Namibia Love!

Friday, September 19th:We arrive in Walvis Bay, Namibia at 8am in the morning and finally we get to see Africa! Unfortunately, because of problems with customs, we could not get off the boat until around noon. I (Amber) had an FDP (faculty directed practica) at 1:30 and we went to the Salt Mine. One of Namibia’s main exports is salt. I saw huge, heaping piles of salt and the ponds where they harvest the salt. Because of the chemicals they use to treat the salt and remove unwanted elements, the salt ponds are pink! It was really interested to see the process that was involved in harvesting salt. Immediately after that, Maggie and I met up at the boat and all of our friends loaded into taxis and went about 30km up the road to Swakopmund, this quaint little beach town that was really, really fun! When we got there, we checked into Hotel Europa Hof, which fit perfectly in with the German feel of the town (Lonely Planet guide books says Swakopmund is more German that Germany!). After checking in, we had to taste the German beir we were hearing so much about. And wow it was good! After a short game of pool and a beir or two, we went back to the hotel to change for dinner because it was our friend, Allison’s, birthday. Our hotel had an amazing restaurant in it, so we went there. We told our waitress, Jacky, that it was Allison’s birthday and she came back with a bowl full of rose petals and sprinkled them all around Allison’s chair and placemat. It was so pretty and thoughtful! Allison also got a free birthday dessert! Dinner, like I said, was fabulous! Maggie and I shared a spinach and cheese crepe, calamari, and chicken cordon blue. Others had oysters, escargot, crab, and steak. It was all so delicious.Of course, after dinner, we had to go out on the town. We found this cool bar called “Rafters” and hung out there for the rest of the night. It was infested with other SAS-ers and we danced the night away.Saturday morning Maggie and I had to get up, go to the bank, and eat before returning to Walvis Bay for our camping trip. We ate at this nice café called “The Mad Cow” and the hot chocolate was to die for. We barely made it back to Walvis Bay in time for our trip. We had to sprint from where the taxi dropped us off, back to the boat, and up the gangway. Luckily, we made it though. After an hour and a half drive through the Namib desert, we fell upon our campsite. On the way, we say Dune 07, the steepest dune in the world, and springbocks, a type of gazelle that live in the desert. The place where we camped was called “Moonland” because of the way that the rock formations looked. When we got settled into our campsite, which is an understatement because although we had tents, we also had luxurious 5-star beds and accommodations, partnered with a 3-course meal under the stars. We played on the rocks for a few hours, which gave us breath-taking views of the Moonland and the surrounding dunes. Lazily, we lounged by the campfires, talking, laughing, having a good time, worn out by the rock climbing from earlier in the day, when suddenly in the distance we hear drum beats. We think that it’s the other campers in the area, but as soon as we make that assumption, we hear singing. From the darkness comes a group of 30 or so people all dressed in traditional tribal garb. Their singing was beautiful, peaceful, moving, and all together wonderful. They stayed for three hours, singing and dancing with us. About half-way through their performance, they invited all of us to dance with them and for hours we shared songs and dance. It was the best experience thus far in my travels. Sadly, they had to leave us, but the thirty or so of us still around the campfire, told stories and talked late into the night enjoying each other’s company and the spectacular starry sky- I even say a shooting star.Sunday morning arrives, and after a great nights sleep and a yummy breakfast, we said goodbye to the Namib desert and headed back to Walvis Bay. On the drive back, we say a herd of ostrich. It was awesome! And finally felt like we were in Africa!Maggie and I returned to Swakopmund on Sunday evening to again rejoin our friends who were waiting for us at the hotel. We went to dinner at “The Tug Restaurant” which is the hull of a ship converted into a restaurant. The food, again, was amazing. We have yet to be disappointed with a meal in Namibia, or before when we were in Brazil. Sunday night is pretty lazy in Swakopmund, but we went bar-hopping again and saw all of our friends at the Swakop Lodge. Because everything closes early, some of us headed down to the beach to enjoy our last night in Swakopmund.Monday was a good day! We got a lot of shopping in and took advantage of the exchange rate of American dollars to Namibian rands. We decided to do something fun and daring, and went on 4x4s in the desert. The ATVs were soooooo much fun! We went off jumps, down steep dunes, and all around in the desert. It was honestly one of the best days of my life. I wish I could share the experiences with you more than just the words. I can’t wait to get home and share my pictures with all of you!Tonight we are staying in Walvis Bay and tomorrow we leave at 8pm for South Africa. I can’t wait! The adventures keep on comin’!

