Where in the world...

The stars at night-are big and bright

2011-08-19T06:53:00.000Z

1 year ago today, I arrived in Texas for the 3d time in my life. I flew into Love Field and was picked up at the airport by my high school friend Shan.

Unlike the other times I had been to Texas; once when I was 8 my dad drove the entire family from Providence, RI to Guatemala. Then in May 2010 I visited the North Dallas area again to interview for a job. I landed the job, a great career move for me, but I would have to move 1800 miles from everything I have ever known. I was coming to Dallas, TX to stay.

I would be leaving behind my parents, my brothers, my cousins, my social network (no KB or Jess or CJ), my sorority sisters in my grad chapter, my pham in general. My entire network that has spread out mostly through the northeastern part of the country. But most importantly I would be leaving my girls.

Maya and Jasmine wearing an outfit I brought back from Vietnam

The GuateRicans, my 8 and 9 year old nieces that I love dearly, that I helped to raise, the very ones that received a post card from every place I have ever been. My Jas and Maya. They're the ones I miss the most. Even now a year later, though I have been home and visited 5 times since moving to Texas, it is still hardest to say good bye to Maya, we both cry when we hug each other goodbye, it reminds me of when she was little and I would have to sneak out of her house to go home. Even though I assure her that I will be back to visit soon, it breaks my heart each time. I miss Alex too, my little boyfriend, but our relationship is quite different than that of Jasmine and Maya.

with Alex at New England Patriot Training Day 2010

Those girls did everything with me from the time Maya was 9 months old, we traveled together, made road trips to Maryland and NY they spent a lot of time with me. Those that didnt know me well, assumed that the girls were my children.

The move to Texas so far has been a blessing. I have been fortunate that I had a couple of friends that already lived in this area, and thanks to my "network" have made friends through some people I know from back home. After my arrival here the blessings have continued, from my job promotion and raise within 15 days of my arrival, to my acquiring a new car, and even finding a cool and compatible room mate. This move truly has been a great thing.

Since moving to Texas I have done some traveling. I have also taken in some of the Texas scenes and sights. I have seen Daley Plaza, been to the Rodeo, been to a Maverick's game (prior to their championship), been to a concert, been to a mega church, driven to another major city without leaving the state, driven to New Orleans, and even driven the 1800 miles back to RI. I can assure you I miss my little Rhody. I miss hanging out with KB and Jess, I miss watching my Patriots with little effort. I miss waterfire, the smell of the ocean, the proximity of things, the 3 hour drive to chill with CJ in New York, and I even miss winter. Though I will take this Texas heat over the Hazy, Hot, and Humid RI summers any day even if it is for a 50 day stretch as we have experienced this summer, it hasn't rained here since May.

Texas truly is a whole new world, and for now it is the capital of my world, it is my new home. I look forward to continue exploring it and will continue to post of my adventures no matter how boring they may be, I hope you continue to read.

San Diego to RI: completing the Circumnavigation of the globe

2011-08-19T05:57:00.000Z

The sun rose over Mexico like every other sunrise we had seen for the past 11 ports. It was beautiful, but this one was different. The hug from former colleagues, now great friends was a little tighter and meant a little more. We were entering our last port. The end of a journey started 110 days prior.

We could see parents, family and friends holding banners, waving, and cheering on the dock. Welcoming us back. Students recognizing their parents and calling them on the phone. Emotions were high. Everyone had tears streaming down their face.

In the days before we had packed up all of our things, we had prepared for this day. While packing you could hear the students reminiscing of where they bought a shirt, a dress, a hat, a back scratcher. How they haggled with the vendors. All of their stories now memories. We placed all of our items outside of our door and they were collected and brought down to the belly of the ship to be brought out into the customs area for us. We would then just identify our items as we cleared customs ourselves.

Though I would remain on the ship for an additional day, when we finally departed and cleared customs, I sat there with all of my things waiting for my friend Daoud to come pick me up. He sent a friend to collect me, we loaded all of my luggage and bags and he drove me to Daoud's apartment in San Diego. As I left the port I could hear my heart pounding. I thought I was going to cry again, and just like that the ship was out of view and we were in a residential area. Within the next few hours I was doing laundry at Doud's and repacking my luggage preparing to fly back to Providence. The time flew by.

And just like that the next morning I was in line waiting to board my Southwest flight to Providence. I arrived to Providence on Dec 17, 2009. 120 days after I had departed from my own house. Left behind everything that I knew and was as familiar to me as my own hand.

Now here I was back again in the home I had grown up in, and though I looked the same, everything was different. All of a sudden the world seemed so much smaller, and I knew that I wouldn't be here for too much longer. Because there was so much more I wanted to see and explore, and I was going to continue to do so.

the longest trip home

2011-08-19T04:57:00.000Z

the answer: 2554 miles
the question: the distance we traveled in 4 days to get to San Diego, from Honolulu Hawaii

these 4 days were the 2nd longest 4 days of my life, 2nd only to the 4 days I spent in pain with my back out, in Jamaica alone after Hurricane Dean.

The voyage around the world was amazing. The experiences were once in a life time, the friends I made of colleagues are forever. But at this point we all just wanted to be home. There are only so many ocean views one can take.

Diamond Head in the background as we depart Honolulu, HI

stuck in paradise

2011-08-15T19:15:00.001Z

From Honolulu, we traveled to Hilo, an island I had visited before. While in Hilo I once again visited Kilauea, one of the most active volcanoes on the planet, it has been erupting since 1983. This would be my second tour of the volcano. I went along to see some lava tubes and hear the tour and the story of Pele, the volcano goddess once again.

We returned to the ship excited for our departure in another day, only to find out that due to tropical storms in the Pacific Ocean, our ship would return to Honolulu and sit there for about 36 hours in order to let the storms pass.

For the 2nd time in my life, I was stuck in paradise. I know your thinking, why are you complaining, I can think of worst places to be stuck in than 86 degree Honolulu, Hawaii. I assure you I realize that, however after 100 days on this journey and being so close to being home, it was just "I wanted to get home"! There I said it.

My extra day in Hawaii was really uneventful. I spent it lazily laying on the beach taking in the sun and the air and the sounds of surf boarders and I appreciated another Hawaiian sunset. Some of the more adventurist students went to the other side of the island to witness a once in a life time competition, A legendary big wave surfing contest, the Quicksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau, was held for the first time since 2004, waves had to reach a minimum of 40 feet in order to host this competition. They came back to the ship enthralled with what they saw. It was all just great.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1234047/Surfs-biggest-waves-years-come-Hawaii-North-Pacific-storm.html

Next stop San Diego.

There are 2 sides to every story

2011-08-15T17:54:00.007Z

Like every other morning we arrived at a new port we woke up early and went up to the 7th deck to watch the sunrise over our new destination. Though, this was slightly different. We were home, well almost home. We had arrived to our first US port in 4 months of travel and though thousands of miles from our destination we were back in the US. This morning more than the usual community members joined us to watch our re entry. As the sun rose we were also surrounded by an unfamiliar sound. The sound of people chatting on their cell phones, students, staff, faculty talking to family members letting them know we were almost home.

USS Arizona/Pearl Harbor

One of the sights that I visited while in Honolulu was Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona, its the other half of the story of World War I. The attack of Pearl Harbor and bombing of the USS Arizona is what led to the US dropping nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The USS Arizona still lies at the bottom of the Harbor and leaks oil, some 60 plus years after its 1177 passengers were entombed there. The site is a solemn place, reminding me of my visits to Arlington cemetery and the tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.

We arrive to the monument and had to take a small boat out to the monument, a white marble structure that was built over where the Arizona lies.

As you enter the monument you see the flags of the states who's name sake battle ships were also affected. On the opposite side the flags representing Hawaii, the United States of America and the branches of the military.

As you walk through there is space, in the middle a hollow for one to look down and see tropical fish among the wreckage, among coral that now covers the barely visible USS Arizona,

and then the silent yet visible reminders in form of oil droplets or black tears, that something horrible happened and that there in fact are remnants below.

On the far wall, the list of names of those 1177 people who's lives were lost on that day in December 68 years almost to the day that I visited the Arizona

Hiroshima

2011-08-15T17:54:00.006Z

I am writing this entry almost 2 years after I visited Hiroshima.

On August 6, 1945 at 8:15 A.M. the United States dropped a nuclear bomb on this capital city. Devastating it and the surrounding area.

I visited this city and saw first hand some of the monuments that still stand, a tribute to a day and time that should never be relived.

I also visited the Museum, dedicated to eradicating the use of atomic/nuclear weapons. It was quite a site to see. The images and stories of the people captured within are forever embedded in my mind. Which is the primary reason it has taken me this long to write this post. When as a human being you are exposed to the atrocities that have been inflicted on other human beings, in the name of your own rights it is hard to come to terms with it. As a resident of the United States of America, it is an inheritance that I have fully been able to benefit from yet when faced with the responsibility to understand, It has been a hard pill to swallow. War is not easy, and seeing first hand the decimation that took place in a country half way around the world was a bit much and still all too real.

I ramble so I will stop. Here is more information on Hiroshima. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroshima

Mt. Fuji

2010-01-03T23:50:00.001Z

This day we would travel for about 4 hours to Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park to visit the tallest mountain in Japan; Mt. Fuji (3776 m or 12,388 feet). If you have never been to a snow capped mountain up close then you can not understand how majestic it is to see. As we were driving along the route it seemed as if all of a sudden the mountain just popped up out of no where.

By tour bus we would travel up the Yoshida route to the 4^thstation 2305 meters (7562.3 feet or 1.4 miles) above sea level as close to the summit as we could get for the time of year we were visiting. Our view of the summit was gorgeous, covered in snow, with the sun over top. A slight wind would blow the snow causing a cloud effect.

At this location there was a restaurant and a few shops to purchase souvenirs and a Shinto temple, from this location near the summit we could also view the mountain rage across the way, referred to as the Japanese Alps by our guide, this mountain range added to the vista.

As we left Mt. Fuji we would now go to Hakone and ride a cable car into the fog to catch another view of Mt. Fuji, however due to the fog we barely could see each other never mind any views.

Of course the fog cleared as we boarded the ferry taking us to the other side of one of the five lakes that surround Mt. Fuji. This ride on the ferry also gave us some great views of Mt. Fuji within the mountain range, during sunset. It was breathtaking and not even the chilly 40 degree weather deterred us from enjoying being outside.

Welcome to Japan, now be quiet

2010-01-03T02:16:00.001Z

We arrived to Yokohama, Japan as with most other ports I met with ED on the outer deck to watch our entry into the port. And watch one of the most amazing sunrises of the voyage.

Is it any wonder the Japanese refer to their homeland as the Empire of the sun. As the sun came up, we could see the majestic Mt. Fuji with a rose colored glow as the sun reflected its rays off the snow capped mountain. As the ship pulled in to its birth we were met with Japanese drummers, mostly women, playing on large drums.

We enjoyed this only for a few minutes as we were aware that the clearing of the ship in Japan was going to be a unique experience. As a member of the Living Learning Team, it was our responsibility in most ports to assist with passport distribution and distribution of other important documents necessary for our shipboard community to travel within the country we were visiting. In India we had to ensure each of our community members had a shore pass, as was the case in Vietnam. If these documents (shore passes) were lost, than the person who they belonged to would not be able to leave for the ship for the duration of our stay. This actually happened to a couple of students.

In Japan the whole process of passport distribution and preparation to disembark was different. Prior to our arrival in Yokohama as a team we were trained by the medical team to take the temperature of each of our community members, which was a requirement of the Japanese government. The Japanese would quarantine any member that had an above average temperature, their prevention of spreading the H1N1 virus into their country. Once we arrived to Yokohama, the Living Learning Team was dispatched into the port terminal and given assignments. Some were to direct students through immigration, others were to hand out their passports and custom forms in the terminal (this was usually done on the ship), and I was assigned the task of informing the members of our shipboard community the following:

“behind me you will collect your passport from another team member, as usual by you ship id number, you will then form a single line facing forward only and will be directed by another LLC to get through immigration, once you clear immigration, you will walk about 20 feet and clear customs, at that point you can wait in the terminal to re board the ship or leave the terminal, this must be done in complete silence. Any questions you might have please direct only to a terminal agent. Please remove your hats and sunglasses and again I remind you COMPLETE SILENCE”

I must have given those instructions 100 times at least. Of course there were some people that objected to being quiet, I would remind them that we are here as guests and if they have questions about the guidelines they should address them with the Japanese officials. The process took a few hours and finally our ship was cleared.

Once we were clear I along with 4 of my colleagues headed into Yokohama on foot to get our train tickets for the Shinkansen which we would take two evenings later from Tokyo to Kobe. On our way to the train station we passed Chinatown ( I thought to myself, damn a Chinatown in Japan, now I seen it all). After we purchased our tickets, PL and I decided to walk to the ferris wheel and possibly go for a ride to get an arial view of Yokohama.

As we got closer to the ferris wheel the sun started to go down and it got a little colder and we realized we had no cash on us so opted out. We walked through a mall and around the amusement park and then decided to head back to the ship, having had a full day of walking. We very much enjoyed our personal tour of the Yokohama water front. Tomorrow we were off on a tour of Mt. Fuji

Shang Hai so nice to meet you

2009-12-11T10:00:00.002Z

Though we flew out of Hong Kong to Beijing, our return was to Shanghai, within the country of China. While it was about 78 degrees the day we left Hong Kong, and a cold blustery average of 35 while we were in Beijing, it was a wet and overcast 50 or so degrees in Shanghai, we would have only one short day in Shanghai so we decided to make the best of it.

Once again some colleagues and I decided to venture out into Shanghai to see what it had to offer. We walked for hours in the rain our first mission was to find a post office and perhaps visit a museum. Well we found the museum and also found it closed so on to our next mission the post office. Just then we received a FB message courtesy of my blackberry informing us that we had more time in Shanghai; due to an ocean storm our captain had delayed our departure until the next day. Now we had a few more hours to burn in Shanghai. So without being deterred we decided to seek out a post office, but first a side trip to McDonald’s. We entered Mickey D’s and sat and waited a while as we were still a little early for lunch. As we sat there waiting we noticed that this McDonald's had delivery. YES DELIVERY! The delivery men would pack up their McDonald’s delivery boxes and get on their mo-ped scooters and head out to deliver lunches to those that had ordered them, we thought it was a riot, so of course we took pictures.

Once that was out of the way on we were with our mission – to the Post office. While walking we came across a Dunkin Donuts. I was truly excited. This was a little bit of home so far away from home. On the other side of the world to be exact.

