Vietnam was the port for parent’s weekend. If the parents wanted to, then they could sign up for a trip through SAS that would bring them to Vietnam. They also got to go to Thailand I believe and then they were going one more place. The parent’s trip they could choose to either go to Cambodia or stay in Vietnam. When we docked in Vietnam at 8 am, then all of the parent’s were down below. It was actually really emotional. The parents were down there waving to their kids, some were crying, and most were as happy as could be. My parents didn’t come; mostly because I told them not to because it’s a lot of money to only see me for 5 days. It made me think of how intense San Diego is going to be! If you didn’t know it by now, my whole family is coming down to San Diego to see me dock! I couldn’t be more thrilled about it. So seeing the parents below made me think about how in about a month I’ll be able to see my family and yell down to them and be really emotional. It’s going to be great.

On top of that, a good friend Courtney, had to go home in Vietnam. In Myanmar, she was at a restaurant and was in the bathroom and was leaning against a sink. The sink then collapsed on her, and she ended up cutting her wrist on the sink. She got stitches on the ship, but over the next few days from Myanmar to Vietnam, it became infected and she was in a lot of pain. We had to dock in Singapore, to refuel since we couldn’t or didn’t want to buy fuel from Myanmar. So the medical staff decided that Courtney was to get off in Singapore to see a hand surgeon about her wrist. She ended up getting off the ship and having 2 surgeries and still needed 2 more. So the insurance wouldn’t let her continue with the voyage and she had to go home while we were in Vietnam. It was really sad. BUT she’ll be in San Diego with the parents when we dock. So not only will our parents/families be there, but so will Court, which will be fantastic!!

Onto Vietnam, I really didn’t do much in Vietnam. The first day Dani, Andrew, his mom and I went to the market. Andrew is from Indiana and actually goes to Concordia University in Illinois. That is how we met and now we’re pretty good friends. He’s a good guy to joke around with. It was great to hang out with a mom. It’s been forever since any adults (besides adults on the ship) have been around, so even though it wasn’t my mom (which I would have preferred) it was still nice to have her around. We shopped a little that first day. Andrew and his mom were leaving for Cambodia the next day and Dani and myself were staying in Ho Chi Minh City (or otherwise known as Saigon) so we just did whatever they wanted to do. After a couple of hours shopping, Andrew’s mom took us to show us her hotel, and then to a restaurant. The food was pretty good. I do have to say that I was most impressed with Vietnamese food (compared to India and Myanmar). They had great Vietnamese food but also excellent French food because the French controlled Vietnam up until just before the Vietnam war.

Afterwards, we went back to the ship to shower. Ho Chi Minh City was SO hot! It was probably the hottest and most humid place we’ve been to date. I heard that if you went more North it was colder. Dani and I really wanted to go to a nice French restaurant and order a bottle of wine with dinner, but we ended up going to a different restaurant with Rachel and Sarah, which was okay. After dinner we went to a bar on top of the Rex Hotel. This bar is where the American troops used to drink and plan things. If you were at the bottom of buildings you were more likely to die from bombs, so they sat up here to watch what was going on below. It was actually pretty cool, a little expensive but nice. Then while walking back to the ship, we passed this little side restaurant where a ton of locals sat. Dani decided to sit down and have a beer with Sarah so we joined. It was actually really cool. We met a guy from Vietnam and another from Thailand.

The next day Dani and I went to the War Museum and wow was it intense. You would never see something like this in the US. They had so many graphic pictures about what really was happening. I didn’t really know that much about the Vietnam War before this. They also had a recreation of what the Americans and Southern Vietnam military used to hold criminals. It was a small jail cell. It was really intense. I would put it up there with my experiences of visiting a concentration camp.

After that we rode on these little bikes where you would sit on the side and someone would take you where you wanted to go. It was very cool. We went to the market and then had some lunch. I bought SO much in Vietnam. Actually, probably too much. But I bought stuff for people back home. I also had a dress made, which turned out okay. It’s an Asian style dress, which is pretty cool. I also bought some stuff for my room, which I plan on redecorating when I get home. And I bought a robe, which I LOVE!! Best purchase ever!

That night we just went out for dinner and then went back to the ship because I had an early trip the next morning.

The next day I woke up early to go to the school for the blind with Rachel and Elliott. It was interesting, but we didn’t get really any interaction with the kids, which sucked. That’s why I didn’t like it that much. It was cool to see how they’re school is ran and what the kids do.

Afterwards, Dani and I walked up the river to see what there was to do there. A man approached us about taking a boat through a little river to see what life was like outside the city. We only paid $5 for an hour and it was GREAT!! So interesting to see houses built on water. We saw how they caught fish and just other interesting things about living outside the city. That was my only time I was able to get out of the city so it was nice. For all the other ports I had been traveling like crazy, so since I didn’t get into the Cambodia trip, I decided to just stick around the city, which was a great choice. Afterwards we went and ate ice cream at this place right on the river. It was a great afternoon!

Then we went back to the ship to shower and get ready to go eat dinner and go out that night. When we got back, I went to Dani’s room with her, and she started talking to her steward outside of her door. I noticed a note on her door, so I read it and it was from Courtney who said she was back on the ship and we needed to find her ASAP. She had been gone for 5 days in Singapore and we weren’t expecting her back so soon. We sprinted to her room, but she wasn’t there. So we ran around the WHOLE ship looking for her, but no luck. So we just sat down and waited for her. That’s when she told us that she had to go home. So then we all showered and got ready for the evening. We went out to dinner at this place called Wrap and Roll. The manager loved Courtney, and so he gave us free desert and took care of us, which was nice. Then we went to this cute little bar called the Underground. The bar was like a bar in London. It was a fun atmosphere.

The next day we pretty much did whatever Courtney wanted to do. We (Dani & I) were either going to go to the Mekong Delta or Cu Chi Tunnels but we didn’t. Now, looking back, I really wish we would have done the Cu Chi Tunnels! But oh well. We shopped around. Then we went to THE BEST restaurant in Vietnam. It was 1 and we were all starving and thirsty, and I recommended this place called Java. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be good or not, but we made our way there. I was really nervous and actually told people that I would buy their food if they didn’t like it. We got there and fell in love with the atmosphere and there food was so good. I had a BLT which was delicious. I felt like I was at a place back in the states. Everyone else loved their food as well so it was great. That evening we ate dinner on the ship and really didn’t do much. It was a long day and Courtney had to pack.

