Day 57 (10-22-10)

 

And I'm back in India. Wow, this place is just as hectic as I remember. We pulled into the port fairly early, but the customs process took much longer than anticipated. Security here is very tight right now, and I'm not entirely sure why. But apparently we're having armed guards stand at the entrance to the ship 24/7, and they're checking our passports/visas/arrival stamps/customs form/ship IDs every time we enter and leave the ship. As such, the line to disembark this morning was horrendous. Some people weren't sure if they needed their passports or not; some people forgot to bring their customs form... and everyone wanted to leave as soon as possible. It was hectic. But after a couple of hours, our group of 5 managed to make it to the shuttle bus and out of the port. And that's where the fun began.

 

The door to the shuttle bus opened and 30 Indian men were waiting for us, grabbing at us and yelling for us to come to their rickshaws and taxis. Oh joy. Here in Chennai, the rickshaw drivers are notorious (even by Indian standards) for ripping people off with their fares. But we negotiated a price for our drivers to take us to a marketplace and we were on our way. One problem... we weren't actually on our way to the market. We were on our way to a commission shop! I'm elated, really. But, worldly traveler that I am, I was expecting this. So I yelled at the other rickshaw driver for a couple minutes (while my friends looked on, shocked and confused) and told him that we weren't going to go into a tourist-trap commission shop and we wouldn't pay the drivers if they didn't take us where we wanted to go. Problem solved. Oh wait. Problem not solved. Apparently "don't take us to commission shops" means "take us to more commission shops" in Tamil. Damn it. At this point, my friends were a bit confused about what was happening, so we all just went inside and walked aroudn the store while I described the situation: Taxi/rickshaw drivers earn a percentage of the profit every time one of their fares purchases something from these select stores. So when people say they want to go shopping or visit a market, the drivers automatically go into these stores, whose prices are conveniently jacked way up to scam the unsuspecting tourists that enter. But hey, I told the drivers we wouldn't pay for stops that we didn't ask for, so it's no big deal to us. After purchasing zero items, we decided against any more useless shopping trips, so we told the drivers to take us to the Hindu temple a few kilometers away. Of course, they didn't mention that the temple is closed. But it's okay. The drivers tell us they'll wait for us while we wander the area, so we just walked away without thinking much about it. If we find them when we're done, we'll use them. If not, they didn't do anything that we asked anyway, so I'd call it a fair trade.

 

On our walk away from the temple, we found a place called Rasi Silks. I was with 4 girls, and they wanted to find Indian clothing (sarees, pashminas, etc). So we walked in and ended up spending an hour inside the 4-story building. They had menswear, but I'm not much for Indian fashion, so I just played bag-holder for an hour or so while they tried on some clothing and bought some things. Afterward, our lovely drivers were waiting for us outside, and they took us to a restaurant for lunch. Luckily for us, it was the only good thing they did all day. Between the 5 of us, we had mutton w/ peas in gravy over rice, chicken tikka masala, some szechuan noodles/soup (because the restaurant served Chinese food too), and some various assorted vegetable dishes. All-in-all, it was a great meal. Time to move on... and so I tried for a third time to tell the drivers to take us to a market place. You know, the big open area with vendors that sell their wares at negotiable prices. Alright, we're on our way.... right back to the first store that they took us to this morning. "This is the marketplace, I told you." Wow. I just wonder if Americans really come across as stupid all the time, or if it's just us. So again, we refuse to cave in to their requests to "just get out and look around; it's free to look." Frustrated, hot, and annoyed, we come to the consensus that it's time to head back to the ship.

 

"No no no, we take you to beach now, then dinner, then more shopping. Ship later."

"No no no. You take us to ship now or we pay you nothing. We'll get out of this rickshaw and walk away without paying if you try to take us anywhere but the ship."

 

And off we went, back to the ship. I know, it's rude and I need to lighten up. This is their livelihood and they're trying to get by squeezing as much time and money as they can from us. But we're paying customers, so we should at least get some kind of common courtesy, right? Oh well. Anyway, we got to the port and paid the drivers a generous amount considering the service we were given (approximately 20% of the laughable price they tried to charge us), and we went on our way back to the shuttle bus. A couple of my friends felt bad about it, but that's the process. And considering the drivers chose not to chase us down and bug us for more money all the way across the parking lot, it can be assumed that we gave them enough to turn a profit for the day. Oy. This place is exhausting.

 

So here's the plan: shower, nap, meet up later to go out for more Indian food for dinner. Ready, break.

 

3 hours later.

 

So here's the NEW plan: eat dinner on the ship, fall asleep by 9pm.

 

Yeahhhhh that was unintentional. But this country is so draining, we didn't even have the energy to leave again. The nap turned into a deep sleep, and by the time I woke up, it was past midnight. So I just went right back to sleep again. Luckily, I'm not the only one. Giggles was as exhausted as me and did the same thing, and Michaella has to leave for a Taj Mahal trip at 4am tomorrow morning, so she passed out as well. I hate feeling like I'm wasting time in port, but I'm going to call this a necessary sacrifice. 5 more days... I'll try to spend them wisely.

Day 49 (10-14-10)

…Hello Mauritius. We had a short diplomatic briefing in the Union before disembarking onto the tiny island nation. There was a water taxi station right next to the ship, so we could float right into the city instead of hailing a cab/walking through the massive port area. I don’t remember much about Mauritius from last time (because I had the flu and only got off the ship for about 3 hours), but I do remember disliking the walk through the port. We found an ATM, checked out the waterfront for a few minutes, and then hailed a taxi to Grand Baie, one of the main beach destinations of the island. A half-hour and some bargaining later, we were in a little cove filled with sailboats. First things first: lunch. I ordered some pasta with tomato/mushroom sauce and a really weak milkshake. And we all got free Dodo Bird cocktails afterward. Don’t ask what was in it because I have no idea. But it was yellow red and green and tasted like alcohol. And it was free. Hooray! Next stop: beach. Between Grand Baie and Perybere, we found a little public beach that only had a handful of European tourists. And it was perfect. Perfect water. Perfect everything. A few sailboats and catamarans floated by in the distance. The beach ended at some rocks a few hundred feet to our right and left, and it ended at perfectly clear blue-green water in front of us. It’s October 14th and I’m swimming in paradise in the Indian Ocean. I’m usually not a huge beach fan, but it’s hard to argue with this. Where else would I be right now? Fall in Boulder is pretty nice (and I’ve heard it’s actually pretty warm this year), but this time last year I was wading through 2 feet of snow to get to class. And now I’m at a beach sunbathing and my biggest worry is whether or not I’m going to cut my feet on the coral below me. Not a bad trade.

After a few hours on the beach we started walking back towards Grand Baie and stopped for some shopping. A few postcards and trinkets later (oh, and a pineapple on a stick!), and we were back in town and ready to head back to Port Louis. But taxis can be pretty expensive (not by American standards, but we’ve become excellent bargainers), so we hopped on the express bus back to the city. It was air-conditioned and only a dollar per person for an hour long ride. Next up: Dinner at Shooters. And to all of you in Boulder, it isn’t a country bar. But it is a sports bar/grille. There was eve a picture of Allen Iverson on the wall. Weird. But we had been craving Tex-Mex for a while, and the chicken fajita nachos sounded delicious. But so did the bacon burger. So I got both. And the Blue Lagoon cocktail to drink. It was just another drink that tasted like blue. Who knew drinks could taste like colors? I guess I’ve always known that actually. Grape juice tastes like purple. NyQuil tastes like green. And Blue Lagoons taste like blue. Noted. For dessert, we headed to another restaurant on the waterfront and got Death by Chocolate (disappointing) and a Swiss Cow to drink. The Swiss Cow was like chocolate/mint flavored cocktail with vanilla ice cream inside. Like a mudslide meets a thin mint. Thus, it was delicious. And so ends day one of Mauritius. This is the place for crazy parties in hotels and villas on the beach and such, but I’d rather spend my money on other things. Luckily I have some friends that feel the same way, so we headed back to the ship around 11 or midnight and crashed for the night. Uno más día en Mauritius.

Day 50 (10-15-10)

Wake up. Water taxi. Looked for stamps in town and did a little more shopping. It’s weird, I don’t particularly enjoy shopping, but it’s probably the most common thing for us to do in these countries. We checked out a place called Friends Restaurant for lunch and I got a baguette with ham chicken. Not ham and chicken…. Ham-chicken. I didn’t know there was such a thing, and the waiter’s English wasn’t good enough to explain to me what it was. But it was tasty. Since we have to be back onboard the ship this evening, it’s not worth it to explore the other side of the island (in fear that we won’t make it back on time), so we’re just staying in Port Louis for the remainder of the day. We did some more shopping and I got the most amazing pineapple juice I’ve ever had from some random street vendor. I even got it with ice (which is highly un-recommended because the water here supposedly isn’t safe to drink, but I love street food and I’ll never stop eating/drinking it), and it was refreshing and fantastic. The last of our Mauritian Rupees were spent on, you guessed it, food. We stopped for crepes with bananas and chocolate. And a milkshake. Some more relaxation on the waterfront followed, and it was time to head back to the ship to write our postcards before on-ship time. We took the water taxi back, and finished the postcards just in time for the Barbeque. Every once in awhile, SAS treats us to a barbeque up on the pool deck. Ribs, fries, mac-n-cheese, burgers, corn on the cob. It’s second only to Taco Day. But we watched the last stragglers run back to gangway by 6pm on-ship time, and saw some of them come back a little bit late. Hooray for Dock Time! For those of you that don’t know, for every 15 minutes that you are late getting back to the ship, you’re penalized 3 hours of time in the following port. So everyone that showed up at 6:02pm tonight has to be back on the ship 3 hours earlier than the rest of us in India. People that showed up at 6:16pm have to be back onboard 6 hours earlier in India. It’s a steep price to pay for being a few minutes late, and it’s been quite the deterrent for me. It’s why I’m always back onboard the ship with a couple hours to spare… you never know what the line/immigration process could look like.

And for tonight… the end of Criminal Minds. Since we’re done with the season now, I guess it’s time to find something new between now and India. We’ll make it work. Goodnight all… 5 countries down, 5 to go (plus Hawaii)! I don’t like the way that sounds.


WARNING: Upcoming blog posts may be sparse. I forgot to take notes on the days at sea between Mauritius and India, so I’m not entirely sure what I did each day. Apologies.

Day 51 (10-16-10)

We’re approaching the halfway point of the voyage… not possible. It’s amazing how quickly time can pass.

