January 31, 2011
Well today was just one of those days where I just live on a boat. Nothing exciting really happened so this won't be long. Last night we signed up for our events for Sea Olympics, which is going to happen on February 3. My deck is the Mediterrenean Sea and our color is green. I signed up for some relay races, so Maggi and I will be practicing the 3 legged race sometime in the next few days. There are about 7 different teams, and the reward is to be the first ones off when we port for the last time in San Diego... so its a big deal (the process takes forever). Anyway, I spent the majority of today preparing for my World Religion's speech on Abraham Heschel... which I have to present tom morning at 10am...so wish me luck! The weather has been really nice out... not that i've been able to spend much time outside since I have a lot of work to do lately with our first set of tests coming up. Anyway... the waves look nice from my classroom windows and the boat isn't keeping me awake at night due to the waves.
Just wanted to send a thank you to everyone who has been sending me emails. It's been great being able to stay in touch with everyone while I'm away and very far from home. Miss you all... be home in 3 months!
P.S I've already started working on my imovie for this trip. So far 10 mins long... but i need song suggestions. So put your ipods on shuffle... and if you come across something that is upbeat and just amazing. Email me the name so I can use it.
Thanks.
LOVE YOU ALL!!!
January 31, 2011
Just went on my blog website and realized i'm really repetetive, so I apologize. Fun Fact: Just set our clocks ahead again one more hour so I am currently about 4 hours ahead of my real life.
Ps. If you are a member of my family... book your tickets to San Diego now so that I can see you on the 24th. If you are not my family... you can still come, but if not. Tell my mom she better be there :)
January 30, 2011
Sorry I never update my blog. I actually am going to try to update it everyday from now until I get to Ghana. I just spent about 5 days in Brazil... which I will say now, was amazing. The first two days I spent on a riverboat on the Amazon river. Although I have always thought I was an outdoorsy person... nothing compares to the Amazon, roughing it was a challenge to say the least. On the first day I got to see the meeting of the waters between the Amazon and the Rio de Negro (i advise you to google this phenomenon... because its redic). We also went to this lagoon area where the lilipads were actually about 6 ft in diameter... which was unreal. Later that night, after a 5 hour boat journey we arrived at this little lake area where we got to go on a caiman search. It was a little freaky because I had no idea what to expect, I was in a tiny canoe with lots of people, and it was pitched black (the stars were beautiful though). My guide somehow with his barehands was able to catch the gator like animal and pull him right onto our boat. It was about a meter long, so a young one, and I got to hold it (i took pictures, no worries). After the search, we were sent to sleep on hammocks, and for those who know me... I CANNOT fall asleep on my back... so after a few hours of torture I ended up untying my hammock and sleeping on the ground. We woke up at 5am the next morning to go pirana fishing which was pretty neat, but unfortunetly I caught absolutely nothing! Luckily a few people in my boat did, so I got a good close up on the little teeth. After fishing we went to a tapioka plantation and got to see how this family harvest tapioka and how they cook it and produce it for selling. We then headed back to Manaus- were our ship was and got the afternoon free to explore the city. To be quite honest... Manaus is not the most exciting cities in the world, so i was glad I was heading for Rio. Our flight to Rio was at 1am, with a layover in Brasilia- so needless to say... I didn't get a great night sleep that night either. Anyway... since I've talked with some of you, you already know about how much fun I had in Rio. Well about 30 mins after walking off the plane, I suddenly felt like death and ended up throwing up in the middle of the sidewalk on copacabana avenue (really embarrasing... great first impression for those I had recently just met as well). Anyway... I was sick the entire time there so I missed out on all of the fun nightlife Rio had to offer. I did how ever manage to suck it up and do all the things I could during the two days we had in Rio. We went to see "Christ the Redeemer" (google) which was beautiful, we saw the botanic gardens, and saw wild monkeys, and I also did a high ropes course and zip line too. I bought a few things from the market and overall did have a good time... I just wish I wasn't so sick the whole time. Luckily about 10 other people were similarly sick while we were there, so it easily could have been worse.
