We left on our road trip on Tuesday morning which turned out to be pretty busy and a little tiring due to the events of the day before. On Monday, Sean proposed (ahh!) so instead of spending the afternoon packing and preparing, we spent time with family and friends celebrating. I am so excited to be engaged and I am so glad he asked when he did because it sure makes this road trip more exciting and fun when we get to show and celebrate with everyone in person. We are going to get married some time next summer. I am sure wedding planning from China will be a cinch so no worries there (joke). I feel blessed to have such an amazing mom to help me through all of this - I'm not really sure we could pull all of this off without her. In fact, in the past few days, loads of people have already said something to the effect of, "Good thing you have a great mom to help you while you are away!" and they are right. Thanks Mom - I appreciate you so much!
One of the coolest thing about our American road trip was being able to see our country with new (and very appreciative eyes) after being in China for a year. We drooled over the awesome food, marveled on the consistent and organized traffic flow, breathed in the clean air and loved the blue skies. Plus, travel by car in the US seems easy when compared with traveling in Asia - it almost takes all the fun and challenge out of it. Almost.
The other thing that we noticed was that we were more excited and aware of the cultural differences and oddities that America has to offer - especially between the regions of the Midwest and the West. These differences are always fun to hear about and provide a lot of entertainment. For example, our first stop on the trip was to see Sean's grandma, uncle and two cousins in Illinois. For years I have been hearing about a certain food called tenderloins which the Doyle family has been enjoying in Illinois forever. Pork tenderloins aren't all that popular in Michigan or if they are, I have never heard of them. Since I wanted to try one, we all went out and had them for lunch. A tenderloin is a piece of pork that is pounded, breaded, fried and then placed on a bun with pickles, onion, ketchup and mustard. The interesting thing about them is that the meat is way bigger than the bun. I was skeptical at first but by the first bite I was sold - pork tenderloins are delicious.
After stopping for lunch we headed to Iowa where we planned to meet Ken (fellow teacher in China) and his family in a suburb of Des Moines. We were really looking forward to seeing Ken again and meeting his family which we had heard so much about. We arrived just before dinner which turned out to be some of the best food we have had since being home: chips and guacamole, BBQ chicken, grilled vegetables, noodles, bread and homemade brownies. YUM. It was pretty awesome. If you know Ken, it wouldn't surprise you that his family is immensely entertaining with his dad being the chief antagonist and we had some interesting and hilarious conversations over beers in the screen porch. They educated Sean and I on two other Midwest staples that I had never heard of: Maid-Rites (kind of like sloppy Joes) in Iowa and Runzas (bread pockets stuffed with meat and cabbage) in Nebraska. I can't wait to try these other Midwest delicacies.
It's fun to travel - especially in your own country!
CONGRATULATIONS, Sarita! I am soooo happy for you and Sean. Enjoy the next year, and remember not to stress about the wedding :) Just have fun!
Yeah Made-Rites and tenderloins!