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At Sea to Costa Rica
April 23 - May 2
Wow, what a ten days it has been at sea.The Pacific Ocean has been very calm and it is actually very upsetting that we did not get to see many storms or waves out here, as we head to Costa Rica.Sorry that I have not given you a day by day, what I have been normally doing, but the ten days at sea have been very long and draining on all of us.
For most of the community, we are still recovering from some bad/interesting behavior that occurred in Hawaii as we were boarding the ship in the evening.All done and forgiven, but lots of discipline concerns that we need to address, just like a normal campus.After just about 4 months, our students have seriously bonded with each other, have visited many countries and are ready for normal life to begin soon.We have been in our bubble society for 4 months and being at sea since April 15 has been pretty long.Cabin fever, school work, losing sleep as we continue to advance our clocks and lots of programs on the ship all keep us busy, but yet engulfed in our society here on the ship.
On April 25, we had our Ambassador's Ball, one of the biggest end of the year traditional events on Semester at Sea.Tonight, everyone got dressed up in their nicest attire, broke out the new suites and dresses they got made in Vietnam and we had a ball!!The catering department did a fabulous job on the dining experience and the dessert buffet, as well as the students performing music in the piano bar, Karaoke in the upstairs bar, two dances going on and our normal bar area service for the evening.It was a very nice event to partake in, but as usual, duty calls and work with the life of my position.We had to monitor the behavior and the traffic of the ship and ensure our residents were on their best behavior for the night.Of course, we had a few incidents to deal with, nothing too seriously, which I guess is good, but ashamed that for one night a few students could not just behave themselves.
After a long night, and some nice rest, it was time to get ready for EXAMS this week.The students have been studying hard all around the ship trying to get ready for their final exams.Go figure.. exams in hot weather, studying by the pool, sun tanning and looking out your window and seeing the Ocean fly by you… when will you get another chance to say you took your finals in this type of condition!!
It has been pretty quiet around the ship for the past few days, as their finals continue on and everyone works hard to get through this last stage of their semester at sea.
On April 30, we had our second Talent Show (Coffee House).We had 15 students perform from singing, dancing, playing musical instruments, reading poetry, to other talents they have.The students on this ship are very talented individuals and it is great to see them perform in front of our student body with all that they have to give!!!
For the past two days, dolphins have been around us.I don't mean one or two jumping up and down to say hi to us, I mean HUNDREDS of them.. flying by, jumping, swimming around us and putting on a show for us as we are sailing by. It was amazing to see them.It really makes a difference in your life to look outside the window, to see nothing but blue ocean, and then to see the life that is just surrounded by us.. dolphins and fish.The dolphin show really impressed many of us and it wasso much fun to see, especially at this point of the voyage, being at sea for 10 days with finals going on.
The ship is pretty much in closing time… for you residence life folks.The bookstore is busy with book buy back, faculty are boxing up their classroom materials and the lobby is filled with boxes to be shipped back, RD's are busy with closing meetings, but not any particular type of closing and deans are gearing up for our last few days after Costa Rica.The students are enjoying their last week here, especially now being done with FINALS!!Sun bathing, basketball, board games, sharing pictures, stories, is all going on all around the ship!!
Well, we are ready for Costa Rica, and we are ready to get off this ship for the next couple of days.People are counting down and on top of that we are trying to get ready for the last 4 days at sea before we arrive back to the USA in Miami on May 9.It is all a bitter sweet moment for many of us and returning back to our lives is going to be difficult, strange, unique and enjoyable.
Stay tuned for the Costa Rica updates and the final SAS journal on all that I have learned and how I have changed through this work and voyage.
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