FIRST POST from the ship!
Hello finally from Semester at Sea(SAS)!!!!!!!!!!
So sorry about how long its took to write this email, I have been so busy lately and the internet is like a dollar a minute. Anyways, so much to say! Ok lets see if I can summarize the past week into a somewhat non-novel length email… Im going to arrange this so you can scroll if you want to which ever section seems interesting, or you can just be a good friend and procrastinate whatever homework or work you have and read the whole thing. :)
Right now, its about 1130pm, we just left Puerto Rico about an hour ago, and are headed on our 6 hour journey to Brazil. The ship is GEORGOUS!! Holy crap do I feel so incredibly lucky. Let me rewind a bit though.
TWO DAYS IN BAHAMAS:
I arrived in the Bahamas Tuesday (Jan 17th), late afternoon. Met some SAS students in the airport(my huge rolled up world map gave me away), and chatted with them about our excitement for this voyage. I ended up meeting about 30 people during my two days in the Bahamas before we boarded the ship. We did NOT stay at the Atlantis, however, we went there our second day and used our friends pass to get into all the beaches and activities for free. J Everyone we met was extremely friendly, I was really happy to meet such nice people just ready to have the experience of a lifetime.
FIRST DAY ON SHIP:
There were two board times for the ship on Thursday, mine was 8-10am. A bunch of us knew the line would be insane, so we got to the pier at 730 thinking we were being smart and would beat the crowd. WRONG. The line was already the length of the building and beginning to wrap around it when we arrived. Needless to say, we waited an hour and a half until we got into the building, went through customs and security, and were on the ship by 915am. There were so few people on the ship it felt like a private tour. We walked around the whole ship, its only 3 semesters old, so basically BRAND SPANKEN new. The ship is 7 floors(a regular cruise ship is like 13), so not nearly as big as a cruise ship, but still pretty damn big. Its fresh paint and pretty much brand new everything. We have two dining rooms, 3 outdoor decks with pools and lounge chairs, outdoor bars and snack/pizza bars as well. There are 3 or 4 lounges, about 7 classrooms, a wicked small library and internet facility, and the “union”, which is the main room which seats 600 people. There are 468 students, about 30 adult passengers, all the faculity, staff, and their families if they wanted, and the crew, for a total of 1000 people. Anyways, the union, is where we have our class that everyone takes and hold talent shows, guest speakers, etc. The staff is by far the nicest staff Ive ever met( better than any hotel, cruise, anything Ive ever experienced). When I say we are spoiled, I mean we are SPOILED. To give you an idea, tonight, at dinner, one of the staff saw I was nearing the end of the dinner line getting my food, so he grabbed my silverware for me and napkin, grabbed my tray from me, asked me where I wanted to sit, put my tray down, pulled out my chair, asked me for my drink order, and then cleared my tabled when I was finished. They do this for EVERYONE. Its INSANE. I felt so ridiculous having him do it, but its their job and they take pride. Everyday our cabin steward makes our bed, gets us fresh towels, vacuums, and cleans our bathroom and shower. EVERYDAY. We are literally treated like royalty on this ship.
Anyways, back to the first day. After I got on and toured the ship, I unpacked, (yes my room is small, if you’ve ever been on a cruise ship you know what im talking about, however, I was able to fit both 70 pound pieces of luggage filled with all my crap comfortably into all the drawers with no problem). Haha must have been all the practice living in that closet last year with Elissa!! Lol. Around 5pm, everyone was on the ship and we were sailing off into the distance waving to the parents and friends on the pier. I had about 3 hours of relaxation and happiness until the sea-sickness set in.
SEASICK:
That was the last time I would see my friends until Sunday. That’s right, I was in my room bed stricken for 3 days due to sea-sickness. They had to finally give me a shot and bring me room service to get me to eat I was so dehydrated and un-nourished cause I couldn’t leave my bed without feeling nauseous. I had no idea my body would respond so poorly. Needless to say, Sunday I managed to get out of bed and felt a thousand times better. I laid out on the deck and reassured all my friends that I had not died or fallen over the ship like many had started to rumor(rumors are like but holes on this ship I swear). I had missed ALL my classes, ALL orientation, I felt out of it. My friends from the Bahamas were really nice and helped me meet a lot of people and get acquainted with everything again.
