Tutu and Alex

Last night we had our cultural pre-port for Mauritius. This is where we learn about some of the activites we can do at the ports we are about to get too. Last night I went and got a seat with Ashley in the Union. She got up to go to the bathroom before it started. She asked me to save her seat but as soon as she left came in Archbishop who was dancing like crazy. He pointed to Ashley's seat and asked me if he could sit there and of course I said oh yeah. He gave me a pound and we talked for a little. I asked him if he had ever been to Mauritius and he said he hadn't. I also asked him where his wife was and he said she was up in the room because of her recent surgery. I told him i was from D.C. too. He stayed for just about the whole pre-port. It was a cool experience. Would you guys like me to put up his speech that he gave to us before we arrived in Cape Town? It's pretty good. Oh yeah Ashley didn't care I gave up her seat but she had a pretty bad one for the rest of pre-port.

Cape Town

Cape Town was absolutely incredible. It was one of the most beautiful places that I have ever been too. There was a mix of so many cultures. I had never seen a country of people so accepting of the differences between people. The diversity there was probably its most beautiful feature. As we were coming into Cape Town, we woke up very early in the morning to see the view. I think we got up just before 5, and stayed out on the deck taking pictures of Table Mountain and the other smaller mountains that are spread out through Cape Town. It was absolutely freezing outside though and I could only stay out for about an hour before going back to bed. We left the ship at about 10, which was the earliest we could get off because of the speeches we received from two U.S. ambassadors. They told us of all the places to go and things to do in Cape Town and you could feel the excitement of the kids growing in the room. Everyone immediately headed off to various activities once we left the ship. Ashley and I had a township visit planned thru SAS at 2 o’clock so we decided to take it easy and just look around for awhile until our township tour. We went to the mall they had at the port and got some food at this tequila bar that was the most popular restaurant the entire week for the SAS kids. They sold fish bowls here. Fish bowls are basically buckets filled with so many different types of liquor and juices, and are made for about 5-6 people to drink. A lot of kids got sick from not splitting fish bowls with enough people. I never really got one but took a straw too several throughout our stay in CT. Our township tour was a lot of fun that day and we came away learning a lot. Before we got to the actual township we took a visit to the district six museum. District six was an area in Cape Town where Apartheid had been very active. The museum was small but had some very interesting stuff to see. At the township we actually only got out of the bus for 20 minutes. We drove around in our bus for the remaining hour of the visit. When we got out of the bus and walked to edge of the township, all of the little children ran out of their little shacks and gave us hugs. They then began to model for pictures and we starting snapping away. They were making very unique poses for us and we were able to get some really funny photos. The places in which they lived are almost indescribable. They are so tiny that you can’t believe a family could even fit inside. The majority of the shacks were made up of tin on all sides, even the roof. Almost every single “home” had no running water, no bathroom. Plus, each of the shacks is piled on top of another one. So many people were squeezed into these areas; you couldn’t believe people were able to live there. That night we took it easy because of the day’s activities and we went to this place called Morton’s for dinner. It wasn’t like the Morton’s in the states but it was an American restaurant. I got the best steak I’ve had yet since being at sea. The food was so good and really cheap. In the morning I had planned to go cage-diving but the weather was horrible and it rained just about all day long. So instead of cage diving I went with a bunch of people to go eat and hang out at the mall. I just picked up little things for the room and some postcards. That night a bunch of us decided to go to Long Street. Long Street is where the night life happens in Cape Town. Long Street is filled with bars, clubs and restaurants. That night we went out we got lucky. It was the night of Long Street’s world renowned music festival. They shut down the entire street and had 5 different tents spread out through the street with really good DJ’s at each tent. It was still drizzling so everybody was just all out partying in the rain. We got a really good dinner at this pub called the Dubliner and watched the Chelsea game on TV. We spent the rest of the night hopping from one club to another, one tent to another and then spent the rest of the night at this cool techno, reggae bar called Cool Runnings. I went home early with one of my friends from the Univ. of Arizona because we both had safari trips in the morning. I had to wake up at 8 for mine and he had to be up at 5. I got up in plenty of time for my safari because I was so excited. I even went and had breakfast in the dining room before we left. I went to the Student Union to meet our leaders at around 8:30. We left the ship for the airport at around 9. Pretty much all the kids in my group I hadn’t met before and only some I recognized by their face. There were only 19 of us. We had one Professor as