A great beach house with awesome people. North Carolina Outer Banks with AKPsi!
This photograph is so cheerful. It is just what I need to get my out of my GMAT blues.
(via ryaaandell)
I’m taking Tai Chi this semester and I have a very interesting and thoughtful teacher. He likes to send us inspirational stories. I received this story yesterday. Take a few minutes to read it and maybe it will help you see others differently.
Her name was Mrs. Thompson. As she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children a lie. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same.
But that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard. Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year
before and noticed that he didn’t play well with the other children, that he constantly needed a bath. And Teddy could be unpleasant. It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with
a broad red pen, making bold X’s and then putting a
big “F” at the top of his papers.
At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child’s past records and she put Teddy’s off until last.
However, when she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise.
Teddy’s first grade teacher wrote, “Teddy
is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work
neatly and has good manners…he is a joy to be around.
His second grade teacher wrote, “Teddy is an excellent student, well liked by his
classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a
terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle.
His third grade teacher wrote, ““His mother’s death had been hard on him. He tries to do his best, but his father doesn’t show much interest and his
home life will soon affect him if some steps aren’t taken.
Teddy’s fourth grade teacher wrote, “Tedd is withdrawn and doesn’t show much interest in school. He doesn’t have many friends and he sometimes sleeps in class”
By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself.
She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy’s. His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper that he got from a grocery bag.
Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some
of the stones missing, and a bottle that was one quarter full of perfume. But she stifled the children’s laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist. Teddy
Stoddard stayed after school that day just long enough to say, “Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my Mom used to.”
After the children left she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she quit teaching reading, and writing, and arithmetic. Instead, she began to teach children.
Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. As she worked with him, he came alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class and, despite
her lie that she would love all the children the same, Teddy became one of her ‘teacher’s pets.’
A year later, she found a note under her door from Teddy, telling her that she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.
Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy.
He then wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.
Four years after that, she got another letter, saying
that while things had been tough at times, he’d stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would soon graduate from college with the highest of honors. She was still his
favorite teacher in his whole life.
Then four more years passed and yet another letter came.
This time he explained that after he got his bachelor’s degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had. But now his name was a little longer-the letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, MD.
The story doesn’t end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said he’d met this girl and was going to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit in the place at the wedding that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom. Of course, Mrs. Thompson did.
And guess what? She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. And she made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered
his mother wearing on their last Christmas together. They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson’s ear, “Thank you Mrs. Thompson
for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference.”
Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back. She said, “Teddy, you have it all wrong, you were the one who taught me that I could make a difference.
I didn’t know how to teach until I met you.
“Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.”
I am finally home!
Paris was amazing! I fell in love with the city in 2 days. The first day in Paris I walked to Arc de Triomphe to the Tour Eiffel (Eiffel Tower) to the Le Louvre and then Notre Dame. A group of us left at 10:50am and returned to the hotel at 10:30pm. It was a lot of walking but I didn’t even mind since the city was so beautiful even though it was raining on and off the entire day. Then at night I walked to the New Paris which is basically their business district.
Arc de Triomphe
Blurry Eiffel Tower picture in the rain
on the Love Bridge. Couples come and put locks with their name engraved or written on them on the bridge to lock their love together.
Notre Dame
New Paris. The more modern arc.
Day 2 in Paris: In the morning we walked to the mall which is to the left of the new arc in the picture above. I had these amazing cupcakes! In the afternoon, a group of us went to the Eiffel Tower for a picnic on the lawn then to Le Louvre and then had a boat tour at night. During the picnic, we saw these gypsy kids pestering a girl on the lawn and they took her iphone! Even I didn’t notice luckily with the help of the street sellers her boyfriend got it back for her.
Amazing yummy cupcakes with cream cheese icing. I had the blueberry one!
The Mona Lisa at Le Louvre. Tiny isn’t it?
When we finished the boat tour the Eiffel Tower was all lit up!
Merci Paris for an amazing 2 days!
