Pictures from the Amazon!

Steph sent me the following pictures this evening and asked me to post them to her blog... Here ya go!

Current Location: Zero Degrees Latitude...the EQUATOR

BRASILIA TOMORROW!!!

            Yesterday we gained 6 individuals from the  US State Department that are currently positioned here in Brazil. Two of them came into one of my classes and talked with us about their responsibilities and experiences living abroad. The two were a couple, the wife works for the State Department and the husband is a high school math and science teacher. I asked him about teaching in a foreign culture and  the challenges he may face. My gap year in Israel I worked with kids…obviously I was not a qualified teacher…but I remember how difficult the language barrier and cultural differences got so I really enjoyed talking with him and hearing about his experiences.

            Speaking of my gap year, we have a couple of "gap year" students on board. For those of you that aren't familiar with this concept, it's the idea of taking a year between high school and college to do other things, such as travel! One thing that will really annoy "gap year" students is when people call it a year off. There is a gap year student on board with us named Brandon…he is a remarkable guy, from Minnessota with big dreams and a lot of potential. He is doing a documentary of his gap year called "Year ON"…here is the link to the trailer he made about his gap year…I really enjoyed it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v0-j19rgog&feature=share

            It is becoming more and more obvious that we ARE in the AMAZON every minute. Last night as it got later and later outside we saw more and more bugs and bats flying around. Last night was another "typical night" (in my mind that is) on the ship. Everyone was hanging out on the top deck until about 11:30-12ish…Then everyone goes their own ways. Greg, my brother gave me a piece of advice before I left, he said "If I could do it again, I wouldn't have slept." Obviously this is a bit unrealistic but I see where he was going with this one. Well, Greg, I've been listening! Night after night I say I'm going to go to sleep and then get engaged in conversations, games of Taboo, cards…etc and then the next thing you know it's 3:30 am and you have to be up in a few more hours.

            Today we did not have class since it is the day before we port in Brazil. Everyone woke up kind of late, and then went up to the upper deck. Today was one of the most unique experiences. Hundreds of students were outside in their bathing suits…likely burning since none of us are used to the strength of the sun here ON the EQUATOR, trying to squeeze into one tiny little pool. The catch is that surrounding us in all directions was rainforest, small villages, canoes with people next to us…etc. At one point a bunch of us were standing, looking out from the ship, waving to locals on land, locals in their canoes and smaller power boats. The scenery here is like NOTHING I have ever seen, the heat and sun is stronger than I have ever experienced. Mom and Dad I am proud to report that I re-applied sunscreen just about every 10 minutes it felt like, and am NOT burnt. Though if you look around at the student body right now it's as if no one brought sunscreen…I think it's just that everyone underestimated the strength of the sun here.

            This evening we had our two Brazilian students put on a cultural presentation. They sang songs, did Brazilian dances, and taught us the "Do's and Don't's" and a couple of useful words and sayings.

            We also had a "Pre-port" meeting for the whole ship where we were told lots of logistical, and safety related things. In comparing our first Pre-port (for Dominica) to this pre-port, it's so clear how much more comfortable, and how much more developed this community is now…there were tons of jokes, and cheers, and much excitement. We have been on the ship for about six days now…imagine that, six days of not being on land, six days of being in one place, a large place with lots of rooms, but nonetheless, one place! This abroad program is so interesting because for the week we are in Brazil we will all disperse and do our own thing, but then, we will be so excited to come back to our home, share stories, and create new experiences. We have only had one stop so far, and it was a short one, so I'm excited for this part of the experience to begin.

            You may be wondering what I'm doing in Brazil…I don't mean to sound self-absorbed, but chances are if you're reading MY blog you may want to know. I'm going on an Amazon trip that was organized by a past Semester At Sea participant. There are about thirty of us SASers signed up to go. Here is a copy of my itinerary.

