The ship docked in Tema, a city 45 minutes from Accra, because it was cheaper for us to dock there. This made getting around Ghana kind of difficult because everything was sooo far away from the ship. They did provide a shuttle that went from the ship to Accra every hour, which was nice because we didn't have to pay for a cab.
Our first day in Ghana we took the shuttle to Accra. The shuttle dropped us off at the downtown area where there are lots markets and restaurants. We walked around the markets and then went to lunch at a restaurant called Frankies. After lunch we went to the beach area, called Labode. We walked around there and found a go kart place, so we decided to go to it. I never thought that i would go go-karting in Ghana, but it was pretty fun. At the go kart place I met a guy who had gone to community college in Oregon and had been to Bend. I was sooo excited. There are people on the ship who don't even know where Oregon is and to meet a guy in Ghana who went to school there was very exciting to me!
After go-karting, we headed back to the area where we catch the shuttle back to the ship. We walked around there a little longer and did some shopping. At about 5pm we headed back to the ship for dinner and an early night since we were getting up early for our trip the next morning.
The second day we woke up early had some breakfast and then loaded the buses for our 4 hour drive to the Wli Waterfall. The drive was very bouncy because we were driving on unpaved roads most of the time through little villages. When we finally made it to the Wli village we had a 45 minute hike from the village to the waterfall. It was a beautiful hike through the jungle to get there. By the time we got to the waterfall i was soooo hot and sweaty from the humidity that we jumped right in the water. We swam under the waterfall and the water was coming down sooo hard on us it hurt! Once we got out and dried off we headed back to the village where the bus was waiting.
Our next stop was to the mona monkeys sanctuary. We arrived at the sanctuary and a guide took us on a walk to find the monkeys. Our guide was making some funny sound with his mouth to call the monkeys and all of a sudden a ton of monkeys showed up above us in the trees. We got to feed them bananas and we were able to get so close to them that they would grab our hands. Our visit with the monkeys was pretty short because we had to get back on the bus to head back since we had a 4 hour drive to get back.
The third day we planned to get up early to go to cape coast, but since the drive there took at least 3 hours we didn’t want to spend the whole day in a car again. I kind of regret this decision because cape coast is supposed to be really cool with the castles and jungle walk. Instead we went to the beach in Accra and hungout and swam all day.
The last day we went to the OSU childrens home in Accra. When we first arrived there the kids were all in school. The head lady at the orphanage told us all about the facility and what they do there. Then we went on a tour. After the tour we got to play with the kids because they were on there break time. I spent most of the time with some 5 year olds coloring. Once they discovered my camera though, they forgot all about coloring and just wanted to take pictures of each other. They were all sooo cute, I wanted to take one home with me. I felt like the kids at the orphanage were not really taken care of that well and the people that cared for them did not seem very qualified. Overall, I Just felt like the conditions at the orphanage were not great and there were definite improvements that could be made.
Now we are headed to Brazil and we will arrive there in a week. Brazil is our last port which means that the end of my trip is near. It has been an amazing experience that I will never forget, but I wish I could keep sailing around the world. This trip has only made me want to travel more and I look forward to doing so in the near future!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Ghana
We arrived in Ghana this morning. The ship is docked in Tema which is about 45 minutes from Accra. We got off the ship and headed to Accra. We went to lunch and then went go-karting and walked around at the markets and on the beach. We also rode horses on the beach, which was pretty cool.
Tomorrow morning we leave early for a hike to the Wli waterfalls and then a visit to a village that believes that the mona monkeys are sacred animals so they are everywhere...should be a pretty cool trip!
The next day my roommate and I are going to try to go to Cape Coast for the day and then our last day I am going to visit an orphanage.
Tomorrow morning we leave early for a hike to the Wli waterfalls and then a visit to a village that believes that the mona monkeys are sacred animals so they are everywhere...should be a pretty cool trip!
The next day my roommate and I are going to try to go to Cape Coast for the day and then our last day I am going to visit an orphanage.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
On Safari in South Africa
Hi everyone!!!
South Africa was amazing!!! I loved it soooo much I could move there, or at least go back again someday!
We arrived in Cape Town on Wednesday morning and went on a wine tasting tour to the winelands for the first day, Our tour guides were waiting outside the ship when we got off and took us to three wineries, Fairview, Stellenbosch, and another one that I can't remember the name of. At Fairview we got to taste 6 different wines and got to have the most amazing cheese with it. Then we went to the second winery where you could choose to taste brandy and chocolate, or wine and nuts. I chose the wine, which was probably a good choice since the brandy was 40% alcohol. After that winery we stopped to have lunch and then went to our last winery. The last winery was Stellenbosch, which had a cheetah reserve on the property. We did our wine tasting and then got to go pet baby cheetahs: pretty cool. The wine in South Africa is amazing and really cheap!!!
After our tour of the winelands, we headed to Table Mountain. The view from Table Mountain was amazing! It looked over the entire city of Cape Town and I felt like I was on top of the world. After table mountain we headed back to the ship to get ready for dinner. A group of us went to dinner in Camps Bay and then went out for a bit on Long's Street, which is the street in Cape Town with a bunch of bars.
The next morning we got up early at 4 30 am for our safari. (I have gotten really good at waking up early on this trip) We drove to the airport and flew into Johannesburg, where we got a charter plane to Hoedspruit. We landed in Hoedspruit and the pilot had to slam on his breaks to avoid hitting two cheetahs that ran across the runway. I was able to snap a photo of them out of the plane window. As you can imagine this was an amazing start to our safari! We got off the plane and straight into our safari jeeps. There was no airport where we landed, so no security or anything. It was really nice. We drove straight from the airport to the Kapama Game Reserve, which was right across the street. We arrived at our hotel, the Kapama River Lodge, which was the most amazing hotel I have ever stayed at. I understand why SAS trips are sooo expensive...we are paying for the accomodations. The pool was an infinite pool that looked over into the "jungle" and there were hippos, buffaloes, giraffes, etc. just hanging out there. We got to the hotel and checked in and had the rest of the afternoon to hangout. We had our first game drive at 4 30 pm after our afternoon tea and coffee. We set off on our game drive with our amazing safari guide Divine and our tracker Harry. Right off the bat we had our first encounter with a herd of elephants. I don't know how it is possible for a herd of elephants to hide behind trees, but these elephants did it so i wasn't able to get great pictures of them. We had originally set out in search of rhinos, but instead we found a female lion and her two 9 month old cubs. We chased them fro a while and in order to do so we had to go off-roading through the jungle. We were taking down trees adn spider webs and tree branches were whacking us in the face, but it was soooo much fun! WE followed them for the rest of the night. We also saw some giraffes. It started to get dark, but our tracker Harry was unbelievable and was able to spot things as tiny as a chameleon and owls in the pitch black. We found a chameleon and Divine took it off the plant and let it crawl on us, it was really cool. It kept climbing up on peoples heads because they like to try to get to the highest point. We started to head back to the hotel around 8, but stopped for a brief lesson on how to find our way in the dark by using the stars. We got back to the hotel just in time for dinner.
The food at the hotel was some of the most amazing food that i have ever had, especially breakfast! After dinner i went to bed pretty early because the next morning we woke up at 4 30 am for our 5am game drive. We saw a cheetah, more giraffes, some zebras, a ton of buffalo, and impala. The Pumbas (Warthogs) were one of my favorite, they were just sooo funny to watch! We headed back to the hotel around 9 for breakfast and then had the rest of the afternoon to hangout. We swam at the pool, had some lunch, and just relaxed until our next evening game drive at 4 30.
On this game drive we saw another female lion, this lion had apparently just been on her honeymoon with the male lion, which meant that the male lion was close by because he always keeps his lady in his sight, so we set out in search of him, Midoda was the male lions name. Harry, our tracker heard the lion roar from a distance and we were able to find it that way. Midoda was beautiful and probably my favorite animal that we saw on the safari. We revved our engine at him and he roared at us, which i have a video of...it is sooo cool. Once it got dark we started searching for the leopards because that is when they come out. Leopards are the hardest out of the big 5 to find. We were extremely lucky to find 2 leopards and we were able to chase them off-road again, which was super cool. I took videos of it because my camera doesnt take great pictures in the dark. After this game drive we had already seen both the diamond and the jewel of a safari (the lion and leopard). We headed back to the hotel for dinner and then i went to bed pretty early again. The next morning we woke up at 4 30 am again for our last game drive. We were setting out to find the rhino, so we could mark off seeing all of the big 5. We didn't really see much on this particular drive because it had been pouring the night before so all the animals were lying down somewhere until it got warmer. However, as we were heading back to the hotel, we came across a female rhino and her baby.
I would say that our safari was pretty successful considering that we saw all of the big 5 plus more. The Big 5 for those of you dont know include: elephant, buffalo, rhino, leopard, and lion.
We headed back to the hotel for breakfast and check out. We checked out and our safari jeeps took us back to the airport, where we didn't have to go through security or anything like that. Our plane was a charter plane so it was all white and looked like a private jet. We got back to Cape Town around 7pm dropped off our stuff and got ready to go out to Longs Street again.
I was supposed to go shark diving the next morning at 5am, but there was a chance that it would be canceled because the wind and the swells were too big. I had to get up at 5 anyway to find out and it turned out that we couldn't go, so i woke up at 5am for no reason. I guess the positive side to this was that i was ready bright and early to go explore CApe Town. I was really upset i didnt get to go shark diving, but i guess that just means that i will have to come back someday!!
We had made a backup plan to get a driver to take us around to all the sites in cape town. We went to the cape of good hope, cape point, a penguin colony, we fed ostrages, which was really fun and one of them bit me when i was trying to feed it. We ended with a visit to a township, which i was glad i got to see. Overall, it was a great day and i really feel like i got to see everything, so in a way i was kind of glad that shark diving was cancelled because i got to see sooo much more of cape town.
