May 5, 2008
We left Costa Rica last night, Lindsay and I were so tired we passed out before 9:00 PM. Our two days spent there were filled with beach time, drinking and eating. We did a canopy adventure tour our first day. It was really fun! The zip lines were super long and the guides were funny. It was SO hot and SO humid, but zipping through the air was great! The trees and forestry weren't very green and flourishing, but it was still awesome. Mexican food came at the perfect time and I ate a ton of it. It was the perfect ending to a great semester.
As we got back on the ship and I swiped my card for the last time I had tears in my eyes. We are down to our last few days and I am not ready to leave. I don't think most of us are really. I believe that going home is going to be the biggest culture shock of them all. No one will ever understand all the experiences I went through except for these people I am with. This ship has become my home, a comfort to see at the end of the day. My roommate is a new sister that I never want to leave. We are a big, yet small, and connected community that wont ever be together again.
So I am on my way back and will see you all soon. We will make the trip through the Panama Canal and officially complete our circumnavigation around the world. I can't wait to share my adventures with you in more detail and show the hundreds of pictures that you wont want to see! And, you will all have to fill me in on the world at home that I wont recognize. Until then peace and blessings!
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Hawaii
April 23, 2008
Today we spent a total of around 15 hours in Honolulu, Hawaii. Basically just a bunker to fill up on gas and food for our ten day trip to Costa Rica. With such limited time I had to choose how I would spend it very wisely...SKYDIVING!!!!
The most unreal high of my life. Yes, I jumped out of a plane over the ocean. I was not really nervous until the plane ride up and up and up. Then I had to be the last to jump. So, I watched four girls go before me and at that point I would have been fine just landing the plane. That wasn't really an option though.
So, my guide Jason (who was harnessed to me) said ready and jumped. The sensation is unexplainable, there are no words to describe it. My stomach didn't jump to my throat at all, it didn't feel like a rollercoaster or anything like that. I fell through clear skies then entered a huge cloud which was cold and wet but so cool feeling. Suddenly the cloud cleared and the beautiful ocean was bright blue below me. A gorgeous view of the island and what has been my home land (ocean) for the past few months. After the one minute free-fall we released the parachute and it was so quite that we could have a full conversation with my friend whose parachute was not far away. Flying in the sky I was talking to my friend-so awesome.
We floated around for a few minutes and took it all in. I didn't wear shoes and I felt so free and happy. I held my video camera and recorded the entire thing. We went in for the landing and when my feet hit the ground I felt amazing. I wish I could describe it better to you all, but my words are doing me no duty.
I had top off the day with a big bang at night, so my friends and I went to Ruth Chris' Steakhouse and had the most amazing filets and desserts ever. I feel extremely sick to my stomach now, but it was definitely worth it. Overall I would say I got my day's worth in Hawaii.
Today we spent a total of around 15 hours in Honolulu, Hawaii. Basically just a bunker to fill up on gas and food for our ten day trip to Costa Rica. With such limited time I had to choose how I would spend it very wisely...SKYDIVING!!!!
The most unreal high of my life. Yes, I jumped out of a plane over the ocean. I was not really nervous until the plane ride up and up and up. Then I had to be the last to jump. So, I watched four girls go before me and at that point I would have been fine just landing the plane. That wasn't really an option though.
So, my guide Jason (who was harnessed to me) said ready and jumped. The sensation is unexplainable, there are no words to describe it. My stomach didn't jump to my throat at all, it didn't feel like a rollercoaster or anything like that. I fell through clear skies then entered a huge cloud which was cold and wet but so cool feeling. Suddenly the cloud cleared and the beautiful ocean was bright blue below me. A gorgeous view of the island and what has been my home land (ocean) for the past few months. After the one minute free-fall we released the parachute and it was so quite that we could have a full conversation with my friend whose parachute was not far away. Flying in the sky I was talking to my friend-so awesome.
We floated around for a few minutes and took it all in. I didn't wear shoes and I felt so free and happy. I held my video camera and recorded the entire thing. We went in for the landing and when my feet hit the ground I felt amazing. I wish I could describe it better to you all, but my words are doing me no duty.
I had top off the day with a big bang at night, so my friends and I went to Ruth Chris' Steakhouse and had the most amazing filets and desserts ever. I feel extremely sick to my stomach now, but it was definitely worth it. Overall I would say I got my day's worth in Hawaii.
Ship Life
My past nine days on the ship... well besides classes, working out and sleeping nothing really exciting goes on. I have been writing a ton of essays and preparing for finals. This might be my worst semester yet-as far as grades go. My fake family onboard had a special dining dinner one night. It consisted of a five course meal and was absolutely delicious! A great change from the regular ship food. There was a big silent and loud auction to raise money for different charities around the world. People donated things they had bought as well as things like a stay in their mountain cabin for a few days. From the loud auction alone we made more than $20,000.
We celebrated national GLBT (Gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans-gender) day with a great barbecue and ice cream party on the seventh deck. That night the members of GLBT put on a fashion show of all the fun stuff people bought in different ports.
There is a large Jewish community on board so we put together a big Passover Seder for the first night and the kitchen crew makes us special meals for lunch and dinner. It is so nice of them and the seder was so great! We even had Manischevitz! We said a lot of the prayers and definitely sang tons of the songs.
Everyone's sleeping patterns are so out-of-wack because of the time changes we have gone through. Basically no matter how early or late I go to bed, I always wake up at 4:00 AM and cant go back to sleep until my day is done. Sometimes I can take a nap if I am lucky. I've tried everything from Tylenol PM, Nyquil to hot tea-no luck.
The emotions throughout the ship are very odd. People are ready to get home already, but at the same time they don't want to leave. Going back into our real world seems to scare us all quite a bit. Going home might be the biggest culture shock we have to deal with.
We celebrated national GLBT (Gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans-gender) day with a great barbecue and ice cream party on the seventh deck. That night the members of GLBT put on a fashion show of all the fun stuff people bought in different ports.
There is a large Jewish community on board so we put together a big Passover Seder for the first night and the kitchen crew makes us special meals for lunch and dinner. It is so nice of them and the seder was so great! We even had Manischevitz! We said a lot of the prayers and definitely sang tons of the songs.
Everyone's sleeping patterns are so out-of-wack because of the time changes we have gone through. Basically no matter how early or late I go to bed, I always wake up at 4:00 AM and cant go back to sleep until my day is done. Sometimes I can take a nap if I am lucky. I've tried everything from Tylenol PM, Nyquil to hot tea-no luck.
The emotions throughout the ship are very odd. People are ready to get home already, but at the same time they don't want to leave. Going back into our real world seems to scare us all quite a bit. Going home might be the biggest culture shock we have to deal with.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Japan
If I ever studied abroad again I think Japan would be where I came. I absolutely loved it!
Our ship ported around 6 AM, but the Japanese government is so crazy that we had to have our temperatures taken and go through serious immigration and customs so we didn't get to leave the ship until around 12:30. As soon as we got off of the ship we took a few trains and made our way to Kyoto.
We walked through the Nijo-Jo Castle which is very different compared to all of the European castles I saw this past summer. There was barely any furniture, because they sit on the floor all of the time, so basically we just saw all of the different wall paintings in each room. The best part of the castle were the imperial gardens surrounding it. A few acres of land with beautiful cherry blossoms in full bloom! It was so peaceful walking through the zen garden of bonsai trees and beautiful flowers.
Afterward we caught a cab to the Philosopher's Walk where we hiked up the mountain a little bit and enjoyed the bright flowers and silence in the cold weather. It reminded me so much of home on a typical spring day, so much that it actually made me the most homesick I have been this entire semester. The walkway was next to a creek which made it even more serene. We walked until it was dark and no one else was around. All of us were in such good moods and couldn't have been happier, and then we found a sushi restaurant!
It was just a small place in the middle of this small-town feeling city. The owner/head chef was extremely nice and had his wife drive us around the city until we found an ATM that would take our American credit cards (note to anyone going to Japan: 7 Eleven is basically the only place to get cash). After a few stops we figured it all out and went back to the restaurant where we had a traditional Japanese sushi dinner: Shoes off, sit on the ground with feet stretched forward, hot tea to start, sake, then sushi rolls! I have never had such amazing sushi in my life. The miso soup was SO good I haven't stopped talking about it for days. I even tried this small fish that he took out of the fish tank and torched in front of me-freshest sushi I'll ever have. The locals that were eating there loved to watch us try everything and see how we reacted. They bought us some sake and taught us how to put on a kimono! I would have to say this was my top meal all semester. We were sad to say goodbye to our new friends and chefs, but we had to find dessert! So, we walked around the quiet town until we stumbled upon a restaurant that had a dessert menu where I got a banana spring roll with ice cream!
It was late and we still had a one hour train ride back to the ship so we said goodbye to the city of Kobe, which we have all fallen in love with.
The next morning we caught a three hour train to Tokyo and went straight to Disneyland!! Yes, my friends and I spent the day at Tokyo's Disneyland Resort riding roller-coasters with a bunch of Japanese people. It was so much fun and really funny! All of the characters were Americans (odd) and the parades were sung in English-the kids didn't seem to mind though. We stayed until dark and then headed to our hotel (15 minutes away) where we were supposed to meet up with our friends Will and Harrison.
An hour and a half and three trains later we were lost and in a cab which cost us $40 to get to the hotel, where we learned that the guys had already left because apparently they were not allowed to sleep in the same room as us (you must be married-who knew). So our plan to split the hotel room was out and the hotel was nowhere near the city and quite honestly a shit-hole. Not worth the $270. We walked out into the night with our backpacks on and no place to go. Our feet were aching and I needed to use the bathroom so I went into the 24-hour McDonald's which had a bidet with a music player, butt-wash sprayer, heated seat, deodorizer and fake-flusher sound. Unreal-I don't know what other buttons they could come up with. Every toilet I used in Japan was like this, quite a change from the squatters in China, Vietnam and India.
A long story short: it started pouring rain, we caught a train to a place more in the city, walked around until 1:30 AM when we found a nice hotel to stay in for a very reasonable price. We were exhausted and discovered I had lost my rail pass (which was very expensive and could be used for all trains in Japan). So what did I do... took a bath of course. No better way to relieve stress.
After a long sleep we woke up and hit the streets of Tokyo-my first stop: Krispie Kreme!!! Japanese people love their donuts. I waited in a 30 minute line in the cold and received one free, warm, glazed donut and proceeded to buy six others. I shared with my friends but it is safe to say I ate the majority and it didn't take me long.
We spent the day shopping around Tokyo (I got some goodies for my family :)) The city is HUGE... literally you could spend an entire week just covering the different sections of the one city. It is so clean and everyone is so nice, it makes you wonder why places like NYC cant be like that. We shopped till we dropped into our train seats for our 3 hour ride back to the ship. It's amazing how the sight of the ship is so comforting and we see it as our home.
My last day I spent in Kobe. In the morning I walked for a while through a park in the beautiful and warm sunshine. Then I window shopped some more and watched a Japanese parade go through the train station, which seems to be a center point in life in Japan. I had one last delicious sushi dinner, some Hagandaaz Ice Cream and got back on the ship.
One of my friends lost her passport so we had to pack her things and leave her in Japan where she is hoping to get a new passport expedited to her and meet us in Hawaii. Another kid also lost his passport so he had to stay behind as well. However he is a minor and his mom is a teacher on the ship so she stayed with him. It seems to be the trend that at every port everyone gets really drunk before getting back on the ship to leave-unfortunately there was a girl who (rumor has it) is diabetic and had never drank before. She had a little too much and had to be rushed to the hospital from the ship. They packed her bags for her and left her there. Needless to say, it was a very hectic last night in Japan.
Now I am back on the ship and sailing my way to Hawaii. It will take us 9 very long days to get there (we cross the international dateline so we are going to have two April 15's). The end of my journey is in sight and I am not sure I am ready for it to come. I still have a few more stops though, so I will enjoy those and then look to the end.
FUN FACTS:
-Japan has a 99% literacy rate
-100 Yen = $1 US
-Population: 127+ million
-3rd largest economy
-Longest life expectancy in the world
Our ship ported around 6 AM, but the Japanese government is so crazy that we had to have our temperatures taken and go through serious immigration and customs so we didn't get to leave the ship until around 12:30. As soon as we got off of the ship we took a few trains and made our way to Kyoto.
We walked through the Nijo-Jo Castle which is very different compared to all of the European castles I saw this past summer. There was barely any furniture, because they sit on the floor all of the time, so basically we just saw all of the different wall paintings in each room. The best part of the castle were the imperial gardens surrounding it. A few acres of land with beautiful cherry blossoms in full bloom! It was so peaceful walking through the zen garden of bonsai trees and beautiful flowers.
Afterward we caught a cab to the Philosopher's Walk where we hiked up the mountain a little bit and enjoyed the bright flowers and silence in the cold weather. It reminded me so much of home on a typical spring day, so much that it actually made me the most homesick I have been this entire semester. The walkway was next to a creek which made it even more serene. We walked until it was dark and no one else was around. All of us were in such good moods and couldn't have been happier, and then we found a sushi restaurant!
It was just a small place in the middle of this small-town feeling city. The owner/head chef was extremely nice and had his wife drive us around the city until we found an ATM that would take our American credit cards (note to anyone going to Japan: 7 Eleven is basically the only place to get cash). After a few stops we figured it all out and went back to the restaurant where we had a traditional Japanese sushi dinner: Shoes off, sit on the ground with feet stretched forward, hot tea to start, sake, then sushi rolls! I have never had such amazing sushi in my life. The miso soup was SO good I haven't stopped talking about it for days. I even tried this small fish that he took out of the fish tank and torched in front of me-freshest sushi I'll ever have. The locals that were eating there loved to watch us try everything and see how we reacted. They bought us some sake and taught us how to put on a kimono! I would have to say this was my top meal all semester. We were sad to say goodbye to our new friends and chefs, but we had to find dessert! So, we walked around the quiet town until we stumbled upon a restaurant that had a dessert menu where I got a banana spring roll with ice cream!
It was late and we still had a one hour train ride back to the ship so we said goodbye to the city of Kobe, which we have all fallen in love with.
The next morning we caught a three hour train to Tokyo and went straight to Disneyland!! Yes, my friends and I spent the day at Tokyo's Disneyland Resort riding roller-coasters with a bunch of Japanese people. It was so much fun and really funny! All of the characters were Americans (odd) and the parades were sung in English-the kids didn't seem to mind though. We stayed until dark and then headed to our hotel (15 minutes away) where we were supposed to meet up with our friends Will and Harrison.
An hour and a half and three trains later we were lost and in a cab which cost us $40 to get to the hotel, where we learned that the guys had already left because apparently they were not allowed to sleep in the same room as us (you must be married-who knew). So our plan to split the hotel room was out and the hotel was nowhere near the city and quite honestly a shit-hole. Not worth the $270. We walked out into the night with our backpacks on and no place to go. Our feet were aching and I needed to use the bathroom so I went into the 24-hour McDonald's which had a bidet with a music player, butt-wash sprayer, heated seat, deodorizer and fake-flusher sound. Unreal-I don't know what other buttons they could come up with. Every toilet I used in Japan was like this, quite a change from the squatters in China, Vietnam and India.
A long story short: it started pouring rain, we caught a train to a place more in the city, walked around until 1:30 AM when we found a nice hotel to stay in for a very reasonable price. We were exhausted and discovered I had lost my rail pass (which was very expensive and could be used for all trains in Japan). So what did I do... took a bath of course. No better way to relieve stress.
After a long sleep we woke up and hit the streets of Tokyo-my first stop: Krispie Kreme!!! Japanese people love their donuts. I waited in a 30 minute line in the cold and received one free, warm, glazed donut and proceeded to buy six others. I shared with my friends but it is safe to say I ate the majority and it didn't take me long.
