Week #29: Beach on a Monday (11/11/2013 - 11/17/2013)

Monday was Veteran's day so we got the day off. Armando invited me to the beach with his friends from Castor, Kiley took Armando, her boyfriend and I to Treasure Island where we met with her roommate Adrianna and her boyfriend Alberto. It was the kind of day to lay down in the sun so that's what we did for the first half hour or so. Armando was in the ocean so I stood up and went over there to cool off but the water was as Armando says "cold as my ex wife" in his scale of 1 to ex wife. Armando and I played some Frisbee and let me tell you I improved with practice. It felt weird being in there because it was two couples plus me and Armando and I definitely felt like a third wheeler, plus the fact that my shyness and being new to the group made me even more introvert. I kind of wanted to leave at some point, when Armando fell asleep and it was just me and the two couples but I just took it like a big girl. I really enjoy being with Armando, but it's really hard for me to make new relationships, like REALLY hard. Today Rod started his new workout routine, which I basically arranged for him and I'm gonna remind him every night to do his workout.

I have a lot of things in my bucket list, and one of them is to write a book. A couple of days ago I started writing this book about a name girl Elise, and this is the longest I've kept writing a book. For now is seven pages long and about to start the third chapter. I wrote the second chapter on Tuesday after having lunch. After class I went to the library and finished my chemistry homework, as a reward I went to Starbucks because I was craving a Cinnamon Toast Crunch Frappe, but they don't sell it anymore! :( So I had to deal with a Double Chocolate Chip Frappe, which was so-so. At 5 PM I met with my Foundations for Engineering Lab group and we just built the slinky iPhone holder in about 5 minutes, we'll get together again on Friday to make the video commercial.

On Wednesday the weather was super cold, not a lot but still, it was around 17 C but it was very windy. It was also a bad choice to just wear a cardigan and leggins. Today was just another common day, the highlight of my day was honestly being the last in line to get French Toasts. The server served about 6 french toast sticks to the guy in front of me! So I got what was left which was one whole stick and like 6 nuggets of toasts. The night was so chilly I opted to go back to my dorm in the BullRunner. I also skyped with Alex today! I guess that could be the second highlight of my day, she asked her mom if she could come for spring break and her mom says that that is a good idea! I'm so excited! :)

On Thursday Sara and I went to the Metropolitan Ministries for volunteering and we got assigned in the kitchen today. I saw Juan, the guy kind of in charge of the kitchen and he remembered me! I remembered I'm from Panama :) We made sandwiches and cleaned the kitchen. Today was also out last chemistry lab! We finished an hour and a half before time and our TA, Justin, didn't let us out until it was time so we just hung out watching vines and stuff. I learned about something called Raw Diet, which is eating like a vegan, but like food that is not processed either so like not cooked vegetables; and let me tell you, I'm kind of interested in that. For this week I'm gonna be a full vegan, eating raw. This weekend I'll go out and buy some fruits and veggies from Sweetbay and a blender from Target. I want to change, and I'm inspired because I weighted myself today after two and half months and I'm over 3 pounds heavier! I wanted to become skinnier in college not thicker, although I do see myself skinnier which can be the muscle adding pounds, but still there's a lot lo loose.

It's Friday and the USF Study Abroad Office finally uploaded the 2014 course list for next summer! I'm so excited, I saw a fine arts course that I really liked it's a Collage Workshop, and I also want to enroll in the Breads of Italy and Italian for Beginners courses. So all those courses are on Session A which is from May 18 to June 28. I also decided to begin my raw diet today so I went to Sweetbay after chemistry and bought 5 apples, 4 peaches, two pouches of cashews, some bananas, strawberries with whip cream, baby carrots and celery. I had the strawberries and whip cream for lunch and I am full! For dinner I kept going with my raw food diet and had an apple and a peach, but I was getting tired of the flavor so I dipped them in whip cream. It's going to be hard to heat fruits and veggies without whip cream :( I was supposed to meet up with Chad and Nick to do our Foundation of Engineering project but Nick is out of town so I'm just chilling in my dorm. At the end of the day I consumed less than 1500 calories and I feel kind of full so I guess it was a good day. I also drank nothing but water today!