We were supposed to leave S Africa for Ghana that evening, but weren't able to because the winds were so strong that it would have been very difficult to get out of the port. We sat in the port until 4 pm the next day. It was really difficult to go to class and look out the window and see cape town, but couldn't get off the ship. I felt like a prisoner of the ship. It is really hard to be on a non moving ship..i dont like it. But we finally left and now we are on our way to Ghana! South Africa was amazing and i am very sad to be gone! I could have been on safari forever...i loved it and dont think i would ever get tired of it!!! For any of you who havent been i would definatily recommend it!!!!!
South Africa was amazing!!! I loved it soooo much I could move there, or at least go back again someday!
We arrived in Cape Town on Wednesday morning and went on a wine tasting tour to the winelands for the first day, Our tour guides were waiting outside the ship when we got off and took us to three wineries, Fairview, Stellenbosch, and another one that I can't remember the name of. At Fairview we got to taste 6 different wines and got to have the most amazing cheese with it. Then we went to the second winery where you could choose to taste brandy and chocolate, or wine and nuts. I chose the wine, which was probably a good choice since the brandy was 40% alcohol. After that winery we stopped to have lunch and then went to our last winery. The last winery was Stellenbosch, which had a cheetah reserve on the property. We did our wine tasting and then got to go pet baby cheetahs: pretty cool. The wine in South Africa is amazing and really cheap!!!
After our tour of the winelands, we headed to Table Mountain. The view from Table Mountain was amazing! It looked over the entire city of Cape Town and I felt like I was on top of the world. After table mountain we headed back to the ship to get ready for dinner. A group of us went to dinner in Camps Bay and then went out for a bit on Long's Street, which is the street in Cape Town with a bunch of bars.
The next morning we got up early at 4 30 am for our safari. (I have gotten really good at waking up early on this trip) We drove to the airport and flew into Johannesburg, where we got a charter plane to Hoedspruit. We landed in Hoedspruit and the pilot had to slam on his breaks to avoid hitting two cheetahs that ran across the runway. I was able to snap a photo of them out of the plane window. As you can imagine this was an amazing start to our safari! We got off the plane and straight into our safari jeeps. There was no airport where we landed, so no security or anything. It was really nice. We drove straight from the airport to the Kapama Game Reserve, which was right across the street. We arrived at our hotel, the Kapama River Lodge, which was the most amazing hotel I have ever stayed at. I understand why SAS trips are sooo expensive...we are paying for the accomodations. The pool was an infinite pool that looked over into the "jungle" and there were hippos, buffaloes, giraffes, etc. just hanging out there. We got to the hotel and checked in and had the rest of the afternoon to hangout. We had our first game drive at 4 30 pm after our afternoon tea and coffee. We set off on our game drive with our amazing safari guide Divine and our tracker Harry. Right off the bat we had our first encounter with a herd of elephants. I don't know how it is possible for a herd of elephants to hide behind trees, but these elephants did it so i wasn't able to get great pictures of them. We had originally set out in search of rhinos, but instead we found a female lion and her two 9 month old cubs. We chased them fro a while and in order to do so we had to go off-roading through the jungle. We were taking down trees adn spider webs and tree branches were whacking us in the face, but it was soooo much fun! WE followed them for the rest of the night. We also saw some giraffes. It started to get dark, but our tracker Harry was unbelievable and was able to spot things as tiny as a chameleon and owls in the pitch black. We found a chameleon and Divine took it off the plant and let it crawl on us, it was really cool. It kept climbing up on peoples heads because they like to try to get to the highest point. We started to head back to the hotel around 8, but stopped for a brief lesson on how to find our way in the dark by using the stars. We got back to the hotel just in time for dinner.
The food at the hotel was some of the most amazing food that i have ever had, especially breakfast! After dinner i went to bed pretty early because the next morning we woke up at 4 30 am for our 5am game drive. We saw a cheetah, more giraffes, some zebras, a ton of buffalo, and impala. The Pumbas (Warthogs) were one of my favorite, they were just sooo funny to watch! We headed back to the hotel around 9 for breakfast and then had the rest of the afternoon to hangout. We swam at the pool, had some lunch, and just relaxed until our next evening game drive at 4 30.
On this game drive we saw another female lion, this lion had apparently just been on her honeymoon with the male lion, which meant that the male lion was close by because he always keeps his lady in his sight, so we set out in search of him, Midoda was the male lions name. Harry, our tracker heard the lion roar from a distance and we were able to find it that way. Midoda was beautiful and probably my favorite animal that we saw on the safari. We revved our engine at him and he roared at us, which i have a video of...it is sooo cool. Once it got dark we started searching for the leopards because that is when they come out. Leopards are the hardest out of the big 5 to find. We were extremely lucky to find 2 leopards and we were able to chase them off-road again, which was super cool. I took videos of it because my camera doesnt take great pictures in the dark. After this game drive we had already seen both the diamond and the jewel of a safari (the lion and leopard). We headed back to the hotel for dinner and then i went to bed pretty early again. The next morning we woke up at 4 30 am again for our last game drive. We were setting out to find the rhino, so we could mark off seeing all of the big 5. We didn't really see much on this particular drive because it had been pouring the night before so all the animals were lying down somewhere until it got warmer. However, as we were heading back to the hotel, we came across a female rhino and her baby.
I would say that our safari was pretty successful considering that we saw all of the big 5 plus more. The Big 5 for those of you dont know include: elephant, buffalo, rhino, leopard, and lion.
We headed back to the hotel for breakfast and check out. We checked out and our safari jeeps took us back to the airport, where we didn't have to go through security or anything like that. Our plane was a charter plane so it was all white and looked like a private jet. We got back to Cape Town around 7pm dropped off our stuff and got ready to go out to Longs Street again.
I was supposed to go shark diving the next morning at 5am, but there was a chance that it would be canceled because the wind and the swells were too big. I had to get up at 5 anyway to find out and it turned out that we couldn't go, so i woke up at 5am for no reason. I guess the positive side to this was that i was ready bright and early to go explore CApe Town. I was really upset i didnt get to go shark diving, but i guess that just means that i will have to come back someday!!
We had made a backup plan to get a driver to take us around to all the sites in cape town. We went to the cape of good hope, cape point, a penguin colony, we fed ostrages, which was really fun and one of them bit me when i was trying to feed it. We ended with a visit to a township, which i was glad i got to see. Overall, it was a great day and i really feel like i got to see everything, so in a way i was kind of glad that shark diving was cancelled because i got to see sooo much more of cape town.
We were supposed to leave S Africa for Ghana that evening, but weren't able to because the winds were so strong that it would have been very difficult to get out of the port. We sat in the port until 4 pm the next day. It was really difficult to go to class and look out the window and see cape town, but couldn't get off the ship. I felt like a prisoner of the ship. It is really hard to be on a non moving ship..i dont like it. But we finally left and now we are on our way to Ghana! South Africa was amazing and i am very sad to be gone! I could have been on safari forever...i loved it and dont think i would ever get tired of it!!! For any of you who havent been i would definatily recommend it!!!!!
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Mauritius
Hi Everyone,
Mauritius was beautiful! It is a huge tourist area for Europeans (Mostly French, Scottish, Germans, etc.) Everyone there was shocked when we told them that we were from America because it is very rare for Americans to go there since it is sooo far away and hard to get to. We were only in Mauritius for 2 days, so I didn't really get the chance to explore the island like I would have liked to.
The first day we got there we went to the beach and swam and hungout in the sun. It was my friend Deepal's birthday, so we wet out to dinner in the little town called Grand Baie. We went to a great Italian place for dinner. I got tortellini, which was amazing! Then we went out and celebrated with him at a friends rented villa. The next morning we got up, had breakfast and went on a 2 hour snorkeling trip. We came back and hungout at a beach resort that had free kayaking, paddle boating, wakeboarding, waterskiing, tubing, sailing, wind surfing, every water sport you could think of! We spent the day at the resort doing all of these activities!!! We ended the day with a huge beach volleyball game. Overall. it was an amazing day full of fun beach activities! My friend Tessa and I went tubing and I am still sore from it from holding on sooo tight...kind of sad I know!!!
Off to S Africa
Mauritius was beautiful! It is a huge tourist area for Europeans (Mostly French, Scottish, Germans, etc.) Everyone there was shocked when we told them that we were from America because it is very rare for Americans to go there since it is sooo far away and hard to get to. We were only in Mauritius for 2 days, so I didn't really get the chance to explore the island like I would have liked to.
The first day we got there we went to the beach and swam and hungout in the sun. It was my friend Deepal's birthday, so we wet out to dinner in the little town called Grand Baie. We went to a great Italian place for dinner. I got tortellini, which was amazing! Then we went out and celebrated with him at a friends rented villa. The next morning we got up, had breakfast and went on a 2 hour snorkeling trip. We came back and hungout at a beach resort that had free kayaking, paddle boating, wakeboarding, waterskiing, tubing, sailing, wind surfing, every water sport you could think of! We spent the day at the resort doing all of these activities!!! We ended the day with a huge beach volleyball game. Overall. it was an amazing day full of fun beach activities! My friend Tessa and I went tubing and I am still sore from it from holding on sooo tight...kind of sad I know!!!
