Emily's Trip Around the World

quote from Moby Dick

2006-10-19T22:57:00.000-04:00

"When these things unite in a man of greatly superior natural forcewith a globular brain and a ponderous heart; who has also by the stillness and seclusion of many long night-watches in the remotest waters, and beneath constellations never seen here at the north, been led to think untraditionally and independently; receiving all nature's sweet or savage impressions fresh from her own virgin, voluntary, and confinding breast, and thereby chiefly to learn a bold and nervous lofty language- that man makes one in a whole nation's census- a mighty pageant creature"
-Moby Dick

this quote makes me think of what SAS did to all of us. I wonder, are we still living that way?

pain

2006-10-05T22:30:00.000-04:00

it still hurts.....:-(

short list:
i miss shaved heads & tacos & special questions & CARMEN & waves & Filipinos & photographs & the map channel & Norris smoothies & Trivial Pursuit & Bandawe & working out to the rhythm of the ocean &
TRAVELING

a few pictures from the summer

2006-09-14T23:22:00.000-04:00

Me, my friend Justine (from Georgetown), my sister Amy, and my friend Chava (from Cornell) in front of a snowcapped mtn

Our entire Abroad China group with some local Tibetan yak herders

These are Tibetan prayer flags

My sister, mom and me in front of Buddhist temple

Dy, Mike, Justine, Me, Leah and Selena on top of a Tibetan prayer mountain. It was COLD up there!!!

Part of Buddhist monastery

A mountain farmer with his ox, mule and basket

The Terracotta warriors in Xi'an

well it's time to update

2006-09-14T23:19:00.000-04:00

i guess it's time for an entry. it's going to be pretty random.

i got rained on in a white t-shirt today. that was fun. no, actually, i really enjoyed band tonight, and it was really fun when we sprinted inside from the rain. it was nice when everything started coming together, i hate when jack's disappointed so i'm glad he's happy now. and i finally asked him when we're leaving for syracuse so i got that out of the way (i'd been meaning to for a while now). now i just have to talk to my biochem professor about movnig that test to wednesday...i wonder if he'll let me take two tests early, because i'm definitely not taking an exam the day after the wvu game. he's a really nice guy though, so i bet he'd let me...

my mom is coming to the game on sat!!!! i am SO excited! because no one in my family ever comes to games, and she's not even normally in the country, and the only reason she's in the country now is because she has to have surgery on monday. so, it's a positive and a negative, but i'm sure the surgery will be ok and she gets to come see us march and it should be a good show. Plus, it means she's bringing with her a few things i left at home that i need, and my passport, and some $ (because i can't access my atm account, which we're still working on fixing), AND.......MY STEELERS TICKETS!!! woohoo!!! i'm so excited for that game, i just hope ben's playing by then. and i really have to figure out who i'm bringing with me....i had an idea but well, now that's gone so i don't know how to pick.

i have been having the weirdest dreams since i've been back at school. maybe it's the pittsburgh air but every night i have an extremely vivid dream and it is always really really really random. one night i had a dream i was protecting my huge family (which wasn't my family) and we were in a soap opera and some sniper was trying to kill me and i ended up disarming him. and then the other night i dreamed i was fighting a supervillain woman who was trying to rob my friend's house, and i kept controlling her and she couldn't hurt me and then the main supervillain was talking about how he liked me b/c i was dangerous and anthony hopkins protected me from him (yeah, where'd he come from?). and last night i dreamed that melissa and i were at a zoo in like, florida and a female monkey kept trying to hump my leg and then melissa went and got kidnapped by the monkeys who hid her in the penguin house, so i had to go rescue her with tyler palko but we had to go through a den of lions first....and then the penguin house was out adrift at sea so we couldn't get back on the ship we had been sailing on the with the band to get back to pittsburgh.....yeah....

my first two tests are tomorrow, in biochem and functional neuroanatomy. woohoo that will be a blast. i think i'm totally set for biochem, but neuro is probably going to kick my ass. at least that means i get to start my weekend early, at 11am! haha, i don't know what i'll do all day but i sure as hell know it won't be work!!

i've really missed SAS this week. i mean, it's been a really tough week for a few reasons, and monday was one of the worst days in my life but i'm (mostly) over that now, and the only lasting problem is something i can't really talk about anyway, but hopefully it will turn out to be a non-issue...but i've missed SAS because nothing went wrong while i was on that ship. my life was so perfect on the MV explorer. i was never sad. even when something went wrong, like my grandfather passing away, it wasn't enough to keep me from smiling. and i really miss that, because i hate how now i feel like here...i'm not as happy as i used to be. don't get me wrong, i love Pitt, and i love my friends here, but now it's different. i feel like there was a light shining in me before, that burned really brightly while i was on SAS and while i've been back at school it's been flickering and then on monday it went out. i feel kind of like i'm just living now, i'm not doing anything. and i need to fix that but i don't know how. before SAS i didn't have these worries, i didn't have this broader mind. and i love that i have it but i hate how emtpy it's making me feel. and plus, i miss the people from SAS. i need to start seeing steve and sarah more, and i really need to call dave, i keep meaning to but it's so hard...

And Josh. Honestly, I don't know what I'd do without him. He has happened to be there every time i've been upset in the past few weeks, and he always talks to me for hours and never fails to make me laugh, just like he did on the ship...did i mention i want him to move here? and get a puppy? that would rock my world. i love puppies. and his photographs are just so beautiful.

school's going well, i guess. i think i'm doing well so far in my classes, but i don't have too many grades back yet. the classes i'm taking "for fun" (my englit class and my hps class) are a LOT more work than i thought they would be, and that's not cool. i'm doing it, but it's not giving me time to work on my harder classes. it's more busywork and less....stuff i need to do. i'm going to judge the semester on these first two tests tomorrow. if they go well then i think i'm going to have an awesome semester, even though i didn't get an IBK bid. and i'll look on the plus side, now i can watch grey's anatomy on thursday nights (and i'm seriously ADDICTED to that show. that last episode of the second season...whenever i'm upset i watch it and it just makes me...ahhhhh) it has the best quotes ever, i have started a collection and i love it. and the music of the show is incredible too. and well, let's face it, patrick dempsey and isaiah washington are gorgeous men. i got sick of the way derek was looking at meredith in the second season but now it should be better. and burke is just the most perfect man ever. i want him. christina needs to shape up.

and on that note i'm going to go study some more. this was a fun study distraction but now i need to cram for neuro.

rain in shanghai

2006-06-22T09:51:00.000-04:00

rain in shanghai is crazy. it rains more here than anywhere else i've ever been, i think. it rains at least two days of every week, sometimes torrential downpours for very short periods and sometimes for long periods of less strong rain. but it is incredible. and the chinese are so funny because they are like cats- at the slightest hint of rain they pull out umbrellas. and i'll be walking along like it's nothing. the streets are so bad that along the side of the road are the biggest puddles i've ever seen. it's more like a pond than a puddle, but somehow you never get splashed by cars, which happens all the time in america. i guess they avoid it or maybe they're just driving too slowly for that. but if you're in the right mood for it it's so much fun to walk in the rain here because you're the only one getting wet and everyone else is so amusing and scared of the water.
the only downside is that the water feels pretty dirty.

on another note, i still love life here. there are three new interns at work and they're very nice. we've seen some great surgeries recently. on their first day i got them into a hernia surgery (it was a HUGE hernia, 14cm across) by dr. yao (my favorite dr :-D). on their second day i took them to a hand surgery to fix carpal tunnel by henrick's group (henrick is my friend who is a hand surgeon who i talk to a lot and think is pretty cool. i might like him but we'll see) and then he asked if i wanted to do sutures (ah that would be awesome but i turned him down) and then he told us to go into some other room and watch a surgery but the other interns didn't want to just walk in...luckily, i'm the dr. pimp down here and my "boyfriend" dr. wong (who is in no way my boyfriend, he's married and has a beautiful young daughter) was doing a total knee replacement and he let us watch the entire thing even though we weren't supposed to. it was amazing that is exactly what i want to do. and he is so good at it, he was incredible to watch. i have now decided that i want to be him.
anyway, wednesday we had lunch with the president of the hospital which was really impressive. i made a new dr friend, another dr wong (a urologist) who is going to show me some more surgeries. he reminds me of matt's dad so i like him already.

thursday i left for beijing with my family. we went to the Huton and shopped and ate and took rickshaw tours of the area. it was a really nice place with lots of cool bars with couches along the river and it was pretty. i wish america had places like that. they all had big tvs outside so you could watch the world cup, it was great. i followed my sister into a shop because it was a tibetan shop and i wanted to get presents for girls from work and i figured they wouldn't have tibetan things. well the shopkeeper apparently adored me and he ended up asking me to marry him lol. more like he stuck out his left hand and made me shake it and i did and then he told me we were now engaged. that was interesting...i bought some earrings though...friday we went to the Great Wall and spent 4 hours walking on the top of the wall, which was very different from last time i went. we spent 5 hours total there, whereas last time we had an hour and a half total. we had a picnic and went all the way from one end to the other (of our section). and it was a lot of fun. pretty hot though, but it wasn't humid so it was very nice. then amy and i went shopping at silk street and we had the funniest dinner ever with my family. we ate at a japanese restaurant at our hotel and it was an extremely funny experience. my sister said, "i don't like those fish that have shells. what are they called?" and i go, "uh, shellfish..." in this great voice. we were all grumpy because we hadn't eaten in so long and so we kept arguing and then just burst out laughing and the waiter thought we were absolutely hilarious. he sent us the best food, i had a great time. saturday we went to the forbidden city and spent over 3 hours there, which was a l,ot better than the 45 minutes last time. it was almost too hot though, and i already knew what the guide had to say so i kind of just wanted to wander by myself. our guide, vicki, was incredible and she kept talking to me about chinese history because i knew more about it than the rest of my family and i am more genuinely interested. i think she really liked that. afterwards we went and rested while my mom went to an antique market. apparently she got a bunch of great things, and then we went and had peking duck. then watched portugal play iran in the world cup and i discovered i have a new favorite football player- cristiano ronaldo. he is awesome to watch because he's so flashy and so handsome. then i watched the beginning of the ghana game, and all of the US game. of course i was incredibly tired the next day. sunday we went back to silk street and i got the chinese checkers set i liked. don't know what i'll do with it. then we flew back home. watched brazil play australia at night, and even though i love australia i was rooting for brazil because they're my favorite football team and well they're just full of such talent that i have to love watching them play.
i've been on a great exercise regimen all week, and i really like it. i'm on a kick to get in great shape before i leave, so i will. hopefully. monday we didn't do too much at work. i wanted to see surgeries with dr. yao but he didn't come around until after his surgeries were done. then he gave me his pager number so i can call him when i want to come to surgeries. that didn't work though, because yesterday i tried it and his battery was dead. tuesday i couldn't see surgeries because a medical school was visiting so all of the rooms were full of visitors. so i basically did the usual helping around the front desk stuff for the whole week. it was good but boring at times. i liked it because yesterday all of the other interns left after lunch so it got to be like old times. and everyone is so different when they are not around. i had some good quality conversations with my doctors, and even met some new ones. there're ones that have seen me a million times and never said anything, and then suddenly this week they just started takling to me. i didn't even know they spoke english!!! i think it was that they needed to see me enough times to become comfortable and now they suddenly are, even though i didn't do anything different. i did find more people who are offering surgeries, and today my "boyfriend" dr (it's just the easiest way to describe who it is) gave me a massage which i totally had needed the entire time i was here. Henrick took me to lunch today, and yesterday after work i walked some of the way with one of the doctors from my floor. i think he likes me and for some reason i feel drawn to him even though he is too shy to talk to me at work. he definitely has started going out of his way to be around me and to be able to see me, and he planned it so that we would walk together. i liked it a lot. and to think, he was so shy that i didn't even think he knew English. it turns out his English is better than a lot of people's!!! i think diana is trying to hook us up, so we are going to dinner with him next week. :-D

tomorrow night i'm going to an indian restaurant with diana, judy, sabrina and the interns from work. then on saturday we're going to hanzhou. sabrina wants to come so i'll ask amy if she can. it would be nice to have another person to split the room with. i'm watching the US play ghana right now, and i just watched 3 west wing episodes with my mom. we FINALLY got a copy of the 6th season that works!!!!!!!!! so now we can watch the 7th, too! yayyy

you know you're from SAS S06 when...

2006-06-19T10:03:00.000-04:00

You know you are from SAS Spring06 when:

1. You measure time by when the next meal is.
2. People know to stay the HELL away from you until you are done using the Internet.
3. You get up at 7am not to eat breakfast, but to use the Internet.
4. You finish all your assignments a day early, so you have an entire day to gage when to print the damn thing out.
5. Your rolls are either inedible, sub par, par, or squishy…and how your day will be hinges completely on what level they are on.
6. You’re cabin steward stopped making your beds after Vietnam, because either you or your roommate don’t go to Global anymore (if you ever did).
7. When you find doing your assigned reading in a bathing suit on a wooden deck in the middle of the ocean a normal thing.
8. When you are surrounded by an eternity of water, but always seem to be thirsty, cuz that damn ship water tastes like someone pooped in it.
9. You can say the word “voice” in too many different languages.
10. When the only news you get is sports reports for college basketball and some insane Jewish girl talking everyday about how Israel was bombed…again.
11. You sit at BBQ night for almost 2 hours waiting for them to finish up the rum raisin and butter pecan ice cream and bring out some damn cookies and cream! Yes – you stage sit-ins.
12. Toasted pbj has become a staple in your diet.
13. There are either raisins or nuts in just about everything you’ve eaten in the past 3 months (on ship).
14. You’ve had a milkshake in every port, despite “Doctor” Jean’s fair amount of warning. Is there a difference in the danger of the milk in port and on the ship? I think not.
15. You’re entire day is ruined when someone besides Tom (aka the field office lady) gives the announcements.
16. Everyone you know rates how they’re feeling in accordance with Dengue levels.
17. You swore the Aegean Sea was yelling out Obrigadah at the beginning of their Sea Olympics chant to “purple’s got the power.”
18. You know what a “happy ending” is and you know where to get one.
19. You don’t know what you’re going to do when you go home and have to make your own bed and don’t have strangely concocted menu choices for each meal.
20. You have a feeling you will try to bargain down for that $60 pair of jeans in Hollister.
21. You forgot you owned a cell phone and now that you’ve remembered, you realize you have no idea where it is.
22. You went to or know people who got smashed and robbed in Flic n Flac.
23. You can’t imagine a highway that doesn’t have a lane for bicycles.
24. You stage nap wars with your roommate.
25. You are still convinced you are getting off in Hawaii.
26. You spent more on $1 DVDs in Vietnam than you have ever spent on DVDs in your entire lifetime. Or ever will.
27. Every dessert, whether pudding or brownies or anything, comes in the form of cake.
28. You eat at least 3 dishes of ice cream when it is dessert for dinner.
29. You were outside to either participate in or observe the dock time mob in Vietnam.
30. Your library is simply an extension of a hallway and you have class in “the smoking room.”
31. You have to stop yourself from crying after you’ve missed breakfast to find out later it was a sugar-cereal day.
32. You take a mandatory study break at 3pm everyday in order to go on a Dean’s Memo search.
33. You leave class under the pretense of using the facilities, when you are, in fact, checking today’s lunch menu.
34. You understand that living the same day twice is not as cool as you had imagined – especially when you have to study for tests.
35. You can easily point out the people from CSU, especially when they speak in class.
36. It becomes something of a normality for someone to wear a monk outfit around the ship or a kimono to a dance.
37. When you identify where you live not by what dorm you are in, but by sea.
38. You have had a “rickshaw experience.”
39. You have found your entire day was wasted by things like Catchphrase and past Semester at Sea voyage videos.
40. The Map Channel becomes your MTV substitute.
41. You know what a “Special Question of the Day” is and you have at least one friend who always tries to debate it.
42. You’ve attempted to sleep out on the deck…and have failed…miserably.
43. You dress in layers upon layers of clothing, so you can strip down when you step outside and get out of the ice box (that is the ship).
44. You understand what people mean when they use the phrases “I Chocolate You” and “Ubuntu”.
45. You are deathly afraid of every domestic animal in port, because of Dr. Jean’s rabies warnings…until you saw the picture of her and the dog.
46. When there is literally not enough time in every day…literally.
47. You enter a steep depression because, alas, the ship ran out of bananas…again.
48. You or someone you know has had a banana-cake eating contest.
49. You don’t understand why your local McDonalds doesn’t have shrimp burgers or shrimp nuggets.
50. You got ripped off at least once in every country.
51. You find yourself bargaining vehemently over 100 rupees or 1000 chet, and then you stop and think about it and realize it’s less than $1.
52. You have at least one friend who has an unhealthy obsession with the crew.
53. Your favorite days on the ship are Taco Day, BBQ Day, Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup Day, and any day with French Fries. When they combine any of the above days you just don’t know what to do with yourself.
54. You interrupt whatever you’re doing at 10pm every night to go see if snack has anything good. You still have hope.
55. You don’t know anyone’s last names, but you have little epithets to describe everyone.
56. You went to Apocalypse Now in Vietnam…or at least you have pictures of it. You don’t remember it.
57. You kick yourself when you find someone who got the same souvenir as you for less, even though you didn’t even want the thing.
58. The biggest threat you can make to anyone is “Tina”, even if you love her.
59. You measure time by countries. “I haven’t worked out since South Africa.”
60. You have a random collection of words in other languages, such as “mingalaba,” “shiay-shiay” “dzogwai” or “yogwai.”
61. You don’t know what to do with yourself when you get home and don’t hear Tom’s jokes over the loudspeaker every day.
62. You don’t believe in crosswalks anymore, and feel that after Vietnam you can take anything.
63. You gossip about which staff members are hooking up, and spend hours agonizing over whether the guys are actually gay or not.
64. You don’t recognize the crew in their normal clothes in port, but once they say hi to you it makes your night.
65. You have friends that you refer to as “my India friend” or “Rachel from the Amazon.”

i'm in shanghai!!!

2006-05-25T00:26:00.000-04:00

i'm here at work in shanghai and i love my hospital!! i have a blast and they are all so nice and sweet and they let me watch surgeries! yesterday i saw a lot of different brain surgeries, and the first day i saw some general surgeries and i even got to help out it was great!
i think the doctors are all competing to impress me so they play whatever card they can. and most of the time that happens to be a surgery card. i'm eating it up. they're not used to western women working there, so they all talk to me as much as they can. the guys are so awkward it's hilarious, and i never really know what to say to them. they're great though. and i already adore a bunch of the women i work with, they're so sweet. i help them with their English all of the time, and they're helping me with my Chinese. yesterday I got to watch the thesis defense of the head doctor's student, and even though i didn't understand most of it it was pretty cool to see the process. i also really enjoy talking to all of the ex-pats that come in, and helping them out. They always seem to relax when they see me, and I hope I make them feel a little more comfortable. we seem to have a bond because we're in kind of the same situation. in a way it's a little like SAS, but it's more of how i feel with all SAS alums.
today they took us on a tour of shanghai, part one. tomorrow is part two, and hopefully it will be better. it was nice to meet the other students in the program (there are 4 other girls and 2 guys) but the tour itself was pretty boring. we're supposed to go out with them tonight, we'll see if we do.
in other news, in the past 24 hours i've gotten to talk to a lot of people from back home that i hadn't reached since i got here. it was very fun, and i really needed it. i don't think i'm homesick, i think i'm SAS-sick, but it's different because i think i have moved on i just miss it and the people. i do really love it here though, and everyone has an open invitation to come say hi!!! hehe, that would be awesome, if people came to visit me in Shanghai.

thanks to everyone who read my blog and enjoyed it!! i'm glad i was able to give you some sort of idea of what we experienced!

really frustrated right now

2006-05-17T00:22:00.000-04:00

I'm really frustrated and disappointed right now. The one person who i thought would listen beyond the cursory 7-minute grace period that is all everyone gives me to talk about SAS (and which you all know is an insanely inadequate amount of time to even begin to describe the experience) is the one person who doesn't even seem to care at all! she asked about one place and then fell asleep while i was talking about it! that's the most obvious disinterest that i've ever seen! and then since then i've been trying to show her a few photos (and by a few i mean 6, i haven't even broached the subject of my slideshow) and she's been putting it off and it's just...
i had no idea how much i needed to talk about it, really, until i now can't, with the person i thought i could. and i'm so disappointed that she'd rather talk about completely mundane and inconsequential things, things that don't matter to me anymore. i hate that she uses me the way she does, i hate the way i'm forced to take care of her. our whole relationship is just not the way i want to expend my energy anymore. but i can't do anything about it.
maybe things will get better in a few days. maybe she's just jealous and she needs time to get over that. or maybe she never will. either way, one way or another, i'll eventually move on, i guess.

(on a side note, things were going really well for me. last week was awesome, i went out to visit pittsburgh with sas friends and then i went to a yankees game with a pitt friend, and then i saw a friend from the marines who i hadn't seen in 2 years! it was so nice to see them all, i was really happy. this week hasn't looked like it's going to be so good, at all, mostly because of this dark stain on it now. but i leave for china on friday, for better or worse, and i'll be there for 3 months. wow. all sasers are like "wow, that's great, see you don't really have to get over sas yet you're so lucky." while i feel that it's going to make me get over it even more b/c it's going to make me go into withdrawel from all of my sas friends, and make me be in a place i've been with sas, but in a completely different situation having none of the same amenities or friends or even just the ability to get back on the ship. it'll be like i'm in port (and i will be) but i won't be able to ever get back on the ship. argh. but i'll live. and it'll certainly be an experience.)

my farewell to SAS

2006-05-08T17:28:00.000-04:00

The night before we left I made a list of some things that were going to be weird about being home, and things I was going to miss. It is by no means a complete list, it’s just several things I thought of early in the morning when I couldn’t sleep and was trying to get as much time out of my last few days on the ship as possible.
It’ll be weird to come back to the US and not bargain for things in stores. It’ll be weird to not look like an outsider, and not have people snapping my photo everywhere I go. It’ll be weird to not be rocked to sleep by the motion of the ocean. It’ll be weird to have a cell phone. It’ll be weird to have good food available all the time. It’ll be weird to make my own bed, do my own laundry, and not have a buffet for every meal. For that matter, it’ll be weird to have rude waiters who really could care less about me. It’ll be weird not to have a cabin steward who takes care of everything for me. It’ll be weird not to be able to walk into the dining hall and see the always smiling, singing faces of the crew as they cater to our every need. It’ll be weird when everything is not within a 5 minute walk from my room. It’ll be weird when all of my friends live more than 2 minutes from me, and when they’re not available 24/7. It’ll be weird to not have noon announcements with a stupid question of the day. It’ll be weird not to experience a completely new culture every few days or so. I’ll miss my cabin steward who takes care of everything for me. I’ll miss the always smiling, singing faces of the crew as they cater to our every need in the dining halls.

I left but it still hasn’t hit me. I can’t believe it’s only been a little more than a week. It feels like it’s been a lifetime. I want to go back, I would die to go back. I still can’t really talk to people about it because whenever they ask “how was your trip?” I never even know where to start. Most of them ask online, and it’d be impossible to describe it online so I just say, “Incredible. Indescribable.” And then attempt to explain at least a little. I usually say how much I loved India and that’s all I get to do before they stop listening. I don’t blame them, I just don’t expect them to understand. I was having a long conversation with one of my best friends the other day and he got really annoyed because he just couldn’t understand where I was coming from, and I couldn’t explain to him why and how my world/life view changed.

One of the other people on my trip summed it up very well in her blog, so I’m going to paste it here: When I get back, please don’t ask me what my favorite country was or what my favorite experience was or what the coolest thing that I saw was. Because I don’t know. How do you compare skydiving in Cape Town to placing an offering in the Ganges River? There’s no way I can compare those. Or the sight of the Taj Mahal in all its beauty, to the wonder of the Great Wall stretching as far as the eye can see. They are both spectacular in their own ways and mean very different things to me. Please don’t ask me to sum up my trip in one sitting, or say “How was it?” and expect me to answer with anything other than “amazing.” It’s going to take me a while to process everything that I’ve experienced and until I understand it, I definitely can’t expect anyone else to.

I’m not happy at home so far. I guess I’m content, but I’m not satisfied or happy. I wonder if I ever will be? This sounds depressed but it’s not at all, it’s just…

I think that the MV Explorer is the love of my life. I am incomplete without her. As Kaitie said “I’m missing some pieces of my heart.” It’s like I was in a relationship and we just broke up. Except that it’s more than that. I keep needing to talk to SASers because they understand, and they’re going through the same thing. And because I was with them 24/7 and now I don’t see any of them. I am lucky though, because I live so close to most of my good friends that I know I’ll see them again. I saw Kaitie and Steve yesterday and it was just so amazing to see them. I realized that I don’t have anyone like Kaitie in my life at Pitt, and I miss that. I love having a best girl friend and she’s it. We just…click, and I’m so grateful for that.

Anyway, that ship was my home. More than anywhere else has ever been. I love Princeton and I love Pittsburgh but the MV Explorer is my home. How can I leave the most amazing experience of my life? How can I leave the place I have been happiest with myself? I don’t think I stopped smiling the entire trip, and I love that. Will the new Emily that came out on the ship come home with me? I want it to, because I feel like I’ve become more of the person that I always wanted to be, and I don’t want to go back to just wanting that person. I want to stay that person. I’m going to try, but maybe I’ll just fall back into the old mold. Many people got shirts in Vietnam that say “Same Same” on the front, and on the back they say “But Different.” That epitomizes how I feel, because I’m still basically the same person I always was, I am just different in ways I can’t even begin to explain. And ways that I don’t even really understand myself. I’m so much more independent than I’ve ever been, and I don’t let people tell me “you can’t do that.” I’m not afraid of trying things, or stepping outside of my comfort zone. It’s what I want now!

