Hong Kong/Beijing/Qingdao

Quick update from China...
The good old V is currently docked in Qingdao, China. This past week we ported in Hong Kong, spent a day and night around the city, then flew to Beijing. Last night I flew to Qingdao to meet the ship once again. I saw the Great Wall, Tiannamen Square, the Summer Palace, the Forbidden City and lots of other exciting places. I stayed at Peking University and got to hang out with some Chinese students for a few days. It was a really fun visit, the country is really gearing up for the 2008 Olympics and is lmost completely under renovation. Qingdao is really cool because there are absolutely no tourists or English speaking people anywhere. I heard today that the Explorer is the only cruise ship to have ever docked in the port. CRAZY! I know that I have been slacking in my blogging, but this stretch of our trip has been jam packed. The internet on the ship was also down for a while which doesn't help things any. We will be in Japan in a couple days already but I'll try and post more about the past few ports before then. I bought a Japan Rail Pass in Hong Kong and am planning on doing the entire country by bullet train! Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima...I couldn't be more excited!

Cambodia

I am currently on my SAS Cambodia trip to the temples of Angkor Wat! We took a short one hour flight from Saigon to Siem Reap last night after spending the day in Vietnam. I am having an absolutely amazing time in this country. We have spent the day seeing temple ruin after temple ruin. This place is unreal- I feel like I am in Tomb Raider (which was actually filmed here). Tonight we are going to Ankgor Wat temple at sunset, which should be really phenomenal. I am really excited for tomorrow because we are touring a floating village and market. Everything on this trip has been a blast and we have the greatest group of people, which really makes all the difference. SAS really did a good job with this trip and I am so glad that I chose it!

Good Morning Vietnam!

We came into port early this morning to beautiful Ho Chi Mihn City, Vietnam. I am sorry for not being consistant with my updates, but I have had to put this blog site on the back burner while playing catch up during this last stretch at sea. I leave for Cambodia tomorrow afternoon and could not be more excited. I am going on a SAS trip to see the Temples of Angkor Wat. Updates to come...eventually...I promise!

Good-bye Burma

I am currently aboard the wonderful MV Explorer…passport and all! I am so happy to be back on the ship with everyone. They changed our on-ship time to 11:30am this morning, even though we are not leaving until this evening. Since there are no tug boats in this port we needed to turn the ship around when the current was just right. We are currently anchored in the middle of a river, waiting for the tide to change so that we can make our way back out to the open ocean. This port was unique in that the ship docked nearly an hour from Yangon. Most people stayed in town last night and made their way back to the ship by shuttle or taxi early this morning. Most people are spending the rest of our day catching up on homework or sleep. I have so much school work to catch up on since I missed three class days! After I finish my massive amounts of homework, I hope to start writing my Myanmar post (and maybe even my belated India post). Myanmar was incredible…unlike any place I have ever experienced in my life. In the last few days I have actually gone where no American has gone before…literally. I have so many amazing stories to tell! Despite all the controversy surrounding our stop in this country, I think most of us are really glad that we got the chance to visit and would do it again if we had the choice. Check back soon for details!

Status Report:
Anchored in Burma…on the ship…with my passport :)

Home at Last

I have successful made it back to the Explorer! Part of me really never thought I would see the ship again, but I made it home afterall. My room and door were all decorated and there were signs everywhere from my friends welcoming me back. I have never been so happy to see everyone! We are in Myanmar for three more days and I am out and about enjoying this fascinating country. More details to come...

Singapore

I thought I would update you on my travels back to the Explorer. I am currently in Singapore and am proud to say that I have one less country to cross off my list of places to go before I die. Singapore is incredibly clean and modern. Did you know that it is against the law to chew gum here? CRAZY! I had to take a picture of the bathrooms here because they are unbelievably immaculate. This is quite a different place than India! Only a few more hours until I should be in Burma. Thank you for your prayers. I'll keep you posted...

Unfortunate Events (Part II)

Left behind...
Sorry to my faithful blog readers for leaving you hanging for so long between updates. My trip to India did not go exactly as planned to say the least. I am not posting a long reflective description of this port yet as my time/energy/internet access has been running on low to empty for the last few days. I could easily write a book on my experiences over the last week, and perhaps some day I will. As some of you may know (depending on how fast the international SAS rumor mill has been running) the MV Explorer pulled safely away from port in Chennai, India with all passengers minus one...me. As fate would have it, on our last night in port on my way back I got pickpocketed about 100 yards from the ship. I wasn't the only victim of theft here but unfortunately I was the one who lost my money belt containing my credit cards, money and passport. With about an hour and a half until on ship time I worked with the port security and the SAS admininistration team to try and recover it. Unsuccessful in this attempt I boarded the ship and met with the Indian immigrations officials who decided that it would be alright for me to still sail. It was decided that I would pick up a new passport in Burma and work on getting new visas from there. I was warned that I would most likely not be able to get off the ship in Burma because it is one of the most difficult countries in the world to get into. You can imagine what was going through my mind at this point. Disappointment. Shock. Frustration. A little before midnight I was informed that the top immigration official had changed his mind and decided that I could not leave India on the ship. !!! The SAS office was very helpful and tried as hard as humanly possible to keep me aboard the Explorer but in the end it wasn't enough. The officials needed a letter or statement from the consulate to let me stay aboard. The US consulate was of course closed and so I was told that I would have to wait until the next day. SAS arranged for me to stay in India for a few extra days so I could take care of the official paperwork. To me there is nothing more terrifying than being told that you are being left in a foreign country like India with no passport and no credit cards. It has been an experience to say the least, and all bad things aside I wouldn't change it for the world.

To be a foreigner in a strange land...
I have realized that even seeing an American face is something I take for granted now that I have gone a few days on my own. To be traveling as a foreigner with 684 other American college students is one thing... to be doing it alone is a whole new ball game. I have never been more stared at or photographed or questioned in my entire life. I have learned a lot about the way foreign government works and how valuable an American passport can be. I have been with a man (whose name I can't pronounce) who is helping me around the city during my extended Indian holiday. I have learned more about global issues in the past few days than I have this whole semester. Being American, I am told by my new friend, can get you anywhere. There are good people in this world, and there are bad people. When you get dragged down by the bad people, you must take it with a stride and move on. I am experiencing first hand what happens when corruption and poverty prevail in a country. My driver today asked me how much I had to pay off the police to file a report on my stolen passport. He was shocked when I told him I didn't have to pay anything. I guess if I wasn't on the ship when I dealt with the police it would have been a different story. This is the type of reality I am faced with right now. I have never felt like more of a foreigner in my life.

Burma or Bust...
It has been a complicated but rewarding week for me. I have seen so much and wish that I could share every single detail with you all. For now I will just say that I am still in India, I am still safe, and I am meeting up with the ship soon in Myanmar. I am flying to Singapore tomorrow and Yangon, Myanmar the next morning. I am actually really excited because I have always wanted to go to Singapore and now I get to. I wasn't expecting it to be under these circumstances, but there is an up side to every crazy adventure. I currently have a new passport and will soon have a new visa to enter Burma. I am definitely having an adventure out here but in all honesty I can't wait to see that ship again. I can't wait to hear what crazy rumors have been flying around about me and why I am stranded in India. My friends back aboard the ship said they would do some damage control for me and make sure that all the rumors were at least really exciting and cool. Maybe there is some crazy story about me getting thrown in a Indian prison or something by now. Haha, it should be fun to see when I get back. I can't wait to eat the ship food again and put on clean clothes and talk to an American. (Anyone ever seen the movie Brokedown Palace? I feel like I am trapped in it right now.) I am having fun with the situation at least and I really appreciate all the messages and phone calls of support that I have recieved. Hopefully I'll get some time in the near future to reflect more on all the craziness of this week and publish some more details. Cross your fingers that next time you hear from me it won't be from India. Burma or bust baby! More of Amber's crazy trip around the world to come...

Status Report:
Stranded in India! :)

PS- I saw the Taj Mahal for you Aunt Wendy. It was spectacular!

A Series of Unfortunate Events

There has been a change in plans in my India itinerary. We got news in global studies this morning that there has been a series of fatal and religiously motivated terrorist attacks over the last two days in the holy Hindu city of Varanasi, India. As I posted previously, I was planning on going on a trip to this city to see the Ganges River and the ancient Hindu traditions. The on board field office has been working closely with the SAS Pittsburgh offices and the State Department all day to determine how this incidence will affect the trips scheduled. Rumors were flying back and forth about the possibility of them canceling India all together, or the cancellation of all the trips to Varanasi and the Taj Mahal. SAS will absolutely not compromise our safety for any reason. They announced at tonight’s pre-port that, as we all suspected, the Varanasi portion of my trip has been cancelled. I had decided earlier today that if they cancelled my SAS trip, I would try to go independently. My visit to Varanasi was what I was really looking forward this semester. Unfortunately, going independently is not even an option because the entire city is shut down to tourism and is under high terrorist alert. SAS has also banned us for going. I cannot even express my disappointment right now. I knew coming into this trip that flexibility would be a must. There are some things in the world that are just out of our control and we should be grateful that nobody on the ship is hurt or was in India during these attacks. The field office has told us that we will be going to Delhi for two days instead of Varanasi. I can’t say that any of us on the trip really have a huge desire to go to Delhi for two days, but we are making the best of the situation. A couple of my friends and I are hoping to be able to go to another city for one of the days independently. Regardless of what the trip turns out to be, I know that we will have the adventure of a lifetime.

I feel like the anticipation of getting to India tomorrow morning has just been building and building. All day the crew has been lining the hallways and stairways with cardboard and plastic to protect it from dirt and keep the ship sanitary. Our logistical pre-port meeting was pretty intense, with lots of details and safety concerns that needed to be discussed. We were told that the immigrations and clearing of the ship will be complicated and lengthy for both our arrival and departure from Chennai. The list of health concerns and risks we were given seems to go on for days. Nobody is allowed off the ship without closed toed-shoes on. We aren’t even supposed to wear flip-flops on the ship while we are in port. The current temperature in Chennai is in the 90s with a 60% humidity! My friends and I just got done playing drinking games for two hours…with water! We are determined to start out the week hydrated. I have never had so much sober fun in my life! Since I have had some time to get over the initial disappointment of missing Varanasi, I have to say that I am absolutely stoked for India. I know that I am going to have a great time no matter where I go. India is supposed to be one of the most culturally stimulating and diverse places that we will be visiting. Pray for safety and no traveler’s diarrhea!

