La Isla del Encanto

So I FINALLY have internet, and the time to do my update, so here it goes...

It has definitely been a crazy couple of days...lol to say the least. And honestly it all still seems so surreal. Four days later, I still feel like I'm a dream.

Friday was kind of hard cause I was doing a lot of last minute packing, figuring out what i couldn't take so that I wouldn't go over the weight limit, spending time with my family, mentally preparing myself for going on my first plane ride, being in a whole new place, living with people i don't know, having a shower down the hall for the first time, and a whole new climate. So it was kind of alot.

Getting to LAX was crazy because the parking lot that was right next to where i was supposed to go was full, but you couldn't see that it was full until you pulled in and it wouldn't give you the ticket, so then in traffic we had to back up and get let back in and go find a parking lot that was farther, I was kind of freaking out because i didn't want to be late, but of course i was just being over paranoid. So I was going through the lines getting everything checked, and thankfully my luggage made it (44 and 46 lbs lol) So I waited for a while and then it was time for take off!! The flight from LA to ATL was not the most comfortable thing in the world. I am too tall for a plane ride let me tell you. I just couldn't get comfortable, my knees were pressed against the seat in front of my, I was sitting next to this old man and his wife. But atleast I had the window seat so i could look out the window and rest my head on the wall for any sleep that I did get.

We arrived in ATL at 5:50AM as opposed to 6:18 as scheduled. And of course I got dropped off at a terminal that felt like it was practically at the other end from the other terminal that i was supposed to depart from...and man were my carry-ons heavy (I have way too much stuff...but not enough, its a catch-22 :P) I met up with Cristina, this girl from CSUN who i had a class with last fall, who is also here in PR with me. We had breakfast and waited for our flight. Which was a little better this time, i fell asleep the whole three hours. We were about a half hour late arriving into PR because the food carts were late getting to the plane, i thought that was amusing...

Arriving in PR, everything went smoothly, my luggage was there, and the school was there to pick me up, I met like the 10 other NSE/International students that were getting picked and we headed off to our new place to live. Oh man people drive crazy here in PR....lol it makes me feel like i can drive in LA lol.

So pretty much they just dropped us off at the building and said okay we'll see you tomorrow at 8:30 AM...and all of us were like "umm...okay what do we do now" we ended up spending the next hour filling out paperwork for our dorm and getting the keys and getting settled in. I was really lucky because I ended up being assigned a single. Having roommate issues was something that I was really worried about. I haven't had a bad roommate in 2 and half years, and during the time I did have roomie issues I was going home every weekend, and for obvious reasons that would not be possible if that were the case here. So now I can be social, but still come back to have a little privacy.

I know, I know, many of you are looking to see pictures, unfortunately I haven't gotten much of a chance to take a lot of pictures, and much less uploading them since i just got my internet hooked up. I'm kind of just taking in everything, but I promise that I will have some sort of pictures up soon.

So Friday night, we all went out for dinner, and yes we had subway...that was also something else that amused me. We went to Walgreens to get some things that we needed, some groceries...etc...i'm still in need of a fan....

I would say if anything I would have only two complaints about being here...One: THE HUMIDTY! I thought being a child of the desert I knew what heat was, having been in weather over 100 degrees, but no...i did not know true heat until I got to the island. I swear I am trapped in heat bubble and I can't breathe!! Ha ha I am so over dramatic, but whoever knows me knows that too...well only sometimes...and anyways its getting better and i'm getting more used to it.

The second thing that i would say that has been not cool, would be that there are roaches in the building, the first night i only slept one hour because I saw one on the wall and then went to clean everything, and still slept with my mp3 player on and one eye open, but i went and bought raid stuff and its been alright, i definitely know people who have it worse than me.

Saturday, we had our orientation which was kind of a waste because most of it was an H1N1 Lecture. and by lecture i don't necessarily mean how to take care of yourself it was mostly like history and biology stuff, so pretty much what could have been summed up in 5 minutes with, wash your hands, cover your coughs, and don't touch eachother, was a 20 minute lecture, and we were in such a big group for the tour that it wasn't very helpful. But it was good networking and I met alot more of my fellow students.

After orientation we took the bus to Old San Juan, and got off way too early and walked SOO much! I swear these last 4 days i've walked more than i have all summer...But we got a good view of the ocean, and got to see some historical buildings for PR.

Yesterday school started, and I think that I am happy with my classes, lol most people think that I'm Boricua so its kind of funny, and cool at the same time. Well peeps I think thats my update for now its 1:30 AM and I have yet another long day ahead of me tomorrow, so i'll talk to you all soon :*

~Cat