Brazil!

Oh, Brazil. Home of the hotties with the bodies. That’s what I was expecting when I got there...tons of scantily clad models roaming the streets. Now after docking in Manaus, Brazil, reality set in. I had many expectations of Brazil, and many of them were broken, good and bad. But my time in Brazil was a unique experience, first of all because it was my first time on a different continent. Secondly, Brazil was the first country I’ve ever been to where I don’t know the language. And lastly, Brazil was our first big port on our voyage...

Sunday, January 23, 2011

I awoke that Sunday morning that we arrived in Brazil just in time to shower, get dressed, and grab a quick breakfast before heading to an SAS service visit with my friend Kelli. The trip was to the Monte Salem Orphanage, a facility that accommodates about 25 kids (ages 1 to 16) that were extracted from their homes by the government for various reasons. On our way out to the orphanage, we got our first look at the city of Manaus. As we passed bus stops, schools, and the local jail, our tour guide gave us a thorough history on the city of Manaus. He pointed out a newly renovated section of town along the river where people had once built their houses on stilts. To get people to relocate from the river, the government built and offered free housing for those living in the stilt houses, with some restrictions included of course.

Also, the tour guide was talking about some of the expectations and trends for woman in Brazil, and something he told us really stood out to me. He told us that the girls in Brazil begin having children at a very young age, even as young as 12 years old. Having a child (to them) is a right of passage of sorts. The girls have children to prove that they’re woman. The implications of this occurrence are too numerous to list.

But soon, we arrived at the Monte Salem Orphanage, and unloaded our group of 45 students and faculty to meet the kids and learn a little more about the facility. Admittedly, I guess I was expecting to be a little more affected by the conditions that the children were living in, but I was relieved that this wasn’t the case. The girls and the boys were separated in different rooms with bunk beds, and there was also a nursery for the smaller children. With a sitting area, kitchen, and community style bathrooms, the orphanage seemed very adequate, but of course they still have some needs to be met.

Following the tour, we got to play with the kids. It was tougher situation than I had anticipated because of the huge language barrier. All the kids spoke Portuguese, the primary language in Brazil. For those who knew a little Spanish it was still difficult, yet a little easier to communicate with Brazilians, but for a French speaker like me, I had to improvise. Things like a smile or a high five are pretty universal. Another thing that I learned is that little kids love to play with your camera. I don’t worry too much when they do...my camera is pretty durable, and the pictures they take are priceless. So that kept me pretty popular with the little ones. We didn’t stay for long, and soon we were heading back to the ship.

When Kelli and I got back from our trip, we decided to go explore the town a little bit. Soon it was clear to us that we didn’t have a single clue where to start, so we took a seat in an outdoor bar and shop area right on the waterfront and chatted with some other SASers as we tried some the local beers Brahma and Sko. Then we decided to brave the busy, crowded, and colorful streets of Manaus in search of food. Immediately I felt a little uneasy. It was just the atmosphere...I began to become hypersensitive to my surrounds. Maybe this reaction was just a result of all the talk of crime and theft in our pre-port meetings, but I held my purse tighter than usual in Manaus...payed more attention to the people around me. After all, it was just us two girls and it was apparent that we weren’t from Brazil. We managed to find a cozy little pizza place called Splash next to the Opera House. Ordering proved to be a little difficult, again because of the language barrier, but we successfully ordered a medium pepperoni pizza to share between the two of us. The pizza was very similar to the pizza we have in the states, except that it didn’t have any pizza sauce. It was still comforting though to taste a bit of home. We tried to order a slice of the dessert pizza but once again, the language barrier came into play. Instead of interpreting holding up two fingers and pointing to the dessert pizza we wanted as one slice for each of us, the waiter thought that we each wanted two slices...and these slices were not small. All we could do was say obrigado (the only Portuguese we knew that means ‘thank you’) and laugh it off. Luckily, our friend Mark Anthony had just come in with a local mother and son that he had been hanging out with all day, and we got to share our dessert with them.

As we were making our way back to the ship, we were met with a crowd of SAS people heading to Samba, what I later found out was some sort of street block party. So  I showered, changed, and joined part of the crowd heading to Samba. As soon as I stepped out of the cab I heard the rhythmic percussion of the huge Samba band and made my way up to see the Samba dancers in front of the band, who were all putting on this special performance just for us SASers. It was pretty cool to say the least. You couldn’t help but want to dance along with the rhythms the band was playing. After a little while they invited us to come and dance with them. I was dancing alongside some people that I had never met or really talked to before but it felt so natural. That moment was incredible...it was the kind of moment that is so unique to Semester at Sea  and one that I’ll never forget.

