I apologize to those that care for not having blogged in quite sometime, but the past 2.5 weeks have been very interesting, frustrating, wonderful, and painful all at the same time! First, our time spent moving from South Africa to Mauritius was incredibly painful because of the Indian Ocean around the cape. The waters were so rough that the boat was almost impossible to move around in – doors and drawers in the cabins would open and slam shut all night, there were doggy bags all over the ship for those with sudden sea-sickness, people were sick from the rocking, the food, and I think also just being on the ship for so long. Six days while feeling seasick is horrible! Luckily for me, I only thought that I was going to throw up once – and so I went outside and sat on the deck looking at the water and that seemed to help. But none of us had an appetite, which made everyone really irritable and tired – it was a long trip to Mauritius. On top of all that, I think the rocking made me really homesick too. I dreamt of land, my favorite foods, my family, friends and of course Majji and Peanut! I just wanted my bed back and to smell the familiar smells of home, light some candles, run outside, and do the things that I normally would get to do on my own. Because so many of the places that we go are not exactly safe for women to wander off along, I often feel like some sort of dependent child – always having to make sure that I have someone with me – and then never being able to find a place on the ship where you can be alone…its difficult at times. I certainly miss Emily time more than I ever thought I would!
Anyways, as we got closer to Mauritius (which, by the way is this tiny island off the coast of Madagascar – apparently, it’s the #1 honeymoon capital for Europeans – more to come about that!), the Captain made the announcement that because of the rough seas, we would be delayed getting into Mauritius by ½ day! Everyone was so upset – I think mostly cause we just wanted off this rocking ship! We ended up docking around noon and couldn’t get off of the ship till 1:30pm or so. A bunch of us went into the city of Port Louis (we had to take a little ferry boat over for $1) and it was pretty much a really run down city, with cars driving all over the place (no lights or stop signs), beans and spices sold at every corner, street vendors trying to get the tourists to buy a million different things with the Dodo bird on it. Mauritius is famous for its honeymooners and the Dodo bird, which the Dutch ate and single handedly destroyed the species in the 1400’s. Quite the history right!? We walked around the city a bit more, bought some really cheap South African wine and then Tom and I got pineapples on a stick and they were amazing! The street vendors have these little pineapples that they will peal right there in front of you and then just hand it over, so you eat the pineapple upside-down as if it is a lollypop or something. They are soooo sweet – it was well worth the $.80 or (20 Mauritian Rupee). I love that I am learning all these different currencies – in Mauritius, $1 is equivalent to 32 Mauritian Rupee.
After the excursion to the city, we all packed our bags and headed for our beachfront apartment, which we rented with a bunch of friends for $10 a night. The apartment had a little kitchen and was right across the street from this tiny little, beautiful beach. It was in the town of Perebrye (which we kept calling Periwinkle) and was mostly filled with speedo wearing Europeans and French people. Mauritians speak French and English, but mostly French – so there were a lot of café’s with loaves of bread that you could buy for real cheap, great cheese, and of course pineapple! We spent our 2.5 days hanging out at the beach, tanning ourselves, swimming in crystal clear water, eating pineapple (do you sense a theme), drinking at every bar that we could find in the town (great fun), and clubbing it every night! We found this great club called Zanzabar’s next to the Banana Beach Club and we danced all night till 4am! People were incredibly friendly and they loved to watch the silly Americans dancing. I was mistaken for German a whole bunch of times – which was an odd experience. I guess its an American thing to assume that everyone would know that you are American – and of course, as soon as people found out that I was American, they wanted to know what I thought about George Bush. And yet again, I was confronted with the understanding that the world follows American politics and the politics of the world – while I have the option not to. I mean, here I am, in a country that I didn’t even know existed until Semester at Sea, couldn’t tell you a thing about their government or lifestyle – and still every stranger that we met knew everything that there was to know about America (life as the dominant…left me thinking about this position in a new way – ML, Squat, Amanda – I cannot wait to talk about this with you all – I really do miss our conversations sooo much!)