our leader of the group, his name was Giles Wayland-Smith and he was awesome. Once we got off the ship and headed for our luxurious motor coach to the airport we met our guide for the entire safari, his name was Graham. You are about to hear a lot about Graham. He made our safari probably the best experience that I have ever had. When we got to the airport Graham took care of all our passports and tickets and just handed us our boarding passes. Security took two seconds and we had about 45 minutes at the gate until we boarded. Everyone went off to get food and magazines and I pretty much just waited at our gate. Our plane was TINY. It was one of the smallest planes I have ever been on. I had a seat all to myself though which was nice and I passed out for the whole 2 hour flight. When we got into Kruger we couldn’t believe the airport. It was basically a really big straw hut. It was so cool. We got some food there really quickly and then got into a van for an hour ride to our lodge. We stayed at the Pestana Kruger Lodge. It was the nicest 5-star lodge that I could have imagined. When we got there I found out that I had a room all to myself and was the only one in the group who did not have a roommate. I was so happy about that. My hut was gorgeous with an amazing view over the entire park. I took a bunch of pictures and unpacked my stuff into my drawers and closets. We only had about 15 minutes in our room because we had a game drive from 4-6 that night. On our drive the first animal we came upon was a leopard. Unfortunately, it was behind a bush and after about 20 minutes of trying to spot it we came away with only a glimpse of its tail. We ended up seeing a bunch of rhino, giraffes, zebras, impalas and warthogs on that drive but no cats. We did see some water buffalo then too. After that safari we headed back to our rooms to get ready for dinner. This is when we got a huge surprise. As a group of 4 of us were walking back we saw a couple other students in the distance. They weren’t in our group but we recognized them from the ship. The Kruger 4-day group was also staying in the huts next to us and we had no idea. There were about 40 of them so we were really excited to know we had some other friends on the trip. We got to eat every meal with them throughout our trip and only split up from them when we went on safari. The dinner that night was absolutely incredible. Some of the best and most tender meat I have ever had. It was buffet style and it included chicken kabobs, lamb chops, beef, all types of cheeses, potatoes, peppers, rice and amazing desserts. There was a bar there too so we got a couple of beers. We all had dinner in this place called a boma. I’m not sure what it means in Afrikaans but it reminded me so much of the television show Survivor, it was surrounded by lit torches, which made up the only light and had a bunch of really big picnic tables. After eating there some headed to the pool for a night swim but most of us went to the bar to get some drinks and share what we had seen on the safari that day. I took it pretty easy that night and was in bed by 11. We had a drive in the morning at 4 30. This next day was intense. We were on safari for just more than 14 hours. We saw absolutely everything and even more during the night safari. The ONLY animals we didn’t see were lions. It was definitely disappointing but the two leopards we saw made up for it. I have some really good pictures and video footage of the animals. During our night safari, we turned the corner with our SUV and there was a leopard walking right in front of us. Everyone was quick to shine their lights on the leopard. It wasn’t affected by the beams of light as the other animals we had seen earlier that night were. It just walked slowly and carefully, it seemed as if it was hunting but that was probably just our wishful thinking. We were able to watch it for about 10 minutes before it disappeared. It was the most beautiful animal that we saw during the trip. That night we also saw hippos, cudu (a deer like animal with really curvy and long horns), baboons, monkeys, and some mongoose. The safari was so cool. I definitely recommend you readers go on one. Oh we also saw a crocodile that scared the hell out of me; it was right next to me. We looked to our left and there was a puddle that it was just hanging out in. It was the closest animal to our vehicle, the entire time. When we got back to the lodge that night most of the kids had already ate. We shoved the food in our mouths which was just as good as the night before and then enjoyed a show from a local African tribe. It was a very nice show by some of the teenage girls in the tribe. After that we all went to the bar with Graham and started to get drinks. We had no safari in the morning and had to be up at 10 30, so everyone decided to just hang out at the lodge and pool all night. It was a CRAZY night. By far my favorite night since setting sail from Nassau. The best pictures I have from the safari, in my opinion, are from that night. The next morning we were right on time for our flight, although a lot of us were feeling dead. When we got back to the ship, it was about 6 at night. I went out to one of the nicest sushi restaurants close to the ship and went to town on the sushi. I got soooo much. It was so good. Then I went straight back to the ship to find Ashley and Katey. They were both getting ready to go out. I walked into their room and heard some pretty crazy stories they had from their safari. They went pretty nuts the whole time. A huge group of us went out that night to a bar and watched the Liverpool