Status Report:
Very close to India!

The Day Before the Day Before

Today is the day before the day before we get to India. (Can you tell I have no real concept of time and date anymore?) You know you are on Semester at Sea when you start to refer to dates as “the day after Mauritius” or “the second B day before Asia right after Africa.” Yesterday was an interesting day because we crossed the equator…again. Sadly I once again forgot to flush my toilet mid-crossing. There was no Neptune party this time because I guess they consider us all professional globetrotters by now or something. We also had to set our clocks one half hour forward last night, which I found to be very strange. I officially decided that we have about the coolest ship captain ever! He decided that he wanted to test the ship’s engines and run them on maximum speed. Let me remind you that we are aboard the fastest passenger ship in the world. We were cruising at a speed of 31 knots! It was incredibly fast and the wake behind us was out of control.
Tonight I had dinner with the two Indian inter-port students. They were a lot of fun and shed a lot of light on what it is really like to be a young person in India today. I asked them about everything from arranged marriages and dating, to dress and customs, and food and transportation. I realized that they aren’t all that much different myself. They told me that students in India all have a pre-conceived ideas about what American young people are like, just like we have of them. The thing I remember from our conversation the most was their observations that, aside from our more liberal culture, American students and Indian students have very similar interests, goals, and hobbies.

India…
This is actually the first port that I am not doing my own independent travel, so it should be interesting to see how it compares to the others. Since I don’t know if I will be posting again before India, here is some of what I am planning on doing while in port-

The first day I am signed up to go on a SAS city orientation of Chennai. Here is the description:
During your brief orientation to the fourth-largest city in India, you will drive through the city center on Mount Road, the commercial hub of Chennai. You will also drive through residential areas that present a striking contrast between rich and poor. You will drive past an important landmark, Fort St. George, which contains St. Mary’s Church and the Fort Museum – monuments reflecting the history of Chennai from the days of British India. You will continue your drive along the elegant promenade of the Marina, one of the longest beaches in the world. You will see the stately buildings of the University of Chennai, the Senate House and the former palace of the Nawab of Arcot. Upon reaching the oldest section of the city, you will visit San Thome Cathedral (where the apostle Thomas was buried) and the ancient Kapaleeshwar Temple. Along the way, you will also have an opportunity to visit a local home.

The second day I am leaving on an overnight trip-
DELHI/VARANASI/AGRA (0430 Friday, 10 March – 1400 Monday, 13 March)
This trip combines the bustling city of Delhi, the majesty of the Taj Mahal, and the “eternal city” of Varanasi, one of the most important pilgrimage sites in India. Located on the banks of the sacred River Ganges, Varanasi is the holy city of the Hindus. Often called “the heartbeat of India,” it is the oldest inhabited city in the world. Varnasi has been a center of civilization and learning for over 2,000 years. Here you can observe the ritual bathing in the Ganges at dawn, a practice that has continued virtually unchanged over the centuries.
Day 1: Depart the ship for the Chennai airport and your 3 and ½ hour flight to Varanasi via Delhi, arriving in Varanasi around 1150. After check-in and lunch at the hotel, visit the ruins of the ancient city of Sarnath where the Buddha preached his first sermon. Sarnath is as holy to Buddhists as Varanasi is to Hindus. See the stupa and ruins of the ancient monastery as well as the new Buddhist temple. Return to the hotel for dinner and overnight. An optional shopping rip, with your guide, is available. (B on flight, L, D; Radisson Hotel in Varanasi)
Day 2: Depart the hotel before sunrise and drive to the banks of the River Ganges. Board a boat and sail along the river to witness a spectacle of religious practice that has continued unchanged over centuries. At dawn, pilgrims converge at the holy waters for the ritual immersion and prayer to release their souls from the cycle of rebirth. This is one for the most memorable experiences of a visit to India. Continue on a city orientation and then depart for the airport and your flight to Delhi. Upon arrival in Delhi, enjoy some late afternoon sightseeing including visits to the Memorial, Parliament House, Secretariat Building, and the official residence of the president of India. Continue to your hotel for dinner and overnight. An optional shopping trip is available. (B, L, D; Hotel Ashok in Delhi)
Day 3: Following an early morning wake-up call, depart for the train station and your two-hour journey to Agra. Upon arrival, transfer to the hotel to freshen up before proceeding to Fatehpur Sikri, with its red sandstone palaces which are remarkably preserved. Return to Agra for lunch at the hotel and then visit the Taj Mahal at dusk. Transfer to the railway station for your journey to Delhi and transfer to the hotel. (B on train, L, D on train; Hotel Ashok in Delhi)
Day 4: Depart for the airport and your return flight to Chennai. (B on flight) Note: This is a rigorous itinerary involving a lot of traveling and early morning departures.

So that is what my India trip will be in a nut shell. It should be pretty intense so I’ll let you know how it goes. We only have two days on the ship in between India and Myanmar, but I’ll do my best to get my final India blog up ASAP. It is going to be a crazy/exciting/tiring next two weeks in the life of Amber! Until then…


Thought of the Day: In India, three and a half times more people than in the United States are living in one third the amount of space. In all, some 35 percent of them live in poverty, half of those in extreme poverty.

Status Report:
02 degrees Latitude
078 degrees Longitude

I’m half way around the world!

I am officially ahead of home by twelve hours and counting! I have hit the half way mark and it is the strangest feeling in the world. It is completely surreal to think that the sun that I just watched set is the same sun that you are all waking up to right now. We have a week of sailing and classes between Mauritius and India. The first two days we hit really rough seas. A lot of people were really sick and some classes were getting cancelled because even the teachers couldn’t make it. I think I probably slept completely through the first two and a half post-Mauritius days back at sea. Everybody was completely out of it, I felt like there should have been a fume leak or something funny in our water to explain why we were all such zombies. In general it seemed that if you weren’t sea sick, you were still recovering from the lack of sleep/intense sunburn/heavy partying/greasy Mauritian Chinese food. I have never seen the shipboard community so lifeless. By the third day however, I woke up to the calmest seas I have I seen in my life. The ocean literally looks like glass, it is unreal, eerie even. I feel like it looks more like an endlessly clear lake than the ocean. It has been so much better for those poor sea sick souls, and things are finally getting back to normal. We had a karaoke night a couple days ago and it was a ridiculous amount of fun. I mean, who needs a pub night when you can sing karaoke?

Sea Olympics…
Yesterday was one of the biggest events aboard the Explorer…the Sea Olympics! I knew that the Olympics would be fun, but I wasn’t expecting everyone to get as into it as they did. People went all out for their teams...there were cheers and banners and body paint and that craziness. Each sea (aka the hallway you live on) competed in a series of events scheduled all day long. Even the senior passengers formed a team and competed with us. Events ranged from limbo and board games, to big hair and chubby bunny contests. My two favorite events had to the synchronized swimming competition and the lip syncing/karaoke contest. People were so funny and so creative, I was really impressed. I was laughing until it hurt. There were no classes all day so people were able to just go from event to event, competing and cheering each other on. The winning sea will get to be the first to get off the ship in San Diego (I’ve been told that it is a long and grueling process). I live in the Arabian Sea and unfortunately we got second or third to last place in the closing ceremonies. Oh well, maybe next time. We all had a lot of fun with the whole thing and I am determined to stay on this ship as long as possible anyway. The hotel director surprised us and decided to throw us another barbeque that evening. The barbeques here are just amazing…props to the crew for making it such a special day for us all.

Now that the Olympics are over, it is back to classes and napping…and more classes and napping. My friends and I stayed up really late one night and watched Titanic. It was really strange watching Titanic sink while feeling the ship rock back and forth underneath us, seeing nothing but water outside the window. Needless to say, I’ll never be able to watch that movie the same way again. On a completely unrelated note, it has been excruciatingly hot and humid lately. I can hardly stand to even be outside (and I’m from Arizona!), which makes the ship seem all the more small. I have been told that it is going to be really hot in India, but I hope that it is not like this. We have begun the process of conserving water as we do not have clean access to any for awhile. This means that there will soon be times where the water will be shut off and laundry days will be few and far between. My sea has a laundry day tomorrow and I am pretty much washing everything I own now while I have the chance. Each day the dean’s memo has been filled with more and more facts and warnings about health issues and concerns that we need to be aware of. I feel the build-up to our next port is intensifying by the day. We have been learning a lot about India and its culture in global studies. I am getting more and more excited to get there. It is probably one of the countries that I was most excited about visiting. I have been warned that it is going to be an extremely live changing and humbling experience. I am going on my first major overnight SAS sponsored trip in India. We are going to Varanasi (the most ancient and sacred Hindu city in the world), Delhi (the capital), and Agra (to see the Taj Mahal). The global studies teachers said that he could only pick one major trip to go on during this voyage and mine was the one he chose. I just know that it is going to be amazing. I’ll post more details and my India itinerary before we port!

Today’s Quote: “The future of humankind is increasingly a race between education and catastrophe.”
Status Report:
04 degrees Latitude0
71 degrees Longitude

So Delicious, So Mauritius

When Mark Twain visited Mauritius he wrote, “You gather that Mauritius was made first, and then heaven, and that heaven was copied after Mauritius.” I can now say from my own personal experience that I don’t think that he was too far off. Mauritius, also the home of the famously extinct Dodo bird, has some of the most exotic and endemic species of plants and animals in the world. The island population is primarily composed of Hindus and people of Indian descent, which was something that I wasn’t really expecting. The official languages are English and French, but I found that very few people spoke either. The locals generally spoke Creole, which is a mixture of both French and some African languages.

