Acun's 80th Birthday Party

Yesterday we celebrated Acun's 80th birthday, although his birthday really is in January we did it because I'm in Panama right now and my dad is here too. A lot of people think it's just because of me but it's also because of my dad. So we planned the birthday to be in Bristol and we did the secret video as a gift (I feel very sad about the video because nobody really liked it and instead of keeping their mouths shut or giving compliments on the positive things like the gesture, they complained...). Apo invited around 70 people and they were all Acun's closest friends, it surprised me that the majority of them came on time, even a little bit earlier, but of course, they are third aged people haha. My job in this party was to take pictures and so I did, I posted some of the photos below. Half of the food was good and the other half I did not like very much, same goes for the deserts. The amount of people asking me about my college life was overwhelming but I guess that's what comes when you study abroad.

I hope my grandpa really liked his party, since he said this was the first real birthday party he's had. The funniest part of the night was when everybody left and he was handed the bill haha. I love my grandpa.

Week #34: Finally in Panama! (12.16.13 - 12.22.13)

On Monday I had the Mickey Mouse Mac and Cheese for lunch, the Mac and Cheese I wanted so bad since 2006 or so. I bought it in Thanksgiving when I went to Magic Kingdom with my mom and Patty. They weren't the same as the one I used to have as a child but it was good nonetheless. After lunch I drove to my grandma's and took the wrong lane when going there because now we have all these new mini highways and tunnels. I ended driving an extra half an hour. I picked up Patty in Alfavinyl and Luis at his house and went to my grandma's. We filmed over a couple of scenes for the video we are going to present in my grandpa's secret 80th birthday party that is this Sunday. After filming all day I went to dinner with Alex and Jose to Conos. Which is a restaurant in San Francisco that serves these sushi kind of things but instead of a roll, in an algae cone. It wasn't that bad but the service was kind of below average. After eating we headed to my grandma's because Jose was going to install me Photoshop and Final Cut. Btw. Jose came to pick me up and Alex, isn't that sweet? After they left, Luis, Patty and I filmed some more and then I stayed the night at my grandma's because my mom didn't like the idea of me driving late at night.

On Tuesday I woke up around 11:30 and went to my grandpa's office, he gave me some of his gadgets for my camera since he doesn't use them anymore. I had steamed fish for lunch, I wasn't planning on staying for lunch but the moment I heard we were having fish I put my bags down. I tried to cut it the right way but it was just too hard so I had a little help from my grandma hehe. At 5 pm, Rod came over! And we watched Home Alone. We also just chilled a while after the movie and had a really good time :)

On Wednesday Rod came over around 5 pm and he helped me fixing my external hard drive, because it had only permission to read but not to write on it because the hard drive was set in a Windows format. We watched Avatar and I even let him watch his LOL live streams or whatever that was. At 7 pm my mom asked me if I wanted to go to dinner to El Tambor de Oro, due to Patty's graduation and of course I wanted to. Of course that meant that my time with Rod was over :( What I hate about family dinners is... well, is when Yoyi acts up... He gets mad about everything, he yells when we are just having a conversation and it just ruins the evening.

On Thursday Patty, Luis and I kept filming the secret video for Acun's birthday and he never noticed us, he knew we were there but he never wondered why we were there or why did we have Apo's clothing and we Luis was in dress pants. That's what's funny about Acun, he never notices. We finished filming and then Patty, Tia Marilu and I watched the X Factor together. For dinner we all went to Lai Chin so I could be close to my house and did not have to drive by myself late at night, Patty drove with me because I refused to be in the same car driving with Apo by my side. She would have made me nervous and I know she would've corrected me in every single turn I made. I missed eating Chinese food :)

On Friday I woke up around 11 am and watched the X Factor finale! I'm so happy that Alex and Sierra won, they will be so big one day just like One Direction. I spent the whole afternoon watching Avatar and later at night I'll be heading to Patty's to edit the video in Yoyi's computer, wish me luck because it is going to be a long night!

Week #33: FINALS WEEK! (12.09.13 - 12.15.13)

On Monday I woke up at 11 am to do tons of errands, I mailed my high school transcripts to Penn State, returned my books to the bookstore and stopped by the International Office to get my I-20 signed, unluckily the walk in hours to get the I-20 signed are on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. After all my errands I went to the library, I literally just stared out the window and texted with Jose David and my mom. I feel so not confident in today's final (American Studies), but I hope I do well. I had an early dinner, a TropiChop from Pollo Tropical, I have a hate/love feeling for Pollo Tropical because I love their food but I feel so fat afterwards! :( I went an hour and a half earlier to the building of my final and I met this guy that was not really well prepared so I gave him my "packet", it's the second time someone calls my notes a "packet". I also finally met the guy that always sits nets to me in class, so sad that we got the courage to talk the last class. Anyways, I think I did good on the exam. All the stress has drained and I watched Jobs, the movie with Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs.

