Somewhere between A) an elementary spanish-speaking cartoon with a nifty travel pack (that sings!) and B) a sassy yet mysterious, red-cloaked, world-wandering woman is.... me. Thus the name Dora Sandiego.
Right now the name is appropriate in so many ways- one of them being that my friends have no idea where I am or what I'm doing. Another is this roller coaster that navigates through feelings of incompetence at the very bottom and then zooming up to feelings of overwhelming accomplishment. Meanwhile, the entire experience is underlined with peace and complete bliss.
Back to the what and where.
The "what" is easiest: I'm having the time of my freakin' life! In Europe listening to many languages, meeting tons of new and interesting people every day, trying new foods, experiencing new lifestyles and doing all of this while holding hands with a boy I fell in love with. Disney princesses ain't got shit on me.
The "where" is a bit trickier as the specifics are constantly changing. When I wrote this originally, I was cruising north in the Adriatic Sea towards Venice, Italy. Then there was Croatia and then a return to Spain. It's all still mind-boggling. Even after a week, it still hadn't sunk in....and to be honest, I've now been gone for a month and that shock has not worn out.
Rewind. Explain.
After leaving my Martha's Vineyard home of 4 months, briefly staying in Boston, catching a flight to London, then the bus to Southampton, England, I finally reunited with my older sister after over a year! She works for Celebrity cruise lines and I had the opportunity to join her on the ship for a 16-day Mediterranean cruise.
I know, I'm a lucky little ________. (Peeps can fill in that blank)
Trust me, I was more grateful every single day I spent on that gloriuos ship.
Day 1: (Couldn't tell you what day this was as the entire weekend blurred together with all the times changing, etc.) I slept. After a nauseating 3 days of anticipatory anxiety that ruined any hope of an appetite, I just passed out. Luckily, I had enough adrenaline pumping to make it to the ship in the first place. Once I got off the plane, it went a little something like this:
- Get backpack. (That thing was so obedient- came as soon as I got to the belt)
- Exchange money to 20 pounds. (Marvel at the fact that I could just as well play Monopoly with it)
- Passport check point.
- Customs
- Look for "desk" that Kath told me to find.
- Get lost
- Get lost again
- Find "desk" and get confused stares from an uptight, old British dude who yells at me for not being on his list.
- 2 hrs waiting for transfer bus.
- 4 1/2 hrs on bus due to traffic.
- More confused looks from crew members as to who the hell I am.
- Security.
- Nervous sweat
- SISTER!!! I ran and jumped on her like a monkey and just hung on her. Screw formalities. It was so nice to see her! (And know that for at least 2 weeks I had somewhere safe to be.)
The Bay of Biscay is relentless and many people got sea sick. Not me- that rocking put me right to sleep for what felt like forever. I was awake for only 8 hours in a day and a half. It. felt. glorious.
And thus, my adventure began......
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