 

Day 1 (L, D) Pick students up from the ship at the port in Manaus
 to the 'Meeting of the Rivers' where the Negro and Amazon Rivers meet
. Visit Victoria Regia Water Lillies. Engage in an activity arranged such as fishing, hiking, or free time. 
Lunch
. Travel further upstream and enjoy free time relaxing on the riverboat. 
Dinner. 
Sleep on the riverboat

Day 2 (B, L, D)
Breakfast
. Hiking in the rainforest
. Lunch. 
Visit an indigenous village (interact with locals, participate in an organized soccer match with the locals). 
Dinner. 
Sleep in hammocks in the rainforest (mosquito nets provided).

Day 3 (B, L, D)
Breakfast. 
Cruise past UNESCO World Heritage Site: the beautiful Anavilhanas
Swim with local Pink Dolphins
. Lunch. 
Fishing for Piranhas
. Dinner (including the fish that you caught earlier!)
. Night Canoe to spot

Day 4 (B, L)Breakfast
. Visit another village to see Indigenous Ritual Ceremony.
Lunch. 
Return to Manaus and be transported to the ship.

So, there you go. It should be interesting, filled with lots of sun, bugs, and hopefully awesome experiences.

I will not have my computer on me or any internet access while I am in Brazil so I will not be updating my blog again until Friday the 3^rd, when I get back. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!! (it's the third).

 ...I have emailed Greg some pictures of the views from the ship today...so look out for those in the next couple of hours.

Have a great week everyone…talk to you on Friday!

Hello Amazon!

Hello everyone!!

Today we officially entered the Amazon!! AHHHH! The
waters drastically changed from ocean blue to shades of green and
brown. Upon entering the Amazon, the river was so wide that we still
couldn't see land. Now, it's 11:53 pm so it's too dark to see land but
we are told that when we wake up we should see the coasts. During
lunch I saw a smaller ship in the distance, small ship means land is
close and after 4 straight days at sea it made us all pretty excited.

Last night we had our first weekly (when we're on the
ship) Shabbat dinner. It turned out to be a really nice, lots of
people showed up, some Jewish, some who were Jewish but had never done
Shabbat before, and some genuinely interested people. Some friends an
I led a short discussion about the meaning of Shabbat, then we did a
short service where we said a few prayers. The kitchen staff was nice
enough to bake us two fresh challas…they wouldn't give us wine but we
had some delicious grape juice…and as for candles, we printed a couple
pictures of Shabbat candles out and had one person at each table hold
the picture up during the prayer. After that we just sat around and
talked and enjoyed dinner and each other's company. It was so nice to
share something important to me with other people. It was also nice to
see other people's interest. During our dinner, the professor for the
class "World Religions" came in and asked us a bunch of questions, he
then asked me if myself and another friend could come into his class
the following morning to talk about Shabbat and Jewish customs.

The everyday schedule here is pretty interesting… it
really does not matter what day of the week here it is…we even have
classes on Saturday and Sundays, so the idea of time really becomes
lost here. Every student is enrolled in 4 classes, those classes
either meet on A days or B days. I chose to split mine up and I have 2
classes on each. The first two days at sea we had one A day and one B
day. My A day consists of global studies class at 9:20. Global studies
is the class that every student on this ship has to take, it is
offered both days though so that it's not 500 students trying to pay
attention to one professor at once. Global studies is really cool, the
professor is very knowledgeable about other cultures and history. In
between each port, during global studies class we focus on the country
we are approaching, learn about it's history, it's climate, geography…
etc. It's so nice, due to global studies I feel like I am able to
enter a foreign place with a better understanding and appreciation for
that place. After global studies I have a break until 2:20 where I
have a class called "Technology and reproduction- A Global
Perspective". This class is taught by a really passionate and quirky
professor and I am enjoying it. The rest of the day is usually spent
going to dinner, meetings for different organizations, and doing
homework and hanging out with people in the common areas. My B days I
have two other classes, one is called "Travel Writing". After two and
a half years of schooling where I have been in a major that requires
me to write very little, this class is SCARY for me. I think I will
actually take the most from this class as it is all so unfamiliar and
uncomfortable to me. The last class I am in is called
"Multiculturalism and Women's Rights", the material focuses on the
countries we are going to and I think it is going to be a really good
class.

