Semester at Sea Spring 2006

Japan: What a way to end it off

2006-04-26T10:23:00.000-07:00

This will be the final entry for my blog. Honestly, I don't even know what to think or say. This trip has been the most incredible experience of my life and to be honest I don't know how to say goodbye to the trip. It's not just the places that I went, it's the people that I met. and the experiences that I had with them. I've made some of the best friends of my life on this trip and I don't know what I'll do without them next semester.

On to Japan. We arrived in Kobe and once the ship was cleared, a group of seven of us, by now the group should be somewhat familiar (Matt, Eric, Kelsey, Tony, Mason, and Griffin) headed off to the train station. We agreed that we wanted to go to Osaka for the night since it was a pretty big city and we should be able to have a good time there. Unfortunately, every other Semester at Sea kid was at the train station changing their rail pass so we had to wait in line for almost three hours trying to get through.

When we finally arrived in Osaka, we realized that the problem was that we didn't even have a clue where we were going. We managed to find a bookstore that sold books in English, and bought a Lonely Planet book about Japan. It was at this point that we ran into a Canadian guy that spoke English who helped us find a place to stay for the night. It was a Japanese style room with just mats on the floor and a T.V. and a bathroom. Squeezing seven guys into the room was kind of hard, but we managed to do it.

That night we went out to a sushi restaurant where all of the sushi came around on a conveyer belt. They call them sushi train restaurants. It was really cool. Every plate is one set price and we ate sushi with our new friend and drank beer and talked about what was to come. That night we tried to go to a bar but since it was a Tuesday night, everything was pretty much dead. Our Canadian friend explained that nobody goes out during the week in Japan so we were pretty bummed out. We ended up going back to the hotel where a Royal Rumble ensued between Kelsey, Griffin, and Eric. It was pretty funny to watch.

The next morning we got up, had breakfast, and headed off on the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Hiroshima. It's about an hour and a half from Osaka. The bullet trains are great. They're fast and clean, and the service is great. It's much better than flying everywhere and for $24o everywhere for six days, its pretty nice.

Once we got to Hiroshima we went to the Peace Park, the Atomic Dome, and the Museum. Walking through the city is pretty amazing. This is a place that was completely destroyed sixty years ago, and now its a bustling city again. It's a pretty cosmopolitan place. The park is really cool. The first thing you see is the atomic dome, which is the last remaining landmark from the explosion. The bomb went off literally on top of the dome and it stayed standing. It's really cool to look at. Next, we walked through the park and saw the eternal flame. The flame was set by someone who grabbed a burning piece of rubble after the explosion. Now it's a flame that the Japanese set and say won't be extinguished until all of the nuclear weapons in the world are destroyed. Then we went into the museum. It was really cool as well. We walked around inside and saw all of the artifacts that they have from the blast, as well as a bunch of stuff on nuclear weapons. The coolest thing is that they don't blame the Americans. They use the tragedy as a learning experience, and now are working towwards not having any nuclear weapons left on the planet.

After we finished in Hiroshima, we got on a train and headed for Kyoto. We just wanted to overnight there. Once we arrived, we booked a hotel room with three twin beds, and a couch, and shoved seven of us in there again. It was cramped but manageable. That night we headed out for an evening on the town, but once again, we found the town dead because it was a Wednesday night. We ended up just heading to bed early.

The next morning we got up and headed for Tokyo. This was the part of the trip that I was most excited about. The world's largest city was the place in Japan that I wanted to go to most. The train ride there was about three hours, and it gave us a chance to catch up on sleep.

Once we arrived in Tokyo we found a place to stay and then headed off to watch the Yomiuri Giants(Tokyo's famous team) play against the Hiroshima Carp. Baseball in Tokyo is like soccer in Brazil, the people in the stands dance and sing and it's really cool. The Tokyo dome in and of itself is pretty cool too since there has been so much famous stuff that's happened there. The game was kind of a blowout as the Giants won 9-1.

That night we headed out to the large bar area of Tokyo (Roppongi), and met up with a bunch of our friends. I ended up just hanging out in the one bar the we started at the entire night and just partied with a bunch of sAS kids. It was nice to hang out with some people other than the six guys I was with, not that I wasn't having a great time with them.

The next morning we got up and went to the Sony Building. It was cool to walk around in there and see all of the new innovations that Sony was coming out with. All kinds of new gadgets that you couldn't even possibly imagine. After that, we had a bit of a dispute on whether or not we would go to Nagano. Two people ended up going but the majority of us stayed and headed off to a sporting goods district because we wanted to buy Tokyo Giants merchandise. Sadly, we couldn't even find anything, so we just went to dinner at a bad Japanese restaurant, went back to the hotel, and everyone but me napped for two hours before we finally decided to head out.

That night we went back to Roppongi and stayed there for the whole night. We were out until the sun came up. A few of our group went to Mount Fuji, but since the whether had been bad, I opted not to go.

The next morning we got up and headed off to Kobe. That's about a three and a half hour trip and we slept for most of the train ride. Once we got to Kobe, we went to a restaurant that served Kobe beef, which I'd been fiending for for the whole trip. It was expensive, but I was willing to pay for it. It was really good. Although it probably wasn't worth what I paid for it.

That night we got back on the ship and headed off for San Diego. As our last port closed, I realized that this was an unreal experience. Something that I'd never get to do again, and yet, the saddest part for me was that this was the last time I'd get to spend with the friends I'd made. All I ever wanted to do was do this again, but only with the same people.

So now it's over, and in two days I'll be home. I don't know what to feel or how to act, but I do know that I'm upset and don't want it to end.

To everyone that's read my blog, thanks for caring about me the last three months. I know I've been terrible about this kind of stuff, and for that apologize, but the bottom line is I've been too busy living to type. Thanks for the support and I love you guys. I can't wait to see you at home. Peace.

Japan: What A Way To End it Off

2006-04-24T12:04:00.000-07:00

This will be the final entry for my blog. Honestly, I don't even know what to think or say. This trip has been the most incredible experience of my life and to be honest I don't know how to say goodbye to the trip. It's not just the places that I went, it's the people that I met. and the experiences that I had with them. I've made some of the best friends of my life on this trip and I don't know what I'll do without them next semester.

On to Japan. We arrived in Kobe and once the ship was cleared, a group of seven of us, by now the group should be somewhat familiar (Matt, Eric, Kelsey, Tony, Mason, and Griffin) headed off to the train station. We agreed that we wanted to go to Osaka for the night since it was a pretty big city and we should be able to have a good time there. Unfortunately, every other Semester at Sea kid was at the train station changing their rail pass so we had to wait in line for almost three hours trying to get through.

When we finally arrived in Osaka, we realized that the problem was that we didn't even have a clue where we were going. We managed to find a bookstore that sold books in English, and bought a Lonely Planet book about Japan. It was at this point that we ran into a Canadian guy that spoke English who helped us find a place to stay for the night. It was a Japanese style room with just mats on the floor and a T.V. and a bathroom. Squeezing seven guys into the room was kind of hard, but we managed to do it.

That night we went out to a sushi restaurant where all of the sushi came around on a conveyer belt. They call them sushi train restaurants. It was really cool. Every plate is one set price and we ate sushi with our new friend and drank beer and talked about what was to come.

That night we tried to go to a bar but since it was a Tuesday night, everything was pretty much dead. Our Canadian friend explained that nobody goes out during the week in Japan so we were pretty bummed out. We ended up going back to the hotel where a Royal Rumble ensued between Kelsey, Griffin, and Eric. It was pretty funny to watch.

