Sunday, May 19th

          I leave today. I'm getting that sinking feeling that comes when you aren't looking forward to tomorrow, like a Sunday when you know you didn't do the homework that is due tomorrow. I left Ramzi's house early because he had to go pick up his brother from college in Maine and he and his dad needed to get an early start. He took me to Dana's, which was just across town, where Noah had spent the night after his gig. I showed up there at almost ten but none of my friends were awake, so I was showed in and went to hang out on the couch for about an hour with Dana's dogs, until everyone woke up and Noah and I had to rush home for lunch because my mom  had shown up. We got back, had a little lunch and said goodbye and everything and took off to pick Dakota back up in Greenfield.
          We met him in a coffee shop and loaded his stuff into the car just as it was about to rain. we drove for awhile before we hit some heavy traffic, which ended up slowing us down by almost three hours. It was about 5 hours in, on a drive that usually takes around 3 hours, that we got a flat tire near Trumbull, CT. it was raining lightly, and was pretty cold, but I had to go out and change the tires because my mom couldn't get the bolts that held the wheel on undone. That meant I had to change the tire pretty much by myself. It was miserable. We drove through the traffic for another hour or two, but i was just finally glad to get out of the car when we got back
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Saturday, May 18th

         We all slept in until around eleven, and then made breakfast. My plans had gotten cancelled because Renna was sick, but Noah had a gig that night with his friends, so he left to go practice at around one. When he left, we wondered what to do. I decided to call up Ramzi and meet him by his house in Amherst. Liz took Ada, Sophie, and I into Amherst, where Ada and I met our friend, Zell (short for Hazel) and Ramzi. We went to a movie called 'Sapphires', which turned out to be a really good movie about an Aboriginal Australian girl band fighting to make it big.
          We went to dinner at a Thai place when the movie was over, and then we split up. Ramzi and I went to a yogurt place and threw a frisbee around while Ada and Zell went and did something, and Liz took Sophie around.
          When we got back, we arranged for me to stay at Ramzi's for the night, so we drove back to his place and hung out until we fell asleep watching 'The Campaign'

Friday, May 17th

          Friday was a regular day at school, English, physics, Spanish, with a free period in between each. We continued watching 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' in English, and learned more about WWI and president Wilson. In Spanish class, we we t over the format for the oral exam, which I won't be there for, so it wasn't much use to me, but after that, we talked about Profe's (that's what we called the Spanish teacher) trip to Costa Rica, and her work trying to get books and better schools for the children. When we were finished with school, I said a lot of goodbyes to a lot of people, and made plans for that night with Hannah, Begoña, Noah, and Alex.
           Later, after Noah and I got home, showered, and got ready, we picked Hannah, Begoña, and Alex up to go see 'The Great Gatsby' which was awesome. The movie was really long, and we got home at almost midnight after dropping everyone off at their houses. We were really tired, and just went to sleep.

Thursday, May 16th

         Today was really great. We had the concert today, so we just had A,D, and E blocks. It meant that we skipped metalshop, but we had English, a free, and then Spanish, which was a good schedule. We left at lunch to go to the concert hall in Shelburne falls to rehearse. There were some great acts, like Noah's  band playing 'The Boys are Back in Town' and 'My Best Friend's Girl', which were amazing. Most of my friends either sang or played an instrument. While people were going up and rehearsing, I helped Indra write her paper on Romeo and Juliet.
         After their parts rehearsal were over, Indra, Ramzi and I went to the coffee shop down the street, and hung out until the whole thing was over, when I met up with Noah, Paul, Dana, Siena, Mollie, and Alex. We went to Mollie's for awhile and hung out on the porch until it was almost time to go back to the concert. We walked to the Potholes, which are giant rocks with smooth, round holes in them made by glaciers. Now a river runs through them and people used to go swimming there until some teenagers died.
          We hung out at the potholes for a little while, and then got hungry, so we went to the diner and got some food before we had to be back at the concert hall. When we got back, it was packed and we had to get seats before they were all taken. I sat with my friends and we had a good time in general, ever though one or two performances weren't that good. Over all it was a great concert though, and Noah's grandparents came to watch it, so I got to meet them. They came back with us after the concert was over for a bit, but everyone was tired, and they left shortly while we went to sleep.

Wednesday, May 15th

          We had English today, and watched 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'. Then we went to physics for a double block. Physics was really interesting because we're talking about the differences between time and space, and how it gets distorted in space based on how fast you go. It's really pretty fascinating. Then I had the rest of the afternoon free, so I picked up 'The Catcher in the Rye' from the library and read it for awhile. I hung out with some close friends, Indra and Renna, for a little while before Tenzin brought ice cream for the baseball team. I talked with my friends for awhile, while watching the girls lacrosse game that was going on. After it was over I caught the bus home and relaxed for the rest of the night.

