Memories...The End

Bahamas:

Being nervous to leave on SAS

Getting lost wandering the ship

Puerto Rico:

Meeting people from SAS and trying to remember names

The old forts overlooking the ocean

Brazil:

Seeing the meeting of the rivers on the Amazon river

Fishing for piranha

Sleeping in hammocks

Seeing the costumes of Carnival and hearing the music

The heat! The most humid place I have ever been.

South Africa:
Table Mountain and the sun rising above it as our ship came into port
Looking down over Cape Town from the top of the mountain
Sky diving and seeing the views of this landscape
Safari – Leon!
The wildebeest reunion
Ramming the other guides jeep
Driving in circles to kick up dust
Confronting a bull elephant in the middle of the night behind my hut

Mauritius:
Snorkeling in the coral
Water taxis

India:
The burning bodies of Varanasi
The poor and deformed living at the train station
The two little boys who begged for my Pepsi
Cows…..everywhere
The majesty of the sun setting over the Taj Mahal
The complete poverty everywhere
Haggling over everything!

Malaysia:
The first time a local offered his help
The tallest buildings (at least they were) – Kuala Lumpur Petronas Towers
The biggest mall I have ever seen, 6 stories

Vietnam:
Motorcycles EVERYWHERE
Trying to cross the street
The best steak I have ever had
Propaganda of the war
Mekong Delta and taking a boat through it

Hong Kong:
Light show on the buildings
Expensive shopping

China:
The smog and pollution
The Great Wall of China
Tiananmen Square and the army marching around
Chinese taking pictures of us – forceful with their posing!

Japan:
The amazing and efficient trains
The unfriendliness of the locals
The huge shopping districts and the electronics
Hiroshima and the many memorials such as the A-bomb dome

America:
On the ship, the culture that formed of American students was the most shocking of all, because you saw the selfishness and the rudeness. You felt embarrassed. Maybe because you are associated with these people, or maybe it’s because you know at times that you are one of them. I think Mark Twain says it best… “I have found out that there ain't no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.”

I have many memories from my trip around the world- above are just a few I felt like writing down. It was a life-changing experience and something I will never forget. If only I could explain how it has changed me. Tomorrow I am home…back in Colorado where my journey began. I am anxious to see how my life will develop after experiencing all that I have. I hope to put what I have learned to good use, and I know that this will not be my last travel experience.

I hope you enjoyed my blog throughout these past 4 months. I did the best I could to record all of my experiences and give you an insight into what I was seeing. Feel free to contact me if you would like more elaboration on any of these ports, experiences, and events! Thanks for reading!

*K*

The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one's own country as a foreign land. ~G.K. Chesterton

San Diego

May 15, 2007

Yesterday I disembarked from the MV Explorer. It was so sad and I still cant believe it's over...my trip is over! It came so fast, I feel unprepared! I'm not ready for it to be over...I stil feel like I need to find my green sheet to check for on-ship time! But it is over. I spent that last night on the ship giving goodbye hugs and last minute email addresses. When I woke up the next morning, we were docked in San Diego.

The "wake-up" call over the loud speaker was the US national anthem and boy was it a sad song that morning. I packed up my backpack and then headed outside to look around. They had already cleared our key cards so in order to get back in our rooms we had to find our stewards. Luckily Edwin was active in our hall so it wouldn't be too hard to get back into my room. On 7th deck there were already a handful of people on their cellphones and down below on the dock I could see parents and friends already there. The conversation around me was "look up at the top of the ship, at the back. I'm in green! Where are you? Wave so I can find you. HI!!!!" I found John and we took one last walk through of the ship.