After the first two days at sea we had what is called a
"Reading Day". A reading day is a college student's DREAM…(I wish we
had them at UMD). This is a day with no classes, and time to catch up
on work for you classes. Because we have such big breaks from classes
(when we are at ports) we have to cram a lot in when we are at sea, so
this day was really awesome and helpful. Today we had another A day,
tomorrow we have another B day, and then the following day is
dedicated to prepping for Brazil. TWO MORE DAYS TILL BRAZIL!

Today after classes I went up to the top deck to
participate in yoga. It was absolutely the most interesting setting to
do not just yoga, but any sport. I was standing there staring at the
Amazon River…sometimes I feel like I need to pinch myself and remind
myself that this is really all happening, it's all so surreal.

(It's now Sunday morning as I finish writing this blog
entry). Last night was a "Pub night"…at pub night they sell beer and
wine and you can get up three drinks. It was a fun night of
socializing and hanging out with people…I decided to get some ice
cream which was hands down the best ice cream I've had in a very long
time. Nights are the best here, I always say I'm going to get some
work done, blog and get to sleep around 12-12:30. Of course that never
happens, I end up doing less work then I want. Last night, for
example, I ended up staying up till 3 in the morning, not even
realizing how late it had gotten, just because I was in a really good
conversation with some people.

This morning and the ship was not moving. We had some
Americans that are currently in Brazil and working for the US embassy
come onto the ship this morning so we are currently anchored in the
middle of the amazon. There is land all around, and little ships pass
by constantly. It's amazing how much of a change it is from the last
land I saw…Dominica was full of mountains and hills, here the land is
SO flat. We will continue to be anchored here until 8pm after our
guests leave us, then we have one more day until Manaus and Amazon
adventures. I will be sure to update again later tonight!

Suite Life on Deck

            Day 2 of 6 at sea before we get to Brazil. At home on a given day I walk anywhere form 1-4 miles around campus, maybe get in my car to go grocery shopping, to a friends apartment, or run some other errand. It is the weirdest feeling having NOWHERE to go. Anywhere I need to go and everything I need is within a 2 minute TOPS walk of each other. I keep thinking that one day I'll get over the uniqueness of this ship and experience and stop writing about it, but it is realllly unique so who knows.

            Days at sea are so interesting. I know I've said it before, but I'm really loving this community. The openness has not changed yet one bit, everyone is still so welcoming and ready to talk. Meal time is great, today for example, I sat down for dinner at 5:30 to eat with some friends. I did not get up from the table (with the exception of getting up to get tea once) until 7:30, and by the time I got up, it was almost all new people than the ones I started dinner with. This environment may not be the best for my school-work, but I am loving the plain interactions. I was talking to people tonight at dinner about how we meet each other not out at parties after a few drinks but usually sometime in the middle of the day, or at night when we're sitting outside writing our blogs (like I am now). Then, after meeting each other we don't go home, get a facebook friend request (or send one) and stalk their lives…here it's just pure people and real impressions. The ship offers drinks only on certain designated nights, and on those nights you are limited to three drinks. Needless to say, most nights there aren't "drinking nights." In college, people meet and generally go our together and get drunk…sorry parents and adults, but it's not like you don't already know this. I always say that in the beginning of college a lot of people sort of hide behind alcohol and use it so that they can meet people and not feel that awkward feeling. Here there is no alcohol (well very little, and it's rare) so we don't have that. This means that we get to bond and really get to know each other a lot faster and on a much more real level….for those of you that have worked at or gone to summer camp it's a very similar experience.

            After dinner I walked around and socialized and eventually joined in on a super fun game of catch-phrase. Then, at 9:15 we had a ship-wide (optional) game of Family Feud!!!! We got there and made teams of 6-8, there were FORTY THREE groups (lotttt of people). We were given a category and each group had to submit an answer, if your team submitted the most frequent answer you got points! This actually turned into a dance party when they tallied they results each time. It also turned into less of a competition for the most frequent answer and more of a competition for the funniest answer. Each time the two hosts would read out some of the funniest answers. For example, one question was "what is one thing women do better than men?" and some answers were lactating, getting pregnant, making sandwiches…you get the point. Most of the funny answers though had to do with SAS inside jokes- which is crazy to me how many inside jokes there already are in this community.  After dinner people just hung out on the top deck, and in the lounge talking.

