Tomorrow is the last day of a much needed three weeks off from school. I started out my break on a cruise with a college friend, Margaret. We spent seven days in the Caribbean on the biggest passenger ship on the ocean. We went to Puerto Rico, St. Thomas and St. John, and St. Maarten.
Here are Margaret and I having a lunch of sushi and fries
San Juan, Puerto Rico
A view from the Castillo Juan Felipe del Morro in San Juan
Another view from the "castle"
On a ferry from St. Thomas to St. John (about a 40 minute ride)
We went on a hike on St. John to Honeymoon Beach. According to National Geographic, this is the seventh best beach in the world. 
Back on St. Thomas, a street in Charlotte Amalie
We went kayaking in St. Maarten. This was our French guide who deemed us "Team M&M" and made it known that we were, in fact, his favorite.
I had a little bit of a hard time adjusting to life again when I got off the ship. It's hard to go from eating a five or six meals a day (included in the cost of the cruise) and having your bed turned down and mints left on your pillow every night, to eating cereal for breakfast, leftovers for dinner, and not sitting on the beach the entire day. But, after the initial shock, and numerous compliments on my carefully acquired tan (yes, my white Alaskan skin tanned, even through SPF 45!), I've come to terms with reality again. Upon receiving an email last weekend outlining the things I needed to turn in on the first day of class, I quickly un-came to terms with reality (I realize that is far from grammatically correct, but I feel it is the only way to truly capture the essence of my situation). Thus, I have spent the last week in blissful denial that I have to go back to school. In said state of denial, I have accomplished something. I've read two books. The most recent of which I would highly recommend (Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin).
That's about all the updating I have for now. I'll try not to keep everyone waiting for so long next time!
