Hey everyone!

Sorry it’s been so long catching up. I’ve been told people are wondering if I’m really still traveling.. but I am!! Well here’s the last couple (or six haha) weeks of my voyage!!! Enjoy..  

After leaving South Africa, we were headed to the little tropical island of Mauritius. But before spending the day on luxurious beaches with crystal clear waters, an unexpected medical emergency had us stop at an even smaller island which was pretty much off the charts. On the early morning of March 2^nd, 2011, the MV explorer was granted permission to enter the restricted perimeters of Diego Garcia, a British owned territory occupied by United States military forces which is absolutely prohibited to civilians. Although I do not know details, I know there was a lot of negotiating and debate whether or not we would be allowed to such restricted areas; one of the main concerns was that our ship had been taken over by pirates and forced us to demand help. But given our urgency need for medical care, the military agreed to come aboard armed and with extreme caution, thoroughly search our ship and then allowed the three community members to go with them in order to be airlifted to Singapore. It was pretty intense seeing all of these Marines in uniform with huge guns right outside of my cabin when I woke up – what a morning!! The entire process took a few hours just to insure we were who we claimed to be, search the ship and transport the three. As curious as the military was about us, you can only imagine how curious we were, knowing no other civilians have ever been granted permission to enter the waters of Diego Garcia. They all wanted to talk about why the hell all these college students were in the middle of the Indian Ocean in the first place; they wanted to hear about the countries we had already visited and where we were going next; they weren’t as big and bad as they looked!! On the other hand, a wide variety of rumors were going around the ship as to where we really were and what was secretly happening on this island, why it was so secret. For the most part, the conclusion came to the island being a CIA black site prison for terrorists. But honestly, who knows nowadays… all that matters is that I can say I was at Diego Garcia and those in need received medical attention!

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On the morning of Sunday, February 27^th, 2011 we arrived to Mauritius at about 8 AM. Fortunately no face-to-face immigration was required so we all got off of the ship fairly quickly. We only had about ten hours to spend on the island so we decided to make it a beach day after we felt how humid and intense the sun was (I thought I was back in Africa!). Before taking about a 45 minute drive to the beach, we needed to find an ATM and so we walked through an open air market to get a few souvenirs and check out the port area. Open air markets are definitely a must see while in foreign countries; not saying I would recommend buying or eating from them but the culture is phenomenal. All of my senses were going 1000 miles an hour; unrecognizable fruits and veggies of vibrant greens, yellows, reds and oranges; I could smell spices being cooked I still cannot put a name on; locals speaking in all of these tongues that sound so foreign – the whole 20 minute experience was intense! The particular market in which we were roaming through was mostly of Indian decedents (as is much of the island) so it gave us a little preview of our next port of Chennai, India. Overall, the downtown port area seemed very clean and the people were very pleasant.

We got to the beach around 11:00 AM. As always, I was nervous for the drive because you never know how traffic typically operates from country to country. I was relieved when I saw that they actually obey traffic lights and seat belts are required. Phew. Before we went to lie out on the beach we grabbed a bite to eat, had a few drinks and played cards at a little bar by the water. It was so relaxing hanging out with all of our closest friends just having fun laughing! For the rest of the afternoon we waded around in the water and talked with people; some were locals and others were vacationing to the island. Mauritius is basically our Hawaii to the Europeans and South Africans. Many of the vacationers were interested in SAS program and kept asking about all of the countries we had visited and where we were going later. There was one local boy around our age that just wanted to hang out with us; it was funny because he didn’t speak English and we didn’t speak whatever he spoke. Anna could communicate with a little bit of her French but for the most part it was sign language and head nods – story of my life on SAS. (Sorry if I come home speaking with my hands and talking to everyone like they’ve never heard English haha) The water was unimaginable – even after living in Hawaii for a year with crystal clear waters I was still so impressed at the temperature and color of the water around Mauritius. Unfortunately our beach day trip in Mauritius came to an end too quick like always so we headed back to the ship a few hours early in order to make on ship time. When we arrived to the port there was a huge line, as expected, of last minute SASers rushing back being sure not to get dock time. What I couldn’t believe was how intoxicated some individuals had gotten in such a short amount of time, one of which needing to be hospitalized. I’m not claiming to be an angel or anything don’t get me wrong, but it’s sad when people fail to take in other factors that normally don’t affect us at home. Alcohol clearly dehydrates you – AND we’re in the tropics sweating AND accidentally swallowing saltwater while swimming. I’m sure people drank the same amount as normal but it just happen to kick everyone in the ass twice as hard. Even scarier is the fact that the Mauritius hospital couldn’t even perform standard testing that we would expect in the United States; they had no idea if drugs were involved but testing couldn’t be provided – they had no idea what they were working with therefore didn’t know how to treat the individual. Foreign hospitals scare the shit out of me worse than anything on this trip so far! BUT on a lighter note, Mauritius was definitely a successful day for me but I’m ready for Asia now!!

The six day stretch from Mauritius to India was the busiest/most stressful week of my life since it was time for midterms. I have always said this every week of midterms and finals throughout college but this time I’m serious! I think courses on the ship are definitely harder just because we’re studying material at an international level in a wide variety of countries we have never studied before; I love the challenge but I’m scared of being extremely bored in regular classes when I get home. I’m going to have a BAD case of USA fever… it’s going to be extremely frustrating not being able to travel for awhile. On top of midterms it was so stressful still worrying about things back home… bills being paid, what the boyfriend is up to, are my puppies ok, are my fish being fed… I know it sounds silly but God Bless Mom and Wayne for putting up with me and taking care of everything for me J I’m a VERY independent person as many know and having to rely on others to take care of things I normally do makes me feel more vulnerable than I ever have. Vulnerability has been the most uncomfortable aspect of this voyage thus far because it happens all day every day in a variety of ways throughout each country; but yet will probably be the one to make me grow the most.

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Speaking of me feeling vulnerable, I have one word… India.

India is a historically and culturally one of the richest countries in the world. The Taj Mahal, the Ganges River, the birthplace of Buddhism… not many countries can claim home to things like these. The culture, rituals, dress and foods date back to some of the oldest living cities in the world. On the other hand, as impressive and beautiful as site seeing was, the poverty, homelessness and inequality between the rich and poor couldn’t justify it (not that it should justify anything but I personally couldn’t handle it). Unfortunately, I was turned off really quick by India’s poverty levels; I plan to return and give it a second chance but my first impressions are kind of sticking negatively with me at this point. The lack of sanitation drove me insane when I saw kids and puppies playing in their own feces. And it’s unfortunate when I absolutely dreaded getting off the ship to walk to a damn cab because we would be swarmed by people begging for money, trying to sell us things then get to the cab and be WAY overcharged because we’re Americans. One cab driver even told us, since he is taking us to expensive mall, the ride is more expensive. If we went to a poor market 10 blocks further away down the road, it would be cheaper. Now I don’t care who you are, how the hell does this make ANY sense?

I was physically tired of arguing with people about being overcharged by venders and followed by beggers; one young kid followed me literally for hours and magically popped up on every corner I was on– I don’t know how he did it. I wasn’t the only one getting tired though. I’ll never forget one little kid probably 6 or 7 begging for food late at night in a train station, I said no once and he broke down into tears. I could tell he was simply tired. He had his little brother with him and tried selling his little brother for money. I kept saying no, no then he asked me to just please take his little brother to America so he can live better. I tried so hard to fight back the tears. It’s so unfair but it is impossible to give one kid a dollar but not the next kid, you can’t pick and choose. At first I thought it was kind of cool being seen as rich but I have come to hate having a lot of money in these poor countries – its really unfair. In general, India is a country loved and favored by many, I just wasn’t one of them.

Aside from the negatives, I did experience many positives throughout India… To Be Continued…  SOON I PROMISE

!!SOUTH AFRICA!!

