Canisius College

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Oh, man.  This vacation so far has been very good to me.  Not only have I been able to relax and enjoy time with my family with simple pleasurable moments, but I’ve also been able to take time aside and read books of my choice and just be free to do what I please.  Some may say, “Aw man, just a month”, but I say, “Ah yes, a full month”.  I also had the opportunity to visit my high school, which was actually the very first thing I did.

While I was on the train home with some of my high school friends who are currently attending Buffalo State College, we began conversing about taking time apart to visit the teachers and future graduates.  We came back on Thursday, so we decided to visit on Friday.  I got off the train and waited for my brother as he approached 34th St. I got home and began to take in the changes in my house.  The new paint, the new TV, the new coach, different furniture placed in different areas.  I decided to unpack everything in one full shot, rather than holding it off for the next day.  I missed my DVR, which still had some of my favorite shows recording.  As I lay there, with my two pizza slices from the corner pizzeria, I really knew, it was vacation time.  I enjoyed it for a few more minutes and went to bed since on the next day; I still had duty to do.

 

I woke up to the sound of my cell phone vibrating which was actually on my bed for that sole reason.  Functioning without an alarm was something I needed to get used to again.  I woke up, showered, wore my Canisius College sweater and was off to the 6 train uptown to the Bronx.  The trip brought back memories of my days in high school having to get off twice, once for just because this particular train went no further and again just because the train had to skip some stops, including mine, to get back on schedule after a delay earlier on (some of the better reasons why I was late to my first period class (not that there any “good” reasons to be late)).  Anyways, I stopped at the corner store to pick up some good ol’ Fudge Rounds, my favorite treat from the Bodegas in NYC and was surprisingly 10 cents more… can you believe that!  I walked up the infamous hill and entered my school and just like the old days had to remove my belt and all other metal objects and place them in the scanner before passing through the metal detectors.  My high school guidance counselor let my friends and me in as guests.  We saw the old teachers, took some pictures and prepared for some pretty bad news.  We were told that the school is closing down and not accepting any more freshmen as of this year.  It’s just been doing poorly ever since our class graduated.  The seniors were off to their senior trip so we didn’t get to say hi to them.  I began conversing with my English teacher about college and the new things that I’m learning, particularly about life.  I also had to hear that he just might quit acting, and was quite humored by my reaction, “That’s it then?”  After all the catching up was done with, we were informed that we, that is, my friends and I, were given the privilege to speak to our fellow peers and give them a heads up of college on January 7th.  I’m actually proud to be selected and I’ll try my best to encourage the class of 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 to do better and end the Bronx Coalition School for Technology name with a bang.  Other than reminiscing on the high school days, we just continued to talk about our future and how well we’ve been doing in college.  We ended the day together by eating at our favorite pizza shop in our high school days.

 

The next day, my friends, brother and my brother’s girlfriend went out to the theatre on 86th St to watch I am Legend.  Which I personally thought was a great movie.  Not being bias either, as Will Smith is one of my favorite actors.  I felt that he did a great job and the movie ended well.  However, I couldn’t enjoy too much time for me and needed to get to the holiday spirit and obtain the gift of giving.  I went Christmas shopping for my family.  I was given money to buy what ever I please for Christmas from my dad, so I went to gap to buy some clothes only after I purchased gifts for everyone else.  I also even bought myself two great DVDs that I enjoyed a little bit later.  I saw the first one, Superbad, with my first elder brother, and the second, Reign Over Me with my eldest brother in his new apartment in Queens, which he shares with a roommate.  I then spent the next night at my cousin’s house in the Bronx, not only to hang out with him but also in order to get a haircut from my barber without traveling the next day, which was Christmas Eve.

I woke up and my and my cousin ate breakfast and hung out a little while longer before he went to work and I went to get a haircut.  I returned to his house and waited for my other cousins and Aunt to get ready before we headed to my house, where some family members were gathering in order to celebrate Christmas Eve.  We got back home eventually, and I begin to get ready.  We eat delicious food cooked up by my mom and Aunt and waited for others to arrive.  I enjoyed watching my brother and cousin at work producing music.  We also saw The Bourne Ultimatum together and finished it up just before we opened our presents.  I personally got what I wanted which was clothes and money.  I’m not particularly materialistic but I needed to be realistic since I haven’t been shopping in awhile. I’m very grateful for all the my gifts some given to me by people I, unfortunately, did not give gifts to due to the lack of money and knowledge they were celebrating it with us.  We enjoyed our Bachata, Salsa, and Merengue the only way a Hispanic family could.  There was dancing and singing along and then departure.  We said our farewells and enjoyed a good night sleep.

My Cousins Billy, Felipe and Me

The rest of the days up until this point I have truly been relaxing.  I’ve been sleeping late and waking up late.  I’m reading a great book, Russell Simmons’ Do You, which I am truly enjoying.  It is very inspiring and I’m learning a lot from it.  I, however, can’t wait for New Years where my family, even a larger number of them, will enjoy a good night watching the ball drop in my house once again.  I just love it when my family gets together.  I hope to catch up with old high school friends and even meeting new people here in the city that I feel I haven’t explored fully yet.  I also can’t wait for my next visit to my high school where I’ll be presenting a speech.  Till, next time folks.  I’ll keep ya updated.