Today was a downer of a day. Disappointing lunch. 2 classes. Nap. Disappointing dinner. It’s crazy how drained I am after each port. Mauritius was only a 36ish hour stop between Cape Town and Chennai, but it still wore me out. And you can always see it on the ship, too. Whenever we get back on board, the following day is dead. Meals are quiet because people are sleeping through them. Classes are quiet because the professors are as exhausted as we are… and half the students are sleeping through them. It’s a bizarre atmosphere.

But we had an Explorer’s Seminar on Civil Disobedience tonight, and that was a fun experience. Several staff members and one student shared their stories of civil disobedience with the community, and spoke about the issues that were important to them/why their methods of disobedience were effective. From camping on public property in Boston to get a law passed to hopping over a fence at a military complex to protest the draft, these people seemed to run the gamut of issues and means of protesting them. I was fortunate enough to sit next to Archbishop Desmond Tutu for the event, and we spoke briefly afterward about what we had heard and what he had personally done in the past. He hadn’t done much… just won a Nobel Peace Prize for his acts of civil disobedience and efforts that helped to end the system of Apartheid in South Africa. Nothing too big or anything.

What a night.

Day 52 (10-17-10)

I had a midterm today in Environmental Science class. Nothing too exciting or even anything to worry about. And I bought a Club sandwich/ice cream on pool deck after dinner. That was probably the highlight of the day. Seriously, since when do they have club sandwiches at the pool bar? Awesome. Then we watched the movie Kick-Ass to end the night. It was based off of some comic/graphic novel that I’ve never heard of and it was really kind of bizarre. Funny, but pretty twisted. As many recent Nicolas Cage films tend to be.

Day 53 (10-18-10)

Drumroll please… Taco Day! I think we’ve officially had more taco days this voyage than we did all Spring ’09. I’m loving it. Tonight, we had a Sea Olympics pep rally. The Sea Olympics are shaping up to be much different than last year. The planning committee chose to announce the events and stipulations for the Olympics just 3 days before the events are scheduled to occur. Apparently they felt like it would be better to surprise everyone and would level the playing field if people didn’t know about everything beforehand. By this point last year, we already had our events planned, t-shirts made, a cheer established, and a mascot picked out. Now, we have to select our team members on very short notice, and coordinate lip syncs/synchronized swimming on 2-3 days notice. I’m not particularly fond of the new system, but we’ll see how it works out. The pep rally basically consisted of everyone sitting in the Union wearing their sea colors (Mediterranean Sea = Light Blue) and screaming at everyone else while the organizers told us what events to prepare for. And then we left. Anti-climactic.

Day 54 (10-19-10)

Tonight: Family dinner. My on-ship grandparents hosted us in their cabin tonight for another photo contest. This time, we brought our best pictures from South Africa and let our extended family vote on the winner. An aerial picture of Cape Town taken from a helicopter by my Canadian brother Mike was the winner. He was rewarded with a SAS flashlight for his efforts… pretty handy. Afterwards, we all trekked down the hallway to the pool bar where our grandparents treated us to whatever we wanted for dinner (Gene is a self-proclaimed “big spender,” so he doesn’t mind shelling out the dough for his extended family). Plus… it included dessert! Cheeseburger, Gatorade, AND ice cream? Can’t beat that. Plus, we got to share our experiences from South Africa and Mauritius, and we talked about our plans for India. Since Gene and Nikey have done SAS 10 times before, they’re wonderful resources for us.

After dinner, I emailed my mom about India and had her book my plane tickets for me. Sadly, I won’t be able to make it to Kashmir. Everyone seems to be relieved by this; it’s like traveling to a tenuously guarded war-zone isn’t recommended or something. Weird. But instead, I will be spending 2 days in Mumbai and a day in Hyderabad. Along with 3 days in our port city of Chennai. Pretty exciting stuff. Now I just need to book my hotels… hmm. One day at a time.

Day 55 (10-20-10)

At dinner tonight, I was pleasantly surprised with a cake! Apparently my mom ordered me a cake to celebrate the fact that we’ve survived the first half of the voyage. As such, the text on the cake read, “Happy Halfway There.” Thanks, mom! Ice cream cake is the best.

But wait… we’re halfway there?! The voyage is half over?! Ruh roh.

Cultural Pre-port tonight. Basically… you can and will see just about anything and everything in India. There are so many different people of different cultures in one place, and the 1.3 billion people are just trying to get by. There are no fewer than 23 national languages, and the food is spicy. Got it.

Our final sea meeting for the Sea Olympics is tonight. I only signed up to be a part of 2 events because I’ve already done with before and I didn’t want to take away from anyone that might not get a chance to do something. As it turns out, we have a very active and interested group of kids in our sea: Every event filled to capacity, and I didn’t even get into the one event that I was still signed up for (the other was cancelled). As such, it looks like I’ll be playing cheerleader tomorrow for the festivities. Sounds good to me. Plus, the meeting had chips/salsa/cookies, so it wasn’t a total bust. I love free food; it’s the best kind.

Day 56 (10-21-10)

Sea Olympics today! After an early lunch, each sea crammed into the Union to show off their Sea chant during the opening ceremonies. The following several hours were devoted to individual trials, so people broke off and participated in their respective events. I made a point of sticking around to watch the group events (Lip Syncing and Synchronized Swimming), both of which were hilarious and lots of fun. Another good event to observe: Dean David Says. Much like Simon Says, this consisted of our Academic Dean standing on the stage in the Union and barking out orders at students trying to trip them up. It took quite a while to eliminate all but one, but it was a fun process. After dinner, the closing ceremonies revealed that the Caribbean Sea had taken first place with the Aegean Sea earning a close second and the Nomer Sea in 3rd. Never heard of the Nomer Sea? It’s made up of the faculty/staff/lifelong learners/dependent children, and it’s not actually a real place. Figure it out yet? It’s a play on words. Nomer Sea = No Mercy. Clever, I know. But despite a valiant (maybe) effort, my Mediterranean Sea could only muster and 8th place finish. Out of 10. Fail. Oh well, we had fun doing it.

Taking a step back, I forgot to mention the best part of dinner. Giggles decided a few days ago that she loves ice cream cake and wanted to get one just for the sake of getting one. So we went online and filled out the order form, and I told her to put “Livin’ On A Prayer” as the text on the cake. With this logic, we’d have a cake at the halfway point in the voyage (when we’re, ohhhhhhhh halfway there) that says Livin’ On A Prayer. Original, I know. And if you didn’t get that Bon Jovi reference, shame on you. Funny thing… right after we placed that order, I got a note on my door saying that my mom had gotten me a cake for the same occasion. Apparently great minds really DO think alike. But it’s not a problem, because we just had her cake tonight instead of last night, and it’s double the ice creamy goodness. Well done, everyone. I’m pleased.

Logistical Pre-port happened tonight. More technical information on India and such. And like any good Bollywood film, this pre-port included a random dance number. In a surprise for the shipboard community, a group of 15-20 students and staff members learned a section of the Jai Ho dance (from the closing sequence of Slumdog Millionaire) and performed it at random on the Union floor during the middle of pre-port. We thought the A/V booth had just made a mistake and started playing a piece of music by accident, but then the stage was flooded with people and they were all dancing in unison. It was pretty great.

But now that means that we’re in India tomorrow. What? When did THAT happen? Oh man. I better start taking some deep breaths now… this place is nuts. Plus, I won’t want to take deep breaths while I’m there, due to the grossness of the air and whatnot. Yeah… The adventure continues… tomorrow!

Day 42 (10-07-10)

I had a SAS trip all day today: Cycling in the Winelands. At 9am, I met the bus at the bottom of the gangway for the drive out to Franschhoek in the Cape Valley. I can’t give very many details about the drive there (aside from the fact that we passed Ratanga Junction amusement park on the way and it really made me want to ride roller coasters) because I slept for the majority of the journey. But we arrived an hour or so later and had an opportunity to walk through the town for a bit. Shopping for postcards and crafts ensued. After 45 minutes of walking the streets in awesome 60ish-degree, misty weather, we found our bikes by the side of the road and embarked on a 12-mile ride. Riding along the shoulder of a main road was not the most ideal location for us (especially when tractor trailers would speed past and create large currents of air that threatened to push us into gutter), but it was a beautiful ride. I don’t even know the last time I went for a bike ride, so that in itself was great. And the scenery certainly didn’t hurt. The backside of Table Mountain loomed in the distance and a layer of fog hung over the endless vineyards lining the highway. It was so relaxing to cruise through the countryside on a bicycle… it makes me wish I had actually invested in a bike when I lived in Boulder. Oh well, live and learn.

We ended up at a winery called Solms. Here, we learned about the winemaking process and we were able to walk the grounds of the vineyard. But then we got to the important part: lunch and wine tasting. Each of us received a large wooden platter with 6 quarter-full glasses of wine and 6 different small entrees. There were two appetizers, two main courses, and two desserts, each paired with a wine that would complement the individual flavors. I’m not much of a wine person, but I actually really enjoyed one of the two whites. The two reds were tolerable, but the dessert wine was just not my thing. I’m not a wine connoisseur by any means, so I can’t tell you why I didn’t enjoy it, but it seemed really bitter. Maybe it was really sweet. Is that contradictory? It is, isn’t it? See, I have no idea what I’m talking about. Whatever. The food was incredible though. Crab meat, mussels, springbok meatball, springbok meat soup, a cheese sampler, and some sort of chocolate tapioca pudding. The pudding wasn’t my favorite, but the rest was delicious. And, fortunately for me, I was sitting near the end of the table next to the tour guides and the bus driver. Why would this make me fortunate? They were working, so they couldn’t drink their wine! Those of us at the end of the table grabbed an extra glass of our favorite, and continued on with the meal. When it was time to leave, we all boarded the bus and realized that there was a microphone in the front for the tour guide. And do you know what happens when you put 20 tipsy college students (and professors, including the comedy/singing professors) together on a bus with a microphone? Disney Karaoke. It was a fun time. After a short bus ride, we arrived in Stellenbosch, the most well known town along the wine route. We didn’t have much time left for sightseeing because some of the professors on the trip had to be back at the ship by 5pm for other things, but it was a nice little town to walk through. Another nap on the bus ensued, and we were back on the MV right at 5 o’clock.