Im supposed to be pointing at "Providence", my home town right above where I am pointing "Sacramento"

Though we had just had a cup of coffee at Starbucks less than 2 hours before, PL and I were about to go in when the Becker’s joined us; the four of us strolled into D&D and ordered our coffee and donuts. Now I am not a huge fan of donuts and typically will not eat them, though here I had to have a French Cruller (sp), it was very disappointing. While trying to decide on which donuts we would ultimately have LB came across a sea weed and bacon option to which we all took a pass. We sat there and enjoyed our coffee and donuts for what it was and then continued back on our search for the post office. As we continued our walk we were detoured around (Shanghai is the host of the 2010 World Expo and doing a major over haul of parts of their city) and finally stumbled upon the post office, however I did not get stamps because they had run out. We decided to continue searching and then walk towards the Pearl, one of the major skyline buildings that Shanghai was known for. After a brief stop in what can only be described as an indoor flea market, we made a pit stop in the Renaissance Hotel to use their facilities and to ask directions. While there the valet/concierge asked me if I wanted to mail the postcards (I had taken them out for a visual in the event the person we encountered for directions did not speak English), I informed him that they were not ready to be mailed out as they did not have stamps. He then offered to put stamps on them and that he would make sure they were mailed out (note to those reading this, if you did not receive your postcard from my trip to China the valet/concierge at the Renaissance Hotel in China is the one to blame). I gladly handed him the postcard and money to pay for the stamps and quickly we were once again on our way. We arrived to the pearl and made the decision not to pay the money to go up for the non-existent view since it was overcast and rainy.

We took a few pictures at the base when 2 of our international students (the Columbian guys) happened upon us and informed us of how to get a great free view of the city and the Bottle Opener (another of the world famous sky line buildings in Shanghai, this one is one of the tallest buildings in the world). PL and I were all over it, we decided we were going to go for it, leaving the Becker’s behind we were now on our way. As we were detoured through a park and around a crossing we came within feet of the base of the building without finding a way to get to it and finally we succumb to the cold and rainy day.

this is as close as we got to one of the tallest buildings in the world, due to detours and traffic and mostly weather

We gave up and decided to call it a loss. We then took a subway back to the pier area and thought we would be close enough to walk to our ship. We arrived to our subway stop and started what we thought would be a short walk. We walked for about 45 minutes and stopped at a convenience store to spend the last of our money on chips and beer. We finally arrived to our ship and were pleased with the events of our day, I mean after all we had chips and beer.

this was the view Shang Hai harbor from my cabin window

The Great Wall...an experience of a lifetime

2009-12-07T11:09:00.000Z

With my visit to the Great Wall of China I am able to check of another item off the bucket list, the 2^nd of the Wonder’s of the World I would visit on my voyage around the world. I walked, hiked, fell, but mostly climbed the Juyongguan Pass of The Great Wall China on Friday, November 13, 2009.

As we arrived we were quite excited about what we were about to embark upon, I along with about 30 students and two colleagues dismounted our bus in about 30 degree weather, and though there was snow on the ground we started straight away to the entry way of The Great Wall. We stopped only to take pictures as we started up the STEEP staircase, it was then that it occurred to me that I was in no Disney movie and this Great Wall hike was actually gong to be more of a climb than a hike.

The steps were in no way uniform not one step was the same height as the next but the one thing they did have in common was that they were all very steep. Also due to the snow that had fallen just days before our arrival they were covered in snow and ice which made the hike up much more treacherous.

Though I started my climb with 4 layers (2 outer and 2 inner layers) I was down to my 2 inner layers as the first 20 minutes of the hike had me quite warm.

About an hour into the hike, I could hear some of our students yelling “Here comes Ana the LLC, Here comes Ana” I then realized is was our international student from the Basque region and he along with another student had commandeered one of the forts of the wall and was dropping snowballs, throwing them on all the passer’s by yelling “in the name of the Basque country, go home you filthy Mongols”

It was a bit funny, he and his snowball throwing partner were throwing snowballs at everyone, even if they weren’t with our group; everyone enjoying this break from the serious climbing and joining in the impromptu snowball fight. I managed to keep walking by unscathed. Though how he and got ahead of me without my noticing is beyond me. But up on the next tower were my colleagues the Becker’s with some students who had commandeered another fort. They had an arsenal of snowballs and were just getting everyone as they came up the hill towards their tower. I was grazed once or twice. I entered the ground floor of their fort and I could hear them plotting. As I crept up the stairs and around corners. Then I heard a small commotion, it seems that LB lost control of a snowball and ended up pegging a Chinese man that was on the fort with them. He realized it was all in fun, then he and his friend joined the Becker’s and our students and engaged our students on the ground in an International snow ball fight on the Great Wall of China. The student’s on the ground were the International student from the Basque region joined by some French folk and other semester at sea students. It was so much fun. Later on the bus on the way back to our hotel I thanked the student from the Basque region, telling him the snowball fight indeed made my Great wall experience a different experience.

After the break we finished hiking the wall, it was steep everywhere, just as we thought the worst was over because we had reached the tallest part of our section of the wall and we would start out descend, it occurred to us, we have to climb down this thing, and the part that we descended on was not easy. On our descend we remarked just what a marvel of engineering this wall is, the angles and slopes on the side of these mountains literally made you feel as if you were about to fall off the mountain. We came to the realization that even climbing the stairs up you had to look down at your steps because they were uneven in nature, is it any wonder the Mongols were kept out of China, and if they tried to cross in the winter as we experienced, at times this would make them sitting ducks because the snow would only dampen their effort. Most of the time we were literally walking backwards as we held on to the hand rails, as if we were repelling off a mountain side, It was more snowy and icy on the climb down than it had been on the hike up. It was treacherous.

We descended for about an hour when we started to see that the end of our hike was nearing. As we arrived to the platform on the bottom we saw just how steep the Wall had been. Our Great Wall experience was over and it had been Great, it felt like an accomplishment.

A whirlwind tour of Beijing

2009-12-03T17:30:00.000Z

In the early hours of November 13, 2009 a group of 30 or so members of the Semester at Sea community woke up at 4am to meet and head out to Beijing, China from Hong Kong.

We boarded our flight by 730am and were delayed due to weather, in my usual form as I do on airplanes, I immediately fell asleep and was only awaken by one of my colleagues a few rows away telling me to make sure I ate the meal they were about to serve since we would miss lunch due to us being late. Yes we were served a hot meal aboard this China Air flight, it was pretty good. We were about to be on a 4 day excursion to Beijing sponsored by Peking University. In the next 3 nights and 4 days we would visit the Summer Palace, the Ming Dynasty Tombs, the Great Wall, Tienanmen Square, The Forbidden City, and the Temple of Heaven.

First stop the Summer Palace (in winter)

The Ming Dynasty Tombs,

where we had to come back through the gates and announce that we were back (among the living) so that our spirit would not remain with the dead. A superstition

The Great Wall

Tienanmen Square

The Forbidden City

Temple of Heaven

I would also partake of some of the best Chinese food I have ever had (of course it’s the best since Im in China), though I am not a fan of Chinese food. Including the adventurous visit to Ghost street, (rightly named because the restaurants that line it are open into the wee hours of the morning) where we ate Hot Pot, literally a pot of soup that had everything in it including 4 whole frogs and was so spicy it made us sweat.

It would be a whirlwind tour and truly amazing. The only one of these visits that I will blog about separately is The Great Wall. For the rest I hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Hong Kong in less than 24 hours

2009-12-02T17:57:00.001Z

Thank God I can’t drive to Hong Kong on a whim, because I would be there all the time. I would describe this magnificent country (it’s a special administrative region of China) as a mixture of Miami, Las Vegas, New York, and New Orleans, with a little Rodeo Drive and Madison Avenue thrown in for good measure. By far the most magnificent sky line of any I have ever seen, and as metropolitan as any major US city, with a great sense of history and culture thrown in.

We knew when we arrived that we were only going to be in Hong Kong for less than 24 hours and would have to plan wisely in order to make the best of it. So after coming into the magnificent harbor and doing our usual morning responsibilities joined by 4 of my colleagues we decided to go out and see what Hong Kong had to offer. In leaving the port area we had to walk through a mall to exit, this was the most high end mall I had ever been to; Armani exchange, Dolce and Gobana, Burberry, Chloe and other boutique stores, all for children. We knew we weren’t in Kansas anymore. As we walked out of the exit we were encountered by Christmas decorations, they were everywhere outside this mall it was a winter wonderland, it made us actually remember that the Christmas season was upon us. We asked for some quick directions and thought were on our way when in mid stride we were immediately stopped by a small group of school children that wanted to survey us on what we thought of Hong Kong, of course having just arrived we couldn’t answer many of their questions though GH did answer as much as he could.

Of we went to discover the city. Walking into what seemed like the downtown area past 5 star hotels and more A-list name stores. It really felt like we were in any major city in the US, with the exception of all the Chinese writing on the buildings of course. We had to run a quick errand with AH who needed a stamp on her passport and while she ran off with PL to take care of that me, ED, and GH went to Starbucks to get real coffee. We had been missing “real” coffee (the ship coffee is made from a paste, and taste like it). We enjoyed every sip of the coffee. Having our errand done, we now did our usual first day in port things:

1. Exchange money

2. Get stamps

3. Get postcards

After we had finished that we decided it was time to figure out how we would spend the next few hours. There were so many options and so little time. Should we hop on the tram and get a guided tour of the area, or would Hong Kong Disney be our next stop, or Victoria Peak. Instead I convinced the group that we should take the subway and head to Lantau Island and see the Tian Tan Buddha. You might be thinking what’s the big deal about seeing a Buddah, you seen one you seen them all, no? Well not so my friend. The Tian Tan Buddha is the 2^nd largest outdoor seated Buddha in the world and a magnificent sight. Since none of us had any real plans for our day and everyone was game, off we went. A subway ride and 360 degree view cable car ride later we found ourselves on Lantau Island walking towards the Big Buddha, but not before stopping to watch a kite demonstration.

We watched as 5 men shifted around this huge kite which looked like nothing in particular on the ground and as soon as it was airborne we could see that it was an octopus. We stood around and watched until that kite crashed and then they put up these diamond shaped kites with long tails that made ripping sounds. After a few minutes we kept walking towards the Buddha. At the foot of the steps to the Buddha we noticed there was a monastery across the way, so we decided to visit that first and then circle around to walk up the many stairs to visit the Buddha.

We walked over to the monastery and walked through the entry way, which was more lake an ante room, to reveal a quiet courtyard and a beautifully ornate temple. Incense had been burning outside the temple entryway but not beyond its doorways. Everything was so beautiful. We walked around a bit taking pictures and being reflective before we headed back towards the Buddha.

Once at the bottom of the stairs again we started our ascent to visit with the sitting Buddha. As the clouds rolled in around him it seemed like he was moving at times. The closer we got the more details we noticed and the more interesting he became. Finally at the summit just below the lotus throne he sits on we walked around wondering how he had come to be, sitting atop this mountain. He was immense and amazing. We walked around a bit and then descended from his throne.

Having enjoyed our visit with the Big Buddha we were pleased that we had selected this way to spend the little time we had in Hong Kong. We boarded our crystal cabin cable car to take us back, we enjoyed the 25 minute ride as we watched planes take off and land from nearby Hong Kong international airport, we watched other empty cable cars swaying in the wind as well as other magnificent views as we lost view of the Buddha in the distances. We arrived to the ground safely and after a brief stop at the post office walked back to our subway station and took the subway back to the center of Hong Kong. By the time we reached our ship it was dark and the magic of the city was all aglow. The light show in the harbor would begin shortly as buildings flashed their neon lights while others stood hovering above just glowing.

Our day was well spent. Next time I'm in Hong Kong perhaps I will do the city tour.

Tian Tan Buddha Wikipedia

360 degree Crystal Cable Car Cabin

a tale of two stories, ok maybe 3 while in Vietnam

2009-12-01T15:55:00.000Z

There are 2 things that were all the rage and we kept hearing to make sure we did while we were in Vietnam.

1. 1. Get a custom tailored suit made

2. 2. Get a massage

Of course I did both

Day 2 of my tour of Vietnam I ventured out into Ho Chi Minh City by myself and searched for the seamstress some of my colleagues had been to the day before to order their custom made dresses and suits. I had decided that I would have a 3 piece suit made. A standard blue pant suit with a skirt as the 3d piece, but I first did a little homework. I printed out from the JC Penney website a style of suit that I liked, both pant and skirt design. I also priced on a couple of websites what those suits cost, reminding myself repeatedly that I was about to have something tailored to me and needed to account for that. So with a price that I would spend in mind the pictures of the style of suit I wanted in hand headed out into the city. The shuttle from the port to the Rex hotel took a little longer than I anticipated and finally as I was dropped off in front of City Hall I got my bearings rather quickly and headed down the 10 or so blocks in search of my suit. Crossing busy intersections and passing vendors, wishing for me to purchase their goods. Passing a fruit stand with the most outrageous looking fruit I had ever seen.

Finally I was there. I walked in and tried to communicate with the seamstress bringing her initial price of $150 USD to $100 USD for my custom tailored suit. I was quite proud of myself. I gave her my debit card so she could charge the 900,000 Dong (Vietnamese currency) equivalent to $50 USD and she ran it once and then again but to no avail. I asked her if there was an ATM machine nearby and she directed me to a bank two doors down. I walked to the bank, not really concerned because I had communicated with my bank as recent as India regarding my bank card (this entire situation will be blogged about in its own entry as the drama around my debit card deserves its own post), I inserted my card, entered my pin and then watched as the screen flashed in RED and in English, “Compromised”. The ATM machine kept my card. I immediately panicked and quickly realized the reality of my situation. I looked up and realized I was at a bank and immediately thought, “Maybe they will give me my card back and let me withdraw cash from the bank?” I walked in the bank only to realize they were at lunch and would not be back for 35 minutes. I looked over my shoulder and realized there was a desk with a young woman at it; perhaps she works for the bank? I walked over to speak to her and asked if she spoke English, she nodded and smiled and immediately I knew this was not going to be easy. I then realized the desk she was working at was a tour agency, neither she nor another women that was sitting there would be able to help me. I had no recourse but to wait until the bank reopened at 1pm.

As the bank workers returned from lunch and the bank reopened I finally was able to communicate with someone who was able to return my card to me. At that point they directed me to a window where I would deal with a woman who would try to help me withdraw money, she seemed earnest in her attempt to help me, as I approached she took my card and asked for my passport, I looked in my purse and realized I had left my passport on the ship and the only thing I had in my possession was the id card we were to show the port agent upon our entrance and departure from the port, she smiled nicely and repeated “I need your passport to do this transaction” I smiled back and informed her I would have to go and retrieve my passport from the ship. I walked out of the bank and back to the seamstress, informed her that I would return shortly that I had to retrieve my passport from the ship to withdraw money. She smiled and nodded which led me to believe she had no idea what I was saying; I smiled back and walked out of the shop. I walked the 10 or so blocks with an even quicker pace this time, not so concerned about the traffic any more. Now I was concerned to get to the safety of the ship. I literally started to panic, because I had no access to money and was in a foreign city and alone. I arrived to the ship about an hour later and was still a little panic stricken when I ran into a colleague MR. He was about to head out into HCMC and asked if I wanted to tag along. I agreed as I started to tell him my story, he turned to me and said don’t worry I can let you borrow until you get it straightened out. We headed back into HCMC and did some running around.

Met up with an acquaintance of his, ate some Pho (pronounced Fuh), then walked over to the seamstress shop and gave her my deposit. I was so relieved.

A few days later and thanks to the kindness of a stranger wiring me money (also another post for another day) I was able to pick up my custom tailored suit.

Now, I grew up having clothes custom tailored for me, my grandmother (abuelita) was a seamstress. She would make me and my cousins play cloths and formal dresses. She made my cousin Astrid’s wedding dress, and all of our bridesmaid’s dresses. She made my graduation dress for 8^th grade graduation, and my prom gown. It wasn’t until I went in for my first fitting and saw the seamstress chalking and outlining a newspaper that all of these memories kept flooding back to me about how my abuelita would be up late in the night cutting and stitching and sewing.

