April 30, 2013
Happy last day of April. Can I just say that I have no idea where April went? Because it didn't happen.
Anyway, I woke up this morning and took a shower, and Maritza and I decided to go to breakfast together which never happens because she's always gone before I'm ready for breakfast in the morning. So that was exciting. After breakfast, I studied more of my German verbs for the quiz today.
When I went to German, it was hot outside. It was so nice though! It got in the 80s today in Iowa City, so that was really exciting!! And the buildings have turned on the air conditioner...so it's almost summer! I can feel it!
After German, I went to earth science, and the professor talked so much about biodiversity that we have to finish the lecture on Thursday because we didn't get through the whole thing.
After that, I went to lunch, and when I went back to my room, I decided I would go to the Pentacrest to work on some homework. So I went over and sat down in the shade. When I was arriving, I saw this class sitting out there, and then I saw the people moving whom they were watching, and I realized that some dance class was outside doing interpretive dance or something. So I took a picture of them because it was pretty strange. I circled them in red because it's kind of hard to see. There were about three different groups that went and it was happening for a really long time. At one point, they went down the sidewalk next to me, and I heard this guy who was dancing say, "I'm not in your class. Am I doing good?" hahaha he was just chilling on the Pentacrest and then decided to dance with them.
I decided to read my last workshop for fiction writing while sitting there which was kind of hard because it was windy, but I managed. After awhile, I decided to go back to my room, and then Maritza and I got lunch.
I spent the evening not doing much of anything, but at one point I went to the lounge and did some homework, but then I got cold so I came back. That was pretty much all that happened today.
Anyway, I woke up this morning and took a shower, and Maritza and I decided to go to breakfast together which never happens because she's always gone before I'm ready for breakfast in the morning. So that was exciting. After breakfast, I studied more of my German verbs for the quiz today.
When I went to German, it was hot outside. It was so nice though! It got in the 80s today in Iowa City, so that was really exciting!! And the buildings have turned on the air conditioner...so it's almost summer! I can feel it!
After German, I went to earth science, and the professor talked so much about biodiversity that we have to finish the lecture on Thursday because we didn't get through the whole thing.
After that, I went to lunch, and when I went back to my room, I decided I would go to the Pentacrest to work on some homework. So I went over and sat down in the shade. When I was arriving, I saw this class sitting out there, and then I saw the people moving whom they were watching, and I realized that some dance class was outside doing interpretive dance or something. So I took a picture of them because it was pretty strange. I circled them in red because it's kind of hard to see. There were about three different groups that went and it was happening for a really long time. At one point, they went down the sidewalk next to me, and I heard this guy who was dancing say, "I'm not in your class. Am I doing good?" hahaha he was just chilling on the Pentacrest and then decided to dance with them.
I decided to read my last workshop for fiction writing while sitting there which was kind of hard because it was windy, but I managed. After awhile, I decided to go back to my room, and then Maritza and I got lunch.
I spent the evening not doing much of anything, but at one point I went to the lounge and did some homework, but then I got cold so I came back. That was pretty much all that happened today.
April 29, 2013
Today was Monday. Woo. It was super beautiful outside today! And it was really exciting except not because I don't have shorts here haha. Whatever. After I woke up, I took a shower, and then I went to breakfast. Then I went to German. After German, I went back to my room and ate some lunch which was easy mac and which burnt my tongue :( boo, but it's all good because the mac was awesome!
I also studied a little bit for my earth science lab test today since I only started studying at 11 last night...When the time came, I went to my lab, and we took the test which was pretty easy, and then we listened to about five speakers give their presentations on different geological things (except not because a lot of them didn't have anything to do with earth science).
We got out of class about a half hour early, so I decided to go sit on the Pentacrest for awhile until my honors class started.
When my honors class did start, we got awesome news!! My teacher said that our final (which was supposed to be on Wednesday) is going to be a take home test! Yay! That means I don't have to study!! Then we carried on with presentations for that class, and I got to present mine today! Woo! I think it was super long because I started losing my voice in the middle haha.
After that, Maritza and I went back to our room, and I checked my grade for my lab test, and I got 100%... When I told Maritza she was all "is that the test you started studying for at 11 last night" haha....I don't know how that happened! I decided to take a picture of me being excited about my lab papers, because I'm pretty much done with that class. All I have left is to present next Monday, and that class is out of my life! So I took my papers out of my binder and took a picture with them as a farewell.
Then we went to dinner and ate some food, and when we went back to our room, I did homework and studied my German verbs because she's going to be quizzing us on the past tense forms of the verbs. And that was my day.
I also studied a little bit for my earth science lab test today since I only started studying at 11 last night...When the time came, I went to my lab, and we took the test which was pretty easy, and then we listened to about five speakers give their presentations on different geological things (except not because a lot of them didn't have anything to do with earth science).
We got out of class about a half hour early, so I decided to go sit on the Pentacrest for awhile until my honors class started.
When my honors class did start, we got awesome news!! My teacher said that our final (which was supposed to be on Wednesday) is going to be a take home test! Yay! That means I don't have to study!! Then we carried on with presentations for that class, and I got to present mine today! Woo! I think it was super long because I started losing my voice in the middle haha.
After that, Maritza and I went back to our room, and I checked my grade for my lab test, and I got 100%... When I told Maritza she was all "is that the test you started studying for at 11 last night" haha....I don't know how that happened! I decided to take a picture of me being excited about my lab papers, because I'm pretty much done with that class. All I have left is to present next Monday, and that class is out of my life! So I took my papers out of my binder and took a picture with them as a farewell.
Then we went to dinner and ate some food, and when we went back to our room, I did homework and studied my German verbs because she's going to be quizzing us on the past tense forms of the verbs. And that was my day.
April 28, 2013
It was so beautiful outside today!! But unfortunately I spent the first half of my day inside. I decided today would be a no shower day, so I put my hair in a pony tail and put on yoga pants. After Maritza came back from church we went to brunch, and then I decided to go to the lounge to work on homework. After about an hour, a girl came the lounge and started talking on the phone. I decided to just wait it out until she was done, but an hour later, I was still in the lounge and she was still on the phone, so I left. Maritza was sitting outside, so I decided to join her. I brought one of my workshop stories and animal crackers, and we sat by the river. The river was super high for whatever reason, and it was kind of frightening. It was pretty much on land. I took a picture of it which you can see down below. I was also feeding some ducks with my animal crackers, but then they came really close to us, so I stopped. They decided to snuggle in the grass pretty much right in front of us. When I was done with the story I was workshopping, Maritza and I went back to our room so that we could get stuff to go out to eat. We decided to go to Which Wich which was Maritza's first time going there. It was pretty great, like always. I took this pictures of us while we were eating our wiches.
After dinner, we went back to our room, and I spent the rest of the night doing homework. At around 11, I started studying for my last lab test tomorrow! Woo, I'm excited for that class to pretty much be done!
After dinner, we went back to our room, and I spent the rest of the night doing homework. At around 11, I started studying for my last lab test tomorrow! Woo, I'm excited for that class to pretty much be done!
April 27, 2013
Happy Saturday! Today was another productive day! Go me! After I woke up this morning, I took a shower and then went to lunch. After lunch, I decided to go back to the public library to finish reading the book I started yesterday.
Today I decided to venture to the second floor of the library, which was amazing because it was so much bigger and quieter than the first floor. I'm kind of falling in love with the library haha. I finished the book which didn't take that long since I only had about forty pages left, and then I went back to my room to get some of my stuff. I decided that I wanted to go back to the library to do some homework since it's quiet and nice there. I took this picture of me while I was in the library as you can see from the rows of books behind me.
I worked for a little bit on my honors project, and then I worked on German homework. My German homework took me a while, and I didn't finish, but eventually I got really hungry, so I went back to my room. When I got there, Bryan was in our room, and he was talking with Maritza, so I did a little bit more homework, and then Maritza and I went to dinner.
When we got back to our room, I worked on fiction writing for a few hours, and then eventually it was time to go to bed. Today was not too exciting, but oh well!
Today I decided to venture to the second floor of the library, which was amazing because it was so much bigger and quieter than the first floor. I'm kind of falling in love with the library haha. I finished the book which didn't take that long since I only had about forty pages left, and then I went back to my room to get some of my stuff. I decided that I wanted to go back to the library to do some homework since it's quiet and nice there. I took this picture of me while I was in the library as you can see from the rows of books behind me.
I worked for a little bit on my honors project, and then I worked on German homework. My German homework took me a while, and I didn't finish, but eventually I got really hungry, so I went back to my room. When I got there, Bryan was in our room, and he was talking with Maritza, so I did a little bit more homework, and then Maritza and I went to dinner.
When we got back to our room, I worked on fiction writing for a few hours, and then eventually it was time to go to bed. Today was not too exciting, but oh well!
April 26, 2013
Today was actually a pretty busy/productive day! Go me! I woke up at 10ish, and I had to wait until the bathrooms were cleaned before taking a shower. After I took my shower, I went to lunch, and then I walked to my lab classroom to pick up my lab last week so that I could have it to study for my lab test on Monday.
After that, I went back to my room and worked on some homework for a little bit before heading over to my professor's office hours.
