TMADFGMTW

JAPAN- KOBE HIBACHI DINNER

CHINA- THE GREAT WALL

VIETNAM- WAR REMNANTS MUSEUM

CAMBODIA- ANGKOR WAT

INDIA- TAJ MAHAL

MAURITIUS- KAYAKING

SOUTH AFRICA- SAFARI

GHANA- FISHING VILLAGE

BRAZIL- AMAZON RIVERBOAT

Don't Cry Because It's Over, Smile Because It Happend

Semester at Sea is not a reality but what happens on it is real.

One of the cool things about Semester at Sea is that instead of signing yearbooks at the end of a school year, you sign maps at the end of a voyage. I have been plotting our ship’s daily location on my world map since we left the port of Ensenada on January 17^th. It’s shocking to look at my map, which is now filled with signatures and memories, and realize what I actually did over the past three and a half months. I think my friend Stephan summed it up best when he wrote: “Alex, I would say ‘it’s been real’ but it’s really almost been totally unreal. So I guess I’ll say it’s been unreal.” That is exactly what this crazy, eye-opening, life-changing adventure has been- unreal.

Ten countries, fourteen ports, and twenty five cities later, I have officially been “there” and now I am coming “back again.” I have traveled in and out of different cultures, empires, continents, and spaces. I simultaneously relived history while seeing firsthand both the problems and wonders of the future. After really seeing the world and sometimes delving a little deeper than the surface of different cultures and places, two questions that keep reemerging as I seek closure are “what have I learned?” and “how have I changed?” It bothers me that I cannot automatically pinpoint those answers and be able to recall where, when, and what exactly changed me. For that matter I wonder, have I actually changed at all? Perhaps noticeable change will come at a later time or more specifically when I realize after five days of being at home that I will not re-board the MV Explorer and head off to a different port. For now I will leave that second question unanswered and can only hope that any noticeable self-changes will surface unexpectedly. Though I am unsure of how I have changed, I am confident in reporting what I have learned.

The people that I have met both in port and on the ship have been my most important teachers. From my orphan boy in China to our Ghanaian friend, Fred, to certain tuk tuk drivers in India, I have learned a lot about basic wants and needs. Many of my new friends lack access to clean water, are suffering from malnutrition, have no formal education, and lack a definite way to escape poverty. It surprised me that despite these noticeable hardships, the overwhelming majority of people I met were both happy and welcoming. Everyone wanted the opportunity to show us their home or introduce us to their families. They were proud of who they were and what they had and wanted to share that with all of us. I learned how important family is globally and how many things that I view as hardships, millions of people view as life. I have learned that despite enormous disparities, most people want to make the most out of the cards they were dealt. Most importantly, I learned that we (peoples from all over the world) are much more similar than we are different.

I attend the University of Michigan, an elite university and am in an environment that consists of the “leaders and best.” After Semester at Sea and meeting an assortment of friends and shipmates from across the country who attend a wide range of colleges, I now realize that the “leaders and best” are not necessarily the brightest or the ones who excelled in high school. Prior to this trip a part of me would prejudge people before really getting to know them. From this voyage I have learned that academics are far from being a relevant factor to evaluating an individual. I have learned from my shipboard community that everyone has something to contribute and that anyone can change the world. These kids, my friends and fellow students, have aided me in finding my connection in different ports and living this voyage. More importantly they taught me or rather showed me how much power a twenty one year old American student has. This trip has shown me that the real world is outside a classroom and that real world applications and experiences are more important than being taught about them. Don’t just read about life, go live it.

My connection with the world is a lot stronger (obviously) now than it was in January. When I see an article about Phnom Penh or the townships in South Africa, I am going to read them. If the news is showing footage about China’s role as a superpower or tension between Pakistan and India, I am going to watch it. It should not have taken a trip around the world to make me feel obliged to care or show interest about other countries. Regardless, this trip has opened my eyes and lighted that fire. We are all connected and our interests are one and the same.

It is one thing to know you are privileged and another to see how privileged you actually are in comparison to the rest of the world. I believe you cannot really gauge that level of privilege without viewing the other extreme- the very underprivileged. From primarily visiting developing countries and places where millions of people are suffering from extreme poverty, the differences between my upbringing, background, and level of education and many people’s lack of those opportunities were highlighted. It would be ignorant to waste time questioning why I was born an American in Beverly Hills and why a five year old child in India was born having to work fifteen hour days in a glass-blowing factory. It is not so much a matter of how the cards were dealt but rather how we are going to play our hand.

As our friend Spidey would say, “with great power, comes great responsibility.” Our privilege, my privilege, is a great power and I now understand the responsibility I have to all those who are less fortunate. My role as a global citizen has been strengthened because I have this power and more is, and rightly should be, expected of me. The new question is what can I do to own up to my newfound responsibilities? I believe it is impossible to go on this voyage and face such economic, educational, and health disparities across the globe, and not give back. Giving back does not have to be an all encompassing superman move to change the world in a single swoop. Instead I have learned that changing a single small thing, like cutting back on unnecessary water consumption, goes a lot further. As of now I am seriously looking into taking time off from directly heading into law school and giving back either by teaching those less fortunate or volunteering. It may not be a huge gesture or new idea, many have beaten down that path before, but it’s a start. The ball’s in my court and it’s my turn to make the next move.

The last overarching take home point from this entire voyage is our capacity to love. The faculty, staff, and more importantly students from this voyage have shown me what it means to travel with an open heart. I have learned to give every moment and every experience my all. If you put your entire heart and soul into something, you will get the most out of it. The amount of hugs and kisses and high fives that I received from children and adults around the world was phenomenal. The point being that the love was mutual and that people from all over the globe reciprocated if not generated that mutual feeling of human connectedness and love. The most amazing part is that verbal communication was not included in the majority of these interactions and that this love for people was shared on a deeper level. Open your heart and soul and see where your journey takes you.

Exactly one year ago on May 5, 2009, I was trying to memorize Robert Frost’s “Into My Own” while caravaning my way to NELP and the woods of Maine. Tomorrow on May 5, 2010 I will be reentering the United States for the first time in four months. It is difficult to imagine not only how fast the past year has gone by but how much happened, both expected and unexpected, over that time as well. For the first time in my life, I am unsure what my plans will be in one year. I will have graduated from Michigan but am unsure of the next part of my voyage. My uncertainty has stemmed from this Semester at Sea experience and I am grateful for that. I am not sure if I am giving my abroad experience justice or am able to articulate the stories and emotions I experienced. In fact I am almost certain that it is impossible to fully explain Semester at Sea to another person. But just know that the entire voyage really was unreal.