The next morning we got up, had breakfast, and headed off on the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Hiroshima. It's about an hour and a half from Osaka. The bullet trains are great. They're fast and clean, and the service is great. It's much better than flying everywhere and for $24o everywhere for six days, its pretty nice.

Once we got to Hiroshima we went to the Peace Park, the Atomic Dome, and the Museum. Walking through the city is pretty amazing. This is a place that was completely destroyed sixty years ago, and now its a bustling city again. It's a pretty cosmopolitan place.

The park is really cool. The first thing you see is the atomic dome, which is the last remaining landmark from the explosion. The bomb went off literally on top of the dome and it stayed standing. It's really cool to look at.

Next, we walked through the park and saw the eternal flame. The flame was set by someone who grabbed a burning piece of rubble after the explosion. Now it's a flame that the Japanese set and say won't be extinguished until all of the nuclear weapons in the world are destroyed.

Then we went into the museum. It was really cool as well. We walked around inside and saw all of the artifacts that they have from the blast, as well as a bunch of stuff on nuclear weapons. The coolest thing is that they don't blame the Americans. They use the tragedy as a learning experience, and now are working towwards not having any nuclear weapons left on the planet.

After we finished in Hiroshima, we got on a train and headed for Kyoto. We just wanted to overnight there. Once we arrived, we booked a hotel room with three twin beds, and a couch, and shoved seven of us in there again. It was cramped but manageable.

That night we headed out for an evening on the town, but once again, we found the town dead because it was a Wednesday night. We ended up just heading to bed early.

The next morning we got up and headed for Tokyo. This was the part of the trip that I was most excited about. The world's largest city was the place in Japan that I wanted to go to most. The train ride there was about three hours, and it gave us a chance to catch up on sleep.

Once we arrived in Tokyo we found a place to stay and then headed off to watch the Yomiuri Giants(Tokyo's famous team) play against the Hiroshima Carp. Baseball in Tokyo is like soccer in Brazil, the people in the stands dance and sing and it's really cool. The Tokyo dome in and of itself is pretty cool too since there has been so much famous stuff that's happened there. The game was kind of a blowout as the Giants won 9-1.

That night we headed out to the large bar area of Tokyo (Roppongi), and met up with a bunch of our friends. I ended up just hanging out in the one bar the we started at the entire night and just partied with a bunch of sAS kids. It was nice to hang out with some people other than the six guys I was with, not that I wasn't having a great time with them.

The next morning we got up and went to the Sony Building. It was cool to walk around in there and see all of the new innovations that Sony was coming out with. All kinds of new gadgets that you couldn't even possibly imagine.

After that, we had a bit of a dispute on whether or not we would go to Nagano. Two people ended up going but the majority of us stayed and headed off to a sporting goods district because we wanted to buy Tokyo Giants merchandise. Sadly, we couldn't even find anything, so we just went to dinner at a bad Japanese restaurant, went back to the hotel, and everyone but me napped for two hours before we finally decided to head out.

That night we went back to Roppongi and stayed there for the whole night. We were out until the sun came up. A few of our group went to Mount Fuji, but since the whether had been bad, I opted not to go.

The next morning we got up and headed off to Kobe. That's about a three and a half hour trip and we slept for most of the train ride. Once we got to Kobe, we went to a restaurant that served Kobe beef, which I'd been fiending for for the whole trip. It was expensive, but I was willing to pay for it. It was really good. Although it probably wasn't worth what I paid for it.

That night we got back on the ship and headed off for San Diego. As our last port closed, I realized that this was an unreal experience. Something that I'd never get to do again, and yet, the saddest part for me was that this was the last time I'd get to spend with the friends I'd made. All I ever wanted to do was do this again, but only with the same people.

So now it's over, and in two days I'll be home. I don't know what to feel or how to act, but I do know that I'm upset and don't want it to end.

To everyone that's read my blog, thanks for caring about me the last three months. I know I've been terrible about this kind of stuff, and for that apologize, but the bottom line is I've been too busy living to type. Thanks for the support and I love you guys. I can't wait to see you at home.

Peace.

China: Ice Bars, Great Walls, and the Prince of San Marino?

2006-04-24T09:19:00.001-07:00

So sorry that I haven't written in a really long time but I've been really busy with school. Now I'm done though and I have all the time in the world. I'm going to try to post pictures soon and its going to have to be a new address again since I can only store 240 pictures on each site. It kind of sucks.

However, I am going to finish the blog in the next two days. China will be today and Japan will either be today or tommorow. Just so you know.

On with the show. We arrived in Hong Kong on the first day and immediately, I got on a ferry and headed out with ten guys. We went over to the electronics market and we didn't really find any better deals though I did buy a bunch of stuff that I probably shouldn't have.

That afternoon we headed from there over to a bar, where we watched the Super Sevens Rugby match with a bunch of locals. Since it was being held in Hong Kong everyone in the place was really excited about it. One of the coolest things about Hong Kong is that a lot of people speak English and since the Chinese government basically leaves them alone since they make too much money, people are pretty much free to do whatever they want.

After the rugby match we went out to dinner on top of Victoria Peak and you could see the entire city of Hong Kong and Kowloon. Most people don't know that the city is divided and that you either have to take the subway or the ferry to get back.

Once dinner was over, we headed back to the ship and changed clothes and went out for the evening. I know that people are tired of hearing about me partying but this is really cool. We went to this bar in Hong Kong that was called Ballalaika. On the outside its just a regular bar, but inside there is a room that is completely made of ice. They only serve vodka in there and they give you fur coats to wear when you go inside. All of us took pictures wearing fur coats and its really cool looking. I can't wait to show you the pictures.

The following morning it was a bit difficult to wake up for my flight to Beijing since I was out pretty late the night before. Thankfully my friends Matt and Devin were able to wake me up. Unfortunately I can't say the same for my roommate Ian. He just wouldn't wake up. I threw a nalgene bottle at him, screamed at him, I even slapped him in the face and he wouldn't move. So we left him there. He ended up having to pay $400 to get on a later flight since he missed his trip.

We went to the airport and flew to Beijing. I was really happy that I'd bought noise cancelling headphones the day before because I slept on the plane for the first time in my entire life. Once we arrived we headed off to the Summer Palace and once again it was temples and palaces. It was really cool though since it's set right on the water and was built by the emperor's of China.

That evening we went back to our hotel and tried to head out to a bowling alley after dinner at a Peking duck restaurant. Unfortunately we never found it and just ended up going to bed.

The next morning we got up and headed off to the Great Wall of China. I climbed the entire 1,236 steps up to the top and saw the entire thing. It's really awesome. I was even able to take a few pieces of it, though I'm not supposed to tell anyone that. It's a pretty awesome sight to behold as you guys will see when I put up the pictures.

Following this we went to a market and this is where the fun began. I needed to get a few things so I was shopping around and came across a Polo Cashmere sweater that I really liked and bought. As I was walking another vendor grabbed the sweater and asked how much I paid for it. I told her that I'd paid ten dollars for it and she threw ten dollars at me. I started arguing with her and before I knew it one of my friends stepped in and said, "Don't you know who this is? He's the prince of San Marino." She immediately dropped the sweater.

