I am a Wanderer at Sea

Turning a Global Semester into a Global Career

Semester at Sea may be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but the effects of the program last forever. SAS began nearly 50 years ago and today there are 55,000 alumni worldwide in every possible career field. Last semester’s Fall 2011 students are already using their experiences towards their future, writing a thesis on environmental studies in Illinois, launching a new social media platform in Maine, and starting a philanthropic t-shirt company in California and Rhode Island. So how to best market your incredible opportunity traveling the world in 2012?

New Ghana Blog

I have created a new blog for my Ghana project! I will post about all of my progress towards my goal! http://iamawandereratsea.wordpress.com/

End of SAS, need to finish my blog

Can’t believe I have been back on solid ground for over 3 months now…. I have so many things to say/update/finish my blog. I never wrote about Costa Rica or Honduras or the end of my voyage, but I would really like to. I have so many thoughts and emotions stemming from SAS that it’s very hard to write about it… I miss my friends, I miss my roommate, I miss my cabin/janitor’s closet room! School is going well, but it is NO semester abroad. My life has been changed so much that I don’t even recognize my life before the trip. I feel different, I look different, and I have much different goals and priorities… 

Costa Rica was a blast. Lets just put a little synopsis on here so I don’t forget. My lovely gang of friends went to a national park and white water rafting, which was one of my greatest experiences! Me, Lauren, Becky, and Franny were the “life raft” boat because we saved like a million people and their paddles. We had a great night on the beach with a bonfire and locals and swimming in the ocean. And then a shark ate my $20 and my debit card… ugh. Made it back late again and never actually served our dock time… poop. 

Honduras was a last hoorah for the entire ship. We all got hotel rooms near each other and spent the night/day just being with each other. Kali and I went SCUBA diving in the rain, I slept in a hammock because my bed was occupied…. and we literally had the best night, one I will remember for a very very long time. 

Now that I’m home, not an hour goes by that I don’t think of SAS or my friends or an impactful moment that is burned in my memory. Maybe I’ll write a post about what I learned, how I changed, and where I see myself in my future, but for now I’m just trying to be successful right here, right now. I miss SAS every day and I hope that I can find something half as fulfilling as those experiences one day in my future. 

I’m thankful for my life

The Pacific Ocean is miserable, I tell you, miserable!!! Geraldine and I have been fighting with the waves crashing onto the hull of the ship and keeping us awake all night. Everyone on the ship has been having trouble sleeping because of the rocking/bouncing as well as the time zone changes which cause terribly strange dreams. We’ve pretty much been going crazy with the sleep deprivation as well as the school work we have to do. We really haven’t done any schoolwork in a month but now face 18 days of almost straight class. Everyone is panicking with papers, reports, essays, etc etc due this week. The environment on the ship has changed drastically. So our one break fell on Thanksgiving Day, which we spent in Hawaii!

We actually arrived in Honolulu on Wednesday to get gas but were able to talk on the phone for a while. I obviously don’t have a phone anymore, but friends took pity on me and let me call my family and friends. Talking to everyone was amazing! It reminded me that real life is waiting for me back home and I won’t be going back to school alone. I also am getting very excited to see my wonderful family!!! The downfall to having cell service was that everyone had their phones out like they do at home. I didn’t pay attention to the kid I tutor, the dining hall turned into a rude gathering of everyone texting and answering calls. It was awful! I had completely forgotten about the terrible aspects of having technology readily available. I’m definitely looking forward to being able to contact friends and family when I want to, but I am not looking forward to being attached to my phone like the American I am. I know my habits and Western ideas have changed, but I’m sure Facebook will soon be up on my browser again and I’ll be texting away. I just hope that I don’t forget how beneficial it’s been to have a lack of technology on this ship.

On Thanksgiving Day, my group of people decided it was important to go to Walmart since we haven’t seen one in months and it was amazing! Except for the buying lots of unhealthy snacks- we are all getting fat on this darn ship… So I’ve got a months worth of unhealthy snacks to last me 3 weeks plus I want to work out and get back in shape. Wish me luck on this uphill endeavor. I also purchased my first alcohol in the USA in Hawaii, which was so fun! We have pictures… we were well behaved- Mom- no worries…

Anyways, after our Walmart run, we got picked up by Sue!!! Sue is Lauren’s mother and brought Grandma Patty with her! We actually had a family for Thanksgiving, which I was very grateful for. Sue took us to a dinner for lunch and we laughed and played around for hours! I ate fried shrimp and salad for “dinner”- it was nice not to be forced into ship food for the day. AND Sue brought us wonderful sugar cookies from home! Yum!

The group of us then headed to a beach for the rest of the day. We found tons of HUGE sea turtles and watched them swim around as we waded through ponds- the volcanic rock and smaller ponds were beautiful next to the ocean! I didn’t get to see much of Hawaii, but enjoyed the glimpse that I did get! I would really enjoy another visit to see the Volcanoes and Scuba Dive the reefs! I would love to see Whales and I would love to surf after I learn to surf!!

Overall, I was so thankful to be able to talk to my family multiple times throughout the day. It was also wonderful to hear from my friends. Emails from everyone have been wonderful, but hearing everyone’s voice was just amazing!! 

PS, Happy 16th Birthday, little sister!!! Don’t crash THE car!!!! <3

I didn’t know Mickey spoke Japanese?!

I feel my blogs have gotten shorter and less interesting, so I’ll try to make this one medium length and very interesting. I might spell things wrong or something because I have had motion sickness patches on for a few days and it made my vision blurry!!! Strange, but whatever… the seas have been REDICULOUSLY rocky. Like Ger and I couldn’t sleep in our room with all of the crashing, so we went to friends rooms to sleep. I feel like I’m levitating or going over humps on a rollercoaster at all times. The waves were over 20ft… ridiculous!!! But now we are on our way to Hawaii for Thanksgiving and I can’t wait to be able to use phones (not mine, of course because some mean Mauritian is using it…) and call my family and friends!!! The trek across the Pacific has been much needed so far, but has come with tons of work. I have work piled up to my ears! So many papers and observations and assignments, I can’t even count the things to be done. But now on to Japan, which was GREAT overall! My only complaint is the cost of everything in Japan. Food, entertainment, transportation, clothing, etc was all really really expensive! Let me tell you of my Japanese adventures.

