Salina, Kansas, USA

I was going to write a blog post at the airport in Ft. Lauderdale, but I had a lot of other things on my mind and forgot.

Soo… I was on the plane from Atlanta to Wichita, and I decided to write out what I was thinking – reflecting if you will…This is what I wrote:

I am so lucky. I am lucky to have friends from all over. I got to go around the world on a frickin' ship. How did I end up being lucky enough to be born in the United States – to be in the body that I'm in? Why do there have to be so many unlucky people in the world? The better question might be – are they really unlucky in the first place? There are many different views of luck. Many people we might think of as unlucky don't actually think of themselves that way at all; they are perfectly happy with their friends and families. Where do you draw the line between lucky and unlucky?

Catherine, Amber, Max – I love you so much! I don't know what I would have done without you. I can't imagine the voyage without you, and quite frankly, I don't want to. Should I feel bad that the thing I got out of this the most was the shipboard community? Well, I don't. I don't feel bad at all. Call me a traveler, an adventurer, a scholar, a tourist – whatever, I don't care. It was you who made the trip for me – not the people in other countries, not the souvenirs and T-shirts or the markets. It didn't matter where I was or what I was doing; it was you that would make me want to do it all again. They told us to reflect and think about how the voyage affected us and what it means to us. I don't need to change the world – I just want to be there for you – I want to be the best friend that I can be. I want to be significant enough to have changed your world because you have changed mine. I am so lucky.

HOLY SHIT, I JUST WENT AROUND THE F*CKING WORLD!

I don't remember the last time I felt this close to people. This whole going home thing is bittersweet.

I love friends! I will miss every single one of the friends I made on the voyage. I love you all – you know who you are!

-KW-

Salvador, Brazil

Sorry about the delay in the blog posts by the way! I’ve been busy studying for finals and everything. I’ve also been procrastinating because I don’t want to think about the fact that I only have one country left to write about.

My first day in Brazil was spent in Salvador (once again walking around). We started off with a large group of people and ended up with just Catherine and I. About an hour passed with hardly any excitement, but then it started pouring. The rain came out of nowhere, but it was marvelous. It stopped raining after a few minutes, and then we saw a cat and a tiny kitten on the sidewalk and (yes I know we probably shouldn’t have, but just go with it…) stopped to pet them. They immediately ran and sat between our feet, and shortly after they did this it started to rain again. Catherine and I stayed for quite a while just standing in the rain, soaking wet, and protecting kitties. Another one came up to us and jumped onto Catherine’s bag. All of the people around were looking at us like we were crazy; I guess I don’t blame them. That night, a few of us went to a restaurant where they served meat on a stick! I don’t remember what it’s called, but it was AMAZING!!

In Brazil, I went on my one and only overnight trip. I find it kind of funny that the only nights I slept off of the ship were spent on a riverboat… The Rio de Negro was a lot of fun, but I woke up sick on the second day and didn’t get to go on the secondary jungle walk. I did go to the community visit, but halfway through I started to feel sick again. I told one of the trip leaders that I was feeling ill, and an older woman from the community let me lie on a rug in her house and put two fans on me. She was SO sweet! She didn’t speak any English, but the tour guide translated for us. She actually said that if I wanted to, I could leave America and come live with her and learn Portuguese, but I told her I would miss my mom too much. I felt better on the last day and got to go on the primary jungle walk. I can now say that I have walked through part of the Amazon Rainforest! We went to the airport around 11 pm that night, but our flight didn’t leave until 2 am, and we didn’t get back to the ship until 2 pm. I was extremely embarrassed to be associated with some of the people on my trip. Granted it was the last night in port for the entire voyage, but they were unbelievable. I understand that some people feel the need to get drunk to have fun, and people enjoy drinking with their friends, but I can’t believe how irresponsible and stupid they are sometimes. Getting drunk and sitting in an airport for several hours with other people around and being loud and obnoxious to the extent that they were is simple frustrating beyond belief.