On my way there, a guy asked me for money for some type of donation thing, and I said no and walked away. When I got to my professor's office, we talked about my essay, and we went over how to format a work's cited page. That took about a half hour, and afterwards I was planning on talking to my German teacher, but she wasn't in her office, so I just headed back.
On the way back to my room, I walked on the opposite side of the street to avoid talking to donation man again, but I passed the frat house full of the people who were collecting the donations. They had a giant teeter-totter in the front yard, and I knew one of the guys on it because he's in my German class. So we talked for a little bit, and he asked me to donate to something that helps build bridges or something. I'm still not really sure what the money was for haha. So I gave him a dollar because I felt bad for saying no to them twice. And then they offered me food, but I said no and left haha. I guess I should say that the weather was incredibly nice out today, so I was in a really good mood :)
When I got back to my room, I decided I wanted to be outside, so I went to the pentacrest, but when I sat down, I realized that I needed to go to the public library so that I could read the last book for my honors project. So I went on a search for the Iowa City Public Library! I found it eventually, and it is so nice!! I was surprised at how modern the building was. I found the book I needed, to I settled down to read it. When I only had about forty pages left (it was a short book), I decided to leave because I was really hungry.
When I got back, Maritza and I went to get dinner, and then we stayed in our room for awhile until 7ish. Then we headed over to the IMU to watch the a capella concert! It was really long, but it was good. They kept having lighting problems though which was actually kind of funny. The audience lights came on, and then some of the stage lights went out, and they just going on and off. Once again, my camera was taking crappy pictures of things on the stage, so this was the best picture of the night because you can actually see some colors other than white.
After that, we went back to our room, and I worked on some homework, and Maritza and I talked for awhile, and eventually we went to bed.
After that, I went back to my room and worked on some homework for a little bit before heading over to my professor's office hours.
On my way there, a guy asked me for money for some type of donation thing, and I said no and walked away. When I got to my professor's office, we talked about my essay, and we went over how to format a work's cited page. That took about a half hour, and afterwards I was planning on talking to my German teacher, but she wasn't in her office, so I just headed back.
On the way back to my room, I walked on the opposite side of the street to avoid talking to donation man again, but I passed the frat house full of the people who were collecting the donations. They had a giant teeter-totter in the front yard, and I knew one of the guys on it because he's in my German class. So we talked for a little bit, and he asked me to donate to something that helps build bridges or something. I'm still not really sure what the money was for haha. So I gave him a dollar because I felt bad for saying no to them twice. And then they offered me food, but I said no and left haha. I guess I should say that the weather was incredibly nice out today, so I was in a really good mood :)
When I got back to my room, I decided I wanted to be outside, so I went to the pentacrest, but when I sat down, I realized that I needed to go to the public library so that I could read the last book for my honors project. So I went on a search for the Iowa City Public Library! I found it eventually, and it is so nice!! I was surprised at how modern the building was. I found the book I needed, to I settled down to read it. When I only had about forty pages left (it was a short book), I decided to leave because I was really hungry.
When I got back, Maritza and I went to get dinner, and then we stayed in our room for awhile until 7ish. Then we headed over to the IMU to watch the a capella concert! It was really long, but it was good. They kept having lighting problems though which was actually kind of funny. The audience lights came on, and then some of the stage lights went out, and they just going on and off. Once again, my camera was taking crappy pictures of things on the stage, so this was the best picture of the night because you can actually see some colors other than white.
After that, we went back to our room, and I worked on some homework, and Maritza and I talked for awhile, and eventually we went to bed.
April 25, 2013
Today was about as exciting as yesterday. I woke up a little late this morning, but that was okay! I just took a shower and ate breakfast in my room. I finished my milk! Woo. These are the things that make my life haha. After that, I went to German where we played a game like Go Fish, except it wasn't Go Fish because my teacher doesn't know what that is haha. It was actually pretty fun. After that, I went to my earth science lecture where I learned about fossils. On Tuesday she said we would have a clicker quiz today, and usually she starts off with the quizzes, but today she ended with them which was pretty sneaky on her part because a lot of people leave towards the end of class before she's done. So yeah.
After that, I went to lunch, and then I went back to my room with intentions of doing so much homework!! I pretty much only edited the first page of my research paper, and then I don't really know what I did with the rest of my evening. I stared at a Word document for a while, but I think ultimately I just procrastinated on Youtube. Oh finals....you suck. After we went to dinner, I told Maritza that we should watch a movie tonight, so at around 11, we popped in Wedding Crashers. It has been a very very long time since the last time I watched this movie! I forgot just how great it was haha. I think Maritza liked it too because it was the first time she watched it, and she was laughing. I took this picture of her when she was putting the DVD in her laptop. After that, we went to bed because it was 1 in the morning, and she had class in the morning, so we went to bed.
After that, I went to lunch, and then I went back to my room with intentions of doing so much homework!! I pretty much only edited the first page of my research paper, and then I don't really know what I did with the rest of my evening. I stared at a Word document for a while, but I think ultimately I just procrastinated on Youtube. Oh finals....you suck. After we went to dinner, I told Maritza that we should watch a movie tonight, so at around 11, we popped in Wedding Crashers. It has been a very very long time since the last time I watched this movie! I forgot just how great it was haha. I think Maritza liked it too because it was the first time she watched it, and she was laughing. I took this picture of her when she was putting the DVD in her laptop. After that, we went to bed because it was 1 in the morning, and she had class in the morning, so we went to bed.
April 24, 2013
Happy Birthday to the best pupper ever!!! Today was Jersey's 11th birthday! She's getting so old :(. Unfortunately I don't have any birthday pictures of my pup pup. After I woke up this morning, I ate some cereal in my room to try to finish my milk, and then I didn't really do anything before I had to go to German. We talked about Frankfurt today in German, and that was pretty much it. After that, I had to go to fiction writing. We workshopped two stories today, and then we talked about the story we had to read in the book last week. After that, I ate lunch in the the dining hall, and then I went to my honors class, and we did more presentations today.
My day was pretty average today...it wasn't too exciting. I decided to finish Brave New World tonight, so I settled in for night and read the rest of the book to get that our of my life. When I was done with that, I did the little German I had, and then I was finished for the night. I took a picture of all the books I've read (the ones that I still have checked out) for my project. So those are the books that I've been reading in the past three-ish weeks. And that was pretty much my day.
My day was pretty average today...it wasn't too exciting. I decided to finish Brave New World tonight, so I settled in for night and read the rest of the book to get that our of my life. When I was done with that, I did the little German I had, and then I was finished for the night. I took a picture of all the books I've read (the ones that I still have checked out) for my project. So those are the books that I've been reading in the past three-ish weeks. And that was pretty much my day.
April 23, 2013
Today I registered for my classes for the fall! Yay! I was scheduled to register at 10:30 this morning, so I woke up at 9, took a shower, ate breakfast, and just watched the clock until it was finally 10:30 haha. I was able to register for everything I had planned on taking, so that's good news. The only bad part is that I have to take an 8:30 a.m. class three days a week, which I already knew I was going to have to going into scheduling...but still. Bleh. The good news is that I'm pretty much done with classes by 1:30 every day except for Thursday!
Anyway, after I scheduled my classes, I went to German, and then I had earth science. After earth science, I had planned to meet with my honors teacher to talk about my presentation on Monday, so I went over to her office and talked with her for a while. After that, I went to lunch, and then I sat in my room getting nervous because I had an oral proficiency test at 3!! Some people had theirs yesterday and this morning, and they've been talking about it in class, and I wasn't nervous until this morning when we were talking about how the lady that we're taking the test with is kind of strict about grades!! I walked to the building and got there at about 2:50. Someone was in with her when I got there, and then it was my turn! I was nervous, but it went pretty okay. I only forgot the words to some of the words I needed, but it went okay, I think. The lady giving the exam has really clear German, so it was easy to understand her. And she seemed like a super nice person, so that was good too. After that, I went back to my room, and did homework. I read some Brave New World, and I read the stories for fiction writing, and then I did my German homework. It was a pretty busy day, but it was nice to get things out of the way!
Anyway, after I scheduled my classes, I went to German, and then I had earth science. After earth science, I had planned to meet with my honors teacher to talk about my presentation on Monday, so I went over to her office and talked with her for a while. After that, I went to lunch, and then I sat in my room getting nervous because I had an oral proficiency test at 3!! Some people had theirs yesterday and this morning, and they've been talking about it in class, and I wasn't nervous until this morning when we were talking about how the lady that we're taking the test with is kind of strict about grades!! I walked to the building and got there at about 2:50. Someone was in with her when I got there, and then it was my turn! I was nervous, but it went pretty okay. I only forgot the words to some of the words I needed, but it went okay, I think. The lady giving the exam has really clear German, so it was easy to understand her. And she seemed like a super nice person, so that was good too. After that, I went back to my room, and did homework. I read some Brave New World, and I read the stories for fiction writing, and then I did my German homework. It was a pretty busy day, but it was nice to get things out of the way!
