Birthday and whatnot

I was just writing to say that I had a great birthday and thanks for all the birthday wishes! I did have class on my birthday, pretty much for the first time ever, and that kind of stunk,. But, I got to take a tour of the bridge! That was pretty exciting. I got to see all the machines and whatnot that they have up there to keep things in order and safe! My friends helped me celebrate, sang to me, and we had a dance party in the cabin. We all had a glass of wine to celebrate my birthday (the drinking age is 18 on the ship). When we were in line to get our wine, Emily (who lived above me at my apartment at school) got everyone to sing happy birthday to me!! It was nice (slightly embarassing being the center of attention haha).

Today, we had a day off!! Yay!! I slept until 12! It was MUCH needed after losing 4 hours of sleep to date. We lose another tonight and another tomorrow and then we are done until we head to Russia (we lose 2 more in 3 days! YIKES!). So today, I woke up in time for lunch & we caught some sun as we read outside on the deck. For dinner, I met up with my 'Semester at Sea Family'. I signed up to be a part of a kind of 'family' for the summer. It is a woman and her daughter (her husband will come on board in Norway, I believe.). Her name is Joyce and she is in her mid-thirties and her daughter Bridget who is 13. There are 3 other students that are with us, Kelly, Laura, and Jess. It was kinda fun to get to know them and have dinner with them. We are going to get together for dinner like once a week and if we want to do more, we can. After dinner, there was a talent show. It was SO fun to go and watch it. It was about an hour and a half and there were 18 acts. Everything from singing, to dancing, to poetry, and piano playing.

So that has been the last few days for me. Lots of work and lots of fun. Wish the food was better. I find myself hungry pretty much ALL the time because I pretty much just eat salads, veggies and rolls. The meat is... well, questionable. thankfully there was some REALLY good pork and broccoli for dinner, so that was yummy!! Don't you worry, I have been eating protein via beans and nuts. I have also been working out on the ship. THAT is an interesting experience. Trying to use the elliptical while the boat rocks side to side and front to back proves hard to stay on, but maybe it will help my leg muscles get into better shape!! :)


OH OH OH!! We also saw like 4 or 5 dolphins playing around in the ocean today! They were flipping and jumping!! It was SOOOO cool!! YEah! Apparently there are a TON of whales around, but I have yet to see them. Oh, yeah. Its like 9:30 and it is BRIGHT outside. It doesnt get dark until like 11:30 12 ish. SOOOO WEIRD! yay for inside rooms and not having to worry about it not being dark when I go to sleep!!



Well, I love and miss you all and hope to hear from you soon!! Don't be strangers to e-mailing!!

Love,
Kate XoXo