Off to S Africa
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Life on board the Explorer
A typical day on the ship for me is as follows:
I usually wake up around 7:15 go to breakfast and then go to the gym for an hour and shower and go to class. Depending on the day I either have 2 or 3 classes. I am typically done with class around 12:30. Then go to lunch and usually go up to the top deck to lay out in the sun and hangout at the pool. Dinner is around 5:30. After dinner they usually have events and learning seminars, so sometimes I will go to those. Then I do homework and hangout and play games or got to pub night and then bed. There is not a ton to do on the ship, so we have to make our own fun. We have been playing a lot of cards and board games to pass the time. I usually hangout with my CU friends: Suzy, Tessa, and the Boulder boys, but we have met a bunch of other people too. We hangout a lot with some boys from Penn State and some girls from Wisconsin, Bucknell and Vanderbilt, all over really.
Some of the kids have "extended families": basically, you are just adopted by one of the families on board the ship. They have things like family dinners and get togethers every once in awhile, but that is basically all there is to it. I don't have an extended family, but I know a lot of people that do. It may have been nice to be in an extended family, but I'm doing just fine without one.
Classes are going well. I just had three tests a couple days ago, so it's nice to be done with those! I got 100% on one, our global studies test was pretty hard, but I did well on it with the curve, and I haven't gotten the other one back yet.
There is a registry of people who have been on the ship before: I haven't looked for Mom in the yearbook yet, but i will. I have to register for my CU classes on april 13th and that's when we are in Ghana, so i will have to figure out when and how will be a good time to do that.
Just got back to the ship in Mauritius!!! It is beautiful here!!! Today we spent the day at the beach snorkeling, tubing, kayaking, paddle-boating, and playing volleyball. It was an amazing day!!! Cant wait to get to South Africa! I have not been able to put pics up because my computer is too big to carry around and we haven't had free wifi at any of the ports.
Love Em
I usually wake up around 7:15 go to breakfast and then go to the gym for an hour and shower and go to class. Depending on the day I either have 2 or 3 classes. I am typically done with class around 12:30. Then go to lunch and usually go up to the top deck to lay out in the sun and hangout at the pool. Dinner is around 5:30. After dinner they usually have events and learning seminars, so sometimes I will go to those. Then I do homework and hangout and play games or got to pub night and then bed. There is not a ton to do on the ship, so we have to make our own fun. We have been playing a lot of cards and board games to pass the time. I usually hangout with my CU friends: Suzy, Tessa, and the Boulder boys, but we have met a bunch of other people too. We hangout a lot with some boys from Penn State and some girls from Wisconsin, Bucknell and Vanderbilt, all over really.
Some of the kids have "extended families": basically, you are just adopted by one of the families on board the ship. They have things like family dinners and get togethers every once in awhile, but that is basically all there is to it. I don't have an extended family, but I know a lot of people that do. It may have been nice to be in an extended family, but I'm doing just fine without one.
Classes are going well. I just had three tests a couple days ago, so it's nice to be done with those! I got 100% on one, our global studies test was pretty hard, but I did well on it with the curve, and I haven't gotten the other one back yet.
There is a registry of people who have been on the ship before: I haven't looked for Mom in the yearbook yet, but i will. I have to register for my CU classes on april 13th and that's when we are in Ghana, so i will have to figure out when and how will be a good time to do that.
Just got back to the ship in Mauritius!!! It is beautiful here!!! Today we spent the day at the beach snorkeling, tubing, kayaking, paddle-boating, and playing volleyball. It was an amazing day!!! Cant wait to get to South Africa! I have not been able to put pics up because my computer is too big to carry around and we haven't had free wifi at any of the ports.
Love Em
Thursday, March 18, 2010
India 2
March 18
Hi All!!!!!
It has taken me a few days to comprehend what I saw and experienced in India and yet I still don’t know what to think about it. It was unlike anywhere I had ever been before, but it was an amazing experience and I’m sooo glad that I got the chance to see it!!! We arrived in Chennai and the first day we just walked around the town trying to find clothing that we could wear during our stay. We took little golf cart type things to get around, which were pretty fun! The one that I was in was pimped out with a sound system and tv, it was pretty crazy! We went back to the ship after a long hot day of wandering around Chennai for an early night because we had to be up at 3:15 the next morning for a flight to Delhi.
The next morning (if you can even call 3am morning) we woke up and got on buses to head to the airport for our flight to Delhi and then to Varanasi. We arrived in Varanasi at the airport, which I would hardly consider an airport. We arrived at our hotel where we ate lunch. I lived off of nan, rice, ice cream, and those doughnut things drenched in syrup…my favorite!!!!! After lunch we had a tour of Sarnath, which are the ruins of an ancient city where the Buddha preached his first sermon. It is as holy to Buddhists as Varanasi is to Hindus. Then we headed to the banks of the Ganges River to witness The Ganga Aarti at Dasaswamedh Ghat, which is a ceremony that happens every morning at 5am and again at 6pm. The Hindus come to this ceremony and they pray to the Gods asking to be looked after. Watching this ceremony really made me realize how important religion is to the Hindus especially in Varanasi. We rode rickshaws through the town to get to and from the ceremony, which was an experience in itself! There are really no rules to the roads in India, so it is really a free for all. Everyone is honking horns and swerving to avoid hitting the cows that wander the streets freely. I was definitely a little bit scared on the rickshaws, but it was really fun! We headed back to the hotel for dinner and then bed. We ate every meal in hotels, which got really old fast because it was the same food for every meal. I don’t know if we did this because the food was safest at the hotels, but if so it worked because I didn’t get sick…thank god!!!!
The next morning was an early one again! We got up at 4 30am and at 5am we headed back to the Ganges River to watch the same ceremony as the night before, but this time we got to go in a boat along the Ganges. We got to see pilgrims converge to the holy waters for the ritual immersion and prayer to release their souls from the cycle of rebirth. We got to see people bathing in the Ganges River and bodies being cremated. When a Hindu person dies they are cremated and their ashes are put in the Ganges. If this process doesn’t occur the Hindus believe that the person will not be reincarnated in their next life, so it is very crucial that this process occurs. We got off the boat and got to walk through the narrow streets of Varanasi (the oldest living city in the world). After a long exciting morning we returned to the hotel for breakfast. There was an optional side trip to some markets that I went on. I got a bunch of cheap jewelry!!! India had the best jewelry and pants. Then we headed back to the airport for our flight back to Delhi. Arriving in Delhi I was shocked at how different it was from Varanasi! We had gone from the oldest poorest city in India to a large, much more developed city. We went on a sightseeing drive through Delhi on our way to our hotel. We saw a bunch of government buildings and consulates. I was happy when I learned that India’s president is a women. I have been learning a lot about gender division of labor and women in the workforce in the different countries we have visited, so I was excited to see that women in India at least are becoming increasingly more powerful in politics. We went to our hotel in Delhi earlier than planned because we were all sooo exhausted from the traveling and early mornings. We had the night free so we had dinner at the hotel and went to bed early again.
The next morning we woke up at 4 15am and left at 5am for the train station. We were taking the train from Delhi to Agra. At the train station in Delhi, there were tons of people sleeping on the ground and the second we walked in they were all getting up begging us for food. Luckily, we were given boxed breakfasts that weren’t very good, so we all had leftovers that we were able to give to them. It was really hard to see all the women and children that were living this way! I was shocked that the Indian people live amongst this poverty everyday and aren’t really phased by it, while I found it very difficult to walk by these people and not be able to help everyone of them. When we arrived in Agra after a 2 hour train ride we went to Fatehpur Sikri, which is a deserted city 25 miles from Agra. It was built by emperor Akbar as his capitol to honor a muslim saint. Then we headed to a hotel for a huge buffet lunch before heading to the Red Fort and the Taj Mahal. The Taj was the most amazing building I have ever seen! It was absolutely beautiful and I could not stop taking pictures of it!!! I could have spent hours there!! The Indian men in Agra were very excited to see American girls and would follow us around and want to take pictures with us, it was really funny. At the Taj I had an Indian family ask me to take their picture in front of the Taj and then the husband asked me If I would take a picture with his wife and 2 kids. For some reason Indian people really seem to like Americans. We left the Taj and went back to some hotel for dinner and then headed back to the train station to return to Delhi. When we got off the bus to go into the train station there was a man standing outside of the bus with elephantius in his feet. I had seen pictures of it before, but seeing it in person really freaked me out and I had a hard time getting it out of my mind. I even had a nightmare that night that I woke up and had elephantius in my feet…it freaked me out!!! The train ride back to Delhi took a lot longer than going there, but we finally got back 3 hours later around midnight! It had been a long day and we were all so exhausted!!!
We got up at 6am the next morning to go to the airport for our flight to Cochin. We arrived in Cochin and it was an hour bus ride to get to the ship and once we got there we had to go through a ton of immigration and security. The security all throughout India was insane because they had been having terrorist attacks recently, so it was a pain in the ass to get back on the ship. I was so tried and dirty and smelly and all I wanted to do was get on the ship asap. Once we got back on the ship I took a shower, but then had to get ready and pack up for our night on the houseboat on the backwaters in Cochin. The houseboat was really fun! They made dinner for us and breakfast the next morning. Then they took us for a cruise through the backwaters, which was beautiful. It was a wonderful and relaxing way to end a long trip in India.
Hi All!!!!!
It has taken me a few days to comprehend what I saw and experienced in India and yet I still don’t know what to think about it. It was unlike anywhere I had ever been before, but it was an amazing experience and I’m sooo glad that I got the chance to see it!!! We arrived in Chennai and the first day we just walked around the town trying to find clothing that we could wear during our stay. We took little golf cart type things to get around, which were pretty fun! The one that I was in was pimped out with a sound system and tv, it was pretty crazy! We went back to the ship after a long hot day of wandering around Chennai for an early night because we had to be up at 3:15 the next morning for a flight to Delhi.