After 3 days in the beautiful island of Mauritius, we boarded the ship and headed for Chennai, India. I am also happy to report to you all that my Bent luck continues in international countries. The package that my wonderful Mom sent to me got stuck in customs and arrived at the ship the day after we left! I was beyond upset – a little piece of home would be so nice right now – and then I got a note from the front desk that they had my package in Mauritius and if I wanted to pay $5, it would be shipped to Malaysia. So, of course I paid the $5 – and now I am hoping that it makes it there…I hope, I hope! The sea has been the complete opposite of our trip to Mauritius! The Indian Ocean is so calm right now that it almost feels as if we aren’t moving at all. The painful part of this journey has been that it is getting hotter and hotter, we passed the equator yesterday and after exercising outside I actually had to ring out my shirt, I was soo nasty! The other thing is that our ship’s satellite has been having trouble and so the internet has reached a new level of mind-numbing frustration. It actually took me 5 minutes to open 1 page – and it has been like this for about 5 days now, but at least in these past few days it has gotten much better – like almost the speed of dialup! I swear, you do not know frustration until you have experienced an internet this slow. People were swearing like mad – I almost wanted to throw my computer off the ship at times – it was bad – like computer rage instead of road rage!! But, despite the internet slowness – we did have Taco Day for lunch one day and then a BBQ another night, which perked us up some! J I never thought that I would love tacos as much as I do on this trip.
Other than that, we have been preparing for our arrival in India! YEAH! I cannot wait – although, we have begun to conserve water with the hopes that we won’t have to ration it out. The water in India is so polluted that the ship cannot use it or convert it. We have to turn the showers off when we soap up and then turn it back on to rinse off. I also had to start taking my Malaria meds. A bunch of us have started watching my episodes of Nip Tuck and it definitely helps with feelings of homesickness – somehow TV becomes a way to feel normal, when you lose your mind after not seeing land for 5 days straight! India marks the official mid-way point on our trip and I cannot believe it…the time has just flown by and it feels like I just left, yet at the same time – I feel like I am so out of touch. I just cannot believe that this is my life! I saw a pod of dolphins jumping and swimming in the waves that the ship made for the past couple of days too. They do belly flops all over the place and jump so high – it just looks fun. I often feel like I am having an out of body experience and just watching myself do things and see things that I never thought would be possible. And despite my bitching about seasickness and the internet, I wouldn’t give this up for much (maybe a Twix or a Snickers bar J or a home cooked meal – mmm, food – can you guess what we think about all day while we are at sea!).
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Saturday, March 10, 2007
7 Days in Cape Town, South Africa
Cape Town, South Africa is one of the most beautiful cities in the world – no lie. The city is surrounded by the Table Mountain Range, the water is a crystal clear aqua color, the weather is beyond perfect, its clean, young, exciting, and just fantastic! It’s a city that I had never really given much thought about, but after being here for 7 days – I will tell everyone that they must visit Cape Town. We got here on Friday morning and left last night – Tom and I didn’t sign up for any of the Safari trips, so we had the whole week to try and experience as much of the area as possible.
It’s the summer time in Cape Town and that meant that the weather was between 65 and 85 degrees – no humidity, no bugs, no clouds really – just perfect beautiful sun! I had pictured South Africa as being ungodly hot, but apparently it really doesn’t get that hot – and it even snows here…changing perspectives all the time! South Africa is well known for its wine, jazz, food, coffee, perspectives on life, and wild life – and we experienced it all!
It’s hard to imagine and not hard to see the impacts of Apartheid in the city. There is an obvious contrast between the rich and the poor – and of course, race plays a huge part of this contrast. As I mentioned, the city is beautiful – filled with shops, café’s, restaurants, wineries, bars, etc. but then just about ½ mile to 1 mile out of the city, you see the “Townships,” which are basically shacks where the poor live. The shacks line for miles and miles with approximately 2.5 million people living in them. They are made from tin cans, garbage, pieces of wood or tin – anything that the people could get their hands on really and most of them are 1 room only with a few families living in them. The Townships are small towns living in abject poverty – but they have schools, bars, barber shops, stores, etc. The people living in the townships either got stuck there during the Apartheid or they moved there after the Apartheid to start a new life in the city. These homes are an obvious result of the effects of this system and yet, the country has only been operating as a democracy for 14 years – and the changes are amazing to see. We went to Robben Island (which is where Nelson Mandela and many other political prisoners were held because of their demand for an abolishment of apartheid) and we met with 2 former political prisoners of the time period and learned so much. The last political prisoner released from the island was in 1991 – and apartheid has only been abolished since 1985 – its hard to imagine that a system so inhumane lasted for so long – and that people were literally thrown into prison because they refused to be an object of the dominant’s oppression…amazing.