Monday, January 24, 2011

The next morning I had a trip into the Amazon Rainforest for a hike and then to the town of Presidente Figueiredo. It was about a 3 hour drive out to the rainforest, which meant nap time on the bus for me the whole way there. When we finally got there and off the bus, the heat immediately hit me. I had decided to suit up in long pants, long shirt, hiking boots, and a little too much bug spray and sunscreen because that’s what the medical team told us to do to make sure we didn’t get malaria. Apparently no one else got the message. Everyone else was wearing shorts and bathing suits and definitely not taking the safe route like I was. It’s like I was the Carlton in a big bunch of Fresh Princes’...awesome. I had to quickly get over my nerdiness and focus on the hike ahead of me.

The rainforest is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. Everything is so lush and green. The trees are so tall that you can’t imagine where some of them end. The smell of the forest emanates from the plants, from the ground. The roots from the trees coil and twist on the forest floor like snakes. You can taste the humidity. It hangs in the air like an invisible fog. You can sense the wildlife that is present, yet keeping camouflaged from potential predators. It was beautiful.

The hike was not the easiest. It had probably rained recently because the ground was slick and it was tedious work trying to remain upright as we worked our way downhill towards a cave. When we got to the cave our tour guide told us that the Indigenous Indians used to hide in the cave when they needed to. After looking around for a little while we headed back to the bus. By that time I was pouring sweat and had conveniently left my water bottle on the bus. You can imagine how grateful I was to retrieve it, and also that I had conveniently brought a change of clothes with me. By the time we reached the Waterfall Reserve I was a new, refreshed woman.

The Waterfall Reserve was also cool to see. We didn’t spend a lot of time there but we did get to jump into the river at the bottom the Waterfall and swim around a bit. The water was a strange reddish-brown color and warm, but I high-tailed it out of there as soon as I thought I felt a fish brush up against my foot (I don’t do fish, especially if I can’t see them).

Next we stopped at a little restaurant in the town of Presidente Figueredo for lunch. The food was excellent, an array of different fish, chicken, rice and beans, and other traditional Brazilian dishes like fried plantains (yum!). Drink wise, they had Coke, Fanta (which tastes a lot different in Brazil), and this smoothie type drink that they made for us. For dessert we had candied figs and cream. The meal was delicious but as we were getting ready to leave, things got a little confusing. The waiters came around and started handing us bills for way more than we were expecting. Since we were on an SAS trip, we were only expecting to pay a few Reals for our drinks, but we were all getting charged extra for the dessert and the smoothie drink. I’d like to think that this error was solely caused by the language barrier, but this kind of thing happened a lot during my time in Brazil. Vendors and taxi drivers would try to take advantage of you if you didn’t speak their language. Eventually we got everything all sorted out and we finished out the day by doing a quick zip line.
When I got back to the ship I ate dinner with my friend Kayla, and then we played Monopoly Deal with some of our other friends before they had to leave for their Rio trip.

Side note: for those of you who play Monopoly Deal with me back at school, just know that I got my friends here all addicted to it too! :)

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

I had a pretty chill day that Tuesday. With Kayla in Rio and Kelli at her home stay, I made plans with Allie and Katie to walk around and explore Manaus a little more. Not really knowing where we wanted to go, we just headed in a random direction and hoped for the best. On our quest for adventure, a couple of police officers decided that it was best to escort us to wherever we were going. Apparently, the part of town that we were in wasn’t the safest. They ended up walking us to the Palacio Rio Branco, a museum of sorts that used to be where the president worked (judging from the broken English of our tour guide). The building was beautiful and I even got to sit in the President’s chair!

Next we walked around by the Opera House and walked into a local Catholic church. After that we stopped into some gifts shops before heading to the grocery store to stock up on snacks for the ship. Now I brought a sizable amount of snacks for the voyage, but by the time I hit Brazil my snack drawer had already depleted considerably. They had a some things that you find in America, like Pringles and Doritos, but besides that everything was pretty new. I settled on getting some chocolate and soft drinks. I didn’t buy a whole lot because everything seemed surprisingly overpriced. Later I found out that most people in Brazil buy everything on credit and pay it back later, they’ll put even the smallest items on their credit cards. All the prices were more expensive because you weren’t expected to pay the full price.

