SKYDIVING!

On Saturday I went skydiving with a group of international students of USF, here are the pics and the video!

Week #22 (09/23/2013 - 09/29/2013)

On Monday I went to my classes like usual, and in chemistry Armando asked me if I wanted to go to the beach with him on Sunday! I'm so excited. Also I had my tutoring session with Milan, he was kind of quiet but he did help some, most of my mistakes where stupid algebraic mistakes. I also went to the gym and did some cardio while watching a Netflix series called "The League", it's not a Netflix series but I was watching it from Netflix, I really like Netflix and I think I'm gonna keep it for a long time.

On Tuesday I only had Foundations of Engineering Lab class and my group and I had our bridge presentation, we were the first group up because of Nick's last name and let me tell you, WE SUCKED. All the other groups were amazing, and ours was lacking information. I felt so bad, we could have one more, but I think that individually I did a lot compared to the other two but that doesn't matter anymore. My mom had sent me an Amazon package and it arrived today, at first I thought it was going to be super cheap, like $1, raincoat but it actually was a Columbia raincoat, those with who-cares technology, it was a super awesome gift. I also liked my outfit of that day :)

On Wednesday I had my first Calculus test and I was so nervous, however I finished an hour before it was time. Then I went to the library to do the flowchart for our Chemistry Lab class the next day and after that I had to go to an American Studies screening to watch "Rebel Without a Cause", it was a good movie, considering it was an old one. I always tend to get bored in classic movies but this one was good.

On Thursday after our lab, I went back to the dorm and change to a pretty dress and a necklace I had bought weeks ago. I am not really a jewelry kind of person but I really liked the necklace. I had to dress like that to go to a mandatory career fair. Companies don't even hire freshmen for their internships, so it was kind of a waste of time because I already know where I wanna go (Disney, NASA, Boeing, Lego). After the career fair I hopped on the HART bus to go to the Metropolitan Ministries orientation, and in the way I met a student who was in the same bus as I. I don't know his name but he had latino heritage and told me all about his father and grandfather (weird?). In the Metropolitan Ministries orientation, this guy (Felix), gave us a presentation about the place and what could you do, the place is very beautiful and very modern. I was really impressed with that. Also in the walls they had kid's picture with a description and more than half wanted to be photographers so I'm considering volunteering as a Photography instructor. When I got back I had ramen and Panda express for dinner and finished watching "The League" on Netflix. I also watched Modern Family, Glee and X Factor since Rod fell asleep early in the night.

On Friday I basically did  nothing else than watch Grey's Anatomy :)

Old Days #1

Cristy - *coughs
Me - "bless you"
Cristy - "you are not suppose to say bless you when somebody coughs"
Me - "Apo! Cristy is being ungrateful!"
Apo - *gives lecture to Cristy

I'm Kinda Into Photography #13 - Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo

Today I went again to Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo since my mom bought me a year pass, and I had a new camera so it seemed like a good place to start. I went alone and by myself (sounds sad but that's how I like it when I'm taking photos), I took a HART Bus towards Downtown and it took about an hour to get there, but I didn't had to change buses or anything so it was nice. Also the bus was kind of empty I never had to share seats with a stranger. 

So these are some of the pics I took today:

Comparing my Nikon D7100 to my Sony a580

So this week I bought a brand new camera, I bought a Nikon following my grandpa's advice, and of course I followed his advices because he's had over 5 Nikon cameras, even over 10. So I bought this particular Nikon because of its weight, focus points (21, which is a lot) and prize.

When I first bought my Sony a580 I did it because of the colors, the shots I took with that camera came out with very vivid and similar colors.

What I noticed the most between these two cameras was: that the Sony a580 projected a better quality of colors while the Nikon D7100 had better focus.

I still have to get used to this new layout, but here are a few cons and pros about the Nikon D7100 compared to my Sony a580.

Cons:

• The screen that tells you the aperture, ISO and speed does not have a light of its own, so you can't see those numbers unless you select the option to use the screen. 
• I've noticed that sometimes it takes a long time to go from picture to picture. 

Pros:

• It's lightweight. 
• The lens I bought has a bigger capacity (18-105mm) and is smaller and lighter. 
• The vast amount of lenses you can buy. 
• The focus capacity. 

