VIETNAM
YAY parents! A lot of parents came to visit us in Vietnam. INCLUDING MINE J It was awesome seeing the folks after all this time. I haven’t really been in contact with anyone from home. I hardly ever get online to e-mail and I never really call…so it was good to see my parents. The first day orphans from Cambodia came to the ship and danced for us. It was really fun to watch them (in the Union) …they were having so much fun. Even the guys were smiling and having fun dancing. Their dances told stories of the culture and the traditions of Vietnamese people.
After that I waited for Mom and Dad to get to the ship and when they finally did they weren’t able to get on because they didn’t have their landing cards with them L So we left and when we tried to get a taxi they were trying to charge us an insane amount so we just walked to the hotel. Then we went to the war remnants museum. When we first got there we were kind of disappointed because there was nothing that actually explained the Vietnam war. But when I went into a couple of the buildings I really liked the museum. They showed the cells and they talked about how people were tortured…it was horrible to see. Then they had a place that showed the victims of all the chemicals from the bombs that were dropped over Vietnam. It was interesting to see how the museum showed the war…they seemed to have a slanted view. They seemed to think that we purposely poisoned them with these bombs….but we had no idea that it was happening…and in fact our soldiers were also being poisoned.
After this we walked down to the center of town where there were some nice shops. But everything seemed to be overpriced for Vietnam. Finally we found the market but everything was poorly made and still not all that cheap. OH I also went to a silk store and tried to get a dress made but I ended up just buying 2 dresses and I just had one of them altered. Everyone got clothes made. We all need formal wear to wear to our Ambassadors ball. The guys came back with really nice suits and the girls designed their own dresses and had them made….however lots of them were horribly made. None of them fit. HA Ashley’s roommates dress (Kelly) …her dress didn’t fit her at all. In fact…one of the guys down the hall (Slava) put on the dress and it fit him perfectly. HAHA. It was pretty funny.
The next day mom and dad actually got to get on the ship and I gave them a tour and introduced them to a lot of the crew members that I know. Oh yea…I don’t think I’ve mentioned that before. But the crew members are awesome and they all know me, heh it’s fun. We got a tour guide thru the hotel who took us to the Cu Chi tunnels. I had fun there. Our tour guide was really short and he was actually not even tall enough to legally drive-- 45. haha. But I went into the tunnels and into the hiding spot…it was cool to see. And I shot an AK 47. It was REALLY loud.
We made our way to Hanoi the next day …it was a good break. It was a lot cooler there….every place we have gone has been SOOOOOO hot. And finally it was about 80 degrees. Our hotel was the oldest hotel in Vietnam and it was really nice. Mom and I went shopping all day long at the markets there in Hanoi and found some good things. I also found my dress for the Ambassadors ball. We really wanted to go to Halong Bay while we were in Hanoi but we didn’t get a chance because we only had 2 days there and the travel to Halong bay is about 3 hours there and 3 hours back. So instead we just went shopping the whole time. We also went to a water puppet show which I thought was really cool.
The last day in Ho Chi Minh City our tour guide took us to the Mekong Delta. It was fun. We went on a boat that took us to markets where we saw fish and things. I think it’s cool how people in Vietnam and other countries…eat so many things. And they don’t waste anything. For instance they eat EVERY part of the big…the heart, intestines, brain, EARS…everything. We also went to a place where we learned how they made coconut candy and we tried it and I bought some…but later when I got on the ship I actually didn’t like it all that much anymore. It was just cool to eat the hot freshly made candy. They use ALL parts of the coconut. They use the outside to make bowls and souvenirs and they use the husk part to make hammocks and everything. Then we tasted a bunch of fruit. My favorite fruit is the dragon fruit…It’s delicious. Mmmm… WE got in a kayak and went through this little canal…and wore those little hats that they wear. Hehe. When we got back to our hotel our tour guide took me on his ‘motor bike’ around the block haha it was fun…people in Vietnam drive crazy…maybe even worse than India…one day our taxi ran into a motor bike…and we didn’t stick around to see what happened to the guy but I think he hurt his leg pretty bad…we ran directly into the side of his bike…and hit his leg. We also saw two fatalities…one in Hanoi and one in HCMC….there were just bodies on the road….covered up by card board boxes. :-/….
So when we got back to our hotel we went back to the ship and had dinner and then went outside and said bye for about 2 hours. Ha Mika…the photographer for the yearbook stood outside waiting the whole time to take pictures of us saying bye.
Other things…one night mom and I went back to the ship around 10 or 11 to pack up some of the things I bought…they took 2 bags back of things…and I still think im going to have problems with my luggage at the end of the trip. It sucked cause they wouldn’t let her on the ship cause it was too late…so she had to wait outside while I packed up my bags. Also…we had the most delicious meal in HCMC one night….and we ate so much food and had beer AND desert and it was only like 17 bucks. OH and at our hotel in Hanoi…there was a CHOCOLATE buffet…..WOW. I was in heaven…I ate SO much chocolate…and lunch too…I think I ate about 5 peoples buffet’s worth. Well that’s about it for now….
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
MALAYSIA
So I haven’t written in a long time and I am going to try to update every country since India but I have forgotten some details L
MALAYSIA
So we docked in the middle of the water. The pier in Malaysia was under construction so we had to take the tenders (life boats) to the pier every time we wanted to get off the ship. The first day in Malaysia Ashley, Jess, and Ali and I got a driver who took us around to some of the places there in Penang. We went to lunch and had shark fin soup, crab…then we went to the spice garden…uh I forget where else but the spice garden was just a little forest type thing…we just walked through and looked at the plants that were growing there. There was this really cool swing in the middle of it too and we had fun doing that. Hmm then I went back to the ship and I tried to figure out how I was going to get to Kuala Lumpur and I found a few people on the ship that wanted to go (Lindsey, An…my brother on the ship, and Bryan) We were planning on going that night and getting a midnight train. But when we tried to leave the ship at 12 AM we had to wait for them to switch out the tender and by the time we got to the bus station we had missed the 1 AM train. L So we got a hotel near by and stayed up all night waiting to take the bus at 7 AM…so we didn’t get there till about 2 PM…then we walked around looking for a hotel and found one in about 15 minutes. That day we went shopping at the little market/mall there. Well actually not little…malls in every country we go to are HUGE. They are like 7 floors and all spread out…it’s crazy. It was fun shopping there…the women working in the store would even help you pick out clothes to wear and then when you came out of the dressing room with the clothes on they would fix them for you…like tie a bow all perfectly. Ha. But I bought some clothes and replaced some things that had gotten stolen in Mauritius.
The next day we went to the twin towers….which the bottom floors are all shopping…but it was expensive stores so we didn’t actually shop. We just ate lunch and got some Starbucks…haha Starbucks has been in EVERY country except Vietnam…I think.
So it F1 was going on during the time we were in KL…well actually it started the day after we left but at 7 PM the public was able to go into the pit and see the car and meet the drivers. But unfortunately we had to catch our bus back to Penang at 8 PM so we didn’t get to go…we just went and looked outside the gates. We also went to the pewter factory. AND the tours there were closed by the time we got there….but it was fun. I bought a lot of things that are made of pewter.
The last day in Penang I went out with An and the Vietnamese inner port lecturer Trang. She goes to school in Vietnam and I went shopping with her all day long. It was really fun. Then we went to eat dinner and afterwards we looked for a taxi…but we couldn’t find one ANYWHERE. We walked around for 30 minutes looking for a taxi…it was crazy….you can always find taxi’s everywhere. So by the time we got back to the pier there was a huge line of people waiting to get on the tenders to go back to the ship. I ended up waiting for about 2 hours to get a tender….which means I was late to the ship…It was chaos…everyone was cutting and then by the time I got on the tender I had to wait like 20 minutes for the tender to actually fill up with people and leave the pier to go back to the ship. If that wouldn’t have happened I wouldn’t have been late. There were atleast 100 people that were late…so I had a choice to either take 4 hours of dock time or just take a warning…and if am late again I will get that dock time plus 4 hours…so lets hope I’m not late again
OK so that is what happened in Malaysia…pretty boring sounding huh? Well it was fun. I had a good time
MALAYSIA
So we docked in the middle of the water. The pier in Malaysia was under construction so we had to take the tenders (life boats) to the pier every time we wanted to get off the ship. The first day in Malaysia Ashley, Jess, and Ali and I got a driver who took us around to some of the places there in Penang. We went to lunch and had shark fin soup, crab…then we went to the spice garden…uh I forget where else but the spice garden was just a little forest type thing…we just walked through and looked at the plants that were growing there. There was this really cool swing in the middle of it too and we had fun doing that. Hmm then I went back to the ship and I tried to figure out how I was going to get to Kuala Lumpur and I found a few people on the ship that wanted to go (Lindsey, An…my brother on the ship, and Bryan) We were planning on going that night and getting a midnight train. But when we tried to leave the ship at 12 AM we had to wait for them to switch out the tender and by the time we got to the bus station we had missed the 1 AM train. L So we got a hotel near by and stayed up all night waiting to take the bus at 7 AM…so we didn’t get there till about 2 PM…then we walked around looking for a hotel and found one in about 15 minutes. That day we went shopping at the little market/mall there. Well actually not little…malls in every country we go to are HUGE. They are like 7 floors and all spread out…it’s crazy. It was fun shopping there…the women working in the store would even help you pick out clothes to wear and then when you came out of the dressing room with the clothes on they would fix them for you…like tie a bow all perfectly. Ha. But I bought some clothes and replaced some things that had gotten stolen in Mauritius.
The next day we went to the twin towers….which the bottom floors are all shopping…but it was expensive stores so we didn’t actually shop. We just ate lunch and got some Starbucks…haha Starbucks has been in EVERY country except Vietnam…I think.
So it F1 was going on during the time we were in KL…well actually it started the day after we left but at 7 PM the public was able to go into the pit and see the car and meet the drivers. But unfortunately we had to catch our bus back to Penang at 8 PM so we didn’t get to go…we just went and looked outside the gates. We also went to the pewter factory. AND the tours there were closed by the time we got there….but it was fun. I bought a lot of things that are made of pewter.
The last day in Penang I went out with An and the Vietnamese inner port lecturer Trang. She goes to school in Vietnam and I went shopping with her all day long. It was really fun. Then we went to eat dinner and afterwards we looked for a taxi…but we couldn’t find one ANYWHERE. We walked around for 30 minutes looking for a taxi…it was crazy….you can always find taxi’s everywhere. So by the time we got back to the pier there was a huge line of people waiting to get on the tenders to go back to the ship. I ended up waiting for about 2 hours to get a tender….which means I was late to the ship…It was chaos…everyone was cutting and then by the time I got on the tender I had to wait like 20 minutes for the tender to actually fill up with people and leave the pier to go back to the ship. If that wouldn’t have happened I wouldn’t have been late. There were atleast 100 people that were late…so I had a choice to either take 4 hours of dock time or just take a warning…and if am late again I will get that dock time plus 4 hours…so lets hope I’m not late again
OK so that is what happened in Malaysia…pretty boring sounding huh? Well it was fun. I had a good time
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
INDIA
Lets just start with India was AMAZING. WOW. The first day I walked off the ship and got bombarded by the rikshaw drivers (funny looking little cars…if you wanna call them that) But one of the drivers told me that there was a store right there and we walked over about 30 seconds away and there was this awesome store with fabrics, sculptures, jewelry…and other things. I bought a LOT of things. One thing was a beautiful bed cover, it's amazing. So then I went on a homestay in Erode. I stayed in Borni something….it was an old farm house (76 years old). We went and saw many things: how sugar is produced…watched a guy throw a pot, then we went to a carpet factory where I helped weave a carpet with the hand loom haha. We also went to the school RIGHT next to the house and they were doing what we would call an assembly…singing songs and then they raised the flag. They were waiting for us at the gate (the band) and they led us in and up to the stage where we sat and they continued with their singing all around us. The kids in India look up to you. They all loved seeing us and people would walk up to us and ask for their picture to be taken then we would show them on the screen (adults and kids)
To be continued…..