Dinner time… where else? Mitchell’s. More awesome food and a little bit of drinking. I had one of those fish bowls by myself… I’m not an alcoholic, I promise. I thought I was sharing it with the table, but everyone else just ordered their own drinks. Whoops. Tomorrow is our last day here… But I don’t want to leave! There’s still so much to see and do! Oy.

Day 43 (10-08-10)

More Shopping and internet this morning. I found a painting that I was looking for by a South African artist named Mgadi. I told former SASer friends that I could pick up some things for them that they might have missed last time around, but that’s proven to be a futile task much of the time. This painting was the first real success story I’ve had in that department, so I’m pretty excited about it. And of course, when I went to try and book my India plans, my card was still not working. Interesting. I suppose I’ll figure it out in the next week of two. Quay 4 for lunch… I’m not usually this much of a creature of habit, especially in port. But the food is just so good! Postcard writing/people watching consumed a pretty large chunk of time in my afternoon today, and I followed it up with some sushi with Jacob and Krystal. And now I have literally zero Rand left. Hooray for spending all of my money! That just means I withdrew the correct amount from the ATM. But of course, we wanted Melissa’s one last time. So Krystal used her remaining Rand to buy us some hot chocolate and were back with 30 minutes to spare before on-ship time. I’m usually back on board with a couple hours left, but we just wanted to stay out as long as possible here. Oh Cape Town, you never seem to disappoint. Unfortunately, back on the ship I now have no motivation to do anything. So after some catching up with friends, it’s time for an early night’s sleep. Like… 9 or 10pm. Yeah.

Day 44 (10-09-10)

So I slept for about 14 hours. Aaaaand now I’m just tired. Today is a Reading Day, so we don’t have any classes. Which is rather fortunate. Especially for Global Studies. Our Global professor (Peter Sanchez) has been having eye problems recently, and apparently they reached a breaking point in South Africa. He somehow managed to get a detached retina in one of his eyes, and he’s still in Cape Town recovering from a series of emergency surgeries. As such, our classes have to be reshuffled until we get to Mauritius or India… whenever he’s able to rejoin us and continue teaching. His wife is also a professor on the ship and she teaches 3 classes, so her absence is affecting the ship as well. It’s a mess, but he’s supposed to make a full recovery, and that’s all that matters.

It appears that everyone had the same idea as I did… No one is around on the ship today; they’re all sleeping. We all bummed around and relaxed all day. These days are the best. We can just talk to each other about everything we’ve done and everything we’re going to do. And we try to forget that 40+ days have passed already. Sigh. And then we watched Saving Private Ryan! Seriously, who doesn’t like Saving Private Ryan? Nobody. But it gets better. What did I do AFTER watching Saving Private Ryan? Settlers! Great way to end the day. But tomorrow we have to get back to reality. Figures.

Day 45 (10-10-10)

Are you serious? We had all day off yesterday. All. Day. And today we don’t have Global Studies class because of the professor situation. Which means that there’s no reason for any of us to be awake before 10am! OH WAIT. Muster Drill. What? What?! Why would you wake us up at 9am on our morning off to do a lifeboat drill?! We could’ve done it at ANY point yesterday. Come on now… we’re spoiled college students; we need our beauty rest. Speaking of beauty, we watched American Beauty today. Love that movie. Oh and I’d update you on what we did in class today, but I have no idea. It’s not important. What IS important is what happened tonight.

Okay. CRAZY thunderstorm. Hands down the coolest outdoor event I’ve ever witnessed on the MV or on the ocean in general. Remember that scene at the end of Pirate of the Caribbean 3 when the ships are going around in circles through the maelstrom and it’s utter madness? Well it was like that, but more realistic. Because it was real. The ship was bucking like crazy. It was the windiest I’ve ever felt on the ship. The spray from the water kept flying off the ship and smacking us in the face as we stood on the back of the 7th deck, forced against the railing in the wind. The waves were huge and kept knocking us back and forth. But the best part was the storm itself. It wasn’t actually raining; we were just getting wet from the ocean spray. But the lightning was incredible. There would be lightning that lit up the entire sky in all directions, illuminating the clouds and the massive waves. And then it would go pitch black again, and streaks would appear all over the place. And the thunder immediately followed, without delay. We endured the storm for 20 or 30 minutes until SAS staff members came outside and forcibly removed us from the back deck for our own safety. THAT’S how you know it was cool. When faculty members scream at you to vacate the outside deck during a lightning storm… you’re having a good time. Man I hope this happens again. But now that I’ve been blasted by salt water for an extended period of time, I feel like I need a shower. But that was seriously the coolest weather event I’ve ever experienced. On par with watching a tornado form in Kansas. No. Cooler than that. Being in the middle of the ocean on a bucking bronco of a cruise ship during a lightning storm is greater than driving a Dodge Intrepid through a rainstorm as a tornado forms a mile away.

Only SAS. 

Day 46 (10-11-10)

Environmental Science midterm… not bad. Splurged at the pool bad and bought a double cheeseburger for the first time. Oh man… that’s a Gateway Cheeseburger. Much like a Gateway Drug, this cheeseburger will only lead to more cheeseburgers. Ruh roh.

Watched Taken tonight. So funny. I mean, it’s not supposed to be funny. But the dialogue and some of the editing was just awful. Not to mention the completely ludicrous plot. Liam Neeson, you are the man. 

Day 47 (10-12-10)

Marketing midterm… what’s up with all the midterms recently? Sheesh. And I splurged on ice cream at the pool bar. Seriously… I blame the Gateway Cheeseburger. The floodgates are officially open. OH. Best. News. Ever. Giggles has season 5 of Criminal Minds on her computer?! This is perfect! Time to watch the only episodes of that show that I’ve ever missed. And when we get to Vietnam, part of season 6 will hopefully be available bootleg style. There’s inevitably going to be a cliffhanger at the end of 5, and I know I won’t want to wait until I’m back in PA to watch it.

Day 48 (10-13-10)

We’re in Mauritius tomorrow?! I was getting used to the 7-day trips at sea between ports. And now that we only have 5 days, it makes the voyage seem that much shorter. I can’t even imagine how it’ll be during the month across Asia. Well, I can. But I don’t want to think about that right now.

We had our cultural and logistical pre-ports for Mauritius tonight. There wasn’t much of a cultural aspect to it. The professor and administrative staff basically acknowledged that no one knows anything about this country, and we’re pretty much only going there to break up the trip across the Indian Ocean. They told us about the beaches and drinks that will be available for us to indulge in… and then told us to have fun on “Spring Break.” Nice. At least they realize that we’re all just looking to kick back and enjoy paradise for a day or two. It was very light-hearted, which isn’t something that I’ve come to expect from SAS pre-ports.

After pre-port: more Criminal Minds. Man I love this show. But at the rate we’re whipping through them, we’re going to be done with the season in a couple days. And then I guess we’ll have to find something else to occupy our attention. Oh well. Goodnight MV Explorer…

Day 37 (10-02-10)

I brought my Lucky Charms to breakfast today… what an underutilized resource. Global Studies class was a lecture from Desmond Tutu. He basically just told stories the whole time, and then people from the crowd asked him questions. Sooooo it was the best Global class we’ve had thus far. Also, I realize that some people might not know much about Desmond Tutu and his history, but that can easily be gleaned from Wikipedia or some other internet search. But just to give a hint about the Desmond Tutu that we’ve come to know on the voyage… well Giggles and I have come up with one comparison that we think works best. If you want to know what it’s like to be in the Archbishop’s presence… watch the Lion King. Desmond Tutu is Rafiki. They have the same laugh and they both impart wisdom upon their followers. Seriously…. Rafiki.

Taco Day number 3! It’s always the best surprise when we get to lunch and it’s Taco Day. I almost skipped my 12:15 class so I could fully indulge in the epic immensity of the day. But I finished early enough that it wasn’t a problem.

Also, I was in the dining hall for 2 hours eating dinner tonight. We got there right at 17:30 when dinner opened, and stayed for the entirety of mealtime. It probably doesn’t seem that weird, but I can’t remember the last time I just sat in the dining hall while they set up/served/tore down dinner. Time flies. Logistical Pre-port for South Africa tonight… Cape Town isn’t the safest city in the world. Not by a long shot. Don’t get mugged. Don’t be stupid tourists or you WILL get mugged. Travel in groups. The usual. Sounds lekker. Goodnight!

Day 38 (10-03-10)

I’m back in Cape Town! Wow, I love this city. We woke up early to watch the ship come into the harbor, but still missed it. I guess 5am wasn’t early enough. Oh well. It’s a clear day and Table Mountain looks even more incredible than I remember. And I’m climbing it again this morning. But more on that later.

I don’t know if it’s because we’re coming from Ghana or because we’re here for 6 days (instead of the 5 that we spent last year), but our passports were stamped with South African visas when we got here this morning, so I have another sticker in the book! It’s only half a page and rather plain, but it’s always exciting to have more visas in the passport.

American foreign service officers came onboard this morning to give us our briefing for Cape Town, and I think they went a bit overboard this time around. A security officer from the American Consulate was there and he decided to give everyone a worst-case scenario of things that could and probably will happen during our stay in Cape Town. How many of you are going to Long Street? Ha, good luck. Several of you will be mugged. If you aren’t “situationally aware,” you might even be sexually assaulted. Going to a township? Ha, have fun. I hope you don’t mind being attacked and robbed. Using a credit card anywhere? That should be fun for you, as long as you don’t mind funding a shopping spree for a random South African. They will steal your information. You basically can’t avoid it. Oh and by the way, enjoy Cape Town!

Seriously? I understand that these things happen, and we have a large group of students flooding into the city at one time, but there’s no reason to present the information in this way. Emphasize caution and tell us about the risks, but don’t guarantee that someone in this room will be violently attacked and robbed. People left that room afraid to venture off the ship. I reassured them as well as I could, and gave them my own personal assessment of the city, but his words really stuck with some people. It was rather unfortunate.