Farewell from the Executive Dean

EXECUTIVE DEAN’S FAREWELL

As we arrive in Fort Lauderdale tomorrow morning, our community will suddenly disperse and we will return to our various homes, families, schools, and work. The ending is so abrupt that we will feel a profound sense of loss.

But we will have countless moments to remember and savor. For many of you, the ship will remain our favorite port. Among our treasured recollections will be those long, late-night conversations with friends new and old, Don Gogniat’s hearty “good morning Adventur-ers” in Global Studies, Dr. Mort at Clinic and pre-port tips, equatorial sunsets, the faculty who have led us around the globe intellectually and experientially, and our transformation from pollywogs to shellbacks on Neptune Day.

The moments we had in our thirteen ports of call are also indelibly burned into our consciousness. Who could forget the volcanoes and observatories in Hawaii, walking on the great Wall, conversations with new friends of many nationalities in a variety of cabarets, helping needy youngsters in the Dalit village, searching for the ultimate sushi, or walking somberly through Ghana’s slave “castles.”

And so we join the more than 50,000 shipmates who have called Semester at Sea their home for an altogether too brief time. As we leave one another, let’s resolve to follow Mark Twain’s advice “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sail. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Best wishes for a wonderful life!

Loren Crabtree

BRASIL: Amazon y Futbol

Now that I am no longer dying and have finished up all my finals and classes I return to you to finish blogging about Brazil. I’m warning you right now: this is A LONG POST. By the way we are now on East Coast Time... weird. Also quick congratulations to all of the 2010 Michigan Wolverines who graduated in the Big House today in front of President Obama and HAPPY 21^st Birthday JENNY FEUER!

We docked in Salvador the first day and since I was leaving to the Amazon the following morning I only had that day to explore the city. Jenny, Ivy, Jill, and I (go blue!) set out without any plans and ended up at a market called Mercado Modelo. I am now the proud owner of a Kaka jersey and two new hair wraps (the ones from Ghana fell out all too easily). From the market we took the Lacerda Elevator up to Old Town. Salvador is kind of divided into two sections- Old Town and the newer section that is lower down and by the water. The elevator is literally an elevator and takes you up or down between the two levels. It is a safe alternative during the day to reaching Old Town without walking through the shady streets.

In Old Town we had an AMAZING lunch where Ivy and I managed to consume a very large portion of Argentinean steak. It began pouring and we were lucky to be inside the restaurant where there were many SASers in addition to Brazilian families. All of the lunching Brazilians were extremely friendly and seemed genuinely happy. Brazil ranks higher on the world happiness Index than the US. After the rain cleared we walked around Old Town and stumbled upon a commercial shooting. The commercial was being filmed for the World Cup and Ivy and I may or may not have danced our way into it. One reason I love Brazil: its soccer obsession and World Cup obsession- school and work literally shut down during World Cup games. Pretty awesome. Apart from shopping and the World Cup Commercial another comical part of the day was watching several of our guy friends get professional face shaves. After roaming we ended up back at the ship where I packed, napped, and got ready for the last in-port night.

A LOT of kids had been mugged during the first day in Salvador (some even held up at knife point) and as a result I only took some cash and my ship ID out with me that night. It was initially raining pretty hard so all of us (about 20) were walking off the ship dressed nicely with North Face and Patagonia rain shells. Our large group took the elevator up to Old Town and we went around looking for a bar or club. It was a national holiday and a lot of restaurants were closed down. Luckily we were able to find a pretty obscure, local outside bar that had live music. There was a decent amount of Brazilians there and we found ourselves a nice area where we could all sit together. Overall the night was fun and I had a great time. Not wanting to risk any sketchy situations we cabbed it back to the ship.

At 6:30 AM I was ready to go to the Amazon. We had an early flight to Brasilia where we had one of those weird two hour layovers in which we were not allowed off the plane since we were taking the same plane to Manaus. After waiting two hours we had our fourish hour plane ride to Manaus, where we met our Amazonian guides Fabio and Alan. We drove to the riverboats and from the second I saw the boats I knew the trip was going to be awesome. There were three riverboats lined up next to each other (Groups A, B, & C… group D/E were on a later flight) that had huge “Welcome Semester at Sea” signs on them. As we walked onboard we were each given necklaces and greeted by Brazilian dancers and drummers. Snacks were out (fruits, and pastries) and we were able to select our hammocks. The first stop of the day was to see The Meeting of the Waters- where the Amazon River and the Rio Negro meet. The Amazon is brown and the Rio Negro is black and the two don’t really mix. It was like seeing oil and vinegar- you could distinctly see the division of the two rivers.

From there we headed to this obscure shop-like place where we disembarked and walked on a bridge to look at giant lily pads. We then proceeded to get into small ten person boats and head into covered areas on the Amazon. Why we went in these small boats at night is beyond me- it’s kind of creepy going into extremely dense and dark areas of the Amazon without being able to see anything. I kept thinking A. an anaconda was going to fall from the canopy above or B. an alligator was going to grab me from the side. We did happen to see a gorgeous sunset though. The guides then told us they were going to try to catch caiman. After about 30 minutes of searching for caiman (searching consisted of a small boy on the boy of the canoe-boat moving a flashlight on the surface of the water near the grass) we finally spotted a few. The key to finding the caiman is looking for a glistening red speck (the caiman’s eyes). After a few failed attempts, our guide caught a pretty huge caiman. For as adventurous I am in most areas, holding a caiman was not one of them. I remember refusing to hold the baby alligator in New Orleans when we went on a swamp tour and sure enough my feelings towards caiman holding had not changed. As I was carefully petting the giant caiman the guide was holding I had my first heart attack. I was sitting in the middle of the canoe so the guide was demonstrating everything with caiman right next to me. Unfortunately this caiman was too strong for the guide and wiggled its way free of him and in an attempt to make it overboard touched my thigh and whacked a kid with his tail. By the time I had recovered (I literally screamed so loud I’m pretty sure the entire Amazon could hear me) I realized I had jumped onto Andrew’s lap.

The guide proceeded to catch a baby caiman and bring it back into the canoe. This caiman was manageable and he let anyone hold it. Heart attack number two occurred approximately five minutes after heart attack one when Buddy, a kid in our canoe decided to DROP THE CAIMAN IN THE CANOE. Once again I found myself as far from the bottom of the canoe as possible- on Andrew’s lap and yelling. Luckily the caiman kind of wedged itself in between the bottom planks and the guide was able to get it out. I proceeded to sit at the bow of the canoe, as far away from the caiman as possible, for the duration of the caiman experience. We met up with the other canoe and saw their caiman as well. I had absolutely no problem playing with baby cheetahs but caiman holding, for whatever reason, was NOT up my alley.

