Ship Life

Life on the ship is going well. On our TVs in our room,
 there's a map that shows the course that we are
 traveling on and how close we are to the next port. The
 little ship on the screen never seems to move fast enough. I
 can't wait to get to Namibia! Did you know that Namibia
 (I call it Namibs for short) was a German colony? And the
 official language is English? We get into Namibia on Friday,
 only 1 more day! Saturday afternoon Maggie and I have our
 stargazing trip to the desert. But Friday, Sunday and
 Monday nights we are going to this city called
"Swakopmund." The guide book says that it's
 more German than Germany! We are staying at the Europahof
 Hotel one night and renting a beach house the rest of the
 weekend. It's going to be awesome. And since Namibia is
 the 2nd least populated country in the world, everything is
 super cheap. Every US dollar is worth 8.2 Namibian dollars. The hotel room/beach house per person per night
 is only about $25. I guess there' s not much to do in
 Walvis Bay so everyone is traveling to Swakopmund. We're
 gonna go sand surfing, which is basically snowboarding on
 the sand dunes, and maybe horse back riding in the desert. It should be
 really really fun. I have a few trips that I have to go on
 for classes, like a Salt Mine on Friday and an AIDS center
 on Tuesday.
Last night we had the cultural pre-port meeting, which basically told us that no one on the ship has ever been to Namibia and it is the first time Semester at Sea is going. It should be pretty interesting.
Classes are going really well. I love my drawing class, the
 professor is really nice and helpful. He also doesn’t care
 about skill, but rather he focuses on our improvement. Pretty much the only homework
 I've had is reading. My biomedical ethics class is really interesting. We talk
 about ethical issues affecting certain areas of medicine.
 Right now we're discussing HIV/AIDS and the issues
 surrounding that. In Namibia we’re going to an AIDS center which I’m kind of nervous about. My teacher for that class is pretty cool
 too. My global studies teacher talks and looks exactly like
 my Uncle Dennis. Its super weird.

During the first week on the ship, students could have signed up to be adopted by a faculty member, life-long learner, or staff member. My family is Professor Laura Yoder, her husband Jeff, and their 3-year old son, Micha. He is the cutest thing ever! He has become the ship’s child and at every moment of the day, he is playing with a college student or staff member. His parents are super lucky to have all these babysitters. Maggie’s parents are Dean Shoppa, his wife, and their two daughters, Isabella and Melina, both about our age.
Last night I had dinner with Micha and his parents. He only
 let me feed him and wanted to sit on my lap. He always comes
 around in the piano lounge looking for me or any of his other "sisters" to play. He has the best life. He has an unlimited amount
 of energy, too. At nighttime, around 8pm, I try to wear him out
 so that he'll go to sleep. The ship is basically a
 playground and everyone loves him so he never gets in
 trouble for running or playing ball inside.We wish we could send you pictures of what the ship looks
 like. It's only 3 years old and its super glamorous on
 the inside. My favorite thing to do at night is sit in the
 piano lounge and listen to people play the piano. It's so soothing. We also play a lot of card games
 on the boat because at night there is not much to do if
 you've finished your homework.Last night, Maggie and I went to a “special occasion dinner” for our friend, Allison’s birthday. It was a delicious five-course meal. We all got dressed up and headed to the private dining area. After the tray-passed appetizers and a first glass of celebratory champagne, the neal began. Ceviche, beef and vegetable soup, antipasto salad, cheese and spinach stuffed chicken, finishing off with a chocolate raspberry tart complete that looked like it was from a 5 star restaurant.Tonight there’s an event in the Union (the main theater on the ship) called “So you think you can dance?” I think it’s a spoof on the TV show. Nevertheless, it should be pretty entertaining.Tomorrow we get into Walvis Bay, Namibia and I hope that the customs goes fast because I want to explore the country that no one has been to. There are only 4 paved roads in the whole of Namibia and only 1.8 million people in the whole country and only 28,000 in Swakopmund. I hope it will be an eye-opening experience.That’s all for now. We’ll write more after Namibia on our way to South Africa!xoxo, amber