Mommy and I reunited in Vietnam early in the morning. I woke up to watch us pull into the Mekong River and watch the sun rise. Around 8:30am they let the parents board the ship, and I gave Mom the grand tour of the ship, introduced her to a few friends and packed for Cambodia. We spent the day in Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) shopping around, checking out the area. The city of Saigon is crazy busy, fast paced. There are hundreds and thousands of motorcycles everywhere—obviously I wanted to ride one so badly, but Mommy wouldn’t let me :( for my own good. Motorcycle traffic polluted the streets and made it entirely impossible to cross the street confidently. We went to a tailor shop and had a dress made, a cute red cocktail dress that I plan on wearing in Japan like a high-rollin princess. Even though the tailor and I had MAJOR communication problems, the dress came out exactly as I had imagined. At one point I was very unlucky in Vietnam, and so were my friends. I broke my camera the first night in Vietnam. Throughout the trip, two other of my friends broke their cameras too. Good thing parents brought their own cameras so we took some pictures. Mom has all the good ones!
I also made mom wear a pointy rice hat around the city. We rested in the hotel room for a while (because I was coming off of a high fever between Thailand and Vietnam). She went for a swim, I took a long, solid nap. We also had lunch at the local fast food chain called Pho24. Pho is what they call the rice noodle soup they eat for EVERY meal. It was delicious for fast food. Then we got ready for dinner and we met up with Annie, Ashley from Fairfield, and Jason for dinner. We went to Vietnamese House restaurant and ate authentic food and drank local drinks. This was my favorite meal in Vietnam—the food exceeded my expectations. We had things such as pumpkin leaves stuffed with shrimp, and weird dumpling green things. Then we went to the Rex Hotel—another famous bar. We had drinks on the rooftop and even went for a horse ride! JK. After Rex, we all went to a club called Apocalypse Now. We danced for a little while and called it a night. Mommy is obviously the best mother in the world, but my friends and I had a great time with her during our first night in Vietnam.
The next day we were off to Cambodia for a few days. This Cambodia trip was action packed. In my suitcase were about 8 different outfits, but I only ended up wearing 3 because we never had an opportunity to relax or change or REST WHATSOEVER. We went to Pnenom Penh and Siem Reap.
In Pnenom Penh we visited a Grand Palace-esque temple village. Same Buddhist influenced architecture made in 17th century. Then we visited a national museum where we saw a superfluous amount of Buddha Heads and statues. Unfortunately on our way out of the museum there was a construction accident so there was a huge crowd surrounding a fellow who broke his shoulder.
We also saw monks! They were cute! The one that spoke English told me how old they were, and when they became monks. They inspired me to buy artwork of monks too in the Russian Market.
We also visited an orphanage founded by Semester at Sea Alumni. We had to cross a high-way to get there…scariest thing in the world. The children were adorable and greeted us half way down the street to their orphanage. A little girl named Leapd clung onto me for the entire time. She had a pretty pearl necklace, and she looked to be about 8 years old. The children are uneducated, and sometimes ages are unknown, so that is my estimation. Mom had a couple little boys and girls that loved her too and clung onto her. It’s hard to not bring one back on the bus…We drew pictures, played games, AND THEN there was a blackout in the town! I could feel some of the parents and students getting panicky, but I thought it was great. The kids got so excited, the stars were so beautiful, and it made the night so much more interesting. We brought them stickers, crayons, markers, coloring books, etc…it was also one of the nicest orphanages I’ve ever seen. They had electricity, running water, toilets, bathtubs, and good care by former SAS-ers.
Other sights we visited in Cambodia included the Genocide Memorials. I remember learning about the genocide that took place during the mid to late 1970’s subsequent to the Vietnam War. In school, there was very little emphasis on the impact it left in Cambodia. At one of these ruins we could see the bones in the ground still, stepping over the remains of bones and clothes of the victims. It was surreal, and extremely moving.
Day 2, We flew to Siem Reap to see the Angkor Wat—which is equivalent in terms of popular attractions to the Taj Mahal of India, or the Grand Palace of Thailand. It was built during the 12th century and “lost” and restored. That night the kids (minus parents this night) went to Pub Street where we met some tourists, went clubbing/to bars. The bar most well known there is called “Angkor What?” and they give out t-shirts with their specialty bucket drinks. Two hours after we got back that night, we woke up for the “non-Sunrise” at the Angkor Wat. The sun never actually came out, so we were disappointed that we basically pulled all-nighters to wake up so early. This day was rough for me—I fell asleep on every bus ride, regardless of how long we were traveling. Then we visited other temple ruins from the 12th century. One is where the movie Tomb Raider was filmed. Huge tree roots grew over these ruins and in between them. The ruins were really cool and are recognizable from a National Geographic magazine issue a few years ago. The next ruins sight was even more innate than the Angkor Wat. I climbed up one of them, and once I got to the top I asked my friend if he saw another way down…and he didn’t so I was stranded on the top and had to go back the way I came. This was scary because the ruins are so worn and shaky, the conditions were challenging. Afterwards we flew back to Vietnam.
The last day in Vietnam we went to the Mekong Delta. We took small wooden boats through the palm tree canals. It was hard for me to imagine in that heat, soldiers dressed in their gear going down the same canals 35 years ago sitting in the same boats. We tried local coconut wine shots, tea with tamarine and local honey, and ate an authentic River meal. Mom and I didn’t like these shots, but we were laughing at our guide who took shots with every table! The entertainment of the day award goes to Smith and his father. They bought a $40 cobra, and two locals chopped the head of the cobra off (which I couldn’t look at, but the sound of it was enough to make me shriek and get nauseous) then they poured the blood into some rice wine, and tore the beating heart out of the snake and ate it. Smith’s father ate the gall bladder, and Smith drank the blood mixture. I pretty much lost my appetite for lunch and did not eat. But lunch was local Elephant fish from the Mekong River—besides, you couldn’t pay me to eat anything coming from the Mekong water.
Then it was time for Mommy to leave as soon as we got back to the hotel. We said goodbye (so sad) and I went about in Saigon. We had such a great time in Vietnam together. It was fun meeting the other parents too. I am lucky that my mom was able to come visit me half-way across the world!
I will be in China in two days!!!
xoxo
Friday, March 27, 2009
Thailand! Spring Break SAS '09
Thailand, also known as, Spring Break Semester at Sea ’09. I went to Phuket Island for 3 nights, 4 days. I spent the first day exploring the resort area. Patong Bay is extremely touristy and I met a very diverse range of tourists, from Australia, Germany, France, UK, etc. Thai food is my favorite, and the food was really outstanding and authentic. My favorite dish was sticky rice with mango. It’s actually a dessert but I ordered it as my main entrée for a few meals. The first night we walked the town, tested the local Mai-Tai’s served in Pineapples. We went to a nightclub called Banana. I made friends with the DJ and he played all my top favorite songs for me.
The day after I went trekking through the rainforest, canoed down a river, and rode an elephant through the rainforest. The rainforest had bamboo trails and mountainous rock cliffs and I was the only one who thought to bring a raincoat to the rainforest. That night I went out in the town, walking the streets popping in and out of the bars. We quickly realized the culture is really sexual, and prostitutes and trans-gender boy-girls sightings are frequent. We even accidentally stumbled upon their “special menus”. If this were the U.S. there would be trouble for them, but I suppose it’s normal and acceptable in Thailand. Shocking.
