I love traveling. I love SAS. I wouldn’t trade this experience for the world. But I find myself getting ready for home. :-\
It’s such a mixed emotion—I almost feel guilty for even saying this, but it’s the truth nonetheless. I guess this is the first time I’ve been in a big, urban city as the “minority” and really at the mercy of the people here. English has been so widely spoken in all the countries we’ve traveled to, I really think I’ve been taking it for granted—something I will NEVER do again.
I think that all this nonstop, quick paced lifestyle is starting to really take its toll on me. I’ve got my medical mystery going on…which has turned into just a terrible cold…and it’s not like we ever really get a break. I mean, at college I can come home or visit my friends on the weekends. We get a Spring Break and right now I’d most likely be preparing to see all my friends for Easter Weekend. But we don’t get weekends or breaks this semester. At times I have classes in succession for only two days (nice!) or nine (not so fun). My schedule (if you can even call it that) goes from classes at sea to days at port. And I understand that while at port I’m at my leisure…which is true, to an extent. I can sleep in at port, but why would I ever do that? I’ll sleep when I’m dead—or in May when I’m home. When I’m at port all I want to do is explore, explore, explore. And as I don’t want any killer hangovers while I explore, I attempt to limit my partying nights out on the town. It’s not like back home where I can sleep off any New Haven experiences all day on Saturday.
I feel like I’m living out of a suitcase, or at least living in a hotel. Either I am, literally, in hotels, or I’m onboard. And being onboard is great. The staff is awesome and there really is nothing I can complain about in terms of the ship. But there are a few things that once seemed AMAZING to me, but now are just making me miss home.
For example, meals and food—onboard there is always someone there to clear your plate and fill your water glass or sneak you an iced tea, when the only juice being served is apple. I love these guys, but enough is enough! I’ll throw away my garbage; I can wash my own dishes. Let me in the kitchen—I want to cook! And in terms of food, thank you so much SAS for making these gourmet meals, but Kraft Mac and Cheese sounds great right now, or even a sandwich, or a salad with simple Italian dressing. Mystery meat and “fish” get old quick. And then at port all we play is the “point and pick” game. If the pictures look good I’m gonna eat it because I have no idea what that character means. Oh and ladies and gents I’m really sorry to say, but I still have yet to see Lo Mein, Chicken with Broccoli, Wonton Soup, or fortune cookies while in China—oops.
Cabin stewards—it sounds amazing, but really I’m over it. Hypothetically, someone coming to clean my room everyday sounds great, better than great, but no. I am not the cleanest human being—I’ll admit it, but my chaos makes me happy. I like my little bits of clutter and when I feel like cleaning it I will. Mom—this is not saying that I promise to be clean upon my return, but I’m saying that I will vacuum and I have no problem organizing my piles. Rolando, I love when you come and clean, but this mixing of my papers and knocking on my door at 7:30 am to clean is just not okay. I’ll clean today, you take a break.
Living on a ship, traveling, you really lose all senses of a schedule. So you go to the gym 3 days a week? Yeah, I used to too—but now there’s a fight for an elliptical, or I’m at port, or I’ll be away from the ship. And frankly, after port, I’m just too tired to move my fat ass to the gym. Instead I’ll just forgo that frozen yogurt and Kit-Kat tonight from the 7th deck (well, maybe I’ll just forgo the Kit-Kat…frozen yogurt is fat-free). Food is only served from this time to that time, so if you sleep in you are out of luck, my friend (Thank God you snuck out that orange last night at dinner…shhh! Don’t tell). And seriously, did I mention that you live on a SHIP?! There is no “alone time”. Everyone knows where to find you because you are either in your cabin, in class, or in the cafeteria. And if they can’t find you, you can be paged…trust me.
I miss the freedom I have at home. I could have taken the ferry home for the weekend, or taken a drive to Fairfield or Rhode Island, or jumped on the train to NYC. If I want to get away I can just hop in my car and take a drive or get Starbucks. I’m not sure I even remember how to drive anymore, it’s been so long! As for dropping by a Starbucks, ha, what a joke! You’re more likely to find a KFC in any other part of the world than our favorite little coffee joint. And then of course there’s everything I’m missing back home! I’m sorry, but even with technology, I’m STILL out of the loop. This couple broke up; that couple got back together; she’s got a new boyfriend; so-in-so got his driver’s license—trust me there’s a lot to miss out on! My brother has gotten his acceptance letters from college and is making his final decisions on where to spend the next four years of his life. He’s graduating! For goodness sake my kid sister isn’t really a kid anymore and is going to high school next year! I’ve come to realize time doesn’t stop for anyone.
Now, don’t take any of this as complaining, I’m just stating that with exactly 5 weeks left, it sounds like the perfect amount of time before returning to Long Island—before I come home.
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