The last day I went to the school for the deaf. That was way cool. They did a dance performance for us. And then we were able to interact with the kids. I was in a group with just me and three boys. They were 13, so that was cool. We interacted by writing. They knew some English so they would write something down or draw it and then I would answer them by writing or tell them what the name of the thing they drew in English. It was pretty cool. Then we paired up with one of the kids and we went to the zoo with them. The zoo was pretty small. It had all the animals you’d find in a zoo, plus dogs, cats, and horses. Weird, I know. The kids seemed like they loved it. Then we sat down and ate lunch together. The kids ate lunches we brought, so they seemed excited about eating an American style boxed lunch. Then we had an hour to waste and we had already gone through the whole zoo. So all of the kids and SAS kids started playing with each other. The kids had brought stuff to play with. We were jump roping with them, which was a blast. Others were playing different things with them. After that we dropped the kids off them went back to the ship. I took a nap because the kids had really worn me out and it was SO hot out!

That evening we all went out for Courtney’s last dinner type thing. We went to a really nice Vietnamese restaurant. I unfortunately didn’t each because I felt sick. I think it was from the days events and not having enough to drink (or even eat). It was still nice for our whole group to be out together. Then that night I just hung out with Courtney and others as she did some last minute things and said goodbye to everyone.

The ship was leaving at 6 am the next morning, so Courtney had to leave at 4 am. So Dani, Danielle and myself woke up to see her go. It was really sad, but then again, she’ll be in San Diego, so that makes things better.

Overall I really loved Vietnam. It was a nice five days with little to no traveling with was nice. We are on our way to Hong Kong now. We actually get in tomorrow morning. I am in Hong Kong for a day, and then I head up to Beijing to see the Great Wall and do other things as well, and then meet the ship in Qindao. The last day in Qindao I am doing a children’s thing which should be a lot of fun.

This trip is still so amazing and I’m finding new things everyday that I love. I really feel like I’ve seen the world, even though I’ve really haven’t seen much at all. I’m excited to go back to the states; this trip is becoming really exhausting. But then again, I do not want this trip to end. I really wish we could go to more countries and see more things. I’m excited for my family to be in San Diego and excited to go to Disneyland with them. And I’m excited to see all of you back home. But this trip is a once in a lifetime thing and I do not want it to end.

Love and miss you all!!!

Katie

Vietnam remains copyright of the author ktluv3, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Our port was about 45 minutes to an hour away from the city Yangon. So to get to the city we had to take a bus provided by SAS. While driving the first time I’m pretty sure my jaw was as far down as it could be. The people live in these little houses made by bamboo and other plants like that. There were tons of wide open fields, some with agriculture growing there. Then out of no where, a pagoda shows up. Myanmar is the country of pagodas. They are EVERYWHERE.

The first day there a group of us went to Scott’s Market, which was their market place. It was really cool to go there. The whole time we were in Myanmar people stared at us. Not very many people from the US or Europe will travel there, so the white skin is really foreign to them. I felt like a movie star because when you walked around on the streets everybody’s eyes went straight to you. They looked at our clothing, at our hair, at our movements. They pretty much stared us up and down, which is fine because all they wanted was to learn more about us.

After Scott’s Market I went back to the ship for an FDP for my Religion class. I went to Shwedagon Pagoda at Sunset. Absolutely amazing! Shwedagon Pagoda was the largest pagoda in Yangon and it was amazing. It was HUGE. When you got inside, there were even more smaller worship type buildings. It’s extremely hard to explain but you’ll see my pictures or look it up online and see what I mean. Being there at Sunset was probably the most amazing thing I’ve seen in a while. The light reflecting off all of the gold and the calmness of being there put a huge smile on my face. The one thing that stood in my head was our tour guide was talking either on the way there or way back and he said that people are more comfortable when they have nothing in this country, because the military will come and take things away from them. They will take anything and everything they want to from the people. Afterwards, I went back to the ship and packed for my trip the next day.

The next day I left for Mandalay. The airplane ride was insane. It was this little thing probably 15 rows with 4 seats in each row. Landing was the most nervous thing ever. It’s like they go down as fast as they can, and they hit the ground and then slow down. As you’re going down you’re shaking from left to right so you never know which wheel will hit the landing strip first.

Mandalay was even less developed then Yangon. It was definitely a place you picture when you think of a third world country. The first day we stayed in a town called Pyin Oo Lwin, which was about 2 hours outside of Mandalay. It was only about 40 miles away, but because the roads are so bad and so many people use them (people walking, bicycles, slow cars, carts, etc) then we went really slow. The town was an old British town. There were a ton of old buildings from when the British were there. We went to Kandawgyi National Park, which was a Botanical Garden. It was absolutely beautiful! We were there at sundown which made it even more beautiful! There were a bunch of monks there too.

One thing that’s really cool about Myanmar is 80% of the people are Buddhist, so there are a bunch of monks and nuns. There are three different types of Monks. 2 of the types are only monks for little bits of times, and the 1 kind is monk for life. Tons of the people are monks or nuns at different times in their lives. So there are tons of monks walking around the city and everywhere you go.

After the Botanical Garden we toured the town and little and then went back to our hotel for dinner and then to sleep since it was such a long day. The next day we woke up extremely early! We took stage coach rides to a market. It was so cool to ride in the stage coaches and see the town and experience a ride like the people there do. The market was fun too. We walked all around it. A group of us ended up somehow in the food area, which was cool but also grossed me out. They had so much fish and meat and weird smelling things. Definitely a different and interesting experience.

Then we went to see this waterfall, which was supposed to be their big one where people go to hang out. But compared to ones in the Northwest of the US, it was tiny! But still very beautiful. After that we went and saw a Buddha statue. Buddha statues are EVERYWHERE. A good slogan for this country would have something about Buddha statues and pagodas because they are everywhere. After that we drove back to Mandalay. I loved seeing the different cities and towns. Probably my favorite thing about the trip was driving from town to town because I got to see the different sides of the country.

