Day 115: America
Once we moved into the 6th deck dining room Molly decided to take a nap on the couch. I ran into Henry and gave him a bunch of pictures from the Amazon trip and he gave me some videos.
It seemed like we were going to make it without going to sleep. I don't really know how we did it.
Marie re-appeared around 5am. She couldn’t believe that she had slept the entire night. She completely didn’t mean to, it was a strange surprise when she woke up.
Around 5:40 Molly started freaking out because she thought that you would be able to see Ft. Lauderdale and she really didn’t want to miss us pulling in. So she ran up to deck 7 to look. I followed her up there a few minutes later. It was so windy out! We almost lost Molly's blanket in the wind. You could see the skyline of the city very faintly in the distance. We were not close at all. Close enough to see it, sure, but not close enough that we needed to miss breakfast.
I convinced Molly that we could go eat breakfast and come back up with plenty of time to spare.
So breakfast was eaten and we cleaned up and put all of our stuff in our rooms and went up to deck 7 just as all of our cell phones started working again. We were allowed to sit in Glazer lounge because it was cold and windy. But we eventually made it outside right along the front railing.
I called my mom and she told me where they were standing on the top of a parking garage right in the port. When we pulled in we would be right in front of them.
As we got closer to the port they played Wake Me Up, the song of the voyage, over the loud speaker on the ship. Everyone cried, I did not. It still did not feel real. The song is now one of my favorites and it added so much to that one moment. When we got into the port Dean Rita came on and said, "Welcome to America."
The ship backed into the spot so we ran down to the back of the ship so that we could see my parents. We were the first ones at the back of the ship, which I told my mom as I was on the phone with her. She said that she didn’t see us. We ran across the back deck to the other side. I told her we were the people running and she said that she did see the people running. That was us.
The parking garage was still really far away, so we couldn’t really pick out my parents. There were parents behind a fence right next to the ship so I told my parents and as we continued to back in they came down to there.
My mom, dad, aunt, and uncle were there and we were able to see them and wave and jump. It was very exciting to see them and to be able to have all of my friends there to wave at them with me. As the ship backed into its spot we moved down the side of the ship so that we would still be in front of them. Every once in a while we would just sprint farther down and wave just as hard.
It was even better than when I saw them from the ship in South Africa.
Eventually the ship was in place and there was nothing left to do but wait for us to be cleared. So my family left to go get some breakfast and we just all hung around places, not knowing what to do.
I did call Kellie and left her a voicemail that went something like, "Um, hi, yes, hello, I am looking for Kellie Edgecomb. I am not sure if I have the right number. You see, I've been out of the country for a while and I just wanted her to know that I was back. So if you know her, or see her, could you just let her know. Oh and also tell her that I love her. Alright then, thank you so much, bye."
Probably the best voicemail I have ever left.
Oh yeah, and while my parents were being awesome and waving from the side of the dock, Molly's parents, who live 10 minutes down the road were watching us come in via live feed. Lame. So she called them and yelled at them and her dad tried to make it better by telling her that her dog had been sick. That tactic failed. So they said they would jump in the shower and be down there as soon as possible.
We went to Molly's room so that she could finish packing and while she did that I took a mini nap on her bed. I don't know exactly how long I slept for, probably about 20 minutes, but when I got up they were gone. I had the vague memory of them saying that they were going back to deck 7 to wave to their parents and so that is where I went.
We then waved to Molly's parents, Lillian's mom, and Alexandra's mom. We played SIMs and tried to get them to go talk to each other. "Mom do you see the woman with the red hair in the skirt? Yeah, her. Go talk to her."
They all became friends standing on the side of the road.
Kellie called me back and I was able to talk to her for a little bit. That was amazing.
As we were standing up waving to the parents they announced that the ship had officially been cleared and they called the first group to line up. It was the Mediterranean sea, which Lillian and Alexandra are in, so we said good bye to them and they went off to disembark. That was at 10 am.
The second group was called within 10 minutes. The third within the next 10.