Overall I think that both cameras have their pros and cons, and they are both good. It just takes a little bit of getting used to and knowing you camera's peeks. 

Taken with my Nikon D7100.

Week #21 (09/16/2013 - 09/22/2013)

On Monday I did my usual, I went to my Chemistry class and sat next to Armando. I'm starting to like him as a friend :) I also got super great news! I was hired by Fashion Voyage (an online fashion magazine) to take photographs here in Tampa. They said they'd pay me $5 per picture. I'm so excited. I already ordered my new camera, a Nikon D7100. Later that day I went to the library to meet up with Armando to do the practice exam for Chemistry and we aced it. Then we went to the food court and had Panda Express. I had my usual, the thumbs down part was that the lady just poured about 5 pieces of beef and thousands of broccoli.

On Tuesday my camera arrived! I ordered it with a two days shipping but it arrived earlier! After foundations for engineers I went straight to the mailroom to pick up my package. This new camera is super light, and I'll be doing a review of it this weekend. I bought a 18-105 mm, and a fisheye lens. The lens is super light and small to have that zoom. In foundations of engineering class and sat next to Ahmad.. things are getting weird, I kind of feel uncomfortable around him. I guess whenever I rush a friendship it always ends up weird and awkward (he also had bad breath). At night I went to the library to finish my lab report for Chemistry and I did! I stayed until around 10 pm. Cool thing about my library: 24 hour Starbucks, now if only I drank coffee haha.

On Wednesday when I came out of my American Studies class it was raining so bad! And again, I left my umbrella at my room. So I got a little bit wet. I stopped by the bookstore to buy a clipboard to put the signing sheet for my photography thing and then I went to my dorm. I went out again to go to my Calculus class, we finally started with applications of derivatives and now derivatives of logarithms and more fun stuff. After that I went to the library to meet up with David and Victoria and David was being an asshole, besides the fact that he brought his girlfriend and was all distracted we was "creyendose la gran vaina" saying "I told you so"s and more asshole stuff. I kept telling him that it was impossible for us to identify more than one compound mixed together and he kept saying that he personally asked the TA, so I had to email the professor in charge to prove him wrong.

That's my new free shirt :)

On Thursday I went to my lab, and hung out with Ricardo outside. I feel better now that I know that I'm not the only one who thinks David's a douche. We did awesomely great in this lab, we narrowed our search to two options with a very strong hint on one of them. After lab I went to a Study on Leadership thing that gives you hours for my Certified Student Leaders Program. I met Sylvia, she's from Indonesia and I liked her. I hope we can do some volunteer work together. Oh yeah, before the study on leadership thing, I was out and about taking pictures for the Fashion Voyage photos, the first one I took was really bad and I got sad, but the second one and the third one came out great! I personally like the third one which said her style is "punk but simple". I sent the pictures to Paul Comstock and now I'm waiting for his reply. So, he replied my email and he says I'm good and that he loved that I got a shot of the outfit accompanied by an apple, he asked me to create a PayPal so he could pay me! At 4 PM I went to a Read to Lead session, which serves as hours for my Certified Leadership Program, and it was fun. I ran into Kyle again, one of the kids in my Study of Leadership meeting and I made a group with him and a girl named Paige, we won a free t-shirt :) At 6:30 I went to the SkyPad at the MSC for a meeting for this YouTube thing I'm doing, we have a good team and I hope this works out.

Friday I woke up to an email confirming the payment I received from Fashion Voyage :) I'm pretty happy. at 10:45 I went to my Chemistry class to do my first exam of the term, it was pretty easy, I think I got 22/25 sans the points form the bonus question. I really hope it doesn't get harder because this test was easy for me because it covered everything I had on my three years in high school, so I really don't know what to expect for the second test. I had a meeting today with my Foundations for Engineering Lab group but it got canceled and Nick volunteered to put together the lab report so now I have the afternoon free, it's being a long time since I've had a very long period of time off. My dad is finally texting me back and replying my emails, I was really worried he had forgotten about me or didn't care at all, but now I'm happy and relieved. At 2 PM I went to my American Studies class and I got another 1/3 on my discussion questions, I was so stupid... There were 4 questions on the online file and I thought there were only 3. So I talked to Viktoria (our TA) and she told me I could email her the 4th questions so I did and now I have two points! At night I finished my math homework and google mapped my route for tomorrow, I'm planning to go to the zoo :)

My First Post :)

I wanted to share with you my first post in the Fashion Voyage online magazine :)

http://fashionvoyage.com/street-fashion/silvia-tampa/

This weekend I'll be heading Downtown to take more photos :)

I Was So Freaking Scared..