The following day I went sea kayaking and island hopping. We visited an island where James Bond 007 was filmed...The Thai people didn’t know which movie it was, only that it was James Bond filming destination. The islands were gorgeous, and the caves were really scary. Because the tide was so high we had to duck into the kayak so that we wouldn’t hit the top of the cave, and I must add that there were bats inches from my face dangling from the cave ceilings. We also visited some beaches and just went swimming and jumping off the top of the boat. We also saw some huge jellyfish with huge tentacles. The water is green, but it’s murky so they are hard to see. My friend Jason got stung on his neck!
That night we celebrated St. Paddy’s day. We went to Molly Malone’s Irish Pub—I think it’s a chain. Coincidentally, my friends and I all forgot to pack St. Paddy’s day green, so we had to go find some outfits. My friend Ryan got a custom green suit made and definitely gets the best outfit award. We all found these green tank-top type shirts with the logo of their local beer, Singha. I bought an XL so I could wear it as a dress. A bunch of us wore these shirts to match. To get downtown, Jason and I took a motorcycle ride to town—my first time on a motorcycle actually. I dare admit that it was too much fun, so I insisted we take one back to the hotel too. We spent some time at Molly Malone’s and celebrated my friend Naz’s 21st birthday at midnight. Then we partied in the street for the rest of the night. There were street vendor people trying to sell their souvenirs, and we all bought bracelets that said Thailand among other places. Molly made me laugh the most this night. Molly bought this ugly Pig-face mask and wore it around going up to locals and tourists and trying to scare them. The entire night was a laughing sesh…inventing new ways to make each other laugh using the resources of our surrounding environment. I took the bracelet peoples displays and walked around trying to sell them to tourists and my friends. I also helped a local promote his club by waving around his sign. I guess you could say I was contributing my services to the community in a helpful way.
The next day I went to Bangkok. Molly, Rachel, Erika and I got in a Tuk-Tuk and just told the driver to take us to a great Thai restaurant. He dropped us off in the middle of a Night Bazaar with restaurants and local shops. I bought some Buddha heads and bootleg DVD’s then headed over to Vertigo Restaurant and Moon Bar at the Banyan hotel. This is one of the most famous bars in the world for its 360 view of Bangkok. The view was breathtaking and I could see the city of Bangkok all the way into the horizon (because it’s such a huge city). We hung out on the top of a 63-story building and talked/relaxed.
The next morning we visited the Grand Palace, which I would say is the “Taj Mahal” of Thailand. There were gold structures, Buddhists shrines everywhere and of course the largest jade Buddha in the world. After the most delicious pad-thai lunch I returned back to the ship. I LOVE THAILAND SO MUCH AND I WANT TO GO BACK AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Everyone had an amazing time in Thailand.
xoxo
The day after I went trekking through the rainforest, canoed down a river, and rode an elephant through the rainforest. The rainforest had bamboo trails and mountainous rock cliffs and I was the only one who thought to bring a raincoat to the rainforest. That night I went out in the town, walking the streets popping in and out of the bars. We quickly realized the culture is really sexual, and prostitutes and trans-gender boy-girls sightings are frequent. We even accidentally stumbled upon their “special menus”. If this were the U.S. there would be trouble for them, but I suppose it’s normal and acceptable in Thailand. Shocking.
The following day I went sea kayaking and island hopping. We visited an island where James Bond 007 was filmed...The Thai people didn’t know which movie it was, only that it was James Bond filming destination. The islands were gorgeous, and the caves were really scary. Because the tide was so high we had to duck into the kayak so that we wouldn’t hit the top of the cave, and I must add that there were bats inches from my face dangling from the cave ceilings. We also visited some beaches and just went swimming and jumping off the top of the boat. We also saw some huge jellyfish with huge tentacles. The water is green, but it’s murky so they are hard to see. My friend Jason got stung on his neck!
That night we celebrated St. Paddy’s day. We went to Molly Malone’s Irish Pub—I think it’s a chain. Coincidentally, my friends and I all forgot to pack St. Paddy’s day green, so we had to go find some outfits. My friend Ryan got a custom green suit made and definitely gets the best outfit award. We all found these green tank-top type shirts with the logo of their local beer, Singha. I bought an XL so I could wear it as a dress. A bunch of us wore these shirts to match. To get downtown, Jason and I took a motorcycle ride to town—my first time on a motorcycle actually. I dare admit that it was too much fun, so I insisted we take one back to the hotel too. We spent some time at Molly Malone’s and celebrated my friend Naz’s 21st birthday at midnight. Then we partied in the street for the rest of the night. There were street vendor people trying to sell their souvenirs, and we all bought bracelets that said Thailand among other places. Molly made me laugh the most this night. Molly bought this ugly Pig-face mask and wore it around going up to locals and tourists and trying to scare them. The entire night was a laughing sesh…inventing new ways to make each other laugh using the resources of our surrounding environment. I took the bracelet peoples displays and walked around trying to sell them to tourists and my friends. I also helped a local promote his club by waving around his sign. I guess you could say I was contributing my services to the community in a helpful way.
The next day I went to Bangkok. Molly, Rachel, Erika and I got in a Tuk-Tuk and just told the driver to take us to a great Thai restaurant. He dropped us off in the middle of a Night Bazaar with restaurants and local shops. I bought some Buddha heads and bootleg DVD’s then headed over to Vertigo Restaurant and Moon Bar at the Banyan hotel. This is one of the most famous bars in the world for its 360 view of Bangkok. The view was breathtaking and I could see the city of Bangkok all the way into the horizon (because it’s such a huge city). We hung out on the top of a 63-story building and talked/relaxed.
The next morning we visited the Grand Palace, which I would say is the “Taj Mahal” of Thailand. There were gold structures, Buddhists shrines everywhere and of course the largest jade Buddha in the world. After the most delicious pad-thai lunch I returned back to the ship. I LOVE THAILAND SO MUCH AND I WANT TO GO BACK AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Everyone had an amazing time in Thailand.
xoxo
Jai Ho! INDIA
India was an intense country. I cannot think of one specific word to describe it. The best part of India was spending time with the people on my trip. Many of my close girlfriends from the ship were on my trip, which made India an amazing time. I was with Gillian from NY, Ashley from Fairfield, CT, Kat, Heather from CA, Alli from GA, Nell from PA, all of which I have traveled with before, and I also met new people on the trip too.
We spent a lot of time traveling on a tour bus. Our itinerary was packed with sight seeing, and we saw 5 towns in 5 days. Highlights of the trip include the city of New Delhi, Jaipur, Agra (where the Taj Mahal is) and two cities in between. Jaipur is a city that was painted pink during the 17th century to welcome the Prince of Norway (I think). They kept the salmon color of the city, and we saw the King’s palace and other touristy sights. We also did an elephant ride up to a deserted castle...I love elephants. Along the way we saw many Hindu temples and ruins and took a crazy jeep ride back to home base.
Unfortunately the heckling and begging is overwhelming in India. As soon as they see white people, children and adults rush to you begging for money. Even when our buses drove through towns the kids came to wave to the bus and beg for money. Once you give one child some money, more appear. The time I gave a little boy money, he brought it back to his mother and she was off on a scooter with the money. Other mothers and children came to the site disappointed and angry they didn’t receive anything.