Ship Life

Life on the ship is going well. On our TVs in our room,
 there's a map that shows the course that we are
 traveling on and how close we are to the next port. The
 little ship on the screen never seems to move fast enough. I
 can't wait to get to Namibia! Did you know that Namibia
 (I call it Namibs for short) was a German colony? And the
 official language is English? We get into Namibia on Friday,
 only 1 more day! Saturday afternoon Maggie and I have our
 stargazing trip to the desert. But Friday, Sunday and
 Monday nights we are going to this city called
"Swakopmund." The guide book says that it's
 more German than Germany! We are staying at the Europahof
 Hotel one night and renting a beach house the rest of the
 weekend. It's going to be awesome. And since Namibia is
 the 2nd least populated country in the world, everything is
 super cheap. Every US dollar is worth 8.2 Namibian dollars. The hotel room/beach house per person per night
 is only about $25. I guess there' s not much to do in
 Walvis Bay so everyone is traveling to Swakopmund. We're
 gonna go sand surfing, which is basically snowboarding on
 the sand dunes, and maybe horse back riding in the desert. It should be
 really really fun. I have a few trips that I have to go on
 for classes, like a Salt Mine on Friday and an AIDS center
 on Tuesday.
Last night we had the cultural pre-port meeting, which basically told us that no one on the ship has ever been to Namibia and it is the first time Semester at Sea is going. It should be pretty interesting.
Classes are going really well. I love my drawing class, the
 professor is really nice and helpful. He also doesn’t care
 about skill, but rather he focuses on our improvement. Pretty much the only homework
 I've had is reading. My biomedical ethics class is really interesting. We talk
 about ethical issues affecting certain areas of medicine.
 Right now we're discussing HIV/AIDS and the issues
 surrounding that. In Namibia we’re going to an AIDS center which I’m kind of nervous about. My teacher for that class is pretty cool
 too. My global studies teacher talks and looks exactly like
 my Uncle Dennis. Its super weird.

During the first week on the ship, students could have signed up to be adopted by a faculty member, life-long learner, or staff member. My family is Professor Laura Yoder, her husband Jeff, and their 3-year old son, Micha. He is the cutest thing ever! He has become the ship’s child and at every moment of the day, he is playing with a college student or staff member. His parents are super lucky to have all these babysitters. Maggie’s parents are Dean Shoppa, his wife, and their two daughters, Isabella and Melina, both about our age.
Last night I had dinner with Micha and his parents. He only
 let me feed him and wanted to sit on my lap. He always comes
 around in the piano lounge looking for me or any of his other "sisters" to play. He has the best life. He has an unlimited amount
 of energy, too. At nighttime, around 8pm, I try to wear him out
 so that he'll go to sleep. The ship is basically a
 playground and everyone loves him so he never gets in
 trouble for running or playing ball inside.We wish we could send you pictures of what the ship looks
 like. It's only 3 years old and its super glamorous on
 the inside. My favorite thing to do at night is sit in the
 piano lounge and listen to people play the piano. It's so soothing. We also play a lot of card games
 on the boat because at night there is not much to do if
 you've finished your homework.Last night, Maggie and I went to a “special occasion dinner” for our friend, Allison’s birthday. It was a delicious five-course meal. We all got dressed up and headed to the private dining area. After the tray-passed appetizers and a first glass of celebratory champagne, the neal began. Ceviche, beef and vegetable soup, antipasto salad, cheese and spinach stuffed chicken, finishing off with a chocolate raspberry tart complete that looked like it was from a 5 star restaurant.Tonight there’s an event in the Union (the main theater on the ship) called “So you think you can dance?” I think it’s a spoof on the TV show. Nevertheless, it should be pretty entertaining.Tomorrow we get into Walvis Bay, Namibia and I hope that the customs goes fast because I want to explore the country that no one has been to. There are only 4 paved roads in the whole of Namibia and only 1.8 million people in the whole country and only 28,000 in Swakopmund. I hope it will be an eye-opening experience.That’s all for now. We’ll write more after Namibia on our way to South Africa!xoxo, amber

"We Will Always Have Rio"

