Summer 2012 thus far...

Summer has been ok, I guess. I haven't done much. So much for filling and sending out job applications. However, I have rested a lot and done things I didn't have time to do while I was in school, so in a way, I guess I've been productive. I know in the previous years I've set goals for myself for during the summer but I decided I wouldn't do that this year because they never get done, so I figured it'd be better if I didn't have any expectations and just take everything as it came along.

So here are the things I've done:

1. Read. I've read four books so far. Three Agatha Christie books and another book called "If You Follow Me" by Marlena Watrous a Barnard alum. I actually found that book in one of the donating bins they put out at the end of the year and there were a ton of copies so I'm guessing it was the book the first years were supposed to read over the summer or it was one of their first-year seminar/ englsih books. Anyway, it was about a recent graduate who goes to Japan to teach English and has to adjust to the rules and way of life in Japan and while she does that she goes down a road of self-discovery and whatnot. It's a really good book.

2. Sew. So I finally got the guts to make a dress and I was super excited about it until I actually started sewing it. It was a freaking pain in the butt. First, I realized that the bust part was going to be too small so I added a bit of extra fabric and then it turned out too big. Also, I lost count of how many times I had to rip the seams because I'd done something wrong, I was about to burn the freaking dress. Even though it came out huge and I'll never wear it, it was a learning experience and my next dress will be better. I do have a pattern for my next dress picked out, I just need some print jersey, which I can't find anywhere so I think I'm going to end up ordering online. Also I learned how to shirr fabric, which is pretty useful because one can make simple dresses with shirred fabric.

3. Excersise. I hate excersizing if it's not in a gym with air conditioning. Back home I do not have a gym membership so I have to make do with what I have. Running shoes, a tv and the internet. I've been running outside at night because that's the only time when it's cool enough to be outside, every other time of the day, it's over 100 degrees F. I've also been doing Zumba with some DVDs I have. Lastly, I've been doing some tahitian and hula dance videos I found on the internet and they are great! Not only are they a great workout but they help tone the abs, thighs and buns, which are mostly my problem areas.

4. Pinning. Lately, I've been obsessed with Pinterest. It's an awesome website that lets you make boards with things you want or like. You should check it out, it's awesome!

I think that's all for now. I've also been wanting to do other things but i haven't been able to do them for whatever reason but I hope I have time to do them.
*scrapbooking- I haven't printed out any pictures, I have all the other supplies
*baking- my mom is really ocd about us making a mess in the kitchen so I tend to steer away from there
*learning another language/ practicing French- I started learning Italian but I got bored because it was online, so I stopped. I need to be in an actual classroom to learn, I guess.
*get a puppy- specifically, a yorkie. I even have the potential names picked out. Olivia if it's a girl and Sasquatch (Sas, short version) or Jorge (pronounced Jor-hay) if it's a boy. Of course I can't get it yet because my mom would flip out with another dog since we already have 6 (none are mine, though) and a yorkie is an indoor dog and there is NO WAY IN HELL she would let me keep it inside, so I'm going to have to wait til I move into my own apartment.

I think that's all for now. I'll try thinking of more stuff to blog about.

Street fair!

Today couldn't be a better day, the weather is beautiful, the birds are singing, my allergies are killing me,... oh wait, what? Ignore that. Now, what was I going to say? Oh yeah, there is a street fair and I absolutely loooooove street fairs! It's actually quite funny because in the morning I was just thinking how great the weather is for a street fair and when I go outside, lo and behold, a street fair!!

So I've been wanting a cactus since my orchids died, the first in freshman year and the second in sophomore year, so then I decided I would stick to something that is more resistant. So decided today would be the day when I would get one... But I got two! I love my new little babies!

The little one is a Pincushion cactus (I think) and the big one is an Echeveria (closely related to cacti)

In general, the street fair was nice...I went by myself because all of my friends are busy with thesis and stuff. I should be doing the same but I felt a study break was necessary so I went. There was the usual. People selling all types of food, scarves, clothing, jewelery plants, CDs and whatnot. Here are some of the pictures I took.

Spices

 Chocolate covered strawberries and/or marshmallows

 Vinyl records

 Cacti

Berds (Birds) at Shelter Island!

