Lara and my sister were so loud when I was TRYING to sleep. We had to wake up fairly early and since our plane landed at night I really wanted the rest, especially because I love my sleep. I value my sleep. So on December 28 we woke up really early and headed into the SUV house to drive to the zoo, which was HUGE. We had a tour guide because there is no way someone could find their way in the zoo. The tour guide was driving in a golf cart/ ATV looking thing, which was convenient because now, I don’t have to walk. There were many sections, our first stop was the Asian Passage, I was expecting elephants but I guess I’m…what’s the word…dumb? And elephants are in the African section, but to be fair India has many elephants and India isn’t in Africa. There were snow leopards and red pandas, like Turning Red. We also saw this bird eat a mouse which was so cute. The bird apparently didn’t like the mouse though because it threw it up but then ate it again, which wasn’t so cool but more disgusting. My favorite exhibit though has to be the Polar exhibit. I couldn’t see the polar bear as well because it was hiding a lot but the little glimpses I did get I could tell this thing was massive. Bigger probably then the SUV house/tank we rented. When we exited the zoo guess what happened! Nothing, it just rained. I was determined and motivated to get into the car, but not because I was wet, I love the rain. My legs were just crying. When we were almost to the car my sister saw something and physically attacked me and said “Look it’s a Blackpink mask on that lady.” Which is normally what you wouldn’t say, you would normally say that lady has a Blackpink mask and I WAS about to say that but she wouldn’t let me talk. Every time I was going to speak she kept saying Blackpink is the revolution.

At the winery, on the 29th. The adults were tasting the wine which why are we here, it’s not like I can taste it, I’m a minor. I was waiting for pizza because, hello, I love carbs. The wine smell however was very not so yummy tummy tee hee see what I did there. If you got that, you’re my friend. Anyway, back to the story, my sister literally ruined the surprise because she said, “Is that Macie?” I was like where girlie where. I saw her dad waving frantically and I saw her walk through the door, and I was speechless, excuse me? What am I supposed to do with my legs? At the end we literally ran into each other, it hurt my face but I was crying so it’s fine. My dad was even crying at the sweet embrace, do YOU KNOW how HARD it IS to make an INDIAN DAD CRY? Preston, her younger brother was there and everything was so nice, until the winery people yelled at us because Meera and Lara were acting like children, because they are, and played tag. Macie did later kidnap me into her car because ya know how it is, we were having a sleepover. She lives in Temecula which was an hour or something away from where we were, and there was traffic so it was pretty long. I was in the car with Macie and her mom and Preston was with his dad and older brother, who’s in college, Dylan. The drive was nice, until it wasn’t because I had to pee. The conversation actually went like this. “I have to pee.” “Me too.” “How much longer?” “Until the age of time.” ??? Wot does that MEAN? Then her mom said 20 minutes and I was like ok cool cool I’m ok. We were stopping at a Middle Eastern restaurant because that’s what dinner was going to be so while Macie’s mom was picking up the food, Macie and I ran for the bathroom.

Back in the car Macie’s mom said this is very uncommon weather and that’s when I was like great I messed up the weather by bringing the Arkansas weather to California. Other than that, the night was nice and quiet. Preston, Macie, and I all settled down for a horror movie but Preston quit mid way because they were cutting ears, tongues, and plucking out eyes. After the movie we talked and talked and I was like dang the tea has been spilled. Also randomly at 10:00 or maybe later my mom texted me saying our flight was cancelled, which NAUR~ why. We were supposed to fly on Friday but now it was cancelled to Saturday, and Macie and I might….MIGHT have another sleepover.

The 30th, we were in Legoland, HUZZAH. It was boring cause it’s for kids but huzzah. Before that Macie and I got Starbucks and then they dropped me off at Legoland. Preston and I were begging for another night, and my mom understood, I mean she lived under her best friends roof for a few days, AKA Prajakta’s. I said my farewells and I went towards the entrance of Legoland. All of the rides were for little kids so none of the rides were thrilling for me. Except for the first one, it had a huge drop and it was so fun, but then it got boring because it was on one level. Lara was freaking out and sobbing which is weird because she’s been on a bigger roller coaster in Myrtle Beach and was fine, like lady? We did get the photos of the ride and it was so funny, I looked like I was kissing the sky, Meera was biting her lip and one eye was partially closed and the other wide open, and Lara had tears in her eyes. The girls got their “Drivers Licenses?” and I did manage to stay another night with Macie. That night was CHAOTIC because at one point I brought up about being Asian and she was like no you’re not. The conversation was so funny. “MY dad being the Asian he is..” “Wait you’re Asian?” “Yeeeeaaaahhh.” “But I though you were Indian.” “… India is in Asia, I’m South Asian.” The conversation actually reminds me of that one vine where the girl says to her brother, “Hey, I’m Lesbian.” and the brother was like, “I thought you were American.”

December 31st, the Friday we were supposed to go back home, I left Macie’s house and we booked a hotel. In the car however, Lara was telling me we were sleeping in different hotels, which took a minute to process because normally we do everything together. I felt pretty cranky, and my head kind of hurt so I just laid in bed and watched a K-Drama while my sister was blaring Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. I was getting restless and bored but the adults planned something for us kids and we were going… drum roll please….ICE SKATING. It was fun, it wasn’t raining which was a win, like slayyyyy. However, I did really suck, it’s been a while, but after a few minutes I got a little better. I wasn’t Sunghoon but sure, I was ok. I was zooming until I wasn’t because my foot was throbbing and it was disgusting because I had a huge blister. However, from there the trip only escalated, and in a bad way too.