            Coming from China, Japan was a Paradise Island. We were overjoyed to see the friendly, helpful faces of the Japanese. On our first day, a group of us went to the train station to get tickets to assure that we got to Yokohama before the ship left us. It was a great success but required much navigation and talent to use the monorail, subway, and train system in tandem. After buying overnight bus tickets, the group of us went to explore a sake distillery in a suburb of Kobe. We had some exciting times trying to actually find the distillery and walked through some nice neighborhoods with vending machines everywhere! The vending machines sell everything from water to beer to hotdogs and chicken nuggets. I even saw one that was selling proactive! The tour of the distillery was very cool and they had a video in English! We got to taste some sake, but I really don’t like it ever, so it was not a pleasant experience. On our way back to the ship, though, we found a GEM on the side of the road. A fast-food PORK BUNS place!! It was to die for. Then Ger dipped her bun into her tea, which was funny. She thought it was sauce. We were in heaven eating our sticky, delicious, steamed buns. And since it’s rude in Japan to walk and eat (or walk and do anything else but walk…) we stood next to the window of the place and chowed down. And then we went back the next day for more. I’m going to be hitting up some Asian Markets back home- glad I know where one is in Miami! And I know where Dim Sum is, so cool!!! Beware friends, I will make you eat strange things with me forever!!! We were very sad not to find much sushi or Kobe beef around, but our quest never stopped!!! We found what we were craving eventually.

            That night, lots of people were going out in Osaka, and we were all going to join after a nap and food and shower, but Ger and I passed out and decided against any kind of partying. Our immune system couldn’t handle any more sleepless nights! And then we found out that the rest of our group had also come to the same conclusion- so we went to a movie. Which was a fantastic idea!! We found “Immortal” in English AND 3D!!!! Coolest movie ever! Mix of 300 + Matrix + Hercules in one fun-filled film. Becky finally got some popcorn (thank God). Then we peacefully went to sleep excited for the day to come!

            Aquarium day!!! The 6 of us packed our bags and said goodbye to the MV. We successfully got to the correct train station and the correct line. We almost got on a train then stepped back to make sure it was the right one. It was, then we got on the wrong one instead! Sounds perfect. So we go in the right direction and then we veer off of the expected path. Keep in mind as we jump from train to train, John is sleeping on everything and anyone at all times. We have pictures as proof. Finally, after backtracking and returning on the correct train, we arrived at Osaka station. Excitedly, we made sure we knew where to catch the bus later that night (how responsible of us) and stopped by the tourist center to buy tickets to the Aquarium. After taking more subways without making any more mistakes, the group of us arrived to the aquarium and Ferris wheel location! We still hadn’t found much sushi and I was desperately craving some!! So we ate Japanese fast food, which is like American fast food smooshed together with Japanese foods (minus the SUSHI!) And after some much needed sitting time, we went to the really cool aquarium!! There was a HUGE whale shark in the big tank in the center of the building. The tanks spanned multiple floors, so it was cool to see animals above the surface, at the surface, and under the surface! In the large tank were some huge manta rays, sharks, turtles, and other fun fish (like one that looked like a wrasse?). There were dolphins, sea lions, penguins, a finless dolphin, big crabs, jellyfish (that Becky are convinced are taking over the world…), and some other really cool things!!! The setup of the large, tall tanks was very interesting and allowed for more room for each animal! Then we got Becky a shark filled with popcorn as a surprise. She almost had a happiness seizure when we gave it to her. The day went much more smoothly than we expected and we didn’t spend as much time each place as we had allotted for, so we made a few pit stops (but were still way early for the bus). At the mall next door, there was a popcorn store and I got caramel popcorn!!!! It was delicious!

            And as much as Kali was terrified of the Ferris wheel, we forced her to get into the rocking, clear cart and ride around in a huge circle. We could see the river below and the entire city, which was pretty neat. The cart had maps on the windows to show which buildings were which. We had lots of fun rocking the cart and singing and taking pictures! So after, we couldn’t think of anything else to do… so we went to the bus station and spent forever and a day at the station that was larger than a school campus. I finally got some sushi because I went and ventured on my own and found an abundance of tuna and ate lots and lots of it… We also got Krispy Kreme. And then I went to a coffee shop and wrote in my journal for the first time in ages!!! We also went to a grocery before getting on the bus and got juice boxes that were more than just juice, gross… sake juice boxes? And some nasty chips. So the overnight bus was… interesting… who knew we bought a sauna and a bus for the price of one? It was long and hot and the Japanese businessman in front of us smacked his lips all night. Ger and I were in the same seat, but the center armrest wouldn’t go down, so we couldn’t even snuggle!!! I ended up on the floor for the majority of the night- until we stopped for a pee break and the driver gave the “X-arms”, which mean “no”, we found… it’s a nationally known hand signal, making an X with your arms means NO, really!!!  So I slept better than most because I was on the floor- as long as I am horizontal, I can sleep anywhere!!!

            In the morning, the bus must have known what we needed; they dropped us at a Starbucks in the center of Tokyo. Starbucks was NECISSARY for the day and the leftover Krispy Kremes were also necessary. We got dressed in the bathroom and had a nice hobo shower while John waited for us. We were tossing products back and forth in the bathroom for a good 20 minutes. The subway station was in the SAME convenient building, so we began our trek to Disney SEA!!! The language barrier no longer phases any of us, and we communicated our destination just fine. The hard part was using the subway when the maps were all in Japanese characters. But we managed and are very proud of it.

            The monorail had a really cute Japanese child that I liked to wave at. Children like me, why is that?? But they are cute, especially this little one! Anyways, the line to get tickets was really long (it was Disney… obviously). And then my debit card stopped working, which was a pain, but John helped me out!! The entrance had a HUGE globe that was spinning! It was really cool to see all of the places that we’ve been on the globe! So let me tell you about Disney Sea: it’s the only one in the world! All of the rides end with us dying (or at least it appears like we died, but we couldn’t understand anything). The lines were also really really long everywhere… so we decided to beat the system. And went in the “single rider” line, which was 100x faster!!! We were also the only non-Asians in the entire park. The Asians like to buy big ears and tails and bears (that are only in Asia) and other strange souvenirs. The little girls dress up like princesses, too! They also had these necklaces for popcorn shaped like Christmas stockings. And the carts that sold the flavored popcorn?? They had lines that were longer than the lines to rides!! Asian people move in packs and go directly towards the food carts. And then for lunch we ate tacos!!!  

