Sept 27 SHARK DIVING!

Worse part of the day: getting up at 5:30 am. Drove 2+ hrs to get to the place we were diving. I couldnt tell you where because I slept the whole way. The driver only had  Kenny G cd , so we were to sleep in about two secs. Got to the shark place which I think was also a B&B. They fed us breakfast , it was an amazing spread with yogurt, muffins, cereal, fruit, coffee etc. Mind you there was 25 of us. Sara's friend Amanda booked the trip for us and me, Sara and Nina went.l Once all the paperwork was done and people ahd their coffee we got to meet the Captain and got briefed on some rules. They had the biggest boat and biggestcage of all the shark people. We got to wear these siickkk orange jackets the fishermen always wear. So cool. It was freezing and with the wind and waves it was going to be a wet ride. Once the boat was launched we all hopped on  and the three of us booked it tothe top or the best seat in the house (well boat). We picked the good side too we found out soon enough after getting out of the harbor ( or should I say the pathway of rock death) and to the open sea. The people on the windward side were getting soaked. The ride was rough but not as bad as I knew it could be. We saw some toher boats going out and they didnt look to happy. The Capt told us there were 2 possible places the sharks would be. Either at this island 9 km out or in this shallow bay area. The sharks migrate back and forth. The only sharks we would see would be GREAT WHITES! From talking to the other fisherman the island didnt have any sharks. So we made our way to the shallow bay. The crew got the cape set up on the side of the boat and got the decoy (a cut out piece of cardboard in the shape of a seal) and the bait ready. They said it would take 20-40 min to get the sharks to us They had to pick up our trail and then they would come up from the back of the oat. It was a waiting game and we had to be patient. The capt was getting us all these stories when we got a bite!! The shark was .....huge and scary. It had cuts all over it and just looked mean. After a little bit we had two sharks and then four! The first 7 people got into the cage. The crew used techniques to get the sharks to come wicked close. The sharks would go for the bait and come right back the tank. Me Sara and Nina got in the next round. We got on our full think wetsuits with hoodies and our masks and weight belts on. We hopped in and the water was bone chilling cold, much much colder than Duxbury beach lol. To see the sharks we would dunk under water and hold ourselves down in the cage. The sharks would literally pass right by. Nina had an underwater camera so we are hoping we got some cool shots. I had a friend take some videos on my camera to get some action on how the sharks fed. One shark came full speed at the bait and then at the cage! It literally was right in my face, it turned right before it hit the cage but the bottom half of its body slammed into the cage and then its tail kicked it really hard. We all came up for air screaming and laughing so hard. It was so intense. We got to stay in the cage for about 30 min. The sharks were beautiful. Creepy but very very cool. Definitely recommend doing this. The capt also told us we were the only boat to get more than 1 shark, so we felt very lucky. We were out there all day watching everyone go. One group actually had a shark bite the cage! It was so scary. It bit the cage and was thrashing about and actually popped one of the inflatables. ah! Got back to shore at 2 pm and then had a nice long drive ( well nap) home and got back around 4:30. Besides skydiving, shark diving is definitely one of the coolest things I have ever done and I would do it again in a heart beat! 

Sept 26 Township Music

On the same day I had  to race back to the ship to try and get on a 6pm FDP trip for another class. It was a trip into the townships of Cape Town and hear their music. They had an extra bus so there wasnt a problem. As we started toward the townships, what we thought was an hour long ride was actually a tour of a couple different townships. The main bus  had someone telling them about each of the townships we went through (Lunga, Gurugela, Khaytelitcha). We got to see a memorial for the Guru 7, which were seven young boys who were killed by the police during the apartheid for no reason. ( For those of you that dont know what apartheid is, it was a time in S. Africa much like our segregation. Blacks and whites did not mix and blacks could only live in a certain place and use certain facilities. They couldnt have any jobs or businesses and were forced to work for the white colonists. There were constant fights and brutal beatings on the blacks by the police especially. Blacks were arrested and tortured for no reason. Many many died. It was much more brutal than our segregation, very  very sad). Seeing the townships is unlike anything you will experience. If you think you have seen poor...think again. Houses are made from tin, brick, metal and wood. Basically anything scrap the people can find. They are everywhere and over crowded. It is said that the govt still needs to build 2.4 million houses to get everyone a "sturdy" house. Some of the people in the neighborhood have started building their own houses out of cement and cinder blocks or brick. This is done given the time and money of those building. After a while we stopped at the youth center. As we entered 4 kids were playing the xylophone and macaranas for us. They were so good, everyone was dancing and clapping along. Come to find out they have just been playing 6 WEEKS and they were only 13/14 yrs old. Then we were led into the gym where there was a huge circle of chairs with drums, cow bells, and macaranas. Everyone got an instrument. Sara Jocie and I got macaranas. The head teacher Kaya, led us in playing our beats. We played about 5 different songs. There wasnt any singing per say but we chanted, called & responded and yelled things. All were in their language so I dont know what we were saying. They taught us a dance as well and we were split into 2 groups and battled against each other. All the SAS kids got really into it and the little kids loved us. They thought we were very entertaining. When we were done with our dance session it was time to go to the Stellah, which is their word for the bar/pub. This was no ordinary bar. It basically was a garage with three rooms in the middle of the ghetto. There was about 35 of us and there were people visiting the bar besides us! The place had to be made to fit only 20 and there was a good 50. They cooked us dinner and so it was a home cooked meal of A. African food ( spicy beans, porage, cow tongue, frog legs, sausage, salad, and bread). It was interesting and I tried almost everything but I wouldnt say I ate it all or liked it very much. The older kids and teacher set up  3 xylophones, a drum set, and played for a straight hour and a half. The music was very upbeat and up lifting and had some great beats to dance to. It was sad to go but also kind of scary because no one was on the streets and i mean not one person was out in the town. Granted they dont have lots of transportation, electricity, or running water, the town was eerily quiet. Got home at 11:30 pm and went to bed to get ready for an early morning!

