HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

On Saturday February 19, I participated in a habitat for humanity service project. So at about 8 am, I along with my Morehouse brothers and some other SAS students traveled to the outskirts of Cape Town to a township alongside the highway. As we traveled to what was considered to be one of the better townships in Cape Town, we drove passed mile long stretches of tin shacks that many blacks called their homes. It was actually disgusting to think that Cape Town was so developed and thriving, while less than 15 minutes away there were THOUSANDS of people living in extremely inhumane conditions…the country’s native people at that.

After driving a bit more, our group met up with a Habitat for Humanity employee who took us to our work site. We were all given hard hats and put to work. We assisted in the construction of a small two-bedroom, one-bathroom house for a 26-year-old woman with two small daughters. We stacked bricks, made cement, applied tiles, and ultimately made a major dent in the construction of this woman’s home.  We had the opportunity to interact with many local children in the area as well. I had my ipod with me so I played a bit of music and the children danced and just enjoyed themselves. Children came from all over the township to talk with us and it was really a great time. We ended up buying the children a rugby ball from a local corner store and they had a blast.

During the day, I also had the time to speak with the Habitat for Humanity representative about the logistics of the program. She shared with me the fact that there is an extensive application process as well as a long waiting list for individuals looking to get a home built by Habitat for Humanity. She also shared that the program requires that the household income be less than 5000 Rand or $685 a month. It was a great feeling to be able to lend a hand to someone in need, and it meant even more to be able to see the woman and children who would eventually paint the walls and furnish the home we were building.

After my day of service, I chilled around the port for a while. We eventually made our way to cape point, a strip of restaurants and lounges along the coast. There we ate at a great restaurant and just chilled for the night, it was a great time in South Africa!

 

FINALLY IN SOUTH AFRICA

On Thursday February 17, I woke up really early with the intent of watching the MV Explorer dock into Victoria Wharf Harbor, in Cape Town, South Africa. As I looked out onto the Atlantic Ocean, I saw the outline of Cape Town. The most distinguishable structures were table mountain and lions head, two huge mountains that tower over the main part of the city. Unfortunately, the winds were too rough for us to dock on Thursday so we spent an entire day on the ship dismally rocking back and forth when we should have been in port exploring Cape Town.

On Friday February 18, the winds calmed down and we were able to dock in Victoria Wharf Harbor, the main waterfront in Cape Town! For the first time, we were all required to individually go though customs in order to get off of the ship but we were eventually all cleared and we rushed off the ship to see Cape Town. The waterfront was surprisingly developed; there was actually a mall with tons of familiar shops and restaurants. The waterfront and surrounding metropolitan areas were all very misleading. As we ventured throughout the area, I was shocked at how physically beautiful and aesthetically pleasing Cape Town was. There was a long stretch of condominiums and luxurious lofts overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Mile after mile of expensive shops, Gucci, LV, Jimmy Chou, Burberry, Aston Martin, Audi, BMW—they all were present. Familiar firms’ logos were plastered on office buildings, and professionally dressed men and women filled the streets.

The South Africa that I was expecting definitely wasn’t in the part of Cape Town that we were staying…neither were the native Africans. The only Africans I saw that first day were working in service-oriented positions i.e. cab drivers, waiters, security guards, cashiers etc.. Though Cape Town was physically beautiful, it was disheartening to realize that the impact of Apartheid was still prevalent today.  Prior to getting to Cape Town, SAS hosted a pre-port meeting where students were given insight into South Africa and told a bit of the country’s history.  We were all informed of the racial separation that existed in the country. There was a racial hierarchy that historically placed blacks or native Africans at the bottom, Whites at the top, and “Coloreds,” anything in between white and black, in the middle. So as expected, the individuals shopping at the upscale boutiques, driving the luxury vehicles, living in the waterfront properties, and working the white collared jobs were neither black nor colored. I don’t even want to imagine what the area looked like 5 years ago, let alone during apartheid.

That evening we all went to Long Street, a long street of night clubs and bars to experience the South African Night life.  It was honestly a great time and we all enjoyed ourselves. The clubs actually had people from all racial groups and it was great to see the similarities in the way us young adults have a good time.

