For the last time on Semester At Sea, I woke up to the sight of a new city. For the last time, I walked down to deck two, swiped my student ID card, and walked off the gangway into a foreign country. For the last time, Team Awesome walked side by side along the MV Explorer and out of the harbor terminal into a new world – into Brazil.

We emerged on the other side of the terminal and were approached by Portuguese-speaking Brazilians wanting us to patronize their cabs. We passed by them in search for an ATM. Unfortunately, it was a national holiday and almost everything in the city was closed for the day or opened late and closed early. This is the second or third time this had happened on this voyage. After finding an open bank and English-speaking machines, we made our way to the elevator. There are two sections to Salvador, Brazil – the upper city and the lower city. Not much is in the lower city and it is usually the more dangerous area, therefore you take the Elevador Lacerda to the upper city, where there are shops, restaurants, and other sites to see. The elevator costs .15 reals, which is less than $.10 each way and takes you about 12 stories up to the upper part of Salvador, or the old city. Before reaching the elevator, we stopped at a famous mercado, or market, selling Brazilian clothing, jewelry, paintings, and handicrafts. It was 10:30 in the morning, but it was 5 o’clock somewhere, so we ordered a bottle of Brahma, a local beer, and sat outside the market. Across from where we were sitting was a group of young men practicing capoeira, a Brazilian martial art. Capoeira was used by Brazilians in the 18^th century, but when it was banned, they disguised it as a dance so no one could tell that their “dance” was actually a martial arts practice. Now, capoeira is practiced as a martial arts dance, usually done in conjunction with music. My Taekwondo experience must have been apparent in some way, because the leader of the group walked over to me and offered his hand, asking me to join them. For about ten minutes, I did capoeira with Jonathan and his clan, who offered to give me a real lesson. Unfortunately, my Amazon trip did not allow enough time.

When we were finished with our Brahma’s, we headed to the elevator. The elevator doors opened up to the beautiful upper city, complete with cobblestone paths covered in pigeons and old buildings. I have never been to Italy, but this is what I’d imagine it to look like. We walked to the city center, which was a large rectangle with a Catholic church on one side, and cafes and shops on the other sides. Then it started to sprinkle. And then it started to pour. We ran for cover to a tourist information center, which recommended a restaurant right down the street for lunch. We shimmied along the outside wall, trying to dodge the rain. The nine of us sat down in the restaurant and ordered caipirinhas, the famous Brazilian sugar cane rum drink. Restaurant portions in Brazil are large and are made for two people to eat. Most of us ordered chicken, which came with rice, beans, a salad, and French fries. Meals in Brazil are also not meant to be quick. We sat at this restaurant for two and a half hours. We ordered our drinks, waited for 20 minutes, ordered food, waited 45 minutes, asked for the check, and waited another 20 minutes. American restaurant owners probably cringe at the idea of this (my father being one of them), but it’s completely normal and encouraged in Brazil.

After lunch, our group walked the sloped, cobblestone streets, venturing into one shop after another, even though they all sold the same things. Because of the holiday, it was a pretty quiet day. At the bottom of one of the sloped streets, we saw a group of people gathering with music being played. As we got closer, I noticed a full production set, complete with professional lighting, camera equipment (HD camera, crane, SteadiCam), and Brazilian actors and actresses. An American in a yellow hat came over to us and said, “Come over here. We need some Argentineans to dance with the Argentina flag.” We looked at each other. “But we’re Americans, not Argentinean.” “That’s fine. You look like you could be from Argentina.” We shrugged and took the opportunity. Then he walks over to Victoria. “Where are you from?” She replies, “Hong Kong”. “Okay, great. Can you hold this Japanese flag and dance over here?” She laughed and grabbed the Japanese flag. We still had no idea what we were doing. I looked around and noticed many Brazilians in yellow and green, the colors of their flag. They were beautiful and were obviously the stars of whatever was being filmed. We stood in the Argentinean section, Vic was in the Japanese section, and other SASers were in the American section. The American in the yellow hat walked back behind the camera and handed someone a bullhorn. He shouted something in Portuguese and the music started. We waved the Argentinean flag proudly and danced all around the streets of Brazil. One cinematographer with a SteadiCam walked through the dancing people while a crane with another camera swooped above us. It was hotter than hell and I was dripping sweat, but it was the best part of the day so far. We did about three takes and the Brazilian man with the bullhorn yelled something, and everyone in the streets clapped and then broke up. We found out that it was a commercial for the World Cup in South Africa. I don’t know when it will be out or even where it will play, but I’m hoping at least YouTube will have it.

To cool off, we got ice cream. My new favorite flavor is condensed milk with almonds. I think I’ve had more condensed milk on this voyage than I have in my entire life combined. I’m definitely bringing my condensed milk recipes back with me! Suddenly, the clouds came back and the skies poured rain once again. A couple of us hopped in a cab and headed back to the ship to dry off and take a nap before going out for dinner, which wouldn’t be until 9:30, the typical time for Brazilians to eat dinner. We all met up again at 7:30 to head out to dinner together…for the last time. We heard about a restaurant that was home to the best chef and dessert in Salvador. However, when we got there and tried to order, they were out of most of what we wanted. I think the Sysco truck missed its delivery. I had steak in a cream sauce with rice, and I thought it was delicious. I guess I’ll really never know if it was the best food in Salvador. We got word that some club/bar in Salvador was throwing an outdoor tent party for SASers since most of the other bars and clubs were closed for the holiday. We asked around, but no one heard about anything. As we were walking down a street, someone shouted from the sidewalk, “Hey! Are you Americans?” We stopped to see a guy in his early twenties sitting with a few friends drinking beer. He sounded American too, so we stopped and said yes and that we were from Semester At Sea. “Thank God! It feels so good to speak English again!” His name was Devon, and he explained to us that he was from Los Angeles and was in Brazil for five months to film a documentary about street children in Brazil. With him were two guys from Spain (his “crew”) and a young Brazilian. He would bounce back and forth, speaking English to us, Portuguese to the Brazilian, and Spanish to the Spaniards. We asked him to ask a nearby Brazilian if he knew about this tented party. He said no, but he wanted all of us to come to his club a few blocks away. We were hesitant, but Devon asked his Brazilian friend if it was safe and legitimate. He answered yes, so we all followed the Brazilian club owner to his club. We could see the club in the distance from the strobe lights that were beaming out of the second-story window. We approached the entrance, where we were met by a short man with arms the size of the continent of Africa – clearly the bouncer. He waved us through and we walked upstairs to the “club”. Basically, it was three rooms – an empty dance floor with a DJ and walls covered in sequins fabric, a bathroom that oddly also had a bouncer or some sort, and a bar with local beer and whisky. It was 10:30 p.m. and Team Awesome and our new documentarian friends were the only ones in this obviously hopping club. We laughed it off and danced together on the empty dance floor anyway. Devon explained to us that the club doesn’t pick up until midnight. Most of the clubs in Brazil are midnight to 5 a.m. clubs, with not much action any earlier. Around midnight we left the club and walked a few feet away to a bar. Some Brazilians on the street called us over to them and lined us up in two lines and taught us a dance, which I called “Revelation”. We did over and over again. I’ll show you sometime. Then it started to pour…again! We took cover under two different large Coca Cola branded umbrellas. Brittany, Graham, and I sat under one and ordered a drink. A young boy approached the umbrella, so Graham invited him to sit with us. He looked very sad and was in torn clothes – exactly the subjects Devon was going to film. We ordered a Coke for him, which he drank and then proceeded to complain, saying he wanted milk instead. Something told me he must have been that hungry or thirsty. We also ordered French fries for him, but he was shooed away by the bar owner, who said this boy stole his chairs and was not allowed near the premises. Oops. Well the French fries came, and I was kind of glad we got to eat them instead…especially because they had cut up mini hot dogs in them!! We waited for the rain to pass before we said goodbye to Devon and his crew and headed back to the ship. For the last time, Team Awesome had a great night together.

The next morning at 8 a.m., Alli and I left for our Amazon riverboat tour. Our seven-hour flight left from Salvador’s international airport, connected at Brasilia, where we stayed onboard, and continued on to Manaus, a large city situated in the middle of the Amazon. We arrived at the dock a little after 3 p.m. to find our large Mark Twain riverboat, painted red, white, and blue, with matching balloons and a sign saying “Welcome Group Semester At Sea” (don’t ask about the wording). I threw my stuffed backpack over my shoulder and walked onto the dock. A male and female Brazilian dancer dressed in traditional costume complete with feathered headdresses dances to fast-paced music as we boarded our home for the next three days. Fresh fruit and other snacks sat on a table on the lower deck for us to eat after a long day of traveling. Alli, Cara, Sally, and I walked upstairs to claim our hammocks – our beds for the next two nights. The hammocks were strung across the second level of the boat, about 35 in total, and almost piled on top of each other. I picked a navy blue, purple, and yellow plaid hammock toward the front of the boat. The hammocks resembled blankets rather than the typical ones you see that are white with holes. Each hammock also had a blanket, but let’s be real, it was 90 degrees and 90% humidity. I would be sleeping in a bathing suit, if anything. The four of us explored the rest of the small boat and noticed there were only two female toilets and no showers at all. Yay! After departing Manaus, we sailed down the Rio Negro to the place where it meets the Amazon River. At the “meeting of the waters”, as it is called, you see the two rivers meet, and it looks like oil and water. The Rio Negro is a dark, dark brown color, while the Amazon River is a lighter brown. The rivers don’t mix, but rather the sediment keeps them separated and they swirl like a coffee drink. We sailed further down the Rio Negro, seeing small communities where people live in houses on the water. We arrived at a floating market and walked on a thin, wood bridge through the jungle. At the end of the bridge was a wood shack on stilts overlooking the river and thousands of massive lily pads. In the water were sets of two eyes floating along the surface, gathering toward the base of the wooden stilts. The eyes emerged to reveal large alligators, which perched themselves of the docks below. At this point, I really hoping the thin wood bridge and the stilts below wouldn’t give out. The sun was setting as all of us got into small boats and headed out onto the river to fish for piranhas. It was the most beautiful I had ever seen – the sky was orange, purple, red, pink, and blue and they colors reflected onto the water. Our fishing poles were small bamboo branches with a piece of meat attached to the hook. No one caught piranhas but a few people caught small catfish. When it was completely dark we set out to go alligator hunting. Our boat driver shined his flashlight along the riverbanks, waiting for glowing yellow eyes to pop out. Lightning bugs were flashing all around our small boat and sound I’ve never heard before were echoing from the trees in the distance. Another boat found a baby alligator, so we motored over to where they were sitting. Everyone got a chance to hold the alligator for a picture, which I’m sure it was not exactly thrilled with. It was probably only 18 inches long, so it did not move much. Then the boat next to us caught a large alligator that was over two feet long. I would have gotten a chance to hold that one too if one of the girls in the other boat hadn’t dropped it back into the water after freaking out. We got back to our riverboat a little after 8 p.m., where we had dinner and got adjusted in our hammocks. I didn’t sleep very well the first night. My legs kept falling asleep from being higher than my head, so I tried bending them Indian style until I realized I was hitting the faces of the people on either side of me. Finally, I turned on my side, balanced myself, and got some sleep.

The sunrise woke me up the next morning and the river was as smooth as glass. After breakfast was our first jungle walk, which required long pants. But honestly, by this point in the voyage, I had realized there’s no point in looking good or trying to not look sweaty. Our guide, Sidomar, took us through the jungle, showing us different plants and trees and explaining their uses. Sid used to live in the Amazon, and his sentences frequently started with, “When I was a little boy living in the jungle…” He later told us he didn’t sleep in a real bed until he was 13; it was always a hammock. The canopy provided some shade, but the humidity still made it incredibly hot. We walked through the jungle for a little over two hours before returning back to the riverboat. Before lunch, we got to swim in the river. Though it is actually fairly clean, the Rio Negro is dark brown; it gives your skin a copper tint when you look it at under the water. The temperature of the river was refreshing and most of us played volleyball. The only thing Sid warned us all of was not piranhas or alligators or anacondas, but something he calls the “pee bug”. If you are in the water and you urinate, this small, thin bug swims up your pee stream and into your body, latching onto the inside. It is impossible to remove it without surgery because when you try to pull it out, its body has stickers on it that rip through skin. “So don’t pee in the water everyone!” said Sid. After lunch we visited a local Amazon community. It was a well, developed community with a church, school, market, and many houses on stilts. After taking a tour through the town and meeting some of the locals, we played sports with them. The girls on our boat challenged the women of the village to a soccer game. I volunteered to goal tend – I was sweaty enough without running. Then 10-on-10 game lasted for 20 minutes, in which we scored three goals and they scored zero. I dove through the mud to block seven of their attempted goals. They were really, really good, but then again, it is Brazil. The men had a game as well, but they got killed. Then we played volleyball, which I definitely was not very good at. Before we left, we participated in a ceremony that they do every time a SAS group comes through the village. The village picks an MVP from the male and female soccer team to award a Brazilian soccer jersey to. The announced the guy first, and a tall blonde guy named Dane was given a jersey. Then it came to the girls and the local women yelled, “Goalie!” in unison. So we all took a picture together…I will cherish that yellow Brazilian jersey forever. We waved goodbye to the community as they stood on the dock and we motored away in our small boats. They were taking us to a beach, where our riverboats were to have a beach BBQ and party. It took about 45 minutes to get to the beach, but on the way we were entertained by the best lightning storm I have ever seen! There was not thunder and no rain, only massive bolts of lighting panoramically surrounding us. I felt like I was in a painting. It was one of the many moments I’ve had on this voyage where I stop, block out all the sound surrounding me, and thank God for the exact moment I am experiencing. We got to the beach, which was set up with a BBQ, tables full of food, and plastic chairs. One of the riverboats was blasting music from its stereo system. A group of us pulled some chairs in a circle and talked about our favorite memories from the semester while we enjoyed steak kabobs, chicken, potatoes, and delicious dessert. By this time, I noticed that several mosquito bites were making my legs itch. Yes, I wore deet, but I’m convinced that I have the sweetest skin there is. The second night of sleep was definitely better than the first, and I woke up with the sun again the next morning.

