Headed to Puerto Rico

If Salvador Dali had witnessed our family Christmas this year, he most certainly would have been moved to paint it; my Christmas this year was nothing short of surreal.

There were the usual freaky family things that happen when we all get together but the weird part was simply "coming home" for the holidays. I had never "come home" before—I had always just been there. This time around, I experienced the early part of the holidays at Centre. It was so strange "coming home" for Christmas break. Not only was my overworked brain on "hold" after finals, but it was almost as if I were a visitor coming in for a short stay instead of not being there already.

This Christmas was, however, FANTASTIC! You never really know how much you miss your family until you've spent a semester away from them. You learn to appreciate and love them more. All the same traditions were there for me—including a pretty bizarre one. Brace yourself...this is very weird. Even ol' Salvador himself may have been too embarrassed to paint this. For as long as I can remember my brother, my sister, and I have always slept in the same bed Christmas Eve while "Santa" did his thing. And this year, my mom insisted the tradition continue. It was cool and fun when we were like 10—but my sister is 21, my brother is 15 and taller than me, and I'm 18. Why we still sleep in the same bed on Christmas Eve...I have no clue. Don't judge us...we're close. The three of us held a secret meeting this year, however, and vowed to end this family tradition right here and now. Sorry, Mom.

All in all Christmas was everything I'd hoped for and my break was much needed. Now that I'm back at Centre for CentreTerm though, I'm very excited. Aside from only having one class a day, I AM GOING TO PUERTO RICO. I will be snorkeling, hiking, swimming, researching, and learning—all in Puerto Rico. We'll be traveling through rainforests, deserts, swamps, and San Juan. I can't believe that this year could've started out any better than it has. My teacher is awesome and I'm very excited...I leave on SATURDAY. Wish me luck in NOT becoming a late night snack for a 14-foot python. That would be bad.