This evening, with the help of our friends who are both highly motivated to see the new Harry Potter film, we mobilize to go to the movies. Catching a taxi, we arrive at the nearby movie theater / shopping mall with plenty of time to spare. On the top floor, Tyler's eyes light up when he spots a video arcade.
Smacking Pete on the shoulder excitedly, he exclaims, "I'M GOING TO GET SOME COINS! LET'S PLAY!" First up, they attempt (and fail miserably at) a round of DDR on a machine whose speakers don't work. Turning to something more familiar, they settle on a game that requires a bit less coordination: shooting bad guys.
While Tyler and Pete are busy saving the world, Natasha and I get some ice cream and check out the rest of the arcade.
Natasha then suggests we play a racing game, and so, tokens slipping into the slot, music starting, hands swinging the steering wheel wildly around, pixelated car crashing into the median, we pretend to drive. It is then that I remember why, when I was little, I assumed I would be a terrible driver, thanks to many confidence-destroying sessions of Mario Kart with my older brother.
This is the first time we've been in a real movie theater since Bucharest so we're easily spell-bound. Popcorn and soda in hand, we get comfortable for what turns out to be a fantastic movie.
The movie began, a riot of encompassing sound and fancy graphics, and we were soon swept up in the big screen. As much as I love real, slow, intentional living and the simple pleasures therein, there is something to be said for instant gratification and the occasional colorful, sugary rush of commercialized life.
Instant Gratification
When the lights come up two hours later, all we can say is: Damn, that was a good movie. It was so engaging and fun to go to the theater with our friends that, as we make our way back across town in a taxi, we joke about the question we get asked sometimes: "So, what is the best thing you've done on your trip across Europe and Asia?"
Right now, we're tempted to reply, "That time we went to the movies!"