Putting the Semester in SAS

So the rough seas we have had the past few days have made me notice a few unique things. First is that it rocks me to sleep like im a little baby again. Second, lifting weights is a whole new experience when the ground is moving, and lastly im really glad that apparently I don't get sea sick because a lot of people were miserable last night.

 
Classes finally got started today and the ship was totally transformed from a cruise ship to a "typical" campus with people zooming all over the place with books and backpacks. Unfortunately no such thing as the weekend here, we take classes everyday while at sea and then enjoy our free time when in port. Today was spent in San Juan, Puerto Rico on a quick refueling stop that turned into an all day random coast guard inspection. Unfortunately we were not allowed to leave the ship. Me and my buddies ("the dream team") spent much of that time on the volleyball court taking advantage of a stable playing surface to go undefeated for 7 games (Morgan you would be proud). On an even more random note, today we had an activities fair and me and two other guys decided to start a speed dating club and went around and got about 200 people to sign up. I guess we ended up being one of the most popular activities on the ship and now we actually have to organize something... Speaking of organizing, the ship is divided into 9 "seas" which serve as our community within the ship (im in the red sea) and I got elected to be my seas representative for organizing the eventual ship wide Olympics, which should be some fun.

 
Tonight was our first pub night which are nights at sea where they serve alcohol. Nothing to wild though as you are limited to 4 beers or small glasses of wine over the course of 3 hours. Served as a good social gathering though.

 
 
 
 

rmanixcramer@semesteratsea.net

Internet is really expensive on the ship but we get a free email account, so if you want to reach me thats the way to do it.  

AT SEA!

And so it begins...
first I need to recap the first few days of the trip which were spent in the Bahamas. To sum it up it was basically a mini spring break with college kids from around the country converging on paradise island and expressing their excitement for the trip in terms of alcohol consumption...enough said....

We boarded the ship for the first time yesterday and it is sweet. Apparently the ship was built for a luxury cruise line that went bankrupt so SAS got a sweet deal on it several years ago. Its one of the fastest ships for its size with a top speed of 32 knots, although most of the time we are doing between 20 and 25 knots. There are a total of 1015 people on the ship which is comprised of 672 students (74% of which are girls) representing some 300 colleges and universities. The rooms are nice with a window and our own bathroom and shower, my roommate is my buddy john stokas. There is a small TV in each room that shows our current location on a map along with our heading and speed (just like on most transatlantic flights) and we get our rooms cleaned daily which is pretty nice. The people are really cool and we already have a tight crew dubbed "the dream team" after our undefeated beach volleyball team from a couple days ago. I probably met a hundred people yesterday and remember maybe 5 names so that's always good. Today our time is totally packed with various orientations covering all the necessary logistical and administrative BS

 
 The ship moves more then I thought it would and keeping my balance while walking is taking some getting used to. It will probably only get worse as tropical storm Hannah gets closer (we are going 75 miles out of our way to avoid the worst of it). Its still hard to comprehend that im actually out in the open ocean right now

 
 

Getting ready

My head is spinning as I try to comprehend everything I will need on this trip