Hugging a giant palm tree!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Life in Namibia and Other Things
I haven't written in a little while because not much has really been happening. I will try to catch up. I had my first exam the other day in my Philosophy class and I think I did really well. I was finished with fill in the blank, short answer, and a 4-5 page double spaced essay in 30 minutes. I have been kept busy by the clubs I'm in. With Students of Service, we put on a "So You Think You Can Dance" competition and raised over $500 for charity. It was a lot of fun and the dancers were great. I also went to my first Scriptures at Sea, which is like a Bible study, and really enjoyed it. The Ambassador's Intercultural club has kept me busy too. I met with the three Diplomats yesterday morning! It was amazing. I really really enjoyed it. I am thinking about taking the state exam when I graduate. I was talking to Frank is particular who is from Virginia and I believe graduated undergrad with a major similar to mine. He just came from an assignment in Bolivia and has only been in Namibia a month. He gave me his business card before he left. I am really interested in pursuing the Global Perspectives major, maybe instead of the Marketing one. The Diplomats were so friendly and helpful, it really was a great experience.
I had an awesome day yesterday. Namibia is beautiful! I like it so much more than Brazil already. I went to the Salt Mines yesterday with my art class and it was beautiful. The salt crystallizes into a bright pink. Usually there are flamingos but we were told that they come and go, and that they were everywhere the day before, but had just left ...partly because of the wind. Namibia is the windiest place I have ever been. Luckily I was wearing sunglasses to mostly block the sand from my eyes, but when I came back during the day I had sand caked on my face, in my ears..it was crazy. We found a grocery store too. We were really happy about that because we got to buy some snacks. I got multiple packages of cookies, a Namibian candy bar, and a box of cereal ...it was only 51 Rand!!! That equals out to only about $6.50 here! Everything is so so cheap here. We went out to the most delicious dinner at this place called the Raft which was recommended by one of the local guides for having great seafood. I got prawns and breaded crab claws with a girl named Carrie that I came with. A glass of wine was only one American dollar! The semi-sweet white wine was very good. I spent 100 Rand for that amazing dinner...and that's only about $13 USD! I went with 7 other girls ...my roommates Rebecca and Savannah, the girl we're good friends with across the hall (our fifth roommate) Tori, Marcella (the girl I met the first day here boarding the ship), her roommate Carrie, and two other girls, Tristan and Catherine. It really was such a fun time. Half of Semester at Sea showed up at the Raft because there was a bar there too so it was fun mingling with everyone. There are a lot of Germans in Namibia! If you look up the history of the country you will see why. But we were told everyone loved our business there! After that we went to a club which was again filled with Semester at Sea people. They played all American music! So I can't remember if there's anything else I'm missing, but today we are going to Swakopmund which is supposed to be really beautiful as well. We are hoping to check out the dunes soon. No country is ever how you really picture I don't think. Well at least from what I have experienced so far. The ports we dock in don't even seem like the continents we're on. Africa really is beautiful. A lot of the architecture in Namibia has German influence; everything is very well kept up. We went down a street called Millionaires row, beautiful houses and architecture and right on the water...the houses are all at least a million ...Rand..this equals only about $130,000 USD! I might be moving here :)
Alright that's all for now. I need to shower so we can go see the sights! This continent is amazing and I am so excited to go to South Africa next week. I truly am a lucky girl! Thanks for reading, and leave any questions you might have for me!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Day 16 at Sea
Back to classes again... Mine are pretty interesting so I don't really mind them at all. I was finished at noon. We got dinner on the deck tonight, my first time. I got a pepper and onion pizza. It was good but my stomach has shrunk so I couldn't eat very much. I snuck out the other pieces in my Brittney's cheetos bag! I just had my Ambassador's Intercultural meeting. It was pretty cool cause I got to lead the whole thing. I feel like I'm doing something important and learning about things that can help me with my career. Nothing is really new here. We lost an hour last night, and we lose another tonight. As of tonight we will be 3 hours ahead of EST with another 3 to lose in the next 5 days to Namibia.
I figure I’ll add in some of what I wrote to Matt in an e-mail as well...
