In-between

This is an essay about some of my experiences in Ghana that I wrote for my lit class. I thought that it doubled as a blog post as well...so here it is! 

In-between

 

            I have never been present for a birth before. I have seen them on T.V., I have read about them in books, but I have no memories to claim for my own. After all, our own birth does not count. Walking through the hospital in Ghana, I see birth all around me. More than that, I feel birth. The woman with the extended pregnant stomach walking around. The man with his head in his hands sitting down. Waiting, perhaps? I wonder if this is his first birth, as well. He sits and waits. I stand and watch.

            I am standing in a hospital. I have only been in the hospital awaiting for the news of death, never birth. For a minute I wonder if I am going to hear the screams of new life. But I don't. Silence—the overwhelming sound of nothing. The lady is talking about midwives, and I find myself wondering how many births she has seen. Too many to count? Or does she remember them all?

            I walk into a room filled with women on the verge of giving birth. I wonder if this is the day where I will experience my first birth—the first breath of new life. I worry that I am not supposed to be here, this is not my place. I have yet to know the pains of giving birth and the love for a child. I worry that my eyes will wander too much, that my smile will not seem genuine, that the women will despise my presence. I turn my foot, my head follows, and I am ready to leave. My eyes glance at the room one more time, and in the corner there is a woman who is awake. Her eyes wander to me, her smile is genuine, and she does not seem to mind my presence. I smile in return. Genuine.

            We walk further into the hospital, and I pass the man who is waiting. Has he held his child, or is he waiting for his child? There is a backpack in front of him…has he been here long? I walk past him and stand still. Nobody is moving, but I hear Angelina say that there is a woman in the room next door who is in fetal distress. Is this the mans wife? We continue to walk, and through the window I see a woman in pain—a pain of which I know nothing about. This reminds me that with the beauty of life comes the pain of giving life.

            I see people in front of me turn to go into another room. I worry about feeling out of place again, and as I enter the room, I see women. I am told that these women have just given birth. Some of them are sitting up. I see one nursing a baby. Angelina picks up a newborn baby and places it into the arms of the person standing next to me. Birth. New life. I glance down at the baby, the angle is awkward and I can only see the forehead and fluttering eyelashes. A newborn baby. I blink and find that my eyes are watering. Never before have I been so close to a new life. I feel the beauty of birth—this baby who is in a strangers arms, and is unaware of the past and future.

 

Life is beautiful.

Life is ugly.

            I arrive at Cape Coast Castle, and the first thing that strikes me is how impervious nature can be to human suffering. Blue water crashes onto the sand, there is a soft hot breeze, and I am struck by the contrast of the beauty of this place compared with the surrounding town. It is beautiful, but there is no beauty here. I walk through the entrance, pay my camera fee, and our tour begins.

            Twenty of us walk into a room where two hundred people used to stand. The first thing I notice is the smell. Centuries and generations have passed, but I can still smell the indescribable scent of pain and humiliation and defecation. Someone says that it smells like their gerbils cage, and while I want to laugh, I am struck by how accurate that is and how sad it is that it is accurate.

            The heat, I notice the heat. I feel tired, I am sweaty, and our tour guide leads us into the Female Slave Dungeon. The last person walks through, the door is shut, and we are in the darkness. I can still smell it—that smell. The ugly one that I want to forget but know I never will. I stand there, in the dark, and for a second I am scared. I know that this darkness will end in thirty seconds, but I am still scared. I wonder how the other people dealt with their fear, knowing that the darkness would not end anytime soon, and when it did, the light of the sun would not bring promises of a better future. I am not scared of the dark, but I am scared of this darkness. The door opens, light streams in, and within minutes the beating heat of the sun makes me wish for shade, but not darkness. 

            We walk down the hill, duck our heads as we pass through a door, and then we are in darkness again. There is a door in front of me. The door of no return. I step closer, and my foot is on the threshold. I lean in closer, past the point of no return for people standing here in the past, but I am able to return. I rejoin the group and we walk away. We were able to walk away.

            I walk all the way back to the entrance, past the kids selling water and the men with the bracelets. I walk all the way back to our bus, I take a step in and feel cold air. And just like that I am far from darkness and heat. I am far from birth and away from death.

 

In-between

            I am twenty years old. Never before have I been so close to birth. Never before have I been so close to death. The gift of life, the curse of death, and the ability to feel both without experiencing either. Two polar experiences, but together they meet in the middle—where I am, where I usually can be found, far from a Ghanaian maternity ward and slave dungeon.

The almost tears from seeing a newborn baby, the sweat rolling into my eyes as I enter the slave dungeon—both are forever a part of me, a piece of my identification and what I am able to identify with from now on.

I email my mom about my experiences. She says that it was a gift to experience all stages of life in such an intimate way. I think about this. I am still thinking about this. Humanity is able to bring new souls into this world, but humanity also has the capacity to destroy human souls. Humanity is in-between. I am in-between.

           

 

  

Easter, Vampires, and Princes...oh my!

Lively India

As I type this, my henna is wearing off. There are traces of it left on my right hand, but they're only noticeable if you bother to take a second look. 

We are currently on day 5 of 6 on our way to Mauritius, and as I sit here I realize that I'm over the half way mark in every way possible. I have more countries behind me than in front of me. There are more days behind me than in front of me. There are more class days behind me than in front of me. 

Where did time go?

I know I have not been the best blog updater, and I haven't updated in awhile, but I think it's important that I talk a little bit about Burma and India. (I am also procrastinating) 

Recently my social psych professor said that we shouldn't try to qualify our time in each of these ports. If we try to explain why we loved a place, or why we loved a certain experience, we often cannot put into words what we truly feel. Either we don't know what we're feeling or we don't know why we feel the way we do. If we try to use words to explain, we use words that can't properly state how we're feeling. Why did I love Burma so much? Why did l love India so much?

I have this thing where I'm trying think of a word that describes my time in each country, and I feel like it is a good compromise between trying to share how I feel without ruining my experience by trying too hard to explain how I feel. For Burma, my word is serene. I spent most of my time in Inle Lake, and the entire time I just felt a sense of peace. For India, my word is lively. The crazy tuk tuk driving, the crowds, the yelling, the colors...everything just screamed alive. And although Burma has a place in my heart forever, India got it beating like no other place has.

We have this thing where after each port there is a "post port" reflection. I've been to almost every single one, and each time I leave slightly frustrated but also enlightened. Frustrated because people seem to complain if things don't go their way. Enlightened because it often makes me realize how I feel. 

I didn't even want to go to the "post port" for India--I didn't want to hear anything bad that people had to say. But of course I went anyway. People complained about the trash. People complained about not getting things for as cheap as they wanted to. People complained about the fact that people were overcharging them because they were "white Americans who are wealthy". And the entire time I felt so frustrated. How can people feel this way after leaving a place so alive? How?

