Days at Sea Before Our Last Port

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Blog Entry: Days at Sea before our last port!

Today we got yelled at.

Apparently we’re not supposed to play games with cups at the dinner table.... You know that cup game where you do a bunch of stuff with it like tapping and clapping and turning it to a beat, then you pass it in a circle? We got bored at dinner, so Rachel and I taught everyone... we had it going well... but the “Dining Room Dad” (crew member) didn’t seem to be catching on to the fun....

Tomorrow will unfortunately be our last port 😞 We’re still excited though! It’s Morocco, and we are definitely ready to get off the ship. We’ve had 5 days at sea, 4 of which were classes. This is our longest stretch at sea since in between our first two countries. The Explorer just refueled at the straights of Gibraltar and we are heading toward the Atlantic which means.... Goodbye Mediterranean! 😞 You’ve been so good to us! Your seas are smooth and safe, and I’ll miss you when we’re sailing the crazy, rocky Atlantic! Leaving the Mediterranean is the start of the end of our voyage, and it is slowly, but surely affecting the whole ship. I think the fact that we will be returning home is sinking in for all of us. The most popular quote between my friends and I is “I don’t want this to end!” Tonight is our last pre-port meeting... very sad.

Our first two days were days of classes. On the second night of our 5 day cross, we had a special night for our shipboard family: Crew Talent Show/Casino Night. I had no idea what to expect with the crew talent show but it rocked our socks! Talk about bringing people closer together: the Union was packed and we happened to front row seats! I had my digital camera on the “video” setting, ready for the mystery to come. The crew is about 100 strong and boy, are they talented! The acts ranged from the “Explorer Band” to group dance routines. We see them work in the dining halls and around the ship every day, and because of this, a lot of us have made friends. Seeing them perform for us enhanced the “family” feeling up a notch. My cabin steward, Achilles, did a dance routine to “Shortly Got Low” with the other cabin steward for The Baltic Sea (our hallway), Andrew. Ha ha, they had so much fun! My favorite act was by a night shifter, Manolet. He’s always vacuuming at 2 in the morning, and every time I see him, he’s always so happy... I knew I liked him, but I want to be his best friend after this performance! He and two cabin stewardesses came out and did the ENTIRE “Single Ladies” dance!... (for those of you who don’t know, that’s Beyonce’s newest one that was really popular because of the intricate dancing) I fell in love with him there.... but THEN, he came out later for a solo act dressed in a Nun’s outfit..... SISTER ACT! I was in heaven. He danced and finger painted the face of Jesus Christ... I have it all on tape!! This will definitely be a highlight of my time on the ship. I can just imagine him itching to bust out and show off his skills... all of them, I’m very sure of it, love this night. It was soooo much fun!

Casino Night, I didn’t participate much. I was very tired, but got my free raffle tickets and entered them into the raffle. Basically, every student gets 10 free tickets, with which they can either enter into drawings right away, or play the casino games that were set up throughout the entire ship for more tickets. Erika, my roommate put in for a 50 minute massage and won.... lucky, punk.

The third day at sea, they gave us a break from classes for Shipdrive Auction Day consisting of a silent and live auction. No classes, woot! I spent the majority of my day writing a paper and a blog but definitely made my way down to Tymitz Square to bid on the silent auction. All of the proceeds go to student scholarships. The items are donated by all types of members of the shipboard community ranging from time-share travel, to Bulgarian pottery, to dinner with the Captain. I was the winning bidder for a couple of dresses! Then, at night, was the live auction. The auctioneers were professors, deans, and students. Gosh, everyone on this ship is a comedian. They are just so funny... what a great event. We were bidding on items ranging from an SAS rubber ducky signed by the computer lab heart throb, multiple day stays at some professors’ homes, and a personal outside suite for the rest of the voyage. People bid OUTRAGEOUS amounts! I guess it’s all for a good cause, but when you get a crowd going, the paddles go up more often than not. Dean Dia told us that last year, someone bid $3,000 to honk the ship’s horn: just an example of how the live auction went J My friends and I won a Milk & Cookies Party!! Having cookies is a rarity, let alone with milk, so this was very valuable to us. Ten of us split the $200 winning bid for a fantastic night of indulgence on the way home to Virginia. We invited Dean Dia and little Ryder, one of the professor’s 3 year-old kids. My friends and I can’t stop talking about it....

The next/last two days at sea were spent studying and planning for Morocco. I have an SAS trip that lasts the entire 4 days. We are going to Marrakech and then driving 8 hours through the Atlas mountains on mini busses to meet our camels. From there we will trek to a nomad village to spend the night, then back the next morning. Should be a good trip! Better start packing 😊

Next blog: Casablanca, Morocco!

Adios, Habibi!

Ps! I forgot to tell you that Manolet’s Jesus Christ finger painting picture was a surprise item at the auction! I was so excited to bid on it, but it went way over my budget… $250! Well, I ran into him, made friends with him, told him of my loss, and he’s making me a special edition Jesus Christ painting!!!! Ah I can’t wait!

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