As 9am rolled around the disembarkation announcements started. Down below we could see crew unloading our luggage. The passengers were to disembark according to 'sea'. John's sea was 3rd, mine was 5th. This was decided based on ranking after Sea Olympics back when we were crossing the Indian ocean. So I headed down to John's room with him to help him pack up his last few items. Around 11 we headed up to Purser's Square, where the gangway was. I said goodbye to some other people I saw up there, and then wished John luck getting down and he headed off the ship. I went down to my room and loaded up all of my bags and took one last look at my room. I admit it, I was close to tears, but I didn't cry, I just headed out the door. I said goodbye to Edwin, our steward, and then headed upstairs. In purser's I dropped my stuff and said goodbye to Ron, one of the deans, the one I worked for. Then I got in line to head off as the announcements called all Red Sea residents to head off the ship. I stood inline with Jeff and Anna, my two friends in my sea, and said goodbyes to other people I knew standing around waiting for their seas to be called. Then swiped my card one last time. I headed down the deck to the stairs and said goodbye to Dia (the registrar), Dean Larry, Beth (student life dean), and crew members. At the bottom of the stairs we handed the uniformed customs officials our customs cards we filled out in Hawaii and then we were directed into a giant warehouse. On the other side were parents holding signs and crowding around the ropes waiting anxiously for the kids to find their luggage and come outside, all surrounded by others who have found each other and were crying and hugging.

As I walked into the warehouse I realized that handing over my customs card was all I had to do! So, customs was cake! John found me and I dropped off my backpack with his pile of luggage. Then was the task of finding my checked luggage. The floors were covered in piles everywhere, with no real order to them. As I wandered I was informed that "red tagged" bags were in a connected room, so I went in there and found my 4 checked bags. Total, I had 7 bags (of all sizes). I went to the UPS station to send home my art and then John and I struggled with all of our bags out to where the taxis were waiting. We had too much luggage for a regular taxi so we had to wait around until a van showed up. As we waited, we met people's boyfriends and parents. It was utter chaos, between families leaving, parents looking for their kids, and luggage and taxis and security everywhere.

By this point, I felt mentally gone. My body was going through the motions, but in my mind, I felt like I was not even off the ship yet. Everything was happening so fast, I could not grasp it. The next thing I knew we were in a van with all our bags loaded and pulling away from the pier. I panicked and tore through my purse to grab my camera as I frantically turned around to catch a last fleeting look at the ship and try to take on last picture of my home for the past 100 days. The ship slowly fell out of site as I stretched my eyes to see it for as long as possible. It was only noon.

I turned around in my seat, half-consciously making conversation with the cab driver as the other half of my mind felt as if I was still waiting in purser’s square; he was asking where we were coming from. How could we explain it? From here on out, it will be a trip that you just cannot explain the magnitude of.

The taxi dropped us off at our hotel, the Ocean Beach hotel. After we checked in and unloaded all of our baggage into the room we headed out to the beach. It was chilly out, and I felt dazed. I was tired beyond all belief and I just wanted to sit down and cry. We went and grabbed lunch since we hadn’t gotten a chance to eat since dinner the previous night and then we headed back to the hotel. Around 2:00 I passed out on the bed, my thoughts racing about how it is possible I will never see the MV Explorer again…and then figuring out all the ways I could (*cough* summer 08 voyage *cough*). I woke up at 6:00 pm, apparently I was more tired than I though! John was on the computer (free internet at the hotel). We decided to go get dinner and walk around the area. It’s is a nice little area and it was nice to have a little time to just chill out before heading home to unpack, work, and cry about all the debt we have to pay off.

This morning, May 15, 2007, was a morning to sleep in and relax. I was told I should go to Sea World, or the San Diego zoo, but first of all- I’m not made of money, and I have no way to get there without paying for a taxi. Also, I spent the last 3 months on the sea, and I went on a safari, why should I go to these places? Instead, we have spent the day preparing to go home. We went to FedEx to mail some of our stuff home, since its unrealistic to fly home with 6 bags each. Then we sat on the beach for awhile listening to the waves. We walked around the shops here and then packed up our bags. Really, I can come back to San Diego to go to the zoo or beach. Right now, I need to relax and save money! But maybe we’ll go see Spiderman 3-we saw some really good previews for it at the SONY building in Tokyo.