Anyway, we debarked with a group of 9 (way too many, I know) and headed across the V&A Waterfront for an ATM and some taxis. 15 minutes through the city and up the mountainside, and we arrived at the lower cable car station of Table Mountain National Park. We walked another mile up the road to the starting point of the main hiking trail up Table Mountain: Platteklip Gorge. Here, our big group split into several smaller ones, as we had varying amounts of climbing experience between us and it was necessary to travel at different speeds. But I’d just like to mention that I must be in worse shape than last year, because this hike was much more difficult than I remember it. Oh man. Nothing reminds you that you’re out of shape like struggling to climb up a 3,500-foot-tall mountain. It was pretty sad. But my friend Michaella and I (the two CU-Boulder-ites) were the first of our group to make it to the top, with 6 others following about 30-45 minutes later. The 9th person quit early and took the cable car up to the top instead. So I guess comparatively I did pretty well, it just hurt more than I would care to admit. Luckily, this morning was perfectly clear, so the hike up to the top offered some great views. As soon as we got to the top, though: cloud cover. The tablecloth came and covered up the mountain, hindering the view of the city and the beaches below. But we really didn’t mind; the clouds offered us some cold air and relief from the heat of the day. Michaella and I met back up with the cable car straggler and grabbed some lunch at the Table Mountain café. A delicious burger with barbeque and mushroom cream sauces. And water. Lots of water. After some rest and a lap around the gift shop, we met up with the rest of the group. They sat down to eat and tour the top of the mountain for a bit, but Michaella and I were ready to go. We caught the cable car back down the mountain (such a great ride with beautiful, 360-degree views of Cape Town and the surrounding area) and grabbed a taxi back to the waterfront area.

Shower. Change clothes. Grab computer.

We went to Quay Four (a restaurant on the waterfront) for WiFi and Fish n Chips. Didn’t we just eat food on top of Table Mountain? Yes. Yes we did. You’ll probably notice pretty soon that I spent a large portion of my time in Cape Town eating. When everything you eat is delicious, it’s hard to stop. After lunch #2, we walked over to the mall on the waterfront and rejoined Krystal, who had just come back from the hike up the mountain. We did some minor grocery shopping and used Skype to call friends and family back home. What? I know, I know. I’m in South Africa and I’m spending my time in an upscale shopping mall for free internet. It was necessary. And we were waiting for other friends to get back from their respective trips so that we could dine together for the evening. Speaking of which…

We ate at the Green Dolphin tonight! Anyone who read my blog last year might remember the Green Dolphin as the jazz bar that I went to every single night. But I never actually ate any food there. Since I was still a bit full from my double lunches, I managed only to indulge in a crème bruleé (unbelievable) and a couple drinks. The PanGalactic Gargle Blaster. Yeah. Apparently it’s a reference to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, but I never read that book. It was delicious and blue. Some blend of vodka, peach schnapps, blue curacao and lemonade (I think). Tasty. Oh and we had a round of Springbok shots. Because they’re my favorite. Crème de menthe and Amarula. Like drinking a thin mint. And after we finished there it was on to Mitchell’s, another pub on the waterfront. A nacho plate and several drinks later, it was time to stagger back to the ship. I’m not entirely sure what’s in a fish bowl, but it’s always delicious. I also had some girly drink that was basically an alcoholic vanilla milkshake with raspberry crème. It’s nice to be able to go out for a few drinks with friends and relax. We’re within walking distance of the ship, and the port waterfront area is a bustling, upscale place, so safety isn’t a concern. Oh, and I realize it might seem as though I was being a bit of a stereotypical alcoholic college student, but that’s not the case. We aren’t the rowdy type, and it was a very low-key evening. I just enjoy the pub atmosphere when I’m able to indulge with a few good friends. Another day in Cape Town awaits tomorrow… goodnight!

Day 39 (10-04-10)

Breakfast was rather empty this morning. AKA- my friends slept in, so I had to search for them and wake them up. Four of us (Jacob from UCSD, Nick from Hood College, Michaella from Boulder and me) walked into the city to check out the downtown area. It was a solid 45-minute walk and it was cool to see the city center. I never made it into the heart of the city last year (aside from one night on Long Street at Mama Africa), so it was nice to get in and see what was there. We made it to Green Market Square, the craft market area and breezed by it pretty quickly. At this point we were basically starving, so we walked up Long Street looking for some food. Luckily, our indecision paid off because we didn’t stop until about the 16th restaurant: The Royale Eatery. It was delicious. We all got burgers and shakes. Unfortunately, a large party before us bought the last of the ostrich meat, but the beef burger was fantastic, so it’s okay. And the milkshake was chocolate and Smartie flavored. Apparently Smarties in South Africa are a brand of chocolate chip-type thing. I was a bit worried that I might get a milkshake with the American Smarties on it, but I’m sure that would’ve been doable as well.

After lunch, we walked back through the city to the waterfront. We stopped in a craft market and the people sitting next to us happened to read the back of my yellow Colorado t-shirt. Lo and behold, they recognized the fight song. The woman was a CU alumnus from 1965 and her husband was a UCLA grad. We told them all about Semester At Sea and I think I successfully recruited two more future lifelong learners. It was just funny that, halfway around the world, I can still bump into random Coloradans.

After shopping, you guessed it: More food. Back to Mitchell’s! Spaghetti Bolognaise. Not necessarily a native dish, but delicious nonetheless. And since we’re creatures of habit, guess where we went afterward? Yes. The Green Dolphin. We ordered several drinks (seriously, the cocktails at this place are awesome) including the best one yet: Warm Apple Pie. It was warm apple cider with vodka and a layer of cream/cinnamon on top. The Springbok shot is still my favorite, but this was the best cocktail I had tasted so far. After a couple hours of jokes, conversation, drinking and jazz, we headed back to the ship. Michaella and Jacob leave for safari early tomorrow morning so we wanted to be back at a somewhat decent hour. As for me… I’m not entirely sure what I’ll do tomorrow. I suppose we’ll find out soon enough.

Day 40 (10-05-10)

Wake up. Walk out on deck. View Table Mountain. Realize that this is real life. Smile.

I’m really enjoying the laid-back, people-watching aspect of this voyage so far. I know Asia is going to be a whirlwind with the ridiculous trips I have planned, so it’s nice to relax here for a few days without being rushed and trying to do 18 things at once. As such, I didn’t plan very much of anything for today. Like, at all. I went out onto the waterfront alone for the morning and tried to plan out some things for Mauritius and India while I had access to free internet. Unfortunately, I was not very successful in those endeavors. Goal for Mauritius: find/book a Villa/Hotel room for a group of friends to split for the one evening we’re there. This was destined to be futile on such short notice (since other SAS kids have booked half the villas on the island already), but I thought I might be able to find a beachfront hotel room for a somewhat decent price. But it wasn’t meant to be. Most places required a minimum of 2 nights stay, or were exorbitantly expensive. Or both. So I bailed on that idea. Goal for India: Book my flights from Chennai to Mumbai, Mumbai to Kashmir, and back again. Fail. The two websites I was looking into for Indian air travel were either glitchy or just wouldn’t except my credit card. Figures. Looks like I’ll be going to the airport in Chennai and walking onto the first plane with an empty seat. Which is actually pretty awesome, so I’m not disappointed.

Went to Quay Four for lunch again and got a great chicken sandwich with peri peri sauce. I have no idea what’s in it, but it’s delicious (Update: Peri peri is sometimes called African Red Devil. It’s made from an African chili pepper. Interesting).

After lunch, I walked back to the ship to put my computer back onboard just in time to see that Giggles is back! Her safari had just ended, so we walked back to the mall and went to Melissa’s, the amazing coffee shop with Nutella Hot Chocolate. And it was still as delicious as I remember. We did some minor grocery shopping and then headed back into downtown Cape Town/Greenmarket Square. Didn’t I just do that yesterday? Yep! But this place is so great, I’m just happy to be here. Doing whatever. We took a different route, saw a different part of the city, and had a great time walking around.

We walked back and met up with our buddy Nimish (also UCSD) for dinner at a Thai restaurant called Wang Thai. Thai food and sushi in South Africa? I like it. Chicken Pad Thai, Philadelphia Roll, Spring rolls = happy taste buds. And my cocktail for the evening: Sex On Phuket Beach. Don’t remember what was in it… but it was basically a Sex On the Beach with something else added to make it special. But it was tasty.

And back to the Green Dolphin! It sounds lame, I know. But we love it. More cocktails and shots. Aaaand afterward, I wasn’t tired and didn’t have anything going on the next day. So I ventured over into the shopping mall around 2am (they leave the doors unlocked, so I was just hanging out with the janitors and security guards) and I got on Skype. 2am was about 7pm EST and 5pm MST, so I was able to make a phone call or two and video chat with my long lost love, Mandy Osetek! Oh, Spring ’09. It was great to be able to talk with some people… no one was awake last time I had internet. But yeah… late night in the shopping mall: a bit creepy. Oh well. Time for bed! Three days down, three days to go!

Day 41 (10-06-10)

Sleep in, lunch on the ship. What sounds good today? Just about everyone I know is on safari or shark diving today, so it’s another free day of personal wandering and exploration. How about Green Point Stadium? Perfect. It’s Cape Town’s venue for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It was massively under construction last year when we were here, and it has since hosted several World Cup matches including the semi-final match between Uruguay and the Netherlands. They offer public tours of the stadium on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and today is Wednesday. Hmm. Wednesdays are supposed to be days when local school groups book the venue for private tours, but I guess they just want the extra revenue because I was able to book a tour anyway. It was about a 30-minute walk from the waterfront and the ship, just around the corner. Once there, I met up with two other random SASers who happened to be on the same tour. The guide took us into the ”visitor’s center,” which was a 20x20 room with a few TVs and a model of the stadium. From there, we walked around the main concourse and through to some of the special event areas. Certain rooms are set aside for conferences and gatherings, so we watched one of them transform into a convention hall. We kept climbing stairs up into the VIP area with private restaurants and club level seating. But then we got to experience the best parts of the tour: the ground level. The guide swiped her ID card and ushered us into the stadium’s police headquarters and jail. Around the corner, we went into the home team’s locker room and training/health facility. But the best was saved for last. A short walk around the corner was the tunnel to the pitch. We went out onto the field and saw the stadium from ground level. The grass was being tended to by a grounds keeping crew and it was off-limits for running and such, but we could touch it and feel what it was like to be there. It’s kind of eerie being on the field of such a large stadium (60,000+) when it’s completely empty. I can only imagine what it was like to be there when it was full. Insane.

Afterward, I was in all hyped up for the World Cup again, so I found an awesome store that sold official merchandise. I grabbed a couple t-shirts and a vuvuzela. Of course. At this point I bumped into some friends who had been shark diving, so I walked over to Melissa’s and found Giggles and our buddy Shao-Bo. A mug of nutella hot chocolate later and it was time to head back to the ship for showers and dinner planning.

