the beginning

i don't think i've ever been this happy in my entire life. we've been on the ship for about a day and a half now and there's already so much that has happened. this is such a beautiful home for us and everyone living aboard is so respectful of the ship. i've met so many people and all of them are different and kind and smart and it's so amazing. the professors have the most innovative attitudes and everything about this trip astounds me. i think i'm already enamoured. me roommate is this really amazing girl from berkley california. her name is beth. her boyfriend tristan is also on the trip and they are both so fun and cool and smart and mature and i already love them so much. katie is great and we've been meeting lots of new people to hang out with and travel with. last night my friend cristal led a sing along on the deck and all these people joined. she's a great guitarist with an even better voice and she reminds me of hanna in a lot of ways. tomorrow is the first day of classes and i can't wait. after that, we'll land in puerto rico and the real adventure finally begins. i'm even starting to learn to love the lull of the ship. it rocks back and forth all day and night day and night and night after day but it's starting to become reassuring. the waves rock me to sleep at night. the internet is extremely slow so i'll try my best to keep this updated and personal emails will hopefully be on the way soon. i love you all so much and wish that you could be here with me to experience all of this. i've truly been given the opportunity of a lifetime.