Ship Life (Part 1)

Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore. -Andre Gide


Since I’ve been away almost a month and written NOTHING about ship-life yet I have way too many things to say. I could write forever, and so I did. Sorry if it’s long, but I think it is mostly interesting stuff and hopefully worth your time, plus, most of it is sort of the “FAQs” I’ve been getting from school and back home. This is only some of what I will write, and I will post Part 2 another time…

[the use of “tomorrow” “today” “yesterday” or any other reference to time is completely irrelevant so ignore it]

THE OCEAN: Right now there are 20-foot waves crashing into my cabin window, and it’s been like this the whole day. At lunch today, a bunch of plates slid off our tables, food went flying and made a big mess. Every time the ship rocks, you can hear something in the distance break. People’s drawers are flying out of their cabinets, books are falling from the library, and the campus store is a mess. Everyone is walking into each other and people look like their walking sideways. Whenever I saw people walking with trays at lunch I would yell “Stay low! Stay low!” and make a big deal out of it for no reason just to embarrass them. We’re all having fun with it, although at some points there is definite fear. The captain and his crew keep making safety announcements reminding us not to walk barefoot, secure out items, don’t use the elevators, etc. Outdoor decks 5 and 6 are closed for now, and so is the 7th deck bow. They actually just bolted-shut a metal cover on my window—I guess in case it breaks. I’ve been waiting for rough oceans since I got on the ship so I am soaking it all in and loving every moment of it. In reality, the oceans are not bad and the crew all laughs at us because they’ve seen this a billion times before. Some people have seen dolphins this voyage and I have not yet, so I am angry about that. Apparently South Africa is good for seeing whales in the distance… wish me luck.

TIME ZONES: We’ve been going through time zones almost every other day. 5 times between Brazil and South Africa!! Since we’re going East, we LOSE an hour. And this will eventually happen TWENTY-FOUR TIMES to us this semester! It is the WORST. Whether an hour makes a difference or not, the fact that some higher-power has literally taken an hour of your day is annoying. I have 8am classes everyday and since I wake up at 7am for those, it is like I am waking up at 6 am every other day. In the alternate semesters when they travel West (the pre-brain surgery route) I would have gained an 1-hr of sleep 24 times, which would be amazing. To counteract the forces of time zones, we nap like it’s our jobs.

CLASSES: Because of our 9-day trip to Cape Town, classes have really started to pick up. Global Studies, the class with all 735+ of us, is taught in the Union and also broadcast to all the TV’s in the classrooms and lounges. Global Studies is an exhibit of how much of a whack-job some of our professors are. Seriously the stuff we do/hear/learn from them is hilarious. We spent the entire class yesterday clapping-out African beats and rhythms and singing the South African national anthem. Every class one of the English professors reads obscure poetry. Professors play tapes of Brazilian frogs or sing native tunes to us. All our professors have traveled the world or have extensively lived abroad, and most are overqualified to teach what they do, but they are all a bit loopy. After some complaints, Global Studies is starting to get more serious with some actual political/economic issues (today was land reform in Africa, yesterday was AIDS…but then again, tomorrow’s lecture is “animals you see if you go on a safari” so there you go). My writing class is a joke—I have no idea what is going on, and we’re not really writing anything. I think I am just going to print out this blog for the last class and hand it in for my final portfolio. My Development Economics class is really interesting, and my professor is really great. She ties in so much of what we do in port to our curriculum, which is exactly what’s supposed to happen. I hate math, numbers, charts and data so eventually I will probably have a mental breakdown. I dropped my Documentary Theater class due to lack of interest. Instead, I picked up Intro to Archaeology. I love my professor and the class is usually interesting. Homework has been tough to do because it is much more fun to socialize than sit by yourself and read a text book (it’s like I have 700 roommates). I don’t know if I am expecting amazing grades this semester or not… we’ll see, I hope so.

