If it ends with "it," you probably shouldn't do it.

Day 3 - 1/14


        Writing is literally the last thing I feel like doing right now, but I promised myself that when I had time I would try to write every day, so I’ll give a quick overview. Had my first classes today – Global Studies, World Religions and Music and Cognition. They were all awesome and interesting. In between classes I went ot the gym  - you’re supposed to sign up a day in advance but I just showed up and no one was signed up for the stairmaster so I jumped on for a half hour which was nice. Tonight was the first night we were able to drink alcohol (two drinks either beer or wine at dinner) which was relatively exciting. After dinner I went to a lecture on called “Architecture and Slavery” given by one of the professors on the boat on how the structure of different buildings in Jamaica and Africa tell the story and history of slavery in the 1800’s, it was pretty interesting. After that I hung out with a couple of my friends and we just kind talked and told silly stories and ran around. It’s weird having absolutely nothing to do – no tv, no movies, no internet, no nothing. No one even has speakers so if we want to listen to music we have to gather around a little computer (usually mine because it’s the loudest & has the best music).
        That’s about all I have to report. I promise more insightfulness hopefully tomorrow, but if not than definitely Tuesday after dominica.

Day 4 - 1/15

Hey guys! This is a long entry, so if you don’t have much time here is a quick overview:

- They don’t feed us and class is good
- I joined the Indian Singing Ensemble! – videos to come
- Dominica tomorrow!
- Stay healthy, wear a condom and don’t eat shit
- Sign language FTW
- My French press is making me an elitist
- I love you!

          While we are at sea, we have class every day regardless of the day of the week to make up for the time we spend in port.  We only have each class every other day though, on “A days” and “B days.” Today was my first B day.  For my first time on the ship I go to sleep in which was nice. I got out of bed around 10:30 and hung out with Ashley for awhile as she was just getting back from her global studies class (I have mine on A days).  At around 11 I went out, met a few of my friends on the deck and then we all went to lunch together.  I have been having a hard time getting the whole eating thing down on this trip.  They have meals only at designated times – Breakfast from 7am-8:30, lunch from 11:30am-1:pm and dinner from 5:30pm-7:00.  They have a snack bar which is open all day, but there is literally nothing there with any nutritional value – the healthiest thing would have to be peanuts or twizzlers.
          Anyway, during each mealtime I try really hard to be healthy, meaning I’ll have a big plate of salad and a little plate with a small amount of meat or pasta and a roll.  This is great, but then I am absolutely STARVING by mealtime. I could barely make it through my last class today because my stomach was growling so loudly and I was so hungry I thought I was going to pass out. I am avoiding food from the snack bar though because I want to try and stay healthy. When we get in to port tomorrow I am going to try and acquire some healthy snacks for my room.
          After lunch I went to my Newswriting classs aka Journalism 101. It was fun! I’m excited to learn more about the field and try to figure out if it it something I’m interested in or not. There was one boy in the class who answered every single question and thought he knew everything which he probably does on paper but whatever.
After class I did some readings but the highlight of my dad however was at 4:15, when I had the one and only elective offered on the ship – Indian Singing Ensemble.  The class was an eclectic mix of two Indian girls, a couple of book warm types, three life long learners, a computer geek looking boy, two girls that looked to be around 5 and 7, myself and my friend Asan. I was ecstatic to have a friend in the class and he is the only person I’ve met so far that likes music more than I do so I was thrilled he was there.
          The teacher is an old Indian man who is absolutely hilarious! After every single thing he says he either laughs loudly and freely or has a gigantic smile and looks around the room as if he is about to laugh.  He had us all take of our shoes and sit in a circle on the floor because it’s “the Indian way.”  I guess there is a certain instrument he played in India in order to accompany the songs we would sing but he doesn’t have it any longer. Instead he had an ipod with speakers which he had just bought specifically for the class and he was amazed by it. Apparently a knew program just came out that does exactly what the instrument does.  We spent today singing the Indian version of Do Re Mi and learning about Indian culture and his family life.  As soon as I get better perhaps I’ll post some videos of the songs I learn.
          After singing, Asan and I got dinner and discussed our plans for Dominica.  I am going snorkeling in champagne reef tomorrow – it is named that because there is a volcano near which causes the water to have a lot of bubbles and look like champagne! The fish and coral is supposed to be below average but I am from Ohio with Lake Eerie, so we’ll see.  Following snorkeling the plan is to return to the boat, change, then meet some friends at the pier at six to go out to dinner at local restaurant then hit the bars – let me have it, it’s my first port.
          After dinner, we had our pre-port briefing.  We had a Dominican girl speak to us about the history and culture of Dominica as well as tell us about some fun things to do in Dominica.  The ship doctors, a married couple named Dr. Bill and Dr. Laura gave a hilarious health speech. They started it by doing a fake ad for a “Full Body Condom” – apparently the only way to be fully protected from all of the diseases present in foreign countries. Dr. Laura put a snorkel on and Dr. Bill covered her entire body in a plastic bag.  Then, they told us the only thing us the in port “rules:”

Don’t get bit – by bugs and mammals
Don’t get hit – by cars, they’re fast!
Don’t do it – sex in foreign countries = STDs galore
Don’t get lit – drugs are bad, mmmk?
Don’t eat shit! – E. Coli, anyone?

Any more questions, feel free to ask.

        Following the lesson a bunch of us went out to “our deck “ – the area of the ship where we hang out - for our unofficial “Sign Language Club.” There is a deaf girl on the ship, Sheree, and her translator – I unfortunately can’t remember her name.  But anyway, we sat out there talking about sign language, learned the alphabet, learned your mama jokes and dirty words and also funny things about sign language. The funniest thing is how you say the word “boob” – you do the letter B with both hands on either side of your breasts so that it spells b-o-o-b.  Also, “China” and “Communist” are practically the same thing and only an inch apart so you can quickly say “Communist China.” Oh, deaf people.

        That’s about it for today. Sorry this was so long! Thanks a lot to everyone whose been emailing me, it really brightens my day! Without facebook or the internet (barring my quick status updates – they’re expensive!) email is really all I have. If you’re reading I would really appreciate a quick comment on an entry or two just so I know I’m doing this in more than self-interest! And if you had something relevant to say or an actual comment, even better.
        Oh yeah, one more thing! I’ve finally got my French press going. To my knowledge I’m the only one on the ship who has one and I definitely feel infinitely superior drinking delicious Seattle Sureshot coffee while everyone else has the disgusting ship coffee. Yeah, I’m a coffee snob.  It’s amazing, I was drinking the ship coffee for the first few days and today as soon as I had my French press going – I think I’m going to name it, if you have any suggestions let me know – I was WIRED. I think I make my coffee a bit strong. Ok, that’s it.  And if you want to picture me right now, I’m sitting amidst the greek area of the ship drinking coffee with my French press, UW coffee cup, water bottle, journal, and sony headphones blasting Modest Mouse… haven’t changed yet ☺.