Memoirs of a Mustang: Grade 14

PUERTO RICO INTERLUDES FUQ YA

From yesterday.

PRI 01: Echemos un Vistazo Alrededor
Breakfast was toast and orange juice.

We went out for a little drive around the area to give Natacha some rest (apparently Anthony [my baby brother] wasn't very cooperative last night). I didn't touch on this in the prologue entry, but this place is amazing. There is so much green around, and it is beautiful. There's this one stretch of road where the tops of the trees on either side meet above the middle of the road and touch; it's like a tunnel. The architecture overall looks different from Canada's.

Lunch was grilled cheese, chips and milk.

For the afternoon, we went to the Bacardi rum factory on the island. Apparently this is the largest one in the world. We each got to have two drinks. I chose Watermelon and Dragon Berry. They were both really good. We went for a little tour of the factory. It was nice.

Dinner was nachos and milk.

Anthony was pretty cranky this evening. He never seems to be in a good mood when he's awake. Asleep, he's an angel.

From yesterday.

PRI 02: No se Puede Cortar el Césped
Breakfast was pancakes and orange juice.

Dad, Caley and I went to various grocery stores to shop. Dad was looking for white chocolate but couldn't find any. As we were leaving one parking lot, we noticed several shopping carts just lying around. Not randomly, mind you. They were centered perfectly in parking spaces. I'd call laziness, but I'm not so sure.

Lunch was hot dogs, cheddar cheese, chips, an apple and milk.

Dad wanted me to help mow the lawn today, but the grass was too wet. It went from rainless to pouring to rainless again in under two minutes.

Dinner was nachos and milk.

I never really appreciated the idea of a warm winter. But now that I'm here, it's actually pretty cool. It's a tad bit too hot for us, but it's fun to have summery weather in December.

PRI 03: No Salte a la Piscina
Breakfast was Frosted Flakes.

We walked down to the mailboxes to pick up mail. No mail, but I got to get a good look at the houses around here. They're all very colourful (the same few colours, though).

Lunch was a balgona sub on superfresh market-bread, an apple and milk. With homemade white fudge for dessert.

So Dad wanted to go swimming, so Caley and I joined him at the public pool. You see, Dad and Natacha live in a gated community. It's why all the houses look the same. And there's a public pool. I saw two lizards crawling on a tree. The water was real nice. Dad says that no one uses the pool at this time of year, because to them this is still like winter.

Dinner was HOMEMADE PIZZA and milk. With homemade brownies for dessert.

Dad likes to cook.

'dad lilkes to cook' lmao wtf


also, there have been more lunches than not in this journey where you have an apple and milk.

From yesterday.

PRI 04: Feliz Navidad
Breakfast was toast and orange juice.

Opened a few presents for Christmas. I got a shirt and socks.

Lunch was leftover pizza, cheddar cheese, an apple and milk.

We celebrated this winter holiday; by watching How to Train your Dragon and going swimming at the public pool. In our defense, it's a really good movie.

Dinner was turkey, corn, mashed potatoes, stuffing and cranberry sauce. So much cranberry sauce. No one else here likes it. Dad got a can just for me.

So good.

From yesterday.

PRI 05: A la Playa
Breakfast was toast and orange juice.

We went for a short walk to get mail again. Caley and I just realized that the wall of the gated community we live in is lined with rather large spikes. That is ever so slightly unnerving.

Lunch was leftover Thanksgiving dinner, with cheddar cheese.

Today we went down to the beach. My only other experience with saltwater was Nova Scotia during the summer. It's winter here and the water is significantly warmer. Also, saltwater is incredibly salty. Never let that be understated. It really was pretty. There was a big rock nearby that we climbed.

After the beach, Dad took Caley and I to a little shop on the side of the road to buy us coconut water. It was amazing. The guy takes fresh coconuts, chops them in front of us with a massive machete, chunks flying everywhere, and just sticks a straw inside. The juice itself was alright. It was like a carrot; mostly water with a tinge of flavour.

Dinner was Stroganov (sp?), this pasta in a cheesy sauce with chicken chunks strewn about.

Strewn about.

PRI 06: Ir de Viaje
Breakfast was toast and orange juice.

