Thanksgiving #2

Ship Life!

November 21, 2006

This is me procrastinating. I have 4 papers due and 4 exams between Spain and Florida. I should be studying, but instead I’m taking a break and sitting in my room at 11:45pm, listening to Steph’s computer playing the 98 Degrees Christmas album. Steph bought some Christmas lights and a couple of ornaments from a store in Croatia. We’re trying to get into the Christmas mood. I think we’re both pretty excited about Florida & Christmas approaching so quickly. It will definitely be a bittersweet departure from my second home, the MV.

So a few minutes ago I got back from an awesome workout. I can say I’m in the best shape I’ve been in in a long time -- I can run longer and last longer on the Elliptical than ever before. I can’t wait to get home and start running in the mornings. Just to wake up early and head out in the cold December air. I will be so happy to just run on cement, rather than a treadmill, and to actually have grass and nature around me rather than ocean. Don’t get me wrong, I love the ocean, but some grass and maybe a bird or two in the air might be refreshing!

I feel like I’m seriously out of the loop. Earlier tonight I emailed Nate and it ended up turning into sort of a journal entry. Emailing him made me realize that wow, I really have been gone for 3 months and wow, I am going to be back in America soon. Crazy, isn’t it? Sometimes it seems like just yesterday I was sitting in my room, looking at the map on my wall, asking myself if I really was going to sail around the world.

While I’m all over the place, I guess I’ll update about last night! Last night was our charity auction. Basically, a bunch of people on this ship donate random things to the auction and then we have a silent auction and live auction. The live auction was so much fun! I won a bid for Piano lessons from this guy Aaron for $80 and Jess bought Soda and Appetizers on a 7th deck balcony for 8 people for $220. We decided we would get our friends together and gather on that balcony the second to last night on the ship. I don’t know when Aaron is going to give me lessons, but I get three half-hour sessions! I’m excited… he’s an amazing piano player and is always up in the Piano lounge on the 6th deck playing. I think the most expensive item up for grabs was 4 nights in Colorado. Someone won that for $2300 and someone also won 7 nights in Maine for $2100! Oh, get this -- Someone bought an inflatable globe that our dean uses during our Logistical pre-ports for $975 (You can buy them at the student store for $5 -- but I guess it’s the significance of the globe that matters), two people split the “First to get off of the ship in Ft. Lauderdale” for $1,300, my friend Parker was in a bidding war and ended up winning the honor of raising the American flag as we pull into Ft. Lauderdale for $875 & my friend Chris and his friend split the cost of over $500 to manually steer the ship for 5 minutes. Prices ranged from $50 to over $2,000. You can imagine that some of the students on this ship have a lot of money! And those were only to name a few! From what I’ve heard, we earned over $30,000 for charity last night. I’m not sure which charity the money will go to, but I, along with others, nominated Face Aids -- a US charity that focuses on spreading awareness and helping out African aids victims. There are a bunch of members of Face Aids on the ship.

Well, two days until Thanksgiving! We actually arrive in Spain on Thanksgiving. I will spend Thanksgiving in Seville with Jess and Mario. We plan on wine tasting during the day and then going to Tapas for dinner. That night we’ll spend the night in Seville and the next morning we have a flight to Barcelona!

Thurs - 23: Arrive in Spain, Train to Seville, Spend night in Seville
Fri - 24: 11:30am Flight on Iberia to Barcelona, Spend night in Barcelona
Sat - 25: Barcelona Soccer Game, Tier 2, Spend night in Barcelona
Sun - 26: Last night in port, EVER, Spend night in Barcelona
Mon - 27: Fly back to Seville, Get back to Cadiz, Enjoy last day in port, EVER…

After Spain, life will get hectic before Florida. So this is what I have going on:

Nov 28: Class - A Day
Nov 29: Class - B Day & Ambassador’s Ball
Nov 30: Class - Two Papers due for Psychology
Dec 1: Global Studies Final & Ship Talent Show
Dec 2: Study Day
Dec 3: Personality Psych Final, Abnormal Psych Final
Dec 4: Study Day
Dec 5: History Final - 2 History Papers Due
Dec 6: Packing/Convocation/Goodbyes
Dec 7: Arrive Ft. Lauderdale at 8am. Caspian Sea is 2nd off of the ship because we came in 2nd place in the Sea Olympics! I have a to Oakland at 7:20 which will get in before 11pm.

Mom’s birthday on the 8th!

So, there is my update. I just felt the ship rock a lot and it’s getting cold in my room -- time to get into bed. Tomorrow morning I have global studies & a gym appointment. Tomorrow afternoon I have history class and then tomorrow night… our last Logistical Pre-Port, EVER. Wow!

Spain on Thanksgiving. I will try and call the family… I sure hope I can!

If I don’t find a pay phone or for some reason cannot call, I seriously love you all and miss you a TON. I can’t wait to see you all in 2 weeks! Happy Thanksgiving!