I Have Seen the World, What a Beautiful Place

Here it goes, my last blog entry on the MV explorer. I have literally traveled around the world and have gone through so many experiences. I don't know if I am ready to go back to the States, I have been gone for so long and have learned so many things. I am not the same person as I was before this voyage. I have grown and have become much more open. The world became that much smaller in my eyes.

How do I respond to "How was your trip?" "It was great" does not even begin to describe how my trip was. I can't just say one story, I probably won't even remember all of them at the time you ask me the question. I need to sit down and think about everything that has happened to me and how I have grown as a person. Give me some time and be patient with me because I may talk too much about my experiences but they are interesting, I promise.

Like I said before, this trip was never about the places we went, but rather the people we met. This trip was extremely successful for me. I want to work for the Global Community and help people live better lives. I learned that I can't assume what people need, rather we need to get to meet people and ask them "How can I help you live a healthy life?" We need to ask the people and help them. You will get good answers, I promise. You will not simply get an answer that "I need food, I need money" Rather, people will tell you, "We need education, we need irrigation, we need to get a supply of food." The statement holds true, "Give a man a fish and you feed them for a day, teach them how to fish and you feed them for a lifetime." People want to learn, some people cannot afford education. I will never take advantage of my education. I will always be thankful that I can afford education.

I can't wait to see everyone, but I will miss everyone on the ship. I know I will see everyone again, keep in contact.

Last Few Days

Now that I am done with exams, had our alumni ball, and finished packing I have had some time to reminisce about my voyage. I quickly came to realize that this voyage has nothing to do with the places that we go, but rather it is about the people we meet at the countries. This voyage has been extremely successful when it comes to those standards. I look back at the countries I have been to and the first thing that comes to my head are not the monuments that I have been to, it is the people I have interacted with. I decided to write some of my most memorable times in each of our ports in this entry.

Hawaii

Theresa, our drive in Hilo, showed us the craziest night of our lives. She was one of the funniest characters I have met. She taught me to come out of my shell and live a little. She showed us the lava flows and the hot springs at night.

Japan

Our monk in Mt. Koya temple. He hung out with us for a long period of time and taught us that it is ok to have fun in life, as long as everything is in moderation, it is the Buddhist way. This was one of our most relaxing nights of the trip. Also, Kazu, my cousins study abroad friend, who welcomed us with her hospitality and showed us around in Kyoto and Osaka.

China

Our incredible guides from the China guide, Vincent and Linda. They were incredible guides who showed us an amazing time. Vincent even came out to the clubs with us in the night! They brought us to the Great Wall of China and we got to sleep on it, which was one of the best things I have ever done. Then we got to zip line down the wall. Absolutely amazing!

Vietnam/ Cambodia

Our guide who lost his entire family in the Cambodia genocide and made me realize how ignorant I could be of world events. He really encouraged me to do something with my life where I give back to the global society.

India

Our rickshaw driver in Cochin who just wanted to show us a good time. He taught me that not everyone in India is trying to rip you off for your money. We had a bad first impression of India with the rickshaw drivers trying to rip us off, but this rickshaw driver did not want to do that, when we asked him how much we owe him he just said told us to pay him how much we thought he deserved. Also, the Taj Mahal was incredible!

Mauritius

Our scuba master who showed us the pristine waters of Mauritius and showed us the best scuba diving I have ever done in my entire life.

South Africa

The people from Operation Hunger. They further established that I should give back to the global community. Working in the townships was one of the best experiences I have ever had! Also, Allison our cage diving master who taught us the importance of shark conservation. She also showed us Great White Sharks.

Ghana

Our driver Nathan who just wanted to hang out with us. We had some deep conversations with him about everything, to racism, politics, and life in America. He was truly an amazing guy who showed us such a great time. He has been emailing me ever since we left Ghana. He just wanted to know Americans and know about the American dream.

Brazil

Our capoeira master who gave us lessons in capoeira, the Brazilian martial arts. After our lessons, he wanted to protect us. He walked us to places only he trusted, took us to a restaurant that he trusted, and hung out with us at the bars. He would walk us everywhere and even got us a taxi of his friend and made sure the taxi would take us safely back. Apparently, Brazil was very dangerous when it came to muggings but I never felt that way with Jonatan walking us around everywhere.

I have had an amazing time and I really do not want this to end. I have met amazing people and have made some really close friends, friends that I know I will keep for the rest of my life. I recommend everyone to do Semester at Sea, it will be the best decision of your life.

Brazil, our last international port

I can't believe that we just finished our last international port. It seems like almost yesterday that my cousin and I were applying for Semester at Sea and I was annoying my roommates about all I am going to do in Semester at Sea. But Brazil has been an another amazing country, and it started with one of the most interesting days I have had on this voyage.

Day 1

Our ship was docked in SalvadorWe went to a market and did some shopping. We got stuck inside the market because of rain, so we ate at a restaurant inside the market. While we ate, there was a capoeira show, which is Brazilian dance fighting. I took some pictures of them and of of the capoeira masters, Jonaten, came up to our table trying to ask for some donations and trying to sell shirts of his school. He then offered to give us lessons, so we scheduled lessons with him later in the day.

We then went to the upper part of the city and it reminded me so much of Old San Juan in Puerto Rico. Travel down the streets, we came across people filming a commercial/ music video for the World Cup. So my cousin, a bunch of other Semester at Sea students, and I all jumped into the video and learned the dance. It was amazing! I am going to bring that dance back to the states. We did multiple shots and in one of the shots I am holding an Argentinian flag and I accidentally held it upside down! Apparently the person singing the song is a really famous singer in Brazil and we got a picture with him.

At night we got our capoeira lessons. Jonaten held our lessons in a night club that was going to throw a party later, so we were a little skeptical at first. The lessons ended up being allot of fun and I learned how to do some cool capoeira moves. After our lessons, Jonaten walked us around town and made sure we walked into safe areas. He really watched after us. We told him we were hungry so he pointed out a restaurant that said we could trust. We hung out there for a long time because they had some live music. Later, Jonaten and his friends met up with us to hang out and we all had a very good time. When we were all tired and ready to go home, Jonaten walked us through the safe areas again and got us a taxi that was one of his friends and that we could trust. I am really glad that we had him around because I later found out that many people on our trip got mugged in the area, but Jonaten made sure that we were safe.

Day 2

We went off to the Amazon for our Riverboat Adventure. We stayed in the riverboat overnight and got to sleep in hamocks outside. It was really interesting. We got to see the famous meeting of the waters where 2 different rivers with different colors and densities met up. It was a really cool phenomenon because the colors never really mixed, they just swirled around each other. We also saw some fresh water dolphins off in the distance. We then went into this area that had this giant lilly pads. We could also see monkeys scrambling around in the trees. There was this weird noise coming from the distance that sounded like intense wind, our guide told us that the noise was coming from howler monkeys.

At night we went on a search for alligators, or as the Brazilians called it, the cayman. We had to go at night because it was actually easier to find them at night, when you flash a light into their eyes their eyes would glow. Our guide attempted to catch some with his bare hands and failed a couple of times, but after a while he caught one! These alligators were not that big, they looked like baby alligators. We all got to hold them. The canoe next to us dropped their alligator in the boat, we could here screaming coming from their direction it was hilarious. Nothing bad happened, just allot of people got scared.

Day 3

We did a jungle walk through the rainforest. We got to see some pretty cool things. We even saw some bones of an anteater that a jaguar ate! We learned some survival skills, including what material burns slowly and where you can find it in the jungle. Apparently fire is the most important thing to have for survival because it can sanitize food and water. We then got to see a Amazon village and they surprisingly had more "high tech" things than I thought they would. Some even had flat-screen tvs! We got t hang out with the villagers and even played soccer with them, needless to say they destroyed us in soccer.

When it started getting dark we took a boat through the wetlands. It started raining so we took shelter in this house boat. Outside the boat we could see pink dolphins, which are the oddest looking dolphins I have ever seen! They looked like a cross between a hippo and a dolphin. After the rain stopped we continued going around and got to see the sunset. We then pulled into a beach and had a beach barbeque. It ended up being allot of fun!

Day 4

We did another jungle walk and learned some more survival skills. We learned how to tell the difference between edible and non edible fruit. We learned how to find some grubs that you could eat, and we learned how to locate water vines and how to cut them so you could drink water out of them. We also got to see some army ants, the biggest ants in the world! They were huge! We then went piranha fishing. Our boat ended up catching 8 piranhas, unfortunately I caught none. My cousin caught two of them though. When she caught one, she lifted it too fast and it smacked one of the girls on our boat in the back. The piranha fell to the bottom of the boat and people scrabbled and fell out of their seats because they were scared it would bite them. It was a funny sight. We then got to eat the piranha that we caught, it din't taste that bad.

We then headed back to the city that is on the Amazon, called Manaus. We met up with all of the other riverboats with Semester at Sea students and watched a Amazonian dance show and relaxed by a pool. We then proceeded to the airport because we all had red eye flights (that means an overnight flight for people that don't know).

This flight was the worst flight experience of my life. Everyone on our trip, except for 4 lucky people, got sick. I won't go into details, but it was not a pretty sight. I was up all night and completely exhausted from my illness. It was not fun at all.

Day 5

Because I got so sick, along with most people on our trip, I did not spend the last day walking around port. Instead, I went to the doctor to get some medication and I ended up being put in isolation so I wouldn't get other people sick on the ship. It was not a fun experience, but I feel so much better now. The doctor thinks we all got food poisoning from the Amazon. It isn't just a coincidence that most people in our trip got sick.