So in my previous post I told you about my new gig in Fashion Voyage, and today I went through campus looking for stylish people asking for a photo. 

At first I went to the Marshall Student Center and I was so awkward, I was about to give up and do it another day in Downtown, but I built courage and took out my camera. On my first try I saw this girl with a pretty dress, she was talking on the phone and I went to her and asked her if she was busy, I explained what I wanted and she told me that she was not interested, so first photo declined faster than a stand with free food. 

I kept walking and saw this cool edgy, rock and roll chic and I went up to her and asked if I she minded I took a picture of her outfit for an online magazine. She said yes! But she didn't stand up so I awkwardly took her picture sitting down. Is part of my job to as her how she describes her style and what are the brands of what she's wearing, so I asked her that and she didn't told me her brands so that was a fail. 


My second try, I saw a girl in an orange dress with a really cool bag walking by, and I asked her and she said yes. She answered all my questions, the only thing is that she only gave me the brand of her dress so that was not okay either.           

They say the third try is the one so I saw this Asian girl with a really edgy, simple yet sweet style and I asked her if I could, she said yes and she described every single item of clothing. That's the photo I sent to Mr. Comstock. He was really pleased with it. 

I kind of went from a really awkward to a really comfortable stage during my first search for good candidates and I just hope to get better in time. This will definitely strengthen some of my weaknesses. 

Fashion Voyage

So..

I GOT MY FIRST OFFICIAL JOB :) Actually, my mom told me it's not considered a job but a... Okay I forgot, but it's not a "job" because they are rather than hiring me, buying my photos.

So about this job, a online fashion magazine, Fashion Voyage, contacted me to be one of their photographers from Tampa. They have photographers all over the world, and I'm one of the ones in Tampa. What I have to do is go through wherever in Tampa and ask people with cool outfits if they minded that I take a picture of them for the online magazine. I'll do a post about my first experience later. Let me tell you, this is going to be hard because I'm a little introverted when talking to strangers but that's the beauty about this gig, that I get to exercise one of my weaknesses and get paid for it.

This is the link of the magazine: http://fashionvoyage.com

Soon you will be seeing my works in there.

STATUS: SO HAPPY.

The Struggle

At the beginning of 2013 I was in FSU doing some courses in advance to being in USF, because I think FSU is easier due to the nationality of the professors (Panamanian) and the expectance of their students (who are also Panamanian). Hence, I was used to an easy life in FSU doing homework once or twice a week and studying for each test for 15 or 30 minutes. 

Now here at USF, where it is also harder; I took 7 courses compared to the 4 and 3 courses I took at FSU. I haven't felt this pressured and stressed since high school. Plus the responsibility of going out to eat, doing laundry (big time consumer), cleaning my room, exercising, and participating in organizations and other activities that may enhance my curriculum, I'm really feeling The Struggle. 

This last week I've heard "the struggle" like 10 times from 10 different people, it's not just me who is taking this transition a little overwhelming. The only difference is that those I've heard it from are taking 4 to 5 courses, while I'm here taking 7. 

I didn't just took 7 courses because I wanted to challenge myself, but my scholarship requires me to have 30 credits per year (15 per semester) and since I'm taking a couple of courses that only give you 1 credit (the labs), and a mandatory course which gives you none, I'm stuck with 7 courses. 

This weekend I got really stressed out due to the amount of school work I have for this week, but I took a moment and analyzed. I got to the conclusion that I was getting overly stressed, because I wanted to finish all my school work for the week in one weekend, which may be possible but a hell of a weekend. 

Right now I'm just taking one day at a time, and counting the days until my Christmas break (88 days for December 13th). 

"The Struggle" can be prevented with good time management and prioritizing. 

