An Endless Journey

Today at 9 am, I and my friends began to make our five and a half hour journey to Disneyland. It seemed like it had been years even though it had only been a sad five minutes. However, when all of my friends and I started talking and listening to music, the time seemed to fly by. We spent time playing games, watching movies, and just talking in general. This strategy worked, but we still arrived exhausted. Our excitement however could not be tamed and we raced off to California Adventure after dropping off our luggage into our room. Again, we were faced with eternally long lines in front of every ride filled with people of all ages ranging from toddlers to their grandparents. But yet again, we were able to entertain ourselves and each other by just spending time with each other. I realized that by just making an effort to talk to my friends, our pain was less than halved. I look forward to the next three days using this strategy in all the lines that await us.

Living One Day At A Time,
Avni

Change in Emotion

I think it is very interesting how fast people's emotions can be manipulated. For example, today I was at a friend's house and we decided to watch a horror movie, through which we sat frightened behind a blockade of pillows and blankets. I thought I would never recover from the fright I felt after the movie. Ten minutes later, we decided to continue our movie marathon and watch a comedy movie. We laughed hysterically at the humorous material displayed on the screen. We had absolutely no thoughts about the gory and terrible things we had just seen. Tomorrow, we are going to Disneyland, and will not be effected at all by the movies we have watched today.

Living One Day At A Time.
Avni

Colors Everywhere

Though the Indian festival of Holi is supposed to by in early March, students at Stanford University hosted it today on their campus. People from all over came to celebrate this festival of colors. I decided to take two of my friends who are not Indian so that they would be able to experience the extreme excitement which I get every year. My mission was accomplished as they told me at the end that they wanted to attend next year as well. Entering the field where the festival was held, we were met by greeters who rubbed our faces with colored powders. Two men saw us and told us that "[we] looked to clean," and attacked us with the same powder. The vivid scene that surrounded us nvolved multiple people dancing, peoplespraying each other with a hose, an endless line of peole waiting to eat, and a flock of people almost climbing over each other to grab the many different colors of powder whcih were being passed out on the two tables at the back of the field. This experience was one that I know my friends will not forget.

Living One Day At A Time,
Avni

Just Like Kindergarten....

As I get higher and higher in my schooling experience, I wish I could move lower and lower. As a sophomore, I wish I was yet again a freshman. As a freshman, I wished I was in middle school, and so on and so forth. But the ultimate would be being in kindergarten. It is the perfect balance between home and school life. Wake up at 9:30 go to school for a very very short period of time, much of which was spent doing activities such as finger painting, snacking, napping, or playing. Come home and if you are a genius, do your addition homework, eat, and go to bed. That's it. Everyone is friends with everyone and their lives are filled with vivid colors and happiness. I want that life back, not the one where staying away until 2 am for a stressful test the next day is regular. I miss having a 9 pm bedtime. However, I do know that as I get older, life is not getting any better, so instead of moping about how much work I have, I should appreciate my life for what it is now, because next year I will wish that I had my sophomore life back.

"Remember in kindergarten, how you would meet a kid, and know nothing about them, and ten seconds later, you were playing like you were best friends?" -High School Musical

Living One Day At A Time,
Avni

Disease Disease

On Friday morning, I woke up with a tingle in my throat, but nothing could bother me since my mother was coming home for a ten day trip. All day I felt a slight scratch in my throat but took no notice of it assuming that it would just go away. I was mistaken, very mistaken. It just worsened up until the point where I could not go five minutes without letting out a cough or a sneeze. In frustration a pulled through the weekend and studied for a large chemistry test that was going to be on Monday in the incorrect assumption that I would be fine by Monday. Monday morning: just gets worse. I did not go to school for the first couple periods of the day put really wanted to get this chemistry test over with so after much begging I convinced my mother to take my to school. After taking the test, I rubbed my nose on the sandpaper which they call "tissues" at school for the rest of the day. Exhausted I returned home and tried to begin doing homework, at which point I decided that I could and went to bed at 9:30 after taking two pills that were meant to help me sleep, but were pathetic and did absolutely nothing for me. After a restless night I woke up the next morning with a headache and my mother told me I should take the day off and just rest or I would just get worse and not be able to go to the trip to Disneyland/LA I and my friends have been looking forward to for such a long time in the next week. Unwillingly I dozed off, but was awakened by five or six threatening texts from my best friend's whose birthday was unfortunately today. All I understand from this experience is that we should all just do our best to avoid getting sick. There is absolutely no silver lining to being sick. Sleeping becomes a challenge every night. My trash can is filled to the brim with tissues. I can only breathe through my mouth so brushing my teeth is an unwanted adventure. Though going to school is stressful, staying at home seems more stressful since I am lonely and bored. The lesson here: stay as healthy as possible. Do whatever it takes, because being sick is not fun. Just look at the word "disease." Dissect it and you get "dis" + "ease" because that is what being sick does to you: cause you to have a lack of ease in life.

