Hey Everyone!
This is my first entry from home, New York City and the last 9 days I’ve spent here have been fun, exciting and full of adventure. The five days I spent in Daytona after my last entry were normal and I spent some time trying to get everything settled work-wise before I left. I did miss two days of classes (which is not bright) but for the most part, my professors were ok with it, because I let them know in advance. That was one long week, however. Finally, I left Daytona for home.

I didn’t stay at home long, because the day after I went home, I went up to Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York to visit my friend Stefanie. Skidmore is a really beautiful campus, because as many of you may know, autumn in the northeast is a great sight to behold. Skidmore is more of a liberal arts school, so I was around the type of people I went to high school with, and that was comforting. Even though I love it here at Embry-Riddle, it still is a big difference because I am the only person from my high school to come here in my year.

Speaking of my high school, the day before Thanksgiving is traditionally alumni day. So I made the journey into Lower Manhattan to go see the friends and teachers that made high school so great for me. That was so much fun. I didn’t realized how much I missed everyone and I was so happy to see everyone. These people from Stuyvesant High School are going to be my friends for life so it is a big deal that we went about three months apart. The biggest thing though was, my high school friends read my journals, which surprised me, so the compliments I received for this really boosted my self-esteem. (Not that it needs any more boosts.)

I finally tied my last loose end of high school. I spent last year producing a DVD for my class’ yearbook, but unfortunately, all of them weren’t printed by June so we finally gave out a bulk of them to the class. I put a lot of work into it so finally getting to give them out was a huge relief.. Watching it with about 30 of my friends in a small living room on a 12 inch computer screen wasn’t too bad either.

For Thanksgiving Day, I went to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. This was interesting because I haven’t been to the parade since I used to watch it from my Mother’s office when I was really young. The parade was amazing and worth standing in freezing temperatures for hours. There was one really cool band from Ohio, and although I do not remember their name, I loved the few minutes of seeing them pass.

Ok, now I know everyone wants to know about the balloons because they are the most famous part of the parade. I had so much fun watching them float past because I absolutely love kiddy things. Things like Disney movies keep me young so I always am doing something fun and childish.

I had tons of fun on my vacation, but now, it is back to work. We only have a week and half of the semester left so it is time to finish everything up. I think I have had a great first semester and to ruin it by slacking off would be foolish. So the theme for the next 3 weeks will be, studying. Finals are fast approaching and I have to be ready for them.

Back to work,
Until next time,
Carlos