En route to Puerto Rico

Hello everyone!! Right now we are almost half way to Puerto Rico!! We have been doing all kinds of orientation things today and last night; nothing too crazy—just mainly talking about safety on the boat. We also had our first Global Studies class. It was just an introduction to the class, and we got our syllabus and discussed the theme. The Global Studies theme for this semester is Peace and Conflict in the Developing World.
It seems like it will be interesting. I have been meeting a lot of people, and I even met a few from UM that I didn’t know where coming- of course I’m wearing my UM gear all the time J.
Yesterday we had a lifeboat drill before we departed, and we have to wear long pants, long sleeves, sneakers, a hat, and our lifejackets- it was SO hot! We stood there for like 45 minutes waiting for the captain to go around and make sure everyone was there and prepared. That was horrible, I hope we don’t have any more of those. I took a picture with my roommate in our lifejackets so I will post that later on. My roommate’s name is Ashley and she is from Omaha, Nebraska, and goes to the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Apparently there is one other girl on the boat from Nebraska, but she hasn’t met her yet. Last night we did this roommate questionnaire that our RD gave us about our style of living, and we both put the same answers for almost everything so that is good.

I’m going to backtrack to the Bahamas since my last post wasn’t that long.
So first of all I stood in the wrong line at the Miami airport for about 25 minutes because no one speaks English and the signs were confusing. I never flew international by myself before so I was just like ah! Where do I go? beside the fact that I could barely drag my bags. So I finally found the right line and it was so long! I stood in that for about an hour before I got to the counter and had to pay $25 for one of my bags being heavy L. Then I dragged my bags off to the security thing and they asked for my boarding pass. The lady was like your late you have to run to your gate! Great… I didn’t even get through security yet! So I went to security, and the line wasn’t long, but there was this guy who didn’t speak very good English and he was fighting with the TSA guy because he kept beeping, but wouldn’t take his metal off (not suspicious at all). So finally I got through with no problems and I was like running to my gate. I only had 1 part of my battery left on my cell phone and I still didn’t call anyone to say bye so I was like freaking out about that. After 2 people my cell started beeping LOW BATTERY. I was standing at my gate calling people as fast as I could like hysterically crying- I really must have been a sight to see. I am so sorry Tal and Jenna that I didn’t get to call you guys before I got on the plane!!!
So I took the bus to my incredibly tiny plane on the tarmac, boarded, and fell asleep right away. I didn’t wake up until we landed (which was only 46 minutes, but still). The Nassau Airport is so cute. It’s really tiny and all colorful. I went through customs easily because the guy knew I was with SAS, so I went on to baggage claim. I was so nervous about my luggage because I had heard that 4 people’s bags were lost already, so I was standing there all anxious and I didn’t see anyone else who resembled an SAS’er. Thank god my bags came out pretty fast. There were about 50 Bahaman men with carts who keep asking if you need help, and I didn’t really want help but I was blantantly struggling with my bags so this one guy was just like no, I’m helping haha. So then I had to go through the other customs guy and tell him what was in my bags. We went outside and I walked past 4 people agreeing to share a cab to the Atlantis, and there was no one else around really so I was like Oh man, I have to go alone.. But I asked if I could share anyway, so we did that. There was a mother and daughter- the daughter is on SAS, a woman whose mother is a Lifelong Learner passenger on SAS, and a man on business or something random.
So then I got to the Atlantis, got a key to the room I was staying in, and maneuvered my ridiculously large bags. When I got to the room, Hilary and Monica were already in there so I got my bathing suit on and went to get something to eat. Hilary went to the beach for a little bit because she was leaving to go home because of a family emergency. I wish I got to spend more time with her, but she is going to fly and meet the ship in Puerto Rico.
I just have to add right here that I just looked out my window and it is the most amazing thing I have ever seen!
Anyway, Monica, Jordi, Kim, Dan (who turns out is Eric’s roommate on the ship), and I hung out all day going on the lazy river and just hanging out. At night we met in the Atlantis lobby with about 120 other SAS kids and a few of us (15) decided to go to a local bar that Kevin suggested since he had been there for a while, instead of the expensive places with everyone else. So we all packed into a cab and went to Joe’s. Let me attempt to describe this place. It is a tiny building in the middle of the block in a residential part of Nassau. There were about 10 Bahaman men in there (all much older, missing teeth, smelling of alcohol and pot) drinking and playing pool. At first I was like what in the world are we doing here? But after a little while, and talking to the guys I realized that these were so cool! Everyone was just listening to reggae, playing pool, and dancing. It was such a good time! And when we were about to leave they were like please come back here if you are ever in the Bahamas! It was so cute.
On the morning of the 4th, Kim and I met up at like 645 am and got a taxi with 2 other girls to the port!! We got in line, but it wasn’t too long so we only had to wait a little while. Once we got our bags searched and got our id cards we were allowed to board! Dannie was a greeter at the gangway so we stood and talked to her for a little before getting our carry-ons searched and going through the metal detector. Then we both ran to our cabins, but mine was being cleaned L so one of the RD’s let me put my carry-ons in his room and then gave me a quick little tour. When I got back from breakfast one of my bags was there so I went in to unpack. Our room was one of the junior suites! It is awesome! Our beds are actually turned the other way (bow to aft) instead of port to starboard so the rocking of the ship feels like a cradle or something instead of making us sick- it is so nice! We even got a little mini couch and more storage space than other cabins. Woo hoo!
So basically for the past 24 hours I have just been hanging out, meeting people, and organizing my room. It’s been fun so far and I’m really excited for classes to get started tomorrow. That’s all I really have for now. I hope you are all getting your free SAS Internet postcards. They are so sweet to send, but I don’t like that I can’t get a free response lol. I will be checking my gmail tonight, and probably responding to any letters with internet postcards. Hope everyone is doing well! Love you all!
PS. I heard the Colts won the Super Bowl!!! I hate the Bears haha :\
I’ll talk to everyone soon! J