finding my niche

It's been 3 days. I've been aboard the ship for 3 days, and I am trying to get over homesickness, believe it or not. It's hard to imagine me being homesick as excited and ready to get away as I was on land. But when you have no friends, and no way to communicate to anyone familiar on land, life becomes a message in a bottle. Yes, Michelle is my roommate, but poor girl has been sea sick for the past three days, and I've kind of done my own thing, letting her sleep it off. I miss everyone terribly. I’m going through that awful awkward stage of introducing myself to people, waiting for the friendship thing to happen, wanting desperately to find my niche. Finding one’s niche is not as easy as it may seem. It’s Freshman year at college and we’re playing icebreakers and trying to remember first names, except that everyone here already seems to have those bonds. Girls go to dinner in groups of ten, and sunbathe in groups of thirty. Guys slink along behind the girls, hoping for more than dinner, I’m sure, and as I watch, I can’t help but wish I was home.

Now don’t scoff and throw your arms up wildly. Believe me, I’m trying to make the most of my time here, I am. But I’m not the kind of person to throw myself haphazardly into conversation just to have someone to chat with for five minutes. Once we get on land, I’m sure the situation and feelings with change drastically. I just need time to adjust. I think I’m still experiencing shock.

I started classes today. I have three classes all back to back from 8am-12pm. It certainly makes my afternoons free, but who wants that freedom without anyone to enjoy it with? I need to be busy, and I already have to finish a novel by Saturday, which is crazy, but I’m grateful for the time spent not thinking about home. Speaking of Saturday, I have classes for seven days straight. It’s weird, ripping off the pages of my calendar and seeing “Saturday” and “Sunday”, and getting in the shower at 7AM. Yuck.

The food is okay, because I told you I would keep you updated, Moni. J It’s very buffet, very cafeteria style, but we have foreign waiters who come and refill our drinks and take our plates away. That’s about the only difference. I cannot wait for real food in the countries. I want the real deal, the Spanish menus, and Greek fish markets. I want the spicy-ness and fishiness and freshness of the Mediterranean.

Well, that’s all I have for now. More details and stories later. Need to go find someone to awkwardly eat dinner with. J