the past is a ghost, the future a dream;

all we ever have is now.
-bill cosby 

15 april 2009
2142 (9:42p)

another day on the pacific ocean has come and gone.

classes as usual; english as a global language, global studies and languages of the world. the lecture in global studies consisted of a world update: north korea & their nuclear weapons program, the rescue of the maersk alabama captain, an update on the political unrest in thailand and phil spector's guilty verdict. being the news-obsessed girl that i am, i had heard of all these stories via cnn.com and nytimes.com. the remainder of the class period was a lecture by a lifelong learner, alex kyserlink. he has worked in the financial business for over 30 years and discussed the world bank. the presentation was very interesting and he offered advice to those of us concerned with the slumping economy.

following classes, lunch and a movie (sex & the city) with mckendree. i'm going to miss lazy days at sea!

with the semester winding down, its time to start thinking about the end of the semester. we will have an ambassador's ball; essentially prom on the ship. dates are not required, but dressing up is. all the girls on the ship are getting excited, i know i like any chance to put on party clothes! in order to sign up for tables,  we had to wait in a big, long and slow-moving line. i'm signed up for the 1730 sitting along with the usual suspects: kelsey, ren, mckendree, caitlin & teresa. it should be a great time.. now we have to pick out something to wear!

i am now in bed, in preparation for losing another hour of sleep. there are two good movies on tonight: high school musical and south pacific. it's hard to choose! we are close to midway, so i think i'll watch south pacific. i can watch hsm anytime at home :)

tomorrow is classes, as usual. the sun is shining and its beginning to get warm out. the plan is to get some long-awaited rays tomorrow after global studies. i can't wait - we haven't had warm weather since vietnam, a whole three weeks!

the movie loop

14 april 2009
1921 (7:21p)

i would just like it to be known, that on our closed-circuit movie channel, are the following films:

1. king of texas
2. spice world
3. commanding heights
4. trials of life/holo mai pele (the hula myth)

and yes, spice world. the movie about and starring the spice girls! i've been transported back to elementary school! the movie is ridiculous!

experience is the teacher of all things - julius caesar

14 april 2009
1425 (2:25p)

today is a no class day on the seas, and i'm sure that many people hoped to use the opportunity to sleep in after a whirlwind four days of classes, papers and the global studies exam. sleeping in was not an option for those who wanted a spot in the voyage photo, which was taken at 0800 this morning.

i had trouble falling asleep last night and stayed up far too late watching a movie. all the naps/time changes have interfered with my natural clock. (that, and our closed porthole). today i am not going to let myself nap and hopefully i can start to get myself back onto a normal schedule.

last night was the students of service auction. students, faculty, staff and life-long learners all donated items that ranged from silly to extravagant. from an "i climbed the great wall t-shirt" to a weekend for up to 8 on an island off seattle, there were cool and clever prizes. there was a silent auction, a raffle and a live auction. i did not participate in any of the auctions but plan to donate to the cause through a donation. all of the money raised goes towards scholarships, donations to sas-visited charities and for equipment on the ship. the live auction was the most fun, and it was a great show. blowing the horn in fort lauderdale, raising the flag in fort lauderdale, piano lessons, a seat at the captains table, a bedtime story from the conduct officer, private viewings of the office or lost, dinner & a broadway show in nyc, a weekend in springfield, IL and a signed map of our voyage were just some of the big-ticket items. some of those went for over $400! four boxes of girl scout cookies went for $50!

we also took photos today by university, where unh had a respectable showing of 6/10. i couldn't find my unh communication sciences & disorders shirt, so a stoke hall shirt had to do. we were looking into the sun, so i hope my eyes aren't closed! the photographer only took one photo, so lets hope its a decent one.

i am very excited because we are going on a bridge tour today! at 1500 (3p), rennika, kelsey, mckendree and i will be checking out where the captain drives the ship! i'm bringing my camera, so i'll be able to show everyone! :) it will be neat to see the ocean from his perspective, because, as passengers, we don't have very good views from the fore of the ship.

