there's more than a lot, than a little left to do

i received a confirmation for my two of my four trips. the ones i did not get were the result of the itinerary change, so i will not be going to the pyramids or pompeii, but i knew that.

i am definitely going on the cadiz city orientation in spain & the rotarian homestay in india. yay! the descriptions of the trips are:

1300-1630, wednesday 28 january. CADIZ ORIENTATION.
begin with a panoramic tour of the city while your guide emphasizes important monuments and places of historic interest. view the cadiz congress palace, foremerly a tobacco factory that was built in 1741 in the mudejar style and the santo domingo church with its marble facade. the old royal prison is one of the most interesting andalusian neoclassical buildings, construction began in 1794 and was finished in 1836. also pass the san sebastian and santa catalina castles, whose walls formerly protected the city. drive by el parque del genoves, a botanical garden with exotic trees, fanciful hedges, monuments and fountains. view the alameda apodaca, a baroque hall beginning at the baluarte de la candelaria and ending at the san carlos wall. end the panoramic driving portion at the plaza de espana, very close to the port. from here, begin your walking tour with a walk to the plaza de la mina, originally an old vegetable patch of the san francisco convent. visit the fine arts museum. continue along calle ancho ( wide street ), where some 19th century palaces can be seen. visit the catedral, which was designed in the baroque style but was diluted with neoclassical elements during its 116 years of construction. the cadiz born composer, manuel de falla is buried in the crypt. continue to san juan de dios square. view the town hall, the building that perhaps best reflects the style and appearance of the city, before boarding the buses and returning to the ship.

11oo friday 6 march - 1100 sunday 8 march. ROTARIAN HOMESTAY.
this homestay, hosted by a rotarian chapter in chennai, has been rated very highly by past SAS participants. it is your chance to spend two nights in an indian home and to exchange views on various topics or aspects of culture. during the time with your host family, you will visit the temples of mallapuram and participate in other activities. to meet your host families, you will travel by coach to the hotel taj connemara, each pair of participants (two males or two females) will be met at the hotel by their host family and accompanied back to the ship after their homestay. be prepared with a modest gift for your host family. the price of this trip includes a donation to the madras rotary club's scholarship fund.

anyone have any ideas as to a modest gift for a host family? let me know! anyways, because of the itinerary change, i now have a nice big credit to choose more trips with. we pick january 6-12, so more waiting for that. we also have a large selection of day trips we can choose from, so i can find activities in the countries where i dont know what i'm doing yet!

i got my malaria prescription filled the other day, for a grand total of about $270 for 35 pills. ($7.20/pill) YIKES. thank goodness mom had some sort of coverage for those. the other half of my prescription will be filled after the new year, so that i can have 15 more pills. no malaria for me, thank you, i'll pay whatever i need to prevent it.

i think that is all i have for today, off to shovel out the car & leave the house for a little while.
28 days to nassau, 30 until embarkation!

change of plans--

yesterday i registered for my IFP's! (international field program). i conservatively chose just four trips, as i know i can select more trips once on the ship. all the requests are put into a lottery and we will find out which ones we get in about two weeks.

my trips are:
-cadiz (spain) city orientation. it's a day trip around the city and it will count as my field requirement for two of my classes. plus, its our first port, so i would like to get a little intro into the city before venturing out on my own.

-pompeii. my last day in italy will be spent touring the ruins, also for credit in my classes. i remember reading a book in 2nd grade about pompeii and its crazy to think i'll get to see it now.

-cairo extended trip. my most expensive adventure, but the one i am looking forward to most. its a 3 day, 2 night trip to cairo wiht tours of the pyramids. this will be amazing! sunrises & sunsets over the pyramids, what could be better?!

-rotarian homestay (india). i'll be staying with an indian family for a night, learning about their culture and getting to know them. hopefully this will be a wonderful experience, many SAS kids have listed this as a great experience for those who are not traveling to the taj majal.



so after i paid for the trips, i got an email from semester at sea.

they changed our itinerary.

because of piracy concerns in the gulf of aden, our trip has been re-routed to bypass that area.
so now, we will be 'rounding the horn' -- our new itinerary goes from spain to morrocco, namibia, south africa and mauritius before resuming our original trip in india.

semester at sea is still monitoring the situations in india and thailand, and we could be re-routed again if the risk assessment companies deem them to be too unsafe.

its all for our protection, i understand that. but now we're skipping italy, turkey and egypt!
i'm so sad that i took so much time painstakingly reviewing IFPs, and now i get a credit to pick again in january. and i was so excited to see italy! however, i know i'll be able to go back to europe. i don't know when that will be, but its possible to do again.

honestly, i'm excited for morrocco. i loveeee the movie casablanca and i've heard that the real place is beautiful. south africa will be a wonderful experience and i will be able to see table mountain and robben island. not sure what i'll be doing in namibia (this will only be the second time semester at sea has visited namibia), or mauritius. i'll need to do some research to see what is there.

i'm going to call health services shortly to see if i'll need any more immunizations, as i think south africa/namibia require the yellow fever vaccine. luckily we do not need any new visas, which would have been a serious stress.


i have lots more to do now! off to get going----
38 days until the bahamas
40 days until embarkation!

ramblings

- i got my prescription for my typhoid vaccination, as well as my anti-malarial, anti-seasickness and anti-foodborne illness prescriptions yesterday. so now, with all those meds, plus some high quality bug spray, i should make it home without any incurable diseases. good thing!