The next morning (if you can even call 3am morning) we woke up and got on buses to head to the airport for our flight to Delhi and then to Varanasi. We arrived in Varanasi at the airport, which I would hardly consider an airport. We arrived at our hotel where we ate lunch. I lived off of nan, rice, ice cream, and those doughnut things drenched in syrup…my favorite!!!!! After lunch we had a tour of Sarnath, which are the ruins of an ancient city where the Buddha preached his first sermon. It is as holy to Buddhists as Varanasi is to Hindus. Then we headed to the banks of the Ganges River to witness The Ganga Aarti at Dasaswamedh Ghat, which is a ceremony that happens every morning at 5am and again at 6pm. The Hindus come to this ceremony and they pray to the Gods asking to be looked after. Watching this ceremony really made me realize how important religion is to the Hindus especially in Varanasi. We rode rickshaws through the town to get to and from the ceremony, which was an experience in itself! There are really no rules to the roads in India, so it is really a free for all. Everyone is honking horns and swerving to avoid hitting the cows that wander the streets freely. I was definitely a little bit scared on the rickshaws, but it was really fun! We headed back to the hotel for dinner and then bed. We ate every meal in hotels, which got really old fast because it was the same food for every meal. I don’t know if we did this because the food was safest at the hotels, but if so it worked because I didn’t get sick…thank god!!!!
The next morning was an early one again! We got up at 4 30am and at 5am we headed back to the Ganges River to watch the same ceremony as the night before, but this time we got to go in a boat along the Ganges. We got to see pilgrims converge to the holy waters for the ritual immersion and prayer to release their souls from the cycle of rebirth. We got to see people bathing in the Ganges River and bodies being cremated. When a Hindu person dies they are cremated and their ashes are put in the Ganges. If this process doesn’t occur the Hindus believe that the person will not be reincarnated in their next life, so it is very crucial that this process occurs. We got off the boat and got to walk through the narrow streets of Varanasi (the oldest living city in the world). After a long exciting morning we returned to the hotel for breakfast. There was an optional side trip to some markets that I went on. I got a bunch of cheap jewelry!!! India had the best jewelry and pants. Then we headed back to the airport for our flight back to Delhi. Arriving in Delhi I was shocked at how different it was from Varanasi! We had gone from the oldest poorest city in India to a large, much more developed city. We went on a sightseeing drive through Delhi on our way to our hotel. We saw a bunch of government buildings and consulates. I was happy when I learned that India’s president is a women. I have been learning a lot about gender division of labor and women in the workforce in the different countries we have visited, so I was excited to see that women in India at least are becoming increasingly more powerful in politics. We went to our hotel in Delhi earlier than planned because we were all sooo exhausted from the traveling and early mornings. We had the night free so we had dinner at the hotel and went to bed early again.
The next morning we woke up at 4 15am and left at 5am for the train station. We were taking the train from Delhi to Agra. At the train station in Delhi, there were tons of people sleeping on the ground and the second we walked in they were all getting up begging us for food. Luckily, we were given boxed breakfasts that weren’t very good, so we all had leftovers that we were able to give to them. It was really hard to see all the women and children that were living this way! I was shocked that the Indian people live amongst this poverty everyday and aren’t really phased by it, while I found it very difficult to walk by these people and not be able to help everyone of them. When we arrived in Agra after a 2 hour train ride we went to Fatehpur Sikri, which is a deserted city 25 miles from Agra. It was built by emperor Akbar as his capitol to honor a muslim saint. Then we headed to a hotel for a huge buffet lunch before heading to the Red Fort and the Taj Mahal. The Taj was the most amazing building I have ever seen! It was absolutely beautiful and I could not stop taking pictures of it!!! I could have spent hours there!! The Indian men in Agra were very excited to see American girls and would follow us around and want to take pictures with us, it was really funny. At the Taj I had an Indian family ask me to take their picture in front of the Taj and then the husband asked me If I would take a picture with his wife and 2 kids. For some reason Indian people really seem to like Americans. We left the Taj and went back to some hotel for dinner and then headed back to the train station to return to Delhi. When we got off the bus to go into the train station there was a man standing outside of the bus with elephantius in his feet. I had seen pictures of it before, but seeing it in person really freaked me out and I had a hard time getting it out of my mind. I even had a nightmare that night that I woke up and had elephantius in my feet…it freaked me out!!! The train ride back to Delhi took a lot longer than going there, but we finally got back 3 hours later around midnight! It had been a long day and we were all so exhausted!!!
We got up at 6am the next morning to go to the airport for our flight to Cochin. We arrived in Cochin and it was an hour bus ride to get to the ship and once we got there we had to go through a ton of immigration and security. The security all throughout India was insane because they had been having terrorist attacks recently, so it was a pain in the ass to get back on the ship. I was so tried and dirty and smelly and all I wanted to do was get on the ship asap. Once we got back on the ship I took a shower, but then had to get ready and pack up for our night on the houseboat on the backwaters in Cochin. The houseboat was really fun! They made dinner for us and breakfast the next morning. Then they took us for a cruise through the backwaters, which was beautiful. It was a wonderful and relaxing way to end a long trip in India.
India
March 16
Hi
We just got back to the ship in Cochin. We are leaving tonight at 8pm. India was quite an experience, but a good one. My trip to the Vaj and Varanassi was really cool! Our tour guide was kind of bad, but i am really glad that i got to see what i did. The Taj was amazing and one of the most beautiful buildings i have ever seen!!! Varanassi was unlike anywhere i have ever been. The lifestyle of the people there is sooo unique!!!! Last night we went on a houseboat on the backwaters of Cochin. It was really beautiful. We got on the houseboat last night and slept on it and then this morning we cruised around, it was really cool. I wont be able to skype because i am back on the ship and wont be getting off again before we leave, but hopefully we can skype in south africa...
Love
Em
Hi
We just got back to the ship in Cochin. We are leaving tonight at 8pm. India was quite an experience, but a good one. My trip to the Vaj and Varanassi was really cool! Our tour guide was kind of bad, but i am really glad that i got to see what i did. The Taj was amazing and one of the most beautiful buildings i have ever seen!!! Varanassi was unlike anywhere i have ever been. The lifestyle of the people there is sooo unique!!!! Last night we went on a houseboat on the backwaters of Cochin. It was really beautiful. We got on the houseboat last night and slept on it and then this morning we cruised around, it was really cool. I wont be able to skype because i am back on the ship and wont be getting off again before we leave, but hopefully we can skype in south africa...
Love
Em
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Arrival in India
We just arrived in India!!!! When we get off the ship our plan is to go to some markets or something to get some clothes that we can wear during our time in India since we cant show our knees or shoulders...I may be wearing linen pants the whole time!!!! Anyway, we are going to spend the day in Chennai and then we leave at 3 15 am tomorrow for our trip to the taj and Verenassi!!! It is going to be an early morning, but i am super excited to go on this trip!!! Just thought i would fill you in on whats going on. Im sure i will have a ton more to tell at the end of this trip!!!!
Love Em
Love Em
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Pirates update
We are basically all the way through the Straits, so it looks like we are going to make it with no encounters with the pirates!
Sea Olympics tomorrow!!!!
Sea Olympics tomorrow!!!!
Friday, March 5, 2010
Pirates!
Apparently the strait that we are about to go through has pirates in it!!!! We are having armed ships escort us through...kinda scary, but exciting!!! We should be fine since our ship is the fastest ship in the ocean, but we will see what happens. Hopefully we make it through!!!!
March 4
The decks are divided into seas and we are the caribbean sea. Tonight our sea gets to sleep outside on the top deck!!! I am excited, it should be pretty fun!!!!
Also sea olympics starts in 2 days and i am doing the limbo!!! Hopefully i still have some flexibility left in me!!!!
We are anchored in Singapore right now. I got up to take pictures this morning, but it really wasn't that cool from the ship...o well.
Date: Wednesday, March 3, 2010 9:58 pm
The weather keeps getting hotter and hotter!!
> It is almost too hot on deck. I think i might die of heat
> exhaustion in India especially if i have to have my body covered at
> the temples!!!!
> On Mar 3, 2010, at 4:27 AM, Emily Smullin at Semester at sea wrote:
>I forgot to tell you about all the motor bikes in
> Vietnam. They were everywhere it was crazy. The best part
> about it was that you could take those instead of cabs to get
> around. Probably not the safest thing, but it was soooo much
> fun!!! Anyway, we left Vietnam this morning and we are stopping in
> Singapore in 2 days to refuel. Unfortunately we don't get to get
> off the ship, but i can take pictures from the ship!
> Love Em
>
March 4
The decks are divided into seas and we are the caribbean sea. Tonight our sea gets to sleep outside on the top deck!!! I am excited, it should be pretty fun!!!!
Also sea olympics starts in 2 days and i am doing the limbo!!! Hopefully i still have some flexibility left in me!!!!
We are anchored in Singapore right now. I got up to take pictures this morning, but it really wasn't that cool from the ship...o well.
Date: Wednesday, March 3, 2010 9:58 pm
The weather keeps getting hotter and hotter!!
> It is almost too hot on deck. I think i might die of heat
> exhaustion in India especially if i have to have my body covered at
> the temples!!!!
> On Mar 3, 2010, at 4:27 AM, Emily Smullin at Semester at sea wrote:
>I forgot to tell you about all the motor bikes in
> Vietnam. They were everywhere it was crazy. The best part
> about it was that you could take those instead of cabs to get
> around. Probably not the safest thing, but it was soooo much
> fun!!! Anyway, we left Vietnam this morning and we are stopping in
> Singapore in 2 days to refuel. Unfortunately we don't get to get
> off the ship, but i can take pictures from the ship!