Mandalay was beautiful (everything is beautiful that I have explained, or at least that’s the only word I use). We saw another place with another Buddha. This Buddha you could add gold to it, but only males could do that. Females had to sit and watch. Something about their religion makes it that way. Then we ate lunch at this place called Green Elephant. The food is okay. Not my favorite but it’s tolerable. I really couldn’t stomach anything still in Myanmar and I get full extremely early. It’s amazing how little I eat and I still don’t get full from being so sick during and after India.

That night we visited the night market and then watched a cultural show at our hotel during dinner. The cultural show was very cool to see all of the different dances that the country has. That night our whole group pretty much went straight to bed because our days were SO long and Myanmar is REALLY hot! In Myanmar, no one was really allowed to wear shorts, and then to go in the pagodas you had to be covering your shoulders. So wearing the longer pants and t-shirts made things a lot hotter.

The next morning we flew back on another interesting plane ride back to Yangon. We then visited this reclining Buddha that was HUGE. I took a picture of me with it in the background and I look so small. It’s not even the biggest in the country, which is unbelievable. The one thing I learned about Asian countries is they LOVE gold. Gold is everywhere. On pagodas and they wear jewelry that’s gold.

After Buddha we had lunch with all the other SAS groups and then went to Scotts Market again. On our way back to the ship, during the hour ride, we stopped at an orphanage in the middle of this little village. Probably the saddest thing I have ever seen. SAS donated money for a meal for them, and our group put enough money together for them to pay for about three more meals. So we were there to witness the meal. We actually got to serve the soup to the kids, which was great! The kids smiled to see us serving them food. All of the rest of the people from the village came to the place because they were not used to seeing people with lighter skin. It was a HUGE event for our group of about 23 people to visit the village. So all the orphan kids were in this building and all the village people and kids were surrounding the windows looking in. The orphan kids sang grace to us and during that time I got really emotional. To see all of these kids live in conditions with these. While all the other SAS people were talking to the orphans, I started talking to the village kids. I was teaching them to give fives and they loved it. This little girl I fell in love with. They were so cute and so happy to see us. They LOVED getting their pictures taken with us and then seeing themselves on the screen. I didn’t take my camera with me and part of me wishes I did now. I started playing chase with the kids and they had huge smiles on their faces. There were really only a couple of us who was really playing with the kids. As we started to leave that was probably the hardest time for me. A group of the kids who I had interacted with the whole time and bonded with were giving me huge hugs and holding my hands. I tried to walk to the bus, but SO many kids were around me that I couldn’t even really step. A bunch of kids were holding my hands on the way out because they didn’t want me to leave. One random orphan boy came up to me and gave me a huge hug because of what we gave them. Even though there was a language barrier, you could tell how the kids were feeling. The girls who were holding onto me gave me hugs and then said bye to me and I walked back to the bus. I was the last one on because they wouldn’t let me go. It’s sad to think of how many kids in the world live like they do. I really wish there was something I could do for those kids. We can’t really send money to them because the military will take the money. It was a great experience but really sad and heartwarming at the same time. That night I was completely exhausted so I hung out around the ship and went to bed.

Today we were supposed to have until 1, but we had to be on the ship at 11:30, and since nothing really opens until 10, I didn’t leave the ship. So I’ve been emailing and catching up on blogs that I have been extremely behind on.

We’re now on our way to Vietnam, which I am really excited about. I have no big trips planned, just a couple of service visits. I get to go to an orphanage, a school, and a school for the deaf I believe. With the kids from the school for the deaf I get to go to the zoo with the kids. In the book that describes all the trip it says it’s like 2 students per SAS students so it should be a ton of fun. Also, outside of SAS trips I plan on shopping because I hear things are cheap and they have a ton of great things. Someone told me that in Vietnam they make tailor made dresses and suits that fit your body, so I am going to try to do that. I really hope I am able to! Anyways, I miss you all and can’t wait to see you all when I get back in a little more then a month!

Myanmar remains copyright of the author ktluv3, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Despite the grossness the country is full of people who are amazing. The culture and lives they live is something I don’t think any Westerner could do. There is like 1 billion people living in a space of land that is 1/3 the size of the US.

During India I was able to go to both Southern India and Northern India, both very different because of the languages spoken and religions they practice. I went on a trip called Dehli/Agra/Taj Mahal. We flew from Chennai to Dehli and then spent the night in this amazing hotel. It was probably a 4 or 5 star hotel that had numerous different restaurants and shops in it. Then the next morning we woke up extremely early and caught a train to Agra. The train was an experience all in itself. There were two different seating area. A “first class” and “second class” to create words for them. The “second class” seating was insane. Numerous Indian people who were commuting for work would jump on and off this section. It was also extremely packed. The “first class” section was where we sat and to compare it to the United States, it was probably similar to the worst seats on a plane. It was dirty and there were bugs everywhere. Little cockroaches roamed everywhere and I wasn’t aware of them until the end after I had woken up. Hopefully I didn’t swallow one in the process. GROSS. Anyways, Agra was probably the city that was the most interesting. There weren’t as many cars and most people walked or rode bicycles. Cows were EVERYWHERE. I don’t think I have seen as many cows as I did in Agra. They pretty much roamed wherever they wanted. The people of India in the villages use cow poop and turn it into pies and use it for medicine and fertilizer, so on the side of the roads there were a ton of dried cow poop created into piles.

That day we went on this “shopping” trip to a rug place that also had other items to buy as well. The rugs were really nice rugs, but I didn’t buy one because I don’t know what I would ever do with one. They were very beautiful. They also had other things to buy, like beautiful cashmere scarves and such. Then we went to our hotel, which was nice. In the lobby they played the theme song from Titanic over and over again, without lyrics. It was a saxophone playing the tune and it became really annoying!

That afternoon we went to a place called Fatehpur Sikri. It was a Red fort made a long time ago by an Emperor. It was all made out of red sandstone. It’s really cool to thing that people could make something like that in the days it was made. It was very beautiful. All of the ceilings were really low though. The door frames were extremely low. It pretty much was the size of me. People here are extremely short compared to the United States.