SOUTH AFRICA

 

February 17^th, 2011

 

Today we were supposed to arrive at 8 AM in Cape Town, South Africa. The keyword was supposed to. For over 24 hours, the MV Explorer circled the shores of South Africa waiting for clearance to port due to extremely high winds. The day was spent in suspense just waiting for “the voice” to tell us we were cleared to go ashore and begin exploring South Africa. We passed time doing everything BUT homework.. played cards, took naps, watched movies and ate. The staff and faculty were great to us by trying to keep us entertained with a talent show, screened movies in the Union and even gave us French fries at supper (this is a pretty big deal to get fries!) Around 10:00pm we got wind (literally haha) of us being able to port between 11pm-1am that night. We were all so excited and started making plans to get off right away and go have some drinks before the bars closed. Well, 1:00am came and went.. and so did 2,3 and 4 am. When I woke up the next morning around 8 am I was lying in bed and could still feel the boat rocking. I was so frustrated knowing we STILL weren’t on shore and more valuable time in South Africa was being wasted. Around 1pm the ship was FINALLY ported and cleared by immigration which was done individually face to face with customs, unlike every other port. WOOHOO – SOUTH AFRICA FINALLY!

 

Anna and I got off the ship right away to find an ATM and walk around until she had to leave for her FDP. I ended up meeting with some other friends, got a bite to eat until we decided what to do for the day. We were kind of unsure but compromised on going to the top Table Mountain. To be honest I don’t know any fun facts about Table Mountain like the height or age but we knew we wanted to go to the top! Tickets to ride the cable car to the top of the mountain are half price after 6pm plus you can watch the sunset (of course you knew which one we chose). In the meantime, we decided to just walk the streets of Cape Town, see what we can come across then get a taxi from wherever we were at 5:30pm. It was a nice walk around the city – the streets were crowded because of the U2 concert in town (the concert itself brought over 75,000 visitors to South Africa). The town was a lot different than I expected. It resembled an average USA city; filled with white people, pretty clean – the only difference was they all had European accents and they drove on the left side of the road. I knew because of the Apartheid, blacks and coloreds had been pushed out of the city onto the outskirts so poverty was just around the corner. Anyways, we got to Table Mountain right at 6pm and took the cable car to the top. Again, it was one of those breathtaking moments in which pictures won’t do any justice. From the top, a 360 view of South Africa was visible. On one side was the port and wealthier parts of town – we could see the ship, the restaurant we had eaten at earlier and every little detail of the town. On the other side, the shore was lined with beautiful beaches with the sun setting on them. On the opposite horizon of the sun setting was the bright orange full moon setting. We had picked the perfect evening to see the moon at its most brilliant, vivid stage. The change in air temperature was dramatically cooler than at the base of the mountain and the air was a lot heavier – we were truly in the clouds! I’m not sure why but the nearby clouds just spilled over other parts of the mountain. It was beautiful to see! Around 8:00 pm we grabbed the cable car back down to the base and headed for the ship to get ready for the night! We all decided to meet back up and hang around the port area for the night. We got a few bottles of South African wine and danced with the crew members that had the night off – very fun!

 

 

 

 

The next morning, February 19^th, 2011, I waited around with our friend Kayla for Anna to get back from her home stay. Around noon she got back, we got off for a little bit, walked around and got something to eat. We couldn’t go far because I had to meet up for my home stay on the ship at 2pm (which I was SO excited for knowing how successful my last home stays have been). There were about 20 of us that were going to stay in a township by the name of Tambo.

Here’s a quick history on the townships from my understanding. There are three distinct racial groups in South Africa: Blacks, Whites and Coloreds - which is everything else other than black or white. During the Apartheid, the whites first forced the blacks outside of the ‘white parts’ of town. So the blacks were forced to create ‘informal settlements’ in the eastern and western parts of Cape Town. Next, the coloreds were forced out of town in the same situation. Each racial group had their own settlements which were never crossed racially at the borders. Whites stayed with the whites, blacks stayed with the blacks, etc. When the whites forced this separation, blacks and coloreds lost their jobs, lost their homes so poverty instantly became an issue. From then on, the poor levels of education, healthcare, unemployment have been EXTREMELY unequal compared to whites. Even after the abolishment of the Apartheid in 1994, the racial segregation is extremely evident. Clearly the blacks aren’t going to pick up and move into white settlements because they have no money (even though it is legal). And obviously the whites aren’t going to pick up and move to the townships because of the poverty, aids and unemployment levels. So the racially segregated townships are staying pretty much the same as the whites continue to occupy the inner parts of Cape Town. The only racial interaction I witnessed was blacks working in Cape Town. The government was in the process of building affordable housing for the township residents but many argued their true intentions. Since the World Cup in 2010, building has ceased and people are still living in extreme poverty with an unemployment rate nearly over 40%. MANY argue that the government housing was just for show so they can say they are giving an effort!! But who knows with the government anyways…

Now back to Tambo…

The actual drive to the township was interesting itself. The tour guide said that it was only a 15 minute drive on the highway and I thought to myself “How the hell are we going to go from high rise buildings, BMWs, filthy rich white Europeans to AIDS infested, extreme poverty filled with all blacks in a matter of 15 minutes???” But we did. I felt like I could actually draw a physical line between the end of white communities to the start of black/colored townships. It was pretty sad but thinking back on it, evidence of this in US cities is just as prevalent. The only difference is here I am going to experience the townships and immerse myself in their lifestyles and back home I don’t exactly go hang out in the ghetto. I haven’t quite understood how I got the courage to do it here, in a foreign country where some don’t even speak English, but I wouldn’t even imagine doing it Compton, Chicago or NYC. The same type of drug trade, gang violence, rape and criminal activity is going on in Tambo as it would in US cities – probably worse! I feel kind of embarrassed I know more about an African township than I do about Inner City Baltimore which is just down the street from where I live. But it was too late to be thinking about this now, I needed to learn about where I was living for the night in order to come home in one piece!!! (Im just kidding – everything was certified through SAS and was as safe as it can be for a township outing- have to remember anything can happen!)

We arrived around 3pm, interacted with some local neighborhood kids and talked with the adults until it was time to meet our families. We were paired with one other fellow SASer to stay in the home of a family for the night. The mother’s of the families were the ones to greet us and basically be in charge. In African communities, any woman older than you is referred to as your “Mama”. Wei, a Chinese student aboard SAS and I were placed with Mama Notemba. She was a short little lady around the age of Mama Kout. She and her husband have four children, all boys and three grandchildren, one seven year old boy and two 6 month old girls. In my opinion, her English was very well spoken but she claimed she was constantly listening to us for new words and phrases – I was impressed. The children all spoke English, I figured since they were younger and it is used more in schools. The family built their house by hand – it was made of cinderblocks and metal roof. It had a living room, kitchen, bathroom and two bedrooms. The bathroom had a flushable toilet but no shower – it was in the process of being installed; in the meantime they used a plastic tub. From what I understood, the house has been in the process of building for 10 years but is still not completely finished. The reason it takes so long is because they buy material as they have the funding; visitors like us have given them the funding to maintain progress towards their home. This is actually how the program started; tourists wanted to stay in townships so families said if you pay us to stay here then we can build our homes better and attract more people. In the meantime, the family lived in a makeshift home which is located in the back. It’s basically made out of anything they could find. So when the new home was able to be lived in, she kicked the older boys to the back house so she and her husband could have a home to themselves. Well sort of. Her youngest son is only 17 and is still in school so he stays in the house. I’m not exactly sure but it seems as though the 7 year old grandson stays under the grandparents’ care, which I found is common. The older two boys that have the newborn babies are the two boys that live out back. The girlfriends and babies of the boys also live in the back because the girls are being ‘punished’ by their own families for having babies at such young ages (19yrs) out of wedlock. Mama Notemba said that when the baby girls are old enough to be separated from the moms, she will care for the granddaughters while the moms return to school. So I’m figuring this is what happened with the older Grandson – but just my assumption!

