Jordi's Semester At Sea

Sorry- Japan Pics

2007-04-29T00:51:00.000-07:00

So, after i write my china blog, ill write my japan blog, but here are some pictures :)

ps- the weird looking ones are from a baseball game!

Sorry- China pics

2007-04-29T00:29:00.000-07:00

ill add captions and organize the pictures later :)

hey guys! i am still working on my china blog before i can even get to my japan blog. the last few countries, the asian countries, have just followed each other so tightly making it very difficult to keep my blog updated. i just wanted to post some pictures so you know that i am doing ok. i absolutely loved china, and japan has been ok. we docked in a bad city and decided to save money and stay here, which probably wasnt the best idea, but oh well. we leave tonight and out next port is hawaii, yes, the united states, its crazy i know! so i will see you all soon.

VIETNAM and CAMBODIA and MOM!!!

2007-04-25T00:08:00.000-07:00

[I just want to let you guys know that there was a lot of emotion going on in Vietnam and Cambodia, but it is too hard to put that into words. So in the blog, I am telling you simply what I did, which I think is still amazing. When I get home I will be more than willing to talk about anything and everything.]

I woke up early Monday, April 9th because I knew that someone special was going to be waiting for me… my mom! I had been so excited knowing that she was coming and I cannot even imagine how excited she was at home, preparing for her vacation. As we pulled into port, there was also a group of about 10-15 Vietnamese women holding a huge sign that said Welcome Semester at Sea to Vietnam. They were dressed in their traditional outfits with the hats and everything. It was beautiful. Aside from that, the SAS parents were there. They were waving frantically, looking for their children who were most likely hanging off the side of the ship somewhere. My mom, along with 3 other moms who were traveling solo, had a huge sign on a sheet with each of their child’s name on it; Jeff, Logan, Kalyn and Jordi. It was so cute. I was standing with Jeff as we pulled up and we were both able to spot our moms. After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, the parents were finally let on. I found my mom in the dining hall where I introduced her to all of my friends who had also been very excited to meet her. I had previously bought tickets for us to go see a Cambodian orphanage out on a traditional dance show, the performance was right on the ship. So we headed to the Union to watch the show. It was wonderful. They are so graceful and are able to move so well and the costumes were beautiful. After the show we had lunch in the dining hall. We took our time and caught up on things. Then I took her on a tour of the ship and then to my room. She could not get over how beautiful the ship was. It was so weird being with my mom on the ship. At school, your parents generally know where you live and they also know your friends and roommates and stuff. We have talked about that before on the ship, how it is weird that we don’t know each other’s family and stuff. So it was really cool that she was able to see it and meet everyone.

By the time we were ready to leave, everyone had already left the ship, so it was just going to be my mom and me for the day, which was completely fine. Although she was not thrilled about shopping because of the heat, she knew I had to at least do a little shopping. Apparently the thing to do in Vietnam is get a dress made. So I had cut pictures out of magazines and our first stop was a tailor. I got measured and described exactly what I wanted to the seamstress. I would be back to pick it up in a few days. We did a little more shopping for souvenir type things before heading back to the ship. I had gone back with the purpose to find Dannie, and guess who I found while waiting in line to get back on the ship!? It was perfect. The three of us went out to a nice seafood buffet at my mom’s hotel. Yes, seafood, but they did have other things too. It was probably the best, and definitely the most expensive, meal Dannie and I had had in a long time. We stuffed ourselves so much that we were not able to go back to the ship, so we slept at the hotel with my mom. The hotel was amazing. Definitely nicer than anywhere I have stayed on this trip. The bed and the comforter were great and I definitely got a good night sleep.

We all woke up early the next morning to go back to the ship since mom’s heat rash was horrible. I wanted to take her to the on ship doctor to see if there was anything he could give her to make her more comfortable since we were going to be doing a lot of walking the next few days. He gave her some type of steroid, which obviously would not kick in right away. I am glad I took her though so that she could be diagnosed. We had breakfast on the ship and then she headed back to the hotel to get ready to leave for Cambodia. She had to leave from the hotel and I had to leave from the ship, which was fine since I was still not packed.

I got myself ready and met up with my group in the Union at 9:00am. We headed to the airport, and did all that good stuff before meeting back up with the parents. Mom and me were not sitting together, but it was only a 50-minute flight so it was not that big of a deal. We got to Phnom Penh around 1:30 in the afternoon and went right to the hotel. We had a tiny break before visiting the silver pagoda and the royal palace. Those two places were beautiful. We had been warned before leaving that Cambodia had a lot of amputees. This was very apparent from the beggars outside these touristy places. There were people in wheelchairs, people with no limbs or limbs missing, people with completely burned faces; it was horrifying, yet I was unable to look away. Being with my mom was amazing. I have not done a lot of traveling with her and just being able to see her reaction to things made it even more amazing. We got to experience something knew together and I would not have traded it for the world.

Our next adventure was a sunset river cruise on the Mekong. It was incredible. I know I keep using the same adjectives but it is really hard to put what I saw into words. It had been getting harder and harder throughout this voyage and now it is nearly impossible. Pictures do speak a thousand words and you will see what I mean when you see my pictures, but I cannot post all of them. And even pictures cant completely convey what I saw, what I saw with my mom. So I know that it is cheesy but it is the truth. People live on boats the size of canoes, they build themselves a small roof for protection from the earthly elements. They wash themselves and their clothes in the river. Can you even imagine!? There were communities of these boats and then the occasional outlier; maybe an outcast. It was amazing to see these people conducting their everyday lives right there on the river.

What was really ironic was that after seeing that, we headed to dinner; an endless buffet of anything you could ever imagine. Table after table of sushi, stir fry, pho, anything and everything. After seeing such poverty we were taken in out air-conditioned luxury bus to a fancy dinner. It just seems kind of weird, right. After dinner we headed back to the hotel and everyone was pooped. I was asleep in seconds.

The next morning, breakfast was served from 6:00 to 7:00, so of course I slept right through it. I was downstairs at 7:00 though ready to leave for the day along with everyone else. Today was the day dedicated to the genocide. I was disappointed in myself for not knowing more about it. I have found myself not knowing a lot of things that I wish I knew. I somewhat plane the education system, but I also do blame myself. When I get home I want to do a lot of catch up learning on the history of the world. Someone said something that really touched me and I would like to make it a reality for myself too; I would like to be able to have an intelligent conversation about each of the countries that I have been to. This includes history, economics, politics, etc. It is going to be hard but I am going to try.

Normally when you go to a museum, there is information around so that even if you know nothing going in, you feel like you have learned something on your way out. Unfortunately, I was unable to say that about the Toul Sleng Museum. I know that it was a school that was turned into cells where people were imprisoned and exterminated. On the wire bed there were still the boxes for excrement and tools that were clearly used for torture. There was tree where people were hung to make an example for the others not to misbehave. It was fascinating, but I left with most of the same questions that I came with, and more.

Our next stop was the killing fields. Again, I did not know much, and I still don’t know as much as I want to know. I know what I can gather from the name; it was the spot of mass execution. There were graves dug and labeled ‘the grave of 60 beheaded men.’ There was a display case of thousands of skulls of all sizes. As disturbing as it was, it was so shocking that I just could not tear myself away. One sign said ‘86 mass graves, 8985 victims.’ That is a lot of victims in one grave, and a lot of innocent people to be killed. There was a ‘killing tree against which executioners beat children’ and a ‘mass grave of more than 100 victims children and women whose majority were naked.’ Although these served as ‘headstones’ for the most part, I felt that they were even more degrading than if there being nothing at all. There were bones sticking out of the ground or showing through the dirt. There were piles of bones laying around, proving that this really and truly was not that long ago. Horrifying.

Now, to drastically change the subject, our next stop was the Russian market. We only had an hour there, and everyone knows an hour is not enough time in a gigantic market place. There was so much that I wanted to buy and so many different stands. I could have spent an entire day there. But no, instead we headed to lunch. Being a vegetarian on this trip, I was put in a separate room at lunch with the other veggies and my mom was unable to join me. The food was ok. At lunch, a group of us decided to stray from the tour group and head on our own to an orphanage that is sponsored by the therapist on our ship and her husband. We figured we could miss the National Museum to go, and we definitely made the right decision.

We took a taxi to the Palm Tree Orphanage. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by all the children and hugged and held. It was amazing. The smiles on the children’s faces were beautiful and you could tell how genuinely happy they were to have visitor. Marvel and Terry, the therapist and her husband, had taken a group of older children to the beach for the day, and no we were there to spend time with the younger children. We could have spent all day, but we only had 2 hours. The little ones held our hand while the older ones spoke in English and gave us a tour. They sleep on the floor. They wear any clothes that they can. They take dance class every morning and have school 5 days a week. They love it there. The facility was beautiful and Marvel and Terry are paying to improve it by adding a pool and redoing the bathrooms. There was a huge terrace for them to play outside. But then it hits you; the reason that these children are there. They have no parents. Some were sent there, some were found, and others, we have no idea. The fact that there are so many children in need is horrifying. And I want to help.

I fell in love with a little girl, around 5 years old, whose name was Titli. She is beautiful. Being in that orphanage with a dedication to education, they want the children to stay. They are not up for adoption. Besides the fact that there is a ban right now on Americans adopting from Cambodia…

Our flight to Siem Reap, home of Angkor Wat, was at 4:00, so the deal was that if we missed the flight, we were on our own. We got there before the rest of the group though, and before my mom. She was happy I made it. We landed 40 minutes later and instead of heading to the hotel, we went right to Angkor Wat to watch the sunset. It was amazing and I can definitely see why it is one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Side note: what the hell are the Seven Wonders of the World. I looked it up on wikipedia, which is a free site, and it told me that they keep changing. So, my seven definitely include the Taj, Angkor Wat, and the Great Wall, no matter what other people say…

So, my mom and me watched the sunset at Angkor Wat, together. Crazy, right?! Then we went to dinner where there was also a show. It was another buffet with more food than imaginable, and the dancing was the same as the Cambodian orphanage we saw on the first day, but performed by older people. It really is beautiful and I would love to dance like they do, but at 20 years old I think it is a lost cause. After that, we finally went back to the hotel. It was such a long day and I was ready to go to sleep. But, there is this bar called Angkor What? that Sasers traditionally go to and sign their name and stuff. A bunch of people left dinner early to go there, so by the time I was ready to go out, it was me and four other people; Ashley, Amanda, Maddie and Cole.