Well, as you know I am on my way home now. There are only 3 or 4 days left until we get to Florida depending on how you look at it. I am having the worst case of mixed emotions that I have ever had. I don’t want to get off the ship and leave all of my new friends. I definitely miss some of the people at home, and I can’t wait to see a couple people, but I could definitely use another week or two…or three. On the bright side, the Alumni (or Ambassador or Adventurer, or whatever the hell they are calling it now) Ball is tomorrow and we get a fancy pants dinner and prom-like dance thing. Not to mention, I am now completely done with finals and projects. It is safe to say that I have finished my sophomore year of college.

-KW-

 

Accra, Ghana

What did I do on the first day of Ghana? To be honest, everything was starting to blur together at this point. Now it’s nearly all melded together. On the first two days in Ghana, I walked around Accra (after taking a 45 minute bus to get there) with people. The first day was a Sunday (I think), so a lot of things were closed. We found a side street where there were some people playing soccer and dancing, so we joined them. Well, my friends joined them; I guarded backpacks and took pictures. Afterwards we found a restaurant and spent over three hours there – no joke; that was actually how long it took from the time we were seated to the time we paid and got change. The conversation kept us all entertained, so it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. After lunch, we went to a “free concert,” which turned out to be a giant church thing. It was still pretty cool though because how often do you get to see a pastor sing and moonwalk across the stage? I went to another part of town with Catherine on the second day . We met an older man named Nette who offered to walk us around and take us to a post office; he was an interesting character to say the least.

While in Ghana, I also went on a forest walk and planted trees. I had the pleasure of eating lunch at an ambassador’s house while watching a drumming/dance performance. On the last day, I went on an SAS trip to the Torgorme Village. They welcomed us and gave us all African names; mine is Abla, meaning Tuesday-born. We also watched a few performances by some of the village children, and I tell you, it seemed like everyone wanted our phone numbers and email addresses.

On the last night in port, I went out in Tema with a couple friends. All I have to say about it is this: I HAD A BLAST!  

-KW-

Somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean near Africa

I just wanted to give a shout out to my little brother....HAPPY 19TH BIRTHDAY BRYAN!!!

 

I LOVE YOUR FACE!!!

 

-KW-

Cape Town, South Africa

Good afternoon friends! (or good morning for you…) I would probably have to say that South Africa has been my favorite port thus far. On day one I found someone to go to Spier Wine Estate with me. The funny thing about the day is this – I was in the “wine country,” and I didn’t go wine tasting or drink a drop of the stuff. I went to the wine country to see cheetahs! Spier runs a cheetah outreach program as well as an eagle outreach. We got to pet 10 month old cheetahs (which were already quite big and sleeping), and we got to hold an eagle. It was pretty sweet. At night I went with another group of people to a Jazz bar called the Green Dolphin after eating at a kick ass restaurant while watching the sunset. I went on an SAS trip to the Amy Biehl Foundation and a township on day two. We learned about the foundation and what they are doing to help the children living in townships, and we also went to one of the many townships to play soccer and other games with the children who participate in the program. It was quite an experience for me – not going to lie, I was out of my comfort zone the whole time, but I suppose that it was good for me.  On the third day in Cape Town, Amber and I walked around the waterfront for a while, a while meaning pretty much all day. We did a bit of shopping and exploring and ate lunch at a restaurant (Spur) where a guy Amber met the previous night worked. That night we went to a bar called Ivy League…it was basically an SAS party for those of us who didn’t go on Safaris. Don’t get me wrong; we mingled with locals as well. It was a good time. On the fourth day, I walked around other parts of Cape Town with Catherine and Crystal, and we saw a guy walking his dogs; he let us pet them. THEY WERE SO CUTE! One was a baby puppy!! Man did that make me miss my babies! Catherine wanted to find a Harley Davidson store, and on the way we apparently ran into the rainbow district. Some of them went back later that night, but I went back to Ivy League with Amber and various other individuals. The second night there was infinitely more interesting than the first…There was a bachelor party going on, so I got pictures of a guy in a wig and Daisy Duke outfit dancing on a pole…yup…

