Finals Week Will Be The Death Of Me

On the week before finals week, I had an interesting conversation with one of my cousins that was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Yesenia is in her first year of college and often asks me questions about it because I am in my third year of college. This particular week we brought up the conversation of finals at a point where I was so frustrated with studying for final exams and researching for final papers that I was ready to burst and burst I did. My poor cousin was the object onto which I poured out my frustration and I said to her, "Finals suck! They slowly eat away at your soul until you have nothing left and are standing outside in the cold while everyone is laughing at you!"

This of course is an exaggeration invented by my oh-so-stressed-out mind. I was not a very happy camper that week and college seemed to be the most difficult thing a human being can experience.

The reason for my frustration is obvious and is shared with thousands of college kids across the country: finals week is full or work. It happens every semester and, every semester, I manage to survive it and come out with good grades as my reward. One simple letter on my transcript is not all I get; I manage to learn a lot and grow along the way.

Two weeks ago I couldn't imagine how I would survive with so much to do and this week I can't imagine how I can survive with nothing to do now that I'm on a break from school. The cycles of life are curious things and they never stop going around.

El Chavo

The first picture you see here is el Chavo. He is a character in a Spanish sitcom that I watched when I was little. As I was leaving Mexico and crossing the border back into the United States, el Chavo reminded me of how very different I am from the other 5 people I was with.

The line for the border took a not-so-exciting 4 hours to cross. As we were waiting in line we saw several people selling random stuff, from mexican candy to pirated movies and puppets. The puppets caught my attention because I saw the cutest hand puppet of el Chavo and I started laughing at it. It brought back memories of me sitting in front of the telivision with my family laughing as Don Ramon got angry and mimicking the chilindrina when she cried. I asked my 5 wonderful friends in the van if they had ever heard of it and they, of course, said no.

The second picture you see is a picture of Kenny, the cutest, funniest, most adorable kid I met in Mexico. Every time I look at Kenny's picture I can't help but smile and it brings back a lot of good memories.

The group I was with all loved Kenny and we love looking at his picture. To me, his picture also represents the friendships we made in Mexico and the good laughs we had.

I guess I put these two pictures up because they sum up my experience in Mexico. I was able to share with the Mexican people I met because I speak Spanish and my Salvadorian culture is somewhat similar to theirs. I was also able to share with my group because I speak English and I was able to help them build relationships with people from a different culture.

Despite the difference of culture, language, and lifestyle, we are all human and all humans love to laugh.