Now here's the second part of my weekend. After my field trip to Montauk, I went straight to Greenport with another professor. Every year she picks two seniors who have worked with her or who she knows have done fieldwork to go on a two day birding trip with her. So she chose me. :) I've only gotten into birding recently so I wasn't entirely sure how it was going to go, but overall it went great!

On Friday we went to Noah's, an amazing local restaurant. I ate so much because she ordered everything on the menu, seriously. I mean they were tapas, so the plates were small but it was a lot of food nonetheless. I would say my favorite dishes that night were a salad with apples and cheese and some roasted asparagus, they were delicious! I wish I had pictures of the food but unfortunately I didn't take my camera to the restaurant. After dinner we went for a quick walk near the hotel where we were staying, right next to the beach. Then, we watched a movie called Big Year with Jack Black, Steve Martin and Owen Wilson about birding. It's a fairly recent movie, it was funny but I guess if you're not into birds, you probably wouldn't like it or care about it.

On Saturday morning, we woke up bright and bright and early to go birding. We ate breakfast and then took the ferry (car and all) to Shelter Island to the Mashomack Preserve where we would be birding. Since it wasn't open when we arrived, we went to the Ferry station to do some birding with a scope, which is a very potent lens, sort of like a binocular, to observe things that are very far away. When we finally went to the Preserve we took a long hike and observed over 40 different species of birds. However, when we combined those species with the other species we had seen earlier and on Friday we got a total of 50 different species of birds in 24 hours! That's insane! Overall, it was a great weekend. And now, I'll post some of my birding pictures.

Me looking through the scope...and what do I see?

An osprey on her nest!
And a herring gull!


Me "birding"...more like, posing for the picture.
An Eastern Bluebird.


And a cool anchor by the docks...

Montauk Point

This weekend was pretty amazing! I spent most of the weekend at two different beaches! On Friday I went to Montauk for a class field trip. We collected rocks and sand samples for our final project/paper. It was pretty exciting because I love the beach! There was this amazing lighthouse, it looked like the ones you see in pictures. Anyway, I'll post some pics from Montauk and I'll continue writing about my weekend in another post...

The beach at Montauk.

The lighthouse at Montauk Point.

Ripples in the sand. The black stuff is magnetite (yes, it's magnetic) and the red stuff is garnet (as in the precious stone). It gets sorted with the wind because these minerals are heavier than the brown stuff, which is mainly quartz, so these are at the top of the wave and the quartz is at the bottom.

Dune complex. When you're in the bottom part of the dune, it seems like you're in the desert because all you see are the dunes. They don't look that high but they are. It's pretty amazing.

2012...ahhhh the World is Endingggg!!!

So it's been a year since I wrote my last blog post and the first thing I saw were my resolutions from last year...so this is what did or did not happen:

1. Exercise more often.... sort of...
2. Do well in school...yeah, I did ok, maybe even a little better than ok.
3. Cook real food more often... if I have time....ha! are you kidding me? i ate out almost every day last semester... FAIL!
4. Read more books (not school related) ...yeah, i guess i did
5. Craft more...(this is also if I have time...or during the summer) i made lots of pajama pants!
6. Become the Krazy Coupon Lady... muahahaha (just kidding :P, I guess what I mean is manage my money better and try not to spend a lot and save money for #7) oh hell yeah! i'm freaking obsessed with couponing right now!
7. Go to Paris to visit Madina!!! (I'm actually already saving up and I think it's gonna happen!!!)... as i predicted, this did not happen, unfortunately.
8. Improve my French... NO
9. Speak up more in classes...maybe a little? i honestly don't keep track of how much i talk in class...
10. Get married....hahahaha juuuuuust kidding!!! I actually ran out resolutions and wanted to post 10, so I totally made this one up cuz I thought... if I'm gonna make one up, it might as well be funny, no?... i sure as hell did NOT get married!
11. Blog more often!!!....hahahah sure as HELL did NOT happen. it's 2012 and this is the next blog post after that one.

So yeah it's been a year since that post. My resolutions are more or less the same except I have a new one:

12. Get a freaking job after I graduate!! No, in all seriousness, I do need to find a job. Preferably in NYC.

I think that's all for now. I might post later some of my crafty projects I've completed recently... Oh also, I think I'm going to post recipes and pictures of stuff I cook in order to motivate me to post more! :)

2011 Resolutions

I'm writing my resolutions to motivate myself to actually follow through with them.... I guess.

