Boarding! Next Stop Dominica

I am boarding the MV Explorer today for my trip around the world so my updates on here will be a bit limited as well as the pictures but i will do my best to keep this updated with the latest on my travels. I have to say that the bahamas is very expensive and you best have enough money to cover because of how expensive it is around the area especially the restaurants and hotels for meals can run you about $20 a meal so about $60 in a day for three meals or $40 for two meals. My experience though was an experience to remember and i had a great time despite the expensive stuff and the bit of sad news from back home but i am not going to let that ruin my trip. Anyways Dominica is my next stop!

Tried something new

I went to Twin Brothers and goldies about 15 minutes from the hotel in a small restaurant area called the fish fry  which has multiple conch restaurants. I have to say that of the two, goldies was the best overall. I had Conch fritters at both places and i have to say that they taste better at goldies. Both were a great experience to go and try. I only have pictures from the Twin brothers and look below! Conch to me has a chewy texture like octopus but is very good.

Above: These are conch fritters and my margarita which had a lot of alcohol in it.

This one above is a strawberry and mango smoothie

This one is Lobster, Conch and Shrimp Alfredo Pasta (THIS WAS SO GOOD!)

Bahamas!

Hey Everyone!
I made it into Nassau, Bahamas last night on American Airlines. My only comment about them is they have the most uncomfortable seats. I was more comfortable on Spirit Airlines when i went to Chicago. Moving on...I am staying at the Sheraton and I really love my room. I have a King size bed all to myself and a balcony with a really nice view. The weather is warm out here for sure. I went down to the international bazaar and checked it out. It was really nice. I went and got more stuff for the trip. My plans for the rest of the day include going to the dolphin grill in the hotel and then Senor Frogs tonight for dinner. I will go to Twin Brothers tomorrow for Conch then head off to visit Atlantis before going back to the hotel.
Here are some quick pictures of the place :)

For Mrs. Hagan's Class

Hello Mrs. Hagan's Class
It was such a pleasure to meet you all and be able to answer as many questions as I can for you. I have this blog up for you all as well to be able to read and enjoy the experiences up. Once I am gone, don't hesitate to email me at my email address: miranda.denny.s12@semesteratsea.org  You may at any time leave a comment  on here with any last minute requests, email or write a letter to me and send it to the address that i provided of anything that you didn't get to tell me before I left. I encourage you to read my blogs whether you are at school or at home and if you don't understand something. Please either ask your teacher or ask me the definition or if you still aren't sure, it never hurts to google the word ok?
I will put small videos up here as i am able to do so and have time to do that amongst my school work that i still have to do while i am on board. When i come back from the trip i will be working on a presentation for the class.

I will be in the Bahamas on January 16th until January 19th which is when i leave. I will take pictures of food in the bahamas and i will be trying a dish that my family wanted me to try which is Conch (pronounced as konk) amongst other things to see. I will be getting a lot of marine life pictures if not in the bahamas then probably in dominica.
(Note to the teacher: Below are all the links that you can show in the class if you wish to at any time.)

http://www.semesteratsea.org/voyages/spring-2012/spring-2012-itinerary.php

http://www.semesteratsea.org/voyages/spring-2012/spring-2012-field-program.php


(Side Note: For my classes and other things, refer to another entry on my blog that briefly lists the classes that i am taking.)

Here is a map of the bahamas for you all and i will post the next one with the map of Dominica up before i leave on the trip and so on. Enjoy! Also this site provided was made by a Spring 2012 SAS Student who did some research for everyone. Feel free to check it out for all the ports and countries.
http://oursas.com/nassau/

Traveling Journey of the Denny Child Begins

Hello to all including family members and close friends: (This is a repost from October with  LOTS updates that i made in between then and the trip) 

    I am doing semester at sea through the University of Virginia. I will be be traveling to Nassau, Bahamas for an extended vacation from January 16th, 2012 to January 19th, 2012 before the boat leaves on January 19, 2012 around the afternoon. I am staying at the Sheraton Hotel and Resort in Nassau (Pictures of the place will show up on January 17, 2012.)

For my family and close friends: I will not be on facebook until May so the best way to contact me is through here. I may provide an email address specifically just for SAS email closer to the trip so that my other emails will not be overrun with other email. My facebook page will have a note on the site that i will tag everyone on so that way the link will be on there with additional information. It is currently up right now. Please check the notes on my page. It is open to everyone right now who is my friend on facebook. :)

For Mrs. Hagan and her 3rd Grade Class
I am so excited to have met you before i left and i can't wait to keep in touch with you the entire trip and share all the wonderful experiences with you. You are all more than welcome to leave comments on here about anything or if you just want to look at my blog and read about what I discover on my journey. Thank you for giving me such an awesome opportunity. Please enjoy reading this and check for any blogs that I post up just for the class! Enjoy your class and have fun! Mrs. Hagan, thank you for providing me with such a great opportunity to be able to share my experiences with your class. You are such a wonderful teacher to instill such an interest into your students to hopefully one day travel like i did. Enjoy! I do have a post up for your just your class so please make sure to glance at that later on. I have a map out and ready for each Country so you can use this to show your class during the time that i am in a specific country.