There were tons of SASers there, like any other touristy place we go. I was tired so I watched other people dance and had a drink; a mixed drink with juice, which I would later find out, did not agree with me. We headed back after a while, and we were definitely the first to go. Other SASers stayed out a lot later. All I wanted to do was sign my name, so I was ready after that.

The next morning was an optional sunrise tour of Angkor Wat. Mom and I were there bright an early. It was cloudy so it was not all it was cracked up to be. We went back, had some breakfast, and mom and I decided to take it easy and skip the walking tour of Angkor Wat right after breakfast. We needed the rest since the days were jam-packed. What I did not know was that we were not going back. So, after lunch, Jackie, who did the same thing we did, and I left the tour group and headed to Angkor Wat on our own. I am so glad we did. It was amazing; we climbed those stairs you always see that go straight up, we took amazing pictures and had a lot of fun. We did it quickly though so that we could get back to the tour bus and go to the airport together with our parents (her dad was there). We met up with them at Angkor Thom, which is also the location of Bayon, Baphuon, Elephant Terrace and Leper King Terrace, and then went to the airport to fly back to Cambodia.

I don’t know how to explain the feeling that I had while in Cambodia, but I know for sure that it is somewhere that I want to go back to at some point in my life. I would love to work at an orphanage and if I have the money, I would love to sponsor an orphanage. Being there was amazing and I hope that someday everyone has the opportunity to experience it.

We flew back, on the same flight with another SAS group. Meaning, that with my 60-person group and their 60-person group, the line to get on the ship would be 120-people long, and everyone had a big bag. So, I had previously told Brenna that I would be back and we would go out to dinner, but since it would take hours to get back on the ship, I figured I would go to the hotel for an hour and then back to the ship. What I did not anticipate was that I would fall asleep for the night.

The next morning I woke up and went back to the ship to see if Brenna was there so that we could go out together, but she was on a SAS trip. [I went back to the ship on my own in a taxi, but then on the way back to the hotel I decided to test out the moped taxis. It was so much fun on the back of a moped and it got me there so much quicker. A lot of people ended up getting exhaust burns but I was fine.] So mom and me took it easy. We went out to an amazing lunch where I got hummus as an appetizer and then chicken fajitas. Yes, very Vietnamese I know. We got massages and pedicures and manicures and just had a really nice mom and daughter day. We walked around the city a little, did a tiny bit more shopping and then went out for a nice dinner. We also picked up my dress that needed a little altering, and unfortunately, I was not thrilled with it. Oh well.

The parents were only allowed to be on the ship until 8:00pm, although on ship time was not until 9:00 and the ship was not actually leaving until 9:00am. We bitched about it to the dean but they did nothing. I was pissed that my mom and I were going to be less than a mile apart in Vietnam for so many hours, unable to see each other. We said our goodbyes at the ship, but her bus was leaving and it was too rushed for me to be sad. So that was it. It was over in the blink of an eye and like the rest of this trip, it felt like a dream. It was amazing having her here.

I know I don’t mention mom a lot because I just wanted to get the gist of things written out before we arrive in Japan in 36 hours. But she was with me almost the entire time and we had an amazing time together. I love her so much and I never could have asked for a better mother. I loved experiencing this with her and I cant wait to get home and reflect on the rip with her. I met a ton of new people on the Cambodia trip, people from the ship that I didn’t know and people’s family members and loved ones. I spent time with one girl’s sisters who were incredibly nice and made me miss my sister so much. I knew I missed her, but being with other people’s sisters made me miss her that much more. I know that we will have more experiences together to come. I love you!

The Vietnamese women welcoming our ship to Veitnam!

This was when I first spotted mom! She is waving on the left with the huge sign beneath her.　　

Me and Titli, the girl I fell in love with at the Pal Tree Orphanage.

Me and mom at the airport.

Me, Cole, Maddie, Ashley and Amanda on our way to Angkor What?!

I signed the bench at Angkor What?!

Me and mom on the balcony of our hotel room in Cambodia.

If you look closely, I am wearing a blue shirt. I was half way up at Angkor Wat.

Me and mom out to dinner in Vietnam.

I am wearing the dress I had made; not what I expected but I like it.

PASSOVER!!! (look dad!)

2007-04-24T23:58:00.000-07:00

Happy Pasach a little late I know. I just wanted to let all of you guys know that I celebrated Passover here on the ship. It had to be a couple days late since we were in Malaysia when Passover started and there are no synagogues there, we looked. So we had our Seder and sang songs and made it fun. There were a lot of people there, a lot of Jews and a lot of non-Jews. I invited friends to come with me, and they came; some of which had never celebrated before. So it was an educational opportunity for everyone and we had a good time. Anytime matzoh ball soup is served, you can’t go wrong.

Eric and me at Passover; the only other Jew :)

The plate so you actually know it was passover and not just another meal on the ship.

My table; me, Brenna, Dannie, Tim, Jaime, Wendy and Eric.

The girls at Passover dinner; me, Brenna, Dannie and Wendy.

MALAYSIA!!

2007-04-06T07:02:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Malaysia at 8:00 in the morning on April 2nd. I cannot believe that it is already April. That means my little sister is going to be 18 very soon. That is crazy. I also cant believe where in the world I am write now. We talk about it all the time; how far we have come and how it does not feel like we are clear across the world. Right now we are 12 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. It is 4:00 in the afternoon right now, meaning you are all fast asleep because it is 4:00 in the morning. It really is crazy.

But anyway, I got off the ship almost right away because I had an SAS scheduled tour. Getting off the ship is not what you would expect it to be. The port was under construction so we had to take our tenders/emergency lifeboats from the ship to the port. It was the biggest pain in the butt ever! Malaysia is very hot and humid and the small lifeboats were horrible. The seas were rocky and only so many people could fit on each boat and you never really knew the timing of the boats so you could be waiting an hour just to leave the ship or get back on it. It was horrible and it was a shame because it discouraged a lot of people from leaving the ship. I know that I spent a lot more time on the ship than if I had just been able to walk right off.

So my tour; Ethnic Communities in Malaysia, left at 9:20am from the Union, and since we did not have a trip leader, me and this other girl Robyn (who was on my safari) were the acting trip leaders for the 13 of us students. We took attendance and led the group. When we got off the tender on land, we found our tour guide and loaded the bus. It was nice being in a small group and not having a million people everywhere we went. He gave us somewhat of a city orientation that was great, telling us what a lot of the buildings that we passed were and telling us where to go and where not to go and giving us some history as well. Our first stop was the Chinese community. They live on the waterfront in small, but very clean homes. They have shrines/alters set up in their homes as well as stuff for the devil to take so that their loved one can be left in peace. Each makeshift street houses one extended family, so people never get married to someone on his or her street. It was amazing to see and the views that they see everyday were beautiful. Our next stop was Little India where we visited the oldest temple in Malaysia and at Somosa or Momosa or something like that. It was delicious. Then we headed to the Malay community, which was far off in the mountains.

When we got there, the Malays had a traditional lunch prepared for us. Like usual, I stayed away from the meat and stuck to the rice and vegetables. It was good, but due to previous upset stomachs, I am skeptical. They were so nice. The entire village had come together to welcome us and they had put up special decorations that are reserved for special occasions like weddings. We were that important to them. After lunch, they gave us a tour of their beautiful community. It was nothing like that of the Chinese. Their houses were more spread out and they were freestanding. Their homes were larger since extended family often lived together, but the cluster of houses on a huge plot of land was the community. The showed us which berries to eat and we got to try them, and after seeing us all dripping sweat they showed us how to keep cool; they make this powder-like substance that when mixed with water and put on your face, keeps you dry and is supposed to keep you looking youthful. We all used it and bought some so we’ll see house young we can keep ourselves looking. After that, we headed back to the ship, but most of us got dropped at the mall to do some shopping. We set up a meeting time to get a cab back together.

The mall was huge and overwhelming. It was 7 stories tall with a movie theatre and stores set up outside the stores sort of like a marketplace. I bought some bootleg dvds of movies that you all have probably seen already, and I bought a dress incase I don’t have time to have one made in Vietnam. (We need one for the Ambassador’s Ball at the end of the voyage.) We met up and came back to the ship. At that point, I could have showered and got dressed to go back out for dinner, but the difficulties with the tenders made me want to stay on the ship. I was tired anyway, and I had movies to watch. So Dannie came over and we watched Dream Girls, and then I went to bed.

The next morning, Mary (my roommate), Brenna and I went shopping again. We had a taxi driver take us to Little India to do some shopping and then to the mall again. we used the internet café in the mall and found a phone calling place where we could call the United States. I got to talk to Paco before we continued shopping.

On the ship, there is this one girl who has magic pants, Lindsey. She got them in Mauritius. Now, let me explain magic pants; you have to put them on like a diaper because the pant leg is not sewn together on the outside. So they tie at the wait in the front and the bag and they are so light and airy and I have wanted them so bad ever since I saw her wearing them. Lindsey was in my SAS group in India so I talked about them A LOT and looked for them everywhere but had not luck. So, while shopping, I saw another girl, not from SAS, wearing magic pants. I asked where she got them, and in her British accent she told me she got them from the marketplace in Kuala Lumpur. At that point, I turned to Mary and Brenna and asked if they wanted to go to KL that night. They said that they had wanted to go anyway. So, we came back to the ship, dropped off our purchases, packed a few things in a backpack, and headed back to the bus station. Since the tender we were trying to get on left early, we missed it and ultimately missed the 8:30 bus we wanted to get on. So we got to the bus station area, ate some dinner, and got on the 10:00pm bus instead. We slept a little, ate some snacks, and talked a little. We were supposed to arrive at 2:30am. I woke up at 2:10 when we were pulling out of a station. I had no idea what station and no one seemed to speak English. So I waited hoping that another stop would be soon. I was worried we were going to end up in Singapore which would get us kicked off SAS since we are not allowed to leave the country we are docked in. I kept asking around but no one spoke English. There was no point on waking Mary and Brenna because all it would do is worry them and there was nothing we could do. Finally, the next stop came at 3:30am and some of the people on the bus turned around and looked at us, so we assumed it was our stop and got off. We were not at a station, we were at a bus stop. But it was KL so we were fine. We had a taxi take us to a hotel. Mary had looked up a few online, but the first one he took us too only had one room left that was too small for us. So we went to another hotel, each paid 20 dollars, and slept very comfortably in one king size bed. We could see the twin towers from our balcony. (If any of you have seen that movie with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Sean Connery, that takes place in Malaysia on those towers with the bridge connecting them.) They are now the highest twin towers in the world. We got to the hotel at passed out.

