I'm on a boat...

So the last two days have been a bit of a whirlwind. After eating our last meal in America (at Taco Bell, fittingly enough), we headed off to board the ship, meet our roommates, and start the process of exploring the MV Explorer, our home away from home for the next two and a half months.

Here are some pictures...

The MV Explorer

Dining Hall

Swimming Pool

My Cabin

A few members of the Living Learning Coordinator (LLC) Team

While we're sailing from Fort Lauderdale to Halifax to pick up the students, they are holding a forum on global engagement. Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor may have been relaxing poolside right next to me yesterday. Just saying. (Flat Stanley was there too. :) )

We'll have plenty of time for that...

So after much anticipation, a little pre-trip mishap that I will most likely share at the end of my journey, and performing nothing short of a packing miracle, I made it to Fort Lauderdale in one piece ready to set sail with Semester at Sea tomorrow. (Yikes!) I met up with some of my summer colleagues for dinner and a little last minute shopping trip. (PS Next time I do this, please remind me to not waste so much packing weight and space on 2 gallon bottles of shampoo. Some folks had the smarts to just buy it when they got to Florida. Genius!) Let me just put all those worries that I wouldn't have anyone cool to hang out with this summer to rest. They're a fun bunch. I can already tell. :)

It's Like Coming Home...

I landed in Omaha yesterday morning and I realize how much I enjoy having someone meet me when I get off the plane. I know this sounds like a small thing, but if you're ever picking me up at the airport, I'll give you the $4 for parking. Just meet me inside the airport, look happy to see me, give me a hug, and help me with my luggage. That's all I ask.

I have quite a to do list to tackle during my time at home in order to get ready for Semester at Sea and NCCC. And to top it all off, I have developed some type of phlegmy cooties. Fabulous. Doesn't the universe know I don't have time to be sick? But I digress...

It's kind of a weird feeling knowing I'm not going to be headed back to Anchorage here in a few days. It all felt a little Real World when we had our last dinner together on Sunday and we all parted ways one by one. It took all I had not to cry like a baby when they walked me home. (I managed to wait until I made it inside my apartment before I really lost it.) It took awhile for all of those awesome people to move to the AK, but once they did it made life a lot more enjoyable. I'm going to miss them all terribly. In fact, I already do. I found this quote that sums it up quite nicely, "True friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget." Love and miss you guys like woah. You know who you are.