Dipping into the Mauritius Seas!

Journal #20 February 27, 2009

Well the past few days at sea have gone by really fast. I have been reflecting on my time in the past ports, Namibia and Cape Town. But this morning we arrived in Mauritius!!! We got here on time, even though we left Cape Town late, and we had our diplomatic briefing. It was a quick meeting and everyone was excited to get off the boat.

Sadly, we only had one day in Mauritius, so all the students who were on SAS students were able to get off the ship first, and that was not me. So about 500 of us were waiting in the stairs and lounges eager to get off the ship. Luckily I was probably one of the first 50 people off so I did not have to wait forever!!!

Me and two of my friends had our day planned out already, so we were off in a hurry. We first had to ride the water taxi to the main center of the city. That was quite exciting, there were about 25 SAS students crammed onto a little boat, I thought we were going to sink hahha.



After getting to the city center we got money from the bank and headed to Grand Baie. This was a touristy beach that was about 30 min away. When we first arrived we signed up for parasailing!! This was going to be my first time ever.

We had about an hour so we did some shopping. I didn’t get anything though. The markets in Mauritius pretty much sold the same things as they did in other ports. When it was finally time to go parasailing my adrenaline was really high. We got on the boat, not a very safe looking boat might I add, and headed out to sea.




First Meghan went, she had already been before so Alexandria and I were going to see her do it. When they dipped her into the water they only got up to her knees wet. So then it was Alexandria’s turn. When they dipped her she got about up to her thigh. She had a blast.

Then it was my turn. When they dipped me, I only got about up to my knees wet. I was kind of sad because I wanted to get really wet. But it was still fun. So when they started pulling me in a really strong wind came and pulled the boat on its side, causing the rope to get stuck on a pole, causing me to go straight into the water, now I was not very high in the air at this time so I was not hurt at all; however, I did get about to my shoulders into the water and then I was dragged about 10 feet!!! It was soooo cool.



After that we got some drinks and some food and just relaxed. We spent some time on the beach, by the way the water is the prettiest water I have ever seen. Then we caught the bus back to the ship. Oh yeah, I also was able to by a movie while I was here. I bought Slumdog Millionaire. I only had to pay $1 for it and its in really good condition.

When we got on the boat I was quite embarrassed. I think about 50% of the students were extremely drunk. I think most of them just sat around drinking. It made me sad to see how these people are missing out on such a beautiful country.

So tonight was the start of the sea Olympics!!! This is where floors are divided into seas, I'm in the red sea, and we compete on different events. The winner of the competition is the first people that are able to get off the ship when we arrive in the US at Fort Lauderdale. So people are really intense about it. We did our cheer and spiritness competition tonight, it was really loud. Tomorrow I am not competing in any competition but I am in charge of some. I am apart of the group that makes sure it goes smoothly. Now I am in bed watching Slumdog Millionaire. So I better pay attention. Ill let everyone know how my team does tomorrow.

Love
Michelle

CHARRRGGEE!!

Journal #19 February 20, 2009

So we got our wake up call at 5am and headed down to the lobby to get ready for our 2nd day of the safari. Today we had a different driver and his name was Hamilton. I knew right away that he was going to be great safari driver. Today we went to a bigger reserve that had all of the big five, the elephant, water buffalo, lion, panther, and rhino. It took us about 20 min to get there. I was soooo excited. As we started the day we saw more zebras and giraffes. But then about an hour in we saw ELEPHANTS!!! There were about 5 other safari cars there so it was hard to see them. Then the elephants went into the shrub so we could not see them anymore. All of the sudden Hamilton took off down the road turned around and went other places. Then all of the sudden we were right up to the elephants. I asked him wow how did u know they were here, he said “I smelt them. ”hahah he was a great tour guide.

We spent several hours on our safari that day, actually 11 hours. We saw lots of rhinos, baboons, turtles, and many more animals. I was surprised that during this 11 hour safari I never got bored. It was absolutely awesome!!! When we got back to the lodge a bunch of us swam in the pool, and just relaxed. During this time I got stung by a bee :( it hurt for just a few minutes.

