Nutell-IT

We are officially half way around the world. Pure craziness. We left Mauritius 4 days ago and I have learned so much since then. Up until our stop at this tiny little island, each port had blown me out of my mind. Mauritius was an adventure to say the least, but not necessarily the most memorable one. This country is the Cancun of Africa. And when 550 young college students took it by storm, it became the ultimate definition of crazy, which was not at all what I anticipated or even wanted. Mauritius emptied my pockets and ran off with my dignity. What a conniving little cunt. I guess I just lost track of my priorities. But this whole voyage is such a learning process. It teaches you to stay focused, take in your surroundings, and how to simply stand in the dead center of a country and just be there in that moment and nowhere else.  Walking around the streets of the world, I play a game called zoom-in/zoom out. I picture the world, and then I zoom into where I am standing in it, and then I zoom out again and still picture myself just walking around, thousands of miles from home. In Mauritius, I got so caught up in other things that I forgot to zoom in and zoom out. I forgot to think. I forgot to take in the moment and breath the air. Don’t get me wrong- there were moments that were out of this world amazing. Snorkeling in the most beautiful ocean I’ve ever seen with some of the most incredible fish- 4 foot long eels, enormous crabs, and beautiful choral, just to name a few.  Nicholas bought an huge raft and we paddled out to sea against the waves, just like I used to do when I was a kid. (hmm or just like I did last summer because I’m still such a kid.) I also dined with a local, ate some amazing pizza, and danced the night away to a purely authentic Mauritian band that our villa servants hired for us. It was an experience in itself, but it definitely taught me some things about the world. I used to think that everything happened for a reason, and that I couldn’t really prevent bad things from going wrong. If things went wrong in my life- oh well, it was supposed to turn out that way. Although that is sometimes the case- I learned that I am still responsible for my actions and I can make things happen too- it’s not just the universe in charge. If I behave well, good things will happen to me, and if I behave badly, bad things will happen to me. I also learned that the only way to learn sometimes is to make mistakes, and you can either let them eat you alive or grow from them. And after blowing way too much money on lost villa security deposits and bars, I definitely learned how to always stay in control of myself, and not get so caught up in the moment that I lose my head. But enough of that….I have some other much cooler things to say likeeeeee…

I’m going to be in India tomorrow!!!!!!! In about 6 hours I will be waking up to watch the sunrise over Chennai as our home ports into the city. Then I’m jumping on a plane and heading to the Taj Mahal and Varanasi. I hear India changes your life… I guess we’ll just have to wait and see

Now what else..oh yeah…2 days ago..MY TEAM WON THE SEA OLYMPICS!!! And not to brag or anything, but the Sea Olympics are pretty much as big time as it gets. Teams are split up by hallways and in groups of 80 people. My team was the Andaman sea and we totally dominated in games like flip cup (with water of course), water pong, relay races, synchronized swimming, tug-o-war, and many others. It was a downright amazing day that ended with the most beautiful sunset yet (don’t know how many times I’ve said that one), a BBQ with real burgers and ice cream which was amazing because we never get those, and a dance party in the pool with 550 of my closest friends. And the prize you ask for winning the gold? First to get off the ship when we reach San Diego! Great prize considering it takes hours to get everyone through customs. Ok well I am absolutely exhausted and have to get up really soon for sunrise. Off to bed for this chic. Peace

Lauren