We’ve now been at sea for a few days with nothing but open ocean for miles in all directions. We’ve also gotten a few days of class under our belt! To think this counts as school credit is simply amazing! My classes are all interesting so far and the plethora of reading assignments is a welcome change of pace from the usual grind of Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. Classes come between laying out in the sun and the smell of sunscreen and sea air wafts through the classrooms. This is certainly the most pleasant time I’ve had doing homework since it entailed making macaroni pictures!
A few nights ago we had a huge group at dinner of about 15 people which ended in a quite entertaining Catch Phrase game! At 2100 there was an activities meeting where I signed up for the extended families program where I will have occasional dinners and other special events with one of the families on the ship, effectively “adopting a family” for the voyage! Unable to resist the lure of fast moving bouncing objects I also signed up for Ping Pong, Volleyball, and Dodgeball!
Aside from occasional bouts with homesickness, life is stellar right now! The experience has already made me much more sociable, an improvement I hope to put to use when I return home! There have been a few down periods though and its interesting because it almost seems like the entire ship goes through them at the same time so we really are becoming a tight nit community.
We’ve entered a bit rougher waters than anything we’ve encountered yet but fortunately my sea legs earned from past cruise liner experience seemed to past the test with flying colors. I finally managed to squeeze in a nap yesterday but since we lost an hour with another time change it was pretty much a wash! After dinner Robyn, Kait, Kayleigh, Mandy, and I muddled through all of our immigration papers for the upcoming ports and barring any mishaps should be good to go!
Most of our time at sea is spent in class, reading, and eating, which somehow passes entire days fairly quickly.
Also an interesting thing happened last night. Normally at dusk the ship turns on all of its exterior running lights, most notably the chain of lights running across the top of the ship from bow to stern. However last night they were left dark throughout the night and rumor on the ship is that it’s because we don’t want to attract the attention of pirates. There are even scattered reports of people seeing another ship tracking us for a while but it’s impossible to tell if they’re just hearsay. But having seen all of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies several times I’m sure I could swashbuckler with the best of them should I need to defend the ship! Thar be pirates in these waters!
Don't worry Shane, you'll have plenty more macaroni opportunities. Instead of looking for pirates maybe you should be looking for UFO's(after your homework ;), they are easier to see when the ships lights are off eh? Hope you cross the equator during the day so you can see it!
ReplyDeletePS, if you add your current coordinates when you post your blog, we can update our map too! Smooth sailing and good luck with your bouncing objects.. Dad
YEA - another blog update! Take it easy Will Turner! Glad you like your classes and didn't have to change any. Also glad you have a shipboard family. That may help with down times...Have fun at pub night and Neptune day! How's it going with your roommate? Hope he doesn't make string cheese stick figures! Dad has a huge map and is plotting your course daily so we know where in the world Shane is! Lots of Love!!!!! Mom XOXOXO
ReplyDeleteWow!!! Shane I'm enjoying your updates and your new social scene. I can only imagine all of the new and exciting experiences you are having with your new social circles. It's great to know where you are on this planet! Lot's of Love. Aunt Cindy
ReplyDeleteP.S. It's hard for me to believe that I actually figured out how to respond to your blogs. SMILE.