Snail Mail

I forgot to mention something very important in my last blogs! In India and Mauritius I got snail mail! I was so happy to see handwriting from home and took (probably too much) time reading and rereading the messages from home. They made me so happy! I know there were a few more that were supposed to make it to me in Myanmar but those never came :( The purser is still hopeful they will forward it to another port so fingers crossed those show up in South Africa!

In other news, the waves are back! We were spoiled in the Indian Ocean! Here we come Capetown! :) 

From Asia to Africa!

We’ve been at sea for 16 days with only a short 8-ish hour break in Mauritius and so much has been going on!

The first great thing was the Crew Talent Show, which took place on March 14. The crew on this ship are amazing and they didn’t disappoint on the talent show either! My favorite was the housekeeping crew who did an awesome rendition of "In the Navy". They were so fun! 

On March 15^th we celebrated the crossing of the equator (which, it seemed we crossed two days earlier so I didn’t get to do the water drainage check). We went through a ceremony called Neptune Day. Neptune day was one of my favorites on the ship so far. It started in the morning when the crew came through the halls banging drums, and on doors! It was an early morning wake up call. We went up to the pool deck where we had an impromptu dance party with Archbishop and then were introduced to King Neptune (Captain Jeremy in green body paint), and his royal court. Apparently the King Neptune ceremony is an old navy tradition (read: hazing) but the MV has made it fun. You can elect to get your head shaved (which I politely declined), then you get in the baby pool and get fish guts dumped on your head, you then jump in the pool (I was lucky enough to get pulled in with the RDs and friends so it was extra fun), and as you are coming out of the pool you kiss a fish! After that you must pay respects to the king by kissing his ring – if you didn’t he pushed you back into the pool! My friend Josh was my favorite because as Judy whispered reminders to us to kiss the ring, Josh heard “kiss the king”, so when he got to Captain Jeremy he got a little too close and Captain threw him in the pool! It was HILARIOUS! Anyways, I was successful so I went from a Pollywog to a Shellback! I also just have to note that some of the haircuts that these guys shaved into their heads made them look like rookies the first week at NFL training camp… RIDICULOUS! I found myself wondering all day if Grandpa's ship crossed the equator and if he went through a similar ceremony. I sent an email to the guy who collects info and pictures from their voyage! Hopefully he knows! :)

 

 Dance party with Archbishop

 

Royal Court

  

Fish Guts!

GUTS!

 

 My friend Alice jumping with her kids into the pool!

 

Kiss the fish, kiss the ring.

 Jason was a royal barber!

 Kindra looks awesome with her new haircut!

 Kevin shaved his head too! (and then Jason cleaned it up for him)

 Halfway to Shellbacks!

 

 

After Neptune day (and long showers), we had dis-orientation, which is a day in the middle of the voyage where you are given permission to restart… new nametag, meet new people, play fun orientation games.. it was great. Jason and I led a big game of ship/wave/captain, which, in case I didn’t tell you already was the rock/paper/scissors game he and I invented early in the voyage for the ship (side note: no one thought it would take off but it was at Disorientation AND Sea Olympics). We had a good time, and it was rewarded because that night was TACO NIGHT in the cafeteria! Taco night is everyone’s favorite and we were there at 5:15 in line before they even opened and ate way too much. The normal pasta/potatoes/pork routine gets old after awhile and tacos really spice it up! The sour cream alone made my night. 

 The kids decorated one of the portholes in the dining hall.

After that I went to Aparna’s program on the history of Semester at Sea, which was amazing and gave me the idea for the next big program. I learned that it started in 1963 (10/22 is our founders day), and that this is the 112^th voyage. I also learned that even in year’s past the students made fun of the constant overuse of “being flexible” which is still true today. There were also some amazing photos pulled from yearbooks of the past and stories from alumni who are currently sailing with us again. So great.

That was followed by a Q&A with my favorite captain and his cabinet (I don’t know if they are really called a cabinet but I’m going to go with it). He was asked everything from “What was going on in the bridge during the storm in Japan?” to “What was up with the tides screwing up our arrival in Burma?” to “How do you pull off white after Labor Day?”—the latter was a dumb question that he didn’t get LOL but the answers to everything else were awesome. They talked about the mechanics of the ship, how fast we can go, how stabilizers work, that he drives a diesel run BMW… anything we wanted to know! The best thing he shared was when someone asked him what the worst storm he’d ever been through was. His answer? One a long time ago but then said that the one we went through in Japan was a very close second! He told us that the furniture was flying around his room that night so he went to the bridge, sat in his chair, and held on. He said that the waves do so much damage to the bow of the ship that they were trying to move the ship so the giant waves would hit the sides (causing the insane rocking) and that when we got to Japan, we needed to get some work done to paint and fix the dents that the water left on the front of the ship! INSANE.

