My Itinerary

My Itinerary
Where I will be between August 26 and December 13

Friday, December 16, 2011

The Last Days On the MV Explorer


Oh, America. Home of the free, land of the brave. The Fall 2011 Voyage of Semester of Sea, the 107th journey of the Institute for Shipboard Education’s premier study abroad program, has come to a close in the Sunshine State of Florida. The days between leaving Honduras and now have been filled with literally every single emotion possible; there’s been excitement, anxiety, fear, joy, sadness, resentment, frustration, boredom, lethargy, and, most importantly, overwhelming gratitude. It’s weird being back, and it’s even weirder thinking that the life I came to know and love so well has abruptly come to its end.

The day after Honduras saw the beginning of the packing process. While I came with what seemed like an enormous amount of stuff, I left with even more. My bags were packed with clothes, flags, trinkets, my yoga mat, souvenirs, gifts, basically a whole slew of things I didn’t come to the voyage with. Most importantly, perhaps, were the lessons I tucked away into my bags, stuffed neatly between the postcards and magnets that have been hanging from my wall. I packed away my new found confidence, relationships, and views on this amazing world of ours. It’s hard to classify the whole experience, what it has meant, and how I’m going to let it influence my future. That being said, I can say one thing for sure: this world of ours is so incredibly beautiful that 111 days exploring it hardly gives it justice. My awareness has moved away from local and has gone global, as I’m now more interested in how things affect each other throughout the entire world.

So, what exactly happened besides packing? On that second to last day on the ship, a reentry panel was held for people interested in discussing reverse culture shock and the process of coming down from our experiences abroad and coming back to our lives away from the MV Explorer. While their words were helpful, they reminded me that what lies ahead will not be easy. It made me remember how I felt when I returned from Europe in the spring and how utterly lost I felt at first, how America seemed so different and weird. It took a while to readjust, and the discussion made me realize that readjusting back from Semester at Sea will, very likely, take much longer. Faculty member Wendy Goldberg spoke on the panel about the topsy-turvy feeling we will experience. She drew upon Alice in Wonderland for a number of interesting and rateable metaphors about the nature of dropping into all these new places and then coming back to something we recall with familiarity and fondness. I have to say, after falling through the rabbit hole and seeing all that Wonderland has to offer, pulling myself back out is proving to be an interesting experience.

I ate dinner with Jackie and Kat, my shipboard extended family. At the beginning of the semester, I signed up for an extended family, thinking I would be placed into a large family with two lifelong learners as parents and a bunch of other students as siblings. Instead, I received a mom and a sister. Frankly, after having had dinner many different times throughout the entire semester, I am glad it ended up working out exactly the opposite of how I expected it to. We were able to discuss more personal experiences in the countries and on the ship that wouldn’t have been able to have been shared had my family been upwards of ten people. I’m grateful for having such a loving, tight-knit family on the ship that I knew I could always count on.

That night, the Acting 1 and History of Musical Theatre classes performed their final scenes and student-written musical, respectively. Acting 1’s students explored a number of different self-written monologues, scenes from various plays , and South African opera songs. Admittedly, some were better than others, but overall, they did a great job and kept everyone entertained, despite some technical difficulties regarding the spotty sound system of the Union on the ship. Following that, SAS: The Musical was performed! The History of Musical Theatre class has been working all semester on writing and putting on an original musical. The story was essentially about life on the MV Explorer and the two forbidden relationships between a student and a crew member and the dean and a lifelong learner. Though cheesy, it was hilarious and enjoyable, with many of the jokes only really making sense to those on the ship. That reminded me, though, of how special our community became over the whole voyage. We have so many characters and personalities that it’s no surprise to me that so many jokes sprung out of the people on board. Following the performances, the final Coffeehouse was held. I, of course, spoke, sharing some more of my writing. If the musical reminded me of the personalities and jokes, the Coffeehouse reminded me of the sheer sublime talent of many of the different people I have come to know and love. It’s been a real privilege being in their company and sharing all of our work with one another. It has only solidified my desire to continue writing and creating.

The final day came. The ship was awash in weird emotions; people seemed to be wandering the hallways aimlessly as we enjoyed our last moments on our floating home. Upon finishing packing, my room was empty, further adding to the bizarre feelings of the last day. When everyone was done moving their baggage to the designated location on the ship and collecting their passports and yellow fever vaccination cards, we had some downtime. I ate my final dinner outside on the 6th Deck, watching the sunset for a final time over the endless ocean. I’ve been lucky enough to see so many amazing sunrises and sunsets throughout this semester. How am I supposed to recreate the sunrise over Cape Town while we approached South Africa or as I slowly moved through the entry portal into Angkor Wat in Cambodia? What about the explosion of red, purple, orange, and blue as the sun dipped into the ocean each night from the back of the ship or over the Arabian Sea in Kerala, India? The beauty I have witnessed is indescribable, humbling, and, quite simply, awesome. There’s still so much left for me to see around the world that this voyage has not quenched a thirst, but rather has only set me on fire with more questions, desire, and hopes for truth, understanding, and exploration. Following dinner, I went to Linda’s 22nd surprise birthday party, hosted by Jake in one of the classrooms. Many of my good friends were there, so it was a happy celebration of not only her birthday, but the semester as a whole. The night officially ended with convocation, a recognition of the whole four months and those lucky graduating seniors.

