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Lat:19° 47.6N Long: 069° 43.8W

Day 2

Wow. I thought it was crazy to have to get used to the motion of the train. But imagine if you were on a train 24/7–but it never stayed at a steady speed. The shifting of the boat feels like a train constantly speeding up and slowing down. We zig-zag through the hallways and rock to sleep at night.

Today was a rather boring and exhausting day. We've been in orientation meetings from 9 am to 9:30 pm. I haven't seen Daniel since lunch. Oh well. I sat with Kellie and Kelly. Met a few more people. I just feel so worn-out from all the meetings. The boat's rocking makes me sleepy. I think the combination of those things makes it seem as though I've been on the MV Explorer for much longer than two days. Several people feel that way. But classes start tomorrow, so we can get into some regular kind of routine.

Until Brazil that is. Speaking of which, I should check to see if Ricardo has emailed me back. That would be so fun if we could meet up.

I went to sleep thinking of a way to describe my excitement: it feels like confetti shooting up in my torso and then floating back down. Or a pinball machine where the balls have been replaced with bubbles. Either way, the confetti or bubbles are set in motion by a trigger–the realization that I am actually here now, not just planning for it. This is unbelievable. All of my nails have been broken or chewed/filed down because of my restlessness.

I stood out on the aft deck between meetings tonight with Kellie and Kelly. Because of the darkness, it seemed as if the boat was enclosed in a case of darkness, like a snow globe. We could see the stars and lights from some land, but there was no horizon. Only deep, deep blue and the wake disappearing behind us.

Comments

Unknown said…
wow it sounds like the time we were in Mesa Verde. All the stars and the feeling of being completely surrounded but alone at the same time.

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