Again dinner was awesome and it was great to sit out and look at the stars. They were so bright and I was really excited because I was finally able to see the Southern Cross. Elise and I called it an early night again because we had another early morning. Again we woke up at 5am and got ready for out game drive. This game drive was optional so about half of us went. I was especially glad I went on this one because WE GOT CHARGED BY A RHINO!!!! It was sooo cool but scary at the same time. His name was butch and he was big. We were all screaming but we were very thankful that he was only doing a mock charge which means he charges and then stops to scare us away.

We also saw some more giraffes and realized that some of them were bleeding, they got in a fight with each other. It was sad, but its nature. As we got back to the lodge we had to pack up and get ready to go. After waiting for about 30 min we got a phone call that the bus had broken down. When it finally got there we knew that we would not have enough time to catch our flight. GREAT. As we got to the air port we missed out flight by 5 min. Then we got the news that we would have to spend an extra night in Durban. At first I was sad because I had one less day in Cape Town, and Elise and I would miss our time with Fuad but then I realized that we would have an extra day in Durban.

I loved Durban, we were put up in a 5 star hotel that was absolutely gorgeous. The beds were soo comfortable, and the food again was awesome. A bunch of us went to the closest mall and did some shopping. Then we got back to the hotel, I made some phone calls home, watched Talladega Night's and went to bed. The next day we had another early wake up call and got ready to leave Durban. Of course today did not go so smoothly also. One of the girls with us never woke up and we left 50 min late.

This trip had a lot of complications but I was extremely glad to say how flexible the students were. So thank goodness we made our flight just in time. Again I slept for the flight and woke up as we landed. Because we were a day late our tour guide allowed us to be taken to the top of Table Mountain. It was the most gorgeous view. We could see all of Cape Town.

After getting back to the boat Elise and I went out on the town, we did some more shopping and went to lunch and Quay Four. Again just like most of the other ports, South Africa was nothing like I thought it would be. I can not believe how many people here are just as or if even more, racist than Americans. SA is more green than I thought it would be, I thought there was going to be more desert. There was also one point where I was talking to some tribal people and they had never even heard of Obama. That was surprising just because at every other port they worship Obama.

Well even though I had a lot of surprises in South Africa I absolutely loved it. I can not wait to come back with my family one day. It is sooo cool and a great place to visit. I encourage everyone to come here and try it out.

Well of course with our luck we were not able to get out of South Africa on time because of the weather. We left a day later and now we are on out way to Mauritius. They say we are going to make it in time because we are going fast but I am not sure. I think they waited a day later in case we see pirates we can go really really fast and not get to Mauritius early. I am not quite sure what I am going to do in Mauritius. If anyone has any fun ideas let me know. Me and my roommate are thinking about going parasailing. I think I am going to leave this port for me to do something really adventurous. Well I better get ready for bed; we lose another hour tonight so I am beat.

Love
Michelle

Monkey Thieves!

Journal #18 February 24, 2009

So waking up at 3:30 in the morning on Thursday Feb. 19 was a little difficult but I was able to do it in excitement for my trip. Surprisingly the trip did not start off on a very good note. One boy forgot his passport so he had to run back to the ship to get it and another girl did not even have her passport because it was stolen so she just had a paper copy. Because of these events we arrived 30 min late to the air port. And of course the air port was absolutely crowded. This was the fasted I had ever entered an air port and flown off so quickly. None of us even had a time to sit and relax; however, we did make our flight.

I slept most of the way. I read for a little bit. I bought a new book in Cape Town. Its called Twilight and I have become addicted. Its about vampires but they are good!! So after arriving in Durban we had a 3 hour drive to our lodge. Again I slept most of the way.

As the gates opened to where we were staying I was amazed at how many animals I had already seen. I saw beautiful impalas running across the road, and many more that I can not remember the name of. As we arrived to the Zululand tree lodge I knew we were in for a treat. The workers were extremely nice and they had lunch waiting for us. As we ate lunch we realized all the monkeys climbing in the trees around us contemplating on whether or not to come and take our food. After a little while the monkeys would come closer and closer. I knew any minute from now the monkey would be on our table, and just like that he jumped on our table and took Elise’s bread. It was quite scary but really cool at the same time.