We arrived in Mauritius and the ship was cleared almost immediately. The process went a lot quicker than in any of the other ports so far. For the first time ever, my friends and I weren’t even really ready to get off the ship right away. We quickly packed our backpacks for the next few days, and then we were off to Flic en Flac beach to find our rental home. We decided to do as the locals do and ride the public bus. It was a small adventure in itself just trying to find the right bus stop and make our way to the other side of the island. Finding the house we rented would’ve been really hard, had the nice local who sat next to me on the bus not helped us. The house ended up being amazing! I was expecting the worst because we got such a good deal on it, and you never know what you’re getting on the internet. From the house it was just a short five minute walk to the beach and town. A lot of SASers rented houses and condos in Flic en Flac, so every where we went, they were there too. Our house was in a more obscure residential neighborhood, which ended up being really nice when we needed to get away from the spring break madness. It was a great four bedroom house with a kitchen, living room, and cute little pool. We spent most of the first day at the Flic en Flac beach, just swimming and hanging out in the amazingly warm Indian Ocean. I bought a snorkel set at a local grocery store because Mauritius is supposedly one of the best snorkeling places in the world. The water is incredibly clear and the entire island is actually surrounded by a coral reef. We spent our time in Flic en Flac eating the local Mauritian food, hanging out with SASers, and partying it up at the beach and at our house. I won’t go into too much detail but there was definitely some NOSing involved (if you don’t know what that is…uhhh…just don’t worry about it). On the last day we ate lunch at a restaurant up in the rocky green mountains. The restaurant itself was outside in the trees and overlooked much of the island. It had an absolutely amazing view and the food was to die for. We also spent some time hotel hopping and enjoying the resort pools and private beaches. I have to be honest with you all, I am just gonna come clean with the fact that I didn’t spend a lot of time “learning” in Mauritius or actually soaking up any of the history and culture. You can probably attribute the shortness of this blog to that …or maybe the fact that I have been warned by my fellow shipmates that what happens in Mauritius, stays in Mauritius. You can take your pick. Either way, I did have a really great spring break/academic endeavor/tropical vacation and wouldn’t trade it for the world. I can’t believe that this was actually a part of school! Best school ever!

Quote of the Day: “Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.” –Ralph Waldo

Flic en Flac

A quick update from paradise...
I am currently on the beautiful island of Mauritius swimming and playing in the Indian Ocean! Flic en Flac beach is just as fun as it sounds. This little town is crawling with SASers, we couldn't escape each other if we wanted to. I have only about 12 hours left until my on-ship time tonight so I'm gonna have to make this quick. Spring Break '06 went by way too fast! It was CRAZY! Mauritius is beautiful! More details to come after I get back on the ship...

Spring Break ’06!

So we are currently just east of Madagascar, heading toward the beautiful island of Mauritius. I am finally done with classes and homework for the next three days! We had a global studies exam today which (along with most of the ship) I stayed up really late studying for. This procrastination of mine, in combination with having to set my clock forward once again, has put me in a very tired and zombie like trance all day. Fortunately it all paid off because I did really well on the exam. Now I can put schoolwork on the back burner for the next few days and really enjoy the next port of call- Port Louis, Mauritius (aka SAS Spring Break 2006)! Shhh don’t tell my teachers. A lot of us students have been joking about how we are missing out on spring break this year (because our lives are just so tough and we never get to have any fun) and so we feel like we deserve a little mindless sun and surf. Mauritius is a pretty small island, and while many of the residents have supposedly been warned that we are coming, I don’t know if they will be fully prepared for our full force invasion. In all seriousness though, I have heard that Mauritius has a great deal of rich and complex history and culture for us to check out…not to mention some gorgeous beaches. I have been hearing that it is supposed to rain the entire time we are there. Hopefully this is just the infamous rumor mill at work formulating evil lies, but you never know on this ship. I’m crossing my fingers that this won’t be the case but I’ll be sure to have a good time regardless. I am soo ready to get off this ship! I made a point to not sign up for any SAS trips so I can have the freedom to go wherever the island takes me. A bunch of us have rented a beach house for a couple nights in a place called Flic en Flac. I honestly don’t know much about it but how could a place with a name as fun as Flic en Flac not be amazing. We have a pool and a barbeque and all that jazz so it should be fun. I’ll keep you posted as the madness ensues…

Pirate Alert…
Since piracy on the eastern coast of Africa was a major contributing factor to the cancellation of Kenya as one of our stops, we have been learning a lot about it. We are actually going to be sailing through some of the most pirated and dangerous waters in the world. At first I thought that the idea of pirates invading the Explorer sounded really exciting, but unfortunately I have since been informed that modern day pirates look nothing like Johnny Depp. Surprisingly, most people don’t realize the enormous amount of actual maritime piracy that takes place every year in many parts of the Indian Ocean, South China Sea, and Straits of Malacca. It is a $16 billion dollar a year industry! Fortunately we are not the ideal target for these pirates, not to mention the fact that we are one of the fastest ships in the world and would be hard to catch. Still, if you don’t hear from me in a few weeks you’ll know that we’ve either been attacked by pirates…or I have just run out of internet minutes.

Sea Update…
The days at sea since South Africa have been pretty ordinary. Class…Eat…Nap…Nap some more…Board Games…Class again. I have probably learned more card games in the past few days than in my entire life. We had a belated Valentine’s Day dance last night to raise money for our Students of Service Charity fund. The theme was red light, green light (wear red if you are in a relationship, green if you’re single, yellow if you aren’t sure) and we made a lot of money, which was encouraging. For Students of Service we are also working on getting the official Mr. SAS Pageant organized and nominations are in the process! It should be a really entertaining event coming up in the near future post-India.

Quote of the Day: “To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.” -Aldous Huxley

South Africa

Sorry that it took me so long to get this post up! I got kind of lazy and then found it pretty difficult to recall seven days worth of Africa. Feel free to skim as it is once again a wordy one…

We arrived in South Africa as scheduled on the morning of February 14, Valentine’s Day. As I posted earlier, the port was closed because of severe fog. We had to anchor outside the port for about 6 hours until early afternoon. I found out that I couldn’t meet my mother until the next day and so instead I ended buying a ticket for a township visit that same afternoon from a girl on the ship. I figured that visiting a township in South Africa was a really important thing to do, not to mention something that my mom and I could not just go and do safely on our own. I was planning on walking around downtown Cape Town until my SAS township trip started in the afternoon, but we were stuck on the ship in the fog for a lot longer than anyone thought. Since we didn’t get into port until my SAS trip started, my visit to a township was my first impression of Africa.

The real Cape Town…
When the ship cleared that afternoon, my trip group hoped off, got immediately on buses, and drove past the wealthy and glamorous waterfront shops and restaurants. Before entering a township, we went to visit the District 6 Museum in downtown Cape Town. The museum paid homage to the former residents of District Six, a section of downtown. It was a good place to start our township tour because it helped me to learn the history and heartbreaking stories that come out of the laws of apartheid. It was shocking to me to realize that if I had come to the same district only 13 years earlier, I would have been in a white-only section of town. District Six was one of the most ethnically diverse parts of Cape Town until the government enforced the laws of apartheid. The residents were forced out immediately and many ended up in townships. The area was soon bulldozed because it was considered to be too run-down for the whites. It remained mostly deserted until 1992 when it was finally given back to the residents of Cape Town. After the museum we toured a community arts center, to see the types of programming that was available for the residents of townships. Lastly, we took a walking tour with a guide into township hostels. Seeing a township for the first time can only be described as shocking. Most of the residents of Cape Town live in townships. They are everywhere! They are really nothing more than rundown hostel apartments or worst yet, illegally built squatter camps as far as the eye can see. A place where crime, poverty, and aids rule. Glass covering the streets. Thick smells of smoke. Dirt. More glass. Dust. Children…barefoot children running everywhere. Shacks built out of tin, scrap wood, old tires, anything and everything. No running water. Cement beds. More children. There is nothing more uncomfortable than touring a township. It was awkward and strange pulling up in a bus with a group of rich white Americans, digital cameras in hand. I cringed every single time someone took a picture. I couldn’t imagine how it would feel to have someone walking around my home looking at me as if I were in a zoo. I couldn’t bring myself to take any pictures but have to admit that I am desperately glad other people did so that I can get later. I don’t want to forget what I have seen, all the places and especially the faces. The strangest thing about the visit was that the residents seemed so content and happy. Happier than most people I have ever seen. The children were always smiling and glad to have us there. Even the adults welcomed us with smiles and waves. I couldn’t help stop thinking how this would never happen in America. I think my friend summed up the trip best when he said, “I can’t say that I enjoyed the visit, but I am really glad I went.” I feel that it was important to see the real side of Cape Town, to see it for myself and for all the people who will never see it back home.

It was strange coming from the township back to the modern waterfront shopping mall where I exchanged my currency. I was surprised that only mere miles lay between such different worlds. Later that night, I met up with a group of friends for a night out on the waterfront. We went out to dinner and tried to avoid the masses of SASers at the club and bar scene for a night. We had a great time hanging out at a restaurant across the harbor where some great African musicians were playing. It was a lot of fun and a great first night in Africa.

The next day I hung low around the waterfront area trying to figure our where and when I was supposed to meet up with my mother. Fortunately we happened to randomly run into each other right away. I got her a visitor’s pass so that she could actually come on the ship with me during the day, which was a lot of fun. I showed her where and how I spend all my hours and hours at sea. Walking around the docked ship she was impressed with how much the crew was constantly cleaning. The ship is always sparkling and shining, and it is all too easy to take that for granted. I guess I never really noticed it much before, but the crew really does an excellent job both at sea and in port with keeping the ship in order. The dining room staff is always outstanding, cheerfully serving meals to us even when they are working while we are in port. We should all be so lucky to be so content and happy with our lives and jobs. (You’ll have to come visit the ship and hang out with the crew to see what I mean.)
Anyway, my mother and I got off the ship and went on a Champagne Cruise. Now to me something called a Champagne Cruise sounds like it should be really fun and relaxing. But no, this Champagne Cruise was hardcore… we were sailing in the crazy wind and choppy waves. There was nothing Champagney or Cruisy or relaxing about it. It was an experience though. We got an exciting sailboat ride around the harbor of Cape Town. I take back what I said earlier about being born to be a sailor. I am not sailor material, I am cruise ship passenger material! Anyway, my mom had rented a car upon arriving and we spent the next couple hours getting very very lost trying to find our guest house. Getting lost while driving on the wrong side of the road on the tiny streets of downtown Cape Town at night is a rather scary thing. Fortunately we eventually arrived safely and are much smarter and wiser now about navigation.

