Everything is an adventure...even bowling:)

This is the story of how, what should have been, a regular group outing to Indo food and pool became a night full of spicy food, Southwestern souvenirs, crazy traffic, drive-by serenades, near death experiences, and bowling.
Aaron, Emily, Jennie, Lindsey and I had originally planned to go to out to dinner at an Indonesian restaurant and then play pool afterward. Little did we know what the night would hold. Dinner was successful, spicy, but successful. We left the restaurant to head up the hill to a possible place to play pool. When we walked into the food court/mall, I got a little taste of home. Right there at the entrance was a collection of Southwestern Souvenirs for sale. Good heavens, you would have thought you had walked into the Trading Post on your way to the Grand Canyon:) I have never been more tempted to buy a canteen in my life:)
When we walked up the stairs to where a game of pool should have been waiting for us, we were reminded that during the month of Ramadan any place or activity that promotes things like drinking and smoking is closed down. We then attempted at plan B--finding another pool place...plan C finding another pool place...plan D sit in the middle of the road for ten minutes and try to think of something to do on a Saturday night. Finally, we decided on Plan E: go bowling downtown! We ventured out in search of the bowling place that turned out to be a mall near downtown. The combination of the insane traffic and attempting to follow the fearless leader of the pack made for quite a perilous journey. Lindsey and I were nearly hit by a car two or three times. While stopped at a light, we were serenaded by a group of college students asking for money. Now, when you are in a car you can roll up the window, lock the doors, but when you are on a bike, it is rather awkward. How does one react? All Lindsey or I could do was laugh:) We safely reached the mall, and headed up the stairs attempting to follow the signs to the bowling place. After three flights of stairs, we entered a narrow corridor resembling the setting of a horror movie. We finally came to a door with the sign for the bowling alley, but ended up entering through a side entrance. What a sight--five white people all of the sudden appear through the back door of the bowling alley, so much for being subtle:) As if we hadn't stuck out already, we ended up having to borrow socks from the bowling alley to wear with our bowling shoes. These weren't plain white socks, no, no, no, these were red and pink socks. The game of bowling was successful, as usual I had my spurts of athletic ability getting two or three strikes, but ended up with the fewest points. It turned out to be a really fun night, full of laughter, a couple near death experiences, and really great material for my blog. I am realizing that everything here is an adventure, especially when you least expect it:)