It was like I was in my abuelitas little apartment all over again. I tried on my suit and it needed a couple of adjustments, within 24 hours (3days after I had initially been fitted for the suit) I walked into this little shop and picked up my custom tailored 3 piece suit and I was happy.

Another of the “checking off the list things to do while you’re in Vietnam” is to get a massage. There are massage parlors everywhere and they are cheap. I’m talking $20USD will get you an hour of a good massage and an experience of a lifetime. Now before the men start asking questions, I don’t know if that includes a happy ending, I’m sure you can find those type of parlors in Vietnam too, but I can honestly say that neither I nor anyone that I was with was approached in that vein.

We walked around for a few hours peeping at the vendors when we decided in the late afternoon that it was time for our massage, we finally found a massage parlor that was to our liking (as far as prices went) and decided to give it a go. 2 of my colleagues and I walked in and immediately waited on, we received spa manicures, and spa pedicures, complete with a paraffin dip on our hands and feet, and a 75 minute massage for $45 USD. The Spa manicure and pedicure were standard and no big thing to write home about. But the massage was probably the most intense and best massage I had ever had.

The woman that attended to me was at most 5’2” and about a size 2, yes a tiny little thing. But her hands were strong and amazing. She massaged my neck and head applying just the right amount of pressure to each at one point asking me if I wanted her to press harder. I was so relaxed I couldn’t even speak, she had to ask me again. She massaged the soreness out of my legs and twisted my muscles. At one point she started at the balls of my feet and literally ended up crawling up on all fours up where I could feel her shins in the middle of my back. It was the strangest thing but it felt so good. When she finished I felt like I was floating. The only thing that separated me from the other customers was a curtain and I could hear some moaning and sighing from MR two stalls away as the masseuse walked on his back. Myself and AH were more relaxed in receiving our massage. We all walked out of there renewed and pleased with our choice, and recommended it to others; another great experience on an outing with friends and colleagues.

Gooooood Morning Vietnam!!!!

2009-12-01T14:06:00.000Z

One of the more interesting ports that we have come into was Vietnam, not because of its magical sunrise or because of the great view of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) as we docked, but because we had to travel from the Ocean for three hours up the Saigon River to reach HCMC Vietnam. What’s the big deal with travelling up the Saigon River you ask? Well for one it is one of the busiest waterways in Southeast Asia. “it is the main water supply for Vietnam as well as the host of Saigon Port” (Wikipedia, 2009). I do also recall though that for the sunrise over Vietnam, it did seem as if the water was smooth as glass.

On November 3, the Living Learning staff were invited to one of our colleague’s cabin on the 7^th deck balcony for breakfast croissants and real coffee to relax in comfort as we travelled up the Saigon River, dodging, other freighters, small fishing boats, other watercrafts carrying dirt, iron, and supplies.

Many times the pilot and/or the captain would blow the horn for a smaller vessel to move and give our ship the right of way. The whole thing was like a scene out of a movie.

As we arrived into Saigon port, Saigon is the old name for HCMC, we were greeted by a group of Vietnamese women wearing Áo dài (pronounced ǎːwzâːj), the traditional Vietnamese dress and straw hats. It was like we were living in a postcard.

We went through the usual routine of getting and distributing our passports and obtaining our “special cards” which in Vietnam we were required to carry at all times and present whenever asked. My first few hours in HCMC were spent on a City tour, checking out the sites of HCMC and a couple of their museums. I don’t remember much from this tour in part because the heat and humidity were oppressive. Of all the countries we had been to, this had to be the most hot and humid, it was intense.

The other unique aspect of Vietnam was also the amount of motorbikes (mopeds) and motorcycles. During rush hour it would seem that there were a million people on the road on motorbikes, and not just one or two, but at times a whole family of folk, it was all so interesting to see.

We were also informed, prior to our arrival, just how we were to cross the street. It seemed simple, step off the curb and walk, “the motorbikes” will just go around you. We were told don’t run, don’t stop midway, just walk at a normal pace and the traffic will dodge you. That is so much easier to say than actually do, though by the time we left Vietnam 5 days later, I was a semi pro at this maneuver. Look to see where the traffic is coming, find an open spot, step off the curb and walk (and pray to God you don’t get hit). It was simple alright.

"The Taj Mahal: a testament to love'

2009-11-30T13:52:00.003Z

As explained to us by our guide Mr. Singh. A Mahal is a palace, throughout India there are many Mahal’s the crown jewel of which is the Taj Mahal. I am sure you are aware of the story of the Taj Mahal. It is the gorgeous palace built by “Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. In 1631, Shah Jahan, emperor during the Mughal empire's period of greatest prosperity, was grief-stricken when his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, died during the birth of their fourteenth child, Gauhara Begum. Construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632, one year after her death. Despite her frequent pregnancies, Mumtaz traveled with Shah Jahan's entourage throughout his earlier military campaigns and the subsequent rebellion against his father. She was his constant companion and trusted confidant and their relationship was intense. Indeed, the court historians go to unheard lengths to document the intimate and erotic relationship the couple enjoyed. In their nineteen years of marriage, they had thirteen children together, seven of whom died at birth or at a very young age.

Mumtaz died in Burhanpur in 1631 AD (1040 AH), while giving birth to their fourteenth child. She had been accompanying her husband whilst he was fighting a campaign in the Deccan Plateau. Her body was temporarily buried at Burhanpur in a walled pleasure garden known as Zainabad originally constructed by Shah Jahan's uncle Daniyal on the bank of the Tapti River. Today, the Taj Mahal stands as the ultimate monument to love and homage to her beauty and life”. (Wikipedia, 2009)

Or to put it in more crass terms, as one of the t shirts (that I should have bought) advertised "it’s the greatest hard on a man has ever had for a woman." But honestly it is a standing monument of beauty that is immense and not only beautiful, it is breath taking.

On October 24, 2009 we arrived in Agra and checked into a hotel 10 minutes from the Taj Mahal, in the morning we would take off before dawn to see the sun rise there and return in the late afternoon to see the sun set. I was so excited. I hardly slept or so I thought, when my alarm went off at 4am, I quickly prepared and dressed for the day. My colleague PL called me to confirm I was awake and we agreed to meet on the bus. As I left my room I hoped onto the elevator and there was a couple already on there, they looked a little distressed but I didn’t think anything of it. I saw that the Lobby button had been pressed and watched the doors close. For the next few minutes I came to learn firsthand why the couple had looked distressed. We rode the elevator for the next 10 or so minutes stopping on other floors (none of which we pressed, or that there were people waiting for an elevator). I started to get anxious. I was going to miss my bus. I was sweating and close to tears when finally we arrived to the lobby and I ran out of the elevator into the lobby and ran into the parking area to see the last of our tour busses pulling away. I chased it down only to realize another bus was waiting just outside the hotel gates. Knowing it was not my bus but one of the busses from our tour, I hoped on an apologized to the SASers on their bus. They understood told me to take my seat and off we were to see the Taj Mahal at sunrise.

We arrived just outside the gates and were told we would have to walk a few minutes to then wait in line outside the gates. As I walked to the gates in the dark with members of our ship community I thought wow I can’t believe I almost missed this. I arrived to the gate to see my bus mates waiting for me, PL seemed relieved, when I told him about my elevator ride he sort of laughed. We waited and watched as dawn came and started to lighten the sky then we were let in. After a quick search of our bags and a brief frisking we were on the grounds of the Taj Mahal. We walked towards and arch way and could see its grandeur almost busting through the arch way.

As we came through the archway the Taj seemed larger than life. The sun rising to its east reflecting its rays made the dome seem pink. It truly was a wonder to see. I cannot do it justice, as a matter of fact, any picture that I have seen or taken of it cannot do it service. It is much more magnificent and beautiful than any captured picture of it can portray.

We walked around the Taj, impressed by it architectural beauty, its aesthetic brilliance, and dedication of one person to another. Everything about the Taj was magnificent.

We returned to the Taj, in the late afternoon to witness the evening sun setting around it. The number of visitors seemed to have increased by the thousands, in the early morning it seemed like we had it all to ourselves in comparison to the hordes of people now present. Nonetheless we still appreciated its beauty and splendor. This time we were with thousands of other visitors and a gang of monkeys as well.

To think, I almost missed this due to riding the elevator.

India

2009-11-28T19:07:00.001Z

October 23, we arrived in Chennai, India. As usual a group of us waking up to see the sunrise over our newest port. This sunrise in particular was special. One of our colleagues would be leaving us in India and returning to the US after visiting her family. Our sunrise was bitter sweet.

Upon our arrival while still in the waterway before 6am we could hear the traffic. Horns blowing and just vehicle noise. This should have prepared us to the congestion and amount of people we would encounter in India, the vehicles, rickshaw, farm animals and pedestrians all part of the traffic pattern. We were also greeted in the harbor by these large lavender and crimson colored jelly fish.

I had somewhat anticipated India to be filthy and smell horribly bad, worse than Morocco even, but that in fact is not the India I experienced at all (not to say it does not exist).

Our first day in port a group of 6 of my colleagues and I wandered into Chennai we took a taxi to the port entrance past an inspection point (which is a story and blog which may cause some ethical concerns and international incidents, therefore I have decided that in order to protect the not so innocent I will blog about it when the voyage is over) to The Sheraton Chennai; an oasis among the busy dusty street in Chennai. a guard and gate informed us that not even the parking area was open to all. We walked into the hotel itself and was stunned by its beauty. We decided that instead of just asking for directions, we would have our lunch at a restaurant in the hotel, we then had a fabulous lunch of local authentic Indian food, which the waiter ordered for us. He would ask us if we liked, lamb, or chicken, or this or that and we would nod our head in approval. Now anyone that knows me knows that I don’t like hot spicy food, but even I gave this a go. It was all amazing, the smells, the taste, the atmosphere. We ended our lunch with a dessert and coffee, which I watched the chef concoct for me.

After lunch we ventured into the streets in search for this “saree mart” for a low cost on those beautiful outfits the Indian women wear. We walked and walked and walked the streets of Chennai for like an hour. It was hot, the sidewalks mostly unfriendly (constantly in disrepair), we could see why people walked in the street and were part of the traffic pattern.

We finally arrived to the store we were looking for and made our purchases and opted to walk around to visit and experience the street vendors. Our group of 6 breaking up into pairs as some opted to return to the ship while others opted to continue shopping. After a long day of walking and shopping ED and I decided to take a rickshaw back to the ship, well we were in for quite an adventure as the rickshaw (a motorbike with a covered seat in the back) bobbed and weaved in and out of traffic, cutting off cars, barely stopping at traffic lights, dodging cows and people.

By the time we arrived to the port gate we were happy to be getting out of the rickshaw. What a first day experience in Chennai.

Falling on my ASSets

2009-11-27T06:51:00.000Z

Having for the past 4 years been the primary person responsible for overseeing the University of RI Challenge Course and a challenge course facilitator trainer I thought it would be a good experience to go to an adventure park while in Mauritius. My adventure began as we boarded our tour buses and traveled about an hour into the mountains of Mauritius. We were able to see some beautiful landscapes along the way and finally arriving in the Chamarel region realized that we were nestled in the side of a mountain with a breath taking view of part of Mauritius: as was the adventure course. The description on the Adventure Park Chamarel website is as follows:

“Discover new outdoor activities in the heart of a unique 12 hectare tropical forest, in Mauritius, with Parc Aventure Chamarel.
Regardless of athletic ability, the young and not so young can roam from trees to trees, and path to path, attached to a lifeline (safety equipment). In order to fully enjoy the site’s fabulous views, kiosks have been placed overlooking the Chamarel valley.
A lot of fun of these outdoor activities resides in their ability to give you a fright, without ever putting you in danger.
...Parc Aventure Chamarel…Adventure at your fingertips…”

I was excited to participate but immediately knew I was in for a challenged, having learned a while ago how to read between the lines I knew this was going to be challenging: anytime you read “Regardless of athletic ability” you should question that in part because it is very difficult to build something that will challenge your experienced and athletic participants and not be too much for your first timers. Also, “attached to a lifeline (safety equipment)” should be a warning to you that there is some risk whenever you have to don a harness with carabineer, which at times may be the only thing preventing you from falling on the ground, which I learned first-hand. And lastly, “their ability to give you a fright, without ever putting you in danger”, this line alone makes me raise my eyebrow and should have been a huge red flag. But I digress; let me continue to what happened when I visited the adventure park.

As we arrived we were fitted with the ever so attractive harness and ropes with attached carabineers. We were then led down to our first bridge, which seemed safe enough, we were instructed how to attach our carabineer’s to the support cable and then safely cross the ladder bridge which was only about 3 feet off the ground, the rungs or steps on this ladder bridge were about 1 foot apart from each other which added a challenge but it was ok. I watched as mostly all of the students some faculty and an elderly life-long learner went across the bridge with minimal effort.

The next bridge crossed part of a ravine which at its deepest had about a 10 foot drop, and increasingly the challenges became a little harder, the steps a little more far apart from one another and the heights increasingly higher, until we came upon a bridge with nothing to support your hands, it was a straight bridge with steps about one foot from each other and at times 2 immediately next to one another but nothing for you to grab. It was quite challenging, it was then followed by a steep hike and then another bridge with nothing more than a couple of ropes hanging from the support cable and each step about 3-4 feet apart from one another.

I thought I was going to die from an increase in blood pressure, the drop below the bridge was only about 4 feet, but as anyone who has done these type of challenges before can tell you when you are 5 foot 5 a four foot drop looks like a nine foot drop. Anyway I pressed on to meet my next challenge which I thought I was ready for.

This next rope cave as I like to call it would be my undoing I approached it as all things looking at it strategically and deciding where to place my hands and feet. Let me describe this to you, completely made of rope tied into squares it came up my right side, across over my head and down my left. It was probably a distance of 10 or so feet. The objective: start at point A and get to the end. Well I placed my hands grabbing the rope and then gently placed my right foot and then my left, immediately before I got my left foot off the safety platform I felt myself go into what I describe as a Russian split(each of my legs in opposite direction) and then I lost my hand grip and immediately fell to the ground only scraping each side of my body as I fell. I landed with both arms through the 2^nd to the last rung on the rope and my right foot on the ground, left foot still in the rope rung. I was hurt but more embarrassed than anything else. I immediately jumped up onto my feet assessed the bruises and applied hand sanitizer to the one on my hand and realized the ones on my arms were more rope burn than bruises. I kept going and finished the course with the zip line and felt I had accomplished something.

Overall it was a great experience. I enjoyed the bridges and the hikes, but mostly the amazing views. It was only the next day that I realized how bad I had been bruised. My arms looked bad. The bruises are gone now but the experience of the day is forever embedded in my memory and helps me to laugh at myself and not take myself too seriously.

Mauritius: I didnt know you before but I know you now

2009-11-25T14:16:00.000Z

Before embarking on this voyage around the world I had no idea where Mauritius was or what to think about it. I honestly didn’t even look it up. The only thing I knew for sure was that it was off the coast of Madagascar.

“Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, French: République de Maurice is an island nation off the coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about 900 kilometres (560 mi) east of Madagascar. The island of Mauritius is renowned for having been the only known home of the dodo. First sighted by Europeans around 1600 on Mauritius, the dodo became extinct less than eighty years later.” (Wikipedia, 2009).

