July 1 to 4- From Spain To Scotland

I decided I’m going to compile my days on the ship into one blog post. Partly because I don’t have much to say about sea days and partly because I think most of you would rather read about my days in port instead of about my days on the ship. I’m also not going to write about everything that I do each and every day because that’s boring. Instead, I’m just going to keep notes of random thoughts I want to share with you.

July 1

Nothing of importance happened today.

July 2

Four days on the ship seems like a long time, and I hope it goes by quickly. I’m excited for Scotland, and I’m anxious to be in port again. I can’t believe it's already the month of July! That just seems crazy to me. It also just occurred to me that the 4^th of July is in two days. The 4^th is usually one of my favorite holidays, but it hasn’t even crossed my mind at all this summer. It made me kind of sad today to think that I won’t be able to spend the day with my family and watch the fireworks with Zane, but then I remembered that I’m on a floating college traveling through Europe and I stopped feeling sorry for myself.

I got bored in class today and figured out that I have been gone from home for 21 days. This is definitely the longest I’ve ever been away from my parents, my sister and my boyfriend. Strangely, I haven’t felt homesick much at all. Of course I have my moments. Every time I see a cute dog I miss Cailey. Every time I try a new, yummy food I wish my mom was with me. Every time I hear a cheesy, romantic love song I think of Zane. But I haven’t felt truly sad or homesick yet. Which is great! I’m doing a lot better than I’d thought I’d be at this point. I also calculate that I have 51 more days to go, so I’m sure it will only be a matter of time before it kicks in.

Apparently, the whole “let’s-be-adventurous-and-try-new-food” thing has turned into a “let’s-see-how-much-food-Jessica-can-stuff-into-her-face” thing. I’ve eating so much in the past two weeks it’s ridiculous. Both on and off the ship, I just can’t help but try everything! Like I said before, some people don’t like the food on the ship. But I love it! I think it’s great! And of course I need to eat while we’re in country! I need to get a taste of everything! I never had trouble with the Freshman 15 (that’s where you gain 15 pound your freshman year of college), but I’m starting to think they should call it the SAS 15 too. I think I might be in trouble. Will you all love me when I get home if I gain 15 pounds? Regardless of what your answer might be, I think I’m just going to keep eating a lot. It’s kind of liberating to have no self-control…

July 3

Today I met my “extended family” on the ship. At the beginning of our voyage, we had the option to sign up with the events coordinator to be matched up with a Lifelong Learner or a faculty member so we could form an extended family. My new ship mom’s name is Julie Roa. She’s working on the ship as the school’s Registrar/Assistant to the Academic Dean. Julie is originally from Columbia, but she’s currently working at the University of Virginia. He wasn’t able to make it to the meeting, but Joe Moon is my ship dad. He’s the Dean of Student Life. I haven’t met him yet, so I don’t know much about him. I also have three ship sisters: Jodie, Hannah and Gisselle. They all seem really nice, and I’m excited to get to know them all better!

Julie's Bio

http://www.semesteratsea.org/faculty-and-staff/julie-roa/

Joe's Bio

http://www.semesteratsea.org/faculty-and-staff/joseph-moon/

July 4

Happy Birthday ‘Merica! Nothing too special happened today except we got a really cool cake at dinner.

Tomorrow we’ll be in Scotland!