I am doing set-up for the So You Think You Can Dance competition that is raising money for charity for the Students of Service club I'm in ..so I'm decorating! Also we were learning about this woman from somewhere near Cambodia who was a victim of an acid attack...it was so sad and I think we are going to contribute money to her to get surgery. An acid attack is done mostly to young women in developing countries, and usually because the man believes she has committed an infidelity of some sort or something else and is trying to punish her for life. He throws acid on her face and it completely disfigures her. One woman in particular is missing a large patch on the top of her head of hair that will never grow back and is blind in both eyes, as well as having severe burns. If 700 students participate that's a lot of money and all goes to good causes. When you see people as poor as even the ones in Brazil, peeing on streets, no shoes on their feet, ripped clothing, you realize you can spare a few dollars. I'm glad to participate in it and I realize I have a lot more resources than many people...even people on the ship. I feel lucky I can go on pretty much any trips I want or buy the souvenirs I want without worrying. MANY THANKS to both of my parents for all of their support, both financially and otherwise... On a side note, my digital camera has a spot on the lens that seems to be inside and it is driving me crazy..I might buy a nice digital like my manual in one of these countries because I need to get good pictures :(
That's it I think. I feel pretty tired but tonight will be busy because I have Scriptures at Sea at 7 and our Yellow Sea social at 9. Have a good night everyone! :)
Friday, September 12, 2008
My Trip to the Amazonas
I arrived back in Salvador and back to the ship yesterday at about 1pm from my trip to Manaus, Brasil and the Amazonas region. (Manaus is pronounced Muh-Nouse) Let me start at the beginning. The night arriving into to Salvador I didn't really get any sleep and watched the sunrise come up over the city. It was beautiful and very exciting to see land. We got off the ship at about 10am and spent the day wandering around the city. Some buildings were beautiful, but many parts of Salvador are very poor. The streets smell like urine and we saw countless people doing their duty on the streets. I did not enjoy that part one bit. Sunday, September 7th, is Brazil's Independence Day. We saw a parade which was fun but there were so many people, we really had to watch our bags. As you can imagine, a lot was closed in the city because of what day it was. We mostly just did a little shopping, and we also got lunch at a Brazilian restaurant where they spoke only Portuguese. We were trying to get some authentic Brazilian cuisine, and were trying to communicate with our waiter... After we tried to order one thing and they were out, we settled on something with the word "frito" in it. This means fried if you were wondering. So anyways, can you imagine what food we ended up with??? French fries!!! Way to be American... We laughed quite a bit but they were delicious anyways. We also saw two men performing capoeira. This is a mix of a form of karate as well as dancing. It's very interesting; it's like an art form. We also got suco, which is juice...and we settled on orange, and it happened to be very good. We were concerned they might use Brazilian water but we didn't get sick so it was okay. We planned on going to dinner that evening but things closed early (6pm!) Later that night I went out with a bunch of friends to the beach and we tried a capourenina (wrong spelling). Basically it is lime juice, sugar, and a sugar cane alcohol. It was pretty good but a little strong for my taste. It's the traditional drink of Brazil though so it was interesting to try. We had a good time...there were 10 girls including myself and 2 guys looking out for us so it worked out well.
