NG

I joined the National Guard this past week. I went to MEPS, ran around without clothing, gave a vile of blood, peed in a cup, and swore in. Nice, eh?  I leave for basic May 28. I am very secure and positive about my decision, as are most. Unfortunately, one cannot please everyone. It's a little difficult to convince those who are not in favor of me joining the military, because there are a lot of personal factors in it... and yeah, factors besides free tuition. It's strange, but I am actually looking forward to basic training. Change is good.

Hmm, algo mas?... I've been studying portuguese. I really want to get down to Brazil next year. If I can't go there, I think I will go to Mexico to visit my dears... I miss certain things about Mexico way mucho. I miss certain people a lot. I feel almost a sense of regret sometimes, because when I think about it, I realize that I could have given so much more while I was there. But, heck, regret is seldom a good thing, so I'll just have to do my best to build on the relationships I formed in Mexico while I'm here in the US. (a few of you are aware of the more specific aspects of this "Mexico-sickness" and let me tell ya, I'm doing my best to get the storybook ending )

Ah, la vida mia... Things are kind of crazy, and I love it. I sort of like having challenges and personal missions. Keeps it interesting. Maybe I'll update this again, when something worth mentioning happens. (which it will) Mucho amor! PAX!

A bit of Mexico coming my way

A week from tomorrow, Katy is coming to visit from Canada. Woohoo. I am jazzed. There will be much taki-ing, taco eating, and other Mexican activities. We will also be teaming up with Kirsten for a weekend in Carbondale. It may be strange that when I think Mexico, I think Canadian... but Katy was a huge part of my year there, so it works. Now I just have to get through this week of homework, exams, and speeches to get to the fun stuff. Ay, estoy muy emocionada!

Currently Listening Life in Cartoon Motion By Mika see related

Sifting.

I am sick of being a student. I am sick of homework and studying and driving there and driving back. Maybe I am just lazy. I have to remind myself of how I was in Mexico and how I missed having school responsibilities. A formal education seemed to have a sweeter ring to it then. Ah well, we needn't worry about me dropping out or anything. I am doing this so I get what I want out of life... and if I graduate and find that happiness does not exist in the business world, and I am still restless, I will be making a beeline to brazil. I really miss travel.

I went on the rotary fun weekend to St. Louis this past weekend. It felt so nice to be back around exchange students. Six Flags was super fun. Finally, Michaela has been on a real rollercoaster! Yeeeeeah! It was nice to speak Spanish, too... but I haven't spoken it in so long. It is really rusty. Nooooo! I'll have to get back into practice.

My dad ran into my 4th grade teacher the other night. She teaches at an alternative school, and mentioned something about me speaking for the students about my exchange. I have done this a lot already in conventional high schools... but this makes me nervous. The tone is going to be different, I guess. It won't be me talking to Spanish classes and gettin' all nostalgic about Mexico. I will be talking about motivations and stuffs. It'll be a bit more personal... and a bit harder, I believe, but I really want to do it. Let's break out dem communication skills.

In closing, I would like to mention that my team in the competition for business class is going to win... because we are awesome, and we have designed some freaking quality jewelry, suckas. Paz!

Home again.

So, I came home from Mexico. The best year of my life has come to an end. This year has been, well, huge. So much happened, and I learned so much about the world, people, myself. It was pretty obvious that I did not want to be back in the USA. It was hard getting settled back in. I am sorry to everyone I complained to about being back in the boring US. Luckily, Cornerstone came along and made me happy to be back. I also started to think in the future. I've started planning. I realised that international business is calling my name. And so is Latin America,  Portuguese, grad school, Italian... oh gosh. So, the plan... Job search this summer. Sandburg in the fall. My wonderful father has planned out my schedule so I have a full load, but only go three days a week. Nice. That leaves a nice amount of time for studying and working. My money for working is going into the Brasil fund. I plan on going to Brasil either next summer to stay with a friend for a couple weeks and visit or in between uni and grad school for a few months. I know, big dreams... but rotary does that to you. This year, I am also determined to learn Portuguese. I could use some help with that. Let's see. So, two years at Sandburg and money saving... then off to uni. Where? No se. Possibly U of Ill., U of Iowa, Illinois State, or Northern. We'll see. Then comes grad school, and then I'll try to get a job down in some part of latin america. I'm looking at Brasil, but anywhere would be interesting, yeah?... Sigh. This is what an exchange does to you... makes you rather ambitious.