as rebecca mentioned, via email, there are only 552 hours left on the voyage! how did it get so late so soon? where has the time gone? i'm excited to get home but it will be challenging to leave this trip. such a whirlwind adventure, i'm going to have to begin planning my next one soon! grad school? should be an adventure..

off to change before my bridge tour! sweet dreams, east coast! xo

global studies exam #2

13 april 2009
1009 (10:09a)


i just finished my exam, which took about a half hour to complete. i feel much better about this exam than the last, so lets hope my grade reflects that. i am now back in my cabin, feeling rather queasy from the time spent up in the union. its most definitely the most rocky part of the ship, and the seas are rather rough today. the doors to the outside are all locked and my porthole is still closed. oh well, the dark is good for napping!

speaking of naps, i'm off to snooze for a little while before lunch. then its blog time! i've been antsy to get back to work on all of my experiences, but i had to prioritize. tomorrow we have no classes! i'm not sure why, exactly, but i won't complain. either it was to make the schedule neat (4 A day classes, 4 B day classes) or it was to break up the stretch to hawaii. either way, i'm excited. the weather has not been good for sitting outside, but hopefully that changes tomorrow as we get closer to hawaii!

tomorrow is photo day aboard the ship, and there is a complex schedule of times that runs all day. at 0800 (on a day we have no class..?) we have our big ship photo on deck 7. this is going to be followed in 10 minute increments by school photos. listed by the number of students, unh falls relatively close to the top, with 10. so i'll dig up my unh t-shirt and get in a picture around 1000 or so. i hope we get copies!


alright, off to nap :)

april 12th, take two. evening edition

12 april 2009
(part two)
2351 (11:51p)

the day started with the ship 9 hours behind the east coast, and as i head to bed we are now 8 hours behind (losing another hour tonight). with all the time changes, i don't know that i'll ever have a right to complain about daylight savings time again!

the majority of today was spent studying for the impending global studies exam. the tables were crowded and it seemed everyone forgot to change out of their pajamas. i suppose tests have priority over putting together an outfit.

i feel ready for the exam, as best as i can. there is a large amount of information, so its hard to know where to focus my energies. the suggestions offered by the professors were helpful; we'll see tomorrow!

i stopped by the evening church service, though had to leave early on account of the waves. we were reminded to secure our valuables and they closed our portholes. its going to be a challenge to wake up in the morning!

in other news, i got my laundry back! after only one day! i have so many clean clothes to choose from, how will i ever decide? :P

good morning to you all! xo

april 12, part two

12 april 2009
(take two)
0900 (9:00a)


happy easter! (again!)

we crossed the international date line last night, and as a result, are repeating april 12th. thanks to some insight from dad and good ol' wikipedia, i have finally begun to understand how the whole situation works.

when i woke up this morning, at 0600 ship time, it was 1500(3:00p) on the east coast. therefore, our ship is now 9 hours BEHIND the east coast! i went to sleep 15 hours ahead, woke up 9 hours behind! crazy!

so please enjoy your easter dinners, i'm off to type and study for our global studies exam tomorrow morning.

xo

april 12 - part one

12 april 2009
(take one)
2046 (8:46p)

a productive day of studying and paper writing. soon i'll be done with all the work and i'll be able to enjoy the increasingly warm weather!

the ship is having a great time with the two april 12ths, they're playing groundhog day on the tv loop. the movie is about a man (bill murray) who lives the same day over and over. i've never seen the movie so hopefully i get a chance to watch it at some point, it seems fun.

the ship is back to rocking and rolling, a phenomenon nearly forgotten since prior to mauritius. we've only had short stretches at sea, leaving little time for seasickness. i'm sure that the rocking will only continue, so i may use a patch to keep from feeling under the weather during the global studies exam. 

we had a traditional easter meal tonight, lamb! and carrot soup, which i was more than happy about. it almost felt like home. no idea if we'll have the same tomorrow, as it will be easter again.. i'd love more carrot soup! there is a special buffet line for passover, though the quantities are limited so i won't take anything from the students observing the holiday. the matza looks so good, though! no rugelach, unfortunately. that i'd have to sneak!

 back to my papers and studying; lets hope the work pays off!
love and miss you all!

happy easter (and passover!)