Before getting back on the ship, we stopped on the sidewalk to buy some bracelets from these two guys, Seidu and Robert. I was shocked that they spoke English so well. It turned out that the bracelet guys were from Ghana originally. They were really nice, and gave us some tips and stories about what to expect in Ghana. We thanked them and got back on the ship.

That night I had a moment of weakness. I was homesick, friendsick, and feeling like I hadn’t made very many friends on the voyage so far. I called my friend Beth Peak for encouragement and she was great to talk to, but it just made me want to go home even more. I was overwhelmed...and I had no plans for the night.

Things began to turn around though. A big group of people that stuck around in Manaus decided to rent a river boat to take us up and down the river that night. It didn’t sound like the best plans, but they were still plans. It actually ended up being pretty fun. I met a lot of people that I didn’t know before and we all just talked and danced the whole time. I realized a few things after my night on the river boat. First, I realized how much of a family Semester at Sea people are. We pick each other up, help each other out, and look out for each other, even though we might not know each other that well. I also realized that my insecurities about making friends were fallacious. I kept expecting people to not be friendly and welcoming towards me but of course that wasn’t the case at all. Time and time again that night I was able to connect with people that I hadn’t ever spoken to before. I love that.

I went to bed that night not feeling at all lonely.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

The next day I made plans to go shopping again with Nicole and some other girls that I had met the night before on the river boat. I tried on my first Brazilian bikini and decided that I just don’t have the body for it. My booty is liscious and there was WAY to much showing in that bikini. But the Brazilian women I saw wearing them looked fantastic...naturally.

When I got back on the ship for lunch I met up with Kelli, who was on a quest to find a laundry mat. I joined in on her quest and we asked the reception desk where we could find the nearest one. Armed with a map and a general sense of where the laundry mat was, we got off the ship as confident as ever. Our confidence was only strengthened when we ran into a couple of guys who had just gotten back from the laundry mat that we were looking for. They even gave us a business card with the address of the place on it. But once we merged onto the street from the ship, reality set in again. We kept looking at the map for a reference but the thing about maps is that they are basically useless in Brazil. Brazilians, especially the ones in Manaus, do not use street signs. Most of them weren’t even labeled. We got lost. Like, really lost. And I kept trying to ask people directions by showing them the business card and then the map, but with someone who has zero Portuguese and even Spanish skills, my efforts were almost exclusively in vain. I must have asked at least 10 people for directions with no luck. At one point Kelli and I just stopped at the intersection, looked to the left and then the right, looked at the map, looked at each other...and we had to laugh. Just when we were about to give up and try to levitating to either the laundry mat or back to the ship, the voice of an angel made its way to our ears. It was a woman. Speaking English. In the middle of Manaus, Brazil where everyone speaks Portuguese. “Do you girls need some help?” she said. You should have seen the relief that swept over our faces. We wiped around and she was standing right behind us in some sort of nail salon. She had moved to Brazil at a young age from the States and has lived there ever since, which explains
how she know English and Portuguese. The woman was able to show us exactly where the laundry mat was (we were literally a block away from it), and we finally make it there to turn in Kelli’s laundry just minutes before it closed.

We noticed a cyber cafe a couple doors down from the laundry mat and decided that we wanted, no, NEEDED to get on Facebook. We spent at least an hour and a half surfing the web at the cafe and it only cost us one Real. We went up to pay at the counter and the guys working there wanted to talk to us. Not so easy when you don’t speak each others language. Not even Kelli’s intermediate Spanish was getting the job done. But one of the guys had this brilliant idea to pull up Google Translate and talk to us that way. They would type something in Portuguese and then hit the translate button to make it into English, and vice versa. It wasn’t perfect, but we were all so excited to have found a way to communicate with each other. We talked to them using Google Translate for over and hour. It wasn’t until we stepped outside that we noticed it was already dark outside. Crap. Then Kelli and I literally started heading in different directions from each other to where we thought the ship was. Double crap. So we were lost again in a sketchy part of Brazil. We needed another miracle to get us back. Well, God came through again. From across the street I head another angelic voice. “Miss, do you need help? Remember me from yesterday?” It was Seidu, the guy that had sold me a bracelet the day before. He knew exactly where to go to get back to the ship. Perfect! He was super nice and escorted us all the way back to the ship, and he said he would take us out again that night to experience some nightlife.