 

Last day in Accra

On Wednesday morning Kayla, Jamie and I we woke up really early and met up with Paulane, Esenam’s Father’s assistant/driver. Her parents had arranged for him to take us around town to see some of the larger tourist attractions. Our first stop was the National Theatre. We were fortunate enough to receive a free tour of the facility and learn a lot about the structures history.  We also managed to watch an international Ghanaian dance group prepare for their yearly show. The tour guide took us into the main theatre and told us all kinds of interesting facts. He also told us a few wooden carving and Hand made drums. The drums he showed us were huge, and I found it interesting that they were the largest drums in Ghana…

Our next stop was Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park. There we learned a lot about the first Ghanaian President. The park reminded me a lot of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Atlanta. There was also a museum there with a lot distinct items that Nkrumah used in his lifetime. They also had his Cadillac there…it was really nice. The walls of the museum were covered in pictures of Nkrumah with various influential international leaders. He was definitely a world leader and his assassination, like Martin Luther King’s is believed to have been due to the impact that he was destined to have on the world. One thing that I learned that really stood out to me was that the Ghanian Independence Day, March 6 1957 was exactly 33 years before my birthday. I shared this with the tour guide and he said that means I was destined to be great, “maybe the next Obama or something.” All in all it was wonderful to see the history of such a dynamic African leader. It made me feel good to know that despite the lack of publicity America gives to such great African Leaders, that they are still honored and highly revered in their homelands.

After sight seeing with Paulane, we headed to Esenams favorite restaurant to meet her for lunch. The menu had chicken fajita and French fries so I indulged…and sincerely enjoyed my non-Ghanaian meal. After we all ate, we said our goodbyes to Esenam and prepared to head back to Takoradi. We thanked her so much for her generosity and gave her a thank you card expressing our appreciation for her hospitality. I sincerely believe that we will all be lifelong friends and I intend on returning to Ghana and one day interacting with her in America. She hopes to attend Law School in the US, and I know that she will undoubtedly make it happen. Esenam and I exchanged twitter information as well, so I am now legitimately international.

Before paulane dropped us off at the Luxury bus station, we stopped at Kinichi (sp) market. It was a gigantic warehouse with floor after floor of vendors selling hand crafted jewelry, clothes and other Ghanaian items. Outside surrounding the market there were many people selling live animals—chickens, goats, fish and other sea food. We bought a few more gifts and headed back to Takoradi. I  truly enjoyed my experience in Accra, and sincerely hope to return.

Pics from Ghana will be added at a later date. A few, however can be viewed on my facebook page… (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=506467396)

Accra, GHANA like a native continued

We woke up pretty early on Tuesday to check out of our hostel and meet Esenam for breakfast. She caught a taxi to our hostel and took us to her favorite breakfast spot. It was a nice mom and pop restaurant near her school. I ordered chocolate chip waffles and bacon and really enjoyed it. Kayla also got a few pastries for us to try. We ate really quickly and made our way to Esenams school to sit in on her finance class. Our taxi dropped us off in front off Ashesi College University in Labone, an area that was pretty close to our hostel and Esenams house. Her school was broken up into 3 buildings each of which were on different streets but within close proximity to one another. We got dropped off at building 2, and went to meet the school’s dean. Despite the small size every aspect of Ashesi was similar to school structures found in America. In meeting the dean, it was very apparent that Esenam’s selection to be an interport student for Semester at Sea was highly regarded.

Her class was in building 3 so we walked the black in a half to her finance class. There we met a few of her friends each of whom wanted to hear all about Esenam’s semester at sea experience. Esenam’s trip to Brazil was actually her first time leaving Ghana so she was really excited to share the experience with her peers. They had tons of questions for her and for her 3 black American friends (us). We sat down in a normal sized classroom and waited for her Finance teacher to arrive. Her classmates (2nd yr college students like Esenam) talked and interacted with one another like we do in America. Many of them came up to her and asked her about her trip, some asked to be introduced to us and they asked us where we were from and things like that.  Her teacher walked in and the room got really quiet, everyone put away their laptops and turned off their phones. Esenam explained that if her phone rang in class, she would be fined $25.