Giggles, Krystal and I decided to have a fancy-ish dinner at Camp’s Bay this evening. We hailed a cab and ended up at a restaurant on the beach called The Pepper Club. Random side note: Last year, I ate at a restaurant on the beach very nearby that was called The Bungalow, and it was incredible. I looked for it when we were down there just for nostalgia’s sake, but apparently it closed and is under a new name now. Sad day. Our dinner was amazing though. Between the three of us, we had: Fried tempura prawn and other assorted sushi, a lamb burger, and spaghetti bolognaise with a lamb-infused tomato sauce. Add to that some strawberry mojitos and a Singapore Sling, and we had ourselves a delightful evening as the sunset over the Atlantic. A cab ride and a broken shoe later (sorry Krystal), we somehow ended up at… Mitchell’s. It wasn’t even planned. We just told the cab driver to take us to the waterfront and he dropped us off right at the front door. It’s like he knew. A round of drinks with friends, and back to the ship for some Jurassic Park? Sounds good to me. I have a SAS trip tomorrow morning, so a fairly early evening is probably the right thing to do. Bikes and wine tomorrow!

Day 31 (09-26-10)

Today was a rather mundane day. Everyone is exhausted from a whirlwind four days in Ghana. But there was something really cool that happened today. At 12:30pm, an announcement came over the P.A. system telling us that the Captain had allowed us to take a minor detour in our route towards South Africa. He steered us through the zero/zero point, the place where the Prime Meridian and the Equator cross. At zero degrees latitude and zero degrees longitude, we are at the “center” of the world. And to signify the event, the captain blasted the ship’s horns a few times. It seems more exciting than it really is… I was sitting in class and just looked out the window when it happened. So I’ve been there, but it didn’t really mean much at the time.

Other than that, back to schoolwork and ship life. Meat, potatoes, and pasta twice a day. And I love it.

Day 32 (09-27-10)

Once again, I apologize for the mundane nature of my at-sea blog postings. There really isn’t much to talk about. I wake up, go to class, eat food, talk to friends, watch movies, go to meetings, go to sleep. Repeat. I can only write so much.

Environmental Science class was pretty interesting today, but more than half the class was missing. I don’t know if people are starting to get seasick again or what, but the ship just feels empty today. It’s bizarre.

From 15:00 – 17:00, I manned the Karaoke signup table. The Programming Board is putting on several events over the course of the voyage, and I’m in charge of Karaoke Night. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been advertised very well yet, so we only had 3 acts sign up in the 2 hours that we were sitting at the table. But we have one more day of signups, and we’re going to be taking on-the-spot requests during the event, so I have a feeling it will all work out when the night comes on October 1st.

My on-ship extended family met for dinner this evening. My “grandparents” are lifelong learners that are sailing on SAS for the 10th time, and they have their own cabin on the 7th deck that’s reserved for them every time they sail. The family met up in their cabin to do our photo contest. Each of the kids was supposed to bring 3 photos that he or she had taken in Ghana, and the best picture would earn its owner a prize. I didn’t take very many pictures, and I can’t find my external hard drive (did I leave it at home?), so I only uploaded one photo to the ship’s intranet. But it didn’t matter! My one photo beat out the other 15, and my grandparents graciously gave me a portable, red SAS coffee mug. After the contest, we headed up to the pool par and we were all treated to personal pizzas and ice cream. Coolest surrogate grandparents ever!

Day 33 (09-28-10)

We’re two days late, but it’s finally here: Neptune Day! A sailing tradition, Neptune Day marks the time that sailors cross the equator for the first time. As someone that has already partaken in this particular ritual, I get to participate in the festivities from the other side. I get to usher the Pollywogs into the ranks of the Shellbacks. I actually don’t really do much. I just wear a funny outfit, paint my face, make a lot of noise, and watch while my friends endure the fish guts and get the haircuts. Unfortunately, it’s actually pretty cold outside today. We’re only a few degrees south of the Equator, but it’s cloudy and windy and people coming out of the pool are miserable. Bummer. The shaved heads are everywhere again, and there are actually quite a few mohawks as well. I guess they’re trendy again? Who knew?

And of course, it just wouldn’t be Neptune Day without… a Global Studies exam? Really? Apparently today is the best day to have our exam because no one is in class and the entire shipboard community can study and prepare for an exam at 19:30. Lame. Luckily, the test wasn’t too difficult (I got a B), and everything worked out.

Also, as today is a somewhat special occasion, we were treated with a special dinner: Barbeque! Ribs. Burgers. Mac N Cheese. Corn on the Cob. Strawberry Ice cream. Beautiful. 

Day 34 (09-29-10)

Another lackadaisical day. Went to class. Tried to watch the Pixar movie, Up, for the first time. Fell asleep in the middle. It seemed like a fun movie, I was just really tired.

More karaoke signups in Tymitz Square today. We’re up at 10 acts so far. That’s actually a few more than I had intended to allow for the early period, but it should be good.


Desmond Tutu gave a talk in the Union about his life in South Africa, past and present. As usual, he brought the house down. And by that, I mean he captivated the audience just by being there. His presence just livens everything up. And his stories about his life during Apartheid and his position within the Elders were invaluable.

And I guess since today is Wednesday, that means I need to take my malaria pill again. But the dreams have become much more mundane, and I usually don’t even remember them anymore. I guess the side effects were only at the outset. Who knows, maybe I’ll have a few more interesting nights somewhere along the line. Time will tell.

And I’m awake until 4am? How are these days so mundane, but so long? Whatever. I enjoy them. Goodnight.

Day 35 (09-30-10)

Honestly… nothing worth mentioning even happened until the evening. I can’t remember a single thing that happened before dinner. I don’t even remember what I ate for lunch or dinner. And I’m only typing this one day late. That’s terrible. I’m sure it wasn’t anything important.

Several of our faculty and staff members are former Peace Corps members, and they held a seminar in the Union tonight about serving. I’m not particularly interested in joining the Peace Corps, but it was interesting to hear about their experiences traveling the world and participating in the organization. Apparently the deadline to turn in an application for deployment around January 2012 is tomorrow, so it’s not looking like I’ll be joining the Peace Corps anytime soon anyway. Oh well.

We had a Mediterranean Sea meeting this evening, which is great because it meant that we could eat cake! Ice cream cake is a glorious invention. I thank you, whoever you are, for creating such a wonderful and splendiferous treat.

Day 36 (10-01-10)

2 classes today. Group meeting for my Marketing class. We’re trying to sell Snuggies or Ben and Jerry’s in China/Japan. Should be interesting.

Aaaaaaand I tried to take a nap. Unsuccessfully. I’m stretching here, I know.

But Karaoke Night was tonight! Myself and one other person headed up the event, and the turnout was incredible. Cultural pre-port ran 20 minutes long, so we had a truncated program, but it worked out very well nonetheless. We circulated the song list through the crowd while the pre-sign-up acts were performing, and we got some great last minute additions. The Union was basically filled to capacity and we had to stop before we got to all of the acts. But the closing number was a crowd-pleasing sing-along to Piano Man, so it ended on a great note. It’s a shame that we can’t hold events like this more often. It seems as though SAS is afraid that we’ll neglect our studies if we start having too much fun. Lame.

And we get to advance our clocks one hour tonight. Hooray for 23-hour days… I guess.

Day 30 (09-25-10)

Wake up call at 8am? Thanks Giggles. After breakfast, the Spain trio (Krystal, Giggles, and myself) walked around Takoradi for the morning. As usual, we got ourselves into some interesting situations. 

We walked from the port out into town on an excursion for stamps and random marketplace trinkets. When we got to town, our first stop was at a local grocery store. It was pretty hot and humid outside today, so some water and ice cream were essential. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any stamps. So we headed into the market circle and found the post office a couple blocks away. A few SAS students were walking out as we were walking in, and we were very fortunate with our timing. The three of us were looking to send 10-20 postcards each, and the bank was about to run out of international postcard stamps. Through some wheeling and dealing, we bought the last of them, along with some other stamp combinations that (hopefully) equaled the correct amount for international postage. I suppose I won’t know until people tell me if they’ve gotten them in the mail. Oh well.

After a quick ATM stop, we headed into the market so Krystal could get a Ghanaian flag. And here’s where things got interesting. While the girls were looking at random souvenirs, two Ghanaian men approached me and started a conversation. Since I have become accustomed to people heckling and bargaining to sell their crafts in places like Morocco and India, I wasn’t much surprised by this. But the people in this country are just so friendly and happy in all situations, so I was happy to talk with them and see what they had to share with us. They introduced themselves as Rasta and Black. Considering they were both Rastafarians from Ghana, these nicknames were amusingly generic. But they were artists from out of town that had come into Takoradi when they heard that Semester At Sea was in port. Some of their work was quite good, and Krystal and Giggles each bought artwork from them. During the discussion, they asked us if we were enjoying Ghana and Krystal mentioned that her only lament was missing out on the traditional West African dish called Fufu. Rasta and Black (né Jonathan and Alex) both started laughing and said, “We’re on our way to each some Fufu right now! Come with us!” So we did.

They walked us back into the main market circle, hailed a taxi, and we all piled inside. I think one of them ended up knowing the taxi driver, because the 10-minute trip through town didn’t cost us anything. We talked the whole time, and Krystal made a point of telling each of them that she is married (she isn’t) to avoid their potential advances. She’s black, and everyone here seems to be fascinated by the black American that has “come home.” They keep trying to marry her so that she’ll stay. It’s rather amusing.

We got to the restaurant/front porch of someone’s house and they led us inside. A few short moments later, we were being served the best traditional meal I’ve had so far this voyage. Fufu is a sort of dough/paste that is created with a blend of cassava, plantain, and yam. It is served with meat (goat meat in my case) and they are placed in a crazy spicy tomato-based broth. You don’t chew the Fufu, you instead place chunks of it in your mouth and swallow them whole. Supposedly it tastes better that way, but I thought it was just fine when I was a stupid tourist and unknowingly chewed it. Alex laughed at me for it and corrected us before we continued eating. Actually, the process of eating the meal is worth describing. First of all, there are no utensils, so all of the eating is done by hand. This would be perfectly fine, but I also have to mention rule number two: in Ghanaian culture, a person’s left hand is considered the “filthy” hand. When using the washroom, when blowing your nose, the left hand is the one that does the dirty work. Thus, it is considered rude and filthy to use your left hand when eating. So how does a left-handed American eat a bowl of Fufu in a room full of curious Ghanaians? Very carefully. It was a little bit difficult at first, mostly because the broth was burning hot, but we got the hang out it. You use your pointer and middle fingers as makeshift scissors and cut off the piece of Fufu that you want to eat. Then, you drag it through the broth to collect as much as you can, and you scoop it into your mouth and slurp it down. Luckily, the meat was so tender that it basically fell off the bone, so eating that one-handed was pretty easy. The broth was sinus-clearing spicy, and drinking it afterwards was difficult. I wanted to finish it, but it was too much. The combination of equator-level heat outside, intense humidity, and spicy food came together and forced me to take a breather. Great meal though.

