Log 3

We were bused to Ensenada, Mexico, where we boarded the ship. This ship has nine decks and is massive. My cabin is on the portside (left side) of deck four. On decks three, four, five, seven, and eight are cabins. Decks one and two are the mechanical decks where the crew takes care of everything. Deck five also has a receptions desk that someone told me was open 24/7, but I am not sure how true that is. On deck six there is an auditorium and the Berlin Restaurant. Deck seven has dean’s offices, the salon, the bookstore, and if I can remember correctly some of the exercise equipment, but don’t hold me to that. Deck eight has more exercise equipment and possible the sauna, but that could be deck seven. Like I said, it is a massive ship, and I haven’t quite gotten it all down yet. Deck nine is the pool, snack bar, Lido restaurant and on a little deck on top of deck nine is the basketball court. I don’t remember which deck it is on but there is also a movie theater on board, and also a library.

After I found my cabin, I had lunch at the Berlin restaurant, since it is closer to my cabin than the Lido restaurant. On my way back to my cabin I ran into my cabin-mate. She is from Nepal and is very nice.

Lifeboat training was at 1600. Dinner was served after that, and then at 2100 we had an orientation.

Also, I think it would be interesting for you to know that the entire boat is labeled in German. Rumor has it that this ship used to belong to a German Olympic diving team.

All the cabins are separated into teams which are named after seas around the world. There is Yellow, Red, Bering, Baltic, Adriatic, and Arabian. I am part of the Bering Sea. The way it sounds is that our seas are our teams, sort of like the teams we had in middle school.

I will be posting pictures of the ship, but I may be posting them as I used those sections of the ship. There is a lot of ground to cover and it will be easier that way.

The food is good on the ship. There are a lot of fruits and vegetables. Turns out that I like bell peppers, well the yellow ones at least. I have eaten a lot of new things, but I don’t really know what I ate, it just looked good. One good thing is that my plates have been more colorful than they have ever been in my entire life.

My cabin is nice. It is decently small but it is big enough for use to store our stuff and sleep. Other than that, almost nobody is in their cabins. Everyone hangs out in the Lili Marlene (library or Academic Success Center), the dining areas when they aren’t serving as classrooms, and in the corridors of the decks. It is refreshing to stand out on the deck and just watch the water. That is a very common activity around here. Past voyages have seen dolphins and whales while are sea so I keep my eyes peeled when I am at on the deck.

If anyone has any questions email me and I will answer them. All of my emails are being forwarded to my sea-mail account which is lacey.wetzel.sp17@semesteratsea.org. But if you email one of my other accounts I will get those. I am allotted 30 minutes online every day by the program but I can get more access if I run out, but email is unlimited and free, so I should be able to keep in touch relatively easy.