Also a couple of weeks ago I sent a package to Alex in Panama with a bunch of little presents because her birthday is this Sunday. I sent it to my grandpa's address and got Brandon to give it to her at FSU. She got it Thursday and it felt awesome :) I also sent Rod a couple of t-shirts for his birthday since his birthday is one day after Alex's. Among Alex's gift I bough a USF t-shirt, 3 pairs of thighs, whoppers, an EOS lip balm, a poster for her dorm that says "keep exploring" or something like that, and a bunch of other silly gifts.

Week #28: Thor: The Dark World (11/04/13-11/11/13)

On Monday I woke up at 7:45 am to register for classes for Spring 2014! It's weird that I can register from November 4th when I'm not in the Honors College because the only ones that can register this early for classes are the ones in athletics and Honors College. I think I'm able to register this early because of the number of credits I enrolled with and my current GPA. Chemistry was really a drag, every class makes me realize even more how little I'll use chemistry when I grow up. I had an American Studies test today and I think I did pretty well. I met up with Courtney before calculus to finish our calculus homework and we finished! Well, I finished. Well, actually I did a little bit over 90% but I'm really ok with that. At 7:30 I went to the Engineers Without Borders meeting to talk about the color run and met someone from Honduras, and we bonded a bit, her name's Rina. She noticed I was latino when I rolled my tongue for the R in her name.


On Tuesday we had to hand in our midterm report for project #2 for Foundations of Engineering lab and we didn't know, lucky us our professor is awesome any gave us until this Friday to hand it in. I went to the library to do my chemistry homework and did a great amount without getting distracted or buying Starbucks! Today I had my last class of foundations of engineering! I'll have more relaxing weeks now ahead, after foundations I met up with Ricardo and Victoria to discuss what we were going to do for the chemistry lab and we are totally lost. I began watching Grey's Anatomy in mid September and now am in the 9th season, this is the last season Netflix has and I'm kind of sad :( Grey's Anatomy has been so intense! I definitely love this series.

On Wednesday I had good ol' french toasts for breakfast :D chemistry was boring as usual as well as american studies. At noon I went to a leadership lunchtime, which should be my last if I did my math right and the spokesman told us something that really made me think hard, he told us to work or in this case learn for a challenge not for passion, he says that if you are good in something you should keep doing it because being good will make you wanna love it. He does makes sense and that makes me more secure with my major choice actually. After calculus I met up with Chad and Nick and we did a pretty good job, we decided to do my idea for project #2. For project #2 we have to design either a household tool or a children's toy and my idea was a slinky hanging from the ceiling with your phone stick to it, that way if you wanna text someone in the middle of the night you don't have to reach to your nightstand or find your phone through your sheets.

Thursday, this is the real day I look up to every Monday because these are my easy days. We successfully finished the lab knowing exactly what to do, I feel bad though because I feel Victoria is the one doing all the smart stuff (calculations and graphs), Ricardo is the good one with the Spectrometer's software, and I'm just writing the data down. I feel so useless, then again, I'm bad a chemistry so I've always been useless. After lab Victoria and I stop by the Samsung kiosk that's been on campus the whole week giving cellphones, tablets, gift cards and accessories. I feel like I went for nothing because all I got was a speaker, what I really wanted was the gift cards.

On Friday I had Jamba Juice for lunch, I like having smoothies for lunch but Jamba Juice is so freaking expensive! a $6.90 smoothie are you serious? Might as well buy 3 orders of chicken nuggets at Chick-Fil-A! One of the reasons I wanna got to Panama so bad is to finally try out my brand new bullet blender that's been waiting for me since August. At 2:30 I met up with Courtney and went to the movies at AMC! We saw Thor and it was so fun! We didn't have one single awkward moment, I love her :) The movie was awesome too, it was so unexpected; omg I just love Loki. We got lost a couple of times haha but it was a fun evening :)

Courtney as a Mickey in her car! It's
so cute!

