Miami was a lot nicer than I had anticipated. We spent Sunday night there touring some of the city, and then on Monday we headed to the port. I had never been on a cruise before, so I had no idea what I was doing. I was just playing follow-the-leader. We had a slight scare when we almost lost the group's boarding pass, but one of the guys was able to run it down before the wind blew it out of sight. We went on a Carnival cruise, which I've since been told is on the lower end of cruise lines, but I thought it was incredible! There was a club, a casino, and a pool. What more could we ask for? The first night, we made friends (at least that's what we liked to think) with two of the waiters - Made and Jose - and requested them every night for the rest of the week. By the last night, they practically had my Long Island iced tea waiting for me at the table.
Outside of the boat, we made stops in the Keys and Mexico. Most of the time in the Keys was spent searching for a beach. We never found one, but we did get to the southern most point of the continental US which was pretty awesome. Cozumel was a completely different story. As soon as we got off the boat, people were telling us where we could find a beach. We found one that was cheap and had a bar, so we stayed there the rest of the day. It was great!
Looking back on the cruise, I notice that I was pleasantly surprised with the experience. Before leaving, I was worried that it was going to be full of pretentious people that wanted to spoil themselves, but afterward I realized that there were some people who just wanted to travel and see some of the world. Yes, it was nice to spoil myself a little, but it was even cooler to stand out looking over the edge of the boat, watching the sun set while being entirely surrounded by water. My first cruise was a great experience and something that I will never forget.
Just four days after getting back to Moncks Corner, I was heading north up 95 to Philly with Nicole to catch up with some of the FIMRC family that we hadn't seen in a while. The boarder game was a lot more fun this time with all the states that we had to pass through to get there (I think it was something around six states and DC). We stopped in Richmond on Thursday to stay with one of my close friends and finished up the trip to Philly the next morning.
It was great to catch up with everyone that I haven't seen in a while as well as make some new friends. We toured some of Old Town Philadelphia the first day and got to see the FIMRC headquarters. On Saturday, we ate Pat's, and I tried my first ever real Philly cheese steak - kind of. Luckily the person taking my order was nice and didn't mind that I was vegetarian and trying to order a steakless cheese steak as quickly as possible. After that, we went to a Phillies game and got lucky enough to see the Phillies tie it up in the bottom of the ninth. Around the twelfth inning, we were beginning to think that the game would never end. Unfortunately, the Phillies lost the game in fourteen. Fortunately, the game only went fourteen innings. Other than the fact that we were there a little longer than we were anticipating and that the Phillies lost, it was a great time!
The next day, we had brunch and finished our tour of Old Philly before heading to Doylestown to hang out with my friend, Dana, and her family. Despite the fact that we were exhausted, we had a blast. I got to try water-ice for the first time. For those of you that don't know what that is, imagine something slushier than Italian ice but not as slushy as a Sonic slushy. It was delicious! The next morning, we were up early to grab a bagel and then head back to Charleston. Overall, I thought Doylestown was an awesome city! We had a pretty good drive despite the fact that I messed up at some point and had to pay a $33 toll. It was a cash only toll, and the only cash that Nicole and I had was $1. Luckily, I had $30 in quarters and the toll guy was nice enough to let us through. Other than that, it was a pretty uneventful, eleven and a half hour drive.
To sum up the trip, I think Nicole said it best: "Super thankful for these friends and for a great weekend in Philly. It's amazing how so many different people can be brought together by their common interest to make the world a better place. Love you people, your hearts, and your friendships. I can't wait until we get to be reunited again." It was really awesome to think that I didn't know any of these people just four years ago and that common interests can form such a strong bond between people. How many times do you get to have a discussion at a bar about the future of a nonprofit organization and its international sites and actually enjoy it?
Other than my recent I-95 travels, I've also been keeping up on Peace Corps work. It's finally starting to all come together. I just need to read up on a few things and do an online orientation. After that, I'll be pretty much done with the Pre-Service forms (I hope). On a completely different note, I recently finished a book called The Color of Water. It was amazing! It has been described as "a black man's tribute to his white mother." It was awesome. I would highly recommend it to anyone. That's about all for now. It's crazy to think that next time I'll be on here, I'll be within days of leaving for Belize if not already there.
Oh yeah, photo credit to Warren Snell and Abi Proctor
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