South Africa Pictures

Brazil Pictures: Rio and Salvador

Pulling into San Diego

Japan... Finally!

Well here it is- the last blog entry of my voyage. It has taken me a little while to get this one posted because things have been crazy here on the ship with trying to get this semester completed. Yes, we actually do have work to do out here, contrary to what some of you may believe, and as I sit here and write this… I have completed all of my exams, all of my papers have been turned in, and it feels so good to be done!! Now that finals are done, my last few days have been consisting of packing, catching up on much needed sleep, and much needed time in the sun relaxing and reflecting. This semester has been an amazing ride and I’m so glad that I have had this opportunity.

Japan, our last port, can be described with “e’s”. It was exciting, expensive, easy to get around, and excessively clean. It was exciting, just as all of the ports that we have visited, because my friends and I had planned a very rigorous schedule full of running around the island of Honshu, which is the biggest island out of the four that make up the main Japanese islands. My friends, including 5 of my best girlfriends bought rail passes that gave us unlimited access to the Japanese rail system for the 5 days that we were in port and we took full advantage of the passes. We docked in Kobe and took time to visit Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Kyoto. All of the cities were equally interesting and I will get into that later… but for now… I must get back to the “e’s”.

Japan was expensive. Since it is an island with virtually zero natural resources, almost everything is imported and that causes prices to be out of control. Japan was easy to get around because of the rail passes… I was actually on a bullet train that was traveling around 300 miles per hour and was one of the quietest ways that I have ever traveled. Forget those little prop planes that fly to from Pittsburgh to Philly and it sounds like you are sitting inside a blender. These trains were so quiet and so safe- it really amazed me! Finally, Japan was also excessively clean. However, it was amazing to me though that there were virtually no trash cans on the street. Some students were talking about the Japanese government being concerned with trash cans being bombed so they eliminated them from public areas, but I’m not 100% sure what exactly the real reason behind the trash can situation really was.

Ok, so now onto the Japanese cities. Kyoto, the first city that I visited is a little bit of a smaller city compared to crazy Tokyo, but it still very alive. My friends and I stayed at one of the traditional “mat hotels” which is just a big room with a thatched type straw on the ground and has a huge closet with futon type mats and pillows and sheets. I literally felt like I was at a sleepover in 5th grade because we were all sleeping on the floor in this big room. But… it ended up being quite comfortable and fun. We went to a geisha show and visited the Golden Pavilion and participated in a traditional Japanese tea ceremony. No offense to anyone that likes Japanese tea, but I pretty much wanted to throw up after I tasted mine… but hey, its all an experience and I would have been mad at myself if I wouldn’t have tried it.

After Kyoto we boarded a bullet train for Tokyo and spent two days in the city. We were looking for a hotel room for a few hours and thanks to my friend Cameron we actually found one where they spoke English. The hotel was listed in the Lonely Planet book as a “$” out of “$$$” and it was still close to $250 a night. We all decided that it was a little out of our price range to get two hotel rooms, so we figured that we could all squeeze into one and save some money. Well… we ended up getting a 3 person room and fit all 6 of us in it. One bathroom, three beds, and six girls- you do the math. Needless to say, we had a blast and it was the most fun that I have had with my good girlfriends during the semester and I am so glad that we were able to have our last port be so special.

While out in Tokyo one night we met some American baseball players that were playing in Tokyo for a Japanese team. They invited us to their game the following day and we actually went! It was fun to see a game, but so strange to hear typical cheers that you would hear at an American baseball game being chanted in Japanese.

After Tokyo, we jumped on the bullet train again and went to Hiroshima for the day. It was fascinating to see the memorial peace museum that has been built in the city to honor and remember the victims that were killed in the bombings that ended WWII. Since much of the city was destroyed in the bombings Hiroshima definitely has a feeling of newness that seems to be all over Japan. Many of the buildings are quite modern and it is evident that public places have been updated and taken care of.

There were a few things that surprised me about Japan. First the weather… ugh. I’m not usually a complainer and rain never hurt anyone, but it rained every single day that we were in Japan and it was freezing cold every day as well. They actually sell umbrellas in vending machines in Japan. No, I’m not kidding… you read that correctly… umbrellas in vending machines. Apparently it rains a lot in Japan. Another thing that really surprised me was the fact that most of the people that I tried to ask for help did not speak English. I would have thought that a country that is such a crucial trading partner with the United States would have more business people and people in the hospitality sector that would speak English. Perhaps I was just unlucky and did not run into the right people to ask for directions and ask how which train was going where, but I was really surprised.

After my friends and my little jaunt around the country we returned to Kobe to catch the ship, but not before we treated ourselves to the famous Kobe beef that the city is so known for. It was around $55 for the steak, but worth every dollar. I’m not exactly sure what they do to that cow, but wow, that was one good steak if I must say so myself.

Japan was a great way to end the voyage and I’m so glad I was able to finally travel with my friends and not have such a regimented agenda that SAS trips always make your group stick to. If we wanted to sleep in, we did… if we wanted a beer at 3 in the afternoon… we had one, if we wanted to eat as McDonalds instead of fumbling over a sushi menu… we ate at McDonalds. It was a wonderful port and I truly enjoyed myself in Japan.

Now… San Diego is in sight. In fact as I write this we are about 24 hours from arriving. I truly think its going to be a bittersweet feeling when I leave the ship. I’m sad I will be leaving my friends that I have made and the memories that we make almost daily, but at the same time I know we will be in touch and I know that I have an exciting summer full of more travel and fun ahead of me. Thanks for reading and following me this semester. Its been quite an adventure and I’m so glad that I have been able to share it with you.

All the best!
Love,
Leah

Japan Blog... Almost

I know many of you have been asking about my blog... I'm sorry its been taking me so long to post it. Things have been a little crazy out here with finals and getting things in order for the end of the semester. I promsie I am working on it and hope to have it up before San Diego.

In the mean time, things are great here and I am looking forward to geting back to the States. I'm of course returning on the 28th... so that means that the blog will be coming soon! Keep checking and sorry!

In the mean time... here is a picture from the Ambassadors Ball.

Cherry Blossoms in Japan

Hong Kong, Beijing, and Quingdao

Hello from the Yellow Sea! As I write this blog post we are one short day away from arriving in Kobe, Japan, our final port on the semester long itinerary. Don’t even think for a second that since the trip is winding down our schedules are getting lighter. As typical with the Semester at Sea lifestyle (which is go, go, go if you haven’t noticed) this particular port stop was a combination of three cities in 6 days for me! The ship pulled into Hong Kong on April 3rd, I left for Beijing on the 4th, and ship left Hong Kong and sailed to Quindao on the 5th, and then flew to Quindao, China on the 7th to meet the ship and we left for Japan on the 8th.

Hong Kong was incredible. It was extremely western, very clean, and very urban, which were all welcome changes to what I have been experiencing in some of the more rural ports that I have visited on this voyage thus far. My one and only day in the city was as always spent exploring. My friends and I jumped on one of the many double decker cable cars that run throughout the city and rode it wherever it happened to take us. We didn’t know the route and had no idea where we were going, but I guess we got lucky and ended up in a beautiful shopping district. One thing that really amazed me about this city was the amount of construction that was taking place. Although the city is incredibly land locked it seemed as though they were building and improving property everywhere you looked. The scaffolding that was used was actually made out of reinforced bamboo rods that looked as though they would be pretty unstable, but I guess it worked because I saw it everywhere.

