Mauritius
3-2-20
Finally, we were able to set foot on land again! We were supposed to be in Seychelles a few days ago. Well, due to COVID-19 less than 24 hours before arriving in Seychelles, we get told that they have changed their minds and denied us access to the island. At that moment they also stated that we would not be going to Mauritius either. I lost it, I had already given up 4 countries. Mauritius was the last country on our ‘itinerary’ that I really wanted to see. It was only my third time on the ship crying. It was really hard for everyone to hear that news but it just all hit me at once. We were all so disappointed because everyone on the ship was making us so excited for Seychelles and we never ended up going :(. A few days later on the ship we have another community meeting. They told us that we will be going to Mauritius for 5/6 days!
How it worked was we docked for one day and had to get back on the ship that night. Then we were just anchored out in the water for 2 days. After that, we came back into the port, we were there for 5 days! It was an AMAZING trip. I got to snorkel with the turtles, hike thumb peak (Le Pouce), a 1.5 km zip line, a 350m suspension bridge, rode ATV’s throughout the whole nature park, and doing a private tour of a waterfall and river that only has water in it for less than 5 months a year. The single day in Mauritius some friends and I went to the local shopping area, had lunch (and a drink of course), then we headed over to the beach where we went snorkeling with sea turtles! That was a really fun day, Kira and I made it back on the ship 15 minutes before on ship time (phew). After being on the ship for 2 more days we were finally back on land.
The first day back me and 3 friends had a driver hired for the day. It was so much fun, he took us to a dormant volcano, a grocery store (which we all loved), and then we went to the nature park. At this nature park we went zip lining on a VERY long zip line, on the zip line you laid down and felt like a bird for a few minutes. We also walked across the suspension bridge where you are literally walking on 2×6 for 350m about 200 ft above the ground, that was sooo scary. The last adventure that day was riding ATV’s around the park. That part was super fun, it was definitely not a beginners ride, there were tons of sharp turns, rocks, holes, puddles, etc. We all had the best time there, many SAS people where there that same day, it was super popular. The next day I had a field class for my world religions class. We saw Hindu temples, sacred lakes, and we went to a local Indian-Mauritian family for homemade lunch. It was some of the best Indian food I have ever had! At one of the temples, they had live cows in their own stalls and you would worship the cow in a certain area to be worshipping your specific deity.
Day 3 I had a field program called Mountain and Beach. We were going to hike the Thumb Peak, also known as Le Pouce. We were all expecting a simple casual hike… well we were all WRONG. It was all so muddy and rocky and slippery. I fell into a big puddle of mud, luckily I had brown shoes on haha. The heat too, everyone was sweating sooo much it was gross. The end of the hike is literally free climbing which was absolutely terrifying. In the end, I made it to the top along with everyone else. We were standing in the clouds which was super fun. Walking back down we were talking with the main guide, he told me about this cool waterfall that he does tours of. I saw it and I knew I had to see it.
The next morning we wake up and check our emails… yet again, another itinerary change. We will no longer be going to Ghana an Morocco, instead it will just be Capetown and Las Palmas (Canary islands). They gave us the option of either getting off in Las Palmas or waiting till Amsterdam. Me and some friends have decided to get off in Las Palmas and travel on our own. That kinda ruined our morning but Kira and I went to the super cool waterfall. We forgot about everything else that was happening and we had the best time ever. We would just literally float down mini waterfalls, we jumped off of cliffs, and we rappelled down a cliff but you did not touch the cliff while rappelling. Your feet were just dangling below your body and when you were 1m above the water the guide would say leave the rope. So what do you do, you let go of the rope and just cover your eyes and fall into the water. It was SO MUCH FUN, we got to swim in the swim hole under the waterfall for a long time. It was such a good day, great thing to do after hearing the bad news. That night we were originally going to go south to do another hike but we were all way to sad and tired to do it. With that, the last day we just walked around the waterfront and had some more good Indian food. Overall, it felt great to be on land again and every minute on the island was appreciated A LOT. Especially since we really have no clue where we are going next or what will be happening.
Vietnam
2-16-20
Due to the Coronavirus, we were not able to visit China which meant we had to spend that time somewhere else. We ended up staying in Vietnam for 12 days! That is a really long time to be in one place on this voyage, usually it is 5-6 days in each port. This meant that we had a lot of time to spend doing a lot of stuff. I kind of had the roll of planning everything for Vietnam which was super fun to do!
We got to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) on February 4, it took us a long time to get into the port since we had to go all the way down a large river to get into Ho Chi Minh. That day I had nothing planned so some friends and I explored downtown, went to the malls, had real Vietnamese food (it was REALLY good) and headed back to the ship. Walking across the streets here is insane. It is very dangerous and busy but we were all able to do it on the first day! All you do is wait on the side of the road for there to be an opening between the cars, buses, trucks, and scooters so you can calmly walk across hoping they all drive around you.
