AMAZING!
Okay… okay so I really suck at this updating stuff. I am doing it now so this is really going to be a long post - sorry.
I will start from the beginning. My flight out…horrible…It started out good. I flew from Billings to Denver to Ft. Lauderdale and then was suppose to get on a flight to the Bahamas. The flight time was changed from 9:30pm to 8:30pm (the exact time I was arriving in Ft. Lauderdale) so needless to say I missed my flight. No one even called to tell me my flight was changed and apparently it was changed will in advanced. WORDS OF WISDOM #1 Always check the night before on flight times even if you purchased your ticket months in advance. So I slept in the airport and finally made it out the next morning at 9:30. The Bahamas was great after I finally got there on Monday Jan. 16th.
My roommates down there were great. We had a blast. We walked around town, laid on the beach and even went on a Booze Cruise. That was awesome. The Booze Cruise was a great deal because we went snorkeling, had an amazing lunch, laid on the beach and then partied and drank on the boat. Very fun and highly recommended! We also had a blast at Senior Frogs (60 oz margarita enough said).
On the 19th we boarded the MV Explorer and started out Voyage around the world. We only had two days of classes (most of which I was sea sick) until we pulled into port in San Juan Puerto Rico on Jan. 23rd. Puerto Rico was amazing. The first day Samantha, Danielle, and I walked around all of Old San Juan. We visited both forts El Morro and San Cristobal both built to protect from invaders. For lunch we went to Mojito’s which has great crab salad…YUM! That night we went to a welcome reception at the University of Puerto Rico. We were put in small groups with a student host for each group. Our host was awesome. We watched dancers, had some food, and then danced ourselves. Very fun.
The next day Sam and I searched out a place to go scuba diving and booked a trip for the 25th. Then we went to a beach and tanned and then went on a trip to the El Yunque rain forest. This is the only Tropical Rain Forest the US owns. It was gorgeous. We hiked to a waterfall where many people went swimming. I of course was like 20 mins back from taking pictures and so by the time I got to the waterfall it was time to move on and I didn’t get to swim…Oh well…the price I pay for pics. Dinner that night was great. Sam and I went to the Dragonfly. It was amazing. I had Duck for the first time and it was great. Another highly recommend.
Scuba Diving on Wednesday was great. It was a first for me so I had a lesson and then we went for a dive. It was only about 30 feet deep and the visibility was not the best but none-the-less fun. We fed the fish from our hands and picked up shells from the ocean floor. We are going to try and go again in Mauritius which is suppose to have great scuba diving. The rest of the day we laid on the beach and went back into Old San Juan and walked around some more. Then it was back to the ship for departure at 10:30 and on our way to Brazil.
Again sea sickness is not fun. I was sick for only a few more days and now I am much better. I think and hope that is has passed for the most part which makes life a lot better. During our trip to Brazil we celebrated Neptune day. This is the crossing of the equator. This happened on the 30th of January. For the festivities we were awaken by the crew whistling and beating on drums. We were showered with fish guts and kissed a fish. Those who wanted to could participate in the sailors tradition of shaving their heads. YES I SHAVED MY HEAD! It is great. So hot down here hair would be sticky and horrible to deal with. WORD OF WISDOM #2 Apply sunscreen to shaved head to prevent burn! Many girls actually did it and there was a lot of hair long enough to donate to Locks of Love.
We arrived in Salvador Brazil on Feb. 1st. Sam, Brett, and I walked around Salvador this first day. Salvador is built in two “levels” or sections, Upper town and Lower town. You can get between the two by an elevator “Elevador Lacerda”. It is very interesting. Anyway you can definitely see that Salvador has a lot of poverty. We were warned a lot about the dangers of Salvador at night and you definitely need to avoid the sketchy places of town. Anyway we enjoyed walking around the Upper town and stopped to have some ice cream and talked to a little boy. Although the language is Portuguese Brett was able to make a little Spanish go a long way. The little boy at the ice cream shop was very cute and wanted to trade for my sunglasses and Brett’s hat. We declined. We went to the Lower town to the market and walked around a while. We had dinner in a restaurant above the market and watched the sun set over the harbor. It was magnificent. We headed back to the ship to go on a welcome reception trip. This reception was phenomenal. We first saw a show of Capoeira (a form of martial arts of dance fighting). Some students were able to get up and try as well. Then a group of dancers and drummers came out and did a performance. They were great. So talented. After the show it turned into a giant dance party and we all had a blast!
