Preparing for India

It’s been a really busy week here at sea. It started off with the Sea Olympics; a day of games and competition amongst all the seas. We are divided into seas based on where we live and who our Resident Director is. I’m on the Yellow sea. We started the day off strong, but soon fell behind. I participated in the lip sync competition which was a hoot. Myself and 5 others put together a mix of songs including Circle of Life, Barbie Girl, All Shook Up, Ghostbusters, and Happy Days. It was quite a random mix. We ended the day coming in 5^th of 10. So that means we will be the 5^th group to be able to get off the ship once we get to San Diego.

After that, it was back to classes for a 6 day stretch. At least this time the ocean was really calm (eerily calm at times) but we could actually be productive. Step aerobics was much easier this past week, and we got to watch the sun set every night during class so that was really awesome. We also saw a bunch of dolphins yesterday playing in the wake from the ship. And we’ve crossed the equator again this past week, so we’re back in the northern hemisphere. We have also turned our clocks ahead another hour and a half. I find that interesting, that India is off from other time zones by the half hour. So we’re now 9 ½ hours ahead of New York.

Beyond that, we’ve spent a lot of time preparing for India. We’ve been told it’s going to be quite a culture shock; the most difficult port we’ll encounter. We’ve been advised to dress conservatively, but to wear light weight cotton clothing because it’s going to be hot. We’re going to go out and purchase some real Indian clothing on the first day so we have some more appropriate attire. We have also been told to be prepared to be dirty. We’ve been conserving water all week on the ship because once we get in to port, we may have to ration it. Tonight in pre-port we were given all kinds of heath precautions like Pepto-Bismol before eating, don’t drink any water unless it’s bottled under an international brand since the locally bottled water is often dirty, use bug spray with deet, and be sure to be taking malaria medicine. We were also given a demonstration on how to use the squat toilets, and advised to carry tissues with us since in many of these toilets there is just a bucket of water to clean your left hand in after wards. So it should be an interesting experience. But I’m ready!