Blogging. Is. Amazing. It's been the best way for me to gather my thoughts and I love having a written record of my high school years. So go on, read, laugh and enjoy.
Ahhh it is so awesome to experience another countries culture! It's very weird here because everyone speaks English so I sort of kept expecting people to be the same but they really aren't. Fashion is a great example. Honestly you can't really pin British fashion because I feel like everyone is just doing their own thing. Besides boots and trench coats there really isn't any similarity between what one Briton wears and the next much less when you are comparing a Briton to an American! But I digress, I shall talk about my observations of British culture in another post!
After arriving at 7AM in the morning (2AM in East Coast time) I got picked up by my Godfather, Jochy, and driven to his home in a cute little car. Which I thought was odd until I saw all the other cute little cars on the road...they where everywhere! Below is a picture of a highway-like road, please notice what side the cars are driving on, it was quite scary driving in the passenger seat!
I arrived to Jochy's house and met my little "cousin" (we're not really related but I have no idea what other relationship term I could use) Ignacio, who was born about 8 months ago. He has the most amazing blue eyes ever, I'm quite jealous!
Ignacio
Mind The Gap!
After a one hour power nap we finally set off into the depths of the city! We rode the "Tube" which is what they call the subway around here. I loved their little "mind the gap" message since the ground was rarely level with the train. I guess I must have looked like the biggest tourist when I got out at the Piccadilly Circus station and just kind of slowly spun around, mouth agape in wonder. The US is great and all but it didn't get settled until 1607 so it's only really been around for about 400 years. The United Kingdom on the other continent has thousands of years of history. You just can't find that same type of ancient age in the US no matter how hard you try which is why London has just kept on amazing me with its history.
In the center of Piccadilly Circus
Horses of Helios, also in Piccadilly Circus, with my mom
Jochy, Amelia (his wife) and Ignacio gave us (well mostly me) a little walking tour in that area of London. We walked all the way to Trafalgar Square which looked really pretty but we didn't stay for long. Hopefully I can go and revisit it some other day this week because there are so many things to take pictures of!
Random artist painting really good copies of original paintings.
Nelson's (hero of the Battle of Trafalgar) Ship in a bottle. It's so cool, an amazing piece of art!
Afterwords we were really hungry so we went in search of some food. Originally we were going to get Italian or something but thankfully we decided to go for a very traditional English dish. Bangers & Mash! Which translates into Sausages and Mashed Potatoes for those of you that don't know ;) I ordered my mashed potatoes with mustard seeds, YUM! SO glad we decided to get authentic British food instead of Italian, plus that's what common sense would have mandated where she with us in our time of hunger.
Definitely trying this recipe out at home! And look, coke comes in glass bottles yay!
And what's better than that satisfied full belly feeling you get after eating a great meal? Oh yes, dessert ;P
Carrot Cake from Cibo Cafe (alliteration, nice!)
We decided to walk around a little more and I saw the Odeon Cinema, where many movie premieres are shown, Harry Potter being an excellent example of a recent premiere in which Leiscester Square, where Odeon is located, was packed. We proceeded to go into some clothing stores here or there and then heading back home for some nice wraps. And that my friends, was a wrap of my day ;)
I have arrived in London!!! Surprisingly the airplane trip did not feel like it took several hours although I would have preferred to have a seemingly long plane ride then to deal with airplane sense. What I mean by airplane sense is that obviously if you were about to be stuck in a confined space for 7+ hours with over 200 more people you would want to make sure your smell was not...repugnant. Well turns out the guy behind us clearly did not have such airplane sense and therefore filled the plane with a disgusting scent. I could seriously go on and on about how I thought I was going to suffocate from this guy's major B.O. but I'll refrain from being mean and point out that, on the bright side, I clearly did not suffocate since I am writing this! I'm not going to lie, he seriously killed my excitement for the flight (among other things ugh) and it wasn't as fun. I think I would have rather sat next to a child who cries...oh wait...that happened too...fml.