> Love Em
>
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Viet Nam and Cambodia
We arrived in Vietnam early Friday morning. I got up at 5 40 am to watch us go through the Saigon River and the sunrise. However, I didn’t spend much time in Vietnam because the day we arrived I left for Cambodia for 3 days! As soon as we were cleared to get of the ship we got on a bus and headed to the airport for our flight to Pnom Penh. I thought the flight from Portland to Redmond is short, but this one was only 25 minutes!!!!
When we arrived in Pnom Penh we went straight to the National Museum. The museum was filled with stone statues and artifacts from centuries ago. There were also a lot of monks that were hanging around at the museum, which I was more interested in and I kept getting distracted from our tour to look at them. Our tour of the museum was about an hour and after we headed to the Mekong River for a sunset cruise. Along the Mekong River, we saw a lot of those cool boats that you always see in pictures of Vietnam/Cambodia. We also saw a lot of little poor villages along the river. It was sad to see how many people in Pnom Penh were living in poverty. All of the little kids would swarm us trying to sell postcards and bracelets. We were told not to buy anything from them because if they come back home with money their parents will see that they can make money, so they send them out to work on the streets instead of going to school and receiving an education.
After the sunset cruise we went to the Palm Tree Orphanage. Visiting the orphanage was an unforgettable experience!! We walked in and instantly the kids would latch onto you. This one little girl came to me and showed me around the orphanage. She showed me where they go to class, where she sleeps, the art projects that she had done, etc. We got to hangout with them for about an hour playing games and talking!!! She asked me to write down my email for her, but I am still waiting to here from her. The hardest part was saying goodbye. She cried when I had to leave and kept asking me if I could come back tomorrow and sleepover. It was vary hard to just walk away, but I will definitely never forget her or the experience I had there!!!
We headed to dinner at a very nice restaurant called Khmer Surin. The food in Cambodia was very good…lots of spring rolls!!! The next day we started off at the Toul Sleng Museum. This was a concentration camp used to torture prisoners by the Khmer Rouge, so it was obviously a very hard thing to see. Then we went to the killing fields, which is just what it sounds like. They would take the prisoners to the killing fields and they would kill them there and put them in mass graves. We walked in and the first thing you see is a tall building with windows that holds a ton of skulls of the many victims. As we were walking around our tour guide pointed out that if we look down at the ground we could see the bones of people buried in the mass graves. I felt very strange walking on the killing fields knowing that their were thousands of bodies buried right underneath where I was standing.
On a brighter note we headed to the silver pagoda and Royal Palace. This was where the king lives. He was in China while we were there, so I don’t know if you are usually aloud to go inside, but we got to and it was beautiful!!!! Very elaborate architecture. We had to wear pants and shirts with sleeves to the royal palace, so I was dying of heat!!! It was hotter in Cambodia than anywhere else I have ever been!!! Then we headed to the airport for our flight to Siem Reap, which is wear Angkor Wat is located. Siem Reap was very touristy and I was shocked at the amount of high end resorts were located there. We drove to our hotel, which was super nice, but we didn’t get to spend much time there because we were always doing things! We checked in and then went to dinner and a cultural dance show. The next morning we woke up at 5am to go to Angkor Wat to watch the sunrise!!! It was beautiful and I took a ton of pictures!!! We went back to our hotel for breakfast, which had the most amazing food!!! Eggs to order and anything else that you could possibly want!!! We spent the day touring around Angkor wat and the other temples in the area. It was very cool, but very hot and I was definitely done and ready to be out of the sun by the time we were done!!!! We went back to the hotel to check out and eat lunch. The lunch at the hotel was even better than breakfast!!! They had pasta to order , so you could make whatever kind of pasta you wanted and they made crepes for you!!! It was the most amazing meal!!!! Then we headed back to the airport for our third flight in 3 days!!! Luckily all of the fights were very short. It’s a good thing the flight was short because we were all exhausted and smelly!!! I felt bad for all of the other people on the flight that had to sit next to us!!!
We flew back to Ho Chi Minh and got back to the ship around 8pm. I was exhausted when we got back, so I went right to bed! Suzy and I woke up early the next morning to go to the cu chi tunnels. We got to crawl through them and the ones that we went through were made twice the size as they normally are and I felt a little crammed in there. I cant imagine what it would be like in the actual sized tunnels!!! E also got to try tapioca, which is what they ate during the war. It tasted kind of like a potato and peanut butter…it was really weird. After the cu chi tunnels we came back and walked around in ho chi minh and went to this huge market. I was all bargained out from China so I didn’t buy anything…probably a good thing! Suzy’s roommate Tessa’s dad came to Vietnam to visit, so we and had drinks and dinner with them. Today we just hung out around ho chi minh and walked around some more. I would have liked to have gone to the Mekong Delta, but there just wan’t enough time for everything! I guess I will just have to come back to Vietnam someday!!! I love it here!!!! We had to be on the ship by 8pm tonight, but we aren’t leaving until early tomorrow morning. So now I have to get back in the mindset of school and going to class for 6 days. On to India!!!!!!!
When we arrived in Pnom Penh we went straight to the National Museum. The museum was filled with stone statues and artifacts from centuries ago. There were also a lot of monks that were hanging around at the museum, which I was more interested in and I kept getting distracted from our tour to look at them. Our tour of the museum was about an hour and after we headed to the Mekong River for a sunset cruise. Along the Mekong River, we saw a lot of those cool boats that you always see in pictures of Vietnam/Cambodia. We also saw a lot of little poor villages along the river. It was sad to see how many people in Pnom Penh were living in poverty. All of the little kids would swarm us trying to sell postcards and bracelets. We were told not to buy anything from them because if they come back home with money their parents will see that they can make money, so they send them out to work on the streets instead of going to school and receiving an education.
After the sunset cruise we went to the Palm Tree Orphanage. Visiting the orphanage was an unforgettable experience!! We walked in and instantly the kids would latch onto you. This one little girl came to me and showed me around the orphanage. She showed me where they go to class, where she sleeps, the art projects that she had done, etc. We got to hangout with them for about an hour playing games and talking!!! She asked me to write down my email for her, but I am still waiting to here from her. The hardest part was saying goodbye. She cried when I had to leave and kept asking me if I could come back tomorrow and sleepover. It was vary hard to just walk away, but I will definitely never forget her or the experience I had there!!!
We headed to dinner at a very nice restaurant called Khmer Surin. The food in Cambodia was very good…lots of spring rolls!!! The next day we started off at the Toul Sleng Museum. This was a concentration camp used to torture prisoners by the Khmer Rouge, so it was obviously a very hard thing to see. Then we went to the killing fields, which is just what it sounds like. They would take the prisoners to the killing fields and they would kill them there and put them in mass graves. We walked in and the first thing you see is a tall building with windows that holds a ton of skulls of the many victims. As we were walking around our tour guide pointed out that if we look down at the ground we could see the bones of people buried in the mass graves. I felt very strange walking on the killing fields knowing that their were thousands of bodies buried right underneath where I was standing.
On a brighter note we headed to the silver pagoda and Royal Palace. This was where the king lives. He was in China while we were there, so I don’t know if you are usually aloud to go inside, but we got to and it was beautiful!!!! Very elaborate architecture. We had to wear pants and shirts with sleeves to the royal palace, so I was dying of heat!!! It was hotter in Cambodia than anywhere else I have ever been!!! Then we headed to the airport for our flight to Siem Reap, which is wear Angkor Wat is located. Siem Reap was very touristy and I was shocked at the amount of high end resorts were located there. We drove to our hotel, which was super nice, but we didn’t get to spend much time there because we were always doing things! We checked in and then went to dinner and a cultural dance show. The next morning we woke up at 5am to go to Angkor Wat to watch the sunrise!!! It was beautiful and I took a ton of pictures!!! We went back to our hotel for breakfast, which had the most amazing food!!! Eggs to order and anything else that you could possibly want!!! We spent the day touring around Angkor wat and the other temples in the area. It was very cool, but very hot and I was definitely done and ready to be out of the sun by the time we were done!!!! We went back to the hotel to check out and eat lunch. The lunch at the hotel was even better than breakfast!!! They had pasta to order , so you could make whatever kind of pasta you wanted and they made crepes for you!!! It was the most amazing meal!!!! Then we headed back to the airport for our third flight in 3 days!!! Luckily all of the fights were very short. It’s a good thing the flight was short because we were all exhausted and smelly!!! I felt bad for all of the other people on the flight that had to sit next to us!!!
We flew back to Ho Chi Minh and got back to the ship around 8pm. I was exhausted when we got back, so I went right to bed! Suzy and I woke up early the next morning to go to the cu chi tunnels. We got to crawl through them and the ones that we went through were made twice the size as they normally are and I felt a little crammed in there. I cant imagine what it would be like in the actual sized tunnels!!! E also got to try tapioca, which is what they ate during the war. It tasted kind of like a potato and peanut butter…it was really weird. After the cu chi tunnels we came back and walked around in ho chi minh and went to this huge market. I was all bargained out from China so I didn’t buy anything…probably a good thing! Suzy’s roommate Tessa’s dad came to Vietnam to visit, so we and had drinks and dinner with them. Today we just hung out around ho chi minh and walked around some more. I would have liked to have gone to the Mekong Delta, but there just wan’t enough time for everything! I guess I will just have to come back to Vietnam someday!!! I love it here!!!! We had to be on the ship by 8pm tonight, but we aren’t leaving until early tomorrow morning. So now I have to get back in the mindset of school and going to class for 6 days. On to India!!!!!!!
China
Hi Everyone!!!!
Sorry about the delay with this email, but we have been very busy!!!! We only had 2 days on the ship between Japan and China and then 2 days again between China and Vietnam!
