the bahamas

hi everyone! so here starts my semester at sea blog. i’ve been very busy since i arrived in the bahamas on monday the 21^st, and since internet time on the ship is limited (250 minutes a person for the entire semester) i probably won’t be updating everyday.

my plane landed in nassau at around 1 on monday, and i shared a cab to the docks with a girl from massachusetts who is also part of the work study program. though the majority of the SAS students boarded the MV explorer on wednesday, the 21 work study students moved in on monday.so we could get trained and help out with activities on the ship. im really happy that i am a part of work study, because i was able to get familiar with the ship before it got crowded. i also was able to become close friends (well as close as you can get in 3 days) with the other work study kids. my roommate, coretta, is also work study, and we get along great. there are people from all over on this voyage, and relatively few from the northeast. i’m glad though, since most of my friends from school are from massachusetts and now im meeting people from california, washington, virginia, and even puerto rico.

tuesday and wednesday were spent in training sessions and working scheduled events like the parents’ reception and normal student check-in. i’m really happy to be working in the student life office with three other work study kids. we’re basically the student council of the ship, and we help plan all recreational activities on board, like dances, the sea olympics, and student service projects. I have really great bosses, and i get to work closely with the resident directors and other staff. everyone who works on semester at sea is interesting and friendly, and i feel right at home. the unique thing about SAS is that we eat and live alongside the administration, staff, and faculty, so the whole program has a strong communal feel. and i’m sure it’s great for networking!

while we weren’t working, my group and i got to hang out in nassau and on paradise key. one night we went to senior frogs where everyone was from SAS and we had lots of fun dancing. the next night we went over to the atlantis on paradise island. i had never heard of it but it’s a huge hotel/casino with the largest aquarium in the world (or so i was told). it’s ridiculously fancy and expensive, and HUGE! we walked around the aquarium and through the underwater passage way in the predator tank, where there were lots of sharks and really big fish. after that we took a cab back to nassau and had some chonk fritters which were delicious.

check-in day way absolutely nuts, with 730 students waiting in line and boarding the ship from 8 am to 1 pm. my job was standing in the stairwell and directing them, so i got to meet a lot of people. yesterday was spent in orientation meetings where we discussed safety, field trips, and academics. today was the first day of classes. i had two: “global studies,” which is mandatory for everyone on board and discusses the upcoming port of call, and “orientals and primitives: representations in art,” which is an anthropology class. we arrive in san juan, puerto rico, early tomorrow morning, and we spend three days there.

the ship is beautiful, much nicer than i imagined. we have room service, and waiters in the dining area, where part of the seating area is out on the deck! i also lucked out on my room. i was originally going to have two roommates, and the three of us were going to share a room meant for two, the reward being a cheaper cabin price. but someone dropped out within the last week, so the third roommate was located and now coretta and i have a relatively big cabin with a window. woohoo!

this part’s for you mama: i took a free yoga class with about 30 others out on the deck as the sun was setting last night. it was great, especially with the fresh sea air whipping through while we were doing breathing exercises. i’m signed up for another tonight and i’m writing this on a lounge chair on the top deck. the food is surprisingly good and the beds are actually comfy, i can definitely get used to this! but most exciting are the ports of call, so i will update again after my stay in puerto rico. the one disappointment so far is that i will miss the super bowl. there’s no t.v. and we will be at sea on february 3^rd (also my mom’s birthday). oh well, i guess i can deal since i saw every other game of the season. and i’m sure there will be updates every few hours online. i hope it’s not too cold back in the northeast, and of course i send my love to everyone!