there is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving? yourself. ?aldous huxley

i feel as though my blog titles have become repetitive and/or boring. so, i'm going to try to use the semester at sea "quotes of the day."this one is from a few weeks ago but you'd never know the difference if i hadn't told you!

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last night's dinner was a great time with fun people and equally fun discussions. we eventually headed out to watch the sunset, which was neat. i'm finding it sooo hard to capture the sunset in photos but i've taken a lot.

yesterday there was an optional day of silence to commemorate the middle passage. the middle passage was the transportation of slaves from the west coast of africa to the caribbean and americas. the sas students of color put on a program to discuss their feelings and thoughts on the slave trade and it's implications today. i hesitantly attended the program and i'm very glad i did. the students shared what they had been thinking all day, what they believed and what they wanted. it was very powerful. rounding off the program was the hymn, amazing grace, which as many know was written by a slave trader. a boy named chandler sung and he reminded me of a friend at home who is sick. afterwards i was thoroughly exhausted-- maybe from all the sunshine &a little burn.. -- and headed back down to the cabin. i did some organizing, journaling and watched a movie until bed.

classes this morning went quickly and i was able to stay awake! it always seems to be a challenge in my class right before lunch. i broke down and bought a travel mug from the school store so i can have coffee or tea all day long. i should have brought one on the ship with me but i didn't know. today was our last 'a' day of classes until after south africa. its hard to believe we are almost in namibia!

tonight is the cultural pre-port for namibia and i'm excited to hear about it. we have recieved some more information about our safari and i'm thinking of adding a evening game drive. we have a 4-5 hour bus drive on the first day so i'm going to be checking out a library book and bringing my ipod.

the mv explorer is moving quickly these days, a steady 25 knots. its been rather smooth so there is not much seasickness. people are, however, beginning to catch some colds and the hand sanitizer is everywhere. i'm hoping to keep the germs at bay, i don't want to be sick!

i am working on my plans for south africa, though nothing is set yet. a climb of table mountain is on the plate as well as a wine tour, possibly robben island and my faculty-directed-practica for my languages class: a trip to the afrikaans language museum.

our laundry has not been returned yet and we are all crossing our fingers that it will be back in time. the rumor ranger told us that laundry is on schedule and that it most definitely will be returned-- i need my jeans back before safari!

i will be giving homework a try today, though i cannot promise anything. i want to be all settled up before our 10 day break. its easy to forget we are supposed to study! especially with tests looming.

good morning to all of you!
xo laura


ps. i have now most certainly seen flying fish! they are hard to spot -- very small -- but once you see them, they seem to be everywhere. they are so strange looking!