Continuation for Arrival in Miami - 7 December

Well, I'm at home now but thought it best to continue the saga of getting off the ship so I'll pick up where I left off on Friday...

We spent the morning lolling around the library. It was not my intention to do so but I discovered around 9:00 that my card key for my door no longer worked. All of the room keys had been reset already and we needed the cabin steward to enter our rooms. So I packed up the rest of my luggage and triple-checked that I didn't leave anything behind and left the cabin for the last time. I took all of my belongings up to the library and spent the next four hours doing last minute library tasks. I was astonished by the number of library materials that the students were still returning even though they had already packed up all of their belongings too. The majority of the items had never been checked out either. Hmmmm. There have been some naughty library patrons on this ship!

Around noon, Eileen and I had enough of it and we did our last official library acts of running one last report and then deleting all of the patrons from the database. It was a sad moment that we spent absolutely no time reflecting on. We were hungry and wanted lunch instead. Unfortunately, lunch wasn't being served until 12:30 due to kitchen inspections so the line for the buffet was long! Just when I finally snagged some food, the Assistant Dean announced that the ship was cleared and the Yellow Sea deck was allowed to leave. This caused instant panic and everyone immediately fled the dining room to get their luggage and get off the ship. I assumed that I had at least 20 minutes to enjoy lunch since the faculty were to be the second off of the ship but five minutes later, the Dean announced that the faculty could leave too. Five minutes after that they Bering Sea was allowed to leave. Huh?! What's the use of staggering the departure time of 150+ people if there is only five minutes between groups.

I hurriedly grabbed by carry-on luggage and hugged a few people on my way to the exit. I soon found my way into the terminal and found total chaos. Whoever organized all of the luggage did a really bad job!!! The only way in an out from our sections was a three-foot wide path which with luggage was impossible. On top of that, there were only 6-7 porters with luggage carts to help us with our boxes and bags. It was a madhouse! It took me 1 1/2 hours to grab a porter to finally get my stuff out of the terminal. By that time, I was beyond cranky and didn't linger over any goodbyes. I just wanted to get out of there!!!!!

I made it out to the curb and found the UPS post and unloaded four boxes to send off. I have no idea how much it is going to cost me and don't really care as long as I didn't have to deal with them anymore that day. After UPS, I found a taxi and heaved my 200 pounds of duffel bags into the trunk and collapsed in the car. What a relief. I told the driver the name of the hotel by the airport and then settled back in the seat with all of the windows down, enjoying the wind whipping through my hair. I was tempted to lean out of the window and enjoy the wind like a dog but my dignity (what little I have) wouldn't allow it.

We arrived at the hotel and, after checking in, sprinted to my room and threw myself on the bed with a really loud groan. I can't imagine what my neighbors thought and really don't care. I cranked the air conditioner to high since it was 80 degrees outside, turned on the television to something inane and went catatonic for the next several hours. Such bliss.

Around 5:00, one of the students from the ship called from the lobby - and yes, I was expecting it. I had lent her some money to pay off the ship's bill when her credit cards didn't work and she had no other options. She was with her parents to pay me back and they also invited me out to dinner. I accepted since I had no other plans and we drove to a seafood restaurant about a mile away. I had a very enjoyable evening with the student and her parents. She was one of my favorites on the ship so I hope we'll stay in touch. Around 8:00 they dropped me back at the hotel and, once again, I lunged onto my bed. I was liking life a lot at that point. The rest of the evening was spent in a delicious haze of nothingness - I go back to Charlottesville tomorrow. So I'll regale you with those details tomorrow.