this is a "ship" not a "boat" & you're on a "voyage" not a "cruise"

Well we made it! Finally found our ship and our small little cabin for 2. Left port at 1700 hours on Monday for SAS’s 98th Voyage – also the last for a while that circumnavigates the globe (the next ones start on the west coast and work their way to the east coast) so that’s pretty sweet. As of today at noon we have 4,000 nautical miles until we reach Cadiz! We’ve basically been in orientation and “deck” meetings for the majority of our time so far. In our free time Marisa has been whale-watching.. she is fairly confident one will need a breather near our porthole at any given moment. Needless to say, she’s still searching for blowholes. Since there are so many students, when speakers give speeches in the “union” it is video-casted in all of the classrooms – we were able to watch the Inauguration this way today.

I’m going to add a list of things I’ve learned and things I’m thankful for each day. I’ve learned a lot so far:
- Canada has a Prime Minister, not a President (ashamed to admit I wasn’t aware)
- Canadians pronounce the letter “Z” like “zed”
- (I made a Canadian friend)
- We are not allowed to travel outside of the port country… which is an issue considering we were planning to travel to Cambodia while in Thailand and therefore I will be meeting the executive dean tomorrow
- There are over 1,000 people on our ship including staff, and our newest friend, Edu, is on his 21st voyage (seeing his wife and 4 children 1 month each year)
- Last semester a boy tied his sheets together in an attempt to TOUCH the red sea… he fell overboard. (they eventually got him back but going near the railings is therefore prohibited)

Things I’m thankful for:
- Marisa as my roommate
- The snack bar on deck 5
- Our cabin steward, Ruel
- My phone having e-mail and those who write me
- Voice notes from Eppie

Classes start in the morning!