I found a way for my blogs to post! Sweet! Anyways.... we're so close to Spain! Tomorow morning we're passing the Azores which is right off the coast! We sped across the Atlantic so fast in order to avoid the storms that the Captain has us going at a painstackingly low speed. A couple of us settled on the idea to go to Sevilla for a couple nights and check the city out. I also have to complete an authentic Andalucian Flamenco night for my music class which should be pretty fun.

 

Here's the rundown on ship life:

 

Believe it or not it is an identical version of a college campus. We have 2 days while at sea. A days and B days. Since I'm work study, I'm also required to work 2 hours a day. Then there is all of the clubs and activities that are offered. The amount they have is pretty shocking, but it's great. I met my "extended family" last night and we sat on their balcony and talked while watching the stars come up over the ocean. It was one of the most peaceful moments of the trip so far. My "mom's" name is Nancy, "dad" is David, and my "brother," Matt, is 12. We're hoping to have dinner sometime in Spain together. David is a professor at the University of Virginia (he said he almost took a job up at Ithaca College!). It's a great experience getting to know both the younger crowd and the older crowd aboard the ship. It was very interesting being able to sit and listen to their stories and share the same experience through different points of view. I'm also working with a child named Alden for reading and writing every other day for an hour. I can't wait to get started with that and give myself something else to do other than reading textbooks. All in all it's basically like being on back at Ithaca.... I overbooked myself and don't get started on homework until 9 or 10pm, but it just makes me feel like I'm at home. There's even the obvious divide between the students that get their work done and those that just don't care. For everyone who thinks I'm on a "cruise" right now, let me be the first to tell you that they're holding us to the U. Virginia standards. I'm completely out of my elements with all of these writing, music, and art classes but it's still fun to learn.

 

The hardest adjustment on the ship is the shift over to millitary time and the fact that for the past 3 days we have had to set our clocks forward and lose an hour of sleep. Whenever I see 8:30 I just assume people mean in the evening. Needless to say I was 12 hours off and my interview was at 8:30 am (oops!). The meal times are limited. 7:30-8:30 for breakfast, 11:30-1:30 lunch, and 5:30-7:30 dinner. They also have a "late night" type deal at 10pm with sandwiches and deserts.

 

I watched the sunset for the first time today off the back of the ship. Apparently if you look at the right time just after the sun goes down below the horizon you can see green flashes. I failed to see those tonight but now I know what to look for. One minute the sun was in the sky and the next minute the firey orange ball was sinking into the ocean by the second. Absolutely spectacular. Tomorrow they're doing a star gazing up on deck 7 so I think they turn of all the lights in order to be surrounded by complete darkness. Hopefully I'll be able to get another post in before we reach Spain! Viva Espana!

 

:)

 

 

8/29

It looks as though I’ll to type up all of my blog posts and then update them once I’m in port.  Currently we’re experiencing stormy weather on and off so I have a feeling internet is going to be hard to come by. My seasickness has been in control until today. Last night the rolling as well as pitching definitely picked up so it was difficult to actually get a good night’s sleep. Today was the first day of classes which would have been fine if everyone wasn’t sick to their stomachs. I like all of my classes and professors, but the only problem is that the Union is the absolute worst place in the ship as far as movement goes and I have 2 classes there. All 25 of us headed for the bathroom as soon as the hour and a half lecture was over. The chairs were moving underneath us and the ceiling seemed like it was going to cave in or something. Just imagine the ride that swings and spins you 360 degrees at the same time ( I think it’s the Tomahawk or something )…. Well that’s what it felt like for an hour and a half. I can honestly say I spent more time concentrating on not passing out or something than I did on the notes as seen by my half a page of chicken scratch. After three classes I started my job in the field office which is actually fun so that’s good. Again, it’s this whole ship rocking thing that’s getting to everyone. I think we’re all overly anxious to get to Spain. The major problem is that there is a storm north of us and a hurricane south of us and we’re trying to split the two before they converge on each other so we’re receiving the swells from both areas. It’s amusing to watch people try to walk down the hall until you fall into a wall or miss a stair.

I enjoy how easy it is to meet people here. I’ve sat with a different group of people at every meal so far. A lot of people are here by themselves as well so everyone is open to each other.  One of my favorite things to do is sit and talk with the life long learners. They’re all so anxious to meet the students and I think it’s great, which is why I signed up for a program called extended family. Basically some of the older folks adopt you as their own for the voyage. You can have dinner together, discuss experiences, etc. I also signed up to work the dependent children on board (the youngest kid here is 6 months) so I guess Happyland Day Camp rubbed off on me a bit, haha. I also am now a part of our 4 month Amnesty International chapter on board to keep that human rights motivation strong. There were so many options and I finally feel like I’m back at school with a busy schedule and little time to sit and do nothing.  I love it! Desmond Tutu spoke to us yesterday and assured us that it’s not impossible to change the world. He’s so motivated to spend time with the students because we “make him young again.”

Spain is in 6 days! Solid ground! Although being surrounded by water is quite the peaceful experience. Looking out onto the horizon the ocean looks so calm and then you feel the boat move and realize it’s the total opposite of calm. Hopefully tomorrow’s better although it’s supposed to be another rough night.

 

Halifax!

Left home around 5am. Reached Halifax around 1:15pm (with a +1 time difference). It seems like a great place... reminds me a lot of San Francisco. We got a glimpse of the ship I'll be living on for the next 3 1/2 months and it's much larger than I had thought! The plane we flew from Philly to Halifax was probably one of the tiniest I've seen and I'd say about 85% - 90% of the people were all for Semester at Sea. While waiting in line at customs Archbishop Desmond Tutu walked by which was pretty cool to see and even more amazing that he's sailing the voyage with us. So much is going through my head right now! I can't believe I'm boarding tomorrow!