Then we had dinner at the hotel. Indian food is okay. It’s not really my taste of food. It’s really spicy and on this trip I’ve realized that I like plain foods with not a lot of spices to it. I really like their pita like bread though. It’s really good! They have it at pretty much every meal except for breakfast.

The next day we woke up really early and went to the Agra Fort, which was okay. Everyone was looking forward to the Taj Mahal, which was next, so the Agra Fort was just wasted time for us. We saw a lot of old buildings and forts like this one on the trip so they all run together and seem like the same one. When we were leaving Agra Fort, we got attacked by Indian men and children trying to sell us stuff. Well not attacked, but seemed like it. Right when they saw us they would run up to us and surround us asking us to buy all of these items. If you said a word they thought you were interested somewhat, so you couldn’t say anything. You couldn’t even look at them without them getting the wrong idea. It was extremely annoying, especially since they would do it outside the buses too. I think that if they were to make a stand, us tourists would much rather go up to it and see what they are selling. They don’t realize that we were completely turned off by them swarming us.

Then we went to the Taj Mahal. We had to walk up this huge street where more people swarmed us. We had to walk down not talking or looking at pretty much anything, which took away from the experience. If we looked at someone or something then we were followed the whole way. When we got to the gate they were very protective. You couldn’t take any bags or anything in with you. In India they have so many terrorists that like to bomb things similar to the Taj Mahal. Just two days before we got to India there were attacks in Verenasi (spelling is probably not right), which caused people on this trip to not go there by SAS orders. We had to wait in line to go through a metal detector and then be felt down by someone who worked there. They had separate lines for males and females both here and at the airport. The males had two lines and got in in about 2 minutes. We only had one line for females and it took 10 minutes to get through. On top of that people kept on cutting in front of us. Even though all of that bothered me, seeing the Taj Mahal was amazing. When I first saw it I did a little excitement jump that made others around me laugh. I was so excited. It was amazing. Everything within the walls was so symmetrical which was great, considering I’m extremely mathematical. The Taj was beautiful. The white marble was beautiful. We were able to go inside, but had to take our shoes off. The inside was really small. Well smaller then I was expecting. Inside was the tomb of her man who built it and his wife. I am really glad that we saw the Taj.

Next we went back to our hotel for lunch and then we went to Mother Terresa’s Ashram. They really didn’t tell us what to expect before we went there. It ended up being a home for those who were mentally or physically challenged. Everyone was shocked by it and it was good to see. The living conditions were pretty horrible but the people enjoyed seeing us there. Most of them smiled and smiled even larger when people in our group gave them stickers. Next door was an orphanage, which I loved going to. The kids were SO excited to see us and play with us. We played with the older kids, and held the babies and toddlers. One toddler that I picked up out of his crib got the biggest smile on his face because someone was actually paying attention to him. He cried every single time I tried to put him back in the crib. That was extremely hard. It was so great to interact with the kids, and some of them were learning English and were pretty good at it. I started to get really emotional because I knew that once we left, the smiles would become cries and things wouldn’t be great for the workers that night. For those of you that don’t know, my sister Lauren’s boyfriend Brett, his family just adopted a boy from India while I’ve been gone. While I was there all I thought was that this is where he lived and now he lives in a home in the United States. He is such a lucky boy because the difference in living conditions is huge. I’m excited to go home and meet him.

After that we left and took another train back to Dehli. This is where the trip turned from being great to okay. Everyone started to become sick. There were always SAS students in the bathrooms of the trains puking. It ended up that we had to have a doctor come to the hotel in Dehli because there were too many people who were way too sick. After this moment then people were becoming sick left and right; if they weren’t throwing up they had wonderful traveler’s diarrhea.

The next morning I woke up with a horrible stomach ache. But I went on the morning trips because I probably will never be in India ever again. Only about 30 people went out of our group of 69 because too many people were either sick or hung over from the previous night. We drove all around the city and saw all the old English buildings around the city. We also went to the Gandhi museum and saw where Gandhi was killed. That was interesting to see. Then we went to a Sikh temple which was very cool to go in.

After that we took a plane back to Chennai. More and more people were getting sick. I ended up being one of those who was getting worse and worse. When we were sitting in the airport at Dehli, I had a horrible stomach ache and felt lightheaded. On the plane I felt like throwing up but kept it in. I ended up falling asleep somehow and when I woke up I felt even worse. I was having horrible back pains to the point where I was in tears. I couldn’t move without it hurting more. I had to have someone carry my bag off the plane. When I got off I felt like I was going to faint I was so lightheaded. I was shivering too because I felt really cold. Tom, the trip leader, called the ship and told them to have the doctor’s team ready because so many of us were sick.

When I got back to the ship I had to carry my bag up to the 5th deck by myself, which made my back hurt even more and I was sobbing at this point. I went straight to the medical center. They saw me right away. My temperature was 101 and my blood pressure was a little high. They also thought something was wrong with my kidneys because of my back pain. So they put an IV in me and put 3 bags of fluid in me. They also had me pee in a cup to check my kidneys, which were okay. That night was a complete blur to me. I just remember them having trouble putting the IV in me. They had to try like 10 times. I remember shivering because I was so cold. When I left about 3 hours later, my temperature was up to 103 degrees. I was so lightheaded and weak that they had to get a wheelchair and wheel me to a room. They put me in a quarantined room on the third deck, when all I really wanted was to be in my own room. That night was absolutely miserable. I was so sick and the nurses said that I was probably the sickest person they had seen so far on the voyage. I stayed in the quarantined room for 2 days. It was absolutely miserable. I really didn’t talk to anyone and no one could come visit me. I did call my good friends Courtney and Dani so they could get some things for me out of my room that I needed. I just laid in bed doing nothing, and sleeping a lot. The cool thing was they brought me my meals to the room, which was bread and soup. I really couldn’t stomach anything! For the next 4 days, all I ate was bread and crackers. It was all I could stomach. If I tried to eat anything else my stomach ache came back and I felt horrible. All I wanted while I was in quarantine was to be able to be home. I was probably the sickest I have ever been and all I wanted was to be home. I had Courtney get me a calling card so I could call my mom because that’s really what I wanted. But now I am feeling much better. I have my appetite back (even though it’s been like 8-9 days of eating close to nothing).