We spent the day shopping around Tokyo (I got some goodies for my family :)) The city is HUGE... literally you could spend an entire week just covering the different sections of the one city. It is so clean and everyone is so nice, it makes you wonder why places like NYC cant be like that. We shopped till we dropped into our train seats for our 3 hour ride back to the ship. It's amazing how the sight of the ship is so comforting and we see it as our home.
My last day I spent in Kobe. In the morning I walked for a while through a park in the beautiful and warm sunshine. Then I window shopped some more and watched a Japanese parade go through the train station, which seems to be a center point in life in Japan. I had one last delicious sushi dinner, some Hagandaaz Ice Cream and got back on the ship.
One of my friends lost her passport so we had to pack her things and leave her in Japan where she is hoping to get a new passport expedited to her and meet us in Hawaii. Another kid also lost his passport so he had to stay behind as well. However he is a minor and his mom is a teacher on the ship so she stayed with him. It seems to be the trend that at every port everyone gets really drunk before getting back on the ship to leave-unfortunately there was a girl who (rumor has it) is diabetic and had never drank before. She had a little too much and had to be rushed to the hospital from the ship. They packed her bags for her and left her there. Needless to say, it was a very hectic last night in Japan.
Now I am back on the ship and sailing my way to Hawaii. It will take us 9 very long days to get there (we cross the international dateline so we are going to have two April 15's). The end of my journey is in sight and I am not sure I am ready for it to come. I still have a few more stops though, so I will enjoy those and then look to the end.
FUN FACTS:
-Japan has a 99% literacy rate
-100 Yen = $1 US
-Population: 127+ million
-3rd largest economy
-Longest life expectancy in the world
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Hong Kong/China!
We arrived in Hong Kong and were here for about 2 hours (enough time to get to the airport and wait for our flight to Beijing). From what I saw of the city it looked huge and like the technology capital of the world with all of its huge buildings for Samsung, Epson, Phillips, etc..
I got to spend a lot more time in Beijing. The air was much clearer than we were expecting, but that is because they have shut down all of the factories until after the olympics to clear the air. We got to see a bunch of the olympic buildings/arenas and they were pretty cool looking. It will be awesome to watch on television and be able to say I saw them in person! Wait 'till you see the cool designs of them all.
The city was so clean, which is not at all what I was expecting. When you think Beijing (or China with all of its people and huge cities) you picture more of an NYC setting. It wasn't like that at all. It was very clean and there were no homeless people or beggars. A very nice change.
Our first Chinese dinner was a specialty of Peking Duck. I think I tried every part of a duck possible, and it all tasted the same/not very great. Of course there was tons of rice and sweet and sour fish, etc- ugh i ate so much Chinese food I will be happy if I don't have any more for another year at least.
The next day we went to the Great Wall of China! If I never climbed another stair in my life I would still have climbed as many as any average human. It was a lot of stairs, but I loved the clear air and the smell of the trees. And getting to the top was a great feeling (especially because not even half of our group made it all the way up)! The day was sunny and windy-absolutely perfect weather. I still cannot really believe that I hiked the Great Wall (CRAZY!)!
I got to go to an Acrobatics Show one night. It was basically unreal-a lady literally sat on her own head, while holding up four chandelier things. It kinda freaked me out to be honest. Then a little girl came out and did like 50 flips in a row, followed by some men who were just as flexible and strong on top of that. Asians are crazy!
I saw many things in both Beijing and Xian over the past few days. The Summer Palace is a huge park with a lake that you can take boat rides on. We walked around and enjoyed many pagodas and temples. Tiananmen Square is where Mao Zedong, the leader of the Chinese Communist Party is buried. It is as big as 9 soccer fields. Thousands of asians visit everyday to see his tomb because they love him so much. There was a Forbidden City which had awesome looking pagodas and buildings, but they were all under construction so we didn't get to go in any of them. We also went to the Temple of Heaven where people pray for good harvest and health. It was beautifully painted and had amazing architectural structure.
Another very large and exciting part of our trip was visiting the Terra Cotta Warriors Museum. A long story short: there was an emperor who wanted to be buried with warriors to protect his soul/ghost so he had his warriors make thousands of stone-scultpures of themselves and their horses and armor to be buried with him. It took them 4 decades to finish it all and buried the emperor. Soon after he died, another emperor took over and ordered his army to go and destroy the tomb. Hundreds of years later a man was building a well and scooped up random pieces of the sculptures (discovering the tomb) and now it is all being excavated. We saw tons of the warriors that have been restored and the sites that are still being dug up.
There are so many people in China, and I know everyone has heard that before, but experiencing it just isn't the same as hearing about it. They have no sense of personal space at all, because they have always grown up and had so many people around them all of the time. It got to be very irritating to be around so many Asians in museums, streets, restaurants, markets-everywhere. They push and shove and cut you off like you are not even there. This was probably my least favorite thing about China as a whole.
Basically, I did a lot in China. I had a calligraphy lesson one day, visited lots of museums and shopped of course. I went to traditional Tang Dynasty Dinner Show with dancing and singing, music and great outfits! I spent my last day in Shanghai where it rained all day; I enjoyed walking around in the cool weather though. The city seems fun and the waterfront is really cool looking with neon lights at night and huge buildings. I had one really bad day that I seriously sprained my ankle (which is swollen and black and blue) and chipped my tooth (two different incidents though). I was also accused of stealing an ice cream cone from a restaurant by a bunch of little Chinese ladies who chased me down, and got stuck at an airport for 5 hours because the pilots went on strike! Oh the joys of traveling.
One month from today and I will be back in the U.S.. I really can't imagine it and don't really want to. Japan is our last big stop, then a few small ones in between there and Miami. I realize my phone calls, postcards and emails have basically seized, however the last month is going to drag on so they will be coming back into play very soon. Hope all is well and don't worry I will eat plenty of sushi for everyone!
Peace and blessings!
FUN FACTS:
-Population: 1.3 billion
-Literacy rate 90.9%
-Language: Mandarin with hundreds of different dialects
-China second best economy (next to US) in 2007
-100 cities in China (each average over 1 million people)
-1 child policy is very much in force
-6,000 people a day die in car accidents
-Government officials drive around in black Audis
-Currency: 7.015 Yuan = $1 US
I got to spend a lot more time in Beijing. The air was much clearer than we were expecting, but that is because they have shut down all of the factories until after the olympics to clear the air. We got to see a bunch of the olympic buildings/arenas and they were pretty cool looking. It will be awesome to watch on television and be able to say I saw them in person! Wait 'till you see the cool designs of them all.
The city was so clean, which is not at all what I was expecting. When you think Beijing (or China with all of its people and huge cities) you picture more of an NYC setting. It wasn't like that at all. It was very clean and there were no homeless people or beggars. A very nice change.
Our first Chinese dinner was a specialty of Peking Duck. I think I tried every part of a duck possible, and it all tasted the same/not very great. Of course there was tons of rice and sweet and sour fish, etc- ugh i ate so much Chinese food I will be happy if I don't have any more for another year at least.
The next day we went to the Great Wall of China! If I never climbed another stair in my life I would still have climbed as many as any average human. It was a lot of stairs, but I loved the clear air and the smell of the trees. And getting to the top was a great feeling (especially because not even half of our group made it all the way up)! The day was sunny and windy-absolutely perfect weather. I still cannot really believe that I hiked the Great Wall (CRAZY!)!
I got to go to an Acrobatics Show one night. It was basically unreal-a lady literally sat on her own head, while holding up four chandelier things. It kinda freaked me out to be honest. Then a little girl came out and did like 50 flips in a row, followed by some men who were just as flexible and strong on top of that. Asians are crazy!
I saw many things in both Beijing and Xian over the past few days. The Summer Palace is a huge park with a lake that you can take boat rides on. We walked around and enjoyed many pagodas and temples. Tiananmen Square is where Mao Zedong, the leader of the Chinese Communist Party is buried. It is as big as 9 soccer fields. Thousands of asians visit everyday to see his tomb because they love him so much. There was a Forbidden City which had awesome looking pagodas and buildings, but they were all under construction so we didn't get to go in any of them. We also went to the Temple of Heaven where people pray for good harvest and health. It was beautifully painted and had amazing architectural structure.
Another very large and exciting part of our trip was visiting the Terra Cotta Warriors Museum. A long story short: there was an emperor who wanted to be buried with warriors to protect his soul/ghost so he had his warriors make thousands of stone-scultpures of themselves and their horses and armor to be buried with him. It took them 4 decades to finish it all and buried the emperor. Soon after he died, another emperor took over and ordered his army to go and destroy the tomb. Hundreds of years later a man was building a well and scooped up random pieces of the sculptures (discovering the tomb) and now it is all being excavated. We saw tons of the warriors that have been restored and the sites that are still being dug up.
There are so many people in China, and I know everyone has heard that before, but experiencing it just isn't the same as hearing about it. They have no sense of personal space at all, because they have always grown up and had so many people around them all of the time. It got to be very irritating to be around so many Asians in museums, streets, restaurants, markets-everywhere. They push and shove and cut you off like you are not even there. This was probably my least favorite thing about China as a whole.
Basically, I did a lot in China. I had a calligraphy lesson one day, visited lots of museums and shopped of course. I went to traditional Tang Dynasty Dinner Show with dancing and singing, music and great outfits! I spent my last day in Shanghai where it rained all day; I enjoyed walking around in the cool weather though. The city seems fun and the waterfront is really cool looking with neon lights at night and huge buildings. I had one really bad day that I seriously sprained my ankle (which is swollen and black and blue) and chipped my tooth (two different incidents though). I was also accused of stealing an ice cream cone from a restaurant by a bunch of little Chinese ladies who chased me down, and got stuck at an airport for 5 hours because the pilots went on strike! Oh the joys of traveling.
One month from today and I will be back in the U.S.. I really can't imagine it and don't really want to. Japan is our last big stop, then a few small ones in between there and Miami. I realize my phone calls, postcards and emails have basically seized, however the last month is going to drag on so they will be coming back into play very soon. Hope all is well and don't worry I will eat plenty of sushi for everyone!
Peace and blessings!
FUN FACTS:
-Population: 1.3 billion
-Literacy rate 90.9%
-Language: Mandarin with hundreds of different dialects
-China second best economy (next to US) in 2007
-100 cities in China (each average over 1 million people)
-1 child policy is very much in force
-6,000 people a day die in car accidents
-Government officials drive around in black Audis
-Currency: 7.015 Yuan = $1 US
Monday, March 31, 2008
VIETNAM!
We arrived in Vietnam with overcast skies and 85% humidity! My roommate and I had nothing planned and decided to pack our bags and head out. Our ship is 20 minutes from the city so we took a cab into town and as soon as we stepped out our lives flashed before our eyes because of the oncoming traffic of vespas/mopeds/scooters. Motorbikes overpopulate Vietnam like rickshaws overpopulate India. Dads would drive while one child stood in front of him and mom sat on the back holding the baby-crazy! When you cross the street (we cross with locals as our shields) you just walk like there are not hundreds of motorized bikes about to run you over, and they simply swerve around you. They don't even have stoplights on most streets, driving is like an art here.
So, we spent our day walking around gawking at the thousands of people and shops. Each street is like a different section of a department or grocery store. Baby products all together down one "Nyguen" (just a popular name of a street I observed), food on another street, women's clothing on another, shoes, etc. on and on. SO MUCH STUFF!! We found a silk store and decided to have a few dresses made for super cheap. We brought in designs and they took our measurements and told us to be back in 3 days-after much stress they turned out pretty nice!
After a while we decided that we wanted to get out of Ho Chi Minh City so we walked into a "Vietnam Airways" office and booked flights to Hanoi up north. Around 9:30 pm we flew there and stayed in a cheap hotel where we were picked up the next morning by a tour guide we booked. Her name was "Ha" and she was the sweetest little Vietnamese woman who laughed at us all the time.
Lindsay (my roommate) and I got on a 3 hour bus ride early in the morning with Ha and a bunch of other tourists, we were going to Halang Bay. We were definitely a lot younger than everyone, but became friends with them quite fast. People from all over: Brazilians, Belgians, Australians-they were all a blast!
When we arrived in Halang Bay we moved into our hotel which is called a "Junk Boat." Basically a very small, floating hotel. For the next day and a half we were served meals and taken around the beautiful bay (which was very foggy most of the time but still great). We got to kayak and go to a huge cave somewhere out in the area.
Halang Bay is now being voted upon for the new Wonders of the World, and it was definitely beautiful and serene enough-just a little too polluted. There are villages of people who live in floating houses out in the middle of the bay. The kids are picked up in a boat everyday for school and a grocer comes out daily to sell his goods. I cannot even imagine living like this. It is very interesting and cool, but all of the trash that gets thrown into the water is damaging the scene.
Our time out there was absolutely amazing; between the beauty of the world to the amazing people we met, every second was great. At the end of our bus ride back to Hanoi everyone was being dropped off at their hotels, which Lindsay and I didn't have. So, we just yelled stop when we saw a tourist information place, waved goodbye to everyone while they laughed and gawked at us for being so crazy and jumped off. We bought tickets back to Ho Chi Minh City and hung around Hanoi until our flight, which we made with 10 minutes until takeoff (long story, ask if you want to know later).
The last few days in Vietnam I spent around Ho Chi Minh City. One day Lindsay and I spent as a pampering day getting hot stone massages, facials, manicures and pedicures (all for around $75 US). I visited a local elementary school with over 1600 Vietnamese children. They were the cutest, most excited-to-see-us kids ever! "Hello-what-is-your-name?" Is what they repeated over and over again. Things I was shocked about at the school: how many kids there were, the penmanship of all the children was exactly the same and perfect (something they are trained for years on), and how well some of them could speak in English. The classes were very large with about 40 kids to one classroom, but they all had uniforms and school materials. Oh and one other interesting thing was they had toothbrushes for everyone to use after EVERY meal.
I am sure you are all wondering how I could go to Vietnam and not visit any historical sites, tunnels or anything. Well I did; I went to a Vietnam War Memorial/Museum on my last day and quite honestly I don't know what to say about it. There are two sides to every story, and their side is unbelievable, heartbreaking, stomach-wrenching. This country has had the friendliest people I have met so far around the world and I don't understand why. I really am speechless.
Overall Vietnam was my favorite. I learned so much about the people and the history of my country and their country. The food was amazing (now that I am ten pounds heavier from only this port), people were the most amicable I have ever encountered and the sites were beautiful. What else can you ask for? I can't wait to come back!
FUN FACTS:
-7 Million people live in Ho Chi Minh alone (3.5 ride motorbikes)
-the US dollar is accepted everywhere
-1600 Dong = $1 US
-Viet means people
-Nam means south
-although rice fields cover much of the land their largest export is crude oil
So, we spent our day walking around gawking at the thousands of people and shops. Each street is like a different section of a department or grocery store. Baby products all together down one "Nyguen" (just a popular name of a street I observed), food on another street, women's clothing on another, shoes, etc. on and on. SO MUCH STUFF!! We found a silk store and decided to have a few dresses made for super cheap. We brought in designs and they took our measurements and told us to be back in 3 days-after much stress they turned out pretty nice!
After a while we decided that we wanted to get out of Ho Chi Minh City so we walked into a "Vietnam Airways" office and booked flights to Hanoi up north. Around 9:30 pm we flew there and stayed in a cheap hotel where we were picked up the next morning by a tour guide we booked. Her name was "Ha" and she was the sweetest little Vietnamese woman who laughed at us all the time.
Lindsay (my roommate) and I got on a 3 hour bus ride early in the morning with Ha and a bunch of other tourists, we were going to Halang Bay. We were definitely a lot younger than everyone, but became friends with them quite fast. People from all over: Brazilians, Belgians, Australians-they were all a blast!
When we arrived in Halang Bay we moved into our hotel which is called a "Junk Boat." Basically a very small, floating hotel. For the next day and a half we were served meals and taken around the beautiful bay (which was very foggy most of the time but still great). We got to kayak and go to a huge cave somewhere out in the area.
