Las Vegas: My 21st Birthday in Sin City..!

It doesn't happen every day to hear "Last weekend? I was in Vegas...". And if I think that I am here right now, with the only intent to celebrate my 21st birthday....WAHHHH!!I SOUNDS AWESOME!
My crew and I left San Jose last night (April 29th) and got here early this morning. We rested for a wee while, and now we are ready to go explore this incredible (outrageous, unbelievable, incredible, rich and so on) city and what it has to offer. Umm. Yeah. Sounds nasty.

Next stops: The Strip, New York New York, Monte Carlo, Bellagio, the Parisian, the Venetian, The Cosmopolitan, Cesar's palace...and Chippendales maybe? ;) ahah!
...I'll see you in three days, hopefully we won't wake up in a room with a tiger and a whining kid ;)


C.

My Video To Promote Study Abroad :)

This is a video that I've created for a visual communication class. I decided to focus on a topic that I consider really important for me, which is Studying Abroad. I chose ISEP as my organization, since it's the one that allowed me to come here in the U.S.
Useless to say how grateful I am.


Study Abroad, if you don't do it now, WHEN!?? :D

Hope you'll enjoy :)

***   WATCH ME!   ***


C.

Day 3: Yosemite National Park and Long Hike Up to Yosemite Falls!

After an entertaining night (thanks Nizar for the show...jeez, I've never heard anything similar to that in my whole life O_O Snoring, farting...jeez, welcome to the guys' floor O_O ), we finally got up and had a really good breakfast.

We left the cabin around 9.30 (and guess what.....WE WERE 2 HOURS LATE!dahha) and we headed to the entrance of the Yosemite Park.

The weather was extremely foggy and cloudy, really low temperature and annoying drizzle...arrrgh.

After about an hour though, it improved. There was a kind of "sun" keeping us "warm". We saw the Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls (check this out: http://geoimages.berkeley.edu/Waterfalls/YosemiteWaterfalls.html ) and...yeah, the plan was to hike to the Top of Yosemite Falls. 

Seriously.

NEVER AGAIN.

Dahahha no okay, I'm kidding. It was actually one of the most amazing experiences ever. 

Just an advice, if you'll ever do it: DON'T DO IT WITH THREE ATHLETES, as long as you're not one of them O_O

Isabella, Elisa and I were literally dying while trying to keep up with those three Gods. Hahah.

The hike took about 6 hours round-trip, and during the last 45 minutes the thing go really difficult: Hiking through the snow with flat Converse IS NOT THE BEST (and most clever, I know) THING IN THE WORLD.

...But the effort was worth it! The view was amazing, and so was the satisfaction cos we made it:)

After enjoying the scenery for a while, we headed back ( I wanted to cry knowing that we had to do the same way backward O_O).

The return was quicker, and when we arrived to the car the immediately left to San Jose, because our rental car was due at midnight.

It was definitely a great experience, moving from two completely opposite places in less than 36 hours is totally something that you want to do at least once in life! Dry Desert v. Rainy Forest....aww, AWESOME!

C.

Day 2: From The Boiling Hot to the Cool Snow

Alright so...Day 2.
AS USUAL, we left late. Damn schedule.

After rising Ali from the dead (we found him in this position - see picture), we slowly went back on the road - with the GPS set on Yosemite National Park as our final destination.

The driving from Death Valley to Yosemite was nice, we got to see some very good-looking sceneries.
After nine hours on the road, we finally arrived to the cabin where we'd have spent the night.

Everybody from the I-House was there, and it was pretty nice to meet them. We spent the night eating, chatting, rosting smores, and drinking (again, NO, DAD, not me) on the pier.
It's hilarious what can come out form certain discussions among international people when everybody's a bit buzzed...humm..."happy" hah.

Once I finally lied on the bed, I fell asleep in 0.2 sec :)


C.

Day 1: Death Valley, Deadly Amazing.

SOOO...What would you do if you knew that you were going to face a boiling day in Death Valley?

