Sleeping on the Great wall $809; Japanese railpass $292; Disney Sea ticket $56... Passing out for half an hour in a crouded McDonalds in Tokyo... Priceless

Wow, So I have some catching up to do. I’ve been to Vietnam, China, Japan and Hawaii since I last updated. Sorry about that guys! And because I know you guys don’t really want to read a novel I will just try to do some highlights of each trip. This way you can just ask me about specifics when I see you next!

Thailand!

Thailand!

The places I went in Thailand were Pattaya and Bangkok. Pattaya was a small (but growing) city about 20-30 minutes from the giant port that we were docked in called Laem Chebang. It was terribly annoying that the port was so big because the only means we had of getting out of the port (other than walking the 5 miles of winding and criss-crossing roads) was a taxi service which had the monopoly over our ship and so they could pretty much charge whatever they wanted per taxi. They were all in ca-hoots with each other so we couldn’t even play one against the other for the cheapest fair. It cost about 300-500 Baht (at an exchange rate of about 32 baht to 1 USD) to get out of the port to the mall which was really about a mile and a half as the crow flies from our ship. Very annoying but oh well.

Day 1: Vanessa, Adam and I all went to the Tiger Zoo and Mini Siam. Our tour guide’s name was Wicky and she told us that when women use the rest room in Thailand they call it “picking flowers” and for boys its “shooting the rabbit.” We had a good laugh about that. We were told that the Tiger zoo was a refuge for Bangle Tigers and that there were over 200 tigers living on the property. There were also crocodiles and elephants and we would be seeing a Tiger show, croc show and elephant show. The highlight of the trip however, was being able to hold and feed baby tigers and get our pictures taken. They were SO cute and because Vanessa, Adam and I were smart and went to take our pictures in the 20 minutes we had before the Tiger show instead of the 40 mins of free time we had after like everyone else, we were the first to hold them. We also got the tigers which were older so it was like having a medium sized dog sucking out of a bottle while sitting in my lap. It was quite the experience. (I also held a baby alligator, just for you dad!!) The tiger show ended up being an embarrassing and disturbing show of how whipped these poor tigers were. We were pretty much horrified at what we were seeing. 7 very large and fully grown tigers were shoved into a cage about the size of a small bathroom only it was about 4 feet tall. The best part of the show was the pig that came out at the beginning and end of the show that pulled a chord which dropped a banner which read either “Welcome to the Tiger show!” or “Thank you! Come again!” The pig didn’t flinch when the trainer walked near it. L Next we went to a croc show where the people stuck their hands, heads and various objects in croc mouths. It was so abruptly obvious that the crocs were sedated till the end of the next millennium that we were too disturbed to take pictures. We were then herded to the elephant show. This was my favorite part because the elephants actually looked like they were having fun and liked their trainers. There was a basketball game, an elephant walking on tight ropes, tricks with people in the audience and then we got to feed them bananas and take pictures with them. It was fun, but I don’t ever want SAS to go back and give that place any more revenue, those tigers deserve better. I’m not sure how to implement that change but it needs to happen. After that we went to a place that only Asians could think up and find amusing. It was an entire part of miniatures. Famous monuments from all over the world were in the front of the park (we basically walked through our entire trip and saw the monuments in the places we were supposed to go like Egypt and Rome) and then all of Thailand’s pride monuments and temples were init he back of the park in the area called “Mini Siam.” We got some funny pictures and bought dried mango and pineapple. We were then taken to the Gem Store: The Largest Gem Store in the World! We were taken on a “it’s a small world” type ride with animatronics which told us how gems were made, mined and manufactured into the beautiful jewelry we could purchase right in the shop! We were taken on a tour through the room where they size, polish, set and resize the stones and jewelry. It was surprisingly fun and interesting. The showroom was like nothing you’ve ever seen! It was HUGE and everywhere were people trying to sell you the jewelry. Thailand’s claim to gem fame is the Sapphire and rubies. They are enormous, clear and come in so many shades and colors you might think you were on a drug trip. Vanessa got an VERY pretty silver ring with Sapphire and cubic zirconium (I don’t think they were diamonds at least) for $24 USD; a very good price for that ring. We were then taken back to the ship. Vanessa and I hung out with Sandra and Heidi (some of the waitresses) at the pool bar and tried to watch Enchanted but were too distracted. Good night.

Day 2: I got up early to head out to Bangkok with a trip that toured Bangkok. The bus ride was about 2 hours. We got to ride up and down the river that Bangkok is located on and we visited the Temple of Dawn and also got an hour long tour around some of the canals that people live off of. We saw water monitors (babies and big ones) and then we got to the temple. It was entirely decorated in statues and flowers and stuff made out of shards of porcelain and broken shards of glazed pottery. It was extremely tall and you could walk up some difficult steps to the top and look out over the water but my knee wasn’t having any of the stairs, so I wandered around the market at the bottom. We got back on the boat and went to lunch, which was at a really fancy and beautiful restaurant. The food was SO good and I was able to eat my green curry, YUM! We then went to the giant Reclining Buddha at the temple of Wat Po (46 meters long and 15 meters high) and the Grand Palace. I hardly took in what I was seeing  at the palace because the place was so big and I was supposed to meet up with some of my guy friends to stay in Bangkok with them. I had no idea how I was going to find them. My camera also ran out of batteries here and it was so incredibly hot. The emerald Buddha here was very inspiring though and we were able to just sit and take in the powerful reverence that it commanded from the people praying there. I was so relieved to find Jordan at the entrance that I almost cried. They stayed and found me! YAY! I left my tour group and went back to the waterfront with the group (Jordan, Sean, Chris, Nora, Ben and Karri) who hadn’t seen the river yet and some of them went and did an hour long boat ride  like I did earlier and Jordan, Sean and I wandered around the streets.  We met up and went back to the hostel. After that we decided to get massages (180 Baht or 5 bucks for an hour) and then we walked around the back packers district called Khosan Rd. There was a night market that sets up every night which was so much fun to wander around in. Every 100 ft or so there was a place to get your hair dreaded for 80 Baht (2.5 bucks) or a fake ID. We also got buckets of alcohol for 200 Baht. Now I don’t normally drink much and I drink even less in port but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to drink out of a kid’s bucket.  It was such a fun atmosphere and every other person there was from a different country. It was absolutely heaven for us.  We also got street vendor Pad Thai which they make right in front of you (the best pad thai I’ve ever eaten) and grilled corn. Who knew they liked corn but they do and the way they make it was just perfect. They also serve you your drinks out of plastic bags with a straw. Interesting but fun! We found a hookah bar with a live band that played one of the best (in context) line ups ever. They whipped out Green Day, Oasis, Goo Goo Dolls and several other bands like that while sprinkling a few of their countries famous songs in too. If our table wasn’t singing along to a song, the people next to us who were Thai were singing. We had a nice time there. (Ben lost the bet that they would play ACDC and Jordan won the bet that they would play Wonder Wall. Hilarious). The Hostel was tolerable but the worst part was the over active air conditioning machine and the fact that they gave us a single giant towel as a cover. Oh well.

Day 3: The next day was spent wandering around, going to the markets again, seeing the reclining Buddha with the boys who hadn’t seen it before and because it was St. Patty’s day we got some more buckets of alcohol with our lunch/dinner of more pad thai. I had to take the SAS bus back to the ship at 8 so I left them around seven, got my own Tuktuk to the giant mall and then passed out on the bus on the way back.

