Blog 2

Greeting from the Pacific Ocean,

It is day 7 aboard the MV Explorer, and day 6 of classes. It is already such an unreal experience that I can not but I am going to attempt to put into words. We haven't even been to the first port yet but the experience of even being at sea for 7 days has been it's own. The first night of orientation, we were told the waters were going to get rough, but we had no idea how rough they would be. Friday night was the worst, Saturday morning everyone told stories of how bad it was in their cabins the night before. dresser's tossed about, broken electronics, entire dining tables and chairs shifting a few feet, and TV's falling off their mantle. In my room, all we dealt with were the dresser drawers slaming open and shut all night, hearing the TV rotate round and around the lazy Susan is sat on, and the slide of the soap and shampoo bottles from the bathroom.

These minor set backs, however have not stammered any of my enthusiasm for the experience. I have met so many interesting people so far that have such an enthusiasm adventure, it can only bring thing s for the future… and you'll be delighted to know that the ocean has been restored to it's calm waters now that the storms off the coast of California are dying down.

Aboard the ship, classes began on Tuesday and have proved to be very interesting indeed. The teachers are very diverse, but the thing about teachers is that they are people too, and they can be read and rationalized with. As bad as that sounds, the dean continues to stresss that an important virtue is flexibility. The teachers are here for the same reasons that we are, to see the world. I find my classes interesting, though the only thing I would change, is that the theme of the voyage is sustainability, and I've been a little hippy'ed out the past week. I'm sure I have a thing or two to learn however. Who knows, maybe I'll come back a tree-hugger yet.

A daily routine for me may start with me awaking to my asain roommate asking me if I want to go to a 7 AM breakfast, me declining, and then sleeping for two more hours. Waking up around 9 or 10 and taking some class reading to the 7^th deck where the pool is to where I get to catch somerays and study until lunch or class. Somewhere around that time, I try get in a workout with the limited workout equipment available. In between lunch/class and dinner, I usually just putz around and chill out, read, email, hangout on the deck, or whatever strikes my fancy. At dinner, I eat everything I can get my hands on, the food is very good, but I can see how it's gonna get old. It's the kind of thing where they have like 20 different ingredients and they just know a shit-ton of ways to call it different things, but they do always have PB&J.

After dinner, which is either on more formal, on deck 5; or more causal, in the garden lounge on deck 6; there may or may not be some type of event or informational meeting. We have preport before we port, to let us know about the place we are going, (where to go/not to go, what to do/not to do), or a social event. We have had event's like "speed-friending", or open-mic nights. Last night we had an open mic night and my Thai roommate sang "My Heart Will Go On". Actually he had my write out the lyrics for him… Dude I lost it, I died! I had to leave the room. No with all-do respect, good for him for getting up there. I would never have the balls to do that. After these events you can either go to pub night and pay $3.50 a pop for a maximum of 3 drinks (which does nothing for me), or you can do your own thing. I have been playing Pictionary, and charades below deck so far. (I-shit-you-not)

There are plenty of females aboard the ship and have mingled with many, there are a few girls on my radar right now, but anyone who knows me, knows… we will just see how things play out.

Tomorrow, we get to Hawaii and I am very very excited. This morning I got up for the sun rise but missed it just barely! Dah!! Still a beautiful sight, sitting on the deck sipping coffee and just enjoying the beautiful privildge to be in the moment, and the people who make it possible for me, love you mom and dad!