Well, I am officially at sea! We are currently in the middle of the Atlantic! It is so unbelievably blue, like a deep royal blue. It's beautiful. We set sail yesterday evening. It was such a profound moment. There were parents, locals, and vacationers lining the docks, waving and cheering. The boat blew it's horn, and everyone lining the docks shouted a simultaneous, "Bon Voyage!" The students were all lining the decks, waving back to everyone in the Bahamas. As I felt the ship begin to pull away from the dock, and looked at the sea of people cheering us on, I became so overwhelmed with emotion. Tears started streaming down my face. This is real. This is actually happening. I'm setting sail on the adventure of a lifetime. Semester at Sea has been my dream for so long, and I truly can't believe it is actually happening.
Today has been full of orientation. We have been going since 9am, and won't be finished until 9pm. I had really bad motion sickness this morning, so I went to the medical center to get the free motion sickness medicine they have. Unfortunately, it made me SO sleepy (worse than Benadryl!). I literally could not keep my eyes open. I felt so bad, but I kept falling asleep during the orientation meetings! I wish I was able to upload pictures on the ship because my friend took a picture of me and the two people sitting next to me all three knocked out during one of the presentations. It is a hilarious picture. We have a break right now, but in 20 minutes we are meeting in discussion groups to discuss the common reading we did for our Global Studies class.
I found out another really neat responsibility I will be getting for my work-study job! On board, we have what are called "interport students." They are students from each of the countries we are visiting, and they are each only on small legs of the voyage. They're going to teach us about their countries and their cultures. My job is to be the student liason for the interport students! I get to meet with them, show them around, get them used to the ship, etc. I'm so excited! I think it will be really fun!
As we travel across the Atlantic, we are setting our clocks forward. Tonight we lose an hour. Classes also start tomorrow. We will have 8 straight days of classes (all 3 classes everyday), and then we will reach Barcelona! I'm excited to start classes. I'm really looking forward to the two I selected, and I think my Global Studies class will really prepare me for the countries we are visiting and give me ideas about what to visit.
I have to go to my book discussion now, but I will try to update some more later!
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