I write what I feel like writing :) Besides that, I like to talk about my week, photography, YouTube videos and books. I'm a sophomore and I live in Panama/Tampa. I like to travel and experience new adventures.
Twitter and Instagram: @staceaileen
I went to a lecture about leadership and community service yesterday and they mentioned this community plunge held today. I signed in yesterday and I chose as an interest: environmentalism. So Saturday morning we gathered at the MSC Amphitheater at 8 AM. They gave breakfast, bagels and water, and also name tags and armbands. My team number was #5 and we went to Copeland Park, about 3 miles from USF. Our job was to cut off some palms that were growing around trees and dispose them. This work would take about one week for a ranger and we did the job in a couple of hours. We disposed 27 industrial size trash bags. I felt really happy that we could help somebody who needed it. And also contribute to mother nature, keeping the environment clean and a good place for animals to live.
On Wednesday I went to the international check in, and guess what, they were more lectures! Oh my God so boring! After that my mom and I went for lunch at University Mall, I ate some Chik-a-fila, I partially ate it because Grace told me it was her favorite restaurant. I ordered some chicken nuggets. After lunch we went to T-Mobile to get my phone. I chose T-Mobile because it was so much cheaper than Verizon, although Verizon's coverage is better I won't be living here forever so I'm okay with a so so coverage. T-Mobile also as this no-contract plan, which comes in very handy for when I leave for summer. After T-Mobile I stopped at Staples to burn some time, I got Patty some One Direction stuff. Then I stopped by Target to buy my bike! I chose a red one because the other ones were bigger. We had dinner in Chili's and I ordered a hmm I forgot the name but it was kind of a fried steak, like fried chicken, with a corn cob and mashed potatoes. I came back to my dorm and met my two suite mates, Olivia and Abby. I was sad that my roommate wasn't here yet, but I started unpacking. I finished and then I spent the night in my laptop until Kaitlyn came! Finally, I like her a lot. The night before I left her some "suspiros" in her bed with a note and the next day she also wrote me a note saying how sweet I was! That really helped with my nervousness. We talked until 1 AM, and we also were forced to because our suite mates had over 10 people over at their room! They were talking really loud and with music and everything, we were really discomforted with that but didn't said anything because we don't want to be like the mean and grumpy roommate. At 1 AM Olivia, our suite mate, came over begging for one of us to go to her room and tell everybody that we wanted to sleep and couldn't because of the noise. The thing is, those people randomly followed Olivia and Abby and they got inside their room and just hung out, Olivia and Abby didn't even knew those people. It was so funny, and that, was how my first night with my roommate went.
On Thursday we woke up around 9 AM to get ready for the class picture. We were really quite and it was a little awkward but anyways, we headed out for the picture. We were suppose to meet with the people from our hall but when we went outside nobody was there so we went to the MSC because Abby told us that Olivia saw a whole lot of people waiting over there. The thing is that when we got to the MSC it was packed, yes, but with other kind of people; people taking campus tours. We went ahead and headed back to our hall when we bumped into another guy from Delta named William, he was also lost. We started heading back home and we bumped into two other people, an RA and a girl named Brianna. They showed us the gathering for Theta but we decided to check out on Delta's gathering spot again. When we got there there were a couple of people so we waited there with them. When it was time to go we found out that the Delta people where waiting in our hall lobby in the air conditioner, snap! Anyways, we walked all the way from our hall to the football stadium which is behind the Sun Dome, and it was a long walk by the way. We seated in the benches for about half and hour to an hour doing chants and school spirit related stuff. Katlyn and I got in the U, specifically the left upper corner. After that we met with some of Kaitlyn's friends, Tori and Jess and we went for lunch. Tori didn't make it so it was just Kaitlyn, Jess and I eating at Fresh Food Company. Jess wasn't really hungry she just needed water. Btw. A lot of people passed out in the class picture because of the sun, thank God I didn't because I could have passed out because I didn't ate breakfast that morning. For lunch I had salad! I can't believe I had a healthy lunch, I feel so proud of myself. And I also drank only one soda, and a lemonade but the lemonade it's considered to be somewhat healthy. After lunch I went to the Tech Department to install Microsoft in my laptop, and that service was full at the MSC so I had to go all the way to the library. I went in my bike, and it was making a really weird sound so I felt kind of out of place riding it because everybody was looking at me. When I finally arrived at the library I went up to the sixth floor and got my Microsoft installed. After that I went with my mom to the mall to pick up my phone at T-Mobile. I got a black iPhone 5 :) After that we went to Target to buy some more ramen and a cereal box. We went to the hotel to wait for dinner time and at dinner time we went to Sonic. It was the first time I've gone to a Sonic and it was pretty cool. And after dinner I went back to my dorm, Kaitlyn wasn't here so I watched all my YouTube videos, while Olivia and/or Abby were blasting country music -.-' thank God it was only like a couple of songs.
