Toes in the Sand

So what has happened since I last posted?
Well, I danced In Earth day ballet, had two field hockey games, dance some more, was at school and dying.
Yep so I danced in Earth day. It was Earth Action day, on a Saturday and it was at Southern Village. It was really nice, we had really pretty dresses and we got wet. The sun was shining and there were some people milling around. Actually, it was really sad. There were not that many people at Earth Action this year. Last year it was a lot better. I don't know but I dance good so I'm happy.
I had two field hockey games. We won both of them. Yea!! The first one was against the Dark Angles, and it was Saturday and we won 5-2 and the second game was on  Sunday. We won 4-0 against the Pink Ladies. I really happy how this season is turning out and hope fully, it stays that way.
So, I had Earth day on Saturday and I needed to be there at 11:45. I had my game from 10-11 and I need to leave early.
Phew, I was tired. But I have a game, maybe two this weekend and I am I am going to be really tired. BLAH!!!
SO my homework level is going up and I'm kinda tired but there is coffee in the cupboard so I can stay up.
That's not healthy. Just kidding.
Not going to drink coffee.
I'm doing a group project with 3 other amazing 8th years. (Lucia, Grant and Sarah) I love them all but they are all freaking out because they have term papers to write. Term papers? If you are in Spanish and wanting to go to Roatan, Honduras, you have to write a 5 page, double spaced Spanish paper about something in or related to Roatan. People are doing pirates, reefs, diving. Stuff like that. But in Spanish!!!
So what is the point of this very stressful story and how does it relate to my group project?
I am doing the research on Leonardo da Vinci's ideal city while they freak out.
Why am I not mad, angry, sad, annoyed that they are not pulling their end of the bar that they are not doing the research?
I'm not mad or annoyed at all. They still care and they do do some of the research and tomorrow, we as a group are going to work on the poster.
I know that they have other priorities and that I am trying to do what ever I can do to help take some of the stress off their shoulders.
And if it means doing some research, than I can do that.

Ahh so the song today. I struggled with this song but here it is: Amy McDonald: Troubled Soul. It has an amazing drum beat and I love the energy that it gives.
Enjoy!
Remeber:
Breath. This is your life.
Don't be perfect because you need to be yourself.
Breathe and love yourself.

San Francisco

So, I am in San Francisco. Well, technically, I’m in Mill Valley but I’ll just say San Fran for right now. 

So my journey across the country started very, very early. I woke up at 3:45 am because we—my mom, my two sisters and I, my dad was already there for work—had to be at the airport at 5 to catch the 6 am flight. Now, you are wondering, why are waking up at 3:45 is you need to leave the house at 4:30? Well, between my and my older sister, it sometimes takes us a little while. And it was early. 

So, yawning and wanting caffeine, we got to RDU and thankfully, the plane was not delayed and we were in the air quickly. 

It was a two-ish hour flight to Detroit, where I has slept for most of the way. I read, listened to music, slept, read, slept, music, slept. There was a lot of sleeping. Very enjoyable. 

Then, in Detroit, we had another nice and not delayed flight that took about 5.5 hours. By this point, all of us were awake and just wanted to get there all ready. 

So we get in to San Francisco. It’s about 2 ET, so it’s about 11 in SF. We are all tired, hungry and glad to be in San Fran. We rent a maroon Ford Fusion, which is not a bad car just the color is throwing us all off. 

We then drive through a pretty part of San Fran, the houses are bright colors and there is a mix of nice house, some that look a little Victorian and there are a couple that are really run down. 

Also, there are palm trees everywhere. We are driving and there are palm trees scattered all over the place. It’s really cool.

So, we drive over the GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE!!! It was soooooo cool. You see all these pictures and you hear about it and then you are actually driving over the Golden Gate Bridge! You could see the ocean and Alcatraz, the city of San Fran and Muir Woods.  It’s kinda monumental and I was in a daze the first and second time we drove over it because I was like, “Wow, the Golden Gate Bridge.”

So when we get to the little house that we are renting for the week, we are exhausted and really wanting to go exploring. The house is really nice, its small but it is simple and just the way I like it. There are green sofas and the carpet is squashing and soft. The beds are fluffy and the blue towels are soft.

We are staying in Mill Valley, which is like 5-10 minutes away from San Francisco. It is a cute, small town.

So, my mom, my two sisters and I are walking around Mill Valley and we stroll around, walking in to different boutiques and looking at different coffee shops. There is this movie theater there that is still in reasonable shape and they are showing Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and we decided, why not? We had no idea what the movie was about or who was in it but it was an adventure we were willing to take.