Week #27: Happy Halloween! (10/28/2013 - 11/03/2013)

On Monday I had my first job interview ever, in the Office of Housing of USF. I was interviewed at 2 while they were also looking at my portfolio and they asked me some common questions, how did I get into photography? Did I had any experience? Was I comfortable talking to other people? I think I did really well but I'm not that positive because I'm certain there are a lot of more talented people than I am on campus. I wore my new blue dress from Forever 21 and a long sleeve USF sweater along with beige flats. I hate flats! My feet are so weird, no shoe fits well. Well, they fit but I get blisters and stuff. After calculus I bought me some Pollo Tropical, I love their pork Tropichop and went back to my dorm and watched KUWTK. I seriously need to stop buying Whoppers, whenever I have them I can't stop eating them and whenever I don't have some I can't stop craving them!

While I was studying on Tuesday for calculus I had the
best frapuccino I've had from Starbucks:
Cinnamon Toast Crunch Frap :)

On Tuesday I kind of skyped with Alex, my connection was super low so we had to postponed our convo for another day, I missed foundation of engineering because I am allowed to miss one and this one was the last before Mechanical so this was my last chance and what a coincidence that it's the day before me calculus test. I've been in the library since 4 pm and it's now 9 pm, I'm having a light headache and I can't really keep going. I feel like I'm going to fail so bad :( I still don't understand some basic stuff which is really bad and I don't have the will power nor the energy to keep going. I want to make my mom proud and this isn't helping :(

On Wednesday I woke up stressed about the calculus test, and I still am. It's 12:30 and the test is at 4, so it's a long way to go. Also Alex texted me about something I wrote weeks ago about her relationship, her ex-other half wanted me to take out what I wrote, but this blog is my safe haven and I write what I feel like writing. I have learned throughout the years that you shouldn't be what others want you to or expect you to be, however I will stop writing about her life, one because it's not mine although she is part of mine, and two because well.. I don't want to upset her or anything. Before my calculus test I met up with Victoria and Ricardo to discuss what we were going to do for tomorrow's lab and we finished early so Victoria and I went to Mr. Fleeman's office hours to review before the test. At first the test felt kind of easy but has I turned the pages it turned harder and harder. I hope I didn't messed up but I have a very bad feeling about this test.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Although I didn't dress up, collected candy or go to any parties, I just don't believe in Halloween.
Thursday I had chemistry lab and we did fine once we figured out exactly what to do, apparently David hasn't dropped the class according to Justin, but he did tell us he had drop it, so what it's going on? Anyway, after lab I had some Panda Express for lunch and then went to Metropolitan Ministries to do some volunteering work. Sara gave me a ride along with a friend of hers and Sara and I worked at Outreach Outfitters and Outreach Market, I really prefer Outreach Market so next time I'm gonna try getting that place. So I have a hold for an advisor appointment that I did went to, and the hold states the contrary so I have emailed and called my advisor and NOTHING! I just emailed the Dean of Undergraduates because my registration date is this Monday and I need that hold taken! I'm stressing so much over that! The Croc's package also came in today, another package to store until mom comes, I also got the Disney tickets in the mail! I'm so excited! I haven't gone to Disney in ages.

On Friday I had a pretty normal day, I got two 3s on my past week's weekly assignment for AMS, a B on the draft and well... This day was simply plain. I feel fatter :( Maybe it was yesterday's Panda Express, I feel so bad I'll have a cleansing weekend :) Kaitlyn went back home for the weekend which is nice to have some days the room to yourself. I spent the rest of my day watching Grey's Anatomy and trying to do my math homework but it's simply very hard! I'm kind of waiting for that beast mode moment to hit me and sincerely I'm getting worried it's too late. Oh my mom also told me that there's going to be a Forever 21 in Panama and it's opening this November 9th! It's kind of exciting because I could have pretty clothes whenever I wanted but it takes the magic out of shopping in the US.