Halang Bay is now being voted upon for the new Wonders of the World, and it was definitely beautiful and serene enough-just a little too polluted. There are villages of people who live in floating houses out in the middle of the bay. The kids are picked up in a boat everyday for school and a grocer comes out daily to sell his goods. I cannot even imagine living like this. It is very interesting and cool, but all of the trash that gets thrown into the water is damaging the scene.
Our time out there was absolutely amazing; between the beauty of the world to the amazing people we met, every second was great. At the end of our bus ride back to Hanoi everyone was being dropped off at their hotels, which Lindsay and I didn't have. So, we just yelled stop when we saw a tourist information place, waved goodbye to everyone while they laughed and gawked at us for being so crazy and jumped off. We bought tickets back to Ho Chi Minh City and hung around Hanoi until our flight, which we made with 10 minutes until takeoff (long story, ask if you want to know later).
The last few days in Vietnam I spent around Ho Chi Minh City. One day Lindsay and I spent as a pampering day getting hot stone massages, facials, manicures and pedicures (all for around $75 US). I visited a local elementary school with over 1600 Vietnamese children. They were the cutest, most excited-to-see-us kids ever! "Hello-what-is-your-name?" Is what they repeated over and over again. Things I was shocked about at the school: how many kids there were, the penmanship of all the children was exactly the same and perfect (something they are trained for years on), and how well some of them could speak in English. The classes were very large with about 40 kids to one classroom, but they all had uniforms and school materials. Oh and one other interesting thing was they had toothbrushes for everyone to use after EVERY meal.
I am sure you are all wondering how I could go to Vietnam and not visit any historical sites, tunnels or anything. Well I did; I went to a Vietnam War Memorial/Museum on my last day and quite honestly I don't know what to say about it. There are two sides to every story, and their side is unbelievable, heartbreaking, stomach-wrenching. This country has had the friendliest people I have met so far around the world and I don't understand why. I really am speechless.
Overall Vietnam was my favorite. I learned so much about the people and the history of my country and their country. The food was amazing (now that I am ten pounds heavier from only this port), people were the most amicable I have ever encountered and the sites were beautiful. What else can you ask for? I can't wait to come back!
FUN FACTS:
-7 Million people live in Ho Chi Minh alone (3.5 ride motorbikes)
-the US dollar is accepted everywhere
-1600 Dong = $1 US
-Viet means people
-Nam means south
-although rice fields cover much of the land their largest export is crude oil
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Singapore!
March 20, 2008
We woke up and caught a flight to Singapore this morning. Not only was the flight amazing, but the Singapore Airport was unreal! It is the only airport in the world that has a golf course and a pool in it. It also had every designer store in the world and was huge. People actually go there 6 hours ahead of time just to hang out and shop around. Ridiculous.
Our tour bus drove us around with a great guide telling us about all of the buildings and tons of world records that Singapore has (and seems to be obsessed with). Seriously by the end of the trip everything our guide would say we just added "in the world" to it because it fit.
This is the cleanest country I have ever seen. There are a ton of weird laws like you cannot chew gum; therefore gum is not sold in ANY gas station, grocery store- no where. You cannot have food on the trains. No walking on the grass. No littering. If you are caught with or using marijuana or any other drugs you are executed by hanging. Because there are so many laws, everywhere is so clean and you feel so safe, but slightly nervous that at any point you could be doing something illegal. I never thought that I could live in a big city, but if I could afford it I would live here.
This brings up a huge point of how expensive this place is. Alcohol has a 100% tax on it, cars have at least 100 but up to 200% tax, clothes, food, everything is unbelievably overpriced and then have a huge tax on top of it. Even the taxis look to be cheap but as soon as you pull out the money to pay a $3 charge is automatically added.
We took a boat ride around the harbor and got to see more of the city. One stop was at the "Raffles Hotel" where the very first settlers to Singapore landed. It is supposed to be a very nice and expensive hotel but didn't seem like anything special to me. We got tea and chocolate mousse cake which my roommate, who is a chocolate fiend, finished in minutes and I could only eat half of. Then we went to a silver factory where they make money trees!! It was cool to see it be done but too expensive to buy anything. After checking into our hotel we had the night to ourselves so Lindsay and I walked around town to see all of the shops and malls. We ate at a Hokra I think it is called, where there are just tons of different stands of native foods. Then we went out to the clubs.
Now I am not much of a club person but this place was crazy! It was like a big bubbled-in strip of all different types of clubs. Egyptian, Chinese, Fashion- every genre you can think of. There was one called "The Clinic" where you sat in wheelchairs and your drinks came in IV tubes that you drank out of (seriously crazy). We just walked around going from place to place for a while in shock at how different it was. We had heard that Singapore is one of the top 5 countries in the world for nightlife, shopping and fine dining, but this was insane. I cannot imagine what the other places are like.
March 21, 2008
Today we went to Sentosa island by way of a gondola. Everything is so lush and green here. The island was very pretty and we got to see pink dolphins perform tricks. It was very hot and humid so you can imagine my hair. We went to an aquarium where we could pet sharks, stingrays and other sea creatures. A ride around the beautiful city and we were dropped back off at Vivo City Center Mall which is huge and so overwhelming with tons of people (little Asians). We shopped went back to the hotel, napped and went out for a crazy night at the clubs.
The next day we woke up just in time for lunch and went to the airport, we spent the day traveling back to Malaysia and didn't do anything too special. And our last day in Malaysia I spent sick in bed, I don't know why I seem to be getting sick so often but it sucks. It will be a four day trip on the ship on our way to Vietnam!
Singapore Fun Facts:
-currency: the Singapore Dollar 1.3 = $1 US
-boasts Asia's highest standard of living after Japan
-huge fines for many crimes, including not flushing a public toilet
Malaysia Fun Facts:
-Malaysia Currency: 3.16 Ringgits = $1 US
-Muslim is the main religion
-Extreme diversity of Malays, Chinese, Japanese, Islamics
Sorry if I repeated some stuff! LOVE YOU ALL AND MISS YOU SO MUCH. Oh and please don't leave comments on my blog it is too hard to check just email me (brit0073@aol.com)
We woke up and caught a flight to Singapore this morning. Not only was the flight amazing, but the Singapore Airport was unreal! It is the only airport in the world that has a golf course and a pool in it. It also had every designer store in the world and was huge. People actually go there 6 hours ahead of time just to hang out and shop around. Ridiculous.
Our tour bus drove us around with a great guide telling us about all of the buildings and tons of world records that Singapore has (and seems to be obsessed with). Seriously by the end of the trip everything our guide would say we just added "in the world" to it because it fit.
This is the cleanest country I have ever seen. There are a ton of weird laws like you cannot chew gum; therefore gum is not sold in ANY gas station, grocery store- no where. You cannot have food on the trains. No walking on the grass. No littering. If you are caught with or using marijuana or any other drugs you are executed by hanging. Because there are so many laws, everywhere is so clean and you feel so safe, but slightly nervous that at any point you could be doing something illegal. I never thought that I could live in a big city, but if I could afford it I would live here.
This brings up a huge point of how expensive this place is. Alcohol has a 100% tax on it, cars have at least 100 but up to 200% tax, clothes, food, everything is unbelievably overpriced and then have a huge tax on top of it. Even the taxis look to be cheap but as soon as you pull out the money to pay a $3 charge is automatically added.
We took a boat ride around the harbor and got to see more of the city. One stop was at the "Raffles Hotel" where the very first settlers to Singapore landed. It is supposed to be a very nice and expensive hotel but didn't seem like anything special to me. We got tea and chocolate mousse cake which my roommate, who is a chocolate fiend, finished in minutes and I could only eat half of. Then we went to a silver factory where they make money trees!! It was cool to see it be done but too expensive to buy anything. After checking into our hotel we had the night to ourselves so Lindsay and I walked around town to see all of the shops and malls. We ate at a Hokra I think it is called, where there are just tons of different stands of native foods. Then we went out to the clubs.
Now I am not much of a club person but this place was crazy! It was like a big bubbled-in strip of all different types of clubs. Egyptian, Chinese, Fashion- every genre you can think of. There was one called "The Clinic" where you sat in wheelchairs and your drinks came in IV tubes that you drank out of (seriously crazy). We just walked around going from place to place for a while in shock at how different it was. We had heard that Singapore is one of the top 5 countries in the world for nightlife, shopping and fine dining, but this was insane. I cannot imagine what the other places are like.
March 21, 2008
Today we went to Sentosa island by way of a gondola. Everything is so lush and green here. The island was very pretty and we got to see pink dolphins perform tricks. It was very hot and humid so you can imagine my hair. We went to an aquarium where we could pet sharks, stingrays and other sea creatures. A ride around the beautiful city and we were dropped back off at Vivo City Center Mall which is huge and so overwhelming with tons of people (little Asians). We shopped went back to the hotel, napped and went out for a crazy night at the clubs.
The next day we woke up just in time for lunch and went to the airport, we spent the day traveling back to Malaysia and didn't do anything too special. And our last day in Malaysia I spent sick in bed, I don't know why I seem to be getting sick so often but it sucks. It will be a four day trip on the ship on our way to Vietnam!
Singapore Fun Facts:
-currency: the Singapore Dollar 1.3 = $1 US
-boasts Asia's highest standard of living after Japan
-huge fines for many crimes, including not flushing a public toilet
Malaysia Fun Facts:
-Malaysia Currency: 3.16 Ringgits = $1 US
-Muslim is the main religion
-Extreme diversity of Malays, Chinese, Japanese, Islamics
Sorry if I repeated some stuff! LOVE YOU ALL AND MISS YOU SO MUCH. Oh and please don't leave comments on my blog it is too hard to check just email me (brit0073@aol.com)
Thursday, March 20, 2008
PICTURES (finally)!!
Just another day on the ship with my friends (Lindsay H. Caroline Lindsay W. and ME! left to right)
Traveling can be slightly stressful at times...
Just another day in class or Paradise!
My other friend named Lindsay and I in Mauritius!
My roommate Lindsay and I!!
A night on the town in Cape Town, South Africa!
Sea Olympics! We are all in our sea colors!
We just hiked Table Mountain and struggled very much on the way up.
Carnaval (this is from a while ago) ONE CRAZY NIGHT!
Outside of a Sikh temple with the girls!
The Taj Mahal!!! UNREAL!
SAFARI TIME!!! (My friend Lauren and I)
Just to let you know what is to come from my pictures-I took this!
Don't worry I am in a Starbucks in Singapore using the free wifi internet that some Asian man let me use his log in account for!! Now that you can all see that yes I have gained my chubby weight back and I love it!! Not really but traveling the world isn't really the time to diet (I do my best though).
Today we got to Singapore the flight was great, as usual for foreign airlines. We toured around the city and learned that they love to break world records here and basically do what they have to to win! (Like making up a minister job for the prime minister when he got too old so he could get named the longest man to be minister in the world)! They have the world's largest ferris wheel too! We went to this hotel that is super expensive called the Raffle Hotel. It was founded by the first man to come to Singapore which is what makes it special. Other than that it wasn't too exciting. We ate at this large, outdoor food-court type place which was really yummy. Oh and we made a stop at some metal factory that makes these cool "money trees" (so it does grow on them dad)!
Malaysia!
March 19 2008
We arrived this morning in Malaysia, but did not wake up until around 11:00 because it took so long to get the ship cleared and all of the SAS trips got to leave first. This is a very difficult port because we aren't actually anchored to the island (due to construction) so we use our lifeboats (tenders) to leave the ship and get to land. It is a pain.
We got to land and started walking around aimlessly. We haven't really learned much about Malaysia yet so we weren't sure what to do or even what to look for. So we just walked in the humid heat. After beads of sweat started to take over our chipper moods we found sanctuary in a tea house. The woman suggested we get a "fragrance" tea and showed us how to pour everything into the multiple dishes and let the tea steep (very different than just using a tea bag). Excited to be so cultured we took big gulps and nearly spit it out on each other- I thought I had just bit into a lilac bush. It was very potent and absolutely disgusting. We couldn't drink anymore so we went back to the street.
A few more minutes in the heat and we desperately looked for air conditioning, which we found in one of the world's worst museums. There were old typewriters, desks, random pictures from around the city. Some signs were in English, but they weren't very informative. Annoyed we headed back to the ship.
We were a little lost and happened to find a tourist information center. We went inside and plopped into chairs as the men laughed at us. We looked through some pamphlets and asked how long it would take to get places and how much it would cost. One of the men offered to drive us to a chocolate factory and we took him up on it.
The "Chocolate Boutique" it was called- we got to sample every single kind of chocolate and coffee that they had. These coffees were better than any Cafe Au Lait, Kona coffee or Starbucks. The chocolates up there with France, Italy and Swiss chocolates. Don't worry I bought tons mom and dad!! When it got to the point of almost puking we had our new designated driver, Dawood, bring us to a few Buddhist temples.
They were absolutely gorgeous with the most amazing woodwork/carvings I have ever seen all over the place. Lots of Buddah statues and paintings with bright colors and a really cool wishing-well/pond!
Dawood brought us to another chocolate face and a hand-painted cloth place then we went back to the port. We ate dinner on the ship and are calling it a night so we can be refreshed for our flight to Singapore in the morning!
We arrived this morning in Malaysia, but did not wake up until around 11:00 because it took so long to get the ship cleared and all of the SAS trips got to leave first. This is a very difficult port because we aren't actually anchored to the island (due to construction) so we use our lifeboats (tenders) to leave the ship and get to land. It is a pain.
We got to land and started walking around aimlessly. We haven't really learned much about Malaysia yet so we weren't sure what to do or even what to look for. So we just walked in the humid heat. After beads of sweat started to take over our chipper moods we found sanctuary in a tea house. The woman suggested we get a "fragrance" tea and showed us how to pour everything into the multiple dishes and let the tea steep (very different than just using a tea bag). Excited to be so cultured we took big gulps and nearly spit it out on each other- I thought I had just bit into a lilac bush. It was very potent and absolutely disgusting. We couldn't drink anymore so we went back to the street.
A few more minutes in the heat and we desperately looked for air conditioning, which we found in one of the world's worst museums. There were old typewriters, desks, random pictures from around the city. Some signs were in English, but they weren't very informative. Annoyed we headed back to the ship.
We were a little lost and happened to find a tourist information center. We went inside and plopped into chairs as the men laughed at us. We looked through some pamphlets and asked how long it would take to get places and how much it would cost. One of the men offered to drive us to a chocolate factory and we took him up on it.
The "Chocolate Boutique" it was called- we got to sample every single kind of chocolate and coffee that they had. These coffees were better than any Cafe Au Lait, Kona coffee or Starbucks. The chocolates up there with France, Italy and Swiss chocolates. Don't worry I bought tons mom and dad!! When it got to the point of almost puking we had our new designated driver, Dawood, bring us to a few Buddhist temples.
They were absolutely gorgeous with the most amazing woodwork/carvings I have ever seen all over the place. Lots of Buddah statues and paintings with bright colors and a really cool wishing-well/pond!
Dawood brought us to another chocolate face and a hand-painted cloth place then we went back to the port. We ate dinner on the ship and are calling it a night so we can be refreshed for our flight to Singapore in the morning!
Monday, March 17, 2008
HOLY COW(S) in INDIA!!!
March 11, 2008
From the minute I woke up I could smell the burnt trash smell that comes along with the country. The outside decks were covered with plastic because of all the pollution, dirt and dust in the air. Cardboard was duct taped down on the carpeted areas... a great first impression.
We arrived in Chennai this morning and it took the ship a long time to be cleared by customs, security, etc. so everyone was frenzied and running around like mad people trying to make their plane flights. I had an afternoon flight and our bus took off on the crazy streets with lines in the road that no one pays any attention to. Horns are used as blinkers, friendly reminders and for no reason at all. The ride to the airport was a good introduction to the way all of India was going to look from here on out: trash everywhere in the streets, sidewalks, fields. Dirty kids in clothes that looked to be weeks old begging on the streets. People "relieving" themselves in fields right next to the road. Goats, pigs, cows and monkeys randomly all over. And, mosquitos of course!
