Posts while at Sea

September 8, 2005
Well we have now completed two days worth of classes since we left Venezuela. Sailing away from the port of La Gauria, Venezuela was bitter sweet because we were leaving such an exciting and interesting place but we knew that we had Brazil to look forward to. It was interesting because when we looked ahead of us it was one of the darkest dark I had ever seen then when we looked back towards Venezuela all of the Shanty towns that looked so bad during the day were so beautiful watching the night lights dace up the mountain. We were also able to enjoy one of the traditions of semester at sea, they have someone onboard that plays the bag pipes as we leave the port. Which he doesn’t stop when the ship lets off the three loud blows, rather he just keeps playing on. In a way it almost seems kind of patriotic in the sense that our journey must go on regardless of the good or bad that we may be leaving in our wake. That same evening I had the pleasure to get to know my Strategic management/International Business professor and his wife in a more personal way outside of the classroom because they joined us out on deck for the sail away.
Then yesterday the first day back at sea was pretty interesting all of the non-cruizy connoisseurs who still didn’t have their sea legs started to get sick again. But even those of us who do had to readjust to the constant rocking kept almost all of us tired. It seemed like it took everything I had yesterday to stay away through my two classes. Although I did do some productive things yesterday such as working out as well as I did some laundry in the shower. I know your laughing at this but they only do laundry on certain days and we hadn’t had one yet. As you can see in the photo AJ and I are lucky to have the extra room in the Suite to hang things up. Later in the day while I was sitting out by the pool we passed really close by Trinidad and Tobago islands which are pretty close to Venezuela. Then later on last night we had an activities far where you could sign up for a number of different things. We signed up for the student Ambassadors program (or at least we are applying for it) there are several different things that this group does but the part that I am most interested is getting to meet and greet dignitaries at the airport and at the pier such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu which will be coming onboard in Brazil. We are also in charge of the Ambassadors Ball which is at the end of the voyage which is like Prom on the high seas.
Well I am going to finish a paper and then go sit out by the pool to work on finally being tan instead of that bright red color that I get at home. Tonight they are having a "sunset at sea party" with drinks and then tonight is pub night from 9 til 11 (or as they say on ship 21:00 to 23:00 hour) so that should be promising. Hope all is well at home I sure did enjoy reading the emails that were sent while I was in port keep them coming.
PS – and now that we have mastered the Salsa (yea right) the next one is the Samba in Brazil.
September 9, 2005
The past couple of days have been pretty interesting for me. Yesterday we passed around 2pm where the mouth of the Amazon river feeds into the ocean, we wondered if the waters would be darker from the silt in the river. But no the ocean water stayed as crystal clear blue as ever. Then tonight at around 5pm we passed the international date line which will be pretty cool. Usually they take the day off and do a bunch of celebrations, but they said because of needing to get things done for class we will have the festivities on the 20th so I will post more on that later. Although we did have a pretty cool outside barbeque out on the pool deck. It was setup buffet style with all the carvings and stuff so that was pretty cool.
The seas got pretty interesting starting late last night. Since our cabin is in the front of the ship we feel the motion a lot more, every thirty minutes or so I would flop up into the air when we would hit a huge wave and then when we would fall back down it would wake me up like someone was shaking me or something. The seas have been this way all day and have been making people who get sea sick feeling pretty sick. But I haven’t had that problem I figure if it is this way on the Atlantic oceans coast there is no telling what it will feel like in between Brazil and South Africa. On that note we have two more days of class until we arrive in Brazil the second of which I have a presentation to make, a quiz and a test so I should be pretty busy.
Oh, and AJ and I had lunch at the Captains table with the Captain and the Safety Officer. They had both come from the Luxury Radisson Seven Seas Cruise line before joining the semester at sea ship. The Captain really didn’t have much of a personality but the safety officer was pretty funny. All for now, I have to get ready we have a Ambassadors Intercultural Committee meeting tonight at nine then a pub night after that so it should be a lot of fun as usual. Talk to you guys later.
September 1, 2005
Well we have had a pretty interesting past couple of days. First the other night that I told you we were going to have the barbeque out on deck we did and it was so much fun. They had decorated it all up with all the fruit and vegetable sculptures like on regular cruise buffets and everyone was there. Then the next night AJ and I had the Ambassadors Intercultural Committee meeting that I had talked about earlier. Which we were both accepted to, AJ will greet the Embassy official when we arrive in Brazil tomorrow. And I chose to meet the Embassy officials from Hong Kong when they come on the ship later on in the voyage. And on an exciting note on our last day in Brazil Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu will come onboard and sail with us all the way to South Africa. I am hoping to pick up a book in Brazil to have him sign for a souvenir which would be pretty cool. Then tonight we had a pretty exciting poker game up on the 6th deck that got pretty interesting and I am proud to say I won it all. Well I am going to run, I know all this didn’t seem that interesting but I know I will have some good stories when I get back from Salvador and Rio de Janeiro.
Chow!!!!!!!!!