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!