The people of South Africa were so inspiring in their beliefs in humanity. One would think that after living under the system of apartheid, you would come out angry at the world – or just angry at your oppressors – but these people did the exact opposite. They have such faith in the goodness of people and as the former prisoner told us, “South Africa is an example to the world of what can happen when we expect the best in people and work together.” Everyone that we met was so genuinely happy and ready to live life – something that I will always carry with me – for despite some of the worst forms of oppression and for many, continued poverty – the South Africans are thrilled to be free and alive. After leaving this place, I feel such hope for the future of the world – because if we could just take a little piece of the South African’s notion of life & humanity – we will be fine.
In addition to the people, the city life is wonderful as well! The city looks like the funky parts of NYC, but so clean and open – there were all these independent shops everywhere (no chain stores – and happily, we didn’t see 1 McDonald’s the entire way!). The American $ stands up pretty well with the African Rand too, about 7 Rand for $1 – so we got some great stuff for fairly cheap. The first day I bought a bag of nectarines from a farm stand and thought that I had just bitten into heaven! They were the perfect texture and taste – later I also got peaches and pears to die for. Their salads were so fresh too and the feta cheese was great – I ate A LOT in South Africa! Some of my favorite foods that I ate included, many cups of cappuccino, glasses of the best red wine ever (I don’t know much about wine, but I know that this stuff was amazing), cheeses of all kinds – we did a cheese tour and had goat and cow cheeses of so many varieties – I was in my glory!, Portobello mushrooms grow like mad here and so I had a lot of them, avocados, and cheesecake with blueberries (just amazing – the best cheesecake I have ever had!).
Ok, so in addition to eating more food than should be physically possible, we did took some great trips as well. We spent a lot of time walking along Long Street, which is the young section of the city – filled with bars, clothing shops, and cafes – our first night, we went to this “Irish Pub” (why I do not know – why would you go to an Irish Pub in South Africa!), anyways – this pub was not Irish in anyway – and they had a horrific cover band called “Adrenalin” where they sang the worst American songs known to man! Matt – you need to come to South Africa, they would be blown away by your music and voice! J Other than this bad music experience, we did get to see some jazz groups at the restaurants at night and they were really good – although, not the typical jazz like at home – more of a Norah Jones type jazz. We hiked Table Mountain, which I highly recommend; however, be prepared to lose all feeling in your legs and butt. The hike was like a giant stairclimber and it took us 3 hours to get to the top – at points, Tom was just saying – “You go ahead – just leave me – I can’t do it!” We stupidly only brought 1 thing of water and 2 energy bars, not smart – you definitely need more. I am pretty fit and this thing kicked my butt, a couple of times I had to literally will my legs to move…but when we got to the top we could see all across the water and mountain – it was great! (P.S. we took the tram ride down!). We spent some time at a beautiful white sandy beach tucked away between some rocks – the sun was glorious – and the water felt like an iceburg had just melted in front of us. We could only go in up to our knees before you were so cold that it felt like hypothermia! We hired a taxi for a day with some other people on the ship and traveled to the Cape Point. On the way, we saw wild ostrich (their eggs are equivalent to 56 chicken eggs!), antelope, weird fuzzy large rodents – like the ROUS from the Princess Bride, baboons, and we got to hang out with a colony of penguins!!! We paid 25 Rand ($4) to go to this little beach where the penguins live and just hang out among them. It was sooo fun – and we must have taken 1,000 pictures of them – they are too cute! We also went on a wine tour and tasted some great reds and sparkling wine too. However, we did discover the sad, sad news that apparently, each bottle shipped to the US gets an extra $30 taxed to it – cause the US is a pain in the ass about shipping wine into the states. There was a website that one of our tour guides gave us that only charges $100 for a case to be shipped – but you have to go and pick it up at the airport and bring it through customs…just ridiculous. We did get a few bottles that we were able to bring onboard, but not a ton – which is disappointing. Don’t worry El Squat, we will figure out a way to get you some reds! I also ate some meat (Kudu and Ostrich) – we had gone to an amazing restaurant with some friends to get dinner and after 4 bottles of wine (between 4 people) – trying meat didn’t seem like a bad idea! So, I tried a few bites of Kudu and Ostrich – it brought tears to my eyes it was so good – but I paid a price later, when my belly swelled like crazy. I didn’t get sick though, so I was very proud of myself! It was really really good – the best steak type meat ever! Lastly, we had to bring a donation to a community agency, which works with street kids and as we were leaving Arlene (the woman at the foundation) told us to be careful as we travel – because of our accents! I was too excited to be told that I have an accent J
South Africa was beautiful and beyond words. Hopefully, this helps to give a decent description of my experiences in Cape Town – but really, I am not kidding when I say, everyone should visit this place – I know that I will return here – seven days will never be enough time!