So here they are:

1. Exercise more often
2. Do well in school
3. Cook real food more often... if I have time.
4. Read more books (not school related)
5. Craft more...(this is also if I have time...or during the summer)
6. Become the Krazy Coupon Lady... muahahaha (just kidding :P, I guess what I mean is manage my money better and try not to spend a lot and save money for #7)
7. Go to Paris to visit Madina!!! (I'm actually already saving up and I think it's gonna happen!!!)
8. Improve my French
9. Speak up more in classes
10. Get married....hahahaha juuuuuust kidding!!! I actually ran out resolutions and wanted to post 10, so I totally made this one up cuz I thought... if I'm gonna make one up, it might as well be funny, no?

UPDATE:
I just figured out what #10 (well, now it's #11) should be!!

11. Blog more often!!!

2011...A lot to write... but little time/ laziness/ excuses/ excuses...etc.

So it's finally the year 2011...yay! There are a lot of stuff I want to do (aka resolutions) but that will be in a separate post...I have survived another year of insanity/ awesomeness/ well there are a lot of adjectives I could use to describe the year but overall, it was pretty good. In terms of school, this past semester was brutal... probably the worst semester (in terms of schoolwork) so far. Hopefully, the next one will be better, although I doubt it because I'll be taking 6 classes= 18 credits (if they get approved by my advisers), which is the most I've ever taken. This year was also good because of the summer...I spent my first summer in the city, well sort of, and doing research...it was my first research job and it was amazing!!! Also I had been dying to go to Playa del Carmen/ Cancun and I finally went!!! This summer was my best summer ever!!

Anywho...my break has been going pretty well so far, a lot of chilling, hanging out with family and friends, knitting, reading, wasting time, etc. It's been good, I can't complain but I only have a week left and then it's back to the city/school.

OMG!! I just realized I'll be turning 21 this year!!! I mean, I knew but I was just writing this post and I was like 2011...hmm...I'll be 21...what the hell?!?!?!?!? Time goes by sooo fast!! I can't believe it!!!

Anyway....off to write my next post!!!

Oh hi, I'm still alive.

Title says it all.
Also, first post of 2011. Yay for me!
Hope to write more very soon.
Hopefully before the break is over.
Bye.

About me...

So, I was talking to a friend and she asked me to tell her 10 or more random things about myself that are essential to knowing who I am, and after much thought I came up with this list. Forgive me if I'm not very deep or personal but that's just who I am, as a matter of fact, that is my #1.

1. I am very reserved and it's hard for me to open myself completely to other people, even though they might be very close friends.

2. I rarely say what I think without being asked but it's not because of fear of being judged or laughed at, but because I don't like putting myself out there.

3. I'm scared of being left alone, not in the physical sense but in the sense of not having anyone who cares for me, that I can trust 100% and who will always be there for me no matter what.

4. I cry easily/ I am sensible.

5. I'm easy to get along with.

6. Ideally, in the future I would like to be an ER doctor and work for Doctors without Borders for a couple of years, travel the world and have a family.

7. One of my goals in life is to speak at least 5 languages fluently.

8. I like to dance and sing even though I am terrible at both.

9. I love dark chocolate.

10. My favorite colors are pink and green.

11. Knitting and crocheting are NOT for old people.

12. I would've liked to be a designer if I didn't like science so much.

13. I've been to 7 countries.

14. Egyptology is super interesting.

15. At a different points in my life I've wanted to be a: ballerina, astronomer, animal shelter owner, vet, archeologist, interpreter for the UN, marine biologist, conservationist, doctor.

So yeah, those a lot of random things about myself that 1) I don't really tell people, or 2) are pretty much random.

Summer in Retrospect

Summer has gone by so fast and before I know it I'll be back in school working my ass off trying to pass my classes. But before that happens I would like to reflect upon everything that happened this summer, or at least the time I spent in the city and Black Rock Forest.

