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At Sea for DAYS to reach Brazil!
January 29, 2008
After a nice long weekend in San Juan, we were ready to get back to ship life and get down and dirty with our work on the ship.Today was pretty busy for me.I started my day at 8 am with breakfast, you cannot miss meal time a ship, since only serve during certain hours, then went to Global Studies to learn about Brazil, did some programming planning for my residents until lunch time.After lunch we were in our student life meeting and then I worked the desk to 8 pm.Following the desk, we had our activitiesfair where we offer many clubs for our students to join and then we had our first PUB night with the students.
At Noon today, we were 250 miles away from San Juan and more than 2900 miles away from Brazil.Our average speed throughout the day has been about 18 - 20 knots, we are really moving.More of the students have been getting used to the rocking and we have been in really good weather for the day.
I will be overseeing the production of the semester at sea website and the yearbook with the ships photographer and IT coordinator.This is going to be fun.At the activities fair there were many students interested in joining, so I cannot wait to see what comes from this experience.
YES, we have PUB nights on the ship.Out of 108 days sailing around the world, we have about 50 PUB nights for our students.Student can drink up to 4 drinks from 9 - 11 pm at our deck 7 pool bar. It was interesting last night socializing with my residents and students having drinks in their hands.To be honest with you, for our first night with drinking, we had NO problems.The students behaved, did not overdue their drinking and had a great time.They brought out their board games, had small I-POD music boxes at their tables and really enjoyed their social time together.
After leaving PUB night at midnight, I was walking down the piano bar and saw a few of my residents chillen and I decided to touch base with them.Zach, Andrew, Morgan and others were all sharing with me their blog sites and things they did in San Juan.They are a great group of students, down to earth, respectful and fun to talk to you!!
January 30, 2008
After a long night, today started off fast!!With a Yearbook advisors meeting at breakfast and Global Studies, today has started.Much of my day today was in back to back meetings with the students.We had our first yearbook and website committee meeting and had a nice turn out of prospective students who want to make this happen.It was nice to see the motivation and turnout of residents to be a part of their voyage and make this experience happen.
At Noon today, we were about 550 miles or so from San Juan and still far away from Brazil, over 2000 miles.We have been sailing through some nice weather still keeping our speed of about 20 knots through this leg of the voyage.
After reflecting more and more on this experience and the work, I do have to admit, our F work of flexibility really comes into play a lot.Going with the flow of things, making things happen and meeting new people everyday on the ship has a new meaning.I have really stopped much of my structure with work and go with what I need to do.YEAH, some planning of programs and meeting with students occur, but when you are on a ship, you only have limited supplies and you just go with the flow to make things happen.As far as programs and meetings with students, they are not going anywhere while at sea, so you can always have many social programs and find them 600 feet away.
January 31, 2008
Hmm.. something hit me today during our global studies class this morning.Our speaker started off today speaking in Portuguese to get us ready for Brazil and he made a comment - every culture shares similarities with each other. That statement really hit me this morning and made me thinka lot about our community here on the ship and how we all look at diversity through ourselves and through the work we do at our schools.More and more I hear folks speak of diversity as how we are different, how we look different, etc.But after hearing this speech this morning and looking more at diversity and our cultures, it is true.. we do share similarities with each.Shouldn't we try to help our students find more of the commonalities with each otherand build on that rather than always trying to get our students and each other to find out how we are so different?Just because we may look alike from the outside, does that mean we are not diverse?Just because some of us have the same thoughts and ideas, does that mean we are not diverse?Hmmm…interesting aspect of diversity.
The sea today has been a bit rocky.Walking down the hallway or standing in your room has been a bit challenging today.Not too many getting sick from it, but it is important to remember to hold on to the railings while walking and to keep yourself focused on the horizon if you can to find balance.I am sitting next to the window in the UNION and as the ship rocks, you can see the ship tip and get a very nice view of the water right along side!
Just another day at SEA.. working all day and night.We had another PUB night and I do have to admit, our students are doing very well with this activity.Yes, they can only have 4 drinks, but they listen to our rules we have and are good sports about it.
February 1, 2008
Well, today we lost another hour of sleep and time.Last night we had to turn our clocks ahead another hour.So for those of you in Easter Time Zone, I am now two hours ahead and for those of you in Central Time Zone, I am three hours ahead.Loosing sleep and working all day is not an easy task to get a hold of.
The students are dealing with the time zone changes well, but soon enough, the ones that continue to drink every night, things will catch up with them.Three things that kick our student's butts are sea sickness, many time zone changes and alcohol.Combining the three of them together is a MESS.Being in smooth seas and water so far has been a plus, but some of them will be in for an interesting awakening soon.
Days no longer exist for us on the ship.Our days are now A or B days.I have lost track of days of the week, dates, etc.We consider our "weekends" and time off as port days, visiting the countries and having our fun that way.When we are at sea, it is all hands on deck to work the long days and nights.
The evening tonight was long!You see, the students get a no class day tomorrow, so everyone is UP doing things.I went to attend one of the floor parties in lounge, which lasted to midnight.After that I went to play some cards and board games with my residents in the dining hall.This is one of the best ways to meet them and stay social with everyone.My night finally ended at 1:30 am, as everyone began to realize that they too were tired and still wanted to get up early to get a good spot on the pool deck the next morning!!
February 2, 2008 - We crossed the equator!!
Today, I finally had time to sleep in.. thank goodness.I woke up around 11:30 and then went to lunch with some of the RD staff.After relaxing outside for a while, reading a book, the captain came on the PA system and announced that were getting ready to cross the equator!Sure enough, at 2:45 p.m. (I have no idea what time zone we are in… so 12:45 for Easter Time Zone and 11:45 for Central Time Zone), we crossed the equator, heading straight down south to Brazil.The water in the sea here is so BLUE, so calm and the weather has been pretty nice today.A bunch of us and the students took some pictures together celebrating our crossing!!On February 14, the crew will be celebrating Neptune Day, which is the big party and event for crossing the equator.Stay tuned to that event!!
What was pretty cool this afternoon, was sitting outside on the deck and then all of a sudden the wind picking up and some rain drops falling on us.I got up to look outside the edge of the ship and straight ahead you could see the rain line straight ahead.Sure enough, a nice little rain storm came flying in, for about 10 minutes.It interesting to see that weather line out in the middle of the ocean!
February 3, 2008
Life at Sea…. That is what we are doing.Nothing major to report today, just working.It is a bit strange to be working on a Sunday, but with Brazil only two days away, our weekend and vacation will be here soon.Today we got more lessons on how to travel in Brazil and what to be aware of.Semester at Sea is really good about giving the entire ship community all of the travel tips, safety tips, food and drink tips, and everything else you would want to know about going into acountry before we actually arrive.I am looking forward to Brazil and to see what the country and Salvador is really like.
This afternoon, site of land is close by.How can we tell…. We finally see some cargo ships around us, and also have a bunch of seagulls flying around the ship in circles!They are gliding with the wind and fly in front of the ship and then go around and continue to do that.It is fun to watch them in their synchronized flying patterns, literally right in front of us.
Well, goodbye for now.. and stay tuned for the updates on the Brazil Trips.I should have something posted by next Sunday or Monday, February 10 or 11.It really depends on how the internet is working by then and how tired I am from the trips!!
Enjoy and stay in touch.Brazil here we come!!
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