August 31 2010 ? MV Explorer

There was a time change last night, but I didn’t feel particular miserable, so I got breakfast with a couple of girls in my Women in High Courts class, one of them being Martha, the girl I met at the Argyle.  French toast, om nom nom.  In class we mostly just went over our reading about Mayans and their court system, and it was really interesting hearing about how sexuality/menstruation/menopause tied in so much with the roles of the women in that time period and place.  I’m glad to be taking this class, even if it is at 0800!
Global Studies was far more interesting than last time, as there was no boring guest lecturer.  Instead we talked about prosperity and statistics on who is prosperous, who is not, and what goals the world has in order to let all people have the same two minimum basic human rights, which are the right to food and the right to shelter.  It was pretty neat learning about the millennium goals of the UN as well, even if it was kind of depressing to learn that the United Nations didn’t really have any way to fund these changes, as it’s not like they have taxes.
I then ran out to the field office, where a huge mob had formed.  It turned out that I indeed had gotten kicked outta the Gibraltar trip, which was a huge bummer but I guess that’s to be expected with such a popular trip.  I set about trying to find a replacement trip, and I finally found one that hikes through Spain’s most ancient forest (Grameleza national park) that sounds really awesome AND is half the price it originally was.  Score!  I just hope that the guy doesn’t sell it to someone else—I asked first!
After all that nonsense, I did some hardcore reading in my Global Studies book because I had been a little behind (not anymore!), sitting with Julie and her friend Jared.  Somewhere in there I ate lunch, too.
Actually, today was just a really big reading day overall, as I read a chapter in the Tourism book, in Hot Flat and Crowded, and in Social Problems.  It took me forever, especially when all of a sudden I realized that I couldn’t read the words on the page.  Everything close up looked blurry and unrecognizable, and sentences were totally incomprehensible.  When I still couldn’t see properly three hours later, I panicked and went to the medical area.  The doc thinks I probably touched the seasickness patch (and indeed I had taken it off this morning) and rubbed my eye, but it should be better in the morning. 
OH!  When I got back, I went to look outside and saw an entire fleet of dolphins in our porthole!  There were tons—I think they wanted to check out the ship, but as far out as I could see I could see dorsal fins and the occasional sleek gray body.  I even saw a little BABBY dolphin, that couldn’t have been longer than four or five feet.  It was definitely great. 
Anyway, I did the best I could with reading, even with my impaired sight.  It’s hard for me to wrap my brain around the international politics that I’m learning right now in Global Studies and Contemporary Social Issues, so I’m trying really hard.  I really don’t want to drop any of my five classes, though I keep getting warnings about how hard it will be to manage.  I went to dinner later with Katie Porter (of Chapman) and some girls named Cora and Sarah.  Sarah invited me to go on a Spain adventure with her, so I may take her up on that if my hike falls through.
I read a little more before going to Dean David’s talk on eating in Spain, which was WAY more fascinating than yesterday’s lecture and it made me hungry!  Lots of delicious things to try.  We can even print a list of Spanish food words from his presentation—polpo means octopus! (Or was it pulpo?)
Immediately afterwards, I got a hot chocolate at the bar area and promptly dumped the entire thing directly onto my hand.  It went numb immediately, it was so hot.  I’m pretty sure I can see blisters forming on my hand already—I didn’t have an ice pack, so I just had to run it under a rather lukewarm tap.  I’m almost certain that it’s the worst burn I’ve ever had in my life—my entire hand is bright, violent red.  Ow.
I then hung out with Julie under the stairs to deck 2 as she did her global studies homework.  Some girls passed us looking like jungle cats for some kind of themed party up on dock 7.  So Julie and I wandered over to the party—I didn’t really want to go, because my hand hurt and I was tired, but I also felt that if I did that, then it would be really unsocial and I’m still trying to make friends and everything.  Especially since my Spain trip fell through, I’ve been worried about the opportunities to make friends… I’m just a little over anxious about it, I guess.  I’ve met some wonderful people, but I feel like the first port is what’ll make real friendships.  But anyway, the party: everyone was just sitting around and talking, and I didn’t want to buy any alcohol, so I just kind of went “meh” and left.  I left my jungle cat outfit at home anyway, I didn’t fit in.  (In reality I think there were 3 people dressed in a jungle theme. I don’t know where they got that idea.)  I discovered the fitness center at last and will probably sign up for something tomorrow—all of Ellie’s zumba classes are during my classes.  :(  So I need to get some work out in!
Julie wanted to go on the observation deck, which is the highest part of the ship you  can go—I didn’t even realize that students could go up there.  But we looked at the stars and sang Lady Gaga and tried to find the moon, which was huge and orange and rose in the ocean’s horizon while we looked on.  Her friend Jared came up too after a while.  He flirts with Julie a little too indelicately, so I don’t know if I trust him.  But we had a fun time out there until 0030.  :O
I never knew/realized how big the Atlantic Ocean REALLY was until now.  I think it’s kind of impossible to comprehend until you’re on a ship this way.  Also, we lose an hour tomorrow—ugh!
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August 30 2010 - MV Explorer

