Good Morning Vietnam

Sorry this blog has taken so long. I know that it has been over a month, but better late than never. I have finished all my school work and now only have to worry about finals after Hawaii. We will be in Hawaii on Friday, and I am going to work on China and Japan's blogs over the next couple of days. Can't wait to see you all and hope all is well:

On the morning of November 3rd I greeted the sun as we sailed up the Saigon River. The beauty of the sunrise hitting the junk boats was the signal that told me this week was going to be a great week. We ate breakfast, picked up our passports, and set foot off the ship. On this day I ran around with 2 other girls, it was a relief to not be in such a huge group and wonder around without any plans. We made our way to the market and quickly became fascinated. We were able to get so many items for so very cheap. The Vietnamese actually preferred American dollars. We made our way to lunch and had the famous Vietnamese dish called Pho. It is a broth-based dish with rice noodles. You place sauces and lime in the dish and it was delicious. I ate it several times while in Vietnam. We came back to the ship and took showers and got ready for the night. We had planned to go to a water puppet show, but were unable to make it there on time. So instead, we wondered the streets and found a little local bar. We stopped in because they had a great happy hour special, but it ended up being so much more! As we were listening to the band, the supervisor came up and started to talk to us. She was a petite woman with very good English. Her name was Ly and she was the supervisor of the restaurant. As we were talking she told us how she loved to get to know visitors to her beloved land. She asked us what we were doing the next day and we stated that we had a flight to catch the next afternoon, but our morning was free. She said she would take us out for massages and pedicures. We could not be more excited to spend time with a local but even better while being pampered. After happy hour we made our way to the night market and did a little more shopping before heading home for the night.
        We woke up early the next morning to meet Ly. She had made appointments for us at the salon. While I knew this pampering would be cheap, I didn’t realize how inexpensive it would be. Ly was able to take out of the tourist-y areas and into “real” Vietnam. Often as SAS students we get trapped in the areas of town that are created for tourist because we are afraid to venture to far out of our comfort zones, but here we were standing in a Vietnamese salon in the middle of the housing projects. At one point Karli looks at me and says “Where the hell are we.” While we had our doubts, what could go wrong with a massage? Massages around the world are a communal event. When walking in the doors we were told to all get naked and head into the sauna. We were in a room with many other women and while I felt uncomfortable at 1st, the anxiety slowly wore off. After we finished in the sauna we headed upstairs for our massages. Now this massage was not a one-on-one, it was four women to a room, where they talked the entire time. I could not understand a word they said, but we could tell they were laughing at us. We received an amazing hour and half massage. I felt like a new women. We got the bill and busted out in hysteria. The sauna—2 bucks, the massage—2 bucks. We received 2 hours of pampering for 5 bucks—including tip. Can’t beat that. Soon afterwards, we headed back to the ship to gather our stuff for our flight to Hanoi.
        With our bags packed the 1st group of 9 people headed to the airport. I had planned a trip for 16 of my friends to stay on a junk boat for the night. We were to fly to Hanoi and stay the night in a hostel before heading to Ha Long Bay. Once we got to the airport, we learned that our flight had been delayed. Oh well, we hung out in the airport and tried some crazy food and did a little shopping. After a minor delay and a beer later, we were off. It was a smooth 2-hour flight to Hanoi, where we were greeted by the hostel. It was so nice that they had arranged transportation for us, one less thing for me to worry about. The 45-minute van ride to the hostel was rather cranky. Everyone was hungry and about to hit a breaking point. It was rather funny, the group all of a sudden decided we needed burgers and we needed them fast. So after dropping our stuff off at the hostel, we motioned to the receptionist for burgers and he sent us around the corner. The signs lit up Al Fresco’s: Pizza, Pasta, Ribs, and Steak. You could see the joy on my friends face as we walked in. They had everything, even ranch dressing. We ate a ton of food and celebrated the start of an amazing trip. After that we headed back to the hostel. Let me tell you about the best deal of the trip. Central Backpackers Hostel: $5 for the night, included free beer at night, free breakfast, and free internet. It does not get any better than this. We waited for the others to arrive on their later flight and then hit the streets of Hanoi. Being that it was a Sunday night, there was not much going on, so we wondered and wondered and ended up finding a small hole-in-the-wall bar. We had a great time chatting and listening to music. Before we knew it, the sun was about to rise and we needed to get back to the hostel. With little sleep, we woke up early to meet the tour company. I was greeted by a man named Hero, our tour director, and we I knew we were in for a treat. As we drove out of Hanoi, Hero gave us a great history lesson about Vietnam and also taught us about their language. All over Asia, the languages use tones. Vietnam has 6, so the word  “ma” can have six different meanings depending on what accent is placed on the “a”.