            After lunch, we strategically planned to attend a cirque du soleil ish show and John and Kali decided to RUN across the park knocking over cute little Asian kids left and right. And then they cut the line off to wait for the rest of us to catch up. The show was really cool and jungly!!! The acrobats were awesome, I want that to be my job!! They twirled around the sky, etc… We also saw Fantasmic which had a strange mix of Japanese and American music and talking. I didn’t know Mickey spoke Japanese, really!!! And the songs had the same music with strange words and water spraying everywhere!!! And then after we were exhausted from not sleeping well and running around Disney all day, we found an express bus back to Yokohama where the ship arrived in the morning!! We got to the train station close to the port and ordered some delicious Chinese food in Japan. Better Chinese food than in China from a girl who spoke zero English- a new skill of mine, and had a great evening. Jackie, Ger, and I shared a tiny bed in a terrible hotel room but were so thankful to have somewhere to sleep!! We had some much-needed girl talk for a while then went to sleep!

            Jackie and I took the next day as date day. It was one of my favorite complete days on the voyage with one of my favorite people. We got some tourist advice from some other SASers and hopped onto the Japanese language only subway to Kamakura. We adventured to the electric streetcar and took that to a cute little village where Jackie and I decided to “wander” to the tourist sights. We also tried to use some Japanese ATMs because my debit card still hadn’t given me any cash. So we “wandered” to a temple. Then another temple, which were both very cool and beautiful! Then we found what we were looking for!! BIG BUDDHA BIG BUDDHA BIG BUDDHA, Oh yeah BIG BUDDHA!!! Buddha Buddha Buddha Buddha rockin everywhere… We found him in a monastery, which was very cool. There was a type of hand-washing pool. AND you could go inside of Big Buddha!!!!!!! It was so cool! We walked around some really cool shops and got Chestnut ice cream in a cone and talked to a man from Morocco!

We then headed to the Harijuku district, which is a fashion center with strange, Asian fashions. Lady Gaga has a Harijuku line. We found the really cool alleyway with awesome shops and then passed by this corner vendor that smelled DELICIOUS. We turned around to look at the “Kabob Box” and the Turkish man called us over and asked us why there were no stars in the sky and then told us that it was because they were all in our eyes!!! How wonderful is he?? And even though we were planning on saving all of our room for dinner, we decided to get a Kabob Box SPECIAL with mixed sauce. It was literally the best thing I think I’ve ever eaten. It was a type of Gyro with chicken off a slow roasted kabob with lettuce and tomatoes and hot sauce and garlic mayo sauce and heaven in a napkin. DELICIOUS!!!! We were literally in heaven. So then we were revamped to head into Forever 21 and H&M… enough said. I really enjoyed that.

We then went to Shayboyah (I’m spelling all of these cities wrong… sorry Japan), which is considered the “party district”, but we didn’t do much partying! We walked and took in the ambiance of the city. It was similar to a New York feel. The crosswalks were out of this world!! ALL of the traffic would stop and then the people would rush across. There were crosswalks that went diagonal across the road!! Very strange. And LOTS of businessmen!!! Jackie and I then searched high and low for a wonderful restaurant to eat at. We wanted a classy, elegant dinner with sushi, Kobe beef and wine. We wanted traditional Japanese with an English menu and ended on the 25^th floor of a hotel with a bottle of wine and set menus with 15 courses. It was the PERFECT meal! We tried everything on our plates and enjoyed the Kobe beef and sushi and other strange Japanese foods! Oh it was wonderful!! We looked out over the square that looked like Times Square. We could see Tokyo and the rest of the city. We saw the crosswalks and billboards. It was literally the best date I’ve ever been on!!! I will remember our date forever!!!

We took the “space ship” (subway) back to the port happy as can be and slept well until our FDP in the morning. The FDP was to a market, which I was excited about, but we got up at 5am to see boxes of veggies and some fish from afar. The trip was worthless. But we got back at 9am and I had time to go on my home visit. 5 SAS kids got to go with a Japanese man to enjoy a day at his house. It was pretty neat! We learned how to perform a traditional tea ceremony, which involves bowing and turning of bowls. Very neat!!! We ate lunch and got to watch traditional Japanese dancing, so beautiful! The women were wonderful and so talented! We then visited an old house or something? Not really positive, but it was really cool and really strange. They gave us strange/beautiful Japanese fighting dolls- my friends named mine Shabooya and think she has special powers. I’ve got to agree, she is mighty special! No idea I’m going to get ANYTHING off this ship. So many things!!!!!

So that was my Japan experience, but I’ve got a few more notes from Japanese traveling. In Japan and almost every other port, we were able to talk about anything we wanted in public places and cabs and not one person could understand us! Very convenient. But then again, even if the Japanese don’t understand us, they try to help! We were told to play a fun game called “open your map and see when a nice Japanese man will stop and help in English”. It’s a great game. Usually you don’t even get to 5 before someone stops to help.

It’s also rude to walk and eat, walk and talk on the phone, talk on the subway, etc… The Japanese are also really into Ferris wheels. They build lots of them!!! Oh, and my favorite phrase: same same but different, will be brought back to my regular life. Foreign people use the phrase all of the time, it’s so funny!!! Oh! The women have splendid fashion. They all wear boots or high heels (or both). They wear tons of tights with shorts. They also touchup their makeup in the bathrooms constantly. Oh the bathrooms are the BEST!!! We have been using the worst bathrooms in the world for months, but Japan has been a futuristic visit. The bathrooms have seat warmers, bidets, toilet paper (!!!), music in each stall, fake flushing sounds to allow secretive pooping, and little boy urinals in the ladies room!!! The bathrooms were awesome and sanitary and reminded me that real life will require things like toilet paper and soap. Overall, Japan was fun and cool but very expensive. I would love to go back but probably won’t until I’m very rich!!!! Kidding. Hawaii blog coming soon!

Everypeople should go there!