At the beginning of summer, I was anxious, excited and nervous about my first real major-related job. I couldn't wait to get there and start working. I knew it was going to be tough and physically demanding because after all, it's outdoors, field work. Needless to say, my job at BRF exceeded my expectations and made me glad I chose Environmental Biology as a major. Like any job there were ups and downs but in the end, it was all worth it. All the tick drags, and vegetation surveys and risking getting Lyme disease...well, I'm just glad I didn't get it. Working with turtles was priceless! I love them and would work with them anytime. They're so cute and adorable!...Except when they pee on you. I could totally see myself working with in the future if I don't end up going to med school. As for the people there, it was good too. However, there were times when the living situation was a bit tense because the supervisor girl was a bit too controlling and the other girls noticed it too but they aren't as patient and calm as me so they did get mad and complained about it. I must admit, I did my fair share of complaining too but I never got mad and just accepted the fact that that's just how she was and dealt with it. I also made really good friends over the summer. Living and working with people 24/7 definitely makes you become close and it the end friendships form. I became friends with a recent Columbia graduate who is just 20 years old, a girl from Switzerland who came to the US to practice her English, my supervisor and even though she is really controlling, she is a really nice girl and super funny and believe it or not, I became closer to an old friend, even though there were times I swear I could've killed her....

Me with a cutesy tiny turtle:My friends from Black Rock and me at Woody's eating their homemade ice cream:
As for the times I was in the city...I went to Coney Island even though I never actually got to swim. I walked and explored downtown, I hung out with friends and went to the Eclipse midnight showing... My friend and I baked a cake and celebrated my friend's birthday even though at a time I thought I would never be able to celebrate any of my friends' summer birthdays. I waited for hours in line in Central Park in an attempt to go see Shakespeare in the Park only to be told that they had run out of tickets ten people before they got to me. I went to Six Flags and went on the highest roller coaster in the U.S. I went to my first Yankees game ever with my best high school friends and I had a blast even though I'm not much of a baseball fan... However, I still can't get over the fact that A-Rod didn't hit his 600th home run at the game I went to... All in all, this summer was amazing and I'm really happy I got to experience all of this. It was the best summer I've had!... and summer isn't even really over yet.

Viktoriya's birthday:
With Sarai and Julian at the Yankees game:

Mamma Mia!! Pizza!!

So today was pizza day in the Old HQ. We all pitched in with a couple of ingredients to make some yummy pizzas. The first one we made was vegetarian and the second one contained meat (pepperoni). We also made some bread sticks to go along the pizza and they were twisty thanks to me because I had the marvelous idea of making them that way instead of just plain sticks. Finally, I made a small pizza with the leftover dough. It contained a few slices of pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, yellow and green bell peppers. Yumm-o!!

The bread sticks before baking:

Me with my pizza:

Summer Reading

A goal I had for this summer was to read more non-school related books, and luckily I have been keeping up with at least this resolution. So far, I've only been reading Agatha Christie books, namely, the Poirot series. Even though, these books are amazing, I read them in 2-3 days because I have to spread them out in order not to run out of books to read. So, finally (even though my time at Black Rock is almost over) I got a library card from the local library because my NYC library card expired and I haven't had time to renew it. So I took out 3 books, because that was the limit. I took out a Poirot book, "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" and "The Last Days of the Romanovs." I just started reading the one about King Henry's wives because I just finished watching the final season of The Tudors and I'm still in a Tudors mode. Also, I think the subject is super interesting. Then I think I'm going to read "The Last Days of the Romanovs" because I can read the Poirot book any other time. Again, I think it's a very interesting subject and I've always had an interest in royal history and also my sister got me into the Romanovs and I think she would like this book very much. All in all, I'm pretty happy I'm finally getting some non-fiction in my summer reading because it's important just to know and be knowledgeable about history and other subjects in general.

Vika's b-day

Yesterday was one of my closest friend's birthday. It was pretty cool. I made her a headband to give her as a gift... I only wish I had taken pictures of it to post them up.
Also, my other friend and I made her a cake. It was a pretty simple vanilla cake with pink vanilla frosting. Overall it was pretty cute.
Pic of the cake even though it got smooshed along the way...

However, it took us forever to make because the cake wouldn't bake itself and also we were running all over the place trying to find a box that it would fit in so we could give it to her. In the end, we ended up cutting two cake boxes and taping them together, haha.
We went to an Italian restaurant for dinner. I had caprese salad and gnocchi with mozzarella and eggplant in tomato sauce with basil. Yummo! Then we met up with a friend of hers/neighbor and went to a hookah bar in Brooklyn. We had a coconut flavored thing in a pineapple, yes, as in the real fruit. I tried it and I mean it was ok because I didn't die (obviously, or else I wouldn't be here writing this if I had). I probably won't do it again anytime soon, though, since 1) I don't smoke/ don't want to smoke, 2)smoke makes me lightheaded, 3) I don't want to get cancer/ an asthma attack, 4) I can still freaking taste it, eww!
So yeah, it was a fun experience/ weekend...

ESPAÑAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

Today was the final game of the 2010 World Cup and Spain won!!!!!!!!!! Woooooo!!! So the game itself was pretty intense. By the end of both halves the score was 0-0. Neither Netherlands nor Spain could manage to score eve though Spain could've scored several times. Also, there were like a million yellow cards given out, I swear, it was the game that I've seen the most cards given out, EVER. So, after both halves ended they went to extra time. First 15 minutes ended and still no goal, but in the second extra time period Spain scored!!! Finally!! I was rooting for them so of course I was very happy. And then the game was over and they won, Spain 1, Netherlands 0. The game was historic for them since it was the first time they ever won the World Cup...

On another note... Paul the octopus (or Pulpo Paul in Spanish, which I happen to like how it sounds better). Who the hell is this Pulpo Paul? I really needed to know, so I looked it up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_the_Octopus
So yeah... this dude...er, I mean octopus predicted correctly the outcomes of the games in the World Cup. That's crazy! Anywho, this octopus is famous now!!

UPDATE as of 7/21/10: Someone told me Pulpo Paul is retiring...what the hell? Maybe it's because they're going to make ceviche de pulpo Paul?!

Change is always good... or at least most of the time

I decided to change the layout of my blog. I really liked the other layout too but I couldn't see the dates when I wrote my posts and it kind of pissed me off. I know, I'm an obsessive, controlling freak. Yeah. So, I decided to change it to this design because it's cute and PINK!

Weekend plans...and more plans

I've been meaning to stay in the forest for at least ONE weekend to hike and do fun things. Has that happened?... of course...NOT! I end up going to the city every weekend. Not that that's bad or anything but yeah, it kind of changes my plans. So this weekend I'm going to see one of my high school friends. We're trying to get tickets to go see Shakespeare in the Park. The play we're going to see is the Merchant of Venice and Al Pacino is in it. Hopefully, we can get tickets since they're free, it's the weekend and Al Pacino is in it. We're going to have to wake up super early to get in line to try to get tickets. Before the show we might get dinner or something to eat or whatever. I'm soooo excited because I really want to see the play because I actually wrote my final research paper for my New York Theater class on the history of Shakespeare in the Park.

Other plans....

Another thing I want to do this summer is go to Six Flags in New Jersey. The plan was to go on July 24th but I don't thin that's happening since the girl who I was going with told her she would visit her sister in Pennsylvania or something. But hopefully I can still go with someone else. I really want to go to Six Flags!! My flaky friend told me she really wants to go again (since she went this past Monday and barely told me yesterday, I guess she hadn't told me since I really hadn't been talking to her). Hopefully she doesn't flake out...yet again.

Also, we were planning on going to the Michael Buble concert...in freaking Montreal...like as in Canada! BUT, I think that's not going to happen anymore since she realized it was in August and she has to "work" on her project during all of August and she can't miss a single day :/so I guess I won't go...unless my sister wants to come over here so we can go to the concert together :).

What else?....Oh yeah, my friend said she was going to D.C. one of these weekends and asked me if I wanted to come along. I really want to go because I've never been to D.C. and I love traveling and getting to know more places so I think I'll tag along. It's only a 4 hour drive so it can't be that bad... or so I think.

I think those are all my plans for the summer... while I'm in NY because when I go back home...I'm going to Playa del Carmen/ Cancun/ everything that's over there!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And that's for sure, no more flakiness...squeeeeeeeeee!!!

Oh and off topic...
This week I got to PIT tag turtles, which is injecting them with a tiny microchip. It was for my project. I was so excited. I felt like a doctor and everything because first, you have to swab them on the leg with antiseptic and then you stick the needle in and then inject the tag in and then you swab again. It was awesome... except for the fact that a turtle peed on me. I mean all turtles pee and they have peed while I'm holding them, but this one peed on my shirt!! Eww. Good thing that we went swimming in the pond afterward even though technically it's not allowed but even the forest director went in for a swim with us, so I guess it was alright.

