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
Monday, January 30, 2006
Saturday, January 28, 2006
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 :(
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 :(
Thursday, January 26, 2006
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…
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…
Thursday, January 19, 2006
See you on the other side!
One and a half hours and counting until I get on the ship! It is a beautiful cloudy morning in Nassau, Bahamas. I am at my condo getting ready to head to the Nassau harbor with my family and all my luggage in a few minutes. I will be checking in and boarding the boat alone, but then my family will get to board during visiting hours this afternoon, prior to departure. I found out that my room is on the fourth floor (which is great because this level has the best windows) and I get to finally meet my roommate today. So I guess this is it...goodbye North America...I'll see you on the other side!!
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
A rainy day in paradise...
...and other random thoughts...
I am currently in the beautiful Bahamas...and it is raining! At least I got a good 30 minutes of tanning in before the clouds rolled in:) Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day but even the storm clouds over the ocean are breathtakingly beautiful. I arrived on the on the islands yesterday with my parents and sister after spending a night en route in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. We are staying on Nassau in a beautiful beach condo on a very quiet part of the island. The place is absolutely amazing, probably the most beautiful place I have ever stayed at. All the buildings are very colonial and built with exquisite detail and color. I wish I could post pictures but I have been experiencing some technical difficulties uploading my photos (
sorry- when it comes to computers and cameras I am illiterate). If nothing else, I'll have lots and lots of great pictures to show you all when I get home.
Next to our condo there is an adorable adventure dive and sport shop that was built by Universal Studios as a movie set or something. They run snorkeling, scuba, and shark cage adventure diving trips all day. My dad and sister went out on these motorized submarine scuba scooter thingys (I don't think that is the technical term for them) that looked really cool. The ocean here is sooo blue compared to San Diego. The weather is soo nice it is easy to forget that it is only the middle of January.
Already sick before sea...
So I packed an entire case of sea sickness remedies in preparation for the inevitable. The pills, the drops, the candies, the patch, and peptobismol just in case...I got it all. I mean, living on a boat for 100 days shouldn't be taken lightly for someone who feels queasy just sitting in a parked car. I am completely and totally ready for it, bring it on! Yet somehow despite all my preparations I managed to get sick before even boarding the boat! True story... I have spent the last day and a half sicker than a dog in bed on paradise island. I'll spare you the details but lets just say it wasn't pleasant. It was probably the sickest I have been in quite a while. Don't worry, I am feeling 95% better now and am just glad I don't have to get on a boat in such a condition. So I am thinking this is either a bad omen of sickness to come, or my body taking on a little pre-seasickness so that I won't get it later. Whether or not it was food poisoning, or a bad reaction to my yellow fever shot, or just another example of the curse of Amber always getting sick while on vacation we will never know... The important thing is that it is over with and I have high hopes for smooth sailing ahead:)
My thoughts on packing light...
If there were ever two words that do not go together in my vocabulary it would be the words "packing" and "light." Anyone who has ever traveled with me ever knows that my inablility to pack light is one of my fatal flaws. I am going to be living on a boat and going to school on a boat and hanging out on a boat and traveling in 11 countries from a boat for three and a half months. That translates into a lot of books, a lot of clothes, a lot of toiletries, a lot of stuff. It is just A LOT to pack for! All everyone keeps telling me is that I should pack really light. But I mean, you don't want to be stuck on a boat when you are on the other side of the world wishing that you had brought that other pair of shoes! My study abroad advisor at school said that I should lay out everything I think that I absolutely will need while abroad and than put half of it back. Which I did...and than I put it all back again. I'm sorry, I just can't do, I can't pack light. I am missing that gene. I am bringing a lot of stuff and that is the end of it. As for all you other SASers out there who are packing light...good for you...you'll look at lot less goofy dragging your bags on the boat...but I'll be the one with everything thing I need that you come crying to when you run out of clean clothes between laundry days:)
Coming back a different person...