            I need to catch up on my blogging! I’m going to marathon blog. Or sleep, one or the other… I just got back from Hong Kong, Guilin, and Shanghai. It was a very up and down country. All in all, I really loved the people that I traveled with. I loved the trip that we decided to take, and I love the style of travel that we chose. I am really glad that I got a chance to visit China and I got a chance to see multiple types of cultures around China. Having said that, China has been my least favorite port thus far. I found many of the Chinese people to be rude and inconsiderate. I haven’t felt unsafe or ripped off until China. I am glad I didn’t visit the wall, but I also don’t see myself returning to China anytime soon. Let me tell you about our adventure.

            The first day in port was a free day in Hong Kong. Becky, Carly, Francesca, and I had no idea what we were doing in China OR how were going to get to Shangahi. Our plan was to take backpacks and wing it, which turned out great! We went to the train station in the morning and got sleeper train (hard sleeper) tickets to Guilin and then to Shanghai. Funny story about Guilin. This summer as I was planning my trips for each country, I asked YoYo (a Hecht security assistant) about China and where I should go. I asked her if she knew where a city spelled G-U-I-L-I-N was? She thought about it and looked confused. I gave her a pen and paper and she wrote it down. After a second of looking at it, her eyes lit up and she said, “Oh, dats my hometown!” I smiled and asked if it was a cool place to visit and she responded, “Yeah, everypeople should go there!” So ever since then, I thought Guilin was a great idea. Becky and Carly were skeptical, but the train tickets were cheap and so we decided to try it out!

            After the train station, we met the rest of the crew at a Dim Sum restaurant for lunch. We ate tons and tons of Chinese food. I’m kind of excited to get to the Miami Dim Sum place that I know of (next to the salon supply place). Pork buns were the freakin best!! After, Jackie, Ger, Fran, and I went to Hong Kong to explore. We walked around the pier for a while (we had to take a ferry to the city) and we could see the MV from the other side, which was pretty cool. After a while of wandering, we found John and company and followed them onto a bus to go to a tram to a mountain top. This was the biggest tourist thing I’ve done in a country. The tram to the top felt like a Disney World ride and the top was a complete mall with restaurants and markets. The view from the top of the mall was absolutely spectacular, though. We could see every building and also the ship. When we leaned over the side, the wind rushed up the sides of the wall, which was pretty cool. We spent a long time watching the city and hanging out. We also got candy from a choose-your-own-candy store and then got coffee by a big window overlooking Hong Kong. The experience was pretty neat, even though I really hate tourist traps.

            Lots of people took the day to go to Macau (where Mo went for Spring Break last year), but I couldn’t see myself gambling or jumping off a building (highest bungee in the world). We were told that the men in Macau take gambling very seriously and were no fun. Maybe Vegas will be in my future?? But probably not. I’d rather visit my friends all over the USA- Miami friends and SAS friends. So many cool places to go!!! My list only grows.

            We headed back to the ship and readied ourselves for Lilly’s birthday dinner which ended up being at the most expensive Japanese restaurant I’ve ever seen. We all got dumplings and then McDonalds before we went out to celebrate Lilly’s birthday!!! Nightlife in Hong Kong was really fun. I love going out and seeing the rest of the ship out together, it’s so fun!! It always amazes me when we don’t loose anyone from the group. We always end up staying together and taxi-ing home together. I’m really enjoying my friends.

            The next morning was spent at Starbucks talking to Mom and then hanging out in the mall common areas watching videos on facebook. I miss my Hecht family!!!! They are AMAZING and did an amazing job with Homecoming and Ocheer. I was so excited to watch their videos that I teared up in the middle of the Hong Kong mall watching silly songs and dances. I watched ADPi’s Ocheer and Hecht’s Alma Mater. It was really fun to see. And then Hecht won homecoming yet again!! Then I skyped with Rod and Julian!!! It was an amazing morning. Carly and I sat on the top deck and watched Hong Kong while we ate lunch. After, we raced to the train station to catch the metro to our train.

            The toilets in the train station of Hong Kong were the best holes I’ve ever seen. The bathrooms were clean and had toilet paper, the holes flushed, and the clean sinks had soap to wash your hands after. Hong Kong knows where it’s at. So after we peed, we didn’t have any issues finding the right train to Shenzen, going through customs, exchanging money, or finding the next train station. We met a Moroccan, which was cool, and saw a few other SASers trying to find their way as well. We found our train with no issues and climbed to the top (3^rd) bunk of our sleeper train. Next to us was a hot Swedish couple backpacking through Russia, China, and Vietnam, which was awesome. We asked them about their travels and told them about the Hanoi Backpacker’s Hostel to stay at. Communication in China was very frustrating (Hong Kong is NOT China… contrary to popular belief?)

It was nice to have the Swedish couple there to explain things to us that we didn’t know. Like the ticket exchange process. And where to find noodles and hot water. I expected communication in China to be very difficult, but it was terribly hard! Not only was the language barrier difficult, but the Chinese used the language barrier to their advantage in not helping foreigners or taking advantage of us. There were multiple times that mistakes were made against us, but we couldn’t argue because of the language barrier. I have not found this to be true in any other place.

            So we took the train overnight to Guilin, which is where the first real irritation started with the Chinese people. They yell when they talk. The Chinese do not have an inside voice. They yell all hours of the night, no matter where they are, for whatever reason they want. They spit frequently in a disgusting manner. They cut in line if they want to go in front of you. They speak English until they are bored with helping you and then they move on. And they stare! At all foreigners. They take pictures of us and with us without our permission. If I caught one more Asian person taking a secret picture of me with their phone, I was going to have a mental breakdown and get arrested in the middle of China. Overall, I found the Chinese people to be very rude and self-centered, which is frustrating. I have not left any other country with a negative view (I love the Vietnamese!!). And it sucks because I did meet a select few wonderful Chinese people like CC, Effie, Eddie, Lilly, and one of our tour guides. Ok. I’ll rant more in a bit.

            We got off the train in the morning (after listening to terrible Chinese music loudly all night except for the one Christmas song in English). We got off the train with no plans and were stopped by a tour guide lady (the nice one) who helped us find things to do. We brought our things to a hotel (all of the hostels were apparently booked… right) and then went on a bus to the Li river to take bamboo boats down the river. The river looked a lot like Ha Long Bay, it was gorgeous!! The mountains were very rounded and tall and made of limestone. We saw water buffalo on the side of the river as well as children playing and adults collecting things near the water’s edge. The ride down the river took about two hours, and it was the most peaceful experience of SAS so far. It was just Becky, Carly, Franny, and I on the tiny raft enjoying the scenery. Our bamboo boat driver kept yelling at other boats in Chinese. And every other boat that passed took creepy pictures of us, but it was fine. We also passed some huge boats, but I’m so glad we took the little ones! We also took leechee fruit on the boats and went to town peeling and eating the yummy spiky fruit.

            In the middle of the ride, the drivers pulled over to the side of the river and let us walk around a tourist-trap area with vendors and a small market. I got a pancake thing made of unknown ingredients. There were also some strange fried creatures on the plate, but we didn’t get any of those. We kept going down the river and arrived in Yangzhou (I think is how it’s spelled) for the afternoon. The four of us ventured down the street markets and bought some bags and bracelets and bargained so hardcore for other things. We ate at a delicious Chinese restaurant that had dog on the menu. I got traditional duck and then ate some of Becky’s fries. We continued the exploration and then took a $2.50 bus back to Guilin for the night.

            At that point, we got tiny bits of lost and Chinese people tried to rip us off in trying to buy fruit and other goods, but we have gotten so used to it that we rarely get ripped off anymore. We caught so many scams waiting to happen, but would have previously fallen for. I hate that they are so sneaky and try to steal from foreigners!! Ugh. Anyways, we wandered around until we found our hotel (we actually knew pretty well where we were) and then hung out in the hotel for a while. The computers were free but wouldn’t let us on any useful sites like facebook or youtube. I did download skype and they fix the speakers so I could call Mommy, but then we took our key out of the electricity thing and then locked ourselves out, so skype got deleted. Boo. I am also working on overcoming my fear of public/hotel showers. It grosses me out, but I showered.

            We all went to sleep and woke up with plenty enough time to all shower, get breakfast, and pack. The other girls tried to convince me not to go on the second day of tours, but I convinced them to get their lazy butts up and dress themselves. After a little while, the phone rang and the tour guide told us we were late. Apparently, the iphone changed the clock because of daylight savings at home, but China doesn’t do daylight savings. So we gained a fake hour and were late to our tour.

            We got in the bus a bit scattered, but relaxed and passed out again as we drove to the first village that we were visiting. The village is called Longji Huangluo Yao Village (I think), the Long Hair Village. The women here have hair that can reach 5 or 6 feet! We walked over a wobbly bridge and walked around the small village for a little while. Afterwards, we sat in a wooden theater and watched the women’s performance. They sang and acted out their lifestyles on stage. At the end, they all took their hair down from the top of their heads and showed us how they long it was and how to put it up. We were given weird rice soup and a gooey nasty gummy thing. I want to know their secret to long hair! I assume the first step is to not cut it off, but what’s the next step?! Oh well, mine’ll grow back just fine.

            We then ate a questionable lunch in the village with my three friends and two girls from Beijing that were on our tour. The girls names were CC and Effie and they spent the next few hours teaching us Chinese words! It was really fun learning simple things and how to properly say them. We drove to the village of rice terraces and climbed so many stairs to the top. We went to the top of a hill/mountain (what’s the difference?) to look at the terraces. It was another beautiful sight of China. Most of the signs in China were terribly translated and terribly spelled. They spelled words wrong like “everybody”, “vary” (for very), “pleads”, and a ton of other grammatical errors. Not that I could write Chinese characters correctly (but I can write “entrance”, “exit”, and “women’s bathroom” in Chinese characters. Cool, right?? I can also say Dog, Cat, Chicken, Too expensive- what’s the real price, hello, and count with words and hand symbols. So that’s pretty neat.

            We went to the top with our Chinese friends and CC and Fran dressed up in Chinese outfits and took pictures. That was pretty funny. We also got ice cream and I bought stamps for the postcards that I didn’t send in Vietnam and China postcards, but didn’t ever send them. That blows. The group of us headed down the mountain (out of breath) and saw fried bats and rats for sale. It was a really cool place overall!!

            We got dropped off at the train station and had CC write a note saying “Please allow us to change from hard sleeper to soft sleeper. We don’t speak Chinese. Thanks,” in Chinese characters. We brought it to the ticket stand and got to upgrade to a private room for the 20 hour train ride!!!! It was the best decision ever. We stocked up on toilet paper, food, snacks, cards, and fruit and hopped onto the train. The four of us had the best time on the train. We hung out and talked as well as played tons of cards and took funny “shaky face” pictures. Great game. We then tried to get some food and got yelled at in Chinese because we wanted rice. Didn’t make any sense. This is after the Chinese people yelled loudly by our door from 6am to 7am. I can’t handle the yelling. The train arrived at 3pm and we had to read the Chinese symbols to find the taxis.

            After the other 3 girls nearly peed in the cab, we finally found the beautiful ship and praised the lord. Then we found out it was taco night on the ship!!!! Such a great thing… then we went out for sushi. Then we went to a sportsbar that had American Football playing and I got to see Peyton Manning!! Then we went to a cool bar that we could see the river and our ship from the top. We showed some foreign men our ship from afar. And then we went to McDonalds again! I love ketchup.

            The next day was shopping day!!!!! We had a cab driver rip us off, which was just disgusting. He messed with the meter to have it say we’d gone 30km after only 3 km. It was really irritating and horrid. The man pretended not to speak English after speaking English for 3km. The next cab drivers took us the correct way, which was opposite of what the other cab driver was doing. All of us got there safely and we shopped til we freakin dropped!! I can’t even tell you how much fun we had at the market. And then Ger, Fran, Becky, and I took a cab to a grocery store. This was our first mistake. The cab driver didn’t speak a word of English and took us an hour out of the way to a far grocery store. We should have just gone back, but we gave ourselves an hour to get back to the ship. After grabbing some chips and salsa (yay!) and chocolate and candy, we grabbed another cab to take us back. The driver couldn’t read our sheet and didn’t understand us. We had to call the ship and have them speak to the driver in Chinese to tell them where to take us. It took us an entire hour to go 2.4km. It was very frustrating and we ended up being 12 minutes late, which is 2 hours of dock time. Ehh, guess I couldn’t leave SAS without some dock time? Frustrating, but whatever. I’m back. Heading to Japan. Other people had similar experiences, some had worse, some had better. A few friends got in terrible trouble at the Great Wall. All in all, I hope to never go back, but I’m also glad for the experience. On to Japan and sushi and Kobe beef.