We finally arrived in Ha Long Bay, what I had been longing for. After making a pit stop to purchase the ole’ so famous Vietnam hats, we hopped on a tandem boat to take us to where we would be staying for the night. Upon arrival I was amazed at where we would be staying that evening, it was gorgeous. A beautiful boat with 8 luxurious cabins, an amazing dining hall that would turn into a dance floor later that evening, and an awesome tanning deck. We were greeted by a 12 course meal. The amazing thing was that they brought out these small plates for 4 people to share and the food was so fresh. We ate whole crabs and the freshest squid ever as we sailed along the most beautiful landscape I have ever seen. I now realize why it is a new natural wonder of the world. We sailed for several hours and arrived at a floating fishing village.  These people live in such poverty as they attempt to make a living by rowing their boats up to commercial boats and selling goods such as snacks and beer. I could not say no to these children, and we bought many things from them to just give them some money. We then were able to get out and go visit this cave. This cave put the Mammoth Cave to shame. It was so large and had so many stalagmites and stalactites. I was amazed at the formations of the rocks. After this we hopped in kayaks and spent several hours hanging out on the bay.  It was pure bliss. The pictures from this are some of my favorites. We splashed, we tumped, and most importantly laughed. As we wrapped up, the sun was setting and we headed back to the boat for a night time swim. We were able to jump off the top deck, about 35 feet high. There was nothing like that rush of hitting the water, we could not get enough.
After all the fun we headed back in and shower while waiting for dinner to be served. We had another fantastic meal but it did have some questionable dishes. We are pretty sure we ate dog at one point. They told us it was catfish, but it was way to rubbery to be catfish. Soon after dinner, we pushed back the tables and started to karaoke.  This was a sight in its self. We sang for quite sometime until the crew turned the dance floor into a techno club. It was so much fun being just the 16 of us. We did not have to worry about being to loud or bothering anyone. We carried on to late into the morning singing every song you could ever imagine.
The next morning was an early wake up call as the beautiful sun peaked through our window. We got up for another large breakfast. Soon after, four of us had jumped in and were floating in the water with life jackets on as diapers.  We floated for quite sometime and I can tell you, that I was on cloud nine!! We later boarded the boat and headed to the top deck for a nap in the sun. As we sailed back, I could not believe my time on the Bay was over. I was not ready to head back and I vowed that I will be back.
We boarded the bus and headed back to Hanoi. We had a little extra time to kill, so we decided to head back to the hostel and see if they would be willing to take us to the airport so we would have a couple more hours to explore the city. Of course our friends at Central Backpackers came through and were going to take us back. So we split up into smaller groups and went exploring for a little while. We ate dinner and did a little more shopping. Soon we arrived back at the airport and hung out while we waited for our delayed flight. While waiting on our plane, we received some tough news. We had lost a member of our shipboard community that day. When arriving back to the ship, it was not the same happy place I had always known it as. It was a rather difficult night, but the ship did everything in their power to make the transition as smooth as possible.
        The next morning Karli and I got up headed to the Cu Chi Tunnels, remnants of the Vietnam War. We were able to get a real grasp on the tactics that were used to defeat the Americans. I have a much better understanding what it was like to fight during this time and the role America played in the development of Vietnam. I left there feeling amazed, stunned, and a sense of guilt. I was shocked how friendly the people of Vietnam after all that we have put them through. They have been so forgiving, and I believe that they are able to put aside their feelings towards America when meeting Americans. After getting back we were hungry and could not decide where to go, and then I had just the idea, we went back and visited Ly. She was so happy to see us. We took pictures with her and exchanged contact information. I was so happy that we were able to say bye to her. Afterwards, we jumped on the back of motorcycles and headed back to the ship. As I waved bye to Vietnam, I said see you later, because I know I will be back!

