Hakuna Matata-Namibia

So while I was not actually in the Lion King while in Namibia I will say that our bus trip to Etosha National Reserve did sing this song on many occasions so it is somewhat appropriate. To start off we had our first diplomatic briefing while when we landed in Namibia and also enjoyed a performance from a local children's choir when after the meeting. There were maybe 20 young girls that ranged between 5 and 14 years old. They were absolutely amazing and dacned around while they sang. I swear they had about double the attitude of most of the competition dancers I have ever seen, somethign to live up to for me! Once we finally got to get off the bus we drove around Walvis Bay for a little bit to see some of the stores and stuff, after that we stopped in Swakopmund. There we got money and stopped in a grocery store for some chips and food for the long drive. We stopped quite a bit on the drive, which we were told would be about 4 hours beforehand, but another one of the buses had broken down and some girls had to go to the bathroom a lot, so it ended up taking about 8 HOURS!!! Once we got to our camp our guides, George and Milner, fixed dinner which was simply spaghetti with meat sauce, but I have never had such amazing food before. This was partially because it was raining outside and Emily and I had to set up our tent with Milner's help, but overall we were tired enough as is. Surprisingly the bus ride actually didn't seem that long at all. We got to see some of the dunes and local villages as we drove through and stopped in them. It was such a huge change from Morocco, the people were amazingly friendly, and not in a creepy way. They were honestly curious about us, and we were told later that our ship amounts for about 10% of the entire tourists that traveled in Namibia for the entire year!

 

Our camp was in Okaukuejo and our campsite was ridiculously nice. The bathrooms were immaculate for a campsite and they had various stores you could get necessities and non-essentials as well. They had 2 awesome swimming pools and even small kitchens that we would hang out in while our guides made dinner, often with us offering to help. Our group was quite interesting in that there were 13 girls and 1 boy, I'm pretty sure our guides were just happy we didn't continue to say "AW!" every time we saw an animal. Nevertheless we were a very fun group and very silly indeed. We started our safari when we left the next morning at 6:30 AM, we were the first bus to go out on the first fame drive! We saw a ton of giraffe, zebra, springbok, oryx, and ostrich among others. We came back for breakfast and realized to our great pleasure that the guides had provided us with Nutella, which I think was a godsend to us. I'm pretty sure we finished it by the end of the day. Our second game drive was after breakfast and that was when we saw our major excitement. We found 2 LIONS underneath a tree very close to the road. the crazy part was that they had just finished eating a zebra whose carcass was right next to them. As gross as I normally would find this it was really cool to see this so close. The last game drive we tried finding some cheetah, but there ended up being only 1 bus that actually found them so it wasn't too bad. We got to see a lot of the landscape and this huge watering hole. There were apparently some rhino near a watering hole at our camp but I missed that. We did have jackals that would come into our camp eery night as well, which meant we had to keep our shoes inside the tent so they didn't steal them! The nice thing about dinner on the second night was that our guides made us traditional Namibian food which was almsot like a mashed potatoes with salsa on top, and it was naturally very good.

 

The last day we woke up early to pack up all of our things. This time I slept through a lot of the drive which definitely did not take as long, but was still about 6 hours. It was a little more uncomfortable because we had been using the same bus for the entire trip so I was definitely ready to get back on the ship by the end of the time. We stopped in various pit stops and Swakopmund again to do a little shopping and buy some stamps to send pastcards and such. Overall I really enjoyed our short stay in Namibia and I've heard some amazing stories from my roommates about sand boarding and other thigns on the dunes. I definitely want to go back!

 

Today was called South Africa day because it was all about prepping us for Capetown tomorrow. I am SO pumped for this, I was actually planning on applying to Rhodes University through Geneseo if Semester at Sea didn't work out. Unfortunately I have caught a little bit of a cold from camping in the rain, but I have been starting to feel better. I can't be sick while trying to enjoy South Africa! I have a ton of neat things planned and I'll write back on Sunday afterwards!

I'm no longer a Pollywog!