During my visit to Mauritius one of the guides on a trip I was on said, “Mauritius is about as big as the state of Rhode Island with about 1.3 million people” I was delighted that she even knew about RI, later when I told her I was from RI and asked her about it she just stated, “Oh I just know it’s the smallest state in the US." Thank you for deflating my balloon. Anyway here is the recount of my Mauritius adventures.

Blue Safari

From the ship I took a guided tour bus to Peyrebere Beach where the group listened to a conservationist group talk about the efforts that Mauritius is trying to make in the past 4 years to conserve their coast line and beach areas. The government and these conservationists are not on the same page with their efforts and much of the problem comes from unregulated tourism (scuba diving, snorkeling, and other water sports) and the construction of resorts and hotels right on the coast line.

After our educational piece we were shuttled to where we would board a small boat out to the ship where we would board the 10 person submarine. Our trip to the ship was about ten minutes long; while we were en route to the ship the captain slowed down to allow a school of about 20 dolphins to pass by. I finally got to see my dolphin in the water.

Once we arrived to the ship we were instructed how to board the submarine, aboard the submarine we were informed on some of the things we would see, more importantly how we should make the submarine surface in the event that our pilot passed out or become distressed. I paid close attention to those instructions.

While in the submarine we dove 30 meters to an amazing coral reef where we saw some interesting tropical fish, an old anchor completely covered in coral, a sea anemone with clown fish (of course) and a small octopus (by small I mean his head was as big as my head and tentacles were as long as my arm).

We were also taken to see a ship that was submerged in order to grow a coral reef and were able to see all the great under water life that is now dependant on its existence there.

About an hour after we had gone down below we surfaced and I suddenly had a major headache. But it was well worth the experience.

Sunset at Flic en Flac

Upon my return from the Blue Safari, I asked one of the tour agents where is the best beach to see the sun set. She informed me “Flic en Flac Beach” and then directed me on how I should get there. I took a city bus (an adventure in and of itself) for a 45 minute ride to Flic en Flac. I sat quietly and watched the people board and disembark the bus at times without the bus even stopping.

Flic en Flac is a beautiful white sand beach with coral and sea shells strewn about on the shore. I ate dinner sea side, ordered form one to the vendor trucks; it wasn’t a fancy meal but it did allow me to sample some authentic Mauritian seasonings. After I ate I walked along the beach for about 15 minutes before “the show” started. The sun made its appearance. It was a very overcast evening, but the sun did appear to answer its curtain call in an equally magnificent manner as if there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The pictures do not do it justice

After the sun set I was prepared to hail a cab and pay $35 US dollars to get back to port. But as I approached the street the bus appeared and though we had been warned not to take public transit in the evening. I threw caution to the wind and hoped for the best; after all it can’t be as bad as riding a NY City subway after midnight. I arrived safely to the port having enjoyed my full day of safari and sunset.

On Safari in South Africa

2009-11-18T15:59:00.000Z

There are 3 things I have been looking forward to on this voyage around the world. Visiting the Great Wall of China, visiting the Taj Mahal in India, and going on Safari in South Africa. October 6, 2009 was the day that the first of these three adventures would begin.

That morning I woke early to get on a bus that would take 30 or so of the Semester at Sea community to the airport where we would fly to Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport, we arrived safely to the Mpumalanga area and were immediately whisked away to our resort; Sabi River Sun. We arrived to our tropical oasis and quickly checked in to the hotel and freshened up and were quickly shuttled to Kruger Park for our first safari run. We broke up into groups of 9 per safari vehicle, HM one of my colleagues and I were in the same safari group. I selected the vehicle who’s guide had only one leg, yes one leg. I figured if he is working in this field with only one leg he has to be good. Anyway, we got into our jeep and rode in to the park, we first had to register our group, as our guide took care of the registration I looked on this board outside the registration office. Pictured on this board was where the Big 5 and a few other popular animals had been spotted on that day and the day before. I thought wow, this is cool, we just may get to see the Big 5 today.

What are the Big 5? They are the Lion, Leopard, Cape Buffalo, Elephant, and White Rhino. You may think well you are going into this park where they live, so you are bound to see them all. Well that’s like saying you are bound to see a shark in the ocean. I can assure you I lived in RI 35 years of my life, and have swam in the Atlantic Ocean at least once each summer, add to that I have been on a ship since Aug 24 (70+ days at sea to date) and I have yet to see a shark. There are no guarantees.

Well I tried not to enter with any expectations so as not to be disappointed. The first animals that we saw were some buck, and then Zebra, then Kudu (the Kruger park mascot) and then the most dangerous animal in the park, Hippos (not the answer you were expecting) come to find out hippopotamus are the most dangerous animals in the park; due in part to their territorial nature, sharp teeth and immense size, as well as them not seaming as being a threat. The entire safari experience was wonderful. I won’t bore you with the day to day details, after all I was on a three day safari. But I will tell you about the few highlights of my experience.

The Leopard

We were on the road on our way from watching the hyena in the watering hole when we came upon some traffic in the road, and cars vying for a better view. When all of a sudden I stood up and saw what they were looking at. It was a beautiful leopard laying low from the afternoon heat. Eyes looking like yellow jade. just laying there in a ravine, cool as a cucumber.

The Lioness and her boys.

On day two (the only full day of safari) our guide was informed that there was a lioness with 2 adolescent males near a watering hole, so off we went on a drive for several miles to view this . When we arrived our guide had to maneuver the vehicle to find us a good viewing spot. Then there they were, three lions, a female and two adolescent males lazily laying around the concrete container of water which fed the “natural” watering hole. Just a few feet from them was some Antelope like animal, alert that the lions were in the vicinity. It was so surreal. We watched for about a ½ hour then moved on. We moved on about our day to see Giraffe, a hyena keeping cool in the midday sun, Elephants, warthogs, and crocodiles. We were en route to another spot to see Elephants crossing a road when all of a sudden our guide spotted something, he turned into a little shady spot and there they were, perhaps the same three lions from earlier today. A lioness and two adolescent males just strolling through, the guide stopped the vehicle and turned off the engine as these amazing creatures walked by us. At one point the lioness was about 10 feet from our vehicle and she just sat down and yawned (as if posing for pictures) it was incredible. We watched for a few minutes more when they just gathered together and crossed the road into some dense bush. We were squealing with delight. Though we had seen the Cape Buffalo and Elephants, this is what we really came to see, and we got to see them up close. It was great.

Elephants Crossing

About an hour later I saw a sight that was the highlight of my day, a pack of about 20 elephants walking through the dense brush and then they decided to cross the street in front of us. They were enormous. Then we noticed what seemed to be baby elephants, and again were delighted. Seeing baby animals was a whole other feat. Towards the end of the elephant parade, we watched and noticed there was a momma elephant with the smallest baby any of us had seen. The guide said it was probably only a few weeks old, it stood only about 3 feet high, it seemed so tiny in comparison to the rest of the herd, as it ran almost underneath its mother. It was truly a delight to see

Hyena Feeding

That evening we participated in an evening safari. Most students were looking forward to seeing a kill, I personally thought they were aiming too high. We saw a quick peek of hippos walking through the dense brush and some other animals (night animals) we had not seen before, and of course some Kudu, but the highlight of the evening was as our night safari was coming to a close, we were in the homestretch about 200 yards from the border of the park when our guide pulled over to the side of the road and flashed the spot light on two mother hyena’s with cubs attached to their teets. It was the most tender thing I had seen in a long time.

Rhino’s and lions

On the last day of safari we were after two things seeing a male lion and the white rhino. We had yet to see a white rhino up close. So as the day was winding down our guide got news that an even rarer sight was to be seen, he took us to the top of a hill got out of the car and went around a bend in search of a rhino, he came back with nothing. Then as we were traveling down the hill, there we saw about 250 yards down on the savannah a black rhino. It was great. We watched and watched as it moved from one tree to another just pulling at the leaves and cracking the branches as if they were twigs. We then went on a quick drive as he got news of a pride of lions on a rock, we arrived and saw a scrawny pride; a male with a mane and three female lions just lazily laying atop of a rock, they barely moved when our vehicle approached. From there we went on to leave the park and came across the White rhino about 20 feet from our vehicle.

My safari experience had been full. It was just great.

Power, Privilege, Forgiveness, and Redemption

2009-10-18T21:13:00.000Z

Over a year ago while I was back home in Providence, RI I attended service at Cathedral of Life Christian Assembly (COLCA), head pastor Rev. Dr. Jeffery A. Williams. While attending service there Pastor Jeff did a series of sermons on “Forgiveness”. When I first heard those sermons I internalized the word and applied it to my life at the time and some family issues that had been going on. On Sunday October 4, 2009 once again I could clearly hear Pastor Jeff’s message in my head playing over and over as if it were a recording. The gist of the message was; if we choose not to forgive someone that has done us wrong we are tied to them forever and in essence unable to let go of the guilt, hurt, or whatever other negative feelings there may be. Forgiveness not only sets free the person that trespassed against you but it will set you free as well. I never thought I would see forgiveness play itself out in a real life example over a year later and half a world away.

On Sunday, October 4, 2009 my second day in South Africa I set out to participate on one of the Semester at Sea Field Practicum opportunities (a Field Practicum is typically led by one of the faculty and can be directly linked to a class that a particular faculty is teaching aboard the ship while we are at sea), this one would have us visit Robben Island (former prison and leper colony), for an “in-depth exploration of the island guided by South African peace activist (and former SAS professor) Terry Crawford-Browne”. The group of 30 took the 7:30 am staff ferry to Robben Island, as we were boarding Terry informed us that this ferry that is now used to transport the workers of the island and the children that attend school on the island was one of the transport vessels used to shuttle the prisoners to Robben Island. As we boarded the “staff ferry”, Terry informed us that when the prisoners were loaded on board they would be shackled to each other and put below, the 45 minute ferry ride was uneventful other then the day was overcast with a wind blowing, which made the seas choppy.

We arrived to Robben Island and as we were getting off the ferry it occurred to me that one of the people on this ferry was going to be our tour guide through the prison, a former prisoner, here they were on a ferry that may have once brought them to this island to detain them and now they come willingly as a means to earn an income and to tell their story and in part the history of their country along with some of the atrocities that occurred on its way to freedom from Apartheid. As we were about to get off the ferry Terry pointed out that the ferry docked at the pier was the very one that brought Nelson Mandela over to Robben Island. Nelson Mandela is Robben Island’s most famous prisoner though the island itself has a long history; “amongst its first permanent inhabitants were political leaders from various Dutch colonies, including Indonesia, later The Moturu Kramat, a sacred site for Muslim pilgrimage on Robben Island, was built in 1969 to commemorate Sayed Abdurahman Moturu, the Prince of Madura. Moturu, one of Cape Town's first 'imams', was exiled to the island in the mid 1740s and died there in 1754. Muslim political prisoners would pay homage at the shrine before leaving the island” (Wikipedia 2009).

We were first taken to the beach front home of the penguin colony on Robben Island, though currently the penguins are struggling to thrive in part due to the over 30,000 rabbits that are inhabitants of the same small island competing for habitat. You might think well Penguins and rabbits can coexist they don’t eat the same thing, well they may not eat the same things but they look to nest in the same privacy and so far the rabbits are winning.

After seeing both penguin and Rabbit in feet’s distance from each other we went on to the visitors center where we informed that visitors were often turned away or not allowed to see their loved ones even though they may have traveled thousands of miles for days on end, or when they were allowed to visit with their loved one, at times were they themselves detained from leaving the island for hours on end; since they were not allowed to write things down, this method was used to deter the visitor to transport direct news or information to people on the outside.

We continued on our walk past the Moturu Kramat mosque on the island and then walked over to the Leper cemetery, our walk continued on to the Robert Sobukwe House, where Robert Sobukwe was held in solitary confinement for his crimes, uprising and getting others to do the same against the apartheid regime. Sobukwe was not allowed to speak to anyone, the guards that were responsible for guarding him were not allowed to speak to him, it is said that this affected his mental stability later in life. It was a simple looking concrete holding with windows, were it not for the fence and large lights in the immediate area surrounding it, one would think it was a very humble residence.

Our walk then took us to the limestone quarry where the prisoners of Robben Island worked, nicknamed the University due to the fact that many prisoners received instruction from fellow prisoners that were more educated than they. We stood next to a pile of rocks about 3 feet high while Terry told us of how Nelson Mandela himself was one of the workers at the quarry, then Terry turned to the pile of rocks and said “upon a return, a prisoner’s reunion, Mandela placed a rock here and his action was followed by each of the prisoners that were here”. The pile of rocks was their way of commemorating their return to a place that once was their prison.

From their Terry took us to the place where we would eat our lunch and hear him tell us of what it is that he does as a peace activist, The Church of The Good Sheppard. Terry refurbished the church and is its current pastor. He has great plans for this simple yet beautiful building as a means to serve the community on Robben Island and to continue to tell the story of all of its past inhabitants. We then continued on by bus for a tour of the residential area of the island; about 100 people currently live on this island. There is an elementary school which caters to about 40 students with 2 teachers for instructing. We rode past a Taiwanese shipping boat wrecked on the coast line, when the wreckage originally occurred the prison warden thought it was an attempt to free Nelson Mandela and detained the ship’s crew until matters were cleared up. The wreckage sits in its original location though it is not the only ship that wrecked on Robben Island, due to its location in the bay many ships and smaller boats have wrecked on the island. From there our tour continued on to the prison, when we arrived we got off the bus and were met at the prison doors by a former prisoner who took us down the halls and into the courtyards of the place which once held him here. He showed us Nelson Mandela’s cell and took us the the courtyard where many important messages and even a manuscript and its copy were kept in hiding in Mandela’s garden.

One of our students asked him what he had been arrested for, and he listed an unending list of charges from terrorism, to possession of bomb making materials. All I could think about while he was talking was “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”.

I did not go into specific detail about the prison or even Mandela’s cell because it seems so irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. It was a cell, he was denied his freedom as were all of the prisoners, they were made to sleep on little more than a 6X2’ carpet and prisoners of Mandela’s status were denied interaction with most other prisoners. Some were beaten and mistreated, while others were denied access to be educated. All in the name of Apartheid, a system of legal racial segregation enforced by the National Party government in South Africa between 1948 and early 1994. To think its only been 15 years that South Africa has been an independent country able to elect Nelson Mandela and other former prisoners president of their new independent country. As our tour ended we walked past a sign of prisoners on a ferry boat with a placard in front of them which read “Freedom” and then we walked past the tall fence outside of the prison area.

Nelson Mandela served 18 years of a 64 year prison sentence, for speaking and acting out against Apartheid, while many others like Steven Biko gave their lives for the same cause. And it happened in my lifetime, I remember when the song "I dont want to play Sun City" came out and hearing of Nelson Mandela being wrongfully imprisoned and then when he was freed, I was in college, and when he was elected president too. It seemed so long ago, yet not long enough.

As the day came to a close I felt emotionally drained and kept thinking back to Pastor Jeff’s words about forgiveness, and understood how the former prisoners of Robben Island now come every day to this place, that once imprisoned them, to work and tell their story, and how they have come to forgive those that imprisoned them, and yes by our guide's own admission he has forgiven those that imprisoned him. They are living in a freedom we can only hope to live.