We actually had a really fun night. Seidu brought his friend Robert along, and Kelli and I had heard that there was another Samba performance so we decided to check it out. It turns out that walking to Samba took WAY longer than driving to Samba. It felt like we walked around for hours, but we had some really good conversation along the way. Seidu told me more about Ghana and how things were in Brazil. I learned so much about things that you wouldn’t from a tour guide, like expectations of women and observations about the gay community in Brazil. Finally we get to the place where Samba was held and their performance was over, but there were still SASers, locals, and street venders still hanging around. After a while I acquired a suitor for my affections. I didn’t catch his name but he was very interested in me. He kept calling me Beyonce (I could get used to that), and he played me Justin Beiber to impress me. Side note: Brazilians LOVE Justin Beiber. He’s everywhere. Printed on t-shirts, notebooks, underwear...Weird. Anywho, he knew very few words in English but he had the phrases “you’re so beautiful” and “I love you” down. After a while he asked for my hand in marriage and all of his friends came up to me to try to convince me that I should do it. It was very flattering but all good things must come to an end. We left the block party and headed to a local nightclub where a lot of the SAS kids went. Kelli and I danced and danced. After that we headed back to the ship and had a sleepover in my room. It was the perfect last night in port.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

The last day in Brazil was mostly spent running errands. Kelli and I returned to the laundry mat to pick up her clothes, and then we also returned to the cyber cafe to check Facebook again. While at the cyber cafe I happened to check my bank account balance and I noticed that someone must have stolen my debit card number and had stolen hundreds of dollars from my account. If you’re out of the country, this situation SUCKS! Not only do you have to cancel your debit card, but you have to make some pretty expensive international phone calls to do so. I ended up getting back on the ship and handling the situation and calming down because it was out of my hands. I wasn’t going to let some bad circumstances ruin my the rest of my voyage. I almost forgot all about it when I started seeing the friends that had come back from Rio on the ship again. I was so glad to see them and to continue our voyage on to the next country!

Classes at Sea

You may be wondering what it’s like taking classes on the ship. Well I’m here to tell you that they’re not easy. So often I hear that the classes students take during study abroad programs are pretty laid back...not so here at Semester at Sea. We have classes every day while we’re at sea (minus a few reflection and reading days), and that includes weekends. Days are divided into A and B days, instead of specific days of the week, which often leads to never actually knowing what day it is.

Here’s my schedule for the semester:

A Days
World Religions: 1455-1610
Music and Cognition: 1615-1730

B Days
Global Pop Culture: 0800-0915
Global Studies: 0920-1035

I love that my classes are back to back, but the 8am class I have on B days is a tough one to get up for, especially when we always lose our hours the nights before B days. And although my workload is constantly pretty heavy (I’m writing papers everyday!), I enjoy my classes for the most part.

World Religions is an introductory class into the study of religions. I love this class because without it, the religious practices of the rest of the world would most likely overwhelm and confuse me. So far we’ve talked about Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism--as well as lesser known religions like tribal and native religions, Jainism, and Rastafarianism.

Music and Cognition is an upper level psychology class that delves into why and how the brain process music the way it does. The big question that we’re trying to form opinions about in this fairly young field of research is “Has music evolved as an adaptation of language or is it simply enjoyable cheesecake to the brain?”. Because this is such a new field of study in the psychology world, most of our work is speculation and critical thinking about the topic. This class is interesting but definitely work heavy. Preparing for class usually requires reading a couple chapters in our text book accompanied with several (rather long) scholarly articles and scientific studies. And then we have to write a two page reflection paper for each set of reading for every class. In addition to that we have field work and other papers to turn in along the way. Somehow I’ve been keeping up in this class, but to be honest, I have no idea how.

Global Pop Culture is a sociology class that focuses on the pop culture of the countries we visit on Semester at Sea. We focused mainly on advertising for the first half of the course, but now we’re on to working in groups on a big final project. My team is studying  music and nightlife. The class mainly focuses on attaining a sociological perspective and increasing critical thinking skills, which can sometime prove difficult since I haven’t taken any sociology classes back at Western, but all in all, it’s an interesting course.

