Heyo! Alright, so I figured I would do one more update before  Cape Town- which we will be in by tomorrow morning! Whoop whoop- I’m stoked.

The following is for all you History buffs, and people who like to be fountains of useless knowledge  :]

As part of my work study as Executive Ambassador- these are the types of things we get tested on/ have to know (Yes- my work study is the only one on the ship that gives tests):

The library on board has around  8,000 volumes in it.

Our Union (where Global Studies takes place) comfortably seats 450 people- but can easily fit more.

Shipboard education dates back to 1877-However in 1926 is when Dr. James Lough of NYU launched the first floating university with students.  

Shipboard Education got its “sea legs” in 1963 upon the creation of the University of Seven Seas (which was on the ship MS Seven Seas) .

Chapman College obtained administration of the program and renamed it World Campus Afloat, which took place on the SS Ryndam.

In 1970- C.Y. Tung purchased Queen Elizabeth 1, but it never sailed. Her replacement was the Universe Campus, which was later named the SS Universe. (Which set sail in 1971)

The Institute for Shipboard Education (ISE) became a non-profit organization in 1976. The program was renamed Semester at Sea, and the University of Colorado-Boulder became the academic sponsor for its first voyage on the SS Universe in 1977.

In 1981 the academic sponsor for Semester at Sea changed to the University of Pittsburgh- who had it for 25 years.

Finally in 2005 Semester at Sea got together with the University of Virginia! :]

Fun facts:

The 1^st voyage of the University of Seven Seas (1963) took 275 students to 22 different ports in 16 countries!

I’ll name some of the well-known people who have come to Semester at Sea as guests:

Arthur C. Clarke (author of A Space Odyssey)

President Mikhail Gorbachev

Sidi Mohammed (Prince of Morocco in 1988)

Desmond Tutu! Who sailed with the voyage the entire year- and lived in room 7010 :]

Nelson Mandela

Mother Teresa

Fidel Castro

Ghandi!

And so many more! I’m excited to see who we get, after all- we are the 100^th voyage. But at the same time, how can anyone top Ghandi?!?!? Rumor has it that we have 2 special guests.

And many people associate SAS with MTV’s Road Rules (which I totally forgot that they did this).

More about the MV Explorer:

She was built in 2001 in Hamburg, Germany; she has four diesel engines, and travels at the top speed of 30 knots (34mph). She is flagged in the Bahamas (because it is cheaper and easier than being flagged in the US).

The crew- aka the nicest people on earth typically come from about 20 different countries (most are from the Philippines though- which sadly got hit with a bad hurricane this week which affected some of the crews family :[ )

So there’s some information about where I am currently living. Everything is fairly up to date (with the exception of Microsoft Word- which runs 97-2003); and being on board is amazing, granted it gets dull at times.

Anywho- I am beyond excited for SA, Bubelani and Phindwa (boo-lay-la-knee, and ‘Phi’) our interport students told me about a great steak house in port- which is apparently a gorgeous port as well. But they did also mention the extremely high rate of AIDS and rape, which is good for people to know since they intend to get belligerently drunk in SA.

As for me, I will stick to some SA wine and a nice big steak :] I can’t wait to be in SA and start my adventures. I will keep you all posted as always, and probably won’t blog until after SA. Which happens to be Mid-Term week; crazy right?!?!

I hope everyone is having fun back home!

<3 Dig it.