School = Done With! (at least for now?)

April 23

    That’s right, my academic obligations for the spring 2011 semester are officially doneskies!  Thursday I turned in my final paper around noon and was done with classes. Wednesday, I had two finals, both of which were really easy and the final paper, although long (17 pages single spaced!), was pretty easy.  Technically I guess this means I have completed my junior year in college.   I haven’t received any official grades except for my Global Studies class (A+) and unless I completely messed up on my other finals, I should be just fine as far as GPA.  But that’s honestly all I care to discuss about classes. I learned a whole lot from them, but compared to my program back at UMD, they were not a challenge in the least. To reward myself with a job well done on finals I’ve been taking a lot of long naps while lying outside on the deck the past few days.  After finals on Thursday we had our Royal Masquerade, aka the Alumni Ball. The ship puts on a lot of cool events like that for us, mainly because there is absolutely nothing else to do at sea.  For example, about a week ago, the ship hosted a charitable auction.  Items such as courtside tickets to a Laker’s game, weekend ski trips, muscle milk and Girl Scout cookies were all auctioned off to raise money for the SAS fund.  Other prizes such as Dean for a Day, first off the ship in San Diego and priority lounge chair seating on the pool deck were also on the block (SAS is actually designated non-profit so they rely a lot on donations to stay …  afloat!!)  I don’t think I have ever been to a live auction before and certainly hadn’t participated in one.  Unfortunately, I didn’t  have a lot of money or an overwhelming desire to purchase any of the items, so I didn’t participate except for attending and encouraging the rich kids around me to spend their money.  To give some idea of how crazy these people were, a box of Girl Scout cookies went for almost $150 dollars.  Priority lounge chairs (I have never had a problem getting a great seat on the pool deck) went for almost 500 dollars.  The privilege of blowing the horn on arrival in San Diego (how anyone would know who actually blew the horn is beyond me) went for close to 1000 dollars.  The last item up for auction was first off the ship in San Diego.  Two girls got into a bidding war with their daddy’s credit cards.  In the end, the first and second people allowed off the ship had to pay $1600 each (the person who gets off third is gonna be the coolest person in the world).  I’m glad the event raised a lot of money for SAS but it definitely made me think how someone with enough money for such frivolous things could not be heart broken by some of the extreme poverty and hardships we saw.
   The ship also put on the Vagina Monologues.  I lasted for about a third of the show before I had to leave from shear uncomfortableness and uncontrollable laughter.  That is all I will say about that.
   The Alumni Ball was fantastic.  The ship’s crew put in a ton of work, decorating, cooking, serving and catering to all of us.  It was a very formal and fancy affair as well.  Everyone was decked out in suits.  The meals were delicious, there was live entertainment and a long slide/video show of the entire voyage, and a dessert bar that was incredible.  Everything was a little too sophisticated for my humble upbringings, but once I had changed out of my suit and into shorts and sandal and the dance started, I felt a lot more at home.  Yesterday (Friday) was packing and “re-entry” day.  They had a lot of seminars on how to share your feelings about the trip, and how to deal with culture shock, and how to not cry like a baby – I was out on the decks all afternoon doing my part to soak up UV rays and prevent global warming, so I hope I don’t violently break down when I get back home.  But seriously, it is going to be tough to leave the ship that has become my home, my friends, and the experience of a lifetime.  As I started packing at about 3am last night and looking back at all the souvenirs I had got, airline stubs from all over, and Green Sheets from every country, I’ll admit I got a little teary-eyed (absolutely joking).  But leaving will be hard.  It’s sad and your mind kind of wants to always creep towards regrets from the trip, but I honestly don’t have too many of those. I probably will be on the ship for less than 24 hours at this point, and then life will resume.  I have been incredibly blessed with this opportunity and know that it has forever changed me as a person.  I’ll get more sentimental with you guys in a later post, when I’m not sleep deprived, but I am so thankful for the blessings and opportunities I have received.
Thank you for living vicariously through me.  It has meant so much to be able to share my experiences with family and friends through this forum.  I hope that you have experienced even just a fraction of the awesome journey I have been on.

Love Always,

-Ben

P.S – Yes, I still have not posted about Vietnam and Cambodia yet, but I’m a little occupied currently.