Puerto Rico

I have always thought of Puerto Rico as a great vacation spot- a fun and relaxing getaway. When looking at the itinerary of this trip before I left I overlooked the possibilities of Puerto Rico. I have been to Puerto Rico a couple times before and each time I have gone I've had a good time, but did not feel immersed in a different culture or a new society. I didn't think this time would be much different.

We arrived in San Juan on Saturday morning at 8am. As I waited for my ID number to be called to be cleared from customs, I felt anxious to get off the ship and step on ground for the first time in three days. After my friends and I were all finally cleared we left the port and took a 20 minute walk down to Old San Juan where we visited all of the old forts that were built to keep trespassers out of the island hundreds of years ago. We hiked up the fort's cobblestone steps and took tons of pictures of the historical site. One of my new friends, Rudy, is originally from Puerto Rico (although he was raised in and now lives in Boston), so he knew how to get around and where to go which was nice because without him we probably would have gotten lost a couple times. He took us into the town of San Juan where we ate lunch at a Puerto Rican restaurant and shopped for a while. Some girls went into the famous Coach outlet store but I chose to stay away from the “American-ness” of that and instead went into a small souvenir shop where I made the decision to collect a snow-globe, a piece of art, and a CD from each country I visit though out this voyage. After a long day of walking and touring the city, my friends and I came back to the ship where we had dinner and relaxed for the night.

The next day we got up at 10am to go on a Canopy Tour in the rainforest. We took a 20 minute bus ride to the rainforest where we met up with our tour guides and were strapped into harnesses, ropes, and carabineers. We hiked up a hill then got to our first zipline. Everyone was really nervous at first, but I of course got right up there and was one of the first people to go. I have to admit I was a little scared at first, but after the first zipline held up while I flew through the forest I knew I would be fine for the rest of the tour. We swung from tree to tree and made a full circle when we ended up back at the beginning about an hour and a half later. The zip lines ranged from about 20 feet off the ground to 70 feet which was pretty awesome. After the Canopy tour we headed back to to ship where we got our computers to go find an internet café.

I was proud of myself for not going online for an entire week (I think the facebook addiction is slowly going away). It was nice to get a couple emails from people back at home. Although it made me a little homesick it was great to hear that everyone is doing well (keep sending them hint hint). After we got back from the internet café we showered and got ready to go out that night. My friends and I walked around San Juan and found some cool places to hang out for a couple hours, but after such a long day of ziplining through the forest and walking around the town we headed back to the ship fairly early.

On Monday we all slept in and after eating breakfast on the ship decided to take a taxi to the beach. We sunbathed on the beach, played in the ocean and ate ice cream all afternoon until we had to leave to get back on the ship. We got back to the ship around 6pm and watched the sunset over the city of San Juan while waiting to take off. The ship left the port at 11pm last night and we started our 7 day trip down to Salvador, Brazil.

Overall, Puerto Rico was so much more than I expected. I felt immersed in the culture and think that I experienced three of the island's most important things- Old San Juan, the rainforest, and of course, the fun and relaxing beach.

Getting My Sea-Legs

I am sitting in my small cabin, three days into what everyone is calling “the journey of my lifetime”. As you know from my past entry, change is hard for me…and this situation has been no exception.

My parents and I flew down to Nassau, Bahamas on Monday January 21^st after 3 full days of packing, running errands, saying goodbye and taking in the everyday comforts of home. Right away I saw what seemed like hundreds of kids my age roaming the halls of the hotel looking like they weren’t nervous, anxious or overwhelmed with the experience they were about to embark on. I walked through the halls of the hotel smiling at people nervously and waiting to see a familiar face (which leads me to seeing Todd, my friend from Syracuse and the person I would most depend on in these first couple of days). The first night in the Bahamas we had dinner with Todd’s family on a yacht they were staying on in the Atlantis harbor. I was so happy to finally meet his family and was equally happy that my mom and his mom got along so well…I am sure they will be filling each other in on the scattered stories and news they hear from us during the next 3.5 months. After dinner that night, Todd and I went to the lobby of the hotel where we awkwardly sat and introduced ourselves to 25 other SASers all talking over eachother. Although this hour of hearing peoples names, hometowns and colleges went in one ear and out the other it was comforting to see how nice and welcoming many of these people are.