We come to these places expecting to get things for dirt cheap. And sometimes we do. But when we don't, we think we're getting ripped off or cheated. 

What we don't think about is that these people we are buying things from have a life to live as well. They're trying to make ends meet. They're trying to feed their children or keep their shop open. They're not here to please us at all costs. We're the ones who are guests, and bargaining with them is a social interaction that we signed up for. And when you decided that yelling over 50 rupees (1 dollar) is a good idea, you've lost what you've come here for--learning, interacting, socializing, being outside of your comfort zone, compromising, laughing, loving. 

There was a time when I referred to myself as getting "ripped off". A tuk tuk driver who had been with us all day told us he would charge us $10 each for the day and decided at the end of the night to ask for $80 all together. It was just another girl and I, and we decided that since it was nightime, and no one else was around, we would just pay the money to get out of the situation. And I was mad. This was money that I could've spent on something else. 

While at post port, a professor said something that really stuck me him. He said "How much does it cost us to go to the movies? To drive to the theater, to buy the tickets, to buy our favorite snacks and a drink. How much does it cost?" In my head I'm trying to do the math. Well, if I go with both my parents that's automatically $30 for just our tickets. Driving there? Well, it takes about 30 minutes to get to the nearest movie theater, so there's that cost. What if I want popcorn? Another $7 or so. And a drinks for all of us? Add $20. Licorice? $5. Right there thats nearly $70, and that was just a leisure activity. 

So yes, I paid more than I originally thought we had agreed on. But I could spend the same amount on a piece of jewelry and not really think twice about it, or be angry about it. This guy had been with us all day, he had driven us all around (even to places we didn't ask to go), and I think he was generally concerned with whether or not we were having a good time. He had a house, two kids, and a wife to look out for. So the $40 I contributed to the $80 "tuk tuk fund" really was not worth getting angry over. It happened. And he can do a lot more with that money than I can. 

One of our Dean's said something on the first day, and I constantly think about it. He said that "One percent of the world gets a college education. One percent of the world gets to travel. And you are doing both." So even though Semester at Sea has been years in the making for me, and we have taken out a loan to pay for this journey, I am already wealthier and luckier than a significant population of this world. Yes we are all on budgets and don't have money to "blow" in all of these countries, but we're here. And just by being here we're extremely fortunate. 

As I travel around the world I'm learning lessons that I didn't know I would learn. Friends and I have been talking a lot about going home lately, and what that will be like. I think that's when the biggest change will come--right now everything is normal. All 1000 of us on this ship are going through the same thing. But back at home I'll be leaving this ship of comfort, this place that has become "normal". 

So when I come back, what I'm asking for is patience. Sometimes I may not be able to describe what I'm feeling and at other times I may tell the same story over and over again. There are going to be pictures that seem insignificant to you, but will probably be my screensaver for the next couple of months. There are inside jokes that I may blurt out thinking someone will understand, but no one will. Laugh anyway. 

To all my friends who have studied abroad. I promise you the same. I promise to listen to your stories and look at your pictures and not roll my eyes when you tell me the same story I know I've heard before. I promise to ask questions and to genuinely care. Because our adventures are our adventures for a reason. They make us who we are and who we are becoming. 

I also promise to try to blog more, but this six day stretch in between India and Mauritius is going by way too fast. I haven't caught up on my journal, I have a paper due, I have a midterm, and that's just tomorrow. 

Sometimes it's easy to forget that this is school as well. 

Shipboard Life

Traveling is a huge component of Semester at Sea. Within a couple of months I have visited and will visit Japan, China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore, Burma, India, Mauritius, South Africa, Ghana, Morocco, and Spain. When people ask to hear stories, they'll expect to hear about what I did in country--the story of the snake around my neck in Vietnam, our lost in translation moments in Japan, the hypothetical beach day in Mauritius, my homestays in South Africa and Morocco. 

And these will be wonderful stories to tell.

But what get's overlooked a lot of the time is the journey--the days we spend getting from one place to another. It's hard to believe that I've been on the M.V Explorer for nearly 2 months (!!!!!!). It feels so much shorter and longer at the same time. Shorter because time is flying, but longer because the people who have become my friends feel like friends that I've had for years, not a couple of months. 

So what I'm going to tell you about to day is a normal day on the M.V Explorer--my home. 

It's common to say good morning to Arch (as in Desmond Tutu) every morning. I'll go to breakfast around 8am with my roommate, we'll meet up with our usual crowd of friends (Michela, Wendy, Kaitlyn, Cali, Emily), and we'll talk about anything and everything. Sometimes we wonder what we're missing back home, if there's a song equivalent to Call Me Maybe out right now and we're just blissfully unaware. Sometimes we'll talk about the paper that's due that we should be writing, or a test that snuck up on us. Sometimes we'll lookout for the new cereal that is being put out and whether or not there was any pineapple leftover in the fruit selection. Sometimes we'll talk about what we did in past countries and what we're doing in future countries. 

This has become normal. 

What astounds me is that we're able to say "Oh, I need to finish this paper before India", or "I can't believe I have a midterm right after Burma", or "What are your plans for Ghana?". Referring to countries instead of days has become the way that we keep time. When everybody around you is going through the same thing you are, it's easy to forget that this isn't a common journey that we're on. 

Sometimes we'll sing Taylor Swift songs as we're walking up the stairs, or we'll meander from one side of the hallway to the other due to a wave. The day goes by in a blur of errands and conversations...visits to the field office trying to figure what to do in a country, talking to Unreasonable people in line during lunch, taking malaria pills, and sanitizing hands "or risk pooping" (so threatens our Dean). 

There's usually a lot that goes on at night--we go to Zumba, go to the gym together, eat dinner, hang out in the Piano Lounge. Around 8pm (or 2000) there is usually some sort of preport that goes on in the Union where we learn about the country that we're heading to. These usually go on every night, but the one that happens the day before we get into port is mandatory. The doctor tells us about all the diseases we could contract, how to avoid travelers diarrhea (whoops), what foods to avoid, all that fun stuff. The Dean will tell us statistics from the last port (ex: 29 stolen iPhones in Vietnam), a couple credit card frauds, etc. The head of the Field Office will come and tell us about all the amazing things to do, and interport students will chime in with things to add to our to do list and helpful phrases. For example, last night at the cultural preport for India a interport student taught us how to say "yes, spice" and "no, spice". 

A day in the life.

Usually there will be other things going on after the Explorer Seminar/Preport. Last night there was a panel discussion on "How to Change the World" with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Tori Hogan, and Ken Banks. The people on this ship just astound me. Ken Banks has been acknowledged by National Geographic, Tori is barely 30 and she's written a book (check it out, it's called Beyond Good Intentions), and I don't think I have to list anything about Desmond Tutu. 

