Blog 14

This blog not about anything specific; its just some thoughts about life aboard the ship, random topics of interest, and anything that I've missed since my blogging sabbatical.

The date is March 29, 2010 and we are currently sailing southwest along the coast of South Africa. I found this out last night during my workout. The workout deck is on the starboard side of the ship on the 7. For all you back home, that is the right side if you're facing the way the vessel is, and our ship has 7 decks. The workout area has a covered top but open to the outside. There are floor-to-ceiling windows that allow the passengers to look out into the sea. I was carrying on with my routine last night, when I noticed a coast full of lights. It is always very exciting when the ship can see anything but water, water, and more water. For example, the first time we saw another boat; the first time we saw a whale; and the first time we saw dolphins. I came back to the room to look on our closed circuit TVs to realize that we are in fact just sailing right along the coast for the next two days until we arrive in Cape Town. I am very very excited to reach Cape town. I'm scheduled for a 3 day Safari and I'm gonna hit a Rugby game and try to go Ostrich racing! We just watched Invictus the other night, and it got me even more amped about the country. I recommend the movie as well!

The rumors about people getting kicked off are true. At least most of them are. I can vouch for at least one. I hope I'm not throwing my good buddy under the bus by using his name but my friend who I've been exploring many port with, Mac, was released from the program in Mauritius. He will be missed, and there's not a worse kid for this type of thing to happen to. He is always a very happy and adventurous guy, with a smile on his face. He was down for anything and always willing to meet new people and try new things. I'm sure we will stay in contact when we get back. The story with Mack is he took a prescription drug known as adderall that was not prescribed for him. Adderall is a pill prescribed for individuals who have ADD like myself, but it apparently has some different effects on those who don't. My buddy, just took one to help him study for a big test he had. It's a damn shame, and a crock of shit, if you ask me. Because he took one little pill, he's thrown off the ship, missing out on the remaining 3 ports, receives no academic credit, and is stuck with the bill of a flight home from Mauritius. Poor kid. He was caught because he was drug tested and before the drug test, he admitted his offense and the still, they enforced full punishment. Other rumors, I know for fact are true, are that 2 other guys were thrown off in India from faking a prescription and trying to get drugs at an Indian pharmacy. Another one that I heard was that a kid was thrown off for heroin. I am pretty sure that one is true as well, don't know details but I heard he was quarantined in the lower decks for the remainder of his time here. A lifelong learner who I karaoke'd with in Japan is gone now for puffin the Maryjane in one of the ports, and he didn't even do it on the ship. I know that a lot of people are getting drug tested and that since I was friends with Mack, I'm on the chopping block. I don't have anything to worry about in that department though, and I'm thanking my lucky stars that I haven't made poor choices.

The administration here treats us like children, and have done a good job of instilling fear into the students and all the passengers, including lifelong learners. Kinda like Hitler did. There is very little freedom on the ship, we're treated like middle schoolers. Though we're all over 18 and I'm 22, we are still only permitted to have 3 drinks a night, and only on pub nights. We are not allowed to bring alcohol on the ship and but we have the option to pay $3.50 for a can of Budweiser or Dixie cup of Franzia. On pub nights, we are not allowed to play music, and if there's any drinks on a table, we can't play games there. They like to keep tabs on us if we roam the boat too late. The other night, I went to the front desk to ask for a stapler at midnight and the lady asked for my room number for "records". I would not be surprised if my room gets searched or I get drug tested after that. We are not permitted to take food outside the dining hall, and if you walk around with bare feet, you'll get dock time. Dock time is one punishment you get if you're in trouble, and it means you must be on the ship for a certain amount of time if the boat is in port. We have occasional talent shows and open-mic nights, which all must be PG rated. There have been kids who have been told they are not allowed to perform because the nature of their acts is deemed inappropriate and one act was affected because he was not permitted to swear in a stand-up routine for college kids. A little ridiculous.

On a lighter note, the sea Olympics were a riot! I had so much fun that day! We started with an opening ceremony in the union, which is our big lecture hall, where everyone showed their spirit and wore their seas colors. I was in the Aegean sea and we were light blue and I led our seas chant! All day, were events like tug-o-war, dance competitions, synchronized swimming, flip-cup (with water of course), lip syncing, and relays. It was like an adult field day, very fun! I participated in the pull-up completion, a pass-the-orange-without-hands relay, and tug-o-war. The day all ended with a big cookout with AMERICAN FOOD on deck 7! AHHHH!!!!! It was awesome!! Ribs and burgers, I think I had about 3 plates and then a 2 full dishes of ice cream. We ended up not placing in the top 3, but the day was very exciting and is still my favorite day on the ship so far. After dinner, everyone jumped in the pool with their clothes on, until we couldn't fit any more people in and everyone started chanting. The fun police eventually broke it up and we were asked to get out. A few days later we would get to India.

Between India and Mauritius, we had Neptune day. This was the day that we crossed the equator, and man! was it hot! I think I'm still peeling from that day. To celebrate Neptune day, a good chunk of the ship shaved their heads, even girls! So now the boat looks like a make a wish foundation, or a lesbian cruise. I decided not to shave my head because, well, it's nothing new for me. I should have shaved my beard, a clean shave would have really stunned my friends and family. It was the saddest day of the trip, though, a good percentage of girls went from hot… to looking like 4^th grade boys that morning. A damn shame! No, only kidding, the day was very fun and eventful. There was a ceremony where everyone got in a line and got fish heads dumped on them, then kissed a dead fish on the lips, and jumped into the pool. By the end, you couldn't see your hand 6 inches under the murky water. Yummy. That day, most of the students spent the day by the pool lounging, and they actually put music on that day. The only thing missing was the kegs, haha. That evening, we had a BBQ once again and watched the sunset out on the deck. Once again, a very good day.

There is little to be said about Mauritius, mostly because there was very little done in Mauritius (or very little I remember), but everyone just sat on the beach and drank beer. I will say that the country is absolutely, stunningly beautiful and it rivals the Caribbean in beauty. The terrain is very tropical and the towns are carved out of the forest. The beaches are white sand and the water is aqua green. I got the same feeling from the people in Mauritius as I did from the people of Hawaii. Kind of a laid back atmosphere, in which time or urgency was not an issue, and the pot may or may not have been plentiful. The SASers did use the port as spring break release, after the country of India and the stress of midterm exams, but treated it with much respect. We rented a house on the beach for a very reasonable price and were very impressed by the accommodations and condition of our stay. I would love to return to Mauritius!