The next morning I was up at 5am since we had a flight at 7:55. We were able to successfully get a taxi to the airport. What did we have for breakfast? Popeyes… it was disgusting, I really did not want it but it was either that or Burger King. Holly, Sam, and I were all going to Buon Ma Thuot to visit the Yok Don National Park. It is the largest nature reserve in Vietnam and they also have free roaming elephants. The flight there was only 45 minutes so it was pretty nice, we didn’t even make it all the way up since the flight was so short. Once we got there we went to the nearest ATM to get cash since none of us had any. This is where things got rough, none of the ATMs were accepting our cards. So instead we tried to use the Vietnamese version of Uber.. Grab. We got a grab car and made it to the hotel.. well Sam had put cash for payment without knowing it! Holly had to run to the nearest ATM to try, her card failed. Luckily I realized that I had American cash and so I went to the reception desk hoping that they would be able to exchange it. They did and I was able to get enough cash to pay off the taxi. We got to the hotel a few hours before we could check in so we were all sitting in the lobby, none of us were having fun, we were all very scared and stressed. Buon Ma Thuot is not much of a touristy city so what did I do, I called my mom for help. I explained how we did not have a tour planned for the national park, we thought it was close but it ended up being an hour away. She explained to me what to do and we were able to get an AMAZING tour the next day. Holly and I both enjoy hiking and nature, Sam on the other hand is not a huge fan yet she insisted on coming with us. Holly and I were all dressed up in good clothes to hike, Sam was wearing cropped leggings and her Chaco sandals.. not a good idea at all. There was a risk of malaria in this town so we were very cautious of what we wore.. except Sam. The tour ended up being great! We got to do some birding in the morning then we walked around to see the 3 elephants that are free roaming around the national park. This didn’t feel like your average National Park, we were not walking on any trails, we would just walk off the main road and go through all of the bushes and trees and such. After that we went on a little wooden boat down the river to a village where the minorities live. Once all of that was over our guide took us back to the city where we went to a family owned cacao farm. We got to try this drink they make with the cacao powder and OMG it was so good. We ended up buying a lot of the powder.. oops. Then he took us to a juice place where all they do is make fresh juice, it was really good juice! Lastly we were off the airport to head on to our next destination… Hoi An!!
Hoi An is such a beautiful place, it is up north and right along the coast. It is definitely a touristy city but it is a really fun place to go to. We had booked an Airbnb there so once we got there that night the 3 of us took a taxi down to the airbnb. We got there and could not figure out how to get in. So we go talk to this group of people next to the house, they say that it’s closed and we all look at eachother like what the heck. So she calls the owner and he comes over. Turns out that he took the place off of Airbnb back in November!! Somehow it was still up on Airbnb and we were able to confirm a booking there! All of us were kind of in shock of what had just happened. We were all super tired and hungry too which really did not help. Sam took over since she was the one that booked it and was on the phone with Airbnb for a long time. The owner was super nice and was trying to help us find a place to stay as well. After a few hours we finally found a place to stay. Let me tell you, I have never stayed in an Airbnb as nice as this one. We all loved it and had the best time ever there! It came with bikes so the next few days we were either playing by the pool ,biking around, going downtown, or going to the beach. One day we went downtown and we found a tailor so we checked it out and we all ended up buying custom made dresses and jumpsuits! They turned out so cute and we all love them. The ladies there were all very nice. The other main thing we did was go to see the lantern festival. It was not that big but it was really cool to see the lanterns and all of the little booths around the river. Once it was time to leave none of us wanted to, we were originally planning on going up to Ha Long Bay but some of us decided to go to Danang which was only 45 minutes north instead.
Only 4 of us went to Danang, we had a nice little hotel by the beach and we all had a great time. We went to the beach and hung out there for a little, we didn’t get to swim since there were big waves and a heavy current. The next day all 4 of us decided to go to a spa and we got massages. We all had a great time doing that and the massages were great as well. That night we all flew back to Ho Chi Minh City since we had field classes/ programs the next day. It was a nice and easy flight back.
That night we ended up staying up much later than we should have and so the next morning I wake up and check my clock to see that it is 11:15am and my early morning field program had almost ended since it ended at 11:45am so sadly I had slept through the whole thing which was really not fun. Luckily, I ended up having a great day exploring Ho Chi Minh City with my friends. We decided to go to Saigon Square which is where they have all of the fake luxury brand stuff. Of course, I bought nothing since I just could not decide on what to get.
