Erin's Travel Blog

I've decided I'm not finished talking about Semester at Sea. I guess the point of going is that I'll never be. I keep thinking about it; what I've seen, what I've done, the people I've met, the culture differences. I really thought I would live differently when I came home. But, really, I haven't changed. The only difference is when I think about those people living in Brazil, Namibia, South Africa, India, Viet Nam, China, I feel guilty and cry. My life is the same except for guilt. Why was I given this privilege? Why was I born in America instead of Africa? What did (or will) I do to deserve this life that Daniel from Namibia didn't (or won't)? He wants to be a doctor; he wants to cure AIDs. But I wonder if he can afford to ever go to college. He lives in a house the size of my living room with his three siblings (was four, but one died) and parents. They don't have an indoor bathroom. But he wants to save lives, to save his country. I ...

A quick post to let everyone know I created a YouTube  channel to complement the written word.

Day 104 My last day in Costa Rica. My last day in a foreign country for my Semester At Sea experience. (Panama doesn't count.) I keep thinking it will be summer when I get home. Repeatedly, I have started to say, “When I get home this summer....” Nope. Wrong. It will be winter. Frigid winter.  Oh, it is beautiful here. I am going to recover today by laying on the beach. The weird thing is there are very few people out today. It's not like Waikiki. The sand here is different. There are much more minerals in it, making it darker. I found a spot on the beach near some other people and the lawn chairs that you can rent. I'm cheap, so I didn't rent one. I just spread my Brazilian sarong out on the scorching sand, and I lay down with my book. After a few minutes, a guy came up and asked me about my tattoo. He was a little surprised that I could speak spanish. He asked me how much it cost and if I had any more. I wish I knew mor e about the tattoo culture in Cos...

Day 103 I woke up early with Josie because I wanted to try to get on her outrigger canoe trip. A bunch of people didn't show up, Kelly and Kelsey included. Their hotel ended up being closer to Jacó rather than Puntarenas, where Travelocity said it was. It would have been expensive for them to grab a taxi all the way to the ship and back. If only SAS had told them where the canoe place was (in the same city where they were staying) they could have just met us there instead of losing all their money.  It was so gorgeous. The cliffs looked amazing above the crystal blue water. Pelicans were flying around and roosting in the trees on the cliffs. Something was driving fish up on one side of the boat; they kept jumping out of the water. Clouds were hiding the sun by the time we made it to the beach though. And the water was murky from rain, so snorkeling was not worth it. I went on a hike through the forest instead. We looked for monkeys, but only saw birds, frogs and leaf-cu...

Day 102 I made it through finals. Yesssssss. Now I get my tropical vacation in sunny Costa Rica. Some sneaky cruise ship took our spot on the dock in Puntarenas, so now we have to tender in Puerto Caldera until this evening when they leave. This morning I went zip-lining through the rainforest with Kelly and Kelsey. It was so amazing. I'm not sure we had the most optimal location because we didn't see much wildlife, but it was gorgeous all the same. There was a huge group going. I think they should have split us up. They suited us all up and we walked up to the first platform. Watching people fly over the trees to the next platform was really funny. Some people went really fast, and others couldn't quite make it. I learned how to go really fast by tucking up into a ball. It was thrilling. The views were spectacular. However, I am frustrated with Lauren. I was afraid we would miss each other trying to meet up because of the new docking situation. And communicati...

Day 92 Breakfast was served early this morning: from 0630 to 0800. I was not happy about waking up that early. What made me especially unhappy was that Kelly had heard that we wouldn't be able to get off the boat until noon or later. Luckily, that rumour was wrong. Customs proceedings began a little after 0800, and the ship was cleared by 0900.  While we were waiting for the ship to be cleared, I got to see Kelly's parents for the first time. They called her to say they were standing on the dock off the back of the boat. So we went out there and waved. We were formally introduced as I disembarked with Kelsey. Her brother is really attractive. And her parents were so sweet. They were surprisingly excited to meet us. I was thankful they had invited us to join them for dinner. Kelsey and I let them go about their business, and we set out on our mission for Starbucks and an ATM before heading to the beach. The ATM was easy enough to find, and we just had to follow th...

Day 87 Not only will I be able to say that I circumnavigated the globe when I get home, but after today I can say that I lived one day twice. That's right. I woke up this morning, and it was the same day as yesterday: 22 November 2008.  This calls for a discussion about time zones. I don't know how many time zones there are–I figured there were 24, but I think that's wrong. All I know is that I've been through a bunch; I guess all of them by the end of the trip. Sweet.  So, up until now the boat has been plowing through time zones into the future...Last night at 2459 hundred hours, I was 16 hours ahead of home. Then we did the Time Warp. (Not the dance, although that would have been a fun event.) In essence, 16 hours had been building up in front of the boat like some kind of force field. As soon as we hit the International Date Line, we busted through time to the past. Now I am eight hours behind home. Let me explain, though, that those 16 hours were ...