Living One Day At A Time.
Avni

Thanksgiving Already?

On Sunday, before I left the house to do my community service hours, my dad called me outside in an extremely urgent voice. I assumed it was a deer or a rabbit which he saw and was very amused by so I dragged myself to the front door. To my surprise, there was a large turkey roaming through our front lawn! I was amazed and my eyes followed the large creature until it disappeared behind some bushes. My father kept making his joking comments such as "We should keep it until Thanksgiving so we can eat it!" I just rolled my eyes and continued to watch it since I have not seen a live turkey since I was around nine years old at a farm near my house. I kept wondering where it came from though since I live on top of a hill, which I personally hate to walk up, so I do not know why a turkey would want to do it.

Living One Day At A Time,
Avni

[http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Wildlife/Wildlife_images/turkey_Joe-Blake.jpg]

Alien?

In this past week, many, many Spanish students have approached me to inform me that the work "ovni" in Spanish means UFO. Wonderful. Some say it means alien. I think it is funny how in Sanskrit my name means "earth." Both are related to space!

Living One Day At A Time,
Avni

[http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/3459685/2/istockphoto_3459685_baby_alien_cartoon.jpg]

Memories, memories

In the corner of my bedroom lies my cork board filled with many of my dearest memories. I bought it about a year ago, and ever since then I have been putting random items on there which remind me of good memories. I have many, many pictures of me and my friends, and multiple other little memoirs. These include every single movie ticket which I have received in the past year (I always ask the people at century theaters not to rip my ticket too much since it does not look as good when it is severed all the way down the middle), tags on clothing which I thought were cool, and other random items. For example, there is a license plate on my board. The story behind that is that one day in September of my freshman year I and my friends were walking from Blackford to Saratoga when one of my friends saw something shiny in the middle of the road. The group of eight or so of us all stopped on the Blackford Avenue sidewalk to examine what was in the middle of the street. We saw that it was a license plate. Someone had to go get it, and I decided it would be me. After looking both right and left, I decided it was safe to run to get it. When I got back to school with the prize in my hands, one of my teachers approached me and told me that they had seen me run to get an object from the middle of the street. I was a little embarrased, but it was worth it. And so like this story, every object on that board has a story behind it.

Living One Day At A Time,
Avni

Passing Notes

Oh the load on young children today. Their lives seem so complex. Do the immense five minutes of addition you have to do and the rest is just playing, eating, and sleeping. Wow I wish I were one of them again. Even though I can no longer be one, I cans still love them! My favorite seven-year-old in the world is Niva's little brother Armond. He is the most adorable thing I have ever seen! One day, Niva's parents picked me up from school and I was an additional wheel since there were now six people in their normally perfectly fitting five seater car. Since no one wanted to keep Army (Armond's nickname) in their lap for the fifteen minute ride home, I gladly volunteered. On the way home, we began to talk about our favorite candy. He gave me a whole lists of different kinds of chocolates and other sweets which he adores, and then he inquired what my favorite one was. I proudly told him chocolate raisins, since I am incapable of watching a movie at the theater without a box of them. He looked at my with a horrified and disgusted face as if I was a mutation or something. How upsetting. It seemed like he thought I was a creep for liking them. However, my thoughts were proved wrong when about two weeks later Niva handed me a plastic bag containing a mere seven chocolate raisons and a large green index card from her adorable little brother. I was ecstatic that he had thought of me when he had gazed upon the candy which he viewed as poison. Though this was a year and half ago, I have still not thrown away the captivating document which was given to me by this little boy.

“A person's a person, no matter how small.” - Dr. Seuss

Living One Day At A Time,
Avni

Food For The Soul

Tonight, I had one of my favorite fast foods in the world: Taco Bell. It made my viewing of the first episode of Gossip Girl after a month even more enjoyable. I love almost everything on that menu. Though the food is incredibly unhealthy, it tastes amazingly good. So I try to avoid having it too often. I think that this is the age to eat it though since our metabolism is quite good, and we do not have to worry about our weight as much as we will in the near future. Anyway, I love to read the little comments which are written on the hot sauce packets. These comments and completely random and do not even make sense half the time, but I still read them every time I open one. They say things like "Warning! You are about to make a taco very happy" or "Will you marry me?" The saying pictured is my favorite one out of the bag of them which I received today.