            Some good news is that my "sea-legs" have arrived, YAYJ! This is for sure a ship, and it's a nice one, but it's a lot smaller than your average cruise ship. We really rock back and forth throughout the day, so much so that in the beginning I found myself constantly being shoved into walls and people. The rocking hasn't stopped, and I still feel it, but my body has adjusted and I'm no longer nauseous or dizzy. Now, standing in place simply means that I have to transfer my body weight from side to side constantly…it's like learning the simple things all over and adapting. I have been told that when you get off the ship you can always tell who is on SAS because they sway back and forth, well that's totally going to be me.

            Tomorrow night me and a few others have organized to have Shabbat dinner on the ship. We have had a lot of people say they are interested and we have definitely not just invited Jews. So many times in the past few days when I've found out someone is Jewish I've invited them to Shabbat dinner…then I've been tapped on the shoulder by the person behind me going "If I'm not Jewish can I still come?" Again, it just goes to show how truly open this community is. I'm really excited to have this on the ship and oddly almost more excited to share it with those that know nothing about Shabbat. The ship is going to provide us with Challah and wine but of course NO candles or flames are ever allowed on the ship so we'll have to create some sort of "pin the flame on the candle" thing.

            Tonight is another night where we lose an hour of sleep…I think it's bad now but I just need to wait till our 9 days at sea where we cross the Atlantic and we're sure to lose sleep every other night at the least. It's already 1:38 (I didn't realize that until a few moments ago because I just realized I needed to change my clock) and I plan on waking up for 7am zumba so it looks like I need to get to sleep.

 

Missing everyone at home!!

 

-Steph

 

P.S. If you didn't "get" the title of the blog then you need to watch more Disney channel! 

Pictures from Dominica!

Sent to Greg from Steph: I really wanna post some pictures from Dominica so I'm sending them to you, do you think you could post them for me on my blog?  Let me know if you have any trouble.

This is the group that I traveled with in Dominica on day 1. guy in white on the right is Jerome, the guy in white on the left is his friend we ran into

Forgot to Mention

One thing that I forgot to mention in my last blog was that Pirate of
the Caribbean 2, 3 and 4 were all filmed in Dominica. On our trip to
visit the Karib Indians they informed us that many of them were extras
in the first scene from the second movie with the Cannible people that
attempt to cook Johnny Depp by putting him on a skewer...some of the
extras included our tour guide on the bus, Florence, and her two sons.
They also got to keep some of the huts that were used in the scene so
we got to see some of those...Here is a picture, I am emailing it to
my blog so I hope that it posts!!

DOMINICA- DAY 2

Sorry this has taken so long to post. Internet and email hasn't been
working at ALL for the last 24 hours, so I JUST got emails and now I
can post this...:)

After a fun first day and night of local bars and some
drinks in Dominica, I woke up bright and early to start day 2. Here on
the ship you are required to do two "Field Directed Programs" for each
class you are enrolled in. These "FDP's" usually pertain to your class
and are led by the professor…I think I said this in an earlier post
but seriously, talk about hand's-on learning. My FDP didn't start
until 11:30 so me and two other girls that were going to be on the FDP
walked into town.

The walk was beautiful, right along the water, and HOT.
Every single local we passed by on the way greeted us with a smile and
a "Hi, how are you?" We walked around town for a while and got some
fresh fruit from a fruit market. My friend Eshley is going to collect
local music from each country so we stopped and got her a CD of some
good old Dominican classic music. They speak English and Creole here,
so the music was in Creole which was cool to hear.

