First Day At Sea

On the night of the 17th at about 6:30 the MV Explorer pulled out of the port of Ensenada and began a seven and a half day voyage to Hilo, Hawaii. As my roommate and I were unpacking one of the crew knocked on our door. We were told to secure our items because the night was going to be rocky. The ship moved back and forth and, as we began orientation, the number of students slowly diminished. One by one students were going to the desk on the fifth floor to get seasickness meds. More than a few people got sick that night, and my roommate even fell victim to the motion the next morning.

I found that my reaction to the movement was at most a headache. It never really traveled down to my stomach. The first night was the worst, because a lot of my time was spent on deck 6 at the top of the ship.  However, as soon as I went down to my cabin on deck 2, the rocking was a lot less and I felt fine. Mostly I have been having fun trying to see how straight I can walk as the boat tips from one side to the other.

The motion of the ship is nice when going to sleep. It feels like a cradle. When going to bed, the hum of the engine and the motion of the ship lull me to sleep. The first night I didn’t sleep as well because my feet were cold (I think some silk sheets from India will solve this issue).  The next night I slept long and deep; it was wonderful.

Our first full day at sea was orientation, we had lectures on sustainability, an introduction to our global studies class, and a lecture on the University of Virginia honor code that all the students and faculty are now participants in. We learned about our Living Life Coordinator’s (LLC’s) who are on the ship to help integrate a healthy shipboard life with our academic life. Each LLC has a specialty like career development, service projects, health and wellness, spirituality, sports and recreation …etc. We learned about the health facilities on the ship, we had another lecture about standards of conduct expected on this voyage, we also learned about the process of leaving and boarding the ship. It is imperative that one is not late for boarding time when leaving a port. If I were late 1-15 minutes onto the boat there would be a three-hour dock penalty for me at the next port. I would have to stay on the ship three hours after everyone else could leave the ship. This day was fast and full of information.

At the end of the 18th we had an activities symposium where everyone could sign up for the different extra-curricular activities we are interested in. I signed up for an extended family, yoga, career development help, dance, and cardio kickboxing. The extended family program is one that facilitates connections between the life long learners (older people who can afford to travel with us in this floating campus) and the students. The career development interest I signed up for is going to be very helpful in finding a job when this amazing experience is over. I will get help in writing my resume, cover letters, and knowing where to look for jobs, who to contact, how to contact them, and when/ how often to contact an organization.