Generally there is lots of contempt for Americans in India. Maybe my own ignorance of the culture contributed to that. One day we went to an Astrology museum where there were huge sundial structures everywhere. There was also a cute little pyramid structure that I wanted to take a picture in. Without realizing what it was, I jumped inside of it and posed to take a picture. An Indian woman comes running over screaming at me in broken English, “You are stepping on our God! Take your shoes off! You cannot go inside there, and you cannot wear your shoes!” This was sooooo embarrassing because her entire posse (30+ ladies) were just chillin on the grass next to the Hindu shrine where they pray and I was stepping all over it with my sneakers. They made me terribly uncomfortable, and that’s when I booked it and ran away…barefoot after all.
One night at the night market I also got my first Henna tattoo which has lasted 3 weeks on my hand…I really wanted to wash it off once we got back to the ship. Oh well. At night there was not much to do. No one felt compelled to go out and and check the party scene, so I put the tv on and watched Bollywood movies, but mostly danced to Indian music videos with Gillian in our room.
The Taj Mahal is the most beautiful tomb in the world. It didn’t seem real that a King could build such a vast tomb for the love of his life. I found a local “professional photographer” who took Gillian and me around the Taj Mahal to capture the best photos from the best angles. He also taught us some yoga along the way, so Gillian and I were striking scorpion poses and meditating all over the Taj Mahal premises. I am convinced I have the best photos of the Taj.
Our tour guide, Taj, wanted us to experience and realize that not all of India is like the movie Slumdog Millionaire. From my experience, we only saw villages and cities that looked like the slums in the film. I would have liked to go to Mumbai to visit Bollywood, and see what the economic contrast is like. India is unlike anything I ever imagined. People went to the bathroom at any time, anywhere in the street. The people also live among cows (which they let loose after they can no longer produce milk…too sacred to kill and eat also), dogs, goats, monkeys, whatever other creatures roamed through the streets. They use their left hand for wiping/gross things, and their right hand for eating.
The last day I also did a service visit to a school grades Pre-K-12 grade. All of the students speak Hindi, but their textbooks and classes are supposed to be conducted in English. I was surprised to find that they still didn’t speak English. Every morning they pray in Hindi, and report Global Current Events in English. I wonder if any of the students understand them. We spent a few hours playing with the kids, singing, and they put on a dance performance for us as well. They were so excited to have us there, and we were the 4th U.S.A. visitors to come to the school. It was also a private school, tuition is $350 a year and only 10% are on scholarship. Regardless, this school was still extremely poor, and sad to visit, but it felt good to make them smile for the day and exchange stories. They put so much time and preparation to host us for the day, that for once I felt like Indians were happy to see Americans for purposes other than begging.
I am glad that I went to India, but as of right now, I do not have a desire to return anytime soon.
We spent a lot of time traveling on a tour bus. Our itinerary was packed with sight seeing, and we saw 5 towns in 5 days. Highlights of the trip include the city of New Delhi, Jaipur, Agra (where the Taj Mahal is) and two cities in between. Jaipur is a city that was painted pink during the 17th century to welcome the Prince of Norway (I think). They kept the salmon color of the city, and we saw the King’s palace and other touristy sights. We also did an elephant ride up to a deserted castle...I love elephants. Along the way we saw many Hindu temples and ruins and took a crazy jeep ride back to home base.
Unfortunately the heckling and begging is overwhelming in India. As soon as they see white people, children and adults rush to you begging for money. Even when our buses drove through towns the kids came to wave to the bus and beg for money. Once you give one child some money, more appear. The time I gave a little boy money, he brought it back to his mother and she was off on a scooter with the money. Other mothers and children came to the site disappointed and angry they didn’t receive anything.
Generally there is lots of contempt for Americans in India. Maybe my own ignorance of the culture contributed to that. One day we went to an Astrology museum where there were huge sundial structures everywhere. There was also a cute little pyramid structure that I wanted to take a picture in. Without realizing what it was, I jumped inside of it and posed to take a picture. An Indian woman comes running over screaming at me in broken English, “You are stepping on our God! Take your shoes off! You cannot go inside there, and you cannot wear your shoes!” This was sooooo embarrassing because her entire posse (30+ ladies) were just chillin on the grass next to the Hindu shrine where they pray and I was stepping all over it with my sneakers. They made me terribly uncomfortable, and that’s when I booked it and ran away…barefoot after all.
One night at the night market I also got my first Henna tattoo which has lasted 3 weeks on my hand…I really wanted to wash it off once we got back to the ship. Oh well. At night there was not much to do. No one felt compelled to go out and and check the party scene, so I put the tv on and watched Bollywood movies, but mostly danced to Indian music videos with Gillian in our room.
The Taj Mahal is the most beautiful tomb in the world. It didn’t seem real that a King could build such a vast tomb for the love of his life. I found a local “professional photographer” who took Gillian and me around the Taj Mahal to capture the best photos from the best angles. He also taught us some yoga along the way, so Gillian and I were striking scorpion poses and meditating all over the Taj Mahal premises. I am convinced I have the best photos of the Taj.
Our tour guide, Taj, wanted us to experience and realize that not all of India is like the movie Slumdog Millionaire. From my experience, we only saw villages and cities that looked like the slums in the film. I would have liked to go to Mumbai to visit Bollywood, and see what the economic contrast is like. India is unlike anything I ever imagined. People went to the bathroom at any time, anywhere in the street. The people also live among cows (which they let loose after they can no longer produce milk…too sacred to kill and eat also), dogs, goats, monkeys, whatever other creatures roamed through the streets. They use their left hand for wiping/gross things, and their right hand for eating.
The last day I also did a service visit to a school grades Pre-K-12 grade. All of the students speak Hindi, but their textbooks and classes are supposed to be conducted in English. I was surprised to find that they still didn’t speak English. Every morning they pray in Hindi, and report Global Current Events in English. I wonder if any of the students understand them. We spent a few hours playing with the kids, singing, and they put on a dance performance for us as well. They were so excited to have us there, and we were the 4th U.S.A. visitors to come to the school. It was also a private school, tuition is $350 a year and only 10% are on scholarship. Regardless, this school was still extremely poor, and sad to visit, but it felt good to make them smile for the day and exchange stories. They put so much time and preparation to host us for the day, that for once I felt like Indians were happy to see Americans for purposes other than begging.
I am glad that I went to India, but as of right now, I do not have a desire to return anytime soon.
Dock time in Mauritius
Mauritius
I had dock time. Why did I have dock time? Because I took a nice nap after the South African wine tour and forgot to turn in my passport. After they called my name over the loud speaker 50 times my roommate finally woke me up, and for turning it in late, I received 6 hours of dock time. When I was released from Dock Time I went to the town, found my friends and a restaurant bar where we stayed until we had to board the ship again. Mauritius from what I could see was GORGEOUS. I’m bummed I missed the beaches, but at least I woke up for the sunrise and watched the ship pull into port. The Island of Mauritius resembles Hawaii with the volcano mountains and green water.