April 22, 2013
Happy Earth Day! I hope you all celebrated accordingly. Today I woke up and took a shower and decided to eat breakfast in my room so that I could study for my German test! It's my last test before the final! Yay! So I went to German and took my test. It was okay, but I was totally blanking on past tense forms of verbs which was a small part of the test...so I just improvised. We also had a small writing section where we were supposed to write a news story quoting someone, so I wrote mine about the president of the University of Iowa saying that she didn't know if we had a soccer team haha. I finished my class five minutes before class got out, so I went to lunch. It was sooooo packed today because I think there were middle schools on field trips or something, but there were a whole lot of middle schoolers in the dining hall. Then I chilled in my room before I had to go to my lab. It was our last lab doing a lab because the next two weeks will just be presentations. We looked at fossils today, which was interesting I guess, but it was kind of hard because we had to identify what type of fossils we were looking at. Then I had an hour before my honors class, so I walked back to my room before heading to class. More people did presentations today, including Maritza, and then class was over, and Maritza and I went to dinner. For earth day, the dining hall is celebrating all week by doing something special every day. Today there was earth day themed dessert, so I took one and took a picture of it :). It's a weird cupcake thing with gummy worms on top! I think the thing that was supposed to be frosting was actually pudding, but I couldn't really taste it with the rest of the cupcake, so it was all good. I spent the rest of the night doing homework.
April 21, 2013
Happy 94th birthday to the best great grandma ever!!!! Today my grandma turned 94!!! Isn't that amazing?! She's amazing. I woke up at 10:30ish and decided to call Grandma, butttt, as I would find out later, she was at church all morning. I decided today would be a good legging/no shower day, so I changed into that and started working on homework. Then Maritza reminded me a little bit later that we had bought tickets to go see the play today! So I took a shower and put real clothes on. I tried calling Grandma again after my shower, and she answered, and we talked for a little bit, and it was really nice. She told me that the church threw her a little party.
After that, I waited for Maritza to get back from church, and then we went to lunch.
The play was at 2, and since we already picked out our seats when we bought our tickets, we decided to leave just in time to make it before it started so we didn't have to wait around and such. When we first got there, they were playing Mumford in the theater! It was really exciting. The play started almost right away. I really liked the play, but it was kind of hard to understand what they were saying some of the time because they were all talking with fake British accents (except for one guy who was actually British), so I didn't really get half the jokes they said because I had no idea what they were saying. It was still really funny though. It was called She Stoops to Conquer, and it was super weird, but I would see it again if somebody asked me to. In the first half of the play, I really had to pee, so I left in the middle, but the doors out of the theater to the rest of the building was locked, so I had to sit back down :( But luckily intermission was not long after my denied pee. The play also had "audience hazing" (that's what the sign said) where they were pulling people out of the crowd to come up on stage, and there was a part where two characters walked down the aisles, like through where the people were sitting, and they did that in my row so we all had to move aside to let them pass haha. It was pretty funny. The best part was that they pulled one guy from the audience and he had to wear an apron and he had to say stuff, and I was dying the whole time. I took many pictures which you can see if you click on the button! I also kind of know someone in the play because he lives on the floor below me, and he's Maritza's theater partner, so that was kind of cool.
After the play, we went back to our room, and the rest of the day was pretty unexciting. I did homework, and that's about it.
After that, I waited for Maritza to get back from church, and then we went to lunch.
The play was at 2, and since we already picked out our seats when we bought our tickets, we decided to leave just in time to make it before it started so we didn't have to wait around and such. When we first got there, they were playing Mumford in the theater! It was really exciting. The play started almost right away. I really liked the play, but it was kind of hard to understand what they were saying some of the time because they were all talking with fake British accents (except for one guy who was actually British), so I didn't really get half the jokes they said because I had no idea what they were saying. It was still really funny though. It was called She Stoops to Conquer, and it was super weird, but I would see it again if somebody asked me to. In the first half of the play, I really had to pee, so I left in the middle, but the doors out of the theater to the rest of the building was locked, so I had to sit back down :( But luckily intermission was not long after my denied pee. The play also had "audience hazing" (that's what the sign said) where they were pulling people out of the crowd to come up on stage, and there was a part where two characters walked down the aisles, like through where the people were sitting, and they did that in my row so we all had to move aside to let them pass haha. It was pretty funny. The best part was that they pulled one guy from the audience and he had to wear an apron and he had to say stuff, and I was dying the whole time. I took many pictures which you can see if you click on the button! I also kind of know someone in the play because he lives on the floor below me, and he's Maritza's theater partner, so that was kind of cool.
After the play, we went back to our room, and the rest of the day was pretty unexciting. I did homework, and that's about it.
April 20, 2013
Today was a busy, busy day! Today I woke up feeling pretty great because I've been stressed out since the end of the year is approaching, but when I woke up this morning, I felt totally okay with the amount of work I still have left! Yay! I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but it was a nice feeling haha. Since I finished my science write up essay thing yesterday, I decided to transfer all that information into my powerpoint that I'll have to present. So I worked on that all morning. Maritza's parents were coming in today because she needed some props for her scene in her acting class and because she wanted to give them some things to take home. They came a little after noon, and Maritza invited me out to lunch! She really wanted to go to a Mexican restaurant so that I could eat real Mexican food. She even brought her camera along to take a picture of me eating it hahaha. But then we got in her parents' car, and her mom said she didn't want Mexican food haha. So we decided to drive to the mall to see if there was anywhere we wanted to eat. Eventually we settled for Steak and Shake because Maritza really wanted a shake. She took this picture of us while we were waiting for our food...which was pretty much all we did at Steak and Shake because our waitress was not very good at being a speedy waitress. Maritza's dad finished his coffee before she brought the cream he asked for...so yeah. I got chicken tenders, and then afterwards, Maritza and I split an ice cream cookie thing which was amazing. She never got her shake though haha. After that, we went back to our room, and Maritza packed a few things, and then we all carried stuff out to her car. Her parents left a little after 6ish, and then we decided to do some homework. All weekend Silver Lining's Playbook has been playing in the IMU, so we thought we would try to catch the last show tonight at 11! So we did homework until it was time to head over there. Joining us was also Maritza's friend Bryan. The movie was really good, but it was not what I was expecting at all. The preview I saw made it look all serious and such, but it was actually a pretty funny movie. Also, the place where we watched it had speaker problems so the whole time there was this terribly static sound every time someone would talk or the music played. It was fine if you tuned it out though haha. It got done at 1, and then we walked back to our dorm and went to bed! Yay!
April 19, 2013
Today I woke up with plans to skype Cari! We were planning on skyping yesterday, except she had a lot to do, so we had to postpone until this morning. She only had 15 minutes to talk because she had class to go to, but we still got to talk! My webcam wasn't working in the beginning for some reason, but eventually we got it to work! Our talk was really short, which was sad, but it was still nice to talk to her. After that, I went to lunch. I decided to start on my earth science project today to get that out of my life. So I sorted my laundry, went down to the laundry room, and started researching about the Alaska earthquake of 1964! It was pretty annoying because we need five sources and only two can be websites, so that meant three had to come from scientific journals, and all the articles I was finding were super scientific and confusing, so I had to assume to know what they were saying. After I found my five sources and I folded all my laundry, I went to dinner, and then I went to the computer lab and set to work on writing my report for the project. We need to write a 1,000 word write up, so I sat down and listened to Mumford, and started writing about scientific things that happened in the earthquake. I don't know how accurate the information was, but I pretended like I knew what I was talking about. I told myself that I was not going to leave the ITC until after my paper was written, and I almost gave up at 400 words, but I powered through it, and it took me a little less than 6 hours to write the whole thing. Ugh. After that, I went back to my room. I felt like I should do more homework since it was still pretty early in the night, so I researched a bit for my honors presentation, but eventually I decided to go to bed. Yay for my day! Cari, laundry, and science.
April 18, 2013
I did not take this picture; I got it off some website where someone posted the picture. So this morning, I woke up and did my morning things, and I was on fb when I saw a status from the University of Iowa that was all "here's the update on the mudslide at Mayflower". Mayflower is I think the biggest residence hall which is also pretty much the worst place to live because you have to take a bus to get there, when it flooded a few years ago, the water was up to its front steps, and now there was a mudslide. Apparently it flooded there yesterday, and the road in front was just underwater. So this morning because of the water and the mudslide, the buses couldn't pick them up, so the people had to go to a bridge to get picked up. I saw the Mayflower bus later in the day, and it was so dirty from going over there to pick students up.
So anyway, the mudslide happened because there's this hill type thing behind Mayflower and my friend who lives there told me that they've been working on it or doing something, and late last night, part of it collapsed. Five cars were damaged because of it too....so that really sucked. I looked up pictures online, and that's how I got this one.
So anyway, that was the start of my day. After that I went to German where there was pretty much nobody there, and we studied for our last German test before the final that is on Monday! After that, I went to earth science, and once I got there, I realized I forgot my notes, so I had to write them in my notebook. We learned about the atmosphere today, and we also learned about tornadoes! After that, I went to lunch. I read in the lounge for awhile, and I finished The Giver and then I went back to my room, and just hung out. The temperature dropped like crazy by the time we went to dinner, and it was super cold outside. I started reading Brave New World, and then I didn't do much else for the rest of the night because it's Thursday and I didn't feel like doing anything.
