Day 1

I slept surprisingly well considering my excitement, but I popped out of bed at 7:30 in the morning. After a shower and packing up my things, I fueled up on a couple bowls of Honey Nut Cherrios and two glasses of OJ. My Uncle Steve, who generously housed and fed me, drove me to the San Diego Sheraton, and, because I arrived 15 minutes early, I was able to grab a seat on an early shuttle.

The ride from San Diego to Ensenada was smooth sailing. I sat on the right side of the bus, which had a gorgeous ocean view for the entirety of the ride. If I looked left, however, for the majority of the trip I would see extreme poverty. It was a stark contrast, and made me feel even luckier to be embarking on such a wonderful, lavish adventure.

I spent the majority of the ride talking to two girls named Marleen and Charlene and a guy named Jeffrey (note: all names in this blog have been changed, aside from my own and my roommate Nick's -- Nick is a close friend from Oxy). The conversation was fairly interesting, though Charlene was astoundingly dumb. She wondered why we, America, had not invaded and taken over Baja because of California's "overgrowing population problem." When I raised the fact that we could not simply take over a territory because we felt like it, she responded by saying "well we have to do something about the huge population, and that would solve it." OK then.

Once we arrived in Ensenada, it was smooth sailing. I got on the boat and checked in without incident. Our room is small, but nicely furnished and maintained. Unpacking was tough, but we got pretty much everything put away neatly. The food, I ate lunch and dinner on board, has been good so far, though as I understand it that is subject to change.

I have been most pleased with the people I have met. Leading the pack is my new buddy Greg, a gregarious and handsome dude with a sharp sense of humor. I've also met two girls, Kim and Clara who are both cute and very fun to be around. There are countless other friendly people on board whom I've met and whose company I enjoy, though those three are currently leading the pack in my book.

Before I head off to bed, there are three more funny quotes I must share with you, dear readers. The first of which occurred at dinner, when a girl wondered if the drinking water on the ship was safe because "we're in Mexico." The second happened when, after our first orientation meeting (which was boring as hell, thanks for asking), a girl asked how we could keep time while at sea. Now, this may seem like a reasonable due to time zone changes, but when Nick suggested a cell phone or a watch, she said "oh yeah! I have a watch for the trip!" It seemed as if she was confused as to whether or not the rules of timekeeping applied while at sea. And finally, I was on the top deck at the back of the ship marveling at our speed (apparently it is the fastest cruise ship in the world), and a girl inquired why it would take "so long to get to Hawaii." I responded by saying that "I'm not quite sure how fast we're moving but Hawaii is pretty far away." I thought this was common knowledge, but, in a surprised tone, the girl replied "it is?"

Until tomorrow, may the force be with you.