I slept so well it was incredible.  All those sleepy nights finally paid off, and even though I was worried it would be as sleepless as before, the only time I woke up was at my alarm, which I had set for Ellie at 0630 because her alarm wasn’t working.  She went into the bathroom, and after a moment—
“Stephanie, when do you plan on getting up?”
“Probably  around ten.”  My first class of the day was at 1045.
“Well, it’s ten to eleven right now.” 
WHAT. I freaked out and literally ran out the door in five minutes flat.  That’s the last time I don’t use an alarm and assume I won’t have slept well!  Luckily I was only ten minutes late, and didn’t miss much.  I really learned a lot through—verses, meters, mnemonic?  I’m going to have to work really hard, because aside from whaangsty emo poetry from early high school, I’ve never really written or even really studied very much poetry.  I do like it a lot though. 
After that, I wolfed down a quick lunch before heading out to Anthropology of Tourism.  We mostly discussed the syllabus, but apparently we have to do a research paper and presentation on a famous tourist destination—with another person or two.  EFF.  I know no one in that classroom, so that puts me on edge.  I hate group presentations and would much rather do it myself.  I then went to see if my Gibraltar trip was really cancelled, but the field office keeps  odd hours, so I’ll have to check back tomorrow.  I really want to go.  I think if I can’t get in, I might sign up for a hike instead.  I feel like I need to do a lot of SAS trips at first, in order to make friends. =/
Then it was off to Contemporary Social Issues.  The professor had a number line on the board (1-7) that ranged from extremely liberal (1) and extremely conservative (7).  I was happy to see the category with the most was liberal, though there were quite a few conservatives as well.  As a class we made a list of qualities of liberal and conservative viewpoints, but that got a little dicey (“Liberals are socialists!”).  But I can already tell that I’ll like the class.  We also have to do a group presentation on a social issue, AND we have to write the paper together, so I’ll have to hope I can find some other liberals to discuss the pros of legalizing gay marriage with me.    This will be my first political science oriented class, so it’s very exciting.  :D
After seeing all my classes, I feel pretty confident that I can do well in them, though I need to make sure I don’t procrastinate on anything.  I feel as though I’ll do okay, though Ellie warned me that she heard in the seminar she went to tonight that they said that five classes could be too overwhelming.  I am hoping that it’s going to be okay, because there’s no internet or places to go on the ship that will distract me.
I met with Donna so we could discuss our community building.  Being as that you can only have food in the dining room, it looks like we’re sunk (students only come to these things if there’s food, after all).  But we WILL do Sea Dinners, and she took me to find a big brown ream of paper, some magnets, and a marker so I could make a “question of the week” type thing, hang it in our hall, and let people write all over it.  The question for now is “What adventure are you the most excited for?”  There are lots of responses already, though I haven’t read them yet. 
I grabbed dinner while staring out the window.  The ocean out here is the most incredible dark blue I’ve ever seen.  When I moved to the library, I tried to calendar all my programs, though I definitely will have to finish it later—the calendar is tiny for all the writing I need to do on it.  When I returned to my room, I called the steward for an extra pillow, and Ellie came in and asked me if I wanted to eat dinner and cake for her birthday (it was yesterday).  I said yes, but first ran off to pick up my new poetry book at the book store.  The main dining hall wasn’t too full, but the table of Ellie’s guests were, so I squeezed in as we sang happy birthday.  Little kinds ran over in shameless hopes for  cake, it was hilarious.
Dean David was giving a lecture about Espania, so I went to that around 2000.  Unfortunately, he just talked about the different cities in which you could see cool architecture, while I had been hoping for “must-do” things in Cadiz.  I was a little disappointed in that respect.  But he’s giving another lecture about Spanish tapas tomorrow niht, so hopefully that will be more helpful for me. 
I really hope this class thing works out, I really don’t want to drop poetry.  But it seems like everyone is trying to deter me against it because of the extremely heavy workload, and I’ll be honest, I am not going to stay in port to do homework.  Any thoughts?
The Mermaid of Err that has lurked outside our window has vanished.  She makes this squeaky noise that keeps us awake—she must have found someone else to err at. 

