On the Boat, Day 4

You remember that one song, the one that goes “rock the boat, don’t rock the boat baby”? Find the songwriter and tell him to suck it up, princess. He’s never been on the MV Explorer. I didn’t know it was possible for a boat this big to rock back and forth this much. It’s insane. No matter where I go, I can’t escape it. You know how many times I’ve nearly fallen off the balcony on the 6th floor to the tile floor on the 5th? I’m not telling, but it’s a lot. Luckily, while I’m still seasick, I’m no longer violently ill because of it. However, in trying to compensate for the constant movement, by neck has taken to trying to stay as still as possible to support my nausea-prone head. Therefore, I have new neck tension that’s so bad and tight that if you smack a wooden board against my neck, the board would snap in two.  Yeah. How long until I’m allowed to blow $50 on a massage?

It’s really tough going through the time zone changes, because we’re losing an hour of sleep every night until we get to Morocco. Waking up for my 8am classes is becoming less of an annoyance and more of an epic mission. I’m not sure I can do it. I suppose the name of the game will have to be naps, which in all honesty is completely fine by me.

Classes are going to murder me. I know, that’s really weird coming from me, right? But seriously, for something that’s known for being a bit of a “party cruise”, I feel like I’m in my first semester of law school. I’m not just happy I didn’t sign up for a 5th class, I’m relieved. Even with just the four I have, I’m expected to read between 200 and 400 pages a day, and that’s in addition to my work-study, which luckily is almost relaxing so far in its mindlessness. Oh, and the reading will stay the same even as the papers pile up. Difficult papers? Absolutely not. LOTS of papers? Oh my God yes. Oh, and then there are the tests. Why are there so many tests? The brochure said there would only be a few tests. This is a terrible vacation! (That was for you, Iowans.) I may have met my match. It just worries me, because maybe the classes aren't hard. Maybe Iowa hasn't been challenging me enough, and now I'm not used to hard work. Shoot. Is that what it is? Am I really just incredibly dumb and lazy? Am I incapable of working at the college level after all? God, I hope not...

Nonetheless, I’m still having some semblance of “fun”.  I’ve grown unusually popular. No, not just unusually popular, ABSURDLY popular. I can’t help but think it’s some sort of well-orchestrated prank by every member of the shipboard community. It’s as if every person has decided that there’s something about me that’s just DIFFERENT, but that unlike everyone in the past who thought that was a bad thing, these guys think it’s sort of awesome. The terms “quirky, genuine, and unique” have come to me in the form of compliments. When I enter a room, it’s often to tribal chants of “MAREK! MAREK! MAREK!” People want to be me for Halloween. It’s odd as hell to be some sort of divine idol for these people, and I don’t understand why this is happening at all. Nonetheless, I think I could get used to this.