Shanghai besties.

We all have those people in our lives that have been our "best friend" for a certain period. You have your high school best friend, you have your college best friend, and I obviously will have my Shanghai besties. Here in Chinatown, my first one was my lovely roomie hailing from Chicago, that Filipino American that understood me and saw me through the worst of it in my first year. 

We have inside jokes and have a great time when we are together. Her and I are incredibly different, though and spend most of our leisure time doing things the other is not interested in. A younger, more immature Ayesha wouldn't have been able to handle this kind of separation but now I kind of love that I'm such good friends with someone that is so different than me. I find that is more and more true about me as I get older- I like having friends who challenge me (appropriately) and aren't in love with everything I'm in love with. Life is more interesting that way. 

J and I have great conversations about life, relationships and all that good shit. She says things to me sometimes that echo in my head for days following. She provides a mirror for me at times and I'll always hold a special bond with her- no one knew me like she did my first year in China. We've aged and grown together and she will always be one of my Shanghai besties. 

She once said to me, "you live with the old you," and of course it was exactly what I needed to hear in the moment. I love that she is blunt but kind (it helps that we're always on a mission to get drunk during these conversations). She also had a dream that we joke about where she said "I'm not blogging. I'm just writing on the Internet!" Let it be known that she is the last person that will ever blog about her life. Our differences force us to laugh at ourselves and I love that. Happy 27th birthday, youngin'