We got to Shanghai on February 16th and spent the day walking around the city. We ended up spending a lot of time in the markets bargaining for knock-off bags, clothes, watches, etc. I was surprised to discover that I have a special talent for bargaining!! I loved it!!!! The next day we flew from Shanghai to Beijing. Our tour guide met us at the airport and took us to our hotel. We had the rest of the night free to explore Beijing. A group of us grabbed some dinner at a restaurant right next to our hotel. We were the only people in the restaurant, they only had one menu, and they spoke no English. We ordered by pointing to what we wanted. The food came out and it ended up being some of the best Chinese food that we had the whole time!!! It was a very interesting experience, but well worth it!!
The next morning 3 of my girlfriends from the ship and I got up early and went on a walk to Jingshan Park. It was a park with a bunch of temples and people doing tai chi. We walked up to one of the temples that was on the top of a hill, which had an a amazing view of the entire city! At the temple there was a women who had traditional Chinese clothing that you could dress up in and take pictures, so obviously we had to do it. We headed back to our hotel to meet the rest of our group.
We visited The Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, which were both very cool to see!!! I took a ton of pictures!!! I was shocked at the amount of Chinese people who would come up to us and ask to take a picture with them. They stared at us like they had never seen white people before. At first it was very uncomfortable, but our tour guide explained to us that the Chinese people who are visiting the forbidden city and other tourist attractions like that are typically from rural areas of China therefore, they hardly ever see white tourists.
Then we went to the Silk Market, which was a huge market filled with things to bargain for!!! I got a big puffy North Face Jacket and some gloves for about $60!!! The jacket was a great purchase because it got me through a freezing cold night on the Great Wall!! After the market we drove to the Great Wall and watched the sunset on the wall and then headed to a restaurant for dinner. The food was amazing!!! They just kept bringing out dish after dish of rice, pork, veggies, chicken, noodles, everything you could possibly imagine!!!
After dinner we drove back to the Great Wall and got dressed in all our warmest clothes and hiked up to the spot on the wall that we were sleeping on. It was sooo cold that we each got 2 sleeping bags! I slept with hand warmers all over my body!!! Sleeping on the wall was one of the most amazing things that I have ever done, but it’s not something that I would do again!! We were up early the next morning, we watched the sunrise and ate breakfast and then hiked down the wall. The hike down was beautiful and probably one of my favorite parts of my trip in Beijing!. At the end we had the option to zip line down, which I did and it was awesome!!!!
We all loaded back onto our bus smelly and exhausted, but with no time to waste we headed straight to the sit of the 2008 Olympics. It was really cool to see the birds nest and swim cube! We had the rest of the evening free, but we were sooo exhausted that we just went right to bed. The next morning we went to a Chinese New Year Festival, which was a crazy experience, There were people dancing, playing games, tons of vendors and food stands and ceremonies going on! Then we went to the old traditional town of Hutong. We went to a families house where they made us lunch and taught us how to make dumplings. Then we got to go on rickshaw tours around the town. Our next stop after that was at the Summer palace. We had dinner at Beijing’s famous Peking duck. It was the first time I had ever had duck, but it was really good! After dinner we went to an Acrobat show, which I loved!!!!! Our last full day in Beijing we went to another market, but it was one that they only have on the weekends. By this point, I was all bargained out so we just walked around.
Our next stop was the Temple of Heaven. This was an interesting place because it is a big hangout place for retired people. There were people everywhere singing, dancing, playing cards. Close to the exit to the park there was bunch of people gathered dancing and having a good time. At first we were just watching, but then we decided to all make a conga line and all the old Chinese people loved it and joined in!!!! The best part about this is that we were in the Beijing newspaper the next day!!!! Not everyone can have a story like that!!!! We also went to a hot pot lunch. This was really cool because we got to cook all of our own food. All of this eating has increased my chopstick skills immensely! I didn’t really have an option though because they don’t give you the option to use a fork!!!
The next morning we left our hotel very early for the airport for our flight to Hong Kong. We had a day and a half to spend in Hong Kong. We went to Victorias peak, which had an amazing view of the city! Then we took a cable car down. We walked around Hong Kong and then took the ferry back to our ship. The ship was docked in a huge shopping mall, it was really strange. For the short amount of time that I spent in Hong Kong, I really enjoyed it! It felt like I was in the states. Everything was in English, which was nice and made it easy to get around. It was apparent that Hong Kong was very different from the rest of China. They even drive opposite than the rest of China, which I discovered when I got in a cab in the drivers side because I was used to it being the other way in Beijing! Each port we go to keeps getting better and better!!!!! More to come!!!
Love
Em
Sorry about the delay with this email, but we have been very busy!!!! We only had 2 days on the ship between Japan and China and then 2 days again between China and Vietnam!
We got to Shanghai on February 16th and spent the day walking around the city. We ended up spending a lot of time in the markets bargaining for knock-off bags, clothes, watches, etc. I was surprised to discover that I have a special talent for bargaining!! I loved it!!!! The next day we flew from Shanghai to Beijing. Our tour guide met us at the airport and took us to our hotel. We had the rest of the night free to explore Beijing. A group of us grabbed some dinner at a restaurant right next to our hotel. We were the only people in the restaurant, they only had one menu, and they spoke no English. We ordered by pointing to what we wanted. The food came out and it ended up being some of the best Chinese food that we had the whole time!!! It was a very interesting experience, but well worth it!!
The next morning 3 of my girlfriends from the ship and I got up early and went on a walk to Jingshan Park. It was a park with a bunch of temples and people doing tai chi. We walked up to one of the temples that was on the top of a hill, which had an a amazing view of the entire city! At the temple there was a women who had traditional Chinese clothing that you could dress up in and take pictures, so obviously we had to do it. We headed back to our hotel to meet the rest of our group.
We visited The Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, which were both very cool to see!!! I took a ton of pictures!!! I was shocked at the amount of Chinese people who would come up to us and ask to take a picture with them. They stared at us like they had never seen white people before. At first it was very uncomfortable, but our tour guide explained to us that the Chinese people who are visiting the forbidden city and other tourist attractions like that are typically from rural areas of China therefore, they hardly ever see white tourists.
Then we went to the Silk Market, which was a huge market filled with things to bargain for!!! I got a big puffy North Face Jacket and some gloves for about $60!!! The jacket was a great purchase because it got me through a freezing cold night on the Great Wall!! After the market we drove to the Great Wall and watched the sunset on the wall and then headed to a restaurant for dinner. The food was amazing!!! They just kept bringing out dish after dish of rice, pork, veggies, chicken, noodles, everything you could possibly imagine!!!
After dinner we drove back to the Great Wall and got dressed in all our warmest clothes and hiked up to the spot on the wall that we were sleeping on. It was sooo cold that we each got 2 sleeping bags! I slept with hand warmers all over my body!!! Sleeping on the wall was one of the most amazing things that I have ever done, but it’s not something that I would do again!! We were up early the next morning, we watched the sunrise and ate breakfast and then hiked down the wall. The hike down was beautiful and probably one of my favorite parts of my trip in Beijing!. At the end we had the option to zip line down, which I did and it was awesome!!!!
We all loaded back onto our bus smelly and exhausted, but with no time to waste we headed straight to the sit of the 2008 Olympics. It was really cool to see the birds nest and swim cube! We had the rest of the evening free, but we were sooo exhausted that we just went right to bed. The next morning we went to a Chinese New Year Festival, which was a crazy experience, There were people dancing, playing games, tons of vendors and food stands and ceremonies going on! Then we went to the old traditional town of Hutong. We went to a families house where they made us lunch and taught us how to make dumplings. Then we got to go on rickshaw tours around the town. Our next stop after that was at the Summer palace. We had dinner at Beijing’s famous Peking duck. It was the first time I had ever had duck, but it was really good! After dinner we went to an Acrobat show, which I loved!!!!! Our last full day in Beijing we went to another market, but it was one that they only have on the weekends. By this point, I was all bargained out so we just walked around.
Our next stop was the Temple of Heaven. This was an interesting place because it is a big hangout place for retired people. There were people everywhere singing, dancing, playing cards. Close to the exit to the park there was bunch of people gathered dancing and having a good time. At first we were just watching, but then we decided to all make a conga line and all the old Chinese people loved it and joined in!!!! The best part about this is that we were in the Beijing newspaper the next day!!!! Not everyone can have a story like that!!!! We also went to a hot pot lunch. This was really cool because we got to cook all of our own food. All of this eating has increased my chopstick skills immensely! I didn’t really have an option though because they don’t give you the option to use a fork!!!
The next morning we left our hotel very early for the airport for our flight to Hong Kong. We had a day and a half to spend in Hong Kong. We went to Victorias peak, which had an amazing view of the city! Then we took a cable car down. We walked around Hong Kong and then took the ferry back to our ship. The ship was docked in a huge shopping mall, it was really strange. For the short amount of time that I spent in Hong Kong, I really enjoyed it! It felt like I was in the states. Everything was in English, which was nice and made it easy to get around. It was apparent that Hong Kong was very different from the rest of China. They even drive opposite than the rest of China, which I discovered when I got in a cab in the drivers side because I was used to it being the other way in Beijing! Each port we go to keeps getting better and better!!!!! More to come!!!
Love
Em
Thursday, February 25, 2010
2/25 5PM PT
we are going up the saigon river right now to ho chi minh city, so we should be there within the hour!!! There are 3 different groups for the cambodia trip i am going on and i am in A, so we are leaving like right when we get off the boat. We will spend 2 or 3 days there and then come back to ho chi minh for the last 2 days. The china email is taking me a lot longer than expected because there is sooo much to tell!