But we spent the day with Mama Notemba cooking, learning these little tid bits about the family and meeting her sons, daughter-in-laws, etc. Her husband arrived soon after and was thrilled to have us staying in his home. He asked many questions about America, Semester at Sea and getting to know us. We all ate supper as a family and the meal was FANTASTIC. There was chicken, potatoes, cooked carrots (sorry mom, I even got seconds on these cooked carrots – I don’t know what her magic was!!), spinach mixed with cabbage and corn meal. We had orange pop for dessert followed by a cup of tea.

After supper, Mama Notemba walked us around the township for a little bit, took us to see relatives’ homes but I could tell she was kind of nervous but I wasn’t sure why. Oh yeah – we were in a BLACK township and we were WHITE. I got her to open up a little bit and she was saying how she could tell people were eyeing us and she was afraid they were going to try and rob us, mug us or something and she mentioned how bad the drug crimes have gotten in the area. I didn’t sense any of this at all. Of course we got heads turning but I expected this; I think her mom instincts were just in super overdrive and she was paranoid for her ‘daughters’. People were all so friendly saying hi, the kids wanted us to play with them – but this is her territory not mine, she knew best so we didn’t stay out for long.

When we got home the dad (I didn’t catch his name) was watching soccer so we sat down and had another cup of tea with him. I really wanted to interact with the 7 year old grandson but he was just SO shy. I tried thinking of any way to play with him then I remembered I had a deck of cards in my bag. I think he was more fascinated by how I shuffled the cards then the actual game!! Haha just kidding. But I knew I had to play a game that would make him talk to me so he could break out of his shell. What better game than Go Fish!!! We played a few games of Go Fish then I taught him other games. He got REALLY good at Kings Corner and wanted to play game after game after game. Mama kept thanking me for teaching him a game that was educational; it made him strategize and use numbers. Eventually Mama went to bed, the soccer game ended, and we were still playing cards. We called it quits and went to bed when the dad was falling asleep watching us. I slept great, the beds were very comfortable but I think there was a little issue with the next door neighbors. I woke up in the middle of the night and honestly thought I was dreaming until I sat up for a little bit and realized I wasn’t. I could hear the mom and dad next door screaming at the top of their lungs at each other. All the babies were crying – I just knew it was just all bad from the tones of voices. Now taking a domestic violence course on the ship has made my ability to identify signs of abuse occurring within families escalate- and this was a real case of domestic violence at my fingertips.. and I could do nothing to intervene. It was one of the hardest things to do, just lay there in bed and listen to this couple fight as their children were screaming.  As unfortunate as these events are, I am sort of thankful I could witness this. Being able to have real life experiences in general confirm what you have been working so hard at researching the past month is a great feeling across all areas of studies.

On a lighter note, Wei and I woke around 7:30am to the smell of breakfast. I couldn’t wait knowing how delicious supper was! The grandson wanted one more quick round of Kings Corner so we hurried before Mama was finished cooking. We were given toast, fried eggs, tomatoes, porage and coffee. It was all delicious but before we knew it, 9:00am came around and it was time for us to head back to the bus. I REALLY wish they would have given us until the afternoon to stay with our families because the time we were given just wasn’t enough. But we all exchanged phone number and addresses so we can keep in touch. Like every other home stay, it was tough leaving but I still had much of Cape Town to see!

 

I got back to the ship around 10:30am, met up with Anna and our friend Tatiana. We all decided on doing the Robben Island Tour that afternoon so we walked around the harbor to kill some time. At 3pm we took a ferry over to the island where we all got on busses to tour the maximum security prison. Here is where Nelson Mandela along with numerous other political figures were held during the Apartheid. The tour guides were actually former inmates that had been imprisoned on Robben Island. There is SOOO much history about Robben Island that I could never even begin to touch the surface in this blog. (I highly recommend googling the history for a better understanding!!!) I was just… I can’t even find the right word… but amazed at the fact that some of these former inmates can conduct these tours on a daily basis at the place that many refuse to talk about. But for most, they have no other form of income and its one area of expertise that no one else can explain better but themselves. I just find it ironic how the white guards were treating the inmates so inhumanely yet the blacks and coloreds rely on mainly white populations that visit the island for tours as a source of income. I see these former inmates as some of the most forgiving and accepting people on Earth. Within the prison, the inmates knew they had to keep their sanity one way or another. The guards had them doing meaningless work like moving piles of rocks from one corner to the next, morally dehumanizing them, starving them. The guards would even create fake letters from the wife stating she has found a new lover and moved on; they broke up numerous marriages and families. So to pass time and keep their witts, they formed a university. Even the white guards were attending classes held by the blacks/coloreds because it was collegiate level material that they had never obtained. Basically they were killing with kindness. Now remember they are not being imprisoned for criminal activity – they were political leaders during the Apartheid who the whites felt threatened by since they were so HIGHLY intelligent people and extremely respected among the blacks/coloreds. To see the actual prison and stand at the cell in which Nelson Mandela stayed for years was a neat experience; but talking with actual former inmates, hearing true stories from the source truly topped the experience. I have some of the stories from the guides on video which I will post later.

 

After Robben Island we headed back to the ship and got ready to go out for the evening. Five of us girls got all dolled up and out for supper. We had an awesome night, talking about all of our experiences so far, laughing and what we all had coming up in the next few days!

 

The next morning, February, 21, 2011, came WAY too fast. It was my day for shopping, running errands and making sure I had done everything for classes. I stayed in the waterfront and didn’t do anything else too exciting. For our last night in town, us girls went out for maybe an hour. We were all just so exhausted from the past few days we called it a night around midnight and headed home.

 

Like always, the next morning, February 22, 2011, came WAY too fast. My bed was feeling extra comfy today and 8:00am was just not agreeing with me. With a little push and nudging from mom, aka my roommate Jessica (we always make each other do stuff when we don’t feel like going – so glad I have one of these kinds of roommates because I never regret going!!), I got out of bed, showered and ready for my visit back to a nearby township with Operation Hunger.

 

Operation Hunger is a nongovernmental organization (NGO) that works with communities in poverty mainly focusing on severely malnourished children. Our first stop was to a soup kitchen that was started by a man named Daniel. He is 72 years old, retired and his whole life revolves on his soup kitchen and feeding the hungry children. He is DEFINITELY an angel in disguise – I have no doubts. Well Operation Hunger discovered Daniels soup kitchen a few years ago and agreed to work with him as an NGO. Operation Hunger provides extra funding, professional help for the community such as healthcare, and medical advice. Once a month, the children are weighed by Operation Hunger staff members and numbers are recorded to determine if progress is being made. As volunteers for the day, we got to actually weigh the children, analyze the results and talk about them with the parents. The way levels of malnourishment is determined is comparing age and weight to what it should be as to where it actually is. With -3 being the most malnourished, 0 as average and +3 overweight, 11 out of 13 of the children fell on the negative side. Two were at 0 and no children were on the positive side. These results were AWEFUL and the children were extremely malnourished in this community. If a child fell at -3, medical attention is recommended immediately every two weeks until further notice. Unfortunately we were told that a majority of the mothers will not take their children to the clinic although it is free and easily accessible by walking. Again, my domestic violence radar kicked in and screamed CHILD NEGLECT. There is no reason for these mothers to not receive medical attention for their children. There were 2 year old little girls weighing 15 pounds. Unacceptable – my puppy weighs more than them. Daniel also told us of the growing problem of alcoholism in the community. Some parents will come and get food for their children at home then turn around and sell it for drugs or alcohol. So no wonder these children are so underweight. One mother even showed up to the kitchen drunk. Now don’t get me wrong – this isn’t how EVERYONE in the community is. One mother regularly takes her daughter to be examined to make sure progress is being made every two weeks at the clinic like clockwork. Most of the people really do appreciate the efforts of the soup kitchen, the children loved us as ‘the visitors with cool cameras’.. but theres always those few people that ruin it for everyone else….       

