Semester at Sea - Fall 2010 Itinerary

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada – August 27
Cadiz, Spain – September 4-8
Casablanca, Morocco – September 10-14
Takoradi, Ghana – September 22-25
Cape Town, South Africa – October 3-8
Port Louis, Mauritius – October 14-15
Chennai, India – October 22-27
Singapore – October 31-November 1
Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam – November 3-8
Hong Kong / Shanghai, China – November 11-16
Yokohama / Kobe, Japan – November 19-23
Honolulu / Hilo, Hawaii, USA – December 3-6
San Diego, California, USA – December 13

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Neptune Day!!!

Alright so after much discussion on the ship, we were awoken at 7:30 AM this morning to a parade on our deck complete with drums and symbols and loud knocks on our door for the occasion of Neptune Day, a Semester at Sea ritual, for crossing the equator for the first time (yes see what i mean by rumors from my last post, you should hear the funny things people come up with, Side Note: we get a daily memo and there is something called the "Rumor Ranger" which is basically "Stupid Things Said and Overheard on the Ship then Published or Announced to Make You Feel Dumb" [see bottom of post for examples]).

Now you can only imagine how delighted I was to be awoken before 10 AM, seeing that today is a reading day and we have no classes so why not take the morning to sleep in. Apparently Semester at Sea felt otherwise, so there we were all groggy and tired being sent to breakfast with the rest of the ship. Just a Fun Fact for you, this is my second time going to breakfast on the ship because it ends at 8:30 AM, a time that usually I'm not up at or if I am it is to catch a bus for a tour and I am probably cutting it very close on my time. Anyways a majority of the ship appears to be morning people as there are people in bathing suits or dressed to start their day with smiles, my table looks like death compared to these people...

So after eating french toast and potatoes, we all head up to Deck Seven for the beginning of the festivities (note: it is now 8:30 AM). Outside the music is blasting like my alarm clock every time I hit snooze, but the place is packed to capacity which meant nobody could move, we find a spot on the tanning deck around the pool to stand, which happens to be next to four trash barrels full of Sea Water and what smelt to be like fish guts. Finally the ceremony starts with our faculty, staff, and ship crew all marching in with the same drums and symbols that awoke me just and hour prior. Last enters King Neptune (our Academic Dean in costume) and his Queen (our Executive Dean and my friend Marcus' Mom). As the ceremony proceeds we are told as "polywogs" that we need to cross the ocean (the pool filled with sea water, and mind you have the mixture in the buckets poured over your head) to ask King Neptune and the Queen's permission to pass to the other side. However you must also kiss a fish (a real fish from the ocean that's now dead) and then kiss the King and Queen's rings and bow to them and then you will be Knighted and be transformed into "shellbacks".

So it would only make sense that my friends and I would be the first 20 people to partake, me being the third person to jump in. The slime mixture smelt like low tide and then jumping into the pool made it smell worse, but it was a liberating experience all in all. It was as if you were being baptized by the ocean and for that moment you just went with whatever was around you. I did kiss the fish, luckily i know the two girls who were ahead of me, and i was glad that I was not person 230 who got to kiss that fish, as it had been around the block as few times by then. Then i kissed the rings also before the germs started to really get passed around and bowed, then was knighted and became a shellback! Oh and right as you were knight this all happened in front of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, (if you don't know who he is, He is famous enough to be found on Wikipedia) the honorary voyager of this voyage and his wife, Mrs. Leah Tutu.

Then on the other side of the deck by the bar was the optional head shaving ritual, meant mostly for people with long hair to well shave their head. A lot of the girls on the ship took part in this including my friend, Amy who looked ecstatic, liberated, and proud of herself for daring to do it even if people outside SAS will give looks. I think it was really cool to see all the girls who just decided to take a chance and do it, and whats even better is that all the hair is going to be donated to make hair pieces, so all that extra hair will not go to waste.

So all these festivities ended around 10 AM, the time I usually get up at so power nap until noon sounds like a plan until then I leave you with "Serious Comments made by SAS Members"

"I'm tired from walking up the stairs is the ship at a higher elevation now"

"Does everyone who goes to the Doctor's automatically get Drug Tested"

(My Personal Favorite) "Does the crew sleep on the boat?"

