Days at Sea After Hawaii….

Now back on the ship, we had several days of final exams. There was so much happening on the ship every night that it was hard to concentrate and get everything done! The first day was a study day for classes that are on “A Days.” I was able to sleep in a little and then spend the rest of the day studying and beginning to get organized. I had accumulated a lot of stuff the past few months and it was going to be interesting to see how I was going to get off the ship with all of these things! It was going to be a real challenge! So I spent some time packing souvenirs and putting things away that I did not need. Then I had two tests to study for….one for my family class and the other for my music class.

In the evening we had a barbecue for dinner on the 7th deck. It was one of the best dinners during the voyage and very much looked forward to. We had hamburgers and corn on the cob….plus ice cream….a very big treat! It is so nice when everyone is on the deck together and eating a wonderful meal! Later on that night we watched the children on the ship perform a short play for the ship community. It was hilarious … the captain took part in it and helped solve the mystery of pirates on the ship! It was really cute! Then I spent the rest of the evening studying … not my favorite thing to do!!!!

The following day I had my exams….music was really hard - 8 pages of short answer questions … but my family class exam was thankfully not as a difficult. I was happy to have them over and done with! In the afternoon I had my last education class and we had a party and wrapped up the class … it was a nice closure to the class. I really enjoyed my professor … he was very inspirational. I was very lucky to have him as my professor on the ship. The rest of the day was spent packing, emailing, and getting some things accomplished. I had dinner with my adopted family and talked about our day in Hawaii. It is always nice to eat a family meal with them … they even gave us some snacks for our final exam studying!

We also had a bazaar that night where you could buy or sell anything that you purchased on the trip and then decided you did not want anymore. It was so funny to see what people would sell! Candy, clothes, purses, shoes, t-shirts, flags of the countries we visited, the list goes on … it worked out well for people and it was a lot of fun! I spent more time packing and socializing with friends … we planned on spending the last few days watching movies, getting sun, and catching up on our blogs!

The hard part is that I am still on a strange time zone … we continue to change the clocks almost every night and I am still on another time zone. We figured it out to be somewhere between Japan and Hawaii. We go to bed at 5 am because none of us are tired … it is going to be a rude awakening when I get home!!!

The next day I slept in and then went to get a massage with my roommate. Neither of us had one before so we planned this as a treat after final exams. I got a hot stone massage … it was relaxing. I spent part of the day getting some sun outside and then I got in line to get an autograph from Desmond Tutu. The line wrapped all around the dining hall and I was lucky to actually get an autograph and picture!

In the afternoon I went outside to get some sun; then we had dinner, and then went to listen to a speaker. He was from a university in LA and was talking to us about transitioning when we got home and how to continue to use some of the things we learned while traveling. He was a comedian and told some amazing travel stories. It was a great evening.

The next day I spent several hours outside, packing, and the best part was that it was taco day! It is a very exciting meal in the dining hall and people were flocking to the tacos! Plus it was favorite voyage t-shirt day on the ship! Some of the shirts were crazy and I don’t think I had ever seen them before! I wore a shirt from the Taj Mahal!

In the evening we had a disembarkation meeting. We went over the logistics about getting our luggage off and how we would leave from the ship. Then they made a big joke about reentering the US. Just like we had done in any other country, we went over some typical words from the language … hello, what’s up?, hi … plus we went over food customs … be as messy as you want and the typical foods are pizzas and hamburgers! Then we got an update on some of the highlights from the US in the past few months. They went over politics, news, and media news … everyone laughed when we heard the top 3 hits on the radio…2 of the songs we had never even heard of the bands … plus movies sounded so foreign because nobody had ever thought about going to see a movie in three months. Then we heard about the newest updates on TV … American Idol and Grey’s Anatomy.

It was a strange to hear all these updates on topics that I would typically know all about … it reminded all of us how we had been living in this bubble for the last few months … just floating in the middle of the ocean and in our own reality. So as we received a pre-port to our own country, as much as it was a joke, there was some seriousness to the thoughts and feelings about coming home. The fact that reality is going to hit hard and come all too fast … more responsibilities, and tons of stories and pictures to share. It was all coming too fast for me! As much as I want to be with my family, talk to them in person, show them my pictures, see my house and cat, talk to friends, I wouldn’t mind staying just a little longer … maybe even go around the world again!

That evening we watched a slideshow from the ship photographer. He is the one putting together the yearbook, so we saw some of the pictures he had taken in each port. It was fun to look back at some of the pictures from Puerto Rico and Brazil. It seemed so long ago! We also enjoyed picking out people we recognized in the pictures and remembering the places each picture was taken. Later on that night we watched a ship-wide talent show. It was interesting to see what people performed as their talent! There was the usual singing and dancing, but then there were the strange acts that really made you wonder if you had lived with these people for the past few months! It was extremely entertaining and definitely a great way to end the night!

The last day was a blur! I was trying to finish up packing because we had to put our main suitcases out in the hallway. It was interesting trying to squeeze everything in! I think my roommate enjoyed watching me try!

In the evening we had convocation and a graduation for the seniors. One of my close friends was graduating so we all went to watch the ceremony. They gave all the graduating seniors a paper rice hat from Vietnam to wear as a cap. They put Univ. of Virginia ribbons on the hat to make it look like an official tassel! It was a very nice ceremony. Several students shared personal stories, and almost all the academic deans spoke about the experiences of the semester. Each one had something a little different to say, but it was amazing to hear how much everyone enjoyed the voyage and the memories they would be taking home. I am so glad we had the ceremony … it was a nice way to close the trip.

After convocation my friends and I spent the evening together. We took pictures all over the ship and just enjoyed each others company. Some of us even explored the crew quarters of the ship … it was fun to sneak around some areas we did not know existed! I think everyone was not sure what they should do … recap everything that happened or just pretend it was another night on the ship. Finally early in the morning we went to sleep for a few hours in my cabin! Two people were in the beds and the other two were on the floor between them - it was a final slumber party!

A few hours later we had to get up to watch the ship pull in. At breakfast we could see land approaching! We were very close to San Diego! Everyone pulled out their cell phone and started to make phone calls to everyone they knew! It was hilarious watching everyone go down their call list and say hello to people they had not talked to in months! Soon everyone raced to the decks to watch and get ready to scream and wave. Earlier in the week everyone made big signs to hold up when we pulled in! Most people were crying as the ship continued to get closer and closer. Then the ship’s horn started to blast! We could see a crowd of people in the distance! There was no turning back! It was exciting- yet it all came too fast for me! There was so much anticipation and nervousness that I think we were surprised when we finally hit land! But we made it and screamed and waved to all the families below!

The ship had to be cleared by authorities before anyone could get off. Then we disembarked the ship based on our place at the Sea Olympics! The Mediterranean Sea was towards the end, so I had time to wait on the ship. We made more phone calls, ate our last meal, and even took a nap. Finally our sea was called. My roommate and I said good-bye to our cabin and I struggled out the door with an armful of souvenirs! I looked ridiculous! I had Vietnam rice hats on my head, a bookbag, a duffle bag, and carried several more sacks! Getting off the ship was one of the worst experiences of my life- I was not sure if I was going to make it! But I did, and my sister and my grandmother were waiting for me when I got off! It was so exciting! Familiar faces! I got plenty of hugs and kisses! It was so special to have them there to pick me up! I was so happy to see them! One hundred days at sea and one hundred million memories!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one's own country as a foreign land.” -- Gilbert K. Chesterton