We went on a second jungle walk, but this time we went through the secondary forest, which is deeper into the Amazon than the first hike we went on. The ridiculous amount of mosquitoes proved this. There was no path already made for us, so our guide cut a path for us with his machete as we walked deeper into the forest. He showed us again what the different plants were used for by the indigenous people, including one tree whose milky, white sap was a treatment for malaria. He cut a piece of the bark off and caught the sap in a funnel he made out of a banana leaf. He passed it around, asking if anyone wanted to try it. I figured with all the bites I had, it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea; it tasted like cold cream of celery soup. I know, that wasn’t as cool as a Bear Grylls’ descriptions of maggots and grubs. After the sweaty, two-hour hike, our riverboat took us to a beach, where we spent the entire afternoon swimming and playing volleyball before heading back to Manaus for our red eye flight back to Slavador. This was now day three without a shower, so most of us brought our shampoo and washed our hair in the Rio Negro. Nothing like bathing with water darker than your skin! Incidentally, I felt much better. It took about three hours to get back to Manaus, but since we got there at 8 p.m. and didn’t need head to the airport until 11:30 p.m. for our 2:40 a.m. flight, we were taken to what we all thought was going to be a club at a hotel (that’s what we were told the last three days). Instead, we were all taken to some sort of outdoor, public pool/recreation center. There was a stage set up where dancers were dressed tribally, doing Brazilian dances. Most people were sitting at the plastic chairs and tables talking, though. Twenty minutes after getting there, we were all bored. Luckily, there actually was a bar at this shindig, so we spent most of our time making castles out of our “soda” cans. At 11:30 we loaded the buses and headed to the airport. We got there and were checked in by midnight, so we walked around, got a burger at Bob’s Burgers, got ice cream at a stand before security, and then sat by our terminal until we boarded the plane a little after 2 a.m. I tried as hard as I could to stay awake until I got on the plane so I could sleep better. I was out for the 4-hour flight to Brasilia, where we had, oh yes, a 4-hour layover…yay! Like zombies, 50 SASers moved through the airport, trying to find last minute places to shop or buy breakfast. Most just waited for our gate to be announced and then passed out in the uncomfortable chairs around it. I slept a little on the 2-hour flight to Salvador but not much.

As tired as I was when we finally got back to the ship around 2 p.m., I still had some last minute shopping to do. And of course, because it was Sunday, the market right by the ship was closed. So Alli and I got in the elevator and went to the upper city to shop…I was so not in the mood, so all of you getting gifts from Brazil should be extra happy…just kidding. We ran into Graham, Brittany, and a few others who were also walking zombies. We couldn’t even really hold a conversation with them to find out how their trips went, so we just grunted, waved, and passed by. After shopping for a little over an hour and getting everything we needed, Alli and I headed back to the elevator. We stopped at a café right outside to get a local, Brazilian chocolate dessert and some ice cream (condensed milk again!). And for the last time on this voyage, I had ice cream in a foreign country. I watched the setting sun from the top of the city.

It was a long walk back to the ship, but I think that’s because I made it extra long. I entered the harbor and saw the MV Explorer. At this point, I had completely forgotten I hadn’t taken a shower in four days. I watched the uneven cobblestones pass under my feet. Wow, my Pumas were dirty. I kept my head down, because I didn’t want to see the short walk to the gangway get any closer. “Your ship ID please.” I took extra long to fumble through my belongings to pull out the red lanyard. For the last time, I swiped my card to allow myself back on the ship. For the last time, I stood from the inside and looked to the outside world, that world that had gotten smaller. I noticed an older, homeless woman waving to me from outside the ship, obviously not allowed near the gangway. I walked back down the gangway, took off my tennis shoes, and handed them to her. I walked barefoot back into the ship. When I turned back around to give one last look, the shoes were already on her feet. And for the first time, I cried as the gangway door shut behind me.

I stepped off the boat to a thick, wet atmosphere that immediately frizzed my recently blow-dried hair. Ninety days into the voyage and I still haven’t learned that showering before a port really isn’t worth it. The Tema harbor in Ghana was full of students waiting to catch the free shuttle that took you into the capital city of Accra – a 45-minute drive. Those of use who were too impatient to wait for the shuttles (myself included) walked outside the harbor gates to find a taxi. It was 95 degrees with 95% humidity. Hot and sweaty doesn’t even begin to describe how I felt. The taxis were lined up waiting to take students to their favored destination. Jamestown was ours. Our group split into two cabs without air-conditioning. I never thought I would say that the warm air blowing through my hair actually felt good. Our cabs arrived at an outdoor crafts market, where we were flooded by vendors asking us to visit their shops. Ghanaians would shake your hand to greet you and then come back again one minute later to shake your hand and tell you their name and then come back again one minute later to shake your hand and ask your name and where you are from. This process lasts the entire time you are there, a constant game of hand-shaking for no apparent reason other than to have a physical connection while talking with you. After our cabs left and we spent 20 minutes or so walking around, we realized we weren’t actually in Jamestown…oops. So we left the market and walked to find an ATM and Jamestown. After walking for about 30 minutes, we saw the lighthouse, a landmark in Jamestown. We were greeted by a man who was called “Nice One” by his friends, but his real name was Tackig, but he told us to call him Vis. Go figure that one out. Vis took us to a fisherman’s village that was on the water. He showed us the long fishing boats, the goats lining the streets, and the shacks and huts that made up the community. Despite the heavy poverty in this area, the Ghanaian’s true love for music was apparent by the massive sound systems throughout that were blasting all kinds of music. Vis led us into one of the cement houses that was playing music. It wasn’t a house, though; it was a local bar. We sat down at a wooden table with plastic chairs (the preferred seat in Ghana). Vis brought over some Cokes and the local beer, Star. Some of his friends came into the bar and started dancing in the small space in front of the table. They motioned for us to join them, so we did. And there we were, dancing with our new friends, in a bar, in a fisherman’s village, in Ghana. The small fan in the corner wasn’t alleviating the heat, but again, I’ve never been more thankful to have hot air blowing at me. At this point, we didn’t even attempt to de-sweat ourselves. After walking through the boats and more of the area, we thanked Vis and headed off to look for some lunch. The recommended fast food joint was called Papaye, so we stopped there to refuel. The air conditioning felt excellent, so I really didn’t mind that it took almost an hour to get our “fast food”. My plate of lunch included grilled chicken, French fries, and coleslaw. The chicken in Ghana was excellent; it tasted so fresh every time I had it. After lunch, we all walked the streets, stopping at the tents on the side of the road to shop. A lot of people bought art, drums, musical instruments, and clothes. They even had pirated DVD’s of which a few people bought the new Alice in Wonderland. Side note: Tim Burton, I was not really impressed. That film could have been so much better. Later in the afternoon, we met up with a few friends who got a room in Accra at the Golden Tulip Hotel. No, we didn’t all cram in like we’ve done in the past, but about 13 of us hung out in the room and had cheese and crackers, fruit, and some wine. The food obviously ran out quickly, so we went to the hotel’s restaurant for some traditional Ghanaian food. Okay, so I guess the burgers, hummus, and margherita pizzas weren’t even close to Ghanaian food, but it was delicious nonetheless. The casino in the hotel was next. It’s the closest thing to Vegas that I’ve had since turning 21. We approached the “bouncer”, who said those of us wearing shorts weren’t allowed it. Um, last time I checked, wearing pants in 95 degrees means you’ve got a loose screw somewhere. We looked at him and said, “Are you really going to turn away 13 people’s money?” He slowly stepped aside and nodded entrance. The casino was about 1,500 square feet with a slot machine section and some blackjack tables. Needless to say, our stay was fairly short. So a group of us grabbed a coupe cabs and started the lengthy trek back to the ship for the night.

The next day was my Torgorme village homestay, and luckily it wasn’t a 4 a.m. trip! We got in the bus and drove an hour and a half to the eastern region of Ghana, toward the more forested region. Upon our arrival, our bus was greeted by hundreds of children and adults surrounding rows of plastic chairs that were set out for us to sit in. Colorful skirts, flowing dresses, and patterned tribal garb were shown off by the entire community, who welcomed us with warm smiles and clapping hands. The hollow sound of the drums led us to our seats. For the next two hours, the children sang and danced for us and we received our Ghanaian names. At one point, I was pulled up by a young girl who danced with me in front of the entire village. I’m not a good African dancer, I learned. Traditionally, in Ghana, names are based on what day of the week you were born. But we received names chosen by the people. One by one, we walked to the front and stood in front of the chief and elders and received our names. I approached the front and the emcee smiled and said, “Akosua Kafui. It means ‘Praise Him.’” I was handed a small pot with my new name on it and a heavy, blue bead bracelet with yellow flowers hand painted on it. After we all were “re-named”, we were introduced to our host families, who would open their homes to us for the night. A smaller man in his forties approached me and held out both hands for me to shake. Ben Sigulo was his name. He led me to his home, which was a five-minute walk from the main area of the community. A cement house with an aluminum roof stood before me. An identical house was right next door, which is where is sister, Doris, lived with her teenage daughter. Doris did not speak much English, but she hugged me and smiled like she had been waiting to see me for months. Ben then led me to the room where I would be staying. It was an 8’x12’ room with one window that was blocked out by cloth to keep sunlight out. There was a blue light hanging from the middle of the room, which gave off an odd hue that lit the room. A fluorescent light would have attracted bugs, I guessed. A picture of Jesus hung on the blocked out window and a small radio sat on the sill. There was a bed against one of the walls that sat a foot off the ground on a wood bed frame. Against the other wall was my bed – a mattress on the ground with a pillow. At the head of the mattress was an old oscillating fan that struggled to blow air. The room was much hotter than outside, probably from the aluminum roof. I couldn’t stand it, so I just dropped off my things and went back outside, wiping my face with my already drenched sleeve. Because of the unsanitary conditions of where the food was prepared, we re-loaded the bus and drove about ten minutes down the road to a mess hall, where tourists could eat. Chicken, rice, vegetables, and vanilla ice cream awaited us. We stayed in the air-conditioned room for over two and a half hours. We were told the village basically closes down from noon to three each day because of the heat, so there would not have been much to do had we gone back earlier. But when we did arrive back at the village around three, we had the rest of the afternoon until dinner to spend with our host families and the rest of the community. Ben showed me the area where the women made pottery. There were no wheels or machines. The women stood, bent at the waist, making the pots by hand on the ground. The pots were made in all different sizes and then were fired by a hole in the ground. Ben took me to find some of his other friends who were sitting with their visitors, talking. We sat in plastic chairs and watched one of the men making fishing nets with string and small bamboo shoots. Some of the children brought us coconuts, which one of the men cut open with a machete. Water was not provided by SAS (they never do), so the warm coconut milk was really refreshing. Then he split it and we ate the inside. Excellent! The children stood around us, teaching us songs, playing drums, and dancing. A large group of were taken to the edge of the sacred forest and shown some of the different plant life. There is a large tree with massive leaves, which are said to treat malaria fever. The villagers said we were not allowed into the forest, because it was not owned by them and they feared bad things would happen to them if they disobeyed and entered the forest. Ben and I split from the group and he took me the embankment of the river to show me where they fish. Most of the fish caught were tilapia, which made up a large part of their meals. The fresh water of the river came from Lake Volta, the largest man-made lake in the world. We walked back up to the top of the hill and sat in plastic chairs overlooking the lake as the sun set. He showed me how they harvest cacao, Ghana’s largest export. We talked for two hours about education, religion, and America. Ben’s three children are university students in Ghana and his brother lives in Accra. I could tell Ben was a favorite in the village. Numerous times during our walks or as we were sitting and talking, many people would come up to him and shake his hand and hold a brief conversation before moving on their way. It seemed like he knew everybody. The community looked small, but there are actually 5,000 people living in the Torgorme village. Even the little children were glued to him. I’m not sure if he was related to any of them or just knew their parents, but they adored him. A little girl of four was scolded by her mother, and she immediately ran to Ben and sat on his lap, crying. He whispered in her ear and kissed her on the forehead. “Afi, Afi” he would say to her and rock her back and forth. The love and compassion he had for not only the children but also the rest of the people was blatantly obvious. He took me back to his house, and I watched his sister and niece prepare dinner. A typical meal includes sema, a corn-based dough that looks like mashed potatoes but has the consistency of thick cream of wheat, as well as fish. Ben gave me a scarf, a gift he had made himself. His sister went inside her house and came out with a traditional Ghanaian patterned fabric to borrow. She wrapped the skirt portion around me and draped another piece of the fabric around my shoulders to protect from mosquitoes. She stood back, looked me up and down, and gave me the biggest, tightest hug ever. Ben and I walked to the communal area for our dinner. He brought his own food, prepared by his sister, while all of the SAS students were served a traditional dinner of sema, peanut chicken soup, rice, and vegetables. We ate together with Alli and her host and listened to drums being played behind us. Halfway through dinner, a massive bonfire was lit commemorating the new friendships we had all made. As I finished eating, I noticed a large group of children standing behind me. I could not bare to look in their eyes, knowing they only got two meals a day, and here I was eating from a buffet line. It was one of the worst feelings in the world, and it was then I wished they would have bused us out to another tourist mess hall, so we didn’t have to eat in front of them. At the end of the meal, all the left over food from the buffet was gathered on plates and sat on tables. The kids swarmed the food, pushing each other out of the way, all of them trying to get something. I have never felt so sick to my stomach. Had I known the conditions, I would have gladly skipped my dinner so a child could have had it. Ben and I sat at the table a little longer before I was pulled up to join the rest of the village and SAS students dancing around the bonfire. At 9:30, Ben suggested we turn in for the night. He asked if I wanted to take a shower. I politely said no. The showers were three-sided cement walls with a bucket of water and no lights. At this point, there was not much point in showering. It was still about 85 degrees and I had to Deet up before bed anyway. I said goodnight to Doris and Ben and went into my room, which was still hotter than the outside temperature. Ben’s niece slept in the other bed, and I decided I did not have the energy to change into pajamas, so I just took of my tennis shoes and lay in the bed. I repositioned the fan about 10 times, trying to figure out how I could get the most air. The room had to have been at least 90 degrees. I rolled for over two hours before I fell asleep. Each new position just made a different part of my body sweat. Because the fan was oscillating, I only got a breeze every 10 seconds, which I cherished every millisecond of. As soon as I would fall asleep, a rooster would crow, which dispels the myth that roosters only crow at sunrise. Goats were bleating and roosters were crowing at all hours. At 5 a.m., I woke up by the sound of the neighbors up and at em’, cooking and sweeping. I’m not exactly sure what was being swept, though…all the floors were dirt. I finally woke up for good at 6:30 a.m., got dressed, and headed out with Ben to meet the rest of the group for breakfast. We met at the Pentecostal church for hard-boiled eggs, bread, fruit, and hot tea (Sorry, Grandpa Foamy, but the hot tea did not cool me down). Ben and I exchanged email addresses and said our goodbyes.

