Back to the High Seas

Day 43 – Today was quite a bizarre day. I awoke at the usual time of 0720 but was not motivated enough to go get breakfast and stumbled to class. In a daze I struggled through one of Professor Hunt’s always interesting warfare classes. He must’ve picked up on the fact that most of us were seasick exhausted excuses for students as he let class out 15 minutes early.

Global today was also only half length and attended by a skeleton audience. I think the fact that the two professors usually responsible for running Global Studies are temporarily off the ship may have had something to do with it. The great thing is that for the next week all of my A days will start at 0920 meaning I get to sleep an extra 80 minutes!

After Global I took some Dramamine as I was finally having my first bout with seasickness. Unfortunately it was drowsy and induced me into a dream-like state where most of what went on in my World Lit class went right through my skull and out the other side. Luckily that class ended early too so I took advantage and had a glorious 2 ½ hour nap that FINALLY rejuvenated me a bit. I spent the rest of the evening with Robyn, Kate, and Kait and we planned our final set of trips for this voyage!

I can’t believe we’ve already been on this trip for 6 weeks and I am already sad how fast it is going… Though I am really starting to miss friends and family and the comforts of home, I also know that going back will be quite an adjustment and I think I will go through cabin fever having to stay in one place for so much time. This experience has definitely hooked me on traveling though and there are now so many places I not only want to see but feel I will someday.

Day 44 – Today I enjoyed the extra hour and a half of sleep granted by the absence of professor Good and awoke to an excellent play in Global Studies about India’s problem with killing and aborting female infants and fetuses written by Kate. India today has a severe shortage of women because of the strong preference for male children.

On a lighter note, today was finally a nice day so I got some sun with Robyn. It was another one of those days where not much seemed to happen but the day went fast anyway. Although we did get a wonderful surprise of today being Taco Day. Taco Day is the rare occasion where the food is something to look forward to and cherish eating. I had always heard about Taco Day but I never realized it would become the legendary holiday it now is. I also enjoyed watching Life as a House with Kate.

Day 45 – Today was another usual day at sea. I’ve managed to start stashing the grape jelly packets they have at breakfast in an attempt to improve the quality of PB & J toast that all too often is the only appealing food at mealtime. Yellow Sea had our chant practice this evening in preparation for the Olympics tomorrow. It should be a lot of fun! I will be representing Yellow in Tug O’ War and Ping pong so hopefully I’ll do well!

Day 46 – Today was the Sea Olympics! The chant we worked on last night was good for 2^nd place in the opening ceremonies. We also got a bronze medal for our Tug O’ War efforts losing only to the eventual champion Caribbean Sea. Unfortunately though my Ping Pong skills leave much to be desired and my partner Kelsey and I were eliminated in the first round. Overall though it was a great day after everyone had a full day of activities including Flip Cup, Slippery Twister, Synchronized Swimming, Water Relay (People put on wet clothes swim across the pool and take the clothes off for the next person in the relay), Scavenger Hunt, Photo Finish, Potato Sculpting, and a few other events. The evening ended with a hilarious lip syncing competition and at the end of the night Yellow was 3^rd place out of 10. Not too shabby!

Day 47 – Its officially winter again! Yesterday we crossed the equator back into the Northern Hemisphere. But its definitely not time to put on the jackets as rumor is India will be in the low 100s. I don’t quite buy that but I think low 80s is a definite possibility. Today was also interesting because I had a family dinner with my extended family and my “Uncle” Dan pointed out that this year we will experience 367 days in 2008 s we had a leap year, and will cross the international dateline in one direction. I wonder how many people can say that!? Tonight was also the crowning of Mr. SAS and our winner, the ever quotable Chinese student Chi was well deserving of his victory. He had a hilarious moment in the Q & A section where he said he has a girlfriend at home but its not a big deal at all and he LOVES American girls! Funny stuff…

Day 48 – Today we had our India logistical preport and I am brimming with excitement about this intriguing country. I still can’t fathom that tomorrow we will actually be in this country. I think it will be a life changing experience and I can’t wait! Someone on the ship asked if I’d seen 3^rd world before and after I replied no they said I’m in for a trip!