That night, I went to the airport with Sam since we had a plan to go to Phu Quoc Island. The flight there was VERY scary. I swear that during take off the plane was shaking and making noises I have never heard, I thought that we were crashing for a few seconds. It really freaked me out, but Phu Quoc was such a pretty island. We stayed in a nice resort right by the beach and all we did was hangout by the ocean and the pool, enjoy drinks and food, and just relax all day. It was a much needed break in this port. The second day there I saw that I had a voicemail so I listened to it… it was from the Wells Fargo Fraud Center. I called them back and it turns out that my credit card had been hacked and it was “on hold” for $0 for a google transaction of some sort. Since it was compromised, I had to cancel my card and get a new one sent to the house even though I am not home. I told my mom of course and luckily she is able to have someone bring my new card to South Africa. Until then I am stuck with only a debit card and American cash.. lets see how it goes. That day we flew back to Ho Chi Minh, it was the worst airport experience I have had in a while. I have a little anxiety flying, the flight out too Phu Quoc just made it worse. It took me about 4 hours to talk myself into getting on a plane again. Luckily I was able to talk to both my mom and the RD on call on the ship. It ended up being the easiest flight throughout my whole time in Vietnam which was really nice.
The next morning I was able to wake up early enough to make it to my Vietnamese cooking class field program! That program was REALLY fun, I made my own spring rolls which ended up tasting super good. We did it in sets of teams and in the end my team won which was pretty fun! We got to take home all of the recipes and a little surprise for winning. That afternoon my friend Kira and I went to get our nails done. It is just something that you have to do in Vietnam. It was so worth it, they were all so nice, it was so cheap, and our nails look great.
Later that night me and some friends went out to a Jazz club and OMG we had the best time ever. One of my friends that came along studies jazz music and jazz vocals and she was able to talk her way into singing at the club! She did very well and it was a super cool experience! It ended up being midnight by the time we left and we were all starving, the only place open was a pizza place calls “Pizza 4P’s”. We had some REALLY GOOD pizza there and it ended up being a very popular restaurant that many SAS students went too all over Vietnam.
Sadly, the next day was our last day in Vietnam. We had a good amount of time that day so I went off to the food market to get lunch and it was my favorite food from the whole trip. I was able to have my favorite vermicelli bowl with pork and it was way better than the food is in America. I found some other friends and we went to a sticker factory where we found some super cool stickers for super cheap. The last thing we got to do was go pick up our custom made clothes. Which of course ended up looking great and fitting perfectly! We were all sad to be leaving Vietnam but at the same time we were all very ready to move onto the next port…. Malaysia ( so we thought).
As everyone knows, Asia as a whole is dealing with the coronavirus right now. This is making it difficult for us to travel around Asia. We were supposed to go to Malaysia and then India. Sadly, we have gotten the news that we will be going to neither of those countries anymore. Instead, we will be going to Seychelles (a SUPER expensive set of very small islands in the Indian Ocean) for 6 days and then we got our time in Mauritius (the place I have always wanted to go to!!) extended to 6 days. Lastly, our time in South Africa has been extended 2 more days. We have had many changes in this voyage but that is part of traveling. You need to be flexible, things can happen.
Japan
1-28-20
Wow! I have finally touched land again. Let me tell you, it feels GREAT to be on land again. I am so excited to be in Japan now, I can not wait to see what there is and what it is like here. Sadly in a side note, they have decided that we will not be going to China due to the continuous spread of the Coronavirus.
We were supposed to get into port around 7:30am so I was up by 5:45 ready to see everything. Seeing land for the first time in 12 days was amazing! We saw all of the other ships, all of the apartment buildings and houses that go all the way up into the mountain areas. Once we got into the port there was a little band playing in the terminal for us, we could hear and see them from the ship. It was super exciting to see that. It took us a while to finally dock and be able to get off the ship. The first day I had a field class so I was in the first group to get off the ship. We had to go through immigration which was actually pretty simple. I was expecting it to be a bit harder and take a much longer time.
The field class I had was for my Principles of Macroeconomics class. We were going to the Japan Stock Exchange and the Bank of Japan. We had to drive on the bus over to Osaka which is about 45 minutes from the ship. Japan is gorgeous! It is very different from the US, there are buildings everywhere. If you look back into the mountains you can see buildings go as far up the mountain as they can. All of the buildings looks different too, there are rarely identical buildings which is pretty cool. We got to see so much on the bus ride to Osaka. Once we got to the Japan Stock Exchange we went and heard from someone that worked there, he explained a bit about the company to us. After that we went to lunch, we had sushi and it was really good sushi. After lunch we got to see the Bank of Japan which is the government bank here. It is where people go to pay taxes and the bank that businesses use for loans and such. Seeing it, learning about how Japan makes their money and then learning about the history of the money was very interesting. Lastly, we went into downtown Osaka and had some free time to walk around. We saw all of the little stores on the side of the streets. There were so many people walking up and down these roads. It was insane to see how many people, bikes, cars, buses, trucks, and more there was roaming around the city.