Week #26: I LOVE CHEMISTRY LAB (10/21/2013 - 10/27/2013)

On Monday I had my first salad I've had in a long time for lunch and it was surprisingly good. After calculus I went to the MSC with Courtney for dinner, apparently we are in Homecoming week and we got free sandwiches :) There is going to be a ton of stuff to do this week, things I would love to go to (the parade and the carnival) but it's simply not the same without your friends. I ate some Chick-Fil-A for dinner while we did our math homework together. After that we went to the Engineers Without Borders meeting for our essay we have to write for Foundations of Engineers Lab class, and we mostly discussed about a color run they are doing to raise funds. I always have a good time with Courtney :)


On Tuesday I was suppose to go out for a run in the morning but I went back to sleep.. And to top it off I had kind of an unhealthy dinner, I had so many carbs :( At noon I was suppose to skype with Alex but she couldn't because something happened with her dad, my package from Forever 21 came though so that recompensed the skype date. I was so afraid I wouldn't like anything I ordered, surprisingly I loved it all! I ordered another onesie! This one with a zipper and it's so fluffy and cozy, I love it! I also got a new pair of snickers that look so good :) And I also got a blue dress that I love, maybe I'll use it for my grandpa's surprise birthday party in December. After Foundations of Engineering I met up with Ricardo and Victoria to plan out our oral presentation for chemistry lab, David was suppose to come too but apparently he dropped the class. We figured out what to do in about 5 minutes and then went to Subway to laugh and complain about David while having dinner. I really like my chemistry lab group.

On Wednesday I went to a Scholarship Workshop in the morning, which was really useless because I didn't learn anything I didn't know. After that I went to chemistry and had a good time with Armando, then I went for lunch at Champion's Choice and this creepy guy (kind of geeky) automatically puts his book on my table and walks away .-. without asking me if there was someone sitting there, he had a beard in his cheeks o.O Before calculus I met up with Victoria and Ricardo to make our poster for chemistry lab, we didn't really get anything done so after calculus Victoria and I gathered to finish it, we would still be working on it if it weren't for Courtney who saved our lives. She sent me her power point presentation and it helped us a lot! For dinner I had a TropiChop from Pollo Tropical, and I thought that was going to sky rocket my calories for today leaving me with a red mark but it actually didn't.

On Thursday I had my oral presentation for chemistry lab and we did very well, everybody was like "WHAT?! Did David really dropped the class?! *they sounded kind of relieved" hahaha, it has been long since I've had fun a a chemistry lab, and I'm definitely loving this class. Our TA, Justin, is so funny and my two remaining lab mates are beyond awesome. After lab I finished the first half of "Wooden on Leadership" book, which is the book I had to read for my book club meeting for my leadership program. I had stomach ache in the morning but it turned out just to be gas. Oh! Something I must write is that today is freezing! It's supper cold and cloudy, when I go to chemistry lab it's usually cold because the sun hasn't come up yet but today it stayed cold even after lab class, we were at 16 celsius, that's about 64 fahrenheit. The day did got hotter thanks to the sun and right now (2 PM) we are at a comfy 21 celsius. Oh, also in chemistry lab there is this group that has two people from the Middle East, you know, the know it alls and in every presentation they would ask the hardest things making the group look bad; in our turn this guy made a question that we didn't even understand and our TA was like do you even know that? Justin let us off the hook knowing how douche bags these Middle Eastern guys were and bombarded them when it was time for their group, HA! Karma bitches. Weeks ago I applied to this Photographer position in the Housing Office of Campus and Greg Bowers asked for my portfolio and I have an interview scheduled for Monday!

On Friday I had my chemistry test and I don't feel I did very good :( I'm so sad right now. At 4 PM I went to an Advisor Appointment because I had a hold and to release it I needed to attend a mandatory first-year appointment with my advisor, after that I came back and watched non-stop Grey's Anatomy. Also my chemistry grade was posted and I got a 76, which is a B in this class, I'm kind of relieved but I was really hoping for an 80+. Today marks three weeks I've spent without drinking soda! And I'm still counting my calories, I also noticed that my blue pants from Gap that kind of fitted okay now feels a little loose. I don't want to get me hopes up but I'll keep on not drinking soda and counting my calories.

