i'm on a SHIP!

it is crazy to think that i have already been on this ship for 4 days!! after a while it is starting to feel normal. so i promised i would give a long update as to the ship goings so here goes nothing!! btw this is going to be a BEAST of a post, so be prepared!! :]

first off, on the last full day of canada, mom gramma and i tried to squeeze as much as possible into the hours. we started the day by going back to peggy's cove to do more rock hopping. was beautiful.  we went down the other side of the lighthouse and got to see almost high tide.

then we got back just in time to see the local oceanography institute.  we totally lucked out!! i had read about it in a guide book we picked up for nova scotia, and was REALLY excited to go. we got a little turned around getting there, but we made it eventually only to find that you had to make tour reservations in advance :( buuuuut we just happened to be in the right place at the right time, because just as we were about to give up and leave, a tour guide popped out of no where and said she would gladly give us a tour!! so so cool. she was really nice.  she is working there over the summer to get credit for grad school.  i told her a little about sas and she said she wanted to look into it! haha so there you go sas, one possible recruit. :) oh, and did i mention I GOT TO HOLD A LOBSTER. yep. im so cool now. hahaha anyways, it was really interesting going around the place. definitely lots of interesting stuff, but even cooler was that after i left i KNEW i had made the right decision to change majors to math and secondary edu. i thought the information she gave us was fascinating, yes, but i realized that i would not want to do it every day of my life. summer job? HECK YES. but life? no thanks i think.  plus i would smell like fish everyday. mmmm. delicious. not! haha

after that adventure, we got cleaned up and headed back into downtown halifax.  mom, gramma, and kyles mom went to the dessert reception on the ship while kyle and i met some other SASers and went to dinner with them.  we had a LOT of fun.  was awesome to have so many people from so many different states and schools at one table... then you turned around and realized that the ENTIRE restaurant was overrun with SASers and realized just how many people read facebook events... HAH. anyways, was fun meeting them. we got caught in the rain on the way back to the hotel, so when my mom and gramma got back i was SOAKED.  totally worth it though.  im still hanging out with some of the kids i ran into that night :D and it was fun getting on the ship and already knowing some people. 

back at the lovely hotel, we repacked all my stuff and hit the sack! i could barely sleep i was so excited :]

SHIP SHIP SHIP SHIP
day 1: tuesday, june 15th
the morning came so fast! i felt like i had just finally nodded off to sleep as my alarm clock rang, and from there it was SHIP TIME!
had our last breakfast at the hotel before heading to wait in line to get on the ship. my check in time was 9:20am, but by the time we got there ate around 9:15, the line was already crazy.  kyle found me in line and stood with us for a little while.  he had already gotten on the ship and managed to meet my roommate. yep. once again kyle meets my roommate before i do! he said she seemed pretty chill and that she and he actually had class together lol. the only one he doesnt have with me. he pointed out his room from the pavilion. was pretty funny.

2 hours and about 30 minutes after arriving, i FINALLY got all the way through the ridiculous lines, intense baggage checks, metal detectors, AND pat downs. then i was walking aboard the MV EXPLORER!!! we had other check in stuff and paperwork to fill out, but luckily i had filled out most of that before getting to the ship, so that went by fast. my roommate was taking a nap when i entered the cabin, but she woke up when i came in. her name is Jacquelin, but she goes by Jack.  she told me that she and her boyfriend had taken the red eye in, so she was still getting used to the time adjustment.  her boyfriend is doing a work study on the ship in the bookstore. i met him a little later that evening.  both seem pretty nice, though they are pretty much attached at the hip. 

i got back off the ship after scoping out the room and had lunch with mom, gramma, kyle, and his mom before our final boarding for good! we all said our goodbyes, and kyle and i went to explore our new HOME!

we met one of kyles roommates back in his room.  his name is nick.  seemed like a cool kid. he was on his way out to work out. hahaha oh boys.  no sign of kyles other roommie, so we went back to exploring.  ended up finding our way to the work out area on the upper back deck (deck 7) and managed to run into nick again! turns out he found the other roommie and they both hit the gym. HAH. so his other roommate is named daniel. and daniel introduced us to his friend lacey.  they are good friends from school and did the trip together. (sound familiar yet? lol) anyways, lacey and i instantly bonded over how many humps there are on a camel and the boys bonded over ridiculous things that lacey and i were doing/saying.  needless to say, the 4 of us became fast friends.  we ended up ditching nick (the only one actually working out), but not before giving him the nickname "champ" which has sense stuck to the point of i had to get kyle to remind me of his real name already... oops! haha :]

so the 4 of us ended up going on adventures trying to find our ways around the ship until it was time for the safety boat drill... oh boy the safety boat drill. was not that complicated, just long and tedious.  they make you wear long pants, long shirts or jackets, and closed toed shoes with your lifevest.  most entertaining moment was when one of the crew members was practically dragging one of the guys back to his room because he had on bball shorts and a tshirt.  he was telling her over and over again that he literally had no warm clothes... good luck buddy! this ship is COLD!

anywho, after all the silly stuff, we finally embarked after doing a few circles around in port (to fix the compass apparently). 

we slowly accumulated more people to our group during dinner and while we played cards (uno has been well worn already), and i eventually it the sack after our ship meetings.  was one of the best sleeps i had in a LONG time. :]




and now its almost time for dinner!! so i will have to catch up on the other 3 days later... those posts probably wont be as long thankfully :]