On the ship!

"The rewards of the journey far outweigh the risk of leaving the harbor."

~unknown

The voyage across the Atlantic has been unbelievable! The ship is stunning and everyone is so nice. It's amazing how seven days ago I was a mere traveler with my sister, and now I truly do feel as if we all are a family. Studies are incredibly rigorous and challenging, but I'm trudging along. This faculty is most definitely world class. All of the professors have PhDs and the Global Studies professor is by far the most amazing educator I have ever encountered in my life (No offense to all of my previous teachers).

Here's some fun info about everyone on the ship:

There is about 1000 people on the ship

200 (approximately) are part of the crew

721 students

34 staff

31 professors

20 spouses of faculty/staff

19 children

16 life long learners

20% of the students onboard are from California

3 are from San Francisco State

3 are from UC San Diego

We have two dining halls, nine classrooms, a medical clinic, a computer lab, a library, a salon and wellness center, a workout room, and a large union. There's a ton more of stuff, but that gives you an idea. The ship is kept immaculately clean the entire time. Our rooms get cleaned everyday and they do our laundry for us too! The food could be better, but considering how much they have to make in such a small amount of time, I think they are doing pretty well. My, oh my can this ship rock back and forth! The first few days at sea were rediculous. So many people got sick. Watching people walk side to side in the hallways was absolutely hilarious. Samantha was pretty dang sea sick the whole time. I, on the other hand, was fine and enjoyed the feeling of re-learning how to walk. The clouds were out for the first few days, so people weren't outside much. As we got closer to Spain, the more sun there was and the more we felt like it was summer. One of my favorite memories was when we saw dolphins trailing in the wake of the ship and playing with each other. There was a whale off in the distance too, which made the experience even cooler.

The classes are really awesome but equally difficult. I'm taking Democracy and its Critics, Global Studies, and Ethics and Human Rights in World Affairs. I love all of them. Democracy is really enjoyable because I'm kind of obsessed with political theory, and there is a lot of it in there. The teacher is young and very engaging. He has the same east coast accent as my last theory professor too. Ethics is pretty fun. My professor is also the academic dean on the ship, so sometimes you can tell that his mind isn't always there. However, were reading one of the books he wrote which I think is very awesome. It's really neat to finally read something your professor has written as opposed to them only reading what you write. That class is going to be the most challenging. I can already tell, but I have faith that I will pull it off. Global Studies blows my mind every single day. Alex Nalbach is an absolute genious. I have never encountered someone so knowledgable, engaging, funny, and passionate in my entire life. I feel like every class is like going on The Magic School Bus. He makes me feel like I am really there and he makes pop quizzes feel like game shows. Un-be-lievable! I am going to film one of his classes so I can show you guys. Every teacher should take notes from Alex Nalbach. He is the pinnacle of an educational instructor.

As far as the social aspect on the ship, I really am beginning to enjoy myself. It was weird at first, but we've all settled in. I volunteer every other day while at sea with the 0-5 year olds. They are the cutest little things you ever did see. We read stories together, and play games with parachutes and balls, and the other day I painted their faces. These 19 kids really do breathe life into the ship, and every second with them is precious. I also am in Students for Service Organization which finds ways to build a community on ship and create awareness on issues. We celebrate birthdays for students, have a gratification week where we find ways to thank the crew faculty and staff, and we are also planning an Involvement Symposium. The symposium is basically an educational day on how students can get involved in organizations to help form and change the world around them. We have students speaking on behalf of Americorps, peacecorps, human trafficking issues, and many more. During the symposium I will be doing a presentation on Invisible Children and the war in northern Uganda. I really am very excited. Invisible Children is going to send some dvds to me in Greece so that I can show some of the videos to the students. That is probably one of the most exciting things I am looking forward to. (By the way, Invisible Children just had our lobby days in DC in June 22nd and 23rd. You should go to invisiblechildren.com to see what happened!) The hang out time with other students has been really awesome too. I've made lots of friends, and still continue to meet more each and every day.

Well, I suppose that's it for now. I can't wait to tell you all about Spain! Hope everyone is doing fantastically! Don't forget to go look at my new pictures and videos!

Here's to living life!

Brooke Wojo