The past 8 days have actually gone by really quick and I am definitely VERY excited to go to Namibia tomorrow. I will be going on a safari for the whole time so hopefully I'll have some good stories then to tell you. From the first day back we did start back to work, which was kind of a shock considering we hadn't had class for about 8 days. I'm pretty sure I even forgot when World Dance actually was, don't fret Mom I did make it in time! I was actually pretty excited for Global to cover some African Politics, which they did in the beginning, but after that they switched to the theme of "Out of Africa" and early humans which isn't exactly my cup of tea. We finished learning the Sevillanas in World Dance and now we are working on belly dancing. I definitely enjoy this a lot more and it's really fun! My group is hoping to do a hula for the last project which should be pretty fun, and also gives us quite a bit of time to work on it.

 

I have also been working on the Ambassador's committee to plan the ball at the end of the semester. It will be when we cross through the Panama Canal at the very end of our trip. Our theme is "Sea of Dreams" and I am working on the entertainment aspect of the night. Its kinda a little like prom, but hopefully not exactly the same. We might be having the World Dance professor perform with some students, and then we were hoping to get one of the administrators to perform as well, which would be SO funy, maybe even some of the kids on board. Overall it should be a really fun night, and I'm enjoying helping plan it. An exciting addition is that they extended lunch so that now I can get some in the last 15 minutes on A days. They also extended breakfast, but I rarely wake up in time for that.

 

I have been going to the yoga classes, but I think I might switch to the Pilates because, as my roomie Cassie would say, "it's like yoga on 'roids!" I definitely felt more of a workout after this. I've been trying to stay active on the boat because we don't have too much time for that while we are in port. I received my first Vicarious Voyage package at the beginning of our time at sea and it was too cute. They actually remind me a great deal of the students that Mom teaches at Randall. I also met my extended family, which is where they assign certain students to an older member on staff and we have dinner and stuff every now and then. Mine is our communications director, which is kind of funny because he is only 23. I have friends that are students on board that are the same age! Our family includes 12 students in total so its actually pretty big, it was fun and I recognized some of them but not all which was cool.

 

I have been hanging out a great deal with the roomies, Cassie and Megan, and we have been having a pretty good time lately. One day they served french fries for lunch and I'm pretty sure Cassie and I went through about 2 full plates of them together, it was SO GOOD!!! The funny part is that about halfway through our second plate, Megan came up with a plateful herself. Its kind of funny how often we are on the same wavelength hahaha. We actually made a really funny document called our "Roomie Pact". Megan wrote it and here is some parts of it, but we have added more items since then:

 

~THE ROOMIE PACT OF 3117~

**NOTHING SHALL BE STOLEN OR PICK POCKETED THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE VOYAGE**
As simple as it seems, this is a big undertaking. Pick pocketing is a major issue in each of the countries, which several students have already experienced. Apparently by the time we reach Guatemala it’s easier to leave a pile of valuables to save thieves the trouble. We refuse to be dumb tourists.

**SYLVIE MUST BE CONVERTED TO COUNTRY MUSIC**
This one is actually working! Not that she has a choice. Cassie and I take all iTunes deejay control. Having a roommate who matches my love for country is rare, and we take full advantage of it. 2 vs. 1 = we win! Sylvie is a good sport though.

**ALL MUST SING TO 90'S MUSIC, REGARDLESS OF ABILITY OR CHEESINESS**
Self explanatory. Yes, this is as special as it sounds.

**CASSIE AND MEGAN MUST LEARN TO CONTROL THEIR CRAP**
To my family: I know what you are thinking. Shutup, Cassie is the same or worse than me :) Thankfully, Sylvie is not a neat freak and is very accepting of our inability to corral our clutter.

**ALL MUST CONTRIBUTE TO THE STOLEN FOOD PILE**
Big signs are plastered all over the ship: “Food should not be removed from the dining area!”We read them as we stuff fruit, bread and little cereal boxes into any available pocket. There’s just something about set meal times that brings hunger exactly when food isn’t being served. What can we do? These people are picky about their rolls.

**NO BEDTIME WITHOUT DOING "X" NUMBER OF PUSHUPS**
Our food shelf usually contains many chocolate bars from the most recently visited country. Good, but oh so very bad. Bedtime pushups are our attempt at justifying ourselves.
       
**SYLVIE MUST LEARN THE FINE ART OF CHOWING DOWN**
Felicia, I finally found a slower eater than you! It’s a bit ridiculous. We call her Grandma.