August 29 2010 ? MV Explorer

Today I didn’t get a very good night’s sleep—the waves have gotten dramatically larger, and something keeps making our porthole squeak, but I guess I’ll get used to it.  I just lay in bed from 0500 on until I had to get up around 0700 to grab breakfast before class.  I have a feeling that because I’m not eating as many carbs, I have been getting a lot hungrier, so I made my typical eggs/potato/ketchup mash before going into classroom 1, which is conveniently right next to the caf. 
Poor Katie Porter (of Chapman) is still seasick, and I don’t blame her as the swells are pretty massive today.  Women in High Courts looks very interesting, though I forgot to get one of the books and bought the unabridged version of The Tale of Genji instead of a shorter copy I was supposed to get.  Still, Professor Ringrose seems nice—we only have to write one 6-8 page paper and keep a travel port journal that’s one paragraph per port, so I don’t feel too overwhelmed.  I also discussed with her that I wasn’t going to be at her FDP in Kyoto, as I’m going to travel independently through Japan, but when I mentioned that I  was going to the Forbidden Palace in Beijing, she was happy to accept that as a substitute.  Definitely think I’ll do my paper on the Queen Mothers in Ghana, as there’s sure to be lots of info… plus it’s interesting to do a paper on a court system that still exists and  that you’ve interacted with!
After that class I went to my first Global Studies class.  The waves were really rough—in the Union you can feel it the most—and tons of people were bolting for the bathroom door after all the particularly bad rollings of the ship.  We had a good introduction after the differences between power and principle outlooks in governments when it comes to foreign policy, which was really interesting, and then my women’s studies professor’s husband gave us an entire summery of the history of globalization.  Now, being as that’s easily over seven hundred years, I did the best I could taking notes, but I sure hope the test questions aren’t based on dates—there was a LOT of information packed into that tiny thirty minute block, and it was especially hard to focus when the crashing of waves rattled everything (very loudly) in the Union. 
Whenever I go back to my cabin in the middle of the day, I feel wayyyy too isolated, so I grabbed my wallet and went to the newly opened bookstore, because I heard that it gets crazy and you have to grab a sweatshirt very early.  And even though it was the first day, it still took me forever to find something in my size, which is an awesome blue zip-up hoodie.  I like it a lot and it fits perfectly, so I hope it doesn’t shrink much.  :)
I ate a quick lunch (which included curried bananas today, which was really good though I was initially skeptical) and then went back to my cabin with the intention of starting my reading.  Instead, I accidentally fell asleep again!!  I don’t know how I’ll ever adjust if I keep being so narcoleptic.  I just know that if I keep taking naps I’ll never have a restful night of sleep.  When I woke up I read the intros for Global Studies and Women In High Courts, and then went to the piano lounge bar to check my emails.  I also went outside.  There were tons of gray clouds, and lots of dark swells.  We’re taking a passage between two hurricanes, which is why it’s so rough, though I haven’t gotten sick yet at all.  I then went to the computer lab to set up the two network drives from SAS on my computer.  Now I can see the travel photo dropbox, so that’s pretty neat.  Afterwards I went back t omy room to read a little more about Mayan courts, then Ellie and I worked on our roommate agreements form before going to dinner.  I met a girl who is also going to do the Cabaret like me, ad seems just as snarky.  She even has the same elitist behavior towards pastries—her name is Mariah.
It looks like I lost the lottery for my trip to Gibralter—I didn’t get a verification for it, so I’ll go to the field office tomorrow to see if they just forgot.  I’m kind of bummed because I was really looking forward to that.  They also cancelled the orphanage visit in Casablanca I was going to do, so now I’ll have to find another one to give my beanies out at—it looks like Singapore and Mauritius have some places, so I’ll have to sign up then.  :D
Around 1700 they had been announcing an all-denominational Christian worship service, so I went as I was free all night.  It went okay—I got kind of upset when people were talking about how the best thing they could do for impoverished people was to give them prayers and companionship, and didn’t seem to understand that you can’t just give someone a hug and have it change their life and make them all happy.  That takes actually economic help and support.  I’m not saying companionship is bad or anything, but I don’t know, I just wish that it had more of an emphasis on what PEOPLE could do. 
How is everyone liking my blog so far?  Any requests as to things I can do differently?  I know I have some spelling errors here and there, but I transcribe it from my physical journal late at night, so it’s kind of hard to multitask.  I receive your comments in my email and it always makes me happy to see people are reading!  :)