Tomorrow morning we check out of the hotel and head to the airport. I arrive in Denver at 5:30pm, thus finishing my journey around the world. The world really is round. J

*K*

Last Day! :(

May 14, 2007 (The days on my blog are off since we repeated May 2, fyi!)

First of all!
Happy Mother’s Day Mom!


Well, finals are over, my grades are in (and I’m quite happy about them, thank you very much!) and tomorrow we reach San Diego, California, USA-our final port. The past few days have been spent packing up our rooms, which has been so sad! Mine and Allie’s room is now empty and bare. All of our checked luggage was sent down to deck 2 this morning to be prepared for disembarking. It was tough packing, since we needed to keep out clothes for tomorrow and that kind of stuff, we have to pack our toiletries etc, with our valuables in our carry-offs tomorrow morning. The weather outside is cloudy, COLD, and rough seas-I think it is reflecting the mood of the students-that though we’re excited to go home, we’re going to miss the ship.

Today was Convocation, and all of the graduating seniors had a ceremony which included many speeches, reflections, and words of wisdom. The ship was bustling with students trying to take one last picture, a goodbye hug, and everywhere you look someone is signing a map (maps are like yearbooks here). It’s been sad, because tomorrow is going to be so hectic and you don’t know when or even if you will see most of these people again, so all goodbyes are being made tonight. I got signatures from my favorite crew members, faculty, and friends. We saw the final slideshow (which was AMAZING) and had a final Talent show. Now everyone is trying to stay awake all night to enjoy this last night aboard the MV Explorer, knowing that at this time tomorrow, we will be alone in our memories and unable to fully express to those around us just how much this trip has affected our lives.

Tomorrow will be a long day of packing up my backpack, swiping my card off of the MV Explorer for one final time, walking off the gangplank, suffering through customs and immigration, and then taking one last look at my home for one hundred days and those who I spent it with.

As we left the Bahamas, I watched over the edge of the ship as the parents ran along the dock, chasing after the ship crying, waving and holding up signs telling their kids to enjoy the world. I will never forget the sign I saw from one family “The world is yours – Rock it.” I felt awfully alone at that moment. And tomorrow, as I am surrounded by hugging families and smiles and excitement, at first I will feel sad but I know I won’t be standing alone- because John will be standing with me. He came with me on this voyage with me, and we have each other. I am so glad he decided to come; he has definitely been my rock throughout this voyage and now I have someone at home who will understand my stories and feelings-who will understand why my life was changed, whether or not he had the same outcome. I understand that my parents couldn’t come, and I understand that they wish they could have, so I am going to be excited to share my experience with them when I get home (I even did a complete photo tour of the ship for them since they were unable to come aboard like everyone else and see it).

It feels so crazy to know that I have spent years planning and anticipating this experience, and now, in one day, the voyage will be over! I can’t believe how fast it went! But I know the affect of the journey is not over, and I know the changes it has made in my life will affect me forever, and perhaps I am not even aware of many of them yet! But I am so thankful to have done this voyage, to have my opinions and assumptions and world views changed! And I have only just started exploring the world!

So goodbye to the 4th deck port side Red Sea! Goodbye 7th deck bar staff! Goodbye Admin office! Goodbye dining rooms, union, piano bar, and classrooms! Good bye faculty, staff, and crew! Good bye Semester at Sea!
Wish me luck in the rest of my life! Because getting off the ship tomorrow will be the first day of the rest of my life!!

*K*

(p.s. my dear readers-
I will have one last blog post from San Diego which will be a wrap up of my favorite memories and experiences-stay tuned!)

BBQ!