PUERTO RICO DAY 1:
Monday morning, thank GOD, we arrived to Puerto Rico. I have been here before( came here when I was 16 with my mom on a cruise). I was so damn happy to be on land I think I was the first person off the ship. We had the secretary of state of PR come on the ship and give us a diplomatic briefing which was really cool and interesting, he even have a bodyguard(haha not sure why I thought that was worth mentioning but anyways). First day we just walked around and explored old San Juan, went to the beach, and then hit up the local bars afterwards. Although many students had Spanish i high school, most had forgotten, so I became everyones best friend being that I was just in Spain for 4 months before this. I must say, I probably spoke more Spanish in these past few days then in all 4 months in Spain combined! Haha. The people here are much nicer and more patient when you speak, they don’t have the stupid lisp and don’t have other silly Spain only grammar rules. We went to this bar Senor Frogs, with basically the entire ship of students ended up. It was fun dancing and meeting people, but the best part was the last hour and half when the locals showed up and they changed the music from Hip hop to Spanish salsa, merenge, and local bands. My friend is Puerto Rican and had her cousins there, so I danced with them all night and showed off all my newly learned espanol moves. :) haha.
PUERTO RICO DAY 2:
Second day I didn’t do too much during the day, but at night went on a kayaking tour of Bioluminescent Bay. Basically its this organism that glows at night, only 5 places in the world have this species in the water. It was a CRAZY trip to say the least. I had never been in water at night, not alone kayaking through like a 6 foot wide opening in the ocean with NO LIGHT and I mean NO LIGHT but a little glow stick on the back of the kayak in front of you. I cant believe we all made it through that without tipping over. We eventually got to the middle of the inlet where the luminescence was. Now, if anyone knows me, they know that I as TERRIFIED of “icky stuff” as I say. I refuse to go into the water unless I can not only see the bottom, but there is nothing there that scares or grosses me out. Well, not only could I not SEE the water, being that by this point it was 11pm, but there were catfish, icky stuff, and alike in the water. Needless to say, I said, this voyage is about going beyond your limits, so, I got into the water for the first time in my life and sucked it up. I swam around, literally glowing in the water. It was one of the coolest things Ive ever experienced. If you have ever seen the movie The Blue Lagoon you know what im talking about. Then we all decided to lay on our backs and float, so we could look up at the sky with all the stars, and then look around as our arms waved through the water illuminated. It was gorgeous, this like blue green shine on our whole body and any area we disturbed with touch or movement. We ended back at the ship around midnight and I called it a night. I did that trip independently because I did not end up getting a spot with SAS, and was glad I made the extra effort to do it.
PUERTO RICO DAY 3:
Today I ate lunch and then from 1-7 went Kayaking again on a SAS sponsored tour. It was about an hour and a half ride there and back. We went kayaking in the most beautiful ocean, to a private beach. We tossed a football around (I was very happy to show off pro football throw that I learned by my fav football boys, haha such a dork I know.) I quickly stopped this however when I saw a very attractive Puerto Rican tour guide chillin in the ocean(hey, porque no?!?). We ended up talking for about 2 hours about basically everything, and about 15 minutes into the conversation I ended up making him speak in Spanish to me and I responded in English so we could help each other out with our languages. It was really fun, I missed the Spanish and was impressed by how much I remembered. Time quickly flew by, and soon enough we were paddling off and saying goodbyes to our newfound friends. I ended up taking some pics with him and some others and exchanging emails. Prolly never talk to him again but it was a nice gesture for him to ask. Im an international heartbreaker what can I say, lol jk jk. Came back to the ship just in time for dinner, shower, and have been doing all my reading and assignments I missed cause of being sea-sick. We had to book the rest of our big trips, so I spent a lot of time with friends trying to figure that stuff out.
MY TRIPS PLANNED FOR THE SEMESTER:
Well, Puerto Rico is over, so that leaves 9 more countries.
Brazil- a 3 day hiking adventure in the brazilian highlands and diamond mines, a service visit there as well.
South Africa- Safari, Robben Island( the cell of Nelsen Mandela), a service visit, and probably skydiving(but im not sure yet cause in still a bit scared).
Mauritius- Nothing really here, its only 3 days and its basically a beach island so will probably relax, do some horseback riding, snorkeling, etc.
India- Doing the Taj Majal and other important sites.
Vietnam- not planned yet.
Hong Kong- doing hong kong for a day and then doing a 3 day trip to Bejiing.
Japan- not planned yet.
Im EXTREEMLY excited for everything. Cant wait to report on all my adventures.
MY NOTE TO YOU:
So, I miss you all terribly. I hope that your classes are well, that the bars are even better and that your missing me most. :) I miss my family very much, I love you all very much. Please take care of yourselves. Write me back when you get a chance.