Day 4: Vanessa and I went to the Pattaya Elephant village on this day. It was a actual refuge camp for old logging elephants. They were mostly girl elephants and we got to ride them on their heads, and also once they strapped the seat things on them. It was good to see that they were happy, treated well and that they had elephant masters which lived with them and watched over them for their entire lives. (The elephant chooses the man and won’t lie down if she doesn’t trust the person.) Vanessa and I left the group at a 20Baht store and started our adventure of getting to Bangkok to celebrate Laura’s birthday at the hotels the Phuket trips were staying at. We walked from the store to the Pattaya bus station, which was a trip itself and bought a ticket to Bangkok for 113 Baht. I would like to point out that this was approximately 4 dollars at most and the buses we were supposed to take through SAS were 45 USD. Okay just saying, that’s completely ridiculous. We were dropped off at a bus station that was connected to the new skytrain station. We had more delicious pad thai from a man and woman running a small outside restaurant on the corner of the bus station parking lot. It was incredibly delicious. We then navigated the skytrain system ourselves and walked to the hotel were we were bumming a night’s stay off of our friends. We went out and celebrated Laura’s birthday (21!!)  on top of a 60 floor hotel at a “sky bar” and then found ourselves back at Khosan Rd where we danced in this “bumpin’” club. I’m still getting the bass lines stuck in my head. J

Day 5: Vanessana and I got free breakfast by saying we were on the trip and then split from the other girls to go to giant knock off mall called MBK. We also got there early and found a cool little internet café with free wifi if you buy a drink or something. We were completely lost for in the 7 floors of vendors and stores. We bought MAC make up for ridiculously cheap prices and decided at 1 that it was about time to head back to the ship. That gave us 5 hours before we had to be on the ship at 6. We made it to the bus station around 1:30 and couldn’t’ believe our luck when a lady in a bus pulled up and asked us if we were going to Pattaya. We were! So we hoped up on the bus and sat down. Turns out we didn’t get on the same one stop bus we were on the day before but on a bus that stops every 5-20 minutes at various stops along the way. We were freaking out thinking we weren’t going to get back in time, not to mention there was a weird Thai game show/MAD TV type show playing the ENTIRE time. After 3 hours on the bus (the entire trip was supposed to be 2) we finally recognized the name of the town the tiger zoo was in and we knew we were close to the ship so when the bus pulled over, stopped and the bus driver turned off the bus AND GOT OUT we decided to find a cab back to the ship. (This was at 5:15 and we were assured by another passenger that we were going to be at a stop by our port by 4:30 and at pattaya at 5, too bad that wasn’t the case.) The cab lady we got knew sorta where we were going by the card we were given to get back to the ship and she took us for 300Baht (we were expecting to pay 700 or more to get back from Pattaya) she finally understood what a rush we were in when we pulled up next to a tuktuk with other SAS kids in it all screaming that we had to go. There was 10 minutes until 6. Vanessa and I split up tasks such as turning in the passports (me) and paying the driver (her) and sprint dup the gangway to swipe our cards. We were in by 5:57. Three minutes to spare. For those of you not familiar with dock time, our punishment for being late, we have to stay on the ship for a certain amount of time in the next port. You get dock time for various wrongs you commit on the ship and for being 1-5 minutes late of on-ship time you can get 3 hours of dock time. Bad news. But we made it on and everything was jolly after that!

 

I would like to go back and experience more of Thailand because I feel like it’s a country with so much potential and interesting culture that I want to experience.

 

Hope you’re all well

Emily

Finally... INDIA!

 

My apologies if this is posted twice, our email has been screwy and deleting things.

Okay so, sorry its taken me so long to update about India! Its been almost 2 weeks! I feel bad :( but be prepared to have all the Asian countries be delayed until about mid April because starting now we have 5 or 6 days in port and then 2 days on the ship traveling. Its going to be hectic!!!

 

India Day 1: I left the ship for a few hours before my first FDP with Sean, Vanessa, Bev, Jordan, Alex, Laura and Sahar and we went shopping at Spencer Plaza. Because there were too many of us to fit into one rickshaw (THESE WERE SO MUCH FUN) we had to go in 2. Our driver split from the other and proceeded to tell us that Spencer's didn't open until 2pm and we should let him take us to a temple near by. We didn't buy it and told him we were meeting people at Spencer's so we just needed to go there. Eventually we got there and when he demanded 50 USD we freaked out because we thought we were paying 50 rupees (1 USD to 50 Rupees) and we ended up giving him 200 Rs and walking away with him mad at us. While walking away we got stopped by some other drivers claiming the mall didn't open until 12 and for only 1 dollar he would take us shopping somewhere else and then back by noon. We walked into the mall, which was very much open and searched for our friends. We found place after place, shop after shop of traditional India jewelry, silks, pashmena and trinkets. We bought some stuff, people bought saris and in a just bookstore called Landmark I found the new Fray CD for 8USD. WOOOOOOOOOO!!! (This bookstore was like a Barnes and Nobel with a Toys R' Us for a second floor.)

After shopping I went to a house of educated women and professors where we talked to two women writers and ate traditional food. Curries and rice cake things. It was all very good.

After THAT I went the Welcome Reception where they had more food similar to what I ate at the house but because it was mass produced for the 300 SAS kids there, it wasn't quite as good. Along with free henna everyone got the traditional red dot on our foreheads and a lae made out of a carnation and jasmine. We also got to talk to students that were brought from the nearby Colleges. We saw traditional dancing too. Very cool.

 

Day2: Went to 2 cities and visited a TON of temples. They were all very similar and I would pretty much have to show you the pictures before you understand the differences but I'll give you a quick list: 1- OLD, 46 sub shrines, famous because it was one of the first made out of stone and not wood or bamboo. 2- OLD; VERY TALL = TALLEST. 3- Silk Shop. Overpriced. Bathroom stop. LUNCH!!!! (It was at a straight up RESORT which is located in the second town we went to which used to be the port city for the Kings before it was destroyed by a typhoon in the late 1800's. Its a beach town and it was beautiful. The report was weird cause driving up to it there was trash everywhere, poverty and then you turn into the gate and are greeted by manicured lawns, flowering trees and upscale buildings.) Food = traditional and YUMMY. 4- Butterball stone (a giant round stone balanced on a flat, tilted rock surface) and a series of temples all related and home to the largest example of base-relief work in the world. The elephant was larger than life size. One of the stops in this part of the journey we met a bunch of Indian school children on a field trip that got enormous pleasure from high-fives and "one photo." They would get their picture taken, look at it, point and themselves, giggle and run away to another flustered SAS person with a camera. If you tried to take a picture with one or two there were instantly 30 of them around you. As fast as they came, they were gone. Very funny. This was also the start of the Hawkers trying o tell you very over priced stuff. VERY ANNOYING. 5- Shore temple located on the beach. Very pretty.. Lots of kids again. I bought a drum worth MAYBE 3USD for 9. Oh well. Bad mistake on my part. Long day but fun. I also saw a monkey on a leash dressed in drag. Complete with lipstick. It was sad. (but I still got a picture).