But by far what astounds me the most is the fact that this ship has become home. It is literally the place that is taking me to all these countries. I open my cabin door in the morning, I walk up the stairs, I reach the sixth deck and then I have the option of turning right or left, both will take me around the same circle above Tymitz Square, through the piano lounge, and into the Garden Lounge, which is one of the decks where meals are served. I know how long it takes for me to get to each class from where I am (tops 2 minutes), and I have become a pro at using the demonic ice dispenser on the 6th deck. My twin size bed and small cabin are welcome sites when I return from a country where I have left the city where the ship is. Getting back on the ship feels like coming home, even if it's just at the end of a very long day. 

The community that has been built on this ship deserves a whole blog post of its own, but to put into words what it actually is isn't possible. As my psych prof told me, sometimes trying to put things into words just messes up the experience in the first place. So picture this: a place where you feel absolutely comfortable and satisfied. The minute closet space and 3 drawers that you own you know by heart. Should I mention that someone cleans your room every other day? The showers are nothing special but they are your shower. You wake up in the morning, see somebody you've never even talked to, and you acknowledge eachother for no other reason than the fact that you are on a ship, in the middle of an ocean, going on this incredible journey together. 

We are all in this together. 

I hope that I've managed to convey (at least a little bit) what makes Semester at Sea so special. All the youtube videos I've watched, emails I've sent to alumni, pictures I've seen online...this is now my life. I am the "current voyage" on the Semester at Sea website, it's my voyage that is being talked about, my life that is being lived. 

So as I get ready to step foot in India, I want to send out a sincere thanks to all the people who listened to me talk endlessly about SAS, staring my sophomore year of high school. This is everything more than I wished for, and even though I've spent a night in the bathroom losing everything inside me (and more), I currently have a head cold, and I'm pretty sure I'm missing out on one of the sunniest days so far, this is still by far one of the best days of my life...because I am home. 

Tough Days are Good Days

I am currently sitting on my bed in cabin 3037 on the MV Explorer. Vietnam is physically behind us...we are now sailing to Singapore, but the emotional implications of my time in Vietnam is just starting to hit me. I am no longer in intense travel mode (I think I spent 3 hours on the ship aside from sleeping hours), and the dust is beginning to settle. Reflection after Japan was enlightening, reflection after China was awe inspiring, and the reflection that I'm going through after Vietnam is just downright extremely overwhelming.
There's no moment I can point to and say that that's when everything changed. Rather, the accumulation of my six days in Vietnam has all been put into one big pot, molding and melting together to the point where I can't tell what happened on what day. All I know is that it all happened. When thinking of Semester at Sea, I knew that there would be moments where I just wouldn't know what to do with myself, and I think that this is my first moment of the trip. I don't want it to seem as though I'm hating life right now, but I'm definitely feeling my experiences in a way that I haven't in the past.
Water freezes at 32 degrees. There are 12 inches in a foot. My current favorite color is red. Four divided by four is one. I write better on lined paper. Post-its are amazing. Hawaii is a state and DC is a district. Crossing the street in Ho Chi Minh is dangerous. The metro system in Japan is extremely easy to navigate. The Great Wall is everything everybody thinks it is. These are facts. These are things I can explain. These are things that no one will object to. However, what I don't know how to explain are experiences and perspectives. Everybody has a different one. I was with a friend for the entirety of Vietnam, and although we were in the same situations, we have had completely different experiences.
It will be too complicated to go through every single thing I did in Vietnam, so I would rather just talk about some experiences that stood out to me. I did a homestay for 2 nights/3 days on the Mekong in Vietnam. Within my time there, I visited a family owned shop, drank snake rice wine, had a giant boa wrapped around me, ate shrimp with its head and appendages still attached, drank a coconut on a boat floating down the Mekong, hung out in a garden, floated down the river some more, arrived at the village of our home stay, found a lizard in the bathroom, learned how to make traditional Tet cake, ate questionable food, walked around the most serene place I have ever been, fell asleep to the sounds of nature, had a traumatic experience walking through the meat market, got chased around by ladies selling pants in a different market, seen the floating market of the Mekong, and have sweated more than I thought possible.
These are the experiences that I won't forget, that I'll remember to tell people about. However, it's the overwhelming emotions of traveling that often get swept under the rug. The moments when you realize that this is a journey of a life time. The moment I realize that had I been born in Vietnam, I could be eleven year old Nga selling bookmarks and fans to tourists until 1 in the morning. The moment when I'm at a orphanage and realizing that "poverty/orphanage tourism" is a real thing, and I'm witnessing it right now. The moment when I'm in class and the professor asks what "white privilege" is and the fact that none of us can answer that is what "white privilege" is. The moment when you step out of the War Remnants Museum and you wonder if the beggar on the street was affected by agent orange. The wonderful moment when you're walking down the street with your friends and we realize that we're in Vietnam.
There's something to be said for itineraries. There's something to be said for pictures. There's something to be said for sites and good food. But there's also something to be said for putting the map and camera away and just...experiencing. I think I was more aware of that than anything else in Vietnam. And because of that I'm at a loss for words. I'm sorry if this is rambling, or confusing, or if it seems as though I'm being negative. But as this blog post says, tough days are good days. Tough days are good days because that means that I'm experiencing this journey in its entirety. It's been smooth sailing (emotionally speaking), for the past couple of ports, but I think it's just going to continue at this pace for the rest of the time. A journey isn't a journey for its easiness. We don't talk about Marco Polo because he had it easy. Archbishop Desmond Tutu isn't Archbishop Desmond Tutu because his life was simple.

So it's my time for some rough seas...literally and metaphorically.

Japan reflections

My reflection from my time in Japan made it onto the SAS blog! Just thought I'd share it here. I've been reading this blog for YEARS now and it's absolutely astounding to see my name attached to a quote about my time in a country. 

Pictures Tell a Story...

Since I'm not sure when I'll get to my blog about China, I would like to share some pictures. Hopefully these will tell you the story of my incredibly overwhelming, startling, and amazing time in Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong.

Arigato, Japan

4 days in Japan, 4 different cities, and a whole lot of stories. I don't even know where to begin, so I'll probably split this up by different cities.

The travel exhaustion is really start to get to everybody, which is funny considering we have about 10 more places to go. We all look like we're extras on The Walking Dead. I think it would be abnormal if someone DIDN'T look exhausted right now.

Day 1/2-Yokohama/Tokyo:

Japan really knows how to welcome people. There was a crowd waving to us as the ship pulled into port, and they had a band playing as well! It was an amazing moment, and we're all joking that Japan has set the standards too high for the rest of the countries. There was an old man who was at the terminal, and he would wave his hat in the air and then bow to us.

After standing in the longest line I have ever encountered, we finally got off the ship around 12, and then had to go stand in line for immigration. This was the scariest immigration moment of my life. There were booths set up in this empty terminal and it was dead silent. Honestly, it looked like a scene from the Hunger Games or something. Luckily the lady I got actually smiled so I didn't feel like I was being incarcerated or anything. She took a picture, my fingerprints, stamped my passport, and then I was good to go.

