Let's have a week in Philly

After I left my family, I made my way to Philly,

 Temple University to be exact.

 Each day of the week found me in this building

 with these fine folk,

 for a workshop on piano technique.

 I wanted some refreshers to help me teach my kids,

and filled a notebook up with tons of ideas.

It was refreshing indeed, and helpful.

But, piano aside,

I was really just there for the food.

 Every morning I walked through campus 

and stopped at my coffee guy,

(on the left here) who elegantly prepared me 

a napkin-draped cup with a friendly smile.

And one day, 

the guy stationed in the Middle Eastern food cart on the right

 made me this fantastic gyro for lunch,

which I enjoyed from Temple's only grassy space.

My real love, however, was Rudy,

 with whom I somehow became fast friends.

 [Maybe it was because his food was so good,

I couldn't stop going back?]

But food aside, 

at the end of each day,

 I waited on this platform,

 for the 3:27 train

 to whisk me back to my home for the week,

 with these old good friends.

Each day was like an adventure,

what with some massive construction under way,

and we spent most of our time in this little zone,

chatting, eating, gaming,

catching each other up.

Inserting myself into their family for the week 

meant jumping in on whatever was going on,

such as dinner out with Brent's family

to celebrate his long-awaited and well-earned graduation,

cleaning layers and layers of dust that threatened to never leave,

and a trip to Ikea to get some necessary supplies.

There was also an outing on Friday evening,

 [far enough away for Simon to take a very comfortable nap

 and involving a picnic in the car when he awoke]

 to see Nathan play a bit of soccer.

And though our guy scored an awesome goal,

there was a questionable call 

that kept us from celebrating all the way home.

Nonetheless, we had ourselves a good time,

 utilizing my camera for all it was worth,

 getting caught up in the excitement of the game,

and just enjoying that we were together.

Piano, food, and the routines of the week aside,

together with these people is sweet and good.