Christmas

I am so excited to go back home. I want to see all my friends and relatives. This Christmas spirit is involving with my academic performance. I have this feeling of just wanting to go back home and have a one month vacation. Though the semester passed by so fast I had hard courses. Most of my nights involved going to the library maybe till 11:30. Studying in my room is a lot more comfortable, but the noise disturbs me.
Being back home will fill me with good energy again. But, I am not so sure if it's going to be 100% of positive energy. Though I have to see my ex boyfriend, which is not good. I know I am going to see him because Santa Cruz is a very small city. Everyone knows each other and you constantly see the same people over and over again. That's my only concern about this trip, but I know it's going to go on well.
My parents were begging me to stay in Miami for Christmas. I could definitely stay, but I want to be there for New Year's. They bought my tickets for December 9th. I did not choose that day. So, they are just trying to handle it.

Thanksgiving

*Note: I just got my computer back so I am retyping it.
Thanksgiving was a lonely and common day for me. Supposedly, my father was coming on Tuesday. But, later he told me he was coming this Monday. The day of Thanksgiving, I went to a hotel in South Beach, Loews. It was much better than being laid on a dorm's bed. South Beach was calm, which is very unusual. There were just a few people dressed out going to Delano Hotel or to Wall. Even though I was not in my dorm it was still kind of boring. I didn't know that Thanksgiving was such a big holiday in the US. In Bolivia I had this holiday just because I was in an American School, but no one really celebrated it. The only one was a friend of mine who is Jew. My friends here in UM were with their families or many of them went back home. So, my first Thanksgiving in Miami was not so good. Next year I'll travel or just go back home.

Last Night

My roommate is a different person than the one she was on the beginning of the semester. She gets to the room at three in the morning. I have no idea where she goes. I for sure know that she doesn't go out because of her way of dressing. No high heels, no dress, no makeup, etc. She comes backs and turns on all the lights, she talks loud by the phone, and even skypes with who knows who. She doesn't care if she wakes me up. I can tell she knows I am sleeping, but she doesn't even care. She's been getting so tired that she snores the whole night. Anyone in the hall way can hear her. In addition, whenever she cuts her hair, they stay lying the floor for about five days. I had to tell her to please swipe the floor and she even told me she had swiped already. I am so annoyed of living in a dorm. Or maybe I am annoyed from her.

Surprise!

Yesterday at 3:00 pm someone knocks on my door. I wasn't going to open, but she knocked so insistently that I couldn't stand that sound anymore. I usually don't open the door because they are guys just trying to start a conversation with me, but they don't really seem to know how to get a girl's attention. But, that's not the point. I open the door and I see my cousin. I couldn't resist to hug her so tight. I don't know how she got my address, floor number, room number, etc. The thing is that she was there! I was so excited I could barely talk. I let her into my room and we talked for about an hour or so. She couldn't believe how small my room was and even worse how I could handle living in such a small room. "Oh my god! your bathroom is so small, you had one for yourself more than twice the size". She was surprised but it's really not hard because no one is in the bathroom the same time I have to go. We all have different schedules, so that works.
Afterwards, we went to Lincoln Road to have dinner. We got there at around 6:30 pm. Her being here with me made me feel secure and wanting to be in Miami. I totally enjoy Miami, but it's not the same thing when you have a family member, a friend, or your boyfriend here with you. Well, at least that's what I think because I don't like to go out. We ate so much, we talked so much that I was exhausted by 10:00 pm. The worst thing was that I went out with my laptop because I had to finish the personality profile essay. We had to sit in a restaurant that had wi-fi. Whenever she got tired of asking me questions I started erasing the colons and semi-colons I had throughout my essay. So, I was able to work on it pretty good. Besides, she's great at writing essays. Each pause, I added or erased something from it.
Yesterday was a really good day for me! I felt I had someone to be with. I really enjoyed being with her, but unfortunately I won't see her till next week because she's going to Vegas today.

Tequille's Essay

Tequille's essay was incredible well written. His character was interesting and different, which made you want to read keep on reading the essay. His character dual life is what makes the essay more dynamic. Even though she goes to UM by the day, Kecia has a nocturnal life pretty surprising. If I saw her on the streets, I would have no idea she works as a stripper. Besides, she has a  reason for doing it. "The money is fast, I make more than an average women make in one night" and she tells it. It's impressive how her work doesn't disturb her from college. She even goes to class every morning. If I sleep later than 3:00 am, there's no way I can get to class. Well, sometimes I do, but I pay no attention.

