Melissa's Semester at Sea! @melissasas - Tumblr Blog

Change: 1.5 months after

Hey all, so I spent a lot of time on the ship thinking about if and how I had changed and a month and a half later, I think i have an idea. I have definitely changed. I have always been interested in travel, different cultures, and meeting new people, but now I know what it feels like for real, and I don't want to stop. I don't want to have the illusion of boundaries that have been in place before, because that's what they are, an illusion. There should not be anything stopping me from visiting any place I want to, or even moving some place else, I think that reality has changed the way I look at the world and my future. 6 months ago, if you asked me where I would be when I graduate, I would have answered in Seattle for sure. Now, I'm not so sure. I love Seattle, but when would be as good a time to travel and see the world then in my early twenties. I want to do all these things while I still have the time and energy and the desire. I know that travel has definitely changed me in more ways than one and only time will tell how else it has. :)

#sas #sassp14 #change #travel

1 DAY LEFT!!

omg, we have 1 full day left! It's gunna be insane >.< we had a re entry presentation today, made me think a lot. I can't wait to get to london and back home! Packing is a pain though.. ok will blog tomorrow!

On my first day in Casablanca, I had my strategic communications field lab. after we had cleared immigration, which actually took quite a long time, we all got onto the bus and headed to the Hassan II Mosque which is the 3rd largest Mosque in the world besides Mecca and another Mosque in Saudi Arabia. It was really quite stunning.

Packing

I am basically finished packing except for laundry and a few things here and there. my check in bags are basically done. Im a little worried i might not be able to fit anything into my bags. im gunna have to be VERY careful not to buy anything in London/Paris and if i do, they're going to have to be small things. >.< im gonna weigh them later, am a bit worried that they might be over 50lbs...

2 Days Left!

Hey all! We had the alumni dinner and ball earlier tonight, it was quite fun, pictures soon. Tomorrow, I will be finishing up all my packing. all my wall decor will be coming down, all my clothes are getting packed. the only things not are the things that i will need until the morning of the second and those that will be going into my carry on. everything else will be packed and into my suitcases that need to be weighed tomorrow. It is getting REAL. I finished my last final and last classes. Now all we have to do is to sign maps! I'm excited to get into London and explore new countries/cities, even if just for a few days. Morocco blogs and pictures coming soon!

#sas #alumniball #semesteratsea #sassp14 #melissasas

So the ship offers this thing called "fine dining" where you get to sit and be served by waiters and eat deliciously amazing food. It's around $30 and my friends and I did it on April 21st. I was also experimenting with sideswept bangs. I decided i dont like them and cut them again. Here are the pics! There are 7 pictures altogether but they might not all get uploaded. I will definitely upload pictures to facebook when we get to London and I take my laptop off the ship.

#sas #sassp14 #shiplife #finedining #saslife #studyabroad

So this is what it looks to pack up the last 4 months of your life into two suitcases. (not done yet) Fun at the Cultural Fashion Show!

#sas #semesteratsea #sassp14 #shiplife #fun #travel #studyabroad

Jigsaw!

3 Days Left!

Hey all! Im still having a hard time realizing that there are only 3 days left. I just finished a final, and i have one last one tomorrow morning. Im not really sure I am going to realize the reality of the fact that in 3 days, I will be disembarking this ship, not to come back. It really really quite sad. I have had some great experiences these past 4 months and while im ready to go home, im not ready to be done. The signing of the maps has definitely started, and I will be handing around my map for people to sign too. Im waiting for reality to hit, but i dont think it's going to hit until im back home, 6 days after I disembark. we are usually in port for a maximum of 6 days so it will be strange to be home, knowing that I won't be returning to the ship. I am excited though, to see London, Paris, my mom. There are a lot of things that i need to sort out back home (class schedule), and i know im not ready to go back to reality (because lets face it, the ship is NOT real life) but then again, I will be visiting family in Singapore again so I will be in lalaland for a while more. I am ready to see my friends and EAT all the food that I've missed, and see my dogs, and share stories. I do need to finish packing though I haven't decided when I really want to do that. I have packed a lot, but I need to clear my drawers, finish packing my clothes, etc. I don't really want to, I will have to set out clothes for the next 4 days, not to mention take down all my post cards and things. I feel like it will make leaving more real. anyway, will be blogging about Morocco soon, look for those posts soon! :)