The next day in the Bahamas was spent taking in the last few hours with my parents. Whether it was gambling away $100 in the casino on 25 cent slot machines, or laying between them in their king size bed watching E’s True Hollywood Story on Will Smith, I enjoyed every second because of the endless butterflies building up in my stomach. That night I didn’t sleep.

We woke up at 7am, finished packing up my bags, got in a taxi and headed to the harbor where my home for the next 3.5 months was stationed. We waited in an endless line of hundreds of students in what seemed like 100 degree weather. Slowly we got closer to the gate that would inevitably separate us, and slowly tears welled up in my eyes. After a very emotional goodbye with lots of hugs and “I love you’s” I parted from mom and dad and walked through the gate towards this unfamiliar “home”.

Right away I met a few nice girls. We wondered the halls and took a tour of the ship trying to figure out where to go or what to do. After a few laps around the 6^th deck I headed back to my room to hopefully meet my new roommate who would hopefully not be crazy, geeky, weird, annoying, drama-queeny, spoiled…(you get the point). As I slid my new ID card into the keyhole of room 4056 and opened the door she was there. Her name is Ashley Cain from Arizona and is everything BUT those words I just described. Although only three day into this trip, I can already tell we will not only get along as roommates but will become great friends.

After I met Ashley, I went back to the two girls who I had befriended an hour before as I first boarded the ship. We went down to one of their rooms and as I looked across the hallway from her room I saw Todd’s name tag! I knocked on the door and was so happy to see him open the door. Later that day I met his roommate Vamsi (pronounced Wam-see) who is from Arkansas and is also another person I can tell will become a great friend.

At 5:00 (or 1700 hours as we are supposed to start calling it here), I went up to the 7^th deck aft (back of the ship) and watched as people slowly started to take the lines off the dock and the tug boat slowly began to push the ship away. Holding back my emotions, I waved to the parents standing on the dock and took a deep breath as I thought to myself “there’s no turning back now”. Our sail around the world had just begun, or as I like to think (day by day) our 3 day sail to Puerto Rico had just begun.

The first night on the ship I hardly slept. The rocking of the boat kept me up, the rumbling in my stomach (either from the sea or from the nerves and emotions…I couldn’t tell) had my mind racing. I tossed and turned until my alarm clock finally went off at 8am. Orientation day was about to start and I was excited to get my mind off my own feelings and emotions and to start listening to the people that organize, run and facilitate the trip. We had meetings all day about safety, classwork, introductions of faculty and staff, what we can do on the ship and mostly what we can not do. The day was long and I was more homesick than ever. As I emotionally talked to my mom on the phone I realized that I needed to suck it up because hey…there is nothing I can do about it, I am stuck on a 591 foot ship in the middle of the ocean. After realizing this I slowly but surely got back to my happy self and was learning more about my new group of friends. We played card games, ate meals together and went to bed early excited for our first day of class the next day.

Although again I did not sleep well (probably again from the unfamiliar rocking), I got up early anxious to go to my first class- Global Studies. Global Studies is a class that the entire shipboard community (including faculty and some staff) take to prepare us for the countries we will be visiting. We all filed into the Union (the big lecture classroom where meetings are held), took out our blank notebooks and waited for the lecture to start. The temporary academic dean talked about Puerto Rico’s culture, influences, history, politics and music all in a short hour and fifteen minute class. When Global Studies ended, I hurried down to the 5^th deck to go to my next class- Into to Cultural Anthropology). I got lost twice trying to find classroom number 9 and laughed to myself as I pictured and compared myself to a lost little freshman roaming the halls frantically in high school on the first day of school. Cultural Anthro was spent introducing ourselves and talking about the criteria that goes along with the class. It seems like it will be a good class, but I may be switching my schedule around next week on add/drop day so I am not getting attached to any of my classes just yet (except Global Studies of course since it is mandatory). After Puerto Rico I have my first B day class which will include Media writing, Expository writing and of course global studies. (Everyday we are at sea we have class…either A day or B day which alternate).

After class today I ended up sitting on the deck in the beautiful sun reading and playing cards with friends. I slowly but surely am becoming more comfortable with this whole idea of traveling around the world. Although this past week has been one of the biggest emotional rollercoaster’s of my life so far, it has also been a great learning experience and I am sure in the end I will be so grateful for all of the emotions I have felt (even the homesickness…maybe). Day by day, port by port and month by month I will become a better person from this experience and I can’t wait for that change to happen.

Next stop…Puerto Rico.

(sorry this entry is so long…I will get better at not rambling and will also post pictures soon to make it more interesting)