**CASSIE MUST ACKNOWLEDGE THAT GLOBAL STUDIES IS MANDATORY**
This is a pretty pointless class, but still. She doesn’t sleep through it purposely, but the alarm is not her friend. Also, she has to stop claiming, "Sure, I'll go to breakfast tomorrow!" We know how that ends by now.

**ALL MUST REMEMBER THE KEY CARDS**
We’ve each locked ourselves out a few times. A good thing about being in a triple is there’s always someone in the room to save you, otherwise you pay to get a temp key. New rule: every time this happens, we have to donate $1 to our personal Roomie Fund (to be used at the end of the semester).

We have added things about my sleep talking, and attaining the ability to sing "We didn't start the fire" and "Its the end of the World as we know it" by the end of the trip. Overall we are definitely happy with the living situation and have no idea why it costs so much less to be in a triple. To all future SASers, get the cheapest one possible, its definitely worth it!

 

NEPTUNE DAYYYYY!!!!!!!!!

 

This was a couple of days ago and I have explained it to many of you but here it goes. When one has never crossed the Equator on a ship before one is known as a "Pollywog" and once one has been initiated one is called a "Shellback". The initiation included the staff banging on our doors playing drums at about 7:30 AM and then herding us up to the pool deck. There a whole bunch of the staff and the Captain were all dressed up in crazy attire. The ritual involves dumping "fish guts" on the pollywogs, making them kiss a fish, kiss "Kind Neptune's" ring and bow to his queen. I have several pictures of them dumping what was basically just green water on me and jumping into the pool. Many people also shave their heads on this day, including 11 girls on the whole ship. Needless to say I kept my hair, because I'm pretty sure my dance teachers at home would not be happy with me if I did end up shaving it hahaha. The rest of the day was spent just hanging out in the sun, but one of my favorite parts was the AMAZING dinner! It was basically a picnic on the pool deck with burgers, hot dogs, corn on the cob, baked beans, fresh fruit, and ice cream sundaes we could make. Everyone was so excited because our meals are alright, but literally the same thing day after day so this was an awesome change.

 

Since Neptune Day I have just been finishing up my work, and I have had two midterms ALREADY! The weird part is that now we will have 9 days of no class at all. Getting used to this is very strange, but they definitely cram in the tests as much as they can now. I had two that were back to back, but I'm pretty sure I did alright. We had the cultural pre-port for Namibia last night which was fine, but the part on Namibia only lasted about 30 minutes. After that they talked about Darwin for an hour because it was his 200th birthday. I find this really amusing and I will say that I made an inappropriate comment about how Semester at Sea has an "affinity" for the sciences. I'll keep this clean though. We have our logistical pre-port in a little bit and then we get to watch some episodes of "The Office" later which should be pretty funny. I'm actually impressed how they try to keep us updated on things like that, the inauguration and even the Superbowl. I'm sure I'll have much more exciting things to tell everyone after Namibia, plus I have South Africa right afterwards. Should be pretty cool!

 

Here's lookin' at you kid-Casablanca

So no I didn't really spend that much time in Casablanca but I did have an amazing time while in Morocco. Before I get to those adventures, after we left Spain we headed to Gibraltar to get fuel, but the seas were really rough. Basically we ended up tied to another ship, but unable to get fuel overnight so we missed our first day in Morocco. They either cancelled trips or reworked them so they would fit in only 3 days in Morocco. I would definitely not have wanted to work in the Field office because they were the ones that had to deal with everyone's questions and issues. The first night at sea in between Cadiz and Casablanca we watched the Superbowl but the funny part was that for good picture we had to watch it in German. Trust me, the Superbowl is much different when it is in German and people are asking you to translate. The second day was soooooooooo long because we were supposed to be in Morocco and we were stuck on the ship. I was being stubborn and refusing to put on the seasickness patch for just a day or two so I was not feeling too good for the majority of time in between Spain and Morocco. A lot of the time I slept but sometimes I had to leave the lectures to go back to the room to feel better. Nothing was actually required of us, but there were certain preport lectures and such to go to but I just found out later what happened if I had to leave. I hung out with my roomies a lot for those days because everyone was pretty much sick and in their rooms or just playing cards. The night before we arrived we had a safety lecture by our Safety officer, Joe, who used to work for the LAPD in various units. This was absolutely hilarious because he kept on pickpocketing certain students to get his point accross and no one expected it. We also had our second open mic night which was really good as usual, but a lot of the acts blended together because they were just so many.

