bits and pieces

My whole world is changing. I now only have 2 weeks on my voyage around the world. Where did the time go? How did I get to this point already? I can still distinctly remember the way I felt as I watched the ship depart from the Bahamas; I thought to myself oh my gosh I am finally here after so much frustration and hard work. Then I looked around and thought what the heck did I get myself into? I am still trying to answer that question. Looking back, I do not feel changed. I think this is only because I am not in a familiar place yet. Once I go home and see things that used to be so familiar it will hit me because I will most likely look at everything in a different light. I actually noticed this in Hawaii. I was in Wal-mart and everything felt so strange, I can’t put it into words yet. I am excited for the whole new world I am going to walk into on December 14th. At the beginning of this trip I had no desire to go home but now home is all I think about. I’ve reached a point where I am overwhelmed by all the traveling I have done and I just need time to reflect on my adventures in a familiar place for once. Everything is just so crazy right now. Finals start in 2 days, the Ambassador’s Ball is sneaking up on me and I still have so much to prepare for it. Soon Costa Rica will be over and Miami will be outside my cabin window. I can not believe it’s over!
Aloha from Hawaii! Even though I only spent 9 hours in Oahu it was well worth all the hassle of American immigration procedures. I had the intentions of hiking Diamond Head but as it is Thanksgiving Day, it was closed. Almost everything was closed so my only option was to lie on the beach. I know this is so terrible, wink wink. Hawaiian people are the nicest people in the world. So considerate of others and will go out of their way to do a good deed. I watched the best sunset while sitting on the beach watching sail boats past through the setting sun. On my way back to the ship I stopped at a sushi buffet because I got spoiled in Japan and really wanted sushi. That was pretty much my whole day.

The 18 days at sea went by faster than I expected, we did not have any rough seas which really made a difference. Studying for finals and writing papers took up a lot of time, so I didn’t really get bored until the last few days after Costa Rica.

Once we arrived in Costa Rica all of my exams were over with so it was basically a vacation without have to worry about class. I spent most of my time by the beach or pool. The second day I went zip lining which was fun. It consisted of 13 different lines in the canopy of a forest. I was nervous in the beginning because I did not think I would be able to stop myself from running into a tree but it was really easy. I did not do anything very cultural there. It was just a relaxing last port before home.

It is now the night before we dock in Miami. As you can imagine emotions are running high on the ship. Everyone is saying their goodbyes and reminiscing on all the adventures of this semester. The most popular sentence of the day is “I can’t believe it’s over” these past 108 days flew by. It doesn’t even make sense to me that I just traveled the world and visited 10 different countries. I will have a lot more reflection time once I’m home (that’s so weird to say) but now I must say my goodbyes to the people I have spent every second of my life with in the last three and a half months.