We drove two more hours east to the Tafi Mona Monkeys village, an area which is home to hundreds of the sacred Mona monkeys. When we arrived, the guides gave us small bananas to feed the monkeys. The small, friendly monkeys, who made the cutest sounds ever, would come over, peel the banana while you were holding it, and eat it right out of your hand! We walked through the bamboo forest and were told the history of the area. After spending about 45 minutes in the village, we started the three-hour trek back to the ship, stopping for lunch at a hotel on the way. We got back to the ship a little before 5 p.m. and met up with some people to decide plans for the rest of the night. Since Accra was a 45-minute drive and none of us really wanted to muster up the energy to leave, we decided to stay on the ship and just play games – the celebrity game, sardines, and who am I? were the games for the night. We all sat in the alcove outside Alli and my room until one by one, we dropped like flies.

The next morning, I woke up early to try to buy a ticket to the Habitat for Humanity trip, which I originally did not get on. One of the trip leaders sold his ticket to me, so Alli, Graham, and I all got to go. We drove two and a half hours outside Accra to a village supported by Habitat for Humanity. When we arrived, we were greeted by the facilitator, who split us up into three different groups. The group I was in was responsible for making bricks for the houses that were going to built. The men dug up dirt and added the cement, while the women got water to create the mixture. I took a large aluminum tin, which I used to collect water at the pump. In the village, all of the water came from an underground well and was pumped out. The women from the village helped us pump the water, which every once in a while ran dry and we had to wait for the water to pool in the well again. I learned how to carry the large basin on my head, which is how everyone in Ghana carries things. I was so surprised by how much these women could carry. One older woman carried a large plastic bucket filled to the brim with water on her head that must have weighed 45 pounds, and she did not spill one drop! From the well to the site where we were building the bricks was probably 100 yards, but each time I carried the water, I got better and better. Unfortunately, I was still not good enough to walk with no hands holding onto the basin, but one trip I didn’t spill at all! In two hours, we made 66 bricks. When we were done, we played with the children of the village, giving them stickers, which they put all over their bodies and our faces. The village served us lunch before we loaded the bus to go back to the ship. Everyone in the village was so grateful, but we were just as grateful to be able to help these people out. But for me, I was most grateful to meet so many friendly people who were willing to put everything aside to spend time with me.

Okay, so first of all, I am going to apologize for how I describe my time in South Africa. I’ve realized when I describe something, no matter what it may be, I always describe it in comparison to either food or movies. So that’s what you’re going to get. Here we go…

Day one, we pulled into the port of Cape Town, South Africa, on time for once but of course had to wait for the customs and immigrations process. So when they tell us what time we pull into a port, which is usually 8 a.m., we know by now to add 2-3 hours to that and that’s what time we usually get off the ship. But one of my favorite things is waking up and looking out my room’s window to get the first view of a new country. The first thing I noticed was Table Mountain, Cape Town’s largest mountain that is completely flat on top. This was going to be our destination for the first day. Alli, Graham, Victoria, Sally, and I got off the ship to start making our way to the mountain. The port in Cape Town is much different than all the other ports we have been to. It is an actual cruise terminal with restaurants and shops all along the waterfront. It was a really nice place to just walk around, whereas we usually all book it to the city to try to get away from the port. Before grabbing a taxi, we stopped at Hagen Daaz (yes, very South African, I know) to get frozen mochaccinos to get pumped for our day. We got in a cab and headed to the base of the mountain. I was a little surprised by what I saw on our brief city tour. A lot of it was really nice and even looked like a nice place to live, even though we had been told people don’t live in Cape Town, they just work there. It was very Western – an Audi dealership, contemporary clothing, and the first McDonald’s I have seen since China. A 20-minute ride got us to Table Mountain, where we saw the longest line of people wrapping around part of the mountain to catch the cable car to the top. It took us 10 minutes just to find the end of the line, but when we got there, we enjoyed a nice view of the city below. The second thing I noticed was the most amount of blonde heads I’ve seen since we left the States. I felt so at home, you have no idea! After waiting in line for about 45 minutes and realizing we really weren’t getting very far, we luckily were able to purchase tickets from Victoria’s phone and skip most of the line. Another 45 minutes went by before we actually got on one of the two cable cars, which each fit about 40 people at a time. The cable car moves 12 feet every second, so it only took two minutes or so to get to the top of the mountain. Once at the top, you are free to roam around. It would take two hours to walk around the whole area, so we took about 45 minutes just to looks around and take pictures from the top. On one side of the mountain, you get an incredible view of Cape Town and Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison. From the other side of the mountain, you can see Cape Point, the southernmost point in Africa as well as beaches with turquoise water. Unfortunately, the water isn’t very warm since South Africa is entering fall. The top of the mountain is covered in plants and rocks with tons of little creatures roaming around. I saw tons of lizards and a dassie, which is a small rodent-type animal, which resembles a squirrel. Oddly enough, the DNA of this animal is actually closest to that of the African elephant. After walking around, we came to the most exciting part – abseiling down Table Mountain. I had never heard of abseiling, but could not resist doing it once I found out what it was. Basically, it’s a type of repelling, which you do over the side of a mountain or cliff. This particular site is the largest in the world – over 300 feet of a straight drop to the next cliff. I was the first to take the plunge, so I harnessed up and walked about 20 feet down to the edge of the cliff. It was such a straight drop that you couldn’t even see the cliff when looking down. I planted my feet on the corner of the cliff, my back facing the open air, and jumped straight back. For the first 150 feet or so, I used my feet to repel down. Then all of a sudden, as I came back toward the wall to push off again, my feet didn’t hit rock but open air. The cliff stopped and went concave, so it was just a straight drop down to the next cliff, where you stopped. Now, the good part about abseiling is you control your speed. You hold your rope with your right hand around your back and can stop yourself by tightening your grip and holding it closely to your waist. But obviously, why would you do that?! I held that rope straight out to my right side, leaned back as far as I could, and dropped to the ground in record time. It usually takes seven minutes to get down, but I’m pretty sure it took me less than three.

At the bottom, I met Ryan, a 20-year old South African who caught me and helped me remove my harness. “Have you ever done this before?” he asked me with wide eyes. I told him no, thinking I maybe did something wrong. “Wow. I’ve never seen anyone come down that fast.” Then he asked to borrow my gloves so he could unhook me, because the pulley was about 150 degrees from the rope sliding through it so quickly. I waited for the rest of the group and sat on a rock overlooking the cliffs talking to Ryan. Ryan has lived in South Africa for as long as he can remember but doesn’t know if he was born there. He has no family and barely remembers the white family he grew up with. He just moved into a township, where he pays 500 rand per month in rent (equivalent to $65). He is saving up so he can open his own surf shop and teach surfing to tourists, because he likes to meet people from all over the world. We talked about the California and Disneyland and he showed me his lucky crystals from Namibia that change the color of fire if you throw them in. He laughed at the ridiculous bug bites on my legs and showed me where I could carve my name in the cliff, right next to his. A couple weeks ago, my Global Studies professor asked us to think of someone we met in a port who had an impact on us. He told us to think of this person every time we brushed our teeth, and that this person would be our “toothbrush person” for the rest of our lives. I couldn’t think of one when he asked, but now I know exactly who my toothbrush person is…

When all five of us were at the bottom, we started the 30-minute hike back to the top of the mountain so we could catch the cable car back down again. We almost didn’t get to abseil because the wind was picking up and the tablecloth, a layer of fog and cloud, started to cover Table Mountain. The hike was absolutely gorgeous. I felt like I was walking straight through Jurassic Park. I was sure a pterodactyl was going to swoop down and grab me. Everything I was so green and beautiful. There were rocks we had to climb up and over, and multiple times through the hike we saw signs denoting this hike was “advanced and dangerous.” Good to know. I guess we didn’t really have a trail choice at this point through. The wind was really starting to pick up, and my ears were burning from the cold. It was an intense hike, and when we made it back to the top, we had yet another incredibly long line to wait in to head back down in the cable car. It was like a day at Disneyland, complete with pricey attractions and whiney kids. We listened to Graham’s iPod and got some South Africans in line to dance with us. We had to do anything we could to keep warm. We planned to be done with Table Mountain by 1 p.m. at the latest so we could have lunch on the waterfront and maybe try to get to Robben Island. Well, our wind burnt, freezing, starving, cranky selves didn’t get back in the cab until 5 p.m. We booked it back to the waterfront to Quay 4, a pub and restaurant. My chicken burger, French fries, and Castle Lager never tasted so good! And it was then I was introduced to my new favorite condiment – peri peri sauce. This sauce is made from the African peri peri chili and is the most delicious, spicy thing I have ever tasted. More on this later, but let’s just say there are different levels of its spicyness. We headed back to the ship and got ready to go out that night to Long Street, a street of pubs, bars, clubs, and stores that was very French concessionary in style. Since we weren’t hungry for dinner, we decided on dessert and South African wine at an Italian restaurant. We ordered four desserts for the four of us and acted as our own lazy Susan, taking a bite and passing each dessert in a clockwise direction. We walked down Long Street and ended up at the hot spot, Ivy League, for a few drinks and some dancing. Now, the problem with a very late lunch is that you get hungry at like midnight. So around 1 a.m., a group of us walked to yet another burger place for chicken burgers. I figure I should load up on them while I’m in port since there is no chicken while at sea. This is where my second peri peri experience came into play. The guy at the counter asked if I wanted hot peri peri sauce. Duh, I said. About three bites into my burger, I noticed that my lips were twice their size, my eyes were watering, and I’m sure my stomach had been incinerated. But here was the problem – it was so good, I couldn’t stop eating it! I wanted everyone else to feel my bittersweet feeling, so I passed around my burger. That was a site to see, good thing it’s on video! Halfway through our late night snack, a group of young South Africans came to sit our table and we talked about everything under the sun. By the time we got back to the ship, it was 2:30 a.m. Alli and I, like always, had to be up at 3:30 a.m. to leave for our separate safaris. I don’t know why I seem to always have the trips that leave before 4 a.m.

