After my dad, sister, and I walked along the several mile stretch of beach and took dozens of pictures in the sand we decided to go back to our dinky room to shower and get ready for dinner. We all decided that tonight we were going to eat at Senor Frogs. My sister and I, being the divas that we are, wanted to dress up all cute for dinner. I wore a white beach-style dress that I bought in the Bahamas and my sister wore a black strapless dress. When we finally all got ready, we walked down to the lobby to wait for the shuttle bus to come pick us up to take us downtown.
It was only a short ride to downtown and we still had enough sunlight to take a few more dozen pictures of our goofy selves. My sister and I took a picture next to two statue frogs and gave them a big kiss on the cheek. Finally after scoping all the scenery that downtown had to offer we suddenly became really hungry and walked back to Senor Frogs for some food. We entered this cute little restaurant shack and was immediately seated to an extremely small round table. The Mexican waiter took our drink orders, and since the drinking age was only 18, I was excited to legally order my first drink. I ordered a blue frozen drink that came in a huge palm-tree shaped plastic cup. I think I was more excited about the cup than the actual frozen drink. My sister ordered a banana-rum drink and it was placed in the same 22 oz. palm tree cup. My dad, being the typical guy he is, ordered a massive draft beer. My sister and I took even more pictures of us with our drinks. When the waiter finally came back around he took our food order. Since I was in the homeland of authentic Mexican food, I ordered a jumbo enchilada. My sister ordered a cheeseburger and my dad ordered a gigantic burrito with all the fixings.
When our food was being prepared in the back, a small senorita came over to our table with a whistle in her mouth, shot glass in one hand, and a bottle of tequila in the other. We were not sure what she was doing at “our” table but she suddenly filled up the shot glass with tequila and shoved it down my dad’s throat. Before he could even respond to what intitally happened, the senorita shoved another shot down his throat and spun his head in circles to make him dizzy. I have several pictures on my camera of this scene. The Mexican worker then came over to me and repeated the act she did on my dad. By this time I didn’t know what was going on. She went away to bother another table with tequila.
We ate our delicious dinner, drank our strong drinks and left with a hefty bill. The senorita charged us for those shots! They were $3.00 a shot, and we each had 2. I figured these shots were going to be free because we didn’t even ask for them in the first place!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Blog # 31: CANCUN 1
While approaching the runway for landing I gazed at the beautiful sight of Cancun’s bright blue beach. I have been to several beaches and this one is by far the prettiest due to the bright color. It went from white, to aqua, to turquoise, and finally faded into a deep sea blue.
After we finally landed I sighed with relief because I was ready to start my vacation! We picked up our luggage and immediately had to go through security and customs. I got my passport out for the fifth time on this journey and was ready to put it away for this trip. After we cleared security it was time to travel through the small airport and catch a ride from a taxi to our resort.
The trip to the resort almost made me sick. Not only were the roads extremely curvy, but the taxi driver drove like he was a race car racer. He had no respect for the people involved. I hung onto the “oh-shit handle” for dear life. I finally realized there was a seatbelt within the car and immediately put it on for extra safety. What I saw on the ride to the resort was amazing. Palm trees, Mexicans, and tourist were everywhere. I knew I defiantly was not in Kansas anymore!
When we arrived to the Laguna Suites we were immediately greeted by three Mexicans to take our bags inside the lobby area. While my dad was checking us in, my sister, dad, and I were given a pale green mojito as a “welcome drink.” I slurped that thing faster than anyone could imagine. I was ready for some “Mexican-style” drinks to come my way. After checking in we went to our room just around the corner. The resort was very remote and something I wasn’t used to. All the other resorts I have stayed at on my other island vacations were very large, with hundreds of tourist, and all-inclusive. I knew this resort was not going to be near as enjoyable as the resorts I stayed at in Aruba, Dominican Republic, and Bahamas but I was willing to make the best of it. We unpacked our luggage and immediately jumped into our bikinis and wanted to head to the beach. To our surprise, our resort was not on the beach. I was very disappointed at this point! We had to ride a shuttle bus to a bigger resort in order to go to the beautiful blue beach. It was only about a five minute ride to Sunset Royal, one of the biggest resorts in Cancun. We arrived and I immediately wished we were staying there because it was absolutely breath taking.