So Sorry....but HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Okay so you will have to forgive me. I know that my blogs for Asia are missing. That is because there is just not enough time. After travelling for a month with only 6 days off, I can barely catch my breath and now we have moved on to the thickest part of the semester. School has actually started. We have 10 full days of classes with no breaks, a bunch of papers and test and trying to prepare ourselves for the end.
Today does not seem like much of a Thanksgiving, because I am not with my family and am in class, but there is so much I am thankful for. I am thankful for all of the support I have received from each of you over the past months. I am grateful for this opportunity that has drastically shaped my outlook on life, and has with out a doubt made me a more global citizen. As I reflect on all of these things, I look to the future. Just a few weeks down the road, when I will be able to sit around the table and share stories and photos. I can’t wait to be able to see you all and celebrate the holiday season.
So I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving. I hope that all of your tables will be filled with laughter, your stomachs with wonderful food, and your hearts with the love of those who surround you. I am thinking of you all and can’t wait to see you!
Miss you tons!
Jordan

Singapore--A Fine City

        Well we did it! Another country. I can already Asia is going to go so FAST. We were in Singapore for a little less than 36 hours. We jammed packed this day and a half with many adventures. Singapore is a very small island that is very densely populated. It takes less than an hour to get from one side of the island to the other. One thing it is quite famous for is the ridiculous amounts of fines they give. If you throw out your gum and it does not land in the trashcan-- $250 fine. The list goes on and on. Semester at Sea was quite worried that some students were going to get in trouble, but there is no trouble to report.
        When the ship was cleared a group of 5 of us got off the ship and headed through immigrations. Right through customs is a huge mall, much bigger than anything I have ever seen.  We made our way to the metro station within the mall and picked a random place on the map. There public transportation system was the most efficient I have seen in the world. It was also VERY clean because there is no eating or drinking on the train. We got off in Bugis and headed outside. This area of the city was home to the outdoor market.  I bought a few souvenirs and we mainly just walked around and soaked up the culture. We ate an amazing meal at Fatty’s where we had sweet and sour chicken, BBQ pork, volcanic chicken and chili crab. It was all delicious! We sat there for over 2 hours just eating and talking. After that we headed to our hotel for the night. Here we met up with a larger group of friends and we started to get ready for the night. In the hotel I was able to Skype and catch up with my family, it was so nice! We went out that night to celebrate Halloween. Not many people in Singapore celebrate this holiday, but we were able to find plenty of things to do! We made a late night McDonalds run before catching a cab back to the hotel.
        After we all got up and showered, we split ways again. 2 friends and I headed to the botanical gardens. They were so amazing. They had orchards like I have never seen. We spent a great deal of the day there just walking around and taking pictures. After that we grabbed some lunch at a Thai restaurant and began making our way back to the ship. We stopped and bought postcards and stamps and then had to run back through security. This was the closest I have ever cut it to on-ship time. For every 15 minutes late you are getting back on the ship, you have to get off the ship 3 hours later in the next port. Our group got in line at 4:25, but it took 30 minutes to get through bag check. We made it though!!
        Singapore has much of the same feeling as Chicago. It is very westernized, you see all the same restaurants and shops as you would back in the states. This port was very short, but also very exciting. Tomorrow morning we will be in Vietnam!! This is one of the ports I ma most excited for. I will update again soon! Love always!

IncredibleIndia?