So anyway, the mudslide happened because there's this hill type thing behind Mayflower and my friend who lives there told me that they've been working on it or doing something, and late last night, part of it collapsed. Five cars were damaged because of it too....so that really sucked. I looked up pictures online, and that's how I got this one.
So anyway, that was the start of my day. After that I went to German where there was pretty much nobody there, and we studied for our last German test before the final that is on Monday! After that, I went to earth science, and once I got there, I realized I forgot my notes, so I had to write them in my notebook. We learned about the atmosphere today, and we also learned about tornadoes! After that, I went to lunch. I read in the lounge for awhile, and I finished The Giver and then I went back to my room, and just hung out. The temperature dropped like crazy by the time we went to dinner, and it was super cold outside. I started reading Brave New World, and then I didn't do much else for the rest of the night because it's Thursday and I didn't feel like doing anything.
April 17, 2013
Today Iowa City drowned. I woke up this morning, and it was super rainy and dark outside. It pretty much looked like night in our room, so I had to turn on the lights even though it was about 9:30 in the morning. It was thunder storming a lot, and it was really loud. I was convinced that there was going to be a tornado, but there wasn't! I decided that I would be fine if I wore my converse to my classes today because I could jump over puddles. So I took my umbrella, and I headed to class. The rain was coming down so hard!! It was crazy! And it was also really cold outside. I took this picture right when I stepped out of my room, so I still had no feeling towards the weather which is why I'm smiling. I was doing fine avoiding the puddles; my shoes were getting a little wet, but I decided that it would dry quickly, when all of a sudden I was at the intersection to cross to my German class, when the rain decided to come in sideways, and my shoes were soaked. I was literally walking in puddles. You could hear my my feet just squelching in the water that was in my socks. I was soaked up to my knees. When I got to class, one of the girls didn't have an umbrella so she was just dripping, and when my German teacher showed up, she was all "how did we get to class today? With a boat" and we laughed hahaha. After sitting in our wetness in German, I had to run to my fiction writing class with an umbrella and wet shoes, and on the way, I got a text from Maritza saying that she wasn't going to go to her classes today because she was sick. So I was in fiction writing all by myself, and my feet were freezing. When class was over, I went back to my room, and the short walk was miserable because my feet were rubbing horribly in my shoes. I took my pants and shoes and socks off and put on sweatpants and fuzzy socks and it was amazing. I ate lunch, and then I put on real pants and rain boots, and I headed to my honors class. When I stepped outside, the rain was gone, but I used my umbrella anyway because it was still kind of drizzling. More people did their presentations today, and when we left, it was raining again. I went to the lounge and started reading The Giver. Then I went back to my room and ate dinner, and I didn't much for the rest night except snuggle with my bed and be glad that I didn't have to go outside any more.
April 16, 2013
Here is the finished product of our t-shirts!!! I unrolled mine this morning! It was still a little damp, but I hung it up to dry. After that, I went to class. We kind of had a pop quiz in German today except not because she told us she might be quizzing us on something today and we had to reread the thing she was quizzing us on for homework last night. The quiz ended up taking the whole class period because we were answering questions out of the book and writing them down and such. After that, I had to go to earth science where we were learning about oceans :(. For those who don't know, oceans really terrify me, and looking at pictures of things underwater in the ocean makes me want to vomit because it's so not right. Well...that happened a lot today. Except, since we print off our science notes before class, I had a heads up whenever pictures would be coming up, so I just didn't look. My teacher was talking about how people use accidents to help map current flow or something, and she told us this story about this freight boat (is that what their called?) that was carrying this crate full of a bunch of rubber duckie, and the crate fell overboard and all the rubber duckies were sent free, and there were thousands of rubber duckies floating in the ocean. Scientists were able to map out some currents based on where the rubber duckies washed ashore. That's my type of science!
After that, I went to the library and finished We (the Russian book I was reading) finally...this day couldn't have come sooner. Don't read it. It sucks.
Then I went to dinner with Maritza and asked her to take this picture with me :). I decided to take a break from reading tonight, so I worked on German homework and then just chilled for the rest of the night.
After that, I went to the library and finished We (the Russian book I was reading) finally...this day couldn't have come sooner. Don't read it. It sucks.
Then I went to dinner with Maritza and asked her to take this picture with me :). I decided to take a break from reading tonight, so I worked on German homework and then just chilled for the rest of the night.
April 15, 2013
Today was semi-exciting, and then it got more than semi-exciting towards the end of the night! I took my quiz in German today which went okay but it was kind of tricky, but I still think it went okay. After that, I went back to my room and ate lunch. Then I had to go to my lab. We played with sand again today and it was kind of terrible because we were learning about beaches. In one of the sand places, there was this mound of sand, and we were supposed to make waves and see what happened to the mound of sand over time when waves were hitting it. SPOILER ALERT: the mound fell. Then we had to build the mound back up and all our hands go sandy...which was unfortunate.
I ended up getting out of class about an hour early, so I walked back to my room and just chilled before I had to go to my honors class.
There were two more presentations today which were interesting, and then Maritza and I went to dinner. We checked the mail after dinner and my book from Mom arrived! Woo! Now I can read The Giver for my project!
We were just chilling in our room after dinner for a few hours when someone knocked on our door. They said that there was free tie-dye in a loungey place if we wanted to tie-dye! They also said that there were free t-shirts, so we didn't need to bring anything white. So we decided to go.
Maritza had never tie-dyed before, and I tie-dyed for swimming last year, so I kind of remembered, but they were doing it really weird because the colors weren't in a bucket, but they were in little squirt bottles, so we were putting it on our shirts, but it wasn't really working, so finally I asked someone why it wasn't working, and they said I needed to get the shirt wet first...so I went to the clear bucket of water and dipped my shirt it....and it turned the water purple. And Maritza did the same with her shirt in the other bucket which turned that a different color...so pretty much we ruined everybody's tie-dye experience by tinting the water they needed to dip their shirts in haha...sorry everybody. We quickly dyed our shirts and then left before we felt the wrath of everybody. If you would like to see the before and after of our shirts in their balls, than you can see those pictures if you click on the button! And that was the only excitement of the night.
I ended up getting out of class about an hour early, so I walked back to my room and just chilled before I had to go to my honors class.
There were two more presentations today which were interesting, and then Maritza and I went to dinner. We checked the mail after dinner and my book from Mom arrived! Woo! Now I can read The Giver for my project!
We were just chilling in our room after dinner for a few hours when someone knocked on our door. They said that there was free tie-dye in a loungey place if we wanted to tie-dye! They also said that there were free t-shirts, so we didn't need to bring anything white. So we decided to go.
Maritza had never tie-dyed before, and I tie-dyed for swimming last year, so I kind of remembered, but they were doing it really weird because the colors weren't in a bucket, but they were in little squirt bottles, so we were putting it on our shirts, but it wasn't really working, so finally I asked someone why it wasn't working, and they said I needed to get the shirt wet first...so I went to the clear bucket of water and dipped my shirt it....and it turned the water purple. And Maritza did the same with her shirt in the other bucket which turned that a different color...so pretty much we ruined everybody's tie-dye experience by tinting the water they needed to dip their shirts in haha...sorry everybody. We quickly dyed our shirts and then left before we felt the wrath of everybody. If you would like to see the before and after of our shirts in their balls, than you can see those pictures if you click on the button! And that was the only excitement of the night.
April 14, 2013
Happy Sunday! Today was just more homework. I woke up at 11:30 because I decided that I didn't feel like not sleeping....so I didn't not sleep. I also decided that since I spent my whole weekend reading for my honors class, today was the day to do my homework for my other classes. I had an internet research thing for German which I usually hate doing, but today it was actually fun because it was about Good Bye, Lenin! which is a great movie, and since I've already seen it, the worksheet was really easy to fill out. That's what I took a picture of, by the way...because I was excited about the homework and the website that I had to go to to do my homework!
While I was doing that, I got a text from Maritza to go get lunch, so we went and ate! When I got back to my room, I finished the worksheet, and then I finished the rest of my German homework. After that was done, I decided to read more for my honors class. This would be exciting, except I was reading the Russian book I checked out yesterday so it was not exciting. The book is called We and it is really terrible because I have no idea what is going on in the book. The way it is written makes it really hard to follow. Maritza really wanted to go to a Mexican restaurant for dinner, but it was supposedly supposed to rain all day, and we didn't want to risk it since the restaurant was pretty far away, and we would be walking there. So instead we ate in our room...and it didn't rain until later in the night. The rest of the night was spent with me reading my book and studying for my German quiz tomorrow. Is it summer yet?
While I was doing that, I got a text from Maritza to go get lunch, so we went and ate! When I got back to my room, I finished the worksheet, and then I finished the rest of my German homework. After that was done, I decided to read more for my honors class. This would be exciting, except I was reading the Russian book I checked out yesterday so it was not exciting. The book is called We and it is really terrible because I have no idea what is going on in the book. The way it is written makes it really hard to follow. Maritza really wanted to go to a Mexican restaurant for dinner, but it was supposedly supposed to rain all day, and we didn't want to risk it since the restaurant was pretty far away, and we would be walking there. So instead we ate in our room...and it didn't rain until later in the night. The rest of the night was spent with me reading my book and studying for my German quiz tomorrow. Is it summer yet?