Friday I woke up to the alarm of Kaitlyn. It was 11 AM and I showered. Hamza texted me and I told him to meet up with me but he was already at Fresh Food Company and I was still unshowered so I showered and went to lunch with Kaitlyn and Jess. I also met Josie and Amanda, Jess's roommate. We ate lunch in Juniper-Poplar Dining, I prefer Fresh Food though. After that I went to the Student Services Center to ask about my scholarship but in line I checked just to make sure if there were any changes and there were, good thing I checked. So from 8000+ I now owe 3000+. After that I came to my dorm and received a text from Hamza, the guy I texted with before coming here, and he told me to come over so I walked up to Lambda. His hall is really really small and so is his room. I met two of his suite mates, Mike and another name I don't remember, they were coming from the gym. Hamza told me he hadn't eat lunch yet, he told me that when I asked him to meet up earlier he was talking about breakfast, not lunch. So I accompanied him. He first wanted to get his student account open so I went with him, before getting there he said he needed to go get his cellphone all the way to Lambda... So I was a good sport and went with him. While we were walking I was trying really hard to make conversation but he shut me down in every topic.. which was really awkward. He walked really fast and when I told him to slow down he told me he walked fast because he was an athlete. I had to ask him to walk slow 3 times. I also asked him if he was going to go to the women's soccer game and he said no because he played better than them.. jerk. When we got to the credit union I went and bought myself a Jamba Juice smoothie and decided to leave him to go hear some lectures about studying abroad, undergraduate research, and student leadership and service. Best move I've ever made today. I got tons of info and I'm really excited to get involved in all of these projects.
This guy was wiping EACH leaf at my mom's hotel haha
It started August, Monday 19th at 6:30 AM. I was really tired because I slept only about 4 hours the night before. I arrived and went on line. Got assigned to the green wrist color band in a group called "Bull Runner" and my OTL (Orientation Team Leader) was Juan Zapata (a Croatian in disguise - inside joke -). We gathered in the Castor Lawn and met the other members of our team. In my team there was Paige and Gabe from Pennsylvania, Shaine from Trinidad and Tobago, Margaret from Uganda, Brandon from Tampa, Rebecca from Orlando, Ryan from Canada, George from Kenya, Shady (I'm not sure how to spell it) from Egypt, Sherya from India, and Nicole from Mexico. I got to meet all of them and also discovered that Shady is also going to major in Mechanical Engineering. After meeting each other we learned the school's chants used for football games and stuff. GREEN GREEN GREEN, GOLD GOLD GOLD, GREEN GREEN GREEN, GOLD GOLD GOLD, USF. or also S O U T H F L O R I D A, SOUTH FLORIDA SOUTH FLORIDA GOOOOO BULLS! After that we went to the Marshall Student Center (MSC) for some lectures about college, we stayed there the whole morning. Then we had our first from many Bull Breakouts. We went to a special room just for the Bull Runners and got to meet each other even more, we also played games and it was really fun. Our OTL, Juan, was so funny and fun to be with. And then we finally had lunch, I had been starving because I barely touched my breakfast. We went to the Fresh Food Company (FFC) and I had some fries and turkey, next time I promise I'll have a salad. We all talked about different topics, such as sports and food. We continued with the lectures, this time about housing and stuff about drugs, alcohol and sex... So boring! Well after a long day of lectures and games we had a carnival at the MSC! I hung out with Margaret and we went to a couple of games and earned some money (to exchange for a prize later), I had a snow cone and she some cotton candy, we also made our own leather bracelet; mine says "*peace sign* SK *bull*". At first I was really apprehensive and didn't want to go to the carnival because of the tireless. But at the end I decided to stay and it resulted to be an awesome night! Suddenly all of my drained energy came back and I had a lot of fun with Margaret. At 11 PM I walked back to my dorm and unpacked my stuff. I unpacked everything I had and after that I fell asleep (of course after I skyped with Rod and finished the book I was reading).
