adeering's TravelStream™ — Recent TravelPod.com entries TravelStream™ news feed for member adeering on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/adeering en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sun, 31 May 2009 20:05:58 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com India: Higher in Crazyness than Mushroom Tripping — Chennai, India http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adeering/semester_at_sea/1142365080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adeering/semester_at_sea/1142365080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adeering/semester_at_sea/1142365080/tpod.html Sun, 31 May 2009 20:05:58 -0400 Around the world in a little over a hundred days on semester at sea!
Chennai, India

India entry will be coming soon! and its gonna be sick so watch out
]]> Mauritius is close to Madagascar! — Port Louis, Mauritius http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adeering/semester_at_sea/1142192100/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adeering/semester_at_sea/1142192100/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adeering/semester_at_sea/1142192100/tpod.html Sun, 31 May 2009 20:05:40 -0400 Around the world in a little over a hundred days on semester at sea!
Port Louis, Mauritius

mauritius info will be added in a few days!
]]> Under African Skies — Port Elizabeth, South Africa http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adeering/semester_at_sea/1140875280/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adeering/semester_at_sea/1140875280/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adeering/semester_at_sea/1140875280/tpod.html Sat, 25 Feb 2006 08:49:07 -0500 Around the world in a little over a hundred days on semester at sea!
Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Seven short days in Africa seemed like years. I'm sitting on the top deck of the Explorer missing friends and reminiscing about a rejuvenating week of experiences and memories. We began last Monday on the Bazz bus, a traveling bus that winds up the southeast coast through the scenic Garden Route. We ended back at our boat with tears in our eyes, and spent a good few hours watching the lights of Africa disappear and the sounds of Jamey drum circles echoing off the ship.

My birthday may be a good beginning point for our South Africa bus trip. It was decided that it was only appropriate to have my first swimming experience in the Indian Ocean in my birthday suit. Riptides, cold nipples, undertows, sunburns and sand dunes that sizzled under our nakedness. The day was 23 years in the making of special ness, with the company of friends to make it even more memorable. We spend the day being children again and taking in the amazing coastline of the Indian Ocean. There were no people on the beach -probably a good thing- and we sipped champagne and talked about my newly appropriated senior citizen status within the friend group, as I am the first one to reach 23. We set a pretty high standard for birthdays to come amongst the rest of the friend group. Four shared bottles of champagne and twenty-three shots of yager in my belly made for some great pictures and "remember when's", no doubt.

Nights in Africa consisted of magic. In many different ways. Some can be conveyed and some are impossible to explain. The sky at night is one memory that sticks in my head still. It is bigger than any sky I have ever seen, save maybe the Grand Canyon, and the stars are unfamiliar and intriguing in that sense alone. We tried to memorize some constellations as we laid on our backs in the forest looking up for so many hours on so many nights; the Southern Cross is still engrained in my head. I even peeked at it last night for a short does of nostalgia.

Met some wandering surfer boys from Germany, Spain and Africa in Wilderness. They had a tricked out VW Euro van outfitted with kick ass music, mattresses enough for us all and plenty of Red Stripe beer (Natti Ice of the Affrikaneers). They adopted us and we meshed the Nor-Cali vibe with the South Af vibe ending up with quite the concoction of craziness. We quickly integrated into the scene with some local insight and plenty of windy road trips to hidden spots that you could only know of if you lived their yourself. Beautiful bays, waterfall hikes, sunrise lookouts, estuaries.... the list goes on and on.

Wilderness, a town we spent 3 of our traveling nights in, was a hard place to leave as we tried twice and then gave up- it was pointless to escape the coolest town ever. I will attempt to explain how unique and special the town of Wilderness was in a recipe that follows: one cup of Hait(sp?)-Asbury with a little Bolinas spice and some Santa Cruz pepper. Possible a little sugar icing of the Barcelona/Rome punk scene as well. (And the guys all sound like their from Down Under, which doesn't hurt either.) While in Wilderness we stayed at a hostel called Fairy Knowe. That gives a slight hint to the hipster, dreadlocked, no shoed, granola eating, and digerie doo playing vibe that was going on at the Knowe. Where should I even start with the Knowe....composting toilets, organic food made fresh for us at every (amazing) meal, local bands that camped out with us jamming every night, bongo drums and watercolors and oil pastels and silk skirts that became our staple clothing items the entire trip. It was a blast, and just the thing we were looking for. (For Tori, Adam and Lexi, Fairy Knowe was exactly like The Ranch in San Luis Obispo, yeah?)