As I posted earlier, the next morning we went to Stellenbosch to tour some of South Africa’s famous wine country. The drive out of the city was very easy to do in the rental car and so it was much more pleasant than the night before. Stellenbosch was a very charming little university town in the heart of all the vineyards. We had a driver take us around to different wine estates for some wine tasting. This was something that I had really wanted to do, although I’m not sure why because I am not really a wine drinker. Our tour guide was even making fun of me because my mom was out drinking me! It was still fun and we got some good bottles of wine. We had lunch at a really neat restaurant called Moyo. They would come around and sing for each table and paint faces. The tables were all outside in decorative tents, under trees and there were even some in tree houses. I didn’t really know what I was eating most of the time, but it was really good. After a large lunch we headed back to the town and walked around a bit. I fell in love with the university. I really really want to spend a semester studying there next year, or at least come to visit again.

The next morning we decided to drive up and down the Cape Peninsula. This ended up being one of my favorite things we did all week. The entire drive was along the coast and the scenery was absolutely stunning. We first stopped in a place called Simon’s Town to see a colony of penguins (Josh, you are so jealous right now I know). The African penguins were completely covering the beach. Everywhere you would look there were penguins. I decided to do my research project for my ecology class on them and therefore I took an obscene amount of pictures. (So if you ever want to see a 3 hour slide show of penguins, you know who to come to.) There were even signs in the parking lot warning visitors to check beneath their cars for penguins before driving away. We then continued driving down to Cape Point, the southern most tip of the Africa. It was pretty foggy at some places, but we eventually go a really good view of the infinite abyss off the point. To my surprise, we also saw a lot of wildlife on this drive. I felt like I was on a real African safari. At one point we pulled over to the side of the road to take a picture of a couple of baboons sitting on the shoreline. I had my window rolled down and one snuck up behind the car and its face popped up right next to me! They are very aggressive and it was pretty scary. I think it was trying to come in the car for food but fortunately I got my window rolled up in time! We stopped at a small market along the side of the road to look at the crafts the locals were selling. I ended up buying a 5 foot 3 inch wooden giraffe (I know because it is the same height as me)! It was beautiful and I just really really liked it so I had too. (I’m not really the large wooden stature buying type, but I figured…hey…why not…I live in San Diego and so I don’t have to ship it home because it can just live under my bed for the rest of the voyage. Needless to say I got a lot of funny looks hauling it back to the ship.) The lady gave me a really good deal on it and I figure when else will I have the opportunity to buy a giraffe in Africa? As we continued driving back to Cape Town we passed through a few small fishing towns along the way. They are in the absolute most beautiful setting I have ever seen in my life. I fell in love with one town called Kommetjie (pronounced Komickey) where we stopped to pick up some snacks and find an ATM. I was poking around the real estate office trying to price properties just in case I run into a bunch of money any time soon and want to move to South Africa. We then drove a world famous stretch of road known as Chapman’s Peak Drive. It has been called one of the most, if not the most, spectacularly beautiful drives in the world. It cuts through the cliff of rocky mountain with views of the amazingly blue ocean, Hout Bay, and white sand beaches. I had no idea places like this really existed. It is a really dangerous stretch of narrow road, and signs kept warning us about the high risk of rocks slides. Fortunately I wasn’t driving, so I got to just sit back and take in all the scenery. (Thanks mom!)

The next day we drove down the peninsula again to the small town surrounding Hout Bay. From Hout Bay we took a boat ride out to Seal Island. Seal Island is a group of large boulders out in the water that masses of seals come hang out on. It was pretty cool but I wasn’t expecting the seals to be so smelly. Once again, I took an obscene amount of pictures, so let me know if you ever want to look at some seals. Next my mom and I went to walk around the world-renowned Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, a huge garden that sitting on the base of Table Mountain overlooking the bay. It has often been called one of the world’s most beautiful gardens. The scenery looked straight out of Jurassic Park. The place was absolutely stunning and contained more species of rare plants than you would ever even have the time or even desire to look at. There were people everywhere having picnics on the abundant grassy lawns. It was altogether adorable and a very relaxing way to spend the afternoon.

The next morning we woke up early with every intention to hike Table Mountain at sunrise. I’ve heard from many a person who has hiked it previously that it is “one of the most physically challenging things that you will ever do.” I was completely prepared and ampped to take on this challenge, but unfortunately we woke up to thick fog and rain. The hike is dangerous as it is and so this was not safe weather for an endeavor of this nature for two amateur hikers. A few hours later we hiked about half way up the mountain before we had to head back down to make it to our ferryboat reservations to Robben Island. Sadly I cannot stake claim to actually hiking up the face of the Table at sunrise (one of my biggest goals of this port), but that just gives me all the more reason to come back to Cape Town some day.

Robben Island…
I made it a point to visit Robben Island while in South Africa since, after all, this is supposed to be an educational voyage of discovery. The United Nations recently declared the Robben Island Museum to be a World Heritage Site and it pays tribute to South Africa’s intense struggle against apartheid. Robben Island was most recently used as a political prison for those opposing the government. I got to tour the maximum-security prison where Nelson Mandela was held in solitary confinement for many years. Our tour guide was a former political prisoner and he showed us the actual room that he was imprisoned in only years before. Mandela later went on to become the first democratically elected president of South Africa. Dennis Brutus, one of our South African inter-port lecturers who boarded the ship in Brazil was actually imprisoned along with Mandela for his political activism. It was very touching to hear the stories and see the struggle that many people went through to bring about change and right the wrongs in their country. One of the things that shocked me the most was the fact the end of apartheid was so recent. The island has only actually been opened up as a museum for 8 years. The neat thing about the legacy of prisoners like Mandela is the lack of bitterness that these people had in spite of the injustices done to them. There is a sense of hope on the island, hope for the future of South Africa, and hope for other countries in the world.

Later that evening, we took advantage of the fact that we had a rental car and could roam Cape Town freely. Since the majority of the tourists were up by the waterfront harbor, we drove south to a community known as Camps Bay and got reservations at a nice restaurant over looking the beach. I later read in one of my travel books that this area was the stomping grounds of the rich and the beautiful of Cape Town. Walking around the beach I saw such a mixture of people. The coolest thing about it was that on this beach, everyone was an equal. Looking around I saw locals from the township playing alongside the wealthy residents, sunning right next to the crowds of tourists. It was a refreshing sight, and one that was all too rare in this city.

The next morning we drove to a farm on the coast to do some horseback riding on the beach. The day started off rainy, but fortunately the clouds cleared just enough for a great ride. Now for those of you who know me, you know that I am not at all a horseback rider, so it was a somewhat stressful activity at first. I am proud to say I conquered my horse phobia and had a really good time. It was completely surreal to be riding a horse through the water of a deserted white sand beach in the foggy morning mist. It didn’t even feel real, as if I had just wandered straight into a movie set. We stopped through my favorite little town of Kommetjie again for lunch. I don’t know what it was about this town, but I was really just drawn to it and couldn’t get enough of it. We found a cute surfer café that was delicious. The owner was an American who had fashioned the café after Wahoos (a favorite San Diego restaurant!) which was pretty fun. It made me realize what a small world it really is! Hopefully some day I can come back and live the simple life in Kommetjie and run a café. I should be so lucky!

During my last few hours in Cape Town my main goal was to make it to the top of Table Mountain. I didn’t think that I would be able to because the entire city had been experiencing blackouts the majority of the time we were there. Fortunately I was lucky and the cable cars to the top of the mountain had electricity just long enough for us to make it up. (We had to get down by emergency generator!) Standing on the top of Table Mountain you can see for days. The incredibly flat and majestic mountain overlooks the entire bay and the surrounding city. We were literally in the clouds most of the time. I got some pretty spectacular pictures of our ship down below in the harbor. I felt like I was on top of the whole world. It was really the best ending to my week in Cape Town. Making my way back to the ship and saying goodbye to my mother was a lot harder the second time around. Back on the ship, an African choir performed for us as we were waiting to leave. I made sure to stow my new wooden giraffe securely under my bed where he will sleep peacefully until April. Finally at about 2 am the ship’s engines finally began purring and it was goodbye South Africa, here we come Mauritius!

Two Worlds…
I found it very natural to get caught up in the beauty and charm of Cape Town. I have been told that Cape Town has often been called “a fool’s paradise” and now I am beginning to understand why. It is a place where it is all too easy to forget the harsh realities facing the city and the overwhelming majority of its residents. To me it seemed like the classes and races of people were so different, it was hard to believe that they were such close neighbors. In everything from the skin color they were born with to the clothes on the backs, the restaurants they ate at, the homes that they lived in, and the languages they spoke, the differences were incredible. In a place that has 11 official languages, you can only imagine the immense diversity that this one country holds. But just when I would start to feel like the situation was hopeless, I would see sparks of hope in the brightness and life of the faces around me. I saw it in a black child playing on the beach with a white child. A game of volleyball among friends. A couple strolling together on the sidewalk. Blurs between the former racial lines that once dominated. Places where color didn’t matter. Hand shakes. Smiles. Laughter. Change. Hope. Hope for today, and hope for tomorrow.

And that is my closing thought on South Africa. A country and a continent often forget and overlooked. It is a place of extreme wealth and poverty, exotic animals and plants, tall mountains and long beaches. I will never forget my first African sunrise, being on top of Table Mountain, the eyes of the children in the townships, riding a horse on the beach, and even nearly being attacked by a baboon. I’ll never forget Africa, please don’t forget about it either.

Saying goodbye to Cape Town

Hello again from Cape Town! My week in South Africa is almost up I am sorry to say. I am with my mother staying in a guest house in town for the last night. I feel like I have gotten to see and do so many things this week, but am not ready to say goodbye to this port yet. Today I hiked around Table Mountain and visited Robben Island, where the political prisoners of apartheid were held for many years. Once I get back on the ship and have time to write about the week, I can share all the great details. Tomorrow morning I am going horseback riding on a beautiful white sand beach. It should be really fun. I had no idea that Cape Town was so diverse and beautiful. If you have never been, you really should try and visit some day. I just wanted to say another quick hello before I go and enjoy my last full night in Cape Town. We will be departing at 2300 hours tomorrow night. I have a lot of writing and reflection to do about all the things I have seen and learned about South Africa during the next stretch at sea. Until then...