August 28 2010 ? MV Explorer

I was still tired when I got up this morning at 0800, but I rolled outta bed to catch breakfast at 0830.  Breakfast apparently only goes from 0630 to 0830, so I almost missed it.  I will probably only eat breakfast on A days, when I have my 0800 class—otherwise, I am just not that much of a morning person.
The day is devoted to our orientation, so we had a lecture on just about everything.  There was a lecture on the honor code by the dean (I’ll have to cite everything now), a talk on library services, and computer tech services.  It was all pretty standard information, and I’d put on a seasickness patch on in the morning, so I was practically falling asleep, even while in the very front row!  The Global Studies professor, a Mr. Sanchez, talked to us about how Global Studies will be like, which seems to be really interdisciplinary and awesome.  I’ll have never been in such a large class before—if there are only two of the classes, I’ll have around 300 students in my class!
We then split into our A Small Place reading discussion groups, which are also going to be our post-port experience discussion groups.  I really enjoyed the discussions, because even though I really disliked the book, I liked hearing what other people got out of it and how it made them focus on not being just a tourist, but someone who is learning about different cultures and people and who want to improve the conditions of all.  I felt like I was able to write some positive things about it after all, though I didn’t disregard how angry it had made me with it with its cynical and bigoted tone. 
We got out early and went out on the deck, which was wet from an early morning rain.  Though foggy and completely overcast, it was warm outside and my reading group (Group 18) enjoyed talking until it was time for lunch.  For lunch I sat with a bunch of guys, a few of which were in my reading group, and we talked about independent travel for a while before I went to recharge back in my room.  Though I have been loving SAS so far, I’ve found that I definitely still need to head back into my room and regroup my thoughts—it appears I have not transformed into an extrovert.  A lot of times I just force myself to go out, which I’ve been pretty happy with so far.  This time, though, I just stayed in and wrote while my roommate did her zumba routines—they remind me of the dancing we would do for Once On This Island, it’s basically dancing that incorporates dances and music from all over the world.  I wish I could get the music from her, but apparently she can’t give it out because she’s an instructor. 
We went back out at 1330 for more orientation, which was MORE lecture and I was so bored I almost nodded off in my chair several times (and I’m not just saying that—I jerked awake a lot).  There was a presentation on health and safety, one on conduct, another on community standards, security… I only really woke p when the medical staff did a goofy dorky little rap (which was funny, because I’d met one of the psychologists at breakfast) to booming music, and even Desmond Tutu’s short speech had people laughing.  Apparently, Desmond Tutu likes people to address him as “Father” or “Arch,” so I’ll have to remember that when I finally talk to him!
Around 1600 we were free again, and I was in my cabin briefly before feeling so lame I went back out again.  In my boredom, I actually changed around the class schedule I have—now I have Women in Royal Courts from 0800-0915 and Global Studies from 0925-1035 on A days, and on B days I have WORLD POETRY!!! from 1045-1200, Anthropology of Tourism from 1215-1330, and Contemporary Social Issues from 1455-1610.  I know that’s a LOT now, but I hope that I can handle it—the guy at the registrar said I could drop World Poetry if it gets overwhelming by the time I get to Spain if it’s too crazy, but I hope it isn’t.  It doesn’t even look like I have time for lunch on B days though :(  Ellie did some more zumba, and after checking my email I decided to “rest my eyes.”  Apparently saying “rest my eyes” is code for my body to fall into a deep stupor, and I didn’t wake up until 1900, which I felt terrible for because I was supposed to meet Donna and Ellie for 1830 dinner so we could discuss how sea meeting tonight was going to go.  I found them anyway.  Donna has decided she does NOT want to do Four Corners, which I don’t really get—yeah, it’s provocative and controversial, but that’s how you really get to know people.  Four Corners is where you ask a question (Should marijuana be legalized?  Should the legal age to consume alcohol in the USA be lowered?) and there are 4 corners that people go to that represent whether they strongly disagree, disagree, agree or strongly agree, and then people go and defend their views, if they choose to.  Instead we’re going to do a bunch of “line up in the order of your birthday” etc style games, which I never found particularly engaging.  We’re adults, you know? 
After dinner there was the involvement symposium, which are the signups for all the clubs.  I was disappointed in that there was only one “artistic” club, photography, and no writing ones.  Some theater teachers really want to do a Cabaret show though, so I signed up for that—I’d love to do some acting or singing in musicals again.  When I walked over to classroom nine near the main dining hall, it was packed and I felt claustrophobic a little, so I decided to wait until I was walking over for my sea meeting. 
When that came, I scribbled down that I would be interested in yoga, kickboxing, and dodgeball, which lots of other people signed up for so I really hope that gets going soon!!
The sea meeting was just as unsuccessful  as I thought it would be, as Donna would get kinda angry that people were talking over her, and students got angry that they were expected to know people without socializing.  Still, I met some people, so I guess it went okay—I just wish Donna would trust that I would know what would be a little more engaging for students.
Off to bed soon.  Have to set my clock forward and wake up early tomorrow to start my classes!

