Seattle: July 9th, 7:30 pm South Korea: July 10th, 11:30 am
I always love having new adventures. Well I realize that is what I am about to do. It is my dad's (Dr. John Ben Fitzhugh's) third trip to Russia and this time he is bringing my mom, my three-year old sister, and me. In Russia my dad helps lead an archaeology, geology, and ecology project in the Kuril Islands. So the idea is that we will be living on a boat and camping on islands, arriving [back] in Seattle the day before my middle school starts (about two months from now).
Right now we are testing how busy we can keep ourselves on this eleven hour plane ride. The nice thing is having your own personal television in the back of the seat in front of you. We will spend one week in civilization before zooming off on the trip. In that week my UW archaeology teacher dad will hopefully get some sleep unlike the last few days at home. This includes my mom who did not get much more.
I can't wait until I can write about something real!
----Laska
Laska Fitzhugh, daughter of project leader Ben Fitzhugh, stands in front of Iskatel IV in Korsakov (note the ship's name and port of call in Cyrillic in the bottom left corner of the photo).
Seattle: July 16th, 6:30 pm South Korea: July 17th, 12:30 am
It is quite shocking to know that in only a matter of days you will be on a big ship in the middle of the Sea of Okhotsk. It is twice as shocking as being there.
It is the first full day at sea and there is not a speck of land in sight! I am still gaining my sea legs and barely don't topple over when a wave rocks the boat. When there are bigger waves I am afraid I will find myself hugging the floor.
On the ship the rooms are small and cramped and though my family has a pretty big room it is the size of a biggish bathroom. The room has two armchairs that fold out, one fold-out couch, a skinny bed, and lots of storage areas. The problem is the room has one too many chairs and so I have to sleep with my sister in the skinny bed. I will find my sister Larissa curled comfortably in the middle of the bed pushing me to the end.
My sister has gotten sea sick, and I am feeling a bit nauseous myself...That's all for now.
----Laska