After seeing how that worked, we devised a plan to get free drinks for the night. Two of my friends had ear pieces constructed out of iPod headphones and at all times when I was walking around I had a cigar, a girl on each arm, and was surrounded by four guys. My "security manager" would go in first and explain to the manager the situation. Apparently, the prince was on vacation and wanted to keep a low profile. We tried this at a club and it worked like a charm. I was comped a VIP room, two bottles of Dom Perignon, a few bottles of whiskey, and some cigars. Later, I was sitting in the room and a man came in and kissed my hand and said "So good to meet you sir."
(Disclaimer to mom and dad and those that are worried: we were just having fun and nothing bad happened. I probably will never pull a stunt like that again so don't worry about me defrauding foreign governments)

The next day we headed off to Tiannamen square where we walked around, saw Mao Zedong's grave and also met these caligraphers who gave us a bunch of free stuff. I got stuff made for a few relatives so those of you who read this (Harry/Mia) be on the look out when I get home.

Following this we just had dinner and hung out in another bar for the evening.

The next morning we got on a plane and headed to Qingdao. There's really not a whole lot there, and I ended up going out with a bunch of people to a bar, but I really didn't feel good and headed home pretty early.

The next day we went to the strangest market I've ever been to. It was a place where every store seemed like a thrift store, only all the stuff was seemingly new. I did managed to snag an Addidas jacket for 9 bucks so that made me happy but I was kind of perplexed by the whole set up of the place, especially since it was underground. It was just weird.

That night we sailed away and steamed towards Japan. I realized that China was really cool and I would definately go back, especially to see someplace like Shanghai where my friends that went said was really cool. I had a blast there, and especially since I'm royalty there now, I'm sure I'm welcome back at any time.

China: Ice Bars, Great Walls, and the Prince of San Marino?

2006-04-24T09:19:00.000-07:00

China: Ice Bars, Great Walls, and the Prince of San Marino

2006-04-24T08:55:00.000-07:00

So sorry that I haven't written in a really long time but I've been really busy with school. Now I'm done though and I have all the time in the world. I'm going to try to post pictures soon and its going to have to be a new address again since I can only store 240 pictures on each site. It kind of sucks.

However, I am going to finish the blog in the next two days. China will be today and Japan will either be today or tommorow. Just so you know.

On with the show. We arrived in Hong Kong on the first day and immediately, I got on a ferry and headed out with ten guys. We went over to the electronics market and we didn't really find any better deals though I did buy a bunch of stuff that I probably shouldn't have.

That afternoon we headed from there over to a bar, where we watched the Super Sevens Rugby match with a bunch of locals. Since it was being held in Hong Kong everyone in the place was really excited about it. One of the coolest things about Hong Kong is that a lot of people speak English and since the Chinese government basically leaves them alone since they make too much money, people are pretty much free to do whatever they want.

After the rugby match we went out to dinner on top of Victoria Peak and you could see the entire city of Hong Kong and Kowloon. Most people don't know that the city is divided and that you either have to take the subway or the ferry to get back.

Once dinner was over, we headed back to the ship and changed clothes and went out for the evening. I know that people are tired of hearing about me partying but this is really cool. We went to this bar in Hong Kong that was called Ballalaika. On the outside its just a regular bar, but inside there is a room that is completely made of ice. They only serve vodka in there and they give you fur coats to wear when you go inside. All of us took pictures wearing fur coats and its really cool looking. I can't wait to show you the pictures.

The following morning it was a bit difficult to wake up for my flight to Beijing since I was out pretty late the night before. Thankfully my friends Matt and Devin were able to wake me up. Unfortunately I can't say the same for my roommate Ian. He just wouldn't wake up. I threw a nalgene bottle at him, screamed at him, I even slapped him in the face and he wouldn't move. So we left him there. He ended up having to pay $400 to get on a later flight since he missed his trip.

We went to the airport and flew to Beijing. I was really happy that I'd bought noise cancelling headphones the day before because I slept on the plane for the first time in my entire life. Once we arrived we headed off to the Summer Palace and once again it was temples and palaces. It was really cool though since it's set right on the water and was built by the emperor's of China.

That evening we went back to our hotel and tried to head out to a bowling alley after dinner at a Peking duck restaurant. Unfortunately we never found it and just ended up going to bed.

The next morning we got up and headed off to the Great Wall of China. I climbed the entire 1,236 steps up to the top and saw the entire thing. It's really awesome. I was even able to take a few pieces of it, though I'm not supposed to tell anyone that. It's a pretty awesome sight to behold as you guys will see when I put up the pictures.

Following this we went to a market and this is where the fun began. I needed to get a few things so I was shopping around and came across a Polo Cashmere sweater that I really liked and bought. As I was walking another vendor grabbed the sweater and asked how much I paid for it. I told her that I'd paid ten dollars for it and she threw ten dollars at me. I started arguing with her and before I knew it one of my friends stepped in and said, "Don't you know who this is? He's the prince of San Marino." She immediately dropped the sweater.

After seeing how that worked, we devised a plan to get free drinks for the night. Two of my friends had ear pieces constructed out of iPod headphones and at all times when I was walking around I had a cigar, a girl on each arm, and was surrounded by four guys. My "security manager" would go in first and explain to the manager the situation. Apparently, the prince was on vacation and wanted to keep a low profile. We tried this at a club and it worked like a charm. I was comped a VIP room, two bottles of Dom Perignon, a few bottles of whiskey, and some cigars. Later, I was sitting in the room and a man came in and kissed my hand and said "So good to meet you sir."

(Disclaimer to mom and dad and those that are worried: we were just having fun and nothing bad happened. I probably will never pull a stunt like that again so don't worry about me defrauding foreign governments)

The next day we headed off to Tiannamen square where we walked around, saw Mao Zedong's grave and also met these caligraphers who gave us a bunch of free stuff. I got stuff made for a few relatives so those of you who read this (Harry/Mia) be on the look out when I get home.

Following this we just had dinner and hung out in another bar for the evening.

The next morning we got on a plane and headed to Qingdao. There's really not a whole lot there, and I ended up going out with a bunch of people to a bar, but I really didn't feel good and headed home pretty early.

The next day we went to the strangest market I've ever been to. It was a place where every store seemed like a thrift store, only all the stuff was seemingly new. I did managed to snag an Addidas jacket for 9 bucks so that made me happy but I was kind of perplexed by the whole set up of the place, especially since it was underground. It was just weird.

That night we sailed away and steamed towards Japan. I realized that China was really cool and I would definately go back, especially to see someplace like Shanghai where my friends that went said was really cool. I had a blast there, and especially since I'm royalty there now, I'm sure I'm welcome back at any time.

New Pictures

2006-03-31T23:27:00.000-08:00

New Pictures are finally up from India, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Cambodia. Your website is http://community.webshots.com/user/taubyUA29 so enjoy the new pictures and I'll talk to ya'll after China/

Peace.

Vietnam and Cambodia: My favorite so far...

2006-03-31T08:47:00.000-08:00

Okay so here I go again.

Sunday morning we rolled into Vietnam and a few hours later, once we were clear, eight of us, all guys went out for guys day out. We started off at markets buying DVD's and knock off polo shirts and just messing around there. Then we all jumped on motorcycles (it's the easiest way to get around in Vietnam and Cambodia) and went off to have suits made. Unfortunately we got a little side tracked.

This next part is a little graphic so Nana and PopPop or anyone else that's easily offended you should skip down to the next part. Alec Hochstein, I hope you blow this up and read it because it's just up your alley. Apparently in the course of the motorcycle ride, one of my friends had been joking about getting a massage and the drivers thought that we were really serious. We ended up at a massage parlor in Vietnam which everyone knows is a front for a whore house. Since all of my friends were getting massages, I decided to do the same. Pretty soon, I was getting a massage and there was a very lovely Vietnamese young lady reaching for a certain area of my body. I ended up paying her to stay away. It was kind of awkward although it was definately an experience that I'll never forget. Sorry about that Mom and Dad.

