I slept like a ROCK last night. By midnight I was ready to collapse in my bed and sleep for a week straight, but unfortunately I had to wake up for class…Anyways, today was a “B” day for classes, which means I only had Global Studies. By the way – I have my first test next week on the day before we get in to port in Salvador, Brazil! Ah! After class I went to the computer lab to get my internet worked out and now everything works on my computer! I can access the wireless internet, get into public folders/resources on the ship, and print. Whoo Hoo!

LUNCH WAS AMAZING. It was TACO DAY! We all are hoping that taco day is a regular thing here on the ship, but I guess we shouldn’t get our hopes up yet. Regardless, it was delicious! Lunch was extra special because a group of us ate with our interport guest student, who is from Salvador, Brazil. She boarded the ship in Puerto Rico and will be sailing with us until we arrive in Salvador. It was nice to have a chance to chat with her so we could ask her questions about the infamous Carnival! Sounds like we will all be using disposable cameras because digital cameras either get swiped or people just lose them in the crowd. Brazil is our most dangerous port, so some of my friends and I scheduled a bunch of organized SAS trips so we can still see the city and experience the culture without worrying so much about safety.

Today marks the 6th consecutive day that I’ve been able to lay out in the sun! Semester at Sea is the best school EVER, haha. It’s getting so hot that you really can’t spend hours out in the sun because it’s just too intense. I believe we cross the equator in a couple days now?

Round 2 of being at sea is much better than the first. I did take some Dramamine last night and this morning but I’ve been fine. The only thing bad is that the ship’s rocking still makes me so sleepy! I’m trying to limit my naps…trying…

I sat in on the Food and Society class I’m trying to switch into today. The professor seems very enthusiastic and he has a cool accent (New Zealand, I think?). During class, I sat in the back with some of the lifelong learners (senior citizens on the ship) and we had a chance to talk…turns out that Donna went to Cornell and used to have a cottage on Cayuga Lake and Kate has a house in upstate New York close to Onieda (sp?)!

That’s about it…I don’t want to bore you too much with the little things happening on the ship. Basically, I’m having a GREAT time because I’m constantly meeting new people everywhere! Classes are starting to really kick off now, so that is good as well because they should be interesting.

I hope you all are enjoying the cold/snow!

P.S. I’m sitting out on the deck right now in a t-shirt and shorts. HA! It’s kind of scary looking around outside at night because all you see is blackness…We’re all alone in the middle of the ocean!

P.P.S. THIS IS IMPORTANT! There was a rumor going around the ship that they changed the rules and we would only be able to travel with SAS in China, otherwise we had to get back on the ship in Hong Kong and sail to Quindao…Well, we checked with the field program office today and the lady made a call to Virginia and told us that WE CAN TRAVEL INDEPENDENTLY! We have a group of about 5 of us (don’t worry, us girls are bringing 2 guys along…that should make you feel less uneasy about me exploring around China!) that will be going. The dilemma at this point is whether we should fly to Beijing or take the sleeper train. I personally would like to take the train to save money, but that’s also costing us time. We’re leaning towards the train though just for the experience in general and then to have the chance to talk to Chinese people…any thoughts?

One last thing…I had another Archbishop Tutu sighting! We were eating dinner tonight and saw him stroll in to get some food! He’s such a cute old man. No real conversations with him yet…