Everyone keeps telling me that I won't be walking off the boat in April the same person that I am today. That life will never be the same after my Semester at Sea. I've heard that when you leave the shell you live in and go out and see how the rest of the world lives, it changes you. They say you will be the same person inside, but your perspective on life changes. This is a scary and exciting thought. I have been reading about and mentally preparing myself for the shock that is ahead. I am taking ecology, art, literature, and global studies classes that all emphasize a global theme and are catered specifically to the countries we are visiting. We are going to many third world impoverished countries, countries with different values, countries of radically different cultures, and countries of completely differing religions...places I could probably never even imagine. I have never been to any of the countries I am heading to and I certainly don't speak any of the languages. (I knew I should have paid more attention in Spanish class) I am literally sailing into the unknown... all I know is that it is going to be one amazing and overwhelming experience after the other. So here's to change... and to new ideas... and to new perspectives... and new friends... and new experiences. Good-bye old Amber and hello world traveler!
So tomorrow is actually the BIG day. It hasn't really hit me yet that I will actually be leaving my family, getting on a big boat, and sailing away. Truth be told, I am pretty nervous. I don't even know who my roommate is yet. The students are from schools all over the country and I am sure that everyone else is feeling just as overwhelmed and anxious about this experience as I am. Afterall, we are all in the same boat (literally - haha I'm so funny). It kind of feels like I'm going off to college for the first time all over again. Sooo much preparation has gone into this trip, I can't believe that it is actually happening!
I am currently in the beautiful Bahamas...and it is raining! At least I got a good 30 minutes of tanning in before the clouds rolled in:) Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day but even the storm clouds over the ocean are breathtakingly beautiful. I arrived on the on the islands yesterday with my parents and sister after spending a night en route in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. We are staying on Nassau in a beautiful beach condo on a very quiet part of the island. The place is absolutely amazing, probably the most beautiful place I have ever stayed at. All the buildings are very colonial and built with exquisite detail and color. I wish I could post pictures but I have been experiencing some technical difficulties uploading my photos (
sorry- when it comes to computers and cameras I am illiterate). If nothing else, I'll have lots and lots of great pictures to show you all when I get home.Next to our condo there is an adorable adventure dive and sport shop that was built by Universal Studios as a movie set or something. They run snorkeling, scuba, and shark cage adventure diving trips all day. My dad and sister went out on these motorized submarine scuba scooter thingys (I don't think that is the technical term for them) that looked really cool. The ocean here is sooo blue compared to San Diego. The weather is soo nice it is easy to forget that it is only the middle of January.
Already sick before sea...
So I packed an entire case of sea sickness remedies in preparation for the inevitable. The pills, the drops, the candies, the patch, and peptobismol just in case...I got it all. I mean, living on a boat for 100 days shouldn't be taken lightly for someone who feels queasy just sitting in a parked car. I am completely and totally ready for it, bring it on! Yet somehow despite all my preparations I managed to get sick before even boarding the boat! True story... I have spent the last day and a half sicker than a dog in bed on paradise island. I'll spare you the details but lets just say it wasn't pleasant. It was probably the sickest I have been in quite a while. Don't worry, I am feeling 95% better now and am just glad I don't have to get on a boat in such a condition. So I am thinking this is either a bad omen of sickness to come, or my body taking on a little pre-seasickness so that I won't get it later. Whether or not it was food poisoning, or a bad reaction to my yellow fever shot, or just another example of the curse of Amber always getting sick while on vacation we will never know... The important thing is that it is over with and I have high hopes for smooth sailing ahead:)
My thoughts on packing light...
If there were ever two words that do not go together in my vocabulary it would be the words "packing" and "light." Anyone who has ever traveled with me ever knows that my inablility to pack light is one of my fatal flaws. I am going to be living on a boat and going to school on a boat and hanging out on a boat and traveling in 11 countries from a boat for three and a half months. That translates into a lot of books, a lot of clothes, a lot of toiletries, a lot of stuff. It is just A LOT to pack for! All everyone keeps telling me is that I should pack really light. But I mean, you don't want to be stuck on a boat when you are on the other side of the world wishing that you had brought that other pair of shoes! My study abroad advisor at school said that I should lay out everything I think that I absolutely will need while abroad and than put half of it back. Which I did...and than I put it all back again. I'm sorry, I just can't do, I can't pack light. I am missing that gene. I am bringing a lot of stuff and that is the end of it. As for all you other SASers out there who are packing light...good for you...you'll look at lot less goofy dragging your bags on the boat...but I'll be the one with everything thing I need that you come crying to when you run out of clean clothes between laundry days:)
Coming back a different person...
