Sights and Sounds of the Sea!

Day 8 at sea! We’ve definitely experienced a variety of sights and sounds of the sea! Sunrises and sunsets are spectacular! Yesterday we felt, heard and saw what rough seas could be. Although it only lasted a few hours we were tossed around and rocked to sleep. White boards tipped over, students sat on the floor in the classroom and “barf bags” were handed out and placed strategically around the ship (e.g. along corridor rails).

This morning we were treated to the Rock of Gilbraltar and views of Morocco. Tonight we were entertained with a pod of dolphins! Tomorrow we hit the shores of Lisbon. Can it get any better?

Ship life has settled into somewhat of a routine. We’ve had two sessions of each of our classes. I teach two classes on “blue” days and one on “green” days. Most students have two classes on each of the days although I’ve talked to some who have three on one day. Classes resume in about nine days. I should say formal classes resume.

Academic field programs that last five days will soon be starting up in Lisbon. These include everything from lectures at a University, visiting a winery, touring castles or the country-side or meeting with international businesses. Now that’s what I call an education!

Included in our education are many extracurricular activities. Emma (one of The Scholar Ship photographers) and Davis hosted a photographer workshop with over 30 in attendance. Tonight we have salsa lessons following our safety briefing on Lisbon. There are many other activities starting to appear (e.g. palates class, model UN, student government, basketball, foosball, soccer, table tennis, an “ab” workout group and so on). Again, that’s what I call an education!

Thoughts – I can definitely see community being developed: more interactions; more student leadership emerging; norms being established; traditions being discussed; ceremony becoming part of the culture; and a definite “spirit” of community. What impresses me most is the positive and accepting attitude, or spirit, of students and staff. Although we’ve experienced inconveniences and small setbacks through our eight days together, there remains this refreshing “spirit” of cooperation and community and virtually no “complaining” and negative attitude. I wonder what it will be like at the end of the voyage? I really do need to pay attention to this and try to capture what makes it work – is it the “nature” of the people, the confined living space, the values of The Scholar Ship or overcoming obstacles together?

On a personal note – I continue to enjoy my morning workouts followed by a coffee, breakfast and conversation. I also am enjoying connecting with students “in”, and “outside of” the classroom as well as getting to know other staff. And of course I’m enjoying my roommate, Davis. Today, with the rest of the students, we started to develop a “roommate vision”. No problems so far, although he continues to come in late and sleep in.

We are definitely looking forward to Lisbon! More on that later…

My days have been pretty unorganized, but that is the fun part of this whole experience; just enjoying the moment and doing things as they come. This morning, I slept in till 10, got up, went to the gym, and jumped into the pool. After I got out, I walked up to lunch. The food is amazing. Words cannot explain it. Tonight at dinner, I tried guacamole and it was amazing. There, mom! I am trying a lot of different things! Tomatoes and onions are even becoming a personal fave. Me and Dad started taking pictures of our cabin. We will take pictures all around the ship, and then post them up somewhere! We will give you a peek at our lives on board. 2 people have already been evacuated for medical reasons! They weren’t related. One had appendicitis, and the other had some bleeding issue. We rode up the coast of Sardinia to drop one off, and the other, we had to ride up the coast of Spain! Me and a few other students came to the conclusion that this is all a MTV Real World season, and they are secretly filming us. All of these evacuations are people getting voted off. Well, that is just my two cents.

We are off to a safety briefing for Portugal.

Talk to you later!

Dave.

Okay.

Me and Dad wrote this yesterday, so we have a bit of updating to do. This morning, we docked in at the Lisbon port at 8. Lisbon is beautiful! We walked around today and saw the city. We didn't see that much, because we didn't want to spoil our tours. Speaking of tours, I signed up for (and payed for) some excursions that will be happening in Portugal! I just chose the ones Dad has included in his AFP (Academic Field Program) so I will tag along with him. We are going on Lisbon and the Discoverers, which is a tour of the city and sights, mainly the marine explorers and their impact on the area. We are also going on a Sintra Jeep Adventure! I am so excited for that. We will be going into the countryside of Lisbon, Sintra, and we will get a Jeep ride to a nice remote location where we will enjoy a nice picnic lunch! It will be amazing. I am so happy right now, because there is an area that you can access free internet from the port while still onboard the ship! The signal is limited, so I am here at 11:15 sitting on the deck of the ship, trying to keep a decent signal. Dad went back out for dinner with some of the teaching staff, but I decided to stay behind and have dinner on board. I didn't feel like going back out again. My feet were dead. We walked for so long! Dad should be back soon.

Well, I am done writing for tonight.

We are missing all of you and wish we could experience this with all of you!

Gooood night.

-Dave