The plane ride to Delhi was 2.5 hours and accompanied by the nicest airline attendants ever. We were handed cold, scented towels during takeoff to clean up with. A full meal, followed by tea and then candies and mints to finish. The US has some serious work to do.
Our hotel was absolutely beautiful and had a bunch of shops in it so we spent the afternoon buying fun stuff! All of our meals were included with our hotels. The spicy Indian food was a great change from ship food and surprisingly very tasty. I especially liked the desserts (no surprise there)! It was a late night and the beds were amazing!
March 12, 2008
4:00 AM wake up call! Tea at 4:30 and on the bus at 5:00. We were dropped at the train station which was already filled with venders and travelers... our first experience with being mauled by venders which was overwhelming for so early in the morning and not expecting to have to fight our way through a station which was apparently shelter to a ton of homeless people that sleep on the hard cement ground. Our train ride was 2 hours to Agra, we arrived at our hotel by 8:00 AM and served breakfast then went to an old fort of a Mongolian King.
The King had 3 wives and the only one who gave him a son was the Hindu one therefore she was the favored wife (he already had a bunch of girls). Everywhere in India men are favored over women. It is a huge problem here because there are so many gender-selected abortions and the gender ratio is terrible which leaves men unmarried and therefore lower in the caste system. Anyway this king made three different chambers in his fort for each wife and the Hindu one was the biggest and most beautiful. Everything was very weathered down and the most impressive part was how large the fort was.
After lunch we asked to be brought to a market and our tour guide brought us to a place where the locals buy their clothes and products-not exactly what we were going for. We were gawked at and haggled by beggars and felt very uncomfortable.
Just to make it clear when I say that there are poor people this is what it looks like: at least two of the people are deformed in some way, either with elephantitis feet, spine deformities, or the most common which people dont have feeling or control of their legs so they use their arms to get around and drag themselves on the ground. Everyone is very dirty and the kids just scream to get your attention and then put their hands to their mouths or make the gesture of a pen, comb or toothbrush. The things we take for granted. All they want is a pen to play with and we stand there with our digital cameras and take pictures. -If i would have known I would have brought a Costco sized bin of Bic Pens to make these children happy. These people poop on the street and the students on my bus complain about having to move all of their stuff into their new apartments when they get home. Some of them will never realize how fortunate they are to have STUFF to move into a HOUSE.
The entire country is so trashed I just dont understand. Who started this throwing of the trash and where did they get the idea that it would be okay. The air is so dirty my snot is black. Students from the ship have to take their inhalers all day long because they cannot breathe through this air. Who is to blame and what can be done?
March 13, 2008
The big day. We started early again, 6:00 AM and went to a different fort called the Agra Fort, it was much bigger and much more beautiful than the one we saw yesterday. Stone and marble walls with intricate designs carved into every crevice you could see. The man who built the Taj Mahal was imprisoned by his grandson and kept in this fort until he died (8 years). They imprisoned him because he wanted to build another building to mirror the Taj and he was using up all of the city's money.
Now it was time for one of the seven wonders of the world: the Taj Mahal! The security is very tight, they frisk you down and wont allow anything but cameras. As you walk through a large arch the Taj becomes more visible through the cloudy day and gave me the chills. It didn't seem possible that I could actually be looking at one of the most beautiful buildings in all the world. I can't believe it only took 22 years to build with how much work was put into it. The inside is not nearly as special as the outside. It is dark and small. The tombs are chambered behind tall marble walls. The outside could have been stared at for hours. There really is no way to explain how extravagant this place is. No words, no pictures, nothing can do the Taj Mahal justice except for seeing it itself. The vibe was so serene and although it is a tomb only good vibes came from the love that was put into it.
After lunch we went to Mother Theresa's Ashram to visit the orphan kids. We knew it was going to be sad, but we showed up with stickers and crayons hoping for the best. Nothing could have prepared us for what we saw. One section was for older people with downs-syndrome and other forms of retardation, the other section was for the children. The sick, deformed, diseased poor and orphaned children. We dont see people like this in the states because they are kept in places specially for them, these people have nowhere else to go. The nuns watch over them with loving-care, but that is not enough. There may not be cures for everything, but their coughs and sniffles need more. The back room had the children in the worst shape, unable to do anything but sit with their bone diseases and smile at nothing. It was heartbreaking and an eye-opener to how much our medical world can do, but in our world.
We finished our day off with a little more shopping and dinner then went to the train station to go back to Delhi. It was a late night.
March 14, 2008
I didn't think that there was anything better than the Taj Mahal in India but my day today was probably my favorite. It started off with a stop at the Ghandi Memorial where his ashes are buried and an eternal flame is surrounded by acres of beautiful garden. We went to multiple temples around Delhi. A Sikh, Hindu and Baha'i temple. They were all very different and so pretty. Each one I wanted to stay in and just sit and breathe all day long. Just when I was feeling like the world had nothing good in it I was renewed with a peace that I could feel in life. All of the traveling and arrogant people, the poor and the sick, the way of the world- it didn't make sense and still may not but the warmth I felt in these temples with these people... it was uplifting. Each temple had its own designs very different from the next.
The Sikh Temple was small with a huge and colorful shrine where they keep their holy book. We had to cover our heads to go inside and we sat on the ground as the priest-like people chanted and everyone around prayed. Outside was a huge holy-water pool where people splash or drink the water to cure them or keep their health.
The Hindu Temple was very large, all white marble with colorful paintings and statues of the Lord Krishna (G-d of Love) everywhere. You could walk around and still miss parts of the temple after an hour. Women come here a lot to pray that they will find a partner and be blessed with a good arranged marriage. Standing there made me feel all of the love I have and people I miss from back home. It was sad and happy at the same time because I was alone but could feel the love I never want to go away.
The Baha'i Temple was far away but worth the drive. It is in the shape of a lotus flower (the symbol of purity) and surrounded by nine pools of water. Their religion revolves around the number nine. They are currently the fasting growing religion and building nine temples around the world (seven of which are already built). There is no talking allowed when you are inside. A woman was singing at the alter and the acoustics were beautiful. It was definitely the most peaceful temple of the day. Natural lighting from the sun and natural cooling from the pools- it was calming and contenting.
A flight to Chennai and back to the ship around 12:00 AM.
March 15, 2008
Exhausted and dirty I woke up to join my friends for a traditional Indian breakfast at a house in town. (Caroline's dad is in town for business and staying at his friend's house so we went there and used their chauffeur for the day). We were brought to Mahabalipuram (an ancient city of the Pallava kings) where huge amounts of stone were sculpted and shaped into temple prototypes with animals and amazing designs. This was the first hot day since we were much more south and lucked out with the weather everywhere else. How the women wear clothing that completely covers them, I do not know.
We drove back to Chennai and went to an Indian shopping mall. We got henna drawn on our hands and bought scarves and other goodies. We were tight for time and getting anywhere in India takes at least 3 times longer than it should because there are so many people in rickshaws, busses, motor-scooters and on bikes. After changing quickly at the ship we went to a dinner at a very nice hotel and celebrated our last night in India (Caroline's dad's treat)!
Now we are on the ship and taking off toward Malaysia where I will be flying to Singapore. And I cant wait!
FUN FACTS:
-Cows really are holy in India. They do not eat them or even bother them. If a cow is sitting in the middle of the street or walking across the road, the entire city stops around it because they cannot be pushed, shoved or bothered in any way. The McDonalds only sells chicken burgers. In the south you can sometimes find buffalo burgers, but it is hard to come by.
-Exchange rate: 38 rupees = $1 US
-Population: 1.2 billion people in a country the size of Australia
- 55% of population is between ages of 15-25
-Women must have shoulders and legs covered at all times (including us)
-Population is 80% Hindu
-324 district languages in the country, Hindi is the most prevalent
-Tea is served with every meal and now I am addicted
- Everywhere we went we had to take our shoes off, even the Ghandi Memorial which was outside-so basically I picked up every germ alive just by walking in temples, gardens, and random outdoor places my guide said it was to keep dirty things from entering sacred places, but I am almost certain there has to be more to a tradition that started millions of years ago.
From the minute I woke up I could smell the burnt trash smell that comes along with the country. The outside decks were covered with plastic because of all the pollution, dirt and dust in the air. Cardboard was duct taped down on the carpeted areas... a great first impression.
We arrived in Chennai this morning and it took the ship a long time to be cleared by customs, security, etc. so everyone was frenzied and running around like mad people trying to make their plane flights. I had an afternoon flight and our bus took off on the crazy streets with lines in the road that no one pays any attention to. Horns are used as blinkers, friendly reminders and for no reason at all. The ride to the airport was a good introduction to the way all of India was going to look from here on out: trash everywhere in the streets, sidewalks, fields. Dirty kids in clothes that looked to be weeks old begging on the streets. People "relieving" themselves in fields right next to the road. Goats, pigs, cows and monkeys randomly all over. And, mosquitos of course!
The plane ride to Delhi was 2.5 hours and accompanied by the nicest airline attendants ever. We were handed cold, scented towels during takeoff to clean up with. A full meal, followed by tea and then candies and mints to finish. The US has some serious work to do.
Our hotel was absolutely beautiful and had a bunch of shops in it so we spent the afternoon buying fun stuff! All of our meals were included with our hotels. The spicy Indian food was a great change from ship food and surprisingly very tasty. I especially liked the desserts (no surprise there)! It was a late night and the beds were amazing!
March 12, 2008
4:00 AM wake up call! Tea at 4:30 and on the bus at 5:00. We were dropped at the train station which was already filled with venders and travelers... our first experience with being mauled by venders which was overwhelming for so early in the morning and not expecting to have to fight our way through a station which was apparently shelter to a ton of homeless people that sleep on the hard cement ground. Our train ride was 2 hours to Agra, we arrived at our hotel by 8:00 AM and served breakfast then went to an old fort of a Mongolian King.
The King had 3 wives and the only one who gave him a son was the Hindu one therefore she was the favored wife (he already had a bunch of girls). Everywhere in India men are favored over women. It is a huge problem here because there are so many gender-selected abortions and the gender ratio is terrible which leaves men unmarried and therefore lower in the caste system. Anyway this king made three different chambers in his fort for each wife and the Hindu one was the biggest and most beautiful. Everything was very weathered down and the most impressive part was how large the fort was.
After lunch we asked to be brought to a market and our tour guide brought us to a place where the locals buy their clothes and products-not exactly what we were going for. We were gawked at and haggled by beggars and felt very uncomfortable.
Just to make it clear when I say that there are poor people this is what it looks like: at least two of the people are deformed in some way, either with elephantitis feet, spine deformities, or the most common which people dont have feeling or control of their legs so they use their arms to get around and drag themselves on the ground. Everyone is very dirty and the kids just scream to get your attention and then put their hands to their mouths or make the gesture of a pen, comb or toothbrush. The things we take for granted. All they want is a pen to play with and we stand there with our digital cameras and take pictures. -If i would have known I would have brought a Costco sized bin of Bic Pens to make these children happy. These people poop on the street and the students on my bus complain about having to move all of their stuff into their new apartments when they get home. Some of them will never realize how fortunate they are to have STUFF to move into a HOUSE.
The entire country is so trashed I just dont understand. Who started this throwing of the trash and where did they get the idea that it would be okay. The air is so dirty my snot is black. Students from the ship have to take their inhalers all day long because they cannot breathe through this air. Who is to blame and what can be done?
March 13, 2008
The big day. We started early again, 6:00 AM and went to a different fort called the Agra Fort, it was much bigger and much more beautiful than the one we saw yesterday. Stone and marble walls with intricate designs carved into every crevice you could see. The man who built the Taj Mahal was imprisoned by his grandson and kept in this fort until he died (8 years). They imprisoned him because he wanted to build another building to mirror the Taj and he was using up all of the city's money.
Now it was time for one of the seven wonders of the world: the Taj Mahal! The security is very tight, they frisk you down and wont allow anything but cameras. As you walk through a large arch the Taj becomes more visible through the cloudy day and gave me the chills. It didn't seem possible that I could actually be looking at one of the most beautiful buildings in all the world. I can't believe it only took 22 years to build with how much work was put into it. The inside is not nearly as special as the outside. It is dark and small. The tombs are chambered behind tall marble walls. The outside could have been stared at for hours. There really is no way to explain how extravagant this place is. No words, no pictures, nothing can do the Taj Mahal justice except for seeing it itself. The vibe was so serene and although it is a tomb only good vibes came from the love that was put into it.
After lunch we went to Mother Theresa's Ashram to visit the orphan kids. We knew it was going to be sad, but we showed up with stickers and crayons hoping for the best. Nothing could have prepared us for what we saw. One section was for older people with downs-syndrome and other forms of retardation, the other section was for the children. The sick, deformed, diseased poor and orphaned children. We dont see people like this in the states because they are kept in places specially for them, these people have nowhere else to go. The nuns watch over them with loving-care, but that is not enough. There may not be cures for everything, but their coughs and sniffles need more. The back room had the children in the worst shape, unable to do anything but sit with their bone diseases and smile at nothing. It was heartbreaking and an eye-opener to how much our medical world can do, but in our world.
We finished our day off with a little more shopping and dinner then went to the train station to go back to Delhi. It was a late night.
March 14, 2008
I didn't think that there was anything better than the Taj Mahal in India but my day today was probably my favorite. It started off with a stop at the Ghandi Memorial where his ashes are buried and an eternal flame is surrounded by acres of beautiful garden. We went to multiple temples around Delhi. A Sikh, Hindu and Baha'i temple. They were all very different and so pretty. Each one I wanted to stay in and just sit and breathe all day long. Just when I was feeling like the world had nothing good in it I was renewed with a peace that I could feel in life. All of the traveling and arrogant people, the poor and the sick, the way of the world- it didn't make sense and still may not but the warmth I felt in these temples with these people... it was uplifting. Each temple had its own designs very different from the next.
The Sikh Temple was small with a huge and colorful shrine where they keep their holy book. We had to cover our heads to go inside and we sat on the ground as the priest-like people chanted and everyone around prayed. Outside was a huge holy-water pool where people splash or drink the water to cure them or keep their health.
The Hindu Temple was very large, all white marble with colorful paintings and statues of the Lord Krishna (G-d of Love) everywhere. You could walk around and still miss parts of the temple after an hour. Women come here a lot to pray that they will find a partner and be blessed with a good arranged marriage. Standing there made me feel all of the love I have and people I miss from back home. It was sad and happy at the same time because I was alone but could feel the love I never want to go away.
The Baha'i Temple was far away but worth the drive. It is in the shape of a lotus flower (the symbol of purity) and surrounded by nine pools of water. Their religion revolves around the number nine. They are currently the fasting growing religion and building nine temples around the world (seven of which are already built). There is no talking allowed when you are inside. A woman was singing at the alter and the acoustics were beautiful. It was definitely the most peaceful temple of the day. Natural lighting from the sun and natural cooling from the pools- it was calming and contenting.
A flight to Chennai and back to the ship around 12:00 AM.
March 15, 2008
Exhausted and dirty I woke up to join my friends for a traditional Indian breakfast at a house in town. (Caroline's dad is in town for business and staying at his friend's house so we went there and used their chauffeur for the day). We were brought to Mahabalipuram (an ancient city of the Pallava kings) where huge amounts of stone were sculpted and shaped into temple prototypes with animals and amazing designs. This was the first hot day since we were much more south and lucked out with the weather everywhere else. How the women wear clothing that completely covers them, I do not know.
We drove back to Chennai and went to an Indian shopping mall. We got henna drawn on our hands and bought scarves and other goodies. We were tight for time and getting anywhere in India takes at least 3 times longer than it should because there are so many people in rickshaws, busses, motor-scooters and on bikes. After changing quickly at the ship we went to a dinner at a very nice hotel and celebrated our last night in India (Caroline's dad's treat)!
