A1 The first day of classes

First off, it should have felt really weird to start classes on a
Saturday but honestly I don't think anyone here is keeping track of what
day it is. We did have some bigger waves and more rolling during the
day which caused me to feel a bit out of sorts. Apparently seasickness
also causes lots of fatigue and headaches but I got some medicine and am
perfectly fine now :) Back to classes--first we had Global Studies
(which is mandatory for everyone) which was....interesting. We
basically went over a few basics and outlined the course for the rest of
the semester but our professor is eccentric and made
things..interesting. He started the lesson by saying, "So everyone
think of a 1--it looks like a baseball bat, 2--is something I forgot,
3--a stool, 4--car, 5--high five, 6--sharp shooter, 7--slot machine,
8--skate, 9--something else I can't remember, and 10--like bowling a
strike." Keep in mind that he is acting out all of these seemingly
random things. Then he says something like, "Now I want you to picture
a Chinese man doing something with a baseball bat---the stranger or more
sexual it is the better!" and proceeded all the way up to ten. Needless
to say it was interesting. Anyway the point of the list and the crazy
(and disturbing) images was designed to help us remember the worlds 10
most populous countries in order--I think it did the trick. For you
skeptics who want proof they are: China, India, USA, Indonesia, Brazil,
Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Russia and Japan. My next class was
sociology, specifically Race, Class, and Gender which was your standard
first day in class: go over the syllabus, talk about exams and
assignments, ask questions, do a mini get-to-know-you activity. Nothing
too special yet. Lastly was music cultures which I am super excited
about. Our professor is a percussionist (yay) and we are going to be
spending a lot of time doing hands-on activities involving all of the
different styles of music that we will be encountering. In particular
our field lab is going to be a drumming and dancing workshop in Ghana
(that's right---be jealous!). What makes this amazing opportunity even
more special is that the man running the workshop is a master craftsman
and is making drums specifically for us so that we can use them during
the workshop and then can buy them and bring them home--I am so
stoked!!! Today we just did some introductory stuff and our professor
(who is Greek) played some Greek music that was created by men in the
Ghettos of Greece and did a traditional dance for us which was very cool
to see and to further understand.
Outside of classes the school store opened today so Danielle and I
went there right away in the morning (we did not have class until 0920)
and I got an SAS sweatshirt that I am excited to wear. We also wandered
around a bit more and are starting to become more familiar with the
ship, which is good. Sadly we did not see any dolphins today but I am
sure that we will have many more opportunities. Well I am tired and we
are loosing an hour again tonight so ta-ta for now.
~Colleen
P.S. SEND ME E-MAILS--I MISS YOU ALL!