Brenna and I probably could have slept the entire day, but Mary was forcing out of bed since we did not have that much time in KL. So we got up and left around noon. We went to the towers but the free tickets were already for 3:45. We got them and decided that if we made it back, great, if not, it was fine. We saw them and they were beautiful. We also saw the KL tower that looked like a space needle. I am not one to notice architecture, but the architecture in KL was amazing. There were round buildings, triangular buildings; it was beautiful.

The three of us were talking about how much we stood out in this country as white Americans, all of which were wearing shirts we had bought in countries we had previously been to. Mine had a picture of the Taj, Brenna’s said ‘I love India,’ and Mary’s said something about Brazil. When we left the towers, we were bombarded by a tour group of Indians who all wanted to take pictures with us because of our shirts. They wanted group shots, individual shots, everything. It was so funny and we were laughing hysterically. We were taking pictures with them for a good 15 minutes and every time we tried to walk away, one more person wanted a picture. It was a great way to start the day. We got in a taxi and went to what we thought was a marketplace but was actually another gigantic mall. We did a little but of shopping, ate at Chile’s and found another phone calling place, before getting into a different taxi and heading to the real marketplace.

The Central Marketplace was bigger than I ever could have imagine; fake handbags, sneakers, t-shirts, jewelry, clothing, anything and everything you ever could have imagined… and hopefully magic pants because we were not leaving KL until we got them. We shopped every inch of the marketplace for hours and hours, finally finishing at 8:00pm. We bought out the marketplace and I loved it! We had so much fun bargaining and walking away from people and having them come after us with a different price. The three of us just had a great time doing exactly what it was that we wanted to do. The problem with big groups is that some people always have to give in and it is impossible to make everyone happy. The three of us were happy. By the end, we had bought one of everything and were so hot and sweaty it was ridiculous. As we were coming to the end of the market after hitting up each and every store, Brenna saw magic pants. I was in heaven. I was so happy I couldn’t believe it, and Brenna and Mary were lucky because I wasn’t leaving without them. I bought three pairs and I LOVE them. Brenna bought some too so it wasn’t all for me. It was a great day.

We went back to the hotel, where we had left our backpacks, walked somewhere close to eat dinner, and then took a taxi to the bus station. We bought tickets on the nicest bus we could fine, with beds (seats that completely reclined and had foot rests and had individual entertainment systems). It was supposed to leave at 11:00 and get in at 3:30, but we ended up leaving at midnight. It was fine and we were all sleeping immediately. It was that comfortable. Around 3:15 we stopped at a gas station and all three of us went to the bathroom thinking that we would be back to Penang very shortly. We got back on the bus and all fell asleep again, until 6:00am when the bus stopped again, finally at the Penang bus station. The trip had taken forever, but there were no complaints since we all slept so well. We got back onto the ship, after the tender and everything, around 7:00am. I had another SAS trip planned for that day that left at 8:20am. I debated going, but ended up showering and grabbing breakfast and going.

It was a trip to a disabled person’s home and I am so glad I went. We got a tour of the facility before being able to interact with them. We colored and talked and watched them do aerobics. It was very rewarding. There was a store in the facility where they all sold what they made. Half of the money went right to the person that made it while the other half went to the facility itself. It was wonderful and it was great to see in another country. I got back on the ship around 1:00pm, at lunch, and went back to sleep. I was on the ship for good since I knew that everyone else would be waiting in long lines for the tender to get back on the ship. I love Malaysia and I definitely want to go back. We were told that the culture here would be more different from the United States than any other country thus far, but I, along with everyone else, didn’t really see it. It was different, but I wouldn’t say the most different. I loved it. The atmosphere was relaxed and I had a great time.

Now I am anxiously awaiting our arrival in Vietnam on Monday where my mom will be waiting for me!

Me, Robyn and Anna with the Malay women at the village.

Mary, me and Brenna in Little India with Buddah.

Me, Mary and Brenna at the twin towers in KL.

Me, Brenna and Mary eating in KL.

Me with my new friend from the disabled person's home in Malayasia.

INDIA!!

2007-04-06T06:45:00.000-07:00

When most people think of India, they think of a poor, overpopulated country. While that description may be accurate, there is also so much more that the country has to offer. The culture is completely different than that of the United States. While it is deemed inappropriate to show your stomach in the states, here it is one’s knees and shoulders that should always remain covered. Men walk down the street holding hands or with their arms around each other and it is considered normal. Their sexual status does not come into questions at all. It is a sign of beauty to wear a colored powder of a gem on your face, where at home, if you did that, you would get talked about and someone might tell you that when you washed your face that morning, you missed a spot. You can see a family of four on a motorcycle, not one person wearing a helmet, and the newborn baby is in the arms of the mother who is sitting sideways on the motorcycle so that her legs are together and not straddling the seat. There were cows walking the streets and laying down in the middle of the street. Driving laws do not exist and traffic lights and stop signs are at the most suggestions. Just because there is a cow in the middle of the road does not mean that the driver of a car will stop. I was in awe at everything that I saw. I could not believe that I was actually in India. Don’t get me wrong; the country itself was extremely dirty. There were piles and piles of garbage all around, people urinating all over the streets, the air was filthy and at times it was hard to breath. You could tell how dirty the air was when you blew your nose and whatever came out was black. There were awful smells in the air and a lot of the people smelled as well. Antiperspirant is not widely used here, and showering and laundry are not everyday occurrences. I did not judge and was very open to learning about the county and the culture.

Ok, so the first day I left the ship with Brenna and Kelsey, and we got in a rickshaw, an open air vehicle that somewhat resembles a golf cart but is smaller and goes on main roads and highways. We had him take us to what we hear was the best shopping in town, Spencer’s Plaza. We were prepared for them to tell us that the plaza was closed but that they would take us to their friend’s shop. This is exactly what happened. But since Brenna did her homework and knew this would happen, we knew Spencer’s Plaza was open and insisted that they take us there and not to their friend’s shop. If they take us to their friend’s places, they get 160 rupee even if we don’t buy anything, but we wanted to get to where we wanted to go. So after three different drivers told us that they would not take us, we finally found one who said yes. His name was Logan. He was an older man with very limited English skills. He dropped us off at the Plaza and said he would wait for us. He did not want our money then, he said we would pay him when he drove us back to the ship. We wanted to pay him them incase we didn’t find him, but he would not accept the money. If he wanted to wait, that was fine because we knew he was legit, but we felt bad. We did a good amount of shopping but I didn’t find much that I liked. The stuff is beautiful but it’s just not my taste. Brenna was leaving for Delhi later that day, so Kelsey and I took Logan’s rickshaw back to the ship with her. Kelsey and I were not ready to call it a day, so we said ok to having Logan take us to some shops so that he could make some extra money. It is not very time consuming and we felt like it would fun and a nice thing to do. We went to three, and then back to Spencer’s plaza where he again waited for us. We did some more shopping, ate at Pizza Hut, and then got back in Logan’s rickshaw. He took us to two more shops before taking us back to the ship.

We got back just in time to meet Kelsey’s friends who were going out to dinner. Terron and Derron were also on their way out so they joined us. We were a group of 7 and then there were supposed to be 4 more people meeting us at the restaurant. The restaurant was in a hotel right next to Spencer’s Plaza. The meal was long and stretched out and the 4 girls showed up late and it was expensive. It was good but I had not idea how much it was going to cost and I was a little disappointed especially in a country were that kind of money can get you so far. But oh well, I was in India so there was not much to be upset about. My SAS trip was leaving at 4:00 the next morning along with a few other people’s trips, so we went home after dinner. I packed and went to sleep.

I woke up at met up with my group. I did not really know anyone going on my trip, which was fine since I knew that I would meet new people. One girl Deb, I had hung out with a few times was on my trip, and Lindsey was also on my trip, who is a friend of a friend. There were 40 people in my group. We had the same itinerary as another group of 70 people. I knew several people in the group as well. So, we left for the airport, which was an hour away and boarded our flight. I had an aisle but I switched for the window. I slept the ENTIRE flight.

We had a great Indian buffet lunch at a hotel before we were transferred to the train station.

Our train was delayed two hours so were all sitting on the dirty ground with beggars all around. Some people played cards, other napped and others just talked. When we finally boarded our non-air-conditioned second class, I was pleasantly surprised. It started out great, we each got our own three seats to lie down on and I slept for a good part of the 3 and a half hour trip. I woke up to someone saying my name and when I opened my eyes, there were Indians standing and sitting all around. The cart was packed. It was not too hot though since the sides were open with bars and it did not smell too bad at the time. I sat squished among Indians for a little while before finding a new place to lie; the storage space. They were the same material as the seat and the same length and width, only they were located right about the seats so you had to jump to get up there. They were also just as clean as the seats. I was able to go back to sleep until the end of the ride.

We got in late so our shopping trip was cancelled and were taken right to the hotel. The hotel was really nice and I was roomed with Sami. I had never spoken to her but she was very sweet. We all showered before having a late dinner, which was followed by a little bit of shopping at the stores in the lobby. I was ready to go to sleep before Sami was so I took the room key, which was an actual key and there was only one. I know am I a hard sleeper so I tried to keep myself awake by reading, but I fell asleep. I guess I did not respond to her knocking or calling the room because when I woke up at 5:00 am, she was not there. I felt horrible that I had locked her out all night. She had a good friend on the trip so she slept with her, but I still felt horrible.