The second day I set my alarm at 6:30 AM and overslept. I woke up at 7:30, I had 30 minutes to get ready, and I did. However, I missed out on breakfast. Each orientation team met at the Castor Lawn and we went ahead to the MSC to do a UCLA survey about college (CIRP) and then we had a couple more lectures. Finally after the lectures and lunch we went ahead to register for class! Engineers had to go to the Engineering II building and gosh, it was a long walk. They told us for the third time how to register for classes, after that we had our individual advisors. I told mine about the transcripts I already had from FSU and she said it was okay to transfer them. Originally they put me in Precalculus because of my SAT score (620, 30 points more and I'd have been placed in Calculus). But thanks to FSU I registered for Calculus. And after registering for classes we were officially released!
I had a lot of fun in orientation, but it was very tiring. Mom told be about other parents' comments about this university:
They like this university more than their other kid's universities
This university really treats their students with excellence because they even offer orientation for parents
This university preoccupies about the student's future compared to others. They offer them a lot of Undergraduate Research, internships, co ops, and what not.
The point is that the comments were really positive and they made me feel great about choosing USF over UF, UCF and PSU. (About PSU, I had a teammate in my orientation group from Pennsylvania and she told me that USF definitely exceeds PSU academically, thumbs up for USF!)
These are my classes, I still need the Chemistry Lab but they were all closed!
I really like my schedule, because there are no classes starting before 10 AM!
On 4:25 AM of Sunday 18th I woke up. I have prepared for this day years ago (and when I say years I mean more than 5). I was feeling excited but not as much as I would feel for a leisure travel, I was very nervous. I got washed and was ready. On our way to the airport it was really foggy, and drizzling. At the airport I said my good byes to my dad and went in side to get in line. While in line Alejandra calls asking where I was, she told me a couple of days before that she'd come to visit me. I never thought she would actually go before 6 AM to an airport just to say goodbye, but she and Zhanzhy came to say good bye. The plane ride was really empty and there were no screaming children compared to my February flight to Orlando. We even had the spot in the middle empty, so it was Max's seat. I slept and read the whole flight. I arrived and we went directly to Panda Express (my favorite restaurant in the US). I ordered my usual: Noodles and double portion of broccoli beaf. After lunch we went to Bed Bath and Beyond to buy my bed sheets but they were out of the ones I wanted so we went to Tampa. A two hour drive. There were 3 traffic jams due to 3 car crashes. One was off the road in the woods up side down! I finally arrived at 5:30 PM and we bought the bed sheets. I went to USF. My first time in USF. And I checked in. There's no lift in Delta so I had to carry my bags one floor. First day in Tampa: Success. Rest of the days I'll be here in Tampa: Beyond Success.
On Monday I went to my last doctor's appointment before leaving to get my last shot against some disease I don't know its name. There was something going on in Calle 50 on our way to the hospital and police cars where heading towards us. Policemen were wearing gas masks and had body shields, it looks like some professors were protesting in front of a government building. It took us over an hour to get to the hospital but we made it, I got my shot and then we headed back home. On our way home we stopped by Blockbuster so I could rent some movies and store them in my external memory to take to Tampa but I didn't found anything I liked. For dinner we had some pizza. Talking about food, my mouth still hurts and it's very difficult for me to talk or smile. It looks like I have a couple of cuts in the edges of my lips because of the dryness the day of the surgery and that hurts too.
I forgot to mention that over the weekend I finished reading "45 pounds" by K.A. Barson, and it was really hmm bad. I give it 2.5 stars. After that I started reading "This is Where I Leave You" by Jonathan Tropper, this book is kind of the ones with a low start, kind of "It's Kind of a Funny Story". Today, Tuesday, Rod came by and we hung out as always :) He had to leave early though because he had a final project to begin and to finish by tonight, two projects actually.
