Finally Arrived in Rhode Island!

I awoke at 2 in the morning, and I automatically smiled - it was time to go to Rhode Island! I added a few more items to my suitcase, said goodbye to my mother and sister, and was taken to El Cerrito High School. I was excited to see everyone, even though we all looked really dreary! After being talked to by Don about loaner items and what we are expected to do on the trip, we all took the obligatory group photo. Just putting our arms around each other and smiling bought us closer.

After taking the shuttle to the airport, it hit me: we are almost here! We're really getting closer! We checked in our luggage, went through security, and got a quick breakfast while waiting to board the plane. Since our plane departed at almost six in the morning, the plane was not very crowded. I sat next to Josephine and we had a really nice conversation for the three hour plane ride to Chicago (plus taking multiple naps to catch up on sleep).

Our one hour layover in Chicago went by very quickly, and soon enough we were on our plane to Providence. The flight was only an hour and forty five minutes, so it went by pretty quickly. I sat with Josephine and my dad, and we had a nice conversation. All three of us held hands as our plane touched down on the runway - we were officially in Providence!

After taking a bathroom break, we quickly went to gather luggage, and then meet Ms. Larson! It was really great to see her again. She looked so happy, and told us a bit about how Brown Session 1 is going - I can't wait to see them!

Ms. Larson, Ms. Williams, Caroline, Rebecca, and I crowded into Ms. Larson's rental car while my dad took Josephine, Ava, Mariko, and Cindy. We had to wait for a while because there was a problem with my dad's car, but the problem was quickly solved and we were off to Hotel Providence.

The minute we stepped in the hotel, I was in awe. The lobby shone with gold and brass, marble floors, and beautiful tapestry. We waited for our luggage to be loaded while we received our roommate situation for the next five days. My roommate is Mariko! I am excited to be rooming with Mariko; ironically, we both have Macbooks! We were then informed by my dad that we would have an hour to dress for a formal dinner with our W&L teacher and Brown admission officers!

Our hotel room is absolutely gorgeous, small, but with all our assets. Mariko and I quickly cleaned and dressed for the dinner. The whole group met downstairs - everyone looked so fancy and nice.

Dinner was at the Capital Grille, and I ordered dry-aged sirloin steak with a side of mashed potatoes. I also got multiple Shirley Temples! I sat next to Kisa Takesue, our Women and Leadership teacher! She was so enthusiastic, energetic, personable, and very sociable. The table was seated a certain way: the sophomores had majority of the opportunity to talk to Kisa, whereas the juniors sat more centered around the two admission officers, Mercedes Domeneck and Elizabeth Hart. I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Ava, Caroline, Mariko, Rebecca, and Kisa. Dinner was lovely and desert was delicious. We also sang happy birthday to Josephine, whose birthday is tomorrow.

Currently we are having a blogging party in the lobby! The internet connection is very sketchy in our hotel rooms, and although we have ethernet cables, connecting to the ethernet was hard as well. Fortunately, internet connection is perfect in the lobby. I'm glad I remembered what Brown Session 1 said!

Tomorrow, we will visit Boston University and Dartmouth College. I haven't seen Boston University before, but it will be exciting to see Dartmouth for a third time!