Standing in Porter Square I felt slightly out of place, because everybody seemed to have a place to go and I was just standing around waiting for my date to pick me up. Yes of course it was slightly different to be driven by somebody else, especially given my love for driving. However due to my schedule and the location of Dali, Somerville’s most famous tapas restaurant, this was the best way to go logistically. I had been conversing with Jen over email for the past few weeks and we were finally going to meet for the first time. I was slightly nervous as is typical for most first dates, at the same time I was excited to finally this person I had recently learned so much about.

In my anxious state, I was reading my book, but not truly comprehending what I was reading. Every ten seconds I would gaze up and look around for a green Honda and then go back to reading. After a few short minutes the car appeared and I jumped right in ready for an exciting date. Once inside the car I introduced myself and was immediately relieved to see how great she looked. In the online dating game you can never be sure, because pictures can sometimes be misleading. In this case they actually were because she looked even better in person. Conversation flowed immediately, which I would soon find out is usually the case with the two of us. Of course it wouldn’t be a date without me making an ass of myself which I accomplished early on in this one. We were driving and something came up about a one way street and how killing me on the first date wouldn’t be a good thing. I replied back, “Yeah usually it is the guy that kills the girl on the first date.” A pause and a moment of awkwardness passed before we started talking again.

We arrived at the restaurant within a few minutes and were quickly seated at a small table in the back. I looked at the menu and was immediately overwhelmed by all of the options. On top of all of that we had to decide together what four tapas we were going to order. We discussed basic food preferences, I told her I had to pass on any seafood dishes and she wasn’t a huge fan of any pork related or beef products. After a little bit of negotiations, okay a lot, we narrowed it down to chicken, duck, rabbit and mushrooms. Once our waiter appeared we took turns and we each ordered in our best spanish accents.

Now that the ordering was through we could once again turn our attention to the great conversation we had already started before the menus arrived. Things were going very well and the lights began to dim, the people at the table next to us were celebrating an anniversary and several waiter came over to sing to them. It was great and everybody in the place applauded after the song. The lights went back up and we became completely lost deep in conversation again. The food began to arrive and we split up each plate and began to eat. We couldn’t stop talking though and before long most of the food began getting cold. Finally after a long time we finished the finale of chicken with asparagus inside. My first experience with tapas was fantastic not only because of the food, but mostly due to the company.

We paid the bill and went back out to the car. It was a short ride back, because once again we just kept talking and talking. Once in the Porter Square parking lot we sat for a while just talking. Finally it was time for me to leave and I leaned in and we kissed. It was so nice and felt comfortable, a great first kiss. I thanked her for driving and stole another kiss before getting out of the car. It was a great first date and I was looking forward to a second date soon.