June 15, 2010 7:20 pm

The last few days have been amazing/ insane! The Madre and I left on a drizzly Saturday morning this past weekend for our flight to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada… what a long day! When we finally arrived, at 9 pm ADT, we found out that the Madre’s luggage hadn’t made if from our layover in Detroit to Halifax. Awesome. There were also a few girls on the flight who were also doing SAS, and who also lost their luggage. I’m so glad that mine made the full journey!

I really didn’t know what to expect in Halifax, but the two days we spent there were very fun! On Sunday morning, we went to a teashop and had some amazing vanilla chai tea –yes I know, I’m obsessed- then we went down to the dock. There we ate some lunch and went sailing on a fully wind-powered ship, fully equipped with a cash bar. Sailing around Halifax port was amazing, I’ve never done something like that before, and the weather could not have been better. The Madre and I had heard about this place called Peggy’s Cove, so we decided to drive down there to check it out. It was getting late and pretty chilly, but I’m glad we did. This little town has one of the most magnificent lighthouses ever and the rocks that surround it and drop off into the Atlantic are amazing. After about an hour and a half, we returned to Halifax for dinner at a pub… Triangle something? I can’t remember the name, but they had some pretty fantastic gingerbread cake!

On Monday, we decided to try to find some kind of beach, so we drove to Lawrencetown Beach a few kilometers away. It was pretty chilly again, with the breeze blowing off of the Atlantic, but the beach was beautiful. Large stones framed the sand and water, something I’d never seen before. We went back to Halifax, ate dinner, and the Madre headed off to the Parents Welcome thing on the ship for SAS.

This morning was crazy, and seemed to come extremely quick. I can remember four months ago thinking that June 15th would never come fast enough; and now, suddenly, it’s here! We stood in line with the hundreds of other SASers for about an hour and a half (freezing) and then went through security and various other checkpoints before we could find our cabin… or should I say closet. This room is so tiny and has a huge mirror on one wall, like a dance studio, that makes it appear larger, when it’s really not. I’ve already met some cool people, a few from Colorado actually; but with 700+ people on this ship, everywhere I turn is a new face.

At 4 pm, we had a lifeboat drill, which was hilarious. We had to wear our goofy, neon orange life vests and line up by our designated lifeboats. The crew kept telling us to be silent as they called roll by our cabin numbers and last name, but the sight itself was too much. As the captain walked around the ship to inspect us all lined up, the crew hushed us to silence, and once the captain was satisfied, SAS had begun!

We departed from Halifax at 5 pm, and by 6:30 pm we had passed the last lands of Canada. And as I sit here in my cabin, feeling the sway of the ocean under me, I already know that this will be the best experience of my life this far!

LOVE LOVE LOVE