The next morning I was up early to catch my flight to Beijing. Our agenda for the three days that I spent in the city were tours of the Summer Palace, the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and about 40000 temples. (Yes, I have seen a lot of temples on this trip. They are great, but I am starting to feel like once you have seen 20, you have seen 40000.) The first day that we were in the city was like traffic overload for me. I have been in some very high traffic areas on this trip, but I think Beijing’s traffic was the worst. The combination of bikes, motor bikes, buses, cable car busses, cars, and trucks in just incredible if you aren’t used to it. I did my best to adjust and within a few hours of knowing what to expect, I was fine. The city, although very modern, was surprisingly gray to me. It could have been the weather, but I just couldn’t help but think that I was in the middle of the Russian Tundra. Beijing is of course the site of the 2008 Olympic Games and let me tell you the Chinese people are psyched about the games. There are large countdowns all over the city and the Olympic logo is on everything you see from billboards to beer bottles. Like Hong Kong, there is also an incredible amount of construction going on in this city for rush to get hotels and other facilities built to handle the crowds that the city is expecting.

The Great Wall was of course one of the best parts of this trip. We got up quite early and drove about 2 hours outside of Beijing to the section of the wall that we would be visiting. We climbed the 1600 steps up to the actual portion of the wall in about 20 minutes and by the time I got up there I was pretty exhausted. I thought it was going to be a nice easy walk on the wall after that point, but someone had failed to tell me that the wall is anything but flat!! There are lots of portions that go uphill and downhill again to follow the landscape of the countryside. My friends and I had a great time exploring and trying to take creative pictures. When it was time for us to walk down we found an Alpine Slide that actually was a slide that you can go down the mountain on. It started snowing (!) while we were on top of the wall and we wanted to get down as fast as we could, so the slide seemed like the best option. It reminded me so much of my younger days at Sever Springs riding that slide 10 times in a row. Needless to say it was a good time and when you say I took a slide down from the Great Wall I guess it makes for a good story.

The next day we spent mainly in Beijing exploring the city and Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square is the largest public square in the world and covers an area of about 100 acres. Needless to say… its huge! The Forbidden City was pretty cool too, but under major reconstruction and renovation due to the Olympics (I told you these people are psyched about it). It snowed again and some of the Chinese locals were laughing at lots of people in my group that had flip flops and summer jackets on. I don’t think many of us were prepared for the freezing weather that we experienced.

We ended our time in Beijing the next day and we flew to Quingdao the next day to meet up with the ship. That evening was the eve of my 21st Birthday and like all 21 year olds, my friends made sure that we celebrated in style. The port we docked at in Quingdao is in the middle of no where, but my amazing friends pulled through and found a place where we could go to celebrate.

I guess that pretty much wraps up my time in China. Now it is onward to Japan and its so hard to believe that this is our last and final port. A huge part of me is looking forward to getting back home and getting into a routine, but another huge part of me doesn’t want to leave this ship, the friends that I have made, and the feeling of having so many new experiences each and everyday. They say that Semester as Sea changes you… it really does… and I love the change that this program has brought out in me.

As always, thanks for reading. I appreciate your love and support more than you realize. In fact it means everything to me to know that so many of your have been behind me and sending me encouragement through all of this. Where would I be without all of you? I hope all is well at home.

Love,
Leah

Climbing the Great Wall

Dinner in Vietnam

Saigon, Vietnam

What an incredible place. Vietnam is a country with an obvious rich history, generally wonderful people, and an extreme diversity in things to do, see, and enjoy. Whether it was flying around the city on one of the million motor bikes for rent, learning about the history of the war, or even taking a riverboat ride down the famous Mekong River, I had a blast in this port and it definitely ranks in the top three places that I have been on this trip. I feel as though all of this was so unexpected from Vietnam and I am so glad that I got to experience all of it.

The Explorer pulled into Saigon on March 26 on an absolutely beautiful morning. After spending a few days in Thailand, my mom came to meet me in Saigon with the SAS parent trip. As we were pulling in I was looking for her all over the pier and she was no where to be found. We later found out that the ship pulled in early and the parents were unaware that we were docked. There were close 50 parents and family members that came all the way across the world to see us. I was pretty impressed. The parents finally made it to the dock and boarded the ship. The reunion with my mom was wonderful and it was so great to finally see her after all of the anticipation.

On the first day that we were in Saigon my mom and I met up with a few of my friends and we all walked around and explored the local market, had some local Vietnamese food, and just took in everything that is Saigon. I was amazed at how incredibly modern most everything is and I just kept thinking to myself how much the city reminded me of NYC. There were obviously many differences that were all around, but for the most part the city is very similar to a bustling metropolis that you would find in the states. We did go shopping in the local market where the electricity was not turned on that day. It was interesting to watch as you walked down the many isles of clothing, shoes, luggage, and other items for sale how little portable lights would magically turn on and merchants would invite you to look at the things they had for sale. I have never seen so many kinds of knock-off Nikes, Prada Purses, North Face backpacks, and Ralph Lauren Polos in my life. I almost left like I was on Canal Street in New York City. It was fun for a while. The marketplace was quite intense though and after a few hours of “Madam, Madam, I have many colors” and “I will find your size” I had to get out of there. It is interesting to tell a sales person that you are looking for a black polo in a size Medium and they pull out a red polo in a size Triple Extra Large and expect you to like it. The saying “Same, Same” meaning what the merchant is showing you is the same thing that you are asking for (which is never is) is VERY popular here. Its rather frustrating to be continuously sold things that you are not interested in. Oh well its all a fun experience!

The second day in Vietnam I went on a day trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels. These tunnels were originally built by the Vietnamese people as they rebelled against French. They were later used by the North Vietnamese army as a major strategic war tactic against the Americans and the South Vietnamese. It was truly fascinating to see how these tunnels worked, but at the same time was very sobering to think of the death and destruction that these tunnels helped to create.

Also while in Vietnam I took a day trip the famous Mekong River. This river acts as a major transportation system for the people that live along it and also provides a very interesting area for tourists to get a view of Vietnam outside the glitz and glam of Saigon. On the tour of the river I don’t know if I have ever been in and out of so many different types of boats in such a short period of time. It was starting to become a joke between my mom and I as to how many different kinds of river vessels we would be in over the course of the day. The tour took us to various villages and small businesses along the river and showed us how the rural population of Vietnam actually lives. It was a really great day and something that I’m glad I got to do to see another side of Vietnam.

There is so much more that I would write about regarding Vietnam and my words simply cannot do this interesting and exciting country any amount of justice that it deserves. I am unfortunately cutting this blog entry short because we are pulling into Hong Kong in less than 12 hours and I told myself that I would have this posted before we arrived. I know I say this all the time, but I simply cannot believe how fast this trip has been going. I can remember sitting in my apartment last fall just dreaming of seeing the Taj Mahal, and now it has been nearly 4 weeks since I watched the sun rise over the amazing structure. I remember dreaming about what it was going to be like to climb the Great Wall and now I am going to be walking on it in less than two days! This trip has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity to travel and see the world as I have been able to do. One of my friends here on the ship said to me the other day that her motto for life is “If you aren’t living on the edge you are taking up space.” I’m starting to like that way of life…”

As always, thanks for your love and support. Keep your wonderful e-mails coming.