Then we got back to the ship ready to head to our FDP.
Dominica is one of the only places in the Caribbean that still has
indigenous people- here they are called the Karib-Indians. We got
picked up by a woman named Florence who was a Karib Indian. We drove
up the mountains to the inner parts of the island where there is only
rainforest. Our guide explained that Dominica is so environmentally
concerned that no one is allowed to build in the preserved inner parts
of the island, and if someone wants to they need to lay out a huge
proposal and very, very rarely is it approved. We got to our first
destination called Emerald pool which was a waterfall and pool inside
the rainforest. We got out of the bus and saw and walked to the trail.
There was a nice path laid out, but it was truly the only part of that
trail that had been touched. We walked through the rainforest and I
was in awe…it was exactly as you would imagine it looks like…I kept
thinking I was going to get to the end of the trail and find out that
I am actually in Disney world at it's newest rainforest attraction or
something. We got to the falls and it was one of the most beautiful
sites I had ever seen. The water was bright green and clear,
surrounded by untouched nature. I like to think that I have traveled a
good amount in my life, but I have never been in a place even remotely
like the rainforest in Dominica.

We then got back onto the bus to go to the Karib Indian
community. Having lived on the ship now, I'm pretty used to the
constant rocking and swaying, but the ride to this community was the
bumpiest most intense car ride I've ever been on. Not only were we
constantly being thrown from side to side of the car but every couple
minutes we would stop suddenly because the road was only big enough
for one car, so if another was coming in the other direction we had to
stop and go off to the side of the road.

We got there and were greeted by a man whose face looked
exactly as I imagined, but he was in levis and a nice red and while
striped polo. Our guide within the community was Florence's husband
and actually the former chief of all the Karib people. I couldn't stop
thinking that he was these people's Obama and he was just taking us on
a nice afternoon tour. These people live such a simple life…their
homes, and their clothes…but there was one thing that really stuck out
to me. When I think of a home with an ocean view on one side and
mountains on the other I think two things…it must cost a LOT of money
to be there, and if they have that kind of money, the house must be
beautiful. Well, here with the Karib people, like I said the homes
were so simple, but the views were AMAZING! It was refreshing to see
the lack of materialism in their world, the fact that these views
aren't worth paying tons of money. At first I thought "wow, they take
their beautiful home for granted", but that's not the case, this is
just the home they know, all that they know, and what may seem
materialistically important in our lives is not even relevant in theirs.

These people were so welcoming, we went to one woman's
home where she showed us how she weaves baskets. She weaved those ones
made of thin straw that you see in the markets in these countries that
sell for no more than a few dollars. I felt so sad to hear that she
works about two hours on each little basket and only makes a dollar or
two at most. I thought back to the market situated next to our port,
and how when I walked through I heard SASers bargaining. It's so easy
to bargain and want to save an extra buck, but when you see the face
of the person behind what you want to buy it's hard to want to bargain
any longer- I found myself feeling so guilty for this.

Once we were done touring we had some authentic snacks.
We were fed coconut candies, plantain, bananas, and a few other tasty
things. The people in this community were so nice. The thing I took
most from this Island was the people. The people were SO delightful
and happy. They were so incredibly open to foreigners and so excited
to share their love for their country.

I feel almost ignorant saying it now, but Dominica was
the port I was least excited for. Honestly, I knew nothing about the
island and did not think it would be anything too exciting. What blows
me away is HOW wrong I was. This place was so truly amazing. I think
to myself that if this was the port I was least excited for, and I was
that wrong, how much many more incredible experiences must lay before
me…the thought is truly overwhelming and equally exciting…I'm off to
see the world, next stop, BRAZIL!

DOMINICA- Day 1

This evening I got back on to my floating home after an
exciting two days in the amazing country of Dominica.

Dominica is a country I knew very little about before
getting on this ship. For example, I, like most of you, thought it was
pronounced Dominica like Dominican Republic…it sounds the same, makes
sense right? Well it's actually pronounced DO-MEE-NEE-KAH.

Monday morning I woke up from my alarm and looked out my
window to see another ship heading in the same direction as us. It's
so funny how at home if there is a car in the lane next to me its no
big deal, but seeing another ship next to us was practically the most
exciting thing I'd ever seen…until five minutes later when I ran up to
the deck and saw us approaching an Island. I decided I am going to
wake up, no matter how early, each time we are arriving in a port so
that I can see it happen. When you think of islands in the Caribbean
you think lush, sand, palm trees…etc. As we were approaching Dominica
not only did I see all those things, but I also saw giant GREEN
mountains protruding out of the land into the clouds. Dominica is a
volcanic island so it is not the same flat land you see in places like
the Bahamas.