Her teacher was a younger Ghanaian man, he couldn’t have been older than 30…but he commanded the classes attention and all the students appeared to respect him. His lectured the class for a little over an hour. He used a power point presentation to teach them various finance concepts. Fortunately I had taken the class last year so I was flying through the practice problems…Esenam was quite surprised. After class, she introduced us to her professor and after showing us the rest of her campus we headed to lunch. As she showed us the campus she let us know what her classmates said to her about us. I was surprised that many of them assumed I was from The Ashanti region in Ghana before they heard me speak. We eventually took a taxi to downtown Accra. As we drove to the restaurant, we passed many landmarks. Esenam pointed out her dads office building, the National Theatre, the Supreme court, the lower courts, and most memorably Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park. The restaurant we went to was right below the National Theatre.

At dinner the day before, Esenam’s parents really encouraged us to try fufu, so that’s what we ordered along with friend rice. The fufu was inside of a big bowl of light soup with chicken. Traditionally it is eaten with one’s bare hands, but since we were sharing a large bowl, we all agreed that we should use spoons. I was the first one to try it so as tasted it, both Kayla and Jamie tried to read my facial expression. It was definitely different. It appeared to be a big ball of cookie dough that had been placed in the middle of chicken soup. In tasting it, it was the same consistency as well. I didn’t mind the taste but I still haven’t decided if I liked it or not. The fried rice was really good though.

After the meal we headed to Esenam’s house to drop off our things so that we could grab a few more items from Oxford Street. When we got to her house, her mother greeted us and welcomed us inside again. She offered us water and assured us that our items were welcome in their living room until we returned. Before we left for Oxford Street, we visited the third grade class of her mother’s school. The students had just finished eating lunch. There were 6 kids in the class, 3 boys and 3 girls, each of them were dressed in a school uniform. The girls wore black and white dotted dresses while the boys wore yellow collared shirts with black pants. They were initially really reserved and quiet but once their teacher encouraged them to ask questions, they livened up. “Do you all like cheese pizza?” “What about chocolate?” “In America are there Alps?”…they had learned about the Swiss Alps earlier that day. We answered each of their questions and showed them our home states on the big map they had in their classroom.  I pointed to the mitten, Kayla to California and Jamie to St. Louis. Before we left I gave each of the children a bag of crayons and a few pages of coloring books…fortunately I had just enough for the entire class. It was a great experience and I plan to check up on my new little friends in the future.

After more souvenir shopping we headed back to Esenam’s house to retrieve our things. But not before participating in Terrific Tuesday, a weekly occurrence when a specific pizza spot has a 2 for 1 sale. Though slightly less cheesy, the Ghanaian pizza was really good and didn’t differ much in taste. While on Oxford Street we ran into a few of our Semester at Sea friends that we had intended on meeting up with later that evening so we all checked into a close hostel and made plans for the evening. After checkingin, Esenam, Kayla, Jamie and I headed back to Esenam’s house to gather our things. When we got there her father had arrived home from work and he was really excited to see us. He welcomed us all with open arms and invited us to sit down and converse a little more. At one point her older brother, Roland, came in and introduced himself to all of us. He shared with us that he was an artist and pointed out some of his work that was hanging in the family room.  He offered one picture to Kayla at least 5 times. He also told us that 4 of his paintings are in the Art Gallery in Down Town Accra. Before we left, we took plenty of pictures and exchanged contact information with Esenams parents. Her mom took us back to the hostel and said her goodbyes.
That evening we just hung out around oxford street, we got a late night meal at a local lounge and called it a night soon after.

Accra, GHANA like a native

Monday Morning we woke up really early to head to Accra, with our new friend, Esenam, the interport student who joined the voyage in Brazil to educate us on Ghana. With Esenam’s assistance we all made it to the bus station, stocked up on bottled water (1.5 liters for 1.2 cedis or $.85) , and boarded another passenger for the 4 hr ride to Accra. The ticket was only 8 cedis or $5.75…though the bus was packed it was still a great deal. At some point in the ride we stopped to at a petro station to recharge and let a few people off. A couple of us had to use the restroom so we got out also. We asked the locals to show us to the bathroom and they pointed us to a path the led behind the petro station. We continued down the path, which eventually took us into a village of sorts. We walked over hand made wooden bridges, past wild chickens and goats and eventually made it to a bathroom in the middle of the village with a few urinals and sinks. After paying to use the rest room we made our way back to the petro station. Along the way we ran into a couple of young girls with low cut fades dressed in their schools uniforms. Fortunately I had my book bag on so I gave each of them a bag of crayons and few pages from various coloring books. That experience alone was amazing, but it doesn’t even compare to the rest of my time in Ghana. A few hours later, the passenger van dropped us all off at a total petro station in Accra and our group of ten split up.