So, our wake up call was at 5:00 the next morning. We loaded our buses and took the short drive to the Taj Mahal where we were going to watch the sunrise. On a side note, the sun does not rise or set behind the Taj, which would have made it even more magnificent. If I had built it, the architecture would have been the same; I just would have changed the location slightly. Walking down the strip from the street the Taj, we were bombarded by beggars, some of which were selling anything from pens to keychains to peacock feather fans. I was the sucker who gave in and bought a ton of things from the children. If I could bargain with them down to 100 rupees, I bought it. It was $2.50 to me and it meant so much to them. I loved seeing the children’s faces when you said ‘yes’ because they were continuously going up to people asking if they wanted to buy something and they kept hearing ‘no.’

We arrived at the Taj and I immediately found Dannie and I was so excited! She had flown down independently with Eric. She originally was not going to go to the Taj Mahal and she was going to stay in Chennai, but in the end, a few days before arriving, she changed her mind and Eric decided that he wanted to go also. So I was so excited to see them!! Dannie and I walked around the Taj for an hour and then it was time for us to go. Dannie and Eric were going to head back to Delhi that day and stay at the hotel that we were going to be staying in the next night so that we could meet up again then.

We got back to the hotel, had breakfast, and then were taken on a shopping store. This shop was somewhat like the stores that rickshaw drivers had taken us too. It was very expensive and it was a factory where carpets were made. We thought we were going to village like stores. Oh well. We stayed there way too long before heading back to the hotel for lunch. After lunch we were taken to Fatehpur Sikri. It is a deserted city 25 miles from Agra. Emperor Akbar built it as his capitol to honor a Muslim Saint who prophesized the birth of an heir. Its red sandstone palaces are still in a remarkable state of preservation. Then we went to Agra Fort, which contains halls and palaces of the Mughals. After that, we went back to watch the sunset at the Taj Mahal.

Our next stop was Pizza Hut, yes Pizza Hut, which I love by the way even in India. After a while everyone has had enough of the ethnic food. So, SAS decided to schedule us dinner at Pizza Hut and it was amazing. The waiters also put a show on for us with great music and great dancing. I have it on video but I don’t know how to post it on here so I will have to show everyone when I get home. So, after Pizza Hut, we went back to the train station to head back to Delhi on an express, much nicer train. I missed the old train though. I liked having my three seats to spread out on. This train had normal, slightly reclining airplane seats and no leg room. I didn’t sleep at all, and instead talked the whole time to two other girls. I was exhausted but uncomfortable and I knew I would get to sleep at the hotel.

We got to the hotel around 11:00pm and the first person I saw was Brenna! She came running up to me a gave me a huge hug and I was just as happy to see her. She had done India indy with a friend from school named Max. She had a good time but would much rather have been with me or Dannie, who she had also found earlier that night at the hotel. There were a bunch of SAS groups staying at this wicked nice hotel, and I had told Brenna and Max and Dannie and Eric to come stay there too. There was a bar and a club in the hotel, but Brenna, Dannie and I just spent the night talking before going to sleep. Brenna, ready for a break from Max, spent the night on Eric and Dannie’s couch. Fortunately, there were 2 keys this time so I could not lock Sami out again. It still seems surreal to me, bumping into friends in foreign countries, although I know they are there since we arrive on the ship together. It is really cool.

The next morning we got to sleep. Wake up calls were at 8:00 for an 8:30 breakfast, but I slept through it and went right to the bus at 9:15. We were going to have a tour of New Delhi. We drove past the war memorial, the Parliament House, the Secretariat building and the president’s house, before visiting the Gandhi museum. We only had a half hour at the museum, which was very disappointing because there was so much to see. I took pictures of a lot of the things that I wanted to read so I could read them when I got home. The museum was beautiful and there was a garden with his final footsteps to the spot where he was assassinated. I definitely would have skipped the other stuff to have more time there. We left the museum and went back to the hotel for some final shopping and lunch, before heading to the airport. It was the busiest 3 days of my life but so worth it. I had a wonderful time and would love to go back with the people that I love.

On my final day in India, I went with Dannie, Andrea, Kevin, Kelsey and a few other people back to the shopping plaza to get a few more things that I had wanted to buy. I hardly bought anything while other people were complaining that they spent way too much money. I loved the fact that I saved money, but now after the fact, I wish I had bought more. Oh well, I will just have to go back. We had dinner at the mall before heading back to ship. I loved India! I know a lot of people had mixed feelings because of the filth, but I looked through the dirt and saw the culture. Although I would not want to live there, I definitely hope to return someday to travel the country and see the Taj Mahal again.

Brenna, me, and Kelsey on the rickshaw in India

Dannie, me and Deb at the Taj!!!

me at the TAJ!

me with my peacock fan and my bindi outside the TAJ

me wathcing the sunset at the TAJ!

SEA OLYMPICS

2007-03-21T17:37:00.000-07:00

Sunday was a day of no classes, but by no means was it a day of vacation. We were woken up at 8:00am for opening ceremonies for the sea Olympics. Each hallway is a certain sea; my sea is the Arabian Sea. And each sea had a color and our color was white. The day was going to be filled with competition ranging from trivia to ping pong to synchronized swimming. My contribution was the opening ceremony. I was on the committee that came up with the chant/song and made the banner. I was not the most helpful person. I would have participated in more events but there was nothing I was passionate about while other students REALLY wanted to do certain events. The day got off to a good start and we got 3rd place for our chant. I think it was partially because we had no explicit lyrics while other teams did. It just seems like common sense not to because our professors are watching along with their children and the life long learners. Oh well. I did not have very high hopes for my team, I am not sure why. I watched a few things, including the synchronized swimming and the limbo just to cheer my friends on. I also watched the lip-synching which was what locked us into 2nd place. I was very impressed. You may be wondering what the prize was for this competition, and dad, I am sure you will be very pleased by this. The 1st place team will be first off the ship on May 14th, the 2nd place team will be second off the ship, and so on. Generally, the disembarkation process takes about 7 hours, but being the 2nd place team means that I will be off the ship relatively early. There were about 10 teams. The sea Olympics was fun and I have some funny pictures to share with you guys. But while a lot of it was going on, I watched the Illusionist with Kelsey since I had fallen asleep the previous time I tried watching it.

The dean and professors considered this a day off. But it wasn’t. A day off is a day where you can catch up on work you have fallen behind in and maybe even get ahead for the next week. This day was more jam packed than any school day. I guess the professors realized this and the dean called a meeting where they decided that they are going to lighten the load of work. The problem is, they are trying to give us a normal semester’s amount of work, when in reality, it’s not possible. They don’t want us to do work while in port and they aren’t expecting us too. Everyone is stressed out and they are recognizing it and I look forward to seeing how things are going to change. This far, I am doing very well in 3 of my courses. The required one, Global Studies, is torture and I’m definitely not the only one who thinks so.

Ashley and I ready for opening ceremonies of the sea olympics to begin

TUTU announcing that the olympics had begun!

MAURITIUS!!!

2007-03-21T17:27:00.000-07:00

So far I am right; nothing will beat South Africa. Mauritius was fun; but just like I expected there was not much to see and not much to do. Some of the students spent the 3 days getting drunk, which gives not only SAS a bad name, but also Americans a bad name. Others, like me, took advantage of the beautiful beach and the marketplace. We were supposed to arrive at 8:00am on Thursday the 15th of March. However, we did not end up getting there till noon. This would not have been a huge deal, except that we did not have long in Mauritius anyway. Personally, I would rather it be there that we have less time than anywhere else since I am more looking forward to other places. So, we arrived and I got off the ship with Brenna, Jaime, Derron, Terron and Eric. We walked around and got to know the port before heading down to the marketplace. The area that the boat was, was very Americanized. There was a McDonald’s and a Pizza Hut and a very nice mall. However, I did not realize until later that in the mall, there was a marketplace. Obviously it was cleaner and higher priced, but that made it vary from the states at least a little. After exploring the marketplace, we sat down for a nice Indian meal, which ended up costing about 4 dollars a person. Mauritius is a combination of African and Indian cultures, resulting in an amazing selection of food. After dinner, some people headed to the casino, while Brenna and I, along with some other girls, headed back to the ship. I was ready to go to sleep when some of the girls mentioned the villas. About 200 SASers rented villas at Flic ‘n Flac Beach and I knew that a lot of my friends were there. A small group of us were supposed to go but some of them backed out at the last second, so Brenna and I ended up jumping into a cab ourselves. It was fun being able to be with several groups of friends at one time.

The next morning a huge group of SASers headed out to eat before heading to the beach. The beach was beautiful. Personally, I do not like swimming in ocean water, but this was like bath water. The water was so blue and so clear. After pruning, we headed back to the ship. A lot of SASers were spending the second night at the Villas as well, but at least Brenna and I were sleeping on the ship. That night, we went out to eat and then out to the casino. I changed 15 dollars into coins and played for hours. When I was ready to go, I got 10 dollars back, meaning I entertained myself for hours on 5 dollars. It doesn’t get much better than that. I haven’t been to the casino since the Dominican, and most of you know how I LOVED the slot machines there, and these were just as fun. I found my lucky machine and kept winning. Jay (Joanna) was planning to go out to a club that night. But when I called her when we got back, she had changed her mind and was already sleeping. So instead, I put the Illusionist in to watch, but fell asleep after about 10 minutes.

Saturday morning I walked around the port area myself. I got the souvenirs that I had been looking for and did exactly what I wanted to do, which is always fun. Of course there are 701 other students I couldn’t help but meet up with many of them. I joined one group for lunch and then another group for dinner. Brenna has been buying t-shirts in every port but since this was such a short one and she had done an SAS trip that day, she had yet to buy one. We finished dinner at around 8:30pm when on ship time was at 9:00. we should have headed straight back to the boat but we found some open stores. She was able to get her t-shirt and I was able to use the rest of my rupees. It worked out well, but all of a sudden it was 8:50 and we still had to take the water taxi back to the boat area. We booked it and there were a lot of other students in the same situation. If you are not back by on ship time, which is 2 hours before the ship leaves, you get dock time. This means that in the next port, you cannot get right off the ship when we dock. You have to wait a certain amount of time. That time is determined by how many minutes you are late. Every minute you are late equals ten minutes of dock time, which adds up very quickly. Luckily, we swiped in at 8:59. We were lucky and ready to leave Mauritius.