I don’t want to worry about it but part of me can’t help thinking about it. That’s all for now, it’s all I can come up with or put together coherently (nah, this wasn’t even really coherent at all, but oh well).

Vietnam, China, Japan and crossing to the US

2006-05-08T16:35:00.000-04:00

Sorry that this took so long to put up here but there really wasn't time for anything the last few weeks on the ship, and while I've been home I've been working on a lot of stuff. I'll do a separate picture upload soon.

Wednesday March 22, B15
“We can learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull. Some have weird names and all are different colors. But they all have to live in the same box.” –Anonymous
Me: “I’m a triple major- Neuroscience, Psychology and HPS. Minor in English Lit.”
*Eric gapes at me*
Declan: “I think you should challenge yourself more.”

Our crew seriously is the most amazing group ever! I love them so much!!! The Crew Talent Show was tonight and it was absolutely incredible!!!!! They are such a talented bunch, in ways I never imagined. Allan was part of the Christian group and did his own incredible juggling wine bottle routine. I have never seen anyone do anything like that! Definitely the best bartender I’ve ever seen. Darwin, Marlon and Giovanni all did dance routines, which were really cool and coordinated well. Vanni also dressed half as a man, and half as a woman, and sang a song. When it was the guy’s part, the guy half of him would be facing forward, and when it was the girl’s part the woman’s part of him was facing forward. It was pretty damn cool! My camera broke partway through, but hopefully I’ll get photos from everyone else. Anyway, I can’t describe how much I love them all.

The rest of the day…Nikii gave a presentation in Health Psych for us all and Global was ok. We have our next exam soon, but instead of studying today I made cards for my crew members to give them tomorrow. They aren’t good cards, really, but I spent time on them and I wrote sweet things on the inside. That’s the only real way I could come up with to appreciate them, because I do random things for them all of the time and I wouldn’t know what else to do. Tonight I played Trivial Pursuit with Tim, Pado, Steve, Andrea and Steph. And I was actually really good!! I tied for first with Tim!

Thursday March 23, No Classes!!!
Crew appreciation day!!!
“There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” –Albert Einstein
Didn’t sleep in today, even though we had no class. I got up for breakfast because I knew we were having a lifeboat drill anyway. Allan kept juggling things for me at breakfast because I asked him to, it was great. The drill lasted forever, until 10. It was inside because of the weather and it was so hot that 2 people fainted! That meant that the rest of us had to stand there for longer though…oh well. I sat on Deck 5 in the dining hall and studied for Global until Lunch, which was Fish and Chips!!! Yay!! Then I studied on deck 6, in the dining hall. I gave my crew members their cards, and tried to appreciate them more than I usually do but it was hard to. They yell at me whenever I try to clear my own place or do things for myself! I guess it’s just b/c it’s their job but still…

Watched ‘Good Morning Vietnam’ after dinner. It was good but I missed part of it so can’t really judge it.

Friday March 24, A16
“Travelers never think that they are the foreigners.” –Mason Cooley
In Global Professor Pete Seel gave an emotional talk about returning home from the Vietnam War, and Terry gave a talk about the boat people leaving Vietnam (she told the story of her parents). They both cried. Obviously, and rightly so, Vietnam has a big impact on people.
Cultural Pre-port tonight. Most of today was spent studying for Global Exam #3 tomorrow. For a while I was by myself on Deck 6, but after I fell asleep there I decided to join Kaitie. There was Banana Cake at snack time (WOOHOO!!) and I took some and then ran to get Andrea and Josh…but by the time I got back they were all gone, and there wasn’t any more so I couldn’t get Allan to give it to me. So we split the two pieces I’d grabbed. Then because we needed to get our entire banana fix, Andrea and I went and got banana smoothies. Finished studying and now am going to collapse in my bed because I’m so exhausted. We definitely never get enough sleep here, but I can sleep the rest of my life if I want, why do I need to sleep now?

Saturday March 25, B16
“The voyage of discovery lies not in finding new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” –Marcel Proust
“I’ve got fiancé fever!!!” –Tom <- I would so much rather have that than Dengue, it has a cure!!!
The GSA Drag Show was tonight and it was f-a-b-u-l-o-u-s. So many guys got all dressed up (including Chris the Conduct Officer and Pado). I did not expect people to get that into it, but I loved watching it! The groups performing were great too! I think that the best group was the first group, who did the Cell Block Tango from Chicago. Jeffrey and another guy were the hosts, Licorice and Butterscotch. They switched outfits between every act and were just, in general, great. Lots of fun to watch.

We had another bbq earlier! It was supposed to be a surprise but I was told about it before lunch. There was banana cake in disguise (Andrea found it because I went over to the desserts and looks at them and was like, “oh…nevermind” and this crew guy goes, “what? She doesn’t like any of it?” and Andrea said, “nah, just wants banana cake” and he goes, “but it’s right there!” and so we found it!!! YAY!!!) and Andrea and I each at 7.5, bringing our total up to 15. Later we had 2 more each, which is 9.5 in one day…that’s a lot. I loved our banana cake eating marathon. There was also cookies in cream ice cream, which made my universe!! We had been waging an ice cream sit-in of sorts, to wait for good ice cream! And it worked! It was Darwin’s birthday so I wished him a happy birthday in Tgalog. I love seeing him and Allan together, they’re so funny. It started raining and I went and stood out in the rain for fun, which was a blast.

Logistical pre-port right after the bbq. I read the Da Vinci Code for part of the pre-port because I borrowed it from Courtney.
GS exam #3 today. It was harder than 2 but I still got an A. Awesome.

Sunday March 26, Vietnam Day 1!
Today was a jampacked day. While we waited to go through Immigration I stood up on Deck 7 and looked at the big crowd of parents here to see their children. That was really nice, but made us all miss our parents. We caught the first shuttle we could into town and got dropped off behind the Opera house in downtown Ho Chi Minh City at 11! Andrea, Steve, Kaitie and I picked up Mason and walked to a tour booking agency to see if we could do the Cu Chi tunnels and the Cao Di temple. On the way we had to cross streets and it was crazy! They warned us about it, and so every time I cross a street I go “slowly and deliberately, slowly and deliberately” without looking around because if I looked I would have to stop and be afraid. So anyway, it was too late to do the tour, but Mason booked a delta tour for himself. We needed to do the tunnels today and he wanted to do it the last day so we left him and caught a taxi to the tunnels. It was $30 round trip, which isn’t bad for 4 of us. At the tunnels we saw a movie on life in the tunnels and then picked up a tour guide (Bong). We got stuck with a group of SASers and their parents so we went really slowly. The tunnels were so small! The entrances are 22cm by 35cm. As I said, “they did not accommodate for ghetto booties back then.” They showed us booby traps the Viet Congs used on American soldiers, which was horrible for me. I hated to imagine them being used on anyone because they were all so bad. Andrea and Steve both shot rifles, while Kaitie and I protested it because we thought it was so…wrong to shoot guns that were used to kill American soldiers, and we thought it strange to think about the fact that the Vietnamese were making money off of guns that killed a ton of their fighters.

After the shooting range we got to crawl through 100m of one of the (enlarged) tunnels. It was so awesome, and really tight and dirty. We got so sweaty but had a ton of fun. We had to crawl at one point and it was great! All of their rooms and factories and everything were underground, it was well-designed.

Took the taxi back to Ben Tanh Market. It was a huge market that sold everything! I want to go back and get dvds, because we couldn’t find them. I found a really pretty dress but didn’t get it because I didn’t like the fabric of the dress. I did get some polo shirts and a pair of headphones (finally!!). We stopped at the Blue Café and got the best banana smoothies ever! I also had a dress made at a silk shop, out of black silk. It should be a great “little black dress” if you will.
We ate dinner back at the ship and I have never been so glad to take a shower in my life. It felt fabulous to be clean again. After going back into town we wandered around to several places, starting at a karaoke bar (where I had the best drink I’ve ever had: ‘I Love You’. No clue what was in it), then an Irish pub, and ending up at Apocalypse Now. Everyone was there, so I went and danced for an hour and then we just hung out with people. A lot of people were celebrating birthdays so it was really fun. Back to the ship around 1 and collapsed in bed.

Monday March 27, Cambodia Day 1
Today I was really sick, but we left for Cambodia. I have never been so dehydrated in my life, all I was drinking was water but I couldn’t handle it. Ugh, and I had a huge fever. Stupid TD. Anyway, we left for Cambodia at 10. Kathleen DeWalt is leading my trip, and Sarah’s on it with me. The plane ride was cool, the smallest plane I have ever been on, and you could still see craters where the US had dropped bombs back during the war. Cambodia is the hottest place I have ever been. It was 37-40 degrees Celsius today. Since it was so hot and I was so sick, Kathleen DeWalt made me go to the hotel and sit in air conditioning. I rejoined the group at 5 and we went to the Mekong River and took a boat ride. Watched the sunset on the river, and we saw the cool floating houses people live in. I also had a great long and personal convo with Sarah about love.

We had dinner at a great buffet restaurant. Every SAS trip was there, so I got to talk to the “Future Mrs. Voice” for a bit, and hear how they met and what a dork he is. Sat with Sarah and John and we talked a lot. Then they dropped us back off at the hotel.

Tuesday March 28, Cambodia Day 2
Today was probably the most intense day I’ve ever experienced. It was so long too. We experienced two amazing but extremely different parts of Cambodia history. The recent history was shown at P.S.21, a genocide museum, and the Killing Fields in Phnom Penh. The Ancient history was shown at Angkor Wat. Neither history is more important than the other, but they are both incredible.

A bunch of people were really late this morning so we missed 20 minutes at PS21. Hence we didn’t really get to experience the whole thing. It was VERY sad and VERY intense. The classrooms on the first floor were preserved in the state they were used to torture people in. There were pictures on the wall of someone who had actually been found dead in that room. There were still blood stains on the floor. There were rusted beds and boxes and things I didn’t understand. We walked through rooms with lots of photographs, of everyone who was held there. Some photos were of what they were put through. It was just…intense. We only had a few minutes to look at the personal stories on the third floor, but from what I read they were incredible. I bought ‘First They Killed My Father’, a book about the rule of the Khmer Rouge (and I would highly recommend it to anyone).

The intensity continued at the Killing Fields outside of Phnom Penh. That’s where most of the people from PS21 were actually killed. So far they have uncovered 86 mass graves with 9000 victims. There are still a lot more graves that they have yet to uncover. The way the Khmer Rouge killed people was horrible. They did not want to “waste” bullets so instead they cut people’s throats or crushed their skulls with a hammer or took a board with a nail in it and rammed it into the back of their heads. To cover up the scream, a microphone was hung from a tree and music was played loudly from it. It was just so horrible…I can’t begin to comprehend it.
From the Killing Fields we caught our plane to Siem Reap. Heading straight to Angkor Wat from the airport we climbed the huge steps to the top. It was so much taller than I expected! The view from the top was incredible! We wandered around the huge top and then, when we were waiting to go down we ran into Kaitie and Declan. We walked around the market area for a while (ran into Eric) and then sat on the edge of the pond (cesspool is a more accurate description) and waited for the sunset. Sarah and I ended up talking to 3 Canadians who teach English in Japan, who were really nice. Angkor Wat is absolutely beautiful, especially at sunset.
After dinner we watched a Cambodian cultural dance performance. One of the shows they did was the Ramayana!!! It was so weird to see it!!

It is just impossible to understand what the Khmer Rouge did. I can’t wrap my mind around it. It is just unfathomable. How can people keep doing that to other people? I could never do that to someone, and never order someone to do such horrible things to others. Haven’t we learned from our history yet? How do we keep letting it happen? And how do we not even really hear about it when it does? Maybe I am just too innocent to really understand, but at least I know it’s happened…in a way I’m glad I don’t understand how it can happen. But I don’t think I can explain it at the moment. It hasn’t really hit me yet, what I’ve experienced today. And I don’t know if it will.

Wednesday March 29, Cambodia Day 3
A bunch of us got up really early for the optional sunrise at Angkor Wat…but the sun never rose. I guess it did but it was really cloudy so it just seemed to get lighter without the sun ever appearing. It was nice though, we sat next to a group of older tourists from the US, Australia and the UK and they shared their baguettes with us.

After the sun was done not rising, we went back to the hotel to pick up the rest of our group. Then we went to another temple. In a way this temple was cooler than Angkor Wat because it was more accessible and we could run around it and climb things. We felt like Indiana Jones exploring the Temple of Doom, so Sarah and I took a lot of “action” pictures. They’re really funny. Our guide (Bunny) took a bunch of pictures for us and thought we were hilarious. We went shopping when we were done with our exploration/adventure and I got souvenirs for people. We went to another temple, where I realized that everywhere we go in Cambodia there are people smoking pot. It was so weird. The temple was cool, and then we visited another and climbed up a weird side that we basically had to rock climb. At the top there were Buddha faces carved everywhere in the stone. Some of them were on our level but some were much higher. They were enormous and all looked totally content.

An elephant fortress thing was our last stop. We ended up spending way too long there, so we just wandered around and ended up sitting in a fire ant nest!! I looked down and suddenly there were fire ants all over us and we jumped up, screaming of course, and beat them off us. We basically just ended up bonding for the extra hour. Kathleen DeWalt kept asking me questions about Pitt, which was interesting…

We flew back to HCMC and convinced our bus driver to get back first so we had less of a wait in line. Kaitie was back and we ate my wonderful (yeah right) boxed dinner, and watched a movie.

Thursday March 30, Vietnam Day 5
Breakfast was really nice because I was happy to see my crew again. I showed Eric the photo of him from the bus in Pittsburgh homecoming weekend of last year. It was funny because he was like, “WHAT WAS I THINKING WITH MY HAIR?!”

9am shuttle to HCMC and then we took our first moped rides to the War Remnants Museum. The moped ride was so fun! They made sure Kaitie and I stayed near each other, and I actually felt safer than I do on motorcycles back home. I guess that’s because they go so much more slowly. The museum was pretty intense, they really do not present the US well at all. They said that we carried out a racial extermination program, which I had never heard at all and so I got all distracted by that. I don’t think it’s true but it just made me start wondering…what else is there about US history that we don’t hear because they don’t want us to?

We hoped back on our mopeds and had them take us to the Market again, then looked for cheap DVDs. We spent an hour looking through humongous piles, and developed a really good system. I found a lot of the ones I had been looking for, and got all of Friends. We never found Cindy, so Kaitie and I just went and got more banana smoothies. I had pho (a traditional Vietnamese noodle dish) that I slurped to my heart’s content. It was good. Kaitie got a shrimp burger (wow, so great, why don’t we have those in the US?!) and then we bought duffel bags. I really like mine and had a funny moment bargaining for it.
Me: “Can I get this for 11?”
Lady: “OH NO!!! Too little!!!...how about 11?”
Me: *confused for a second but going with it* “…Alright, 11…”
And then I picked up Steve’s clothing (all million pieces!!) and my dress. The dress is really pretty, and since I was carrying all of Steve’s stuff we just caught the shuttle back to the ship. Went to an Internet place and ate dinner on the ship, outside so that we could appreciate HCMC for the last time. We’d spent enough money so we didn’t go out again. Then we watched Eurotrip FINALLY! We’d been wanting to for so long, so it was great. Did a bit of work for classes, and now it’s time for bed.

Vietnam was great, I really enjoyed it. Although if I came back I would definitely have to go out of HCMC because I feel I “did it” entirely in two days. Cambodia on the other hand…I would go back there in a heartbeat. It was so incredible, I feel like there’s still so much I have left. It would’ve been better if I hadn’t been in a big SAS group, too. Oh well.

Friday March 31, A17
“Travel is 90% anticipation, and 10% recollection.” –Edward Streeter
Instead of being able to use today as a recovery day I had to do a lot of work. I have a Health Psych exam tomorrow, so I had to study for that forever. I watched Tom Raider with Steve, Kaitie and Andrea tonight. The part they showed of Angkor Wat was great, except they put a bustling river city where the cesspool was…interesting. It was cool seeing the places I had just been in a movie though.

Saturday April 1, B17
“One thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.” –Dr. Albert Schwetzer
“Many people would like to start on the breast.” –Mr. Carmen Esteves
(that was his advice during Cultural Pre-port)

The second Health Psych exam was today, and I think I rocked it. Probably just because Allan wished me luck. Watched Rumor Has It tonight, which wasn’t good. Ate dinner with my family earlier but before that I wrote a paper for Music on Deck 6. The paper wasn’t really all that good, but it should be fun. Then I resized pictures (I really wish my laptop battery were better so that I could bring it to class and do stuff then).

Sunday April 2, A18
“Wherever you go, go with all your heart.” –Confucius
So I didn’t ever write a journal entry for this day so the only thing I know about today is that there was a logistical pre-port for China. I made up a nice entry, if you want to hear it sometime ask me.

Monday April 3, Hong Kong!!
I went on the City Orientation today so that I could get a good feel for Hong Kong. There were a lot of adults on it, so that was a nice change of pace. I met a sweet girl named Monica though, and we bonded all day. First we went on a boat ride around a little boat town in the middle of the city. Dr. Jean pet one of the dogs on her boat! So much for her rabies warning! Then we drove up Victoria Peak and took the tram down. Tram ride was cool because we went backwards down this really steep incline. I felt like I was on a backwards roller coaster than never got fast. Then we did a walking tour of some older buildings, including a beautiful church (I love taking time out to be in churches now) and saw a tea museum. We saw the HSBC building, which is apparently the most expensive building in the world. It is made out of glass and has two machine guns on top pointing at the China Bank, which points back with a sharp edge of the building. They call this Feng Shui fighting…interesting. Then we went to Cat Street and I walked around with Josh and looked at the dried fishmarket stores. There were even dried lizards on a stick! I should’ve eaten one!

A temple was our last stop. There was a ton of incense in there, so I couldn’t really handle it, including wish incense- spiral incense that takes two weeks to burn, and when it’s done your wish will come true. We did a little shopping, and then went back to the ship.

At the ship I waited for Steve, Kaitie and Cindy to get back, and then ended up not going out with them. Andrea got fed up and went out with Josh, but I decided not to join them. Had some nice crew conversations tonight, and ended up going out for dinner. The ferry ride was great, the view of Hong Kong at night across the bay is so gorgeous!!!!! I loved it so much!!! Never ended up finding a place to dance, but I walked around for a long time. Ran into some of my favorite crew members and that was really nice, I got a few kisses on the cheek. Went back to the ship around 12:30 because one of my friends got really grumpy…oh well. Andrea and I were up until 2:30 though.

Tuesday April 4, Beijing Day 1
Got to have breakfast on the ship and say goodbye to all my crew members, who made me promise to return safely to them. I love that.

Our flight was 3 hours and they gave us food on the plane (beef lo mein! YEAH!!) and strawberry Hagen Daas (America seriously has the worst plane food in the world. We don’t even serve any now!). Then we had boxed lunches on the bus, which had good tuna sandwiches (Kaitie was so excited!). We toured the Summer Palace for a while, but I would much rather have separated from the group and off on our own. We ran into a few other SAS groups that had already climbed the Great Wall and they said it took them over an hour and it was really hard. So now I’m a little nervous for tomorrow.

People keep talking while our guide, Ivy, talks and it’s really disrespectful. She’s trying explain about Chinese history and they’re busy telling stories about being drunk…I really hate it.
Checked into the Capital Hotel and then went to Hepingmen Quanjude Restaurant for a Peking Duck dinner. They served a bunch of appetizers including a Sweet and Sour shrimp dish which was amazing. The egg rolls in China are different than those back home but they were still good. The duck itself was very greasy but so good…You put it in little tortillas with a sauce and some onions and I loved it! The restaurant itself is a famous one that visiting dignitaries eat at all the time. Apparently eating there is on the list of 1,000 things to do before you die, but I’m not sure about that.

I called my mom earlier because we’re in the same time zone! And the same country! I’m going to see her soon!! Yay!!!!

Wednesday April 5, Beijing Day 2
I ran up the Great Wall of China today!! We ran because our time there was cut short by an hour for various reasons, and we’d been told that it took at least an hour to climb up to it…but it only took us 12 minutes to run up to the top. Maybe we went a different way or something, but that’s pretty impressive. The Wall was gorgeous, I can’t believe that people built something that huge and long, and that it’s still standing. It’s quite a feat. It was a magical experience, made better because it started snowing while we were up there! We thought we missed snow, and it is not usual Beijing weather to have snow in April, but we did! I was really happy, because I love snow, and it just contributed to the incredibleness of the experience.

We had our second boxed lunch and then went to two silk markets to shop. It was crazy, Chinese shopkeepers are definitely the most aggressive of any country we’ve been to. They grab you and will not let go of you and they never stop yelling at you. One shopkeeper grabbed our Dean Sapp, our Executive Dean, and would not let go of him. So I tried to rescue him, but then he tried to get the shopkeeper to latch onto me instead so I ran out of there as fast as I could. He eventually extricated himself, but it took a while longer.

Dinner was on our own so we went to a genuine Chinese place right by the hotel, and it was extremely good. Then we had banana splits back at our hotel and were free for the night.

Thursday April 6, Beijing Day 3
The weather the whole time we’ve been in Beijing has been very uncharacteristically cold. And we were not really prepared for it at all, so everyone bought jackets, either at the Great Wall or at the Silk Market. It snowed again today, when we were at Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Since it was so cold and people weren’t prepared for it, a lot of people skipped out on our tour this morning, and then the leaders ended up deciding not to do our tours so that they could go back to the Silk Market. So we had about 30 minutes in the Forbidden City, which is not enough to see it. I’m glad I’m getting to go back this summer, but I feel bad for my friends who don’t get to.

Lunch was at Afanti Restaurant, which was a restaurant with an Indian theme that served Chinese food but had women who came out and belly-danced wearing Arabian style costumes to Flamenco music. It was unusual, to say the least. Then we went to the Lama Temple for 45 minutes (a very pretty temple that just kept going and going, it never ended) and they took us back to the Silk Market. Since we had another two hours at the Silk Market, Kaitie and I spent a lot of time on each floor, and we ended up getting a lot more things. We mostly looked, though, and made friends with some shopkeepers.

Dinner was at the Duhai Restaurant, which was pretty good. The real amazing part of today was the acrobatic show after dinner. It was incredible!!! I did not know people could do things like that!! I have video of some of it, and pictures of other parts, and it’s just unbelievable! We were sitting there like, “No, he can’t do that, it’s not possible!” and then he’d do it, and then do something even more incredible! I can’t really describe it, but I think everyone should go see it.

Friday April 7, Beijing Day 4 and Qingdao Day 1
Just a bit of advice for all of you out there who like sports bars: In China, sports bars are not the same thing they are in the US. In China a sports bar is a high-class hooker joint. I guess they literally mean you are participating in a sport there…

I love days that I spend half in one city and half in another! And today I got to see my mom!!!!! It was wonderful to see her after so long, and great to be on SAS so that all of my friends could see her and she could see some of what I’m experiencing.

First things first, we went to the Temple of Heaven this morning. It was really cool because the grounds are used by people for all sorts of group activities- ballroom dancing, tai chi, singing, playing cards, and tons of other things. It was a big, green public square. We reached a long stone “bridge” the Emperor used to walk to the “temple” where he worshipped his father, the God of Heaven. The bridge sloped down to represent the descent form heaven to the human world. The Echo Wall was next. If you stand behind the East building and whisper someone standing behind the West building can hear you. Kaitie and I tried it out. I also had a bunch of random Asian men ask to take pictures with me. I love that I am going to end up in so many random photo collections. From there we went to the area where the Emperor went twice a year to worship his father. It was an open air temple, round with 3 levels (to represent hell, heaven and earth) and a central stone that only the Emperor could stand on. Steve did a handstand on it…so disrespectful :-P

We had a quick buffet lunch and then had the worst plane flight I’ve ever had. Before we got on the plane there was a hilarious instance where all of us SASers were lined up (but not single file, it was kind of a big jumble but we knew who was where). Suddenly this little old Asian lady ducks under Craig’s arm and steps right in front of me. We all just look at each other and burst out laughing because she was so self-confident and did not care about us. We passed her when we had to walk to the plane itself, which was hot. So Craig and I were the first two people on the plane. Lots of turbulence, and the worst landing I’ve ever had but we made it in one piece.
When we got to the airport we paid our bus driver to get us back first, and Mom was there when I got back to the ship! I was really nervous for her to see my hair, but she loved it!!! We wandered around outside the ship while Steve and Kaitie took my bags in (so nice of them). We ran into a ton of people who were all like, “omg is this your mom?!” When Kaitie and Steve got off the ship again we took the long walk to the exit of the port and caught a taxi to my mom’s hotel. The view from her room is incredible. She’s right on the beach and there’re all these old German-style buildings and the sun was setting. It was so nice that we decided to go upstairs and eat in the revolving restaurant at the top. The food there was incredible, with an assortment of all kinds of food and free Tsingtao beer. There were a few more SASers there, who I liked. I had never eaten in a revolving restaurant before and I loved it!

Then we took a taxi to the Crowne Hotel to try and find some bars. We walked around aimlessly until we found a Sports Bar. Yeah…we walked in and there were 6 well-dressed women who were clearly prostitutes. We all stop dead and then start mumbling, embarrassed, and walk out. I almost asked a nice young Chinese man who kept staring at us where we could get drinks (I would’ve pantomimed it, I had great hand motions picked out), but we took a taxi to May 4 Square and walked around again, looking for a place. We ended up walking in to the New York Club because we heard a live band playing Janice Joplin. The band was great and played all Western songs, so Kaitie and I sang a bunch. It was really expensive though, but we met a nice late-30s business man who started talking to us and bought us drinks. Left pretty early though, because we have to get up for Sunrise Tai Chi.

Saturday April 8, Qingdao Day 2
I had an amazing day in Qingdao. A lot of people didn’t enjoy it here, but I really did. I spent the morning with my mom and the afternoon with Jess and Kaitie.