There was a group of us that wanted to explore around Yokohama the first day, so we set off for a train station. We wanted to go to the Ramen Museum first, and when we were in the ticket line for the subway, I ran into my Women Writers professor and her husband. They had met a young couple who spoke English and were helping them purchase their ticket, and so they started to help us as well. When we told them were we wanted to go, they said "You want to go there? But there's nothing there!" Apparently all there is to see in that area is the Ramen Museum, so we decided to take the subway to the heart of Yokohama.

I could tell you every little thing that we did, but then I would be writing this blog until we got to China, which is actually in 2 days. We walked around a lot, ate good food, found that we really needed to know more Japanese than we did, went to the Cup of Noodles museum, and stopped at every single vending machine we saw. They really were that awesome. After dinner, Cali and I split from the rest of the group and went to the ferris wheel that was near the port. It was amazing! At the top we could see the ship all lit up on the harbor and everything.

We walked back to the ship, got our overnight stuff ready, and met the gals we were traveling with to Shibuya, Tokyo. Luckily the station near us was a one way to Shibuya, so we didn't have to trade trains or anything. A couple of girls were already in Shibuya, and we said we would meet them at the dog statue Hachi when we got there, which is apparently a statue that is very famous around Japan. I'm pretty sure I even watched a Hallmark movie about this dog with my mom a while back. We were about 30 minutes late meeting Tori and Laura, and we knew that Tori would be worried out of her mind, probably on the verge of calling Tom or Jim and telling them that we were missing.

We got off the train, and when we entered into the heart of Shibuya, we realized just how difficult it would be to find the dog statue. There were people everywhere, billboards flashing lights, and just about every type of sight and sound that we hadn't encountered since being on the relatively peaceful M.V Explorer (aside from the last 2 days before Japan where we were all sure the Captains voice was going to come on telling us to abandon ship). We ended up asking everyone we saw here Hachi the dog was, and just as promised, EVERYONE knew what we were talking about.

The funny thing is, it wasn't even the dog I saw first, it was Tori's blonde hair. By the time we got to them it looked like they were about to freeze, so they said they wanted to go check into the place they had found for us to stay before going out again. I knew things were about to get interesting when they said "Don't scream until you actually see it." They took us down a road in Shibuya, and then turned the corner where there was advertisements for Manboo, some sort of internet cafe. Sketchy. The elevator was too small to carry all of us, so only about 3 or 4 of us could go at a time, and then Tori told us not to press the button for floor number 8, because it was an adult shop. Whoops. So we successfully got off on the ninth floor…and then all I saw were lights and comic books and everything screamed that this was going to be a very interesting night.

The process of checking in was quite the feat. Nobody really spoke any English and plus there were about 8 of us all together. I now have a card declaring me to be a lifelong member of Manboo. Although I don't really think I'll be going back. We went upstairs, and we all kind of looked at each other. There were little cubicles with nothing but a semi reclinable chair, a desk attached to the wall, and a computer screen on top of the desk. I felt like I was at my first job or something. I should also mention that the smoke was so strong that I'm pretty sure I smoked the equivalent to 10 packs just by being there for a couple hours. I have pictures to describe just how…intense this place was, so I'll just to upload some in the future. Trust me, words will not prepare you for this.

Everybody sent out a couple emails saying that this might turn into a Criminal Minds episode, and then we left again in search of a karaoke club. We found one relatively quick, rented a room for an hour and a half, and got our karaoke on. Taylor Swift, Spice Girls, P!nk, Journey, Mika, Backstreet Boys, and many more were sung, and it was probably one of the most fun experiences of Japan. By the time we finally headed back to our cubicles, it was about 3:30am. I left my passport belt on, put on pj pants, got a drink out of the free vending machines (which made the whole experience worth it), and tried to sleep for the next 3 hours.

At one moment I woke up and I felt like I was rocking a shaking. For a second I forgot where I was and I thought that I was back on the ship. I went back to sleep, and when I woke up around 7, I decided that that was probably the most amount of sleep I was going to get and decided to just stay awake. We all agreed to be ready to leave around 8:30, so I just relaxed and went to get more drinks out of the free vending machine. Turns out we were all awake and couldn't sleep, and we started talking and it turns out that everyone felt the rocking and shaking! So someone said that it might have been an earthquake. I'm not sure if that's the case, but it would make sense that we all felt it.

We got up, left, and went in search of a breakfast place. Turns out everything wasn't open yet, so we ended up at a McDonald's. Usually I wouldn't go for that, but the fact is that I was starving, super tired, and we all just needed some sort of energy. I don't need to spend more time talking about our McDonald's adventures.

Turns out Dahanah's boyfriend had told her about a store that seemed pretty cool, so we went in search of it. I'm pretty sure that we walked halfway across Tokyo in search of it. The entire time I was looking for places that might have flags, but alas, I was unsuccessful. We stopped a couple of places along the way, including a crepe place, and I'm pretty sure my tastebuds have never been so happy. In fact, I have decided that I'm going to eat on the 7th deck today because all the food I have eaten the last couple of days has spoiled my tastebuds. But that's not part of the story.

We ended up finding the seemingly nonexistent store (which was in a totally different district I'm pretty sure) and it was cool, but a bit touristy and expensive. We had managed to evade super touristy places so far, and as soon a we went to the store almost everybody there was a tourist of some sort doing some shopping. I thought that that might be the place where I could find a flag, but alas…I still did not find one. A couple of girls did some major shopping, and then we set out for a place to eat.

We ended up going down some random streets and alleys until we came across a legit looking place. Some of the people were looking for sushi, so when we asked if they had it, the guy said no, but that it was a gyoza place. We all decided to stay there and it was awesome! It was pretty small, but the food was amazing! We could see them making the gyoza behind the counter, and I swear my tastebuds are watering just remembering it. After we ate, we walked to a subway station, and we split into 2 groups: one who was going back to the ship for in transit, and the others who were traveling overland. I was part of the group who was traveling with the ship during our in transit time from Yokohama to Kobe.

After getting semi lost, taking the wrong train, and someone leaving a bag on the train and losing some purchases, we finally made it back to the terminal. When we were in the terminal, a lady walked up to us and said "Thank you, thank you", and then went on to say how she was one of the tour guides for the SAS trips. Emily ended up telling her about losing her bag and the lady brought us to a group of men she was with, and they spent about 20 minutes on the phone calling different stations trying to find the bag. And guess what? It was found! They described to her how to get to the station and back, and Laura and I were worried for time so we stayed behind, and Emily didn't want to go by herself. One of the men and the lady ended up offering to take her to the station where her bag was AND back to the terminal. Their kindness was just astounding, and that's just one example. When Emily got back, she told me that they bought both of her train tickets and gave her gifts and snacks along the way. It really was quite amazing.