Later All,

Ed

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Experience Ghana, Experience the World

Ghana where do I begin with this experience… Ghana had to be the most eye opening unbelievable experience I have witnessed in my life. Fun Fact: Ghana is known as the “Heartbeat of the world” since it is the closest country to the center of the Earth, a fact that Ghanaians pride their country on. The first day I got here I went on a tour of the Castles and Slave Dungeons that were used by the Portuguese, Dutch, and British to bring houses slaves until they were sent as slaves to different areas of the world, mostly the Americas. It was interesting to see Ghana’s view of the Triangular trade and how each castle has a door known as “the Point of No Return” where the slaves went through a narrow doorway to the ship that took them to their new life as a slave. I have learned more about slavery being here and seeing first hand what one race has done to another than any textbook or lecture in my fourteen years of education can truly touch upon. That night my friends and I went to a local bar and met some of the locals who sat and asked us about our experiences so far in Ghana and when I brought up the Slave Dungeons the locals explained their feelings on the infamous part of their history. I personally thought they were going to be in distaste that I would spend money to go there, it ended being the opposite which I was surprised by. The explained how important it is for people to understand this important aspect of their past and how they hope it can serve as a model to the world of why slavery cannot prevail.

Day two brought showers all day to the country, but knowing we had only a limited amount of time in Ghana, my friends and I took a taxi to a local beach town where we walked the beach for the afternoon and went hiking. To me the miniature hike was a first and what a way to try hiking on the beaches of Ghana where the views are picturesque and from something out of a postcard. Granted it would have been that much better if the rain was not there it was hot out and the rain was refreshing and not overbearing. We finished our adventure off with the worst lunch I have ever eaten. I asked for a hamburger with cheese and forty-five minutes later a white patty arrived on my plate. After examining the food for a good fifteen minutes and my roommate taking a bite of his same burger it came to our conclusion that it was a lamb burger that we were eating, I ate half and gave up mowing on the fries that came with the meal instead. This would be the only bad food that I have eaten in any country especially Ghana, where the food was above par and almost even to that of Morocco and as good as Spain. Ghana took the cake with sauces and the fried plantains, which I opted for seconds and thirds at our first day’s lunch.

The experience though that truly changed my life was my time participating for the “Habitat for Humanity” program on the third day. We drove three hours out of Takoradi, the port we were stationed out of, to a small village in the northern region of Ghana. The site was then a ten minute walk from where the bus was able to drop us off and into an area no person would dream to live in and yet we were building a development of houses for families to live in. The leader Naomi then broke us up into groups of eight and assigned a house and a task for us to complete that day. The house my group was assigned to was still in the development stage where we were building the walls and exterior. What shocked me was that I was going to be building a house that people were going to live in and made of materials that would no be suitable in the United States to build a shed out of. My specific job was to place the cement like material between the bricks to keep the blocks sturdy and together. Meanwhile other people were placing dirt around the foundation to make the floors of each prospective room. Another thing that shocked me people were going live in a room with dirt and roots as their ground, no wood, cement, or any other floor like material keeping them from the bare earth. We worked for half a day, while local children and people watched us work and you could see how grateful they were for the work we were doing and all I could think of is how I take for granted that I have a floor to go home to and there are times that I want more and these people were perfectly content with the little to nothing we were providing them. Finally our time was up and I was not satisfied with the work we did, being there made me want to do more and work more and more on this house, which Naomi told me it would take a little over a week to complete. As we were leaving after the wonderful home cooked meal the group made for us (sidenote: thanks to Malaria meds and travel meds I have not gotten sick from the food) we headed back to the bus where the children took pictures with us and thanked us for the work we had done for them and as the bus pulled away groups ran along side the bus waving us off. It was an experience I am glad I had the opportunity to be apart of and after talking to many SASers on the trip something I hope to do again when I get home.