Brazil has been an amazing country. Even though this is my second time in Brazil, there are still surprises stored in every corner. Besides that last day of being sick, I had an overall good time in Brazil. I can't wait to watch that Brazilian World Cup Commercial.

I will be home in a couple of days. It is sad that the trip is coming to an end, but at the same time I cannot wait to see everyone again. I have been doing allot of thinking on this trip about the people I have met and the amazing experiences I have had, and it is just so much to process. I can't believe I accomplished doing so much in a span of 4 months. I will probably write another blog entry, but this is my last about an international port.

Akwaaba Ghana

Ghana was a very interesting port, there was a lack of organized tourism making it difficult to see many of the things Ghana had to offer, but this did not stop Ghana from being a very fun port! One thing about Ghana is its people, they are the nicest and chillest people I have ever met! Besides South Africa, Ghana is the most stable government in Africa. It has so many natural resources like gold, diamonds, oil, and cocoa. In fact, any chocolate you eat probably has a small portion of Ghanian chocolate in it.

Day 1

We decided to take it a little easy this day, so we went to a beach resort and relaxed all day by the pool whit some amazing Ghanian chocolate. We ate at the resort restaurant that offered live music and some really good, and spicy, Ghanian food.

Day 2

We hired a driver to take us to a few of the Ghanian sites. Everything in Ghana is far, so we ended up driving a total of 6 hours that day. First we went to a national park and did a canopy walk. It was beautiful and you could see very far. Our driver then took us to the dungeon where slaves were exported out of. It was very interesting to learn the slave trade history and to learn about it from the perspective of the Ghanians. It was a very sad story. A total of 60 million blacks were captured for slavery, and only 20 million survived to make it to America. The 40 million died in the dungeons or in transit to the Americas. It was an extremely sad story, but I am glad I was able to see it for myself.

Day 3

I went to the Wli waterfalls. Like everything in Ghana, it was very far. We got to swim in the water and actually go under the waterfall! It was so amazing! There were so many bats at the waterfall. The waterfall was very tall as well. I honestly could have stayed there all day because it was so relaxing. We then visited a village where there was a monkey sanctuary. We got to feed the monkeys bananas. The village was also very interesting, there were goats and chickens everywhere and people were drumming. Again, we got to witness the famous Ghana hospitality.

Day 4

We got into a taxi and went around a little bit. Our driver ended up being the coolest and nicest person I have met. He took us to the markets and would get us good prices, he yelled at the seller that he was trying to sell us things for way too much! We ate at a very good restaurant, and I tried fu-fu which was one of the best things I have ever tried. We talked for such a long time about pretty much everything! He was very curious about America and asked many question. He really wanted to go to America, he told us that a poor man in America is a rich man in Ghana. He also asked about racism in America, I told him that America has made great strides and that most racism does not exist and that I do not view someone as white or black, I only look at a persons personality to see if I like them or not. We gave him our contact information so we could keep in touch.

Also, by chance we met a Ghanian senators wife. She owned a clothing store and we ended up talking to her for a very long time too. She told us how much she loved to travel and told us about all her stories about the textiles that she sells. She helps in the production of the military clothing for the United States. It was interesting because she was telling us that some of the fabrics that go into the military clothing come from Iran, that almost seems ironic. We had no idea who she was until our driver told us and pointed out how many cops were in the area. We met many interesting people that day!

Now we left Ghana and Brazil is soon to come. I can't believe we only have one more country left! I am now back in the Western Hemisphere!

South Africa!

South Africa is by far my most favorite country! I will try and return to this country first! I have done so many incredible things in South Africa and yet, I still have so much more that I need to do! The days coming up to South Africa were really inspiring, we learned about apartheid, Nelson Mandela, and even watched Invictus. I am always surprised with how little I know about the world, just like how I had no idea about the Cambodian genocides I had no idea the seriousness of apartheid in South Africa. We also learned the story of Amy Biehl and how she was a white college student trying to stop apartheid, but ended up getting killed by people thinking she was an oppressor. We learned the story of her parents who forgave the killers and supported the truth and reconciliation process headed by Desmund Tutu (who by the way is sailing the ENTIRE Fall 2010 voyage, so jealous!). Amy Biehl's parents started a foundation to help get children off the streets in the townships, and they even hired 2 of Amy Biehl's killers to help out. We also learned how South Africa is the Rainbow Nation and how they are trying to make blacks and whites equal

Day 1

We FINALLY got our first famous speaker to come in. We usually get these consulate people just tell us about the country, even though we already learned about the safety precautions we need to take in the countries and all about the culture in something we have called logistical and cultural pre-port lectures. It was a breath of fresh air to have something different. Who was this famous person? Linda Biehl, Amy Biehl's mother! She told us her story and how she felt as a mother. It was a very inspiring story! I stayed after her lecture to talk to her personally a little, and she even gave me a hug when I left. It was completely amazing seeing and listening to her.

The location of our port is the best we have had so far, it was right on the waterfront which is pretty much a big shopping area.We were close to everything, unlike our ports in India. We could even see Table Mountain from our ship! We then hired a driver to take us around to see South Africa. He took us to many places, including the Cape of Good Hope which is the southern most tip of Africa. We had a miscommunication with our driver there because we wanted to climb the Cape of Good Hope to take a picture, but he thought we meant that we wanted to hike to Cape Point. So when we came back down, our driver wasn't there, we then did a pretty long hike to Cape Point, which is where the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic Ocean. It was some amazing views from these points. We saw plenty of wildlife here, including baboons and ostriches. Our driver then took us to Boulder Beach, which is a beach covered in penguins. I wished I had a tuxedo shirt like, Taylor does from back in Gainesville, so I could take a picture with the penguins with it on. We also saw the World Cup stadium and attempted to go up Table Mountain, but the winds were too strong. At night I ate some ostrich steak, it was soooo good!

Day 2

We did a community service project with an organization called Operation Hunger. We went to a township called Los Angeles and were able to see how the people lived. We were with the poorest of the poor and the living conditions were just terrible. There were live wires running along the ground so that each shack could have electricity. The people, however, were the nicest people I have ever met. We were there to see if the children were malnourished and then to feed them. We had to weigh each and every child of the township and find out their age to determine how many of the children were malnourished. We weighed the children in the dirt roads. At one point, someone was trying to roll start their car, the car started but then turned off and started rolling down the hill, right where we were weighing the children. I noticed the car and yelled for people to get out of the road, only some of the children heard because their english isn't the best. My cousin was weighing a child at a time and grabbed him and ran out of the way, I pushed another kid out of the way and jumped in front of the car to stop it before it could hit any of the children. It was a pretty scary moment, but luckily no one was injured.

Weighing the children did not take that long, so we got to hang out with them and play with them for a while. They were completely fascinated with our cameras. They would take the cameras and take so many pictures, and they were good pictures too! They took over 300 pictures with my camera! I also played some soccer with them, even though I am not that good. I also do not know what it was about me, but the children would always try to see how many of them I could carry. It started with them feeling how strong my arms were, and then they latched on to my arm because they wanted me to lift them. Whenever I would try to walk anywhere, I would have 2 children latched on to each arm, one child on each leg, one sitting on my shoulders, one I am holding in my arms, and another trying to get a piggy back ride. It was exhausting! At one point I was trying to get a break and listen to the guy talk a little more about Operation Hunger and what we could do to help. The children picked me out of the crowd and tried to dog pile on top of me and they would try to keep me on the ground! We also got to help distribute food to the children and watched some of them dance, it was a program to keep the children off the streets. It was so exhausting and I was so sore afterwards, but it was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done in my entire life.

Some interesting facts on malnourishment in the townships. Boys are more malnourished than the girls and the girls actually tend to be over nourished. This is because the girls in these townships are taught to stay in the house and cook and clean, which they eat when they cook. The boys are always outside playing. Also, the children tend to be malnourished when the parents do not have jobs. This is because when a parent has a job they are never home to feed their children. I am definitely coming back to this township with Operation Hunger again to help out.

Day 3

We went on a day safari in the Aquila game drive. My group asked the funniest questions to our jeep driver, but we all had a good time and laugh out of it. I got to see "the big 5" in the safari, which includes the elephant, the lion, the leopard, the water buffalo, and the rhino. The leopard and the lion that we saw were in cages, so it wasn't a true safari out in the true wild, but it was still awesome because we also got to see hippos, ostriches, and zebras. Next time I am in South Africa, I want to do a several day safari in Kruger or another park.

At night we ate at a place called Mama Africa with amazing live music. I order the Game Mix Grill, which included Springbok, Kudu, Crocodile, and Ostrich, it was delicious! For desert, I had something called a banana flam, which was allot like a banana foster and just as good.

Day 4

CAGE DIVING WITH GREAT WHITE SHARKS!!!!!! It was so awesome! We went to Gansbaii, which has the highest density of Great White Sharks in the world, and you could definitely tell because we saw 7 different white sharks on our trip, and boy were they massive! I was so excited and asked so many good questions that our guide thought I was a marine biologist and said she would recommend me for an internship with their conservation and research efforts. The water was cold, but it was hard to tell because of the adrenaline and the wet suits that we wore. I had a shark ram the cage right in front of me and I could see all of its teeth! This is by far the coolest thing I have ever done and I am seriously thinking of coming back as a volunteer (not an intern since I am an engineer and not a biologist) for two weeks, because I could cage dive every day.

