Semester at Sea Spring 2007

Rio de Janeiro Day 1

2007-02-17T16:04:00.000-08:00

Today i woke up at 5:00 AM to watch the sun rise as the MV Explorer pulled into Salvador. The immigration process went quickly but the diplomatic briefing practically put me to sleep. Everything that we heard, we had learned in global studies all week.

After the briefing Meg and I ran up to the gangway to start what became a very difficult departure to Rio. First off our cab ride to the airport cost $50 combined. Then when we got to the airport we stood in line for a while and they would´t take our Visa cards. So.... we had to hunt down the bank machines and that was a fiasco in itself because our Visa cards, we found out, have a daily withdrawal limit of $200 (or R400,00). We had just enough to pay for our departure flight. After that whole ordeal we got back inline to purchase a ticket and it was gift sent from Heaven that two people from Florida were standing right in front of us, and the lady happened to speak a little of portuguese. I am having a hard time with the language barrier because for once I am the minority.

It occuried to me that Brazilians are not one to hurry because it took over an hour to check in and our just about every flight was delayed. The flight wasn´t bad though. We experienced a tad bit of turbelance and the flight attendants spoke English! What a relief, I finally had a sense of what was going on around me. The water on the plane was in a cup sealed with a foil top so i thought that was unique. We were also served a sub for our flight.

We met a boy from San Fransico traveling by himself to Rio de Janeiro so we teamed up with him and caught a cab into Copacabana together. Altogether the ride cost R75,00.

Meg and I were relieved when we got to the hostel because our Visa cards worked. They don´t accept Mastercards so we were a little concerned how we were going to pay for it at first; we didnt want to spend the night out on the streets! The staff is very friendly, helpful, and bilengual. As we were checking in Megan noticed that one of the staff members was only wearing one earring so she pointed out that she was missing one. The lady told us it was actually a trend to wear only one earring here.

After check in, we headed up to our rooms, dropped our stuff off and walked around for a bit. I have been worried that my passport, camera, and money are going to get stolen so i have been uncomfortably wearing a travel purse around my belly tucked into my pants. Just in case though, someone tries to pickpocket my purse, I have made a dummy purse. I put my old digital camera, 5 US dollars, some hand sanitizer, and some gum so if they got they might think they were getting away with the real deal. The currency is refered to as reals (its not pronouced like it looks) and it goes down to R2,00 in paper. Anything under R2,00 are coins.

For dinner we went to a market right across the street. It consisted of some ruffles, sabor cebola & salsa flavor (sour cream and onion) a bottle of water called Minalba (im guessing it stands for natural mineral water??) and some sandwich type looking thing that I couldn´t finish.

Tomorrow Meg and I plan to head over to the market across from Copacabana beach and look around/souviner shop until all the other SAS students arrive at the hostel in the afternoon.

Life on the Ship and Puerto Rico

2007-02-12T12:41:00.000-08:00

I have finally had some down time to update my blog… sorry it has taken so long. Since it has been a while there is quite a bit of reading for this post. I hope you enjoy it anyway.

Life on the Ship
… So far life on the ship has not been bad. My roommate and I get along very well. Her name is Katie from Washington. The room isn’t too bad… my bed is EXTREMELY small compared to what I am use to sleeping in and the hallway is a little small. Overall through, there was plenty of room for all of our junk to fit. I’m room number 4049 and part of the Adriatic Sea.

There have been quite a few sea sick people here and there but most of us are doing well. Occasionally I get a little bit dizzy, but not to the point where I am absolutely sick to my stomach.

For meals… we are served for all 3 meals and then we get a chance for a night snack around 22:00 (or 10 PM, we have to get use to military time because that is how they tell time on the ship). For breakfast we have several selections. There are eggs and cereal everyday and things like french toast/pancakes are rotated so it’s not the same thing every morning. For lunch and dinner there are always peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but there is always a selection of a pasta, seafood, and meat along with salad and rolls.

In between classes I get the chance to lie out on the deck and work on my tan while I read for my classes. My classes are all going well and I enjoy each of them, although I am bombarded with reading and assignments. I believe that I am going to come away from this semester with a good understanding of the material taught in the classroom simply because we get to experience the topics first hand in each port we will be stopping at.

Puerto Rico
Here are a few quick facts about Puerto Rico:
-Since Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the US, Puerto Ricans hold US passports.
-The population density of Puerto Rico is over 1,110 people per square mile, making Puerto Rico one of the most crowded islands in the world.
-San Juan is the second-oldest city in the Americas.
-San Juan is known as “La Ciudad Amurallada” (the walled city).
-Puerto Rico’s currency is the US dollar but it referred to as the peso.