Up at 5 for Sunrise Tai Chi, which was really fun. It was freezing out, but it was really pretty to watch them when we first got off the bus. Then they made us do it…we weren’t as good, I’m sure. It was pretty hard to learn because I could never see her hands so I basically just made it up. We were shown a demonstration of individuals and their various specialties, and apparently we’re quick learners. Kaitie and I demonstrated later in front of my mom, but I probably will never do it again.

Met Mom at the hotel around 9:45 (I got to talk to my sister on the phone!!). Then we walked along the beach until we headed back to the ship so that I could give Mom a tour. She wasn’t on the list for some reason, which was really stressful. I’d turned in all the paperwork but she just wasn’t there…which is why it pays to be on Tina’s good side. She let my mom on anyway, and I gave Mom the abridged (speedwalking) tour of the ship. I also gave her all of my presents for her. We had lunch so that she could see what my life is like. All of my crew members were so fabulous with her. They kept hugging her and entertaining her and calling her ‘Mom.’ Then I took my mom back to her hotel and waited there for Jess and Kaitie. We went to Underwater World/the Aquarium (which happens to have the largest acrylic water column in the world..ooooh…). There were a lot of fun and cool animals, although a lot of them looked like they weren’t treated too well…I was about to go and clean up because it was so bad for them.

After the Aquarium we walked around and searched for a post office. It was a pretty funny experience because no one spoke English and we were just basically wandering. We went to a great Italian restaurant (Pasta Fresca da Salvatorre), where they gave us some incredible food! And we only ordered one course each but they gave us tons of free dishes! The chef brought us a salmon dish, tomato mozzarella and basil, bread, flan with fruit, vanilla ice cream and something else I forget. All I ordered was gnocchi (which was amazing) and Jess and Kaitie split a cheese pizza. We could not understand why he gave us so much, but we loved him for it. Then he sent us free shots. We were extremely happy with our $7/person meal. It was basically $1/person a course. I was amazed we ate it all, and with the quality of it. We had to leave to make it back to the ship, but he wanted us to stay. Hehe.

Back at the ship we prepared our room for our expected very rough seas tonight, and watched The Last Samurai so I’d have it done before Japan.

Sunday April 9, B18
“The world is a great book…they who never stir from home read only a page.” –St. Augustine

It was so weird having it be both our first day back from port and Cultural Pre-Port night. And to make matters worse, today we realized just how little time we have left. Under 3 weeks total and only 8 days of class.

I was basically a zombie for the first half of today. I did not wake up mentally until after Carmen class. I worked on Deck 6 for a while today, and checked my email. Apparently Mark got to Hong Kong less than 2 days after we left it! That was so sad to hear, because it was such a coincidence and so close! I really wish we’d been there at the same time, it would have been so incredible. I would’ve loved to see him because I don’t know how long it will be until I next get to.

Cultural Pre-port was cool because the interport lecturer’s mother did a Japanese dance for us. The seas are really rough right now but I still have yet to get seasick. I watched an episode of The Amazing Race tonight, I’m starting to like that show. We lose another hour tonight, oh yay!

Monday April 10, A 19
I don’t have the quote for today
Japan tomorrow! Our last port! I am so excited though! We watched Memoirs of a Geisha tonight. I was going to watch with Kaitie and Steve but the waves were too rough for either of them so I watched with Val, Jess and Todd. Ate dinner with Josh and Andrea and so I convinced him to make Memoirs the random movie of the night. I love that movie.

Did a lot of reading for Global on Deck 6 today so that I wouldn’t have to do it after Japan. We tried to figure out what we’re doing in Japan, but it was hard because people kept borrowing my book. I guess we’re just going to wing it tomorrow.

Logistical Pre-port was good, I did sudoku through it and then got sad that it was our last real Pre-Port. One of my last times to hear Tom be funny. What am I going to do without him? I don’t want to think about it, I’m not ready to. I feel as if I’m only getting started with things, and only getting started getting to know some people. What would be enough time though? Would there ever be enough time? This has been the most incredible experience of my life. I have changed so much, done so many things I never thought or dreamed I would. How can it end when there’s still so much left for me to do? I guess I’ll just have to continue…

Tuesday April 11, Japan Day 1
It took a really long time to go through Immigration here so we didn’t get cleared to get off the ship until 12. Jess, Teresa and Andrea left right away for the whole time we’re here.

We wanted to go to a baseball game tonight but it was canceled because it rained all day. To find out if it was on or not we stopped in a hotel in Harborland and asked. It was hilarious because we asked where we could go out to dance, or karaoke, or just to drink, and they didn’t know so there ended up being a huge meeting of all the employees of the hotel, just to see if anyone had any suggestions. They didn’t come up with much but we had fun watching them try.

Before that Steve, Kaitie, Cindy, Monica and I walked around forever. We must have walked at least 5 miles in the rain today. We walked through a huge, long “indoor” shopping mall (not really inside, it’s hard to explain). It was kind of a street…We also walked through Chinatown, and it was definitely the cleanest Chinatown I have ever seen. We were looking for a place called Mosaic in Harborland, which turned out to be another shopping mall. Everything here is so expensive! Oh, we also saw a cool pet clothing store, and they had a bunch of doggy Yankee Jerseys, which I adored.

Then we walked all the way back to Sannomiya Station and up to the restaurant (Makami) in the rain. It seemed to take forever. I got a chicken and egg dish which was so good, and really cheap! They had Western food too, so everyone was happy. Went to McDonalds so that Kaitie could get a milkshake, and then back to the ship because we’ve got Hiroshima early tomorrow.

Wednesday April 12, Japan Day 2
It was a LONG bus ride to Hiroshima, let me tell you. Five hours on those small Asian buses…My knees were killing me. I tried to sleep but I couldn’t. All of the rest stops here are really cool! They have outdoor little food places that specialize in one food. There’s sushi, ice cream, teriyaki and random things I don’t know. Then, inside, there’s a fast food section, a Wawa-like section, and a separate grocery-store section. I searched every grocery section for the candy that Chisato used to get me, but I never found it. Found some other random candies along the way, though, and they were pretty good. On the way home we got dinner at a rest stop and I bought two random things without knowing what they were. They were both really good, I guess I’m happy that Mom raised me to try new things all the time.

Hiroshima was pretty cool. The museum wasn’t as moving or striking as Phnom Penh and the Genocide Museum, but we definitely left there totally opposed to nuclear weapons and inspired to do something about it. The A-Bomb dome and Peace Flame left me stunned. The museum was gruesome at parts, especially when you saw pictures of victims of the bombing or when you saw relics that survived the bombing. I think one of my favorite parts was this wall that was decorated with letters from the mayor of Hiroshima, protesting every nuclear test since the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Each mayor has kept up the tradition, and they have literally written a letter for every test. The museum also wasn’t biased, it objectively stated what the US did, and what crimes Japan had also done, as well as talking about other horrible things humanity has done. At the end of the museum there’s a section where you can watch testimonies of survivors and I watched several of those. It was another of those things that I probably would have appreciated more if I hadn’t been with a SAS group, but it was fine.

After the Museum we went to a Japanese garden. It was really pretty, and what I’ve always traditionally thought of when I pictured a Japanese garden so I liked it.

Then our long bus ride back to Kobe. Kaitie and I stayed in tonight and watched a movie with Cindy, to save some money.

Thursday April 13, Japan Day 3
“NEW YORK YANKEES!!!! HIDEKI MATSUI!!!” –our cab driver
“YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” –us. He jabbered to us in Japanese the entire ride, and then suddenly yelled this at the end

Today I almost stole a squirrel from a zoo. The squirrel wanted to come with me though, so really I guess it just would’ve been liberating it. He’s the one who attacked me! Lol, so we went to the zoo today, and they had a special squirrel house with a loose squirrel in it! He immediately started attacking my jeans. I tried to let him use himself out but he never did, so I sat there and watched the Japanese squirrels (who were hyperactive, let me tell you) while this little guy amused himself with my pants. Some little Japanese photographer came up and tried to convince me to steal the squirrel but I didn’t, so he gave me a picture of two monkeys instead. Quite unusual. The Zoo was huge and had lots of animals. They weren’t all treated very well, but looked better than Qingdao. There were polar bears, gorillas (we saw one eating his own poop. Ew), a timber wolf and tons of other great, cute animals.

The zoo was a long walk from the train station. We thought we’d gotten lost so kept asking random Japanese folks. One cute old Japanese man who didn’t speak English pantomimed running really quickly and pointed in the direction we were going, so we continued that way. He was so cute, and right! We got there! Lol. At the zoo they had tons of ice cream vending machines. One gave Hagen Daas, so of course Kaitie and I got it as we watched the koalas sleep. They didn’t give out spoons though, giving us a slight dilemma. We also found one that sold these ice cream balls I get back home at a Japanese restaurant. They’re so good, covered in some sort of rice paste…mmmmm…Then Kaitie, Steph and I rode the Ferris wheel. Later we found out why the Ferris wheels are so slow moving. It’s because apparently young Japanese go there to have sex. No wonder the attendant gave us such a weird look when 3 girls wanted to go on it alone.

After that we rode the Cable Car to the top of the mountain. The view from there was fabulous, and we could see our ship the entire way up. I’m so in love with the ship, lol. When we got down we went to a doctor’s office to see about getting Kaitie’s ear pierced. It was way too expensive, we had to wear slippers to get in, and the elevator door shut on me. I did get earrings like the ones I lost on Table Mountain though, which makes me happy. We saw a baseball game tonight! The Orix Buffalos. They gave out so much free stuff at the game! We got towels, fans, noisemakers, programs, it was awesome! And, I got to have my first beer at a baseball game! Karim Garcia was on the team, which was interesting because he’s definitely an ex-Yankee. The food at the game was good, and I loved that they play small ball. It was absolutely freezing there though, so we left at 8, inning 6. It was the slowest game!

Then we went out for the night. Steve took us to Sally’s and we stayed there. Jay was the only other SASer there, until a few others got there. It was nice to be somewhere small and unpacked with SASers. Kaitie ended up getting to DJ through her Ipod for a while, because the bartender wanted to hear some recent music. They really liked us, and gave us a bunch of free drinks. I learned some more Chinese from one of the bartenders, too. Our cab ride home was fun, and now it’s bedtime!

Friday April 14, Japan Day 4
“We drinken Schnapps til we plop!” –Will Ferrell
“Gutentag blah blah.” –Will Ferrell
Kaitie and I spent the day out in Kobe today. It was pretty cool to just have it be the two of us, but it doesn’t seem like we did a lot (although we used up the whole day). We walked around shopping for a while, and then she got a milkshake. I decided to order one too but wound up just pointing to the menu and getting whatever kind I pointed to, because I didn’t want chocolate and that’s the only English word they understood. I got lucky and got a green tea milkshake (ok, a lot of you are probably like, “that’s lucky?!”) which I really enjoyed! We were in a cute little donut shop that was so much better than Dunkin’ Donuts because they sold real food! For lunch we attempted to go to the sushi place we went to last night with Steve, but they were closed, so we wound up walking into a random fast food curry place. Once again I just pointed to something on the menu, and I think I got beef curry with garlic. I got the least spicy level they had, which was regular spicyness, and it was still extremely spicy! It was incredible though. I was a little overwhelmed by the whole experience, especially because everyone else was shoveling their food in as fast as they could. I took my time though, and when I left we had a very long round of bowing. After several minutes of bowing back and forth I finally backed out of the restaurant. I never know when to stop bowing, I feel impolite if I don’t return the bow! Lol. It was quite amusing.

Then we wandered to the street the tattoo parlor was on, because Kaitie wanted to get her ears pierced. We ended up walking by the place 4 or 5 times, and then I asked a woman in a Hotel and she walked us there. It turns out that in Japan only doctors are allowed to do piercings, and it would’ve been really expensive so she didn’t get one. After that we hit up McDonald’s (it was my first time getting fast food all trip!!! I almost made it!!) and Kaitie got a shrimp burger while I got shrimp nuggets (they were so cool! Why don’t they have shrimp burgers in the US?!). Then we went to see ‘The Producers’ (the movie) and thought it was hilarious. The Japanese apparently don’t laugh in movies, and afterwards they sat and watched all of the credits. It was interesting, we were wondering if we could leave and I couldn’t stop laughing at Will Ferrell so everyone was staring at us. It was a very awkward, funny situation.

Then we went back to the ship and had dinner. Steve explained his day to us: He spent $200 to go to an amusement park to ride a roller coaster and it turned out that today was one of the two days of a 90 day season that the roller coaster is closed. Oops. That stinks.

Steve and I went out tonight and wandered around for an hour looking for this reggae club (Jam Bong) we’d heard about. We eventually found it and it turned out that it wasn’t a reggae club, it was just another dance club. I liked getting to dance, although Steve left after half an hour so I basically was with people I had just met (but Yellow Sea Steve was there and I had a lot of fun dancing with him so it was all good). After a while I stopped dancing and talked to Lorren for half an hour, and then we decided to leave because things were getting a little weird. Our cab driver ripped us off on the way back to the ship, but oh well, we didn’t notice until he was gone.

Saturday April 15, Japan Day 5
Today was our last day in port EVER! :-( :-( :-( We spent it in Kyoto, on a SAS trip led by Pado and Rhonda.
Our first stop was this religious place where the Emperor used to worship. I can’t really tell you muich about it except that it was built on a hill so to “jump from the deck of the temple” is a metaphor for taking a big leap of faith, or a big risk. There also are three mountain streams that happen to drop off a rock at the same spot there. Each stands for a different blessing (Wealth, Health and Wisdom) and you drink from whichever you want. You can’t drink from all 3 though, that’s greedy. I picked Health, because I figure that health will protect wisdom and wealth. Kaitie and I were the first SASers to go, and we didn’t really know what to do but we toasted and then drank our water.

The temple was a pretty cool complex of buildings. I love old Japanese-style architecture, so I was very happy. There was a bell that you ring for luck and Steve tried to ring it and failed miserably. Highly amusing. We walked back down through the streets and looked in all the shops. I got a waving cat statue and a banana, chocolate and ice cream crepe. It was probably my last one. :-( Next we went to the fort that used to be owned by a shoghun, and I totally want to own that place someday. The outside wasn’t all that cool but the inside was gorgeous! It was what I’ve always imagined an ancient Japanese building would look like. The “paper” walls and the paintings on them (which are suitable for the purpose of the room), and the complete wood theme…It was great. I loved it. The hallway floors were made so that no one could sneak up on the shoghun in the middle of the night to assassinate him- they made noise when you walked on them. That’s a pretty smart invention! I planned what I’d do with each room and it looks like it’ll work out well. However, it’d have to be a summer house because there’s no heating.

Next we stopped at a temple to see what it was like. To make a wish you throw money in a donation bin and then you clap twice to get the attention of the gods. You bow, make your wish and then bow again. Hopefully they listened to my wish. I also bought some cool Japanese fortunes on my way back to the bus. They’re really long, I wish I could read them hehe. We hit our last stop, the Golden Pavilion. Walked around it for a while in the rain and attempted to toss coins at a shrine for luck but we weren’t very good at it.

Back on the bus we headed for Kobe, for the last time. By the time we got back it was time to board the ship for good, so we had dinner on the ship and watched everyone get back on. There were a lot of really drunk people because it was the last port. There were also a ton of late people, including some professors. I wonder what the punishment for them is. I doubt there will be anything.
Well, that’s it I guess. Bye bye Japan, bye bye SAS… :-( :’( :’(

Sunday April 16, B19 Easter
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow mindedness.” –Anonymous
Amid the crashing waves and incredible rocking of the ship we attempted to have an Easter service today. Not very many people showed up because the waves were so bad, but Jess, Teresa, Todd, Declan and I went. Teresa lay on the floor because it made her feel the waves less, and at one point the waves were so bad that they threw Jess out of her chair and she fell on Teresa. Pretty funny, but dangerous. It was supposed to be the first Easter ever that I would have class, but partway through the Easter service Tom came over the loudspeaker and announced that classes before noon were canceled! Yayyyy!!! I actually really enjoyed the rough seas, and I didn’t feel sick at all (but I was definitely in the minority). So after the service we went to breakfast (the seas were so bad that they closed the Deck 6 dining hall and you could only go to Deck 5) and then everyone went back to bed.

At 11 I got up again and did some work, then went to my afternoon class (at that point the seas had calmed enough for us to have classes). But, Professor Esteves let us out early because she was seasick. Since no one was allowed outside the pool bar crew was all behind the piano lounge bar and so I got to joke around with them during class. After dinner I watched Munich (wow, that was a good movie) and then watched Sex and the City in the Union. Wow that show is addicting, I totally hadn’t been getting my Sex fix and now I feel a lot better.

We started our period of losing an hour a night today. I wonder how many days in a row we go.

Monday April 17, A20
Same quote as yesterday. However, someone else gave me this quote today:
“To whom much is given, much is asked.”
Today was the Students of Service Charity Auction. It showed me that there are some people on this ship with so much money! I bid on two things in the Silent Auction but didn’t win, and that was quite alright with me. During the Live Auction Eric and I almost won a stay at a luxury condo in British Columbia for $1400 but we chickened out because we thought our friends weren’t interested. They actually were, and it would’ve been a great deal, but oh well. We raised the most money ever at an auction, thanks to some last minute additions like Josh’s photo shoot. It was really funny watching people bid for things because it seemed so random at times. Teresa’s map went for $200…she bought it for about $5.

Professor Kramer canceled our final! Woohoo! That makes me really happy! One of our last family dinners was tonight. I also sat in the Dining Hall for a while today and finished the last set of readings for Global Studies. I also gave in and bought my first pizza from the Grill upstairs. I love that I’m still getting to know people, and we’re on the last leg of the voyage.

Tuesday April 18, B20
“The sea that calls all things unto her calls me, and I must embark.” –Kahlil Gibran
“You have to do it in order to reproduce!” –Professor Kramer
“That man just came from the floor!” –Me
“I LOVE when people touch me!” –Me
“I really hope my children are not like you.” –Me about Kaitie
Our second Health Psych exams were return today and I got a 90%! And an A in the class is a 75%! Looks like I’m fairly set right now!! Ordered Steve’s birthday cake today, for tomorrow, and played Trivial Pursuit with Tim, Chris Duran, Tom, Mark, Steve and Rebecca. Studied on Deck 5 for a while today too, just to switch things up.

Day 3 of losing an hour. It’s so difficult to get ‘enough’ sleep when we lose hours. I don’t think I even know what ‘enough’ sleep is anymore.

Wednesday April 19, A21
“Whether adversity be a stumbling block, discipline or blessing, depends altogether on the use made of it.” –Anonymous
It was Steve’s birthday today!! We had a great ice cream cake to celebrate, and I got to sleep in today too. I couldn’t fall asleep last night until 2:30, because it felt like 11:30 and that’s too early to go to bed. Sat outside in the sun today, although I don’t think I got any sun. I also proctored a teacher evaluation for one of Professor Bandawe’s classes, which was kind of awkward but I liked doing it. Painted my nails today and did some other things to get prepared for the Ambassador’s Ball tomorrow, and exchanged photos with Kaitie. Day 4 in a row of losing an hour, I’m trying to go to bed early but it’s just impossible.

Thursday April 20 (Part 1), B21
“Eyes that have beheld the ocean can no longer be afraid of the lagoon.” –Yoruba proverb
The Ambassadors Ball was tonight!!! It was a lot of fun, I loved seeing everyone all dressed up, and I loved looking nice. My favorite part of the night was the dinner because that’s when we got to see everyone for the first time. They decorated the dining hall with cartoons from Dr. Seuss (our theme was ‘Oh The Places You’ll Go’) and all the waiters were wearing nice long-sleeved fancy shirts, they looked fabulous. We were at one of Clive’s tables, which was nice for me because he’s one of my favorites. We took tons of pictures, it was just like a prom. My steak was good but I wish I’d gotten the seafood because there were scallops and they were amazing. The complimentary champagne was, of course, a welcome treat, and all in all they did a fabulous job of making things special.

After the meal we went to the Union and got good seats for the Slideshow. Josh did a great job on it, I really love the photos that he takes. After the Slideshow I went to Kaitie’s room and she, Cindy and I listened to her “going out” music to get pumped up for the dance. Except we went straight to dessert and got in line even though it didn’t open until 10. There were so many desserts and the line was humongous, but we were at the front of it so we got to have whatever we wanted. They really went all out. Once again, they amaze me. Then we went to the dance and danced to horrible music for a while, until Lou took over DJing and then we had better songs. Except he had music ADD so he never played an entire song so it was difficult to dance. It ended just after 12, and that was sad.

I couldn’t sleep because I was so pumped up so I stayed up until 4 finishing my Carmen dialogue. Andrea was up too, so it was fun randomness in our room. I’m glad I have the dialogue out of the way now, though.

Thursday April 20 (Part 2), A22
Same quote as yesterday. But I guess that makes sense because it was the same day, technically. Haha, we had one day for 48 hours…weirdness.

Last day of A classes and last Global Studies today! Sam’s goodbye address was good, I’m glad it didn’t make me cry. Kramer cancelled Music class, so I went and turned in all of my papers for every class. It feels really good to have all of those off my back. After lunch I finished my Study Guide on Deck 6, and did some studying for the last Global exam tomorrow. I really didn’t study too much though, because I was having trouble focusing and I got distracted and had to watch the last episode of Sex and the City (they were showing it in the Union).

By far the best part of today was this: Solomon gave me the banana cake recipe!!!!!!!! I have been waiting for it for so long and then suddenly today he just goes, “I have something for you!” and brings it over to me at lunch! I flipped!!! I made several copies and gave them to a few people, including Josh. And it turns out that he has bananas so we are going to try and get them to make us a cake. That would be perfection, for me to be able to say goodbye to banana cake.

Friday April 21, B22
“Education is not just books and studying, the real education is in traveling.” –Hastings Kamuzu
“Trust me you don’t want Dick Sapp all over your face.” –Tom
Tonight was the Student Talent show. I didn’t like it as much as the Crew Show but that might be because I’m biased. However, it did show me that we’re a pretty talented bunch. Alex went up and did swing dancing, and I had on clue he could. Allison, Lashawn and some other did a dance to a rap mix that was great, I wish I could move like that. Karen sang a song about her favorite SAS things, and that made me sad. There were several other musical groups, and the kids did a fake pre-port and said that the one bad thing about America was W. Everyone clapped like crazy for that. At the end they played ‘Lean on Me’ and that really made me sad. I can’t believe it…

After the show we watched ‘In Her Shoes’ which was pretty funny. The Global Studies final was earlier today, and I thought it was harder than all of the other ones but I still got an A. Stole a bunch of pictures from Andrea today, and began the banana cake planning.

Other quotes from the Talent Show:
“To find a man who can blow his own instrument like that…wow.” –Craig
“Touch it.” –Tom “Why don’t we go in the back and talk about that?” –Craig
“I didn’t know you could beat those drums so well.” –Craig “I’m good with skin.” –Tom “That I did know.” –Craig

Saturday April 22, A Study Day
“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page.” –St. Augustine
“Sometimes I really admire your maturity level.” –Me to Kaitie
Since we docked in Hawaii tonight, everyone ditched their SAS friends and became permanently attached to their cell phones. It was so weird going out on Deck and having everyone be on the phone. I didn’t really tonight, because of the time difference to the East Coast, but I plan on getting up at 4am to call people so that it will be morning there. I wonder if I can say I’ve been to Hawaii now. Probably not, since we didn’t step off the ship.

It was Taco Day today! Our last Taco day!!! I did no studying today though, because I was too distracted by other things. I resized a bunch of pictures and danced to my I-pod. I also came up with a cool idea today- give Allan one of my disposable cameras and have him take pictures of his life, to see what it’s like. So I did that. I’ve had some great conversations with crew members recently, mostly about them getting to go home. While I really don’t want to reach San Diego they are all super excited and can’t wait. I understand, and I’m happy for them, but I’m still so sad and not ready…

Sunday April 23, A Finals Day
“If you want to understand somebody go with him or her on a journey.” –Kenyan Proverb
I didn’t have any finals today, but I did have banana cake!!!!!! It was great, and now I am satisfied because I got to say goodbye to it.

Got up at 4 for phone calls home, and it’s a good thing I did because we left then, earlier than we were supposed to. I firmed up plans with my father, and then stayed up for breakfast and went back to bed for three hours. After lunch I sat outside for another three hours, and still didn’t get any sun. Everyone is busy trying to catch up and get the tans that we lost after India. We watched Derailed tonight, which was one weird movie. I predicted it though, which made it less fun for me. I really wish I could keep myself from doing it.

Oh, today I stole video footage from the Intranet and watched the Crew Talent show, which made me all happy and amazed all over again. My life is complete now, I can get my “crew fixes” when I need them.

Monday April 24, B Study Day
Tom: “If you’d like to donate items to the crew- unused and unopened…”
Me: “Can I donate myself?!”
Steve: “I’m sorry but you’ve already been used.”
Ouch.
Today I learned how to participate in Extreme BBQing. We had our last bbq and it was so extremely windy that most people ate inside, except for a few brave souls (including Steve and I). It was entirely different from most bbqs but the food was still fabulous and the ice cream was great. I went inside early, as opposed to what I normally do at bbqs, and I continued studying for Health Psych.

That’s what I spent most of the day doing. I don’t think the exam will be hard, I just feel like I should be studying so I’m mostly just staring at my study guide. I got up for breakfast and then took a short nap. We had the Disembarkment Briefing at 10:30, which lasted until 11 and was pretty sad. After that we went to lunch and I went and memorized the dances from the crew talent show (I’m a weirdo, I know. But now I have cool dances!!) Did some more tanning in the sun. I was listening to ‘Gasolina’ on my Ipod earlier and attempting to sing to it, and Andrea thought it was hilarious so she recorded it. It is pretty funny because I really don’t have any clue what I’m saying.

