Puerto Rico

02/08/07

I’m in Puerto Rico and loving it! It’s absolutely beautiful (the scenery and the people alike!). The governor and secretary of state of Puerto Rico welcomed us on the ship yesterday morning with a speech about the history of Puerto Rican culture. Michael, Celina and Val had tickets for an event so Greg and I went to old San Juan and ate at a little restaurant that had the best steak I’ve ever had in my entire life! It even topped off my Dad’s – sorry Dad :(. We walked around the city a little and went into different shops.

We went to a welcoming reception at Carribean University last night. I just finished filling out my transfer papers as I will be attending this campus next semester! Haha, just kidding but it was a beautiful campus and had a lively student body. The buses pulled up to the University where a lot of students were waiting – some playing instruments, clapping, chanting, and even some on stilts and in costume. We had traditional Puerto Rican food and watched a folklorico performance that was AMAZING! They really know how to move it! Michael got it on video (his favorites parts and people of course haha) so I’ll attempt to post it somehow. After the performances they had a celebration and dance. Later in the night we went to Senor Frogs. The whole day was A LOT of fun.

I’m experiencing sea legs! It feels like I’m swaying back and forth on dry land and I’ve been tripping and losing my balance more often than usual which is a little hard to believe. I haven’t gotten sea sick yet but the constant rocking makes me tired. The sleep on the ship is the best. The food has been pretty good too. I’ve been eating 4 meals a day, and big ones at that, so you can expect extra “poundage” upon my arrival. I’ll probably gain the semester at sea 15.

I’ve only had half my classes so far. We only take classes when we’re at sea. I’m taking 15 credits: African American Lit, Psych of Women, Global Studies, World Public Health, and Human Reproduction.

02/10

We left Puerto Rico last night and are now on a long stretch to Brazil. I think we have 7 days at sea till the next port. While we’re on board, we don’t have weekends and refer to days as either A day or B day so, as you can imagine, it’s really easy to lose track of days. I think today is Saturday but to be honest I have no idea. I feel out of touch with American Pop Culture but it’s kind of refreshing to not know about the useless and irrelevant rumors about celebrity lives. We have a tv in our rooms but get one movie that plays over and over and over again. The past week was Cool Runnings. I heard Anna Nicole Smith died but I’m not sure if that was a ship rumor or not.