Hello Hello

I woke up this morning for breakfast, which is surprisingly delicious on the ship.  I heard some people would like to know more about the ship…. It is six 7 decks.  The smallest cruise ship ever, sways more than any other so for the people who get sea sick it isn’t too welcoming.  Imagine sitting in class and ten people have to run out to throw up…. The seventh deck is outside, there is a pool, bar area, workout area, basketball court, and of course a tanning deck.  The inside holds a few rooms and a salon thing/treadmills and elypticals.  The sixth deck is where school happens.  The front of the ship is the union, where our global studies course is held, and anything else the whole shipboard community needs to attend (pre port lectures/ orientation/ movies) We can also get whatever goes on in the Union on our tv’s in our room.  Outside of the Union we have a small computer lab on one side and a library on the other.  Then there’s the school store, piano lounge, and cafeteria in the back.  On the sixth deck you are able to eat outside and admire the fact that you’re in the middle of the ocean. It’s amazing.  The fifth deck is the purser’s office and all other offices (field office, dean, etc), some rooms, and another cafeteria.  The fourth, third, and second decks are solely for room.  I’m SO glad I’m on the second and lowest deck.  For one, as you can imagine, we feel the LEAST amount of rocking of the ship… those poor kids on deck five and six!  Second, we get internet connection in my room…. Yes, I am blogging from my bed! Third, the view is just awesome, watching the waves at eye level right outside the window!

So that is the ship.  I sat outside and talked to this kid named Ryan yesterday just about taking this all in.  He was reading a book for a gender and inequality class while sitting around a pool in the middle of the ocean.  I was doing just about the same thing, except for my environmental ethics class.  You would think it’s easy to just sit and read, but we’re in the middle of the ocean, on a ship full of kids that are worth meeting! There’s so much more I want to be doing. It really is an amazing experience…. It is everything it is talked up to be, plus more that can’t even be explained.

But I have class at 9:20 and the walk across campus is pretty rough;)