 

Day 3:   

Got up early and was out shopping with this girl named Jenna I have some classes with and had met a few times/she was on my trip yesterday. We were supposed to go with Chris and Jordan but they both were too sleepy so we went ourselves. We were feeling pretty good about ourselves because we got a rickshaw taxi for 50Rupees (1US) and I've paid 100Rs before for the same trip. But we got to the mall and almost nothing was open. We found one shop guy who was determined to get us to shop there but I needed cash so he sent us to an ATM where my card didn't work so he told us to go to another one. We wondered around a floor up and found a computer shop that was opening, ended going inside and I got the 160 hard drive for 52 USD. Good deal I thought, another girl I was with got a 720GB for 120USD, which... is also amazing but I didn't need that much memory. So then we were going to pay card for that but he said his machine wasn't working so he lead us to another ATM, which worked, we got back and bought that. Then we got side-tracked in a supermarket store called Nuts & Spices (dad, this was your kind of store!). The funny thing was the first shelf you saw when you walked in was full of Sugar free diabetic friendly snacks. They also had a number of nuts and dried fruits, cereal and I got some of those nature Valley oats N honey granola bars cause they are wheat free. Then we finally made it back down to the first guy, I bought some stuff from him. Then we wandered the entire 3 story floor looking for things such as mens plain undershirts in combo packs (I'm finding that to be a uniquely American concept), sandals for Jenna's fiancé, Vitamin B12 (for Jenna) and ended up with a lot of other things that we got for pretty good prices and I'm happy with all my purchases. I spent 100US but that's including the 50 for the USB drive and lunch (which is actually probably the cheapest thing I bought today. It was only 10Rs (about 20Cents) more than the cab ride there.) We got back to the ship around 3:30 after a stop at the post office and then ate dinner on the ship (the protein choice I had for no gluten was peanut butter and cheese cubes. The jerk pork and the vegetarian lasagna had gluten in it. My other options were pasta, potatoes, salad-which I eat copious amounts of anyway- and pears. Surprisingly pears and peanut butter are very good together). We found some more people to hang out with and we went to the place called Mocha. IT was a local hookah bar and coffee shop. It was SO chill. The decorations were all in jewel colors, it was all outside, the lighting was paper lanterns or lights with colored shawls over them. There were long bar/table things that you could sit at that had fountains at one end, the water traveled down the entire length of the table in a trough, onto the floor and then into a pool with flowers floating in it in the middle of the courtyard. There were covered booths and tables (which we sat at) and the menu had things like "Cookie Espresso- a chocolate chip cookie doused in espresso, milk and topped with whipped cream," "Mexican Crepes- chilies, cheese and deliciousness" they had coffee from all the really famous coffee countries, they had hot chocolate and so much delicious looking food. The shesha was the best part though, I don't think I've ever had more delicious hookah in my life. The flavor was blueberry and none of us wanted to leave it. haha.. the other flavor we got was a combo called Malicious of lemon and orange (I think) it was also good. Uhg it was good. My tea made me sick though. I got Chai and it wasn't chai I was used to and it was made with I think whole milk which while it was already stiflingly hot and I was in long sleeves (stupid? I think so) made me sick.

Back on the boat by 8ish and then hung out at the piano bar with Sandra and Heidi (2 of the bar waitresses) until about 12 when they closed. We just talked about India, I showed them pictures and they gave me food. It was a good trade off.

 

Day 4:

Today at the disabled home, "Samarpana: Home for the Mentally Challenged & Spastics" we played with, interacted with and fed a number of the 45 children and adults 3-65 that live there. They are all really very nice and the people running it (there are only 5 staff members) have hearts of Gold. The main woman had such patience. She was amazing. I got to play with this one girl/young lady who lived there named Pria. She couldn't speak and she was slow with some physical impairments but I played a version of patty-cake with her that was basically me tapping her palms with mine (and vise versa) and counting or making funny sounds. I started doing scales every time I patted her hands and when I got to the top most note I would pat her head and say "BOOP!" She loved it. I eventually got to the point where I would get to higher notes after doing some kind of little "bee-bop-dee-dooby-doo" song I would speed up the pace and pitch of the notes and then pat her head. She would get really excited and laugh when I started with the speeding up and flinch like she was expecting it and then I would hesitate, her not knowing when I would bop her head and when I finally would she would just giggle. She was so cute.  After we served breakfast we did the hokie-pokie, I'm a little teapot and the Itsy bitsy spider as a group for all the "inmates." (We couldn't figure out why there were called inmates, we figured it was just a local custom and nothing like they were implying they were in prison.) I played with Pria then because I noticed she was clapping along while we were singing and she had really good rhythm. Then we split up into groups and a number of jobs they needed getting done. Some kids worked in the kitchen cleaning up after breakfast, I washed clothes and dusted spiders and dead bugs out of windows and window pains, some kids even clipped nails and toe-nails. They served us Cardamom tea and chocolate filled cookies. I politely refused after my experience with the milked tea the night before and I couldn't eat the cookie even though it looked sooo good. They gave us handouts as we were leaving to make donations and they have a website that you should check out- www. samarpana.org. All donations (which to be honest are very reasonable) are tax deductible. I'm suggesting it. ($100 is a teacher's salary for a year or a year's supply of milk.)

After this place, I went out with Jordan, 2 girls I hung out with the night before at Mocha and a kid named Britin and we went shopping and then met up with Heidi, Roshan (another bar worker who is actually from India) and a girl named Whitney at the Mocha again. We smoked and ate the food for dinner. It was SO GOOD.

 

Day 5: I went to another home for mentally challenged children. We wer split up, given tours and my group was put to work in the garden. We cleared an entire garden and then ate our lunch off of banana leaves. After lunch we played with the kids. It was really fun.

 

I have to go eat! Time to leave.

 

Lots of love to everyone!!!    Emily

 

 

Tropical Paradise...

Okay, sorry about that silence....

 

In Mauritius I hopped on a bus with about a hundred other SAS kids and we drove for an hour on crazy roads with lots of traffic through what looked like townships from South Africa. Many of the buildings were made of Tin siding and the residents were struggling in poverty. It wasn't until about 45 minutes in and we turned a corner on the island (which is only 40 miles wide to begin with) that we saw the "resort" aspect with lots of grandiose houses on the beach. Gorgeous!

We were separated onto 4 catamarans and after everyone was lubed up with sunscreen and our shoes were stored away (along with our clothes, because who walks around on a catamaran in more than a bathing suite?) we took off into a bay where in less than 5 minutes we saw a pod of dolphins. They would all come up for 10-15 seconds several times then disappear and pop up in another random spot. After about 20 minutes there the crew started up the grills and the drinks were a-pourin'. They were making us what they called Jungle Juice which was rum (there are an astounding number of sugar plantations on the island so rum is plentiful) sprite, orange juice, lime stuff and vanilla stuff. It was good, I didn't have one though. I stuck with Coke-Light. :)

We went to another spot and parked it where we were handed fins, masks and a snorkel and told to explore. We were stopped over a coral reef and while it wasn't one of those immensely colorful reefs the colors on some of the fish were vibrant blue and yellow. There were a few yellow corals but for the most part there was brown. There was the occasional heart-wrenching bleached coral too. :( We got to swim around for a while and then the party poopers started getting out after about 30 minutes. I wanted to keep swimming. I barley got to explore the shallow corals (apparently there were sea urchins that I missed.) But we got out and salivated over the kebabs cooking on the grill. While on the move to the next stop lunch was served. Garlic bread, rice, potato salad, salsa and carrots (which we were told not to eat because it was washed in the water which is apparently a carrier of the "Traveler's diarrhea")  pineapple, chicken kebabs and grilled fish. I tried the fish, I ate the fish. I LIKED?!... THE FISH!? The salsas were SO GOOD. There was a red one that tasted a bit like tomato sauce that was a little spicy and it had some chunky v veggies in it. HOWEVER, the best thing at that lunch was by far this green chili paste/salsa. It looked like chopped green chilies, garlic and olive oil. My mouth has not burned with such deliciousness since leaving home. They hardly spice ANYTHING here. Its sad. :(

After lunch all four boats tied themselves together and we just had a ball jumping off the front of the boats and splashing around. Erin and I found that we were over some corals and sea grass and we got the masks back out and dove around. Its amazing how many different species of animals can live on such a sandy, monotone backdrop. There were several species of fish, crabs, and a relative of the sea horse that was mostly white and had gray/black spots. It was shaped like a snake but had the head of a sea horse. It was really fast and fun to chase. Another cool thing I found that was hanging around the coral the anchor was attached to was a small eel. It almost bit my finger... but to be fair I was going to poke it's tail. There were angelfish, damselfish and (DAD SHOUT OUT TO YOU!!!) a humuhumunukunukuapua'a. We saw several. They had bright blue faces and gray, black and yellow bodies. There were 3 small squid too. TO be honest, I think they were the same species that we dissected in zoology and biology. But that's okay. The water wasn't amazingly clear, that water was further around the island, but it was warm and a very cool "sea green" ... duh. hahah. The colors of my room were EVERYWHERE here. This island was absolutely gorgeous. I loved it. My tropical ecology teacher and her husband (a marine biologist) were there and I dove around and explored with her. For nerdy me, it was really fun and re-sparked my interest in marine biology.