The movie was really good. I definitely recommend seeing it.

After the movie, we went back to the house and went to bed. The sun was setting over the green trees and the air was cold. The first day was definitely eventful and a great way to start the trip.

The second day, I woke up at 6:51. It was depressing because I had woken up before 7 and I wasn’t tired. But it was jetlag, one of the many wonders of the world. We got up and the 4 of us went to Union Square. We walked all over Chinatown, which was crazy cool. We ate really good Dim Sum, there were great stores filled with Buddha’s, school supplies, Chinese wonders and postcards and there was street art covering the walls. There were red lanterns strung on wires over the town. Fruit stands spilled over on the sidewalks and the smell of different foods wafted from restaurants.

We walked form Chinatown to about 32 blocks of shopping! A thing that I noticed about San Fran was that it was full of hills. The hills were basically vertical. OK, maybe not vertical but they were serious steep.

We hit 32 blocks of shopping. We walked all over almost. My mom’s cousin is getting married in May and it’s a black tie wedding. Meaning that the dress I was going to wear is not there yet.  But I got two dresses, one for the black tie and the other for any other occasion that might arise. They are both very pretty.

My sister got a really pretty purple one for the black tie and same for my mom. But my little sister, we are still looking for one.

That was basically Monday, we shopped and ate. My dad’s flight arrived that evening and he came and we had a really nice dinner at this Indonesian restaurant. San Fran is really pretty; there are tall buildings that over looks the bay.

So that was Monday, shopping and Chinatown.

Tuesday was when we went to Castro, -- the gay distract --, we went to my mom’s high school friends house, we went to the de Young to see Jean Paul Gautier Sidewalk to Catwalk exhibit and we walked around the park the surrounded the museum.  For dinner, we went to some other friend’s house and that was nice to see them for the first time. The Jean Paul Gautier exhibit was insane. The clothes that he had designed were really cool, there were some that were swoopy, cloth-y and long but there were others that were tight, ill-fitting and the different fabrics seemed to have been molded together. Some outfits, you could see what Jean Paul Gautier was trying to model after. There were cool suits and dresses and there were some hats that were based off of sailor hats but most of the outfits were crazy, they were interesting colors and weird fabrics. So Tuesday was interesting because we walked around a lot and we got to see a lot of San Fran.

On Wednesday, we toured Berkley, or Cal. Berkley was interesting because there are a lot of students and they are interconnected. The big street that was there was packed with students at booths, walking around, and since it was election week, they were campaigning for their vote. It was a friendly environment that I really liked. It’s a beautiful campus and it’s not that far from San Fran.

On Thursday, we toured Stanford. I felt that Stanford was more about the academics but you know I could be wrong. At Cal, I felt like it was a friendlier environment and people stopped to talk to each other but at Stanford, people hopped on bikes and went to their next class. At Stanford, I got to see more of the sport teams and they looked really good. They did not have as much school spirit as Cal. The buildings at Stanford were really pretty.

On Friday, we went with some friends of my dad’s to the Ferry Building and ate egg salad, bread, gelato and Vietnamese food as we watched the bay, the boats and the water. Inside, there were shops that were filled with people and really good food. There was a gelato shop and a bakery that sold really good bread. The Blue Bottle had really good drip coffee. After lunch, we went to a science museum that had some good parts but after a little while… You could go up to the Living Roof and you could see parts of the bay and the sun on the water. It wasn’t high enough to see over the city but it was high enough to see bits and pieces. After the museum, we went to the House of Air, which is basically a big room and the front of the rooms in practice mats but the back of the room is where there is maybe 15 or so trampolines. It was so cool. You are jumping on a trampoline for an hour, which gets really tiring after a while. I flipped for like 20 minutes and that was fun. I haven’t got the landing yet but that’s ok. We jumped a lot but I hurt my back, again. That’s fine because I had a lot of fun. After House of Air, we went to a great pizza/Italian restaurant that we had to wait in line for awhile but the pasta was really good.

Meanwhile, I am trying to get as many photos as I can on to my iTouch but the camera app on my iTouch is acting funky so…

Also, I have been blowing off my home work and now my pile is slowing building up. I might go to the beach on Wednesday and I’m getting home on Monday so I have Tuesday to do the pile. Crap.

