reflection

So… here I am.  Exams are over, grades are in, ambassador’s ball is over, packing is done…it’s so depressing.  The ambassador’s ball was so much fun.  We had a great, great dinner and then awesome desserts.  Then there was dancing up on the 7th deck and everyone was a hot sweaty mess but it was awesome.
        And now it’s over.  Where did the last 4 months go?  I left home January 16th, left America on the 17th and now returning tomorrow, on May 5th.  These past 4 months I can’t even begin to explain.  I can’t even think of how to put 4 amazing months into words.  How am I going to explain to people the massiveness of the Great Wall, the man with no face in Vietnam (ok, ok… he HAD face…theoretically, but it was all burned away), the slums of India, the beautiful beaches in Mauritius, the townships in South Africa and the beauty of Table Mountain, the slave dungeons in Ghana and Christ the Redeemer in Rio?  I can but it’s not going to mean anything to the people hearing it.  To them it’s just me telling stories and them seeing pictures… but they won’t feel it…and that’s what makes the stories so much better. 
        I never dreamed in a thousands years that I would travel the world and go to the places that I have been.  I’ve always WANTED to travel the world but I never thought I could actually do it.  And yet here I am.  Check that off my bucket list.  I slept on the Great Wall… THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA… I slept on it!..in FEBRUARY.  Oh it was amazing.  This whole trip has been amazing.  I honestly can’t put it into words.  I really can’t.  I saw Christ the Redeemer in Rio and he was covered my scaffolding… no one else has seen him covered in scaffolding so I feel pretty special.  I pushed myself and did things i wouldn’t do… such as abseiling down a cliff into water in South Africa.  -
        Tomorrow I get back to America.  I will be an “Academic Adventure-er” as Don would say.  I have grown so much on this trip.  I have seen things that you would only read about in textbooks, I talked with people I never thought I would talk to, I bargained with the best, ate food that I would NEVER dream of eating, and lived, breathed and learned in every country.  I’m gonna get home and be home for 5 days and have an itch to get back to the MV.  I’m gonna miss all my friends I made here, the shipboard life in general… I mean come on.. this past semester was so legit… laying out and going to class every day and broken up every once in a while with 5 days in a country to do whatever I want.  I couldn’t ask for a better study abroad program.  The things I have learned on this trip and the people I have met are incredible.  I learned so much not just about the world and the countries I visited but about myself.  I left home, thinking I knew who I was.  I came on this trip and realized there is so much more that I want to do with my life.  I want to see so many more countries, meet so many more people, and experience so many more cultures.  This trip made me “flexible”.  Who plans anymore?  Planning is for  people who not interested in the now.  The best days I had were the days that my plans were thrown out the window and I just went where the wind blew me.  The days where you just hop into a rickshaw in India and see where the driver takes you… the days where you just walk the streets and take everything in.  Those were the days I learned the most… when I just went with whatever I felt like and didn’t have a set place to go and see.  The people I have met along the way have been truly amazing.  They are people I will never forget…this trip is something I will never forget.  The MV has been my home for 4 months…and now I’m leaving it.  So depressing!
        I just want to thank my mom and dad.  Honestly, without them I wouldn’t be here.  I know so many times my dad probably wanted to kill me with all the emails I sent because I froze my account for not knowing my pin number (stupid Chinese ATM’s have their numbers all backwards).  But if it weren’t for them I wouldn’t have had this great opportunity.  So ma and dad… thank you for everything.  When I get rich… you guys WILL be life long learners.  I wish you guys where there with me the whole way so that I don’t have to repeat all my stories and so that ma didn’t have to worry about me non-stop for the last 4 months.  So…Thank you mom and dad for giving me the world…you guys really are the best parents EVERRRRRRRRRRR.
        And for everyone else… thanks for reading!  I hope it was somewhat entertaining for you.  When I was sitting in the dining hall today, Clive came up to me and told me that I’m gonna go home and everyone is going to be excited and want to hear my stories but after a week they will be bored.  He said that no one is going to understand what I saw and what I did and it won’t hold as much significance to them as it does to me.  And it’s so true.  I mean come on… I wouldn’t want to hear about someone who just spent a semester traveling the world if I was stuck at home.  Talk about BORING.  But thank you.  Thank you for reading and taking an interest.  This trip has been a trip of a lifetime… I know I said that multiple times but it really has.  And I suggest EVERYONE goes on Semester at Sea or becomes a Life Long Learner… something me and my friends here are already planning of doing together.  Hahah.  I’m not even gone yet and we are planning when to see each other! 
        It’s a bittersweet moment.  It really is.  But every story has to come to an end and it’s time to go home.  It has been a hell of a ride and experience and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. 
        SEE YA IN AMERICA!!

