It was an absolute struggle getting out of bed today. Being out constantly in the sun for the 4 days I was in Hawaii took all the energy out of me, and having to wake up at 7 didn’t help too much either. Today is the first day of a really long trek to Japan. On the bright side, there are two days that we don’t have class, plus we completely lose the day of February third. Classes are still going well, it was just tough to get back into class mode after being in Hawaii for 4 days straight. One of the best parts about our voyage going the way we are is the fact that every time a time zone changes, we gain an hour of sleep. The voyage that goes the other way around loses an hour of sleep, which really stinks for them. Sleep is incredibly valuable here, and I value every possible hour I can get, but naps don’t happen too often for me. I got some reading done between classes, so I had the night free to do whatever. Our group decided to all pitch in on Twister in Honolulu because we thought it would give us something fun to do on the ship. This may have been one of the best purchases ever. We set it up in the dining room, then had an absolute blast. We got some hilarious pictures and videos, and it is one of the times having long legs has really come in handy. After Twister, we decided to watch a movie. In the end we decided on watching Silence of the Lambs, since there were one or two people that had never seen it. We originally went into the Union and were watching it on Graham’s laptop, but about 45 minutes into the movie we discovered that the classroom next to the Union was empty, so we went in there and were able to hook it up to the huge projector screen. It was awesome to watch it on a bigger screen and with good sound, and there were only 6 of us, so we managed to keep it pretty quiet throughout the entire movie. We decided that movie nights were easily the best way to pass the time in between ports, so this may be happening quite often.
Day 14
My days are getting ridiculously monotonous. Wake up, eat, class, read, eat, read, class, eat, hang out, sleep. January 30th proved to be much more fun and different than my previous B days. We finally got sent the finalized activities schedule in our email, and I'm so excited to see that we had a Zumba class we could go to at six. For those of you who do not know what Zumba is, it’s a fitness class that is very Latin based and set to upbeat music. I did it numerous times at USD, and I am so excited they are offering it on the ship. We managed to talk three of the boys into going, so there was a group of us that all went that consisted of me, Brittany, Shauna, Allie, Graham, Corey, and Bruck. There were probably about 25 of us total doing Zumba, so the room was really crowded. I was excited the boys went to Zumba, because it tends to be a class mostly dominated by women. There is a lot of hip and butt shaking involved, and most guys aren’t that in touch with their feminine side. Not these boys. They were shaking it around with the best of us, and at the end they decided that they might be doing this with us every B day because it was such a great cardio workout. After Zumba, we discovered they were also offering Latin salsa class. So the group of us headed upstairs to do that class. It was so much fun. Of course there were many more guys than girls, but we had so much fun learning the basic salsa steps. We have decided that this might become a basic B day activity schedule for us. After our wonderful 2 hour workout session, we decided that we wanted to watch another movie, so we headed to our empty classroom again. This time we were watching Hannibal, since some people had never seen that movie either. I think we are planning on watching Kill Bill volumes 1 and 2 next. We have a lot of movies to get through before the end of the voyage, but we figure we will probably be able to do it, since we are stuck on the ship with nothing else to do at night anyways. Tomorrow they are offering breakdancing class, so I think I may go to that and make a fool out of myself with the rest of the girls.
Day 15
I have my first round of tests and papers coming up this week, so I have been reading quite a bit and studying as well. I know it definitely doesn’t seem like it, but between classes is when I do my reading so I have my nights free to do what I want. I have a global mental health test on Thursday, which means I need to get to studying, because Wednesday doesn’t exist for us. We don’t have classes on Tuesday, so it will mainly be a study day for me. On the bright side, I already took abnormal psychology, so I don’t think this exam will be too difficult. I also have a Theology paper due on Saturday. It is very strange to me to say that I have a paper due on Saturday, but I figure I basically have spring break every other week, so I can deal with having classes on weekends. Our Theology paper has to be on the topic of “What can theology contribute to sustainability?” We shall see what happens with this paper, as we have mostly just been talking about the book in class. A girl and my teacher got in a debate about sustainability today. My teacher is very skeptical about the idea of sustainability so he was talking against it, but the girl’s major is sustainability, so she got rather offended at some of the points he made. It was a very heated debate that lasted about 45 minutes of class, and once 3:15 rolled around, she left class, even though he was not done talking yet. It was incredibly intense, but it was a very interesting debate to witness. After classes, I got some reading done, then had dinner and went to breakdancing class. After about 5 minutes, I sat down and watched people rather than participate in the activities. The kid that was teaching us is from London and has been breakdancing for 9 years, so he was absolutely incredible. After breakdancing we headed up to dinner, then we went to watch the boys play basketball for a little while up on the top deck. It was really windy, so every type of shot they made would go off course. After basketball, it was movie time. Kill Bill was the movie of choice, and we decided that the next three nights will be Tarantino nights, with Kill Bill volumes 1 and 2, then Inglorious Basterds.