Sept 26 CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

I have arrived in S. Africa! Woke up at 6:15 am for the "sunrise". The sunrise was clouds, wind, and rain! Cape Town is amazing. The view of Table Mr in the background is just.....words cant describe it. Eventually as the morning went on it cleared up and it was a beautiful but chilly day. The girls and I booked it intothe market and di some preshopping and exploring. The port remind me a lot of Newport, RI. Ships everywhere great little shops, mobs of people, tons of restaurants and street entertainment. The port has a HUGE mall(Victoria Warf). I got lost multiple times and kept finding new halls to go down. I had to get back to the ship for an FDP for Kaplan's class. I t was seeing the marketing side of wine production....aka WINE TASTING! We actually went to 2 vineyards. The first was called Backsberg. Gorgeous view of the mts and valleys. Got to try 2 whites, reds, a rosay, and a brandy. Brandy is quite popular around here. I enjoyed all the wines we tasted and our host Darwin was very entertaining. The interesting thing about this winery was that it is environmentally friendly. They keep track of all their carbon emissions and then try and reduce that number every year and all their productions do not pollute the environment. Very impressive. My friend Pooja actually won one of their award winning bottles of wine in a Q&A session. Next stop was Nelson's. This was a smaller, family run winery. They gave us a lot of into on how to sell to the consumer and how they market their wine. It involves lots of surveys and getting the label to catch the eye of the consumer. We got to try 4 wines : 1 white, 2 reds, and a rosay. I wasnt quite a fan of the reds but it was still good. It was fun to learn to "taste" wine and not "drink" it.(smelling techniques, stirring, and keeping it on our pallot for a few seconds). Great experience and cant wait to go on more!

Sept 23 Sandboarding (stand up style)

Got up nice and early again with Jocie Ali Sara R and Nina for out sand boarding adventure. Got to the sight and got fitted for boots and helmets. This kind of sand boarding was like snowboarding. It was actually easier than snowboarding. With the sand boarding you basically go straight with no turning except quick turns with your hips. Warmed up with some smaller dunes and then gradually moved up. The others girls did really well too. Nina is a snow boarder so she did it no problem. Jocie and Sara  were kinda nervous but they made it without falling down the smaller hills. Ali kept up with me and we made it down the bigger dune! It was so fast and when I pick up speed is when I usually freak out about eating it but I sucked it up and made it all the way down the way bottom (basically a regular ski slope run). Walking back up the hill was not fun as all. Had to take a couple breaks. For the last run we did the lay down board down the biggest dune I have seen yet. It had a straight drop down. I went and had to be going over 80 km/hr I went the farthest of everyone went by far. It was such a thrill with the rush down. The group packed up and had lunch at the beach Nina and I went back to town while Ali Jocie and Sarah went to ride the ATVs. It was a solid way to end our time in Namibia. It is good to be back on the ship again but it is a much shorter break because we will be in Cape Town in three days! I have so many journals to type, emails to send and homework to do! Africa has been AMAZING and I can’t wait for more!

Sept 21- Adventure Day!

