Halifax, Nova Scotia

Greetings from Canada! We arrived safely in Halifax on Wednesday afternoon after a short flight from Logan on a small shuttle plane. I met a few Semester at Sea-ers in the airport terminal – props to Eric from UNH for wearing an SAS t-shirt to help us all recognize one another! After we all boarded the plane, a representative came on asking someone to volunteer to get off as we were over-weight for the flight. No one volunteered, and we left a mere 10 minutes later…so I’m very thankful that my luggage arrived, because I’m guessing someone’s got thrown off…

We have enjoyed the quaint port city of Halifax, as well as exploring other areas of Nova Scotia. I got my lobster fix last night at a famous restaurant in Halifax called Five Fisherman. Being the Rosenberg family, we also found a delicious candy store – which we’ve visited twice already :)

Today, we drove about an hour and a half out of the city to see the Bay of Fundy. From the small fishing village, Halls Harbor, we were able to witness the highest tides in the world…at the time of day we visited, the tides were out so far that boats were docked 20 or 30 feet below street/high tide levels. In some places along the Bay of Fundy, tides swell as high as 50 feet in one cycle!

I can’t wait to board the MV Explorer tomorrow. My parents and Bari were able to attend a reception on the ship tonight, but I’m not allowed on until 10:40 AM. While they were gone, I met up with several other students for dinner. I hope they make us wear name tags for the first few days! I’m so excited to meet more people and get to know everyone!

I’ll post from the ship!

The Final Countdown

I cannot believe that this time next week, I’ll be waiting in line to board the MV Explorer, my home away from home for the next 3.5 months! I’ve been so busy getting everything ready to go…but have yet to put a single thing in a suitcase! I have, however, created quite the pile of STUFF to pack in our guest room. To name just a few of the items:

200 crisp $1 bills
48 packages of peanut butter crackers
42 packs of gum
36 magnets
30 anti-Malaria pills
20+ GB of photo storage
20 pairs of socks
15 cords and adapters
6 bars of soap
5 travel guidebooks
4 textbooks
4 credit/debit cards
3.5 months of clothing
3 USB flash drives
1 poster-sized map
1 sleeping bag

...and everything must fit into 2 large duffle bags! Less than 50 lbs. each (thank you, Delta)…wish me luck!

Although I am forced to leave a lot of things behind, I’m very much looking forward to having fewer distractions for a couple of months. Traveling on the ship, especially, will force me to power off my phone, keep me from obsessively checking Facebook and instead, allow me to focus on meeting new people and experiencing the new sights, sounds, smells and tastes with my full, undivided attention. Internet access is pretty limited on the ship, so I will update the blog as often as I can…but don’t be discouraged if nothing new appears for a week or so at a time…keep checking back! Also, I will have a new Semester at Sea email address that I will share when I get on board.

What an exciting time...I can't believe that after a year of planning, it's finally here! It seems like yesterday that I was leaving for my freshman year at Penn, and now we're Juniors! Good luck to all my friends leaving for (or already abroad in): Belgium, New Zealand, Italy, Jordan, France, England, Australia, etc...can't wait to swap pictures and stories! (And Alyss, you get a personal shout out - hold down the fort in Philly, ok?)

Next time you hear from me, I’ll be writing from Halifax, Nova Scotia!