After swimming probably for about an hour or more we were herded back onto the catamarans and we headed back to the shore. Another hour back to the port, then and Erin and I headed out in search of t-shirts to throw away for India. We were unsuccessful, but the pina colada and margarita (respectfully) we got at the bar we met everyone else, at were delicious. Also, on the boat they were having another BBQ so Erin and I went back for dinner expecting hamburgers and ribs like Neptune day... we were disappointed. Neither of either were served but they had BBQ chicken (and lets be honest the sauce is what makes it good) and "sirloin stake." Also, the corn bread we got this time was very, very good. Again with the amazing display of fruits and of course I stole like 6 pieces of fruit. YUM!

 

Today was Sea Olympics. FUN TIMES!!! Our sea, the Aegean Sea was Green and we had some AWESOME cheers. We got a lot of Bronze medals, a couple silvers (including for mascot and flag) but the kickers were GOLD in Volleyballs and and and SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING!!!! THATS RIGHT!!!! WE WON GOLD! It was awesome! We started with Thriller, went into Can't Touch This, then a song called I Touch Myself, followed by the Nutcracker Suite, All I Want For Christmas (by Mariah Carry) and we finished with Jaws and "Bye Bye Bye" by N*Sync. I had a ballet leg/vertical solo during the nutcracker. I even brought my noseclips and added those. It was so much fun. It was incredibly hot out and VERY humid (more so than in the Atlantic if that's possible). There were events all day long. I think highlights were volleyball, pictionary, tug-o-war, paper boat float, flag competition, mashed potato sculpting and synchro. Overall it was pretty good. Other than the fact that the pink team were cheaters and they won EVERYTHING and then they won over all. On medals alone we were supposed to tie for second but there were penalties for unsportsmanlike behavior, cussing and the like. Somehow we lost like 500 points. I don't know how but there are rumors someone in dodge ball accidentally kicked another kid in the face... oops. Oh well, second place doesn't get anything other than knowing they were second.

 

So funny this is happening to me. I've developed so many freckles on my face from being in the sun that when you see pictures of me there appears to be a band of darkness that's smeared from one side of my face to the other and over the bridge of my nose. Its like one big long freckle. Kinda humorous.

 

Hope you're all well.

Em

Namibia part II!

Alright, sorry for the radio silence everyone, its been a busy week and a half!

 

Alright so Namibia. Its beautiful, the people are friendly and the US dollar is worth 10 of theirs. Its an amazing place.

The first morning after watching the little girls sing and dance Sean and I took off in search of coke for me and cigarettes (BOOO) for him. The trek out of the port was about a mile and a half and we had no idea where we were going. I guess it was obvious because a worker by they name of Jonas offered to show us out and then gave us a walking tour of the city and took us to the supermarket. We were sure that he was going to ask for money for leading us around (they would have in Morocco and we were still assuming everyone wanted as much money from us as possible) so we ended up tipping him about 5 Namibian dollars. Then a girl with us whips out a box of Oreos and 200 Namibian dollars and shoves them in his hand. He was speechless because looking back at it I don't think he was going to ask for anything. As we're walking away the girl realized she gave him $20 not $2 like she wanted. Hahah bummer.

I got back to the ship, inhaled lunch and made it down in time for my FDP to the Natural and Geological Wonders. This was incredible! We drove around (about 5 per car) up the coast with huge sand dunes to our right and the sea immediately to our left. We then drove inland to a place where after the ice age the earth's crust cracked and lava pushed up and hardened into basalt. The black basalt ridged the brown granite rock of the crust and it looked like there were just dinosaur backs rising up out of everywhere. They called it the "moon scape." The iron content in the rocks was so high that if you hit on basalt rock against another is sounded like metal on metal and the natives call this area the "singing rocks." It was quite the experience. We got back in the car and drove through the moon scape stopping at several different plants. One was called the !nara plant. (the ! in the front represents a click sound which is in use of the native !shosa language) This plant creates an entire ecosystem based on the large, watery fruit it produces. A single fruit when mature can hold over 1 liter of water. The roots of the plant are able to search out water 20-30 meters below the service. There are a male and female plants and they coexist however they grow separate from each other. The other plant we saw was a 600 year old plant called the Welwichia plant. It looks like something out of Jurassic park and the little shop of horrors put together. It was also massive and there are plants that have been found in the Angolan deserts to the north that reach up to 2,000 years old! After these plants we got to try some local food.... oysters. I didn't try them but I can say that I tried the fruit chutney and also the salt and vinegar flavored cheese crackers, the spare ribs flavored potato chips and a citrus granola bar. All... interesting, but not bad. After that we drove around in the moon scape, over a barren land with over I believe 100 type of lichens per sq meter (which makes it the most diverse flora area in Namibia. It even rivals the areas to the north with over a foot of rainfall a year.) The last thing we did was go visit Dune #7, which is the tallest in the area at about 150 meters tall. The sand was so soft! A lot of people went to the top but I stayed relatively close to the bottom due to the fact that my knee was killing me.

After getting back to the ship Vanessa, Alex, Jordan, Megan and a random kid named Charlie all went to a restaurant/bar called The Raft which was in the lagoon and up on stilts. As this was valentines day we couldn't get a table but the bar was fun and we ran into some Norweigan guys and lots of SAS people. It was really fun and we got to shove all 6 of us in a cab.. 5 of us being in the back seat.... good laughs.

The next day I woke up early to be ready to go kayaking by 7 am. I got to watch the sun rise and we drove out (past the largest salt flats in the world) along a very long sand bar to the end where the light house was situated. We got into some kayaks and took off into the water. On our way to the end of the sand bar we passed 2 of the 22 seal colonies that live on the coast of Namibia. We paddled around for about an hour before we saw them. Dolphins. Everyone got so excited that we raced to catch up with them. For about a half an hour we moved with the dolphins and one of them breathed, I kid you not maybe 5 feet from my kayak. I can only describe it as magical. We had some competition from a lot of catamaran boats out dolphin gazing but they also herded them over to our less threatening surface boats. It was very cool to but constantly watching and anticipating where and when the next dolphin would surface. Very cool

I got back to the ship around noon and of course everyone was already out on other trips and doing other things. I ended up disappointing myself by taking a 3 hour nap on the ship while waiting for people to get back. I wasn't comfortable walking out and going into town by myself so I didn't have much of an option. But once everyone else got back we ended up dressing up and going to the pizza/bar that the girlfriend of Vanessa and Alex's tour/guide owned. We met the guide (Herman pronounced "air-mon") and his girlfriend there and had some pizza and drinks with them. Vanessa, Chris and I went back after that and everyone else went out to a dance bar and got back LATE.

The last day Vanessa and I went to Swakopmund and went to a trading market. There we met some native Heraro people who cover themselves with red ocher and butter. They dred their hair in it and cover themselves completely. A couple of guys who were traders themselves helped Vanessa negotiate with them because they didn't speak English and they didn't understand that a $5 US was the same as $50 Namibian dollars. It was really very nice of them and then we ended up talking with them about the US and our government and we made friends with a man named Kevin. I have his phone number :) and Vanessa has a picture wearing his hat. They also said they wanted to trade for stuff from the US since we had no money left. The only thing I had that I was a packet of powdered lemonade which I gave and in return I got a really cool carved nut with an elephant and Rhino on it. It was a cool experience. We left Swakopmund with a cab driver that made us switch cars so that it would make the 30 minute drive to our port and then half way there he had to turn around cause he left his license in the other car. We got back, went to the grocery store and then back on the ship. 