May 8, 2007


I have explained the majesty of Taco Day here on the ship, and BBQ day is equivalent. At five there was a line circling deck 7. It was our last BBQ day and everyone was so excited for it. Hamburgers, corn on the cob, beans, ribs, chicken, pasta salad, fruit, ice cream-all the good stuff! It made my day better, because I had a bad day! I am so sick of work, and having to run everyone’s errands while my co-worker sits on his computer and complains about the work he has (like I don’t have any). It is so frustrating and I was at the end of my line. I woke up with a head cold and was seasick from the rocking ship, and could not deal with people telling me I had to clean up their mess underneath their desk on a day I was taking two finals. URG!
Oh well, a few more days and it is all over. At least it was BBQ day.

Also today, the dependant kids put on a play for the shipboard community. There is a baby on board, Ryder, who is 9 months now I think. He is the cutest baby ever, and stole everyone’s heart on the ship. He is such a happy, cute baby and the kids put on a play “Baby Ryder and the Pirates” and it was pretty cute. Everyone enjoyed it a lot, a nice break from studying. Even Ryder clapped.

In-between Japan and Hawaii we were studying a lot because it was our last week of classes. We had our final global studied exam (yes!!!) and because the class is so bad, the exam became 60% for perfect attendance for just that week. Obviously, I did fine on the test. However, it was a hectic week. We crossed the international dateline, which means we repeated May 2. Therefore, we had 8 days before we got to Hawaii. Everyone was getting tired from being around everyone else and stressed out. The Pacific is rockier and people are getting sick and are just worn out. The past 3 months are catching up to us all. Therefore, to de-stress I treated myself to a pedicure on the ship. I figured it was a perfect time to do it, since it was right before Hawaii. It was really nice and boy did my feet need it after 3 months of trekking! Of course, I can never get “girly” things without some kind of comment and this time it was a comment on my big feet. Oh well, big or not, they look good, haha!
Anyway, now it is time to start prepping for finals. Then there is packing and “graduation” for all of the seniors. It sucks because I have to work during packing days, study days, finals, and everything. However, there is pretty much no work to do, since I can’t copy exams. So I just sit there wasting the day away doing nothing. It’s miserable, I am SOOO glad work-study is almost over!!
Tomorrow we have A day finals, then a study day, then B day finals, then a packing day, then convocation, and the final day we dock in San Diego! Can you believe it?! It has gone by pretty quick. I am excited to get off the ship, because the tension is growing and everyone is sick of everyone else (and you know me…) but I am sad that my experience is ending. I have seen so much and learned so much, I do not think I have even been able to start processing half of it! And boy is packing going to be an ordeal! I forgot to get boxes, so I am not sure how I am going to get everything off the ship, so that will be an adventure. Wish me luck with that! But for now, I just need to focus on my final for tomorrow, so I better go!
Keep checking up, I will let you know how finals and packing go!

