A strange thing...

A strange thing happened while I was in port. Because I didn’t have any overnight trips planned, I ended up spending most of my time in or near the port city, which meant I slept on the ship every night. This is not ideal since I really wanted to experience other parts of Vietnam. But there was much to do in Saigon, so it was ok. The strange thing was that I could scarcely ever sleep. I’d come back to the ship anywhere between 10pm and 2am, and had the most difficult time falling and staying asleep. I’d wake up tossing and turning, cursing my stiff, uncomfortable bed. Early this morning, when we began to sail again, I realized why. The ship in the harbor doesn’t rock. I’ve become accustomed to the rocking motion of the ship, and now I can’t seem to sleep without it!

It’s amazing; first I couldn’t sleep because of the rocking, and now I can’t sleep without it. I wonder what other interesting habits I have adopted. Certainly I will not miss the food! It has gotten really bad on the ship. I heard that it gets progressively worse throughout the voyage. I’m not exactly sure why. But thank God we have so many days in port to eat great food! I will miss the pho and spring rolls from Vietnam, the dim sum from Hong Kong and all the little surprises from Japan. But lately I miss my friends. It is wonderful to experience all of these great countries and unique cultures, but it’s something I wish I could share with family and friends. In Vietnam, a lot of the students had their parents come out and visit, on a trip arranged by SAS. I wish I had thought to invite my parents. That would have been great. Though, I’m not sure how my Dad would have felt about coming back to Vietnam… I will definitely think of them in Spain, and would have loved for them to meet me in one of the ports. Hopefully, Frances can come to Turkey or Croatia, and I can’t wait to see Melissa (my dutch sister!) and Manuel (my best guy friend in Barcelona). Spain is going to be bittersweet, I think, because it’s our last port, and one I am very much looking forward to, but one that I definitely will not want to leave. Of course, I haven’t really wanted to leave any of these ports. There simply is not enough time to see and do all that I would like in each of these places. Just when I've begun to fall in love with each of these ports, we have to leave. In Spain, though, it’s almost like going home. I already have missed the city of Barcelona, my friends there, and can’t wait to have just a few days with them. I’ve definitely made a couple of good friends here, and I feel lucky to have them. But, I still miss my friends back home and think of them often.

Since our schedule is all out of whack, I’m glad I don’t really know when it’s Thursday, and Lorrie and Ryan are watching Grey’s without me. I’m so looking forward to watching the entire season when I get home! Did I mention we don’t have television?? And almost all the programming on the tv’s are boring documentaries. Fortunately, there were hundreds of thousands of DVD’s in Vietnam, so I picked up several movies I haven’t yet seen and the first season of the L word, to keep me entertained. I’m still in search of a good book, which I thought would be fairly easy to find on this academic ship. Most of the time, though, I am reading guide books for the next port. :) I miss talking to my parents, my sister and Kat. Oh, and I actually thought about work at UCLA several times this past week! Must be because the Fall quarter just started, and I wondered how my colleagues are doing, how excited the students must be to be coming back, and how the new peer mentor program is taking off. There are a few UCLA students here, so they remind me of my life back home. Here’s another strange thing. I miss the air back home. Most people would question how I could miss LA air. But being in Vietnam, where the humidity is stifling, and you can barely walk a few blocks without breaking a sweat, I missed the cool mornings and ocean breezes on the coast in Santa Monica. But even though I miss all these things, I know I am going to miss the ship, my friends here, the people I’ve met in other countries, and the sights and sounds I’ve had the fortune to experience. I feel like this voyage is going by really fast right now, and though I am looking forward to reuniting with family and friends in December, I am also afraid it’s going to be over before I know it! There still is so much more to see. Myanmar next, then India and Egypt. I'm so excited! Still can't believe this is actually happening.... :)