Day 2

9/6/2007 - 10pm (At Sea)

Well, I've made it. My transnational learning experience has officially begun. I boarded the inaugural voyage of The Scholar Ship yesterday at approximately 12pm and have been going nonstop ever since. Move in day was a blur of unfamiliar faces, names, places, and procedures. Living on a ship, while it may sound glorious, is extremely different from life in a dorm room or in your home. I have to share 13 sq ft with a total stranger for 4 months is, to say the least, daunting and cramped! Currently we have 2 cot sized beds, a small night stand, a small tv, 2 arm chairs, a bathroom with a shower/bathtub, sink, and toilet, and 2 small closets just big enough to fit all of our stuff. Oh yes, we also have a porthole! Picture in your head the size of 13 sq ft... For most people that is the size of a bathroom, or maybe a home office. Then add in all of the furniture, two 20-yr-old college girls, and all of their stuff for 4 months! (We each have a 140lb weigh limit for belongings if that tells you anything...). And just think - this is a $500 upgrade from the smallest rooms which are about half the length and are on the interior of the ship, and therefore have no window! Of course, with a measly $5000 one could upgrade to a suite, which has two ridiculously large picture windows, a small kitchen space with counters, cabinets, and a fridge, 2 couches, 2 twin size beds, 2 walk in closets with a mirrored dressing area, a tv twice the size, 2 desks, a stereo, and a bathroom with jacuzzi tub. All of this is then separated by a number of large curtains in case one student wanted to sleep while the other entertained in another area of the room. Talk about financial and social differences huh? Now none of that is to say that I'm not happy with what I have. I've never really needed much space to live comfortably (must be all those summers living outside in platform tents with 3 other people!!) and so I'm actually quite comfortable.

Once settled into my living situation, it was time to go exploring and to meet some new people. I can honestly say that this is one of the most inviting environments I have ever lived in. It is rare that approximately 300 people from so many different social, cultural, financial, ethnic, and geographical backgrounds can be put in a space and, within 24 hours, be completely comfortable with one another. I shook so many hands and saw so many faces that I actually only remember about 10% of people's names. But no worries, with 4 months together, I am sure that we will become comfortable with each other very quickly.

Almost more difficult than trying to keep straight the different people I am now surrounded by has been orienting myself to the ship. First there are the terms describing parts of the boat - the bow/forward (front), the stern/aft (back), the port (left), and starboard (right). Now, with my experience as a rower on my college crew team, I know these terms quite well and don't have too much trouble with them. Unless of course you are on the interior of the boat and have no windows with which to orient yourself! Once you figure out which way is which, it's then time to figure out the floors. From top to bottom, you have Lido, Riviera, Aloha, Baja, Coral, Dolphin, and Emerald. Lido and Riviera are the decks with food, student common areas, classrooms, 2 pools, a small fitness area with cardio machines facing out onto the ocean, a few decks, and lots of beach chairs! Then Aloha and Baja are residential (I live in Aloha 21 oddly enough!), Coral has our "resturaunt" aka cafeteria, Dolphin is the health center which has a full hospital, and a spa (?!) complete with massages, facials, manicures/pedicures, and a salon. Finally there is Emerald which is the main fitness center on board. With 3 saunas, a pool, a hot tub, free weights, 3 treadmills, 2 stair steppers, and a few weight machines, it has everything! Granted it is small and very hot and the first time I ran on the treadmill I almost died due to the rocking of the ship, but really we have it quite good here! We also have a small library, an academic support center, counseling offices, a bookstore complete with Scholar Ship bags, pens, clothing, picture frames, etc, a cinema which doubles as a lecture all, a "noise room" with drums, guitars, a piano, and has been designated as "quiet-hour free" so we can be loud in there as much as we want, a staff lounge, a student bar, a snack bar, AND (my favorite part) a giant statue of a pirate! I'm slowly finding my way through all of this craziness, and I can't wait for the day when someone announces that I need to be somewhere and I'll be able to get there without looking at a map of the ship, or checking to see which floor I'm on, or if I'm on port or starboard, fore or aft. Maybe someday...

Tomorrow is another full day of orientation and get-to-know-you's, and starting on the 8th we will finally begin our classes. So far we have two days, green and blue, which correspond to our classes. We have two classes each day, and alternate back and forth. Because of our port studies, we don't really follow the "5 days on, 2 days off" rule of contemporary schools. This week we have 2 blue days and 2 green days, followed by 5 days in Portugal for our first academic field program. Occasionally we will have days with no classes in order to have a break. This will happen mostly when we cross the Atlantic Ocean between Portugal and Panama (13 days), and when we cross the Pacific Ocean between Ecuador and Tahiti (10 days). Probably the craziest fact of all is that, on board our ship, we will not be able to experience November 2nd, as we will be crossing the international date line on that day! So, to everyone with a birthday on the 2nd, I'm sorry but I won't be able to celebrate in your honor as technically your day doesn't exist!
So even though all of this might seem like alot, I assure you, that was only a brief introduction to my life for the past few days! But not to worry, there will always be more updates :)