It has been a busy two days, and I am absolutely exhausted. I got all settled in on the ship yesterday... I unpacked all my clothes and got all situated in my cabin. I'm loving my roommate and it's just the two of us in our room so that is incredibly nice! Today we had a horribly looong day of orientation. We had to sit and listen to lecture after lecture for seriously 10 hours. I am not kidding. It was pretty brutal and I fell asleep more than a handful of times during it. I blame that on the ship though... it's constant rocking back and forth just rocks me right to sleep every time I sit down. I feel bad because some people are so seasick, and I love it! Not only do I feel like I'm constantly a little tipsy because we are all stumbling around the ship, but I sleep like a baby whenever I want to (and don't want to)! At least I sleep well during the night, but I don't know how I'm going to stay awake during my classes! We start classes tomorrow morning... my first class is at 8 a.m. (5 a.m. Colorado time), and considering we have to set our clocks an hour forward tonight I'm only going to get a couple hours of sleep if I go to bed right now. The internet is so slow here that I can't upload any pictures or even use skype... I'm bummed, but oh well! I'll be sure to go to an internet cafe when we get to Barcelona to upload some photos and skype you all! We don't get there for another 8 days though, and until then we have class everyday, but I'm looking forward to all my classes and will let you know how they all are!
I have a minor problem...
Or maybe it's a major problem. I made it to the Bahamas today, but my luggage did not. Should I still be freaking out or was crying in the middle of the airport enough? It's nearing ten o' clock here, and I'm still waiting. Maybe I'll wait to freak out if it's not here by the time I board the boat in the morning. The lady at the airport said it might be on the next flight, which means that it should be here right about now. Keep your fingers crossed!
I'm Out of Here!
Well I've finished my classes and packed my bags. I'm all ready to leave in the morning. I'll be off to the airport at 5 a.m. in the morning, and will be headed to Nassau, Bahamas! I can't believe the day is finally here... I've been waiting for this day to come for a year, and now that it is here I don't know what to feel. I'm excited, scared to death, nervous, EXCITED, sad, happy, and did I mention EXCITED?!
A Word of Advice
This evening while my Dad and I were eating dinner together on the back porch, we were talking about Semester at Sea and about how I leave in a WEEK. Well, a week and two days, and I'm starting to freak out. I haven't really had a lot of time to think about SAS since I have been so incredibly busy with trying to finish school (one more week of school and three finals to finish still!), but all of the sudden this afternoon it hit me that I leave in a week and two days, and now I'm freaking out. However, over dinner my Dad gave me some great advice to ease my nerves. Here it is: Dad's Advice For Semester at Sea:
-Stay on the boat when the boat is moving
-Have fun
-Be a friend to those who are drunk and stupid and help them
-Don't be shy
-Let your gut be your guide
-Be adventuresome
-Let loose
and last but most importantly,
-Be safe
He said that if I stick to these words of wisdom that I will be just fine, especially if I follow the first word of advice. Well let's hope that I don't forget to stay on the boat when the boat is moving and jump off.
One Month till Departure!
I just looked at my calendar, and realized that I leave for Semester at Sea in 28 days. Can you believe that? 28 more days until I'm out of here. This is overwhelming... I still have SO much to do, and don't have any time to do it. Mid terms are finished, which means I have four more weeks of school. That means that I have four weeks to finish everything I need to do. I have four weeks to finish shooting my children's book, put together the layout of this book, and get it professionally printed. I have four weeks to put together and edit a video. I have four weeks to get four more portfolio pictures approved, and four weeks to start and finish printing my alternative processes portfolio. And then, lets not forget about having four weeks to start and finish packing. But, even though I'm incredibly overwhelmed with everything that I have to do in these next four weeks, I'm extremely excited for take off.
Classes on the MV Explorer
Yesterday registration for classes on the boat opened. Opening at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, I got on to register a little late. I guess I should have gotten up at 6:30 am to register, but I had no idea that some classes would be so popular. By the time I logged on, at 8:30 mountain time, two hours after registration opened, all of the classes I wanted to take were already full. But I decided to make the best of it. Even though I am incredibly bummed out that I do not get to take drawing, and that I am now stuck taking really hard classes that won't even transfer to the Art Institute (I am a photography major after all), I still think I will learn a lot. In fact, I better I learn a lot considering my textbooks cost almost three hundred dollars. So here are my classes: Global Studies Art of the Mediterranean, Water Supply and Sanitation, and I figured I better take Elementary Spanish... After all I am going to Barcelona!! Even though I didn't get my first choice classes, the more I think about the more I think I will enjoy the classes I got into. Hopefully I will learn a lot! I am now one step closer to leaving for SAS!
Here it is...
Here it is... my first post on this blog. As June 16th (the day I leave for Semester at Sea) is fast approaching (Okay, I know that it is only March 21st and I have about three months until I leave) I am frantically trying to get ready for my amazing trip. I have so many things to do that I decided blogging already would make me feel more at ease. Don't get me wrong, I am INCREDIBLY excited for this voyage. In fact, I am so excited that I can't sleep at night because it's all I can think about. When I applied for Semester at Sea (last June) I felt like it was ages away. But here I am, already starting to get ready for my voyage. I have researched the countries and cities I am going to visit (I feel like you can never research enough when going to places you have never been... maybe I should research some more?), I have talked to my Uncle Al and Aunt MK who used to live in Turkey and have found out what I should see there, what to be weary of, what to eat, and what to do in Istanbul (I wish I had connections like this for every country I'm visiting), I have turned in 3 of the 10 forms I have to fill out by the beginning of May, I have made a doctors appointment (this is required... my doctor has to fill out some forms saying I am healthy enough to travel around the Mediterranean and lets not forget about the numerous shots I have to get before I am allowed to leave America), I have booked my plane ticket to the Bahamas and have booked a hotel room in the Bahamas for the one night I am there before boarding the MV Explorer on June 17th.
Now all that's left to do is:
Fill out and mail in 7 more forms
Think about packing (What am I going to pack? What luggage do I need? Does someone just want to do this part for me?)
Go to the doctors and get all the necessary shots for my voyage
Start and finish Spring quarter of school (this is stressful to think about, considering my last day of the spring quarter is supposed to be on June 17th and I'm leaving for the Bahamas on June 16th... lets pray that I can take my finals early!)
Register for classes on the boat (I'm thinking I will take drawing, what do you think?)
Register for field programs for the 8 countries I am going to be visiting.
Book a plane ticket from Boston (this is where we embark back in the USA after our voyage) to Denver.
Buy a new camera lens (this probably isn't necessary... but I sure do want one!)
Buy a fisheye adaptor for my lensbaby (this probably isn't necessary either, but I sure do want it!)
Buy some luggage and maybe a new camera bag (this is probably necessary)
And I know that's not all I need to do, but at least that's a start for now. Good thing I will have a week off of school next week for Spring break so that I can maybe start getting some of this stuff done. I'll keep you updated as June 16th gets closer, and please follow me on this amazing trip I am so thankful to be going on!