It’s the summer time in Cape Town and that meant that the weather was between 65 and 85 degrees – no humidity, no bugs, no clouds really – just perfect beautiful sun! I had pictured South Africa as being ungodly hot, but apparently it really doesn’t get that hot – and it even snows here…changing perspectives all the time! South Africa is well known for its wine, jazz, food, coffee, perspectives on life, and wild life – and we experienced it all!
It’s hard to imagine and not hard to see the impacts of Apartheid in the city. There is an obvious contrast between the rich and the poor – and of course, race plays a huge part of this contrast. As I mentioned, the city is beautiful – filled with shops, café’s, restaurants, wineries, bars, etc. but then just about ½ mile to 1 mile out of the city, you see the “Townships,” which are basically shacks where the poor live. The shacks line for miles and miles with approximately 2.5 million people living in them. They are made from tin cans, garbage, pieces of wood or tin – anything that the people could get their hands on really and most of them are 1 room only with a few families living in them. The Townships are small towns living in abject poverty – but they have schools, bars, barber shops, stores, etc. The people living in the townships either got stuck there during the Apartheid or they moved there after the Apartheid to start a new life in the city. These homes are an obvious result of the effects of this system and yet, the country has only been operating as a democracy for 14 years – and the changes are amazing to see. We went to Robben Island (which is where Nelson Mandela and many other political prisoners were held because of their demand for an abolishment of apartheid) and we met with 2 former political prisoners of the time period and learned so much. The last political prisoner released from the island was in 1991 – and apartheid has only been abolished since 1985 – its hard to imagine that a system so inhumane lasted for so long – and that people were literally thrown into prison because they refused to be an object of the dominant’s oppression…amazing.
The people of South Africa were so inspiring in their beliefs in humanity. One would think that after living under the system of apartheid, you would come out angry at the world – or just angry at your oppressors – but these people did the exact opposite. They have such faith in the goodness of people and as the former prisoner told us, “South Africa is an example to the world of what can happen when we expect the best in people and work together.” Everyone that we met was so genuinely happy and ready to live life – something that I will always carry with me – for despite some of the worst forms of oppression and for many, continued poverty – the South Africans are thrilled to be free and alive. After leaving this place, I feel such hope for the future of the world – because if we could just take a little piece of the South African’s notion of life & humanity – we will be fine.
In addition to the people, the city life is wonderful as well! The city looks like the funky parts of NYC, but so clean and open – there were all these independent shops everywhere (no chain stores – and happily, we didn’t see 1 McDonald’s the entire way!). The American $ stands up pretty well with the African Rand too, about 7 Rand for $1 – so we got some great stuff for fairly cheap. The first day I bought a bag of nectarines from a farm stand and thought that I had just bitten into heaven! They were the perfect texture and taste – later I also got peaches and pears to die for. Their salads were so fresh too and the feta cheese was great – I ate A LOT in South Africa! Some of my favorite foods that I ate included, many cups of cappuccino, glasses of the best red wine ever (I don’t know much about wine, but I know that this stuff was amazing), cheeses of all kinds – we did a cheese tour and had goat and cow cheeses of so many varieties – I was in my glory!, Portobello mushrooms grow like mad here and so I had a lot of them, avocados, and cheesecake with blueberries (just amazing – the best cheesecake I have ever had!).
