Hello Everyone!
Comments – Chris – dude you know I planned it around you guys! That way we can both hang out haha. And we will both be done with our semesters! Man a redhawks game sounds bomb! That would be so tight. Yeah I have been able to keep up with the Thunder because we get access to the NY Times online for free and their sports section isn’t terrible (its no ESPN or Rivals) but it gets me scores and summaries. Heard we lost a heartbreaker in game 6. I’m just glad because people know to respect us now. That’s what’s up baby! Good luck on finals brotha! 2 more days and we’re juniors!! Esther the ____________(you know what goes in the blank ;) - Haha jk. It will be awesome to be home! There are a lot of things I miss and my friends (you all) are at the top of the list. We will definitely get to chill before you and Kayla leave. At least we should be able to! Good luck on finals to you too! Haha and yeah my hip and butt are sore but I’m just glad it wasn’t worse which it easily could have been. I was/am kinda surprised as well…knock on wood. Lexie – yeah day one was interesting and I will be happy to email you in 3 days once I am home. Sound good? Hollis – haha yeah I can only imagine you and your crazy busy school/dance schedule. You are ridiculous chica! Can’t wait to get back and chill…don’t worry I believe ya!! Haha have a good week of school!!
Well my finals are over and in 48 hours I will be on a plane heading towards my final destination…home. I can’t believe this journey is over. We have been on East Coast time for the past 4 days and with the exception of Mountain Time zone (which I flew through on my way to San Diego), I have lived in all 24 time zones in the past 109 days. How many people can say that? I have been around the world on a ship…I crossed the equator 4 times…I have been in all 4 hemispheres…shoot I even lost an entire day because of the International Date Line. Once my land lands at Will Rogers International here in two days I will literally have circumnavigated the globe beginning and ending in the exact same place. I literally went around the world, using planes, buses, and of course the MV Explorer (my ship).
I feel like just yesterday I was unpacking my bags and meeting Adam for the first time (my roommate). I remember saying goodbye to Mexico, knowing we wouldn’t see land again for 11 days...my first meal on Deck 5 and then my first meal on Deck 6…meeting someone new every five minutes of the first two months of the voyage (actually I am still meeting people for the first time…I mean c’mon there were 600 of us)…waking up to 13 unique and exciting ports…living every moment to the fullest.
I woke up to a different sunrise everyday…and ate dinner while watching a different sunset every night. I experienced rocky waves, calm seas, and everything in between. I saw dolphins, sea snakes, flying fish, whales, albatross, and even sea turtles.
The friends I met on this trip made my experience what it has been. I still can’t believe how close we have all come in these few short months. By the second week it felt like we had known each other forever. We really did become a family in every sense of the word. We were a giant family and it truly was one of the greatest atmospheres I have ever been a part of. If I didn’t know someone but we were in the same place…well we knew each other when we left. That is so cool! There was no being shy…no being reserved…we were ourselves and we accepted each other for who we are.
Ship life was indescribable…just today I was outside on Deck 7 from 12:30 – 5 playing volleyball and swimming and just chillaxing…on a boat…in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Granted my right arm is killing me from volleyball but who cares! From Sea Olympics to Neptune Day and their respective barbeques, we knew how to have fun and it was never boring on this ship. Our pounce marathons were a weekly event and we are all ridiculously good at that game now. Like SICK NASTY good! The coffee houses and the talent shows, volleyball, soccer, and dodgeball at sunset, man life was good!! All of this amazing stuff was possible because of the friends I had made. Let me just say that I never would have made it through a pre-port or diplomatic briefing if I wasn’t surrounded by my friends. And those bus rides in Ghana would have absolutely sucked without close friends to talk to and learn about along the way.
I will never forget the ports I visited and the people I met while in those ports. The things I did…some stupid, some crazy, but each one unique and incredible. Two years ago as I was graduating high school (much like you are now Court) I would never have dreamed I would get to run across the Great Wall…eat scorpions on a stick…jump off a waterfall…see lion cubs playing with their mom…go to a Ghanaian soccer match…play with Indian orphans…see Mt. Fuji…snorkel on a coral reef…go cage diving with Great White Sharks…shoot an AK-47 in Vietnam…and so much more that I have already told you all about. Crazy what can happen in two years…you just never know! Where am I going to be in two years from now? Only one person knows, Christ…and you know what, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Now all these things are in the past…my Semester at Sea is rapidly coming to a close. I don’t know what to say. I wanna thank each and every one of you for reading this blog. Seeing you all read this and comment on my blogs gave me a small taste of home every time I commented back. I still can’t believe that I have such amazing friends and family that care about me enough to read my blogs from around the world and keep up with me while I was gone. You guys are more than I could ever ask for and I thank God everyday for putting you all in my life. You are the best friends and family I could ever have and I love each of you more than you know!
Well I think that is a good way to end it. I will be home the night of May 5th so I better get to see all of you ASAP in the next week or two! Oh and Court if you are reading this you better kick some serious tail on Tuesday night because I wanna watch you play on Friday night more than anything else. Show whatsup chica!
Love you all and can’t wait to see you!
T
