Pre Voyage Thoughts

August 25, 2010

I can’t believe its finally happening.  Ninety days traveling around the world at the age of 20, it seems absolutely surreal, am I right?  I first heard about this trip in Junior High from my parents, talking about all the amazing study abroad options colleges have to offer.  That day I learned about Semester at Sea I knew I had to go.  Now, after years of waiting, it is here.  I spent my entire day yesterday running last minute errands and finally around 9 o’clock I decided to pack.  Needless to say life has been quite chaotic the past few days.   Packing my life away for the next 3 and a half months was a little difficult for the indecisive Mathies that I am.  But now my journey begins. 

I have traveled many times in my life, going to what I believe are exotic places, however, I have never been close to any of the countries I will be visiting in the next few months.  I can’t help but scream with excitement in my head; I AM LITERALLY TRAVELING AROUND THE WORLD!  But with that said I’m still not sure what to expect.  Studying abroad in Jamaica last summer allowed me to see life very differently.  Everything about Jamaica was different and I loved it.  The simplicity, the lack of time, the respect, the happiness, all truly affected me and I am so happy that I was able to experience it.  Jamaica opened my eyes to life in a small place as described in Jamaica Kincaid’s book, A Small Place.  It is a place that has been through colonization and then left on its own.  A place that has been through more tragedies than I can even fathom.  A place where towns that have been affected by natural disasters are yet to be repaired, even though it has been over fifty years.  People come to this place to experience their dream vacation in paradise, yet many who actually live in this place are just trying to survive in their own backyard.  Jamaica is a small place very similar to Kincaid’s Antigua, and I have learned to acknowledge these facts and use them in understanding the people and area I am traveling in.

Many of the countries I will be going to are going to have these ‘characteristics’ of a small place but I am ready.  I’m not sure, necessarily, how prepared I am or what really to expect, but I could not be more excited.  Like I said, this is absolutely surreal, but it’s happening and I cannot wait.