I only have a few more hours before I leave for the airport. Madrid is such a beautiful city (aside from the graffiti) and I’ll miss it. After 3 and a half weeks I actually don’t notice the graffiti anymore. I’m excited for Paris but I’m even more excited to be going home in 3 days. I had a lot of interesting and fun experiences here but there is definitely no place like home. Also, I am very relieved and happy that my luggage weighs perfectly. I have 2 bottles of wine, a 6 pack of beer, some sangria, my shampoo and conditioner and it’s not overweight! Hopefully they survive the flight.
I finally posted all my Spain pictures on Facebook. I wish I could have uploaded some pictures here so you all could have seen what I was talking about. But the past is the past and tomorrow is Paris.
While I’m in Paris I plan on seeing the Palace of Versailles, the Louvre, and of course the Eiffel Tower, and eating lots of crepes. :D Look out of pictures when I get back on Saturday!
side note: HAPPY 10 MONTHS KARLO ALON!
I have one more class left to go and I will be done with my spanish minor! I just finished my final for my business conversion course. I am pretty confident that I did well but we’ll see when I get my final grade in the fall.
Yesterday, I ventured to the cathedral at 6pm for mass that I thought started at 7pm but it didn’t start until 8. I ended up just staying there for a bit and then buying my uncle some souvenirs. Then I wandered to El Corte Íngles (Spain’s main department store) to look for wine and beer to bring home. I came back to the dorm to finish writing my history of Spain essay around 8:00.
2 days I will be in Paris and 5 days I will be home! :D
I have one more week to go and I will be back in New York! This past week went by so quickly even with class every day. Here is the recap:
Tuesday-Flamenco
A group of girls and I went to watch a flamenco show. The show was longer than I expected it to be; it was an hour and a half with no intermission. It was a small theater so I was able to see the dancers expressions and their sweatiness haha. It was super intense. The show consisted mostly of group routines with 3 solos in between the performances. I felt the floor shaking during some of their solos. One of the guys did a solo for a good 15 minutes. It was awesome. :D
Wednesday-Field Trip
For one of my classes we took a walking tour of Madrid. We went to different sights and each student was assigned a site to research. I got la Puerta de Alcalá.
Thursday- El Kapital
One of the craziest nights I have had ever! A group of about 40 of us went out toe El Kapital which is a 7 story club in Madrid. It was free entrance with a free drink. When we first got there we stayed on the roof top bar while we drank. Of course, I got rum and fanta naranja. Then a few of us girls went down to the bottom floors to dance. Around 2 the group got 2 bottles of free champagne and a VIP room. It was around 4 when I left the room with Manali (one of the girls) and tried to find the rest of the group but everyone was scattered. From then until 5:30 we danced, chilled, and wandered the club then they kicked us out since it was closing. The metro opened at 6 so we decided to wait for it. IT WAS SO COLD! But we made it back to the dorm safe and sound at 6:30.
Friday- Recovery Day
MY RECOVERY DAY! I slept for an hour then went to breakfast and had class at 9:45am. I kept falling asleep during my afternoon class since I was so tired. When I got out I slept until dinner and then ate and went back to sleep.
Saturday- Reina Sofia y 100 Montaditos
I was still recovering from Thursday night. I woke up for breakfast at 8:45 and went back to sleep until lunch at 1pm. In the afternoon, 2 girls and I went to Reina Sofia Museum and then 100 Montaditos which is a tapa and drinks place. The museum was interesting; some of the exhibits were very strange but I really enjoyed the paintings by Dali and Picasso. We sat outside at 100 Montaditos and I had a tinto de verano and we ordered some nachos and potato chips. When I was almost done with my drink the waiter came and gave us a round of tinto de verano. He said that guys we were invited for drinks by a table. However, all the tables around us were guys and they were all young except for one table of men probably around 30 to 35 years old (and they were gross!). Guess who gave us the drinks? The old gross men! I still drank my drink of course because it was gratis! Thank goodness the table left before we did but the guy wrote his number on a piece of paper and gave it to me. -_- His name was Henry. During this whole situation none of the girls or I spoke one word to him. haha
I can’t wait to be home. :D One more week mis amigos!