 

I was definitely ready for Morocco once we got there. I got an early breakfast with the roomies and then left on the bus for Marrakech. We slept for most of the way there, which was about 4 hours. We stopped at a beautiful restaurant that resembled the Alcazar in my mind because of the designs on the walls and the various mosaics. ?The meal was absolutely delicious and there was even a belly dancing performance. There were several courses and I definitely enjoyed the cous cous, but the belly dancing was defnitely the best part. She did it all with a tray of candles on her head! After that we went to the Palm Groves for some camel riding. I was in one of the last groups with one fellow SASer and then some French tourists. The camel ride was really fun and we actually got to go through a little village where there were a bunch of children. I was silly and chewing a piece of gum and they kept on asking me for some, but I didn't understand them so I didn't know what they wanted at the time. We went inside one of the local homes for some crepes and the tradition Mint tea with some local music on the side. OVerall we got to ride them for about an hour so it was definitely worth it! We got to our hotel which was so nice, called the Hotel Ryad Mogador where it was nice to put down our bags for a bit. We had dinner there both nights and the highlight was definitely the deserts, which isn't too far from the norm for me. After dinner we headed to a restaurant and had a glass of wine, but it was ridiculously expensive which should be expected considering it was our hotel clerk that recommended it.

 

The second day was our tour of Marrakech. We had a good breakfast at the hotel which consisted mainly croisants filled with chocolate, but they were definitely delicious. We took pictures of various monuments including some Minurets which reminded me a little of the tower La Giralda in Seville. We didn't get to spend too much time there because it was raining. We went into a store with set prices so we could gauge how mnuch was normal to spend for most items in the Plaza where we would bargain with the Souks. After that we went to a palace which also reminded me a great deal of a smaller version of the Alcazar. It was a former Prime Minister's palace with his 4 wives and 20 something concubines. The mosaics were very similar but the gardens were much smaller and just in the small courtyards. We had a lunch that was very similar to the one from the first day, but without a belly dancer and plus local musicians. We then went to the Plaza which is where all of the snake charmers and monkey owners roamed trying to get you to buy pictures with them. The tour guides took us around a specific route in the market to follow that we would be familiar with and then we got some free time in groups to go find some neat things. I did get a picture with a monkey, but at the time it was eating my hair so needless to say I look a little surprised in it. I bought a bracelet and a soap stone camel for my Dad for 40 dirham each. This is just about 5 dollars U.S. which I talked down from about 180 dirham. I'm quite proud of this and it really made me feel like a true New Yorker, even if I am an upstate girl. We then went to a spice market which they explained everything in a lecture and let us smell and try almost everything. The problem with that is that a lot of things we couldn't take back on the ship so a lot of people didn't buy things when they would have normally. I didn't have enough money because my ATM card wouldn't accept any transactions at any of the ATMs in Morocco that I used. We headed back for dinner at the hotel and then afterwards our tour guide took us to a place he called the Moroccan Disney land. It was desert, tea and drinks along with a traditional Moroccan show. The place was absolutely beautiful and basically the stereotype of what one thinks of when they think of Morocco. We sat in one of the tents wth our drinks and had several local musicians play for us along with Berber dancers. We then went outside where they had horse tricks, belly dancing, flying carpets, camel riding and a gun show. Afterwards they let us pet the horses like we were little kids, but I'll readily admit I enjoyed it among the rest of all of the performances involved.

 

The last day we hads to wake up VERY early to eat a quick breakfast then catch the bus back to Casablanca. It didn't take us as long to get to Casablanca so our tour guide took us to the tallest Minuret in the world, according to him. At that point we were still pretty tired and everyoen wanted to go back to the ship. After a lunch on the ship before which I cranked out quite a few post cards and letters to people we took the long walk in the rain to get to the Medina. There I picked up stamps and I found a nice traditional Moroccan blosue I can use for Sea Olympics but I am planning on giving it to my mom afterwards (Sorry it is kind of a second hand gift after I use it mom!). We spent a really long time there just shopping around but we definitely got harassed a great deal more in Casablanca than in Marrakech not only to buy things but also just because we were American girls. Overall, it was an amazing trip but I definitely learned to ignore people that start yelling at us in public because it happened almost everywhere we went in large public places. Once we were back on the ship I spent some time reorganizing, but the coolest thing was that they announced that they would shut off the stabilizers to pull out of the port just as they did when they pulled in. When we had pulled in I was in the dining room and dishes went everywhere as a result. This time we were prepared and ran to Tymitz square which is a marble floor and an open area. There we packed a whole bunch of students sitting down and we slid across the floor crashing into each other. There will definitely be videos all over the place of us just sitting there or sliding into the counters. FUN TIMES!!!!!