So today was my adventure day. At 8:30 am Devyn Ali T Brandon Patrick and Sara and I got picked up to go ride ATVs through the desert. They are basically big dirt motorcycles that are heavy duty. For three hours we went into the desert riding over dunes and riding the sides of them like jumps. At some points we got the bikes to go 50mph. It was like surfing the dunes and going over jumps and the hills you are completely surrounded by mountains and mountains of sand. We raced each other but most of the time we had to play follow the leader. We took a break half way and did some sand boarding. Basically sledding on a slab of waxed out cardboard. You lie down on your stomach hold the front part of the board up and go@ it is so fast (up to 80 km/hr). I ate shit the first time and got completely covered in sand and got it in places I didn’t know I had. Lol It was so worth it though. For the second half of the ATV tour we headed to the coast and road along the water and up and down even bigger dunes. The coast water is so clear. It is always windy in Walvis Bay/Swako. It has been perfect for sailing and I was getting urged to be out on the water. Got back to Swako, had lunch, and had to meet up with some kids from another group to go to our next activity…..SKYDIVING! NOT KIDDING! Don’t ask me how I decided to go it but we went. At first we didn’t know if we all could go because there was a mix up in the reservation. All of us just signed the forms and squished in the van. The van ride was hilarious because it looked like the driver was taking us to the middle of NOWHERE and kill us. After a 15 min drive we got to s small airstrip and a hut with all these people waiting to go. Saw some more SAS people who said they had been there since 11 am (it was now 330pm). So we knew we would have to wait a while. It was so cool to watch the people before us go. They literally jumped out of the plane above where we were and then parachuted and landed right back where they started. It was finally our turn after waiting about 2 ½- 3 hours. They suited me up and strapped my gear on. My instructors name was Dias and he was going to be filming our jump via Handicam. He went through the basics of jumping out of the plane and then Ali T and I loaded up in the plane. It was so small and there was duct tape EVERYWHERE. I was like what am I getting myself into. I was just hoping the plane could get up off the ground. There were 5 of us in the plane plus the pilot. Oh and there was NO door either. OMG!!! I was fine going up but was definitely freaking out like “ I am jumping out of a ghetto plane in the middle of Africa”. The view was incredible with the sun setting. Ali was up first because she ordered an actual cameraman so he has to jump out first. She was out and before I knew it I was shuffling to the door, aka towards my last moments of life! I got my foot out the door like I was supposed to and before I had time to freak out Dias just went! Falling from 10,000 ft in indescribable. I was screaming for a good amount of it. I was free falling for a good 35-40 secs and it felt like 10! I had the Handicam in my face and was screaming and blowing kisses. There was so much air pressure against my face with us falling so fast I couldn’t help but smile. He popped the chute and we jerked up. Then we just stopped and floated. It was so peaceful. Dias then let me control the chute. He let me turn and do flips, which was so cool. Driving it definitely made it all real. We were above the clouds and you could see everything. We fell through the clouds and were lost in marshmallows. Being the last group we got to land back at the main head quarters. I didn’t want it to end. AHHH I JUST JUMPED OUT OF A PLANE!! HAHAHA All the instructors were wicked cool and are basically the equivalent to ski bums. There was a bar in the place and a billboard of picture. They are all crazy guys. Our group had a round of shots and a couple beers with the instructors in celebration of us all making it in one piece. Got back to the ship at 8:30 pm and I was so exhausted from the long day. Chilled with Sara R Jocie and Ali for a bit and then got some sleep.

Sept 20 Swakopmund, Namibia

Got back to the boat after stargazing, had lunch, took a shower and then me Ali Devyn Sara Brandon and Patrick headed to Swakopmund for the night. This is a much more modern town and German influenced and is only about 20-25 min North of Walvis Bay. A lot of SAS kids got hotels/hostels for our time in port. We checked into a hotel and I also found where Sara R, Jocie and Ali were staying. Walked around for a bit but it being Sunday there wasn’t much open. There was a market that we went to. Very typical experience of getting bombarded by the locals to look at THEIR stuff. Bough a bunch of cool jewelry. Went back to meet Ali and Jocie for drinks and dinner. Got ready and went to the Tiger Reef bar which was basically a HUGE tiki hut. We got a cheap dinner of chicken burgers and fries with our Malibu rum and guava juice. It was sunset time and the beach scene was all pink and orange. Picture perfect. Had a bunch of drinks and then they were closing so we headed to meet people at the Lighthouse for dessert. The four of us walked down a long dark sketchy road (not the smartest thing) but it was a great bonding moment. At the Lighthouse we ordered more drinks and had dessert and sat with a group of SAS boys. Enjoyed ourselves immensely. Then all the SAS people that were there made our way to Swako Lodge for dancing and drinks because it was the only place open. Saw EVERYONE we knew from SAS. So many people to hang out with and I was jumping from group to group to say hi to everyone and see what they had been up to. Got some dancing in of course. The bar closed at 12! But lucky enough we got to see Dimitri and Nana. Dimitri confirmed our sand boarding plans for Tuesday. Once the bar closed we made our way back to the hotel. I was so tired from the lack of sleep from the night before I crashed as soon as I hit the bed. The girls had napped during the day so were kinda wound up and we had some laughing fits here and there before they passed out. I had a big day ahead of me!  I <3>

