Hey, here I am again. When I was writing my last post, I planned to write this one right after getting back from Florida. Turns out, though, that today is January 14th, and it only took me 3 posts not to keep updating my blog as often as I wanted to! Well, I am still here, so I hope I don't give up on it that soon.
Anyway. Christmas break could not have been better. I spent a couple days at my brother's school in Jacksonville until my cousin Yuri, who goes to school in Iowa, came to see us. We then bought our Mega Bus tickets to go to Orlando (13 dollars each, and this is only because we bought them the night before, otherwise they would have been even cheaper. Gotta love America!), where my parents would arrive, on the 28th. We left on the 26th and stayed at a friend's house. Stephanie and her mom met Stefano when they were in the process of coming to the U.S for college, and they have been really good friends since then. Her mom, Sonize, also got to meet me and my family in Brazil, and we went out for dinner by the end of the summer break once or twice. After arriving in Florida, they took us to visit Disney Downtown at night and, on the 27th, we spent the day shopping and talking about absolutely everything until late at night. Sonize made us dinner, and from around 8pm to 2:30am, we talked about our lives and how much it has changed after coming here, our plans for the future, fears, and much much more. If there is one thing I love is to have these kinda conversation with people, no matter who they might be. It makes me get situated with myself. I makes me listen to other's stories and opinions and learn tons of things from them.
Next day, me, my brother and Yuri had to wake up really early and call a taxi for us to get to the airport, where my parents would be arriving, at 8:30am. I was very excited, but maybe more anxious about their safe arrival (I know it may sound stupid, but I think I will hate airplanes until the last day of my life). After waiting a good amount of time at the airport, I remember seeing their little faces from far, far away. What a great feeling! Life turns from great to absolutely wonderful in just like 5 seconds. Awesome. Family was reunited again. My parents spent 9 days with us (a surprise, since their job hardly allows them to be away for this long), and the plan was to go to Stephanie's place to say hello to them and have a little breakfast, drive up all the way back to Jacksonville (for two days) so they could get to visit my brother's school and city, then go to Miami and, lastly, all the way down to Key West. The trip was perfect. My dad is always the one who plans the entire trip when we are traveling together. It is so funny. It goes all the way from renting the car to learning the history of the places that we are going to pass by, to the best and most affordable hotels to stay at, to what kinds of places and restaurants are worth stopping by, and so on. I know there is a reason for him to act this way, though. I guess the first time my dad traveled abroad was when I was 11, when my family and a couple friends went to Disneyland, in Orlando, hahah! Having said that, traveling is, to him, a big event, so he obviously wants to make sure everything goes right and also that the moment we are together is as good as it can be. You know, since I came here to go to college, things at home have changed a bit. My brother stayed in the country and started school there, but last year he suddenly decided he wanted to finish it in the U.S as well. His good grades and English tests allowed him to have a great scholarship opportunity, so he did not waste it. Since August, 2012, then, there is only mom and dad at home. As soon as my brother left home, I got reaaally worried about those two! Our family has always been close to each other, and, in my mind, I started to think that boredom, sadness and that feeling of emptiness were going to take place in their hearts. According to them, though, they are happy that we are both here and successfully going through this whole different experience. They might say that just so I don't get worried about them, but I truly hope they have been managing the change well and even giving more attention to each other, which they always have, since they got married, 25 or more years ago.
For new year's day, we drove down to Orlando to meet up with the two ladies again, and by around 11am, right on December 31th, we all had no clue where to go to celebrate it! It turned out that someone mentioned driving a couple miles to Celebration City, a small and pretty place where people usually spend the last day of the year. After getting there, we had dinner, grabbed some coffee (I was glad I had a cup of coffee in hands to celebrate it. Coffee certainly had not been my drink of choice for celebrations of any kind for a little while), enjoyed the live music and walked around until the fireworks started. I remember saying "yaaay, happy new yeaaaar" to everyone, while feeling that explosion of happiness and well-being. I have become so conscious of how difficult it is for the family to be together and how much my parents value it that, now, those few minutes make it all worth it. I felt so blessed when I was there, laughing and hugging them, and still am, for knowing, more than ever before, how important we are to each other. This is absolutely one of the things I would not have realized if I had stayed at home all this time. To appreciate the family I have, and to see how essential I am to each of them and vice versa.
On January 1st, we arrived at Key West. Wonderful place. The only way to get there by car is to drive through a long bridge on the water, and the view is crazy. The city itself is not any different and, if that was not enough, when we got to our hotel, the lady said "you guys happened to get an upgrade on the room you guys were supposed to stay because of the new years holiday," and so we simply stayed pretty much at a comfy house facing the ocean. Not bad at aaaalll!
Me and the guys went on a two-hour jet ski ride to see the city through the sea. My dad said I have done it before when I was young, but I don't remember, so, to me, it was the first time I was driving one. My thought about it? Jet skis are such a fun and dangerous toys! 45 miles an hour on the water made me love it, even though I was like "maaaan, if I do any shit wrong, I am dead!! hahaha." Great views, great time, awesome experience. Still alive. :)
Okay, I don't actually feel like writing anymore.
After Key West, we went up to Miami, then back to Orlando. Time to say goodbye to mommy and daddy, ouhhnn =/ haha. After that, me, brother and cousin got back to Jacksonville, where we were finally going back to our schools. I got to RMU last Tuesday (the 8th), and have been trying to enjoy it as much as possible.
So many thoughts and feelings about the fact that I am graduating in May (I might write about this topic next time). Wow! These 4 years honestly took a long time to pass by, but once you actually get to the last year, then last semester, and similarly to the last month, week, etc., you do think: "Mama miaaa, time fliesss!! It all went so fast!!" haha. I so want to stay! I love this place, I love the life I have here. It will be sad to leave. It will be great to leave, sit down on the couch, and look back to the best 4 years of my life.
zZZzzzzZzzZzzZZ
Good night!
Isa