Love
Em
From: Emily Smullin at Semester at sea
Date: February 24, 2010 3:50:42 PM PST
it is getting really warm!!! I layed out on the top deck for a little bit yesterday. It's super humid though!!! I will try to write my full report about china later today!!!
On Feb 24, 2010, at 12:43 AM, Emily Smullin at Semester at sea wrote:
About the Chinese New Year...it was really cool to be there during it!!! They did fireworks constantly allday and all night!!!! I didn't get to see the big dragons though that they walk around underneath, which i was kinda bummed about! It's hard to know how much different china is when its not the New Year because we were only there to see what it is like during it.
we are going up the saigon river right now to ho chi minh city, so we should be there within the hour!!! There are 3 different groups for the cambodia trip i am going on and i am in A, so we are leaving like right when we get off the boat. We will spend 2 or 3 days there and then come back to ho chi minh for the last 2 days. The china email is taking me a lot longer than expected because there is sooo much to tell!
Love
Em
From: Emily Smullin at Semester at sea
Date: February 24, 2010 3:50:42 PM PST
it is getting really warm!!! I layed out on the top deck for a little bit yesterday. It's super humid though!!! I will try to write my full report about china later today!!!
On Feb 24, 2010, at 12:43 AM, Emily Smullin at Semester at sea wrote:
About the Chinese New Year...it was really cool to be there during it!!! They did fireworks constantly allday and all night!!!! I didn't get to see the big dragons though that they walk around underneath, which i was kinda bummed about! It's hard to know how much different china is when its not the New Year because we were only there to see what it is like during it.
Friday, February 12, 2010
We just arrived back at the ship in Kobe about an hour ago. After my field trip to the gender and equality center in Yokohama, i headed to Tokyo to meet my friends. I had to take the train from Yokohama to tokyo by myself, which doesn't seem like a big deal, but when nothing is in english and no phone in case i got lost was a very nerve-racking experience!!!!! However, i ended up making it just fine, so that was a great start to the trip!!! Once i met up with everyone, my friend chris from school who has been living in Tokyo for the whole year took us out to this very traditional japanese restaurant and then to the Rappongi district to go clubbing!!!! We got up very early the next morning and went to the fish market, which was an awesome experience (definately worth getting up early for!!!!) Then my friend chris took us on a huge tour of tokyo. We went to the government building that looks over the entire city, some shrine, the central park of tokyo (cant remember the real name), all these crazy shopping areas. It was extremely nice of him to show us all around because it would have been very difficult on our own!!! He also took us to the Park Hyatt Hotel for drinks. It is like the top 8th best hotels in the world and it was where lost in translation was filmed so that was pretty cool to see!! The next morning we headed to Kyoto on the bullet train and stayed there for the night. Today in Kyoto we went to some more shrines, the golden pavilion, and some others, but you will see pictures of it because i took a ton!!! Then we took the train back to Kobe to meet the ship and that's where i am now!!! I never thought that i would be soo excited to get back on the ship, but these past 4 days have been amazing, but exhausting!!!! We don't actually depart from Kobe until tomorrow evening, so we will go out in kobe tonight and check it out more during the day tomorrow!!! We just decided that we would sleep on the ship tonight because it's convenient and saves some money!!!!!
Love
Em
Love
Em
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Feb 2
Hey!!!
I was just going to email you!!! I am sitting outside on the top deck right now doing some reading for class tomorrow. Today is our day off from class, so it's nice to get a break. This morning we had our CU group picture, i guess they are taking pics of all the schools that are represented on the ship. Later this afternoon we are going on a bridge tour, so we get to see where the captains steer the boat and all that stuff, which should be pretty cool!!! Classes have been good, I had my first exam and it went pretty well. It was only 20 questions. The weather has been nice, but it is getting colder each day!!! Today is the first day that it has been too cold to lie out in swimsuits!!!! We did have a dance last night and we went to it!!! Everyone dressed up in crazy outfits, it was surprisingly a lot more fun than i would have expected it to be!!!! Friends are good!!! It's weird because all the Boulder kids really do stick together!!! Not to say that i haven't met tons of people, but it is nice to have close friends from your own school!!!! There is a group of six of us that always stick together especially while we travel. When we post pics you will see who they all are!!! We are going to be crossing the international date line sometime tonight i think because we are completely losing february 3rd!!!! Today is the 2nd and tomorrow will be the 4th, it's really weird how that whole thing works!!!!! Anyway, i am getting very anxious to get to Japan, but in the mean time we are finding ways to entertain ourselves on the ship!!!!
o and also we had to fill out all the immigration forms for all the countries, which was a ton of paperwork to do all at once, but at least we got it all out of the way now!!!!
Love
Em
Hey!!!
I was just going to email you!!! I am sitting outside on the top deck right now doing some reading for class tomorrow. Today is our day off from class, so it's nice to get a break. This morning we had our CU group picture, i guess they are taking pics of all the schools that are represented on the ship. Later this afternoon we are going on a bridge tour, so we get to see where the captains steer the boat and all that stuff, which should be pretty cool!!! Classes have been good, I had my first exam and it went pretty well. It was only 20 questions. The weather has been nice, but it is getting colder each day!!! Today is the first day that it has been too cold to lie out in swimsuits!!!! We did have a dance last night and we went to it!!! Everyone dressed up in crazy outfits, it was surprisingly a lot more fun than i would have expected it to be!!!! Friends are good!!! It's weird because all the Boulder kids really do stick together!!! Not to say that i haven't met tons of people, but it is nice to have close friends from your own school!!!! There is a group of six of us that always stick together especially while we travel. When we post pics you will see who they all are!!! We are going to be crossing the international date line sometime tonight i think because we are completely losing february 3rd!!!! Today is the 2nd and tomorrow will be the 4th, it's really weird how that whole thing works!!!!! Anyway, i am getting very anxious to get to Japan, but in the mean time we are finding ways to entertain ourselves on the ship!!!!
o and also we had to fill out all the immigration forms for all the countries, which was a ton of paperwork to do all at once, but at least we got it all out of the way now!!!!
Love
Em
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Jan 30
Classes are fine. I had a paper about hawaii due today at 5 pm and i have a test tomorrow, so im busy with that. It rained yesterday, but i didnt even know because i was at class and then i took a nap because i was sooo tired after Hawaii for some reason!!! But today was sunny and pretty warm, so i hungout on the top deck after class. We don't really have specific plans yet, but i have an FDP (faculty directed practica) i have to do right when we get to Yokohama, but then i am heading to tokyo for 2 days and then to Kyoto for 2 days, but other than that i dont know details. Hopefully i will see chris and he can show us around!! Well im off to study now....
Date: January 24, 2010 5:08:44 PM PST
To: David Smullin
Subject: RE: good morning
the weather is sooo nice!!! I was just laying out on the top deck for a couple hours, but don't worry i used sunscreen all over!! We should arrive in Hilo very early tomorrow morning. We have to be up at like 5 tomorrow to have our pre port meeting before we get off the ship. I know its going to be really hard to walk when we get off the ship, it will be pretty funny!! Class is still good, lots of reading to do for them though!!! I tried to send you pictures in my last email...did it not work??
Love
Em
i will call you sometime tomorrow when i get off the ship!!!
send this to everyone, i think i may have deleted the email from you that had the family email...
Hey Everyone!!!
I wanted to fill you all in on my first stop in Hawaii. Our first port was Hilo on the Big Island. We got there early monday morning and once the ship was cleared everyone rushed off! A group of six of us decided that we wanted to go to Kona, so we were able to rent a car for pretty cheap and went! We went to Haipuna Beach, which was a beautiful beach with big waves!!! We stayed there for most of the day and then went the rest of the way to Kona and found a cheap hotel to stay in for the night. We got up early the next morning and drove back to hilo. We walked around downtown Hilo for a bit and then headed back to the ship. We left tuesday night for Honolulu and arrived there wednesday morning. When we got off we went to Waikiki and walked around and did some shopping for last minute things before leaving the country for good! My friend Suzy's dad lives in Kauai and he came over to meet us in Honolulu and took us all to lunch , which was very nice. Our last day in Hawaii we went to the beach and surfed until we headed back to the ship!!! Overall, Hawaii was very fun and a great start to our trip! Im looking forward to what the rest of the trip will bring!!! However, i am not soo excited to be spending 11 days on the ship, but im sure that it will be worth it once we get to japan!!! But for now i will be going to class and that should keep me pretty busy!!!!
Love
Em
On Jan 23, 2010, at 9:16 AM, Emily Smullin at Semester at sea wrote:
i cant wait to finally get to hawaii!!!! It has definately been pretty warm out, but not super sunny. Hopefully today will be though. The conditions have been pretty intense because i guess we are in the worst low pressure system since the 1800s, whatever that means. It was sooo rocky 2 nights ago, i didnt sleep at all, but last night was much better!!!! It is actually pretty smooth right now, so im hoping that it stays like that for the rest of the time!!!!
-
yes, you can send them to everyone. I will be using this much more often than my blog because email is free. I have to use my internet minutes to use the blog and i only have like 2 hours pf internet time and then i have to buy more and its expensive. So i am going to try not to use the internet much at all.
On Jan 21, 2010, at 5:50 PM, Emily Smullin at Semester at sea wrote:
hi
im just checking in again. We have only been on the ship for 5 days, but already it seems like we have been here forever!!! The motion and rocking of the boat is unlike i would have ever imagined it to be!!!!! I have kept busy with reading for my classes and figuring out what field practicas to do for my classes. The last couple days have been hot and sunny, so we all laid out on the top deck, which was amazing!!!!! However, when it's not nice outside there isn't much to do. I guess that's good for studying though. I have been going to the gym, which is an experience itself! Trying to run on a treadmill while the boat is rocking is not the easiest thing, but it definately makes working out a lot more exciting!!! I met some girl that is teaching yoga on the top deck this afternoon and i think i may got to that. It will be interesting to see how well that goes!!! We will be getting to hawaii early monday morning, which i couldn't be more excited about!!! It will be am
azing to be able to get off the ship for a bit!!!! Thats all for now!!!
