1/3/07 The Road Home

Today we got a 4:30 wakeup call and headed to the airport. Last night we had a nice dinner in Sidi Bou Said. It was seafood and our plates had full fish on them. A lot of the girls weren’t big fans of it but it wasn’t too bad. It was good to have everyone together one last time, and looking around I realized that this trip has brought me even closer to the GIF group. Maybe it was all the long bus and car rides or meals together, or maybe it was something else. We all experienced the high points and low points of this trip together as one. The end result is an enduring bond of friendship.

I’m writing this on the bus from the Rome airport back to Florence. It’s hard to believe that all 14 days of Christmas tour have flown by already. All in all, this trip was great. It was a lot different from what I expected, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worst. All the five star hotels were nice but that style of traveling isn’t quite for me. Give me three grand and I’d probably be able to do some pretty cool things in some pretty cool places all over the world.
That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy the trip. It’s something I know I’ll never be able to do again and the experiences and memories will say with me forever. Here are some of the highlights of the trip:

-Fine buffet meals three times a day
-The 4WD excursions into the desert
-Xmas Eve in the Sahara with a visit to the set of Star Wars, sunset in the dunes, and a traditional dinner
-The cool oasis we visited and the frogs that inhabited them
-Riding deep into the desert on camels and then sitting out under the stars
-Laying out on the beach in Djerba, pretending and believing it was summertime in late December
-The coliseum
-The funny convos we had on the long bus and car rides

And so another chapter has ended in this year-long story abroad. I have no idea what next semester will bring to the table, but I’m more that a little eager to find out. I’m itching for more adventures and thrills before I return to the States in April.