no matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world.

the quote above is again from the lovely wikiquote. it's from the movie, dead poet's society, with robin williams. a great movie, i would love to see it again. i think i originally saw it in high school to coincide with reading 'a separate peace.'

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we are all sitting around the ship, essentially twiddling our thumbs and waiting to be cleared. well, actually, the ship has been cleared but the passports have not yet been completely processed. and because the girls and i plan to spend the duration of our time off the ship, we need our passports.

so, i've been typing away at my india blog as mckendree naps. our lovely cabin steward, andrew, keeps popping in to try and clean our room, but we're still here. he is the sweetest young man, and he was brought back our laundry today; which we were not expecting. it was like christmas! i was getting down to my last clean clothes, so i was thrilled to have more options.

last night was a good time - we watched the office in our room, and it was hilarious. i have certainly come to love the show over the course of the voyage; mostly because it's funny and partially because it's the only sort of television we get to see. it was the episode where dwight tries to simulate a fire so that everyone can practice what they'd do in an emergency. afterward there was some singing, guitar playing and overall good conversation. we also attempted to get a game plan for japan, where our friend brian spent time last year. looks like a rail pass is in my future, so i have to plan accordingly and possibly purchase one in vietnam.

as for thailand, i'm ready to go.

i'm going to type away at india for a bit longer and then hopefully i can grab my passport and get going. i may be on the internet (skype) in the next 5 days, so keep a lookout. love and miss you all! xo

1,000 places to see before you die

i'm sure everyone has heard of this book; its on sale everywhere and in every travel section. ren has the book, which we looked through last night. here is the list of things i've seen thus far & i'm sure i'll see more as the trip goes on. i found it so funny that the mayflower in is listed! (i've never been to the mayflower but i have been to the litchfield hills.)

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connecticut
-mark twain house (hartford)
-mystic seaport
-litchfield hills & mayflower inn

florida
-walt disney world

maine
-acadia national park
-camden, maine

massachusetts
-freedom trail
-brimfield outdoor antiques show
-cape cod seashore

new york
-finger lakes region
-new york city

pennslyvania
-gettysburg
-pennslyvania dutch country
-independence national historic park

rhode island
-cliff walk (newport)

virginia
-colonial williamsburg
-shenandoah valley

washington, dc
-national mall & monuments
-smithsonian museums

west virginia
-white water rafting (does tubing count?)

ontario, canada
-niagra falls

spain
-seville

namibia
-etosha national park

south africa
-table mountain
-cape wine lands (paarl)

mauritius
(listed as it's own place to see.. it's not that big!)

?as one goes through life,

one learns that if you don’t paddle your own canoe, you don’t move.
-katherine hepburn

14 march 2009

some exciting things that happened today:

my ship "brother", harry, turned 11 today. so we had a birthday party! with ice cream cake and about 60 people! he's one popular 5th grader.

my sea had a special get-together in the faculty/staff lounge to celebrate our place in the sea olympics. i know have yet to actually post about that day, but there was an upset and we were placed 5th. after demanding a recount, we were officially 2nd! they had forgotten to count a gold medal! so we had ice cream and played apples to apples in the fancy faculty/staff lounge.

mckendree and i booked our hostel for bangkok and i'm relieved. its always good to know that we have a place to stay. we are most definitely taking a cooking class and i'm absolutely thrilled! it will be so much fun, and we'll get to keep the recipes (and eat the food, of course). and they'll be arranging to pick us up and drop us at our hotel.

our pre-port was entertaining, as usual and i am now back in the room, watching the office and attempting to pack. and to finish my india blog. all at the same time.

and now, i'm off to focus on the show, attempt to type and eventually i'll pack.