Then night unofficially never ended. I stayed awake all night, hopping between all the groups of friends I have become a part of—I never fell into one single clique, which I am thoroughly happy about. I spent time with Lou, Diana, Causey, Natasa, Valleria, Mike, Brad, Ali, Jake, Linda, Nick, Johnny, and plenty more. The last crew I hung out with ended up being Lily, Mary, Cristina, and Lauren; apparently, Abby, Alden, Ricky, Kevin, and I think some others were with them, too, but they disappeared to bed. Mary and I ended up staying fully awake the longest. When the time came for breakfast, we moved upstairs to eat. As we sat in dining room on the 5th floor, the lights of America started to become visible. Miami and Ft. Lauderdale twinkled in the distance. When we finished eating, we went to the front of the ship and experienced our first moments back in America. I had made a sign then night before that I held up and took pictures with: 29,052.5 nautical miles. Can you believe it?

It started to rain at one point. We migrated inside so we could avoid the moisture. However, when we moved to the back of the ship to see the parents as we made our final movements into the port, the sun began to shine through the clouds. In this moment, I was reminded that even in times of darkness, such as leaving behind the life you love, there is always a light to guide you back through to the other side.

Then it came time to really say goodbye. I raced about the ship, giving my final hugs, saying my final words to people, and shedding some tears in the process. I was one of the earlier groups to disembark, so I didn’t have as much time as others. When it was finally my turn, I grabbed my backpack, slung my Ghanaian drum over my shoulder, and walked out onto the gangway for the last time. As John, Luke, Whit, Ionna, and I slid our cards one final time, we said farewell to the MV Explorer and the lifestyle that is Semester at Sea. I greeted my parents with loving hugs and a statement of how overwhelmingly thankful I am to them for this eye-opening life experience. We drove away, me in the backseat slowly attempting to rationalize the finality of the program. I haven’t gotten there quite yet, as I keep feeling like I’ll be walking back up the gangway to my room tomorrow, but eventually I’ll get there.

How did I celebrate? Lunch with my parents at Chik Fil A and dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. Reverse culture shock, much? The next few days were spent in Naples, Florida, home of nothing but elderly people. I spent almost the entire time catching up on TV shows and sleeping. The frustration of being home hasn’t fully hit me yet as I am not quite home in my own house in my own bed.

Where am I this weekend? Having a unique intellectual adventure at COLORADO COLLEGE. I’ll write something more sentimental later, but know this: Semester at Sea changed my life, and my friends from the program, quite literally, mean the world to me.

Oh, ocean blue, I miss you terribly. You will always be a part of me.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Roatán, or Winter Break Part One


Roatán, Honduras—a small island off the coast of Central America in the Caribbean. Pleasant, right? For what it’s worth, it certainly was relaxing, or as relaxing as a two day port where about a day and a half of it was raining. Not just sprinkling, either. It was stormy, to say the least. Well, weather the wheater (ha) was good or bad, it was still a relaxing final port, free of worry from academic affairs on the ship having now completed finals, projects, programs, and papers.

Our final port has been up in the air since I applied for SAS. A big selling point for this particular semester was the possibility of docking in Havana, Cuba for three days. The itinerary said we would only be going if we received confirmation from the US State Department. Didn’t happen. Thanks, non-students on board (because student visas for Cuba are much easier to obtain than other forms). I was really looking forward to a cigar. The next plan of action, as described to us on the day of the Sea Olympics: Santo Tomas de Castilla, Guatemala. Mayan ruins sounded exciting, but I couldn’t help feeling disappointed that Cuba didn’t work out. Then, during the Pacific Ocean crossing, we awoke one morning to an announcement from the Voice aka Dean Laurie that increasing drug-related violence in eastern Central America, particularly in Guatemala, Belize, Mexic, and, oddly enough, Honduras, were a source of concern for ISE, the State Department, and OSAC, so we were going to have to be rerouted again to Roatán, a tourist destination off the coast, away from all the violence. Run-on sentence? I think. And would you believe it? I saw Mayan ruins and artifacts and smoked a cigar. Okay, I didn’t actually smoke a cigar, though some people did. I was only planning on doing that if we went to Cuba. Okay, background information aside, let’s talk about two days in rainy Roatán.