A rewarding experience…
I had the morning off because my professor gave the class an out of classroom assignment. We had to interview someone at a local business whether it be a waiter, a cashier or a banker. I walked out of the dorm planning to interview the lady at the photocopy place but when I arrived the store was busy. I walked up two doors and there was a clothing store with no customers inside. I asked the lady who was sweeping the entrance if I could interview her. It turned out she was the owner. Her name was Victoria and she looked like she was in her 60s but still very alive. She was wearing a dark blue floral patterned sheer shirt.
I asked her the five questions I prepared and then we easily entered into a casual conversation. I told her about my study abroad program and she told me half of her life story and about the surrounding area. There are a lot of government buildings around here some are the Hacienda (a place to pay your taxes), a building for the military and the core building or nuclear building. She said “nucleó” so I’m not sure if it meant nuclear or like the main administration building. Some things got lost in translation because our entire conversation was in Spanish.
All in all, it was an amazing experience maybe even better than seeing all those castles and cathedrals. Until next time mis amigos!
Hola mis amigos!
I’ve had the past two days off for “midterm break” so I decided to explore the city…
Thursday:
Manali, the girl who lives next door to me, and I went to Palacio Real, Gran Via, and Sol. It was a very relaxing day. We walked slowly and enjoyed not being in a rush. Usually, when we go on tours with the program they want us to see everything so we’re always on the move. Manali and I left the dorm after lunch and took the metro to Sol. We walked to the Palacio Real making stops at various stores on the way. On our way back we had tapas and drinks. Then we walked to Gran Via for shopping! Everything was on sale it was amazing. After that we went to Chocolateria San Gines and had some chocolate con churros. Yummm! We reached the dorm just in time for dinner.
Friday:
A few of the girls and I went to Parque de Retiro and the Prado. The park was exceptional. The landscaping was beautiful and it was nice and quiet. We saw the lake, the glass palace, and the rose garden. It was also scorching that day so we took a lot of breaks in between the places. After the park, we went to the Prado and I saw the bottom exhibits. I went there earlier this week but I was only able to see the top floor. At night, we had drinks at the cafe across the street. I had colimocho or calimocho (I’m not sure on the spelling) which is wine and coke and it was amazing! Thank you to my boyfriend for suggesting it :)
Saturday:
Most of us were tired from going on excursions that past two days so a lot of the students lounged by the pool. I woke up with a sore throat so I didn’t exert myself too much. I tanned and went into the pool. Then I took a nap until dinner time. We’re going to the cafe tonight for some drinks again.
I’ll be in Paris in a week and a half and back in NY in two weeks. I love the lifestyle and architecture in Spain but I am ready to come home.
Until next time mis amigos…
Good morning! Its 9:25 right now in Spain.
My weekdays are not as interesting as my weekends but yesterday I ate an apple and got this itching sensation inside my ears and my throat. A bump which look liked a bug bite also appeared on my upper lip. I had this once before in Málaga after I ate an apple but didn’t think anything of it. After having it happen to me again yesterday I’ve concluded that I’m allergic to apples. :( I hope its just raw apples because I like apple pies.
I have class in 10 minutes and I’m presenting on Prezi. I usually have good presentation skills (thanks to SOM) but they don’t transfer too well when I’m speaking Spanish. Every time I present I use bullet points to remind me of my point but I try to form the sentences in my head. I still have a hard time conjugating verbs quick enough to speak normally. Hopefully, by the time I leave here I can speak smoothly and not so choppy.
After class, I’m going on a walking tour of Madrid with my History of Spain class. My left knee is hurting so I hope I can walk easily. I’m having grandma syndrome here. My lower back and knees are hurting. I think its because the mattress are half the thickness of mine at home and there is so much walking here and I don’t have proper footwear.
Hasta luego amigos tengo clase en cinco minutos. :D