So we left at 4 a.m. for our flights to Johannesburg. After landing in Johannesburg, I had a two and a half bus ride to Pilanesberg to the Kwa Maritane game reserve. The lodge was really nice. It sat in the bush with rooms that overlooked the outdoors. It had a ton of activities to do – rock climbing, trampoline, tennis, and mini golf. As soon as we arrived, we had a gourmet buffet lunch of everything you could imagine. I had avocado for the first time since I left, which I was really excited about. Every meal was like this, and I have never eaten so much in a short span of three days. My friend and fellow Team Awesome member, Becca, and I hung out on this trip and left every meal feeling like we were ready to explode. It was actually a really nice change from ship food, which is getting so monotonous and boring. I actually find myself eating less and less just because it’s just not that great, so I don’t feel bad for indulging on this trip. After some time to relax, we went on our afternoon game drive at 4:30. The jeep we were in was straight out of Indiana Jones – more so the ride at Disneyland and not the movie. It even sounded and felt the same, the only difference was that I was actually in the African bush! We rolled through the dirt roads and stopped frequently to look at all the animals. The first hour was great until the clouds rolled in and the rain started pouring. I was sitting next to the jeep’s open window, and though it had a cover over the top, I was still getting soaked. Each time we went over a bump, which dirt roads frequently have, the water that was being stored on the cover would fall over the side and into my lap. After an hour of rain, my jeans were so wet, they could not physically absorb any more water. Oh, and luckily I packed a thin jacket, but that also got soaked. It was a very long drive; we got back at 8:30 just in time for dinner before it closed. The next day, we went on two drives – one at 6 a.m. and one at 4 p.m. Since we had so much time in between, a large group of us drove 10 minutes down the road to Predator Park, a wild animal conservation center. We toured the area and got to see white lions, cheetahs, hyenas, jackals, and many indigenous reptiles. At the end of the tour, we got to spend some time with Zinzy, a lion cub being trained for Hollywood. By that time, the rain started up again, which Zinzy did not like at all. The mud and water annoyed her and she got feisty. Luckily by that time we had all had a turn playing with her. The last morning was another 6 a.m. drive and was my favorite of the safaris. We saw every animal possible, and many of them up close. Over the three days, we saw rhinos, hippos, giraffes, zebras, lions, a cheetah, wildebeests, warthogs, and impalas. We got within 10 feet of the giraffes, zebras, and elephants. I was really hoping Bear Grylls would jump out of the bush at some point in time and describe the taste of a nasty bug. But I think the safari trip has been my favorite. Other than the obvious, I really liked how relaxed it was. All the other trips I have done have spent a lot of time in museums, on buses, and sightseeing. This was nice because literally all we did was drive around looking at the most amazing scenery and animals and eat.

We flew back to Cape Town and the second we landed it was the Amazing Race to get back to the ship. Four different safari trips all got to the airport at the same time, their buses waiting outside. In total, there were probably 120 people making their way back to the ship. By now, we’ve figured out that if you’re the last one to the ship, you will be in line for over an hour because SAS can’t seem to figure out they need more than two people doing bag checks for security. This being said, everyone literally races to get to the front of the line. So our bus left third, but soon we were in last place. I felt like I was in Mario Kart, where we were 4/4. Our driver didn’t seem to get the hint that we wanted to get back fast, even though all of us were leaning forward in our seats and fidgeting. As we pull in to the port, we are still 4/4, but as we were driving to the drop off area, our driver opens the doors and everyone jumps off while the bus is still moving and literally sprints to the gate. We are now the first busload of people to start heading to the gate. Luckily, my backpack didn’t slow me down too much, and I was able to get toward the front of the line and only had to wait about 10 minutes. As I climbed the stairs, I looked behind me to see a line of over 100 people…phew!

That night, we went out again to celebrate Team Awesome member, Bruck’s, birthday. We stopped for dinner at the Mexican Kitchen, but unfortunately I wasn’t hungry because I had a delicious peri peri roasted chicken sandwich on wheat bread from Subway. I did, however, have my traditional margarita, which I’ve had in every country. Oddly enough, it was the worst margarita I’ve ever had…and I was in a Mexican restaurant! We walked all along Long Street and ended at Ivy League again. After returning to the ship for four hours of sleep, we woke up and had breakfast along the waterfront at Quay 4. We were the only people in the restaurant, so we got a private view of the water and the city. After breakfast, we shopped along the harbor at the craft shops before heading to our SAS day trip, Animal Whisperers. We drove about 45 minutes outside the city to the wine country, where there are over 1,000 wineries. One of the largest, Spier Wine Estate, is where we spent the afternoon. This estate does much more than just produce wine. They have three conservation missions – one for cheetahs, one for birds of prey, and one for Anatolian Shepherd dogs. We all got a chance to meet and pet Hemmingway, a four-year-old cheetah who had been rescued. He was the most beautiful cat I’ve ever seen, and all I kept thinking is how I could have gotten a job at this outreach project. They don’t actually breed the cheetahs, they just rescue orphaned or mistreated cheetahs. Because most were rescued as babies and don’t know how to hunt, they can never be re-released into the wild. The second project they have is breeding Anatolian Shepherd dogs. These large dogs have the natural instinct to protect livestock. As puppies, they are placed with a farmer’s livestock to grow and bond with the animals. Then, for the rest of their lives, they eat and live with these livestock to protect them from African predators. These dogs are given to African farmers for free if they promise to get rid of any traps, guns, and poisons used to kill cheetahs. Because cheetahs are not nocturnal, they are often blamed for livestock killings, even though it may not be cheetahs. In return for protection for their animals, farmers are asked to promise not to harm wild cheetahs. The third mission is for birds of prey. This is a rehabilitation project, so every bird brought to them will eventually be released into the wild. After taking a tour of the area and getting to pet a cheetah and hold an owl, we went to one of the estate’s wine cellars for a private wine tasting. We learned their wine production process, about the oak barrels used to store the wine, and the proper technique for tasting wine. We had a new and aged cabernet sauvignon and a sauvignon blanc. I’m a red wine drinker, so I liked the cab better. I would recommend any wine from Spier, though, so look for it at BevMo. We bused back to the ship and got onboard, only to sit in the port for almost another 24 hours. The wind was really strong, so they delayed our departure time. You have no idea how difficult it is to go to classes and eat ship food when you’re overlooking a port that you want to explore more. So we left a day late, but it won’t delay us getting to Ghana. Please, we’re on the fastest passenger cruise liner in the world…

So then, time for the conclusion. I have never fallen more in love with a port than I have with Cape Town. The food, the people, the atmosphere, the adventure just captivated me in a way I could never have imagined. One of the nights, as we were walking along Long Street, I saw two different advertising/creative agencies. Had it not been midnight, I would have stopped in and asked for job applications. Five days was not enough. You could literally spend weeks in South Africa; there was so much more I wanted to do but simply did not have enough time. I guess it also helps that I was with a group of people that I am absolutely in love with. Your memories are completely different when your friends are in the picture…literally. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to travel and be with all of them.

Thirty-two hours on the island of Mauritius. Ready, set, go! A lot of us signed up for an SAS trip the first day called Adventure Park and Beach. In the morning, we drove down to the southwest side of the island to an adventure park, where we harnessed up for a ropes and obstacle course through the jungle. There were two sections – the first was a series of seven wood and rope bridges at different heights and the second was a more rigorous obstacle and ropes course. The bridges were really fun and really not difficult except for the one bridge with no rope rails to balance with. After each bridge, you had to remove your belay and hook it to the next one. Halfway through the first section, we all noticed little gnat-looking bugs attaching themselves to our legs. Deet or no deet, these bugs were on us like white on rice. Sometimes I would catch 10 of them in a two square inch area of skin. I tried moving and running my hands up and down my legs as frequently as possible so they wouldn’t have enough time to bite me. Some people reacted immediately to the bites and you could see big welts and bumps right away. I didn’t notice mine at all which made me think I didn’t get as many as others. We continued on to the second portion, which was a series of tight wires, rope nets, a zip line, and small log swings you had to maneuver through. As if the second portion wasn’t rigorous enough, everything was wet and muddy from the on-and-off rain. The wet mud stuck to our shoes, which stuck to the ropes and wood, which made it incredibly difficult to stay balanced. This cause traffic jams, which cause everyone to stand in the swamp mud, which caused more bugs to infest every inch of skin. At the end of the course, we had lunch at the park and then continued on to Flic en Flac, the resort and tourist area of the island with beautiful beaches. We got a little over an hour to hang on the beach, avoiding all the coral, and just relax. At this point, I still felt pretty luck to not have had many bug bites, unlike a lot of the others on the trip. We got back to the ship, ate dinner, showered, and then gathered all of Team Awesome to head back down to the southeast side of the island to our hotel, which was right next to the place our catamaran left from. There were eleven of us that climbed into a large van for the hour ride, but we stopped at the supermarket for some snacks and such, and we finally made it to Blue Lagoon at 9 p.m. or so and met up with a few other people who had gotten there earlier in the day. From what we could see, it looked like a nice resort with and was on a really nice beach. So then the fun part came of trying to check in. And you all know that Team Awesome is known for sneaking and cramming into small hotel rooms. Well, since there were 14 of us, we decided maybe two rooms would be a little better. So we booked two rooms and while two people went to check-in, the rest of us stayed outside the gates to wait for the coast to be clear. Now here’s where our failsafe plan failed. The three who got to the hotel earlier in the day were supposed to check into just one room and we were going to check into the other room when we got there. Well, the first three checked into both rooms so it obviously looked a little suspicious when two more people tried to check into the second room. We had to try to convince the woman at the front desk that only two of three that originally checked in were going to be in one room and two more were going to be in the second room. That didn’t fly so well, so we decided to put all our stuff into one room, which was HUGE by the way, and go hang by the beach for a while before trying to sneak in again. We sat on a bench listening to random ipod playlists – everything from Sublime to Miley Cyrus to Michael Jackson. When it started to rain, we took cover under a huge tree and then walked closer to the beach. We all snagged some lawn chairs and dragged them into a circle and just looked up. I have never seen so many stars in my entire life, and for the first time, I saw the Southern Cross, which can only be seen from the southern hemisphere. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen, and when your feet are in the Indian Ocean and you’re surrounded by the people you know will be some of your best friends for life, it’s hard to not feel like the most blessed person in the world. So after carrying on our escapades for another couple hours, we figured it might be smart to get some sleep. But when 10 people try sneaking into a hotel at 1 a.m., it’s again kind of suspicious. Needless to say, it didn’t work and only half of us made it through. By 1:30 a.m., three of us were in the big room, four were in the smaller room, and the other seven slept on the beach. Upon waking up the next morning, I noticed Victoria had managed to sneak up to the room and that my legs were inflamed, on fire, and itching like none other. I had apparently unknowingly scratched my legs through the night, and as I looked at my legs, I could only guess I had 200 bites on my legs. All I wanted to do was either cut my legs off or die. Now, I have a pretty high pain tolerance. I once walked around for a week with an arm broken in two places, because I thought it didn’t hurt bad enough to go to the doctor. But this was absolutely unbearable! The cortisone I had with me did nothing, so I had to buck up and hope a drink or two on the catamaran would cure it. We were out of the hotel by 8:30 after we got another lecture by the woman at the reception about having too many people and then smuggled 10 croissants from the breakfast buffet. We cheered the moment we left the hotel property – we could not wait to get out of there and on with our day.

We boarded the catamaran at 10 a.m. with 17 SAS students (mostly Team Awesome) and were stoked that we managed to basically rent out an entire catamaran just for us. That is, until about 10 French tourists joined us…with a child! Who brings a 4-year-old on a booze cruise?! I mean…a catamaran snorkeling adventure. Most of the SASers just decided to move toward the front of the boat and claim our sunbathing spots and let the French have the back of the boat. By 10:30 a.m. we were all laying in a row at the front of the boat with rum and cokes in hand…I mean cherry Cokes in hand. By 11:00 a.m., we realized the French tourists weren’t that bad and we started mingling a little more. By 11:30 a.m. we were singing French and American songs back and forth and dancing with each other. By the time we got to our first stop, the French tourists and the American college students were best friends. The catamaran arrived at a channel, where we had to disembark onto smaller “Jungle cruise” type boats to get a closer look at the waterfall at the end of the channel. The boats were small, so the SASers got into one boat and the French got into another. After getting a chance to look at the waterfall up close, we raced back to our catamaran. It felt like the Fast and the Furious: Mauritian Drift. Our boats were racing one another, crossing back and forth, and as soon as we could get close enough to each other, we would launch buckets of water back and forth in an attempt to slow the driver of the French tourists. No such luck. For the first time in hundreds of years, the French beat the Americans. They felt bad for winning, so as each of us got back on the boat, they gave each of us SASers a kiss on the hand as if to say “I’m sorry.” As soon as the catamaran made it into shallower waters, we got snorkeling gear and jumped in to the most crystal clear water I have ever seen. It wasn’t scuba, but it was still pretty incredible. A few people went parasailing, but I was just as content exploring the Mauritian marine life. Back on board, we ate lunch prepared by the catamaran crew – chicken, fish, pasta and potato salad, corn bread and French bread, and pineapple – delicious! During lunch, someone from SAS came over to me and said, “There’s a woman over here from Cannes! You’ve been there right? Come meet her!” I walked over there and even though I don’t know how to say more than two words in French, somehow we communicated and I told her Cannes was so beautiful and my trip there was one of the best in my life. She had this huge smile come across her face and gave me a huge hug and dragged me over to meet her husband. Moments like that is what Semester at Sea is all about. Our next stop was a little island with shops and other water activities. A lot of the handicrafts were a little pricey, so I decided to spend my money on something more worthwhile – banana boat! Graham, Alli, Victoria, Brittany, and I loaded the boat for a little coastal tour. Halfway through the ride, the driver asked if we wanted to fall. We looked at each other and shrugged, “Sure!” Before we knew it, we were being launched from the boat and skidded across the water. I’m pretty sure I still have salt water lodged in my brain. The second time we all flung off was a little easier on the brain, but I got the wind knocked out of me and scraped my toes on coral. Someone landed on Victoria and everyone else felt concussed. We waved the white flag, “We give up, take us back in!” While waiting for our catamaran, we walked out onto the sand bar and laid on the sand, which was covered in a few inches of water. We rolled around in the shallow water and I did a couple cartwheels. I could have stayed there forever! But it was already 2:30 p.m. and in order to get back to the ship on time and avoid dock time for the next port, we needed to be in the taxi van by 4:00 and no later. As we sailed back to the dock, we dangled our feet off the edge of the boat and watched the coral below us alive with fish. The ocean floor was not more than 6 feet below us, so you could see everything. The sun was warm and the sky was clear – it was a perfect day! I think at some point during the day, I heard everyone we were with say how blessed they felt to not only be where they were, but blessed to be with the people were with.

