Mauritius kind of came to be

So Mauritius did actually happen but only for a span of four hours and I spent most of that time hanging out with friends and of course shopping. The place is positively beautiful and has a rich mix of Indian and African heritages. The waterfront is fairly large though not as large and expansive as the one in Cape Town. I wish I could have stayed long enough to learn more about this place but we only learned about  its rich culture and it's democratic society. I did get a chance to talk to some of the people who asked about SAS and how long the ship would be here. Overall it was a nice stop and a nice break from the craziness of the midterms and everything. I only have a couple pictures to post for this and that is pretty much it. Nothing more to comment about it.

We got off in Mauritius the day after we were supposed to be there. We were supposed to be there March 6^th but instead we got off March 7^th since we came in so late on the 6^th So for March 6^th, the ship planned the following activities for us. (side Note: Times are in military times so anything after 12pm, you just subtract the 12 hours from to get the pm time up until 2359 or 11:59pm, after that it starts over at 0000 = 12am. Ex 1pm = 1300, 2pm=1400 and so on.)

Tuesday, March 6 Agenda (Maurit-ish Day)

• 0700-0830 – Lite Continental Breakfast. (Garden Lounge only)
• 1030-1300 – Brunch! (both dining rooms)
• 1300-1415 – The Writing Center. (Classroom 5)
• 1300-1430 – Zumba. (Union)
• 1300-1500 –Soccer Games. Open to all (Sports Deck)
• 1400-1600 – Family Friendly Movie: Emperor Gusto's Café. (Classroom 3)
• 1430-1600 – Sock, Porcupine, Clock, Toaster Improv. (Union)
• 1500-1700 – Dodge Ball Games. Open to all (Sports Deck)
• 1600-1700 – Insanity. (Union)
• 1700-1800 – The Writing Center. (Piano Lounge)
• 1730-1930 – BBQ (Deck 7 aft)
• 1900-2100 – Are you Smarter than a Dependent Child? (Union)
• 2100-2300 – Movie Night: Moneyball. (Classroom 4)
• 2100-0000 – Special Event: Karoake.  (Union)

 

Here is a picture from the BBQ.

Mauritius is Cancelled, On to India!

Due to some unfortunate weather, Mauritius that was originally on our itinerary has been cancelled and we are heading straight to India from there (I guess after we refuel there or something like that however I have been told that we are also avoiding the pirates too so who knows). 11 days at sea and everyone is complaining about guess what...the food! Ok let me admit that I have already gotten sick off of it enough times so i have my stock supply of food from Cape Town! (Go me for some smart thinking!) I wanted to let you know that midterms are going alright and My Global Studies midterm was an A and my Operations Management is a B and i am waiting to hear back on my other two midterms. Anyways time to leave some maps and flags. For the sake of Mauritius, I will put it up but after that, I will make some few comments on India and leave it at that. There will probably be a post on the Sea Olympics sometime before then too and the talent show on board the ship. (There was a Neptune day which I forgot my camera and didn't take pictures for and King and Queen of the Seas in which I was sick that night and had to miss so I will post pics up of those from a friend of mine who was so nice to give some to me.) Anyways…

Moving on from Mauritius, we are heading to India!

                We are docking in Cochin, India which according to some of the crew is a more upscale area of India but I don't know. Ok, so I have my two cents about India, this country is the country that I was not looking forward to going to this country so I am going to actually keep not only my spending close to nothing in this country (well, I want to have an awesome time from Singapore to Japan here! I did pick this trip because of the last four countries that I was dying to visit and yeah having the last port being my home town of San Diego! Can I get a little love here! ). Keeping that in mind, I am still going to experience as much as I can and learn about society because I did come on SAS to learn and experience even if I will not be able to ever go to India again. The experience so far has been an amazing journey, while I haven't had much time to reflect upon some of the countries, I found myself starting to see the world in different eyes just a little more every day and trying to put myself in their shoes for just a moment. As I learn about the histories on board and see what has become of the nations because of their histories, I find myself saying a couple of things. One, the people in the USA have such a bad understanding of many of these nations or they know nothing at all and two, our education for schools is sad just for public schools alone. The last thing I seem to notice is how we take democracy for granted and I can admit myself that I take voting for granted but I learned first-hand in the Bahamas how important it really is (I will elaborate on that a bit more to the end of this trip. There will be some reflection pieces and East Asia will have a huge reflection piece but it will take time for me to write). I really hope that India will indeed change my mind or at least start opening up a whole new perspective in me. I have about 7 trips planned in India, each one to give me a new experience and I will reflect on this country as to whether it  left something in me or not but each country has instilled in me a lesson on the things I take for granted in the USA and also just important life lessons that I plan to carry on with me through college. This trip everyday changes something of my attitude towards everything as I miss many of the things at home and am pretty much detached from the world at large so I have no news of world or anything since no one will email me the full article as an attachment or actually in the email: miranda.denny.s12@semesteratsea.org The only news I have really gotten was some of the news in Ghana and in South Africa. I did not get to do a lot of world news reading. I like to be kept up on the current world news, Wall Street, International Business and Economics but not the celebrities. Anyways, I miss everyone back home and really hope to hear from people soon even if it is a simple "hi how are you?" That always makes my day. That's all I have for you! Stay tuned for the next update on Sea Olympics! My camera will be ready for that!