Now we are on the ship and taking off toward Malaysia where I will be flying to Singapore. And I cant wait!
FUN FACTS:
-Cows really are holy in India. They do not eat them or even bother them. If a cow is sitting in the middle of the street or walking across the road, the entire city stops around it because they cannot be pushed, shoved or bothered in any way. The McDonalds only sells chicken burgers. In the south you can sometimes find buffalo burgers, but it is hard to come by.
-Exchange rate: 38 rupees = $1 US
-Population: 1.2 billion people in a country the size of Australia
- 55% of population is between ages of 15-25
-Women must have shoulders and legs covered at all times (including us)
-Population is 80% Hindu
-324 district languages in the country, Hindi is the most prevalent
-Tea is served with every meal and now I am addicted
- Everywhere we went we had to take our shoes off, even the Ghandi Memorial which was outside-so basically I picked up every germ alive just by walking in temples, gardens, and random outdoor places my guide said it was to keep dirty things from entering sacred places, but I am almost certain there has to be more to a tradition that started millions of years ago.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
End of Mauritius and SEA OLYMPICS!
March 4, 2008
My hike around the Volcanic Island started early this morning and was accompanied by a Mauritian specialist from the Mahatma Gandhi Institute. It wasn't really a hike at all, we rode on a bus and got out at different places. Our first stop was at the institute where a woman told us all about the history of the geology and geography of the island. I wont bore you all with details but basically it is one big volcano, however they don't know if the island broke off from Africa or was built up from a hot spot in the ocean. We then went to the Trou Aux Cerfs which is a dormant (inactive) volcano. The second we stepped off of the bus, terrential rain and low clouds took over so we couldn't really sea the crater. We rushed back on the bus soaking wet and cold (they had told us to wear swimsuits under our clothes, not bring rain jackets).
We drove through rain for a while and came upon a ton of Hindu people who were making their pilgrimage to the sacred lake of Grand Bassin. They make this journey and take water from the lake and pour it in small stone bowls.
The story is this: a long time ago the ocean started to grow and the water was poisonous and killing off their people. So, a G-d named Maha Shivatree (Strong Knight) came and drank all of the water to save the people. The water turned his skin blue so all of the pictures and statues were blue. When they pour the water into a special dish, it is supposed to soothe his throat from the pain of drinking the poisoned water.
We were priviledged enough to experience the Hindus praying to a huge statue of Maha Shivatree, in the terrential rain. I felt kind of bad though because if there were a bunch of Hindus walking in and taking pictures during one of our holidays I wouldn't be too happy. So I did my best to be respectful and quick.
Our tour continued on driving through fields of sugarcane and tropical forests. It reminded me of the Road to Hanna in Maui. When the rain cleared it was beautiful. Our tour guide said okay "it will be a 45 minute drive to our lunch stop"... 1 hour and 45 minutes later we arrived at a restaurant at the top of the island. We were served a four-course authentic, creole-indian meal, and Mauritian coffee to end it. Absolutely amazing.
After lunch we went to the Chamarel Cascade (waterfall). Since the trip was originally for my geology class this was the most important because we could see all of the different rock formations and ages. Then we went to a place nearby that had a seven-colored earth, volcanic phenomenon. It was really cool; there were literally seven different colored soils that had accumulated here. Supposedly the land is rich with mineral oxides and that is what gives it all different colors. They also had very large turtles there, I don't know how they fit in but they were still cool.
Our ride home was long and I fell asleep with tons of mosquito bites. Thank goodness they don't have malaria here. Mauritius was a fun place to come, definitely a paradise and vacation spot for the family, but I am very excited to get to India!
FUN FACTS:
-national bird: The Dodo (It was native to the island of Mauritius and only existed here. It is now extinct because they ate a lot and became very fat and made their homes on the ground beneath palms. The Dodo didn't have any predators so they never learned how to fly or to defend themselves. When the Dutch conquered the land they hunted the Dodo's and ate them. The bird was defenseless and therefore went extinct.) Everyone here is obsessed with the Dodo.
-exchange rate: $1 US = 27.5 rupees
-most people speak French, Creole and English (plus a few others)
-because the island is surrounded by a huge coral reef they were protected from the harsh waves of the tsunami a few years ago
-I am now known to my friends here as the "accident prone girl that everything happens to." So far I have been hit by a car, eaten alive by mosquitos, puked all over the island of Mauritius, made a drunken fool of myself, gotten sea sick, I have bruises all over my body just from walking into things completely sober, my worldwide blackberry never works, my friends and family are falling apart back home and I continue to wake up with a beautiful energy that never stops.
March 8, 2008
SEA OLYMPICS!!!
Preface: So each hallway on the ship is split into different "seas" aka I am in the Mediterranean Sea. Since we got on the ship, each sea has been assigned a color (Im pink) and captains. We have had meetings and preparing for the sea olympics which was today!
We woke up at 8:00 ran upstairs for chocolate croissants at breakfast and then got geared up in all our pink clothes! at 8:40 the day began with each sea joining in the union before judges and performing our chants. Ours sucked but everyone else had really cool ones. Then the day continued with all different activities!!
-different board games throughout the day
-scavenger hunt throughout the day
-picture contest throughout the day
-ping pong
-Hawaiian bowling (with pineapples and
-pie eating contest (boys and girls separately and our girl won which was the only thing we came in first place for the entire day and then they took that one out cause some girl raised hell!)
-toilet paper fashion show
-global studies trivia (which is a class we all take everyday)
-twister on the wet deck
-dodge-ball
-flip cup
-swimsuit (you had to relay by putting on a big white worker suit and hat then swim across the pool and get back then the next person on your team had to get the outfit on and do the same)
-soccer
-mashed potato sculpting
-tug-o-war
-Dean Ken says (like simon says)
-synchronized swimming (freaking hilarious)!
-lip sync (so much fun and very funny)!
I didn't actually do any of the contests (which i do regret) but it was still a fantastic day because it was so much fun to walk around and cheer people on and take pictures of everything! I mean seriously, i am in the middle of the ocean with bright sunny skies and a bunch of crazy students and teachers-how bad can it be>? My team sucked at everything and we came in last at #9. The Baltic Sea won it all which means they get to get off of the ship first in Miami when we get home. (Their chant is "ooh ah you wish you were a baltic" so my roommate and i have been singing "ooh ah i wish i was a baltic!")
After all the fun and games were done we ended the night with a dance party in the union. A BLAST! Oh and i got a smoothie from the 7th deck snack bar! Basically I am living the life.
Mom and dad you two need to come on this as life-long learners-you would love it! They (all of the lifelong learners) were the silver sea (cause of their silver hair haha :) and everyone loves them)!
The internet on the ship has had a lot of difficulty lately hence I have not been able to update my blog or write emails so sorry about that.
I will be in India in two days and absolutely cannot wait. Midterms are done and I am ready to explore more of the world!
My hike around the Volcanic Island started early this morning and was accompanied by a Mauritian specialist from the Mahatma Gandhi Institute. It wasn't really a hike at all, we rode on a bus and got out at different places. Our first stop was at the institute where a woman told us all about the history of the geology and geography of the island. I wont bore you all with details but basically it is one big volcano, however they don't know if the island broke off from Africa or was built up from a hot spot in the ocean. We then went to the Trou Aux Cerfs which is a dormant (inactive) volcano. The second we stepped off of the bus, terrential rain and low clouds took over so we couldn't really sea the crater. We rushed back on the bus soaking wet and cold (they had told us to wear swimsuits under our clothes, not bring rain jackets).
We drove through rain for a while and came upon a ton of Hindu people who were making their pilgrimage to the sacred lake of Grand Bassin. They make this journey and take water from the lake and pour it in small stone bowls.
The story is this: a long time ago the ocean started to grow and the water was poisonous and killing off their people. So, a G-d named Maha Shivatree (Strong Knight) came and drank all of the water to save the people. The water turned his skin blue so all of the pictures and statues were blue. When they pour the water into a special dish, it is supposed to soothe his throat from the pain of drinking the poisoned water.
We were priviledged enough to experience the Hindus praying to a huge statue of Maha Shivatree, in the terrential rain. I felt kind of bad though because if there were a bunch of Hindus walking in and taking pictures during one of our holidays I wouldn't be too happy. So I did my best to be respectful and quick.
Our tour continued on driving through fields of sugarcane and tropical forests. It reminded me of the Road to Hanna in Maui. When the rain cleared it was beautiful. Our tour guide said okay "it will be a 45 minute drive to our lunch stop"... 1 hour and 45 minutes later we arrived at a restaurant at the top of the island. We were served a four-course authentic, creole-indian meal, and Mauritian coffee to end it. Absolutely amazing.
After lunch we went to the Chamarel Cascade (waterfall). Since the trip was originally for my geology class this was the most important because we could see all of the different rock formations and ages. Then we went to a place nearby that had a seven-colored earth, volcanic phenomenon. It was really cool; there were literally seven different colored soils that had accumulated here. Supposedly the land is rich with mineral oxides and that is what gives it all different colors. They also had very large turtles there, I don't know how they fit in but they were still cool.
Our ride home was long and I fell asleep with tons of mosquito bites. Thank goodness they don't have malaria here. Mauritius was a fun place to come, definitely a paradise and vacation spot for the family, but I am very excited to get to India!
FUN FACTS:
-national bird: The Dodo (It was native to the island of Mauritius and only existed here. It is now extinct because they ate a lot and became very fat and made their homes on the ground beneath palms. The Dodo didn't have any predators so they never learned how to fly or to defend themselves. When the Dutch conquered the land they hunted the Dodo's and ate them. The bird was defenseless and therefore went extinct.) Everyone here is obsessed with the Dodo.
-exchange rate: $1 US = 27.5 rupees
-most people speak French, Creole and English (plus a few others)
-because the island is surrounded by a huge coral reef they were protected from the harsh waves of the tsunami a few years ago
-I am now known to my friends here as the "accident prone girl that everything happens to." So far I have been hit by a car, eaten alive by mosquitos, puked all over the island of Mauritius, made a drunken fool of myself, gotten sea sick, I have bruises all over my body just from walking into things completely sober, my worldwide blackberry never works, my friends and family are falling apart back home and I continue to wake up with a beautiful energy that never stops.
March 8, 2008
SEA OLYMPICS!!!
Preface: So each hallway on the ship is split into different "seas" aka I am in the Mediterranean Sea. Since we got on the ship, each sea has been assigned a color (Im pink) and captains. We have had meetings and preparing for the sea olympics which was today!
We woke up at 8:00 ran upstairs for chocolate croissants at breakfast and then got geared up in all our pink clothes! at 8:40 the day began with each sea joining in the union before judges and performing our chants. Ours sucked but everyone else had really cool ones. Then the day continued with all different activities!!
-different board games throughout the day
-scavenger hunt throughout the day
-picture contest throughout the day
-ping pong
-Hawaiian bowling (with pineapples and
-pie eating contest (boys and girls separately and our girl won which was the only thing we came in first place for the entire day and then they took that one out cause some girl raised hell!)
-toilet paper fashion show
-global studies trivia (which is a class we all take everyday)
-twister on the wet deck
-dodge-ball
-flip cup
-swimsuit (you had to relay by putting on a big white worker suit and hat then swim across the pool and get back then the next person on your team had to get the outfit on and do the same)
-soccer
-mashed potato sculpting
-tug-o-war
-Dean Ken says (like simon says)
-synchronized swimming (freaking hilarious)!
-lip sync (so much fun and very funny)!
I didn't actually do any of the contests (which i do regret) but it was still a fantastic day because it was so much fun to walk around and cheer people on and take pictures of everything! I mean seriously, i am in the middle of the ocean with bright sunny skies and a bunch of crazy students and teachers-how bad can it be>? My team sucked at everything and we came in last at #9. The Baltic Sea won it all which means they get to get off of the ship first in Miami when we get home. (Their chant is "ooh ah you wish you were a baltic" so my roommate and i have been singing "ooh ah i wish i was a baltic!")
After all the fun and games were done we ended the night with a dance party in the union. A BLAST! Oh and i got a smoothie from the 7th deck snack bar! Basically I am living the life.
Mom and dad you two need to come on this as life-long learners-you would love it! They (all of the lifelong learners) were the silver sea (cause of their silver hair haha :) and everyone loves them)!
The internet on the ship has had a lot of difficulty lately hence I have not been able to update my blog or write emails so sorry about that.
I will be in India in two days and absolutely cannot wait. Midterms are done and I am ready to explore more of the world!
Monday, March 3, 2008
Mauritius!
March 3, 2008
I cannot believe it is March already! The past few days have been quite eventful. We arrived in Mauritius on March 1st. Mauritius is an island in the Indian Ocean near Madagascar. They are known for their sugarcane and textiles. The island is home to mainly Hindu Indians who are in the middle of celebrating a 40 day fasting of all meat. It is not Ramadan, but I can never quite understand what they say when they tell me what it is called. The island is 720 square miles, or about 11 times the size of Washington DC, and there are 1.3 million people who live here. They thrive off of tourism, so with the population and the millions of tourists each year, it can get kind of crowded.
Anyway, we got off the ship and walked to town where we were shocked to see tons of people, markets, cars and nothing tropical at all. The culture shock took us over and we caught a cab back to the ship to regroup. At the beginning of the semester my friends and I booked a Villa on the North Shore, so this is where we went. Our taxi driver took us to the "factory shops" where they make designer clothing and sell them at retail prices. I didn't quite fit into the Burberry swimsuits and wasn't a fan of any of the purses. Everything was still very expensive so I left happily without buying anything.
Our villa was so nice with two rooms, a kitchen and living area. The beach was a 2 minute walk across the street and there were two pools at the hotel. We couldn't have gotten to the beach any faster. It was absolutely paradise and with no semester at sea students around the beach was beautifully serene. The hotel we were booked with offered tons of fun and free stuff, and with all of the money we have been spending the past few months we needed to take advantage of all the free things possible. So, we went snorkeling! A boat took us out into the ocean beyond the coral reef and we got to jump in and snorkel around. It was not as pretty as you would expect, but still a ton of fun!
Every once in a while I make my friends just stop and reflect on our lives. The boat ride in was the perfect time for reflection of the fortunate and unimaginable lives we live.
We relaxed on the soft, white-sand beach and took it all in. As we lay there tanning a man walked up to us to try and sell us massages. Not just any old massage though, he does an examination of the pressure points in your body and takes out the bad energy so you can glow with happiness. He had me sold! My friend Caroline and I went with him as Lindsay and Lindsay waited at the beach for us.
This man was the epitome of "The Secret" (a movie and book that if you have not already seen/read you need to do so immediately). A wafting smell of incense hit us as we arrived at his "office" where we laid on pads on the ground and he began to examine our pressure points. The places that hurt he told us he would fix. One spot at a time he would rub and whisper prayer, then stare at the area as if he was sucking the bad energy out. Then he rubbed his hands together until they got really hot and he would hold the area. It was unbelievable you could literally feel the energy leaving your body and afterward he would push on the points again and there would be no pain. This man has cured people with asthma, AIDS, sicknesses and diseases. All I could think was if only I could bring my dad here instead of under the knife of surgery.
After he cleansed our bodies of bad energy his "students" cam in and gave us full body massages with almond oil. He explained to us how we need to take care and love our bodies because in return the world will fill us with beautiful energy. When we met up with the Lindsay's for dinner we talked them into going the next day. We ate dinner at the hotel and then played cards and "socially drank" for a while. Later that night we decided to hit the town. It was a late night, but a very fun one!
We woke up the next day and slowly made our way to a restaurant for fried rice and noodles. It was delicious and extremely cheap. Then we went to the beach and had a blast for the day until it was time to get massages again. About mid-day I started feeling slightly sick. I drank some water and tried to take it easy. At the massages the man made my stomach ache go away for a while, but on the way home I got very sick again. To make a long and not-so-fun story short, I was vomiting and not doing well for the night and today. So, I told my friends to please stay here and enjoy themselves, but I had to go back to the ship and get help.