To be continued…..
MAURITIUS
Me and 14 other people rented a villa near the beach and all we did was hang out and shop. It was really fun. Howevvvverrr, the last night we all got robbed. Our house was padlocked down and someone got a crow bar and bent up the bars. Luckily my camera and video camera were saved by a towel covering a purse…ha…can you believe that. They took most people stuff…cameras, ipods, one laptop was there….I lost my wallet, phone, clothes, swimsuit, and toiletries. I had to go the very last day and replace some of those things. Oh well….worse things could have happened. But that's about it for Mauritius.
Oh wait I went to an island called Isle deux Coco (island of two coconuts)…there were definitely more than two coconuts. It was the most beautiful place I have ever seen though. It is a privately owned beach, the owner came out and met us at the peer. Then we had some champaigne and went snorkeling and we came back and laid on the beach and we had an open bar…then I went snorkeling some more and laid around some more. It was SO beautiful. You could see where the two oceans met. It was SO clear.
Oh also the last night at the villa I stepped on some coral and I couldn't walk for a few days…only on my toes…my calf got a good work out. Haha. But the pain went away and it's coming back a little (it started hurting again in India)
Oh wait I went to an island called Isle deux Coco (island of two coconuts)…there were definitely more than two coconuts. It was the most beautiful place I have ever seen though. It is a privately owned beach, the owner came out and met us at the peer. Then we had some champaigne and went snorkeling and we came back and laid on the beach and we had an open bar…then I went snorkeling some more and laid around some more. It was SO beautiful. You could see where the two oceans met. It was SO clear.
Oh also the last night at the villa I stepped on some coral and I couldn't walk for a few days…only on my toes…my calf got a good work out. Haha. But the pain went away and it's coming back a little (it started hurting again in India)
Arriving In Mauritius
We get to Mauritius in a few hours. I have been up late running around with Ashley on the ship. We have both decided we like the crazy rockyness of the ship. We are in the worst waters right now and things are flying around on board…but we found that it's like a free rollercoaster. You know when you're in an elevator and you bend down and then jump at the right time and you feel like you're flying? Well imagine that…but ten times better. We have been jumping around and sprinting down halls then jumping…and we fly through the air. It's SO fun. Haha. While other people are throwing up in the mean time. :-/ Well I say it's fun now…but when we're in class it is really no fun.
I'm going to a Villa on Flick and Flack Beach…There will be about 14 of us there…and I think the majority of the ship has done the same thing…for the same beach..so it will basically be a beach full of SAS kids. I had a service visit and a catamaran kind of snorkeling thing planned but now they are on the same day for some reason so I have to cancel one. My other plan for Mauritius is to get in a Taxi and tell them to take us to the big places…like the volcanoes and the waterfalls and a few other things. I also need to look for some clothes. I have no shorts L
Last night I stayed up all night till 9:30 in the morning haha and then slept till about 4 PM. It was fun. Hanging out with everyone till about 3AM playing the guitar and singing…and then I watched a movie in my room and went outside to watch the sunrise, which was beautiful by the way. I had time to be alone and think to myself for about an hour or two. Then I went to breakfast and to bed. Wish I didn't ever have to sleep, so I could do things like that all the time. So little time in the day. I want to figure out how to watch the sunrise more often. Maybe while im on the beach in Mauritius. I'll let you know!!! MUST get to bed. Love you all. BYE
I'm going to a Villa on Flick and Flack Beach…There will be about 14 of us there…and I think the majority of the ship has done the same thing…for the same beach..so it will basically be a beach full of SAS kids. I had a service visit and a catamaran kind of snorkeling thing planned but now they are on the same day for some reason so I have to cancel one. My other plan for Mauritius is to get in a Taxi and tell them to take us to the big places…like the volcanoes and the waterfalls and a few other things. I also need to look for some clothes. I have no shorts L
Last night I stayed up all night till 9:30 in the morning haha and then slept till about 4 PM. It was fun. Hanging out with everyone till about 3AM playing the guitar and singing…and then I watched a movie in my room and went outside to watch the sunrise, which was beautiful by the way. I had time to be alone and think to myself for about an hour or two. Then I went to breakfast and to bed. Wish I didn't ever have to sleep, so I could do things like that all the time. So little time in the day. I want to figure out how to watch the sunrise more often. Maybe while im on the beach in Mauritius. I'll let you know!!! MUST get to bed. Love you all. BYE
South Africa !!!
Day 1
Last night Ashley and I slept out on the deck. Well…we really only slept for 2 hours. We had an awesome time hanging out, though it was cold. The sea water was raining on us. After 1 hour of sleep I woke up and I looked up and the sky was FULL of stars, it was beautiful. I tried to stay awake to look at it but fell asleep staring at the sky. I woke up when everyone was rushing by us to get to the bow of the boat to watch us pull in. It was beautiful pulling in, we took lots of pictures. We were both wet and freezing.
After breakfast and going to all of our meetings we finally got off the ship around 12 (we pulled in at 7 AM) We went to the waterfront and checked out the mall but it was SO expensive and just like a humongous version of a mall in the states. So then we ate lunch and went to a township. It was a good experience but our group got ripped off. We did not get to interact with any of the locals. We first went to the district 6 museum and then we went to a place where they teach people to make pottery and do metal work and then sell it there and to big vendors. They raise this money to help school children. But when we got there they showed up the art and pretty much demonstrated how they make it and advertised it so that we could buy it. Then they put on a little play for us, that was nice. But we didn't get to meet the kids!!! We were only there for like 30 minutes. We had about 5 minutes to look and buy things. Then we went to see the "medicine man" I don't know if I missed the explanation…the only thing I understood was that the little shack that he was in used to be empty and many women used to be raped there…and he bought it and turned it into his own thing. People come to see him to be healed (when we were there, there were people waiting to be healed) It was very strange though. There were lines with things hanging over them throughout the whole place. There were dead animal skins, skulls, hands….it was really pretty creepy. It was real dark and smelly. And he was all dressed up crazy holding little wands with hair at the ends….
Then we went to see where Amy Biehl was killed and we rode in the bus for about an hour and a half and the tour guide said a bunch of things that I didn't really catch. Other people that went were able to talk to kids and everyone and it was very moving for them. L
After the township everyone went out but I stayed in…my voice was gone and I felt horrible so I just went to bed early. But everyone had an awesome night out on the town.
Day 2
Today we went to Café Europa to eat breakfast. WOW it was delicious. I had eggs and bacon and sausage and toast…and it was the most delicious breakfast. Mmmm. Then we went to go skydiving but it was raining and we couldn't go. So we went to the wineyards instead. We drove to 2 places that were closed then made it to a third called ….I'm not sure but we tasted 10 different wines and had some cheese and crackers. Just Ashley, Ali, and our driver Ganief. It was really nice. I couldn't imagine trying to do it through SAS. Ours was a nice intimate setting, we just sat and talked for about 3hours. Our guide was so nice, we picked his brain about many different topics.
We bought a bottle of wine from the wineyards and had a nice relaxing night at the beach (Ali and I)—Ashley went on a Jazz Safari
Day 3
So I almost missed my safari. With little sleep, it's extremely hard to wake up. I didn't hear my alarms…so our group leader called me and Ashley came down and banged on my door so I finally got up and grabbed my things and ran out the door. I was about 20 minutes late and then one guy, Dom, didn't make it in time and he flew in by himself later that night.
When we got to Port Elizabeth it was raining. We got to Kariega, the game reserve, and we put on our ponchos and drove to our lodge. We got really lucky because they overbooked and so they had to place us in a separate lodge. We were the only people there! All 20 of us. We had BEAUTIFUL rooms and we got to stay up late every night and there was an open bar…the food was INCREDIBLE. Our first meal, lunch, was 5 courses. MMMM
We went on a game drive in the rain and saw zebras and empalas and …it was FREEZING. We ate Eland steak for dinner. Eland…which we also saw on our drive. They roam around with the zebras.
DAY 4
We woke up at 8 AM for breakfast and it was raining when we first started our game drive but then it cleared up and was beautiful. We found lions!!! There were 2 of them, they were brothers and we were like 10 feet away from them. I wanted to get out and play with them!!!! But nooo, they might kill us. Haha. We couldn't stand up or make any sudden movements. Ohh our one friend Ali, went to Pilansberg and she saw a male and female lion (brother and sister) mating. Heh, the video she has of it is pretty great. But we also saw a monkey, elephants, giraffes, some beautiful birds, water buffalo, wildabeasts, white rhinos….what else? I forget
After lunch it started raining again but Ashley and I took the golf cart to see the cheetahs "hello cheetah". It was all muddy and we drove really fast and mud was splashing everywhere, it was really fun though (I have a video).
We went on another game drive and it was beautiful out with a huge rainbow…ive never seen a full rainbow. We went to the main lodge and bought some souvenirs and the plan was to go try to find a lion eating his dinner…but on the way back it started raining and all the animals were hiding from us. We did find an elephant and a bunch of giraffes though. The giraffes were kissing. We got back to the lodge, ate dinner, and then we all played games and went to bed at like 4 AM to wake up the next morning and catch our flight home.
That night we had to go to the tourism office place to pick up Ashley's painting that she left at the winelands. We made friends with the guy that heads it up, his name is Nanie and he took us to a really nice spot and Ashley and I watched the sunset and had dinner at the fish market. It was so good!!! I tried sushi for the first time ever. We also met Nanie's friends…Shuabe, Ashim, and Abdeuce, and Ebi…and they all showed us really awesome places to go in Cape Town for the next few days. However, while walking around Long Street…my flip flop broke and Ashim tried to fix it by using a knife…and it didn't end pretty. I watched him slice his finger open and blood was everywhere, he had to get 5 stitches…in his FINGER…that's a lot of stitches. I felt horrible!!!
Day 5
Today…we went skydiving!!! We woke up early first to go to table mountain but because of the high winds were weren't able to go to the top in the cable cars, so instead Shuab drove us to the highest point we could go, it was still so beautiful. I don't think it would have been all that different from the top. We took lots of pictures…then went to Signal hill right next to it and took pictures there too. THEN we went skydiving. Let me just say, it was awesome. Me, being my crazy self…was not scared for some reason…but when the door of the plane opened…I was definitely a little scared because I was first to go and there is no time to wait…you scoot forward…then you pretty much get sucked out. It was an amazing feeling. Flying through the air for about 45 seconds at 9,000 feet…then the chute opened and we went so slow haha. I took the camcorder but it cun in and out…the guy said it was cause it's a digital and …some technical terms I didn't understand. We were going to get a video but they said that since there were so many kids going (like 70 a day)…that they didn't have time to make a video for everyone. Although, some people did end up getting them, and wow…I am so jealous. They are amazing. Afterwards we went to lunch and back to the ship to get ready to go out
DAY 6
Today we woke up early for robben island. . . I'm glad I saw it…but it was extremely long…and I'm sorry, but our guide was really boring…and I did not learn anything about Nelson Mandela…others got to go into his cell…but we didn't. We didn't see penguins there like we were supposed to so Ashley and I were going to go to Bolder bay but when we got done with lunch we didn't have time L So instead we wasted some time and then tried to blow the rest of our Rands on dinner…but did not succeed. We had ostrich steak and Koto? I think…and some spring buck appetizer…and bread…and wine…and cheesecake…but it was still only 300 rand for both of us..which is 42 dollars…that's only 21 bucks for some steak, wine, 2 appetizers, and desert. HA. We had to leave the rest of it for Nanie for helping us out while we were in Cape Town. . . This port was amazing. I can't wait to see what the others have to bring. I want to find a good service visit since our township was not very good.