Tuesday April 25, B Finals Day
“…keep alive the incentive to push on further, that pain in the soul that drives us beyond ourselves. Whither? That I don’t know. That I don’t ask to know.” –Dag Hammerskhold
My finals today were easy, I think I got As on both of them. We got our dialogues back in Asian Lit and I got an A, as well as getting As on my FDP papers. It’s honestly hard to say what I did today except: 2 finals, studying on Deck 5, napping, picture work, Pub Night, dancing to crew songs, and journaling in the Union.

Had my last family dinner tonight, to celebrate the end of finals. We decided to go to Pub Night because we had only been to one before, and it was really fun and totally crazy. Finally exchanged pictures with Sarah today, so now my set of pictures from Cambodia is complete. We also had the Bering Sea victory celebration tonight, which was a good farewell to my sea, along with a last chance to get dressed nicely.

I packed today! Completely! So now I’m all done…wow. And it’s not like I even want to go, I just had to pack so that tomorrow when Andrea’s packing I can just steer clear of the room.

Wednesday April 26, Packing Day 1
“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of man as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.” –Helen Keller
Today was a very sad day. There were several points today where I almost started crying, for no real reason. I had to keep breathing deeply to calm myself down, and it worked. I’m afraid it’s going to be bad tomorrow or Friday, but we’ll see.

We lost our last hour of the trip tonight! And I finished my Internet plan! Ate dinner with Josh for the last time tonight. Got up at 7:30 for breakfast and was stood up by Kaitie and Steve, for the last time. Went back to bed after breakfast (also for the last time), until 10:15 when I went to the dining hall because Andrea was packing so I was basically exiled from the room. Darwin told me what they talk about in the two Black-Eyed Peas songs that are in Tgalog. Filled out the extra gratuity form today, although I feel like any $ amount I could give wouldn’t be right.

Watched both Hitch and Casanova today, both were cute. Spent a lot of the day getting people to sign my map and contact book, but I still have a ton of people I need to get.

Thursday April 27, LAST DAY!!!! :-( :-( :-(
No quote today. The last Dean’s Memo was yesterday.
This morning our sea was the first sea to take our luggage down to the crew area and drop it off for unloading tomorrow. That was really fun, I was the first person to drop off a bag. I loved getting to walk through the crew area because it’s forbidden. After I dropped off my 2 bags I helped Andrea and lugged hers down the stairs. All of the crew members down there were like, “Girl you have so many bags!” and they kept teasing me. Andrea had 7 bags!!!!! When I helped Kaitie with her bags later they were all like, “OH NO YOU’RE BACK!!” but then they said that I was just a good friend.

Sat on Deck 5 before lunch and Solomon put me ‘in charge’ when he left, which was cute. I gave away my Princeton shirts after lunch, and took my new favorite picture in the world. I really need a hug right now, and have needed one all day. But I’d probably burst out crying if I got one now.

Had my last dinner on deck 6 tonight, and hung around so that I could lend Marlon my computer. Convocation was great, quite a few good speeches but I didn’t cry. I found out I made the Honor Roll today! That means I have a 3.75 or higher, which is awesome because I guess I got a good grade in Music too! The slideshow at the end was good but way too long and I almost fell asleep (definitely the lack of sleep getting to me). One of the best parts about today was that I got Danni the head chef to give me his hat (Kaitie had given me that mission for her friend in the CIA). And I took Allan’s hat too! I achieved my goals!!!

Since we wanted to stay up most of the night, I sat in the stairwell playing cards and singing until 4:45, and then we watched Van Wilder. I couldn’t make it since I’ve gotten two hours of sleep for the past 3 nights in a row, and so I’m going to bed for an hour and a half, so I can get up for breakfast at 5:40 tomorrow morning.

Friday April 28, Leaving :-(
Took my last shower on the ship today. Ate breakfast on deck 5 and deck 6, so that I could have a last meal in each dining hall. Watched us pull into San Diego. I have never seen so many people up on deck. Everyone was cuddling and so much more touchy feely than we have ever been before. It was just so sad.

Allan returned my camera to me today, and Marlon gave me back my computer. I said goodbye to all of my crew members, which was really really really tough but I had to do it. Part of me hopes I don’t run into them again because then I’ll have to go through it all over again.

Up at Immigration I said goodbye to Roger and was actually able to talk to an Immigration official in English about my hair! Hehe, that’s a change from the other countries. Hugged Chris Duran when I went through Immigration, and then got him to sign my map and give me another hug later. Hugged Tom every time I ran into him today. “Met” Kaitie’s mom from afar, so that I’d know what she looked like after I got off the ship. I got lucky and ran into Norris in the hallway and was able to say goodbye to him, which I really needed. After some running around to find stickers that we needed in order to get off first, they called the Bering Sea. I was off around 11, and I hugged Josh and Pado goodbye after I went down the gangway for the last time. They took pictures and video of me leaving…It hadn’t hit me yet though. I still don’t think it has hit me.

Picked up my bags and Andrea’s bags, and then someone called my name and I looked up and Allan was standing there on Deck 7, waving me goodbye. Since he hadn’t gotten to say goodbye to me earlier he left lunch to do it, and I thought that was so sweet. I couldn’t breathe and that’s when I almost started crying. It was just too much to deal with.

Waited for a few hours for Kaitie and then we went and got pizza and Ben and Jerry’s! We kept running into SASers which was nice, but it felt like we were just in another port so it’s not real yet. A big group of us went out to dinner with the parents, and afterwards we walked back to the ship so that I could say goodbye to her and see her at night, one last time. It was so difficult, I wanted to get back on but I couldn’t. Walked around the gaslight district and then we had to say goodbye to Cindy and Andrea. I don’t know how I’m going to live without Andrea as a roommate. She was the best roommate ever, I’ll never be able to replace her. I have never found anyone who makes me laugh that much, or is just that fun. I miss her already.

SAS is done

2006-04-28T21:58:00.000-04:00

Well, SAS just ended today. I haven't updated in a long time because I haven't had time to type up my journal, or even to finish my journal entries for each day. I'm almost done, but not quite, so I will get on that when I'm home.
So I'm in San Diego. I wasn't ready for it to end. I am so sad, but don't think it has really hit me yet. I can't leave my crew member friends...I can't imagine what life will be like without them. They made me so happy every day. I know that back home I was happy without them, but now that I've known them will I be able to be that happy without them?
I feel like the ship is a part of me and I won't be complete when I'm away from it.
That's all I have time for now.
But...I just can't deal with it. I don't think I'm letting myself. But i'll have to...
Sad. I'm not making sense. I think I just need to have a good cry sometime soon.

here is my India and Myanmar update

2006-03-22T13:50:00.000-05:00

Thursday March 2, A11
“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson
Worked out the lip sync for the Sea Olympics today. Bering is doing a mix of 4 songs with recorded phrases by Tom in between them. It is going to be AWESOME!! I am a student getting dock time, Andrea’s a mugger, and Jess has TD (that’s just for ‘Help’, the song we’re doing). I am very excited for that, and the step at the beginning. It came together very well when we tried it out, and I think that our mix of songs (‘Real Slim Shady’, ‘My Humps’, ‘Help’ and ‘It’s Raining Men’) is a great eclectic mix.

Friday March 3, B11
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands during challenge and controversy.” –MLK
Just watched Braveheart while we finished up last minute prep for the Olympics tomorrow. It was a very appropriate movie to pick, because it got us all pumped up. Watched student presentations in Health Psych today. It showed me that students complain about how boring professors are, but when it comes time for them to make the class the way they want, they just make it even more boring. In Global I sat next to the male interport student and we talked a bit sporadically. Ate dinner with my ‘family’ and we shared our plans for India.
We’re halfway through school today! L L

Saturday March 4, SEA OLYMPICS!!!!!
“The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are.” –Samuel Johnson
It’s very hard to try and describe today. It was intense and so much fun and draining and long and exciting and overwhelming and competitive and so much more! I did not dream it would be like that. We all got so into it, and barely had seconds to rest throughout the day.
Today the professors learned how to wake 700 college students up early and get them to stay awake all day. Everyone was out in force by 8:30, filled with sea spirit, and it didn’t let up until after the Award Ceremony at 2100. The Union is never that filled with people and energy, it was very impressive.
The Seas entered in alphabetical order so Bering went 4th and we stepped in. It was great, and I’d have to say it was pretty intimidating! Then we ran around to various events all day, cheering our heads off so that we could get spirit points. Andrea gave me her video camera so I rocked that all day. Synchronized swimming was awesome, especially the Caribbean Sea and the Baltic Sea. Then Orange Pass/Relay and the Wet Clothes Race. It was Taco Day (YAY!! The food today could not have been better at all, it was the best food day ever)! Watched Dodgeball, Twister and Flip Cup. I kept cheering for other teams but they were all rooting against us because we were in 1st after the morning. Our spirits were rejuvenated after the Scavenger Hunt, which we got 2nd in (although we should’ve gotten first, the judges deducted points from us unfairly for doing something that everyone else did but didn’t get points taken off for. Oh well).
Chubby Bunny was the most disgusting thing I have ever seen. We didn’t have marshmallows so people played with frosted cake. I cannot believe how many pieces of cake people can fit in their mouths. I videotaped it so you can see, but it was so absolutely gross. Professor Kramer did it and he was awesome! The whole Union was cheering for him! Then everyone left, and they didn’t see the girl who ended up winning! I stayed, and she put about 16 pieces of cake in her mouth. Ew. Unbelievable.
Dinner was our 2nd BBQ outside, which was even better than the first one (if that’s possible). Once again our crew amazed me with themselves and the decorations.
Bering got 2nd in Big Hair, and Clint (in Bering) got first in limbo (he is so impressive at that!!!). Then it was time for the Lip Sync. Caribbean went first and they were ok, Jeff was basically their whole show. Then we went and we rocked!! The kids helped us with ‘Slim Shady’, ‘My Humps’ had Dauntae in Nikii’s brace, Tom’s voice clips were perfect and ‘Help’ and ‘Raining Men’ were hilarious. Everyone went crazy when we were done, it was so awesome. They said we deserved 2nd or 1st but the judges gave us 4th…whatever. I think the Red Sea deserved to win it, and they did. Pado was awesome when he sang ‘Mustang Sally’. Baltic screwed themselves over by doing ‘Bad Touch’ so they got last place for the Lip Sync.
Hence, BERING WON!!!!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!!
Now we get off the ship first. But I don’t really care about that, and it doesn’t matter for me anyway because I’ll have to wait for Kaitie.
Thank God I’m done singing our chants!! I am so sick of them!!!

Sunday March 5, A12
“It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world, and moral courage so rare.” –Mark Twain
Very uneventful but good day. We had a great Bible Study where everyone got a lot closer and opened up to each other. I finished some schoolwork, and wrote notes challenging people to another game of Trivial Pursuit but we may not be able to do it because of various events that the faculty/staff have. I really want to though, so hopefully it will happen.

Monday March 6, B12
“Adventure is not the guidebook and Beauty is not on the map. Seek and ye shall find.” –Terry and Renny Russel
There was grilled cheese, tomato soup and marble cake for lunch today. Mmmmm, that’s my favorite meal on the ship. Well, if they had banana cake it’d be better but then I’d probably die of overeating.
Did a long tour of the ship with Andrea’s video camera this evening. Earlier studied with Cindy in the Union, and ended up just shooting the breeze with Matt and Tim. Talked to Am and Jeff Bennett online, and Andrea on the phone today, which was very nice. I also emailed my advisor about which classes I want to take.
Got so much work done today, and watched the Princess Bride. I adore that movie, and the guy in it...Watched the Summer ’05 video for a bit too, with Chaas.

Tuesday March 7, A13
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.” –Emerson
Quote of the day was definitely Roberto saying that the joystick was “What I use when I get excited and want to play with my toy.” That was awesome.
I played a small game of Trivial Pursuit tonight with Josh, Tim, Steve, Andrea and Kate after Cultural Pre-Port. The 20th Anniversary edition is a lot better for us to play because it goes so much faster. I tied for second place with Tim, and Josh beat us all.
Took a second Bridge Tour today with Andrea, Kaitie and Josh because they needed more people in order to have the tour. Roberto totally recognized me and I was a bit embarrassed about that but oh well. I sat in the Captain’s chair for a while and Andrea sat in the other one and we chilled with the hats on. Dean Sapp thought we were hilarious, and said he’d put us in charge of the ship anytime lol. Also watched Love Actually today, and made the PowerPoint slides for my psych presentation.
The sunset tonight was the most beautiful sunset. This area of the world has such fabulous sunsets, I wish they were like this around me.

Wednesday March 8, B13

We’re going to be in India tomorrow!!!!!!! I am so excited!!!!!!!!
Other than that, today was a usual B day, plus Logistical Pre-Port. I finally got the photos that Dave took of me when we shaved my head! They are so much better than the ones I already had, and he also has a photo of me from that day, before we shaved it, and it is the best photo I’ve ever seen of myself. Now I just have to get the rest of the photos from Josh. Also watched Born into Brothels, which was a great movie.
Downer today was that there were bombings at the temple to Hanuman in Varanasi earlier. Then there were more bombings at the train station. So, SAS is no longer allowing anyone to go there. A lot of people are really upset, but I figure that it was better it happened now than several days from now when a lot of SAS people would have been there and gotten hurt.

Thursday March 9, India Day 1!
India is: crazy, rushed, slow, fast, smelly (both good and bad), beautiful, ugly, rich, poor, infuriating and loveable. India is everything you can think of the world. India is amazing.
I got up early for the sunrise (530!!) and then went back to bed for a half hour until breakfast. My first diplomatic briefing was uneventful, then I waited in a line for 2 hours to exchange money. It took until 1300 for us to clear immigration, and until 1430 to get off the ship. The whole process of getting on and off the ship is very interesting because you have to go through Customs each time and then show our boarding cards at 3 different points along the way to the gate.
Once we were finally free and on land in India (it smells like ash, soot and burnt stuff) we picked up a rickshaw driver with Pado and Rhonda, and decided to go to Spencer’s Plaza. Our rickshaw drivers didn’t agree with that though, and took us to a bunch of other stores. I felt really awkward in the stores because the men who work there follow you around and talk to you the whole time. (There are no women working in stores, and there are very few women walking around the streets. I found that very unusual and interesting) A suit store followed, and Pado got a suit made for himself. Then we went to a shop that sold beautiful pashminas and I got a few as presents. We tried to find a cd for me but I couldn’t find a store that sold them. Our driver kept taking us to get dvds and so we gave up.
Driving in the rickshaws was so fun and crazy! I was grinning so much, it felt like I was on a rollercoaster ride. Our driver majorly ripped us off but that’s ok, I enjoyed myself and it was a good experience.
Spent a relatively relaxing night eating on the ship, working out, and watching 10 Things I Hate About You with Kaitie. Then I cut Cindy’s hair! I did a really good job, and am very impressed with it. Now it’s time for bed, I leave for my Taj Mahal trip in less than 2 hours.

Friday March 10, India Day 2
Quote of the Day: “Semester!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Up at 3:15 for my Taj trip. Left around 4:15. Breakfast was really awesome because all of my favorite waiters from the 6th floor were there, and they each came over one by one to say hi. I didn’t see any of them until they surprised me, and it was like Christmas! Lol, they told me to make sure that I come back safely so now I have to.
Tried to sleep on the flight to Delhi but kept getting woken up by lots of turbulence. Sat next to Natalie, and met Steve’s friend Sarah (from Pitt also). We ate lunch at Hotel Ashok and I had the best Chinese food I have ever had. The lamb was incredible, I was so happy about the great meal. After lunch we went on a “tour” of Delhi which was basically just us driving around, looking at buildings and not getting to go in them. We saw Bahai temple built to resemble a lotus leaf, which was very pretty. Then we saw India Gate, a memorial built to honor soldiers lost in WWI. It reminded me of l’Arc de Triomphe except I liked l’Arc more. Gandhi’s former house was our last stop. It is now a museum, and we saw where he was assassinated and his last steps leading up to that spot. His house was beautiful. We watched a snake charmer and his doped up snakes for a bit, as well as these amazingly acrobatic children who did flips. It was sad to watch them though, because it is their means of earning money and I wish it didn’t have to be that way.
Left the museum and went to the sketchiest train station ever. We walked through a huge crowd of Indian men who stared so much (at us in general, and specifically at me because of my short hair). I did not feel comfortable at all, the station was basically a platform on the side of a road with a squatter town nearby. Tons of dirty, gaping Indian men. The train was an hour late, and when it finally came we had to rush on so we’d get our seats (apparently a ticket doesn’t really mean too much here). I sat with Sarah, Dan, Jen, Nick, Steve (from Pitt band) and Alyssa. For the 5.5 hour ride most people slept but we stayed up and talked and told great, gross stories. I told about Blarts and that’s how I found out Popeye was from P.B, and that tale was voted best story. The Indian women sitting across from us must have hated us so much, but we were pretty quiet. The hawkers going up and down the train weren’t bad, and staring out of the window was fun. We were in “sleeper” cars, but it was nothing like a sleeper car in the US- it reminded me of the quarters on the submarines I have seen.
The train was certainly an experience, one I will never forget.
Once we were in Jaipur we took a bus to Hotel Monsingh and had a good Indian buffet. I am obsessed with Nan so I ate a ton of it. After dinner we went up to the bar for an hour and then just went to bed.

Saturday March 11, India Day 3
Today has been such an incredible day! As usual, per each port, I had my “this is absolutely the most amazing experience ever” moment! It was the ride up the hill to the Amber Fort on the back of an elephant!!! The elephant ambles along and you rock side-to-side the whole time with his footsteps. Alyssa and I were laughing the entire time because we enjoyed ourselves so much. Our driver must have thought we were crazy, but we had such a good time. I took the best video ever, lol.
To start at the beginning- we got up at 7 and left to beat the rush of other tourists. On the way we passed other tour buses like crazy so we would be the first ones there. Ran off the bus and made a line, and while we waited in it we were bothered by hawkers. I thought the Bahamas were bad but they were nothing! I haggled a lot and bought a few souvenirs, then we boarded our awesome painted elephant! At the top and along the way the views were fabulous. All too soon we were at the top and our elephant saluted us as we dismounted. Took some photos with a monkey who proceeded to try and attack me, but I ran away too quickly.
Amber Fort (designed by a Hindu ruler) is really nice, it was fun to explore the ruins and imagine it back when it was in use. I got totally lost with Alyssa and Marcia, but we found our way back out again. In front of the incredibly decorated (beautiful and splendid) entrance we all took a group photo and then Semestered on again. The whole place was so wonderfully decorated, I love and admire craftsmanship of that kind.
We did a drive-by of the Water Palace, which I could tell was pretty but we couldn’t see it well because it was so foggy. At a rug store they showed us how to make rugs, and a bunch of people bought rugs. I sat on them and admired them, but they were way too expensive for me. One day maybe…The other part of the compound was a silk store, with all sorts of silk things. I bought a bunch of things, and then was given a scarf for free! The guy who was helping me really took a liking to me, so I of course appreciated that. We even tried on saris and took photos.
Went to the Pink City but barely got to see anything there because we had to move on. It was nice, but not really as nice as the other areas we’d seen. A jewelry store followed, which was when I realized we were kind of on a rickshaw-like tour, because they get commissions from the stores they take us to. I didn’t really mind though, since I enjoyed the historical places they took us to.
We were dropped off at the market downtown and bought some souvenirs. One man in a store would not leave me alone and kept insisting on making me dinner and visiting me in Chennai and it got really sketchy so I hightailed it out of there. Alyssa, Steve, Sarah and I took a horse rickshaw back to the hotel (so cool!!) and found an Internet place (yay Pitt basketball going to the Big East Championship!!).

Sunday March 12, India Day 4
Today I saw perfection. The Taj Mahal is as close as human can come to building perfection. I cannot believe it is so exquisitely symmetrical and…perfect (sorry for the overuse of the word, but I cannot come up with another word to describe it). To make it even better, it was built because of one man’s love for a woman. So romantic. I think that the Taj is the best, most exquisite, beautiful, and perfect monument to love ever. Good luck to whatever guy will now have to compete with that in my mind. :-P
I’ll start at the beginning: We left at 600 for our 7 hour drive to Agra. Driving on rural Indian roads is crazy. The only traffic rule seems to be “Honk if you’re passing me.” Our bus drive seemed to be a maniac, there were a number of extremely close calls with oncoming traffic, everyone was so scared. Parts of the road were paved, parts were dirt. We played chicken more times than I can count. Every time we stopped people would come up with wares to sell and children would come asking for food and pens.
Fatehpur Sikri (the Abandoned City) was a stop along the way. The buildings were nice, carved all over with pretty designs. The guides took us around for 15 minutes or so and then we had to get back on the bus (I wish we could have stayed longer and explored). But, two people didn’t get back on the bus so we had to sit around waiting for half an hour. While we waited I fed a puppy some nan, and did some more ‘shopping’. I got a great pair of earrings for a pack of gum, which I found totally incredible. It makes me sad, I feel like we rip them off so much. All the prices we pay for things are barely anything in US $, but we try and get it lower because we can.
Continued to Agra in the same manner of crazy, scared for your life driving. Stopped at a Hotel Ashok for another Indian lunch, and then headed off to Agra Fort, where the guy who built the Taj was imprisoned by his son until he died. The fort was very very nice. The carvings were ornate and beautiful, though they were fading. It was a huge fort and I really enjoyed wandering around taking photos of the Taj from every point I could. Laura and I experienced some sketchiness from men following us around, but since we were together we were alright.
Then we semestered over to the Taj Mahal. We had to sneak around to a side entrance because the line at the front was so long. The guards said they would let the guys through, but that us women had to wait in line, and our guide refused so we think we ended up bribing someone to take us around to the side entrance. We had to get searched to go in, and the guys just got to walk through. Oh well. When we finally got through we walked up through another arch and suddenly the Taj was right there! It was so surprising, I felt like I was so close but we still had a long ways to go. So we walked up and put our booties on our shoes and got in line. An interesting thing about Indian culture is that they cut people in line all the time. I got really fed up with it, but what can you do? Then we were inside the Taj and it was so beautiful inside! I was mesmerized. I put my hand on the marble wall and walk around and felt all the wall carvings. Even a blind person would appreciate the beauty of the Taj, it feels so great. We walked around the whole thing, and then went and sat on the marble stand in the middle of the walkway up to the Taj so that we could watch the sunset from there. While we waited we had our photos taken more times than I could count, and we had a blast bonding and watching the light change.
2.5 hour train ride to Delhi. In the train station we saw a kid being beaten for begging. It was really sad but we couldn’t help and got in trouble if we tried. Then we checked in to the Hotel Ashok in Delhi.

Monday March 13, India Day 5
Today was pretty much a wasted day in India. Our flight was supposed to be at 1200 but it was delayed until 1400. So we sat around the hotel for two extra hours, and then went through security at the airport and spent our last rupees because we wouldn’t have a chance when we got back. I got a Cosmo and a bunch of candy.
I like the plane rides in India. They give you so many snacks, and every trip gets a main meal. The meal is pretty much the same all the time, although the lunch had good chicken with a fabulous rice pudding dessert. Slept a bit, then we had our bus ride back through Chennai to the ship, which was my last experience of India. Waited for Tina to check our bags (people make her life so difficult, I can’t figure out why. It’s not her fault, she’s just doing her job. I really like her J), unpacked, ate and watched people get on the ship. The only amusing part was this drunk girl who fell on the gangway. The RDs had to push her up, and walk her to the top. It definitely made me shake my head…

Tuesday March 14, A14
“When we try to pick out anything by itself we find it hitches to everything in the universe.” –John Muir
First day back from India and it was definitely a recovery day. I think I had an India hangover. I slept until 9:45, so missed Global Studies. Oops, but it gave me time to work with my photos. The trip is over half over, and I have so much left to do. There is so much left that I’m looking forward to, but also there is so much work I have left and I do not even want to think about it.
I wrote a psych paper today and finished my presentation for class tomorrow. In the afternoon I talked to Katie Hammer online, which was great. Then I had family dinner with the interport lecturer, Monique Skidmore, who answered all the questions we had about Myanmar. It was also my ship Grandma’s birthday, so they got a plate of these fabulous cookies and I stole some for my friends. :-D Then I watched a Bollywood movie (‘Devdas’) with Kaitie. It was the longest movie, 2.5 hours long, and the dance numbers seemed to last forever. It was a very unsatisfying movie, because there was no happy ending and it didn’t even come close to being even a mediocre ending. Oh well.

Wednesday March 15, B14
“A man travels the world in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.”
-George Moore
Gave my psych presentation on pain today. Apparently we did pretty well, but I don’t know what grade we got. Attempted to play Trivial Pursuit after Cultural Pre-port but Steve never showed and he had the game so we couldn’t play. We ended up just talking with Pado, Mason and Tim. The quote of the day was definitely my “I got a great video of the Taj Mahal…because, you know, it doesn’t move.” Late at night I went to the Union and talked to JP online for an hour while I uploaded a bunch of photos to my blog. We planned a trip to a Yankees game this summer, which I’m excited for. I talked to Tim, Andrew and Spencer as well. I like keeping up with people back home every once in a while.
Chaas came in and played the piano for me and was listened to some music. He gave me the two best hugs ever, and I finally had to drag myself away around 2am.

Thursday March 16, A15
“Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” –Soren Kierkegaard
Quote of the day: “Good job guys, now he’s going to jail.” –about the Burmese fisherman waving at us and us waving back
Today has been a very good day. I went out in the sun and it might have been the hottest hour of my life. Late in the evening we pulled in to Yangon and I went up to watch. Dr. Skidmore and I ended up next to each other inadvertently, so I got to listen to everything she had to say about the port. After the Diplomatic Briefing and Logistical Pre-Port we watched Boondock Saints in honor of St. Patrick’s Day.

