Sea Olympics (and Pompeii? Pompeii!!))

        Today is our only day on the ship between Barcelona and Naples. For whatever, faculty thought it would not be a suitable day to continue whatever it is we are learning. So we had a day of competition between “seas” (the three inhabited decks subdivided into about 4 subdivisions) for what was called the Sea Olympics.
        I played two events today: Knockout basketball and ping pong. I've been playing knockout while we weren't in port, and I've won one game, but I would have thought someone else would've signed up for it. It turned out there was an open slot when they tried to pull more people in for our “sea”, so I signed up for the second event. I did fairly well- I ended up being the seventh or eighth last person out of what looked like forty. I can't ask for much from this game, so I was happy.
        Ping pong was a more natural, if not more infuriating game. It was first to eleven, where serve alternated every two turns, and the last . Keep in mind, I almost never play that last rule, so it was a bit of a shock having to play like that. If you haven't played with me, here's a hint: you're already dead on my serve. If you don't play regularly the ball soars right by and beneath you as your paddle whiffs over. It got me two early leads on both games I played. Unfortunately, when I had to face my opponent's serve four straight times, I couldn't seal the deal on the last game and lost 13-15 (or was it 11-13?) on the last match.  Infuriating is the only word. But we move on- or try to...
        But the rest of the day redeemed itself much more. I gave more guitar lessons today, and sang a lot of Zac Brown's “Colder Weather” (in a lot of pre-planned posts, it's actually been a bit of a theme). It was chill, and they're still improving. The Bahamians like my singing, and joked I could be the first Asian country singer to hit the charts. That would be the day. Also, my teaching garnered the attention of a cute Hispanic girl. And somehow my singing along was able to attract the attention of this beautiful white girl I've been looking at, and we had a surprising conversation about our artistic pursuits and our love of Florence... Too early to say anything.
        Also, slight alteration to my agenda- I'm going to Pompeii tomorrow! I wasn't planning to because I had (well, still have) a tour in the afternoon, but I found out that there was a morning tour of the ancient city that ended before my second tour starts. Then I overheard someone from my hall saying he had a ticket, so I hunted him down, and was able to buy it off him. (Don't worry about him, he's off to the Alps. He'll have fun) Now I go to bed, because I'll be in Italy in the morning!