Salvador, Brazil

Saturday-Wednesday, February 17-21, 2007

Brazil is beyond amazing, there are absolutely no words that can describe the experiences I have had while in this country! We arrived early Saturday morning, and I was off the ship at roughly 10am. First off the ship we went to the bank to get currency, then it was off to the Mercado Market, which is the main market place in the area of Salvador that we docked. At this market place there were stands outside selling touristy things, such as necklaces and dresses, I did not buy any though L. After walking around the Market for a while, I made my way back to the ship because I was taking a tour of Salvador.

The tour left directly from the boat and we began to walk through the streets of the city. This was where I got my initial culture shock, being from Westchester, we do not have run down buildings, nor do we have people literally living on the streets. It was so sad to see these amazing building just in shambles. No one was living in them and they were falling apart, and no one was even trying to restore them! It was terrible. What struck me even more so was the fact that there were so many people living in the street. It was so hard to see people, skinny people, sleeping in corners and searcher through garbages just to find something to eat. After walking through the lower city (Bahia), we took the elevator to the upper city (Pelourino). Pelourino was beautiful! At first I was walking with the tour, but I felt that I was moving to slow, as did some of my friends, so we left the tour and walked off on our own. We decided to follow this street that we thought would lead to a church, but instead it lead us into a town, that probably was not the safest, but being that I was with three boys I felt fine. We walked past this restaurant and noticed that when looking out the window you could see over the bay that our ship was in. So we walked into the restaurant and looked outside, instead of leaving however, a local heard us talking and asked if we were American, when we said we were she was told us that she was Brazilian but that she went to BU and lived in Chicago. We ended up spitting a bottle of wine and talking with her for about an hour. While talking to her she told us many of the ins and outs Salvador, she was especially sympathetic towards me, and made sure that I knew how to keep say and how not to get mugged. Getting back to the ship later that night, we found out that atleast three girls got mugged, many of people had there cameras stolen, and a lot of people were pick-pocketed during the ship. I kind of got the impression that a majority of the people who had problems like this were not very smart.

On Saturday night I did this program through SAS called “Bahia by Night”. This program was held at an old sugar plantation. At this program we had an amazing dinner and saw some dancing and Capoeira. Capoeira is a martial arts form that looks somewhat like a dance. It is amazing, and I have video of it for anyone who wants to see it because there is absolutely no way to describe what it is.

On Sunday, a bunch of friends and I walked around the upper city again, this time we took in the atmosphere of Carnival! Carnival is amazing! It is basically like a big parade, there are things called “Trio Electricos” which are basically trucks with huge speakers and bands travel on them. Then surround the truck is the bloco (posse) of people who march with them. And everyone just gets wasted and its crazy! So on Sunday, myself and a bunch of friends bought tickets to be able to march in a bloco for Fat Boy Slim. Along with the ticket you get a shirt, and that is how the security knows you are allowed to be inside the ropes with the posse. Then on Sunday night, myself and a group of about 12 people went out for carnival on streets. We walked around and danced to the music while drinking some beer. Oh! And the local beer is called Skol, and it is amazing! I ended up coming back to the ship at around 1am, because I had to be up early for my trip to the circus the next day.

The circus was sooooooo much fun! When we got there, none of us had any clue on what to expect. We all thought that we would be watching some circus and then get to participate, but instead we did circus stuff for 4 hours! The instructors started out with a warm-up stretching and push-ups then it was time to do circus things. My group started out at the Spanish rope. Basically, this is a rope that you climb up, you then attach yourself to a loop on the rope and just holding on with you hands they person at the bottom spins the rope and you spin with it. So that was a lot of fun. Then we learned how to juggle, we walked on the tight rope, did some trapeze, and finally we got to use the mini-trampoline! We did all different kinds of jumps and we finished off with front flips! At the very end of the day at the circus we worked on some pyramids! This was also really cool. After the circus, we were all very tired, and hungry. My friend Kyle and I walked back to the marketplace and grabbed some lunch. For lunch we had chicken, rice, and beans. The food in Brazil is amazing, but I have no idea what any of it is called! The only thing I do remember is this drink called “Caipirinha”. This is amazing and I am willing to make it for anyone back at home. It consists of fresh limes, sugar, and vodka. It is poured over ice. It is beyond amazing! Anyways, at lunch with Kyle, when we were done the waitress was cleaning up and a homeless women ran over and grabbed our left over food and began to scarf it down. This was so sad to see that the women was so hungry. On top of it, she had scars all over her body, it was evident that she had lived a hard life. It was so sad to see the misery that was in her eyes.

