Day 107 - Debarkation

Today started at 0500 when I stumbled out of my room with no sleep and passed by endless rows of luggage stacked on the dungeon floor (Deck 2) piled floor-to-ceiling on my way to the stern for our last star session.  Venus, Mars, the moon, and another star all aligned in a rare event we’re told happens only every 70 years.  It was chilly, and I stuck with those that brought their blankets from their rooms, which turned into a massive wobbling group hug that spilled over into the raising of the American flag, a privilege two students bought at the shipboard auction.  Our giant group hug stumbled and eventually split as we passed through the doorway and made our way to the aft for breakfast.  The food on our last day was unremarkable, but it was accompanied by the most magnificent sunrise as we pulled into Port Everglades at 0700.

At the gates to the port, parents and family were yelling and holding up large signs welcoming home their kids.  It was an adorable sight!  They had to bide their time, however, because it would be another several hours.  Sometime after breakfast I collapsed in the usual spot, the Piano Bar couch, into deep sleep.  Apparently Emily shared some big news with me and I had a conversation with her during my slumber.  I have no memory of this.  I awoke in a panic, not knowing what time it was or where any of my friends were.  I ran around the whole ship searching fruitlessly.  Finally, the PA announced the first Sea that was to debark.  I ran to my room and scrambled to get the rest of my belongings packed up and stuffed into the couple bags I kept out.  There were no signs left of my roommate.  At last, the Aegean Sea was called and I grabbed my customs form and a pen to fill it out on the way.

To my relief, I found my friends at the line to debark the ship, and we stepped off Deck 5 starboard together into the customs building.  We picked up our luggage, and I looked in vain for the drug-sniffing dogs they promised us.  A half hour later we passed through customs without incident, without even so much as a stamp in our passports.  We awkwardly tugged our luggage out of the building and into the throng of family and friends waiting for someone behind us.  We met some of our friends’ relatives and said long goodbyes and made many, many promises for the future.

A group of us stuffed ourselves and our luggage into a van and headed toward the airport.  The girls checked in their luggage for their evening flights (I stored mine), then we sat in wait until Cari gave us a meeting place for lunch/dinner.  (As an aside, Fort Lauderdale was by far our most difficult port; we were hit hard with having to deal with our copious baggage and the stark lack of public transportation.)  We met in a posh neighborhood where we could afford nothing and finally settled on the Cheesecake Factory.  We talked over humongous portions about our travels together and nuances about ship life that others, including Cari’s mom, who had joined us, would probably never understand.  Before we knew it, we were again stuffing ourselves into Cari’s mom’s rental and heading for the airport.  We got stuck saying goodbyes somewhere between the car and the various terminals, not able to leave.  There were just a few tears.

I picked up my luggage and stayed behind with Cari and her mom.  We went to rest at a hotel, and Cari passed out almost immediately, all of us getting virtually or actually no sleep last night.  By the time she woke up, it was time to drop me off at the train station so I could get to Miami.  It all happened much too fast, and the train even departed sooner than I could get to a seat and wave goodbye from the window.  I took out my computer to continue working on a video project, and I had just enough time to make some progress, have my computer freeze, and delete the whole file before I arrived in Miami.

I was fortunate enough to make some very kind friends on the ship who made arrangements for me to stay with them.  I was supposed to take a taxi from the train station, but there were none.  I waited in despair.  By chance, someone had come via taxi to the station, and I must have made a fool of myself making sure to flag it down.  I got in while the driver complained about my luggage: “What do you have in here – a boy!?”

Some 20 minutes later, we pulled up to a driveway of what looked like a hotel I could never afford.  I had double-checked the address before, but I had the driver assure me once more that this was the place.  I dragged my luggage into a pristine ultra-white hall with large, decorative lit pillars of ultra-white fabric.  I thought for sure security would come over and kick me out without a second thought.  I approached the desk and asked for directions to #1503.  The receptionist asked if Francisco was expecting me, and I – never having heard of any Francisco – nodded assuredly.  So naturally, she picked up the phone and dialed.  No response.  Heart rate rising.  She tried twice more before he decided to pick up and I could breathe again.  The receptionist pointed me toward the elevators – 15^th floor.

I emerged from the elevator and halfway down the hallway my friends came out to greet me.  I was so relieved!  We hugged it out and I followed them into a spacious, modern, white apartment with two boys playing video games.  One of them must have been Francisco.  He didn’t look up.  Not knowing how to introduce myself, I tiptoed around, marveling at everything.  I asked to see the view from the balcony and awkwardly slipped between Francisco and his video game on the way out.  What a spectacular view it was!  I was looking straight into the heart of downtown Miami, bustling highways lit up with heavy traffic below me, grandiose technicolored skyscrapers above me.

Not missing the chance to snap a few more photos, I posed with my friend Alfredo before going inside.  Back in the apartment, I hooked up to wi-fi just because I could.  Before long, we went out again in search of sushi.  Francisco did, in fact, have a car, and I volunteered to take the middle seat in the back of his Mustang coupe.  He brought us to a classy sushi restaurant with very dim lighting and graphic music videos playing on every wall.  It really is hard to take your eyes off them.  The sushi dinner was great, but more so was the dessert, some form of brownie-ice cream-cake-pastry concoction.  And the check came with cotton candy.

After dinner, we filed back into the Mustang, drove to the lavish apartment, took the elevator up fifteen floors, passed through the expansive living room, and…it’s time to wake up.  It was 4:15 am and my taxi had arrived.  I found myself in someone’s bed…Alfredo’s, apparently, given that he was next to me (though you can never be too sure).  I unfortunately woke Alfredo, who was kind enough to walk me down and see me off, and he was the last person I hugged before I reluctantly departed for Iowa.