Waking up at 4:45 in the morning wasn’t a fun experience but knowing that I was about to board a plane for Rio in a few hours made the horridly early morning worth it. We left the boat and went to the airport for our short hour and a half flight to Rio de Jainero. We arrived at 11am and we went straight to our hotel to drop off our bags. In total, there were about forty people in our group and 40 in the other group so we were bound to have a good time. After going to the Golden Tulip Hotel we had the rest of the day off to explore the city because unfortunately it was a rainy day so our plans for sight-seeing were postponed. The mall was obviously a good place to go because it was indoors out of the rain and all the girls were ready to stock up on Haviana sandals since they are made in Brazil.Needless to say, we were all exhausted and the mall was HUGE. 5 stories packed with TONS of stores. After an hour or so, we all decided to go nap at the hotel before going out for dinner and drinks. We had dinner at this cool outdoor restaurant called “Vinicio” which was delicious. After that we went to Shenanigans Irish Pub for a few drinks and to taste the Brazilian caipahreino. I’m not sure what was in it except for a lot of lime juice, but they were so good. Everywhere we went, we had to have a “caipi.”Our second day in Brazil was much more fun that the first. Again, there were clouds in the sky, so we couldn’t go see Christ the Redeemer. Instead we went to Pao de Azucar, translated means “Sugar Loaf.” It’s two a set of rainforesty mountains that sit high above Rio and you can see the city in all directions. We loaded onto cable cars to catch the view at the top and it was breathtaking. Now I know why Rio de Jainero is considered one of the most beautiful cities in the world.After the Sugar Loaf we went to Manguira, a “favela” that has developed a project to better the community with centers for the children and people of the slums. We got to go see the children and interact with their community. The have a huge sports program as well as schools and one of the best dance groups for CARNAVAL, their annual street fair (similar to Mardi Gras in the States). It was really fun handing out stickers and presents to the little kids who grabbed and fought over them. On our way out, we saw the facilitiy for the older population of the community, the 20-year olds. The facility helps them prepare for jobs and teaches them trades like construction, being a barber or hair stylist, etc. There was a group of boys that we saw there were really cute and you could tell that they wanted to come over and say hi to us. So when the rest of our tour group walked around the corner, Maggie, myself, and our friend Mariko ran over to them and asked for a picture. They were so EXCITED. A huge swarm of 30 guys came over and posed for the camera. It was the highlight of our day.Going back to the hotel was a relieving feeling because we were all so tired. But we only had one more night in Rio so we were all going to go to dinner and to Bar Emporio for some late-night fun. Dinner at “Eclipse” was so good. The pizza in Rio is phenomenal. After dinner we headed out to Bar Emporio where we spent the rest of the night.Last day in Rio: After Maggie, Brad and I woke up early to get acai bowls for breakfast, we all loaded up onto 4x4 “jeepis” to go see Christ the Redeemer statue. Luckily for us, the day was clear and beautiful, perfect weather conditions for visiting JC. The 4WD jeeps were so much fun and they took us up the Corcodova mountain so we could finally see one of the new Seven Wonders of the World. There is no lack of words to describe how astounding and amazing the Christ statue was. It was 5 stories tall and to get a full picture of it you had to lie on the ground. After spending the morning there and most of the afternoon in the villages near-by, it was time to go off to the airport to head back “home” to the ship in Salvador.

FO RIOOOOOO!

RIO

HELLO ALL:
Sorry that our communication is lacking. Below is an update about our time in Brazil before heading to RIO. Just letting you know that there will be more updates to come in the next day about our wonderful stay in RIO!
Peace and Love (from a far),
Maggie & Amber

Oi, Brasilia!

We have finally arrived in BRASIL!!! This morning at 5:30am, Maggie and I ventured out onto the seventh deck to watch the sun rise over the city of Salvador, which surprisingly looked like New York City’s skyline from afar. Although all of us were looking forward to getting off the boat in the early morning to give us a whole day to tour Salvador, the immigration process is excurtiatingly slow. There are 750 people who have to get off this boat and they have to check and deliver everyone’s passports to the passengers before any of us can get off. So, currently it’s 9:30am and we’ve been waiting for 2 hours to get the ship “cleared.” While we’re waiting I thought I would give an update of the last few days:While classes are going smoothly and are super interesting, the whole ship had a day off on Friday September 5th to celebrate Neptune Day. It is a day honoring the gods of the sea while we cross from the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere over the equator. At 20:33 on Thursday wecrossed the equator with cheering, screaming, singing, and excitement. The following morning, we were abruptly awakened with drums, flutes and chanting from the “Royal Guard of the Sea” led by King Neptune at 7:30am. Maggie and I rolled over and went back to bed. However, the Royal Guard came by again at 8:30 followed by an announcement by “The Voice” telling all passengers to head to the seventh deck for Neptune Day Festivities.The 7th deck was jam-packed with the entire shipboard community. It was crazy. On the starboard side of the ship, shaving of heads was going on. Apparently that is the appropriate way to honor the gods. The other ritual is getting fish guts poured on you and jumping into the pool. It was gross, smelly and disgusting, but it was tradition so we all endured the smell in order to honor the gods. The rest of the day was basically a party. There was music playing on the 7th floor deck – basically a pool party. It was the perfect day. Not to mention the food in the dining rooms that night was amazing- fajitas with chips and salsa!!


BRAZIL-So we got to Brazil on Sunday September 7th at 5:20am. Once we got off the boat, we immediately went to the elevator, which takes people from the lower city into the higher city. The lower city is really dirty, especially right outside of the port – people peeing in the streets, dogs everywhere, and people selling stuff to you from all sides. But once in the upper city, the buildings changed from rundown to colonial and you could tell there is a lot of history in Salvador. We went to Pelourhino Square, the main center of town. There, you could see the many churches that the Portuguese built. The group we were with ate lunch at a quaint little side street café with samba music playing in the background. The pizza we got was amazing!That night, we went to the area called “Barra,” which is right on the Atlantic Ocean. The restaurant was an outdoor and we drank sangria and ate typical brazilian barbeque (try the moqueca- it’s delicioso!) while listening to the waves crash on the beach. After dinner we walked down the street to a lighthouse where we found some local kids our age who were playing music up on the hill next to it. They let us sit next to them to enjoy their late-night jam session. It was so picturesque and relaxing. But, all of us had to get up at 4:45am the next morning to go on our trips to either Rio de Jainero or other places.