That's all for now!

Happy 4th of July

Oh, I almost forgot. It's the 4th of July = Independence Day. Happy Independence Day! Woo-freaking-hoo. Might go see the fireworks over the Hudson River later.

UPDATE:

I did go see the fireworks over the Hudson. They were really nice...maybe even beautiful. The train ride back was gross since the subway was jam-packed and it was hot and sweaty and ewww.

The rest was an Epic Fail... I shouldn't care and just not talk to this person forever but given my living situation I kinda have to. So we had agreed to meet at 52nd St. and 12th Ave. She had to go see her sister at Wall St. and I was like ok, I'll meet you there later because I wasn't going to go with her friends I don't even really know. I freaking walked over there for the picnic/firework watching and guess what... I never saw her. Thank goodness I had eaten before or else I would've starved (ok, maybe I'm exaggerating). So I went to that intersection and walked a few blocks looking for her. I couldn't find her so I texted her and called her. Didn't pick up. Took forever to reply. Told me she was inside the park. I gave up the good seat I had to try and get in the park. The cops & park people stopped me and told me the park was only for old or handicapped people. I tried two entrances, the only two I could find and I told her. She replied "try another street." WTF?!?! I tried the only 2 FREAKING entrances there was because it's a small park, it only spans two blocks, where the HELL was I supposed to get in?!? Beats me!! I texted her other stuff and she either didn't reply or replied useless crap. I just went back to where I was and tried finding a good seat because guess what...most of the seats were already taken (the seats = side of sidewalk), so I squashed myself in between two couples and waited for the fireworks to start. I of course was raging and wanted to text her some nasty message or punch her if I saw her but I didn't. I guess I'm just too nice... I'm still really mad and I really don't want to talk to her because I know I'll go off on her and say things I probably shouldn't. Also, the fact that I happen to live in the same rooms as her would even make it more awkward, even though I think it's awkward already because when she asked me if I had seen the fireworks I responded "yeah" with an annoyed tone and didn't even look at her... Oh well, at least I enjoyed the fireworks. If there's a next 4th of July in NYC for me, I hope I can spend it with my sister or with my friends.

ECLIPSE

Last Tuesday midnight...well technically Wednesday, was the midnight premiere for Eclipse, the third movie of the Twilight Saga. Needless to say, I was super freaking excited. So, I traveled from upstate where I'm working to NYC just to go see the movie. It was insane! I had a really bad headache and this kid kept crying/screaming on the train to the city, I swear, I wanted to punch him in the face. Of course that wouldn't have worked since he'd keep on crying and screaming after that. Then, when I had arrived to my dorm, I tried taking a nap but found it impossible because of the excitement.

Finally, when it was time to go to the movies (this time we decided to go at 10pm instead of the usual 8pm and waiting 4 hours) we went and missed the subway stop we had to get off at. When we got to the movies we got our tickets and a lady told us that a line that turned at the corner of the street was the one for Eclipse so we got on it, only to later find out that it was for the theater #5 and we were in #6. Epic fail! We rushed to the theater and took our seats and waited.... The movie finally started like 20 freaking minutes late...I swear, I thought someone was gonna get killed because of all the crazy Twilight fans in there.

So here's my review of the movie:
It was A-FREAKIN-MAZING!!!!!! It was sooooooooo much better than the last two movies! It was so cute and I loved when Edward proposed to Bella. BUT, my favorite scene was the tent scene. It was just priceless all the tension between Edward and Jacob, it cracked me up throughout the movie. Also, this movie was move action-packed than the previous two which was great since, we won't be seeing much more of that anymore (*cough, cough* Breaking Dawn). Anyway, I really hope to see it again without all the screaming, clapping, oooh-ing and ahhh-ing of the midnight release. I give it 5 stars :)

Summer so far...

I think last time I wrote something I was still in school...but anyway.... I'm half-way into my summer break and everything is going well. I'm currently working at Black Rock Forest near Cornwall, NY doing research for my senior thesis even though I will only be a junior next year and I'm also doing a bit of other random stuff, mostly I help them with whatever they need help with. I'm doing my research on population viability of painted turtles in the ponds here, which is really interesting an SO MUCH FUN! Because I <3 Turtles!! :) Other stuff I've been doing includes leaf drying and weighing, tick drags, worm surveys, vegetation surveys and A LOT of hiking, which is fun.