-i'll be heading to student legal services tomorrow to arrange for power of attorney for mom and dad. this way they can sign things for me when i'm at sea.

-i ordered my text books today! a grand total of 6 books, coming out to about $300. its a lot of money, but 5 will be shipped home and 1 will be waiting in my cabin when i make it to the bahamas. i was able to save some cash by staying away from the university of virginia's bookstore and by getting them used off amazon. hopefully they are all in decent condition.

- i am officially doneeeee with classes for the semester in one week from today. and then i'll be home for a few days, back up here for finals and then home until i leave on my great big adventure.

-this weekends to-do list includes figuring out my darn fieldtrips. i have GOT to decide by tuesday. but i dont want to pick! with the help of some friends i have selected a few, but i still am too scared to fill out the application on the website! i dont want to get locked in and then change my mind.

- i found an international phone program that wont break the bank! i'm getting myself more information, but i think its going to be exactly what i was looking for. more on that when i figure it all out.

off to dinner.

i need as many distractions from life these days as i can find.

is it january yet?

45 days, 22 hours.

a whirlwind of a weekend

what a hectic, crazy, emotional, fun, and exhausting weekend.
brandon's junior ring weekend (jrw) @ pc-- two nights of party clothes, dancing, and friends;
and poppa's 90th birthday celebration at home, with family from across the country.

i am so grateful that everyone was so accomodating to me (and to brandon). my family was understanding and i got to see aunts & uncles & cousins, albeit breifly. i wished i could have been in two places at once. jrw was a great time, and i'm so glad we made the last bus!

SAS update
-- all of my forms have been sent and are accounted for! YAY, no more paperwork!

-- the field trips have been posted on the semester at sea website. i have NO IDEA how i am supposed to pick my trips. there are so many amazing offers. i just have to choose wisely in the first round of selection so i don't blow my budget before i make it to the ship.

-- i'm looking at hotels in the bahamas. and i need to book a room as soon as possible, as they will only become more expensive the longer i wait. i suppose i'm only hesitating because i would rather not stay by myself, though i don't know anyone who would be able to share with me. i posted on the facebook group asking if anyone was interested in sharing a room and i'm not sure if anyone has responded.. i should check.

-- on a sad note, a student died on semester at sea's fall voyage. kurt leswing was hit and killed by a drunk driver in hong kong. i still have shivers down my spine everytime i think about the horrible accident. i am sure the ship community is struggling right now, and my thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and all who knew him.

-- i go for more shots on wednesday! technically, its a shot and then a round of typhoid medicine for a week.

-- hopefully my lovely sister collected names & emails for me at poppa's party so i can get my email list all set up and crossed off my gigantic list.



off to clean up, unpack & head to class.

70 days and they will be flying by. i couldn't sleep when i realized-- that 2 months! where has the semester gone! i can hardly believe that i am getting so close to this trip, which has been in the works for about 7 months now!

vaccines & more

i got my tetanus-diptheria-pertussis immunization today,
and i'll be getting my typhoid pills & polio vaccine next week.

i also mailed the veryyy last of my forms to SAS!
it's such a relief!
hopefully that's the end of the running back and forth around campus from office to office.

this weekend is my poppa's 90th birthday party and brandon's ring weekend.
i'm so excited to see some of my cousins and to be back at pc again.

then it'll be back to reality as the semester is going by so quickly.
thanksgiving will be here so soon, and then the semester will be nearly over.

this weekend, i'll be getting all my family's addresses to add to my contact sheets
so that i can send emails and postcards accordingly.

off to get some work done..

76 days + 21 hours..

today & this weekend's to do list

-get my remaining immunizations (on monday..)
-send in the last of my SAS forms (on monday, after the shots.)
-figure out why i got an email saying i haven't paid. i'll be calling financial aid and home and SAS and back again. i thought i had sent everything! i have a feeling they are waiting on a single piece of paper. i'm not sure which one. and that is annoying.
-FIND A PLACE TO STAY IN THE BAHAMAS. i have to stop procrastinating on this one.
-save money. where the heck is it all going?!
-hand in housing forms. the release & petition to return. (monday..)


and there is lots more than that to take care of.

like, what to do in each country! i dont even know where to begin.

vaccinations

i got my first of two hepatitis A vaccinations yesterday.

ouch.

it feels like i got punched in the arm! ugh.

and i got a flu shot.

now all i need (from health services up here..) are:
1. tetanus booster
2. typhoid
3. polio
4. anti-malarial meds

wish me luck & hope that i don't go broke paying for them!

ta-ta-for-now!

90 days to go!