April 13, 2013
Happy Saturday! Today I wanted to wake up early to do more homework, but I was tired, so I slept a little later. I decided not to shower today because sometimes you just have to skip those things...like when you're too lazy to do it. So I read some more of the story that I found online yesterday. I don't remember where Maritza was when I woke up, but eventually she got back and we went and ate together.
Yesterday she asked me if I wanted to go to a fashion show thing that was tonight, and I said maybe, and then we looked at the poster that was in our hall, and I told her that I would go with her.
I decided to go to the library again today so that I could check out more books that I could read for my project. So I went and did that. One of the books I wanted to check out was originally written in Russian, so when I was looking for the book, I was in the Russian section and it was crazyyyy. Russian is so weird. And I kept finding the book I needed, but it was only in Russian, so I was scared that I wasn't going to be able to find it in English since none of the books in that section were in English. I was just about to leave when I looked at the shelf below where all the Russian copies were, and they had English books! Yay!! So I checked that out and a hard copy of the book that I was reading online.
On my way out of the library, I texted Maritza so that she could meet me at the IMU so that we could buy tickets for the fashion show. So we bought our tickets and went back to our room. I ended up finishing the book I was reading in the lounged, and then I went back to my room with about two hours left before I had to go to the fashion show. Maritza and I went to dinner, and then we just chilled in our room before we headed over to the IMU. The first hour they were serving food, but we didn't go to that, so we showed up 20 minutes before it started. The a cappella boys sang for us, and it was exciting, and then the fashion show started! It was a multi-culture fashion show, so the cultures that were represented were Mid-East, East Asia, LGBTQ, Hip Hop, South Asia, Africa, Latino, and I don't remember if there were any others. They were all pretty great, but the Africa one was especially cool, and East Asia was pretty awesome because they ended their performance thing with Gangnam Style haha. For whatever reason, the lights in the room were not working well with taking pictures, so about 70% of my pictures are just white and you can't make out the people, so this was the best one I took. I have a lot more, but they're not very good.
After the show, we went back to our room, and then I started reading my Russian book, and I didn't do much else before going to bed.
Yesterday she asked me if I wanted to go to a fashion show thing that was tonight, and I said maybe, and then we looked at the poster that was in our hall, and I told her that I would go with her.
I decided to go to the library again today so that I could check out more books that I could read for my project. So I went and did that. One of the books I wanted to check out was originally written in Russian, so when I was looking for the book, I was in the Russian section and it was crazyyyy. Russian is so weird. And I kept finding the book I needed, but it was only in Russian, so I was scared that I wasn't going to be able to find it in English since none of the books in that section were in English. I was just about to leave when I looked at the shelf below where all the Russian copies were, and they had English books! Yay!! So I checked that out and a hard copy of the book that I was reading online.
On my way out of the library, I texted Maritza so that she could meet me at the IMU so that we could buy tickets for the fashion show. So we bought our tickets and went back to our room. I ended up finishing the book I was reading in the lounged, and then I went back to my room with about two hours left before I had to go to the fashion show. Maritza and I went to dinner, and then we just chilled in our room before we headed over to the IMU. The first hour they were serving food, but we didn't go to that, so we showed up 20 minutes before it started. The a cappella boys sang for us, and it was exciting, and then the fashion show started! It was a multi-culture fashion show, so the cultures that were represented were Mid-East, East Asia, LGBTQ, Hip Hop, South Asia, Africa, Latino, and I don't remember if there were any others. They were all pretty great, but the Africa one was especially cool, and East Asia was pretty awesome because they ended their performance thing with Gangnam Style haha. For whatever reason, the lights in the room were not working well with taking pictures, so about 70% of my pictures are just white and you can't make out the people, so this was the best one I took. I have a lot more, but they're not very good.
After the show, we went back to our room, and then I started reading my Russian book, and I didn't do much else before going to bed.
April 12, 2013
My Friday was very uninteresting...so let me tell you about it!!
I woke up at 9 because I wanted to get stuff done today! So I took a shower and ate breakfast and ate brunch, and then I went to the library. My first order of business was to finish reading the book that I checked out on Wednesday that I could only check out for four hour timeslots. So I went to the course reserve area and checked out the book...and they told me I had 24 hours to return it...WHAT!? My only guess is that it's the weekend so I could check it out longer?? I was so confused. Instead of reading it right away, I decided to work more on my PowerPoint, and then I started reading the book again. I also do not recommend this book to anybody who wants to read something good. Haha it was kind of lame. The last 30ish pages were extremely unnecessary, and I had no idea what was going on.
When that book was out of my life, I added the information to my presentation, and then I worked out my outline and such, and it was great fun.
After many hours in the library, I went back to our room, and Maritza and I went to dinner.
After dinner, I didn't really do anything, and then a few hours later, Maritza asked if I wanted to go get a shake from the Hamburg Inn with her again, so we went and did that. I got the same thing I got last time, except I didn't get whipped cream this time. I took a picture of Maritza with her shake. We stayed there for awhile, and I talked to her about my project, and then I had second thoughts about some of the books I was going to include, so when we got back to our room, I worked on my project again to rearrange some stuff and add new stories. I looked up some stories I could read for it, and one of them I looked up, and it fit my topic, and it was online for free!!! So I started reading it, and I ended up staying up until 2 reading it because it was a pretty great story. Then I went to bed, but I couldn't fall asleep until 4...so that was fun.
I woke up at 9 because I wanted to get stuff done today! So I took a shower and ate breakfast and ate brunch, and then I went to the library. My first order of business was to finish reading the book that I checked out on Wednesday that I could only check out for four hour timeslots. So I went to the course reserve area and checked out the book...and they told me I had 24 hours to return it...WHAT!? My only guess is that it's the weekend so I could check it out longer?? I was so confused. Instead of reading it right away, I decided to work more on my PowerPoint, and then I started reading the book again. I also do not recommend this book to anybody who wants to read something good. Haha it was kind of lame. The last 30ish pages were extremely unnecessary, and I had no idea what was going on.
When that book was out of my life, I added the information to my presentation, and then I worked out my outline and such, and it was great fun.
After many hours in the library, I went back to our room, and Maritza and I went to dinner.
After dinner, I didn't really do anything, and then a few hours later, Maritza asked if I wanted to go get a shake from the Hamburg Inn with her again, so we went and did that. I got the same thing I got last time, except I didn't get whipped cream this time. I took a picture of Maritza with her shake. We stayed there for awhile, and I talked to her about my project, and then I had second thoughts about some of the books I was going to include, so when we got back to our room, I worked on my project again to rearrange some stuff and add new stories. I looked up some stories I could read for it, and one of them I looked up, and it fit my topic, and it was online for free!!! So I started reading it, and I ended up staying up until 2 reading it because it was a pretty great story. Then I went to bed, but I couldn't fall asleep until 4...so that was fun.
April 11, 2013
Today was actually a productive Thursday which has been unheard of so far this semester. After I woke up, I took a shower and went to breakfast. German was pretty fun today because we did a bunch of random stuff including me showing my teacher pictures of Jersey hahaha. She asked us what the most popular dog was in the United States and someone said Labs, and then she agreed and said, "what about pugs?" And I freaked out, and she made fun of them because they can't breathe hahaha. So that's how that led to me saying Jersey is adorable, and then I showed her pictures; what else would we be doing in German class??! After that, I went to science. We talked about beaches today which made me really want to go to a beach :(. Also, in the middle of class, my friend cracked me up because my teacher was all "humans love to live near water..." and then she went on to say how that's a problem because of rising tides and such. She said that a few times, and finally my friend was all "this class makes me not want to live anywhere", and I died because it's so true. There's some sort of geological disaster that happens everywhere haha. I was really angry with my science professor today, though, because she just kept talking and talking and we right until the end of class, and I was really hungry and I was supposed to meet with my teacher at 2:15. My plan was to go to lunch in the half hour between class and the meeting, so I was hoping to get out of class early...but that didn't happen.
I still had time to each lunch, though.
After lunch, I went and met with my teacher. He was a little late getting there, so I was kind of walking around the building hoping I would randomly come across him because I had no idea where we were supposed to be meeting. A bunch of people kept looking at me because I was just wandering around. Eventually I decided to just sit down, and then my teacher arrived.
We talked for awhile about class stuffs, and then we somehow got on the topic of studying abroad, and he told me about his experiences when he studied abroad in England, so that was really exciting. Our meeting lasted about 45 minutes, and then I left.
I decided to start on my homework even though it's Thursday. I decided I should start reading my books that I need to read for my project! So I called Mom to ask if she could send me The Giver because I need to read that, and she said she would, and then I headed to the lounge. I spent a good hour looking up more classes I can take next semester, and then I read Anthem. I don't recommend that book for pleasure reading because it's not entertaining haha. I took a picture of me sitting in the lounge because I think our lounge is awesome...so yeah. I also put together some of my power point for my project. That's about all that happened tonight!
I still had time to each lunch, though.