I go to the city every weekend and sometimes I hang out with one of my friends and sometimes I just chill by myself, which is also cool. Also, I got a PINK bike. It is super cute!! I've been meaning to go riding it but hasn't really happened since: 1) I'm scared of riding it in the streets of NYC, 2) I haven't been able to take it upstate and 3) I end up doing other stuff. Hopefully I get to use it soon.

Oh, so I got a long email from one of my friends who left early from college. I hadn't really heard from her since she left, so I'm happy she finally contacted me. She explained a lot of stuff including why she decided not to go see us when she was in NYC and other stuff. Turns out she has been traveling a lot with her mom and is currently in Korea. She'll be teaching English at an orphanage there until August, which makes sense because that's something she had mentioned she wanted to do...or at least the teach English part. I really have no idea what's going on in her life right now but I really hope everything turns out well for her.

Finally, Eclipse premieres in 1 day!! I'm so excited!! I'm going to go to the city specifically to go see it, I'll see how that goes because I'll probably be really tired on Wednesday for work. Hopefully, I'll try to post something this weekend or on Wednesday after work, though I doubt that'll happen.

School is OUT, summer is IN

So I totally realize that I haven't written in this blog in two months, give or take, so there's a probably a lot that has happened and I don't know if I'll remember it to write it.

First things first, classes are over and summer break started. Yes, it's more than three whole months of no classes. I, of course say that I'm going to do some studying, but let's be honest here... I pretty much doubt that'll happen even if I try lying to myself and saying it will. Oh well, c'est la vie... Also, so far so good, grade-wise. No C's, so that's good (I actually can't believe I'm actually saying that because before I was this OCD about grades and I would totally flip if I got anything lower than an A). I guess this is what happens when you go to a school where everyone's uber smart and are "OMG-I'll-die-if-I-get-a-B-because-I'm super smart-and-perfect-and-no-one-else- can-be-better-than-me-or-I'll-die". I mean, I still care about my grades but hey, no one is perfect and as long as I do my best (and get into med-school hehe), it is what it is. I've actually come to realize that grades aren't everything even though they are important to get into good grad or med schools :/ .

Anywhoo...as far as summer goes everything has been going alright. My suite mates moved out, which means I've been here by myself but I'm moving to my new room on Sunday. Good thing is, my room mate is a friend of mine, bad thing is that I don't know any of my other suite mates. But whatevs. As to what I've done so far, well, it's not much. On Friday, Monday and Tuesday I was doing a program called MURTI for minorities interested in Environmental Science. It was pretty interesting and as lame as it sounds, I did learn stuff. Also, last Saturday I walked from the apartment to Macy's (34th St.) and back, which is the farthest I've ever walked, so I'm kinda proud of that. On Monday, both my suite mates came to visit me, even if it it was for a little while, I was happy to see them. Today (Thursday), my friend, Viktoriya came to the city and we went to Central Park. We walked and we lay on the grass and then we went rowing in those boats in the big pond. It was fun!!!

Finally, I'm going to Black Rock Forest, not this Sunday but next to start working on June 1st. I'm pretty excited about that but the guy at the forest hasn't responded to my emails so I haven't really done much research on what I'll be doing. Hopefully he does soon so I can start researching the turtles (squeeee) that I'll be working with. I'm still a bit worried about how I'll be getting there but I have directions and stuff so hopefully I'll just take the train and make it alive and well. Oh, oh, oh! I ordered my hiking shoes today and guess what color they are.... PINK!! They're super cute, now hopefully they arrive on time (they better coz I paid extra for faster shipping!!!) and now I just need to buy a couple of pairs of jeans because right now I've only been wearing dresses because that's all I have.

Hopefully I'll write more often now that I don't have schoolwork to be worried about and upload pics and write more about the walks I've been taking.

Oh, and I almost forgot, here's a list of what I want to do this summer:
1. Read- non school related books
2. Get to know the city better.
3. Buy a bike
4. Teach my friends how to ride a bike!!!
5. Have fun!!!
6. Write more often on my blog
7. Start crafting/knitting/crocheting again

and other stuff I can't think of right now/ other stuff that will come up later!!!

EDIT:

8. Practice my French
9. Study for the MCAT
10. Learn something new

Until next time!