My weekend in a nutshell: Eating my mother’s delicious Indian food, frolicking on the golden sand of Coronado Island’s beach, taking pictures at sunset at The Cove in La Jolla, playing mariokart and super smash bros. on a 60 inch television, and watching tennis and movies. I know some of that stuff sounds super touristy for someone from San Diego, but what was special about going home last weekend was taking 8 of my closest friends with me:) We drove down Friday afternoon and returned Saturday night. In those 36 hours, we packed in a lot!
We arrived to a buffet style meal prepared by my mother waiting on the table. For Friday night, my mother decided to stick to our roots and prepare a South Indian meal with some twists. I wish had taken pictures, but for any of you food connoisieurs out there, we had masala dosa, Chindian noodles (Chinese-Indian fusion), potato bhajis, and samosas. For dessert, she had Costco cookies and red velvet cake waiting. I even found some Yoohoos in the garage to complement them. It was indeed glorious. We spent the proceeding hours playing ping pong in the backyard, playing Gamecube games, watching the Australian Open Women’s final (ouch, Maria), and enjoyed a late night/early morning screening of Back to the Future. It was a long night, needless to say. However, it was well worth any lost sleep.
The next morning I woke up promptly at 9am, got ready, and woke up the rest of my friends. After an episode of Boy Meets World with breakfast (I am so nostalgic for 90s television), and my friends attempting to make a dent in our family’s rather impressive cereal collection, we headed out to see some of San Diego. I thought Coronado would be a fun choice for the tourists. We headed off to the Island in perfect 78 degree weather and walked it a little bit until we arrived at the beach. Thereafter, we enjoyed the water, an hour long game of ultimate frisbee, and some choice photos. When we were content, we headed off to downtown La Jolla. I decided to show them some of my favorite eateries and spots in town. We hit up Burger Lounge for a late lunch (delicious grass fed selection), and I took them to Cups, a well-known cupcake shop. Since my mother had promised another fantastic feast, we got cupcakes to go. Afterward, we walked down to the children’s beach to see the seals, beached and adorable as always. As sunset approached, we took a seat on some rocks and enjoyed the view and took more photos. My friend Alden has a great SLR, and played photographer for the weekend. As the sun finally set, we decided to head home to my family. When we got back, a glorious North Indian meal was waiting for us. After everyone showered, we devoured delicacies like naan, palak paneer, malai kofta, and vegetable rice, all made by my mother. For dessert, we had traditional Rasamali and Gulab Jamun, which are little balls of delight. Although it was sad to leave only an hour after that meal, we are still working on the leftovers Viji (my mama) sent back with us. So there are still wonderful reminders of the weekend all around to make me smile. Overall, it was a great weekend. I got to spend time with my friends, and my parents got to spend time with (and meet) them. It was so nice having all the people I love in one place of great food, joy, and luxury. I hope we can do it again sometime soon.
Anyway, that was my weekend. It’s now officially buckle-down mode for midterms, so anymore adventures will have to wait for a little bit. T-minus a week and a half until my first one! I’m trying to get super pumped instead of stressed:) Also, I want to extend a “congratulations!” to all of you reading this who have recently been welcomed into the Trojan Family, as well as a “good luck!” to all of you waiting to hear back. Fight on!