"Hold On I'm Drying My Underwear"

So I decided that it would fun to tell everyone about what it is like to live on a ship for 10 weeks (and answering the questions I got asked a lot before I left). I LOVE MY SHIP HOME

Laundry:
We leave laundry outside of our doors in plastic bags that they give us. We mark off how many of each type of clothing we have on our laundry sheets. Our laundry is only done on days that we are at sea and we usually get the bag back the same day. JoEllen and I wear our sweatshirts and jeans as much as we can and then we literally stuff them in the bags and usually break the sides open. It costs 6 dollars a bag, so we try and save money that could be used in port. For the rest of our clothes we mostly resort to sink washing and hanging them on the line in the shower. Tonight I wanted to shower and I had to wait for JoEllen to finish blow drying her underwear. Yes that happens.

Cabin Life:
Our cabins are small but not too bad at all. We have plenty of room for all of our clothes and the beds are comfy. When we are at sea our drawers and doors close for us, which is pretty nice. The one thing that stinks in the room literally is the boat gets this really bad weird smell sometimes and it stinks up the halls and rooms. The best way I can explain taking a shower while at sea is to imagine showering in a coat closet during an earthquake. It is small and the curtain will sway in and stick to you while you basically are stumbling back and forth from the rocking.

That Education Part?:
So yea part of studying abroad involves studying although it looks like we just travel and lay around. We all take 3 classes and only go during time at sea. So we have 3 days in a row this week and the previous week we only had 1 day. Mine are all in a row from 8 to 12. Our "classrooms" are just closed off sitting areas on the ship. So my one class is basically held in a sitting area with tables and chairs and a huge couch along the back. So we lounge on a couch during class and try to not fall asleep.They have fold out walls that pull out and close the space off to make it a class during sea. Contrary to the elementary school belief that teachers sleep under their desks and live at the school, they are out and about with us. I have been on tons of excursions with teachers and their office hours are basically "if you see me at lunch or dinner come talk to me". They are all really cool and want to help. I have been on deck tanning and reading when my Econ teacher has come out and started tanning a few chairs away. It is weird, but you get used it.

Communicating:
I can send postcards! I sent some in Portugal so 6 countries ago and they have still not arrived sooo. I try to get WiFi in port when I can to send pictures and texts through What's app. Then I have my horrible international cell that HATES ME. Literally it never works for me and I want to throw it overboard. Lastly I have what JoEllen and I call snail mail. It is our on-board email that I use to update blogs and talk back home. It works sometimes and sometimes it doesn't. It usually doesn't work in our cabins, but if you right outside the door it will work.

Food:
Breakfast is from 7:30-8:30, lunch from 11:30-1:30, dinner from 5:30-7:30, and late night snack at 10-10:30. They also have a pool bar and a snack bar where you can buy food at basically anytime. The food is not that bad and I wasn't expecting high quality. The problem and why I am always hungry is because there is the same thing everyday. The 3 P's - Pasta, Potatoes, and Pork. Basically we stuff our faces when in port and go food shopping.Our famous line after eating is "thank god that's over".