Day 82 I didn't make any plans for today, so I just decided to look in the travel book at the purser's desk and wander around on my own. I decided to find some coffee and breakfast  before hitting up the Yokohama Museum of Art .  As I was wandering through the city, I stumbled upon a quaint cafe where I got a latte and a blueberry pastry. I could even watch the japanese people sketching on the street outside. I guess they like to do that here.  After my little perk up, I jumped on the train and went a couple of stops to where the museum was. They have shops inside the train stations here, and I spent quite a while inside one picking out postcards and a die-cut model ship for uncle Mark. I had a leisurely walk around the block to the museum entrance, taking lots of pictures of the fall colors and a Christmas tree along the way.  It was my lucky day because there was a Cézanne exhibit at the art museum. I doubt if I've been to one before. After lookin...

Day 81 I was ready to go early this morning. Had to be. We're going to Tokyo Disney Sea !! It's the happiest place on Earth.  I was worried, though, because I could not get a hold of Yuri. Communication purely through email (unreliable email at that) is difficult. Thankfully I got an email from her right before we got off the ship. She gave me train directions to Disney Sea and set a time and place to meet up. I was going to meet her in the Tokyo train station at the Uniqlo store at 10:30 pm. So I made sure to find that place on my way to Tokyo Disney.  We had to take two trains to Disney Sea (and Disneyland). Not surprizingly, there were serveralother SASers on the trains. Gregg the videographer was even on the main line from Yokokama to Tokyo, so maybe there'll be some footage of me on the DVD. (Update: there wasn't.)  After finally arriving at the park, Kayla, Jillian, Nicole and I pranced  inside to be greeted by Pluto. There were decorations for...

Day 80 I needed this day off. I have so much to do: write two FDP papers, prepare an oral presentation, read, read, read, not to mention write some journals! And I'm so tired. We've been waking up early, going to sleep late and losing an hour every night. So I slept in. I wrote both of my papers and wrote what I'll say during my presentation. I'll have to make slides later with the rest of my China group. And then I watched Love Actually with Tess, Hillary, Katherine and Tristan. It was great. I'd never seen it before. Put me in the mood for Christmas. Those girls are so fun, too. I need to spend more time with them.

Day 78 Home stay I have had one of the most pleasant days of the voyage today. It's comparable to Stargazing in Namibia.  This morning I woke up at 0615 so that I could watch the sun rise in the land of the rising sun. And I was not let down. It was a clear morning, but not devoid of clouds, so the whole spectrum of colors was present. I know that the sunrise can't be any more beautiful here than any other part of the world, b ut who ever regrets seeing a sunrise? I figured there would only be so many opportunities for me to do that in Japan, anyway. Seeing the pink sky slowly turn orange behind purple mountains and the sapphire bay was worth it.  Breakfast was being served by the time the sun was up, so I got some eggs, oatmeal and coffee. From then on I would have to wait for the ship to be cleared. Since my home stay was starting at 1100, there was not much else for me to do than pack, take a shower and go back to sleep. When it was finally time to go,...

So, I've given in. I have to move on with this blog, but I still haven't written about my days in China. Hopefully, Kelly will soon email me her journal notes from our time there, and I can compile my own memories from my notes plus her memories. For now, though, I'm going to post my entries from the rest of the trip. So sorry.

Day 69 It's hard to get any journaling or reading done right now. I'm watching the presidential elections in the Union. It's pretty crowded. We are streaming live the radio and occasionally video of the election on MSNBC. There is an excited electricity in this room. Everyone is smiling, some people are crying.  It's so strange to be here right now. It is 12:45 here, so 00:45 in Boston. The speeches should be broadcast soon. I'm going to try to get some work done before the scramble for lunch. O-BA-MA! O-BA-MA! O-BA-MA!

Day 68 I just had a great conversation with Josie . We sat together at lunch and talked about Vietnam . This country has really had an effect on me. Josie and I wondered about the Vietnam war and the things that happened—things that I had never he ard about. We never learned about the Vietnam War in school. Josie mused that it must be because our teachers and parents lived through the war. It was so recent in their minds, that they just took it for granted that we knew about it. So we were never taught. As a result, my generation doesn't know anything unless they sought it out themselves.  I hate to say that I've always been sensitive to the atrocities and unfairness in the world. That sounds narcissistic. I was aware of them, though, and didn't like them. However, I was never aware of all of it. I guess that would be impossible. This trip has opened my eyes in ways I never expected it to. I don't understand why I get so much, why my life is so easy, when ...