ALL MY LOVE,
Sara :)
So sorry about how long its took to write this email, I have been so busy lately and the internet is like a dollar a minute. Anyways, so much to say! Ok lets see if I can summarize the past week into a somewhat non-novel length email… Im going to arrange this so you can scroll if you want to which ever section seems interesting, or you can just be a good friend and procrastinate whatever homework or work you have and read the whole thing. :)
Right now, its about 1130pm, we just left Puerto Rico about an hour ago, and are headed on our 6 hour journey to Brazil. The ship is GEORGOUS!! Holy crap do I feel so incredibly lucky. Let me rewind a bit though.
TWO DAYS IN BAHAMAS:
I arrived in the Bahamas Tuesday (Jan 17th), late afternoon. Met some SAS students in the airport(my huge rolled up world map gave me away), and chatted with them about our excitement for this voyage. I ended up meeting about 30 people during my two days in the Bahamas before we boarded the ship. We did NOT stay at the Atlantis, however, we went there our second day and used our friends pass to get into all the beaches and activities for free. J Everyone we met was extremely friendly, I was really happy to meet such nice people just ready to have the experience of a lifetime.
FIRST DAY ON SHIP:
There were two board times for the ship on Thursday, mine was 8-10am. A bunch of us knew the line would be insane, so we got to the pier at 730 thinking we were being smart and would beat the crowd. WRONG. The line was already the length of the building and beginning to wrap around it when we arrived. Needless to say, we waited an hour and a half until we got into the building, went through customs and security, and were on the ship by 915am. There were so few people on the ship it felt like a private tour. We walked around the whole ship, its only 3 semesters old, so basically BRAND SPANKEN new. The ship is 7 floors(a regular cruise ship is like 13), so not nearly as big as a cruise ship, but still pretty damn big. Its fresh paint and pretty much brand new everything. We have two dining rooms, 3 outdoor decks with pools and lounge chairs, outdoor bars and snack/pizza bars as well. There are 3 or 4 lounges, about 7 classrooms, a wicked small library and internet facility, and the “union”, which is the main room which seats 600 people. There are 468 students, about 30 adult passengers, all the faculity, staff, and their families if they wanted, and the crew, for a total of 1000 people. Anyways, the union, is where we have our class that everyone takes and hold talent shows, guest speakers, etc. The staff is by far the nicest staff Ive ever met( better than any hotel, cruise, anything Ive ever experienced). When I say we are spoiled, I mean we are SPOILED. To give you an idea, tonight, at dinner, one of the staff saw I was nearing the end of the dinner line getting my food, so he grabbed my silverware for me and napkin, grabbed my tray from me, asked me where I wanted to sit, put my tray down, pulled out my chair, asked me for my drink order, and then cleared my tabled when I was finished. They do this for EVERYONE. Its INSANE. I felt so ridiculous having him do it, but its their job and they take pride. Everyday our cabin steward makes our bed, gets us fresh towels, vacuums, and cleans our bathroom and shower. EVERYDAY. We are literally treated like royalty on this ship.
Anyways, back to the first day. After I got on and toured the ship, I unpacked, (yes my room is small, if you’ve ever been on a cruise ship you know what im talking about, however, I was able to fit both 70 pound pieces of luggage filled with all my crap comfortably into all the drawers with no problem). Haha must have been all the practice living in that closet last year with Elissa!! Lol. Around 5pm, everyone was on the ship and we were sailing off into the distance waving to the parents and friends on the pier. I had about 3 hours of relaxation and happiness until the sea-sickness set in.
SEASICK:
That was the last time I would see my friends until Sunday. That’s right, I was in my room bed stricken for 3 days due to sea-sickness. They had to finally give me a shot and bring me room service to get me to eat I was so dehydrated and un-nourished cause I couldn’t leave my bed without feeling nauseous. I had no idea my body would respond so poorly. Needless to say, Sunday I managed to get out of bed and felt a thousand times better. I laid out on the deck and reassured all my friends that I had not died or fallen over the ship like many had started to rumor(rumors are like but holes on this ship I swear). I had missed ALL my classes, ALL orientation, I felt out of it. My friends from the Bahamas were really nice and helped me meet a lot of people and get acquainted with everything again.
PUERTO RICO DAY 1:
Monday morning, thank GOD, we arrived to Puerto Rico. I have been here before( came here when I was 16 with my mom on a cruise). I was so damn happy to be on land I think I was the first person off the ship. We had the secretary of state of PR come on the ship and give us a diplomatic briefing which was really cool and interesting, he even have a bodyguard(haha not sure why I thought that was worth mentioning but anyways). First day we just walked around and explored old San Juan, went to the beach, and then hit up the local bars afterwards. Although many students had Spanish i high school, most had forgotten, so I became everyones best friend being that I was just in Spain for 4 months before this. I must say, I probably spoke more Spanish in these past few days then in all 4 months in Spain combined! Haha. The people here are much nicer and more patient when you speak, they don’t have the stupid lisp and don’t have other silly Spain only grammar rules. We went to this bar Senor Frogs, with basically the entire ship of students ended up. It was fun dancing and meeting people, but the best part was the last hour and half when the locals showed up and they changed the music from Hip hop to Spanish salsa, merenge, and local bands. My friend is Puerto Rican and had her cousins there, so I danced with them all night and showed off all my newly learned espanol moves. :) haha.