The 20 minute car ride seemed like forever and when I got to the ship the doctor's office was closed so I went to the Purser's Desk to page the nurse or doctor and the on-call people were not on the ship like they were supposed to be so I just went to bed until someone could help. I got a phone call about 1 hour later and one of the Captain's crew gave me a shot in the butt to help with the up-chucking. I slept for a while and then went to dinner. Now I am writing this blog rather than having fun outside with my friends. I am trying to gain my health back as soon as I can because I am supposed to hike the volcano tomorrow!
I cannot believe it is March already! The past few days have been quite eventful. We arrived in Mauritius on March 1st. Mauritius is an island in the Indian Ocean near Madagascar. They are known for their sugarcane and textiles. The island is home to mainly Hindu Indians who are in the middle of celebrating a 40 day fasting of all meat. It is not Ramadan, but I can never quite understand what they say when they tell me what it is called. The island is 720 square miles, or about 11 times the size of Washington DC, and there are 1.3 million people who live here. They thrive off of tourism, so with the population and the millions of tourists each year, it can get kind of crowded.
Anyway, we got off the ship and walked to town where we were shocked to see tons of people, markets, cars and nothing tropical at all. The culture shock took us over and we caught a cab back to the ship to regroup. At the beginning of the semester my friends and I booked a Villa on the North Shore, so this is where we went. Our taxi driver took us to the "factory shops" where they make designer clothing and sell them at retail prices. I didn't quite fit into the Burberry swimsuits and wasn't a fan of any of the purses. Everything was still very expensive so I left happily without buying anything.
Our villa was so nice with two rooms, a kitchen and living area. The beach was a 2 minute walk across the street and there were two pools at the hotel. We couldn't have gotten to the beach any faster. It was absolutely paradise and with no semester at sea students around the beach was beautifully serene. The hotel we were booked with offered tons of fun and free stuff, and with all of the money we have been spending the past few months we needed to take advantage of all the free things possible. So, we went snorkeling! A boat took us out into the ocean beyond the coral reef and we got to jump in and snorkel around. It was not as pretty as you would expect, but still a ton of fun!
Every once in a while I make my friends just stop and reflect on our lives. The boat ride in was the perfect time for reflection of the fortunate and unimaginable lives we live.
We relaxed on the soft, white-sand beach and took it all in. As we lay there tanning a man walked up to us to try and sell us massages. Not just any old massage though, he does an examination of the pressure points in your body and takes out the bad energy so you can glow with happiness. He had me sold! My friend Caroline and I went with him as Lindsay and Lindsay waited at the beach for us.
This man was the epitome of "The Secret" (a movie and book that if you have not already seen/read you need to do so immediately). A wafting smell of incense hit us as we arrived at his "office" where we laid on pads on the ground and he began to examine our pressure points. The places that hurt he told us he would fix. One spot at a time he would rub and whisper prayer, then stare at the area as if he was sucking the bad energy out. Then he rubbed his hands together until they got really hot and he would hold the area. It was unbelievable you could literally feel the energy leaving your body and afterward he would push on the points again and there would be no pain. This man has cured people with asthma, AIDS, sicknesses and diseases. All I could think was if only I could bring my dad here instead of under the knife of surgery.
After he cleansed our bodies of bad energy his "students" cam in and gave us full body massages with almond oil. He explained to us how we need to take care and love our bodies because in return the world will fill us with beautiful energy. When we met up with the Lindsay's for dinner we talked them into going the next day. We ate dinner at the hotel and then played cards and "socially drank" for a while. Later that night we decided to hit the town. It was a late night, but a very fun one!
We woke up the next day and slowly made our way to a restaurant for fried rice and noodles. It was delicious and extremely cheap. Then we went to the beach and had a blast for the day until it was time to get massages again. About mid-day I started feeling slightly sick. I drank some water and tried to take it easy. At the massages the man made my stomach ache go away for a while, but on the way home I got very sick again. To make a long and not-so-fun story short, I was vomiting and not doing well for the night and today. So, I told my friends to please stay here and enjoy themselves, but I had to go back to the ship and get help.
The 20 minute car ride seemed like forever and when I got to the ship the doctor's office was closed so I went to the Purser's Desk to page the nurse or doctor and the on-call people were not on the ship like they were supposed to be so I just went to bed until someone could help. I got a phone call about 1 hour later and one of the Captain's crew gave me a shot in the butt to help with the up-chucking. I slept for a while and then went to dinner. Now I am writing this blog rather than having fun outside with my friends. I am trying to gain my health back as soon as I can because I am supposed to hike the volcano tomorrow!
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
On The Way
February 27, 2008
Well these past few days on the ship have been pretty difficult for everyone, we all seem to just sleep nonstop. Suddenly I have three tests and two papers due before Mauritius and I can't stay away from my bed! My arm hurts because I forgot a small detail in my last blog-I was hit by a car when we went to hike table mountain. Only my arm was hit but it really hurt and the guy reversed and yelled at me for walking in the middle of the road, which i was very far from. I was walking behind a huge line of people on the left side of the road and all the drivers were going very slow except for this guy. My arm is fine though so dont worry mom and dad.
The seas have been very rough since we left Cape Town, not only because that part of the ocean is known for having rough seas, but because there was a cyclone we were heading toward which hit the island of Madagascar and then dissipated so we had to ride through the after effects. I didn't get sick thanks to these patches which put who knows what kind of chemicals into my body.
Some kid on the ship had his parents send him a copy of the superbowl to the ship so they are going to play it on our tv's tonight!!! I am so excited! I also have a dinner with my "family" here on board which consists of 4 very odd girls and 1 very very odd life-long learner who doesn't go to any classes and basically lives on the smoking deck.
There isn't much to write about, but we will be in Mauritius on Saturday so hopefully there will be some fun stuff to let you all know about then. As for now I am eating, sleeping and studying-on a ship. (That always makes it a little better)!
Well these past few days on the ship have been pretty difficult for everyone, we all seem to just sleep nonstop. Suddenly I have three tests and two papers due before Mauritius and I can't stay away from my bed! My arm hurts because I forgot a small detail in my last blog-I was hit by a car when we went to hike table mountain. Only my arm was hit but it really hurt and the guy reversed and yelled at me for walking in the middle of the road, which i was very far from. I was walking behind a huge line of people on the left side of the road and all the drivers were going very slow except for this guy. My arm is fine though so dont worry mom and dad.
The seas have been very rough since we left Cape Town, not only because that part of the ocean is known for having rough seas, but because there was a cyclone we were heading toward which hit the island of Madagascar and then dissipated so we had to ride through the after effects. I didn't get sick thanks to these patches which put who knows what kind of chemicals into my body.
Some kid on the ship had his parents send him a copy of the superbowl to the ship so they are going to play it on our tv's tonight!!! I am so excited! I also have a dinner with my "family" here on board which consists of 4 very odd girls and 1 very very odd life-long learner who doesn't go to any classes and basically lives on the smoking deck.
There isn't much to write about, but we will be in Mauritius on Saturday so hopefully there will be some fun stuff to let you all know about then. As for now I am eating, sleeping and studying-on a ship. (That always makes it a little better)!
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Africa!!
February 19, 2008
We arrived in Cape Town, South Africa around 5:30 this morning. We woke up to watch the sunrise as we pulled in to port, it was beautiful! After an early breakfast and our last briefing we hit the town. As soon as I got off of the ship I was blown away by the beauty of the city. After walking one block we found a store where African women sit on these wooden shelves and work away at these huge weavings. It was unreal. There were about 15 women all on their own looms weaving yarn into rugs with amazing pictures and scenes.
It feels so clean and everyone is so nice here. The buildings are beautiful and the trees and all the plants are magnificent. We walked to "Long Street" where all the venders, shops, bars and outdoor markets are. One store was like an African "Z Gallery" and I wanted to buy everything to redo my room, but didn't buy anything. We walked through an African Market for a good 45 minutes just being shocked by the artwork and masks, there were so many amazing things to buy and the people were so nice that I felt bad buying from one and not all. There was an African woman there with her 6-month-old son on her lap and I bent down to just smile at him and he immediately reached for me to hold him. His mother was shocked because she said he doesn't let anyone hold him and she couldn't believe he just jumped at me like that. I held him for a while and he was teething and chewing my finger, which is now very bruised. We shopped around and bought a few things then went back to the ship because we all had "field trips" to attend.
I went on a bus with the SAS (Semester at Sea) people to the District Six Museum. District Six is where the colored and black people used to live before the apartheid. They were displaced by the government and forced to move to outlying squatter camps which are now "townships." The museum was dedicated to all of the residents who were displaced. After the museum we were brought to three separate townships: 1)Langa 2)Bonteheuwel 3)Khayelitsha. As we showed up to the first two (1&2) the kids from all over ran out of their houses and ran up to us to hold our hands and get on our backs. They wanted to take pictures and play and absolutely loved being with us. These two townships are some of the better ones. People have one-room houses (made out of adobe, concrete, etc.) for their 3-5 person families. The kids don't have shoes to wear and are some of the happiest children I have ever seen.
Then we went to Khayelitsha. This is the largest township in South Africa with over 1 million people. They live in one-room shacks whose walls are made of old street signs, wood, tin-basically any material they can find. Calling them shacks is a huge overstatement. I met an amazing woman named Vicky who opened a bed and breakfast for people to come and really get a feel for a township. She said people coming here gives the children and their families hope of better days. Vicky works with the government to do things to improve her community. For instance she got sewing machines for the women and children to learn to make clothes, etc. This will give them opportunities for real jobs when they grow up rather than working in hard labor for little pay like their parents. The people have to pay for their land which their shacks are on, they pay 20 Rands (around $3.00 US) per month. We pay this much for a smoothie/coffee daily and they struggle to pay each month. After five years of paying the family owns the land.
I was fine going through everything until Vicky brought us to the "nursery" for both HIV infected babies and babies who do not have the virus. As soon as we walked in they all started screaming and crying; they were covered in flies laying on blankets because they don't have any matresses. This is where I broke down. The babies would not stop crying so we had to give them all blow-pops to calm them. They said it was possible that our white skin scared them because it is the color of their doctors. Even typing about this makes me cry. I asked Vicky what I can do to help and she said send money so she can buy blankets and things for the children, or send coloring books and fun things for the kids. Every year she tries to get gifts for Christmas. I will never forget these people and will do something to help them as soon as I can.
February 24, 2008
SAFARI! For the past few days I have been at Kruger National Park staying in a bungalow going on game drives! The park is the size of West Virginia (200 million hectors). Everyday was quite an adventure but I don't want to bore everyone so I will make it short. Basically I got to see so many great things. The bushes and trees all had stories to them and meant something to the natives. There were hundreds of different types of birds and our guides could spot anything and everything while driving. The animals I saw:
-Elephants
-Monkeys
-Antelope
-Impala
-Crocodiles
-Snakes
-Rhinos
-Warthogs
-Wildebeest
-Eagles
-Leopard
-Family of lions
-Giraffes
-Zebras
-Buffalo
-Leopard Turtle
Basically it was AMAZING! The 4:30 AM wake ups were the best because we got to see the sunrise and the most animals are out before it gets too hot. I made a lot of new friends because I went with an independent group of 10 kids. We were fed great food three times a day and I definitely gained ten pounds on one trip!! Our guide was great, his name is Edwin and he is only 22 years old. During our safari we learned that Siyabona (the company we booked through) was going out of business and we were the very last safari. It turns out that there are country clubs right outside of the park which are drawing in all of the tourists and taking away from the actual safari companies. All of the guides (our cooks, guides, etc.) were very sad so we decided to do what we knew makes us happy-drink! (Well we got them really drunk, I didn't drink much of course). Our last night we had so much fun singing and dancing under the stars with genuinely beautiful people. It was hard to say goodbye, but I promised to return and that will not be an empty promise.
Since I have been back in Cape Town I went and visited Liz (a friend from CSU who is studying abroad here for the semester). It was great to see a familiar face since it has officially been one month since I have been gone. This morning I woke up and hiked Table Mountain which was quite strenuous, but beautiful and a great achievement. Then we went to the winelands (yes I went to drink wine). My roommate and our friend Will and I had a private driver take us to two different winelands: Neethlingshof and Spier. I found out I am definitely a white wine person, not red. Some were good and I actually enjoyed them. Will and Lindsay got more testers than me, but we were all pretty good and drunk by the end. At Spier they had a place where you could go in a caged area and pet cheetahs! So I did it!!! It wasn't as soft as I expected, but still pretty cool.
As a goodbye treat to us a local high school choir came on our ship and sang for us tonight. They are the national champions and have just been invited to the UK to compete. I have never heard such beautiful voices in my life. The kids were so happy and excited and of course had never even seen a cruise ship. Their school does not have a piano or any instruments. The kids do not read notes, simply work together and listen to recordings. They sung and danced and of course I cried from the beauty of it all. I am so sad to leave here. I have absolutely fallen in love with South Africa and cannot wait to come back (I'm thinking my honeymoon:))!!
A few fun facts:
-exchange rate: $1 = 7.5 rands
-there are 11 national languages
-the culture is very laid back, they are never on time because they know things will get done
-they think Bush is an asshole
-Racism is still a huge problem here and it is a very open topic to talk about
So now I am on the ship and we were supposed to take off however the fog is too bad so who knows when we will start on our way to Mauritius. I am so grateful for everything I have experienced I wish I could give more details and share everything better. I guess we will have to wait though. The internet is too slow for me to put up pictures but I am taking TONS!
Peace and blessings to all!
We arrived in Cape Town, South Africa around 5:30 this morning. We woke up to watch the sunrise as we pulled in to port, it was beautiful! After an early breakfast and our last briefing we hit the town. As soon as I got off of the ship I was blown away by the beauty of the city. After walking one block we found a store where African women sit on these wooden shelves and work away at these huge weavings. It was unreal. There were about 15 women all on their own looms weaving yarn into rugs with amazing pictures and scenes.
It feels so clean and everyone is so nice here. The buildings are beautiful and the trees and all the plants are magnificent. We walked to "Long Street" where all the venders, shops, bars and outdoor markets are. One store was like an African "Z Gallery" and I wanted to buy everything to redo my room, but didn't buy anything. We walked through an African Market for a good 45 minutes just being shocked by the artwork and masks, there were so many amazing things to buy and the people were so nice that I felt bad buying from one and not all. There was an African woman there with her 6-month-old son on her lap and I bent down to just smile at him and he immediately reached for me to hold him. His mother was shocked because she said he doesn't let anyone hold him and she couldn't believe he just jumped at me like that. I held him for a while and he was teething and chewing my finger, which is now very bruised. We shopped around and bought a few things then went back to the ship because we all had "field trips" to attend.
I went on a bus with the SAS (Semester at Sea) people to the District Six Museum. District Six is where the colored and black people used to live before the apartheid. They were displaced by the government and forced to move to outlying squatter camps which are now "townships." The museum was dedicated to all of the residents who were displaced. After the museum we were brought to three separate townships: 1)Langa 2)Bonteheuwel 3)Khayelitsha. As we showed up to the first two (1&2) the kids from all over ran out of their houses and ran up to us to hold our hands and get on our backs. They wanted to take pictures and play and absolutely loved being with us. These two townships are some of the better ones. People have one-room houses (made out of adobe, concrete, etc.) for their 3-5 person families. The kids don't have shoes to wear and are some of the happiest children I have ever seen.
Then we went to Khayelitsha. This is the largest township in South Africa with over 1 million people. They live in one-room shacks whose walls are made of old street signs, wood, tin-basically any material they can find. Calling them shacks is a huge overstatement. I met an amazing woman named Vicky who opened a bed and breakfast for people to come and really get a feel for a township. She said people coming here gives the children and their families hope of better days. Vicky works with the government to do things to improve her community. For instance she got sewing machines for the women and children to learn to make clothes, etc. This will give them opportunities for real jobs when they grow up rather than working in hard labor for little pay like their parents. The people have to pay for their land which their shacks are on, they pay 20 Rands (around $3.00 US) per month. We pay this much for a smoothie/coffee daily and they struggle to pay each month. After five years of paying the family owns the land.
