Last days in the UK

Well well well, where to begin..
I can't post pictures for a while unfortunately, I can use the free email on the ship to post to the blog but I can't send pictures for some reason. I made it to the ship though!
The last day in London I just checked out of the hostel and checked into the Hilton at the airport because that is where the shuttles that take us to the ship leave from. After I checked in and ate lunch I was just so tired I couldn't move and took a nap. I had planned to go back to London for the afternoon and evening but it was an hour ride on the tube and I was just like ughgghhgkfjlgk..bed. Had a nice dinner though and a drink at the hotel and met more SASers which was really nice. (SASers is what Semester at Sea people call themselves).
After a full night of sleep I got up to work out before packing and getting on the shuttles to Southhampton (yes I actually woke up and worked out mom).

OK now for the good stuff!
The ride to Southhampton was about two hours long through the country of England, lots of green, lots of cows but finally we got to the port and drove up to the ship. That moment was when it all started to hit me. The ship is not as big as some of the other ships we saw in the port but its just lovely. We go through customs and bag check and finally get to go up the gangway and step foot on the ship. The crew are dressed in crisp white jumpsuits and look like the real deal. They swipe our IDs and let us in. A big staircase is the first thing we see with different quotes on the walls, we walk upstairs gathering papers that are being handed to us and we are herded from table to table as we register and the management on the boat make sure we are all set with papers and medical forms.
After all that jazz I finally get to see my cabin and its so tiny and cute. It's very similar to my dorm in Miami, vary narrow. Just imagine that but shorter and even skinnier. One closet instead of two, a little desk, a vanity, and a teeny tiny bathroom. All of it is very clean, and well taken care of. I met my cabin mate (NOT roommate, and by the way I am on a SHIP not a BOAT, I will never make that mistake again after being snapped at haha) Amber, very sweet. I didn't know how to unpack, I wanted to think about how to best maximize space. My friend I met at the hostel in London is down the hall from me which is nice and I am in the "Adriatic Sea" which is just the way they separate us and also the team I'm on for the Sea Olympics (field day on the boat). I went to convocation with Amber and we had a really really awesome speaker, she was on the national foreign policy something something for Obama for the past two years and seems really cool and she went on the '96 voyage or something. After that we had a lifeboat drill and had to wear the lifejackets and everything.
We had to report to our muster stations and sit quietly in very neat rows and wait for Captain Jeremy to come by and inspect. It was very odd as he came by, he is a very serious guy and he had like a parade following him, all of his party was very well dressed again in crisp little white jumpsuits. Apparently in Maritime Law the captain always has the utmost authority on the ship, not the dean. Whatever Captain Jeremy says, you do. Boom. Needless to say he was very intimidating.
I forgot about my little tour of the ship. I was walking around with Amber to get the lay of the land and the first place we came to was the wellness center. This is on all of deck 7 and included the gym and the hair salon. Ok, so I was so surprised when I saw the three massage rooms and nail salon and I found out they do waxes, facials, they have a sauna, steam room some sort of fancy jets bathtub and all this amazing spa stuff!! I mean it is pretty damn expensive but, hey, it's a really nice option. Maybe I will treat myself on my birthday or something.
Let's see what else today.. I do apologize if this is all a jumbled mess, my day had been such a whirlwind of activity!
I try to unpack after convocation but nap a little too. We have a minuscule TV in the room and it has music with a map of where we are as well as the time and lat and longitude, speed, and the time. We have our first time change tonight, we set the clocks forward one hour. I get up because there is some other meeting and then after a while I look out the window and holy shit we are moving!! Like holy hell actually moving, waves and boats and seagulls are outside my window! I am jumping around my room saying "holy shit we're moving, look a boat, oh my god we're moving" over and over again. Amazing.
Oh shit I forgot about the rest of the boat tour.. I'm a mess. OK, so the deck seven is nice and has amazing views and chairs and tables at the aft (back) of the ship (not boat) as well as the wellness center and the basketball court, pool, deck, and pool bar with all the unhealthy snacks. Deck six has the union, the biggest area on the boat where all the main meetings are held, the piano bar/lounge, the computer lab, library, garden lounge (one of two "dining halls") and most of the classrooms. Deck five is Tymitz square or something with like offices and things like that as well as the bigger, other dining hall. Deck four is where I'm at (4034) and has all cabins as do all the decks below that with the exception of deck two which is where the clinic is.
Alrighty so now we come to the second meeting of the day, they introduced the faculty and staff, quite boring but whatevs. After that we went to directly to a meeting with our RD (like the RA in college) and ran through some info.
I also forgot to mention I ate in the Garden Lounge, food is ok, view is amazing. Dinner at sea with the sun setting is really quite amazing.
They showed videos all about SAS and just snippets of people from past experiences and I honestly almost teared up during some parts, I just felt so overwhelmingly lucky and thankful for this opportunity to be here. This is just such a special trip and opportunity and I am going to take every chance I get to say thank you to my mom and dad for making it possible, love you guys.
I hope I didn't miss anything, sorry for the train of thought blog post I will make the others a little less spastic. Email me!! Questions, just to say hey, anything! maren.douglas.fa13@semesteratsea.org
It is almost 12 here and tomorrow I hear is the longest day of all on the ship, orientation.. So I am showering and sleeping.

Goodnight from at sea!