and Chelsea games. I didn’t get anything to eat because I was still full from all the sushi, so I just got a couple beers. We went to a bar later that night but took it pretty easy. The next morning we had to be up early to go sky diving. We got up at 8 and a huge group of us were picked up by a bus and taken about 35 minutes away to the sky diving place. No one was really nervous on the way there because it hadn’t totally hit us yet. When we got there though, we all began to get a little nervous. Still we weren’t that bad. We had to get in groups of three because the small plane could only fit three people plus their tandem partners. Ashley, Katey and I were in the 2nd group together. We took off in the plane about an hour after we got to the place and the waiting really got to us. When we first got in the plane we were a lot more excited than nervous. But when it was time to go we were all pretty scared. Ashley was set to go first, Katey second and me last. When Ashley jumped it was insane. The look on her face coupled with the air sucking her out of plane made Katey scream and I had to look away. I couldn’t watch when Katey went. After she left the plane, my guy just hurried me to the edge and we jumped. The first second was the scariest. As soon as I left the plane, my guy turned us so we could see the plane and it became a dot within like 2 seconds. Free-falling only lasted about 25 seconds and the parachute kind of hurt when it came up. It was an awesome experience; I definitely plan on doing it again. Looking at all of Cape Town while falling was absolutely gorgeous. We were all pretty stoked after the jump, our adrenaline was really pumping and we decided to get a couple beers although it was 11 in the morning. We only had one or two though each. After that we went back to the port to get food and explore Cape Town. We ate at that same sushi restaurant I had gone to the day before. After eating I was really tired and Ashley, katey and I went back to the ship to lie down for a little. Those girls had overnight township visit that night and left in the early afternoon. Once they left I decided to explore Cape Town a little on my own. I took a taxi around the city for a little and then went to a local pub to do some homework, yes homework. For my foreign policy class we have to ask locals about what they think about our government and our foreign policy. Of course, we aren’t so blatant about those questions and ease our way into what normally results in some pretty intense conversations. This is a good story by the way….So I’m sitting at the bar and I order the darkest beer they have, I can’t even pronounce it but it was absolutely delicious. Behind the bar is a plasma and it’s playing a local Cape Town cricket match. I ask the bartender to tell me a little about how cricket is played because I had honestly no idea. Well he begins explaining the game to me a little and then another bartender actually comes over to help explain the rules to me. Well after about 10 minutes I have grabbed the attention of all the locals at the bar and they are all kind of telling me how cricket is played. One guy in particular was named Andre. Big South African about 6’2 and 230, he used to play rugby in college. Well I forget what a term was and I say to Andre, “What’s a home run called again?” Dumbass American. He went nuts. He was like “Are you kidding me?!? Homerun?!? He yells at me to come take a seat next to him and says he’s going to educate me about South Africa. Well I sit and talk to him about South Africa, AIDS, the U.S., U.S. South African relations, Gonzaga, you name it we talked about it. He just starts buying my beers and ordering more for me. He, by the way, was drinking glasses upon glasses of straight scotch. He buys everything for me and takes down my email and we exchange information and headed out about 2 and half hours after I first started talking to him. I got some awesome material for my foreign policy journal and had a great time with Andre. He was the man, and although at first I thought he was a pretty mean dude, he turned out to be one of the most considerate people I have met in my life. I’ll never for get him. I was pretty drunk too! I started headed back to the ship too get some food and by now it was like 9 at night, so of course all of SAS was partying at the tequila bar. I stopped in there for about an hour and when everyone started leaving for the bars, I just went to the ship to crash. I was really tired. The next morning I had planned to go cage-diving but the weather wasn’t good and it was cancelled. I just took the next day easy…all the guys went to a casino and I went for a little. I know, I know I can do that anywhere but all my friends went and I didn’t want to hang out at the mall. It wasn’t the best weather anyways. I played some roulette and Caribbean stud…yeah pap! The casino was cool though it had a food court and full ice skating rink.. We only stayed for a little and then we went out to dinner…a big group of us. I actually had told Ashley to meet me at the ship for dinner because I wanted to take her out and we had some bad luck getting a cab and some traffic on the way back and I was an hour late. I came to her door and she had left a note she had gone to dinner with Katey….at where else but the tequila bar. I met them there and damn Ash was pissed, it was pretty funny. We all got one last fish bowl and headed to the ship to set sail for Mauritius. Mauritius is next and 120 of us have 10 beach huts for all of us every day we are there. I’m going shark diving there too. Ah I guess this trip just gets better…

