It was around 10 AM, and I was just heading back to my room after a physics lecture and a stop at Dunkin’ Donuts when I see an odd contraption being set up in the middle of campus.

Nothing unusual, right? They’re always working on weird projects here. But upon closer inspection, I realize what this is.

See those Google stickers? And the 360-degree camera mounted on the top of the tricycle? This isn’t any ordinary contraption. This is a photography session for Google Street View.

Along with many other way-too-excited WPI students who appreciate this occurrence, we follow like stalkers. I’m fairly certain we got our photos in many of the shots as they went around the fountain.

It also ended up being the first time I took photos at WPI; I can’t think of a better occasion. Here are a few more up-close photos that I took while they weren’t looking:

It’s been such a busy week that as much as I wanted to keep this site updated and stay in touch with people (I’m talking to you, Kim Clark), I simply couldn’t. But let’s start at the beginning. Sunday, we had a southern-style lunch (“Y’all are from Maine?”)…

…followed by a trip to De Soto Caverns, where there were lots of cave things and total darkness when they turn off the lights.

There was a cheesy religious and patriotic light show as well.

It turns out Alabama is highly religious; we counted 30+ churches on just the roads we traveled. In fact, we saw a place called “Church’s Chicken” and photoshopped the sign slightly.

That night, we had dinner at Fire+Ice with the Maine people.

Monday, I had four rounds of OO. Before each round, I got just one Tic-Tac. ‘Nuff said.

Tuesday, two rounds of OO. Just one Tic-Tac for both again. In my 5th round, I faced the “Harvey & Jack” oratory about imagination that won at CFLs, and in my 6th round, I faced the “You Got Served” oratory that was also in the final round at CFLs. They posted after lunch. Here we go…

My speaker code was 222.

It was there. I screamed. Break face:

Rounds 7 and 8 were the same day (no night to worry about it like CFLs), so Mr. Blanchette and Mrs. Deveau went to 7th round (along with Ed, who went to all my rounds by default). For 8th round, they were joined by Ryan and David (DUO), Greta Landis (HI), and her coach Lyndsy Shuman. Despite getting one Tic-Tac before each of those rounds, I thought I was definitely in the bottom half of the rounds. However, John told me after I was done that my performances were the best he had seen and that I was “distinctly in the top half of both rounds.” He objectively placed me 1st in my 7th round and 2nd in the 8th round. I didn’t believe him. I was wrong.

Postings were at the Host Party, which featured a science museum and a hilarious comedy show.

They unrolled the postings.

It’s hard to see, but 222 was there. I screamed more. Break face #2:

I was now in the top 30 (take that, CFLs), and I had that night to worry about Rounds 9 and 10…quarterfinals. We went to the Cheesecake Factory again to celebrate, and John was very encouraging. He did a lot to make sure I didn’t get intimidated by the competition, and that night, we worked for about an hour on getting things just right with the oratory.

Wednesday, the plan had been to do supplemental events (prose and expository). Due to my unexpected success, those two pieces would never be performed. Instead, I was at Spain Park High School, home of the elimination rounds.

I look to my right, and last year’s Charlotte’s Web duo was having a talk with their coach. I look to my left and three people from the CFL final round of OO are walking over to a table. That’s when I realized what kind of company I was in.

I got one Tic-Tac before both of those rounds as well, a 10-round streak. Of course, the competition was tough, and I didn’t make it past these rounds. After seeing 56 oratories (over 9 hours worth), I was pretty much done anyway. I ended up placing 25th out of the 220 oratories. Not bad at all. Here are the semifinal postings, without my code…

…and my plaque.

Thursday was the day of my one and only additional event: Storytelling. This was terrible last year; we were competing late with my supplemental events so I didn’t get to start memorizing until after midnight. This year, I had the whole afternoon and night before to put together a performance. Here we are at Oak Mountain High School, playing Quiddler with Orono.