Global Studies is a tough course to explain...probably because it tries to incorporate the topics and workload of about 4 different classes at once. Global Studies is our core class that every passenger aboard the MV Explorer is required to take. Global Studies is designed to provide background and insightful information about the countries we travel to, and boy do they try to pack in as much as they can. The class usually consists of a couple minutes of announcements, a regular lecture and then a guest lecture, and my favorite minute of B days: the geology minute. We have reading and attendance quizzes, a group project, and a huge comprehensive final to take before completing the course. What makes this class a lot of work is that in addition to the rather large amount of reading we have for Global Studies, we are also responsible to know all the information in the professors lecture powerpoint slides, even if he doesn’t finish the lecture (I’ve yet to see him finish a lecture). Global Studies is a standard experience for people who attend Semester at Sea, and to most--myself included--we have a love-hate relationship with the class. We do learn some valuable info about the countries we visit, and the geology minute--a brief overview about our geographical location mixed in with some geographical features of where we are--is always interesting.

I wouldn’t say that the classes here are any harder than the ones back at my home institution, but here’s what they don’t tell you in the brochures...the environment that we’re supposed to work is anything but ideal for schoolwork. First of all, you’re on a moving ship, which either makes you seasick or very sleepy. Seasickness is a completely valid excuse to leave or not come to class. Even professors have had to excuse themselves from their classes to compose themselves. Seasickness doesn’t discriminate. For those who never get it, let my jealousy be noted. Also, reading on a rocking ship is something you just have to train yourself how to do. The key is to take lots of breaks!

Second of all, the ship becomes a lot smaller than you think if you’re trying to find a quiet place to study. There are people hanging out all over the ship, because cabins are far too small for all of your friends to congregate there.  So it’s much easier to get caught up socializing with your friends, instead of tackling your ever-present homework.

Finally, because internet access is nearly slim to none while at sea, students are forced to travel backwards on the technological timeline and use--dare I say it--actual books in the library! Well in less you want to use one of our free online pages, Wikipedia, as a reliable academic source. Thankfully we also have access to the University of Virginia’s online sources as well, but that’s only if the internet decides to work that particular day. 

My intention for writing about classes on the ship is not to simply voice my complaints, but rather spark some empathy or compassion for the students of Semester at Sea, however brief it may be. We are all very fortunate to be apart of this incredible opportunity, but we have all worked extremely hard to get and stay here, and I think that should be commended.

Onward to more studies!
Anna

Tips From Past Voyages

I’m going to let you guys in on a little SAS Top Secret. In every cabin on the ship is a painting or some type of artwork hanging on the wall. The secret is that on the back of this artwork is advice from the people who previously stayed in your cabin, written in permanent marker. Had my friend Kelli not told me about this find, there is no way I would have thought to look behind the painting, but I’m glad she did. It’s so neat to see something passed along from voyage to voyage. There some pretty good advice on the board, like how it tells you to be kind to your cabin steward and the rest of the crew (I love the crew, they’re wonderful!), but admittedly there is some pretty sketchy and risky advice listed too. Things like “go to a speed bar in South Africa” or “take your roommate to a strip joint in China” are just some of the bad things, but it’s all made in good fun. On my list there is directions to get into the kitchen at night to steal food and careful instructions on how to pass Global Studies without actually going to class, both helpful skills to attain. But most of all, the board warns against being a “SAShole” by having a bad attitude and taking this great opportunity for granted. As sad as I know it will be to leave this cabin, I’m excited to leave behind a legacy on the board to be passed down from voyage to voyage...or at least until they replace the artwork :)

Peace and Love,
Anna

The front of the artwork. 

The tips on the back.

Dominica

To be honest, I didn’t really have any expectations for the island of Dominica--not to be confused with the Dominican Republic (this is a completely different island in the Caribbean). First of all, I knew nothing about Dominica, like how the actual pronunciation is dom-in-ee-ka instead of di-min-ica. And secondly, I had absolutely no plans during my stay on the island, and I was so worried about not making any friends to hang out with while we were there because I’d only been on the ship for a few days and making friends in any situation takes time. So naturally I thought I wasn’t going to have any fun for the two days we were going to spend there. Boy was I wrong.

Day 1
My roommate, Amanda, was having the same doubts about Dominica that I was and didn’t have anything planned for the first day, so we decided to have a roommie-filled day and explore the town of Roseau together.  We arrived on Sunday, January 16th sometime around 7am. It was a foggy morning, but in the distance we could see forested mountains above and colorful buildings and houses below. Almost immediately I noticed a KFC to the left of the dock, and later I found out that Roseau also had a Subway and a Pizza Hut, which I found pretty interesting.