The next day I got up early and went to the Yemanja Festival. This is a festival the locals have every Feb. 2nd. It is a religious festival where people come and bring flowers, perfumes, and gifts as an offering to the sea goddess. They do this because When people came to Brazil they made the country Catholic and so the indigenous people were unable to celebrate their own religion. This festival was created as a way to celebrate their own beliefs. Very neat to watch. After that I went on a trip called Bahia by Night. Bahia is the name of the state that Salvador is in. Anyway, this was a show of Capoeira, sword fighting, and dancing. Then we went to an awesome dinner. We went to a place called Sal E Brasa. This was kind of a buffet. There was all kinds of sea food and salads. I TRIED SU SHI!!! - chewy is all I have to really say about it - So you would go and get what you wanted and then people would come around with different cuts of beef or pork or chicken and you just say yes you want some or no you don’t. It was pretty much the best thing in the world. I was so full.
Friday I was able to get in on a service visit to the Favelas or Slums. This particular community was very unique in that the poor people of the community were fighting for their existence and resisting the state who wanted to tear down the houses and build shopping centers. It is an island in a richer community and the people there have been able work together to stay. The school that we visited is run by the community and enrolls about 150 students from grades K-4. Just last year however the school was endanger of being shut down because the state cut its funding. All the teachers were fired. The community rallied together and the school is still run by volunteer teachers. Students came for our visit and did a Capoeira performance for us. We intern taught them a few songs and dances including the chicken dance. We were able to bring gifts and needed school supplies for the children. As we interacted with them they were truly amazing. Although they have very little the peoples out look on life is that of hope and determination for a better future. We were also able to play a pickup game of soccer with some local kids. It was a joy to watch as 4 kids took on our 10 and still dribbled circles around us. A visit to their small clinic was also part of the tour. It was about the size of a small one bedroom house. The rooms were very little. The community built the clinic which only provides basic care, however the doctors are paid by the state and people do not have to pay for a visit and even some medicines. Although care is free it can be extremely difficult just to make an appointment as they are booked months in advance. Some people sleep overnight to be first in line in the morning to try and get an appointment.
Saturday was marked my a much needed sleeping in. At around noon we went to the island of Itaparica. It was nice and our small group mainly sat on the beach and had refreshments. Some people ordered beans and rice which seams to be a very common meal at all the places we have been so far. For me it is not that great because I am not a big fan of rice and beans are only so, so. After that we came back to Salvador and had dinner then I just really came back and did some homework. Its always sad when you have to start thinking about the reading and work that you have put off while at port and then have to make it up the night before class. I did pretty good and got a lot of it done for Monday.
On Sunday Jen and I decided that we were going to go to a church service. Because the main religion of Brazil is Catholic that is the type of service we went to. We went to the Church of San Francisco which is very famous. We were going to tour it a few days prior but decided we did not want to pay to see it. That worked out good because on Sunday you do not have to pay to go to the service. It was all in Portuguese so we didn’t understand what was being said but that was all right because the beauty of the church was overwhelming. If you ever get the chance I would recommend seeing the church. There are no words really to describe the beauty, just to say that everything was in gold and carved figures and the crucifix. The post cards that were available does not even do it justice. Amazing, absolutely amazing.
To wrap up our stay in Brazil we were able to get last min tickets to a soccer game. Almost the entire ship of 600 students went to the game. It was incredible. Brazil is known for its soccer and the teams that were playing were rivals so the crowd was absolutely out of control. The tour company that we went through made sure to have security for us because the fans can get out hand. It was a perfect end to a perfect trip.
- I have sent some emails out but I am not sure if everyone got it so if you have not gotten anything from me yet just shoot me a quick email and I will make sure you are on the list. I have been having some problems getting the email to send so I don’t know who got it and who did not. I hope every one is doing well. I miss and love all of you.
