On this extended weekend, the majority of Mollier woke up in the wee hours of the almost afternoon. After a healthy breakfast (or brunch?) of bread, eggs and bacon, most of the squad enjoyed some games in the sunny weather outdoors that only left a handful un-tanned. In the true American spirit, we had pizza delivered and devoured it all at around 4pm, in preparation for an Italian dinner…. cooked by Italians!
Afternoon siestas took a toll on a big part of the group and thus, the once sporty group decimated and some other adventurers set out to find some ciggy wiggys, which they did successfully, but failed at hitchhiking back. In this pursuit, the paranoid shopkeeper flipped at Pim’s fancy filming gear (that has accompanied him everywhere on this trip). We cannot wait to see what the end result is going to be, Pim!
While most of the squad that was still awake was rather occupied with stress pong, drinking, cards against humanity, some other card games and regenwormen, all while devouring some oven fresh pizza, Martijn set out on a quest to light a ciggy wiggy, not with a lighter but some glowing embers. Let’s just say it was a good long laugh for the rest of us until he succeeded. In the meantime, the lovely Italians took up the task of cooking pasta with meatballs for Mollier and we ended up eating minced meat pasta and veggies. We’re still waiting on those meatballs, though. The study trip committee chairman gave a thank you speech as it was our last night and we had another amazing speech by Ruben. In a surprise takeover, the previous year’s committee surprised the current committee with gifts! In which the committee and the board then had to take shots of Jagermeister. Just keeping up with the traditions, no big deal.
We then enjoyed some delicious s’mores and werewolves by the campfire and some lucky guesses and unfortunate misses later, the citizens managed to win, thanks to Ola’s instincts. The early victims of the game started their own games indoors while the rest enjoyed some cozy Dutch oven conversations by the fire, until some people thought it would be fun to play another round of werewolves. Some others had some late night spooning on their minds. A second round of s’mores were roasted and in the warmth of the dying fire, the evening also came to a close with nothing but aching jaws, and teary-eyes from all the laughter we shared and all the happy memories made from all these days spent together!
Fret not, we are not done yet! The struggle of packing the next morning was real. The little explosions of luggage around the rooms were gathered and packed more or less efficiently by everyone; squeezing in all the souvenirs, Cubs fan merchandise and glassware safely (the safety aspect is still questionable). We still had plenty of food left in the fridge, so breakfast was bigger than usual. With a quick clean-up session, most of the bunkhouse was returned back to its original state. Except for the can recycling bag. That bag has endured some trauma and will never look the same again. Luggage was then loaded into the bus to make the hour long drive to the airport a lot easier than hopping around with the public transport for 3 hours. Thankfully, we did not have to endure the noisy CTA trains anymore! Arriving much earlier than planned at the state-of-the-art airport with no wi-fi, we were all checked-in, scanned and ready for departure! While some of us set out to spend our last few dollars on souvenirs and gifts, some others ate and rested. In due time, as we boarded our flight all set for departure, the city cried heavy tears of sorrow, sad to see us go. This delayed our take off by an hour but then finally, we were on our way! Netherlands, here we come!
– Written by Meghana & Daria –