Amanda and I scarfed down some breakfast and took a short little snooze while the majority of people who had trips got off the ship first. After that, we walked down the gangway and onto the streets of our first port, only to be bombarded by taxi drivers offering to give us the best deal for a ride around the island. Shaking off the pesky taxi drivers, we walked down the main road of town just taking in the scenery. Since it was Sunday, a majority of the shops and businesses were closed while most locals went to church. Amanda and I headed up to the Botanical Gardens, a public park filled with exotic trees, flowers and fields, and we braved a steep trail leading up to a peak overlooking the town. The hike was a little more tedious than I had expected and it was incredibly hot (much hotter than the cold weather I had left behind in the states!), so by the time we reached the top I was drenched in sweat. Clearly my decision to wear jean capris and  a cute top were a bad idea.The view was well worth it though. From there I could see the ship, the place that was beginning to feel like home, snuggled in the beautifully blue waters of the Caribbean Sea. I could also see the colorful rooftops of the buildings in Roseau. After taking in the scenery and resting up a bit, we headed back down the trail to go back to the ship. On our way out we saw some children playing in a tree. “Should we go say hi? I want to meet them,” my roommate said. Of course, I was totally down for that. Amanda and I both have little brothers, so we were happy for some interaction with people not our age. We came up with a plan to ask the kids where we could get some candy, just to start conversation. There were three kids in the tree: Joesamine, age 6, Ash, who’s 8, and Amari, who’s 5. Joesamine first pointed--in way too many directions--to the location of the nearest shop. After that conversation flowed easily. The kids had just been to church and were climbing around in their Sunday best. We chatted with them for a while and then their father came over to greet us. They invited us to lunch but we would have been late getting back on the ship, but we agreed to meet up with them the next day for a play date.

Back on the ship, we got changed, ate, and then met up with a group of other SAS-ers that wanted to explore the city with us. One of the guys that had gone on an SAS trip earlier had talked to a guy that drove an open tour bus who said he would take us to three local hot spots: Ti Tou Gorge, Trafalgar Falls, and The Hot Springs for about $10 US. We boarded the bus and headed up into the mountains. The views were beautiful as we kept driving higher and higher, but I was a bit worried sitting on the far side of the bus because the roads are much more narrow in Dominica and at times I was scared that I was going to just fall over the edge. But we just kept climbing higher and higher into the mountains. Closer to the top, we all noticed the temperature dropping slightly. Finally, we get to the gorge. It’s a little hard to explain, but Ti Tou Gorge is some kind of rock formation, like a cave, that has water in the middle that you can swim in and a waterfall at the end of it. There’s a scene in the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie that was filmed at Ti Tou Gorge, so I’ve swam in the same waters that Johnny Depp has *swoon*! I guess I was feeling adventurous that day because I jumped about 30 feet down into the gorge. It was a really cool experience. It felt like nature had swallowed me up and I loved every minute of it. Next we headed to Trafalgar Falls, where we hiked a little ways to the foot of two adjacent waterfalls. There are these huge rocks that you have to climb up to get to the waterfalls though, which proved a little difficult. I’m surprised no one twisted an ankle climbing around on those slippery rocks. After that, we headed to the hot springs, which are these pools of mineral water that locals sit in to “feel 10 years younger”. They feel like hot tubs. So that was nice to sit in for a while.

Then it was back to the ship to get ready for our first night out on the voyage. Some of the bar owners in town got wind of the fact that 700 students were on the island looking for some night-time fun, so they opened up a bar called J.R.’s and a club called Crazy Coconuts. I went to both and danced so much! Just like the Black Eyed Peas predicted, it was a great night.


Day 2
The next day I got up and headed to an internet cafe down the street. It was a beautiful day and the cafe was open and breezy. Sipping a rum punch while on my computer on such a beautiful day in Dominica felt luxurious to say the least. Back on the ship for lunch, I waited for Amanda to get back from her day trip so that we could meet up with or little friends from the day before. Sadly we ended up getting to the gardens too late, missing our play date. So instead we went to the markets in search of snacks for our room. We came across a grocery store and came out of it with Pringles and Canadian Chocolate Chip Cookies. They seemed to have a lot of Canadian products on the shelves, and they also had a Canadian bank on the island, so I sensed that Dominica has some sort of relationship with Canada.