I will start from the beginning. My flight out…horrible…It started out good. I flew from Billings to Denver to Ft. Lauderdale and then was suppose to get on a flight to the Bahamas. The flight time was changed from 9:30pm to 8:30pm (the exact time I was arriving in Ft. Lauderdale) so needless to say I missed my flight. No one even called to tell me my flight was changed and apparently it was changed will in advanced. WORDS OF WISDOM #1 Always check the night before on flight times even if you purchased your ticket months in advance. So I slept in the airport and finally made it out the next morning at 9:30. The Bahamas was great after I finally got there on Monday Jan. 16th.
My roommates down there were great. We had a blast. We walked around town, laid on the beach and even went on a Booze Cruise. That was awesome. The Booze Cruise was a great deal because we went snorkeling, had an amazing lunch, laid on the beach and then partied and drank on the boat. Very fun and highly recommended! We also had a blast at Senior Frogs (60 oz margarita enough said).
On the 19th we boarded the MV Explorer and started out Voyage around the world. We only had two days of classes (most of which I was sea sick) until we pulled into port in San Juan Puerto Rico on Jan. 23rd. Puerto Rico was amazing. The first day Samantha, Danielle, and I walked around all of Old San Juan. We visited both forts El Morro and San Cristobal both built to protect from invaders. For lunch we went to Mojito’s which has great crab salad…YUM! That night we went to a welcome reception at the University of Puerto Rico. We were put in small groups with a student host for each group. Our host was awesome. We watched dancers, had some food, and then danced ourselves. Very fun.
The next day Sam and I searched out a place to go scuba diving and booked a trip for the 25th. Then we went to a beach and tanned and then went on a trip to the El Yunque rain forest. This is the only Tropical Rain Forest the US owns. It was gorgeous. We hiked to a waterfall where many people went swimming. I of course was like 20 mins back from taking pictures and so by the time I got to the waterfall it was time to move on and I didn’t get to swim…Oh well…the price I pay for pics. Dinner that night was great. Sam and I went to the Dragonfly. It was amazing. I had Duck for the first time and it was great. Another highly recommend.
Scuba Diving on Wednesday was great. It was a first for me so I had a lesson and then we went for a dive. It was only about 30 feet deep and the visibility was not the best but none-the-less fun. We fed the fish from our hands and picked up shells from the ocean floor. We are going to try and go again in Mauritius which is suppose to have great scuba diving. The rest of the day we laid on the beach and went back into Old San Juan and walked around some more. Then it was back to the ship for departure at 10:30 and on our way to Brazil.
Again sea sickness is not fun. I was sick for only a few more days and now I am much better. I think and hope that is has passed for the most part which makes life a lot better. During our trip to Brazil we celebrated Neptune day. This is the crossing of the equator. This happened on the 30th of January. For the festivities we were awaken by the crew whistling and beating on drums. We were showered with fish guts and kissed a fish. Those who wanted to could participate in the sailors tradition of shaving their heads. YES I SHAVED MY HEAD! It is great. So hot down here hair would be sticky and horrible to deal with. WORD OF WISDOM #2 Apply sunscreen to shaved head to prevent burn! Many girls actually did it and there was a lot of hair long enough to donate to Locks of Love.
We arrived in Salvador Brazil on Feb. 1st. Sam, Brett, and I walked around Salvador this first day. Salvador is built in two “levels” or sections, Upper town and Lower town. You can get between the two by an elevator “Elevador Lacerda”. It is very interesting. Anyway you can definitely see that Salvador has a lot of poverty. We were warned a lot about the dangers of Salvador at night and you definitely need to avoid the sketchy places of town. Anyway we enjoyed walking around the Upper town and stopped to have some ice cream and talked to a little boy. Although the language is Portuguese Brett was able to make a little Spanish go a long way. The little boy at the ice cream shop was very cute and wanted to trade for my sunglasses and Brett’s hat. We declined. We went to the Lower town to the market and walked around a while. We had dinner in a restaurant above the market and watched the sun set over the harbor. It was magnificent. We headed back to the ship to go on a welcome reception trip. This reception was phenomenal. We first saw a show of Capoeira (a form of martial arts of dance fighting). Some students were able to get up and try as well. Then a group of dancers and drummers came out and did a performance. They were great. So talented. After the show it turned into a giant dance party and we all had a blast!
