Serenity Now.

For those of you that watch Seinfeld, you probably fondly remember the episode where George’s dad and Kramer use the phrase “Serenity now!” when dealing with a stressful situation. Instead of doing something drastic, they would simply throw their hands up in the air and say “Serenity now!”

Ironically enough, the name of our ship is the Crystal Serenity, which makes this phrase even more fitting. The week leading up to our departure was very much a “Serenity now!” week. I had to work about a week ahead in school to finish the semester and that involved taking 6 tests in 2 days. Leaving the high school was such an odd feeling, a little sad and very exciting I suppose. It has become something so familiar and routine that it’s strange when it’s no longer part of your life and takes a little getting used to.

Of course, I also waited until last minute to pack basically every piece of clothing I own into 3 suitcases. Before I started, I showed my best friend Casey my huge suitcase and asked her how I would possibly fit my life into it. She then attempted to crawl into the suitcase and said, “This is your life.” I had a good laugh at that, but it really made me realize how much I was going to miss her and all of my friends. Definitely the hardest part about leaving was saying goodbye to them. Although a little sarcastically bitter about the time I’m spending away from them, my friends have been so supportive and generous the entire time leading up to it. So I would like to thank each of them for being such good people and friends because it made me realize not only how much I will miss you, but also the value of your friendship.

So when schoolwork was finished, suitcases packed, and goodbyes said, we left behind the cold, rainy Allentown weather and caught an early flight to beautiful Miami and departed from there at 8pm Friday. Our staterooms are very nice, we have balconies and a phone in the bathroom! My parents are on the same floor as me, but closer to the front of the ship on the “port” side (left). It’s a pretty far walk but I don’t exactly have a problem with that :) We were exhausted after a day of flying and much unpacking so after dinner on Friday, we called it an early night.

We spent all day Saturday sailing to Jamaica. After breakfast, I couldn’t help but to lay in the sun for a little and I also started reading 1984 (compliments of Matt). Then my dad and I took a French class, which is meant for beginners but everyone taking it seemed to be practically fluent except my dad and I. At 4:30, I went to an aerobics class in the gym. It was killer, but hopefully it will get easier. It’s really easy to just spend the whole day eating and sleeping here. Rumor is you gain about a pound a day! My parents and I don’t plan on returning 109 pounds heavier so we’re taking full advantages of the gym and free classes. Saturday night we hit some rough seas (8-13 feet waves) and no one felt very hungry so I hung out in my room for the night watching some old Tom Cruise movies.

I have some catching up to do because we just got our internet working today. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to use AIM because you pay for internet access by the hour, but don’t worry, I’ll update my blog daily starting today. Stay tuned, my next entry will be on our slightly dangerous adventures yesterday in our first port of Ocho Rios, Jamaica.