After lunch, I went and met with my teacher. He was a little late getting there, so I was kind of walking around the building hoping I would randomly come across him because I had no idea where we were supposed to be meeting. A bunch of people kept looking at me because I was just wandering around. Eventually I decided to just sit down, and then my teacher arrived.
We talked for awhile about class stuffs, and then we somehow got on the topic of studying abroad, and he told me about his experiences when he studied abroad in England, so that was really exciting. Our meeting lasted about 45 minutes, and then I left.
I decided to start on my homework even though it's Thursday. I decided I should start reading my books that I need to read for my project! So I called Mom to ask if she could send me The Giver because I need to read that, and she said she would, and then I headed to the lounge. I spent a good hour looking up more classes I can take next semester, and then I read Anthem. I don't recommend that book for pleasure reading because it's not entertaining haha. I took a picture of me sitting in the lounge because I think our lounge is awesome...so yeah. I also put together some of my power point for my project. That's about all that happened tonight!
April 10, 2013
Today was another day. I went to breakfast, and then I went to German. We had to turn in our final draft of our second essay today in German, and I'm still amazed that I'm able to write an essay haha. After that, I went to fiction writing. I was really tired all day today, so I didn't really do much in fiction writing except sit there and listen to everybody else talk. It was also really rainy and cold out today, so I didn't feel like doing anything. Yesterday I was wearing flip flops and shorts, and today I was wearing a heavy jacket. What is this?!
After fiction writing, I ate some of my newly purchased foods for lunch in my room. After lunch, I went to my honors class. There were more presentations today, and my professor told me she was okay with the topic I proposed, but she had one book that she wanted me to read for it. After class I asked her what the book was, and she suggested The Method by Juli Zeh which is originally a Germany book, but she told me she had it on course reserve in the library and it was in English.
Because she gave me the title and because I was close to the library, I decided to head over right after class to check the book out. When the guy handed it to me at 4:50ish, he was all "okay, that's due back at 8:55 tonight"....that's great. So my professor suggested for me to read a book that I could only check out of the library for 4 hours. I wasn't planning on reading it tonight, but I didn't really have a choice, so when I got back to my room, I settled in for four hours of reading. I ended up falling asleep at one point because I was still tired, but I only slept for a little bit, and then I was wide awake. I ended up being able to get through half the book, so I only need to check it out one more time to finish it probably.
After I returned it, I finally started on the homework I wanted to do right after class, and it took awhile because it was German homework that I had to read. After a few hours of doing that, I finally went to bed for realz.
After fiction writing, I ate some of my newly purchased foods for lunch in my room. After lunch, I went to my honors class. There were more presentations today, and my professor told me she was okay with the topic I proposed, but she had one book that she wanted me to read for it. After class I asked her what the book was, and she suggested The Method by Juli Zeh which is originally a Germany book, but she told me she had it on course reserve in the library and it was in English.
Because she gave me the title and because I was close to the library, I decided to head over right after class to check the book out. When the guy handed it to me at 4:50ish, he was all "okay, that's due back at 8:55 tonight"....that's great. So my professor suggested for me to read a book that I could only check out of the library for 4 hours. I wasn't planning on reading it tonight, but I didn't really have a choice, so when I got back to my room, I settled in for four hours of reading. I ended up falling asleep at one point because I was still tired, but I only slept for a little bit, and then I was wide awake. I ended up being able to get through half the book, so I only need to check it out one more time to finish it probably.
After I returned it, I finally started on the homework I wanted to do right after class, and it took awhile because it was German homework that I had to read. After a few hours of doing that, I finally went to bed for realz.
April 9, 2013
As soon as I woke up this morning, Maritza and I made eye contact, and she told me that I was talking in my sleep last night haha. Apparently I said "she said that" or something and then I burst out laughing hahaha. I don't know.
Another strange thing happened to me today when I was on my way to class. It was overcast today, and apparently it rained in the morning, so there were a lot of puddles on the ground. I was walking down the sidewalk when all of a sudden I come upon two ducks drinking out of one of the puddles. They didn't even move when I walked by; they were just chillin' in the puddle even though there was a huge river less than a quarter mile away from them...whatevs.
Then I went to German and then earth science. Today we learned about deserts and it was kind of boring because we were learning about what type of wind forms different types of dunes....so yeah. After that I went to lunch and then to the library to try to find more books for my presentation in my honors class. I found one of the ones I needed, but I still didn't get the other one that I couldn't find yesterday; I looked for it again today. After walking back to our room, I was sweating so much because it was so humid outside. I changed into shorts and a t-shirt. When Maritza got back from donating, we hopped on the bus and went to Walmart! We had been planning since the weekend to go shopping today!
In the half hour since I got back from the library and changed into cooler clothes, the temperature dropped, so it was kind of chilly walking around in shorts and a t-shirt, but it kind of felt nice too.
Our Walmart trip wasn't as exciting as last time, but that's okay because it went a lot faster. The bus ride back is when things started getting kind of more exciting. The bus route back to campus is very convoluted and takes awhile, and Maritza was getting antsy. She asked if I wanted to get off at one stop and walk the rest of the way back, but I said no because it was kind of chilly out, and I don't mind riding buses. Then a few stops later she asked if I wanted to get off to catch another bus that would take us right back to our dorm, so I said sure. But I didn't realize that this bus stop where we were supposed to be getting on the other bus was far away from where we got off, and then once we got there, it turned out being the wrong bus stop...so Maritza and I just walked back to our room...which was definitely not a short route. I'll draw a picture for you to see our route back. The place where the first bus dropped us off was pretty close to our room, but because we were in search for the other bus stop, we walked an extra mile in a circle to get back.... ridiculous. The picture is not to scale, but you can get the idea. The purple circle is where we got off the first bus, the red circle is the wrong bus stop Maritza was thinking of, and the green circle is home. The tan line is what we took to get home. As you can see, the purple dot and green dot are very close, but I didn't realize how close we were when we first got off the bus until I was back in my room. I told Maritza was never listening to her again haha.
Once we got back, we put our things in the fridge which looked more stocked than it ever had, so I took a picture of it! :) Then we went to dinner, and I spent the rest of the night doing homework and reading a little bit for my project. Woo.
Another strange thing happened to me today when I was on my way to class. It was overcast today, and apparently it rained in the morning, so there were a lot of puddles on the ground. I was walking down the sidewalk when all of a sudden I come upon two ducks drinking out of one of the puddles. They didn't even move when I walked by; they were just chillin' in the puddle even though there was a huge river less than a quarter mile away from them...whatevs.
Then I went to German and then earth science. Today we learned about deserts and it was kind of boring because we were learning about what type of wind forms different types of dunes....so yeah. After that I went to lunch and then to the library to try to find more books for my presentation in my honors class. I found one of the ones I needed, but I still didn't get the other one that I couldn't find yesterday; I looked for it again today. After walking back to our room, I was sweating so much because it was so humid outside. I changed into shorts and a t-shirt. When Maritza got back from donating, we hopped on the bus and went to Walmart! We had been planning since the weekend to go shopping today!
In the half hour since I got back from the library and changed into cooler clothes, the temperature dropped, so it was kind of chilly walking around in shorts and a t-shirt, but it kind of felt nice too.
Our Walmart trip wasn't as exciting as last time, but that's okay because it went a lot faster. The bus ride back is when things started getting kind of more exciting. The bus route back to campus is very convoluted and takes awhile, and Maritza was getting antsy. She asked if I wanted to get off at one stop and walk the rest of the way back, but I said no because it was kind of chilly out, and I don't mind riding buses. Then a few stops later she asked if I wanted to get off to catch another bus that would take us right back to our dorm, so I said sure. But I didn't realize that this bus stop where we were supposed to be getting on the other bus was far away from where we got off, and then once we got there, it turned out being the wrong bus stop...so Maritza and I just walked back to our room...which was definitely not a short route. I'll draw a picture for you to see our route back. The place where the first bus dropped us off was pretty close to our room, but because we were in search for the other bus stop, we walked an extra mile in a circle to get back.... ridiculous. The picture is not to scale, but you can get the idea. The purple circle is where we got off the first bus, the red circle is the wrong bus stop Maritza was thinking of, and the green circle is home. The tan line is what we took to get home. As you can see, the purple dot and green dot are very close, but I didn't realize how close we were when we first got off the bus until I was back in my room. I told Maritza was never listening to her again haha.
Once we got back, we put our things in the fridge which looked more stocked than it ever had, so I took a picture of it! :) Then we went to dinner, and I spent the rest of the night doing homework and reading a little bit for my project. Woo.
April 8, 2013
Today was so exciting that the most exciting thing I did was iron my shirt! Woo! So I woke up this morning at 9:40. I took a shower, and then I went to breakfast, and then I studied a little bit more for my lab test today. I decided to wear the shirt that I'm ironing today, but the hem was super wrinkly, so I decided to iron it...but that didn't do anything because wrinkly hems cannot be fixed!!!!!!
