It is Saturday, 9ish am and I am sitting in one of the very comfortable arm chairs waiting for my class to start. Guess what? Last night I wrote a very detailed blog outlining what happened on Wednesday January 12th-yesterday, Friday January 14th. I didn't think to save it or copy it and stupid email timed out when I tried to send it to my blog address :( I could not sit still and rewrite hours of writing. Actually I wanted to hurt somebody haha, so instead, I took a walk. Ended up hanging out in Malachi and Kyle's room for a bit. It was a great destressor although both of them kinda gave me the "duh" face haha. I had a blonde moment with that blog, I definitely won't be doing what I did yesterday everrr again. I haven't been keeping up with as I should so that's what sucked about finally doing so on my down time. Either way, it was a lesson learned. Stayed in their room talking for a few hours. We were actually in limbo because the ship had made a stop in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Unfortunately it was just to refuel since we will be sailing across the seas. The view at night was spectacular but during the day would have been better for pictures. It's interesting that the minute San Juan came into sight, we were immersed with sounds. There were frogs croaking and faint sounds of music being played in the city. It was definitely a tease being so close but yet so far since we were confined to the ship and it was essentially turned off. We or I should say those who had their cell phones on were able to make calls again. Everywhere I turned people were on the phone! i walked into my room earlier to my roommate crooning on the phone with her boyfriend so I definitely gave her the space she needed and about-faced. haha. One of my friends Megan asked if I was going to call my parents or anyone special and I had to catch myself. :( Womp womp. Taking this note in a different direction: breakfast is by far one of the better meals of the day. I seriously get sick when I think of skipping it because lunch and dinner are hit and misses. Although the breakfast I just had more or less consisted of a croissant, mixed fruit (I picked out everything but the watermelons and pineapples haha) and home fries or potato wedges. I didn't mention the eggs because while they looked like eggs, they didn't taste like eggs hahaha. I am 97% certain they are powder based product and the gooey, unnatural texture/taste confirms this theory. I prefer the omelet that they have every now and then because it hides the taste and discontinuity of the meat and "egg". Just walked into the Union for my first class of today. It is the mandated Global Studies. Everyone on the ship is enrolled in this class, but we are split into A or B days. I am stuck in class on Saturday but iI'll tack the Mon, Wed, Sat schedule rather than Tues, Thurs, Sun for the bulk of my classes. So my A days will only consist of one class. Right now, we are listening to the professor speak. It is crowded in here so I can't imagine how testing and things will go. Those who have no seats are standing around awkwardly, trying to get out people's way. But let's go back to what happened these past three days while I am willing to think back!

Friday, January 14th- I slept until 11ish because I had no class until 4:15pm. That felt amazing and I almost forgot what sleeping in felt like. Definitely a luxury considering how exhausted we are on a daily basis. The other thing is the drowsiness and sleepiness that comes as a token of being on a ship in movement so… personally I don't mind it at all. The best sleep I have had thus far has been on ship rather than land.d I knock out the minute I lay my head down. Yesterday I was very focused on getting what I needed done. I completed my additional field trips form and submitted it to the Field Office. This was probably ineffective since I now heard that we will get our requests by lottery rather than first come first serve. Womp Womp. The forms weren't due until this upcoming tuesday by noon so I guess I didn't get rewarded for my speediness haha. I really hope I do get everything I wanted though but I guess, I guessssss I wouldn't be too bad off exploring without any preplanned activities. Hey, everything happens for a reason and part of the attitude to be learned during this trip is to go with the flow more often. I went to my first class which was Music and Cognition and it dually taught by a husband and wife. One is a specialist in Music, the other is a specialist in Psychology so the class will be taught in that fashion. I thought it was an interesting class based on the description listed in the course outlines, and after the first initial one, this suspicion was accurate. We were played 8 examples on the violin. We then had to discern whether or not it was considered "music." That raised a debate regarding the interpretation of music and what constituted as music. Then we had the psychology aspect in that we had an experiment. Had to close our eyes and listen to an audio clip, then we got to watch it, and then we watched it the third time to see if as a result of the explanation and visual + audio aid, our comprehension of the clip changed. This is a highly effective exercise and we got the point to be made very quickly. This was the same way we viewed music or how we tried to process music and sound. Then I met with Amy to brief on the night's second sea meeting. One of the students on our floor