Bus rides through the countryside, as we defiantly had many many hours of those, were unique experiences in themselves. Saw a lot of the different cultural and physical landscapes that make up the country. The colonial Dutch influence was evident in the architecture and make up of the tourist cities. Yet these places were in no way representative of the Africa that the majority of the population lives in. Townships (African ghetto's) like those outside of Cape Town and Johannesburg provided a stark contrast to the hippie scene of Wilderness as well. The luxury of the tourist industry supporting the large safari locations like Kruger and Pilansberg stood black and white to the poverty of the townships. Beggars, starving children, prostitution, blood drives for AIDS victims, unsanitary conditions, hunger and poverty existed like I could only have imagined before being exposed to it first hand. I chose not to take any pictures when we saw this side of Africa. I have a strong belief that my actions behind a Kodak lens in places like that only take away from my being able to truly absorb my surroundings. Being exposed to a lifestyle different from mine, be it only for so short a time, was difficult in a lot of ways. It makes you think about fairness in a light that is hard to process. I think the most important thing I could do when seeing these things was to try my best to be present in every way so that I could take those memories home with me and learn from them further.

Upon return to the ship I stumbled into my bedroom to see it full of happy birthday air mail cards and flowers from the fam. Props go out to Dennis Fitzgerald and the siblings for the great flowers, that are still smelling fresh and clean 5 days later!!! And thank you for all the happy birthday cards! I loved them all and I have them sitting in a pile next to my bed. I felt close to you all for the day and I loved that more than anything. To Makenzi and Chris, thanks for the digital photos that I magneted onto my growing wall collection. The roommate especially loved those late-night-table-top-three-girls-pics Makenzi, no doubt the man who makes my bed every morning and does my laundry also appreciates their "colorful" nature.

We arrive in Mauritius the day after tomorrow. Excitement is high! Some of the world's most untouched coral reefs beckon us, and way groovy volcanic craters to hike down into. Me and my two best girlfriends are traveling around the island on bikes that we have rented for the whole time with some other SAS guys who want to get off the beaten path. We've packed our sleeping bags, a 3 gallon bucket for mixing drinks on the beach, our swimmers, ipod speakers, snorkels and sun dresses. I think we're set. Mauritius has officially been dubbed the "Spring Break of Semester at Sea" so that just about covers the duration of activities we'll be engaging in for our time there. From 2 nautical miles east of Madagascar, ciao, tschus, lates, I'm out!
]]> Turning 23!!!, Ditching Commonplace Safari's, And — Cape Town, South Africa http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adeering/semester_at_sea/1139860260/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adeering/semester_at_sea/1139860260/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adeering/semester_at_sea/1139860260/tpod.html Mon, 13 Feb 2006 14:52:40 -0500 Around the world in a little over a hundred days on semester at sea!
Cape Town, South Africa

Hummmm. What should I do tomorrow? I think I'll go to South Africa! That sounds, well, alright. So the ship arrives into Cape Town tomorrow and excitement is high amongst all of us, and for many different reasons. Most of my fellow students are going cage shark diving, sand-boarding, skydiving, hand-gliding, or participating in Safari's that cost more than three months of rent in my apartment back home. Personally, when I picture my first Safari I imagine my husband and I attending the tour together, in our late fifties/early sixties with sun-wrinkled smiles and matching oversized khaki shorts. I'm probably holding binoculars under a large straw sunhat and my husband has the telephoto lens strapped onto the million-dollar camera. We're in a 4X4 jeep because we don't want to go hiking. We have a guide because the appeal of getting lost isn't what it was when we were in our twenties and thirties.

Therefore as you may expect I'm not really intrigued by any of the 'popular' activity options in this port, among others. I want to do something that I believe not many of the tens of thousands of other kids who have been on SenesterAtSea before me have done. This includes being lucky enough to spend my 23rd birthday in a continent as wild as Africa. But besides that, I don't see my seven days in Africa as my only trip here in my lifetime. Therefore I want to use this opportunity of traveling with other adventurous college students that I have dutifully recruited to experience something unique to our situation together. I'm going to hop on a bus on Tuesday the 15th and will report back next week when I return to the ship. It is then that I will expand upon the adventures, frustrations, nuances, enlightenments and transcendences I am seeking on this southern tip of the African continent. No doubt I have my very own copy of Dennis Fitzgerald's dog eared Siddhartha book in the top pocket of my backpack to aid with those desired elements of personal transformation. All in all I mostly hope for a good nighttime view of the southern hemisphere constellations and the Southern Cross so that I can impress upon my mind their patterns for nostalgic memories when I return back home. Along with that, maybe pick up a few deeply culturally infused items of South African clothing and have an amazing birthday dinner with too many free beverages. That wouldn't hurt. Phunk. Savanna. Wilderness. Turning twenty-three. Maybe a rhino or a hippopotamus if karma is in my favor?