This was also our last night in Cape Town so we hit up the clubs on Long Street and had an amazing time. We went to one local bar for a little bit, met some really cool locals who taught us an African Cheer, and we got their information and they said next time we come to South Africa that I could stay with her and her family. The people of South Africa are so nice!

Day 5

We woke up early to try and hike table mountain. The winds were way too intense and the guides begged us not to hike the mountain. So then we attempted to go to the wine lands and go wine tasting but then found out that it was way too far. Then we tried to go scuba diving at the aquarium, but as soon as we got there the lady was on the phone booking the last reservation for the day! So instead we went to a market, got a picture of us riding a dolphin and getting chased by a shark (oh yea, this happened). Then we went to a restaurant on Long Street and pretty much hung out there for 3 hours. I had probably the most unhealthy food called a Banobacon, it was a banana wrapped in bacon, deep fried and drizzled with maple syrup. It was still very good, even though I felt like I was about to get a heart attack. We then did some shopping at the mall, even though I am not a fan of shopping. We returned to the ship and got ready to depart. Only, the winds and seas were too rough and they closed the port! So our ship could not depart until late into the next day but we weren't allowed of the ship! We even had classes while in port, it was so cruel to have my most favorite port right outside the window and we were stuck in class not allowed off the ship!

I can't believe we only have 2 more ports left! This voyage has gone by so fast! Ghana is next!

In Mauritius, chilling with lions and scuba diving, no big deal

It should be a crime that Semester at Sea only let us in Mauritius for one day, we only got a taste of the so many things that you can do in Mauritius. The sad thing is that Mauritius is probably our most inaccessible port so I really don't think I will be returning as much as I really want to. The flights there are extremely expensive and you probably have to do over 2 days of flying just to get there. Mauritius is a popular vacation spot for Europeans. To be honest, I never even heard of Mauritius until I applied for Semester at Sea and now I am glad I know about it. If you don't know where Mauritius is look at a map at it is located east of Madagascar. Mauritius is such a beautiful island, it reminded me allot of Puerto Rico except it was very economically stable and much more quiet. Quiet was such a good change of pace from all the extremely loud countries we went to.

Day 1

We heard of this place that you could play with lion cubs and cheetah cubs, so we took a taxi there. When we got there, we quickly realized that they did not have cubs to interact with, just full grown lions. We decided to do it anyways! The people gave us stick to defend ourselves incase the lions attacked and told us to not scream or run (I was traveling with a group of mostly girls and they did not like that rule at all). There was nothing between us and the lions, we could approach them and pet them. The entire time in the back of my head I was thinking that any second this animal can turn around and maul me in a second, and all I had to defend myself was a stick. You just have to respect the sheer size and strength of the lions when you are petting them. I was completely surrounded by them as well. Luckily, lions sleep 20 hours in a day and only eat at one time, which was not the time that we were there. I have to say, I didn't wake up thinking to myself that I was going to be chilling with full grown lions.

After that, we ate some typical Mauritian food, which is a mix of French and Indian food. It was really tasty, although it was funny that we were back to eating Indian food after leaving India. We then went to the beach and relaxed there for the rest of the time period. We met an interesting Mauritian at the beach who was trying his hardest to flirt with the girls in our group, he kept coming back asking us about the address to KFC university because he wanted to be a cook, I don't even know the address to my University! He asked the girls"what is the password for American women?" I thought that was funny how he put that. He tried hard, but he did not succeed with any of them.

We then went back to the ship to meet up with people and then went out to eat. We tried the local Mauritian beer, which is world renowned. We then went to a casino. I went in with 200 rupees, and left with 200 rupees. I played black jack and won 300 rupees, then I cashed the 100 rupees I won playing blackjack so we could play slots. I gave everyone in our group 3 coins so they could play slots as well, and one girl in our group turned that 3 rupees into 147 rupees! I was not so lucky when it came to slots. At least I did not lose any money at the casino! We didn't stay out too late because we had to wake up extremely early to go scuba diving, and it was well worth going to bed early!

Day 2

We literally spent the whole day scuba diving, and Mauritius is probably some of the best scuba diving I have ever done in my life! We woke up very early to get some breakfast, then headed of to Tamarin to do some scuba diving! We did a total of 3 dives, and each had something unique about it

The first dive we did was called cathedral, and for a very good reason too. There were caves that we got to go up into, and at the top there was this gigantic puffer fish. We went into another cave with an opening angle slight upward. The sun just gleamed inside and it was absolutely spectacular, it really seemed like we were in a cathedral!

The second dive we did was teeming with sea life. Before we went in, a boat approached us with scuba divers telling us that they saw a bull shark and to be out on the lookout. We were all very excited because we all really wanted to see a shark We saw this huge ray, lion fish were everywhere! There were a few barracuda following us as well. We were all antsy looking for the shark, unfortunately we did not see it. There is no doubt in my mind the shark knew we were there. We went pretty deep in this dive, probably around 100 feet.

The last dive had the worst visibility, but it did not change how amazing the dive was. Before we got in the water, there was squid everywhere on the surface! We saw the most amazing coral that we were all mesmerized by, it was called bubble coral. Some of it was glowing, there were eels living inside of it. I can't really use words to describe it, you just have to see the pictures that we took. That coral was just amazing and I have never seen anything like it!

After the last dive, we had to quickly get to the ship! There is something called dock time, which means if you are late to the ship you have to stay on the ship for a small period of time at the next port. Every 15 minutes you are late, you get 3 hours of dock time. Tamarin is an hour drive from Port Louis, plus there was traffic. We really did not want to get dock time in South Africa. Our driver ended up taking us to the wrong port! He didn't understand that the port was not our port, and we only had about 30 minutes to spare! When he figured out where we had to go, we ran into traffic! We finally arrived at the ship with about 10-15 minutes to spare, but then there was a huge line of people trying to get into the ship. Allot of the taxi drivers did not know where the ship was located! So we finally checked back into the ship with about 2 minutes to spare, we are not getting dock time in South Africa!

No matter how much sunscreen or hats I put on my head, it still gets burnt. Next week I will be doing safaris and cage diving with great white sharks in South Africa!

Taj Mahal Picture

Taj Mahal Picture
Originally uploaded by vic41234

Here is a picture of me at the Taj. I'll put a bald one of me up soon.

Neptune Day! I'm Bald!

Today we celebrated Neptune Day! Neptune Day is a line crossing ceremony that is a very old naval tradition, Semester at Sea has turned it into their own celebration. When a sailor who has never crossed the equator by sea they are considered a pollywag and most do certain initiation rights to be considered a shellback. Technically speaking we crossed the equator yesterday, so we kind of celebrated a day late but who cares, it was a fun day!

We got woken up bright and early this morning by the crew, around 7:30AM. The crew came dressed in togas banging on our doors, blowing whistles and playing their drums. Needless to say, it was quite loud and woke everyone up. I got some breakfast and after I finished, I noticed the crew back with their togas and playing music in the dining hall heading outside, only this time they were accompanied with the deans of Semester at Sea and other faculty all dressed up in appropriate attire. We all followed them outside to the pool deck for the start of the ceremonies. Our Executive dean was dressed as King Neptune and the faculty was his royal court. He demanded that we be initiated to a citizen of the sea. We then got "fish guts" poured over us (it was actually just a green liquid that smelt odd) and then we swam across the pool, got out of the pool and had to kiss a raw fish. We then had to kiss the rings of the royal court and then we were officially deemed shellbacks.

After that we had the option to shave our heads as part of tradition, I figured that I might as well partake. I have never shaved my head, I was even born with a full head of hair! Most people just got clippers taken to their heads, so they weren't completely shaved. After I did the official ceremony of clipping my hair I figured I should go big or go home so I decided that I wanted to be completely bald so my cousin bicked my hair with a razor. My head feels so weird! I can't stop rubbing it, and neither can people on the ship! I have had random people come up to me to rub my shaved head. My scalp is completely white because I have never even had short hair before, I am going to need allot of sunscreen for my head. My cousin also took her henna tattoo ink and put some designs in my scalp. Don't worry everyone, I will have hair by the time I get back.

I am surprised with how many girls shaved their heads, there has to be at least 10-15 of them. Bravo to them, I know hair is a big deal to girls. At night there was also a talent show and I must say that this ship has so much talent in it! There was allot of singing, dancing, poetry, a stand-up comedian, and my cousin also partook in the talent show as well with some latin dancing.

Mauritius in 2 days!

Engineer at Sea

Apparently there is an engineering themed voyage coming up for the short-term summer of 2011 and to promote this voyage to engineers, Semester at Sea interviewed me on the educational value of the voyage. I told them that studying abroad is extremely valuable for any engineer because we often do not realize the global implications that the products that we work on have. I also said that the classes might not help obtain an engineering degree, but the experiences that you have during the whole voyage will help you in your professional career and help you become a better global citizen to the world. I definitely recommend any of my fellow engineering friends to do this voyage, it is only a month long so if you are able to get an internship you can probably do both and it is also much cheaper than a normal voyage. Be on the lookout for the promotional video for this voyage because I will more than likely be on it.

Also, tomorrow is Neptune day which means tonight is the last night I will have hair. I haven't had a haircut this entire voyage because I figured that I am getting a free one soon. I'll make sure to update after Neptune day.

India!

India is a very interesting place. You cannot go into India with a closed mind, otherwise you will not enjoy yourself. They told us before we got there to not judge a book by its cover, to look deeper and you will find some amazing things. I can't tell you how true that statement holds in India. India is the biggest democracy in the world when it comes to population, so it is very important to learn about India.