came up to us and inquired about changing her room (she had one roommate) to a single. She was adamant about this decision even when we explained to her that it was not possible. All roommate changes would be made after Brazil. She kept saying how she was willing to pay for the single and she didn't care how much it cost… made me quite aware of the discrepancy of folks on the ship. She clearly had money to throw away. The "issue" she mentioned was completely fixable. As a previous RA, I picked up that she wasn't someone comfortable with confrontation. I asked her if she had that conversation with her roommate regarding the usage of her things. She was willing to drop a ridiculous sum of money for a single, instead of letting her roommate know that she was not used to or okay with sharing her personal items. She didn't even know her roommate's name upon questioning. She said she didn't want it to become more uncomfortable if she brought up that issue but it became very clear that the discomfort resided in her and her alone because she hadn't clued her roommate in about her feelings. Interestingly enough, I am relatively cool with the girl she she was referring to. Hmm. But we gave her the advice, it's up to her to utilize it. We also mentioned that there was an opportunity to talk about it due to the roommate agreement which would be due by Saturday at noon. She didn't seem as sure but hey, from now to Brazil she has an option of either speaking  up or avoiding the situation and coming up missing up short. Sea meeting #2 was successful. We make a great team. This time we gave details regarding Sea Council and Sea Olympics for which we needed two reps for our sea. The "fish" handshake was a riot. It definitely went over well and I think the handshakes Amy comes up with, differentiates us from other seas and certainly the structure of their meetings. Did I mention that I caved in and brought a pack of Twizzlers??? Honestly, I was salivating over those things! I am so regretting the fact that I didn't pack any junk food. I have somewhat of a Twizzlers addiction and I should have brought a case of them for times like these! The tinny pack sold iat the Piano bar is $1.20 for like, 6 tiny ones. I am so desperate at this point I may end up swiping my card for a few more throughout the semester. I am going to try and keep it at a minimum though since I am not trying to spend more money than necessary--and certainly not on ship junk food. Much rather it be done on food, realllll food once we port =)

Thursday, January 13th was a down day for me. It was not only excruciatingly long since it was the official day after disembarkation, but it was a day that I crawled inside of myself. Looking back, I guess I was pretty depressed or something. I didn't even realize that I was also wearing all black. I wasn't in the mood to socialize or chat with any friends- actually idly best to avoid em to be honest. I also missed lunch, dinner and I can't remember if I went to breakfast…. I think I did since we had to begin orientation by 9am. Anyhow, orientation lasted darn near all day. While we had a few breaks in between, there was a ridiculous amount of speakers and presentations. I didn't mind the Captain's so much because his British accent was lovely ';) hahaha. Otherwise, we were alllllll drained and somewhat annoyed out the lengthiness of the whole ordeal and the structure of the day. It didn't seem to sink in that we were all catching up on sleep and that we had a long day of madness the day before. But the Dean of Students, Sunny Lee said it was the last long day like that, and that was comforting. We also had to do a writing assessment which freaked us out since we were hearing about it for the very first time. It was mandatory and a bunch of jokers decided to skip out n it only to hear announcements with their names to report to classroom #5 and take it. Hahaha. It was a series of multiple choice questions based on reading passages, some grammar and verb usage agreement questions and then a writing prompt. Overall, not worth stressing over and went smoothly. We were split by our last names so it was kinda weird taking this exam in the Garden style eating hall, but it was spacious and got the job done. After that, headed back to my room. Did a lot of laying in bed and listening to the SAS explorer music channel. The familiar songs of pop and r&B made my life back at home not as far away, so comfort was something I guess I was searching for. I also did a lot of thinking regarding the message the shipboard counselor  talked about. She said that for many of us we will embark on an emotional journey. Actually it was a no brainer for that part. The part I was dwelling on was the timeliness she mentioned on the timeliness of this undertaking. Some will experience emotional unraveling early on in the process, midway and towards the end. I don't feel that I have had the ultimate experience (obviously there will be many more moments like this) but I definitely had a day of reflection and gloominess. It was as though I was finally addressing any underlying or weird mixed emotions about the whole ordeal. I can't say that it has really sunk in yet, but slowly but surely I am getting there. The other thing was the feeling of ultimate separation. I am always in transition in that I am constantly searching for ways to shed my old skin and shine light on my authentic self. With that includes placing myself in "uncomfortable" but