On the last day in Cape Town, I was supposed to go on a Shark Observation cruise for an FDP, but it got cancelled due to weather…I was very upset because I was looking forward to seeing some Great Whites. On the bright side, we all got a refund, and I got to go back to sleep (the trip was supposed to leave at 5:30 AM and I was up late the night before…) Since I had nothing else on my agenda for the day, I followed Andrew around on a hunt to find Wi-Fi and checked out Facebook for the first time since Hong Kong after eating lunch. The Facebook thing may not have been the smartest idea because it made me want to get on it more.

Sooooo yeah, that was Cape Town in a nutshell…definitely going to have to come back…just saying.

-KW-

Port Louis, Mauritius

Mauritius. Is. Amazing. I had a blast. On the first day, Alex, Catherine, and I took a buses to Curepipe and Henrietta to go hiking in Tamarin Falls (I doubt I spelled that right, sorry). We found a guide when we got there, and this was NOT an easy little walk through the woods. It was partly raining, the ground was mudding, and the trail was steep. We climbed over rocks, Catherine slipped and would have fallen a ways if Alex had not been behind her, and I would have too if the guide (Kevin) hadn’t been right in front of me to help. I kept finding it hard to believe that I was actually there, AND I jumped off a waterfall. Yes, it was into water – I find it surprising how many people ask if I jumped into water. The spot Alex and I jumped from was about 6 m high, and the water was supposedly 20 m deep. IT WAS EXHILERATING! I almost pussed out, but I’m extremely happy that I didn’t. The day was definitely up there among the top days of my life. In the evening, we walked to the Waterfront area. We met three Mauritian women and a little girl who had rode an hour in a taxi to Port Louis to watch the ships come in and out! They said they had wanted to see the ships up close, but security won’t let you get close without a ship ID, so we showed them some of our pictures. One of them asked for our names and email addresses so she could find us on Facebook. Catherine and I spent a good hour or hour and a half talking to them about the United States and life on the ship before we all went home.

On the second day, Catherine, Alex, Stephanie, Andrew, and found a cab driver to take us to Grand Bay, and he actually took us a few kilometers past it to a small beach where there were less people and a swimming area. After a while, Catherine, Andrew, and I asked the driver to take us on a hunt for goggles, which we found at a superstore that was vaguely similar to a Wal-Mart. We swam for a while and sat in the sand; there were no SASers at this beach (at least we didn’t see any, and I’m pretty sure we would have seen them if they were there because it was a pretty small beach). It was fairly awesome. After a few hours, we left to get lunch and to find a place to exchange money, buy stamps, and buy souvenirs/postcards.

I must say, the two days in Mauritius were quite wonderful, and I wish we had gotten more time. Unfortunately, voyagers before us found it their responsibility to trash the place and treated it with no respect, so Semester at Sea doesn’t have a very good reputation on the island. I wouldn’t be surprised if that is the reason we were only there for one night.

-KW-

Somewhere in the Indian Ocean...

Neptune day!

Neptune day is the day you cross the equator, but we actually celebrated it the day after we crossed. It is also the day people shave their heads – tradition rules! You may be glad to hear that I did NOT have my head shaved, but I did get it cut. The faculty/staff and some dependents dressed up as part of King Neptune’s court, and the rest of us had “fish guts” (which weren’t actually fish guts at all, but rather a slimy, smelly concoction of some sort) poured on us, walked through the pool, and kissed a fish to make the transformation from “pollywog” to “seaback.” You would not believe how many people shaved their heads…it was insane! And yes, there were girls who did it too. One of my friends, Alex, had really long hair, and he did NOT want to cut it off or shave it, but he eventually gave in. Since he had already missed the huge gathering of people to shave their heads, Catherine chopped it off and shaved it for him. It was hilarious.

-KW-