Anyways, after that little incident we finally made it to get suits made. I got fitted for a black and white pinstripe one and a white one. I don't know why I bought a white suit, but honestly I've always wanted one and so I just went for it. When else will you be in Vietnam and do something crazy right?

After the suits we headed back to the ship for dinner, showered, and went out. We started at a casino, where my friend Eric was playing blackjack, and apparently in Vietnam that means that you can drink for free. So all of us were drinking for free, which was very cool. I love not having to pay for things.

After the casino, we went to a bar called Apocalypse P.O.W. and there were tons of S.A.S. kids there. We danced pretty much all night, and I didn't sleep very much since I got home so late. That was kind of a bad idea since I had quite an early wake up call for my flight to Cambodia the next day.

The next morning I got on a plane and flew to Penom Penh. We started our day off there going to the Silver Pagoda and the Royal Palace, which by now looked like ever other Pagoda and Palace I'd seen so far. Then we went to the National Museum which was kind of cool because they had artifacts from all over Cambodia in there. That was pretty much the extent of the day, and we ate dinner and went to the hotel.

A group of us showered and went across to the street to a bar. The bar was really cool because it was on the roof of a hotel that overlooked the entire city of Penom Penh. In the course of the evening I saw this really cool neon sign that advertised Tiger Beer, the local Southeast Asian beer. I ended up negotiating with the people that ran the bar, and bought it off the wall. It's really cool looking.

The next day we got up and went to the Genocide museum. The museum is set in the same prison where the Khmer Rouge torutured people during their three and a half years in power. The cells downstairs honestly still have blood on the floors. It's pretty disturbuing. One of the people that I was with made an interesting comment. I said that the things that they did were like the Holocaust, and he said no its not because it would be like if the Holocaust was perpetrated by a Jewish person. I'd never thought of it that way but it made a whole lot of sense.

After the museum we went to the killing fields where all of the mass graves of the bodies of the people that Khmer Rouge killed were. It was pretty intense. I've never been to Auschwitz but I can imagine that it's similar. They have a pagoda there and inside the pagoda, there is a tower filled from top to bottom with human skulls. It's really disturbing.

Following this we got on another plane and flew to Siem Reap. We headed straight for Angkor Wat which is the most incredible temple I've ever seen in my life. It' s huge and I got lost in there a few times. You can see from my pictures that it's just insanely large.

Following that we had dinner and went back to the hotel. We went to a bar for a little while but everyone was really tired and just ended up heading in early.

The next morning we went to the floating village which was really cool. They raise crocodiles there, and everyone's house is just a boat with a house mounted on it. It's really interesting that people live that way. Just like I felt with Inle Lake. I was very impressed.

Once we got back to the mainland area. We headed back off to a temple tour. In the process I met a guy who wanted me to ride his horse. I asked him how much it would cost me to rent the horse for the day. He said thirty dollars. I told him I'd give him fifteen, just jokingly, and he said okay. I ended up renting this horse and riding it around and through the temples the entire day. It was cool other than the fact that I had to ride bareback and all I had to control the horse with was a rope so once he got running he didn't really stop all that much.

That night we flew back to Ho Chi Minh City and I hung out with my friends, just going to bars and stuff.

The next day we went to a bunch of different markets and picked up our suits which looked absolutely amazing. That night we went out with a group of SASers and just partied it up for a little while before heading back to the ship.

Now here I am steaming towards Hong Kong.

I loved Vietnam and Cambodia and would definately go back. Vietnam was awesome and I was able to do things there that I'll never do again. I thought it couldn't get any better than South Africa but I was wrong.

Okay now the deal on pictures. I'm going to post pictures tonight, or at least try to, since the internet is apparently shoddy. There's a new site it's http://community.webshots.com/user/taubyUA29 so look for that. If there are no pictures, I'm sorry, I tried.

Myanmar: One of the most amazing experiences of my life

2006-03-31T08:33:00.000-08:00

Okay so this will be two posts in one day because I'm really bad about doing this. So here it goes. No filler just going straight into it.

We arrived in Myanmar, in Yangon two weeks ago this Monday but my story really begins the night before the ship arrived. Three of my friends, Maggie, Molly, and Gemma came to my room the night before and we were just hanging out when I asked them what they were doing Myanmar. They said that they were going to Inle Lake independently and asked if I wanted to go. Since I really wasn't doing anything else, I agreed.

The next morning we got off the boat and headed to the airport. Two quick flights later and we booked a hotel room at this hotel where each room is an individual cabin on stilts and its a 30 minute boat ride to the nearest road. Everything in Inle is pretty much only accessible by boat. We headed off there and when we arrived we dropped off our stuff and went to a few small sights, such as a temple or two before the day was over it was kind of uneventful.

That night we just ended up hanging around the hotel and I went to bed pretty early because I was very tired.

The next day was the day that was really unbelievable. We decided to head out all day on a boat and head down to the other part of Inle Lake which was about two and a half hours by boat. On the way we saw lots of temples and even got to stop at a Bhuddist monastery where they served us food and tea. A little boy who was in the monastery learning how to be a monk kept pointing at me and smiling and when I asked our guide what he was saying, the guide said that I was the first white person that the little boy had ever seen and that it made him glad to know that there were people that were different than he was. It was really kind of cool.

That afternoon we went to a place where they make hand make silk garments and also make silver and gold jewelry from scratch. I didn't buy anything but learning about how they made these things was really cool.

The most interesting part about Inle Lake is that all of the houses are on stilts. A lot of them are not even that nice, but the people in this country could not have been more friendly. You don't even realize that this country is run by an oppressive millitary regime because everyone seems to just go about their lives. Honestly if I didn't know about the government situation, I would never guess that that's the way this country is run.

That night back at the hotel we partied it up a little bit, but not too much since we had a very early flight.

The next morning we headed back to Yangon and I napped for a while, before meeting up with my friends to head out for the evening. We went to a few bars at hotels and stuff, and also went to a bar and grill that catered to Americans and Europeans.

The next day I went with a bunch of people to Scott Market and attempted to buy a few things though I didn't end up buying anything because they didn't really have what I was looking for. Unfortunately at that point I didn't know what I was looking for. That night once again we drank a bit, but honestly, I'd been going for four days straight, without any sleep and went home pretty early.

The following morning we pulled out of Myanmar and headed for Vietnam. Honestly, it wasn't like anything I expected. Everyone was so nice and I didn't see one soldier the entire time. At first, when I found out that the ship was going to dock there I was upset, but once I got there, I'm so glad that we went. I hope that thigns get better there because the people are absolutely amazing. Get ready for part two of the story because it's coming up next.

India: A nice place to visit but...

2006-03-16T13:39:00.000-08:00

Okay so here's the deal with India. Every other place I've been so far, well with the exception of Mauritius, I've wanted to consider moving to. They've just blown me away. India was not like this. It was almost as if the tourist destinations, Taj Majal, Agra Fort, Temples, blew me away like I thought they would. It's just that the place itself didn't impress me all that much. Maybe it's because the culture is so different. Maybe it's because there's so much poverty and so many people arund that you just feel sorry for. But the fact remains that while I enjoyed my time there, I don't think that I would ever want to live in India, or possibly even go back, at least not to the places that I saw.

