Funny Things About Living On a Ship

I’m bored with reading for class, so I thought I’d share some of my musings to those who’ve never been on a floating university.

Did you know that there’s not a lot of water actually kept on the ship? They have a reverse osmosis machine on the ship to get us water to shower with and drink and put in the pool and stuff. Pretty cool. It also means the water tastes like chlorine most of the time, so I tend to stick with juice.

Ships apparently also have a tendency to rust, like anything else out at sea. So at any time of the day you can hear tapping and sanding as the rust is picked of and sanded down. It’s kind of annoying, but you get used to the banging in the middle of class.

Professors live 2 floors above me on the ship. So it’s not weird to see them sitting at lunch across from you or standing behind you in line. It worked out in our favor last night that we knew a bunch of faculty and staff for the scavenger hunt. We didn’t win, but we did have a lot of fun.

I have a steward. His name is Georges or something close to that and he’s really nice. He makes our beds, takes out the trash, cleans the bathroom, and brings us fresh towels every day. He also picked up our laundry last night. It’s expensive, $5 a bag, but they only do it every week and a half or so I think. It’s weird though, having someone else make my bed. I automatically sort of make it when I wake up, but then he comes and fixes it all up really pretty. It’s kind of weird, we had cleaning people in the freshman dorms that’d clean the bathrooms and stuff, but that was only for the public areas. I don’t even think my mom ever made my bed. I’m not sure I can get used to someone doing that.

It’s also weird to be at lunch and have someone come over and take away your dirty dishes. There’s no dishwasher you take them to like at normal college. The servers come take it all away, and bring around drinks and desserts if you want. I suppose I should be used to it because that’s what I did all summer at the RLA, but still, I’m not used to being waited on.

My body has absolutely no idea what time zone it’s on. Since arriving on the ship, I’ve been through Pacific time, Alaskan time, and presently Hawaiian time. According to the dean, we’ll be passing through 23 time zones during our voyage. Basically that means turning the clocks back almost every other day while at sea. We will in effect have no September 7^th, because we’ll be crossing the International Date Line that day and skip it. Weird. So, if you have a birthday on the 7^th, Happy Birthday in advance, cause I’ll be missing it!

Other than these musings, there’s not much going on here on the MV Explorer. We’re 5 days out to see and about 700 miles away from Hawaii. We should reach Honolulu around 8am on Sunday. I can’t wait!!

First Days of School

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes. -- Marcel Proust

You might think being at school on a ship is totally different , but apart from the rocking ship, there's really no difference to a regular classroom.

Today is B1, which means the second rotation of classes. Yesterday was A1, and tomorrow is A2. We have class every day here on the boat except for when we’re in port, which means no weekends. It’s not really a big deal though about the weekends though cause with the A’s and B’s it’s really hard to remember what day it is anyways. I just figured out that today is Thursday.

Classes are interesting so far. I’ve only been to one of each though so we haven’t done much more than just gone over course objectives. The teachers all seem really interesting and excited about their subjects, which in turn makes me excited to be there.

Global Studies has by turn been the most boring class I’ve been to and a slightly interesting class. Yesterday was just a review of what to expect in the world out there. Lots of talk about nations and states and why they’re different. Thanks to Dr. Clemmons’ Geopolitics class last year, I already know that stuff, so it was hard to concentrate. Today was better though; we talked about how Americans perceive themselves and how the rest of the world, especially Mexico and Canada since we just left Mexico, perceives us. Pretty heavy stuff for the first days of class to talk about how everyone thinks we’re greedy and overbearing Americans, but then they clarified that by saying most people like Americans individually, they just don’t like our government and our politics. I can live with that. I don’t think I’ll like everyone else’s government or politics so I suppose it’s a fair trade.

Terrorism sounds like it’s going to be my favorite class. We get to learn all about the history of terrorism, the different terrorist organizations, how they operate, whom they target, and the psychology behind it all. It’s a harsh reality when you’re professor stands in front of you and tells you the terrorists aren’t crazy, they’re not poor and desperate, they’re smart and they’ve thought this all out. But it’s important we understand it in order to combat it.

My history class seems like it’s going to be interesting. We’re going to focus on case studies of different revolutions and rebellions in the different countries we’re visiting and how those have shaped the modern world.

Haven’t been to Astronomy yet, but I’l keep you all posted.

Seasick on the High Seas

"Why is it that traveling Americans are always so dreadful?" — Dodsworth by Sinclair Lewis

I have never felt so awful in all my life. Yesterday was perfectly fine, just a little rolly. This morningwhen I got up though, not so good. Today we had orientation stuff, all together in one big room. And the rollingness of the ocean and the closeness of all the people really got to me and a lot of other people too. Even the saltines and the fresh air didn’t stop me.