The most weirdest part of the trip though was how it started getting dark at 8 and they served dinner and then roughly 2 and a half hours later we were woken up for "breakfast" and it started getting light outside again within the hour! Short night huh?
If anything the plane trip has finally brought this trip to be...I don't know, real? Like I didn't think about it too much over the summer so that I wouldn't get impatient and anxious so now that I am actually here I'm very excited! I met my godfather's new baby boy and he is very adorable with really bright blue eyes (which will probably end up on here sooner or later)! I will be spending my time in London at his house and was ordered to take a nap so that I would be well rested since it's not even noon over although my body still thinks it's 6:30AM, ahh jet lag =]
Woah it's finally nice to say that after months of training (and several weeks of "rest") I finally was able to run my 5K! I didn't do it as part of a fund-raiser (although I would still like to in the future) mostly because I wouldn't have had a ride. I chose to do it by myself so yesterday when I woke up I thought to myself "Hey, it's either now or never!"
I hadn't run in like a good 10 days and boy did my body notice! It was a rough run, not gonna lie but I'm glad to be able to say that I got through it! And for little old me who doesn't get much physical activity besides walking to work this was definetely an accomplishment. Final time: 31 minutes and 46 seconds. That's roughly 10 minutes per mile which isn't so great but it wasn't a race, just a test to see if I can finish =] Of course I guess I would have been faster if I hadn't stopped to take a snapshot of this guy.
I just can't get enough pictures of wildlife when I'm running! Plus that'll probably be the last time I see one of those guys because I will not be running anymore! It's not going to be a forever thing but once I get back from London (44 hours!!!) and start school I don't know when I'll have time. So I'll enjoy my last warm thigh soreness while it last!
Hmm have I mentioned how much I like the people I work with before? I'm pretty sure I have. I like them so much in fact that we even decide to hang out outside of work! =]
Last night (or very early this morning he he he) some of us decided to go cosmic bowling after work. I did pretty decently with a strike and several spares, however, I never managed to crack the top three. Grrr. Everyone cracked me up though, especially Julie since she and I both sucked and yet would get these random spurts of kickass-ness.
Julie had the most amazing tippy toe Fred Flinstone like bowling technique!
It was awesome we bowled until they kicked us out at two. However the night didn't end there! We went to our favorite diner, the Silver Diner to maul some cheesefries and milkshakes. While we waited for the food someone came up with the brilliant idea of Honest Hour where quite a few secrets were spilled and a major quasi-argument broke out. I call it quasi because I still don't know if we were kidding or seriuos about it...lol. AND as if that weren't enough we drove around and ended up at a Krispy Kreme (did you know they were open 24/7??) where an adorable old lady gave us a wide variety of doughnuts. I ended up coming home two hours before sunrise...whoops! I seriously love these guys and even though the girls aren't with us anymore at work its nice knowing we can still do these little get togethers.
Oh, my God. Tonight has been one of the funnest yet this summer, I'm so mindblown I have no idea if this post will be coherent at all. You guys (should by now) know me. I am (usually) a strictly scheduled guy, nothing ever happens "spontaneously". I always plan things days and weeks in advance so that when the time comes, it will be an awesome well guided experience.
Well my friends I took a huge leap of faith last night when I was over at Cappy's house and Sara invited me to come with them to the Ke$ha concert. "What?? But I don't have a ticket..." That is not a problem for Sara apparently because she masterfully went on to craiglist.com and not only found a ticket that was pretty cheap and in the same section, but it was also in the same row! I am in total awe of her craiglisting skills. So I coughed up the money (I was so close to paying off my debt to my mom too...!), traded shifts with my coworker and blissfully went to sleep.