Friday March 17, Myanmar Day 1
Quotes of the Day:
“Steve just got in the closet and came out.” –Me
“I was going to say ‘knee’ but then I realized it was a silent ‘k’ and not a silent ‘n’.” –Greg
“Does this sign mean no running?” –Cindy “It means exit.” –Me
“They’re going to go get busy…Ew, that’s a mental picture none of us wanted.” –Me
To get a feel for Yangon I went on a half day city orientation, which was a great trip. We went to a lot of places including the Natural History Museum, Shwe Dagon Pagoda, and a really pretty park on a lake. The Shwe Dagon was really really gorgeous. It just continued all over and there was gold everywhere. I loved it. We watched the sunset at the lake which was extra pretty because we could see the Shwe Dagon from there. Then we left and got off at the Traders Hotel so we could check in to our room at the Central Hotel next door. Dinner was at a Chinese restaurant upstairs, and we had a good Burmese beer. Walked back to the Trader’s hotel and had a banana-chocolate cake and a chocolate martini (which was NOT good). Then we found Megan, Tracy, Elliot and John and went to a sports bar upstairs for a very short time before going to hit the hay. The sports bar was cool because a bunch of the officers were there, and I like seeing them when they aren’t working.

Saturday March 18, Myanmar Day 2
Morning was spent shopping in Scot’s Market. I didn’t get too much today, but I think I will come back some other day. We ate lunch at a little restaurant on the side of the street. I am surprised I’m still alive, because I had a banana milkshake as my drink, and shared a banana split with Steve for dessert. Then, at High Tea at the Strand Hotel, I had vanilla bean ice cream. The Strand is really nice, I can see why the rich stay there. Our hotel was so inexpensive and pretty nice as well, so I was happy. My Earl Grey tea was just what I needed, and I finished Kaitie’s English breakfast tea as well. Definitely had enough caffeine :-D
Trekked back to Trader’s in time to catch the 1700 shuttle back to the ship. We decided to take it easy tonight, so we ate dinner and worked out, then joined Cindy for a nice little girl’s night in.

Sunday March 19, Myanmar Day 3
Steve, Kaitie and I had our trip to Bago today. Professor Bandawe was our trip leader so I got to spend some major quality time with him. First we visited a monastery to watch their feeding ceremony. I felt so awkward taking photos of the monks as they walked by, but a bunch of people took them so I am probably going to try and steal theirs. Then we walked around and interacted with a few of the monks. So many of them are so young, it was really interesting for me to see that. They also were all really muscular, which surprised me. I did not expect them to have muscle, so I asked our guide about it and he said that they aren’t allowed to exercise but their diet and their work prior to becoming monks are what keep them in shape.
After leaving the monastery we went to the tallest pagoda in Myanmar. It looked a lot like the Shwe Dagon to me, but it was still really pretty. We walked around it barefoot in the hot sun, which was a fun experience. Next we ate lunch at a Thai restaurant and headed to the largest reclining Buddha in Myanmar. It was very huge, I have a photo of myself by its feet and I look so small! There were a lot of shops in front of the Buddha but I didn’t get anything from them. We stopped at a market, and a Mon village to see their way of life now. It was so different from the way we live; it is hard to imagine that people still live like that when we live in such nicer conditions. On the way back to the ship we stopped at a War Cemetery dedicated to soldiers who died in WWII. I think it was the nicest cemetery I have ever seen. It was so pretty, it was hard to see it as a cemetery. Our guide said that they have three war cemeteries and they are all that pretty. Our guide was very good, he knew what he was talking about and was always sharing information with us. Definitely the most informed guide I have had yet.

Monday March 20, Myanmar Day 4
For my last real day in Myanmar I mostly shopped. We went to the Glass Factory and bought several things, although I am not sure I will be able to get them back to NJ unharmed. I’m hopeful though. Went back to Scot’s Market and bought several longis (the long skirts that Burmese women wear) before stopping at Trader’s and chatting with all the SASers there for a bit. Cindy took my glass back to the ship and Steve, Kaitie and I headed back to the Strand to have high tea again. Our taxi driver told me that my Burmese name would be “Chu-ay” which means ‘mouse’ because I was born on a Thursday. Josh was told it meant rat, because he was also born on a Thursday. Maybe my taxi driver was just being nice to me.
Had more ice cream (banana chocolate chip which was fabulous) and more Earl Grey tea quickly before we had to catch the 1700 shuttle back to the ship. Another easy girl’s night on the ship.

Tuesday March 21, Myanmar Day 5
Today wasn’t really Myanmar Day 5, it was more like a day on the ship without classes. On-ship time was at 11:30 today, so a lot of people just stayed here last night and slept in today. It was really nice to do that, and then relax all day. I have done a bit of work, but mostly work for myself, like working with photos and typing up emails. There was banana cake for lunch, which totally rocked my world!! Solomon said he’s going to give me the recipe!! I am so excited, because then I could make it so I wouldn’t have to spend the rest of my life deprived of it. I watched the new Charlie and the Chocolate factory today and it was the weirdest movie, Johnny Depp is so freaky in it. We also watched parts of the voyage DVD and there’s part of me watching the sunrise! Hehe, it totally surprised me.
Spent a lot of the evening unsuccessfully trying to find Eurotrip, but it was nice because I got to talk to Josh and I haven’t spoken with him in about two weeks. Now I’m just doing some work and hanging out.

i'm late with photos, but these are from S.A.

2006-03-22T13:26:00.000-05:00

just pictures

2006-03-15T12:51:00.000-05:00

Bear with me, I'm not sure what I uploaded already.

LONG update from brazil to mauritius

2006-02-28T10:51:00.000-05:00

This is a very long entry, so if you don't want to read it all, I would suggest just skipping to the days in Cape Town. They should be about halfway down the page. I am trying to attach pictures but the internet cafe only lets you do a few at a time.

Monday Feb 6, B4
“Every account of a journey celebrates an event that can no longer occur.” –John Krich
Today was pretty much your typical B day:
7:30 Breakfast
8-9:15 Health Psychology
9:20-10:35 Global Studies
10:35-12 “Naptime” in Cabin 4014
12:00 Lunch
12:55-2:10 Asian Literature
5-6:00 Hip-hop dance class
6:00 Dinner
The interesting things today were that I booked a bridge tour for tomorrow with Kaitie and Steve. I also gave a dance show for the entire ship completely unaware. Our hip-hop dance class was broadcast on tv and we had no clue, so someone sat down next to me at dinner and was like, “hey, nice body roll! I’ve been watching you for the past hour!” and I was SO embarrassed!! I also played Trivial Pursuit with Mark Mason (an RD), Tom (the Voice), Steve, Kaitie and Chris. Chris and I ended up winning because Mark and Tom left and so we joined teams (Tom had gotten all the pie pieces, we just cashed in on it). Then we watched The Motorcycle Diaries (which was a very good movie) and exchanged pictures again. Now it is bedtime. We lose another hour tonight, and I’m getting up to work out.

Tuesday Feb 7, A5
“To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.” –Aldous Huxley
The staff on this voyage really amazes me. At breakfast I talked to Mez (Mezram, a member of the dining staff) and found out that they get up at 5am and don’t get to go to bed until we are done with pub night. That means that they get ~4 hours of sleep a night, and when we lose an hour they get 3. And they are still so happy and peppy all the time. I wish I could be like that. They are so wonderful, I don’t know what I would do without them, and I really wish that I could do more for them. I absolutely adore them. They are so different from American waiters, who are usually totally unhappy. And they say they adore me because I’m always smiling and always happy to see them and nice to them, but I don’t think that’s fair at all. My life is so cushy compared to theirs, so I shouldn’t be the one who is “special” because I am happy, they should be praised for being happy. I don’t know, maybe I am not making any sense.
Anyway, then we had Global Studies and World Music. In Global Studies Dr. David Enfield spoke about ocean currents, which isn’t really my cup of tea but Steve loved it. Then we had lunch and I read and went on a bridge tour. The bridge tour was totally cool! Roberto gave our tour (he is a second officer from Panama, and really cute!!) and I got to sit in the Captain’s chair and wear his hat. Hehe, I felt so powerful. I also got to point out things on the display screens, including another ship. I really liked seeing all the equipment and watching him do both autopilot and manual control of the ship. We keep a huge stock of flags, which was fun to see, just in case we end up having to stop in a country we aren’t expecting to. Roberto told us about maritime academy and how it’s very hard for the crew members to have a family, because often the women they date want them to commit to giving up sailing at a certain age, and they would rather reach certain levels of command no matter how long it takes. I can understand, I feel really bad for them. I don’t think I could make it work with someone if he were gone for 10 months out of the year. Talk about really never being home to look after the children.
After dinner we had a big meeting where we all filled out our immigration forms for the rest of the ports. It took forever because some people kept messing up, but finally we were done. I guess it’s good that we got all that out of the way now. I was in the Union, and Tom led that group, so it was at least quite amusing while we were filling out the forms. I got some great quotes:
“For occupation please do not put sex broker.”
“For amount of money bringing in, just put $100. Some of you put $106 just to mess them up.”
And, re: our inability to fill them out well “I have lots of confidence in the future of our country.”
Then we watched ‘The Constant Gardener’ which is a fabulous film about Kenya. I hadn’t seen it before and I’d been wanting to, so I am very glad I did. It was sad and disturbing though, but I think everyone should watch it.
Right, now I have to go to bed, I have my first psych quiz tomorrow.

Wednesday Feb 8, B5
“Travel makes one see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” –Gustave Flaubert
The day began with my first psych quiz. I thought it was pretty easy, but we’ll see when I get the results back. In Asian Lit no one had read so I kept having to speak and she gave us extra homework to make up for it. I find that quite unfortunate, because it is already hard enough to find time to do work without getting more busywork. Hip-hop dance was good, we learned a dance to ‘Call on Me’ for the 80s dance party on Friday. It’s actually a really raunchy dance, but it was fun to learn. We are going to do the dance in front of everyone, and that’s something I normally would never do so I am proud of myself.
I had dinner with my shipboard ‘Grandparents’, Maggie and Barry Stauffer. They’re really really sweet and I like them a lot. They’re from Alexandria, VA. A bunch of my friends have yet to meet their shipboard family, and the only person I know who hasn’t contacted his ship family yet is Josh. It’d be funny if he were their family leader. He’s my secret weapon for our next game of Trivial Pursuit, and hopefully we’ll beat Tom!

Thursday Feb 9, A6
“I met a lot of people in Europe. I even encountered myself.” –James Baldwin
Tonight we don’t lose an hour, thank God! It is the first night in 4 that we haven’t lost an hour, and it’s begun to get to us. Everyone is so tired, but sleep will still be there when we’re done with this voyage.
We finally managed to play Catch Phrase earlier and it was awesome! Such a fun game!!! Us girls totally slaughtered the boys. We ended up with a huge group in this cubby-like area in the hallway. I like that cubby because there’s nothing in there, and a lot of people don’t even know it exists. At 9 we split up and watched Friends. We squished 7 of us into my room and watched on a laptop. I have missed that show so much.
Earlier today I fell asleep in the sun on my stomach and got totally burned. Oh well.
I love that on the ship you can randomly begin conversations with someone that you’ve never talked to before, and you don’t even have to introduce yourselves. There are people that I think have no idea what my name is, but we still say hi to each other all the time, and we’ll have conversations and everything. I even got a huge hug from one of them the other day, out of nowhere. It’s awesome. I think it’s because you’ve recognized who you see all the time, and who you are automatically friendly with just based on walking around and smiling at each other. Today I had two conversations with people I don’t normally talk to, and both were RDs. That’s another thing I love about this ship, the staff is so accessible and so friendly. What’s funny about that is that back home there’s no way that, out of the number of people who are here, I would know as many people as I do, or I would be as friendly as I am now with that many members of the staff. I think it’s because here I am so much more outgoing and I will talk to anyone and…I don’t know, it’s the ship atmosphere and I love it. (have I said that yet, lol?)

Friday Feb 10, B6
“When you have gone so far that you can’t manage one more step then you’ve gone just half the distance that you’re capable of.” –Greenland Proverb
The 80s dance was tonight and it was awesome! I went to my first pub night, and it was really cool to see everyone all decked out in 80s gear. It’s more impressive here at sea because we have so much less to work with than we do back home for theme parties. I really like seeing how creative everyone is, and what we can come up with. Kaitie and I looked pretty cool, and I’d have to say that if I had hair I would’ve been able to pull off the ‘totally 80s’ thing well. Oh well, I know there are going to be instances when I miss my hair and I’m ok with that. For my outfit I cut up an Albemarle shirt and wore it and a tanktop with jeans rolled up, and a sweatband on my head. Let’s not forget the crazy makeup, lol. We have some fabulous pictures from the dance of us dancing around, I’ll have to share them.
About an hour into the dance it was time for the ‘Call on Me’ dance that I had learned, so we got in the middle of the floor and did it. It came out pretty well and it was really fun to get up in front of everyone and do it. After that we danced around like madmen for another hour in the middle of the whole thing. I think there are some pretty weird pictures of me while I was dancing, I’ll have to try and steal them from Josh. The dance ended way too early, we all wanted so much more time but we couldn’t get it. I didn’t think you could squish that many people onto the dance floor in the Union, but we did. Definitely a great evening.
The earlier part of the day was uneventful. We had our usual B classes, and I watched the sunset and took some pictures. We played more Catch Phrase, watched the ship DVD preview and got ready for the dance.
Today was Mezram’s birthday. I think that all of the students adore Mez, so we really wanted to do something for him but we weren’t allowed to give him a cake. I understand that we can’t, it’s just unfortunate. So, we sang him Happy Birthday a bunch of times. Every time I wished him a happy birthday he’d say that all he wanted was a smile from me, and then wish me a wonderful day. I was like, “NO! It’s YOUR birthday, not mine!!!” lol, but that’s why I love him, he’s so selfless and happy all the time. Honestly such a big sweetie, he exemplifies why I love this whole crew.

Saturday Feb 11, NO CLASSES!
“I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” –Susan Sontag
There was no class today! It was very exciting, they made it into a fabulous day. We slept in until 9, since breakfast was supposed to end at 9:30. As we stumbled down the hall in our still-asleep stupor, a kind Samaritan who had also gotten up for breakfast warned us that they closed early so we should just go back to bed. Bedtime part 2 ended at noon, and we got up for lunch. It was awesome to be able to sleep that late, although I felt so lazy. In the afternoon we watched Pirates because there was nothing else to do, and I love that movie so I was happy. Then we went up to the BBQ they had outside, which was fabulous. There were decorations all over the place that were made entirely out of food, including a pig’s head! I think it was real, which was kind of scary! The hotel staff totally outdid themselves, it was so amazing, definitely the best meal ever. I had awesome ribs, suckled pig, and pineapple ice cream, and banana cake (if you’ve never had banana cake you have to try it). I was very impressed. J
Then I went and took lots of pictures of the sunset, which was really pretty today. After that we got all spiffed up for the Bering Sea Social and headed off to that. It was fun, although a little awkward at first because none of my professors were there yet. Then I talked to a bunch of them, and some professors I don’t have, and The Voice. We tried to sidle up to Captain Krstonovich but he left while we were doing our cheers. It was quite sad, we wanted to take a picture with him. Oh well, I am sure I will sometime before this voyage ends.
After the social the real fun began. I wrote an email to Jack with Steph, and decided I wasn’t tired so I went and got hot chocolate with Andrea. Then we wandered around the ship a bit and ended up doing impromptu capoeira in the Union. There was no one in there so it was really fun. She did part of the Napoleon Dynamite dance for me, and then we taped our capoeira. It’s an entirely hilarious video, since we have no capoeira skills. ;-) Maybe if we keep working on it though.

Sunday Feb 12, A7
“Wherever you go you will receive impressions of the places you see and the people you meet. Do not forget that those people will receive impressions of you.” –Broughton Waddy and Ralph Townley
Trivial Pursuit can be such an awesome game if you play it right. Tonight we played a supremely long game. It was a mixed Faculty/Staff and Student group, and each student was paired with a faculty/staff member. We had a blast, although we played the old version and it was kind of past a lot of our times. The teams were: Josh and me, Tom, Andrea and Rebecca, Steve and Mark, and Professor Sheldon and Rebecca. Most of the faculty/staff ducked out fairly early, but 4 of us stuck it through until the end. Finally around 1am Steve won, but Josh and I were so close!! I think that the partnerships worked well, and it’s cool doing things with the faculty/staff like that. Next time well play the 20th anniversary edition though, just to see which we’re better at. Maybe we’ll alternate between the two. I think that this would be a fun thing to do periodically throughout the voyage, because I have a ton of people who want to play it so I feel that I could always get a group. It’s a good bonding experience. I think one of my favorite parts of the night was when Andrea let me take her camera and take pictures with it. I took so many pictures! I really enjoyed her camera, I think I’d take more photos if I had one like that.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Classes were not that interesting today, but I finally had an email from my mom! She still doesn’t know about my hair, lol, I wonder how she will react. After dinner we watched the sunset again (the sunsets between Brazil and South Africa are supposed to be the most beautiful on the voyage) and then went to cultural pre-port. It was interesting, and then a student, Nick Thomas, gave a talk on Coretta Scott King. He knew her really well, and gave a very moving speech.
Pitt’s #9 in basketball! We beat WVU and Cincinnati! It’s so funny because we try and keep up while we’re here, but we’re really so far behind.

Monday Feb 13, B7
“I was once asked if I’d like to meet the President of a certain country. I said “No. But I’d love to meet some sheepherders.” The sheepherders, farmers and taxi drivers are often the most fascinating people.” –James A. Michener
There are so many days when my favorite thing of the day is a joke Tom makes. Today was one of those days. I don’t know how he can top tonight, but at pre-port he made a slideshow about “Good Little Angels” and “Bad Little Devils” in which Jay and Rebecca demonstrated the good and bad things to do when boarding the ship. Doctor Jean was also funny, because she likes to wear clothing that demonstrates the health risks of the country we’re going to. So, she wore a pink hat (for traveler’s diarrhea) and then put a ton of condoms all over to symbolize the risk of HIV.
Right now we’re experiencing very rough seas and a lot of people aren’t doing so well because of it. I am feeling ok though. I just finished Monopoly with Steve and Mark, and Mark totally killed us both. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, just a usual B day.

Tuesday Feb 14, Cape Town Day 1
Steve and I got up at 6 for the sunrise and to see the beauty of the arrival in Cape Town (which had been touted to us a lot). Except it was so foggy that we couldn’t see a thing! It was freezing out there, but I stayed for a while. At breakfast we found out that the docks were closed so we had to just sail around outside of Cape Town, waiting for the fog to lift. Around 10 we were told the pilot was coming out so Steve and I went outside and the fog was just as thick. Then it suddenly cleared up and we could see Robben Island and Table Mountain and it was great! About 3 ½ hours late we finally got to go walk around Cape Town. We booked Robben Island tickets for tomorrow, and walked to the Castle of Good Hope. The Castle was cool, very pretty and full of history. We went into the old governor’s mansion, and then climbed up to the top and saw the view from the walls. We also got the bunch of us “riding” a cannon, with Table Mountain in the background. I definitely have to steal that picture from Steve. We got to see a “tablecloth” (when a big cloud settles on Table Mountain) for the first time. Then we ate at this pizza restaurant on the way back to the ship. We had banana & bacon pizza, and a mozzarella, tomato and caramelized onions pizza. The banana pizza was awesome, which I didn’t really expect.
Steve and I had to rush back to the ship so that we could make it to our Township Music practicum in time. We were off to a township to go to a school where they teach craft making and music to people in the township so that they can make money and get jobs. The pottery was all beautiful, but I ended up buying a giraffe for 90 rand, as a friend for my panther. I think I might have to get an animal statue in every port, and then I’ll have a zoo. Then we watched a music presentation of lots of different instruments from all over Africa. They were all pretty cool, especially because the whole time they were making music they got their whole bodies into it. After they were done we got to play jembe drums for a while, in a call and response with the leader. It was really a lot of fun, and we had to leave way too soon.
Shay (our guide) trooped us to a restaurant in that Township (Langa Township). There were these cute kids outside who loved rubbing my head, so I had to walk down the street totally bent over. I enjoyed it though. The food in the restaurant was really good, and we learned how to say hello in Xhosa (“mollo”). Steve and I split a bottle of shiraz which was tasty. There was a band playing the whole time with great drumming an awesome “opera” singer. He sang in Italian while they played African background music, it was really interesting to listen to. After we were done eating we went and met the band and I bought their cd, so I can share it with a girl in my shipboard family.
Then we were taken to a different township (I think it was Khayelitsha) to go to a jazz club and listen to a live band. The band was good and I danced with the manager guy for a long time. There’s lots of video of it and lots of pictures, it would be hilarious if it were in the ship dvd. One cool thing was that he taught me the words to the songs, which were things like “Touch someone” and “This is a song for those who cry” and “You drink too much.” I liked that I was singing in Xhosa. We had to leave too quickly, although it was still an hour after we were supposed to. And now I have to go to bed because I need to get up to hike Table Mountain tomorrow.

Wednesday Feb 15, Cape Town Day 2
Today we intended to hike up Table Mountain, take the Cable Car down, and go to Robben Island. Well…we met at 7:30 for breakfast and tried to leave except some of our group took a long time to get ready so we ended up getting to Kirstenbosch (Botanical Gardens) late. A tourist information guy told us that the Cable Car was closed, so we wouldn’t have enough time to do it that day. We had already paid to get into the Gardens, so were a little sad. We walked around the Gardens for a bit, I took a nap on a bench, and Steve and Kaitie did a little practice-hiking. Then we found a taxi to take us back to the ship. Along the way we passed the Cable Car and saw that it was indeed running, so we could’ve done the Mountain but oh well. We ended up with plenty of time before we had to go to Robben Island, so we ate lunch and then helped the RDs sort mail. It was fun (yes, I know, I am a dork).
We left for Robben Island. It was absolutely amazing. Our bus guide was a student (about our age!) who gave us an incredible speech about uniting South Africa because there had been enough violence and discrimination. He was really intelligent, and I was very impressed with him. The drive around the island was (can I say this?) nice, and educational, and I got a lot of it on video camera (Andrea gave me her camera and told me to be the video producer so I did). We saw the lime quarries where the prisoners used to work. They were told they would work there for 6 months, but they ended up working there for 18 years. The stone was so bright that many of them, including Mandela, ended up with severe eye damage afterwards. Then we were dropped off at the maximum security prison and our guide for that was an ex-political prisoner. He was amazing. He let us into Mandela’s cell (we weren’t really supposed to be in there, they have stopped allowing people in) and told us so many great stories, and taught us what it really means to forgive. Apparently he used to be very into vengeance but after being in prison with Nelson he learned that an eye for an eye just starts a cycle that won’t end. He learned that forgiveness was the only way to build a country and create a long-lasting society that’s stable. He could go through life leaning on the crutch of being an ex-political prisoner, and get benefits that way, but he has chosen not to because it would hinder forgiveness. It was incredible to hear everything he had to say. I thought the whole thing was one of the best experiences, even though we didn’t get to go see the penguins (I was satisfied that I saw one on the walk back to the ferry).
The boat ride back was insanely bumpy but so much fun. Andrea got a picture of me that is awesome because I just look like I’m enjoying myself so fully. Jess met us at the dock and we walked to town to go to the Africa Café. The Africa Café is a restaurant where they serve you 15 dishes from all over Africa and you get as many refills of each dish as you want. It was by far the best meal I have ever had. If anyone goes there, I highly recommend the lamb (but you have no choice, you get it no matter what). I also picked out a good wine (I think it was Barefoot Pinotage Noir) and we enjoyed that, it went well with the meal. I was so happy to try all the African dishes and enjoy the music they played and the ambiance. I would go back there anytime, even though it cost ~$35. It would probably be a lot more in the States.
Then we came back and just chilled, had to explain my hair to my mom. Now it’s time for bed, because we’ve got Attempt to Hike Table Mountain Part 2 tomorrow.

Thursday Feb 16, Cape Town Day 3
This time we were successful in our attempt to hike Table Mountain. Steve, Kaitie, Chris, Laura Bilderback (one of the RDs) and I left at 8:30, started hiking around 9 or so, and were at the top about 2 hours later. We went through the Botanical Gardens again, and up Skeleton Gorge. Steve went insanely quickly with Kaitie, but Laura, Chris and I went slower so that we could enjoy the sights and take breaks when we needed to. Doing hiking like that out in nature shows you how in shape (or not) you actually are, because (I think) to the South Africans that’s one of the easy ways. And it was certainly not easy. It was definitely worth it though, the hike was beautiful and the views from the top were breathtaking. We met a really nice South African couple who pointed out flowers and views that we should see. They tried to show us an aqueduct but since they are having a really dry summer there was no water in it. It was really cool to walk along the wall of it, though. The views were so incredible starting around there, and we still had 2 more rock areas to clear.
For the last part Kaitie stuck with us girls, and we suddenly went over the top of a hill and could see for so far. I liked that we went up the back way, because we could see the winelands and the rural areas, which were really pretty. Then we trekked up to the front of the mountain. We got off the path and were too close to the edge, but that gave us really good views and brought us through the area that had just been devastated by a fire. It was so sad that it all was scorched. The scorched and untouched shrubs were right next to each other, so I feel like the future outcome of the mountain will still be good. I just wish that the British tourist hadn’t smoked there though.
After we got back we went and ate at Harry’s Pancake house. I had two crepes: ostrich (which tasted like beef), and a banana and caramel one. They were really really good. We wandered around the Waterfront all afternoon, and after dinner Chris, Steve, Kaitie, Tracy, Meghan and I went to Long Street. We started in an Irish pub and had some drinks while Kaitie was super excited because there was an Irish band playing real Irish songs. We had some shots and then went to the bar next door. There we had traditional South African shots called Springbok (the national animal) there, left a minute later, and went to a reggae bar and did some dancing. We actually left pretty early and went back to the ship, after we stole free postcards from the bar.
Now I am going to go to bed because I’m trying to get onto Operation Hunger tomorrow.