The Rest of Brazil!

Our second day in Rio, I went on a walk with Katie and Neha on the beach.  We walked from Copacabana to Impanema.  Rio beaches are definitely something everyone should experience.  People are all in speedos and tiny baithing suits, they are all playing volleyball or paddle ball or soccer and they are all just having a great time.  When we got to Impanema beach, we climbed up on rocks that looked over the whole beach and just took some pictures and took it all in.  We then walked back to the hotel and it was close to 2 by then and I just laid out by the pool waiting for Tess to come back to go back to the beach but by the time she came back, it had gotten cloudy and too windy so we just hung around the pool before going in and getting ready for the night.
         We ended up meeting up with Stephanie and Amy and the SAS trip that night at some carnival thing for a saint.  It was an odd place.  It was literally just this huge fair full of shopping stands, food stands and restaurants.  I got a meat kabob. Haha.  It was so good!!  We then went to a restaurant to get dinner.  After dinner we got dropped off at Lapa and we were trying to find this bar that Jaime said to meet at.  And we found it and then we met up with these other guys (who ended up being from Pennsylvania and went to Bloomsburg) and we hung out with them and walked ALL OVER Lapa before stumbling upon a free regae concert!  How clutch!!  So we hung out at the concert and then went out.
The next day we had our flight back to Salvador.  It was raining in Rio so we didn’t do anything.  We got back to Salvador pretty late (like 7) and i wasn't feeling good and was exhausted.
Our last day in Salvador I spent shopping.  There was a huge market right near our boat in the lower city so I went there and shopped for awhile.  We also went up to the upper city for a little and walked around.  After we were doing shopping, we just decided to get some beeers and spend the whole 10 real we have left and get drunk.  We went back to the ship around 3:30ish and laid out by the pool and get a table because that night we were having a BBQ.  It ended up RAINING then and we ate inside because it started down pouring.  Like I said… now I know what Brazil has been having such bad mudslides.  I went out at 8 with Steph and Tess to watch us pull out of our LAST port.
        Honestly… where as the last 4 months gone?  It has been INSANE!!  I just don’t get how fast time went and how I have been to 8 different countries.  It’s crazy.
Well I’ll write more later.  I have to PACK!  GROSS!!!!