I did not take my camera with me to the beach for fear of losing or breaking it, so I have to get some pictures from friends. Until then, I have pictures from two separate dinner occassions to hold you over picture wise :) ...

this is Candace, Jay, me, Brenna and Jaime at a Chinese food restaurant.

this is Jaime, Brenna and me at a Sports bar.

AMAZING!!

2007-03-11T20:07:00.000-07:00

Today we started classes again and it’s so hard to get back into the swing of things. Its like being on vacation every other week in a new place, then by the time you get back into a routine, its another week of vacation in another new place. And the clock keeps changing and we keep losing sleep. The last 2 nights have been so rocky. Most of the time it has been hard to believe we are on a ship. Until you look out the window and see how beautiful it is and that there is no land anywhere around you no matter how far you look. I know I am writing sporadically right now, but that is how I am thinking. It is just so incredible to be on a ship going around the world at 20 miles per hour. It really is. I am so lucky it’s hard to believe it. I have been waiting for this and looking forward to this for so long, it is still hard to believe that it is here. It really is amazing!

I LOVE SOUTH AFRICA!

2007-03-11T10:44:00.000-07:00

me, andrea and dannie on Long Street

g
me and dannie and the ship in the background along with a beautiful sky
g
here are the lions the Edwin promised us and made it a reality

zebras!! right next to our jeep!
g
Hyena!! Edwin was not expecting to see this and it scared him too!

the bull!

here is the 10 of us :)

me with a little boy i met at the township visit. you all know i love kids!

me watching the beautiful sunset in cape town.

i just thought this was an amazing picture that someone took of Erik taking a picture of Hilary, Dannie and me.

The two days before we arrived in South Africa, Archbishop Desmond Tutu spoke to our global studies class. That is the class that everyone is required to take. When he speaks, he tells stories and always ends with the moral of the story. He is amazing to listen to. He is so inspirational, and you know what else; he is so funny. He laughs a lot, he dances, and he is genuinely a nice person. I have some of his lecture on video so I can see what I can do about posting at least one.
On Friday we arrived in South Africa! We arrived just as the sun was rising and it was one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen. With Table Mountain in the background and the sun peeking through, it was amazing. After watching the sunrise, I went back to bed since we were not going to be able to leave the boat for a while anyway.

first day in Cape Town was spent wandering around Cape Town with a small group of people. We did a little shopping at the mall right where the boat docked, and then made our way to Long Street. Long Street is full of restaurants and more shopping. We ate outside at an amazing restaurant called Zula’s, which was on the second floor overlooking the entire street. I also tried the local beer, Black Label. I hate beer but this one was not that bad. I would have to say that it is my favorite beer. There was live music at the restaurant as well. It was a great start to South Africa.

That night, everyone went out on Long Street. We were looking for a club with music and dancing but all we were able to find were bars. Semester at Sea-ers (SASers) take over the city that we arrive in. It makes every bar and restaurant crowded and although it is good for the economy, it sucks for us. So the small group of people I was with found a bar that SASers had not found yet. There was a pool table in the back and music was playing. It was so small so we hoped that the crowds of SASers would not find it. Unfortunately, there was no such luck. Tons of SASers crowded into this little whole in the wall place. It was fine, we had found it first and already had seats, so everyone else was out of luck. When that bar got too crowded we walked down Long Street looking for something else that was not too crowded. There was nothing, SAS had taken over Long Street. So the group of people I was with decided that they were going to go down to the waterfront. Dannie and I being the tired lazy people that we are, decided to go back to the boat. Our safari was leaving at 4:30 the next morning. Some of the people going to the waterfront were also going on our safari, but we wanted some sleep.

Ten of us were supposed to be meeting at a set spot at 4:30am to head to the airport; Max, Eric, Dannie, Brenna, Hilary, Kelsey, Jamie, Robyn, Alex and me. 5:00 rolled around and Alex was still nowhere to be found. We thought it was a lost cause. We called her room millions of times and the boys knocked so hard on her door in case she was sleeping that they almost broke the door down. We were all upset about it but none of us wanted to miss our flight, so we left without her. We got the airport by 5:30 for our 7:00 flight. Everyone was exhausted. Having lost my phone in Brazil, I bought a phone card but couldn’t figure out how to use it. We got some small snacks before heading through security. Jamie was the only one that decided to have a sit down breakfast, so we left her eating and the 8 of us went through security.

The way the airport worked, arriving at your ‘gate’ did not meaning arriving at the plane. At the gate there was a shuttle you had to take to you plane. To get on the plane, you walked from outside, up the actually stairs of the airplane. So while waiting at the gate, we see Jamie coming who had finally finished eating. And who is she with? Alex! It was amazing and we were all so happy. We felt so bad leaving her. Her roommate had gotten ‘sick’ and she was helping her all night before falling asleep herself. Our calls and knocks did not wake her up. She woke up on her own at 6:00, got into a cab to the airport and was walking through security at 6:45 for our 7:00 flight. It was crazy!

I slept the entire two-hour flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg. When we got off the plane, there was an O’Neill sign for us telling us where to go. Brenna had made the reservations and that was her last name. (Sidenote: it was weird that we had made these plans before anyone knew each other, when we all ended up meeting and hanging out and liking each other. It was an amazing group to go to the safari with.) There were 2 other SAS groups that had booked an indy safari using the same company. One was a group of 20 and the other was a group of 19. Each group had their own bus. Now we had a 5-hour bus ride to Kruger. So again, we could all get some more sleep. We stopped half way through for lunch with the other SASers before continuing on our way.

When we arrived, the group of 20 was taken somewhere else, and about 5 of the group of 19 went with them. We were going to be sharing a campground with like 14 other people. There were 12 tents set up for us, 2 people per tent. I was with Dannie. We through our stuff in a tent and then we loaded to jeep for our afternoon drive. The first day was amazing! We saw everything from impalas (deer), to giraffes, to zebras, to buffalo, to elephants, to rhinos…. The scenery was breathtaking. There were animals everywhere and we were all constantly on the look out. It was so much fun and our tour guide, Edwin, was partially responsible for that. He was great. He did everything he could to make this an amazing experience for us.

We got back to the campground right as night fell. We were served a delicious dinner and a really long table. There was a convenient store at the campground (we were obviously by no means roughing it) so some of us bought some ice cream after dinner and spent the night talking about how lucky we were to be there. We talked about how it didn’t seem real; it almost seemed like the animals were computer controlled and we drove by someone was saying ‘cue elephants.’ It was amazing! Everyone was asleep by like 9:00, which is earlier than anyone has gone to sleep in a long time.

The next morning we woke up before the sun did, around 4:30am. We had tea and biscuits before doing our morning drive. We were constantly talking about wanting to sea lions and we could tell how badly Edwin wanted to make that happen for us. Do far, no luck. Along with the same animals as the previous drive, we saw a hyena and a wild boar. These animals were feet from our jeep. There were males and females interacting, mothers and their babies interacting. There were monkeys everywhere including our campground. We saw alligators and hippos, we saw beautiful birds, and we watched the sunrise. It was amazing. There really is no other word to describe it and I hope that you will be able to understand at least a little bit of it when I post my pictures.

We were back around 9:00 where we had a full fledge breakfast with eggs and cereal. After that, it was naptime, naturally. It was hot as hell though so naptime did not last very long. Being in the tent at this time was not very enjoyable. So when I came out, there were two groups of people playing cards. Let’s just say I sat down with the right group of people. They were playing the game ‘camps.’ It is kind of hard to explain, but Pop and Paco, who I know love cards, I will be sure to teach the game to when I get home:) It is a partner game that involves secret signals and we had so much fun playing. I was partners with Shaan, an SASer from the other group, and we kicked everyone’s butt. Isaiah and Max and Kelsey and Leimer gave is some competition, and Isaiah and Max think that they won, but Shaan and I know differently.

Before arriving in South Africa, they lectured to us over and over again not to pet the dogs and not to pet the monkeys. During one of the lectures, Brenna whispered to me that she was going to be the idiot that gets bit by a monkey. And you know what, she was. She was taking pictures of the monkeys before she realized that maybe she was a little too close. So she turned to walk away and a monkey pounced on her. I didn’t see it but Hilary did. I would have paid to be there. It wrapped its arms around her calf and she had to shake it off. It didn’t break skin so no one was worried; it just scratched her and left a bruise since apparently monkeys are strong. She asked the tour guide what kind of monkey it was so that she could buy a post card of it; it was a vervet. I was in the tent with Dannie at the time and heard her scream and new exactly what it was. It was so funny.

Lunch was served at 2:00. Again, the food was great which has to be hard when you are serving 20++ people at a campground. Then around 4:00 we left for our afternoon drive. Animals are amazing and more than that, seeing them in an uncontrolled environment is amazing. They are wondering around doing whatever it is that they need to do to survive. No one is serving them three meals a day or cleaning their cages, they are free to do what they want. We spent a lot of the time singing Lion King, and then when that got old we sang every Disney song under the sun. Unfortunately I have the ‘Cotton voice’ so I let other people lead and just quietly sang along with them.

During this drive, Edwin took us to this rock that looked out on miles and miles of the reservation. It was amazing and we got some great group shots of us there. It was beautiful. We could see the necks of some giraffes roaming around. It was like Pride Rock from the Lion King. Kelsey is small so I chased her around for a minute trying to get her to be my baby Simba and I, Rafiki could hold her up and show her, her kingdom, but she didn’t like that idea. We laid down on the rocks and took funny pictures of each other. It was a great way to spend some of out drive. We wanted to stay longer but the gates to the camp close at a certain time and we were cutting it close.

For our classes on the ship, we all need to talk to locals and ask them certain questions relating to our classes. So throughout the drive we were throwing questions at Edwin and he was more than willing to talk about anything and everything. My questions get pretty personal since I am taking a women’s psych course and a class on race. I don’t know if he was open to talking about stuff because he knew it was for educational purposes or if it was just because it is the way he is. Either way, he was great to talk to and all of us got information that we needed out of him.
That night was even more fun than the night before. The convenient store sold liquor for really cheap, so people bought several bottles of wine and champagne. The tour provided us with beer and box wine at dinner, but of course Americans want more than that. So about 10 of us stayed up pretty late playing cards with Edwin. He picked up really quickly and was very good at the game. We all shared wine and stuff but fortunately no one got drunk since we had to wake up so early the next morning as well.