Brazil

Whoa, Brazil was like nothing that I have done or seen before. I really don’t know where to start so I am just going to write everything that I can remember in the order that it happened. We got in at about 7 in the morning on Saturday. We were able to get off the ship at around 10:30 and as soon as we did we headed for ATM’s and a restaurant. We knew that Carnival started around 3 in the afternoon, because of what we had learned the night before in the pre-port meeting for Brazil, so we wanted to get some drinks and food before it did. The group I walked around with included my better guys friends on the ship, it was about 20 of us. We went to a small café in Salvador after searching for about 40 minutes for a clean place to eat. The food was another thing discussed in the pre-port meeting the night before. Since the water is so unhealthy and a lot of food is cooked in that water, they cautioned us to be very careful where we ate. So once we sat down to get food, my friends Keith, Albi and I decided we weren’t going to eat the food and just drink. Well that almost turned bad because of the heat of the sun in Salvador as well as my empty stomach. But I was fine. Beers were so cheap so we just kept them flowing to prepare for the rest of the days activities. The people who owned the little café were really funny and really enjoyed having our US dollars there. After being there for about an hour we left to go find carnival. By now, the sun was incredibly strong and people were starting to crowd the streets. We walked for so long, buying beers and merchandise along the way until we got to some of the more main parade areas. We bought shirts of the local blocos so that we could dance in their section. For the rest of the time we just dance and paraded in the streets. It was so much fun, we just went crazy. We actually ended up running into a girls group of SAS students who spent the rest of the time with us in the parade dancing. After about 3 hours of dancing we went back to the ship for dinner and it couldn’t have come soon enough for me. I was huuuuuuuuungry. Ashley had been in the girls group we met up with so I went back with her to eat and then we just passed out on the ship because we had a flight to Rio that night and had to leave for the airport at 4 in the morning. We ended up waking up at around midnight to finish packing and made sure we had everything and then passed out again until when we had to get up at 4. We met up with a bunch of SAS kids outside the ship who were also going to Rio independently and shared a cab with them to the airport. At the airport checking in and getting through security was so nice, so much easier than LAX or Dulles. It was really convenient. The flight to Rio was short, just under 2 hours and I passed for the whole flight. When we got off the plane and walked out into the baggage claim there was already a driver waiting there to give us a ride to our place. Our place was nice, small but had everything we needed and was right on Copacabana beach, we had such a nice view. Once we got there we went out on the beach and spent the whole day swimming, laying out and drinking a little. The sun was killer and we got really fried. After that we were so exhausted that we just went back to the room to pass out for a little bit. We watched a lot of Carnival on our TV while in the room. It was pretty much the only thing on. That night we went out to a really nice dinner and got our first of many “Baucus”. It’s this type of sandwich that has steak, a fried egg, tomato, cheese and ham on it. They were so good. I ended up having 3 more while in Rio, and I only had about 5 meals total while we were there. After that we took a cab to an area where carnival was going strong. We actually ran into a bunch of SAS kids who were also in Rio independently. We stayed there for about 2 hours, it was not as intense partying as Salvador but it did feel so much safer. The next day we hung out at this beautiful hotel where so of our friends from the ship were staying. This place was one of the nicest hotels I have ever been too. They had a pool on the 17th floor that looked over the whole city, beaches and mountains. I have a bunch of pictures from there. It was just breath-taking. We spent a ton of time on the beach that day; we had to rotate swimming and lying out because of how hot the sun was and how cold the pacific was. A lot of people were out surfing and partying on the beach. We didn’t leave the beach until about 4, and by that time even my back was burned, I know awful huh. We showered there got dressed and grabbed a burger on a small beach hut. Then we went back into the hotel and made a reservation at a churrascurria, like Amazonia and Texas de Brazil, in Aruba. The restaurant, called Porcao, was probably one of the top 3 restaurants I have ever eaten at. The salad bar was out of this world, and the meat was amazing. We ate and drank there for so long, it was by far the best meal that I have had since being on the ship. We were so dead after that meal that we just went back to the place and passed out. It was good though because we were planning on waking up early and going to the Corcovado, the Christ statue in Rio. We woke up at around 9 and left for the statue, after searching for an ATM for what felt like an hour. When we got to the statue we could not believe the view of the city as well as how beautiful the statue itself was. It was really cool being there on Fat Tuesday. It was extremely crowded with tourists and some people were there praying. We stayed there for awhile taking pictures and videos of the view. We also bought a bunch of souvenirs and I drank a bunch of cokes, which I gave up for lent. Our cab driver was the man, by the way. He took us all the way up the mountain and down to where he 1st picked us up for about 140 Reals. After we got back to our place we had only 5 hours until our flight so we decided to go shopping at the market place and get food before we left the best city that I have ever been too. I got a bunch of really cool stuff here but I was running out of money so I didn’t go as crazy as I wanted too. Everything was just so cheap though that it was so much fun. I got some really cool Brazilian soccer jerseys. We shopped for so long and then went to go get our last Bauru’s. We got to the airport a little early for our flight so we got some ice cream and beer to hold us over until we got back to Salvador. The plane ended up getting delayed too, which was annoying but the flight back was even shorter than the one we had to Rio. When we got back we just took it easy that night and told all of our friends about how much fun we had, we almost felt bad talking about because we were so obsessed with our time. The next day was our last in Brazil and it was really rainy in the morning. I got a bunch of stuff for the family and one more Rubinho soccer jersey! It’s so cool; it's their alternate blue jersey. It was only about 12.50 US dollars too. We came back to the ship for lunch and put our stuff away and then took a nap. For dinner, I took Ashley out to this really really good seafood place; apparently, it is one of the best in the city of Salvador. We got back to the ship about an hour before dock time and went to bed almost immediately, Brazil had punished us.
Well we now our on the way to Cape Town. I’m getting really excited for my 3 day safari, its going to be so much fun. Until next post, take it easy guys.