Everyone keeps telling me that I won't be walking off the boat in April the same person that I am today. That life will never be the same after my Semester at Sea. I've heard that when you leave the shell you live in and go out and see how the rest of the world lives, it changes you. They say you will be the same person inside, but your perspective on life changes. This is a scary and exciting thought. I have been reading about and mentally preparing myself for the shock that is ahead. I am taking ecology, art, literature, and global studies classes that all emphasize a global theme and are catered specifically to the countries we are visiting. We are going to many third world impoverished countries, countries with different values, countries of radically different cultures, and countries of completely differing religions...places I could probably never even imagine. I have never been to any of the countries I am heading to and I certainly don't speak any of the languages. (I knew I should have paid more attention in Spanish class) I am literally sailing into the unknown... all I know is that it is going to be one amazing and overwhelming experience after the other. So here's to change... and to new ideas... and to new perspectives... and new friends... and new experiences. Good-bye old Amber and hello world traveler!
So tomorrow is actually the BIG day. It hasn't really hit me yet that I will actually be leaving my family, getting on a big boat, and sailing away. Truth be told, I am pretty nervous. I don't even know who my roommate is yet. The students are from schools all over the country and I am sure that everyone else is feeling just as overwhelmed and anxious about this experience as I am. Afterall, we are all in the same boat (literally - haha I'm so funny). It kind of feels like I'm going off to college for the first time all over again. Sooo much preparation has gone into this trip, I can't believe that it is actually happening!
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Around the world in 100 days...
It is all finally happening! I leave tomorrow for the Bahamas and the journey begins... After months of planning, filling out paperwork, getting lots of shots, making travel arrangements, getting visas, packing, repacking, and repacking again I am finally on my way! I am embarking on the adventure of a lifetime circumnavigating the globe with the Institute for Shipboard Education's Semester at Sea program. I am going to be living on a ship for 100 days! I am leaving behind my friends and my family and everything familiar to sail off into the unknown.
So why a semester at sea!?!
People keep asking me why I chose such an unconventional program and why I going abroad. The truth is that as cheesy as it sounds, I genuinely want to see the world and make a difference. Throughout our voyage we will be stopping in Puerto Rico, Brazil, South Africa, Mauritius, India, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, Hong Kong, China, and Japan and taking in as much of the country as possible for a few days. I have always been told how lucky I am to live in this country and that I have more education, more opportunity, more wealth and more freedom than the majority of people who have ever lived. I want to see how big and small the world really is, and see what is beyond my rose-colored glasses. This program will let me not only learn about these countries, but experience them along the way. I'm doing this because I want Vietnam to be a real place to me, and not just a war that I learned about in history class. I want to climb the great wall of China... the one that you can see from space. I want to see the best of what wealth can build in the majesty of the Taj Mahal, and the worst of what poverty can brings for the starving, in the townships, in the shanty villages, and in the beggars on the streets. I want to see all these sights that I’ve heard about, and this semester I have the opportunity to not only see them, but to learn about them as well. This is an experience and an opportunity of a lifetime and have been very blessed to have the support of so many in this journey. Check here often for updates as I bring you my adventures from the high seas...!
The floating campus...
So you are probably wondering about this floating school on a ship. The MV Explorer serves as a fully functional college campus. It has classrooms, a student union, a library, a computer lab... and an even better ocean view than Point Loma! I actually got to tour the boat when it was docked in San Diego in December and it is gorgeous. It is like a little mini cruise ship with 7 decks, a spa and salon, a fitness center, a pool, lounges, you name it.. It is actually the fastest passenger ship in the world! I will have some (although limited) internet access so shoot me an email sometime.
The Intinerary...