I awoke to watch the entry into port with Valleria. It was cloudy, so we weren’t able to see much. I went back to bed, only to be interrupted at 7:20 A.M. with an announcement that we could get off the ship 40 minutes earlier than expected. I was signed up for a trip, though, so I didn’t take advatnage. When the time came, I stepped off into the Port of Roatán in Coxen Hole. Ali, Jake, Linda, Nick, Ionna, Rachael, Dina, and a handful of others and I were on an orphanage visit that was combined with an underwater museum snorkeling adventure. Great combo, right? Save the world a little bit and then swim around in the silver-blue Caribbean water while looking at ancient Mayan artifacts and treasures? Let’s do it! The most special part of it to me was that Ali, Ionna, and I were together on the first trip we went on in Morocco and now the last one in Honduras. Great little circle completion, right? Anyway, the kids were fun, but there weren’t that many since most of them were with grandparents for the holidays. We mostly played soccer and blew bubbles and drew on the sidewalk with chalk with them. As far as the snorkeling went, the water was perfect temperature and we got to see quite a bit of coral. The Mesoamerican Reef in the Caribbean is the second largest coral reef in the world, following the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, so underwater was all sorts of red, green, purple, green, yellow, and more. There were a ton of fish, too. We hung out on the beach afterwards and had delicious pizza and some beer. Preparation for America?

When we done snorkeling, the weather turned. It started to rain. A lot. Outdoor activities weren’t really an option anymore. Ali, Ionna, Nick, and I decided to get food. We walked into Coxen Hole and ate conch soup and some kind of delicious tortilla with meat and beans at a local restaurant. It was fantastic. We took a taxi after that to a place called Bananarama in West Bay. There were a ton of SAS folks drinking and having a good time. The rest of the day was spent between there, back at the ship for dinner and a shower, and in West End bar hopping. The roads weren’t in the best condition, so everything was wet and muddy, but nobody seemed to care; it was an excellent last night out with my friends being able to legally drink. Bars, clubs, lounges, and liquor stores, see you in five months!

The second day was raining even harder, so we couldn’t do much once again. Ali, Nick, Sara, and I had lunch at a Mexican place in the port. Speaking of the port, it was similar to Cape Town in that it was commercial, but it was not anywhere near as upscale. When we left, we ventured back into Coxen Hole to walk around in the pouring rain. We each bought a few souvenirs throughout town. As the day came to a close, the Barcelona vs. Real Madrid futbol match began, so we sat and watched the first half hour of it—it was 1-1 when we left.

As our journey is spindling away to its bittersweet end, I wanted my last experience in port to be special. So, I celebrated by jumping into the 7th Deck pool with Gina and Bailey in the rain. We swam some laps and tread some water as the rain poured down onto our faces. I was reminded of the beautiful things and people I have met on my journey about the world, but I’ll cover that once I’m back in America. For now, I will close my last international blog post by saying that while Honduras may have been wet and slightly chilly, I am glad it was our final port experience. I got to relax, swim in warm water, spend time with some of my favorite people on the ship, and think about what this voyage has meant to me. I may not have been able to go to Cuba or Guatemala, so I’ll just have to return to them later!

America tomorrow. Still need to finish packing. I have more to put in than when I left, but somehow, someway, it will fit.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Pura Vida en Costa Rica


Let me just start off by saying two days in Costa Rica is not nearly enough. With less than 48 hours in the country, every moment was precious. That being said, Costa Rica was probably my most relaxing port. I had quite a bit of down time to just hang out and watch the scenery go by.

The day before Costa Rica, I had my first final: Global Studies. I got an 85. And that was with minimal studying.

My first day started with a zipline adventure through the forest canopy. It was a Semester at Sea trip, so there were a great deal of people, but a lot of my friends were on it, so I was in great company. After taking a short bus ride to Parque Aventura, we suited up and hiked up a small hill to the first station. They demonstrated how to properly zoom down the line and brake. When it came to be my turn, I hit the brakes too soon and had to monkey crawl the final portion of the line. Embarrassing. Thankfully, a few other people ran into the same predicament, saving me from being alone in looking like a chimp. I’ve ziplined before, but this particular adventure was really exciting; we had to zip from station to station and cover a whole lot of ground. One portion of the park was nothing but jumping from box to box, allowing us to keep our harness on and not hike to get to the next station. The longest line in the park took us over a huge river valley—falling would’ve surely been fatal. You got going pretty fast, and to brake you had to grab the actual line, so gloves were required. No gloves? Wave goodbye to your skin! Was that a pun? The trip ended with a journey up a huge hill on the back of a truck. Excellent morning.