Chennai

I almost did judge a book by its cover in India because I was sick and tired by people trying to rip us off in India. Two different auto-rickshaw drivers tried to rip us off, one wanted us to pay $50 for each person in the rickshaw! We got into a big argument with them for doing that. It seemed like at first everyone just wanted our money. There was also allot of trash everywhere.

But you have to understand that not everyone is like that in India and the majority of the Indian people are very nice and generally want to more about you and the United States. Thats why I did not jump to conclusions in Chennai. Besides the bad experiences with the auto-rickshaw drivers, we did have a fairly good time. We visited a Hindu family, and they were extremely welcoming and taught us much about how the Hindu family lives. We also visited a Shiva temple, which was one of the biggest temples in Chennai. We also saw a newly wedded couple visiting the temple, apparently that is one of the first things you are suppose to do after you get married in the Hindu family. We learned about many of the Hindu gods. Shiva is the destroyer, he is married to Poverty I believe is the name, and they had a son called Ganesh, which is the elephant headed god and he is also the removal of obstacles so many people have him in front of their businesses.

Delhi

After waking up extremely early (3AM!) we headed to Delhi and saw the capital of India. We saw Victory Tower. We saw some of of the embassies and the capital building of India. We then saw Humayun's tomb which was extraordinary! It was very much the same layout of the Taj Mahal. The entire time I was thinking about that if this tomb is not the must see monument in India, then how amazing is the Taj Mahal going to be. Humayun's tomb was built by the queen for her husband, while the Taj Mahal is the opposite. We saw families playing in the park which was really interesting and fun to watch. Monkeys were everywhere just roaming around. Then we went to where Ghandi was cremated.

Agra

We then took a train to Agra, also extremely early in the morning. We were on our way to the Taj Mahal! I figured if I were to every wear an Indian outfit, the Taj Mahal would be the place to do it, so many of us on the trip put on Indian outfits. I realized that Indian guys don't really wear Indian outfits out that much and they only wear it for special occasions, I got allot of strange looks. Some Indians did thank me for trying to fit into their culture.

The Taj Mahal is really as amazing as the pictures I have seen in books. It does not look real when you first get there, it looks like a backdrop in a picture or something. You don't realize its real until you actually go up to it and touch it. All the pictures that we took of it doesn't even look like that we are actually there. I was extremely impressed and just in awe with how big and how white it was, it was all just so surreal to me. It was perfectly symmetrical with two building next to it that looked exactly the same. The story of the Taj Mahal is actually a love story, which surprised me. The king loved his wife so much that he wanted to build a tomb so glorious so it could represent his love for her. He then wanted to build an exact replica of the Taj Mahal, except black, right across the river as a tomb for himself.

After our surreal time in the Taj Mahal, we went and visited Agra fort. This fort was built by the son of the person who built the Taj Mahal and it was used to imprison the person who built the Taj Mahal.

We then started our 6 hour bus ride to Jaipur and on our way we stopped at the deserted city. The deserted city was built by the mobile king who moved the capital to this location to improve his chances of having a son. Little did he know that this location did not have fresh safe drinking water, so he was forced to move the capital back to the original location. Pretty much, the deserted city was one big mistake, you would think water is one of the first things you look for when building a city. Regardless, the palace was still magnificent. It had a huge parcheesi board that actually used human female players. The king would sit in the middle and whoever won got a kiss from the king.

Jaipur

We got to Jaipur (the pink city) fairly late and our hotel had a club attached to it, so we all decided to do a little bit of clubbing that night. It was really interesting to see how Indians dance, it is very different than how we dance. Males and females keep a very far distance from each other because they respect each others space. It ended up being a really fun night.

Next morning we went to Amber fort. We started at the bottom of the hill and got to ride elephants to the top of Amber fort! It was so much fun doing that. The elephant sprayed itself with its trunk when we were riding it and I definitely got some elephant snot on my face. When we entered the fort, people were playing this really upbeat music welcoming to the fort. The fort itself provided an amazing view. It was pretty much a palace, there were ramps to every location so the king would just ride on a wagon to every location of the fort.

We also did a picture stop at the water palace, which is a palace built in the center of the lake. We also saw a very old observatory, which housed the biggest sun dial in the world. We also saw the City Palace. The City Palace had some ladies giving henna tattoos to everyone. Originally I didn't really want one, but a lady grabbed my arm and started drawing henna on my hand, so now I have a henna tattoo. There were also snake charmers everywhere in the city of Jaipur, seeing cobras was really cool.

Cochin

Cochin really changed my perception of the Indian people trying to take our money. We had the nicest auto-rickshaw driver and we hired him for two days. He took us to eat amazing food, simosas is probably one of the best tasting foods out there. He took us to see the chinese fishing nets, which we were there during the sunset so that made for some good pictures. Our driver even bought the girls in our group henna tattoo ink! At the end he didn't try to rip us off like the other rickshaw drivers did, he just wanted us to have a good time. When we asked him how much we owed him, he just told us to give him as much as we think he should get.

I also had the opportunity to play cricket in a park with some local kids. It was so much fun and I actually kinda get how to play now. The kids were really fun to hang out with and cricket is actually a fun sport. It is pretty much baseball with 2 bases and a 360 degree playing field.

We are now on our way to Mauritius and we are going to cross the equator for the first time, so Neptune day is coming up!

Sea Olympics

Before I explain exactly what the Sea Olympics are I just wanted to let everyone know that our ship stopped in Singapore to refuel. We then went through the Straight of Malacca two days ago and yesterday. I am happy to inform everyone that I am alive and so is everyone on the ship. Apparently there was a terrorist threat on the Straight of Malacca when we went through it according to CNN. That could explain the gun boats surrounding our ship for protection I guess. I don't know why some people were worried, it isn't like Semester at Sea would put all these students in a dangerous situation, they have been doing this for 100 voyages now. Don't believe me, here is the article:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/03/04/singapore.malacca.terror.threat/index.html

Today we had our Sea Olympics, and I am very exhausted! Pretty much, every cabin area is assigned a sea to represent, my cabin area is the Baltic Sea. Luckily for me, our colors are orange so all the orange things I bought I can reuse them back at home for Gator games! There was events going on all around the ship and everyone got to participate.

I personally did the Extreme Musical Chairs, and yes, it was extreme. They tied our hands behind our backs and they threw wads of paper at us while we played musical chairs. I did quite well, I got in 4th place.

I also participated in the relay. In the relay there was many stations where you assigned some of your sea to go to, once completed they would pass the "baton" (which was a t-shirt) to the next station. Stations were located all around the ship so there was allot of power walking, we could not run for safety reasons. Some of the stations included leap frog, human wheel barrel, flip cup, mystery drink chug, library book find, whip cream pie (you had to find gum in a whip cream pie and then chew the gum and blow a bubble) and fishing. Specifically, I did the fruit pass. In this event, there was a team of four and you had to pass a fruit without using your hands. You had to place the fruit between your chin and your chest and had to pass the fruit that way. We did very very well in the relay, we came in second by 2 seconds.

Other events included dodge ball, tug-of-war, synchronized swimming, lip singing, ice cube chop stick grab, and many others. By far the funniest was synchronized swimming and the lip singing. Some of the choreographed dances were just hilarious. Our sea might not have done the best out of all the seas but we definitely had the most fun.

After the olympics, the crew actually grilled us hamburgers and ribs. I can't tell you how much I miss those things, it has been forever since I have had one! Then, we tried to see how many people we could fit into the pool. The pool became huge and pretty much a dance party. The pool on this ship is really small, it is more like an oversized jacuzzi!  The  pool was pretty much empty by the time we had to get out.

While all of this was going on, the crew was practicing man over board drills. They threw dummies off the boat and would turn around the entire ship, get into a life boat, and pick them up. We were all cheering for them when they picked up the dummy.

Today was such a nice break from the normal routine of classes. I practically lost my voice from all the cheers and yelling but it was a great time. I wished we could do this more often. Next big day at sea is Neptune Day, which is after India. India in a couple days!

Good Morning Vietnam! And Cambodia too!

I am getting so much experiences on this trip that I think far exceed the cost of Semester at Sea. Cambodia was definitely the highlight of my trip but I will highlight what I did by day.

Day 1 (Vietnam)

I went to the Cu Chi tunnels and learned so much about the Vietnam War, but through an entirely different perspective. It is weird, we are all used to hearing about the Vietnam War through the perspective of Americans but we never have heard about it through the perspective of the Vietnamese. They don't even call it the Vietnam War, they call it the American War! It was just weird hearing terms such as "American Killer Heroes," they celebrated this one female soldier who killed many Americans. Then we saw traps used to kill and injure Americans. We got to go through the tunnels which were really small, and it was surprising that about 20,000 people lived in there during the war. War is just a horrible thing, both sides have done horrible things it is just really weird listening to the other side and their perspective. I asked our tour guide if the Vietnamese people still were mad at Americans for what we did during the war, and he had some interesting things to say. He said something along the lines that if you leave bad things in the roots of a plant then the plant is going to grow bad. He said that war is a horrible thing and that we should instead forgive what happened in the past and instead grow the relationship between the USA and Vietnam.

I also got to shoot a fully automatic AK-47, baller!