Ok, so in addition to eating more food than should be physically possible, we did took some great trips as well. We spent a lot of time walking along Long Street, which is the young section of the city – filled with bars, clothing shops, and cafes – our first night, we went to this “Irish Pub” (why I do not know – why would you go to an Irish Pub in South Africa!), anyways – this pub was not Irish in anyway – and they had a horrific cover band called “Adrenalin” where they sang the worst American songs known to man! Matt – you need to come to South Africa, they would be blown away by your music and voice! J Other than this bad music experience, we did get to see some jazz groups at the restaurants at night and they were really good – although, not the typical jazz like at home – more of a Norah Jones type jazz. We hiked Table Mountain, which I highly recommend; however, be prepared to lose all feeling in your legs and butt. The hike was like a giant stairclimber and it took us 3 hours to get to the top – at points, Tom was just saying – “You go ahead – just leave me – I can’t do it!” We stupidly only brought 1 thing of water and 2 energy bars, not smart – you definitely need more. I am pretty fit and this thing kicked my butt, a couple of times I had to literally will my legs to move…but when we got to the top we could see all across the water and mountain – it was great! (P.S. we took the tram ride down!). We spent some time at a beautiful white sandy beach tucked away between some rocks – the sun was glorious – and the water felt like an iceburg had just melted in front of us. We could only go in up to our knees before you were so cold that it felt like hypothermia! We hired a taxi for a day with some other people on the ship and traveled to the Cape Point. On the way, we saw wild ostrich (their eggs are equivalent to 56 chicken eggs!), antelope, weird fuzzy large rodents – like the ROUS from the Princess Bride, baboons, and we got to hang out with a colony of penguins!!! We paid 25 Rand ($4) to go to this little beach where the penguins live and just hang out among them. It was sooo fun – and we must have taken 1,000 pictures of them – they are too cute! We also went on a wine tour and tasted some great reds and sparkling wine too. However, we did discover the sad, sad news that apparently, each bottle shipped to the US gets an extra $30 taxed to it – cause the US is a pain in the ass about shipping wine into the states. There was a website that one of our tour guides gave us that only charges $100 for a case to be shipped – but you have to go and pick it up at the airport and bring it through customs…just ridiculous. We did get a few bottles that we were able to bring onboard, but not a ton – which is disappointing. Don’t worry El Squat, we will figure out a way to get you some reds! I also ate some meat (Kudu and Ostrich) – we had gone to an amazing restaurant with some friends to get dinner and after 4 bottles of wine (between 4 people) – trying meat didn’t seem like a bad idea! So, I tried a few bites of Kudu and Ostrich – it brought tears to my eyes it was so good – but I paid a price later, when my belly swelled like crazy. I didn’t get sick though, so I was very proud of myself! It was really really good – the best steak type meat ever! Lastly, we had to bring a donation to a community agency, which works with street kids and as we were leaving Arlene (the woman at the foundation) told us to be careful as we travel – because of our accents! I was too excited to be told that I have an accent J
South Africa was beautiful and beyond words. Hopefully, this helps to give a decent description of my experiences in Cape Town – but really, I am not kidding when I say, everyone should visit this place – I know that I will return here – seven days will never be enough time!
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Eight Days at Sea (This was a Long Stretch!)
The past eight days have been our longest stretch at sea thus far and honestly, it went by fairly quickly. Eight days seem to have messed into one giant day, but overall there have been some interesting things to report back. As usual, the scenery is fairly similar – lots of really calm water, no land, clouds, billions of stars, a few really great moon nights – but the biggest difference is that it has actually gotten colder outside as we traveled from Brazil to South Africa. Makes sense being that we are traveling further away from the equator – but I guess I just always assumed that South Africa would be really hot and not 70 degrees!
On Saturday, Feb. 24th, the ship held the celebration of Neptune Day. Neptune Day is a day to honor King Neptune for allowing the ship to safely pass over the equator; however, the catch is that all passengers crossing the equator for the 1st time must go through a ritual. For us, this ritual consisted of having sour milk, garbage, and fish guts poured over your head (I almost threw up all over myself when this happened), then you jump into the pool (I went at the end and so the pool was like jumping into a giant vat of fish guts & sour milk), kissing 2 fish (these fish had the biggest teeth I have ever seen – and it was not a pleasant experience to have them rubbed all over your body), then you must kiss the ring of King Neptune and be knighted as a “shellback” (aka: someone who has crossed the equator & done the ritual) rather than a “pollywhog” (aka: someone who has not been through the ritual yet). This was quite possibly the most disgusting experience I have had to date – I smelled the fish and sour milk for about 2 days (and that was after showing 2x’s that day and washing my hair at least 5 times – I also scrubbed my skin raw!). Some people also shaved their heads as part of the Neptune Day ritual, but alas I did not – although I did think about it – and then thought that perhaps Tom and I would look extra weird in photos if both of us had shaved heads. J
At the end of Neptune Day, the crew had a bbq for us on the back deck with veggie burgers, chips (I haven’t had a chip in 5 weeks!), fruit, and ice cream (also a rare purchase on the ship). I stuffed myself to the gills (no pun intended) and it really was a fun day. Most of the ship participated and people got some really great shots of Tom & I covered in fish guts & milk to prove to everyone that knows me – that I really did do this!