manageable situations. Most people avoid going outside their comfort zones but I thrive on it. I am constantly seeking ways to overcome my own insecurities and discomforts… it can be a basis of how I view myself, it can be a focal point for honing into my ability to work effectively as a future psychologist. Either way, it is a necessary and ever winding journey. Watching students pour onto the floor, trying to fin their rooms was amusement in itself. The vulnerability was present and the eagerness to be experts although they had just gotten there. This very same attitude is the one I naturally have in life… kinda like the standards for growing up in New York Even if you don't know, you walk and govern yourself as if you do. This isn't to say that ignorance is the way to go…. Anyhow, RA duties include lounging around and heaping any frazzled folks find their rooms. I was running on little sleep because I had went to sleep the night before (Wednesday) around wish am, and had to wake up for breakfast at 6 am. Then the check in orientation meeting for work-study was at 7 am. We got back from hanging out (first walked to Senor Frogs but they had a cover charge of $10 and no one wanted to pay it since we knew they were taking advantage of the fact that SAS was primary business + they hadn't charged the night before or any other time, so then we ended up at Bambou which had better music but wasn't made known to everyone so we ended up leaving early). Then got back and worked on the bulletin board and hung up the magnetic name tags for my 63 residents. Boarding the ship (for everyone else) would begin at 8 am and would last until 2 pm so we would be busy for sometime. It was cool seeing everyone from the towne now on the ship but it was again, not my day. We also had our first sea meeting in which we met with all of the residents on the sections designated as Red Sea. It was a brief one so it went by smoothly. We also had our common reading group which are also called cultural reflections groups. Basically, the entire shipboard is required to read two books: Three Cups of Tea and The Poisonwood Bible.

Wednesday, January 12th- we were scheduled to leave the Bahamas by 5pm, but due to the snow storms in the east coast the ship decided to hold off until 8pm. I am happy I didn't experience any delays, I didn't know if that would be the deciding factor in whether or not this voyage would be possible .Had to be a significant amount of students unable to get here for the ship to wait though so there is power in numbers. It was exciting to board the ship for the very first time. Some people had went to see the ship tours and all of that stuff.. but it was a brand-new experience in total for me. I have never been on a moving vessel nor have I mastered the art of swimming so talk about chances haha. It was just my luck that the line I presumed was the back was actually the front so I slipped unnoticed and became the 2nd to board the ship. I had left around 11ish from the towne because there wasn't any clarity about the time of our meeting and whether there were any changes. Turns out there was, and we would be boarding from 12-2pm. That's what I mean by luck because the line was humongous. Had I had a ton of luggage or traveled with parents and friends, my entrance into the line would have been noted and I would have had to go to the back haha. Gotta say, that one duffle suitcase was enough work for me. It was a nuisance. Absolutely a nuisance. It made no sense to take a taxi because the taxi's look like mini buses, and that was just too big for just me alone. And it would cost me about $5 when it was merely walking distance. The only downside was the humidity, corroded streets and bustling pedestrians, the hill , and just narrow alleys and sidewalks. My freaking suitcase kept getting stuck in the cracks on the sidewalk and flipping over. At times I was dragging it even though it has wheels I thought wouldn't fail me! I a spectacle. I must have made many people laugh. I was hot and bothered by the time I reached the terminal to board the ship. Maybe getting in second was the reward haha.. I was a little concerned about turning over my passport and yellow fever card in exchange for my SAS ID. But I realized that's the better position to be in because if they lost either of the two, it would be on them hahaha. They are currently holding them to get the other visas' we would need since we were only required to have the first 4 of the countries of which we would arrive to. I unpacked in my room and it was all dandy. I was happy I hadn't added anything else to my bags because it was "just enough." I literally put everything away from my suitcase so that was fantastic. In our orientation, we met our Work study supervisors who I was sitting next to the whole time haha, and found out that there was only me, her and another girl who will be working together this entire semester. So it'll be a intimate experience and an opportunity to have one-on-one conversations. We all clicked really well and Alyssa, the other work study student whose position is program assistant, clicked really well. We worked on the bulletin stuff in our new office. Actually, we laughed the whole time and had lots in common. We printed all that we needed for the bulletin and then headed back to the towne to hang out with folks. It was our "last night" in Bahamas so there were a few plans floating around. But then we returned to the ship to sleep