Day 2! Already! I woke up in pitch darkness this morning to a man’s voice telling me to get up and get ready for embarkation. I had one of those panicky moments when you can’t remember where you are, but as soon as I found the light and realized that the man’s voice was coming through the speaker system and he indeed was NOT in my bedroom, I felt much better! Just a note about my cabin…since there is no window, it is VERY dark when the lights are out. It is similar to living in a cave (or at least what I imagine that would be like…) It’s a little unnerving, and I am thinking I might have to invest in a small night light.
Breakfast was great – pancakes, omletes, fresh fruit, yogurt, oj, sausage and potatoes. Yum. This morning, I attended a meeting with the Life-Long Learner program so the coordinators could explain our priviledges as more “seasoned” travelers. In addition to having access to that fancy lounge on deck 6 and having extended internet time, and I can drink alcohol whenever I want to (and bring it on the ship). Since the drinking age in most international places is 18, Semester at Sea allows undergrads to drink during “Beverage service.” The students are only allowed 2 drinks at dinner and then 3 more drinks later in the night. (I know it’s spread out, but isn’t that still a lot?!) Oh well, apparently they have a voucher system that keeps track of everything, so it theoretically works pretty well.
The life-long learner program is pretty awesome. It’s mostly older, retired folks who love/tolerate students and want to see the world. I sat next to a couple at the meeting this morning who will be sailing on their second voyage this summer. I asked what brought them to the Semester at Sea program (rather than a traditional cruise) and they said that they love the ship and program and additionally, they wanted to travel now before they can’t climb stairs anymore – which is very logical! It is an interesting mix of people and I am looking forward to more conversation with them.
After that meeting, the Student Affairs at Sea, the Teachers at Sea, and the lifelong learners broke into their groups. My group met with Kathy Manning, who is the faculty member in charge of running the program. She gave us some general information about the class requirements for International Perspectives of Higher Ed and told us more about how to find the resources we would need this summer. After that, Erin and I headed down to our lobby on the 3rd deck to greet the undergraduates who were moving in – did I mention they checked in over 700 students in 6 hours? That’s amazing. In general, it felt very similar to all of the other orientations that I’ve helped with, so I am glad my Student Affairs skills are coming in handy. : )
After lunch (beef stew, mashed potatoes, pasta primavera, and a delicious salad), I kept running around and meeting people, then took a quick power nap before our captain came on the loud speaker to tell us all about the evacuation drill. When they sounded the emergency signal (7 short beeps and one long tone), we had to put on long pants, long sleeves, and closed toed shoes and grab our life preserver. We ran up to the fifth deck and had to wait their while they made sure that everyone was accounted for. When we passed the drill inspection, we were cleared to set sail! After the drill, we went to the top of the front of the ship – deck 8, forward – to see the sights and then down to the back (aft) of the ship to wave good-bye to all of the parents, families, and staff who won’t be joining us. It was such a cool sensation to finally pull away from the port! I can’t believe after months of planning and anxiety, I am actually here! The sun came out as we pulled away from Canada, which made a beautiful reflection on the water.
Almost immediately after we pulled away from the port, I began to get queasy. I have been wearing my sea-sickness patch since yesterday in preparation, but it was still pretty bad. After hanging out in the super-exclusive faculty/staff lounge in the front of the ship (probably my favorite room so far), I ate dinner on the deck to get some fresh air. Dinner was good – salad, some pasta with tomato sauce, grilled citrus mahi mahi, and steamed veggies. At least sea-sickness has not spoiled my appetite…yet…
Tonight, we had a general orientation meeting for every passenger on board. The deans of the voyage talked to us and there was even a special appearance by our captain – Captain Kingston. The administrator who was introducing the captain told us that the captain would be late because he was trying to steer the ship to stabilize the motion. The captain was 15 minutes late to his own speech! It was fine with me, though. I really wanted him to take his time, as long as he could stop that godawful up-and-down, up-and-down motion. Needless to say, it did not stop. I think it might have gotten progressively worse throughout the evening – the crew warned us that it was going to be a really choppy night. Right now, I feel like my head is going to explode and my stomach is just going to give out on me at any moment. I am praying that I wake tomorrow with my sea legs, because if it is like this for the next 7-8 days as we cross the Atlantic, I am flying home from Barcelona – for real. Or if it gets to be too much, I swear will call for someone (the coast guard, most likely), to chopper me out of this vessel asap! Damn these sea-sickness patches! They aren’t doing squat. Blahhhhhhh…..
That’s all I can write for tonight…because I think I might have to go throw up. More tomorrow when I feel better, hopefully!
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