        I have put off the writing about India, because I am unsure of where to go with this blog. Prior to arrival a professor talked about the frustrations of India he had experienced while serving in the Peace Corps. He stated that this is a country of true complexity-where no generalizations can be made. It is also the land of constant sensory stimulation and culture shock. One statement, that held very true was there is no escaping India, you can’t go hide in a resort and not take part in the culture. It is everywhere and in everything. I then knew that India would pose both insight and questions.
When stepping off the boat in Chennai, I quickly became overwhelmed with the sense of humidity and heat. We were also greeted with many interesting, but not so kind smells. Walking down the gang way I knew that these next six days were going to be an experience.
Once getting through immigrations we were greeted by a plethora of rickshaw drivers. Attempting to negotiate a price was a game we were forced to learn as the week went on. We set off as a group to see a Hindu Temple. The intricate artwork and traditional practices were very intriguing to just stop and observe. There are many rules to be observed within the temple, such as you must walk in the clockwise direction around the grounds. As I set and took in the sights, I realized that the Hindu religion is so much more than a religion, it is a way of life. People’s lives revolve around the traditions and practices. After that we headed to a market/ mall. It reminds me of the J-town Mall but you can bargain in it. After getting a feeling of what India had to offer, we decided to get lunch. My friends and I broke down and got Pizza Hut. You may be wondering why in the hell I would eat pizza while in India, but I have tried so many new foods over the past 2 months that I was craving a small piece of home. On the other hand though, we did get a Indian pizza. It had spicy chicken and all of these crazy spices. I don’t know if it was that pizza, or the taste of pizza in general, but it was out of this world. After an amazing lunch, we headed back to the ship to gather up our bags and head to the airport.
I had heard through various sources that an independent trip to the Taj Mahal might not be the best decision, but I did it anyways. A group of 10 friends loaded into a six-seater van and where on our way. Sitting on top of each other for an hour and a half in a non air-conditioned van gave us an idea of the next 3 days. Upon arrival to the airport I looked at my boarding pass and saw that in all the hustle and bustle I had booked the wrong flight home. Instead of booking it on the 25th with the rest of the group I was headed home on the 24th.  If you know anything about me, you would have known that a panic attack was in the near future. I am proud to announce that the exact opposite situation occurred. I approached the counter with the mindset that this will work out and there is nothing that I need to get bent out of shape over. After much back and forth with the attendant at the counter, she was able to get me on my friends supposedly booked flight for a great deal. I could not have been more relived. Also, our flight had been delayed so I was not pressed for time at all in the airport, it worked out rather beautifully. Finally after a 2-hour flight we arrive in Delhi. This chaotic travel is a great parallel to the country of India, you never know what to expect. After checking into the hotel, we got a few hours of sleep before we were up and on our way to Agra.
Bright and early we hoped in the van with our drivers for the next 3 days and were on our way to the Taj. As we drove down the road, the obvious signs of complete desuetude and poverty hit you in the face. There was absolutely no avoidance. Take a scene of Slumdog Millionaire and I was standing in the middle of it. While most Indians argue that they don’t enjoy that movie because of the way their country is portrayed, it is in many areas very accurate. I felt sick inside as I reflected back on my life at home and how comfortably I live. I had a great deal of time for reflection, the 4-hour van ride turned into 6.5 hours.  We made a few pit stops along the way and visited some of the sights right inside Agra. We then stopped for lunch and then finally arrived at the Taj. I have always read that this is to be one of the Wonders of the World, and believe me it was. I hope that I one day marry someone who will build a memorial this nice in my honor. We were able to go inside and see all of the beautiful hand cut stones and the amazing architecture that had been constructed over the 22 year time period. We then headed to Agra Fort and learned a great deal about the history of Northern India. This semester I have become much more engaged in the history of the entire world and past events such as trading and colonization. Being able to interact with these places has made all of these ideas much more tangible and in return much more intriguing. We then checked into our hotel for the night, had dinner and then all hung out and played cards. One thing I can tell you about staying in non-western hotels, is that they are very different from Hiltons or your hotel of choice. In India, no one uses shower curtains. The bathroom is tile floor and the water just lands wherever. You also have to ask for the hot water to be turned on upon check in. Electricity has the potential to go out whenever as well.  It is not at all what we are used to, but that is all part of the fun.
The next morning we jetted off to Japuir, the pink city. Most of the buildings in the city are built out of a stone that has a very pink tint. We stopped at a The Palace, this building is the longest building in the city and is comprised of 3,000 windows. We also were able to go to this amazing conservatory. This was home to the world’s largest sundial. Seeing how a single man was able to make all of these amazing calculations was so fascinating. We now are so reliant on computers and calculators that we would never sit and take the time to do all of these calculations.  We also went to Amber Fort where we rode elephants. This was a neat experience. These creatures are HUGE. We then did some shopping and headed to our next hotel.
The next morning we woke up before the sun rose and headed to a tiger reserve and did a morning safari. We did not get to see a tiger, but we saw a leopard, a ton of monkeys, antelope and peacocks. After that we made our way back to Delhi to catch our flight home. The flight home was much less eventful and went rather smoothly.
On the last day I experienced the perfect rainy Sunday. We had planned to go to the open air market but it was pouring. So a small group of us jumped in a rickshaw and headed back to the mall. We did our last minute shopping and saw a Bollywood film. The movie was hilarious. The greatest part of all was how they portrayed Americans. Every American was either a slut or a hick, there was no in between. We then headed back to the ship, I was exhausted. India had taken everything out of me.
That is enough about my itinerary. There are a few things that I will never forget about India. First and foremost the driving, it was absolutely bizarre. More often than not there is not even a middle lane in the road. People don’t pay the least bit of attention to road signs or signals. They pass as if there is no tomorrow and it is unlike anything I have ever witnessed. Also the food, the 1st three meals it was great, and then it started to all become the same, and by the end I was not even able to look at non. Non is almost like a tortilla and is served at every meal. You use it to soak up all different types of curries and sauces. One thing that you don’t find a lot of in the north is meat. We were vegetarian for those three days. I just am unsure of how the people eat non with every meal.
As I reflect back on India, I am still unsure of what I think. I might be one of the few on the ship that did not fall head-over-heels for this country. I often think that India made me a person that I did not like being. I was never very comfortable and I never received the same warm welcome as everywhere else. I often had to argue with rickshaw drivers and was even called a greedy white American. I feel as if there is such disparity between classes is so tangible that change is far from happening. I felt so much hope for Ghana, but lacked that sense here. The people seemed so downtrodden that it was painful. I often wonder if I felt a lack of comfort and welcome because the poverty level caused so much pain, or if there is another underlying reason. I am still very confused. As I talk to people on the ship they talk about how great of an experience they had as they stayed in their 5-star Semester at Sea hotels and I wonder what side of India they saw that I didn’t. As we drove past the slums and families sleeping on the ground and in bridges, I cried, I would consider it far from amazing. I can tell you one thing for sure, India reaffirmed one thing, I am one of the luckiest girls in the world. I have an amazing family, a wonderful education, a financial security blanket, and a comfortable place to live. My world was challenged by India. In Ghana I felt a call to action, but in India on the other hand, I had no idea where to turn. One portion of India is booming in the industrial world, but most is just being completely ignored.
On a lighter note, last night we had the crew talent show. Our crew is made up of the most amazing people in the world. They clean our rooms, feed us, do our laundry and always are looking out for us. This ship would go nowhere without them. Usually we are only able to see them in their work attire as they are not permitted to socialize with the voyagers. Last night they gave us a show. They preformed everything from Frank Sanatra to John Mayer to Achey Breaky Heart. It was fantastic. It was so much fun for us to be able to see them in a completely different light, having so much fun and being their true selves.
We are so close to Singapore, we will be there in the morning. We will be there for 2 days and then have a day until we get to Vietnam. Asia is going to be VERY quick. I hope that all is well back home and can’t wait to see you all.

