Aboard the MV Explorer

Since I haven’t updated for the last couple days here’s what’s been going on. I got to Halifax with Mom on Wednesday and we checked into the hotel and I basically slept all that evening. The next day Dad and Michael were supposed to meet us but they got to New York didn’t make the flight to Halifax so they turned around and went home. On Friday, I boarded the ship. We had some meetings and stuff that night which were kind of boring. They introduced the professors and the crew and stuff like that. Saturday was orientation and again there were just a bunch of meetings all day. Some were informative and some were boring. Yesterday classes started but we’re on an A Day/ B Day schedule and I only have classes on B Day so I started class today. I pretty much like all my classes. I’m taking geography, contemporary social issues, video journalism and global studies. Global studies is required for everyone and they teach us about each country before we get there.
Our rooms are very small. They’re smaller than I thought they would be. We have a window though which is nice. My roommate and I get along really well. Her name is Rachel and she goes to Vanderbilt. The ship was rocking a lot yesterday and a lot of people got seasick. I’ve been getting headaches but that’s it. Apparently there is a hurricane not too far away. We’re not going too close but we’re supposed to get some rough weather from it. Today it’s a lot better though. The ship is smaller than I expected it to be. I thought it would be about the size of a cruise ship or just a little smaller but it’s a lot smaller. Cruise ships are about twice the size of this ship. It’s pretty cool to have class on the ship and look out the windows. I laid out the other day on the top deck and it was nice. We arrive in Spain on Saturday and I’ve been planning a trip with some of my friends. We’re going to go to Madrid and Sevilla. I only get 125 minutes of internet for the whole voyage so I’m trying to get online as little as possible. Email doesn’t count against my minutes though so you can email me! Well I miss you guys and hope all is well at home!

email address

I'm heading to Halifax, Canada tomorrow and I thought I would go ahead and give you guys my ship email address. This is the best way to talk to me because it doesn't use up my limited internet minutes on the ship. It's klsola@semesteratsea.net. This email address won't work until I leave on Friday Aug 27.

21 days to go

Hey everyone! I'm getting ready to leave for Semester at Sea in a little less than a month and I'm planning to keep this blog so you guys can know what I'm up to. Basically, in case I haven't already told you, Semester at Sea is a program for college students sponsored by the University of Virginia. I will be traveling around the world on a boat and taking classes while I'm at sea. When we get to port there are no classes and we are free to travel. We're usually at each port for about 2-5 days. It's a 590 foot ship that holds somewhere around 700 students I believe. I will circumnavigate the globe in 109 days!

Here's the itinerary for the trip:

Depart from Halifax, Canada on August 27

Cadiz, Spain September 4-8

Casablanca, Morocco September 10-14

Takoradi, Ghana September 22-25

Cape Town, South Africa October 3-8

Port Louis, Mauritius October 14-15

Chennai, India October 22-27

Singapore October 31- Nov 1

Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam Nov 3-8

Hong Kong/Shanghai, China Nov 11-16

Kobe/Yokohama, Japan Nov 19-23

Hilo/Honolulu, Hawaii Dec 3-6

San Diego, California Dec 13

If you guys want post cards from any of the countries email me your address. I will have unlimited access to email while I'm on the ship so once I get my Semester at Sea email address I will post it. For now you can email me your address at katiesola@aol.com.