Ok, first real update of my trip, mostly dealing with Halifax and the ship. I got into Halifax on Wednesday night around 10ish. I split a cab with a few kids I’d met on the plane, and got to the lovely Westin hotel. Quite lovely accommodations for all of us Semester at Sea kids, and quite a few of us were filling its myriad of rooms. Anyway, onto Halifax:
Halifax is a lovely little quaint town. It reminds me of what I would imagine a cute little New England town should be like. It’s on the coast with great (if expensive) bars, stoic old houses, and a small downtown. I understand from the cab driver that its population is somewhere around ~350,000. I enjoyed Halifax. Perhaps it isn’t the most exciting place, but it appears to be the perfect spot to come and rest for a week or a week and a half. The atmosphere for those who know me better, is quite like Michigan. The people were, of course, very friendly and helpful. At any rate, it was a lovely little introduction to my trip. In addition, I met a quiet sum of the students I will be spending the next few months with. Granted, I haven’t seen some of them since the streets of Halifax, but that doesn’t change anything.
As for the boat, it is essentially a luxury cruise ship converted into a floating campus. We have 9 classrooms (including a large audience hall), small little two (or more) person cabins, two dining rooms, and a pool deck. Given the fact that I’ve been on the boat for nearly a week without sight of land, I’d say it’s alright. Hell, I could even get used to this. The food is a mediocre brand of decent. Lots of pasta, not much else, it has been increasingly more difficult to stomach as the days have progressed, but tapas and wine are in my near future, so I can’t complain too much.
As for the program itself, with the exception of a few minor complaints, it seems pretty good. The staff is more or less well prepared and informed, granted I’ve had few if any questions. The first day was interesting as they failed to inform anyone in the student body about any sort of program, schedule of events, or anything. This left us to wandering around the boat, going about and meeting the ~500 other confused students of our trip.
As for the kids, I must say I like most of them, nearly all of them in fact. Aside from the fact we are (nearly) all white, it’s a fairly diverse group, hailing from many different countries and every state. Still, Colorado and California make up a sizable percentage of us.
Classes are going well, and to be honest I don’t really have much to say. The work load is significantly reduced from what I’m used to, but you’ll have no complaints here. Most of my teachers are interesting and helpful. Global studies regularly proves itself frustrating as it is becoming increasingly difficult to understand what the professor actually wants us to understand and know through his plethora of anecdotes and statistical rhetoric. C’est la vie.
Anyway, I’m off to explore Spain, if you’re lucky I’ll update again before I leave, but if not be sure something is coming in Morocco which is only two days after Spain.
Cheers
Ps you´ll get pictures in the next update, which will be in about 20 or 30 minutes.
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