The next day was learning all about South Africa. Namibia was great and I want to go back!!

More on South Africa Later!

Hope you're all well. Lots of love

 

Em  

Namibia!

Tomorrow morning we get into Namibia!

We will be greeted by locals including a Children's Choir which is to be singing to us from on the pier after we get our diplomatic briefing. SOOOO EXCITED! Tomorrow I'm also doing my Natural Wonders guide (I don't think I'm going to be ATVing, which makes me pretty depressed but V and I might go sandsurfing on the third day while a group of our friends are sky-diving. After I get back we're all going out into Walvis Bay (pronounced "val-fish") for dinner and mingling with the locals.

We're also planning on sleeping on the deck if the weather and pollution permits.

Hope you're all doing well and I think of you often!!!

Emily

p.s. Teej, if you don't email me soon I'm going to never bring you your dirt. I swear. :D

Neptune Day... Better than 4th of July?

You Decide- My vote is yes.

 

In the tradition of Neptune Day, in order to make sure that sailors could handle the hot and expansive seas past the equator, a type of "light hearted hazing" was started including shaving your head or jumping in straight up fish guts, as well as swearing allegiance to Neptune Rex. (This might be added in by SAS, I don't know, I didn't do much research.)  In the morning Semester at Sea's experienced Shellbacks dressed up in ridiculous green and white costumes with tin foil shields and some out of tune marching snares and ran around the halls starting at 7am banging on doors, playing whistles and waking people up. Luckily, my room is over in a little offshoot that is mostly forgotten so my alarm woke me up and I was at breakfast by 8 before they finally got to my room.

We slept in our suites assuming that they might wake us up and shove us out the door for initiation but really we just got to go up and eat breakfast- which was nothing special. Getting up to the 7th deck we found that people had already staked their spots on the deck with towels, shoes, bags and water bottles (we contemplated just moving stuff and taking the seats, but decided we would be mad if someone did that to us so we just went to port side and took a couple chairs from there and tried to Tetris-style force them into place on the pool deck.) The kicker was that as 9 inched closer and tan-fanatics duked it out for the best sun-spots the crew came around and told us to put away all the chairs because we had to fit all 730 some students up on top deck as well as make room for King Neptune and his entire crew.

They made a big ceremony about what we had to do to become Shellbacks from our lowly pollywog status (standing in one of the shallow parts of the pool you get a pitcher of lime-green sulphuric smelling fish goo poured on our heads, we walk over to a lady-knight REGAL ANYONE!? holding a frozen large fish of some sort-kiss the fish, kiss the ring on our king's finger, ( who was actually captain Jeremy in swim trucks, body painted green wearing a long, white raffia wig and a foil covered cardboard crown) bow to the queen and then jump into the freezing pool to de-goo. After exiting, we were knighted by the security officer who was also dressed up and held a wooden, painted sword.

We (Vanessa and I) striped our clothes to our bathing suites and lined up... hearts pounding in excitement.

We went first while our friends waited and took pictures on the other side of the pool. We held hands and waited while the stink grew and grew. We got up there and when they poured the goo on, unknown to us, it was the bottom of the barrel, not a nice pitcher like everyone else. All the chunks, bits and pieces that sunk to the bottom got firmly lodged in our hair. There was erupting cheers from the crowed as we still didn't know what was going on until looking at pictures later, we were lost as to why we were treated special. We kissed the fish, who's teeth poked my lip: awkward, kissed the ring and jumped in the pool. Upon entering I have to say the only thing on my mind was getting out as fast as I could because it was so cold. This problem made me exit the wrong way and I think I missed getting knighted. Oh well. :) The weird part about getting out was that it was instantly warmer even with the wind and it wasn't expected. Vanessa and I took pictures while the other's were initiated and then we staked out our spots on chairs for the next 2/3 hours on the port side. (Left side, for everyone who is not used to the language). There we lathered ourselves with sunscreen and then lounged like we'd never lounged before. It was glorious. Periodically one of us would get up and get frozen fruit or some frozen-yogurt (no where NEAR as good as yozen frogurt but still delicious on a hot day.) Lunch was "meh" and since we were all sun-baked none of us were all that hungry. 

By they had thankfully cleaned since we all had used it to rid our hair and bodies of stink). The pool was filled with sea water and it felt absolutely amazing. Jordan loved how buoyant he was and told everyone who got in the pool to try it. Then we decided it was a good idea to try to make it into a whirl-pool. This actually worked surprisingly well and I think had we all the pool-goers in on it, it would have worked better. 

After pooling we changed and headed to the courts where we found the tournament already started but it was fine cause the teams got done early so we just scrimmaged with a few of the members and then Alex and Vanessa played on some kids team that were missing a few people. They won and then it was our original team's turn to play. I guarantee that this team is the only one of its kind on the ship because its the proud team of two type Ben and Em! Anyway, that team lost and if we lose again we're out of the tourney... which would not be fun. 

However before this loss we had possibly one of the best dinners I have ever had. Not due to quality of the food (although it was BOMB) but because it was straight up American BBQ food. Hamburgers, hotdogs, finger-licking BBQ Pork Ribs (I had 2 slathered in sauce), grilled lemon-butter fish, roasted potatoes, corn on the cob, baked beans, macaroni and potato salad, cole slaw, fruit (apples bigger than your fist, bananas, oranges, pears, plums, GRAPES, nectarines, pineapple), ice cream sundaes (THEY HAD RAINBOW SPRINKLES! which I ate sans ice cream I was so excited) and pound cakes. It was all cooked up on huge grills they busted out on the 7th deck and everyone gorged themselves and stole as much fruit as they could. It was quite possibly the best food-baby ever experienced. Soon after we played our volleyball game. 

Showers came next and a photo-swap. We were all so tired from laying out, volleyball and digesting that gigantic meal that we passed out nice and early.

 

 

Today we resumed classes and our ship is BOOKIN' it. We had all four engines running at 85% all morning and the wind on the sides of the boat was intense. Today was also cool because we crossed the actual geographic equator (though the point of direct sun-light at noon is still to come due to the earth's tilt and it not being an equinox). I was in Tropical Ecology at it happened at 3:23pm my time (8:23am-CO and 7:23am-CA). The only thing that I could think of was that I was crossing the line that my brother is currently residing on. Dylan, where ever you are I think of you often and I hope that Kenya is treating you well, soon I'll be back on the African continent in Namibia and I'll be thinking of you then too. Love you and hope your project is going well.

 

That's all for now. Hope everyone is GOOD!

 

Em 

I feel like this is applicable to life right now

Dance for me sweetheart while I strum my guitar,

You sure look pretty tonight

I've just come off the road and I could use some company

That would suite me just fine.

 

I've seen a lot of special things around this world,

You can see them too you can.

But that you ask I have no name,

I have no name.

I am known only as man.

I am known only as man

 

I'm a wanderer I have no place or time

I'm just drifting on this lonely road of mine

and if you like, you can come along with me.

But I promise you I am not the man I used to be

No, I promise you that I am not the man I used to be

 

You and I, we've seen our share of Ups and downs

Some so weary, just lost hope.

I can't change the past but who cares?

Cause love is all I've ever known,

your love is all I've ever known

 

I'm a wanderer I have no place or time

I'm just drifting on this lonely road of mine

and if you like, you can come along with me.

