Another incredibly long school week gone by..last year's sophomores weren't kidding when they warned us that we won't have any time at all this year. It's only been week two and everybody's exhausted, but I was able to have a long conversation with Vaishu over the phone and it felt good to catch up, although I see her everyday. Also, last night one of dad's old friends came to visit us from New Jersey (actually they came here for Disney, and we happen to be in that area.) They were a great family :) Amey, the little boy, was super sweet and even built me a lego rainbow! Esha and I were interested in a lot of the same things and she was wonderful to talk to. I even got my nails done by her! This was probably the first day this week that I didn't spend all evening cooped up in the den.
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For all those that don't know, Onam is (one of the very few) south Indian festivals. It celebrates a good harvest and it usually occurs around the beginning of September. Families would make traditional dishes and then everything is eaten on a banana leaf. It's quite an interesting experience :) We had an Onam program today, where we ate (way too much..) and then danced (not a good order..). All of the food was spectacular and I had my fair share of it too ;) The performance was with Anjali and Tara and it also turned out really well! I haven't posted all week. But why? you may ask. Because I have had less than no time. Not only did all the teachers start giving us real homework starting from the second day of school, but for one reason or the other I had been out of the house Every. Single. Evening. Tuesday, Thursday and today I have the OHM dance practice which usually starts at 5:30 and doesn't end until about 8 or 9. Wednesday we went over to Niyati's house because today was Bama Aunty's last day in the US (didn't get back home from that until about 11:/ ). And on every one of those days I had either homework I had to complete after I got back home, or I had to finish organizing my supplies, or I had to study for upcoming tests. My arm is sore from carrying textbooks all day. And because we are in the middle of renovation it feels like we have to walk about a mile and a half to get to our next class or our lockers. On top of all that, we've got at least 1 to 3 textbooks at all times. Try going up and down stairs with that ten times a day -_-. Its only been one week and I'm already done with all this...can't wait to see the how the rest of the year folds out. The only positive part in all of this (since I feel like I should end on a positive note) is seeing everyone again :)) Oh, another little tidbit of today, we went to one lady's house to get our eyebrows done, and she had a small granddaughter running around (no more than 2). Once when she come into the room, she stood in front of the mirror and said to herself (and I quote directly), "Wow, I'm so perfect."
I'm quite sure I was the only one who heard this and it made my day. Getting up at 5:30 is always a pain. Getting up at 5:30 to go to school is an even bigger pain. Once the getting ready was done, once the pictures were taken and once we were all settled in the car, the routine that we had been all to familiar with but were starting to forget, came rushing back. The morning talks about the latest happenings at school, the quarreling with the locker, the sound of the bell that sounds like its coming from an airplane. As we all went our different ways to our classes, we learned about our teachers, met up with our friends and exchanged schedules. The customary. Because today was just getting to know about the courses we were taking and the teachers who were teaching them, it was quite simple, and the day ended soon. Back to the car we were, I was able to catch up with Saumya and Varun, both of whom I unfortunately have no classes with :(( A long evening of signing papers later, I came to the acceptance that this was going to be the easiest homework assignment we will ever have this year. I should enjoy it. Sophomore year should be...fun :/ Started off my day at 7:00 and dumped a bucket of ice water on myself. This is in participation with the widely spreading, ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. ALS stands for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and it affects (and slowly 'shuts down') the nerve cells in your brain and your spinal cord, which will eventually paralyze you. In response to Hope and Vaishu, I agreed to do the challenge and spread awareness (for this, you had two options: either dump ice water on yourself or donate $100 to the ALS foundation). In these last few days, the word about ALS has spread far and wide, from normal kids doing it to celebrities to even CEOs like Mark Zuckerburg and Bill Gates. After the challenge, I got ready to go to the temple in order to perform at the Indian Independence Day program. Niyati and I did a medley of 3 songs praising the country, and our costumes resembled the flag itself. After just 2 days of choreographing and only one additional day of actually practicing together, I would have to say the performance turned out to be a success :) After reaching back home, I started to get ready for the dreaded D-Day which was to take place tomorrow. I started to label my notebooks and stocks my binders with paper. At about 8 I started to read the last 20% of my summer reading book, Around the World in 80 Days, which I would definitely recommend, for it is not only easy to understand, but it also has quite an engrossing story line, unlike some other classics you may have come across. I was up until about 12 that night, before I set my alarm for 5:30 (*shrudders*) and went to bed.
Once dad picked me up from Niyati's we made an unplanned stop at an iHop on the way back home. It was breakfast time, so we thought 'why not' :) This was actually the first time I have eaten at the restaurant and let me just say, the french toast is to die for. Another thing I would like to say, is that during the practice sessions, we decided to try and learn the real way to do the wobble, and we stumbled across a video (well we actually didn't stumble across it; it was the first link on YouTube when the words 'Wobble Instructional Video' were typed in..) Now, while watching this, I think we could both agree that we were paying more attention to the main dancer than the actual steps of the dance. He just had so much -- dare I say it? -- swag. It's literally the most accurate word I would be able to use. >>> Check it out! <<<
Ended the day by going to Anay's 2nd Birthday party, filled with good fun and good food :) After loading the 3 heavy coolers in the car, we picked up Varun and were on the highway, when I got a call from Mom telling me that I forgot to pack the brownies. The brownies that I made at 10:30 last night. -_- When we reached, we waited for a a few minutes until Mrs. Newsome came to her room. When she reached, we began setting up. The tent, the tables, the food and the signs were soon up, and at the perfect time. Just as we were finishing, the first people started to come. As the students (many freshman) got comfortable to the setting, we started the first activity; a bonding exercise. We introduced ourselves and what grade we were in. Soon after that we began our mummy game :) All the 10th, 11th, 12th graders were to pick a freshman, who we would try to wrap a roll of toilet paper around. After all to was said and done, guess who the winner was?? My wonderful freshman!! :D After a round of Tug of War (which, I have to say, our class won :), the seniors began to take all the new freshman on a tour of the school. As they were gone, everyone else hid behind the portable buildings, armed with two water balloons each. As the freshman wandered back in, the command was given and everyone ran out and attacked the unsuspecting students. From there on, a full war raged on. Not only did we attack the freshman but we also turned on our own team. About 5-7 minutes later, all 1700 balloons that we took so long to fill up, were all out. But at the end it was all worth it :) By the way, Happy Independence Day!! (Indian) We celebrated a lot of birthdays today as well. Last night we called Pranav Etta in India for his 18th birthday (legal!), we gave brownies to Pranav for his 16th, and then we went over to Niyati's house with a small cupcake cake for Jatin Uncle's birthday. Even though I spent the night there (the Independence Day festival is coming up soon and we had to practice) my parents went to Aditi auntys house to celebrate Rishi's birthday. Have an amazing day guys!!
Numb Legs all Day.
Numb Hands all Night. Dance, came home and filled up exactly 200 water balloons for tomorrow. Oh, and I also made brownies at about 10:30 at night. Good day. Volunteering day today. I left for the school at 7:30, in order to help teachers get ready for the school year.
It didn't really turn out how I expected. Instead of setting up bulletin boards or helping organize school supplies, we moved furniture bigger than us, cataloged a huge bookshelf by writing down every title and author, and and Cleaned out bookshelves laden with cockroach fecal matter. That's right. Roach poop. Oh and encountered a couple live cockroaches that scuttled out from between the shelves. I never thought I would have to deal with something like that -- ever. |
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