Class Afloat is everything I imagined back at home, but still completely different. It's kind of hard to describe. The heat is definitely as I expected; hot, humid days and the fresh ocean breeze at any hour of the day. It's a nice change from the frigid climate back home, but it's expected to cool off as we head further south after Buenos Aires towards Cape Town and Tristan da Cunha.

Getting to Argentina has been an amazing experience. Life at sea is completely different from anything you'd expect. It's hectic, with classes from nine to seven with day watch, cleaning, and homework scattered throughout, but there is still a very calming and relaxing element to the sea. Somehow we manage to still find time to read, jam with the guitars or just sit back and chill with new friends and old friends. Life just isn't as busy or fast paced as it was back home. I could get used to this.

Everybody has been great. After a week and a bit I feel like I've known everybody all along. It's been a very welcoming and accepting group, including the Gap year students, which really isn't a surprise I suppose. It's just weird, because when coming into two different groups that have been together for a while, you would think there would be some friction, for lack of a better word. But there really wasn't. Teachers are great too-- no complaints, although the full course load is a little heavy with five full classes and chemistry on top of everything.

Life at sea has been pretty amazing. I've yet to feel the seasickness my parents so thoroughly prepared me for… knock on wood. I'm definitely not the only one who has avoided it for now, but there are a number of people whose first sail has been marked by frequent visits with the rail. That's got to be tough though because, unlike at home, you can't just take a sick day whenever you're feeling under the weather, even if it is for days at a time.

The one thing that's completely different from anything I imagined are the sail maneuvers. Its kind of like a delicate balance between chaos and control in the sense that twenty of us can be running around on deck hauling and easing different lines all under the control of our Bo'sun. Everything has to be let out and brought in at the right time, but it's the frantic mess of running between lines to always be ready for the next call that is almost unimaginable. Everything's even more interesting when we get the call to do them under the cover of darkness. Even more interesting, is climbing in the dark under the faint glow of a handful of lights. I love it. It's not like I expected it to be though. Everything's always moving and changing, making it a necessity to constantly adapt and readjust as you climb higher and higher. The view is incredible; blue swells in every direction for as far as you can see. We're hardly two hundred nautical miles of the coast, but you'd never know the difference between here and the middle of the Atlantic. For now though we wait… five more days until Argentina, where this will be sent.