When we got back to the dock and started to disembark, one of the French guys stood on the bow helping each of us off and giving us each two kisses, one on each cheek. We waved and blew kisses all the way to our awaiting taxi vans. All 17 of us piled in two vans and asked the drivers to step on it. Once we got into Port Louis, we noticed our driver looked a little confused. He was texting and driving incredibly slow. We looked out the window and noticed the MV was on the other side of the harbor and we were going in the opposite direction. We shouted and pointed out the window to show him where we needed to go. Our van stopped at a gate and we assumed he was asking for directions. He continued on his way and made an illegal u-turn to start heading in the other direction. We all breathed a sigh of relief when we realized we were now going in the right direction, but it was 5:15 p.m. and we were now sitting in rush hour traffic. We had 45 minutes to back on ship. That illegal u-turn caught up with us and we were now being followed by a cop. We definitely did not have time to be pulled over. The driver handed him paperwork and the officer slowly walked along the outside of the van, counting each passenger. We opened one of the windows and the officer shook his finger at us, “He cannot drive. He has no license to be driving this van.” Our jaws dropped and in the middle of the traffic in Port Louis, all ten of us jumped out and started running through the streets. Of course, every other cab was taken, so we just kept running. As if this wasn’t bad enough, my bug bites were killing me and I hadn’t peed in hours. We continued running until we hit the harbor. Except we were still on the opposite side from where the Explorer was. We all jumped in a water taxi, overpaid the driver, and yelled at him to get to the big blue boat ASAP! It was now 5:30. We anxiously sat in the water taxi that was going all of about two nauts…not conducive. As we came up alongside the Explorer, we barely hit the dock before we were all leaping onto the concrete and running to swipe our cards before the clock struck 6 p.m. Only instead of turning into pumpkins, we would be dead and get dock time….much worse than turning into pumpkins obviously. Upon approaching the gangway, we saw a line that was a mile long. We found our way to the back of the line – it was 5:45. And of course it seemed like every person in front us had the biggest backpack in the world, which needed to be searched thoroughly, of course. At this point, all I was thinking about was peeing. My foot stepped on the gangway and my card swiped through. It was 5:56 p.m. – four minutes to spare. Close call! But it was all worth it and I would do it over again in a heartbeat. I finally got to pee and spray my legs with Dermoplast. And to make the day complete, the dining hall was serving breakfast for dinner. So I ate, went to the health center to get some prednisone of which I took 2 of those and 2 benadryl, and went to bed at 8:30 p.m. I woke up at least 6 or 7 times last night and wanted to scrape my legs off. I’ve been so miserable today, I skipped all of my classes. But just for laughs, I thought I’d actually count the bug bites. I marked off each one with a marker, so I didn’t double count. 200? Yeah, right…try 1,387. Pardon me while I go die…

The part of the trip we had all been waiting for…or least the part I was waiting for. It was the land of Indiana Jones – the real Indiana Jones. I stepped off the ship to a world of adventure, color, vibrancy, and amity. I was in India.

Chennai was our first port, of which we had a full day in before heading up north for our Taj Mahal trip. We just wanted to explore and to wander and to get lost and to see the real India. As soon as we walked out the port gate, we were greeted by Sammy the tug tug driver. A tug tug is a form of auto rickshaw with one wheel on the front and two on the back. It is supposed to fit 2 people, but we being the crammers we are, fit 4. Three were in the back and I sat up front with Sammy, one butt cheek hanging off the seat and part of my body out the side. No windows, no doors, no seatbelts, just freedom. Sammy took us around for the day and there was no lack of shopping destinations. Indian tug tug drivers are paid by shops (usually more on the pricey end) to take their passengers to shop at these places. Drivers get commission on whatever the passengers buy. It is very difficult to convince drivers to take you ONLY to the places you want to go, so eventually you just have to refuse to get out of the tug tug. Next to one of the stores we stopped at was a snake charmer. My trip to India would not have been the same without seeing this. Two men sat on the ground with 2 woven baskets, each containing a cobra. He opened the lid and played his flute, at which time the snake rose straight up and moved back and forth, almost dancing. I’m pretty sure the snake had been de-fanged (if that’s possible), because it struck the flutist multiple times, but his skin didn’t break. He did show us some of his scars from previous encounters, though. We continued on our way to a few more shops (ones that we did want to go to) as well as a buffet lunch at the Park Sheraton. Since a lot of the street food, including restaurants, can be dangerous to eat at, we thought this was the best place…and it came at high recommendation from a previous SASer. The buffet was one of the largest I’ve ever seen and had every type of Indian dish you could imagine, from vegetarian to non-vegetarian. This was my first time having authentic Indian food, and when I realized most of the dishes were incredibly spicy, I realized this was exactly where I needed to be. Also, because most Indians don’t eat beef, there was an abundance of chicken – score! And though it wasn’t Farrell’s, I had a delicious ice cream sundae for dessert. While waiting for Renae at the post office, the rest of us were outside watching the locals in their homes. There were a few kids walking home from school. After taking a few pictures, we were surrounded by about a dozen kids, all wanting us to take their pictures. They loved seeing themselves on our playback screens, and they knew exactly how to pose for us. I saw some of the most beautiful kids and the most beautiful, bright eyes I have ever seen. I could not help but take dozens of pictures of the essence of India.

We decided to head back to the ship relatively early, because we had yet another early trip to leave for the next morning. But on the way back, an Audi next to us rolled down its window and a man starting to talking to Sammy. He looked at me and asked where we were from, and I responded. After a brief conversation, he rolled up his window and continued on his way. Sammy said his name was Deva Shan (sp?), who apparently was a famous Indian singer. Look him up and let me know who he is. He had longer shaggy hair, was in his 30s, and was kind of heavier. Okay, so at 3:45 a.m. the next morning, we met in the union to leave for our flight to Varanasi, one of the oldest city in the world.

Upon arriving in Varanasi, we went to the Indian Art Emporium to see one of the oldest silk factories in India. They still make all their products with an old-fashioned spool. We toured their showrooms, which had the most beautiful (and pricey) silk scarves, saris, table cloths and runners, and duvet covers. In the evening, all of the people in our group took bicycle rickshaws to the Ganges River. There was a line of 25 rickshaws all motorcading down to the river. People on the street were so nice. Everyone smiled and waved at us, and one guy even ran over to the rickshaw to shake my hand. Kids waved from the tops of buildings and women smiled from their vegetable stands. It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. It was then I saw how incredible the people of India are. Once at the river, we watched a Hindu religious ceremony done every night at sundown. Nine priests stand on a platform and while music is played and bells are rung, they burn incense and offer prayers to the Hindu gods. People sitting in boats on the river lit candles and let them float on the water. A few of us did the same and walked our candles down to the river and let them float off into the distance. Hundreds of people gather every night for this ritual, and it was such a cool thing to see all these Indian people with their families dancing and praying.

The next morning, we woke up before sunrise to head back to the Ganges to see the sun rise over the river. We got in a small boat rowed by two young guys and headed up and down the river. There were people bathing to cleanse themselves spiritually before the start of the day. Men were washing clothes (yes men, take heed!) and others were playing cricket on the steps of dormant temples. Down the river, we stopped at an old village, known for being the place of cremation. Hindus believe that if a relative is cremated and the ashes dumped in the river, they will have a special place in paradise. Piles and piles of wood sat on the steps leading down to the river, and there was a hole in the ground for the cremation process to take place, which usually takes 4 to 5 hours. We walked through the narrow streets, weaving through cows, dogs, water buffalo, and children. We met our bus on the other side of the river to continue on to the ruins of Sarnath. Within this ancient city were many temples, including the one where Buddha gave his first lecture. Across the street from this temple was the Archaeological Museum, which has the largest collection of ancient art. Art from the 5^th and 6^th century were displayed, and I could not help but wonder whose hands made it and whose house it was in 1500 years ago.

In the afternoon, we took a flight back to Delhi to have an evening tour of the city before yet another early morning. We visited a beautiful Hindu temple built in the early 1930s. We learned about the main gods and what they were worshipped for. In the Hindu religion, there are over 300 million gods, all worshipped for something different. We walked around the massive temple and got to see how devout these people are to their religion. Later, we drove by the massive parliament house. India’s government structure is similar to the U.S. There are individual states, which have their own local government and then a federal government that rules over the whole country. Okay, bed time. Actually, not really. We stayed up in our hotel to go to the F Bar, considered to be the best bar in India. It was in our beautiful hotel, the Ashok, but drinks were ridiculously expensive, so we each only had one. I’m keeping my running tally of having a margarita in each country J

Okay, so now it’s off to bed. We woke up at dark again for a two-hour train ride to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. Of course that wasn’t the only thing we saw in Agra. They made us wait until the end of the day to see the Taj. I felt like a little kid running errands with mom before finally getting to the toy store. We drove through the countryside before arriving in the deserted city of Fatepuhr Sikri, which was built by Akbar as his capital to honor a Muslim saint who prophesied the birth of an heir. The architecture was beautiful. There were many arches and columns all made with red sandstone. Next we saw the Agra Fort, where the builder of the Taj Mahal spent his last days in prison. He had three sons, of which the eldest was to become the next ruler. The youngest son did not like this so he killed all of his brothers and imprisoned his father, who was forced to overlook his majestic creation until death. We could see the Taj off in the distance and could not wait to get there. Before we left the fort, I was stopped multiple times and asked to have pictures taken with the locals. I felt honored.

Our buses arrived outside the gates to the Taj Mahal, and we had to walk about a half mile to the entrance. Along the path, numerous kids and adults ran up to us trying to sell keychains, postcards, wood carvings of the Taj, and kama sutra books (hey, it’s India…). We arrived at the gate, only to find a line of hundreds of people going through airport-like security. It took about 30 minutes to get through the line, a little more walking, through a tunnel, and there it was. One of the seven wonders of the world. It looked just like a postcard – almost 2 dimensional. It was so crowded and people were pushing to get the perfect picture. I stood there for a moment to snap the best picture with my eyes as possible…until an Indian man stood in front of me with a large grin and asked to take a photo with Alli and I. We took about 8 or 9 pictures, but the last one was the best. He stood in the middle, held our hands, and raised them up in the air. We were sure we got married. We took pictures all the way up to the very front of the structure, including jumping pictures of which we were promptly reprimanded for…probably makes sense, but they turned out AWESOME!

Unfortunately, we didn’t get as much time as we were promised to roam the grounds, so we had to hurry through the inside. The line was wrapped around the building and we had to squeeze in with another group just to make it before our bus left. Inside the mausoleum were two marble coffins with the remains of Emperor Shah Jahan, who built the temple for his wife, Queen Mumtaz Mahal. I absorbed everything I could and continually looked over my shoulder as the Taj Mahal faded out of sight.

We took the train back to our hotel in Delhi and I felt asleep within .5 seconds of hitting the pillow. I have never been more sleep deprived as I was on this trip. And let me tell you, Indian coffee is NOT good! I was pretty excited to sleep in until 8:45 the next morning before catching our flight to Cochin.

Cochin was my favorite city in India. The drive from the airport to the ship reminded me a lot of Jamaica. It was so green and tropical but with a lot of poverty and unfinished and vacant buildings alongside the road. There were also more advertisements and billboards in this city than any other place I saw in India, including Delhi and Chennai, the technology capital of India.

That night, Renae, Graham, and I decided to go find a movie theatre. We originally wanted to see Alice in Wonderland, which is actually out in India, but the only English theatre was showing Final Destination 4 and Avatar. But then we decided, why go see an American movie in India? So we got back in our cab and asked our driver to find a movie theatre that was showing a film  saw advertised everywhere I went in India. The film was called My Name is Khan, directed by Karan Johar and distributed by Fox Searchlight and produced by Fox Star Studios. It tells the story of a Muslim man with Asperger’s Syndrome. After 9/11 and the poor treatment he and his family receive from Americans, his goal is to go see the President. His message? “My name is Khan, and I am not a terrorist.” The film took place mostly in America, so a lot of it was in English. There were no subtitles on the parts that needed it, but I could understand it just fine. It was a fantastic film with great talent, and I can’t wait to get it on DVD! The theatre we went to was really large, holding probably 800 seats. We sat n the balcony and the seats reclined almost into a horizontal position. I The three of us got a drink and a chocolate candy bar called Tops form the concession stand. My candy and a liter of water was 25 rupees, which is equivalent to 50 cents. Even though the theatre was cool, I’m pretty sure I felt a few spiders run across my arm, but hey, it’s all about the experience…

The next day, we slept in a little before our big market day. We went to Jew Town, which was a long street of shops and restaurants. Every shop was selling the same thing, and because I got excited and bought things toward the beginning, I realized by the end of the street that I had overpaid for many of my souvenirs. Shoot! I could have sworn I was taught better about this. At the end of the street we found a restaurant that overlooked the harbor. I was a little nervous to eat on the street, even though it was a legitimate looking restaurant, because all the restaurants we ate at on our Taj trip were at hotels. I figured that was because most street restaurants couldn’t be trusted in terms of food and beverage preparation. It was a really neat restaurant, though. It had a 50-foot wooden canoe in the middle of it. We walked out the back door to sit outside, next to a large fan, and overlooked the harbor. I had the chicken masala (extra spicy) and rice and nan (Indian pita bread). It was delicious but not as delicious as the chocolate ice cream we had next door at a small café. That’s the other thing I’ve had in every country – ice cream. We made our way back to our cab driver, who waited for us for 4 hours (most cab drivers will wait all day or take you around for a fixed price), and headed back to the ship for a long-awaited shower. Let me tell you, I have never dripped so much sweat in my entire life combined. It was gross, but so worth it!