As of now... I am day one out of the Amazon, and day one on the Atlantic making my way to Africa, scheduled to arrive in Ghana by Sunday. I couldn't be more excited... I have a lot of service visits planned and can't wait to get started. Hoping ill find some free internet so I can reach out to all of you. Sent out a bunch of post cards in Rio... so look for one in the mail if you gave me your address. I'll talk to you all soon... miss you!!!
Love, Keira
January 24, 2011
First off.. i'd like to wish a Happy 22nd Birthday to my amazing older brother Griffin- i tried to call you, but wifi apparently doesn't exist in Manaus, Brazil. Hope all is well at home and I miss you all. I just got back today from the first leg of my Amazon & Rio SAS trip. We started off by meeting at 0930 yesterday morning and separating into our groups. I was on boat #2 with the coolest guides ever. We got on our litter river boats (by little i mean double decker, so maybe not so little, but compared to our ship) and traveled one hour down the Rio de Negro to a place where we saw lily pads 6 feet in diameter. On the way there we passed "the meetting of the waters" where the Amazon meets with the Rio de Negro and looks real cool (google it). After, we had a 5 hour trip to this small lake, upstream and we were all miserably bored because we didn't know it would be that long- until a girl on our ship, who conveniently is a certified yoga instructor, decided to give us a lesson on the front of our boat. It was really cool, and helped the time go by. Once we finally got to our destination it was dark out, and the sky was plastered in the most amazing display of the stars i've ever seen. We hoped on little motorized canoes and went crocodile hunting... which was so freaky- but so cool. I got to hold one of the little ones that our guide caught (pictures to come) and it made my day. Once we got back to the ship we had dinner then head to bed- on our hammocks. If you know me, you're probably aware that I am the lightest sleeper/ need a fan/ need to sleep on my stomach.... so this was brutal. I ended up untying my hammock and sleeping on top of it on the floor- best idea...even though my shirt was stained my the bug spray residue all over the deck. We were woken up at 5:30 am- leaving me only 4 hours of sleep- to go pirana fishing! Ha i caught nothing- just my luck, but got to hold a pirana anyway. After fishing we had breakfast, then headed to a plantation in the jungle where a family produced their own tapioka. We got to try some, and also got to taste real acai berries, straight from the treat, and a few other native fruits. After the visit we took an hour hike treking through the amazon jungle and learning about survival and all that jazz. Finally, we head back to our boat for lunch, and some of us went diving into the river....scary, but soooo refreshing after 2 days in the Amazon. Once we got back to port, my friend Jess and I explored Manaus together which wasn't too exciting to be honest- so we're glad to be heading to Rio. We met up with a bunch of people at the port side bar who are also waiting for the 1am flight to RIo, which was a lot of fun. Now I'm about 20 mins away from the next leg, which I'm very excited for. I'll keep you all updated if your following.
Miss everyone, having a blast though.
Keira
January 21, 2011,
So I just realized all of my latest blog posts have been sent to the wrong email address and haven’t been posted, so sorry this one is really long. Today is day 2 of being on the Amazon River! Although brown water may not be considered the most luxurious of things, the scenery is absolutely beautiful. Being in Brazil has been great so far, and we haven’t even touched land yet. I have been busy with classes over the past few days but we don’t have class tomorrow, we have a “reading day” which I guess is supposed to be used to catch up on classes, which I may have to take advantage of. I am actually hoping for sun because its been pretty cloudy and rainy the past 2 days, which actually worked out nicely because I needed my sunburn to heal in time (apparently I underestimated the sun’s strength at the equator). Another fun fact, Maggi and I missed laundry day (which apparently only occurs once in a blue moon) because our cabin was ignored and no body posted signs to let us know. Anyway… our room has turned into a gigantic drying rack for hanging all of our hand washed (in sink) clothes which we are desparate to have dried in time for Manaus on our arrive on Sunday. Tonight we have an open mic night as well as “club union”- which is supposed to be a dance party. Considering they limit us to only 3 drinks a night, we’ll have to see how hoppin’ it becomes. Anyway, I’ll try to get these blogs posted right away.