Today was Big Trip Day. Dad, Caley and I (Natacha stayed with Anthony) drove down to the Arecibo Observatory, the largest in the world. The drive was terrible. I mean, it was beautiful, but it was so mountainous that I nearly threw up. I hate car rides, I hate them.

The observatory doesn't look like what you're thinking. No big dome with a telescope sticking out. It's a giant bowl-ish dish in the ground. It makes images by capturing radio waves. There's a "small" dish (the big dish in the ground is, like, the size of a neighbourhood. This dish is bigger than a car) strung up above by cables attached to three massive towers circling the big dish. The small dish receives the bounced waves. We just hung out by the building built near the edge of the cliffside.

For lunch, we went to a restaurant on the side of the road. We each got a whole small chicken, rice and beans. Didn't have room for either the rice or beans after that chicken. Also I had orange Fanta. And we saw a rooster walking outside. It literally crossed the road.

After lunch, we went for a tour of these caves in Puerto Rico. I forgot their official name, Dad would just call them the Caves. Apparently it's a great tour. For the longest time we didn't know, because the line-up was horrendous. Had to wait nearly 2 hours for a 1.5 hour tour. Was it worth the wait? YES. The caves were gorgeous. They're big, and the light peaks through in really cool ways at the entrance and then it gets real dark and the caves are awesome.

Dinner was stir fry (with rice in place of noodles) and milk.

I'm thirsty. Gonna eat an apple tonight.

PRI 07: Vaka Chon
Breakfast was Frosted Flakes.

Mowed the back yard today. This whole week the rain has kept my Dad and I from completing the cutting. Actually, it doesn't rain as much as the Weather Network says. The report in general for Puerto Rico is horrifically inaccurate. The trend for the highs and lows is a straight line, and every day has the same predictions for weather. It's not like that in reality.

Lunch was hot dogs, chips, an apple and milk. Cheddar cheese later.

Went to the pool again. There was actually other people this time, at least for a while.

For dinner, we went out to Vaka Chon (we think it's a pun of vacation), a nearby restaurant. The menu consisted of massive dishes with appropriately massive prices. The idea is that your family/group of friends would choose one item, and split it amongst yourselves. We got ribs, french fries and rice. I got a Coca to drink. The place was pretty nice. They had parrots. Parrots scream loud.

From yesterday.

PRI 08: Nada
Breakfast was toast and orange juice.

Nothin', really.

Lunch was a turkey sandwich, leftover rice from PRI 06, an apple, cheddar cheese and milk.

Went to the pool again.

Dinner was chicken covered in this sort of sauce, I don't know how to describe it, and hickory sticks on top. With milk.

Today nothing really happened.

Edited PRI 05 with tales of coconut water.

From yesterday.

PRI 09: Old San Juan
Breakfast was toast.

Dad, Caley and I went down to Old San Juan, a town on the island constructed back in the 1400s. We walked down narrow streets, occasionally slipping in the process (this island is so fuckin' slippery. Seriously, everything). And there's a fantastic view of the ocean, best so far. We stopped at a cafe for snacks. I got an apple juice and this thing. It was like a short, wide muffin. It was good.

Then we went to the beach of Candado. It was amazing. The waves here were massive. Seriously, it's been my favourite part of the Interludes so far. Dad and Caley both lost their sunglasses in the water. The waves are that big.

Lunch back home was a turkey sandwich, an apple, cheddar cheese, leftover rice from Vaka Chon, and milk.

Didn't really do much in the afternoon because Anthony was super-cranky.

Dinner was HOMEMADE PIZZA and milk.

Anthony continues to cry.

From Tuesday.

PRI 10: Feliz Año Nuevo
Breakfast was toast.

This evening, we were invited next door to the New Year's Eve party. It was in a garage, but a nicely furnished garage (Dad says garages here are like that). Had this one drink that was, apparently, about 90% alcohol. Sure felt like it.

The people there were friendly. They actually had a potluck going on. Mind you, I've already had dinner (nachos). The food was pretty good though. There was this one thing. It looked like a sausage at first glance, and then split like a banana. Guess what it was. A potato.

