Atlantic Crossing

For all those who may be jealous of my Semester at Sea voyage, this post should ease and diminish your jealousy. When we left Canada for Ireland, I wasn’t immediately affected by the week-long departure from land. Six days in, however, I am most definitely feeling like I haven’t seen land in a week. I’ve been a little dizzy and nauseous for the past 3 days, even with sea sickness medicine. Our ship has encountered heavy seas that hit us with 16-foot waves. Many of the decks have been closed. I haven’t walked in a straight line for longer than 5 seconds in the past 6 days. Dishes crash and break in the dining hall, people bump into walls, some fall out of chairs, and others are resigned to their cabin with sea sickness. I wake up from my amusement park ride of a bed (tonight, the 5^th time-change and loss of an hour) to find things to wedge in between a swiveling television, opening and closing drawers, and sliding counter top accessories. I haven’t bumped into too many people because if the person walking next to me suddenly drifts 3-feet to the starboard-side, I did the same. Fortunately, I haven’t been sick, so I’ve been out and about and working in the library, but my days rarely involve trips to the outside decks since it’s windy and cold outside. With all due respect to the hardworking and dedicated crew on the ship, after this voyage I probably won’t eat potatoes for another decade, as they consistently arrive at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Arriving in Ireland is going to be exciting, to say the least. To see the sight of land, step on solid ground, and eat something different, is going to be euphoric. The photograph here was taken three days ago, about halfway across the Atlantic Ocean. The Atlantic Ocean is vast, deep, and powerful. I'm definitely in awe of the many stories out here, significant history, and the mysterious world underneath the water. From this long Atlantic crossing, I relearned that the ocean, and this world, is much larger and powerful than me. I spent many hours staring out at the ocean, and soon I can say that I sailed across. Well, technically Captain Roman did, in a motor vessel, but saying I sailed across the Atlantic is more likely the version of the story I will tell.