We still have orientation stuff for the rest of the day. I sure hope this is over with soon, cause I can’t handle being sick like this for the next 100 days.

*After lunch*

So I went to lunch cause I was feeling a little better, and after successfully eating a roll I decided to try some pasta and chocolate pudding. Seemed pretty bland to me, nice and smooth to eat. All was well till I tried to go back to my cabin. At least I successfully made it back, but I got sick again. So I spent the rest of my time between lunch and orientation lying down again. We just finished up with our Intro to Global Studies upstairs, which I made it through. Now I’ve got a half hour break or so between it and our safety course. I’m thinking I might just skip dinner.

Ensenada

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." -- Lao Tzu

Left the hotel this morning at 8:30 and got on a shuttle headed for Mexico.
We had to cross the border of course so we stopped there for a minute. I
was surprised how quickly we went through security there because of how many
of us there were. So then we traveled the rest of the way towards
Enseneada, about an hour and a half drive. But here's the thing about
Mexico:

Mexico is brown.

Everywhere we looked in Mexico, it was dirt and mud houses. It got a little
depressing until we got to the ocean. And then oh my gosh. It's
B-E-A-U-T-IFUL here along the water. The houses are so interesting and so
bright and the water is sooo blue. I didn't know they made ocean that blue.
It almost makes up for all the dirt.

Getting onto the boat was only a little harder than getting into Mexico. We
had to go through metal detectors and have our carry-ons searched. Then we
had to exchange our passports for ID cards to get into our cabins and stuff.
Once we got on the boat, We stood in line for about an hour going through
registration. They had to check our tuition status, registration, trips,
health paperwork, everything. Then finally we got to go to our cabins to
meet our luggage, which was being searched by Port Security. I was on one
of the earlier shuttles so I got to the room way before my roommate did.
It's little, but it doesn't seem so bad. We have 2 beds, a desk, a table, a
closet, a bathroom, a tv, and a mini fridge. And the best part: we have a
porthole!!!! Right now it's showing the dock, but soon we'll be able to see
the ocean.

I've been exploring the ship all afternoon since I'm unpacked. It's pretty
amazing. Dining rooms with good food (already tried it), a spa, a library,
pool, lots of decks, weight room, student union, school store, and lots of
decks overlooking the ocean.

There's orientation stuff tonight, and a life boat drill soon, so it'll be
pretty busy now. I can't believe I'm actually here!

San Diego 2

So I leave in the morning. 8am to be exact. And then drive 2 hours across the border to Ensenada, Mexico to board an amazing boat. I saw it. It's sitting in the harbor just a little ways down the road from my hotel. We drove by and took pictures of it earlier because I was so excited. And now I'm freaking out.

3 months!?!?!?!?!

What am I thinking?? Can I really be going away for 3 whole months, from all my friends, from my family? I've never been so out of touch in all my life. I know I'll still get email and stuff, but not to get 3 or 4 phone calls every day just seems unreal.

And when was I allowed in countries like Egypt and India?? Don't they know better than to keep people like me out?? Well apparently the State Department didn't do such a hot job checking me out before I got my passport, cause they just unleashed a wreaking ball.

See now you know I'm freaking out, I'm babbling. Every thing's going to be fine. I'm going to see amazing places and it's going to be great. Okay, Kara, just breathe a little first.

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." -- Helen Keller


Now I just have to get everything to fit back into my bags by tomorrow morning.

San Diego

I'm FINALLY on my way!!!! I'm actually in San Diego! In California!! Let me tell you though, it wasn't easy getting here. We flew to Atlanta for a connecting flight to San Diego. Unfortunately, we got stuck in some major storms in Atlanta, and ended up hanging out in the airport for 7 HOURS. There was lightning and thunder everywhere! So the plane we were supposed to catch at 8pm didn't actually take off till about 3am. At least we met some nice people in the airport.

So once we got to the hotel at about 9 Eastern Time, 6 here, we fell asleep till about 10 here. Then we were off! We drove up to the San Diego Wild Animal Park! It was sooo cool! They had all kinds of animals, and a train ride right through all the habitats so we could see them up close. And they had at least 5 giraffes, including the tallest giraffe in the US, Ivan!!! I really wanted to jump out then to see them. They also had an elephant exhibition, where the little girl elephant did tricks like walk on a balance beam, catch sticks, and pick up heavy logs. No rides were offered though... guess I'll just have to wait for my camel ride.

It's super hot here though, over 90 degrees. The animals weren't too keen on moving around, and neither are we, which is why mom and I are sitting this lovely Panera in Escondido. Horray for air conditioning!