Our neighbours really like their music loud and at 4am. Oh, no, that's not for New Years. They just do that in general. Maybe it's just for the Holidays.

From yesterday.

PRI 11: Mi Familia está Cansada
Breakfast was Krispy Kreme donuts. We are taken care of here.
Lunch was still turkey sandwich, with other stuff.
Dinner was homemade Chinese food.

No one was really in the mood to go out, because Dad and Natacha were out until midnight last night. Mind you, they normally go to bed at around 8:00, in anticipation of being woken up by Anthony later in the night.

PRI 12: Hacer una Caminata
Breakfast was pancakes.

Dad took Caley and I to El Yunque, a rainforest. For a hike, there sure was a lot of driving to get there. Worth it though. It's very mountainous; the actual trails start at the top of one mountain. The forest is, of course, beautiful. Still slippery. Moreso than usual. The paths are irregularly paved, frequently steep and uncomfortably narrow. Doesn't help that there's a bunch of people trying to take the same path as us. You cannot fit two people side by side on the path about half of the time.

Lunch was KFC. I got a Big Crunch, fries and Pepsi.

We visited Candado Beach again. So fun. I think the waves were actually bigger this time around.

Dinner was hamburgers, fries and storebought frozen corn-on-the-cob. Didn't like the corn. Mushy.

From yesterday.

PRI 13: Barceloneta
Breakfast was SAUSAGE PATTIES.

We went to the town of Barceloneta with the family to do the shopping. Well, really we just went into clothing stores. Caley got a dress and shoes.

Lunch was another turkey sandwich, an apple, cheddar cheese and milk.

Went to the pool again. The water was actually kind of cold today. Never trust the Weather Network when it comes to small islands.

Dinner was stroganov again.

PRI 14: Fin del Camino
Breakfast was SAUSAGE PATTIES.
Lunch was hot dogs, an apple, cheddar cheese and milk.

Went to the pool for the last time this trip. We tried dipping Anthony in the water today. He hasn't liked the water for as long as Caley and I have been here, but he finally seemed okay today.

We went out for dinner tonight. A restaurant in Dorado. We got plates of appetizers: chicken wings, pork nuggets, and dolphin bites, with french fries all around. They were good. Good dolphin bites.

Dad made a chocolate cake for Caley's birthday, because her actual birthday is tomorrow, the day we leave. Oh, yeah, this is the last day of the trip. We're going home tomorrow.

Well.

Sunday was pretty standard. First flight was longer, on the largest plane yet. I was on the edge of the middle column of seats, so I didn't get a good view of outside. I did, however, get the window seat on the second flight. The moon had waxed enough to really brighten the clouds. It was beautiful.

Monday was insane. We had stayed the night at our aunt and uncle's house in Grimsby and woke up at 6:00am to leave with our uncle at 7:15 for Alderschott in order to board an 8:15 train to London but we were late but so was the train so we got on and we made it London but Caley and I were still a ways away from our houses so we waited for a cab but it took forever and it is really really really cold out so Caley called on her phone for a cab and we waited really really long and a cab showed up and it was warm and aaaaaaaaAAAAA.

But I'm home now. That's what matters.

AND THUS ENDS THE PUERTO RICO INTERLUDES. I hope you had fun (but mostly I hope you finally give me the code. Your wife can't hold her breath in the shark pit forever). Tune in this week, where I kick off a NewGame+!

Old friends!

CWC E-mail wrote:First Writing Gathering of 2014 on Thursday January 9th:

New foes!

Office of the Registrar wrote:Western to resume full operations Wednesday morning

Courses will begin! Paths will be taken! COOKIES WILL BE EATEN MAYBE HOPEFULLY OH PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!

CWC E-mail wrote:There may or may not be cookies . . .

Abdelrahman wrote:You need to stop by sometime.

Cheese Guy wrote:Cheeeeeeeese

Cephalo the Pod wrote:Don't you dare do this to me. You knew from the start that this was the #1 priority. Don't pull this shit on me! I CAN'T TAKE IT!

Cedric wrote:Open your eyes! You've been running all this time, never even bothering to look at the ground and see your feet swinging in the air.

Mustangs:
RIDE ON!!!