We made our way down to Molly and Marie's room so that they could gather their things. They were group 4. The 4th was called by 10:35. But then we hit a hold.
Amanda and I were sitting in her room and Molly was texting me telling me that she was 2 people from the swipe out machine and they weren't moving. They were there for almost 45 minutes. The 5th group wasn’t called until 11:20.
After that it went quickly again. The 6th was called at 11:35 and the 7th ten minutes later. That was Amanda's group so she left me and I was all alone. All of my friends were gone. But I still wasn’t sad. It still didn’t feel real.
8 was called at 12:15. At that point I had all of my stuff out in the hallway and had plugged my phone into a kid from my Sea, Cody's, computer that he had out in the hallway playing music.
We were up and standing in line at 12:30. They almost didn’t call our sea. They always forget us, but they called us in what seemed like an after thought.
We lined up on the fifth deck, going through the door that we always went through for lifeboat drills. The swipe out machine and gangway was on the opposite side of fifth deck than it had been the entire voyage. That was strange. We never would walk down the fifth deck in that direction.
I said bye to Sarah and then Nathan. I swiped out and handed in my ID.
Then I turned left and walked onto the gangway. But it wasn’t our gangway, it was a jetway that was attached to the terminal building we were walking into. And standing right there was Dean Kathy and Dean Eddie, saying goodbye to each of us as we got off the ship.
I started to get a little teary right then. They piled up behind my eyes. But then the girl in front of me told me a funny story and they didn’t fall.
We walked through the terminal, down some stairs and into a hanger where our luggage was waiting for us. Mine was scattered all over the place and I had to gather it. I had two large duffles and two boxes that I had got from the campus store. That plus my backpack and two bags that I was carrying. I was never going to be able to get it all through customs myself.
It was a good thing that there were porters to help us with our stuff. Another girl and I shared a cart and piled all of our stuff on it. I didn’t think it was all going to fit honestly. But it did and we slowly made our way over to the end of the customs line.
I thought we would be sitting there forever but we didn’t. The line actually moved very quickly. I found out why when I got up to the front.
I handed the guy my passport and all of my paperwork.
"Did you buy anything in Cuba?" He asked.
"No."
"Are you bringing any fruit back into the country with you?"
"No."
He stamped my declaration form and slid my passport back to me.
"Welcome Home."
That's it?
I mean, that is fine with me but I just expected a little more. They must have checked our luggage before we even got off.
After passing through customs we just walked down a short hallway, turned a corner, and then went through a door to the outside where tons of people were waiting. It was like the paparazzi, everyone was roped off so that a path formed right through the middle.
The first person I saw was my dad. He was straight in front of me and was holding a welcome home balloon. Right in front of him were two of my very best friends from my school/sorority, Jill and Rebecca. I had known that Rebecca was coming but I didn’t know that Jill was coming with her. Then I saw my aunt on the left. And then my mom, who was on the opposite side of her.
There was too much going on and too many people to see and I also needed to follow the porter. It was chaotic and exciting. There were too many people to see and hug. And I started to realize that I was not coming back to this place and to these people. So while I was saying hi to everyone I also felt myself looking around for people that I knew, so that I could connect one more time to people who knew, who understood.
I found Ashley and gave him a hug goodbye. I also met his dad, who is awesome. It made me feel better to see him. What also made it easier was that Lillian, Alexandra, Marie, Molly, Amanda and I had exchanged numbers and started a group message so we could text each other and stay connected.
Molly and I had made plans for our families to go out to lunch. We decided on a place and broke off to our separate cars. I went with Rebecca and Jill and we blasted the opening song to Beauty and the Beast and sang along with it on our way there.
We went to a burger place called Tap 42 that was famous for the amount of beers that it had on tap. Which, as you can probably guess from the name, is 42.
Molly ordered her first drink in America and she didn’t even get carded.
We ordered cider and huge burgers. Molly got spinach artichoke dip that I totally stole some of. Oh, and sweet potato fries.
