(Let me start by saying that I am sorry that it has taken me so long to update but thanks for sticking with me…I will be posting more often in the future! We had our first stop in Puerto Rico already and spent three wonderful days there. All passengers made it back on board and are safely sailing toward Salvador, Brazil. My Puerto Rico blog will be posted shortly but otherwise here is what I have been writing since we set sail last week… Enjoy!)
Greetings from aboard the MV Explorer! We set sail from Nassau, Bahamas at 5pm on the 19th heading toward Puerto Rico where we arrived on the 23rd. There were a lot of family and friends to see us off and a lot of tears were shed when people had to say good-bye. The ship is absolutely shining and beautiful! As far as I know we are only like the 5th or 6th voyage aboard the Explorer and it still has that brand new feel. It is very state of the art and is the fastest passenger ship in the world. The captain is from Croatia and is very serious when it comes to safety and lifeboat drills. Before the boat departed we had to put on long pants, long sleeves, close toed shoes, and our lifejackets and report to our muster stations for an emergency drill. We weren’t allowed to talk and had to stand in straight lines and call roll until the captain had inspected us. They are also very serious when it comes to our passports and dock time. They took our passports away from us the moment we checked-in and we are not allowed to have anything but a copy of them with us unless absolutely necessary. We also have pretty severe punishments for returning back to the boat late when in port. They will leave us if they have to!
This is not a cruise, it’s a voyage. This is not a boat, it’s a ship. This is a college campus, but it’s not like any other…
These are the phrases that they kept emphasizing to us throughout our first day of orientation. This included an introduction to our global studies course, a class that all students on board must take and is the core of the academic program. The professor is great, and very interesting to listen to. He began his lecture by “stripping” for us to show us all the places that his articles of clothing were made and illustrate the concepts of globalization and localization. He ended his lecture by reading to us Dr. Seuss’ book Oh the Place You’ll Go, which I thought was a very appropriate ending for introductory lecture on this voyage. I am very excited about all that I will learn about each of the countries on the itinerary in my global studies class.
The first night we had sea meetings with our resident directors. Each hallway of students is named after a different sea. I am in the Arabian Sea and my RD is Jason. He is twenty-six, from Tennessee, and extremely overqualified, as are all SAS staff and faculty. One RD has three masters and two doctorates! There is often a six or seven year waiting list to work on semester at sea as it is so competitive. The teachers are all really great, overqualified and well-traveled, not to mention ridiculously overeducated. These are the teachers that write the text books.
Interesting facts about living on a ship….
There are 684 enrolled students on board, 208 are male and 476 are female. Yes, you read that right, that is more than a 2 to 1 ratio! I think I can literally see all the male egos inflating J. The students represent over 262 different universities. Most are from the US, but there are several Canadians and other international students. There are a lot of students from the University of Pittsburg and CU Boulder. There are also a lot of students who are the only ones from their school on board. I am one of two students from Point Loma, which I think is really ideal because I am forced to make new friends. There is a total of 1000 people aboard the Explorer, which includes the students, the faculty and their families (including eight children), 19 senior passengers aboard for a continuing education experience, and the staff and crew members.
Of the seven decks on board, there are three that include the double occupancy student rooms in which we live. Each hall has a cabin steward that cleans each room once or twice daily. We don’t even do our own laundry! It is going to be really easy to get spoiled on board! It is strange to have some one busing my tables at all my meals and coming back from class to find my bed made every day. It is like we live on the floating Hilton!
I don’t think I really knew what I was getting myself into when I signed up for SAS. I knew that we would be living on a ship but I never really realized that the boat would be constantly rocking. The stretch of sea from the Bahamas to Puerto Rico was pretty rough, with a lot of people getting seasick. (By some miracle I was not one of them!!!) It is really funny watching people walk around trying to get their sea legs. This is probably the only place I will ever see a bunch of sober college kids falling all over the place and bumping into to walls every where they go. The rocking is constant and you can’t ever escape it…it rocks in my room, it rocks in the dining hall, it rocks when I’m in class…it never stops. I am getting pretty used to the movement now and am starting to actually like it.
The shipboard community is very unique because we are very confined in our floating campus. The ship does seem to get smaller and smaller to me every day (not that I am complaining, I love it!) We can’t go out to movies, or to the store, or out to our favorite restaurant for dinner…we have no TV (except the movies they play daily in our rooms), no radio, no cell phones, and no major outside connections. There are no weekends on board because we have to go to class everyday that we are sailing. The days are simply labeled A days and B days. We have all been completely thrown out of our element together and have really bonded over it. Everyone is so friendly and open to meeting new people and having new experiences. We also have quite a rumor mill on board. I think some people like to start rumors just for fun and see how fast they spread. It is really crazy how fast the rumors fly!! It seems like they are constantly doing rumor control and there is actually a specific guy on board you can go to report rumors and find out if they are true.
I heart Semester at Sea…
On a more personal note, I myself am having a really really great time. Everyday is a new experience with new people and new surprises. I have met a good group of friends so far and we are having so much fun! I am already dreading April 28th when I have to get off this ship. I feel very blessed and can’t believe how lucky I am to be here. As cheesy as it sounds I can honestly say that I am learning so much and having the best time of my life...and this is just the beginning. Thank you for all the emails and the messages of encouragement I have received, it is great to have so much support from back home. Life is truly blissful...and I am not seasickJ. It is like my global studies teacher said on our first night, “It doesn’t get better than this!”
Quote of the Day: “If you aren’t living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!”
Puerto Rico update coming soon! Stay tuned…
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