this is the life.

i've only been on the ship for a little over 48 hours, and somehow that feels like an eternity. i dont quite know why that is, possibly because there is no real concept of time or because there has been so much packed in.

to briefly recap last night, i ate dinner with mckendree and a couple from south africa. gus and sue lived in south africa but are now in virginia, where gus is a chemistry professor. sue is "on vacation," as gus likes to point out. they are avid travelers and know a great deal about africa. it was wonderful to chat with them and learn about their lives. they have a daughter who moved to fairfield, ct to work in the city but fell in love and now teaches are in bridgeport. so silly.

we also had an inaugural celebration, complete with decorations, "champagne" and cake! the deans made a few remarks and we listened to some fun dancing music. it was great to celebrate such an important occasion, and according to the news, we were not alone in our celebrations :)

today marked the first day of classes on the ship, and boy is that a new experience. i had class 0800-0915, 0920-1035 and 1045-1200. it is certainly a challenge to take notes, listen & not be rocked to sleep. i had the chance to sit in several different rooms, and i can't say that being in the front or aft of the ship makes classes any easier. our school store also opened today, and you would have thought that people had never seen a store before. i bought a sweatshirt and a lanyard.(for my id, even though i have a ton at home that i forgot to bring.) i am debating going and getting another one, as the rumors say once they are out of stock, they are all gone. there is a really cute sweatshirt that says SAS in polka dots, and i may just have to get one of those too. after saving for so long and not shopping (or, not shopping too often), its odd to just spend money.

english as a global language was my first course, and there is a lone male in the class (aside from the professor) which is a change from most of my comm-dis classes at home. prof thomas has several trips planned and the one i find most interesting is the one in chennai, india. we will be visiting a company that answers phone calls, like the insurance company or something. it will be interesting to see where all the outsourcing of american jobs has gone to and the english training that the indian workers must go through to be successful.

global studies is a strange course, and i'm not sure how i like it. since everyone is required to attend, all other activities are closed down during class time. we heard about some current events from our prof who reminds me of gandalf from lord of the rings. he has john lennon style glasses, long bleached hair and skater shoes. and he's probably nearing 60. very peculiar but has a sense of humor which helps. i watched the class from a satellite room, but i think i'll need to find a seat in the union so as to better pay attention.

languages of the world may be my favorite thus far. we have a rather large class (30), and some lifelong learners are sitting in with us as well. we all went around and told what languages we know and what we have been exposed to. so many of the students in the class are very well traveled, and it highlights the two extreme types of kids on the ship. those with money and not a care in the world and those who worked very hard to get here and to finally begin seeing the world. this class has a great field trip planned for south africa that includes a trip to the afrikaans language museum and a subsequent wine tour.

all in all classes went smoothly and i had a chance to lay outside and enjoy the gorgeous sun. its hard to believe that this is my life for the next 4 months. its still such a dream.

after a nice leisurely afternoon, had some dinner with a lovely group of girls and then went to the activity fair. i think just about everyone signed up for the "ship family," where students are placed with other students,  lifelong learners, professors & staff to meet with and get to know. i hope they have enough people to make the program happen, as it has had great reviews.

we stayed in the union after that and ended up talking to the executive dean, les mccabe. he is a really neat down to earth man who is passionate about semester at sea. he began hearing about sas in the 80's, when his two friends went on the trip and wrote him letters of all the things they'd been doing. he was determined to get himself on a voyage but didn't have the money. so after he graduated he asked semester at sea what he could do and they told him that he could be a resident director, as long as he got a masters degree. so he did just that and went on his first voyage. he was also responsible for the road rules challenge that took place on the ship in the late 90's. it was great chatting with him about his experiences, the storm story episode and his family. he has a 16 year old daughter and 14 year old son on board with him (and his wife) and this is their 5th semester journey. boy am i jealous of that. he also talked about his friendship with desmond tutu, and how he is trying to get him on ship when we are in south africa.

i am now in my room, i've turned back my clock (again) and i am watching to kill a mockingbird on the closed channel tv. i am feeling very tired today, which is also a symptom of seasickness, apparently. so we are now 2 hours ahead of the east coast. we learned today though, that the time changes are arbitrary, because we dont always cross the lines overnight. i guess the captain can just instate time changes whenever he pleases.

we have a trip lottery coming up, so i need to make some decisions soon. i have been trying to get an idea of what people are doing in spain, as i dont have much of a game plan yet. (barcelona/madrid are out of the question, as they are just too far). talks have begun to figure out getting ourselves to granada, which seems to be the only thing people have agreed upon. off to bed now, class in the morning and then my nutrition class, which will be taught by the academic dean, reg garrett. hope its good!


thank you all for your comments! i really love reading them. i have tried to get service with my phone, but being 800 miles away from land makes it impossible. i'm going to try and post on here as often as possible, maybe by typing outside in the sun :) please keep me updated on your lives, i think of all of you often!

xo