Last night Ashley and I slept out on the deck. Well…we really only slept for 2 hours. We had an awesome time hanging out, though it was cold. The sea water was raining on us. After 1 hour of sleep I woke up and I looked up and the sky was FULL of stars, it was beautiful. I tried to stay awake to look at it but fell asleep staring at the sky. I woke up when everyone was rushing by us to get to the bow of the boat to watch us pull in. It was beautiful pulling in, we took lots of pictures. We were both wet and freezing.
After breakfast and going to all of our meetings we finally got off the ship around 12 (we pulled in at 7 AM) We went to the waterfront and checked out the mall but it was SO expensive and just like a humongous version of a mall in the states. So then we ate lunch and went to a township. It was a good experience but our group got ripped off. We did not get to interact with any of the locals. We first went to the district 6 museum and then we went to a place where they teach people to make pottery and do metal work and then sell it there and to big vendors. They raise this money to help school children. But when we got there they showed up the art and pretty much demonstrated how they make it and advertised it so that we could buy it. Then they put on a little play for us, that was nice. But we didn't get to meet the kids!!! We were only there for like 30 minutes. We had about 5 minutes to look and buy things. Then we went to see the "medicine man" I don't know if I missed the explanation…the only thing I understood was that the little shack that he was in used to be empty and many women used to be raped there…and he bought it and turned it into his own thing. People come to see him to be healed (when we were there, there were people waiting to be healed) It was very strange though. There were lines with things hanging over them throughout the whole place. There were dead animal skins, skulls, hands….it was really pretty creepy. It was real dark and smelly. And he was all dressed up crazy holding little wands with hair at the ends….
Then we went to see where Amy Biehl was killed and we rode in the bus for about an hour and a half and the tour guide said a bunch of things that I didn't really catch. Other people that went were able to talk to kids and everyone and it was very moving for them. L
After the township everyone went out but I stayed in…my voice was gone and I felt horrible so I just went to bed early. But everyone had an awesome night out on the town.
Day 2
Today we went to Café Europa to eat breakfast. WOW it was delicious. I had eggs and bacon and sausage and toast…and it was the most delicious breakfast. Mmmm. Then we went to go skydiving but it was raining and we couldn't go. So we went to the wineyards instead. We drove to 2 places that were closed then made it to a third called ….I'm not sure but we tasted 10 different wines and had some cheese and crackers. Just Ashley, Ali, and our driver Ganief. It was really nice. I couldn't imagine trying to do it through SAS. Ours was a nice intimate setting, we just sat and talked for about 3hours. Our guide was so nice, we picked his brain about many different topics.
We bought a bottle of wine from the wineyards and had a nice relaxing night at the beach (Ali and I)—Ashley went on a Jazz Safari
Day 3
So I almost missed my safari. With little sleep, it's extremely hard to wake up. I didn't hear my alarms…so our group leader called me and Ashley came down and banged on my door so I finally got up and grabbed my things and ran out the door. I was about 20 minutes late and then one guy, Dom, didn't make it in time and he flew in by himself later that night.
When we got to Port Elizabeth it was raining. We got to Kariega, the game reserve, and we put on our ponchos and drove to our lodge. We got really lucky because they overbooked and so they had to place us in a separate lodge. We were the only people there! All 20 of us. We had BEAUTIFUL rooms and we got to stay up late every night and there was an open bar…the food was INCREDIBLE. Our first meal, lunch, was 5 courses. MMMM
We went on a game drive in the rain and saw zebras and empalas and …it was FREEZING. We ate Eland steak for dinner. Eland…which we also saw on our drive. They roam around with the zebras.
DAY 4
We woke up at 8 AM for breakfast and it was raining when we first started our game drive but then it cleared up and was beautiful. We found lions!!! There were 2 of them, they were brothers and we were like 10 feet away from them. I wanted to get out and play with them!!!! But nooo, they might kill us. Haha. We couldn't stand up or make any sudden movements. Ohh our one friend Ali, went to Pilansberg and she saw a male and female lion (brother and sister) mating. Heh, the video she has of it is pretty great. But we also saw a monkey, elephants, giraffes, some beautiful birds, water buffalo, wildabeasts, white rhinos….what else? I forget
After lunch it started raining again but Ashley and I took the golf cart to see the cheetahs "hello cheetah". It was all muddy and we drove really fast and mud was splashing everywhere, it was really fun though (I have a video).
We went on another game drive and it was beautiful out with a huge rainbow…ive never seen a full rainbow. We went to the main lodge and bought some souvenirs and the plan was to go try to find a lion eating his dinner…but on the way back it started raining and all the animals were hiding from us. We did find an elephant and a bunch of giraffes though. The giraffes were kissing. We got back to the lodge, ate dinner, and then we all played games and went to bed at like 4 AM to wake up the next morning and catch our flight home.
That night we had to go to the tourism office place to pick up Ashley's painting that she left at the winelands. We made friends with the guy that heads it up, his name is Nanie and he took us to a really nice spot and Ashley and I watched the sunset and had dinner at the fish market. It was so good!!! I tried sushi for the first time ever. We also met Nanie's friends…Shuabe, Ashim, and Abdeuce, and Ebi…and they all showed us really awesome places to go in Cape Town for the next few days. However, while walking around Long Street…my flip flop broke and Ashim tried to fix it by using a knife…and it didn't end pretty. I watched him slice his finger open and blood was everywhere, he had to get 5 stitches…in his FINGER…that's a lot of stitches. I felt horrible!!!
Day 5
Today…we went skydiving!!! We woke up early first to go to table mountain but because of the high winds were weren't able to go to the top in the cable cars, so instead Shuab drove us to the highest point we could go, it was still so beautiful. I don't think it would have been all that different from the top. We took lots of pictures…then went to Signal hill right next to it and took pictures there too. THEN we went skydiving. Let me just say, it was awesome. Me, being my crazy self…was not scared for some reason…but when the door of the plane opened…I was definitely a little scared because I was first to go and there is no time to wait…you scoot forward…then you pretty much get sucked out. It was an amazing feeling. Flying through the air for about 45 seconds at 9,000 feet…then the chute opened and we went so slow haha. I took the camcorder but it cun in and out…the guy said it was cause it's a digital and …some technical terms I didn't understand. We were going to get a video but they said that since there were so many kids going (like 70 a day)…that they didn't have time to make a video for everyone. Although, some people did end up getting them, and wow…I am so jealous. They are amazing. Afterwards we went to lunch and back to the ship to get ready to go out
DAY 6
Today we woke up early for robben island. . . I'm glad I saw it…but it was extremely long…and I'm sorry, but our guide was really boring…and I did not learn anything about Nelson Mandela…others got to go into his cell…but we didn't. We didn't see penguins there like we were supposed to so Ashley and I were going to go to Bolder bay but when we got done with lunch we didn't have time L So instead we wasted some time and then tried to blow the rest of our Rands on dinner…but did not succeed. We had ostrich steak and Koto? I think…and some spring buck appetizer…and bread…and wine…and cheesecake…but it was still only 300 rand for both of us..which is 42 dollars…that's only 21 bucks for some steak, wine, 2 appetizers, and desert. HA. We had to leave the rest of it for Nanie for helping us out while we were in Cape Town. . . This port was amazing. I can't wait to see what the others have to bring. I want to find a good service visit since our township was not very good.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
BACK FROM BRAZIL
Hey guys. I don't remember the last time I wrote. I just got back from Brazil yesterday. It was incredible. I went to Lencois….Chapada Diamantina ? It was INCREDIBLE
After a 6 hour bus ride we met up with an NGO (non governmental/nonprofit organization) It is an organization where a few older people help out with kids our age and younger (13..younger)…they provide activities for the kids to do (sewing, painting,…basically just after school activities to keep them busy and having fun. Their sense of community was great…and we got to experience it. We walked up drenched from the rain and they were all singing and dancing and playing the drums and other instruments. We immediately started dancing with them. Then we went into this room where they taught us a few songs and a few dances to go along with them. It was SO much fun.
The next day I woke up and hiked Chapada Diamantina. It was a rigorous hike. 8 miles I believe…and the first 1 ½ were up a steep hill with rocks …basically like rock climbing. Haha. Then for about an hour we walked bare foot through rocks, mud, and water…that was a mistake. My feet are still all sore and raw and bruised feeling. Ha. After all the hiking we finally got to the beautiful waterfall…we got to lay on the side of the mountain and look at the beautiful site….it was kind of scary though. It was beautiful…we were in the clouds, literally, however we didn't get to spend as much time there as I wished. After that we went to the bottom and went home
That night we had the greatest steak I think I have EVERY had. I ate 3 steaks…and with 9 people eating THAT much, and a few drinks each…it was 12 bucks each….amazing. After that we went to Pamaieras….a city 45 minutes away where we went to Carnival, It was very fun. We all followed the truck and danced till around 2 AM and went home and passed out to wake up at 7 to go on another hike.
This day we went hiking through the woods…which is where I'm assuming I caught my nasty rash or poison oak/ivy…whatever it is….except it hurts and burns instead of itches. Hopefully it goes away soon cause if I saw me I'd want to stay away. Haha. But anyway we hiked through the woods, laid under a waterfall (yesterday we swam in a waterfall….it was freezing and brown but it was awesome) We got to the cave where we basically climbed all the boulders that had fallen…which made me think there might be falling rocks while we were in there that blocked us in. But we went all the way to the back using 2 lanterns for all of us. It was hard to see…but once we got to the back (we were supposed to go underneath and outside to the waterfall, but it had been raining so much yesterday and today that it was flooded a bit into the cage and we couldn't walk under to see the waterfall) Instead we sat in the complete dark for 5 minutes. They turned off the lanterns…It felt like I was blind, I couldn't see a thing but my eyes were open. But then I relaxed and felt so good…didn't want them to turn on the lights
THEN I went rappelling …I went down really quick and it was pretty fun, not as exciting as I would think though. Then I went bungee jumping. They were all saying I was crazy…cause I wasn't really scared and when I got on the ledge and the guy gave me the ok I just fell straight forward like I was flying (it was awesome) and they told me I fell perfect, heh. I brought my camcorder….but uh…I was 1 of the 2 people who did NOT get recorded out of all 10 of us. I thought it was kind of funny…So I have tapes of everyone but me. But someone did get a few pictures. And maybe a 30 second video on her Canon camera. Tonight we went back to our hotel and the kids met us there and did a presentation for us, more dancing, more singing. This time it was even closer. The guy in order of our trip, Daniel, (through the travel agency) was extremely nice and soft-hearted. The first night he had cried during our meeting on the trip. Tonight we talked about how we are all one, everyone is beautiful…we were told to stare deep into the eyes of everyone around us for a long time…and start to feel comfortable with it…without it being awkward. Too bad what we did the whole trip cannot really be done in the US….people would freak out if you just stared at them forever. Anyway it was very peaceful and enlightening. I think it changed many people's outlooks. A percentage of the money we spent on this trip went towards the NGO. At the end of the meeting we talked about how we felt when we arrived, and how we felt when we left. We basically all said that SAS had warned us about Brazil and how dangerous it was and scared us all…but when we got off the ship everyone was welcoming us, giving us ribbons, dancing and playing music. Just to welcome us. (the ribbons…they go around your wrist twice and then are tied with 3 knots…then they bless you and you are supposed to make 3 wishes, and you wait for the ribbon to fall off for them to come true…they were EVERYWHERE in brazil, even in advertisements at expensive jewelry stores) Anyway….we were scared going in and then when we got there we felt very welcomed and everyone was so nice…and when we got to Lencois we felt like we were part of the community…or we experienced how great and close they are.