After the field class me and my friend Holly were heading over to Nara for a festival that was happening the next day. Getting too Nara was something else. We were expecting to get on one train and get off at the station in Nara that was 10 minutes from the airbnb. Instead, we ended up taking 4 different trains and ending up at a station 2 minutes away. At one station we went up to ask a group of people which side of the platform to go on. Holly asked them in Japanese, it was a few seconds of silence, the man took his mask down and said “we are chinese” in perfect english. All of us laughed and luckily they were able to tell us which side to go to. At another station, everyone got off of our car and I looked both ways and it was empty on either side. We just sat there patiently waiting and someone walks by outside the cart. He sees us and tells us that this train ended and isn’t going anywhere. Luckily he was able to help us find another train running that would go to Nara. An hour and a half trip only took us like 3 and a half hours. We finally made it to the airbnb which was a traditional style Japanese home.
The next day was the best part of the whole trip. Holly had found something about an annual fire festival in Nara that happened to be while we were in Japan. We all decided to go and it was a once in a lifetime experience. During the day we were walking around Nara and we saw the famous bowing deer which was pretty cool. We also saw the great buddha temple, we didn’t go inside but we did get to see the temple which was gorgeous. In the afternoon we headed up to the mountain where the festival was happening. When we got there we saw a lot of people setting up there blankets and such along the hillside. After we got some food which took us a long time (since 1 person in our group did not like any of the food anywhere on the mountain) we headed up the hill to find a good area to sit. Soon, we saw the parade walk up the hill with their torches in their hands. They all walked to a little campfire and lit it up even more with their torches. While they were there they were all saying chants and singing. Once that was other they all walked in line with their torches to the large bonfire area and started a huge bonfire. Once that happened there was more talking and singing. By this time there were probably 4-5 thousand people standing around. Next, the firework show started and let me tell you… these were the absolute best fireworks I had EVER seen and ever will see. They were huge and so colorful. That went on for about 15-20 minutes and as soon as that was over the hundredS of fire men and women played trumpets and took their torches and lit the tall grass on the side of the hill on fire. After a few minutes the entire mountain was on fire, burning all of the grass going up to the top. Seeing this seemed completely wrong to me! It was something that you would never think you would see but it was absolutely amazing. By that time when I turned around there must have been about 10,000 people along the side of the hill watching the fire. After the fire was going on we decided to leave and head back to Kobe since we had field programs the next day.
The travel back to Kobe was not a good trip. Instead of 4 trains it took us 6 trains! Someone didn’t let me be in charge of directions and what ended up happening… we got lost and it was not a ‘fun’ lost. She ended up getting us to the wrong port! I was so upset and frustrated, I said that I would start doing directions but instead she kept doing it. Finally, I took over and we were able to get back to the ship. It took us about 4 hours to get back on the ship. It was not the best night but at least we made it back safely in the end.
The next day I had a field program that went to the Himeji Castle which was pretty cool. The architecture of that building is much different than anything I have seen before. There are barely and nails or screws, instead they kind of used the wood like puzzle pieces and put it all together so it would stand up on its own. After the castle we all headed up to Hiroshima on the bullet train. The bullet train was so much fun, we were going so fast but you could still see all of the small rural towns back in the countryside. Once we got to Hiroshima we had free time for the rest of the night. Me and a group of friends decided to go walk around downtown and see what there was. We ended up having a great time with great food. By the end of the day we had walked 11 miles which was a lot of walking! The next day we went to the Miyajima island which is a gorgeous place! We saw the Itsukushima shrine, sadly the famous ‘floating arch’ was under construction so we did not get to see it. There were wild deer walking around the entire island, we decided to go to the deer park during our free time on the island. They were so cute and really ate ANYTHING. For lunch we saw some people we knew at an Okonomiyaki restaurant and decided to try it out. Okonomiyaki is a well known food here, it is a crepe type thing with cabbage, noodles, egg, pork, fish sauce, seaweed, and some spices on it. It was really good and we all enjoyed it!! After the island we went to the Peace Park in downtown Hiroshima. This is where the epicenter of the A-bomb was. We saw the building that is still standing from the bomb as well as the museum. The museum was amazing, it was so sad and really put into perspective what the A-bomb had done to this city. Once that was over we headed back to Kobe, once we got to the station I signed out of the program early and I was off on my own to Osaka to meet up with some friends.
Traveling alone on the trains here is not scary one bit. There are women only cars on some trains which is pretty nice. All I had to do was take the bullet train to Osaka and then hop on a subway train to the downtown Osaka station. I was able to do it and only had to ask for help one time! Once I was there I met up with Holly and we walked around downtown for a while. We stayed in a hotel/apartment for the night with some other friends.
