And the waiting game begins...

I have less than a week left until I leave for the Bahamas...how incredibly insane is that? I feel like I JUST applied for the program back in late September last year, and now I have 8 days to go before I depart. My last day of work is tomorrow and it is definitely going to be bitter sweet. I've had some amazing nights this summer that I'll never forget. I hate goodbyes. I wish they all could be "see you laters" but unfortunately that's not the case. Life has a tendency to get in the way sometimes. But I do hope I have more "see you laters" than goodbyes. I digress...

For the past hour or so I've been reading blogs of students who are alumni of Semester at Sea. Every single blog entry I have read makes me that much more anxious/excited/nervous. I could envision myself as the author of their blogs as I was reading. I can't wait to experience what they've experienced and then be able to write about it. I want to experience the scooters flying through the streets of Ho Chi Minh City, I want to experience the 20-30 foot waves that have a tendency to rock you off your bed in the middle of the night, I want to experience the jubilation one feels when they reach the highest point of the Great Wall of China, I want to experience the repetitiveness of the food on the ship and then the joy one feels when Taco Day arrives. All in all, I want to experience things I've never experienced before and that I know I'll never be able to experience again.

As I was reading this one blog, I came across a quote that was simple, straight-forward, and probably the most true statement I've ever read: "A mind stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions." - Oliver Wendell Holmes. I want my mind to stretch farther and wider than it's ever stretched before. I don't WANT my mind to be able to go back to it's old self after I arrive back home on December 14th. I want to be changed forever. I know I'll be changed forever. And I also know that I won't be able to explain how. Please, before you ask me in 4 months how I've changed, observe me for a while. I'm sure you'll see how I've changed better than I'll be able to explain it.

On that same note, I know the question that I'll be asked the most when I get home is "So, how was it?"... How WAS it? Can that question actually be answered? I already know the answer won't be able to be put into words. Pay attention to the look in my eyes, that sparkle that tells a vivid story all on its own. Pay attention to the quiver in my voice as I talk about the poverty I saw in India and South Africa. Pay attention to the way my face lights up when I say the words "amazing", "unbelievable", "astounding" because that light will convey more than the words themselves. But most importantly, pay attention to the little things...the things I DON'T say. It will be hard for me to be surrounded by friends and family at first when I get home. I will need time to debrief...time to come to my senses...time to reflect upon what it was that I saw and did, who the people were that I met and talked to, what the food was that I smelled and tasted...

Most of you know that it is easier for me to put my thoughts down onto a piece of paper, or in this instance a blog, than it is for me to get them out as words. Somehow when my thoughts trickle out through my mouth, they become jumbled up and not at all what I meant before they became audible. Therefore, I'm sure these blogs will become an outlet of my mind more so than words ever will. I hope you all don't mind reading them. I do try my best to keep them entertaining, enlightening, and full of emotion. There will be times that you laugh and there will be times that you cry. Don't doubt for one instance that I wasn't laughing or crying as I was writing what you were laughing or crying about...because I was. I'm going to try to put in as much detail as possible without being boring because God knows I won't be able to remember the little details of Brazil by the time I get to Costa Rica. There is only so much room in this brain!

I'm going to try to post some pictures throughout the voyage onto my blog but I can't make any promises as to how many or how often. I did find out that you can post not only blog entries via email, but I can also upload photos to this blog via email. That way, I don't have to use any of my free Internet minutes at all for blogging purposes. Pretty neat huh? For those who know me, be prepared for an 8 hour slide show of pictures come December. I took 1100 pictures in 28 days overseas last summer...can you imagine the pictures I'll take in 108 days? Yikes. Oh, and I bought a video camera so I'll have some actual video footage of some of the places I see and things I do. Who wants to skydive over Cape Town via a video camera strapped to my wrist? This is truly going to be one hell of an experience...

That's it for now. Stay tuned for next episode...It's probably going to be a much more frantic sounding entry as I get closer to my departure date. Wish me luck in upcoming week!

-Amanda