I arrived in Halifax early (1 am) Sunday morning after a disastrous time in the Newark airport. We went straight to sleep but I had to battle all night with some snoring and the talking of kids exploring the Halifax nightlife outside my window. I woke up early to finish my alcohol awareness course on the computer while the parents slept in. (I passed with flying colors) I met a couple SAS kids downstairs in the lobby. I met people from the Philipines, South Africa, and Germany as well as New Jersey, California, South Carolina, and Massachusetts. We got lunch at a place called Stayners and had a "Boss" brunch with eggs, bacon, potatoes and great bread. We then visited the Maritime Museum and learned about all different types of military ships, the explosion that blew up most of Halifax, and the role Halifax played in rescuing Titanic survivors. Next we went did a tour on what I call a duck boat (amphibious vehicle) and toured the city. We saw the Citadel, the Public Gardens, and various landmarks. We spent the late afternoon at Red Stag Pub which is a part of Alexander Keith's brewery. I tried a Strongbow which is a cider. It was...different. There are numerous pubs, bars, and breweries in Halifax. It seems like there is a alcohol related place on every corner. We had dinner at a place recommended by Logan and her mom called Little Fish. I tried lobster stuffed haddock which was pretty good. We went to sleep after a long day of touring with slightly less noise from the street.
Monday we slept in again and had a late brunch at Coras. I had a panini-crepe with peanut butter, bananas, and bacon. It was surprisingly great. We took a tour of the Citadel and learned all about how it was constructed for the War of 1812 but wasnt finished till the 1850's. We walked through the Public Gardens and ended up at the Sacred Heart School of Halifax. We ended up getting a tour from the principal of the high school. It was interesting to see all the similarities and differences between that school, my school, and the other Sacred Heart schools I’ve been to. We took a walk to see the ship and got a little lost but finally got a pretty up close view of the place where I’m going to be for the next 67 days. It seems like the only other cruise ship I’ve been on, only smaller. After going to the dock we stopped off at Garrison Brewing Company and sampled their beers. I met a few new SAS kids there, of course I don’t remember their names though. We went back to the hotel to get ready for the evening. The parents were invited to a reception on the ship while the kids were left to fend for themselves. Logan and I met up with about 100 other SASers at a place called The Argyle Bar and Grill for dinner. Then we all migrated to the next street over to a place called Coconut Grove that had opened just for us. The drink specials were less than special and they were short staffed for the throng of thirsty college kids that arrived but I met a lot of neat people that I hopefully will be able to find again on the ship.
Today I boarded the M.V. Explorer in Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada. I got to the port about an hour and forty minutes early because Mom and Dad wanted to drop me off on the way to the airport. That ended up working to my advantage as those who were checking in around 11:45 had to wait while the union workers loading bags took their lunch break. I turned in my passport, got my student I.D., checked my bags, and said goodbye to the parents. I went through the metal detector successfully (unlike the several times in the Newark airport) and boarded the ship. [We got a lecture tonight about how it is a SHIP, not a BOAT] [and Dad taught me that M.V. means motor vessel.] I did all the usual standing in line to make sure I had all the appropriate paperwork and then went to find my room and my new roommate. I am on the fourth deck in an outside double so I have a pretty clear view of whatever we pass, which is not much at this point. My roommate happens to be the only other girl from Vanderbilt, Courtney. She is from Kansas City and knows from people I went to camp with in Colorado. Additionally, her birthday is tomorrow! We also discovered that there is another Vanderbilt student here who I finally met tonight. His name Jay and he is a junior from Denver. I explored the ship with a rather large group of people from various places. We spent all day together and at one point had almost 30 people gathered around us on the back deck this afternoon. It appears that we are pretty popular and we have only been on the ship for less than 12 hours! Hopefully our popularity continues to grow because there are 721 students on the ship and I plan on meeting all of them at some point. Another statistic I learned tonight was that there are 300 different universities represented here. We are also the first voyage that has ever been enrolled to full capacity which is super unusual for a summer voyage. This is SAS's 99th voyage. We met all the faculty/staff, captain and officers and they all seem really interesting. The captain is actually from Dubrovnik, Croatia and is fairly serious. I heard he wrote up a girl for laughing during our life boat drill! Besides exploring, I ate two meals on the ship today. We had tacos for lunch where I was the only one adventurous to try the meat. I survived so it can't be too bad. At dinner time we had fish, potatoes, salad, and chocolate something for dessert. Not bad so far but I hope it doesn't get to be too boring. Tomorrow we have all day orientation and we lose an hour tomorrow night. Should be a full day of the rolling of the ship so I hope I get used to it quickly. I think everyone is beyond excited for this voyage and everything should be an adventure.
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Finding tons of awesome new people to hang out with today will make the next few days at sea much more interesting. I now have a big group of friends to eat my meals with.
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Burning my tongue on hot coffee tonight wasn't exactly pleasant but watching the sun set off the back deck was nice.
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