Dominica

Day 1: We got into port around 8:00 this morning.  I walked around and explored with a group of girls around the island and talked to some locals.  They have all been very friendly here!   After I got acquainted with Dominica a little, I was off for a tour of the rainforest!  It was so beautiful!  We also got some great scenery of the waterfalls here while in the rainforest.   After having coconut bread and some delicious fruit, the tour guide brought us to Titou Gorge where Pirates of the Caribbean 2 was filmed.   We got to swim to the waterfall and jump off.  (I haven’t seen this movie, but I guess it’s right after a scene where Johnny Depp was on a beach and fell into water or something like that?)  After dinner a big group of us danced under the stars to Caribbean music.

Day 2: I started the day by taking a tour of a local fruit gardener’s home.  After the tour she made us homemade juice and had her family play some local music for us.  Next we went to a flower garden to learn about the different flowers on the island.  After that we went to a local’s house up in the mountains and she cooked us a Creole dish.  We ate marlin with creole sauce (my first fish dish! Wasn’t too bad actually), beans and rice, cooked bananas, and salad. Mmmmm.  After filling up on delicious food I headed off to go snorkeling with a group of girls in Champagne Reef.  It was so awesome!  I saw beautiful fish, coral, sea urchins, turtles, and an octopus! 

Reflection:  To be honest, most of things I’ve been learning so far are about myself since I have spent most of my time here on the ship with my peers so far.  I will expand on this topic in the future since I know I have a lot more to learn about myself and much more reflection in the future.  As for what I did learn in Dominica, man are those people welcoming!  They had such a good spirit and were eager to share their culture with all of us. I was talking to a professor who asked one of the natives if they really minded that these ships come into their culture and “invade” their space.  The native replied that they genuinely love travelers that come to Dominica because they have noticed there is something special about those who pick Dominica over other islands in the Caribbean.  Those who pick Dominica are excited to learn about their culture and hear what they have to say.  This coincided with the fruit gardener’s spirit towards us.  She told the group of us that went to visit her that she loves sharing her garden with us and talking about what she does because she’s so proud of what she does.  She also said that she learns a lot from us and that’s why she doesn’t mind inviting visitors into her home.  After many encounters like these, I thought to myself, “Wow! These people -no matter rich or poor- are so proud of their individual contribution to their community and to the world.”  Most people I talked to didn’t have much money but still always had a smile on their face and were willing to welcome each one of us with open arms.  

Bahamas

“To feel at home, stay at home. A foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It’s designed to make its own people comfortable.”      – Clifton Fadiman

Day 1:  Just a really quick I made it and am starting to get super excited! It still hasn’t fully hit me (while I am writing this I’m still at my hotel in the Bahamas. I met a group of people at the Atlanta airport and it made me feel much more at ease about everything.  Everyone has been really nice and outgoing. 

Day 2: We boarded the ship this morning and it is AWESOME!  We explored the ship today and lots of meetings and forms to fill out and what not.  I’m deliriously tired today so sorry this is so short, but I’m going to try to get some sleep.

Day 3: We are behind and schedule and haven’t even left the Bahamas yet.  That would be a nice thing if we were allowed off the ship, but were not.  So it’s been like a tease to see this beautiful scenery but not be able to explore much here at the Bahamas.  Today is another looong day of meetings all day.  It’s been like that first week of school where everyone’s just trying to get situated and meet their “group” and get in the grove of things.  

We got in discussion groups to talk about the common reading, A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid.  It’s a good book, if anyone’s interested and it’s only 80 pages.  It’s a memoir of an Antiguan woman talking about tourists and colonization.  She has a hostile voice towards both.  We had a good discussion about it though talking about how Americans/the western culture is perceived by the rest of the world and how that will impact our trip.  In the book she talks in second person about tourism and it definitely makes you think about your own actions while at port.  It’s easy to point fingers at others but is necessary to be very conscious of your actions while visiting other cultures.  The book also brings up that some people at the ports have this angry view of us because on some level they are envious of the opportunities that we have to be able to leave our country and be able to experience other cultures.  Some people we encounter do not have the resources that we have in life to be able to ever leave their country.  This really struck me because that has never crossed my mind.  Now a days almost everyone you meet has traveled somewhere besides their home state.  These people will never be able to experience life from outside their hometowns.  We discussed how it is inevitable to run into a situation where a local has this attitude about us and we have to look at the situation from their point of view.  We are visitors in their country and we need to always be aware of our actions as a visitor and the image we are putting out there of ourselves.

Why SAS? And some other questions I have been asked about a zillion times.

Why SAS?