After lunch, Jonathan and Alex walked us back through town and we stopped to talk to other SASers and some other locals along the way. A random teenager named Marvin hugged me and picked me up off the ground when I told him I was from Philadelphia. I don’t think he had any idea where that was, but he had been indulging in the ganja just before our conversation, and I think the whole thing was a way to mask the fact that he was trying to pickpocket me. But he wasn’t successful, so it was pretty funny anyway. Also, we stopped at a little shop to grab a reggae CD that Alex had recommended to us, and some random dude came up behind me and poked me on both sides of my waist. I was so confused. I turned around and there was just some old Ghanaian guy standing there with a big, goofy smile on his face saying, “Hey, it’s you!” I confirmed the assertion that, yes, it was in fact me. And then he tried to do a complicated handshake with me about 12 times until we left and he just followed us up the street for a while. None of us have any idea what was going on, but we got a good laugh out of it.

We walked back to the port and thanked the guys for taking us around town all day. I’m glad we stuck around with them, because we never would’ve found that food otherwise. Plus, they got us some great music and showed us around town. What a cool place Ghana turned out to be.

A late lunch, a shower, and the rest of the evening ensued on the ship. When the ship left the port, we went to one of the back decks and watched the locals put on a makeshift drumming and dance performance on the pier. They were sheering for us and shouting U-S-A! U-S-A! We would, of course, reply with GHA-NA! GHA-NA! They were just so welcoming and loved showing us around their country. I wasn’t expecting that type of hospitality. Amazing. Farewell, Ghana. 7 more days at sea until our next port… South Africa!

Day 29 (09-24-10)

Another day, another SAS trip… how unlike me. We boarded the buses and left for Kakum National Park around 8am. The main attraction at Kakum National Park? The canopy walkway. 130 feet above the rainforest floor, a series of platforms has been constructed across the treetops. A 6-inch wide plank resting on some rickety ropes with makeshift rope handrails were the only things separating our group from the flora and fauna below. Unfortunately, the wild animals of the rainforest typically steer clear of this heavily visited tourist attraction, and can usually only be spotted at night. But the hike was great and it was a unique way to view the rainforest. Apparently it’s the only walkway of its kind in Africa, and one of the only ones in the world. Awesome.

Afterward, some local villagers performed traditional dances and greeted us with some drumming. I grabbed a coconut for a snack and watched the performance with the group. It was interesting to see the Ghanaian culture coming through in the dances and songs.

We ate lunch at the Rainforest Lodge just outside the park, and it was a blend of local and Western foods. Some sort of fish soup that was actually quite vile was paired with some delicious lasagna. Plus, you can’t go wrong with chicken, rice, and homemade ice cream.

My bus buddy for the trip was a lifelong learner named Kim that’s on the voyage with her 3 kids. Through a set of rather fortunate circumstances, a benefactor is paying for her and the family to go around the world for a few months. We ate lunch together and talked during most of the day’s bus rides. It’s always neat to meet the families that are on the ship. Everyone’s so friendly; it’s like you’re being adopted into a family away from your own. And they’re from Boulder, so I have another place to visit whenever I go back to Colorado.

On the way back to Takoradi we stopped in Elmina for a walking tour of the coastal fishing village. Unfortunately, we had spent more time in Kakum and at lunch than we had originally anticipated, so the tour was rather truncated. We glimpsed the Elmina Castle and wandered through the fishing village while learning some history about the area. Since today is a Friday, no one was doing any fishing, but the canoes were all lining the lagoon and fishermen were doing work to prepare for their next outings.

After we got back to the ship and had eaten dinner, a viewing of Toy Story was deemed necessary (by me) before we went out around 9:30. The duty-free store in Takoradi’s port was about 40 feet away from the MV Explorer, and it became a place for SAS students to go and hang out if they didn’t want to leave the port area. It was a small store in the middle of a big empty warehouse, so we ended up buying some snacks and drinks and loitering in a warehouse for a few hours. It sounds rather sketchy… and that’s because it probably is. A couple hundred students basically took over a liquor store and then drank outside of it. But I imagine the SAS students gave that store more business over the past few nights than they’ve seen in the entire month before we got there. It was fun to kick back and unwind with friends after a few draining days in a new place. We headed back across the street and onto the ship around 1am after the store had closed and most of the students had left to go out to the few bars in town. My roommate was still awake when I got back, and a group of us were hanging out in my cabin for another couple hours. We usually run in different crowds, so it was nice to sit down and get to know a new group of people. 3am? Oy. Late night. Sleep time. Exploring Takoradi tomorrow!

Day 28 (09-23-10)

6:30am. I’m first in line for the bus. The Habitat For Humanity trip was sold out, so I’m hoping that partied too hard last night and I can steal their spot. No problem. Apparently several people were in that situation, because 4 or 5 of us were able to get onto the trip. Hooray! Time to drive 3.5 hours to Assin Faso.

Upon our arrival to the village, we were assigned to one of three houses. One of them was already built and roofed, it just needed some detail work leveling the floors and touching up the walls. The other two houses were still at the foundation level, and floors had not even been poured yet. I was working on the least-completed house, and our main job was to haul cinder blocks from a nearby field onto the worksite. Once we had assembled a large enough quantity, we helped the local workers to mix mortar and start placing the cement blocks into their appropriate places in the walls. Unfortunately, our group was rather large (even when split amongst 3 sites), and the local Habitat branch had few tools for us to use. Instead of having a group of 20 people applying layers of mortar to the cinder blocks, we could only have 4 people doing it at a time. But we were still able to do a great deal of work in the short amount of time (3-4 hours) that we had. Some of the locals provided us a great lunch of fried chicken and rice with orange Fanta.

Afterward, we left for the journey back to Takoradi. Our bus had to stop to get air in its tires at some point? It was weird, and I was sleeping, so I’m not entirely sure what happened. But apparently we stopped for 30 or 40 minutes and our driver got out to talk to the people that ran the gas station while the tired were filled. We didn’t really know what was going on, but we continued and made it back to the port in the evening. After some dinner and a shower, I kept it low key again and stayed on the ship for the night. Habitat drained my energy, Takoradi doesn’t have very much in terms of nightlife, and I have another SAS trip tomorrow morning at 8am. All of that = bedtime.

Day 27 (09-22-10)

We’re in Ghana! Originally, the ship was scheduled to dock in Tema, Ghana, which is just outside the capital city of Accra. But the Spring voyage this year docked in Tema, and it took many hours for any of the SAS sponsored trips to get anywhere from the ship. Traffic in Ghana moves at a snail’s pace, and traveling through Accra to get anywhere else takes a substantial amount of time. With that in mind, SAS moved our arrival to Ghana’s other main port: Takoradi. Whereas Tema is the leading port for imports and a secondary port for exports (70%/30%), Takoradi is the main port for exports and a secondary one for imports (70%/30%). As such, we are approximately 4 hours away from Accra on the western portion of the Ghanaian coast.

Customs officials took a few hours to go through passports this morning when we docked in Takoradi, but it didn’t affect me because I was on an FDP (Faculty Directed Practica) for my World Religions class. Around 10am, we debarked the ship and made our way to the bus. The Takoradi port is similar to the port in Casablanca in that it is very industrialized and doesn’t seem to see much tourist traffic, but it is much smaller. There were a few merchants selling their goods on the pier because they knew we were coming, and there was one duty-free shop in the building adjacent to our berth. 

For our trip today, we journeyed to Cape Coast, a city in the central region of Ghana that was originally renowned for its position in the slave trade. There are 3 prominent castles in Ghana (we saw 2) that factored into the African slave trade. African people were brought by other Africans from Central and West Africa and sold into slavery to the European traders.

Once in Cape Coast, we made our way to St. Nicholas Seminary. We were received by the dean of the school and attended a lecture about the importance of Christian religion in Ghanaian society. The sermon included a history and description of common African tribal beliefs, and it gave a glimpse into the way that African culture blends with Christian worship. Afterwards, we had a question-and-answer session with the seminary students and their teachers, and we learned a great deal from each other. For instance, Ghanaians do not find polygamy to be a taboo subject. It’s not specifically encouraged, but our hosts were not opposed to a man taking multiple wives. On the other hand, the concept of gay marriage was completely foreign to them, as homosexuality is illegal in Ghana, and they could not understand how such an act could be allowed in American culture. It is still unrecognized in many places in America, but our particular group of students was rather liberal, and we all agreed that we were comfortable with the idea. They were also perplexed at America’s separation of church at state. The idea of civil union versus religious marriage was fascinating to them, as there is no such system in place for them. Overall, it was a great experience and we enjoyed the time we had to learn from one another.

Afterwards, we drove into town and got a better look at Cape Coast Castle. A group of us wanted to stop at an ATM, so our tour guide found a Barclays bank for us to use. At that point, I realized that I had to use the facilities, as they say. I walked into the bank looking for a washroom, but there wasn’t a public one for customers. A partially-out-of-uniform bank guard (who didn’t actually work at this bank) approached me with his automatic weapon in hand and waved for me to follow. And when a stern-faced guard in a uniform waves an automatic weapon in your face and tells you to follow him… you do. He walked me up the street to another bank (presumably the place where he was employed) and took me behind the counter. Other guards stood and tried to stop me from coming into a restricted area, but my leader waved and them and said something in the local language (Twi), and they allowed me to pass. He led me down a flight of stairs to a storage basement and pointed under the stairs at a dark doorway. He said, “There you go, hurry up,” and continued nonchalantly pointing the gun towards the doorway. I walked inside and realized there was no light switch, and the room was almost pitch black. I had to let my eyes adjust to the light long enough for me to even find the toilet, then I quickly played a guessing game called “aim in the dark” and I made it out as soon as I could. The guard led me back up the stairs, I thanked him, and he smiled and said, “You’re welcome… Enjoy Ghana.” And that’s why I love traveling to some of these places. This situation would be completely unimaginable in the USA, but it’s probably rather commonplace in an area like Ghana. Plus, after all of the traveling I’ve done in the past, I knew that this guy was only trying to help me out. Adding some tension into the story just makes it more interesting.