Love
Emily
On Jan 19, 2010, at 6:42 PM, Emily Smullin at Semester at sea wrote:
its not warm enough to lie out, but its been pretty nice and sunny. We have been sitting up on the top deck outside and that is nice. We should be able to lay out soon, it's just pretty windy. The pool hasn't been opened yet, but it is really small and i probably wouldn't swim in it anyway unless it gets super hot!!! i have only bought a notebook that i needed for class, a coffee mug because we cant take coffee from the dining hall unless we have our own cup and a sweatshirt.
On Jan 19, 2010, at 3:58 PM, Emily Smullin at Semester at sea wrote:
so apparently on the boat you can't use cash or cards, so you have to charge everything that you get with the semester at sea cards that they gave to us when we got on the ship. It gets charged to my credit card, its kind of annoying that we cant use cash but its not a big deal. Just thought that would be something that you would want to know. We had our first day of class today, and i think that i am going to like them. I have this one teacher tony zimmerman who is super funny and i reallly like her. Luckily, i have her for 2 classes!!!!!! It hasn't been stormy at all yet, but we still have a ways to go!!! However, i am hoping that we never hit a storm, i am having trouble walking as it is!!!! I look like im drunk walking around all the time!!! Tonight we have pub night, which means that they serve beer and wine, so we will see what its like walking around after drinking a little!!!!
Jan 18
i dont really need the pictures. I can't remember dominique's last name off the top of my head, but she is part greek and she speaks fluent greek, spanish, and some french, it's pretty cool. She talked to her mom and gma on the phone and she was speaking greek to them...it was cool to listen to!!!! She's from Miami and goes to school at the University of Miami. i will post on the blog when i have more to say, probably after hawaii. We had a bunch of orientation stuff allday, which was pretty boring, and tomorrow we start classes. It will definately be weird getting used to having class on a rocky ship.
Jan 17
We made it to the ship and moved into our cabins. My roommates name is Dominique and I really like her. We had lunch on the boat when we arrived and then had a lifeboat drill. We had dinner and then all waited outside on the decks for our departure!!!! We had some meetings after dinner and now i am exhausted and about to go to bed!!! It is weird getting used to being on a ship and people are getting sick all over the place!!!! But i am fine!!! Just thought i would fill you in and i hope you made it back home safely!!! This is my new free email account, so email me on this!!!!
Love you!!!
Em
Classes are fine. I had a paper about hawaii due today at 5 pm and i have a test tomorrow, so im busy with that. It rained yesterday, but i didnt even know because i was at class and then i took a nap because i was sooo tired after Hawaii for some reason!!! But today was sunny and pretty warm, so i hungout on the top deck after class. We don't really have specific plans yet, but i have an FDP (faculty directed practica) i have to do right when we get to Yokohama, but then i am heading to tokyo for 2 days and then to Kyoto for 2 days, but other than that i dont know details. Hopefully i will see chris and he can show us around!! Well im off to study now....
Date: January 24, 2010 5:08:44 PM PST
To: David Smullin
Subject: RE: good morning
the weather is sooo nice!!! I was just laying out on the top deck for a couple hours, but don't worry i used sunscreen all over!! We should arrive in Hilo very early tomorrow morning. We have to be up at like 5 tomorrow to have our pre port meeting before we get off the ship. I know its going to be really hard to walk when we get off the ship, it will be pretty funny!! Class is still good, lots of reading to do for them though!!! I tried to send you pictures in my last email...did it not work??
Love
Em
i will call you sometime tomorrow when i get off the ship!!!
send this to everyone, i think i may have deleted the email from you that had the family email...
Hey Everyone!!!
I wanted to fill you all in on my first stop in Hawaii. Our first port was Hilo on the Big Island. We got there early monday morning and once the ship was cleared everyone rushed off! A group of six of us decided that we wanted to go to Kona, so we were able to rent a car for pretty cheap and went! We went to Haipuna Beach, which was a beautiful beach with big waves!!! We stayed there for most of the day and then went the rest of the way to Kona and found a cheap hotel to stay in for the night. We got up early the next morning and drove back to hilo. We walked around downtown Hilo for a bit and then headed back to the ship. We left tuesday night for Honolulu and arrived there wednesday morning. When we got off we went to Waikiki and walked around and did some shopping for last minute things before leaving the country for good! My friend Suzy's dad lives in Kauai and he came over to meet us in Honolulu and took us all to lunch , which was very nice. Our last day in Hawaii we went to the beach and surfed until we headed back to the ship!!! Overall, Hawaii was very fun and a great start to our trip! Im looking forward to what the rest of the trip will bring!!! However, i am not soo excited to be spending 11 days on the ship, but im sure that it will be worth it once we get to japan!!! But for now i will be going to class and that should keep me pretty busy!!!!
Love
Em
On Jan 23, 2010, at 9:16 AM, Emily Smullin at Semester at sea wrote:
i cant wait to finally get to hawaii!!!! It has definately been pretty warm out, but not super sunny. Hopefully today will be though. The conditions have been pretty intense because i guess we are in the worst low pressure system since the 1800s, whatever that means. It was sooo rocky 2 nights ago, i didnt sleep at all, but last night was much better!!!! It is actually pretty smooth right now, so im hoping that it stays like that for the rest of the time!!!!
-
yes, you can send them to everyone. I will be using this much more often than my blog because email is free. I have to use my internet minutes to use the blog and i only have like 2 hours pf internet time and then i have to buy more and its expensive. So i am going to try not to use the internet much at all.
On Jan 21, 2010, at 5:50 PM, Emily Smullin at Semester at sea wrote:
hi
im just checking in again. We have only been on the ship for 5 days, but already it seems like we have been here forever!!! The motion and rocking of the boat is unlike i would have ever imagined it to be!!!!! I have kept busy with reading for my classes and figuring out what field practicas to do for my classes. The last couple days have been hot and sunny, so we all laid out on the top deck, which was amazing!!!!! However, when it's not nice outside there isn't much to do. I guess that's good for studying though. I have been going to the gym, which is an experience itself! Trying to run on a treadmill while the boat is rocking is not the easiest thing, but it definately makes working out a lot more exciting!!! I met some girl that is teaching yoga on the top deck this afternoon and i think i may got to that. It will be interesting to see how well that goes!!! We will be getting to hawaii early monday morning, which i couldn't be more excited about!!! It will be am
azing to be able to get off the ship for a bit!!!! Thats all for now!!!
Love
Emily
On Jan 19, 2010, at 6:42 PM, Emily Smullin at Semester at sea wrote:
its not warm enough to lie out, but its been pretty nice and sunny. We have been sitting up on the top deck outside and that is nice. We should be able to lay out soon, it's just pretty windy. The pool hasn't been opened yet, but it is really small and i probably wouldn't swim in it anyway unless it gets super hot!!! i have only bought a notebook that i needed for class, a coffee mug because we cant take coffee from the dining hall unless we have our own cup and a sweatshirt.
On Jan 19, 2010, at 3:58 PM, Emily Smullin at Semester at sea wrote:
so apparently on the boat you can't use cash or cards, so you have to charge everything that you get with the semester at sea cards that they gave to us when we got on the ship. It gets charged to my credit card, its kind of annoying that we cant use cash but its not a big deal. Just thought that would be something that you would want to know. We had our first day of class today, and i think that i am going to like them. I have this one teacher tony zimmerman who is super funny and i reallly like her. Luckily, i have her for 2 classes!!!!!! It hasn't been stormy at all yet, but we still have a ways to go!!! However, i am hoping that we never hit a storm, i am having trouble walking as it is!!!! I look like im drunk walking around all the time!!! Tonight we have pub night, which means that they serve beer and wine, so we will see what its like walking around after drinking a little!!!!
Jan 18
i dont really need the pictures. I can't remember dominique's last name off the top of my head, but she is part greek and she speaks fluent greek, spanish, and some french, it's pretty cool. She talked to her mom and gma on the phone and she was speaking greek to them...it was cool to listen to!!!! She's from Miami and goes to school at the University of Miami. i will post on the blog when i have more to say, probably after hawaii. We had a bunch of orientation stuff allday, which was pretty boring, and tomorrow we start classes. It will definately be weird getting used to having class on a rocky ship.
Jan 17
We made it to the ship and moved into our cabins. My roommates name is Dominique and I really like her. We had lunch on the boat when we arrived and then had a lifeboat drill. We had dinner and then all waited outside on the decks for our departure!!!! We had some meetings after dinner and now i am exhausted and about to go to bed!!! It is weird getting used to being on a ship and people are getting sick all over the place!!!! But i am fine!!! Just thought i would fill you in and i hope you made it back home safely!!! This is my new free email account, so email me on this!!!!
Love you!!!
Em
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Bon Voyage!!!!!
I am sitting anxiously in the hotel lobby waiting for my bus to depart for Ensenada Mexico, which is where the ship departs from. I'm getting very excited to finally depart and meet my roommate!!! I will arrive in Hawaii on the 25th and will post again once i get there!!!!
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Sea World!!!!!!
We arrived in San Diego yesterday morning after a very early flight from Redmond at 5 15!!!! We checked into our hotel and headed off to Sea World...I have always wanted to go there!!!! It was really cool to see all of the animals and the shamu and dolphin shows!!!!!!!!
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