Quote of the Day: "If you believe in something enough to die for it, every morning you have something to wake up to and live for." -Nelson Mandela (former Robben Island prisoner/S. Africa's first democratic president)

Touring the Winelands

Well, we finally got off the ship after spending most of the day anchored just outside the port. I have learned that being flexible is a must on SAS. They have never had problems porting in Cape Town before and so our delay was very much unexpected. A few people missed their safaris, which is a shame, but other than that it didn't end up being a big deal. I didn't get to meet my mother until a day later than planned and so I spent the first day touring the townships outside Cape Town. It was interesting getting to see the real poverty of South Africa before spending time in the glamourous and wealthy waterfront area. I was lucky to be able to run into my mom downtown yesterday, because there was a lack of communication as to where we were going to meet. We have a rental car and guest house and have had a crazy time trying to navigate around the city. We are currently about an hour away from Cape Town, in the heart of the winelands of Stellenbosch. It is very beautiful and we are about to go on a bus tour to different wine estates. After spending the day here we are planning to head back to Cape Town tonight. Tomorrow we are going to drive down the Cape Peninsula, to the most southern tip of Africa. I am excited to see some penguins and baboons. We are also planning to do a sunrise hike of Table Mountain and maybe even some sand boarding (if I can talk my mom into it). So far it has been quite the adventure trying to do South Africa like a native! More updates to come...

Sunrise in Cape Town

I woke up this morning at 6am for my first ever African sunrise. It is a very cold foggy morning in Cape Town, but the clouds cleared just enough for an awesome view. I have never in my life seen a more beautiful sunrise. Table Mountain and Lion’s Head are amazing to see from out here in the water. I took some pictures but they just really don’t do it justice. A lot of people were up early this morning to catch a view. We are still on the ship because the port is closed at the moment due to heavy fog. The captain has announced that we are in a holding pattern until further notice. They turned the engines off and so we are out here bobbing in the ocean. We are really tossing and turning, it’s kind of fun. Dishes were falling all over the place at breakfast this morning. Everyone is very excited to get off the ship soon. Hopefully I will be able to meet up with my mother right away. I am so excited to see her and share some of my SAS memories. I am glancing at a map of the world right now and I just can’t believe that I am at the very tip of Africa! What a great place to spend Valentine’s Day. Never in my life did I ever think I would be here. I am crossing my fingers that the fog will lift soon and we can enter the port. So now I guess we just float and wait…

P.S. Sorry that I haven’t posted any pictures. I have some really great ones, but they take soo long to upload and the internet is really slow and expensive on the ship. I will definitely try and post some in port or figure out a way to do it more efficiently. Worst case, I’ll just have to post a bunch when I get home.

I dream of Africa...

I cannot believe that we have been at sea for 8 days crossing the Atlantic Ocean. We have lost a totally of 5 hours since leaving Brazil, setting our clocks forward almost every night before going to sleep. We come into port in Cape Town, South Africa early tomorrow morning! It hasn’t really hit me yet that I am actually going to get to be on solid land soon. And it’s not just any solid land, it’s Africa! For me I think the continent of Africa might be the most mysterious and exotic one that we are visiting. I don’t know much about it aside from the stories I’ve always been told about apartheid, aids, and poverty. I have so much to learn and so much to experience there within the next week. I have to admit that I am still very bummed that we can’t go to Kenya, and so I feel like I need to experience as much of this continent as I can through my visit in South Africa. Although I have never been before, I feel like I have always had a heart for Africa and a fascination with the people and culture. Coming into the harbor in Cape Town is supposed to be one of the most fantastic moments of this voyage. The port is supposed to be just stunning. I am thinking that I might stay out on the deck all night to make sure that I don’t miss it. At this point I don’t have any solid itinerary for Cape Town, but I have a list full of places I hope to go and things that I hope to do. I am really excited that my mom is going to meet me in this port. Hopefully we will be hiking the famous Table Mountain, visiting the old political prison on Robben Island, touring the winelands of Stellenbosch, driving down Cape Point, and just experiencing the beauty of Cape Town. Who knows… maybe we’ll even be adventurous and try some skydiving of shark cage diving. More to come on my African adventures this week…

Madness at Sea…
So what do you do with 684 college students stranded on a ship in the middle of the ocean? You throw an 80s dance party of course… and let the good times roll. This party was the most insanity I have seen to date aboard the Explorer. It was crazy! We had no classes on the day we crossed the Prime Meridian and so everyone decided to go to pub night and the 80s festivities the night before. My friends and I got dressed up in our best 80s gear and makeup and headed out to the 7th deck for a little pre-party. People were so creative with their 80s outfits even though we all had limited resources. The entire night people were going back and forth between the 80s dance party in the student union, and pub night out on the 7th deck, and everywhere in between. When you take hundreds of secluded college students, some crazy themed outfits, blasting 80s music, a rocking boat, and add a little alcohol in the mixture, it can be described as nothing short of madness. There was even some choreographed dancing and a costume contest. The greatest part of the night though had to be watching everyone falling over each other while attempting to dance in the crowded student union. The ship would suddenly rock really hard and everyone would be on the ground. Good times, good times.

The perfect day…
The following day no classes were scheduled in order to give us a break. I made a point to do all of my homework in advance so that I would have the day completely free to do absolutely nothing. If I were to dream up what my ideal perfect day would be, it wasn’t it exactly, but it was about as close as I think I will ever get to it in real life. It started when I woke up to the noon bridge report over the intercom system. It seemed like pretty much everyone on board slept through the entire morning, which was awesome. I met up with some friends and grabbed a quick lunch in the dining hall. Next we went outside in hopes of spending the day lounging and laying out in the sun. The day started off cloudy and chilly, and so not a lot of people were outside on the top deck. My friends and I grabbed some lounge chairs and within a half hour the skies cleared and it turned into a gorgeous sunny day. Lucky for us, we had the prime lounge chairs on deck 7 (the deck 7 tanning spots are always hard to come by- its like the prime real estate of the seas). I spent the entire afternoon lounging with friends in the sun and chatting about how tough (not!) our SAS lives are. Later that perfect day, the crew really out did themselves and prepared us a surprise barbeque on the deck for dinner. It was incredible. There were hamburgers, ribs, fish, chicken, and suckling pig (yet another bad time to be a vegetarian on SAS). They even had the tables decorated with really intricate fruit sculptures and flowers. The desert table had about everything sweet you could possibly imagine and more. I have never seen people eat so much in my entire life. Dinner was followed by one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen. Like I said, it was the perfect day.

The Shipboard Community…
One of the greatest things about living on the ship is the sense of community that we all have formed. We are literally like our own floating self-sufficient village. There are clubs students have formed, Bibles studies, yoga classes, you name it, somebody on board can teach a class on it. We have a place to share books, there are organized movie sharings, music sharings, picture sharings, ect. But than there are also those moments when it feels really strange to be so close to everyone. Like when I look over at the treadmill next to mine and there is my art teacher. Or I go to breakfast and see the dean walk in in her pajamas. Or topics of conversation always lead to who has had the worst case of traveler’s diarrhea since the last port. Despite all its oddities, shipboard life is truly a unique experience. Everyone on this ship, every last one of us now share this common weird crazy amazing bond that I don’t think we will ever find again in life.

Somebody told me today that our semester is 25% over! I can’t believe how fast it is all going. So far this trip has been great. I could end my semester right now and still have memories for a lifetime. The mind boggling thing is that we still have 8 more ports! This last week at sea flew by quickly. The seas were incredibly smooth most of the time. This last night we had to slow down speed a lot and the ship is rocking a great deal. We are supposed to secure our stuff down before we go to sleep. It feels kind of like our first four days at sea, when the ship really rocked a lot. I am having to get my sea legs all over again! Just a few more hours until Africa! As always, I’ll keep you posted…

P.S. Happy Valentines Day!

Quote of the Day: "I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list."

Update from the middle of the Atlantic Ocean…

I have decided that I was born to be a sailor. I love living at sea…granted I guess I am living on a luxury cruise liner, but we’re still sailing none-the-less. The crossing of the Atlantic will be our longest time at sea until we cross the Pacific on our way back to the States. We’re sailing for 9 days straight, and so far it has been pretty smooth. A lot of people have been complaining about the long stretch of nothing but sea, but I find it relaxing. Of course I would rather be in Brazil or India or Africa, but I love the laid back days aboard the Explorer. We lose almost an hour a day on the way to Africa, and a lot of us are really starting to feel it. Setting our clocks forward every night is brutal. I have to try and make a conscious decision to go to bed early, which is hard to do because there is always something going on. A couple of days ago we were sailing at exactly 15 degrees latitude. This means that we were directly below the sun and had no shadows. Random, I know, but I thought it was pretty interesting. I have been told that there are a lot of whales on this stretch, but I have yet to see any. I’m keeping my eyes peeled and my fingers crossed. We get one day off from classes soon, which will be a nice break. I am still having a hard time focusing on school work, but can you really blame me? There are scientists from the NOAA on board this crossing to launch off research equipment. They have been letting students help them with the launchings, which I think is pretty cool (but then again I am a science nerd). We had a mandatory meeting the other night where we had to fill out the remainder of our immigrations paperwork for future ports. It was a lot of paperwork…I didn’t really realize how many places we really are going! It was funny trying to get 684 students to fill out completely and accurately every single foreign paper. It was a long process to say the least. I think the crew is a little worried about the competency of our generation and perhaps even the future of America :) Our little group that went to Lencois, Brazil had dinner and a picture sharing party together the other night. It was a lot of fun to see all our pictures, and it made me glad that I got to make all these new friends. Tonight I had dinner with my adopted grandparents. My friend and I randomly got assigned to the same family and we are having a lot of fun with it. I’m glad for the chance to get to know some of the seniors on board. Earlier today I went out to the bow area of the ship and was completely blown away by how blue the water looks. As far as the eye can see is nothing but the only view in the world that remains unchanged by humans and constant in beauty. It is truly surreal. I am hoping to sleep outside on the deck one of these nights and take advantage of the incredible star gazing. Let’s see, what else is going on aboard the floating Hilton... The food is starting to get fairly repetitive, which means I have been living off peanut butter and jelly. It is by no means bad food, just repetitive. The food always consists of some form of pasta, potatoes, and rice...and rolls, you can’t forget the rolls. Atkins would not have survived a day here. Pasta with red sauce, pasta in cream sauce, spiral pasta, round pasta, green pasta, you name it... we’ve had it. Unfortunately, I hear that the peanut butter gets kind of weird when we get to Asia. For someone whose staple food is peanut butter, this kind of worries me. I’ll keep you posted. So you can probably tell by reading this that I have seen nothing but water for five days because I have been rambling about peanut butter and pasta and what not for the last five minutes.