August 27 2010 ? MV Explorer

First of all, my email is up and running so if you have sent me an email within the last three days to my normal accounts I probably have not gotten it.  Please resend it to smmech@semesteratsea.net.
We didn’t sleep very well, despite trying to go to bed early, and we stayed up late talking.  Waking up at 5:30am was miserable—I felt super jittery and eventually got up to go to breakfast at 0630.  Ellie and I say with some folks who were university ambassadors, and I promptly made an ass of myself by laughing really hard when I heard that you can’t bring orange juice onto the ship because people can pour alcohol in it and glue the seal back in—I can’t help it if I think that’s creative!
Turned out my job today is pretty much only to sit down in Deck 2 with Ellie and Donna, greeting people as they move in.  We had an animated conversation with who guys, Aaron (from San Rafael!!) and Steve about the book, A Small Place, we read for our required reading, and helped people log into their emails.  Aegean Sea, I can already tell, is the BEST sea—so many people came by to sit with us, it wasn’t even like we were working, but meeting new people and socializing.  I hopefully established I wasn’t “the mean fun-hating ol’ RA” when we started swapping goofy stories of how we’d heard students sneaking alcohol aboard—sounds like too much work and too much at stake (two things I immensely dislike) and I don’t know why people would bother. 
Around noon Donna said she was holding a table for some of us to have a “sea family” lunch, so I quickly pointed out that one side of the caf had no line, and Josh, Danielle, Meredith and Jessica sat down together with Donna.  We had a grand ol’ time chatting even after we finished eating, and then we went on a roommate hunt for Josh and Meredith, who were still missing theirs.  When there was no such luck, we crammed into my cabin to view as much as we could of the 2005 Semester at Sea’s Storm Stories and showed them the back of our hanged picture.  After they left, Ellie and I tried taking a little nap around 1400, but the paging system kept going off, asking for people who’d left their luggage in the terminal (get it together, ya’ll), and once Donna came by looking for Ellie, so there were no naps to be had.  At 1445 we went into the Union, where 700 students were packed to hear the welcome speech by the VP of Academic Success at Semester at Sea.  She gave an amazing speech on “Who are you?  Where are you?  And what are you to do?” which talked about being vulnerable in new places and how this was an opportunity to really have a different perspective about the world, and what we must do to help others.  It was really powerful and I’m going to try to go into the ports now with this purpose—discovering what I am to do, with the privileges and opportunities that I have.
After that, Ellie and I grabbed out lifejackets to prepare for our lifeboat drill, which is very serious business.  We went up to deck 5 to the portside (left) B, where we were roared at to not speak and to keep silent, which of course caused a big fuss in all the students because god forbid that college students be silent for longer than a few minutes.  A woman shouted off names and rooms, calling roll.  It was stifling hot (for some reason they told us to wear long pants and sleeved shirts for this drill?), and despite the fact that we all had our lifejackets on, them explaining how to put them on and etc was extremely slow and tediously brutal.  It was like all the airplane safety presentations that had been ignored over the years came back abruptly with a vengeance, and we were glad to leave our military-straight rows of three back to our cabins, and immediately back up again to Deck 7 (where I hadn’t been yet) to watch the boat pull away.  Deck 7 is amazing, with an empty pool, a bar where many were sucking down smoothies, and gym equipment.  We watched the clocks tick closer to 1700, and the tugboat that pulled us out and away from the dock did a crazy doughnut in the water before motoring away. 
Next to me a girl said, “We’re the luckiest kids in the world.”  And suddenly I was aware of how true that was—I can already tell that this is going to be one of, if not the best, experience in my whole life.  I am truly blessed to have been given such an opportunity. 
We screamed and cheered as a man hoisted the ropes tethering us to the dock into the water, and smoke burst gloriously from the steampipe.  Boats honked tribute at us, and we responded with waves and honks back from the Explorer. 
And then we were going, going, gone—Halifax fell behind us as we picked up speed, passing lighthouses and pine forests until we broke into open ocean, the Atlantic. 
I grabbed dinner with some folks I didn’t know as the waves began to rock us gently.  I’d taken a meclizine sea sickness tablet a couple hours earlier, so I felt as right as rain, though I hear there are some hurricanes in the Atlantic ahead, so I better not get too ahead of myself—I’m sure the worst is yet to come!  Fear not about the hurricanes—the captain said we can outrun them, and even if we can’t, it’ll be one hell of a story.
I slept for about a thirty minute catnap (cat crash) before heading into the union for a lot of the same speeches as the night before, as well as a little bit of info about all the faculty, so I can recognize them around the ship.  I’m seriously considering either adding or auditing World Short Stories or Writing Around the World, but I’ve heard that might be too many credits.  Still, auditing would be great, so I’ll probably sit in on the lecture on Sunday morning.  The ship doctor said that we would have some rough seas ahead, and I’ve definitely been noticing the rocking on the upper decks, though deck two it isn’t nearly as noticeable, for which I’m very grateful.  Some are already getting seasick, though I’ve felt find with just a really persistent headache, which I think is probably from just being dehydrated. 
We had an official Aegean Sea meeting in the “main” dining hall, and man are there a LOT of people in it, as well as a TON of Chapman folks.  Hopefully I leave knowing at least everyone’s names.  I pretty much dragged myself back to my cabin at 2200.  Never have I looked forward to an 8AM alarm more, as I need a very welcome good night’s sleep.  This day is so busy I can’t even remember half of it, and have to look at my journal to see everything I did!