So when we were able to get to our rooms I found out that me and Elise were roommates. THANK GOODNESS!!!! We had to walk pretty far in the woods to get there. Every pair of roommates has their own little hut on stilts to stay in. It was soooo cool. Our beds were covered with mosquito nets, our bathroom was huge, and we had a balcony. I thought I was going to be roughing it but no, I was living the life.

After getting settled in we got ready for out first game drive. I was quite excited. All of us separated into 3 different cars (mine was the party car!!) and off we went. For about 3 hours we drove around the reserve and saw many animals. My favorite was the giraffe!! They are so graceful and look so sweet. We also saw water buffalo, zebras, and water hogs. When we got back to the lodge dinner was waiting for us. I can not even begin to tell you how good the food was. After dinner a lot of us went to bed because of a long day of traveling and an early morning tomorrow for our 2nd day of game driving.

Thankful for all that I have

Journal #17 February 22, 2009

So we officially arrived in Cape Town South Africa on Wednesday the 18th. Unfortunately because of the really bad fog we arrived 2 hours late. I knew this was going to be some what of a problem because a lot of the trips that were planned were leaving right as we got to the port. This was including one of my trips. I signed up for a trip that takes you to a township, the poorest place in SA, and students work on homes to help the people. This trip is through habitat for humanity.

Well anyways, we arrived late so right when the ship pulled in my group left for the township, we had to miss the diplomatic briefing, but that’s no biggie. So it took us about 30 min to get to the homes. There was 30 of us and we split into two different groups. On the way there we passed by the neighborhoods doctors office. I am not even joking when I say that there was over 150 people waiting in line. Our bus driver told us that people arrive there at 5 o clock in the morning in hopes of seeing a doc. He also said that they wait in line until around 4 in the afternoon.

Already 5 min in the township and my heart was already broken. As we drove by the homes I realized how blessed I am. Almost 6 people live in homes that are about 6x6. The homes are also made from left around scraps so they are not very sturdy.

As we arrived to the house I was getting very excited. I was happy that I was going to be able to help a family live in a home that will supply for all their needs. When we arrived the family that we were building the house for was there and we were able to talk to them and get to know them. They were really nice and so happy that we were going to help them. So our job for the day was to put on the roof. We got the trusses and carried them onto the roof, nailed them on, and placed a sheet over the roof to keep the rain from getting into the house. We also painted and patched up holes in the cinder blocks.

I was on the nailing the sheet on the roof duty. This was probably the hardest. The wind was really strong and we were on the roof for probably about 3 hours. Very tiring and hot but it was for a good cause. So when I was on my break I decided to play with some of the kids who were watching us. I met a boy named Floy and he was 3 years old. I gave home some of my cereal that I had taken from breakfast and he ate it sooo fast. He was so cute and loved running around with me.

Another thing I did on my break was watch the neighbors. At around 1 a car drove by and gave them about 15 live chickens. Then the family built a fire and placed a pot on the fire. As the water boiled the women placed the heads of the live chickens in the fire and drowned them. It was soo sad. Then they skinned them and cooked them. It was quite gruesome but I could not take my eyes away. Its just so different how these people live. They do not have the accommodations to go to the grocery store and by a rotisserie chicken, but they deal with it.

So by the end of the day we were finished with the roof. It was awesome seeing the homeowners reaction as to how fast we got it done. I was extremely proud of what we did. When I got back to the ship I decided to go out with some of my friends and tour around the port. Cape town is really cool at night, it kind of reminded my of the port Atlantis. We did some shopping and then went to dinner. Dinner was pretty cool. We met the two couples that were sitting next to us and they were from Germany. They had arrived in December and they were leaving in March, what a vacation!!!

