Rockin’ the Ship (Not to be Confused with Boat)

May 22, 2012

What a blur! I didn’t want to make this blog too wordy, because you know how they say a picture is worth a thousand words, but I don’t think I can keep it down! I’ve been doing so much, and my pictures hardly encompass it! Never thought I’d say that…

First classes were today. I hardly slept last night because of the rocking of the boat (I expect I’ll do much better tonight, after I’ve had a day to acclimate and get my sea legs!), so I was tired this morning, but guess what comes with my tuition…UNLIMITED COFFEE!!! I can drink it till I drop. Literally.

No worries, I only had my regular TNT mug size (for those that don’t know, I have Titan and Terra all over my travel mug).

My class is the ecology of inclusive education, and I’m so glad I decided on that one! There are 9 students, and everyone is so interested in the subject, it’s nothing like normal school. We’re separated into “family groups” of 3 students each, and those are the people who will be my study buddies and my group project partners. One is a girl my age, and one is a teacher and a mom (she brought her kids with her! Lucky kids…). I feel like I’ll learn a lot in this class!

After classes, I went to lunch and picked a random table to sit at. It was a group of 3 (later joined by a fourth) voyagers that were a part of the road scholars, who aren’t in the classes but have the opportunity to be passengers instead. Toni and Bill are from northern California, and own orange orchards (so different from our apples!), Joe is from Florida (but originally from NY), and Camelia (not sure about spelling) is actually an LLL (Lifelong Learner) from Chicago. I really enjoyed talking to them over lunch about books, movies, education, pets, travel, and so much more! We really covered the board with that one. I saw Bill and Toni again just now, they were checking the “you are here” computer while I was typing this, and promised to read my blog (Hi Bill and Toni! :) when I told them they were in it.

Talk about a small world. Boat. Ship. Never call it a boat (still getting used to saying ship, voyage instead of cruise, deck instead of floor, forward instead of front, aft instead of back, and then of course port and starboard—my room is in the port aft section of deck three, and it’s right over the engine!).

I mentioned the “we are here” computer: it’s actually a GPS in the library window (the library is really awesome), and it has an updated map that shows exactly what latitude and longitude we’re at. I can’t show a link, but I did take a picture of the screen from an hour ago!

Currently even with Bologa, Colombia’s capitol

See? I’m actually studying! It's a voyage, not a cruise

I’m absolutely having a blast. I’m trying to save up some stories, but it’s hard not to blurt everything out at once! I’ve made friends with the student store cashier, the photographer, the librarians, and a bunch of voyagers of ALL ages. Can’t wait for a new day! I plan on waking up to see the sunrise with some friends tomorrow.