My Life on a Boat

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The ship is certainly rocking back and forth, back and forth, and you guessed it, back and forth. It is interesting though that after three or four days I don’t even notice it. I have not experienced seasickness in the slightest, just extreme drowsiness in my cabin and in classes (hence I take a lot of naps and nearly fall asleep in the boring classes). I also notice the rocking when I am trying to run on the treadmill; it has become a game really, I fight to stay on the treadmill because I keep getting thrown into the wall or on to the side that is not the moving band in the middle. Most of my workout just comes from trying to stay on the treadmill, never mind the running.

Right now I am sitting on the deck, in the shade (wouldn’t want to worry about cancer of course), just typing away. There are students all around me, some are reading, some are writing, some are sunbathing, some are just socializing and some are even playing in the pool. We are all preparing for our arrival in Cádiz, España tomorrow morning. Some people are doing Semester at Sea prepared trips, some are traveling in groups of 40, some in group of two (that would be me), some are flying, some are taking buses or trains; some have planned it out down to where they are staying and what they are doing each and every hour of the day, while others are going to wing it (again I fit into this group, I am just packing my backpack and getting off the ship to see who I meet and where I end up). It’s so interesting because there is so much variety. The variety continues among the students with the plethora of majors, minors, colleges, and home states; just so you know, all 50 states are represented. I have already met plenty of very fascinating and different people and some that fit into the stereotype of the typical American college student.

Last night we had the cultural pre-port meeting that was mandatory for all of the students; it is a part of our Global Studies course, which we all take. It was hilarious as the Spanish people took us through a crash course on the culture of Spain. There are two Spanish professors that will be on the ship with us the entire journey, plus there are two students and two more Spanish professors that joined us in Nova Scotia and will be leaving us in Spain. I unfortunately have not gotten to know the students, I would have liked to, but I actually didn’t know they were on the ship until the meeting last night, I have met one of the professors that will be with us the entire voyage and one that will be leaving us in Spain. I would guess that the reason they have the variety of professors and students is so everyone can get a chance to meet someone and talk to them about the upcoming port. I have heard, however, that we will not have much Moroccan representation, but most of the ports we will have lecturers, students, and professors.

So, contrary to popular belief, I do have classes, five of them, and I will tell you that they are not a joke. I have already completed one presentation, and been requested to read 2 chapters of a text for one class, 6 chapters of a text for another class, 4 chapters of a text and a regular book (due end of September) for yet another class; not to mention the short articles for our Global Studies and my case studies for my other class. Based on my syllabi, I am also pretty sure that this load will maintain itself due to our big breaks in port. I have just completed my 6th day of class, but now I have 10 days of no class; 4 in Spain, one day at sea, and 5 days in Morocco. But before you tell me how hard my life is (in your sarcastic voice of course), I do have to work really pretty hard during the class days and my port visits are very much deserved. I promise! Oh, I am taking the Global Studies course (required for all), a course on Emerging Markets, Global Strategic Management, International Marketing, and Interpersonal Communication. I added the last one because the course sounded interesting, I could add it for free, and I wanted a course on a different subject. Most of my business classes discuss the common topics of globalization and emerging markets, which are interesting to an extent and pertinent to my area of studies, but it can get monotonous after sitting through four-1 and ½ hour classes of it and I wanted to have at least one class that I would always look forward to. Also in addition to the basic classes we take, every evening (except for the pre-port night) from 8-9 or 20:00-21:00 we have seminars (normally 3-4/night) on a variety of subjects from Spanish language to psychology to journalism to even photography. Thus far I have attended the Advanced Spanish conversation seminar, which I hope they continue so I can keep up with the language while on this journey, as well as a journalism seminar where we discussed interesting ways to go from just keeping a log to actually keeping a journal and creative ideas for journaling.