Week #25: Week Full of A's! - (10/14/2013 - 10/20/2013)

On Monday I had a virtual tour about from the website I'm interested in taking the graphic design certificate, I liked it a lot and when I told my mom she told me that it was best for me to not take that one and instead work with Tia Marilu in December.. I've been asking her this whole weekend what to do and she never answered me.. and when I take the tour she says no.. WTF? It kind of makes sense because the program is kind of pricey but she was also the one who told me to get a certificate.. I was so mad a her. This past weekend felt so productive! I finish my chemistry homework and my 3 math assignments in which I got a 100 in each! Today I spent my hours before calculus at the library highlighting geography and I finished! I feel so proud of myself. Also, Alex told me she and Christian broke up :( I felt angry at first because I think they are a good couple.. but Alex says it's for the best so well.. My duty here is to be for her :) At 7:30 I went to this University Lecture Series with Dolvett Quince, one of the "The Biggest Loser" trainers, and it was really cool. Thanks to him I going on a run tomorrow morning :) Dolvett mention that a great help when getting healthier is to have an absolute, like me and soda right now. I plan on adding more absolutes as time goes by, maybe no more easy mac. That would be a good one, but I wanna first reach to one to three months without soda first, I don't wanna push myself so hard as I normally do.


On Tuesday morning I set my alarm at 8 am and went on a jog, I ran about 2 km in a little over 15 minutes, it's not a bad number but I used to do better; however, I did burned more calories running outside than in the gym so that's a good thing. For breakfast there were no french toasts again :( I had to eat eggs and a banana. I read two of my assign readings for American Studies before lunch and I feel so good about myself, I've been very productive these last few days and I intent to keep it that way. I feel I ate a little too much for lunch, I ate over 600 calories yet my calorie counter says I still have over a 1000 left .-. sometimes calorie counters make me eat more. After the foundations for engineer class I went to the Marshall Student Center to try to do my American Studies paper, and bought some Chick-Fil-A and a drink from the soda machine, I wanted iced tea and the machine gave me an orange soda! I almost felt into the temptation but regained my senses and paid another $1.50 for an iced tea. I am proud of myself :) I finished my American Studies paper due Monday! I can't believe I'm so far ahead!

On Wednesday I finally had french toasts for breakfast! :) Armando didn't show up at chemistry class today so the class was totally boring, I did had small talk with Marc though. Armando texted me that he over slept, the day we had 3 clicker questions haha. I went to the library before calculus so I could highlight me geography chapters for next week and there were no desks available so I ended up sitting in the floor in front of the window between the aisles. I feel I ate so much today! I was about to have a light Jamba Juice smoothie for dinner and ended up having Panda Express.. How the hell did that happened?! I feel so sad :( Food does have the power to make your day either better or worse.. actually it's your decision itself.

Thursday morning I was so tired! This thing of having chemistry lab in the morning is not good; however, the tiredness goes away after a three hour exciting lab. Today David was kind of an ass again, being a know-it-all. Victoria, Ricardo and I did a good job :) we were doing some research on the computer and I thought Victoria was done with scrolling down so I took the mouse and scrolled up a bit, and she got all sassy on me, I should have told her that I thought she was done with it, now I feel all bad. Next week we don't have a lab, we have a presentation so no stress next week.. kind of haha. At noon I went to the Metropolitan Ministries in bus to do some service hours, the ride didn't seem that long although it took about an hour to get there. I got sent to Metro Outfitters which is where homeless people can pick clothes for free, a limited amount of clothes of course. And I hung and distributed some of them, when I was at that I saw Perry Ellis, Coach, Pink, Hollister, Forever 21; even I wanted those clothes haha. After that I got sent to the Metro Market, which is where homeless people can get food which is awesome. At the market I met Michelle and Sara, they both go to USF and Sara gave me a ride back to campus! How sweet of she? She even installed her bike rack for her car just for me :)

On Friday I spend my chemistry class talking with Armando and Marc, we three are going to do the homework together this Sunday :) making more friends woohoo! In my American Studies class I got my first 3 (highest points in the discussion questions assignments) and I also scored a 95 in my American Studies first exam! I went for a jog in the afternoon and ran about 3.16 km, I feel I'm regaining my capacity, because in Panama I used to run over 4 km. Also my Forever 21 package arrived to the post office! I can't wait until they email me to pick it up :)

