Jan 21 & 22

Once again, the ship has been epically rocky. To quote Gabe, “You know there’s a problem when you’re having multiple conversations with your roommate in the middle of the night.” Actually, there’s no real problem. We’re still getting waves from the storm in SoCal, but even though we rerouted to avoid the worst of it our drawers are still flying open and slamming shut. Apparently I’ve been sitting up, startled, and then rolling over every once in a while (I don’t remember these instances, as I was probably fast asleep). It also doesn’t help that we’re going especially slowly in order to extend the semester; if we don’t get a certain number of class days in our credits wouldn’t transfer. We also don’t have weekends; though any day I can spend doing homework in 75-degree weather doesn’t feel like a school day at all.

Yesterday was only sunny on and off. It was like every time I put on my swimsuit to go lay out, the sun would decide to hide for a while; I guess I’m bad luck. Haha I went up to deck 6 for pub night after I got some homework done and worked out a bit. We had a drink or two and played Catchphrase, which was super fun because everyone was shouting and laughing and because the group was always changing I met some new people. It was even more fun because every once in a while the boat would tilt just enough to send everyone’s chairs sliding across the deck. We would all grab each other’s chairs (and beer) to make sure no one fell. Everyone was cracking up and no beer (or people) was spilled.

Today started off early. Heather and I usually wake up at 8am to grab breakfast, but the drawers work her up at 7 and me up at 7:20, so we got an early start. We ate breakfast inside on deck 5 with Gabe, Matt and Mac, then hung out for a while talking. I don’t have class until 12:30, so I’m going to head up to deck 7 to soak up some vitamin D and finish my reading once the sky clears up in a little while. It doesn’t look stormy; it’s just gray right now, but the sun is already poking through and it smells like a nice day. What does a nice day smell like? Don’t ask me; it just does.

There’s no Global Studies today, so I only have Oceanography and Women and Power in India. I’m done at 4:15. Every lecture is a power lecture on the ship; no 50-minute classes here. I’m still working on scuba reservations in Hilo, but it’s looking good so far!

I’m off to work on homework.

Love,

Molly