Night life on the ship

During the nights we are at sea, with the exception of when we are arriving or departing from a port, we have “pub nights.” This is the only time we are allowed to consume alcohol on the ship and the number of drinks is limited to 3 per night at pub night and 2 at dinner on those nights. This applies to everyone because there is no drinking age on the ship. It sort of ruins the thrill of being 21! However, I don’t really mind the drinking limit. Plus I know my parents aren’t paying for me to go around the world just so I can party—everything in moderation.
That being said, the pub nights are pretty fun and usually a lot of people go so it’s a good way to meet new people. They have a ping pong table so I’ve been able to show off my skills, (all those years of family ping pong tournaments at Thanksgiving paid off!) We also play a lot of cards and board games. Sometimes people play the guitar and the other night there was a girl who played the bagpipes. I wonder how she was able to get the bagpipe on the plane and onto the ship?

Anyway, she was incredibly talented and she played just as the moon was rising. Yes, the moon, not the sun. While we were on the deck, we saw something in the sky that was lighting up in a weird shape. I admit it was a little scary… lots of things were going through my head, for example an alien spaceship, etc. Anyway, turned out it was just the moon coming up over the clouds. But it was so bright that it lit up the whole deck. I’m not sure if it had anything to do with us crossing the international dateline or where we are right now in the world, but either way, it was pretty neat to see the moon from that perspective.

In addition to pub nights, we also had our first dance this week. It was a mix and match theme so people went all out in crazy clothes. It was a good time and a lot of people were there. Being confined to the ship forces people get involved and participate in things they might not normally do if they were home with their busy schedules. Without internet and cell phones, people barely spend any time in their rooms and instead, are forced to be social. There are a lot of benefits to being stuck on a ship with nowhere to go. This also contributes to good class attendance—if you skip class and your professor sees you out on the deck sunbathing, it doesn’t look too good.

Well, I’m off to get some studying done. I have a test today…Wish me luck!