ESPANA!!!!!

So I have had an AMAZING time in Spain over the past four days and now I'm back on the ship getting ready to leave for Morocco.  I spent a lot of the first day wandering around Cadiz with friends. The first thing we did was go get some cafe con leche and then wandered through various stores to figure out our phones and get a good traveling bag. I found a nice one for 6 Euro which I used for basically my entire time in port. We stopped for lunch and tried the Sangria but unfortuntely the cafe served mostly Italian food so I just had some pasta. We went to the Cathedral in Cadiz for about 3 Euro which seemed so huge at the time. The vaulted ceilings and incredibly gold and silver adornments were ridiculous. We got to go into the cript and see some more of the various religious artifacts and items on display which I have many pictures of. You could climb the tower for 4 Euro but we decided against it and returned to the ship. That night I went to the Flamenco trip with SAS which was amazing! As soon as we arrived they gave us sherry and other drinks. We entered the arena and watched flamenco dancers perform with horses and a bloodless bullfight with a young bull. I really don't think I would be able to handle a legit bullfight. After that we headed inside for some tapas and watched the flamenco dancers perform on the wood floor. This was possible some of the most amazing dancing I have EVER seen. I have several videos that I will have to aspire to someday. They even had some audience participation which was fairly amusing.

The second day we left at 9 AM for Seville on a SAS trip which took around an hour and half on a bus to do. The first place we went to was the Cathedral which is the largest Gothic Cathedral in the World! The inside was absolutely amazing with vaulted ceilings even higher than those in Cadiz and tons of paintings, statues, and other artifacts in gold and silver. Christopher Columbus's tomb was actually located there as well as his legitimate son. We climbed the 34 ramps/ floors to the top of La Giralda or the tower in the Cathedral from which you could see all of Seville. I had a little bit of land legs and vertigo so I definitely didn't stay up there long, but it was really cool to see all of what I did in that short time. I actually saw a woman with a baby stroller going up there as well and all I could think was that she must of legs of steel! We then went to the Alcazar where the tiles of the Islamic design were so intricate and the arches were gorgeous. It was so bright and colorful, because it was the palace there. There were several beautiful tapestries and paintings in several of the rooms, and even places where Columbus supposed planned his trip to the "New World". The best area by far was the gardens which stretched incredibly far and had tons of fountains. We climbed to the second floor of one of the walls and viewed the entire gardens from there. After the Alcazar we went shopping in some smaller shops then got lunch at this nice hotel restaurant. This was probably one of my favorite meals in all of Spain. We had so many tapas and bottles of wine shared among the table that I was incredibly full even when desert came, although I definitely ate that! After lunch I met up with Kelly and Claudia to drop off my stuff at the hostel. We searched to find tickets to the Cirque show that was in town, but it was sold out. We decided to go to the stadium and got tickets to a soccer game between Seville and Valencia which was absolutely AMAZING!!!!!! Their cheers were hilarious and we saw the home team win in the last minute of the game, and the crowd rioted! We waited too late to go get dinner so we had to go to a McDonald's but it was good to get some American food I guess. After that we met up with some other SAS students among some Germans and Australians from our hostel to go out to a couple of clubs in Seville. We actually ran into some Moroccans while we were out and they told us that Marrakech is amazing so I am very pumped!

The third day was a lot more calm because I went back to the Alcazar with my friends because they hadn't seen it yet. It was actually nice because I got to explore the gardens a little bit more which was nice. I could actually explain some of the rooms to them which was kind of neat as well. After that they went back to the Cathedral, and I stayed outside to do some journaling for my class and listen to some street music which was so cool. While we were searchign for lunch we actually came across a Texan who works in Seville as an English teacher and a tour guide. He directed us to a really neat place for lunch, but they didn't have any churros so we went down the street a bit. They were absolutely delicious and thoroughly clogged my arteries! We then wandered to a the bus and then took the 2 hour train back to Cadiz. We got some great Arabic food there which was really nice and the servers were really sweet there. After that I went to a local bar with 2 friends and my roommates which was fun because I haven't hung out with them for several days because we were all in different areas. There we found a large group of SAS kids and had a good time.