Yeah this is a long one, but I’m telling you visit Ghana if ever given the opportunity it will change your life and you will have enjoyed every aspect of it. The last day yesterday, we visited the market, which unlike Morocco is NOT meant for tourists, but is actually for the locals. It was amazing to see that these people could come here and get anything from food such as pigs feet and a copious amount of fish to clothing such as materials to make it or their children’s school uniforms. The souvenirs were more toward the port such as the bracelets makers who remember your name and face and make Ghana bracelets for you or the souvenirs next to the Duty Free shop which is conveniently located right as you walk off the ship. All in all this Ghana experience was one I will never forget and now its off to South Africa, which everyone has said is more similar to the US than to Ghana or the rest of Africa. Today we passed the equator and the prime meridian a first in SAS history (which is rumored on the ship right now) I should be in South Africa in about seven or eight days we will see what happens on the ship during this time. Until then enjoy yourselves (Happy Belated 21st Devan)(NICHOLS hope Homecoming was a blast, heard there was a fire alarm at 6:45 AM DO NOT MISS THOSE, and ALICIA DELUCA hope you had fun cheering in your last homecoming game)

Ed


Friday, September 17, 2010

The Monotonous Routine of Traveling at Sea

Well all that Moroccan food I was raving about caught up with me, I have been sick with food poisoning for a few days now just about done with it. The inevitable as many told me happened, hopefully this will be my only encounter on the voyage, but after talking to my dad today he told me to be cautious of the food in Ghana as well. That's just part of the trade off I guess, see the world, eat the local food, see your toilet later on.

Ship life is back to it's mundane routine again. A Days are my time consuming days with Three Classes in a row starting at 10:45 and ending around 3:00, while B Days are Global Studies and homework... But still the days consist of Lunch at noon, classes, Lounging by the pool or due to crappy weather someones cabin/the piano lounge to read, then dinner at 5:30, then back to hanging out, maybe separate for an hour, but then hangout some more, watch a movie play cards, and then bed. Fun Fact for you, THE MV EXPLORER refuses to let anyone sleep in, by running their shipboard emergency drills for the crew at Nine O'Clock in the morning. They will apologize for any inconviences, but not move their drills to a more appropriate time like say 2 PM.

I have been reading this book called "The Town" and since we have minimal internet, No cell service, and no TV; I'm reading it at a steady rate and hope to be done with it soon, that to me is a shocker in itself since reading for fun is never high on my list. Not to sound like I am complaining, but being so limited to what you can and cannot do on the ship makes me long for just those times where I could get in my car and just drive or go out to dinner.

Needless to say the food on the ship makes me long for Outback's Cheesy Fries, Cafe Luigis' Antipasto, Pizza Bagels from N&Js, a Buffalo Chicken Wrap from the Snack Bar at NC, Gold Fever Wings from the Nines, Pizza Skins from Unos, and a Margarita's Gringo Burger with Bacon and Chipolte Mayo! And a supermarket where I can get snacks, milk, and stuff to make my own food. I know I'm traveling around the world having real cuisine that I will never have the opportunity to have again and I want comfort food. But when you eat pasta and salad with bananas and rolls for almost a month the next McDonalds in port looks like a great option too.

Ghana is only days away and I am pumped to see this country, I have some great trips planned out including at trip to Africa's Rainforest, a trip to see the slave castles and dungeons which comes highly recommended, and then a Habitat for Humanity trip where I will have the opportunity to give back with a service project which I am excited to be a part of. I'm ready to get off this boat and mix up my routine and do some fun things and meet some cool people. It's fun doing the SAS sponsored trips because it takes you away from the people you are with on a daily basis and mixing yourself with people you may not speak to regularly. My group of friends has made some new friends from our trips to Spain and Morocco: Ryan, from Seattle; Jake and Carly, both from Boston; and Mandi and Gail, from Michigan and California.

Well until Ghana it looks like the routine sticks,

Ed

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Camels, Quads, Food... Welcome to Morocco

Well I made it to Morocco and will be here until Tuesday, to be honest I was surprised to see how industrialized the cities such as Casablanca are here. The cities while having traces of an ancient past are similarly looking to those of cities I have previously visited in both the US and abroad. It still has not hit me that I am in Africa right now and that in the matter of only a few weeks I have crossed the Atlantic and been on three continents and in four countries, it's unreal to think that this is my life.

