Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Hey everyone,
Well we are almost to china! But we need to fill you in on what we did in Cambodia and Vietnam. The first day, we left the ship and headed to the airport for our super quick, 45 min flight to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We had severe turbulence on the flight but managed to land safely and very quickly. As soon as we arrived, we were taken to the Palm Tree Orphanage where we got to hang out with the coolest little kids for about 1 hr. They performed two dances for us, one by the girls the other by the boys. We were supposed to go to a museum after that but our bus we held up by the police for about 45 minutes because they were looking for bribes. We then proceeded to dinner at a very nice restaurant and ate delicious, traditional Cambodian food and were then taken to our hotel, which was right across the street from the US embassy.
Day 2: We woke up around 6am and headed out to the killing fields where the Khmer Rouge regime killed thousands of people. It was a very humbling experience. There was a mausoleum type structure, located in the center, that held 8,000 skulls of people that had been killed there. The rest of the grounds were slightly overgrown but signs were posted saying what happened and where. After that we headed to the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda which were beautiful and impressive. The Silver Pagoda had a floor that was made entirely out of silver, hence the name. Next we headed to the genocide museum that was in the same building where thousands of people were imprisoned and tortured by the Khmer Rouge. It was an old school building and the rooms had either pictures or objects from the days when the prison was in use. It was extremely sad and hard to see but we learned important things about Cambodia’s history that we hadn’t previously known. We then boarded a flight to Siem Reap, Angkor Wat. Upon arrival, we were taken to our hotel, which was awesome. It was gorgeous and we didn’t want to leave! At sunset, we drove to the Ankgor Wat temple and explored it until dark. The mosquitoes were horrendous, MALARIA! We had dinner at this huge buffet like restaurant that was packed full of all the tourists that were currently in Angkor Wat. We had a leisurely evening to ourselves in our gorgeous hotel room.
Day 3: We woke up at 4am to explore the Angkor Wat Temple at sunrise. It was beautiful and awe inspiring. After that we went back to the hotel for breakfast and then headed to the Ta Prohm Temple were Tomb Raider the movie was filmed. It was awesome and we had about 2 ½ hours to explore the ruins and take millions of pictures, some of which we put up on flickr. Then we drove to the east gate of Angkor Wat and explored that area for a while. We headed back to the hotel for lunch then went back out to the south gate of Angkor Thom, the Terrace of the Leper King and the Elephant Terraces. Upon entering the south gate we walked passed about 50 Buddha statues with good ones on one side and evil ones on the other. When we entered the temple, we climbed up into it and there were many pillars with the four faces of Buddha on them. EPIC! It was very, very hot and humid and by this point we were beat and drenched in more sweat than we both have experienced combined. We were also stuck with a very crabby old woman who made it a point to complain the whole time. After that we headed to the airport for our flight back to Ho Chi Minh city.
Vietnam Day 1: We let ourselves sleep in a little to recuperate from our great, fulfilling Cambodia trip. We immediately went and hit up the huge market. It was also very hot and sweaty there….we’d say probably 90 in the shade. The market was chaotic and stifling but fun to browse in because they had everything under the sun for very cheap. We spent a good amount of time there then headed back to the ship for a little R&R and to prepare for the night. We headed out with our friend Liz and Grace and rode motorcycles to the bar! They don’t really have taxis and the motorcycles only cost a dollar or less and they provide helmets for no extra charge. The nightlife was great and we had a lot of fun.
Vietnam Day 2: We woke up and headed into the city again to drop more dong…the Vietnamese currency. We got coffee, which was delicious and Rachael picked up the dress she had made. Before heading back to the ship, we stopped into a local restaurant and had pho, which is noodles in a broth with either veggies, beef, chicken or fish. It was one of the most delicious things we have ever tasted. We stuffed ourselves full of pho then headed back to the ship, on motorcycles no less. We had a whirlwind experience but loved every minute of it. This port has been both our favorite so far and we hope that all of you can make if here someday. We have taken thousands of pictures that we cannot wait to share with everyone. We highly recommend going to a local Vietnamese restaurant in your area and trying some pho! You won’t regret it…..we sure will when we get home and rehash the good ole days in nam!
PEACE AND LOVE
Rachael and Kiah
Well we are almost to china! But we need to fill you in on what we did in Cambodia and Vietnam. The first day, we left the ship and headed to the airport for our super quick, 45 min flight to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We had severe turbulence on the flight but managed to land safely and very quickly. As soon as we arrived, we were taken to the Palm Tree Orphanage where we got to hang out with the coolest little kids for about 1 hr. They performed two dances for us, one by the girls the other by the boys. We were supposed to go to a museum after that but our bus we held up by the police for about 45 minutes because they were looking for bribes. We then proceeded to dinner at a very nice restaurant and ate delicious, traditional Cambodian food and were then taken to our hotel, which was right across the street from the US embassy.
Day 2: We woke up around 6am and headed out to the killing fields where the Khmer Rouge regime killed thousands of people. It was a very humbling experience. There was a mausoleum type structure, located in the center, that held 8,000 skulls of people that had been killed there. The rest of the grounds were slightly overgrown but signs were posted saying what happened and where. After that we headed to the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda which were beautiful and impressive. The Silver Pagoda had a floor that was made entirely out of silver, hence the name. Next we headed to the genocide museum that was in the same building where thousands of people were imprisoned and tortured by the Khmer Rouge. It was an old school building and the rooms had either pictures or objects from the days when the prison was in use. It was extremely sad and hard to see but we learned important things about Cambodia’s history that we hadn’t previously known. We then boarded a flight to Siem Reap, Angkor Wat. Upon arrival, we were taken to our hotel, which was awesome. It was gorgeous and we didn’t want to leave! At sunset, we drove to the Ankgor Wat temple and explored it until dark. The mosquitoes were horrendous, MALARIA! We had dinner at this huge buffet like restaurant that was packed full of all the tourists that were currently in Angkor Wat. We had a leisurely evening to ourselves in our gorgeous hotel room.
Day 3: We woke up at 4am to explore the Angkor Wat Temple at sunrise. It was beautiful and awe inspiring. After that we went back to the hotel for breakfast and then headed to the Ta Prohm Temple were Tomb Raider the movie was filmed. It was awesome and we had about 2 ½ hours to explore the ruins and take millions of pictures, some of which we put up on flickr. Then we drove to the east gate of Angkor Wat and explored that area for a while. We headed back to the hotel for lunch then went back out to the south gate of Angkor Thom, the Terrace of the Leper King and the Elephant Terraces. Upon entering the south gate we walked passed about 50 Buddha statues with good ones on one side and evil ones on the other. When we entered the temple, we climbed up into it and there were many pillars with the four faces of Buddha on them. EPIC! It was very, very hot and humid and by this point we were beat and drenched in more sweat than we both have experienced combined. We were also stuck with a very crabby old woman who made it a point to complain the whole time. After that we headed to the airport for our flight back to Ho Chi Minh city.
Vietnam Day 1: We let ourselves sleep in a little to recuperate from our great, fulfilling Cambodia trip. We immediately went and hit up the huge market. It was also very hot and sweaty there….we’d say probably 90 in the shade. The market was chaotic and stifling but fun to browse in because they had everything under the sun for very cheap. We spent a good amount of time there then headed back to the ship for a little R&R and to prepare for the night. We headed out with our friend Liz and Grace and rode motorcycles to the bar! They don’t really have taxis and the motorcycles only cost a dollar or less and they provide helmets for no extra charge. The nightlife was great and we had a lot of fun.