Lastly I want to shout out to C-Money, as I happened to temporarily overlook his existence in my last blog. It will never happen again. And to mami Makenzi chulo for the sweet package that included eye patches that I occasionally bring to class to aid in semi-concealed napping that occurs in the back row J. I'm so serious.
]]> Brazil! — San Salvador, Brazil http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adeering/semester_at_sea/1139454660/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adeering/semester_at_sea/1139454660/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adeering/semester_at_sea/1139454660/tpod.html Wed, 08 Feb 2006 22:13:18 -0500 Around the world in a little over a hundred days on semester at sea!
San Salvador, Brazil

Hello to All Back Home!
I realize that it has been well over two weeks since I have written last, and I extend all apologies for my perceived laziness! I am distracted by too many stimuli, that's the only excuse that I have, and fortunately for me the excuse happens to be true!

The six day trip from Puerto Rico to Brazil was a continued growing experience for me, one that happened alongside all the other students that I share my "floating campus" with. For many of us it was our first time crossing the equator into the Southern Hemisphere. It was also the beginning of bonding and forming of friendships, new sexual partners, enemies and crushes. (This trip has officially been renamed Semester of Sex by just about every student on board whether they are a witness or a participator). Still every day I meet new people, and as classes get more in depth and involved it gets easier to come out of your established circle of friends to continue meeting more people. I love it. Everyone has something to contribute to my "journey", and just being able to have this opportunity to be surrounded by so many others who are passionate about things similar to me is amazing. I will say that I still have yet to meet anyone who has a Nalgene as cool as mine, still working on that.

A typical day for me is one of two things. While "at Sea" all days are divided into A and B days. If you asked me what day of the week it was, I honestly couldn't tell you for the life of me. All I know is that if it's a B day, I have to get out of bed in time for my 8am class (which requires lots of coffee, no doubt), and I stay in class till 2:30. On the other hand... an A day means I can sleep in till whenever I want (and since I don't have a port hole with any sort of light shining into my room that is usually pretty late ). I don't go to the one required class on A days, Global Studies, rather friends and me exchange notes for A and B days and put together we usually have a majority of the class covered. We figure since it' s graded on a curve all of us must be pretty up their on the curve with the amount of frat guys and meat heads on the boat, lol. Go Chi Phi and Delta Sig!

So, A days consist of me tanning on the top deck (which has now been elevated to a whole new level as I went swimsuit shopping in Brazil and spent my entire budget till China), drinking smoothies, attempting to read for class and constantly failing, socializing, draining my ipod battery looking off into the depths of the blue horizon lines, working out (I started a badass kickboxing class yesterday and my ass feels like a rock today, along with some help from a few ibuprofen), and just plain chilling. Everyone races onto deck 7 after class ends cause laying-out chairs are in limited supply, theirs only 700 of them, jk. My friend Sven is usually the first person out, he's from Hawaii and needs his sun like, well, a lot.

The day we crossed the equator is called Neptune Day, it was a gigantous celebration of huge proportions. Since we go to the worlds most laid back chill "college" ever, of course we didn't have class all day to allow for proper celebrations. Its tradition to shave your head and get fish guts pored over you on this day. Let me explain what I did in order to ensure tradition and still remain able to hold my porn star career upright after going back home. My friends and I got pretty crunk the night before, exacts and/or specifics to that description I shall not mention. We'll just say anyone who knows me, knows that crunk has many different sides . I decided that I didn't have any where near the amount of balls required to shave my head. After all, I do go to an all girl's college and would most likely be attacked when I returned home by all the Dikes. So I came up with a creative stand-in for not buzzing it off. I decided to force my friends to pierce my ears when we were crunkie! I hurled some apples at them to put behind my lobes and found a lighter and a safety pin and broke out the video camera. I think ALL piercings should happen while under the influence, it was smooooth sailing, no pun intended. After the piercings went through, literally, friends and me sat on the top deck till 3am when we actually crossed the equator. We acted like drunken hippies act like when they celebrate and it was most appropriate. This may include a little coom-by-yah, maybe some hand holding in a circle, musing at the stars and the meaning of why we are here together, you get the general gist. We were a little disappointed that there wasn't a row of large orange buoy's marking the exact equator location, I think that presumption must have been the ignorant American blood shining through our crisp suntans. The new piercings (a third one on my right ear and a second one on my left ear) are doing fine other than the raunchy infection/worm/parasite I may have picked up while swimming in the Amazon??? Ignorance is bliss in this case! Because I pierced my ears, however, I was not able to participate in the Fish Guts ceremony the next day for fear of infection (and a major hangover, but that's not the primary excuse). I was totally the lame chick in the back that looks like she doesn't like to get dirty! Oh how wrong that is. Yet it was what it was... I had the chance to explain my reasons why I was a bystander to everyone who asked, and I think I redeemed myself some what in telling my "I'm hardcore and pierced my ears" story.