I was fine going through everything until Vicky brought us to the "nursery" for both HIV infected babies and babies who do not have the virus. As soon as we walked in they all started screaming and crying; they were covered in flies laying on blankets because they don't have any matresses. This is where I broke down. The babies would not stop crying so we had to give them all blow-pops to calm them. They said it was possible that our white skin scared them because it is the color of their doctors. Even typing about this makes me cry. I asked Vicky what I can do to help and she said send money so she can buy blankets and things for the children, or send coloring books and fun things for the kids. Every year she tries to get gifts for Christmas. I will never forget these people and will do something to help them as soon as I can.
February 24, 2008
SAFARI! For the past few days I have been at Kruger National Park staying in a bungalow going on game drives! The park is the size of West Virginia (200 million hectors). Everyday was quite an adventure but I don't want to bore everyone so I will make it short. Basically I got to see so many great things. The bushes and trees all had stories to them and meant something to the natives. There were hundreds of different types of birds and our guides could spot anything and everything while driving. The animals I saw:
-Elephants
-Monkeys
-Antelope
-Impala
-Crocodiles
-Snakes
-Rhinos
-Warthogs
-Wildebeest
-Eagles
-Leopard
-Family of lions
-Giraffes
-Zebras
-Buffalo
-Leopard Turtle
Basically it was AMAZING! The 4:30 AM wake ups were the best because we got to see the sunrise and the most animals are out before it gets too hot. I made a lot of new friends because I went with an independent group of 10 kids. We were fed great food three times a day and I definitely gained ten pounds on one trip!! Our guide was great, his name is Edwin and he is only 22 years old. During our safari we learned that Siyabona (the company we booked through) was going out of business and we were the very last safari. It turns out that there are country clubs right outside of the park which are drawing in all of the tourists and taking away from the actual safari companies. All of the guides (our cooks, guides, etc.) were very sad so we decided to do what we knew makes us happy-drink! (Well we got them really drunk, I didn't drink much of course). Our last night we had so much fun singing and dancing under the stars with genuinely beautiful people. It was hard to say goodbye, but I promised to return and that will not be an empty promise.
Since I have been back in Cape Town I went and visited Liz (a friend from CSU who is studying abroad here for the semester). It was great to see a familiar face since it has officially been one month since I have been gone. This morning I woke up and hiked Table Mountain which was quite strenuous, but beautiful and a great achievement. Then we went to the winelands (yes I went to drink wine). My roommate and our friend Will and I had a private driver take us to two different winelands: Neethlingshof and Spier. I found out I am definitely a white wine person, not red. Some were good and I actually enjoyed them. Will and Lindsay got more testers than me, but we were all pretty good and drunk by the end. At Spier they had a place where you could go in a caged area and pet cheetahs! So I did it!!! It wasn't as soft as I expected, but still pretty cool.
As a goodbye treat to us a local high school choir came on our ship and sang for us tonight. They are the national champions and have just been invited to the UK to compete. I have never heard such beautiful voices in my life. The kids were so happy and excited and of course had never even seen a cruise ship. Their school does not have a piano or any instruments. The kids do not read notes, simply work together and listen to recordings. They sung and danced and of course I cried from the beauty of it all. I am so sad to leave here. I have absolutely fallen in love with South Africa and cannot wait to come back (I'm thinking my honeymoon:))!!
A few fun facts:
-exchange rate: $1 = 7.5 rands
-there are 11 national languages
-the culture is very laid back, they are never on time because they know things will get done
-they think Bush is an asshole
-Racism is still a huge problem here and it is a very open topic to talk about
So now I am on the ship and we were supposed to take off however the fog is too bad so who knows when we will start on our way to Mauritius. I am so grateful for everything I have experienced I wish I could give more details and share everything better. I guess we will have to wait though. The internet is too slow for me to put up pictures but I am taking TONS!
Peace and blessings to all!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
V-DAY!
February 14, 2008
So we were awoken at 7 AM by the crew members running like wild Indians through the halls. They were screaming, playing the drums, shaking tambourines, blowing whistles and running with aluminum foil hats on their heads. It was basically hilarious. I woke only to run and take pictures then went back to sleep. I missed out on the pouring of fish guts all over us and jumping into the pool, but i did get to see all the boys and GIRLS who shaved their heads. It is actually very scary looking. We had a record breaking number of people/girls who shaved their heads and it sounds terrible but it looks like a big cancer cruise now. I am not sure who started that tradition but it is being taken to the extreme here in Spring 08.
The weather has been terrible all day. They have closed all the decks and workout room, the elevators are shut off and I have a contusion on my elbow from running into the wall. The boat is rocking back and forth like crazy. We were watching a movie and all of the sudden we swayed to one side so much all of our bedside table stuff flew off and drawers opened! Insanity! Dinner was even better, plates and food everywhere. Hawaiin punch spilled across the floors-oy!
As for Valentine's Day-i got a valentine from my fake "mom" on the trip. (I think I forgot to mention I signed up for an adopted family. Basically the lifelong learners eat dinner with us every once in a while) anyway my fake mom sent me a flower made of paper towel and i got a few little valentines cards that people dispersed. Other than that I wrote an essay and watched Blood Diamond. Now I have to read for a class tomorrow (hopefully i wont get too sick from the waves). I hope you all had a great Valentines day (and birthday Michael!!!). I love you all!
So we were awoken at 7 AM by the crew members running like wild Indians through the halls. They were screaming, playing the drums, shaking tambourines, blowing whistles and running with aluminum foil hats on their heads. It was basically hilarious. I woke only to run and take pictures then went back to sleep. I missed out on the pouring of fish guts all over us and jumping into the pool, but i did get to see all the boys and GIRLS who shaved their heads. It is actually very scary looking. We had a record breaking number of people/girls who shaved their heads and it sounds terrible but it looks like a big cancer cruise now. I am not sure who started that tradition but it is being taken to the extreme here in Spring 08.
The weather has been terrible all day. They have closed all the decks and workout room, the elevators are shut off and I have a contusion on my elbow from running into the wall. The boat is rocking back and forth like crazy. We were watching a movie and all of the sudden we swayed to one side so much all of our bedside table stuff flew off and drawers opened! Insanity! Dinner was even better, plates and food everywhere. Hawaiin punch spilled across the floors-oy!
As for Valentine's Day-i got a valentine from my fake "mom" on the trip. (I think I forgot to mention I signed up for an adopted family. Basically the lifelong learners eat dinner with us every once in a while) anyway my fake mom sent me a flower made of paper towel and i got a few little valentines cards that people dispersed. Other than that I wrote an essay and watched Blood Diamond. Now I have to read for a class tomorrow (hopefully i wont get too sick from the waves). I hope you all had a great Valentines day (and birthday Michael!!!). I love you all!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Cruisin' Along
Well we are slowly moving up hours (losing one hour every night and it is killer). I have an 8AM class every other day which is super early with the time changes. On top of that the entire ship is sick. My roommate has a fever and all my friends are sick...so far I'm safe and trying my hardest to stay that way. Strep Throat is going around (and I have a knack for picking that up)! It is hard to stay healthy when there are no windows to open and keep air circulating. Tests and essays are being assigned by the loads before we get to South Africa so we are all stressed on top of everything else! The good news is we have an ice cream social tomorrow night!! I will probably be the only one healthy enough to make it to the 7th deck for it though. Hope you all are well! Oh and I apologize I spelled ferry incorrectly before but I don't have the internet minutes to use to change it.
Tomorrow is Valentines day and they have replaced all the lamps/laterns on the ship with heart lamps! There are a lot of couples on the ship which is very surprising (couples that came together). We have school off because it is Neptune Day! (we are crossing the Mid-Atlantic Ridge) It is supposed to be a crazy day full of surprises. Supposedly everyone shaves their heads, we get fish guts poured on us, the crew wakes us early by running through the halls and slamming pots and pans. Who knows what will really happen though. Tonight is a "Jungle Party," we are supposed to dress up as animals, but I am not sure what i will wear.
So my cabin steward (who makes my bed everyday) is amazing! I love him to death! Only those of you who really know me will understand why I truly appreciate what he does. Everyday when he makes my bed he takes my blanket and folds it in with my sheets at the BOTTOM of the bed!!! It's awesome!
I still haven't figured all my safari stuff out and now think that I lost $200-nice! Oh well I am trying not to stress too much.
This is very random but very important: Since I am on my way to Africa I am learning a lot of new things and the Genocide in Darfur is shocking me more and more. Everyone should please go rent the movie "The Devil Came on Horseback" with Brian Steind and spread the word. Something needs to be done and soon.
Tomorrow is Valentines day and they have replaced all the lamps/laterns on the ship with heart lamps! There are a lot of couples on the ship which is very surprising (couples that came together). We have school off because it is Neptune Day! (we are crossing the Mid-Atlantic Ridge) It is supposed to be a crazy day full of surprises. Supposedly everyone shaves their heads, we get fish guts poured on us, the crew wakes us early by running through the halls and slamming pots and pans. Who knows what will really happen though. Tonight is a "Jungle Party," we are supposed to dress up as animals, but I am not sure what i will wear.
So my cabin steward (who makes my bed everyday) is amazing! I love him to death! Only those of you who really know me will understand why I truly appreciate what he does. Everyday when he makes my bed he takes my blanket and folds it in with my sheets at the BOTTOM of the bed!!! It's awesome!
I still haven't figured all my safari stuff out and now think that I lost $200-nice! Oh well I am trying not to stress too much.
This is very random but very important: Since I am on my way to Africa I am learning a lot of new things and the Genocide in Darfur is shocking me more and more. Everyone should please go rent the movie "The Devil Came on Horseback" with Brian Steind and spread the word. Something needs to be done and soon.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
More of Brazil
February 8, 2008
So we heard from a bunch of people that going to one of the islands here is cheap and a ton of fun. Everyone said it was really pretty and very safe, so that is what we woke up at 8 to do. We wanted to catch the 9:00 fairy out to the island so we were at the place to buy tickets at 8:45. We bought our 3R tickets and stood in line, which was more of a huge mob of people squished together in a room with no air circulation. Turned out that the fairy for 9:00 was full so we waited in the squished, hot and humid place with a ton of natives for over an hour for the next fairy.
The fairies arrived and it was a serious push and shove to get a spot. Lindsay, Lindsay, and I were separated from Harrison, Chula, Dutch, and Will (our male friends). So we rode on the 45 minute fairy to this island that we cannot remember the name of now. As soon as we got off we were mauled by men trying to get us to go in their taxis, buy their goods, etc. It was so scary and overwhelming and not what we expected from the description that everyone had told us. The boys finally arrived and we went to find a spot on the beach. The beach was dirty and we were not very welcome there. "Gringas" everyone kept hissing. So we stayed for about an hour and a half and decided to get back in line for the fairy home because the line was curved around the town and was going to take forever.
Let me just remind you all that I am in the southern hemisphere and very close to the equator-it is VERY hot here. The line took another hour and then we were shoved to the bottom of the fairy. We felt like the reverse of the African slave trade, as bad as that sounds. But we got back on time for our next adventure... the soccer game!
It was the Bahia (Brazil) team (no the national one). Over half of the students on the ship went and it was so fun! These people are crazy about soccer. The first half of the game was pretty calm and when they scored we all got to yell GOOOL!!! (Goal, but that is how their scoreboard spelled it)! The yells and jeers throughout the half were great and there were so many military police there with their dogs (kinda scary). Anyway the second half was even more eventful.
In the middle of the game an entire half of the native crowd came over to all the students and were cheering for the rest of the game. They had one leader and they just screamed their cheers. It was so fun jumping around with them and pretending like i knew what they were screaming! We got tired but of course they didn't stop until the end of the game.
Then there were reporters outside of the stadium recording a crowd of crazy Brazilian boys screaming and jumping. Lindsay and I thought it would be fun to jump in. We jumped right in front of the camera and everyone started cheering even more and the reporter started talking to us in Portuguese. I yelled "Ingles!" He replied "you speak English? Who were you rooting for?" I screamed "BAHIA!!!" And the crowd went crazy. Yes I was on Brazilian TV. It was hilarious and so fun! That was my great soccer experience.
Today we took a one hour bus ride (gringas in the back) to a beach called Putia. It was much better than the island. Beautiful, nice people, waves and great sun of course! Now we are back and getting ready to go out for our last night here (oh joy another 9 days on the ship with classes)!
February 9, 2008
So last night was scary. On our way to the bar a native man came up to my friend and asked him for money, when he said he didn't have any the man threatened to stab him. So he gave him 10R and the man left him alone. After that we figured we would just sit at a restaurant and listen to music with our beer and then head back to the ship. As I am not much of a drinker, I watched as my friends got a little more than buzzed and enjoyed the warm night breeze.
Our friend Caroline got back from the Amazon last night and we were so excited to see her! She said her guide there had grown up in a tribe in the Amazon and he never wore shoes. He couldn't even take them inside at the airport because the air conditioning makes him so cold because he isn't used to it. She didn't see any animals, but went piranha and alligator hunting!
Today we spent walking around town and buying more fun things! I officially spent $392 in Brazil-I will be broke when I get home. The exchange rate was 1.6 when we got our money and when we changed it back it was 1.8 it's not too organized in Salvador. Things I learned while I was here:
- Brazil is as big as 48 of the United States
-They speak Portuguese (and we were told they would understand a lot of Spanish but they definitely didn't)
-Salvador (where we stayed) is one of the poorest cities in Brazil. They bring us here because we can see the most culture. Capoeira is a type of martial arts mixed with dance. It was originally brought over by the slaves as entertainment. There are groups all over town that perform Capoeira.
-Many natives are Roman Catholic, however the indigenous people celebrate/d Candomble. They believe that everyone has a spirit that takes the over, one person at a time. Each person has a ceremony when their spirit comes. Of course there is music and dancing during the ceremony.
-The northern part of Brazil is very westernized. Places like Rio De Janero are just like Europe. The Southern part (like Sao Paulo) is much better off than Salvador, but not as westernized as Rio. Here in Salvador, they live day by day. Don't care much for politics and what is going on in the US and love to party.
So I am on the ship and ready to go to South Africa!! I have a ton of work to do before tomorrow and I lost 30 bucks. I need to remember to not sweat the petty things and not pet the sweaty things because I am traveling the world! Oh and I don't know who is reading these but if you want a post card send me your address just in case I don't already have it. (brit0073@aol.com). Love and miss you all!
So we heard from a bunch of people that going to one of the islands here is cheap and a ton of fun. Everyone said it was really pretty and very safe, so that is what we woke up at 8 to do. We wanted to catch the 9:00 fairy out to the island so we were at the place to buy tickets at 8:45. We bought our 3R tickets and stood in line, which was more of a huge mob of people squished together in a room with no air circulation. Turned out that the fairy for 9:00 was full so we waited in the squished, hot and humid place with a ton of natives for over an hour for the next fairy.
The fairies arrived and it was a serious push and shove to get a spot. Lindsay, Lindsay, and I were separated from Harrison, Chula, Dutch, and Will (our male friends). So we rode on the 45 minute fairy to this island that we cannot remember the name of now. As soon as we got off we were mauled by men trying to get us to go in their taxis, buy their goods, etc. It was so scary and overwhelming and not what we expected from the description that everyone had told us. The boys finally arrived and we went to find a spot on the beach. The beach was dirty and we were not very welcome there. "Gringas" everyone kept hissing. So we stayed for about an hour and a half and decided to get back in line for the fairy home because the line was curved around the town and was going to take forever.