Rio day 1

The first morning in rio we woke up around 8 and I went down to breakfast with Katie.  After breakfast, we decided to go to Corcovado… or Christ the Redeemer.  Before our trip to Rio, we were hearing rumors about Christo being closed because he was struck by lightning back in February and then was graffitied on a couple days before we arrived.  Who graffities Jesus?!  That’s so bizarre.  So anyway… we took the bus to the base of Jesus where we were hounded by a tour group to bring us up to Christo for 50 reals. me, Megan and Katie all just paid 45 reals for transportation up, to stay up there as long as we want, our ticket, and a ride down.  We ended up meeting this French guy in the van up to Christo and chatted with him.  We got to the top and saw that Jesus was not covered with a tarp which was said on New York Times because of the rainstorms but instead he was covered in scaffolding because he is going under a renovation after getting struck by lightning.  He also had a big picture covering his face because that is where he was graffitied.  How cute, even Jesus gets plastic surgery.  It was beautiful up there.  You could see all over Rio and all the different beaches and lagoons and then of course… we did a jumping picture.  That is like a staple SAS thing.  You must do a jumping picture in front of anything.  Hahah.  So after Christo, we went back down to the bottom and we saw MONKEYS!!  Oh I was so excited to see monkeys!  They were like chilling on the roof of the ticket place eating and drinking soda!  How precious. 
        After Christo, we walked the streets of Copacabana and found a wet market/fresh market where the Brazilians do their grocery shopping.  These markets are so cool because no one sees these things in the states.  They literally shut down 2 blocks and it’s just vendors of fish, fresh fruit and vegetables, flowers, and spices just line the street.  I have seen these markets in Hong Kong and Brazil and it was interesting to compare them.  In Hong Kong there was waaaay more fish and in Brazil there was more fruit.  After the market, we just went back to the hotel because it was close to 3:30 or 4 ish and just laid out by the pool.  At the pool we ran into a SAS alumni!  They were the LLC of the Yellow Sea and the Librarian of the Spring 2009 voyage!  How crazy is that!?  We literally just sat at the pool with them for awhile and talked about everything. 
        That night i went out with jaime and her sister Ashley who came in from Argentina to see Jaime.  We saw a samba band at a hostel and then went out in Impanema.
Well i have to go get ready because tonight is our ambassadors ball!  woohooo! 
oh and i am OFFICIALLY done with classes and finals.  I am no longer a junior.  WEIRD.

Salvador, Brazil

I know... i know... it has been awhile!  but its the last week of our voyage (CRAZY I KNOW!) and i have been mobbed with work and packing and cleaning.  so here is just a quick detail on what we did the first day in brazil...
We got to Brazil on Wednesday, April 21st and we were there until Sunday, April 25th.  We were docked in Salvador so that day me, Jaime and Tess went out for the day in Salvador.
We took the elevator up to the upper city.  Oh yea, Salvador is separated into the upper and lower city… we were docked in the lower city.  Not much down there.  So we took the elevator up to the upper city and went to the old city.  It started monsooning so we ducked into a restaurant and grabbed some lunch.  That rain was coming down so hard, now I understand why Brazil has been having all these mudslides.  When it cleared up, we went to a church, Sao Francisco and went inside it. So we went into the church and it was beautiful in there… beautiful but creepy in a way.  There were all these statues and each statue was like life-size of all the saints and of Jesus and Mary and Joseph.  But there was beautiful blue and white tile morals.  Upstairs, another creepy part, there was a statue of Jesus being crucified and there was blood pouring out of him.  And then in the basement of the church there were graves!  So it was definitely a little bizarre.  After the church, we had to go back to the ship and grab our stuff because we were going to RIO!!!!
        Our flight to Rio was about 2 hours long, and we landed around 9ish.  By the time we got to our hotel… the Windsor Excelsior in Copacabana, it was close to 10 and we were all exhausted and ended up crashing.  Lame I know.

and tomorrow i will fill you in about RIO!!