We made our way back to the ship in the early evening and I grabbed dinner on the ship. I’m trying to get onto a service visit in the morning, so I’m staying in and getting some sleep tonight. Hopefully there will be a spot available for me so I can build a house tomorrow!

Day 20 (09-15-10)

And now we’re back to life on the ship. Constant discussion about Morocco and Spain keeps occurring, as many of us haven’t seen each other in 10 or 11 days. I made it to global studies this morning with pop tarts in hand and suffered through most of a lecture about African import/export practices. As usual, online solitaire was the crutch that got me through the class. Our environmental science professor took our pictures in class today to better remember our names. It makes sense, it was just random and weird at the time. Especially considering it’s day 4. Why didn’t he do it on the first day? Are we that unmemorable? Bizarre.

I started my malaria medication tonight. I didn’t bring anything with me because my home travel doctor would only prescribe Malarone (the $10/pill medicine that basically gave me the flu), so I held out and decided to get some Larium on the ship (only for prevention in Ghana, not the rest of the trip). It’s a once-weekly pill that has some interesting potential side effects (vivid dreams, hallucinations, depression, permanent central nervous system damage), but it seemed like the best option for me at the time. We’ll see how that works out for me.

Day 21 (09-16-10)

Weird dreams? Check. I was stuck in an episode of Criminal Minds and we caught the killer at the end. Naturally, Ellen Page was the killer. And as soon as we were hauling her off into the police car, I realized that she had set a booby trap in the tree outside and I was a part of her master plan for murder. But I survived the explosion and everything ended happily. Then I woke up drenched in sweat and felt like I had been asleep for about 20 hours, when really it was 7:30 and I had been asleep for about 5. It could just be coincidental, but I’m definitely blaming the meds for that one.

Settlers. For the first time all voyage, I played Settlers of Catan. It was fantastic. Whereas last time I was the new kid that didn’t know about the game, now I’m the guru trying to spread the word. It was so much fun playing again (and I won, by the way), so I’m definitely glad I brought it along. Tip of my hat to Jonathan Katz for that one.

The ship did its fuel bunkering in the Canary Islands this morning. During lunch and class, we checked out Las Palmas from the windows. It’s always cool to see land in the distance, even if we aren’t able to debark and check it out.

I found a girl who gives massages. Wonderful, deep tissue, painful, amazing massages. And now I’m relaxed. We had our first Extended Family Dinner tonight, and my on-ship grandparents are 10-time SAS repeaters. They first sailed in 1983, and they’re now on voyage number 10. Each of their (actual) grandchildren has done the SAS program, and these two just tag along for the ride whenever that happens. Their last one is onboard now, so they’re enjoying a final hurrah around the world with her. What a life. Us (and my 5 siblings) chatted for awhile about travel and school and made plans to meet up again after Ghana. The “grandchild” who takes the best photo in Ghana will win a prize! It’s exciting. I hope I’m that cool/well-traveled when I’m their age.

We watched Monsters Inc tonight (thanks again, Mandy, for buying me a copy in Vietnam), and it was as great as ever. Billy Crystal and John Goodman at their best. In the Piano Bar, a couple friends started playing random songs and a mini-singalong started amongst all those present. Giggles banged out the only song she knows on piano (the opening hook of Don’t Stop Believin’) and Howard played some recognizable movie tunes (A Whole New World, My Heart Will Go On), and it eased some of the stress in the room for those people that were studying. Fun night.

Giggles’ birthday was on the 12th in Morocco, so she wasn’t able to get her cake until afterwards (aka tonight). Vanilla ice cream cake. Massive. Delicious. Awesome.

Bedtime… sweet dreams?

Day 22 (09-17-10)

Not even going to mention the dreams anymore. Suffice it to say, they’re bizarre. But my 12:15 class was cancelled today, so I got to relax and hang out in the piano bar all afternoon. Nice. I have a couple midterms coming up, so I feel like I should be studying for them. Maybe. We’ll see.

Some of us have been on a movie kick recently, so we kept it up tonight with Seven. Kevin Spacey being all creepy. Battle of the Sexes board game afterwards. Not even a competition. The men dominated. Insert macho, sexist joke here. I realize these at-sea posts are pretty thin sometimes, but some days are truly just mundane. Not in a bad way. I don’t know.

Day 23 (09-18-10)

Best news of the day? Mac n Cheese/Fries for lunch… so exciting. Oh, and there was apple pie with dinner? Unbelievable. Ship food has gotten rather monotonous already, but this was a nice change of pace. The movie streak continued with Blood Diamond this evening, but we didn’t finish it. I’m not sure whose idea it was to watch a graphically violent movie about family struggle and the illegal diamond trade as preparation for West Africa, but it certainly didn’t put the rest of the group at ease. Granted, the film is (loosely) based upon events occurring in Sierra Leone in the ‘90s and does not concern Ghana at all, but it still wasn’t the best movie to watch before entering the region. Whoops.

There was a thunderstorm brewing somewhere off in the distance tonight, so a few of us went to the back deck to look out and watch the lightning. Introspective moment. Surrounded by water and everything and nothing all at once. I love this ship.

Environmental studies midterm tomorrow. Time to (pretend that I’m going to) study!

Day 24 (09-19-10)

Taco Day Number 2?!? No way! Seriously, that’s such good news. A full, mounded plate of taco-y goodness. Perfection. But the environmental science midterm in rough waters… not the best combination with taco day. Our World Religion study session went well, so I’m basically a master of Judaism now. Mazel Tov. And I learned some new game called Monopoly Deal. It’s based on Monopoly, but it’s a card game with no board. I like it.

And I’m blogging late again without taking adequate notes, so I don’t remember any other details from the day. Oh well.

Day 25 (09-20-10)

World Religion midterm… one of the easiest tests I’ve ever taken. At dinner tonight, there was a beautiful sunset. It was the first one that really captivated everyone’s attention (other than the first night, simply because it was the first night). People just congregated on the back decks and stared out at the sky. One of those skies that could never be translated to canvas no matter who was trying to paint it. Another introspective moment that ended up lasting much longer than I had initially intended. It’s easy to get wrapped up.

Ghana is almost here!

Day 26 (09-21-10)

Definitely got an A on the Environmental Science exam. Cake. After an uneventful day of 2 classes and 3 meals, it was finally time for Logistical Pre-port at 8pm, because we’re arriving in Ghana tomorrow. The medical team dressed up like hippies and sang a little song to the tune of The Age of Aquarius (We’re in Ghana but we ain’t got malaria). It was kitschy, but hilarious. One of the professors even gave an in-depth description of the proper way to use a squat toilet. As someone with prior experience in that department, it was especially funny.

Afterwards, we spent the evening playing cards and talking about plans for Ghana. We’re expected to be clear by 10am tomorrow, so we’ll see what happens. I’ll write again next time I’m at sea!

Day 18 (09-13-10)

I don’t have any plans today… hmmm. Grabbed some breakfast and started writing out some postcards afterwards. A few of us wandered around Casablanca through the marketplace for a couple hours before coming back to the ship. Something about the heat here is just draining all of my energy. It makes me rather glad that I didn’t have to endure that awful Philadelphia heat this past summer. After a nap and some blogging, I decided to be a bit more productive, and a group of us went out into town to find some dinner and to go through the marketplace again. I’m not much of a shopper, but there are a few specific things in Morocco that I can’t leave without. Well, I can. I’d just prefer not to. I’ll let you know afterwards whether or not I actually find them all in the next two days.

Dinner wasn’t anything noteworthy, and the shopping didn’t even pan out. Too exhausted to even care at this point, and starting to feel a little bit under the weather. But we watched Aladdin tonight, and that was a highlight for the day. People kept singing Street Rat and Arabian Nights while we made our way through the souks in Fes and Casablanca, and it just made me want to watch Aladdin. It’s been years since I had last seen that movie in its entirety, and it’s much better than I remember. Kudos to Disney.

I’ve told myself that I’m waking up for breakfast tomorrow and then going out into Casablanca again afterwards, but we’ll see how it happens.

Day 19 (09-14-10)

Made it up for breakfast. But then went right back to sleep until noon. I’m still not feeling that great, but the nap afterwards definitely helped. For my last day in Morocco, I took my mandatory alone time (I try to spend at least an hour by myself in each country to clear my head and take things in) wandering deeper into the marketplace trying to get myself lost. Afterwards, I headed to the Hassan II Mosque, the world’s 3rd largest, and it was incredible. I chose not to take the tour because mosques typically don’t allow non-Muslims inside, and I never feel quite right walking through places of worhip when I’m not of a particular faith, especially one that focuses on religion so fervently. But the scale of the building was incredible, with the Minaret (tower) of the building standing 689 feet, taller than any other mosque in the world. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to make it to the mosque while in Casablanca, but now I’m definitely glad I made the trip.

I found a friend at the mosque and we walked back to the ship comparing notes and stories on our experiences in the country. It’s always fairly repetitive in the days following a port to come back and hear people glance over their stories again and again, so it’s nice to have some one-on-one time to get into more detail about personal aspects of the trips. We chatted it up during the 40-minute walk back to the gate, and were back on the ship by 3pm. The cement factory in this industrialized port was busy churning out dust that has covered basically everything on the ship’s outside decks, so I’m assuming my sickly feelings have stemmed from the concrete that’s been hardening in my lungs for the past 48 hours. Awesome. Shower two of the day is absolutely necessary after another day in the African sun (but at least I’m not as pale as I had been before), and then dinnertime ensued.

As the ship left the port, I was hoping to slide around on the tile floor like the last time we left Morocco, but the ship didn’t need to make the same maneuver. So I had a group of 15 people sitting around on the floor in socks like goofballs waiting for an event that didn’t happen. Oh well. My buddy Howard taught us a random concentration-type chanting game called Toki Toki or something. We had about 20 people (including Dean Daivd Gies) sitting on the floor in Tymitz Square (the ship’s lobby) playing this ridiculous game and chanting while dozens of people watched from the balcony above. It was highly entertaining.

All of the students on the ship are in discussion groups that were given to us upon initial debarkation in Canada, and we meet after each port to have small post-port reflection sessions. I slept through the first 2 meetings that these groups have had (naturally), so tonight was the first time I had ever gone, and I definitely did not join my assigned group. Oh well. The stories I’ve become so accustomed to hearing were shared amongst the group. Camel treks. Berber village overnight stays. Fes. Marrakech. Meeting local families and going home with them. Random anti-American sentiments. The usual. I love how these things seem normal for me. They’re still amazing to hear about, and I don’t mean to diminish their importance by making them seem commonplace because they are anything but. It’s just cool to know where people are coming from because of firsthand experience, and to know just how rewarding and eye-opening their time has been.

