My one week in Chicago was one of the best weeks I’ve ever had (next to RYLA). I had so much fun, I got to bond with DC, and I got to meet so many foreign exchange students and Rotarians. The entire trip was such a great experience. Looking back at it, I can’t believe that I was actually present at an INTERNATIONAL rotary convention…in fact it was the freaking centennial celebration. What a great year to be on DC =D. I really hope that the Rotarians we talked to will go back home and start their own Interact clubs.

The entire week was a blur. Most of the day we spent at the House of Friendship running our booth, and at night we went for dinner and hung out. In one week I got a total of 24 hours of sleep, which averages to about 3.4 hours a night. I remember random funny moments from the trip so this entry will be a compilation of inside jokes and random, incoherent thoughts…

- Zach peeing out the window
- I’ve got a dollar with BJ written all over it
- You don’t take birth control to make your boobs grow bigger
- “Chicago” game with Cranium dice
- JP and Eric got some ACTION
- Heidi Heidi Heidi Heidi Heidi Heidi High
- Being benchpressed by Rahul
- Sophia wrestling with Rahul
- Zach and Sophia beating each other up with ping pong paddles at 4am
- Free-balling; “Did you hear it slap”
- Sophia’s A-cups are bigger than ours
- Laura and Sophia’s matching pink bras
- Romain showing us his underwear
- Drunk French guy in our room at 4am
- Passed out drunk Brazilian girl in our room at 3am
- Stop flirting
- Cookie?
- Sitting in a limo
- Avani flirts for free stuff
- Attempted clubbing
- Physically fit, physically fit, physically physically physically fit
- My roommate was shizophrenic. * laughs *
- My oversized suitcase
- Bhangra all over the place
- Camera-whoring with JP at the Museum of Science and Industry; My butt on the big screen
- Getting naked in a museum
- Baby Bridges
- Zach dancing like a ballerina at Hooters
- The sheets have STD’s
- Metrosexual guys
- Wrestling with Tina
- Eric’s wife and five kids
- Are you nervous?
- Butt slapping and chest hits; no boob grabbing or penis grabbing
- Breaking out into random songs
- 1 ½ hours of pool; Celebratory dance!
- Bjay unclasping a bra in half a second
- Bjay = innocent; Rahul = perv
- Alabama girls; passing notes under doors
- Knock on any exchange student’s door and you’ll find sex, drugs, and alcohol
- Hot ears
- Camera-whoring on rides at Navy Pier
- This is CUH-RAAAAAZY
- My shoe!!!
- You guys are valleygirls?!
- Pilliph von Leiderhosen VII

Good times in Chicago. And let’s remember, that some things that happen in Chicago will stay in Chicago. Yeah, you guys know what I’m talking about. Well, since I’m talking about my Chicago trip with DC, I might as well talk about DC…

District Council has made my senior year worthwhile, and it’s given me such great memories. There’s something about being a part of the DC/Ryla family that’s really hard to explain. Everyone has had such an impact on me as a person, and they’ve all given me so much. I feel so comfortable around everyone. We’re more than just friends…we’re family. We’ve actually only known each other for a year, but it feels like we’ve known each other since the beginning of high school. We may not know everything about each other or each others’ lives, but in the end it doesn’t matter because we can be ourselves around each other. Anything we do or say is ok with DC. Everyone’s so down-to-earth and accepting. The things I do with DC I wouldn’t do with my other friends. It doesn’t mean I value DC more than my other friends…it’s just a different kind of friendship. I think it has to do with how we met each other and how we got to know each other. With my close friends here in Fremont, I got to know them through school and activities over a couple of years. But with DC we were all Rylarians and we became friends not through divulging our deepest secrets, telling each other about ourselves, and knowing facts about our lives….but by getting to know each other as people. Does that make sense? Well I was talking about this to JP on our last day in Chicago, and it makes sense to us. So that’s all that counts

I don’t know what I would’ve done without DC. They keep me insane and sane at the same time. I can’t believe that DC is actually over. There’s nothing else for us to do together as District Council. There’s no more Doubletree meetings, Rotary conventions with Laura, FLC’s, lunches after DC meetings, etc. I know that everyone on DC will go on to college and accomplish great things because they’re all such wonderful, brilliant, intelligent leaders that are so compassionate about helping others. Even though I love DC to death there were times on the Chicago trip that we all got pissed, annoyed, and irked at each other. But what can you expect….put 14 teenagers together 24/7 for one week…and on top of that everyone’s a leader. “Too many chiefs and not enough Indians.” But we all got over it, and things turned out good =D.

College isn’t here yet, and there is still an entire summer to have DC outings. Talking about DC has made me reminiscent about Ryla. It’s been one year since I went to Ryla. I would never go back again as a camper because it’s a one-time thing, but I wish I could have that same feeling I had at Ryla. I literally had no cares in the world, and everything was just…perfect. I was so happy and content with life. I’m not saying I’m not happy now…it’s just that Ryla was a place to get away from everything. Ryla was a place away from the world, reality, and society. How nice. I hope Jean and Duc had a good experience.

I haven’t talked about Graduation or Grad Nite yet. I shall do that at a later date. I love how I’m going in backwards chronological order. It’s 11pm now, and everything is quiet. I want my 13 crazy DC members back.

I’m gonna go clean.