Sept 20 Stargazing

Today went on an SAS trip to go camping/stargazing in the desert. I didn’t have high expectations for this trip but knew that it was going to be very low key. It took us about an hour and half to get to the site. I rode w/ Devyn and she wasn’t feeling well and I didn’t think she was going to make it. The drive was in “4X4”s, which were  6 passenger vans that had four-wheel drive. The whole way there was just desert, sand, dunes, and more sand dunes. The road was paved at times but mostly it was dirt, sand, rocks, and bumpy! Passed Dune 7 on the way, it is one of the biggest dunes in the area and has an oasis at its base. At one point the van turned off the main road and we basically went off roading in the desert. We ended up in the major mountain ranges that run along the edges of Namibia. The rock is some of the oldest rock in the world. There were so many different colors and formations. After weaving through the ranges for a while we got to the campgrounds and drove even on more intense BUMBY off roading. After some major whiplash we finally got to the site. There were about 30 tents that held two people with beds, towels, and outdoor showers. The beds are comfier than on the ship!! No joke. There was a huge tent where we ate our meals. Surprisingly they had portable flushing toilets. Never seen that before. We got assigned to our tents and were told we had about three hours to kill. We were surrounded by rock formations so everyone started to climb. Climbing was very challenging and nerve racking. The rocks were not very stable and crumbled beneath your feet. There were so many different rock elements and colors (crystals, black, red, brown, and so much more). Devyn is afraid of heights so I had to keep pushing her to keep on climbing and she did great. The view was too amazing that pictures could not do it justice. We were up sooo high we could see the mountain range in all directions. It was the nice afternoon sun so once we reached the top of the rocks we laid out and rested for another hour or so. Dreading the climb down we took out time. Jen was on the too so we hung out with her and her group of friends and played the college name game to see if anyone knew common friends. Eventually we all gathered up enough courage and confidence to make the treck down. I had on my new Merrills and they were perfect for the terrain. I didn’t have any trouble getting down and I booked it ahead of everyone and made it without a scratch. The temperature was dropping fast so we changed into sweats for dinner. After dinner the stargazing groups started to go off. I was in group 5 and wasn’t going for a while. Around 8pm we heard singing and a large group was walking into the site in a straight line singing a song. Found out they were an a capella school group from the capital city Windhoek. Not only were they singing they were playing some drums. They were so good! I was so impressed that for such a young looking group they sounded like they had been together forever. They looked like the age range was from middle school to high school . The older guys took turns conducting songs. For some songs they had certain dances and moves. Throughout their performances they picked people out from the crowd to join them. I got up and danced with them twice. One was a couple dance and the head guy took me around and taught we the 3-count step.  The dance was like any two person dance but the guy followed the girl and dance behind or on the side of her holding her waist. The second dance was a line step. When they were done their last song they got us all to do a train dance. They got everyone to go around the campsite. When that was accomplished we made a big dance circle and they free danced and fooled around showing off. We mimicked their moves and they showed us that they knew some American moves as well. Then they wanted US to sing them a song. Well now this was a dilemma. Funny enough we started singing “ Low by Flo Rida and they knew the song! Lol Next we showed them Soulja boy, walk it out, YMCA, Macarena, Electric slide, and other “American style” moves (basically rap music moves, salt shaker, shimmy). Mind you we sang/hummed most of these songs. It was hilarious to say the least. We then sang Amazing Grace with them and they taught us a song. It was a solid 2-hour affair of just dancing with the locals. They were so sweet and although they struggled with their English they could talk with us. Sadly they had to go and they sang good-bye and left us all very touched. At this point everyone was ready to star gaze because the sky was packed with stars. Found out the people left which was really frustrating but the groups that did go said it wasn’t a good presentations and we could do better looking at a chart. So a bunch of us got chairs and sat out in the desert and just looked up for a couple of hours. The Milky Way was so vivid and we could see Jupiter and Mercury. There were more stars in the sky than I have ever seen before. The sky was just exploding with them. After a while it got to the point of freezing so we joined a group around the campfire. People were telling ghost stories or personal scary stories. We play the “add on” story line game, which got ridiculous in its context with teachers on the boat, ecstasy, and giant scorpions. Two guys made up some pretty good stories thought. Little by little people let and slept but I was determined to stay up for a while. Some people pulled their beds out of the tents and literally slept in the bed outside. I couldn’t get my bed out of the tent because I had a pole in the doorway but I stayed up until 4am, which basically was the same thing as sleeping out side. It was so cold though I was in sweats, my sleeping bag, and the two fleece comforters they gave us. Had a solid 2 hours of sleep and then got up at 6 am to watch the sunrise. It was so peaceful and quiet. Quite the moment. I watched the sun rise and then went back to bed for a couple more hours. Got up had breakfast then did a little more climbing. Left at 11 am with Devyn, Amber, Jen, Sara, and Maddie. Out driver Willy (“Villy”) drove us through the brush again and we saw ostrich (they run so funny)! He took us home via the coast road and took us past where Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have a beach house. Haha Definitely was a great trip.

Sept 19 Walvis Bay, NAMIBIA

Today we arrived in Walvis Bay, Namibia! Once the boat got cleared a group of us hurried into town to get to the bank and some food shopping. Dimitri was our driver and lives in a farm more inland but his family runs a tour guide business and so he came into town for our arrival. We came back to the boat had some lunch while friends had to go do FDPs for class. Me and 3 other girls decided to walk into town this time because it really wasn’t that far. Tried out some of the shops trying to get some more warm clothes! Right out side the ports gate were the Herero women,  who are topless and wear only a wrap from the waist down. Kind of disturbing at first but they are gentle, nice people. Bought a couple bracelets from them. Once everyone got back from their afternoon activities we rested and got ready for dinner in Swapumund, one of the bigger towns north of Walvis Bay. Walvis bay is more of an industrial town and quite small. Swapumund is more of a German town. Most of its buildings are of German architecture and a lot of Germans and Europeans live there. We had dinner at this bar/pub called The Lighthouse and it was very delicious. After dinner and a couple round at the bar we met made our way to another bar/ club. It was very touristy but probably the only young bar in the area. They had a DJ who played rap music and some old 80’s and 90’s music. Very very fun. Got home around 2 a.m. with Dimitri’s partner. 15 of us packed in the 9 passenger van, tight but cozy and had some great laughs on the way home. 