The last day we slept in because we don't have a window in our room and couldn't tell how late it was. We got lunch at the first place we went to in port and I got some of the best gelato I have ever had next door to that. It was Ferrero Rocher and actually intensely tasted like candy which was really good. We tried getting to the post office for some stamps but it was closed by the time we got there. I'll have to send my postcards then. Let me know if you would like me to send you one in my e-mail and from where! I bought a new pair of earrings because the back fell off of my regular old studs. We then hung out for a bit in the square in front of the Cathedral with some other SASers and then finished off our Euro with some Sangria. We headed back and got on the ship so we didn't have a chance of being late and getting dock time. After working on my computer for a bit to load all of my pictures onto my hard drive and clear out my e-mail I grabbed dinner with Liz and ran into so many people and we all discussed what we did in Spain. Everyone had such an amazing time. I walked up with Taylor to see the ship pull away and we decided to make it a tradition to watch it pull away together. Tomorrow is a pretty long day with global studies and some pre-port lecture time which should be kind of long and annoying but its definitely needed. We're actually going to be loading up at Gibralter so I'll get to see that all day. Monday morning I arrive in Casablanca, Morocco which should be pretty fun. I'm going to explore Casablanca with Liz the first day and then the last 3 days I'm on a Semester at Sea trip to Marrakech and do some camel riding. I'm really excited and I'll update after I'm back on the ship from that! So far all FUN!

The Rain in Spain is mainly on the Plain!

So it is the night before we arrive in Cadiz, Spain and things are pretty crazy on the ship right now. I basically want to sum up what has happened over the past week on the ship. It seems like forever ago when I got on the ship! I actually really enjoy all of my classes. Global Studies is kind of boring and we have it every morning at 9:20 AM while we are at sea which can be a drag, but sometimes it is alright. I only have a couple tests for that class. A History of US Immigration Law is actually one of my favorites because my professor is hilarious. She has so many anecdotes and silly things that she talks about to relate to what we are going in class. She is possibly one of my favorite professor EVER! Sacred Sites is also very interesting but a big change for me considering I have never taken a class in art history or religion. World Dance is a lot of fun and is pretty easy in general, as far as school work and the actual dancing we do. At first it was really difficult trying to dance in the Union with the ship rocking as much as it was, but we have gotten better about it. Overall I am very happy with my classes. Unfortunately on A days I don't get lunch because my classes go straight through it, but I've been eating a granola bar instead.

 

The food on board has actually not been too shabby, it is just very repetitive. There's always salad, pasta and potatoes. It would be nice to change thigns up a bit but I don't want to pay extra for the some of the other food on board. The meals are major social time here on the ship. It barely even seems that we are taking classes, just doing a lot of reading and hanging out. I have met a few girls that are pretty cool. I met Liz on my flight to the Bahamas which was cool to know someone before I even saw the ship. I also met a girl named Claudia from South Carolina that I am traveling with in port. There are a bunch of other girls as well, but they are the ones that I spend a lot of time with.

 

Everyday life is very different from regular school for me. I actually have time to work out and stuff, although now I have switched from going to the gym to taking aerobic and yoga classes. They had a group of us tour the Bridge of the ship and I got to sit in the Captain's chair, along with a whole bunch of other actitivities. Every night there is something going on, from swing or salsa lessons, to an Explorer's seminar on Spanish food or using digital cameras. In between every port we have an interport lecturer that has a great deal of experience with our next port and the one for Spain was a professor of Spanish at UVA. He was really funny and once when I was having a conversation with him a man came up and videotaped us, which was kind of strange lol. One thing that I discovered is pretty nice is that when it is warm outside you can sit by the pool to do your homework, which is mainly reading. Definitely most relaxing!