Then the hotel cooked us all pizza, which was delicious. Brazilian food was so good. Every meal. The hotel cooked us breakfast everyday which was also very good. They told us all to take pepto before our meals and not eat fruit, lettuce, water….but no one had problems with it…but I guess it's cause we weren't in Salvador which is not as clean and pretty as Lencois at all. The hotel was awesome though. Ronaldo, the guy that runs the hotel had to give me some lotion stuff to put on my sunburn. I got SO burnt on my arms. It was really weird looking. There were lines of white and splotches of red…it burned though. But even the hotel gave a sense of community. They were so nice. One night I hung out with Ronaldo for a little while and he was telling me about how he wanted to build his business. He goes to Rio to this food detox for one week and he is going to start one himself. Cleansing your body, offering yoga and there will be a meditation room. Only eating very little but eating like every hour. Then it involves mountain biking through Brazil as well. It sounds pretty awesome. Oh and Ronaldo has this puppy named Eto, SO CUTE. I've been missing the dogs from home, had to get my dog fix. Heh. I took pictures of him. He's a mix of something, kind of like a lab but real short hair and big ol ears. We all wanted to take him home. He followed us to the bus and acted like he was going to jump on haha. If I went back to Brazil I would definitely go to Lencois and I would really want to stay there. I didn't really experience Salvadors culture very much.
I went to Carnival in Salvador the last night. I would just have to say that Carnival in Pameiras was WAY better. It was not as crowded, we didn't have to worry about people stealing stuff. We took purses, cameras, money….whereas in Salvador we couldn't bring ANYTHING. We stuffed our id's and money into our bras and underwear and shoes. Haha. And people still got things stolen (not in my group though) Although…people threw bottles filled of pee…and a couple of people in our group got covered, it was quite disgusting. But it was really fun for about an hour, we were just dancing a whole lot. But then as we moved alongside our truck (bloco) it started getting more and more crowded and finally I just couldn't breath and I was being pushed around and couldn't really even dance. Me and a few other people found an exit and left. Some of the other people had the time of their life though. I can't believe that SAS let us go to Salvador during carnival, I heard it was an accident and it wasn't supposed to be during Carnival"
The last day I was going to go to this island that I heard was beautiful like 45 minutes away from Salvador…but it was raining. So we walked to the Mercado then later I went to the mall…haha the mall was HUGE. Each store was as big as a department store, and there were SO many people it was crazy.
Brazil was AWESOME. And I really think the trip to Lencois will be my favorite trip…or will definitely be at the top of the list. I want to try to do a lot of service projects and township visits so I can actually see what the community is like, although last presale… everyone requested the service projects. I only got like 1 out of 5 that I signed up for.
So today I went to all my classes and then came back and slept for 3 hours. I got 10 hours of sleep last night. I fell asleep a few minutes before we pulled out. I haven't gotten that much sleep in months. Haha. But I was still so tired. During one of my classes I fell asleep while we were watching a video and then my teacher had to wake me up so she could get to the white board. She said she wouldn't have woken me up otherwise b/c she understood. Her kids slept from 11 till lunch time this morning. She told us all to go take a nap after class haha.
We are getting ready for Neptune Day….someone set up something on the ship called "rock the hawk" and it was supposed to be for the girls who are shaving their head so they can have a Mohawk since they'll probly never do it again. So tonight everyone (guys and girls) who is shaving their head is making a Mohawk first. Neptune Day will be on Saturday, we don't have classes. I'll probably have to make a whole entry just on that.
We lose another hour tonight and the next two nights as well (3 days in a row) And I think we lose 5 hours before we get to South Africa (think that's like 5 our of 8 days) \n\n So the first global studies test went alright I guess. I thought I was going to fail it, I got a 74. I think if I would have woken up at 8 like I was planning, to review, I would have done a lot better. Instead I woke up at 9:15…5 minutes before the test when the voice told everyone to get to class. Hah.
I have my first quiz on Sunday …seems more like a test though cause we reviewed for it all class period. Then everything else starts. I have a field paper due soon and a test or two. Not sure how im going to make it b/c I am having a really hard time getting any homework done. All I ever do is eat and sleep, take a nap, eat some more….take a nap…haha. Right now my mind is just too tired to do any homework, I feel like I'm about to pass out again. Jungle Book is on TV right now haha. It's so funny to watch movies you watched as a kid cause their quality is not as good as you remembered.
For those of you who were upset that you didn't get mail out to be in Salvador…it's ok cause no one got mail…because of Carnaval the post offices weren't open the whole time that we were there. So all of that mail is going to be forwarded to South Africa.
Well, I have reached 3 pages and I think that's long enough for now. :-P Oh wait….while we were in Lencois we all learned this song named "Mama Africa"…and it was awesome haha. I am still singing it today, and we all looked to buy it yesterday but everywhere I looked was sold out, BUT one of the girls ended up finding it!!!! I don't think I even mentioned how cool our guides were for Lencois. They were all locals and the two guys (Kikiu and Ari) that our group had were so awesome. They even went to Carnaval with us and stayed all night. (in Pameiras)…in Salvador they just escorted us there. But on the bus on the way back we talked to Kikiu the whole time. He's always laughing…it's awesome. I got videos of him haha. And I got him to teach us part of Mama Africa…and yup..they were really cool.
We lose another hour tonight, and the next two nights as well (3 days in a row) And I think we lose 5 hours before we get to South Africa (think that's like 5 our of 8 days)
So the first global studies test went alright I guess. I thought I was going to fail it, I got a 74. I think if I would have woken up at 8 like I was planning, to review, I would have done a lot better. Instead I woke up at 9:15…5 minutes before the test when the voice told everyone to get to class. Hah.
HAHA. Just now there were a group of people playing the piano and drums and a flute in the piano lounge and it sounded pretty good…haha Desie walked by and started dancing. It was awesome, I wish I had had my camera with me. Well miss you guys!!!!
PS…I heard a rumor tonight going around that we may not be going to India b/c of recent terrist activity….I REALLY hope everything will be ok and we can go cause I am really looking forward to India, I have lots of homestays and service visits planned and I think it would be awesome
After a 6 hour bus ride we met up with an NGO (non governmental/nonprofit organization) It is an organization where a few older people help out with kids our age and younger (13..younger)…they provide activities for the kids to do (sewing, painting,…basically just after school activities to keep them busy and having fun. Their sense of community was great…and we got to experience it. We walked up drenched from the rain and they were all singing and dancing and playing the drums and other instruments. We immediately started dancing with them. Then we went into this room where they taught us a few songs and a few dances to go along with them. It was SO much fun.
The next day I woke up and hiked Chapada Diamantina. It was a rigorous hike. 8 miles I believe…and the first 1 ½ were up a steep hill with rocks …basically like rock climbing. Haha. Then for about an hour we walked bare foot through rocks, mud, and water…that was a mistake. My feet are still all sore and raw and bruised feeling. Ha. After all the hiking we finally got to the beautiful waterfall…we got to lay on the side of the mountain and look at the beautiful site….it was kind of scary though. It was beautiful…we were in the clouds, literally, however we didn't get to spend as much time there as I wished. After that we went to the bottom and went home
That night we had the greatest steak I think I have EVERY had. I ate 3 steaks…and with 9 people eating THAT much, and a few drinks each…it was 12 bucks each….amazing. After that we went to Pamaieras….a city 45 minutes away where we went to Carnival, It was very fun. We all followed the truck and danced till around 2 AM and went home and passed out to wake up at 7 to go on another hike.
This day we went hiking through the woods…which is where I'm assuming I caught my nasty rash or poison oak/ivy…whatever it is….except it hurts and burns instead of itches. Hopefully it goes away soon cause if I saw me I'd want to stay away. Haha. But anyway we hiked through the woods, laid under a waterfall (yesterday we swam in a waterfall….it was freezing and brown but it was awesome) We got to the cave where we basically climbed all the boulders that had fallen…which made me think there might be falling rocks while we were in there that blocked us in. But we went all the way to the back using 2 lanterns for all of us. It was hard to see…but once we got to the back (we were supposed to go underneath and outside to the waterfall, but it had been raining so much yesterday and today that it was flooded a bit into the cage and we couldn't walk under to see the waterfall) Instead we sat in the complete dark for 5 minutes. They turned off the lanterns…It felt like I was blind, I couldn't see a thing but my eyes were open. But then I relaxed and felt so good…didn't want them to turn on the lights
THEN I went rappelling …I went down really quick and it was pretty fun, not as exciting as I would think though. Then I went bungee jumping. They were all saying I was crazy…cause I wasn't really scared and when I got on the ledge and the guy gave me the ok I just fell straight forward like I was flying (it was awesome) and they told me I fell perfect, heh. I brought my camcorder….but uh…I was 1 of the 2 people who did NOT get recorded out of all 10 of us. I thought it was kind of funny…So I have tapes of everyone but me. But someone did get a few pictures. And maybe a 30 second video on her Canon camera. Tonight we went back to our hotel and the kids met us there and did a presentation for us, more dancing, more singing. This time it was even closer. The guy in order of our trip, Daniel, (through the travel agency) was extremely nice and soft-hearted. The first night he had cried during our meeting on the trip. Tonight we talked about how we are all one, everyone is beautiful…we were told to stare deep into the eyes of everyone around us for a long time…and start to feel comfortable with it…without it being awkward. Too bad what we did the whole trip cannot really be done in the US….people would freak out if you just stared at them forever. Anyway it was very peaceful and enlightening. I think it changed many people's outlooks. A percentage of the money we spent on this trip went towards the NGO. At the end of the meeting we talked about how we felt when we arrived, and how we felt when we left. We basically all said that SAS had warned us about Brazil and how dangerous it was and scared us all…but when we got off the ship everyone was welcoming us, giving us ribbons, dancing and playing music. Just to welcome us. (the ribbons…they go around your wrist twice and then are tied with 3 knots…then they bless you and you are supposed to make 3 wishes, and you wait for the ribbon to fall off for them to come true…they were EVERYWHERE in brazil, even in advertisements at expensive jewelry stores) Anyway….we were scared going in and then when we got there we felt very welcomed and everyone was so nice…and when we got to Lencois we felt like we were part of the community…or we experienced how great and close they are.
Then the hotel cooked us all pizza, which was delicious. Brazilian food was so good. Every meal. The hotel cooked us breakfast everyday which was also very good. They told us all to take pepto before our meals and not eat fruit, lettuce, water….but no one had problems with it…but I guess it's cause we weren't in Salvador which is not as clean and pretty as Lencois at all. The hotel was awesome though. Ronaldo, the guy that runs the hotel had to give me some lotion stuff to put on my sunburn. I got SO burnt on my arms. It was really weird looking. There were lines of white and splotches of red…it burned though. But even the hotel gave a sense of community. They were so nice. One night I hung out with Ronaldo for a little while and he was telling me about how he wanted to build his business. He goes to Rio to this food detox for one week and he is going to start one himself. Cleansing your body, offering yoga and there will be a meditation room. Only eating very little but eating like every hour. Then it involves mountain biking through Brazil as well. It sounds pretty awesome. Oh and Ronaldo has this puppy named Eto, SO CUTE. I've been missing the dogs from home, had to get my dog fix. Heh. I took pictures of him. He's a mix of something, kind of like a lab but real short hair and big ol ears. We all wanted to take him home. He followed us to the bus and acted like he was going to jump on haha. If I went back to Brazil I would definitely go to Lencois and I would really want to stay there. I didn't really experience Salvadors culture very much.
I went to Carnival in Salvador the last night. I would just have to say that Carnival in Pameiras was WAY better. It was not as crowded, we didn't have to worry about people stealing stuff. We took purses, cameras, money….whereas in Salvador we couldn't bring ANYTHING. We stuffed our id's and money into our bras and underwear and shoes. Haha. And people still got things stolen (not in my group though) Although…people threw bottles filled of pee…and a couple of people in our group got covered, it was quite disgusting. But it was really fun for about an hour, we were just dancing a whole lot. But then as we moved alongside our truck (bloco) it started getting more and more crowded and finally I just couldn't breath and I was being pushed around and couldn't really even dance. Me and a few other people found an exit and left. Some of the other people had the time of their life though. I can't believe that SAS let us go to Salvador during carnival, I heard it was an accident and it wasn't supposed to be during Carnival"
The last day I was going to go to this island that I heard was beautiful like 45 minutes away from Salvador…but it was raining. So we walked to the Mercado then later I went to the mall…haha the mall was HUGE. Each store was as big as a department store, and there were SO many people it was crazy.
