Brazil

Just got back on the ship from a PACKED 4 days.. I have slept in total 6 hours in the past 3 nights and you can totally tell. My voice is gone and I have huge bags under my eyes.. but that's beside the point because it was all sooo incredibly worth it! So starting from the beginning.. 

We arrive to Manaus, which is the port city in Brazil, around 7am. We looked out our windows at these 3 huge river boats that would be our home for the next 2 days. Now, just to clarify, everyone in SAS does there own thing when we get to these countries. Some people have registered trips through SAS, but most people actually do stuff independently with other kids on the ship. In brazil, I signed up (through SAS) for the Amazon and Rio trip. Thankfully, I had a lot of friends going on it too so I was really pumped. The first thing they had for us were boats- they were 2 stories. The top level had about 25 hammocks and bottom was just tables and some holes to go to the bathroom. It was pretty rustic- but they had fried plantains waiting for us so I was happy :) As we start to cruse down the amazon we actually could see the mixing of the water with the Negro river which was what we would travel on. We were on the boat taking a million pictures and playing cards in our hammocks for about 4 hours. At one point, I actually made everyone take a blanket and go onto the deck for some yogayoga! I led everyone through a meditation series and it was so peaceful and beautiful. Everyone really enjoyed themselves (duh)! We were being followed by two other ships because there were 3 groups of us,  they all watched us obviously having a better time than them! We finally arrive to the first stop which was a site with huge lilly pads (probably half the size of my body) and took photos with the locals. Then we shopped around the floating island for a while. In the amazon, there are some communities on the side of the rivers that are purely based around tourism. It's amazing how much these people really rely on us for their income. Anyways, I helped them out a little ;). After shooting some blow darts, and drinking a Fanta and were on our way again. The sun was starting to set. I really wish I could explain to you what this looked like. This sunset was unlike anything I had ever seen before... the clouds turned pink and the whole sky was different shades of purple. We got to where we were going drop anchor for the night (in the middle of the river because we didn't want mosquitos to get to us- yes I'm on malaria pills) with all of the other boats. (P.S.- camera died right here) We then transfered to small motor boats and our guide took us to go camen fishing! So just to paint a picture- it's dark out and were in the middle of parahna and camen infested waters with no protection except our short amazonian guide. Yeah, it was scary. There were yellow eyes that you could see watching you. At one point the guide actually pulled a baby camen out of the water so we could hold it! We had a delish amazonian homecooked meal on the boat and went to bed in our hammocks. I told the bed time stories tonight to our whole boat- ya 25 people- about my car accident when I hit a duck... and then when I hit a stationary motorcyle story... needless to say, everyone never wants to get in a car with me! W

The next morning, we woke up at 5 am to go parahna fishing. We didn't catch that many but still pretty cool- they are scary little creatures. We then went to a local plantation where we learned about different plants and foods in the amazon (one of my favorite parts!). They have this tapioca root which they make tapioca pancakes out of... they were delishhhh i loved this the most. The woman made us fresh ones and we saw how they were properly cooked. We then took a short hike through the amazon where kids ate larva, drank water out of roots and oh wait I RAN INTO A HANGING THORN PLANT!!! Yeah.. talk about needing my adhd meds that day... i had 9 thorns sticking out of my left cheek. Thank goodness I've been teaching a lot of yoga. Thats all i have to say. Im fine though...just incase you were wondering. We then got back on the boat towards Manaus. We had about half the day there to just walking around and see the city- saw a cool cathedral.. nothing much there except really provacatively dressed women and stray dogs. 

Then off to rio that night at 1130 for our red eye flight! This was fun because all groups were on the plane- party plane! We had a layover and got to rio just intime for a breakfast on the beach (felt a little awkward eating when I could see so many butts tanning) and then on to our jeep tour of the "Big Jesus"- that's just what I named the statue. We all got in these Jeep Rangler-style cars and rode up to the statue...it was awesome! I can't wait to show pics of the views from here- it was unreal! We also went to a waterfall, did a hike around it, then went to a botanical gardens. After we rode bikes around rio for about an hour. I felt very touristy.. but it was worth it! That night we went to the nicest brazilian steakhouse in all of rio- it was unlike anything i had ever seen. crazy meats and sushi platters galore! I went into the kitchen and took pictures with the chef ;) We also hit up some local bars and really experienced what rio had to offer. 