 

I am doing several different programs on the ship. Extended family is where students get assigned to a member of the faculty or a Life Long Learner and they get dinner with them every now and then to be a family away from home. A lot of the adults on board have their own families and children on board as well. I am doing Vicarious Voyage which is a program where an Living Learning Coordinator and I share a classroom and they send us letters at different ports. We write back in a pen pal format and sometimes send neat little thigns from the ports to them as well. I have a 6th grade class in Edinburgh, NY which is cool because I might actually be able to visit it once I am back in the states. I am also part of the Ambassador's Ball planning committee which doesn't happen for a while but it a fun thing to just plan the party that happens at the end of our journey. Overall I have enjoyed the different acticvities they have had on board. They had an open mic night with lots of students performing and everyone was ridiculously talented!

 

We have had several meetings to prep us for Spain and I'm getting really anxious and nervous. For one I don't speak a word of Spanish so I'm worried I'll be lost, but I will have other people with me so that should be fine. I am going to explore Cadiz the first day then go to a Semester at Sea, SAS, trip to see some flamenco and a bullfight. the next day I leave early for Seville with one of the Professor's to see the Alcazar among others. I plan on sdtaying there and meeting up with some girls. The next day we will either spend in Seville or possibly traveling to Granada to see the Alhambra. Saturday we have to be back on the ship by 6 so we can leave for Morocco. I'll update my blog Saturday night so that I can detail everything that happened in Spain. During the meeting they made me incredibly nervous about possibly getting pick pocketed or loosing things, but hopefully it'll be fine. Wish me luck!

The Atlantic

It has been an extremely hectic last couple of days, but at least I haven't gotten sea sick! We left Cortland at 9:30 pm and didn't actually get to LaGuardia until about 4 am, one VERY long drive. I was so nervous on the flight from NY to Ft. Lauderdale because I don't know anybody actually going on Semester at Sea. We found out our flight was canceled in Ft. Lauderdale and were forced to sit there for about 5 hours until they gave us a new flight out of Miami. I met a girl on that flight named Liz who is from Wisconsin. We got to Nassau pretty late so we didn't get to see too much. We just hung out at the cafe and pool bar before heading to Senor Frogs to go dancing. Overall the one night we spent in the Bahamas was pretty cool. The next day I woke up so early because I was so pumped to get onto the ship. After waiting in line for around 2 hours I finally got on and went to my room, 3117. It is a triple but it is actually larger than the other rooms on the ship which is good. My roommates are cool, Megan is from Wisconsin and Cassie is from Florida. Classes have been pretty cool and I especially like my Immigration Law professor because is she so funny and sweet. She teaches at Touro law for most of the year. I have been working on getting some of my trips together for once we are in port. We actually got to see the Obama inauguration which is awesome because I thought we would miss it. We had a party to celebrate it as well. So far things have been pretty boring as far as Orientation went. We had to sit in the Union basically all day and listen to them introduce everyone on staff and explain the rules over and over again. It hard to remember peoples name so I think I have actually introduced myself to the same people more than once because we had the same conversation. The other night when I was trying to work on my computer there was this kid playing the guitar and singing and then another kid just started playing the piano with him almost like a jam session which was pretty sweet. We had an activities fair where we sign up for different things and then they showed Dark Knight last night. So far it was been pretty fun. The food is really good, but because of that I have actually been hitting the gym almost every night. I still have one class left to do which I am so excited for, World DANCE!!!! The teacher seems fairly nice, but we shall see. One of the Academic Deans actually just came up to me and asked if he could interview me to put on the website or something. He asked about the trips I've planned and such which was kinda strange but cool. I think I have figured out how to e-mail my posts to my blog so hopefully that'll work. I miss everyone so much but I have a feeling this semester is going to fly by!

Final Touches!

So I'm in Cortland, NY right now getting all of my stuff together with packing and hoping that I'll have enough or not too much stuff for the next 108 days +. Since my last post they have changed the itinerary for our Spring 2009 Voyage because of trouble in the Gulf of Aden. They took off Italy, Turkey and Egypt but replaced them with Morocco, Namibia, South Africa and Mauritius. It is now:
~Arrive in Nassau, Bahamas 1/18
~Depart on the MV Explorer 1/19
~Cadiz, Spain 1/28-1/31
~Casablanca, Morocco 2/02-2/05
~Walvis Bay, Namibia 2/14-2/16
~Cape Town, South Africa 2/18-2/22
~Port Louis, Mauritius 2/17
~Chennai, India 3/05-3/09
~Laem Chabang (Bangkok), Thailand 3/15-3/19
~Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 3/22-3/27
~Hong Kong/Shanghai, China 3/29-4/03
~Kobe/Yokohama, Japan 4/06-4/10
~Honolulu, Hawaii 4/19-4/20
~Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala 4/28-4/30
~Arrive in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 5/6

