The Musings of a Wandering Stranger.

…And that’s a day I’ll never forget
As the cab crossed the bridge from Paradise Island to the shipyard, I couldn’t see the MV Explorer. It was completely overshadowed by a Carnival and Royal Caribbean cruise liners. It all didn’t seem real as the ship finally came into view and the cab pulled up the curb and I began to comprehend what I had really signed up for. As I unloaded my luggage and tipped the cab driver, I was surprised that I was the third one in line, only an hour before check in was scheduled. Over the next forty minutes people poured in from every direction and the line was soon as long as the terminal building.
After a thorough search of all my bags and some paperwork I standing in my cabin unpacking and talking to my new roommate Garrett. We spent the next few hours exploring the ships myriad of halls, computer labs, classrooms, and the library, before making the way to the top deck and the pool. The pool is not that much of a pool in all reality but more a break from the intense sun. My cabin is small, but manageable. Our cabin steward is Ray, and is originally Philippians. Every day he makes our beds, straightens up the room, vacuums, and cleans the bathroom. As a whole the crew are some of the most proud, dedicated, and professional people that I have ever met and are always willing to answer even the most mundane questions and helped us fix our ceiling that sprung a leak in the middle of the night.
The ship itself is a work of art, and it is really just starting to fully sink in that this is my home for the next three months and that I am traveling the entire circumference of the planet. You really begin to realize this when you try to walk down the hall and you are weaving, using the handrails and bumping into each other. The seas have been calm but because of the size of the ship, she rolls and pitches a fair amount. After the first night though you don’t feel it too much anymore except when it sways heavily. And they keep telling us that these are mild seas.
The people I have met so far are amazing, I’ve been spending allot of time with a small group of friends (all but one is in the picture). Allot of us share classes besides global studies (everyone on the ship must take global studies at the same time, all record setting 702 of us.)

So far my classes seem very interesting and unique but at the same time they are at a level of difficulty I haven’t seen before. The professors are clearly at the top of their class, for that matter every member of the staff I have talked to has their own unique twist to each of their curriculums. I would love to have the ability to sit in and audit some of the classes, but unfortunately, there are only so many hours in a day (and I’ve already lost one to the merciless time zones.) The night before we arrived in Puerto Rico. Some of us decided to camp out on the back deck of the ship and sleep in the lounge chairs. This went really well until people started to get cold and then the crew had to wash the deck at 4:30am. Despite the utter lack of sleep, we still made it out to see the sunrise over the ocean as the ship entered the Puerto Rican Harbor. It was an absolutely breath taking site.
Later that day I set out to the rainforest for a two-hour hike through the rainforest. Unfortunately the rainforest in Puerto Rico actually houses relatively few animal species compared to the Amazon or other rain forests so It was more of a nature walk and really wasn’t too much exercise, On the positive side, it was an absolutely amazing place and I shot some great photos. Later that night we had a welcome reception with some of local university students. At the reception, they had a live band and the students taught us to salsa dance. After the reception, we went out dancing with several of the local students. The next day I spend most of it hiking around old San Juan and exploring the local shops and restaurants and talking to some locals. That night we kayaked through a bioluminescent bay. This was one of the coolest sights I have ever seen. Unfortunately, there was no way to take photos.
While Puerto Rico was an amazing nation. I am anxious to get onto Brazil to see carnival and get to a less touristy area.
I’ll post more from Brazil after our 6 days at sea.
All Coordinates taken at approximately 8AM Ships time (changes in ships time are noted) 2.5.07 (first day at sea) 23 37.54N Lat 073 24.42W Long Speed 11.1 knots course 126 magnetic 2.6.07 (second day at sea) 21 4.64N Lat 069 44.45W Long speed 10.6 knots course 127 lost 1 hour 2.7.07 (Puerto Rico) 18 27.65N Lat 066 5.56W Long

2.10.07
16 50.96N Lat
064 5.74W Long
Speed 10.8 Knots
Course 128