The next day we went ziplining and on a ropes corse through the trees in a nearby town. This was fun- zipline was pretty short but the ropes corse was really scary! After, Casey, Ben, Andrew and I went to go hang gliding! By far the coolest thing ive ever done! We ran off cliffs with a guide next to us and literally flew around Rio. We could see the Jesus statue, the beach, a nude tanner, 35 million dollar houses, little kids playing soccer.. the list goes on. I flew with a guy named Mosquito who told me if he were younger he would marry me...? Yeah, that was awkward...when your in the middle of the air! He was a professional and supposedly had flown all over the world and had married like 6 times?Hahaha he was a nut case. We then went back to our hotels to get ready for the soccer game! (see i told you we had packed days!) We all dressed up in Brazilian colors (I wore a flag as a shirt) and got on a bus to go to the soccer game. This is my favorite part of the whole Rio trip- it felt so cultural to be surrounded by these soccer fans. It was a seriously great time. At around 2am, when it was over, we went straight to one of the best clubs in rio called: 00. I sweet talked my way in with no ID and no cover charge... Hehehe. I think it was because I was wearing a flag? Anyways this club was unreal and we stayed out until 4:30 when we had to catch the flight back to Manaus at 5am. Talk about craazyness... anyways it feels good to be back here, even though we are going to be on this boat now for 9 days to Ghana! Can't wait to sleepppp- ta ta for now!

-QOS

Amazon

So we have entered the Amazon river... trust me not as glamorous as it sounds. The water is the color of milk chocolate and all of a sudden there has been bugs EVERYWHERE!! The boat has started sailing so no rocking thank god and everyones getting a little restless. As we have been traveling down the river we have been passing by different communities with kids waving and little boats passing by us. Its pretty cool. Today was "reading day" a day where everyone is supposed to catch up on our reading... yeah... I dont think I've seen the pool deck this crowded ever! It was a great day everyone was laying out and the sun was sooo strong. At dinner tonight it was hard to find people not burnt to a crisp. I however was fried two days ago so Ive got a nice base coat goin :) Last night for our sober entertainment (yes we have been sober this entire time) we had an open mic night and people did different talent acts. Casey and our new friends Ben, Andrew, and Adam (from PSU) sang titanic- hysterical! After they had a "club union" (union is our meeting room in the front of the ship). This was where they gave us a bunch of sugar and basically danced our hearts out. It was a good time- it felt however like i was in 7th grade. This whole trip so far (ps- I cant beleive its been only 9 days) has felt like 7th grade. We are playing card games and board games every night and really getting to know eachother on a sober and more personal level. I never thought in my 20's i would return to these types of activities but it feels so refreshing you have no idea. Although i am getting very anxious to get off this boat and go to a club... ;) Classes are going well- learning a lot about Rio and the dangers of Brazil to get us prepared for tomorrow. I am leaving tomorrow for the Amazon and Rio SAS trip- 2 nights in the Amazon and 2 nights in Rio- I am so pumpedd! Oh- today I taught yoga on the boat!! It was amazing.. we went to the front deck and there were about 35 people (more guys than girls if you can imagine ;) and a rainbow appeared right over us as we were in downdog. it was spectacular! Anyways- im known as the yoga teacher crazzy red head so thats pretty funny :) Miss you all and talk to you after the Amazon!!

