Day 8: Happy Easter!

Easter Family Lunch right now! Whoo!


The only "bad" thing is that my legs and my feet are aching right now. Because of too much dancing! #firstworldproblems


Anyway, yes, sophomore banquet was incredibly fun. We were outside under a tent with huge lanterns, right next to the beach walk. We got to watch the sunset right before the dance started, too. 


Josh is in the class committees homeroom so they were supposed to get there early to set up. I got there early, too, and I helped to set up. It got pretty frantic because we only had 30 minutes to set up until the doors opened and we had to do so much. The sophomore girls and I just took our shoes off and got to work right along with the guys. Props to this sophomore class for having it at the aquarium. More props for being so flexible and resolute in making it happen because what many don't realize is the amount of work that the hotel or golf course staff does for the event beforehand. When the banquet or prom committee gets there, I'm sure the tables and chairs are all set up with the tablecloths, cutlery, plates and napkins. When they let us in, we had to carry tables, unfold chairs, tape down the tablecloths and decorate the tables with the sand-candle centerpieces and plumerias. 


After we set up, the doors opened and then we all went back outside to check in, and the aquarium people stamped our hands with fish stamps. Then, Eugene and I walked through the galleries. I had never been to the aquarium before, so I was especially excited to see three things: 1) sharks, 2) stingrays, and 3) jellyfish. There were so many weird-looking, cool-looking and/or colorful fish. And a lot of sea cucumbers. There was only one shark, though, and it was smaller than all of the ginormous fishes with which it shared the tank. There were two stingrays but they weren't moving much. And the jellyfish!!!! OMG the jellyfish! And those cute little jellyfish-looking things!!! We spent a good bit of time tapping on the glass despite the "Do Not Tap Glass" signs (yep, we're rebels). 


The galleries were cool overall. And not awkward. I thought it'd be hard to talk to Eugene because he's naturally a soft-spoken guy but we talked the whole time about the fishies and pointed out the weird-looking fish and the fake-looking coral to each other. We also had fun with the glass outside the shark tank (it curves really far in so, at first, it doesn't seem as if there's any glass at all). Anyway, it was cool. And there were adorable monk seals!


After the gallery, we went to our table. We had long tables, not the circular ones you'd expect. Eugene, Josh and their friends had called dibs on the table nearest the food. Clearly, I was with the right people. The food was great, and I thought it was awesome that some of the sophomores actually made the desserts. There were homemade lemon and lime bars, different kinds of brownies, iced cookies and even butter mochi! Dinner was punctuated with lots of picture taking with lots of people. At one point, Lauren tapped me on the shoulder and said that we were gonna take a senior picture. I didn't realize just how many seniors were at the banquet until I saw the mob of people gathering on the side nearest the beach, getting ready for a senior class picture. And that wasn't even everyone!


After dinner, there was much milling about. The dj wasn't really playing any good songs so not a lot of people wanted to go and dance. We were playing cards over at our table, and just taking pictures. Most people were taking their banquet photos and that must've taken a while because there was only one line/background available. 


Dancing was fun! At first, Eugene was scared because I told him, "You are gonna have fun, I swear." But we had a good time dancing with each other and occasionally with a group of people. Jaime, Tiff, Tiare, Rachel, Kelsey and I took a photo together, too, but it got hectic because Rachel, Kelsey and I had to leave our dates to go and stand in line. Then it started to look as if we were gonna be there for a while, so we went back to our dates. Then, Jaime called us back because our group was next in line but right at that moment, the dj started playing the only slow dance of the night. And we felt guilty so we ran back and told them to hold off on the picture please, slow danced with the boys, then ran back and took the very last picture of the night. Success!


We got home late, so I was tired when I had to get up this morning for Easter Sunday mass. Well worth it though! 


Back to work!


Risks taken: 18
Hugs: 6 (family gathering over here)
Current food cravings/obsessions: I'm drinking lemon/lime water right now. I feel like I'm losing my voice, despite the fact that I did not do a lot of screaming and yelling last night. I can't afford to lose my voice on the week of states, man. CAN'T TALK FOR THE WHOLE WEEK!
Playlist(s) on Repeat: "Like an N, But Not Really"