After dinner me and Elise went to use our phone cards, but unfortunately we could not figure out how to use them, so we headed back to our ship. On our way we met a man named Fuad. He was a teacher at a school and wanted to know some things about our ship. We talked to him for about an hour and got to know how insightful he was. He told us his feelings on Obama and a lot of US policies. Its crazy how people who do not live in America know more about our government then a lot of us. Listening to Fuad made me really think about where I am in my life and what I want to do with it. He told us that he wanted to give us some books he had at his house and wanted to know if we could met him outside our ship after we got back from our safari. I was very skeptical so we wrote a note to our Academic dean wondering if he would come with us. We thought Fuad would be a great person to have on our ship and talk to other students. So at around 1 I finally got packed and went to bed for my 4am safari. Man was I tired.

Love
Michelle

Update

Journal #16 February 16, 2009

Sorry I know this is a little late but I just wanted yall to read it. Also I am a little behind on my blogging for South Africa, so stay tuned for my next posting, its going to be awesome!!!!

So Namibia has been my favorite place so far. From the people, the places, the food, even thought it made me sick, to the animals, I loved it all. Today I just stayed in Walvis Bay and did some shopping. I got lots of cool things!!! During this trip I made some really good friends that I think I will get along with well in the future. I actually met two people from my home town so that was pretty cool. They went to Hampton Roads Academy so we played them in sports. So as of right now we have just left Namibia and we are on our way to South Africa. Tomorrow we do not have classes so it will be a day of relaxation!! We will get to SA on Wednesday and that day I am doing a service visit. I am probably going to help build a house for habitat for humanity. Then on Thursday I am leaving for a 3 day Safari. That should be really fun.

Cultural Experiences

Journal #15 February 15, 2009

What an awesome two days!!!! Yesterday, Saturday, I woke up as we were arriving in Namibia. I went to the diplomatic meeting where people from the American embassy come and talk to us. After the meeting we were told to go to the 7th deck and look out on the ground and you will see Namibian girls singing. I was one of the first people out there so I got front row seats. The girls were from the age of 5-11 and they were absolutely precious. They sang, danced, and played the drums for about an hour. During the middle of it I went down to the ground and listened to some of their songs a little closer. At one point I just started crying, I could not hold it in. They were sooo little and so joyful and yet most of these girls are orphans because their parents died of AIDS. It was quite emotional.

After they finished singing the girls came onboard and ate breakfast and toured the boat. Me, Elise, and about 6 other SAS students stayed with the girls and talked to them. This has probably been the most cultural and best experience yet. One girl came up to Elise and asked if she had any nail polish. So Elise went to her room and got her nail polish and we painted all the girls nails. They were so grateful.

On the tour the girls had a blast. We took them to the workout room and they ran on the treadmill, typed on the computer, played the piano, and wrote on marker boards. I can not believe how many of these girls had never done any of these things. They were amazed by everything. Also, this was the first time many of the girls had seen the ocean. They were wondering if they jumped in would they drown.

So after the girls left I got ready and left for my star gazing trip. It took us about an hour and half to drive there and when we got there the scene was gorgeous. It was kind of like a valley with slate rocks on either side. There were about 35 tents for us and a big tent for where we would eat. After getting settled in we were able to walk around and me and my friends decided to climb up the slate rocks. It was extremely hard but when we made it to the top the view was awesome!!! I just could not get over the fact that I was in Namibia in the middle of the desert.

Then we sat around for a while, played games, cards, and ate dinner. A group of singers came and sang us some African folk songs and danced for us. They were really good. I bought their CD so I will share it with ya'll when I get home. We sat around the fire for about 6 hours and just talked and got to know each other better. Unfortunately, the clouds were in our way of seeing the stars, they say that there are only 5-7 days out of the year that there are clouds in the sky. Of course there were some in the sky our night, but it was nice cause we actually got to know each other and not look at stars. So I made some great friends.

Wendy I must say that when we first got to the camp fire and we were a little uncomfortable, I decided for everyone to do our high and low of the week. It was a lot of fun!!! Sleeping in the tent was ok, I woke up sweating really bad but other then that I slept well. For about 6 hours we were stranded in the desert until out 4x4 cars came.