Between the Mauritius and India, we had the Sea Olympics. On the ship, each hallway is divided into a different Sea. My sea is called the Adreatic sea, or the Pink sea. The winner sea gets to disembark the ship first in Florida…and! WE WON!!! YAYAYAYAAYA. Although I did not participate in any of the activities (thank you play rehearsal for making me miss my meeting) I was THE BEST cheerleader for my team. I provided extra pink clothes for those boys and girls who didn’t have pink, we painted our faces, we cheered and attended most events that day. It was a lot of fun for my sea to win.
I had dock time. Why did I have dock time? Because I took a nice nap after the South African wine tour and forgot to turn in my passport. After they called my name over the loud speaker 50 times my roommate finally woke me up, and for turning it in late, I received 6 hours of dock time. When I was released from Dock Time I went to the town, found my friends and a restaurant bar where we stayed until we had to board the ship again. Mauritius from what I could see was GORGEOUS. I’m bummed I missed the beaches, but at least I woke up for the sunrise and watched the ship pull into port. The Island of Mauritius resembles Hawaii with the volcano mountains and green water.
Between the Mauritius and India, we had the Sea Olympics. On the ship, each hallway is divided into a different Sea. My sea is called the Adreatic sea, or the Pink sea. The winner sea gets to disembark the ship first in Florida…and! WE WON!!! YAYAYAYAAYA. Although I did not participate in any of the activities (thank you play rehearsal for making me miss my meeting) I was THE BEST cheerleader for my team. I provided extra pink clothes for those boys and girls who didn’t have pink, we painted our faces, we cheered and attended most events that day. It was a lot of fun for my sea to win.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Cape Town--Safari
I have thoroughly enjoyed every port, but especially CT. I could see myself living there. The climate is Mediterranean of the “Scrub” biome, similar to that of Spain, or California with huge rock mountains surrounding the town. The tallest is called Table Mountain, but we all called it Table “Top” Mountain, which we were made fun of for by taxi drivers. The first day I wanted to climb it, but it ended up getting fogged out and they closed the lift. I got as far up as I could though to snap a few pics of CT from above. But I spent the first day walking around with Genvieve and Jess who go to Pace University and also Carly’s friends from home.
The first day I also went to see a play called “Freak Country”. The title is supposed to be a pun on “free country” and it’s about Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe has a lot of issues right now with, hyperinflation, Mugabe and the newly appointed Prime Minister. It was a comedy-tragedy type of play. It was about how an actor who lives in South Africa, born in Zimbabwe was traveling to his film shoot and had a connecting flight in Zimbabwe and got held at immigration. The head of customs wanted to kill him, but he found a way to escape. It was funny but the situation is serious, and I’m not South African, so it was hard to connect with the jokes.
(Genvieve and me with Table Mountain in the background)
The next day I woke up at 6:00 am to go on my Safari in Pilanesburg, South Africa. We flew to Johannesburg and then drove 2.5 hours to Pilanesburg where we had “high tea” and went on our first game drive in the safari. Our itinerary for 3 days was sleep-eat-safari. Within the first 3 minutes we saw so many zebra, and antelope type animals. Within the first 25 minutes we saw a huge pod of elephants. An entire family! They were so cute. Our guide was a little frightened though and had to maneuver the jeep in a position that he could take off if a mommy elephant charged…b/c they do that especially when there are many babies around. We were thinking that the safari would get boring because of all the animals we saw shortly into the first drive…but that wasn’t the case, we didn’t see another group like that. We did see one elephant at night, which was eating in his sleep. I spoke to a man who worked at the Athlete’s Foot in South Africa who said he was a park ranger and he lived close to Pilanesburg, and that his town tribe follows the elephant. There are tribes that identify themselves with game animals, and his is elephant because they like the way an elephant lives and they think elephants rule the land. Elephants sleep for 5 hours a day and eat ALL day…I see why one could idolize elephants. Not to mention a bull can weigh up to 4 tons—they are so strong too.
That night toward the end of our night-drive when we were 3 minutes from the gate to the park the two boys on either side of me, who some refer to as “the lumberjacks” were being brave and hanging out of the side of the jeep…All of the sudden we see King of the African Land Male Lion. Our driver reverses the vehicle, the boys jumped inside the car, and they even shrieked. The lion was soooo awesome at a distance, until it started approaching our jeep. Reed was on my right, where the Lion was approaching, and he grabs onto me, and us three cram to the left side of the jeep away from the vehicle, the boys put their feet up to block the window so the lion couldn’t jump in. I am the one getting smashed in the middle of this chaos, but I try to take pictures even though our guide was telling us not to make a move or a sound…then the lion came ONE foot close to our window and just walked around back into the bush. It was sooooo scary! The guide was saying that it was a rare occurrence for the lion to come right up to the car like that…I think the lion was teasing us. It was scary to even look into his eyes. The funniest part about this was when we went back to the lodge to tell the other group about our stories, the boys made it seem like they were ready to tackle the lion…but everyone in our vehicle had to remind them that they both grabbed onto the smallest girl (me) on the trip to protect them. Of course they said they were ready to wrestle the lion…but we all know what really happened when Simba came close.
That night we enjoyed a barbeque at the lodge and went to bed early to get up for our 5am drive. They told us they’d give us wake up calls, but my roommate and I did not get one. Thank god she set her phone too, but all the groups left without us. She and I ended up going with some German tourists until we found another SAS group. They weren’t too happy that they had to come back for two American girls…oh well. This was by far the best drive though so it was hard to complain. We saw 2 sets of mating lions. This was remarkable—straight up National Geographic style. I have documentation…we were about 30 feet from the first “honeymoon couple” and we could see and hear the action. The second set of lions was even closer…about 10 feet away from our vehicle. The male lion got up and approached the jeep and roared a little, marked his territory a little and went back to his girly lion. We got back to the lodge at about 9am for breakfast and we had until 4:30 to relax by the pool and have lunch…by far one of the hardest school days in my life! We swam, worked on our tans, maybe enjoyed some mimosas and daiquiris, took a nap, showered and went back out on the Safari.
The 2nd night drive we found sooooo many giraffe’s, which were really the one thing I hadn’t seen (other than Leopard, but no one expected to see them). We also saw a pregnant Giraffe who wandered by herself because she was due any day. The Giraffe’s are fascinating. We also got pretty close them—in fact we got really close to all the animals we saw. And it’s not off-roading because they are national parks that need to be preserved—there are pathways for cars paved, or dirt roads that animals hang out on. That night we watched a little bit of Rugby with some locals at the lodge. We met some businessmen who wanted to talk about Obama. Obama was EVERYWHERE in Africa. People either loved him or didn’t. Unfortunately because of Apartheid there is still so much racism and they don’t hold back and some people love him and worship him, and some think he’s a joke. I guess they were being disrespectful towards us, and were shamelessly bashing American Politics, and even though I don’t agree with most things they said, it was interesting to hear a different perspective. That’s one thing I’ve learned to be flexible with—we’re visitors in these countries and politics regarding foreign affairs has been a sensitive topic everywhere.