Vietnam Day 2: We woke up and headed into the city again to drop more dong…the Vietnamese currency. We got coffee, which was delicious and Rachael picked up the dress she had made. Before heading back to the ship, we stopped into a local restaurant and had pho, which is noodles in a broth with either veggies, beef, chicken or fish. It was one of the most delicious things we have ever tasted. We stuffed ourselves full of pho then headed back to the ship, on motorcycles no less. We had a whirlwind experience but loved every minute of it. This port has been both our favorite so far and we hope that all of you can make if here someday. We have taken thousands of pictures that we cannot wait to share with everyone. We highly recommend going to a local Vietnamese restaurant in your area and trying some pho! You won’t regret it…..we sure will when we get home and rehash the good ole days in nam!
PEACE AND LOVE
Rachael and Kiah
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Mauritius, a small island to the east of Madagascar, tropical, beautiful and popular tourist attraction:
Day 1: We awoke early and took a water taxi (the only mode of transportation from the ship to the waterfront of Port Louis) to the waterfront and found a restaurant where we had a delicious breakfast of omelet and French fries. Then we walked about for a while. The city was interesting. Kind of dirty and not at all tropical feeling. We headed back to the ship in the early afternoon to go on a service visit to a children’s village/ orphanage. There were about 100 children, ranging from 1 year to 17 years old. They were all very excited to see us and play with our cameras. The organization that runs the place was very inspiring, as were the housemothers that donated their lives to taking care of orphans. For dinner we met up with friends at a local bar for delicious drinks and food.
Day 2: got up early this day and took a bus up to Grand Baie for 30 rupees! About 10 cents or so! It was about an hour-long ride between Port Louis and Grand Baie where all the beaches and resorts are. We went with our friend Rikki and found a nice little public beach as soon as we got there. We wanted to spend the night but we weren’t sure if we could find anything cheap enough. We stumbled upon a little hotel right across the street from the beach and on the strip where all the restaurants and bars were. It was only 9 dollars a night per person! A few other people from the ship met up with us there. We went out to the beach again for sunset and a swim. It was beautiful! Then headed back and got ready for and evening of dining, drinking, and dancing.
Day 3: Woke up early for the bus ride back to Port Louis. Got in and had breakfast at the same delicious restaurant. Sat around for some time hanging with peeps, not wanting to get back on the ship. Eventually caved and got on ship. We both were feeling very tired. Kiah had a fever and a cough. We slept the afternoon away and said ‘adieu’ to Mauritius.
Sailed for 5 days
Finally got to India (a country in Asia, hopefully you’ve all heard of it), here’s the big news!:
Day 1: got into Chennai (Madras) in the morning. We were the first off the ship to leave on our trip to the Taj Mahal and Jaipur. We got on an airplane up to Delhi for the night. When we finally arrived in Delhi (over an hour late) we had a night drive by tour of the old part of the city. We spent the night at a gorgeous 5 star hotel (well, the lobby was certainly 5 star, but the room wasn’t that nice).
Day 2: Woke early (6 am!) the next morning for our drive to Jaipur, about 6 hours southwest of Delhi. The drive was, interesting to say the least. Cows roamed freely through the streets. Rickshaws and motorcycles and bicycles weaved in and out with no attention to lane lines or indicators. Actually, most vehicles don’t even have side-view mirror they just have a sign on the back that says ‘honk please’ indicating that you should honk when passing next to them! Crazyyyyy! The drive was also beautiful at some points. Close to Jaipur is the Amber Fort (which we visited the next day, see below) set atop a stunning and haunting grey hill with prickly looking shrubs and trees. It was incredibly beautiful. We got to Jaipur and checked into our hotel and had lunch there. After lunch we got back on the bus for a city tour of Jaipur. We saw an ancient observatory. It was pretty much a big courtyard thing with enormous structures that calculated the position of stars and the sun and other things. One of them was a huge sundial; it was probably 6 stories tall! We then went to the palace there where the royal family lived before India became a democratic state. While there we saw the maharaja of Rajasthan (a state in India, the maharaja is simply a symbolic leader now). That was pretty sweet. We then had a free night and used it to sleep!
Day 3: got up early again and got into the bus for our drive over to the Amber Fort. We got in line and rode elephants up to it. The fort was enormous and there was an old cobblestone switchback road leading up to it. It was so much fun and the elephants were so cute! And huge! And sweet! We then toured the fort, which was enormous with many little corridors leading to different outside areas and stunning carvings and such. After that we got back in the bus for our drive to Agra for the Taj Mahal! That was a very lonnnnng drive and on the way we hit bit of a snafu! The bus suddenly pulled over on the side of the highway behind many other pulled over vehicles. We were in the middle of nowhere with shacks around and presumably a tiny town nearby. Finally after about 20 minutes of not knowing what was going on our tour guide informed us that there was some sort of demonstration going on up ahead, people were using their bodies to block the road. Apparently, a boy from a Muslim family died and there was fighting going on between two groups (Muslims and some other group in the town) about his burial or something, it was kind of unclear. But in any case they weren’t letting any vehicles through; they were breaking windows and throwing rocks if anyone tried to drive past. So we waited for a while longer. By this time a crowd of children and some adults had gathered around our but and were waiving and such and the tour guide told us to pull the curtains on the bus so we didn’t arouse too much attention or something. He was certain that the presence of foreigners might spark more action in the demonstration. We finally saw traffic moving on the other side of the road after a few military vehicles drove past. So we started moving and all had to slump down in our seats so that no one could see us. The tour guide was pretty nervous, and we’ll admit that we were too. After about 20 minutes more of driving, he said it was all okay and that we could pull the curtains back again if we wanted. It was all safe and fine but still a slightly rattling experience! We stopped at an abandoned ancient city (Fatepurhsikri) and toured that for a bit and finally ended up at our hotel for dinner and sleep.
Day 4: got up EXTREMELY early (5:15) to get to the Taj Mahal for sunrise. It was incredible! We were dropped off 10 minutes walk away because vehicles can’t get any closer and there was a pretty walk through a park of sorts with monkeys running around. We got to the gates and waited for a bit (the gate doesn’t open till sunrise) and got inside a bit after 6. There really is no way to describe the Taj Mahal. It doesn’t look real. The place looks like an enormous backdrop until you are right up next to it. It was great to see the colors of the place change as the sun rises and there weren’t that many people there, which was really great. Our tour guide gave us a 20-minute talk as soon as we got in and then let us wander around for about 2 hours, which was really nice. We were able to just take our time and really have a great experience. We will try to post some pictures soon so you can all see what we are talking about. We then walked back to the bus and drove back to Delhi where we had lunch and were dropped off at the airport for our flight back to Chennai. The flight was delayed a rather long time and we didn’t get back to the ship that night till around 1am, so we were all exhausted.
Day 5: got up at a reasonable hour! Hired an auto-rickshaw for the day (for about 4 dollars each!). The driver was a really sweet old man who had an envelope in his rickshaw with letters and pictures from previous SAS students he had met. He was really excited to meet us and show us around the city. We got some great shopping done and got a bit of internet time in before we headed back for the ship in the early afternoon.
