June 11th, Launch Day

Launch day

 

 I lifted the covers, slipped on some clothes, zipped up my suit case, and headed out the door for breakfast. Edie and I began to scan the continental breakfast that consisted of fruit, bread, pastries, and breakfast meats and picked up a few things before sitting down at the table to meet my Aunt. We ate quickly and in no time were headed out the door of our pretty baby pink hotel into our taxi on the way to the dock. 

Today is launch day, the day we either get on a cruise ship for the experince of our life, or board a box of puke and stomachs aches for the next 7 days. We were expecting the ship to be medium sized and claustrophobic but were surprised when we drove up to a monster of a ship. 

 

This ship looked straight out of Suite Life On Deck meets Titanic. We walked up the stairs of the oversized canoe and were greeted with champagne and punch ( there's a drinking age on the boat grrr) and walked through the entrance. Similar to the Titanic, there was a stunning staircase with gold lining up the handles leading to the other decks. We took the clear elevator up to the top deck, which is deck 11, and walked out the doors to a hectic scene of tourists just like us. On the top deck there is a pool, golf, shuffle board, tennis, and kitchen. The deck looked just like all the pictures. The floor was squeaky clean while seniors ( not the ones in high school ) sunbathed by the pool of blinding bleached white towels. The scene was wild with chefs cooking in the kitchen outside to fulfill the orders of the people outside and keep the buffet set up fresh while hungry tourists rushed around in Hawaiian shirts as they filled up their plates. The food was good and filled us with enegery. The ship consisted of a golf course, tennis court, shuffle board, a card room, casino, lounge, library, shopping hall, and countless other little rooms to hangout in. We didn't have much time to explore since our cabin wasn't ready yet so we decided to go walk around and sight see around Monte-Carlo. 

  So we ventured off and climbed up the hills of brick buildings that look like castles  to the famous casino (called casino of Monte-Carlo)

 then got Starbucks which provides a coffee with a view which was perfect for photo opps. Monte Carlo was beautiful and was packed with brick buildings the looked frozen in time all built in mountains surrounded by trees and other green things us Arizonians don't know. It had some modern stores and building but was mostly the same as a hundred years before. The area was very photogenic, my camera fell in love. 

 

     

 

Later we boarded our gigantic ship, unpacked our things, finished our safety drill and began to unwind. As we scanned the room we noticed on our door a letter addressed to me. We opened the letter and read that there was a "teen mingling meetup" in the card room. I mean that literally sounds like boring in a bottle. We honestly thought no one would show up, heck we almost didn't even show up. But Edie and I, being that lames we are, decided to go.

 Best decision ever. We walked into the semi-empty card room aside from some rich moms and two girls named Patty and Cat. First impression? I wasn't sure if I would like them or even give them the time of day. Cat seemed a bit to peppy for me and Patty was too unsure and intoverted. Though after we decided to add snaps, make dinner plans, and head up to the top deck to hang out unsupervised they grew on me like a rose bush on a fence. Cat is absolutely halarious, a burst of energy, and outgowing and Patty is soft spoken but very kind and clueless (but smart) in a funny way. We walked down to be deck and noticed another teenager playing ping pong with her family. Cat saw her and immediately asked the group if she thinks we should go up to her and say hi. Everyone was unsure but about 75% reedy to walk on up there and say hi. The scary thing was this: I was the first to say no. Not to no be her friend, but it just seemed like a bad time and I started getting really nervous for no reason. She looked nice and all I just really didn't want to embarrass myself in front of my new friends and- boom it hit me.  If you know anything about me you probably know that that isn't me at all, and it's true. That isn't me at all. Before I came to high school I would've known every detail about that girl before it was even a conversation whether or not to say hi. This was a big wake up call for me. High school has dimmed my shine. Though just that question and my repose made me remember who I was. I was the girl who would be your friend before you even knew my name. I was the life of the party that got invited to everything and talked at one hundred miles an hour. I was the person people would come to, even people I barely knew. I was flirty, charming, fun, and energetic. I was the person no one would mess with, and that no one felt the need to. High School told me I talk too much, so I stopped thinking about things to say. High School told me to fit in, so I stopped dancing through the halls. High School taught me to know my place, so I stopped making conversation with strangers. Though that time in my life did teach me how be able to calm down in situations that needed that serenity because I used to not be able to even sit still. Now I'm learning how to balance the two, I've remember how to not be boring but kept the part of me that gives me power to be introverted when I need to. I'm learning a lot about myself and I feel happier over all as a person. I think I like Cat a lot because she reminds me of my old self, but not only does she remind me of my old self but she brings it out in me. I haven't seen that side of me in two years, but now, on this ship, because of a random stranger,  it comes easily. If I can bring any souvenir back from this trip I hope that it is that. I hope it's that piece of me which has been missing for so long. I can't afford to lose something so valuable ever again. 

 Though once she was done playing ping pong with her family we all went up to her and she instantly became part of our friend group. Her name is Alexa and she's very nice, shy, quiet, but weird. She fit right in.

 We continued our night with failed attempts at paddle ball and laughing till peeing at puns about crack. After Edie and I said  goodbye to our friends we ate dinner and went back to the room. From there I went to venture through the boat myself and find a nice place to type where I can be alone. The top deck is empty around 11pm when I begin to write these posts so I thought I'd start there. I climbed up the stairs to the very absolute top and sat at the back of the boat on a small viewing bench. The whole idea was giving me anxiety. I was staring into the jet black sea, knowing we were in the center of it and if we were to sink at this time of night it would be that much more dangerous. Or that someone could come up the stairs right now and push me off the ledge of the empty deck and I would drown a tragic and sufferable death and no one would know till morning. I could feel the engine humming below me and was watching water spit out the back of the boat and still, terrified, decided to stay. I had chosen that spot and I was going to stick with it. Instead of being terrified of the unknowns of the boat I was trying to respect the process. Trying to let myself be scared, because holding it in doesn't do much, but teaching myself to not let what I don't know scare me at the same time. After writing the blog post on June 10th I headed back to my cabin and washed up for bed, slowly but surely drifting deeper and deeper into sleep.