Well, that's my time in Yokohama and Tokyo. I still have to blog about the in transit day (yes, that deserves to be talked about), as well as my days in Hiroshima and Kobe. I think I'll save those for the next post.

As always, thanks for reading!

Taco Night

Also, the night before last was Taco Night.

That deserved its own blog post.

There was even guacamole.

It was a good day.

Desmond and Daniel

My two favorite people right now: Desmond Tutu and Daniel Epstein. 

First of all, a shout out to Joanna Hubbard who relayed to me the greatest news ever: Daniel Epstein of the Unreasonable Institute is in fact from Blaine, and went to BHS! That is the definition of crazy. To say I freaked out is an understatement. 

So, picture this. I'm on ship, the air is super salty, and I'm working out outside. I go inside to get water, and all of a sudden Daniel is behind me talking about how awful the sensor on the water dispenser is. A girl named Kaitlyn, who was also at Zumba, whispered in my ear "It's now or never.", so I was like "So….are you from Blaine?" He had a mini freakout when he realized that I, too, was from Blaine (more or less). I even ended up getting a hug (saltiness and sweat and all). It was fabulous. I am such a fan of all the entrepreneurs on here and of Unreasonable in general, and it's crazy that this guy is from small-town Blaine, and is somehow on the same voyage as I am. Trying to solve the worlds greatest issues, no less. 

Just so you can see how big of a deal he is, check out this screen shot from yesterdays Dean's Memo: 

Of course I went to the Fireside Chat last night, and it was great! He honestly seems like a down to earth, humble, and honest person, and he talked a bit about his time on Semester at Sea. He said that his life wasn't changed like it was for a lot of his friends, but rather reinforced his values and beliefs. I think that I'll get something similar out of Semester at Sea. I don't think my perspective will be turned upside down or I'll have a revelation that I've been chasing the wrong dreams, but I think that I'll change in more subtle ways. I guess we'll see! 

The main reason he created Unreasonable is because he wanted to find a community where he would fit in. He said that neither the profit or nonprofit sector seemed to fit him 100%, so he had to create the community. That's a pretty unreasonable (in the best way possible) thing to do, and also incredibly inspiring. 

Shout out to my mom: next time you go to Barnes and Noble, check out the book The Power of Unreasonable People. 

But honestly, we're a little over two weeks in and I'm obsessed with everything Unreasonable. Last night at the Fireside Chat I ended up sitting next to Coleman, who is one of the guys who is on here representing the Nike Foundation. The Nike Foundations main goal is basically something called the Girl Effect, which is the belief that girls across the world are the one's who know best how to end poverty, because they're the ones who know what they (and their families) need. And when I say poverty, I don't just mean poverty, I mean the roots of poverty: inadequate access to water and sanitation, inadequate access to education and health care, etc. First of all, he's an amazing dude. The night before last Daniel interviewed the guys from the Nike Foundation and he ended up asking them what their most embarrassing moment was. They both didn't want to answer, but I guess as a rule of the Fireside Chats, nothing is off limits. So I was in the front row, sitting next to Coleman, and at the end when the audience is allowed to ask questions, he asked me to ask Daniel what his most embarrassing moment was. I guess this was his form of payback. So of course I did. A girl doesn't deny someone from the Nike Foundation. No matter what.

I ended up talking to Coleman a little bit after the chat and it came up that Daniel was from Blaine as well! I also told him about running into someone from high school in Hilo, and he said: "It sounds like someone is trying to tell you something", which I guess in a way is what this whole journey is about. I'm hoping to be able to talk to the entrepreneurs a lot during this voyage, and even more so to be able to work with them. 

I'm sure you'll be hearing a lot more about Daniel from me throughout this voyage, so I'll move on to my other favorite person: Desmond Tutu.

Just the fact that I can call him one of my favorite people and have reasons to do so is mind boggling. I've said hi to him, I've heard his laugh, and I've heard him speak multiple times. Yesterday he came into my Globalization and Social Responsibility class (and he's coming again tomorrow to take a picture), and it was by far one of the most amazing experiences that I've ever had, especially inside of the classroom. 

I don't even know where to start, so I guess I'll just spit stuff out as I remember it. He talked a lot about how it's easy to be idealistic when we're younger, but the challenge is to hold onto that for our entire lives. I ended up writing down a lot of quotes (whoa, I'm directly quoting Archbishop Desmond Tutu), so I'll share those now:

When talking about our generation and our strengths, he said that we are always "dreaming of a world of greater equality." 

"There are no ordinary people."

"One of the things I remember is just how much we owe to others."

When talking about where he gets his strength to keep going, he told the story of one woman who prayed for him constantly. He said "Here I am, being prayed for at 2am in the woods of California." Archbishop's can, apparently, be very very funny.

"We are all upheld by the love and prayers of so, so many."

When talking about his involvement with the Truth and Reconciliation Council, he said that the council had to be dishwashers, not vacuums. His theory is that vacuums suck up all the dirt, but they hold everything in. On the other hand, dishwashers clean the dishes, but all the dirt goes down the drain. He said that in order to survive the council with any hope in humanity left, the people listening to these stories had to be dishwashers, not vacuums. He followed this by saying "Human beings are remarkable. When you see the things that people have suffered." 

One of the funniest quotes, ever: "I'm not name dropping, but I just got an email from Jimmy Carter. He said to say hi…so everybody…President Jimmy Carter says hi!" 

When asked when we should take action to change things we care about: "Anytime is the right time. The mouse will not thank you for being considerate of the elephant that is sitting on him." He also said that "Many things should have happened yesterday."

Someone in our class has spent a significant amount of time in South Africa, and she noticed that a lot of the youth don't even know what Apartheid is. His response, which was also one of the most powerful quotes: "Apartheid was also in prison. White prisoners got long pants and beds. Now when people go the Robben Island, Nelson Mandela's cell has a bed. It has been romanticized. Young kids don't know what it took to get to where we are."

When asked how he handles dark days: "I laugh easily…but I also cry easily." 

Just a little background on my personal favorite quote of the day. A guy in our class asked him what he thought of this idea from the Dalai Lama, and his quote regarding how sometimes it seems as though religion is pulling people apart instead of bringing people together. The Archbishop said: "If I place a knife on the table, it's morally neutral. If I take it and use it to cut bread, I am using it for good. But I could just as easily stick it in your gut. Religion is the same. Religion has produced a Mother Theresa, a Martin Luther King Jr, and the Dalai Lama. We have the capacity to turn anything into evil, but we also have the capacity to turn anything into good."

And one of the funniest quotes regarding his time spent with the Dalai Lama: "The cameras are on us, try to behave like a holy man." 

Life is good. That is all. 