Despite my premature heart attacks the day was AWESOME. We caught caiman in the Amazon, saw giant lily pads, saw where the two rivers met and proceeded to have a good dinner. To pass the time that night a bunch of us played that game where you’re given a famous person’s name that you put on your forehead and proceed to figure out who you are. I was Homer Simpson and was completely lost when I found out that I was like a white person but not in an actual race. I fell asleep in my hammock, though I woke up every couple of hours, and could not think of a better place to spend the night.

The next morning ALL of us were ready up and ready to go at 6:30 for some bizarre reason- we then learned that breakfast was not until 7:30. After breakfast we went into the jungle for our first jungle trek. We learned about some of the medicinal plants and how Amazonians climb tress (they attach their shoes to rope made from leaves). Walking in the jungle was cool but unsurprisingly very humid, tiring, and dirty. I was pretty much filthy by the time our group returned to the boat and was too slow to change into my swim suit. The other jungle groups had been back and swimming for about 20 minutes. We had to change locations before I was able to swim but I stayed in my suit because we would be able to swim later.

We ate lunch and I quickly napped before going to an Amazonian village. This village was not that big BUT there was a soccer field with netted goals and everything. Prior to the soccer game we were given a tour of the village and taken to a place where this bread-like food was being made. We heard kids yelling and playing and went to find out what they were doing. There were three kids swinging on vines from the shore, over the water and back onto land without falling in the water. It looked really fun and Allie was the first to try to vine swing. She got about halfway through the duration of the swing before falling into the water and breaking the vine. The three Brazilian kids thought it was the funniest thing. Unfortunately they now only had one vine left to swing from. The kids asked if I wanted to try and my group that was watching from above urged me to try because I was slightly smaller than Allie and had a better chance of successfully completing the vine swing. I figured I was in my swim suit anyway so I took off my shoes, shirt and shorts and grabbed the vine. I’m pretty sure this vine was not as sturdy because I was in the air for all of about 1 second before plummeting into the water and breaking their last vine. I felt really bad about ruining their vine swinging but they didn’t seem to mind. If any of you are dying to see my fall- Jenny got the entire thing on videotape.

We made it back up to the main part of the village where I discovered that the girls soccer game was about to start. I quickly joined the game and we played a very exhausting 15 minute half game on a full size field. Americans vs. Brazilians. We won 1-0 on a PK (I scored) but let me say I am definitely a shadow of my former self. It was really cool playing against the Brazilians though and more than anything really fun. Soccer is the universal language. The American boys lost to the Brazilian boys 3-1. At the end of the games the villagers presented the MVPs of both teams with Brazilian soccer jerseys which was a really nice surprise. Jenny and I proceeded to buy bracelets in the village shop to support the village. We then got the opportunity to swim in the river which was much needed. For all of you that don’t already know, Amazon River swimming is the new shower.

We got back on the riverboats and were told we would have about two hours before reaching our next location. A bunch of us decided to nap and we were woken up by our guides who gave us VERY VAGUE directions to wear whatever we wanted and get off the boat. Our boat was in the middle of the river and met by smaller motor canoes which we switched onto. Before we knew it we were canoeing in this area of the Amazon that was swarming with PINK DOLPHINS. This could not have been a cooler surprise. The dolphins were all around our small canoes and PINK. Before we knew it we were met with a torrential downpour that could only be produced by the rainforest and quickly found shelter in this random lodge place. We were still able to see the dolphins and after the rain passed we re-boarded the canoes. Our canoes proceeded to around the Amazon for a sunset cruise type thing. We saw sloths in the trees and were once again covered by the canopy. We watched such a gorgeous sunset that had a mixture of sunlight and dark, heavy rain clouds. As it got darker we could hear more animals and saw bats flying directly overhead.

Our canoe met up with the other canoe from our boat and literally sat side by side for about 45 minutes. Our guides wanted to continue “surprising us” which resulted in refusing to tell us what we were doing. For the most part we knew we were going to the beach for a beach party dinner and meeting up with group B but we were unsure why we had to wait so long. Apparently the guides timed the whole thing poorly and we were 45 minutes early. Why we couldn’t wait for 45 minutes on the beach was beyond me. We were waiting in a side area when we finally heard Group B’s motor canoes and heard fireworks as they approached the beach. After waiting for 45 minutes we missed our own fireworks. Oh well. The beach bbq was really fun and after eating our guides wanted us to play games that consisted of musical chairs, dizzy bat, and tug of war. For the second day in a row we had an amazing day and all slept a lot better that second night.

After an early breakfast it was time to go Piranha fishing. We once again got into small boats and split up. Piranha fishing consisted of holding a bamboo pole with a piece of line on it and a single hook. There was no reel. For bait we used raw pieces of meat. We literally just flung our lines over the side of the boat, made a splash with the tip of our rod and hoped for the best. Unlike regular fishing you don’t have to be quiet when you fish for piranhas. Though students in other boats caught piranhas only our guide and our driver caught them in our boat. Luckily I was sitting in the way back next to the driver and was able to take a picture with the piranha and get a close up of its teeth. The whole thing was pretty surreal… the guy next to me had just caught a piranha.

After piranha fishing it was time for jungle trek number two, aka the death trek. For whatever reason this trek consisted of following a boy with a machete who was making some sort of trail for us. We were also being attacked by mosquitoes left and right (I’m still waiting to see if dengue or malaria develop). Every time Fabio stopped to lecture about a plant we would try to hurry him along and keep moving because we were being eaten alive. On top of it all we were stepping in worm (I forgot what type of worm) feces that were literally all over the jungle floor. I wore pants the previous day but after realizing that a lot of kids wore shorts and that it seemed perfectly fine to wear shorts, I wore soccer shorts for the second jungle trek even though Fabio warned me against it. Karma struck and I was bit by fire ants and continue to have to scratch around both my ankles. We finally made it out of the jungle, sweatier than before and relieved to be done going on jungle hikes.

The second village we went to was a lot bigger than the first but kind of strange. Our guide literally told us “go walk around and be back in 2 hours.” We walked up to the village and NO ONE came to greet us and it seemed abandoned. This was the first village over the past four months where the natives did not show us around or tell us about their home. We found some village shops and looked at their gifts. We then went down to where the villagers build canoes and saw the canoe-building process. All in all the village experience was very random and we weren’t exactly sure what to do. Luckily Jenny and I found some Brazilian kids around the ages of 6-8 and started playing with them. Jenny had bought string bracelets in Salvador and we gave them out/tied them around the kids’ wrists. Feeling generous and not really knowing what we should do, Jenny and I decided to treat the kids to ice cream. We got our ice creams, sat down, and played with them. One little girl decided she wanted to put make up on me and proceeded to give me an eye shadow makeover. The kids were great and I’m glad they were there because what appeared to be a long two hours ended up flying by.

