South African Safari

April 3, 2010 2:18 "Sarah Ward at Semester at sea"

Hey! Just got back from my safari trip! Too fun! You said you didn't get much rain... well we got it all Thursday night. I have never been in a thunderstorm so severe. Buckets and bucket of rain. Lightening and thunder like you wouldn't believe. We were out walking looking for animals and had to run back to the vans 20 minutes into our hike. We stopped running because we couldn't get any wetter. My shoes stayed wet most of the trip. Now they smell like something died in them. Needless to say... the storm was the coolest thing ever. No one was upset about being wet or anything. It was an adventure. The power was out in our rooms and we had no water the first night. No problem, we had a pretty darn good shower running through the rain. I didn't know it until the next night(last night) that the owner of our lodge was thrown about 30 feet by the lightning. He was not hurt badly, I guess, cause he ran out to meet us, and told us to stay in the van for a while because the storm was dangerous. He didn't mention the fact that he was struck by freaking lightning. He ended up being fine and spent the rest of the evening hanging out with us. None of us knew, until he told a few of us by the camp fire the next day.

Anyways, the next day we got a "wake-up call" (knock on the door) at 4:30am and set out on a safari. We got a late start, cause people kept forgetting things and running off, but we still had a full day of wild adventures. I don't even remember the first animals we found, I would have to go through my pictures. We found 3 out of the big 5. No lions or cheetahs. :-( Guess I have to go back! :-) We did get charged by angry elephants. We were watching them peacefully, and they slowly surrounded our vehicle. It was amazing! They were so close. Then when their babies came closer to us, they started to get angry. We were blocked in by them from both sides. They started flapping their ears, shaking their heads and stomping their feet at us. Keep in mind that elephants could literally throw our jeep with no problem. We found an opening and drove out. We got great pictures while all this was happening. Later, we found another elephant. A teenage male. He got mad at us and charged at us. We had to throw it into reverse. We almost hit a car that was behind us. Then another jeep with some of our group in it, passed us. Their driver was an indigenous African. He was crazy. He started charging the elephant, then the elephant went back at them, they almost hit... then the driver charged forward more and drove the elephant off the road. Really pissed it off, then it came back towards us. We got the hell out of there. It was a really close call. The driver should not have chased the elephant like that. Our leader said that was bad, and I knew it! That elephant is going to remember that later and demolish another vehicle. An elephant never forgets.

We saw so many giraffes! They are so graceful and awkward, if that even makes sense! We saw a baby one! Sooo cute! We also saw a million zebras. Baby zebras too! Loved them. I swear they look exactly like normal horses with body paint. Beautiful animals. We watched a family of baboons for about 10 minutes. They were too funny. You could tell which one was the boss. He kept stealing the others seats and pushing them around. We saw quite a few white rhinos. We didn't get too close to any of those... that would end badly. We also saw a couple herds of buffalo. They said they were the meanest and most aggressive animals out there. More dangerous than lions even. Didn't see any up close, but that's ok with me. My camera battery ran out about halfway through the day, so I have to get pictures from other people from the trip soon.

Later that night, last night, we had dinner and a camp fire. Then they took us on a scorpion hunt! So cool. They glow florescent yellow under LED black light. They had a really strong flashlight and shone it though the trees and the train and we found tons of them all over where we were! They were so freaky! And all around us everywhere! I slept with one eye open last night. Then this morning, we got up and went to see the owners venomous snake collection in his garage. He had a breeding facility for a snake that had never been bred before. They said it was impossible, but he now has 30 babies. He was the first to do it, and now has to get a license and fix up his facilities to do it professionally and legally. There were so many snakes. All of them very poisonous. Oh, and a cage of rats! He also had the worlds most venomous scorpion in a box. He opened it to show us, and guess what, it jumped out of the box. Almost landed on a girl's foot and he and another guide scrambled to catch it and get it back in the box. I was about to start crying like a little girl if he didn't catch it, but they did. There was a cobra that struck at the glass and spit venom when we moved its cover and waved at it. Haha. Ugh. Lots of snakes, many indigenous to the area. Then we went out on one last nature hike... where all the snakes live, one last time, had breakfast, and headed to the airport.