Love always,
Leah

Trying on a Sari in India

My Wonderful Friends and I in Bagan!!

Yangon, Myanmar

Hello from beautiful Myanmar. I had no idea what to expect when we arrived here, and I truly have loved every minute of the time that I have spent in this country. This is a country that so many people from the west know so little about. The country is run by an extremely oppressive military regime that blocks most of the citizens’ contact with the outside world. E-mail accounts such as hotmail and yahoo are blocked and much of what the people do and say is monitored quite heavily by the government.

Due to our ship being docked in a very rural area we had to take a shuttle into the heart of downtown Yangon (formerly the city was called Rangoon under British rule). My neck was actually sore from turning my head so much to see everything that we passed along the side of the road. The people here are so fascinating and watching they going about their daily tasks from the bus was a little humbling. Here I am with 50 of my fellow students driving around this rural country in an air conditioned luxury tour bus, while the people are out in the 100 degree heat being watched like zoo animals. I try to remind myself quite often not to just take my camera out of my bag and take a picture whenever I feel like. Yes, I see poverty in these countries everyday, and yes I see people’s pain and need everyday, but that does not make them photo exhibits. I think there are far too many people on this ship that do not think before they whip out their cameras and start snapping away. What would it be like if foreign travelers came into your neighborhood and started taking pictures of you as you were playing with your children in your backyard? I would feel pretty uncomfortable, so I have tried to translate that feeling to the people that I come across in my travels. I try to relate to the people before I put up the glass wall that is my camera between us. Some of the Burmese people see all of the American tourists putting these sliver shiny objects up to their eyes and pointing it at them and in reality they have no idea if it’s a camera or a gun. Ok, Leah get off your soapbox….

My first day in the city was quite interesting. Four of my friends and I went into the city and explored around. We ended up being adopted by two locals guys that spoke excellent English and told us they would take us around for the day. They showed us local markets, good places to eat, and also just clued us in on some basic information about living in Myanmar. Even though they are not supposed to talk about the government, they did confirm that the citizens of Myanmar do live in a very repressive society. After they showed us around for the day we went to the famous reclining Buddha statue which was just enormous. People from all over the country come to pray at the statue and to donate money. I don’t know the exact measurements but it had to be 300 feet long.

The next day I was off to Bagan to begin my 3 day trip to this fascinating city. We took a short flight for about an hour to the rural village/town with 2000 pagodas that are dedicated to Buddha and the Buddhist religion. Many of them were built in the 11th century AD and have remained in excellent condition ever since. They are literally everywhere you look. Some are hundreds of feet tall and others are only 10-15 feet tall. We toured the city by horse pulled carts, which is the way that many of the locals get around. As with many of the ports that we have visited so far, we took a trip to the local marketplace. At the marketplace in Bagan there was a section that was selling “fresh” chicken, fish, and other types of meat. I use the word “fresh” quite loosely because the meat was covered with flies and looked like it had been cut a while ago. But hey, its all an experience, right? The highlight of the trip was climbing up a 200 foot pagoda and watching the sunset over the pagoda filled skyline. It was simply a beautiful sight.

Well I am going to keep this blog a little short, because as I write this the ship is only a day and a half from docking in Vietnam (which is so exciting because I will be able to spend 6 days with my mom!!) and I have large amounts of work to do before we get there. Classes are going well and I think I only have about 12 days of class left. It is so hard to believe how fast this semester has been going. I feel like it was only a few weeks ago that I was in the Bahamas saying goodbye for 3.5 long months and now we are in the home stretch! As always, thanks to everyone for their love and support, it means the world to me!! Keep me posted on what is new and exciting in your life. I love hearing from you. Thanks again for everything.

Love,
Leah

Here is a special hello to Mrs. Houser and her 6th grade students! I hope you all are doing well back in Pittsburgh. I will see you sometime in May when I return.

Incredible India!

I thought long and hard about how I should start this blog because it seems as though every time I sit down to write about a country I just want to say… “Well this has been the best country so far”…. But honestly… India has BY FAR been the best country that I have visited on this voyage. There just are not really words that can describe the way that India feels, smells, looks, sounds, and tastes. It is truly a different experience than anything I have ever come into contact with. South Africa and Brazil were just as amazing, but India was just such a different kind of amazing. Being in India and seeing the poverty and tasting the food and hearing the busy traffic noises for myself was so much different than anything that I have ever read about the country and anything I was even prepared for. INDIA IS INTENSE. There is no other way to describe it. Intense in a good way, but intense. I am going to attempt to do the country some justice in the following paragraphs and I have no idea if I am going to be successful or not, but here we go.

The Explorer (my ship, of course) arrived in Chennai (formerly Madras) on March 9th. The ship had been preparing for our arrival in India by prepping us emotionally and physically. The crew was busy before our arrival laying and taping down plastic and cardboard all over the carpets on the ship to prevent them from the dirt that we would be tracking in from the city. We were being prepped on the illnesses that we needed to be aware of and also being prepped on cultural issues as well. We were told not to wear sandals when we left the ship, we were told how to dress to show respect for Indian culture, and it was strongly suggested we covered shoulders and wear skirts down to our knees. (Which by the way in the 100 degree heat is of course so fun and functional…) Even with all of the slightly scary things that the ship had to prepare us for, I still could not wait to just dive right into India and that’s exactly what I did.

We arrived at the dock at about 9 AM and were told that we would be in for quite a long wait as our ship cleared customs. I had no idea how long “long” was supposed to be, but I think all of the passengers on board were in for quite a surprise. The ship finally cleared by about 2 PM, which is an eternity when you are anxious to get off the ship. I had a SAS day trip that I was signed up to attend, so I was actually let off the ship before it cleared so we could keep out scheduled itinerary. My trip was for my Sociology of the Family class and I went to a seminar on poverty and gender issues.

This program looked at issues facing Indian women and Indian families. Although the seminar part of the practicum was interesting, the most valuable part of this program was actually going into some of the areas where the poorest of the poor of India lived and having the opportunity to interact with the families.

During the seminar, the two women that spoke said for a family of five to be considered as living below the poverty line they must earn less than $300 per month. The women went on to further say that there are 251.9 million people in India that fall into this category. This statistic simply blew my mind. It is so difficult get my mind around that number and even be able to visualize what five people can do with $300 a month, and then take that idea and multiply that number by 251.9 million. With these statistics still fresh in my mind I started walking into the “neighborhoods” where these families lived I really did not know what I expect. I walked over filthy garbage heaps and watched women pump water from a pump on the side of the road. Only a few feet away from the woman I watched a child defecate on the side of the road, and simply watched as nothing was done to clean up the waste. I watched and listened to TVs as I walked through the narrow paths that led deeper into the neighborhood.

As we walked deeper and deeper into the neighborhood, more and more people came out of their homes to try to learn about whom these people were that have come to visit the place in which they were living. I really was not able to communicate much with the families due to the language barrier, however, it was easy for me to observe what was happening in front of me.