So after that, I went to class. It was the most beautiful day ever outside!! It was so incredibly gorgeous. After German, I came back to my room and ate lunch while studying for my lab test; then I went to lab. The test was pretty easy I thought. It was mostly multiple choice and the questions were not too difficult, but I'm pretty sure I messed up on the one question that involved math haha. After our test, she talked about deserts for a little bit, and then she said we could do our lab at home since it involved Google Earth, so I just went back to my room.
I went to my honors class, and two people presented their presentations. I told my teacher that I couldn't get the documentary I needed for my topic, so she told me I had to pick a new topic. After class, I brainstormed for a little bit before I decided on my topic which is pretty much population control in dystopian novels. I think it'll be really interesting if I'm able to do it! After I decided on this, Maritza and I went to the library to look for books, but we could only fine one that I needed to read. Then we went back to our room, I did my German homework, and that was pretty much all of my night.
So after that, I went to class. It was the most beautiful day ever outside!! It was so incredibly gorgeous. After German, I came back to my room and ate lunch while studying for my lab test; then I went to lab. The test was pretty easy I thought. It was mostly multiple choice and the questions were not too difficult, but I'm pretty sure I messed up on the one question that involved math haha. After our test, she talked about deserts for a little bit, and then she said we could do our lab at home since it involved Google Earth, so I just went back to my room.
I went to my honors class, and two people presented their presentations. I told my teacher that I couldn't get the documentary I needed for my topic, so she told me I had to pick a new topic. After class, I brainstormed for a little bit before I decided on my topic which is pretty much population control in dystopian novels. I think it'll be really interesting if I'm able to do it! After I decided on this, Maritza and I went to the library to look for books, but we could only fine one that I needed to read. Then we went back to our room, I did my German homework, and that was pretty much all of my night.
April 7, 2013
Today I decided to do my laundry! Yay! But first I took a shower and ate breakfast (which was more like lunch) and stalled doing my laundry haha. I waited for a while after breakfast, and then I sorted my clothes and went downstairs. The first time I went down, there were so many people doing laundry that I had to head back upstairs and wait a half hour before going back down, and even after the wait, I had to wait a few more minutes for somebody else's clothes to finish. While I waited for my laundry to get done, I did some homework, and it felt super productive! I think my favorite place to do homework, besides the library, is in the laundry room...I don't know why! I dried my John Green shirt today, but it did not shrink :(, so I will have to try a different method with it.
After that, I decided I didn't feel like putting my clothes away, so I didn't. They just chilled in my laundry basket.
I started really wanting Which Wich while I was in my room, and Maritza had a dinner thing tonight, so I decided to head over and get a sandwich! It was not as hot by the time I got back to my room, but it was still pretty great. I took a picture with my wich. I spent the rest of the night trying to study because I have a test in lab tomorrow...but I'm not nervous because we're not identifying rocks this time, so it shouldn't be too bad! My studying skills were pretty terrible though haha; I was so distracted!
After that, I decided I didn't feel like putting my clothes away, so I didn't. They just chilled in my laundry basket.
I started really wanting Which Wich while I was in my room, and Maritza had a dinner thing tonight, so I decided to head over and get a sandwich! It was not as hot by the time I got back to my room, but it was still pretty great. I took a picture with my wich. I spent the rest of the night trying to study because I have a test in lab tomorrow...but I'm not nervous because we're not identifying rocks this time, so it shouldn't be too bad! My studying skills were pretty terrible though haha; I was so distracted!
April 6, 2013
Happy Saturday! Let me tell you about my day which was a total let down. So about two weeks ago or something, I went to a meeting to be a volunteer with this festival thing that is happening in Iowa City for about a month or so (I think). I got the gist that a bunch of bands play throughout the month, and literary magazine people and publishers come in and do things like readings and sellings of their products.
Today a bunch of publishers and other literary businesses were selling their books and things at the Mill, and that was what I wanted to volunteer for. The guy running the thing e-mailed all the volunteers last week, and we were supposed to respond with the press we wanted to work with, but he never e-mailed me back, so I didn't get to have one :(
I still decided to go because they said they could use people to just help out if people needed help or whatever. So I woke up at 8 because they told us to be there at 9:30. I planned last night to meet up with Elle to eat breakfast and walk over there together, so after I showered and got ready, we ate breakfast together.
After breakfast, we headed over to the bar where the book fair was taking place. We were the first ones there. We were there before the people running the event were there...ugh. And then we sat around for about an hour before things started happening. The guy started assigning everybody to their positions with the press they were working with, and I had to tell him that I didn't have one, so I sat for a little while more doing nothing. Then he told me to go talk to a girl that looked sad waiting for her press to arrive, so I did that. We didn't have much to talk about, but she was nice. Once her lady arrived, I left, and then the guy had me go talk to someone to see if they needed help, and they didn't, so eventually I just decided to leave because I had been there for almost two hours, and there was nothing for me to do.
On the way back, it was super windy and super nice outside even though it was really overcast. I took a picture of me walking through the wind. This was one of the tame pictures because in the other ones my hair was covering my entire face haha.
Once I got back, I decided to do nothing for pretty much the rest of the day. I worked on my German homework, and then I got incredibly tired, so I decided to take a nap. It was only supposed to be a 20 minute nap...but it ended up being 2 hours. After I woke up, I finished my German homework, and then Maritza and I went to get dinner. Afterwards, I did some fiction writing homework. I was planning on doing laundry, but Maritza told me she wanted to do it too, but she was going somewhere to run lines, so I waited for her, then eventually I decided I didn't feel like doing my laundry anymore so I didn't haha. After that, I went to bed.
Today a bunch of publishers and other literary businesses were selling their books and things at the Mill, and that was what I wanted to volunteer for. The guy running the thing e-mailed all the volunteers last week, and we were supposed to respond with the press we wanted to work with, but he never e-mailed me back, so I didn't get to have one :(
I still decided to go because they said they could use people to just help out if people needed help or whatever. So I woke up at 8 because they told us to be there at 9:30. I planned last night to meet up with Elle to eat breakfast and walk over there together, so after I showered and got ready, we ate breakfast together.
After breakfast, we headed over to the bar where the book fair was taking place. We were the first ones there. We were there before the people running the event were there...ugh. And then we sat around for about an hour before things started happening. The guy started assigning everybody to their positions with the press they were working with, and I had to tell him that I didn't have one, so I sat for a little while more doing nothing. Then he told me to go talk to a girl that looked sad waiting for her press to arrive, so I did that. We didn't have much to talk about, but she was nice. Once her lady arrived, I left, and then the guy had me go talk to someone to see if they needed help, and they didn't, so eventually I just decided to leave because I had been there for almost two hours, and there was nothing for me to do.
On the way back, it was super windy and super nice outside even though it was really overcast. I took a picture of me walking through the wind. This was one of the tame pictures because in the other ones my hair was covering my entire face haha.
Once I got back, I decided to do nothing for pretty much the rest of the day. I worked on my German homework, and then I got incredibly tired, so I decided to take a nap. It was only supposed to be a 20 minute nap...but it ended up being 2 hours. After I woke up, I finished my German homework, and then Maritza and I went to get dinner. Afterwards, I did some fiction writing homework. I was planning on doing laundry, but Maritza told me she wanted to do it too, but she was going somewhere to run lines, so I waited for her, then eventually I decided I didn't feel like doing my laundry anymore so I didn't haha. After that, I went to bed.
April 5, 2013
Happy Friday! Today was such a carefree day!! It was great! I woke up at 10 even though I planned to wake up at 8:30...whatever. I took a shower, and then I went and got brunch.
I wanted to go to the study abroad office today, but since I woke up later than I intended, I decided to not go today and do that some other time. I was just chilling in my room, wanting to do something that involved going outside because it was so beautiful out, when Maritza said she wanted Starbucks. I told her I would go with her if she went, so we went to Starbucks! She had to be back by 1 to meet up with a teacher, and we left for Starbucks at 12:30, so we had to go fast, since it's kind of far away. I took this picture of us on our walk back after she got her Starbucks because it was such a beautiful day outside! And I loved being outside.
We ended up getting back at 12:50, so we had plenty of time!
I had planned to meet with my German teacher today during her office hours, so I left my room at 1:20ish. She wan't there when I got there, so I waited. Eventually two other guys from my German class arrived, and we waited together. Then my German teacher showed up. I let the other two talk to her first since I had other things I wanted to talk to her about rather than just our last essay we wrote. I ended up being in her office until 2:40, so I was there for over an hour! I don't care, though, because I like talking to her haha.
After that, I went back to my room, and did nothing really for the rest of the day. I don't know why, but I feel like I have no homework this weekend, which is a total lie...I just don't feel like doing any of it. I read the story we had to read for fiction writing, and that was about all of my productivity for the night.
I wanted to go to the study abroad office today, but since I woke up later than I intended, I decided to not go today and do that some other time. I was just chilling in my room, wanting to do something that involved going outside because it was so beautiful out, when Maritza said she wanted Starbucks. I told her I would go with her if she went, so we went to Starbucks! She had to be back by 1 to meet up with a teacher, and we left for Starbucks at 12:30, so we had to go fast, since it's kind of far away. I took this picture of us on our walk back after she got her Starbucks because it was such a beautiful day outside! And I loved being outside.
We ended up getting back at 12:50, so we had plenty of time!