Friday Feb 17, Cape Town day 4
I managed to get on the Operation Hunger trip today. Operation Hunger is an organization that goes to the Townships and seeks to improve the nutritional well-being of the poor in South Africa. It creates partnerships between vulnerable households and caring people. It is a great organization, and I was very lucky to get off the waitlist and onto the trip. SAS works with them every time they come to South Africa, and it’s a great partnership. The Township we worked with was Green Park, a very poor township due to its support of a political party that is not in power, so they aren’t given aid by the government. Our job was to measure the heights and weights of the children of Green Park, and determine if their growth was stunted and they were malnourished. We went to a pre-school and a crèche (for kids who are under 3). When we got there the kids sang for us, and then I got to weigh kids. It was a good job to have, even though it was very, very sad. So many of the kids are malnourished, it is almost too much to think about. Our guide’s assistant helped Cindy and I weigh them, and I got to know him pretty well throughout the day. I took a lot of pictures, especially of this one pretty girl with these gorgeous green eyes. We went and ate lunch, although some of us donated our lunches to the children because we knew they needed it more than we did, and we knew we had a free meal waiting for us at the ship when we got back. After lunch we visited a high school and spoke with the 12th graders. It was fascinating to talk to kids who aren’t much younger than I am, and see what they are going through. The culture is so amazing there, and so important to them. Even though they live the urban areas now they still have retained their culture from the bush, and I think that is incredible. After that we went back to Green Park and distributed food and played with the children. I picked up a little “boyfriend” who was 5 or 6 and the sweetest little boy, I really didn’t want to say goodbye to him.
I could honestly go on about the experience for so much longer, but I feel that’s probably enough for most of you. If anyone wants to know more, let me know.
After we got back I was absolutely exhausted so I ate dinner with Kaitie and Steve, and then watched Snatch with Josh and Kaitie. Then we relaxed and wrote postcards outside, to give ourselves an easy night.

Saturday Feb 18, Cape Town day 5
Or, more accurately, Stellenbosch day 1! We left this morning for Stellenbosch and the trip was a story in itself. We hired a driver, who suddenly pulled over on the side of the highway and got out. Apparently we were switching drivers. It turns out the company we hired uses drivers from the townships. I was conflicted about this. On the one hand I thought it was great to provide money and jobs to men from the townships. On the other hand, I was worried for our safety because we weren’t sure how good of a driver this guy was. However, we didn’t have a choice in the matter so I decided not to dwell on it. We made it to Stellenbosch pretty much without incident, although the driver did have some trouble changing gears in the car. However, once we were in the town we stopped for directions about 5 times because he was unable to find the Stumble Inn. Finally we arrived at our destination, and I hope that our driver made it back to Cape Town easily. After dropping off our bags, Kaitie, Steve, Andrea, Rebecca and I set off to rent bikes and fit at least one vineyard into our time before lunch. After going to two different places, we discovered that we didn’t have enough time to even bike straight to Spier (where we had lunch reservations) so we trooped back to the tourist information center and rented a taxi. Off to Neethlingshof we went! There we entered the 300 year old Dutch farmhouse and began our wine tasting. We had a fabulous wine pourer who was only a little older than we are, and we shared very similar tastes in wine so we had a great conversation. She ended up giving us some free wine, of my favorite kind! It was awesome. My favorite was definitely the Gewürztraminer, which had the best smell I’ve ever found in a wine. I would even wear it as a perfume. I also liked the shiraz and the Cabernet Sauvignon, out of the reds. We liked the wine so much that we each ordered 2 bottles to ship back home to Newark, so I have to see if my dad will pick them up for me.
We headed over to Spier for our 1pm lunch reservations at Moyo, which is a restaurant up in the trees. It was really cool, we were on the second level of a tree, and the 10 of us had a great time. The food was a huge buffet with lots of really “African” food (it reminded me of the Africa Café except there was more food, although it was less good). I had springbok and antelope and ostrich, among other things. The wine and entertainment complemented the meal very well, with the multiple musical groups being the highlight.
Bedecked in face paint we left the restaurant and ambled over to the wine tasting area, where we discovered our illustrious Captain Roman Kristonovich also happened to be at Spier! Unfortunately, we did not run into him, although it wasn’t for lack of trying (I definitely perfected “Roman Kristonovich” in a British accent. Why it was a British accent entirely escapes me) . The wine at Spier was not as good as the wine at Neethlingshof, but the entertainment was better. We also went and saw the cheetahs, which were very beautiful. I wish I could’ve gotten to pet one, but I decided it wasn’t worth the money. After walking the length of the estate to catch a taxi, we fell asleep on a bench waiting for it.
As soon as we walked into our room at the Stumble Inn we saw a thong-clad buttocks prominently displayed in full view. Apparently the other resident of the room, who would remain nameless but it won’t matter so I’ll just say he’s named Baxter, was still asleep and he likes to sleep in thong underwear. It was quite a welcome sight to our sore eyes. We dropped our bags off and fled the room, to sit outside Huis Chuffy (the name of our building) until dinnertime. After wandering the town for quite a while we finally found a restaurant we all approved of, and then wandered into a club. Since it was relatively early we chilled with the bartenders and had some ‘real’ South African drinks (don’t ask me what any of them were because I don’t know). I did have some Sambucca, which made me think of Nick since he first told me about it. Soon enough the Stellenbosch college students came out in full force and we danced the night away with them, only to stumble in to the Stumble Inn late and collapse in our beds.
*one interesting note- South African club music is European techno and old 90s American songs. Like the New Radicals.*

Sunday Feb 19, Capetown day 6
Stellenbosch was certainly an adventure yesterday, so today was also an adventure. We are going to make “We survived Stellenbosch. SAS Spring 2006” shirts and wear them proudly as representatives of Huis Chuffy. When we awoke this morning the power was out in all of Stellenbosch (we later found out it was out pretty much all around the Cape). So we found a coffee shop that was still serving breakfast and I had the best muffin I have ever had. It was humongous! If you’re ever in South Africa go to the Mug and Bean if you like muffins. We wandered the town until we had to leave, and I’ve decided that I really like Stellenbosch. In a way it reminded me of Princeton but it was quite different too. All too shortly it was time to leave, and we said a sad goodbye to Baxter and the Stumble Inn.
After lunch on the ship (to conserve funds) we headed to the flea market by Green Point Stadium. I got several souvenirs there, and then ran into two girls who said they had an extra spot in the skydiving group at 2:30. It was 1:45 so I ran back to the ship and grabbed 1200 rand so that I could join their group. I raced to the Aquarium where the skydiving company picks you up, and then was shortly plummeting out of a rickety plane with a gorgeous man strapped tandem to me. Just kidding. It turns out that the one day I could go skydiving was the one day that the weather was too horrible to. So I ended up with R1200 in cash that I needed to spend by the end of the night.
What was I going to do with all that extra cash? Spend it on my friends and a fine meal, of course! First I got lots of snacks at the grocery store, and then I grabbed Kaitie, Steve, Lai-Lai, Andrea and Josh and we went out to The Green Dolphin (a restaurant at the Waterfront) to eat. I had springbok flank (I think) and a good shiraz, and we spent forever eating. One thing about South Africa is that the restaurants expect you to take hours to eat, and they’re not just hurrying you of there the way they do in the States. After the meal Steve and Lai-Lai left but the rest of us went inside and listened to the live jazz band. The saxophonist started off pretty Kenny G-like (which is not my style) but then as the night went on he got much better! He played the alto, tenor and soprano saxes, and his alto was striped like a zebra! It was pretty…hot. Especially with his long long hair and his tight black leather pants. I couldn’t decide if I like him or the mullet-sporting bass player more. Anyway, we ate desert and sat right next to the stage and listened to them for an hour or so, and it wasn’t Miles Davis or John Coltrane but it was entertaining.
Dropped Kaitie off and then headed back out for the night. Along the way we picked up Steve, Cindy, Nathan, Chris, and Matt and headed back to The Green Dolphin (fancy that) to take some tequila shots (definitely my first shot of tequila ever but it was good). After that most of the group left but Josh, Matt, Chris and I decided the night was still young so we went to Mitchell’s (where all of SAS was because it was the only place open). I sat with one crowd for a while, and then joined Greg and Matt and their friends. I love meeting random people, and talking to them forever, when you never really learn their names, hehe. Last call totally snuck up on us, so we came back and I decided to check my email.
Got some sad news from home which totally changed the night for me, but I’m very grateful for the people here. It showed me just how great my friends here are, and how great people I don’t even know are. I made a new friend from the whole experience who I think might be the sweetest person in the world, Chaas. In the 30-something days we’ve been here we’re all already so close, even if we don’t know each other. I think it’s because we go through so much together. I think it’s amazing.

Monday Feb 20, Cape Town day 7
It is fitting but I spent my last day in Cape Town…not in Cape Town! I went out of the city on an SAS rafting trip on the Breede River. It was about a 1 ½ hour drive out there, so I fell asleep on the bus for the first time ever, really. I was so exhausted because I’d gotten about 2 ½ hours of sleep, and wasn’t really in a good mood due to the events of last night. However, since that wasn’t the way the universe is supposed to be, of course something happened to make me happy again, and I thank Chaas for that. Anyway, back to rafting. Laura and I paired up in a croc (an inflatable raft that reminds me of a canoe) and began our 4 hour long paddle down the Breede River. There weren’t very many rapids, which was unfortunate because Laura and I were amazing at the rapids! However, when it came to paddling in a straight line we were a little challenged. We mastered the whole zigzagging across the river thing, though. The guides kept laughing at us because they couldn’t figure out what was wrong, but at least it let me bond with the very attractive, young guides ;-) We did what was supposed to be a 6 hour trip in 4 hours! That’s because we’re awesome, hehe. We fixed our zigzagging during the second half of the trip, too, because I did all the paddling and she just steered. It was a little less efficient but in the long run probably better. I was very impressed with us, but I bet I am going to be sore tomorrow. After playing with the gorgeous dog (half dingo and half Australian sheepdog!!!) and talking to the guides for a long time we left. I was very sad to leave, I could so see myself living there and doing something like that every day (although I would need to go through Remedial Paddling 101).
Since we got back 3 hours early I went out to eat and spend my last R110 with Andrea and Kaitie. I got fried calamari at the Ocean Basket and it was really good. Then I bought the black bandana I need for the Sea Olympics (Ber-WHAT?!) and headed back to the ship with Kaitie so we could watch the South African Police Choir sing in the Union. They were excellent but it was kind of sad because a lot of the students were a bit intoxicated so we didn’t really treat them the way they should’ve been treated. It wasn’t too bad though. Then I went up to Deck 7 to watch us leave. Except just like our arrival in Cape Town our departure was quite delayed. We were supposed to leave around 11pm and we didn’t end up leaving until 2am, so I went to bed way before that because I was unable to keep my eyes open.
The thing about Cape Town was that it was so Westernized I didn’t even feel like I was in Africa. Maybe that’s why I enjoyed the music everywhere so much, and the examples of culture. They reminded me that I was actually in Africa. I felt completely safe and at home in Cape Town, which I liked but it wasn’t really what I was looking for in a port. It would probably be the place I could most easily see myself living, out of the places we’ve gone so far, but that’s just because it’s the place that’s most like home. Even Puerto Rico was, in a way, more “different” than Cape Town was. But I loved it here, don’t get me wrong.
I think I experienced everything Cape Town had to offer, at least to the extent that I could given the limited amount of time I had here. I got a feel for the poor areas with the townships, and I got the rich with Stellenbosch. I got history and present (Robben Island and the market), nature and the city (Table Mountain and the Central Business District), and serious things as well as player (Operation Hunger and Long Street). I am glad I had such a varied experience here. It was good for me.

Tuesday Feb 21, A8
It was Superbowl Tuesday here on the MV Explorer! I am so glad I got to watch the game, most people went to bed early but I stuck it out all night. My favorite part was the trick play with Rothlisberger, Randle El and Ward (but that’s always my favorite part, isn’t it?). There was a group of us Steeler fans watching it, and after everyone else left I bonded with Jason the RD because he was definitely the most hardcore Steelers fan there. The commercials were good, and it was still awesome to watch the game even though we already knew the outcome.
The rest of the day was relaxing, classes seemed to last forever today though. I ended up taking a 3 hour nap after laying out in the sun, which I totally needed. Then I had to rush to finish my reading for tomorrow, but that’s alright. I actually just read a great poem written over 2000 years ago that demonstrated perfectly a life motto that I subscribe to- “don’t think about the sorrows of the world; You will only load yourself with care.” I take that to mean “don’t worry about things so much” and “don’t think about how horrible everything is or you won’t be able to escape from it. Just think about individual things.”

Wednesday Feb 22, B8
“It is easier to find a traveling companion than to get rid of one.” –Art Buchwald
Today was a day full of bonding with people, whether they were “old” friends or new ones. It was very nice to share with people, and I love the feeling of drawing closer.
Other than that, we had a Bering Sea meeting where we did more preparing for the Sea Olympics. It seemed like the meeting took forever, I don’t think any other sea does as much as we do. I got my first Asian Lit paper back today and got an A, and had Bible Study where we spent some time focusing on prayer.

Thursday Feb 23, A9
“As long as we’re traveling toward the unknown, we’re on the right track.” –Rory Nugent
The theater group on the ship really does a great job, and today that was exemplified by two students who performed a play during Global Studies. The play was called ‘For Colored Girls Contemplating Suicide’ with something about a rainbow after it, and it was an amazing portrayal of the hurt men can cause, and the two actresses did a fabulous job. I was so impressed that the two of them were able to portray so many characters and put so much emotion into it. They got a well-deserved standing ovation.
I guess it was a day full of entertainment because I just watched the movie ‘Go’ and thought it was absolutely hilarious. It was so funny mostly because it was the most random movie I have ever seen, and I laughed for two hours straight (although I was the only one). I was still laughing half an hour after the movie ended, and Andrea definitely thinks I’m crazy because of that.
Had a cookie party with my shipboard family after dinner tonight and we all shared what we’d done in Cape Town. I also stole all of Andrea’s photos, before rushing to Change the World with Scott Sherman. I am convinced that Amy would absolutely adore him, so am talking to him about getting a speech arranged in North Carolina somewhere for him. Anyway, tonight he taught us bout a way to measure how well we react to obstacles in our lives, and how positive we are.

Friday Feb 24, B9
The highlight of my night was definitely hearing embarrassing stories from the faculty & staff. We went to a talk by Mason (Mark Mason, an RD) about storytelling, and to start us off we played the “Guess Who’s Embarrassing Story This Is” game, with us guessing which faculty member matched with each story. I definitely got some good laughs out of it, especially out of stories about small white poodles.
After that we tried to watch Madagascar but it didn’t really work because it kept skipping and having no sound *pout*. So instead I “studied” which really meant I went through pictures from everyone and talked to Kate, Kaitie and Steve.

Saturday Feb 25, A10
“It is good to have an end to a journey; but it is the journey that matters in the end.” –Ursula K. LeGuin
Some more quotes of the day: “She just hit me with her freaking ghetto behind!! That thing’s dangerous!” –Kaitie about my sizeable backside
“Oh Emily, microscopic!” –Andrea about my study guide handwriting
“Here comes Hitler!” when I tried to make her study
“Everyone has a photographic memory. Some people just don’t have film.” –Professor Sheldon
Kaitie: “Who wrote the Population Bomb?”
Me: “Paul Simon. …No…”
And
Kaitie: “Why didn’t hyv’s work in Africa?”
Me: “Wrong crops.”
Kaitie: “What would work?”
Me: “…Yams…”
That was our day summed up. Nah…But seriously, it shows our studying for Global Studies (and my studying for Psych while others were studying for Global), which pretty much was the “excitement” of the day. Today we gave Shorty (one of the hotel staff) a friendship bracelet with the colors from Jamaica. We think that’s a great idea, and are planning on making more for staff members.
Another thing that makes me happy- I have been speaking in French lately. I missed it. I have been teaching Kaitie and Andrea French, which is totally fun. And I managed to go online today and talk to a bunch of people from home (although since it was 9:30am on a Saturday there almost no one was up). It was great to speak to them all, although my computer shut off suddenly in the middle of my conversations so I didn’t get to finish them. And I had an email from Dana!! Man, I love and miss that boy!

Sunday Feb 26, B10
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” –Confucius
Second Global Studies exam today, and I thought it was even easier than the first one (good thing, I got a 98% on it). Health Psych was somewhat harder, but mostly because there were only 5 questions so if I messed up on one I’m kind of out of luck. I guess I will see when the grades for that come in. So, since I had two exams I was pretty much done by 9:30 today. For the rest of the day I caught up on a bunch of stuff I had to do, and went to Asian Lit, and basically just had a pretty easy day. It was really nice. After dinner (we watched the sunset amid the rain, which was really cool) we went to the cultural and logistical pre-port and laughed at Tom and his antics. Watching Boondock Saints now. I love this movie so much, I will have to ask Josh to put it on as a random movie of the night. I think that will be it for the night, we should go to bed early because we are getting up at 6, but knowing us and the fact that it’s a night before port we won’t get sleep. Oh well…

2006-02-05T08:24:00.000-05:00

Wednesday Feb 1, Salvador day 1
Last night we tried to sleep out on the deck. It didn’t end up working so well. Story here: First we went out on the 7th deck, outside of the faculty lounge, and danced around while a bunch of them were in there. Tom saw us and came over and danced in the window to make fun of us, so we stopped dancing due to the embarrassment factor. It was pretty bright out there so we looked around for a place that had less light, and moved to the starboard side so we could sleep on chairs. It ended up not being that comfortable, and we were right next to something making a ton of noise (the engine maybe?) so Steve went in early, Kaitie went at 2:30 and I left at 4. Teresa had zonked out early, so we left her out there with a bunch of other people. Anyway, although the stars are gorgeous out there, I am not going to sleep on the starboard side of the 7th deck again. I’d try somewhere else though.
Then we got up early to sign up for the soccer game and eat and see us dock. Brazil looks nothing like I expected it to. It’s a lot more run down than I thought it would be. There isn’t really a huge dichotomy between the rich and the poor, because even the rich don’t seem to have things too nicely. There are so many poor people though, there are people living in old houses that literally have no roofs and no doors and no windows and no walls. No furniture as well. It’s sad to drive by, especially since we have it so different than they do- we travel around in these gorgeous, nice tourism buses while they have small, poorly made cars or dirty public buses with no air conditioning.
Anyway, after we cleared immigration a group of us walked around and ‘shopped’. Everyone in Brazil seemed to stare at us and want to sell us something. I perfected a persona I like to call the “Blonde Bitch” persona, where I just keep on walking, or brush them off really firmly. It’s necessary, though I hate it. There are these women who stand outside the market and grab you as you walk by. They want to read your palm, but they won’t let go of you once they grab you, I literally had to shake one off my arm. I’m like, “Nao, obrigada” and “Nao fallo Portuguese” but they still don’t accept that as an answer. It’s funny to me, because if I did let them read my palm I wouldn’t understand a word of what they said.
We came back and went to the Afro-Brazilian Museum and Candomble House FDP. It was different than I expected as well, because I thought we were going to see a worship service in the candomble house but instead we talked to two women of the house and learned about the religion and how you become an initiate. It was very interesting hearing their beliefs, and what they have to go through. I also liked seeing the orixas and their different depictions in the museum, I liked how similar they were to Greek mythology, in a way, and that they each correlate to a Catholic Saint.
Then we came back and ate dinner and got ready for the welcome reception. The Welcome Reception was amazing!!! They had a capoeira group playing their music for us as we walked in, and that was pretty cool. Then we went and got drinks and met some Brazilian students, Paterson and his friend who didn’t talk so I didn’t get his name. We talked to them for a long time, and then the capoeira school came in and danced for us. They were awesome, and some SAS students got to do capoeira and they were pretty funny but also relatively good for never having studied it. The Master of the School was pretty amazing, I adored him.
Then a Carnival group, Sounds of Gandhi, came and danced for us. They sang and played their drums for a long time, and basically showed us what a miniature version of Carnival was. They were amazing and I really wish I could dance like that. Why don’t we have that sort of thing in the US? It’d be awesome!! Those drums are so cool. There were also various types of Brazilian food, I had some of them and they were pretty good. There were some that were basically mini-quiches and some fried cheese, and then these doughy things that…I’m not really sure what they were. And they had this icepop vendor, he had the most amazing icepops ever!! In crazy flavors, and he was quite a character so it was fun to get them from him.
Then we were allowed to dance for a long time. We got in a circle with some Brazilian students and one of the capoeira guys. He taught us cool dance moves, and then I danced with Paterson. However, at some point he started getting really creepy so I spent the next half an hour trying to get him to leave me alone but nothing worked. Kaitie and I finally had to leave so we’d be free. We had some cool experiences while we were trying to escape though, like talking to the capoeira Master or meeting two other Brazilian guys (both named Shiago) who were trying to help. They were cool.
All in all, it was an amazing, fabulous night.

Thursday Feb 2, Salvador day 2
Well, today I did something entirely out of character and that I did not think I’d do when I woke up this morning. I shaved my head!!! I can’t believe it, it feels so liberating and at the same time so weird. I’m happy I did it but also kind of regret it. I guess the part of me that is always socially acceptable regrets it, but the part of me that’s into trying new things and is pretty wacky things it’s awesome!
So here’s how it came about: At the Yemanja festival (Yemanja is the goddess of the sea in the candomble religion, and today was the day where people traditionally wear white and give her gifts and make wishes for the coming year) I started talking to Josh the photographer. Josh is one of the coolest dudes, I don’t really know how to describe him except as totally unique. I admire him because he’s always himself, and doesn’t care what people think about him, and is just such an individual. He took a picture of me walking on the beach because I was wearing a Pitt t-shirt. Then we started talking and I mentioned how much cooler the temperature would be if I didn’t have any hair and he said I could shave my head, and I said “yeah, I considered it.” That wasn’t the response he was expecting, so he asked why I didn’t and my reasons weren’t very good. Basically, they were because I loved my hair and was afraid it wouldn’t come back the same, and afraid I wouldn’t look good with short hair (or none at all!), and afraid to just be so different from the majority of the world. I told him that I’d do it the next time I did something like this (SAS) and he was like, “why wait? The time is now! When else are you really going to do something like this? And if you do, you’ll always say ‘next time’!” And he was right. So I thought about it all morning, and our trip ended early so I decided it was kind of a sign since we had 6 extra hours. I decided I want to totally step out of my comfort zone and redefine my view of beauty and the value I put in superficial things. Also, shaving your head is basically a way to say “I don’t care about you!!!” to the whole Cosmo/Glamour world, and I thought it would be pretty cool to do that. As Josh put it, it takes a lot of guts to do something like this, and I’m very proud of myself for doing it.
Anyway, we got back early and ate lunch and after lunch Josh came over to my table and asked if I wanted to do it and I said yes so me, Josh, Kaitie and Dave got together and shaved my head. First I cut it to a bob and it was surprisingly even and it looked awesome. Then came the hard part. They made me do the first chop (we had to chop it off so that we could then buzz it) and I almost couldn’t do it. After that I was enjoying it, but also kind of in a cloud of disbelief. We decided to put it into a mohawk to take some pictures. So, after Dave cut it really short, Josh began shaving it. It felt really good, but I was kind of in shock at points (there are some great pictures of that). Then we made the mohawk which looked totally hot (yeah I never would have expected that but it did) and we went out in front of the ship and took pictures. Then I decided to walk around like that all day, so I did and I went to the internet café and there were all these Brazilians who were like, “OMG we LOVE your hair!!!” and these little old ladies made me be in a picture with them and it was so cool! I’ve never had people talk to me that much.
Then we went to a churrasco restaurant as a huge group (33). It’s a big meathouse where they come around and cut you meat off of slabs, and it was incredible. They also had a fabulous sushi bar and salad bar. It was a wonderful, amazing time (I feel like I use those adjectives too much but it’s really true. I am amazed all the time) It was a great mix of faculty and students, and I got to know a lot of people I think I wouldn’t have otherwise. It was lots of fun, and we had an amazing kind of wine (it was some Brazilian wine, don’t know what) and then I had a port wine for the first time. Some old man in a very pimp-ish outfit started talking to me outside of the restaurant and told me he adored my hair. It was the perfect example of my hair being a conversation piece, now I know what Jess goes through.
Anyway, we got back and then Josh shaved the rest of my head. It was kind of hard to actually get rid of it all, but we did a funny thing and left a few little tufts sticking up from my cowlick and I told everyone I was going to leave it like that…Then we got rid of those. And now I’m totally hair-free.
So that’s the story of my day, and the story of my head-shaving.
Friday Jan 3, Salvador day 3
I went to the Calabar Favela today and it was such a great time. Those kids were so cute. A Favela is basically a slum, and we went to a school in one and spent time with the kdis. We watched a dance performance by a little group of girls (they were fabulous although they’d only been dancing for a few months). The kids loved putting stickers on us, and one kid, Marco Antonio, gave me a “manicure” with star stickers. It was totally cute. I hope that those kids get to achieve everything they want and get out of that favela, because they have such awesome career goals. I felt bad because I felt like most of the gifs we gave them were totally pointless things and I wish we could give them things that they will actually use and appreciate. One kid asked for my Livestrong bracelet so I gave it to him, but I know he’s going to have no real appreciation for what it actually is, and he probably will end up throwing it out or something. We did give them a big box of toys though, and I think that was a good thing. I just wish we could do something meaningful.
In the morning I went shopping with Kaitie and we perfected the way to run away from the old women who want to read your palms. I get stared at more now without hair than I ever have before in my life. Some guy even told me I was surrogately in his gang!! (WEIRD!!) Anyway, I got a few things for myself (including an awesome stone black panther), and some presents for other people. Then we went up to the upper city and walked around again and met some people.
At night we went to a restaurant, MamaBahia. They gave us free drinks and then I did something I never imagined that I would ever do in my life: (I guess the past two days have been full of that) I lead a street parade through the streets of Salvador, Brazil!! It was a group practicing for Carnival, but only a really small group. There were drums and then a few capoeira guys, and we were dancing behind them and then suddenly they pulled me and Teresa up to the front because of our short hair!!! So we got to dance in the front for an hour and it was the best workout of my life!!!!! We learned some awesome dance moves, and it was the most amazing time ever!!!!! I love impromptu things like that! After we were done, the group invited us to go to a dance club with them but we decided to just return to the ship. However this guy who’d been dancing next to me that my friends had met a few days before (his name was Basilico) kissed me! We were doing the usual Brazilian farewell of two kisses on the cheek and he turned his face “by accident” and kissed me on the mouth! It was pretty funny actually because then he wouldn’t let me go and I had to run away. I never thought I’d pick up more guys with no hair than I do normally, lol.
Now I’m going to go to bed, because it was such a long night and so amazing. Hehe.
Saturday Jan 4, Salvador day 4
Today was a pretty uneventful day as far as port days go. We had breakfast and then 5 of us decided to go catch a ferry to a beach (we didn’t care which one) and sit on it for the day. Chris, Meredith, Teresa, Kaitie and I left around 10 and didn’t get back until 7. We sat on the beach for 3 hours, it took us until 11 to get there. It turns out we went to Itaparica Island, which is where a lot of the SAS sponsored trips went. But we were in a different part of the island. Our beach was more of a native beach, which was cool. We had lots of ladies coming up to “read our palms” again but we ignored them because they got so annoying. Chris, Teresa and I went in the water for a while, and it was completely shallow for a really long time so we had to basically pretend to swim around. It was awesome treading water in a spot where I could stand quite easily with my upper body out of the water. We noticed that everywhere around us there were couples making out. Brazil is much more open with PDAs than we are in America. I’m not sure how I feel about it. I don’t want to look at them because I feel like I’m intruding on their privacy (which they obviously don’t care about) so I basically couldn’t look in any direction except straight back at the shore, so it was kind of weird.
After a while we decided to leave, so we got ice cream (I had kiwi flavor, it was so good!!) and then caught a taxi to the more touristy part of Itaparica. Or so we thought. They ended up taking us to the utter tip of the island, and there was nothing there. There was a small beach, and a marina, but it was not the touristy beach and we were so lost. We couldn’t even really find a taxi back, but then finally we found one after walking around for an hour and a half in the stifling heat. The cool part was that we made friends with a Brazilian man on the way out there and he kept communicating with us and we were actually pretty able to understand his Portuguese! We felt accomplished.
Then, the taxi back took us to a different ferry (we weren’t really complaining though, we just wanted a ferry!) and that left at 5:30 and we got back around 6:15, and had to speed walk so that we could make it back to the ship in time for dinner. We also did not really like that we were walking around in a pretty small group with only one guy and it was after dark and we weren’t really in good neighborhoods. However, we managed to make it back safely (haha SAS pre-port safety warnings!! Just kidding, I really do appreciate them…) and then we rushed to dinner so that we could eat (it was 7 and we weren’t sure when it would close). All in all, I think we got a ton of exercise today, and spent lots of time in the sun.
Now we’re just chilling because everyone decided that they wanted to spend a relaxing evening. I wanted to go out but I was overruled and I know it wouldn’t be safe to go on my own so here I am. I should probably be doing work, because everyone else is, but I don’t feel like it. And I already did a lot of mine so why should I have to?