The next day was the last day so we did not have much time left. All we did was go to a popular store called Tokyo Hand. It had EVERYTHING you could think of. We were all able to find the things we wanted in under an hour which was pretty nice! After that I was on my own again heading back to ship and I made it back without asking for any help! I finally got back on the ship and now it is time to head to Vietnam! Since we are not going to China, we are going to Vietnam for 12 days instead. Overall, these past 6 days have been super busy but I had the best time ever in Japan. I learned a lot about the country, had fun my friends, learned a lot about peoples traveling types, and made many memories. We now have a 6 day trip to Vietnam.
12 Days at Sea
1-13-20
Leaving Hawaii was sad but also I was so excited to get to Japan. When we returned from Hawaii, I got on the ship and when I got back to my room I saw a letter in my mailbox. I opened it and turns out my mom got me a massage and manicure at the spa on the ship congratulating me that I was able to make it the first 10 days on the ship! That was the best thing ever, I decided to use it on this part of the trip since it was so long and I was so scared about it. The voyage from Hawaii to Japan is 12 days long (including the day we lost) and is pretty much crossing the entire Pacific Ocean. I was very nervous for this part of the journey. I always heard that it would be super bumpy and rough water. That did not help my nerves one bit. These 12 days were long but at the same time it went by so quickly.
I had been expecting an awful ride with big waves everyday and never being able to sleep. Well, turns out that this part of the ocean is not the worst. We only had about 4 days/nights of rough water. There were two nights where you could hear the ship crash back into the water after it had gone over a wave. The swells that day/night were about 24 feet tall supposedly. Once again, I slept in the library for those two nights. Even during class the boat would crash back down and the lights would flicker and the chandelier would move a lot. Nobody was having fun that day. I couldn’t even go to school since I was both sick and scared. Instead I just sat outside where it was nice and windy, looking out at the ocean. Other than those days the water was pretty calm, some nights it felt like I was laying on land in my own bed which was pretty nice.
We had our classes everyday pretty much (even on Saturdays). With that, we had a few study days which were pretty nice to have. We had nice warm weather for a good portion of the trip. Me and my friends loved sitting outside by the pool area or on the back of the ship in between classes with our smoothies. It is so crazy to me that sometimes I will be chilling on a SHIP looking out into the ocean drinking a smoothie between my classes! It is by far the best way to go to school. All of my classes are interesting, some more than others but they are not super easy which is surprising. Having classes for this many days in a row really showed me that I like my number based classes a lot more than reading based classes. Luckily I found someone on the ship who also misses math so we are doing statics together!
Spending this amount of time with the same people really lets you get to know them. It also makes you want your ‘alone’ time so badly. Luckily since my mom got me a massage and manicure I was able to have one day where I got my alone time. I did not have the highest expectation for a massage and manicure on a ship but turns out that it was a REALLY good massage and the manicure turned out great!! Thanks mom for the gift :).
I have been able to make a lot of friends on the ship and it’s super fun. We have become a group of about 8 people and everyday we sit at the same table pretty much all day either talking, doing homework, planning trips, or playing cards. Playing cards everyday, I have learned how to properly shuffle cards finally lol. We have also learned how to play a game that one of my friends families created. It’s super fun but confusing, we are always teaching new people how to play. Spending time with the same people everyday really lets you get close with them and get to know them very well very quickly. We all get along and have a great time together. We will just have to wait and see how we do traveling together in Japan. Hopefully we all travel well together.
I have finally been able to start getting into a routine on the ship. I am getting more used to it and it is all feeling normal now. So far, it has been a great experience and I can not wait to get to Japan and see what it is like to be on land again and explore a new country I have never been too. The last few days on the ship before Japan, we have been hearing about the Coronavirus that is happening in China. We are not sure if we are still going to go to China. We will see what happens.
Next time we talk I will have finally been to Japan and touched on land again!!!
Hawaii
Today I finally got to set foot on land for the first time in the past 9 days. It was the best feeling ever to be able to stand still without swaying back and forth every second. For Hawaii, since it was only a one day stop we had to be part of a field program to be able to leave the ship. I decided to do the Pearl Harbor and Waikiki field program. I was kind of hesitant about this field program. It seemed like it would be interesting but not the best. Turns out, I had a great day!
