I think of myself as a pretty optimistic person. I’m nice to strangers, almost always have a smile on my face and if you laugh at my jokes, I pretty much assume we’re best friends. This gets me in trouble. I trust people too easily, I wear my heart on my sleeve and if you have a beard and tattoos, I have already fallen in love with you (regardless of if we’ve met. If we haven’t, hit a sister up). Naturally, I get hurt a lot. But it’s fine. It makes me who I am. I’d rather feel it all than be numb.

However, there is one area in my life where the little shining light of optimism comes equipped with a dimmer switch. If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll know I have little-to-no faith in my generation, myself included. (All I do is watch reruns of “Nip/Tuck” and talk about drag queens. Honestly, what am I doing to change the world?) As a result, I’ve kind of lost faith in people as a whole. In general, I don’t think people are very nice. No one smiles back at me on the street, people snicker behind my back pretty much all the time (I mean, can you blame them?) and I can’t say I’ve found a group of genuinely good people.

But all of that changed this summer when I had the opportunity to host three Dutch travelers. When my mom called me and asked if I was interested, I jumped at the chance. After all, there’s only so much I could do in an apartment without air conditioning in the middle of summer (other than die of heat stroke).

I won’t lie, I was nervous. I’ve only lived in San Diego for four years and while I’ve seen the sites and know some cool burger joints, I wasn’t sure how to keep my new friends occupied. Not to mention I had never met these people in my life and knew nothing about them or what they enjoyed doing. Little did I know, my time with them would be one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.

I ended up showing them around the Gaslamp District, then had lunch in Pacific Beach. We checked out the sea lions at went to the La Jolla Children’s Pool and ended the day with their very first 7-Eleven Slurpees. After a fun- filled day in San Diego, I joined themfor their last day in California and showed them some fun in Los Angeles, where we saw the Hollywood sign, got a tour of the “Grey’s Anatomy” set and even got a picture with Patrick Dempsey. Lastly, we enjoyed coffee in Silver Lake (hipster breeding ground, truly unnerving), Brazilian food and a comedy show on Sunset Boulevard.

I spent two full days with three complete strangers and by the time we had to say goodbye, I was overcome with a ridiculous wave of sadness. I had never been so affected by people in my life. Even after such a short time together, it was clear they were three ofthe most inherently good people I have ever met. They smiled and said hello to every stranger they passed on the street, were grateful for something as small as sugar for their coffee and had smiles on their faces during every event.

There they were, three friends from Amsterdam wandering around America for the first time by themselves. They reached out to a community of hosts and stayed on different strangers’ couches every night (something I have seen far too many episodes of “Law and Order” to ever try). They even used maps to get around. Maps. No GPS. Paper maps. Who does that anymore? My two days with the “Dutchies” affirmed there are nice people left in this world. And it doesn’t stop at nice. I wish there was a word better than “good.” They’re just good people. No catches, no gimmicks. Thanks to Lisa, Judith and Pepijn, my faith in humanity is restored.

So the next time you’re feeling down about life and humanity as a whole (as I often feel every time I hear a Nicki Minaj song), remember the “Dutchies.”