The First Week Across the Atlantic: Life at Sea

It's seems like I've been here for so long already and it's only been a week. I can't believe how in such a short amount of time I have new friends, a new job, new classes, a new room, and am used to a whole other way of life that seems natural to me. Sure, I might not be able to walk straight down a hall without ending up on the other side and I may spend a significant amount of time watching the water in the shower move back and forth before going down the drain, but it's another part of daily life. It even feels natural to be rocked to sleep or having to hold onto the handlebar in the shower to not fall over. As my roommate said the other night, “This might sound funny, but I wish the boat would rock more so it can rock me to sleep.” That really sums up the our new adaptation for these changes. The truth though is that this is our last night crossing the Atlantic Ocean and tomorrow we will be in Cadiz, Spain. I think that only then will we truly understand what we are actually doing.

I remember the first night in Halifax and the uncertainty of what was to come. The week before, I dedicated every moment to squeezing in that one last visit to see people and completely exhausted myself by choosing to hike Mt. Monadnock and walking laps and conversing into the wee hours, finally crawling into my bed at 5:30am. It was all worth it though because even though I am thoroughly enjoying myself everyday, I do miss those that I left behind. Call me crazy for missing Keene during an amazing trip like this, but my friends there are family and it is sad to not be with them for all of our four short college years.

On August 26, 2009, my parents said goodbye to me at the security gate of Logan Airport and I flew directly into Halifax. As I said goodbye to my parents, I rounded the corner, sat down, and immediately saw three students. The curious looks proved that they were fellow SASers and we began excitedly discussing trips and classes. The flight there was short and after talking to the passenger next to me, we were in Halifax before I knew it. After quickly gathering my two huge duffel bags (one rolled and one didn't) I quickly went through customs and waited with students to take the shuttle to my hotel.

I arrived at the hotel around 11pm (Halifax time) and lugged my two bags, backpack, and laptop to the desk where I check in. The bags were so heavy that carrying that much stuff was a sight to see, especially in the elevator. I will not easily forget that feeling when I dropped my stuff in a heap and collapsed on my bed. I sat in silence for a bit, already sleep deprived and the hour advancement did not help. My stomach grumbled and I decided to venture downstairs to find a overpriced yet very nutritious meal of easy mac, Reese's peanut butter cups, and tap water. After watching an episode of Seinfeld I feel asleep with three alarms set. You could say I was anxious.

After checkout, I rode a taxi to the port and checked in. They took my yellow fever vaccination card, passport, and luggage and gave me an ID with the picture squashed down. I'm stuck with it all year :) After going through security, I went up the gangway ( a glorified super staircase) and swiped my card to get on. I did the first thing that came into my mind and went straight to my room on deck three. Now I have to tell you about my room. I wanted to pay the least amount of money one could possibly get by with so I signed up for super economy. When you first walk through the dorms, you venture down a beautiful hallway that looks like a topnotch hotel with soft light beaming down from above each doorway and wood paneled walls. Up ahead you see a change in the light color as you enter the front of the ship. It is florescent yellow with white plastic walls and key locks on the door. It reminds me of Titanic when Kate and Jack are downstairs running through the water and the emergency light is on.

Inside my room, I was surprised to find a bunk bed against the wall and no space for bags. We each have half the closet and three tiny drawers for all of our stuff. There is a single chair lodged behind the ladder in the corner and a night stand. When you turn the light on in the bathroom, the florescent light flickers like a horror movie. What you have to know is that all the rooms have two beds on either side with under bed space, larger restrooms, and all modern furnishings. It may seem like I am complaining, but I honestly love my room. It is cozy and different from any other. Natalie (my roommate) and I rock from side to side and everyone else is rocked front to back so we fall asleep peacefully and all our blood doesn't rush to our brains.

Our cabin cleaner, Shane, dropped off my bag and said hi that first day I walked in. He is very nice and Natalie and I always make sure to say hi and make small talk. I cannot believe that our beds are made and our rooms are cleaned every single day. I'll miss being so tightly tucked into my sheets when I leave though. I lucked out on my roommate because Natalie is very nice. She is a history education major at Colby Sawyer in NH and lives in CT. It's funny that I have to travel the world to get a roommate from New England. Come to find out, her good friend goes to Keene State and two of her other friends are going to studying in the same school as me in Italy next semester.

