Rowing...Augh!!!!!!

Being in a highly ethnic area, it is extremely hard to get around being "Gringo" or a non-Spanish American. My school hired a couple of rowing coaches who don't speak English and it has severely affected my development as a rower. In my community many others on the team speak English and Spanish, but I am the only person who speaks English and is learning Spanish (apparently not fast enough).

Today we had practice and it seems that everyone on the boat couldn't understand why I didn't understand what the coaches are saying. Even if I have someone translate or the coach acts it out to me, there is always something "lost in translation" and this frustrates me. When I am frustrated it takes me longer to compute an order from someone. Today we did some drills on the boat and I don't understand how they will help us improve as a team; such as rowing with our eyes closed and rowing arms only, bent over with our heads almost between our legs.

A few months ago I was taken off my boat for someone who was slower and less developed than I, but who could speak Spanish; now I am the backup rower, was there a coincidence? I was obviously a better rower at the time, but this kid was given the opportunity to flourish. For example it's like if you have two plants: one you fertilize and give it plenty of sun (my replacement), and the other gets partial sun and it not fertilized (me); which one will develop better?

I have been told many things by the coaches and none of them came true. For example, he told me he would create a four person boat with me on it, and second was that the line-ups with my replacement on it were only temporary, but he wanted to give him an opportunity to row.

There are many people on the boat which I am competing to get back onto which are either not as developed as I, or would rather not be on the boat, let alone the team at all. I am being deprived of my only freshman rowing year, for eighth graders who are on the boat. This is not fair. Something is wrong.

Confirmation..Done...42 Days left of school

Only forty two days left of school and I am waiting for it to end! My confirmation last weekend was very enjoyable. I perceived my confirmation to be much longer and boring however it was very enjoyable. The ceremony lasted like any other mass except the bishop was there. When the bishop handled the mass he involved the audience by asking questions about the gospel. Well let me just say that neither I nor my sponsor (my mom)  could answer the questions he asked because the person who read was so nervous she couldn't make out the words. When they called me up to receive the anointment of chrism, the Bishop  put so much oil on my forehead that it was dripping down my face!  After that, my whole family, including my girlfriend, went to a really prestigious stone crab restaurant and we all pigged out. I got plenty of money and an awesome watch from my girlfriend.

We are nearing the last 42 days of school and the last two weeks before spring break. I can hardly wait, I need some time off to recoup and get a fresh start to our last three weeks of school. Hopefully I can make it!

Time Flies

Our field trip to the Pompeii exhibit was very interesting. The museum was filled with artifacts found from the explosion of Mt. Vesuvius. There were five bodies that had been cast from the explosion and casts of pottery and food found in Pompeii. After touring the exhibit my class saw a movie (IMAX) on Greece. I thought the movie was very interesting, but many of my classmates chose to sleep through it. Once we got back to school, we sat on the bluff and hung out for an hour and a half.  It was a beautiful afternoon!

On Friday, the SGA held our first annual movie night! We rented a 200 inch movie screen and set it up on the bluff.  We also rented two popcorn machines and bought candy and drinks.  The SGA sold the popcorn, candy and drinks for 25 cents each. At 7:30 pm, people started making their way to the bluff, with pillows and blankets, to watch Casino Royale, the latest Bond flick. Everything was going smoothly until a brisk wind from the bay blew the screen down. Not to worry, they managed to stand the screen back up and the movie began to roll. Once the movie was over, all SGA members spent the next hour cleaning up. Movie night was a great success and will soon be an annual tradition among the high school.

Today, one of my friends and I decided to walk down to the bay and get some sun on the beach. It's so nice to be one street over from the bay. I'm so glad it's finally beginning to feel like spring. This is my favorite time of the year.  The weather is perfect and the flowers are beginning to bloom.

In two weeks, I get out for spring break and I'm heading to the beach with a group of my friends. We will spend the week swimming in the gulf, lying in the sun, and hanging out at my friend's beach house. Nice weather and the beach are just a couple of great benefits of living in my area.

It's hard to believe that when we return from spring break we will only have seven weeks of school to go! WOW!!!!! Where has my freshman year gone????????

Stress+Stress+Confirmation=AHHHHHH!!!!!!

This weekend is my confirmation, I am very exited because my family is coming down for the weekend. For those of you who don't know what a confirmation is, it is when a young Catholic decides he or she really wants to be a Catholic. Here is how my week went:

The week leading up to this weekend was also very stressful. Monday, was very tiring after the new time change and getting back into our normal routine was and still is a feat. Tuesday, The school day was okay, but after I had to somehow fit Crew practice, homework, studying for a test the next day and confirmation rehearsal into the seven hours I had before bedtime; I still don't know how I did it. Wednesday wasn't as bad as it normally is because I skipped my youth group because I had the confirmation rehearsal the day before. Thursday, was pretty good other than I woke up an hour late and just about made myself a nervous wreck trying to get to school in time, but after school was a relaxing time to myself.

Then today, my Mom and I both had the day off so we had to clean the entire house before our guests came today. We decided to go to the supermarket to get some "Irish" Corned Beef to have tonight since we would have other plans on Saint Patrick's day tomorrow, when we got a call from our guests that they were in our driveway! After, we rushed to find their number on the cell phone, which was of course impossible, so we rushed home to find they had gone out to lunch. This was mildly convenient because we really weren't ready yet. Anyway, we will see how the confirmation goes tomorrow.