Sept 18

Today we were crossing the route of the Middle Passage. This is the route that the slave ships took between Africa and the Americas. One of the groups on the ship is recognizing this event by wearing red face paint on their faces. It is really eye opening and quite remarkable to be experiencing all these historical things. In classes this week we have learned a lot about the slave ships and all the illegal slave trade that happened after slavery was abolished. The only TV we get to watch is the movies they put on the 6 channels we get. All of them are full of history, 2 examples are La Amistad and the story about the illegally captured slaves that rebelled on the ship and had to be tried in America. Another very entertaining movie is “The Gods Must be Crazy” I highly recommend it!! For my econ development class we had to watch three movies this week about the history of the world’s economies and how they have all affected each other. It is even more interesting to hear about all kinds of economic policies that worked and didn’t work and how other countries function. I have heard that the stock market has basically crashed along with all the mortgage stuff with that Frankie company going to crap. I guess the future president is going to have a lot of work on their hands. I just pray that the US wont be up in flames when I get back in Dec! 

Sept17

Had the worst nights sleep that I have had the entire voyage last night. Weirdly enough everyone had a bad night of sleep. Don’t know whether to blame it on the day off and sleeping in until 1045 or if it was just an off night. Yesterday had been a “study day” for people to get caught up/ahead. I have to hand in papers and have a presentation today and tomorrow. I also have gotten very involved in planning two big events that occur on the ship: The Sea Olympics and the Ambassador’s ball. I am a Sea Captain and on the planning committee for the Olympics. Whole day is dedicated to a day of fun activities and competition. Should turn out great. For the Ambassadors ball I am in charge of seating the entire ship!! Along with decorations, invitations, and promotions. It’s a big deal, girls get dresses made in Vietnam, and boys have to wear tuxes. I am so excited,, just a lot of preplanning because we have to get things in ports along the way.

Sept 15

Crossing the ATLANTIC! Currently we are just over halfway to Africa. It has been a little rocky but I actually have not noticed it. It makes me quite tired actually. I take a nap almost every day. Class work is busy and its an overload week handing in papers and case studies. We have a study day tomorrow aka NO CLASSES to get on top of and ahead of our work. So excited for Namibia. I have a star-gazing camping trip in the desert planned. A couple of us are looking into going up in a hotair balloon at sunrise, which I think would be so cool. Planning on just hanging out and filling our time exploring. Falling back into the ship’s routine of sleeping, eating, class, working out, playing cards, and trying to fill the empty hours. We have had to turn our clocked ahead every night for the past three nights. Another reason a lot of people are exhausted.

Tonight saw a documentary made by two teachers on the ship about acid attacks in Cambodia and in other countries around the world. Women are attacked sometimes for reasons unknown. The most well known reason (but now is a past time) is being the mistress of a man or selling your body. The acid attacks are of revenge from the men’s wives or jealous girlfriends. The acid is poured on their heads and they think it is water until it starts to burn their skin, eyes, and chest. Surprisingly there are many countries in East Asia that are reporting acid attacks. There are many organizations that are doing more to fight for the human rights of these people and have the governments of these countries to put a stop to these attacks.

After the movie there was open mike night. There are so many talented people on the boats. People read poems, played the guitar and sang, piano players, skits, and playing drums. Probably one of the most entertaining nights of the ship. Everyone was very supportive.  Lots of singing along and laughs. 

ITS FREEZING THOUGH! Wish I was in Charleston in the humid weather!!

Sept 11 CACHOEIRA

Got up at 730 to catch an 830 bus to see the rural sights of Brazil. Our final destination would be CACHOEIRA. On the way there we made two put stops. The first town was Sant Mara, working town known for its big market. People have things hand made and imported. People buy/sell in bulk. People from outside towns/cities even come to purchase the market’s goods. Lots of fruits, vegetables, meats, flour, palm oil, and clothes. Best thing to see was the pure tobacco. We were able to see it grounded up into flakes, rolled up and then we coul smoke it. After walking through the entire market we got back on the bus. We headed to this farm land that was reclaimed and redistributed through a movement alled MST (English: Movement Without Land). Land that isn’t being used is found by this organization who look at the mortgage payment and enclose on the land to get it back, the establish some houses and then get the govt to approve that they are legit. There was a jaor tree/fruit farm growing coffe and cocoa beans, bananas, and tobacco. It was a very small town but I bought some hand packed chocolate. Finally mad it to Cachoeira. Had lunch at an old convent that was turned into  hotel/restaurant/church. The lunch was very filling, basically a seven course meal. The city is very quaint and on one of the biggest rivers in Brazil. We walked through the town and stopped at a Candomble temple and met some of the sisters. Then we crossed the river over the bridge to antoehr small town across the way to a tobacco plantation/factory. Watched the women roll cigars. It smelled soo good I cant even tell you. We learned about the whole process of rolling them, storing them,, and unwrapping them before they are ready to be sold/smoked (the entire process is about a month). I bought some for people back home. Had a two hour bus ride home and SLEPT. Absolutely exhausted and I have to write emails, update the blog and write a paper. SAWEET! So pumped to be rocked to sleep w/ us leaving port and on our way to Walvis Bay, Namibia.