We arrived on Friday and after a few hours of having to sit on the boat, we were finally allowed off. I didn't get off the boat because I had a school field trip to go to. It was a talk at the British Council with a former civil servant, who at one point had been the Minister of Energy for the entire country of India. He gave us a lecture on the way things had been in India and the way they are now. It was interesting for a while, but after an hour and a half of listening to him talk, I honestly wanted to fall asleep.

That night, a group of us headed out to the former main British hotel in Chennai, known as the Taj Catamara. We had an excellent dinner though I do think that my asophogus is permanently damaged from the spicy food that we ate. I've had really hot Cajun food, but this was like nothing I've ever seen before. I headed off to bed at a decent hour that night since I had to get up early the next day.

The next morning we awoke, had breakfast, and headed off to the airport for our flight to Dehli. It was one of the most turbulent flights I've ever been on. One of the most striking things about India is the way that women are treated. At the airport, the men are allowed right through security, while all the women are brought behind a curtain and checked out thoroughly. It's kind of strange.

Once we arrived in Dehli we went to a hotel and had a very nice lunch. Following that we headed off the train station. This was very far from amtrak. The trains were just benches with narrow isles and no air conditioning. Thank god it wasn't too hot that day. It did give me a chance to get to know some of the people in my tour group though as the three hour train ride definately gave us some time.

Once we got to Agra that night we checked into the hotel and had dinner there. We ended up just spending time at the hotel bar for a bit, but everyone was so exhausted and we know that there was an early wake up call coming, so we just went to sleep kind of early.

At five a.m. the phone rang and we groggily headed for the Taj Majal to see it at sunrise. Once again, the women thing came into play. The men were ushered straight through the entrance while all the women were checked by security. I guess I didn't really realize how much of a man's world India really is.

By the way, India has a distinct smell to it. It's not very pleasant. No offense to India.

The Taj Majal is absolutely brilliant. To see at at sunrise is breathtaking, and I'll send you guys pictures when I get a chance. I have some really great shots of it, it's amazing that I can function at such an early hour.

After the Taj we headed back to the hotel and had breakfast, got on the bus and headed off to the abandoned city to Fatepuh Shikur. It was very cool since it was the original capital for the Mughal empire. As we all know I'm a history geek so learning about this stuff was very cool. Following lunch we went to Agra Fort where all the other palaces in Agra are. They are also really interesting to look at.

The entire time you are in India you are mobbed by vendors. They are absolutely insane and will not leave you alone. I would like to recount, word for word, a conversation I had with a child vendor. He was trying to sell me pens.

Vendor: 100 rupees for five (shoves them in my face)
Me: I don't want them thank you.
Vendor: 50 rupees for five
Me: Go away
Vendor: 50 rupees for six
Me: Go away
Vendor: 50 rupees for seven
Me: Please go away?
Vendor: 50 rupees for 8
Me: If you can give me a reason why I absolutely need that I will buy it.
Vendor: 50 rupees for 9
Me: Please leave
Vendor: 50 rupees for all 12 (puts them in my hand)
Me: I don't want these. Take them back.
Vendor: 50 rupees
Me: If you don't take these, not only are you losing the pens but you are not getting money for them.
Vendor: 50 rupees.
Me: You're about to lose your pens
Vendor: Fine. (Takes back pens)

They're pretty crazy.

After Agra for we went back to the Taj for the afternoon. It was still the same breathtaking Taj Majal, though after a few hours there I was hoping for a change of scenery.

Following that we got back on the train, and this time it was nicer, and headed to Dehli. In the train station I had a hand wipe out and I was cleaning my hands with it when a little girl came up to me and held out her hand. I thought she wanted money so I ignored her, but she kept tugging on my shirt. I realized she wanted a wipe. I gave her one and she sat down and started cleaning her face with it. I walked over to her and gave her a little bar of soap that I'd taken from the hotel, and some other people gave her a few boxes of cereal. This little girl smiled as if we'd just given her the world. It's amazing that these people are so poor that simple things like that make so much of a difference. It really makes me thankful what I have and the opportunities that I'm afforded.

Following the train ride, we checked into the hotel we'd eaten lunch at the day earlier and it was cool because every SAS trip was there for the night. Everyone spent time in the bar and it was very fun.

The next day we went to the Ghandi museum which was also very cool. We saw the place were Ghandi was shot, as well as other mementos from his life. It's amazing how one person changed an entire country.

That afternoon we got on a plane and headed back to Chennai. I didn't do anything that night since I was so tired.

The next day, a group of us did a little shopping and went to a temple in Chennai. I was in a sporting goods store just messing around with a cricket bat when the owner of the store told me I had very good form. I had no idea how to play cricket so I told him this, and not only did he sit me down and teach me the rules, but he also took me out to a vacant lot behind his store and bowled a few balls to me. I hit them all and he told me that I did very well. It was really cool.

That night the ship pulled away and we left India for Myanmar. I realized that I liked India, but I don't think I'd want to live there. Maybe in 50 years it will be better as it gets so much better because of the new free market and the industry. We'll see.

By the way, I decided I'm going to Inle Lake in Myanmar. It's supposed to be pretty cool. I'm going independently so I'll let you guys know how it goes.

Peace.

Mauritius, the Olympics, and the Truth about all of my Partying

2006-03-06T13:56:00.001-08:00

So, once again, I apologize for the lack of pictures. But once again, just when I think that I've found a way to outdo the system, my computer crapped out and totally went haywire, so no pictures once again. Sorry everyone. I'll try again when I get to India.

So a few things to talk about and we'll start with Mauritius. Last Monday we pulled into Port Louis, and I woke up early so that I could get on the phone with our real estate guy, Reza, to make sure that everything was okay. Once I got a hold of him, we rounded everyone up and once we walked out of the port, there were buses waiting for us and people holding signs with my name on it. All 32 of us got into buses, and we headed for Grand Bay, which is the beach on the North Side of the Island. Once we got there, we found out that the one house that we thought that all 32 of us were going to stay in was booked up, so Reza accomodated us and gave us 3 separate villas that were all pretty close to one another.

That afternoon we headed off to the beach and just kind of hung out all day long. We also went to the grocery store with the intention of picking up food for the house, but instead we ended up spending all of our money on water and other beverage items. I guess this really was going to be Spring Break all over again.

That night all we did was party at our houses and I dare to say that my friends were able to live up to their reputations.

We awoke the next morning headed off to breakfast, and then went into town to find a beach. We sat on the beach most of the day, before we headed back into town, and chartered a catamaran for the afternoon. We watched the sunset from the water, went snorkeling, and just played around in the Indian Ocean for several hours. That night, after dinner at a chinese restaurant, we headed back to the houses for evenings of fun and excitement.

The next morning, or should I say afternoon at that point, we woke up and walked to the local pizza parlor to get a quick morning meal. At that point, me and two others headed off to do some shopping and I bought three designer shirts for a very low price. After another few hours on the beach we headed back to Port Louis.

That night the ship pulled away, and I realized that to be honest I wasn't all that impressed with Mauritius. Maybe it was the fact that all I day was treat it like a big spring break, but I guess everyone needs their days of fun.

A few days later, back on the ship, we had the Sea Olympics, which determines who gets to get off the boat first in San Diego. A sampling of events includes a chubby bunny (or eating) contest, tug of war, dodgeball, and water drop. I am somewhat ashamed to say that my team, the Arabian Sea, finished second to last. Oh well, I don't wanna get off the ship anyways.

