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8Disaster at Port St. Lucie
The title of this might be overstating it a little. But I was 18, young, and not ready for all the various weird things that can happen while traveling. This was one of my first trips without my family, and I was not prepared for what was about to happen.
As long-time readers know, I was expelled from a southern, private christian college in 2006. The next December, I visited one of my friends who had graduated. It was a Christmas present from my parents, who thought it would be a cool winter getaway. Fun in Florida in December. I contacted my friend Kenji to schedule the trip. He had moved to Port St. Lucie after graduating. Kenji and I met when I was briefly a student in Florida. He was an education student from Japan. He and I became fast friends because I had a car. Not only that, but he never got to go off campus for the previous 3 years.
Kenji was an interesting fellow. He taught me how to shop a proper Asian grocery. My other roommates were Malaysian. I was the only American. He was my crash course into college life. He got me to buy a water filter to make the desalinated water taste better. He seemed excited to see me and said I could stay with him and his roommates at their house near the Christian school where they all worked. It seemed like the trip was set and would be fun. I was off to Florida.
