Calm before the Storm

We are sitting in the middle of the Gibraltar Straight right now, which is the last stretch of Mediterranean Sea before we hit the Atlantic, and the good ‘ole MV Explorer is fueling up for the second time on this voyage. Tomorrow, we will be ported in Casablanca, Morocco, and I couldn’t be more thrilled. I am still in search of my African Drum (Jembe) and Morocco is our last stop in Africa…so this is finally my chance. I’ve been waiting for so long to finally lay eyes on my drum, and it’s so close, I can feel it.
I can’t believe I’m on the last stretch of this journey, this summer voyage, this 2.5 month excursion. This ship has been my home for a pretty long time, and I try to imagine life on a landlocked campus again, and it’s actually hard. Don’t get me wrong, I miss routine and PSU buddies and the lake effect snow, no doubt about it. But I’ve grown close to this shipboard community, and just like it was hard to leave my family and friends before this voyage, it’s going to be heartbreaking leaving the friends I’ve made this summer.
I’m going to miss the waves rocking me to sleep, and our amazing cabin steward, Achilles, who cleans our room every morning. I’m going to miss my professor, Michael Pearson, who taught me how to look at the world with the fresh eyes of a traveler. I’m going to miss staring out into the blue abyss that is the sea in the middle of the day, laughing at the dolphins trying to show off for us. I’m going to miss making friends with Italians and Pakistanis and Bulgarians. I’m going to miss not being carded as I walk into the bars. Ha. Just kidding.
I’m going to miss Dia Draper’s Voice over the intercom every day, “Good Morning, Voyagers!” I’m going to miss our Green Sheets, and the guest lecturers that are kind enough to inform us about diseases and terrorist bombings that are occurring in each country the day before we enter them. I’m going to miss the pasta and potatoes that are served for every single meal…not so much.
Let’s just say that I’m going to be homesick for this ship when I disembark. There was a week when we first sailed away from Halifax that I did not want to be on this voyage. I remember being so lonely, so nervous about not making friends, or not living life to its fullest in each country. I remember wanting to go home, to call my family, to be anywhere but the middle of the Atlantic. It seems so long ago.
I’m sitting here in the middle of the Gibraltar Straight, alone on deck 5, watching waves crash into rock, and waiting for Morocco. And soon enough, I will be sitting on this same deck, heading back home for the Atlantic Ocean, back to American soil. Life flies, doesn’t it? Life flies whether or not you are having fun. It flies when you are soaking every possible moment into your heart, and it flies when you are not paying attention. It flies, no doubt about it.
So, I’m going to ride my camel into the Saharan sunset, and let life fly through my fingers like the sand in an hourglass. I’m going to live life in Morocco and on the Atlantic until I’m not anymore, and then I will be seeing your smiling faces. : )
Bon Voyage!
A.