The next morning when I came down for 'breakfast' (as if it was already made, ha!) I could tell that my dear mother was about to tell me about how we would go to church and then when we get back I would have to back up all her pictures onto our external harddrive and then I would do homework and help her cook, etc. However it ended up being more like "Mom...I'm going to the Ke$ha concert tonight and need a ride to work now...thanks :)"
Work took foreverrr to end and then it was off to the concert! Even though we were all in the same row, Cappy and Sara were supposed to be like 10 seats to my left BUT by some fortunate event their seats were messed up or something and they got changed to sit...right in front of me! Not that we stayed like that for long I eventually just climbed into their row and we were all together =]
The concert was amazing to say the least. The first opening act, Spank Rock, was a little weird and deffinetely not my type of music but then they were replaced by LMFAO and the partyy started! now they really new how to put on a show! They had awesome dancers just moving wildly and contantly flipping it was so amazing to watch! Ke$ha was also great and really connected to the crowd by talking to us and explaining when/why she wrote the songs she was about to perform. I took over 130 pictures but created a slideshow of less than 50 for you guys to watch.
Some random thoughts that went through my mind during the concerts were 1) it's funny how some girls dress really...well, skanky, and they look really old until you notice that their cell phone case has Hello Kitty on it, they are wearing braces and that creepy old guy isn't trying to hit on them, he's their father!!! 2) I cannot believe that this is my first concert, why the heck haven't I been to more??? 3) That 10 year old should not be sitting right in the front row...in fact, they shouldn't be here at all! Ke$ha is definetely PG-16 material!
OMG! And a video for you guys too If you place close enough attention you can hear my amazing vocals in the background =]
Wow this is late. Ok well I just wanted to start off with the fact that I am not a cat person. Ever since I got scratched by one at my grandmothers house in Florida I have kept my distance...and so have they. Because I find cats to be very cold animals, always keeping to themselves, looking all smug and arrogant. But I digress.
So about a month ago a friend of mine, Melody, asks me to take care of her cats. I was like, "um ok sure" I mean how difficult could it be taking care of cats? (a few vomit clean-ups later I can assure you, it is quite difficult!) Not only that but one day I go and visit the cats and the alarm to Melody's house is sounding really weird when I enter. So I go to turn it off and the display screen says "Check Office Window 17" or something like that except I can't really check since 1) I have no idea which window is number 17 and 2) the office was locked anyways. So I go back out and check all the windows in the back just to make sure that none of them looks broken in or anything. Everything looks fine so I go back inside. That's when I notice...its awfully quiet...the cats...WHERE ARE THEY?!? I start running up and down the house yelling out "PONYO, PONYO...DEXTER WHERE ARE YOU!" I look behind the TV, underneath the sofas, in the kitchen cupboards (hey, it's possible) to no avail. I begin thinking that my kitties might have been catnapped! What was I going to tell Melody when I couldn't find her cats! I'm about to go into the garage to check if they are there (well maybe that one isn't as possible but I was worried and wasn't thinking straight!) when I hear a "meow".
"...Dexter?"
"...meow"
"Dexterrrrrr"
"...meow"
"Dexter! Where are you!"
"meow!"
I could hear Dexter meowing but I had no idea where he was! I basically ended up playing Marco Polo with this cat because I could hear him but I couldn't see him. Well, after like 5 minutes of this I go into the little furnace room where the kitty litter boxes are held and I decide to look up on a whim and there he is! The little bugger somehow climbed up into the ceiling of the first floor and was prowling around that little attic area (it's hard to explain). Relief splashed over me and then annoyance that this cat made me waste like 20 minutes of my life stressing out and envisioning them being tortured by a catnapper and then being sold to one of those pet commercials that has like abused and abandoned pets with the sad music in the background that urge you to go and give them a caring home. Ponyo showed up a few minutes later, where she was I never figured out...
Dexter in the attic-like area!
Eventually though I sort of ended up liking them and my quick 20 minute visits turned into hours as I chilled with them, scratching Dexter's belly anytime he was close. He would sound like an idling engine whenever he purred. It was cute. Even though Ponyo still keeps her distance (she's definetely the more proud one of the two) they both let me approach them at give them a good rub down whenever I visit Melody's home.