Week #23 (09/30/2013 - 10/06/2013)

On Monday I went to Chemistry and this guy with british accent asks if he can sit next to me, he starts talking to me and I BARELY understand, he name is Sam. We ended up doing the group assignment together with Armando and another guy named Adam. After Calculus me and Courtney had planned going to the "Engineers Without Borders" meeting, since we have to go to two meetings for our Foundations of Engineering Lab class. We had some dinner before going to the meeting and we had a great time, when we got to the building where the meeting was going to take place nobody was there.. we waited like 10 minutes and nobody was there. We gave up and went back home, I said that we stayed for nothing and Courtney said that it wasn't nothing, because she got to have dinner with a friend, how cute? So when I got back I skyped with Rod and the funniest thing happened, his Dad walked into Momo's room in nothing but his underpants XD I just covered my eyes and laughed haha.

I like Tuesdays because I have two really easy classes, and I did absolutely nothing in them. In Foundations of Engineering though I did got a little nervous, because I've been kind of avoiding Ahmad, I know it's the wrong thing to do since he has done nothing wrong but I feel awkward with him. So I was really nervous because we have that class together, I think he came late though because he didn't sit next to me. I did heard his voice a couple of rows behind me and from then I didn't turn me head anymore. I also texted me and I was kind of cold with him, and at the end I stayed a little bit longer so I didn't bumped into him. After that class I went to the CSL Orientation (Certified Student Leadership Program). So for this program I need a coach to kind of mentor me, and I'm very introvert when it comes to new people so I asked Justin Fitzgerald, hi is the coordinator of the Civic Engagement program and he said he was honored :) After that I met with David to start the poster for our Chemistry Lab presentation, Victoria and Ricardo were not there. Ricardo it makes sense because he has to work but why didn't Victoria show up? Well, I worked with David. Strangely he was kind of pleasant today, it may be because he forgot to take his ADHD pill and was all hyper and stuff. I ended up doing most of the work but that's okay, I kind of wanted to be in charge. He also told me the clases for Spring 2014 were just scheduled so at 10:30 I began doing my new schedule, it ended up pretty well, I have no classes on Thursdays and just one class on Tuesdays. I'm just taking four classes next semester (Calculus II, Physics I, Physics Lab I and Economics for Engineers), which is good because next on the summer I'll be taking a couple more in Florence (maybe).

I now love french toast, I don't know if I have never had french toast but I just love having them for breakfast. Every morning if there are no bananas or apples I eat a french toast. Anyway, today was a boring day, the only exciting part was that I donated blood! I saw the bus and went straight into it, they pinched my finger and measured I don't know what. It hurt a little and I felt kind of clumsy and tired afterwards but I was wearing my bandage with pride. They gave me two t-shirts and a $10 gift card from IKEA. I really want to do it again but not in the near future because it really drained me. At night I met with David and Victoria to do the poster, it didn't come out as I wanted but what kind I do? They are not Alex or Ambar or Zhanzhy... I also had to go to a American Studies screening about a very boring movie. These movies of the 50s, today I saw "The Manchrian Candidate". The thing about these movies are that they are related to their background history because at that time the study of the mind was very popular.

On Thursday I delivered my Chemistry lab speech, I was really REALLY nervous and that gave me stomach ache, and it really hurt because I had eggs and milk for breakfast. The milk really had that factor that made me sick, still, I said my speech all right and I didn't forget a thing. After lab I went to the bookstore because they had a flash sale today on all hoodies and sweatpants so I bought myself a sweatshirt and I bought Jose David a hoodie because he had asked for one. I lunched some pasta with meatballs and that worsen my stomach ache to the extend it still hurt when I was sitting down. Despite the pain I had to get on the bus and go to the Metropolitan Ministry to do my first volunteering session. The first half of the ride I felt really really bad, the second half was a little bit better though. When I got there and got assigned my tasks the pain went away. I met really nice people, Juan and Daniel, both from Venezuela. I chop onions and peppers, fixed over a hundred sandwiches, and cleaned the fridge. Yeah, those storage freezers that you an get trap into if you close the door haha. Juan offered me some dinner from the buffet and I enjoyed some nuggets and fries, I also had a juice with a very particular (in the good way) flavor, it was strawberry-kiwi-banana :) The ride back was really tiring, I felt asleep a couple of times. Back here I watched x-factor and chilled for a while, after that I hung out with Peyton, Chelsi and Kaitlyn.