Alex is Back

Hey sorry I have been away so long, Brazil was alot to take in. Once I got back on the ship I was sick for a couple days too, so I have been taking it easy. I already wrote a slacker post for Brazil and I'll put it up tonight. I'm going to go clean my room but expect another post soon.

It's 8 In The Morning

And I'm writing this now because any time later in the day it will take forever for me to post this. I just had breakfast, Special K actually. I ate with Katey, Ashley and some of our cali and boulder friends. We have a test in global studies tomorrow, my first of the trip. Today, I have a small quiz in my ecology class. On Saturday we get into Salvador at 7 in the morning. I just want to get there so badly now. Last night we had a pub night and a Valentines Day dance in the Union. The dance was no different than a middle school dance, it was kind of lame but we all still had a pretty good time.
The ocean has been pretty rocky and at night, you can hear the massive waves smack against the ship when you're lying in bed. It actually makes the ship shake a little bit. Apparently those waves are nothing though, because when we head towards South Africa it is going to be alot more intense the crew says.
Alright well I just woke up and I'm still kind of out of it. I have more to post and I know once I leave here and sit in class that I will think of it all and become annoyed I didn't remember it all. I'm going to go get some coffee I guess, Ashley actually gave me a semester at sea coffee mug for valentines day yesterday because she knew I had been wanting one. So I am kind of anxious to use it for the first time. I'll post soon, and oh yeah, we're now 3 hours ahead of you mom and dad.