August 26 2010 ? MV Explorer/Halifax

I didn’t go to sleep until late, as Julie came in around midnight, and Cassy was on skype and insistent on me sending her dumb internet finds to last her the winter.  Still, I wasn’t sleepy much when I woke up in the morning, as I was too excited to see my new home!  Julie’s father arrived at the room, and after we checked out, they graciously offered to help me bring my bags to the ship.  I accepted, happy to save on the cab fare.  I did, however, make a mistake upon thinking that overcast and foggy was simply overcast and foggy, like in San Francisco.  The rain was warm and breezy, and when I got to Pier 20 twenty minutes later thoroughly soaked, I was a little grumpy that I hadn’t taken a cab.  I looked jealously at everyone else (who were dry) and did my best to keep my pants pulled up.
There we went through security—I filled out a general health form, and my bags were x-rayed.  I was a little nervous, as I had two knives in my bag, one a keepsake James had loaned to me.  But they either didn’t notice or didn’t mind, and after I was wanded and patted down (far more hardcore than airport security), I left the terminal to climb the steep steel staircase to board the ship, which is beautifully blue and white with an orange stripe.  Inside was brown and cozy, with wooden walls, and a lady handed me my ID card that told me where my room was—Deck 2, the Neptune level, all the way in the bowels of the ship.  I’m definitely going to get a workout climbing all the stairs everyday. 
Room 2036 had a note on it “To Stephanie and Ellie” from our supervisor, Donna, that expressed how  much she was looking forward to meeting us, and at that moment, my roommate opened the door.  Ellie is a “zoomba” (dancing yoga) instructor/student from Kentucky, her hair pulled back in a twist with a pretty blue flower garnish.  Meanwhile, I was soaked, with no makeup, my hair pressed flat against my skull, and all disheveled.   However, she seemed very nice, and though she is a morning person and  I am not at all, I feel as though we’re going to get along together just fine. 
We went upstairs where I had a semi-awkward lunch before doing some unpacking before the work study meeting.  Not much was new about the meeting—there was a lot of “you’re professionals, so act like it” kind of stuff.  I also met Donna, who is the Religious/Spiritual… events coordinator?  on board.  When I asked about what an RA does on this ship, she laughed and said she wasn’t really sure.  I think I might be helping with program coordinating, but I’m not sure.  Ellie is in charge of helping Donna with putting on religious programs, so the three of us are going to be a power team.  I hope we work out as roomies, because otherwise we’ll be seeing a lot of each other. 
Donna and I are the leads of the Aegean Sea, which is what halves of different decks are called.  Despite not knowing where the Aegean Sea was at first, it is a very pleasant word to say, so I’m stoked.  We made a “Welcome to the Aegean Sea!” bulletin board, in which I made the banner and Ellie did the beautification/bedazzling process.  It’s simple, but excellent.
After a little more unpacking, I headed out again to find an internet café where I could do last minute emails, as well as find some pens and notebooks for class.  Both, by the way, are impossible to find in Halifax.  The grocery store didn’t have either, and the eco-friendly place I got my notebooks at didn’t have any pens.  I finally found some at an art store after being directed there by a man at the Wired Monk, a coffee shop where I’d grabbed a hot chocolate.  On the way back I glanced inside St. Mary’s Cathedral Basilica (standard—traveling a lot I’ve seen a lot of churches), and saw a security guard salute as the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia (or maybe just Halifax, now I’m not sure) pulled out from his state house in a black car with little Canadian flags on it. 
Ellie had unpacked by the time I got back, and the room looks more homely already, though I forgot to bring pictures with me (hint hint) to put on my wall.  Ellie and I yanked down the picture hanging on the wall to see what past SASers had written underneath—some were scrubbed out, the word “alcohol” being the only thing recognizable.  Others had encouragement toting taco night, adventures ahead, and not listening to the pre-embarkation “scare tactics.”  It was as delightful as candy.
Ellie had volunteered to help with the parent night event, but as I hadn’t read the 80 page required reading on tourism, I decided to do that after dinner.  The food so far is reasonable (not Chapman quality, though), but is not really agreeing with my stomach.  But I sat with four girls I didn’t know that lived on Deck 3.  After, I plowed through A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid, an essay about how horrible and ignorant tourists are, and how all white people are pigs (especially Europeans).  Going for the “white guilt” approach doesn’t really fly very far with me, so the only two reasonable things I thought she said I almost completely want to disregard.  Apparently many people feel similarly, so I hope that whoever is in charge of organizing the common reading doesn’t think that we’ve fallen in love with the book.
I’d head from Ellie that Desmond Tutu would be speaking at the parents’ night presentation, so I snuck in around 8PM (2000) and took a seat in the Union, which is the main meeting room.  Many spoke, including the president of SAS and the Dead.  Desmond Tutu was hilarious and made me choke up several times, even though I wasn’t his intended audience.  They all said similar things—that we would most likely be unrecognizable when we returned, that a metamorphosis for the better to turn us into more compassionate, caring individuals was inevitable.  It made me really hope I could live up to those expectations, as well as wish I could give my mom and dad a hug. 
Tomorrow we wake up at 6AM (0600) to help with embarkation, and we depart Halifax at 1700 (time to get used to sea-time!).  Not excited about the early wake-up time, but for everything else, I am beyond ecstatic. 

August 25 2010 - Halifax

Today I got off to a rather late start—though I woke up earlier than I would have at home, in Halifax I slept in until noon!  I hustled off to get a shower, hoping to get out quickly so I could see the city.  I decided to start filming today, so I grabbed a  tape to put inside.  For some reason, the tape would not retract inside, for all I kept turning it off and on, and when it did retract, it would tell me to reinsert the cassette!  It was pretty frustrating, and my heart sank when I looked online and realized that tons of people were having the same problem.  Apparently, there were two solutions—send it to Sony for a $500 repair job, or whack the camera on the tapeside as hard as possible. 

I was not happy with my options, but once all else had failed, and I read enough comments online that were success stories of the slap-the-camera method, I went about savagely (but not too savagely!) beating my camera with my palm.  And it actually works far better now, and have filmed a little today with only one “reinsert the cassette” prompt.  I hope it’ll last. 

Once outside, I hiked for about ten minutes north through a busy street, looking for a drugstore to buy lots of little things I hadn’t wanted to pack, and a post office so I could mail mom her iPhone charger back that I’d packed accidentally—I guess I’ll have to limit my iPod usage now.  I found a drugstore with a post area inside, and bought everything from conditioner to multivitamins to bugspray.  After I left, I noticed the Halifax Public Gardens were right nearby, so I went in and snacked on dried apricots on a park bench.  Though small, it’s a beautiful green oasis nestled in the hub of the city.  I enjoyed just walking around, admiring the pink and red flowers and the geese in the ponds. 