In a matter of 24 hours we left Spain and arrived in Morocco so not much to report on ship life, but since we did arrive a day earlier than expected my friends and I were able to explore Casablanca, more directly the marketplace. That right there was a culture shock for me seeing the mass amounts of people crowd into alleys no bigger than the hallways of a Nichols Residence Hall and barter for goods ranging from designers knockoffs, wooden hand crafts, and daily necessities such as food. I haven't bought much yet due to the fact that my first trip was overwhelming, but tomorrow I plan to brave it with friends for some souvenirs and postcards (sidenote: first round of postcards for Spain and Morocco are being sent out Tuesday).

This past weekend, I headed out to Marrakesh, which is a major city for Moroccan tourism and went on a camel trek and four-wheeling through that sand groves. That was by far the best experience to date that I have had in my life, the quads were by far the best part of the days as we got to see some parts of Morocco that would have been to far if walked and not able to have a bus go through that area. The camel trek was an experience in itself I won't forget... Finally though after a long day we headed back to our hotel to chill by the pool and enjoy our fine Moroccan nightlife.

The next day we toured the city seeing, the famous palm groves that align with the cities beautiful mosque. We saw ruins of palaces and saw the great Marrakesh marketplace that was twice the size of the one in Casablanca, but also twice as overwhelming to shop in. The square the marketplace is in is the largest in Africa and was filled with henna artists, snake charmers, and even monkeys. At night a large group of around forty SASers headed off to the largest night club in all of Africa it was a lot of fun, however mostly filled with tourists over locals.

While in Morocco it was interesting to see in the cities that I visited how relaxed people were with the Muslims customs. For instance, women even of Muslim faith varied in whether they chose to cover with a veil and if covered how covered they wanted to be. A majority of the people dress in brand labels and go out to clubs. I did see few American chain restaurants such as McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut, and KFC and American Music was prevalent on the radios. All in all their were more similarities between our culture and that of Morocco than I was expecting to find. Right now Ramadan is finishing up here in Morocco and then as one local told us, it will be time to party.

Now for the food, I have been a picky eater my entire life and usually I am hesitant at home and on the boat to try new foods, however being here it has been a dive in experience where I don't ask questions and just eat new foods. I love olives now after trying them and at home I despised them. Fun Fact of the day: Moroccans eat their meals out of one platter with their hands, we experienced this on our camel trek when we ate a traditional Moroccan lunch with our hands and each course was phenomenal. Although I have expanded my food options, I still do not like curry so India will still be a challenge for me I for see.

Well that's basically it, Tomorrow I am going on an interior visit of the Hassan II Mosque, the largest in Morocco, Africa, and third largest in the world. Followed by lunch at Rick's Cafe (as in of the movie "Casablanca" I remembered something from class, Proko) and then trying my luck again at the marketplace. Classes resume Wednesday which should be interesting.

Later,

Ed

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Espana

Well we made it... Spain has been an amazing visit and one I will not forget... We arrived on Saturday bright and early, I can cross watch sunrise off my bucket list, as we were up pulling into port before the sun was up; after an hour of inspections, the ship began to allow students to disembark, for me and my friends that meant the first train to Seville. After a two hour train ride, we had arrived in Seville.

Seville was an unbelievable city with rich culture and some of Europe's finest nightlife. However, traveling through the streets in 100 degree (Fahrenheit) proved to be our toughest challenge. We walked and walked for what seemed to be two hours and then by some miraculous will of god found our hostel (which turned out to be a 20 minute walk when properly planned). From what i have heard of hostels I was expecting the worse, however our hostel was as nice as a regular hotel at a fraction of the cost (40 euro for three nights) and the best was seeing the seven plus people cram into a room meant for four for three nights. If the "honeymoon" ohase of this trip wasn't over yet, well it was by this point.

In Seville we mostly traveled around looking at the beautiful landmarks, ancient buildings, and where we would later spend our euros at the best bars. (First Spanish fun fact for you, EXCHANGE YOUR US DOLLARS PRIOR TO ARRIVING IN SPAIN!!!! Not a lot of restaurants and bars take Credit Cards and not many banks change over the dollar, as we all found out and were borrowing money from each other left and right, some how it all worked out and we had enough to pay for the necessities including the hostel and the train rides).While Seville had some of the best activities to keep us occupied, it was the dirtiest city (so far) that we visited, with trash everywhere.