**I know I am really behind on posts! I will update and fill in soon**

Japan

I am so tired it is not even funny. You don't even want to know what my last few days have been like. I just slept in my bed from 9am till 3pm. First time back in a bed since Tuesday night. It is Friday here. We took a night bus last night from Tokyo to Kobe. 9 hours. Couldn't sleep for nothing. Slept in an internet cafe the night before. We could only get the room for 6 hours. It was only 13 bucks. The other girls didn't want to pay 20 for a regular damn hotel room. I seriously could kill them. The internet cafe rooms were cubicles with a padded floor and a bean bag chair. The doors slid open and closed. No locks. Just cubicle after cubicle. The tops were open and you could peek into each box. There was a desk with a computer and a tv in each box. I was going to use my computer and call people, but someone had the bright idea to keep our backpacks in a locker at the train station while we walked around. Then they locked the train station. No bags, clothes to change into. Nothing. Couldn't even brush my teeth. I just had to sleep on the floor with a bean bag in a 5' by 5' room with one other girl. Who know how many people have had sex on those bean bags, or how many guys have used the room for "alone time". There was library of comics and computer games and porn to check out. All that was free with your room. My goodness, I can't believe we slept there. LOL! Definitely an experience.

On the up side, we had great sushi, got a private karaoke room, went to a cool bar, and met some really cool people. We walked into a bar that was too crowded and was told we had to go find somewhere else, then these Japanese business men in their 30's and 40's started cheering and invited us to cram around their table. Why not? They worked for a whiskey stiller and were the happiest people you have ever met. They made all of us try their whiskey soda, which may have been watered down ginger ale. They don't put much liquor at all in their drinks. I didn't have much of an appetite for a lot of liquor so I tried my drink and passed it on to the other girls. Then the girls talked the men into buying us a shot. The shot was in a shot glass, but not even half full. Weird, having been a bar tender. They serve very small portions of alcohol in their bars. One of the business men that was with us could barely stand and went out to puke a few times while we were with them. I can only imagine how many drinks he had to drink to get that way! They sent him home early in a taxi. Then another had to go home to his wife and kids. Then one tried to hang with us, and wanted to take us to a club. That seemed a little weird, so we convinced him that he did not have to do that, so he finally took a cab home. Then we walked across the street to a karaoke place, got our private room and jammed out! After this, we tried to get our backpacks and checked into the internet cafe.

We did not have our stuff with us, so we were not able to shower when we woke up. We got our bags from the locker in the train station, then went to a coffee shop and took over the bathrooms and changed and freshened up. Upon leaving the coffee shop, we started walking. We ended up in the middle of nowhere in an industrial district. Then couldn't find a subway when we wanted to get back to civilization. LOL! I asked a gas station and got the best directions I could for not speaking Japanese. We found the station and the best bakery ever next to it. We stalked up on goodies knowing we had a long bus ride ahead later that night. We took the subway to the market area in Tokyo. I think the name of the area was Asakura, or something like that. It was amazing! We shopped and got lunch there. Then we headed to the HUGE technology emporium. Don't ask me the name of it, but it was 6 stories of all the technology you have ever dreamed existed. Computers, TVs, speakers, home appliances, toys, and so much more. This place was amazing!

Then we decided to head towards the bus stop. The bus stop was across from Cinderella's carriage at Tokyo Disney Land. Disney Land! It looked awesome, but we had no time to go in a explore by this point. Once we finally made it to where we were supposed to be picked up, we almost panicked. There we 50+ buses in this lot. Which one were we supposed to get on?!?!?! We tried asking so many people. None of them spoke English. People working at Disney, one of the biggest tourist attractions in Japan, did not speak English. Good thinking. We kept telling people Kobe bus. None of them knew which bus. Finally a lady went and asked around some of the bus drivers and the driver found us and checked us off his list and we got on the bus. Thank the Lord, cause I forgot to mention, that is is pouring rain and REALLY cold. My boots were soaked and giving me blisters. I was getting shin splints and was completely exhausted. My friends slept just fine. I couldn't sleep at all on the 9 hour bus ride to save my life. The bus dropped us a a train station that was two stops from our port where the ship would meet us. We beat the ship and waited for it to arrive. We watched it tie up, and had to wait on it to let us on. I took a long hot shower and climbed into bed at 9am. I just woke a few minutes ago at 3pm. I still have all day today and tomorrow to tour this town of Kobe. My calf muscles are swollen and sore. It hurt to just walk into the bathroom and back to bed. Who knew tourism was so hard?! I'm beat! I feel much better now that I have slept, except my muscles are sore after getting rest. I need to stretch before I make it out again.

