Life at Sea – Volume 2
It’s crazy to think that my Semester at Sea voyage is already more than halfway over! This experience has far exceeded any expectation I had. I never expected to learn so much about myself and other cultures around the world in such a short time! I have made some great friendships that I know will last a lifetime (friends that live around the world so travelling will be awesome!). My classes have been so fun and interesting as they tie into each country we are visiting.
So far we have been to Germany, South Africa, Mauritius, India, Myanmar, and just got back on the ship from Vietnam. It’s crazy to think we only have China and Japan left before finishing in the United States. Where has the time gone?!! Since my voyage is over half way through, I thought I would share some of my experiences and the crazy events that have been taking place on the ship and in between countries!
Speciality Dining/Birthday
I celebrated my birthday on the ship while travelling between Spain and Ghana. I expected a relaxing, low-key day but was surprised by both my friends on board and my family back home!
My mom has the same birthday as me and this is the first year we weren’t able to celebrate together. I knew it would be difficult to be away from home, but I know both of us made the best of it. As usual, I woke up around 7 to work out and was extremely surprised to wake up to a pile of cards and small gifts from my family! My friend Prachi, who also goes to school in Lethbridge, was nice enough to carry these things all the way from Canada to Germany. It was an emotional morning but I was so grateful to have received birthday wishes from my family. My mom sent me a necklace of the Three Sisters Mountain Range that I have been wearing everyday (on ship) since.
This wasn’t the end of the surprises! My parents had somehow ordered me a birthday cake that was delivered for 10 of my friends and me. They had also bought me a certificate for a 50-minute massage! I am very lucky!
On the ship, specialty dining is offered for an extra price. Two of my friends and I decided this would be a good time to try it. It was amazing! The menu at the 4 Seasons Restaurant is always changing and the night we went was Chef Kannan’s “International Menu Experience.” We dressed up and were served 5 delicious dishes from around the world and a few other appetizers and deserts. We were given bacon rapped scallops, quiche bites, cheese buns, golden fried brie cheese, homemade shrimp spring rolls, rustic roasted tomato soup, and pineapple sherbet. For my main dish I had an amazing steak with potatoes, carrots, and zucchini! For dessert I had an ice cream sundae. This meal also came with a glass of champagne. It was well worth it!
Our ship was docked at the Canary Islands and though we weren’t able to get off since this was just a fuel stop, I had a great view and enough wifi to wish my mom a happy birthday over the phone! This was the best part of my day!
Neptune Day
Neptune Day is a tradition for every Semester at Sea Voyage based on maritime tradition to commemorate the crossing of the equator. This day happens when members of a shipboard community cross the equator at 0°, 0° for the first time.
We were woken up by faculty members running through the halls and banging on drums. There was later an announcement over the intercom that “King Neptune had arrived” and that we were to be on the pool deck at 8:00am with our bathing suits on. All the professors dressed up as different characters and they went through a script saying we had to go from pollywogs to scallywags. One by one, each of us had to (if you wanted) get slime dumped on our head, jump into the pool, kiss a fish, kiss King Neptune’s ring and then get dubbed with a sword. Everyone also had the option of getting your head shaved. I can’t believe how many people were brave enough to shave it! Neptune day was crazy and so much fun!
“Canadian” Thanksgiving
We celebrated “Canadian” Thanksgiving on the ship on October 6. The staff was nice enough to throw a small celebration for us. There are 8 Canadian students and a few faculty members on the ship. We had pumpkin pie and talked about what we missed most about back home. Actual Thanksgiving was on October 8, which was our second day in South Africa. Three of us celebrated by going on an awesome 8-hour wine tour! Though I missed being with all my family on Thanksgiving, it wasn’t a bad way to spend the holiday!
Halloween
Halloween fell on a day between India and Myanmar. We had no class this day and SAS had a whole schedule of activities. There were two different showings of A Quiet Place during the day and crafts for the dependent children. We were allowed to sign up for trick-or-treating for the ship’s kids if we bought enough treats. My roommate and I signed up and got to see all the cute costumes! There was a dance party later in the night. Everyone dressed up as creative costumes with many DIY creations. There was a costume contest for scariest, most creative, and best duo. I dressed up as Minnie Mouse! We spent the night dancing and drinking wine!
Sea Olympics!!
Sea Olympics is one of the most exciting days on the Semester at Sea Voyage! On the very first day at sea, we were split into different “seas” based on where our room is on the ship. There are a total of 7 seas that competed in Sea Olympics. 6 of the seas are students seas – Arabian, Baltic, Bering, Yellow, Red, and Adriatic. The 7th sea is the faculty, staff, and children – the Emergen-Sea (genius). My sea is the Arabian Sea and we finished first place in the Sea Olympics!!
There was two days of games and events. We all dressed up in our sea colours – my sea is orange! The lip sync battle took place on the first night to start off Sea Olympics. I was part of our lip sync team, which was something way outside of my comfort zone, but I’m glad I did it. We practiced a lot and had so much fun! We ended up finishing 2nd (though I firmly believe we should have been 1st)!