Back in ‘Nam

I haven’t yet missed a sunrise coming into port. Vietnam was no exception, and my previous post tells about the river and the cargo ships we passed. Upon arrival to Vietnam, we were allowed to disembark earlier than usual. My field trip didn’t start until 1:30 pm, so I got off the ship with Geraldine to explore Ho Chi Mihn City. We had shuttles to take us to the city center, and when we got there, Ger and I were so turned around we couldn’t find any place on our map! We wandered for a bit and then found a coffee shop with internet for Ger to call her mom. I was determined to find a backpacker’s pack, so I grabbed a man with a trishaw and asked him to take me to a market that we were told about. It wasn’t there. The sight of me on a trishaw, alone and moderately lost, in Vietnamese traffic, was pretty darn funny. I found a mall, which is almost like an American Embassy. Walking into a mall feels like a safe place away from pushy taxi drivers and shop owners, away from the heat and humidity of foreign countries, and away from the infamous Asian traffic of HCMC. The feeling of walking into that mall surprised me, but it felt fantastic to be in such a familiar place. I found very quickly, though, that not one person spoke a word of English and could not help me find my way. I also didn’t see the pizza hut, but apparently, it was there. So close.

I left the safe haven of makeup counters and clothes racks and returned back to the sweltering heat of the city. I wandered around a bit more, convinced that the market is near. It wasn’t. I found a group of SAS kids and an English-speaking tour guide who told me where I should go for cheap goods. I tried to hail a cab, but a scooter guy stopped instead. It was scary at first to hop onto an electric scooter with a guy who I didn’t know, but he brought me to the square I wanted to go to! Safe and sound, I headed to the ATM to take out money to buy knock-off items from the market. I know the exchange rate of USD to dong is about $1 to 20,000 Dong. How am I supposed to do that math?!?! I just punched a number on the ATM and got some “monopoly money”, that’s what I call it (I think I’ve explained that concept before…). So I entered the market with my wad of seemingly useless cash. I had millions of dollars in dongs. I eventually figured out how to use them (after being ripped off multiple times). Although, after traveling for so long, it’s much harder to rip me off than it was at the start. I’m so good at haggling at this point, it’s so fun!!! The market was very local and sold mostly clothes and had exclusively Vietnamese people shopping, except for me. I ironically found a shirt from India that I was sad I didn’t get in India, which is funny. I also bought a knockoff watch that I loved and then got stolen in Ha Long Bay. What a pain. My goal was to find bags and was told a place to find them… a few miles away. So I began walking again.

This time, I walked the entire way without getting majorly lost. The hardest part of the directions was the street names and street signs. The names were obviously all in Vietnamese, but were so similar, it was hard to tell which street was which. The signs are also confusing to follow. So I took a long route, but found a street of window shopping that was fun to see. I passed our shuttle stop and headed to the market. The street finally appeared and I found the bag shop that I was so desperately looking for. My success continued and I found what I needed plus some. The market was also interesting, and I found some time to look around. Then, I was late and got ripped off by a taxi guy to get back to the ship.

In a rush, I finally made it to the bus for my FDP. For my Women’s Reproductive Health class, we took a trip to a house for girls who had been sexually abused either by family or through sex trafficking. I was very excited about the trip, but half of it had been cancelled. We visited the shelter, but the contacts didn’t speak much English. The language barrier was very frustrating in Vietnam, more than any other country I’ve visited. I’m expecting China to be even more difficult to communicate. So, the shelter was very interesting to see and learn about, but I didn’t get as much out of the experience that I was hoping for. The mistreatment of young girls is very frustrating to me, and I hope to learn more about it eventually.

Dinner plans were not until later, so I had a while to explore HCMC a bit more. I decided to dip into a salon and get a mani-pedi for so cheap!!!!!! It was awesome. The spa was on the main road, but went through a strange hallway and up three flights of stairs to get to the spa. It was a bit nervous looking, but then other SAS kids were inside, so it was fine. I then rushed back to the ship, as usual, but everyone else was running late again and we headed out to dinner. Where did we end up?!? PHATTY’S SPORTS BAR!! Owned by a real live American from New York. They had sports on and American music and an atmosphere that I haven’t seen since Miami. Charlie (the owner) was so happy to see us and brought us a jug of margarita, what a great guy! And then I got fried shrimp with a sweet and sour chili sauce. It was bomb. So darn good. We hung out there for a long while and then Charlie’s brother walked us to the center of nightlife where some funny evening time stories occurred. I really just love the friends I’ve made. Again, as usual, we got back to the ship safe and sound and slept so hard until internet time in the morning.

Getting internet is the most stressful thing on this voyage. Every time I end up getting wifi, I freak out and don’t know what I should do to be productive!! I always call my mommy first off, which takes an hour or so (gotta catch up on a week or two of phone calls!!). And then I check facebook and gmail, but then what?!?! I usually forget to check my bank account and UM stuff, I never remember to call anyone else but mommy, and it is annoying. Plus the internet cuts out on the reg even in cafes. I remembered this time to upload facebook photos and look at classes, but not do research for China! What am I to do in China?!? Going backpacking, J . Anyways, I wasted my time on the internet as usual and I don’t know what I’ll do when I have real internet again. Real life really freaks me out, I’m not ready to return!!!!!!

So after fail internet time, I rushed back to the ship, shoved some clothes into a backpack, and ran out to the bus with no lunch, again. This field trip was a service visit to a deaf school and a handicap children’s home. At first, we stopped at the school and learned a little bit about their funding, programming, and students. We then got to play and learn with the children for a long time, it was awesome!!! We got to teach them some ASL and learn some Vietnamese sign language. One of the other people on the trip with me had a translator card which had tons of pictures on it. We would point to the pictures and then see what the sign was. We would then be able to talk to them! We also got to color and write on paper. The children all had hearing aids, but still couldn’t hear effectively. It’s funny to me that this interaction was somewhat easier than an interaction with a language barrier. The students were willing to interact and talk to us even if verbal communication was impossible. The body language, facial expressions, and hand motions made it possible to interact completely! It was amazing to see. We also taught them the hokey pokey and the Macarena. The kids were great, it just reminded me that I’ll eventually be fluent in ASL. I will!!!