*K*

HAWAII

May 7, 2007

I was so excited to get to Hawaii, but it was disappointing that we only had a few hours there! I tried to go to sleep rather early because we were getting a wakeup call at 6am. Of course, the students screamed in the hallway and played music in their rooms until probably around 4:30am. I was up most of the night and felt miserable when the “wakeup” call came in, which was actually the deans singing a song to music over the loudspeaker (I don’t remember the song, it was too early). I got up, put some clothes on and headed up to immigration when they called my sea. Because we were not doing customs in the US, we 1) could not mail anything home and 2) would get off the ship by 7:30 or 8. Well, then we had to fill out customs forms after all, and we didn’t get off the damn ship until 9. It was nice out though, and sooo gorgeous. It rained off and on all day, but in-between the rain was hot, bright sun. When I got off the ship a girl John and I knew, Leeann, begged us to go with her to get her lip pierced. I did not want to but did not want to be mean, so I agreed (I know, a mistake). Anyway, we went to the parlor, she got herself perced, and then we headed back to the ship. On our way, we stopped at a little store called ABC. These stores are geared towards tourists and have all of the things a tourist could need, from sunscreen to postcards, and from leis, to soda. We bought a few things and then we took a cab back to the ship. The dock we were at had a huge outdoor shopping area, so we walked around a bit and got lunch. American food tasted sooo good! I was happy to fill up on food I recognized; it was so exciting to see English everywhere! Of course Leeann’s piercing fell out and we had to search for the damn thing (A sign much?). After eating, Leeann left with some friends so John and I changed into bathing suits and headed back off the ship. We were docked in Honolulu and after shopping around and walking through the city (they have some crazy architecture here also!) we headed to Waikiki, which is basically a suburb of Honolulu. We walked halfway, but when it started raining, we went ahead and took a cab the rest of the way. When we got there, we walked along the beach and found a nice spot to put our stuff down. It was so nice and warm, and we were eager to go in the water. It was a little chilly, and the temperature would change as the clouds came and went, occasionally bringing sprinkles. The waves were almost non-existent because it was a family beach, with barriers and the waves broke further out to see where the surfers were. But that was ok, I was just happy to finally be on a beach-the only other place I did go to a beach was in Puerto Rico (and snorkeled in Mauritius). It was pretty packed, and the SAS kids spread out with their concealed bottles of vodka getting drunk, but we were content with the warm sand so it did not bother us too much. After a couple hours of lying in the sun and swimming in the water, we decided to dry off and go get dinner. We stopped in a Borders to get some reading material for the rest of the journey home and talked to the cashier there who goes to U of H about SAS. Then we walked along the main street in Waikiki looking for a place to eat. Everything was so gorgeous!! Flowers EVERYWHERE and it was so green and pretty. The extinct crater Diamond Head loomed in the distance, and it was a great view from the beach. As we wandered, we went to the “largest outdoor marketplace in the world” and I got a few souvenirs. As we walked away from the market around 5:45, we saw a California Pizza Kitchen and it looked so good! I had a margarita and a pizza and a salad with ranch. Oh. My. God. A salad, wow, a salad. Sooooo good……spinach! And the pizza was great. But the margarita…I forgot how great Cuervo is! It was so good, I was in heaven for a few minutes!! I forgot the taste of all of these yummy things…and though I was so excited to get them, the other part of me was like, “how sad is this? You are going crazy over some tequila and ranch dressing whereas the places you visited and the people you saw are still in same situation today that they were in when you saw them. They are still suffering.” It is kind of sobering and I wonder how long my mind will be split like that….hopefully the rest of my life. I do not want to forgot what I saw, I want it to stay in my mind so it keeps things in perspective for me.
After we ate we walked around and watched as the men dressed in your standard grass skirt and boots and head dresses ran along the sidewalks lighting torches. The streetlights include torches, which is awesome. John and I sat on a pier and watched the sun set over the ocean. It was so nice and peaceful, I could have stayed in Hawaii forever. Unfortunately, we had to head back to the ship. When we got there, we went to a brewery nearby and had a beer. We talked a little to the bar tender and then called it a night. On-ship time was 10pm, so at 9:00 John and I (exhausted and slightly sunburned) took our last walk up the gangplank. The last time we will be getting back on the MV Explorer. It was sad to think about, though everyone is ready to get home and have our own rooms and some alone time. Back on the ship I dropped off my souvenirs and updated my map (I have a map of the world on my wall that I have been tracking our progress around the world every other day and drawing the line in different colors as we go). I took a shower and washed the salt water out of my hair and then called it a night around 11pm. I was so tired, and emotionally worn out. I was excited to get to sleep in the next day since classes were over and I fell asleep fast.