Aloha from Hawai'i, and a couple other random ramblings

We left Hawai'i (to be said like a local) a couple of days ago, and we are now four days away from stepping foot in Japan (and therefore yummy snacks and food).

Sorry that it's been awhile since I've updated, but I swear I've never been so busy in my entire life. There always seems to be something to do. Hence why my Hawai'i update is coming a bit late. But let's start from the beginning…

The ship was in Hawai'i for a couple hours before we even got the chance to get off the ship. We had to go through immigration, which individually didn't last that long, but for 1,000 passengers took quite a while. Emily and I met up with a girl named Dehana right when we were going to get off the ship, and we both had the same itinerary, which included trying to find a luau, as well as a trip to Target/Walmart to get some last minute items before we leave the U.S for 3 months.

We ended up grabbing a taxi and sharing it with some other SAS students, and the driver somehow convinced us to go to Rainbow Falls, although we all originally wanted to be dropped off downtown. He said that downtown was downhill from Rainbow Falls, and it would therefore be easier to walk downhill to downtown than it would be to walk uphill from town to the falls.

Rainbow Falls was pretty awesome! Although I think that my time in Iceland made it hard for me, because honestly, I've seen cooler waterfalls. But still, being in Hilo was awesome. I think SAS chose Hilo because a) it's more cultural than the more touristy islands, and b) I'm pretty sure Honolulu hates SAS from the students who decided to leave a bad reputation in their wake.

We took a couple pictures at the falls and talked to some locals who were making hats, bowls, and other items out of coconut leaves. They were pretty amazing! But we didn't know if we could take them back on the ship with all the custom rules. All three of us ended up walking downtown, but Hilo doesn't have any sidewalks, so we were pretty much walking in the road. It was great for awhile, there were no cars and we were just kind of leisurely walking around and enjoying the fact that we were on land and in Hilo.

As a sidenote: land sickness is a real thing. After being used to constantly moving, being on still ground was just as much of an adjustment was it was first getting on the ship.

While we were in the middle of walking down to town, a lady in a truck pulled up and asked where we were going. This was one of the locals who was making stuff out of coconut leaves back at the falls. Turns out she was heading to the same place as we were, and she told us to get in the back of the truck. We all kind of stared at each other for a couple seconds, and then all of a sudden we were in the back of her truck. I guess in the couple of seconds we were looking at each other we figured that this lady seemed sane enough, and we were in Hawai'i, so we just went with it.

It was hands down the best thing about Hawai'i. It wasn't anything that we planned or prepared for, but it was an adventure in itself. Sorry parentals, I know you're probably a little freaked out, but look! I'm on the ship on my way to Japan in one piece! :)

After that we just ended up walking around downtown and getting the best shaved ice I've ever had in my entire life. I have a lot of pictures of that shaved ice. It had ice-cream in the middle, I'm pretty sure there were some beans in there somewhere, and cream on top. FAB-U-LOUS. YUM YUM YUM.

Dehana split from us and Emily and I caught the local bus to head to Target. Turns out all the R.D's and the Dean of Students were all on that bus headed to target. Emily and I were looking at a map, making sure that we knew how to get back when I looked up and…get ready for this…saw someone that I went to high school with! Alannah Hunsely! I'm not even kidding right now. I'm in Hilo, aka one of the smallest Hawai'ian cities, and I see someone from small-town Blaine! It was the craziest thing. All the R.D's started to freak out.

We spent a good couple hours at Target and then ended up calling cab to bring all our stuff to the ship. I am now stocked up on granola bars, ginger ale (for rougher seas), and snacks. Although once we get to Japan our entire cabin is going to be full with Japanese snacks. I already told my roommate, and I think we came to an agreement that that was ok.

While we were in Target, I was looking at something (I don't even remember what it was), but I wasn't sure if I would be able to bring it back on to the ship. I was just kind of kidding when I said "Semester at Sea people, where are you?" when all of a sudden I hear Craig (the Dean of Student's voice) say "What do you need?". Now, I wish that I could attach a clip of his voice, but it was legit one of the funniest things that will probably happen on this voyage. Classy.

I don't want to give an entire play by play, but I should also mention that for dinner I had the best coconut shrimp I've ever had in my entire life. I'm thinking that I might start to attach some pictures, but I know that that takes data storage, so maybe I'll just save them all for when I get home. I don't want you guys to know/see everything before I get home!

The second day wasn't as eventful. We tried to find a beach, but that was an epic fail. We ended up at a construction site. So I don't need to say anything more about that. We ended up back downtown and went to the farmers market.

That pretty much sums out Hilo. I guess I should also mention that about 200 SAS students decided that they should party in Hilo. We can all guess how that ended. One of the hotel managers said that they've never seen anything like it in the 30 years they've been in the hotel business. I'm pretty sure some people are going to be kicked out of the program when we get to Japan. Unfortunate, but hopefully people will start to get serious about this voyage.

The last couple of days have consisted of enjoying the sun and saying hi to Desmond Tutu when we walks by me.

No big deal.

I also had my first dinner with my extended family on the ship last night. It was quite the big deal. I signed up for this program at the involvement symposium, where I get grouped with some students and either faculty or lifelong learners, and they become our family while on board. The list of participants came out the other day, and my name wasn't on the list! They said that there were too many people so they just had to randomly select students. I just ended up emailing everybody under the sun until I finally got placed with a family.

My "parents" names are Tom and Linda Cunningham, and there are also about 7 other students who are in my "family". I believe that two of their kids have done SAS in the past, and if I heard correctly, their son is involved in some sort of water treatment thing in Nicaragua.

Today was the first "study day" of the voyage. I did plan on doing some work, but it was a joke because we had to fill out immigration forms for all the countries we're going to. That lasted about 2 hours or more. So our "study day" aka relaxation day wasn't either of those things because professors decided to assign some extra work and the Deans decided that this would be a great time to pile on immigration forms. I know that they need to be done, but whoaaa. For a nano second I wished that we were going to less countries. Just kidding. I would never wish that.

I also went to the worship service that was being held last night. We're going to have them every Sunday at sea. A guy named Wade that I've met is the one running it all, and it seems like it's going to be a great environment. I'm so happy to be building this community on board the ship. I can already tell that I'm going to miss is terribly when I'm gone, but now is not the time to think about that.

Anyway, sorry if this post is a little random, but honestly making it into multiple blog posts just didn't seem like a great idea. I'll try to keep up on my blog, but days at sea are busy and sometimes not interesting enough to blog about. I'll definitely try to do a post after each country though.

Thanks for reading, and if there's anything in particular that anyone wants to know or hear more about, let me know!

P.S. my roommate had lunch with Desmond Tutu and the Captain today. And Desmond Tutu made the staff get them ice-cream. To say I'm jealous is an understatement.