One great thing about the direction of our voyage is the fact that we are constantly gaining an hour of sleep as we travel through various time zones. The voyages that go the other way are constantly losing an hour of sleep and only have 23 hour days, so I am very happy we are going the direction we are. I am also getting a bit of a cold, so I am really hoping it goes away before Japan. Speaking of Japan, a group of 7 of us have made plans for Japan travel. We are going to Yokohama, Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Hiroshima, and Kobe. All of this in just 5 short days. We are going to the fresh fish market early in the morning in one place, the wine baths in another, a karaoke bar in another, and temples in another. It is going to be so much to take in such a short amount of time, but our group has decided that sleep will most likely not be happening. Now that we have definite plans for Japan, I am so excited to finally get there. Being on the ship is fun, but it is nothing compared to exploring foreign countries with newfound close friends. I have my best friends from home and school, but there will be nothing like having friends from all over the country who shared the experience of going around the world together. I have friends from Los Angeles, Washington, Arizona, South Carolina, Kansas (this should make grandma happy J), and so many other places. Everyone has already said that if we are ever traveling and need somewhere to crash we can always call them. I know people from Canada, London, Africa, and other places too. Everyone is always so friendly, no matter what happens. I can sit with anyone at lunch and they are so welcoming. The men who work in the dining hall are also incredibly amazing. The group of us always eat in the same place in the dining hall so we can have the same attendant, Alan, every time. He now knows us by name, and he also knows what we usually like to drink for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He is from the Philippines and has a family, but he absolutely loves his job and all the girls on board that sit in his section are absolutely in love with him. I usually carry my water bottle to the dining hall in the morning to fill before class, and he usually takes it the second I put it down on the table and he puts ice and water in it for me. The other members of the crew are also amazing. My cabin steward, Auxilio, is unbelievable. They clean our cabins every day. The bathroom gets cleaned, and they make our beds and will generally clean everything in the room. If I leave a pair of pants on the floor, they will pick them up and fold them and lay them neatly on the bed. They work so hard, and most of us don’t really like the fact that they do everything for us. I really don’t care if my bed is made every day, and I know I can put my dishes away by myself as well. But the crew absolutely loves doing their jobs, as it gives them a way of connecting with the students. One of my other favorite waiters is from Jamaica and is constantly singing and happy. When we ask him how he is, he usually replies with something along the lines of “I have a smile on my face and in my heart and I get to see all of you, so today is a great day.” You can’t fake happiness like that. He is one of the most naturally happy people I have ever met, and it is always an absolute joy to see him in the morning right after I roll out of bed.
Speaking of the dining room, let me say a few words about the food. I enjoy breakfast, it is my favorite meal of the day. Oh the ship, they always put out fruit, yogurt, and eggs every morning. There is always either pancakes or French toast, never both on the same day. Sometimes we are lucky enough to get really greasy bacon, and there is usually some type of omlette and potatoes. They always have English muffins and a bagel of some type and cereal, and if we are lucky they will have fresh bananas and oranges. It is common practice to steal the good fruit when they have it, and I usually cram a banana in my backpack as a snack for later in the day. We also have the absolute best chocolate croissants ever. They are usually fresh and still warm when I get down to breakfast since I am up so early for class. Whereas breakfast is usually pretty good and I almost always like it, lunch and dinner are a little bit different. I can tell you, without failure, what is for lunch and dinner every single day. There is always salad, and pasta and potatoes of some kind are guaranteed. There are always two kinds of meat; either chicken or beef and a fish of some kind. There is always soup, and there is always bread for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Overall, the food is getting very monotonous. There are some days when the food is better than others. I usually eat half a plate of salad and either a quarter or half a plate of pasta, then I usually get some kind of fruit. Every once in a while, dessert will be yummy. They had great coconut cake one night, then chocolate cake and brownies another. Other times I can’t stand the desserts, as they try and put random ingredients together to make something yummy, and they simply fail. They usually have snack time around ten, but I’m either asleep or watching a movie during this time, so no snack for me (which is probably better anyways).
