Day 1

12:00
So today was embarkation and move in. I met my roommate who is from Athens, GA and attends UGA. She is really nice, kind of quirky, but very fun. She is easy to get along with. Unlike me she has two stuffed animals… one, a beaver, named, ironically enough, “Beaver,” and two, a cat, which in a very creative endeavor she named “Kitty.” I must say that the name “Beaver” reminds me of Chelsea Handler and how she refers to her private area as a beaver. Despite our creative differences, I think we will be very good friends.
16:15
The ship just set sail and we are on our way to Cadiz! I am having trouble finding people to hang out with, but overall am having a good time. I have met a lot of people, but without phones or texting, it is hard to meet back up unless you just continually hang out. I have a hard time adjusting to situations like this. While I was on the deck, watching the ship set sail; I looked over to see a familiar face. There he stood, still 5’6” with a head of orange hair, was the one and only, Clark Barber. It was crazy that A. he is here and B. he is here! The last time I think I saw him was at a Halloween party in 8th grade when he dressed as our crazy vice principal. 
21:00
So I feel a lot better and super excited about this whole trip. We just had our first community meeting where we were introduced to the entire faculty, staff, and crew! On a side note, as the crew was being introduced, captain and all, I made a joke, saying “well, who is sailing the ship?!” and got a laugh out of the whole room! I know it’s little, but you can’t help but be proud of yourself when stuff like that happens. Anyways, everyone who is working on the ship seems to be full of life and really seems to care about the students. We also were informed that this 99th Voyage of SAS is the first to have a full enrollment. Some other stats of interest about the ship’s population:
•       20% come from California
•       299 schools are represented
•       77% female to 23% male :’(
•       The top three schools represented are UVA, Pittsburg, and Colorado-Boulder
There is a grand total of 1,050 people on the ship, 721 of us being students.
I have already started to meet some really cool people, so hopefully that will continue!