Panama... Panama (<-- song)

Hey guys! I survived Panama. Haha. It was so much fun. We're still in the port right now but on ship time has already passed. They had added time for when people are late, and we're so good that no one has been late at either port! So we get Toy Story 3 tonight as a reward. This was a really really interesting port, in more ways than one. Yesterday morning I went to the SOS children's village in Aldeous.  It was so much fun. We got to interact with the children and the tias. That is when I realized that I actually know enough spanish to "float" No one there spoke english, but we had chores to do. I talked to my tia and was so happy when I got back. That is a really surreal experience to have a conversation with someone who doesnt speak your native language. We had our cameras out and the children dont see them much, so a lot of us let them take pictures. I was so cute... but most of my pictures are feet. Who ever had christina's camera followed me so I'm on her camera. The girl who had my camera followed christina... so we're going to have to swap pictures. After that we tried to go to Panama City. Notice I said tried! So many students got off the ship after FDPs to load in taxis to Panama City. My taxi had 13 people 4 of which were adults. Somehow we got the rogue driver who REFUSED to take us to Panama City. He kept saying it was dangerous... even though he was driving us through old Panama (scary) I got a ton of pictures of the sites though during our 7 hour taxi ride.... yes 7 hours. I saw the milaflores (pacific side) locks, the president's house, a church with a shiney alter, a market, and a lot of other things against my will. At one point he even told us to "stay here" while he went and got dinner for an hour! We keep lovingly calling it the taxi ride from hell. Everyone but us made it over there. Good news is, we heard the city was slightly overrated and that there was only a beach... so it'll be the same everywhere. Good news is we got the best story. Today I went to the Gatun Locks (on the atlantic side). It was so cool. The ships are too huge!!! After that we went to the free zone. The free zone is a gated city near the dock. I got some local goodies while I was there and talked completely in spanish again. Cuantos Cuestos is my newest phrase.  We only have one class day until Costa Rica! We already have preport tomorrow! weird! I have so many pictures from the lock. It really looks like I was there for 10 days.

Mid Term Day Already

Hi everyone! Mid terms were today for everyone on bored. They were slightly stressful since we didnt know what to expect, but all in all my exam was really manageable.  It's been a while since I've posted i guess (all of 2 days) but not too much has been going on. We picked up a stow-away in Trinidad.  It's a pigeon, but the crew calls him a stow-away. We have named him Bob Marley since we assume he's Rasta. It's funny to see what's entertaining once tv and internet is gone. The crew has been feeding Bob and he even popped in on our dance. :) By the way we have a decade dance last night (THAT NO ONE HAD CLOTHES FOR) and it was Moe's birthday!!!  We also hit a little rough spot in the ocean last night, so that made the dance a little more interesting. We dock tomorrow in Panama and I'm going to the SOS children's center. It should be fun! Fun fact: panamanians.. as close as they are to the equator, do not wear tank tops, shorts, or sandals. So that kinda means we can't. Since were not "tourists" were "guests" It'll be hot. I just saw dolphins at dinner so we must be pretty close to land but I cant see any. We saw Aruba and Venezuela yesterday. That was pretty cool. Weve started to turn west and were about to be north so finally the sun doesnt rise in my room at 5:15. Now it's more like 6:30. Yeh!!! We have our Pre port for panama tonight and then after that it's bed then port!

Rain in the Rain forest... Who Would Have Thought

Today was my second day in Trinidad. I spent the day "liming" with a Rastafarian family in the rain forest this morning. Liming is the word here for hanging out or chilling. The Rastafarian family made instruments out of wood and other things from outside and they sounded really cool. They let us play a little too. After that we traveled just barely down the mountain to the river and went for a swim and picnic. "Lime" means picnic also, So I basically just spent the day Liming in general. The food was so good but it was incredibly hot!!! We had something that was like tortilla dough to wrap everything in and that cooled things off a little bit, but not much. It was really good though. It was curried duck, hot cucumbers/mangos, curried chickpeas, and rice and beans.  The river was surprisingly cold to be as far south as Trinidad. The water was clear though! and beautiful.  I took so many pictures from the rain forest today, but I'm not sure I'll be able to tell any of them apart. Oh and it did rain today. In the rain forest. I wasn't very surprised.  I'm so glad I got a chance to participate. We're actually leaving Trinidad now and will have three more days until Panama! Somewhere in between I have a bridge tour, which is where we get to see the bridge of the boat where all of the controls are.

We got that too...

Happy Birthday to my mom!!!! Im sad I cant be there, but I'm more sad that you can't be here. We spent the morning exploring Independence Square in Trinidad! I'm finally on land!!! It was so cool in Trinidad. The people were so happy to have us there because they do not get many tourists. The tourist island is mainly Tobago. When we got to the cathedral we met the man who manages the mall and his son. He said he loved Florida and talked to us a while, but thinking he was sketchy we left. We ran into his son later and he asked how we were doing, what we had seen, and if we had gone to see some of the sites he thought we should see. We realized they were just really happy to have us there. I learned  saying that Trinis have from our tour guide. They like to say "We have that too" in their own Spanglish+French language. They built a leaning light house so they could have a leaning tower and twin towers so that they could have those too. And there is a ton of KFCs here. And Churches chicken. Trinis really love Americans. They were so excited to have us there and were so happy to be in pictures with us. American flags and pictures of America are hanging behind the desks at these shops. We ate lunch in the port even though we were sort of scared. We just pointed to what we wanted and didn't even ask what it was. Mine was good though. They have RC down here too! They dont even have that in Raleigh really. Oh but I am so glad my Bird Sanctuary visit got canceled. Maddie, Christina and I went to the turtle vigil tonight and it was amazing. It wasnt like our Virginia Beach whale watch where we didnt see anything. We saw 3 huge turtles. Like 5-6 feet long!!! We got to touch them too. We took pictures laying beside them and touching them. Oh and we got to hold turtles that are only a few days old. They were so tiny! I loved it.

