It just happened that some friends were going to Minneapolis, Minnesota, so I was invited to tag along...and off I went! On sunny Friday morning...
As usual, Indonesians are identical to lateness. When I was told that we would go at 6 AM, some complications arose. I got to send money home through Western Union and the Hyvee, where the agent for Western Union is located, opened only after 6 AM after its Christmas holiday. So I woke up early, hit the shower, and rushed to Hyvee, back again to my apartment, waiting for the guys to show up, only to find that they would be running late...Damn...
But, finally off we went...We got two cars: Juhari's and Kelvin's with ten other persons going: Refina, me, Pipiet, Ardi, Andre, Adi Lila, Kelvin, Juve, and Denny. We hit McD for some of us hadn't had breakfast. And then, at 9 we went north to Minnesota. Along the road, as usual when you're traveling in Midwest, farms, farms and farms, usually interrupted by inns, storage facilities, etc. We stopped at Modern Rest Area which has a showcase of Iowa's stuffs. It happened to be at the TOP of Iowa, meaning the northest place in Iowa.
We planned to go to Mall of America, the largest mall in the USA. And it is. On the first floor, it has a huge theme park, with Peanuts characters as the theme. So you will find Snoopy and his friends painted everywhere. It has a rollercoaster, merry-go-round, Ferris wheel, etc. the usual fun in a park. But of course, they cost money and they are expensive. So, I was only staring at them, wishing to be one of the kids in the wheel. And my mind was off to Jalu. If only he had been there! He would have been thrilled, as thrilled as me. They also got a Lego section, with children busily building something out of the blocks. Jalu would love it.
Inside of the mall? Stores, stores, stores. Shoppers, shoppers, shoppers. Fancy chicks, dandy dudes, trendy pops, fashion-lover mommies and cute babies, from any ethnic groups. Got heaps of money to spend on winter sales. Bloomingtons, Express, JC Penney, GAP, Banana Republic, Barnes and Nobles, Victoria's Secret, Pottery Barn, you name it, they got it. But of course, those are only available for the haves. When you have money, all doors will be open in Mall of America.
Excuse me? Sure there are other faces in Mall of America, like my face. Have money but not sufficient to spend on a holiday spree. So we have our eyes to do shopping, dreaming that someday we can get a hold of the fancy stuffs. I want the sweaters, I want the perfumes, I want the books, I want the CDs, I want the jeans, I want the stationeries. Instead, I got a Franklin Covey journal (worth 3 weeks of my grocery shopping, btw) which for almost a month now I had been giving a thought of buying , busily considering if it worths the money. And a book about reflexology, hoping that it can help others in pain. In other times, I just set my eyes on those stuffs, those people, those expressions of joy of passerby shoppers.
Don't misunderstand me, I'm not envious or anything. I was just dreaming, and I am still dreaming....
That is what I got from my one day trip to Minneapolis...