That night before bed, I suffered a traumatizing experience. I was getting ready for bed and putting my clothes on, and I was standing right next to the door, so I thought it would be a good idea to double check that it was locked. When out of the periphery of my eye I spot a HUGE shiny black scorpion. This thing was at least 6 inches long, with a spiny poison tail, and it was AN INCH away from my foot. If I stepped anywhere, a scorpion as big as a 3-pound Maine Lobster would’ve attacked me. Instinctively I started screaming, skipping, waving my arms—a serious freak out. My roommate was in the shower, and she comes out and I am standing on the furniture naked, shaking, pale as a ghost, my heart racing…my legs kept doing this weird jumpy, hop and kicking thing…I lost control. It’s hysterically funny to me now, but it was a scary situation then because all I could think about was the possibility of more Scorpions waiting to attack me in our room. Well the good news is I scared the scorpy out of the room and he crawled under the door--I don’t know how he even fit under there. When I called housekeeping, they sent Mona up with a dust brush and Raid to kill the “insects”. She had no idea what we called about because she didn’t understand, so then we decided to put a towel under the door and we all looked in the curtains, our shoes, under the beds for more. I felt like a little kid proofing my room of monsters. I took motion-sickness pill to help me fall asleep (b/c they make me drowsy) so that I could sleep without fearing the scorpions. And I didn’t have any scary dreams, and I woke up and went on a Safari game-drive.
The next early morning drive we didn’t see many animals at all. They knew it was Saturday so they all went into hiding from the tourists. Oh well. I still saw all the hippos, rhinos, elephants, LIONS, 3 sets of MATING LIONS, giraffes, pumba’s, buffalo, etc. I also cannot forget to mention that when we returned for breakfast, a Bull Elephant wandered into the Lodge grounds to take a mud bath. So from my breakfast table, right where I was sun-tanning the day before was a huge bull elephant playing in the mud. The rangers said they do that every once in a while because they have a little pond in the middle of the Lodge area. The elephants step right over the electrical fences to get in!
When we got back to Cape Town, I had dinner with Annie and Ashley from Fairfield, CT who went to Kruger national park. We exchanged Safari stories, and then went out to some local places after eating an authentic African dinner. I couldn’t even tell you what we ate…but the meats were Springbock, Kudu, Ostrich, and Beef (all animals I saw). We socialized with locals, girls and guys, and they loved us Americans. They told us where to go and what to eat. We went to this club called Tiger Tiger. They played a lot of cheesy American Music earlier in the night because they knew we were there, and the later it got they played the Euro techno-house music that I love to dance to. What I love about the culture is that their fashion is very similar to ours, the people were so nice, and the city is so YOUNG. It kind of reminds me of Boston and how everyone is my age. Even though the drinking age is 18, you still have to be 21 to get into clubs on weekends…guys had to be 23. They were also building the World Cup Futbol stadium for 2010 next year, so the town was buzzing with futbol excitement.
The weather is perfect, the landscape and oceans is BEAUTIFUL and 20 minutes outside of Cape Town is the beginning of the wine regions.
The next morning we went on a wine tour through the Stellenbosch region. I organized a trip for 6 of my friends before we went back on the ship. Natasha, Gillian, Genvieve, Jessica, Annie and I went to three wineries and we learned techniques for wine tasting, how to select wines with meals, and we got to spend time with each other in the country side learning about country life. Our tour guide, Pim, was so funny, but I think we entertained him mostly. We went to Blaauwlippen Vineyard, Avontuur Estate, and Hazendal Vineyard. They all export to the U.S. so I look forward to seeing some of them at home.
Right now, I am sitting in Mauritius writing this. It is a beautiful volcanic island off of Africa, East of Madagascar. It is a vacation spot for Australian’s and Africans, and the island is about 40ft long. I woke up at 6:30am to watch us pull into port. Volcanic mountains are gorgeous, and the sunset behind them was one of the most stunning sunsets I’ve ever seen in my life.
The first day I also went to see a play called “Freak Country”. The title is supposed to be a pun on “free country” and it’s about Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe has a lot of issues right now with, hyperinflation, Mugabe and the newly appointed Prime Minister. It was a comedy-tragedy type of play. It was about how an actor who lives in South Africa, born in Zimbabwe was traveling to his film shoot and had a connecting flight in Zimbabwe and got held at immigration. The head of customs wanted to kill him, but he found a way to escape. It was funny but the situation is serious, and I’m not South African, so it was hard to connect with the jokes.
(Genvieve and me with Table Mountain in the background)
The next day I woke up at 6:00 am to go on my Safari in Pilanesburg, South Africa. We flew to Johannesburg and then drove 2.5 hours to Pilanesburg where we had “high tea” and went on our first game drive in the safari. Our itinerary for 3 days was sleep-eat-safari. Within the first 3 minutes we saw so many zebra, and antelope type animals. Within the first 25 minutes we saw a huge pod of elephants. An entire family! They were so cute. Our guide was a little frightened though and had to maneuver the jeep in a position that he could take off if a mommy elephant charged…b/c they do that especially when there are many babies around. We were thinking that the safari would get boring because of all the animals we saw shortly into the first drive…but that wasn’t the case, we didn’t see another group like that. We did see one elephant at night, which was eating in his sleep. I spoke to a man who worked at the Athlete’s Foot in South Africa who said he was a park ranger and he lived close to Pilanesburg, and that his town tribe follows the elephant. There are tribes that identify themselves with game animals, and his is elephant because they like the way an elephant lives and they think elephants rule the land. Elephants sleep for 5 hours a day and eat ALL day…I see why one could idolize elephants. Not to mention a bull can weigh up to 4 tons—they are so strong too.That night toward the end of our night-drive when we were 3 minutes from the gate to the park the two boys on either side of me, who some refer to as “the lumberjacks” were being brave and hanging out of the side of the jeep…All of the sudden we see King of the African Land Male Lion. Our driver reverses the vehicle, the boys jumped inside the car, and they even shrieked. The lion was soooo awesome at a distance, until it started approaching our jeep. Reed was on my right, where the Lion was approaching, and he grabs onto me, and us three cram to the left side of the jeep away from the vehicle, the boys put their feet up to block the window so the lion couldn’t jump in. I am the one getting smashed in the middle of this chaos, but I try to take pictures even though our guide was telling us not to make a move or a sound…then the lion came ONE foot close to our window and just walked around back into the bush. It was sooooo scary! The guide was saying that it was a rare occurrence for the lion to come right up to the car like that…I think the lion was teasing us. It was scary to even look into his eyes. The funniest part about this was when we went back to the lodge to tell the other group about our stories, the boys made it seem like they were ready to tackle the lion…but everyone in our vehicle had to remind them that they both grabbed onto the smallest girl (me) on the trip to protect them. Of course they said they were ready to wrestle the lion…but we all know what really happened when Simba came close.