The events that took place the second day included synchronized swimming (so funny), tug of war, water balloon toss, scavenger hunt, volleyball, sponge race, trivia, rap battle, chess, 3 legged race, ping pong, dodgeball, minute-to-win-it, and bread eating. The other two events I participated in were the sponge race and minute-to-win-it. In the sponge race, a group of 7 of us had to transfer water from the pool to a bucket in over-under style. There were a few different rounds with the last one being blind folded! We finished first in this! A large group of us did minute-to-win it. Everyone had to do one game and the team who completed the most challenges won. The game I ended up with was “Face the Cookie” where I had to get an Oreo from my forehead to my mouth with no hands. I succeeded and our sea took 2nd in this event! I included the scoreboard so you can see how our sea finished in all the events. Pretty proud of my Arabian Sea!
The most exciting part of the Sea Olympics was after closing ceremonies. Chris proposed to his girlfriend Christina, one of the RDs, in front of everyone! There were many tears and celebrations! Sea Olympics was a huge success and such a great day.
Interport Lecturers
At most ports, an interport lecturer from the following country joins our shipboard community. They speak to us about issues surrounding their country, government policy, environmental laws, and what we have to look forward to.
Our Ghanaian interport lecturer was Angela Mensah. She is from the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research at the University of Ghana. She spoke to us about issues in Ghana related to media, conflicts, tourism, illegal fishing, and football. She prepared us for what to expect in Ghana including the music and “must-dos.” Sylvia Vollenhoven was our interport lecturer from South Africa. She is the founder of Visions in Africa (VIA) that focuses on “The Art of Memory” and addressed the gaps in South African History. Hoang Thuy was the interport lecturer from Vietnam. He is presently the Executive Member of the Vietnam-USA Society, the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organization (VUFO). It was very interesting to hear his perspective on Vietnam today and how the country was affected by the war.
Our most recent interport lecturer was David Helvarg. Instead of representing one of the countries we are visiting, David joined us to represent the ocean. He is the executive director of the Blue Frontier, which is an ocean conservation and policy group. David is an award-winning journalist and an environmental activist. He has produced over 40 documentaries and written 6 books. I was lucky enough to get signed copies of 50 Ways to save the Ocean and Saved by the Sea. He spoke to us about some of the trauma and wonder he has experienced in and on the ocean as well as how humans are impacting the seas in his seminar “A Blue Vision to Restore Our Ocean.” I think it is great that Semester at Sea, with the help of the Braun/Glazer Oceans and Sustainability Program, believes it is important to educate the community about conservation and the importance of the ocean.
Pilot Boat
A pilot boat is a small boat that transports maritime pilots to and from bigger vessels. When entering or exiting each port, a locally experienced harbour captain, or pilot, boards the incoming or outgoing vessel to bring it safely into or out of port. Most pilot boats we have seen have been painted in highly visible colours like orange, yellow, and red. They also have the word “PILOT” written clearly on the side of the boat. I have woken up early in almost every port to watch us come into the country and watch the pilot board the ship. The small pilot boat pulls right up to a door on the 3rd deck and climbs into the ship. From here they ensure that we get safely to where we need to be. The pilot may board 20 minutes before we reach a country or 5 hours before due to a long river. When we leave a country, the pilot transports us out of the port. It is a SAS tradition to stand at the rail and applaud the pilot as he or she exits from our ship to their smaller pilot boat!
Stow-away Bird
As most of you know, this trip has started a love for birds and conservation in my heart. I owe this love to my Biological Diversity professor Lindsay and her husband Eric. They own a non-profit organization in Hawaii that consists of research-based management of the Albatrosses. Throughout the voyage they have been teaching me about different birds in each country. One particular story is about a stow-away bird on our ship!
On November 1, 2018, a day between India and Myanmar, Lindsay approached me in the Lido Restaurant to tell me there was a new bird walking around on the deck. Like every time they tell me something is outside, I jumped out of my chair and ran outside to check it out. Walking around on the pool deck was a Water Cock. It seemed stressed and confused. There were a few people following this bird around trying to get a better look. I asked Eric all kinds of questions about it. He explained me that it is a wetland bird meaning it has giant feet to be able to walk on the plants floating on the ocean’s surface. This also means it cannot fly for very long distances. Since we were already long gone from India, this poor bird was stuck on the ship and heading to Myanmar! Eric seemed sure the bird would be okay since there were many dragonflies hanging around for it to eat. After a while, the Water Cock got tired of us being near it and flew to a higher deck and out of site. We looked for the bird over the next few days but couldn’t spot it. Hopefully he stayed on the ship until Myanmar. If he didn’t, I hope he picked the right direction to fly in order to reach the nearest land!! Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a good photo of it.
Quotes of the Day
A new quote is posted on the Dean’s Memo everyday. I cannot think of a better way to explain how I have grown and what I have experienced than through a few of these daily quotes. Thank you for following along on my adventure!
“Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.” – Confucius
“Travel makes on modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” – Gustave Flaubert
“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” – Oscar Wilde
“Stuff your eyes with wonder, live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.” – Ray Bradbury
“Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” – Warren Buffett
“Adventure is worthwhile.” – Aesop
“To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.” Aldous Huxley
