initial reactions to this place were hilarious all around…they still are.
1) i am on a SHIP, not a boat…we will constantly be reminded of this.
2) it really moves…and you can feel it::: all. the. time.
3) it is the funniest thing to have no capacity to walk in a straight line –even without the aid of alcohol.
4) it is funnier still to walk down a hallway and see every single person in front of you swaying as if completely inebriated though clearly just trying walk normally and pretend as if they can.
5) putting on eyeliner @ 7:30 am on a moving vessel going 13-15 knots is really, REALLY difficult. [though i am beginning to feel like a pro]
6) showering takes on a whole new meaning when ‘slippery when wet’ actually is a caution that you know you have to take heed of or else.
7) there honestly must be something in the water, because these professors are a little exaggerated.
so basically, the gist of my experiences so far [while crossing the Pacific] are this—life is different on a SHIP and there are so many interesting, unexpected changes that i believe all of us will be catching up for a while.
before beginning the voyage one of the main [and most important] questions i had was:::
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well…my question has certainly been answered. time changes have a occurred and COMMUNICATE they have. let me tell you a little ditty:
it all began on a day like today [but much greyer] while sitting in an ‘assembly’ if you will about safety on board. the executive dean of this lovely endeavor was speaking about SHIP matters this and SHIP matters that…and then the lovely dean uttered the most beautiful words the 632 students on board the Explorer had dared imagine::
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yes, ladies and gents, it was these very words that began the saga…much to our delight, it was not actually the nite for the clock retardation [which in fact ended up taking place last nite]. Due to this known fact and the captain’s wise orders, the uncautious dean made an announcement over the ships intercom system to let us know this new tidbit::
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that’s right! mr. dean was mistook about the clock retardation. imagine….the following day, he again apologized for his early start to forewarn us about retarding our clocks. the day continued as normal with no retardation in sight…and them WHAM!^%$ we turn on our HIGHLY closed circuit television to see the plots, knottage speedage, handwashing directions, and latitudes of our mighty Explorer and what do we see?!
nothing. But a glorious bright yellow screen that simply says ‘Tonight Ship’s Clock Will Be Retarded One Hour’ in bright red[making all Spaniards proud]. ne’er one for missing out on wonderful photo opportunities the roomie and i snapped a few photos of the glorious view in mere seconds….and then proceeded to change the time on our bedside clock. however, it. does. not. end. there.
we were pleasantly surprised today to find that the clocks will have to be even more retarded this very evening and we have the very same yellow-lovely screen [which this morning we thought they had just forgotten to take down from the previous evening].
therein lies the answer to my question of questions. the clocks are retarded and we are given QUITE a bit of notices/forewarnings as to this case through our dean in every lecture letting us know about retardation five to six times a meeting/class. to think…i lose a day when crossing the international date line but…i get so many extra hours of sleep that it just TOTALLY makes it worth it. huzzah.
in other news--- my roommate is awesome, hilarious and fun fact: is from the same town where my dear friend, Alex Hamadey’s, dad resides in
yesterday was ‘student life signup day’ and Kat (my roommate) and i decided to make up our own club: ‘neon dance party classics’ -the aim of which is to dress up in the most obnoxious neon/80’s/aerobic/spandex garb and spontaneously have dance parties on the ship. we sort of made it up as a joke/for fun. however, it seems to have been the buzz of the sign-up fair and somehow without recruitment we accrued quite a few people interested in said club…so we’re pretty stoked about that and are in the werks as far as music/planning goes. i also decided to try and start a french conversation group on board but made the signup sheet rather late so we’ll see how well that goes over. and last, but not least, Kat and I wanted to do a joint dessert [because its great!] and music [because its horrible on the ship channel!] review show on the student TV channel:: SeaTV. we’ll see how all of that happens and i’ll keep you up to date on this beautiful piece of electronic communication.
i will leave you by saying that i hope you all enjoyed this first piece of info from aboard the SHIP of semester at sea. i’m enjoying it so far and oh yeah, the food isn’t bad at all and they clean our cabins every day! woohoo! i’m extremely sorry to those of you i couldn’t/didn’t get in touch with before i set sail but I hope you will keep reading and i encourage you to email me or leave your emailz as a post for me to put in my address book. i hope all of you are doing well and taking care. i promise i will get around to sending each one of you e-postcards one way or another, but if you have already gotten one i apologize for some of the repetition in this posting. i’d love comments from all of you to hear how you are, what you want to hear about, or anything else.
toujours.
ps:::did i mention its really tough to put on eyeliner on this moving thing?
---oh and i have yet to get seasick...keep your fingers crossed because there have been many casualties.
