Yeah...I go to school on a ship... :)

January 21, 2009


I'm aboard the M.V. Explorer and sailing in the middle of the Atlantic right now!!

My Dad and I left our hotel at 9:30am to get to the wharf where the Explorer was at and be at "check-in" on time for the "N's". Turns out there was still a very long line from 8am. We stood in line in the sun for an hour and a half until we finally made it to the first check-in booth where the workers tagged my checked bags with my room number and brought them into the building for security to search. I picked up my name tag with my student I.D. and my room number on it. I went into the building with everyone in line all cramped with luggage and a bunch of ship security officers took all out bags and ran them through search machines just like in the airport. The students had to walk through a metal detector and then watch as our bags were searched in front of us. If everything looked good we were allowed through. I was stopped because of my new curling iron and straightener I bought. I had to show them where on the package it said auto shutoff. I did and they let me go. I said bye to Dad for a little bit because they wouldn't let the parents through. After that I walked in to another gate and I could see the ship outside! I handed my passport and immigration forms to some other people at a table and walked to the gangway and waited in line to board the ship. I met some more people while waiting in line and took some pictures of the ship. I still can’t believe I’m doing this. I looked up at the ship and thought “wow...this is really happening” “This thing that I’ve been wanting to do for so long is happening” It’s a surreal feeling and so exciting. I walked up the gangway and was greeting once aboard by more security and another metal detector to walk through, I swiped my I.D. card and they checked my purse and I was free to get on. We have to go through security on the ship like that whenever we board again, just the one on the ship. I was then greeted by crew at every corner who directed me to the main stairwell it looked like, but because it was in the middle of the ship and the stairs stretched across the hall as one rather than two smaller staircases, I of course call it the grand staircase like in the Titanic! ☺

Once all the way up the six decks I walked into what is called “The Union”. It’s the main meeting point in the ship for presentations and lectures and serves as a ballroom of sorts also. Once up there we were handed some paperwork to verify such as our student account information, we had to check in with the doctors and sign another honor code form. I also stopped and the field station to sign up for another open field trips and ask about canceling a previous one I signed up for. After that it was off to my cabin! I found it rather quickly. I am located in an inside double (which means it has no window = cheaper, however now I wish I had gotten a window. It sucks to never have sunlight shine in your room especially in the morning The past two mornings I have woken up late, I am used to relying on light to help get me up but since I live in a depressing dark cave at night, its difficult. I’m not in my room a whole lot, but I really miss a window for sure! I’m staying in cabin 4069, my roommate’s name is Valeria and she is from Boulder, where about 80 students here are from. She is nice though and so far things are going fine with us.

After I said hello and dropped my bags off I left the ship and went back out through all the gates where all the parents were left behind and met my Dad. I told him all about the ship and my room and the process I went through. We chatted as we walked to the Hard Rock Café for lunch. I had an hour and a half before it was required that all passengers be back on board for a lifeboat drill. We had a very nice lunch and we walked back to the dock where I ran into my friend Courtney and her family again. We all had met and chatted on Sunday night . It was then that it was time to say goodbye and I hugged Dad and said bye and went on to the boat. I wondered around the decks for awhile trying to get a feel for the ship. That’s what all the other students were doing also. I ran into a girl I met on Sunday also, Holly. We were both going to Courtney’s door to say hello. She had written our cabin numbers in her notebook so she would be able to find us. It was nice to find my friends again, I wasn’t so sure I would in the midst of 700 others.

The whole ship did the lifeboat drill, which took forever, and it was so hot out. When we finished the drill and were dismissed from muster, the parents were on the dock watching us and all of the students ran up to the various decks to wave goodbye. I didn’t think I wouldn’t get sentimental but I did. I was so excited to be leaving but it was also sad to see all of the parents waving bye to their kids. Some made signs saying “bon voyage” and “we love you” etc…. I was so happy to see my Dad down there watching me. At first he wasn’t going to come, no one was to wave me goodbye and wish me a bon voyage. I would have been really sad that I would have no one to look at and wave bye too. But my Dad was there and I was really happy. We all watched as the ropes were cut and the gap between the dock and the ship got wider and wider and wider till we slowly drifted away from the dock. As the ship sailed slowly away the parents despite security trying to block them followed the ship as much as they could along the dock to the very end where the sidewalk ended. Its hard to explain but it was sad to see that, and bittersweet at the same time. I watched my Dad walk to the end of the road of the dock waving both hands. I didn’t take my eyes off of the dock for a long time, noone did really. We all just stared in awe and disbelief that this thing was really happening, that we were really, finally all leaving on this great adventure together. With a common feeling of sadness, excitement, happiness, nerves among many different feelings, friendships began to be born. I’m excited to be living with so many people that share the same passion as appreciation and me for the world, traveling, and what’s been given to them. We just all stared back at the dock and what we were leaving behind and then turned and saw the sun setting in front of us on nothing but ocean and thought “I can get used to this” ☺

