12.12.09

I woke up this morning and tried to find Katie, but I ended up finishing a book instead. Who does that? I grabbed some lunch and then tried to pack a little bit. Katie and I also did a video of the ship. Neither of us had videoed a tour of the ship so we stated on the 7^th deck and went down to 5^th. We didn’t get a chance to finish because we had to go to the union for a reflection time. Pat and Shira did a program about how hard it is to re-enter into the US because people just don’t get it. They ask one question and then their eyes just glaze over. The whole process just kind of hit all of us. We all had our maps and were having people sign them. Terrance showed a video he made about the life long learners and it brought all of us to tears. It was beautiful.

We had a couple break out sessions, but I didn’t go to any of them. I finished my tour with Katie and did a little packing, but then went back to the union. We all had a fresh cut flowers and in a processions led by Stella and the dependent children, we all went to Deck 6 and threw them overboard. It was really sad. This process is coming to an end and no one wants it to. I am so excited to go home, but I am so sad that this is over and we are all scattering across the US and the world back to our hometowns. All of these people on the ship have found their way into my heart and I am truly going to miss them. I know I have found some life long friends and I can’t wait to see what our new adventures are going to bring.

Once we had all thrown our flowers into the ocean, we all gathered up on 7^th deck and pretty much everyone was crying a hugging. We all just have to remember that it is not goodbye, but a see you later. I stayed up on 7^th getting people to sign my map and I split a pizza with Kelsey. I also had to turn in my customs form so I went and got that done and then finished packing…well not quite finished, but pretty close. Then I had to get ready for the Alumni Ball. I got dressed and then headed down to Mackenzie’s. We finished getting ready and picked up Katie and then we all went and took pictures with Captain Jeremy. I kind of felt bad for him because there is no telling how many pictures he took that night. It was SO fun to see everyone dressed up. Most of the time we are slumming in sweatpants and t-shirts or roughing it some country. Tonight really made me realize how much I like guys in suits! They all looked so handsome!

We took some pictures and then headed to dinner. We got steak and a 5 course meal. It was delicious. I sat with Mackenzie, Kristin, Becky, Ashley and Katie. It was a lot of fun. After dinner we went to union for the dance. There was hardly anyone there, but we had fun out on the dance floor. It turns out that everyone was waiting in line to get dessert at the fabulous dessert buffet that had been set up. Shows were our priorities are haha.

Once everyone had had dessert, the dance floor was packed. Paulo’s hip hop class did a performance that included step. It was great! They ended with “I Got a Feeling” and then pulled the whole crowd into it. Everyone was jumping around and someone stepped on my toe, but it was so worth it. It was an absolute blast, but it was a great way to end it.

When we were all tired out we back to the room and played a game of pish posh. I finally started enforcing the 3 gronk limit. It makes the game go a little bit faster. Rosario won.