So that was our time in India, that’s a pretty short version and we would love to go into more detail about every amazing experience, but who do you think we are!?!?! We have lots of important and pressing things to see to! We love you all and miss you so so so so much! Keep in touch and have an awesome and SAFE Halloween!
On October thirty-first witches do their brewing
Ghosts and goblins hear them shout
Who knows what they’re doing
Jack-o-lanterns light each door
It’s the night they’ve waited for
Hurry home and jump in bed or Halloween will….
GRAB YOU!!!
xxoo Kiah and Rachael
Day 1: We awoke early and took a water taxi (the only mode of transportation from the ship to the waterfront of Port Louis) to the waterfront and found a restaurant where we had a delicious breakfast of omelet and French fries. Then we walked about for a while. The city was interesting. Kind of dirty and not at all tropical feeling. We headed back to the ship in the early afternoon to go on a service visit to a children’s village/ orphanage. There were about 100 children, ranging from 1 year to 17 years old. They were all very excited to see us and play with our cameras. The organization that runs the place was very inspiring, as were the housemothers that donated their lives to taking care of orphans. For dinner we met up with friends at a local bar for delicious drinks and food.
Day 2: got up early this day and took a bus up to Grand Baie for 30 rupees! About 10 cents or so! It was about an hour-long ride between Port Louis and Grand Baie where all the beaches and resorts are. We went with our friend Rikki and found a nice little public beach as soon as we got there. We wanted to spend the night but we weren’t sure if we could find anything cheap enough. We stumbled upon a little hotel right across the street from the beach and on the strip where all the restaurants and bars were. It was only 9 dollars a night per person! A few other people from the ship met up with us there. We went out to the beach again for sunset and a swim. It was beautiful! Then headed back and got ready for and evening of dining, drinking, and dancing.
Day 3: Woke up early for the bus ride back to Port Louis. Got in and had breakfast at the same delicious restaurant. Sat around for some time hanging with peeps, not wanting to get back on the ship. Eventually caved and got on ship. We both were feeling very tired. Kiah had a fever and a cough. We slept the afternoon away and said ‘adieu’ to Mauritius.
Sailed for 5 days
Finally got to India (a country in Asia, hopefully you’ve all heard of it), here’s the big news!:
Day 1: got into Chennai (Madras) in the morning. We were the first off the ship to leave on our trip to the Taj Mahal and Jaipur. We got on an airplane up to Delhi for the night. When we finally arrived in Delhi (over an hour late) we had a night drive by tour of the old part of the city. We spent the night at a gorgeous 5 star hotel (well, the lobby was certainly 5 star, but the room wasn’t that nice).
Day 2: Woke early (6 am!) the next morning for our drive to Jaipur, about 6 hours southwest of Delhi. The drive was, interesting to say the least. Cows roamed freely through the streets. Rickshaws and motorcycles and bicycles weaved in and out with no attention to lane lines or indicators. Actually, most vehicles don’t even have side-view mirror they just have a sign on the back that says ‘honk please’ indicating that you should honk when passing next to them! Crazyyyyy! The drive was also beautiful at some points. Close to Jaipur is the Amber Fort (which we visited the next day, see below) set atop a stunning and haunting grey hill with prickly looking shrubs and trees. It was incredibly beautiful. We got to Jaipur and checked into our hotel and had lunch there. After lunch we got back on the bus for a city tour of Jaipur. We saw an ancient observatory. It was pretty much a big courtyard thing with enormous structures that calculated the position of stars and the sun and other things. One of them was a huge sundial; it was probably 6 stories tall! We then went to the palace there where the royal family lived before India became a democratic state. While there we saw the maharaja of Rajasthan (a state in India, the maharaja is simply a symbolic leader now). That was pretty sweet. We then had a free night and used it to sleep!
Day 3: got up early again and got into the bus for our drive over to the Amber Fort. We got in line and rode elephants up to it. The fort was enormous and there was an old cobblestone switchback road leading up to it. It was so much fun and the elephants were so cute! And huge! And sweet! We then toured the fort, which was enormous with many little corridors leading to different outside areas and stunning carvings and such. After that we got back in the bus for our drive to Agra for the Taj Mahal! That was a very lonnnnng drive and on the way we hit bit of a snafu! The bus suddenly pulled over on the side of the highway behind many other pulled over vehicles. We were in the middle of nowhere with shacks around and presumably a tiny town nearby. Finally after about 20 minutes of not knowing what was going on our tour guide informed us that there was some sort of demonstration going on up ahead, people were using their bodies to block the road. Apparently, a boy from a Muslim family died and there was fighting going on between two groups (Muslims and some other group in the town) about his burial or something, it was kind of unclear. But in any case they weren’t letting any vehicles through; they were breaking windows and throwing rocks if anyone tried to drive past. So we waited for a while longer. By this time a crowd of children and some adults had gathered around our but and were waiving and such and the tour guide told us to pull the curtains on the bus so we didn’t arouse too much attention or something. He was certain that the presence of foreigners might spark more action in the demonstration. We finally saw traffic moving on the other side of the road after a few military vehicles drove past. So we started moving and all had to slump down in our seats so that no one could see us. The tour guide was pretty nervous, and we’ll admit that we were too. After about 20 minutes more of driving, he said it was all okay and that we could pull the curtains back again if we wanted. It was all safe and fine but still a slightly rattling experience! We stopped at an abandoned ancient city (Fatepurhsikri) and toured that for a bit and finally ended up at our hotel for dinner and sleep.
Day 4: got up EXTREMELY early (5:15) to get to the Taj Mahal for sunrise. It was incredible! We were dropped off 10 minutes walk away because vehicles can’t get any closer and there was a pretty walk through a park of sorts with monkeys running around. We got to the gates and waited for a bit (the gate doesn’t open till sunrise) and got inside a bit after 6. There really is no way to describe the Taj Mahal. It doesn’t look real. The place looks like an enormous backdrop until you are right up next to it. It was great to see the colors of the place change as the sun rises and there weren’t that many people there, which was really great. Our tour guide gave us a 20-minute talk as soon as we got in and then let us wander around for about 2 hours, which was really nice. We were able to just take our time and really have a great experience. We will try to post some pictures soon so you can all see what we are talking about. We then walked back to the bus and drove back to Delhi where we had lunch and were dropped off at the airport for our flight back to Chennai. The flight was delayed a rather long time and we didn’t get back to the ship that night till around 1am, so we were all exhausted.
Day 5: got up at a reasonable hour! Hired an auto-rickshaw for the day (for about 4 dollars each!). The driver was a really sweet old man who had an envelope in his rickshaw with letters and pictures from previous SAS students he had met. He was really excited to meet us and show us around the city. We got some great shopping done and got a bit of internet time in before we headed back for the ship in the early afternoon.
So that was our time in India, that’s a pretty short version and we would love to go into more detail about every amazing experience, but who do you think we are!?!?! We have lots of important and pressing things to see to! We love you all and miss you so so so so much! Keep in touch and have an awesome and SAFE Halloween!
On October thirty-first witches do their brewing
Ghosts and goblins hear them shout
Who knows what they’re doing
Jack-o-lanterns light each door
It’s the night they’ve waited for
Hurry home and jump in bed or Halloween will….
