Rohit's American Adevnture: Chapter 20: Another Fall Semester passes by

The Fall semester started with a a lot of promise. I was looking forward to the career fair and to catch up with friends who had been home for the summer. I was taking courses on Knowledge Management, Seminar on Decision Making and Management of Information Programs and Services. I was excited about these courses and was looking forward to have a good time. In the meanwhile, I was keen on getting my drivers license. I was happy to meet Dmitry, Margarita's brother. I had met Margarita at the Bible study group in summer. Dmitry was kind enough to teach me to drive. I enjoyed my driving lessons with him and was keen on getting my drivers license. I failed in my first attempt at parallel parking, which was my biggest flaw. I just could not parallel park. What made it worse, was that I kept on failing on a regular basis. I remember, my Wednesday mornings started with a promise that I would pass my drivers test. I used to return back with the kiss of failure and then used to sit through class in the afternoon, figuring out a way to get through the parallel parking dilemma. I got to a point where I lost all hope of getting my drivers license. I was also interviewing at a couple places and things were not working out. So, I was going through a lean patch where things were not working out and I was depressed. It hit me really hard, when I was confident I had a great personal interview with folks at Deloitte but they did not get back to me. I did surprise Dmitry on his birthday by smashing a cake against his face which was funny. I always believed in making people happy and giving them moments to remember for their life, in the middle of all the failure I was going through.

I also bumped into Maggy in the beginning of the semester and was happy. My heart was beating faster than ever and words could not come out of my mouth, as I was talking with her. Just having a conversation with her for 5 mins made my entire evening wonderful. I felt like I was in heaven. I did ask her when she wanted to do dinner and she said she just wanted to be friends. I just said to myself, why did she not tell me this when I asked her out for dinner at the end of spring semester. I took me sometime to finally get over her and start over.

I also had a fun outing on Halloween night. They were having a free burrito day at chipotle as long as you came wrapped in a foil or had foil on some part of your body. I somehow managed to get one, having a crown made of foil around my head. I got a call from Rafi, about what they were up to. I decided to join in and it was quite an experience. Since the metro close don 11pm on weekdays, I had to take a cab to Adams Morgan. That was an adventure in itself. I had to blow 40 bucks just to get there by taking a cab. I did not have cash with me, so asked the cab driver to drive me to an ATM. He happened to drive me to a Bank of America ATM while I had a chevy chase bank debit card. I did not know that time that my chevy chase card would work fine and I would just be billed an extra service charge of 3 dollars. The cab driver lost patience and decided to drop me back at College Park. fortunately, on our way back, I was able to find a chevy chase bank ATM and everything worked out well. that was by far the most expensive cab ride I have taken.I saw people in all weird costumes right from Ghostbusters to vampires on the streets of Adams Morgan. It was like I was in a different world, where everyone just wanted to have fun. I was calling Rafi and Sammy but they did not pick up. I walked along the streets for 25 minutes until I finally bumped into Ariel, who believe it or not was dressed as Nacho Libre. Once I met Ariel, it was easy to meet up with the other guys. What happened after that was a joyride. Rafi and Sammy were dressed up as girls, which was funny. We went into this pizza shop where they served these huge pizza slices. Those were the hugest pizza slices I have ever seen. The cab drivers were on strike that night; so we had to pay extra cash to get back home.

I eventually passed my driving test on a snowy day and my happiness knew no bounds. I was the happiest person that day. I will never forget Dmitry and Margarita for all their help and patience in middle of all this. I could not have got my drivers license without their help. Fall semester passed by quickly, paving way for my trip back home to India. It seemed hard to digest but I was done with three semesters and was one semester away from graduation. I remember dropping by Gab's pace to bid goodbye to my friends before I left for India. I was happy to see all of them. Rafi hinted the idea of going to Miami for spring break and then taking a cruise to the Bahamas. Everyone wanted me to come with them. I assured them I would do my best and would definitely go with them. I made my first visit to the Liquor store with Jimmy to get bottles of Jack Daniels for my dad and friend. I could not sleep that night. My entire room was in a mess with clothes and gifts lying everywhere. Stephanie Crist had helped me buy cream and shampoo for my mom and grandmother few weeks ago.
I had forgotten to get my I-20 signed, which was stupid of me. I would have no problem leaving the country, but when I enter United States, an unsigned I-20 would cause problems.

I was fortunate the folks at International Education Services Office were cool enough to help me out at the eleventh hour. Chris Garriott gave me a ride to the airport, which made life easier. I checked in my luggage and was all set to go home!!!