I ate dinner that night with Holly and some other girls I had met on the deck, Brandy and Shara (sp). We all talked about the trip and how excited we were and how we were still in amazement that we were actually going and even though we had already left it had not really hit us yet that we were doing this, and what we were doing. We talked for awhile and played cards the rest of the night and had a lot of fun with each other. I came back to my room late and unpacked my bags into our small closet and drawers and talked to my roommate. I only unpacked one of my bags because there isn’t a whole lot of room and it would be cleaner to just leave my toiletries and meds and soaps and randoms in my small suitcase at the foot of my bed. Also, the ship had begun to rock and I was feeling a little dizzy so I decided to finish and go to bed.


Tuesday January 20th, 2009

Inauguration and Orientation day! Blah. Holly came and knocked on our cabin door to walk up to the Union together. She lives two doors down across the hall in a junior suite with a window. Its hard to know what time it is when there is no sunlight that comes in your room. We walked up to the union and went to different workshops all day. We first had one where we met the captain and the crew of the ship, the faculty and staff, learned about safety on the ship, academics, living and learning, field programs, counseling services and health services, sea-sickness, tips about the ship from the captain and the rules of the ship. The captain is very nice and friendly and is easy to listen to because he has a very calm speech and is British so the accent is nice. Actually about all of the crew and officers on the ship are foreign.

At 11:30 watched the inauguration on Satellite this morning. We had to turn off all electrical devices and computers in order for it to come through because we need all the bandwidth. It was really cool and neat experience to have on the M.V. Explorer. Everyone in the world is watching and celebrating this, and we are in the middle of the ocean celebrating too along with everyone else. Everyone stood and cheered with the crowd on the T.V. and sat in silence during prayer and the speeches, it was a really neat experience to have with everyone. I thought of my fellow Music Clarkies when the musicians played the piece by John Williams! Wasn’t that BEAUTIFUL!!??!! The ship is holding a celebration later with cake and champagne!! Can’t wait!!

I spent the day hanging out with Holly basically and on our breaks we would walk up to the front or back deck and just lay-out and chat. By dinnertime we found Courtney. I keep wanting to call her Hannah or Spina. Cause she reminds me of my friend from back home in so many ways lol. We ate dinner on the back deck again and had a nice long chat about various topics, one main one was boys and relationships, Holly wanted some advice from me about her situation. Your basic girl talk, but it was a lot of fun. Us three walked around the ship and discovered more passages and decks to layout on. At one point we ended up scaring ourselves and ran down a hallway. I recommend not doing that while the ship is rocking on waves, once the ship was rolling over the top of a swell we felt so light as if we were flying down the hallway and the gravity would push us down as the ship came down off the wave and it was hard to move. People say running on a treadmill and elliptical are VERY difficult. I don’t think I’m up for trying it right now, I’m having enough trouble walking around the ship still without being queezy. I haven’t gotten sick or anything, but it’s definitely not a comfortable feeling when the ship is rocking really bad.

