December 6th, 2013
Today is the last day of our voyage around the Caribbean.
The last time I remember the stars being this visible and bright was during my
Outdoor Adventure trip to Cumberland Island in Georgia. The second night we
were here I remember Michael and I went to the top most deck on the boat and
laid down on the chairs to see the stars. Although there was much light on the
ship, if you cupped your hands around your eyes you could see so many stars. It
was really brilliant; I think it was the best part of the whole trip.
We did many things while on the boat that we couldn’t do
normally. We ate, a lot, mostly. We went to a comedy show or two, saw a
comedian/magician named Marcus Monroe who was really the best show I saw on the
cruise. We won $50 at BINGO (while spending $20 on BINGO cards, so $30 net
gain), I went down the two water slides on top of the boat, I played basketball
on top of the ship, played mini-golf with Michael (twice), went to the gym, ran
around the ship (two miles) and most of all just relaxed.
Really… I remember distinctly not looking forward to traveling
to the different islands. Since we realized that the only way we can do fun
things off of the boat was to pay more money, our options were limited. The
cruise had cost $2100 not including $100 for parking, so it’s not hard to see
why we wouldn’t want to spend more money. Nassau was really hot; it was our
first stop and the most disappointing. The taxis to take you to the interesting
parts of the island were sketchy and mostly broken down. It was plain to see
that the island survived mainly on the tourism that these boats brought to the
island. Paradise Island was adjacent to Nassau and was accessible through taxi;
since we did not plan correctly, we ended up just visiting the shops in the
shopping district. It felt more like a giant flea market, however. The other
two islands were significantly more beautiful and interesting. In St. Thomas,
my father relented and purchased 4 tickets for a tour of the island. It was
nice, I’m glad we were able to do something like that. We went up, down, on the
wrong side of the road, all over the island. We were dropped off at,
“Blackbeards’ Castle” which was just a lookout tower that was on top of a
dungeon where he was supposedly imprisoned for some time. From there we walked
down to see some tourist attractions and that was it – shops after that.
St. Marten was nice too; we paid $3 each for a one way
taxi cab ride to downtown and the beaches. There we paid $20 more for 4 beach
recliners, a parasol and wi-fi. Thanks to this, I was able to snorkel a bit,
something I’ve been longing to do ever since we started this trip. Both St.
Thomas and St. Marten were beautiful islands with huge mountains and plenty of
foliage. They were U.S. and Dutch/French owned, respectively. On St. Thomas, I
was able to call Jenn and tell her how much I had missed her these past two
weeks. Absence indeed makes the heart grow fonder; I miss her still and I can’t
wait to see her and give her some presents.
Even after seeing all of these islands and officially
going out of the country for the first time in my life, I felt the best part of
this trip was definitely the boat. Right now, I’m on our room balcony typing
this in the middle of the night – my only light being that of my laptop. I see
the abyss of the ocean staring back at me with more than a few glimmering stars
and the sound and sights of the roaring ocean beneath us as we soar towards
home to Port Canaveral. Although I’ve seen this for the past week, I know that
once it is gone that I will miss it dearly. I hate living in Miami, that concrete
jungle. If ever anyone wanted a metaphor for a land sucked of its soul it would
be that city; superficial, wretched and drowning in ignorance, poverty, and
stubbornness. Every time I come back to Orlando I am bombarded by its people’s
kindness and natural surroundings. Although Orlando is still a big city, it has
definitely retained its moniker, “the city beautiful.”
It’s not just these things I was thinking about too. A
week without internet was just what I needed. Not having it made me realize
just how trivial it was thinking and worrying about all the things that are
happening online. Social media is important nowadays for many things but for me
personally I think it’s rubbish. I realize now that it’s the social equivalent
of Microsoft points on xbox live or karma on reddit; they are points that have
no value and truly don’t mean a thing – pure rubbish.
Being here made me default to things that are truly
valuable to me. I found that not having the internet around made going to the
gym seem less like a chore and more like play time. This may be due to the fact
that the gym is so close to my room and I am able to change fairly quickly and
get on with my day, but even so, I think if the gym was further away I would
still make the trek… eventually.
Maybe that’s what I need. I needed to get rid of the
distractions in my life. The internet really is a huge one and now that I have
a 3DS that could prove to be another one. I’ll have to use the 3DS responsibly
in the way that I promised myself I would – as a small break while studying.
I have way too many nice thoughts that I wish I could
write down. I need to start carrying a small notebook with me along with a pen.
In my apartment, I want to leave notepads in every room so that if a good idea comes up I will be able to write
it down promptly with no problem.
V
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