Oh and I watched Wedding Crashers tonight. I hadn’t seen it for quite some time, and it was mentioned in conversation today so I had to watch it. Hilarious. Class again tomorrow? We’ve just had 11 days off from schoolwork, and now I have to go back? I am not enthused. But I can’t complain. After 6 days in Morocco and 5 in Spain, I suppose I can handle day number 7 of class during a semester that started 19 days ago. Rough life. A week at sea begins tonight! Farewell Morocco, here’s looking at you.

Day 15 (09-10-10)

Change of plans. Not staying in Casablanca today. I found a couple of guys that were going to the Moroccan capital of Rabat and decided to join them for the trip. Rabat is only an hour away from Casablanca by train, so it’s an easy destination for a day trip.

Nick, Ben, Dani, Mariah and I bought our $4 tickets for the 10am train, and headed north to the city. Ben is actually from West Chester, PA and goes to school at Michigan. Go Blue.

Today’s adventures were rather subdued, if only because Rabat appeared to be completely deserted. Ramadan came to an end yesterday, so today began the celebration. Families tend to congregate in their original homes back in semi-remote villages outside the cities, so Rabat was practically a ghost town. The royal palace/Casbah was off-limits because of the holiday, so we were unable to tour the grounds. In fact, armed guards were standing outside the entrance as diplomatic armored left the premises. We weren’t allowed anywhere near the place. Moving further through the city, we made our way to the Hassan Tower and mosque. Everyone that was in the city of Rabat was congregating at this mosque, and traffic around it was very highly regulated. Tourists and non-Muslims were still allowed inside the area near the mosque and Tower, and we ventured in at the perfect time.

At around noon, a prayer began to take place at the mosque, and it was broadcast over a public address system. At the time, we all just assumed that it was the typical Call to Prayer that can be heard coming from mosques 5 times a day. But today is the Id (eed), the celebration of Ramadan, the holiest time of year (or so we’ve been told) for Muslims. The prayer went on for almost 40 minutes, and it was amazing to listen to. Readings from the Quran are always done very melodically, and it sounds almost like singing. It’s completely foreign and I have no idea what the man was saying, but it was very peaceful and relaxing to hear. Afterwards, he transitioned seamlessly into the Call to Prayer, and we left the area in search of food.

Since most people were out of town or praying, finding food was a difficult task. We stopped at a café for mint tea, but were unable to order a meal. As we sipped the deliciously sweet tea, the international news program on television flashed a story about the Florida minister who had ignorantly planned to burn Qurans on September 11th (tomorrow). Everyone in the café immediately turned at looked at the five of us. Not only was it painfully awkward, it also just made us feel so much like outsiders. Obviously, there are only going to be a few news stories from the U.S. that make their way over to Morocco, and this one was relevant to their culture, but it was rather disheartening to feel the animosity in the room. Putting myself in their position, I’d probably feel the same way. Even though this minister is just one man in the world’s 3rd most populous nation, he’s an American and so are we. Instant association. We quietly paid the bill, smiled at and thanked the waiter, and left the café hoping that we might make a better impression on these people than some other man 3000 miles away.

After another unsuccessful attempt at finding food, we decided to get lost. But before I get into that, I just want to reiterate the fact that we were walking around a major city in Morocco. The capital city. And we couldn’t find a single restaurant open. All of the shops were closed. There were no vendors selling their goods in the souks. Imagine going to D.C. and being unable to eat. It was surreal.

We wandered onto some side street that turned into a side alley that branched into a sketchier alley and took us into the heart of the old town. Here, a few more people could be seen, as they were remaining close to their homes. Throughout the entire 90 minute journey in the old town, we found one street vendor serving food. And the stand looked like the example for which SAS would use to say, “Don’t eat the street food.” But I love street food and I was hungry, so we stopped. Luckily, everything was cooked, so it certainly could’ve been much worse. There were entire fish sitting out, heads and tails included, along with some other unidentifiable meats and vegetables. I had what I think was a bread pocket stuffed with fish, potatoes, rice, onions, and some kind of thin red sauce. 3 others in the group followed suit, and it was actually pretty tasty. The fish still had some bones in it, but they were small and brittle enough that you could just chew and swallow them. Great meal for less than a dollar.

Back at the train station, we realized that there were two restaurants inside that had been open all day. Oops. We grabbed some ice cream and headed back to Casablanca on the 5pm train. Dinner on the ship. Time to catch up on email. Staying in tonight because my SAS trip has to meet at 7am tomorrow morning. Don’t quite know what to expect, but I’m looking forward to it.

Day 16 (09-11-10)

Can’t make it to breakfast today… it’s too early. Thanks for the Pop Tarts in Canada, dad!

Our group of 35 set off for our trip to Fes around 8am. On the bus, I sat next to a girl I’d never met before and we ended up talking for the entirety of the trip. No boredom, no headphone/sleep time. Hooray for new and interesting people! Her name is Kelly from Orange County, and she goes to the University of San Diego (USD). A.K.A. the University of Spoiled Daughters, apparently? I thought it was funny. And USC is the University of Spoiled Children, UCSD is the University of the Culturally and Socially Dead, etc. Apparently these California schools really have it out for each other with these nicknames.

We stopped in Meknes for lunch and some free time to walk around the souks near the medina. The tajine (style of cooking, also the name of the dish in which the food is cooked/served) was amazing. Beef with potatoes and carrots, slow cooked like a pot roast. Also, there was an appetizer that looked like a pastry. Flaky crust. Powdered sugar on top. But on the inside was something unexpected: chicken. It was shredded and mixed with something to make it really sweet, but I still wasn’t expecting there to be chicken inside. But it was awesome.

After leaving Meknes, we traveled another hour to Volubilis. Don’t worry, I had never heard of it either. It’s an ancient Roman settlement that sits between Fes and Rabat, and was a necessary stop along the trade route between them. Today, it’s a set of Roman ruins sitting in the absolute middle of nowhere. Farms and dry grassland lay on all sides, with a few random agave cacti here and there. It looks rather out of place, but it was fascinating. Unfortunately, the lack of trees also meant a lack of shade, and it was pushing 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Apparently, if we had been there just 10 days sooner, it would’ve been 51 degrees outside. That’s in Celsius, by the way. 51 degrees Celsius. I’ll just let you figure out the conversion on your own… but it’s atrocious.

Another couple hours on the bus got us to Fes around 6:30pm, where we were free for the remainder of the evening. We grabbed the complimentary dinner at the hotel and wandered around the new city for a couple hours or so. I got some postcards, but nothing too exciting happened. Just a walk around town. The 10 of us that had been walking went back to the hotel afterwards and had a poolside chat until about 1am. Whenever people are curious as to why I know certain things about a place we’re visiting, they always find out that I’ve done SAS before, and the conversation turns to questions about what to expect from the future. I’m actually really glad that people are curious about it and want to ask questions; I still don’t bring it up much in conversation because I’m never sure how people will react. But at the same time, I still keep my answers brief when they do ask, simply because anything that I say won’t really be an adequate response. Cultures and places affect people differently, and we all just have to take things as they come. Plus, I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone. Whatever. Bedtime. Old town Fes tomorrow.

Ps – Today was September 11th, and nothing happened over here (as far as we know). No one reacted badly to our presence. In fact, I forgot it was the 11th until someone mentioned it right before bed. I guess the State Department’s travel advisory was simply precautionary and not all that important. Nice.

Day 17 (09-12-10)

Flooded my bathroom while taking a shower. Whoops. Seriously, if 2 sides of the tub are going to be exposed and lacking walls, then the shower curtain shouldn’t only cover one side. There was nothing I could do. Breakfast in the hotel was rather standard. Some pastries, some croissants, and a latke-type thing.

Today was a long day. We started with a visit to the entrance of the Royal Palace. There are several palaces in Morocco, but the one in Fes is the country’s largest, and the king still uses it when he comes to town. It’s not open for visitors, so we got off the bus for a group photo in front of the doors and then we left again. Saw a panoramic view of the city from a hill, and it was incredible. The entire medina, or old city, of Fes is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It’s the “largest contiguous car-free urban area in the world by population,” per Wikipedia. Over 15,000 streets wind their way through the medina, and over 700,000 people live inside. Madness.

Throughout the course of the day, we stopped to see a tile factory, a carpet factory, a bronze maker, a leather tannery, and a silk weaver. They went through the processes involved in making such things, and then showed up to their overpriced gift shops afterwards. I’m not saying that our tourguide earned a commission from the shop-owners from bringing us there… but yes, actually, I am. Hearing the artisans talk about their crafts was very informative and interesting, but the obvious sales pitches weren’t. And we didn’t particularly enjoy being stuck in the giftshops for 20 minutes after each presentation to browse. Not that these craftsmen were particularly pushy, it was just the type of ploy that SAS always tells us not to fall for… and we’re on a SAS trip. It just seemed a bit counterintuitive.

Another fantastic lunch followed, with a tajine of couscous, chicken, and vegetables, and more of those chicken pastries. Some bananas and oranges with cinnamon for dessert, and we were ready to go. The trip didn’t include any free time for exploring the medina in Fes, which was regrettable, but I can understand why they structured it that way. One wrong turn within that place, and you would be wandering around lost for hours. Next time I’m in Fes without an agenda or a bus/ship to catch, I’ll make sure to come back and do exactly that. But for now I’ll just have to appreciate its labyrinthine qualities while being guided on a particular path.

Around 3:30pm, we got back onto the buses and headed back to Casablanca. The celebration of Ramadan was just ending tonight, so everyone and their mothers were going back to Casablanca in order to set up shop on Monday again. So the 4 hour bus ride turned into a 5.5 hour bus ride. But again, it could always be worse. Today is Giggles’ birthday, so a group of us were going to go out and celebrate and they were all going to wait for me to come back from the trip. I was bummed when we got back an hour late, because I figured they’d have gotten tired or waiting and gone out already. As it turns out, most of the group was on the Camel Trek in Marrakech trip that had gotten back a few hours earlier, and they were all too tired to function. So they were all just lounging around in their pjs when I got there. Not the most eventful evening, but we crashed early and slept off the effects of the heat outside. Brutal.