And no I don’t mean in the old-school “awesome” terms, I mean there are 10-foot swells outside the boat, coming at us from all directions, resulting in a large half the boat puking their guts out. Luckily I have yet to join the masses.

I’ve been feeling totally fine but decided to pop the seasick patch on, just in case. You never know when seasickness will hit you, as I saw it manifest itself in one of my friends. I really wanted to travel to the front top of the boat to watch the waves, but the doors were locked because it’s so crazy and windy outside and they don’t want someone falling off. We peeked through the faculty lounge, which is right out the front and just inside where I wanted to go. It was crazy looking out and seeing the boat edge go way up above the water and then practically nosedive back down. I would have stayed but the girl who I was with, who had been feeling totally fine the whole trip, all the sudden was just like “alright I’m gonna go puke now.” And she ran to the bathroom. Luckily she made it, because there have been a few accidents right in the middle of the floors, which are mostly carpeted I might add… Gross. I feel so bad for the people cleaning up after everyone.

They are saying the reason we are in this is because we are pretty much caught in the middle of two large ocean currents in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, and there’s also a storm. Apparently this will be over by tonight or tomorrow. Fingers are crossed!

Otherwise, there’s not a ton to do on the boat, so its fun to try and keep ourselves busy. Yesterday, Emily and I went to the Union to play piano (she plays really well) and I was singing. It felt so good to sing because I haven’t done it in so long. She started to learn “Someone Like You” by Adele and picked it up super quick, once we finally corrected one chord we couldn’t figure out. There’s a talent show at some point of the voyage, so I’m pretty sure we’re gonna perform in that 🙂 We have also been playing lots of card games, and lots of Bananagrams! Bananagrams is like scrabble except it like a freeform, personal game of scrabble, while you’re competing against everyone else as you al try to build your own words and use up all your letters. It’s a fun game but after about 15 rounds per night, it gets a little boring. But I have been learning new card games though so that’s fun.

We arrive in Ghana on the 13th and I’m so excited! We port near Accra (the capital), in a city called Tema, and we stay there for 5 days. On the first two days, I will be going on an overnight trip with SAS, visiting villages and learning about the culture. Then I have 2 days free and the last day I have an FDP (Faculty Directed Practica) visiting a business called “Global Mamas,” which is a nonprofit organization that focuses on developing business programs and helps fund micro-lending for small women-owned businesses in Africa. I’m pretty excited to visit that even though it won’t count for a class 🙂

Well I’m off to class now! We have a day off tomorrow, called Neptune Day, apparently it’s a fun day but the only thing I know about it is people shave their heads! Even girls! I will definitely not be joining in on that activity.

Mackenzie