But in general, the day at the kitchen went very well. Some helped the Mamas cook, some played with the kids. Daniel couldn’t stress how much he appreciates us coming and its groups like us that encourage him to keep up his work. Made me feel pretty good at least…

Around noon we ate lunch at the beach and then headed to a little library that Operation Hunger works with. It was started by a man named Jonathan Nicholoson who saw the need for improving literacy rates among the children of the community. Many of the children come to the library after school, learn to read and write and receive help on homework if needed. Most often the parents of the children can’t read or write themselves so obviously somebody needs to help them. The kids are assigned books each night to read ‘for homework’, they have competitions to see who improves the most in a month, etc. The kids win prizes here and there, get stickers and are even taken on field trips. One time the kids were taken to the beach which is only a short 10 minute drive – but most of them had never seen the ocean. I was blown away when I heard this!!! Next month they are going on a field trip to the zoo; the kids are so excited to see an animal (other than cat, dog or rat) in REAL life!! So sad how sheltered some of the children are… Half of the kids that go to the library just go so that they have an adult figure to talk to and look up to, be loved by and have a safe haven to go to away from crime. While spending not even a half hour at this little library, I saw some of the most passion for teaching children that I have ever seen in my life. I was sad to end the day with Operation Hunger but the ship was getting ready to leave in a few hours.

 

Now it’s back to school, school and more school. I really enjoyed Africa as a whole but like always not enough time. Guess this means I just have to come back to stay with Mama Notemba!! But for now, Its time for ASIA!!         

            

The rest of Ghana...

For the second portion of the day we had the Elmina City Walking Tour (same place where one of the slave castles is located). Now when I signed up for this trip back in November I thought “Oh cool we’ll get to see a Ghanaian community!!” And a Ghanaian community is exactly what I got. It was possibly one of the most uncomfortable situations I have ever been in. The streets were so overcrowded, I was part of the white minority being stared at, cars are honking left and right and kids were tugging at me constantly. They were cute and fun at first but then after you see them piss on the road 6 feet away then come play with your camera you’ll think twice. All I could think about was not touching my face and catching some African virus that my body isn’t immune too. The adults on the other hand weren’t so cute. Some ignored us, some were just checking out our clothes and some seem offended we were there. And in my opinion they had every right to be. They weren’t stupid – they knew we were there looking at how bad the poverty levels are. AKA poverty tourism. Pretty sad but I have a feeling I have a few more of these trips coming up… It would be different if we were going into these communities to help the poverty but going just to stare and gawk – not a fan. But like every experience I’ve had thus far, it has been eye and given me a better idea of what is beyond just the US.

 

Didn’t do much that night. Just had a few drinks with the locals in port, hung around and learned about Ghanaian culture. Haha, speaking of Ghanaian culture.. the gender roles in society are very interesting. I was asking about family life so I could take field notes for one of my classes- and yes the bar is the best place because we all know the truth comes out!! So the guy I was talking to, Kwame, gave me a perfect example. He had finished his beer before me and I had about half of mine left. He said, “if you were my wife, it would be your duty to share the rest of your beer with me.” I was so surprised at his remark, although everything was on joking terms, that I knew he was serious. So of course I fired back with, “well if I’m your wife, and this is my beer, I don’t want to share.” He didn’t like my answer too much. We kept going back and forth. He talked about how American women were so (too) independent and he could never marry one. But it still pretty much ended in my loss and I forfeited the beer. Probably better this way because I had an early morning – my home stay!!  

Around 8 am February 9^th, 2011 about 25 of us gathered in the Union to get ready for our next day and a half. We took about an hour and half bus ride back to a small village outside Elmina (where we went for the slave dungeons and city walking tour). When we arrived in the village of about 700, the families, especially the kids, were ecstatic. We were greeted with a drum ceremony, the chief and elders of the community. The drum ceremony and dancers were amazing – you’ll just have to wait to see the videos, I have to keep you guys excited for some stuff!! We were given a huge honor in their community by being assigned tribe names. It was a pretty long process in their native language but it was well worth it. Everyone’s fist name is based on the day of the week you are born then the last name is the family name. My name is Awura Adowa since I was born on a Monday and my family’s last name is Adowa. Before we got to meet our family, some of the village children showed us to the school and were SO proud of their classrooms. It was nice to spend time with some of the school aged children as we read with them. The first family member that was I was introduced to and mainly cared for me was a guy named Emanuel and was about 25. He and his father were working professionals at the University in Elmina (fairly close to the village). He lived with his 1 year old son, wife (or girlfriend – didn’t quite figure that situation out!!), mother and father. For most of the afternoon we spent talking about Ghanaian life, American life and walked around the village. He wants so badly to come to the United States but talked about how difficult and expensive it was to obtain a visa and passport. I instantly thought back to applying for my passport and visas to travel with semester at sea; I filled out a few papers, gave them a credit card number, wait for it to come back in the mail then was ready for the next three months to do whatever I wanted! This is definitely not the case in most foreign countries outside the US – sad. I CANT STRESS HOW FORTUNATE AMERICANS ARE!!!!! The mother and father were both happy to have me there but the wife or girlfriend.. I had mixed feelings about her. She never once looked at me, spoke to me, nothing. And the little boy cried each time he saw me because he had never seen a white person – I would cry too!!

Around 6:30 pm time everyone left the families to come to the community center for supper. It was catered by the resort we had visited the past few days for lunch since the water conditions are not very good to cook with in the village. We were very disappointed in the amount of bottled water that was provided for us. We received one bottle in the afternoon, one at supper and one at breakfast the next morning. Meanwhile, we were all sitting there sweating 10x more than we have ever in our life. We should have had at least twice that – WE’RE IN AFRICA!! Anyways… after supper my ‘brother’ offered to take me to the local bar for a few drinks where some of the other SASers were at with their families. It was mostly teenagers and some male adults. Adult females were nowhere in sight. I asked my brother why that was and he said because they need to stay home and take care of the kids. (Sorry Wayne – we’re going ½ and ½ - hahaha) It was SO much fun though– maybe too much. I can’t tell you through words how much energy these teenagers have and the dancing skills - I was embarrassed to dance but they thought it was hilarious, at least someone was humored. I don’t have rhythm to begin with but they just proved it even more! The drinks… I stuck with a dark local beer for the most part but I saw some of the guys drinking out of these little baggies. I really wanted to try one but the guys I was with kept saying no. I didn’t understand. Well then one explained that women in the community aren’t allowed to drink hard liquor or smoke because they will throw up. I couldn’t help but laugh and promised them I wouldn’t puke so they let me have one – then again it was the night I was celebrating my 21^st since we were on sea on the 12^th!!! It was pretty good – strong because you didn’t mix it with anything. I couldn’t read the package very well but the name of it was called ‘soccer’ and it was made from sugar cane. Yummy J After we got home from the bar, I showered (in a real shower – I was pumped – most others had to bath in a bucket!!) Then got ready for my DOUBLE bed – again I was pumped because I’ve been sleeping in a single on the ship.  

The next morning, February 10^th, 2011, I woke up and got ready for breakfast. Before I ate, I was told to brush my teeth. I figured ok not a problem. I had a modern shower the night before. A big comfortable bed to sleep in. But brushing my teeth? I didn’t know what to do because the toilet was an outhouse, so clearly no bathroom sink. So I just stepped outside with my bottle of water, hung out with the chickens and goats and brushed away!!! For breakfast we had one hardboiled egg, bread, plantains and hot chocolate. UGH hot chocolate in 90 degree weather is not really necessary in my opinion but I still drank it. Around 9 am it was time to head back to the community center and get ready to leave. But before I left, Emanuel presented me with a bottle of wine for my 21^st birthday – he was such as sweetheart!!! I had a great time with my family at the home stay and definitely plan to keep in contact!!  

