dom-in-eeca. not dum-in-ica.

    HEY YA'LL! We are off once again! We set sail from Dominica just two nights ago and are en route to Brazilia! Ay Ay Ay!

     Dominica was an amazing place. In fact, this little island exceeded my expectations by a thousand times. Frankly, I am not sure if I even had many expectations for Dominica. Possibly, because I did not know that much about it or maybe because it felt it was comparatively so close to home. I overlooked Dominica in my excitement for the upcoming countries. But, I realize now that that was a huge mistake.
     Dominica, not to be confused with the Dominican Republic, is a small island between St. Lucia and Antigua in the lower Antilles region of the Caribbean. It is 290 square miles and home to only about 71,000 people. Speaking of the people, it seems everyone in Dominica is happy! People want you to know about their lives and want you to know how proud of their country they are. Since the official language is English, it makes this easy. They say that the oldest woman in the world is from Dominica and that she has been able to live that long because life there is so stress free. I am not certain that the oldest woman in the world does in fact live there, but I would not doubt the logic that someone could live a lot longer there just because of how happy they are!
     On the first day, a group of us walked around downtown Rosseau in the morning. We went into a couple stores and then grabbed lunch. I had to head back to the boat in the afternoon to meet a group heading to an organic farm for one my Faculty Directed Practica. These are essentially small field trips led by our professors. Every student is required to attend two for each class they are taking.
     It was certainly unlike any field trip I had been on before. The farm was amazing. It was situated in the middle of a mountain just outside of town. The drive up was spectacular because everywhere you looked was lush foliage that never let up and you could see the beautiful beaches and our ship down below. The farmer, Roy, took us around the entire farm, stopping at many plants to pull off a few leaves or fruits and let us taste and smell. He knew each plant, its colloquial and biological name, what it is known for in terms of its medicinal properties, and what products it is used to make. He would pick something up and be like "Any one have a scratchy throat? Suck on this leaf for a 3 minutes and you are golden," or "See this root? We boil it to ease the side effects of cancer." He was so knowledgeable. I told him he should write a book. He said its in the works. At the end of the tour, he gave us tea that he made from his own herbs and sweetened by the sugarcane he grows there. Each of us got a banana he picked straight from the tree. The entire time I kept thinking, is this really what I have to do for class?
      The next day, I went snorkeling at the Champagne Reef. It gets its name from bubbles that are created from the release of volcanic gasses under the water, which look like bubbles in champagne as they rise to the surface. We saw turtles that looked just like Squirt from Finding Nemo (or maybe its the other way around?), rainbow fish, all different types of coral, and sea urchins. It was too cool. Probably my favorite part of the day, though, was walking back from the reef to the ship. We had taken us a 25-minute cab ride there but we decided it would be more fun if we walked back through the city. It took almost 4 hours, but it was so worth it. We stopped in every shop and restaurant that looked interesting and talked to bunch of people on the street. Actually, most of them talked to us, about their kids or how they want to go to the United States or wanting to know about our ship or Obama or whatever they wanted. It was awesome.
      I have already learned a lot from this small Caribbean island. For one, never write off or overlook anything (in this case, an entire country) when traveling. And, two, maybe people in the U.S. need to a chill a little bit. Maybe the most important things in life are not what job you have or how much money you make or what college you go to or how you can sell what you are doing right now on a resume but rather the things you have right now, today, right in front of you, even if it is not too much. 
      Anyways, that is all I have got for you guys right now! Updates in a few days! Whoop whoop!

Ready for snorkling!

at c.

       We are finally off! We left Nassau a little over a day behind schedule because we were waiting on 13 people to get visas from the Brazilian consulate in Miami. Because we are sailing down the Amazon and that is technically Brazilian territory, anyone without a Brazilian visa would be unable to even be onboard the ship as it makes its way into port, unless they have a Brazilian visa. And, in turn, if someone were unable to be onboard while we sailed down the Amazon, they would miss too much class to complete the semester successfully.13 people were not issued a Brazilian visas mostly because the private visa agent most of the SAS (Semester at Sea) community used became overwhelmed and miscalculated the time needed for each consulate to process each individual passport. There simply was not enough time to issue visas for each country to everyone. In my case, I was not issued an Indian visa but luckily that is something that can be dealt with later. Fortunately, the Institute for Shipboard Education office back at the University of Virginia worked some magic and all 13 people got their visas and were able to sail with us!
       We are expected to have “good weather” all the way to Dominica (pronounced do-min-ee-ca) and, while that has held true till this point, the steady rocking is quite an adjustment. My workout this morning was…an experience. I found a new art form in running on the treadmill as the boat rocks from one side to the other. I guess that’s something I’ll have to master before the end of the trip. My stomach has been cooperative (knock on wood!) though I am exhausted! Apparently, you burn a significant amount more calories in an average day on the boat because your body is constantly compensating for the rocking and working to stabilize itself as you do the things you normally do on land.
     These first couple days have been quite, I guess, socially uncomfortable, would be the best way to put it. Prior to arriving on the boat, I simply imagined each port and never seriously took a moment to envision the ship and what life on the ship might look like. Well, I will tell you. There are over 600 students on the boat. We are all typical college-aged students who have been transplanted from our daily, routine lives onto this boat without Internet and cellphones. We are being forced to have conversations with people without stalking them on Facebook before. We are being forced to sit through dinners and conversation without being able to glance at our cellphones. The small talk is exhausting. "What is your name again?" "Where do you go to school?" It feels like freshman year all over. But, it has to be done. Not to mention, all of mingling has to happen while battling the drowsiness and nausea of sea sickness. The one thing that we all have in common is an excitement for experiencing the world. That has to make this ships one of the coolest places on earth.
       At the same time, I am still not sure if all of this has hit me yet. I feel like I am on an extended cruise. The fact that it will last longer than 6 or 7 days seems preposterous. I mean, how crazy is it that one day I will wake up and see India or Ghana or South Africa from our deck? It seems too fantastically incredible to be true.

First day on the boat!

      

in the beginning...

      Tomorrow is the big day! Hovering far off in the distance since I was accepted to the program nearly four months ago, the day I would embark on my voyage has felt like it would never arrive. Even now, as I write this from the lobby of my hotel in the Bahamas, the reality of what I am about to do has not completely sunk in. I thought maybe the tenth or so shirt into packing, or, maybe, when the wheels of my plane touched the ground here in the Bahamas, I would get it. "I am about to travel around the world." But, its tomorrow, and that hasn't happened.
     I don't know much of what I am about to experience. I don't have any fears that feel real enough to worry about and only one hope, that I do it right. I know I am going to make some mistakes. I know there will be many amazing moments, but there will also be many unsettling moments. And, whether I have fully realized it is here, tomorrow my journey begins and I am ready to take on the world. Come along for the journey!