After this village stay we had to make our way back to where we first got on the riverboats in Manaus. Along the way we stopped for about an hour at the beach where we met up with groups B and C. We were able to swim and play volleyball. From there we went back to Manaus, disembarked the riverboats for the final time and made our way to our farewell party. All five groups, A-E, met up at this club (kind of like an outdoor YMCA type thing, not like a dance club) and were able relax, order drinks (prohibited on the riverboats for fear of dehydration) and watch a Brazilian show. The show consisted of Brazilian dancers and fire breathers and ended with a lot of SASers being brought on stage to participate. It was 10 PM at night and we would be spending the entire night traveling back to Salvador... not the smartest move to present most SASers with alcohol on their last night in-port right before having to catch a plane.

One thing that is noteworthy and worth mentioning (if not for you it definitely will be for me when I reflect on these posts 50 years from now) is Buddy’s story. Buddy is this kid from Arkansas with pretty long hair, who lives in my sea and was also on my India trip. In India he bought an all white typical male Indian outfit and decided to wear it on the last day in the Amazon. The Brazilian tour guides and crew members believed Buddy to be either a priest or some kind of voodoo witch (apparently wearing all white symbolizes either profession). There was a definite miscommunication between our guides and Buddy because they did some symbolic dance (which Buddy thought they were teaching him) and actually thought he was a religious figure. Later on in the night the guides called Buddy up to the stage to perform his dance and share his wisdom with all of us. Buddy was far from sober at this point, went on stage and proceeded to sing a song called “My Dong.” The majority of people who weren’t in his group had no idea what was going on and thought it was hysterical that Buddy was onstage singing My Dong. Unfortunately he offended many Brazilians and he was later approached by our guide and asked if he could make a public apology. Buddy went back on stage and apologized for confusing the Brazilians and leading them to believe he was a religious or spiritual figure.

Our group proceeded to the Manaus airport where we got some quick late night before catching our flight to Rio de Janeiro. The airport was kind of a mess and for some reason my entire group almost missed our flight because for whatever reason our gate was not posted on the departure screen and none of us felt compelled to ask where we were supposed be. It wasn’t until we heard on the overhead that the final call for Rio was boarding that we realized we had to make moves. The food poisoning/plague kind of started to hit right before we got on the plane and proceeded to wipe out the majority of kids in my group before landing in Rio. At any given moment on the flight you could look down the aisle and see at least five SASers waiting in line, barf bags in hand, waiting to puke. It reached the point where we landed and our trip leader told us all to stay on the plane until everyone got off. He said that he wasn’t sure what was going on but that we would all be going to the Rio Airport Infirmary to be checked out. I started feeling a little sick at that point but I think it was more psychological than anything else. All 28 of us students were being led around the Rio airport at 6 AM to find the clinic. Unfortunately three students were VERY sick and ended up staying with our trip leader’s wife so that they could be treated (they caught a later flight back to Salvador). Though I wasn’t feeling great the one thing I knew I had to do was get on our original flight back to Salvador.

On the second flight from Rio to Salvador more kids got sick. We shared the plane with other SASers who had spent their time in Rio (the majority of kids who didn’t go on a SAS overnight trip to the Amazon went to Rio) and they were shocked to see so many of us so sick. At this point we had no idea what caused the sickness. After an entire night and 12 hours of traveling we made it back to the MV Explorer. Jenny and I quickly showered and went back to the market to get some last minute souvenirs. I began feeling sick and was literally walking around the market with a bag in my hand just in case. We made it back to the ship around 3 PM and I tried to nap for a while. 4:48 PM the plague struck and it struck hard. A wonderful mixture of vomiting and diarrhea ensued for the next three days. I went to the clinic where I found a lot of my Amazon group who had like me just gotten sick. Two shots of anti-vomiting medicine later I was pretty much knocked out and slept forever. I was finally able to stomach a meal Wednesday night at dinner (the last time I really ate was Sunday morning). During those days I had to take a lot of different meds, study for global, and do my global project- not fun.

Anyway I am now fully recovered and have completed all academic related things on Semester at Sea. Two nights ago we had a special dinner for Jenny’s 21^st Birthday and I have had special cakes or desserts every night since then for different concluding things. Tonight I have a final Sea Council party thing and tomorrow night is the Ambassador’s Ball which I am really excited about. We had a meeting today about disembarkation in Fort Lauderdale and everything we need to do in terms of packing. It’s so crazy that this is ending and even though it’s been the most exciting four months of my life, I am definitely excited to go home. After all, there’s no place like home.

Here’s a little sneak peak of Alex’s Amazing Amazon Adventure

More important than any Semester at Sea Update:

CONGRATULATIONS SAMI POP ON BEING ELECTED SENIOR CLASS PRESIDENT OF WESLEYAN! I guess that makes you kind of a big deal and me the first twin. Love you so much oobi.

Jenny and I buying the village kids ice cream.

Fishing for Piranhas!

Awesome sunset!

The giant caiman that swarmed out of the guides hand and onto my thigh...

Richard and I chilling on our hammocks!

I had an amazing time sleeping on a hammock and living on a riverboat for three days. Some highlights included seeing the meeting of the waters (Amazon River and Rio Negro), catching caimen (alligators), trekking through the jungle, seeing pink dolphins, beach parties, playing soccer in a local Amazonian village, and piranha fishing! The trip was incredible but one serious downfall was that as of the plane rides back to the ship 15/28 students on my boat got VERY sick (puking and diarrhea). I thought I was in the clear but alas, at 4:48 PM yesterday the plague hit me. Two shots, immodium, cipro, and 15 hours of sleep later I am feeling better. Never overestimate the Amazon- unless you’re Jenny Feuer and have a superior immune system.

The real post about Brazil will come in the near future- I have two tests and a project that I need to complete before I blog. Stay tuned. Fort Laudy and home in 9 days.

G G G GHANA: Cape Coast Historical Tour

Jenny and I had to be in the Union by 6:30 the following morning to meet up with our overnight trip group. This was a very small group- 27 people total, with about 15 of them being lifelong learners, teachers, or families. Luckily my favorite trip leaders, Tina and Lee Riedinger, were leading this trip and the majority of the older people were awesome. Jenny, Kyle, and I probably spent more time talking with the lifelong learners than other students. Overall I had a great time on this trip because it was very chill and we were with a good group of people.

As I said earlier we had to meet in the Union at 6:30 and were supposed to leave shortly thereafter. Unfortunately our tour bus broke down and we did not end up leaving the ship until 9 AM. Rumor has it we may be getting compensated for the delay. Honestly though, we didn’t have all that much to do on the itinerary the first day anyway, so we didn’t end up missing anything. After we got on the buses we proceeded to the Central Region of Ghana which was about three and one half hours away from Tema. Along the way we were able to see hundreds of Ghanaians who were all carrying anything and everything on their heads. It was awesome to drive by markets of people all with free hands but loaded with things on their heads. After we moved out of Accra we began to see the rural areas which consisted of dirt roads.