The reason why we were staying at the Laguna Suites is because that resort was the only resort included in our package. My dad won this entire trip through a golf tournament and we only had to pay for our flight out of Kansas City. Since this was basically a free trip, I was not going to complain a single time!
After we finally landed I sighed with relief because I was ready to start my vacation! We picked up our luggage and immediately had to go through security and customs. I got my passport out for the fifth time on this journey and was ready to put it away for this trip. After we cleared security it was time to travel through the small airport and catch a ride from a taxi to our resort.
The trip to the resort almost made me sick. Not only were the roads extremely curvy, but the taxi driver drove like he was a race car racer. He had no respect for the people involved. I hung onto the “oh-shit handle” for dear life. I finally realized there was a seatbelt within the car and immediately put it on for extra safety. What I saw on the ride to the resort was amazing. Palm trees, Mexicans, and tourist were everywhere. I knew I defiantly was not in Kansas anymore!
When we arrived to the Laguna Suites we were immediately greeted by three Mexicans to take our bags inside the lobby area. While my dad was checking us in, my sister, dad, and I were given a pale green mojito as a “welcome drink.” I slurped that thing faster than anyone could imagine. I was ready for some “Mexican-style” drinks to come my way. After checking in we went to our room just around the corner. The resort was very remote and something I wasn’t used to. All the other resorts I have stayed at on my other island vacations were very large, with hundreds of tourist, and all-inclusive. I knew this resort was not going to be near as enjoyable as the resorts I stayed at in Aruba, Dominican Republic, and Bahamas but I was willing to make the best of it. We unpacked our luggage and immediately jumped into our bikinis and wanted to head to the beach. To our surprise, our resort was not on the beach. I was very disappointed at this point! We had to ride a shuttle bus to a bigger resort in order to go to the beautiful blue beach. It was only about a five minute ride to Sunset Royal, one of the biggest resorts in Cancun. We arrived and I immediately wished we were staying there because it was absolutely breath taking.
The reason why we were staying at the Laguna Suites is because that resort was the only resort included in our package. My dad won this entire trip through a golf tournament and we only had to pay for our flight out of Kansas City. Since this was basically a free trip, I was not going to complain a single time!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Blog #30: A Starbucks day
Around 2:40 am today I woke up for no reason. I never can stay asleep the entire night and it gets really annoying for me because I wake up at 3:30 every day. My alarm goes off at exactly 3:30 today and I really didn’t want to get up. I just wanted to go back to sleep for several hours. Thankfully I know that I have unlimited access to coffee once I get to work, so that gets me motivated to get up and get ready. I get ready by putting on makeup and pulling my hair up into a ponytail. We have a very strict dress code at Starbucks so I put on a black skirt, black hose, and a black turtleneck sweater. I hardly ever wear jewelry because it just gets in the way. Today I decided to wear a scarf with my outfit because it was very cold outside when I went to go start my car. Once I got to work around 4:15 am just like every morning, I just listened to my iPod while waiting for my boss to get there to open the store. I am usually the first person there every morning because I have a phobia of being late.
Once we finally got into the store I move into action so we can be ready by 5:00 am for our wonderful customers. We used to have 3 people to open the store every morning but the past month it is has only been me and a shift manager. When there are only 2 people who open the store I have to work twice as fast. The first thing I do when I get there is clock in and then put my belongings in the back room. I then rinse all the coffee urns with hot water, put espresso in the espresso machine, and fill the pastry case with our morning pastries. After I have everything under control I put on a headset to wait for our early birds to come through the drive-thru. We usually don’t get really busy until around 7:00 am and that last until 10:00 am. There are many customers that I see every single day. My very favorite customer is an older guy and his name is Tim Sanders. He only wants me to make his drink which consist of 4 shots of espresso with mocha and white mocha sauce. It is topped with steamed milk and a heart shaped mocha swirl. I call it a cup of love because I love seeing him every day.
