Location: Still the Middle of the Atlantic Ocean

Classes have begun!

Hmm…I think I forgot about the whole academic aspect of this program…classes? Homework? Reading? It’s true, folks, it seems as though I will, in fact, be taking classes out here in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Did I mention Northwestern doesn’t accept credit from Semester at Sea? Seems as though I will, in fact, be taking classes out here in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean for zero recognition back home in Evanston. Well here’s the good news—my schedule is far from rigorous. We are required to take 4 classes (12 academic credits) on the MV Explorer- one of which is required for all students. This is Global Studies- a kind of historical/political look at the world, globalization, and each of the individual countries we will be visiting. As the professor puts it, the class is like “waterskiing,” just barely skimming the surface of each topic and nation we address. Very cool and useful in theory but waking up in time for the 9:20 lecture is slightly harder than previously imagined (Have I told you guys about the time changes yet? We lose an hour almost every night we are at sea. COOL.) Directly after that I have Global Music- pretty self-explanatory, I think. Today we studied Flamenco music in preparation for our first port of Cadiz, Spain which was really amazing. Hopefully my trip to Sevilla will include some sort of Flamenco performance! After Global Music, a short 4 hour beak until my next class of World Short Stories. In this class we will be reading short stories from each of the places we are travelling to and discussing them in our small class of only 14 students. The professor is super friendly and engaging so that is a class I’m really looking forward to going to every week. So that is my A-day (today is A2, the second day of A classes). Here at sea, there are no days of the week. No weekdays, no weekends just A and B days. Aka we take classes for a week straight and then get off at port for a 5 day vacation. So my other ½ of days at sea consist of a single class- Introduction to Theatre. It happens to start my day off at 4pm, giving me ample time to wake up at 11:30, eat lunch, watch an obscene amount of Friday Night Lights, lay out, do homework (in theory), answer e-mails, and write blog posts in the sunshine. Can you tell this rigorous academic life is getting to me? So that is basically a day at sea. A lot of down time + a little class time = one very happy Tracey at Sea.

Speaking of being happy, one thing that makes me EXTRA happy is getting e-mails from all my friends and family stateside! So e-mail me at tscook@semesteratsea.net and I promise you a prompt reply while at sea!

Love,
Tracey

Countdown to Espana: 4 days!