Entry 091: SnowDay+!
So, funny thing. Last night, all classes for today were cancelled. So I've got the whole day off. Best, might return ever.

Breakfast was Apple-Cinnamon Cheerios.
Lunch was a peanut-butter sandwich, cheddar cheese, Ritz, an apple and chocolate milk.
Dinner was a cheeseburger, bow-tie pasta, an apple and chocolate milk.

First full-fledged Snow Day in years.

CEDRIC! CEDRIC! DECRID!

Kason Birdman wrote:CEDRIC! CEDRIC! DECRID!

Excited for something?

Entry 092: YES?
7:30-Breakfast was CHOCOLATE CHIP WAFFLES and orange juice.
8:30-Sweet everloving fuck-nuttles it's cold. Had Calculus now.
10:30-Lunch was a peanut-butter sandwich, cheddar cheese, Ritz, and an apple. Well, the Ritz were actually a fine powder after being contained in the same space as a heavy apple.

11:30-CBE 2207B, Organic2. Compared to the last Organic teacher I had, this guy is magnificent. Still a tad bit awkward, expecting us to have answers even when we make it clear we don't know. Also, he'll explain something, and then to confirm that we understand, he just

Organic2 Professor wrote:YES?

But he has plenty of energy, he talks quick and loud, and he pays attention to us. I like him. Today, all we did was review alcohols.

12:30-CBE 2224B, Thermodynamics2. This professor was delightful, even better than the one I just had. He's expressive, he's conversational, he's competent. We reviewed P-v tables.
1:30-S 2143B, Statistics. THREE FOR THREE!! Nothing spectacular, but he's loud and clear. The stuff we did was pretty simple, just some basic probability. I remain cautious.

Dinner was a cheeseburger, bow-tie pasta, a carrot and milk.

Why weren't my professors this good last semester?

same here man my profs this term so far are way better than my profs last term. with the exception of my comp theory prof who was a very old jewish man, yet the best prof i've ever had.

From yesterday.

Entry 093: Thursdays are the Best
7:30-Breakfast was CHOCOLATE CHIP WAFFLES and orange juice.
8:30-CBE 2291, Computational Methods for Engineers (which will, from here on out, be referred to as CPUMath). It looks to be a fun course. The program we use is described as a higher-function programming language, and it can solve all sorts of math problems. I imagine it will be a lot like Programming from last year. The professor is alright, pretty standard. He has a slight German accent.

10:30-Thermodynamics2. Slow class.
11:30-Statistics tutorial (actually, I think I'll call it "Odds" cause it's really all about probability). Solved problems as a class.

1:00-Lunch was a peanut-butter sandwich, Ritz, cheddar cheese, an apple, and milk. And MR. NOODLES! FUCK YEAH MR. NOODLES!!!
5:00-Dinner was a cheeseburger, bow-tie pasta, a carrot and milk.

6:00-First CWC meeting of the new year. We did a writing prompt that started with a guy failing his New Years Resolution within two weeks - the resolution being "don't kill anyone". I made mine about a guy who has the uncontrollable power to set people on fire with his mind. I could use this for Complete Control.

Thursday has never disappointed me.

Entry 094: Those Little Journeys
7:30-Breakfast was CHOCOLATE CHIP WAFFLES and orange juice.
8:30-Calculus, more on the wave equation.
9:30-CBE 2221B, Fluid Flow. The course sounds cool, the professor is okay. Nothing special.
10:30-Calculus tutorial.

12:00-Lunch was a peanut-butter sandwich, cheddar cheese, Ritz, and an apple.
1:30-Odds, we learned about independent events.
3:00-So I need to go to the dentist for a check-up, because it's been a while since my last. I go to the dental clinic, but they tell me they have a six-month waiting period. But they tell me I can just print off my insurance information and go to a dentist elsewhere for a check-up. But I need to print off the information at Student Services. But actually I need to go to the Mustang Lounge.

So what did I get out of this? A piece of paper for one. And I got to explore a little piece of campus I'd never been to before.

Dinner was a cheeseburger, bow-tie pasta, a carrot and milk.
Tomorrow there's a big WARP event. That is yes.