Ghana part 2

We just left Brazil.  ☹  This is so depressing.  It’s our last port but it hasn’t hit me yet.  Like, where did the last 4 months of my life go?  I have always had a countdown going until the trip but I never thought that it would end so quickly…considering it took FOREVER for it to begin.  I honestly had a countdown going for like a year in advance.  Ugh it’s just so crazy!  Like when I leave this boat I really am not coming back… it’s not like at Monmouth where I leave for a semester or summer and I return… I’m not coming back to the boat.  CRAZY!
But enough about that…let me finish Ghana so I can fill you in on BRAZIL!
The 2nd night in Ghana was Jaime’s 21st birthday.  We stayed in a hotel where there was a casino and i gambled for my first time!  and i was up!  and then i lost it.  Granted i also only gambled with like 20 bucks but still.  I got up to as high as 40!  The next day started with us laying by the pool for about an hour until check out. After laying out by the pool we decided to go to some museum that one of the tour guides at the hotel suggested.  It was for the first president of Ghana.  It was the most bizarre museum ever.  Hahah.  Like it was a park and then we walked under this statue type thing and then it was his tomb and next to that was his wife’s also.  And then his car was just randomly parked there.  And then we went into a building and it was all pictures of him and his furniture from when he was in office.  It was just very bizarre that the car that he used to drive was just parked under a tree.  It was interesting though because we learned about him and we have never heard of him and our tour guide was shocked that we have never heard about him.  We also have never heard about any of the leaders that were in the pictures with him.  There was also a tree planted by Nelson Mandela in the park.  After the museum we just went to the Accra mall for a little before going back to the ship. 
        The last day I went to the beach with Amy and Katie.  And basically the markets came to us.  Haha.  There were so many vendors and people selling stuff on the beach they would just come up to us with their stuff and we didn’t even have to move from our beach chairs.  I went in the ocean but not far but the water was very warm!  We were at the beach until about 2 when we went back to where the shuttle was to catch the 3 oclock shuttle back to the ship.  In all, Ghana was really good.  I’m really glad I got to go there and see REAL Africa and something other than South Africa.  The only sucky part though was that there was always so much driving and traffic that it was hard to do a lot in a such a short time.  Each day you really only had enough time to do 1 or 2 things because it depended on what part of the country you were going to and with traffic and there was so much i still wanted to do but there was not time!  But I’m really glad we got to go. 
So that is Ghana! 
Brazil will be coming shortly. 
Now I am on the ship for the next 9 days, and then to FLORIDA.  This is just insane.  