Brazil was AWESOME. And I really think the trip to Lencois will be my favorite trip…or will definitely be at the top of the list. I want to try to do a lot of service projects and township visits so I can actually see what the community is like, although last presale… everyone requested the service projects. I only got like 1 out of 5 that I signed up for.
So today I went to all my classes and then came back and slept for 3 hours. I got 10 hours of sleep last night. I fell asleep a few minutes before we pulled out. I haven't gotten that much sleep in months. Haha. But I was still so tired. During one of my classes I fell asleep while we were watching a video and then my teacher had to wake me up so she could get to the white board. She said she wouldn't have woken me up otherwise b/c she understood. Her kids slept from 11 till lunch time this morning. She told us all to go take a nap after class haha.
We are getting ready for Neptune Day….someone set up something on the ship called "rock the hawk" and it was supposed to be for the girls who are shaving their head so they can have a Mohawk since they'll probly never do it again. So tonight everyone (guys and girls) who is shaving their head is making a Mohawk first. Neptune Day will be on Saturday, we don't have classes. I'll probably have to make a whole entry just on that.
We lose another hour tonight and the next two nights as well (3 days in a row) And I think we lose 5 hours before we get to South Africa (think that's like 5 our of 8 days) \n\n So the first global studies test went alright I guess. I thought I was going to fail it, I got a 74. I think if I would have woken up at 8 like I was planning, to review, I would have done a lot better. Instead I woke up at 9:15…5 minutes before the test when the voice told everyone to get to class. Hah.
I have my first quiz on Sunday …seems more like a test though cause we reviewed for it all class period. Then everything else starts. I have a field paper due soon and a test or two. Not sure how im going to make it b/c I am having a really hard time getting any homework done. All I ever do is eat and sleep, take a nap, eat some more….take a nap…haha. Right now my mind is just too tired to do any homework, I feel like I'm about to pass out again. Jungle Book is on TV right now haha. It's so funny to watch movies you watched as a kid cause their quality is not as good as you remembered.
For those of you who were upset that you didn't get mail out to be in Salvador…it's ok cause no one got mail…because of Carnaval the post offices weren't open the whole time that we were there. So all of that mail is going to be forwarded to South Africa.
Well, I have reached 3 pages and I think that's long enough for now. :-P Oh wait….while we were in Lencois we all learned this song named "Mama Africa"…and it was awesome haha. I am still singing it today, and we all looked to buy it yesterday but everywhere I looked was sold out, BUT one of the girls ended up finding it!!!! I don't think I even mentioned how cool our guides were for Lencois. They were all locals and the two guys (Kikiu and Ari) that our group had were so awesome. They even went to Carnaval with us and stayed all night. (in Pameiras)…in Salvador they just escorted us there. But on the bus on the way back we talked to Kikiu the whole time. He's always laughing…it's awesome. I got videos of him haha. And I got him to teach us part of Mama Africa…and yup..they were really cool.
We lose another hour tonight, and the next two nights as well (3 days in a row) And I think we lose 5 hours before we get to South Africa (think that's like 5 our of 8 days)
So the first global studies test went alright I guess. I thought I was going to fail it, I got a 74. I think if I would have woken up at 8 like I was planning, to review, I would have done a lot better. Instead I woke up at 9:15…5 minutes before the test when the voice told everyone to get to class. Hah.
HAHA. Just now there were a group of people playing the piano and drums and a flute in the piano lounge and it sounded pretty good…haha Desie walked by and started dancing. It was awesome, I wish I had had my camera with me. Well miss you guys!!!!
PS…I heard a rumor tonight going around that we may not be going to India b/c of recent terrist activity….I REALLY hope everything will be ok and we can go cause I am really looking forward to India, I have lots of homestays and service visits planned and I think it would be awesome
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Hey guys...almost to brazil
Hey guys. I have to make this quick I have SO much stuff to do. I have to study for my test tomorrow and I have a list of stuff I have to do before we leave for Brazil. Tomorrow's the last day on the ship. Them I'm off to Lencois and Carnival…I won't be on the ship at all till we get back. I'm excited. Oh I'm going bungee jumping. Heh.
I had the bridge tour today. I took a picture of me in the captains seat with the hat on. Haha. The captain is british…I video taped it all.
If someone could give me grandma and grandpas physical address that would be good. If I don't get it from someone before for some reason I'll send the postcard to mom and dad for them….hopefully I get a chance to send them in Brazil :-/ Not sure I will be in a place that has post offices. After we get to South Africa the time is going to go by SO quick b/c we will only have a few days between each port, I don't even want to think about how we're supposed to remember anything for class or get anything done. I've had a week between these two ports and I still am so behind. Anyway I really really have to get stuff done so I'm going to let you go.
I really feel like there was something I w as going to say that is important.
Everyone let me know if you want anything from the store….and let me know about grandma and grandpas addresses…and for some reason I still can't find grandmas e-mail so just make sure she's up to date on my e-mails or blogs.
Everyone let me know if you are getting my e-postcards b/c I shouldn't keep sending them if you're not. Cause they are free and I really want to send them instead of e-mails.
Oh also if I've sent you like a million postcards and e-mails before you reply…if you could TRY to write them all in one e-mail back…that'd be good cause I am not able to use outlook so I have to copy and paste each e-mail. Hmm ok….well love you guys. Talk to you soon!
Oh the other night when they changed the time one hour ahead….HA…they messed up. Now tonight we gain an hour…which is good I guess cause we all have some serious cramming to do and everything.
k gotta go . love you
I had the bridge tour today. I took a picture of me in the captains seat with the hat on. Haha. The captain is british…I video taped it all.
If someone could give me grandma and grandpas physical address that would be good. If I don't get it from someone before for some reason I'll send the postcard to mom and dad for them….hopefully I get a chance to send them in Brazil :-/ Not sure I will be in a place that has post offices. After we get to South Africa the time is going to go by SO quick b/c we will only have a few days between each port, I don't even want to think about how we're supposed to remember anything for class or get anything done. I've had a week between these two ports and I still am so behind. Anyway I really really have to get stuff done so I'm going to let you go.
I really feel like there was something I w as going to say that is important.
Everyone let me know if you want anything from the store….and let me know about grandma and grandpas addresses…and for some reason I still can't find grandmas e-mail so just make sure she's up to date on my e-mails or blogs.
Everyone let me know if you are getting my e-postcards b/c I shouldn't keep sending them if you're not. Cause they are free and I really want to send them instead of e-mails.
Oh also if I've sent you like a million postcards and e-mails before you reply…if you could TRY to write them all in one e-mail back…that'd be good cause I am not able to use outlook so I have to copy and paste each e-mail. Hmm ok….well love you guys. Talk to you soon!
Oh the other night when they changed the time one hour ahead….HA…they messed up. Now tonight we gain an hour…which is good I guess cause we all have some serious cramming to do and everything.
k gotta go . love you
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Feb 12th - Sick and Exhausted
Ok. I don't even know what to tell you. I am so tired I can't even think. I tried to start my homework yesterday but that didn't work out too well. I can't focus at all. I kept trying to read the same sentence over and over again.
We lost another hour last night. I got up this morning and I was excited cause I was going to eat breakfast…but then I realized it was 9:15 instead of 8:15. After global studies today I laid in bed and woke up at 1 PM or…1300. Haha. I feel like going to sleep right now.
Oh so there have been 2 sitings of Desmond Tutu. Haha. Well actually one girl said that he has been eating dinner every day with the students, however I have only seen him twice
The crew on the ship is awesome. Haha. My cabin steward, Jess is really nice. Then the guys that work at the dining hall and the snack places are really funny. Norris claims his name is Chuck Norris. Clive and Marlin are funny too. Today I asked Marlin a question for my psyc class "what comes to your mind when you hear the word feminism" he's from Jamaica and he said there…feminism is a boy who acts like a girl….
Everyone keeps asking where I have been b/c I guess I've been in my room a lot cause I'm sick. I went to the doctor on Saturday and she said I have laryngitis.
Yesterday was add/drop day for A1 day. It stared at 700 and I woke up and got there about 6:45…I was the 125th person in line….One guy had his pillow and blanket outside the door. We are all waiting to see the list. Hopefully I got into abnormal psych but I was the 5th person on the waiting list so who knows…although seniors get first priority so hopefully I'm the only senior.
So I didn't tell you I don't think…that global studies is in the union but then it is also broadcasted into the piano lounge and all the satellite classrooms. In all but one of my classes, I am in the union classrooms…they have these walls that fold out and create a classroom...well the union is one of the most rocky places on the boat.
The last two days have been really rocky. If you look outside…there are SO many whitecaps…but I don't feel too sick. I think I'm getting used to it. I keep falling still though. Oh and I bought these flip flops in Puerto Rico…well they have fabric on the bottom and I keep sliding around the ship. I almost fell even on the carpet today.
So I was just laying down and there was the biggest wave. I probably jumped up out of the air a little. Haha.
I just found out I didn't get my abnormal psych class. I'm sad.
WOW it's rocking so much…I really only get sick in class cause you have to sit still for so long. I haven't been outside much. I'm sitting out on the deck right now and it feels really nice. So the dinner is really good actually. Last night was the first night they served drinks and you should have seen it…there were people dressing up and everything…haha it was funny.
I'm gonna work on trying to write less stuff so that you don't have to read 4 pages worth of stuff. but I haven't talked to you guys in like 6 days so there was a lot to catch up on. Until next time…..
Oh…we were told last night to tell everyone that if we are getting packages don't have any contraband in there. Haha in Puerto Rico apparently one or two people had straighteners and curling irons sent to them. Think they have to go to a hearing or something.
We lost another hour last night. I got up this morning and I was excited cause I was going to eat breakfast…but then I realized it was 9:15 instead of 8:15. After global studies today I laid in bed and woke up at 1 PM or…1300. Haha. I feel like going to sleep right now.
Oh so there have been 2 sitings of Desmond Tutu. Haha. Well actually one girl said that he has been eating dinner every day with the students, however I have only seen him twice
The crew on the ship is awesome. Haha. My cabin steward, Jess is really nice. Then the guys that work at the dining hall and the snack places are really funny. Norris claims his name is Chuck Norris. Clive and Marlin are funny too. Today I asked Marlin a question for my psyc class "what comes to your mind when you hear the word feminism" he's from Jamaica and he said there…feminism is a boy who acts like a girl….
Everyone keeps asking where I have been b/c I guess I've been in my room a lot cause I'm sick. I went to the doctor on Saturday and she said I have laryngitis.
Yesterday was add/drop day for A1 day. It stared at 700 and I woke up and got there about 6:45…I was the 125th person in line….One guy had his pillow and blanket outside the door. We are all waiting to see the list. Hopefully I got into abnormal psych but I was the 5th person on the waiting list so who knows…although seniors get first priority so hopefully I'm the only senior.
So I didn't tell you I don't think…that global studies is in the union but then it is also broadcasted into the piano lounge and all the satellite classrooms. In all but one of my classes, I am in the union classrooms…they have these walls that fold out and create a classroom...well the union is one of the most rocky places on the boat.
The last two days have been really rocky. If you look outside…there are SO many whitecaps…but I don't feel too sick. I think I'm getting used to it. I keep falling still though. Oh and I bought these flip flops in Puerto Rico…well they have fabric on the bottom and I keep sliding around the ship. I almost fell even on the carpet today.
So I was just laying down and there was the biggest wave. I probably jumped up out of the air a little. Haha.
I just found out I didn't get my abnormal psych class. I'm sad.