I, along with my roommate Jamie and my “Orange, California” friend, Kayla, went with Esenam. Her father had arranged for his assistant/driver, Paulane, to pick us up from the station and take us to our hostel to get settled. While we checked into our room and got settled, Esenam dropped her things off at her house. Paulane brought her back a little later and took us to Oxford Street to do a little souvenir shopping and sight seeing. We spent a few hours walking through the shopping district and bartering with many of the vendors. I got a lot of nice items, and at one point Esenam told me that I barter better than most locals. It was great to be immersed in the culture, I felt so welcome and at home amongst the native Ghanaians. Each little street shop had something to offer, some had colorful paintings, traditional African clothing, handcrafted wooden artifacts, fabrics, instruments, jewelry, luggage and even shoes. You could seriously find just about anything on Oxford Street! After a few hours we headed to Koala, local grocery stores to get some ice cream as Esenams parents asked her to. I distracted Esenam while Jamie and Kayla picked out a nice card to give her parents after dinner.

We took a taxi to her house and as we drove there she pointed out the different landmarks that we passed. It was kind of cool to see the American Embassy, unfortunately pictures are prohibited but it was a lot bigger than all the other embassies.  We also passed the German embassy and the visual arts and media college. We pulled up in front of a large white cement structure with a big wooden gate. To the left of the gate doors was an awning that read “Mothers Nest School” and to the left was a sign that read “cake school.” Esenam told the taxi driver to stop and we got out. There was a guard standing in front of the mahogany gate and when he saw Esenam he opened the doors. She let us know that we had arrived at her family’s compound.
We walked inside the gate and Esenam told us that the right side of the compound was her uncles and that the left side was her parents. As we walked towards her side of the compound, she introduced us to her mom who was standing inside of their guesthouse. Her mom told us to go inside the main house and Esenam took us inside. The foyer area had been converted into an office space. She later told us that the guesthouse had been renovated and is now a third grade classroom of the elementary school that her mother runs. She also told us that the office was the schools main office area. When we walked into her actual house, she introduced us to her father and he welcomed us graciously. He invited us all to sit down and immediately began further introducing himself. In the midst of conversation, Esenam’s mom walked into the house and let us know that it was Ghanaian tradition to offer guests water …and so she brought us bottled water on a platter and let us know that traditionally they started with the person on the right. Afterwards she continued to set up for dinner.

Esenam’s father talked to us a little about African traditions and his family history, he spoke with so much pride about being from the Volta region. He also talked about his three children, and how proud he was of them.  He shared with us that Roland, Esenam’s eldest brother recently graduated from college and is currently completing his national service and that her other older brother is an upper division college student. He talked about his profession as a manager for the Ghanaian Electricity Company and how much he enjoyed his work. Her father was so kind, and he was so proud of his culture and just life in general.  After sharing a little information about ourselves, Esenam and her mother returned and informed us that dinner was ready.
We moved into a different room where the table had been set and there was a full spread of various local dishes. Before we could eat, we each washed our hands. Esenam’s mother brought each of us a bowl of warm water and hand soap to wash our hands. We began the meal with “light soup” which consisted of a spicy broth and beef chunks. It was delicious! I wanted seconds but knew that there was so much more food to be had hahah. The main dish consisted of Jolof (sp), a rice and vegetable dish, fired plantains, both baked and fried chicken and a seasoned tomato sauce that natives refer to as stew. The meal was seriously amazing and the Ghanaian strawberry ice cream we had for desert topped it off. Over dinner we talked about Ghanaian traditions, specifically the local custom of using the right hand for everything. Esenam’s father explained that the left hand is considered impure and that its use is offensive. He even shared the fact that in the past you couldn’t even flag down a taxi with your left hand. Esenam’s mom also talked about the chances in Ghanaian culture. She specifically talked about the way the family structure is changing so much in the country and how when she was growing up they took the whole “it takes a village to raise a child” to heart. She attributed the change to urbanization and the influence of western society’s on the Ghanaian culture. The experience was amazing and I truly hope to be able to come back and visit one day. Before we left to go back to our hostel, we gave Esenam’s parents a thank you card. They were so happy and invited us back to visit anytime.

