At Sea at LAST!

Can I just tell you that I hate cold showers. It has been tough waking up in the mornings in a room with no windows. My brain refuses to believe it is really 8:00am when the room is 100% dark. Yet, that is the correct time, and all I really want is to have in the morning is a nice hot shower to get the sleep off of me, but NO. As wonderful as my accommodations have been, my shower has been cold, lukewarm at best. I reported it to Nelly, my beloved cabin steward, and she promised she would pass it on, but to no avail. Matt, our IT guru, reported that he realized he was a dumb-ass b/c he had confused the hot and cold sides of the tap and he had hot water the whole time. We all had a good laugh, and I silently felt smug b/c I couldn’t believe what a stupid mistake that was. What kind of idiot wouldn’t immediately have figured that out, right? Sure enough the next morning, whilst enjoying yet another blisteringly cold shower, I toyed around with the temperature dial and discovered that lo & behold, the hot water is in the middle of the dial, as opposed to hot and cold on opposite extremes. I am not sure of the logic… but I’m kicking myself for not discovering it on days 1-6 on the ship. Ugh. Yea… I’d say that makes me an even bigger idiot/dumb-ass.

So, we’ve got students. Not just a few, we’re inundated with them. They’re everywhere. In fact, no less than 2 hours after we opened the gangway to them, the pool was FULL of them in bikinis and board shorts, posing and prancing around for one another. It was simultaneously funny and unnerving. Suffice it to say that I don’t plan on making any shirtless appearances anytime soon since I definitely do not measure up. The SAS student body is incredibly white, and blond, and affluent. I am astounded by the incredible sense of privilege they have. There have been some immediate exceptions, but on the whole I was not impressed my first day. Luckily, now that some of the initial posturing and flirting is out of their systems, they are really beginning to show promise to be fun. I’ve got to say, meeting our students has really made me appreciate the amazing students I get to work with at UCI. They are diverse in cultural backgrounds, development of their identities, ethical, bright, and engaged. I miss all my student leaders. I’ve found a handful of folks here who remind me of some of you, so in a small way, you’re still here with me.

Leaving the Bahamas felt like a moment out of a movie. I expected the moment to feel immense and meaningful, but it really was overwhelming. First, I got to watch as all the families who came aboard to say goodbye to their travelers hugged and kissed one another and said their last farewells. It was tough not breaking out in sobs watching some really heartfelt and emotional moments. There were a lot of tears, and I’d be lying (and heartless) if I said my eyes didn’t get a little misty watching it all. I took many a family photo, and tried to reassure a lot of people that 3 ½ months would go by a lot faster than they would believe. Later, we all ran through our lifeboat drill. (I’m a lifeboat captain… sounds fun, but is actually really mundane). And then we crammed onto the top decks as we slowly pulled out of the harbor in Nassau. (Nassau is the home port of the ship, who knew?) There were tons of parents all on the pier waving goodbye and holding up homemade banners, and running alongside the ship. It was very picturesque. I swear, the only thing missing was confetti and streamers. I hate to be cliché, but I was picturing every episode from the Love Boat. Only on this voyage, I'm Julie, the cruise director.

And now the big question. Does Drew get sea sick? And the answer is a “kinda.” I haven’t been nauseous, or had any kind of upset stomach . No projectile vomiting, or anything dramatic or fun like that. Instead, I have just been zapped of all energy, and constantly dizzy, and with a latent headache at all times. In addition, I have this awesome clammy/sweaty/pale thing going on, and the puffiest of eyes. Let me say, I look quite healthy (not!). I shouldn’t complain too much as two of my Student Life teammates have it worse. One can’t stop puking, and the other can’t seem to function standing up. I break down and have been using a nice cocktail of Meclazine, Dramamine, Bonine, ginger gum, sea sick bracelets, and hardcore prayer. It seems to be working, but again… the jury is still out. Miraculously, two and a half days into the voyage, I finally started to feel a little more like myself. I’m still walking around like a drunkard, running into walls, people, and railings all over the place as the ship rolls beneath me. I don’t know what I’m going to do when we hit rough seas, b/c they tell me that these are some of the calmest we’ll see for awhile. Ay Dios mios! I’ve also taken to drinking Emergen-C on a fairly regular basis. Thanks to Natalie, et al. for introducing me to the stuff. I’m not 100% sold on the taste yet. Orange is not good, Strawberry is so-so, but I have to admit that Black Cherry is actually kind of good when diluted appropriately.