On the 17^th we had Jason’s birthday. His cake deserved to be on cake wrecks and we all got a REALLY good laugh out of how literally they took Craig’s directions.. they also misspelled his name. It was delicious regardless! 

On the 18^th we hit Mauritius. Mauritius was beautiful and it was so nice to hear so much French again! Having only 8 hours there was torture for me, as it felt like there was a lot more to do and see. I went with Craig and one of our students to the markets and exploring in the city. I am proud to admit, our first stop was at McDonalds (it’s been a LONG time since I’ve had it and sometimes you just need something that reminds you of home). After we found various street markets and parks. We had to take a water taxi to and from the ship. It got right underneath the ship which made for some cool photos. Gangway duty that day was hard. Mauritius has notoriously been a party spot for SAS students (hence why now we only stop for 8 hours) and it was again even though the threat of triple dock time was out there. It was a busy two hours before we finally got inside, and then we were rewarded with delicious bbq! Hotdogs, hamburgers, macaroni salad, corn on the cob… it was AWESOME.

We were welcomed by a drumline and dancers!

 Took tiny water taxis into town

 

  

 Vietnamese fishing boats

The water taxi went very close to the MV!

On the 20^th we had the Opening Ceremonies for the Sea Olympics. They were so much fun. The students really impressed me overall. Some were really terrible sports but most all were gracious and fun and just overall awesome. Baltic was clearly the best though. We placed 6^th overall (out of 9) but we placed first in a lot of big events including the lip sync, cheer, and synchronized swimming competitions. We were second in tank (blindfolded dodgeball), and tug of war (in which as always in competitions, I took my place screaming in the face of my team as they pulled). They were amazing! They looked great and they cheered on everyone, and they got to know new people, they were enthusiastic and they were great sports. I AM PROUD! The day went very smoothly and was a lot of fun – Rachel did an amazing job planning everything and everyone on the student life team and other staff stepped up to help. It was a great day!

 To everyone's surprise, my sea color is ORANGE!

 Tank - blindfolded dodgeball was HILARIOUS to watch!

 I assumed my normal tug of war position and screamed in everyone's face!

 First place in synchronized swimming... which they had to do in the Union thanks to rough seas!

 1st place in lip sync!

 Baltic Sea placed 6th overall but is 1st in my heart!

Tomorrow is Palm Sunday, and I am going to attend church (WHHHAT) with Archbishop officiating. I have been exploring a lot of religion/faith/spirituality questions through this journey and think it will be nice to attend something more familiar. After that is South Africa, and sissy!!!! WAHOO! I can’t wait to see her and show her my home away from home and check out all the awesomeness that Africa has to offer with one of my favorite people in the world! Look for more blogs soon! :) 

Who Needs Photoshop?

I still cannot get over how I can look out the window and see NO waves. The Indian Ocean is truly a sight. Because there are no waves there have been a lot of wildlife sightings. Flying fish are very common (and the only thing I’ve personally seen so far). Others have seen dolphin pods, and sea turtles. SO COOL! I’ve got to be on the look out but it’s so hot out!

The crew is on pirate watch. They are stationed from 9pm-6am on the lower decks of the ship, and the side decks of the ship. They told us they are supposed to watch for any boat approaching the MV without lights on… how the heck can you see them if they don’t have lights on? My favorite is that they have the high pressure water hoses out as well. I’m not sure if they intend to sink them or just deter but who knows. No sightings yet, and rarely any ships/boats in our eyesight at all but it’s nice to know the crew is holding down the fort. We really have the best crew of anywhere.

We had a soul food dinner to celebrate black history month (yes it was in February but we celebrated in March) – the fried chicken and mac and cheese was a nice change from the regular routine. A lot of my friends were shocked to find out I don’t like pie… and then we started talking about carrot cake… and then I talked about baby jack’s carrot cake (mom, do you see where I am going with this?) YUMMMMMMM I want some sweet baby jack carrot cake. Then I started talking about the cookies and cream cake... now all I want is cake. I hope Mauritius has some good cake! :) 

In other news, we had a beautiful sunset on 3/13. :) 

Oh India!

Oh India, where do I start? India was interesting. The good thing is I learned what I will do differently if I ever go back.

We ported in Cochi, India on Willingdom Island. Willingdom Island is manmade which is insane to me. It used to hold the airport but isn’t big enough anymore and the airport moved about an hour and a half away. Now Willingdom Island is home to the port and what seemed like a lot of abandoned buildings. Cochi is in south India. Unlike the rest of the country, Cochi is very heavily Christian and pretty wealthy in comparison.

The first day I went on a SAS city tour. The first stop was a palace built in the 16^th century. I was super sad that photos weren’t allowed here because it was GORGEOUS inside. There were beautiful murals – still the originals from the 16^th century on almost all the walls. The kings lived in the palace until 1964 when democracy took over in the country. An interesting fact about the kings: the kingdom did not go to the oldest son of the king – but the oldest son of the king’s oldest sister.