Natalie and I are both work study and while I work in the field studies office, she works in the library. We went to our meeting in the student union and were directed to eat lunch with our bosses. The idea is that all the work study students would get there a day early and help check the rest of the student body in the next day. It was a wonderful advantage to get to know the ship and to meet people. We just pretended like we knew what we were doing even though I got horribly lost every time I went downstairs to find my own room. Seeing the change in light down my corridor is comforting because it signals that home is near.

After following the field office leader Karen Burns to lunch, I was introduced to three other students working in the office. I met a student named Aleks who's from Colorado and goes to college in Montana. She is also majoring in anthropology and dueling in energy conservation. Having spent the summer working at a state park, she had lots of interesting stories to share. I later found out she was my neighbor across the hall and was in my international service learning class. So we finished our lunch on the outside deck over the water and the servers came over to serve drinks and to take our plates away. I don't think I will ever get used to this. I feel bad being waited on all the time.

The next day I pretended to know what I was doing and helped students around. Aleks and I were also given the task of door tags and after figuring out the placement of the rooms, I wasn't lost for the first time. The two of us were creepers, looking at everyone's names and place of residence, and made up assumptions based on this limited information. Maybe we thought the job was much more interesting than in reality, but it was fun nonetheless.

So far our job in the field office is great. I love standing behind the desk answering questions about the trips, especially because I can answer them now. I also typed up some notes and helped with the bulletin boards highlighting our ports. Poor Karen, Dan, and Hannah (our bosses) have been up half the night finalizing trips and it's nice to get the busy work out of the way. I wonder what further plans they will have for us next.

I almost forgot to discuss meals. If you plan on sailing, I hope you like iceberg lettuce, potatoes wedges, pasta, rolls, vegetable medley, and cheese cubes because they come with every meal :) Of course many people devour the peanut butter and jelly. The food is good though and other than having the option to consume massive amounts of carbs with every main entrée, the food is healthy. They don't even have soda (which I think is a good thing). You can only eat from 7-8:30am, 11:30-1:30, and 5:30-7:30 and there is snack served at 10pm. It is wonderful to sit on the back deck and meet new people as you travel though a blue universe where the blue horizon touches the blue waves.

I am taking four classes and would not want to take more because you have to do a lot of work for them in port. I am taking global studies along with half the campus, international service learning with a group of twenty, anthropology:food and culture, and interpersonal communication. My interpersonal communications professor is absolutely hilarious and she had the whole class laughing hysterically the first day. I have to find a topic to analyze in each country and interview people about that topic during home stays and other visits. Food and culture is fun and I am happy to be keeping up with anthropology. I would miss not having as part of my academic life. I have to observe markets and try three new foods in each country. Global studies is ok but difficult to stay awake in because we have all been so destroyed in the mornings. We lost an hour of sleep three nights in a row with only one break before picking up again. International Service Learning is intriguing though because it is something I am passionate about and the professor is fantastic. Dr. Strenecky is so engaging and told us that he wants to get to know each and everyone one of us. Aleks and I had dinner with him one evening and we talked for almost 2 full hours.

Dr. Strenecky worked in U.S. diplomacy, was a physician, and now works as a professor teaching service learning and the $100 solution. The idea behind the $100 solution is that a group of students are each given $100 and are encourage to ask a community what they need to change their lives. The students are then supposed to find a way of using that $100 to its full potential in order to help this need. I am very excited to be doing a homestay in Chennai, India and working on the $100 solution.

This is such a different way of life. Dr. Strenecky said that you never really fall into a rhythm or pattern because of the time changes and infrequent class meetings. Everyday is made up of A or B days and there are no days of the week (no weekends). We go by military time and I watch the sun set behind us and rise in front of us (when I'm up) and there is nothing but blue around us. It really is unbelievable. Sure, you might walk down the hallway and end up moving to the other side, but all you can say is, “I guess I wanted to go there.” We have a million group meetings for port information and even though it seems like we meet up a lot for classes, I don't have class for over 10 days! We only have a day between Spain and Morocco and will have meetings in the student union all day. The nice thing is that you meet someone new every day and everyone is just so thrilled to be there.
I can't believe that as soon as I wake up tomorrow morning, I will be approaching Cadiz, Spain. It really has not hit me yet, but this week I'll be watching flamenco, touring cathedrals of Cadiz and Sevilla, and trekking through the Sahara on camel back. No, it does not seem like reality. I'll believe it when I see it or maybe not...

email me at: ejmalone@semesteratsea.net