Buying beer, OF COURSE.

And this is exactly what my drunk group decided to do. You gotta survive in the desert, somehow! Haha.
So after breakfast (with beer) we headed to first see the sand dunes ( http://www.nps.gov/deva/naturescience/sand-dunes.htm ) , and that was AMAZING. And hella hot too O_O

Afterwards, we went to the camping site to make sure to have a place for the night - and the guys built an amazing tent, ready to be taken aways form the wind anytime-.- aahha no okay, I'm just kidding. It was great....

Then we went back on the road, heading to Dead Waters and the Devil's Golf Court  O_O
http://digital-desert.com/death-valley-national-park/

http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/North_America/United_States_of_America/California/Death_Valley_National_Park-752056/Things_To_Do-Death_Valley_National_Park-Devils_Golf_Course-BR-3.html

It was so damn hot and I felt like passing out after a while!

..After a long day spent in the middle of the desert, we went back to a oasis that we previously saw. There, we had dinner, I discovered that my credit card had been locked (yes, they thought somebody stole it and used it in 33 different states in the USA...wahah...THAT WAS ME, HELL!-.-), chilled and talked for about an hour.

We went then back to the camping then - it was night already - and a loooong night began..
So there was me, Josh, Ali, Niza, Elisa, Isabella, Mr. Bacardi, Mr. Beers and Ms. Vodka. (lol Dad, don't worry, I was just watching. SERIOUSLY.)
After recalling for the whole night our friend Vilok (Vilok!Vilok!..it was a joke like Akuna Matata... I know it's weird, but I can explain if you want) and started stalking due to the alcohol level (again, NOT ME, DAD), I went to bed. Wrecked. Hhaha:)

[the details for the night are censored - just know that Elisa and Ali got lost in the camping site o_O]

...Ready for Day2!

C.

Night 1: Driving to Death Valley

So the adventure to Death Valley started on Thursday night at 1am - yes, I know, it was supposed to be at Midnight. Eheh.

The heroes were: Josh, Nizar, Ali, Elisa, Isabella, and yes, me:)

There's not so much to say about this driving, LONG DRIVING, but that we arrived in Death Valley around 10 am the day after.

DAMN HOT.

Coming soon....

...This week there will be a trip to Death Valley and Yosemite National Park! The plan is to leave on Thursday night, get to Death Valley around 10ish on Friday, overnight there surrounded by scorpions and spiders, and then head to Yosemite on Saturday morning. We'll be back to San Jose on Sunday night, after a night spent in the amazing Yosemite Park.

Next week, my crew and I will also go to Vegas to celebrate my 21st birthday! Pretty excited, what happens in Vegas stays...ON MY BLOG! ;)
...stay tuned!:)

C.

Day 5: Bus to Manoa Falls!

Our last day in Hawaii was spent visiting the amazing Manoa Falls. We left Waikiki Beach around 2pm and we took the bus 19 til a mall. Once we got there, we waited for about an hour for the damn bus no. 5 ....which finally arrived.
On the bus, we met an alert old man who basically told us about his whole life. That was pretty interesting!
After about an hour, we finally arrived to the Manoa Falls, ready to start the hike.
It was really humid, and obviously all mosquitos were already enjoying my skin. Yeah.

The hike took us about 40 minutes. It was nice stopping every now and then to take some pictures, the scenery was amazing. And I also kinda liked the drizzle that started coming down.. Magical atmosphere!

When we arrived to the fall, we found a good amount of people resting in front of it. It was beautiful! Sooo high and natural! I took a good amount of pictures, which I will publish soon!

After half an hour, Ace an I headed back to the beginning of the hike. Once we arrived there, we had to wait for Jamie - about 40 minutes - because somehow we passed him and he didn't notice it. So he was waiting for us as well, but still in the forest -.-

Super tired, we arrived home at 8ish in the evening.
After a shower and something to eat, we went out to enjoy our last night on Waikiki Beach.
It was really warm, more than a summer night in CA!
The sound of the waves crashing on the beach, people talking, colorful flowers and sandy beaches...ahhh, HAWAII YOU'RE AMAZING!