A great introduction to South Africa

2009-10-12T12:46:00.000Z

While on this voyage I have come to realize that the small amount of time; 4 days in Spain, 5 days in Morocco, 4 days in Ghana, 6 days in Cape Town, is never enough to really explore a country. This time in each country merely gives us time to sample some of each country’s food, a little of their culture, and experience some of the great things the country has to offer. Nowhere was this more evident than in South Africa.

As usual PL, ED, and I were up on the 7^th deck in the faculty staff lounge to watch the sunrise over our latest port. Dawn came early at 530 I could see its brilliant color peeking through my cabin window even before we went up to the 7^th deck. When we arrived we were met by an unusual amount of other staff and faculty who are usually not there. Then by 6am the students were out on the 7^th and 8^th decks. PL and I were a little annoyed, usually at sunrise on an arrival date there were only a handful of people there. Now we were vying for space. We watched the South African mountain range bathed in bright hues of orange and red and then as the sun started to peak from its resting place behind the mountain there was an audible gasp.

We were amazed and for the next few minutes captivated in silence as the sun ascended into its rightful place in the sky. Blinding and brighter than I had ever seen it, on this voyage it seems I am more aware of the sun ascending and descending from the heavens, I’m usually most reflective at these times and today was no different. As the ship continued on its path into Cape Town we noticed to our left a quiet distant island, Robben Island; once a prison which held many anti Apartheid fighters including Nelson Mandela and then on the right the amazing site that is Table Mountain as the sun lightened up the sky the brand new 68,000 seat World Cup Soccer Stadium came into full view. We were all so captivated by the beauty that The Cape Town harbour was revealing to us as the morning grew brighter. We screeched in delight as we realized there were harbor seals swimming and frolicking alongside the ship, it was as if they were coming out to welcome us to the Cape Town Harbour.

As usual the Pilot boarded the ship and assisted the Captain in navigating into the port, the Captain had previously explained this port was a little tricky since the entry way was very narrow and where we were scheduled to birth (park) would require us to make a sharp turn. We were so unconcerned with this somewhat technical process so much so that we went to breakfast and get prepared for our disembarking.

My first day in South Africa was slow paced. I had a few hours to kill before I was to lead a trip to walk amongst the baboons. So I met my shipboard brothers, PL, ED, and GH in Tymitz square to disembark, when we first arrived someone pointed out that PL, GH, and I were all wearing green tops, looking like we had planned it. It was just a funny coincidence. Well we all hit the mall which was literally 100 steps from our ships birth. We went and exchanged our US dollars to Rand, a nice exchange of 7.4 Rand for each US Dollar. Then we walked about the beautiful Harbour area with its nice mall, and great little shops along the way. Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the ship to prepare to for my trip to the Baboon sanctuary.

Due to urban Sprawl in the Cape Town area, baboons are being relegated to small slivers of natural forest between suburban neighborhoods. As you can imagine this is not only a problem for the baboons, but the surrounding neighborhoods as well. When we arrived to one of the neighborhoods where a non-profit group was keeping track of the baboons, we were immediately greeted by a foot chase. One of the guardians of the baboon was chasing the Alpha Male trying to prevent him from escaping the protected area, with little success. We saw al Tommy ran through an opening with ease, quickly crossed the street and jumped to the top of a 6 foot fence with the greatest of ease. Our guide informed us that this in fact is one of the problems. Tommy being the Alpha male is larger than the rest of the baboons in his troop partly because he runs into the neighborhood and steals human food.

We entered the baboon sanctuary and were led by one of two guides through thick, high grass and led about 100 yards from the street to where two handlers were sitting watching the troop of about 30 baboons. One of the guides led half of the troop past a few of the baboons directly into the thick of a tree. Before I could even prepare myself, I and 6 of the students were standing within 5 to 10 feet of these beautiful baboons, there were about 25 of them and about 5 youngsters. They were all over, in the trees above us and at eye level. The youngsters frolicked and played almost at our feet. Our guide constantly reminding us to be very mindful of our proximity to the youngsters, a cry from them could send the entire troop into a frenzied assault on any one of us. We were introduced to the former Alpha male, kind of the grandfather of the troop, George. The entire time George was in this one spot just observing his surroundings. The guide informed us that George had lost his canine teeth and could no longer fight to protect his status in the troop and was now just an elder in the troop, still respected but no longer the Alpha male. Just then Tommy returned from his run of the neighborhood and we were further instructed to watch him at all times, as he was clearly watching us and if he didn’t like something we were doing we could be in danger. We were there amongst the baboons for about an hour though it did not seem as long. As we were walking throughout the troop taking pictures our guide pointed out a mother baboon with the youngest of the troop, a small baby that had been born about a week ago, they were just adorable. As we were fawning over the baby we heard a ruckus about 20 feet from us, the guide said, “quick , quick, this way” and started to escort us past George and away from the troop, no sooner had we passed George we heard screaming and clearly saw fighting. Two female baboons were going at it and it was for real. One female had her teeth out and had the other by the head and was gnashing into her back biting and jabbing. The guide informed us he had been watching this one female constantly trying to grab one of the baby baboons and finally the mother of said baby tried to put her in her place. As the guide was explaining what happened we saw Tommy rush over to the mêlée and intercede, teeth full out. He was breaking up the fight. It was all so fascinating yet scary, our guide informing us that we surely did not want to be in the midst of a full out fight. He led us out and just like that our experience with walking amongst the baboons was over. It was amazing, while we were in the troop they seemed to calm and docile and just like that our adrenaline was pumping. It was a wonderful experience.

Crossing the Equator

2009-10-11T11:02:00.001Z

The Morning of Monday September 28, 2009 started unlike any other morning in my life. I was awaken by loud yet distant sounding clamoring as I rose and woke I then discovered what the racket was. It was Neptune Day! Neptune Day on Semester at Sea is the day when we (on ship) cross the equator. We were about to go from slimy pollywogs to shellbacks. I immediately jumped out of bed and threw on an old t-shirt and old shorts and made my way to 7^th deck aft where we would begin our Neptune ceremony.

By no means do I expect you to think that we were about to undergo any traditional “crossing the line” ritual, an initiation rite that many Navy service people have undergone. It was tame in comparison to movies/videos, and accounts I have read. But nonetheless we started by having “fish guts” (a yogurt and water mixture of red or green) poured over our head, we then jumped in our pool on the 7^th deck to rinse off and then promptly got out of the water kiss a “clean” (gutted out) fish. We then continued on into polywogdom and received our official title as a “pollywog”. We would then pay homage to King Neptune and Queen Minerva: we presented ourselves in front of King Neptune (the Captain of the vessel) and Queen Minerva (Associate Dean of Students) for inspection.

It was at that point that some of the students and staff did the ritualistic shaving of their head. The first person to go was a female student, Sarah. This beautiful young woman had long flowing blonde hair sat in the first chair as we stood there cheering and applauding watching the “barber” butcher her hair off and then take a pair of clippers and shave her head. In case you were wondering yours truly did not get her head shaved, my vanity would not allow it. However, I enjoyed watching as students and staff took turns in the barber chairs and had theirs done.

This concluded the Neptune Ceremony and though we did not cross the equator until 2308 (11:08pm) at 01 degree longitude and 0 degrees latitude we were shellbacks and enjoyed our “crossing”, another great day on the MV Explorer.

“He’s not heavy…”

2009-09-28T12:53:00.001Z

This morning my alarm went off about 10 minutes after I woke up. I laid in quiet contemplation feeling the same heaviness I feel on the mornings that I have to attend a funeral. I showered got dressed and packed my bags, grabbed my camera and headed out the door. I then realized there was a lot of haze on the water, I would once again not see the sunrise over Ghana. I walked the 100 or so yards from the front door of my cottage to the beach front and walked along the beach towards the east where the sun would rise.

I could see it trying to burn off the haze and break through the clouds, for some reason the hymn “How Great Thou Art” (one of my favorites) popped into my head. I caught myself praying and humming as the sun broke through and burned off the haze. I noticed a couple of fishermen in their boats several hundred yards off the coast. I then noticed the traffic on the beach had started to pick up with women walking to market using the beach front as a cut through. All the while I tried to prepare myself for the Castles I was about to visit, I had read about slavery, studied that part of history but I was now standing on the coastline, one of the last, that many captives saw before they were shipped to the Americas and into a life of slavery. It all felt so heavy. I gave considerable thought to my own family’s migration to the US and how our struggles pale in comparison to the 400 years of migratory practices imposed on people of the Sub-Sahara African region. It was very heavy.

I joined a colleague for breakfast which had just started by the time I walked back to the outdoors dining area, an older woman who works at the University of the Bahamas, during our breakfast she turned to me and asked, “do you think these people are prepared for what we are about to see?” I boldly replied, “I don’t think I’m prepared and I have at least studied it”. We both nodded and continued eating our breakfast and small talk.

The ride to the Cape Coast Castle was a quiet one for me; I sat with my iPod on listening to my inspirational song selection trying to get the melancholy out of my system as if that would help. Our tour guide informed us the previous day that she was one of the guides that was available and traveled with the Obama’s when they came and visited the Cape Coast castle and the Michelle cried during the tour but that Barack was stoic during the visit.

We arrived and were quickly led in to meet our guide for the Cape Coast Castle tour. Our tour guide was a middle aged man, the lead tour guide of the Castle; he himself had given the Obama’s their tour. He provided us with great details of the history of the Castle and when it was erected and how many times it had changed hands, first the Portuguese, then the Dutch, then the British (the British actually maintained slaves at the Castle into the late 1800’s well after slavery had been abolished). He then led us to the first dungeon. The Male holding dungeon; this was a tunnel that winded in a downward slope into darkness which led to a greater cave dwelling with a room to the right and left. This space was where they would hold a thousand or more men at one time, chained together. In this space these men would relieve themselves, starve, be extremely ill, and even die.

He turned the lights off (installed for tourists) so that we could see just how pitch black it was in the space. As he walked us form one area to the other he gestured to the ground and said,” please watch your step as you walk on the caked feces and remains of ancestors that did not make it out alive”. That’s about the point where all my emotions came to the surface. The tears started to flow as I walked to the other room with the rest of my group and watched quietly as he introduced us to the keeper of the sanctuary that was placed in that room which once housed the tunnel that led the captives to the "Door of No Return". The keeper of the sanctuary performed a brief greeting for our safe voyage and to keep the spirits of the captives at rest. We continued on the tour to the other holding areas. Walking past the original dungeons which were nothing more than a crawl space on the roof top of the fortification which led to open space below, where captives would be forced down into total darkness for months at a time. We also walked past the observation tunnels, where soldiers would stand and watch the captives ensuring they were moving towards the door. Then we entered (or rather peeked into) a space shape of an isosceles triangle, the depth of the room was no more than 4 ft and about 8 feet at its longest point, this was the room where the women who objected to have sex with soldiers were held, this with no ventilation just a small 2X3 space looking towards the soldiers quarters. The next space was a much larger area where the women were held, this area was right next to the huge wooden black doors, a sign posted above the doors read “Door of No Return”.

As our guide opened it the light from outside was blinding and as my sight adjusted I could see and hear the Atlantic Ocean as well as the members of the fishing community that now make this their home. I imagine this was not the case 400 years ago. Instead when that door was opened it was to lead captives onto small boats, 20 or so at a time to bring them to the slave ships that would then transport them across the Atlantic. What a completely different view it was now.

As a tour drew to a close we walked through some of the other cells and saw some of the other parts of the building, ED joined us, he was meeting one of the Faculty members to go visit a village and bring them a gift. I gave him a guided tour of what he missed and he too was moved by the information I provided, though not to tears.

We moved on to Elmina Castle, the largest of these castles in the Sub Sahara African countries, where we pretty much heard more of the same, these castles are located on the same coastline a few miles from each other and were operating at the same time. The one detail that really stuck out for me at this particular castle was that here like at Cape Coast the men and women were kept separate, however the Governor’s bedroom and the men’s mess hall was immediately about the courtyard of the female captives. At any given time the Governor could step out onto his balcony and select a female captive which would then be taken to a corner of the courtyard and forced up sets of wooden stairs to a hatch where she would then be taken to the Governor’s quarters and raped.

Any female captive that rebelled or tried to escape would be made an example of and made to stand in the corner of the courtyard, that gets all the day’s sun, chained to a cannon ball (think Prometheus). All the women were checked prior to embarking on a slave ship to ensure they were not pregnant. Any female found pregnant was not allowed aboard the ship, instead allowed to give birth and set free, her child to be educated by the state, thus these castles also became the first conduit to educate a mulato population. How altruistic?

The ride back to the ship was solemn and quiet most slept some read and others reflected. It was a heavy day.

“Walking above the trees and swimming in the far end of my back yard”

2009-09-26T08:29:00.003Z

My day started very early with a 5 am wakeup call from GH (another shipboard brother), I woke up gradually and got ready for an overnight excursion to the coast city of Elmina. But first I had a list of students that I told I would call at 6am to make sure they were up so they would not miss their bus.

Off to breakfast and onto buses. I won’t bore you with the details of our bus ride, but will mention there was an “Ugly American” on board which I will blog about later, and that Ghana’s country side is beautiful, riddled with great vistas and vegetation, and plenty of people urinating by the roadside. Women and some men carry everything on their heads, from huge pots with produce, to bins of cans of evaporated milk to sewing machines, basically anything. Ant hills are as tall as the average height man and there is one major road way which means there is a lot of traffic. People also sell their goods walking in the street, think every city you may have been to where folks are selling water, chips, the newspaper, or flowers times 20, because there will be that many or more people walking in the street at intersections trying to sell their goods to motorists. It was all so exciting.

Our first stop was a rest area where we could get soft drinks and snacks and use the rest room, which was much better than the road side rest rooms in Morocco, though the toilet didn’t flush and we had to pay .20 cedi to an attendant woman to use them, (still better than Morocco). It was while in line to get to the restroom that I spotted this lizard he was about a foot long and looked menacing from a distance, he and another lighter not so menacing looking lizard seemed to be playing tag with one another. After a few minutes I realized the lighter colored lizards were everywhere they just blended in well. Anyway, that was the excitement during our rest stop. Back on the bus for the 2 hour drive to Kakum National Park, when we had finally arrived the first thing I noticed was the sign on the lawn in the small round about

“Do Not Urinate Here, use the washroom” I guess the urination thing is a big problem in all of Ghana.

We were on our way up to the Canopy, I was excited for all of 5 minutes until I realized that the hike up included walking up these uneven steps made of small boulders that were unequal in size so that every other step was anywhere from between 1 foot to 2 feet high (and measurements in between). It was a HIKE UP for real, and steep. While I had realized we would have to walk up or hike up as it were, I guess I never considered the conditions. So after sweating from parts I didn’t realize had sweat glands, and hiking for what seemed like 30 or so minutes we were at the entrance of the Canopy area. A group of faculty and I waited at the end of the groups of students and finally about 30 or so minutes (maybe even more) it was finally our turn to take the last 15 wooden steps onto the bridges that would carry us across the top of this amazing rain forest, truly majestic views in every direction. No picture I could take would make the actual view justice. Since we were the last in our group we took our time. It was wonderful. We then hiked down and got back on the bus, just walking through the rainforest and appreciating it much more being on the ground.