We pulled into the port and stopped rocking for the first
time in a few days. By 8:00 am a group of nine of us exited the ship.
The experience of getting off the ship for the first time was
absolutely indescribable. It is so strange…we get into this capsule,
we have very limited access to the outside world, we see only each
other, eat the same food, go to the same places, see the same sight of
endless water day after day, and then suddenly we are in a completely
different location from the last. We exited from the fifth floor deck,
walked down the stairs and stepped onto a new land. As soon as we
exited the port we met our driver and new friend for the day, Jerome.
Jerome was the BEST, he drove all nine of us for the WHOLE day for
fifteen dollars a person. We told him we first wanted to go to
Middleham falls (a place we had previously researched). We were told
it was four miles away but would take a 30 minute drive. We were all
dumbfounded…how can a distance that short take so long with roads and
freeways!?...well they don't have freeways here and even if they did
it would not have helped us, the reason our drive took so long is
because we were scaling out way up mountains. We drove from the coast
towards the center part of the island, and the drive itself was such
an experience. We then arrived to our hike trial and all got out and
told Jerome, "Okay, see you in about two hours!" He then responded,
"What do you mean? I'm coming with you of course!"

Jerome is born and raised in Dominica and very
knowledgeable and passionate about his home. Our hike took longer than
expected because we constantly stopped and talked about different
plants or fruits we saw which then of course turned into longer
conversations. The way to the falls I walked along side Jerome did
everything shy of sit down with a video camera and tape recorder, I
asked him question after question, all to which he was happy to
respond. He told me about the country, how it only gained it's
independence from Britain not long ago…in 1978, how one of its main
sources of income is exporting bananas, and the kids finish school
around 14 and then go on to college THEN university, how if they want
to come to the US they have to travel to Barbados in hopes of getting
a visa which is typically not going to happen. This guy was so
incredibly nice and generous with his time and knowledge. After a
while of hiking we finally heard the sounds of strong water, then we
felt lots of mist as we tried not to slip on the huge rocks that led
us down to a small pool at the bottom of the waterfall. We swam, took
pictures, cooled off, and just enjoyed the nature of it.

After Middleham falls we stopped for lunch at one of
Jerome's favorite restaurants…we told him we wanted local food. This
place was such a little Caribbean shack where we ate chicken and rice
and boiled and fried bananas. Then, we went over to a place called
Champagne reef for some snorkeling. This beach was out of the movies…
LITERALLY…Pirates of the Caribbean 2, 3, and 4 were all filmed on
Dominica and I'll talk more about that in my next blog. This beach was
absolutely breathtaking. The island is a volcanic island so the sand
was black with red white and black rocks surrounding the shore. The
water literally sparkled in the sunlight. If you know me well you know
I don't love to snorkel (I looooved marine life, but something about
the fish being all around me freaks me out) so instead I just swam
around in the crystal clear waters and enjoyed the sun before watching
it set on the water….it was a perfect day.

Dominica is truly a hidden gem, it's beauty is completely
breathtaking, I kept saying how NO photo could EVER do it justice.
It's nature is completely different from another place I have ever
seen, it is a true rainforest with so much beauty, and what was just
as amazing was the people. This place is full of the happiest,
warmest, most welcoming people I have ever met. Wherever we went, even
just walking around the town and past people's homes, if they were on
their porch, they said hello with a huge smile. I asked a Dominicans
and they explained that they actually really appreciate foreigners…not
just because of the obvious economic advantage, but more importantly
because they appreciate others taking an interest in the Dominican
culture. That is what struck me most about these people, they weren't
so concerned with taking our money…Jerome our driver spent the whole
day with us, talked to us, was basically our own private tour guide,
and in the end of the day he made us stop so he could buy us all
Dominican bananas….and he never asked for more money.

If you stayed with me this long then thanks and sorry this was so
long! I'll try to keep them shorter from now on… I'll write a shorter
post tomorrow about Day 2 in Dominica.

Goodnight everyone!