Now, a bit of information for all of you that keep telling my mother that they think that all I'm doing is partying: I do go to school on the ship, and have been keeping up with all of my studies. As far as port goes, during the day, I never drink, and generally I'm touring around. With the upcoming ports, I have many big trips so I won't really have time for the fun and debauchery that I've experienced previously. Trust me, I'm definately not hurting my experiences, and in the process I've made friends that I know are going to last a lifetime.

Until India.

Ciao.

Mauritius, the Olympics, and the Truth about all of my Partying

2006-03-06T13:56:00.000-08:00

Roughing it and Toughing it in South Africa

2006-03-02T04:09:00.000-08:00

Okay, so here’s the deal. I’m really sorry I didn’t post this faster but ever since I got back on the boat in Cape Town things have been incredibly hectic. I haven’t even gotten on to finishing my journal entry and as much as I love you guys, I really would like to remember everything that happened in South Africa. But, with the fact that there have been tests and trying to coordinate what we’re doing in Mauritius, I have had absolutely no time. Okay now that I’m done with the apology, I have good news. I can post pictures now because of this new software that I downloaded. Lucky you guys. So at the end of this post look for new pictures on the same old website, but I’ll give it again in case you forget.

So on to South Africa. Valentines Day we pulled into South Africa, well not quite so early in the morning as planned. Apparently, the fog was too thick to come in so we had to wait a decent amount of time before it finally burned off and we got in. I was so anxious to get off the boat A group of us just went to the huge mall near the harbor and changed money and such. Since it was Valentines Day I wanted to do something nice for some of my friends, so I went to the supermarket and bought roses for Kerri, Halley, Karen and Lauren and get their cabin steward to let me into the room so that I could put them in there. All of the girls really appreciated the gesture from what I could tell.

That night eighteen of us went to dinner, and everyone was looking forward to having a nice meal. We ate calamari and drank wine and generally just had a good time. After dinner, we headed down to Long Street, the bar area in Cape Town. We just drank and had a good time and by the time we made it back to the ship it was close to 4 a.m. I was really hungry and I tried to find food, but I couldn’t so I just ended up falling asleep.

My friend Tony woke me up the next morning and we were going to try to head out to Robben Island which is the prison where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years during apartheid. They also have penguins on the island which I think I was more excited to see than the prison. Unfortunately the ferry was sold out for the day so we decided that we were going to go to Cape Point, and see the Cape of Good Hope. Unfortunately, that was a bust as well because about 35 minutes into the cab ride the hood of the cab flew up and smashed into the safety glass of the car. It was pretty scary. Tony and I were both too shaken up to go on so we just decided to head back to the ship area.

That night we went back to Long Street after starting off at a bar near the pier. I was taking it pretty easy because I had to go back to the ship early to get ready to go onto my safari in Pilansberg. Once I got back to the ship, I gathered my things and got on the plane. A bus, a plane, and another bus again and six hours later we were finally there. A few hours later we headed out on our game drive. Three minutes into the ride I saw my first elephant. Along the way I saw a giraffes, zebra, every antelope known to man, and rhinos. Finally, as night fell, I ran into my first lion.

That night we headed back to the lodge and just hung out with a bunch of people. Most people were pretty tired but we managed to stay up pretty late, and talked for a long time. The next morning we woke up and headed over to Sun City, which is the Atlantis hotel of South Africa. We decided that we wanted to go to the Predator Park where you can see most of the animals that are in the game park. It was kind of boring until the guy who ran the park let us play with a baby lion. He let the lion cub out of the cage. His name was Kimba and I have some great pictures of me petting him. I’ll let you all see them once I have a little more time.

That afternoon we went on our game drive and didn’t really see anything. Same thing again that night as we just went back to the lodge and spent time hanging out together. Oh by the way, although the lodge was very nice, we were without water and electricity for much of the time there since there had been a lightning strike on the game lodge. So showering and seeing at night was kind of a difficult situation. But anyways, whatever we were in South Africa so I really could have cared less.

The third day we awoke and headed back to Sun City. I was able to water ski a little and play around on jet skis but it was far too short and far too expensive. That afternoon we went on a game drive and we were able to see a leopard for the first time. It was very cool.

On the fourth day, after an early game drive, we went back to the airport and headed back to Cape Town. Unfortunately we had some bus troubles and it had caused us to miss our flights. A group of us decided that we were going to fly home on our own, and took the earlier flight back on a different airline. We finally got home in time to go out and have a great night partying at a local bar.

The next morning a big group of us headed off the winelands. We walked around the vineyards and sampled many different South African wines that were absolutely spectacular. Finally after a long day we headed back to the ship.

As we pulled out of South Africa, I realized that this place was unreal. I honestly wanted to move here some day, and my dad suggested that maybe I wanted to join the peace corps which up until now I haven’t given much thought to.

Mauritius was awesome too, but I’m not feeling good so I’m gonna hold off on that until tomorrow. Sorry it’s taken so long for me to post this but things have been absolutely crazy lately and as much as I make time to get this done, it’s very hard. Pictures will be posted soon I promise. I actually didn’t get a chance to get them done today.

Later guys.

New Pictures

2006-02-15T06:56:00.000-08:00

Pictures are up now. There are new pictures in the Shipboard life folder and in the Semester at Sea Part 2 folder. The Website again is http://community.webshots.com/user/taubm001. South Africa is awesome. I go on safari tommorow. When I get back I'll tell the full story.

Can't Sleep

2006-02-13T16:50:00.000-08:00

So, it's like three in the morning and we're scheduled to get into South Africa in like five hours. I can't sleep. I don't know why, probably because I'm so excited. Seriously, 2 years ago if you had told me I was going to go to Africa I would have laughed in your face.

Things on the boat have been going really well. Tommorow, I'll put up some pictures and stuff from what's been going on. A few nights ago we had an 80s night and when I show you the pictures you'll realize how crazy it was. Everyone really had an awesome time. I'm pretty sure that the entire student body of the ship turned out, and it was cool because I met some people that I had never seen before. It's weird to think that I'm on a ship in the middle of the ocean, and yet I haven't met a majority of the people that I live with, and probably won't meet most of them.

The sea right now is really rough mainly for two reasons. One because we're going slow because we need to get to South Africa at just htre right time. And two because the wind is really picked up off the coast of the Cape of Good Hope and waves are really rolling.

Two quick favors to ask for. Can someone please tell me how Bama basketball is doing? I have no clue. I know that Maryland lost to Duke again but as far as my school I have no idea. Second of all, if the Redskins sign a big free agent in the next few weeks, please let me know that as well. I try to get onto Washington Post.com as often as I can but the net minutes are at a premium.

I leave for my safari on Thursday and for the next few days I'm just gonna be tooling around Cape Town. Apparently tomorrow we're going to this restaurant called the Treetop, which is actually up in the trees on stands. It's supposed to be very cool. Also decided that like 12 of us are going to rent a villa in Mauritius since none of us have anything to do. It's like 3500 shillings a night, but the exchange rate is 26 shillings to the dollar since it ends up costing us like 20 bucks for two nights. Not to mention that we're gonna stay in Blue Bay which is supposed to be the most beautiful beach in the world. I looked at picutres of our villa today and it's literally on the beach. It's gonna be awesome. Probably not as awesome as a safari but I digress.

Okay, I'm still not tired but I'm starting to ramble so I'll stop this post, but i'll put up pictures on Webshots tomorrow and I'll also post after we leave South Africa. Everyone have a good Valentines Day and pray that I don't get eaten by lions.