Although not everyone playing with us was in ‘our’ safari, we still talked about wanting to see Lions. So Edwin, being the amazing tour guide that he was, told us that everyone else was waking up at 4:30 to leave by 5:00, he promised us lions if we could leave by 4:30. We needed to be the first to leave. We were all ok with that idea and the people that were not in our group were sad about it. Around 10:00pm, while we were playing cards, other people had already gone to sleep. One guy came out and yelled at us. If he had asked us politely to be quiet, we probably would have listened. But he was a dick about it, so instead we did nothing. We paid the same amount of money to be there as he did, it was still early, and he was probably just jealous that he wasn’t having as much fun as we were. We all still went to bed early that night, although it was not as early as the night before.

The next morning we were all ready to leave at 4:30. Edwin knew exactly where to take us and he sped all the way there. Sure enough, there were 4 female lions walking down the street together. It was amazing! He told us that their stomachs looked full meaning that they had just caught something and ate it. Females hunt for their food together. They walked right passed the jeep and continued on their way. Edwin was so happy. Apparently they only see lions twice a week, so he went out on a limb by promising us, but he made it happened and we were all so happy about it. He was so cute too when he saw them; he threw his arms up in the air and quietly yelled ‘lions, lions, lions!’ After that we saw more of the animals we had already seen. We also saw hippos out of the water. Who knew they ever left the water haha.

We had previously decided that we were going to tip Edwin. He was great and he made all of our wishes come true. The dollar is worth a lot in South Africa. One dollar is worth over 7 rand, but we would just round down to seven. So we collected 100 rand from each of us, meaning that we would give him 1,000 rand. By each contributing 100 rand, it was tipping him about 14 dollars. We said our goodbyes and handed him the money before walking away. Brenna and I so badly wanted to see his reaction. So we only walked away a little bit before having a pretend conversation. His smile was the biggest smile I had ever seen in my life. He then skipped back over to where the other guides where and told them something, and then made some phone calls. The smile did not leave his face. We later learned that they make 1,300 rand a month. We just about doubled his month’s salary. They work 21 days and then have 6 days off. We each paid 500 dollars, or 3,500 rand to be there. And they probably do countless tours in those 21 days. They should be getting paid more. But it made sense why Edwin was so happy. It was amazing to have been a part of that. We then packed up our stuff, and loaded the bus for our 5-hour ride back to the airport. The safari was amazing!

We got back around 9:00pm on Monday and pretty much we all went right to sleep. It was an amazing three days but it definitely wore us out. The next day, a lot of my friends were doing a field directed practicum (fdp) so I decided that I was going to do a township visit on my own. I signed up for a bunch of things regarding children but I guess those were the popular ones and I didn’t win in the lottery for any of them.

So there was a township visit leaving at 8:30 the next morning, so I was there at 7:00 so that I could be first on the wait list incase someone didn’t show up or someone wanted to sell their ticket. Being first didn’t necessarily pay off since like 5 people wanted to sell their tickets, but at least I got to go. For so long I have done what other people want to do, I have let other push me around and I was so excited to finally be doing exactly what I wanted to do; I was going to Khayelitsha.

It started out slow with some history lessons (the word Khayelitsha means new village) and a tour of the public places in the township. We learned that in certain areas there are no bathrooms and instead there is a field where you have to walk to if you have to go. The government allows these townships to exist because there is nothing else they can do about it. The people build their own makeshift houses with whatever material they can find, and then the government provides them running water and minimal electricity. There are schools in the township as well as little stores where people can buy the things that they need. We then ended up visiting three craft markets, which is a huge source of income for the township, and visited three different schools. I LOVED playing with the children and I could have stayed there ALL day. We were rushed the whole time, which sucked, but at least I got to play a little bit. Seeing how these people live was mind-boggling. I cant even put it into words but hopefully through my pictures you will be able to get some understanding.

We got back in the early afternoon. Since I had not known anyone on my township visit, I jumped in a van with some girls to go to the Green Market Square, which is where all the handmade crafts are sold. It was a huge area with more stuff than I ever could have imagined. Everything was cheap and haggling was great. I then bumped into Brenna, Hilary and Kelsey and stuck with them the rest of the time in the market. Kelsey had heard about this place that was a mall and a market that she wanted to go to, so the 4 of us jumped in a cab and took the ride over. I was very disappointed because it was nothing more than a mall, a regular priced mall, which I can go to at home. Hilary and Kelsey split up and went shopping, while me and Brenna stayed together complaining and looking for the most comfortable places to sit. We found these giant red bean bag like chairs and sat on them in the store until our meeting time came.
We got back pretty late so a lot of our other friends had already left for dinner. So the four of us got dressed and went out. It was so much fun. I hate being in huge groups where no one really gets to do what they want since there really is always one leader. Being just the four of us, we knew that we could go wherever we wanted to go. We went to this Mexican place right by the ship and shared a drink called the fish bowl. We talked to this really racist guy because for our classes, we need to get different people’s point of views on a variety of things. And then we made our way to a club that all the SASers were going to. I know I said we all hate going to SAS infested clubs, but it seemed like the place to be.

It was fun at first because we thought the music would get better, but it never did. People were coming and going the whole time so it’s not like we made it an early night, we just didn’t stay out as late as other people. Besides, the next morning we were going to Robben Island and I wanted to be rested for that.

The next morning, 8 of us had tickets for Robben Island; Brenna, Dannie, Hilary, Jamie, Terron, Derron, Eric and me. Unfortunately, because of a computer error, we were unable to go and I was really upset about it. The day before, my original plan had been to go to the top of Table Mountain after the township, but I was not able to go because of the wind. I thought at least I was going to be able to do one of the 2 touristy things in Cape Town. Our tickets said one time but we were put into the computer as another time. So when we go there, we were told we missed our boat. They recognized their mistake but said that all the boats were sold out until Thursday so there was nothing they could do about it. We were pissed. We tried to make the best of a bad situation, so we went to eat. The crepes were delicious but it was not Robben Island.

We then decided that we were going to go to the beach to watch the sunset. However, it was early afternoon at that point. So I suggested we go to the market since my time at the market was cut short the day before. We all went and most of them hadn’t been before so they were happy with the decision. We stayed for about an hour and picked up Erik, another friend on our ship, before heading to Camps Beach. The beach itself was beautiful. There were mountains in the background, a bright blue sky, white sand, a grassy area between the sand and the sidewalk, and then a bunch of restaurants across from the beach. It was a very touristy area but it was still beautiful. When the sun was about to set, Hilary, Dannie and I climbed a huge rock to get the best view. And we did. It was amazing and I can’t wait to get my pictures posted. It was a beautiful sunset.

After that, we were ready to eat. Dannie and Erik headed home because there was poetry night somewhere else that they wanted to go to. I almost went with them but I am glad I didn’t because they ended up not going anyway and just going to sleep. So the rest of us went out to dinner. I finally had a salad, which I haven’t had in forever. The food was great and South Africa has great prices, even in what is supposed to be a fancy restaurant. We got back kind of late, around 9:00. Neither Brenna nor I wanted to go out so we just hung out a little bit before going to sleep. I know it was early and it was our last night in South Africa, but I had done so much in our short amount of time there that I was just beat.

I also had to be up at 4:30am to go cage diving. Let me just tell you that it was not what I expected. I did not have fun. Everyone I was with loved it but I just did not want to be there. We had a 2 and half hour drive where we were served breakfast. Then we got into the boat, and that ride was the most fun part of the entire day. We put wet suites on and then got into the cage 4 at a time. Andrea, Kevin, Dannie and I were like the last group to go in. This was an all day affair so from about 9:00 until 1:00 we just sat on the boat looking at sharks from above which also was more fun that going in the water. The water was murky and you couldn’t see more than a few inches in front of you. It was also freezing. We were in for a while when there was no activity and then one shark came, I missed it, and they told me to get out so that someone could have their second time in the cage. It was crap and I was pissed. It was a waste of money and a waste of a day in South Africa. I wish I had used that money for sky diving or something. Oh well. We headed back and were served a delicious lunch, another highlight of the day. We then started our drive back to the boat and got back around 5:00.

We all got home and needed to shower since we stunk of shark guts. Most of the people I went with then went out for one last meal but I wasn’t hungry so I went to the supermarket and then met up with them right before they finished eating. So I said good-bye to South Africa and headed back to the ship. It was a bitter last day but over all, I love South Africa, and this time I really do think that it is going to be hard to beat. I do know that I will come back here though. Some of us (Paco, Matt, Erin, Jamie, Tova…) have plans to go to the World Cup in 2010. This is a beautiful amazing country and I can’t wait to share it with the people that I love.

ps- Brenna wants me to tell everyone she knows that reads my blog that her computer is broken and she will update as soon as she can. She loves you!

BRAZIL!

2007-02-22T19:41:00.000-08:00

FINALLY!!! WE REACHED SALVADOR!!! But we already left again and now we are on our way to Cape Town!

The rest of the voyage to Brazil was very very long. We had a lot of class and our first test in global studies, out completely useless required course. The information we are learning about is very interesting and is stuff that I would love to know, but it is presented in a very poor manner. Everyone is disappointed.

On a more positive note, we just left Brazil last night! It was amazing. We arrived Saturday morning and me and my friends did not hesitate leaving the ship. We walked around Salvador and watched as everyone prepared for Carnaval. Although the celebration had already started, the main part was at night. One thing I did pick up from class was that it was started as a way to keep people’s cultures alive. Salvador is known for its unbelievable floats and costumes. The city itself is very poor, and it is just amazing the way that the people come together to celebrate their culture.