On our way back to the ship we stopped to sit in the shade of a drink stand and met some more young kids working on homework. We talked to them for a little while and then it was time to get back on the ship to leave. I loved Dominica, so it was a little bittersweet to leave, but as we pulled away from the port I realized that my journey had only just begun.

Until next time,
Anna

Getting Back on Track/ ?The Voice?

So, admittedly, I haven’t been journaling and blogging as much as I should. I extend to you my deepest apologies. The only excuse that I have to offer up is that life aboard the MV Explorer is extremely busy, and any internet connection is extremely slow. But don’t fret, from now on I have every intention of doing better about documenting my journey around the world. By now I’ve already been to Dominica and Brazil (how weird is that?!?! I’ve already been to those places). It just proves that this voyage can fly right by without even realizing it. My game plan from now on is to either discuss an aspect of life here on the ship in every blog post or talk about my time and experiences in ports. For today, I’ll talk about “The Voice”.

Throughout the day we get several sets of announcements. Whether they’re about club meetings, time zone changes, or administrative business, announcements happen pretty often here. And most of them are given by The Voice. Preluded by a short ding-dong, The Voice fills us in on all the things that we need to know over the intercom system. We call her The Voice because....well we just do. Her real name is Marty, our Assistant Executive Dean. But we also receives messages from our very own Captain Jeremy. He’s the one that administers all of the pesky, but necessary, safety drills on the ship (all with a charming British accent).

Announcement usually sound a bit like this:

Ding-dong
Ah-tention shipboard community. Ahhh-tention shipboard community.
Take note that we shall lose another hour this evening.
Also, this is a reminder to please keep your feet off of the furniture.
That is all.

OR

Ding-dong
These are today’s announcements.
Please read the Dean’s Memo.
That’s it for the announcements.

Ok, so those might be silly examples, but no matter how excessive our announcements can get, I still enjoy them. Listening to the announcements is an experience that we all share aboard the ship. Announcements are really just used to reinforce the information posted in the Dean’s Memo, our daily newsletter. I'll post a picture of that later.

Until next time,
Anna



Setting Sail!

Greetings from the middle of the ocean! 

I’ve successfully completed my first days and nights at sea. I’ve watched my first sunset on the ocean...eaten my first meals on board (which haven’t been that bad). I’ve experienced the feel of the waves rocking my ship, and along with that I’ve experienced my first taste of seasickness....So much has happened in these few days but I’ll try to recount as much of it for you as I can. 

As the time drew closer to head to the Bahamas, of course I was getting more and more nervous. It was about a week before my sister and I were scheduled to fly out and I still hadn’t packed yet. Thankfully one of my best friends, Becca, came down to visit and save the day. She helped me decide what to pack (and we got it all done in less than 2 days!) and her visit gave me some time to just chill out, relax, and enjoy her company for a little while. It was the calm before the storm, quite literally. There was a huge winter storm forecasted to hit Atlanta the day we were supposed to leave for the Bahamas. Officials were predicting record-breaking snowfall. And if you’re not from Atlanta, or the south in general, a couple inches of snow can shut the whole city down, especially the airport. 

So Angie and I went to bed that Saturday night (January 8th, 2 days before the flight) deciding to play it by ear and hope for the best. Little did we know that our travels would begin a day early. My sister shook me awake around 7am and quickly explained that she had been up looking for alternative flights and there was one leaving that morning around 11:30. She also explained that we wouldn’t be charged for switching because the reason was weather. “Do you want to do it?” she asked. I mumbled something back along the lines of, “Sure, I guess we should.” Then, the sleepiness subsided and it hit me what that decision meant. We had to get ready, and we had to get ready now.  

At that point my sister hadn’t even begun to pack yet, and I had little things left strewn around that I needed to throw in a duffle bag. I don’t know how we did it, but we we’re on the road to the airport with everything packed (and nothing important forgotten) in about an hour. At the airport, I received the pleasant surprise of finding out that the bag I had thought would be considered oversized and overweight was in fact, not. So I ended up paying way less money for baggage fees then I thought I would. Everything about that day pretty much worked out in our favor. Soon, I was on the plane flying over the ocean for the first time! 

My time spent in the Bahamas with my sister was pretty awesome. The island of Nassau is beautiful and I enjoyed having more time to relax before the semester started. I’m incredibly grateful that Angie came with me down to the Bahamas. Her support means a lot to me, and the whole time she was there reassuring me that this semester would be a great experience and that I would do well and have fun. 