I love Halifax so far.  It reminds me a lot of Seattle, up where my cousin lives—a big city, but also quaint and quiet and far less busy.  The people are friendly—many of them have a very Canadian (eh?) sory of twang to their speaking, and though outcast outside, it’s pretty warm. 

Once I wandered leisurely out of the park, I decided to head back down to the hotel so I could drop off all the supplies I’d bought. I left a note for Julie, being as that I had no idea when she would arrive, and left again.  Oh!  I forgot to mention, on the way down I visited the count house, which was very maritime with its heads of lions and  what I thought looked like Poseidon carved into the stone walls (though maybe I am just seeing the sea everywhere!).  Next to it was the oldest graveyard in Halifax—opened in the early 1700s, closed in the mid 1800s.  I wandered through the graveyard, where trees that had sprouted had began to push gravestones aside.  A sign nearby said that less than 10% of the people buried there had gravestones, and I couldn’t help but shiver.

Anyway, after I left the hotel, I trekked back up the hill to buy a mesh headband I’d seen and decided I desperately needed—I hate pulling my hair back and hadn’t brought any hair bands, and the wind had picked up quite a bit.  It is purple and I can already tell that it’s going to get a lot of use.  After that I headed south of the hotel (finally!), as I was intent on finding the MV Explorer.  The only difficulty, it seemed, was that aside from knowing where the ocean was, I had no idea where the boat would be—“Port of Halifax” is a little vague, after all.  I could see a Carnival cruise ship to the west, so that’s where I headed.  The instructions I had said it was a six minute walk to port, but I walked 20 before getting to the cruise ship, which was apparently running late as people scuttled into the terminal.  A security guard asked (slightly pointedly) what I wanted, had no idea what the Explorer was, and basically told me to go away…

…So I might have slipped in with a gaggle of cruiseship people while he was busy fixing a door.  Still, there was no info on the Explorer in this Pier 21 building, so I left.  I wandered back down the docks until I finally found an information terminal just east of where I’d started.  Turned out that the ship would be docking around Pier 21 or 22, but tomorrow around 8AM.  By then it was about 5:15 and I hadn’t eaten, so my stomach was beginning to growl, so I headed back to the hotel. Mom had sent me a message about the hotel charging something ridiculous like $460 on the card, so I went to sort that out before heading off to a little Irish Pub in the eastern financial district called “The Old Triangle” to grab a bite to eat.  It was a loud and friendly place, though I came too early for the nighttime live music entertainment.  There was a tool wearing a Guiness foam hat and a couple of kids who looked like Justin Bieber, who I just remembered is Canadian.  I ordered a cheeseburger and a Kilkenny (an Irish cream ale that seemed appropriate).  I’ve never had a burger with gravy before, but it was fantastic.  It was a far less awkward meal than last nights.  A couple elderly ladies from Austria sat down at my table as I finished my food, and we chatted a while before I walked back to the hotel.  

On facebook I saw that there was going to be a Bon Voyage meeting event at a place called the Argyle Bar and Grill, and that many people were going to leave from my hotel around 10PM to walk over together.  I felt as though I should go and “mingle,” but I also wanted to get a good night’s sleep for tomorrow (though I’m entirely aware that I probably felt like that to avoid being social).  After a bit of cajoling from my mother on skype, I decided to stop being a baby and go to the Argyle event.  On the way out I did an “I am awesome and not awkward!” dance in the mirror, to keep from backing out. 

There was only one girl in the lobby, Martha, who was like me and had decided to go on a whim.  Only another person showed up, Grant, and we headed over together.

Argyle Bar + Grill was definitely the hot spot—though quiet downstairs, the roof had a hundred people up there!   Most were clear SASers, though some where creepers—including the guy in the Guiness hat!  I stuck with Martha and let people come to me, which worked surprisingly well.  I met a lot of people, most of whose names I’m sure I’ll forget but I’ll remember most of the faces.  There was a lot of flashing colored lights and we had to shout over the music—hard for carrying out real conversations.  But I had a great time and was happy I went.  They played “I’m On A Boat”—I’m sure it won’t be the last time I hear it.  Around midnight Martha and I walked back to our hotels together, and tomorrow I’ll be checking into my shipboard cabin!  Super pumped.

 

August 24th, 2010 - Toronto/Halifax, Canada

Last night I could hardly sleep, I was so anxious and excited.  Over the past couple of days, I’ve been absolutely wrecking havoc on my fingernails out of nerves, so waking up at 5AM this morning was no big difficulty—I’d woken up ten minutes beforehand.  Leaving home was like trying to get Scooby (my dog, if you’re not aware) to do something when he doesn’t want to and goes into his “bear” routine—all wild-eyed and nervous.  I couldn’t give mom and dad enough hugs goodbye at the airport, and in my panic to get out the door (twenty minutes late!) I forgot to pat the dogs goodbye.  I hope they know how much I love them. 

 

SFO airport security made me impatient—just wanted to shove everyone out of the way, but eventually when I got through all of my anxieties had been vanished.  Finally, I felt ready to explore and not worry about the people left behind.