Sending Me Mail

A few people have asked me about how to get mail to me while I'm away, so I've written up a list of the ports and addresses for sending stuff. Please don't send packages because they have to go through customs and I guess usually don't come out the other side. Make sure you put the addresses on stuff exactly as I've written it here. And for those of you who don't want to use the postal services, there's always email that I will be checking as I can.

HAWAII:
Suggested Airmail Date: August 26

Kara Branby
C/O: MV Explorer
September 02, 2007
Inchcape Shipping Services
521 Ala Moana Blvd.
Suite 256
Honolulu, HI 96813


JAPAN (2 Different ports)
Suggested Airmail Date: August 29

Kara Branby
C/O: MV Explorer
September 12, 2007
Inchcape Shipping Services (Japan) Ltd.
Asahi Seimei Yokohama Honcho Bldg.
36, Honcho 4-chome, Naka-ku, Yokohama
231-0005 JAPAN

-AND-

Suggested Airmail Date: September 1

Kara Branby
C/O: MV Explorer
September 15, 2007
Inchcape Shipping Services (Japan) Ltd.
Kenryu Bldg. Room 502
6, Kaigan-dori, Chuo-ku
Kobe-shi, Hyogo-ken 650-0024, JAPAN


CHINA:
Suggested Airmail Date: September 5

Kara Branby
C/O: MV Explorer
September 19, 2007
Shipping Dept (11th Floor)
Penavico Qingdao
21 Wuxia Road
Qingdao, 266002, P.R. CHINA


HONG KONG
Suggested Airmail Date: September 9th

Kara Branby
C/O: MV Explorer
September 23, 2007
Inchcape Shipping Services (HK) Ltd.
Units 1802-1805, 18th Floor
N 3 Lockhart Road
wanchai, HONG KONG - CHINA


VIETNAM
Suggested Airmail Date: September 13

Kara Branby
C/O: MV Explorer
September 27, 2007
General Forwarding Agency
5th Floor Osic Building
8 Nguyen Gue Avenue
D. 1, Ho Chi Minh City, VIETNAM


THAILAND
Suggested Airmail Date: September 20

Kara Branby
C/O: MV Explorer
October 4, 2007
C.F. Sharp (Thailand) Co., Ltd
3366/36 Soi Manorom, Rama 4 Road
Klongtoey, Bangkok 10110, THAILAND


INDIA
Suggested Airmail Date: October 1

Kara Branby
C/O: MV Explorer
October 15, 2007
J.M. Baxi & Co.
3rd Floor, Clive Battery Complex
4 & 4A Rajaji Salai
Chennai 600 001, INDIA


EGYPT
Suggested Airmail Date: October 17

Kara Branby
C/O: MV Explorer
October 31, 2007
Worms Alexandria Cargo Services
47 Sultan Hussein Street
Khartoum Square, Azarita
Alexandria, EGYPT


TURKEY
Suggested Airmail Date: October 24

Kara Branby
C/O: MV Explorer
November 7, 2007
c/o ITS - International Travel Services
Buyukdere cad. Kaya Aldogan Sok. No:12/1
34394 Zincirlikuyu, Istanbul TURKEY


CROATIA
Suggested Airmail Date: October 31

Kara Branby
C/O: MV Explorer
November 14, 2007
ATLANTAGENT
Obala Stjepana Radica 26
P.O. Box 40
HR - 2000 Dubrovnik, CROATIA


SPAIN
Suggested Airmail Date: November 9

Kara Branby
C/O: MV Explorer
November 23, 2007
Perez Y CIA S.L.
Ecuador, 2
11007 Cadiz, SPAIN

Postcards

I leave in 9 days!!!!!!! I'm soo excited, and sooo nervous.

Let me know if you want a postcard, and your address, cause otherwise I'll completely forget, and I know how cool it is to get postcards from far away places (don't worry Kim, you're already on my list!).

Updating

Just and update on how things are going:

I ordered my books this weekend, all 11 of them. Thank goodness SAS ships them right to the boat, cause there's no way I'd be lugging those across the country!

I went shopping for some travel gear. I am now the proud owner of lots of synthetic clothes that wash and dry quickly! I also got a new pair of Merrils. I love them! They're brown and lime green and go with all my new stuff!

I sent off my check and picks for SAS trips from Hawaii through India. A little over $1,000 worth. Thanks to everyone who is helping me out on the cost of this, especially, Mr. & Mrs. Shantz, Uncle Gordon & Aunt Barbara, Art & Candy, Susan Lloyd, and Grandma and Papa! I really wouldn't be able to do this without you!

Only 26 more days till I set sail, and I still have sooo much to do! I'm pumped!!!!