When I tell you I am pretty busy, I am not kidding with you. I am busy enough to not even notice that I am on boat travelling across the Atlantic Ocean. That’s not to say that I am not paying enough attention to what is going on around me, I mean in a positive way in that I haven’t really noticed that I cannot go anywhere or get off the ship. There are several student organizations and clubs on the ship in addition to the classes and seminars. I have attended meeting for the running in port group (I will probably not run in port with a group, I just wanted to see what it was all about), the no-alcohol voyagers (side note, there are ten of us our of 520 students, I do believe that their statistic that 35% of college students do not drink is in fact incorrect), vicarious voyage (a program where I have been assigned a classroom in the United States that I will collect information and little things to send back to them, I will also be emailing and sending them post cards from each port to keep them updated on different things; if I had thought of it, I probably could have had Emily or Lily’s teachers apply to the program and they could have been involved in that way, but unfortunately it is too late now), and students of service. There are sunrise meditation groups, yoga groups, organized soccer, volleyball, and basketball groups as well. I am also one of the Sea Olympics captains for my sea. We are the Laccadive Sea (found to the west of India); at this point I am not exactly sure what that will entail, but I will update you when we get around to the Olympics.

Are you ready for more? It doesn’t stop there. On our small televisions in our rooms they show different movies every night; some are just regular movies, but some are educational or just related to the upcoming port. Last night I watched a movie called “Cities of Light” about the historical cities in Spain (I’m bragging, but I had already been to all of them; Toledo, Sevilla, and Granada) and the influence that came from the Muslims, Jewish, and Catholics in a time where these three religions were able to live in a society together peacefully. It was unbelievable to me because in this day and age I could never imagine such a thing happening on such a large scale (I know there are groups of people from these religions that can live together happily and peacefully, but this was an entire country). Tonight I am going to watch the movie called Casablanca, which I am sure many of you have seen. So as you can see there are so many different ways to learn on the ship about so many different subjects, never mind just learning from one another.

Okay so it is time for some random facts. We lose an hour almost every single night on the boat, which I am not going to lie, stinks! That could also be a contributing factor to my almost falling asleep in the boring classes. If you are going to travel around the world, please I would seriously recommend going the other direction, so you would be gaining an hour every night. At least for the next 10 days we will stay on the same time, which will be 6 hours ahead of all of you in Eastern Standard Time. Being on the ship the first couple of days is sort of like freshman year of college all over again. It is overwhelming because there are so many students in such a small area and you feel like you have to meet all of them, but you cant even remember your roommate’s names. It has, after 6 days, calmed down quite a bit and I am starting to learn names and getting to know people, but I am already seeing clicks being formed on the ship and I have heard (I would never partake of course) that there is drama already brewing. I am sure the clicks will break up and change between ports as people get sick of one another or they meet new people on their in-port excursions, etc. The other day I was talking to my roommate and right outside my window a good size swordfish jumped out of the water. It was quite awesome; I am still hoping to see some whales or dolphins, but thus far I only have a swordfish. The professors on this trip are unbelievable, full of energy and excitement and really are some of the best professors from around the country. And my final observation/random fact is that I have obviously not undergone a culture shock, or had any difficulty adjusting to life on this boat. This is going to be an unparalleled experience in what is being offered (10-11 counties in 108 days), but we will miss out on the experience of really immersing ourselves into a culture and going through those emotions that I went through while I was in Mexico. Maybe I will experience some in the ports, we will have to see. I am really thankful that I have been able to have both experiences and that I will be able to compare the study abroads to one another, as well as compare a multitude of cultures.

So anyways that is the introduction to my life on a ship. The first week has been great and it has taken little or no time to get adjusted to classes, sleeping (I sleep too much and like a rock), eating, working out, people, and showering (which can be a challenge, some people have fallen due to the rocking). I have to head out now to a dinner with my Sea (which is essentially my floor, 3rd floor port side aft, let me know if you know what that means, ha, I do!) and tomorrow I will begin my exploration in Spain. Hasta Luego!!!

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