Tequille's word choice is what makes it even better. He just puts the right words in there. His description about her dual life is what caughts the attention of the reader. Because I personally would believe a girl coming to UM and being a stripper. Even worse when he says that her GPA is 3.6. His description about her moves are so clear any one can imagine it. But, he doesn't make it sound vulgar. Instead, fine. He made an excellent job describing her, without judging her job. He made it sound as normal and "okay".

Random

This iPhone alarm is really bothering me. I don't know how to change the way it has been automatically set up. I want to it to ring several, not just one time because I think it's a missed call. Today for example, my alarm was set to ring at 6:40 because I like to take a bath, eat, and organize my stuff before going to class. Therefore, I slept till 7:35. Later I grabbed something to eat because I am so hungry since last night. Early dinners also frustrate me. In my country we are used to have dinner at 10:00 pm. Supers do not include food, only meals. For example, ham and cheese sandwich, empanadas, or a toast. Besides, people who don't work (which are the majority of women) are used to take a nap from 2:00-3:30. So, they are not so hungry at around 5:00 because they haven't burned any calories.

Vacation

Time has passed so fast. Thanksgiving is coming and my friends and I have planned to go to the Caribbean. We are a group of 10 girls, but we haven't really decided where in the Caribbean to  go. We were thinking about Punta Cana or the Bahamas. Last week my roommate's friends went to Puerto Rico and they said it was amazing. Since it's a tourist place, there are many things to go. All of us basically want to go to the beach and just chill out. Our parents are not coming to Miami so we really want to travel. Besides, we've heard that everyone goes home and the campus is going to be empty and boring.
For us, going home is kind of far away. For me it's an eight hour flight going back, but arriving to Miami is six hours. Besides, being in the airport three hours before and getting to migration in Bolivia which takes about an hour or more. So it's a total of about 12 hours to get there. There I have half of a day lost. So, it's not worth it. Thankfully, I am going back home on December 12 for about a month. So, I not in a hurry of going back home.
I am kind of nervous about this trip because it's going to be the  first time I travel alone. And I am sure that when my parents know about it, they are not going to be able to sleep properly for three nights. They are going to text me constantly, which sucks. They still think I am 12 years. At the same time I feel so anxious about it because it's going to be fun. I can't wait for it!

Weather

Today is such a cold day. Bolivia is usually very hot and when winter is coming, the climate gradually changes. Right now it's summer down there. My friends have told me that it has never been so hot before. Year by year the temperature in Bolivia is increasing. Winters last less and less every time. It's not that one day after a very sunny day the climate changes, like Miami. I have never been in Miami on this season and I think it's very nice and different. People start doing other things than just going to the beach. I've seen people dress elegant. That's what I like about the cold weather. In addition,  all the stores are changing the season clothes.

Reading

Buchanan describes in depth several police men who are awesome and different than other "common" cops. He says how this job takes passion and motivation to become one of the best ones. First he describes Mike who was fifty-seven when he was once on a murder scene and how he survived being hit from a motorcycle. He is stronger than many other cops, besides his age. Buchanan talks about several crimes in the story and says how they have solved it. Since they are the best ones, they investigate very detailed about what has gone wrong. For example, they were even able to find someone by looking for blood spots on the floor. They were about to give up, but this one insisted. He even says that people who die have "no privacy" because they investigate what they ate, what they physically did, and what they consumed. In order to find out what was the cause of their death, they have to do this.

Women cops have difficulty finding husband, according to Buchanan. There was a tall, beautiful, blue eyes cop who went on a plane and had a conversation with a man next to her on the whole trip. She didn't say anything about her profession. After telling him, he didn't say one word. Other male cops have an extra sense on this job. Sometimes they can feel what is going to happen. This one in special had a special quality, he was able to foresee who was doing something illegal; who got stolen cars for example. He was basically just able to see something wrong with just one look.

For cops, it is difficult to trust an editor because they have not experienced what really happened. So, they sometimes change the whole sense of the event by changing one word that they think means the same, but it really doesn't. They proofread incorrectly and sometimes makes the narrator (the cop) look funny and stupid. One of their rules is not to trust an editor.

My family

MY FAMILY

                                                                      With my mom

                                                         With my dad and my sister :)

Happy :)

My parents are coming to visit me on Saturday. They are staying here for about a week. I am so excited to see them again. I've not seen them for about 17 days, it's not much but I miss them so much. I've been Skyping with them and they are also excited about seeing me again. They have already made several reservations to have dinner every single night. My parents totally love Miami. They want to go out every night. So, I am going to be with them for a whole week. I'm totally not coming to sleep to the dorms in all those days. My father will have to wake at 6am in order for me to get to class on time every Tuesday and Thursday. I'll get to go shopping, go to the beach, sleep properly without having the sun in my face at 6:30am, and eat good food. They can't believe how time has passed so fast. It's incredible that the semester is going by. Besides, we are all happy about that because I get to go home on December and see all my family.

