On November 14^th, my mentee Harriet Osei Twerefour and I went to Condado Tacos in The Short North. Harriet and I both decided we wanted to head off campus somewhere. Since Harriet had never been to The Short North, which is one of my favorite places in Columbus, I decided this was the perfect opportunity to introduce her to area. Harriet also agreed to allow me to introduce her to my favorite place in The Short North, Condado Tacos! On a Tuesday night, we met in the lobby of Smith-Steeb with another mentor, Ashley and her mentee, Erin. All four of us headed out to High Street to catch a COTA bus to The Short North. Once at Condado, we were quickly seated and ordered guacamole and queso with chips. Harriet had never tried queso. She asked what it was, a little hesitant to try it at first, but ended up loving it! When it was time to order dinner, I also learned that Harriet had never had a taco before. As I was talking Harriet through the menu, helping her to make the best taco possible, I learned that she had recently became a vegetarian as well. I could not believe how much I was learning about Harriet while exploring Columbus! After making some tough decisions, we both created the perfect taco for ourselves. While waiting for our tacos, Harriet, Ashley, Erin, and I all talked amongst ourselves. Harriet and Erin told us they had seen each other earlier in the day and talked about how excited they were to explore Columbus with us later. The two girls mentioned that they do not see each other often, but they were glad this assignment could bring them together for the night. We also talked about final exams, our plans for Christmas break, and our schedules for next semester. Both mentees were nervous about their first final exams which are approaching quick. Ashley and I were able to offer some helpful tips since we were in the same position a year ago. Both mentees plan to spend Christmas break catching up with their family and friends from home while taking a much-needed break from school. When discussing plans for next semester, I learned Harriet is taking Theatre 2100, a general education course which I am currently enrolled in. I was able to offer her insight on the course and answer questions she had about what the course entailed. When I told her it was required to see three live performances throughout the semester, she got excited, as going to see performances is an activity which she enjoys but does not get the opportunity to do often. Harriet also told me she was thinking about moving back to her house in Worthington, Columbus in the spring semester. Harriet, a Biology major on the pre-med track, is very focused on her school and living in a dorm can get pretty distracting at times. She thinks living at home will help her to be more focused on her work and help her save money. During our conversation about next semester, our food finally arrived and everyone was too busy enjoying their food to talk too much. We all helped give Harriet a tutorial on the best way to eat a taco. When she was finished, I asked her how her first taco was. Harriet had nothing but good things to say about her meal! As we waited for our checks, we checked the schedule for the COTA buses. The next one was coming in less than ten minutes. We were all nervous we would not catch the bus in time. Finally, our checks came and we quickly handed them back to the waitress. The bus was scheduled to arrive in four minutes and we were still waiting to get our change back. When the waitress finally handed us our change, we ran out of the restaurant, almost forgetting to take a picture of our experience. We quickly stopped outside of Condado and took a picture under the Condado sign. We could now see the bus, waiting at the stop light right before the bus stop. All four of us ran across the street, catching the bus just as it arrived at the bus stop. We laughed most of the way home about our experience. Upon arriving back to campus, Ashley and I walked Harriet and Erin back to Smith-Steeb and said our goodbyes. Exploring Columbus with Harriet was a great opportunity to get to know her better. I learned so many new facts about her in only an hour’s worth of time. I would definitely return to Condado and recommend it to a friend, especially someone who has never had tacos before like Harriet! Condado is a great atmosphere close to campus to have dinner with friends. I am excited to see where Harriet and I will take ourselves to explore Columbus next semester!