On the way back to the ship, we stopped in Elmina City to see the process of fish smoking. It was in the same area in which we had walked around the day before but the people knew we were coming to watch the process so it was a little bit more comfortable. The smoking was pretty interesting. First the fish are laid on wire meshing and then placed on top of a fire pit built from the earth. Each side is smoked for 30 minutes and is then stored, sold or eaten. I was amazing at the amount of time it can be stored – ONE YEAR with refrigerating, sealing or anything!!!! I tried some of the fish and it had a very distinctive taste – very fishy but the texture was the same as beef jerky. I wouldn’t eat it on a regular basis but was glad I tried it.

 

We got back to the ship around noon and our stay in Ghana was coming to an end. Of course I had to finish my bottle of wine before getting on the ship since we aren’t allowed alcohol. One of my friends on the home stay, my friend Kwame (one of the vendors outside the ship) and I shared the bottle for my birthday! I quick ran into town to get a prepaid phone, last minute errands then headed back the ship and get ready for SOUTH AFRICA!!!!!!!!                    

Sea Olympics and Ghana Thus far....

Greetings from 0° Lat. 0° Long. (pretty cool huh??)

 

Everyone is probably wondering where the heck I’ve been. Well since I last posted we have had the Sea Olympics and Ghana. Oh my oh my where do I start??

 

SEA OLYMPICS

How about with the Olympics (February 3^rd, 2011)

One of the biggest traditions here on the SAS ship is the Sea Olympics for two reasons; bragging rights for the rest of the entire voyage and disembarking the ship first when we arrive in San Diego. Disembarking first is such a huge deal because the process takes FOREVER; our entire rooms are already packed, suitcases are gone, just waiting to clear customs. Anyone who has traveled internationally knows how long it takes for just a few people to get through – imagine 700+. So getting off first is a HUGE plus. Now back to the Olympics. The entire shipboard community is split into a total of about 10 color coordinated Seas usually by floors; the old people have a separate sea and the staff/families have another Sea. Each Sea is named after an actual Sea that does exist somewhere; my floor happens to be Aegean (aka the best) which is located between Greece and Turkey. For about two days before the games begin, the seas just get pumped up, create cheers, make banners, get little sleep and practice for the upcoming events. We are judged on everything from spirit and creativity of banners to appropriateness and safety of synchronized swimming. There are tons of events that last all day; volleyball, crab soccer, synchronized swimming, SAS trivia, dressing our LLC (floor coordinator), and many more. Everyone is expected to participate so I joined the card stacking team and we placed 2^nd!!! The atmosphere that day was INTENSE. Everyone wanted to win so bad, the cheers were so loud you could feel the floors vibrate. The vibrant colored outfits were hilarious – anything that had your sea color was being worn by somebody. Our Aegean Sea color was navy blue – we were decked out from head to toe in navy blue face paints and anything else we could find. The biggest event of the day is usually synchronized swimming. I haven’t laughed as hard as I did watching some the seas perform in a LONG time. I can’t even explain – you’ll have to wait to see them yourselves on video. The overall day was awesome – participation was amazing and everyone’s spirits were great. Overall, as a team we placed 2^nd. We were all very pleased.

 

Over the next few days it was classes, homework and more classes. From Brazil to Ghana is one of the longest portions at Sea (9 days). And let me tell you, I couldn’t wait to get off the ship in Ghana.

 

GHANA

We arrived in Takoradi around 8am on February 6, 2011. We could all immediately feel the positive energy from locals as they greeted us with a drum ceremony; the vendors were waving and couldn’t wait for us to buy their stuff. The drummers were unbelievable; I bet they drummed and sang/chanted for at least an hour and a half straight taking NO breaks. They were barefoot on the heated blacktop – I know I couldn’t last 5 minutes. It was definitely the warmest welcoming we’ve received as Americans thus far. AND ENGLISH IS THEIR 1ST LANGUAGE 

 

Upon arrival, I had a trip booked right away to the slave dungeons of Cape Coast and Elmina. It was about an hour and a half drive to the site as I got my first taste of Ghana. We had a big tour bus so clearly we stood out in the first place and it was filled with us white people. I don’t know who was staring more, us on the bus or the Ghanaians. For the most part it was mutual happiness but a few of the locals didn’t look so pleased to have us there. It didn’t surprise some were upset because if I had a big ol bus full of foreigners driving through my village snapping pictures I would be really pissed too. But this didn’t happen too often. My first impression of the town was extreme poverty; many homes were simply 4 walls barely standing, children were running around everywhere, cooking and bathing outside, open sewers. But as we drove on, we saw a variety of different social classes; MANY kids in school uniforms (all are required in Ghana), larger cement homes, businesses. It’s like any city in America, there are poor parts and there are rich parts. They just adapt in different ways. The streets are extremely crowded with vendors and it gets sort of overwhelming to look at since there’s so much going on. The buildings are very old and some are still used from the Europeans first colonizing Africa. The Ghanaians are very talented because they can balance anything on their head. Even the little kids could carry stuff. I saw huge buckets of water, 20 foot bamboo shafts, TVs, platters of food and anything else you can think of. I guess carrying items this way is better on your back because it doesn’t strain it. They must be all about keeping their hands free to work because all the kids are strapped to their backs with cloth. The kids love it too most were sleeping.

 Like I was saying, the slave dungeons. The first one we went to was in Cape Coast which and belonged to the Dutch. When we first entered the ‘castle’ (I don’t like using the word castle because that reminds me of royalty – something this place was not) I could immediately feel how heavy the atmosphere was. Knowing millions of Africans had been treated as animals, raped, sold, starved, suffocated and every other inhumane way of death possible happened here. The numerous ironies about the castles have me thinking to this day. Some stuff we easily forget from World History in high school that we need to be reminded of -- like how it was the domestic slaves building the dungeons for the other slaves (Europeans kept their hands clean); elder Africans that were no use for the British were the ones gathering slaves for sale; one of the most beautiful coasts I have ever seen in my life was the location of one of our ancestor’s darkest periods of time; the door in which the traders/buyers would look and pick their desired slaves through was triangular, giving it the name Atlantic triangular trade. Maybe it’s not that I forgot these facts but until you actually experience a place like this, which has had such an ENORMOUS impact on society yet today, it will never compare to learning it in a classroom. You can’t smell the stench of death from over 500 years ago that still lingers in the dungeons; you can’t feel the 100 degree heat and sweat pouring because of more than 250 bodies in a single room for days with one hole for ventilation; you can’t stand on the feces still packed solid on the floors where they slept; you can’t walk the exact path as slaves did from beginning of capture to the door of no return. It’s just not the same which is why I don’t have much to express in words about the dungeons—one must experience it themselves.

 

After the first dungeon, we had lunch at a very nice nearby resort named Coconut Grove. It was buffet style on the beach. Will Smith, along with many other famous American celebrities, have stayed here over the years. It gave us a good opportunity to reflect on what we had just experienced earlier and relax on the beach before our next dungeon down the road. The dungeons were very similar for the most part except the British had established this one in Elmina. After the tour, we all headed back to the ship, showered and got ready for our first night in Ghana!!

 

I had met one of the local vendors after we got back to the ship and a bunch of both our friends decided to all go out to the nearby bar. Like every ‘hot spot’ in port, it was loaded with SASers!! (its always a comfort seeing fellow friends and shipmates) We all played pool, drank and danced until at least 2 am. After we got back to the ship that night, I ended up sitting outside with a few vendors and the security guard just talking talking talking. They were so interested in SAS, school and American life in general. Next thing we knew, the sun was coming up – thank God I didn’t have anything planned for the next day. I slept until noon then got up and ready for my one and only beach day!