Tuesday, May 14th

          We had studio blocks again today, so I went to creative writing and Mr. Merrell told us to describe a murderer's bedroom, so I wrote an awesome story about a crime scene. That and English were my only classes, so I read 'The Catcher In The Rye' in the library. When school was over, we traveled to The Eagle Brook School, Which was just as rich a school as Delbarton, if not more so. We killed their baseball team 22-8 though, and I got 2 triples, scored 3 times and drove in 5 runs, and we got to home runs as a team. My friend Tenzin drove me home again, and Ada and I were the only ones home so we made some awesome food and watched 'Psych' (its becoming a favorite of mine) until we got tired, and went to bed.

Monday, May 13th

          We went back to school today, and watched part of 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' in first period English. And then we talked about WWI & WWII in history again, which are some of my favorite topics. Then we had physics, and got assigned a take home quiz, which I finished quickly. My afternoon was pretty free since the Spanish teacher wasn't in, so it was turned into a free period. I spent it talking and messing around with Karina, Mike, and Jared. After school, I played in the baseball game, and started as the third baseman. I played well, so they asked me to play tomorrow. We lost, but it was cool to play. Tenzin drove me back to the house, because the school bus had already left, and I got some dinner and a hot shower.

Sunday, May 12th

          Today was Mother's Day, so we went out to breakfast at a restaurant/country store named Elmer's, which made some awesome French toast. Then we got back home, and I called my own mom and said hi and talked with everyone back home. When I got off the phone, we went for a bike ride down to Shelburne falls again. It's a pretty good ride, and it was nice weather, so we all enjoyed it. When we got home, we hung out for awhile before making dinner.

Saturday, May 11th

         Today was just an ordinary boring day at first, because it was kind of rainy so we made breakfast and watched a couple episodes of 'Psych' before it got nice. Then we decided to go out, so Sophie, Ada, and I went zip lining with Hannah and Begoñia (Noah had a huge amount of homework) at a place that Hannah's mom owns. It was one of those places that also does rock climbing and kayacking. We did that for the rest of the afternoon, 'zipping' from these little platforms in the trees. We had fun for awhile, and then came home for dinner on the grill.

Friday, May 10th

          Today was a really busy day, because it was the day of semi. Everyone came to school and that's all they talked about. The day went by so quickly, I don't even remember what happened. After school, the guys got a quick game of basketball, an then went to load everything into the cars to be brought over to the Shelburne Falls community center. We, the juniors, loaded the subwoofers, lights, snacks, and everything into a few cars and drove it over there. Then we got everything set up, balloons pumped, photo booth set up, sound systems checked, and everything else.
          After we were done, we went to Mollie's house to get some food and hang out for about 2 hours until we absolutely had to be back to host the event. We all got ready and walked back to the community center over the bridge of flowers. We welcomed people and waited for people to arrive. Enid got there with our friends Eva, Indra, and Renna, and we took some pictures like everyone else in the crowd.
          When the music started, We went inside and had an awesome time. They played mostly fast songs, but some slow ones and they played a few of my favorite songs that Tenzin and I got happy about. When the night ended, we stayed and cleaned up until about 11 when we were finished and went back to Mollie's, where we were picked up by Noah's mom. We both came back exhausted and went to bed.

Thursday, May 9th

          I was excited for today, because I have metal shop, which I had always wanted to try. I made an anchor intending to turn it into a necklace, but it was way too huge for that. Then we went to lunch, but after that, I went to Spanish class where we attempted to translate poetry, which is insanely hard. The baseball practice that I was supposed to go to was cancelled due to weather (it was pouring) so I went and watched the frisbee game, and got soaked. I was talking with Eva and Enid when the whole lacrosse team ran through a huge puddle in the middle of a field and dove into it like it was a pool, or giant slip-n-slide. Eva went to go dive in and join the fun, but I asked Enid to the Semiformal tomorrow. So we hung out for a little while longer and then I got on the bus with Noah, and watched psych with him and Ada.

Wednesday, May 8th

          Today was pretty cool. I had history in the morning, and we were talking about WWI, the Lusitania, and Franz Ferdinand. Then I went to a double block of physics, where we did a lab on weight, volume, and water displacement. I went to lunch and had the rest of the afternoon free. People are planning so hard for this semiformal on Friday, so the talk of the school is who's going with who, and what they are wearing, etc. Anyways, there was a baseball game today, until it started to rain. My friends Eva, Tristan, Indra, and I got in a golf cart to avoid it. I saw my friend Tenzin play, but it was almost painful to watch because Charlemont was down 8-0 before they even got up to bat. The rain looks like it will continue until Sunday. Well, after we got thoroughly soaked, Noah and I took the bus back to his house and watched 'The Office' until we went to bed.