Our next stop was lunch with the crocodiles at the Hans Cottage Botel. We ate lunch under a roof surrounded by a small lake where we could see the crocodiles sun bathing. After lunch we watched one of the waitress place some leftover chicken under one of the trees and within seconds the crocodiles came up out of the lake to eat. I didn’t know what I was more intrigued by, watching this magnificent 7 foot creature eat or trying to calculate how many shoes and bags I could get from the skin (sorry if I offend any conservationist that may be reading this). We continued to watch the crocs sun bath and get back in the water, as well as the variety of lizards some about a foot in length run around the courtyard, and then the weaver birds (whose nests looked like Christmas ornaments on one of the trees) captured our attention. It was all so exotic yet seemed so natural to just be sitting there watching this take place. It was now time to head back to our bus. As we got back we were informed that we would be giving up one of the buses that we had because another group’s bus broke down. So as we shifted over to the other bus, some of us sitting three to a double seat, and a couple on the floor, we braced ourselves for the 30 minute ride to our hotel for the evening.

We arrived in Elmina at about 5pm, a coastline village thriving with color and people. The bridge that we had to drive over was like a postcard (some of you may receive one just like this) it was vibrant with colors, there were people everywhere. It was beautiful. We drove a little further and then took a left down a dirt road not intended for a 40 seat passenger bus with 57 people on it. We arrived at our hotel and I could barely believe it. It was breathtaking. We were right on the water with the Atlantic Ocean on our left and our cottage on the right. It was truly a lot different than what we had just driven past, there were no thatched or tin roofs, with wooden plank walls, but instead neatly nestled white cottages. I was in love. As quick as I could I obtained my cottage key (I had been informed that I would not be provided a roommate?) and accepted some milk chocolate drink made of the local coca plant (yes the same coca plant) and shuffled off to my room. When I got there I dropped my bags and changed into my bathing suit, grabbed my camera and blackberry and hit the beach. I got to the beach and immediately decided I would swim, even thought the waves were way over my head and the surf seemed strong. I jumped in swam a few strokes and realized I was not strong enough to do much more and got out. I swam in the same Atlantic Ocean that was in my back yard except I was thousands of miles away. The same Atlantic Ocean that carries the spirits of slaves, these spirits I would feel so strongly the next morning during my meditation (see next blog). As I got out of the water I realized I was winded I walked up the beach and barely caught the sunset. After a nice lukewarm shower in a shower room that was about the size of my cabin on the ship (blog coming soon) I got dressed and headed for dinner. Dinner was AMAZING, chicken, beef, fish, jollof rice, white rice, sweet fried plantains, yam balls, and fries. Everything I had was fabulous. As we ate dinner, I was joined by a couple of students, we talked about our day and about what we were going to see tomorrow and then we realized that a bon fire had been started for us on the beach, a mere 100 feet away. I walked with the students over to the bon fire, watched them play a few rounds of Ha and then decided to call it a night. I knew I was going to get up early to watch the sunrise. What a great end to a great day.

"Oh Ghana!"

2009-09-25T23:45:00.004Z

Today started as every other morning when our ship is to pull into port. Myself and a couple of my colleagues (that I affectionately refer to as my shipboard brothers, a blog for another day) woke up at 530am to see the sun rise and pull into a new port. As usual I woke up and called up ED and PL and told them we would meet up in the faculty staff lounge, since PL and I live across the hall from each other we actually met up on the stairwell leading to the upper decks. When we arrived to the faculty lounge it was evident that the sunrise would elude us, as we were faced with the thickest fog I had seen all voyage, you could barely see the front of the ship, none the less we sat in the lounge chatting with anticipation of what Ghana had in store for us.

As 6am rolled around the sun started to burn off the fog and I was able to get a couple of pictures of the sun’s appearance we also started to see something we had not seen. Ahead of us in the distance container ships lay in wait, almost directly in our path. Within a half hour we were right upon them and passing them as we continued on into the port of Tema. The excitement was mounting. At this point other ship board community members had awakened and joined us. Including our inter port student (a student that joins us at the previous port and sails with the community to the next port providing insight to the ship board community about their native homeland) Nii, had joined us on the outer deck.

Nii and the rest of us would have to wait, there was another ship in our parking space, the captain had to circle around several times which made for an interesting morning (PL referred to it as “the captain was doing doughnuts in the parking lot”, which is a pretty good description of exactly what we were doing). While we waited to actually arrive in Tema, we went below to enjoy breakfast. Our meal was disrupted by a momma and baby whale playing about 200 yards away from our ship. Yes, I saw a whale, though I have no picture proof, this sighting excited me and let me know that Ghana was going to be an enjoyable adventure.

As we came back above we finally were in port in Tema, Ghana. After Immigration and Customs cleared the ship (i.e. went through everyone’s passport and made sure everything was on the up and up) PL and I boarded a bus to go on a city tour which would take us through Tema into Accra. It would be an all day adventure. We were whisked away in the busy streets of Tema where everyone was buzzing; it’s a very active and industrious port town. One of the interesting sites we passed was a shell of a building which was the Meridian Hotel which actually sits on 0 degrees on the meridian (the longitude line), guests can vie to stay in the actual room which sits on the meridian, and in room 0 those guests are treated extra special. It actually took us a while to get through Tema passing Labadi beach we were arriving in Accra, we were taken to see several sights, like the Ohene Djan Stadium, where futbol (Soccer) is played. This stadium rivals the major American Football or Baseball stadiums in size. We also drove past the Independence Square: which commemorates the independence of Ghana, a first for Sub Saharan Africa. (Wikipedia, 2009) and then on to the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park; Kwame Nkrumah was Ghana’s first president, a graduate of Lincoln University and a member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity.

The memorial park is a beautiful and fitting tribute to him. While there we were visited by some peacocks that did not show us their beautiful feathers but ducked under palms instead. After that we continued on to lunch and had the first of many wonderful Ghanaian meals. After lunch we continued on our tour and visited the WEB Dubois Memorial Centre for Pan African Culture. Another great tribute to a great legend in Pan African history; DuBois was invited to Ghana by president Nkrumah in 1961 and eventually died there at the age of 95 one day before fellow Alpha man, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered the “I Have a Dream” Speech in Washington DC (where a moment of silence was observed for DuBois), I saw a plaque presented by Alpha Phi Alpha, of which DuBois was a member, commemorated on January 15, 2007. Having had my fill of Black Greek history, we moved on to travel once again through the streets of Accra back to Tema and our ship. My first day in Ghana had been filled with great information both old and new. I was looking forward to what tomorrow would bring.

Malaria! The Side Effects may be harmful

2009-09-21T17:06:00.000Z

Today I started to take my anti Malaria medication (Malarone). Most of the ship has been informed they should consider taking it, most of the community will be on some form of anti Malaria medication for the next few country visits since we are going on safari’s in jungles, walking and taking hikes in remote areas of Ghana; safari’s in South Africa; visiting remote areas of India; same in Vietnam; the killing fields in Cambodia…you get the picture. For the next several ports we will be visiting and we will be in high risk areas of Malaria exposure/contraction.

We also received a comprehensive hand out from our crack medical team on some of the side effects of the different varieties of anti malaria medications along with a schedule of when we should start taking the medication and if we should even be taking it. For instance, when we travel to Vietnam we only need be concerned if we are traveling to the Western areas, including the central highlands and if we are traveling into Angkor Wat, Cambodia.

One of the other things in my role as Living Learning Coordinator has been to remind the residents on my floor to start their medication (if in fact they will be taking it). Which, leads into a conversation of which medication they are taking and how long they should be taking it. I then have to refer to the sheet given to us and reinforce the information on there, with an additional cautionary reminder. See all of the literature I have read including a warning from my doctor states that one of the medicine’s side effects is that it “may” contraindicate birth control. I always get stuck on that word “may”. I don’t know about you but if I was a hyper sexed young adult on a ship going around the world with other hyper sexed young adults I wouldn’t want to bet all my chips on a “may”, and shouldn’t everyone be practicing safe chex in this day and age (you would think) but this is actually an issue (smh). Who am I to judge ( I will leave that one alone).

Anywho. All this talk of side effects got me thinking and of course I looked it up and came across some pretty interesting information (from Wikipedia), so this “may” or “may” not be accurate. But Here goes:

Doxycycline:

“ the risk of photosensitivity skin reactions is of particular importance for those intending long-term use for malaria prophylaxis because it can cause permanent sensitive and thin skin; may impair the effectiveness of many types of hormonal contraception”

Permanent sensitive and thin skin? Trust me these folks skin does not need to get thinner. So it looks like there will be some red folks on the ship for a few ports, but try telling them that as they hold court almost daily on the outer 7^th deck (the pool deck) di que “tanning” themselves in the African sun for hours on end. And no matter how many times we tell them that this African sun is different than the Miami, California, even Carribean sun they don’t listen. I think I already made my feelings clear about the “possible” impairment of the effectiveness of hormonal contraception, why I have to explain the importance of this to folks still baffles me.

Malarone: (the one I’m taking)

“Some people have difficulty sleeping (nightmares, incoherent dreams) while taking Malarone.”

That is pretty cut and dry. Needless to say its going to be an interesting night to get some sleep and in the event that it does not come well then hey, at least I will be wide awake for the 5:45 am sunrise over Ghana.

Lariam: Here is where it gets interesting...

“known to cause severe depression, anxiety, paranoia, aggression, nightmares, insomnia, seizures, birth defects, peripheral motor-sensory neuropathy, vestibular (balance) damage and central nervous system problems. For a complete list of adverse physical and psychological effects — including suicidal ideation — see the most recent product information.”

Ok does anybody else have an issue with the fact that this medication “may” cause suicidal ideation in some folks that are already anxious? If that didn’t make me nervous well than reading this certainly did.

“In the 1990s, there were reports in the media that the drug may have played a role in the Somalia Affair, which involved the torture and murder of a Somali citizen whilst in the custody of Canadian peacekeeping troops. There has been similar controversy, since three murder-suicides involving Special Forces soldiers at Fort Bragg, N.C., in the summer of 2002. To date, more than 19 cases of vestibular damage following the use of mefloquine have been diagnosed by military physicians. The same damage has been diagnosed among business travelers and tourists.”

Ok so regardless of the medication, tonight I am sleeping with one eye open and a hand on my machete... damn! I didn’t bring my machete with me.

My consolation is that tomorrow I will be in Ghana and most of the ship board community will be getting off the ship and venturing out on field trips. I realized that I was signing up for an adventure I just wasn’t aware that I had to beware of side effects.

"Lions and Tigers and Bears Oh my! The Sea Edition"

2009-09-21T13:59:00.000Z

As most of you are aware, I’m on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean. 18 of the past 28 days I have been on the ship in the wide open ocean, what does that mean? Well I’m glad you asked. That means there is nothing around us but water and more water and yet more water. In case you're slow, I am surrounded by nothing but water, it is the Atlantic Ocean after all.

Excitement stirred when off the coast of the Cape Verde Islands we saw a beautiful sailboat and while en route from Morocco to Ghana we have had our fill of container ships passing. One of them passed real close this morning (about 20 nautical miles). The most excitement however has been stirred by the flying fish and the schools of dolphins that swim by. There have been dozens of sightings of these schools of dolphins. One of my coworkers woke up the other morning and said “there were hundreds of them swimming outside my cabin window” other’s have seen them while they workout, or while eating breakfast and lunch. For me however the schools of dolphins have been oh so elusive. Yesterday on our “day off” I sat in the faculty/staff lounge finishing a book that one of my former graduate students gave me (shout out to G Benson), I sat with a 180 degree view of the majestic ocean and not a dolphin to be seen. This morning without alarm clock I woke up before 6am and watched the silent ocean for about an hour and saw WATER… nothing but water, an occasional white cap wave or swirl would get my attention but aside from that no dolphins, or flying fish, not even a tanker in sight.

As I tired of watching the water I dressed to go work out and decided to go up to breakfast, I saw a couple of my colleagues and joined them. As I sat with them on the outer 6th deck eating a great breakfast enjoying the warm sun we talked about some things that are going on in the world and then I started to voice my complaint that I have yet to see any dolphins, when BL states to me, “oh! I saw some this morning while I was working out”. Of course she did! That must have occurred in the moment I decided to go to the bathroom and brush my teeth and then dress to go to breakfast. (SIGH).

I decided that I would resume a workout regime since I have not done so since I got on the ship, so today I walked the 5^th deck for an hour, The fifth deck is where our life boats are located so it’s a long deck about 100 yards where I walked back and forth at a brisk pace for an hour listening to my iPod and enjoying the ocean breeze, it was a tad bit humid this morning but just wonderful. I walked in inner silence and peace, pondering and meditating a bit. And no, I did not see not one Dolphin.

I realize there is much more ocean to travel, I am looking forward to our crossing the equator next week and then our transition into the Indian Ocean and even further to the Pacific Ocean. As I spoke to my colleague BL this morning we talked about how we can’t wait to see whales when we get there. But at this point I’d be happy to just see a mammal damn it! I’d even settle for a squirrel (yeah I know it’s not a sea animal, but it’s the most common animal I could think of). My sole consolation has been the great number of Magnificent sunsets I have witnessed. Some of them just blazing orange across the sky seeming to be pulled down by force leaving traces of color in its path; others gently settling into an already Indigo sky, truly breathtaking. For now I will settle for the sunsets and be happy until I spot a dolphin, but you know what would be even better... a shark but beggars can’t be choosers I suppose.

I will update this post when I finally spot a sea animal, hopefully I will have my camera and be able to provide picture proof.

"Morocco stinks, no really it does" or "Casablanca looks so much better on film"

2009-09-16T01:04:00.001Z

I have a very sensitive nose. My younger brother often says I am part bloodhound because I smell things only a bloodhound could. Well in situations like this it is not a gift but a curse.

I woke early to head out to see the Hassan II Mosque, the 3d largest Mosque in the world and the largest Mosque in Africa. It is partly built on reclaimed land, King Hassan II was inspired by a scripture in the Koran, the mosque is built to sit over the Atlantic Ocean and has a floor that moves so that when followers are praying they are actually kneeling over the ocean (and can see it) the ceiling of the mosque also retracts to expose the heavens as well. This mosque is reported to have cost in the ballpark of 800 million AMERICAN dollars, and is absolutely gorgeous.

A few colleagues and I headed off the ship and onto a shuttle bus which took us to the edge of the port, we then walked about a mile to the mosque. Immediately I could smell the usual fish market smells, however this familiar smell was accompanied by another odor, that of rotting and dying corpses, well fish corpses anyways. It was so bad for me, it was all I could do to not gag. As we walked away from the pier area, the scent faded, but occasionally a wind would blow carrying other malodorous scents. As we walked to the mosque we were quick to notice the extreme contradiction; to our right was the coast of the Atlantic Ocean where there was a resurgence of building of luxury homes and office space. It looked like it would be amazing once completed, potentially rivaling the Miami skyline. To our left however we could see and smell the slums, buildings crumbling, some even boarded up, and trash everywhere, sometimes even flowing out of abandoned lots. We were not in the Casablanca of Humphrey Bogart by any stretch of the imagination, though our walk did have us pass Rick’s Place. We arrived to the Mosque, and were taken aback by its grandeur. It was not only immense it was magnificent. The architecture, design, and intricacy of everything was absolutely perfect in every way. It truly is a sight to behold. At one point the group of us sat in quiet contemplation on one of the walls of the plaza with our feet dangling over the Atlantic Ocean, the Mosque to our back. It was a good day. We walked back in the 100 plus heat sweating and bearing the odors of the streets. Though my Morocco experience was fantastic I really just wanted to get back to the ship and go. I was all Moroccoed out.