P.S.S. Ronald, Emily, and I (and probably a couple of other people) are going to have a Hunger Games movie night tonight! We can't show it on a projector in a classroom, because that would violate copy right laws, so crowding around computer is going to be fun. We'll see how this goes. Apparently there is a girl who brought her own projector and is sort of running an underground movie viewing thing on the ship. Maybe we'll try to track her down. There's also an underground snack exchange going on on the ship. It's kind of hilarious the stuff that is going down on here.

Be Unreasonable

Last night really sealed the deal. This is by far the coolest thing that will ever, ever happen to me. 

The Unreasonable Institute hosted their first Fireside Chat last night (at 2115, go military time!), which is basically when Daniel Epstein (founder of the Unreasonable Institute) interviews one of the members of the team, which can either be an entrepreneur or mentor. 

First off, I should probably explain The Unreasonable Institute. Daniel Epstein calls himself an impatient optimist, which is basically what Unreasonable is based off of. A bunch of entrepreneurs from all over the world got together in Boulder, Colorado, with the intent on trying to solve the worlds most pressing problems. And now they're all sailing with us! I know there is a guy who is doing something in the water field, so I'm trying to find them. There are also a group of cousins on here who have developed noninvasive technology to help blind people see, someone has invented hearing aids that are solar powered, and there is also someone who is developing a robot that can successfully soak up oil spills. 

It's legit. 

Last night Daniel interviewed Hunter Luvins (sorry for the possible misspelling of the last name, I don't have access to google), who is Times Hero of the Planet. Um, yeah. That just happened. She is one of the mentors for the Unreasonable Institute, and she's fabulous! She grew up with Martin Luther King Jr. and Caesar Chavez sitting around her table. When Caesar Chavez boycotted grapes, so did her family. She talked a lot about how the progress that will be made in this world will come from the unreasonable people. The people who are willing to travel around the world by ship. The people who are willing to think outside of the box, and maybe even face failure a million and one times before they succeed. The people of the arts. The science people. The creative people. The statistic people. The expressionists. The one's who are passionate about something and fighting for it. 

I should also mention that the Prince of Saudi Arabia is one of the Unreasonable mentors. 

I should also mention that this lovely screenshot is from yesterday's Deans memo. 

What's that they say about denying and truth? Archbishop Desmond Tutu is already walking around this ship. I don't know how much more insane this experience could possibly get. 

As if last night wasn't fabulous, this morning I woke up, got dressed, went outside, and realized that I was severely overdressed in my pair of jeans. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and it was warm. And then it sprinkled, the sky was still blue, and then a legit rainbow sprouted out of the water and everybody oohed and awwwed. 

This is just the bare minimum of what has been going on. Hawaii tomorrow! The first day I think a bunch of us are just going to chill and possibly go to a store and get some things that we either forgot, or realized that we will desperately need sometime throughout the 3.5 months. For me, that's more snacks. We haven't even hit the hard part of the voyage where everything is unfamiliar and I'm already eating my Nutella and granola bars. I also broke down and got a smoothie this morning--I was going to at least try not to buy anything from Deck 7 until AFTER Hawaii, but I slept through breakfast this morning and decided that a smoothie was in order. The second day in Hawaii will revolve around more chilling, but a girl named Leana who knows Hilo really well is going to take me to get some local shaved ice (which is supposed to be heaven to the tastebuds) and the farmers market (which is supposed to be heaven in general). I'm excited! Mostly I'm just excited for land. 

Funny side note: today at the end of classes, professors said "See ya next time. Have fun in Hawaii!" 

I could get used to this. 

Pacific Ocean Happenstances

While sailing somewhere in between Ensenada and Hawaii, two important things have happened:

1) I fell over in the bookstore. Literally. One moment I was looking at sweatshirts, the next I was falling on them.

2) I talked to Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Before anyone freaks out, it was nothing major. Emily and I were in the bookstore the same time that Desmond Tutu was, and he was going around the store saying "Hello? Hello?" in his totally cute old man voice. Nobody was in the store, but I found a note on the desk saying that all purchases can be made next door. I tried to explain it to him, but I got a bit tongue tied, so I ended up just holding out the sign for him to read. He ended up just laughing and saying "Thank you" (again in his cute old man voice), and walked out. Emily and I just stared at each other for a couple seconds before bursting out laughing.

It's crazy! We're in the middle of the ocean, we're in a bookstore in the middle of the ocean, and Desmond Tutu was there! He was wearing black knee high socks and black shorts, and I don't know if "cute" is the politically correct word to be using in terms of Desmond Tutu, but that seems to fit the best.

I also met someone who went to PLU for a year before transferring and she said she knew who Aaron Steelquist was! CRAZY! So if anyone else is reading this that is talking to Aaron, let him know that I met somebody else named Kaitlynn (spelling unknown, so I will use my own) that apparently knows him.

In school related news, I have officially had each of my classes once. Water for the World seems like it'll be a great class, but also a lot of work (hello team project and individual paper/presentation in front of 90 people). Globalization and Social Responsibility seems great as well, but also a lot of work. In lieu of the 12 page research paper, we can go on two Semester at Sea field programs (which are service visits that I'm already signed up for), but we still have to do the presentation. I'm not sure if this is a good deal or not. I mean I still have to do the research and the presentation, so I don't know if actually writing out the paper would be that much more work.

Social Psychology seems like it will be the most relaxing class so far, if psychology can ever be relaxing. The professor is going to tailor our class schedule and reading around ports. He didn't exactly come out and say this, but he's basically putting ports first and class second, which I appreciate. He was a student on SAS awhile back, so I think he's approaching this class with both a student perspective and professor perspective. He's part of the Von Hippel clan. Both him and his brother are professors on board, and they each brought their families. Even the grandma is here. So basically half the ship has the last name Von Hippel.

Women Writers Around the Globe seems like it'll be kind of challenging, but great. I really like the professor so far, she seems really approachable and easy going. We have a couple papers, but no prompts, which is going to be difficult. She talked a lot about Jane Austen the first class, so I think I'll enjoy it.

In way more exciting news, Hawaii in two days! I will kiss the land. I may even refuse to get back on the ship. Not really. But it's a nice thought. We've all been on the ship for a couple days now, and everybody is getting really restless. The 10 day stretch in between Hawaii and Japan is going to be a fun one, especially since we're supposed to hit storm after storm after storm. Roller Coasters won't seem so daunting after this. Cage diving with sharks in South Africa may not even seem as scary anymore.

Well, time to do more reading. Emily and I are going to go over our planned trips over lunch and see if we both have a free day where we can sign up for a day trip or service visits or something. A lot of people we've talked to don't have anything planned for Japan, so a lot of people are talking independent travel. Dong independent travel first seems a bit daunting, but it's really the only place I can do it. However, a lot of people don't plan on being back on the ship and are doing overland travel in-between Yokohama and Kobe, and I want to be on the ship. We'll see what happens.

