Its been whirlwind since my voyage began two days ago!  We have been sailing now for two days and I just saw land for the first time. We are currently docked in Puerto Rico but only to refuel but unfortunately can’t go off the boat.

            So far I have met a ton of great people, everyone is super friendly and outgoing! I also have been hanging out a lot with girls from Bucknell and some new friends from UVA and University of Colorado. Its been pretty jammed packed so far with orientations and information sessions about the ship. They aren’t the most fun thing but its all important I guess!

            Today classes started, this was also a little overwhelming because I had 5 in row from 8-4 with just an hour break in the afternoon.  Missed lunch =( but during my break I was SO EXCITED when I saw how nice it was out and got to lay out for  the first time so far! Being able to soak up the sun with some of my friends was definitely the highlight of my day.

            Something that was pretty unexpected is that I’ve been REALLY feeling the boat!! I did not think I would get seasick but the boat has been super rocky and I think everyone is still working on getting there sea legs. Three of my classes are in the big lecture hall in the front of the boat which is the worst for these symptoms! One girl even got sick in the middle of class, yuck!

            I am getting really excited to get to our first port in Dominica.  Aside from what I thought for a while, this is not the Dominican Republic but an island in the Caribbean by St. Lucia and Martinique. We will be getting there Sunday and staying till Monday and hopefully some beaches will be coming my way!

            The internet here is SUPER limited and SUPER slow. Also, there is no service on the boat. I think this is kind of nice to get away from technology but I hope I will still be able to update everyone! My new Semester at Sea email is ccatto@semesteratsea.net, and we get unlimited access!! I already feel super disconnected and miss all of you so much already! It feels like its been way longer than just a couple days. I whipped out the camera today and will try to get some pics up next week!

Talk to you soon!!