GRAB YOU!!!
xxoo Kiah and Rachael
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Hey guys,
Sorry it’s taken a while to update but we have been busy! We just left South Africa, which was amazing. Day 1: The day we arrived, we went to two townships. In the first township, we walked around and stopped at a “sheeben” which is an illegal pub, which is run out of someone’s house. We drank their homemade beer, which tasted a lot like sour milk. It was put in a large pale and the pale was passed around for everyone there to try. We posted pictures from the sheeben. After that, we were shown the difference from the shantytowns and the government housing. The only main difference was that the government housing was permanent stone buildings. That night we went into town and checked out the nightlife. We ended up hanging out a at a place called the Dubliner where we made friends with two guys who were in the British services. One was named patty that was from Ireland and the other was named Owen who was from England. They were great!
Day 2: the second day in port we just hung around the port area/waterfront, got some coffee and walked around the mall a little. We also tried to get Internet in the front grass area of the hotel that was right across the street from the ship but were yelled at by a security guard. The security guard told us that we needed to buy something from the café in order to use the Internet for free. So we did but later that night, almost everyone from the ship was in the hotel café trying to use the Internet and by the end of the night, students were asked to leave because they were not guests of the hotel.
Day 3: we did habitat for humanity! It was nice to get some physical labor in. we worked from about 9 until 4 in the afternoon building the walls of a house. The foundation on the house was already built. Our tasks were to make cement, clean the work site and move bricks from pile to pile so that the actual bricklayers could work efficiently. There were also kids the hung around the site all day and they were muffins! We would take breaks and play with them. We posted a picture of the children we loved! We worked along side the family who we were building the house for as well. We were able to get just about all-4 walls of he house up! But dear lord were we sore the next day!
Day 4: we hung around the port area again and got coffee and hung out with doctor Dave! Doctor Dave is the doctor on the ship and is such a sweet man. We also found an Internet café and hung out there for the majority of the night and went to bed fairly early because we had our safari the next day!
Day 5: SAFARI! We had to get up at 6:30 am and drive about 2 and a half hours to the inverdorn game reserve. When we got there we were greeted with coffee, tea and cookies. After coffee we set out onto the reserve to see some animals! It was really cold and windy but we saw cheetahs, rhinos, giraffes, lions, springbok, wildebeests and zebras! It was way too cool. When we got back to the lodge, they greeted us with hot towels and an awesome, fresh produce lunch. After that we headed back to the ship. That night we went to a place called Mitchell’s and hung out there for the night with people.
Day 6: we got up early to head into Cape Town to go to a market to get some shopping done. The market was great and it was a beautiful day. After that, we walked along long st., which is one of the main streets in town. After that, we hopped in cab and went back to the ship. That night we set sail for Mauritius and will arrive there on Thursday.
Love and miss you all!
Rachael and Kiah
Sorry it’s taken a while to update but we have been busy! We just left South Africa, which was amazing. Day 1: The day we arrived, we went to two townships. In the first township, we walked around and stopped at a “sheeben” which is an illegal pub, which is run out of someone’s house. We drank their homemade beer, which tasted a lot like sour milk. It was put in a large pale and the pale was passed around for everyone there to try. We posted pictures from the sheeben. After that, we were shown the difference from the shantytowns and the government housing. The only main difference was that the government housing was permanent stone buildings. That night we went into town and checked out the nightlife. We ended up hanging out a at a place called the Dubliner where we made friends with two guys who were in the British services. One was named patty that was from Ireland and the other was named Owen who was from England. They were great!
Day 2: the second day in port we just hung around the port area/waterfront, got some coffee and walked around the mall a little. We also tried to get Internet in the front grass area of the hotel that was right across the street from the ship but were yelled at by a security guard. The security guard told us that we needed to buy something from the café in order to use the Internet for free. So we did but later that night, almost everyone from the ship was in the hotel café trying to use the Internet and by the end of the night, students were asked to leave because they were not guests of the hotel.
Day 3: we did habitat for humanity! It was nice to get some physical labor in. we worked from about 9 until 4 in the afternoon building the walls of a house. The foundation on the house was already built. Our tasks were to make cement, clean the work site and move bricks from pile to pile so that the actual bricklayers could work efficiently. There were also kids the hung around the site all day and they were muffins! We would take breaks and play with them. We posted a picture of the children we loved! We worked along side the family who we were building the house for as well. We were able to get just about all-4 walls of he house up! But dear lord were we sore the next day!
Day 4: we hung around the port area again and got coffee and hung out with doctor Dave! Doctor Dave is the doctor on the ship and is such a sweet man. We also found an Internet café and hung out there for the majority of the night and went to bed fairly early because we had our safari the next day!
Day 5: SAFARI! We had to get up at 6:30 am and drive about 2 and a half hours to the inverdorn game reserve. When we got there we were greeted with coffee, tea and cookies. After coffee we set out onto the reserve to see some animals! It was really cold and windy but we saw cheetahs, rhinos, giraffes, lions, springbok, wildebeests and zebras! It was way too cool. When we got back to the lodge, they greeted us with hot towels and an awesome, fresh produce lunch. After that we headed back to the ship. That night we went to a place called Mitchell’s and hung out there for the night with people.
Day 6: we got up early to head into Cape Town to go to a market to get some shopping done. The market was great and it was a beautiful day. After that, we walked along long st., which is one of the main streets in town. After that, we hopped in cab and went back to the ship. That night we set sail for Mauritius and will arrive there on Thursday.
Love and miss you all!
Rachael and Kiah
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Pics
Hello from South Africa! We will tell you all about it very soon but we just wanted to give you faithful readers a heads up that we have uploaded some pictures from the safari we did today. It was amazing and absolutely stunning and we both wish we could have stayed for a whole week up there. Will fill you in with the details later! Lots of love
Kiah and Rachael
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Neptune Day!
Hey all! Well we just updated, but wanted to fill you in on the goings on today! It is our first day back on the ship since Ghana, and there were no classes because it was “Neptune Day”. Now we didn’t have really any idea what this was, so we were excited about the prospect of sleeping in a bit late and having an easy day with no classes… At around 7:30 this morning (if you know us at all, you know that neither one of us likes to be up at this ungodly hour) we heard a gaggle of people running up and down the hallways tweeting whistles, banging drums, yelling, singing, banging on doors and making all sorts of other loud, obnoxious noises. Well we continued sleeping when that all died down and then at a few minutes to 9am an announcement came over the loud speaker saying:
“Attention Pollywogs! Come up to the 7th deck by the pool. King Neptune and his queen Minerva have boarded the ship with their court of guards and goddesses for we are about to cross the equator. You will now become Shellbacks!” Apparently someone who hasn’t crossed the equator by sea before is considered a Pollywog and after they are initiated into the Order of the Shellbacks or something like that and they become Shellbacks! So then we all gathered up there and there was a big celebration/ceremony thing. We all lined up by the pool and they poured ‘fish guts’ all over us (I don’t know what it actually was, maybe fish goo, it kinda looked like that green Nickelodeon goo stuff y’kno?) and then we jumped in the pool and when we got out the ‘royal court’ had fish in their hands that we had to kiss then the academic dean dressed in a Greek god toga knighted us with a sword thing and then we had to go over and kiss the queens ring and then king Neptune’s ring and bow to them to be initiated as Shellbacks (Neptune was the ships captain covered in green skin paint and all decked out like a Greek god with a crown and a trident and everything). Then everyone is traditionally supposed to get their heads shaved, but it’s your choice, so now there are a ton of bald people walking around!
