Hey everyone,
I know I’m behind and I have to finish Spain and Morocco. It’s been a really busy week here on the ship. This blog is more of an update on ship life and what I’ve been up do on the ship.
First off, classes: we’re all required to take a Global Studies course, this course is a hybrid of a world history course and we also learn about the countries that we will be going to. It’s an interesting course especially because we get a lot of guest lectures from faculty and staff as well as interport students/visitors. My other classes are World Religions which is a cool b/c we actually will be seeing a lot of the religions in practice as we learn about them in class. I am also taking Emerging Markets and International Business. These two courses are really cool b/c it makes you really observant of the world around you and the differences between American business and international businesses. We have to go to McDonald’s in a few of the countries to observe the similarities and differences. In Spain they serve beer because it is a part of their culture. It’s been awesome to make observances that relate to much of what we have been discussing in class.
Second, activities/clubs: I’m involved in several on board clubs and activities. These include, being the Stage Manager/Student in Charge of the Cabaret that will be taking place at some point near the end of the voyage. It’s going to be a combination of a play, music, dance numbers and other things. It will be a lot of work, but it’s starting to shape up already. I’m also a Student Ambassador as well. I will be working on the Silent Auction that is held at the end of the voyage, as well as helping to educate the student body. Example, did you know that more than 200,000 U.S. students study abroad each year but only 1,600 take part in SAS? Cool huh? I’m also helping out with other activities that take place as well. Passport to Leadership is another club I take part in in which we attend different explorer seminars and get different amounts of credit for the ones we attend.
Third, work: I work in the Field Office on the ship. The Field Office is by far the most stressful place on the ship after the bridge (the place where all the ships controls are and where the captain is). That being said I still love it, and the whole there’s no such thing as stupid questions, only stupid people was totally right. We stress points over and over and over, such as, “you cannot sell an overnight.” And then someone comes up with some issue about something or other and has to talk to someone in private…when in reality all they wanted to know was about selling an overnight…which is not allowed. It’s frustrating sometimes, we have fun though. Someone from the field office is physically outside at the desk from 10:30-12:30 and 15:00-17:00 but our office is right behind there, yet you have to go through either the dean’s office or the student activities office so no one can ever find us if we’re not there which is amazing b/c it’s the perfect place to escape. I work with three other SAS students, then the boss I report to is Leah, there is also Lauren who works in the Field Office, and the head boss is Becca. Everyone there is amazing and we have a lot of fun there.
Fourth, meetings: in addition to my club meetings, I also attend several of the Explorer Seminars, which are also a part of Passport to Leadership. These are really cool and informative. The other night I went to one on Graduate School, which was really helpful and interesting. We also have two types of pre-port meetings. A cultural pre-port where we learn about…you guessed it! The culture of the country we’re going to. The last cultural pre-port was last night and it was by this man Joe Baami who is our interport lecturer. He taught us about the culture of Ghana, the independence of Ghana…o and about how he was one of the people that helped write the constitution for the country. Basically, he’s a pretty awesome dude. Tonight we had our logistical pre-port where we learned about the money and how the country works and politics and all that jazz. This is also the time when the medical team comes up and tells us the things we need to be warned about…liiiiiike malaria and diarrhea and rabies and loads of other fun stuff. We also learned how to use a squat toilet from one of the professors. This was definitely one of the more interesting pre-ports in a while.
Fifth, food/laundry/and the like: So you’re probably wondering about the food situation and all that jazz. The food here is decent for the most part. Sometimes it’s kinda eh but it all depends. The night before we arrive in a country(aka tonight) they do food from that country. It’s kinda odd though b/c it seems while we’re at sea they have random food but while we’re in port they serve the most America food. It’s all good, I’ve survived…some people literally eat peanut butter and jelly at every meal, it’s kinda funny. Laundry…they do our laundry here about every two weeks but sometimes in between we do laundry in our sinks…it makes things easier. so that can take some time. On of the problems with doing laundry in the room is waiting for it to dry which is annoying but sometimes easier than waiting two weeks. And the like…basically hanging out with friends and all that jazz. Being social on the ship actually takes a lot of time. We do a lot and have fun and what not. Movie nights(like tonight, we’re watching Hercules) and games nights(apples to apples and catch phrase) are also popular. It’s fun to be social and hang out with people. Its good to have time to distress and hang out. There’s also a half hour meditation that I’ve been to which is good for calming down. All in all it’s good have time just to relax which SAS has a lot of for us to go to and be a part of. There’s also snack time at 2200 hours every night which is very popular on the ship.
A few side notes: my shipboard email is ambroyles@semesteratsea.net
If you want to send me mail the link for the info is: http://www.semesteratsea.org/current-voyage/overview/staying-in-touch.php
We get to Ghana tomorrow so I’ll be updating throughout my time there as well.
~Angela