 

On February 7th, 2011, we headed to Africa Beach Resort, sat under the palm trees and watched the ocean for hours. Around supper time we got in a cab and told them to take us to the closest eating place. We walk in and it’s fine dining – nicer than anything I’ve even been to in the USA. I just laughed because we’re all hot, smell like sunscreen and in our swimsuits. But we enjoyed and called it an early night.

 

KAKUM

The next morning I had a trip to go to Kakum National Park. The park offers a series of multiple activities throughout the park including overnight camping, animal spotting, nature tours and canopy walks. The canopy walk was built in the 70’s, I believe, by three Canadian guys (don’t quote me on that!). It is a series of seven bridges and 6 platforms spreading roughly 350 meters in length and 40 meters above the rainforest floor. To get to the canopy we had to walk 90 steep stairs in the humid African heat. It didn’t take us long but I give props to the old life-long learners. These 70+ year olds can still keep up with us younger ones. I was VERY impressed because I was definitely worn out. Once we got to the top we all got to begin walking the canopy. The walkway was extremely narrow (about 6 inches) and we had to walk one foot in front of the other. I was the third person to go and of course the two heaviest men on our entire trip were in front of me. All I could think was “oh shit, why didn’t I pay attention to who was ahead of me on the walkway at the same time” But actually, they helped stabilize the plank so we didn’t sway so much. Once we got to the end of the first walk and to the platform, I was so relieved and I could actually take in the scenery. I felt like Tarzan. I was over 100 feet above an African Rainforest and all I could see was trees for acres and acres. It was breathtaking and so peaceful – until I looked down. Then I headed to the next bridges to get the hell off this canopy and onto stable ground!!

 

To be continued.........

 

            

Brail - Day 3/4 - City of Manaus

Day 3/ 4 - Manaus

So around 4pm we got back to the ship. And let me tell you, the excitement one gets from seeing the SAS ship is phenomenal because we know we’re home and it means I get a clean shower!! Anyways, I met up with Anna and my first mission was laundry. I had sweaty, Amazonian River smelling outfits that was going to make my room unbearable. So we talked with the local onboard tour representative and he told us of a local laundry mat but it was closing in one hour and it had to be left overnight – so I only had this small time frame to get my clothes there so I could get it returned to me before we left Brazil. This means I had to get all of my clothes together, get off the ship (disembarkment is not a quick process), and find the place. Anna and I thought no problem – we have plenty of time. While we were walking out into the city from the port area, we ran into a few SASers who had just went to the same place themselves. So they gave us the business card with the address which we thought would make things easier. Came to find out the place didn’t close until 6 so we had an extra hour. Perfect. So we started making our way towards the place and realized the city is nothing like cities in the USA. I don’t know how or where we got mixed up in the directions but our instincts told us we weren’t in the right place. The roads aren’t in quadrants; they are all twisty, curving and merging. Then we realized they don’t use street signs which is how the map is set up. Oh great – we knew we were lost. So we took out the business card and tried our next best options – handing it to the locals, look confused and pray for the right directions. Well after asking about 4 people, we were getting fed up with all the inconsistent directions and were just standing on a corner trying the map thing again. Out of nowhere, we heard a voice of perfect English. “Umm do you girls need some help?” I felt a huge weight of relief lifted off my shoulders. A white, blonde hair, green eyed lady in her mid 20’s said we looked in distress and decided to help us. Turned out she has been living in Manaus since she was 7 (Im assuming she was American???) Anyways, she directed us to the laundry mat which was only 2 blocks away and we made it in time @ about 5:50 so ten minutes to spare – I WOULD HAVE CLEAN CLOTHES. So I got my clothes taken care of and we started to make our way back to the ship. Well we passed an internet café and all we could think was facebook!!! So of course we got lost in the facebook, email and instant messaging world since it was only about $1 an hour. After awhile, I looked outside and realized it was dark. Shit. We were in the middle of Manaus Brazil, two American girls with NO idea how we got here and we speak no Portuguese. Shit this is bad news. So we were getting ready to pay for our internet usage and the boys at the counter wanted to talk. Of course they spoke no English so we hopped on Google translator and talked that way through the computer. It was just fun small talk.. where are you from, why are you here, etc.  After about a half hour it was REALLY time to at least get closer to the ship.

So we’re standing outside on the corner debating which way to start. I choose one way and Anna chose the opposite. I just started laughing at this point because I honestly had no idea what to do. Then, out of nowhere, AN ENGLISH VOICE AGAIN!!! Someone upstairs had to be looking out for us. It was a vendor that Anna had met the day before that was from Ghana and spoke almost perfect English. We told him we were trying to get back to the ship and were completely lost. He started laughing and offered to walk us home and we planned to keep him around for the rest of the night!!  (by the way, the way I wanted to go was COMPLETELY wrong). We got back to the ship, ate supper, and planned to meet back up with Seido (the English, Ghana guy) and Robert his other friend that speaks English. We had all been hearing about this Samba dance that was going on so we decided to make that our mission of the night. (The Brazilians heard SAS was in town and put on the Samba especially for us) It was quite a ways away for walking but we decided to go for it anyways. It took about an hour but it went pretty quick talking with Seido and Robert. They were REALLY interested in us since we were headed to Ghana next, their home country. Once we got to the Samba, the dance was already over L but the block party was just beginning. We danced, ate local grilled meats, drank beer and talked with everyone. It was a great mixture of locals and SASers so we felt really comfortable. After the Samba block part died down we decided to head closer to ship as it was getting later and go to the club a few blocks away. Again it was mostly SASers in the club with a few locals. It was a lot of fun, we danced for hours, hung out with friends and just enjoyed our last night in Brazil! We headed back to the ship around 3AM and attempted to watch a movie but fell asleep during the first 10 minutes.

 Anna and I woke up early morning and had to start the journey back to the laundry mat ALL over again. It was raining, I was still tired from the night before, and just not in the mood. But I knew I had to get my clothes and honestly was kind of nervous if they would be ready for sure (the lady told me 11AM). So we stopped at the internet café to kill some time before my clothes were ready. Then, Anna found out someone was using her credit card at home so we had to hurry and get back to the ship. I got my clothes perfectly (thank God), headed for the ship and said good-bye to Manaus!!! Time to head to Ghana next!!

Brazil - Homestay - Day 3/4

HOMESTAY - DAY 3/4

 

So I bet everyone has been wondering “where the hell is the rest of the blog about brazil?” well guess what.. HERE IT IS!!!  

Around 8:00 am on Tuesday, January 25^th, I met with my group so we could head out for our home stay during the next few days! There was 15 of us (one girl, Amanda, I had met the night before at supper so we stuck together) I had no idea where we were going, who I was staying with, how far from civilization it was – nothing. So our tour guide directed us to our mode of transportation – the same damn boat from the day before we rode in to the dolphins.. FOR THREE HOURS. All I could think was ‘here we go again’. We were going to the same little lake we were in the day before with the dolphins– the village was in the same ‘neighborhood’ haha. So lets just say I got my ipod out, curled up with my jacket and had a nice little nap! J After a few hours, sure enough there was the little tipsy topsy building with all the roaches to my left, and ‘my village’ up ahead. I got creeped out thinking of all those bugs and how I’m going to actually be sleeping here this time. So, I told my self, AGAIN, it’s a once in a lifetime experience and just suck it up. (Brazil put me in the frame of mind quite a bit – but I guess it build character!!)