Monday night, a group of us went to a Churrascaria (steakhouse). This is an experience, and there is on in New York on Central Ave, so I suggest everyone go! But basically people walk around with different types of meat on skewers and all you do is eat everything you can fit into your stomach. While we were there, a group of about 20 SAS students and half the faculty came. At one point, Lynn who runs the field office stood up to make a toast and all the SAS people stood up and started yelling. The next thing we knew the whole restaurant full of Brazilians getting ready for carnival starting screaming! The atmosphere in the restaurant was amazing! Everyone was just so happy to be experiencing everything together.

As for the rest of the trip, there are absolutely no words to describe it. On Tuesday I went to a remote island and spent the day at the beach. But Tuesday night was the night in which I experienced Carnival in the bloco with Fat Boy Slim. There are only two things I can say about this experience, first—Americans do not know how to party, second—if I could come back to Brazil and do it again, I would do it! The bloco was a 5 hour long mosh pit. Everyone was just jumping up and down and having a blast. I love Brazil and I am so sad to leave! But South Africa here I come!

Days at Sea—From San Juan, Puerto Rico to Salvador, Brazil

Saturday-Friday, February 10-17, 2007

So this is our first long stretch at sea. It is very weird having classes on Saturday and Sunday. I found myself emailing my dad on Sunday morning and almost emailed him at work before I remembered that it was a weekend. So yea, I have been going to all my classes, which should be of no surprise to anyone, and I have been doing so much reading! It’s ridiculous, I really did not expect to have to do to much work for this experience, but my 400-level anthro class is kind of insane!

Right now it is Valentine’s day! And I know I am going to post this after the fact, but HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!! For v-day today we passed the equator!! So now only am I writing to all of you from the middle of the ocean, but I am also in the southern hemisphere! Tonight we are having a dance on board. It is a stop light dance! So everyone is wearing red, yellow, or green depending on their relationship status. It’s very funny being on a floating campus, I feel almost like I am in high school because everyone is like “are you going to the dance?” “oh really! Me too! What are you wearing?” It is quite interesting.

So yea, as for the days at sea, we have class everyday, including weekends so it is really hard to keep track of days. Between classes I usually go to the pool deck and lay in the sun while reading for classes. Majority of the time I end up taking a nap, haha. Sorry if this makes anyone jealous! But I am not missing the Ithaca weather at all!!!

Arrival to the Ship and Puerto Rico

I am really sorry that I have not posted anything prior to this one, but as I told all of you, the internet on the ship is HORRIBLE and so I will be updating my blog as often as I possibly can. So here it is; my first entry from the ocean.

Arrival to the Ship- February 4, 2007

I got to the ship at about 7:30am, because my check-in time was from 8:00am-10:00am. After waiting in an extremely long line of students and luggage for about a half hour, the line started to move. Finally, at 8:15am, I was able to take my first steps onto my new home for the next three and a half months, the MV Explorer. The very first thing they had us do upon entering the ship was hand over our passports and Yellow Fever Vaccination certificates for “safekeeping” (granted they did misfile my certificate and had to find it after I almost flipped out on the health clinic). After handing over the important papers, I made my way to my room, Cabin #4008 (for those of you who wanted to know). Yes, I am in the front of the ship, and yes it feels like I am on a rollercoaster when I lay in bed. In fact, just the other day, my roommate and I were taking naps and she kept going “Weeeeeeeee” along with the up and downs of the ship. So anyways, after finding my room, I began to explore the ship. I found that there were 9 classrooms, 2 dining halls, a piano bar, a bar on the top deck, a pool deck, the union (which is the largest room on the ship), and plenty of cabins. There are 702 students, and a bunch of faculty, staff, and life-long learners. The age range of passengers on the ship is 7month to 91 years. The ship is “gorges” (yes I still will use the famous Ithaca phrase), and I will have pictures to show everyone when I get home.