At 4am the next morning, we had to get up for our flight out of Salvador. We were all so exhausted, but luckily I fell asleep on the plane and I think in the airport too. We arrived in Manaus on Monday at about noon or so where we met our guides for the next few days. Enilson, or as we fondly referred to him, Ennie, was amazing. He is maybe 5 feet tall, speaks both Portuguese and English and is hilarious. We had a great time with him and he taught us everything we could hope to know. We took a bus from the airport to the river where we boarded our riverboat. We gad 30 hammocks strung up maybe an inch from each other! The boat was nicer than I thought actually, although the bathroom was not and the shower was in the same room so the water drained in the floor. I only took a shower once because it was so gross and you kept wondering what was splashing up on your leg... On the riverboat headed down the river, we saw the Meeting of the Waters where the Rio Negro and Solimoes Rivers meet. The Rio Negro is black and the Solimoes is a brownish color, and because of their temperatures, densities, and acidies, they never mix. Then...much to my excitement...we saw dolphins!!! We saw at least 15 dolphins within the first half hour of the trip! Not only did we see gray dolphins...we saw the elusive pink dolphins which I have heard are very rare. They are a very light pink color and I was ecstatic at this point. Next we went to Lake Jacaures to see the giant lily pads. We also saw some howler monkeys in the trees. It's so hard to get pictures of wildlife in nature because it's not like at a zoo where they pose for you and aren't hidden in the trees. We saw a caiman (alligator) on a lily pad and he actually did seem to be posing for our pictures. It was beautiful there. On the way to our next activity, there were locals on a canoe going down the river. Two of them were holding sloths (I think they're very cute) and another local was carrying a bag. Out of the bag he pulled out a huge anaconda!! It was so cool, I wish I had gotten to see it closer. It turns out another group got to hold both the sloth and the anaconda!! Next we docked the boat at some trees and went piranha fishing with bamboo poles. I didn't get anything - I got a few bites - but two people in our group did. When it began to get dark, we were in search of caimans. When our guide found the eyes of one with a flashlight, he dove out of the boat, grabbed it, and hopped back on. It happened faster than I knew what he did. The alligator was only maybe 2 feet long but he was really cool. I have a surprise picture to post soon.... :) When we got back to the riverboat they had dinner waiting for us. The food was better than I thought it would be, and everyone would agree that the pineapple was absolutely delicious!
The next day we woke up at sunrise (maybe 5:30 or 6am?) and got ready to go on a trek through the Amazon rainforest. We spent a few hours exploring the area and honestly it was so hot and we were so tired, it's hard to remember exactly what happened from this point to the end of the trip. Let me just say the Amazon rainforest is nothing like you might imagine. It is very different from what I imagined as a child. First of all, it is not misting like pictures seem to depict. And more importantly, there are not animals everywhere. In fact, there are really not any visible animals anywhere. We heard monkeys and birds but they are not perched on trees like I expected. Contrary to what I expected and dreaded for the last 3 months, there are no tarantulas to be found! Not on the trees, not on the ground, not falling onto my face. Not one. The most I saw was a spider smaller than a golf ball that was actuallu quite cool looking. It was bright orange and black. However, the girl in front of me squealed and I was sure she saw a tarantula. So I kinda yelled and ran away only to realize it was just a little thing! We saw a few bugs here and there but honestly there were not that many. And there were mosquitoes, but not in the rainforest. I really can't explain it, but the Amazon is nothing like what I thought, yet I still had an amazing time. It was an experience of a lifetime and I can say with almost certainty that I will never go back. Although I do miss Ennie and if you ever decide to go and want to see for yourself, find him with the company Brasil Nuts. I can guarantee he will provide you with an amazing time. Later on we went to a village and played soccer with the Brazilians...native inhabitants of the Amazon. It was amazing and we got to interact with a variety of people as well as the cutest and most friendly children you can imagine. They were so happy to see us and loved seeing the pictures of themselves. We went to bed very early both nights we were in the Amazon ...they really wore us out. I do remember they had a cookout for us on the beach with lights strung up and a great barbeque. The next day we went to a caboclo, which is a small settlement where people do not buy anything and only live off the land. A woman made us traditional pancakes of the Amazon, which are really not pancakes at all, and have a sort of jelly consistency. They live off manioc root found in the jungle and the fruit ascii, which we had actually tried in the juice form. We visited local beaches later in the day and you cannot imagine how hot it is. I am developing a nice tan. That night they had a big party for all of the Amazon groups (about 180 students). An Amazonian tribe performed a traditional ritualistic dance. It was absolutely beautiful. The costumes were elaborate and colorful and there was a story behind all of it. I can't really explain it but I did take a video of some of it so if I will upload it if I can find a way. I actually got split up with my roommate Brittany because even though we were both in group B, we had to be split in half an alphabetical. Even though I missed her, it forced me to branch off and meet new people. I met so many nice, interesting, cool people and had a great time. Marcella (my friend I met the first day) was also in my group and we were both thrilled we did not see spiders! :)
Alright so I am sure there is a lot more that we did, and if it comes to me I will update or add another post. As you can see, this was very long, so if you took the time to read it, I hope you found it interesting. All in all, Salvador has helped me to appreciate what I have as I seem like a millionaire compared to many of its inhabitants. Their living conditions and standards are so different compared to ours. I am glad I got the chance to experience the culture, and I am happy I stayed safe as I have heard that it was the most dangerous port we were docking in. As for the Amazon, again, it was nothing that I expected. But somehow it was more. I don't know Portuguese, and although I know some Spanish, it didn't matter. You can interact in a way that goes further than the language, and even the attempt of a simple "Oi" (hello), "Obrigada" (thank you), "Tchau" (goodbye) puts a smile on their faces. The most you can do is try and out of respect, I think it goes a long way. A simple smile to a local, whether an old man or a little girl, lets them know that you care, and that you are interested in their culture and lifestyle. I got the chance to experience something most never will, and I will appreciate it and cherish it for life.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Pictures from Brasil
My direct roommate & I at our beach party at the end of our trip in the Amazon
One of the guides who made the headband you see out of Amazon tree leaves ...he picked me to give it to!