The last day in India I was supposed to go on an FDP for my Religion class to see a bunch of temples in two cities nearby, but of course I couldn’t go on it. Overall India was great, but being sick absolutely sucked more then anything.

India remains copyright of the author ktluv3, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Mauritius was okay. It is by far my least favorite port to this date. Yes, it is beautiful, but I think Hawaii or the Caribbean is much more beautiful then Mauritius. All the students called this our “Spring Break” port. We were there for 3 days and all people did was drink, drink, oh ya and drink. Yes, people explored the country a little but it was more of a fun spot.

The first day there I went on a city orientation/service visits. We explored the city a little but I was able to participate in visiting some pretty interesting places. The first place we stopped at was a home for the elderly. Most of the people here were brought by their families because they couldn’t take care of them anymore. Most of the people were there because they were old, but there was a good amount that was there because of being mentally or physically handicapped. The families really don’t visit either. The elderly go on living and their family becomes the others living with them. Their living conditions were pretty horrible. I kept on thinking about Grandma and her process of finding a “home” that would suit her needs and wasn’t horrible and how she was so picky. The people here were living in one room with like 20 beds or more in it and having little to no space. It was absolutely horrible. The second place we went was another elderly home but only for women. This one was probably worse then the first. The cool thing was there was a woman who was turning 98 the next day so that was pretty cool. The third place we went was a school. In Mauritius, when students finish elementary school they must take a test and pass it to move on to secondary school. If the students do not pass (they get two chances) then they cannot move on and they end up doing bad things on the streets. Mauritius has created a numerous of privately funded schools for those students who want to continue their education but cannot. The place we went was one of these schools. There were about 25 students ranging from 12 to 15. The school was in one small room with white walls. The students sat at large tables. They explained the whole system to us and about their program and then we got to interact with the kids. Most of us didn’t know French and they knew little English so it made it difficult to talk to them. But we were able to communicate a little bit. They sang for us which was beautiful and we sang to them. Then we played a game where we walked in a circle holding hands singing a French song, and then the teacher would yell out a number and you had to get in groups of that number of people. It was a ton of fun and we all enjoyed it very much.

Then I headed back to the ship. My friends had left that morning and I didn’t know what they were doing. I found out later that they were going to get a bungalow in a city nearby for the 2 nights and then I was supposed to call one of their cell phones to meet up with them. I called numerous times but was unable to reach them. So I hung out on the ship pretty much the rest of that night until Danielle called me. The ship was easily 20 minutes away from the city and I didn’t want to go out by myself and everyone else had left to rent a bungalow. Danielle and I went out with the guys. We ended up going to the Waterfront and just hung out there; we got some dinner and drinks. Then Elliot, Eric and Andrew decided they wanted to go to Flic en Flac, which was a beach, to go meet people and drink. So I decided to tag along because I had already spent a lot of time on the ship that afternoon. I don’t think I have ever laughed as hard in a long time as I did in the taxi ride there. The guys were hysterical (and drunk). We got to flic en flac, and nothing was really there. But we found a bar, had a couple of drinks, went to the beach, and really just hung out around that area. That night was probably the best time I had in Mauritius.

The next day I slept in and then went to another SAS trip to another children’s place. This place was called Terre de Paix. Terre de Paix was a place for students ages 12 – 16 who lived with domestic violence. A large number of these students have been taken out of their houses and put into new ones or they live on the property. We were able to watch and see how their literacy program was used and how their music is taught. It was very interesting to see how the school uses domestic violence to help the students learn. For instance, for the literacy center, they had one of the girls read her story about domestic violence to us (with translation from another person). They do a fantastic job showing the students that they are special and even though they live/lived in horrible conditions, they can do something with their lives. I was able to buy a cd that had children’s stories in English/French/and another language that I cannot think of right now. It’s a native language to Mauritius. They are also written in the three languages so I was really excited about that. I think Mauritius does a great job of helping students who are struggling and I think the United States could look at Mauritius to help some of our struggling students.

When I went back to the ship, everyone was till gone so I hung out around the ship until Danielle got back from her SAS trip. When Danielle got back she really wanted to spend the night at Grand Bay (a beach) and hang out there. Since no one was really around, I went with her because I wanted to get off the ship. We ended up running into Courtney, Dani, Sarah, Rachel, and Anthony, which were the people I was supposed to stay with for the 3 days. It was good to see them and hear all of their stories.

The next morning I woke up early, took a taxi back to the ship to meet Court and Dani to go shopping and explore around Port Louis, which is where we were docked. We went to the market and explored.

Overall Mauritius really wasn’t that great. I don’t really want to go back. There’s a lot to see and it’s beautiful. But I would recommend people put more money into going to Hawaii then Mauritius. Another reason why I don’t think I enjoyed it that much was because I really just wanted to go to India. Mauritius was a great transition between South Africa and India because it had a ton of India culture and customs, but changed a little.

Mauritius remains copyright of the author ktluv3, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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So we left South Africa on the 20th and we are on our way to Mauritius, which I have mix feelings about. Mauritius is pretty much a really touristy place. I’m really ready to get to the Asian countries, which I’m really excited about. In Mauritius I was scheduled to do this Children’s thing the 2nd day and this Adventure thing the 3rd day, but they moved the Adventure thing to the 3rd day so I’m not really sure what exactly I am going to do. Both sound like a lot of fun so it’s a hard choice to make.

South Africa was AMAZING. I pretty much have to go back someday. It was beautiful with so much to do. Plus I would love to go on another safari because it was so unreal.

We got into Cape Town on the 14th. Usually when we get into port, a pilot comes on the ship to get us into the port safely. They usually come on at about 7 am and we get off the ship around 10 or so. BUT, the fog in Cape Town was unreal. The pilot couldn’t come on until about 11 or so and we just were hanging out in the middle of the bay waiting. The rocking was horrible! We were clear to get off the ship (from immigration and everything) at about 2pm. I was supposed to go to Robben Island at 12, so I was unable to go, which sucked. Robben Island is an island where fighters against Apartheid were put in jail during that time. Nelson Mandela and Dennis Brutus (who was our interport lecturer. He fought against equality of races in sports.) both spent time there. I actually never had time the rest of the time to make it there. Instead, Dani, Courtney and myself walked around the whole city and saw where things are.