Class 1...Location: 15 degrees 25' N and 61 degrees 20' W

Today was the second day of classes here at sea. I really can't even
begin to describe the experience of class here....but I'll try. The
professors are amazing, they are all so accomplished in their fields,
so experiences, so global. My first professor today explained that she
has lived in Europe, East Africa, and this is her third voyage with
Semester At Sea. The people in class are all from completely different
places and backgrounds, I mean REALLY...in my first class today we had
students anywhere from Jackson Hole, WY (shout-out to the Hebrew man
if you're reading this...though you'd mistake it for Jackson's Hole)
to Austria, to Mexico, to California. I mean talk about diversity and
a new perspective on things. Now to the setting: I sit in class and
watch the powerpoints and curtains rock back and forth and then I look
to my left and see giant windows and nothing but waves. It is truly
SURREAL! Now for the really fun part. At school at home people walk by
with their ipods, phones...etc. and RARELY interact with unfamiliar
faces. Even in classes at home I'll sit down to random strangers and
never say a word. At home I have no idea where my classmates came from
before class and once we leave everyone goes their complete separate
ways. Here, I see my classmates and professors at breakfast, then I go
to class with them and once it's over we all go to the same dining
hall, and eat the same meal. That is the most unique part of this
community. My professors aren't these foreign people who magically
appear during class and then disappear again until thursday. Here I
know where my professors rooms are (I know because they tell us and
invite us to come find them if we ever need), I eat lunch with them,
and then later at night I see them at dinner, in the union, or the
lounge.
Tonight a lot of us sat around in the lounge communally with our
computers out waiting to get email updates from loved ones about the
NFL games...lack of internet smack of internet, we have email! By the
way thanks Greg for sending me updates. People yelled, fought, made-
up, and bonded over making up. Then, some were thrilled, some were sad
(like myself and the rest of my poor hometown), and others didn't
really care. Then a bunch of us sat around and talked and hung out.
More and more faces are becoming familiar. The ones that aren't are
still as eager to meet me as I am them, I hope that never changes.
This evening we had our "pre-port preparation" for the country of
Dominica. I am very excited for this first port. I hear there is a lot
of cool stuff to see in this country. My plans are as follows:
Tomorrow morning I'm waking up bright and early to watch the ship come
into the port. Then, a good amount of us are going to go together to a
hike that is supposed to be beautiful, it's supposed to be filled with
waterfalls, rainforest...etc. If we finish that early enough we will
try and go snorkeling. This is a small country and the ship will be
docked right "downtown" meaning we can go back and forth from the ship
which is nice, so we will go back to the ship, shower, change and see
what type of night life this little island has to offer. Another nice
thing is that the ship is always open so we can come back anytime at
night. The following day I will be doing what is called an FDP (field
direction program). Each class requires you to go on 2 FDP's...these
are day, or half day trips organized by the professor with relation to
the material you are learning...talk about hand's on learning! On this
FDP I will be going to visit, meet, have lunch, and hang out with the
Karib People, one of the only still living indigenous to the Caribbean
populations.

Wow, sometimes after writing these blogs I still don't believe that
this is really happening. I am so fortunate and want to give a shout
out to my awesome parents that gave me this amazing opportunity. Will
update either from Dominica!

Love, Steph

Saturday Jan 21

Hello everyone!!

Sorry it has taken me more than a day to write another post, it took a while to set up my email and stuff...but it's all set up! YAY! The way it works is I get unlimited email for my semester at sea email address and 200 minutes of internet for the whole voyage...thanks to my tech-savy brother I organized my blog so that I can email posts! (YAY AGAIN!)