Today I got off work around 10:15 am and was glad I didn’t have class today due to my Anatomy lab doesn’t start up until next Thursday. I was going to head over to the Heskett Center for a quick run, but I had a pounding headache from the day’s work and it was super cold outside. I went home to relax for a bit, checked my e-mail, and logged onto facebook. I really needed to catch up on some of my DVR’d shows on television. I started off watching 2 American Idol shows and then I watched “The Biggest Loser” from Tuesday night. I never have time to watch television anymore. Hopefully this weekend I can catch up. That is all until next time!
Once we finally got into the store I move into action so we can be ready by 5:00 am for our wonderful customers. We used to have 3 people to open the store every morning but the past month it is has only been me and a shift manager. When there are only 2 people who open the store I have to work twice as fast. The first thing I do when I get there is clock in and then put my belongings in the back room. I then rinse all the coffee urns with hot water, put espresso in the espresso machine, and fill the pastry case with our morning pastries. After I have everything under control I put on a headset to wait for our early birds to come through the drive-thru. We usually don’t get really busy until around 7:00 am and that last until 10:00 am. There are many customers that I see every single day. My very favorite customer is an older guy and his name is Tim Sanders. He only wants me to make his drink which consist of 4 shots of espresso with mocha and white mocha sauce. It is topped with steamed milk and a heart shaped mocha swirl. I call it a cup of love because I love seeing him every day.
Today I got off work around 10:15 am and was glad I didn’t have class today due to my Anatomy lab doesn’t start up until next Thursday. I was going to head over to the Heskett Center for a quick run, but I had a pounding headache from the day’s work and it was super cold outside. I went home to relax for a bit, checked my e-mail, and logged onto facebook. I really needed to catch up on some of my DVR’d shows on television. I started off watching 2 American Idol shows and then I watched “The Biggest Loser” from Tuesday night. I never have time to watch television anymore. Hopefully this weekend I can catch up. That is all until next time!
Blog # 29: First Day of School
Today started like every other weekday for me. I wake up at 3:30 in the morning and get ready for work. I then arrive at Starbucks where I am a barista at approximately 4:15 early in the morning. I worked until about 8:30 today and rush off to Wichita State to start my first day of school. I was very nervous in starting a brand new semester this spring. My first class of the day was Men and Masculinity with 250 students. This was the largest class I have ever taken. We didn’t do much in that class, but by judging my teacher's personality I knew I was going to like that class. My second class was English 101 and was significantly a smaller class than my first one. I liked how we were able to partner up with someone we didn’t know and asked personal questions about them. My third class was Human Anatomy and Physiology. I was quite surprised that I knew three people in my class with one of them being the supplement instructor for the class. The supplement instructor is the tutor for the entire class who helps students who are struggling. I didn’t really pay that much attention because we were only going over the syllabus. After my Anatomy class ended I had a 2 hour gap before my last class of the day begun. I decided to go to the Heskett Center to work out for a bit. I started to work out in the weightlifting room and I completely felt like the outcast because I was the only girl working out in there. After I left the weightlifting room I went to the cardio room to run for 20 minutes. I still had about 30 minutes until my last class started, so I rinsed off in the shower. My last class for the day was Meditation. I was really excited about taking this class because I felt like I needed a relaxing class to relieve some stress. Our teacher didn't show up, so the yoga teacher decided to show us some yoga. Last semester I took yoga and I absolutely loved every minute of it. After we were dismissed from class around 5:30 in the evening I was ready to go home. After I finally got home around 6:00, I got ready for bed and waited for my mom to come home for dinner. I was extremely hungry because I forgot to pack a lunch with me while I was at school all day. My mom put in a frozen pizza in the oven, and while we waited we ate salads. After dinner I watched the news like I do every night. I honestly can’t remember what was on the news because I was so out of it from exhaustion. I know Wednesdays are going to be very long for me this semester. When 7:00 finally rolled around I finally decided it was time for bed since I had to wake up at 3:30 tomorrow and start all over.