*K*

Reaching the Pacific

April 29-May 7 (repeating May 2)

Crew Talent Show

Right after Japan the crew put on a talent show for the shipboard community. There was a lot of dancing, singing, and having fun. Usually more fun than talent, but that’s what made it great. They were so funny, and it was crazy to see them all in real clothes instead of their ship uniform. They even sang to us and one crew member wrote a song abut Semester at Sea and saying goodbye. It was so sad! The kitchen staff did ice carvings for us so we knew what would be coming for the ball and it was a lot of fun to see the crew in a casual setting. I loved it, definitely a highlight. And since a lot of crew members are on this ship 7-11 months at a time, there was a donation/tipping box. It was created that goes towards their Christmas presents over the holidays, there activities when they are stuck on the ship, and just for general appreciation of what they are giving up to do this job and deal with these students. It was a program that made everyone see how the close the end of the journey was.

Ambassadors Ball

May 4th was the Ambassadors Ball, and it was something that most people on the ship had prepared for since Vietnam. Everyone (well most everyone) knew that you could get dresses made in Vietnam, so they all planned to get their dress made for the Ball. So when the evening rolled around, it was really interesting to see all of the dresses everyone got made. The Ambassadors Ball is like prom basically. It’s a dinner, dance, and champagne toast. They decorated classrooms in different themes based on the countries we’ve been to, and you can socialize there. Outside of 7th deck we had dessert and the toast, and the formal dinning room on deck 5 was where we had dinner. Out of 702 students, 20 did not attend the ball, so it was a big event. There were 2 seatings for dinner, since there is no space to fit everyone at the same time. So here is my night: I was in the second seating at 8:15 (the first was at 5:30 and then dinner for those not at the ball was served at 7:00) so I did not have to get ready until 7:00. I got dressed and then John and I went upstairs to look at the different classrooms. Honestly, the décor was pretty shabby, like freshman year high school homecoming. But it was neat to get the reminder of all the places we’ve seen. We headed over to the dining room to be seated fro dinner around 8. The wait staff guided us to our tables where John and I were seated with the Nicholson’s, a professor and his wife. They are from New Zealand and France and he works at American University. He is currently doing doctorate work in the environment and technology. We had a really nice dinner with them and had a lot of things to talk about. Dinner that night was pretty cool-sushi and shrimp cocktail appetizers, corn chowder soup, and 2 different entrees. I chose the chicken and tempura, john got the steak. It was way better then our usual meals and we even got wine (of course you had to pay for it). After we finished eating, John and I headed upstairs to the toast. It was packed up there! They had HUGE tables of dessert, including a chocolate Taj Mahal 3ft x 3ft! They had to dessert roped off so a line would be made, but since most of the students had been secretly storing up wine from previous dinners, (you can buy small glasses of wine at dinner most nights, 2 glasses total) in their water bottles and then drank the whole thing at once there were many drunken students. So when dessert started they formed a mad dash and there were about 300-400 students pushing and shoving to the dessert tables. It was so embarrassing to see how they were acting. We received complimentary champagne but since it was chaos, the students were taking four or five glasses of it, then dropping the glasses on the ground and leaving plates of dessert piled high all over the ground. Then when the toasts started, no one would shut up, so only those of us around the speakers (I was right in front and could hardly hear) even knew toasts were going on. It made me so mad that students were acting like this. As soon as the champagne was gone and the dessert was destroyed John, Leeann, and I went to the dance. We met our friend Jeff there (who was the president of the ball) and left about as quickly. It was mostly dry sex amongst drunken college kids, not exactly what I’m looking for. Therefore, we went and hung out with our favorite snack bar crewmembers and talked about the trip and what we were doing in Hawaii. Around 1am we called it a night and I headed to y room. Lucky for me, my drunk roommate and decided to take her whole bed (again) and sleep in her friends room. I was cool with that because I was able to turn the lights off and sleep soundly-it was the best sleep I have had on the ship. Overall, the dinner was great and I really enjoyed talking to Simon and Ann Claire. And it had so much potential, the deserts were great and they even had ice sculptures! But the selfish students ruined a lot of It, like usual. I didn’t let them ruin it for me, but I felt bad for the crew who had to clean up their mess. We really just shouldn’t have alcohol on the ship at all. But it was a fun night, it was nice to get dressed up and have a nice dinner and some time to socialize. But the Ball marked the last day of regular classes pretty much. From here on out its finals and papers. Well, after Hawaii.