On Friday I had some breakfast, and they have not had french toasts for two days now :( they had bacon though, but it was kind of thick and greasy and yucky! Armando wants me to go to this dancing thing at the MSC tonight haha, if only he knew I'm so not a dancer. On Chemistry I forgot my clicker and I loose a couple of points :( I've been waiting for this weekend for a long time, a weekend where I don't have to wake up early or do anything other than a couple of school related work. After American Studies I went to Armando's because I was having trouble with my chemistry homework and we finished it, I had a good time :) I ended the night watching Grey's Anatomy, X Factor, and finishing up "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling and I give it 4.7 stars.

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 :)

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. 

My Classes - UPDATE

So initially I only had 6 classes which are:

• Calculus I
• Chemistry for Engineers
• World Regional Geography
• Intro to American Studies
• Foundations of Engineers
• Foundations of Engineers Lab

I wanted to enroll in the Chemistry for Engineers Lab too, at first but at orientation when I was registering they were all full. I had this hunch and decided to log in the page tonight to check if there were any spaces available. AND THERE WERE! 5 to be exact. So I enrolled and luckily the class with the 5 available spots are on Thursdays, my free days. Sadly, my classes are at 8 AM! Another thing I don't like is that I already missed the first class so I have no idea what I have to take or what I should know. On the good side, I don't need any extra books or anything. 

Now I have 7 classes this semester! I hope I can survive. 

Week #18 (08/26/2013 - 09/01/2013) - First Week of Classes at USF

Monday was my first day of classes at USF! I woke up to the alarm of my roommate about 7 AM and I had to wake up at 9:30, it was okay. I had a banana for breakfast and walked all the way to ULH, where my Chemistry for Engineers class is at. I walked because my bike was still making that weird *clack* sound. After class, which was really what I expected, I went to buy lunch at Pollo Tropical which is just behind the building. I had it to go and ate at my room. After that I had my Intro to American Studies at the CMC Building and it was this huge auditorium, bigger than the ULH one. The sits were comfier and I had a place to rest my head on. The professor was really cool and he even showed us some videos from the 1950s. When class was over I headed back to my dorm but I picked up the mail (my Forever 21 package and my Bruno Mars t-shirt for the concert), then I got my bike and went to the Rec Center in search for the repair shop. It took the guy about 20 minutes to repair it but I was happy to wait. When I got back I picked up my bag and went to Calculus one at the CIS Building. A two hour math class in a very uncomfortable char, i. e. HELL. We got a substitute teacher because Mr. Matthew Fleeman is in a conference in Montreal, Canada. We went right ahead and started with Limits after the introduction to the syllabus. After a very exhausting day I came back to my room and started doing some reading I had to do.

On Tuesday I woke up at 9 AM to go to the gym. I really did not much, I ran about a kilometer and a half on the track and did some other stuff for a very little amount of time. After the few burned calories I went to Bull's Champions in front of the Rec Center. I had some lettuce with chicken and mashed potatoes. I also grabbed meatloaf but I didn't like it. After lunch I came back to my room and got showered. At 11:30 I went out and when I was out I realized I left about half an hour later than I should have, so I stopped by Jamba Juice and ordered Strawberry Wild, which I didn't like so much. Class was really entertaining. I took my laptop and took notes on it. My professor is from South Korea and he seems pretty cool. He likes to talk about Harry Potter, Big Bang Theory and that kinds of stuff. After that I came to my room to chill and went out again at 3 PM for my Foundations of Engineering class at the BSN. The business building was HUGE! It looked like an airport wing or something and the auditorium had about 300 to 400 students! Before the class started a guy sat next to my and I introduced myself. We ended up talking and being good friends. He invited me a Jamba Juice and helped me with some papers I had to print at the library. He seems pretty awesome and thoughtful. His name is Ahmad and he is from Jerusalem but was born in California. I really admire the person he has become, and I'm really glad I have a friend like him. I came back and ate dinner after that at my dorm, and finally finished the Chemistry chapter I had to read. Now I'm off to bed for another exciting day, NOT.

