Wednesday, June 22, 2011

5 DAYS TO BARCELONA!

I've been too busy to post for the past couple of days. Getting into a routine on the ship is really hard! One thing I have gotten into the habit of is working out in the mornings. There isn't a whole lot of gym equipment but the "lifelong learners" have priority from 5-8AM, so Melissa and I have been going between 6:30 & 7. I use the elliptical but yesterday, I was brave and decided to try the treadmill. HA! That was interesting. Running in place on the 'conveyor belt' proved ineffective when the ship was rocking back and forth. I don't know if I'll be treadmilling it again during the voyage....maybe when we are docked in port.
Today, I went on a tour of the "bridge" which is where the ship's controls are. The ship is on autopilot for most of the voyage...the captain only needs to control the ship during port arrival and departure. There are 3 crew officers whose job is just to stand near the front window of the bridge and look for things out in the ocean. They rotate every four hours. Can you imagine staring at the horizon for four hours straight? I can't. At night time, unless the moon is full and bright, they can only see what's in front of the ship with the radar. But the radar doesn't detect whales....poor whales. Since the ship was on autopilot, I got to put on the captain's hat and sit at the controls to take a picture :)
Last night, a bunch of us graduate students checked out 'Taboo' from the Student Life Desk & played in the Glazer Lounge (the bar area reserved only for Faculty, Staff, and Lifelong Learners). What fun! I had some really good sangria and I am really enjoying the fact that am not lumped in with the undergraduate crowd. It is nice to be viewed as peers of the faculty and staff. It has opened the opportunity for me to converse with all kinds of people on this trip.
But, I am starting to miss being at home and having the ability to talk with my friends and family. Sometimes, it is nice to be disconnected from the rest of the world, but I am just wishing I knew what was going on at home...so tell me what I'm missing! What have you all been up to?

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4 comments:

  1. AnonymousJune 23, 2011 at 9:18 AM

    ahhh I'm not even sure I'm doing this right but AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Now I know how all of my family and friends felt when I wrote from the ship! It sounds soooo amazing Ash! I can't believe you got to go to the bridge!! I can't wait to be a lifelong learner! Please come back with me ;)

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  2. ...June 24, 2011 at 3:55 PM

    Cathy.....YES!!! OF COURSE I WILL BE A LIFELONG LEARNER WITH YOU! One of our interport lecturers was the academic dean a few voyages ago. He and his wife will be leaving us in Barcelona, but they are soooo awesome. He's already recruited some of us to be lifelong learners the next time he sails as academic dean.

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  3. The Scholary MommyJune 25, 2011 at 10:14 AM

    Looking at the ocean for 4 hours straight is probably pretty boring, but its probably really cool to see the dolphin jump in front of the boat. That is cool that you got to go up there.

    Well like I told you before we were at Topsail this past week, had a great time. THe weather was great. I was telling Jackie about what you are doing, she works as a student advisor now so I told her she should look into Semester at Sea at some point.

    I'm at my mom's going home tomorrow. Then going up to Allentown for Nick's fam reunion next weekend. Nick is probably going to hang out with Dustin tonight, I'm going to stay back and chill. I miss you! But I love reading about your journey. love ya!

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  4. BromelJune 26, 2011 at 4:55 AM

    We are off to Trinidad today! I had my residency graduation on Friday and went to Evan's graduation yesterday. We thought our flight was 7pm today, but checked last minute last night only to find out we were leaving 7:50 am instead! Oops! Thanks for the gift! We miss you, love Bromel

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