Wow!! I don’t think I have ever been so busy in my entire life! This past week has just been absolutely crazy. I haven’t even gotten the chance to reply to all the e-mails that are coming my way.

Ship life has been an eye-opening experience for me. Whether I’m resetting my watch to maritime (2400 hour system) or reminding people not to run or stand in open doorways. You have to be so much more aware of your surroundings while on a moving vessel.

Besides the constant moving of the deck beneath my feet, other aspects of life at sea have been keeping me on my toes. In addition to class, meetings, Sea activities, and community building, we have been losing an hour every night. That’s right...I get back to my cabin and check my e-mail, read for class, and go over my next day’s schedule, and then right before going to bed I have to set my clock forward an hour. I haven’t made it to bed before 1 AM yet.

Yesterday it all caught up with everyone, I think. We had hit some rough waters and the wind was really strong. The ship was in constant motion and everyone was exhausted. You could tell by just walking down the hallways that people were dead on their feet or seasick. I snuck off around 1530 (3:30 PM) and got a good nap. Jenni and I are lucky that we are down on Deck 2, because the lower you are on the ship, the less motion you have. While everyone else constantly shakes back and forth, we have a nice gentle rock most of the time. It makes it really easy to fall asleep and nearly impossible to wake up ?

Another thing I love about our cabin is that we have a porthole window that looks right out on the water. Most of the cabins on higher floors have windows that look out onto covered decks and lifeboats. That can make a cabin very dark and doesn’t give you a lot of privacy. In my cabin I see nothing but beautiful, endless, blue, ocean. It is breathtaking! I’ll try to post some pictures I took of sunset.

Today we are approaching Gibraltar to refuel the ship. I’m excited to get to see the country (even if it will only be from the deck of the ship). We aren’t allowed to debark but I’ll still try to get some pictures.

I will be in Barcelona, Spain on Monday. I can’t wait to eat some amazing tapas and drink the Spanish wine. I must also give a big shout out to my cousin, Robert. He has put me in touch with an amazing family in Spain and I will be meeting them on Monday. Terri and her husband have arranged some great trips for my friends and I and I cannot wait to meet my first in-port friends ?
I miss my friends and family back home, but am excited for all that I have yet to see, learn, and try out here in the Mediterranean. I’ll try my best to write after each port to keep you updated, but life on the sea is jam-packed! Hope all is going well back home!!

Ciao ciao,

Amy Diestelkamp
Semester at Sea
Living Learning Coordinator: Leadership
Deck 2, Cabin 2044
asdiestelkamp@semesteratsea.net
Aegean Sea: Small but Mighty!