Tuesday, May 7th

          So today I went to my first studio block, which is basically just a period on Tuesdays and Thursdays that are just music, art, creative writing, metalworking, etc. I chose creative writing to be my Tuesday class and metalworking for my Thursday class.  I was really looking forward to it, but first we had English class and were talking about the book 'one flew over the cuckoo's nest. The English teacher, Mr. Merrell put on some YouTube clips of early lobotomies. Halfway through the first clip, the kid next to me passed out and fell out of the chair onto his head, and left the class to go to get a concussion test.
          After this episode, I had a free period before creative writing, so I played some basketball with the other kids with free periods. When the period was over, I went up to creative writing, and we were given a set of three items to use in our story. The location had to be a mountain, the subject had to be vanity, and I had to incorporate a handbag somewhere into the story.
          I wanted to read at first, but then I heard the other ones that came before me and didn't think I could compete. Then I was put on the spot by Mr. Merrell, the same teacher who played the lobotomy videos, and I read my story. Apparently they loved it, and nobody has the same style there so it was a good change for them to hear my work.
          Tuesday was really chill because I had no classes in the afternoon, so I just messed around with the guys on the basketball court. When school was over, we went outside to watch the ultimate frisbee game, where we lost by three and I got slightly sunburned.
          We got home at around 5:30, and Ada, Noah, and I made some tortellini in pesto sauce and watched 'The Office' until we felt like going to bed.

Monday, May 6th

          Today was my first day at the academy. I woke up early and had a blueberry muffin for breakfast.  I made sure that I had my athletic clothes to play some sports afterwards. We took the school bus at 7:00 where I met a few other students. When we got to the academy, we had 'morning meeting' which is somewhat like our convocation at St. Benedict's, but just without prayer. It was a weird day because the day I got there, the headmaster announced his resignation. Apparently there hasn't been a headmaster in recent years that has lasted more than one year.  

          After that, I went to get my schedule from Madame Mauri, the French teacher, who coordinated my stay. Today I have English, History, physics, a free block, which is new to me and is really cool, Spanish 4, and another free block. 

          Today everyone was running in and oh of class to go donate blood in a blood drive that was being hosted at the school. Their ultimate frisbee game was canceled (they take frisbee really seriously here, it's like the equivalent of Benedict's soccer even though from what I heard they aren't that good.) so I watched Begoñia play in a girls lacrosse game, and score her first goal. When that was over, Noah drove Begoñia and me home in Hannah's car (Hannah had just given blood, and was feeling sick so her mom drove her home.) We got back at 5:30 or so. We were going to eat at 6:00 and had a little bit of time so Sophie and I went to go see if we could find the new kittens that were living in the barn. We brought them milk, but they wouldn't come out from their little hay bales, so we came back inside and had some dinner. After dinner, Sophie, Ada and I played video games until they had to got to bed and I got tired.

Sunday, May 5th

         I slept in until around 9:00, and when I woke up, only Sophie and Ada were up, and Liz was at the grocery store, which was an astonishing half hour away. I made waffles with the girls and we ate breakfast. Ada introduced me to Dr. Who, which is probably her favorite show. At that point, it was around noon and Matt and Noah still hadn't woken up. Liz got home from the store and we unloaded the groceries.  Ada, Sophie and I then biked to Shelburne Falls to get some lunch. We talked and got some food at a place called Christopher's which wasn't far from the flower bridge. After we got home, Noah and I left to go hang out with his friend, Hannah, that lives down the street and her exchange student, Begoñia, from Pamplona, Spain. We wound up driving back to Shelburne farms to get some Ice cream, and see the potholes, which Begoñia and I hadn't seen before. We drove back and decided to ride our bikes for a bit, but Begoñia didn't join us because she was scared of riding them, and she had only learned how to the day before. While we were talking, I thought Hannah   looked familiar, and when I asked about it, we found out that she knows my cousin, which was cool.

          Anyways, after we were done riding our bikes, we all joined Noah's family for a cook-out and we stayed out and talked until the bugs got too annoying. Sophie, Ada and I played video games until they had to go to bed, and I likewise went to sleep.

Saturday, May 4th

           This is actually my second time writing this because the first time, I accidentally deleted it. So I got here at about 7:00 after dropping another student, Dakota Gibbs, off at the Putney school in Vermont. Before my mother and I  arrived, we  got some dinner at a  restaurant called the Baker's oven in a town called Shelburne Falls, which served really good thin-crust pizza. Shelburne falls is a really small town that has a few little restaurants, a couple houses, and a small grocery store. The town is split in two by a river that ends in what they call the potholes, which are a bunch of huge rocks with smooth, rounded holes made by glaciers that are now filled with water from the river. There are two bridges that cross the river and connect the town. One is a plain metal and concrete structure that cars can drive over, and the other one is called the Bridge of Flowers, and is a small walkway with flower beds  on the sides. 

          After we left, we drove about 5 minutes more until we got to my host family's house. It is an old farm house, but the family doesn't own the whole farm around it. I met the family, who were all very warm and inviting, and who did t seem to be strangers to exchange students at all. I introduced myself, in person, to Noah, my host, his sisters, Sophie and Ada, his mom, Liz, and his dad, whose name is Matt. They had set up a bed for me in the dining room, which they never used. 

          When I had gotten settled, Liz, Noah, and I all sat down in the living room to watch 'The Intouchables', which was a French film about a street rat who needs to help his family out, and starts to work for a rich paralytic and over time, becomes his friend. I had not seen it before, but I thought it was a great movie. After the movie finished, I got ready for bed and went to sleep.