In case you are every wondering where in the world I am:
(Day/Date/Time)
Nassau, Bahamas
Depart 19 January 1700
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Arrive - Monday 23 January 0800
Depart - Wednesday 25 January 2300
Salvador, Brazil
Arrive - Wednesday 01 February 0800
Depart - Sunday 05 February 2300
Cape Town, South Africa
Arrive - Tuesday 14 February 0800
Depart - Monday 20 Febrary 2300
Port Louis, Mauritius
Arrive - Monday 27 February 0800
Depart - Wednesday 01 March 2300
Chennai (Madras), India
Arrive - Thursday 09 March 0800
Depart - Monday 13 March 2300
Yangon, Myanmar
Arrive - Thursday 16 March 0800
Depart - Tuesday 21 March 0600
(On-ship time is Monday, March 20 at 2300)
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Arrive - Sunday 26 March 0800 (fly to Cambodia)
Depart - Friday 31 March 0600
(On-ship time is Thursday, March 30 at 2300)
Hong Kong
Arrive - Monday 03 April 0800 (fly to Beijing and meet ship in Qindao)
Depart - Tuesday 04 April 2000
Qindao, PRC
Arrive - Friday 07 April 0800
Depart - Saturday 08 April 2300
Kobe, Japan
Arrive - Tuesday 11 April 0800
Depart - Saturday 15 April 2300
San Diego, California
Arrive - Friday 28 April 0800
I will be docking in San Diego on April 28th at the end of this crazy adventure and I hope to see you all there! Thanks for all your support. This blog is for all of you... for my friends, my left behind Lomalanders (shout out to the girls of Q unit!- don't you go replacing me while I'm gone), for my family, and for any curious reader who stumbles upon my crazy adventures. I'll miss you guys! Keep me updated on life! You can leave me voicemails for FREE by calling 1-888-579-0208 and entering 2105497910. Pray for safe travels and no sea sickness!
So I guess that is about it for now... the adventure hasn't really begun just yet. Don't worry, I'll keep you all posted on the adventures of Amber at Sea.
P.S. For those of you who asked about sending me mail, yes it is possible and yes I would absolutely love getting mail from you!! You can actually send mail to each port city that I am heading to by addressing a letter as follows:
Amber Morrill
C/O: Explorer
Arrival Date
Port Agent Address
The post office recommends that any mail be sent at least two weeks early and by airmail only. The addresses and information for each port are as follows:
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Phone: 787-982-8888 Fax: 787-982-8890
Cruise Plus Service & Sales
1760 Fernandez Juncos Avenue
San Juan, Puerto Rico, 00909
Suggested Airmail Date: Jan. 09
Salvador, BRAZIL
Phone: 55 71 241 4990 Fax: 55 71 243 5633
Oceanus Agencia Maritima
Av. Estados Unidos, 555
7th Floor/Room 712
40015-010 Salvador, BAHIA-BRASIL
Suggested Airmail Date: Jan. 18
Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA
Phone: 27 21 419 8660 Fax: 27 21 421 6984
John T. Rennie & Sons
P.O. Box 702
1 Thibault House
8000 Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA
Suggested Airmail Date: Jan. 31
Port Louis, MAURITIUS
Phone: 230 202 7040 Fax: 230 208 5814
Ireland Blyth, Ltd.
1 Queen Street
P.O. 53
Port Louis, MAURITIUS
Suggested Airmail Date: Feb. 11
Chennai, INDIA
Phone: 91 44 252 12032 Fax: 91 44 252 43813
J.M. Baxi & CO.
3rd Floor, Clive Battery Complex
4 & 4A, Rajaji Salai
Chennai-600 001, INDIA
Suggested Airmail Date: Feb. 23
Yangon, MYANMAR
Phone: 95 1 256 913 Fax: 95 1 256 321
Myanmar Port Authority
Sea Horse Agency
347/1st Floor, Mahabandoola Road
Kyauktada, Yangon, MYANMAR
Suggested Airmail Date: Mar. 02
Ho Chi Minh City, VIETNAM
Phone: 84 8 823 1052 Fax: 84 8 824 2996
General Forwarding & Agency Co., Inc.
5th Fl. OSIC Bldg.
8 Nguyen Hue Avenue
Dist. 1, Ho Chi Minh City, VIETNAM
Suggested Airmail Date: Mar. 11
Hong Kong
Phone: 852 2746 7312 Fax: 852 2744 3240
Inchcape Shipping Services
(Hong Kong) Ltd.Units 1802-1805, 18/F
No. 3 Lockhart Road
Wanchai, HONG KONG-China
Suggested Airmail Date: Mar. 20
Qingdao, PRC
Phone: 86 532 2653 332 Fax: 86 532 2655 752
Penavico Qingdao
21 Wuxia Road
Quingdao, 266002, P. R. CHINA
Suggested Airmail Date: Mar. 24
Kobe, JAPAN
Phone: 34 94 424 2100Fax: 34 94 424 0123
Inchcape Shipping Services
Kenryu Bldg. Room 502
6, Kaigan-dori, Chuo-ku
KOBE-shi, Hyogo-ken 650 0024, JAPAN
Suggested Airmail Date: Mar. 28
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