Classes start. There are no weekends on Semester At Sea. There are only "A" Days and "B" Days. They occur one after another, every day that we are at sea. The first "A" day was on a Sunday. Gary has two classes back to back on the "A" Days, and one class on the "B" Days.
Food is plentiful....3 times a day. There are evening snacks. There is a 24 hour cafe. There is a poolside grill. I am eating too much, exercising too little. The students seem to be taking advantage of the fitness equipment.
Internet is slow and not plentiful. It is an adjustment for everyone. But email seems to work, with a bit of a lag. With an added international roaming texting plan, we are actually able to text friends and family. Phone calls are pricey though. A $20 phone card gives you 13 minutes.
The view out of our our balcony is beautiful. The quality of light is constantly changing. The water is sometimes pearly gray, sometimes deep blue. In rough weather, we see whitecaps. Sunlight reflecting off the whitecaps gives an illusion of a diamond encrusted sea. The constant motion of the sea, sometimes calm, often roiling, always changing, makes it feel alive....like a huge organism that is allowing us to traverse its body.
We have not succumbed to sea-sickness. But the constant rolling of the ship is a complete surprise to me. It is impossible to walk in a straight line. We all weave back and forth as we walk...doing our best not to bump into others.
The days pass by one after another. As we approach our last day before landfall the excitement mounts. We are prepared with language bootcamp. We get an overview of the port, the art of Hawaii, the Hula, the unique geology...hot spots, moving tectonic plates. We can't wait to get on land, make some calls, find an internet cafe...
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| First Sight of Land |
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| Sunrise over Hilo |
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| Moon over Mauna Kea (the world's largest mountain if the mass below the ocean is included) |
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| A Full Moon, Mauna Kea, and the Keck Observatory |
