Hawaii & The lost day

I have been to Hawaii multiple times so I basically just wanted to get off the ship, wander, and not spend too much money. A lot of friends had field programs & field labs for class, so Bryan and I decided to go off and have a spontaneous day. It is such an amazing feeling being on land after a solid week on the ship, and I felt so free because this was the first time I'd really been anywhere without parents! (Yes, I am a baby.) There is not much to do in the city of Hilo on the big island of Hawaii, but Bryan and I found a bus called "hoppa-on hoppa-off" and it was $20 for a day pass. We got off at the first stop, The Hilo Farmer's Market, and ran into tons of SAS'ers and just wandered around and bought random exotic fruits and my favorite, macadamia nuts! We then went back on the bus to Rainbow Falls but only stayed a bit because we got really hungry and went back to town to eat amazing Hawaiian tacos at a restaurant called Pineapples. After wandering through town some more and finding a place to buy a keychain (I'm getting one in every place I go to-I started doing it 2.5 years ago on a Mediterranean Cruise I went on), we got back on the bus and went to Richardson's Beach. This is a black sand beach that was full of SAS'ers and we just hung out with people and eventually made it in the cold water. I have a very awkward GoPro video of me running in the water…oh how I love my GoPro.

Overall, it was a very relaxed day and it was nice to just go with the flow and not plan anything out. Hawaiian culture is so laid back and I look forward to the next time I go there!

On another note, we are approaching the International Date Line! It is currently 11:25pm on January 18, 2015, but when it hits midnight we are going to skip forward an entire day and go right to January 20^th. So January 19^th, 2015 will not exist for me…it's so weird and cool to think about. So we arrive in Yokohama, Japan on January 26^th and I cannot be more excited. I also turn 21 on January 24^th but I will still be on the ship, so I plan to celebrate my birthday in Tokyo! 

The first week on board

LEAVING: I've only been on SAS for 9 days and it has felt like an eternity. It is crazy how being without social media you truly get to know people and have deep conversations with them, especially at meal times. The bonfire Kaity & I organized in San Diego the day before we left was a great idea, and everyone was just so cool and friendly! I left the next day for Ensenada, Mexico at what was supposed to be 9am but left actually at like 10:30am. The border took forever and we didn't actually get to the ship until 3 or 4 hours later, but Michelle & I were just dozing off most the time or staring out the window.

MY ROOM: it's TINY. I have an outside triple so I have 2 other roommates named Aishwyra (probably spelled that wrong) and Yesenia and I absolutely love them. The first few days we were napping like crazy to adjust to sea life. I guess we were kind of seasick but it was in a more foggy head and constantly tired way. The beds are SO comfortable and the ship rocks you to sleep like a baby.

ORIENTATION & ACTIVITIES: we had orientation the day after we got on the ship all day. It lasted at least 12 hours and the majority of the stuff I already knew. We are separated into different "seas" which are teams based on where our room is located. I'm the Adriatic Sea. So, people can come up with clubs on board and there's been a lot! So far I have joined: "Jews on a cruise", YoungLife, yogis abroad, cardio kickboxing, acapella (started yesterday and I am soooo excited about it-having acapella withdrawals), and Zumba starts today! I might join a film society/multimedia thing also. There's always things going on and people laying out on Deck 7 by the pool, so you can say it's a tadddd hard to focus in school.

A TYPICAL DAY: days are split up between "A days" and "B days". We have class every single day when not in port, even on weekends. I have 1 class on A days and 3 on B days. Here's my schedule today to just give you a basic idea of my new sea life.

-Sleep in! Wake up at 10ish, shower and chill until lunch around 11:30/12. Lunch & hang out outside until class around 1. International Marketing class 1-2:15. Send emails, try to do homework and chill. Zumba 4:15-5:15. 5:30 Shabbat. Dinner around 6/6:30. Game of Thrones marathon crammed into Brian's room for an hour or two. Pub night at 9pm (drinking age is 18 on board so we are allowed 2 glasses of wine or beer per night, and 3 more on pub night. Each drink is $4 and I have already spent $24…oopsies)

That's about it for ship life. Classes are good, people are friendly, the ship already feels like home, and it's only just begun!

It's the Final Countdownnnn

So my bus leaves from San Diego to go to Ensenada, Mexico where the ship is docked on Wednesday, January 7^th at 9am. That’s in 2 days. But I leave for San Diego tomorrow to just hang out and meet up with people at a bonfire we planned. You could say I’m kind of freaking out. I’m way more excited than nervous, but I just want to get settled on the ship already and see who my roommates are! I've been slowly gathering everything I need and have packed my 2 duffle bags completely full (probably brought more clothes than was recommended-oops) and just have to get the final bits into my backpack. 

Yes, my room is pretty messy and chaotic but that will go away today. So in honor of waiting literally a solid year to go on this, I'm going to go through the 5 phases people (or just I) went through when waiting to go on SAS:

1. The happy phase: this is right when you get that amazing email that you have been accepted. You tell everyone you know that you've been accepted to this amazing program, start memorizing your ports, researching them, and stalking previous voyager's blogs, but your embarkation day is still far away. 

2. The anticipation phase: you feel like you've watched every video possible and read every blog out there, anything having to do with SAS. You just can't wait to get on board but reality hits and it's still like 10 months away. This is by far the longest phase. 

3. The chaotic phase: SAS decides to throw everything at you about 3 months before your voyage. If you look at my previous blog posts, you'll see how much happened in such a short period of time. You have to apply for and obtain your visas, register for classes, sign up for field programs, find out if you got any scholarships, actually pay, and it's just chaotic. Trying to do well in school becomes VERY difficult.

4. The preparation phase: around Thanksgiving break, you realize you leave in a little over a month and grab random stuff you think you need on black friday. This is when I got my GoPro and realized that it was actually finally time to make a packing list and start buying stuff. This lasted up until....yesterday.

5. The anxious freaking out OMG this is actually happening phase: this begins during the preparation phase and intensifies each day.You just can't believe that you're actually about to go on Semester at Sea. It's felt like a dream and still doesn't seem real. As of today, I'm at the peak of this phase and I'm pretty sure I won't be able to sleep tonight.

That's all for now, folks. Next time I post I will have set sail and will be somewhere in the middle of the ocean...or Hawaii! :D

P.S. I forgot to write earlier, if you would like to contact me, my ship email that I can use as often as I want is: hannah.olds.sp15@semesteratsea.org
I would love to keep in contact with people so feel free to email me anytime! I'd lastly like to thank everyone, especially my parents, for financially supporting me and making this voyage possible. Thank you so much!