I was very proud of the performance, and I got 1st in my first round. In the next round, I thought I had 1st as well, but the judge strangely gave me third to two okay-ish performances. I was “down” in the round, so speech was over. Forever. I also had one Tic-Tac for both of those rounds, making it a perfect 12-for-12 at nationals.

Greta Landis ended up doing very well in Storytelling. She made it four rounds (semifinals), and she was only one rank away from final round.

Interp final rounds were that night, and John ended up judging the final round of DUO (Mrs. Deveau judged final round of storytelling).

HI was mediocre, DI was intense, and DUO was incredible. The people from Charlotte’s Web placed 2nd, and my favorite in the round got 3rd.

Friday and Saturday involved various attractions (including too many zoo photos to post) and a failed attempt at traveling home. Our flights didn’t work out, so we had to stay another night and leave for home very early on Sunday.

Regardless, it was fantastic week. I’ll never forget it.

At around 4:15 am, we had just gotten past airport security when I thought, “Hey, let’s take some of our first pictures!” As soon as I began to unzip my bag, I realized all at once…I forgot to bring my camera. Here I am, at my last ever speech tournament, and I didn’t bring my camera.

There was simply no way I could get the camera at that point, so as soon as we arrived in Birmingham, we went to a local RadioShack and purchased a decent digital camera for about $80. Crisis averted.

Other than that, we’ve had a great start to the trip. We went to a small deli for lunch and the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Tomorrow is the last day before competition begins, so I’m going to get some rest. After all, I’ve only had a few hours of sleep since Friday.

I’ll keep you “posted.”

We’re waiting in the lobby of the hotel because our bus to Cancún will be here in just a few minutes. There also happens to be a WiFi connection here.

It’s been a great trip, but I can’t wait to get home.

Today is our last full day here, so we basically have a free day here in Playa Del Carmen to relax, shop, relax, swim, and relax.

As for tomorrow, we’ll be heading off for Cancún, where we’ll fly out and return to the United States, specifically Houston, before returning to Maine late at night. It should be easier for us to return now that Jeremy’s stolen passport showed up at the embassy.

We found a great place to spend the three-day finale of our trip. The beach looks like a giant post card, the food isn’t bad, and there is semi-working WiFi in the lobby of the hotel.

Unfortunately, Jeremy Daigle’s bag got stolen on the beach, containing his passport. He is with Mrs. Towns and our tour guide at the police station now, so hopefully we won’t have to sneak him across the border.

Tomorrow, we’ll be traveling more to go snorkeling, after which we’ll go clubbing here in Playa. After that, we’ll have a free day to relax after that late night.

Sitting here in our third hotel (now in Valladolid), and it’s our first hotel to have legitimate wireless internet. Hopefully our hotel in Playa Del Carmen has it as well. We’ll see.

Anyway, we just finished our trip from Mérida, during which we took a detour to see a huge pyramid at Chichen Itza and to swim in an underground cave river. Pictures will be posted as soon as I get home.

I’m just happy I have reliable internet again. Off to check email!

Our hotel here also has WiFi, so I have another update. After we climbed to the top of a Mayan pyramid, where I promtly updated my Facebook status with my cheap cell phone, I got sacrificed by Mrs. Towns and another person on the trip. I’ll post pictures as soon as I get home.

I also got bit by a few black flies. We’ll see how that turns out.

As I was eating pineapple ice cream at a little shop here in Mérida, I found out that this place has free wireless Internet! It was nice to check my email and everything.

In a couple minutes, we’ll be heading off to climb some pyramids, so it should be fun.

In just a couple days, I’ll be heading off to Mexico for a week of relaxation and exploration. Of course, I can smell an internet connection from a mile away, and I’ve been told that there will be internet access at all of our hotels during out stay. I’m going to try to post updates using my tiny iPod touch throughout the trip.

Also, you can see my general schedule for the week on the sidebar to the left. This is just so that you can be even more jealous!