AND THEN IT WAS SUMMER

a photo from my weekend in isla mujeres -- taken on the coast of cancun while waiting to board the ferry

there's something very anti-climactic about the commencement of this summer.

i'm not sure if it's being abroad, with only a few other students experiencing the same sort of schedule, or being away from the changing seasons [which means i feel as though i've been trapped in summer for, oh, ever. fine, since january! it's been established the heat makes me a bit dramatic], not being on campus for the buzz of the end of classes and finals week [and tulip time], or the fact that my semester was significantly shorter and ended even earlier than normal [it just dawned on me that my summer started in... april? win. win win], but it just hasn't quite hit me that it's summer. summer! four whole months of freedom! four whole months to check items off of my summer bucket list! four whole months to replenish my dwindling bank account after one-too-many runs to starbucks! [my host brother did however help me justify my many-a-trip to the coffee shop yesterday at lunch. i said: yeah, it's tough to fight the urge when starbucks is close to my school. and he said: close!? it's right next to your school! plus, their pastries are muy rico. and i said in my head, you are so right host brother. they are muy rico. and the buildings' closeness draws me in like a magnet. and now back up and picture this entire conversation taking place en espanol. impressive, no? except my sentence formation resembled more of a two-year-old spanish speaker than the sophisticated, thesaurus-loving english-is-my-native-language blogger that i am. ;) le sigh. but you can still pretend to be impressed, no?]

when i finished my final final, i tossed my pencil aside, flung back my chair, darted around the room in circles with my hands in the air, waving them back and forth, exhorting cheers and nonsense words. can you picture it?

i'm free! free at last!

after i stepped foot out of the school i had this strange feeling kick in. now that i finally wasn't on a power-walking mission home to complete homework, all of these possibilities of no-good time spenders began flooding into my head.

should i...
...cram-watch all of the mexican telenovelas on netflix?
...read the 100+ blogs from weeks past i've yet to get through? [my version of the morning paper, you see?]
...write the 100+ blog posts i've been wanting to get from my head onto paper? [onto internet?]
...read my novel? [i'm currently on this one]
...skype everyone on my contact list and chat for hours?
...eat one last celebratory starbucks panini?
...paint my nails?
...just lay on my bed and stare at the ceiling fan and not feel guilty about it?
...go for a walk?

the world is my oyster!

update: i just about did a combination of all of the above and then some.
ah. it feels wonderful. happy first day of summer!