Half a Day from Port 1

Hey everybody. The MV Explorer is half a day away from our first port! When I wake up tomorrow we will already be docked! How exciting is that! The sea has been so flat but they told us it gets rough right before we dock. bummer. On a better note, I have basically gotten used to the wobbling. I thought I never would. Last night I met my "extended family" which is a program here on the ship that gives you grandparents and brothers and sisters on board. It started when the students had absolutely no contact with family and still continues now. It's pretty cool. My "grandpa" on board is a speaker they have on the ship who talks about his experience being in a POW camp for 4 years. I can't wait to hear it. I got a little more sun than I was hoping today because after I laid out, my class was outside for 3.5 hours. Ouch! I met my group for my engineering project (which is similar to the E101 project) and theyre cool. We're about to have our briefing on Trinidad to find out policies, laws and other necessary things! I am having the time of my life here.

Finally Sailing with Technology.. yeh!

Hey guys! I'm on the ship now and finally got my internet working! yeh! Happy Christening to Jackson Craver! Im sad I couldn't be there but I'm sending my love!! The ship is so cool. I'm still finding new things everywhere I look... like a refrigerator in my room! My classes are really fun, but hard. Today in Energy we made hydrogen fueled mini cars and powered a "house" with lemons. I by far got the best teacher here, but everyone feels that way about their teachers. We land in trinidad the day after next and I am so excited!! Nassau was pretty cool, a whole lot different than I expected. They drive on the other side of the road! I've made a lot of new friends here! It's easy to meet people here because everyone is so happy to be here and looking to meet people. Last time I checked we were a mile off the coast of puerto rico and we can see it. We have new "friends" on the boat from passing that are birds called "brown billed boobies" or something like that, so that captain keeps coming on the speaker saying "Dont touch the boobies" Its funny. Walking is completely weird here. Constantly running into walls and the pool sloshes like a wave pool. But in general, life is no worries!!!

Waiting is not Fun

Hey. I made it to Baltimore!! Not Nassau yet. We still have another 5 hours from this point on. I found Maddie Fahnley early on in Charlotte.... and I mean early!!!!! now I'm sitting in the airport and don't know what I'm supposed to do. Bored kind of. It doesn't help that all the other SASers are BRAGGING about where they are (you know who you are) oh well. I'll be there soon.

Ready or Not

Well. It's my last full day in America for a while! That is just so surreal. My flight is in 21 hours and then I'll be outta here. My bags are packed and huge!!!! I thought I was packing lightly but I guess not. I am leaving Rocky Mount today, but I don't fly out until 7:30 tomorrow. My mom and I are staying overnight in Charlotte so that we can be there in time for my flight. Its only all the way across the state. But tomorrow I get to meet Maddie Fahnley before I fly and then the whole rest of the gang around 3. It's so weird knowing you'll meet people youve been talking to online.
So I've never really had to fend for myself in an airport before. The last time I was in an airport my aunt and mom were responsible for guiding me around so I paid attention to pretty much nothing! I cant even remember what an airport looks like other than right before you get on the plane. I'm getting my boarding pass tonight at CLT, so that maybe I'll slightly know what I'm doing early in the morning when I'm sleepy and excited. I was up this morning at 8. That would never happen on a normal summer! But I'm excited and I cannot wait to explore!

This is where I'll be. Wish me luck.

Packing Just Got Real

Well, This is the week. In 2 days I will be on my way to Charlotte to prepare for my flight!!! I've actually gotten to the point that the suitcase has been set open! But not so far that anything has actually gone in it. I'm struggling to put anything in there because i want to put everything in my carry on. Why can't you just keep all of your bags with you?!?!?! I don't mind sitting with a giant suitcase for an hour or two. I've been on plenty of band trips more crowded than that.
I've got a list of all of the addresses that I will try to grace with postcards while I'm gone. I've talked to 2 different people about it and one said that I would be able to mail them out flawlessly and the other said that it would never work. So I guess I'm just testing the postal system down there. I'm kind of curious about it. I hope they get to you guys!
I didn't realize how much I was going to miss everyone until last night when I was talking to Ben and Jamie. And I'm only going to be gone for a month!!! I'm such a baby. I couldn't imagine being gone for any longer than a month.
I'm super excited though! The only thing packed is my camera (and it is ready to go with batteries and the memory card in) My memory card allows for 2400 pictures, so expect that many. Well... I really should pack! like really...

16 days until take off

It's finals week here at NC State, which has been keeping me from imagining all of the cool things im going to be doing a little over 2 weeks from now!!!! I have basically everything I need for my trip. Now I've just got to get it all together. The piggy bank is growing and I got all of the trips I wanted! I can't wait to be abroad.. but until then, I'll be locked away studying for finals. Wish me luck