The rest of the day was pretty much just relaxation until around 6 when a group of us went to dinner. We ate dinner at The Lighthouse which was amazing. The food was sooo good and really cheap. Some people for huge steaks for $8. For 11 of us out total bill was 1100 Namibian dollars. That is about 100 American dollars. What a good deal, including drinks and appetizers. Namibia is nothing I thought it would be like. It is very clean, and the people speak English and are very nice. I can not wait to do some SHOPPING!!!

Love
Michelle

Flying Fish!

Journal # 14
February 12, 2009

Well I am officially sick. Last night I had a fever of 101 and a sore throat. Today I woke up with the same fever and a sore throat along with a runny nose :( I only went to one of my classes because I had a 20 min speech. The speech was good, it was a group one so I only talked for about 4 min. I think I did pretty well. I wasn'’t that nervous because there is only about 15 people in the class. After class I came back to my room and slept for about 6 hours. I am just sooo drained and tired.

My roommate woke me up at 5:30 and I ran to my “party ”with my extended family. My extended family is the dean of academics, his wife, and their grandson. Extended family is a group of students that are assigned to a family on the boat to meet with a couple times a month just to talk about things. The family that I have is really nice and they have connections on the ship, so we get lots of goodies :) When we were on their balcony they pointed out to us flying fish. It was sooo cool. The fish are really small and have wings that carry them on top of the ocean for about a couple hundred feet. That was really cool.

Now I am just in my room trying to get over my sickness. I have been taking a lot of medicine and getting lots of rest so I am hoping that I get better before Namibia which we get to in 2 days!!! Talk to you later.

Love
Michelle

Pics of Fake Fish Guts and Zip Lining!

A Day in the Life of the Explorer at Sea

Journal # 13
February 10, 2009

Well today we officially crossed over the equator. It was quite exciting. We were not sure when we were going to cross but when knew that the captain was going to announce it over the intercom. At 3 o’clock every day there is a tour of the bridge, where they drive the ship, and today me and my friends decided to get the tour. So at 3 we went on our tour!! Right when we got in there the captain told us that we were going to be crossing the equator in 4 min. I was sooo excited because we were actually in the bridge with all the electronics that tell us exactly when we crossed it. Of course I videoed our count down and got a tape of the computer showing our ship actually crossing the line. Pretty cool!! We picked a good day to go on the tour. There was probably 6 of us in there so it was quite perfect.

Other than that today was pretty normal. Just laying out in the middle of the Atlantic on my way to Namibia. I still can not get over the fact that I am here, sometimes I think I am in a dream and I am going to wake up soon. A lot of times I tell Meghan to pinch me because I am not sure this is real. THANK YOU SOOO MUCH MOM AND DAD!! You guys are the best :)

well I better get some sleep. I am on a roll on going to global studies every morning, I have gone for the past 4 class!!!! For some of you that don’t know. Global studies is a required course for every student to take on the ship. It is at 9:20 in the morning and we go to different classrooms and watch the class on a TV. It is quite boring and they don’t take role so it is very tempting to skip. But I am determined to got over half of the classes :) maybe even more. So back to what I was saying, I better get some sleep we lose an hour again tonight and I want to wake up in time for Global Studies.

From Pollywog to Shellback

Journal #12
February 9, 2009
These past few days at sea have been pretty good. Its giving me a lot of time to spend with people that I met on my trips. Im surprised at how fast these last couple of days have gone. I guess I am so busy right now its just flying by. It is making me nervous though because I don’t want this trip to fly by. I want to cherish every moment and remember every day.

Today was probably the best day on the boat though!!!! It started off at 8am. My roommate and I got woken up by the crew running through the halls screams playing drums and all sorts of very loud instruments. They were telling us “Pollywogs”to go straight to the 7th deck. After getting our bathing suits on we ran to the top deck and we were surprised by all the people out there. It was Neptune day. There are several rituals that are to be done when a boat crosses over the equator. Which we are actually doing tomorrow, but oh well :) we can still celebrate. So they gave us a speech, we made some vows and the activities began. First, we had to get fish guts poured on us, it wasn’t really fish guts, then we had to kiss a fish, literally, bow to the king and queen Neptune and jump into the pool!! My roommate and I did this ritual together. Then the shaving of heads began. I can not believe how many girls shaved their heads. Some looked good, but there was no way I was going to do this.