Last night was the party. The crew made two huge cakes and lots of various treats and brownies and we all toasted with champagne at our celebration. We met some other girls on deck during the inauguration party and hung out with them afterwards on deck and chatted under the stars until it started to sprinkle. That night we were sailing through some kind of storm and the ship was rocking really bad back and forth. Holly was scared so I visited her in her room for awhile and we chatted. She helped me get my email to work. We heard a really loud noise that sounded like the ship was crashing into something and then later it happened again so we decided to go visit Courtney and her roommate in their room. It’s cute. There is a large artwork on everyone’s cabin wall that we discovered past SAS-ers write on and leave messages and tips for the future ones!! Ours had lots of messages. There was also a converted attached to the back of our picture and it looked like though in the past some SAS-ers small amounts of money for the future ones to enjoy a drink or something special. It was really neat to see! I’m not sure what me and my roomie are going to write yet, we have awhile. But that’s another thing, the past SAS-ers said this voyage is going to fly by waaay to fast. I really am going to try to get the most and best of it that I can. So far everything is a blast!!! I have met a bunch of people and have made some friends that I am hanging out with more and more. I was talking with some friends about how we are going to be able to tell people back home about this experience and we concluded that we couldn’t. There really isn’t a good way to some everything up because so much is happening. And a lot of people back home just wouldn’t understand all that we have been through. When someone asks us, (which they will…) “How was your trip?” We have NO IDEA what to say because we can’t. You can’t sum it up just as “good” or “great”. It just doesn’t justify it at all. At the end of the trip there is a whole other workshop day to help counsel us into coming back home and how to deal with going back and leaving here, how to talk to others or not and deal with separation from here. It’s going to be tough, I can already tell.

Today was the first day of classes. I’m not really sure what to think of them. They will be challenging just as any class is. I think what is going to be the most challenging of all though is dealing with the rocking of the ship. Its become normal already to be in the middle of a conversation in the lunch or dinner line and fall against a wall. Or when you're walking down a hallway to bump into the wall or someone. Walking up and down the stairs is the most challenging thing because of gravity. Especially now because the seas are so rough we have to hang on to things so they don't slide away. This morning I was brushing my teeth and watching my glass of water slowly slide away from me on the counter like it was no big deal, it will just slide right back to me again. Today was pretty hard to walk around. It looks like everyone is drunk the way we try and walk around on the ship when there are rough seas. You could be in the lunch line getting food and the ship will hit a wave sending everyone one direction whether sideways, backwards or whatnot. There are railings and wallposts built in for that purpose to catch yourself. It’s becoming pretty normal. During class everyone moves to the rhythm of the boat and the ocean. It is difficult to pay attention in class when the waves are huge and you’re trying to keep your cool and not feel motion sickness. I don’t know how the professors get up there and teach, some of them this is their first voyage also. Another problem on occasion is that it seems like the rocking at times and put people to sleep, which isn’t good for class. But sometimes it does make you feel sleepy.

Today the school shop opened and lots of people were in there buying SAS stuff including me of course getting gifts! ☺ This afternoon while my friends were in class I spent my time in the computer lab getting help configuring my computer to the system so I could access all public folders and academic ones from my computer which is sooo nice!! They also hooked up my computer to the printers here so I can print from my laptop wherever I am on the ship and pick it up in the library. The I.T. people fixed my email so my Clarke email would get forwarded to my new temporary address. I figured out how to access online to publish blogs also. I accidently got signed on AIM to and Brink messaged me so I chatted with her for a bit but had to sign off so my internet minutes wouldn’t get all used up. I hate not being able to communicate sometimes. It’s good to be away from all that but I wish we could get online and atleast instant message people within the ship or something. Holly and I met Brandy, Shara, Laura, Katie, Courtney and her roommate for dinner up on deck as well as two others. It was spaghetti night! I was so excited because I was starving, I missed lunch cause I had class and because of that hadn’t been feeling well all day. But I’m much better now that I ate dinner and a fabulous brownie…or two! ☺ After dinner we all walked to the Union where we signed up for clubs and extra-curricular activities. I have an audition tomorrow night for the play! It doesn’t matter if I get in or not. It would be great to become close to more people, but I wouldn’t mind my free time also. We’ll see, either way things should be fun! ☺ I hung out with Courtney after dinner, we looked into the binder SAS made for suggested things to do in port if you don’t have anything planned. We’re gonna go and do something together in Cadiz for a couple days after our SAS trops are finished the first two days. Were there for a week or so and there’s a lot we could do. Right now I’m just hanging out in my room with my roommate. The ship is broadcasting movies on our TV’s. Right now we are watching “The Dark Knight”. Holly just called my on my cabin phone and wants to go get drinks at the pub upstairs because its pub night. So I’m gonna go do that and call it a night and get this blog up online. Hope everything is going well and everyone is good at home!!! Miss and love you!!! I’ll be back tomorrow or so. Night!! Loves!!

P.S. E-mail me!!!! ----→ EKNelson@semesteratsea.net