Thank you for all the supportive emails and comments. I am working on some of your requests. It is such an encouragement to hear from you all and I love to hear who is reading!

Status Report:
25 degrees Latitude
14 degrees Longitude

Today’s Quote: “Travel makes one modest; you see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” Gustave Flaubert

Dumbest Question of the Day: “When we get to China, and we want to order Chinese food, do we just ask for food?”

Bahia Days and Nights...

(Sorry that this is kind of wordy…I am keeping this blog as a record for myself as well and so I want it as detailed as possible.)

I chose to spend my five days in what many say is the real cultural soul of Brazil, the state of Bahia. We came into port in the northeastern city of Salvador, which is where I spent my first day and night. It is the most African city in Brazil, and is highly populated by the descendents of the millions of slaves that were once brought over from Africa. The city itself had a very interesting orientation overlooking a beautiful bay. The city is divided into an upper and lower section, with an elevator connecting the two. The lower city was very poverty-stricken and yet beautiful in its own way. The upper city was bustling with life throughout mazes of hilly cobble stone streets. The architecture of the city is absolutely amazing, though it is apparent that much of it has been deserted and run down over the years. It seems like I saw elaborate and ornate Catholic churches on every corner.

The first thing that struck me about Brazil was the intense wave of heat that hit my body upon exiting the ship. It is summer time near the equator here and air conditioning was a rare commodity. The entire time I kept expecting to open a door and feel a cool breeze from indoor air conditioning, but it was always the same steamy sweaty heat. After exchanging some currency and shopping in a market place, my friends and I went in search of a restaurant that we found in the 1000 Places to See Before You Die book. Unfortunately it was no longer there, so instead we went to this great restaurant that had been highly recommended to us. Nobody spoke a word of English and so we had no idea what we were ordering. We ended up getting this amazing steak lunch with rice and beans and some other unrecognizable sides. After spending a few minutes trying to figure out how to eat it, the waiter came over chuckling and tried to help us out. All in all it was a fun experience and a great introduction to the amazing food of Brazil. The next few hours were spent walking around the city, shopping, and sightseeing. The language barrier was actually fun and I got my first try at bargaining for local goods. The most interesting part of the day came when we wandered away from the touristy part of the city, and into the shopping districts filled with locals.

Later that night we went to a really nice venue for a welcome reception with local university students. It is actually summer break in Salvador and so there were not as many students as usual, but it was still a blast. We got to watch a performance of capoeira, which is an old dance developed in Bahia. It is really neat to watch because it is a combination of martial arts and dance movements set to the rhythm of drums. I was told that it originated from the African slaves as a means of self-defense from their masters. The rest of the welcome reception involved a lot of music, dancing, socializing and drinking. I got a chance to chat a little with our inter-port Brazilian student, who had been on the ship with us from Puerto Rico to Salvador. I learned a little bit about what it is like to be a Brazilian college student and hear her thoughts on the issues and politics of Brazil. After a late night, I headed back to the ship to try to catch a few hours of sleep before my trip to Lencois.

Lencois…
Lencois is a small old town in the northeastern interior of Brazil. It is surrounded by the Chapada Diamantina National Park, which contains multitudes of waterfalls, caves, plateaus, swimming holes and a tropical oasis. At about 5:30 in the morning, myself and a group of nine other SASers met and ventured to the local bus station to purchase tickets to Lencois. It was about a six hour bus ride west from Salvador. I absolutely loved the drive, and the bus itself was actually a lot nicer than I thought it would be. I was in awe as we drove past the stacks of favelas (slums and shantytowns) sprawled as far as the eye could see on the outskirts of the city. Never in my life have I seen anything like it. Over the next six hours I watched out my window as the scenery changed from the bustling city to rolling hills and farmland, to tropical, to desert and finally mountains. Upon arriving in Lencois we found a man who spoke some English and hired him and a couple of guides to take us around on treks for the next day and a half. We ended up staying in a really charming little hostel in the middle of the town. We rented out the entire top floor and even had our own little sitting area to hang out in. The first afternoon we went on a hike to a natural waterslide. It was unlike anything I have ever seen. It was located on the huge sloping river, full of pools of water with lots of rocks to jump off of. The slide itself was this wide sloping smooth rock spanning across the entire river, with water rushing down it from all sides. Incredible! (I’ll have to post some pictures later- it costs too much to do it on the internet on the ship.) After our hike, we went and ate dinner in this restaurant in an alley that was no more than the back of some woman’s house. We had massive steak dinners and drinks for the equivalent of only 3 US dollars. We spent a couple hours just sitting and visiting and having a great time in this little town, in this little alley, in this foreign country we had never been to before. We all agreed that we were having a “moment.” Having a “moment” is what we SASers keep referring to as the times where all we can think is “wow, this is one of the best times of my life…right now…in this moment.” The ten of us were complete strangers only days before, all from different schools and different places. But at that moment we were in the middle of nowhere in Brazil having the time of our lives together and bonding. The rest of the night was spent wondering around the town that was still very much alive late into the night with locals, children and travelers from all over the world. We met a man from South Africa who had spent the last 11 years of his life just traveling from country to country, living only off life and his faith. We played with local children who loved taking pictures of us with our digital cameras. Even though we were from different worlds and spoke different languages, I realized that laughter and smiles are universal. It was an eye-opening experience to say the least. The night ended with a toast to Brazil, Lencois, and new friends, and followed by some dancing in the streets.

The next day we had an authentic breakfast at our hotel and headed out for a full day of outdoor adventure. First we hiked to a waterfall for some swimming and cliff jumping. After spending some time there we drove to the bottom of a huge mountain plateau. We hiked to the top for an amazing panoramic view of the entire area. We took turns holding onto each other and leaning over a rock on the edge of a cliff. We felt like we were flying! It was such a rush! Afterwards, our guides took us to another restaurant in the outskirts of town. The food was very strange and I honestly still can’t believe I didn’t get sick from anything. Next we went snorkeling in caves filled with water. I had no idea you could even do such a thing! The water was crystal clear and the caves went really far in and down to incredible depths. After snorkeling, we walked to another cave with the most amazingly azul blue water I have ever seen. It was like something out of a movie. Lastly, we got a tour of a huge cave underground filled with incredible stalactite and stalagmite (I am like 99.9% sure I spelled those wrong) and bats. In the middle of the cave, our guide turned off the lantern to give us all a minute of meditation and reflection in the darkness. It was unreal (and a little creepy) to be in total darkness.

After our extremely long and tiring and amazing day in the outskirts of Lencois, we headed back into town to get some dinner and go out before our midnight bus back to Salvador. By the time we got on the bus, we were exhausted and smelly and dirty and in love with life. We were back at the ship by 6am that morning and headed straight to the dining hall for a great American breakfast. I think the dining staff on the ship were really confused as to why this group of smelly kids were at breakfast an hour early on the empty ship. We showered, slept for maybe an hour on the ship, than headed out for another great day in Brazil. I decided that it would be fun to take a ferry over to Itaparica Island. We spent the day walking the streets and sitting under umbrellas on the beach sipping coconut juice. It was really interesting because it seemed to be a vacation place for the locals from Salvador. I have never seen so many itsy bitsy Brazilian bikinis in my life! The rest of the night we spent in Salvador, taking in as much of the culture as possible. Everywhere I went in Brazil was alive and gearing up for Carnaval (often referred to as the world’s biggest party) which will be taking place within the next week or two. Many SASers are really bummed that we are just missing it, but I honestly don’t think we would have survived Brazil’s wild Carnaval celebrations!

The soccer match…
While they didn’t actually invent the game, it is safe to say that Brazilians have perfected the art of futebol (as it is called locally). I spent my last day in Salvador at a soccer game. These people are insane about soccer! It was one of the craziest things that I have ever experienced. The stadium was massive and filled with loads of crazed fans. There was swat teams, security and police everywhere. Our group even was escorted with our own security guard and guide in case things got a little rowdy. The match was team Bahia vs. Vitoria. I was routing for Vitoria because I liked the color of their jerseys better and the locals I talked to said they played dirtier. Unfortuately I was sitting on the wrong side of the stadium so I was too afraid to cheer at the wrong moment. The game ended in a tie much to my disappointment. After the game was over, the scene was absolute chaos. There was so much energy in the stadium that I am surprised I made it out and back to the ship in one piece.

Brazilian food…
The food in Brazil is amazing… that is, if you aren’t a vegetarian. At many restaurants they just keep bringing around slices of meat to your plate. It is always such a feast. In our pre-port meeting they warned us to not eat from buffets that had been sitting out, and to be wary of street vendors. We also couldn’t drink the water, have any ice, or eat fresh fruits or vegetables. I have to say that most of the time, especially in Lencois, we broke almost every one of those rules…we often had no choice! Some how my body has defied science and I am one of the only ones I know who hasn’t had some sort of gastrointestinal difficulties. I also have to admit that I am guiltily very glad to be eating back on the ship, where the food is both recognizable and fly-free. In Brazil I was usually warned away from the chicken, but I hate seafood, and the vegetables weren’t safe either…leaving me with only steak. I don’t think I can possibly consume any more beef for at least another month. I have put myself on full beef detox!