That night was Dani’s birthday so we went out for dinner with a large group then went to Long Street, which is where all their bars are. One of the professor’s on the ship is from South Africa. So Dani talked to him and he gave Dani his daughter’s email (who is around our age). Dani emailed her and she gave us the name and phone numbers of some of her really good friends. So that night, we went out with some of the professor’s daughter’s friends and had a blast. It was great to have locals show us around the city and take us to different places.

The next day I went on a township tour. Townships are unreal. It’s no where close to any type of living in the United States. Everyone, even the poverty stricken people, should feel lucky to live in a place in the US. The townships have so many people living in them with horrible living situations. In some houses, there is only one family. In others (most) there are 10 families living in a tiny space. On our tour we were allowed to check out a couple different houses, but I did not feel right doing that. I would hate it if people were constantly coming into our house and taking pictures of our living conditions. It didn’t feel right at all. The kids were everywhere. They all came to us and played with us. To them, the foreigners coming in are their entertainment. The sidewalks and where grass should be is sand, with tons and tons of garbage and broken glass. The kids run around without any shoes on in the garbage and glass. It’s really bad. My description of the townships is not even giving a close idea of what it is really like living there. It’s probably the saddest thing I have ever seen.

The rest of the day I went out for dinner and then tried to go to sleep because I had to wake up at 3:30 for my safari. The safari rocked my world! Seriously amazing! I was not expecting what I experienced. I went to a place called Kariega Game Reserve. We drove up to the reception area and got our keys and room assignments. Then they took us in these 4 x 4 jeeps. We rode in these jeeps the whole time we were there. They took us to the Restaurant and Bar area, which was an open wall like building which was made out of wood and very safari like looking. The food there was delicious. Every meal was amazing and I seriously gained so much weight eating there. We went on about 4 game drives the total time we were there. We saw Giraffes, Hippos, Rhinos, Lions, Elephants, Buffalos, Zebras, and many other types of wildlife. We went on a hike and I was about 5-6 feet away from a huge giraffe. The whole entire time it rained, but it was like a mist type rain. We got soaked every time but it could have been so much worse. One day Elephants came an arms length away from our jeep. Also, when we went to go see the Buffalos, we got stuck and so the buffalos thought we were trying to play with them when we were getting out, so that was entertaining “playing” with them. I laughed my ass off! The only thing that sucked about my safari was it was small and controlled. They had 3 different fenced area. One was where the lions and elephants were, another was where the buffalos were, and the last was where all the other animals were and where our chalets were. I would much rather go back and go to a different safari where they weren’t fenced in and nature takes its place.

Our chalets were amazing! There were 3 rooms, 1 queen bed and 2 rooms with 2 twin beds. There were only 4 of us here but it could have fit 6+. Our chalet had a kitchen and a living room. The whole thing was similar to a log cabin. Everything was very safari like and it felt very wilderness like. We had a deck with a small pool (not everyone had a pool) that overlooks part of the game drive area. We couldn’t see any animals from our deck but the view was amazing.

The night I got back to Cape Town from the Safari I went out with some friends from SAS and some South African boys they had met while I was gone. We had a blast. It was great to talk to them and find out the similarities and differences between the two cultures. They were around our age so it was cool to really relate to someone our age too. They took us out to places in Cape Town where absolutely no other SAS kids were. It was AMAZING to be the only Americans around. They took us to this club like place, called Tin Roof, that was pretty cool. They didn’t play music like the clubs back home, but they played music like the theme from friends, I would walk 500 miles, and the Time Warp Song from Rocky Horror Picture Show. When the Time Warp song came on, all the guys we were with (there was about 10 of them) broke out into the dance to the Time Warp dance. It was absolutely hilarious. Something you would never have seen in the United States because people are so uptight. While we were there the power went out. Apparently they have been having some power outages lately that last a couple of minutes. The power went out for about 45 minutes. We left Tin Roof and headed back to Long Street, but the power was out in the WHOLE city. It was so cool to see how the whole city was out of power and everything was dark. As we were heading back to Long Street, the power came back on, but not all at once. It was amazing and words do not express how it looked. The guys from South Africa had not even seen anything like that before.

The next day I went to the flea market and bought some pretty cool things and then walked around the rest of the city. I was pretty sick and not feeling good but went out for a little bit with them and some other people. I spend SO much time with Courtney and Dani. The three are always together. They’re great! Dani is from Vermont and goes to school at West Virginia. Courtney is from Massachusetts and goes to University of Vermont. They’re both really cool people and I really like hanging out with them. Actually, Dani is who I roomed with at the Atlantis. SAS hooked us up together to room together, and apparently it was a really good match because since then we’ve been hanging out.

The last day I was supposed to go River Rafting, but I woke up with a really bad stomach ache and feeling like crap, so I wasn’t able to go. Since then I haven’t been feeling to great. I have a horrible stomach ache and a sore throat. It comes and goes though, but I still wish I felt better. I went to the doctor to get a note to excuse me from the trip so hopefully I can get my money back. I weighed myself while I was there. After South Africa, which I ate a ton of food, I have lost about 10 pounds. I’m now actually feeling much better which is great. It’s really hot and sunny out and I laid out for about 2 hours or so (and got lots of sun).

I was able to download some pictures onto my friend’s computer and so I am going to try to post some pictures on here. Not sure if I’ll be able to though.

I love you all and miss you tons!! Sorry I haven’t been emailing single people lately. I’ve actually been extremely busy. I will try to email you back in the near future (especially you Jamie, I know I have sucked the last few days).

Love Always,

Katie

South Africa remains copyright of the author ktluv3, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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I'm in beautiful South Africa and loving it! I'm sitting in an internet cafe in the mall near our ship, and it's kinda expensive (not as bad as the one on the ship) so I thought I would update a little bit. I'm having the time of my life! Everything that I have seen or done here is amazing and I definitely want to come back!