Wednesday was a really fun day! I went to my grandpa's to use his studio to take pictures with Alex (which you can see HERE), and we had a lot of fun :) This was like our farewell activity for the two of us. Panama's traffic was horrible and I had to pick up Alex, I had to go all the way to the Cinta Costera to end up in Calle 50 to go back to Via Israel to come back to Calle 50 and cross to Via Porras, Panama's traffic is madness itself, it's not just rush hour it's every time, everyday. After the shoot I took Alex home and went back to my grandparent's to dinner with the excuse that there would be a traffic jam, I actually did it because I wanted to spent time with them before leaving. I played Hay Day with Patty and Apo until the pizza arrived and after having dinner Tia Marilu, Patty, and I played some more. Before leaving Acun and Apo gave me a big check as a gift, Acun said that it's to be used for a car when I come back. But I'm thinking in using it to my master's degree. Either way, I'm very thankful :) On my way back home I stopped by "La Mexicanita" (my favorite restaurant in the whole world) to make and order for tomorrow's farewell dinner at my house.
Thursday was my FAREWELL PARTY! A bunch of my friends came by to my house, about 25 of them, and we hung out :) Alex came over early so that she could help me with the shopping and cleaning, so before we started working we ate some lunch: KFC. We went driving because the delivery system is stressful. We both ate a Famous Bowl (my favorite dish at KFC). When we came back Rod was already here, so we ate and then went to Riba Smith to buy some snacks and drinks. We ended buying about 6 bottles of 2L Sodas, two bottles of 2L iced tea and about a gazillion packages of different flavored Oreos. After that on our way home we saw the aftermath of an accident: a police motorcyclist on the ground without a shoe and complaining about his neck next to a Toyota Yaris with the rear part bumped. I've never witness car accidents, and I wish I'll never do. At 5:40 we went out again to pick up the order of Mexican Food from my favorite restaurant, the order was supposed to be ready by 6 and they ended up finishing it at 6:40. I was okay but Alex was kind of steamed haha. We also bumped into Ambar, Tommy and Andrew at the restaurant because they were picking up food at Nora Express (dumpling place). When all of us got home the spilling began. The tres leches cake Rod bought as a surprise, spilled on the back seat of Andrew's car; the pico de gallo spilled on our way from my car to the door and soaked Rod's socks and my arm. We finally went up and Vivianne and Alfonso were already there. We set up the food and then the party started! We talked, played heads up, ate, and laugh. I didn't really got emotional but I will really miss them all. Shey got sick during the party and after she left Rod went to the elevator and saw puke all over.. We believe it was her but she hasn''t said a word about that. Zhanzhy stayed overnight because she had no way to go home. It's so funny how Zhanzhy is like my lost sister, I feel so comfortable with her :)
On Friday Zhanzhy woke me up at 8 AM so say good bye, I asked her to do that because it's going to be the last time I see her until holidays. How cute is that she left a note on my laptop saying that she loved me and that she's going to miss me? :) At 11 AM I went to the dentist, again, to have my stitches taken out. It didn't hurt but it wasn't comfortable either. At 1 in the afternoon I went with Rod to the Causeway, and we drove the whole thing until we decided to eat at Pencas. I was craving clams really bad so I order that as my main dish along with fried yucca, Rod ordered the same, which I think is the first time we've ordered exactly the same thing! After lunch we stopped by Arrocha and bought each one a frame so we could put a picture of us, which I'll be taking with me to college. We were going to stop by Popo's after Arrocha to say my last good bye but my mom didn't let me because of traffic. I really wanted to present Rod and my grandma. I think she would be the only grandparent who would actually and genuinely like Rod. Anyway.. Rod came to my house and we hung out. We did a lot of things for half an afternoon. We played the cups song and did our own song, we watched YouTube videos, played Color Sheep and talked. I didn't get emotional but I almost cracked because I suddenly realized the absence he was going to make in my life for the next four months. After Rod left I bought my MacBook Pro! I'm so excited for that!
I went to a lecture about leadership and community service yesterday and they mentioned this community plunge held today. I signed in yesterday and I chose as an interest: environmentalism. So Saturday morning we gathered at the MSC Amphitheater at 8 AM. They gave breakfast, bagels and water, and also name tags and armbands. My team number was #5 and we went to Copeland Park, about 3 miles from USF. Our job was to cut off some palms that were growing around trees and dispose them. This work would take about one week for a ranger and we did the job in a couple of hours. We disposed 27 industrial size trash bags. I felt really happy that we could help somebody who needed it. And also contribute to mother nature, keeping the environment clean and a good place for animals to live. 