Short answer: I’m all about seeing new cultures to gain a better world perspective.

Long answer: I have been fortunate enough to have had many great experiences in my college career that led me to meet people who have inspired me to go on this voyage.  From all my global perspective professors that have shown me just how big this world really is, to my down to earth roommates that have taught me life is all about the journey you make it.  This is a once in a lifetime opportunity that I just could not pass up.  I chose this voyage in particular (each voyage goes to different places in the world) because I felt I would be exposed to cultures that I most likely would not have a chance to see otherwise and push me beyond my comfort zone.  As much as I’d love to spend more time in each country, I am so happy I at least get a glimpse of many different cultures versus doing a “traditional” study abroad program in one country. I have many years ahead of me to go explore Europe, but at this moment in my life I felt that this program best suited my expectations of a study abroad program and values in life. 

Where am I most excited to visit?

The places I’m most excited to visit are Brazil, India, and Ghana.  Brazil because I love the Brazilian spirit of life. India because ever since I was a little girl I have always wanted to go (this may or may not be because of the movie A Little Princess).  Ghana because I think this will be the place I realize just how lucky I am to have all the opportunities and privileges I have had in my life.

What are my goals for this trip?

I don’t think I should have many goals for this trip. It’ll be a learning experience, most of which I couldn’t even fathom at the moment. But my American mind that demands all the answers can’t help but kick in while reflecting on these upcoming months. What will I learn? What can I do to prepare myself for situations I’ll be put into? How will this affect my future choices in life? I will try my best to go into it with only one goal in mind, stop trying to prepare so much for the future and enjoy moments as they come and react with my heart to the unknown.

How do I plan on making a difference?

This is a question I feel should be asked not only during big events in a person’s life such as this, but every day when you wake up.  I realize I am no Oprah Winfrey, so making a difference on a small level will have to suffice for me.  This didn’t stop me from taking this question seriously and this is the best answer I have been able to come up with: The way I plan to make a difference in this world is to put a smile on at least one person’s face every day. A smile can do wonders for a person.  This is something I’ve been living by for many years now and I fully plan to carry out this habit during my trip.

PS #1. I have NO idea what the internet situation will be when I get there.  I will try my best to post as much as possible, but I can say with pretty good certainty it will not be daily, or even weekly.  Also, they said loading pictures takes up a lot of minutes, i.e. money, of our given amount of internet usage, so you may have to wait until May to see pictures.

PS #2. I realize I need to brush up on my writing skills…just bear with me.

PS #3. I do not know what these next months will bring for me so I have no idea what this blog will become.  I will try my best to make it worthwhile to read while you should be doing your work or homework, but on that note please refer back to PS #2. 

What is Semester at Sea?

My home for the next few months is the MV Explorer.  It was built in 2002 and is the fastest passenger ship of its kind.  It was specifically made for this program, so everyone on the ship will be doing something that relates to this program.  There are classrooms, a library, a fitness center, etc. for our college “campus” (awesome, right?!)  Depending on what voyage you choose you go different routes all over the world.  Since this program is an option for all college students, they offer over 75 courses to try to meet everyone’s needs.  There is a minimum of taking 12 credits and a maximum of taking 15 credits.  After the voyage we are given an official transcript from University of Virginia to transfer these credits back to our home school.  I saved some electives for this trip so the classes I will be taking this semester are Global Studies (required for all students), Social Psychology, Sociology of Marriage and the Family, and Drawing.  We have class everyday (from my understanding, or at least almost everyday) while we are on the ship.  When we get to land we have 2 Faculty Directed Practica (field trips basically) for each class, but besides that we are free to do as we please as long as we stay within country boarders. 

Their website is semesteratsea.org if you have any more questions!

Itinerary

Here is my itinerary for my voyage!

• EMBARK: Nassau, Bahamas (Jan 18-19)
  
• Roseau, Dominica (Jan 23-24)
  
• Manaus, Brazil (Jan 31-Feb 3)
  
• Tema, Ghana (Feb 13-17)
  
• Cape Town, South Africa (Feb 24-29)
  
• Port Louis, Mauritius (Mar 6)
  
• Cochin, India (Mar 12-17)
  
• Singapore (Mar 22)
  
• Ho Chi Minh, City, Viet Nam (Mar 25-30)
  
• Hong Kong, China (Apr 1-2)
  
• Shanghai, China (Apr 5-7)
  
• Kobe, Japan (Apr 10-11)
  
• Yokohama, Japan(Apr 13-14)
• Hilo, Hawaii (Apr 25)
  
• DEBARK: San Diego, CA USA (May 2)