Anyways, I just wanted to let you all know that I am alive and doing well. I will update more when I'm able to (probably in the next couple of days or so). I miss all of you so much! And I can't wait to see everyone when I get home!

Love Always,

Katie

South Africa remains copyright of the author ktluv3, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Well we were in Brazil from the 1st to the 5th of February. I had tons of fun, especially in Rio. I went on a Rio like a Native trip through Semester at Sea from the 2nd to the 4th and it was amazing! One the 2nd we had to wake up at 3 am to catch our flight, and I did not feel good at all that morning. I actually threw up on the bus ride to the airport. When we finally got to Rio then we went on a bus tour of the downtown district and went to their Cathedral. This Cathedral was insane looking. Did not look anything like a Cathedral I had ever seen. It was shaped as a cone with 4 huge stain glass designs going down from top to bottom. It’s hard to explain but when I get home I can show you pictures of it. It was pretty weird.

Then we went to lunch at this amazing place, which was a gaucho-styled churrascarias. It was a buffet type meal which tons of fish, seafood and fruit. There were SO many choices to choose from. Then the waiters walked around with different meat on a stick and they would cut off a piece for you if you would like. They had different kinds of beef, pork, chicken, lamb and even frog legs. I still had a really upset stomach, so all I had was a small piece of Salmon. I was actually really upset because I would have totally tried everything but my stomach would not agree with any food.

After lunch I took a nap and then it was off to a dance workshop at Casa de Danca Jaime Aroxa. We learned the samba as well as other dances. Kristen, you would have LOVED it! I was okay at it, actually was pretty crappy, but I’m sure if I would have taken more lessons I would have gotten it down. In Brazil their culture is to grow up listening to this music and dancing so these men and women were so good at what they do. They did a dance for us after the lesson and it was just amazing to watch how good they were and how easily they flowed from one move to another.

That night we went to a Samba bar called Rio Scenarium. It was amazing. It was three stories that had music blaring on all three levels. Also, the walls and floors were full of different antiques, which were very cool to look at. The music was live all night long so it was really cool to hear and dance to the music. We also ordered an appetizer that night, which was a native food. It was similar to a hot pocket, but was fried. In the middle was some cheese and tomatoes. It was very good.

The next day we toured all over Rio (and I got a little burnt ). We went to the sugar loaf, which is this mountain that you take cable cars to get up to the top and it overlooks the whole city. It was amazing because you could see everything. Watching a sun set or rise there would have been beautiful. Then we went to the Santa Teresa District for lunch. We had another native like food, but I thought it was disgusting! Some fish with rice and then this thing that looked like applesauce, but was definitely not applesauce. Then we got in 4 x 4 jeeps and drove around the District and then up to the Corcovado Mountain to the Christ the Redeemer statue. From the city, the statue looks extremely small, but once you get up to the top, it’s HUGE. This mountain is taller then pretty much all the other mountains and so you really look over everything in the city. It was beautiful. The jeeps took us right to the statue, and then we climbed the 216 steps (instead of taking the elevator) up to the statue. By the time we got up there we were sweating extremely bad. I don’t think I have ever sweat so much, even with all the sports I’ve played growing up, as I did in Rio. Pretty much I’m counting down the days until it’s laundry day because I’m running low on clothes. On the way down the mountain we went through the rainforest and saw some monkeys! They were so cool! They were playing in the trees outside of this beautiful closed hotel. The hotel was amazing, but totally empty and rundown. There are SO many buildings in Rio that are empty and closed. If someone would buy it and refurbish them it would be amazing, especially this hotel.

When we got out of the rainforest we ended up at the beach and parked. When we got out this guy approached us about going hang gliding. There were 25 total people in our group and about 17-20 of them went. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I knew that I did want to go, but then again I was having doubts. So this guy in the group told me to live my life to the fullest and go. Pretty much after talking to him I went. The car ride up to the mountain I was SO nervous! I was seriously shaking and could barely talk. Everyone else was laughing and having fun. When you get up to the top I looked down and I couldn’t believe I was just going to run off a mountain and into the sky. The guy who I flew with (who had been doing it for the last 10 years) made me comfortable and all of a sudden it was my turn. I just went for it and ran down. It was seriously amazing! One of the best things I have ever done in my life and I am so happy I did it. While flying around you could see the mountains, ocean, rainforest, city, favellas, and where the rich people live. You felt like a bird just flying around. When I got down I gave the guy who talked me into it a huge hug because I was so thankful that he talked me into it. I got a DVD of take off, landing, and about 8 pictures from the flight so when I get home you can all check it out.

That night we walked through the night market & had dinner at this outside restaurant. When we looked around, there were tons and tons of prostitutes where we were. It was definitely way different then what I was used to, and what anyone in my group was used to. Oh well, it’s definitely a story.

The next day we woke up and had this drum workshop. We learned how to play some of their drums and beats to a Brazilian song. It was so cool. They had huge drums, snare drums, a cow bell like bell, shakers and other instruments. I had a blast because as you all know, I love rhythms and I am actually pretty good at it.

Then that afternoon we had free time. So a group of us decided that we wanted to go to Ipanema beach, which was supposedly next to Copacobana (which was the beach where our hotel was). So we walked. And it probably was 2 miles away. It was SO FREAKING HOT OUT and I sweated like no other. But it was still fun to walk along the beach and see everything. Afterwards we went back to Salvador.

The next day we got to go to a soccer game in Salvador, which was so much fun. Brazilian people are crazy when it comes to their soccer. They had drums everywhere and everyone was decked out in their team’s colors. They also had firecrackers and other firework type things going off. The game ended up being 1-1 so it was a pretty good game.

Now were back on the sea headed towards South Africa. We get there on the 14th, and we left Brazil on the night of the 6th, so we’re on the ocean for a while. Things on the boat are good. I’ve found a great group of friends that has been shocking that we’ve gotten so close considering how long I’ve known them. Most of them are from the east coast so I may have to take a little trip over there sometime. There is one girl that lives in Southern Oregon so that’s pretty cool. Also, I’ve lost some weight! I’m not really sure how much, but all of my pants are falling off of me so I’m sure it’s a good amount. The food here is very repetitive and not that great, so I don’t eat all that much. I am trying to force food down me though because I know it’s bad that I’m not eating that much.