That night we enjoyed a barbeque at the lodge and went to bed early to get up for our 5am drive. They told us they’d give us wake up calls, but my roommate and I did not get one. Thank god she set her phone too, but all the groups left without us. She and I ended up going with some German tourists until we found another SAS group. They weren’t too happy that they had to come back for two American girls…oh well. This was by far the best drive though so it was hard to complain. We saw 2 sets of mating lions. This was remarkable—straight up National Geographic style. I have documentation…we were about 30 feet from the first “honeymoon couple” and we could see and hear the action. The second set of lions was even closer…about 10 feet away from our vehicle. The male lion got up and approached the jeep and roared a little, marked his territory a little and went back to his girly lion. We got back to the lodge at about 9am for breakfast and we had until 4:30 to relax by the pool and have lunch…by far one of the hardest school days in my life! We swam, worked on our tans, maybe enjoyed some mimosas and daiquiris, took a nap, showered and went back out on the Safari.The 2nd night drive we found sooooo many giraffe’s, which were really the one thing I hadn’t seen (other than Leopard, but no one expected to see them). We also saw a pregnant Giraffe who wandered by herself because she was due any day. The Giraffe’s are fascinating. We also got pretty close them—in fact we got really close to all the animals we saw. And it’s not off-roading because they are national parks that need to be preserved—there are pathways for cars paved, or dirt roads that animals hang out on. That night we watched a little bit of Rugby with some locals at the lodge. We met some businessmen who wanted to talk about Obama. Obama was EVERYWHERE in Africa. People either loved him or didn’t. Unfortunately because of Apartheid there is still so much racism and they don’t hold back and some people love him and worship him, and some think he’s a joke. I guess they were being disrespectful towards us, and were shamelessly bashing American Politics, and even though I don’t agree with most things they said, it was interesting to hear a different perspective. That’s one thing I’ve learned to be flexible with—we’re visitors in these countries and politics regarding foreign affairs has been a sensitive topic everywhere.
That night before bed, I suffered a traumatizing experience. I was getting ready for bed and putting my clothes on, and I was standing right next to the door, so I thought it would be a good idea to double check that it was locked. When out of the periphery of my eye I spot a HUGE shiny black scorpion. This thing was at least 6 inches long, with a spiny poison tail, and it was AN INCH away from my foot. If I stepped anywhere, a scorpion as big as a 3-pound Maine Lobster would’ve attacked me. Instinctively I started screaming, skipping, waving my arms—a serious freak out. My roommate was in the shower, and she comes out and I am standing on the furniture naked, shaking, pale as a ghost, my heart racing…my legs kept doing this weird jumpy, hop and kicking thing…I lost control. It’s hysterically funny to me now, but it was a scary situation then because all I could think about was the possibility of more Scorpions waiting to attack me in our room. Well the good news is I scared the scorpy out of the room and he crawled under the door--I don’t know how he even fit under there. When I called housekeeping, they sent Mona up with a dust brush and Raid to kill the “insects”. She had no idea what we called about because she didn’t understand, so then we decided to put a towel under the door and we all looked in the curtains, our shoes, under the beds for more. I felt like a little kid proofing my room of monsters. I took motion-sickness pill to help me fall asleep (b/c they make me drowsy) so that I could sleep without fearing the scorpions. And I didn’t have any scary dreams, and I woke up and went on a Safari game-drive.
The next early morning drive we didn’t see many animals at all. They knew it was Saturday so they all went into hiding from the tourists. Oh well. I still saw all the hippos, rhinos, elephants, LIONS, 3 sets of MATING LIONS, giraffes, pumba’s, buffalo, etc. I also cannot forget to mention that when we returned for breakfast, a Bull Elephant wandered into the Lodge grounds to take a mud bath. So from my breakfast table, right where I was sun-tanning the day before was a huge bull elephant playing in the mud. The rangers said they do that every once in a while because they have a little pond in the middle of the Lodge area. The elephants step right over the electrical fences to get in!
When we got back to Cape Town, I had dinner with Annie and Ashley from Fairfield, CT who went to Kruger national park. We exchanged Safari stories, and then went out to some local places after eating an authentic African dinner. I couldn’t even tell you what we ate…but the meats were Springbock, Kudu, Ostrich, and Beef (all animals I saw). We socialized with locals, girls and guys, and they loved us Americans. They told us where to go and what to eat. We went to this club called Tiger Tiger. They played a lot of cheesy American Music earlier in the night because they knew we were there, and the later it got they played the Euro techno-house music that I love to dance to. What I love about the culture is that their fashion is very similar to ours, the people were so nice, and the city is so YOUNG. It kind of reminds me of Boston and how everyone is my age. Even though the drinking age is 18, you still have to be 21 to get into clubs on weekends…guys had to be 23. They were also building the World Cup Futbol stadium for 2010 next year, so the town was buzzing with futbol excitement.The weather is perfect, the landscape and oceans is BEAUTIFUL and 20 minutes outside of Cape Town is the beginning of the wine regions.
The next morning we went on a wine tour through the Stellenbosch region. I organized a trip for 6 of my friends before we went back on the ship. Natasha, Gillian, Genvieve, Jessica, Annie and I went to three wineries and we learned techniques for wine tasting, how to select wines with meals, and we got to spend time with each other in the country side learning about country life. Our tour guide, Pim, was so funny, but I think we entertained him mostly. We went to Blaauwlippen Vineyard, Avontuur Estate, and Hazendal Vineyard. They all export to the U.S. so I look forward to seeing some of them at home.
Right now, I am sitting in Mauritius writing this. It is a beautiful volcanic island off of Africa, East of Madagascar. It is a vacation spot for Australian’s and Africans, and the island is about 40ft long. I woke up at 6:30am to watch us pull into port. Volcanic mountains are gorgeous, and the sunset behind them was one of the most stunning sunsets I’ve ever seen in my life.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Namibia!
Namibia!!! Absolutely AMAZING!
February 14th-Happy Valentine’s Day, Namibia!
Early in the morning we had some U.S. Embassy people board the ship to talk to us about Namibia. They shared some personal stories and gave us some advice about getting around and safety. They told us that 51% of the population dies from AIDS, which explains why Namibia is such a “young country”. The average age is 42 years old. This information may be shocking and you can only imagine what my first impression of Namibia was like after hearing about it from American’s. But Namibia is a beautiful country, and incredibly rich in culture even though the official country is only 17 years old (it used to be inhabited by South Africa and lately Germany).
My friend Ashley and I went on a City Orientation Trip to a town called Swakopmund—it used to be a German colony, and it’s a beach vacation type of town for Europeans and especially South Africans. There are about 30,000 residence in the town which is just about the size of Boston University. The German influence in the town is apparent in the architecture: buildings and hotels look like Disney-World, cute and fun colored. First we visited a Namibian Weavery called Karakula. They have a website too, but they have their own wool farm, they spin the wool and dye it there and there are 14 specialty weavers. They distribute mostly to Europe and make custom carpeting and tapestries. For example we saw a photo of a newborn, and they made it into a rug. Their signature pictures are African Animals—the most popular one is an elephant rug, which I custom ordered to be sent home, you know I love ellies. I got to meet the lady who is weaving it, I picked the colors, and I picked the size. I really enjoyed talking to the people in the weavery, the owners are two German men, one spoke English, the other didn’t, but we all had a conversation about the culture of their business. I was also ecstatic to have my own Namibian tapestry made and sent home. It should take at most 3 months to make and send.
Then we went to a crystal factory. I learned about the native gems and precious stones. I found the gift shop so fascinating because I bead with a lot of the same stones at home, and for a while I thought that the gift shop was what they took us to see because it was so incredible. Haha my friend Ashley goes “Katie did you see the museum!” and then that’s when I realized there was more to see than the gift shop haha but in my defense the gift shop housed huge rocks of crystals with signs saying ”Do not touch” with information cards=very museum-ish. Pietersite is unique to Namibia and is only found in Namibia. There was a rock of Pietersite, which was 85 USD and it was about 2 inches in diameter and circumference—so it’s expensive, but the ball looked like a globe from a satellite captured picture—that’s the best way I can describe it! I learned how they made the jewelry and how they shaped the stones in their workshops.