Sea Olympics 2010!

Purple is the way to be, we are Aegean Sea. Today the ship took part in a ship-wide Olympic games, and they were a blast. Each hall is divided into a “sea” and is given a color. Deck 2 was coined the purple Aegean Sea.  We have been preparing for events all week, and truth be told, I did not think our sea had a chance in the world. Each sea has been competing in a sustainability war; to see who can use the least amount of bath towels. This was one of the major events along with the banner painting and a chant. These events were judged prior to the opening ceremonies this afternoon. Our sea painted our bodies purple and it was pure madness on the way to the Union. In the union every sea did their chant and then the games were commenced by Desmond Tutu, let me tell you he is a riot.
        After that we were off to take part in the afternoon activities. These games included orange pass, Horse, crab soccer, jeopardy, sustainable sculpture and many many more. The two biggest games of the day were synchronized swimming and lip synch. Both of our routines turned out fantastic. In the water we had a nautical routine and it placed 2nd overall. The highlight of the day though was the lip synch performance. Our team had a mix of pop songs and they were fantastic. They won the game and preformed for the entire ship to night at logistical preport.
        Going into the closing ceremonies we knew we were neck in neck with the Caribbean Sea. Knowing that we were so close was a shock to everyone and we were so nervous. No one in our sea believed that we would even stand a chance of being crowned the champions. If you win the games your sea is the 1st sea off in San Diego, which is a big deal because customs can be quite tedious. They announced that our banner had come in 1st and that our lip synch had also won, so we knew that it would come down to the wire. It ended up that the Caribbean Sea won, which was a huge disappointment. The Aegean Sea put up a great fight and I had a fantastic day. I am still upset that we lost, but overall it was one of the most fun days we have had on the ship. I am so proud of deck 2.
        Tomorrow morning we will be in India and I will be catching a flight that night to Delhi to see the Taj Mahal. I am very anxious for India, but believe that it will be an awesome experience. I can’t wait to write all about it when I get back on the ship in 6 days. Until then, I love you all and miss you tons!

