Life is Good :)

Life on the MV Explorer is great! I can lay outside on the pool deck and get my reading and assignments for school done..I dont think that will ever get old. Classes have officially started and I am excited about this semester. I like all of my classes so far and hopefully that will continue.

 

The ship has finally calmed down in terms of how rough the seas have been so thats a relief. It sucks when you are in class and you have to run out. Luckily it hasnt gotten that bad for me. I havent really gotten sick..I just fall up the stairs. As my dad would say, Grace was never my middle name :) Everyone has had to hold on to the hand rails to keep from banging into walls in some cases. It just looks like we are all drunk at times..it's kind of hilarious.

 

We have been finding things to do to keep ourselves busy, like we stayed up last night and played Spoons...or in our case Knives (it got a little vicious but thank god we were only using butter knives). And then Amy decided to start this "I'm going on a Picnic..." game. It was so confusing and it took me forever to figure it out. The guys caught on after a little while, but me and Mackenzie took until today at lunch to figure it out. I was so pissed that it took me that long. I would explain the game if I could but Amy would kill me...literally.

 

We have about 4 more days until we reach Spain and we spent last night planning what we were going to do while there. I think the first day we are going to tour Cadiz and then take a train to Seville. Everyone says that it is gorgeous and that we have to go there so I think we are. We might try to see a bull fight..but I'm a little nervous about that. It's so sad and I may be traumatized after seeing the bull be killed.

 

We are having a grand ole' time with Mackenzie, especially Ed. He has started a notebook full of "Mackenzie-isms" full of her one-liners. It is hilarious. She has definitely become the comic relief on this voyage.

 

 

 

A Dream Becoming a Reality

I'm finally on the MV Explorer and am having the time of my life. We set sail yesturday and that's when it all started to become a reality. This has been a year in the making and I am finally here. Amy, Mackenzie, and I have been having fun and making some new friends. Our parents told us, to make them feel better, to find some guys to have in our group so that they can be our body guards if needed haha and we did so they can feel much better about the situation.

We met Ed, who happens to be from Burlington, 10 minutes away from home, and he's really cool. We all went exploring the ship and ended up meeting Marcus, who is really nice and is actually the executive dean's son so he's been really helpful. Especially when it comes to learning our way around the ship and learning all  the ins and outs of the ship and what to do and what not to do in port. This is his third voyage so he's a good buddy to have. We are also hanging out with Ed's roomate, Tom from  Pennsylvania. So we are safe here, dont worry.

 

There are so many nice, friendly people here, so its not awkward when you go up and say hi and introduce yourself to everyone. We are all in the same boat ;) haha and it makes you feel more comfortable about the situation, at least in my opinion.

 

We had a whole night and afternoon of meetings and orientations which was LONGGGG and trying not to fall asleep was difficult to say the least. The highlight was when the medical staff stood up and started rapping, as a way to liven up the crowd. It was hilarious.

Then, we were introduced to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who is sailing with us this voyage. That was awesome to see him in person, and know that he is real haha.

 

Well everything is going great so far. We start classes tomorrow, we'll see how that goes.

 

 

 

We're in Canada!!

We made it to Canada and are just waiting at the hotel for our room to be ready. Amys dads room is loaded with all of our suitcases and everything. Its crazy! It's so foggy here but everyone says its getting better than it was yesturday. I think we're going to look to see where the boat is in a little bit :)
It's all becoming real. We're really on our way.
We were sitting in the airport this morning and met a bunch of people going on Semester at Sea and everyone is so nice so far. I had no idea how many people from the Boston area were going. I cant wait to see and meet everyone.

It's Almost Here!!

Hey everyone,

So it's almost here..we leave in 2 days :) It feels like it was just yesturday that we were applying and now we are finishing up packing and about to fly to Halifax!
Mackenzie got here last week and we have been having so much fun! I know that this trip is going to be the time of our lives.

Staying in Touch

MV-Explorer-Fall 2010 Voyage
ATTN: Name of Recipient
Port Agent Address (from link above)

This is the address to send us letters/packages. I'd love for anyone to send me some stuff!!

I will be updating this blog throughout this voyage and promise to keep you all updated while we're gone :)