Other than Neptune day the rest of the trip to Brazil was great. Too much to tell. Basically it was the best trip from Puerto Rico to Brazil on a boat full of 800 kids that I have ever had... does that suffice to describe?

Visiting Brazil was a shock for me. Personally I think this says a lot, because shocking a Deering-Fitzgerald takes quite the dedicated effort -no half ass job will do- if I can venture so far as to say that without sounding too presumptuous. . With the friends that I have, shocks don't come one in a million. We docked in San Salvador, a city of 1.2 million crazy people who love reggae and drum a helluva lot. One of the things that sticks in my mind the most about Brasília was the sunsets. They were quintessentially Brazil in every way imaginable. Copacabana, Ipanema, and the way these amazing beaches looked set against the contrast of the tropical looking dark orange and warm red sky- breathtaking. Too many Caipirhinas (the native Brazilian drink made from sugar cane rum, limes and pure sugar grains) only served to make the unforgettable nights thereafter easily forgettable- possibly why I remember so many sunsets?

The heavy African influence in Brazil is what surprised me the most. It was so predominant and so different from anything that I am used to, even having lived in Oakland CA (flash a quick west side) for three years now. It was very ethnic and really changed the way I look at diversity/roots/origins. Black people in Brazil are black, African, mulatto- they're not dressed in over sized sweat suits with bling and rims and copycat afro puffs. Their African. It's amazing how much the influence of the stereotypical "American black man" has changed the way most of the north American world views African Americans. I saw this in Brazil. Along with that, I observed how deeply music is integrated into every aspect of Brazilian lifestyle. Along the waterfronts, beaches, churches, in the Amazon villages, in the favella's (Brazilian ghetto's)... music was everywhere. And it too sounded very African. Deep, drum, bass. Bongo drums were on the streets like borrowed bikes are in Amsterdam. Tambourines were in all the hands of the small children in the villages and in the schools. It represented entertainment the way American children may be playing with Yugio cards or portable video games. In Brazil they play with music and sound.

I spent three of my days in Brazil floating down the Amazon river from the confluence of the Rio Negro and the Solimoes in Manaus to a small village south of Manaus. I was on a boat with 15 other Semester At Sea students. We slept in hammocks, mine which I intended to buy at the end to give to dad for a birthday present but then I remembered that I always forget his birthday so that idea seemed to be quite pointless . It was a eye-opening trip in that I have never spent any time on a tropical rainforest river before (Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Arizona and California ecosystems are much different). The air was sticky and sweet and the river was black and brown. Yes I swam in it, even with my ears newly pierced and against the advice of many of the people on the boat. I came out with no piranha bites. My guide, Moses, told me I must not have very sweet blood. I believe Moses has always been quite the smart man.

On the trip we went to two different villages. Terra Preta was a indigenous peoples settlement that had just been hooked up to electricity 8 years ago. We shadowed some of the children for a day, which included attempting to beat them in a game of soccer. I came out covered in Amazon mud and a very poor loser (as you can imagine Tegan, you knows my older sister poor loser side all to well). I raced one girl up a Acai tree to pick some Acai fruits that are high in protein and vitamins providing nutrition to the kids as they grow up. I quickly slid down the 15-foot trunk as the amateur palm tree climber that I am. I have quite the badass scab to show evidence of my wipeout, and in my mind it looks similar to what I picture Dengue Fever looking like if you could get that across your lower shin. Comprende? I am actually seeing the doctor today because its getting more difficult to walk on that leg, possibly swimming in the river after I got the injury was not the best idea.