After lunch at a restaurant that was surrounded by a pond filled with crocodiles we proceeded to Kakum National Park which is famous for its Canopy Walk. The Canopy walk consisted of seven individual walkways that each had a very narrow wood plank that was surrounded by vertical netting on either side. We walked single file across the planks and after each individual bridge there was a type of lookout tower in the middle of the rainforest. We were walking in the canopy of the rainforest about 40 ft above the ground! Unfortunately we weren’t able to see the wildlife because we were Canopy Walking in the middle of the day and most of the animals were away, keeping out of the sun. Regardless it was really fun sky walking and I really enjoyed it.

The Canopy Walk and lunch were the only set items on the itinerary that day and we proceeded to the Coconut Grove Beach Resort in Elmina for the night. We passed through this really awesome fisherman’s village where there were hundreds of boats and crowds of people all going about their business. One thing I noticed is that each fishing boat had, as far as I could tell, completely random flags. There were flags from Spain, England, America, Brazil… even Israel had a flag. I couldn’t comprehended the randomness of the flags for the life of me.

Jenny and I got our own room which was similar in style to the small cottage type things we stayed in on the safari. We were finally able to shower which was much needed and with the free WiFi, attempted to download many much needed episodes of LOST. The group had dinner together outside by the beach and I was more than happily surprised to see French Fries as a buffet item. Jenny and I proceeded to talk with Tina and Lee for about an hour about life in Tennessee (they’re both physics professors at the University of Tennessee) and their family and also shared our own life stories with them. We walked down to the beach for a little and saw HUGE crabs walking around all over the sand. Afterwards, Kyle met up with us and we continued to chill before deciding to go to sleep. Going to sleep meant that Jenny and I took advantage of the free internet and were facebooking, mscheduling, and trying to reconnect with the outside SAS world. The free internet was great but it would have been even better if the connection was a little bit faster- LOST had been downloading for the past two hours and still had “four hours remaining.”

Luck was on our side and we woke up the next morning with a fully downloaded episode of LOST. Please note that this is the fifth episode of season six and we are still very behind. After breakfast the group went on the “historical” part of the Cape Coast Historical Tour and toured both Cape Coast Castle and Elmina Castle. Both castles were active during the slave trade and used to detain slaves before they were sent across the Atlantic. We were able to walk into the pitch black dungeons and attempt to imagine the reality of the situation. Try to imagine a dungeon that was pitch black and only a couple of rooms wide that was used for over 1,500 slaves at any given time. Women and men were obviously separated and different forms of punishment were used for rule breakers. Both castles had museums that described the history of the slave trade and the castle itself. An interesting comparison between the two castles is that Elmina was not originally built purely for the slave trade but was built much earlier when the Portuguese controlled Ghana. Therefore the dungeons and facilities were not as horrible as the dungeons in Cape Coast Castle (a castle specifically built for the slave trade).

After the slave dungeon tours we had lunch at a local restaurant in the fisherman’s village (they had fries again!) and then went back on the bus for our return journey. The journey ended up being a prolonged adventure because of the traffic. Our expected three hour bus ride evolved into five hours. We were all happily back on the ship by 6 PM where many of us proceeded to shower, eat dinner, and board the shuttle for our last night out in Ghana.

As a female I felt the most vulnerable in Ghana than I had in any previous port. I mentioned in the previous blog that there was a fine line between fun and sketchy situations and I had reached the point in my Ghanaian stay where I was beyond fed up and irritated by Ghanaian men trying to talk to me or grabbing my arm. For the record I was not alone in these feelings. Therefore I was extremely happy when a club was throwing a purely Semester at Sea party and only open for SASers. I was relieved that I would not have to keep watching my back at every second and feeling uncomfortable. After a group of us met up at another local bar we crossed the street to the club. It was a great night and could not have resembled Freshman Year Michigan Studio more.

The next day Rachel and I were supposed to meet Fred’s aunt Ophelia at the preschool that she taught at. The same group from the first day more or less, ended up coming with us. The second the six of us entered the outdoor preschool these tiny, adorable Ghanaians all started screaming of happiness and running up to us and hugging us. We split up three and three and went into the two classrooms. I was in the classroom with the younger children (babies to about four year olds) and had so much fun playing with them. Once again we could not really communicate but I was pleased to discover that they knew the song “if you’re happy and you know it.” After about two hours of playing with the kids I noticed a couple of them lying in a corner of the room napping. It appeared to be nap time and never having turned down the opportunity to nap in my life I joined my fellow nappers and slept on the floor with them. Too bad we have to grow up.

Our group went back to Fred’s mom’s house who had insisted on cooking us a truly Ghanaian meal with Red-Red. The naturopathic doctor stopped by to meet us and told us about his profession. He explained his profession as trying to promote a person’s well being and by doing that correcting any of their illnesses. He claims that he has cured cancer, diabetes, etc. I’m not sure if I exactly believe him but the ideas behind his methods were very interesting. He explained that if a person came to him with a stomach ache for example, rather than prescribing medicine he would ask more mental questions that aimed at determining what was causing said patient to feel ill. Apart from discussing his profession he taught us how to eat Ghanaian Red-Red like a true Ghanaian- with our hands. I actually enjoyed it a lot and thought it was pretty cool how we were eating.

After Fred’s mom’s house we asked Fred to take us to a market so that we could buy crafts and gifts. For some reason he thought it best to take us to the beach where there were literally two small shops that had nothing we wanted to buy. I’m pretty sure he knew the guys working there and was trying to earn some type of commission. I was pretty annoyed at the situation. We proceeded to go to Global Mamas, a women’s microfinance project that enables women to sustain themselves. I opted out of going to this market because I heard it was not what I was looking for and retired to the shuttle to go back to the ship.

Ghana was awesome. I had my cultural immersion experience, went on the Canopy Walk, saw the slave dungeons, played with little Ghanaians at a preschool, ate at local homes, and interacted with the locals. It was amazing but partially tainted by that nagging fear that I had to always be on alert. For the record I really don’t like Ghanaian men hitting on me or making that move from being friendly to overly friendly. I heard of multiple situations when I was back on the ship of Ghanaian men giving girls gifts or buying them drinks and then pursuing to receive something sexual from them in return. Honestly, it just wasn’t ok and I was kind of creeped out while I was in Accra. I really enjoyed my time there, am glad I went, but don’t feel like I have to return there. Ghana- thanks for a real experience.

