Final Entry

So after 108 days, 13 countries, 34 cities, 14 flights, 9 train rides, 2 ferries and too many bus rides and taxis to count, I have completed the semester of a lifetime. I made friends that I’ll never forget, and together we created memories to always remember. I’m not sure what my favorite country was or what the “coolest thing I have done” is, but I do know that I have seen the world and that will have an impact on me for the rest of my life. I saw things that most people will never have the chance to see, and I hope the images of each and every place I went will stay with me. I learned so much, not from the classes on the ship, or the textbooks I read, but from the people I met and interacted with. I’m certain I will only come to realize the extent of how much I learned later on in life.

Thank you for following me on my journey and I hope to share all of my stories and pictures soon. Until then, I’ll direct your newfound spare time back to perezhilton.com ☺

And to my parents, I’d just like to say: Thank you for giving me the world, but there is no place like home.

Guatemala

We survived all 12 ports! Marisa, 10 of our friends and I got a house in Antigua for our stay in Guatemala. It was an adorable little Central American house and 16 of our other friends were staying in one just down the street. The first day we got a ride to Antigua, which was about an hour and a half from our port and walked around the town for a few hours. We hung out by our pool in the afternoon and grilled out for dinner. We just stayed at our house or went to the other house at night since it really wasn’t safe for us to be out and about that late in Guatemala these days. The second day we spent most of the time in the town shopping. Then somehow Marisa and I had a 5-hour linner.. just the two of us. Yesterday the 12 from our house got up at the break of dawn to hike an active volcano! We actually rode horses up most of the mountain, but hiked once it turned into hardened lava. It literally was spewing neon orange magma from the center of the volcano; it was crazy! We were able to get pretty close to the top, but due to the intense heat radiating from the molten rock, not quite close enough to roast the marshmallows we brought. We made our way back to the ship and are currently homeward bound!

I am very excited to be home in 5 days, however I know it’s going to be incredibly bitter-sweet once I realize it’s all over.