From the Middle of the Pacific

4/26/09

So we’ve been at sea for a loooong time. Sixteen days in all, with a brief but welcomed stop in Hawaii. There’s a lot going on on the ship…enough to keep us very busy every day! We went on a bridge tour, which was so cool! They take you up to the front and out onto the bridge, and we got to learn about all of the controls, look out the front windows for pirates ;-) and even sit in the captain’s chair! Dad- you would’ve been proud- we were talking with the first officer in boating terms. It was a lot of fun, and I’m glad we got to do it. We went to see the shipboard play a few days ago. It was a Greek tragedy, and we didn’t really get what was going on the whole time, but the acting was phenomenal, and we all liked it. We also had our sea social for the Bering Sea. The food was great- spring rolls, ice cream, mini hamburgers, cookies, chips & salsa…it was all delicious and we were very excited! We went up to the faculty/staff lounge and ate until our pants were tight. Yummy! We officially finished up classes, which is an amazing feeling, but also sad. No one can believe the voyage is almost over. And yet it seems like January was a different lifetime. The other night, we had a small reflection-type thing where some students, staff, and faculty members got together and talked through what the ending of the trip would feel like. It was good to get some perspective from a few of the staff that had been on it before, and they gave us some great advice. We have a full reflection/re-entry day on May 4th, so this was just a preview, but it was really great of them to do it for us.

A few nights ago, we had formal dining (by “we” I mean the twins, Pat, and us). You have to sign up for it in advance, and everyone gets dressed up and goes downstairs to classroom 9 where they have nice tables and tablecloths set up. When you sit down, they serve you champagne, and you get the choice of meals that are all fancy, and it consists of five courses! We all ordered the spring rolls, garden salad, beef & broccoli soup, herb chicken stuffed with spinach and cheese, and ice cream cake delight for dessert. It was fantastic! We were all dressed up, and the food was absolutely delicious and not like regular ship-food at all!

My extended family had a card night, and we played hearts for almost 3 hours! It was so much fun, and I’m really going to miss seeing them all the time around the ship and for “after-country” dinners on the 6th floor. Joan, the nurse, is leaving in Guatemala because she has an award to accept in New York City, so we had a surprise going away party for her. Her extended family told her they wanted to have a game-day, so she shows up, and about 30 of us were in the room yelling surprise, and she had a scorecard with her because she was ready to play cards! It was awesome! She is such a sweetheart, and we all will miss her so much! The last evening church service was last night, and Luke went up and spoke about the trip and how God changed him and others along the way, and it was really powerful. There’s going to be one more morning service on Panama Canal Day. Our movie night was SO fun! We got popcorn and sodas, about 12 people showed up (Stephanie, Victoria, Kelly, Greg, Phil, Brian, Patrick, Mike, Rachel, Amy, Eric, and Jose), and we watched Wedding Crashers! It was hilarious. I love that movie!!

Speaking of movies, we have all been really excited because they have been showing good movies on the loop! The Breakfast Club, Clueless, AND Ferris Bueller’s Day Off were on! We, of course, watched the last one three times in a row, and it was fabulous. It’s funny the things we are all amused by on the ship! Other things going on: we’ve been playing with Ellie a lot (what’s new?), and she has grown up so much! She talks all the time now, she’s super smart, and has the best manners. Every morning, she knocks on our door for breakfast and we eat together, and then we play until Global Studies. Then, we usually play with her until her naptime if we don’t have class, and she always comes to visit me when I’m working. Her favorite thing to do is play hide-and-seek behind the stacks of books. She’s absolutely adorable, and we’re going to miss her sooo much! We had our last Global Studies exam, which was horrible, and a lifeboat drill, which wasn’t too bad. We’ve been losing a LOT of sleep, and everyone is so tired from the constant jet lag. Other than that, we’ve just been getting ready to take finals and planning for Guatemala. We’re not entirely sure what we’re doing yet, but anything should be fun! We’ll let you know when we get back!!

Miss you and love you all!

-K & S