Alright- so some brief updating for everyone. Today is one of our "no class days". I finished reading my book- and after I write a paper for a class I am going to indulge myself into the words of another tale.  This morning I woke up early- as usual after having an absolute blast last night. It was the Fall 2009 talent show! I fell in love with just about 1/2 the ships men (because most of them played an instrument/sang), and had a ball laughing my butt off at some of the skits. Sometime after Ghana- me and a bunch of people are going to sleep overnight on Deck 7, gazing into the stars- But we have to wait for a clear, non-humid evening to do so. Other than that- nothing out of the ordinary. Since I had no time to be as obsessed with the gym as I was last summer- I decided to pick up a bunch of extracurricular on the ship. I do ZUMBA every day we don't have classes-excluding days were in port obviously; and I am going to pick up Tahitian dance, so I can move my hips around even more :]

I must say I will be excited to get back into my gym zone when I am home next semester and summer. I really do mss LA and even LU's gym :[

I suppose that is all for updates now. Next stop- homework (I forgot we're actually at school) I have classes tomorrow, none Monday, then Tuesday we're in Ghana! I am so excited :]

Catch you all later!

 

Hey there folks! Today is a B day, and therefore, my day off!

 

I love this life. I am currently on  the 7th deck- sitting next to the pool, and catching some rays while typing to you! If this is what school is like- I never want to leave. This experience has been amazing so far, and Ghana is only a few days away. Work is getting busier than ever, but I have a committee under me now, and they're such a great group of ladies! As Goodwill Operator of the ship I focus on usually one main project a week. Basically I form a sense of community on the ship, get people involved, celebrate birthdays, hoist "appreciation" days, and am there for all the "warm and fuzzy stuff" as Grant would put it.

 

I had dinner with my "family"  the other day- and I love them. So far it's Patrick- our "Grandparent" who is actually 24ish, Matt, Tracy, and myself. The other 2 kids could not make it- but it's a lot of fun anyways.

 

I've been spending my days off organizing, planning, furiously typing away at my computer, and reading.

 

I had to read this book for class Imaginary Men which is such an easy read, and I liked it a lot. It's about a girl native to India that has lived in the states most of her life, and her family keeps bugging her to find an Indian husband. Basically, I read it in a collective 3 hours, and have started the book Addicted, A raunchy-trashy novel.

 

Not too much with updates other than that. It's hard to believe I've only been gone about 2 1/2 weeks. I feel like I'm so close to a majority of the people on the ship.

 

Well, back to tanning and reading for me. I hope your all enjoying your classes and semester so far. I miss you all. Be on the look out for updates in the Longwood Newsletter, as I will soon be included in those as well. Safe travels.

 

PS- Working out with an ocean view is possibly one of the best things in the world. I love this ship!

Oh! Totally forgot to mention that I had my "Adopted" family dinner last night. I love love love my "grandfather" Patrick- who is actually like 24, so he is more like a cousin. My new brother Matt, and sister Tracy. There are 2 others who didn't make it to dinner last night- Braeden (who looks like the boy Andy that I am in love with...only not really) and some girl whose name escapes me. It was a lot of fun, and I shared may entire life story with them, and had them laughing all dinner. Mostly because I am a spaz. I also shared with them how in every port, and even in the middle of the ocean  how I have somehow managed to flash people...unknowingly. I guess it's my trademark for each country. Hahaha.

 

I will keep you all update with crazy stories, and keep you posted on all of my trips. I told my roomie that I accidentally ate her laundry detergent, and she said it was fine because she accidentally did that too! We were made for each other. Hahaha.

Alright- So I will finish up my last reports on Morocco. We left late afternoon on Sept.14th, and yesterday was our first day back to classes. Today is my glorious day off which basically equates to me doing homework and being in meetings all day.

 

So, last day or so of Morocco was awesome. I met a Police guard named Yousseff (which is a very popular name here), and he is practically in love with me. He asked me out on like 3 dates, and as much as I'd feel "safe" with a Moroccan cop... we are in Morocco, and I opted NOT to go on a date with him. Hahaha, but besides that- My friend Amelia and I were walking back from a day in the Souks- and Yousseff (who fell in love with me early that morning) sprinted out from the guard booth to talk. The problem was- we were trying to catch the shuttle so we didn't have to walk 25 minutes through the crazy port with 18 wheelers driving off-road into SASer's. Just as Yousseff was talking, the shuttle passed, along with 4 big tour buses which were full of the students from the Camel Treks, and the big overnight trips... which was honestly about half of our boat. Then- 3 petit taxis full of SAS students passed. This means that Amelia and I would have to stand at the end of the line, and wait for about 2/3 hours for them to check everyone on the boat (no joke- because they go through EVERYTHING in your bags). So I stated to Yousseff that if he loved me- he would give us a ride to the ship. Lo and behold, he walkie-talkied some guards, and a Van showed up in seconds. There were 2 guards in here- and man were they nice! They even let me talk over the walkie talkie (but didn't think I'd actually do it...Ha!) and they gave us a ride practically up to the ship! It was awesome- nothing like Moroccan escorts eh?

 

So roomie aka Rachel- had such a crazy trip in Essouria. There were- I shit you not... GOAT TREES!

 

Farmers literally put their goats on high tree branches, and nestle them in trees so tourists will stop. It's hilarious, and there is a video of it. Bahaha! I still cannot stop laughing. My friends Anjuli and Lindsey went to a Berber village and that basically equated to really roughing it- by using steam showers with spickets for water- and by using the ground as a restroom...which everyone did.

 

Please imagine about 30 or so students, faculty, and lifelong learners lining up to go to the bathroom on the ground. Hahaha. Oh man.

 

Okay- so the last day here I was on a mission to find the painting I was in love with- as well as the Kaftan (pullover dress-ish thing) that I was in love with and spotted the first day in Casablanca. I was with my friend Alys, and we got escorted around by this lovely old man who I affectionately call Manny (because I could not understand what he said his name was). SAS usually discourages walking around with strangers- especially because they will make you pay them- but not Manny, he assured us he didn't want money. He walked us all over the Medina in search of my Kaftan, and even made several people open their shops- just so I could look! It was too sweet, and then finally we found it! I got a great deal. It was 510 dirhams- and I got it for 200dirham and 10 Euro...essentially 300 dirham. (Roughly 30 something dollars).

 

I gave Manny a tip anyways because he literally spent 45 minutes or so out of his time to help me find this. Then I headed back to the ship and enjoyed being on board before On ship time. (On ship time is the ABSOLUTE latest you can be on board- we also have Byron time- which is 2 hours before On ship time). Typically our on ship time is 1800, I was on by 1300 :]

 

This way I can avoid lines and getting dock time. 

 

Ghana is our next stop and I am super excited. We have Nee on board with us- he is our interport student from Ghana- he's pretty laid back, and a super nice guy. He has step-relatives in NY, and is very... Americanized? Yes I will say that. Hahaha, but he speaks English well, unlike Marta our interport student from Spain.

 

All in all Morocco was such an amazing country- and I will definitely come back!

 

Everyone has amazing stories from here, and it was ridiculous, crazy, and so much fun!