Ancestral Blood Sweat and Tears

On Sunday February 6, 2011 I made it home! We finally docked at an industrial port in Takoradi, Ghana. In our nine day journey to mama Africa, I forged a great friendship with the Ghanaian inteport student, Esenam (Es-see-nam), and had made plans to spend a few days in her hometown and the Ghanaian capital, Accra. The first day in Ghana, we were welcomed into the country by many locals; some were playing handcrafted drums and dancing in the local garb.  Others were selling local crafts—utensils, paintings, instruments, jewelry. We got off the ship as soon as the ship received clearance from Ghanaian Customs and made our way to the taxis. I was immediately embraced “my brotha! my brotha!” The locals were so happy to see the few black faces amongst the sea of other races making this journey around the world. They were so welcoming…I cant even recall how many times I was asked my name, email address or facebook account information (I was reluctant at first).  After getting a taxi to the bus station we paid 3 cedis or $2.15 for a 1.5 hr ride on a passenger van to cape coast so that we could tour the castles and slave dungeons.

The ride to cape coast took us through various areas and it was amazing to see the local women and young girls carrying baskets and other containers on their heads as they walked along side the road. Our van made a couple stops along the way and our windows were constantly swarmed with local vendors selling water bags and bottles, fruit, boiled eggs and other random items. I was so tempted to take pictures but realized how disrespectful and annoying that would have been. As we got closer to cape coast, the scenery changed from small roadside villages and long stretches of jungle to a beautiful sandy coast. The water was so blue and untarnished…I honestly felt like I had been thrust into the middle of a travel magazine—a literal utopia. We eventually made it to the end of the bus line and caught a taxi to the first castle.

Years and years of learning about the slave trade and countless visits to the African history museum don’t compare to impact of visiting both Elmina and Cape Coast castles. Both structures were striking in exterior appearance, but the history and the blood shed that lies deep within them are shrilling. The stench from within was unbearable and the thought of my ancestors being forced to live in such horrible conditions was surreal. I set foot in the male and female slave quarters—each of which lacked ventilation, had little to no lighting and reeked of bodily waste, blood sweat and tears. My description doesn’t do the experience justice in the slightest and I ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO MAKE THE TREK TO BOTH CASTLES.

After interacting with the local children and grabbing a bite to eat at a restaurant outside of Cape Coast castle, our taxi driver for the day, “Lord”, took us to a roadside passenger van station and ensured that the group of 4 of us that were in his taxi got back to Takoradi. On the ride back our van made so many stops…dropping locals off and picking them up. It took us about 2 hours to get back but the experience was well worth. That night I along with a lot of other SAS students went to Ocean bar to watch the superbowl…we had a great time and really didn’t get to watch much because the venue was over capacity.

 