 

The first plane trip was I guess around five or six hours long, as it left at 8AM and came in around 3:35 Toronto time (I am not even going to bother figuring out this time zone crap, by the way).  But I sat next to a tiny French speaking girl and her mom—she was reading a picture book in what I think was Arabic, except that Arabic makes me think of the flowy Elvish script like in Lord of the Rings, and this writing was super square and blocky (maybe she was learning Dwarvish?).  I spent the entire time reading The Glass Castle, which was the most excellent book I have read in a long time—I guess I should start listening when my mother recommends books!  I haven’t read something in a while that’s made me want to laugh and punch someone in the face at the same time.  Hopefully I can write a book as awesome one day—maybe one based on my travels in the coming months.  I would say it will be better than Eat, Pray, Love, which I’ve heard is whiney and pretentious, but I am truly excellent at being both of those things, so no promises.

 

However, there are a few things I want to work on during this trip:  I want to be better at being by myself and being strong while alone and independent.  I’ve heard it said that you can’t be happy and in a relationship within being able to be happy while single, and I wholeheartedly agree and get better at.  I am also planning on just trying everything and not being a coward—though I talk a big game, I am very shy when it comes to people, and I really want to get myself out there.

 

Anyway, customs from Toronto was a nightmare.  Canadian airport workers are quite unfriendly, and I was losing my mind because I thought the plane to Halifax departed at 4:35PM (turned out that was just when boarding started) and we arrived around 4ish.  Only one of my duffel bags had a lock on it,, so I guess I hope mom forgot one of them and it didn’t get broken off or anything.  I looked at it and it didn’t seem as though my beanie babies were stolen, so I should be okay. 

 

Did I mention I have about forty to fifty beanie babies to give to children on my travels? I do! I’m so excited to give them out.  J

 

Speaking of airports, why are my planes always at the very end of the terminal?  At least I’m getting a little exercise today.  I want to work on not being a fatty fat walrus fat (as some would eloquently put it) American. 

 

Getting into Halifax felt long—I’m exhausted but refused to take a nap on the plane so I can sleep well tonight.  I mostly watched Shrek 4 (Shrekily Ever After or something, I don’t know) over the people in front of me’s shoulders and making up dialogue in my head, because heck if I’m buying three dollars airplane earbuds to watch it with sound.  There was a dalek-shaped flight communications tower with red guys when we touched down in Halifax, which I thought was terribly exciting.  When I’d gotten off the plane and gotten all my stuff, I took at twenty dollar shuttle (D:) to the hotel, which rests somewhere between sketchy and reasonable neighborhoods.  There, I discovered that they “couldn’t find” my reservation, despite the fact that I’d called to add today to the registration Julie already had, so it was definitely in the system somewhere—so that was a bit of a pain to deal with.  But I do have a room now, and I heard some people talking about a sushi place while I was waiting in the lobby that was only a couple of blocks away, and it seemed as though other SASers would be there!  So I slapped on some makeup and much-needed deodorant (I don’t know what is it about planes that make me smelly) and wandered over to this tiny sushi joint, which I quickly discovered had NO SASers (only locals), so I sat there like a lamer, trying to give off the impression that I frequently went out to dinner completely by myself and that yes, thank you, I very much enjoyed doing so.  Though the sushi was good (can’t go wrong with tempura and lobster rolls!) they were hideously understaffed, so it took them an hour and a half to kill my other.  Worse yet, the server did an apologetic “we’re soooo sorry this is taking so long” and offered to get me another drink.  He said it in such a way that I assumed it was on the house (as I had been sitting there like a stood-up date for like an hour) but when the bill came, no such luck.

 

Halifax seems beautiful, though it’s hard to tell in the dark—it’s almost San Francisco-y, but with more trees.  But I’m sure I’ll have a mental image of it tomorrow. 

 

Sorry this is so long.  I will probably (maybe?) be more concise and less rambly in the future.

 

My email address

So I finally got an email telling me how my email address works aboard the ship.  It says, “Your e-mail address will be the first initial of your first name, the first initial of your middle name and your full last name, so it would be something like: name@semesteratsea.net.

 

So I’m assuming the email address to contact me at is going to be SMMech@semesteratsea.net, though it might be SMech@semesteratsea.net.  I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to see comments on this blog, so please shoot me an email if you have comments about my travels.   I won’t know because the addresses aren’t going to be valid until 8/27.  I am a little grumpy I cannot check to see if it works with the blog, but I guess these things do happen. 

 

Speaking of happening, two. days. until I fly to Halifax.  It feels very surreal.  I keep flitting between feeling super anxious and ecstatic.  My mother and I went through all my bags today and took out some stuff (no one needs 5 pairs of workout shorts), so I feel like things are just about all in order.  Now it is simply up to me to settle down and enjoy the ride instead of feeling vaguely terrified of the strangeness ahead of me.  :D

Here are some of the field trips I will be attending through SAS. I'm so excited--can't believe I only have a week left.

Secondary test

Do you work with other emails, sneaky email thinger?

Test post

This is a test of the emergency broadcast system

  My god, something in bold!

 

Seeing if this email thing works.