Dexter in the front, Ponyo on top of the chair.
...But the story doesn't end there! Melody got back from her vacation on Saturday but guess who still had to wake up early the next day to go and take care of another cat? That's right, me. What am I a professional catsitter?? I had the lovely opprtunity of taking care of Snowflake, Emma's cat. She was a little older (like 13 or something! Which is actually pretty old for a cat) and was a lot friendlier. Probably because she's been smelling my scent since the 5th grade whenever I would go over to Emma's.
Snowflake! She was always trying to get my attention.
I still don't believe I'm a cat person and will probably never be. But I did enjoy taking care of my kitties and getting on petting terms with them. They really weren't that bad ;) Not only that but at least now I can put on my resume that I am an experienced catsitter lol!
Ok guys I SWEAR that this won't become a blog exclusively about my time at the Hispanic youth INstitute but it really has changed me deeply. I was finally able to find a video of Jonathan who I mentioned in my HYI posts as well as the poem he wrote. I modified it a little (only fixing capitalization issues and very minor spelling) but here it is.
Am I A Threat?
Am I a threat?
When you look at me am I the plague you've come to expect
Am I so wrong for wanting to live in a better place?
Or am I CRIMINAL because of my race
I’ve come here fleeing oppression crime and poverty
Been here so long this country is a part of me
But how do I open your eyes and make you see what I see
So this is where my battle begins and probably will end
In the tip of a pen
Because with a simple signature me to El Salvador you would send
But something must change in the hearts of men
Learn compassion and how to treat your neighbor like thy own brother
Can’t you see your DESTROYING FAMILIES taking children from their mothers?
It’s not a home after you've taken the father
Tell me if you saw some one starving would give them something to eat
See him completely exhausted would you offer him a seat
Because trust my words crossing a dessert is no easy feat
Walking for days in hot sand with your bare feet
Nothing to eat even less to drink’
The sand in your eyes n it hurts when you blink
Walking towards the sun looking for a better tomorrow
Trying to escape all the pain and the sorrow
The pain of the ones you left behind
The uncertainty of seeing them again but there still on your mind
God made this world but man drew the lines
So I guess the pursuit of happiness has now turned into a crime
Cause we come to this country with nothing more than a pocket full of dreams
Searching for a land like none you've ever seen where gold flows thru the streets
You got clothes on your back and shoes on your feet
You wake up with a smile and there’s always something to eat
But now I see cold reality as I wake up with a certain level of fear
Afraid to walk out of my door because this could be my last day here
Afraid to see all your hard work and sacrifice thrown away
This is the reality my people face day by day
Why has lady liberty closed her arms to me?
Why do I feel to trapped in the land of the free
Why when I turn the news is my race being attacked?
All I want to do is educate my self but you fail to pass the dream act
Yet with fire in your eyes bass in your voice and pride in your face
You begin to attack my race
But there's ignorance in words and in your mind
What separates me and you is nothing but a line---------drawn in the sand you see these are the inventions of man
To think that a line could divide this great land
Is like trying to cover the sun with one hand
So now we’re responsible for the problems we're facing
You cry he took my job and beginning to complain
Was he really more qualified when his only word in English was his name?
But in your eyes he alone holds all the blame
You should bow your head in shame when you find your beginnings where not the same
He came battling the odds, weather and treacherous terrain
Walking for days, cramped in a car or holding on for dear life to a train
Because only after you felt what I felt or see what I’ve seen
Will you truly understand the price of the American Dream?
Arghhhh sometimes I think I have such good balance when in reality I'm a complete klutz. Such as when I went and dropped my cell phone in the middle of Chipotle when I was with Mauricio two nights ago. Of course, my phone has fallen several (more like hundreds of...) times before but it just so happens that this time it falls at such an angle that it didn't turn on again! The battery had been kind of low so I figured that must have been why it didn't turn back on but here I am about 50 hours worth of charging later and the little bugger still won't come back to life.