Ok, so on Saturday, which is today, we went on a nice little hike to the beach with the same friends that we had dinner with on Tuesday. We hiked, oh maybe 20-30 minutes to the beach and hung out there for about 2 hours before heading back. Then, we got back to the car and drove back to Mill Valley.

That is what our vacation is so far in San Francisco. We still have tomorrow, Easter Sunday, and that is going to be interesting. We might go to church, maybe have a nice dinner. I have no idea.

But, this week has been great and I can’t wait to come back again. I don’t really want to go back to Chapel Hill because there is nothing really happening there and my friends are going to be just fine without me.

So, that is all I have to report for now.

The song for today is: Big Bang -- Wings

Idea about Life

So what is life? Is it one opportunity not to screw up? Is it just another book, each year or day is another chapter? Is it the songs that are sung? Is it the quotes that are said and recited? Is it that one brave person to step up to the plate and take charge? 
I was biking home today and I think life, sometimes is just a math class. When you are born, you are handed a pencil, a piece of paper and a really big eraser. When you have died, you will know if you have had a good life if you eraser is gone. 
At every struggle and hardship, your math problem gets longer and you are expected to know how to solve the never ending problem. At one point, you are handed a calculator. At a good time in your life, like a graduation or a promotion, or even like a trip, you can push the simplify button and the problem gets easier. 
Life is what you make it. It's not in the hands of your best friends, stereotypes, you parents or even God. This is your life and you need to do something about it if your math problem isn't going anywhere.  


I wish I could leave Chapel Hill, just for a little while. Not a week but like 3 weeks or a month. So I can have some breathing room. I need to leave have some fresh air, some space and it needs to be somewhere where I can fly to. At least a 4 hour flight. Because there is no need for me to be here. I want to get out.


Lets see... my knee hurts. I have allergies so my nose is running. My head is pounding.
Life is better.

I have two weeks of spring break!! Well, really I only have one BUT my sisters have off the first week of April and I have the second off. I'm going to San Francisco at 6 am Sunday morning. Whoop Whoop! Guess who is physicked?!?! I AM!! So happy. Sleep.....



Song for today: Fight Club -- This is your life

What I do in my spare time

So, today I had my dance concert....

It went great with the 20 minute piece,

We all remembered it and performed it amazingly!

But then we got to the student choreographed pieces

I felt like I was being tortured

I wasn't in any of the dances and that 

Sucked

It sucked really bad

So that was hard 

I feel like I shouldn't do dance any more

If I'm not getting anywhere and all my friends are,

What should I do?

I don't want to cry

Keeping to myself is never good

But there is no one to talk to 

My friends don't offer any empathy

I don't know how to write about it

But it's OK

I can talk to my self

Now for a list of things that I do in my spare time:

1. Bop around. I like act crazy and movie to an imaginary beat. Shake my head and bend my torso
2. Drink tea. Or make someone tea. Most of the time, drinking tea.
3. Listening to someone talking. Sitting in the garden, the cool air relaxing on your shoulders, the wind swaying through our hair. The best moments to talk is when you are with some that you can trust. I have listened to my one really good friend so many times and that has made our friendship that much better
4. Listen to music. I am always listening to music. It's kinda sad.
5. Dance. Yep, that is mostly what I do. Dance.
6. Play field hockey. I love hitting the ball outside in the grass.
7. Climb trees and hide behind bushes. I love the sturdy trees and feeling that I could fall off any moment but feeling the tree on every part of my body.
8. Goof off. I tend to laugh uncontrollably. A lot. I love being with friends and laughing at sweet memories.
9. Swim at the Lake House. Or tube. Or push friends off the dock. Or race through the woods at the Lake House. Yeah, that's what I can do at the Lake House.
10. Watch movies. I have watched a lot of movies. There is nothing better than a good movie that is funny. I love all movies but like sci-fie that are thrillers or set in the future or something like that. I also don't like chick-flicks that are stereo-typicality blonds that are rich and snobby.

Song: Kelly Clarkson -- Stronger. I normally not a big fan of Kelly Clarkson but this song is great. 

Thougts

I feel like I am in always in a big room with lots of different people who are always making noise and request. I am trying to sort out my life and listen to music but people are talking and I keep having to turn my music up. My head is pounding from a headache. My heart is missing Switzerland but my mind is somewhere else and it keeps snapping back to reality and how much homework I have. Why is like always like this?
Half of my brain is like, “OH look! Sunshine! Climb a tree barefoot and dance in the dew covered grass. Go on a walk in the cool woods. Go outside and have fun.”
But the other half of me is like, “You have to be inside, bullying your brain and working on things that are due on Monday. You can’t afford to go outside and have fun!”
Which one should I do? Blow off the great day and do even more homework or experience life the way that it should be done, barefoot and young. Because at this moment, I am getting mixed messages.
 