Luckily one of my friends was also doing that field program so we were able to hangout for the field program. When we first got to Hawaii, we went on the shuttle bus and went over to the USS Missouri. My friend forgot a rain coat, had 2 cameras, and it was pouring rain. I had a rain coat on so I decided to hold her cameras under my jacket like a baby haha. It was really funny but luckily the cameras were able to survive. Walking on the USS Missouri was really fun and it was cool to see what it looked like, where the captain worked, and see all of the “old time” features of the ship. Sadly, we were only on there for about 10 minutes. Once we got off the ship we were starving and they had shaved ice. The two of us decided to share one and let me tell you, it was the best shaved ice I have ever had! After enjoying the shaved ice we walked back to the bus and headed over the actual Pearl Harbor location. Once we got there we got on a ferry and headed over to the memorial. The feeling of being over there was insane. Just knowing that you are standing on top of thousands of dead bodies is not fun at all, especially when you see the names of each person that is on the ship underwater. We were over there for about 20 minutes and it was quite interesting and surprising. After that, all we did was walk around the area and of course we had some more snacks.
Finally, we were able to have our free time at Waikiki. It was pouring rain SO hard that the ground looked like a lake. I was up to my ankles in water when I was crossing the road. Luckily, we were able to find a shopping center that had a food court. We found a Hawaiian style burger joint and it ended up being REALLY good. We had about an hour of free time left so we found an ABC store which I have never heard of. Those stores have literally anything and everything you could think of. Of course we bought more snacks for the long journey ahead of us on the ship. After our time was up it was time to head back to the ship.
Getting back on the ship was really difficult to do, nobody wanted to get on since we knew we had 12 days ahead of us being stuck on the ship. To make it even better, everyone had been saying since day 1 that Hawaii to Japan would be even worse. Hopefully the next leg of this trip will be good and next time I talk to you guys I will be in JAPAN!!!
The First Leg
January 4th at 7:40am I was supposed to be off on my way Ensenada to begin the journey to Hawaii. Of course, me being me we had to get there at 7:00am and good thing we did. There was a HUGE line of college students with huge bags waiting to check their bags and get all signed in. After a long time waiting in line and getting all checked in, I was in line to board the bus. Of course something had to go wrong at this point… I said my name to the lady with the excel sheet on her laptop and she couldn’t find it. I got pushed to the side after about 5 minutes of her looking for my name. Turns out my whole row in the excel sheet was accidentally deleted. They finally let me get one once they realized that..phew.
We took a short bus ride to the Mexico border where we got our first stamps and of course we had to wait about an hour for the bus to finally get through security. Once again, we got on the bus and continued driving until we got too Ensenada. Getting there I had to go through security one last time to get on the ship… sadly my favorite turkey jerky had to get thrown away 😦 it was so sad.
The ship is not enormous compared to some commercial cruise ships. Still, it is pretty big and has a very traditional style. I learned something new about the ship the other day, turns out it was built to look like the boat from the “Love Boat” movie or something and during the summer they use it a as a commercial ship for a romantic “love boat” inspired cruise. I thought that was pretty cool. My room is on the 5th deck (there are 9 decks) and I am the farthest forward you can go. My roommate is from Germany and she is super cool! The ship has been going through some sort of storm for most of this trip so far. That means that there are big swells and lot of rocking back and forth and side to side. The second and third night on the ship I ended up sleeping in the library since it was way to bumpy for me. I also talked to the student dean here and she helped me figure out what to do to be able to sleep comfortably in my room. Now, its all better and I can sleep in my room every night haha.
The first night on the ship was pretty easy, we left the port and we all saw the pretty sunset out in the middle of the ocean. Dinner on this ship is pretty good as well, they really like making potatoes, pasta, beans, and meat. Me and my friends have all decided that we will be ranking all of the desserts on the ship throughout the entire voyage, it is pretty fun to do. The desserts are all quite similar to one another (many fruit cakes). The smoothies… don’t get me started. I have already bought a few, they are sooooo good.
Regarding classes, I have never realized until now how much I use the internet to help me with my homework. Having no internet, the amount of reading that must be done is insane. I have to read for each class, everyday. The chapters are so long and the reading is quite dense in most of the textbooks. I mean there is nothing better do on the ship but still, it takes a lot of time to read everything and take notes. This is also my first semester not taking some sort of math class, it showed me how much more I like math and science over reading and writing classes of any sort. Luckily, I brought a “Statics for Dummies” book that I can use to practice statics before next semester.
Overall, the first week on the ship has had its ups and downs. I am so excited to continue this journey once the longest leg of the trip is done. I keep hearing that Hawaii to Japan is the hardest part of the trip. That does not help me out one bit, it just keeps making me more nervous but we will see how it goes in a few days. Next time I write a post hopefully I will be in Japan!
Off On a New Adventure
In 2010 the Lowell’s and Shindell’s were staying at an apartment in Istanbul, Turkey. We were all out on the balcony looking out over the Bosphorus Straights. We saw a cruise ship that said “World Odyssey” and “Semester at Sea”. I asked my mom what Semester at Sea is, she explained how it is a study abroad program that takes students all around the world. Ever since then, I have been really intrigued by this program which is a a study abroad program where you spend 4 months on a cruise ship traveling to 11 countries. It is pretty much like you are living the real life version of the Disney show “Suite Life on Deck”.
