Hey From the Rocky Boat

Hey yall!
Right now, it’s about 2:30 PM and I’m sitting on my teeny bed in my teeny room! Lee and I have had so much fun so far, and it’s only the second day! My brain has been constantly overloaded with information the past two days, so I’m not quite sure what to write to you about! I guess I’ll just tell ya the things I can remember clearly ;)

2 days ago, my mom and I woke up at 4:15, left home sweet home at 5 am, and were on our first plane to Newark, New Jersey by 6:30 am! I slept the entire way there haha. From Newark, me and mom flew to Halifax, Nova Scotia! When we got to the baggage claim in Canada was when we ran into our first spot of trouble. The baggage claim didn’t shoot out my two huge bags, not to mention at least 10 other Semester at Sea students’ bags who were on my flight! We were all worried and the airline didn’t really have an answer for why our bags didn’t make it, yet my mom’s bag did as well as the rest of the passengers. Ah, Continental Airlines!!! There wasn’t much we could do about it at the time besides hope and pray that our bags would make it to Canada by 5 PM the next day. But my day was quickly brightened as soon as I stepped out into the waiting area in the NS Airport, because LEE RICE was there, waiting for me and mom!! It was so good to see her! Me, Lee, and my mom shared a taxi van with two other sweet SAS gals to our hotel. The rest of that day is a blur, but we did get a call around 11 PM saying that my bags were now in the grand country of Canada!

The next morning (yesterday) all the SAS (semester at sea) students had to check in and board the MV Explorer, our ship! Lee and I got there at 9 AM, and stood in line over an hour UGHHH! It was so boring waiting to board the darn thing. My bags still hadn’t been delivered all morning. BUT- when we were still in line, but about to go into the building where we scan our luggage and we ourselves are scanned, my mom saw my bags!! They were just sitting on the ground about 5 feet from us! A security guard for SAS was fighting with an airline deliverer guy, and the guard was about to not let my bags on the ship! Good thing my mom saw them ;) It really was an answer to prayer- I prayed that he would provide for me (clothes and things I’d need for this trip) and He did – He literally delivered my bags right to where I was! Haha. It was good. So I had my bags, and didn’t have to worry about not having any clothes or even a toothbrush for a few days!

Once I climbed the very steep, VERY wobbly stairs up to the ship, I looked around my new home for the next 9 weeks! It was so amazing! The library onboard used to be a casino! HA. I love the idea of a floating campus, and am so excited about living it out! Me and Lee are quickly realizing that we are not as sturdy as we would think ourselves to be, though… the ship moves as if it is the size of a small fishing boat! I feel like you can feel every lull or every wave! Lee was super smart and brought Bonine, a seasickness pill, and we have been taking those like candy. Last night, while lying in bed, we would randomly just moan out, “OHHHH MAN.” The waves were crazy! They give you the most drowsy feeling like no other! I can’t wait until we arrive to Barcelona… dry land. Land that doesn’t move or sway or cause you to “take a wide stance while walking”.

As for the other students onboard with us, we have met so many cool and interesting people! It’s sort of overwhelming how many students there are. 708 students onboard, representing 49 states (wonder what the runt state is) and over 200 colleges! Pretty sweet! But… I have yet to meet a Southerner. Actually, I guess that’s not true. We met a guy who went to OSU and a girl who went to Texas Tech! But that’s it. Haven’t seen them since yesterday morning either! The majority of people onboard are from California and Colorado. The #1 represented university is UC Boulder! Anyway, I bet that’s enough trivia for ya. Hope yall are all doing GREAT and having a great summer so far! I miss everyone back home already… it’s really starting to hit me that I’m going to be away from home for 9 weeks!