But I promise you I am not the man I used to be

No, I promise you that I am not the man I used to be

 

Ohhh, no. No No no. Whoa No no noooo

 

I'm a wanderer I have no place or time

I'm just drifting (I'm just drifting) on this lonely road of mine

But if you would, just accept me for me

Then I promise you that there a better man inside of me

I promise you that there's a better man inside of me

Lord, I promise you that there's a better man inside. of. meeeeee

 

I'm a wanderer I have no place or time

I'm just drifting on this lonely road of mine

I'm a wanderer I have no place or time

I'm just drifting on this lonely road, lonely road, lonely road of mine.....

 

-Marc Broussard "The Wanderer"

To All Pollywogs!!

Tomorrow, I don't know if you know, is the day we are to cross the Equator. It is known in the Navy and in many marine communities as Neptune day. I've heard that in the navy on Neptune day you either can shave your head or bite off the head of a fish. Here on the MS Explorer the hazing is slightly less harsh. Yes, instead of biting off the head, we just have heads and guts of fish POURED on us-if you so choose the option of shaving your head is still available and if you have hair longer than 8 inches you can donate it to locks of love. How sweet.

 

Apparently the rumor is they (the crew, teachers, life-long learners and all) dress up like crazy fish people and bang pots and pans to wake us up at 7. I'm not sure what they do next but then at 9 we have our "initiation ceremony" which takes us as Pollywogs (those of us who have never crossed the equator) to... whatever we get to be after we cross. Ha-ha. Its going to be a long party day. We have no classes and I have absolutely no idea if there are any activities planned other than massive amounts of sunscreen being used. Myself included and approx 90% of the ship will be soaking up the rays of the direct sun. I plan on using 45 every couple of hours. Most likely I'll still get burned I'm thinking. Its the curse of the whities. Luckily most of my good friends are incredibly white too so we're going to start the "I'm really white" club and take over the spots the "Tanning Club" scopes out everyday while they are supposed to be in Global Studies. (We're not really going to do this we're just really good at scheming while we lounge, which we are incredibly good at. Yesterday we sat at a dinner table for the entire time dinner is served: 5:30-7:30. Talent.)

 

So here is the email the entire student body got today:

 

SUBPOENA to all POLLYWOGS,

You are hereby requested to appear before the ROYAL COURT OF THE REALM OF NEPTUNE, in the DISTRICT OF EQUATORIUS, because it has been brought to the attention of HIS HIGHNESS, NEPTUNE REX through his trusty SHELLBACKS, that the good ship M/V EXPLORER is about to cross the equator and enter those waters accompanied by passengers who have not acknowledged the sovereignty of the RULER OF THE DEEP.

THEREFORE be it known to all Slimy Pollywogs that The Royal, King NEPTUNE REX, Supreme Ruler of all citizens of the deep, will, with his Secretary and Royal Court, meet in full session on board the offending ship M.V. EXPLORER on the 9^th day of February, A.D. 2009 at 0900 on Deck 7 aft, to hear your defense.

 

Regards,

-King Neptune and His Royal Court

 

In addition: All pollywogs with hair longer than 8 inches who wish to donate their hair to a worthwhile charity, should do so BEFORE undergoing the initiation ceremony, as only clean hair is able to be donated.

 

If there are any pollywogs who have brought hair clippers on board, your services are hereby solicited by King Neptune and his Royal Barber. You may help by bringing your clippers to DECK 7 aft, tomorrow morning. 

 

 

 

 

Another Update-

We are 3 days from the Equator, we have crossed the 30th parallel and the seas are about 10x more calm then they were just yesterday. The temperature gets warmer every second we inch closer to the equator. We are going to stop in Dakar for fuel and then head to Walvis Bay, Namibia.

 

We have 3 days there and I'm planning on a couple of semester at sea trips which count as field components for my classes and the last day Vanessa and I are planning on going to watch a group of our friends go Sky-diving and then were going to explore the city of Swakopmund. Its a city with heavy German influence due to the fact that Namibia was once a German colony.

Here are the descriptions for my two trips:

Natural and Geological Wonders of the Namib: Travel in 4x4 vehicles along the coastal road towards Swakopmund before heading eastwards toward the Namib-Naukluft Park. The Namib-Naukluft region is almost entirely made up of national parks, extending from Oranjemund, the restricted Diamond Area in the south, up to the Kunene River. In this arid region, water is more precious than diamonds. Plants have adapted to sprout at the first shower of rain and this is a magical place for photography enthusiasts.

The Namib is one of the oldest deserts in the world and known for some unusual characteristics. The central section is a shifting sea of warm, apricot-colored sand dunes, constantly changing with the play of light and shadow, depending on the time of day. The cold Benguela Current offshore captures vagrant moisture from the sea and the resulting fog provides vital moisture to the area’s flora; some unique specimens have evolved here.

Drive through the Swakop River Valley, a dry riverbed that seldom flows, to the "Moon Landscape", a vastly eroded valley, which has an appearance similar to that of the moon’s surface. Spend time exploring this area of deep chasms and interesting geological features before continuing to "Welwitschia" Valley, where literally thousands of Welwitschia Mirablis plants litter the ground. View these fascinating plants, which were discovered by Dr. Friedrich Welwitschia in 1859. The plant is a modified tree, producing a single, turnip-like stem that can be more than three feet thick and five feet tall. The adult leaves develop from this stem. At first glance, there seem to be many leaves, but closer inspection reveals only two, up to ten feet in length, split into many sections by the harsh, dry winds. This weird plant produces its first flower after about 20 years and has a lifespan of at least 500 years. Along with the Welwitschia plant, the valley also hosts a variety of interesting lichen plants.

Return to Walvis Bay via the dune belt to Dune 7. Stop en-route and enjoy a refreshing treat of fresh oysters and soft drinks. Orange juice and salty snacks are also provided. Drive through Walvis Bay, visiting the lagoon and tidal flood plains before returning to the ship. Depending on the time of year, a variety of water birds, including flamingos and pelicans may be seen.

Eco-marine Kayaking: A two-person kayak is an excellent vehicle from which one can not only feel and smell the ocean but also have a chance to observe marine wildlife "up close and personal". At the coast from Walvis Bay, there are opportunities for leisurely kayaking with excellent sights. Sea birds are in abundance, including pelicans, terns, plovers, cormorants, sandpipers and flamingos, From Pelican Point, one can paddle amongst seals and occasionally dolphins.

These both sound awesome to me and I'm excited to see where they take me!

We have one more day on sea and then we have 5 days in South Africa. I have something planned for each day:

1- A field component about Authors in Cape Town for my Lit class, then a Jazz safari with local musicians throughout Cape Town and then a massive out-door concert at the end where if you bring your own instrument you can jam with the musicians.

2- Operation Hunger: an NGO whose mission is “to create partnerships between vulnerable households and caring people to combat malnutrition which, when suffered by children, undermines the nation’s health, education and economic potential.”We will be traveling to Squatter's villages and witnessing what Operation Hunger does everyday to help the people.

3- Amy Biehl foundations Visit: Amy Biehl was a young American Fulbright Scholar who was stoned to death in South Africa in 1993 where she had gone to help in the struggle against apartheid. She was very interested in working with disenfranchised voters in the country and had worked there previously, studying multi-party elections in various African states. Her parents, Peter (now deceased) and Linda, and their family have established the Amy Biehl Foundation Trust to continue their daughter’s work and have been highly supportive of groups concerned with the lasting effects of apartheid. In the townships you will see the impact of apartheid and continuing racial discrimination on poverty today.

4- DIVING WITH GREAT WHITE SHARKS!!! AHHHHHHHHHH SOOOOO EXCITED!!!