Now, for some things I found so interesting about India. First is the people. I could probably go on for pages talking about how incredible they are. Every person we met – man, woman, child, elder – treated us with the utmost respect and wanted to actually take the time to get to know us. Though we met friendly people in other countries, India consistently had the nicest people. I was thinking about this, and I feel like it’s probably because the United States has never had a war or conflict with India. In general, there is no reason for resentment or hidden anger on either side. This is just my theory so far, so I’ll have to see if the same holds true in some of the other countries we visit. Going along with this is the attitudes I saw despite the huge amount of poverty. I have never seen so much poverty in my entire life, yet I have never seen as many smiles within it. This reminded me of something I learned in my Anthropology of Stuff class. There is a point where happiness increases with money, but when that point is reached, happiness not only plateaus but it actually decreases slightly. That point, believe it or not, is $15,000. These people are the happiest when they are with their family and friends, when they are sitting in the streets playing games or interacting with community members. This is one thing I have found in common in all of the places we have visited so far. Each country is very collectivist as a society, unlike the United States. With family and community, what else is there? It’s something I have really been thinking about.

The next thing I noticed is the segregation of men and women. Everywhere we went that required security separated the men and women into two different lines. After the metal detectors, all women are taken into a curtained-off room for the pat downs. They don’t do it in public like most other places I’ve visited, including the US. It’s not like they actually respect women’s privacy, and I’ll tell you what I mean by that in a minute. I thought this segregation was just for security until I went to the movie theatre, where the women stood in one line to buy tickets, while men stood in another line. I never did figure out the reason for this. I will have to ask my good friend Medora.

So back to the women’s issues. More than once I experienced the much talked about inappropriate touching by Indian men. I don’t think they do it to be gross, I just think they want to see what they can get away with. You basically have two options – ignore it or reprimand them. Either way, it doesn’t matter; they continue to do it anyway. The first time it happened, it was in the street at night and inconspicuous, so I ignored it and walked quickly to mix in with the rest of the group. The second time it happened was completely obvious. We were sleeping on the train to Agra and any girl sitting in an isle seat was pointedly tapped in the chest multiple times and asked if we wanted breakfast, coffee or tea, mints, newspapers, and anything else they could find an excuse to come touch us. That time I shot a glare, but all I got was a laugh.

In spite of the few instances, I really enjoyed learning about the people and culture the most. I smelled the history in the dirt roads under my feet. I saw stories behind the eyes of the mothers and grandmothers. I tasted the food that had been cooked from a thousand-year-old recipe. I heard the happiness in the laughter of children. But most importantly, I felt the impact of a culture so different from mine that it almost felt just the same.

It was a pretty unconventional 21^st birthday, but one that I will remember for the rest of my life (unlike many others who celebrate 21^st birthdays). I was on deck 7 at the front of the boat when the clock struck midnight. Yellow and white lights in the distance told me we were approaching Singapore. Unfortunately when we bunkered in its harbor the next day, we were not allowed to disembark. So no, I was not technically on land in Singapore for my birthday, but we were in their waters, so it counts. The day after my birthday, Team Awesome celebrate my birthday with a “special occasion dinner”. It’s basically a really nice, 5-course dinner that you book and dress up for. It was delicious!

Okay, but back to the actual day of my birthday…I woke up and had breakfast before my three classes. My two favorite wait staff, Allan (a young, small Filipino man) and Mezraim (a large Jamaican man), sang to me in the dining hall and put a yellow candle in a cinnamon roll for me. It wasn’t my traditional Rockwell’s chocolate chip pancakes, but it served the purpose. I headed off to my classes and gave myself a birthday present of ditching my last class, consumer behavior class (well worth it!). After coming back to a fully decorated room filled with streamers (thanks Alli!), I headed up to the spa on board for my Seven Seas Massage. It was absolutely delightful and much needed but went by far too fast. The rest of the day, other than the not-so-exciting meals, included episodes of True Blood and Californication, my two favorite shows at the moment. I scarfed down some dinner before Team Awesome’s first basketball game. I know, I know, all you have been hearing about is our terrible luck with basketball. This first game we played was actually supposed to be our last game, but the games have been canceled so frequently due to whatever excuses SAS wants to give. So this game, on my birthday, started our season, and luckily we won 15 to 9! I’m pretty dang proud of Team Awesome (Alli, Graham, Corey, and myself). Later that night, a group of us watched the Ugly Truth, and unfortunately I fell asleep during the middle so I can’t exactly tell you what it was about. I’m pretty embarrassed, I haven’t fallen asleep in a movie on the ship yet. I made it to see midnight on March 6^th, and it was a fantastic day. But don’t be fooled, I’ll be ready to celebrate all over again when I get back in May.

On March 7^th, we had no class for the ever-important Sea Olympics. This is a day full of random games in which each of the ten seas compete against each other for the gold. And the gold means your sea gets to disembark the ship first in Ft. Lauderdale. So off we went! I participated in three events – the salty whistle, the singing SAS-ers, and leap frog during the relay race. The first event was the salty whistle, in which each participant had to eat 10 saltine crackers and whistle the first verse of “Twinkle, twinkle little star”. Now, I know you’re thinking that you could do this easy. But seriously, try it, it’s seriously difficult. Saltines are the driest food on the planet, and they suck every ounce of moisture out of your mouth. Needless to say, I won this event in less than a minute and a half. Beat that! My next event was a lip-synching contest called the singing SAS-ers. Each team was given a song to choreograph a dance to and sing, with each team consisting of 10 people. The Mediterranean Sea had Thriller, so obviously I was all in. It was one guy and nine girls. The guy was obviously Michael. We dressed in all black with zombie makeup and put masks on the backs of our heads. I did the Vincent Price voiceover at the end. Apparently we rocked it, because we won that event as well. Unfortunately, though we won the leap frog portion of the relay race, we didn’t win that event. The day really just kept getting better and better, despite the fact that it was so hot and humid. Other events included tug of war, synchronized swimming, crab soccer (but not on your feet, in the crab walk), family feud, and SAS trivia. At the end of the day, the crew set up deck 7 for a barbeque. Hamburgers, ribs, and baked beans made our night! As happy as I was with my cheeseburger, unfortunately we did not win first place. However, we won bronze and won best spirit. I was most excited we won the lip-synching and the spirit award, and I honestly don’t care much about getting of the ship first. By that point, I will probably try to grasp onto every last second on the ship with Team Awesome. But let’s not think about that. India is in two days…hot and sweaty, here I come!

Walking off the ship into 100 degrees of heat and 99% humidity does wonders for your hair. Really, you should try it sometime. Crossing a street with no streetlights and trying to dodge about 75 motorbikes is great for your coordination as well. Welcome to Vietnam, folks!

As I am en route to India, I thought I’d share some of my experiences from the country that brought our travels to Southeast Asia to an end. We arrived in Vietnam and a group of us woke up to watch the sunrise and we slowly traveled down the bay to our port of call. It took about 3 hours of traveling down the bay, so it was a great chance to see the landscape of Vietnam and a brief overview of the lifestyle. Fishing boats weaved around our boat and industrial workers watched the MV from land. The country was green and the water was brown. There were as many rice patties as there was pollution in the air. As soon as we docked, a few of us headed out for a full day of exploring before Alli and I had to leave for our trip to Ha Noi and Halong Bay the next day.

Our first and best piece of information was regarding crossing the streets. There are barely any streetlights, and the few places we did see them, they were rarely obeyed. The ratio or motorbikes to cars was about 100 to 1. Vinasun and Mai Linh were the only reputable taxi companies and the only ones that were metered. When crossing the street, you cannot wait until there is a break in traffic. If you aim for that, you could be standing on the same sidewalk for hours…or days. On the contrary, you look for a slight slow in traffic before you try to cross. As soon as you spot one, don’t run, but walk. Walk confidently and mind your surroundings. If you dart or run to try to make it to the median or the other side, you will be hit. Motorists plan their route around pedestrians. They have been doing this for so long, they know exactly where to go to avoid you. There is no pedestrian right of way. In addition, there is nowhere in Vietnam that you will not hear honking horns. But no, it’s not like mean New Yorkers flipping you off and yelling at you out their windows to get out of the way. In Vietnam, the honking is merely to let pedestrians or other motorists that they are approaching. It is more of a warning. Imagine if you were on the freeway and wanted to change lanes. Instead of going crazy checking every mirror and thoroughly eyeing every blind spot, you would just honk to let anyone around you know that you are moving over. It seems absolutely crazy, but it works and I didn’t see a single accident or death the entire time I was there. 

The first day, all the Team Awesome girls headed out for…you guessed it. Shopping, mani’s and pedi’s, and custom dress tailoring. Our first stop was the Banh indoor market. This warehouse was full of vendors all selling the exact same things. Anything from designer apparel, purses, and shoes, to Vietnamese handicrafts and art, to meat, fruit, and vegetables. The front of the market was goods and the back was small eateries and a food market. A second piece of information. The currency is extremely difficult to follow. One US dollar is equivalent to 18,635 VND, or dong (and yes, the “dong” jokes were infinite). To put it into perspective, a typical meal of Pho (noodle soup with meat) is about 40,000 dong, so just a little over $2. While the food was cheap, the Vietnamese are definitely getting smarter about hiking up the prices for western tourists. Our mani’s and pedi’s were $10, which is cheap, but not as cheap as some of us had heard. They also are less open to bargaining in comparison to China and Hong Kong. When they tell you a price, you may be able to get them down a dollar…two if you’re lucky. US dollars are widely accepted but credit cards are not, which I suppose is a good thing in terms of avoiding identity theft. You would never know this is a communist country, except for the fact that Facebook is blocked and there are Russian flags somewhat present. Vietnam has generally accepted a free market economy and a lot has changed in the past 20 years, or so I have been told. After the market and having some Pho, we walked the streets looking for a tailor who would custom-make dresses for us. We meandered into one that would make us any dress for $40. A couple girls brought pictures of dresses, but the rest of us flipped through books and magazines. The one I had made is a dark purple with a low back and crossed straps in the back that are silver. It fits great and for that price, it’s a great souvenir. We finished our day at Jasmine’s Spa for some manicures and pedicures. They didn’t have enough room for all of us, so some had to sit in the lobby and in random chairs to get everything done. I’m not sure if it was because there were so many of us or if they just do things different, but I actually like American pedicures better. In Vietnam, there is no foot scrub, callous removing, or leg massage. I was a little disappointed, but again, for the price we paid, it was worth it. Alli and I headed back to the ship to eat dinner and pack for our 3-day trip that we had to leave for at 3:45 the next morning.

Oh wait, we got the time wrong. We didn’t have to leave until 4:30 a.m. I guess better early than late. We didn’t mind, we just ate a few more chocolate croissants at breakfast. Our flight to Ha Noi was less than 2 hours, so we got there around 8 a.m. for a full day of touring. Our first stop was the Ho Chi Minh complex, or mausoleum, where Ho Chi Minh’s body is. This area is very strict with a lot of guards. Knees had to be covered as well as shoulders. Upon entering the large stone mausoleum, visitors had to be lined up 2-by-2, arms at your sides, and absolutely no talking. As you entered the room where his bodied was, you merged into a single file line. Ho Chi Minh dies in 1969 and his body has been preserved ever since. It is in a glass casing with rose petals surrounding him, everything still in tact. The room was about 48 degrees, but luckily you are only in there for 45 seconds at the most. You are not allowed to stop or take pictures or videos of any kind. There are four guards, one at each corner of the case, watching over his body 24 hours a day. The people of Vietnam respected Ho Chi Minh very much because of his leadership abilities and the way he ran the country. He told his people, “Think of me not as your president, but as your uncle.”

We then visited the area Ho Chi Minh resided and lived. He refused to live in any sort of palace or mansion, but instead lived in a house on stilts, with only a bedroom and an office. His cars were also still there – two Russian cars and one British car. The One Pillar Pagoda was next on our stop. Though the war destroyed the original 11^th century pagoda, it has been rebuilt to tell the story of why it is there. Centuries ago, a man prayed to Buddha, asking him for a son (boys are preferred over girls). After his wife gave birth to a son, the man vowed he would build a one pillar pagoda for Buddha so others could also pray. Now, even though girls are accepted as legitimate offspring, couples will still go to the pagoda to pray for a boy.

