The Nacho Cheese is a Lie

And so are sombreros.

I've been in Mexico for almost two whole days and I have yet to see any form of nacho cheese or sombreros. What the heck is up with the American visualization of Mexicans? 

Oh well.

My new house is pretty awesome. Especially my bedroom. Even though it is about the size of my parent's bathroom, it has some pretty cool features:
 
  1.It is like my own personal Man Cave. It is the only downstairs bedroom.

  2.It is right next to the secretive back staircase.

  3.The AC and Fan actually work, making mine one of the coldest rooms in the house. This is especially important when under the hot Mexican sun.

Remember Me

For any of you who still read the blogs, this is for you:

While the time has come for most of you to say hello, I have come to say goodbye. Chances are we'll never meet again, but for at least once in my life, I hope against probability, pray against logic and try to look beyond the rational. This school has changed me, shaped me into who I am. I will remember each time I passed anyone of you in the hallway, each joke, each time we sat and laughed, I will remember you. So I ask just one thing: Remember me.

I don't know if anyone even checks the blogs anymore, but I pray that, even if you haven't been on blogger since we stopped in English class, even if you never will again, you will feel the urge to look up my blog one last time. this time. I want you to read this heartfelt farewell because I don't want to be the kind of person who fades away and is forgotten, that one kid from eighth grade science, so I ask one thing: Remember me.

Through my years at this school, I have learned friendship, and the very though of leaving any of you, whether we were friends or just acquaintances. Whether you worshiped me or hated me or even simply knew me. The anguish that I feel every time I think of leaving is tearing me apart. I know that I cannot hold on, but I will not let go. So please, do just one thing: Remember me.

It's not the move that I am worried about. I don't mind moving to new places and going on new adventures, its you that I am terrified of leaving. All of you, any friend that I have made here. If I could, I would pick up the school and everyone in it, and take it to Mexico. But I can't so please do one thing: Remember me.

Today I went to Meet the Teacher day, I kept a straight face, but it was simply a dam to hold back the tears, the memories of four years of living here, I looked into everyone's face, knowing that this could be the last time. It was all I could do to hold back the flood of emotion that threatened to burst through my straight face every time I saw a friend, a familiar face, a teacher, a fellow student. with each goodbye I felt my soul being torn to pieces, being ripped by greedy claws, being cut with a dull blade. I couldn't stand it, but I held back every tear, every last one, but behind my emotionless face, everything I have ever done here sloshed around in turmoil and chaos.With each piece of my soul that was torn by this chaos, I felt something die inside. This world is dying to me, and I watch the end through dying eyes. But some memories never die. my memories of all of you will be pushed around and strained to their limits, but they will not be lost. So I beseech you: Remember me.

All is lost again. But I am not giving in. I will move on. I will keep going. I will not bow. I will not break. Every piece of my soul that is torn off will be replaced by many others ready to take in and love a new world. This pain is so familiar and close to the heart, but no matter what, No more, no less: I won't forget you. So Remember me.

Show me where forever ends and I will be there of this wonderful life that I have lived here not forgotten. So Remember me.

Now, there is nothing left to lose but memories. I pray that I won't lose too many. Don't lose any of me. Remember me.

If I have wronged you in any way please forgive me. I have already forgiven and forgotten any thing that any of you have done to me. I don;t want to become nothing but a fleeting memory, so Remember me.

This is my farewell. My last stand.. Remember me.


Some lines were quoted from the Breaking Benjamin songs Hopeless, I Will Not Bow, and Without You

Eighth Grade Graduation Speech

I was asked by Ms. Brown to give a speech at the eighth grade graduation ceremony. I complied and within two days finished this. I'll admit I was nervous, but I used it to my advantage and spoke louder and clearer than normal. Several teachers came up to me afterward and told me that my speech brought tears to their eyes.

For Three years we have called this building home. It has been a haven and a torture cell, but for three years it has been ours. Now we are leaving it. These walls have seen our smiles and our frowns, our tears and our laughter, our heartbreaks, our joyful moments, our anger, our relief. These walls have housed us, They have kept us safe, but alas, these walls must see us go.

I have noticed a change come over us. A month ago, we were counting down until summer, now, with only hours left, I have found that we are dreading leaving. We fear the future. I would instead have us look at the joys of the past.

Most of us came to this building in sixth grade, we were small, inexperienced and afraid, but four teachers took us under their wings: Ms. Royo, Ms. Gaudiano, Ms. Shibuta and Ms. Brown. Then, before we knew it, we were whisked away into a new, exciting world called seventh grade. We saw friends come and go that year, but with the help of our numerous teachers, we pressed onward. Seventh grade ended, and Eighth began. We finally saw the harbor: the end of the Journey that we began in sixth grade. Now, however, we see that this harbor is not our destination, but rather, a port to re-supply for the next leg of our voyage.

Now that we have matured, and seen the rough seas in front of us, those that we have passed seem like a gentle, calm, wondrous passage compared with the uncharted waters of the future. In olden times, when there was little or nothing known about parts of the ocean, mapmakers would label them with the line Here There be Monsters. We know little or nothing about the future, so we too have labeled High school with the term Here There be Monsters. We have no idea what it will be like and so we fear it. But these waters are not truly unknown: Our teachers have passed through before us and they have prepared us to follow in their wake. I would like to thank Ms. Brown for all of her work in not only teaching us, but in making sure we were ready. When we passed her in the beginning of the year, our sails were torn and our rudders were slow to respond to the tiller, but she saw our need and patched our sails. She fixed our rudders and now we are ready to sail onward.

Our other teachers also saw our need and they made sure that our charts were accurate and our instruments precise. We will always remember the help you have given us and we are grateful for it. In seventh and eighth grade, we have had so many teachers, so I am unable to thank you all, but we will always cherish this leg of the journey: For, though we boldly sail into the future, we will always take time to remember the Past. Thank you for your hard work. Thank you for helping us make it.

The Achilles Heels of the Human Soul

Description:
The human soul is the least perfect thing in the universe. For every drop of love, there is an ounce of hate. For every time of peace, there are months of war. For every ray of hope, there is a cloud of despair. Everything good in the world has a nasty side. Whereas Achilles had only one weak spot, we have many.

Synopsis:
These are poems about about war and peace, about hope and despair. These are poems about the soul.

Poetry:

A Poison Tree by William Blake

Love's Philosophy by Percy Bysshe Shelley


Mending Wall by Robert Frost

Peace by Henry Vaughan

Requiesquat by Matthew Arnold

The Fall of Rome by W. H. Auden


The Soul Unto Itself by Emily Dickinson


Why is the Color of Snow? by Brenda Shaughnessy

Falling

The darkness,
creeping in,
leaving me
alone
falling endlessly, rapidly hurtling towards the ground
that I can't see
grasping, clawing at the air,
searching for a way to
slow
my descent.
A surge of light,
of power,
of strength,
I find a handhold, a place to rest.
Holding myself close,
safe at last,
my mind moves on
in its slumber
leaving me
until I can
catch up