I had planned to meet with my German teacher today during her office hours, so I left my room at 1:20ish. She wan't there when I got there, so I waited. Eventually two other guys from my German class arrived, and we waited together. Then my German teacher showed up. I let the other two talk to her first since I had other things I wanted to talk to her about rather than just our last essay we wrote. I ended up being in her office until 2:40, so I was there for over an hour! I don't care, though, because I like talking to her haha.
After that, I went back to my room, and did nothing really for the rest of the day. I don't know why, but I feel like I have no homework this weekend, which is a total lie...I just don't feel like doing any of it. I read the story we had to read for fiction writing, and that was about all of my productivity for the night.
April 4, 2013
It was so beautiful out today!!! I'm so glad the weather is finally starting to get warm! I love spring! Today was finally the day of my tests!!! I woke up and took a shower, and then I spent the morning reading through my science notes one last time.
My German test was first. I didn't study that much for it because I was more worried about my science test. The German test was okay, but the vocabulary section was crap. We had to match our vocab words with their definition which is also in German, and I knew the vocabulary words that we were being tested on, but I didn't know a lot of the words that were in the definition, so that was really frustrating. Other than that, the test was okay I guess. I got out about ten minutes early, so I walked over to my earth science class where I ranted about both the tests I had to take today to Mary haha.
The earth science test was actually easier than the German test! What?! Half the questions came from my British teacher, and the other half came from my new teacher, and the new teacher's questions were super straightforward...so I did her section first. I feel good about it, but I'm not sure how I did yet.
After that, I went to lunch, and I felt like a free woman! (for the time being)
I decided to not do any school work tonight, so I watched Youtube videos instead. I called Mom and Dad because today is their 26th anniversary!! Happy Anniversary!!
Maritza was gone for a very long time, so I eventually went to the library to see if they had a movie I need for my honors class. After repeating myself over and over, I found out they did not have the movie, so I walked back to my room. On my walk to the library, I decided I wanted to sit outside because it was so beautiful! So I changed my clothes, and headed over to the Pentacrest. I took this picture while I was chilling on the Pentacrest. I edited my German essay, and then the wind started to get chilly, so I went back to my room. Maritza and I got dinner, and then I didn't do anything for the rest of the night! Yay for being done with the tests finally!
My German test was first. I didn't study that much for it because I was more worried about my science test. The German test was okay, but the vocabulary section was crap. We had to match our vocab words with their definition which is also in German, and I knew the vocabulary words that we were being tested on, but I didn't know a lot of the words that were in the definition, so that was really frustrating. Other than that, the test was okay I guess. I got out about ten minutes early, so I walked over to my earth science class where I ranted about both the tests I had to take today to Mary haha.
The earth science test was actually easier than the German test! What?! Half the questions came from my British teacher, and the other half came from my new teacher, and the new teacher's questions were super straightforward...so I did her section first. I feel good about it, but I'm not sure how I did yet.
After that, I went to lunch, and I felt like a free woman! (for the time being)
I decided to not do any school work tonight, so I watched Youtube videos instead. I called Mom and Dad because today is their 26th anniversary!! Happy Anniversary!!
Maritza was gone for a very long time, so I eventually went to the library to see if they had a movie I need for my honors class. After repeating myself over and over, I found out they did not have the movie, so I walked back to my room. On my walk to the library, I decided I wanted to sit outside because it was so beautiful! So I changed my clothes, and headed over to the Pentacrest. I took this picture while I was chilling on the Pentacrest. I edited my German essay, and then the wind started to get chilly, so I went back to my room. Maritza and I got dinner, and then I didn't do anything for the rest of the night! Yay for being done with the tests finally!
April 3, 2013
Today was pretty average. I went to German and we studied for our test tomorrow. We just called on each other to answer questions that we had to make up for homework last night. Then I had to go to fiction writing, we workshopped me today, so I got a whole bunch of papers back in return, so that's what I took a picture of for my POD....it's such a huge stack! After that, I ate lunch in my room with Maritza because her class was canceled so we got to hang out together during this time! That usually doesn't happen. When the time was ready, we walked over to our honors class together. We had a guest speaker today that presented on the French film we were supposedly supposed to have watched, but none of us did, so the presenter was angry, but then she got over it and went on this long talk about French history. I was so lost the entire time. She talked so fast and mentioned so many names and French terms that eventually I just zoned her out because I couldn't follow it at all. After that class, Maritza had to run to a meeting, but I stayed back and talked to my German teacher for a few minutes, and then I went back to my room.
I started studying right away since my two tests are tomorrow!! Oh boy. When Maritza got back from her meeting, she was not hungry at all because they had pizza, but she said she would still come to dinner with me anyway, so we went to dinner, and she ate a breadstick haha.
After that, I spent the rest of the night in my bed, studying for my tests. I just want them to be over!
I started studying right away since my two tests are tomorrow!! Oh boy. When Maritza got back from her meeting, she was not hungry at all because they had pizza, but she said she would still come to dinner with me anyway, so we went to dinner, and she ate a breadstick haha.
After that, I spent the rest of the night in my bed, studying for my tests. I just want them to be over!
April 2, 2013
Today was an okay day. It was Tuesday, so that's always a plus! I decided to get breakfast today, so I had French toast, and it was not that great, sadly. After that, I went back to my room and chilled for a while before going to German. After German, I went to my earth science lecture, the last one before the test on Thursday!!! Eek. We learned about glaciers today which was kind of interesting, but I learned about glaciers yesterday in lab, so it was kind of repetitive. After that, I ate lunch, and then settled in for the night to study for my tests on Thursday. I was mainly just looking at old powerpoints from lecture since that's where the questions for the test come from....I had to look stuff in the book as well, though. It took up most of my night mainly becuase I kept staring off into space.
For dinner, there some weird theme going on. There was a bunch of baseball themed placards on all the food, and Maritza told me today was the opening of the season or something like that. I didn't think it was that big of a deal that we would have baseball themed food. It ended up meaning that the options for food were hotdogs and hotdogs....it was very unoriginal. There was a lady by a popcorn machine past the food part of the dining hall, so I took a picture of her because it was really strange. The dining hall is going overboard.
After dinner, I studied some more and went to bed later. It was very unexciting.
For dinner, there some weird theme going on. There was a bunch of baseball themed placards on all the food, and Maritza told me today was the opening of the season or something like that. I didn't think it was that big of a deal that we would have baseball themed food. It ended up meaning that the options for food were hotdogs and hotdogs....it was very unoriginal. There was a lady by a popcorn machine past the food part of the dining hall, so I took a picture of her because it was really strange. The dining hall is going overboard.
After dinner, I studied some more and went to bed later. It was very unexciting.
April 1, 2013
Happy April Fools Day! Today was very unexciting on that front; nobody tried to prank me, so I guess that's good! I had a quiz in German today which I wish was a joke, but sadly it was not. So I took that, and it wasn't too bad because we talked about it before we took it. After the quiz, we read some things out of the book.
After German, I headed on over to the IMU to go buy the Bo tickets!!! What!? I'm so excited. I took a picture of the tickets and that is my POD! On May 7, Kelley and I will be watching Bo in the IMU. This is exciting for many reasonse: 1. Bo Burnham 2. Kelley's coming to Iowa 3. Bo&Kelley&Iowa! Yay!
When I first got to the IMU I suddenly got really self conscious that this was all a joke and it wasn't actually happening since today was April 1, but finally I decided to just ask, and it definitely was not a lie! Hallelu!
After that, I went back to my room and ate some lunch before heading to my lab. We did groundwater today so we worked with ant farms minus the ants and just the sand. It was actually a cool set up, but the lab was kind of lame because we just watched dye being dispersed through the sand and pumped up through mini wells. I ended up finishing all my lab homework in class today! Woo! Then I went to my honors class where we spent most of the time talking about the presentations we will give and articles we had to read. The last 15 minutes was spent with us watching a French movie.
Maritza and I went and got dinner, and then I spent the rest of the night doing homework and studying for my two tests on Thursday. Oh yeah, did I mention I have two tests on Thursday?
After German, I headed on over to the IMU to go buy the Bo tickets!!! What!? I'm so excited. I took a picture of the tickets and that is my POD! On May 7, Kelley and I will be watching Bo in the IMU. This is exciting for many reasonse: 1. Bo Burnham 2. Kelley's coming to Iowa 3. Bo&Kelley&Iowa! Yay!
When I first got to the IMU I suddenly got really self conscious that this was all a joke and it wasn't actually happening since today was April 1, but finally I decided to just ask, and it definitely was not a lie! Hallelu!
After that, I went back to my room and ate some lunch before heading to my lab. We did groundwater today so we worked with ant farms minus the ants and just the sand. It was actually a cool set up, but the lab was kind of lame because we just watched dye being dispersed through the sand and pumped up through mini wells. I ended up finishing all my lab homework in class today! Woo! Then I went to my honors class where we spent most of the time talking about the presentations we will give and articles we had to read. The last 15 minutes was spent with us watching a French movie.
Maritza and I went and got dinner, and then I spent the rest of the night doing homework and studying for my two tests on Thursday. Oh yeah, did I mention I have two tests on Thursday?