Day 16
Today is the last day of class before no class day tomorrow. We don’t have classes tomorrow in order to adjust to the big time change that will be happening soon. Tomorrow is February 2nd, then the next day of my life is February 4th. We cross the international date line, so for us, February 3rd simply does not exist. My year will only be 364 days long. I do like the fact that they give us days off while at sea, as it gives us some time to catch up on work and reading. We have also formed a group for our global studies project. Like I said earlier, global studies is the class that every student on semester at sea is required to take. We also have to do a group project in groups of 6 or 7. We have to do a project in which we collect information from each country we visit, and make a lesson plan for high school seniors based on our research. Our project must also involve the theme of our voyage: sustainability. Some of the suggested topics were recycling, water, accepting homosexuality, and waste management in various countries. To our group, none of these sounding like they would be even remotely appealing to us or high school seniors, and they seemed somewhat difficult to research both in each country and on the ship, as we have very limited internet. Sustainability, we were told, does not simply refer to natural resources, but to human life as well. It has been suggested that we need to reduce the world population in order to save resources and to prevent us from completely destroying our earth. My group, which consists of me, Brittany, Carson, Simone, Lydia, Graham, and Thomas, took all of these facts and looked at them. We asked ourselves questions: What would be interesting to study? What is relatively easy to look at in each country? What would interest high school seniors? We came up with a few things….food, sleep, partying, blah, blah, blah. Then, we collectively had a lightbulb moment. Sex. Always an interesting topic for high school seniors, we also thought it would be an interesting topic to look at in various countries. Since the idea of sustainability suggests that we need to reduce the population of the world, we want to look at a few things in each country. First, is birth control readily available in each country (it should be fun to go to various drug stores in each country and look at condom boxes, hehe)? Second, who is responsible for birth control, men or women? Third, are there laws concerning how many children you can have, such as in China? Fourth, is there any type of sex ed in schools? These are all questions we want to look at in every country we go to. I think it will be rather interesting to look at some of these questions, especially in places like China (where they have a limit on the number of children one can have), and India (where the country is so poor that most of them probably can’t afford birth control). I also think it will be interesting because these countries most likely have different views on sex than America. In America, sex is still relatively taboo. It is not talked about or spoken of openly in most circles, except with very close friends. Many other countries throughout the world, especially in Europe are very open about sex. In some countries, one is expected to be totally pure before marriage, in other countries, it doesn’t really matter. In some countries we go to, I am sure some people will be open in talking about sex, in other countries, they will most likely be ashamed or embarrassed to talk about it. This is a project we must research throughout the semester and in each country, then present it at the very end of the voyage, and eventually, the ten best groups’ projects will actually be taught in schools. We got our topic approved, so now all we have to do is start researching once we get to countries.
Tonight is Zumba class again, and I am pretty excited to dance around and watch the boys try to shimmy again. There is also an onboard dance tonight, but I haven’t decided whether or not I am going to go. I think I may take a Benadryl and go to bed, as I really want to try and get rid of this cold before Japan, as it is apparently very rude to blow your nose in public.
