Oh My God! My first port!

Wow! So I've been at sea for 20 days, ever since we left Vancouver on August 26. I can't even begin to describe how bizarre the experience has been. Anyone who has ever been in the open ocean will understand what I mean. Until this morning at about 7:00, I hadn't seen land in 20 days. We have literally been trapped on the boat with each other, 66 people in total, surrounded entirely by water. The ocean is incredibly intimidating, but exciting too. It took a while to settle into a routine, but  now I think I've pretty much got school and everything figured out. It is tough because every single minute of our days are scheduled, and there is no privacy. But I don't want to make Class Afloat sound bad, or make it seem that I am not having a good time. We are actually getting really close and it seems like a family when the whole crew is together. We saw whales breaching our first day out of Vancouver, and saw a bunch of dolphins since then. It is pretty cool when someone suddenly yells, "Dolphins on the starboard side" and everyone rushes out of class to hang over the rail. And the boat moves constantly. Now that we are in port, it seems totally bizarre to be able to walk in a straight line. You get used to sitting in class, swaying from side to side. Everyone was pretty seasick the first couple of days. I didn't throw up at all, but I definitely felt pretty crappy the first night. It made the crew closer when we were holding each other's hair back. I've also been homesick - I miss everyone at home and family. I hope everyone at school is having a blast. Sometimes I get really excited to think that I am here, sitting on the deck of a tall ship in Honolulu with a free wireless network, while other people at home are in class in the same school with the same people and teachers!!! Haha. No, I really do miss home. It is kind of weird to imagine that we aren't going home until Christmas. 99 days exactly, as I calculated about a week ago while I was depressed. We have had some pretty exciting social events, like movie night and formal dinner. We also get cake on birthdays, which is quite often. And I can't even describe what it feels like to come out of class, look around at the ocean, and then lie down on the deck in the sun. We've spent the last three weeks of deck watch sanding and painting the ship. It is pretty intense. And I finally did a chin-up last night, so I am going to be able to go aloft during our next sail. So other people want to use my computer because they can't get internet connections, but I'll do another post tomorrow after I do something exciting for the people at home. I love everyone!!!