I’m way excited to go to South Africa. I’m going to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was kept in jail forever. Actually, for every port we have an interport lecturer who comes on the ship. Our one for this time is a poet who lived in South Africa during Apartheid. He actually fought against it and ended up being thrown in jail with Nelson Mandela. I went to a poetry reading of his last night and he told us some of his stories which are amazing to hear. I’m going on a 3 day safari which I can’t be more stoked about. I’m also going to a Township and a Township Music. And going white water rafting. So I’m going to be amazingly busy, but should be a blast!

Anyways, I love getting emails from you all. (Jamie- you’re cracked me up today!!) And for those of you who I haven’t heard from, I would love you know what’s going on in Oregon. Keeps me connected to what’s going on at home because this trip has truly felt like a dream. It’s amazing. I feel as if I am going to wake up any moment and be back in Oregon going to Concordia. It’s really an experience that has been the best probably in my life!!

I love and miss you all!!

Katie

Oh on a sad note, I’m really sad the Seahawks lost and I wasn’t able to watch the game. But they did let us know the results. Everyone here is a Steelers fan so of course I was going for the Seahawks!

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So overall Puerto Rico was a blast. My favorite things was definitely the Welcome Reception. I went to Caribbean University and it was fantastic. When we drove up, all the students were clapping and singing and dancing to music played by drums and other instruments. They greeted us like I have never been greeted before. They also had two guys on stilts doing dances. The culture here is so unique and amazing. It totally makes me wish the US, or even myself, had a culture like that. After greeting, and watching a little movie about their university, they held a big "party" outside which was full of their traditional dances, all of us dancing, live music, their traditional food (that was pretty much all fried!) and other entertainment. I don't think I've had that much fun in a long time. It's so great to see their culture, and then become part of their culture. They were so nice and gave us 2 presents and some native candy.

The following night we reciprocated and have the 4 Universities come to the ship. They were able to tour the ship, watch a movie about it, and eat some food, and of course dancing. Because Puerto Ricans LOVE to dance! Afterwards, all of us (US & Puerto Rican students) went out to local Salsa clubs. They were pretty cool. It was WAY crowded because of the 700 SAS students. I'm sure if there wasn't that many it would have been much more fun!.

The day before then I hung out with Danielle, who I roomed with in Bahamas, and other students. We went to the Bacardi factory, which was pretty cool to see how its made. And it was free with free drinks, so you cant say no to that! We ate lunch at this place called SOS. It was a little reggie place that had really good burgers. Definitely really good! Then we went to the beach to watch the sunset! Amazingly beautiful!

The BEST and worst part of the day was the taxi ride back to the ship. I probably should have died about 100 times during that trip. He was going 80 mph on the freeway during some traffic, he was going in and out of cars and its amazing he didnt hit any of them. He squeezed into some spots that I don't think anyone could fit into. He also came about 2 inches away from the cars infront of him. He then said to us, when we got really quiet, what happened? And this guy who was with us said , "You!" Pretty much the funniest thing ever. Oh and he almost ran over like 5 people, no joke. Creepy guy. Danielle got the whole thing on video tape and I think its hilarious.

Today I went to the Rio Camuy Caves. They were actually pretty cool. We walked through all of the caves that had tons of spiders (saw a couple), crabs, and bats. The caves were definitely pretty awesome. It just didnt last very long, which was kinda disappointing. Also, we were supposed to have box lunch provided, but since the boat left the Us, went to Bahamas and then to Puerto Rico, its considered that it left the US and then continued to a foreign contry and back to the US, so no food can be taken off the ship. So we ate at this native Puerto Rican place that probably would have been really good IF there wasn't about 45 of us total.

And now that leads me to now. Sitting in the internet cafe waiting for tonight for when the boat leaves. For all of those who have been leaving me messages about my seasickness, THANKS!! It means a lot. I have stocked up on less drousy dramamine, and plan on using the ear patch, so hopefully (fingers crossed) that I'll be able to get over this seasickness mess!

Well I miss and love you all! Today I realized that I forgot to get address for post cards, so if you would like one, let me know! Oh and if you want to send me read mail, i would LOVE it!!

Love Always,

Katie

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Well, to start with, I have been pretty seasick! I’ve pretty much laid in my bed majority of the time because that’s what’s been helping me. I’ve only thrown up once, so I guess that’s I good sign. But nevertheless, since I’ve been in my room I’ve missed out meeting people and going to some events. I think I’ve found a remedy that will help me, so we’ll see after we leave Costa Rica.

San Juan is BEAUTIFUL!! So tropical & nice. They have some amazing forts/barracks from the Spanish/American war and additions from World War 2. I had the opportunity to go on a walking tour of Old San Juan this morning and it was okay. The lady who was leading went way to fast and just talked about history like no other. I would have much rather gone slower and taken it all in. It still was cool to walk around and see everything. Then I joined a group of girls and we walked around more of San Juan and ended up eating at this cute little restaurant that had Sandwiches, Mexican food and more. It was delicious! (and cheep) $5 for my whole meal including food and a drink. Then we walked around more and went to the beach. Not as beautiful as Bahamas, but it still beats Oregon’s coast by far. The girls that I met were really nice and I hope I get to hang out with them more. Hopefully the seasickness thing will go away (keep your fingers crossed). Its discouraging but I know it’ll get better.

Tonight I’m doing a Welcome Reception. We are going to 1 out of 4 different universities here in Puerto Rico and we’re able to hang out with the students and chat with them and they might put on a little show for us. I think it’ll be amazing to talk to some of the students and see more of their culture.

The sun is out and it is beautiful. Many people burnt today from walking around. I did not, yay for that! Well I miss EVERY single one of you from back home!! Luckly, my cell phone works here, so if you would love to chat (I’ve already called a couple of you, but no answer) then you can call my cell before Wednesday night. Just remember that I am 4 hours ahead of people back home on the West Coast.

Anyways, I miss you all! And send me lots and lots of emails because I barely any from anyone. Even though I’m traveling around the world I would love to hear whats going on at home, even if its boring in your eyes.

Love Always,

Katie

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