connected with each other through a love for Coldplay, sang In My Place from our favorite Coldplay album A Rush of Blood to the Head. Lots of fun, dancing, singing for our last full night as a group was the perfect way to go out.