Our final stop for the day was to the Army Museum and the Ha Noi Hilton prison. This museum portrayed the fight between the French and Vietnamese and well as the US and Vietnam, called the American War (not the Vietnam War, obviously). It was very interesting to go to a museum portraying the Vietnam War, but from the other side. Obviously each country has their own story to tell, but it is really interesting hearing it from the other side and seeing pictures and hearing stories I have never seen or heard before. As much as I am always trying to be grateful for our troops and what they do to protect our freedom, it is hard to feel the same way when the Vietnam War was not necessarily “protecting” America. We were really under no threat by Vietnam, but rather trying to help the people. I guess I just feel bad for the men and women who died fighting this war, which ultimately was not for us…though I am still grateful and feel terrible for both sides. Most of the prison had been torn down, including the section John McCain was held, but there was a small section available to the public. We saw many of the cells that American prisoners were kept as well as many artifacts from prisoners. Signs told stories of escape and execution. Pictures and biographies of POW’s and MIA’s were in a binder sitting by one of the cells, along with John McCain’s parachute and uniform from when he was pulled out of the Ha Noi river, which we also got to walk along.

That afternoon, we had a three and a half hour drive to Halong. Along the way, we got to see a great deal of the countryside in Vietnam and what it is like for most of the population. There are a great deal of farmers and an abundance of rice patties. It is just like you imagined it from decades ago. Men and women bent over, placing in each root into the water by hand and wearing the triangle hat to protect them from the heat. Buffalo standing in the fields, some of them being used to plow the fields before planting. And for miles and miles, there are grids of patties, which are being grown to export to most of the world. Vietnam is second to Thailand in terms of exporting the most rice in the world, and from the pictures I have, you will see how. There are lots of dogs running around, but I only saw one kind. It looks like a mini German Shepherd mixed with a Shiba Inu. Every house had one of these mixed dogs, and I’m really hoping it was their pet and not dinner. We got to Halong and checked into our hotel. Despite sleeping almost the entire bus ride, I still had no energy to explore the city that night, and decided to go to bed.

The next day was my absolute favorite – a four-hour boat ride through the majestic Halong Bay. This bay is made up of a chain of literally thousands of islands. The water, though emerald green, had a lot f trash in it. This is because there are boat communities of fishermen and their families that live on the water. We had the opportunity to stop at one of these communities to look at the day’s catch – small sharks, snow crab, shrimp, muscles, clams, and lobster. We also stopped off at a small island to walk into one of the most beautiful caves in Halong. As we were approaching the island, I felt like I was in the real life version of Jurassic Park. It was every shade of green and mountainous and there was music playing on speakers throughout the island. The cave was filled with stalagmites that were artificially lit with a rainbow of colors. On the other side, I got a Thai coconut to drink/eat and took pictures with some Vietnamese men at their request…haha. My roommate on this particular trip was yelling “Brittney Spears!” and pointing to me. One guy even wanted me to climb out on a rocky ledge for a better picture. I think being famous in other countries is far better than trying to get famous in the U.S…I’ll just stick with that plan instead J On this trip, I found my new favorite person. Her name is Miliford Medora and she is a professor on the ship who is from India. This small little woman is a sarcastic firecracker who will talk your ear off and make dirty jokes and then blame them on you. She has something to say about everything and doesn’t hesitate to let you know, but that’s exactly what makes her so funny. Well that, and the fact that her Indian accent makes her jokes ten times better. Please ask me to show you videos when I get back. Luckily, she teaches at CSULB, so I don’t have to travel far to get my Medora fix!

We ate lunch aboard our beautiful boat and continued sailing around the bay for another couple hours before heading the three and a half hour bus ride back to Ha Noi…of which I slept all of again. I’m obviously not sleep deprived at all…

Once back in Ha Noi, the next day, we visited the Temple of Literature, the oldest university in Vietnam, dating back to the 11^th century. We also walked around the Quan Thanh Temple, the Tran Quoc Pagoda, and 36 Streets, which are miles of little street shops. The streets smelled like sewer and I didn’t feel like shopping, so a few of us sat down at a café and I had my new favorite coffee drink – coffee and condensed milk – try it, it’s so delicious! After lunch, we headed to the airport for our flight back to Ho Chi Minh, where we had one day until departure.

Our last night in Ho Chi Minh, a group of us went out to have an early birthday celebration for me. We went to the Rex Hotel, which is historic for being the
“hot spot” for GI’s and reporters to have a drink during the war. The bar is outdoor and on top of the hotel. A band was doing Beatles covers, except with Vietnamese accents…still good overall.

The next day was one of my favorites because my little movie collection grew exponentially! DVD street was our first stop. These stores had everything you could imagine – new movies, old movies, box sets, director and actor collections, cartoons – you name it. After perusing the walls of DVD’s, I settled on two different box sets and a TV season. One has every Oscar winner since the beginning – 100 in total. The other was every Disney/Pixar movie ever made – 143 in total. I also got seasons one and two of True Blood. Good news…I won’t ever be bored for the rest of this trip! Choosing films for movie night is difficult, but manageable, haha. In fact, it’s time to head off to a movie night now. My birthday is at midnight and I have less than a week until India. Livin’ the good life…

Oh yeah, and if you ever get the opportunity to jump on the back of a motorbike with someone in Vietnam, do it!

I woke up at 6:30 a.m. to the site of the future – Shanghai, China. The MV Explorer pulled into the harbor, giving everyone on board a view of the emerging city. Dozens of skyscrapers go as far as the eye can see. It is literally like stepping off Main Street and into Tomorrow Land at Disneyland. It is unlike anything I have ever seen – a whole new world.

After eating breakfast and going through customs and immigrations, I had an arranged trip to visit the Shanghai Bund area with my photography class. This area is full of the most unique architecture – from classical to gothic to French-inspired to completely modern. The Bund is a stretch of about two miles that offers incredible shopping and a look at what cultures around the world have inspired the landscape. Next was Old Town Shanghai. Now let me just remind you that Chinese New Year is being celebrated right now. Many shops are closed and apparently there are “less” people walking the streets. Well, I’d hate to see the streets every other time of year, because they are still so packed! Old Town was an amazing experience. There were rows and rows of shops selling everything you can imagine (as well as street vendors trying to pull you into the back room to sell fakes). Even better than all the shops were the vendors selling food. We stopped for a huge dumpling and tried to make our way through the streets. During our cultural pre-port, we were warned that the Chinese are very pushy and usually cut in line and shove to get ahead of others. What I wasn’t prepared for were the little kids pushing all of us around. I’m pretty sure a couple of the guys got sucker punched by a seven year old who was obviously in a hurry to get somewhere. There was so much to look at and listen to; it was absolutely overwhelming! But I’ve got some GREAT pictures…

After saving some money by eating dinner on the ship, we headed to Cloud 9, a bar/lounge on the 87^th floor of the Gran Hyatt, which overlooked all of Shanghai. If you can’t imagine how high 87 floors is, picture this: since it is Chinese New Year, fireworks were going off all night across the skyline. We were so high that we had to look down to see the fireworks…we were above them all. We only ordered one drink (the most delicious margarita, other than my dad’s, that I’ve ever had) and then went back to the bund to check out some more nightlife. After realizing China was definitely out of all of our price ranges, we decided to call the night. Of course, Brittany, Graham, and I didn’t want to stop there. We wanted real Chinese culture, so we decided to slowly hike back to the ship and see what we could find along the way. After pausing on the bridge to taking (failed) jumping pictures, we turned down a random alley and saw a small little bar. We wandered in to find 3 other people…who happened to be white and from Australia. The place was completely empty, but we decided to stay and play some pool and darts and try a Chinese beer, Tsing Tao. As we wandered around the inside, we noticed bar patriots wrote on the walls. To our surprise, we weren’t the other SASers who found this bar. There was a large section on one of the walls with handprints of students and “Semester at Sea Spring 2010” written. We added out hands and then I schooled everyone at darts and pool…no big deal.

Day two in Shanghai was full of shopping and chicken feet. There is a smaller shopping district near the Bund. We walked into a store selling everything you could imagine. We went down an escalator and found an entire mall underground. But it didn’t stop there. This is where you can get every knockoff you can imagine. Obviously this is illegal so to prevent anyone from seeing, they lead you into back rooms. We went through about 3 fakes walls, down some more stairs and into small rooms filled with designer wallets, purses, clothes, and everything else. The woman helping us was a stiff bargainer. She was 20 years old and owned her own shop of knockoffs. I refrained from buying anything…impressive right? Later that evening, Victoria took us to a world-renowned dumpling restaurant, named one of the top 10 restaurants in the world by the New York Times. Absolutely delicious! Now by this point, it was day 4 of 7 of Chinese New Year. This is a VERY important day, as day 4 is the celebration of good wealth and success in the coming year. To celebrate (yes, even poor college students have hopes of wealth), Victoria took us to her parents’ apartment to light fireworks. And when I say fireworks, I ‘m talking Disneyland style.  This is the only time a year that the Chinese light fireworks, so naturally they go all out. The skyline was filled with smoke and fireworks – it’s unlike anything I have EVER seen. Even the apartment guards were lighting fireworks with us. We did this for a good 2 hours straight, so you can imagine how many fireworks this was. People stand in the middle of the streets and light fireworks. Needless to say, the cab ride back to the ship was quite scary – it was like trying to avoid roadside bombs. We were very lucky that Victoria invited us to do this, because I can guarantee no other SASers got to do this. The next morning, there was such a thick layer of smoke covering the city. It honestly looked like Shanghai had been on fire.

Our flight to Beijing was early – one of the first nights of many with less than 5 hours of sleep. After checking into our hotel, we went to lunch and the Temple of Heaven. The temple had a courtyard outside with people playing games like ping pong, shuttlecock, chess, cards, and singing and dancing. People just would gather together for hours and enjoy each other’s company. At one point, an older Chinese man pulled me aside and wanted to play shuttlecock with me. Then we visited a traditional tea house to have a tea ceremony. That night, we took a rickshaw ride through a small Chinese town outside the Forbidden City. We got to visit a quadrangle home where the family cooked us a Chinese meal of dumplings.

Day 2 we visited the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. While learning about the history of Tiananmen Square, my favorite part was the dozens of photos that were taken of our group with Chinese families. I have always heard that people in China like to take pictures with westerners, but I had not seen it at all until this point. I was actually getting pretty disappointed. I mean, I don’t consider myself a vain person, but I really wanted to have my picture taken with random Chinese people. Well, my wish came true because I (and a few others in the group) could not walk more than five feet without getting stopped by children, teens, and adults. It was so much fun! Later in the afternoon, we visited a school for orphaned children on the outskirts of Beijing. We helped clean the classrooms and dorms and then got to play with the kids for about an hour. For being in such an unfortunate situation, these kids were so happy and friendly. Two little girls were learning basic English phrases from one of their teachers. After laughing at the sound of English, they walked over to us and said “Good afternoon. What’s your name?” We played tug of war and basketball as well and gave out candy. It was an incredibly touching afternoon.

Before dinner, we hit up the infamous Silk Market, where you can buy more knockoffs for a very cheap price. This includes sunglasses, watches, purses and wallets, designer shoes, fabric, toys, jewelry, and designer clothing.  The store is 9 stories above ground with one underground level. We only had one hour to roam the store, so I only bought a couple things. You have to be a hard bargainer in order to get a good deal. I would never ask how much anything was, I would just offer them a price. I would figure out what I wanted to pay for the item (in US dollars) and then multiple it by 7 to figure out what I would need to pay in Yuan (Chinese money). For instance, I wanted to pay $7 US dollars for a small Coach purse, so I multiplied it by 7 and paid $50 Yuan. Most likely you get the item for what you want to pay, because store owners know that you can walk 10 feet down and encounter all of the same items. I find it a fun game…

Our last day in Beijing was hiking the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. It was a little over an hour from the city and as we ascended, more snow appeared on the ground. It was absolutely beautiful to see the mountains where the Wall was and snow covering the ground. After taking a cable car up the mountain, we started our one-hour hike. I stopped outside one of the guard towers to write my name on the wall with a piece of white stone. For miles in both directions, you could follow the wall until it was covered by fog in the distance. Being able to stand on thousands of year of history made me realize just how big this world really is. Most of what we walked was downhill and on really uneven steps. Some steps would only be a few inches, while others were almost 2 feet. At the end of our hike, we tobogganed all the way back down the mountain, which was a 5-minute ride or so. I probably could have gotten down in a record 2 minutes, but every guard I passed on the route down screamed “AAAHH! SLOW DOWN!” I didn’t want to be chased down and thrown in jail, so I obeyed until I was out of sight. Back in the city, we went to a Chinese acrobatic show and saw 12 girls get on a bicycle, guys doing flips on tall stilts, and people stretching and contorting in ways I didn’t even think were possible. Once we were back at the hotel, we found that a few of the other Beijing trips through SAS were staying at our hotel. After 3 days without each other, Team Awesome was finally reunited! We decided to have a reunion drink at the Blue Green Club right across form the hotel. It was a small bar owned by Frankie, the Absolut Vodka Champion Bartender. Frankie won this title in November. It was so cool to watch him make drinks. He took about 5 minutes per drink but did so with such precision and care. He would layer some drinks and light others on fire. His English was great, so it was really fun talking to him. He wants to open a bar in New York someday. A few of us even exchanged email addresses with him so we can keep in touch!