Blog # 28: Dodge Charge 2010 SuperBowl commercial
For this blog entry the English 101 class was ordered to watch a youtube video online. The video was titled “Dodge Charger 2010 SuperBowl commercial. This commercial only exceeded a smidge over a minute time frame but sent out a powerful message within the short time.
Throughout the entire commercial there was a man as the narrator speaking in monotone for all men in the commercial. I believe the man speaking was Michael C. Hall. The first man speaking was lying down on a bed fully clothed and appeared to look wide awake. His line was short and he said “I will get up and walk the dog at 6:30 A.M, I will eat some fruit as part of my breakfast. I will shave, I will clean the sink after I shave.” The second man speaking looked tired as he sat in what appeared to be a small fast food restaurant. His line was also short and to the point. The black man said “I will be at work by 8:00 A.M. I will sit through two hour meetings. I will say yes when you want me to say yes. I will be quiet when you don’t want to hear me say no. The third man, also looking tired and upset had a messy hair style. I appeared this man was sitting inside his living room with pictures of friends and family in frames behind. He said “I will take your call; I will listen to your opinion of my friends. I will listen to your friends’ opinions of my friends. I will be civil to your mother.” The fourth man appeared very serious while he was dressed in a business suit and he appeared to be at work where he hated to be. He said “I will put the seat down. I will separate the recycling. I will carry your lip balm. I will watch your vampire TV shows with you. I will take my socks off before getting into bed. I will put my underwear in the basket.” After the camera was taken off the last man, the narrator continued to say “And because I do this, I will drive the car. I want to drive. Charger Mans Last Stand.”
The whole reason for this commercial is for these men to back down to their girlfriends and wives to make them happy. In making their women happy by doing things they do not want to do in reality, they feel like they can escape by driving the car. The car is the new Dodge Charger. The narrator spoke in the same tone for all men, while the men never once moved their mouths for talking. All the men looked sad, tired, mad, or serious. The reason why they had this look of discomfort on their face is because they do not like to back down for their women, but will do it because they want to escape by driving the car they love.
Throughout the entire commercial there was a man as the narrator speaking in monotone for all men in the commercial. I believe the man speaking was Michael C. Hall. The first man speaking was lying down on a bed fully clothed and appeared to look wide awake. His line was short and he said “I will get up and walk the dog at 6:30 A.M, I will eat some fruit as part of my breakfast. I will shave, I will clean the sink after I shave.” The second man speaking looked tired as he sat in what appeared to be a small fast food restaurant. His line was also short and to the point. The black man said “I will be at work by 8:00 A.M. I will sit through two hour meetings. I will say yes when you want me to say yes. I will be quiet when you don’t want to hear me say no. The third man, also looking tired and upset had a messy hair style. I appeared this man was sitting inside his living room with pictures of friends and family in frames behind. He said “I will take your call; I will listen to your opinion of my friends. I will listen to your friends’ opinions of my friends. I will be civil to your mother.” The fourth man appeared very serious while he was dressed in a business suit and he appeared to be at work where he hated to be. He said “I will put the seat down. I will separate the recycling. I will carry your lip balm. I will watch your vampire TV shows with you. I will take my socks off before getting into bed. I will put my underwear in the basket.” After the camera was taken off the last man, the narrator continued to say “And because I do this, I will drive the car. I want to drive. Charger Mans Last Stand.”