I always underestimate the importance of my phone. I scoff at people who are addicted to their phones and moan about how they would die without one. I'm ashamed to say so but I believe I have turned into one of those people! Even though I am still breathing I feel as if someone has chopped off my right arm! I have reached into my pockets multiple times to check the time (even though I wear a watch) or my e-mails only to realize that my phone is not with me anymore =[ I can't text anyone, I can't BBM (Blackberry Message) Gaby, and I can't place a call. Do you know how frustrating it is to need to call someone to come and pick you up only to realize that you can't? Or the anxiety that I get of thinking about how people might be texting me and I can't respond! I feel as if I cannot properly function without my phone. I honestly feel a little depressed and lost without it.
The first thing I did when I woke up this morning was reach over to my nightstand to try and grab my phone but it, of course, was not there. Is this a bad thing, my dependence on a small piece of technology? Should I be scared of how vulnerable I feel without my phone nestled in my pockets? It's a hectic world out there and I sadly need my phone to get through it. My replacement better get here fast, expedited shipping does not feel like it is fast enough for me.
UYL,
Andre
P.S.
I forgot to mention this but a few hours before I broke my phone I was actually BBMing Gaby while donating blood! The two very key points there were that 1) I went and donated again (and didn't get dizzy at all this time!) and 2) I'm so attached to my phone that I can't even put it down while there is a huge needle stuck in my (left) arm (of course). I would post a picture of the needle that I took with the phone but...=/
As if they didn't already take up like 5 post last month, they HYI crew is back at it again! After a prolonged (almost 2 and a half) trip to Stafford, Va (when it should have just taken like 45 min) I was reunited with a small part of my familia! Thankfully there was no sobfest involved this time. If anything I'm physically drained from the 1st HYI Reunion. I spent the day playing pool, catching a football, passing a soccer ball, throwing a frisbee, and playing three hours of volleyball!
We were at the home of one of the key note speakers (I think I wrote about him? All about going after success and how he was real with us) for the HYI and the house was huge and is exactly what I think of when I think rural Virginia. Not that we were in the middle of nowhere, but he had about 4 acres of land and we clearly got to enjoy the volleyball field.
It was so nice to see everyone again and to feel so comfortable with people that, even though I might have only spent a few minutes of them before or didn't even know them, they were so genuinely nice. Everyone was having a good time and reminiscing about the good times that happened like...three weeks ago? lol. The learning part was still there though. I noticed this t-shirt a fairfax buddy, Errol, was wearing with an acronym for lideres (leaders in English) which was given out at the National Council de La Raza in DC. I'm a little irked that I didn't find out about their Annual Conference until like two weeks after it happened but I've signed up for their newsletters and am waiting to hear more about them. I am very determined to be active in anything revolving around Hispanic issues, especially since I am so near DC. I feel as if there aren't enough leaders in the Hispanic community and when almost 1 in 4 kids is Latino you have to wonder why that is. All these great people I've met are those leaders and I want them to recognize it and go out and change the world (with me too of course!)
Other really fun games that quickly turned hilarious were Taboo and Guesstures (which I seriously kicked butt at, not even gonna try and hide it!). Towards the end we decided to give this girl (Pamela) the Taboo cards and have her describe it in Spanish which was a riot because her Spanish wasn't so hot and she sort of sounded like a 5 year old at times. Not only that but she would also try and make up some words in Spanish by just adding an e in front of everything! Like I don't remember what Nick (my RA) was doing but he was helping her out way to much and she was like, "Ayy, tu si eres un...echeater!" Which if you pronounce that last one in English it sounds like something else really funny. And then this other girl in a very thick Hispanic accent said, "Ohh, in my country we say tramposo!" and everyone just burst out laughing again. It's just one of those moments that will become a great memory of our 1st Reunion since I am sure there are many to come. After all, I've already seen my 6th grade buddy Mauricio like 3 times!
