First Days at Sea

The trip has finally begun. A process more than one year in the making is beginning. This voyage started with two incredible days in the Bahamas, with some of the best friends anyone could hope for. Then on Monday, it was time to board the ship. We had to stand in line for hours, but eventually got on. The first minor setback: the geography professor suffered some sort of serious medical emergency and could not come. All geography classes were cancelled and I had to pick a new class on the spot. I got into an anthropology course on human evolution. I am not sure how it will transfer, but I will worry about that when I return. We could then go to our cabins. I am in the last room on deck three, and because of how the beds are arranged; I am the absolutely farthest back man on the ship. My room is a quad, for of us share two connected rooms. Two guys live in the first room, where the door is. Then there is a side door that leads back to my room. We live in a glorified closet, or known better as the bat cave. The two guys in the first part of the room are cool, but I am really getting along well with my direct roommate, Matt from Ohio.
The rest of the first day was a serious of introductions to various people and programs of the ship. The captain introduced himself and the major officers. Then the administration and academic deans talked about the program itself. After dinner was free time, and the feeling is as if everyone is a freshman again. Any feelings of nervousness and apprehension where quickly put off by our surroundings. Everyone was elated as we pulled away from the dock in Nassau. The evening was filled with stupid fun. We played a bunch of games, like at some sort of summer camp, but no one is worried about feeling immature, at least not in my group of friends. We started out about a dozen strong, made up of us from the same hotel. Our new roommates were quickly added in, and some more friends. We have been roaming the ship in a group ranging from at least six, sometimes up to twenty or thirty. Shipboard life is incredible.
Day two is ending as I am writing this. We had to adjust our clocks for the first time tonight. I expect to be doing that fairly often. Today was more meetings and lectures that took up most of the time. We had a few breaks. The best part was that despite being in the Atlantic Ocean, we were able to watch the inauguration of Barack Obama as our next president. No one was allowed to be on the internet during that time, so that the entire network could be used to download the live feed. Later at night, we had a celebration in the ship’s main room. The crew prepared patriotic cakes and a champagne toast for everyone. It was one more incredible moment that this trip is already filling up with.
Tomorrow classes begin, and hopefully everything will get into more of a steady rhythm. We will no longer have planned things to do throughout the day. Once class is over there will be more free time. Hopefully we can begin making plans for Spain, now only a little more than a week away.