First half of Ghana

Tomorrow we get to Brazil!!  Our last port… other than Florida.  It is crazy how fast this trip is going and how we only have 2 weeks left now. And we are now 1 hour ahead of home!  CRAZY But let me tell you about Ghana…
        Our first day in Ghana was Sunday, April 11th.  Since it was a Sunday, a lot of things were closed.  The first thing we did was go all over Accra (oh yea we were docked in Tema which is about 45 minutes from Accra) so we went all over Accra trying to find an ATM that accepted Mastercard.  After we FINALLY found one, we went to the Accra mall because our taxi driver told us that Makola market was closed and so was the cultural center, so we went to the mall.  When we were at the mall we ran into Emily and Kalee and they told us that the cultural center was actually open, so we went there.  The cultural center by the way is a market in Ghana where the people sell things they made… it’s a bunch of crafts and tshirts.  Lauren (my sister)’s friend Nana told me the markets to go to but he also warned me that they are pretty intense because everyone is telling you to come to their shop.  I thought I was a pro at markets though at this point because I survived the Silk Market in Beijing and Green Market Square in South Africa.  Well, as soon as we got to the market, I think everyone knew our names and where we were from within 5 minutes.  They were all very friendly there and wanted you to see their shops.  I thought it was better than the Silk Market because at the Cultural Center they didn’t hit you or grab you, but they actually taught us cool handshakes and just wanted us to look at their shops… and buy.  Hahah.  The one guy actually said to me (after I turned down his price), “listen Christine… I tell you a price, and I know your not going to take it.  You are going to get me down real low and I just give you a price because sometimes people pay the whole thing… but you’re smart”.  I made out pretty well there.  After the cultural center, it was about 3 o’clock and we brought Jaime to the shuttle because she was going back to the ship and me, Steph and Tess stayed out because we were supposed to surprise Jaime at dinner that night.  We went back to the mall to get some party supplies and get ready and then we went to go to the restaurant where we were supposed to meet and surprise Jaime for her dinner (she was going to be with Sarah) but guess what… Monsoon was closed!!  So we didn’t know what to do.  We went to where the shuttle drop off was and we waited for an hour and a half waiting for the shuttle that never came… and we made friends with the security officers there.  After we waited for what seemed like forever… we just decided to get some dinner and then just go back to the ship on the 9 oclock shuttle.
        The next day I had to wake up very early (at like 6:30 I think) because our trip left at 7 am (or at least was supposed to).  I went to the Elmina and Cape Coast Slave Castles.  So yea, we were supposed to leave at 7 but the one bus was late so we ended up sitting there on the bus, waiting for the other bus, for an hour.  We ended up leaving at like 8:20.  It took us 3 and a half hours to get to the Cape Coast Slave Castle.  Quick FYI… Obama and his family visited there when they visited Ghana in July 2009.  It was pretty intense.  We went into the cells and the lights were out so that we got the full effect of it and it was so hot.  And the dungeon we were in would hold 1,000 slaves and there were only 20 of us in there and I thought it felt a little cramped.  Places like that creep me out though too because when your in a place like that and you can feel the heat and the tour guide is telling you what they would do to the slaves just gives me an eerie feeling because you can visualize it so well.  It’s like when I went to the concentration camp in Austria and we went through the showers, it just gave me the eeriest feeling ever.  After we came out of the dungeon, we went to the “Door of No Return”, which is the door that the slaves would go through and then out onto the waiting boats to bring them to the ship that would take them to the Americas.  It was cool though to go through the door because on the other side, it’s all the local fishermen and all their boats, because the castle is located in a fishing village.  We came back through the door and then went into the cell where they would put the slaves who attempted to escape and would be put in to starve to death.  After Cape Coast, we went to lunch at the Elmina Resort.  It was on the beach and lunch was awesome!  The chicken there was so good!  It looked like it was going to be spicy because it was in the red sauce but it ended up being really sweet and really good!  After lunch, we went to Elmina.  The Elmina Castle was built by the Portuguese back in the 1400s and is the oldest European building in Africa (I learned that in my Sacred Places class).  Here we went into different dungeons again and learned that the governor (I forget of what… but he was European) actually lived in the Elmina Castle and would pick and choose which female slaves he wanted to rape.  It’s so sad that people can be so mean to other people.  I just don’t get how people thought it was okay to do this stuff.  At Elmina we went to the Room of No Return, instead of the Door.  There was a door there also but the slaves would wait in a tiny room before leaving through a very, very tiny door out to the awaiting ship.  What was most shocking at Elmina, is that over the cell where they would put slaves that attempted to escape, was a skull and cross bones.  It was the cell where they would put slaves and they would die because of the heat, and they wouldn’t be given food or water.  Its just so upsetting. 
        After Elmina we headed back to Tema and the ship.  On our way back we stopped and saw a coffin shop!  The coffins were so cool!  They actually decorate their coffins and they aren’t just plane old boxes.  The ones we saw were in the shape of a truck.  Theres all different shapes you can get and they usually symbolize what you did in your life.  For example, if you were a baker, you could get a bag of flour on it.  It’s so interesting!  We got back to the ship at about 7:30 that night.  It was a nice long day of driving but that was all of Ghana because you take local roads because they don't have huge main highways.  it's a really cool way though to see all of the country
 Ok actually it’s time for bed… I’ll write more when I come back from Brazil!  CRAZY! 

the rest of south africa!

