nineteen days until the bahamas!

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!

it's beginning to look a lot like..

christmas!

i'm working on my christmas spirit, i'll find it somewhere, i swear. maybe a little christmas music will help. we're snowed in and trying to decorate. we've gotten about 4 inches of snow in the past 3 hours.. oh boy. and more snow on the forecast for sunday. i have lots of organizing to do in my disaster of a room, so i'll take any distraction i can get. made a great present for dad for christmas, more about it when he actually gets it.

29 days until the bahamas where it is 80 degrees today, 31 days until embarkation!

(almost) the end of the semester

i am writing this from the library at home, where i am supposed to be studying for neurology. i guess that isnt going to happen today..

i moved out of the apartment at school on saturday, which is bittersweet. i am so so very excited about my upcoming adventure, but i am going to miss 305b. it is crazy to think that i will not be living there anymore and that i will not be back until late august! that is a long time from now! i became close with all of my roommates this year, and they have helped me through my good days and my bad days. i'll miss them very much-- we are joking that i'm just going on a big long sleepover and i just so happen to be taking my room with me. i'll see them all tomorrow when i go back for my final, but after that i'm not sure when i'll see all of them again. boo.

as a result of my moving out the apartment, i now have a room at home full of boxes and containers and a big ol' mess. i'm hesitant to truly unpack everything, as i am going to have to begin packing relatively soon. i have gotten great tips from other blogs, the semester at sea facebook group and my friends & family on little tricks and creative ideas for packing my life into two suitcases.. i am thinking there will be a lot of packing, unpacking, re-folding, etc. going on before my departure day.

i am having trouble staying focused, as i keep thinking of things to do.. my mind is always going, which i suppose i can be thankful for because i am not freaking out yet. i just need a notepad by me at all times.

i am trying to put off the major cleaning and organizing until after i complete my finals and am done with the semester. it tough, though, i feel bad for bec who has to deal with the gigantic mess and sharing her room again. when i get all of my work done i plan on making a big list to hang on my wall, so i can see what i need to accomplish.

i ordered a total of 5 books for my classes on the ship, and 4 have arrived thus far. i decided to get my books through amazon instead of the university of virginia bookstore because i was able to save myself a significant amount of money. the only downside is that i have to carry the books with me to the ship in january. with a 50 pound limit on my bags, i think i may have to put them in my carry-on to save space in my suitcases. maybe i'll read them on the plane? haha, i doubt it. i did have to order 1 book through UVA, as it is not a real text book, rather something specific to our itinerary that discusses each port. that book will be waiting on my bed when i get to the ship! i spent a long time looking through the UVA bookstore's website, contemplating all of the packages they offer for students-- a school supply backpack, a travel bag, t-shirt/sweatshirt/hat combos. i decided against them because they are so pricey! i am thinking i'll buy a semester at sea nalgene when i get to the ship, or maybe i'll order one and have it waiting in my room.. its so tempting because i just want to have things that say semester at sea!

i think that i am most excited for this trip because i will be getting to know myself. i am pushing myself to step out of the box, to try new things and to be on my own. when i applied for the trip back in late march, i never knew that i would actually be where i am today. it has been a long journey to get to this point and i have already changed. i am hopeful that this semester will be life changing. my eyes will be opened to the world around and i am so incredibly blessed to have this opportunity. so many people are cheering me on, offering advice and words of encouragement. i am taking a trip around the world! only 1% of the world's population can say that they have circumnavigated the globe. this trip very well could change the course of my life. new doors will be opened, others closed. i will come home a different person. still laura, although different. and that is exactly what i need. i need to know myself, and this is one hell of a way to learn. i will make new friends and see how much i have taken for granted in my life at home. my hope is to come away with a newfound appreciation for the life i have been afforded thus far.

in reading semester at sea blogs, i have been able to live vicariously through students currently on the ship. the fall 2008 trip has just returned home, and i am curious to read what they post. one student who has kept up with her entries, posted a speech she wrote for the convocation on the ship.. parts of the speech are specific to their journey, but there are a few parts that have been inspirational to me as i prepare for my own trip--

"Although each and every one of us had a unique experience on Semester at Sea, we all have a lot in common. We’ve all circumnavigated the globe, survived a countless number of time changes, experienced life at sea, gained a greater appreciation for the world and all its inhabitants, realized that we have privileges and advantages that many people only dream of, and that we need to stop taking the littlest things in life for granted because we are not guaranteed another day here on Earth..."

"Whether you came on Semester at Sea to live life to the fullest, to escape a broken heart back home, to travel the world, or to simply prove to yourself that you can survive being away from home for three and a half months, you will now be going home a different person than you were that very first day.."

amanda's blog has been the most helpful in my preparation for this trip, she certainly has a way with words. if anyone wants to read more of what she says, check out her blog -- http://sastravels.blogspot.com/ --

i'm going to give studying a try for a little while longer..

32 days until nassau, 34 until the ship leaves!

updated itinerary

Destination	Arrive Depart	Day	Date	Time
Nassau, Bahamas	Depart	Monday	19 January	1700
Cadiz, Spain	Arrive Depart	Wednesday Saturday	28 January 31 January	0800 2000
Casablanca, Morocco	Arrive Depart	Monday Thursday	02 February 05 February	0800 2000
Walvis Bay, Namibia	Arrive Depart	Saturday Monday	14 February 16 February	0800 2000
Cape Town, South Africa	Arrive Depart	Wednesday Sunday	18 February 22 February	0800 2000
Port Louis, Mauritius	Arrive Depart	Friday Friday	27 February 27 February	0800 2200
Chennai, India	Arrive Depart	Thursday Monday	05 March 09 March	0800 2000
Laem Chabang (Bangkok), Thailand	Arrive Depart	Sunday Thursday	15 March 19 March	0800 2000
Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam	Arrive Depart	Sunday Friday	22 March 27 March	0800 0600
Hong Kong/Shanghai, China	Arrive Depart	Sunday Friday	29 March 03 April	0800 2000
Kobe/Yokohama, Japan	Arrive Depart	Monday Friday	06 April 10 April	0800 2100
	(Cross International dateline, add one day)
Honolulu, Hawaii, USA	Arrive Depart	Sunday Monday	19 April 20 April	0600 2000
Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala (Antigua, Guatemala City)	Arrive Depart	Tuesday Thursday	28 April 30 April	1100 2000
	(Transit Panama Canal - Sunday, 03 May)
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA	Arrive	Wednesday	06 May	0800

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!

i have a place to stay in the bahamasss! yayyy!

such a relief to know i will have a place to stay. i met a girl through facebook and we've been messaging for over a month now. she's from colorado and she seems really nice. she booked a 3 person room for us and a friend of hers from school. i'm nervous because this is quite the leap of faith to stay with two random girls in a random hotel in the bahamas, but i'm confident that we will make the best of the situation. and now i'll get to know more girls before i get on the ship!

i really really need to put my requests in for the field trips i want to do, but i am making myself wait until tonight. i am going to be conservative in the trips i choose, as i know i will make friends and be able to register for more trips once i get on the ship.

everything is starting to come together, so very quickly.

40 days until the bahamas &
42 days until i set off around the world!