WOW it's rocking so much…I really only get sick in class cause you have to sit still for so long. I haven't been outside much. I'm sitting out on the deck right now and it feels really nice. So the dinner is really good actually. Last night was the first night they served drinks and you should have seen it…there were people dressing up and everything…haha it was funny.
I'm gonna work on trying to write less stuff so that you don't have to read 4 pages worth of stuff. but I haven't talked to you guys in like 6 days so there was a lot to catch up on. Until next time…..
Oh…we were told last night to tell everyone that if we are getting packages don't have any contraband in there. Haha in Puerto Rico apparently one or two people had straighteners and curling irons sent to them. Think they have to go to a hearing or something.
Feb 10th—Back Onboard
Okay so I haven't written anything in a few days and I have a lot to catch up on. We just left Puerto Rico yesterday. I thought maybe the ship might rock so much cause we were supposed to go faster….not so much. We started out at 20 knots but this morning we're going 10 knots again. I just want to get used to the rocking. I don't feel nauseas really but I don't really feel that well. But maybe that's cause I'm extremely tired and still sick. I'm going to go to the doctors office after this.
Anyyywaay. So Monday we had our first day of classes. I was not excited. I had class from 9:30 till 2ish? With a 55 minute lunch break…but by the time I got to the cafeteria and waited in line I only had about 20 minutes to eat. So I'm thinking I am going to drop my music class and take an abnormal psyc class. That one is at 8 AM. :-O I've never taken a class that early. Hopefully I can get to bed soon enough to actually get any sleep.
Alright so I'm sure you want to hear about my stay in Puerto Rico. The first day I walked to San Juan and we saw the Capital and some historical buildings. After that we got to the middle of old San Juan which is very touristy. Lots of shops…some of them had clothes by Roxy that were like 50 bucks for some shorts. I only bought post cards from Puerto Rico (and I went to K-mart and Marshalls, and Wallgreens to pick up some things I forgot and a lot of food)
Later I went to the El Yunque rainforest. It was really pretty. We saw the big waterfall in the middle of our hike and I got a bunch of pictures. At night we went to the Welcome Reception. I went to the University of Puerto Rico where we had Michelle at our table, a student of the university. We talked with her for a while and she was extremely nice. She was a sophomore at the University and she said there's 20,000 students that go there. They gave us a DELICIOUS dinner. Ooh they also gave us some souvenirs (a cup with their name on it, a flag, a pencil, some candy…) Then they gave us salsa lessons….after about 30 seconds I sat down, it just wasn't working out. Haha. But it looked fun.
The next day I went to the Bioluminescent Bay and it was awesome. The Bio bay has phytoplankton that glow whenever they are agitated. So we kayaked through this little channel for about 20 minutes and as we got closer to the open area we could see our paddles kind of glowing. When we got to the open area the guide told us how it all works…but all I remember is that they only live 2-3 days and they reproduce like crazy. There are only a few of these bays left in the world and 3 of them are in PR. One of them this year got contaminated and no longer exists. We were able to swim in the water and it was so awesome. There were little tiny glowing dots all over our body if we moved it. If you move your arm real slow it's like you have glitter all over your arm. If you move it real fast it's real bright…it's very hard to describe and we were unable to take pictures b/c you just can't capture it. But I bet there's some on the internet…I'm not sure. Oh by the way…if you EVER go here…do NOT go to the bathroom…wow it was the most disgusting bathroom I have EVER seen. I'm going to spare you of the details
The last day I went to the Rio Camuy Caves. It was 1 ½ hour bus ride and then lots of waiting when we got there. We learned about the stalagtites in a video we watched before we went down the caves. It was really pretty…but was very hard to get pictures of b/c it was so dark and moist. The pictures turned out all blurry and even the good ones just didn't really capture how it really looked. Oh these stalagtites are so big…and they said that they only grow one inch in 100 years. They are formed by water that just drips down and turns into the stalagtite…They said you can't touch them or the water in there b/c it would kill them all….But there is a trail through it that they constructed…and I'm sure people touch it and kids bump into it….So I'm not too sure how that works.
When we got back I called everyone from home b/c it was the last time I was going to get to talk to them and it was sad. Everyone was walking around all sad after we left port. Maybe we should not bring our phones on the trip. Haha. It was nice to talk to everyone though. Very nice.
It's Saturday and I have class. I am going to take a nap in between my classes because I have 4 hours in between the classes. I'm sure there's other things I wanted to tell you but I forget. I will tell everyone later. For now it's back to stumbling around the hallways and feeling drunk once again. Hopefully we all get used to it soon.
Anyyywaay. So Monday we had our first day of classes. I was not excited. I had class from 9:30 till 2ish? With a 55 minute lunch break…but by the time I got to the cafeteria and waited in line I only had about 20 minutes to eat. So I'm thinking I am going to drop my music class and take an abnormal psyc class. That one is at 8 AM. :-O I've never taken a class that early. Hopefully I can get to bed soon enough to actually get any sleep.
Alright so I'm sure you want to hear about my stay in Puerto Rico. The first day I walked to San Juan and we saw the Capital and some historical buildings. After that we got to the middle of old San Juan which is very touristy. Lots of shops…some of them had clothes by Roxy that were like 50 bucks for some shorts. I only bought post cards from Puerto Rico (and I went to K-mart and Marshalls, and Wallgreens to pick up some things I forgot and a lot of food)
Later I went to the El Yunque rainforest. It was really pretty. We saw the big waterfall in the middle of our hike and I got a bunch of pictures. At night we went to the Welcome Reception. I went to the University of Puerto Rico where we had Michelle at our table, a student of the university. We talked with her for a while and she was extremely nice. She was a sophomore at the University and she said there's 20,000 students that go there. They gave us a DELICIOUS dinner. Ooh they also gave us some souvenirs (a cup with their name on it, a flag, a pencil, some candy…) Then they gave us salsa lessons….after about 30 seconds I sat down, it just wasn't working out. Haha. But it looked fun.
The next day I went to the Bioluminescent Bay and it was awesome. The Bio bay has phytoplankton that glow whenever they are agitated. So we kayaked through this little channel for about 20 minutes and as we got closer to the open area we could see our paddles kind of glowing. When we got to the open area the guide told us how it all works…but all I remember is that they only live 2-3 days and they reproduce like crazy. There are only a few of these bays left in the world and 3 of them are in PR. One of them this year got contaminated and no longer exists. We were able to swim in the water and it was so awesome. There were little tiny glowing dots all over our body if we moved it. If you move your arm real slow it's like you have glitter all over your arm. If you move it real fast it's real bright…it's very hard to describe and we were unable to take pictures b/c you just can't capture it. But I bet there's some on the internet…I'm not sure. Oh by the way…if you EVER go here…do NOT go to the bathroom…wow it was the most disgusting bathroom I have EVER seen. I'm going to spare you of the details
The last day I went to the Rio Camuy Caves. It was 1 ½ hour bus ride and then lots of waiting when we got there. We learned about the stalagtites in a video we watched before we went down the caves. It was really pretty…but was very hard to get pictures of b/c it was so dark and moist. The pictures turned out all blurry and even the good ones just didn't really capture how it really looked. Oh these stalagtites are so big…and they said that they only grow one inch in 100 years. They are formed by water that just drips down and turns into the stalagtite…They said you can't touch them or the water in there b/c it would kill them all….But there is a trail through it that they constructed…and I'm sure people touch it and kids bump into it….So I'm not too sure how that works.
When we got back I called everyone from home b/c it was the last time I was going to get to talk to them and it was sad. Everyone was walking around all sad after we left port. Maybe we should not bring our phones on the trip. Haha. It was nice to talk to everyone though. Very nice.
It's Saturday and I have class. I am going to take a nap in between my classes because I have 4 hours in between the classes. I'm sure there's other things I wanted to tell you but I forget. I will tell everyone later. For now it's back to stumbling around the hallways and feeling drunk once again. Hopefully we all get used to it soon.
Monday, February 5, 2007
2nd day on the ship!!!
Cabin # --> 3064 (in case you want to send something :) )
Hey guys hope everything is good at home. I got here yesterday and we checked in, ate lunch, then walked around and hung out around the pool for a little while (which by the way is really small) The pictures that everyone saw online made the bathroom and the pool look bigger. But the cabin isn't all that small. I'm ALMOST done unpacking, I just have all the small things to unpack. I put up some of the pictures and my world map and calendar and things. Then we had a meeting an introduction to all the faculty and I'm not gonna lie, I fell asleep 3 times.
Today we had another meeting that was very easy to fall asleep to. I am in my room cause I'm so tired but probably about to go find my friends and eat lunch. Then we have our first global studies class at 1:45.
So everyone is stumbling around the boat. I felt really drunk last night. I have my patch on for seasickness but I think it's making me really tired. Tomorrow is our first day of classes (A day) then we're in Puerto Rico and when we come back we have our first B day class. I still have to decide if I actually want to take the african drum class or if I should drop it. We'll just have to see
The food is pretty good. Lunch yesterday wasn't so good but I think that's cause we got there at the end and the pasta was a little dried out. But breakfast was pretty good. And last nights dinner.
We have quite a few meetings today. I'm not ready for Puerto Rico haha. I have a feeling I'm going to be tired this whole trip. I already have a list of stuff I need to get from PR...I even forgot excedrin!!!!! Then I have to get flip flops, a pillow, a STRAINER for my tea!!! I tried to use a paper towel...that did NOT work.
I'm actually pretty surpised how everyone already has groups of people. I have like 14 people I went out with the night in the bahamas and I keep hanging out with them and not really meeting too many new people
Oh we had our first life boat drill, let me tell you, it was fun. :-P
So other than falling around and stumbling and running into things and a small headache I'm not too sick. Which is surprising cause we are going SO slow. Yesterday we were going 18 knots and today we're going 10...I looked on my map with the coordinates and we are SO close to PR...they have to go slow so that we will get everything done that we need to get done. I've already been hanging out with some of the people I have class with. One girl has 2 of my classes with me.
WOW...they don't have Dr. Pepper and I haven't had DP since I left home cause they didn't have it in the Bahamas either. I've drank no soda except for yesterday I had a diet coke. I'm gonna miss my Dr. Pepper. :-P
Well I guess that's it for now. BUT I will be able to make free calls in Puerto Rico so I will get to talk you all soon. I'm going to try to space out my internet minutes I guess. Get on like every other day. So I probly won't get on till we get back from PR b/c I can call you!!! Yay. hehe.
Ok, gonna go eat lunch and take care of something at the pursars office. I have to turn in a credit card for my shipboard account. But so far everythings real fun. It's like I'm living in a dorm. But not the one at UTA...cause I hardly met anyone there. haha. But by the end of this trip I feel like I will know so many people. I mean I met like 20 in the first night I was in the Bahamas.
LOVE YOU GUYS, miss you, and miss talking to you. XOXO
Haha, "the voice" is funny, the guy that comes over the intercom...he keeps pausing and we just have to wait to see what he's gonna say next. He said we've traveled 331 nautical knots I think and we still have 400 something to go. HAHA he pauses so much, annnyway I'll stop rambling on now. :-*
Hey guys hope everything is good at home. I got here yesterday and we checked in, ate lunch, then walked around and hung out around the pool for a little while (which by the way is really small) The pictures that everyone saw online made the bathroom and the pool look bigger. But the cabin isn't all that small. I'm ALMOST done unpacking, I just have all the small things to unpack. I put up some of the pictures and my world map and calendar and things. Then we had a meeting an introduction to all the faculty and I'm not gonna lie, I fell asleep 3 times.
Today we had another meeting that was very easy to fall asleep to. I am in my room cause I'm so tired but probably about to go find my friends and eat lunch. Then we have our first global studies class at 1:45.