The adorable puppy we found in the Manaus village ...there are cuter pictures of him, but none with me in it :)
This little girl was adorable...she lived in the village and loved being twirled around and seeing her picture after it was taken
Me in the rainforest along with one of our guides...he only spoke Portguese and carried a machete!
The riverboat 30 of us called home on the Amazon River
View of our ship from the port in Salvador, Brasil!Saturday, September 6, 2008
Day 8: Neptune Day & Day 9: Day Before Brazil!
Yesterday we woke up to the sound of flutes playing distantly down the hall only to hear them come closer along with the beating of drums. This signals that Neptune Day has begun. All the crew are dressed up with funny hats and their faces painted. Brittney somehow scrambled to the door and got a video of it so I will post it if I ever can. We got dressed and went up to the deck to have breakfast, and then went to the top deck where the pool is for the festivities. I was wearing my bathing suit and tanktop as I knew what was to come. The captain shaved two kid's heads because they won a raffle to have him do it and everyone was cheering. Students of Service raised $600 so a Learning Life Coordinator (LLC, sort of like an RA or Resident Associate back home) shaved his head as well as one of my professors. All of the money will be going to a charity at the end of the trip. So next we went over and waited in line to have fish juice/guts dumped on our head and then we had to jump in the pool. Then we had to kiss a fish! I promptly wiped that off. It was a lot of fun though anyways and everyone was really excited. My roommate Savannah shaved her head! Well actually she has a mohawk but it looks really cute. My other roommate Rebecca was really sick yesterday but we took care of her along with the medical center and she's feeling much better today. I did a few drawings of the ocean later on for my art class which was relaxing although I was on deck with 200 screaming kids, the pool, and loud music. It was fun even though I was just sitting at my table drawing. Last night we had our first cultural pre-port. We were taught a little bit about the language (Portuguese...very similar to Spanish so hopefully I will be able to get around with that), and they showed us different foods and popular dishes, as well as the music and dance of the area. Tonight we have a logistics pre-port so we can figure out where to go and how to get around. I actually have meetings from 8-11 tonight for that, then Students of Service, and then the Amabassador's Intercultural committee. I think we are sleeping on deck tonight because it is really popular to wake up for the sunrise arriving into port. We will be in Brazil very soon! Tomorrow we plan on just wandering around Salvador, getting a good meal, I want to get a few trinkets, and then getting a good night's sleep. I have to be ready to leave for the Amazon trip at 4:30am! ..That would be 3:30 for most of you guys! I just checked out a book from the library titled Voices from the Amazon which should be an interesting read for the 7 hour flight to Manaus.
Alright well I will try to post tomorrow about my first day in Brazil, wish us luck!
Thursday, September 4, 2008
P.S. - We found out about all our trips today. I got all the ones I wanted except for the Beijing Great Wall trip :( I marched right down there and signed up for the Peking University one (I signed up for another university trip before), and hopefully I will find out tomorrow I got in it! The only real differences is that they are going to the site of the summer olympics and the Beijing zoo. Although the summer olympics site would be cool, I didn't really get into the Olympics so I could give that one up. The SAS program stresses "flexibility" so that's fine, but I will NOT give up the Beijing Zoo. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love animals and zoos are my favorite. Apparently there are not only the giant pandas, but all kinds of animals from all over the world. So anyways, I am going to find out how to go to that, got a long way to go til China!
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