I allowed myself to skip our very first Global Studies class (probably not the smartest of ideas). I rationalized that I needed to sleep, recharge my batteries, and adjust to life on a moving vessel. While it helped, I can’t make a habit of it. It’s just so darn difficult to be alert and awake all the time. The rocking of the ship makes me feel like I’m constantly being rocked in a cradle. How can you fight that? Another thing that I’m finding pretty tough to deal with is the lack of a routine on board. Things are still very crazy, and we’re not settled at all. Each day I wake, and have no idea where to begin, or what to do first. Our orientation meetings seem endless and when we’re not in a meeting, I have a list of things to do, but am not sure yet where to begin. I've looked up spiritual info to share for Puerto Rico, but otherwise, I find myself sometimes at a loss. I'm lacking the systems I had in place at UCI to help me find my way. I know I won't stumble for long, especially since our next long haul between San Juan, PR & Salvador, Brazil will be a long one and should facilitate the forming of a routine. We have an office that the Student Life Team shares at the font of the boat (where the swells are biggest, and seasickness is worst… yikes!). I’ve spent a lot of time there, and thing I need to get out more. Natalie, you’ll be happy to know that everything (and I mean everything) here seems to be printed using Showcard Gothic font. I think of you regularly w/a smile.

In other news, the Student Life/RD team had to create a skit to introduce ourselves to the shipboard community. We decided to be lively and fun to hold their attention. While initially I was not part of the committee tasked with developing the skit, I brainstormed an idea everyone liked, and then ended up writing it, and playing the biggest part. I’m worried I barged in and took over… and I actually resisted my role most of the way, but… que sera, sera. In the skit, we pretended that the audience was able to listen in to the thoughts of students (played by RDs) as they typed emails and blogs in the computer lab. Then the audience was able to hear their interior monologues dictating what they were typing. Each RD was a blatant stereotype (jock, nerd, valley girl, hippie, etc). Into each funny email/blog we spread useful info and tips, etc. Rather than being up front, I was behind a curtain with a mic giving voiceovers to all the different characters. When we developed the skit, the RDs sat around and everyone laughed a lot at the voices I used and things I said as I ad libbed most of the lines. However, when we finally did the performance, I swear I could hear crickets chirping whenever I said something I thought was really funny. I may be overexaggerating just a smidge, but you get the idea. Afterwards, the RDs all said they thought it was awesome and went really well, and ever since students from all over the ship keep telling me how hilarious it was and how much they laughed. Who knew?!? Later, I walked up to dinner with a few of my residents from U. CO Boulder (I have 10 in my sea & 4 from College of Charleston). I had initially thought they were very TFC for me, but they seemed warmer than before, and when I went to go fill my water bottle, I came back and they announced to me “we took a vote and we just love you, Drew.” My little heart beamed. I KNEW I’d win them over, HA!

Do you ever get the munchies? I seem to get them really bad every night around 11:30pm. I find myself in my cabin really wanting some pretzels, or something salty to snack on (yes, Tim, I'm in 2042). It drives me crazy, b/c I want to just walk into my kitchen and reach in the pantry for something to satisfy my craving, but I can’t do that here. They have a 20:00 o’clock snack (10 o’clock for you landlubbers), where they serve little cakes or finger sandwiches (bologna, ugh!) but that doesn’t really cut it. So, I have taken to hitting the Faculty/Staff Lounge every night around 10:30 or so and eating as many dishes of mixed nuts and cheesey goldfish as I can get away with. And I wash it all down with the free glasses of ice water. Yea, the bartender, Analiza, doesn’t seem to appreciate it, but I am tying to be gracious and charming. (It’s not working). There is actually a pretty fun group of young professionals on board who meet up there in rotating groups. Emily A., the nurse, Joe, Ben, JP, and Matt who all work in IT/AV and media, Emily B. & Shannon, partners of other folks, and then a bunch of RDs and others. We’re all pretty much in our late 20s/early 30s and just nice fun folks. I think they’ll make for some fun travel companions too… we’ll see what develops.

Speaking of folks in their late 20’s, we have an adult passenger on the voyage who is 28 years old. This is strange b/c these passengers are usually in their 70s and 80s. We actually have one on board who is 91, but there is one woman who is 28. Her name is Kress, and I can’t help but think of toothpaste everything I hear it. She is a very interesting person as runs a clown academy in nor cal. Yep, a clown school. Who knew? And you’d never guess it looking at her. She is nice, and very un-weird. She dresses very fashionably, and could easily pass for a mature college student... except for the oversized shoes. (HA, gotcha!) She will definitely be one to watch as my journey continues.

Well, now we're in Puerto Rico and I just finished a whirlwind day… but I am going to leave my whole PR entry until anothr time. I’ve already got a long list of things to write about, but I’m too tired to even begin right now. So for now, I will just bid you adieu. Much love to all.

XOXO -me