Mauritius has always been known as the spring break for Semester at Sea. And our voyage was no exception. This island is basically Hawaii for Europeans and the Afrikaners of South Africa. The beaches are insanely beautiful and the weather is unbeatable.
We were only docked on the island for one night, so we made the most of it. My friends and I rented a villa with a private beach about a half hour drive from the city of Port Louis. Lets just say we had fun and leave it at that. Late night Pizza Hut never tasted so good. The next day we met a catamaran at 9am that took us on an all-day-long snorkel and drink-fest adventure. According to my sources, I then took a taxi back to Port Louis, got to the ship on time, and enjoyed a barbecue dinner on board. Apparently I was the life of the party during embarkation. The next day was a little rough.
The night after my hazy experience in Mauritius, we watched a large thunderstorm rage directly over the Explorer. I stood on Deck 7 and let the rain drench me as lightning flashed and booming thunder shook the ship. Soon after, the crew made us go back inside. I suppose standing on top of the only giant metal thing in the middle of the ocean during a thunderstorm is frowned upon.
Since then, it has been business as usual with classes and mealtime. Today we had the Sea Olympics, which was a fun-filled day of games and miscellaneous malarkey. We are separated into "seas" according to decks, hallways, and weather we live on the starboard or port sides. Tradition holds that the winners of Sea Olympics get to be the first off the ship in San Diego and get a party in the faculty lounge later on in the voyage. My Baltic sea came in 4th place, but we fought hard and besides, who wants to be the first off anyways? They are going to have to drag me off of this ship when the time comes.
Today also marked the halfway point on the Fall 2010 voyage of SAS...bummer. It seems like yesterday I was lugging my bags up the gangway for the first time. I miss all of my family and friends back in the States, but I feel like once I am back, I will always have a yearning to return to the floating hunk of metal that I have come to call home.
Tomorrow, the tugboats will meet the Explorer at 7am and begin to push us into Chennai Harbor. By the time I wake up, I will be in India. I'm going on a three day long meditative yoga retreat. As for the rest of the time, I'm winging-it. Should be quite the trip. As of right now you are finally up to date on my voyage. Once again, I apologize for the late updates. My computer decided to shit-out on me a few days ago, and it looks like it wont be functional again until I get home. That means I will not be able upload my pictures from Ghana, South Africa, and the eleven I took in Mauritius until then. Luckily, I have my external and will be able to put my pictures up as I go from here on. Goodbye for now and wish me luck as I enter the insane world that is India. Lets cross our fingers that I don't get the ridiculous diarrhea that everyone is warning us about.
We were only docked on the island for one night, so we made the most of it. My friends and I rented a villa with a private beach about a half hour drive from the city of Port Louis. Lets just say we had fun and leave it at that. Late night Pizza Hut never tasted so good. The next day we met a catamaran at 9am that took us on an all-day-long snorkel and drink-fest adventure. According to my sources, I then took a taxi back to Port Louis, got to the ship on time, and enjoyed a barbecue dinner on board. Apparently I was the life of the party during embarkation. The next day was a little rough.
The night after my hazy experience in Mauritius, we watched a large thunderstorm rage directly over the Explorer. I stood on Deck 7 and let the rain drench me as lightning flashed and booming thunder shook the ship. Soon after, the crew made us go back inside. I suppose standing on top of the only giant metal thing in the middle of the ocean during a thunderstorm is frowned upon.
Since then, it has been business as usual with classes and mealtime. Today we had the Sea Olympics, which was a fun-filled day of games and miscellaneous malarkey. We are separated into "seas" according to decks, hallways, and weather we live on the starboard or port sides. Tradition holds that the winners of Sea Olympics get to be the first off the ship in San Diego and get a party in the faculty lounge later on in the voyage. My Baltic sea came in 4th place, but we fought hard and besides, who wants to be the first off anyways? They are going to have to drag me off of this ship when the time comes.
Today also marked the halfway point on the Fall 2010 voyage of SAS...bummer. It seems like yesterday I was lugging my bags up the gangway for the first time. I miss all of my family and friends back in the States, but I feel like once I am back, I will always have a yearning to return to the floating hunk of metal that I have come to call home.
Tomorrow, the tugboats will meet the Explorer at 7am and begin to push us into Chennai Harbor. By the time I wake up, I will be in India. I'm going on a three day long meditative yoga retreat. As for the rest of the time, I'm winging-it. Should be quite the trip. As of right now you are finally up to date on my voyage. Once again, I apologize for the late updates. My computer decided to shit-out on me a few days ago, and it looks like it wont be functional again until I get home. That means I will not be able upload my pictures from Ghana, South Africa, and the eleven I took in Mauritius until then. Luckily, I have my external and will be able to put my pictures up as I go from here on. Goodbye for now and wish me luck as I enter the insane world that is India. Lets cross our fingers that I don't get the ridiculous diarrhea that everyone is warning us about.
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