It's been nearly a month, hasn't it? What have I done in that month?

Well, a lot. I told Captain Dwight that I wasn't going to do the transit north, because I needed some time to be at home and relax and get myself together before heading to Windy for the summer and maybe a Fulbright in the fall. He had made it seem like I had a choice, but then flipped out when I mentioned that I was going to another boat, threatening me with breach of contract and all sorts of things, though I'm fairly sure I did not sign a contract. This seemed improbable, but it definitely got me worked up. After consulting my lawyer uncle, an old captain (Tom!) and my parents and friends, I have decided to go ahead and buy my plane ticket. I'm leaving on May 1st, to go home and have a break. I have been working on boats for nearly 10 months straight. I would like a vacation. I'm going to give Dwight about two weeks notice, which is not even legally required, so that he can't screw me over by taking away my place to sleep for those last couple of weeks.

Sadly, I really do love sailing down here and working with the kids. I love learning about patching sails and foul weather sailing and watching kids get excited and overcoming seasickness. I don't want to leave early, but the way I've been treated, I want to. They preach trust, communication, teamwork, self-esteem and respect to these kids, very little of which I see them using with the crew. I was left at the airport in Boston when I arrived, a breach of trust that I was willing to overcome, and the crew never knows what's coming next and we are not respected. Maybe having such an amazing community in Grinnell and even on Windy has raised my expectations too high, but, really, what's wrong with high expectations for this sort of thing?

Other than that, I've been having a great time. This weekend was the St. Patrick's Day celebration in town, one of my favorite holidays. I am recovering by researching graduate school options and catching up on people's lives as much as I can. I can't wait to be home.