The way that the city it set up is that there is and ‘upstairs’ and a ‘downstairs.’ The ship docked downstairs, a few blocks from where the market was. That was ideal, so everyone pretty much headed there and took over the market place for a couple hours. It is very similar to a flea market. I bought a few things, and then we had lunch at the market as well. I wasn’t thrilled with the food, but it was cheap and we were starving. Then we took the elevator upstairs, which is where Carnival was taking place. Usually it costs five cents and only runs from morning until night, but during Carnival it is free and runs 24 hours a day. It was around 1:00pm and the party had already started. For some reason, a lot of men like to dress as women. There are half naked people running around, and some are a lot more than half naked. There is music playing everywhere and people dancing in the streets. Unfortunately pretty much everything is closed; the stores, restaurants, post office, malls… everything. Although I am sure some people were very happy to go to Brazil during Carnival, I think it made it difficult to actually learn a lot about the country itself since what it is like during Carnival is not what the country is like at all the other times of the year.

We returned to the ship around 2:00 to take a nap, and then headed back out. Since I was not going to have much time to explore Salvador, I wanted to do a lot now. Since we had an early lunch, we had an early dinner. I asked anyone and everyone if they knew where an open restaurant was, and finally we were directed to one. We had pizza which was actually very good, and I told all my friends that they needed to try Caiperinha, which is a drink made with a Brazilian liquor, sugar, water and lemons. Unfortunately, they were horrible at the place. It was basically like three tequila shots with a lime served in a Dixie cup. While we were eating, it started raining, so we decided to head back to the boat again. Some people went on the computer while others changed their clothes, we picked up some more people, and then headed back out to Carnival.

We thought it was crazy before but we really had no idea. We walked the entire city several times just watching people and watching what was going on. People old and young, dark and light, big and small, came together to dance and sing. It really was amazing. We found one spot where people were having a break dancing competition, so we stayed and watched for a while. The only thing to drink at Carnival is beer, people from age 8 to 80 are drinking it. Beer is not my thing though, and the people I was with were not big drinkers either, so it was fine and it was fun being the only sober people out of the 2 million in Salvador. From what people had told me and what I had learned about and seen pictures off, it was not what I expected. I expected crazier. Granted, I did call it a night around 11:00 or so, so it is possible that the craziness started later. But it was a lot of fun. That was all the Carnival I needed though. I was very happy to be leaving for the Amazon.

I got back, packed, and took a little nap before meeting my Amazon group at 1:20am in the Union, which is where global studies class is held. We loaded a coach bus to the airport for our 3:00 flight. Some people were still drunk from partying at Carnival. The flight was seven hours in total. Our plane stopped somewhere we didn’t know it was going to stop, let some people off, and then continued to Sao Paolo, which was where we had to change planes to get to Manaus. It is a very indirect route but it was the only available route during Carnival. I slept the ENTIRE time which was great and made it go a lot faster. When we got there, it was morning so we were all ready to start our first day in the Amazon.

Now, I am not sure of the order of things because it all seemed like one long day, so I am just going to write about everything that we did. Our accommodations were on a boat. We slept in hammocks and although there was a toilet for each sex, there was no shower. We were all going to be stinky. We went hiking, which is a feat when you are 3 degrees from the equator. We learned about how to survive if we are ever lost on the Amazon; what trees to eat, where to get water, how to climb a tree, what trees are hollow and used for banging against so that people can hear you and come find you. We hiked and hiked and hiked. We saw where the Rio Negro and the Amazon River meet however, did you know that they do not mix? There is basically a line where one ends and the other begins. It’s like oil and water. One has black water and the other has clear water. We went Alligator hunting and catching, piranha fishing, and swimming in those same waters. I held an anaconda, an alligator and a sloth and I decided that I want a pet sloth. (I thought of you Pop while holding themJ) We visited native villages where I feel in love with the children and wanted to take at least one home with me. I have some beautiful pictures I will try to post soon. We learned about how they survive, what they do for work, and we got tours of their villages. We also shopped at their ‘souvenir’ shop, which was how they make a living. It was an amazing experience and the highlight of the Amazon for me. They have nothing, except the most beautiful view in the world to wake up to every single morning.

Our tour guides were great. They could answer any question we may have had about the Amazon. They were both born and raised in a village in the Amazon, like the people that we saw. They were passionate about what they were doing, and they do it non-stop throughout the year with very little time off.

The food on the ship was amazing. Although I have been a vegetarian since leaving home, the non-meat products were delicious. For the fish eaters, we kept the piranhas that we caught and they were cooked up for dinner. It was nasty looking but everyone said it didn’t taste like much. There was not much meat on the fish.

We saw a show at a lodge in the city before heading to the airport for out flight back. We again had to switch planes, but in Brasilia this time. And, we had a three-hour lay over. Imagine 60 people sleeping on the floor of the airport…that was what we did. We arrived back at our ship around noon, ready to experience a few more hours in Salvador since Carnival was now over.

I got back, and took my first shower since Saturday. It was amazing. Then I was going to take a nap but my friends were ready to go out. None of them had gone to the Amazon with me, we all did our own thing. Some went to Rio, some stayed in Salvador, other went to a small island elsewhere, so it was fun to share our experiences, as well as make new friends on my trip. So we went back to the market, did a little more shopping, and then went to a typical Brazilian restaurant. A churrascaria where they come to you with different types of meet none stop until you turn your green light to a read light. There is also a normal buffet. (Kind of like Ipanema for those from Boston, but of course this was the real thing:) ) It was amazing and it felt so good to eat some protein. Some people got dessert but I just couldn’t. It was the first time I have been full in a very long time. We had to be back on the boat by nine o’clock, so after stuffing our faces, we got back in a taxi and went back to the ship.

A lot of people say that they do not think that any other stop on this voyage will beat Brazil, but I beg to differ. I have high hopes for South Africa…

Andrea, Kevin, Dannie and me in the market

with the elevator to the upper city behind us.

This is the 5 year old girl i fell in love with at one of the two

villages that we visited. Her name is Erica.

Me and Jika at the second village that we visited.

Me and Liz after a wicked long hike in the AMAZON.

these three are for you Pop!

Me holding the snake of the Amazon, the Anaconda.

My new favorite animal, the sloth! It's so cute!

Can you tell im nervous?

On the way to Brazil!

2007-02-13T14:16:00.001-08:00

Hey guys! Saturday and Sunday were days of classes, which I cant complain about since we don’t have classes when we are in port. We do have a ton of work though. I did not expect it to be easy, but each night, each teacher assigns about 60 pages of reading, which is a lot. Especially when you are in a giant cradle and all you want to do is go to sleep. Nothing too exciting has happened. We eat every meal out on the deck because although it may be windy, its gorgeous and hard to pass up. It’s fun having lettuce come flying at you with every bite. The food is ok sometimes and other times it is horrible. I don’t mind though. No matter how much I eat, I am always hungry, and so is everyone else. So I would rather not like it and eat less and not gain the dreaded study abroad weight that people talk about.

The nights on the ship are basically filled with homework and a few breaks to talk to friends. The entire ship is in a class together so it is fun to complain about those readings together. Some people play cards, others play board games, me and my friends just hang out and talk. It sounds really boring, but its not. Sometimes it is, which is when I just go and try to get some work done. There is a lounge area that we spend a lot of time in. Especially when it is really windy. We were getting into a small storm last night so we went outside last night and had fun with the wind on the deck. I know it sounds weird, but can you think of anything else to do? It actually is a lot of fun. The people are really nice.

I am doing this thing called Vicarious Voyage where schools in different areas are set up to write you letters in different ports, and you are expected to write them letters back and send them stuff from certain countries. I happen to be in a group with my friends’ roommate. She is from Nebraska, but the school that we have is in Mass, so when I get back I plan on visiting them. We have a first grade class in Westwood. We are collecting stuff to sent them and writing them letters. It should be fun.

Today was really hott, and although I did not spend much time outside, I think I got burnt. We are going to pass the Equator at noon tomorrow which should be fun. I know a lot of people are planning on shaving their heads, guys and girls. Although it would be an experience, I am opting not to do it. I would not make a good baldie and the jew-fro growing back is not very cute. We arrive in Brazil on Saturday during Carnaval, and then Sunday morning at 4:30 am, I leave for the Amazon. I am very excited to not only be in Brazil, but to be on land as well. I will let you know if anything else interesting happens, but I hope you are all have fun at home/school and I can’t wait to read your comments!

MY FIRST PICTURE POST

2007-02-09T19:17:00.000-08:00

Dannie and Brenna are on either side of me, and Kim is on the right in green. And obviously Dan is in the stripes lol. This was in the lobby of the Atlantis.

PUERTO RICO!!!

2007-02-09T19:13:00.000-08:00

The last few days have been filled with meeting and lectures on learning how to be safe in Puerto Rico, learning what to do and what not to do. Yesterday morning we docked early but were not able to get off the ship until around 10am. I walked around Old San Juan with a group of people. The city is beautiful. The water here is so blue and the weather is perfect. I think we walked the entire island and I am so sore today. We got a drink at a local bar and saw El Morro which is a fort located on the water. All of the sights here are breathtaking and I am going to have to figure out how to load pictures onto the blog so you can see. Last night we went out to a local bar as well, but I was so tired I made it an early night. Today we all slept in and then I navigated the public transportation with two other girls, Brenna and Ashley. Some people went to the beach but I was not in the mood for that today. We got a few things at Walmart and got a tour of the city on the public bus. It was fun and I am proud of us for doing it. Now I am back in my room for a little but I have to get ready soon to go the bioluminescent bay. I don’t know exactly what it is, but I am excited. So in my next post I will let you all know how it went. I love and miss you all!

Ok, so I wrote that yesterday but didn’t post it, so I figured I would add what I did last night and today to the same post…

The bioluminescent bay was beautiful. A few of us filled the hour and a half bus ride with great conversation. When we got there, we were given some direction and then put into kayaks. Everyone had A LOT of trouble controlling the kayaks and we all kept running into each other and into the rocks and trees. We kayaked through mangrove tunnels before arriving at the bay itself. There are only three in the world and they are all in Puerto Rico. There are several all over the world but the cold weather makes the electrolytes disappear, so the three with the brightest electrolytes are all here. The guide explained how it worked but it was too scientific for me to remember. Basically, when you or anything touched or moved the water, it glowed. We got out and swan around for a little before kayaking back and making the hour and half drive back to our ship. When I got back, I was starving, so I called some friends and we went out to get something to eat; Dannie, Andrea, Brenna, Kevin and I went to a local bar for food and drinks. It was a fun last night in Puerto Rico.