After the day trip I got back to the ship and decided to go out to dinner with some of my friends. We hired a rickshaw and went whizzing off the hotel that we told the driver to go to. I had never driven in a rickshaw before and wow was in for a treat! Driving in India is quite interesting. There are lines painted on the roads, but most of the time they are only “suggestions”, there are traffic lights, but most people don’t follow them, and there are horns on every type of moving vehicle (mostly motorcycles, mopeds, and very small cars) that is on the road and the drivers use them constantly. Yes, it sounds like chaos, but I loved it. Its like driving on the DC Capital Beltway times 100. We finally arrived at dinner after a few close calls with cows (yes, they stand in the middle of the road in India) and a few other close calls with cars, and started exploring the hotel where we would be eating. We happened to stumble upon an Indian wedding reception that was taking place and somehow managed to get ourselves (a group of 9) invited to the reception. We talked to the brother of the groom and asked him all kinds of questions about arranged marriages in India. It was fascinating to learn about how they work.

We ended up not staying at the reception very long since we were wearing jeans and t-shirts and just had dinner by ourselves. We ate at this outside restaurant with local music and dancing. It was so awesome. I came back to the ship that night and then packed for my trip to the Taj. My roommate had to get up at 4:30 to leave for her Taj trip so we both were trying to get everything together as fast as we could because we were both delirious from the long day and what was lying ahead of us.

The next day I headed off to the airport with my group to catch our flight to Delhi (the capital of India and a city with a population of 18 million!!!) The airport in Chennai was quite interesting and actually pretty western looking. In the security check point lines males and females are divided into separate lines because is it quite improper for a man to have to do a security pat down on a woman. We actually had to go behind a special curtain and get more or less frisked by Indian women in uniforms while our bags were going through the x-ray machines about 10 feet away from us. One girl on my trip actually had her bag stolen because we were not able to stay with our bags. The flight was quite turbulent and I got the feeling that we might have had a young crew because there were just some small things that a more experienced crew might have been able to correct, but hey, we arrived safely in Delhi about 2.5 hours later and that’s all that matters. We had a quick lunch in Delhi and then boarded an express train for Agra (the city where the Taj is located). The train ride was truly an experience. Indian trains have 5 classes in which you can travel and we traveled on the 2nd to the lowest class because they wanted to allow us to see how many Indians travel. We were in open non air conditioned cars with loads of Indians packed in with us. There were children that were barefoot that were dancing and playing drums in the isles hoping for a few rupees from us. The armed guards that often passed through the cabins would hit and scream at them and tell them to move along if they had bothered us for to long. We could not communicate with many of the people on the train however it was really interesting to watch them watch us. We literally just started at each other for 3 hours. We finally arrived in Delhi and got to our hotel and I crashed because I was so tired.

I received a wake up call at 5 AM so we could get ready for our viewing of the Taj at sunrise (!!!!) Even though I was more tired that I ever thought possible I dragged myself out of bed with a smile on my face because I knew what the day had in store for me. The Taj is located in a park that you cannot drive into so we walked along the long path that leads to the gates that allow you into the magnificent monument. (Actually, it is a magnificent tomb.) Many people do not realize that the Taj was built by an emperor who lost his wife while she was giving birth to their 14th child. He promised to build her something as beautiful as she was and lived up to his promise. One of the couple’s jealous sons who wanted to be emperor put his father in prison across the river from the Taj before the tomb was completed. The emperor had to watch as his beloved monument was being built from his jail cell. He actually wanted to build a tomb identical to the one that he had build for his wife across the river in matching black marble, however he died and his dream never happened. Today the bodies of the emperor and his wife are inside the main building at the Taj.

Anyway… back to the morning sunrise viewing. We were the first group to arrive at the monument and were the first inside the gates. We again had to be separated into male and female lines to be allowed inside. Once we got in and were the only group inside I started to realize where I actually was. I have always dreamed about going to the Taj and there it was actually in front of me!! I shot almost an entire roll of film and took about 20 digital pictures with no one in front of the building. It was simply beautiful. The sun began to rise and more and more people came into the park and it got more and more crowded. We walked around for about an hour and then headed back to the hotel for breakfast and the starting of our day’s agenda.

The rest of the day was filled with sight-seeing (or “sight-thinking” as our academic dean calls it) and we visited various different sites in and around Agra. Later that night we went back to the Taj to view it again at sunset. This time there were many, many people there and I actually watched a couple get engaged in front of the Taj. Their entire family was there to celebrate with them and everyone was cheering. It was such a beautiful setting as the sun started hitting the white marble and began to reflect on the reflecting pool. I had a moment where I just closed my eyes and reopened them several times to make sure I was seeing what I thought I was seeing.

After the sunset Taj trip we headed back to the train station for our trip back to Delhi. This time we rode on the 2nd to the highest class. I have to admit that even though we had air conditioning and our own seats, the ride to Agra in the lower class train was much more fun to be with the local people.

The next morning we woke up around 7:30 (which is sadly starting to feel like sleeping in for me) and took a city tour. We drove by many of the government parliament buildings and many of the ministry buildings that help to serve the country. We also drove by the building where President Bush held his meeting with the Prime Minister of India just two days before. We also stopped at a Gandhi museum to visit the place that he was assassinated. There were lots of children that were performing for us outside of the museum and we also saw a snake charmer with cobras. I was beginning to think that it was only rumors that snake charmers were in India, however he was right in front of me and told me to put the one of the snakes around my neck. I declined. After a busy morning we went back to the airport for our flight back to Chennai.

Since you have read this far and are probably tired of reading I will wrap it up by saying that India was simply a place that was truly incredible. I was amazed at the kindness and hospitality of the Indian people and I would love to come back someday to be able to travel more within the country. Five days and three cities simply was not enough India for me.

As always, thank you to all for your love and support as I have been on this voyage. Things have been going remarkably well and I cannot believe how fast time has been going. My next port of call will be Myanmar (formally Burma) and then Vietnam. Believe it or not, my mom is flying to Vietnam to meet my ship!! Yes, my mom and I will be taking on Ho Chi Mihn City. I will continue to post these blogs throughout the next few ports and hope that you continue to read and enjoy them. I hope all is well at home. Keep your wonderful e-mails coming as I love hearing from you.

Thanks for your love and support.

Port Louis, Mauritius

We have just left Mauritius after a quick 3 day port stop and are now sailing towards India. Mauritius was an interesting place and an had incredible amount of difference between the rich and the poor and the beautiful landscapes and the dingy cities.

Here is a little geography/history lesson for you since many people don’t know much about the island. The island of Mauritius is in the middle of the Indian Ocean and is half the size of Rhode Island. Being in the middle of the Indian Ocean makes Mauritius HOT… and when I say hot I mean HOT. Very few buildings were air conditioned and in the middle of the day when its close to 100 and there is 100% humidity you pretty much don’t want to even move. Mauritius has a population of 1.2 million people, many of whom are Indian. Besides people of Indian decent there is also a large French and Chinese population. Although there is such a strong Asian and European presence, the island is actually part of Africa. Many people on the island do speak English, but also speak French and Creole too (which is a native language.) As you can imagine since many of the people spoke English it was not difficult to communicate and made getting around the island very easy. One slightly difficult thing was the currency exchange. One Mauritian Rupee equals 30 USD, so dividing by 30 usually took me a minute in the middle of the marketplaces while I was bargaining. I probably looked a little foolish bargaining over something that would probably have amounted to about a difference of about 3 dollars (or 90 Rupees) by hey, its all an experience, right??