PUERTO RICO DAY 2:
Second day I didn’t do too much during the day, but at night went on a kayaking tour of Bioluminescent Bay. Basically its this organism that glows at night, only 5 places in the world have this species in the water. It was a CRAZY trip to say the least. I had never been in water at night, not alone kayaking through like a 6 foot wide opening in the ocean with NO LIGHT and I mean NO LIGHT but a little glow stick on the back of the kayak in front of you. I cant believe we all made it through that without tipping over. We eventually got to the middle of the inlet where the luminescence was. Now, if anyone knows me, they know that I as TERRIFIED of “icky stuff” as I say. I refuse to go into the water unless I can not only see the bottom, but there is nothing there that scares or grosses me out. Well, not only could I not SEE the water, being that by this point it was 11pm, but there were catfish, icky stuff, and alike in the water. Needless to say, I said, this voyage is about going beyond your limits, so, I got into the water for the first time in my life and sucked it up. I swam around, literally glowing in the water. It was one of the coolest things Ive ever experienced. If you have ever seen the movie The Blue Lagoon you know what im talking about. Then we all decided to lay on our backs and float, so we could look up at the sky with all the stars, and then look around as our arms waved through the water illuminated. It was gorgeous, this like blue green shine on our whole body and any area we disturbed with touch or movement. We ended back at the ship around midnight and I called it a night. I did that trip independently because I did not end up getting a spot with SAS, and was glad I made the extra effort to do it.
PUERTO RICO DAY 3:
Today I ate lunch and then from 1-7 went Kayaking again on a SAS sponsored tour. It was about an hour and a half ride there and back. We went kayaking in the most beautiful ocean, to a private beach. We tossed a football around (I was very happy to show off pro football throw that I learned by my fav football boys, haha such a dork I know.) I quickly stopped this however when I saw a very attractive Puerto Rican tour guide chillin in the ocean(hey, porque no?!?). We ended up talking for about 2 hours about basically everything, and about 15 minutes into the conversation I ended up making him speak in Spanish to me and I responded in English so we could help each other out with our languages. It was really fun, I missed the Spanish and was impressed by how much I remembered. Time quickly flew by, and soon enough we were paddling off and saying goodbyes to our newfound friends. I ended up taking some pics with him and some others and exchanging emails. Prolly never talk to him again but it was a nice gesture for him to ask. Im an international heartbreaker what can I say, lol jk jk. Came back to the ship just in time for dinner, shower, and have been doing all my reading and assignments I missed cause of being sea-sick. We had to book the rest of our big trips, so I spent a lot of time with friends trying to figure that stuff out.
MY TRIPS PLANNED FOR THE SEMESTER:
Well, Puerto Rico is over, so that leaves 9 more countries.
Brazil- a 3 day hiking adventure in the brazilian highlands and diamond mines, a service visit there as well.
South Africa- Safari, Robben Island( the cell of Nelsen Mandela), a service visit, and probably skydiving(but im not sure yet cause in still a bit scared).
Mauritius- Nothing really here, its only 3 days and its basically a beach island so will probably relax, do some horseback riding, snorkeling, etc.
India- Doing the Taj Majal and other important sites.
Vietnam- not planned yet.
Hong Kong- doing hong kong for a day and then doing a 3 day trip to Bejiing.
Japan- not planned yet.
Im EXTREEMLY excited for everything. Cant wait to report on all my adventures.
MY NOTE TO YOU:
So, I miss you all terribly. I hope that your classes are well, that the bars are even better and that your missing me most. :) I miss my family very much, I love you all very much. Please take care of yourselves. Write me back when you get a chance.
ALL MY LOVE,
Sara :)
posted by Sara at 1/27/2006 01:59:00 PM
2 Comments:
That's great reading hun!
One question: what do you get credit for this semester? Me and Krysta are wondering! Krysta says to make sure to send some hotties her way!!!! You know the address.
Lots of love, Astrid
Wow Sara, it sounds like you're having a blast! I'm happy for ya. Now all the guys of the world can see the gorgeousness that is you. ;-) Hope to hear from ya sometime! Have a great time! I know you already are, but keep it up. Get back here eventually though. The US of A misses ya! Muah! :-*
Jon (Roth, if you weren't sure) ;-)
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