Dominica

We arrived to Dominica on Sat night but we weren't allowed to get off the ship till Sunday morning :( But did it feel good to stop moving! Sunday morning we woke up at 7:30 for the most amazing breakfast- they had all local fruits and hot chocolate croissants for us on the ship before we all left for our outings. My day trip that I signed up for was through semester at sea- it was exploration of the emerald pools and water tubing. Some other trips included Trafalgar falls or snorkeling in the Champagne reef. We left at 8:15 with about 30 SAS kids all eager and excited for the day to come! Dominica was beautiful... extremely green and luscious. The town was full of bright colors and everyone was so happy to have tourists because that is the majority of the income for these people. There were stray dogs and kids running through the streets and it seemed relatively clean. The bus ride took us to a rain forest about 30 min into Dominica. We walked about a mile deep in the forest to see the most beautiful waterfall and it almost did look emerald! The trees and greenery reflected so beautifully on the water and the sun was shinning through the bamboo. It truly was beauty. We swam around and took lots of photos before we were back on the bus to go to the water tubing site! We all got in individual tubes with the Wacky Riders and coasted down the river with some occasional rapids. This was really fun and was a great icebreaker for some of the kids. We ended to fresh sugarcane and pineapple and again took tons of photos! Sorry again I cant post many photos :( It exceeds our Internet which we only have 2 hours of for the entire semester! We then met up with some other kids on the boat and went to a black beach called Mero Beach to have some drinks and enjoy the rest of the day. Back at the ship later that night everyone was very excited to go out because we haven't in so long it felt like! No one really knew were to go because being Sunday, a holiday in Dominica, everything was closed! But of coarse... we made them open this place called Crazy Coconuts just for us and I bargained the cover from $20 to $5 :) Everyone had an amazing night drinking the local rum called Red Cap or the local beer called Kabuli. The club was beautiful and everyone was drenched from sweat coming back to the ship later that night.
Early morning once again today.. awoke to a pounding on my door at 8am. About 20 of us decided to get in a cab with a local who was going to bring us to a waterfall in the middle of Dominica. It was kinda of rainy this morning so it felt good to be in a cab just looking out the window at all of the beauty in this country. Thomas our guide was the man. He had this adorable cracked tooth smile and told me he was into red heads? He brought us to this snack shop and we all ventured into the forest to find this rain forest. (Thanks Omi for that emergency poncho- really came in handy!) So when I say this was the most amazing waterfall Ive ever seen.. its an understatement. The fall was about 50 ft into a pool that you could climb around. It came from a huge wall which enclosed the entire pool with so much greenery and vines surrounding it. There were birds above us, rainbows around us, and we loved it. We then scaled some rocks to get to the other side where there were 3 more waterfalls! I mean it was breath taking... all of us were in awe and stayed there for a couple hours just messing around and enjoying life. When we got back to the snack shop we danced and drank for a while till we got back into the cab and brought to the market. We bought some local food and gifts and decided to head back to the ship since we all have to go back 2 hours before- so we don't get dock time (kinda like a time out for the next port if your not back on time)! Buuuut before we got back I got a hair wrap which i have decided to put a bead or shell in with every port- then cut it off for my scrap book! I thought this was pretty clever :P SO back on the boat we all went to the top deck and tanned and relaxed until the most amazing thing happened. There was a double rainbow over all of Dominica. It was breathtaking. The sun started to set, it was hot, it was misty, and everyone was shocked. You really felt spoiled. This port was amazing and we made such good friendships already- i cant believe I've only been here for 5 days it feels like forever! Well its around 8 now and we have just left for our journey to Brazil- approx 7 days. And i have to write a 3 page paper and read 4 chapters... i totally forgot i was in school??

Puerto Rico

Pit stop in Puerto Rico for gas?! Didn't get off the ship but it felt good to not be moving. The boat is still very rocky and it feels very weird sometimes! Everyone is still really wide eyed and excited. A lot of "I am Becca from Virginia and I go to Penn State" type of conversations. I am excited for those to be over... We are stopping in Dominica tomorrow so I am very excited to get off the ship!

Bahamas

It is 6 am in Dulles, and of corse my flight is cancelled! They reschedule me to arrive in Nassau, Bahamas around the same time so it is all good :) Getting off the plane to see my best friend from high school Casey McGrath was very comforting. She had been there a week prior with her entire family just vacationing (lucky!). We go to the hotel room to drop off my two HUGE suitcases and go back down to the lobby to meet other semester at sea students! For the next couple hours we met a ton of kids all from different areas in the US. Most of the kids are from Boulder or CA. That night we all went to my friend from Penn State (Armand)'s room to pregame for Senior Frogs- a local bar. At the bar we met so many more kids, danced, and all got very excited for the next day when we will check in! Upon arrival we waited in a 2 hour long line and finally aboarded the MV explorer. The boat looked very small compared to the other cruise ships in the area (Carnival ect.). But it still was beautiful. I went to my room, 3068, to meet my roomate Missy- who is totally awesome- and we started to unpack. Yea.. the rooms are not the best. They are pretty small but I feel like they are doable. We bump into eachother a lot but its okay. The bed is smaller than a twin but we have a maid come and clean our rooms every day- so I am not complaining! The first day here felt like the first day of freshman year.. everyone looks young, excited, and ready to have a great time. Everyones asking where they are from, who they know, ect. Its a great time! Today we have been doing orientation all day, listening to speakers and taking placement exams. Pretty fun stuff! I skipped out on a lecture to work out... not the best idea.. I almost fell off the tredmill. I didnt think about how rocky the boat was going to get! Its pretty funny.. some people are sick.. some are not. I feel fine just a little tired sometimes. Everyone keeps tripping and walking into poles haha! It is a good time and everyone is excited to start classes and get into a schedule. As am I! The food on the ship is buffet style.. and not that interesting- a lot of salads and potatos! I have to go to my next lecture about the book Three Cups of Tea- talk you you soon!

The Night Before!

It is the night before I leave for my SEAmester and the nerves are setting in... I am very excited about meeting everyone and seeing Casey McGrath who is waiting for me in the Bahamas but also very nervous I am forgetting something! Wish me luck..
- The QOS