STILL in the middle of the ocean, but not for long!

Top 10

A Countdown of the Top 10 Hardest Things To Do On a Rolling Ship That are Easiest To Do on Land:

10) Sleep

Being "rocked" to sleep doesn't have the same appeal now as it did when I was a kid. Plus, we're rocking the wrong way. Instead of going back and forth, our beds are positioned so the rocking is up and down. It's like being on a surgical table, except we're not knocked out on anesthetics and we're not strapped in.

9) Writing

My handwriting has gotten worse. It looks like chicken scratch. Sometimes a big wave will come around and my handwriting with get big, then normal, then I'll try to compensate for the waves and it ends up looking really small.

8) Walking

Walking is not easy. That is all.

7) Opening Closet doors

Sometimes the waves are against you and it takes way more energy than necessary to open, and sometimes the waves are "with" you which makes the closet door swing open and announce to the world that it is in fact open.

6) Carrying stuff

Not possible when you have to rely on both your hands to brace yourself so you can get to your cabin or class in one piece. It's quite hilarious to see people try to keep their balance. Everybody is walking at an angle, which sounds like a great idea until the angle is no longer working with the way the ship is rocking. That's when crashing into people happens. Lucky guys don't need any pickup lines. They are literally running into girls.

5) Eating 

Today, my plum rolled off the table and the juice from my fruit did not leave any area on my plate untouched. 

4) Eating Nutella

The container MUST be on a hard surface. I have yet to take the Nutella out of my room, and tonight is the first night that I've broken it open. It tastes even better than I remember. I'm thinking about bringing it to breakfast and eating it on some toast, but I don't want to be bombarded. I'd like to make it to at least Hawaii in one piece.

3) "Tossing Cookies"

No matter how well your aim is.

2) Filling up your water bottle

Aside from the fact that the sensor on the water dispenser is demonic, filling up your water bottle when your hand is constantly moving side to side is quite the feat. It should be an olympic sport. I wouldn't be surprised to find that sometimes it'll take me 5 minutes to fill up my water bottle.

And for number 1...

1) Walking DOWN the stairs

I had absolutely no idea that it could be a bigger workout going DOWN the stairs than going UP the stairs. Thank goodness for handrails--that is all.

These may all seem like negative things, but they're quite entertaining if you really think about it. Also, this is happening on the MV Explorer aka the ship that is taking me around the world while I take classes. There's nothing to feel sorry about. Even puking, which I consider to be my biggest fear, doesn't seem as bad here as it does back home. Yesterday I said one and done, but I broke that rule today, so now I'm saying two and done. No more! 

Sending love from the middle of the ocean. 

Pacific Crossing

It's hard to believe that it's only been a little over 24 hours since I've stepped foot onto the MV Explorer. It feels like it's been so much longer and so much shorter at the same time. Every minute has been booked and planned so far. So let's start at the beginning…

I was on the 9:15 bus from San Diego to Ensenada, which turned out to be more of a 10:15 bus by the time we actually got on. It was about a two hour bus ride from SD to Mexico, and I wish I had something interesting to say but it was pretty uneventful, aside from the fact that it was the bus that was taking us to the MV Explorer. I sat next to a girl who is going to be on my Women Writers Around the Globe class, and there were two guys from Washington sitting in front of me who actually knew where Bellingham was! WOOT WOOT!

Once we got off the bus, we had to go through security lines (it was like being at the airport all over again), and then we had to turn in our passports and yellow fever cards. AND THEN WE FINALLY GOT ONTO THE SHIP.

BUT THERE WERE MORE LINES.

Like 2 hours worth of lines. We had to make our way to the Union (which is the biggest room on the ship where we all congregate for meetings and pre ports, which is incidentally the worst part of the ship to be in for sea sickness, but we'll get to that later), and go through different stations such as Student Accounts, Field Programs, and such. To my parents, who I know are wondering, I haven't had to write a check yet. The student accounts station just made me sign a paper saying that I acknowledged that I had an outstanding balance and I would turn it in. So, when I'm supposed to pay, I'm not exactly sure.

After that we were able to go to our rooms, and I was able to meet my roommate! Her name is Gabby and she's from Long Island. She's pretty cool, seems like we'll get a long just fine. Her luggage was waiting for her when she got to our room, but I'm pretty sure mine was the last to be delivered. We had a life boat drill (which was really intense by the way), and we just basically had to stand in life jackets out on the deck while they shouted our the names of the people who were supposed to be in our group. Captain Jeremy (with his super regal accent) announced that in theory, we had all been safely evacuated and all was well. Just imagine the most captainy person who can imagine, then add a British accent on top of that. He's legit. Trust me.

Up until last night, sea sickness didn't really bother me. It was sort of just like being permanently disoriented and dizzy. Everyone is walking around slightly bent to one side, and at times we'll run into each other or make a diagonal beeline for the wall. It's weird, but this already seems normal. Apparently these waves are normal though, and this is what we're supposed to get used to. What's NOT normal is the fact that we're expecting 18 foot waves sometime in the near future. No. Not excited. Definitely not excited about this.

We sat in the Union last night for some orientation stuff, introduction of the faculty, and basically just the whole "get ready for your life to be changed in the greatest way possible" speeches from all the different Deans. There are too many Deans to keep track of. Oh, and we've been instructed to call Archbishop Desmond Tutu Arch. No big deal.

Finally after line upon line upon line, we were able to go back to our cabins. Gabby and I decided that we were way to tired to unpack so we just shoved everything into a corner and went to bed. The bed's are actually surprisingly comfortable, and the pillow that I vacuum sealed has actually come 90% back to life. It wasn't the greatest nights sleep I've every gotten, but it wasn't the worst either.

So like I said, seasickness didn't bother me last night. This morning I got up and was feeling good! I went to breakfast, turned around for a second, and realized that the Arch was literally sitting right behind me. I was eating french toast and Desmond Tutu was eating french toast right behind me. Crazy, crazy, crazy.

After breakfast, they (as in the Deans and such) had every minute packed with more orientation. I think we had more safety and community orientation for three hours, then lunch, then more. However, this morning in the Union, I wasn't feel so swell. The waves were a rolling and so was my stomach. I left the Union, went down to my room, and unfortunately my french toast did not stay in my stomach. I hope Desmond Tutu's did, because french toast coming up definitely does not taste as good as it was going down. Don't worry parentals, I'm feeling much better now, and that will teach me to take the free seasickness meds every morning for awhile. And definitely the night before each time we leave port.

As I'm writing this, I'm realizing that I'm forgetting to mention little things that have happened. I still have journaled, but honestly we have not had a free minute to do anything besides necessary unpacking or orientation since I got on the ship.

Well, Emily and I are headed to the Union to learn more about clubs and groups! Goodbye from the middle of the Pacific Ocean, somewhere in-between Ensenada and Hawaii.