A few nights later, Tom and I got invited to the Captain’s Dinner, which was absolutely amazing. Despite the fact that I had to wear a dress, I had a wonderful time. It started with drinks in the Faculty/Staff Lounge (great red & white wine) and appetizers, then we proceeded to a roped off section in the dining hall for a 5 course meal! I have never seen so much silverware in my life. It sort of shined from both ends of the table, everyone sat up really straight, and proper – my Catholic School training came in really handy at this dinner – I just followed what everyone else did, kept my elbows off the table, and dare I say, “Acted like a lady…” For dinner (Squat you would have loved this), we had pretty much a never ending supply of wines (the glass just kept getting filled over and over again, until I figured out that all you had to do was put your hand on top of the glass and they would stop!), and then the food went as follows:
1 - peppers & onions in balsamic vinegar
2 – broccoli soup (to die for!) with rolls & butter
3 – Greek Salad (amazing feta cheese – and I don’t really even like feta)
4 – Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Veggies, and this veggie quiche (Awesome!) – Tom got a steak
5 – Fresh Pear in caramelized white wine with a yogurt type substance next to it, with coffee to top it off
As you can tell, I have a very sophisticated way of describing this amazing food J but just trust me, that after eating nothing but potatoes and pasta all day long – you would be speechless/wordless about it too!
The rest of the time was divided between work, hanging out, reading, and sleeping a lot! We changed time zones throughout the crossing from Brazil to South Africa and lost a total of 5 hours in the 8 days that it took to get to South Africa. I am now officially 7 hours ahead of everyone on the east coast – which does make for a strange email system, as I wonder why I am not getting a bunch of emails at 11am on the ship, until I realize that its 4 in the morning back at home. There is a strange bug that is going around the ship – and yesterday I woke up with a sore throat, so I have been drinking tea like crazy, taking Vitamin C, sleeping as much as I can and just nursing it so that I don’t miss any of my time in South Africa.
This week the ship has been rocking so much more than in the past – and when I sleep at night my head rocks up the bed and then down the bed – not nearly as soothing as the previous cradle like rocking, but still no sea sickness – YEAH! It’s not uncommon to see random people just walk into a wall or slam right into you, and then the crew laughs at us cause we just haven’t been able to get our sea legs.
I think about my Grandfather a lot, especially since he spent so many years living on a Navy Ship – I find myself wondering if I am seeing anything that he used to see – and how funny time is, in that he probably had no notion that 60-70 years after he saw this spot or was crossing the ocean or rocking around in his ship – that his granddaughter would be doing the same thing and thinking about him, his life, and all the things that I wish I could ask him right now, so many years later. I can see why he liked being out on the sea so much – it really is such a peaceful feeling – and at the same time, you realize how incredibly small you are in the world. Here I am on this (to me massive ship) but when I look out into the ocean and I can’t see any land, or birds, a few fish if I am really lucky – it just makes you see the world as being incredibly large – and that you really are this tiny speck. I guess I am just so grateful for this opportunity and I am trying to take in as much as I can – but at a certain point, you start to lose that individualistic notion of self and see that Emily (as an individual) is just one small part of a larger entity and that larger entity or community/world/whatever you want to call it – is what matters most. It’s not about me traveling around the world anymore – its about the world allowing me to travel within it…and I hope that this never ends…
On Saturday, Feb. 24th, the ship held the celebration of Neptune Day. Neptune Day is a day to honor King Neptune for allowing the ship to safely pass over the equator; however, the catch is that all passengers crossing the equator for the 1st time must go through a ritual. For us, this ritual consisted of having sour milk, garbage, and fish guts poured over your head (I almost threw up all over myself when this happened), then you jump into the pool (I went at the end and so the pool was like jumping into a giant vat of fish guts & sour milk), kissing 2 fish (these fish had the biggest teeth I have ever seen – and it was not a pleasant experience to have them rubbed all over your body), then you must kiss the ring of King Neptune and be knighted as a “shellback” (aka: someone who has crossed the equator & done the ritual) rather than a “pollywhog” (aka: someone who has not been through the ritual yet). This was quite possibly the most disgusting experience I have had to date – I smelled the fish and sour milk for about 2 days (and that was after showing 2x’s that day and washing my hair at least 5 times – I also scrubbed my skin raw!). Some people also shaved their heads as part of the Neptune Day ritual, but alas I did not – although I did think about it – and then thought that perhaps Tom and I would look extra weird in photos if both of us had shaved heads. J
At the end of Neptune Day, the crew had a bbq for us on the back deck with veggie burgers, chips (I haven’t had a chip in 5 weeks!), fruit, and ice cream (also a rare purchase on the ship). I stuffed myself to the gills (no pun intended) and it really was a fun day. Most of the ship participated and people got some really great shots of Tom & I covered in fish guts & milk to prove to everyone that knows me – that I really did do this!
