Classes and Crossing the Equator

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It’s been quite awhile since my last entry, but believe me I have not been lounging around in doing nothing. I had almost forgot that I’m still in school, until my teachers decided to throw a months worth of homework at us for one week. Life at sea is pretty routine, you are either doing something school-related, eating, or sleeping. Not to say that I’ve been bored at all. Meals here lasts around 2 hours because we sit around chatting for awhile after we finish our food within the first 10 minutes. Most of the time it is because we are trying to avoid doing the work we are supposed to be doing. The food here is still surprisingly good (although the water is beginning to taste saltier everyday). I think it also because we are all so ravenous by the time the cafeteria opens up. Usually people begin lining up a good ten minutes beforehand so they won’t miss out on anything. I always try and steal some fruit during each meal to snack on during the afternoon and late at night.
There have been some exciting things that happened outside of class this week though. I finally met Archbishop Desmond Tutu the other day and he signed “God Bless You” on the back page of my journal for me. The only way I could describe him is that he always wears a baseball cap and is just about my height (which is definitely on the shorter side). I also got to take a tour of the ships helm which is called “the bridge,” since it is the bridge between our ship and the rest of the world. I have yet to meet the Captain Jeremy, who is very British and apparently very elusive. Yesterday was Valentines Day, and they had a dance in the student union, although instead I watched the film “City of God” on the TV in one of the small cabins with about 12 other people. It’s a very intense film if you haven’t seen it and relevant since it takes place in Rio and we’ll be in Brazil in two more days. There was also a club fair two nights ago and I signed up to work on the student run news segment, SeaTV, and the Social Programming Committee where I’ll help plan things like movie nights in the union. That’s pretty much the update for the week. I’m sure I’ll have plenty of interesting things to write soon when we’re in Salvador.

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