Typical Tourist Recommendation: The Bull Fight, yes the Bull Fight is intense, but an important aspect of the culture of Spain to see at least one. We watched three fights where you can wonder will this fight be one I see on "Worst Ways to Die" where the bull wins. The Bull ALWAYS dies something the girls in our group could have been better prepared for, especially animal lover Carly who looked like we made her sit through a marathon of the "Saw Movies" with the distraught look she had on her face. True it was not a natural feeling to pay to watch an animal die, but it was well worth seeing. (Bullfight fun facts; All spectators must remain sitting until the bull is killed, even if you need to go to the bathroom hold it in, it could be seen as a distraction to the bull fight. Second Once the six bulls are killed [yes six bull fights are in one sitting] they take the meat and sell it for cooking needs. So at least it is not completely being wasted.

The next visit was to Cordoba, where we spent the afternoon walking around and visiting the city that is full of both artifacts from Islamic and Christian religions. The Mezquita Mosque is truly one amazing compound to see, one of the most interesting things to see is the Roman artifacts that are blended in with the Islamic Mosque. One of the things you would never expect to see in each other.

Finally we headed back to Cadiz (where the ship is) where I wish we spent more time, however, due to the immense amount of fun we had in Seville it just was not possible. Cadiz is truly beautiful surrounded by multiple piazzas and cathedral (I'm actually writing from the steps of the "La Torre Mas Alta De Cadiz" cathedral which I plan on going in after this blog [gotta love a city with free wifi on the streets]). Last night we headed out to celebrate the big 18 for Mackenzie after spending a day lounging down at the beach (which is topless to our surprise). The Mediterranean Sea is beautiful and all of the nightlife here in Cadiz is right on the beach too. We found a bar that was fun and the perfect place to celebrate the big birthday, Carly became our Sangria connoisseur which is at most places cheaper than water and was a favorite of the groups.

So now, as I finish this entry I will go and buy the present for all you at home and explore for a few more hours in this beautiful city. Tonight we head out for Morocco, which will be amazing, I got a camel trek, and some day trips to look forward to and the fact that I still have no class for another five days.

Enjoy the States, and FYI its not that I don't have picture to put up, the internet makes putting pictures up a three day event, so as son as I can get some good free internet I will put some up!

Ed

Friday, September 3, 2010

Last Day Crossing the Atlantic

In less than 15 hours I will have completed the journey across the Atlantic Ocean and made it to the first port, Cadiz, Spain… At this point all Im relieved to get off the ship and out of the repetition of ship life.  Even though its been only days I feel like I have been on the boat for months and have lost all track of time and the days of the week (We work on an A day B day system so it could be Saturday at home and I still have class cause its B Day on the boat)… Already though I’m sick of the food and its not that good Nichols people you are having Gourmet compared to me and I have played more card games than I can count and not even drinking games…

The one thing that I haven’t gotten sick of yet is lying out on the back of the boat and just relaxing, its peaceful and for once I can actually get some homework done and started reading a book for the hell of it, two  things that at Nichols were not  things I would have chosen to do at all.

This week my friends (referring to Tom, Marcus, Kayla, Amy, and Kenzie) and I went on a tour of the bridge of the boat which was pretty cool to see where the steering of the boat is done and all the logistics that go into it. Following that we went to chill on deck seven (the party deck) and saw some dolphins which swim right next to the ship as its moving, pretty cool to see. However the coolest thing to see on the ship is the sunsets which last an entire five minutes on the ocean. If you travel from the front to the back of the boat you will miss it. But its amazing how fast it happens and it is a pretty awesome thing to see.

So Spain, we dock tomorrow and my group of friends is heading to Seville which is rich in historical culture and a great nightlife… We are staying in a hostel which for me is no big deal but for someone like Kenzie who doesn’t use the bedding the ship provides us is more of a challenge, but should be interesting. It seems everyone on the ship has the same idea of heading to Seville so it will be good to get out and explore and party with our fellow “SASers”. While there we plan to catch an authentic Spanish Bullfight which for your fun fact of the day ends with the bull being killed, sounds gruesome but its all part of the culture so we will see how it goes. And we get to leave Spain with a bang, Kenzie’s birthday is gonna happen on our last night in Spain so we plan to take her out for a good time...

That’s it from out here on the Atlantic, Posts to come during or following Spain

Ed