Good News and Pompeii

I have wonderful news! Our soccer team defeated our rival! The game was very close and thanks to a goal in the last two minutes, we won, two to one. Our coach was disappointed because he thinks we could have played better, and we could have. I am just glad we got by with a win and are a step closer to state playoffs.

Tomorrow, my class is going on a field trip to an exhibit on the tragedy of Pompeii. We will be watching an IMAX film on Greece and then take a virtual tour of Pompeii. Along with the virtual tour, we will see casts of the bodies trapped in the horrible disaster. My class will return to campus around 1:30 and then we get to hang out on the bluff, overlooking the bay, and socialize until 3:00. I am so excited about tomorrow! I love history, especially the Roman Empire and Pompeii. When I get back from the field trip I will blog all about it.

Community Service

I have learned many things after doing Community Service at a local homeless shelter. While I was there I served food in their cafeteria. The homeless at the center have as much dignity as any other person. Many of the homeless are just “down on their luck.” Some these people have had their identity stolen, or lost their job. These horrible instances have caused them to lose their home. The people who have lost their job usually are living “pay check-to-pay check” and can’t save their money. They lose their home because they can’t pay their bills, and live out of their families' homes. Eventually they feel unwelcome after a while, so they leave. When they leave their family's home, they live out of their car until they have to sell it for food. After that they begin living on the streets, and then homeless assistance personnel can come and admit them into the center to help them back into society. Without such help from organizations like these some of these people would never get back on their feet.

Fine Arts and Soccer

Varsity Soccer. I didn't realize it was going to take over my life. On Friday, our team left for a tournament at 11:30. Unfortunately, we lost all three games but our coach wasn't mad because we played really well. Yesterday, I got back from the tournament around two and relaxed because I was wiped out.  On Tuesday we have a rivalry game. My school is 2A and we only have two other soccer teams in our division. We must beat the other two teams in order to get in the state playoffs. If we lose our coach will be let down and we will have to pay for it by running.......A LOT!

Other than soccer, I have been studying and writing. I wrote four entries for our school's literary magazine and I entered two drawings.All the creative writing and art is leading up to Fine Arts Day on Tuesday. The whole day my school will be celebrating fine arts. There will be bands playing, people reading poetry, local artist painting and making pottery, and drama. One hundred fifty kids at our school, including myself, were picked to do metal tiles for our new fine arts building. It is a huge honor to be picked because the tiles will be displayed for everyone to see.

Hopefully, this week will go smoothly and be pleasant. Wish me luck on the game!

The Best Part of the Year: MARDI GRAS!

Sorry about being so late posting! The internet hasn't been working on our computers. I have not been able to blog or surf the web! No need to worry though, I am back in action!

Friday: I checked out of school early, with the rest of the varsity soccer team, to go to the Southern Shootout. The Southern Shootout is a soccer tournament held in South Alabama. We played two games and it was FREEZING! The temperature was in the twenties and all the girls had blankets and were huddled together. When we finally got home, at about 10:30 that night, I was whipped.

Saturday: I left the house at 7:15 am. We played in a soccer tournament at a local school. It wasn't quite as cold. We were scheduled to play two games, but only played one.  The second game was forfeited by the opposing team. Once we got home, I took a four hour nap and then just lounged around for the rest of the afternoon. Around 10:30 pm, my toilet overflowed and water was EVERYWHERE!! I thought the toilet would turn off by itself so I threw down some towels. Let me just say that it did not stop. Water came through our ceiling! I was freaking out! My mom and our dogs were pretty excited also. My mom shut off the water and we mopped the floors. Not a fun way to spend Saturday night!

Sunday: My mom and I woke up at 6:00 and got ready for the annual Mardi Gras party that my aunt has! The celebration is in honor of Joe Cain, the man who revived Mardi Gras in our area. When we got to my aunt's house, we ate sausage and biscuits along with the other revelers. After breakfast, everyone went downtown for the Mardi Gras parades. After the parades, we went back to my aunt's house for a potluck buffet and the traditional Mardi Gras King Cake. King Cake is a Mardi Gras pastry decorated in the traditional Mardi Gras colors of purple and gold. Hidden inside the King Cake is a plastic baby. Whoever finds the baby in their piece of cake has to provide the King Cake for the celebration next year. Later that night, five of my friends and I went to see Music and Lyrics, the new Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant movie. It was a really cute movie and I now have the soundtrack on my i-pod.

Monday: I slept until about 10:00 am. My mom, dad, and I met some of our friends, from Virginia, at a local restaurant. We had lunch and visited for awhile. Later that afternoon, we all headed out for a little more Mardi Gras revelry and one more parade. The drum line from my school played in the parade.  They did a great great job!

Tuesday: My mom and I were up again at 6:00. This time we were headed to meet my aunt at her art gallery. She closed the gallery for the day so we could use it for our Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras headquarters. There were thousands of people downtown celebrating Fat Tuesday. Fat Tuesday is the biggest, and the last day, of the Mardi Gras season. Wednesday is Ash Wednesday and marks the beginning of the Lenten season. The square was full or Mardi Gras revelers and people singing karaoke. The last parade rolled at around 6:30 that night and we went home happy and worn out.

Today: Today, is Ash Wednesday. I have given up all soft drinks for Lent. Later tonight, I am going over to a friend's house to hang out and watch a movie with some other kids.

As for the rest of the week: WE ARE OUT OF SCHOOL!!!!!!  I plan on sleeping late and taking it easy.  Soccer practice begins again on Sunday and it will be time to hit the books again on Monday.