We'll always have Marrakech"

2009-09-16T00:42:00.000Z

The new day brought us back to Marrakech, another 9 hour trek back through the winding Atlas mountain roads, no less majestic than the day before but a little less interesting because of our previous day’s adventure. I dozed in and out of sleep throughout barely waking for the Café stop and lunch stop. We arrived at our hotel in Marrakech; I made a b line for the hot shower that I dreamt of on my bus ride. The lukewarm water did not put a damper in my joy, I was so happy to take a shower and wash the desert and bus off. After the shower I met up with three other colleagues and we ventured into Marrakech for dinner.

We found this restaurant which looked rather plain on the outside but inside looked like the Garden of Babylon. It was beautiful. We had a wonderful dinner and enjoyed the local red wine. We talked and shared of our Camel trek experience, and it was wonderful. This was just the best way to end an adventure. After another great Moroccan dinner and some more of the best tea I have ever had. We headed back to our hotel, intoxicated by our experience in Marrakech.

The next day brought us to the market place and another souk adventure. ED and walked throughout speaking only Spanish so the shop keepers would not try to charge us American prices. We purchased postcards and took pictures. It was just so laid back and fun. Though many other of our SAS participants did not have as great experience as we did, we thoroughly enjoyed it. Some of the participants told stories of the snake charmers throwing the snakes on to them and not taking them off until the participant paid, others had henna painted on them almost by force, and had monkeys put on them as well. You may be asking how someone can put a snake or a monkey on you. Don’t ask me, because I did not get close enough to find out, I did experience some of the aggressive nature of the snake charmers when I took a picture of one of them from way far off, he quickly noticed and came over asking me for money in exchange for the picture. I quickly denied it and walked away. The market was just great otherwise. Around 1100 we boarded our buses and headed back to the hotel to pick up the rest of our group and head back to Casablanca. The 3 hour ride was uneventful and I was quite pleased to see our ship in the port, we were home. It’s so strange to say that the ship is home, but after being away and experiencing all that in 3 days, seeing the MV was refreshing. I boarded and refreshed myself before dinner. Ah! What a good day.

"Never Forget"

2009-09-16T00:33:00.001Z

The call to prayer about a half hour before sunrise was how I woke up on September 11, 2009. I gave God my thanks and prepared myself not only for the 9 hour bus ride but for the experience of a lifetime. However throughout the day my mind was ever present on the date. I refused to turn on the television so as not to see it relived; certain memories are hard to erase.

A 9 hour bus ride may sound boring and uneventful but I assure you this bus ride was like being on the Superman ride at Six Flags, our bus driver took us high through the winding roads in the Atlas Mountains, taking hairpin turns, and blind curves like he was driving a straight way on route 95. There were times I held on to the hand grip in front of me until my knuckles turned white and other times I just closed my eyes and prayed. And it’s not that he was driving wreck less, but just that the well paved roads were taking us through some high narrow terrain. We arrived to our next lunch spot where I was ever present of the time, 1300 (9:00 EST) by the time 170 of us had taken our seats for lunch and the servers were prepared to begin their ballet of delivering a delicious three course meal it was 1317 (9:17am) I turned to the student at my left and asked if he thought we should have a moment of silence since it was almost time, he responded “today is 9/11, yes we should” another of my colleagues agreed, and then I stood up and as I was about to speak I realized that though we (The Semester At Sea group) dominated the group, we were not alone there were other diners there. I breathed deeply and called for everyone’s attention and then stated that the time was approximately 1320 local and 9:20 est, a hush immediately fell over the room as I asked everyone to take a moment to be silent and remember those that were no longer with us, and those of us that were affected. I could feel my voice crack and my heart race. I waited a couple of minutes and then thanked everyone for participating. We then had a scrumptious meal and returned to our buses. As I was about to get on the bus, a student approached me and thanked me for doing the moment of silence, she said it really meant a lot to her. I thanked her and we both boarded our bus to continue our trek into the desert.

Some of the sights in the desert were breathtaking, the valleys and roads we had passed as we saw them from various heights were massive. When we arrived to our destination we could see our dromedaries waiting for us. We slowly boarded our shared transportation and continued our trek into the desert. This was my first time on a camel, so I was a little nervous but quickly got the hang of it, we only trekked about a mile to our camp and it was great fun. Or camp was set up by some Berber tribe/nomadic people. This camp was a mixture of 3 large dining tents and 30 smaller sleeping tents. The sleeping tents slept 6 people. It was literally a small village for about 200 people. They even set up a bathroom/shower area right outside the camp. As we arrived to the camp we were met by nomads dressed in white tribal outfits singing and dancing. Though it was all staged it looked very authentic to us. We settled in to our tents and then came out to the open area between the dining tents and sleeping tents and started to chat, just then we realized the sun was setting and many of us ventured outside of the camp to witness the sunset over the Sahara which was truly a sight to behold as we watched the sky glow bright then slowly succumb to beautiful indigo with hints of orange and red trying to hold on until the indigo finally won over. We rejoined our group for more conversation and then another fabulous meal. Many of us opted to sleep in the dining tents and even dragged our sleeping beds into the main area to sleep under the Saharan sky. I woke up at about 330 to find that the temperature had dropped significantly and that I was freezing, I walked over to my tent taking a minute to peek up to the sky to see what looked like a million stars winking back at me, I stood there and smiled taking it all in then quickly grabbed a wool blanket out of my tent and ran back to the dining tent and laid back down until my alarm roused me right before sunrise.

"Moroccan Adventure"

2009-09-15T23:53:00.000Z

I arrived into the port of Casablanca, Morocco on Thursday September 10, 2009; immediately as I watched the change in the color of the water in the Atlantic Ocean and saw the brown cloud hovering over the city I knew that I wasn’t in Spain anymore. It actually reminded me of the smell one expects while on the northern part of the New Jersey Turnpike, with a dash of industrial smoke thrown in. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I will allow you, the reader to see for yourself and come to your own conclusion.

Once again, almost immediately after we cleared immigration, in port I boarded a bus for a 3 hour ride to Marrakech, our first stop was a “café stop” at a rest area. The women got in line on one side and the men on the other to use the toilet, to our GREAT surprise the toilet at this rest area was not much more than a hole in the ground. Some students opted to wait until we got to Marrakech; I quickly informed them that we would still be on the road for at least 2 more hours and who knew what type of facilities awaited us. I won’t bore you with the variety of facilities that I was exposed to on my 3 hour then later 9 hour countryside trip through Morocco, but let me just state that any port a potty at a fair would be a step up.

We arrived in Marrakech and were taken to one of the Medinas in the area then quickly escorted to the restaurant where we would enjoy our first Moroccan meal, and oh what a meal it was. Four courses starting with bread and a variety of appetizer types; a beet salad, potatoes in seasoning, shredded carrots in lemon juice, and eggplant something or other and something that looked like Pico de Gallo, then we had our main course of chicken that was falling off the bone and seasoned perfectly. It was DELICIOUS. We were all taken in by the food. That was followed up by desserts, a variety of pastries and then the piece d’resistance; the hot mint tea served in an oversized shot glass. One sip and I was ready to have an i.v. inserted into my right arm. I fell in love with Morocco.

After lunch we were left to our own devices to explore the souk (the open air market), but were warned that we should not go down too many side streets as we may get lost for hours. We headed out to the square and saw snake charmers, men with leashed monkeys, and cars, and motorbikes going every which way; a lot was going on. As quickly as we started to venture into the market area we heard an unfamiliar sound, it was the call to prayer. Being in an Islamic country was new to all of us, and none of us were familiar with this sound but I immediately understood what it meant. We watched and waited and then continued on into the market. As we started to shop we felt a cold wind blow through the market streets, it seemed almost as if we were in a movie, everything started to blow and then the sky opened up and for the next 25 minutes it rained, no, down poured. We stood under the cover of tarps and watched as shop keepers covered their goods with plastic bags and pulled down their tarps, some even closed shop all together. As the men came out of the mosque from prayer they too stood with us and watched, as the rain started to ease, we ran across the plaza to the natural shelter provided by the entry way of the post office. Our first day at the open air market and we were rained out. We boarded our bus and headed to our hotel.

That evening brought us to another area of Marrakech where we would witness a cultural show which included various Berber tribes singing and performing. We were escorted to this staged village (for a lack of a better word) where we were met with men on horses dressed in white carrying guns, we posed in pictures with women dressed in native garb, and walked through intricate courtyards and alley ways until we arrived to our dining tent where we ate another fabulous meal, which included the best cus cus I have ever had and once again the mint tea. I cannot tell you how fantastic this tea is; I just cannot put it into words. After dinner we stepped out to this grand arena where we watched a show which to this day is very hard to understand, but it included a belly dancer, a man playing with fire, men on horses racing each other and shooting their guns, and the cake topper was a couple on a flying carpet in the middle of the sky; we honestly did not know what to do with this. It was all too much too soon. Back on our buses and back to the hotel for a good night’s rest tomorrow would truly bring us a Moroccan adventure.

"Americans being, well American"

2009-09-09T13:16:00.001Z

Today HM, TMP and I headed on a train to Sevilla; “the artistic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of Andalusia and of the province of Seville” (Wikipedia 2009). During this 2 hour train ride my colleagues and I talked about what we anticipated seeing, the famous Cathedral, the Alcazar, and the Torre del Oro. We were excited and chatting away when all of a sudden we heard a familiar sound aboard the train. English. There were a couple of women that had just boarded the train and came into our cabin talking very loudly in their heavy Jersey accents. They took their seats a few seats down from us.

These two women in their 50’s continued to talk throughout our trip and we could hear their entire conversation, even while we took a siesta we could hear them talking. Most of their conversation was about their respective daughters in college and the traveling they had done. Then their conversation was interrupted by a young Spanish woman who politely asked them in Spanish to please move because one of them was sitting in her seat.

Apparently the train has assigned seating. Very much like in an airplane, plainly printed on the train ticket is the car, row and seat you should be sitting in. My colleagues and I quickly looked at our tickets and wondered aloud if we should move or just wait to be told that we were sitting in the wrong seats. While we were holding this discussion we couldn’t help but overhear our New Jersey compatriots very loudly complaining that they had to move and find new seats.

Some of the comments made:

“I don’t understand why she couldn’t just sit somewhere else”

“we shouldn’t have to move”

“I liked my seat over there better”

As my colleagues and I uncomfortably cringed in our seats, slightly embarrassed, I thought to myself. Is it any wonder Americans have the reputation we do around the world? I mean really where do we get off with this great sense of entitlement and in someone else’s country no less. I was hoping that the Spanish woman did not understand English, as these American women continued to complain, loudly, about having to leave their seat. It was embarrassing and annoying all at once.

We continued on our ride listening to the annoying sound of our entitled compatriots and finally arrived in Sevilla. We went through the day and enjoyed many of the sights of the grand Cathedral, and the Alcazar, we boarded a city tour bus and heard of all the great sights, many of the buildings dating back to before Columbus. But all throughout my stay, in the back of my mind all I could think about were the obnoxious American’s, I was very conscientious of my tone, volume and attitude for the rest of the time there. Being extra polite and gracious, so as not to come across, American. This experience gave me something to think about going forward regarding our great sense of entitlement and in general in more particulalrly the current generation's sense of entitlement. We will see how it goes going forward.

"When in Spain…"

2009-09-07T01:00:00.000Z

Spain Day 2

Today was as laid back as I want my life to be. Two of my colleagues and I ventured off the ship at about 10:30 am and caught the no.1 bus down to the beach area and had a breakfast which consisted of pateˊ on bread and Spanish coffee. It was yummy.

ED and I then left our colleague HM on the beach, she wanted to get a start on her tan, and He and I went on an official bus tour of Cadíz. For a little 11 euro’s each and a little over an hour we received a comprehensive history of the city as well as a little siesta at one of the extended stops.

We then joined HM at the beach and quickly realized “Toto we aren’t in Kansas anymore”, not that either of us is from Kansas and clearly Kansas has no beaches. It was when we saw the first of many interesting sights. This attractive woman with a great shape walking towards us in her black bikini with what looked to be a belly carrying a 9 month fetus, yes she was pregnant and wearing a bikini, and she looked stunning.

As we started our search for HM we quickly realized there were other women, not so attractive or in as great a shape that were wearing similar type suits. We walked down the boardwalk on the beach and were passed by two plain looking women that were completely topless, one of the women was so plain and flat I thought she was a man until ED made a comment about the two women. We then saw a sight that was as innocent as Adam and Eve pre apple, children, male and female of various shapes and sizes, frolicking in the and out of the water, some of the female children were topless and didnt seem to care or even pay it any mind. This is where it begins.

ED and I then started a conversation about how normal this “nudity” was to the Spaniards and how uptight we Americans were about it, which lead to our next point in the conversation. As we watched women of varying ages, shapes and sizes; many of them without tops on, we concluded that perhaps some of our (American) negative body images had a lot to do with the lack of freedom we have with our own bodies, and how we aren’t allowed to see this positive display and appreciation for the form. This gave me the fuel I needed to throw caution to the wind and remove my top and promptly lay on my stomach and take a siesta. When I went to roll over I promptly put my top back on, in the very prudish way I had been raised to do. I could list a million reasons why I didn’t go topless, but the truth was that honestly I wasn’t comfortable in mixed company on a public beach to do it, maybe next time.

So when in Spain, drink the Sangria! It may just give you the liquid courage you need (as a woman) to throw caution to the wind and your top on the sand.

Tomorrow we take a train to Sevilla let us see what that brings us.

"Today was a GOOD day"

2009-09-06T01:48:00.001Z

Spain Day 1

Though I did not go to bed till about 2am I woke up at 6am to a phone call from my colleague A.S. (names have been changed to protect the innocent). So AS called me to wake me, you see it was the morning we were pulling into our fist port on our Voyage around the world. We were excited. So I in turn called three colleagues to ensure they were up. Immediately got dressed and ran up to the 8th deck forward (the front of the ship) where I was met by a cold whipping wind and a handful of students, I was joined shortly by a couple of the colleagues I had woken up.

We sat in great anticipation as we could see the lights of Cadiz, Spain on the horizon. For what seemed like an eternity we waited and watched the lights of the City wink back at us as if they were squinting to see if it was really us. We then noticed the Pilot (the person that actually assists the captain in navigating the ship into port, s/he is an expert on the specifics of that port) boat coming towards our ship and the students started to cheer. They then watched as the Pilot jumped from his small boat to our ship with one leap and then we were in the clear to enter our first port, but not before the sun started to rise. Here she comes, “Dawn with her fingertips of Rose” painting the sky a beautiful Indigo then a blazing orange, announcing that the night was over though the moon was still holding court in the opposite sky. It was all so majestic and breathtaking as the captain effortlessly turned the ship around and parked it almost without us noticing as we were so taken in by the gorgeous sunrise.

