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-