Week #20 (09/09/2013 - 09/15/2013)

So on Monday I was super tired, I didn't even wake up to Kaitlyn's alarm at 7 AM. I went to Chemistry and Armando sat next to me again, I like that people look for me to sit next to me; I like Armando :) After Chemistry I bought some Pollo Tropical and ate in my room while watching my daily vlogs (usual mondays). Then I went to American Studies and at 4 I went to Calculus, thank God I remembered Calculus is at 4 not 3:30 because I have gone twice at 3 thinking it is at 3:30. Later in the night I hear a lot of chatting and when I look all of my suite mates (except Abby) are gathered in the other common room, so I go there and do some social life. I really like them all, they are so funny and cool to hang out with. Kaitlyn was really hyper though, I think it was the coffee she drank. Anyways, she went downstairs to open the door to Chris and we decided to tease her and we all hided in my room. When they turned off the lights and saw my wall full of stars they went like "wowww" hahaha. It was a nice ending to my Monday.

On Tuesday the guy from the Study Abroad finally replies to me and says I have to meet up with the advisor of my major, so I made an appointment with John for Thursday. Before class I went to the bookstore to buy a weekly planner because I feel I'm forgetting so much stuff, but when I got there I realized I left my wallet! This is the second time these past two weeks! So I went to Fresh Food Co. and grab some food to go. I feel bad because they didn't have any healthy stuff, so I had a lot of carbs for lunch. At class, remember I told you I felt like I was forgetting stuff? Well I had a quiz on Foundations for Engineering Lab, luckily it was in group and you actually did not need to have read the chapters. After that class I went and bought my weekly planner and also a USF t-shirt, because I feel I don't have enough. I went to my other class at 3:30 and saw Ahmad, I feel so bad because I have not texted him in a very long time and he told me that he felt sad, either way we worked that out. After class I went to Champion's Choice for dinner (I love that place) and I had mashed potatoes, a meat I don't know from what animal came and a tofu salad. After that I had a group meeting with the guys from my Foundations for Engineering class, Nick and Chad, and we accomplished to do something. Chad and I are lucky that Nick is a Junior because he knows a lot of stuff we still don't. On my way back I decided to stop by the Pod Market to see if they sold any Whoppers but they don't. Last weekend I went to Target and bought everything I needed except my Whoppers, and now I crave them everyday! Vicki message me through Facebook today and she invited me for Thanksgiving at her house, so I guess I'm going to Miami on November :) Before going to bed I had a nice chat with Kaitly about piercings, thanksgiving, and other stuff, this is the Kaitlyn I like; not so hyper and weird but not that much.

On Wednesday I went to my usual classes, however, at noon I went to Lunchtime with Leadership for my Certified Leadership hours and today's topic was about "Leadership after a crisis" since today is 9/11 and it really inspired me you know? Also before the lunchtime there was a Volunteering Fair at the MSC and I got really interested in one called Metropolitan Ministries, I liked that one because it has tons of area in which I can help, including photography! After all my classes I went to dine at Champion's Choice and while I was eating alone Olivia came up to me and asked if she could join. I felt happy because I haven't talked that much with Olivia. We had a great time :) After that I came back and changed into my work out clothes. Today has actually been a very stressful day because I have to read 7 chapters of "The Right Stuff" by Tom Wolfe by tomorrow. So while I was working out I was also reading. I really can notice when I'm interested in what I'm reading because 400 pages' books that I like take me about three days, while this one I read only 10 pages in 25 minutes while jogging. I didn't get a chance to skype with Momo because of that book. Anyway, today was a really busy and productive day.

Thursday was a very stressful day, besides the fact that I have to wake up for my 8 AM class, the class is Chemistry lab! I hate it. I got really stressed out because we have to do a billion things just for that class. Anyway, after the living hell lab we had I went to my advisor so he could approve my course for the Study Abroad next year, he did but I also need the approval of the course's department. So I biked all the way to the other side of campus, it was seriously a long bike ride (about a mile and a half). So I get into the building and get send to the other side of it. I got lost and asked for help and a boy named Evan (looked like a student) helped me go where I was supposed to. I had to go to room 2632 and when I got there it was a sign next to a coffee table.. I was like 'are you kidding me?'. So a guy found me and took me to the secretary, the lady said that the guy I was looking for was not there so I left my number and email. When I got out of the building it was freaking pouring outside, and of course I left my umbrella, AGAIN. I stopped by the mail room to pick up my new Asic running shoes :) When I got to me room I was soaking wet and changed my clothes, then I realized it had stopped raining so I change clothes and went out to the trail to try out my new running shoes. At first they felt good but as the time passed I could feel the impact in my heel.