 Why do parents want you to do homework all the time? Why do they nag you when you are taking a 5 minute break because you have been doing homework for the last hour and a half? Why do they get mad and raise their voice when you are trying to tell them something and then get even more mad when you try to say something? Do they miss having lots of homework and late nights? Because when I’m a parent, I know that I wouldn’t. Would you like to do my homework? Because you are more than welcome to. I couldn’t care less.
I feel like they miss it, honestly. I know what I need to do and I don’t want my parents breathing down my neck. 

Song for today: Ben E. King -- Stand By Me

The things that I miss

There are the little things. The little things are what I miss. They are the things that you don’t really think about when you are there but when you are “home” you really miss them. 
I am half Swiss and there are the little things that I miss from Thun.
My grandmother made mint tea from the mint leaves in her garden. I pull the leaves from the pot outside the door, wash it and put it in a little net thing. I pour the hot water over it and there you go. Mint tea. But no matter what I do here in the States, the mint tea in Switzerland is always better.
The fresh rolls and bread that my grandfather gets at 6:30 in the morning. They smell amazing and there is always fresh orange juice and coffee on the table. There is small plate, normally white, that has the butter in it.
The hot chocolate. It’s creamy and there is always a box of cocoa mix in the cabinet. My grandmother always puts lots of milk and cream in it but there still is a lot of the thick chocolate taste.
The dish detergent that smells so much like her. And after dinner, the kitchen always smells like it because they don’t have a dish washer.
The pink flower tea set that has green leaves. They are kept on the top shelf near where the sink is but it is near the corner. We always have tea after dinner and when we are eating dessert. Sometimes, my grandparents drink their espresso and my sister and I drink mint tea. It's relaxing to sit on the green lawn, looking over the mountains that loom over Thun.
The smell of apricot pie that fills the house when she puts the pie in the oven. There is cinnamon and sugar that is sprinkled over the fresh apricots. It sweet and tart, and the apricot juice seeps out onto your plate.
The escalator that you ride on when you are in the Migro. Then, when you get on the top, there is the chocolate cart that has the best chocolate. My absolute favorite chocolate is the one with the rice crispies on the bottom. Or the hazelnuts. Both are amazing. Also in the Migro, there are decorations everywhere as August 1st approaches. The red and white flags are in line with the firecrackers and the sparklers.
I don't know why I remember the little things about Switzerland. The cool air after it rains. The sun sets and the sun rises over the mountain. The cool forests. Why do I first go there and not to the the big tourist destinations, like Interlaken? Or when I do think of them, it's of the flower boxes and the simple, tiny and elegant churches?
I miss Switzerland and I can not wait until I go back this summer. To the Aare, the swans and the Ferris Wheel.


The song for today: Amy McDonald -- This is the Life

Amazing things

This list is of things that I find either crazy or amazing. Or both.

1. Madonna. She is still going, even at 53! I don't why but she stills looks good.
2. Spaghetti is one of the few dinners that you can make in 15 minutes and it tastes so goooood. Toss a salad and toast some bread and you have a great supper.
3. Undercover Brother....Solid! He's just avoiding a car crash. Yeah mon.
4. I love a good movie. You can't beat a Saturday night, in pajamas, watching a romantic comedy,  a classic or a laugh-until-your-crying-and-clutching-your-stomach movie.
5. Flower bouquets can be simple but so beautiful. They take you form the moment and they charm your room. The simple combination of spring flowers in a sunny room on a Saturday morning.  I love cutting the flowers and putting them in a vase.
6. Hiking a mountain and seeing the view from the top. The sea-green of the trees under a bright blue sky. There might even be some violet tucked into the hills. 
7. My friend Katie. She walks with me and I have so many great memories of me and her racing through trees and wading through creeks, our hair pulled back in a loose hair-tie or a bandana. 
8. H&M. They have great clothes for really cheap and they are in every shopping mall and in every town in Switzerland. 
9. Fields of flowers. There is a field behind my friends house that we used to go play in. There are electricity towers and rolling yellow grass. The are multicolored flowers and with pebbled rocks.
10. Sophia Grace and Rosie. They are too cute. I sometimes can't handle how cute they are. I love them so much!!!!