We arrived in Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius, on Monday the 27th. Port Louis is very much a bustling city with lots of commerce and a very large port area and huge marketplace. Since we were only in Mauritius for such a short period of time I didn’t really have too much of an agenda for what I was going to do, so I just went out into the city with my friends on the first day to see what I could find, so we walked through the marketplace around the city. I wasn’t overly impressed with what I saw and much of the city was very, very dirty, but on a positive note the city is for the most part very safe and we did not have to worry about being robbed by knifepoint like we did in Salvador. Yes, there were people on the ship that have been robbed, but as far as I am concerned with some of the stories that I have heard if being robbed is the worst thing that happens to you on the entire trip, you can consider yourself lucky. I am of course not trying to put a negative spin on things, but if you take a moment to think about some of the things that can happen in foreign countries, being robbed is certainly not the least. They tell us to carry around a “fake wallet” that has an expired credit card and around $10 in it, so that if someone does come up to you and threatens you, you can throw the fake wallet on the ground and run the other way.

Anyway, back on topic… the first afternoon turned into evening and my friends and I went in search of some authentic Indian food since we had been getting sick of the pasta and potatoes that they serve on the ship for every meal. We were successful in our quest and had just about the best Indian food that I have ever tasted. It was so nice to get a little change of pace from ship food. After dinner we went out and explored waterfront night life, and as expected, no matter where you are in the world there will be Americans. My friends and I met some guys that were from the deep south that were working on an oil rigger off the Mauritian coast and had come into port for a few days. It was fun to share stories and get different perspectives from people that are not on Semester at Sea, but are learning and exploring new foreign countries.

Tuesday, our second day in port, I chose to go on a service visit in the early morning to the Terre de Paix children’s organization. This specific organization is not run by the government, and in fact the people that worked at Terre de Paix seemed quite insistent on making it very clear that their facility was a non-governmental organization. Terre de Paix is basically a social project that caters to children that have been removed from their homes by the court system due to abusive family situations. Terre de Paix caters to both boys and girls and many of the children live at the facility full time, and others are brought to the organization on a daily basis by other family members.
While I was visiting Terre de Paix the group was split into groups that allowed us to interact with the children on a move individual level and observe them in their daily activities. Their activities include sculpture and art, music, outdoor play games, and writing composition. While all were fun and interesting to observe, the most fascinating activity rotation that I observed was the writing composition station. Here, the children are instructed through a prompt to write on a current events topic usually dealing with national elections, national holidays or other events that are of interest to the children. While we were visiting Terre de Paix the children were instructed to write on domestic violence and what they know about the topic.

Most of the children at this station were between the ages of 11-14 and some of their stories truly amazed me. I am 20 and have never had even close to some of the disturbing experiences that these children have witnessed before their little eyes. Many of the children wrote in their papers that they have witnessed women, even their mothers, being beaten by their fathers on a regular basis. The children told stories where women were beaten in the streets with bricks until they bled. Women were sent to hospitals barely hanging onto life and children told stories of how they prayed that their mothers would survive. I was shocked to hear some of the stories that the children told, and it certainly did not surprise me that these children were pulled out of their homes due to abusive situations.

I was very surprised to hear these types of stories and the fact that the children were willing to share their stories with me, a complete stranger, was amazingly trusting of them. It occurred to me that these children simply do not have exposure to some of the very basic functions of the family. Certainly the nurturing and meeting emotional needs aspects of family life are absent and therefore these children are desperate for human empathy. On a positive note, the children are able to find this with the people that work at Terre de Paix and people like the SAS group that are willing to come and play with them and listen to their stories. The abusive homes that these children come from cause them to lack the exposure to other family functions like socialization and allowing the children to feel as though they are part of a community, and Terre de Paix gives these children a chance to interact with other children that are in the same situations as them

Terre de Paix was a fascinating experience and I am glad that I was able to go and experience what this small organization is doing to help children that do not have “normally functioning families.”

That afternoon I tackled the local marketplace and did a little bit of shopping. It was really scary to see all kinds of birds, chickens and hamsters in cages being sold right next to tablecloths, purses, and food. All I kept thinking was oh no… bird flu! The markets were amazing though and anything that you really could want was available to buy. I have been getting into this habit of buying a piece of jewelry from every port that we have visited and the jewelry in the market here was really beautiful. There is also the crap stuff like gaudy t-shirts that say stupid sayings that are supposed to be a play on words or some American phrases, so I tried to stay away from that. Like I said earlier bargaining in the marketplaces has been yet another new experience that I have been mastering like salsa dancing. In some marketplaces that we have visited it is actually considered disrespectful not to try to bargain, and the shopkeepers expect to bargain with you from the very start. I’m starting to enjoy it and play it like a game and with a little more practice I’m sure I will be a natural. (Thanks dad for the genes for bargaining!!)

Wednesday, the last and final day that we were in port, was a total change of pace from what I had been doing during the other two days and it was exactly the change I needed. I spent the entire day sailing and snorkeling with my friends in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Talk about living a tough life! It was simply amazing. I have fallen in love with sailing and have told both of my parents that when I return from this trip we are going catamaran shopping. I’m not exactly sure where we will be sailing on Pittsburgh’s mighty rivers, but I guess that is just a small detail that can be worked out at a later time. I’m not sure what it is with the water, but I have just fallen in love with it out here… I guess it just kind of draws you in. On the other hand though, as soon as our ship gets rolling with the waves some of my friends will tell you other wise about the wonders of the open ocean. Overall, it was a wonderful way to end my time in Mauritius and I am so glad that I made the decision to go. It was simply perfect.

I’m not sure that I will be jumping on any planes as soon as I get back to the states to come to Mauritius again, but it was an interesting learning experience. It also gave me a huge taste of what is to come in India and I cannot wait for our next port. Thanks again for following me on my trip and for your love and support. I hope all is well at home and keep your e-mails coming!

Love,
Leah

Cape Town, South Africa

Oh South Africa… what a place! We approached Cape Town on February 14th to a very overcast sky. Due to all of the clouds and rain that was in the area that port was actually closed for the morning and we arrived 4 hours later than scheduled. It killed many of us to sit off the coastline and be able to see land but not get off the ship for so long. People were really starting to get quite restless and I can only imagine what people will be like when we arrive in San Diego. Since we were so late, many people missed their trips that were supposed to have early departures from Cape Town International and therefore had to run around and try to re-book flights and hotel rooms and various other details.

The 4 hour delay was actually a blessing for me because it gave me an extra few hours to finalize details on the 4 day Safari that I had booked about 20 hours before I had to be on a plane on my way to Kruger National Park… on the other side of South Africa. Yes… I know it was quite last minute, but as I have said before I am learning that this trip is about taking risks and just sailing along for the ride. As a person that very much needs to have a regular schedule and likes to know exactly where I need to be and when I need to be there, this has been a total change of pace for me. I am learning to love it!!!

I spent the early afternoon of my first day in Cape Town making phone calls to the lodge that Jess (my friend from Pittsburgh who goes to Penn State) and I would be staying in before our Safari. I also walked around the waterfront area and explored a bit where our ship was docked. The waterfront area reminds me a lot of Baltimore or Annapolis and is truly beautiful. It was not what I expected, and I was quite pleasantly surprised. There is a huge western mall just footsteps from the ship (complete with an Apple Computer Store, a Hallmark, and a store that almost resembled Target.) The waterfront also had tons of restaurants, a Nike concept store, and a small amphitheater where there was constant live entertainment. Like I said, it was nothing what I expected South Africa to be. After exploring a little bit, I had to meet Jess back at the ship around 6:00 to drive to the airport for our evening flight to Johannesburg. The flight was fine and like Brazil I was once again impressed with the standards of non-US airlines. South African Airways really prides themselves on their hospitality and when they say they will do anything they can to make your flight more comfortable, they really mean that they will do anything. Jess and I had already eaten dinner before the flight and since it would be almost unheard of for South African Airways to not serve a full meal on one of their flights, Jess and I politely declined, however, since it was Valentine’s Day our chocolate cravings were in full swing. We asked the flight attendant if she could do anything to find some chocolate and within about 5 minutes she returned with some chocolate bars that she had found complete with Happy Valentine’s Day written on the label. It may sound insignificant, however, she really went out of her way to do something nice for us and we appreciated it. It might be generalizing, but I can’t imagine that US Airways would do something like that just to satisfy two girls’ sweet teeth on Valentine’s Day. You are lucky if you get 4 pretzels in the bags that they serve these days.