Let me just remind you all that I am in the southern hemisphere and very close to the equator-it is VERY hot here. The line took another hour and then we were shoved to the bottom of the fairy. We felt like the reverse of the African slave trade, as bad as that sounds. But we got back on time for our next adventure... the soccer game!
It was the Bahia (Brazil) team (no the national one). Over half of the students on the ship went and it was so fun! These people are crazy about soccer. The first half of the game was pretty calm and when they scored we all got to yell GOOOL!!! (Goal, but that is how their scoreboard spelled it)! The yells and jeers throughout the half were great and there were so many military police there with their dogs (kinda scary). Anyway the second half was even more eventful.
In the middle of the game an entire half of the native crowd came over to all the students and were cheering for the rest of the game. They had one leader and they just screamed their cheers. It was so fun jumping around with them and pretending like i knew what they were screaming! We got tired but of course they didn't stop until the end of the game.
Then there were reporters outside of the stadium recording a crowd of crazy Brazilian boys screaming and jumping. Lindsay and I thought it would be fun to jump in. We jumped right in front of the camera and everyone started cheering even more and the reporter started talking to us in Portuguese. I yelled "Ingles!" He replied "you speak English? Who were you rooting for?" I screamed "BAHIA!!!" And the crowd went crazy. Yes I was on Brazilian TV. It was hilarious and so fun! That was my great soccer experience.
Today we took a one hour bus ride (gringas in the back) to a beach called Putia. It was much better than the island. Beautiful, nice people, waves and great sun of course! Now we are back and getting ready to go out for our last night here (oh joy another 9 days on the ship with classes)!
February 9, 2008
So last night was scary. On our way to the bar a native man came up to my friend and asked him for money, when he said he didn't have any the man threatened to stab him. So he gave him 10R and the man left him alone. After that we figured we would just sit at a restaurant and listen to music with our beer and then head back to the ship. As I am not much of a drinker, I watched as my friends got a little more than buzzed and enjoyed the warm night breeze.
Our friend Caroline got back from the Amazon last night and we were so excited to see her! She said her guide there had grown up in a tribe in the Amazon and he never wore shoes. He couldn't even take them inside at the airport because the air conditioning makes him so cold because he isn't used to it. She didn't see any animals, but went piranha and alligator hunting!
Today we spent walking around town and buying more fun things! I officially spent $392 in Brazil-I will be broke when I get home. The exchange rate was 1.6 when we got our money and when we changed it back it was 1.8 it's not too organized in Salvador. Things I learned while I was here:
- Brazil is as big as 48 of the United States
-They speak Portuguese (and we were told they would understand a lot of Spanish but they definitely didn't)
-Salvador (where we stayed) is one of the poorest cities in Brazil. They bring us here because we can see the most culture. Capoeira is a type of martial arts mixed with dance. It was originally brought over by the slaves as entertainment. There are groups all over town that perform Capoeira.
-Many natives are Roman Catholic, however the indigenous people celebrate/d Candomble. They believe that everyone has a spirit that takes the over, one person at a time. Each person has a ceremony when their spirit comes. Of course there is music and dancing during the ceremony.
-The northern part of Brazil is very westernized. Places like Rio De Janero are just like Europe. The Southern part (like Sao Paulo) is much better off than Salvador, but not as westernized as Rio. Here in Salvador, they live day by day. Don't care much for politics and what is going on in the US and love to party.
So I am on the ship and ready to go to South Africa!! I have a ton of work to do before tomorrow and I lost 30 bucks. I need to remember to not sweat the petty things and not pet the sweaty things because I am traveling the world! Oh and I don't know who is reading these but if you want a post card send me your address just in case I don't already have it. (brit0073@aol.com). Love and miss you all!
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Brazil!
February 6, 2008
We started Brazil off with more than a bang-we walked around Salvador all day yesterday and watched some of the Carnaval floats. The humidity and heat wore us out so around 4:00 in the evening we went in for a little nap... woke around 6, ate dinner and got ready to begin the night.
Carnaval was crazy! We bought $140.00 t-shirts so we could walk with the Fat Boy Slim Float in the parade. It was the most expensive t-shirt i have ever and will ever buy, but it was more than worth it! Our night started around 8:30. Beer was only 1R (which is about 70 cents) a can, so of course we couldnt pass that up! The parade didnt start until 10:30 so we mingled with tons of people from all over the world. Lots of Australians, Brits, and local Brazilians. By the time the DJ (Fat Boy Slim) got started the crowd was already bumpin'!
For hours we paraded down the streets singing and dancing like mad people. We were drenched in sweat, beer, tequila, water, anything and everything. It was like Mardi Gras times 1 million (no joke). The few breaks to go squat on the beach and release ourselves were an adventure in themselves. And my friends thought it would be really funny to pick me up and throw me in the ocean with all of my clothes and shoes on. Oh joy was that fun! Instead of throwing beads you kiss the men on the cheeks and they give you some, but after watching my friend's who had to run before being forced to make out with them, I figured I was fine without the beads.
The experience was just amazing and nothing I can write will do it justice. They say it is the biggest party in the world and that's an understatement. Thousands of people roped in for just one float, hot and sweaty, dancing and jumping, screaming at the top of our lungs. Music blaring, people cheering. I had such a blast and was in awe the entire time. The whole night we all just looked at each other and had to remind ourselves that we really were in Brazil celebrating Carnaval!
Around 3:30 AM we got slightly tired of dancing and decided to get a cab back. It wasn't too easy though with our limited amount of cash and how far from the ship we were, but after a little walking and bargaining we made it.
We showered with our clothes on and collapsed into bed around 4:30. It was a night I will surely never forget.
We woke up this afternoon around 1:00, just in time for lunch on the ship. Then we went around town and shopped a little and watched the sunset from the top of the city.
For dinner we went to a Brazilian Steakhouse-60R for all you can eat fresh cut steak. All different types, it was a meat lover's heaven and a vegetarians hell. Prime Rib, Top Sirlioin, Filet, Lamb, Chicken Hearts, Salmon, Pork and more (on Ash Wednesday). On top of the meat was a huge buffet of all different kinds of side dishes. And for dessert-fried bananas! It was definitely a meal worth writing about. Oh and they give you espresso after the meal (a traditional Brazilian meal).
Fun Facts: Population was a little less than half a million during the 50's in Salvador, Brazil and now is over 3 million which doubles during Carnaval.
-There are slums and nice parts in Brazil, but their way of thinking is not to move up into the better parts, but to better their way of life. They work together to add to their community.
-We don't wear ANY jewelry, tight clothes or flip flops here. We wear money belts, tennies and lose t-shirt. And we always walk with boys.
We started Brazil off with more than a bang-we walked around Salvador all day yesterday and watched some of the Carnaval floats. The humidity and heat wore us out so around 4:00 in the evening we went in for a little nap... woke around 6, ate dinner and got ready to begin the night.
Carnaval was crazy! We bought $140.00 t-shirts so we could walk with the Fat Boy Slim Float in the parade. It was the most expensive t-shirt i have ever and will ever buy, but it was more than worth it! Our night started around 8:30. Beer was only 1R (which is about 70 cents) a can, so of course we couldnt pass that up! The parade didnt start until 10:30 so we mingled with tons of people from all over the world. Lots of Australians, Brits, and local Brazilians. By the time the DJ (Fat Boy Slim) got started the crowd was already bumpin'!
For hours we paraded down the streets singing and dancing like mad people. We were drenched in sweat, beer, tequila, water, anything and everything. It was like Mardi Gras times 1 million (no joke). The few breaks to go squat on the beach and release ourselves were an adventure in themselves. And my friends thought it would be really funny to pick me up and throw me in the ocean with all of my clothes and shoes on. Oh joy was that fun! Instead of throwing beads you kiss the men on the cheeks and they give you some, but after watching my friend's who had to run before being forced to make out with them, I figured I was fine without the beads.
The experience was just amazing and nothing I can write will do it justice. They say it is the biggest party in the world and that's an understatement. Thousands of people roped in for just one float, hot and sweaty, dancing and jumping, screaming at the top of our lungs. Music blaring, people cheering. I had such a blast and was in awe the entire time. The whole night we all just looked at each other and had to remind ourselves that we really were in Brazil celebrating Carnaval!
Around 3:30 AM we got slightly tired of dancing and decided to get a cab back. It wasn't too easy though with our limited amount of cash and how far from the ship we were, but after a little walking and bargaining we made it.
We showered with our clothes on and collapsed into bed around 4:30. It was a night I will surely never forget.
We woke up this afternoon around 1:00, just in time for lunch on the ship. Then we went around town and shopped a little and watched the sunset from the top of the city.
For dinner we went to a Brazilian Steakhouse-60R for all you can eat fresh cut steak. All different types, it was a meat lover's heaven and a vegetarians hell. Prime Rib, Top Sirlioin, Filet, Lamb, Chicken Hearts, Salmon, Pork and more (on Ash Wednesday). On top of the meat was a huge buffet of all different kinds of side dishes. And for dessert-fried bananas! It was definitely a meal worth writing about. Oh and they give you espresso after the meal (a traditional Brazilian meal).
Fun Facts: Population was a little less than half a million during the 50's in Salvador, Brazil and now is over 3 million which doubles during Carnaval.
-There are slums and nice parts in Brazil, but their way of thinking is not to move up into the better parts, but to better their way of life. They work together to add to their community.
-We don't wear ANY jewelry, tight clothes or flip flops here. We wear money belts, tennies and lose t-shirt. And we always walk with boys.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Almost to Brazil
I have been trying to blog the past few days but the service on the ship has not been working so well so half of the websites people use can't upload, my blog being one.
Anyway we have been on the ship for a week and it seems like months. It gets super boring, especially on the rainy days when we can't go out and tan and pretend like we are on spring break! Plus the workers here cater to us 24/7. They cook, clean up and do the dishes. They make our beds, vacuum and do the laundry. There is nothing for me to clean and it is almost driving me nuts! I am trying to just enjoy it because it should be a luxury that I wont have forever.
Classes are good. I am actually learning a lot and it is very shocking to me. Usually I never know if I learned anything until finals but everyday I am learning something new and i love it! Dad i am bringing back 2 very good history books that you will enjoy.
We arrive in Brazil tomorrow, we could have been there much sooner because we were cruising so fast. But they turned one engine off because we were getting there too fast and needed to have our school days. What a tease.
We didnt get to watch the superbowl which was very depressing to me. There was one motley radio that 300 students crowded around but I got sick so didn't get to listen. I knew that Eli would pull through though!!! I hope someone Tivo'd the game so i can see it when I get back.
I work out almost everyday on the ship. I use the elliptical or bike and wont go near the treadmill because everytime I work out someone on the treadmill eats it when we hit a wave. One girl has had a brace on since Thursday because she fell so hard.
My friends and I booked a bungalow in Maritius for three days so we cant wait to get there! Carnival will be going on in Brazil so I am super excited for that. Except it will be kind of scary cause the crime is so high there so we have had like 5 safety meetings.
I am still working on finalizing my safari plans so I will keep you updated!
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Open Seas
We are just cruising away to Brazil which they have told us will be very fun but quite dangerous. So we are working on finding some boys to go with because we are scared out of our wits!
The ship is so bumpy- i thought it was bad at first when i got sick, apparently those waves were ones out of tens and we are heading for much worse. :( The ship is just unreal to go outside and all you see is ocean-kind of scary. The ceilings rattle constantly and today people have been falling all over the place. I just know that I will be the first to eat it on top of some guy in front of everyone.
My classes are okay. There is a ton of reading and my geology and sociology teachers are the weirdest teachers I might ever have. All the classes tie into the countries we are visiting some how which makes it a little more interesting.
I found out which trips I will be taking for the rest of the semester (at least the big ones). I am going to Beijing and will be seeing the great wall along with many other places. I am currently working on booking a 4-day safari in south africa. I will be flying to singapore when we get to malaysia! And lots of little stuff in between.
My phone receives calls but I cant use the internet-makes no sense because everyone else who has a blackberry can use the internet. I have to wait to get into ports but oh well.
This experience is just shocking to me everyday. I have made some great friends who make me laugh so much I look like a crazy person. But I would rather look crazy than sane! Love you all! Sorry I cant upload many photos it takes forever and we dont have much internet time.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Puerto Rico
Ranancito (our mini tour guide) Left to right: Lindsay H, Caroline, Lindsay W (my roomate) MeMy computer doesnt work and i dont have any time but now you can all put faces to the names of my friends. Love you guys!
January 26, 2008
Well we arrived in Puerto Rico around 7 a.m. As soon as i woke up and looked out of my port hole i saw a sign from the port that said. "Bienvenidos a Puerto Rico" for those of you that dont know spanish that means "Welcome to Puerto Rico." (mom)
Anyway I am kind of stressing because i never got into one of the safari groups in africa and now i am trying so hard to join one but i am not sure it will happen. What will i do if i go all the way to south africa and NOW go on a safari? I cant believe it. Anyway we are slowly being called by groups to exit the ship and then we are free to do what we want.
So Lindsay, Lindsay, Caroline and I (my new friends) spent the day walking around Old San Juan in Puerto Rico. We rode the trolley around town and saw the old fortresses and great stone wall that protected the capital way back when. We ate at a small cafe that overlooked the ocean and then headed to the beach. We tanned at la playa "El Ocho" for a while enjoying the beach and lovals. On our walk back to the ship we made a few stops at the Normandy Hotel and the Hilton and pretended to be guests so we could go on their private beaches and lay in the hammocks. We also used the concierge to find tourists information, we called to make plans for horseback riding and went back to the ship!
Later that night I rode on a bus for over an hour with a bunch of SAS kids for a trip to the Bioluminescent Bay. When we arrived it was already dark and the moon was low and hidden behind the clouds. We were paired up for kayaks and took off. There were about 20 kayaks lined up rowing through a big bay that had no luminescence and had a dead end. But the guide went straight toward the wall of bushes and rocks...so we followed. We entered a pitch black tunnel of trees. the only way to know where to go was by following the glow sticks that were attached to the kayaks. When you looked up it was one of the most amazing skies ever. The mile of roughing through the trees in our kayaks ended at a big bay-the bioluminescent one. When you put your hands/feet in the water and make the water move it looked like there was fairy dust in the water. It was literally magical looking. Gold and silver fairy dust just shimmering in the water.
Our guide explained what it was: It is the ability of living organisms to emit light. Bioluminescence is created through oxidation which makes photophores (whatever those are). Anyway the entire experience was great and so much fun. Kayaking at night under the stars in the warm water listening to the coqui frogs (which are native to PR) sent an energy of light through me then having a glitter of life to end with was perfect.
January 27, 2008
Today we woke up to a phone call from our tour guide saying he was outside the ship waiting for us...WOOPS! SSo we quickly got ready and ran outside and were greeted by a nice large man with his son. Ranan and Ranancito (Ranan Jr.). They drove us to the Conwuistador Hotel about one hour away. The hotel was insane! Right next to it are huge houses owned by Michael Jordan, Shaq, Shakira and J-Lo! We took a fairy ten minutes out to a private island called Palomina and it was beautiful. We rode on horseback (so funny cause my friend was so afraid and her horse would stop all the time to eat and mine was albino and if i shifted my weight even a little his knees would buckle). We rode to the top of the island which was a great view. Breathtaking. We stayed on the beach and tanned for a while then went back to play in the pools at the Conquistador.
Ranan and his son were amazing and took us to Walmart so we could buy some stuff before going back to the ship. Even though we only knew them for a day it was so sad to say goodbye. We got to know them so well and promised we would come back and visit some day. Already so much has happened and this is not even one of the main events of my semester!
January 28, 2008
Basically today we spent walking around town and getting souvenirs. Now we are in the Sheraton Hotel using their free WiFi but of course my computer is not working so I am using my friend's. Why would anything technical work for me on this trip? We leave Puerto Rico tonight and are heading to Brazil! Not much happens on the boat except for classes so I will update after we get there and adventure a little. Miss everyone so much love you too! Hope all is well :)
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