Other than visiting villages and not being very successful at Piranha fishing we took some long rainforest hikes. Absent of course was any experimental taste testing of medicinal rainforest tree bark and such, because that wouldn't have complied well with the Semester at Sea drug Code of Conduct. The rainforest was wet. And scary. And intriguing. Lots of "take-a-picture-of-me-climbing-this-vine-looking-like-Tarzan" moments, of which I started the group wide trend, no doubt. I learned a lot about the different rituals of the native people and medicines that come from all the lots of plants and animals. The way the rain feels when you are hiking through the rainforest and it's pouring down stickiness in huge drops was an exhilarating experience I will not forget. At that moment I was glad beyond belief that I didn't buy the $100 rain gear set at REI. Rather I reveled in the water that was sticking my clothes to my body, and probably eating away at my poor camera at the same time. Did I mention that it already broke and I have to buy ANOTHER one in Cape Town? WOW.

So our ship left Brazil three days ago. We are now on our way to South Africa, which we will port at in 5 days. Plans for South Africa are shaping up well. Other then buying a new camera and doing the ONE touristy activity of skydiving, I have quite the adventure planned. Me and three of my closest friends, Jacy, John (we call him Ja cause he's a white-boy-Rasta-at-heart type) and Steve are going to take a bus to the furthest we can possibly get from Cape Town still within the country of South Africa. Then we are making our way slowly back down the southwest coast over the course of the seven days we have in port. Small eco-tourist beach towns and beastly wilderness areas that aren't on maps is what we're looking for. And a tree house restaurant to have my birthday dinner in, if we're lucky. We have some maps (in light of previous experience with those I seem to find they are best used to light campfires with), some recommendations for good places to continue our soul-searching adventures, and other than that we're empty handed. Tastes like the making of a great mess to me, as long as we all remember our malaria medication. And lots of pepto bismol to coat our stomachs from travelers diarrhea before we devour many authentic African McDonalds hamburgers- joke, I mean lots of wild water buffalo meat that we poach with our own hands Dennis Fitzgerald style.

And so it goes without saying that I miss you all loads. I'm wearing my coogie shirt at the moment looking at this one picture on my wall. It's hanging below the large Brazilian flag that I bought to make into a funky tube dress out of. The picture (from Joel's photo album) is of me hanging off of Big D's neck as she kisses Joel as Lydia holds my waist with my legs wrapped around Doug while we're all leaning on Anthony in the club. Good times to say the least. Hello to stoned muttie, Pops, sistahhh, my two favorite Australians ever, Notedope, sexy roomie!, Christopher, deutsch dave, mami makenzi, boyfriend and G-Unit. Love from 9 degrees-34 degrees, our current latitude and longitude aboard the MV Explorer!
]]> and so it begins.... — San juan, Puerto Rico http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adeering/semester_at_sea/1138140180/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adeering/semester_at_sea/1138140180/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adeering/semester_at_sea/1138140180/tpod.html Tue, 24 Jan 2006 17:44:45 -0500 Around the world in a little over a hundred days on semester at sea!
San juan, Puerto Rico

And so here I am!!!! at our first port in Puerto Rico. Been here for two days now and we're leaving tomorrow. It's beautiful here. I would never guess its winter time!

So the boat is amazing and the people are just as great. Its sooo luxurious, spas, massage rooms, sauna's, tanning rooms, mani and pedi salon, maids for our rooms, I could go on and on. Surrounded by all these interesting, intellectual kids looking for adventure and trouble ;), just my kind of trip. Spent a few days in the Bahamas before setting ship to P.R., my room mates who I met on the Internet message boards for the trip all turned out to be cool and down and fun, still good friends with a few of them since we left the Bahamas. Didnt do too much there other than drink ourselves silly and get to know each other and the other 600 Semester At Sea kids who were staying at our same hotel. Got kicked out of the hot tub late night and invaded all the small Bahamian watering holes. 151 all the way (straight up NYC start the night Mami style). Filled rubbing alcohol bottles with vodka so that we have an ample stash of proof for the trip, since SAS regulates the # of drinks we can have on pub nights (by regulate I mean scare tactics that don't scare ME, no no no.)

When we took off for P.R. it was amazing. Lots of parents waving good bye, blah blah blah. I was thinking "my parents wouldn't be there if I offered to pay their way here, this sucks!" jk. The first night on the ship was great, just stayed up all night getting to know all these kids and swapping stories and smoking cig's- but no worries my rule is only one per night! We were on course to P.R. for four days, ppl getting used to their room mates (mine sucks) and hawking lots due to sea sickness. Its a good thing I (for some godly reason) don't get sea sick cause I didn't bring any pills or patches or wristbands or anything. I like to take the free pills they hand out though cause they give you the spins! Hehe.