Now Two Hours Ahead of East Coast Time*

Hey Guys, sorry I took the day off but the transition between being in a city and then starting classes for six straight days is pretty intense. Classes are going really well. My foreign policy class I can already tell is going to teach me probably more than any IR class I have taken at SC. Probably because the class is so interactive with what we’re doing and with the countries we’re visiting. Documentary Film is awesome and is by far my favorite. We have just watched movies so far and learned about filming. My ecology class is really cool too and probably my easiest. Global Studies is pretty general and overall really easy. We actually have an exam though on Thursday before we arrive in Salvador. A lot of the kids are starting to book beach huts in Mauritius and are getting a bunch all together, Mauritius sounds like it will be one of my favorite stops. I just signed up for some more trips too. In Cape Town I signed up for a service project called Operation Hunger. In Malaysia, I signed up to go to Kuala Lumpur. India I signed up for another service project with disabled children which I am extremely excited for. They say its one of the most humbling experiences a student can have while doing SAS. Sorry the pictures still aren’t up. The problem is my laptop, where the pictures are, gets really slow connection to the internet and the computers in the lab get much better. So I may just end up transferring them to a disk and then putting them up in the computer lab. This lab steals your minutes though because of how slow the connection is overall and I’m really trying to stay away from the internet as much as possible.

We had our first pub night last night on the ship. It was so much fun. They are now every night for the rest of the voyage, so the nightlife is about to get pretty interesting. I didn’t see Tutu come out last night but hopefully he’ll come out tonight. They serve drinks at dinner and on the seventh deck between 2100-2300 hours. You can only have a max of 6 drinks a night so kids didn’t get too crazy last night but it was another way of meeting more people and hanging out. I’ll post more soon and promise I’ll figure the pictures out. I’m going to take a nap, we’re rocking really hard right now and it really puts you to sleep.

S.R.:Puerto Rico

Sorry for the long break guys, there was so much going on, especially since it was our first time arriving in a port. Puerto Rico was a blast. We arrived early Wednesday morning at 8. Some kids woke up to watch the ship come into San Juan but of course Alex slept in until we docked at around 8:30. We were greeted by the Governor of Puerto Rico. He came on the ship and gave a speech about his country and how proud they were to be Puerto Ricans but at the same time they did embrace the fact that they were part of the U.S. I got a couple good pictures of him walking around the ship afterwards with Desmond Tutu. Desmond by the way has been all over the ship hanging out with us. Last night I was in line with him at dinner and he threw so much Tabasco sauce over his food that it almost made me nauseous.

Back to Puerto Rico though. The day we arrived I had a kayaking trip at 1 in the afternoon. We drove about an hour away to one of the nicest beaches I have ever been too. The kayaking was no joke; we ended up kayaking for 3 miles and then hung out on a remote beach until we wanted to leave. We didn’t get back until about seven that night and we took it easy before we went out. That night my friend Keith and I went to a salsa dancing club where we were easily the youngest people there by 20-25 years. But it was still so much fun. We just split a bottle of wine and some calamari and watched everyone dance. After that we met the other 700 SAS students at Senor Frogs for the rest of the night. That was pretty funny, because it was the first chance for everyone to go out and party with one another since the start of the voyage. I have some really funny dance videos, especially of Ashley.

The next day we took it easy. We took a tour of Old San Juan, and went to a beach called Isla Verde. I.V. was just as nice as the beach we had went to the day before. After being there for most of the day we went back to the ship. From there we went to a really nice restaurant in Old San Juan called Café Puerto Rico and had dinner. That night everyone headed to the more local spots to hang out to experience a little more of the Puerto Rican culture, and it was a much more fun evening than Senor Frogs the night before.

On the last day, because we had to be on the boat by 7 that night, we didn’t do too much. I woke up early and went out with Ashley and some of our friends from Boston to Old San Juan to shop. I got a couple postcards, magnets for the room, since I’m doing that in every port, and I also bought some food for the room. It was so hot that I had to go back early though. The girls decided to stay and drink until the ship docked. They were a mess when they came back. Ashley and two others right before they got on actually chugged a pint of Bacardi in a restaurant bathroom before getting on the ship, it was hysterical hanging out with them afterwards because of how the ship started rocking again as soon as we pulled off. I grabbed my stuff and spent the rest of the day at the beach that was closest to the pier. Almost all of the students ended up there that day. We got a bunch of good pictures and footage for my doc. film class too which was good.

Well now we are on our way to Brazil for CARNIVAL. I can’t believe it. I can’t believe this voyage even. Everybody is talking about Brazil and what’s to come.Nobody has any clue what to expect for this semester. We are learning about Brazil all week in our global studies course and it just keeps making me more excited. Unfortunately though we do have a week until we get there, which means classes everyday.

I’ll post more soon and will throw up some pictures from Puerto Rico at some point today, I promise. So check back.