So everyone is stumbling around the boat. I felt really drunk last night. I have my patch on for seasickness but I think it's making me really tired. Tomorrow is our first day of classes (A day) then we're in Puerto Rico and when we come back we have our first B day class. I still have to decide if I actually want to take the african drum class or if I should drop it. We'll just have to see
The food is pretty good. Lunch yesterday wasn't so good but I think that's cause we got there at the end and the pasta was a little dried out. But breakfast was pretty good. And last nights dinner.
We have quite a few meetings today. I'm not ready for Puerto Rico haha. I have a feeling I'm going to be tired this whole trip. I already have a list of stuff I need to get from PR...I even forgot excedrin!!!!! Then I have to get flip flops, a pillow, a STRAINER for my tea!!! I tried to use a paper towel...that did NOT work.
I'm actually pretty surpised how everyone already has groups of people. I have like 14 people I went out with the night in the bahamas and I keep hanging out with them and not really meeting too many new people
Oh we had our first life boat drill, let me tell you, it was fun. :-P
So other than falling around and stumbling and running into things and a small headache I'm not too sick. Which is surprising cause we are going SO slow. Yesterday we were going 18 knots and today we're going 10...I looked on my map with the coordinates and we are SO close to PR...they have to go slow so that we will get everything done that we need to get done. I've already been hanging out with some of the people I have class with. One girl has 2 of my classes with me.
WOW...they don't have Dr. Pepper and I haven't had DP since I left home cause they didn't have it in the Bahamas either. I've drank no soda except for yesterday I had a diet coke. I'm gonna miss my Dr. Pepper. :-P
Well I guess that's it for now. BUT I will be able to make free calls in Puerto Rico so I will get to talk you all soon. I'm going to try to space out my internet minutes I guess. Get on like every other day. So I probly won't get on till we get back from PR b/c I can call you!!! Yay. hehe.
Ok, gonna go eat lunch and take care of something at the pursars office. I have to turn in a credit card for my shipboard account. But so far everythings real fun. It's like I'm living in a dorm. But not the one at UTA...cause I hardly met anyone there. haha. But by the end of this trip I feel like I will know so many people. I mean I met like 20 in the first night I was in the Bahamas.
LOVE YOU GUYS, miss you, and miss talking to you. XOXO
Haha, "the voice" is funny, the guy that comes over the intercom...he keeps pausing and we just have to wait to see what he's gonna say next. He said we've traveled 331 nautical knots I think and we still have 400 something to go. HAHA he pauses so much, annnyway I'll stop rambling on now. :-*
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Bahamas !!!! Day 2
Hey guys. I just got back inside from going out today. Unfortunately I woke up at 12:30 cause I asked my roomate if she had the alarm set but she didn't understand i wanted to get up with her :-P But I met Brenna, Kim, Jordi, and Ben and we ate lunch and then went down and walked along the beach (then i cut my foot on a nail or something...but it was a small cut, luckily im not in a foreign country yet) Then we went to see the aquarium which was pretty awesome. it's underground and real cool looking. i took some pictures of it but they of course don't turn out as pretty. there were starfish, sea cucumbers, sting rays, and sea urchins that we got to touch and pick up. sea cucumbers are freaky. It feels like picking up a log. Haha. Then we got lost cause this place is humongous...and we found the water slides and the tube ride. The tube ride was awesome. At the end there's a little section that's underwater in a shark tank...so there were sharks all around and one laying on top of the tube. It's raining out though so we decided to come back in.I'm about to get ready to meet up and eat dinner and then go out for the night with everyone that is here. There's so many people here. Everyone that I see knows me as Monica Baker b/c of facebook. Haha it's funny. The infamous Monica Baker. I feel so loved.
Let's see...I forget what else. We went in the lazy pool...my balcony has a view that looks like a rainforest, it's crazy. Oh two of the girls that I hung out with all day are going on the Lencois trip in Brazil with me, so that is going to be awesome.
I'm going to be taking so many pictures I won't know what to do with them. It's going to be so hard to look through all of them when I get back. You probly won't see any till I get back b/c the ship's internet will be so slow. But after each port I'll try to look through and delete some. Although knowing me I won't delete but like 20 out of 400 haha.
Wow food here is really expensive. One place was 12 bucks for a sandwich...and 15. We got pizza for lunch though and it was 6 bucks. I think tonight we're going back to the place I ate last night. If anyone knows the place in the parks mall that is closed now...I think it's called Jimmy Rocket or something...it's all old timey and has juke boxes on every table. The burger was delicious...haha and they cranked up the music and all the waitresses and one waiter started dancing. It was hilarious.
Well I love you guys and I'll talk to you either later tonight (maybe) and when I get on the ship I'll try to keep you posted. Being here and being able to write to you so much makes me want to write you every day to tell you about everything I'm doing. I hope I don't rack up a crazy internet bill. I might just have to write you an e-mail every day then send it every 2-3 days. Although the e-mails will look the same as the posts on the blogs (probly cut and paste).
Oh Hilary said she already boarded the ship...she said it looks awesome but it's FREEZING.
Hey you need to go to brockstar.lucidillusion.org and look at the tour of the ship that he has...It's not really that much but it shows you a litte of the ship. You should see the stairways and everything, it looks really pretty.
Friday, February 2, 2007
I'm Here!!! ~ Nassau, Bahamas
Atlantis Paradise IslandNassau, Bahamas
Hey guys I just got here. It was very tiring getting here. The guy at the airport was real nice who helped me with my bags...then I got a Taxi (taxi's here have nice cars)....however, while on the way to the Atlantis (about a 20-30 min drive it seemed like)....a bus ran into us. ... we were stuck for like 10 minutes...and the guy happened to be his cousin. haha Then when I got to the hotel they told me to check in at the wrong spot so i had to walk all the way around...long story short im sitting here waiting for my bags to be delivered. Then I'm off to try to find a phone card possibly.
My roomate isn't here right now...she went to check in on the boat...I guess we can check in early? I'll have to figure out. I have nothing to do. I guess I'll change after I get my bags and go walk around.
It's very hot here. It was supposed to be in the 70's...the pilot said it was 82 but it's REALLY humid. My fingers are all swollen and I had to take off my rings. It hurt, haha. OHHH on the plane...I almost didn't get my backpack to fit in my carry on...I had a hard time with it. Hopefully I can fit some more stuff in my suitecase or maybe the people at the ship won't be that strict...cause right now I have a tiny bag of stuff other than my two carry ons. I want to take a nap but I'm in the Bahammas and it's beautiful. The Atlantis is HUMONGOUS I feel like it would take foreeeevvver to see everything around here. My view from the room is really pretty too...it's a bunch of palm trees and ...a water fountain and ....I'll have to go check out what those rocks are..maybe a hot tub? There's even a casino!!! Crazy. I think I'll save gambling for when I'm back at home and have money that I can spare. Maybe I'll do one slot. I really don't see the reason though since I don't know anyone yet.
Did you know that in the bahamas they have cars that have the steering wheel on the right and on the left...I asked the cab driver why and he chuckled and said "because they come from different countries"....haha. The toyotas and the hondas had them on the right....hmm, that's weird. They also drive on the left side of the road...there was tons of traffic and people drove so close to each other...hence my taxi driver and the bus. The internet is 10 bucks a day here so I think I'll just get that $10 pass. It's one hour ahead here by the way so it's already getting dark :( and I want to go out and explore. Hmmm I'm sure there's something else but I'm hungry and I'm going to call to see where in the world my bags are.
LOVE YOU GUYS. MUAH
LOVE YOU GUYS. MUAH
Monday, January 22, 2007
Time Differences
For those of you who will be calling me I figured I'd put this on here to help you know what time you should call...and for me to use too to call you so we don't call each other too late or early :-) Hopefully it will make sense...let me know if it doesn't
Nassau, Bahamas---------------1 hour ahead of Texas
San Juan, Puerto Rico-----------2 hours ahead of Texas
Salvador, Brazil-----------------3 hours ahead of Texas
Capetown, South Africa---------8 hours ahead of Texas
Port Louis, Mauritius-----------10 hours ahead of Texas
Chennai, India------------------11 1/2 hours ahead of Texas....
Penang, Malaysia---------------14 hours ahead of Texas
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam-----13 hours ahead of Texas
Hong Kong, China---------------14 hours ahead of Texas
Qingdao, China-----------------14 hours ahead of Texas
Kobe, Japan--------------------15 hours ahead of Texas
Honolulu, Hawaii---------------4 hours behind Texas
San Diego, California------------2 hours behind Texas
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/
Nassau, Bahamas---------------1 hour ahead of Texas
San Juan, Puerto Rico-----------2 hours ahead of Texas
Salvador, Brazil-----------------3 hours ahead of Texas
Capetown, South Africa---------8 hours ahead of Texas
Port Louis, Mauritius-----------10 hours ahead of Texas
Chennai, India------------------11 1/2 hours ahead of Texas....
Penang, Malaysia---------------14 hours ahead of Texas
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam-----13 hours ahead of Texas
Hong Kong, China---------------14 hours ahead of Texas
Qingdao, China-----------------14 hours ahead of Texas
Kobe, Japan--------------------15 hours ahead of Texas
Honolulu, Hawaii---------------4 hours behind Texas
San Diego, California------------2 hours behind Texas
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/
What Classes Am I Taking?
Although I know most of you probably don't care to read anything but maybe the titles on this post....but I figured I would post it just in case you wanted to know a little about what I'm learning while on the ship.
I am excited about the two psychology courses because I think it will be a great experience to take them while on this trip...because I will experience what we are studying first hand. Kind of the same thing with intro to world music but not to the same extent.
Cross Cultural Perspectives on FamilySubject: PsychologyProfessor Toni Zimmerman - (Syllabus - 139 KB PDF)
This course explores family life from a cross-cultural perspective. The primary aim is to better understand how family life varies from country to country and culture to culture. As we travel the planet, we will focus in particular on intimate relationships and family life. We will develop an understanding of the diversity of family interactions, roles, norms, expectations, responsibilities, and struggles across the globe. Additionally, specific tasks and topics relevant to family life and structure will be explored including dating and mate selection, marriage and partnering, gender roles and socialization, parenting, stress, violence, divorce, remarriage, kinship, aging, and death. The countries on our voyage will provide opportunities to learn and explore what family life is like in various places. Attention will be given to the role religion, culture, and economics play in shaping family life. Methods of evaluation include three exams (for a total of 35%), a ten-page, ten-reference paper (15%), field reports (20%), and in-class global reflections (30%).
Psychology of WomenSubject: PsychologyProfessor Bianca Cody Murphy - (Syllabus - 155 KB PDF)
This course examines psychological theories and research about women and gender in ways only possible on a voyage around the world. We will focus on the biological, psychological, and social similarities and differences between men and women and, in particular, how culture affects these differences. We will address the nature and development of gender roles and identify significant issues in the psychological development of girls and adolescents. We will explore adult women’s sexuality, and their roles in work and family. And we will examine social issues, such as poverty and violence against women that affect women's health and mental health. You will be an active learner by reading and discussing the text and a set of supplemental readings, by engaging in small research projects, and by writing papers that link your research findings to the theoretical literature about the psychology of women. Finally, while in port you will conduct field projects that afford a wonderful opportunity for cross-cultural comparisons about gender roles and women’s experiences in different cultures. Methods of evaluation include paper assignments (40%), quizzes (30%), a field project (20%), and class participation (10%). Prerequisites: This is an upper level psychology or women’s studies course. You must have previously taken at least one introductory course in Psychology or Women’s Studies.