Well we hope everyone is well. Keep emailing us! Sorry we haven’t added any new pictures to the flickr page recently. It’s been really hard to find an internet café/ the time to go do all that. We are already really booked in South Africa but will hopefully find the time to upload pics! Miss and love you all!
Kiah and Rachael
“Attention Pollywogs! Come up to the 7th deck by the pool. King Neptune and his queen Minerva have boarded the ship with their court of guards and goddesses for we are about to cross the equator. You will now become Shellbacks!” Apparently someone who hasn’t crossed the equator by sea before is considered a Pollywog and after they are initiated into the Order of the Shellbacks or something like that and they become Shellbacks! So then we all gathered up there and there was a big celebration/ceremony thing. We all lined up by the pool and they poured ‘fish guts’ all over us (I don’t know what it actually was, maybe fish goo, it kinda looked like that green Nickelodeon goo stuff y’kno?) and then we jumped in the pool and when we got out the ‘royal court’ had fish in their hands that we had to kiss then the academic dean dressed in a Greek god toga knighted us with a sword thing and then we had to go over and kiss the queens ring and then king Neptune’s ring and bow to them to be initiated as Shellbacks (Neptune was the ships captain covered in green skin paint and all decked out like a Greek god with a crown and a trident and everything). Then everyone is traditionally supposed to get their heads shaved, but it’s your choice, so now there are a ton of bald people walking around!
Well we hope everyone is well. Keep emailing us! Sorry we haven’t added any new pictures to the flickr page recently. It’s been really hard to find an internet café/ the time to go do all that. We are already really booked in South Africa but will hopefully find the time to upload pics! Miss and love you all!
Kiah and Rachael
Friday, September 25, 2009
Ghanna!
Hey all,
We are saying farewell to Ghana. We had an amazing time here starting with the first day. We went out with out any concrete plans, to catch the shuttle into Accra and ran into many difficulties. The we waited for about an hour and the shuttle never came. We met up with our friends Alix and ZZ and decided to take a taxi instead. All the taxis were parked in a lot and as soon as we walked in about 30 men pulling us in all different directions, trying to get us to go into their cabs, bombarded us. We finally managed to get into one and asked to be dropped off in the main city center of Osu. The drive was about an hour and as we approached the city, we could tell the driver didn’t know where he was going. He proceeded to pull into a market. We decided to get out there because the driver was demanding more money and many people accosted us. Two men came up to the car and introduced themselves as Liman and Jaqual. They offered to show us around for the day. We saw a few costal vistas and went and had a delicious lunch in the market. Next they took us to their drum shop where they and their friends played for us. They then taught us how to play and we jammed with them for a while. It was super fun! Kiah has bruises on her fingers. They also showed us some good shopping spots in the market. After all of that, they took us to the “tro-tro” (public buses that looked like mini vans that they packed FULL.) station and we said our farewells and headed back to the ship. We were too exhausted to go out that night.
Day 2:
We had to wake up at 6:30am to go on a day trip to the cape coast where we saw castles and slave dungeons. It was a 3 hour ride there and traffic here is horrendous, probably worse than LA, Atlanta and Chicago put together. On they way there there was construction and our bus stopped. We saw our tour guide get out of the bus and talk to a policeman and the policeman then guided us through the traffic, forcing cars to move out of the way for us. We reached the first castle and it was a very humbling experience. We then had lunch at a very beautiful hotel on the ocean then saw another castle after. The drive back took about 5 hours and it took us about 20 minutes to go a block. We got back 2 ½ hours later than we were supposed to so we just decided to stay in again.
Day 3:
We tried to wake up early, but naturally failed. We got into action around 11. We took the shuttle into town and did so much needed shopping. We also had some dericious Chinese food for lunch. That night we went out with our friends ZZ, Alix, Liz and Rikki to town. We almost got stuck in the ship for an hour because they were moving gangplanks and were not going to let us off. There was a mob of about 30 angry students demanding to be let off for their last night in Ghana. We were thankfully released and went to a bar first where we were swarmed with friendly Ghanaians who informed us that there was live music down the road. We walked over to the outdoor music club that was filled with both Ghanaians and SAS kids. We danced night away and our friend Liman was there. We left at about 2 in the morning and got into two cabs, each with 3 people in them. We insisted that the cabs stick together for the drive back. When we arrived at the police check point on the expressway, both taxis were pulled over. We were told to get out of the car by a man dressed in fatigues and carrying a gun. He asked us why we weren’t wearing our seat belts and ushered us into his shack. There he tried to get us to go individually into the back rooms but we refused and stuck together. He then wanted u to pay him off, each person paying 10 cedi ($8) each. After that he let us go and told us to buckle up but the cabs don’t have seat belts. After that harrowing ride back to the port, we rode in a pick up truck back to she ship. An eventful evening to say the least! We loved Ghana and the people. It has been our favorite place so far. We hope to come back!
We are saying farewell to Ghana. We had an amazing time here starting with the first day. We went out with out any concrete plans, to catch the shuttle into Accra and ran into many difficulties. The we waited for about an hour and the shuttle never came. We met up with our friends Alix and ZZ and decided to take a taxi instead. All the taxis were parked in a lot and as soon as we walked in about 30 men pulling us in all different directions, trying to get us to go into their cabs, bombarded us. We finally managed to get into one and asked to be dropped off in the main city center of Osu. The drive was about an hour and as we approached the city, we could tell the driver didn’t know where he was going. He proceeded to pull into a market. We decided to get out there because the driver was demanding more money and many people accosted us. Two men came up to the car and introduced themselves as Liman and Jaqual. They offered to show us around for the day. We saw a few costal vistas and went and had a delicious lunch in the market. Next they took us to their drum shop where they and their friends played for us. They then taught us how to play and we jammed with them for a while. It was super fun! Kiah has bruises on her fingers. They also showed us some good shopping spots in the market. After all of that, they took us to the “tro-tro” (public buses that looked like mini vans that they packed FULL.) station and we said our farewells and headed back to the ship. We were too exhausted to go out that night.
Day 2:
We had to wake up at 6:30am to go on a day trip to the cape coast where we saw castles and slave dungeons. It was a 3 hour ride there and traffic here is horrendous, probably worse than LA, Atlanta and Chicago put together. On they way there there was construction and our bus stopped. We saw our tour guide get out of the bus and talk to a policeman and the policeman then guided us through the traffic, forcing cars to move out of the way for us. We reached the first castle and it was a very humbling experience. We then had lunch at a very beautiful hotel on the ocean then saw another castle after. The drive back took about 5 hours and it took us about 20 minutes to go a block. We got back 2 ½ hours later than we were supposed to so we just decided to stay in again.
Day 3:
We tried to wake up early, but naturally failed. We got into action around 11. We took the shuttle into town and did so much needed shopping. We also had some dericious Chinese food for lunch. That night we went out with our friends ZZ, Alix, Liz and Rikki to town. We almost got stuck in the ship for an hour because they were moving gangplanks and were not going to let us off. There was a mob of about 30 angry students demanding to be let off for their last night in Ghana. We were thankfully released and went to a bar first where we were swarmed with friendly Ghanaians who informed us that there was live music down the road. We walked over to the outdoor music club that was filled with both Ghanaians and SAS kids. We danced night away and our friend Liman was there. We left at about 2 in the morning and got into two cabs, each with 3 people in them. We insisted that the cabs stick together for the drive back. When we arrived at the police check point on the expressway, both taxis were pulled over. We were told to get out of the car by a man dressed in fatigues and carrying a gun. He asked us why we weren’t wearing our seat belts and ushered us into his shack. There he tried to get us to go individually into the back rooms but we refused and stuck together. He then wanted u to pay him off, each person paying 10 cedi ($8) each. After that he let us go and told us to buckle up but the cabs don’t have seat belts. After that harrowing ride back to the port, we rode in a pick up truck back to she ship. An eventful evening to say the least! We loved Ghana and the people. It has been our favorite place so far. We hope to come back!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Ghanna!