#SAS #semesteratsea #goodbye #travel #studyabroad

omg

I will be flying home in less than 2 weeks. 13 days to be exact. OMG. UNBELIEVABLE. Im ridiculously excited but also mixed with all sorts of other emotions

7 Days Left!

It's the end of our second day in Morocco, I wasn't able to get onto the field program to Marakech (was trying to get it for cheap) Instead, we went to the Morocco mall and then walked around the medina afterwards. it was quite fun. I also studied a bit for my architecture final. I can't believe we practically have a week left until Docking in Southampton. It definitely hasn't settled in yet, the idea that we're almost done. While we still all talk about how ready we are to go home, I get pangs of anxiety where my chest literally hurts. Im scared and sad that it's ending. Scared because I'm seriously going to miss my friends. I LIVE with Brooke, she's my roommate. i literally see her everyday. It's gonna be weird when that is not the case anymore. Same goes for all my friends, we see each other almost everyday in port, at sea we do! I prepped my map for signing today, i am going to starting handing it around for people to sign and i am finally going to have to seriously think about what I am going to write on my friends' maps. It is quite distressing to think about the fact that in a week, we will be getting off the ship for good. We get on and off the ship now without thinking twice, heck I got on and off the ship at least 3 times today. in a week, i won't be getting back on, at least not for a while. i can't keep dwelling on this, it's our third day in Morocco tomorrow and we're probably headed for the beach! I'l blog more later! Hope all is well back home!

#SAS #SASsp14 #theendisnear #sadface #Morocco #Casablanca #semesteratsea

9 days left!

There is seriously only 9 days left on this ship. and 5 will be in port. in exactly a week, I will be done with finals and finishing up my packing. I have 2 finals and a lab report due and I will be done with school. I can't believe this adventure is soon coming to an end >.<

#sas #sassp14 #travel #semesteratsea

Update again!

Today is the last "official" day of classes with the A/B day after Morocco finals days. My friends and I are also doing Fine Dining tonight, for which we are all excited for! :) I have two more classes today and a Final tomorrow. I am excited to get into Morocco the day after tomorrow though. I also need to think about finishing up with packing although I am waiting to do a last load of laundry before that happens. Our last laundry day is the last day in Morocco though so I won't be able to finish packing till after then. All out checked bags have to be packed by noon on May 1st so the crew can load them onto the buses and into the terminal. We have to pack overnight bags too for this reason, though I was already planning on this, take advantage of all the bag space that I can possibly get. I need to plan on what I want to wear that first day in London and leave that out. I also need to figure what stuff I will donate so I don't have to bring it back. I will be bringing all my books back however, as I need to resell them. Thinking about the end of this voyage is almost unreal. I can't believe the almost 4 months have passed so quickly. It's quite scary really. Anywho, end of this post for now, will probably write more either today or tomorrow. Hope all is going well over back home! :)

Ghana Journal #6 Days 4/5

Day 4, my friends decided they wanted to go the beach. Honestly, i got so sticky and sweaty and gross the day before, I didn't want to leave the ship. I also had data on my phone, so on the 4th day, I didn't do much at all. My friends had a pretty eventful day that stretched their comfort zone, 3 guys that Grant had met the day before joined them. (im actually pretty glad I didn't go. The 5th day, We headed to the market circle in the morning hoping to find some souvenirs, we found none. we then took a taxi to a pub that Margo had gone to with Brooke and Sarah the day before when they went to the beach for lunch. We then just headed back to the ship as some vendors had sent up tents outside the ship souvenirs and stuff and we figured that would be the best place to find souvenirs. I ended up buying two shirts and a magnet. Thats really all for Ghana, as you can see, not rally much. Ghana was still a great exerience and I'm glad we went. It is not a tourist destination though and we go mostly to see the culture, the people, and how they live.

#sas #sassp14 #ghana #travel #melissas #studyabroad