Jess and I met a local South African businessman and talked to him on the flight for a bit. He started the conversation by asking us how long we American girls would be spending on our “holiday” in South Africa. We asked him how he knew we were Americans on vacation. He said… and I quote… “It wouldn’t be less obvious that you were Americans if you had flashing light bulbs above your heads that said American.” So much for blending in and not acting like tourists. Oh well. He was very nice and clued us in on some local terminology to make us stand out a little less. I think it is mostly the accent that we Americans use that really is the factor that makes us stand out.

After a two hour flight we arrived in Johannesburg. The manager of the lodge picked us up and drove us back to the lodge. While we were driving, we could tell that we were in a really nice part of Johannesburg, but we had no idea that we would be staying in a mansion for the evening. After we arrived and I picked my jaw off the ground from shock at how beautiful the place was. There were 5 guest rooms that were beautifully decorated in all white linens and huge over stuffed furniture. It was just beautiful. We woke up the next morning at 6:30 and had a quick breakfast at the lodge and met our guide, Phillip, and got in the jeep and headed towards Kruger. It was about a 5 hour drive and by the time we got there we were ready for our first game drive through the park. In total over the 4 days we had 6 game drives and were successful in seeing what Africa calls the “Big 5.” The Big 5 are lions, buffalo, elephants, leopards, and rhino. We missed the leopards, but were no more than 5 feet away from any of the other animals. I was able to take some really amazing pictures, and only wish that I could have had more time in the park for the game drives. We also saw giraffe, hippos, wildebeest, all kinds of birds, zebra. Basically, you name it, and it was there! The best time of the day to see animals in either in the early morning or the late afternoon/ evening, so the trip included lots of long days and early wake up calls. It was all worth it though to be able to see some of the animals that I saw. We took a night drive on our second night in the park and it was really amazing to drive in an open air jeep in the late evening when everything is starting to settle in for the night. I just can’t describe what it is like to watch a lioness and her cubs hunting in total darkness less than 3 feet away from your jeep. It is really amazing.

After what seemed like mere hours in the park we had to head back to Johannesburg to catch a flight back to Cape Town early Saturday morning. (Are you getting the feeling that I don’t sleep much on this trip?) We arrived in Cape Town and was greeted by the same little taxi driver that took us to the airport a few days earlier and he drove us back to the ship. He had told us that he would come back and pick us up after we returned from our Safari, but Jess and I didn’t believe him. I guess it just goes to show you the kindness of the South African people. They really are wonderful!! The taxi driver told us that two students were kicked off of our ship for possession of drugs and he had heard the news from standing at the end of the pier at speaking with the security officials from our ship. Sure enough, when we got back to the ship and asked around, the taxi driver was correct… two students were asked to leave- no questions asked. They don’t mess around here, that’s for sure!

After a relaxing day in Cape Town, I went out to dinner on the waterfront with some friends. We all ate fresh seafood and enjoyed ourselves constantly reminding each other that we were actually in Cape Town and encouraged one another to soak up every minute of this experience that is possible. Yes, it sounds corny, but when you are here experiencing the things that I have been experiencing, I just have to take a minute every once a while to remind myself how fortunate I am to be doing the things that I am doing this semester. It’s a once in a life time experience and I am SO grateful!!!

Monday finally arrived and it was my last day in Cape Town. It was incredibly bittersweet because as much and I didn’t want to leave I know there are still so many things on this trip that I am looking forward to. I went to Robben Island, the prison island where Nelson Mandela was held during his struggle against Apartheid in the morning. It was a very interesting tour and all of the tours are actually led by a political prisoner that was once on the island. Prisoners were separated by race and were put into groups. There were awful divisions between the race classes as far as who was able to eat what each day, and who was able to exercise and study each day. Obviously, blacks were treated as second class citizens and received less food, time for exercise, and time for study than the other prisoners received.

As if the last day in Cape Town wasn’t packed enough, after Robben Island, I headed off to the Cape Winelands with 5 of my friends for a quick vineyard tour, wine tasting, and lunch at a restaurant called Moyo. The vineyard was beautifully situated between the mountains and the Mediterranean climate of South Africa makes it a perfect place to grow grapes… and let me tell you the grapes are pretty perfect here because the wine is as close to perfection as I have ever tasted. Lunch was incredible too and at the restaurant they paint your face and there are tables situated in the trees. After a quick stop at a local market outside of the vineyard we jumped in a taxi for the 40 minute ride back to the ship. We left Cape town last night (Monday, February 20) and I already can’t wait to come back.

I could write forever on this port, but I realize if you have gotten to this point you have read over 2.5 pages of single spaced text- so thanks for getting through to the end. Thank you also to everyone for the e-mails. It is so great to keep in touch with everyone from home and it means the world to me that you are following me on this incredible journey that I am on. Tell you friends and family about this program…. encourage people to read about it and consider it… I’m less than ½ way through my voyage and I already want as many students (and adult passengers can travel on this program too!) as possible to be able to experience what I am experiencing because I can already feel that its changing me. I love it out here and I am so thankful for the opportunity to live and learn about this incredible world of ours this semester.

Thanks for reading and look for more updates soon!!
Love,
Leah

Pictures from the Voyage

A soccer game in Salvador, and Kids at social project in Rio.

An Update from Brazil

Brazil is an incredible place. We pulled into port on Wednesday, February 1st and are now sailing towards South Africa. I wanted to update this blog though before I get too wrapped up in school work and planning for Cape Town though. Thanks for everyone’s love and support so far on this voyage, you all have been wonderful. Ok a summary of my time in Brazil…here we go.

We pulled into what is called the “lower city” of Salvador alongside two enormous cruise ships around 8AM and proceeded to go through customs. I was off the ship by about 1PM and was greeted by women in local Brazilian costumes and a huge sign welcoming us to Salvador. I spent the first day in Brazil walking around and exploring Salvador, and as far as I am concerned to explore properly you need money! After getting off the ship I had to find a place to exchange my money for Brazilian Reals (pronounced: Hay-ALLS). In the process of entering a bank I got stuck in a sliding glass door contraption. Basically one glass door slides open and the security guard working at the bank looks you over and decides if you look safe enough to allow into the bank, and then if you do, the guard will open the other glass door to allow you to enter the bank. Well, it either took an extremely long time for the guard to decide if I looked safe enough, or the door mechanism was broken. I’m pretty sure it was the latter. I stood there for what seemed like forever as my friend Liz stared at me through the glass looking quite panicked from the street. They eventually fixed the door and I was able to enter into the bank. I exchanged some money without any problems and was on my way. I was a little surprised at the over abundance of security officers in uniform carrying machine guns at the bank… it was a little intimidating.