The whole reason for this commercial is for these men to back down to their girlfriends and wives to make them happy. In making their women happy by doing things they do not want to do in reality, they feel like they can escape by driving the car. The car is the new Dodge Charger. The narrator spoke in the same tone for all men, while the men never once moved their mouths for talking. All the men looked sad, tired, mad, or serious. The reason why they had this look of discomfort on their face is because they do not like to back down for their women, but will do it because they want to escape by driving the car they love.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Blog # 27: Xenon
My good friend, D’nae is going to school to be a licensed practitioner for skin beauty. She goes to school at Xenon that deals with skin and hair. I have always wanted to get a professional facial because I heard great things about facials from people who have had them done. D’nae said she could hook me up on a great price at Xenon. Since she is just a student she doesn’t get directly paid but would get credit for having a new customer join Xenon.
I made an appointment with her on Tuesday March 9, 2010 to get a relaxing facial from her. After I signed in on the customer sheet I followed D’nae back to the room where I was going to get this facial. I had no clue what I was in for. Before being informed what this facial was going to consist of, I expected just an quick mud mask on my face that would take only a few minutes. I underestimated this experience. She told me it was going to take between an hour and an hour in a half and that I needed to unclothe from the waist up because of the massage that I would be receiving in addition to the facial. I did just as I was instructed to do.
I lay down on this small hospital looking bed and she immediately put on surgical gloves on her hands. She then turned on this machine that steamed out eucalyptus extract that helped to open up my clogged pores. She put a hot substance on my face that felt amazing. She massaged as she was spreading the oil all over my face. It was sticky, but felt like my face was being reborn. She then put an extremely hot rock in my hand and massaged my entire left arm. She did this while the oil on my face was being absorbed into my skin. After approximately five minutes of having my left arm massaged, she then moved towards my right arm. The oil she used for my body was a sensation I have never felt before. Words can’t describe the feeling. My skin felt like it was on fire and at the same time it felt like it was on ice.
After she finished massaging my arms she moved back to my face where the oil was time to diminish. I figured my facial was over by this time, but she kept putting on different types of product. After she rubbed off the oil, she put on a deep hydrator for my skin because she knew I was about to leave for Cancun in the next week and wanted my skin to be prepared for the harsh sun.
While the hydrator was being absorbed into my baby soft skin, she massaged my tense shoulders. I thought I was going to fall asleep at this point because my eyes kept getting heavier and heavier by each grasp.
Finally after over an hour of being massaged with hot scented oil I felt like I just woke up from a two hour nap. It was time to pay my bill and I knew it was worth every penny. I think everyone should treat themselves to a facial at least once a month because it not only feels amazing, but it is also very healing for the skin. My skin immediately felt like a baby’s skin when they are first born. I am already excited to book my next appointment because I know I was be disappointed with the outcome.
I made an appointment with her on Tuesday March 9, 2010 to get a relaxing facial from her. After I signed in on the customer sheet I followed D’nae back to the room where I was going to get this facial. I had no clue what I was in for. Before being informed what this facial was going to consist of, I expected just an quick mud mask on my face that would take only a few minutes. I underestimated this experience. She told me it was going to take between an hour and an hour in a half and that I needed to unclothe from the waist up because of the massage that I would be receiving in addition to the facial. I did just as I was instructed to do.
I lay down on this small hospital looking bed and she immediately put on surgical gloves on her hands. She then turned on this machine that steamed out eucalyptus extract that helped to open up my clogged pores. She put a hot substance on my face that felt amazing. She massaged as she was spreading the oil all over my face. It was sticky, but felt like my face was being reborn. She then put an extremely hot rock in my hand and massaged my entire left arm. She did this while the oil on my face was being absorbed into my skin. After approximately five minutes of having my left arm massaged, she then moved towards my right arm. The oil she used for my body was a sensation I have never felt before. Words can’t describe the feeling. My skin felt like it was on fire and at the same time it felt like it was on ice.
After she finished massaging my arms she moved back to my face where the oil was time to diminish. I figured my facial was over by this time, but she kept putting on different types of product. After she rubbed off the oil, she put on a deep hydrator for my skin because she knew I was about to leave for Cancun in the next week and wanted my skin to be prepared for the harsh sun.
While the hydrator was being absorbed into my baby soft skin, she massaged my tense shoulders. I thought I was going to fall asleep at this point because my eyes kept getting heavier and heavier by each grasp.