Then I went to a craft fair in the center of town. I did more talking to the craftsmen than buying their items, but I was surprised how they approached us. Not in a threatening way like I felt in Morocco, but in a way that they wanted to know where we’re from, what we’re studying, what our name is, where we are studying at Semester at Sea, and most of all they wanted to shake my hand. I met one guy named Elia who crafts masks and buffalo bone among other things with his father. He hadn’t sold anything in 4 days, but he still was out there every day spreading out his crafts to sell to people to support his family. Of course there are lots of guys concentrated in one area, only a few women who all shared a similar lifestyle of collecting their resources and crafting them. I haggled with him for this amazing African Mask, he said it’s his very special design, and truly incomparable to any other masks I’d seen that day. He wanted to sell it to me for 1200Rand ($120 USD) and I got it for 300Rand (30 dollars). So I did a great job bargaining. I also learned a lot about the culture behind their craftwork. In general talking to locals is something I would like to do more because I’ve met such interesting people—interesting in that they have very different lives than I.
Ashley and I climbing Dune 7!
I also climbed Dune 7—the largest sand dune in Africa and The best workout in 15 minutes! Our tour guide said if we climbed the dune in 7 minutes he’d buy us a drink. Well, it didn’t look so hard, but once you start climbing it you have to keep going or else you sink into the sand. And the sand is piping hot so it burns your ankles as your feet sink down. Not to mention by the end I was sweating bullets and covered in sand because it was so hot and so hard to climb—really unlike any Stairmaster level I’ve ever experienced. The sand dunes are so gorgeous though, they look fake.
Rachel and I during the sunset at the condo, night one.
For dinner, Ashley, Molly and I enjoyed a romantic dinner at a restaurant that specializes in Ostrich. We started off with Ostrich Carpaccio (even though they advised us NOT to eat anything uncooked) It was the most DELICIOUS meat I’ve ever tasted—low in fat, high in protein. A local also told us where to eat and what to eat, so we had some guidance. That night I checked into our rental condo in Swakopmund—some very IRRESPONSIBLE boy was in charge of 35 people, so I didn’t even have the address of where our place was I just knew it was by the “Rafter’s Bar.” So we walk into the bar with our big weekend bags, and the bouncer was like, “you can’t come in here with that bag” so I got even more irritated, but he was kidding, so I went in and then was basically swarmed by locals asking me if I was “checking into the bar” and cracking similar jokes at the two little American girls walking into the locals bar with our huge bags. To my dismay we found that all of our friends already left. So Ashley and I awkwardly stood in the middle of the bar and waited for our friends to come and show us where our condo was located. I roomed with 9 of my girlfriends in a place with 4 beds, and then the rest of the group were all dispersed among 4 condos—which we never saw and I’ll explain why. That night I hung out with my roommates and went to some local places.
Dinner at The Lighthouse Restaurant, sunset, night 2. (From Top: Annie, Gillian, Rachel, Rachel, Me, Ashley)
The next morning (Feb 15) at about 8:30am the landlady comes in and says we have to move out by 11am—yes we were EVICTED. BUT it was NOT the girls fault, we’re 9 girls, how loud could we be? TWO of the four condos had serious noise complaints, and obviously it was the boy’s condo’s that got EVERYONE kicked out of our houses. It’s funny because even before we arrived in Swak, we agreed that we were never letting boys plan anything ever, EVER again. I don’t know why the landlady’s would rent family-style condo’s to a massive group of American college kids either.
Natasha, Gillian, and me revving our engines. day 3.
February 15th
It worked out very nicely after we got kicked out though. We split from the huge group into many smaller groups. We found a great bed and breakfast hotel next to the beach called, “A La Mer” with 24hour security. The guy who owns it really was so generous and tolerant of us. He planned Desert Adventures for us, and told us where to eat game and dinner. Annie and I shared a room and then Molly and Ashley came banging on our door at 5am because they were locked out of their condo down the street. But during the day we walked around Swak, talked to locals, enjoyed the beach and some local places.
February 16th
When we woke up we ate breakfast that they prepared for us and we went ATV-ing and Sandboarding in the desert. We had such a blast in the desert, and it was so beautiful. Sandboarding is literally sitting on a cardboard sliding down the dunes. It was such a thrill, and we even made a chain of people sliding down the dune too. I posted a video to show. But I would love to go back to Namibia for a few days again. I know we all had a great time together and it exceeded all of our expectations!
Well after one day of classes we’ll be in South Africa tomorrow! Can’t wait!
xoxo
Reed, Ryan, Kat, Molly, Me, Gillian, Bobby
sand-sled team.
February 14th-Happy Valentine’s Day, Namibia!
Early in the morning we had some U.S. Embassy people board the ship to talk to us about Namibia. They shared some personal stories and gave us some advice about getting around and safety. They told us that 51% of the population dies from AIDS, which explains why Namibia is such a “young country”. The average age is 42 years old. This information may be shocking and you can only imagine what my first impression of Namibia was like after hearing about it from American’s. But Namibia is a beautiful country, and incredibly rich in culture even though the official country is only 17 years old (it used to be inhabited by South Africa and lately Germany).
My friend Ashley and I went on a City Orientation Trip to a town called Swakopmund—it used to be a German colony, and it’s a beach vacation type of town for Europeans and especially South Africans. There are about 30,000 residence in the town which is just about the size of Boston University. The German influence in the town is apparent in the architecture: buildings and hotels look like Disney-World, cute and fun colored. First we visited a Namibian Weavery called Karakula. They have a website too, but they have their own wool farm, they spin the wool and dye it there and there are 14 specialty weavers. They distribute mostly to Europe and make custom carpeting and tapestries. For example we saw a photo of a newborn, and they made it into a rug. Their signature pictures are African Animals—the most popular one is an elephant rug, which I custom ordered to be sent home, you know I love ellies. I got to meet the lady who is weaving it, I picked the colors, and I picked the size. I really enjoyed talking to the people in the weavery, the owners are two German men, one spoke English, the other didn’t, but we all had a conversation about the culture of their business. I was also ecstatic to have my own Namibian tapestry made and sent home. It should take at most 3 months to make and send.
Then we went to a crystal factory. I learned about the native gems and precious stones. I found the gift shop so fascinating because I bead with a lot of the same stones at home, and for a while I thought that the gift shop was what they took us to see because it was so incredible. Haha my friend Ashley goes “Katie did you see the museum!” and then that’s when I realized there was more to see than the gift shop haha but in my defense the gift shop housed huge rocks of crystals with signs saying ”Do not touch” with information cards=very museum-ish. Pietersite is unique to Namibia and is only found in Namibia. There was a rock of Pietersite, which was 85 USD and it was about 2 inches in diameter and circumference—so it’s expensive, but the ball looked like a globe from a satellite captured picture—that’s the best way I can describe it! I learned how they made the jewelry and how they shaped the stones in their workshops.