*K*

My thoughts so far...

So this Pacific crossing has been exceptionally rocky lately, lots pf people feeling very sick. Add that to stress on finals and papers, and then throw in the 10 hours of extra curricular activities they feature every night and you have worn out, stressed students. It has been so interesting to see how people on this ship have related throughout the past 3 months. There have been friendships that die in weeks, false friendships, drama drama drama. There have been intense situations with race. There has been anger felt by everyone over classes (which resulted in a complete re-do of global studies for this last week), anonymous complaint letters and intense arguments between teacher and students. It is amazing how everyone is dealing with this voyage. There is so much t process and no one has really figured out the best way for them to do it. Some cry for no reason, so drink. I just think a lot right now, especially in the shower. It is also so tough for us all, because we had zero alone time-always someone around. And we know that in months when it hits us what all we experienced on his voyage, and everyone at home is sick of hearing the stories, we are going to get frustrated. We are going to miss this ship that we have called home for 3 months, and that we have complained about for 2 months and 3 weeks. There are also amazing memories-from the crew talent show to Neptune Day. Scary moments when we learned about Virginia Tech and inspiring moments when we listened to Archbishop Desmond Tutu speak. We sit here and say, wow. I cannot believe we are almost home. Everyone is excited to get their own room and their favorite food again. But I don’t think anyone is prepared for the trip to be over. I personally feel like there is so much on my mind I am going to explode! This trip does not have a slap-in-the-face, awe-inspiring moment. You don’t wake up screaming Eureka! Instead, one day while you’re writing a paper or walking to dinner, you realize there is something on your mind that wasn’t there before. Something you are questioning or thinking of changing that you don’t even know where it came from, you didn’t know you had even had the thought on your mind. It’s silent, it sneaks up on you, and then you go “yes. That’s what I am going to do.” That’s why it’s nice to have people around you thinking the same things. I know after being home for a few days I will miss the ship. The traveling, the simplicity. But there are things I will not miss as well. Like the race issues. They are so heavy and always present and I don’t understand why they are such a focus. Or the frustration with the professors and deans. And, no offense to anyone, but I will not miss work study. But you start to realize things about yourself. Like one day you answer a question in class and then you go, hey, I knew that answer! I never would have answered that at home! Little things like that. I do believe this trip is character-building. I have learned a lot about myself. I have also learned that I hate coconut milk!! Ew! It was so gross (in Vietnam). And I hate the way every other country on Earth smokes like a chimney. Everywhere we went my allergies killed me because people smoke in restaurants, stores, on the sidewalk, everywhere! I learned Coca-Cola is everywhere.

If there was one country I had to go back to for a dinner, it would be India. I loved the curry. My top countries to re-visit are South Africa, Japan, Hong Kong and Brazil. But I would like to back to Beijing and Kuala Lumpur also. I decided to come on this trip because I felt that the countries on the itinerary are ones I would never go to on my own. But now, after going there, I want to go back to all of them!! It’s amazing how my views have changed of “third-world” countries!

So Happy May 2^nd! We crossed the international dateline so we had two May 2nds, A20 and B20. Kind of funny to repeat the day-there were a couple people who had 2 birthdays! And this pacific crossing kind of stinks because we are losing an hour May 1, 2(the first one) 3,4,5 and then the 8,10,12. That’s a lot of hours!! Talk about exhausting!

Anyway, right now I should be writing a final paper for my Environmental Politics class so I should get to that. We have a theatre performance tonight, and Ambassadors ball is coming on the 4^th. We get into Hawaii on the 7^th. Then finals and packing! I can’t believe it! I am trying to take advantage of every sunset and every picture I can before it’s over, because the end is coming quick! About 400 nautical miles closer everyday.

Keep checking, I’m not done posting yet!

*K*