While I was in Halifax we walked around the town and checked out a few of the local bars. On our last full day in Halifax we ate some yummy seafood by the waterfront near where our new home was docked,then a group of about 15 semester at sea kids all toured the Keith Alexander Brewery. The brewery tour had some hilarious characters telling us the history of the beer as we walked through the old building, they sang and danced and let us have two full mugs of beer to try the different kinds. It was so much fun. That night we went to dinner in the hotel restaurant and then went to club to meet up with all the semester at sea kids that were in town. It was fun to meet a million of people, all of which I'm sure I have re-met five times now. The next day we all had different times to board the ship according to our last names. I was scheduled to board at 10Am but left the hotel a solid 45 minutes before that thanks to my fear of being late to anything and walked with all my luggage the mile to the ship. The check in process was pretty easy, gave my big suitcases to be delivered to the room, which I was happy about because my arms were about to fall off after carrying them from the hotel. My ship ID card didn't have a picture on it for some reason so I had to be escorted on the ship by one of the crew members so I slipped through all the lines pretty quickly. Then we had to go to a bunch of informational tables in our union (which is the main club area on the ship, or at least used to be a club when it was a regular tourist ship haha) then I was finally able to go find my room! After walking down a few wrong hallways I found my room on the 3rd deck near the back (aft....maritime talk!) right above the engines. My roommate hadn't arrived yet so I just started to unpack and get organized.
The next two days consisted of meetings to learn the rules and how to get used to life on the ship.on the third day on the ship we started classes. I have two anthropology classes, one psychology class and a global studies course that the whole ship has to take. The classes take place in what used to be cocktail lounges and bars. Luckily I don't get the least bit sea sick because a few of the rooms rock back and forth pretty hard, a few kids went running out with green faces in my classes from the seasickness. The rocking does seem to lull me to sleep very nicely in class, I'm learning to ignore being rocked to sleep so I can stay awake, it's much harder than it sounds!
We have a pretty decent amount of down time on the ship so luckily my roommate has the same sort of sleep schedule in which naps are very prominent in our cabin. Especially because the water was so rough for about three days that even at night is was a bit difficult to sleep with our drawers/cupboards opening with a big wave then slamming shut. During the day it became relatively normal to see people fall out of their chairs during meals or run into the wall attempting not to fall from a wave.
This morning we arrived in Galway Ireland where I debarked the ship around 9am and walked to a nearby hotel to meet up with Colin (cousin) and then drove the 3 1/2 hour drive up to Belfast. I'll spend the weekend here and then catch a bus down to Dublin on Monday and board the ship Monday evening! I'll try to write again before I get back on the ship.
Xoxo
Dayna
Here is my room from our front cabin door.
Sunset on the back deck of the ship
Best sunsets ever!
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