Greetings from Canada!!

Welcome to Semester at Sea's official Fall 2009 blog! My name is Charity Scott, and I am the Communications Coordinator for this voyage. I'll be writing most of the blog posts in the coming months, but the blog will also feature guest bloggers in the form of students and, perhaps, the occasional faculty member. This blog will provide regular updates as the MV Explorer makes its way through a schedule that will cover 12 port stops in just under four months.

We are currently in Halifax, Canada, and the faculty and staff were joined by the students that make up the voyage's work-study program. Tonight there will be a reception for all of the parents, and there will be a blog detailing that and orientation tomorrow. We will be joined by the rest of the student body tomorrow before setting out for our next stop in Cadiz, Spain!

Aside from providing a glance into some of the experiences students will have while traveling, the blog will also attempt to give you some perspective on what daily life is like for students on the ship, as well as illustrate how the students will find their outlook on the world changing as a result of the Semester at Sea experience. It is my hope that this blog will be both informative, insightful and entertaining. The blog will be updated very regularly with text, photos and video, as will the official Semester at Sea Facebook and Twitter accounts. So please follow along as we set out on this amazing journey.