Log 4

We are now two days out to sea. Today was another day of orientation. Each sea went through a rotation of six sessions which covered the basics on everything from academics to student life to safety procedures. Tomorrow the real fun begins as it will be our first day of classes. I begin my day at 0730 with wake up and breakfast until 0830. Then my first class with be Global Studies at 0930, followed by Current World Problems and Environmental Ethics.

Just so everyone knows what is going on, the internet on the ship is very spotty and slow with multiple people trying to access it. I will make attempts to upload my logs while at sea, but the most likely scenario is going to be that I will log every day and will upload a group of logs when I reach each port. This would be the same with pictures as well. As I said before I am open to replying to any emails that come in, since emailing is free and unlimited. Take caution when emailing me however. We are not allowed to receive or send any attachments over email.

I have met so many people from so many different places. There are people from Kenya, Nepal, Denmark, Germany, Macedonia, Brazil, Puerto Rico, and so many more countries around the world. It is so exciting to hear and learn about their customs and cultures. One of the professors that focuses on communications has sent us on a mission to take the term “stereotype” and reinvent how we perceive other cultures. He has also asked us to remember that there is always more the one story, and that it can be dangerous to only hear one story. Our goal is to listen to the many stories that our professors, guest lecturers, shipmates, crew members, and in-port contacts tell us and blend them together to form a better understanding of all sides of a culture and to relay this understanding to others.

While doing this I will also be conducting my own personal research for my capstone project back at UMaine. The idea is that I am going to survey the locals in each country and see what they think is their worst coastal problem. These problems may range from pollution to overfishing. I will then use this data as a baseline of research to complete my capstone project. I have also recruited the help of some of the faculty on board to help me conduct this research in a safe and smooth way. They are helping me on ways I can approach the locals, how to talk to them, how to observed the surrounding areas, and different ways I can convey my question to them. I feel this will be successful once I get started and learn the different techniques of integration.