"Save a bun. Eat a taco." -Hot Sauce Packet Saying

Living One Day At A Time,
Avni

Hollywood or Bollywood?

I was at a friend's house on Saturday and we decided to go out for a walk. As we were strolling on the side walk, I saw in the distance a sign in someone's front lawn that said "Bollywood." For those of you who do not know what bollywood is, it is the Indian form of Hollywood, it is not really a city or anything, it is just what the call Indian showbuissness. I wanted to get a closer so I approached it, and it then said "Hollywood." I was incredibly confused since I could have sworn it had said "Bollywood" ten seconds ago. I thought to myself: "Are you really that fobby Avni......" Since I genuinely wanted to know what was going on, I climbed into the front lawn and examined the sign. Then, it struck me that the sign was reversible. I literally stood there for fifteen minutes playing with the sign while my friend begged me to leave the yard since she babysits the people who own that house's children. After I finally stopped swirling the sign round and round, I and my friend inquired from my friend's mother what the sign was for and she told us that she had seen an Indian party bus going to that house so she assumed that they were having a Bollywood themed party. I think that party must have been amazingly fun.

Living One Day At A Time,
Avni

Friday the 13th

Today on the superstitious day of Friday the 13th, I am at one of my friend's (Margaux's) house. As I was gravitated towards the fridge, an ominous sight caught my eye. The toothpick holder on the island of the kitchen, which was a voodoo doll. I thought this item was hilarious and I examined it for at least ten minutes. I have only seen a voodoo doll once before when Christina Ma, one of my yearbook classmates, brought it in when we had to bring it in for a photo shoot which we were doing in class. I am no highly fascinated by them since I thought about the concept of them more in depth today. I definitely want to try to get one of them one day.

"I can't guarantee the effects of voodoo dolls. But if you believe in it, it will surely bring some changes to your life."

Living Life One Day At A Time,
Avni

Unwinding

Near the end of a long hectic day of school, I have my free period sixth. Since almost no one in my grade has this period free, I go somewhere quiet so I can unwind and maybe get some homework done: The Study Loft. This is the room in the science and technology building filled with quirky modern-looking furniture. I like to sit around in there, listen to music, and occasionally look outside at the oblivious people passing by checking their hair and clothing in the reflecting windows of the building. I must however admit that I am sometimes one of those people. Nevertheless, I love going up there since it is more quiet than the library, and for some reason, the temperature always seems to be perfect there. Though it rarely happen, if I ever miss an episode of House or Gossip Girl, the study loft is the perfect place to relax and catch up.

"Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are." -Chinese Proverb

Living Life One Day At A Time,
Avni

Pick Your Poison

Vitamin water is definitely one of my favorite drinks in the world. Recently, a new generation of vitamin water was released which only has 10 calories in each serving. How much goodness can you really fit in the tight 10 calories?
Every other Sunday, I volunteer at the hospital. While on my break I wandered through the snack bar and stumbled upon the new vitamin water. Simultaneously assuming that it would taste the same and being curious about it, I payed the $2.00 for the drink and returned to my shift. After taking the top off of the bottle, I sipped my first slurp of the blueberry-pomegranate drink I had chosen. Only one thought came to my mind: "Is this really vitamin water?" I did not like it at all. The normal vitamin water exploded with flavor as soon as it touched my taste buds as opposed to this drink which seemed empty (hence the picture). Though the regular drink is saturated with sugar, it is also filled with flavor, making it worth drinking. If you are on a diet and absolutely must drink vitamin water, then I guess 10 calorie one is okay. So pick your poison, because both have both pros and cons going for it.

"Life is too short not to make the best and the most of everything that comes your way everyday." -Sasha Azevedo

Living Life One Day At A Time,
Avni

United We Stand, Divided We Fall

The above phrase is used to describe the ideal that a coherent can overpower a force, while if confronted said force alone, one will fail. This expression proved itself to be true today during my 1st period English class. We were scheduled to take a cumulative test on Frankenstein today for which most of the class was unprepared. Many of the students had three tests scheduled for today, therefore, the last test scheduled (English), would have to be rescheduled. We briefly talked about this face on Friday before leaving class. Using these facts, our class collaborated against our helpless teacher and got the test rest rescheduled for everyone (including me, who should have taken the test today) to Thursday. I would not have been able to accomplish this feat without the unity of my fellow classmates.

Living Life One Day At A Time,
Avni

Thin Mints, Caramel Delights, Peanut Butter Patties, Oh My!