More pressing matters to be discussed: the UNDERWEAR THEIF. You’re eyes did not deceive you- there is an UNDERWEAR THEIF on the ship and it’s gross. I, among many other female students have become a victim of underwear theft. Our laundry consists of us putting dirty clothes in bags and leaving them outside our doors so that our stewards can take them to be cleaned the next day. We fill out receipt forms that indicate how much of each clothes item we have. When I received my clean clothes I was dismayed to discover that my underwear count had been changed from 14 to 11! Three underwears were missing and were missing prior to being washed because Ray, my steward, indicated that I only had eleven pieces and not fourteen. I soon found out that I was not alone! Someone is going around during the night and stealing girl’s thongs. This may sound comical, but I assure you, the thief will be caught. It’s just creepy. What could anyone want with up to thirty pairs of dirty underwear?

We had the shipboard auction which raises money for scholarship funds etc. I really really wanted to hoist the American flag when we got to Fort Lauderdale but unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it because I didn’t end up spending an obscene amount of money to do so) the flag hoisting was auction off at $280! The whole auction was insane- a map signed for the captain went for $600, dinner with one of our teachers went for $700, a bottle of pepto signed by the ship doctor went for $42, being able to make the menu for a day went for $300, etc. Dad- I may not understand the full value of a dollar, but let’s be honest, I’m not that stupid. Bottom line: the whole thing was insane and my mouth was hanging open for the majority of it. Our friends did end up going in on one item together than we won- a private showing of a movie of your choice in a classroom of your choice for a group of ten (popcorn and drinks included). It ended up coming to about $20ish dollars a person which to be honest is what it costs to go to the movies now anyway.

I’m completely done with two of my classes now. I have one final in Global Mental Health which consists of being given two essay prompts at 8 AM and having to turn in the essays by 8 PM. It’s open book aka I’m not worried. Other than that we are hurrying to make our global studies group project that has switched from Food Distribution to Transportation. Once this presentation is done, I’m cruising- pun intended. Oh and it’s official: the drawing was held to see the order of which seas would be let off the ship in Fort Lauderdale and my sea was obviously picked last. Mom- sleep in. I won’t be getting off the ship until around 1, so I don’t expect you to be waiting at 8 AM though you probably will be anyway.

Brazil and the Amazon in two days!!!! Nine countries done, one to go… definitely the fastest semester in college. One more thing: Lakers 87, Thunder 79. Let’s go Lake Show.

Go Black Stars. Go Ghana.

Whenever boys come back to the ship after being in port, I hear about all these awesome cultural immersion experiences they had. The ironic part is that none of these boys ever have any definite plans in the countries but just kind of go with it. Perhaps it’s because I’m a girl or because I booked all my SAS overnight trips in December and have had planned trips in the majority of the countries, but I never got to experience the random spontaneity of traveling. The stories I heard of kids traveling to Hanoi on the back of motorcycles or staying in a tuk-tuk driver’s hut in a fisherman’s village in India made me feel like I was partially missing out on the “real,” unplanned experiences. Traveling spontaneously requires letting your guard down to a certain extent and being more open to trusting people. That combination can often times get you into sticky situations but in order to have a “real” experience, more risk is involved. That being said, I am happy to report that I got my spontaneous cultural experience in Ghana and it was awesome.

When Semester at Sea told us that Accra was the port in Ghana we would be at, they kind of lied. We actually docked in Tema which was about an hour away from Accra. Though shuttles were available from the ship to Accra and back, the whole traveling part to actually get to Accra was kind of sucky and restricted our time spent in port unless we wanted to take a cab back at our own expense. The day we docked in Tema, Brooke, Rachel, and I hurried down to the shuttles the second we cleared immigration because if we did not get on the first shuttle we would have to wait another hour. The bus dropped us off in what appeared to be a random parking lot on some side street in Accra. Come on SAS, you could at least give us some indicator as to where in the world we were let off. The three of us merged groups with Tammy, Micaela, Marge, and Hillary and we all headed to the ATM with plans of then going to a market. While at the ATM we were approached by a Ghanaian who introduced himself as Fred and asked if we needed someone to show us around. This was the initiation of the “Ghanaian Spontaneous Experience” and as you can see required us trusting a complete stranger and all too eagerly agreeing for him to guide us.

We told him we wanted him to take us to the actual Accra, not the tourist one. He decided to take us to his church and thought that would be a good beginning to viewing the Ghanaian culture. We traveled by TroTro, a Ghanaian version of the South African mini-bus that is basically a public taxi that picks up randos off the street and delivers them to various destinations. Once we got to the church location we ran into Fred’s sister, cousin, and aunt who had just got out of services and told us they were over. This led us to TroTro to the Teshie Village to view how a typical Ghanaian lives.

Before going into the actual village, Fred took us to a coffin shop. In Ghana a lot of people are buried in coffins that best resemble their lives. For example a fisherman would be buried in a coffin that resembles a fish or a minister would be buried in a coffin resembling a church. I thought these coffin designs were awesome and totally made sense. I guess if you’re dead it doesn’t really matter but why wouldn’t you want to be buried in something that resembles a part of you instead of a nice looking rectangle? In my morose, coffin thinking state of mind, I’ve decided that at this point in my life it would be best for me to be buried in a soccer ball coffin or a big Michigan “M” coffin. The whole coffin store visiting experience interesting and unusual because we were looking at these coffins as things that were cool and fun and not in a gloomy, someone just died sort of way.

Post-coffin browsing we crossed the bridge into the village. The Teshie village more or less resembled a township in South Africa- run down, dirty and poor but mixed with a big feeling of community. The village was self-sufficient and had its own stores, restaurants and I believe schools. We were walking around the village literally soaked in sweat (it was around 90 degrees and VERY HUMID) when we saw a bar/restaurant type thing and we decided to stop and get a drink to refresh ourselves. I think most of the villagers were surprised to see seven white, Americans there because there were a lot of double-takes.

At Ghana pre-port we learned some Ghanaian dance moves (The Kangaroo and the Old Man Boogie) and since there was music at the restaurant/bar, Rachel decided to try out her moves with one of the Ghanaian women working there. This soon escalated into the VDP (village dance party) of the century. All seven of us started dancing and before we knew it, the ENTIRE village was there taking part in the festivities. I had the honor of dancing with a bunch of cute, little Ghanaian boys who definitely had way more rhythm than I did. Everyone was having fun and it felt totally normal until an older Ghanaian kind of grabbed at me and Hillary. Fred immediately pulled him away and we knew it was time to leave. Ghana for me had a lot of those fun borderline not ok moments. Luckily Fred was there to intervene and there was no harm done. Overall we all thought it was awesome that we got to start a dance party in a village in Ghana and were happy about it.

