Alright, update time.
So, here I am, 8:30 at night, chilling on the ghost boat in Brazil. I was out for a decent amount of time earlier, and the only reason I'm not out is because I've got a trip that I'm waking up for at 7:30. More on that later.
Now, back to where I left off.
Classes are interesting, for lack of a better way to put them. Global studies is a pain, as it is currently a class that everyone has to take every day that we're at see, and it's broadcast all around the boat via satellite TV. Not only is it incredibly boring, it's proven to be much more difficult than a 101 class should be. So it goes though.
My Poetry course is also quite interesting. The professor is a very...vibrant....old guy that does a good job of speaking VERY loudly. He's incredibly enthusiastic, and has the tendency to have an "in your face" style of teaching. Some people consider him senile. The ruling is still out on that one.
My geological hazards course should prove to be good. My computer skills have come in handy on the boat as a previous situation went as follows:
Professor: "Why is the screen on my mac all screwed up?"
Me: "Looks like your computer has taken on the resolution of the projector"
Professor: "I have no idea what you just said, but it's the smartest suggestion I've heard so far. Fix it"
So with a resolution change, it was fixed, and she now loves me. Go figure.
My Spirit possession course should prove to be a bit of a culture shock. Although considering the subject that's hardly surprising. I've technically only had one course, so I can't provide too many details.
Anyway, so, life on the ship. As one of the professors put it, "We're circumnavigating the globe at 20 mph!"
Food is good. Usually. Sometimes. If we're lucky. It's been terribly fickle lately. Some nights (like tonight) you can get some nice things such as salmon, and whatnot. Other nights, half the stuff I haven't heard of, and upon trying it, I wish I hadn't. Luckily, there's a snack bar by the pool that has VERY reasonable prices. I'm talking like, two bucks for a hamburger, which is pretty big. So it's nice to have that as backup when the main meals are a bit iffy.
The pool is weird. The way it works is that there's the mai pool, and on either side are little pools that you can put your feet in. When the ship rocks, it empties some of the water from the pool to one of the smaller ones on either side. It's pretty neat, and an excellent way to keep the water from shooting out the sides. The water was crazy warm a few days ago. Huzzah for the equator.
So, I signed up for two groups on the ship, although neither have contacted anyone yet. Yoga and chorus. Chorus got to sing in front of everyone at a pre-port briefing last night, which was awkward, as there was about 10 of us and it was on malaria and diarrhea. So yeah. Awkward. People found it hilarious though, so I suppose that's a plus. Least it wasn't a total embarassment.
Moving off of the other stuff since this is still fresh in my head, I wandered through Salvador today with a few of my friends. We're in the middle of carnaval, which is huge. There are a few million people here because of it, and it's one giant party. I've gotten the first taste of not being able to speak the native language, although fingers tend to work quite well when it comes to buying things.
They were right about the 1$ bills, they're like gold around here. Just have to be careful that you can do the conversions correctly on the fly, else you're likely to get ripped off. That happened to me a few times, although I usually let it go because it was still cheaper, if not the same price then I would have paid in the US. (1$ for a gatorade, not worth crying about). I've got a Bahia by day trip tomorrow that's gonna take me though a bunch of things, so I'll probably be taking pictures then. They highly suggested, since it's carnival, not to bring anything you're not willing to part with, so I left my camera at my room today. So many people around it's easy to see stuff get snatched. Nobody lost anything though, so that was a plus. Yes, people do grab your arms around here trying to sell you stuff, it's annoying after a while, but you just gotta deal.
Yes, I'm planning on bringing home something completely random and exotic.
Maybe an alligator.
Anyway.
I've learned that, no matter when my classes are, I'm never going to be able to break out of my regular schedule. As it stands, I get up, go to class, come back, nap until about 12 or so, then continue my day.
I've found somebody who works at a Hannafords in Vermont, and oddly enough, in the deli department. We ranted about a few things, such as particular meats that shouldn't exist, and how certain turkies fall apart, and how a customer once wanted him to cook up 64 chicken tenders. It was amusing.
I've met a ton of people on the ship, and I think a good majority of us are suffering from a sensory overload where we can't remember names for the life of us.
Oh, the mystery about my "accent" has been solved. After being asked if I were british or canadian by almost everyone on the entire ship, we've found that it's because I actually pronounce the words I'm speaking and I use proper english while talking. I don't quite know where it came from, as I usually had a laid-back speech when back home, but it works for me. For all I know it's how I could have always talked. Go figure.
Few shoutouts to people in particular:
@Parents: Love ya, I'm doing well. Hope to talk to you soon.
@Jackie: You have the most random music ever. I looked in your misc folder. Nuff said.
@Jeff/Steve/Brandon: I want e-mail updates on how things are going in-game.
@Everyone else: It's 90+ degrees here, ha!
Alright, I'm going to be bold and try to upload a few pics from Atlantis and whatnot onto here. I'm only going to upload a few at a time, seeing as our internet is sucko courtesy of satellite. I might not even get them up. Let's see...

Well, according to my preview it uploaded, but I don't see it. And even running at maximum speed because nobody is on it, it still took about 3 minutes for me to upload one. So I'm afraid all of you picture-holics are going to have to wait until I get back to reasonable internet to upload. I promise I'll toss them all in an album and let you see it.

Alright, that's all folks. Once again, e-mail me if you need anything, I'll probably hook up to an internet cafe where it's like, 50 cents for an hour or so. Those are the times I'll respond to individual e-mails and whatnot. Until then, later guys.
~Chris