Welcome to the MV Explorer

        I feel that I have not blogged lately, so I decided to write a little about what a day on the ship is like. The MV Explorer is a beautiful home. She is always shining and more importantly always welcoming us home after being away for several days.  On the ship there are 7 decks. The top deck, is one of my favorite, it is the pool deck. On beautiful days like today, we live out there in our swimsuits and try to soak up all those beautiful late-October rays. Today, we crossed back over the equator on our way to India and it is in the mid-80’s and gorgeous. While I love this very long extended summer, I am sort of missing fall football weather. There is no Friday night football, shorts and sweatshirt days, and crunching of leaves. On the bright side I am tanner than when I left the wonderful mid-west. So back to the ship, also on the 7th deck is the pool bar, a place for us to grab snacks outside of mealtime. More and more people are eating their meals up there, because one can only eat so much pasta and potatoes. Upstairs is also the gym. It is a small gym, but it will suffice. It is weird because you have to sign up for a time the day before, due to limited resources. Working out also poses it challenges, trying to run on a treadmill as the boat rocks, is a sight in its self. It has become much easier with time, but at the beginning there were a few instances where I feared my life.
        Down a flight of stairs on the 6th deck you will find one of the main dining halls. Here we are graced with pasta, potatoes, and PB&J for every meal. At first the food was very good, but now it has become rather monotonous. I have become a huge advocate for peanut butter banana and honey toast. In this dining hall we can eat outside and watch the sunrise and set. Also many students convene in here at night to play board games or cards.  As we venture down the hall you are surrounded by classrooms, there are 9 in total. I have really taking a liking to all of my classes. I could get used to taking only 12 hours per semester.  I have 2 classes a day, on A day I take disease and healing a class about Eastern medicine, parasites, and immunology. This class is very different than any other biology class I have ever taken, but very applicable to the places we are visiting. Also on A days I have an English class called World Short Stories. This is my favorite class, the professor is amazing and I love going to class everyday. We read a short story for class each day and pick a passage to discuss with the class, once in class he calls on someone and we begin the discussion that carries on for the entire period. It is so nice not to have a teacher lecture or write on the board, it is all discussion based. On the other days, B days, I take Global Studies, a class the entire ship takes. Here we cover issues in a global sense such as education, crime, and human rights. We also take time to look in depth at each country we will visit, to grasp a sense of where they stand globally. In the afternoon I attend a class entitled Service Leadership. This class was one that I was very excited for, but has ended up causing much confusion. We are required to all carry out a service project while in a port. This concept is a great one, but the teacher’s expectations are not very clear. The articles we read are so informative and I know that I will use them as references in the future. They discuss the skills needed to be an effective leader in the work place and various tactics to creating a strong working environment. Back to the ship, also on the 6th deck is the computer lab and library. Both of these places have many resources for students to use.  In the front of the ship, is the Union, the large meeting space. Here is where we have global studies, but also pre-ports and explorer seminars. These various meetings cover many different topics from service in the Peace Corps to Child Slavery in Ghana. There is one or two of these meetings a night. They are very informal, but also informative. I have gained a great deal of knowledge from my peers and teachers on this trip. One funny thing about the ship is you can never escape your teachers. You go to class with them, eat with them, run on the treadmill with them and even drink a beer with them. Overall, I have made relationships with my professors like I have never done before. It is almost like I consider them to be part of my family.
        Down below these 2 floors there is not much going on. On the 5th floor is the main dining hall. It is just a bigger version of the one upstairs. From the 5th floor down are where all the cabins are located. My room is located on the 2nd floor outside. I am fortunate enough to have a window. If you are not on the outside you have no sense of time in your room when the lights are off, it is literally a cave.  My roommates name is Karli, she is from outside of Chicago, but goes to school at DePaul in downtown Chicago. We get along great. We do not travel much together, but when we are on the ship we hang out quite a bit.  As far as friends go, I have made so many from all over the United States. I have become involved in so many aspects of the ship it has given me a great base for various groups of friends. I have not found one solid traveling group, I have traveled with different people in every country. I love it that way! On the ship though, I have a group that I hang out with most of the time. We all eat at the same time, work out together, lay out together and rarely are apart. One thing you don’t have on the ship is a lot of alone time. Wherever you go there are people. It is nice to always know a familiar face and have someone to talk to, but it is very difficult to find that “you time”.
        This blog could go on forever because there is so much to say about our little home. I am going to try and make this a more regular occurrence so you can see a glimpse of my daily life, cool things on the ship, and things that I miss while being on the ship. I will write soon. Love and miss you all!