Abrigado!- Brazil

On Sunday January 23, after the MV explorer’s first journey through the Amazon, we docked in Manaus, Brazil, which appeared to be an industrial town. The first thing I noticed was the language barrier, unlike in Dominica, where nearly everyone spoke some form of broken English, most Brazilians we encountered only spoke Portuguese. Trying to get a cab and tell the driver where we wanted to go was truly an experience. Our first stop was the “meeting of the waters,” a point where the dark black Rio Negra and muddy brown Salimoes Rivers meet, without mixing, forming the Amazon river. There is a distinct line that divides the two bodies of water and to see it was really cool. To get there, we took a small motorboat that had room for about 15 people. After a 10-minute ride, my entire group was amazed that the two waters did not mix at all, there was literally no point of convergence. Our ride continued with a visit to a floating house, where we saw really big fish and got great pictures of them aggressively eating bait. I also found out that some natives build their homes on logs in the water, and as a result they don’t have to pay for land and during the months of June and July, when water levels rise up to 20 feet, they don’t have to worry about their homes flooding.
After the boat tour, we ventured into a fish market where locals bought live fish and butchers gutted big fish…for everyone to see. The smell was overwhelming, but it was definitely a worthwhile experience. After successfully getting a reasonably priced taxi, we got dropped off in downtown Manaus. One of the main attractions of the area is the Opera house. There was also a lot of other nice architecture (buildings and statues) in the area. We walked through Manaus to the street market, which is only open on Sundays. The main street of the city was taken over by hundreds of vendors selling different hand crafted artifacts, jewelry, fragrances, fresh fruit drinks and Brazilian shish kabobs. The area was filled with enticing aromas, but we all remembered not to try the foreign delicacies…I just know I wasn’t trying to get sick. But I did taste some local fruit, and bought some handcrafted gifts. We eventually stopped at a local burger joint, I reluctantly ordered a bacon cheeseburger but was really happy I did. It was one of the best burgers I have ever had in my life, and in addition to the beef patty and bacon, there was a piece of ham on the sandwich too. I didn’t even need fries to compliment the meal.
That night, after recovering from the Brazilian heat we all went to the Samba. It was a huge street festival something like an American rave minus the drugs. There were tons of locals dancing and playing instruments. We were right in the mix of things, dancing and drumming along with the locals. The women were teaching SAS girls how to dance like Brazilians and I just watched in amazement . I even had the opportunity to play a few different instruments along with the band. All in all, it was a great night in Manaus and I felt like I truly experienced a part of Brazilian culture.
On the second day in Brazil, we decided to take a public bus around the city and eventually ended up at the mall. The mall was really nice and seemed to be in a very progressive, and developing area. Unlike the women we encountered near the port, the women at the mall were all extremely beautiful. They all had beautiful skin, nice teeth (many had braces), and were all…well put together. Surprisingly, most things in the mall were more expensive than they were in America. A fry at McDonalds was 6Rias or $4.50…but I was craving a fry so I bought one hahaha. After a couple of hours in the mall, we made our way back to the port. As we made our way to the bus stop, I realized how many stray dogs were wandering the streets. Initially I thought nothing of it, but then I realized that they were navigating their way through the town better than most people were. They stayed on the side-walk, stopped at intersections, and crossed at corners…it was really weird. At about 7, a group of 17 of us met up and went to Buffalo (pronounced boof-a-low), a Brazilian steakhouse. We had heard from many locals how nice the dining experience would be. We left the ship and the cab initially took us to the wrong place, we sat down and realized that the restaurant wasn’t as nice as everyone had described. After figuring out where the right Buffalo was, and getting taxis there, our Brazilian dining experience was underway. We walked into an upscale, white tablecloth, formal dining restaurant. We sat down and were waited on by at least 6 waiters.  Each waiter brought different types of grilled meats, which they cut off of skewers. The variety was unbelievable but we didn’t always know what we were eating. I actually tried chicken heart, which is a local Brazilian delicacy. I tried it…and don’t intend on tasting it ever again. But despite the unique meat options, the experience was definitely one I will remember, and I don’t think I have ever been so full in my life. After hours in the restaurant, we made our way back to the port and called it a night.
On Tuesday, we took the bus to the Cigs Zoo. On the ride to the zoo we noticed that the Brazilian military had a real presence in some of he neighborhoods we passed through. At one point we saw a military vehicle and armed military personnel on every corner. the area seemed to be pretty calm, but I attribute that to their presence. The bus dropped us off right in front of the zoo and I thought it was interesting that military personnel staffed and ran the animal facility. The entrance fee for the zoo was 4Rias or $3, and it was well worth it. Though I could have gone into the Amazon and saw monkeys or sloths, it was a great experience to be able to compare the differences between the Brazilian zoo and those I’ve visited in America.  The obvious difference was the armed military members walking around, but the size of the exhibits and their proximity to the guests and one another was different. The zoo wasn’t too big, but there were a host of animals there to see. We saw tortoises, like 12 breeds of birds—vultures, eagles, toucans, parrots etc.—a Panther, Tiger, Aardvark, Cheetah and more that 5 breeds of monkeys. There were other animals too but I just can’t recall them right now. Unlike at other zoo’s I’ve visited, all the animals were located relatively close to one another, they each had their own distinguishable spaces, but the monkeys were across from the birds and the on the other side were all the large cats. I also realized how close to the observation area the exhibits were. There was really nothing preventing me from putting my hand in the cage with any of the animals. Regardless of the differences, I really enjoyed myself and topped the experience off with another cheeseburger from the food court at the zoo. After some minor souvenir shopping and general sight-seeing we headed back to the ship for the night. It had really been a long day, and we were all content with chilling on the ship for the night.
On Wednesday January 26th, we spent our entire day exploring the street markets of Manaus. We found a lot of different clothing and souvenir shops, most of which sold similar items. We encountered hundreds of stores and vendors throughout the day and even found a huge grocery store that reminded me a lot of Costco or Sam’s club. We stocked up on snacks for the ocean days on the way to Ghana. Most of the things I purchased were Brazilian renditions of American products. I got Doritos, Pringles, and Oreos all of which were flavored slightly differently. That night my Morehouse Brothers and I organized a party boat, we managed to get about 50 Semester at Sea students on board of a double-decked riverboat to cruise the Rio Negra for a couple of hours. We put together a few hours worth of music and boarded the boat at around 10:30. We had a great time, and intend on doing something similar in a future port.
On Thursday, we prepared to leave Manaus and head for Ghana. After last-minute souvenir shopping, one more Brazilian cheese burger and a little time roaming the city, we boarded the MV explorer prepared to head to Ghana.