5- Elandsfontein Fossil site (which is for a class but I'm still excited about it anyway!!) The Elandsfontein Fossil site is located about 1 ½ hours north of Cape Town and consists of a major fossil exposure dating to about 400,000 years ago. A human cranium (late Homo erectus) has been recovered from the site, and we can see the original specimen before we leave. We will travel in 4 X 4 vehicles and will be accompanied by Dr. Graham Avery, Curator of Archaeology, South African Museum.

All in all I'm pretty darn excited for the ports coming up. I hope everything goes well.

Until next time-

Em

Morroco was.... Authentic!

Morocco!!

First off, the weather in Gibraltar was so intense that we had to dock in the harbor overnight to ensure we got the fuel on the ship. This took much longer than expected and it took away a day we had in Morocco. My trip was booked independently through a kid (who went through a Travel agency called “Authentic Morocco”) named Ryan. Ryan has organized several trips for various countries and I checked out the place and it seemed pretty legit as well as an itinerary very similar to what Semester at Sea was doing only like $200 less. When we found out that we were losing a day we flipped out and Ryan called the Company from the ship. They handled it well and we had our own driver so we were basically free to choose how we wanted to re-arrange our trip. We thought we were pretty lucky compared to the SAS people who’s entire trip was cancelled.

We get to the port after an INTENSE night were the ship had to turn off the stabilizers to make a sharp enough turn in VERY rough waters to make it into the harbor alright (I was in the dining hall and plates flew off the counters and crashed and people where falling out of chairs…the skyline would disappear on both the top and bottom of the large windows, which from the 5^th deck perspective was a measure of how much the ship was rolling). The next morning a group of 23 gathered together and made the mile trek out of the mostly industrial and quite battered looking dock to find our bus driver, Yunnis. Yunnis turned out to be very cool but we had enough people that we had to split up into a small bus and the Toyota 4x4 Yunnis drove. The bus driver looked like a small squat man made out of leather and drove like a bat out of hell.

The drive to Marrakech from Casablanca took us about 2 hours on the way down and I was very surprised at how green everything was. With the storms and overcast sky we had it looked like we were driving through Scotland. It was absolutely incredible. You could see for miles and everywhere the landscape was dotted with Shepards, their flocks and little villages. There didn’t seem to be anything very modern until you pulled into Marrakech. The main street we drove down was pretty and had a lot of café’s and restaurants but the further we went though, the meaner the streets looked and the more haggard the people were. We eventually pulled over in a not-so-nice looking turn about and Yunnis asks us for lunch or the hotel first. We decided to drop our stuff off and then we could walk around easier. Here is where the “Authentic”in Authentic Morocco comes in. Our hotel (“one of the only ones in the old Media”-which is old Marrakech “with hot water!”–and it wasn’t hot at all) was worse than most of the hostels we wouldn’t even go into in Spain. The entire place had “sketchy”written all over it. Some people turned down their sheets to find they had pubic hairs and stains in their sheets (many of us didn’t have top sheets) and a select lucky few had bathrooms in their rooms. The rest of us had to make do with the Public wash rooms on each floor. There was one stall with an actual toilet, but no toilet paper, and two squatting holes. There was one sink for all three stalls and no soap. Most of the rooms with bathrooms also came with a rancid odor emitting from the shower drains. Take your pick I guess, public pee-hole or smelly drains.  

We were taken to a plush open-air lunch place to have a 150 Durham (the currency exchange while there was 8.77DH per 1 USD) lunch of traditional Salad, couscous, chicken, veggies, lentils and beans. The dessert was one of my favorite parts because it was just peeled, sliced oranges  with lines of alternating cinnamon and sugar over the top. The oranges in Morocco were absolutely superb and tasted like heaven. There were stands in the square by our hotel which made fresh squeezed OJ and it was the best I’ve ever had. Water, beer, wine and cokes were between 20-50 DH extra at the lunch. We knew we would have to pay for our meals but they took us to very specific places and we had no choice but to pay, which was annoying since we already had paid a good amount for our trip. They also required tips EVERYWHERE you go. We got had by this place. They made bank off of us.

A zippy tour guide of Medina named Muhammad met us after lunch and took us through sketchy back allies to a Saudi Royal Tomb, a crumbling palace (where many scenes of Gladiator and other famous movies were filmed) and a fixed price market with rooms upon rooms of stuff on thousands of shelves. This place is a gigantic tourist trap. We also went to a sort of apothecary where we learned about traditional Moroccan spices, rubs, teas and herbal remedies. They slathered us with samples and had us sniff “black seeds”which give off a very pungent odor that clears the head/chest/anything in between. He left us in the Souks market where our group of 17 girls and like 6 guys where the subject prey of all the shop keepers. Everywhere you went men would call out to you: “You have diamond eyes!”“Oh! American!”“Fish and Chips!”(this was a popular one and we still can’t figure out what they meant by it other than maybe they thought we were British) and all manner of derogatory terms for girls. We finally made our way back to our hotel, which we were trying to avoid like the plague around 10. I slept onto of my “comforter”in my clothes from the day before choosing it safe only to remove my shoes. The room was freezing and they had given us a top sheet and two very heavy blankets. I slept under those and still was freezing all night. Not many slept well and we had to be up and ready for Yunnis by 7:15. We grabbed a delicious breakfast from a woman making fresh naan (a flatbread) on the street corner with a honey liquid wrapped up. 5 DH for one of the most delicious things we’d had yet.

This day was prepared to make up for the indescribable sketchi-ness of the first day, however it didn’t start off well because it was raining and we were to ride camels. We were all so slap happy, tired and haggard already that when Yunnis and leather-man dropped us off for the Camels, the mangy, pathetic and dripping wet animals only made the experience that much more ridiculous. We laughed for most of the time and joked with the guys herding us around. Many of the camels were mad they had to be there and let’s just say their treatment wasn’t kind. One was pregnant and grumpy a many were very small and for our group of 23 they had brought 14 so we had to double up. We were lead around for 45 minutes through a small palm grove and my camel’s name was, I kid you not, Michael Jackson. We were soaked by the end and we didn’t have time to change before Yunnis whisked us away to our Atlas Mountain Authentic Berber Village. (There was no heat in either the bus or the car. The bus driver drove with the window down the entire time to try to de-fog the windows. It didn’t work. And we were all freezing.) We drove up into the mountains stopping at various elevations to take pictures, go to the bathroom and get snacks. We kept going up, and up, and eventually got into the snow, went further up and then over the top of the mts where the clouds stop. We drove, and when I say drove I mean we held on for our lives because the bus driver was taking turns with immediate drops and no railings and a pace which would not have been legal in the states, for another hour. We got to our destination after a 3 hour ride and it was breath taking. We didn’t interact with the people in the villages like the Semester at Sea groups got to do but we got to see the (supposedly) first castle of Africa and the place where the last Berber Prince resided. It was amazing and the sun was shining and the clouds were gone so we were finally drying off and warming up.

We then had a lunch made by a family in an offshoot of the palace of the same thing we had the day before; Chicken, salad, veggies and oranges for dessert. The place had a space heater and all took our turns in front of it. Another 3 hour car ride out of the mts, more incredibly views and more scary driving lead us back to Marrakech to be dropped off. We went back into the Bazaar (known as Souks) market which was literally down the ally from our hotel, to barter with the people, buy stamps, eat dinner and then go in search of a hookah bar. 5 girls and 1 guy left after getting back to the hotel to go back to the ship in Casablanca because they were so worn out and wouldn’t sleep in the hotel. The rest of us were mostly over it and had some good bonding experiences. (Some went clubbing and bar hopping in New Marrakech and a few of us stayed behind and hung out.) More frigid night temperatures and stiff joint upon waking the next morning too. Also, the only thing that made the call to prayer that woke you up at 4:45 and again around 5:30 from the mosque down the street bearable was the fresh Naan with honey and squeezed OJ in the morning.

