(yawn) (yawn) Still in the Amazon (yawn) (yawn)

Just got back from the Union. I had to sit through a “drink responsibly” workshop. I couldn't remember whether or not I had completed the mandated alcohol questionnaire prior to boarding the ship, and the consequences were pretty steep so I decided to sign the sheet and be safe than sorry. It was a waste of time, but amusing. It consisted of the very familiar ice-breaker where we came up with terminology to describe levels of drinking. Then we had to put them in the order of intensity....then it all centered around the notion that being responsible and drinking would differ among each individual but we could agree on some characteristics. (Yawn). Again, I was just attending this workshop because it was the last call to fulfill that requirement. Plus, if you hadn't taken the quiz/attended, you could get dock time in the next port. In case I didn't mention it in previous posts, you absolutely do not want dock time. Dock time is a killer. Before each port we have a pre-port meeting where we are briefed on everything about the culture. It's critical that we attend (actually who am I kidding, it's mandatory). But trust me, you wouldn't want to miss it with the amount of information circulating in that moment. So anyhow, there is ship time and there's disembarkation time. Ship board time is always two hours earlier than actual disembarkation. However, as you may suspect, you technically should be back earlier than ship time because of the number of folks on this ship. The first time you are “late” 1-10 minutes you get a warning. Now “late” even consists of those folks who were standing in line, but swiped in their ID's a minute/10 minutes after the scheduled “ship board time.” Anyone from 11-15 minutes get 3 hours dock time. 16-20 minutes is 6 hours dock time. 21-30 minutes is 9 hours dock time and so on and so forth. Dock time has got to be humiliating...especially since there is so much that goes into planning for this once in a lifetime experience. It is also costly because many of us fight to get certain pre-sale activities so you don't exactly get a refund if you miss out on your scheduled stuff just because you have  “detention.”

So you now get the picture why I decided to sit through it. Then while inside, I found out that there was going to be a movie night. So I sat in the Union for the last 3 hours – 1 for the alcohol thingie, and 2 for “Eat, Pray, Love.” I think that's the right title. Definitely was a chick flick with a cutesy message. Was loving the free popcorn we got =) Then afterwards, we had to get readjusted to the lights and the slightly moving ship. It's been creeping. At some point earlier, it was at 3.4 knots and then shot down to 0.0 knots. Who woulda known that to move so slowly also meant the ship would be rattling and make so much noise! We also stopped at some point because someone from the Brazil embassy came on the ship to help us navigate from this point forward and get us where we need to in Manaus. Also because he would have to have all of our passports (and see our yellow fever vaccination cards). Speaking of earlier, I brought up the pirates with my roomies and Caroline said that one of the girls in her class said her parents got kidnappers' insurance for her. Hahaha. (Don't ask me why that is funny...it just is... ). Moving forward, we left the Union and went to the Main Dining Hall in search of some livelihood. Seems everyone has been going to bed around here a lot earlier. There was a host of people in there because it was snack time... we were hoping we could grab some of those delish fudge brownies with chocolate chips around during dinner but we were out of luck... actually the real story is we rushed to the dining hall and grabbed some other stuff because we didn't see any out. No soon as we got out of line, they had brought out the remainders and the lucky chickadees behind us grabbed them =(  Oh well. That's a good thing I guess. I don't need the junk. Now if only if I remember that... haha

There was another announcement over the PA system about an Open Mic tomorrow. I don't know whether to sing or read/recite a poem. Maybe I'll concoct something and do a blend. The Dean of Students also said that tomorrow will be the first “dance” of the semester and referred to the huge auditorium/Union as “Club Union.” Soooooo after laughing really hard with some fellow students, we are interested in seeing what that would look like or what type of music will be played. We all be in attendance of course because SAS is notorious for entertainment, and it'll be fun either way. But I think I am going to retire (pretty early) it's only 23:40 o'clock. But tomorrow are my long days (B). Got 3 classes, my usual meeting with my boss, as well as all the fun stuff to attend! TGTIF – Thank God Tomorrow Is Friday... although days of the week really become irrelevant unless we are at Port.. but we will be on SUNDAAAAYYYYYY so no classes!! Hallelujah! Oh and Saturday is a reading day so we won't have any classes as well =) Happy sleeping folks!