At night we hit up the town. Crossing the street in Vietnam is probably one of the most fun things I have done. The streets are littered by thousands and thousands of mopeds. This society is built upon mopeds! When you cross the street you literally just walk into the street, walk straight and confidently and just walk into a street with thousands of mopeds. You don't dodge the mopeds, you are suppose to let them dodge you. Every time you cross the street your life flashes before your eyes! We went to a club with many other Semester at Sea students at night.

Day 2 (Cambodia)

We woke up extremely early to head to Cambodia. The resort we stayed at was amazing! I understand now why booking a trip through Semester at Sea is so expensive, they put you in the nicest hotels! We had some free time so we swam in the hotel pool. It was so relieving being in the hot Cambodian weather. We then went to Angkor Wat, it is the biggest Hindu temple out there. It is amazing what people can build! After exploring the temple we went off to a dinner show and saw some traditional Japanese Geisha dancing (why we went to a Japanese Geisha dance show in Cambodia is a good question, especially since we were just in Japan) and we saw a little bit of traditional Cambodian dance. At night, I got my first professional massage, it was extremely cheap at the resort so I figured why not? That massage was amazing, the massager cracked bones I didn't even know that I had!

Day 3 (Cambodia)

We saw more temples, including the one that was in Laura Croft: Tomb Raider! It was cool to see something that you could recognize in a movie! We also got to ride elephants around the temple! We also got to feed the elephants bananas!

At night we went to the markets and got our foots massaged by fish! Thats right, you heard me correctly, fish massaged our feet. You pay $2 (yes that is American dollars, Cambodians actually prefer American dollars to their own money) and you get a free beer when you do it. You put your feet in this water and fish come to you feet and eat all the dead skin off of it. I am extremely ticklish and was pretty much laughing the whole time! We then went to this bar called "Angkor What?" we have fun saying that name and has pretty much become an inside joke with everyone that traveled with us.

We also got to ride tuk tuks everywhere. Tuk Tuks are pretty much these small 4 person chariots attached to the back of mopeds. Erin should totally get one attached to her moped so she can take me to class when I get back to Gainesville.

Day 4 (Cambodia & Vietnam)

We got to visit a water village. This village was entirely built on boats, and not just normal boats, they were old looking boats. There was a school boat, basketball court boat, and store boats! Some villagers pulled up to the side of our boat, jumped into and and tried to sell us some sodas! Some other villagers pulled up to the side of our boat to show us a snake they had. We also visited some artisan village where they train mute and deaf rural villagers art so they can make things and sell it to provide an honest income to their families.

We then went back to Vietnam and went out again to the clubs. This time instead of taking taxis, we hired people to take us around on the back of their mopeds. I though walking across the street was insane, it is even crazier when you are on the back of the mopeds!

Day 5 (Vietnam)

I visited the Cao Dai temple, which is really a fascinating religion! It is the 2nd most popular religion in Vietnam. This religion believes that each religion has wisdom that you can learn from. The religion combines other religions to combine the wisdoms. Jesus Christ, Thomas Jefferson, and Nelson Mendela are some of their saints to name just a few of them. The religion is fairly new, it was founded around 1920 or so. The temple was extremely colorful and we got to watch a little bit of a service they have.

We then visited this mountain that is famous in Vietnamese folklore. Apparently there was this girl that loved this poor guy, but her parents arranged for her to get married to this rich man. She did not want to so she ran away and committed suicide on this mountain because she was so heart broken. I think that was the jist of the story of the Lady of the Black Mountain, their are many different versions. We then got to take alpine slides all the way down the mountains, it was so much fun!

Final thoughts on Cambodia

Cambodia was a huge eye opener for me! I was completely ignorant of the Cambodian genocide and how recent it was. Our tour guide's entire family was killed in the genocide, and the weird thing is that the genocide is so normal to them that when he talked about it it was like he was talking about anything else you would talk about in a normal conversation. The genocide killed 2 million people, and it was targeted at the intellectuals of society. Just wearing eye glasses could get you killed because that was a sign of intelligence. This genocide left millions orphaned and there was pretty much 2 generations that were completely wiped out.

Cambodians seem generally happier than any other country, even though they are much poorer. I was surprised to see very little beggars, there was many many vendors everywhere trying to sell you things, but at least they were trying to make an honest living and not trying to just beg for the money.

I want to go back to Cambodia once I finish my engineering degree and do some sort of project their in the Children's hospital or work with engineers without borders or something along those lines. One of the Semester at Sea students that I met on this trip got to visit the hospital and he was telling me how they need as much help as possible to provide healthcare for the millions of children. They are trying to start up a cardiology center as well, so maybe I could do something there. Or maybe helping provide clean water or something along those lines. This trip has really encouraged me to finish my degree so I can help the international community in some sort of way.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy New Years! It is the year of the tiger right now! We were in China during their New Years and it was quite a sight, fireworks were going off every couple seconds, people were just launching them in the middle of the street and setting off car alarms.

Anyways, I have so much to write about so I am going to split it up in sections again. My body and I are not friends right now, we are on bad terms, I am so exhausted from how much I did!

Shanghai

Our ship pulled right into Shanghai, the famous Pearl Tower was the view I had from my bedroom window! It was an extremely modern city and everything was so cheap! We did not have much time in Shanghai so we explored the city a little and saw a temple. We went through some sight seeing tunnel to cross the river, and that was interesting to say the least. We got into this small tram thing and went through a tunnel that had lights everywhere! It reminded me of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory when they went through the tunnel. We ate some interesting food as well that I don't know if I trust it as sanitary. We had this bowl of hot water (not boiling just hot) and we had to put all the ingredients into it (chicken being one of them) and eat it as a soup. Shanghai was also extremely crowded, but that could be because it was the New Years and people from the countryside were coming in to tour Shanghai. Apparently they don't see foreigners often (my tour guide said that we were probably the first foreigner they have ever seen) because they were taking pictures of us left and right! I also went to a market and bargained for a heavy north face jacket and some heavy gloves, the heaviest thing I packed with me was a hoodie sweater and it was cold in China!

Beijing

Next day we flew into Beijing. I can't believe we packed as much as much as we did in Beijing! First night we went to some local area, all the rivers and lakes were frozen. People were launching fireworks. We ate at a restaurant that was extremely cheap, I think the waitress was surprised with how much us Americans ate.

Next day we woke up early to go to the Forbidden City. It was walking distance from our hotel. I was surprised with how big it was! Once you think you reached the end, it kept going! We then walked through Tiananmen square and went to a market. You can bargain for things that you buy, and I have become really good at bargaining.

We then made our way to the Great Wall and watched the sun set. The Great Wall is just absolutely amazing! Then we grabbed dinner at a family style restaurant, it had a large circular glass plate on the center that you put the food on top of and rotated it to pass the food. We then made our way back to the wall and climbed the longest set of stairs I have ever climbed! I wouldn't be surprised if it was a mile of just stairs. I had to take off allot of the clothes I had because I was sweating so much from the climb (at this point I had all my thermal underwear on, my shirt, my sweater, and my heavy north face jacket and gloves). We finally made it to the wall and we were all so exhausted from that climb, I don't think I will ever do a stair climber in a gym again after that climb! The locals brought up drinks, including beer, for us so we hung out a little and set up our sleeping bags. We wanted to sleep under the stars and not in the tower, so we set up our bags on a really narrow part of the wall, probably not the best idea in the world. There wasn't a cloud in the sky so we could see all the stars, I even saw 3 shooting stars! We could also see fireworks in the distance being launched all around us in the small villages.

We then slept on the Great Wall, and when I use sleep I am using that term very loosely because I barely got any sleep at all! It was just so cold! I think it was -15 degrees celsius according to our guide. One of my friends left her beer out and it froze! All my fellow Theta Tau brothers that just went to campout, you were not the only ones freezing while camping! We did get to watch the sunrise though. Waking up to the sight of the Great Wall is an experience I can't even begin to put into words. I recommend everyone try to do this trip once, how many people can say they slept on the Great Wall? We then proceeded to do a very long hike on the Great Wall, but spectacular nonetheless. We stopped constantly to take pictures. I also documented the hike on my camera because some portions of the wall could not be explained with just pictures, it needed video. The Chinese really did not believe in steady slopes on this wall, some of the slopes we extremely steep and so were the stairs. At the end of our hike there was this zip line that we all got to do, it was one of the biggest adrenaline rushes I have ever gotten! It was so high up, and we zip lined across a river that was partially frozen! What an amazing end to the Great Wall. I got to sleep on the Great Wall, hike it, and zip line it!

After all that our guide then took us to see the olympic stadium. The birds nest is much bigger in person! But when I heard how many people that it could hold I was a little shocked, only 10,000. I think Ben Hill Griffin stadium could hold more then that. But regardless, it was still amazing! I wish we had time to go inside but we didn't. We ate hot pot that night, which was also cheap and I bought a nice bottle of wine for the table as well, ended up being only $12 for my whole meal. Hot pot is allot like fondue, you cook your own fresh meats. It was really good. We were way too tired from the Great wall so we didn't go out that night.

Next day we woke up early again for another packed day. We went to the Temple Earth where many farmers went during the New Years to wish luck on their crops. They had a festival with many fairground games, they had an altar to make sacrifices to in the old days. We split off from the group to do a little exploring on our own. We ran into some performers who just finished with their show and we got to hang out with them! They were showing us their tricks and letting us try them. Their was an obvious language barrier between us but it was amazing getting to hang out with them. After Temple Earth, we got to eat with a local family in their home and learn about the local culture. We then went on a rickshaw ride through part of the city.

