I got up before 0930 Global Studies and showered. No one went to class with me. We literally all have it together, everyone either skipped it or went to the 1400 class. Oh well. It was actually an interesting class about theater, art, and music in Brazil. It was more of an Art History class. I like how I’m surprised when the topic of the day interests me.
After that I ran back downstairs to find my mug for some tea. Shannon showed up at my door asking about when we should sign up for our Global Studies presentation. The later, the better. Then I went off to 1100 Biology of Sharks. This class was also really good. It was about fisheries and the state of the stocks. Stuff I actually want to learn about and study. I knew a lot of it already from my Aquaculture class in the fall. I handed in my homework assignments for Marine Biology and Biology of Sharks. One more thing off of my to do list.
When class ended Bea, Victor, Emily, and I got lunch on the back of the 6th deck. It was sunny and hot out. But still really nice. I think I’m going to try to eat outside as much as possible in these last 2 and a half weeks on the ship. I can’t believe how little time we have left here! Only one country left! (See, it’s a measurement of time)
After lunch I chilled and attempted doing work. I was really only able to answer emails though. I hung out with Nic and Becca in the internet café. Then I had 1400 Global Studies. We got our papers back. 15 out of 15! That added to the spectacularity of the day. The class itself was beyond boring. But Toby, my teacher was feisty. She’s an older woman, and today she snapped at a few people. It was hard to tell if she was serious or joking. If I didn’t know any better I would have guessed she was stoned. She was hilarious. She even let us out 20 minutes early.
I spent almost 20 minutes trying to locate Becca and Nic. I needed to catch up on my afternoon session of gossip. Eventually giving up I returned to the 3rd deck and found them. I’d just missed them everywhere I’d been. I need a Maurader’s Map (or however you spell it). I’m talking about the map from Harry Potter where it shows where people are and how they’re moving about the castle. I can imagine that on the ship, it would be amazing and make life so much easier.
I did some more work. Put together a new slideshow for my desktop. Clearly, a necessary thing. Becca and I went up to the 7th deck to get Pringles and a 3 Musketeers then came back down to do work. As I was sitting by the stairs Amy passed by. She told me something amazing had happened and appeared on her door. I assumed she’d gotten a better punishment for getting in trouble. Nope.
She told me she came back to her room this morning to find a brown paper bag hanging on the handle of the door. In it was a calendar and a note. Our travel guide on safari in South Africa, Pat, had told us she was going to give us this beautiful calendar with pictures from Camp Jabulani from the Kapama Game Reserve. It was the 2009 calendar and they had given it to her to thank her for sending her clients there. She told us she had held onto it because it was so beautiful, but really had no use for it. Since the 4 of us, me, Claire, Amy, and Elena, had loved the elephants so much, she said she would give it to us. She had really taken a liking to us throughout our safari. Her husband was supposed to bring it to the airport in Cape Town on our way back. But in the chaos that surrounded traveling back, she had stayed behind to take a later flight with some of the group. We found this out too late when we were waiting for her.
We had been upset that we didn’t get to say goodbye. But after a week or so we’d moved on and were in Ghana. I had forgotten that she’s promised this calendar to us. The note said how sorry she was she didn’t get to hug us all goodbye, but she hoped this calendar would find us and gave us her email address. This made my day and almost made me cry. The calendar is beautiful, just like she said. But it’s the thought behind it that’s really going to make me cherish the pictures. We’ve dividing it up tomorrow before dinner and sending her a thank you email, then eating together. I think we’re going to try and send her a postcard from Brazil together. I can’t believe she was able to get it to us. She must have brought it to the ship later that night or the next day before we left port. I’m in shock and so happy.
1730 rolled around, just like always and Vanessa knocked on my door for dinner. I’d emailed Vanessa, Victor, Bea, and Becca for a table dinner for the 5 of us. I felt like we hadn’t all had dinner together or spent much time together recently. Everyone seemed stoked about the idea. The sun was already setting when we got up there. The sky was also kind of overcast. It was weird to eat up on the 6th deck when it was dark out.
Dinner wasn’t really anything special. Some pasta and vegetable soup. It was such a great dinner. Holly joined us. We laughed so hard discussing the proper etiquette of who gets the first hug when we get off the ship. See how much we stress about these things? I hope you all appreciate the thought and care that is going into this.
Vanessa and Bea wanted ice cream so we went up to the 7th deck and hung out for awhile. Around 1900 we headed back down to our cabins. I changed for the gym and headed back up to get on the bike. I did a little while on it and realized that the treadmill was open. Not a common occurrence. I jumped on it. Not the best idea. The seas were rougher than ideal for using it. But oh well. I still got a decent run in. Then finished up on the bike and talked to Nic and Becca while they worked out next to me. I taught Nic how to use the stairmaster. My good deed of the day. Or at least my spreading of knowledge. We went out to the back to use the weights then stretched on the port side. That didn’t last long.
I was so happy to shower. Tomorrow is laundry day!! So I organized all my clothes and managed to fit everything into one laundry bag. Miracles. I have so many clothes that need to be washed. I’m not talking about oh-I-wore-them-once-ew-they’re-dirty, these clothes have been worn several times. They’re covered in dirt, sweat, and maybe even a little blood. They smell rancid. They’ve been chilling under my bed. Pulling them out was pretty gnarly. Thank God we get it before Brazil. We’re the last ones to get it before we get there. I would have cried if we didn’t. I so desperately needed this. We got lucky. We got laundry a few days before Ghana, too, so I had clean clothes for my trips. Not that having clean clothes mattered. That’s where my clothes got disgusting: the humidity and Habitat for Humanity.
I went out into the hallway and finished sending out a bunch of emails to everyone that I needed to. I continued working on my blog. I had fallen slightly behind on my entries. Sorry! I’ve been busy. I can’t effectively concentrate on my other work unless my blog is up-to-date. Nic was writing papers. Sam came out and chilled and listened to music with us. Brandon came out and talked to us for awhile, too. Mason and Pat both walked past about a million times. I don’t know what they do, but they’re always in motion. Pat was in a suit. It’s best not to ask questions. My standards for normalcy on this ship have drastically changed. I accept any and all things that happen. Drum circles. Sing-alongs. Mass art projects. Filming of random stories. Games of tag. It shouldn’t phase anyone on the ship at this point. Amy came by and chilled with us, too.
Eventually we all went our separate ways for the night to sleep.
So as I finish typing up this blog entry, I have finally caught up on all of Ghana and my time at sea, making me incredibly happy. It’s not even that late. I find myself writing this from the comfort of my bed in my cabin. I came in a little while ago to all of the lights off. It’s too early for me to have to abide by lights out in this cabin. I, Stephanie Jean Chaston, turned the lights back on. Something that I would never do to Susan. But you know what, I’ve put up with my fair share of shit in this room. I can have the lights on. This small stand makes me happy. J Oh, and I’ve turned the air on really low so I can comfortably sleep tonight. Now I’m really tired. Goodnight. Love and miss you all. I’ll be home soonly.
No comments:
Post a Comment