A few nights later, Tom and I got invited to the Captain’s Dinner, which was absolutely amazing. Despite the fact that I had to wear a dress, I had a wonderful time. It started with drinks in the Faculty/Staff Lounge (great red & white wine) and appetizers, then we proceeded to a roped off section in the dining hall for a 5 course meal! I have never seen so much silverware in my life. It sort of shined from both ends of the table, everyone sat up really straight, and proper – my Catholic School training came in really handy at this dinner – I just followed what everyone else did, kept my elbows off the table, and dare I say, “Acted like a lady…” For dinner (Squat you would have loved this), we had pretty much a never ending supply of wines (the glass just kept getting filled over and over again, until I figured out that all you had to do was put your hand on top of the glass and they would stop!), and then the food went as follows:
1 - peppers & onions in balsamic vinegar
2 – broccoli soup (to die for!) with rolls & butter
3 – Greek Salad (amazing feta cheese – and I don’t really even like feta)
4 – Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Veggies, and this veggie quiche (Awesome!) – Tom got a steak
5 – Fresh Pear in caramelized white wine with a yogurt type substance next to it, with coffee to top it off
As you can tell, I have a very sophisticated way of describing this amazing food J but just trust me, that after eating nothing but potatoes and pasta all day long – you would be speechless/wordless about it too!
The rest of the time was divided between work, hanging out, reading, and sleeping a lot! We changed time zones throughout the crossing from Brazil to South Africa and lost a total of 5 hours in the 8 days that it took to get to South Africa. I am now officially 7 hours ahead of everyone on the east coast – which does make for a strange email system, as I wonder why I am not getting a bunch of emails at 11am on the ship, until I realize that its 4 in the morning back at home. There is a strange bug that is going around the ship – and yesterday I woke up with a sore throat, so I have been drinking tea like crazy, taking Vitamin C, sleeping as much as I can and just nursing it so that I don’t miss any of my time in South Africa.
This week the ship has been rocking so much more than in the past – and when I sleep at night my head rocks up the bed and then down the bed – not nearly as soothing as the previous cradle like rocking, but still no sea sickness – YEAH! It’s not uncommon to see random people just walk into a wall or slam right into you, and then the crew laughs at us cause we just haven’t been able to get our sea legs.
I think about my Grandfather a lot, especially since he spent so many years living on a Navy Ship – I find myself wondering if I am seeing anything that he used to see – and how funny time is, in that he probably had no notion that 60-70 years after he saw this spot or was crossing the ocean or rocking around in his ship – that his granddaughter would be doing the same thing and thinking about him, his life, and all the things that I wish I could ask him right now, so many years later. I can see why he liked being out on the sea so much – it really is such a peaceful feeling – and at the same time, you realize how incredibly small you are in the world. Here I am on this (to me massive ship) but when I look out into the ocean and I can’t see any land, or birds, a few fish if I am really lucky – it just makes you see the world as being incredibly large – and that you really are this tiny speck. I guess I am just so grateful for this opportunity and I am trying to take in as much as I can – but at a certain point, you start to lose that individualistic notion of self and see that Emily (as an individual) is just one small part of a larger entity and that larger entity or community/world/whatever you want to call it – is what matters most. It’s not about me traveling around the world anymore – its about the world allowing me to travel within it…and I hope that this never ends…
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