I have quite a few of the trips in port already planned out which is very exciting. They are a Flamenco and Bull Fight the first night in Spain. The next day I will be heading out to Seville and Cordoba to see the Alcazar. In Morocco I have a trip where we go stay in a nomadic village and ride camels into Marrakesh. I will be going on a safari in Namibia for basically the entire time I am there. Once I am in Cape Town I plan on going to Robben Island and then a play that night called Freak Country which is pretty neat. The next day I leave for my "Adrenaline Rush" in which I will be cage diving with great white sharks off the coast followed by bungee jumping off of one of the highest points in the world, the Bloukrans Bridge. I plan on hiking up Table Mountain and rappeling down which is also another trip that powers up that adrenaline. The last day I want to do a service visit, possibly going to one of the Townships in Cape Town that Semester at Sea puts on. Once I arrive in India I plan on doing a tour that involves obviously the Taj Mahal but also the city of Jaipur, which is known as the Pink City fo its Pink looking architecture. I haven't planned too much for Thailand but there were a couple of trips I can buy once I am on the ship that seemed interesting. A visit to the Sri Rancha Tiger Zoo, to the Pattaya Elephant Village and then possibly to the Nong Nooch Village for some traditional Thai food and dancing. In Vietnam I have a really special trip planned through Semester at Sea where I will leave pretty much as soon as I arrive for Cambodia to see Angkor Wat and Phnom Penh. I have talked to several alumni and they said that this is probably one of the best trips available. It will leave me with about a day or two in Ho Chi Minh City at the end. In China I will spend one day in Hong Kong and then the second day leave on a flight for Beijing where I will be staying at Tsinghua University. There I will be seeing a lot of the ultimate tourist attractions in China including the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, Summer Palace, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven and Some of the 2008 Summer Olympic facilities including the Bird's Nest. After this trip I will have one day to spend in Shanghai before I board the ship for Japan. Once we arrive in Japan I am hoping to meet up with one of my old suitemates Toshie from Geneseo. I know I definitely want to spend some time in Tokyo but other than that I am leaving it fairly open ended. In Hawaii the only thing I have planned is ski diving on the second day which is going to be so COOL!!! In Guatemala the only trips I really have planned are hopefully visiting one of the Free Trade Coffee Farm and then hiking up and camping on top of some of the highest Volcanos in Guatemala. Whew that was a lot os thigns planned!

I'll only be taking 4 classes which is a very light load for me and I'm lucky because I got all of the classes I wanted/needed. They are the Global Studies class that everyone on the ship has to take every day at sea (we have class every day that we are at sea), A History of U.S. Immigration Law, A World of Dance, and an Art History course called Sacred Sites.

I did get a World phone for the voyage but as one might expect it is quite expensive so PLEASE only call me if you REALLY need to talk to me. Definitely do NOT text my number over the next couple of months because we will feel the pain on the phone bill for a while after. I love you all but the last thing I need is some random text messages while I'm in Vietnam. You can e-mail me anything you want. I'm not sure if I get a Semester at Sea e-mail account, but I do know that we have free e-mail access so send me all you want! My yahoo account is sylvierocksmysocks@yahoo.com. If you want to send me some postcards let me know and I'll send the address you would have to send it to for that port.

I am really pumped and nervous for this journey! I'll be living in a triple on the ship which means probably quite cramped quarters but it was a lot cheaper so we went with it. We don't find out who our roommates are until we get onto the ship which is kinda nerve racking but I'm sure it'll be fine.

Right now it feels like about 40 below zero in C-land, NY but it is apparently supposed to be clear on the day we fly to Nassau so hopefully we won't get delayed. Mom is coming with me down there to see me off because she has a 3 day weekend. My Dad will be picking me up in Ft. Lauderdale and driving me up the coast from there which should be an adventure in itself! I'm ready for 75 degrees and warm beaches, LET'S GO!!!!!