On Friday I went to my Chemistry class, and practically what we are doing right now is the same I did in my three years of Chemistry in high school, so no pressure. For lunch I had discovered Thursday that Champion's Choice has those sticks that chinese restaurants serve! Those you can buy packaged in Panda Express, I call them "palitos". So now whenever I wanna eat I go to Champion's to eat some "palitos" :P hahaha. I still have tons of homework but I really don't feel in the mood to do them, I did some of it but I still need to write a couple of lab reports, study and do homework. The USF library at the beginning of the semester announce that they would not have the 24/5 schedule they've always had but we protested and from this Sunday it will be 24 hours! So maybe I can hibernate at the library this weekend and finish all I have to finish.

I also installed my cup holder
for my bike :)

YOGA

Today was the first time I tried yoga with an instructor. Before coming to USF I bought a book of yoga to tone up but as usual I ended up not using it at all. I decided to go to this class, since it's free and also to try it out the real way. I used a black mat they gave to the ones who didn't have one and I installed myself at the back of the studio. At first we did kind of the same movements my book mentioned, the upside-down dog, the hmm well, a lot of yoga names. The class lasted an hour and at the middle of it I was already dying. It drained all my energy! I didn't think yoga could make you tired, I thought it was supposed to relax you. But guess what, it made me tired and relaxed me! There were some hardcore moments when we did some crunches and had to balance and stay in position, but there were also moments in which you just relaxed and the instructor helped you go deep into your mind and forget about stress and responsibilities.

I really liked yoga, and for sure I'm coming back. I belief this yoga class was a "Power Yoga" session, which explains the crunches and stuff; but still I loved it.

Week #19 (09/02/2013 - 09/08/2013)

Happy Labor Day! I really had nothing planned for today. At noon I went to Fresh Food Co. and ate a salad with bits of ham, or as I like to called it: ham with bits of lettuce. After lunch I was browsing through the Recreational Center's site, and I found about the Riverfront Park, which has Stand Up Paddle. I've been wanting to do that for more than a year, and I found a place exclusively for USF students that charges only $5 for a two hour rent. The lake was beautiful :) to get there I had to bike about 2 miles. I really loved doing SUP (stand up paddle) and I hope it becomes kind of like a leisure activity I'd do regularly. The view while in the lake was amazing, I even saw a crocodile! I wish I had brought my phone with me, I though it would get wet. But if you don't fall off or anything you don't get wet. Next time I'll bring my old iPhone in its life proof case and listen to music while paddling while also taking pictures. Back at the dorm I had easy mac for dinner, and Ricki (one of my suite mates) also gave me a homemade brownie. The rest of the night I just chilled in my room. Now I understand when Dorianne used to tell me how lonely she felt, at least she found some panamanian gals to make her company; and now Alex is going to Penn State so there will be more. I feel so lonely... Yesterday Jose and I were skyping and he was like go out and make social life, tell your roommate to go with you and see a movie. But I just can't do it, a lot of people may not understand but THIS IS NOT EASY FOR ME. The only one who understands is Rod, and thanks God he's the one who understands. I do have this thought in my mind that I could make the four years without a good friend, maybe I'm wrong and crazy but I do hope I can get a good friend. I'm just preparing for the worst. I thought I had a good relationship going on with my roommate but it seems that she's having more fun with our suite mates.. So now I'm all alone.