THE SAS COMMUNITY: One of the best things about Semester at Sea is the community that surrounds it. Just to give you the range—there are 4 and 5 year olds running around, and there are senior citizens on this ship. The kids are usually the sons and daughters of the faculty, and the older folks are part of the Life Long Learners program. I am in the “Big Brothers/Big Sisters” club, so I am a big bro to Eric who is 9-years-old and is the son of our Assistant Executive Dean. It is such an awesome thing to do, I am so glad I did it. Me and him play “Table/Chair/Sandal Ball” and “Elevator Ball” basically random games me and him invented on the ship using the package of bouncy balls I gave him for his birthday. I am also part of the Extended Family Program. Extended families are adults on the ship (staff, faculty) that are set-up with students and together they become a “family.” My “Mom” is one of the history professors and we have dinner together with my “siblings” once a week. Outside of those programs, I have also gotten to know a bunch of the RDs, the nurse (naturally), and the Director of Student Life really well. I really enjoy getting to know the adults, and I know all of the adults absolutely love talking to the students too, so it’s great. It’s also really cool (and occasionally awkward) to have your professors around...constantly. Instead of “Office Hours” they just ask you to meet them for lunch or dinner. The faculty even come to the student events like the dances and socials. We call most of them by their first names, and for the most part they’re all pretty cool. They also have a team in the Sea Olympics.

SAS KIDS: You would think SAS kids are those that care about the world, culture and want to make the best out of their time here. Unfortunately that is not the case for a lot of kids here. For the girls especially, a lot of them are here on “vacation” and don’t give a flip about anything. I try not to judge, because in the end I don’t really care what people end up doing with their experience, and besides, a lot of them are nice people to begin with. There are plenty of people that get a good experience out of this. For me, it’s about traveling and culture when the sun is shining, and then doing whatever you want when the sun goes down. On another topic, what is cool is that SAS kids come from all over. I am friends with one or more from Norway, China, Puerto Rico and Brazil, although Int’l Students are a minority. All different parts of the U.S. are well represented. I love southern and western accents. It is cool to meet people that are so different because of their geography—nice to get away from the LongIslandNewJerseyConnecticutMassachusetts-ness of Quinnipiac. There are 74 here from Univ of Colorado-Boulder! And also a ton from Chapman and schools in California.


SOCIAL LIFE: I do have friends. I don’t know if I have a “crew” necessarily, but so far so good and I love the people I hang out with. I’m not really sure if “crews” will actually exist on this ship, just because it’s such a melting pot of people all going through the same experience. I meet new people every day. Sometimes it is hard because the ship can be big and the days get busy so you don’t always see everyone you want when you want. I basically just try to be friends with everyone, and make sure I’m eating lunch/dinner with people I’ve lost touch with or haven’t seen in a while. For travel, sometimes it can be random because people have different plans and do different things. Like in Brazil some of my friends spent lots of money to travel really far (Amazon or Rio in Brazil, and people going on Safaris in Africa). I am saving my money for the Great Wall in China and maybe the Taj Mahal in India. Preparing for ports is sort of stressful for me, mostly because I like to know who is “around” so I don’t end up randomly by myself, not that I really think that would happen. But with people doing a million different things, and some people having to go on trips for their professors, it can be difficult to figure out how traveling in port will pan out.

NEPTUNE DAY: Today was Neptune Day. We were all woken up by a parade of crew and staff wearing Viking gear(?) who walked through the hallways and banged on pots and pans outside our doors at 7:30am. Grr. Then, we were told by “the voice” to report to the 7th Deck. To please King Neptune and his wife, we must get fish guts poured on us, jump in the pool, kiss a fish, then kiss King Neptune’s ring (this is at like 8am). As an optional sign of respect, we could shave our head. Every year it’s sort of a big-thing how many GIRLS will shave their heads. We set a record this year for girls completely shaving their heads (don’t know the #, I’d say 30?). I shaved my head, so I sort of look like I just had surgery again…and I have gotten questions about the scar, but it’s barely noticeable and it still looks pretty bad-ass plus makes for great conversation (don’t u think?). For lunch on Neptune Day we had cheeseburgers and hotdogs and FRENCH FRIES---a little taste of America! Ohh man, I was freaking out.


TO KEEP YOU IN SUSPENSE, HERE ARE SOME CAPTIVATING TITLES FOR PART 2: ship food, getting pampered, bridge tour, sea Olympics, living the dream, rumors, my cabin, my roommate, and 5th grade….