Day 2

The ship is rocking so much right now. I am feeling sea sickness at it's finest. Well not quite because I have kept dinner down but I shouldn't speak too soon. Hurricane Gustav is a category 4 and there is a tropical storm nearby as well. It's really bringing those waves on. We are actually taking a little bit different of a route to avoid it, landing in San Juan, Puerto Rico tomorrow - although we are not getting off the ship, just stopping for fuel. I have a field excursions meeting in 15 minutes and then a Sea meeting (we are the Yellow Sea ..located near China!) After that we're done for the day, which is good because I can't take much more. I will be taking a drowsy dramamine as soon as possible. Tomorrow (Sunday) is my first day of classes and I have my philosophy and psychology classes which I think I'll enjoy. We also have an activities fair where I will sign up for some things to keep me busy. Well I don't feel so great so that's all for now, but hope all is well back home!

First Day at Sea

I woke up this morning at about 8am and got all of my things ready to take a taxi down to Prince George Port by 10:20am. I was happy my last name is closer to the end of the alphabet, because the A's had to be there at 8am. We waited in line for what seemed like much longer than the actual probably 30 minutes it was, because it was so hot I could feel myself melting. I met my first friend, Marcella, who is so nice and is in the same group with me for the Amazon trip! She's terrified of spiders too :) My roommate is on it too. We were told that there are 74% girls on the ship; good ratio for the guys. I hadn't really noticed because there seems to be such a mix. There are about 670 students and 1,015 passengers total. I ate lunch at about noon, which was tacos. I have heard taco day is everyone's favorite and what they look forward to most, and if this is true, I am concerned. I think I will lose weight very quickly eating this food (or lack thereof) however I have managed to eat most of my bag of starburst, so once that's gone, I will go hungry. I am at sea until I arrive in Salvador, Brazil at 7am on September 7th. 9 days at sea! I met my roommates; 3 as I have a quad. They are all really nice. My direct roommate's name is Brittany, and the other 2 are Rebecca and Savannah. I am a little woozy right now and have been swaying a little. I took sea sick meds so I don't feel sick, just a little out of it. I am currently sitting on my 2 1/2 foot wide bed using the ship's wireless to get my free SAS e-mail. We got lucky and have a window in our room! Might not sound like much but many don't have one. The ship is beautiful inside and out. Very exciting though surreal and I am exhausted. It is nice to have communication with the outside world. No pictures until I arrive in the next port. (no attachments with this e-mail) It was weird to see everyone watch us depart the port and slowly we saw ourselves getting further and further from land. The only tv station we have (until we get a few movies) is the ship channel. It is 22:00, we are going 21.9 knots, and our latitude is 25 degrees 24.9N and longitude 076 degrees 7.40W. I don't even know what this means.

I unpacked everything which was good. I have my first magnet on the wall from the Bahamas (I am collecting one from every port). We can only use magnets to hang things, so my first wall decoration is a picture of Matt and I at my sister's wedding. I have a FULL day tomorrow ...from 8:30am-9pm, pretty much non-stop. No land in sight and I am feeling sleepy. There is probably more to say so I will update more when I think of it. Until then, bon voyage and good night! :)

P.S. - I wrote this blog at about 10pm or so last night (8/29) but am just able to upload it

My Semester at Sea e-mail address is: LDPromise@semesteratsea.net