San Juan, Puerto Rico—February 7-9, 2007 (Wednesday-Friday)

We arrived to Puerto Rico at about 7:30am, and were docked at I think 8:15ish. After the ship was successfully attached to the dock, the governor of Puerto Rico came aboard to welcome the students of Semester at Sea (SAS) to the nation of Puerto Rico, as well as talk about the nation he governs. Although this speech left us behind schedule, it was amazing that we would get welcomed by such an important figure. After his speech, the entire ship had to go through customs. When going through customs on the ship, we have to all travel to the 7th deck, get our passports, and meet with a customs official. To my surprise, over 700 passports being stamped did not take that long, only about 30-40min or so. Finally we were able to get off the ship.
The first day in Puerto Rico, my friends and I decided to travel to the rainforest (El Yunque) Indy style. We managed to get a group of 7 people together, and took a taxi there and back. When arriving at the rainforest we had to find rides up to the top. Finally we all met up at “La Mina Trail” which eventually led to a natural waterfall that had a pool we could swim in. After jumping off the rocks and swimming in the water for a while, the group decided it was time to head back, so again we found rides back down and jumped into a taxi back to the ship. When you all get a chance, ask me about the cab ride back… especially about “punky” as our cab driver called it.
Once getting back to San Juan, we decided to walk into Old San Juan and find a restaurant to eat at. We ended up finding a Venezuelan restaurant for dinner. After starring at the menu that was written in Spanish, we asked the owner of the restaurant what he suggested we eat. Finally, he told us all to get a “cachaco”. This was the most amazing this ever! It was a yellow corn pancake wrapped around chicken, white cheese, black beans, and sweet plantains. The sauce that went along with it was avocado, olive oil, cilantro, and some other spices. It was AMAZING!! That night, a bunch of us went out to Senor Frogs (bar/club chain in the Caribbean), and had a blast.
The second day in San Juan (Thursday) myself and three friends walked around Old San Juan. We went to the Fort de Cristobal and to the beach. The fort was amazing, I could not believe that it was possible to build such a structure without the use of the machines that we have today. The walls of the fort were each 18-feet wide, and I have no idea how tall it was. When standing on the top of it you could see over the whole city, it was beautiful. After the fort, we grabbed lunch as a local café called “Café Puerto Rico” and went to the beach. The water in Puerto Rico is soooo pretty. It was very blue, and the waves in the place we went to were not too strong. On Thursday night, a group of us SASers went to the local bars in the area, and met some Puerto Rican students. These students showed us how to dance Salsa. It was a lot of fun.
The last day I was in Puerto Rico, I went on a SAS trip to the Rio Camuy Caves. The Cave was really neat, but the trip took much longer than it should have. Unfortunately, I cannot really described what the caves looked like, except for the fact that they were amazing. Sorry I can’t be more descriptive!!

So yea, hope this entry keeps you all happy, and now you all know that I am still alive! Miss you all!!!

Tomorrow...

Tomorrow I fly down to the Bahamas to begin my voyage around the world. I am not only excited and anxious to begin my journey, but I am nervous for what the future holds. I have no idea what to expect while I am on this trip. I will truly miss everyone...

To my family:
I love you and will miss talking to you all.

To my friends:
from Ithaca-- party hard, dont forget me! I love you guys and I will see you all next fall... or maybe if you are lucky I'll come visit you this summer!
from home-- all 3 of you! haha! i love you guys. I can't wait until summer when we can just chill and be back together again...

Hope everyone has a great semester! Email me (alison.mishler@gmail.com) or leave me a message on here!