Chillllling

So i have gotten some emails from people saying that I am not posting too much. Grandma actually went so far as to tell me how great the other SAS kids blogs have been. Well those kids must be staying up all night and missing their classes to do that because we have so much stuff to do on this, we go from meeting to class and then more class. So ill try and keep updating as much as possible. We are about to go to a meeting about arriving in port and the whole deal with getting off and on the ship. So i have to go but grandma I was only kidding im glad you're reading this as much as you are.

Oh yeah, on the 7th deck there is a grill that serves hot dogs and hamburgers until midnight. It's been so nice to have them, mom i have already had 6 hot dogs since Ive been here. Phil graham if you were here you would live at that grill, its right up our alley.

Puerto Rico Manana

Hey, Let me apoligize for my spelling errors, as well as my future spelling errors, now. It seems I only end up posting on this blog right before I have a class or a massage to get too, so I have to hurry. That was a joke mom. The spa on board is ridiculous, by the way. They offer 10 different types of massages. I'm definitely going to need them after the rough times when we port in all the cities.

We arrive in San Juan tomorrow morning early at 8:00. We are already an hour ahead of east coast time and I was lucky that i remembered to set my clock last night and make my class at 9 this morning. In Puerto Rico I am doing a Kayak trip and a biolumnescent tour. Biolumenescence is the phenomena that happens in only a couple places in the world. Organisms will glow at night. Thats pretty much all I know so far. The rest of the time im just going to be surfing and kitesurfing with some guys I have met on the boat.

One nigth in San Juan I think some of us are goign to get a hotel room. Just to experience a little more of the flavor of the culture of course. Every student on the trip takes a class together in the student union every morning, it's called global studies. All that you are taught is about the countries you will be going to. It's interesting because allows you to learn about more stuff you can do, say and apprecaite when you get there.

Oh yeah i'll be starting up a trend from the USCfootball message boards that they use. After I come back from countries, instead of detailing everything i do I am going to give small brief summaries which are called slacker reports. Each slacker report will be unique to the country i just visited. You'll see what I mean shortly. I know all my college friends are laughing at that but I think it's cool. Alright well I am going to go out on the deck and hop in the pool, it is hot today and really sunny. Im getting so dark, I cant even imagine when I get to Brazil. I'm sure I'll leave as dark as the natives. Also, signing day is tomorrow for college football recruits, aka one of my most important days of the year, say a prayer for SC!! Oh yeah dad, phil g and mike found some housing, expect news via email about that shortly!

On Board...

Yo this is wild. I woke up yesterday just before 7 and boarded the ship at 8. It took me only about an hour to unpack and I have so much more room than I thought. My room mate's name is Alex too and he's from Big Spring, Texas. He's awesome. We havent had any classes yet but I am writing this quickly so that I can make my first. I met a girl that goes to USC and have been hanging out with her Katey, and Ashley the most. We are completely surrounded by water right now and it is so strange to see. Every body is in their bathing suits sunbathing on the deck. We have orientatiton all day, which is pretty annoyign but it's so much easier to meet people. I just met a kid who went to UF that was at the championship game an dthen an OSU kid who was there to started talkign to us. Kids are from all over, its awesome. Aklrigth i have to go see ya guys..

From The Bahamas..

Hey guys this is my first post since leaving the states, and I didn't really want to start the blog until I left so expect new posts alot more frequently.

It is amazing here. So much has already happened, I can't imagine how I'll be feeling after this trip. I've met so many kids so far, all of them being from around the US. I was surprised to meet a bunch of kids from Pac-10 schools.

Last night we all went out to Senor frogs, a bar about 5 minutes from The Atlantis. It was alot of fun and there were so many SAS kids there that you couldn't even meet them all if you tried.

Oh yeah, when we first got to the Bahamas, when we were stil in the airport, we met a girl named ashley from Wash. St. She came here alone and we took her with us to the hotel. She's awesome, Katey Scanlon and I have hung out with her the most so far. Tonight we have a cocktail party on the ship, then we are eating at Nobu, and then gambling for the rest of the night. Ill be rotating between the roulette and carribean stud tables.

The ship is enormous we can see it from the hotel and it looks insane. We move in tomorrow at 730 in the morning. Until then...

6 Days Until...

The Atlantis...Nassau, Bahamas

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