seems to good to be true

when i look back
i have no regret
the times we've had
i'll never forget
a single moment in these quick passing days
the lessons learned along the way

this seems too to be true
sometimes i struggle to believe
these were the best days of my life
somebody pinch me, i must be dreaming

help me remember
every little time in the back of my mind
remember
every little time you made me smile
cause i'll never forget these memories

tomorrow i'll remember
but might not ever return
to the places i never dreamed i'd be in the world
and seems to me, we seem to be
just lost souls looking for the same damn thing

and we just cant help but lose ourselves
somebody pinch me
i must be dreaming

(jason peck, semester at sea song)

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these are a selection of lyrics from a song written by a former semester at sea participant. one of my good friends on the ship, rennika, got this song from a kid who sailed last year. i think that the song is a perfect description of how it feels to be on this incredible voyage, seeing all we've seen (and will see).

"somebody pinch me, i must be dreaming."

so when i'm tired, sick, frustrated, hungry, sick of carbohydrates or feeling low; i listen to this song and it reminds me just how absolutely ridiculous it is to be any of those things on this ship. i may sometimes need a nap, or a break from studying or some veggies, but how can i truly complain?

i am living on a ship, circumnavigating the globe. that is something that less than 1% of this world's population could say. i have a bed, spending money, and a great network of people on the ship (and at home).





...i guess i can learn to live with the peanut butter.  :)

correction--

just wanted to say that i made a little typo in this morning's singapore post. we are actually 80 miles north of the equator, not 8. it's still warm though!

off to bed, xo

when you get into a tight place and everything goes against you..

‘til it seems as though you could not hold on a minute longer,
never give up then, for that is just the place and the time that the tide will turn.
-harriet beecher stowe

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(friday) 13 march 2009

in global studies we were told that we successfully made our way through another 'pirate alley,' the strait of malacca. we also learned a little bit about singapore-- it is one of the wealthiest countries in southeast asia. it is a city-island-country of 4 million people and is a large exporter of computer and electronics,

there will also be a MICE concert today, along with the university of singapore. MICE is a mobile interactive computer ensemble, a class on the ship. apparently there will be lots of laptops beeping and making music between our ship. the students in singapore will be beeping away with us, via the radio.

in class we also learned about sars and bird flu, from our visiting medical students. we found out that when the sars outbreak was going on in spring 2003, the sas voyage had to simply float around for two weeks; unsure of where their next port would be. they eventually docked in nagasaki, japan. everyone in class chattered crazily at the thought of two aimelss weeks aboard the ship.

we were also told today that we are halfway through our voyage, which just about made everyone in the room burst into tears. and then, to make everyone feel better, they said that in the next 26 days we will only have 6 days of class; to which everyone burst into applause. from bangkok to ho chi minh city to hong kong/shanghai and then to kobe/yokohama. it's exhausting just thinking about it!

after classes, i was simply exhausted. i spent some time chatting with mckendree in the room and read more of 'eat, pray, love.'  i think i'm fighting a little bug of some kind and plan to just rest up as much as possible before bangkok on sunday.

being that we were close to land, i was able to get cell service. being that it is cheaper to use the phone here than in thailand, i decided i'd call home. i called at 1745 (545p) and it was 0645 at home. luckily, andrew and rebecca were up, getting ready for school and so i was able to say a quick hello. its nice to hear familiar voices :)

dinner was outside, where we watched another beautiful sunset. i brought my camera and someone commented that i have a million pictures of the sunsets. i cant help it, i love how different the sunset looks each night!

we had our cultural pre-port for thailand tonight and we learned some great facts about getting around, etc. some tips included females not touching monks, don't point our feet at buddhas, follow a local when crossing the street, and cover up if planning to visit a temple.

i think i'll be watching 'get smart' and heading to bed early tonight and plan to get my india blog finished tomorrow!

singapore

we are currently in singapore to bunker (refuel). we will be here for most of the day, and boy is it hot! we are only 8- miles north of the equator and that was most certainly evident when eating breakfast outside this morning.

i took some photos from my porthole of the floating gas station and plan to take some pictrues through the hazy morning sun of the singapore skyline in the distance.