Introduction to World MusicSubject: MusicProfessor Julie Strand - (Syllabus - 139 KB PDF)
Music is a universal social need that is found across the globe as a series of diverse yet equally logical systems, each embedded with cultural indicators that influence all aspects of music making. This course will survey music traditions from across the globe, identifying these indicators and what they reveal about their respective cultures. Using our ports of call as a guide, we will focus on a selection of genres representing traditional, classical, folk, and popular music traditions from around the world. Through this approach, students will be introduced to some of the basic concepts of ethnomusicology: the study of music as a socially-constructed art form, examination of the roles and functions that music serves in a community, the comparative study of music across cultures, and some of the practical considerations of field work. Some recurring themes of the course include the study of musical instruments, transference of music across cultures, and processes of globalization. Through directed listening assignments, students will develop critical listening skills and learn some of the major stylistic attributes of music practiced in each of our regions of study. Grades will be based upon regular field assignments (20%), listening journals (20%), periodic quizzes (30%), attendance and class participation (10%), and a comprehensive final exam (20%).
Global StudiesSubject: GeographyProfessor Dan Christie, Coordinator - (Syllabus - 92 KB PDF)
This interdisciplinary course focuses on the countries visited and is tailored especially to meet the global and comparative approach of Semester at Sea. It is mandatory for all students. In addition to providing basic information about the countries on the itinerary, Core also provides a meaningful framework by which to compare data, examine issues, and develop concepts. Participants learn how to understand cultural and social phenomena with which they are constantly coming into contact during the semester and to highlight both commonalities and differences from one society to another. Core equips participants with observational and analytical skills for encountering societies different from their own, and different from each other, a key factor in facilitating the integration of class work and field work for all courses. Objectives: 1) To provide basic information about the physical and cultural geography; key historical events; the current social, economic and political situation of each country visited. 2) To present regional and global issues which in various ways affect the countries on our itinerary. Examples include race relations, population, poverty, ethnic/religious conflicts, technology, status of women, human rights, environment and globalization. 3) To emphasize the similarities and differences in the variety of human experiences and to assist students in developing the observational and analytical skills needed to draw cross-cultural comparisons. Method of evaluation based on four or five objective tests.
I am excited about the two psychology courses because I think it will be a great experience to take them while on this trip...because I will experience what we are studying first hand. Kind of the same thing with intro to world music but not to the same extent.
Cross Cultural Perspectives on FamilySubject: PsychologyProfessor Toni Zimmerman - (Syllabus - 139 KB PDF)
This course explores family life from a cross-cultural perspective. The primary aim is to better understand how family life varies from country to country and culture to culture. As we travel the planet, we will focus in particular on intimate relationships and family life. We will develop an understanding of the diversity of family interactions, roles, norms, expectations, responsibilities, and struggles across the globe. Additionally, specific tasks and topics relevant to family life and structure will be explored including dating and mate selection, marriage and partnering, gender roles and socialization, parenting, stress, violence, divorce, remarriage, kinship, aging, and death. The countries on our voyage will provide opportunities to learn and explore what family life is like in various places. Attention will be given to the role religion, culture, and economics play in shaping family life. Methods of evaluation include three exams (for a total of 35%), a ten-page, ten-reference paper (15%), field reports (20%), and in-class global reflections (30%).
Psychology of WomenSubject: PsychologyProfessor Bianca Cody Murphy - (Syllabus - 155 KB PDF)
This course examines psychological theories and research about women and gender in ways only possible on a voyage around the world. We will focus on the biological, psychological, and social similarities and differences between men and women and, in particular, how culture affects these differences. We will address the nature and development of gender roles and identify significant issues in the psychological development of girls and adolescents. We will explore adult women’s sexuality, and their roles in work and family. And we will examine social issues, such as poverty and violence against women that affect women's health and mental health. You will be an active learner by reading and discussing the text and a set of supplemental readings, by engaging in small research projects, and by writing papers that link your research findings to the theoretical literature about the psychology of women. Finally, while in port you will conduct field projects that afford a wonderful opportunity for cross-cultural comparisons about gender roles and women’s experiences in different cultures. Methods of evaluation include paper assignments (40%), quizzes (30%), a field project (20%), and class participation (10%). Prerequisites: This is an upper level psychology or women’s studies course. You must have previously taken at least one introductory course in Psychology or Women’s Studies.
Introduction to World MusicSubject: MusicProfessor Julie Strand - (Syllabus - 139 KB PDF)
Music is a universal social need that is found across the globe as a series of diverse yet equally logical systems, each embedded with cultural indicators that influence all aspects of music making. This course will survey music traditions from across the globe, identifying these indicators and what they reveal about their respective cultures. Using our ports of call as a guide, we will focus on a selection of genres representing traditional, classical, folk, and popular music traditions from around the world. Through this approach, students will be introduced to some of the basic concepts of ethnomusicology: the study of music as a socially-constructed art form, examination of the roles and functions that music serves in a community, the comparative study of music across cultures, and some of the practical considerations of field work. Some recurring themes of the course include the study of musical instruments, transference of music across cultures, and processes of globalization. Through directed listening assignments, students will develop critical listening skills and learn some of the major stylistic attributes of music practiced in each of our regions of study. Grades will be based upon regular field assignments (20%), listening journals (20%), periodic quizzes (30%), attendance and class participation (10%), and a comprehensive final exam (20%).
Global StudiesSubject: GeographyProfessor Dan Christie, Coordinator - (Syllabus - 92 KB PDF)
This interdisciplinary course focuses on the countries visited and is tailored especially to meet the global and comparative approach of Semester at Sea. It is mandatory for all students. In addition to providing basic information about the countries on the itinerary, Core also provides a meaningful framework by which to compare data, examine issues, and develop concepts. Participants learn how to understand cultural and social phenomena with which they are constantly coming into contact during the semester and to highlight both commonalities and differences from one society to another. Core equips participants with observational and analytical skills for encountering societies different from their own, and different from each other, a key factor in facilitating the integration of class work and field work for all courses. Objectives: 1) To provide basic information about the physical and cultural geography; key historical events; the current social, economic and political situation of each country visited. 2) To present regional and global issues which in various ways affect the countries on our itinerary. Examples include race relations, population, poverty, ethnic/religious conflicts, technology, status of women, human rights, environment and globalization. 3) To emphasize the similarities and differences in the variety of human experiences and to assist students in developing the observational and analytical skills needed to draw cross-cultural comparisons. Method of evaluation based on four or five objective tests.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Intro and Port Adresses
Hi everybody! I'm just setting up my page before I go. I am SO busy trying to get everything ready for my trip around the world. I am leaving Feb. 2nd and coming back May 14th. If you are wondering where I will be going here is the list:
Next...is the list of mailing dates you will need if you really want to send me mail while I'm in port. I hear mail day is very exciting, waiting to see if anyone sent you mail. PLEASE send me mail so I don't feel left out :(. Since I only get 250 minutes of internet time during the whole voyage I will not be checking it THAT often. I set up my e-mail on outlook express and will just be writing/reading e-mails while offline and then signing on real quick to send and receive e-mails. SOOO please send me mail if you can :-) I am going to try to send postcards as well.
- Nassau, Bahamas ---------------Feb 4th (Departure)
- San Juan, Puerto Rico-----------Feb 7th-9th
- Salvador, Brazil-----------------Feb 17th-21st
- Capetown, South Africa---------March 2nd-8th
- Port Louis, Mauritius-----------March 15th-17th
- Chennai, India------------------March 25th-29th
- Penang, Malaysia---------------April 2nd-5th
- Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam-----April 9th-14th
- Hong Kong, China---------------April 17th-April 18th
- Qingdao, China-----------------April 21st-22nd
- Kobe, Japan--------------------April 25th-29th
- Honolulu, Hawaii---------------May 7th
- San Diego, California------------May 14th--> Then home!!!!
If you want to see the times that I arrive and depart each port then you can look at the itenerary here --> http://www.semesteratsea.com/voyages/spring2007/sp2007_itinerary.html
Next...is the list of mailing dates you will need if you really want to send me mail while I'm in port. I hear mail day is very exciting, waiting to see if anyone sent you mail. PLEASE send me mail so I don't feel left out :(. Since I only get 250 minutes of internet time during the whole voyage I will not be checking it THAT often. I set up my e-mail on outlook express and will just be writing/reading e-mails while offline and then signing on real quick to send and receive e-mails. SOOO please send me mail if you can :-) I am going to try to send postcards as well.
- Here is the link to my dates of arrival and the latest day that you can ship mail in order for me to receive it. https://www.ise.virginia.edu/asp/mydocuments/calcomm.pdf Now I am going to try to post it myself on here but we'll just have to see what happens.
PUERTO RICO- AIRMAIL NO LATER THAN JANUARY 24TH
Monica Baker (Cabin #3064)
C/O: MV Explorer
Arrives February 7, 2007
Cruise Plus Service & Sales
1760 Fernandez Juncos Avenue
San Juan, PUERTO RICO 00909
BRAZIL-- AIRMAIL NO LATER THAN FEBRUARY 3RD
Monica Baker (Cabin #3064)
C/O: MV Explorer
Arrives February 17, 2007
Oceanus Agencia Maritima
Av. Estados Unidos, 397, Room 601-604
40018-900 Salvador, BAHIA-BRASIL
SOUTH AFRICA-- AIRMAIL NO LATER THAN FEBRUARY 16TH
Monica Baker (Cabin #3064)
C/O: MV Explorer
Arrives March 2, 2007
John T. Rennie & Sons
PO Box 702, 1 Thibault House
8000 Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA
MAURITIUS-- AIRMAIL NO LATER THAN MARCH 1ST
Monica Baker (Cabin #3064)
C/O: MV Explorer
Arrives March 15, 2007
Ireland Blyth Limited
1 Queen Street, P.O. Box 53
Port Louis, MAURITIUS
INDIA-- AIRMAIL NO LATER THAN MARCH 11TH O LATER THAN MARCH 11TH
Monica Baker (Cabin #3064)
C/O: MV Explorer
Arrives March 25, 2007
J.M. Baxi & CO
52 Rajaji Salai
Chennai- 600 001, INDIA
MALAYSIA-- AIRMAIL NO LATER THAN MARCH 19TH
Monica Baker (Cabin #3064)
C/O: MV Explorer
Arrives April 2, 2007
4th Floor Unit 4B
Wisma Saw Chong Thuah
39-c, Pengkalan Weld
10300 Penang, MALAYSIA
VIETNAM-- AIRMAIL NO LATER THAN MARCH 26TH
Monica Baker (Cabin #3064)
C/O: MV Explorer
Arrives April 9, 2007
General Forwarding & Agency
5th Floor Osic Building
8 Nguyen Hue Avenue
D. 1, Ho Chi Minh City, VIETNAM
HONG KONG-- AIRMAIL NO LATER THAN APRIL 3RD
Monica Baker (Cabin #3064)
C/O: MV Exlorer
Arrives April 17, 2007
Inchcape Shipping Services (HK) Ltd.
Units 1802-1805, 18th Floor
No 3 Lockhart Road
Wanchai, HONG KONG-CHINA
CHINA-- AIRMAIL NO LATER THAN APRIL 7TH
Monica Baker (Cabin #3064)
C/O: MV Explorer
Arrives April 21, 2007
Penavico Qingdao
21 Wuxia Road
Qingdao, 266002, P.R. China
JAPAN-- AIRMAIL NO LATER THAN APRIL 11TH
Monica Baker (Cabin 3064)
C/O: MV Explorer
Arrives April 25, 2007
Inchcape Shipping Services
Kenryu Bldg II, Room 303
6, Kaigan-dori, Chuo-ku
Kobe-shi, Hyogo-Ken 650-0024, JAPAN
HAWAII-- AIRMAIL NO LATER THAN APRIL 23RD
Monica Baker (Cabin #3064)
C/O: MV Explorer
Arrives May 7, 2007
Inchcape Shipping Services
Gentry Pacific Services
260 North Numitz Hwy, Suite 103
HONOLULU, Hawaii 96817, USA
**Note: I am hoping all of these are correct, you may just want to use the link just in
case...although the link does not include the "C/O: MV Explorer...or the Arrival date"...I
will try to call and find out what you should use, if I forget, I guess you could call SAS
(1-800-854-0195)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