The MV Explorer pulled into San Juan, Puerto Rico on the 7th and departed the 9th. The first day there and group of people I have been hanging out with and I walked into Old San Juan and just walked around there for most the day. We had lunch at a local Café called El Punto. The food was excellent and I would highly recommend it to anyone that will be in Old San Juan. Most of the SAS students, including me, signed up a welcome reception at a local college so we headed back to the ship, cleaned up, and went to the program. The bus I was on drove us into town and took us to Universidad del Sagrado Corazon. Our hosts, the students, were energetic as we unloaded the bus and lead us place to place around their campus by playing instruments and dancing. It was more like a parade when we relocated. They taught us how to salsa, provided us with food and refreshments, and gave all of the visitors a t-shirt from their university. Overall, the welcome reception was great and I decided to sign up for one in India. After the college visit most of the students headed into Old San Juan and went to Senor Frogs.

On day two I took the day to relax and layout on a beach in San Juan. After soaking up the tropical sun, my sister, a few other SAS girls, and I headed back into Old San Juan for some shopping and to pick up a few groceries to keep in our room to snack on. That afternoon I found myself a beautiful pair of Puma’s and bought them for only 20 dollars!! In the evening, everyone bar hopped to the local bars in Old San Juan with some locals students that some SAS students met at their welcome reception.

During our last day in San Juan, a student arranged an independent trip to El Yunque. El Yunque is the only tropical forest in the US National Forest system and is located only 25 miles southeast of San Juan. Our tour started by jamming 15 of us into a van that was only suited to hold 11 people, but that’s ok we made it work by putting three people in the trunk of the van and fitting an extra person in the back seat. To make the ride to the rain forest even more interesting we had to turn the AC off as we started up the mountains because the van wouldn’t have made it with the AC running. Once we got there we went in an observation tower and overlooked the rainforest and then after that we started our “hike” into the forest. Our tour guide was practically running so that no one could keep up with him. We were spread out all over the trial (which was paved)… there would be three of us up front a couple more trailing in the middle and then another group way back because no one could keep up with the tour guide. Once we got to our destination we got to swim in the waterhole and enjoy the waterfall. On the ride back to the ship everyone sacked out.

We left Puerto Rico on the 9th at 2300 and now we are on our way to our next stop…. Salvador, Brazil!

I miss everyone and I hope to be hearing from you all in e-mails/letters!

Funny Comic Strip and Other Things

2007-01-30T11:33:00.000-08:00

I would like to quote something from a fellow shipmate's blog page.. check his page out! His name is Kevin Frasure and the link to his blog is located on the left.

"So I have made a realization long before I even go that I think anyone thinking about going anywhere should remember when it comes to money. Money isnt real, it is only society's way of holding us down. I dont know about you, but I will not let myself become a victim of it. This being said, I knew long before I ever applied to SAS that I couldnt afford it, and I didnt care. I knew that there are some things that you cannot put a price tag on. Your life is one of them. No matter how much this costs, no matter how much debt I put myself into, I know that this experience is something that no one anywhere will ever be able to take away from me. I guess what Im trying to say is if there is something out there that you want bad enough, nothing can stop you. Seeing the world is one of my dreams, and Im about to do it in 12 days. Worry about petty things like money later, live your life now, because when its all over, I will have the memories when all you have is money."

..... the money situation can't be put into words any better!

Words Can't Describe...

2007-01-29T16:59:00.000-08:00

Alright, so on Friday the 2nd I will be leaving for my first destination.....Nassau! The MV Explorer will be pulling out of port sometime around 17:00 on the evening of the 4th. Wooohoo I can't even wait. This might be one of the most exciting things I will ever experience!

As far as my progress on the packing situation goes... those that know me well know that I don't like to start until the last minute. All I have packed so far are the things I need to shower with. Packing for this is a tough one! I hope I don't forget something.....

I hope to update this blog as much as I possibly can, but it will probably end up getting updated after each port if I have to guess. 250 minutes of internet just isn't enough time for 3 1/2 months if you ask me.

I have already made some plans for the a few of the ports I'm going to be visiting.

Brazil: Rio de Janeiro and Salvador

Our ship docks in Salvador, Brazil on February the 17th so Megan and I are going to fly out that afternoon to Rio de Janeiro. We are going to be staying at the Copa Hostel located at the world famous Copacabana Beach (one block from it to be exact!) If you have the need to stay at any hostels somewhere in the world check out www.hostelmania.com . There are about 7 of us staying there if I remember correctly so it should be a good time.

By the way, we are going to be in Rio de Janeiro during CARNAVAL! I have bought a ticket to the famous Samba Parade for Sunday the 18th. It starts at 9:00 pm and lasts until the early hours of the morning.

We also plan on going to Corcovado Mountain to see the Christ the Redeemer Statue and going to Sugar Loaf Mountain and ride the cable cars there.

South Africa

A group of us SAS'ers got our own group together for a 3 day camping safari at Kruger National Park (www.krugerpark.co.za) in South Africa. I really have to give props to Cory for arranging this one tho, he did pretty much all the work... THANK YOU!