Anyways – my village. Formally known as Acajatuba Village. (I often refer to it as my village because I STILL can’t pronounce the name). We got there around noon and was given a quick tour of the community while we waited for the group from the day before to leave. The main building we first met in consisted of a little snack shop and crafts for sale; from there we went to the old school and Catholic Church. After we made our way back to the main building, we finally got to meet our families. By random, Amanda and I were chosen to stay with the minister, Sebastian, and his family. When he heard that it was two girls he was glowing. He had gotten daughters. He couldn’t have stood over 4’8” but he stood taller and prouder than I don’t know what. Before we could even hear where everyone else was staying, he immediately took us to his home so we could eat lunch. At the home, which was located next to the church (and yes I did a few Hail Mary’s quick), we met his wife and two sons. Ill explain the home first. From what I could see, it was the largest home in the community. I wasn’t sure why but possibly because he was the minister? The home was square with 4 bedrooms in the middle. On one end was the kitchen, the opposite was the dining room table and TV/sitting area. The other two sides were sort of hallways. The bathroom and shower were located off the kitchen. A quick note about his wife- several years ago she suffered from a stroke so is now paralyzed on the left half of her body. She can no longer help and needs assistance 24 hours a day. One of the sons, Messias, was around 23 so pretty close to our ages. The other son, Sebastian Jr., was a little bit older. We all sat down to eat around 1:00 and I REALLY enjoyed the meal. I was kind of nervous at first because I’m a picky eater and didn’t want to offend anyone but the meal turned out to be fantastic. They made French fries – which I think they did as a kind gesture for us as Americans to make us feel at home -, some type of beef in a cheese sauce and rice. Everything was fantastic and we even all went for seconds! After lunch we had a few hours before we had to meet back up with the group. Amanda and I got settled in our room – comprised of two hammocks ­– then tried making small talk with Sebastian Sr. Now remember we speak NO Portuguese and they speak NO English. Ugh. So once again we resorted to sign language, ‘yes & no’, and a itty bitty bit of Spanish. After about two hours of trying to talk with the minister, Messias, the youngest son, just comes out of nowhere with some broken English. My jaw dropped. The past two hours he just sat and watched us try to talk to his dad and was probably laughing at us the entire time. Oh well.

Around 4:00 pm, we all met up at the main building to get ready for PIRANAH FISHING! We only rode about 20 minutes where we stopped in a quiet little place. Funny thing is, it was RIGHT NEXT TO THE DOLPHIN LAGOON!!!!!!!! I just shook my head. Anyways, fishing was pretty cool. The rods are just single bamboo shafts with a string and hook tied on the end. None of the fancy reels, lures and bobbers (Uncle Ronny would have a fit!!) We fished until dark and only caught 8 fish. Guess we weren’t eating much the next day. Haha. The tour guides caught caymen again so it was pretty similar from the few nights before. While we were riding back to the village, I could honestly smell the food from the village being cooked for supper. I couldn’t wait. Sadly, I cant remember exactly what we had but I know I didn’t turn a single dish away (I guess that’s why they say not to wait a week to blog!) After supper we all headed back to the main building to get ready for the dance. The locals began with a traditional Brazilian dance with all the kids participating – my brother at 23 was the oldest to a little girl who looked around 3 or 4. And every single one of them had the dance perfect. I was amazed. Then all of us tried learning it for hours – my brother tried over and over to teach me but I just couldn’t get the hang of it. I bet for at least 3 hours everyone danced, danced and danced. Around 10 or 11pm was bed time! Amanda and I went back to the home and got settled in our hammocks. I chuckle every time I think about getting tucked in my hammock, with a mosquito net. Literally don’t let the bed bugs bite – but now was not the time to think about bed bugs.

Surprisingly I slept pretty well, until 5AM I had a wakeup knock on the door so everyone (SASers) could go out on the water to watch the sunrise. We rode about 15 or 20 minutes around the corner so we could see the full sunrise. I mean what do you really say about a sunrise? Other than it was one of the most peaceful, quiet, relaxing moments I have ever experienced. We saw a few of the dolphins out playing. The pictures I have serve it no justice – just one of those memories ill have to keep to myself!!

When we got back to the home we ate breakfast. mmmHmmm. It was SO good. Im going to have to send Wayne down to Brazil so he can learn to cook like that for me in the morning!!! It was fried bananas or platinos (not sure which – when I asked he said ‘yes’ to banana and ‘yes’ to platino – this happened often); there was this banana/plantino paste (bananas puréed, milk, and sugar) that was sipped from a cup; meat and crackers; and coffee/hot chocolate. Amanda, Messias and I all sat around the kitchen for at least an hour just munching on all these sweets. It definitely got me pumped for the two hour hike coming up!!

Midmorning, we all met up at the main building once again to head off into the Amazon Jungle! I didn’t know if I was excited, nervous, scared or what – all mixed feelings! It turned out being a combination of everything. The hike in total lasted about two hours. I think I lost about 15lbs at the end just because of me sweating. Inside the actual jungle is like NOTHING I’ve ever experienced. Even on the most humid days in Iowa stands no comparison. The minute I was standing with trees surrounding me, sweat just drenched my clothes. Now I can understand how the first killer of the Amazon is dehydration! Throughout the hike we learned tons of new things, saw a bunch of plants and some icky critters. It was pretty cool seeing all of these plants in raw form like the rubber trees and vick plants. The tour guide actually made rubber for us which is such a LONG process – burning, melting, twisting, turning etc. The vick plants were menthol smelling plants used for sickness as a rub which is how Vick’s Vapor Rub got its name!! The tour guide also found a pretty big spider. A tarantula. A bird EATING spider. HUGE. He taught us a little bit about the creature and even picked it up to show us its fangs. I think the scariest part of seeing the spider was knowing they are there – but not seeing the OTHER ones. His nest is actually on the ground in a hole of leaves right on the path we were walking. At least 5 or 6 people walked right over it before the 2^nd tour guide saw it. The guide also gave us a little Amazon survival 101 on starting fires in such a humid environment. (I have it on video which I will post later) At the end of the hike, the guides made toys out of the palm fronds – like the ones we get at church. He made me a whistle that actually works.

Once we got back from the hike, we had lunch (pot roast, chicken and potatoes – amazing again) and had some pretty good conversations with the family. The easiest form of communicating we found was through pictures. The family was so interested in learning English so we translated words, drew pictures for words we didn’t know and laughed over and over again at ourselves. I learned that the son does not live in the village, but in Manaus (where we ported) He is going to school for culinary and wants to come to the USA!!! I told him he better come stay with me when he does want to come otherwise I would be very upset! I even tried getting ‘Dad’ to come… he said he would rather that I send him more Americans so he can learn English that way. It’s amazing how connected I felt to the family even though we couldn’t understand each other through words. I couldn’t have been placed with a better family. I was so sad when the guide came around to each home to tell us we had to get ready to leave. I really had a bond with this family and definitely got a few tears saying goodbye.

While we were riding away from the village, everyone in the community came to the shore and waved us off. These warm, loving people and village definitely won a special little place in my heart J

After my LONG awaited shower, it was out on the town for our last night in BRAZIL!!!

But for now, its bed time and I have class in the morning… To Be Continued… Soon…    

 

  

 

 