A Little Taste of Paradise!

Spring Break 2010 complete. We just celebrated the finishing of mid-terms, the 1st round of papers and all of the stuff that has to happen halfway throughout the semester. We were off the ship for less than 36 hours and I can say we made every moment count. Yesterday morning we pulled into the beautiful island of Mauritius, a small island off the coast of Madagascar. As the sun rose so did the level of excitement on the ship. Once immigration signaled the okay, we were off. Several friends and I jumped off the boat and headed to our hotel for the night. Many SAS kids, booked rooms at a beach resort, the Intercontinental. We lived the life of luxury for the evening. I have never stayed in a hotel quite like this before. The view from our rooms was breathtaking. After trying to absorb it all, 3 friends and I decided that we wanted to dive that afternoon.  We were able to find a company that would take us out on our own private dive. It was so amazing to be able to dive again. The marine life was so beautiful, but more than anything the visibility was unreal. I felt as if I was swimming in an aquarium. We dove for over an hour and I was in pure amazement at the end.  After the dive we went back to the hotel and met up with our friends who had stayed back. At this point, most of Semester at Sea was at our hotel. After getting ready, we walked out to the jetty and watched the sunset. The past several days, I have been fortunate to see some of the most beautiful sunsets. We took pictures, pictures, and more pictures. It was a masterpiece, there are no other words to describe it. We then hung around the pool bar for the rest of the night. There were so many students there from SAS it was unreal. We danced, we laughed, we sung, and we made memories that I will never forget. The sun started playing peek-a-boo, as we were heading in. I slept for a very short while, before I had the opportunity to Skype my family. I am telling you, whoever invented Skype was a genius. It was so wonderful to be able to see my parents face and have a real conversation with them. We talked forever and I did not want to hang up. It is so hard to find a time to talk being 8 hours apart. As they were going to bed for the night, I was getting up for the day. I was also able to talk to my housemates and sister. It was an absolute blessing to hear everyone’s voices.
        Before too much longer the cab was there to pick our group up. We decided to head out on a catamaran for the day.  Today was something spectacular. We took an hour and half boat ride to an island, had lunch, snorkeled, and goofed off. The ride there and back was just spectacular. I have found my new favorite color, the blue of the Indian Ocean. IT was like nothing I have seen before. It was so opaque you could look down and see coral several meters down. This was an all day event and before we knew it we had to be back on the ship. We jam packed these two days, but it was well worth it. Mauritius is a place I will always remember, and hopefully one day will step back on to the island of paradise!
        We are now on our way to India! I have no idea what to expect, but I know I am in for a treat. We have 6 days on the ship, so I will be busy these next few days trying to catch up on school and sleep. As far as blogging goes, I am going to make it a goal to blog a little more than just after ports. This will allow me to better explain what living on a ship is like. Days on the boat seem a little repetitive to us, but there are definitely some stories worth sharing. Hope all is well! Love and miss you all!