As described on the website we are going to be enjoying bush cuisine prepared over an open fire, have knowledgeable African safari guides conduct the game drives, and camp out in spacious dome tents. Sounds like a good time to me :)

I hope that it will be possible for me to bring home a baby tiger and baby elephant.. hehe

heres a few pics from the Kruger Park website

Communication Information

2007-01-02T12:27:00.000-08:00

For Airmail:

The US post office recommends sending international airmail at least two weeks in advance; sending even earlier is preferred because mail service varies in each counry. Do not send currency. Sending packages is NOT recommended because of customs restrictions and/or duty charges (as a result, packages are not always received by the intended recipient onboard). The port aget in each country makes every possible effort to deliver mail to the ship or forward delayed mail to a future port, but cannot assume responsibility for undelivered or lost mail.

Puerto Rico: AIRMAIL no later than JAN 24th
Ashley Monahan
C/O: MV Explorer
Arrives February 7, 2007
Cruise Plus Service & Sales
1760 Fernandex Juncos Avenue
San Juan, PUERTO RICO, 00909

Brazil: AIRMAIL no later than FEB 3rd
Ashley Monahan
C/O: MV Explorer
Arrives February 17, 2007
Oceanus Agencia Maritima
Av. Estados Unidos, 397, Room 601-604
40018-900 Salvador, BAHIA-BRAZIL

South Africa: AIRMAIL no later than FEB 16th
Ashley Monahan
C/O: MV Explorer
Arrives March 2, 2007
John T. Rennie & Sons
PO Box 702, 1 Thibault House
8000 Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA

Mauritius: AIRMAIL no later than MAR 1st
Ashley Monahan
C/O: MV Explorer
Arrives March 15, 2007
Ireland Blyth Limited
1 Queen Street, PO Box 53
Port Louis, MAURITIUS

India: AIRMAIL no later than MAR 11th
Ashley Monahan
C/O: MV Explorer
Arrives March 25, 2007
J.M. Baxi & CO
52 Rajaji Salai
Chennai-600 001, INDIA

Malaysia: AIRMAIL no later than MAR 19th
Ashley Monahan
C/O: MV Explorer
Arrives April 2, 2007
Inchcape Shipping Services SDN
4th Floor Unit 4B
Wisma Saw Chong Thuah
39-c, Pengkalan Weld
10300 Penang, MALAYSIA

Vietnam: AIRMAIL no later than MAR 26th
Ashley Monahan

C/O: MV Explorer
Arrives April 9, 2007
General Forwarding & Agency
5th Floor Osic Building
8 Nguyen Hue Avenue
D. 1, Ho Chi Minh City, VIETNAM

Hong Kong: AIRMAIL no later than APR 3rd
Ashley Monahan
C/O: MV Explorer
Arrives April 17, 2007
Inchcape Shipping Services (HK) Ltd.
Units 1802-1805, 18th Floor
No 3 Lockhart Road
Wanchai, HONG KONG- CHINA

China: AIRMAIL no later than APR 7th
Ashley Monahan
C/O: MV Explorer
Arrives April 21, 2007
Penavico Qingdao
21 Wuxia Road
Quingdao, 266002, P.R. CHINA

Japan: AIRMAIL no later than APR 11th
Ashley Monahan
C/O: MV Explorer
Arrives April 25, 2007
Inchcape Shipping Services
Kenryu Bldg II, Room 303
6, Kaigan-dori, Chu-ku
Kobe-shi, Hyogo-Ken 650-0024, JAPAN

Hawaii: AIRMAIL no later than APR 23rd
Ashley Monahan
C/O: MV Explorer
Arrives May 7, 2007
Inchcape Shipping Services
Gentry Pacific Center
260 North Numitz Hwy, Suite 103
HONOLULU, Hawaii 96817, USA

For E-mail:
You can contact me by e-mail. The address I will be checking is amonahan@mix.wvu.edu

My Classes

2006-12-10T23:32:00.000-08:00

Here is my class schedule for the spring semester...

A Days

International Conflict Resolution
Global Studies
Development: Local to Global Perspective
South Asia and the Politics of Third World Development

B Days

Global Studies

Spring 2007 Itinerary

2006-12-10T22:08:00.000-08:00

Destination	Arrive	Depart
Nassau, Bahamas		February 4^th
San Juan, Puerto Rico	February 7^th	February 9th
Salvador, Brazil	February 17^th	February 21^st
Cape Town, South Africa	March 2^nd	March 8^th
Port Louis, Mauritius	March 15^th	March 17^th
Chennai, India	March 25^th	March 29^th
Penang, Malaysia	April 2^nd	April 5^th
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam	April 9^th	April 14^th
Hong Kong	April 17^th	April 18^th
Qingdao, China	April 21^st	April 22^nd
Kobe, Japan	April 25^th	April 29^th
Honolulu, Hawaii	May 7^th	May 7th
San Diego, California	May 14^th

MV Explorer: The Floating Campus

2006-12-10T21:36:00.000-08:00

The MV Explorer will be my home and campus from February 4th - May 14th as I travel around the world in 100 days. The boat includes nine classrooms, a library, a computer lab, a student union, a campus store, two dining rooms, a swimming pool, and a fitness center.

This is what my room will look like, minus the porthole... I will be sharing an inside double room with someone else.