Today I felt as if I was hit by a brick. Not literally, mostly because all of the walls on the ship are magnetic and bricks aren’t flying around randomly. Seriously, what kind of study abroad program do you think I’m on people?
Anyways, there are times I have felt that it still hasn’t hit me about everything I’m doing and learning while on this voyage. It’s weird to me that I’ve already been to five countries which I have never been to before in my life in less than two months. I have realized more and more that it’s the people you meet in these places, not always the sites and photographs. When we were leaving Mauritius, (which I will update you what I did there in a little bit) I met two inter-port students from India who are on the ship until we arrive in Chennai. They were really sweet girls and it was really interesting to talk to them about how life was like in India for young people. It’s these discussions, in which I will remember more than looking through guidebooks and reading the suggested independent trips given to us to research.
There are so many places I’m looking forward to seeing and learning more about. It’s weird to me that some people have no desire to visit these amazing countries I keep reading and learning about in classes and from books. As an American, I feel lucky to be traveling the world and learning about different cultures other than our own. There are so many cultures, traditions, and people in the world-why would you only stay in one place? I know a few of my friends at school don’t even own a passport, which deeply saddens me. But, everyone has their different priorities, and it does get expensive to travel to new places.
So in Mauritius, we were only there for one day, mostly to refuel and restock before we went through Asia. It was very warm, I take that back, it was blisteringly hot. I haven’t sweat that much in a long time. I explored in the morning with my friends Chris and Andrea, we went to the flea market (which I thought was SO COOL) then they wanted to check out a few other places. We walked along the waterfront area near the pier and got some delicious Indian food for lunch. I got really excited for India after that lunch and even more enthusiastic about it when the food did not upset my stomach. Good thing I grew up around spices my whole life I’m excited to burn my tongue off with the different curries. We then walked around a beautiful inside craft market (thank goodness it was air conditioned) and found some beautiful things to buy, but decided against it. After our wandering I had to get back to the ship for a service visit for class. Andrea ended up coming with me which was a lot of fun. We got in a bus with 12 other SAS students to visit a SOS Children’s Village (Children’s orphanage) in Bambous, Mauritius. We were given a short tour of the facility, but half way the kids kept popping up everywhere. Eventually it turned into an afternoon of soccer, piggy back rides, hair braiding, duck-duck-goose, and running around and taking photos. Most of the children at the village were ages 3-16, with boys and girls. It was a blast just to hang out and get to know them instead of being told all about the organization and the great things they were accomplish. I really loved just running around with a bunch of kids looking for some entertainment.
Mauritius is known for their luxurious beaches and soaking up the sun, but I was happy to spend my short time there playing with a bunch of kids and making them happy. That evening after returning to the ship, there was a BBQ and the opening ceremonies for the sea Olympics. This is an all day event (no classes, yea!) of different sea teams (divided by where you live on the ship). We compete in activities such as dodge ball, volleyball, potato sculpting contest, tug of war, and synchronized swimming. It’s a lot of fun and gets everyone involved. You make a flag, think up a team cheer, and choose a mascot. Since I was in the yellow sea, we decided to be yellow fever and wear yellow all day. I participated in the paper boat floating contest, and constructed some origami type raft with three other people. We received a silver medal! We ended up tying for third place overall, which was better than nothing. The winning team gets off first in Fort Lauderdale. It’s a pretty good prize. Since the Sea Olympics, there has been an enormous amount of schoolwork and everyone’s been overwhelmed with studying for papers and exams. I can’t believe in the month of March we only have ten days of class. You may think, wow she really is on vacation. But, I am doing things for class in the places I’m visiting and when we do have class, it’s very condensed and overwhelming. I know everything will work out, and I’m really looking forward to all the places we still have left to visit. In India I will be on an SAS trip to the Taj Mahal and the city of Jaipur, which is known as “the pink city”with lots of beautifully constructed temples and religious sites. I’m really looking forward also to my service visit to a school on the last day for class. I have uploaded some photos from South Africa below. Please check them out if you have a chance, there is one of the penguins in Simmonstown, the view from Table Mountain, the labyrinth at St. George’s Cathedral, the tea cakes I tried at the hotel on the waterfront, and Kristina and I together with my hair braided.
I hope you enjoy and I’ll see you in India!
No comments:
Post a Comment