Brazil - Day 2 - River Dolphins

The next morning came way too fast but I was so excited it didn’t even matter. It was the day for swimming with the river dolphins!! It was one of those trips that I saw the word dolphin and said I’m doing it. I didn’t read the fine print saying it was in the same river with needle fish. Dengue Fever. Red Belly Piranhas. And whatever other microscopic creatures are living in there. The ride to the location was relaxing; we got to see the city from the river and received a brief history on a variety of things. We passed under one of the most expensive bridges of the world (currently being constructed scheduled to be complete next year). I cant remember money figures but the purpose of the bridge is to eliminate some of the population in Manaus. By building the bridge they are hoping people move to the other side to live and just commute to work in the city. But many people think the opposite is going to happen – people on the remote side are going to move to the city. We’ll see what happens! Anyways, the boat ride started getting kind of long after an hour and a half (they didn’t tell us exactly how long it would take in the beginning so it was a mystery for all of us). And it got longer. And longer. And longer. Every time we asked “Are we there yet?” the guide responded 15-20 minutes. Well those 15-20 minutes turned into 3 hours. I was pretty upset because that’s a lot of ‘in port’ time we could be seeing the city; all I was thinking was these dolphins better be the best damn dolphins I’ve ever seen. Once we all got to the little building in the middle of the river I had a bit of a panic attack. While we were getting our debriefing about the swim I noticed cockroaches. Not little cockroaches. HUGE cockroaches everywhere running around. Then my feet started getting wet. Well in the Amazon, the buildings are built so that they can rise and lower with the water levels. All of us were standing on one side of the building so our weight made that side unbalanced and go under water where all the roaches were living on the underside. I just wanted to go back onto the boat at that point, thinking how could Semester at Sea let us come to a place like this- there has to be some health code violation or something. But I remembered its once in a lifetime learning experience, sucked it up and jumped in the water. When I saw my first dolphin everything was better J. A few of the locals were in the water with us feeding the dolphins so we could pet them and get close to them. (Let me remind you these aren’t cute little Flipper dolphins- they are fresh water dolphins, pink, fat and kind of ugly but still cool) They are really fast and we cant see them coming since the water is actually black so one second they are in your face looking for food and the next they are gone. It was scary at first when they swim underneath because they just go in and out of your legs but you don’t know if it’s the dolphin or something else. Every time we bumped into each other it was like “was that you? Was that a dolphin? Are you sure?” After about 45 minutes we headed to the next portion of the day which was at a local village to eat lunch. Everyone knows the show Extreme Home Makeover in the states right? Well this village received a local version of the show and were sent to Italy for the week.  They gave them a whole new village and drinkable water so the locals turned it into a jungle lodge for tourists as a source of income. The food was AMAZING. Could I tell you what it was? Most of it no but I tried a little of everything (it was a local type of fish, rice, pastas, beans – I think). After we toured the lodge we headed back to the dreaded boat ride back to port and got ready for the night! I didn’t do a whole lot. Just went to a local Brazilian steakhouse with a few random SASers I didn’t know because all my friends were on different tours. The steak house was buffet style and had every type of meat possible. It was cooked right in front of us but we couldn’t understand what everything was because they only spoke Portuguese. I understood tongue and chicken hearts through sign language. I tried the hearts but yuck yuck yuck. After supper we just headed back to the ship again to pack for the next two days at my home visit!!

Brazil - Day 1 - Orphanage/Alligator Spotting

Hey friends and family!

I survived Brazil and had possibly some of the best times of my life thus far! The people I met, cultures I experienced, emotions I felt were nothing I could possibly express in this blog, but I’ll try my best. Coming from Dominca (and US) to Brazil was definitely a culture shock. Visiting a country in the midst of development is difficult because I feel the locals want the tourism for income but they don’t do well with foreigners. Outrageous, inconsistent taxi fares was one of my most frustrating parts of Brazil. Don’t get me wrong, they have meters but refuse to use them even if we asked. We often compared taxi rides and found people paying double to the same place as the next person. Yes negotiating and bargaining is always a great idea but then comes the language barrier. Ugh. My Spanish knowledge was a GREAT plus but still hard. At the end of the day I was physically tired just from trying to speak Spanish, use hand signals and understand Portuguese. When we found an English speaking local it was like a God send – they were sparse and we kept them handy!! The next top frustrating aspect of Brazil was stealing. The instant we stepped into port and got into the streets people had multiple belongings robbed. I couldn’t tell you how many people had cameras stolen. If you wore your camera on your wrist by the string, they will just come up behind you, cut the string with a box cutter and take off. People learned REAL quick not to carry stuff like that (which they should have known from the git go but there are always those who don’t listen!). Now everyone knows my weakness for animals and I think Brazil weakened it even more. The homeless dog population was awful. It was SO hard to resist all those puppy eyes looking at you and not being able to do anything, not even pet them. At night when people put out their trash it was like a feast for them, rummaging and scrounging with the rats. I just wanted to give them all a bath and bring them home. And trust me, if I could I would. WELL now that I have those frustrations out of the way.. we’ll get to the good stuff..

The morning we got to port in Brazil I was so excited I just wanted to go, go, go. My first field experience in Manaus was to an orphanage named Monte Salem. It is a court-appointed place kind of what we would call a foster home. For the most part, children do have parents but are just taken away until the families are deemed fit. If never allowed to return to the home, adoption takes place. We took about a half hour ride to the country side and got a tour of the city at the same time. We saw a lot of historical buildings (that I can’t remember the names of), rich parts, poor parts and everything in between. We went through what we would call “the projects” in a big city; government funded housing which I found interesting because it looked just like it would in the US. Our tour guide gave us a brief overview of ‘teen pregnancy’ of Manaus and it blew my mind. It is nothing uncommon for girls starting to get pregnant anywhere from 9-14. If you hit 18 and don’t have a child, you’re bio clock is counting down!!! It is part of their culture to believe once you have your first child you are a woman and have reached maturity. I definitely have respect for the young girls that are actually able to care for their kids at such a young age on their own. (dads do what they want. If they want to be around they are if not, see ya later!). They have set some laws as far as child support but it’s a newer process and the government is still working out the flaws. We finally got to the orphanage around 10:00am and interacted with the kids for about two hours. The ages ranged all the way from 1yr to 16 years old currently with about 20 kids in total. It was really awkward at first because they younger ones were pretty confused as to why we were talking so funny (English). But we were supplied with toys, coloring books, stickers and face paint. Yes, face painting was a popular one that got PRETTY messy! It was worth it to see the kids so happy though. Blonde hair was popular with the middle aged girls and they just kept touching and running their fingers through it. We toured the orphanage and the local school, sang songs with the kids and learned popular hand games. The living quarters were very clean, orderly and they all had flat screen TV’s in the rooms!! After we were done playing with the kids we got back onto the bus and headed back to port. My friend Anna and I hung around the local port area for awhile, talked to other SASers, had a few beers then walked around Manaus. It was pretty overwhelming because it was our first day in a huge port and we didn’t speak the language. We stayed close to the ship and came across this place called Splash which was a pizza parlor. It was kind of funny because half way through our pizza we finally realized they don’t put on pizza sauce. Weird but it was still good. They also had this dessert pizza we’d been hearing about and of course we had to try it. And once again, language was an issue when ordering it. Somehow there was a mix up and we got TWO dessert pizzas, at least 5,000 calories a slice, between just us two girls. There was nothing we could do but just laugh – it could be worse right? We eventually wandered back to the ship around 8 pm where I had to meet my next tour for alligator spotting!!

First things first. South America has neither alligators nor crocodiles – they have caymen. In my opinion they look like the same damn thing but a huge difference is the way they walk; alligators/crocs walk on their bellies while caymen walk up off the ground. Anyways, we all boarded a rickety old boat and headed off into the pitch black jungle scared shitless. None of has had any idea what we were getting into. Riding to the location where we would get into smaller canoes was surprisingly peaceful since the only sounds were from nature – frogs, crickets, water. I thought the stars back home were beautiful on a clear night but in the middle of the Amazon its entire new scenery; I have never seen so many bright, clear stars in my life – breathtaking!! Once I finally got comfortable we got to a building on the river and climbed into a tiny little 8 seater motorized canoe. When everyone was seated the canoe was literally only 5 or 6 inches above the water; when a person leaned one way or another I truly thought we would tip over. The minute we took off a girl started screaming and realized a fish had jumped in the boat with us. It was pretty funny. We cruised around for a little awhile looking for the caymens’ red eyes with a spot light. I learned different animals reflect different colors. For example snakes reflect white, cats are yellow, panthers are blueish and spiders are white. My first thought was “if spiders eyes are big enough to reflect light visible to human eyes then the spider must be HUGE – get me the hell out of here.” After a little while the guide saw some eyes and within 2 or 3 seconds the next thing we know he had the caymen in his hands on the boat with us. It was unbelievable how skillful the natives are at catching these things. We named our caymen Steven. We all touched it, held it and took a bunch of pictures then headed back to the ship! Definitely a relief when we can see our ship – we’re home!