Speaking of which, I better get going. I need to freshen up and get going before I waste an entire day. I will write more about Japan later when I have more free time! I hope everyone is enjoying snow back home!

Hawaii: Honolulu

Post 2
Subject: Hawaii: Honolulu
Honolulu was a completely different experience. It felt more like I was in Hawaii. It was really tourist oriented. The city was huge and there was something to do everywhere you looked. It was awesome. The first day there, I got a huge taste of almost the entire island. I started out going to the Polynesian Cultural Center. It was actually really neat. I thought it was going to be lame and boring, but it was so cool! Some of the performers had us laughing the whole time we were there. The things they showed us and that we learned were really cool. We were supposed to be there the whole day, but I spent the second half of the day with some of our old family friends from Dad’s Army days. Mrs. Snodgrass picked me up and took me on a tour of the island back to Honolulu. She took me to the North Shore beaches where all the famous surfing competitions are held. The waves were huge! She then made me try the local snow cones in a small town close to those beaches, and then treated me to shrimp from an RV. Not kidding. It was the best shrimp I have ever eaten, and is was from the shadiest place on earth! After the shrimp, we headed back to the city, passing the Dole Pineapple plant. She took me to Pearl Harbor. We did not tour the ship, but she drove me around to a little secret spot where I was able to get a really good picture of the memorial. Then we headed to the NEX, the Navy’s store for active duty. (It was closer than the PX) We met up with the rest of the family there. Their son Andrew was already with us, but we met David and Danielle there. They were all so nice and so happy to see me after so many years. I had never met their kids before, but my parents left a lot of my baby stuff for Danielle when we left Germany, so I felt a connection there! She is so sweet!

After our shopping trip in the ever-fabulous, NEX (Not kidding, it was nicer than the malls in Tyler and College Station.) They took me to dinner on Waikiki Beach at the Cheesecake Factory. I LOVE the Cheesecake Factory! Mr. Snodgrass practically chastised me, and told me not to even think of trying to pay for anything, because my parents had fed them more times than they could count. I am a college kid… I did not protest. While we waited for our table, Danielle and I took a walk on the beach. Waikiki is really nice and has lots of famous hotels. There were lots of nice stores around too. Honolulu is so beautiful!

We all decided that we had to check out the night life in Honolulu. We were told of the best place in town and started to look for a public bus to take us there. While we were waiting for the public bus, a party bus pulled up next to us. They asked if we were headed to the Zanza Bar… which is exactly where we were headed. I hesitated, and the other girls screamed YES! They told us to hop in! The bus was empty, so I thought it was a little weird. I asked what it was for; being the only one worried about jumping on a bus with people we didn’t know. They were radio station DJs, and their station was promoting the club and giving free rides to and from. When we got off the party bus at the club, another promoter told us we were VIP and cut us to the front of the LONG line, and let us in free. There was a $15 cover. How did we get that lucky?! This was the nicest club I had ever been in! The bathroom even had an attendant. The woman practically washed my hands for me. That was a little weird… and I didn’t have any cash to tip her. Oh well… I didn’t ask her to wash my hands! I played Mother Goose again making sure the intoxicated ones made it back home. Haha! We found a Jack-in-the-Box across the street, and everyone satisfied their midnight munchies.

My second day was much more relaxed in Honolulu. I was supposed to go snorkeling, but they changed the time of the trip, and I didn’t know until it was too late. After I got over being extremely pissed, I decided to make the most of having free time. I went with my roommate to Waikiki beach, found a McDonald’s with free Wi-Fi, and caught up on my Facebook and other email accounts. I had some WONDERFUL sushi for lunch, and met some more friends at the beach, until it was time to go back to the ship.

The disembarkation was the hardest for us I think. We all stood out on the deck and watched Hawaii get smaller and smaller. Goodbye America. There were grumbles in the crowd when we pointed out that it was going to take 11 days to get to Japan. That is a long time to not see land, but we are on day three right now and everyone is still alive. AND… I still have not gotten sea sick! Knock on wood!