( Happy Birthday Cait)

and God Bless America

Sept 10

YAY SUN! Today was absolutely gorgeous and couldn’t have asked for a better day to be in jeeps. The 4x4 jeeps picked us up at the hotel at 9 am and we had a great tour guide (I forget his name). Very informative about the structure and history of the buildings in Rio. Gave us a lot of history of the Portuguese royal family and the slaves. We made our way over to Corcovado where the famous giant statue of Jesus over looks the city. Stopped at a half way point at a helicopter pad  and saw the entire city. Words can not express how beautiful the view was. You could see miles out in every direction. All the mountains, islands, buildings were amazing. Snapped a big group photo. From there went to the statue tour center to take their busses up to Jesus! The statue is made of pure concrete and weights around 2,000 tons! ( as apposed to our Stature of Liberty that only weights a little over 200 tons) Very details down to the holes in his hands from being hung on the cross and has a heart on his chest. We were so high up with an even better view than before. Absolutely remarkable. Took tons and tons of pictures. Have seen the pictures of the statue so many times and it was just surreal to actually be there. Definitely took time to myself to absorb the moment and scenery. After we enjoyed our ride down through the rain forest covered road and made our way to a much nicer favela than yesterday. The middle to upper class homes are definitely nicer and more European with cobblestone roads. Enjoyed a nice walk around the streets and took some pictures. Had the rest of the afternoon to fool around. People went to the beach but Jamie and I ventured to Ipanema for shopping. Didn’t find what we were looking for but had a good time seeing all ht expensive shops. Had to catch the bus at 330 to the airport. Now on a plane back to Salvador. Have an FDP tomorrow (teacher run trip for a class). Excited to be back on the ship and sleep in my own bed!

Sept 9

Big day! But it was rainy again and slightly chilly. Our tour guide Roberto picked us up in these luxurious busses to take us to Camp Mangeiro, a YMCA type place in the slums. The program is designed to keep kids off the streets and away from the drugs. The slums are probably the poorest, down trodden places you will ever see. The favelas (communities) are built up and on top of each other and completely cover vast areas in Rio. They are made of brick, cement, and the lucky ones get tin roofs. Most of the favelas are run by a drug lord because he has the money and therefore has the power. The police are not able to control this very well. In actuality the tour places make deals/agreements with the top people in the favelas who report to the drug lords so that we have ‘protection” while we visit the favelas and no one attacks us. Kinda scary. So we were visiting this campus and this particular one is open to the one community of 45,00 families in the favela. The campus provides sports (basketball, soccer, track, dance class, gymnastics, ballet, and swimming) for all ages of kids that come in three shifts. It is a place to go for the kids when they are not in school. They go to class either in the A.M, afternoon, or P.M. So the goal is to get them off the streets when they aren’t in school. The kids must be in school in order to be part of the program and even then there is a selection process. This YMCA has the public school system sponsored by companies and private universities. As the kids get older and teenagers they are taught certain jobs and professions. They are also given the opportunity to take the tests to try and get into the big universities. We were given a tour through he entire campus and we reeked havoc. The kids were so excited to see us and interacted with us. They spoke very little English but spoke basic “hellos”, “how are you”, “what is your name”. They loved the camera and having their pictures taken. They were awed by blonde hair and blue eyes. We got to see them in classes and play basketball with them. It was very heart warming to see how happy they were to see us and heart breaking of their situation. Such a simple life and they are so happy. After we finished up there we went to another buffet and stuffed ourselves beyond full. After that we went on a gondola ride to Sugarloaf mountain. Famous sugar cane mountain and the view was awesome. It was pretty foggy and we have a good view on the first mountain stop but when we went other taller mountain we were lost in complete white. Saw some monkeys. Came back to the hotel and took a nap. Decided to skip dinner and pre-game at the hotel before going to a club called Rio Scenario. It was a 3 story club with different music and bars on each floor. Very very cool. Danced the night away again and a kid on our trip attempted to teach me some samba.salsa Just had fun twisting and turning and spinning ever which way. Left around 1230 because of another early and long day. 

