Dominica

Greetings from sea!

Well I have never kept a blog before so this will be interesting.. hopefully I stay updated! I have survived the first portion of our trip with no sea sickness which is a great sign (unlike a majority of the other kids)! Ship life is definitely a different way of life from what I imagined, but in a good way. Military times and nautical terms are getting the best of me but I’ll be a pro by time I get home! It still takes me like 20 minutes just to find my room from the top deck even though we’ve been here almost a week. Does everybody remember internet dial up connection from the ice age? Well guess what- it is even SLOWER at sea! I have to keep telling myself patience is a virtue and remember how lucky we are at home with high speed. The shipboard community of about 600 is very friendly and diverse; there are USA students, international students, staff family members and life-long learners all from ages 2 yrs- 90yrs old. There are actually a handful of people that I have met either from Iowa or go to school in Iowa. I have been hanging out mostly with one girl from Davenport who goes to school in Kentucky. My roommate is from Pennsylvania; she is pretty quiet but really nice. We all stay EXTREMELY busy. The first day at sea we had orientation literally from 9 AM – 11 PM then classes began the next day. Speaking of classes, it is the best feeling when watching tiny Caribbean islands pass while I’m sitting in class. I’m taking a two geography classes and two sociology classes. I have a wide variety of field programs (trips we do in port) from snorkeling and orphanage visits to walking the Great Wall of China and night searching for alligators. BUT you will all definitely hear about those trips over the next three months in more detail!!!   

The first stop for SAS Spring 2011 was in the port town of Roseau, Dominca (pronounced doe-mi-NI-ca; and not to be confused with the Domincan Republic). We were on the tiny island for two days and was definitely not long enough. I started the first day (Sunday 1/16/2011) with a whale and dolphin safari. It was on a huge catamaran about two miles from shore. We saw 9 sperm whale mothers and calves which were awesome to see feeding and sun bathing. I had my share of sun bathing too – or sun burning! Even SPF 70 won’t guarantee anything this close to the equator!! On this trip is also where I had my first experience of ‘rum punch’. WOW. It’s all locally made rum and local fruit juice – very popular on the island. The crew was all locals who I actually ended up meeting at the bar in town later that night (I’ll get to that part later!) After the whale watching I hopped onto a bus that took us to the southern end of the island to go snorkeling. The drive was a lot to take in all at once after my first dose of rum punch. First of all they drive on the wrong (left) side of the road. Second, there is no speed limit. Third, the roads are so narrow it feels like we are going to hit oncoming traffic. I think I was slightly traumatized by time we parked. The reefs we went snorkeling on are named the Champagne Reefs. They get that name because the bubbles coming up through cracks in the coral from the volcanoes look exactly like bubbles in a champagne glass. This part of the island is also the location of filming for the Pirates of the Caribbean (part two I think?). I cant wait to watch it again and point out the scenery I recognize!! I saw tons of cool fish which I’ll have to update everyone with pictures later. After that long day in the sun a bunch of us all got together, went out to eat then went out on the town for the night! Which the bars especially opened up for all the 600+ SAS students because the island bars are normally closed on Sundays since everyone is mainly Catholic. Some of us girls ended up seeing the guides from the whale watching tour and hung out with them most of the night.. they gave us all the local spots, restaurants and showed us around town. I actually got invited back onto the same boat the next day (Monday 1/17/2010) to go snorkeling for free at another reef further down the island. For the remainder of the afternoon we walked around town, mailed out postcards (p.s. let me know when you get it mom and dad!) and ate with the locals. I had a plate lunch called palau; it is chicken, rice, beans and bunch of spices. Let’s just say I tried it and leave it at that! Around 4:00 pm we headed back to the ship for departure and get ready for the next stop.. BRAZIL!!

My ONLY email I have at sea is kmkout@semesteratsea.net

Enjoy J