trip between puerto rico and brazil

2006-02-02T14:42:00.000-05:00

Tuesday Jan 31, A4
“The man who goes alone can start today, but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready.” -Thoreau
Today was our first Global Studies exam, and it was the funniest exam I’ve ever taken. Professor Sheldon included funny answers every few questions, and I literally burst out laughing at one point because there were three awesome questions in a row. I think everyone around me was like, “shut up!!” The grades were posted by 8, and I got a 44, which I’m happy with although I would like to do better.
Earlier I used the elliptical (7-7:30). I would never do that at school, but it’s so convenient here that it’s easy and I like it a lot. Music class was good, we learned more about the music of Brazil, and the samba/condomble traditions. After lunch I wrote my first Asian Lit paper and listened to the music I took from Kaitie. I love most of it, we have such similar tastes!
We watched the sun swet and played the Random Question game to get to know each other a bit better. Then we had dinner and my chef friend Bari said he missed me earlier, lol. I read a little bit, for fun, because I had the opportunity. Then we went to the pre-port, and Tom was hilarious as usual (he included a picture of Ursa, the bear that is “on deck 6”). He also ambushed Dean Sapp with the title of Queen Minerva underneath his name on the slideshow. As to the rest of the pre-port though, they pretty much just scared us a lot. They said you can catch fatal diseases from mosquitoes at any time of day, and that it isn’t safe to walk around but it isn’t safe to drive. They also said that a lot of us are probably going to get robbed. Oh well, we’ll just have to hope that they were just being overly cautious.
Tonight we’re going to sleep on deck! We’ll see how that is!

Monday Jan 30, NEPTUNE DAY!!!!!!!!!!
“A good traveler does not much mind the uninteresting places.” –Freya Stark
Preface: Neptune Day is when you cross the Equator for the first time. Before you do, you are a pollywod, but after you cross you are a shellback. There are some traditions you have to go through first though…
6 of us got up at 2:45 to go stand on the deck when we crossed the Equator. We had no clue when it actually was, but it was supposed to be around 3, so we had a pretty arbitrary Equator countdown and took some videos and pictures. I bet the video is awesome because we were still half asleep but were having a miniature “New Years-ish” celebration in our pajamas with a garden gnome and a teddy bear. Then we went back to bed until 7, when I got up so that I would be ready when Neptune’s Band came around…except they didn’t come until sometime after 8. We were just getting back from breakfast until they came, and so we chased them down to the 2nd floor so that we could see it and get pictures. A bunch of the crew walk around in funny outfits with aluminum hats, tridents and shields, playing on drums and blowing on whistles to wake us all up. It was fun.
Then we joined Jess, Val, Steve and Kaitie up on the 7th floor at the pool. We sat around the side of the pool until King Neptune and Queen Minerva were finally ready. Dean DeWalt was dressed as King Neptune and Dean Sapp was dressed as Queen Minerva (which is funny because DeWalt is a woman, and Sapp is a man). There was a nice oath we pollywods had to take, and then we went through the ‘Initiation Rites’, which were comprised of either lime green or bright orange fish guts being poured over your head, and then jumping into the pool. After getting out of the pool you had to kiss two fish, and King Neptune’s ring, and be blessed by Queen Minerva. Then you were officially a shellback!!
The first person to go was Steph! Then a bunch more went, while we were in line. Kaitie and I went together (don’t worry, Jess got pictures), and Teresa and Val went together. Jess didn’t go. Then we took a picture with the band, and watched the Captain shave heads (it’s a big part of the Neptune Day tradition). A lot of the guys shaved their heads, and 33 girls did (the record is 34, so we were pretty close). They weren’t doing a very good job shaving, and were missing lots of spots so we decided to do Teresa and Steve by ourselves. So we trouped to Teresa’s room and Jess and I shaved Steve’s head. It was really cool, and fun to do. Then Teresa got her head shaved by Steve!!! She looks great, I’m very impressed. She has one of those faces that looks good with any haircut.
Then a huge group of us went to lunch, and I watched part of Gladiator before we went out on the deck. We sat in the sun from 12-1430, with a break when we went and got pictures taken of everyone from Pitt. We did the P-I-T-T cheer, and Steph and I sang ‘Hail to Pitt’, the Alma Mater, the Fight Song, and the Chant.
Teresa and I were just studying for Global Studies tomorrow (I can’t believe our first exam is tomorrow! I’m a little nervous!!) After dinner we had a Bering Sea meeting, and we played a lap-sitting game which we will definitely have to play at band camp. After that a bunch of us got together to watch Life Aquatic, and we really studied for a while but then it broke down into exchanging pictures and me taking Kaitie’s music.

Saturday Jan 28, A3
“Part of the urge to explore is a desire to become lost.” –Tracy Johnston
Once again, it was another very uneventful day at sea. I think my highlight was meeting Bari, my chef guy, or talking to Tom and Chris about the bear “that’s on the 6th floor” (no, there is not actually a bear on the 6th floor, but someone started a rumor there was). Tom is hilarious, lol.
Today our Brazilian interport lecturer, Dr Duarte, spoke, and Professor Scott Sherman spoke to us about the environmental problems facing Brazil today. He was one of the most entertaining and best speakers I’ve ever heard. He got us very involved and kept making us laugh by telling some awesome stories. I’m glad that one of the FDPs I’m going on in Brail is lead by him. Then we went to Music and it was very interesting. This was the first day that I’ve stayed awake easily in all my classes, which is weird because I got up early to exercise. Hopefully it’ll start a trend.
Then lunch, sat outside, napped, and read for psych. After dinner we squished a bunch of us into Jess and Val’s room and watched Dirty Dancing: Havanna Nights, and went to snacktime and now I’m writing in this before I go to bed. I enjoyed today very much, there was lots of chilling time with the crew. We really do have a great bunch.
We got our trips from Sale 1 and I got everything I wanted in Brazil, half of what I want in South Africa and Mauritius, and nothing in India. I did get all of the big trips I wanted though, so I shouldn’t complain. I just can’t believe I got kicked off of 3 service visits!!!! I wanted to do them all, but it’s like they don’t want me to help out! It’s kind of annoying, because those aren’t things I can do independently. And also, I didn’t get the service FDPs I wanted to do for class, so instead of doing 5 FDPs for Psych I’m probably going to only end up doing 2 or 3. Oh well. I am probably going to try and jump onto the trips when they actually happen. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

Thursday Jan 26, A2
“When you come to a fork in the road- take it.” –Yogi Berra
Remember that poem (or was it a song?) “I’m being eaten by a boa constrictor”? Today our Global Studies professor, Sheldon, sang that song as a warning to those going to the Amazon! It was very amusing, I do not think that I’ve ever met professors as funny as those on this voyage, or as funny as Tom (the guy who speaks over our announcement system). He has the driest sense of humor of anyone I’ve ever met, and is so charismatic and we all absolutely adore him. One of my favorite parts of each day is when he comes on the loudspeaker at noon and 5pm, or reading the Dean’s Memo which he puts out, because his sense of humor is even noticeable there.
World Music class was good, then we had lunch and sent out emails. I used up 44 minutes uploading pictures (or attempting to)!! I am going to give up on that, and hopefully find somewhere to get internet in the ports where it will be cheaper and faster. I did some work then, and ended up taking a nap, which I did not intend, but the article was very boring.
Then we had Bible Study. Jess (not Pitt Jess) shared her testimony, and it was very moving and inspiring. Afterwards, I did more work with Teresa and Andrea, and we went to the gang community college by Nickii. It was very informative, although a little scary, and very sad too. Then I watched a Brazilian movie called ‘Orfeu’ on TV. It was about one of the favelas in Salvador, and the Carnival street festival. It was also about the drug trade in Brazil, and how many people think the only way to get rich is to join one of the drug gangs. It was one of the saddest movies I’ve ever seen, nothing ended the way you wanted it to. I wish I could change the whole thing.

puerto rico!!!!!!

2006-01-26T11:48:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures from Puerto Rico. Featured are me, Kaitie, Steve, Val, my horse Mrs. Troy, and spots in Puerto Rico. It is taking forever to upload them so I am going to stop prematurely now, and try and do them some other time when I can find free internet.

Saturday Jan 21, A1:
“Travel like Ghandi, with simple clothes, open eyes, and an uncluttered mind.” –Rick Steves
Last night the Field Office Briefing wasn’t very informative, but it did disperse a little of the mystery surrounding Field Excursions. Then, at the Bering Sea meeting, we learned a bunch of cheers for our Sea so that we would be way ahead of every other Sea. I made friends with a bunch of new people, and my newfound friend Liz and I walked around looking for a place to get a board game for us all to play. We had no luck, so we grabbed cards and played Spoons (really, Napkins) for a long time in the dining hall. It was very fun, and a great way to meet other people, because we ended up with a huge game that just dissolved into talking. I met Matt, a Park Ranger from CA, and Chris, from Brooklyn (he likes the Mets though), and Pam and a bunch of girls whose names I cannot remember for the life of me. It is so hard to keep everyone straight, I find it horrible that I’ll be talking to someone and realize that I’ve totally forgotten her name, and can’t ask again because we’ve been talking for a long time! At least so far I’ve managed to escape without a bad incident from this.
Today I got up and had breakfast with Val and Andrea, then went to Global Studies with Jess, Val, Andrea and Liz. We had lots of trouble staying awake for Professors Sheldon and Brandt, but Dean DeWalt spoke so quickly we could barely keep up with the notes! That’s one way to keep students awake! She spoke on Health Issues in Latin America, and it was very interesting. Then we had our first World Music class. Kramer seems very nice, but I don’t know what I will actually think of the class. Right now I feel like I may not like it, and I’ll probably be bored in it, but hopefully I’m wrong.
Then we went to lunch and did our Bering Sea cheers (yayy Bering Sea!!!) and I went and sent out my first email, it made me wonder what everyone has been up to and how they are all doing. In a way, it will be nice to have my cell phone working in Puerto Rico, because I can call people and talk to them…we’re given a gradual disconnection from society and life-as-we-know-it. However, I most likely won’t send this out until after we’re done with Puerto Rico, so that’s kind of a useless announcement.
Anyway, after sending out my first email, I went outside with Jess and we read for Global Studies and I decided to save my skin and come in and nap, because I didn’t want to burn my face anymore. I napped for 2 hours (hallelujah!!) and then got up and went to a meeting to arrange a Bible Study on the ship (we’re going to meet on Sundays and Wednesdays while we’re at sea, from 5:30-7, and will probably eat from 5:30-6). After the meeting we went to dinner, and then to the Cultural Pre-Port for Puerto Rico. Professor Esteves (my lit professor) is from Puerto Rico so she and Dr. Brandt (the interport lecturer) gave a long presentation about the culture of Puerto Rico. Esteves and a student from Puerto Rico, Jose, even sang for us, and Jose danced! It was very awesome, and then we were free so I relaxed in the cabin for half an hour and then suddenly it was time for snacks. It seems like there’s always something going on here, it’s so hard to find any time to write in my journal or get work done! Anyway, Kaitie and I grabbed snacks and we had a nice long talk, and then got together with Andrea, Jess, Val, Leah and Pam and planned our trips until after India. It took a long time, but it was very fun, it was interesting to see that we all wanted to do the same things. It shows that I have found a group of people so easily that have that same interests as me, and I’m very grateful for that. J
Tonight was the first Pub night, and it surprised me that they’d have one this early. I felt that it was so early that it wouldn’t really be “necessary”, and that it wouldn’t be a good idea to drink while everyone was still feeling seasick and having enough trouble adjusting already. I also thought it’d be a waste of money because we’ve just gotten on the boat. So, needless to say, I didn’t drink, and most of my friends didn’t either. There were plenty of people who did though, and that both surprised and didn’t surprise me.
On another note, the seas have been so rough! And we haven’t even hit a real ‘hard patch’ yet!! I wonder what those will be like! Our drawers open and close all the time, and the cabins creaks, and people keep falling into things, and sometimes when you’re walking down the stairs you’re literally suspended in the air! It feels really dangerous if you’re not holding on to the railing. Since I’m at the forward end of the ship (still not completely up on my nautical terms), spray drenches our window all the time, and occasionally the ship enters the air and then smacks the water really hard. It’s crazy!!! Tomorrow night is supposed to be our first real ‘rough seas’ night, and I’m wondering what it will be like. They did tell us that most of the voyage won’t be like this, because the seas are much rockier by land, and most of the voyage we will not be by land, but right now we’re going in between all the Caribbean islands so the seas are quite rocky.
Tonight we lose our first hour of sleep. I guess after this voyage I will have an even greater appreciation of the 24 hours in a day, because for much of this voyage we will only have 23 hours each day! And I thought 24 wasn’t enough…it would’ve been awesome if we’d gone around the other way, and had 25 in a day, but I shouldn’t really complain. It’s just going to make it even more difficult to find time to do everything I want and need to do, and still get a modest amount of sleep. Somehow I have the feeling that sleep is going to become something I never get enough of, but that I won’t want to do more because there’s so much else to do.
Alright, it’s time for me to hit the hay now.

Sunday Jan 22, B1:
“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” –M.N.Chatterjee
Today was our first B day. That meant that I had to get up at 7:45, call Kaitie to make sure she was up, and then rush to my Health Psych class. Unfortunately, I woke up at 6:20 and then couldn’t fall back asleep, and since we’d lost an hour that night, it really felt like 5:20…it was very unfortunate, and, if I have to admit it, annoyed me a little. At least I should pass out tonight when I go to bed, because 5 hours of sleep doesn’t come near to satisfying me. I shouldn’t complain though, because look where I am…
Anyway, at least I was on time for all my classes, and Health Psych seems like it’s going to be a great class. I already love my professor (Professor Bandawe). He’s from South Africa and seems extremely interesting and very into getting us to participate. I’m already planning on doing 5 Faculty Directed Practica for that class, when we only have to do 2! Hehe, but the thing is, I want to do them anyway, so it doesn’t matter to me that they’re FDPs. I guess it shows that I really am interested in that class, and hopefully I’ll really get to know Professor Bandawe, because I already have the feeling that I’m going to love South Africa. Maybe my experience with him and SAS and the class will push me to go back to South Africa and try and better life there for a lot of people. I have a feeling that’s exactly what will happen…wonder if I’ll be able to. Plus, I really like some of the people in my class, so, in general, I’m extremely excited for this class.
Then Theresa, Cindy and I rushed to Global Studies and miraculously found seats with our friends, and promptly all began dozing off. I just couldn’t keep my eyes open for the life of me. I was trying so hard, but notes slowly degraded to a pretty illegible state. And then I’d realize I was falling asleep so I’d force myself to wake up for a few more minutes, and look around and realize that everyone around me had their eyes closed so I had to take notes for them. And then a few minutes later I’d realize I had my eyes closed, so I’d go through the whole ordeal again. Luckily, she was speaking slowly, and I’d already done the reading for the class. It wasn’t that it wasn’t interesting, it’s just that the rocking of the ship combined with our lack of sleep definitely made a powerful argument for sleeping, one my body just couldn’t fight.
Then I took a 20 minute nap and went to lunch with the group, and rushed off to Asian Lit class with Professor Esteves. I don’t know anyone else in my class, but I met a few people. The class seems like it’s going to be a lot of work, but I think I will enjoy the readings. At least, I hope I do. I should be doing that right now, but I wanted to write in this. After class I went to the SAS store and got a sweatshirt, turned in my SAS dvd order form, and got some shirts for other people. Then I went and filled out my Field Excursion order form, just to have it done with so I wouldn’t have to worry about it. I also picked up a form from the Administrative Office so that my mom can come on the ship and see it when she visits in Myanmar. Now I’m sitting in my room with Andrea and we’re listening to some music.
I’m extremely excited for Puerto Rico tomorrow!!! I wasn’t before, but since last night I have been!! I know there are a lot of people who are just planning on drinking there, but that’s not what I’m interested in so I know I’ll really appreciate it, especially since I’ve never been. I’m doing a walking tour of old San Juan tomorrow, and that will take all day but I think it will give me a great introduction to all of the important things in San Juan. Then, I’m going to try and go to the Bioluminescent Bay with Theresa and Andrea and some other people who didn’t get into the SAS sponsored trip. On Wednesday I’m going horseback riding at a ranch, hopefully by the ocean. Tuesday I’m going to go around with Val, Jess and Kaitie and shop and just…see San Juan. All in all, I think it will be a great place for our first port, and a great experience.
Right, I have to go now, I want to see if I can do my reading of The Ramayan before I go to Bible Study, and then the Pre-Port, and then who knows.

Monday Jan 23, Puerto Rico day 1
Since Puerto Rico is our first port-of-call, a bunch of us got up extremely early today (6:30) to watch the sun rise and our first time having a pilot ship steer us in. We thought that sounded exciting, it’s nowhere near as exciting as it sounds…The only funny part was when the very small pilot boat was trying to approach us amid dazzlingly high waves. I was afraid it wouldn’t make it, because it was totally being dwarfed by the waves, but it made it, although it looked ridiculous. Then the Pilot climbed out and grabbed onto our ladder and climbed aboard the Explorer. I wouldn’t be able to do that, I’d fall in the water in much calmer sees, so it was pretty impressive. It would never have occurred to me that such a job exists, it’s interesting to think about the number of jobs you are entirely unaware of, but that probably exist, and then think about the people that do those jobs.
Then we waited to go through Immigration (which was very uneventful. They talked to a lot of other people, but just looked at my passport and waved me through). We stood by the gangplank forever, waiting for the Puerto Rican Secretary of State to come on so that the first field excursions could leave. We stood next to him for a long time without realizing it, and then we got to set foot in our first port!! We left on the walking tour, and walked around San Cristobal (a fortress built in 1634). It is one of the largest defenses ever built in the Americas, and spans 27 acres of land. It also has a unique modular design, with 5 independent units connected by a moat and tunnel each. It felt like a very old-fashioned but beautiful designed fort. Our guide Virginia was very sweet, and the views from the walls were breathtaking. It can’t have been too bad to be a soldier stationed there.
Then we walked the mile to El Morro. The streets have these awesome blue cobblestones that came from Spain. I love a lot of the apartments here. It’s an Old World (ie, Spain, Paris, Italy, etc) design, so much prettier than most of the cities in the US. There were also random dogs all over. I wonder if they’re strays, that would make me feel bad…
Upon reaching El Morro we walked around it with Virginia for a while, and then we were free to wander by ourselves. We wandered down a couple levels of the fortress, then up some spiral stairs (beautiful) and up to the top, and admired the views there. El Morro is the other large fort in Puerto Rico. It is a 6-level fortress begun in 1540 and finished in 1589. It rises 140 ft from the sea, with 18 ft thick walls. The fortress fell only once, to the Earl of Cumberland in a land assault. The fort is a maze of tunnels, moats, barracks, dungeons, ramps and outposts, with many guaritas (circular sentry boxes). It is also the largest fortification in the Caribbean. El Morro and San Cristobal are the two large fortresses left in Puerto Rico, but at one time there were a total of 5 across the island, because Puerto Rico was the strategic guardpost for the whole Caribbean for Spain.
After El Morro we wandered around downtown slowly and looked at lots of very pretty buildings, then met up with Teresa, Val, Cindy and Teresa’s friend Laura, and walked the mile or so back downtown. We walked around for hours shopping, watching Domino games, getting snowcones (at least that’s what we thought they were) and enjoying a very romantic fountain that we got yelled at for sitting on. It was honestly gorgeous, as is all of San Juan (and I’m very happily surprised by that). Then Jess and I stayed downtown while everyone else walked back to the ship, and we ate at a Venezuela restaurant recommended by Max Brandt (the ISE director). It was great, but we had to speedwalk the mile + back to the ship because we had to beat the sundown (we are docked in a not-so-nice neighborhood).
We spent the night relaxing, because we were exhausted, and I did some hw, talked to Amy and Andrew, watched a movie with Kaitie and Jess, and am now writing in this. ;-) Now I think it’s time for bed, even though tomorrow will be an easy day. Even the easy days seem to be incredibly long here…

Tuesday Jan 24, Puerto Rico day 2
Since I wasn’t signed up for any trips today I spent the morning relaxing on the ship and did some reading in the sun with Jess and my RD, Nicki. Then, once Steve and Kaitie got back we went downtown together and walked around, just enjoying random shops. I got a few souvenirs, but not many, and then we went back to the Venezuelan restaurant from the day before (Arapas y Muchos Mas, or something like that) and Steve and Kaitie ate while I had a snack. It turned out that was my dinner, but I didn’t know that at the time. Then we went to a grocery store and picked up some things they needed, and sat out and enjoyed the gorgeous view by the ocean on some benches by the outer wall of Old San Juan. It was absolutely beautiful, and we got some wonderful pictures in front of the fountain I sat at yesterday. Then we walked back so that we could be ready to go on our respective trips.
Then I had the most amazing experience of my life!!!!! Seriously. EVERYONE should go to this bioluminescent bay before they die (I think it is one of the top 100 places to go before you die, or one of the top 1,000 things to do before you die…not sure which). I wish all of you could have been here to experience it too!!! So, we had been planning an independent Bioluminescent Bay trip. However, SAS tried to put another trip together so we stopped setting up our own, and then they weren’t able to get permits to go again, so we had to scramble to set up an independent trip that would work. We were very successful, and 6 other girls (including Andrea and Teresa) and I left the ship at 7:45 to be picked up by Ruben, a driver for the company that set the trip up. Ruben (who is extremely nice, charismatic and hospitable) picked us up in a huge black van at 8 and we set off for the drive to the bay. The van had air conditioning and a dvd player, so we watched episodes of Alf (remember that show?) and Ruben sped (extremely quickly, but very safely, don’t be worried Mom & Dad) to the bay. We got there in an hour and 10 minutes, the SAS trip took like, 2 hours, but I’m guessing they took longer to get started because they had so many people. Our guide, Jose, fitted us with lifejackets and then we paired up and got into our kayaks (I was with Kayleigh). We had to paddle along a bit of the bay, and then went through a river that was totally surrounded by mangroves, so it was pitch black in there. We had to go against the current so it was pretty hard work, but Kayleigh and I were really fast (although we never really utilized our speed, we would just make sure to stay behind everyone else, because we were supposed to bring up the rear). When we got to the bay (I would guess it took half an hour or so) we were allowed to jump out of the kayaks into the bay. That’s where it got incredible, fast.
For those of you who don’t know what a bioluminescent bay is, here goes: there are these microscopic bacteria called dinoflagellate that live in salt water. When the water they are in is disturbed, or they feel threatened, they emit light that is many times their size. There are only 4 places in the world that they live in large enough concentrations to qualify as a bioluminescent bay (I think that means there are only 4 places where you can really notice them), and 3 of those are in Puerto Rico.
Back to my story: We jumped out of the kayaks and of course were immediately lit up. It was absolutely amazing, the outlines of our bodies were lit up and totally illuminated and…there’s no way to really explain how amazing it is. It is kind of like swimming in millions of stars, that only illuminate when you move. The most amazing part was when you lifted your hand out of the water, and you could see the individual bits of light, and they were just flowing through your hand. They would seem to sit there and sparkle and just…I was completely in awe, because the stars above were also absolutely incredible. We actually went skinnydipping (well, just took off our bottoms)!! How many people in the world can say that they have been skinnydipping in a bioluminescent bay? I now know of 7!!!! Hehe, don’t worry Jose didn’t see anything. Anyway, we swam around for a long time, I totally lost track of time, but I would guess it was another 40 minutes. Then we had to get back in our kayaks and head back to the beach. On the way back it was easier, because we were going with the current. Kayleigh and I actually let the current carry us for a long time, and went slowly so that we could appreciate as much of the bioluminescence as we could.
Unfortunately, all amazing things must come to an end, and we made it back to the beach. We took lots of pictures with Jose (I didn’t bring my camera so I will get them from the other girls sometime soon), who taught us several Spanish phrases including “Vamos para caille!!!” (or something like that. Not sure how the last word is spelled) which means “Let’s go to the street!!!” (let’s go clubbing) and then hopped back on the bus and changed out of our wet bathing suits. Ruben played Shanghai Noon on the way back, and took us to a authentic, small Puerto Rican bar with only older locals there. We got pina coladas and then hit the road again, after Ruben and I lamented the fact that we were only in town another day. He said that the things I’d seen already were just the tip of the iceberg, and there is so much more to Puerto Rico, and I honestly believe him. He said that if I ever come back I should call his company sooner and then he’ll take us out to see what real Puerto Rico is like, and not just the tourist attractions. I plan on taking him up on it, because I adore it here. Anyway, he took the scenic route back to the ship (even though he stilly drove insanely quickly. Did you know you’re allowed to run red lights in Puerto Rico? If you stop and make sure no one else is coming?) and we passed an area that used to be a slave compound, and the beach with a long gorgeous view of the ocean. The land of the slave compound was actually given to the freed slaves upon their emancipation, whatever year that was in Puerto Rico. Then we got back to the ship and said goodbye to Ruben and got onboard.
Honestly, this was the most amazing night of my life. It’s so late right now, and I have to get up before 7:30 but I am so excited and invigorated still. Now I understand how people really don’t sleep on this voyage. There’s just too much incredible stuff to do, why miss a moment of it to sleep? And you’re not even really that tired while you’re in port because you’re constantly just doing things; things that you may never have the chance in your life to do again. I am going to force myself to go to bed now, though, because I get to horseback ride early tomorrow morning!
This night was better than even my wildest dreams. I hope everyone experiences things like this in their life.