Fred proceeded to take the seven of us to his Dad’s house. After TroTroing there we walked on unpaved dirt roads, passed small shops and homes, to a type of dead end where there were about three houses. The houses were very normal and what you would expect a house to be. There were several bedrooms, a kitchen, bathroom, and main room where his dad, Tony was sitting. We all took off our shoes and entered the main room to meet Tony. Tony was sitting in a chair in the middle of the room, shirtless, watching TV and could not have been more hospitable. He started telling us about the Ghanaian culture and history and asked as questions about life in the US. His sister, Olivia (who we had met earlier at the church) surprised us and made us all lunch. We sat around a small table eating plain spaghetti, and a rice and bean dish that had this really spicy sauce on it. I ate the food and enjoyed most of it (thought it was really spicy)… I know, shocker. We drank water out of plastic bags- they don’t really use bottled water in Ghana but rather bagged water that reminded me of the water bags that are in earthquake kits. Check out the picture of me and Tammy. After meeting the rest of Fred’s family we proceeded to the beauty salon.

Rachel and I had told Fred earlier in the day that we both wanted hair wraps. What we meant was that we’d love to go to a market and get a random lady on the street to give us hair wraps (like at Disneyland). He interpreted our request as wanting to go to a hair salon and potentially get a weave. Not wanting to offend him we proceeded to his mother’s house which was right down the street from her hair dresser. After being served a type of ginger drink by his mom, she led the way to the hair dresser. I was the first guinea pig and it quickly became apparent that “hair wrap” is not a common term used in Ghana. After making it clear that hair wrap required colored string, the hair dresser finally understood what we were asking for. The whole situation was pretty comical because we were literally sitting in a beauty salon in Accra and having our hair “done” by a stylist. I got three hair wraps, two of which have already fallen out.

We went to dinner at a local Ghanaian restaurant where most of us ate Red-Red, a Ghanaian bean and rice dish. I lucked out and was able to order plain rice and chicken. I think after dinner a lot of us were still pretty hungry. Anyway we met up with some of our other SAS friends at a random bar on Oxford Street and had the second dance party of the day. After the first bar Fred wanted to take us to a club on the Beach and we proceeded to head there in a taxi to discover that it was closed. After about thirty minutes of traveling around Accra by taxi, I was exhausted. I was able to catch the 10 PM shuttle back to the ship and headed straight to the pool deck to order a pizza. Cape Coast Historical Tour, Ghana part II up next.

CAPE TOWN: The Anti-Bucket List but AMANDA BLAIR SUSSMAN

As many of you are aware I wanted to skydive AND shark dive in Cape Town. Mom and Dad- I respected your wishes and DID NOT skydive in Cape Town though it could have easily been made a reality. Just know that a lot of my friends did not understand why I wouldn’t just skydive and then tell you both but I resisted peer pressure and did not jump. I wish the peer pressure was more effective. In regards to shark diving (cage diving in the ocean with great white sharks) I was scheduled to go on Sunday, my last day in Cape Town. Unfortunately all of the diving trips were called off that day because the weather was not shark diving weather. Bottom line, Cape Town the land of the supposed to be bucket list has now turned into the anti-bucket list and I have big plans for my 22^nd birthday. Skydive Ann Arbor! Dad- you’re invited.

Right after I got back from the safari I quickly packed and made my way to Rondebosch, a suburb of Cape Town where Amanda Blair Sussman is living. Luckily a couple of my friends on the ship were staying with their Boulder friend in Cape Town who happens to be close with Amanda so all of us taxied there together. Seeing Amanda for the first time abroad, in a non-Michigan, non-NELP setting was amazing. It was so great to see her Cape Town life, the town she lives in, the restaurants she eats at, and the places she goes. This was my first experience of actually seeing a friend abroad who had immersed herself in the culture and country as opposed to our sweet life of traveling. Mands- you really have a good deal going on in Cape Town and if I wasn’t on Semester at Sea I’d be a little jealous…

Amanda’s house was awesome and homey. There were nine students living in it, three stories tall, nine rooms, two bathrooms, and a general common room and kitchen. All of the kids were really friendly and welcoming. After settling in for a couple minutes we got ready to go out for the night. As if everyone doesn’t already know this but it really is a small world. Amanda is close friends in Cape Town with Annabelle and Justine among others. Annabelle (who also goes to Michigan) and Justine both went to Beverly with me. Seeing them all together was literally a combination of both of my worlds- home and college. It was a little strange but at the same time makes complete sense. Annabelle, Justine, and Gabby all came over before we went out and it was great seeing familiar faces.

Long Street is the Lan Kwai Fong of Cape Town mixed with a little NOLA. The street consists of about three or four blocks packed with a large variety of restaurants and bars. Needless to say this is where every Semester at Sea student spent the majority of their nights in Cape Town. I went to Dubliner’s for the first time followed by a couple other bars. Honestly it was just great being with Amanda and being out with her. A little taste of Michigan for ya. At about 12:30, exhausted from the previous two Safari-filled days I told Amanda it was time to leave the festivities. On the way back to Rondebosch I left my mark on Cape Town. I hope that last sentence was ambiguous to everyone but Sussman.

The next day Amanda and I went to Table Mountain to go abseiling also known as repelling for all you Americans (which are all of you). We were in Cape Town over Easter- this means that like Disneyland on Christmas, places were crowded and lines were long. After being told to go in the line that did not already purchase online tickets, Amanda being the savvy individual she is, bought us cable car tickets online from her blackberry allowing us to cut the line. Unfortunately we missed about ten cable cars going up the mountain for various reasons or more accurately one specific reason due to yours truly. After struggling to make it into the cable car, we FINALLY made it to the top of Table Mountain which is a huge accomplishment in itself. It was a gorgeous day and the range of visibility was insane. NOTE: just take a look at the main picture for this blog post.

Time for the abseiling story. I have been repelling many times in the past and since I love rock climbing and anything related to it I was really excited to abseil off Table Mountain. The guys harnessed us up and explained the process of how we would descend. Sussman after realizing that we would be controlling our own descent, to be put nicely, FREAKED OUT. I have never seen her so scared in my life- and this fear was coming from a girl who has been bungee jumping twice. After we began to repel off the side, the guys running the show yelled down to us “enjoy the surprise!” Amanda had been semi-calm for the past two minutes but after hearing this, the freak out ensued. Unfortunately she had no choice but to go down. I was going quicker than her and got to the “surprise” first. The surprise- a complete drop off from the mountain, as in there was nowhere for our feet to go and we were legit hanging mid-air. Me, being the great friend I am, yelled back up to Amanda, “Sussman, you’re not going to like this surprise at all.” I enjoyed the harnessed free fall and took advantage of my new found swinging abilities. Poor, poor Sussy- she did not like the surprise. Anyway we both made it to the bottom and were safely on the ground. The guys above told us we would have a 20 minute stroll back to the summit. That was possibly the biggest lie I heard in my life. Amanda and I literally HIKED UP Table Mountain and it took much longer than 20 minutes.

