A New World

A New World

Hi Mom, Dad and Gwyneth! I miss you guys, and also wanted to say hello to all the other parents and siblings. Your kids will be posting something at some point, don’t worry. They could only post three at a time…I really wanted to volunteer as one of the first because, like some others on the ship, all of this is very, very new to me. For starters, we are expected to completely forget about everything happening in the outside world, forget about our phones, ipods, disconnect from even our friends and family. As much as it is part of the experience, there literally isn’t any time for sentiment anyway. We have to adapt to this entirely new lifestyle. Aside from the occasional seasickness that most of us have gone through, we all have been taking this transition incredibly well; learning the lines and commands, staying up for hours in the middle of the night for watch and often during the occasional squall, when we all learned that even the Caribbean can get quite cold. Nevertheless, these hardships (and I speak for everyone here) cannot compare to the reward we all get of the incredible beauty of this ocean, the stars at night during our watches, and not only the islands, but their culture and history we learn about (and in some cases get to be a part of). It has only been a week and a half, and we have already gone snorkeling three times, learned about some of the history and culture of the Caribs, and even helped re-paint a handmade wood canoe that was sailed around the Caribbean islands to bring back a sense of pride, meaning and spirit of the near extinct Carib people. We have dissected a flying fish that “flew” on board and hit Sarah around midnight during A watches’ late night watch. I was sleeping but I’m sure it was quite funny. I learned about corals and fish that we have actually seen on our snorkeling trips, along with other stuff that is directly related to what we are doing and seeing. Honestly, all schools should be like this. I wish I could keep writing but we just got to port at St. Eustatius after a long three days at sea and I need to help bring down the sails. I can’t wait to see everyone in Charleston, at the same time I hope time goes by as slow as possible. Also, Dad, I need a new harmonica please! Mine got all salty and out of tune and I was just getting good too…sort of.

Elias Giangrande