Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Ensenada, Mexico

We finally have set sail and arrived in Ensenada, Mexico. It is A1 (first day of class) and I honestly do not know what the date or day is in real world time. The student life staff rocks and we are having a great time getting to know faculty and the other staff members. We love the captain, officers and the crew. The students for the most part are so positive and excited to be here. I have had a very emotional bon voyage - in part because of the family and friends who were able to see me off in San Diego. August and I miss everyone and at the same time are having a wonderful time making new friends. Two things that I have told the staff is to not say "on my campus" and "on my last voyage"....although i often think of my campus and my past voyage (shout outs to UCI and SAS Summer 01 voyage whoo whoo!). We had such a unique experience of participating in a shipboard event to celebrate the contributions of both Max and John during our orientation. What an amazing day and night of partying that turned out to be!

The first night when we left Ensenada was quite eventful. The students were excited, asking me if they could change rooms, looking at the picture boards, and trying to find their friends they "met" on facebook. It was quite fun for all for the most part. They all wanted to get into their internet right away so the questions about games and movies was quite minimal. The seas seemed rought that night so we had quite a few people quite sick, including me. I was told that I looked green (my favorite color!). I recovered nicely and so far have had no more incidents. The captain is pretty fun - I have to say that he really liked the brown polka dot floppy hat and wants me to wear it during boat drill...thanks y'all.

So as we travel through the Pacific Ocean (it's weird and calming at the same time to not see land or any ships), my hope is to be able to create positive experiences for the students and the rest of the shipboard community during this voyage. I think what is hard is to have them realize that seeing the world as half full rather than half empty is easier than one thinks. Hopefully, they will all come around. I have met 3 of the 6 anteaters on board and all three have been very positively engaged. I am excited to see Honolulu mostly because of the friends I have there! Shout outs by the way to all the folks who visited during our stay in SD. Shout outs also to those of you who I had lunch, dinner, happy hour with the week before I left - it was all appreciated!!!

more to come later...
anna

1 comment:

c/e/d said...

boss lady, sherwynn said you're cut and the new name of the ccc is the uni-cultural center. she told me for reals. me, floyd and aida miss you though. come back soon. make a video for us with your moving camera. make sure it's a talkie. i don't want to have to play some ragtime on the piano while we watch.