Finally after over an hour of being massaged with hot scented oil I felt like I just woke up from a two hour nap. It was time to pay my bill and I knew it was worth every penny. I think everyone should treat themselves to a facial at least once a month because it not only feels amazing, but it is also very healing for the skin. My skin immediately felt like a baby’s skin when they are first born. I am already excited to book my next appointment because I know I was be disappointed with the outcome.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Blog # 26: Compare and Contrast
While writing this recent compare and contrast essay I found it very difficult on how I was going to write in third person between two career fields that I was interested in. After contemplating, I figured out how to overcome this obstacle.
Since I chose to write my essay over two career fields that interested me, I decided to write about the two fields that I am currently studying. My major here at Wichita State University is dental hygiene and my minor is exercise science. Since I was extremely interested in talking about those two career paths, I thought writing this essay would have been fairly easy for me.
First of all, I found it extremely difficult to come up with a thesis statement that was arguable. I have never liked writing thesis statements because they were difficult for me to do. Practicing writing thesis statements in class helped, but not enough for this essay. After I had my introduction completed, I knew how the rest of my essay was going to flow. Since I was familiar with both topics, I had plenty of knowledge to compare and contrast the two.
Another area I found difficult while writing this essay was repetition. It is extremely difficult to find synonyms for the subject one. The word one can become very boring when used over and over throughout an academic essay. After thinking about other words to use during this essay, I came up with simple synonyms such as: the student, person, he or she. I think this strategy worked well for me because in my last narrative essay I was docked significant amount of points due to repetition even though I worked a significant amount of time and put in an abundance amount of effort towards that essay.
Today while we were work shopping with a partner I found it very helpful knowing there was another pair of eyes reading my essay. Tanner Gonzales was my partner and he pointed out some errors on my essay that I overlooked. He also told me to change some things in my essay that included revising a certain paragraph of mine because he thought the paragraph seemed weak and boring to read. I really appreciated his input and I will use his suggestions so I may receive a better grade this time around.
Thankfully I have people who are close to me who have English background experience that can revise my papers before I turn them in. The more people who read my essays, the more feedback I will receive. I think everyone should take into consideration to have their friends and family read their essays before submitting because you never know when someone else might catch an error throughout the paper that you may have missed.
Since I chose to write my essay over two career fields that interested me, I decided to write about the two fields that I am currently studying. My major here at Wichita State University is dental hygiene and my minor is exercise science. Since I was extremely interested in talking about those two career paths, I thought writing this essay would have been fairly easy for me.
First of all, I found it extremely difficult to come up with a thesis statement that was arguable. I have never liked writing thesis statements because they were difficult for me to do. Practicing writing thesis statements in class helped, but not enough for this essay. After I had my introduction completed, I knew how the rest of my essay was going to flow. Since I was familiar with both topics, I had plenty of knowledge to compare and contrast the two.
Another area I found difficult while writing this essay was repetition. It is extremely difficult to find synonyms for the subject one. The word one can become very boring when used over and over throughout an academic essay. After thinking about other words to use during this essay, I came up with simple synonyms such as: the student, person, he or she. I think this strategy worked well for me because in my last narrative essay I was docked significant amount of points due to repetition even though I worked a significant amount of time and put in an abundance amount of effort towards that essay.
Today while we were work shopping with a partner I found it very helpful knowing there was another pair of eyes reading my essay. Tanner Gonzales was my partner and he pointed out some errors on my essay that I overlooked. He also told me to change some things in my essay that included revising a certain paragraph of mine because he thought the paragraph seemed weak and boring to read. I really appreciated his input and I will use his suggestions so I may receive a better grade this time around.
Thankfully I have people who are close to me who have English background experience that can revise my papers before I turn them in. The more people who read my essays, the more feedback I will receive. I think everyone should take into consideration to have their friends and family read their essays before submitting because you never know when someone else might catch an error throughout the paper that you may have missed.
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