An Uneventful July 4

Today I was able to make up for the much needed sleep I was deprived of. We planned to go to brunch at Appel at around 11:30, so I set my alarm at 9:55 to leave me a lot of time to shower and get ready. I am a slow person in the morning so I need as much time as I can get. Unfortunately, I woke up late, about 45 minutes late, and I ran and rushed to get everything done. When I went downstairs, no one was down there, so I texted Ramiah and Justine, and they informed me that the time to meet was moved to 12:00PM. I had rushed for nothing.

After brunch, we headed for the carnival arranged by the residence hall RCA's. It was somewhat of a disappointment. When I hear carnival, I imagined in my head fun on a grand and large scale. The carnival turned out to be about five different small activities which included a jumper, a slide, sumo suits, and other activities I do not remember the name of. I was at least able to receive free cotton candy and popcorn. Treats like that never fail to put a smile on my face. Maybe carnivals here are actually like the way it was. Maybe my expectations were just too high. I can't help but think I just have a California mindset where every event amazes me.

I normally spend the Fourth of July with my family. We always have a barbeque in my backyard. Afterwards, we would go out to the Hercules waterfront and watch the fireworks. Being so close to the fireworks is inexplicable. It really gives on a show. This is my first time I was not able to celebrate this national holiday with them, but my homesickness is not consuming me. When I spoke with my mother earlier this week, she told me that they would be no barbeque this July 4 because my aunties, uncles, and counsins are busy. Therefore, I did not feel as if I was missing out on much. I was having the same amount of "fun" they were having.

To answer the question about my family, I call them on a regular basis just to let them know how I am doing, and they seem to be managing fine. Being at Cornell does not only prepare me for college, but also prepares them for me going off to college. I have no guarantee of whether I will be home for college or go away, so letting me go for three weeks will help them learn about any difficulties that come with my departure for college. Everything at home though is fine. Sure, my sister has some extra babysitting to do and there are a lot of more chores that my mother and my sisters have to do on my behalf, but that is about it. You have to think about it though, at least I am not at home using the electricity and using all the water for my showers. This saves some money, and I think my mother would like that. =)

~Louisa

P.S. NetPrint is very easy, no hassle at all. When I set up my account, an automatic $20.00 is already loaded onto it. For hotel management, there aren't that many assignment that we have to print, so I have not used up the $20.00 yet. It is only about $0.08 per page, so I do not think it is that bad. When you want to print something, a small screen pops up and asks for your Netid and password, so it can charge your account. After that, the page prints. Easy as pie.