Secret Pals and Kayaking Incident

Today is Thursday- one more day of Camp Hope left. I'm on our camp director's laptop which she let me use to write :) Everyone else is in the shower, probably attempting to scrub off a few hours worth of paint, dirt, dead gnats (whatever). They're all singing... Amazingly, we finished painting at our work site extra early today. It just started raining and we said bye to the home owner, jumped into the van, and returned to the campus. Soon, we're goinng to head off to Walmart, a super store where you can buy just about anything you want. A few days ago, my secret pal left me a nalgene bottle containing four neon fish from Walmart. I ran into the hall trying to catch him/her, "Okay, secret pal- I like them... but they're going to die!!" Sure enough, they all died today... poor Oscar, Camillo, Avery, and Dennis... :(

I just found out that my secret pal left me the return receipt today... off to Walmart!

We've all had secret pals this whole week. It's a lot of fun... everytime I hear a knock on the door, I open it really fast to try and see if it's my pal... too bad it's usually someone who gets frightened half to death by my weird antics. Now they all stay away from my door. I'm an outcast. Ha. Just kidding. (I hope.)

Anyway, I have to go shower really soon... I think the stalls are empty now. Here's a quick recap of what else happened this week: I've worked on 3 work sites in total... doing A LOT of paint work (very messy). Yesterday, we had a half day and went to the Rocky Gap State Park for lunch. It was iffy weather all day but I guess we all thought it would be okay. A bunch of friends and I decided to rent a few kayaks and row out onto the huge lake in the park. It was gorgeous out and we were singing and rowing and having an amazing time. I have a love for water... oceans, lakes, rivers, my bathtub. I was like, "Hey! Let's try to row the entire length of the lake." It's a huge lake, by the way... We were doing fine and getting a good work out. But all of a sudden, it started raining a little. Then, it POURED out of nowhere. We all went into panic mode and rowed like none other toward a random man-made beach. We all jumped out of the boat and dragged it on shore. The original beach that we came from was on the other side of the lake. My friend, Chris saw some of our Camp Hope people leaving. "They're leaving without us?!"

We had no other choice but drag the entire kayak all the way to the other side of the lake- looking like crazy people in the pouring rain. It was a scary experience with the lightning and everything... but definitely worth ittttttttttt. ometimes, I wish I wasnt so rash and an adventure addict. This time everything was okay though. No one got hit by lightening or drowned. All good.

So, tonight is the talent show. Tomorrow is the last work day... Be back in Poughkeepsie, New York soon! Not too soon though...

Spiders and Country Music

Hi from Frostburg State University in Maryland! I'm on a counselor's laptop right now... woohoo, a connection to civilization! Hopefully I can update a few more times this week, depending on how exhausted I get- I still have a little more energy left. So, I'm at Camp Hope at this moment, in the dorms. People outside are being noisy even though it's suppoed to be "quiet hour". Hmm I forget how hectic camp can be. This morning, I woke up at 5:45 and ran a few laps around the university track. Then, off to the Frostburg United Methodist Church for breakfast. After every meal, we give a round of applause to whoever is hosting us... they provide all the food for free so it's really nice of them. After breakfast, we were divided into teams and sent off to different home sites. My site is a approx 25 minutes from Frostburg... the house is really a mess. I think the family has medical or economic problems- there's junk everywhere in the yard. I spent the whole day painting the outside walls where I screamed my head off at everything that looked like a spider. THERE WERE SO MANY STUPID SPIDERS. But my friend, Ashley, and I developed a technique for killing them- we drown them in paint. Anyways... people here are pretty nice and all. THe other churches that came to help are from Maryland (wowwwww.. you drove all the way from New York?! Why??). I've been eating too much food. THe weather is reallyy warm. Oh yeah, and the radio stations only play... COUNTRY. >.< "Peace, y'all!" More updates to come.

Camp Hope

"Camp Hope" stands for something appalachian mountain project helping others something enthusiastically. That's what I'm leaving for in approximately half an hour...

So, I haven't slept at all tonight. But I'll have plenty of time for sleep on the seven-hour car ride down to Frostburg, Maryland. My church, Hyde Park United Methodist (HPUMC) sends fifteen kids down to Maryland every summer to participate in Camp Hope. It's a one-week long project to help reconstruct homes for the "economically depressed". Sounds lovely on paper, huh?

I've actually never been to Camp Hope so I'm excited... we're leaving the church around 5am... That means I have to get there around 4:30... soon! Starting to pack last few things now... till then!

GRADUATION!!

So, I really have been doing a lot of cool stuff lately but haven't written about because 1) I'm lazy 2) I've been getting no sleep 3) I want to keep basking in the moment and trying to make these amazing few weeks stretch out as long as possible. Par exemple, a few friends of mine went on a road trip to Jones Beach on Tuesday. Threw a surprise party for a friend. Graduation parties continue... But alas, the day has finally come... and I can officially say I AM A GRADUATE FROM THE CLASS OF 2007!!!!!!!!!!

I cannot explain how WEIRD and restless and yet entirely exhausted I feel. We went to Shadows on the Hudson for lunch (I saw basically my entire class there... fine, fine, I'm exaggerating...) Now, I'm back at home for a few minutes, trying to upload pictures from the morning, facebook, pack, and update this blog because after today I will have disappeared from the face of the earth. Or in other words, attend 1204970127401 more graduation parties and wake up at 3am to go to Maryland for Camp Hope.

But anyways, this post is supposed to be about graduation. How to describe graduation? It was... priceless. sad. happy. exciting. depressing. amazing. cliche. sweet. beautiful. perfect. As usual, Spackenkill had their graduation at Casperkill Country Club along route 9. When I got there, everyone was already dressed in gowns and caps, hugging, talking, whatnot. What I discovered: Parents metamorphosed into vicious paparazzi monsters. Caps are really hard to wear. High school is over. I can't pretend I live in a happy little bubble anymore.