Hawaii: Hilo

Subject: Hawaii: Hilo
I have been behind on updating, but I’ll do my best to fill you in on what you have missed.
We arrived in Hilo, Hawaii on Monday, January 25th. We were so excited to get off the ship! And we were in Hawaii! It just doesn’t get better than that! Now, I have to be honest and tell you the first thing I did when I got there was hop on a free shuttle to Wal*Mart. (sorry Aunt Ann! No Target on that island.) The food on the ship is not horrible, but having snack food is a must, so we stalked up in Hilo. I now have Wheat Thins, Cheese-Its, Almonds, chips, and Lucky Charms (Mom didn’t let me have them as a kid.) I also found some Uno cards! You wouldn’t believe how many people get excited about card games around here. Once we unpacked our goodies, we ate lunch on the ship, crazy I know, but it was free. We ate out plenty later on, and that adds up.

After watching whales while eating lunch, we set out to go to the beach. Our friends told us to meet them at Richardson so we took a cab over there. Our cab driver was a hilarious and sweet, older Hawaiian woman. She tried to convince us that Obama had changed the drinking age in Hawaii to 22 and that we could not get any alcohol. I didn’t care to have any myself, but the other girls were throwing a fit! The woman laughed to whole time and almost convinced us that that were true. I took her up on her bluff and walked in a store and bought one can of beer. I gave it away, but I had to win the bet! Darn my competitive nature! I gave the beer away as soon as I got to the beach.

The beach was not what I expected at all. It was all black sand from volcanic ash. There were cliffs and huge rocks that we climbed on that were all volcanic rocks. It was really pretty, but not the beach I would have thought it would be. My friend found a sea turtle that was enclosed close to where we were swimming. I got to try out my underwater feature on my camera and got some really cool pictures of it!

After the beach, we packed in another cab and headed into town to get some food. We split appetizers at a local sports bar and grille. I couldn’t believe what I saw as we were being seated at our table. Right next to our table I looked up and saw a Texas A&M flag!!! I got so excited! I got a picture with it and even sent picture messages to a few friends! It was the most exciting part of the day!

We shopped a little in downtown, and it was really all very cute to me. Hilo is not a big tourist town. It is mainly all local. That had a few touristy things for sale, but you could tell it was like any other small town. The people there were so nice and loved having us in their businesses. They knew all about the trip and look forward to the students each semester.

I don’t have a clue how, but everyone seemed to remember it was my birthday the second day we were in Hawaii, and since we had to sail around to the other island the night of my birthday, they wanted to celebrate my birthday that night, with midnight making it my birthday officially. Not going to lie, I was tired. I really just wanted to go to bed that night, but my friends would not allow it. So I dressed up in a cute top, jeans, and cowboy boots. “Texas” was going to do it big in Hawaii! (Some guys on the ship have taken to calling me Texas.) We bombarded the local hotspot. Poor guys were not expecting 200-300 college students to come flooding in on a Monday night. The bartender was completely overwhelmed. By the time I showed up, people were waiting on me to get there. Great. This meant several people were trying to buy me a drink at the same time. I turned 22, not 21. I did not want all those dang drinks. I was walking around double fisting drinks. There was no way I was drinking them… so I gave them away. It was almost like I had a system going. Someone would go to get me one, and I would take it, thank them, then turn around to where they couldn’t see, and give it away! Haha! It was really nice of everyone, but I just was not down for drinking. The recipients of the drinks I gave away didn’t seem to mind. The bar ended up ordering a DJ to come to the bar. The night ended up being really fun.

Then the bar closed. It was time to catch a cab back to the boat for the night… right? Wrong. Some of my friends, who had a little much, wanted to skinny dip. If any of you know me at all, you know there is NO WAY I would EVER do that in mixed company. I sat on the beach with a few others who refused to take off their clothes and waited on the “children”. I call them children because I ended up playing Mother Goose, making sure everyone was ok and that they all made it back to the ship. By the time that adventure was over, all the cabs had gone. We walked over two miles back to the boat at almost 3am. That is a long walk in cowboy boots that were made for dancing. I could have killed the “children”.
The next day, my birthday, was not too exciting. Everyone was tired or hungover from the night before. A few people made Wal*Mart and internet trips. I took time to relax and spent time on my cell phone talking to friends back home. Thank you everyone that did call or text me on my birthday. Then we sailed that night to Honolulu.