My Junior year in high school, my Spanish teacher asked us to complete a project about a study abroad program and I decided to use Semester at Sea (SAS). That project convinced me that I wanted to complete SAS at some point in college. Well, I am now taking part in the Spring 2020 voyage to Hawaii, Japan, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, India, Mauritius, South Africa, Ghana, Morocco, and Amsterdam. Plus a little extra vacation with my dad afterwards to Germany and Iceland (woo hoo). This is something that I have been wanting to complete for the last 10 years and now I finally get to experience this. If you know me well enough, you know how when I have my mind set on something I do not give up until I get what I want. I was able to do it once again with SAS.
I can not explain how thankful I am for this opportunity. My whole family was supportive the entire time I was preparing for this voyage. These next 4 months are going to be a once in a lifetime experience for me and everyone else on the ship. Since I am doing such a big trip and won’t always be able to talk to everyone I have decided to bring back “Livin La Vida Lowell” but the Taylor edition this time. It won’t be my dad always writing the blogs (so sad), instead I decided to write blogs for each country to keep everyone up to date.
Given my past experience traveling, there are a few things that I expect from this long voyage, which are:
- Gaining knowledge of each country
- Seeing places I never thought I would
- Making great memories that will never be forgotten
- Meeting great people both on the ship and off the ship
- Just having the best time ever!
There are also a few questions that I want to ask myself now and answer once I have completed this entire voyage:
- How was the overall experience?
- Did it meet all of my expectations?
- What was the best and worst part?
- Has it changed me as a person?
- Should other people take part in the program if they have the chance?
Stay tuned…everyone (including me) is excited to see how this turns out!
She’s making a break for it
Wow – things have happened so fast. Taylor is doing amazingly well and we are adjusting to our new version of a normal life. She was released from the hospital on May 26 in time for her birthday party on May 28. She couldn’t have been happier. She had the whole thing planned – if they didn’t release her she was going to make a break for it. So she figured she’d use her God-given talent and charm her way out of the hospital. It worked 🙂 Here’s how it went down…
Her first embolization procedure was on May 24. She spent a very restless night in the Pediatric ICU (PICU) with Rick, recovering from the procedure. She was able to keep her blood pressure down and responded really well to the treatment. I arrived in the morning to relieve an exhausted Rick. By morning she was up and around. By mid-morning, she was walking around the PICU – not something that usually happens as most of the patients are bed-ridden. This was her first step of her “charming” strategy. The Physical Therapist came to visit around lunch time – another opportunity to do some charming. So off we went on a walk around the 3rd floor of Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital, and then for fun, let’s try some stairs. At this point the PT was having a laughing fit as she rarely gets to work with patients like this. Much fun was had by all as they planned Taylor’s escape route.
Back we went to the PICU and were told that we had been released to the normal floor – yeah! We got hugs and cheers of encouragement as Taylor walked herself out of the PICU – again, not something that happens very often. I was so proud of her. When we got to her room, there was no bed! Normally patients from the PICU are wheeled up in their bed…oops! They got a bed brought in quickly, to which Taylor quite strongly informed everyone “I’m not sleeping in that bed.” Her doctor, Dr. Edwards, arrived in time to hear this. She asked him very slyly “Do I have to sleep in that bed?” Another clear tactic in the war to charm her way out of the hospital. “I feel great. And that bed makes me feel like something is wrong with me.” (batting her eyes and making a pouty face). Dr. Edwards told her she could sleep anywhere she wanted, to which Taylor said “Ok. I want to sleep in my bed in my room.” Everyone laughed! But she was serious. She slept on the couch/bed and I slept in the hospital bed. And I gotta tell ya…I don’t blame her.
The next morning the paperwork was ready and waiting and we were discharged before 10:00 am – very rare we were assured by the nurses. Dr. Edwards stayed late to complete the paperwork so she could be discharged first thing in the morning. We saw all the Docs on their rounds in the morning, said our goodbyes, got our marching orders and we were “outta there”…Taylor was almost running to the car.
We got home to streamers and balloons, meals provided by friends and hugs from everyone. It reminded Rick and I of bringing Taylor home from the hospital when she was born. It is a long story, full of drama (of course) but when we finally made it home, we walked in the door with Taylor in the infant seat. Not knowing exactly what to do with her, we sat her on the dining room table in her infant seat. And left her there….la de da…hmmmm….now what?!?!
We had the same feeling this time. What should we do? Not do? Is she ok? Should she be doing that? Good news is that we’re figuring it out – together as a family. Riley has been a trouper – supporting her big sister and doing what she can to keep us laughing, which doesn’t take much since she’s hilarious.