It was a good lunch. We talked about things and life and some of the adventures we had. I don't really remember most of it, I was so tired, and had so much swirling around in my brain that it is now all a blur. I did eventually get my computer out so that I could show Molly's parents the video of her riding on the camel.
Still one of the best videos ever.
We parted ways eventually. Molly and her parents went home and we all went to get ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery. Rebecca gave me my christmas present, which was Allegiant, the third book in the Divergent series. So very excited to read it. It came out on October 22nd and I had been trying since South Africa to find it with no success. Lillian had gotten it for Kindle but we hadn't been able to figure out a way to get it to me. Now I have the actual book and I can not wait.
When we officially parted ways from Rebecca and Jill my mom, dad, aunt, uncle, and I went back to their hotel to drop everyone off so my mom and I could take the car and drive to Tampa.
I went into the tiny store in the hotel and got cold meds because I had been sitting with a mini cold for a few days and I knew that because I didn’t sleep it would just get worse.
Then we grabbed Moms suitcase, piled into the car and hit the road. It was 4:00 and we had a 8:15 eta.
I fell asleep for about an hour at one point. I just could not stay awake. I should have blogged during the drive but I didn’t. Mom and I just talked and I snoozed. We cut our time down by not stopping and made it by 8:05.
Seeing Kellie was something that I don't know how to describe. As she texted me earlier it was, "Like Christmas." That was true.
When we pulled in she was standing on the sidewalk outside of our apartment leaning on the railing. She came around to my side of the car as I got out and I just gave her the biggest hug.
You know when you have known someone for years and so they just know all of your secrets and stories and triggers, both good and bad? That is what it is like with Kellie. She knows me better than anyone else and I even though I was a few thousand miles away she was my support and got me through moments when I was struggling. She's my person and seeing her was the part of the day I had been looking forward to the most.
We dragged my luggage into the house and I gave her all of the giraffe things I had gotten her and I gave Alex his Ghana pants.
I had been thinking about those moments all semester. What it would be like to give people the things that I had thought long and hard to get for them. It was fulfilling, but I was also dead tired and probably seemed like a crazy person.
I probably should have waited to gift things, but I was too excited and exhausted so it was the only thing I could think to do. I didn’t want to talk about it, I wasn’t ready yet. I started feeling very overwhelmed.
My mom and I left to go to our hotel and get some dinner. We stopped at CVS to buy me a toothbrush because I had left mine on the ship and while we were there we bought Cheerios, milk, bowls and spoons.
When we got to the hotel I was feeling very overwhelmed and all of the emotion that had yet to show itself was finally started to bubble up.
As soon as we got into our room I sat on the floor at the end of the bed. My mom asked me if I was ok and the tears started flowing. She sat down next to me and I sobbed.
It finally felt real. I wasn’t going back to the ship and my friends were now scattered around the world. I felt like I was grieving. The end came too fast for me to notice so when it finally caught up to me it was life shattering.
When I calmed down we ate Cheerios sitting on our beds and then I fell asleep five pages into my book.
I took cold meds so I slept like a rock. One of those sleeps where it's suddenly morning and you don't even remember falling asleep.
Ahead of me lies a long road of trying to find my way and understand what this semester will mean. I already know that it has changed my life. That the people I met and the places I went left permanent dents in what makes me me. But I don't know what that means yet, or how I am going to use it. What I do know is that, right now, I miss everyone and everything. I miss my tiny cabin and waking up to Jessi. I miss shitty mystery meat sandwiches and oversized pears. I miss having nothing better to do than sit and watch Game of Thrones with Molly or get a smoothie on deck 7. I miss the stories that Lillian tells that start off normal and end in a weird place. I miss learning about a new culture and living it the next day. I miss the spontaneity and potentially reckless unknowns of travel. I miss being able to say, "What are we going to do today?" And have the answer be try a new food, explore a museum, or just wander aimlessly until we find something cool. I miss the community, the camaraderie, and the inside jokes that no one else understands.
One thing I do know is that this will not be my last adventure. It was too much fun to not do again.