After all the events were done me and my friends laid out on the deck all day. I got a lot of sun. It was so relaxing not having class and just being able to hang out. Unfortunately I am going to have to do a lot of homework tonight :( So after laying out we came back to our room took showers and got ready for dinner. Before dinner we went to the doctor’s office to get my roommate some band aids. Of course right when we got there they were celebrating the doc’s birthday. Yeahhhha!!!! They gave us some cookies. This was my first real dessert since I have been on this boat. I was sooo happy.

So off to dinner we went. Because of Neptune day the cooks were having a BBQ on the top deck. I was hoping for some good food but I was not getting my hopes up. Now I must tell you that for the past 3 days, I have told my roommate that all I want is a hotdog or burger. I was craving them. And when we got to the top guess what they had. HOTDOGS, HAMBURGERS, AND RIBS!!!!!! I was in heaven. And for dessert ICE CREAM!!! However, now I am regretting the ice cream :( This was the best dinner yet. I went a little overboard on the amount of food I ate :) but it was well worth it.

So all in all Neptune day was fabulous, it filled my cravings and more. Now I am a true shellback not a pollywog anymore.

So I am sure not a lot of yall know, but I am pretty sure my sisters are going to be coming to Viet Nam to visit me. I am sooo excited, I really hope they do come because it would be great for them to see how I live on a boat, meet some of my friends, and be able to experience a wonderful country with me. Also if people will give me their home address I will send them post cards!!!

Love
Michelle

Bargaining & Zip Lining in Marrakech!

February 6, 2009

Sorry I have not written in a while. I have been in Marrakech for the past couple of days and have not had my computer. These past few days have been awesome!!! First I will start with Wednesday. I woke up at 6am to get ready for my trip to Marrakech. There was a group of SAS students going for a treasure hunt and zip lining. We got on three different buses, and I have to say mine was the best. Our tour guide was Les McCabe who is the dean. So my bus had about 12 people on it including the McCabe family. I was the last on the bus and got the very back row in between his children. Erin who is 16 and Ryan who is 14. I had sooooo much fun!!! The bus ride was 4 hours long and we were entertained the entire time.

When we finally got the Marrakech we went straight to lunch. The food there was not so good. We had an interesting salad and a huge piece of lamb that we had to pick through the fat. It wasn’t the worst but it wasn’t the best. The dessert was pretty good. It was like a milky yogurt. Then we split into groups and did a treasure hunt around the markets. My group had three other girls and it, the same girls that I had hung out with the day before in Casablanca. So the mission was to find certain things in the market and buy them for a good price. We were supposed to bargain. So we found the first 2 clues really easily but the 3rd one was really hard. We never found it so we just gave up and did some shopping. I got some souvenirs and pretty much watched people to learn about their culture.

The best bargain that I got was a tee shirt. The starting price was 280 dirham’s Which is about $30 in us money. I said NO WAY. So we talked for a while I sounded interested but not going to pay that much. When I started walking away he would lower the price. So I finally got it for 20 dirham’s which is about $2.50. So I went from 30 to 3. Not too shabby. I was pretty proud of myself. It is known in the markets that if you get a really good deal and bargain well the store tenet will either give you tea or kiss you on your checks. I got some kisses :)

So after the markets, oh yeah my team came is 2nd!!!, we went to the hotel to freshen up and get ready for dinner. The hotel was pretty cool . they did not have any heat which was bad because it was cold and rainy outside, and they also try to conserve energy, so you have to have an electricity card and they keep the lights off in the hallways. So it was very dark.