After our abseiling experience we went back to Rondebosch for a quick lunch. Oh the wonders of technology. I had an interview with the psychology department at Michigan and was able to perform the interview via g-chat (skype for some reason wasn’t working). My interview went wonderfully and I am now officially a Psych Peer Advisor for next fall. Woooooo. Amanda and I proceeded to watch Friends in her bed, and honestly we could have been anywhere in the world.

That night for dinner we returned to Long Street to eat at Mama Africa’s. Amanda met a lot of my SAS friends but more noteworthy than that was the food that was consumed. At this restaurant I tried the following: ostrich, crocodile, kudu, and springbok. Believe what you want (though you really should believe me because I did try all these things). Jackie- when you go on Semester at Sea you have to go to this restaurant. My Michigan/SAS/Beverly worlds collided for a bit longer that night. All of us went to The Waiting Room, a bar that the local Cape Town abroad kids attend regularly. Sussman and I both decided to go back early because there was an off chance that we would be waking up early to go to a township to spend the remainder of the day on a yacht.

The yacht was an off chance (actually it turned out to be a reality for Mands later) and being realistic, we both slept in. That morning Amanda took me to Old Biscuit Mill a type of famer’s market that occurs every Saturday. On the way we took a Mini-Bus to the market. A mini bus consisted of a big van that would pick people off the street and drop them off at desired locations- in a sense it was a public taxi. In my mind it was kind of like a party bus because music was literally blasting and the car was filled with random people. Note: Semester at Sea tells us specifically not to ride in the mini buses because they are not completely safe. However since Suss lives in Cape Town and is familiar with the system, I was all for it. Old Biscuit Mill had a huge food section with lots of different foods, cheeses, sauces, etc. and a completely separate large shopping area. Old Biscuit Mill is where up and coming Cape Town designers sell their clothes and jewelry. The whole scene was really cool and really made me aware of how fashionable young Cape Towners are. These kids were really trendy and well put together- Sussman obviously fit in perfectly. For some reason the fashionableness of Cape Town kind of took me by surprise.

After Old Biscuit Mill we made our way back to downtown Cape Town for a Township Tour. Amanda being the wonderful friend she is booked and accompanied me on a township tour even though she volunteers in a township twice every week. Before the tour departed we made a quick stop at the Long Street Market which was more souvenir-y and what I was used to. I successfully purchased my South African flag along with three very cool paintings- happy birthday Sami and Jackie. The Township tour took us to two different townships- Langa and Khayelitsha (the township Amanda volunteers in). We toured the Black areas and the Colored areas and were able to enter certain hostels that were built prior to and after Mandela’s presidency. I tried local township beer (it kind of tasted like a hot dog in beer form) and visited a successful bed and breakfast whose profits are donated to children in the township. After seeing extreme poverty in almost all the ports, the townships hit me as less of a surprise. In a sense I was expecting what I saw. Despite that expectancy it was still a slap in the face reality check when I actually processed everything. My room in my house was often times bigger than a single family shack. The townships kind of resembled giant jungle gyms were hundreds of little children ran around in packs, independent of any adult supervision. Other observations included HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns all over as well as condom use promotions. I understand that it takes a very long time to reverse the effects of apartheid but it’s been 16 years. For a majority of South Africans to be living in this situation is horrible and change is long overdue.

After the township I packed up my clothes and Amanda accompanied me back to the MV Explorer- I wish she was allowed on the ship but unfortunately the ship has strict rules about not letting “others” on the ship. I said goodbye to Amanda and made my way back to my room to get ready to go out with other SASers for my last night in Cape Town. A bunch of us went to Fork, a tapas restaurant for dinner. It was amazing and I had the best tapas beef eggs-Benedict ravioli thing ever. After our prolonged dinner we walked back up Long Street for our last night in Cape Town. I left the night a tad prematurely because I thought I would be waking up two hours later to go shark diving. Unfortunately I did wake up at 4 AM only to find out that shark diving was not actually happening.

The last day in Cape Town consisted of hanging around by the waterfront- a really awesome place where the ship was docked. Since it was Easter Sunday some of the restaurants and stores were closed but overall the majority of things were still open. Ivy, Jill, Luke, Ricky, and I had a really nice breakfast on the water and proceeded to walk around the waterfront. I was in soccer heaven in the world cup store and proceeded to purchase the COOLEST South African Havaianas ever in addition to a couple legit 2010 World Cup shirts. Happy Birthday Daddy. Luke, Ivy, and I then went to the aquarium (we weren’t able to make it to the Cape of Good Hope and Boulder Beach where the penguins live because the cost was double to taxi us down there because of Easter). The aquarium actually turned out to be pretty cool and I did end up seeing my penguins. After the aquarium we got a quick bite in the mall area and walked around a bit more. I headed back to the ship for on-deck time and proceeded to sleep for the next four hours.

Cape Town is one of the coolest places ever and I had an amazing time. Amanda- once again thanks for everything, I hope you know how much fun I had with you and how much I love you. I feel like I really got a good overall feeling for Cape Town and was able to do a lot. I highly recommend everyone to visit Cape Town and possibly turn my Anti-Bucket list into a legit Bucket list destination. By the way, everyone should download Shosholoza- best song ever.

A couple side notes: the weather was VERY windy on Sunday, the day we were supposed to leave and as a result we were docked for a whole extra day because it was too windy for us to safely leave the channel. It was possibly the biggest tease in the world to have to sit through a day of class when you are able to look out the window and see Table Mountain. What a sick joke. Sorry for my delayed blog update- I actually had a legit paper and presentation I had to work on. Apart from literally spending the past week working on this paper/presentation, IM soccer (3 v 3) started on the ship and my team is in the quarterfinals tomorrow. Our team is called the Big Ten because I go to Michigan, Sam goes to Wisconsin, and Lucas goes to Penn State- I thought it was creative.

The past 3 months have gone by SO quickly and I can’t believe we are already at Ghana. I hate to say this but we’re coming home. Ghana on Sunday, crossing the Atlantic, Brazil and the Amazon, and Fort Laudy. The last noteworthy thing that has gone on in my life: YESTERDAY I REGISTERED FOR MY LAST SEMESTER IN COLLEGE (actually Joanna registered for me because I didn’t want to risk it with the unstable internet). Could that be any sadder or scarier? Fact: it’s all downhill after May 5^th.