The next day I got up early and went to the Yemanja Festival. This is a festival the locals have every Feb. 2nd. It is a religious festival where people come and bring flowers, perfumes, and gifts as an offering to the sea goddess. They do this because When people came to Brazil they made the country Catholic and so the indigenous people were unable to celebrate their own religion. This festival was created as a way to celebrate their own beliefs. Very neat to watch. After that I went on a trip called Bahia by Night. Bahia is the name of the state that Salvador is in. Anyway, this was a show of Capoeira, sword fighting, and dancing. Then we went to an awesome dinner. We went to a place called Sal E Brasa. This was kind of a buffet. There was all kinds of sea food and salads. I TRIED SU SHI!!! - chewy is all I have to really say about it - So you would go and get what you wanted and then people would come around with different cuts of beef or pork or chicken and you just say yes you want some or no you don’t. It was pretty much the best thing in the world. I was so full.
Friday I was able to get in on a service visit to the Favelas or Slums. This particular community was very unique in that the poor people of the community were fighting for their existence and resisting the state who wanted to tear down the houses and build shopping centers. It is an island in a richer community and the people there have been able work together to stay. The school that we visited is run by the community and enrolls about 150 students from grades K-4. Just last year however the school was endanger of being shut down because the state cut its funding. All the teachers were fired. The community rallied together and the school is still run by volunteer teachers. Students came for our visit and did a Capoeira performance for us. We intern taught them a few songs and dances including the chicken dance. We were able to bring gifts and needed school supplies for the children. As we interacted with them they were truly amazing. Although they have very little the peoples out look on life is that of hope and determination for a better future. We were also able to play a pickup game of soccer with some local kids. It was a joy to watch as 4 kids took on our 10 and still dribbled circles around us. A visit to their small clinic was also part of the tour. It was about the size of a small one bedroom house. The rooms were very little. The community built the clinic which only provides basic care, however the doctors are paid by the state and people do not have to pay for a visit and even some medicines. Although care is free it can be extremely difficult just to make an appointment as they are booked months in advance. Some people sleep overnight to be first in line in the morning to try and get an appointment.
Saturday was marked my a much needed sleeping in. At around noon we went to the island of Itaparica. It was nice and our small group mainly sat on the beach and had refreshments. Some people ordered beans and rice which seams to be a very common meal at all the places we have been so far. For me it is not that great because I am not a big fan of rice and beans are only so, so. After that we came back to Salvador and had dinner then I just really came back and did some homework. Its always sad when you have to start thinking about the reading and work that you have put off while at port and then have to make it up the night before class. I did pretty good and got a lot of it done for Monday.
On Sunday Jen and I decided that we were going to go to a church service. Because the main religion of Brazil is Catholic that is the type of service we went to. We went to the Church of San Francisco which is very famous. We were going to tour it a few days prior but decided we did not want to pay to see it. That worked out good because on Sunday you do not have to pay to go to the service. It was all in Portuguese so we didn’t understand what was being said but that was all right because the beauty of the church was overwhelming. If you ever get the chance I would recommend seeing the church. There are no words really to describe the beauty, just to say that everything was in gold and carved figures and the crucifix. The post cards that were available does not even do it justice. Amazing, absolutely amazing.
To wrap up our stay in Brazil we were able to get last min tickets to a soccer game. Almost the entire ship of 600 students went to the game. It was incredible. Brazil is known for its soccer and the teams that were playing were rivals so the crowd was absolutely out of control. The tour company that we went through made sure to have security for us because the fans can get out hand. It was a perfect end to a perfect trip.
- I have sent some emails out but I am not sure if everyone got it so if you have not gotten anything from me yet just shoot me a quick email and I will make sure you are on the list. I have been having some problems getting the email to send so I don’t know who got it and who did not. I hope every one is doing well. I miss and love all of you.
posted by Brandy Jones at 6:15 PM
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