On a boat on my way to Ireland

This is a really, really, big boat. I'm sitting in the restaurant on about the fourth level, right next to the window, and I am getting a little bit dizzy, but it's nice here. I'm sitting with a delegation from Georgia; not much conversation, but I suppose I need to blog right now anyway.

There is so much to cover, I don't even know where to start, seriously. I have done so much in the past few days that they are actually blurring a little. I'm glad I have my journal, so I can remember most of my trip. I am so behind in telling you about everything, I am thinking that maybe I'll tell you about this morning, okay? I'll probably get to more details after my trip, which sounds terrible, but it's the best I can do.

So, I went rappeling down a castle wall today as a part of the Full On section of my trip. (!!!) It was amazing! First, let me tell you a little bit about Full On. It's a program based in New Zealand that focusses on helping young people with leaderships skills and confidence. I really learned a lot about focussing my energy on the important things, and not on the unimportant, pessimistic things. I am going to do my best to concentrate on a more proactive outlook from now on, because it really felt great looking at life in a different perspective. We did workshops yesterday, and we rappelled today. Yesterday was great. We broke boards with our bare hands. I was afraid that I wouldn't get it, but I broke the board on my first try, HA HA! It felt great! We get to keep them. I had my friends sign them and now I kind of have a yearbook of sorts, except it is a wooden board and it's broken in half straight down the middle. (I have good percision, no?)  I don't have any pictures of that, but I have some for the next day. My friend took a video of me flying down the castle wall, but it isn't interesting because I am not actually flying...I am creeping. Like a little bug. But I did it, still!

I wish I could upload pictures, but the internet is too slow! I promise that I will as soon as I can. There isn't much trip left: like only four days, and one of them is dedicated to travel. I can assure you that there will be a lot of uploading when I get back.

So, about rappelling today. I started with confidence. I was all like, "I can do this, I can do this!" We arrived at the castle, and it was really pretty there. I saw the tower that we were about to go down, and it was tall. Still, I was like, "I can do this!" We strapped ourselves in our harnesses and helmets, and separated into two different groups. My group was first. We climbed the winding stairs of the castle tower, which was dizzying. We lined up behind a ladder leading to the top of the tower, and prepared for our descent. Up until I got to the top I was perfectly confident. But when they hooked me up, put me on a metal platform, and told me to lean back I got scared, to be honest. We were really high up, and there was nothing beneath me at all. My hands were shaking as I gripped the rope, but the guy who was helping me was really nice, and he helped me a lot. I leaned back and got rid of the slack, and now I was hovering over the ledge with only a rope stopping me from falling.

I stepped off.

AAAAAAAAAAH!

I'm just joking. It wasn't that bad. As soon as I stepped off and planted my foot on the wall I felt a lot better. The hardest part is taking the first step, putting all of your faith into what you are doing and going for it. It's kind of metaphorical, isn't it? I feel like I learned a lot from that moment. I went really slow down the castle, but everyone cheered for me anyway. By the time I got down, I was feeling great. A little woozy, but great. Like I said, I wish I could post pictures, but all you have is words for now.

I splurged and bought a sweatshirt for myself, and a photo pack of my adventure. It was a little expensive, but I'm glad I have momentos for something as awesome as this.

I'm on the ferry to Ireland now. I can't believe I am already to the last country in my journey! It has gone so fast, hasn't it? I should get off now, for I am getting seasick. I'm doing great, everyone!

Esther