        Sorry for the delay!  I was in Ghana for 4 days and then we had classes and I just have been mobbed with work.  So let me back track and get back to South Africa (aka my favorite port so far).
        On the 4th day there, I was going to do a township tour.  I couldn’t find LB but he told me who he booked it with and for what time it was leaving so I went to the place and told them I wanted to be on it and the guy told me to meet at the circle at 1:30.  I decided to go a little earlier than 1:30 to see if I saw LB but I couldn’t find him and I didn’t want to go on the tour by myself and I saw Kayla and all them and decided to just go out with them.  We ended up doing the hop on hop off bus… which is a double decker bus that goes through out Cape Town and you get headphones.  I know it totally sounds corny but it was a really cool way to see the city.  We went shopping at Green Market Square…because that was one our stops  When we were at Green Market square I saw our german friends from the wine tour!!  It was so exciting!  They were telling me what they had did since the last time I saw them.  After Green Market square we just took the bus for awhile until it took us to the base of Table Mountain and then we just took a cab back to the ship because at this point it was 5 o’clock.  That night we went out to Long Street because it was our last night.  I met up with Kelly McNulty there and that was exciting to hang out with someone from home!  She’s studying abroad in Cape Town  and it was just nice to see someone from home. So yea we went out with her and her 2 guy friends and went all over Long Street.
        The last day we were supposed to hike and repel down Table Mountain… well… it was CANCELLED!  It was waaaaay too windy out and Table Mountain was actually closed and I was PISSED!  But I am happy that I at least got to go to the base of it the prior day and see the view… even if it wasn’t the absolute top.  Instead of hiking and repelling Table Mountain, me, Ricardo and Andrew did another trip that the tour group set up for us.  We went to this canyon about an hour away and hiked that and went repelling and cliff jumping.  It was an awesome trip.  We drove like an hour away from Cape Town and stopped at this cute little restaurant/hotel and had breakfast there.  And from there we hiked over to the place for our real hike.  It was a kinda tough hike because we were climbing over rocks and we were in like a canyon.  We hiked to these pools that were in the middle of the canyon and our guides Nico and Julian set up the repelling for us.  We repelled I think it was 60 feet down into these pools.  Omg it was the scariest thing ever!!  I was shaking the whole time.  And we were barefoot so I had like no grip at all and I actually slipped at one point and hit the rock with my arm but even though that sounds scary… it was so fun!  Haha.  I would have rather of just did a quick zip down the line then have to walk backwards and slipping on the rocks.  When we got to the bottom and into the water, we had to rock climb back up to our bags… WITH NO HARNESSES!  I was shaking again and I felt bad for Andrew and Ricardo because they were behind me and I was going slow.  Hahah.  But I was scared because as soon as we started to rock climb our leader guy slipped on the rocks and fell into the water!  So yea… I was kinda nervous!  When we got to the top we had lunch and then we went cliff jumping.  I really did attempt to get to the 7 meter jump but again we had to rock climb and when I was climbing I slipped and decided I would not rock climb anymore and would do a 1 meter jump.  Hahaha.  It’s pathetic I know but I did not want to risk my life.  Andrew and Ricardo did the 7 and 9 meter jumps and then they actually moved onto I think it was a 24 meter jump maybe?  I forget.  But it was high!  And I sat on the cliff and watched. Our guide was telling us that they had guys come in and scuba there to try and find the bottom and they couldn't find it.  how insane is that!? Hahah.  After they jumped, we hiked back down to where we started, grabbed another late lunch and headed back to Cape Town because at this point it was 3 ish.  When we got back to Cape Town, Ricardo and I just did some quick shopping and then headed back to the ship.  I’m really glad I got out of Cape Town and saw other parts of South Africa.  The people at the place we ate were so nice too.  It was just nice for a new scenery. 
        Like I said earlier… Cape Town was my favorite port… that and Vietnam.  We were talking about it tonight and Cape Town was just a good time the whole time.  There was always something to do and still so much to do even though we are gone.  I definitely want to go back and experience more of it.  It was wonderful weather too… besides the fact it was too windy to climb Table Mountain… and where we were docked was a perfect location!  I suggest everyone to visit Cape Town!  It is absolutely beautiful and just so much history and culture. 
        Well I should probably go do some work.  It’s the end of the semester and of course, everything is piling up and miss procrastinator that I am needs to get on it. 
        I’ll write about Ghana tomorrow!