Day 17
No class day!!!! But it is also a study day, as I have an exam for my Global Mental Health class tomorrow. I went to the dance for about half an hour last night, just long enough to hear “On A Boat”, then I took two Benadryl and tumbled into bed. Although there was no class today, I still had to get up at 7:30. SAS does a picture on deck for each school, and my schools’ time was at 8:20. I was really hoping to sleep in, as I woke up still really sleepy from the meds I took. After breakfast and my picture, I came back to my room, read a reading for a class until about 9:30, then fell asleep until 11:15, when Graham knocked on my door to see if I wanted to go to lunch. We knocked on everyone’s door, but apparently I was not the only one who slept fairly late. After lunch, we watched a movie, and then headed up to deck 6 to study before dinner. Jaws is on tonight, and I am really excited to watch it on the big screen in the union. I got the majority of my studying done before dinner, so I just have to review before Jaws, then I have my exam tomorrow morning at 8. We cross the international date line tonight, so I go to bed on the 2nd and wake up on the 4th….strange.
We also finished up some plans for Japan tonight. One night 5 of us will be staying in a hostel in Tokyo, then the next night 7 of us will be sleeping in a capsule hotel. A capsule hotel is what many Japanese businessmen will use while they are traveling, or if they are too tired to make the commute home after a late night at work. It is basically like sleeping in a coffin. Each “capsule” is about 2 meters by 1 meter, and bathrooms are outside the capsule and are communal. Most will have a television inside, and many also have a wireless internet connection. They also usually have sections that divide them by men and women. Some hotels may have only 50 capsules, and others have up to 700. You can google them and find pictures, but we figured it would be a really fun experience for one night in Japan. Japan is definitely going to be the most expensive country we travel to throughout the voyage, so hopefully I don’t go completely broke while I am traveling around. One thing I am really excited for is the food in Japan! Basically, I am a ridiculously picky eater, but I have made it a personal goal of mine to be more adventurous food-wise on this trip, as I will probably never get to have authentic food from most of these countries ever again. We are going to a fish market really early in the morning in one of the places we are going to, and the sushi is apparently amazing, so I will definitely be trying some. My friends (especially Christine and Perry) will be rather jealous of this one. If I could ship some home to them, I definitely would, but that might smell a little icky and not taste too great by the time it gets home. The group of us also bought rail passes for Japan, since we are going to so many different places. It was 300 bucks, but it allows us to take any of the trains to any city, and we can also use many of the buses within cities as well. The rail pass is only available to tourists to Japan, and many people on our voyage ended up buying them because we will be traveling around so much.
In other news, today is February 2nd. It is hard to believe that one year ago is the day that changed my life in a big way. I’m sure most of you reading this know this already, but it was one year ago today that I lost vision completely in my left eye. The week in the hospital that followed was one that was full of tests and stress in trying to figure out exactly what happened. One year ago, I never would have dreamed that I would be doing what I am today. I never would have thought I would be sailing around the world with 600 other college students, looking at life in other places and experiencing it for myself. Looking at the world through one eye will be different (not simply because of the lack of depth perception) because it is a constant reminder to me to live every single day to the fullest. I have always been the type of person to live from day to day, not really focusing too much on the future, but just taking things one step and day at a time (which I know sometimes drives my mother crazy J). This trip is allowing me to truly live in the moment. Knowing that I had a blood clot in my eye that could have very easily gotten stuck in my brain and caused much more damage allows me to enjoy every single moment in my life. I also know that my life could always be much worse, and I know I will get to see how my life could have been had I been born in a different country. Over half of the people in India live on less than $2 a day. Areas in South Africa and Ghana have extreme poverty and many cases of HIV and AIDS. Infant mortality rates are much higher in some countries we are going to than in the United States. When looking at all of these facts, what happened to me seems relatively trivial. I am well fed, I have a place to sleep, and I have family and friends who love me unconditionally. I get to go to a great school, I know I will be able to work and have a steady job once I graduate college, I can participate in every aspect of government in my country, and I can marry whoever I want. Would it have been nice to never have had that blood clot in my eye? Sure. Do I wish I could still see out of my eye? Only when someone throws something to me or I have to shake someone’s hand or parallel park my car. Did I learn something about myself because of what happened to me a year ago? Definitely. I learned that I can do absolutely anything I want to, I can overcome anything life throws at me, and I can do it all with a smile on my face, even during the worst times because I know there are great things for me discover, both in the world and in my future!
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