Hey everyone,
We are going to be in Ghana in the morning! Crazy. Not much has been going on…we have had classes all week and a day off on Saturday. We left Morocco on Monday night and have been sailing since. Neither of us have gotten sea sick this time, nor have we had to take medicine! We saw dolphins! We were at lunch and then a bunch of people began to crowd around the windows and we looked out and saw a group of dolphins, jumping alongside the boat! They looked so jolly and were a dark, grayish color and were actually pretty small. Rachael also thinks she saw a whale but Kiah thinks it was just a bird diving into the water. However, there was an other guy who saw it also and he thinks it was a whale too…it has been very hot and humid these past few days ad we are told that Ghana will also be very humid, perfect for mosquitoes and malaria. Actually on that note, Rachael took her malaria medicine today and then took a nap. When she woke up, she went to go to the bathroom and when she opened the door she began to feel light-headed, she had ringing in her ears and she got very hot. She doesn’t really know what happened during that time but she fell forward but was able to catch herself. She heard Kiah’s voice asking if she was okay and that brought her back. She then looked at the side effects of the malaria medicine and dizziness and ringing in the ears are two of them. Kiah was not affected by the medicine. Hopefully the side effects will go away in time to explore Ghana! Well on that note, we will say adieu and will try to write more about Ghana once we get there.
Love you all,
Kiah and Rachael
We are going to be in Ghana in the morning! Crazy. Not much has been going on…we have had classes all week and a day off on Saturday. We left Morocco on Monday night and have been sailing since. Neither of us have gotten sea sick this time, nor have we had to take medicine! We saw dolphins! We were at lunch and then a bunch of people began to crowd around the windows and we looked out and saw a group of dolphins, jumping alongside the boat! They looked so jolly and were a dark, grayish color and were actually pretty small. Rachael also thinks she saw a whale but Kiah thinks it was just a bird diving into the water. However, there was an other guy who saw it also and he thinks it was a whale too…it has been very hot and humid these past few days ad we are told that Ghana will also be very humid, perfect for mosquitoes and malaria. Actually on that note, Rachael took her malaria medicine today and then took a nap. When she woke up, she went to go to the bathroom and when she opened the door she began to feel light-headed, she had ringing in her ears and she got very hot. She doesn’t really know what happened during that time but she fell forward but was able to catch herself. She heard Kiah’s voice asking if she was okay and that brought her back. She then looked at the side effects of the malaria medicine and dizziness and ringing in the ears are two of them. Kiah was not affected by the medicine. Hopefully the side effects will go away in time to explore Ghana! Well on that note, we will say adieu and will try to write more about Ghana once we get there.
Love you all,
Kiah and Rachael
Sunday, September 13, 2009
MOROCCO (exclamation point but we couldnt find it on the key board..)
Hey ya’ll!
We are in Casablanca, Morocco! Well, the day we arrived we went on a city tour. The first stop was this incredibly beautiful building, a city hall or something. It was all open courtyards and connecting hallways in this insane Arabic style architecture. It was filled with intricately craved walls and mosaic tiles. Gorgeous! Then we headed over to the royal palace. We didn’t get to go in but we saw the giant courtyard and the exterior of the building that was same style and architecture as the other building. Then we went over to the Hassan II Mosque, which is the 3rd largest mosque in the world. It was built by the last king of Morocco in the late 80’s early 90’s. It was enormous and over the top intricate. Hopefully we will be able to post pictures soon so you can see for yourself because it is beyond explanation. There were bathes in the basement of the building that were magnificent basins made out of marble. They were in a huge stone room with fountains and beautiful stone floors and marble pillars. Then we went to a ‘government’ store. It sold all the things that are sold in a market but have fixed prices so there is no bargaining necessary. Apparently the markets here can be very overwhelming and the people who sell stuff are every intense and will do anything to get you to buy their goods. So they took us there so we would have a chance to have an easy shopping experience. Lastly, we stopped at a little food market. It was crazy. They had huge bowls of olives and fruits and vegetables and weird looking flatbread things. They also had giant dead fish and headless chickens and whole dangling cows for sale. It was kind of foul because of the meat and fish combo and the smell was overwhelmingly rancid. But the vegetables were cool, especially the olives which looked delicious. That night we ventured out with a group of people and found a little, quaint hookah bar that was off the beaten path. It was loud, smoky, crowded and hot but authentic and fun nonetheless. There was a singer who sang to us in crazy Arabic!
Day 2:
We decided to venture out on our own despite many people telling us that we should have male companions. And boy where they right! We were constantly heckled, stared at, hissed at and bleated at. We found an Internet café that had ants crawling in and out of the keyboards. YUM! We also found a little pastry shop and bought some delicious pastries that we had heard much about. We thought we could enjoy them on a little stoop that was kind of hidden away. That was a mistake. It’s Ramadan and people don’t eat or drink from sunrise to sunset. A man confronted us while getting into his car about it being Ramadan and that we were hurting people’s feelings by eating in front of them. Never a dull moment, huh?
Day 3:
We went on a SAS trip to the city of Rabat, which is the current financial and political capital of Moroccan Kingdom. It was 1 ½ hour buss ride from Casablanca through the countryside. We when arrived we saw the grounds of the king’s palace but weren’t allowed to go inside. Next we stopped at an unfinished mosque that was partially built over 900 years ago. It was beautiful. We also saw a mausoleum dedicated to the current king’s grandfather and father. That was decorated in the same Arabic architecture. Our last stop was a Kasbah, which is like an old fortress. It was essentially a large courtyard surrounded by giant red walls with little inlets and such. The courtyard was filled with gardens and fountains. Very pretty! That was all we were allotted to see in Rabat and we then headed back to Casablanca. Because it is Ramadan, The Hassan II Mosque shines a brilliant emerald laser towards Mecca and you can see the huge beam, beaming into the sky. It looks like a giant light saber. Tomorrow we will hopefully get some shopping down in the markets or soaks as they are called here. Hopefully we will also be able to find a not-so-janky Internet café to upload some more pictures!