Topic

I am planning on writing about the beach. I am going to observe how people behave, what people do, and catch some important reactions in people's face. For example, there has been many cases where even little fish frighten people, especially women. I've seen people go with their families and others that go with their couple. People do a lot of sport on the beach. They try to walk for a long time by being distracted by the nice beach. But, many of them look fatigue and not really enjoying their jogging time. On the other hand, it's totally different to see people who are on a hotel and rent beds and umbrella's. They tend to chill and take a break from being on the phone and working. People who are not staying in a hotel go with friends, they talk a lot, and listen to music. Closing my eyes and trying to use my auditory sense is going to be another way I plan to describe my day at the beach. The texture of the sand and water. And describe how the climate is on that day.

College

My past week has been very stressing. I had so many tests that I didn't know how to handle my time properly. CIS 150 is a very interesting and useful class, but it's so hard. It's even worse when it's the first time you are seeing it. I studied for more than three days in a row. Besides, I had two human development quizzes and each chapter is very long and detailed. I just saw my essay grade in english and it is not good. I didn't come on thursday because I unconsciously turned off my alarm and it didn't ring again. I woke up at 8:45 and I couldn't believe it. I don't like missing classes, even worse when we are going to do something interesting and essential for our next essay. But, I am having a very good and positive time in here. I try to see everything in a good way.

This weekend

This week is a busy week. I have several exams, homework, and reading. All my classes gives so much reading, but I am really enjoying them. Everything I am doing is new for me because the system in my country is somehow similar, but mostly different. For example, they didn''t give me so much reading homework. Instead, I had to do many projects, worksheets with questions about powerpoint presentations, and test that required not too much reading.
My parents left already. Saying good-bye to them was the saddest moment in my life. I am so used to be with them everyday. Besides, they are the best parents. They are not authoritarian. I have never seen my father cry and saturday was the first time. He talked with me before going, his words made me feel even worse, but I felt really loved. This weekend I felt so alone, but now I am feeling better. Thankfully, I have many things to do or else my life would not be so nice. For example, yesterday I studied with a friend till 10:00pm. Getting excel into my head is so confusing. There are many vocabulary, reading, and practice spreadsheets. But, we were able to handle it.

Everything came together...

I almost didn't come to class. Last night I slept at 4:00 am because I stayed up doing math homework and an essay. But, if I didn't come I knew that next class I was going to feel lost. Therefore, I was going to miss important information. I don't even want to talk right now, my mind is slept and honestly my neurons are not going through the process of synaptic density. I learned the term synaptic density on my Human Development class, which is pretty interesting. My body feels tired too. I jog for about 1 hour every day. In addition, I am very hungry. The last time I ate was yesterday at five in the afternoon. My stomach is completely empty. Since I've been in University of Miami I have lost over four pounds. It's not like being in your house and grabbing a snack whenever you feel hungry. Instead, here you have to walk for about 10 minutes to get what you want. This makes me crazy sometimes. Everything is so far away. On the other hand, thinking about how long my day is makes me feel even more lazier. I have classes at 3:30 which disturbs my whole afternoon.

Weekend

This weekend was awesome. Being in South Beach is a totally different world than here. Since my parents are still here, I am taking advantage of going to the beach, tanning, eating, and shopping. Well, I decided to take a break from college. Therefore, I didn't do any homework in advance as I usually do. My parents are the most amazing parents in the world. They do what's best for me, so they told me to stay with them the whole week. But, the problem is that sometimes there's too much traffic. So, I told them that monday, wednesday, and friday I could sleep in South Beach because I have classes at 12:20. They agreed because they knew I was right. Besides, my father has to work this week. My grandfather came here to visit me and to work. I will probably see him today. I haven't got the chance to see him because he got yesterday at 4 am and yesterday was a very busy day for us. The last time I saw him was in June because he doesn't live in Bolivia, he lives in Argentina. So, I am very excited to see him. I know he is also excited because he has been questioning my father about my experience in University of Miami.

Response

http://uncommonsense77.blogspot.com/
I wish my grandmother would come and see me. Seeing again a person is like the best and most exciting situation you can experience. It's so nice to see how you appreciate your grandma's visit, this shows you have been raised with principles and values. Instead, other people just don't talk again with their relatives who they haven't seen in a long time. I even know people who don't really care about their grandmothers. And I know, year by year they get chubbier and more wrinkles appear. In my country it's also common to see people with uncommon healthy lifestyles. Therefore, my grandmother is not able to travel because she has respiratory problems and diabetes. Respiratory problems because she smoked over 40 cigarettes in one day. And diabetes due  to her bad eating habits. So, consider yourself very fortunate to have your grandmother's visit!