Tuesday started pretty awful, but thankfully ended amazing. I set my alarm at 9 AM to go to the gym, but guess what? I could not get off my bed, so at noon I went to lunch at Champion's Choice. My favorite on-campus place to eat. Ever since I've known the kind of food college offers and the free gym and other stuff to help you be healthy I've proposed myself to lose weight and tone up. Although I'm not going to the gym as much, I'm definitely eating a whole lot healthier. LET'S KEEP IT UP! I also found out in the morning that I had a Chemistry Lab quiz due today! And the material the professor gave us for the quiz was really long. So after my classes I went directly to the library and start reading. I get a text from David, one of the members of our lab group, and he texts me that he's also struggling with it that if I wanna come and help each other out. So I went to his hall, just before going there I stopped by the bookstore to buy my lab supplies since David told me they were going pretty quick. He lives at Kappa, and the interior is pretty much like Lambda. He was really tall, which I did not expect, and pretty Floridian. He did the quiz while I had the content out and vice versa, we both got 10/10. The conversation was pretty awkward, I don't know if it was me but he was all the time stuck to his phone. So when I left, it was pretty awkward. I had dinner at the library before going to David's, I had bought sushi from the MSC and a smoothie from Jamba Juice, I hope that counts as healthy. Back in the dorm since I finished the Chemistry lab quiz, and all the stress was relieved I started doing my Foundations of Engineering homework. Olivia and Kaitlyn were watching Greek while I was doing homework, and at one time Olivia asked Kaitlyn if she wanted some pop corn right in front of me. Like, she gave her a whole bag and totally disregarded me. So I'm all like, in my mind, I like pop corn too :( That's typically how my relationship is with my suite mates. I also forgot to tell you that I got bored of reading "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot, and now I'm reading the 4th book of the "I am Number Four" series! "The Fall of Five" by Pittacus Lore. I know it's a bad timing because right now I'm obsessed with the Percy Jackson series, but I think that's just how us readers feel when they have to wait too long for a sequel. Anyways, I'm on page 295/355 after just beginning on Sunday! It's not has fast as I used to read Percy Jackson but now I'm so much busier, so being on the mid 70% on my third day is amazing progress.

Target gave me a stuffed animal!

On Wednesday I did my usual, I got 20 minutes early to my Chem class so I sat down next to some guy. It was until something happened that I introduced myself and he was like "I already know you", it was David! From my lab group, omg how embarrassing. This is the first class I don't take notes, read chapters ahead or anything; I feel so irresponsible. After Chem I went to the Internship and Part Time Job Fair held at the Student Services area. I took information from Target and Busch Gardens, but I think I can't apply to those jobs because I'm international. So before my Calculus class I applied to a couple of jobs on campus. I'm not searching a job for the salary but for the experience, my resume is completely blank in that area. After Calculus I met with David and Victoria, my lab group, in the library for our project. We have to do a bouncy ball. We ended up having dinner together, well just me and David because Victoria met up with another friends. He was more talkative this time than yesterday thank God. When I came back to my dorm I did some homework and I logged into YouTube, then I discovered Judy and Benji are expecting! AND THEY ARE HAVING TWINS! I'm so happy and excited for them. After that I skyped with Rod :) Just before going to bed I finished the 4th book of the "I Am Number Four" series, I thought this would be the last book, apparently not. So now I'll have to wait for a fifth book :( Anyway, I rate this book 4.2 starts out of 5.

On Thursday I woke up a 6:45 AM because I had my Chem Lab class at 8 AM. I woke up Kaitlyn but I'm not sure if she was really awake because she just went to the bathroom and fell back asleep. I went to Fresh Food Co. and grabbed a banana, since I was walking because I had left my bike at the CMC because of the rain the day before I tried to hurry. I got about 30 minutes early and just sat waiting. I saw David by the door so I stood next to him, then I saw Victoria and the a guy who I later met as Ricardo. I put my lab coat, and googles. I hate the googles, they mess up with my ears. We did the bouncy ball experiment and it was actually cool. At the end of the lab I did one for myself, which I colored blue. After lab I went to retreat my bike at the building where I take Calculus I and went to the Engineering III Building for my meeting with the Academic Advisor. I had to meet with one for one of my Foundations for Engineering assignment, and show him my semester, weekly and graduation plan. His name is John Morgan, and he was REALLY cool (reminder: always schedule with him). He was very impressed with my assignment and checked marked me all down. After the appointment I picked up some food from Pollo Tropical and ate it at my dorm. Then I biked, which I calculated now and it's 3.1 miles, to Riverfront Park to do more Stand Up Paddling. It was really tiring this time around. It may have had something to do with the song and the height of the paddle (which was way too short). I came back EXTREMELY tired and drank a couple of glasses of Sprite, and then fell asleep in my bed. I woke up with Abby and Olivia making noise, and then Kaitlyn came in so my nap time was over. Grace came over to our room and talked with me and Kaitlyn for a while. They saw the photo album I made :) I went to the library around 6:30 to do my Chemistry homework, and had to leave early because my battery was dying. The homework was really long, so I haven't finished it yet. Before coming back to the dorm I bought some Panda Express (the usual). At night I skyped with my grandparents and Cristy, I felt guilty that when I called to their house to ask for the credit card's number, Apo greeted me with a huge amount of happiness and surprise and telling me how much she missed me. So I had to skype with them, because that phone call made me miss them too. About the credit card thing, I biked 3.1 miles to the park and when I got there I realized I had forgot my credit card! So I had no way of paying and my mom can't use hers because it reached it limit.