Saying goodbye to Brazil…
I was really sad when the ship pulled out of port because I feel like I barely had time to experience Brazil. It is such a huge country and contains so much wonder and culture. Some people went to the Amazon, some went to Rio de Janeiro, others to Iguacu Falls, some in stayed Salvador, and still others ventured out to obscure towns and villages. It has been fun seeing all the pictures and hearing all the stories of peoples travels. It only has fueled my desire to return some day. I had a wonderful time but am not sure that I could have physically survived another day there. I think that I will probably sleep through the entire crossing to Africa!

Most overheard quote in Brazil: “I am having another moment!”

I survived Brazil...

It is my last day in port in Salvador and I am proud to say that I am still alive and loving life. I have to be on ship at 2100 tonight and we´ll begin sailing toward Africa. Brazil was such a fun and crazy experience that I know that no blog will really do it justice. All the same, it still feels really great to to be able to try and share and describe each new adventure with you all. I´ll be posting a detailed account of my five days here soon after I get back on the ship. We have 9 days at sea until Africa! Right now I am going to spend my last few hours in port at a soccer game. It should be pretty wild so I will be going out with a bang. Ciao!

Best Quote of the Day: "The only problem with going to these places and having moments like these is that you cannot truely capture them in words."

Brasil!!!

I am in beautiful Salvador, Brasil! We arrived safely and ported early this morning. I have been walking around the streets and orienting myself with the city. The culture here is stunning and life is bustling all around Bahia. We had an amazing lunch at a local restaurant and have been browsing the local shops for most of the afternoon. I have four more days here and will keep you posted on my adventures. Tonight I am going to a welcome reception at a local university which is supposed to be amazing. I am also very excited because I got tickets to a soccer game on Sunday. They take their soccer very seriously in Brazil so it should be exciting. I leave in the morning for Lencois with a group of fellow SASers for our independent trip into the country. We plan to hire a guide to take us hiking and caving and see the flip side to the surf and sun of Brazil. It should be really fun, I´ll keep you posted!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSH!!!

Neptune Day!

Today we have officially crossed the equator! (The actually crossing was at 4am this morning- my roommate and I were going to try and wake and flush our toilet at the exact moment we passed over the equator to see if doing so would cause a rift in the space/time continuum when the water didn’t know which way to flush…but sadly we slept through our alarms so we will never know.) For all of us aboard the Explorer today is a holiday referred to as Neptune Day. The greatest thing about Neptune Day is that we get a day off from classes. The morning began with a 7:30am wakeup call by crew members parading through the hallways singing and banging on pots and pans. There was a ceremony outside on the 7th deck introducing the King and Queen of Neptune and their royal court. If it was your first time sailing across the equator you were supposed to go through a traditional SAS initiation in order to cross through. This entailed having fish guts poured all over you, swimming across the pool, and kissing Neptune’s fish. It was pretty gross and incredibly fun. After going through the initiation one goes from being a scummy “pollywog” to a worthy “shellfish.” By the end, the entire upper deck and swimming pool was flooded with water and fish guts. This is also the infamous day on board when the head shaving happens! A LOT of people shaved their heads…including a lot of girls! They even sold raffle tickets all week for a chance to have the captain shave your head upon crossing the equator (a great honor aboard the Explorer). After the morning ceremonies most of the students spent the afternoon catching some of the most intense rays of sun on the planet. We have our first global studies exam in the morning so everyone is frantically trying to finish the readings and get some last minute studying in.

Life at Sea…
Shipboard life is really laid back and casual. We fill the days with classes, homework, napping (we are sleep deprived from continually turning our clocks forward), laying out on the pool deck, ten o’clock snack time, and playing board games. The ship has about 200 board games available for check-out. At night we have optional workshops called community colleges. This is when somebody on board (usually a faculty member) decides to teach a workshop or seminar on a topic they specialize in. So far I have gone to a how-to work your digital camera class (it is still a lost cause for me) and a couple lectures on changing the world. There are new ping-pong tables on the 4th deck and there is a basketball/volleyball court on the 7th deck for recreation. We also just had an activities fair this week where we could sign up for and start different clubs. I went a little nuts and joined the Ambassador’s Club, the Students of Service, a How to Change the World Club, a fashion show committee, and an adopt-a-grandparent program. It sounds like a lot but you have to remember that I live on a ship and there is not a lot else to do except be in clubs and go to meetings. We have inter-port lecturers and inter-port students from each country on board for portions of the voyage. The Ambassadors Club meets with and helps to orient these representatives during their stay on the ship. We are also in charge of the formal Ambassador’s Ball toward the end of the voyage. In the Change the World Club we attend seminars about methods of making a difference and achieving your goals. The speaker is one of the teachers on board and was voted best teacher at UCLA recently. His messages are very entertaining, motivational, and empowering. Students have been crowding the dining hall and even sitting on the floors just to hear him speak. For my part in Students of Service, I am helping to organize a huge fundraising auction that will take place on the last stretch of the voyage to raise money for charity. I also will get to hang out with and interact and eat meals with the senior passengers on board in the adopt-a-grandparent program. On another note, I took a tour of the bridge the other day and learned how the ship is controlled. It was really interesting and really made me realize that I am actually on a ship in the middle of the ocean. The view from the bridge is amazing…there is absolutely no land in site! The first officer told me that we are over 250 nautical miles away from the nearest land (I don’t know how many normal miles that is, but it is pretty far). The seas haven’t been as rough lately, which is good for all the people who get seasick. It is not as fun for me though because I like to watch people stumbling everywhere and running into things. On a kind of funny but gross note (insert disclaimer), the chief engineer of the ship has issued a high alert warning for our sewage system and claims it to be in extreme danger of a total system shut down because people continue to flush foreign objects down the toilet. (sorry… too much information I know, but I happen to find it really funny)

Brazil…
Our next port of call is Salvador, Brazil and we will be arriving on Wednesday morning. I am organizing an independent trip to Lencois (about six hours west of Salvador) for a couple days while we are in port. We are going to go hiking and see some caves and waterfalls in a more rural part of the country. I don’t know much about the area but it has been highly recommended to me by several people. I am very excited/nervous and feel very adventurous getting a group of people together and just going. I will be spending the first day and a half in the port city of Salvador, attending a welcome reception at a local university with Brazilian students, hopefully seeing a soccer game, and going to a festival before I hop on a bus to Lencois. They have warned us that Brazil is our most dangerous port and that we will be hard-pressed to find English speakers. As if that isn’t scary enough, I found out that contrary to what most people think, they speak only Portuguese in Brazil, not Spanish. I have been practicing a little bit but I find foreign languages very difficult. It should be interesting to say the least! Wish me luck…I couldn’t be more excited.

A booze cruise…?
For those of you who have been asking me about the alcohol situation over international waters, I thought I would clear a few things up for you. Our dean has decided to allow pub nights on board every night at sea except the night before and after we port. You know when pub night on board is about to begin because you see a rush of students heading to the pool deck for happy hour or drinking hours in actually clothes as opposed to the pajamas they have been wearing all day. It is a close to “going out” as we can get on the ship. The rules for pub nights are pretty humorous and entertaining to us all. A maximum of four drink tickets must be purchased hours in advance after standing in an often long line, and can only be used during specific hours. The new favorite pick-up line around goes something like, “Can I buy you a drink ticket?” Alcohol consumption is heavily regulated and choosing to drink or not to drink is not an issue or the center of social activity. In my opinion SAS is much more than just being the party boat that people often speculate. (After all we do have to go to class every day…even on Saturdays…so that is all I have to say on that issue.)

P.S. HAPPY EARLY 22nd BIRTHDAY JOSH! I miss you and hope you have a great one, sorry I can’t be there but I’ll bring you home a cool gift!

Amber’s Deep Thought of the Day:
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time
-T.S. Eliot

When in Puerto Rico...

…do as the Puerto Ricans!!

We docked in Puerto Rico early in the morning on Monday, January 27. We were entering United States territory from a foreign country and so clearing immigrations and getting off the ship was a much more lengthy process than it will be in later ports. A lot of people got up early to watch the sun rise over the land and see the pilot boat escort us as we came in the harbor. The excitement and anticipation of our first port of call was contagious. A couple of nights before we arrive at a given port we have an optional cultural pre-port meeting, followed by a mandatory logistical pre-port meeting the night before docking, and a mandatory diplomatic briefing immediately before getting off the ship. The Puerto Rican Secretary of State came aboard to welcome us into the country. We are always given a sheet of paper with emergency numbers and tips that we are to carry with us at all times with a copy of our passport while traveling. After all the details were worked out, we were free to go explore the country as we pleased until our assigned on-ship time on the 25th.

I had a SAS trip for my ecology class to the El Yunque Caribbean National Rain Forest my first afternoon in Puerto Rico. (While in port I can either travel independently or through SAS sponsored trips to a variety of different places. To fulfill my class requirements I must choose from certain in port field trips with my professors. To see the trips that SAS offers us in each port you can go to the SAS website and look up the Field Program section for the spring 2006 voyage.) Before I had to be back at the ship for my rain forest trip, I had some time to walk around Old San Juan and eat some delicious fried plantains and chicken at a Puerto Rican Cafe. Our ship was actually docked a ways from downtown San Juan, away from the main cruise ship terminal, which meant we spent a lot of time and money getting ripped off by taxi drivers shuttling us to and from the ship.

El Yunque…
A lot of SAS kids were signed up for my rain forest trip and we took buses up to the Luquillo mountains for some sightseeing. We stopped at a place called Coca Falls, a natural pool and waterfall for some swimming, and an observation tower with an amazing view overlooking the forest, the mountain ranges, and the ocean. I really wish that I could have taken better pictures but I couldn’t figure out the settings on my new cameraL. It was a pleasant trip and I got to see a lot of the country on the bus, but the SAS trip seem like they will be a little too structured and with too many people for my tastes. I am planning on taking advantage of doing a lot of indy traveling in the future.