Pictures coming soon….

Dominican Experience

I know its been a little while, but my internet on the ship is extremely limited…but on January 13, after 3 days of sailing, we finally made it from Nassau to Dominica! We got off the MV explorer at about 9:30 set on independently hiking around the island. Fortunately we were immediately approached by tour guides who were set on taking us to the various sights around Dominica. After a bit of bartering, my group and I all agreed on a reasonable price of $10 per person for the daylong tour. Our guide took us to Ti Tou Gorge, Trafalgar Falls, the Sulphur springs and an overlook of Roseau, Dominica. The day was filled with tons of hiking and later that night, all of the Semester at Sea students went out to crazy coconuts for a good time (Dominica is known for their rum).

As we got close to the Dock in Dominica

We all hopped into a tour cab to see the island

our first stop was Ti tou Gorge

Then we climbed up to Trafalgar Falls and the hot springs

We also stopped by the sulphur springs

The last stop of the tour was the overlook of Roseau, Dominica

This was only the first day of Dominica….

….But my video “Dominican experience” offers an even more detailed depiction of the time spent there

…Getting to the Bahamas

As most probably know, yesterday there was historic snow fall in Atlanta and as a result, my original flight to Nassau was canceled (I had a layover in ATL). Ironically, the cancellation allowed me to get another duffle bag to accommodate all of my things. My rescheduled flight was also pushed back…but Airtran actually came through and got me on a flight with another airline that didn’t have to go through atlanta. I got to Fort Lauderdale at about 10 and had a 6 hour layover…my voyage is finally underway and I am definitely enjoying the change of weather haha.

After a flight to Fort Lauderdale and a decent layover, I finally boarded the plane to Nassau…and took the 55 minute flight

While on the flight, we got the immigration travel card and had to fill it out for before entering the Bahamas.

Upon landing, I was officially welcomed into the Bahamas!

Finally in the Bahamas…and the the weather didn’t disappoint

The real journey begins…packing

In preparation  for my voyage, one thing that I definitely could not avoid was packing. It was a long and strenuous journey but I finally got it under wraps. After weeks of slowly checking item after item off of “the recommended packing list” I have everything I’ll need for the semester and a two checked bag limit. This is where the hard part comes in…figuring out how to condense 104 days worth of clothes and supplies into 2 collapsable duffle bags. After all was said and done, I made it happen with a little room to spare.

My two wheeled duffle bags and my day pack

 

 

My family’s kitchen table was on over load for a few days with all of the toiletries and other miscellaneous things I’m bringing along on the trip

I took random pictures of the packing process too