Brazil: Fast Cabs, Women, Beer, and everything else under the sun

2006-02-06T14:12:00.000-08:00

So, I’m writing this for pretty much the second time since I attempted to put it all down on my last day in Rio and the computer crapped out on me. I was pretty unhappy about that situation since the fact is that I was almost done and I lost a lot of my work. But anyways, I digress. Lots to cover here and I know that people are anxious to hear about what has been going on. First of all disclaimer and then a piece of bad news. The disclaimer is that if you don’t have a lot of time to read this right now, you should probably come back later when you do have time. The bad news is that no pictures right now. I’m starting to run low on internet minutes and uploading on the ship takes a really long time. I’ll post the Brazil pictures when I get to Cape Town on Valentines Day.

Okay first a quick report on the on ship happenings. The day that we crossed the equator was called Neptune Day and a bunch of people, in a Neptune Day ritual shaved their heads, including over 30 girls. It’s very weird walking around the boat and seeing so many people that have shaved their heads. For me, the coolest thing about crossing the equator was watching the water in the toilet and in the sink flush the other way. Simple pleasures I suppose.

Classes are pretty good. I have some work coming up that’s going to be a bit more challenging that the stuff that I was doing earlier, but other than that I’m not really worried. My history professor is great. He’s doing an excellent job teaching something that I was going to be very boring. Who knew that British history could be so much fun?

Okay, on to what all of you really wanted to read anyways. On Wednesday morning we steamed into Salvador harbor and after a few hours doing the immigration process we were allowed off the boat. I kind of made a small mistake in that I was walking around the city in the morning with Matt and Eric, without realizing that they both had required field trips in the afternoon. After we found a bank that could change our money, that was pretty much all they had time for. So by the time that they went back to the ship, there was no one left around to hang out with. Knowing that I had a very long day ahead of me, I decided to play it safe and just head back to my cabin to nap.

That night a huge group of us tried to go to a reggae festival in Salvador. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of our cabbies, who drive absolutely insane (lanes are a suggestion, and that thing that pisses my parents off when I accelerate towards a stopped car is taking to a whole new level here), the traffic was so bad that we realized if we stayed most of us would miss our flights to either Rio or to the Amazon.

At around 1 a.m. I got back on the ship and found the people I was traveling with. We got in cabs and headed off to the Salvador airport. After an uneventful flight, around 7 a.m., we touched down in Rio. As we rode in a cab towards the hotel, I had almost dozed off, when my friend Rob tapped me on the shoulder and pointed. There in the distance was the famous Christ the Redeemer statue that was overlooking the entire city of Rio. I knew that this city was going to be unlike anything I’d ever seen before.

Once we arrived at the hotel, we pretty much just crashed for a few hours since none of us had gotten very much sleep. We awoke in the afternoon and after we ate, we headed off to Copacabana beach, which features the most incredible landscape I’d ever seen. At both ends of this white sand beach lie two huge mountains that jut straight up into the air. I’ve never seen anything like it before.

That night we met up with a large group of Semester at Sea people who had arrived with the Semester at Sea trips. We went two a few different bars around the hotel before we piled into cabs and headed off to Ipanema, one of Rio’s hotspots for nightlife. Unfortunately, things didn’t quite work out the way we expected as the club that we were trying to get into, called Barronette, wouldn’t let most of us in since we were wearing shorts. The night wasn’t a complete wash though as I was able to buy an authentic Brazilian soccer jersey for very cheap.

By the way, things are really cheap down here. Everything is about half of what it costs in the U.S. The cheapest thing is the beer which is honestly cheaper than water. It’s pretty cool.

Anyways, after we didn’t get into Barronette we went to a small bar next door and just sat and enjoyed the scenery and people watching that Ipanema on a busy Thursday night had to offer. Around 3 a.m. we headed back to the hotel and I feel asleep dreaming about what else could possibly happen in this amazing city.

The next morning we woke up, ate, and headed off to Corcovado station, where you catch the cable car to ride up to see the statue. This was a pretty cool experience as there are musicians on the train with you who play samba the entire way up. It’s very interesting, and to be honest I found myself enjoying this very different type of music. Once we got up to the top of the statue, we marveled at the view for a while. This locale provides a 360 degree view of all of Rio and it’s simply breathtaking. The sheer size of the city is incredible. It’s easily the biggest city I’ve ever seen, and the amazing part of that is that it’s not even the biggest city in Brazil. Just thinking about that boggles my mind.

The statue is pretty amazing too. Obviously, for some people (not me of course) it’s very spiritually inspiring. I found it incredible just how big it was and that the people were able to build something of that magnitude up on top of such a high mountain. I have some very cool pictures of the statue that I’ll share with you all the next time that I upload.

After we finished there we took the cable car back down. At this point, two of my travel companions, Karen and Lauren, wanted to go shopping, so Rob and I obliged and headed off to the mall with them. We decided that we all wanted to buy Brazilian clothes to wear out that night, so we all bought new outfits. Incredibly all of us ended up buying pastel colors, so we all kind of matched. You’ll be able to see what I’m talking about in the pictures.

After the mall we went back to the hotel, got ready and headed out to a chuscarria, also known in the States as a Brazilian steakhouse. We ate meat for what seemed like hours, and I also managed to find time to call my parents which I hadn’t been able to do yet. I finally managed to get them both on the phone at the same time, which apparently has been no small miracle as of late.

After dinner we headed out for another night of dancing and fun. A group of our friends had met some Brazilian locals who spoke perfect English so we headed out with them to a club called Sky Lounge. This was by far the craziest place I have ever been. The line outside was packed, but since one of the locals I was with knew the manager, I was able to get in without too much of a wait. Once inside, we drank and danced until almost 5 a.m. One of the funnier things that happened was that when I was introduced to Brazilian girls, they kissed me on the cheek, and the first few times that this happened, I moved my head the wrong way. I know, I’m a moron. We finally made it home and got some much needed sleep.

The next day we checked out of the hotel, but our flight wasn’t until late, so we just tooled around Rio for a while. Finally, late that night we caught our plane back to Salvador. I thought things couldn’t have gotten any more nuts. Apparently, I was wrong.

The following day in Salvador, most of the Semester at Sea students went to a soccer game between Bahia, the local team, and their rivals, Vitoria. A Brazilian soccer game is a sight to behold, but wanting more out of it then to just sit with a bunch of Americans, a few of us were brave enough to go sit with the local hooligans. It was awesome. Even before the game kicked off we were dancing in the stands, yelling, and jumping up and down. It was truly awesome, and to be honest I never felt scared once. The people in the stands were very nice, although it did help that were cheering very loudly for Bahia. When they scored a goal, it was more insane than any game I’ve ever been to a Bryant-Denny, including the Florida game, and the Tennessee game two years ago, which I didn’t think it was possible to get more crazy than that.
Last night, as the boat pulled out of Salvador harbor, I realized that I loved Brazil. I desperately wanted to go back and see some of the things I had missed like Sao Paulo, and Brasilia. But as the boat steamed across the Atlantic in the early evening, a thought crossed my mind. If I’d had so much fun in Brazil, what would South Africa be like? Stay tuned for the answer.

The Life Aquatic and Fast Times in Puerto Rico

2006-01-26T07:15:00.000-08:00

So, here I am, just a few hours after we've left Puerto Rico and I have a whole lot to report on. First, an update on Shipboard life. It's been rocky still, and when I show the pictures you will understand what I'm talking about. A lot of people have been sick, but thanks to a few remedies I've, for the most part been okay.

Now, onto Puerto Rico.

