11 Bollihope

Maddy, Gabby, Michelle, Nick, and unofficially, Rachael,

Well after a long trip at the airport, I managed to get all of mine and Nick’s stuff to at least London. Nick, I hope you really enjoy this stupid towel. I’m an idiot guys! I had no idea that I would be on the same flight as Michelle and Maggie. I thought I was on the next one and almost missed my flight! I’m so stupid sometimes…

I can’t believe I’m here without you right now. Ever since we moved into Bollihope it seemed there was always someone around to talk to (even if you didn’t want them to be). The Stable was definitely the place to be and I have no doubt it’s because of you crazy people.

Maddy, I knew when we met we would be good friends. You’re a pretty intense girl! Thank God you were there to always plan out our adventures and keep us updated with the things going on downtown or wherever. I’m REALLY thankful you had your blackberry when we got lost in whatever town that was when we were trying to get to the wine tour. What would I have done without you? I’ll never forget your graceful eating abilities you made known at family dinners and I’m going to miss hearing my daily Georgetown updates from you. I could ALWAYS go to you if I needed help with an outfit or just wanted to complain about my day. I’m so excited that you live so close and MUST come to your NH house after all your stories from it. I like Disney VHS and board games too! Enjoy your time with your family and I look forward to seeing you back in the States. Oh! And don’t forget about the time we were lucky enough to meet the son of the guy who owns Black Label… what a jerk.

Gabby, my little Spanish speaking roommate. You’re crazy. But actually. You know you stressed me out being up all night doing papers or studying for exams while drinking massive amounts of coffee. I really don’t know how you did what you did this semester but I’ll give it to you, you really know how to work a crowd. I’m going to wonder how many friends you had since you were always “just going out with a friend” yet they were always different friends. Thanks for coming home with me after Nick’s birthday. We’ll call it even after I let you in at 4:30 in the morning. I’m going to miss going to your room and checking for the electricity and then talking to you about God only knows what half the time… Take care of yourself and quit studying for exams the night before. You stress more people out than just yourself! Also, sorry for dropping the bobby pin in the toilet.

Michelle, I just said good bye to you and Maggie!!! I really hope you guys have a good time bouncing around for the next week or two. I hope everything goes smoothly for you. Michelle, you were one of the first people I met here and the last I said good bye to. I really do not believe you were sleeping every time you were in your room nor do I believe that you ate cheese on toast every day this semester. In between eating and sleeping, we’ve done a lot of crazy things together in Cape Town. Remember that time we almost died in the car over spring break? Or that time we jumped off a bridge? Or that stupid final project that we had to put together in a day? I can only shake my head when thinking of the things that we’ve done together. You gave me clues to my middle of the country mystery. I now can define what is the mid-west from the west because of you. Thanks! Have a kick ass birthday and dance like you’re Spanish!

Nick, oh Nick. I’m going to see you tomorrow but it’s not going to be Cape Town. You’ve been a great roommate always looking out for us even when we were being annoying girls. I’m going to miss arguing with you like you’re my brother and having you there to try to figure out what’s going on in guys’ heads. You were amazing to have around and I could always count on you for two things, to cook dinner and not have your phone on you. You’ve got some crazy stories behind you and now we’ve got some crazy ones together. I’m sorry to say it but I don’t think it’s a good idea if we go back to the States and play with fire extinguishers but thankfully you did so you could put Maddy’s fire out! I’m going to miss your random laughing in the middle of the night while you were on the internet… when it worked that is. I’m really sorry for almost running over those dogs on spring break but in my defense, you know they jumped out in front of the car. I’ll never look at onions the same because of you.

Finally, Rachael, the sixth roommate. Rachael girl, you still ate that whole loaf of bread we were supposed to use for dinner. I’m impressed. I’m also really glad you decided to move in with us for the last month. You were a great roommate and fun gym partner! We didn’t really have much in common since you like couscous and I like my grapes cut in half but we made it work! Episodes of Deadliest Catch during dinner and very frequent movie nights helped our friendship really blossom! Don’t worry, I won’t remember you as the few times we went out together but I certainly won’t forget you playing DDR across the dance floor giving no mercy to the other attendants. What a girl’s night… You’ll have to figure out skype on your computer so that we can skype when we’re back in the States. I hope you have a great time in NYC this weekend and we should make a date to go skiing somewhere together.

Guys, let’s be serious here, we’ve been through a lot together. I was really nervous when I first came over that I was going to be miserable with my roommates but you all were awesome and so was that house. Let’s never forget the time it rained in the living room, the internet that never worked, the electric stoves with two temperatures, our wine bottle trophy racks, nightly trips to 711, the light switch that fell out of the wall, our makeshift laundry room, the laundry machine that leaked into the kitchen, our electric fence that was never on, the pigeon incident, our braai with a hole in it, the garage we never went into, the time there was a fire in the house, the loud bang in the middle of the night, and so many more things that made our house our home for four months in Cape Town.

I really loved living with you guys for the past couple months and there is no way I will ever forget any of you. Keep in touch and let me know if you come to the Northeast!