Finally Embarkation Day arrived. I woke up that Wednesday morning not really knowing how I felt. I was a little nervous but not very much. I guess I was in disbelief of what was going to happen that day. I didn’t really know what to expect. We checked out of the hotel and made our way into a taxi that would take us to the dock. Once there I saw the boat for the very first time...and the crazy long line I had to wait in to get check in and get on the ship. But after I found out that I would have to say goodbye to my sister right at the door at the very front of the line, that crazy long line got a lot smaller. I thought I would have had time to get off the ship again once I checked in and be able to spend a little more time with her, but that wasn’t the case.  So saying goodbye was rough. I did better than I thought I would though. I only teared up a little bit. 

Next, I proceeded through the checkout process, passing a mountain of confiscated curling and flat irons on my way through security. As I took my first steps on board the MV Explorer, I realized two things: 

1. The ship looks so clean and new and wonderful! 
2. I had no idea where I was going. 

Some helpful souls where able to point me in the right direction to finish up some more check-in things, and then on to my cabin. My first thought as I entered the room where I’d be staying my whole semester was “Woah, this is pretty small!” But after being in it for a little while I realized that it wasn’t that bad. The huge luggage and stuff cluttering the bed and the floor would soon all find it’s rightful place under the bed or in the drawers and closets, with some room to spare. Semester at Sea has definitely gotten me used to being comfortable with less stuff than I’m normally used to. 

Next, I met my cabin-mate for the semester. Her name is Amanda and she’s really cool. With so much to think about going into this voyage, I never really worried about the possibility of having a bad roommate situation on board. After meeting Amanda I know that I won’t have to worry. She’s from California but she goes to school in Canada, which I think is the coolest (why didn’t I think to go to school in Canada?!?). So I think it’s interesting to see how we come from such different backgrounds. 

Unpacked and somewhat acquainted with the ship, it came time to set sail and leave the Bahamas. Although my sister wasn’t there to wave me goodbye, I was comforted by the crowd of parents and friends that were cheering us on as the boat slowly pulled away from the dock. That particular moment is indescribable. That moment was the payoff for all the hard work and long hours that I put into getting to Semester at Sea. The voyage of a lifetime has begun!

More later, 

Anna

Update: I've Reached the Bahamas

Here's some pictures from my hotel balcony.

:]

Until next time, 

Anna

Hesitancy At Its Best

A couple weeks ago, a close friend gave me a wake up call that was a little bit too early for my liking (he seems to think it's funny). He escaped the conversation without a scolding only because I hadn't heard from him in quite some time. But his wake up call did more than just wake me up in the literal sense, it also woke me up to the fact that my Semester at Sea journey IS happening and it is happening soon. For some reason, that realization sunk in after that conversation.

The thing about wake up calls is that they're disorienting at first. You tend not to remember how or when you answered the phone, or even how you're functioning in the conversation. So too did I feel this sensation with my wake up call from the Semester at Sea process. School had left me exhausted. I don't think I've ever done as many projects, papers, tests, and quizzes in one semester before and I had to do it all while preparing for this HUMONGOUS trip around the world. After getting YET another shot, emailing YET another person, staying up all night YET again, taking care of YET another administrative issue, I suddenly became numb to both school and preparing for Semester at Sea.

Going through the motions with something as huge as Semester at Sea is a little disheartening. You're doing the all the work for it, but you're not really involved in the process, not as excited as you should be. People enquiring about your upcoming experience receive half-hearted answers. I began to wonder, "Is this whole experience worth it?"

I tried to get out of this funk but finals week and moving out of my dorm took all the energy out of me. The funk continued when I reached my sister's house in Atlanta, the place where I'm spending my brief break before I set sail. But as my mom and brother were packing up to leave after spending the holidays together with my sister and I, it hit me. I realized that this would be the last time I would see them before I left for my trip, and that my mom is one of the people that has worked so incredibly hard to get me on the boat to experience parts of the world that she never has. Not only did this realization bring me to tears, but somehow it made Semester at Sea come to life again for me. I still have my doubts. I still have my fears and anxieties. But I know deep down that this experience will override all of those feelings, and there are plenty of family and friends that are excited for me, which in turn gets me pumped again for the journey I'm about to begin.

The alarm has gone off, and I'm awake to the possibilities of this fast approaching semester.