As you can see, this post is really blabbing all over the place... all these emotions are inside of me and I have no idea what to think. I feel as dizzy as trying to walk through a crowded room full of new graduates... I'm getting attacked on all sides, hugging random people, getting dragged off to pose with this and that person... everything is just very blurry....

I feel like I should be rushing to do something right now.. so, I will get to that. Hopefully, I can put up some pictures some time when I can grab a few minutes. Bisous!

Ohh, by the way... my last column for the Verge section of the Poughkeepsie Journal supposedly came out today. I haven't seen it yet but again... how appropriate! :)

Calculus Bonfire

Ahh, it's been a long weekend and I've hardly had the chance to rest. On Friday, our math class (a core group of friends...) finally hosted the long-awaited Calculus Bonfire. My friend, Alex has a firepit in his backyard. We all dragged our stacks of math packets, exams, and homeworks ( and some other hated assignments too) to throw into our bonfire. It was strangely spiritual. By the end of the night, his whole deck was covered in ash.

That same day, I went to the Greek festival in Poughkeepsie for the first time... ever. I had a lot of yummy food of which their names I could not pronounce. We also saw our French teacher, Spanish teacher, and middle school history teacher, there. Much over-rehearsed college talk followed.

Been playing frisbee, manhunt, and capture the flag, recently... Must play more to burn off all the free food from senior send-off ceremonies and graduation parties.

I also celebrated my own mini-graduation get together with family in the city, yesterday. We met at a restaurant, Harvest in Queens. My cousin, Dennis will be going to Northeastern for pharmacy, next Fall. Doesn't it seem like pharmacy is becoming a very popular career, nowadays?

One week left till graduation!

Some Old Business and a Question

Even though it's over, I can't seem to get away from school... I guess whenever you're leaving somewhere, you have to finish up old business and straighten everything out. I had to balance the treasury of National Honor Society and FAIHR clubs in the morning. Finally, I got my cap and gown... Then, back home to finish sorting out clothes, papers, money... Feels like I'm moving. Does it always feel like this for college students? Or, is college just like an extended summer camp? Hmm.

Elementary School Flashbacks

I took my last final exam yesterday for la classe de francais. And afterwards, our class went to the Palace Diner near Saint Francis Hospital for brunch. I had coffee and an apple pie... although I have to say, after becoming a connosieur in diner food, I think the pie at Pete's Diner on Hooker Ave is a lot better... (especially a la mode!) Afterwards, we drove back to Hagan Elementary school... just for fun.

Left: Elementary school hallway. Right: Playing on the swings.

Everything was so small. It was a moment both hilarious and nostalgic. Where did the time go? We remembered... chorus teachers, kickball, monkey bars, fourth grade, field day... I felt so old. Finished the day by chilling at the pool. It reallyyy feels like summer!

A Few Notes on Senior Pranks

I was definitely unprepared for the last day of high school. No exaggeration: it was just beyond words... I could try to make a stranger understand a tiny bit of what we were all feeling... but the words just wouldn't come out right. Here's my best shot, though...

Most of us didn't sleep but instead, stayed awake till 2:30 am the next day to begin senior pranks. By 3am, people were already at the school and working in almost pitch dark. The main project: an adult size pool by the track. Other stuff included posters, slip n slides, pinwheel fields on the lawn, and an artificial beach.

From Right to Left, Top to Bottom: Sunrise at Spackenkill, 3-6am.

My senior class surprised me. Our class, in particular, has always been known as a lazy, unorganized bunch of umm... free spirits. We never had a real senior trip. Prom was a huge letdown. I guess, the only other successful event we have planned was Senior Skip Day... no surprise, there. But in less than a week (and thanks to Facebook), we planned an outstanding, and very creative, array of senior pranks for our last day of high school. I'm proud to say, it was memorable. And even our administrators were amused, if not impressed...

Left: Early morning swim. Right: Blowing bubbles at main entrance.

Left: Last bell. Right: Signing yearbooks.

The atmosphere was definitely charged with something. It was like... a bonding experience. We all, somehow, came together and saw the sun slowly come up. Around the main entrance, seniors crowded together, blowing bubbles, cheering, making faculty and underclassmen kind of nervous; everyone was dressed in swimsuits and towels.

I kept having weird relevations like... "It's really the end. That's it... I have to make the most of it." It was a weird, shivery feeling... So, I grabbed a few friends and we ran down the hill towards the track. This is something I'll never forget. People, cars, buses were everywhere. We were in plain sight... but we just started flinging off our clothes and dived into the pool, frolicking in the water like crazy people... It was 7 in the morning.

After our AM frolicking in the pool...

Left: Last look at yearbooks. Right: Off to homeroom, soaked.

I never thought I would be in a pool at 7 in the morning at my high school. So, we went to English, soaking. And the rest of the day was... priceless.

A Farewell to High School, the Ups and Downs of Teenage Drama

I guess it's appropriate that my opening blog entry is about the first major transition of the summer: the last day of high school.

For the seniors at Spackenkill, tomorrow begins the end of everything we've known for the past thirteen years. I can hardly believe it... High school is finally ending. No more bells, homeroom, cafeteria lunches, lockers, hall passes, after-school activities, passing notes... Bye Spack and bye to all the ups and downs and teenage drama.

I still can't process the thought. Everything feels so... surreal. I can't remember a time when I've been so clueless about life, in general. And tomorrow, anything could happen. Yearbook signings, senior pranks, hugs, tears, all the corny baloney of being at the edge of adolescence. I can't disclose anything at the moment... but let's just say, "Wake-up call is at 2:45am."