Sept 8 Rio de Janerio - Astoria Palace on Cococabana Beach

Had to get up BEFORE the crack of dawn (315) to catch our flight to Rio. Had a long lay over in Bel Horizonte and finally made it to Rio 6 hours later by 11:30/12. The weather was rainy and disgusting so they suspended our touring for the day and switched around our schedule. So we had the entire afternoon off. Aka I took a nap and then walked around town with Ali T looking for cute dresses (unsuccessful). Everyone was so exhausted from the night before (some girls didn’t even make the plane!). Got back to the hotel and showered and got ready for dinner. We went to this buffet style place with Ali Sher, my roommate Lauren, Austin and Kyle. Had the best meats of my life (chicken, pork, sausage, beef, steak sirloin, lamb, ostrich) all cooked to perfection and they bring them out on these big skewers and they slice slabs for you. We then headed out to a local bar with local music, the samba. The bar was called Canieo de Gema. The band was 8-9 people playing the drums, tambourines, and other native instruments. Ali S and I dance the night away and were eventually joined by Ali T and Russ. Tried our best to “ Sambs, basically just twisted our hips, turned in circles, and moved our feet really fast. It was a fun night but we called in early because of our long day tomorrow.

CANDOMBLE and CAPOEIRA

Candomble

The ancient Brazilian religion brought over from Africa with the slaves. They have many gods called Orishas. Orishas are said to be the ssence of a persons personality, but also seen as divinized ancestoral gods. The main god Oshala is the creator of the world and Lemanja who is queen of the ocean is mother of all the orisha. For many hundreds of years the slaves were not allowed to practice their Candomble and forced to practice Catholicism. The slave owners thought it would make the slaves easier to deal with. In order to continue to practice Candomble, the Africans used the Catholic religion to hide. They had the saints represent their orishas and had many covered/impersonating rituals. But at the same time, belief in catholic religion is sincere. There are not central figure who hold the religion together, rather a number of charismatic leader. There is a hierarchy of understanding and knowing all the practices that are completely secret. People gain acces to the secrets by being initiated into the Candomble. The Candomble is mostly made up of women who are atleast 45-50 and older. You must be at least 45 or 50 to be initiated in. The people believe that the orishas can possess you at certain rituals. It is said that is is more common for women to become possessed by their orishas. They use the human body to communicate between both worlds. There is no hell or devil figure in Candomble. There is a trixster god and if you miss behave you are punished. The Candomble color is white and you can find their temples and places of worship because they have white flags and the women wear all white. Friday is their big day of festival and worship. Each orisha has specific foods they like and at the beginning of the ceremonies the gods must be fed before anything else. Eventually as the initiates mature and grow older, they learn how to enter the possessed state to communicate to their orisha.

On the trips in Rio and Cachoeira I was able to meet and see the Candomble women. They give out these ribbons in all different colors and tie them around your wrist making three knots. These represent three wishes and once the wishes come true the bracelet is supposed to fall off. Very interesting and the women are very humble.

Capoeira

Street dancing that looks like fighting. The slaves we not allowed to fight so developed this “dance”. Mostly boys part take in the street and people have team or gangs and compete in the streets. Some do it publicly but there are those that are secretive about it. It is very cool to watch and really look like they are fighting they are sooo close to each other but have perfected the dance to get as close as possible and still don’t touch eachother.

Sept 7 Salvador Welcome Reception

I signed up for this SAS sponsored trip to this welcome reception where we could interact with other university students and listen to local music. Honestly thought it wasn’t going to be that great. Went with two girl friends Jocie and Ali and we showed up at this circus tent looking thing all lit up with green and yellow lights. They had Candomble women at the entrance giving us more ribbon bracelets and the men were playing their native instruments (drums and a bow looking thing). It was an open bar and they continually filled our glasses all night. There were a series of performances throughout the night. The first was the men performing their Capoeira (dancing that looks like they are fighting eachother). Next were the jugglers doing all sorts of tricks, throwing the pins at each other, standing on shoulders, doing flips. Two girls then came and danced with fire sticks and then performed a routin with long fabric and only using their body, arms, and legs climbed up and down, wrapping themselves in all different ways. Sometiimes they would unravel from great heights and was very thrilling. The last performance was the drums. They played Bahia music and everyon learned some steps from the women and men in the crowd. After an hour they put on “international music” aka American techno. Lots of dancing and a lot of fun. Spent most of the night with Jocie and Ali but saw Meghan, Molly, Justin and Henry (boys from Boston). There were a bunch of Brazilian Unvisersity student there but they didn’t speak a lot of English. So glad I went but not looking forward to getting up at 3:15 to catch a flight to RIO!

