Don't get me wrong, I love going to school and I'm happy where I'm at. And I attribute that happiness to people around me and my experiences with them. One of the most important being Felipe who, above all, has been my best friend the past three years and counting. I've truly been blessed and maybe that's why I find myself so open to what life brings my way. I know where my heart is and that keeps me grounded.
Before I begin my new content, I'd like to share a few pictures from last summer (2004) which has been one of the best. It was actually the first time I stepped out of my boundaries. For two weeks I travelled through Mexico with my mother and grandmother.
We went to Guadalajara
Fuimos al estado de Michoacan donde nacio mi mama
More Michoacan
Nos quedamos unos dias en Puerto Vallarta
Terminamos en La Capital.
The streets of Mexico city...and I thought Los Angeles traffic was bad.
After those two weeks, I spent an awesome eight weeks in Washington, DC. Official business was to teach C++ programming to high school students.
YaY for my students!
I also got to do a little bit of getting to know DC and the east coast.
Washington, DC at dusk
Took a trip on the Chinatown Bus - an experience that I personally feel everybody should go through. Passed New York as the sun was still rising.
Made it to Boston. A beautiful city..
And finally, the people who made the summer so memorable...the '04 YEP's! The most amazing group of college students I have ever met, some of whom I've made lasting friendships with. : )
So that was that... Had to do a little bit of the reminiscing.
I suppose the main purpose of this new blog is to document the next 9 weeks separately from my other blogs just to keep it a little bit more organized. And if I like this Blogger thing enough, I might even stick with it, who knows?
In a couple days, I'm going to Troy Camp. This is a club on campus where we spend the year raising funds and holding events for about 200 inner city children. The main event that we plan all year long for is the actual camp (hence the name Troy Camp). It's usually the first time any of these kids have left the city so it's pretty big for them. It's big for us, the counselors, as well because we've worked so hard all year long organzing this and it's such a big pay off to see how happy these kids get when they see something new and escape from their life in the city for a week.
Troy camp kids! I can't wait. To be honest, I still consider myself a kid - or at least a kid at heart. And for the week at camp, I get to act like it.
Troy camp ends on Saturday May 28. At 8am on Sunday May 29, I leave to begin a new adventure. This time, on the other side of the Atlantic. I arrive at Rome, Italy the afternoon of May 30. Summer classes begin shortly after (on Wednesday to be exact). To sum it up, I'm spending seven weeks in Rome with the USC Viterbi School of Engineering Summer Abroad program. YaY for summer school...hah... Well I'm hoping that I'll be learning a lot more than Thermodynamics during this stay. Most of the weekends have been planned out for us as group trips to different parts if Italy. We have two free weekends. Ooh, I forgot to mention that none other but my partner in crime, Ms Kirstin Harper-Smith, is coming too! So we are sworn travelling buddies and planned our 2 free weekend trips to Barcelona and Paris. After seven weeks in Rome (once we finish summer classes), we decided to take advantage of our time in Europe and stay an extra week. That week will be spent in Greece. And finally, on July 23 I return to the US. This is going to be a summer to remember. That's why I gave it its very on Blog. :)
So...expect lots of pictures, random updates, crazy stories, and good times!
Oh yeah, don't forget to leave a comment. ;)