Started classes, their really cool. Taking travel journal writing, digital photo, global studies geography, environ. politics and policy and globalization and international politics. Compared to Mills, classes are a JOKE and I feel so lucky to be able to experience "real college life" for one semester. Def wont learn anything in the classroom on the voyage, but I guess thats nothing to be complaining about! I fall asleep after like 30 seconds in class cause the boat is rocking back and forth, its terrible! I looked at my notes from GS the other day (its a 2 hour class) and all I had written was "Puerto Rico... narrow island 100 miles long" LOL. Met a lot of cool ppl in my classes, interested in all the same academic things I am, nerdy and cool just like muah, pretty sweeeeet. I also resolved to do my envt politics teacher before the semester ends despite the "no fraternizing with the staff rule" that has been heavily emphasized!

SO far I have one amazing girl friend, Jacy, a cool granola hippie type who likes all the same things I do (other than, and it goes without saying, she isn't quite the manhattan chanel snob who likes her Champagne free and expensive!) but its all good. I'm a hippie when I travel so it works out well. Other than her and a few cool chicks we have met together most of my friends are guys. So much fun! Too much fun. No one tells and appreciates a raunchy story and some luggies like a guy, am I right? Steve, Rex, David, Andrew and Jeff are the crew so far... getting bigger by the day!

So I only have classes every other day when we are at sea (when were in port we don't have any class at all cause all of us leave the ship to partaaaay and get silly). So on those days I work out, although running on the treadmill is hard when were in rough weather, lol, and I sit on the top deck by the pool and the other kids sun bathing. I'm basically a Negro, similar to summertime in Europe style, already. Still working on getting the nude sunbathing to be allowed, we'll see.

I'm applying to be a part of the SAS ambassadors group when we leave P.R. that meets with different ambassadors from all the ports of call that we go to and arranges diplomatic briefings with important diplomats for the rest of the SAS community to attend if they want to. Its an amazing opportunity and will be a really fun experience, hopefully it will add some challenges to the lack of difficulty I am experiencing in my classes. Never thought I would say that I miss classes that make me stressed out, right??? Where is o-chem when I need it, huh? LOL.

Puerto Rico has been great thus far. Gathered a group of wanderers with Jacy (my girlfriend) to come hiking in the rain forest, En Yunque Natl Park, yesterday. All the kids thought I was crazy when I asked the cabby "take us to the rainforest, come back in a few hours", haha. It was amazing we hiked to the top of this peak, no bushwhackers or ice pics (chris!) necessary. Then we found this castle and climbed to the top of it and pretended we were conquistadores. I swore the whole time that we had hiked so far that we were outside of the bounds of the Ntl Park and were about to walk right into some tropical pot farm and get assassinated, it was great. Lots of waterfall swimming, I broke out the swanky little shorts then and got a few strange looks but everyone will get over it soon enough I figure. Steve, Nate and I had to pick the leaches off Steve after we got out cause they seemed to like his juicy blood :), and there was a No Swimming sign, oops! We scaled a few waterfalls and acted hard core, it was great. Wandered Old Town San Juan today and took lots of cool pictures and layed in a few parks and battled last nights hangovers together, good times. Going out Salsa dancing tonight to mix it up with the hottie local boys, no worries thought all my guy possie is over protective and know when the hungry eyes come out- the best cock blockers ever :)

Off tomorrow night for (seven?) days at sea, arriving in BRAZIL at pre-carnival time, sweeeeet! Should be super Negro after that much sunbathing time. Cant wait to cross the equator, apparently its a huge deal and we all swim in pools of fish guts in honor of a pirate tradition. Lots of ppl shave their heads, but considering that I will be returning to Mills College in a few months means that would not be very appropriate, now would it. So, I'll check this blog at the end of our time in Brazil so write back to me all you lovelies! Miss you all, lots of pics of all of you magneted up on my walls in my room (and I've broken out the photo album already mucho times j+d)... I think my boring room mate is wondering why I have so many pictures of triple kisses and lesbian action and glass tables and sweaty dancing orgies and crazy naked costumes.... maybe I can help to broaden her horizons for our next 99 days together in a untraditional educational manner. I'm working on telling all the new friends all about our crazy times together...many many cig's down the road, nights sleeping up on deck with our mattresses, and a few more thousand nautical miles later I am sure each of you will be well known in the shipboard community, no doubt.
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