PL and I quickly rushed to breakfast and before we knew it were being paged (along with the rest of our team) to the Faculty/Staff lounge to distribute passports. I was a member of one of the first excursions, so before I could even think about it I was aboard a bus and en route to a couple of beaches and Gibraltar.

Beaches:

There’s sand and water, oh and the water, its blue. Not to diminish the beauty of the beaches in any way they absolutely were beautiful, but we really didn’t spend any substantial time there, and that made me sad so why talk about it. I did enjoy seeing an architectural excavation taking place at the beach in Bolonia.

Gibraltar:

One of the highlights of my day. It was majestic, interesting, and just breathtaking all at once. First we had to be dropped off at the border crossing where the entire group then walked across the border into Gibraltar, a British holding. We were then met by another tourist operator who gave us a tour of the city, and then the rock of Gibraltar, including St Mathew’s cave (once believed to be the entrance to hades <= true story), and some of Gibraltar’s most famous inhabitants the Apes (that will steal your ice cream if you aren’t careful, just ask one of the SAS students who got took for hers). I wont bore you with additional details of the relevance of Gibraltar on the history of the world, if you are truly interested ask me out to dinner and I shall recount the tales. You know me I read all the plaques and signs and would have read the book if one had been written. A few colleagues and I then headed to the town square and had lunch, I ate spaghetti bolognese while they lunched on Fish and chips (a traditional British meal). We were then whisked back to our ship where I had to do a quick change since my next excursion was scheduled to leave an hour from when I returned.

Flamenco:

The highlight of my first day was definitely the flamenco dance presentation. 140 or so Ship board members rode 30 miles outside of Cadiz to attend a presentation of Flamenco dancing. First we entered a stadium where we watched 2 female Flamenco Dancers Dance with a Horse guided by a male. It was BEAUTIFUL. We then watched this prepubescent young man mock an immature bull and tease him (it was a mock bull fight), I assure you no animals were hurt during the presentation, though the young man almost got taken down by the bull a couple of times. We were then led into an indoor courtyard and served this wonderful local wine (the red tasted like port, I didn’t like the white, and the sangria was DANGEROUS; tasked like sparkling juice) and tapas. Let me just say the ham in this region of Spain is notorious and now I know why, I have never been a huge fan of ham, but this is no ordinary ham. I swear Muslims would eat this, no disrespect to the Muslim folk. But for real the ham is delish! Where was I? Oh yeah the tapas were tasty. Then the Flamenco show began. I have no words to describe how beautiful and romantic it was to hear and watch as three women and one man moved their feet, hands and stirred the spirits of the audience to the sounds of an acoustic guitar and one solo female singer who’s voice was filled with pain and sorrow yet sounded so beautiful. It truly was wonderful. Everyone enjoyed it immensely

The evening came to an end an hour or so later when after we arrived back to the ship a group of us went out and had a meal of hamburgers, wings, and fries. I know what you’re thinking, that is so not Spanish, well trust me when I tell you the hamburgers we had were made of ground ham not ground beef, and the rest of the meal was as unique as well, but good. We finished our meal and walked back to the ship.

End of Day 1, tomorrow Day 2 (it better man up cause it’s got a hard act to follow)

“Membership has its privileges”

2009-09-04T23:56:00.000Z

I just got back from the first preport faculty staff party on our voyage. There were about 15 of us there hootin’ and hollerin’ it up for the majority of the time. Letting off steam.

A little backstory:

See, tomorrow we arrive in Cadiz, Spain, the first port of our around the world journey, so today was preport day. A day filled with lots of logistical information and work on our part to make sure that our travelers have a great time in port.

Seeing as though we are in international waters the legal drinking age is 18 (it’s the international legal drinking age). Each night we are at sea from 2100-2300 (9p-11p) we have beverage service, which must be monitored by my team. Beverage service is basically a bar where students are allowed to purchase up to 3 drinks each either beer or wine in one night. This is above the 2 drinks they are allowed to have in the formal dining room with dinner. The reason for this (there is a developmental reason of course, we are after all in student affairs, there is always a developmental reason) is so that students learn to drink socially as opposed to drink to get drunk. But of course you know us Americans we do everything to the maximum, so the students try to drink their 3 drinks as fast as possible and get as drunk as one can possibly get off of 3 beers/glasses of wine or get their friends drunk by sharing drinks (this is a violation of policy and can get your drink dumped)

For the past few days the Living Learning Team, of which I am a member has had to, on a rotating schedule, staff the beverage service to enforce the rules. As you can imagine not really a fun deal watching students do everything they can to get drunk on their limited supply, some students even act drunk. Yes really. And yes they try to sneak empty bottles in and sneak the liquor out. It's a little sad actually

Anywho. Today there was no beverage service. It was our turn to party. Though our spirits were dampened by the fact that we could not go out on the 7^th deck forward to watch the full moon (there was a blustery wind warning) we enjoyed it from the panoramic interior of our faculty staff lounge where my colleagues and I joined by members of the communication department and a couple of faculty and members of the IT department partied to our hearts content. We danced and drank (socially and responsibly of course) but most importantly we let off some much needed steam. You see, we have been working hard. I know you may not believe it but some of us have been working into the wee morning hours and losing sleep (on top of losing time).

So today we celebrated, our entrance into Spain, we have technically entered into their country since we are not in international waters anymore. In a few hours I will watch the sunrise over Cadiz and be disembarking in the land of my ancestors (technically speaking of course, those bastards did invade my homeland and tried to enslave the natives killing them off with deadly disease and tried to strip them of their riches, their culture and spirit all in the name of some Queen, but I digress).

Viva España!!!! Let the party continue

"What time is it? No really."

2009-09-04T02:25:00.000Z

Its 0400, (that’s 4:00am) and I have just lost another hour, as in we moved the clocks forward another hour again.

Let’s recap shall we.

En Route from Norfolk to Nova Scotia, we moved the clocks forward an hour (-1). Then our 2^nd day at sea en route to Spain from Nova Scotia we lost an hour (-2) and so it happened again for two more consecutive nights (-4) then last night we lost an hour (-5) and tonight again we lost yet another hour (-6). This loosing time made me ponder two things, one of which was.

Where does it go?

I mean I have advanced 6 hours but have not aged during that time so can I claim those hours later in life?

The second thought I had was that I would‘ve rather lost the cumulative at once than to lose one hour here and there over the course of 7 days. It may not seem like a big deal and you may think your body gets used to it but I can attest that is not the case. I am TIRED!!! As you can imagine my internal clock is totally screwed up, which is why I am writing this at 4am (well that and in part it was really the only time where it was quiet enough and I could get such work done). But it really made me wonder where will this time go?

During a staff meeting recently, it may have been today but I can’t remember because around here time really flies, we received a grid outlining the exact dates that we will be moving forward an hour over the course of the next 101 days. It was only after looking at that did it occur to me that I will get all this time back on November 28, 2009; for that is the day we cross the International Date Line and actually have 2 (as in quantity) November 28, 2009, yeah cool I know! I am really excited for that. So on my second November 28, 2009, I won’t only claim my lost 12 or so hours but reclaim hours I have lost in the past, though I still think I will end up losing.

With that I think it’s time to go to sleep at least for 3 hours or so. Time is of the essence…

"Safety"

2009-09-01T00:24:00.000Z

Since I last wrote it has been 5 days, though it feels like 10. So much has happened since then. So in the interest of time I will try to recount to you the most important.

I have lost 3 hours and will lose another tonight. I know what you’re thinking, and no I have not been breaking into the captain’s private stash of well aged scotch. Let me explain: en route from Norfolk, VA to Halifax, Nova Scotia we moved our clocks forward one hour and then since we left Halifax (on Aug 28) just 3 days ago we moved our clocks forward an hour for the last 2 nights and will do so again tonight. My consolation will come when we travel from Spain to Morocco and we gain 2 hours, only to lose them again when we travel to Ghana, such is the game we play with time when we are voyaging around the world on a ship.

Speaking of ship, I have only gotten sea sick once. I got so nauseous I had to lie down after taking some medicine. My earlier illness was a cold; that no doubt I caught from one of my germy nieces or nephew, a going away gift of sorts. I’m over that cold, and the sea sickness wasn’t that bad because I nipped it in the bud, taking the medicine as soon as you feel it is key, otherwise you will get really really sick. I have had headaches each day that we have been at sea; those seem to go away when I spend time out on the deck, which to my dismay is not as often as I thought I would be. I guess I forgot I was going to be on this ship working. Oh Well.

Speaking of work… thus far the emphasis of my job has been safety (it’s the reason I titled this blog so). Starting from the time we ventured out of Norfolk we instantly were treated to a Life Boat drill, we had another once we left Halifax, where roughly 520 students boarded the ship (there are just about 1000) of us faculty, staff, students and crew aboard. The Life boat drill was interesting and somewhat uneventful. You hear the bells, put on your lifejacket and report to the station that pertains to you, it was quite easy the first time. The second time I had to be responsible to report to the “safety captain” that the 84 people at my station were safe and accounted for. I did so after calling off their names from a manifest and asking them to be quiet and stay quiet a few times. Yes there were people missing from my station, but only because they could not hear their names being called over their own conversation (anyone that knows me knows I did not take kindly to that). Nonetheless all accounted for and we passed our first lifeboat safety drill (it’s my understanding we have several more before we arrive in San Diego, Lord help me and those that wish to disobey).

Thus far the highlight of my trip (aside from the AMAZING sunset I captured on my BB) was while we were in Halifax. I discovered that if my career in higher education should come to an abrupt end, I could always work for the Canadian version of the TSA (Transportation Security Administration). One of the major jobs we (the Living Learning Counselor’s) were recruited to do was to check, by hand if necessary, all carryon luggage that the students brought on the ship. So there we stood next to the Canadian x-ray security person (shout out to Brenda and Jill) and when they informed us of possible contraband we would then ask the person to please open their bag and allow us to look at the contents. What was considered contraband you ask? Well the obvious of course, weapons (including blades over 3 inches) which could include scissors, drugs, curling irons or flat irons without an automatic shut off, alcohol (of the drinking kind), and tape. Yes you read correctly. Tape. Students are not allowed to have tape because they aren’t allowed to tape anything up. We use magnets to put things up everywhere, 75% of our cabin is magnetic. It was fun especially when we had to confiscate TAPE. It would sadden me a little when we had to confiscate flat irons or curling irons, and yes there were several dozen that were confiscated (I guess those students didn’t read the student handbook where it informed them of the auto shut off rule). The funniest confiscation though came from one of my colleagues, LB, she confiscated 3 curling/straightening irons in one bag from a student that was clearly trying to smuggle them aboard. The student hid them in a rolled up comforter, wrapped one in a towel, and the other was stuffed at the bottom of one of her pieces of luggage. It was the coup of all confiscations even better than the 6 faux bottles of WATER (vodka had been replaced) that were discovered in the middle of several cases of water. Yeah some student's tried to smuggle that on too. Oh the things we do in the name of safety.

Well I better get to bed, I’m loosing another hour tonight, so I need my rest.

Be Safe

"Sea Sick"

2009-08-27T02:31:00.000Z

When I accepted this job many people asked me how I would fare on a ship, whether or not I would get sea sick. Some even followed this up with recommendations of how to handle sea sickness if I were to get sick. Though I lived in the Ocean State almost all of my life, my access to traveling by ship was minimal, reserved to traveling to Block Island on the Block Island Ferry, and an occasional Boat Ride, like on the Spirit of Boston or Spirit of Baltimore. However because I did not know how I would react to the motion of the ship, I prepared myself. I bought several motion sickness remedies (pills and bands). What I did not anticipate was that prior to embarking on my voyage I would actually come down with something. So as a tickle in my throat grew to a full out cough by Tuesday morning complete with chills and a slight fever, I found myself in bed for the better part of the day on my first day at sea. By the time I felt well enough to join my new colleagues for dinner, I had missed most of day one of training. I discovered that I was not the only one that was not feeling well. Several of my colleagues were sea sick and much like myself spent some or all of their day indisposed, though in a slightly different manner. While it seems that my body has adjusted to the motion of the ship, I still remain with this cold and a nagging cough which I was told by the ship’s doctor will probably get worse before it gets better. He recommended I rest and drink plenty of fluids. Which I have been trying to do.

Tomorrow we port in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where we will welcome 600+ students aboard and begin our journey around the world, I am so excited yet wonder what type of sickness they may get or bring aboard with them.

Hoping for better health and calm seas

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” Confucius

2009-08-24T09:38:00.000Z

My journey began about a year ago when I decided that I would not continue in my position at the University of Rhode Island. I announced in a staff meeting that it would most likely be my last year in that position. With no real job prospects and a job market that was becoming increasingly hard, I was not only stepping out on a limb, I was using that fragile limb as a trampoline. Fast forward a year and here I am about to embark on the job (trip) of a lifetime. In a whirlwind of events that are a story unto itself, I was offered a position with Semester At Sea. I would be one of 10 Living Learning Coordinators aboard the 100th tour of this academic program, and we would be sailing around the world. It was as if I had written the script, and hired myself to play the leading role. The job at Semester at Sea was designed for me. However I first had to get to Virginia, where in less than 12 hours, I am to board the ship that will be my new home for the next 4 months.

One of the first people I told of my new position was an old acquaintance, Kevin, he and I have known each other since high school. We have many friends in common and share social circles, however he and I were never more than acquaintances, but I knew of his travels and his great sense of adventure. So I called him and told him about my new job as well as the countries I would be visiting. I shared with him the opportunities I would be given to travel within these countries. He was elated for me and a little jealous too. But then he said something that took me a back a bit, “let me know if you need me to drive you down to VA, I would be glad to”. Again, he and I were just social acquaintances, I couldn’t tell you anything about Kevin, other than his directory information.

Fast forward another 3 months and here we are the eve prior to our departure, I received a text from Kevin about 5pm asking what route we would be taking to get to Norfolk, VA, and responded that we would be taking the route which would have us go over and through the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel System, to which he responded that he was not pleased, bridges and tunnels made him nervous. I laughed almost to tears, when I read his response, and he knew I was laughing, you see; when I first called Kevin to inform him of the opportunities I would be given to travel, he tried to convince me that I should go diving in a cage while in South Africa to see the Great White Shark in their natural habitat (he has yet to convince me) an activity he had already done, he convinced me that I should go on camel back while in Morocco, and told me of his Safari experience at Kreuger National Park in South Africa. This man, who had been cliff diving without knowing how to swim, went backpacking in Peru, and had a hyena enter his tent and sniff his face was afraid of bridges and tunnels. This gave me great ammunition as we embarked on our road trip and I teased him well and he took it like a great sport. I even took pictures of him as we crossed the bridge and as he nervously ate my “pirate’s booty”. During the trip we talked and became friends. I teased Kevin because I too was scared of crossing that bridge and going through that tunnel, because I knew that once I did there was no turning back. unbeknownst to Kevin he taught me a great lesson on this road trip, and that was that all of us are capable of great things, we challenge ourselves and at times take things to the limit. Our greatest growth however comes when we challenge ourselves to face the things that cause us our greatest fear, something like crossing a bridge or a tunnel; or leaving home. You see, as I embark on this journey, I at age 38, I am leaving home for the first time, I am leaving all my friends, family, and supports and doing this alone. I have to thank Kevin for allowing me to use. him to deflect a lot of nervous energy that I had during that trip and for making me laugh so hard (though most of the time it was at him).