Miss and love all of you
Rachael and Kiah
We are in Casablanca, Morocco! Well, the day we arrived we went on a city tour. The first stop was this incredibly beautiful building, a city hall or something. It was all open courtyards and connecting hallways in this insane Arabic style architecture. It was filled with intricately craved walls and mosaic tiles. Gorgeous! Then we headed over to the royal palace. We didn’t get to go in but we saw the giant courtyard and the exterior of the building that was same style and architecture as the other building. Then we went over to the Hassan II Mosque, which is the 3rd largest mosque in the world. It was built by the last king of Morocco in the late 80’s early 90’s. It was enormous and over the top intricate. Hopefully we will be able to post pictures soon so you can see for yourself because it is beyond explanation. There were bathes in the basement of the building that were magnificent basins made out of marble. They were in a huge stone room with fountains and beautiful stone floors and marble pillars. Then we went to a ‘government’ store. It sold all the things that are sold in a market but have fixed prices so there is no bargaining necessary. Apparently the markets here can be very overwhelming and the people who sell stuff are every intense and will do anything to get you to buy their goods. So they took us there so we would have a chance to have an easy shopping experience. Lastly, we stopped at a little food market. It was crazy. They had huge bowls of olives and fruits and vegetables and weird looking flatbread things. They also had giant dead fish and headless chickens and whole dangling cows for sale. It was kind of foul because of the meat and fish combo and the smell was overwhelmingly rancid. But the vegetables were cool, especially the olives which looked delicious. That night we ventured out with a group of people and found a little, quaint hookah bar that was off the beaten path. It was loud, smoky, crowded and hot but authentic and fun nonetheless. There was a singer who sang to us in crazy Arabic!
Day 2:
We decided to venture out on our own despite many people telling us that we should have male companions. And boy where they right! We were constantly heckled, stared at, hissed at and bleated at. We found an Internet café that had ants crawling in and out of the keyboards. YUM! We also found a little pastry shop and bought some delicious pastries that we had heard much about. We thought we could enjoy them on a little stoop that was kind of hidden away. That was a mistake. It’s Ramadan and people don’t eat or drink from sunrise to sunset. A man confronted us while getting into his car about it being Ramadan and that we were hurting people’s feelings by eating in front of them. Never a dull moment, huh?
Day 3:
We went on a SAS trip to the city of Rabat, which is the current financial and political capital of Moroccan Kingdom. It was 1 ½ hour buss ride from Casablanca through the countryside. We when arrived we saw the grounds of the king’s palace but weren’t allowed to go inside. Next we stopped at an unfinished mosque that was partially built over 900 years ago. It was beautiful. We also saw a mausoleum dedicated to the current king’s grandfather and father. That was decorated in the same Arabic architecture. Our last stop was a Kasbah, which is like an old fortress. It was essentially a large courtyard surrounded by giant red walls with little inlets and such. The courtyard was filled with gardens and fountains. Very pretty! That was all we were allotted to see in Rabat and we then headed back to Casablanca. Because it is Ramadan, The Hassan II Mosque shines a brilliant emerald laser towards Mecca and you can see the huge beam, beaming into the sky. It looks like a giant light saber. Tomorrow we will hopefully get some shopping down in the markets or soaks as they are called here. Hopefully we will also be able to find a not-so-janky Internet café to upload some more pictures!
Miss and love all of you
Rachael and Kiah
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Photos
Ok, we got the photo situation all figured out. Here's the link, check it out! Enjoy!
www.flickr.com/photos/raekiblog/
www.flickr.com/photos/raekiblog/
More Spain!
Hello all! Sorry about the photos. We will hopefully get that figured out shortly. If not, you’ll have to wait till we get back! So we’ve been in Spain since yesterday. We awoke to an announcement telling us that we had reached Spain! It was an awesome sight to walk up the stairs and look out the window to see land! We are in Cadiz (pronounced GA-deeth… sort of, they have a rather strange accent here). It is apparently the oldest standing city in Western Europe. There are, of course, tons of plazas and old cathedrals, etc. The city was highly fortified, if that’s the right term, in the olden days, so there’s a wall around the old city which drops down into the ocean. Yesterday night we traipsed around trying to find a nice little bar to have some Spanish beer, but found absolutely nothing, but we walked VERY far, so at least we saw a good amount of the city! Today we slept in late and headed out to the beach in the afternoon. It was incredibly crowded and filled with super tan people. There was a wall/walk out into the ocean with a fortress of some sort on the end, so we walked out there. We also had a nice dip in the ocean, but the bottom was made up of pebbles instead of sand, so it hurt our fit a bit! Didn’t stay very long, its really hot, and we were hungry, so we headed back to the ship for an early dinner. We’ve been able to use our Spanish skills here, which is really fun, even though the people here have an accent which is incredibly different than what we are used to. We had a really nice taxi driver on the way back to the ship after the beach, so we decided to ask him where the bars were, and we got a great answer, so hopefully we will take it easy at a local pub tonight! We are currently sitting on the steps of the main cathedral in Cadiz, looking out on a small square surrounded by old buildings and palm trees and little outdoor tapas/wine bars. Its really windy right now, with winds as fast as 20 mph! There is free wifi in certain places throughout the city (mostly in plazas and parks), so we are definitely taking advantage of that! Miss you all very much! Please keep emailing, and for those of you that haven’t responded (you know who you are), you better respond soon because if you don’t, we may block you from access to this blog! ( Well I don’t know if we can actually do that, but you get what I mean).
xxoo Kiah and Rachael
xxoo Kiah and Rachael
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Problems
Ok well there are some technical problems right now with trying to upload picture, but we will be sure to straighten that out soon!
Pictures!
Hey all! So this will be a quick post, but here are some pics for you to check out! We are finally in Espana! It's beautiful. We will tell you all about it tomorrow or perhaps the next day! Keep up the emails! Miss you and love you all!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Day 4:
Hey everyone,
well we are about to finish our fourth day on the ship. Things have been going pretty smoothly except its hard sometimes to find something to do. But nonetheless we are still having fun. We have have gone to all of our classes so far, so no more surprises there, and we really like our teacher for our immigration class. The boat still moves alot, but our sea legs are starting to kick in..sort of. The weather has been pretty mild in fact it has gotten warmer and more humid. Just the other night we decided to make sandwiches after dinner and take them back to our rooms for later, but there are signs all over the place that say you cant take ANYTHING out of the dining room. well i thought we would still be fine cuz its like that at my school and they never say anything when you leave with food, so we made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and wrapped them up in napkins and tried to leave but the dude in the doorway was like, "uh what is that?" and rachael was like "a sandwich" and he was goes "well you cant take that out of here, thats why we have the signs everywhere" and we were like "oh, well, are you sure? bc its just a sandwich ykno?" and he was like "no"... so then we go "well what should with them?" and he was like "sit down and eat them" and kiah was like "well i mean we just finished dinner, soooo maybe we can take them just this one time?" and he was like "no, sit down and eat them.... or go throw them in the garbage over there"... so we had to throw our midnight snack away, but we have a plan to bring our purses to dinner next time and hide them in there.. we're pretty confident we can get away with it. but we stumbled upon a cafe/bar were you can buy cheeseburgers, hot dogs, fried, ice cream, and much more! and it is open until 11:00pm most night so we wont have to try and smuggle food out again.
well thats all we got for now folks,
check-in soon!
much love,
rachael and kiah
well we are about to finish our fourth day on the ship. Things have been going pretty smoothly except its hard sometimes to find something to do. But nonetheless we are still having fun. We have have gone to all of our classes so far, so no more surprises there, and we really like our teacher for our immigration class. The boat still moves alot, but our sea legs are starting to kick in..sort of. The weather has been pretty mild in fact it has gotten warmer and more humid. Just the other night we decided to make sandwiches after dinner and take them back to our rooms for later, but there are signs all over the place that say you cant take ANYTHING out of the dining room. well i thought we would still be fine cuz its like that at my school and they never say anything when you leave with food, so we made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and wrapped them up in napkins and tried to leave but the dude in the doorway was like, "uh what is that?" and rachael was like "a sandwich" and he was goes "well you cant take that out of here, thats why we have the signs everywhere" and we were like "oh, well, are you sure? bc its just a sandwich ykno?" and he was like "no"... so then we go "well what should with them?" and he was like "sit down and eat them" and kiah was like "well i mean we just finished dinner, soooo maybe we can take them just this one time?" and he was like "no, sit down and eat them.... or go throw them in the garbage over there"... so we had to throw our midnight snack away, but we have a plan to bring our purses to dinner next time and hide them in there.. we're pretty confident we can get away with it. but we stumbled upon a cafe/bar were you can buy cheeseburgers, hot dogs, fried, ice cream, and much more! and it is open until 11:00pm most night so we wont have to try and smuggle food out again.