Wednesday was the concert day! However, I had classes to go. I had to read the first chapter before my Chemistry class which I did and the class was really easy because I had already read the whole material. Then I had my Intro to American Studies class, which I absolutely love. I like the professor, the topic and the classroom. The classroom is the big auditorium, and my favorite art is that I can rest my head haha. After AMS (Intro to American Studies) I had Calculus I, I decided to go walking and what was I thinking... When I came out I was on a rush because I had to go to the concert, and instead of walking I took the BullRunner because I was worn out from Math. Why did I do that? What happened was that I didn't know you had to pull a string if you wanted to get off somewhere so when the bus passed my stop I panicked. I realized what I had to do, way too late so I rode around through the off campus apartments for like 15 minutes extra. I decided to get off in MSC when we got back to campus and speed walked to my dorm. Changed clothes, got my ticket and headed out. You can read all about the concert here: Bruno Mars in Concert - Tampa 2013 and watch the video here: Youtube Video.

Thursday I had no classes so I decided to go with my mom to Busch Gardens to have some quality time before she left. As usual I got on my favorite roller coaster: Montu, Kumba, and Sheikra. I also got to ride in a new roller coaster called Cheetah Hunt. In my personal opinion it wasn't good, when the coaster rises it goes fast but by the fall it slows down. I also thought I had lost the factor of surprise and butterflies because of my last experience in Six Flags but I got to feel the butterflies this time and I was so happy. I also rode the wooden coaster. I have a soft spot for wooden coasters. They may seem not scary at all but I love them, the ensemble, the *clacks* it makes all the way, and the old/vintage style it has. After Busch Gardens I went to have some dinner with Ahmad, we had Pollo Tropical and it was fun. And finally after a long day I got to Skype with Momo. We started talking about 9 PM and I love when we talk for long periods of time.


On Friday I woke up Kaitlyn for one time. She always wakes me up because her schedule is earlier than mine but she has Fridays free so it was me who wake her up this time. Chemistry was okay, and Intro to American Studies too. We didn't have a lecture in the auditorium though. We were split up in little groups to have discussions. Our instructor is Viktoria, she is one of the Professor's grad student assistants, and she is pretty nice. The key factor to do well in AMS is participation which each day I'm feeling more comfortable with. For lunch I went to Panda Express with my mom, this would be the last time I saw her until December. Then we went to Target to buy some things I needed (Juice Boxes for when I'm thirsty) and for the first time I used my Target app and saved $1 :) At around 3 PM I handed in my FSU transcripts to transfer, which haven't been updated in my DegreeWorks and after that I went to the library to print my EGN lab homework, read some of the material of my Geography quiz next week and also print the material. I came back to the dorm and all three of my suitemates/roommates were getting ready for a sorority meeting, which is totally not my thing. They spend hours getting ready, omg haha. I had my first ramen for dinner and then I just chilled out on my first Friday night after classes started on campus.

Fun Fact about this week: I bought a Bruno Mars t-shirt at the concert and the next day I went to Busch Gardens with that t-shirt, me and my mom saw two other girls with a t-shirt from the concert too! #CRAZY

YouTube Daily Shoutout #16 - Science

I found this channel that uploads videos about scientific questions we are curios about because we experience it in our daily life. I love the old school animated videos in which you just draw with markers on a white board. This first video is about the Snooze Button. Should we press it? Does it make us sleepier or does it actually help us wake up?

The second video from the same channel is about Why Do We Cry? You know the different reasons like from happiness, pain, sadness or allergies; and this video explains a little more deeper about our tears and the reasons why we actually cry.

And the last video has nothing to do with science in our daily lives but I totally rocked this song. It's a song mentioning all the elements of the periodic table, and one day when my life comes to nothing but procrastination I'll try to learn it, pinky swear!

If you wanna see more about this channel click here, here! HERE :D it's called Science ASAP.