Taylor’s last day of 5th grade is this Friday – she will start middle school in the Fall with all her friends. This week is full of parties and fun and a big transition for our little girl. Her next embolization procedure is scheduled for June 27. Fingers crossed that everything goes as well as it has so far. We’ll be dealing with this for 2+ years as they work towards total removal of the AVM. So, as I said initially, we’re adjusting to a new normal. We are truly blessed with wonderful children who continue to amaze and inspire us every day, family we couldn’t live without and friends who would do anything for us. Thanks to you all.
Hugs….
Things are looking up!
Classic Taylor…..never one to see the negative in anything, she has embraced everything that LPCH has to offer….including PROM. She started school today at the hospital and was told that they are having a Prom next week. Where she got this dress I’ll never know.
Anyway, her first procedure it tomorrow morning. She has asked for an In & Out Burger for dinner cuz she can’t eat or drink tomorrow. Fingers, toes, eyes…everything crossed that tomorrow is a great day!
Life is like a box of chocolates…
You NEVER know what you’re gonna get. Amen…..
The past week has been a whirlwind of activity…none of it expected, all of it scary. Let me start at the beginning and bring you all up to speed.
On Sunday 5/15 Taylor woke up in the middle of the night with a massive headache and vomiting. I thought she had a migraine given my history and the fact that she has had two in the past. I gave her Ibuprofen and she tried to sleep. On Monday the headache was just as bad and she was still vomiting, so I took her to the pediatrician. He agree that it was probably a migraine and prescribed some anti-naseau medicine and ibuprofen. Nothing helped. So Tuesday morning I called the pediatrician and he said take her to the ER. We expected that she’d get a shot of Imitrex or something similar for migraines. When we got there they did an MRI and the results were devastating.
Taylor has what is called an AVM (arterial vascular malformation). It is something she was born with. It is not a tumor, not cancer. It is a jumble of arteries and veins that didn’t form properly in-utero. She could have lived her whole life with this and we never would have known. The AVM had started bleeding which is what was causing the headache and vomiting. The ER doctor told us what they found and immediately called Stanford Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital. They sent down a pediatric transport (think ambulance with two ICU nurses). They took us, lights and sirens, to Stanford. We were immediately taken to the pediatric ICU where Taylor stayed until Friday. In the ICU they did another CT and an Angiogram to identify the size and formation of the AVM. It is 4×6 cm (pretty large) on the left side of her brain.
The good news…..she is fine. The bleed didn’t cause any damage, her neurological functions are perfect, she is talking, walking and being her normal self. They know exactly what these tings are and how to treat them. Once it is gone it won’t come back. These are the best Dr. in the world for this. She is in great hands.
On Thursday afternoon she got another major headache while in the ICU. The Doctors weren’t sure what was causing it and they feared the AVM had started to bleed again. So they rushed her in for another CT to see if the bleed had grown. Rick and my Mom were with her as I had gone home to shower and change. My girlfriends had asked me out to lunch and right when I got home Rick called me and said “you had better get back here.” I called Karla and she came back immediately and drove me to Stanford. On our way, we had a flat tire on Hwy 85. Yes…ridiculous, but true. My friend Lori swooped down and picked up us from the center median on 85 and whisked us up to Stanford. When we got there they had confirmed that the bleed had not returned. It was just a headache… something we are going to have to get used to.
Taylor is now out of ICU and on the regular floor. She is taking this all really well. She’s had to miss some really fun stuff and will have to miss more. That makes her sad, which makes her cry, which gives her a headache…sigh.
The hard part – well, actually, all of this is “hard” – but the struggle for us is that her treatment is going to take a while. They need to stop the blood flow to the AVM so they can remove it. To stop it they need to do several procedures similar to Angioplasty, but on the brain. She will have several of these over the next few months…maybe years…that’s the challenge. We have no idea how long this is going to take. They will do as much as they can do safely during each procedure. Then after the procedure we’ll see what the next step is. We have a vision of what will happen but no specifics. As you can imagine Rick and I (two virgos to our core…) are rather uncomfortable with this. But….it is what it is. She is fine and we will get through this.
Rick’s sisters, Deb and Marilynn, are both nurses and have been amazingly helpful as medical translators. They have been with us in all the meetings and rounds with the Doctors. My Mom and my sister, Pamela, have been here to drive everyone around and stay with Taylor while we’re talking with Doctors. Our friends have been so supportive. We don’t know what we’d do without you all.
My plan is to keep you all informed thru the blog. Feel free to comment and Rick or I will get back to you when we can. My sister Pamela and our neighbor Karla are acting as the central points of contact. So if you have questions feel free to reach out to them.
Thanks for your positive thoughts and prayers. We love you all.
Livin' la vida Lowell 