After getting one hour of sleep, I woke up to catch our flight to Hong Kong. The three-hour nap was much needed! We got back to the MV around 1:30 in the afternoon and crashed until the rest of Team Awesome got back to the ship to head out to dinner. We walked outside, I took one look at the city, and I decided this is my favorite place so far. The only way I can describe it is that it’s like Las Vegas on the water. There are so many lights on and around the buildings, yet it is on an island. Hong Kong is made up of over 200 islands, with the two biggest being Hong Kong island and Lantau island. The water is a pretty green color the there are more malls than cars on the road. If there is one thing that Hong Kong is known for, it’s designer clothing and just an expensive taste overall. Every store, whether it was in a large mall or a boutique shop on the street, sold very high cost items. Victoria, who is from Hong Kong, said you can tell who is and isn’t from there by the way they are dressed. That night, she took us to have Thai food (my first time!) and to Lan Kwai Fong, the bar district, to walk around and just enjoy the sights.

The next day was our Hong Kong sightseeing day with Victoria. Our sights included a 700-year-old temple, the open market, and the aviary. The market was a long street full of fresh fruits, vegetables, various meats and live fish. This is where the local people do their shopping rather than the grocery store. The most interesting part to me was the fish. There were many types of fish separate into different buckets. You pick which one you want and they cut and package it right in from of you. There were even fresh filets laying on ice with their hearts still beating. I got that one on video! You can’t get fish and fresher! The aviary park we went to was a long street full of birds and bird cages for sale. It sounds like you’ve stepped into the Amazon. My favorite was the Maya. This bird is from South America and is the size of a small crow. It actually has a similar body type to that of a crow and is black. It’s beak is bright orange and it has yellow streaks by its eyes. In fact, this bird can memorize words and speak better than parrots. That night we went back to Lan Kwai Fong to celebrate Victoria’s 21^st birthday. Almost every SASer was on that street, so Victoria got to celebrate with A LOT of people. We had a great time, and one of the funnier moments was in the first club we went to. Victoria’s parents bought her a large bottle of champagne to share with all of us, and as she popped the cork, it shot straight up and shattered one of the glass lights above our table. Luckily, we were still allowed to stay. We made our way around the town. I had to get at least some sleep before Hong Kong Disneyland!

Because no one else wanted to go, Graham and I went to Hong Kong Disneyland on our last day before leaving. The park opened at 10 a.m. so we started the 45-minute trek to Lantau island to spend the day with Mickey. Tickets weren’t too expensive – about $45 U.S. dollars. The park was decorated for Chinese New Year, celebrating the Year of the Tiger. Walking down Main Street was just like walking down Main Street at the Disneyland in California. For a split second, I felt like I was home again. It was such an incredible feeling! Every shop was in the same order as it is at home. Adventureland was on the left, Tomorrowland on the right. The castle was much smaller and you can’t walk through it. There are about half the amount of rides – no Haunted Mansion, Indiana Jones, Pirates, Splash Mountain, Matterhorn, or Thunder Mountain – all the good ones! The Winnie the Pooh ride was much cuter and there was an added section on the Jungle Cruise. P.S. a Hong Kong man trying to make jokes is funnier than the jokes themselves! Space Mountain was interesting too. The slow part at the beginning has the old, old original music, but as soon as it starts going fast, the music changes to what’s currently played at Disneyland Anaheim. We were able to finish the entire park in about 3 hours. There was almost no one there. The park felt so big and the streets felt really wide because of the lack of people. This is actually the smallest park out of them all, and is not doing very well. They are in the process of adding 3 lands, one of which will be Toy Story Land. Hopefully, this will attract more people. It was really unique seeing the cultural differences. The parade we saw had all the characters and cast dressed in traditional Chinese costumes, with Chinese music, and dragon dancers. Since it is the Year of the Tiger, there was a large display on Main Street where guests could take pictures with none other than Tigger (the tiger!) We had a blast and the trip held of any homesickness I may have had.

“Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy.” – Walt Disney

We arrived at the port of Yokohama on February 9 a little later than expected due to rough weather. And when I say rough, that’s an understatement! The first thing I saw in Japan was a theme park, complete with a roller coaster and ferris wheel, and I decided it was going to be a good trip. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it to any of the many theme parks in Japan. I couldn’t convince the rest of the team.

Speaking of team, let me introduce you to the “usuals”, also known as Team Awesome. Victoria (Berkley) and her roommate Toree (U of Tennessee), Renae (USD), Brittany (UCSD), Alli (my roommate), Graham (Gonzaga), Bruck (ASU), and Corey (LaVern). These are the people I have been hanging out with on a regular basis on the ship and now off the ship. So anytime I refer to Team Awesome, you know who we all are. They are also all in the picture above.

Back to Japan. The first day in Yokohama, Alli and I had a Yokohama city orientation. We went the beautiful Sankeien garden. This was my experience seeing a traditional Japanese pagoda, which was so stunning in terms of its architecture. Since taking my architecture class on board the MV, my eyes have been opened to what amazing structures exist in the world. This garden was full of beautiful landscape, a small lake, and bamboo walkways that extended for miles. This was also the first time (of many, I assure you) I noticed that public vending machines serve beer. The drinking age is 20, but anyone can get beer from the vending machines. In Japan, it’s all based on the honor system. I held back, though ; )

Other sites the first day included a Japanese cemetery. (Interesting fact: All deceased persons are cremated. There is no other option. This is simply due to the fact that there is not endless space for large graves.) We also went to the Landmark building, which is the tallest building in Japan and has the fastest elevator in the world. You travel 77 stories in 40 seconds. We got a chance to see a panoramic view of Yokohama and even got to see some of Mt. Fuji, which is rarely seen because of the heavy fog that surrounds it. My first beer in Japan was in this tower – Japanese Chocolate Lager. The most delicious thing I have ever had! Well, for that day anyway.

After the city orientation, we met up with Team Awesome for our first night in Tokyo. Let me just take a second to explain public transportation in Japan. It is incredibly detailed and VERY useful (we all had Rail Passes), but it is insane. Luckily, Graham’s incredible sense of direction got us to pretty much every place we needed to go over the course of our travels in Japan. I could not have figured it out to save my life. Our first night in Tokyo, after we checked into our room (more on that later), we headed out to explore the city and find something to eat. We decided to not stop walking until we found an authentic Japanese restaurant. We ended up finding a small restaurant and took up every seat in the place. Literally, it was a small restaurant. Small will be the key word for Japan, by the way. Very few of the restaurants had English menus, and when they did, you had to fight over it. After deciding on fried chicken cooked over coals, I pointed to some Japanese characters to the waiter. Even smaller than this restaurant were the portions of food! My meal was definitely an appetizer size. We toasted to our first night…”Never above you, never below you, always beside you.” And so it began. Since we were all still hungry after “dinner”, we stopped to get ice cream. One of my goals for this voyage is to try the ice cream in every country (for you, Dad!). This ice cream was delicious! It was served in a freshly made crepe that was in the shape of a waffle cone. I will definitely never go back to having ice cream in a waffle cone. Crepes all the way! Try it!

So we get back to the hotel room at the APA International. Now, small is an understatement. This room had 2 double beds in it, but was smaller than your average college dorm room. So take a second to picture this room. Okay, now cut it in half. That’s what we were dealing with. Ready for the punch line? Try cramming (and secretly at that) 7 people in it and getting a good night’s sleep. Two girls in each bed and three guys on the ground. It was crazy, but we did it. And that was just the first of hotel stories.

The next day was a full day of walking and train rides. We started with breakfast at Jonathan’s and stuffed ourselves not with food, but with the free drink bar that came with the meal. I had water, grapefruit juice, and 3 different kinds of coffee. I was ready to go!

We visited many places – more of Tokyo, Asakusa, the Harajuku shopping district (with more yummy crepes), and the Meiji shrine. Asakusa was also an incredible shopping district with hundreds of street vendors lining the streets that led to a Buddhist temple. We stopped and had warm, sweet sake, and slowly made our way down the busy street, looking in every shop. In Harajuku, there were also hundreds of shops lining the streets. Funky clothes is the big thing for teens in Japan. After that, we went to the Meiji Shrine, which has the oldest Torii (large wooden gate) in Japan. I wrote a prayer for this voyage and dropped it in the box outside of the temple. Later in the evening we ate dinner at a sushi restaurant and sat on the ground. A lot of Team Awesome tried sushi for the first time, including squid. I had salmon, scallop, and shrimp sushi and some fried chicken. You literally have to order 2 or 3 dishes to even get full. One just doesn’t cut it in Japan. After dinner, we all tried out our singing skills at a karaoke place. In Japan, karaoke is much different. It’s not a big bar where you sing in front of a group of people. You reserved a small room, they give you a phonebook full of songs and you pick whatever you want and sing. We were standing on the chairs and tables rocking out to Thriller, Love Story, Bohemian Rapsody, Circle of Life, Whole New World, You Shook Me All Night Long, In da Club, along with many other random songs we could think of. If the videos weren’t so embarrassing, I would post them. If you really want to see them, we can arrange a private meeting with head phones, haha! After 2 hours of singing, we decided sleep was in order. We stayed at a capsule hotel (look it up to see pictures). These hotels are used mainly for Japanese businessmen because they are cheap and convenient. It looks somewhat like a morgue. You walk into a room and there are capsules on the walls. They are about six feet long and three feet wide and deep. Imagine a morgue where they store dead bodies in a drawer in the wall. That’s exactly what this looked like, only more pleasant. Each capsule has a small television and a radio/alarm clock. You put your things in a locker and the men and women are separated. It was actually the best night of sleep I had in all of Japan! And a really good experience at that…

The next day, we grabbed some Starbucks and headed to Hakone to the hot springs. It was pouring rain and really foggy as we ascended the mountain on a bus. Let me inform you that the road was barely wide enough for one car, let alone two, let alone a bus. I commend this driver and am very thankful we got to the top of the mountain alive. We got to the hot springs and it was definitely not what I was expecting, but not in a bad way. When you picture hot springs in America, most likely you think of a Glen Ivy or Burke Williams. Something nice and relaxing with adults and cucumbers. Nope, not these hot springs. First of all, this place was huge and it resembled more of a water park than hot springs. There were lots of little kids walking around. They had pools and slides for kids. Outside there were about 9 different hot springs…sorry, let me rephrase. There were about 9 different flavors of hot springs. Yes, flavors. I know, you’re all laughing because all I do in life is compare things to food. But I kid you not on this one. There were coffee, sake, green tea, charcoal and mineral (not food I realize), and red wine. Had there not been a ton of people in all these baths, I would have definitely brought a straw. It was an incredible experience and the closest thing I have ever gotten to hot springs in snow. It was about 38 degrees, raining, and foggy, with some snow on the ground. We showered and blow dried our hair and then walked out into the rain to head back down the hill toward Kyoto. It was the coldest night so far, so to warm ourselves up while we were waiting in the train station, we pulled out Twister and played right on the platform. Team Awesome has decided that a game of Twister is imperative in every country we visit. One down, seven to go! Once in Kyoto, we walked into the first hotel we saw and booked a room. This room was a tiny bit bigger than the APA, but not by much. This time, 8 people crammed into one room. I don’t know how we all fit, but there were bodies everywhere.

The next morning, a few of us went to Hiroshima and the peace memorial. What an emotional experience. I didn’t know too much about Hiroshima, but I was able to get an incredible second-hand account from an in-utero survivor. He told us his story and how he and his families’ lives had been affected by the aftermath. We saw the A-bomb Dome, one of the only buildings that wasn’t destroyed. I also saw the exact spot the bomb dropped as well as a wall with an imprinted shadow. The museum was what really got to me, though. I feel like it is so important for people to visit this place if at all possible. It really opens your eyes to the impact (positive or negative) Americans have on other countries.

That afternoon, we made the long trek to Nara to stay at a traditional ryokan to sleep on the ground on tatami mats. The house was owned by an English guy and his wife, who were incredibly hospitable. We walked around in kimonos and slippers, laying on mats and talking and taking pictures. It was out last night in Japan. The next morning, we were served breakfast and sat on the ground to eat. We were up very early so we could go visit the Tadaji temple, where the oldest palace sits. Nara is one of the oldest towns in Japan, and it was actually celebrating its 1300-year anniversary while we were there. Nara is known for its deer, so near the temple, there was hundreds of deer. They are very friendly and will let you pet them. But be careful, they will eat paper and anything else you are holding in your hands. The Tadaji temple holds the large Buddha you always see in pictures. It feels weird to visit a place that has so much rich history. I always thought America was old when I think of all the wars we have been in, but to be in a city celebrating over 1,000 years of existence and to walk in palaces and temples that are from the 11^th century is really awe-inspiring.

Since we had to be back on the boat by 4 p.m. , we headed to Kobe to find some steak. We walked along the streets looking for a good place that was reasonably priced. We wandered up to the 8^th floor of a building to a teppanyaki restaurant called Misono. After eating the most delicious steak I have ever had in my life and drinking Kirin (a Korean beer), we found out some interesting history about Misono. In 1945, American soldiers came to this restaurant and requested their food to be cooked in front of them so as to see how it was being prepared. This type of food preparation is called teppanyaki. This restaurant was the first in the world to cook like this, therefore making them the founder of teppanyaki. Because of this, the hats that the chefs wear are mimic the old World War II hats the army used to wear. An even cooler fact, the founder of Benihana worked at Misono a number of years ago.  Needless to say, everything about this entire trip was meant to be!

We sadly headed back to the train station one last time to head back to the boat. We made sure to get some Hagen Daas to console our sadness. But we got over it quickly once we remembered we are now on our way to China!