Second stop was Jew Town (yes that is actually what they call it) and the Paradesi Synagogue. The synagogue was built hidden deep in the city in 1344 when the Indian king took in Jewish refugees. The blue tile on the ground was hand painted and their were beautiful lanterns hanging from the ceiling. Again, no pictures allowed. Our tour guide told us that there are only 8 Jewish families still living in Cochin, and most of the members are elderly (the children moved to other areas).

Our third stop was the Spice Market. Carrola has a long rainy season which makes it an ideal place to grow spices. They had everything from vanilla to ginger to curry to peppers. The market we went to also sold textiles and there was a woman who gave us a demonstration on how they make all the beautiful linens.

We then went to Fort Cochin, which is another subsection of Cochi. The colonial influence was really evident in the architecture here. We stopped at St Francis church which was beautiful and then went to see the Chinese fishing nets and market which was also pretty cool.

The Kathkali dance was very cool. They tell stories but there are no words or lyrics at all. The men (only men can be actors) paint their faces to be the characters – we went early to watch them put on their makeup. There was a demonstration on how they use totally exaggerated facial expressions to show the basic human emotions. We then saw a 45 minute dance story about an ugly woman who fell in love with a king and used a magic potion to be beautiful so he would notice her and love her back. She died at the end. Tragic.

My second and third days in India were spent leading a group of 27 students to a yoga retreat. We took a bus at 5 am to a nice hotel where we met our yogi. We learned quickly that she was not very nice and very strict. The first day we practiced mostly breathing techniques and meditation. No physical yoga. It was the same the second day though the food made me sick so I didn’t leave my hotel room until it was time to get on the bus. Good news about the hotel? It had a TV and AC so my sick day was at least spent in comfort watching ridiculous American movies like The Green Hornet. The students were amazing and checked on me constantly. They brought me water and rehydration packs and were generally just amazing. I’m a big fan.

The day after I got back from the yoga retreat I was feeling better and decided to venture out for exploration and shopping with my friends even though I hadn’t eaten yet. We rented a rickshaw (which is a ridiculous little 3 wheeled “car” that has no doors or windows and is hilarious), and took it back towards Jew Town and Fort kochi to try to find some good shopping. We were unsuccessful. We did get lost and wander through some awesome neighborhoods, and see some friendly goats wandering the streets. The goats there are pretty cute. We went back to the ship for lunch (thankful to Dan and Christine for doing that for me when I didn’t know if my stomach could handle more Indian food), and rallied – determined the afternoon would be a success. We took a rickshaw to Ernakulam this time. Ernakulam is the main city, and we were told it was the place to shop. We found one of the stores we were looking for but the sizes weren’t quite right for what we needed. We then wandered the riverfront towards the ferry station to reorient ourselves to where we were. By the river smelled awful. The water there really has a funk to it (and a lot of bacteria in it – the MV couldn’t take on any water while we were there even with our filtration system), and there were a few vendors on the ground selling knickknacks and toys. Then we stumbled across a man getting a tattoo… on the ground, next to the stinky river, just chilling with actual ink and needle. OMG. It was pretty scary to see how little regulations there are for tattooing and I quietly wished none of the students decided to live dangerously and get one (literally) on the street. We walked a little more and tried (unsuccessfully) to find a grocery, and when it started to rain we grabbed a rickshaw back to the ship in time for dinner. We treated ourselves and ate on the pool deck that night – my pizza was GOOD (and my tummy was still scared of Indian food).

Some very cool street art

 The MV from across the River

On day 5, I was on duty so I spent my time on the ship. I got a ton of work done and prepped for the programs coming up on our long stretch and hung out with some pretty cool people hanging out at various times. I hung out in the office on FB chat and got to catch up with home a little which is always wonderful and appreciated. It was a great recovery day after my illness and I cleaned my cabin since the GI bug was going around the ship right before we ported.

Our last day in Cochi, I went shopping with the boys. Kevin, Craig, Dan, Josh, Travis, and I loaded ourselves into two rickshaws that we rented for the day. Our drivers were great. They took us everywhere. We collected names of all the great stores the students, faculty, and staff recommended to us and we made a day of it. We ended at a mall with a grocery store (thank goodness – we’ve got 12 days at sea right after), and I stocked up on potato chips, kit kats, and saltines though much to my dismay they didn’t have diet coke. :) The rickshaw driver gave Kevin a driving lesson while I sat in the back with all the bags and Craig got out for some photos hahah

All in all India was very nice. If I ever get the opportunity to visit again, I will definitely make my way to the Taj Mahal. I was uber-jealous of my friends “so gorgeous it looks photoshopped” photos in front of that beautiful building. I would also go to Munnar which got AMAZING reviews. Nothing but tea leaf fields and hiking and beautiful-ness there.