The Ship

Post number 2 subject: The Ship
The drive to Ensenada was a little over two hours. We got a few Cowboys games updates along the way. None of them were good. When we arrived to the ship port we unloaded with our carry on and headed to go through security. It went fairly quickly. As we walked through security and into the area where we boarded the ship, we had to walk through a little Mexican gift shop/Liquor store. I kid you not. We are not allowed to take alcohol on the ship, but we went through a shop after the initial security and screening. Good planning. We stopped at a few desks before boarding and turned a few things in, then boarded the ship. We were searched again and had our bags looked at one more time. The woman that searched us gave me a full rub down… I am very glad it was a woman to say the least. When we go on, we had to go through more check-in tables before we could go to our room.

When I finally got to my room, I got there before my roommate. I walked into the tiny room and had a tiny panic attack. It seemed so small and it was all off-white. It made me feel trapped. I started thinking, “What am I doing!? Why am I here?! I want to go back to College Station!!!” I went to the restroom, which is also very tiny and then was able to unpack after the rest of my luggage arrived. All of our stuff fits into our rooms perfectly and we have plenty of open space. I decorated my wall with all my pictures and magnets, and I felt much better! My roommate is really sweet and also from Texas. I do not feel trapped in my room at all! As a matter of fact, I took a nap waiting on my luggage to come!

Before we left port, we had a lifeboat drill where we all had to report to muster stations with life vests on. The Captain inspected us, and as he walked away from our group he stated that we were the best group he’d seen so far. Score! It is a good thing to be on the Captain’s side, because he had Marshall Law on this ship. What he says goes.
Our departure from port was delayed a little, but we all went and stood out on the deck to watch us send off. It was really neat to watch. It was funny how it hit us all round the same time. This is it; we are off on an adventure around the world. When we go to sleep, we were going to wake up and see nothing but water for several days. We were informed that our ship, the MV Explorer, is the fastest passenger ship of its kind in the world. So we don’t have to worry about pirates! Whoop!
Good news! I have not gotten sea sick and this is the third day of sailing. I think I am going to be ok! I took one pill for sea sickness just to be safe the first night, but never felt sick. Not many people are like that. I don’t use the patch, wrist bands or anything. I’m a champ. Knock on wood… I really just did.  The difficult part is walking, and it is actually hilarious. You take a step on one side of a hall way, and then end up against the wall on the other side. We are all working hard to achieve our sea legs! It is really entertaining. My biggest challenge is shaving my legs. Wow, got to be careful while attempting this daunting task! I have managed to only attain two smalls nicks around the knees.

Another adjustment I have to make is the schedule for meals. Meal times are the same everyday, and if you miss a meal, tough luck. There are snack bars available, but you have to pay for that stuff. I would rather not waste money on that, so I am going to wake up early for breakfast every day, and get a workout schedule started. You have to sign up for times to use the gym, so once I get my classes figured out; I will schedule my gym times. That will be more motivation for me to go, and that is a good thing!

I went to two of my classes today. Both of them seem like they are going to be ok. Not too much homework yet. I have two more tomorrow, along with Global Studies, which we have everyday. A day and B day.

San Diego

Subject for post : San Diego
I left the hotel in San Diego and headed for Mexico on Sunday morning at 9am. This would have been 11am in Texas. As I was struggling to drag down my heavy suitcases and bags, I ran into a guy wearing a Vikings jersey. This got me all excited and upset about the game. I really wished I could see it, yet now I’m almost glad I didn’t. We bantered about the game and our team a little and wished each other luck as we headed to separate busses. I ended up sitting next to a guy from Vegas but goes to SMU. Across from me sat a guy from OU and a guy from Georgia. It was nice to finally meet more people from the South. Both OU and Georgia beat us in football this year, but I guess I’ll live. We joked a little about football, but got along great, because we were all Cowboys fans!!! Then we all were a little depressed together when we heard the final score. What the heck happened? I am astonished and mad it ended that badly!

The night before we left the hotel, I went out to a little bonfire near the pool where many SAS (Semester at Sea) students were gathered. I met a girl from Baylor! Her name is Amy and she is so sweet. She dated a guy from A&M, so she spent every other weekend in College Station!!!! Someone who knew what I was talking about!!!!! We talked about our favorite places to eat, go out, and mutual people we knew. What fun! I can’t wait to look her up on Facebook and see how many people we really do have in common. The same morning we took the busses to Mexico, I also met a guy from Texas Tech. He was really nice, but made a face for a slight second when I said I was from A&M. LOL! I think we got over that, cause we both smile nicely and say hi when we pass each other on the ship.

