A quick update:
Blog updates are probably going to be struggling - I can tell. The internet here on the ship is very limited. So I am writing these on a sticky and then posting as fast as I can so I don't take up too much internet time. Of course I could get online once I am in a port, but it's obvious that spending time in a cafe writing about a country without having yet been around and having a cultural encounter is pretty useless. So this will have to do for now, until I figure out how to update it more frequently.
We are a little more than halfway through our crossing of the Atlantic. It really makes you feel small when you sail day and night for 4 days with nothing but water in every direction. We have only seen a single cargo ship the entire time.
My roommate is a 6'8 guy from the Sudan. He speaks his native tribe language, Arabic, and English. He was thoroughly impressed with the few words I knew courtesy of the Rizkallas. We have stayed up talking late into the morning about all sorts of things already. I can tell already that these moments are going to be some of the most rewarding moments of the experience. He is actually one the most popular kids on the ship, being a gem because of his size, broken english, and dark, dark, skin color. But that only goes so far, and Sam being one of the nicest guys I've met so far takes his popularity status the rest of the way, all the way to the top. My board outside gets flooded with comments for Sam. I tell him to get his own board for his fan-club, and he laughs. He really likes me though, probably because we know each other the best on the ship. Nothing's better than when in a crowded room he comes up and puts his arm around my shoulder and says "sup roomy". Instant cool points right there for being so tight with "Sam the man".
When previous voyagers explained that the food gets repetitive, they were being misleading. The should have said the food is repetitive. The first implies that the food collectively, gets old after awhile; that the same types of food over and over can get repetitive. But the truth is, the food is quite literally the same thing over and over. They do not even try to hide this fact. Every meal consists of salad, pasta, potatoes, a meat, and soup.
Edit: todays meal did not have potatoes. There was great rejoicing.
Classes are going alright. I have a global studies class that everyone is required to take, 2 business classes with the same professor, and a community service type class. The professors have already assigned an amount of reading that is beyond what is physically possible to read in the allotted time. I have already come to accept that while school is important on this trip, it is not what's most important, and not by a long shot. Don't worry mom and dad, I'm doing my best, but let's be real here. Traveling around the world isn't the best studying environment; being locked in a room with coffee and textbooks is, meaning, we are out here to experience something greater than the satisfaction of good marks on a transcript come semesters end. I'm out adventuring the earth. I'm going to enjoy it, and enjoy the people I am with, to the fullest.
I am starting to gather quite a bit of friends; acquaintances and such. I would say I know about 40 people by name so far. I have a smaller group of friends deemed my "default pod" (the default people I hang out with, being most comfortable with so far). Some are already starting to seem like pretty serious friendships. I'm stoked
jw
ps: Sam just asked me if I saw the dolphins swimming along with the ship today. I missed them. Crap.
