Hey everyone! I am on the ship! I am having a blast already. My room mate is awesome. I, once again, got lucky! Her name is Whitney and she is from California..the REAL California! Lucky for her, she is only like 25mins away from where we will be porting in San Diego! She goes to school in Las Angeles. Let me just tell you what I have been up to and all about my voyage! First off, I was standing in a line for 1.5hrs yesterday in the hot hot sun! Everyone got to tour the ship yesterday before we left port. We left around 5pm. Right before we left we had a lifeboat drill. Haha. In high school we used to do like tornado drills, but on the boat we have lifeboat drills! I guess they are a good thing since at times we will be like 3000 miles from land!
My room is sooo small. Whitney and I somehow fit all our crap though! We have two closets, a set of drawers, and smaller drawers in our nightstand next to our beds. Surprisingly, we have much storage under our sink in the bathroom. As for the food, I am so over it. It isn’t bad. We have two dining halls and are served three meals a day buffet style. We also have snack and beverage bars that serve pizza, ice cream, candy, water, etc. Oh, and alcohol! Our alcohol intake is restricted though. We aren’t allowed to have alcohol everyday. Actually, they won’t start serving it until after Puerto Rico. No problem though. I would rather not be drunk on this trip.

Today was orientation. Tomorrow, we start classes! I am taking Amphibians and Reptiles of the World, Foreign Policy of the United States, International Conflict Resolution, and Global Studies. Global Studies is a requirement for all students on the ship. It gets pretty crowded in our student union, so they also broadcast Global Studies and any other kind of meeting over the TV’s in the ship. They don’t show it in our rooms., but we can sit in the dining hall or in a classroom and watch. It is pretty cool.

I have been meeting soooo many people. It is hard to remember all these names. There our 702 students on our voyage. This is a record! In the past they have only accepted 650 students, but SAS is expanding. There are students from every state and many different countries. I can’t remember them all, but I know we have students from Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Japan, China, Germany and Israel. We also have 17 lifelong learners ranging in age from 28-91. They are allowed to audit our classes and go on trips with us. They are pretty much just taking a 3month long cruise. I talked to the 91y/o lady today. It is her 5th semester at sea trip! We also have children and spouses of the faculty and staff traveling along with us. The children range in age from 7 months-16 years.
There is actually a teacher on board to teach these children because they are obviously missing three months of school. How cool would it be to be one of those kids? There are 1,007 total people on this ship—another record.

Ship life seems pretty sweet so far. It is just like being on a cruise with classes. The crew members are great. We get maid service in our rooms everyday. They make our beds, give us new towels, fold our PJs, and everything else they would do for you on a cruise or in a hotel. The dining hall is buffet style, but the crew does everything else for us. They take our plates and set our tables. I am going to be so lazy!

We also have a fabulous spa. It costs $5 for a day pass to the sauna and spa. I will be taking advantage of that—as long as I am in good financial shape. We can also get massages, facials, manicures/pedicures, and body wraps. HAHA SWEET. There is also a little cardio room connected to the spa. It is small, but it works! Whitney and I worked out together today. Thank god I’m living with someone who will keep me motivated. I ran on the treadmill. What an experience!! I had to grab hold of the rails like every five seconds!! It is hard enough to walk straight on this ship let alone run! I am pretty sure that I will be using the elliptical most often.
I have not been seasick yet. I did get two headaches today. It may or may not be because of the motion. So many other people I met have been feeling pretty seasick. I did not think the ship would be moving this much. It is way worse than a cruise ship because our ship is smaller than most cruise ships.

Well, I think I have covered everything! I will update again after Puerto Rico!