Today we slept in, stayed on the ship for breakfast, and then headed out to find an internet café and a post office. We did both. And we also did some souvenir shopping which is always fun. It was a very low-key day.

On another note, my cabin number is 4119. If you want to sent letters or mail to the ports, make sure to put the cabin number on it in big bold letters. ThanksJ

I'm on the ship!

2007-02-05T09:02:00.000-08:00

Hey guys! I miss you all so much! I am having a great time! We are sailing now going as fast as we ever go, 20 mph. My roommate is really nice, her name is Mary and she is from Texas. She has a boyfriend she has been with for five years, so obviously she has been telling me all about him as I tell her all about PacoJ She is a sophomore at the university of Texas and she is an education major. She is really sweet and she doesn’t smoke and she is not too religious, so it’s great. We get along very well but we also are both making our own friends, which is great! I have been hanging out with the same group of people that I met at the Atlantis. It is really nice to have people to look for, hang out with, eat with, and be with at night. There is no drinking which is totally fine with me and it just means that there is a lot of talking and getting to know each other which is great. My group consists of Dannie, who I met in Florida, Kim, who I flew down with, Dan who was also on my flight, Brenna and Monica who I have been talking to online for a while and then we met up at the Atlantis, Kevin who does work study with Dannie, and several other people who I will probably tell you more about in the next emails. We are having tons and tons of orientations and stuff telling us how to use the internet, how to do this, how to do that, whats its gonna be like, how to be a successful community on the ship, safety, and lots of things. Its nice meeting the crew and faculty but the lectures are getting a little boring. Classes start tomorrow and I have to say, I am ready and I am ready to meet the people in my classes too. The boat you can sometimes feel moving, but for the most part it is totally fine. I still cannot believe I am here. I know the time is going to fly by, but I am excited!

BAHAMAS!

2007-02-03T21:57:00.000-08:00

hey guys! i left for the airport at 3:30 this morning for my 5:30 flight. thanks dad! i had no problem checking in or getting through security. i arrived at the gate and Kim was there with her mom and her boyfriend. they were so nice and we started talking right away. there were also 2 other guys at the gate who were going on semester at sea, but i didnt talk to them until the layover in philly. i found out their names were shawn and dan. the flight was easy and i slept, and upon arriving at baggage claim, we were offered drinks (bahama mamas) and we couldnt turn it down. dan, kim and i shared a cap to the atlantis, where we checked into our rooms, changed and headed down to the lobby to meet up with two other girls, brenna and monica. everyone is so nice! we walked on the beach and then swam in the lazy river, before returning to our rooms for a nap:) we woke up at around 8:00 pm, got dressed and went to dinner. after dinner, there were hundreds of students in the lobby. it was very overwhelming. i cant wait to meet everyone but it was hard to do it all at once. so about 15 of us got into a taxi van and went to a local bar. since everyone was tired and we have to wake up early in the morning to get on the ship, we called it quits before midnight. so far i am having a great time and i am enjoying everyones company and cant wait to meet everyone else. i love you all and you are all in my thoughts.

2007-01-27T17:03:00.000-08:00

For those of you who don't know, Archbishop Desmond Tutu is going to be sailing with us the entire time. In the past, he has done guest lectures, but never before has he been on the ship for the whole voyage.

What he has to say about his trip with SAS spring 2007:

"I have had and will have again this coming spring the good fortune to be a small part of a wonderful experiment in education called Semester at Sea," said Archbishop Tutu, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.

"The mission of this grand experiment has been to foster greater intercultural understanding by exposing its participants-young and old, students and faculty-to people and cultures around the world while providing them with a sea-going classroom in which to study and absorb what they've seen and learned."

Time Changes

2007-01-26T07:06:00.000-08:00

Here is the hourly difference between where I will be and EST:

I will be this amount of time different than you...

Nassau, Bahamas --> same time
San Juan, Puerto Rico --> one hour ahead
Salvador, Brazil --> two hours ahead
Cape Town, South Africa --> seven hours ahead
Port Louis, Mauritius --> nine hours ahead
Chennai, India --> ten hours ahead
Penang, Malaysia --> thirteen hours ahead
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam --> twelve hours ahead
Hong Kong --> thirteen hours ahead
Qindao, China --> thirteen hours ahead
Kobe, Japan --> fourteen hours ahead
Honolulu, HI --> five hours behind
San Diego, CA --> three hours behind

Some Food For Thought

2007-01-26T06:52:00.000-08:00

Everyone has spoken to people who have claimed that even though our system in the U.S. is flawed, "its the best one out there" or "it's the only one that works". While on the internet, I cam across this and thought that I would share it, considering the voyage that I am about to partake in.

Where our country leads:
-highest number of billionares (371)-2004
-olympic medals (102)
-military abroad (460,000)
-total miles of roads (3.98 million)
-largest number of airports (14,858)
-gold reserves ($157.88 Billion)

Where we lag:
-Doctors (43 countries have more physicians per capita than we do)
-Infant deaths (33 countries have lower rates)
-Male life expectancy (residents of 27 countries live longer)
-Murders (15th highest murder rate)
-Prisoners (highest per capita rate of people in prison)
-Women in national legislatures (71 countries do better)
-Voting (of eligible citizens who vote, U.S. is 139th of 172 nations)
-Health care and maternity leave

Clearly, there are other systems out there that are working as well, if not better than that of the U.S. Maybe while on the Semester at Sea I will learn a few things to take back with me to this country:)

Mail

2007-01-26T06:12:00.000-08:00

Ok, so since I know that all of you want to send me mail, I am going to post my address in each country along with the last day that is suggested to send it to ensure that it gets to me before I leave that port. Although I would love to get packages, you are suggested to keep it to only letters. People do not generally send snail mail anymore, but since our internet will not be the most consistent, I figure this could be a lot of fun. I also plan on sending a lot of postcards from each port. So thanks in advance for the letters:)

ps- I do not have my cabin number yet and I will not get until I arrive on the ship. Once I get it, I will post it, and please, when addressing mail, but "cabin # ____" next to my name. thanks!

Puerto Rico: AIRMAIL no later than JAN 24th
Jordana Cotton
C/O: MV Explorer
Arrives February 7, 2007
Cruise Plus Service & Sales
1760 Fernandex Juncos Avenue
San Juan, PUERTO RICO, 00909

Brazil: AIRMAIL no later than FEB 3rd
Jordana Cotton
C/O: MV Explorer
Arrives February 17, 2007
Oceanus Agencia Maritima
Av. Estados Unidos, 397, Room 601-604
40018-900 Salvador, BAHIA-BRAZIL

South Africa: AIRMAIL no later than FEB 16th
Jordana Cotton
C/O: MV Explorer
Arrives March 2, 2007
John T. Rennie & Sons
PO Box 702, 1 Thibault House
8000 Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA

Mauritius: AIRMAIL no later than MAR 1st
Jordana CottonC/O: MV Explorer
Arrives March 15, 2007
Ireland Blyth Limited
1 Queen Street, PO Box 53
Port Louis, MAURITIUS

India: AIRMAIL no later than MAR 11th
Jordana Cotton
C/O: MV Explorer
Arrives March 25, 2007
J.M. Baxi & CO
52 Rajaji Salai
Chennai-600 001, INDIA

Malaysia: AIRMAIL no later than MAR 19th
Jordana Cotton
C/O: MV Explorer
Arrives April 2, 2007
Inchcape Shipping Services SDN
4th Floor Unit 4B
Wisma Saw Chong Thuah
39-c, Pengkalan Weld
10300 Penang, MALAYSIA

Vietnam: AIRMAIL no later than MAR 26th
Jordana Cotton
C/O: MV Explorer
Arrives April 9, 2007
General Forwarding & Agency
5th Floor Osic Building
8 Nguyen Hue Avenue
D. 1, Ho Chi Minh City, VIETNAM

Hong Kong: AIRMAIL no later than APR 3rd
Jordana Cotton
C/O: MV Explorer
Arrives April 17, 2007
Inchcape Shipping Services (HK) Ltd.
Units 1802-1805, 18th Floor
No 3 Lockhart Road
Wanchai, HONG KONG- CHINA

China: AIRMAIL no later than APR 7th
Jordana Cotton
C/O: MV Explorer
Arrives April 21, 2007
Penavico Qingdao
21 Wuxia Road Quingdao, 266002, P.R. CHINA

Japan: AIRMAIL no later than APR 11th
Jordana Cotton
C/O: MV Explorer
Arrives April 25, 2007
Inchcape Shipping Services
Kenryu Bldg II, Room 303
6, Kaigan-dori, Chu-ku Kobe-shi, Hyogo-Ken 650-0024, JAPAN

Hawaii: AIRMAIL no later than APR 23rd
Jordana CottonC/O: MV Explorer
Arrives May 7, 2007
Inchcape Shipping Services
Gentry Pacific Center
260 North Numitz Hwy, Suite 103
HONOLULU, Hawaii 96817, USA

My Itinerary and FAQs

2007-01-26T06:01:00.000-08:00

Hey guys! I am new to this whole blog thing and I don't quite get how it works yet, but I figured it was a good way to keep everyone updated while I am at sea. Here is the itinerary so you know what to expect for the next 100 days!

Feb 4th: Nassau, Bahamas
Feb 7th-9th: San Juan, Puerto Rico
Feb 17-21: Salvador, Brazil
March 2-8: Cape Town, South Africa
March 15-17: Port Louis, Mauritius
March 25-29: Chennai, India
April 2-5: Penang, Malaysia
April 9-14: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
April 17-18: Hong Kong
April 21-22: Qingdao, China
April 25-29: Kobe, Japan
May 7: Honolulu, Hawaii
May 14: San Diego, CA

Now, you might wonder exactly what the Semester at Sea is, so to answer a few basic questions, here are some very general answers:
-the program lasts from 4 February to 14 May
-there are about 650 students that will be aboard the former cruise liner with me
-there are 11 ports of call, excluding that of embarkation and de-embarkation
-Archbishop Desmond Tutu will be aboard the ship with us the entire time
-and lastly, yes, classes are taken daily onboard the ship, except while we are in port

I am taking 4 classes:
-global studies
-human reproduction
-psychology of women
-gender, class, race-ethnicity and social change