Then I went to a craft fair in the center of town. I did more talking to the craftsmen than buying their items, but I was surprised how they approached us. Not in a threatening way like I felt in Morocco, but in a way that they wanted to know where we’re from, what we’re studying, what our name is, where we are studying at Semester at Sea, and most of all they wanted to shake my hand. I met one guy named Elia who crafts masks and buffalo bone among other things with his father. He hadn’t sold anything in 4 days, but he still was out there every day spreading out his crafts to sell to people to support his family. Of course there are lots of guys concentrated in one area, only a few women who all shared a similar lifestyle of collecting their resources and crafting them. I haggled with him for this amazing African Mask, he said it’s his very special design, and truly incomparable to any other masks I’d seen that day. He wanted to sell it to me for 1200Rand ($120 USD) and I got it for 300Rand (30 dollars). So I did a great job bargaining. I also learned a lot about the culture behind their craftwork. In general talking to locals is something I would like to do more because I’ve met such interesting people—interesting in that they have very different lives than I.
Ashley and I climbing Dune 7!I also climbed Dune 7—the largest sand dune in Africa and The best workout in 15 minutes! Our tour guide said if we climbed the dune in 7 minutes he’d buy us a drink. Well, it didn’t look so hard, but once you start climbing it you have to keep going or else you sink into the sand. And the sand is piping hot so it burns your ankles as your feet sink down. Not to mention by the end I was sweating bullets and covered in sand because it was so hot and so hard to climb—really unlike any Stairmaster level I’ve ever experienced. The sand dunes are so gorgeous though, they look fake.
Rachel and I during the sunset at the condo, night one.For dinner, Ashley, Molly and I enjoyed a romantic dinner at a restaurant that specializes in Ostrich. We started off with Ostrich Carpaccio (even though they advised us NOT to eat anything uncooked) It was the most DELICIOUS meat I’ve ever tasted—low in fat, high in protein. A local also told us where to eat and what to eat, so we had some guidance. That night I checked into our rental condo in Swakopmund—some very IRRESPONSIBLE boy was in charge of 35 people, so I didn’t even have the address of where our place was I just knew it was by the “Rafter’s Bar.” So we walk into the bar with our big weekend bags, and the bouncer was like, “you can’t come in here with that bag” so I got even more irritated, but he was kidding, so I went in and then was basically swarmed by locals asking me if I was “checking into the bar” and cracking similar jokes at the two little American girls walking into the locals bar with our huge bags. To my dismay we found that all of our friends already left. So Ashley and I awkwardly stood in the middle of the bar and waited for our friends to come and show us where our condo was located. I roomed with 9 of my girlfriends in a place with 4 beds, and then the rest of the group were all dispersed among 4 condos—which we never saw and I’ll explain why. That night I hung out with my roommates and went to some local places.
Dinner at The Lighthouse Restaurant, sunset, night 2. (From Top: Annie, Gillian, Rachel, Rachel, Me, Ashley)The next morning (Feb 15) at about 8:30am the landlady comes in and says we have to move out by 11am—yes we were EVICTED. BUT it was NOT the girls fault, we’re 9 girls, how loud could we be? TWO of the four condos had serious noise complaints, and obviously it was the boy’s condo’s that got EVERYONE kicked out of our houses. It’s funny because even before we arrived in Swak, we agreed that we were never letting boys plan anything ever, EVER again. I don’t know why the landlady’s would rent family-style condo’s to a massive group of American college kids either.
Natasha, Gillian, and me revving our engines. day 3.February 15th
It worked out very nicely after we got kicked out though. We split from the huge group into many smaller groups. We found a great bed and breakfast hotel next to the beach called, “A La Mer” with 24hour security. The guy who owns it really was so generous and tolerant of us. He planned Desert Adventures for us, and told us where to eat game and dinner. Annie and I shared a room and then Molly and Ashley came banging on our door at 5am because they were locked out of their condo down the street. But during the day we walked around Swak, talked to locals, enjoyed the beach and some local places.
February 16th
When we woke up we ate breakfast that they prepared for us and we went ATV-ing and Sandboarding in the desert. We had such a blast in the desert, and it was so beautiful. Sandboarding is literally sitting on a cardboard sliding down the dunes. It was such a thrill, and we even made a chain of people sliding down the dune too. I posted a video to show. But I would love to go back to Namibia for a few days again. I know we all had a great time together and it exceeded all of our expectations!
Well after one day of classes we’ll be in South Africa tomorrow! Can’t wait!
xoxo
Reed, Ryan, Kat, Molly, Me, Gillian, Bobby
sand-sled team.
Monday, February 9, 2009
The crew dressed in white robes, decorated with bows, tinfoil, and colorful decorations and stormed through every hallway, at least three times, banging on pots and pans, and blowing whistles to wake everyone up. At 9 0’clock am we were called to Deck 7, the top deck where the pool is and where the Neptune day initiation was taking place. There sat the royalty, Captain Jeremy and his Queen painted in green and adorned with seaweed wigs and other sea jewels
(this picture is deck 7 where I can be found before/between/and after class every day)
Crossing the Line, or Neptune Day, is an initiation rite celebrated in many navies. It commemorates a sailor's first crossing of the equator. The rite was intended originally as a test of new shipmates by seasoned sailors. The tradition dates back to the 16th century, and in the old days, the ship heaved to (that is, it set its sails so as to remain stationary) and the pollywogs were hoisted on the mainyard and dunked into the ocean 40 feet below; afterwards, shaving and other forms of blood letting took place.
The initiation first started with an oath.
Then experienced equator crossers poured green fish guts (I think it was slime) on me.
Next I kissed a fish…on the lips.
Then I kissed King Neptune’s ring, and the Queen.
Then I jumped into the water (it was freezing and I was laughing at all of the faces people were making when they surfaced—and then I made the same face and realized why they were making those faces)
Then I was knighted by a Sea Lord.
And now I am Initiated!
(and then…people went to get their heads shaved, yes girls too)
This went on for a few hours, and the rest of the afternoon we had off from class and hung out in the sun and caught up on some homework.
--great day. I asked Captain Jeremy, aka King Neptune Rex who was driving the ship. He replied, "I don't know." So then I asked if it was on Auto-Pilot, and he replied "I'm not sure."
Hopefully we'll arrive at Namibia in a few days!
xoxo
(this picture is deck 7 where I can be found before/between/and after class every day)Crossing the Line, or Neptune Day, is an initiation rite celebrated in many navies. It commemorates a sailor's first crossing of the equator. The rite was intended originally as a test of new shipmates by seasoned sailors. The tradition dates back to the 16th century, and in the old days, the ship heaved to (that is, it set its sails so as to remain stationary) and the pollywogs were hoisted on the mainyard and dunked into the ocean 40 feet below; afterwards, shaving and other forms of blood letting took place.
The initiation first started with an oath.
Then experienced equator crossers poured green fish guts (I think it was slime) on me.
Next I kissed a fish…on the lips.
Then I kissed King Neptune’s ring, and the Queen.
Then I jumped into the water (it was freezing and I was laughing at all of the faces people were making when they surfaced—and then I made the same face and realized why they were making those faces)Then I was knighted by a Sea Lord.
And now I am Initiated!
(and then…people went to get their heads shaved, yes girls too)
This went on for a few hours, and the rest of the afternoon we had off from class and hung out in the sun and caught up on some homework.--great day. I asked Captain Jeremy, aka King Neptune Rex who was driving the ship. He replied, "I don't know." So then I asked if it was on Auto-Pilot, and he replied "I'm not sure."
Hopefully we'll arrive at Namibia in a few days!
xoxo
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