The bus then took us to the other side of the city to a home for disabled children. There were over 350 children living in this home, and they all have varying disabilities. I found out later that some or most of the disabilities probably stem from the Agent Orange used in the war. My biggest regret from Vietnam is not visiting the Chu Chi tunnels or the war museum. I learned a bit about it, but didn’t have time to stop by the museums to learn firsthand about it. But the children have been affected with birth defects from the chemicals. I was not prepared for the disabled children at all. When we entered the first room, I felt very uncomfortable and out of place. The room housed about 20 teenagers in metal crib/beds lined up on the walls. The teenagers in the room were all nonverbal and immobile. They were being handfed and having their diapers changed. The 20 of us on the FDP didn’t know how to handle the situation. We slowly walked around the room and tried to find words to say or think of things to do to make the children or ourselves feel better. After a couple of minutes that felt like eternity, we moved onto a room of dozens of 3-7 year old children with similar disabilities. They were all in a non-air conditioned room in the metal cribs lined up throughout the room. We again had the same reaction, but soon one of the other group members rubbed the arm of a child, and his face lit up. That one person broke the barrier to the children, and we all began touching the arms and feet of the children and talking to them. It was an amazing and terribly awful experience. The children do not have any type of regular interaction; they don’t have caretakers who spend time with them. There was one child who blew kisses at me for probably 10 minutes. And another sweet girl who looked like she couldn’t understand anything or communicate in any way really caught my attention. I talked to her for a few minutes and then decided to tickle her just a little and she laughed so very hard, it was amazing. We played tickle games for almost an hour, and it made me feel like I really made a difference in this one child’s life for even just a short time. I really loved both experiences with the children.

I left directly from the FDP to head to the airport for my flight to Hanoi. The cab drivers, of course, don’t speak English, so it was a bit curious trying to find the airport alone. But I did find it and found out that our flight was an hour later than I thought. So we had lots of time to eat airport food and play cards in the terminal. Vietnamese people like to cut. They don’t understand lines or waiting or personal space. Ugh. I got cut like 3 times in the airport lines!!! So in the terminal, I had my first bowl of pho and some spring rolls. Delicious. So we got on the plane and then off the plane and then got in a taxi then went to Hanoi backpacking hostel!

The hostel that the taxi dropped us off at was the “old hostel”. Apparently, there was a newer one. So we hung out in the old backpackers district for a while, got some pizza, talked to some other backpackers, and then trekked across town by foot to the new hostel. The streets were buzzin even way late. The walk was really cool and we got to see a ton of Vietnamese people hanging out playing cards and making food on the sidewalks. I was in charge of the map- whose idea was that?!?! But I got us there just fine after we ran into a few other SAS groups out and about. The hostel was finally in sight, and it was a beautiful thing!! The doors were open and Western people were hanging out inside and around the lobby. The hostel provided 8 computers with internet, a travel desk, a bar/café, and lots of fun activities! I was put in a room by myself, go figure, but it was fine. I slept on the top bunk and a dude from South Carolina slept on the bottom bunk. He is one of the only other Americans I’ve met traveling. It’s appalling how few Americans travel the world. There were two guys across from me who have been traveling for 3 years now and are going back to Australia to work again this year. One has “I Bangkok” tattooed on his butt. Funny. There was also a girl in the room who was my age and traveling with her friend. Steph and Kate are traveling for 3 months out of a backpack!! I asked tons of questions about where she put her things and what she brought with her. It’s gotta be so tough!! They were all really cool. We chatted about everyone’s travels for a while and then I peed in the Hecht-like communal bathroom, locked up my things, and climbed into the bunk for the night. I fell asleep so fast even with the lights on and plenty of people still up and talking.

Silly me didn’t bring an alarm clock, so I was awake every hour making sure I didn’t miss the trip. Three of the girls with me weren’t signed up for the trip, but eventually got a spot and all ended up fine. I got up early to call Mom, which is always a welcomed call. I love how often I get to call home! I know it probably doesn’t feel like as much to them, but it’s great for me. Sucks coming from a daily call to a bi-weekly call, but I’ll take what I can get. So we ate breakfast and got on the busses to go to Ha Long Bay.

The mini-busses were packed full (mostly with SAS kids), but the best guys in the bus were the 5 guys in the back. There were 3 Brits and 2 Australians. All of them had their toes painted because they lost a bet. One guy was called “Captain Fun” but he was the least amount of fun out of everyone!!! The bus was entertaining and we all got to introduce ourselves and everyone had funny things to say about themselves. We told everyone about Juicy J and Becky told everyone about her theory that jellyfish are taking over the world. And that she wants to die by shark attack. We had an awesome tour guide Chris on our bus and another named Bianca on the other (who we affectionately called B).

The Junkboat that we stayed on was not what I was expecting. I was expecting a JUNK-boat, but we got a cool, wooden mini-cruise boat. There were bedrooms with comfy beds and nice bathrooms, a dining room, kitchen, outdoor patios, and a rooftop hangout place. After we arrived at the bay (and Ger and I slept), we immediately jumped off the roof of the 3-story boat into the water. It was a big jump!!! We all hung out in the sun and talked to the other backpackers on the boat with us. The boat fed us SO WELL!!! We ate every few hours and were given 6-8 dishes at each meal. I loved all of the Vietnamese food that I got. Everyone from our boat got into kayaks and kayaked to a really neat cave. The trip over to the cave on the kayaks was amazingly beautiful. The entire area was so so pretty, and we got to enjoy the views a lot more the next morning. Once we arrived at the cave, one of our tour guides told us about how the bay was created: dragons. Apparently, the dragons protected the Vietnamese from the Chinese by shooting limestone into the water? I don’t really know, but the dragons did it. And then one of the dragons stayed and lives as a rock that can be seen from the cave. The cave was really neat and I climbed up into a smaller cave with a guy from England. The cave got really small and it was awesome seeing the structures inside. I would be very interested to rock climb sometime soon!!

