First Official Update

August 30, 2008

Has it really only been 90 hours since my plane took off from Newark airport? These past three and a half days have been some of the longest days of my life, but I haven't not had a smile on my face the whole time. Even yesterday morning while I was boarding the ship and had sweat in places I never knew could sweat, I was happy. I feel more peaceful than I've felt in a long time. I belong here. My life as I knew it ended on August 27th at 4:30 in the morning when I woke up. In that minute when my eyes opened to my alarm to when my feet touched my ground, the transformation of my pre-Semester at Sea life was coming to a close and my post-Semester at Sea life was just beginning.

Thoughts and emotions, pertaining to Semester at Sea, have been bouncing off the inside of my skull now for three and a half days. We had a group exercise in the Union today (our large meeting room that holds 400 and a few satellite rooms hold the other 275) that let us write three feelings that we were experiencing at that moment down on a piece of paper. It took me a few moments to come up with the words I wanted to choose and I chose elated, excited, and peaceful. I could have written so many more down on that piece of paper, but I do think those three encompass what I'm feeling right now very well. I'm elated to be here, and it's been an absolutely exhillerating experience thus far. I've met people who will one day be at my wedding, who will one day be travelling across the world for a Semester at Sea alumni trip, and who will be just a phone call away when I need to "get away from it all". These are the people who will understand the emotions I am and will be experiencing. They're not only going to be good friends, but they will be my support, as I will be theirs.

Right now, I am sitting in my bed (which is pretty comfortable might I add) trying to type quietly cause my roommate is sleeping already because of sea sickness. I am so fortunate that I haven't experienced a single sea sick feeling. I do have a slight headache, but I'm attributing that to a brain overload. Plus I'm probably more tired than I feel. Last night was my first night here on the ship and I slept like a baby. It's amazing how easily the rocking of the ship can put me to sleep. I think a majority of the people feel that way right now figuring people could hardly keep their eyes awake in some of our introductory meetings the past two days. I guess the rocking of the ship and Dramamine has that effect.

During a meeting yesterday, we had a faculty member speak about the experience of Semester at Sea and the effects that it will have on us. He said that the two main things we have to remember while on this voyage is to be empathetic and flexible. Empathy comes into play for the fact that we will be immersed in cultures different from our own for the next 100 days. We need to have the ability to put ourselves in the natives' shoes in order to garner the most from this trip. But we also must be flexible. Living on a ship with 675 students, 65 faculty and staff, and 200 crew members can become pretty interesting pretty quick. So far, it doesn't seem like we're breathing down each others necks but I know it'll probably happen sooner than later. When that happens, we all need to be willing to be flexible. It's impossible to make 1000 people happy on a ship 100% of the time, but I hope we all can come as close to that mark as possible.

All our orientation meetings finished tonight at 9:45 and classes start tomorrow. My schedule is as follows: A days- 9:20-10:35- Religion, Politics, and Society; 2:20-3:45- Introduction to Anthropology. B days- 10:45-12:00- Psychology of Food and Culture; 2:20-3:45- Race and Ethnicity. I already have about 6 readings I need to finish for both of those days totaling somewhere around 75 pages of reading. This may become more academically rigorous than I was prepared for. I'm not worried much about it though because I enjoy reading and even more so when it's about topics that I'm interested in. Plus I'm excited to learn as much as I can while here. I'll only experience this type of learning environment once in my life and I have every intent of taking full advantage of the situation.

The next few days will be tough but fun. We have class both days, but we also have an Activities Fair tomorrow and there are a few clubs that have caught my attention already like Yoga, Volleyball, and a Multicultural Student Association. I'm happy that I won't have to have a job this semester because I can devote more time than usual to "on campus" activities. I'm never going to want to return to real life after the next 3 and a half months.

Well, I think I'm going to call it a night now...I have to be up early in the morning for breakfast and then class at 9:20. Just a side note, the food has been awesome so far! I'm expecting the monotony to set in a few days from now, but so far I've enjoyed everything I've eaten. I'll keep you all updated every few days or as often as I can. I hope all is well back home!

Amanda- writing from somewhere off the coast of Puerto Rico...