C.

Day 4: Road Trip around O'ahu!

I'm catching up with the stories from yesterday, Day 4:)

So, after managing to wake up the two sleeping beauties Ace & Jamie, we headed to the rental car company. The guys insisted to get a convertible car, so that way we could have enjoyed the nature...it was actually pretty good, but deadly uncomfortable!
Our first stop was at Pear Harbor, where we got to see the historical site.
It was pretty weird to think what happened in that place not so many years ago..:/

After that, we went back on the road heading to North Shore. On the way, we stopped at a farmers' market where Ace got something to eat. It was actually a pretty nice place, full of everything!

We finally arrived to Waimea Beach, where we spent about an hour - and where Jamie jumped off a rock haha:)
The sea (Pacific Ocean, actually) was incredibly clear and colored with different shades of blue: Typical Hawaiian beach and sea, really warm sun and breeze...amazingly beautiful!

Afterwards, we headed back to Honolulu downtown. I had a pizza - a really GOOD pizza! - and Jamie and Ace ate sushi. Pretty long day!

We arrived back home very late and super tired, but happy after such a great day:)


C.

Day3: Chill And Lazy On The Beach

I'm catching up with yesterday only this morning because last night I was realllly tired!
The day has been pretty lazy, just chilling on the beach, sun bathing, pictures here and there, swimming...:)
The nice part was the evening, when Jamie and I decided to go for a walk. We said half an hour, and we ended up staying out for a couple of hours haha:)
Waikiki was really nice last night, yes, full of turists, but sooo lively. Jamie and I walked along the strip and we ended up seeing so many nice places - most of them were really commercial - and he also went for an ice-cream:)
Back in our hostel, we collapsed on our beds in less than 30 minutes - Ace was actually already collapsed, but he woke up around 11.30pm to start reading-.- perfect timing -.-"

Now I'm the only one to be awake (it's 8am and we were supposed to wake up at 7.30, since we have to collect the car at 9), but don't worry, I'll wake up the two Sleeping Beauties...somehow =_=

...Oahu, here we come!


C.

Day 2: Waikiki Beach and Surf lessons!

The main fact from today was my first approach to SURF!!! What to say...totally amazing!
We got to Waikiki Beach quite early and after about 3 hours it started raining.
People were leaving, but Jamie and I decided to go back into the water. Sooo good! And slowly, with his persuasive skills, he convinced me to go with him and try to surf.
<<Alright, let's go dying eaten by the waves O_O>>
...We moved on a close beach and he taught me the basic moves.
After losing the control of the board a couple of times (maybe more than a couple haha), I started getting the principle.
And that was amazing!!! Waves were kind of huge for what I've always been used to, but after a while I started getting comfortable with the idea - also because Jamie was always next to me.
So my first approach to this sport has totally been a success - more for the enthusiam, rather than the results haha:)
Tomorrow we'll probably do it again, hope I'll survive!
And on Sunday...Tour around the island! Can't wait!


C.

Day 1: Aloha, Honolulu!

So here we are, on this amazing island!
The flight was pretty long (5 hours from San Jose), but it passed quickly. Lot of turbolence especially at the end of the journey, but nothing too creepy:)

After some shopping at Cosco (even Cosco's super expensive here-.-) we headed to the hostel (really nice actually) where we meet some people from Russia, Canada and Thailand!

Afterwards we totally RAN to the beach, where we spent like 5 hours under the sun (OMG, it's sooo damnnnn hot!), swimming and being eaten by the waves! And now I'm so proud to say that we're all happily burned haha:)

Due to the 3 hours difference from California we became soon really tired (the guys are already snoring, God save me-.-) and now I'll head to bed too.

After this pretty satisfying day (I also went for some shopping for family and friends, hellyeah), tomorrow we'll spend another day on Waikiki Beach, trying to learn how to surf! Awesome!


C.