Once we returned to the boat, we ate again and played music and danced around. We spent the night hanging out and playing games, it was so much fun!!! I really love the girls I was with and meeting people from so many different places. I also really enjoyed jumping in the water at nighttime (and getting in trouble from the Vietnamese boat drivers).

The Vietnamese drivers woke us up bright and freakin early to change the rooms over for the next group of people, but we did have breakfast waiting for us. The food was so good!! We all sat on the top deck and watched the beautiful scenery all morning as we returned to the dock. We spent the night and next day in Hanoi, which I love! Vietnam is a really beautiful country and the people are wonderful. I really enjoyed the backpacking district. We ate food with a French girl, Lilly, and then sat with Marcy at the hostel and hung out. I really loved having the internet so readily available and being able to talk to my Mommy!!! It was also amazing to have a bed for $4.50-$6 per night, crazy!!

In Hanoi the next day, we went to the market for a bit and walked around the city. We saw a dog poop in the middle of the street. We also ate tons of street food, which is the best!! The food is less than $1 per meal, amazing pho. The group of us also got massages, which was really just a light beating from Vietnamese women. We were all in the same room, naked, and laughing periodically as we were slapped and punched and abused for an entire hour. And then we paid $10 for it, ha. After, I got a chance to figure out my classes for the Fall, which was really helpful. And then we ate again, as usual. Fran, Ger, and I eat every two hours… literally. We are food tanks! I’ve been getting made fun of relentlessly for the amount of things I’ve eaten. One night, Ger and I ordered a burger, pizza, spring rolls, and a crepe for dinner. I then ate everyone’s fries because of my new obsession with ketchup. So we are fat to say the least… And then Becky and I got our noses pierced. I’ve always wanted it and I’m really excited about it!!! I think it looks really good and makes me look more feminine with the short hairs. Which are growing. I can now see them (without a mirror) after I shower! I also got hair product to make it look less like a hedgehog on the reg. I’m hoping it’ll be cute and pixie by time I get home!!!!

It was a very sad thing to leave the Backpacker’s hostel and B, but we headed to the airport and flew ourselves back to HCMC. It is always so nice to get back to the ship. We literally kiss the ground when we get to the gangway and pass security. I have a very love-hate relationship with the ship. Right now, it’s small and confining and rocky and has nasty food, but other times it’s the only place we want to be!!!

In the morning, I had an FDP that I THOUGHT left at 1pm (which the SAS website says it leaves at 1pm) but it actually left at 7:30am. I was so upset to miss it! It was so frustrating and set a frustrating vibe on the day. I ended up going to a coffee shop to talk to Mom (where the internet was annoyingly spotty) and then bought DVDs and walked around for a while. We ate at a cool 24pho place, which I liked a lot. We ended up walking around looking for headphones for Carly for a really long time and then decided to eat sushi and call it a night. Boring last day, but all in all, Vietnam was AMAZING!!! I really loved Ha Long Bay and Hanoi’s Backpacker District. I loved the Vietnamese people and the people traveling!! I really can’t wait to go back when I go to visit Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and India again!!

I wish I had time to finish these blogs in between countries because I feel like I’ve already forgotten fun and cool details from Vietnam, but the time between the ports is like 2 days. So I’ve already gotten back from China and now am on my way to Japan. I need to write my China blog and tons of assignments. I didn’t get a chance to send postcards, which sucks. I also didn’t get a chance to journal. I don’t want this experience to end… just slow down!!! Oh well, I’ll live it up as it comes. I love Vietnam!!

Viet NAM!

Good Morning Viet Nam!!!

Worlds away from my costal homes, I woke up this morning to a river that eerily reminded me of home. The brown, murkey water swirled underneath the hull. Vietnamese fishing boats anchored in lines of three or four down the banks of the river instead of New Orleans fishing boats, and palms lined the banks instead of muddy banks and levees. But the sun rose just the same and I seemed to flash back to sunset cruises on the Mississippi River Creole Queen. Vietnamese people waved from the shores and boats and cargo ships passed within meters of the MV’s side.  “Good morning, Vietnam!,” said Jackie and I in sync to Kali’s camera for the infamous videos and the lifelong learners on deck 6 looked up at us and smiled. Not the last time we’ll hear that joke, ehh? The banks remind me of Forest Gump, which is the only real indication I have of what this country will be like coming into it. I’ll be visiting a deaf school, sex trafficking safe home, shrimp fishing village, and Ha Long Bay. The short amounts of time that we have in port are only enough to tempt our tastebuds, and I know already that one week won’t be enough to see Vietnam. But I’m sure going to make the most of it. I’ll be going sunrise to (way past) sunset and taking full advantage of our stop in Ho Chi Mihn City and my independent travel to Hanoi. Back at home, I should be focused on class registration, housing, recruitment, midterms, and other things associated with regular college. But my only concern today is receiving my passport and landing card and hitting the markets before my first class trip. I’ll grab some Pho off the street for lunch and hopefully not die in the apparently terrible street traffic.

I’ve also had to switch my malaria medication. For the past 8 days or so, it has felt like my thumbs and index fingers had been smooshed in a door, but they hadn’t. The ache and pain with pressure were symmetrical and just yesterday, my nails turned into discolored bruising. I went to the health clinic right after Malaysia and decided to eat veggies and take vitamins. But after the nails felt like they were about to fall off, I stopped the PA in the food line and showed her my fingers again; she said she’d do research and asked me to come back to the clinic. After both the doctor and the PA looked at my fingers and in books and giggled about it for a while, they took pictures to send it to the medical company and couldn’t think of an answer. Dr. Phil said that it could be a possible response to antibiotics, but said that I wasn’t taking any. But the malaria meds are antibiotics. So I was forced to change to Malerone and life is good. No malaria or Japanese Incephalitis or Dengue or parasites or larvae in the arm or broken bones or stitches or concussions or jelly fish stings. No injuries, Vietnam, please?!?!

So, with the company of my wonderful friends, I will now embark (or disembark) into a new, unique country to shop, eat, and explore a new culture. I’m sure I’ll return to the ship with some funny stories and great pictures as always, but it’s a sad thought to think that this is the halfway point. After Vietnam, it’s all a countdown until real life starts again. I know reality is a reality, but I don’t want to think about it!!! Anyways, good morning Vietnam and get ready for the SAS kids!!