Hi there,

I hope you are doing fine. I am doing great. I am almost done with my studies at New Paltz. We had been pretty busy, but now we are wrapping things up. My homie Mariana and I held our mock press conference in our PR class yesterday. That was the last task for this class. I also finished my portion for the group assignment in my management class. The only thing we have to do is to present it next Thursday. I also have to work more on my marketing project, but have done some work already. We also have to do some more work for our group project in our business communications class. It is really not that much work. We are only here for another week, so we are pretty much done with our studies.

Our paintball trip last Saturday was very nice. Some guys and some girls from the IIB family signed up, but only the girls came. Hey guys, where were you? We really missed you out there!!! I did not like the game in the beginning, but it was so much fun later on.
Paintball is a strategic game in which one team has to beat the other team by eliminating the other team’s members. Everybody is equipped with an air gun filled with paintballs as your ammunition. You also have to wear a mask to protect your face, and since this was the first time for me to take part in such a game, I chose to get a chest protector as well.
At first, we went into a part of the woods. The referee quickly informed us about the rules, counted down from three… and everybody ran away hiding in a bush, behind a tree or under a stack of leaves – except Magdalena and me. We looked at each other, and did not really know what was going on. So our referee yelled “hide, hide!” and we chose the first tree as our shelter. We basically stayed there in defense. While some of our team members were shot and had to return to our home base, we were still hiding behind the tree shaking, sweating and feeling the strong urge to use the restrooms. However, we managed to stay in the game until one member of the opposing team made his way to my tree and eliminated me. I eliminated him, too, though ). From then on, the following games became more interesting. In one game, it was our task to attack the other team, they had to defend their castle. I made my way until the center and waited there. All my team members became eliminated. I, however, was the last one to defend myself against ten or even more of the opposing team. They could smell a rat though that I was the only one left. So they moved closer to me in order to attack me. I “painted” one, probably two, but then they eliminated me, and the game was over. But hey, they complimented me on staying in the game as the last of my team. That was nice. The shot at my leg hurt though, and I still have a pretty big bruise there. But it was so much fun. I had never imagined that this would be so much fun. In total, I “painted” some guys of the opposing team, lots of walls and shelters on the fields, and one spider that scared the wits out of me.
The people who went on the trip were really nice, however, I missed the guys from our IIB family. That would have been fun for them as well!!!

This was the last outdoor trip because we move to NYC pretty soon. All the trips, from rockclimbing to kayaking to horseback riding to paintballing were very nice!!! I highly recommend the outdoor trips offered by the Athletic & Wellness Center at SUNY New Paltz.

On Saturday, we will go to Woodbury Commons Premium Outlets. I am looking forward to doing some more shopping and relaxing. This is definitely a reward after all the hard work.

I wish you a great weekend!
I’ll definitely write some more before we move to the City!

Big love,
Sandra