Time

Time is going by so fast, I have been away from home more than a month now. I have so many things to do on a day that 24 hours are becoming not sufficient. I am getting used to all the changes that have occurred since moving in to University of Miami. For example, sharing a room was the hardest obstacle to overcome. But, now I am very happy thankfully I get along with her. She is open to new changes I want to make to the room and we have rules that are beneficial for both of us. Being organized is what has made me feel comfortable here, otherwise I would be back in my country again. My bedroom has always been impeccable, but I had three maids in my house. Now, I realize their job. I am also learning how to really appreciate my parents, though I have always been very thankful, they bought me everything I needed, in other words they fulfilled the role of parents. Yesterday for example, I have to go to the supermarket to buy food because I had nothing on my refrigerator. And it was incredible the amount of many important ingredients I forgot. But, this is what I came for, to become more independent, and it's going on pretty good.

The difficulty of waking up

Sometimes waking up so early is the worst thing in the world. Hearing my alarm when I didn't expect it to ring and looking at the sky if it is either 7am in the morning or 3am sucks. Sometimes at this time in the morning I tend to think I synchronized my alarm incorrectly. But its strange though because the more I sleep the more tired I feel.Yesterday I slept at 10:30pm and today was the hardest and laziest day of my whole college life. In addition, thinking about how much classes and homework I have makes it even harder to get out of my bed. Furthermore, having to take a bath trying not to be loud because your roommate is so lucky to sleep until 11am is very uncomfortable. But the good thing is that after writing this post I start feeling more productive and positive. Therefore, I feel motivated for my next class which is CIS 150, which has everything to do with Excel.

Response

http://themorseintuition.tumblr.com/post/30865781788/my-hero
It's very admirable to see how you can overcome such a difficult situation. For instance, for me, it would be extremely hard to not see my father or just speak with him for 3 minutes. Furthermore, I can see you love him very much. And it's good to see how you understand him, by knowing he can't talk more because he's busy. So, I can see you are learning how to be strong by not having 24/7 support from your father. Besides, the position of your father is much worse, meaning that it's very harsh for him to be close to his family. It's an honor for you to have a dad who has traveled to complete a mission for the country.

Who am I?

I am a freshman at University of Miami. I was born in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia on December 15, 1993. I have lived there my whole entire life, throughout pre kinder, kinder, elementary, middle, and high school. I went to Santa Cruz Cooperative School, located 20 minutes from my house.
What I really enjoy doing is going to the beach, shopping, going to have dinner, to the movie theater, and jogging. Jogging is something I have done since I was around 10 years old. But, I have not dedicated so much time due to the huge amounts of homework I had in school. In addition, I had to leave my tennis classes, which really sucked. Furthermore, one of my biggest dreams is to work with a fashion designer. Obviously I am majoring in marketing which I like way more, but fashion is something I feel passioned since I was a very small girl.
I am totally not a talkative person, I am shy. I like to know new people and learn something from their culture. I know UM is a great place to do that because the large variety of people in it. Therefore, I am an easy person to get along, I'm not problematic at all. I am very tranquil and don't bother anyone. Because of that, I don't like to present in from a large group of people. It's not that I can't do it, but I would prefer not to.
My family are the biggest and most important person's in my life. I am used to be very close to them, they are great persons. They are very caring, loving, and the best parents in the world. My sister is also an admirable person. She is 15 years old, but totally different from me. She likes to dance, make jokes, full around, and just enjoy life. She doesn't care what anyone does or likes. We have many fights, like every normal sister, but we can't live apart from each other.

Being far from someone...

Missing someone is one of the saddest moments you can experience. In addition, not seeing him or not being able to talk and express yourself is even worse. Erasing his image for one second in your mind is almost impossible. Well, I believe this is a difficult time to go through, but as time passes the relationship becomes stronger. Unfortunately, it can sometimes end, but there can be a very happy final, as I said before. It's very normal to feel nervous about the situation due to the fact that we are on different countries. But, trusting someone you love is the best choice you can make, in order to feel happy and not feel jealous about what he might be doing or not. Sometimes life puts you this difficult situations to see if you really love that person or not. Even though you don't believe it, this moments are the times you mostly appreciate that person. You remember all the nice thing you did together or even the things that irritated you from him. This might sound weird, but what I mostly miss are the things I thought irritated me from him. The best advice I can give you is to follow your heart, not your instincts or anger times. Cause money, alcohol, adventures, or luxuries never give you happiness, or maybe just false hopes.