Yes, I realize that I am clearly posting this on Tuesday night but my dad went and told me to watch Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night" video and it was AWESOME. I really like the song (mostly because of it's catchy chorus =] ) and the video was great. I like it how music videos are turning into much more than just the band playing on different flashy stages. The really good ones are starting to have actual plot lines that make sense (this is vital) and go along with the lyrics. So I invite you to check it out below =]
UYL,
Andre
P.S.
Did anyone else notice how TWO GLEE ACTORS GUEST STARRED =] And there was a hilarious reference to the "Friday" song sung by Rebecca Black (and an appearance of the "star" herself!)
It's so nice to see shy animals out when I am on a run! Even though my iPod's camera is terrible and I was a good 15 yards away, I was able to take a shot of this cute little "Bambi".
There's nothing more satisfying than eating an amazing Philly cheese steak than in the place where it originated. Yesterday, my second "major" travel plans were completed. While I didn't ride the bus there with my friend James like we were going to originally, we did catch a ride with his dad and a friend of James', Sean. His dad dropped us off right in the middle of the University of Pennsylvania and we were on our own from there on!
Waiting for the Trolley
If there's one thing I learned about myself in those first few minutes is no matter how much I plan these trips out a) I always manage to lose my sense of direction and b) my plans never seem to work out anyways! It took us about 20 minutes to find and figure out how to use Philadelphia's public transportation system which uses little underground trolleys (how cute). After we got off in the center of Philadelphia we decided to go and find the best cheese steaks in Philly. It took us 30 minutes to get there (we almost got lost...twice) but we finally arrived to Pat's King of Steak, the establishment where the cheese steaks sandwhiches were born back in the 1930s!
My "provolone, wit" cheese steak...it was delicious!
I found this sign right above the menu and it cracked me up!
We didn't really go sightseeing which bummed me out a little but that just gives me an excuse to go and visit again. I didn't fall in love with the city (instead my love for DC grew) although that might have been because we didn't walk through the nicer parts of town to get to Pat's. I did notice that there were a lot of murals all over the place and we also saw the city hall from a distance.
Sadly because we spent more than an hour finding Pat's, eating and then traveling back to the University of Pennsylvania we did not get to hear the admissions information session. Sean, who's already visited a ridiculous amount of universities, told us that they all start to sound the same after a while and I don't doubt him on that. We did arrive in time for a campus tour though!
Blanche P Levy Park in front of College Hall where the tour began.
The University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) is similar to George Washington University in that it is in a major city...and that's pretty much where their similarities stopped. Even though UPenn is in Philadelphia, the Schuylkill River sort of separates it from the center of the city. I mean it still sort of had a city-ish feel since the streets were pretty busy but I think that's mainly because of the Hospital of UPenn. There was a lot of green areas which I really loved. I really liked the University of Pennsylvania period. They have 16 libraries (!), 104 different languages are taught, (I didn't even think there were that many to begin with!) they are very flexible in terms of grad requirements, (You need to take at least one class from 7 main disciplines as opposed to having a required set of classes) and have funny traditions. Like one of them is a toast on the third quarter after every home football game...except since drinking in the stadium was banned in the 1970's fans literally throw actual toast into the field!
And of course one of the most attractive things about UPenn is that it is home to the Wharton School, the first business school (and consistently highly ranked) in both the US and the World. The building was pure beauty. I was briefly able to see some really high tech classrooms and there was this big study area type lounge which is pictured below. Our tour guide joked that the Wharton School must have been built with a campus tour built in mind because it's so bold and just screams selective. And selective it is after he told us that only 9% of applicants are accepted...
After the campus tour ended we went and chilled in UPenn's bookstore which is by far the largest one I've seen in any university. It was like a Barnes and Nobles but with an apparel section (which I of course went and bought a t-shirt from!) I reviewed the little packet that we were given at the beginning of the tour and kept on finding little things that made me like UPenn more and more. This is definitely a college I am going to revisit and most likely apply to!