A Puerto Rican Welcome…
The first night in port I attended a student welcome reception at Caribbean University. This was a chance for us SAS students to meet local university students during our first night in port. We were welcomed into the university with music and dancers on stilts. We got to watch a ballet performance, eat some authentic fried food, mingle with local university students and faculty, and dance the night away. The dean of the university even helped teach me how to salsa! Everyone agreed that it was a very fun night and are excited about the opportunity to participate in university welcome receptions in the future port countries. After the welcome reception, most of us SASers headed out on the town for a late night of celebrating. We later found out that we had just missed the biggest festival in San Juan by one night!

Old San Juan…
I spent my second morning in Puerto Rico in Old San Juan. I absolutely fell in love with the place while walking the streets. It has a tropical ocean setting, with beautiful Spanish colonial architecture, lamp lit cobblestone streets, colorful pastel houses, and historical fortress walls. Every street you walk down is beautiful and look likes something out of a photograph. I took a tour of Casa Blanca, the home of Ponce De Leon, who famously sought after the fountain of youth. I also walked around a famous fort known as El Moro that dates back to 1539. It has impressive Spanish stone walls that overlook the Atlantic Ocean and once guarded the entrance to San Juan. I even got to see a local Puerto Rican juice commercial being filmed on the picturesque lawns outside the fort. I ate lunch at an authentic Venezuelan café with some friends, which I thought was entirely appropriate since we were originally supposed to port in Venezuela instead. I have decided that someday I want to come back and buy a place in Puerto Rico and live like an islander!

Later that second day my friends and I took a tour of the famous Barcardi Rum Factory that is known locally as the ‘Cathedral of Rum.’ It produces 100,000 gallons of rum daily and ships 21 million cases a year! They gave us a free tour and free samples. It was pretty interesting and a fun way to spend the afternoon.

Later that night we went to another great restaurant on the streets of Old San Juan. It was called Mojitos, named after a drink made with rum, lime juice, sugar, and soda water. The food was delicious and came in massive proportions. At the end of our meal they even brought us flowers. Later that night we walked around town some more, bought a few souvenirs, and people watched. I met soo many local Puerto Ricans who were really friendly. One guy that my friends and I met helped us find some happening places to hang out for the night, and even went out of his way to make sure we were safe and could find them. We went to this amazing restaurant and bar called The Dragonfly, where we met more locals and sipped some Mojitos. Later that night we headed to a party put on by a couple SAS alumni. They were raising money to publish an annual book called Interconnections that supports students getting out into the world, studying abroad and making a difference.

The next morning I woke up my friends and we headed to the beautiful beaches outside San Juan. We spent the morning there, taking in the sun and strolling up and down the shoreline. Later I went with two of my friends to hang out with the two SAS alumni who had thrown the party the night before. One of them is Puerto Rican and took us on a ride out on his boat to watch the sunset. We got to stop at his house on the way, which was really exciting to me because I had been wanting to see an actually house in Puerto Rico and not just another touristy hotel. His house was amazing because the entire back wall was open. They said they only ever close it up once every 5 to 10 years when the hurricanes come! It was one of the neatest things I have ever seen, we sure don’t have houses like that back at home. My friends and I had the best last night in Puerto Rico hanging out and exchanging stories about Semester at Sea with these guys. I feel really encouraged hearing about their travels and how their enthusiasm about life and travel still continues two years after their voyage. The night ended at a great restaurant on the beach with a good atmosphere, good food, and good company. (Shout out to Brandon and Eugenio- Thanks for the great night! Long live the baton…I hope that I am worthy of it some dayJ!!!) I made it back to the ship just in time to not be late and receive dock time! Everyone stood outside on the decks as we pulled out of the harbor and watched Puerto Rico grow smaller and smaller in the distance. I think some of us even teared up!
I had so much fun in Puerto Rico! I couldn’t have dreamed up a better experience. It was a great first port of call and I am excited for the many countries to come. It was great to be in Puerto Rico and have cell phone service, use US dollars, and have friendly people who speak English everywhere. It was a good country to ease me into this world traveling thing, but I won’t have most of those luxuries from now on. Watch out Brazil…here I come!

The phenomenon of land sickness…
So I made it through the first four days at sea without any seasickness. The boat was tossing and turning and yet I held my own. One thing I was not expecting was feeling sick once I got on dry land. The first two days in Puerto Rico I felt like the world was rocking. I couldn’t believe how much it felt like the entire island was swaying in my head. I was prepared for seasickness, but nothing could have prepared me for this weird phenomenon I like to call land sickness. By the third day on solid ground my head finally stopped spinning…but by that time it was time to get back on the ship!!

Best Quote in Puerto Rico: “You know life is good when everything around you looks like a postcard.” -Brandon (SAS alumni I met in port)

PS I spent a long time finding lots of fun pics from Puerto Rico but couldn't load them- So I guess that I'll just have to show them to you all when I get back :(

It doesn’t get better than this…

(Let me start by saying that I am sorry that it has taken me so long to update but thanks for sticking with me…I will be posting more often in the future! We had our first stop in Puerto Rico already and spent three wonderful days there. All passengers made it back on board and are safely sailing toward Salvador, Brazil. My Puerto Rico blog will be posted shortly but otherwise here is what I have been writing since we set sail last week… Enjoy!)

Greetings from aboard the MV Explorer! We set sail from Nassau, Bahamas at 5pm on the 19th heading toward Puerto Rico where we arrived on the 23rd. There were a lot of family and friends to see us off and a lot of tears were shed when people had to say good-bye. The ship is absolutely shining and beautiful! As far as I know we are only like the 5th or 6th voyage aboard the Explorer and it still has that brand new feel. It is very state of the art and is the fastest passenger ship in the world. The captain is from Croatia and is very serious when it comes to safety and lifeboat drills. Before the boat departed we had to put on long pants, long sleeves, close toed shoes, and our lifejackets and report to our muster stations for an emergency drill. We weren’t allowed to talk and had to stand in straight lines and call roll until the captain had inspected us. They are also very serious when it comes to our passports and dock time. They took our passports away from us the moment we checked-in and we are not allowed to have anything but a copy of them with us unless absolutely necessary. We also have pretty severe punishments for returning back to the boat late when in port. They will leave us if they have to!

This is not a cruise, it’s a voyage. This is not a boat, it’s a ship. This is a college campus, but it’s not like any other…

These are the phrases that they kept emphasizing to us throughout our first day of orientation. This included an introduction to our global studies course, a class that all students on board must take and is the core of the academic program. The professor is great, and very interesting to listen to. He began his lecture by “stripping” for us to show us all the places that his articles of clothing were made and illustrate the concepts of globalization and localization. He ended his lecture by reading to us Dr. Seuss’ book Oh the Place You’ll Go, which I thought was a very appropriate ending for introductory lecture on this voyage. I am very excited about all that I will learn about each of the countries on the itinerary in my global studies class.

The first night we had sea meetings with our resident directors. Each hallway of students is named after a different sea. I am in the Arabian Sea and my RD is Jason. He is twenty-six, from Tennessee, and extremely overqualified, as are all SAS staff and faculty. One RD has three masters and two doctorates! There is often a six or seven year waiting list to work on semester at sea as it is so competitive. The teachers are all really great, overqualified and well-traveled, not to mention ridiculously overeducated. These are the teachers that write the text books.

Interesting facts about living on a ship….

There are 684 enrolled students on board, 208 are male and 476 are female. Yes, you read that right, that is more than a 2 to 1 ratio! I think I can literally see all the male egos inflating J. The students represent over 262 different universities. Most are from the US, but there are several Canadians and other international students. There are a lot of students from the University of Pittsburg and CU Boulder. There are also a lot of students who are the only ones from their school on board. I am one of two students from Point Loma, which I think is really ideal because I am forced to make new friends. There is a total of 1000 people aboard the Explorer, which includes the students, the faculty and their families (including eight children), 19 senior passengers aboard for a continuing education experience, and the staff and crew members.

Of the seven decks on board, there are three that include the double occupancy student rooms in which we live. Each hall has a cabin steward that cleans each room once or twice daily. We don’t even do our own laundry! It is going to be really easy to get spoiled on board! It is strange to have some one busing my tables at all my meals and coming back from class to find my bed made every day. It is like we live on the floating Hilton!

I don’t think I really knew what I was getting myself into when I signed up for SAS. I knew that we would be living on a ship but I never really realized that the boat would be constantly rocking. The stretch of sea from the Bahamas to Puerto Rico was pretty rough, with a lot of people getting seasick. (By some miracle I was not one of them!!!) It is really funny watching people walk around trying to get their sea legs. This is probably the only place I will ever see a bunch of sober college kids falling all over the place and bumping into to walls every where they go. The rocking is constant and you can’t ever escape it…it rocks in my room, it rocks in the dining hall, it rocks when I’m in class…it never stops. I am getting pretty used to the movement now and am starting to actually like it.

The shipboard community is very unique because we are very confined in our floating campus. The ship does seem to get smaller and smaller to me every day (not that I am complaining, I love it!) We can’t go out to movies, or to the store, or out to our favorite restaurant for dinner…we have no TV (except the movies they play daily in our rooms), no radio, no cell phones, and no major outside connections. There are no weekends on board because we have to go to class everyday that we are sailing. The days are simply labeled A days and B days. We have all been completely thrown out of our element together and have really bonded over it. Everyone is so friendly and open to meeting new people and having new experiences. We also have quite a rumor mill on board. I think some people like to start rumors just for fun and see how fast they spread. It is really crazy how fast the rumors fly!! It seems like they are constantly doing rumor control and there is actually a specific guy on board you can go to report rumors and find out if they are true.

I heart Semester at Sea…

On a more personal note, I myself am having a really really great time. Everyday is a new experience with new people and new surprises. I have met a good group of friends so far and we are having so much fun! I am already dreading April 28th when I have to get off this ship. I feel very blessed and can’t believe how lucky I am to be here. As cheesy as it sounds I can honestly say that I am learning so much and having the best time of my life...and this is just the beginning. Thank you for all the emails and the messages of encouragement I have received, it is great to have so much support from back home. Life is truly blissful...and I am not seasickJ. It is like my global studies teacher said on our first night, “It doesn’t get better than this!”

Quote of the Day: “If you aren’t living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!”

Puerto Rico update coming soon! Stay tuned…