Yunnis and leatherman drove us back to Casablanca because we were supposed to be visiting the King Hussein II mosque, one of the largest in the world and one of 2 open to non-muslims in Morocco. I say supposed because while we made it there and to the outside, we weren’t let in because it was past the VERY small window we had to visit. A girl named Sahar (pronounced like “Sahara”without the “a”) who is Muslim was the only one that got to go in and I’m glad she was able to. The guards told us to come back at 2 and so we got Yunnis to take us to a place for something to eat and then our plan was to go back to the Mosque around 2. We met up with the driver but Yunnis told us he wouldn’t take us back for 20 minutes because we only had him until 4. This was infuriating because earlier that morning it took us over 3 hours to get from Marrakech to Casablanca and before it had taken 2. We couldn’t figure out why they were driving so slow until we realized they were taking their sweet time so we couldn’t go into the mosque and they wouldn’t have to pay our entrance fees. We were livid. Eventually Ryan got Yunnis to take him, another boy and Sahar back to the mosque where they were refused entrance so Sahar ran around for 15 minutes inside and took pictures. The rest of us walked to the boat, got on early and got to wash our faces, feet and some took hot showers (even though we’re supposed to conserve water in port) and change our stinky clothes (which we all slept in again the previous night).

Despite the facts that the tour was a rip-off I met some incredible people and did have selectively good times. I don’t know if I was given the chance to return to Morocco again soon that I would take it but I think it probably deserves a second chance. Many of the people I talked to who did independent and SAS organized trips had amazing times and some had some questionable experiences too. I think it was a crap shoot. I think had our hotel been nicer, we would have had a much more enjoyable experience but the residing feeling of the entire tour was that we were getting as little quality as possible for how much we paid. Oh well, lesson learned right?

We now have about a week of school before we hit Namibia. We cross the equator and will be celebrating Neptune Day. I’ll keep you posted on what my plans are to do there and what all is happening on the ship. Sorry this post was so long! I’m impressed if you got all the way through it.

 

Love you ALL.

 

Em

Emails

Hey everyone! Hello from Sea!

We're now more that half of the way to Cadiz, Spain from our original port in Nassau, Bahamas. I am planning on doing some independent travels in Spain to Seville, I hear its incredible. I also want to try to visit some costal towns because they are rumored to be quite beautiful.

I would like you all to email me if you can! my email is elwestfall@semesteratsea.net  this way I know I have your correct email addresses and the ones that I requested by text earlier I don't have because they are on my blogsite and I can't access that without spending my online minutes (which I have 2 hours max of before having to pay for the rest of the trip).

Hope you're all doing well and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY KATIE DARLING!!!!

LOVE
Em

First Day at Sea

Hi to all; I'm extremely frustrated because I just typed up this HUGE long email/blog update and somehow it deleted the entire thing and didn't save it. I'm a little hacked off. :( Lets see if I can remember what it was I said.

I'm already annoyed because I can't figure out how to select all my contacts to send an email to nor can I find a way to even find my contacts to send anything to. I ended up just putting all the emails in a word doc and copy/pasting.

Day 1: LONG. Orientation: We started off pretty early with some presentations on safety, who is who in staff and faculty and then a live feed of the inauguration on the big screen in the Union (which is our largest lec hall thing). We had lunch and a couple twenty minute breaks when everyone seems to flock to the decks in the back to lay out and soak up the rays as well as try to gulp the fresh air and get rid of their sea sickness. I don't know if this amount of rocking is normal but a lot of people seem to be getting sick. I haven't yet, but I keep getting bad headaches. I'm drinking water and trying to stay hydrated. :) More safety presentations and then a depressing showing of the trailer for the Movie HAZE about the hazing and incident of the student at CU who died in a Frat rush. The most represented university on the ship is CU with 80 people. Everywhere you look seems to be a CU or Boulder piece of paraphernalia. The stats are 73% girls and 27% guys. The guys seem mostly cool but there are a few womanizers for sure. But that's the same anywhere you go.

There are also families of the staff on ship and the kids (about 20 of them) range from 10 months to 17 years old. They are all home schooled and are VERY lucky. hahah. In addition to that there are the life long learners who are older people who are graduated and still wanting to learn. They range from 26ish to 60's and above. The ship has about 730 students and 300 faculty, staff, Life-long learners and crew.

My roommate's name is also Emily and she is from (I think) portland. She's also from a small university and we seem to be pretty compatible. I think it will be good.

I am running out of battery so I'm going to cut it short. But if you didn't get this as a blog update and email then pleace send me your email because I don't have it.

Love you all and hope to hear from you soon.


Love,
Em

(Update: Since this wasn't posted right here is another update. This is my 2nd A day (we have A and B days and basically no weekends. We have different classes on each day other than the Mandatory Global Studies class which everyone takes and its everyday. My classes seem to be going well but I can't really tell because I've only had one day of each and that's the typical set up day. We're deciding what trips we're going to take through SAS for a couple of upcoming ports today. TOUGH DECISIONS! More on that later!)

I'm in Nassau!!...

...And I left my glasses, in their case, with my contact case.... On. My. Vanity. *smacks forehead repeatedly* Yeah. Whoops! We were so concerned that we had all our bags (we had ten including carry-on) and all the insulin and random bags packed full of fun things like sensors and sets that I completely forgot to grab them. Needless to say after almost 16 hours of travel and travel delays and it being windy and night when we got here so that we couldn't fully enjoy the BEAUTY of Nassau, I was less than pleased to figure that out.

HOWEVER.

Its beautiful here. The weather is nice (shorts and a tank top!) the food so far has been delicious and the people are super friendly. (There was about a half an hour when I walked from Paradise Island to Downtown Nassau and through it by myself where I got a little uncomfortable- but I got back to the wharf/buses and the hotel and everything just fine. :)

I even lost my first ceremonious three dollars on penny slots. The first machine a sat down on I won like 50 cents right off the bat. Then I proceeded to lost everything after that. haha but thats the nature of gambling and at least it was 3 dollars and not 30. It was fun though. My mom and I sat down and played the old ones where you still see the wheels spin and you have to pull the lever on the side to spin them. Its pretty fun. And LOUD. Every time you win, lose, print, spin all sorts of bells and whistles go off and lights blink. That part is annoying but I have to say, its nice not to have to stick to the stupid carpet paths anymore.

Tonight I'm going to Senor frogs to meet up with a bunch of people from the boat (most of them at staying at the Atlantis resort and I'm off that island to the west of Nassau). My parents are sippin' drinks and learning about what I'm going to be doing for the next three months on the ship as I type this out. My mom's text "were sitting here in this most deluxe union/theater eating sweet little snacks and drinking wine... you are soooo lucky! wait til you see it!" .. Thanks mom. Lets remind me how much they WON'T be serving those sweet little snacks while I'M aboard. Its like sudexo... its really good when it needs to be, but what they feed the students is a completely different story. But I'm not really complaining. I'm mostly just trying to find something to whine about, because from what I can tell... there isnt much and I'm thankin' my lucky stars for this experience.

Anyway. I love you all and tonight is my last night with internet for free and all that jazz (of COURSE facebook is down for repairs). I'll be emailing my updates to my blog so make sure you check it often. I'm going to try to write down things that make me think of all of you and write about them here. (For instance today at the Atlantis Aquarium I saw manta rays. It reminded me of Old Man and the Sea as well as Beach Music. Which made me think of Smailes' class and Ernest Hemingway which lead me to Jacque and her hatred of Hemingway as well as everyone in that class. Ahhhh You guys are everywhere! I take you all with me in my heart! hahahahaha I'm cheeeeesy.)

Anyway, Its really pretty outside and I should be sitting out there soaking it up. Maybe the lady is done cleaning my room now. If not, I might go buy an over priced starbucks in the casino next door.

Love you all.