It takes patience to blog!

Super Bowl Sunday at 7:30

After trying numerous times for the last several days, I finally am able to access my blog -- and I hope I am able to publish it. I thought as we get closer to Brazil, it would be easier, faster internet, but it's not working that way.

A friend figured out that the Super Bowl will be happening about 8:30 ship time, but we have no way to access it, so we will be "in the dark" until we see the news on the internet tomorrow (hopefully).

We are all on count down to Salvador. We will have had seven days at sea by the time we get there, and we are all eager to get off the ship and go to Carnival! Our Global Studies class has prepared us well for Brazil with lots of cautions about safety and security. We also have 3 Brazilian students on board who have conducted classes in the Portugese language.

We are close enough to see land (at times) and the sea gulls have followed the ship all day. The ocean and the sky are beautiful.

I signed up for the Extended Family Program and have received the names of the 3 students (2 young women, 1 young man) who I will be including in my life after tomorrow night when I will meet them/have dinner with them. There are ~200 students on-board who signed up to have one of the faculty or staff "be a friend". Almost all the staff and faculty agreed to participate and many of us have more than one student in our new extended family.

I have a mandatory meetings tonight and tomorrow night at 8:00, "Salvator: What to Look For" and "The Logistics of Brazil," and a diplomatic meeting on Tues. when we arrive in the Salvator at ~7:00 am, so we continue to get information.

If I'm not able to blog until after Brazil, just know I am having a wonderful time. Everyone assures us this will be one of the most exciting ports.