That afternoon, I took the free SAS shuttle service from our port in Puerto Caldera to Puntarenas, the nearest city with Shelbi and Liz. When we arrived, we didn’t really do much. Puntarenas wasn’t exactly designed with the tourist in mind, but we weren’t really looking to do very much anyway. Our day was spent walking around, looking at the trinkets in the street-side shops, using free internet, drinking delicious piña coladas, and sitting on the beach.

We spent the evening with a bunch of other SAS kids that we met up with at the bus stop. After enjoying a delicious dinner of ceviche at a local restaurant, we wandered to a locals bar with awesome salsa dancing. We took the place by storm! Though we weren’t really good, our hips got a workout. Later, Savannah, Susie, and I ended up at another club in a different part of the city. It was sort of strange because very, very few people were dancing; everybody was standing up above on the second floor. Many people were alone. It wasn’t the most welcoming environment, but we did meet a few cool local folks. I had delicious street food, too, so it wasn’t bust in the slightest.

Annoying thing: the Costsa Rican currency, the colón, just changed. No, it didn’t change names or exchange rates or anything of that sort. It changed design. The new money is very nice and colorful, I will admit, but I came to the country with somewhere around $40 in the old money that I got from a bank in Canada back in August. It changed in September. Nobody takes the old money. It’s obsolete. It’s basically Monopoly  Money. I figured I would go to the bank on our second morning, a Monday, to exchange the old currency for the new. When I walked into the bank, they said the only way I could exchange the notes would be to go to the Central Bank…in San José, the capital, a solid two hours away. Normally, I’d be okay with that, but with very little time in the country and a less reliable transportation system, I had to accept defeat. I still have the red play money in my wallet.

While eating breakfast at a restaurant in Puntarenas the second morning with Shelbi, Liz, and Johnny, we saw Hayley who invited us to a waterfall tour with her, Kevin, other Kevin, Susie, and some other folks. After finding out we probably wouldn’t make it to the waterfall in time, we almost called it quits on plans for the day. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a tricked out tour bus came around the corner while blaring its horn and playing local marimba music. On the spur of the moment, Hayley and I hopped on, paid the fee, and enjoyed an adventure around the entire city by bus! We made two stops on the way: a fish market and a church. Though the history of Puntarenas isn’t that impressive compared to some of the other places I went to this semester, it was a pleasant afternoon ride. Our guide, Jenny, was a beautiful Costa Rican woman. She let us play the marimba at the end! She also gave us a shot of Costa Rican liquor while on the ride. For $15, the trip was well worth the money. The rest of the day was the same as the day before—walking around, drinking more deliciosu piña coladas, and eating some incredibly tasty gallo pinto.

“Pura vida” means “pure life,” the unofficial motto of Costa Rica. Many of the people I encountered in Costa Rica were some of the most laid back people I have met on this voyage. The lifestyle there is slow and steady, a nice change from the go-go-go of many Asian cultures. It really seems like a great way to live.

Yesterday I had my second final: World Theatre and Performance. I think it went well. I also helped host the Ping Pong Championships with Dave Eng. The winner ended up being Michael Williams, my professor. He better give me an A.

Today was a particularly special day on the voyage—we passed through the Panama Canal. Now, I’m no builder or architect, but the Panama Canal is an engineering masterpiece. A series of locks takes ships from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean in a matter of hours. The alternative, traversing Cape Horn, would tack on an additional month and several thousand nautical miles. I wouldn’t have complained. The process of going through the locks was really, really interesting. Along the way, the elevation changed, so the canal would rise and fall along the way as the water filled the lanes. It was busy the whole filled, with many other boats, most of them being cargo. We had a barbecue lunch to celebrate, but it was moved inside because of rainy weather.

As I am typing this, we’re still passing by city lights. Soon, we’ll be in the Atlantic Ocean, exactly where we started. We are back in the Eastern Time Zone, so we have literally gone around the world. Before going home, though, we have to go back to Central Time Zone for our final port—Honduras! Cuba and Guatemala may not have worked out, but Honduras will be a ton of fun, too, I’m sure. The journey isn’t over yet. It doesn’t feel like we’ve done the actual circumnavigation quite yet, but we have. We have changed, but can’t quite explain how. Who knows when we will be able to?

So, for now, I will sit back and enjoy Christmas Carols and a cup of hot chocolate in the Piano Lounge while I procrastinate on writing my final essay for Gender and Society and reading for my final in Writing Back to the Empire, both of which are tomorrow. After that, it’s two days in Honduras, two days at sea, and then Florida. It’s all very surreal.

I’ll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams.