I’m determined to make this summer the best one yet, and I think it will. First off, I’ll be excited to just have a kitchen and cook for myself again. Living in the dorm sucks- food sucks, Rockland sucks … food on campus just sucks. Then, most of my friends are still at school in CP, so I’ll be going there a lot to hang out with them. Then, when Ryan gets out of school, we’re going to take a road trip to New Jersey and visit my family and take him to New York. Afterwards, towards the end of May, my best friend from Japan is coming to visit me! I have no idea what I’ll do with her, but she’s still coming! Then in June, I start my volunteering at a camp! I’m so excited! Kids are amazing and I’m so excited to be surrounded by them. At the end of the June, I’m going with Ryan and his father to go to New Mexico for a week and visit his family! Ryan is half Filipino and half Native American, so being amongst the Native American culture is something I look forward to! Then in July, my family is letting me go home to the Philippines for a whole month by myself! For the first two weeks, I’ll visit my aunt’s family in the islands- particularly Cebu. Cebu has the cleanest beaches, the nicest resorts that give the best messages, and some of the best food Philippines has to offer. Then the last two weeks, I will spend it at my dad’s side and mom’s side. My dad’s side has tons of little kids, so I’ll be really excited to spend time with them. My mom’s side has only her brother left in the Philippines because everyone else is in America! Then in August, it’s up in the air. Nothing is set in stone, but I’m still looking forward to everything this summer! 

I'm sorry, all I can really talk about is summer.


On this hot summer day,
I do not want to go back to class.
I want to get in my car and drive away,
and go to the park and roll in the grass.

I want to sing out loud,
and dance really silly.
This past semester I've tried to make my parents proud,
now I want to go home and give my cousin a wet willy.

For one whole summer,
my books are out of sight, out of mind.
I'm determined to not make this break a bummer,
getting that relaxation time I've been trying to find.

Time to sleep all day and eat candy,
for the first time in a while, everything is just dandy.

7 WORD CHALLENGE-

I cannot wait,
to finally catch a break.
It is in my fate,
my freedom I can finally take.

It's been so long,
since I was able to sleep in.
My alarm clock sounds like a gong,
a state of relaxation my body has never been.

But summer is so close, I can taste it,
like a big juicy apple on a summer day.
To run outside under the blue sky to stay fit,
and that summer may never end is what I constantly pray.

I can't wait to scream and be loud,
the absence of any tests is why I'll be happy and proud.

Bye Poetry

Poetry was kind of hard for me, but here is my goodbye:

Goodbye poetry,

it was nice getting to know you.

I was very frustrated with thee,

because of all the rhyming I had to go through.

You were such a hard concept,

at times, difficult to write.

With the work I did it was hard for me to accept,

that this was my poem, I would go to class in fright.

But towards the end,

you were not so bad.

After listening to some really good poems, you became my friend,

while writing them, I wouldn't get mad.

Poetry is not my favorite, it's okay,

but I won't let the concept go astray.

I am so happy Professor Booker let us put up some of our poems instead of an actual blog post! Instead of me complaining about life, poem 2 is up!

What is Love?

There is no specific way,

To define that crazy thing called love.

Society has led us astray,

Forgetting our blessings from up above.

To girls, love requires a boy,

Waiting on them hand and foot.

Young people play with love like a toy,

And before they know it, their love is kaput.

But what is love to a woman?

It is life, work, friends, and family.

To them, man is the villain,

Because independence is more important exponentially.

Girls are afraid to be alone,

Women are not afraid to stand on their own.

travel

Most people get car sick, boat sick, or are terrified of flying on airplanes. I personally love travelling. The idea of being thrown into another country and experience complete culture shock is very appealing to me. I have been flying since I was three years old, thanks to being a Navy brat, so I have been accustomed to that mode of transportation- it’s actually my favorite.

I’ve been to countries in Southeast Asia because that is where my dad and the boat, the USS Kitty Hawk, went. We went to Australia, Singapore, Korea, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Bahrain, Guam, and a couple of other countries. I enjoy learning new things about each country, especially the “weird” things. For example, one could get fined for spitting out your gum out on the road in Singapore; in Singapore, a woman is not allowed to just leave her purse anywhere, she must take it with her wherever she goes. Another example would be that in Australia, they do not know what “ketchup” is, but they call it “tomato sauce.”

Even when I visited America every other summer when I was younger when I lived in Japan, I would find something so weird to me that I could not wait to share with my friends back home. For example, I found it so weird that America had such big movie theatres with multiple rooms because the ones where I lived were just small and only had one screen. Another thing I found weird was “Dip n Dots” ice cream. I was so obsessed! I got it every single day of my vacation. I had never seen anything like it before and it tasted so good!

Now that I’m more grown up, the list of countries I would like to visited has only grown. I want to go to London, Spain, Portugal, Egypt, Dubai, China, Russia, and so much more. I am so excited to get around and travel; I just don’t know when I would go ...

my other half

My mom is my other half. She probably is the most important person in my life. We bicker, argue, and fight like a regular mom and daughter relationship; but I think what makes us different, is that we’re so close that if I got into a fight with her on the phone, I hang up, but feel so bad afterwards that I would call her back. I value my mom and my relationship because she has and is always the one person who supports me 100%, good or bad. I fight to maintain my close bond with her because I like to set an example for my cousins and their mothers- to always be loving, understanding, and respectful to their mom because they are the best best friend a girl could ever have.

Now that my mom has been really sick for the past couple of months, it hurts me ten times more when I see her cry or wince at even the slightest bit of pain. I am trying to go home every weekend to take care of her because she really is all I think about in school- has she eaten? Has her pain gotten worse? Is she sleeping okay? My mom means everything to me. Some people might laugh, but I really would not have it any other way.  

CPPPPPPP

University of Maryland, College Park. I make my schedule to where I don’t have Friday classes so I can leave on Thursday to go to College Park. That’s actually what gets me through the week, waiting until it’s Thursday when I can pack up and leave. I’m there almost all the time since my boyfriend and most of my friends go there. Everyone always points out that I don’t go there and make fun of me, but I really could care less. I have so much fun over there. My friends and I always go out to parties, get our nails done, go out to eat, make lunch together, and so many other things. My closest friends over there I consider to be my brothers and sisters; they would do anything for me and I would do anything for them. It’s always one huge slumber party when I go there; Ryan and his roommate, Jonathan, and their suitemates Andrew and Brandon, whose girlfriend is one of my best friends Leilani, always have people over and we hardly ever sleep. In College Park, I feel like I never run out of things to do, there’s always someone to see, and places to go. I don’t feel contained on one small campus like I am here. 

My Best Friend

Most girls get to share high school with their best friends, whether or not they went to the same school. However, I didn’t get that opportunity. My best friend Chanda and I spent our high school years on the opposite ends of the world; she was in Japan and I was in Maryland. I really would have given anything to have had her with me in high school. She understood me and was never judgmental. She always made me laugh when I went through the worst. But obviously I wasn’t that lucky.

Chanda and I became best friends in the sixth grade back in Japan. We would spend every day talking about boys or stuffing our faces with potstickers. We played travel softball and volleyball together and we were even cheerleaders one year. We loved to go shopping at the Japanese malls and eat food we couldn’t identify. We did everything together; she was my other half. You could only imagine how I felt when I found out I’d be moving to the U.S.

Throughout high school, we only talked through Skype, phone calls, and mail. We made it a point to talk at least 4 times a month, sent each other packages for Christmas, birthdays, and sometimes randomly, and Skype after each big event (i.e. prom, dates, etc.). I hated high school because I didn’t have her. I didn’t have that one friend every girl went to, to tell their deepest and darkest secrets. I didn’t have that one friend that I could fully, 100% trust. High school for me, was the furthest thing from perfect.

I finally got the chance to see Chanda after 5 long years. Her family moved to Florida, so the winter break of freshman year I took a flight, by myself, to go see her. I was so ecstatic that I finally got to hug her and see her in person! I stayed there for 2 weeks; we tried to make up for lost time by never really sleeping, always going to the beach, going to Disneyland, and the usual- eating. I was more than happy to find out she hadn’t changed. She still couldn’t spell to save her life, she’s still really short, has a weird sense of humor that still makes me laugh, and she’s still that one person that understands I am the way I am. 

Nowadays, no one actually uses or has a blog in which other people actually read. We're told to write about anything, but to be honest I'm kind of shy because I have nothing interesting to say or I might bore people. But here I go ...

My name is Irene Burgos. I am an only child, but I have a huge extended family. People don't really know what nationality I am; I get either Korean, Japanese, Cambodian, or even Chinese. I am 100% Filipino. My life has been ... I guess one can say, "out of the ordinary." My dad was in the Navy for about 26 years, and in that time, my family and I were fortunate enough to be stationed in Japan for over 10 years. However, no, I cannot speak a word of Japanese. Every summer or winter break of my life, up until I was 14, I have been traveling. My mom and I loved to follow my dad whenever he left on the boat. We've traveled to Australia, Hong Kong, Bahrain, Korea, Guam, Malaysia, Singapore, and a couple of other countries in the Southeast. I officially moved back to the United States the summer before 9th grade. -_- In middle school and continued through high school, I played volleyball, softball, and field hockey; I was a captain for my teams since 10th grade.  

Now, I'm a sophomore and currently a nursing major. I chose to do nursing because my mom was such an influence on me and I saw she enjoyed her job as a RN. To be completely honest, I have not spent an entire weekend here at school; I either go to College Park to hang out with my boyfriend and friends over there or I go home. I am really friendly and I enjoy meeting new people. I love organizing events, being busy, and having people depend on me.

.... And that's pretty much it.