For dinner we went to the really cool place called Chez Ali fantasia. It is kind of like the show Midevil Nights, I think that is the name, in America. The food was awesome, we had cuscus, chicken, vegetables, bread, fruit, and soup. It was really good. The room that we ate dinner in was tented with pretty velvets and lots of fabric. It was perfect to put us in the Moroccan mood. After the dinner we went back to the hotel for bed.

On Thursday we woke up early again and headed to the Atlas Mountains to go zip lining. It was also raining and very cold today too. So we drove about 30 min and stopped because our guide got a call saying that we might not be able to zip line because of the rain. This was very upsetting because this is what I was looking forward to the most. So we waste an hour before heading up the mountain. Our tour guide set us up to go on a tour of a house of about 20 women who make oil. This was very interesting. Only divorced or widowed women work here because they have to make a living for themselves. The way they made the oil was very interesting. I have videos if you want to see them, but not till I get home.

So after an hour we got a call saying to come on up the mountain. It had cleared up. I was sooo happy!!! When we got there I stepped off the bus and thought what did I just get myself into. I saw the zip line and it was insane. It went down a cliff thousands of feet off the ground. Super scary, but I was not going to miss out. Everyone in the group got suited up and we were ready to go. I thought we were going to walk to the zip line, but no. First, we had to walk across a bridge. This bridge was not sturdy, but it was safe. About every foot there was a piece of wood for you to step on and wires for you to hold onto. We were tied up to a wire above us so if we fell it would be fine. But this was probably the scariest part because we actually determined our speed, plus the tour guides were shaking the bridge making it harder for us to walk. When we made it across we went to the first zip line. I thought there was only 1 but there were 4!!! They were all sooo long and soo much fun. I can not even explain them. I was standing at the top of the mountain thinking to myself. “I am in Morocco zip lining, how awesome and fortunate is this!!!!”

After making it safely across all the zip lines we went to lunch which again was awesome and then headed home. Wow, I just called the ship home. Weird. So we made it home just in time. My time in Morocco was really fun. My favorite part was the zip line. It was soo cool to bond with the people on the trip. When the ship left the port they came on the loud speaker saying that as we turned the corner there was going to be extremely rough water and to take every thing off the self’s and to take cover. Now this exact same thing happened as we came into the port so I didn’t think it was going to be so bad; however, this time was really bad. My roommate and I were in our room watching Hotel Rwanda. It was soo bad I thought the TV was going to come out of the wall, so I was standing up holding onto it. All of the sudden a huge wave came and I went flying across the room. It was soooo intense. I landed on our dresser!! And of course my roommate Meghan got it all on tape!!! We watched it over and over again laughing. Right now the water is still pretty rough. But I have not gotten sea sick. Thank goodness.

We have eight days at sea until we get to Namibia. I am not looking forward to these days; they are going to seem long. During one of these days is Neptune Day because we cross over the equator. Usually when this happens everyone shaves their heads, including girls. So who thinks I should shave my head???? Well I better get some stuff done. Hope everyone is doing well.
Love
Michelle

Proud to be an American

Journal #10
February 3, 2009

Well today was quite an experience. It was my first day in Morocco and I have learned soo much in one day. First of all, all of my friends left early this morning to go on SAS overnight field trips. Soo I was all alone, and there was no way I was going to go around the city all by myself. So I went to breakfast early and met up with some people who were going around Casablanca. So off we went after breakfast. When we first got off the ship I knew I was going to be uncomfortable in this city. When we were walking down the street there were taxies on either side. They were all talking Arabic very loudly and all of the sudden a police man pulled up in a car. I am guessing one of them said something bad because the police man starting yelling, got out of his car, slammed the door, and chased after the guy. This is the first time I have ever feared for my life :( Not a very good first impression.