Wednesday Jan 25, Puerto Rico day 3 (last day L)
Puerto Rico’s slogan is: “You’re not dreaming, you’re in Puerto Rico.” It’s honestly the best way to describe my time here. I was so pleasantly surprised (what an understatement) with everything here, I did not expect it to be this wonderful at all. It makes me think, if I had such an amazing time here, imagine what I’m going to think about all the other places we go. Right now I’m so afraid that my memory is not going to be able to do this voyage justice at all. I’m afraid I’m going to forget things, like the way the dinoflagellate sparkled on my fingers as I tread the water in the lagoon, and then I’ll never remember how incredible these amazing moments were. Will they be trivialized? I hope not. I hope I can savor them for the rest of my life. I hope my memory doesn’t diminish the greatness of the way I feel, and my incredible excitement at everything I’m doing.
Now I’m sitting here in my cabin, just as we’ve left San Juan. The ship has begun its rocking again, although it’s quite gentle at the moment. It’s already a very familiar sensation to me. I’m very very very sad to leave, but less so than I think I will be in other ports because I actually think I can and will come back here (this summer, if at all possible!!!) In the past few moments I have also forced myself to accept that we had to leave, although I didn’t want to. So in a way I’m glad that we’re leaving (although 5 minutes ago I couldn’t have imagined saying that). It means that, although I will no longer be in cell phone contact with anyone (although some of you, *ahem Mother* never answered your cell phones) for three months, I am really off on this incredible voyage. In a way I feel like Puerto Rico was just a preview, an introductory port, if you will, and the rest of the ports are the body of the voyage (not sure where the climax will be yet), and the conclusion is San Diego. So I’m glad to be off, having classes again and heading to Brazil.
Anyway, on to my last day in Puerto Rico. We got up very early to go on our horseback riding excursion. We drove an hour to the ranch (Buena Vista Ranch) and then got to get on hour horses after an introductory video. Our guide, Jerry, gave me an ornery horse because he decided I looked like I could handle her. Not sure why, but I eventually did. I named her Troy (and after I was told that Troy was a she, I changed it to Mrs. Troy) after my favorite football player, Troy Polamalu. At the beginning, though, Mrs. Troy proved very stubborn, and in the corral she cleared a circle that only she was allowed in, and kept moving around it at her own pleasure, regardless of what I tried to “order” her to do. Once we got moving I quickly controlled her, although when we stopped she still would try to resist my control by trying to eat the bit or trying to pull the reins out of my hand by lowering her head extremely far. She even walked me into the branches of a tree and almost stuck me there, but I got us both out (pictures of that, and others of Mrs. Troy and I will be on my blog). After that I showed her who was boss (in the nicest but most firm way possible) and we got along quite fine. She kept trying to get in front of the leader, but I kept her a few horses behind him on purpose. Then, we went on the beach!!!! I have always wanted to horseback ride on a beach and it was beautiful!!! Mrs. Troy and I actually cantered on the beach, and I did so well (I guess riding is one of those things that you can do after a long break and still remember how to do). It was so much fun.
After the ride we came back and had lunch and headed to the Bacardi factory, a large group of 11 of us. It was really cool learning how they make rum (the factory is actually set on what looks like a college campus. It’s prettier than Pitt), and we got to record some video messages and send them out (expect one soon!) and we got to sample a free new drink. Then we took the ferry back to Old San Juan and I got some Puerto Rican music (I’m not sure what to expect from it. My friends and I have decided to each get a CD in each port and then swap music). 9 of us ate at a restaurant called Mofongo, which is the name of a traditional Puerto Rican food. The waiters were very friendly, and the food was good, so we relaxed there for a long time until we decided to head back to the ship. On the way we stopped at the sailboat of Classafloat (http://www.classafloat.com/), a boat with 63 people on it that sails around. Students on that are 16-19 years old, and have a very different experience than we do. I’m sure it would be awesome too.
Then we hurried back to the ship so we could make it on without getting dock time (if we’re late, we have to stay on the ship for a few hours in the next port) and we made it early so I called Amy for a last time and said goodbye, and watched us leave, and now I’m writing this. I’m going to go shower and do some reading.
Second A day tomorrow. And to think, we already have our first test in global studies in less than a week. I don’t think there’s anything they could really test us on, much less make up 50 questions…we’ll see…

first few days!!!!

2006-01-21T12:51:00.000-05:00

The view of the pool and the back of the ship.
Here's Valerie and Jess out on the deck, they live right down from me.
This is the hotel we stayed at.

Pre-boarding, Nassau, Bahamas
The first few days of my trip were spent in Nassau. Steve (a guy from my physics class back at Pitt) and I were on the same flight down to Nassau, and we thought that Kaitie (a girl from NJ who goes to Marist and was sharing a room with us once we got to the Bahamas) was on our flight. It turns out she was on a Continental flight, and we were on US Air, but things worked out in the end. Our flight was uneventful, the highlight was when I got to stretch out across all three seats in my row and take a nice nap. Then, we got to Nassau and went through immigration (a very nice officer kept me briefly entertained by talking to me for a few minutes, I was slightly nervous but he was just interested in the SAS program and what I was doing), and joined up with a girl named Ivonna to get our bags and take a taxi to the hotel. Well, Steve and I got our bags fine, but one of Ivonna’s bags was lost so we spent a good hour at the airport waiting for her to look for it and then fill out paperwork. The busboy who helped us got us complimentary drinks from a Bacardi stand, and then we trouped into a taxi and to the hotel. We weren’t allowed to check in yet, so we sat around for a while and talked to other SASers who were stuck without rooms for a while. By the time we could get into the room, Jess was due so we dropped off our stuff and went to pick her up. Then we met Kaitie and our room was full.
The next two days we hung around the beach for the mornings, and explored Nassau in the afternoons. Tuesday afternoon we went downtown, ate at Senor Frogs and then wandered around downtown. We didn’t really find any shops or anything else that interested us, and spent lots of time refusing hair-braidings and jet-ski rides. Then we wandered back to the hotel, ate at the restaurant there, and took a long moonlit walk on the beach and then went swimming at 11pm. J Wednesday was very cloudy and it rained a little, so we went and ate at the Fish Fry (a strip-mallish area with many ‘authentic’ Bahamian restaurants) and went to the zoo because we had nothing else to do. The zoo had these flamingos that marched around to commands by their trainer, and they put on a very interesting show. I loved the layout of the zoo, and there were a bunch of animals there that I just would love to have as pets (but unfortunately never will). Then, since we still had three hours of daylight left we went to this forest that we saw a flier for at the zoo. It was called the Bash forest and it is one of the last remaining true ecosystems of the Bahamas, and the government wants to tear it down and put up touristy buildings. So, we went and it turns out it’s ‘owned’ by a group that runs a drug-rehab center. It’s for recovering addicts who want to have a better life, so they raise farm animals and sell horseback rides and wash cars, etc, to raise money. We spent a long time talking to a few of them, most notably Julien who was educated in Michigan and is a pharmacist. We also saw a hermaphrodite goat (how weird is that?). Then we went back to the hotel and ate and watched Law and Order and Sex and the City, and then went to bed so we could get up early.
In a way, the Bahamas make me sad because they are so entirely based on tourism. I feel as if the people have to debase themselves in a way, and are forced to act in a certain way. And I wonder, what would they become if they didn’t have to offer to braid hair or rent jet-skis to tourists? I bet they could be so much more. Also, I hate to wonder what would happen if the economies of other countries failed, and tourism went down. It makes me sad, as I said, but I’m sure I’m going to encounter much more of this…

Thursday Jan 19, Nassau, Bahamas
Today we went to the port and waited to board the ship. Jess and Kaitie were in the first group of the alphabet so they boarded really early. Steve and I were not so lucky, and we had to wait for 2 ½ hours until we could get to the boarding area. We met a lot of people in line, and I’ve kept running into a bunch of them now that we’re on the ship. They didn’t check my bags, but the checked a lot of other people’s, so I got to go straight to the ship, and since there was no one after me they interviewed me for a little before I got on. Then, I came up to my room and met my roommate, Andrea, and Jess’s roommate, Valeria, and unpacked. We walked around and met a bunch of other people, and then had a muster drill. At 5 the ship left Nassau and now we’re at sea!!! It’s much rockier than the other ships I’ve been on, but I actually think the rooms are bigger. Andrea and I are entirely unpacked, and we seem to have plenty of space. We had ship meetings for much of the night, meeting the captain and crew, and our rds (I’m in the Bering Sea, as is Jess. It turns out, we’re only three rooms from each other, and Steph is across from them, so most people I know are right near me).
So far I haven’t really felt seasick. My head is dizzy, but I think I’m dealing better than most people are. I am really hungry, and the food on the ship seems to be great so far! I’m not keeping my hopes up that it will remain this way, I’ve heard it gets much worse as we go on. The boat rocks so much that it is extremely difficult to walk, much more so than the cruises I’ve been on. That might be because, on our first night at sea, we are going through a small storm. Oh well, at least we’ll probably get used to it being bad, and then the normal sea will feel easy to us. By the time we were done with meetings, we went to snacktime and filled out our roommate agreements, and now it’s time for bed.
Tomorrow we have a long day ahead of us. I’m very excited! It’s mostly an orientation day, but we have our first Global Studies class, and I am very excited to have my first full day on the ship! Going to breakfast at 8am, so I should go to bed now. Andrea is already in bed, and I feel bad with the lights on, so I will now.
Right now I wonder if I will become friends with any of these people that I have met this first day. Have they been random encounters, or will they be longer-lasting friendships. So far it seems like me, Jess, Kaitie, Valerie and Steve are going to be a tight crew, with Andrea, and maybe some other people I have yet to foresee. I am very excited, that’s a good group, and it should all be great!
Yay!!!

Friday Jan 20, SAS Day 1: Orientation
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” –Marcel Proust
That is the quote of the day. The day was an interesting first full day, I hope that the rest of the trip goes this way. I haven’t even been awake for 12 hours yet and it has been such a long day. It started early with breakfast and an Introduction of the Faculty and Staff (it was nice to see my professors for the first time). Then we sat out on the deck and relaxed for a few hours. It was surprisingly cold, because of the wind and clouds, but still my face got a little sunburned. Jess, Val, Kate and I ate lunch with Mackayla (from Vancouver) and Eric from NY, and then we talked outside for a while until we had an impromptu sing-along with two Daves and a Theresa. It was awesome, and the time passed much too quickly and soon we had to go to Global Studies. We barely found seats when we got there, because it turns out that the whole ship takes Global Studies! Even the staff and other teachers! Professor Sheldon gave his first lecture and he stripped to emphasize a point about globalization!!! It was hilarious, he seems very funny and very interested in geography and SAS, so I’m sure that will be a good class. Found it very hard to stay awake though, due to the rocking of the ship.
After Global Studies we had a presentation by Safety Officer Pear (who reminds me of an actor whose name I don’t know) and a long talk by the Student Life Director. Then it was free time, so I relaxed and ate dinner with Andrea and now I’m writing this.
Still to come tonight- a briefing by the Field Office on embarkation and debarkation and how to sign up for more trips, and then another Bering Sea Meeting. Hopefully it won’t end too late, because I want to do something fun (like play Apples to Apples or watch a movie) before we go to bed somewhat early, since our first day of classes starts tomorrow! It’s an A day, so I only have Global Studies at 9:20 and World Music at 10:45, but that means I’m done with class at noon! I wonder what we’ll do with the rest of the day, because we most likely won’t have real work yet. Maybe I’ll actually find the time to send this out and check my email for the first time. That sounds like a good idea to me!!!

Saturday, Jan 21, Day 2 (A1)
Today was our first day of classes and Global Studies was interesting, the first two professors spoke about Puerto Rico and Latin America and globalization, and the third speaker spoke about Health Issues in Latin America. She had these slides, and she went so quickly that we could barely keep up. It was entertaining. Then I had World Music which seems like it will be a good class. Now I'm done for the day. We just had lunch as a Sea and did our cheers for everyone else. They were scared, lol. Now I am uploading images, and checking my email, and sending out an email and basically just multitasking so I try to make the best use of my internet minutes that I can. I'll be done here in a few minutes, and then I'm going to go outside with Jess (don't worry, I'll wear sunscreen this time) and we're going to read on the deck for who knows how long. That's all I really have planned for tonight, it's our first pub night and I think I'm going to get some drinks to have at dinner, and maybe a few to have afterwards. I haven't really had a chance to talk to people about it yet though.
I feel so weird having people wait on me all the time. I keep my room clean, but it's so unusual having them do my laundry and change my towels and make my bed. And then at meals having people clear my place and pour me drinks and serve me ice cream...I guess I'll get used to it, but I feel kind of bad.
Right, my photos are done uploading now, so I'm going to go. Sorry this entry was so short but I was just using up my time.
Email me!!!!

i leave tomorrow!!!!!

2006-01-15T19:36:00.000-05:00

I am so excited!!! Tomorrow morning at 8:30 I will be flying to the Bahamas!!!! And then Thursday I will get on the ship (b/w 10am-12noon) and then I'm off!!!!!!
There're some things that aren't going as I planned already, but I'm not daunted and I'm sure it is going to be an absolutely amazing trip. I mean, it's really not a big deal that my laptop didn't get back from the shop in time (although it's being shipped right now, i bet it'll get here on tuesday and just miss me, lol), because I'm just using an old laptop that we had (and by old, I mean the laptop I used until October). It works fine, it's just a little hot and noisy sometimes, but I don't plan on having it on 24/7 so it should be alright. I won't be able to watch DVDs on it, but I'm sure I'll make do somehow. It should do everything I need it to.
Wachovia has taken a week to process a check I deposited and so I haven't been able to withdraw money from it. Hopefully I don't need lots of cash right away when I get to the Bahamas, but I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
I have two bags, a big army duffle and a medium sized rolling duffle. I am probably going to buy another bag in China or Vietnam or something, and then figure out how I'm bringing them home later. Because I have yet to figure out how I'm going to get home. I want to see if I can convince my dad to fly out to San Diego and then fly back with me. But I haven't brought it up yet, maybe I will on the drive to the airport tomorrow.
Honestly, I'm really nervous right now. I don't know what to expect, and that's the way it's supposed to be. I know that I have packed everything I wanted to, but once I'm on the ship I'm going to wonder why I brought certain things and regret not bringing others. But I feel like I'm mentally not prepared for the trip. I guess it's the unknown...
It's time for me to go now, dinner and final preparations.
I'll try to update next I can.

2005-12-22T17:26:00.000-05:00

Here's the way to send mail to each of the ports:

PORT, Address of Port Agent, Suggested Airmail Date
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Phone: 787-982-8888
Fax: 787-982-8890
Cruise Plus Service & Sales
1760 Fernandez Juncos Avenue
San Juan, Puerto Rico, 00909
Jan. 09

Salvador, BRAZIL
Phone: 55 71 241 4990
Fax: 55 71 243 5633
Oceanus Agencia Maritima
Av. Estados Unidos,
5557th Floor/Room 71240015-010
Salvador, BAHIA-BRASIL
Jan. 18

Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA
Phone: 27 21 419 8660
Fax: 27 21 421 6984
John T. Rennie & Sons
P.O. Box 7021 Thibault House
8000 Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA
Jan. 31

Port Louis, MAURITIUS
Phone: 230 202 7040
Fax: 230 208 5814
Ireland Blyth, Ltd.
1 Queen Street
P.O. 53
Port Louis, MAURITIUS
Feb. 11

Chennai, INDIA
Phone: 91 44 252 12032
Fax: 91 44 252 43813
J.M. Baxi & CO.
3rd Floor, Clive Battery Complex
4 & 4A, Rajaji Salai
Chennai-600 001, INDIA
Feb. 23

Yangon, MYANMAR
Phone: 95 1 256 913
Fax: 95 1 256 321
Myanmar Port Authority Sea Horse Agency
347/1st Floor, Mahabandoola Road
Kyauktada, Yangon, MYANMAR
Mar. 02

Ho Chi Minh City, VIETNAM
Phone: 84 8 823 1052
Fax: 84 8 824 2996
General Forwarding & Agency Co., Inc.
5th Fl. OSIC Bldg.
8 Nguyen Hue Avenue
Dist. 1, Ho Chi Minh City, VIETNAM
Mar. 11

Hong Kong
Phone: 852 2746 7312
Fax: 852 2744 3240
Inchcape Shipping Services (Hong Kong) Ltd.
Units 1802-1805, 18/F
No. 3 Lockhart Road
Wanchai, HONG KONG-China
Mar. 20

Qingdao, PRC
Phone: 86 532 2653 332
Fax: 86 532 2655 752
Penavico Qingdao
21 Wuxia Road
Quingdao, 266002, P. R. CHINA
Mar. 24

Kobe, JAPAN
Phone: 34 94 424 2100
Fax: 34 94 424 0123
Inchcape Shipping Services
Kenryu Bldg. Room 5026,
Kaigan-dori, Chuo-ku
KOBE-shi, Hyogo-ken 650 0024, JAPAN
Mar. 28

home free until the trip!

2005-12-14T17:08:00.000-05:00

My last final was today! And I passed OChem 2!!! So I am free until the trip!!! Yayyyy!!!! (think I can use enough exclamation marks?) I am almost all packed to go home, too, and I think I'm pretty set preparation-wise for SAS, except that I really don't feel like I'm ready at all. Maybe that'll develop as break progresses, but right now I feel so unprepared and have no clue what I should be doing.
I do have to decide what I'm doing for the summer before we leave. Or maybe not, but I'd really rather have decided by then. I can't decide until my mom finds out if she got me a job at the embassy in Shanghai, though. If that doesn't happen, I need to find somewhere for both me and my sister (and maybe my brother?) to stay here in Pittsburgh. Because I want to be here over the summer, if I'm not in China or Australia (and Australia won't happen, unfortunately).
...a lot of things to decide before I go, but that's not going to happen, so I guess I'll just have to try to multi-task on the internet minutes on the ship.
I'm going to dislike saying goodbye to everyone here before I go. It'll be nice to come back for a few days in January and not have to go to classes or anything, but I haven't decided how I'm getting out here, and I won't look forward to saying goodbye to everyone. They might throw me a goodbye party though, hehe. :-) That would be fantabulous.
Wow, I am so tired now, so I'm cutting this entry short, and getting sleep. Stupid 3 hours of sleep in the past two nights...at least i'm done though!!!!!!!!! And the rest of the week is going to be so much fun, I have plans every night (except for Friday night, lol). And I'm super excited for the basketball game on Sat (though it'll be my last one :-()

And now i'm going to upload a picture just to see how it goes. Well, it went to the top of my entry. Let's try again.

Hmm, it just said it uploaded them but it didn't....weird.

field programs

2005-11-28T17:20:00.000-05:00

Well, I have officially spent way too long going over the Final Field Program booklet and picking out everything I want to do. I even went through and wrote down every day and decided what I thought I would do then. I left plenty of days open, but I made sure to fit in FDPs so that I knew I could fit them all in. Things I really want to do:
South Africa: Go to the Winelands and spend at least two days there. This may be expensive but I am so excited for it. If possible, and we can find cheep accommodations, I'd love to spend three days there. I also can't wait to go skydiving!!!!!!!! I have been wanting to forever, and I figure that doing it in South Africa (which apparently has one of the best skydiving views in the world) will be so much better than doing it in NJ (which is just NJ). I can't wait!!!! I am going to talk to Melissa and see if she planned it before she got there or just found someplace when she got there.
India: The Taj Mahal!!!!! It's going to be a lot of traveling and a lot of getting up early (ie, no sleeping) but it should be so incredible!
Myanmar: That's where my mom is planning on meeting me, so seeing her will be cool :-)
Vietnam: Going to Cambodia. I have heard that the Cambodia trip is extremely moving and even though it'll force me to only have two days to spend in Vietnam, I really can't wait to do that trip. I wasn't going to, but the more I read the description the more set I am on it. I don't really know what to say about it, but I think it might be the trip I am most eagerly awaiting (aside from the whole trip :-D).
Hong Kong: A trip to Beijing. I mean, if I don't do a trip to Beijing, I would only get two days in Hong Kong and two days in Qindao. And If I do a trip to Beijing, I get one day in Hong Kong and one day in Qindao and I still get 4 days in Beijing. And I get to go to the Great Wall!!! And the Forbidden Palace!!!! And Tiananmen Square!!!! I am so excited for this one too, even though I'll get to see all these things again over the summer when I go visit my mom in China too.
Japan: I want to go to Hiroshima, and I want to see CHISATO!!!!!!!!!

Right, that's enough for now. I should get back to what I'm supposed to be doing- studying for finals.

It's approaching!!

2005-11-26T20:03:00.000-05:00

I leave for the Bahamas in less then two months! Only two more weeks of classes here, and then finals, and then i'm home and all I'll have to do is prepare for SAS. i'm already getting so nervous and feeling like I don't know anything and I won't be ready in time. We FINALLY got our course registration stuff last week, except I didn't get mine until this four days after a lot of other people. I don't get how it could take such different amounts of time to get from one place to the same spot, b/c my other friends here on campus got it so much earlier than I did. Oh well, I walked it in so I still should have it in early enough that I should get all the classes I want.

I have a hotel room, and am sharing with Jess, maybe Steve and a girl from New Jersey named Caitie. We'll be at the Nassau Beach Hotel from 1/16-1/19, when we leave!! I don't have my plane ticket yet because Jess may be flying to NJ from Chicago and then we'd fly from Newark to the Bahamas together. I hope she gets back to me soon though, because I'm starting to feel that I really should book my flight.

I've started doing some reading for the countries we're going to, I just read a recommended book on China ('The Middle Heart') which was good, now I'm reading a book on Vietnam. This one isn't fiction, but so far I like it. It's hard to do all the reading I feel I should and do all my schoolwork too. Especially because these next two weeks I really should be studying a lot, since all my finals are on the first three days. After the first day, though, I can relax a bit because OChem 2 will be done, as will psych. The rest of my exams shouldn't be that hard.

Let's see, I've also been reading lots of things on the messageboard about what alums packed and what they recommend. I'm definitely bringing my laptop, so I'm really glad I got this new one (which I love so much). I have a Christmas list already that is mostly things for SAS. They're all little things, because really I just want money that I can spend in the countries on souvenirs and presents for people. I can already tell I'm going to spend a ton of money, much more than I should, but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity so I should make the best of it.

I sent in my visa stuff a while ago, I do wish that the SAS office sent us things earlier than they do, but I guess they have a lot on their plates with trying to find a new sponsor and all. So I can't blame them too much, I'm just impatient to know all that I can and do anything I can. It's so distracting, I can't do anything this semester because I keep being like, "I need to look up stuff for SAS instead b/c it's more fun!!!" Lol. Oh well. I still need to get malaria medication, figure out what I'm doing for housing next year and figure out what I'm doing this summer, all before I leave. ACK! Those're big things to do, especially because most of my friends don't even have to think about housing yet so they're not worried, but I am because I can't decide who I'm living with. Argh.

Well, I'm going to go now, I have to go play at a men's basketball game.