Ps. Real sorry for all the midwesterners suffering the -15 degree weather.
Keira
January 18, 2011
So today marks day 6 of my Semester at Sea journey. We are currently headed towards the Amazon away from Dominica. Dominca was an amazing two days. On Sunday, when we arrived in Roseau, a group of about 20 of us went on a tour around Dominica. We started with a four hour hike up a mountain to visit this amazing waterfall, Middleham Falls, which we were able to swim in and jump off cliffs around. It was definitely a good workout, and most of us are still feeling sore muscles two days later. Our tour guide Cynthia was the best. She told us all about the island (not the same a the Dominican Republic, check a map) and the history, and all about her life and family. After going to Middleham we headed to Trafali falls to see the "mother" and "father" waterfalls which each came from different sources, but merged together at that one point. Lastly we went to Mama tia's hot sulfer baths, which we very relaxing. We were supposed to snokel at champagne reef, but the owner tried to scam us, so we got some money back and gave it all to our awesome tour guides. On the way back to the ship we stopped at a roadside "bar" and tried rum punch and the local kabuli beer... which started an impromptu dance party led by non other than our awesome guide Cynthia. After the tour we all went out to the local hole in the wall bar, J.R's. After about an hour we head to the dance club, Krazy Coconuts... which was a massive semester at sea party.
On Monday, Maggi and I signed up for the SAS Whale and Dolphin Safari... we saw absolutely nothing! The group that went on sunday saw about 20 whales... and we got nada. After that we wandered the town and went to the markets and then to post office to send out some postcards. Cynthia met up with us at the cafe and we met her daughter and hung out with her for a while before getting back on the ship.
Last night, after taking off from Dominica we hit rough seas, so for the past 24 hours this boat has been nothing but a sea saw. I didn't sleep at all, and was convinced we were going down like the titanic. Since our room is so far forward in the ship, and so low... I could hear every wave hit the side of the ship right next to the wall of my bed... it was like a thunderstorm. My professor this morning advised us that we need to learn to trust the ship... so tonight, i'll work on that, along with plugging in my headphones. Hopefully I'll be able to keep better up to date on this blog. We should be hitting the mouth of the Amazon in the few days and I cannot wait for Brazil!
Hope everyone is staying warm and having fun back in the states. Miss you all,
Keira
January 14, 2011
Today I spent the day going to my two classes and laying out on the deck tanning with Colleen (Colleen Connely). I wish I could say I'll be working very hard this semester, but I have a good feeling this may feel more like a vacation than anything. We are actually stopped in Puerto Rico right now gassin' up the ship, which apparently takes about 6 hours. Good thing about being stopped even though we can't get off the ship is that we have phone service, because we are in US territory, AND the boat isn't rocking nearly as much. Had a girl vom this morning 10 mins into my 10:35 class from sea sickness. It is not really considered gross to throw up on ship... it has become completely acceptable and normal. Luckily I escaped sea sickness entirely, with only a small head ache and some drowsiness. Well, I'm off to go read for Global Ethics and enjoy the beautiful stars.
Keira
January 12, 2011 (Nassau, Bahamas)
Officially, today marks day one of Semester at Sea. I am currently aboard the MV Explorer sitting in room 3302, which is conveniently located as far from possible from any staircase or elevator, and sits right up next to the boiler room (loud). Since Maggi (roomy) and I are in “economy” we have THE tiniest room ever, which sizes around 1/3 of my freshman dorm’s size. Plus side: we have our own bathroom along with all the other rooms, but it’s still pretty nice to have our own.
Checked in around 10:30 am, about 30 mins before Maggi, because I somehow managed to find a way to cut half the line without realizing. Anyway, check-in went pretty smoothly, so no issues there. Since then I have met a bunch of people around the boat. We don’t have many neighbors down here, but I officially plan to spend minimal amounts of time down in this cave. We just had our greeting message from the VP of Students, followed by a painfully long lifejacket and lifeboat drill. I’ll try to post videos from the day at the next possible WiFi opportunity.
Hoping everyone back in the US is doing well, and good luck to everyone starting second semester!
Keira