After the rickshaw ride we went to the Summer Palace, which is 10 times bigger than the forbidden city! I wish I could see it during the summer because the lake was frozen over, but it was still an amazing site! We learned about the Dragon Lady who pretty much ran the Chinese Empire for a little while. We then went to a tea place, I usually dislike tea but I have acquired the taste to it after Japan and China! I bought some really good Chinese tea, so people back home should be expecting some good tea when I get home! We then ate Peking duck which was pretty tasty.

After that we went to a Chinese acrobatic show, the things these acrobatics could do are absolutely insane! After that, we hit up the clubs and bars! We convinced our tour guide to come out with us as well. We did a little karaoke at the bar, but they only had 90s music and nothing recent, it was still fun at the bar. The club was insane, we ran into so many Semester at Sea kids! We danced so much there.

The next day we went to the Temple of Heaven, which is a temple that is completely held up by the pressure of the wood, no nails at all. There is a park right next to the Temple that all the locals go to hang out and play music, sing, and dance. This one local women grabbed me and started dancing with me. It was so much fun dancing with the locals, even though I had absolutely no idea what I was doing! I guess they were surprised by us foreigners because some of the people in our group got a picture taken of them dancing and got a article in the Chinese newspaper. Next day we left Beijing, I can't believe we did as much as we did in so few days!

Hong Kong

We quickly dropped off our bags to explore the city of Hong Kong! It is a very westernized city, and I can't tell you how happy I was to finally see clean western bathrooms! Those other bathrooms were literally holes in the ground and really disgusting. We went another market and then ate at the weirdest restaurant I have ever eaten there. We went to a restaurant called the Modern Toilet. You sit on a toilet, your food is served in a miniature toilet, your drink is served in a miniature urinal, and your ice cream is served in a miniature eastern toilet. We then went up to Victoria's Peak to see the amazing skyline of Hong Kong. The city was just lit up, we got some amazing pictures there! We then went to some night market that was really famous. My cousin and I were just too exhausted to go out that night from the crazy time in Beijing, so we took it easy that night and went on our computers, we had free internet at our port! I uploaded some pictures on facebook!

Next day we went to see the biggest outdoor Buddha in the world. It was amazing scenery to just get up to the mountain it was located, we had to take a 25 minute gondola. The Buddha was huge! We then went and ate some dim sum and went back to the ship. Every night, every building in Hong Kong partakes in a light show. So as our ship was leaving we got to watch the light show. I can't believe how amazing it is! Now we are back in the ship heading to Vietnam!

Food in Japan and China

Some people have asked me about Asian food, it is nothing like what we eat back at home! Teriyaki sauce is actually an American invention! I have to say that I think I liked the food in Japan better. It is always best to not ask what you are eating because you never want to know. The food was amazing and I am already missing it after eating the ship food again today, which isn't that bad just in comparison it is not good.

I can't believe that in 2 days I am going to be in Vietnam. Japan seems like months ago and it was only a little more than a week ago! Hawaii seems like it was years ago! It is just a distant memory! This blog is really going to help me remember what I did because we are doing so much in short time spans!

Waiting to get into China

So we are waiting for customs to clear the ship, it is taking forever.They have to give us thermal scans and everything. So while waiting, I decided to update my blog on the past few hectic days.

First off, I don't know if I mentioned this in my previous post but Japan has really inspired to learn a third language after I become fluent in Spanish. I am thinking either Japanese or Chinese, not sure yet. I also saw a bridge that is the picture of one of my engineering books, I got really excited, being the only engineer in my group I travel with I think I was the only excited one.

We only got 2 days between Japan and China and I am exhausted! I really need to catch up on sleep! I thought I would be able to between the two ports but as soon as I got back on the ship I had to read 50 pages in my book, write a paper, and at the same time film and edit the news, and editing is an extremely long process! All of this while lack of sleep from Japan.

This whole news thing has a pretty steep learning curve I am quickly finding out. There were allot of mistakes with last nights newscast, but I think this newscast being such an amateur newscast is part of the charm and is why so many people on the ship get excited to see it on the ship (and also everyone feels detached from what is going around us since we don't have internet.) This was only the second thing I have ever edited, and I learned how to edit while on this ship, so I think it is excusable that I made so many mistakes. I am learning from my mistakes and I already have in my head what I want to do for the next newscast to make it much better.

Anyways that is all for my update. We are in Shanghai parked in the downtown area on the ship, from the looks of it the downtown looks amazing! Our ship is on the river. I just am so anxious to get off the ship and see the city. Customs needs to clear us fast!

Domo Arigato Japan!

Get ready for an extremely long update! Japan was amazing! Also amazingly expensive, but at least I had a good time and thats what matters. So I am going to separate this into subsections.

Tokyo

I have never associated a big city with quiet. Maybe it was because it was a weekday, but no one really talked in the streets or were on their cell phones. It was actually nice, you could hear yourself think. We stayed in a capsule hotel, and that was an experience! It was actually comfortable, and the showers were so nice! Showering in Japan is suppose to be a relaxing time for everyone. You quickly take a shower, then hop on in the giant bath tub that was pretty much a jacuzzi. Then you dry off in the sauna. It was so relaxing.

Beware the Japanese toilet. They are extremely high tech. The seats are heated and everything. I couldn't figure out how to flush one of the toilets, so I pressed a green button. It ended up being a high pressure hose and I didn't know how to turn it off! So I pressed the red button thinking red means stop, well apparently not in Japan because the hose only stopped for a second, I then gave a sigh of relief and then the hose started again! This time it was pulsating shots! The computer was outside the bathroom and my cousin and friends could hear me screaming trying to turn it off. If you go to Japan, don't press any buttons unless you know what they do!

We could not find the ice bar in Tokyo, which was a shame. Apparently we walked by it like five times without realizing it. We still went to a nice bar where the bartender knew english. I tried to explain to her what our plans in Japan were, but apparently I said it completely the wrong way and instead said a dirty Japanese word. I had no idea why all the Japanese people were laughing until they explained, I couldn't help but laugh at myself.

We woke up bright and early (4AM) to see the famous Tokyo fish market. It was huge! People we so busy too, I almost thought I was going to get ran over many times. The variety of fish was just astonishing. We then watched the tuna auction.

Koyasan or Mt. Koya

This is the center of a certain sect of Buddhism. Getting there was an experience because it was in the middle of nowhere and nobody knew any English. We had to take a cable car up a mountain to get there. We stayed at a monk temple and met this awesome monk named Daigen, we are going to be facebook friends, no joke. I was completely fascinated with the Buddhist religion. They pretty much believe in control, you can have desires and pleasure, monks can marry and drink, but it is all about controlling yourself and not getting out of hand. I think the world would be much better if everyone followed that mentality of controlling yourself.

The rooms were very traditional Japanese rooms. The walls were paper and we slept on the floor, but it was the best sleep I have gotten on my journey. It was really nice being in a quiet area and just not worry about anything. Daigen took us to the grave yard at night and gave us a tour. We saw this well that if you can't see your relfection, you apparently die in three years. Good news mom and dad, I am at least living three more years and won't be dying on this trip. Also, if you trip down the stairs you will die in three years. I managed to keep my balance. There was also this rock that was as heavy as your sins are, I was able to lift it but my cousin could not. I guess she is a sinful person?

According to legend, the founder of this sect of Buddhism (which by the way is a mixture of Buddhism and Shintoism) started meditating for everyone two thousand years ago and is still alive today meditating. They still bring food to the house he is located in. We saw the outside of the house where he is located. It was amazing! They had these giant golden lotus flowers surrounding the house, I wish I could have taken pictures of it but we weren't allowed to out of respect.

This was by far my most favorite part of Japan. I could stay there for a couple more days.

Kyoto

We met up with my cousins friend who is studying abroad in Japan. It was such a relief to have someone who knew Japanese with you. The first night she took us to a Shabu Shabu restaurant and it was amazing! It is all you can eat for two hours and you cook your own food by boiling it in a pot in the center of the table. The next night she took us to Osaka and showed us the famous Osaka aquarium. It is one of the biggest in the world and had two whale sharks! I can't wait to show my biology of sharks professor all the pictures I took.

The next night we hung out with a bunch of study abroad students in Japan. They took us to a karaoke bar, it was ridiculous. Then we went to a conveyor belt sushi place. I didn't know what I was eating half of the time, apparently I ate horse meat and sea urchin and it was delicious. You can't go into Japan without an open mind of what you are going to eat. I told the students to put the food in front of me and I will eat it, just don't tell me what it is until after the fact. I ate the most random food but it was all so good. After that we went to a Spanish bar, my cousins friend really really wanted to dance and hear spanish music since she has been away from it all. Then we went to an izakaya, I am not sure if I spelled it right but it is pretty much a typical Japanese tavern.

Kobe

We only spent half a day in Kobe. When we got off the train we didn't feel like taking any more trains so we decided to walk to the ship and it was far! It was hard for asking directions so we literally followed the sounds of the sea gulls. I was shocked when we actually saw the ship using that method. I had kobe beef in Japan, it is just as good (and just as expensive) as people say.

Thats all my updates for Japan. I feel like I only got a taste of Japan and I want more! I still need to see Nara and Hiroshima. Mom and dad, we are doing a trip to Japan soon, I want to go back so bad. I already miss it!

2 days till China!

Lost at Sea News!

We broadcasted for the first time today! The editing process is a long and difficult process! I learned so much in such a short period of time, but I am glad I picked up this skill of editing. The first news cast came out really well too! But now I am exhausted from working so hard on the video, I had to miss the second half of the Super Bowl to finish editing! They did broadcast the Super Bowl on the ship, everyone had to get off the internet in order to provide enough bandwidth for the game. I am so glad the Saints one though, it sucks that I missed it though, I heard the second half was amazing.

We game through very rough seas again. The waves were much bigger this time! We hit the waves differently this time, we hit the waves perpendicularly. The boat was constantly making weird screeching noises and the entire boat would shake. One teacher almost fell in class! I actually fell during dinner, except it wasn't really falling it was more of flying out of my chair. I flew into my friend next to me who was trying to save all the laptops on the table from crashing, then I hit the floor. I couldn't stop laughing and the table of people around me gave me a round of applause. We then had to take an exam in those conditions. I don't think I have taken an exam where I had to worry about flying out of your chair, it really keeps you on edge.

I am really liking the faculty interaction on this ship. The classes are not that large and all my professors know me by name. It is much different at a school with more than 40 thousand students and my smallest class is 100 people. I am going to try and make more of an effort to know my professors at least.

Japan tomorrow! We have so much planned for Japan, I will be sure to provide a large update of everything we do in Japan if I am not too busy editing for episode 2 of Lost at Sea News!

Working at Sea

This life is terrible! (I hope you guys get the sarcastic tone in that sentence) I have never felt so productive without the influence of television and internet. To do work, I just go out on the sunny deck with my friends and read all day between classes. I never have to worry about food because that is cooked and paid for, I never have to worry about cleaning my room. All I have to worry about is getting all my homework done (which no lie, is allot for people that think I am not actually studying), getting into work and doing all of my responsibilities that my work requires of me, and doing all my other activities that I am in charge of. This is allot of work, but being able to do that work out in the sunny deck without any worry of food and cleaning and being almost completely disconnected form the world is just paradise in my mind.

Speaking of work, I don't think I have ever had a job that required me to be so flexible! I think I finally get what my job entails as the programming assistant of academic success, and it encompasses a whole lot! I am required for setting up and organizing the tutoring program, the language tables (teaching people common terms before we get to port), and I am the main man for the news that is broadcasted to the ship. I am also in charge of advertising for these events and recruiting people to come to these events. I am constantly running around the ship running errands and organizing meetings and distributing the work to the people in my committees I am in charge of. I am in no way complain about the work because I am a work-a-holic, I just didn't realize that my job would entail so much and entail areas that I have little expertise in.

We also picked up 2 Japanese students in Hawaii that will accompany us to Japan. One of the students, named Rina, I have become pretty good friends with. She has taught me so much about her culture, I am just so fascinated by everything that consists of the Japanese culture. I learned about what she thinks of the United States, which is surprisingly positive! She told be that she thinks Americans are positive people and are always happy and friendly, while the Japanese are opposite. I have always thought the opposite, I feel like the Japanese people are positive, but I really don't think the American people are negative. I did get to explain to her the American dream and how hard work can get you anywhere. She said that Japan is similar and that from a very young age they are concentrated on their careers. She also explained to me the differences in our culture. She did not understand why everyone was trying to tan out on the deck, apparently everyone in Japan tries to be as white as possible. She also taught me origami which was pretty cool. I can't wait to get to Japan and see this culture first hand. I am completely and utterly fascinated with it.

Hilo and Honolulu!

Am I really getting college credit for this? Hawaii is amazing, especially Hilo!

Hilo is located on the big island. I have never met nicer people than the people of Hilo. It is normal for people to wave at you when they are driving, any other city would find that weird. People would always stop and ask if you need a ride, and it would be perfectly safe! We accomplished so much on the first day. We saw Akaka falls, which was an extremely tall and beautiful falls. Then we went to the Aluaha Nuts factory, and then we went to a black sand beach. I went back to the ship to prepare for the luau and decided to call some people from back home. While on the phone and looking out of my cabin window, I could see sperm whales jumping in the distance! There were so many sperm whales because we were in Hawaii during sperm whale birthing season. I was in astonishment that this sight was pretty much my back yard! Then we went to a luau, which wasn't anything special. The luau itself and all the dancing and food was amazing, but since it five hours long! It included a tour of the University of Hawaii-Hilo, which is fine but the tour guides thought we were perspective students or something, not really realizing that we were all already in college. After the luau was probably one of the most amazing nights I have every had. We hired a guide to take us to the volcano at night. She took us to this area where there use to be more than 200 houses but they were all destroyed by the lava. It was really eary and makes you really respect the destructive power of nature. Off in the distance was the volcano spouting out lava. It gave off a spectacular red glow which reflected off the clouds and made a really great view. After that, our guide took us to these geothermal springs where we all went swimming. It was so relaxing and the stars covered the sky. The next day we went scuba diving. We entered the ocean through a fresh water river. The sensation is such a weird feeling where the salt and fresh water mix. It will be really cold one second and the next it will be really warm and your vision would get blurry when it mixed. We saw many sea turtles, one which had a fin bit off, we are guessing from a shark.

In Honolulu, my friends and I rented a hotel room on Waikiki beach. We rented surf boards and went surfing all day, I caught five ways! I am now so sore, especially my ribs, from all the paddling you have to do while surfing. We went out to a club at night where many of Semester at Sea students were hanging out. The next day we just chilled on the beach all day. I guess we weren't in Honolulu long enough because we really didn't see much. Hilo was definately better.

In all honesty, I am learning many things while at port. I learned much about culture, Hawaiian history, and I learn about myself. I am getting allot out of this, and we are only at the first port! We left Hawaii now, and the United States, so I won't be seeing any land for about ten days, 11 if you want to get technical (we are going over the international date line so there is no February 2nd on this ship, someone has their birthday on that day, so I guess we miss it?). Japan is going to be amazing!

Land!

It has seem like forever since we have seen any signs of land, but a couple of days ago we saw birds! Albatross I believe they were called. They were following our boat wait for our boat to scare a few flying fish so they could dive down and eat them. Then today was our second sign of civilization, a cargo ship! It has seem like forever since we have seen any signs of civilization! We have seen nothing but miles and miles of blue ocean. Then came new types of birds, the likes of I have never seen before. And then whales! Yes thats right, I saw whales! I was reading my book that I need to read for one of my classes (Typee by Herman Melville) and I was reading it on the deck when in the faint distance you could see 3 whale spouts. I could not actually see the whale, but the whales spouts at a distance was a nice refresher that we were getting close to land. And as soon as there was few moments of sunlight, a mountain appeared on the horizon, it was Hawaii! The atmosphere about this boat is completely different as us college students try and figure out what we are going to do once we get to port. I signed up to do some scuba diving with some of my friends I made on this boat, and we are going to a black sand beach and hopefully see an active volcano. Unfortunately, we are in Hilo for only one night, and then we are off to Honolulu. I can't wait to set foot on solid ground! The seas are calmer finally.

In other news, my work study is not at all what I expected it to be. It looks like my duties as a programming assistant in academic success keep expanding and each day I have to be more and more flexible and I am constantly adapting to what they keep telling me I have to do. I now am in charge of the port events committee, which means I have to record and broadcast a short news broadcast in the boat. I have no film experience and no video editing experience so I am going to have to quickly learn. I didn't expect this to suddenly be part of my duties, but I guess I have to learn. The work is definitely doible and they aren't overworking me so I have no complaints, I am just hoping my committee and I can make this program work and work well too.

I am also surprised at the talent on this boat. They held a coffee house last night with an open mic, I expected nothing of it. I was actually heading up to pub night with some of my friends because that is where everyone hangs out at night, but to get to the deck where pub night was being held we walked by the open mic and what I witnessed was truly spectacular. This girl played guitar and it was amazing! She wrote her own songs and had a really amazing voice. I took a video of one of her songs, can't wait to show it. Then one of the professor's daughters, who had to be at least 13, read some of the best poetry that I have ever heard, and I don't even like poetry! They were all her own work. Then these two students played my favorite song from "The Flight of the Conchords" about the most attractive girl in the room, it was hilarious! There were some more great singers and pianist and guitarist as well, I was truly amazed. I didn't even make it to pub night!

We haven't even reached land yet and I am already starting to feel like I am a changed person. I have met some truly amazing people and have made some friends that I know that I will have for life.

Hilo, Hawaii tomorrow! Honolulu the next day!

Why the rough seas?

I know I said I wasn't going to update again until Hawaii, but I thought there was a need to explain why we are experiencing such bad weather. Here is an excerpt from the Dean's memo that we get everyday:

Weather Update: Why is it so Rough?
The MV Explorer has diverted from its planned route to Hawaii to avoid a massive storm that is still pummeling the West Coast of the United States. The storm slammed the West Coast yesterday with hurricane-force wind gusts, large hail, and torrential rains. Although we have avoided the worst of the storm, we continue to experience rough seas generated by one of the most powerful low pressure systems since record keeping began in the 1800s. The Captain is using the stabilizers to reduce the effects of the seas, and is maintaining moderate speed since we are on track for our arrival in Hilo. At present, Hawaii is experiencing good weather.

In short, it is getting impossible to do anything! So what do we college students do? We turn a negative till a positive of course! Tonight was probably my funnest night so far on the boat. A bunch of my friends and I hung out on the deck hanging out and playing games. Whenever a big wave would hit, we would have sliding races to see who can get to the other side of the boat the fastest. My friend also took a video of all of us college students rolling across the deck because of the big waves. I can't wait to show you guys how intense this rocking has gotten.

Class, a balance act, literally!

I had my first two days of classes! Let me say, it is really difficult taking notes when the boat rocks so much! The swells outside are so big, 15-20ft! We actually had to divert out course 300 miles because of a major storm in the Pacific. If you want to track the progress of this voyage you can go to www.semesteratsea.org and go to current voyage. Last night was difficult to sleep because our nightstand detached from the wall and fell, drawers kept opening and closing, stuff even fell in the bathroom. These swells are huge! I forgot to secure my mouthwash in the bathroom and it fell of the counter, breaking the cap and spilling everywhere! During class, a girl fell out of her chair, after I found out she was alright everyone laughed, I think she was quite embarrassed. I almost fell in one of my classes, I had to catch myself on the table. We always hang on deck after class and play cards, while sliding on our chairs from one side of the ship to another. These waves are crazy! Every little chore you think is difficult, suddenly becomes a difficult task. Try balancing food on a plate while the boat rocks, try running on a treadmill when the boat moves from under you even simply walking upstairs become difficult! I have a work study on the boat that pays for part of my tuition, and the office I work at is high up on the boat and in the front of the boat, basically the worst place to be in a boat rocks this much. Everything is always falling in that office, I had to make signs today and couldn't even cut the paper straight because the boats intense rocking.

I find myself liking the limited internet a little. I realized how much free time I have without the distraction of the internet. All I can do is email people, which by the way if you want to email me it is vemccormack@semesteratsea.net. I will respond.

Well I had my first two days of classes so I decided to write a little about each:

Global Studies- This is the class every Semester at Sea student is required to take. This class is located in the front of the boat and is a really bad place to be. This is also the class that the girl fell out of her chair. The professor probably has the funniest one liners ever. He is extremely enthusiastic about his work. Our final project is also very interesting, we have to make a teaching itinerary for high school seniors on the subject of our choice that has to do with sustainability. If your group gets top ten, you get a grant from the University of Virginia, I really want to win this.

Biology of Sharks- The professor is a premier shark biologist. I am actually quite surprised at the level of expertise and the prestige of all the professors here. The class probably has the best view, I always find myself gazing outside the window into the miles and miles of ocean. I can't wait to do a field directed practica with this professor to get hands-on with a shark.

The Sea and Human Imagination- I haven't taken a english class in the longest time! I have to read a book by Herman Melville called Typee. The book so far is pretty interesting. This class has given me something to do on what seems like so much free time, I just read the book out on the deck. I actually got pretty sunburn doing that. The professor is really down to earth as well.

Dating, Marriage, and Family- This is the class I almost fell in.  I don't know if I have an opinion on this class yet, it definately seems like allot of work and is a class I am not used to taking as an engineer. The professor seems nice though and her husband is an engineer so we do have something in common. The field directed practica also seem very interesting, they involve getting to know families of other cultures and doing community service. I would love doing something like that. I feel like out of all the classes, this one is going to open my mind the most.

Well thats my update for the past 2 days. I probably will not update again untill I leave Hawaii unless something significant happens.

Orientation

I just finished my first day out on sea! I mentioned yesterday that this boat rocks allot because of rough seas, but the seas are calmer today and the boat STILL rocks allot. It is sooo difficult walking in a straight line! I still have yet to get sea sick. I feel like I am going to have the best balance after this trip. Today was orientation, it was an extremely hectic day. We did get a big break where my roommate and I decided to play ping pong, let me tell you playing ping pong on a boat that rocks this much is very difficult. I feel like my lucky streak with random roommates hasn't run out yet because my roommate and I get along really well. We also had the involvement fair where I decided to sign up for an on-board family, which is pretty much a group of people that get together and are lead by one of the older people on the ship like the life long learners. I also signed up to critique resumes and to give interviewing advice to students. I figured that I have been to many career fairs and have wrote many resumes that I can pass on some of the knowledge I learned to the students. I also signed up for intramural volleyball, that should be fun in a rocky and windy ship.

 I also met many more people, I really don't know how I am going to remember this many names, I sometimes wished we had name tags. We had a trivia night and my team was probably the most obnoxious team, but I mean that in a good and funny way. My supervisor put me to work today in the involvement fair and I found that this work-study is a really great way to meet people.

I am very surprised by a few things on this ship. First of all, there is many families on the ship. I guess the professors bring their families, I met quite a few of them and they are all really nice. I guess their children take classes on the ship. I would have loved to been one of the children. Second of all, the service on this boat is not what I expected from a ship that is essentially a collge at sea. I guess I associate college with bad dorms that are dirty. On this ship, we have someone clean our rooms everyday and our bathroom. My bed is made every morning! Someone fills my drink and cleans my plates. I am not used to this kind of service but I know I am liking this allot.

Rough Seas!

I am finally on the boat and what an amazing day it has been! I had to shuttle out to the boat at 7AM and quickly move into my room because then I was put to work right away. I got a work study on the boat that pays for a big portion of my trip and I work in student life, specifically I work in academic success and I am the only student working in that department. My job today consisted is giving directions to people on the boat, mainly leading people checking in to the check in station. It was kind of funny that they put me in this position because I alone just got on the boat and had no idea where anything was except the check-in station! I had to lead all the student life people in an ice breaker of my choice, luckily I have the Step-Up program to thank for giving me ideas on some of the ice breakers.

I have met so many people today it is ridiculous! I feel like this is freshmen year all over again, no one knows anyone but everyone is trying to meet everyone! I have met people from all over and everyone is really cool. My roommate is pretty cool too and I know we probably won't have any roommate issues. There is also a cold front coming in which is bringing in rough seas. People have already gotten sea sick! I feel fine though, I guess I am use to boats. It is really funny watching people walk down the halls because no one can walk straight in these seas, if you didn't know they were on a boat you would think they were drunk or something!

Bad news, the bandwidth on the boat is terrible and I can't upload picture to my blog! I will make sure to upload all of them when I get back!

Next time I will be in the continental United States is on the east coast. Hawaii here I come!

More of San Diego! And some thoughts as an Engineer on this trip

More of San Diego! And some thoughts as an Engineer on this trip
Originally uploaded by vic41234

San Diego is such an amazing city! I could definitely see myself living in a
city like this! We saw the wild seals and everything! Hre is some of the
pictures I took of the zoo of the pandas, mainly because Jessica is obsessed
with pandas. I have more pictures I promise. We also went to the Semester at
Sea reception and it is so surreal that this is all really happening!

I have quickly realized there are not that many engineers on this trip.
People have asked why I am doing this trip and how is this going to help me
with my career. People need to realize that engineering technology affects
the whole entire world. Everything that is made was somehow influenced by an
engineer. I want to go into the health care industry and help take part in
building machines that could save lives not just in the United States, but
to the whole world! Not every country runs like the United States, every
country runs differently and people and their different backgrounds are
drastically different. We cannot just assume that one technology will work
perfectly in every country. People might have different views on everything.
We need to break down these cultural barriers and work with other countries
so that the whole world improves. One of my goals is to do community service
in as many countries as I can, I want to see not just want the tourist sees
but the challenges that the common person has to deal with everyday. I am
not sure how Semester at Sea is going to change my life, but I know it will
help me grow and change my perspective of life. Nothing is better for an
engineer but to grow and see different solutions for situations.

Tomorrow, I board the boat bright and early at 7AM! This is my last post
from the continental United States!

Finally in San Diego!

I arrived in San Diego on the 13th, this city is just amazing! Packing for this trip has been so surreal! The boat was also in San Diego when we arrived so we got to see that too, and it finally hit me that I am going to be on a boat for four months! Today we went to the San Diego zoo (Jessica if you are ready this I did take pictures of the panda for you) the science museum, and iMax movie of Mt. Everest, the mall, Old Town, a bar at the top of the hotel, basically we accomplished allot today.

The San Diego zoo is just amazing! I was just impressed by the sheer size of the whole place. I was also quite impressed with how close you could get to the animals. My cousin and I also met this interesting character in the zoo with some amazing and inspirational stories. Frankly, I didn't believe any of this guys stories because some of the things he said were just way too unbelievable, but I really did want to believe him because his stories were amazing. He talked about how he walked 400 miles (yes you heard me right 400) with his daughter to some Swahili tribe village and a warrior tried to buy his daughter with his herd, that he use to be a CEO of the biggest company in Seattle, and he was president of two other companies, his son has a PHD in acoustic engineering and a minor in electrical and mechanical engineering and he also married an olympic gold medalist. He said he was also in a 3 month coma where he was pronounced dead, and he was in a coma because he was watching his daughter have surgery and he fainted and hit his head against some art piece in the surgery room? You can see why I am a little skeptical, but still even if the story is not true, his story was really motivational. By the way, if you want to meet this character, his name is Carl and he is a volunteer at the zoo in the insect section.

Semester at Sea Trips are Posted!

Today all the Semester at Sea sponsored trips have been posted and I am glad to say that I got all the ones that I really wanted. I am doing SAS sponsored trips in Vietnam, India, South Africa, and Brazil. These are the trips that I got (I also included the code for my fellow Semester at Sea students):

Vietnam (HCM12)- I am going to Cambodia to visit the temples of Angkor
India (CHE16)- I am going to the Taj Majal and Jaipur and I think it includes an elephant ride
South Africa (CAP19)- Tented Safari in Pilansberg
Brazil (SAL08) Group A- I am going on an Amazon boat ride where we sleep on hamocks on the boat.

Those are my trips and I just got even more excited! This is going to be the trip of a lifetime!