I went up to the “upper city” on what the locals call “the elevator.” It is literally an outside elevator that would be inside a typical building that takes you from where the docks and market are (the lower city) to the upper city where some of the historic buildings, shopping, and beaches are. The whole ride takes about a minute and costs 5 centavos or about 2.5 cents. There are streets that connect the two portions of the city, but they are very unsafe to walk on even during the day, so we just stuck to the elevator.

That evening I went to a welcome reception at another local university similar to the one in Puerto Rico, however, since it is summer in the southern hemisphere, the students are out of school for there summer vacation. There were not too many students that were around, but the ones that were there were extremely friendly and taught us all the Somba, which is the local dance of Brazil. I was having a great time, but my mind was on the early wake up call that I was receiving the next morning. How early you ask? Try 3:00 AM.

After the welcome reception I packed, and went to bed. I got about 2.5 hours of sleep and woke up at 3 to meet my group and transfer to the Salvador airport for my flight to RIO!! The flight was relatively uneventful and we flew a 737, the crew spoke both English and Portuguese, and I tried to sleep as much as I could to get a little caught up on the sleep deficit. One thing that I did notice about the local Brazilian people that were on the plane is that they do not like to wait in lines. When a plane lands in the states everyone waits for the fasten seat belt sign to go off, then people begin to collect their luggage, wait for the cabin door to open, and file out of the plane by taking turns in order of your seat number. It’s a pretty good system, right? Well… Brazilians ignore the whole waiting in line process and rush to the front of the plane ignoring the seat belt signs and practically trample people in their way. I don’t think they mean to be rude as they do it, but I suppose they just want to be the first ones waiting for their bags as baggage claim. Who knows. Anyway, I watched several people do it and it was just the strangest thing to me. A few other students commented on it to me and we all agreed that it was just a little bizarre.
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After we arrived in Rio, we ate at one Brazil’s famous churrascarias. These are all you can eat meat type buffets where the meat is brought to your plate on sword type skewers that are about 3 inches wide and about 3 feet long. The server brings the dozens of kinds of steak, chicken, pork, and other mystery meats including frog legs and camel to your table and cuts them off the slab of meat that is on the skewer and it falls to your plate. I ate so much I thought I was going to explode. After we left the restaurant we boarded busses and traveled to Sugar Loaf Mountain which via a series of cable cars that take you to the top of the mountain which offers some of the most amazing views of the city of Rio. The weather was a perfect 80 degrees and the sun was shining. After we came down from the mountain we checked into our hotel on the infamous Copacabana Beach. That night the group went out to a local Irish Pub and welcomed ourselves to Rio. I was so excited to see a sign outside the pub that said they would be broadcasting the Superbowl that Sunday. (By the way I’m so excited that they Steelers won… and no I didn’t get to see any of the game. There is supposed to be a tape that is on its way to South Africa from one of the professor’s husband. I am hoping to watch it soon.)

The next morning the group (there were 50 of us) headed back into the city to see the Christ the Redeemer statue that gracefully watches over the city. The statue stands 1145 feet from base to top and is currently undergoing some renovations. The area around the base of the statue also provides some breathtaking views of the city and I just had to keep telling myself… “Leah YOU ARE IN RIO!!” It was quite surreal. After visiting the statue we boarded open air jeeps and drove through the rainforest that is on one side of the mountain and stopped for lunch at a local fish restaurant.

Later, we stopped at a social project that’s main responsibility is keeping kids that live in the flavellas (the slums) of Rio out of drugs and other problems. There are 2 million people that live in flavellas in the city and there are many social projects that do their very best to help the situation, but there is still so much that needs to be done to give these children a decent life. The poverty I saw in just a few short hours was amazing, yet the children still had smiles on their faces. I got my digital camera out of my bag and started taking pictures of the children once they realized what I was doing they started posing. They were so exited when I was able to show them the pictures I had just taken on the back on the camera. It was almost as if they didn’t know who they were looking at on the screen and once they realized it was actually themselves they got so excited. All they wanted to do all afternoon was take pictures of us, the tour guides, and themselves. No wonder my camera batteries died that afternoon.

After we left the social project we drove through the streets of Rio and got a little bit of a city orientation from our guides who were wonderful to us and then it was back to the hotel. I had dinner with my friends at a local Brazilian restaurant in Copacabana and then it was off to experience more of Brazilian nightlife. Wow… those locals can party!

My last day in Rio was incredibly bittersweet. I was so excited to see more of the city and stay as long as I could, but at the same time I know that there is just so much to look forward to in some of the ports that are in front of me. I flew back to Salvador in the late afternoon on Saturday.

Sunday, I went to a Brazilian soccer game. I am sure you have seen or heard about the soccer games in Brazil, but until you have actually gone to one, you simply haven’t experienced it. There were 400 students from the ship that went and we took over an entire section in the stadium. It was great. Most of us cannot speak Portuguese, but as long as we were screaming Bahia (the local team) as loud we you could the locals were happy to have us sit with them. There were people that were lighting fireworks, sparklers, and other colored flame throwing objects from inside the stadium and there are army officers with machine guns that protect the referees as they walk off the field between halves. It was nuts.

I had such a good time in Brazil. I would love to come back sometime and bring my family as see more of this amazing place in the future. Thanks for reading and look to hear from me after South Africa!

Salvador and Rio

Welcome to Brazil! This sign greeted us as we arrived in Salvador.

Second Stop... Salvador!

Hello from Salvador, Brazil. The ship arrived this morning, February 1st, and I have spent most of the day exploring this beautiful city. I leave for Rio tomorrow morning at 4 AM and will be spending 3 days and 2 nights there. I cannot wait to see what that city has to offer and I am sure that flying on a Brazilian airline will be interesting too!! I hope all is well at home.

Go STEELERS! :)

Jess, Me and my Roommate, Pam, at a Welcome Recpetion in RICO!

First Stop... Puerto Rico!

Well today is my last day in Puerto Rico and it has been amazing. Right now I am sitting in an internet cafe in downtown Old San Juan just reflecting on my last few days in port and wishing I didn't have to leave, but then again... I can't wait for BRAZIL!

The language barrier has been a slight problem here, and more of a problem that I expected. When I was in Puerto Rico before I was in a resort area where almost everyone spoke English and was able to point you in the direction of places that you want to go. However, when you really get off the beaten path things are quite different! I speak a little bit of Spanish and that has helped tremondously, but its still intresting trying to communicate. I can’t wait for India where I know nothing about the languauge.

Ok, so for the highlights of San Juan… here we go. The first day we were here I went into town with some friends and just did some exploring. It was great to not have much of a schedule and just walk around at a leisurly pace. There was a large number of students that had to get off the ship early to catch early trips, but the customs officals were great and did not really give us too much trouble, so the ship cleared realitivly quickly. I ate lunch at a local mexican café… I guess it wasn’t exactly Puertican food, but it was local and cute and fun too! After walking around for a while, I made my way back to the ship to get ready for the welcome recpetion that I attended at the University of Puerto Rico. What a fabulous welcome to the island! We ate great Puertrican food, talked with local students, and I learned to Salsa… yessss I can actaully do it! I got back to the ship around 11 and went out with my friend Jess from Penn State… she is so great, I’m sure you will be hearing lots about her, and we ended up at this little local hole-in-the-wall pub called Douglas’. We drank a few margaritas and actually met a guy from Latrobe who is a chef down here and is a huge Steelers fan! It was fun to talk to a local that also knows a lot about my home too.

