From the Sea! I have so much to say!

This past week has been unreal; I do not know where to begin.   About a week ago, I left my home with few of my belongings that will last me for the next four months.  Since then, I have traveled to two different countries and had a great start to an incredible semester.  In the Bahamas, I spent two days on the beach meeting Semester at Sea students every second.  I ate fried Konch at the local fish fry, drank Bohemian rum called “fire in da hole”, played beach volleyball, and enjoyed the beautiful Caribbean water.  I had a beautiful moment writing in my journal, sitting on a ledge that looked over the crystal clear water.  I had a red hibiscus flower behind my ear and was soaking up the sun.  I wrote, “Life is good.  I am so excited for the journey that is ahead of me.   My future journal entries are going to be pretty awesome, not jus the content itself, but the places and situations in which I will sit down and write.  Anyways, back to enjoying my last day in the Bahamas.  It’s a great start to a great trip, looking forward to exploring the beautiful wonders of the world!”

I don’t even know how to describe my first couple days on the ship, so much has happened and I have been so busy that I have not had time to write!  

Excitement has filled every moment since I left California.  I keep questioning, “Is this real?  Ship life is pretty awesome; I do have to say I was least looking forward to it.  It’s basically a floating college campus with incredible professors, life long learners, approachable staff, and the most interesting students from around the world.  I have met amazing, like-minded people, the friendliest group of people you could imagine.  I have found great friends from Bucknell and CU Boulder.  My roommate is pretty awesome, her name is Kim and she goes to U of A. We have a lot of fun in our very tiny room.  Good thing I did not bring a lot of clothes or much of anything, this room is SMALL.  I eat every meal outside and most of my classes have a view of the ocean.  The ship rocks like crazy, many people have been sea sick…in my very first class a girl threw up.  We have all developed sea legs; it’s extremely hard to walk around without bumping into things or people.  It’s actually really funny.  We just crossed the equator and my poor skin has taken its first sunburn.  I am super stoked for all of my classes; they are incredibly integrated into our travels. 

My class schedule looks like this,

A day: World Religions, South Asia Music, Global Ethics

B day: Global Studies, Altruism and Social Justice

My professor for Altruism and Social Justice is an incredibly passionate teacher.  He has done amazing work around the world, especially in Nepal. He and his wife co-founded “Empower Nepali Girls”, an organization of students and faculty involved in preventing sex slavery among low caste girls.  I think the website is www.EmpowerNepaliGirls.org check it out if you get the chance.  Anyways, one thing I have figured out these past couple of days is that this is going to be a life changing experience for me.  I know that after seeing the world and interacting with it through an educational experience is not only going to broaden my horizons but motivate me to make a difference.

From the sea,

 Jenny