The first day I boarded the ship my experience was a combination of thinking I brought too much stuff, I brought too little stuff, who are ALL these people, and OMG OMG OMG OMG! It was an overwhelming day to say the least, but things are thankfully starting to calm down. The first night we were aboard the ship we were told that 10 students planned to join this voyage, for whatever reason, were unable to receive their Brazil visas...Brazil doesn't allow anyone without a Brazilian visa to even enter Brazilian waters, so these students were devastated, thinking that they might have to turn around and go back to their home university or college. Another issue is that the ship was leaving from  Nassau, Bahamas, so without their passports, they could not even get to the ship. By the first night I got a really good taste of what this community is about, our dean came and introduced himself and immediately told us of these students' situations. He informed us that they were doing everything they could and that the students were all at a hotel in Ft. Lauderdale FL so that they could get to the Bahamas as SOON as possible. Then, our Dean grabbed his cell phone put it up to the mic and we all heard the 10 students yell into the phone "WAIT FOR US!" to which we all responded, "WE WILL!!!". It blew me away how concerned everyone was for these 10 people, 10 people who hadn't even "officially" joined this community yet were already so important. Our Dean then informed us that we would be delaying our departure for one day so that we may get our 10 missing community members. He then finished off with "This is going to be an epic voyage." (remember this for later)

A day later the 10 students weren't in the Bahamas YET...so we were informed that we would be leaving the Bahamas  at 12pm (in order to open up the port to another ship) and returning at 5 pm to get our missing students. So we sailed around for a few hours, had lots of orientation stuff during that time and at 5pm we heard an announcement on the ship "Everyone please go to the 5th and 6th outdoor decks". We all got outside and looked out at the dark port wondering "ummm...where are they". Then a spot light from the ship shined on 10, exhausted and yet smiling people, with their bags and everything. At that moment the ship erupted in cheers and welcoming waves and our community was no longer incomplete. That night we had another ship-wide meeting and our Dean said "I think we are the only Semester At Sea Voyage to have ever left the Bahamas TWICE...I TOLD YOU THIS VOYAGE WOULD BE EPIC!"

Today was the first day of classes. It feels like freshman year again a bit, the first day without classes was fun and all, but everyone was ready to have "stuff to do" and a "schedule". I enjoyed my classes a lot and am really starting to already feel at home in my new home.

We lost a day so in order to make up time the ship is moving at a lot faster of a pace than normal... meaning that we are rocking back and forth more than usual....needless to say I haven't gained my "sea legs" just yet. I've learned that fortunately I don't get sea-sick, I just join the rest of the student body in looking like we are still back at our home universities, went out for the night, drank too much and forgot how to walk. It is such a funny feeling, such a basic thing like walking around I feel like I have to re-learn.

Everyone here is SO friendly, I've met so many awesome, interesting people. I've also already shared a meal with one of our "Life-long learners" (these are adults...some retired, some not, that join the voyage) and signed up for things like zumba, yoga, tutoring the kids on the ship, getting an extended family with either a life long learner or professor, Shabbat dinner club...and more. I've never been in a community like this before, I walk around the ship and am beginning to recognize many familiar faces, the unfamiliar ones never look away, they look right at me and join me in saying hello. Meals and hanging out are not an issue, you can literally walk up to any group and say hi and sit down and they are happy to learn about you. This is a truly unique experience and it's only just begun.

I miss everyone at home lots and will be writing more frequently, I promise...so keep checking!

Love,

Steph

So it Begins

HII!!!!

SO, this is my official blog for the next couple months as I attempt to travel the world.

Pay Attention here...please :):

• I will have VERY limited internet access for the semester, BUT...the nice people at Semester at Sea give us an email address that we can use UNLIMITED (yay!)
• That email address IS: Stephanie.Lessans.s12@semesteratsea.org

PLEASE email me and keep in touch! I will also possible have internet if I find internet cafe's and things in certain countries...so you might hear from me unexpectedly at times :)!

I am sitting here in a hotel room in the Bahama's getting ready to board the MVexplorer in just a few short hours!!! Last night a lot of SAS (semester at sea) students all met up at a bar some of you Caribbean travelers might have heard of...Señor Frogs! It felt a lot like the beginning of YearCourse (the year I spent in Israel) and freshman year...lots of names, lots of hometowns, lots of basic interactions. Everyone seems really nice and the nice thing for me is that everyone seems to be looking for friends, so we're all in the same boat (literally...HA).

It might seem as if I am cutting myself off from the world for the next couple of months as my communication is going to be so limited...but I like to think of it as the opposite, I'm connecting with the world, just not the part where all my memories and experiences are from for a while.

Next post will be from the ship :)!

-Steph