Central States is this Friday. I am super sick. Tonsils are letting me down. Let's hope I get better before this weekend.

Cuernavaca-vaca-vaca and the loss of Canadian.

Oh gosh. Katy and I packed up and went to Cuernavaca on Monday after school. I looked like a complete idiot with my suitcase at school, but whatev. Totally worth it. I could not calm down the whole way. I was so happy to just get out of town and relax without rotary around or parents or curfews or anything... I needed a break. Life has been mad stressful. So, we got there and Kirsten, Cynthia, Ivan, and Corbyn picked us up. We dropped our crap off at Corbyn and Kirsten's houses and went to Walmart to buy ingredients for dirt and worms. Oh gosh, I was so psyched they knew what that was. Then we all went to a bar. Good times good times. I was super tired, because I had gotten up at 5 to write my rotary report about my illegal vacationing. We went home around 1ish and slept. Yay sleep. We were all up pretty early. Katy and Corbyn came over for breakfast. Kirsten's kitchen is really comfy. Breakfast was always fun. We made dirt and worms for breakfast... and they all ate KD without me before I woke up. Jerks. A healthy bunch, I know. Mexican pudding is gross and we couldn't find gummy worms, so we used gummy octopi. Whatever. It was still awesome.  We all got ready and hit the center. We didn't do much. We ate at a little restaurant and bought some crap at the 3 peso store... We all bought tattoos.... because we are that cool. Then we went bowling. I got two strikes. Woot. I sucked. Katy and I made up and amazing dance routine and had a grand ol' time. After bowling we all went back to Kirsten's, where we got ready to go over to the Brasilian's house with some other exchangers to have a little partyish thing... That was a fun night. Leo was there from Puebla. We stayed there till about 1:30 and then went home to sleep. We slept until like 11:00. Eek. We ate breakfast and then went to a mall. I called my mom. That was nice. It calmed my nerves about all the crap that's going on right now... and it made going home a lot more real to me. Weird. That night we went to a bar... and Oh GOSH! It was like worst dancers ever night! It was sooo funny. I'm so glad we had a video camera. I can't even explain how hilarious it was... we're kind of mean... Anyway, Kirsten and Corbyn had to go to school the next day, because it was the last day, so I was left home alone for awhile, and I couldn't sleep and I didn't know what to do. It was a little awkward. Twas all good when the others finally came home. We went to the center and ate and then went to pick up the "It's like... Oh Gosh" t-shirts that we had made. They weren't ready, so we had to wait and wait, and finally we got them. Then Katy and I rushed to the bus station and hopped on. Fun bus ride. Crappy movie. I ate a prepackaged sandwich... that was a mistake. We got back into Puebla around 10ish with many plans for the following day... Katy's last day.

This leads me to the next part of this entry. Katy's leaving. Ouch. I got to her house around 9 on Friday. She was packing. Our strict schedule was ruined, but whatever. We went to the center to get last minute gifts, and then to Martin and Mary Cruz's house, and then to eat lunch with some friends. I went home after that to get ready for the evening. Then I scuttled over to her house and then we went to Shishas to meet some friends. Ha... Katy and I slipped out for a while to go to Oxxo to eat soup and takis. That was random. After Shishas, we went to Chio's house till 12:00. We went home pretty early. Katy kept packing and I finished her dorky little gifts. I fell asleep and she continued packing. We woke up early this morning feeling surprisingly normal. We left for Mexico City around 11:00. We ate there and found Aimee and Emily. We spent a couple hours hanging around... and then all the sudden Aimee and Katy were leaving. WHAT?! Oh gosh.  I didn't think we were going to cry... but then, at the last minute, when it came down to saying the actual goodbye, I just broke down. It was awful. The tears were different than the Brighton tears. I don't know... Oh gosh. I know I'll see Katy again, but all the memories were flooding back. We had SOO many adventures and jokes this year. She was such a big part of it. She became my family quicker than probably any friend before. Sigh. It was painful. I'd post the depressing fotos, but I can't find my pinche camera cord right now. When I got home, I went to the center with my family. I couldn't really concentrate. I'm happy for Katy, of course... but times like these just make me really... (can't remember the English word... crap) pensativa? I'll live. We will see eachother in November... and we will become "hairless hippies" in Brasil someday. This doesn't feel real.