first major travel

At nineteen and a half I decided that I wanted to travel but I had no money.  So I joined the Merchant Marines.  As a Merchant Marine  I could make money and travel.  I spent the first month going to the hiring hall to try and get a ship out of New York.  It did not look like my plan would happen. I had to shape up to ship out. I finally got a ""pier head"which means that ship is ready to go in a few hours and you have to get on immediately. The captain picked me up in a cab and raced to the cost guard to have me sign articles to ship out. We got back to the ship and were to leave in two hours. The only problem I had was I had no clothes except for the clothes on my back.I figured I could always buy what I needed.  I phoned home and got my father who agreed to drive to Brooklyn with my suitcase and he arrived before we sailed. So off I sailed as the waiter on a C3 freighter heading for Trinidad and and Brazil. My passengers were 4 nuns going to Brazil to do missionary work and couple with a cat.  Although I  was never a waiter before the first meal went off just fine. My mates in my room or rather (in sailor talk) my fouksal were 3 big black guys about 50 years old,  " old salts". While I initially felt intimidated by these three rough looking sailors they turned out to be the nicest guys you would ever want to meet. After sailing for four days, the sea became rough with 12 foot swells. You could feel the ship going up and sliding down the other side of the wave.You woud have to shift you weight and feet in order to walk.  I was scared because the rocking seemed like it would never stop. I asked the 1st mate, the medical guy, on board about sea sickness and he said keep your stomach full and carry a lemon in your pocket, if you feel nauseous you suck on the lemon. It works and I still use this method on cruise ships today if the weather is bad.Finally after three rough days at sea we arrived in Trinidad. Upon landing  I  noticed that the guys in front of me had the sailor swagger. I noticed I was walking the same way, a result of spending three days on a rocking boat!