On Friday I went to my Chemistry class and Armando sat right next to me, if I forgot to tell you I met him on another of my Chemistry classes and he's from Puerto Rico but has lived here for a long time. After that class I went to the Grad Studies office to investigate about Cristy's masters but she was right, there are no Masters in Logistics here; I also went to the Education Abroad office but no one was there so since I was at the MSC I bought Chik-Fil-A for lunch. I also realized this morning that I was accepted into the Florence Spring Break 2014 program! Just one night after I applied! I'm so happy! I was doubtful at first because I would be studying about mental health instead of Michael Angelo and the field trips to mental hospitals (creepy). But there are only two visits to a mental hospital, the rest are art exhibitions and wine field trips. So I accepted. Around 5 I went out again because I had to print some stuff and in my way to the library I bought a parfait at Jamba Juice, I liked it a first but there was too much granola. For dinner I went to Fresh Food company and ate some pork and bread. Back in my dorm I finished my Chemistry homework and tried my best at math.

A pic I took on Thursday of the sunset in front of the memorial of Martin Luther King Jr.
here at USF. 

Stand Up Paddling

Today I did Stand Up Paddle for the second time in the Riverfront Park lake, where USF students can rent the board for just $5 the two hours. This time though I got tire faster, and the sun was hotter. I really enjoyed the first time but this time was kind of a bummer. First I rode my 3.1 miles to get there on my bike and when I get there I realize I don't have my wallet with me, so I have to make an international call to get my grandpa's credit card number. Then they gave me a shorter paddle than last time and this one was too short to paddle standing up and if I paddled sitting down for too long my knees hurt. The sun was also very strong, and maybe that was my fault because last time I got there a little bit later in the afternoon (note to self: don't go at noon). However, the perk of the trip was that this time I had my iPhone with me so I took pictures and clips. I really hope this experience does not sour my like for SUP (Stand Up Paddle).

YouTubel Daily Shoutout #34

As you saw in one of my earlier YouTube Daily Shoutouts I mentioned that ItsJudysLife is one of my favorites! Judy and Benji are expecting! AND THEY ARE HAVING TWINS! I'm so excited for them, this is awesome!

First College Football Game - USF vs. MSU

On Saturday USF played against McNeese State University in the Raymond James Stadium in Downtown Tampa. I went with my suite mates in Olivia's car and we hung out until it was time to enter the stadium. My roommate met up with one of her friends from USF St. Peterson and that left Olivia, Abby and me rooming around. We sat behind the touchdown zone, because that was the area assigned for students. I would have rather preferred the sides but oh well. Olivia's brother came and also Abby's ex-boyfriend. I really felt left out, even more when they came. I'm so socially awkward.. but well that's not what we are talking about. The game started and in our first play we made a TD. The score was 7 to 0 and the bulls were feeling the bull pride. We sang and cheered until MSU made their first touchdown. The touchdowns from MSU were pouring and we lost all our hope when it was 43 to 7. He made one more touchdown raising from 7 to 14 but MSU did too. Leaving the final score 51 to 14. Olivia and Abby left early because they had this Sorority thing early in the morning the first day so I was alone. John came around, Abby's ex, and we started talking and hanging out. John seems like a pretty decent guy. However, he left and I was left alone again. I bought a pretzel with my last 5 dollars. It was a bad choice because it was really salty and I had no more money to buy a drink. I stayed until the end because I needed the bus ride back to campus. I made it back. So so tired. I may probably not go to more games unless I've got someone to accompany me. Either way, I liked cheering up for my team. 

Cool pic ;)