Tuesday was another day filled with exploring the city and having fun in Old San Juan. We explored the forts on the island and ate more local great food. Then I was off to the Bioluminesence Bay at 6:30. The bay has these little algea like planton that when disturbed in the water by kayak paddles actually glow a light greenish-yellow. It was one of the most incredible things that I have seen while I was here. We kayaked around for about an hour by the moonlight and it occurred to me… I could never in a million years be doing this at home in the middle of January. I am learning that those types of moments are what this trip is all about. Learning to do things that I could never do before (salsa dancing) and seeing things that I never knew even existed (the bio bay) and eating things that I never ever thought of eating (and we will just leave it at that…).

Wednesday, today, I spent soaking up all of the last moments I could in Puerto Rico. I went to the beach this morning with a few friends. We then ate at this other local place called El Hamburger. Liz, Joanna, Jess and myself were probably the only four people that were speaking English in the whole resturant. But… we were able to eat for $20 which was such a good deal considering what we have paid for some of the other meals that we have eaten. Then it was off to the Bacardi factory. We took this little Ferry that cost $1 to the island that the factory is on. We toured the factory and there were a few free adult beverages at the end of the tour which was fun. I had no idea what went into the making and distilling of Rum and that the company has been around since the 1800’s! It was fun to see and something I figured that I might not have the oppurtunity to do again, so I went, and I’m glad I did.

OK… now for some real fun stories. Here we go…ready? Well On Tuesday-the 2nd day in port- I was carrying my phone around in my pocket since my cell phone actaully worked down here in Puerto Rico and somehow the phone fell out of the pocket while I was in the cab. I realized it right away that it was missing and so I freaked out and starting running after what was the cab that I thought the phone was in. Well, it turns out the same cab and the driver had actually left the complex where our ship was docked. But, the cab driver that I was running up to knew the driver of the cab that cell phone was in. So he agreed to help me find the guy. I jumped in the cab and we took off flying into to the city. The driver was weaving in and out of traffic, running red lights, and probably going 70 miles an hour. We got into the city in about one minute flat, which should have been about a 5-6 minute drive, and started looking for the cab. I was so paniced that I couldn’t even remember what the originial cab or the driver looked like so I was almost helpless in the frantic search. We then got stuck behind a horse and carriage, yes, horse and carriage going about 1 mile an hour. All I could think of was “this is not helping and all I am going to do is lose time.” There were also two little old ladies that were on the sidewalk trying to flag down the driver and he just flew right past them. The cab driver was so good to me and told me to get out of the cab because he thought he saw the other cab that my phone might have been in up the street. I sprinted across a busy street of traffic and started banging on the window of the cab and yelled at the guy, “You have my phone!” Meanwhile this poor man that I was yelling at speaks no English and is just jamming away to his Salsa music. I crawled over the seats of the van and sure enough my cell phone is on the back seat of the cab. I was so relived. I got back into the cab that I had been on the “high speed chase” in and the driver leisurely took me back to the dock. He starting telling me about his son and his family and how he was so glad that he could help me when I was stressed. Thank goodness for him!!

Alright, well thanks for reading this far. I know it was a lot to read. Keep the e-mails coming and mail is great too. I will be sure to write in Brazil!

My Cabin Number

Just a quick post to tell you that if you want to send me any mail, which I would love, include my cabin number so they can get it to me easily. Its #4026. Thanks! I promise there will be more posts to come (soon, I hope!)

Atlantis... What a Paradise!

Well… I made it to Atlantis! The travels this morning were uneventful except for the fact that I got out of bed this morning at 4:25 AM. Ugh… that’s early! My mom and I arrived in the Bahamas around 1 PM and just walked around a bit to explore the resort. It is so beautiful here! I have seen a lot of different resorts before, but nothing quite like this. The pools are unbelievable, the shopping is great, and let me just tell you about some of the yachts that are moored outside of the hotel. They are enormous!

There seem to be lots of SAS students here and it is so easy to pick them out. All you have to do is just look for the students with the luggage big enough to be body bags who are wearing college t-shirts. Everyone is so friendly and just really willing to meet people. I think many of us are in the same situation and don’t know many people that are traveling with us… so its great to have something in common with the other students. I think my mom and I are going to try to go into downtown Nassau tomorrow to get a closer look at the ship, since we only saw it from a distance on the ride in today. I will be sure to keep you posted.

Keeping up with me While I'm Away

I would love to hear from you while I am at Sea. Below are the addresses of the ports that I will be pulling into along with suggested airmail dates. Don't feel obligated to send postal mail, because e-mail is great, fast, and free... but if you do want to send me a letter (no boxes because they cannot guarantee that they will arrive and not be held up in customs) you can send it to:

Leah Rust
c/o: Exlorer
Arrival Date
Port Address
CABIN #4026


San Juan, Puerto Rico
Cruise Plus Service & Sales
1760 Fernandez Juncos Avenue
San Juan, Puerto Rico, 00909
Arrival Date: Jan. 23
Suggested Air Mail Date: Jan. 09

Salvador, BRAZIL
Oceanus Agencia Maritima
Av. Estados Unidos, 555
7th Floor/Room 712
40015-010 Salvador, BAHIA-BRASIL
Arrival Date: Feb. 1
Suggested Air Mail Date: Jan. 18

Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA
John T. Rennie & Sons
P.O. Box 702
1 Thibault House
8000 Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA
Arrival Date: Feb. 14
Suggested Air Mail Date: Jan. 31

Port Louis, MAURITIUS
Ireland Blyth, Ltd.
1 Queen Street
P.O. 53 Port Louis, MAURITIUS
Arrival Date: Feb. 27
Suggested Air Mail Date: Feb. 11

Chennai, INDIA
J.M. Baxi & CO.
3rd Floor, Clive Battery Complex
4 & 4A, Rajaji Salai
Chennai-600 001, INDIA
Arrival Date: March 9
Suggested Air Mail Date: Feb. 23

Yangon, MYANMAR
Myanmar Port Authority
Sea Horse Agency
347/1st Floor,
Mahabandoola Road
Kyauktada, Yangon
MYANMAR
Arrival Date: March 16
Suggested Air Mail Date: Mar. 02

Ho Chi Minh City, VIETNAM
General Forwarding & Agency Co., Inc.
5th Fl. OSIC Bldg.
8 Nguyen Hue Avenue
Dist. 1, Ho Chi Minh City, VIETNAM
Arrival Date: March 26
Suggested Air Mail Date: Mar. 11

Hong Kong
Inchcape Shipping Services (Hong Kong) Ltd.
Units 1802-1805, 18/F
No. 3 Lockhart Road
Wanchai, HONG KONG-China
Arrival Date: April 3
Suggested Air Mail Date: Mar. 20

Qingdao, PRC
Penavico Qingdao
21 Wuxia Road
Quingdao, 266002
P. R. CHINA
Arrival Date: April 7
Suggested Air Mail Date: Mar. 24

Kobe, JAPAN
Inchcape Shipping Services
Kenryu Bldg. Room 502
6, Kaigan-dori, Chuo-ku
KOBE-shi, Hyogo-ken 650
0024, JAPAN
Arrival Date: April 11
Suggested Air Mail Date: Mar. 28