It's that time of year again........girl scout cookies. There have been some changes this year though which I noticed with my favorite cookie: the peanut butter patty. Not only are the cookies more expensive, have different names, but they are also thinner! The consequences? I and millions of other peanut butter patty lovers across the nation will have to live with the cookie who's thickness/deliciousness has been reduced ever so slightly. I think we can get through this one though. The name changes bother me a little since they no longer give an insight into the scrumptious cookie which we are about to purchase. Let's use the peanut butter patty as an example. The new name is "tagalongs." What is that?!?!?! That name is not the least bit catchy! Upsetting.

I however, have a personal connection to the girl scout system. I was once, back in the day, a brownie scout (junior girl scouts). I had a little brown skirt which I used to wear of brown leggings with a white polo, and of course, the vest. I was so proud to wear my uniform and strut through the halls of my elementary school, and various other places my troop visited such as the Build-A-Bear Workshop, the pumpkin patch, and every troop's favorite spot, outside the automatic door of Safeway pleading with customers going into and leaving from the grocery store. I remember so clearly the beautiful spring day on which I went door-to-door with my family through our neighborhood asking people to buy the cookies. After two months or so, we went to deliver the cookies, and since there were so many boxes which nobody wanted to hold, we recruited my younger brother to drive the cookies in the battery-powered Jeep which I had outgrown. That, was one of the most memorable experiences of my elementary school years. Every time I see these young girls using their deceiving powers of cuteness to get people to buy their cookies, I give in just as other gave in to me.

Living Life One Day At A Time,
Avni

Behind Every Adult Is A........

To complete the above sentence I will use the word "child." Inside every buisness suit clad man/woman or serious-faced teacher is an unexposed child. Some chose to flaunt their inner child, while others supress it. It does not seem to matter if you are or 9 or 99, some childish or immature habits will never disappear. I will use myself as an example: it is now 4:52 on a beautiful Monday afternoon, and I have just barely begun my weekend's worth of homework. (Ironically, our teachers are at a teaching workshop, walking a mile in the shoes of a student, as they learn something new about their wonderful jobs. We therefore have recieved a long weekend.) All weekend I have been telling myself: "Start later.......it's the long weekend." Bad idea. This has always been one of my worst traits. Now, I am pressured to finish all my homework and study for my multiple test all before 8 pm when the new episode of one of my favorite shows House airs. One of the many reasons I love this show, goes back to my title: "Behind Every Adult Is a Child." Though this brilliant doctor is a middle aged man, he displays his inner child through his hilarious yet annoying actions on the show. Just goes to show, there is nothing wrong with being a kid.

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." -Dr. Seuss

Living Life One Day At A Time,
Avni

Thank God It's Friday

After a long and frustrating week of school, the much awaited 1:30 bell rang after my fourth period WHAP class. I and my friends' plan was to walk the mile and a half or so to the Valley Fair Mall. I then received a call from one of my friends who was not supposed to go with us acquiring if he could accompany us just to the mall. I agreed to this, after which he asked if we could take the public bus. Hesitantly, I agreed. I was slightly nervous for the upcoming experience since I had never ridden on the public bus before, let alone on my own with my also inexperienced friends. We walked the brief five minute walk to the bus stop, and then waited a few minutes before the bus arrived. After getting on it, my friend put a ten dollar bill into the machine which returned to him two day passes. He then gave a confused look to the bus driver who then informed us in a harsh Filipino accent that he does not give change. Without arguing he handed me one of his uncessary day passes and we sat down.

When we saw the mall outside the bus window I asked my friends if we could pull the silver wire which ran along the interior perimeter of the bus. I wondered if I should pull the wire, in order to inform the bus driver that we needed to get off. Before I could reach for it though, a lady sitting a few seats ahead of us did so. We then exited the bus hurriedly and thanked the bus driver, who drove off without any response.

We then split up, so that I was with my original group of friends, and out last-minute addition wandered off to find his own group. After a couple hours of shopping, we retired to the food court for some amazingly delicious Mrs. Fields cookies. My phone rang yet again, and when I answered it I heard the familiar voice of the friend who we had split up with only a few hours ago. He was wondering if I wanted a ride home, to which I agreed, and we made our twenty minute trek back to my house.

I then retired on the couch and watched television for more the ten minutes for the first glorious time that week. I missed the feeling so much that I ended up staying on the couch for a little over two and a half hours. Then, I heard a noise which was most definitely not coming from the TV: it was coming from my stomach. I then proceeded to scarf down to chicken quesadillas from Taco Bell, one of my favorite fast food restaurants, and also the closest I can get to "Mexican" food, if you can even call it that. After a little more TV, I retired to my room for my Friday night ritual: eleven hours of glorious and well-deserved sleep.

Living Life One Day At A Time,

Avni