7:00 AM, 21°

So things are finally falling into a semi normal routine. Classes 9-5 with a lunch break and small 5-15 min breaks between lectures...Finally starting to remember everyone's names and the fact I'm actually going to sail from Tahiti to Moorea to Rangiroa to Nuka Hiva to Kiritimati (Christmas Island) to Hawaii has finally sunk in.

We went over our packing list yesterday and had a pretty intense discussion about the definition of sustainability. They used our ship as a metaphor case-study for the term and was pretty amazed when everybody in our class (24) all had different definitions/ components of sustainability. Our class has students of very diverse backgrounds ranging everywhere from women studies, polysci, and to marine biology and hailing from various colleges like Colgate, Brown, and UC San Diego...
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So I guess I never really went over what exactly I'm doing.. but if you're wondering, the program I'm enrolled in is called the:

"Sustainability in Polynesian Island Cultures and Ecosystems (SPICE)"  it's described as:

"An environmental studies semester which takes an interdisciplinary look at the people and islands of Polynesia in an effort to learn what they can tell us about the global issues of environmental sustainability and cultural continuity."  -http://www.sea.edu/academics/spice.aspx

So we basically take a month of classes at Woods Hole, MA, fly to Tahiti board the ship, and sail from port to port for 7weeks , ultimately making our way to Hawaii, where we'll conclude with a week of classes at the University of Hawaii.. Its for 17 credits and its definitely writing/science intensive, so it's not your typical study abroad semester roaming in Europe. It's very hands on and I'm pretty sure my experiences I will get should be pretty irreplaceable...
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But yeah.. I also signed up for my four major papers/projects today. I will be writing papers/researching on:
 1.) the demographics, political systems, imports/exports, economics of agriculture and fisheries, and tourism on the Island of Rangiroa. 2.) Geology,Biology, Zoology, influences of the climate and surrounding waters on the Kiritimati (Christmas Island) 3.) Ocean Acidification!!!!!!!!!! :) 4.) Conservation/ Ethics/Management of terrestrial/aquatic ecosystems in French Polynesia.

Overall though,I'm pretty stoked.. I got all 4 topics I wanted. can't wait to actually get some real research data collected on the ship..

With all the talk of the potential dangers of living on the ship being far far away from shore, I guess I'm going to try to get physically prepared for the sailing component. I decided to start running again as a result. haha...
I went for a run yesterday and again today at 7am at  21°... pretty cool seeing the beach & sunrise. Saw some cool swans.. Don't know if I actually will wake up on time every morning, but I'm going to try....
Since I still don't really no what I'm doing here yet... here are some pics!