14 Reasons the CR Familia Can’t Wait to Add 14 More Members

– Written collectively by CR6

Hello CR7ers, this is a message from the CR familia. For the past semester, we have all been dreading seeing your pictures and blogs flooding our Facebook pages. We would often spend hours convincing each other that if we just begged hard enough, Dr. P would decide that he really made a mistake taking 14 new members, and instead opt to take the members of CR6 again this year. Despite our best efforts, and a plethora of convincing arguments (I still can’t believe he passed up Randie’s offer of a lifetime supply of Nutella crepes), he decided to stick to his original decision to take 14 new people on CR7.

We began to brace ourselves for the first devastating picture. That fatal blow was dealt by Julia, who posted a selfie in front of the Brandenburg Gate. The picture was immediately screenshotted and posted into the CR7 GroupMe (we hopefully renamed it from CR6 to CR7 months ago.) Immediately, I could hear the collective wails of sorrow echo from across the country. For the past few days, we have sat in agony, anticipating the next blog to be posted. There have been texts, GroupMe messages, and FaceTimes to comfort each other, but nothing has worked yet. The only way I have been able to cope with the unspeakable truth is by resting in the fact that we will soon add 14 members to our loving familia.

The verb “add” is very important. It has come to our attention that each of you has assumed that you are already a part of the familia. While nothing is a great metaphor for the CR familia, this is basically like saying that you are a member of the TCU family after attending orientation. Yes, you got a bunch of purple for graduation presents. Yes, you have eaten one Sweet Sammie and two-stepped to three songs at Billy Bob’s. Yes, you changed your Facebook education status to say Texas Christian University. Yes, you have a schedule, but you are still far from understanding what it means to truly be family. So while you technically may be familia now, I still cannot wait to hear how your view on that word has shifted after the final dinner in Rome.

All of that being said, we are eager to welcome each of you to the family. We are so excited about it that we created an extensive list of the things we are most pumped for you to understand. So here we go: 14 reasons that we are excited to add 14 members to the CR familia.

1. There will be 14 more people who understand just how hot a car in the night train truly is. You thought an afternoon TCU football game was hot? HA. A night train car is like the center of the Earth’s core compared to the stands of Amon G. Carter Stadium.

2. There will be 14 more people who will understand the utter bliss of taking a three hour nap in a European garden surrounded by nude, old men and hipster European college students, while they are supposed to be touring through museums.

3. There will be 14 more people who refuse to eat Paciugo’s gelato, because it will “just never be the same as Giolitti’s.”

4. There will be 14 more people who eventually realize that human beings can’t run on 0 hours of sleep for three consecutive days. Yes, sleep makes you weak has been my motto for a solid year now. But at the point where I was falling asleep while standing in the middle of a crowded UBahn station, I found my sleep deprivation limit. You will find yours as well.

5. There will be 14 more people on campus whose friends sarcastically mock them by saying, “Oh wait, did you go on Cultural Routes? I had no idea!” because of how much you talk about your experiences.

6. There will be 14 more people who realize that no dating relationship will ever come close to equaling the love that you have developed for Giolitti’s gelato.

7. There will be 14 more people who we can cry alongside as we read CR8’s blogs next year.

8. There will be 14 more spoiled travelers, who realize that you will never again be able to eat as well abroad as you did on Cultural Routes.

9. There will be 14 more people willing to accompany Randie on her constant search for a Nutella crepe that equals the one at Allegreto’s.

10. There will be 14 more people who understand that Dr. P’s hidden calling is being a paparazzi photographer.

11. There will be 14 more people who LOVE Stu-Wireless for how reliable it is compared to the hostels in Europe.

12. There will be 14 more people who understand that buying a laser from a street vendor and then messing with him for a few hours is the most fun you will ever have for 4 euro.

13. There will be 14 more people who never complain about walking 15 minutes to class again. 12+ miles every day for three and a half weeks will teach you the true meaning of “oh my gosh that is so far away” really quickly.

14. Most importantly, there will be 14 more people who truly understand what it means to be a familia.

CR7, we love you guys and we can’t wait for you all to be back in the states. Not just because we desperately want the blogs and pictures to stop (Okay that’s definitely a major part of it), but because we cannot wait to exchange stories and memories for the rest of our time together as a familia.

Here’s a bunch of pictures because I was reminiscing and I love you all a lot.