Saturday before we left, I went with some girls I stayed in the hotel with to the zoo. We drug along a guy that stayed in the room next to ours. Poor guy was ready to go about 2 hours before we were, but we still all got along and had a great time. We were most excited about seeing the baby panda, and he wanted to see the polar bears. The baby panda was put away before we got there and the polar bears exhibit was under construction. Awesome. Yet, the San Diego zoo still had much to offer and we had a blast! We went back to the hotel to chill, and then the girls all headed to eat at In-N-Out Burger, where we all got hats, and then to Target for last minute supplies. Funniest thing ever… My friend Hillary thought it would be a good idea to push the shopping cart to the road and catch a taxi from there, so we didn’t have to carry all of our stuff all over the place. This plan was working well until we walked out of their parking lot and the wheels on the shopping cart locked up! This completely dumbfounded us, so I tried another cart. I took off pushing the cart as fast as I could and then it felt like I slammed into a brick wall when I hit the invisible line that locked the wheels. None of us had seen this before, and Hillary decided to test 3 other carts. Each one was as funny as the first. I’m pretty sure we all burned off In-N-Out Burgers from laughing at this. Around the time we decide to leave the shopping carts and continue to look for a taxi, a cop car rolls up and stopped next to us. We thought we were in trouble, but he asked us verbatim, “Have you seen a bunch of white guys beating the crap out of each other?” Haha! Nope. Guess we missed that. We went ahead and asked him the best way to catch a cab, because we hadn’t seen any pass the whole time we were there. He told us to go to the AM-PM, and there should be cabs hanging out there. It ended up being a gas station with no cabs. We looked up a number and called a cab, who said they would be right there. An hour later and 4-5 more calls, we finally got a cab. We had to call the hotel and have them send us one. We were getting nervous because the homeless crack-addict started doing something weird with his pants in the corner. We were really happy to see that cab!

Tuesday Morning 1-19-10 at 7:30 am

It is 7:30 am right now. We are going by the time zone we are in.

Right now, we are trying to sail around a storm. By the time this storm hits San Diego, it will be the biggest storm that has hit them in 10 years. We are expecting some rough waters. I'm all good though. I haven't gotten sea sick, so no worries.

I can't believe that there has been more church fires!!! Every church needs to have men patrolling it every night with guns. That is insane! Are they all in Athens, or is it more spread out?

I am going to go get breakfast now. I think the hardest part to adjust to, other than walking, is getting on their food schedule. The meals are served at the same time everyday, and if you miss it, you miss it. You can't just eat whenever you want. I missed breakfast yesterday. I am going to get up early every morning, just so I can eat.

Howdy

From: "Sarah Ward at Semester at sea"

Howdy

Things are going pretty well. I have the email up and working! No sea sickness so far. I took a pill just in case last night, but I have not been bothered at all. Just trying to learn to walk like this! LOL! It is funny watching people walk. My roommate is sweet and she is from Brownsville TX. I met Caroline's friend today, and she lives really close to me. I'm having a good time. Hope you are well.

Sarah


I will spend more time to write a blog later, but we have things going on now. Talk to you later.

San Diego

Sarah Ward January 17 at 12:32am Reply
We board the ship tomorrow! I am really excited! I will be out of touch on facebook for a while, but I should be able to email soon. I had some roommates in the hotel, and we went to the San Diego Zoo today! It was awesome! We saw hippos mating. Yes, we all took pictures. It was really entertaining. We got the biggest kick out of the small children standing right in front watching.

I am having a blast, but I miss Texas already, and all of you back home. 3 of the girls staying in my room are from Maine and another is from Boston. They LOVE my accent. We also have an English friend, and we all try to imitate his accent. I'm the worst at it! I'm going to master the English/London accent by the time I come back.

You stay classy San Diego!

Getting Ready

It seems like it has taken an eternity for the trip to come, and now it is just around the corner. You wouldn't believe all the things I have had to do to get ready for this trip. Getting passport visas, shots (ugh!), prescriptions, clothes, and enough toiletries to last 4 months, along with much more!

I am really excited about going, but I have a nervous feeling that I am going to forget something important. I am sure I will get everything I need, but at least Hawaii is my first stop. Surely I will figure out by then if I need something important.

If you want to look at where I will be going and when I am there, check out this website: http://www.semesteratsea.org/voyages/upcoming-voyages/spring-2010.php

I have laundry and packing to do, so see you later!