Holidays and Communication

I  hope that everyone had a fantastic Christmas and/or Chanukah and/or Festivus, and/or Kwanzaa.  For me it was a travel themed Chanukah and Christmas (yep, I'm half and half).  I feel much better prepared for the trip with my shiny new travel sized art supplies, Kindle gift card, collapsible water bottle, book light, and new clothes.  Probably most exciting was the sonic screwdriver to get me out of any sticky situations that don't involve wood and the two seasons of Doctor Who from my parents.

This is a sonic screwdriver in case you were wondering.  It's from Doctor Who.  

My pretty purple collapsible water bottle.  Genius for traveling! 

Koi Travel Watercolor set. Also great for traveling.    

     In other news, I found out more about how I will be able to communicate while on the ship.  This link goes over how to send mail as well as time zones I will be in.  I will also have a satellite phone as well (my doctor is letting me borrow his) but that will probably only be used to call doctors in an emergency or my parents.  Even though it's the cheapest option I could find, the rate is still like $1.24 per minute.  (Yikes!)  The best way to communicate for me will probably be via e-mail.  Even though internet use is severely limited, I will have unlimited access to my shipboard e-mail account!  The e-mail address I will be using isn't live yet, but it will be emily.block.S12@semesteratsea.org.  I would love to hear from you during my trip!

T minus 34 Days and Counting!

     First of all, a little update on my first world problems.  :0)  I finished finals and am almost done with my grad school apps.  I can't wait to click the submit button and get some quality family time in during the holidays.  I've pretty much  been a grumpy hermit locked in my room trying to get everything done, and am really missing out on spending time with them.  Almost there!

My awesome family just for the record. 

      Now onto the real stuff.  I wanted to share this awesome program I get to take part in during the trip called Vicarious Voyage.  Usually SAS sailors get paired up with a classroom to correspond with during the voyage.  I'm doing things a little differently (what's new) and have been paired up with a group for chronically ill kids and young adults instead.  I'm really excited because it's never been done before and I think it will work out really well.  One thing most people don't realize about being sick is that it is way stinking boring.  I would read travel blogs during my bed-bound days and it helped pass the time.  Now I'm hoping to give back.  (No way to make that sound less corny...)  The group I chose was, of course, the Dysautonomia Youth Network of America.  I've been a part of the group since my own dysautonomia diagnosis in 2008 and will really enjoy working with them.  One more excellent thing to be excited about.

     Just really quick before I sign off to finish those grad school apps, I wanted to let you know that you can subscribe to my blog via e-mail!  (You don't have to be a blogger member to get updates.)  There is a box on the right hand side under the blog's archive where you can sign up.   

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