So after about a 20 min walk we finally got out of the port got into the city and found a bank. All of the people in my group got their money exchanged except one girl. She had a travelers check and they did not accept it there. So we got directions to a bank that would do that. Walking around a busy city with no street signs and no crossing lights is extremely hard. So we probably walked about 3 hours, walked into at least 6 banks and we never found a bank that would exchange her money. Talk about annoying, but at least I was able to tour the city. So after that the group wanted to go back to the boat and eat lunch, but I was not quite ready for that. So I met up with some other SAS students to shop in the Markets. Now this was the most culture shocking thing that I have seen on this trip. I can not even begin to explain what it was like. Men were everywhere trying to get you to come into their shop to buy stuff. Now you are allowed to bargain in these markets so that was extremely exciting for me. Its like theater, you act and when you get a good sale you get free mint tea. I GOT SOME!!!!!! The tea was awesome and I got an A for one of my projects in my class!!!!! So back to the markets, the ground was muddy and it smelt quite bad. Kids were on the sides selling cigarettes, stray cats were everywhere. I can not believe the poverty that these people live in. The homes were falling apart. My heart was hurting for every single person out there.

Then we made our way to lunch, it was hard to find a place because every restaurant we went to only had men in them. I don’t think women are allowed in them. Really weird. So we finally found a good place that had some other SAS people in it. After a really good lunch, margarita pizza, we went to the mosque to look around. The Mosque was gigantic and gorgeous. We were not able to go inside but I was still able to look inside and see the rugs and people taking their shoes off and stuff. The building was mostly marble and mosaics. The colors were absolutely breath taking. Then we made our way back to the ship, it probably took us about an hour. I was never soo happy to see my ship!!!! I learned a lot today. The way the men treat the women here is soo different compared to the US. Women are not allowed to look men in the eyes, they have to cover themselves, and most of them don’t even come out onto the streets. I am soo blessed to live in a country that I have the privilege to be independent and equal to men. I could not imagine following these customs. Although I am sad I was not able to go to the orphanage, I am grateful for my time spent in Casablanca and for me being able to see their customs and the way they live their lives. Tomorrow I am headed to Marrakech at 7am so I need my sleep.

Love you guys
Michelle

Storm in the High Seas

Journal #9
February 1, 2009

Well today has been very relaxing. I woke up at 9 for my Global studies class to learn about Morocco. After that I came back to my room. I was extremely tired from Spain. After taking a 4 hour nap, I walked out to the deck to see a very ugly gloomy day. It was rainy and cold; however, the faint scene I could see was awesome. I saw over ten ships and large mountains. On the bottom of the mountains were cities. This was surrounding our boat. We were in Gibralter. Our captain had planned to take a pit stop here and fill up on gas. Now this was suppose to be about a 5 hour stop. So I was wondering why we were still there. During dinner time I saw the boat coming to fill our ship up with gas. I was extremely happy because I had heard rumors saying we were going to be a day late to Morocco because we could not get gas. After a not so bad dinner I went to our meeting about safety in Morocco. In this meeting they told us that they were not able to fill up with gas because the seas were too rough. Ahhhhh, this means we will most likely not be able to get to Morocco on time. Tonight we are supposed to have a storm come through which will delay our stay even longer. When I heard this I was very sad because I am going to miss my orphanage visit the first day :( But I later realized that this is mother nature. We have to go with the flow and be flexible. Maybe being on the boat for a couple of hours will allow people to get more sleep and not get sick. I know me and my roommate are both feeling a lil sick, but nothing too serious. I am sitting in my room right now watching the super bowl. Yes, we were able to get it on TV but it is in Spanish, hahaha how many people can say they watched the super bowl 36 in Spanish :) Other then a lil upset today has been good. I caught up on a lot of my misc. stuff and organized my life. I made my calendar for February and I can not believe how fast this month is going to fly by. We only have about 12 days of classes, and that makes me very happy. All the other days are at different ports. Looking back on Spain makes me realize how much I learned about myself and other people around me. I can not wait to get to other countries to learn even more. I am very nervous about Morocco because none of my friends really know the language, girls have to cover their entire body because most of the people there are Muslim, girls are not allowed to look guys in the eyes, and there is a lot of crime in Morocco. I am eager to see how I react to these situations though!!! Well I better get to watching the super bowl!!! Although if I wanted to watch it all I would be up till around 5am because it is 1am now. Yikes!!!
Love everyone
Michelle