well thats all we got for now folks,
check-in soon!
much love,
rachael and kiah
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Day 1:
Hey ya’ll,
Day 1: So we finally made it aboard the MV Explorer (a SHIP, not a BOAT). Hope you enjoyed our last installment. We have received our new email addresses, kiah at kcshapiro@semesteratsea.net and Rachael at rlmorkunas@semesteratsea.net. Feel free to email at anytime, we’d love to hear from you! The boarding process went as smoothly as possible expect Kiah decided to try and bring a knife on board and naturally, it was confiscated. Other than that, everyone who greeted us were friendly and helpful and we were lucky enough not to be caught in super long check-in lines. Once we got to our room, our bags had already been delivered which was nice that we didn’t have to try and lug 200 lbs collectively down a narrow corridor. The first task we undertook was unpacking and decorating our room. We successfully completed within two hours. We were effective in changing our room from a drab, beige box into a home-y scarf/picture filled sanctuary (we will post pictures as soon as we can). We then decided take our sea sick medicine so we both have funny looking beige patches behind our ears and are wearing grey wristbands. After that, we explored the ship a little, trying to orientate ourselves as best we could (we are still working on that). Then we went to the top decks to watch as the boat pulled out of harbor as bag pipers and drummers bid us adieu. Then we ate our first meal which was not too bad. Then we had to attended a few general meetings where faculty, staff and captain were introduced. We turned in early, watched a movie and were rocked to sleep by the sea.
Day 2: Today was orientation day. There were meetings from 9am continuing through 9:30pm tonight, yet such extensive meetings didn’t answer all the questions we still have. We got the chance to meet our teachers and talk to them a little about what there classes are going to be like, etc. Between the sea sickness patches which make us drowsy, the sway of the ocean and us not having sea legs yet, we tend to walk like we are intoxicated. It is quite humorous to watch 700 other people stumbling around the halls looking drunk. Standing outside is nuts! The water looks computer generated due to the unimaginable vastness of the ocean. We are something like 350 miles from the nearest shore line and our average speed is 19 knots (not too sure what that is in miles per hour, but it seems slow). Tonight they will be moving the clocks forward 1 hour in order to adjust to the changing time zones. Well we are off to another meeting to learn about what extra curriculars the ship offers and another one for our halls. That’s about it for now, but be sure to check in again to hear about our first day of classes.
Love you all and miss you,
Rachael and Kiah
Day 1: So we finally made it aboard the MV Explorer (a SHIP, not a BOAT). Hope you enjoyed our last installment. We have received our new email addresses, kiah at kcshapiro@semesteratsea.net and Rachael at rlmorkunas@semesteratsea.net. Feel free to email at anytime, we’d love to hear from you! The boarding process went as smoothly as possible expect Kiah decided to try and bring a knife on board and naturally, it was confiscated. Other than that, everyone who greeted us were friendly and helpful and we were lucky enough not to be caught in super long check-in lines. Once we got to our room, our bags had already been delivered which was nice that we didn’t have to try and lug 200 lbs collectively down a narrow corridor. The first task we undertook was unpacking and decorating our room. We successfully completed within two hours. We were effective in changing our room from a drab, beige box into a home-y scarf/picture filled sanctuary (we will post pictures as soon as we can). We then decided take our sea sick medicine so we both have funny looking beige patches behind our ears and are wearing grey wristbands. After that, we explored the ship a little, trying to orientate ourselves as best we could (we are still working on that). Then we went to the top decks to watch as the boat pulled out of harbor as bag pipers and drummers bid us adieu. Then we ate our first meal which was not too bad. Then we had to attended a few general meetings where faculty, staff and captain were introduced. We turned in early, watched a movie and were rocked to sleep by the sea.
Day 2: Today was orientation day. There were meetings from 9am continuing through 9:30pm tonight, yet such extensive meetings didn’t answer all the questions we still have. We got the chance to meet our teachers and talk to them a little about what there classes are going to be like, etc. Between the sea sickness patches which make us drowsy, the sway of the ocean and us not having sea legs yet, we tend to walk like we are intoxicated. It is quite humorous to watch 700 other people stumbling around the halls looking drunk. Standing outside is nuts! The water looks computer generated due to the unimaginable vastness of the ocean. We are something like 350 miles from the nearest shore line and our average speed is 19 knots (not too sure what that is in miles per hour, but it seems slow). Tonight they will be moving the clocks forward 1 hour in order to adjust to the changing time zones. Well we are off to another meeting to learn about what extra curriculars the ship offers and another one for our halls. That’s about it for now, but be sure to check in again to hear about our first day of classes.
Love you all and miss you,
Rachael and Kiah
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Journey to Halifax
Hello faithful fam and friends, we are currently sitting in our hotel in Halifax, Nova Scotia. We had one hell of a day getting up here! Both of us awoke early after a nearly sleepless night, and arrived at the airport to say our tearful goodbyes. The first leg of our journey was a flight to Montreal; smooth flyin'! However, upon arrival in Montreal, chaos ensued! We proceeded through customs to be confronted by confused customs agents. They had a bit of a difficult time understanding the reasons for our trip here (to get on a boat...). Rachael was selected to go through the extra immigration, but we failed to realize this until after we picked up our luggage (weighing a total of 200 pounds), which we dragged all the way to the end of a long hallway only to discover we had to turn around and go back. So we made our way, against the flow of human traffic to the immigration line, where Kiah waited with a pile of luggage while Rachael went through the line. By this point we had only 30 minutes till our plane boarded and the line was exceedingly long, with a bank of agents sitting around, while only one called "next!" As Kiah waited, Paul Giamatti walked past, muttering to himself and fiddling around with papers (he also waited in line with Rachael for immigration). When this fiasco ended, we again made our way down the hallway and proceeded out to go through security. We were directed to lane 7, which had only one other person in line. We soon realized that this was the "training" line, and it took us another 30 minutes to wait for our bags to come out of the x-ray and to have all of our purses, backpacks, computers, shoes, jackets, etc "strip searched", if you will. We finally escaped that line with only 5 minutes to spare, ran down the terminal, and reached the gate to be confronted by a gate agent shreiking at us, "Morkunas? Shapiro? Where have you been!!??" In any case, we got on the plane in the nick of time and arrived safely in Halifax. We spent the remainder of this afternoon checking in and exploring the area, finding a delicous italian pizza place for dinner. We are going to spend the rest of the evening lounging about and watching movies, anxiously awaiting our 10am arrival at the port. Come back soon to read about life on the boat!
Lots of love to everyone!
Kiah and Rachael
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Test Post!
Woohoo, we set up our blog! Check back soon to hear the adventure to Nova Scotia and the boarding of the boat!
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