Monday morning, I woke up, looked out the window and saw dry land instead of rough seas. It was definately a welcome change. We had to wait on the ship for a few hours so that everyone could clear customs and immigration into Puerto Rico, but other than that, it was pretty speedy to get off the boat. For that first day, a big group of us just toured around in Old San Juan. Honestly, it wasn't anything like what I expected. It was far more beautiful and full of culture that I can possibly describe. The people in San Juan are really friendly and everyone wants to know if you like Puerto Rico. After a quick trip back to the ship, some of us went out to the Welcome reception, which I only stayed at for ten minutes because I felt really sick. I went back to the ship and took a nap, and then I was awoken by the sounds of friends asking me if I wanted to go out. I obliged and we headed off to two local hotspots, Marias and Cafe Nourika. The drinks were cheap, the crowd was wild, and the atmosphere was good there. I went home that night knowing that this place had much more to offer than I had previously thought.

Tuesday I woke up and went to the rainforest. This was incredible. Although I didn't see any animals, I did see one of the most lush landscapes that I had ever seen. Following this trip I went to lay out on the beach near where the ship was docked, and generally just relaxed for a while. A few of my friends headed off to a cock fight so the remaining ones of us went to dinner, and then back to Marias. Later that night we headed to an area called bar square, where everyone from SAS seemingly was there. We all just sat outside talking and drinking, and just having fun, until I had my fill and went home for the evening.

Wednesday, a bunch of us went to El Morro, which was the stronghold fort of the Spanish during the colonial days. I really enjoyed it there since there was so much history to learn and information to be absorbed. After this we did another lap around Old San Juan, and headed off to Starbucks where they had free internet so we sent out a few emails. Then it was back to ship and on the way.

All in all, Puerto Rico was awesome. I had a great time there and the pictures will show you what it was like. To see them visit: http://community.webshots.com/user/taubm001. We get to Salvador in six days so I'll see you guys sometime in between. Hope everyone reading this is doing well.

Adios mis amigos.

Warning

2006-01-21T13:30:00.000-08:00

So I just looked at my comments since I haven't checked them since I left for the Bahamas, and I noticed that one of my fraternity brothers, (and I know its ya'll because you're the only ones who say that) posted something semi-inappropriate on there. Normally I wouldn't care unless it was about to be broadcast on national tv (right Brett?) but since all of my family members including my grandparents read this, don't post that on here. If you really want to be a tool and say something like that, then email me, since you know that address. Honestly I'm keeping this page up to share my trip with other people, and I would hope that since you all are supposedly my brothers, that you would show some level of restraint. There are certain members of my family that don't have such a high opinion of Alabama and the students that attend it, so lets not prove her right.

Thanks

Finally Here!!

2006-01-21T13:28:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,

This is entry is the first to come to you from on board the MV Explorer. I have been here for the better part of three days now, and I really love it here. The only complaint that I have about the entire thing is that the ship has been a little rocky, especially in our main meeting room, known as the Union. But before I get into life on the ship, let me give a recap of the Bahamas.
I arrived there on Monday morning after waking up at 4 a.m. to leave for the airport. That first day was pretty uneventful until I got back to the hotel after dinner. I met up with a friend and she and I headed down to the nightclub in the hotel, which by the way was the Atlantis. What we found there were loads of other Semester at Sea kids just having a good time and getting to know one another. By the time I went to bed at 3:30, I had probably met more people than I had my entire first week at Alabama.
The second day was much of the same, with the day consisting of laying out in the sun and being treated to nice meals by my parents and grandparents. That night I pretty much did the same thing, only this time I met even more people. The night was culminated with a walk on the beach at around 2:30 with a few friends, and as I sat on the beach watching the waves roll in, I realized that this trip was worth it already, and I couldn’t even imagine what was to come when I boarded the boat.
With Wednesday being pretty uneventful, on Thursday morning the time had finally arrived to board the ship. Although I had to wait in line to get through to the ship for almost three hours, once I got on board, I knew it was worth the long wait. The ship is amazing, immaculately clean and just a great environment to hang out in. Making new friends has been extremely easy and while I still want to meet new people, I feel like my core group of people that I will spend most of my time with has already begun to form, even after three short days.
All in all, I’m really enjoying my voyage so far. My classes have been good and I know that they will only to continue to get better. I’m not very seasick, though after sitting in the Union for an hour and a half today, I had to go back to my room and lay down for a while since I was feeling a little dizzy. I’m sure I’ll get used to it in the upcoming days and weeks.
Hopefully everyone is having a good time wherever they are and I will write again after we leave San Juan. We arrive there on Monday and we will be leaving on Wednesday so look for a post sometime either Thursday or Friday.
See you after Puerto Rico.

Wanna Leave Now!

2006-01-12T07:46:00.000-08:00

So here we are, just a mere 4 days before I am scheduled to leave and honestly it can't come fast enough. I've just been so bored around here but the small little errands that I've had to run lately have made the time go by a little faster. Today I have to drive all the way to Elkridge just becasue apparently it's the only place in the state with a pharmacy that carries the stupid little patches that keep you from getting seasick. Oh well. Oh and I'm also going to the dentist because my mom thinks that I should give starving children in third world countries toothbrushes. I thought I should give them food, but I guess there's some sort of law against that. I don't really know. Anyways....so I sent out a bunch of emails with my blog in them and so hopefully someone will leave me something good. This is my last post before I leave for the Bahamas, the next one will come from the MV Explorer.

Peace,
Dan

Itinerary for Semester at Sea Spring 2006

2006-01-05T11:39:00.001-08:00

Nassau, Bahamas
Depart: January 19, 2006 @ 4 p.m.

San Juan, Puerto Rico
Arrive: January 23, 2006 @ 8 a.m.
Depart: January 25, 2006 @ 11 p.m.

Salvador, Brazil
Arrive: February 1, 2006 @ 8 a.m.
Depart: February 5, 2006 @ 11 p.m.

Cape Town, South Africa
Arrive: February 14, 2006 @ 8 a.m.
Depart: February 20, 2006 @ 11 p.m.

Port Louis, Mauritius
Arrive: February 27, 2006 @ 8 a.m.
Depart: March 1, 2006 @ 11 p.m.

Chennai, India
Arrive: March 9, 2006 @ 8 a.m.
Depart: March 13, 2006 @ 11 p.m.

Yangon, Myanmar
Arrive: March 16, 2006 @ 8 a.m.
Depart: March 21, 2006 @ 6 a.m.

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Arrive: March 26, 2006 @ 8 a.m.
Depart: March 31, 2006 @ 6 a.m.
(During this time I will spend most of my trip in Penom Penh, Cambodia)

Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
Arrive: April 3, 2006 @ 8 a.m.
Depart: April 4, 2006 @ 11 p.m.
(Upon arrival I will immediately depart Hong Kong for Beijing, China and will meet the ship in the next port)

Qindao, People's Republic of China
Arrive: April 7, 2006 @ 8 a.m.
Depart: April 8, 2006 @ 11 p.m.

Kobe, Japan
Arrive: April 11, 2006 @ 8 a.m.
Depart: April 15, 2006 @ 11 p.m.

San Diego, California, USA
Arrive: April 28, 2006 @ 8 a.m.

Getting Ready

2006-01-04T11:28:00.000-08:00

Wow, these have been some of the most hectic weeks of my life. Between trying to get forms signed when I was at school, to getting shots at home, to making lists, getting ready for Semester at Sea has been a trial to say the least. At least it's only a few days away. 12 to be exact. To be honest, I can't wait to get out of here.

By the way, this blog is for the following people: Family, friends, other SASers, and of course my ZBT boys down at school.