Sept 7 - Salvador, Bahia- BRAZIL

Woke up this morning at 5 am to see the sunrise coming into Brazil. It was slightly cloudy but the scen of the major city was beautiful. We officially got into Salvador at 7:15 am. We then had to wait to clean customs and the ship had to clear its inspection. At 10:30 am we were clear to get off the ship. A bunch of us got together and planned to head up to the upper city. Walking through the lower city the smell was awful, smelled of piss, barbage, and dead animals. After a 10 min walk through this very dirty part of town we make it to the elevator to take us to the upper city. Once in the upper city the view of Salvador was breathtaking. The port was full of ships and tankers and you could see the entire city. At first the city was quiet because it was so early in the morning and it was a Sunday which was surprising though because it apparently was their national independence day. We made our way to “down town” which was literally a square the size of a football field. There were some shops, fountains, and street vendors. The shops are somewhat touristy with soccer jerseys, Brazilian flags, havainas flip flops (wicked comfy flops), and the towns art work. The art work is exquisite with paintings of all the old towns of Salvador and pictures representing their religion Candomble (see next entry to learn more). The colors are very bright. The Candomble women were selling there native foods which are made with palm oil, shrimp, and other sea foods. All the guys on the street are trying to sell necklaces and putting all these ribbons on your wrists. I attempted to talk to some of them, they speak very little English because they are Portuguese. Had some lunch at a local restaurant. Walked around some more and went into more shops. Eventually we all got really thirsty  again and stopped at this little placed called Ramma and had the most fantastic succo (juice) called tangerina. We met the owners brother who apparently had lived in Boston with his ex-wife but now is back in Brazil. We got to talking about politics and they are very interested in our presidential elections and asked us who we wanted Obama or McCain, and of course they all like Obama. He and his new wife and father spoke fairly good English and were very excited to have met us. Tired of a full day of walking around town and fearing for our lives because we had heard stories of other SAS students getting mugged and tackled for their cameras while in town, we headed back to the ship to rest.

Sept 5 NEPTUNE DAY

A day of celebration and honor to the god Neptune who is god of the Southern Hemisphere waters? (I think) Our alarm clock consisted of the night crew dressed in Roman like costumes, banging drums and chanting at 7:45a.m  (mind you we have no classes today) . We then were called up on deck to part take in an opening ceremony. Couple teachers were dressed up as King Neptune and his queen. Everyone then processed into a line to get blue cool-aid and mango juice poured onto them, you then pump into the pool, and as you get out you kiss a fish and then get knighted by King Neptune. The raffle for head shaving by the Captain of the ship was the next activity. After those two, I would say a third of the boy population shaved their heads and even some girls with the most gorgeous long hair shaved it ALL OFF. I could never do that. We shall see what their reactions are tomorrow. The rest of the day was full of sunbathing, smoothies, and reading. Tonight we have our port briefing for Salvador to get travel tips on what to bring, wear, what not to do, etc. Supposedly it is one of the most dangerous ports we are going to. Kinda nervous but going to be glad to get the hell off this boat! 

Sept 4

The usual A class schedule of 3 long classes. It is getting repetitive but we are getting into port SUNDAY! Thank god. I feel like we are all losing our minds and some have the case of cabin fever. Being around the Equator there are lots of little rain storms here and there and there is constant breeze and high seas. The storms bring constant clouds in the afternoon as least. Most of the day you can tan from 9-4. We crossed the Equator tonight at 8:30 pm ship time. Very anti climatic, almost like New Years without the booze. The ship blew one loud horn, everyone cheered, and that was it. People were taking pictures of the water and groups of friends, yada yada yada. Lauren and I made a sign “We are crossing the EQUATOR” and took a picture. Nothing corny ;) With crossing the Equator we are celebrating Neptune day tomorrow. Only details I know : 1. No Class 2. We get 6 drinks during Pub hours 3. People are supposed to shave their heads?? I know I will not be part taking in any shaving of heads but we shall see what the days festivities entail. Until then….

Sept 3

Still on our way to Brazil, surrounded by ocean, ocean, and more ocean. I know I have said it before but the water is soooo blue. Found a bunch of people going on my trip to Rio so it should be a great trip. Went up to the “Pub” on the ship last night and met some more people from the South (can spot by the usual khaki/red shorts, button down shirt, and hat backwards and sunglasses hanging by a Carolina croky). Listened to some country and The Band. Haha Slept in this morning with my one class this afternoon. Sat outside and enjoyed the nice hot sun. So much hotter as we get closer and closer to the equator. So much time on my hands I do not know what to do with myself not having a sport or a job to go to in the afternoons. Joined a bunch of committees to help plan for our Sea Olympics and Ambassador’s ball throughout the trip. Hopefully will keep me busy. Nice to relax as well. Catch up on some reading and play board/card games with everyone. We have to entertain ourselves some how! Happy Birthday Alex, Kylie, El, and Mr. Becker!

Sept 1

The past two days have been an introductory day for my classes. Two classes a day for the past two days but I was in two classes I was not supposed to be in due to my poor timing of signing up for classes. Today during the drop/add period which I staked out for an hr and half with Meghan, we both successfully got into the classes we wanted/needed to be in. It was quite stressful but I am satisfied and calm now that I am in the classes I needed in order to take my classes in the spring. Today we passed Martinique and our making our way towards South America. The water is soooo blue I have never seen it this color. Tonight is filled with much reading and the ship is getting rockier by the minute. The waves have gotten considerably bigger and are slowly rocking us all into a seemingly drunken stupor. Counting down the days until we reach Salvador! Hope everyone had a great Labor Day. Happy birthday lil bro!