I was supposed to study all day Tuesday, but I couldn't stay focused for more than 2 minutes, honest! I packed all of my stuff from my small luggage to the big one because I'm gonna do some Christmas shopping on Thursday. Apart from that, I've done nothing at all! Last night was a fun night, it's rare when I feel comfortable talking to my suite mates but last night I had a blast with my roommate and she just laughed away every time I cursed, or when I did my 'what the fuck!' impersonation of Abby XD. I spent the rest of the evening in Pinterest looking at Harry Potter jokes... I offered Patty three options for her birthday gift:
a) Something related to her birthday party (shoes, decoration, etc)
b) Whatever she wants under $60
c) A box full of goodies that I will personally confectionate
I really hope she choses option C hehe, I also asked her if she still wanted the outdoors photo shoot and she does, so that should be fun.

I had a hard time sleeping last night because my mind was overworking, thinking about every single thing. I tried reading, counting sheep, and every single position ever existed. I ended up sleeping a little past 3 AM to wake up at 6:15 AM! I went out at 6:30 to eat breakfast and the dining hall wasn't open until 7 AM! I had to wait in the cold, and yes, it was cold, for half an hour :( Anyway, I think I did good on the exam, I was really mentally prepared to fail. Hours passed and it was finally time for my calculus final, I got there early and hung out with Courtney. The exam was easier than I expected and I was the first to finish, there was only one question I didn't know what to do and the exam had 300 points out of 250 so that's a really good advantage.

All the stress is out and I had such a good night sleep Wednesday night, I woke up Thursday and went to Staples to buy some Christmas gifts. I also stopped by Target to finish buying Christmas presents. When I got back I finished packing, the luggage is 47 lb! That's the heaviest luggage I've ever packed. I'm sure I can lighten it up but I'm too lazy, maybe later. It was later and I decided to unpack what I thought was not needed and found nothing .-. I spent the whole day doing nothing really... The suite got so hot because Ricki left the thermostat in 75 and her door is locked now. I opened my windows and it was so refreshing, I would have left it open but I was scared somebody would have climbed up my window. Outside was around the 12 celsius and it was so chilly and cold :D Btw. I got a 72 on my chemistry final :( I still have an A-, but it makes me sad because I felt the test was kind of easy.

On Friday I woke up at noon and had my last lunch from Fresh Food Co. of the year. Also, Mr. Fleeman uploaded the grade for the calculus final and I got a 260/250! That's an A! My math average went up to the A-! I won't have a B this semester if everything goes well with American Studies. Armando and I went to Fresh Foods for dinner and after he came over and we watched a couple of movies, we had a really good time :)

On Saturday my alarm went off at 5 AM and I got ready for my flight back to Panama! We left at around 6:30 and everything went well, except the part were the passenger next to me was ab overweight woman whi was flooding my area :( it was me between the fat lady and the wall. Right now I'm at the Copa Airlines counter waiting until 2 PM so I can check in to then wait until 5 PM to departure. That's a total of 7 hours in this airport... 

FIRST SEMESTER ABROAD

This week concludes my first semester abroad, my first 4 months away from my family and friends. I have learned so many things and have turned into a very independent woman. From going grocery shopping to paying for my books and classes. I learned how to deal with people, I tried my hardest to be extrovert rather than introvert (I tried at least) and I realized how much I care about my family now that I'm gone.

Some things I learned from my first semester abroad:

ROOMMATES:
- You will probable get stuck with a noisy roommate and you'll have to learn how to communicate your feelings toward her/his behavior.
- It always happen to me that I'm the messy one, so I should keep up with my game.
- Sharing is caring, I don't know what I would have done without my roommate's microwave and fridge.

CLASSES:
- Never miss a class, even if you don't pay attention at all because there's always something you'll catch up.
- Be early if possible. That way you can compare notes with classmates or make new friends.
- Schedule your school work per week, and very detailed.
- Don't be afraid of going to the library, that's the best place to focus.

FOOD:
- Don't eat pizza everyday.
- Make use of the salad bar.
- Don't waste your money if you have free meals at the dining hall.

NEW COUNTRY:
- Lock your passport and money in a safety box.
- Remember to sign the I-20 before leaving.

FAMILY AND FRIENDS:
- Text your mom everyday about your whereabouts and achievements.
- Text your friends and just talk about non sense.
- Skype with your grandparents at least once.
- Buy them gifts when you come back :)

There's was a point in the semester where I thought I was not going to make it, where I was considering changing majors, and where I could not just keep up with the work. However, I ended up with high grades and a very happy ending, considering the fact that I didn't change my major or had a failed class.
I also made a couple of friends, which is a very rare improvement for me. One of them is kind of close and I feel good about it. I still feel anxiety when it comes to hang outs or social events but I'm putting myself out there and that's the important thing.

HARRY POTTER FOREVER

I was really procrastinating and decided to go on Pinterest and just look for some Harry Potter humor, many of them were cheesy and repetitive but if you have that feeling of nostalgia they are kind of funny. I miss Harry Potter so bad, right when I get to Panama I will watch every movie at least twice, AT LEAST!