Moving on...

I will be documenting my experiences and pictures on this site as much as i can from pictures from being on the boat to countries and everything in between. I am happy to share this with all of you and I welcome any comments, questions, constructive criticisms and insightful thoughts about what I have experienced. So i have a few things that everyone should keep in mind about the blogs and who i put them up for. I am entitled to shut the blog down at any time and only certain users will be allowed to receive any updates from me. Please keep the following in mind when  leaving comments.

1.  I dont want any spam comments on my blog
2.  Do not advertise for business or a company on my page for any reason
3. Insults and/or derogatory language will not be used at all.
4. I welcome constructive criticism on both the blog sites
5. Do not disrespect others that leave comments on the blog

 FYI: I do have a 3rd grade class that will be looking at this blog during the semester and i want all comments on this page to be completely appropriate for anyone to read.
Towards the bottom of the page I have posted several links to my itinerary, and a few other items for basic information. I will be welcoming ideas of places that i should look to go to while i am in the countries that i am at. You are also welcome to post information on current events in countries (I really would love that because i like to read about things like this) along with other information on any law changes, currency updates, etc. For the food lovers, i will take pictures of all the food that i eat in every nation (especially in the Asian countries) and on board the boat just for the fun of it and for my marine lovers. I will try my best to get as many pictures as possible of marine life on the coasts. (Yes Debbie, you get plenty of them for your own personal enjoyment )

  There will be plenty of pictures, i promise. A selected amount will be put up but if you want to see all of them. Wait until i get back. A slide show will be developed hopefully during May when i get back for everyone to see. I will not be on Facebook at all during the trip so all your updates on me will be on this site alone unless I personally email you otherwise. I wish you all well and i can't wait to see you in May when i get back.

Some sites below to give you some information about the cruise :)

http://www.semesteratsea.org/voyages/spring-2012/spring-2012-itinerary.php

http://www.semesteratsea.org/voyages/spring-2012/spring-2012-field-program.php
(I will put up a list of the ones that I will be doing around Thanksgiving and then update in December and January)

http://www.semesteratsea.org/voyages/upcoming-voyages/spring-2012.php (Watch the video on this one)

http://www.myvirtualpaper.com/doc/semester-at-sea/2011-sas-viewbook/2011091902/?referrer=http%3A//www.semesteratsea.org/landing/overview/inquire-apply-or-login.php#0

For all other info Visit http://www.semesteratsea.org/

PS: If you all are interested in reading my stories and/or poems, they are being posted on my other blog. http://mdennywriting.blogspot.com/
I leave a warning, they are not for little kids, they can touch some very controversial things and they are a bit dark so don't read them unless you keep a bit of an open mind to things. I don't really write clean stories all the time. the poems however are mostly fine give or take one or two. I don't mind if you like or dislike on there but please constructive criticism is appreciated. Thank you!

My Last Day of Work was Today

My last day of work was today! :( It was so sad to leave my good friends and Zimmer Xcel Medical go! They were awesome and I had a great time at the company. I learned so much from everyone there and i enjoyed everyone wishing me a safe and awesome trip. I send out my love and support to them and wish them a wonderful year this year and hope that all goes well for everyone! I also will miss my Aall Care coworkers while i am gone and can't wait to see them when i come back from Semester at Sea! So just wanted to leave a nice message for both companies that i worked for!

(Not my pic)

Thank you for the experience and everything! :)

Packing!

Oh yes the good old time of Packing, doing my taxes, filing FASFA (or what ever the acronym is) I just went to walmart yesterday and got things to help me with the trip but other than that, i have not actually packed for the trip and probably won't even come close to being finished until next weekend after my work week is over and I am relaxed a bit. So much to do this week!

New Update:
Well I actually started packing and i am about half way through getting all my stuff and still working on packing as my picture shows below. I used the space bags to compact everything so that way i wouldn't have so much trouble with doing stuff. Only about half my clothes are packed at the moment since i have stuff in the washer and dryer  :)

My Last Week of Work

OMG!!! It's my last week of work before i go on the trip on January 16th!!! I am so excited. I know just like my other post, i was excited but i am so ready to go and finally make a dream come true out here. SAS gave me a chance to experience the world and I am ready to show SAS and the world that i am going to be open minded and successful! I can't wait to be a part of something great. THANK YOU SAS FOR GIVING ME AN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A DREAM COME TRUE!

(Not my pic! I don't claim)

I can't wait to meet everyone and hope to see comments on my blog soon. I will soon be posting from my email so bear with me if some pics don't show up here ok? My last day of work is on January 13th for Zimmer Xcel and January 12th for Aall Care. I will miss everyone from both these places when i leave but i wish them a successful year!

Counting down the days

Only 17 days left before i head to Nasseau, Bahamas! I am excited to finally go be on vacation and really actually go on semester at sea! I am nervous about meeting everyone and being able to do something that is completely life changing for my life. I can't wait to board the plane with my stuff. Oh shoot i need to actually pack here soon! I will wait until after New Years and appointments so i can determine what i need to include first. Did i say i was excited? I am!

(This pic is not mine. I don't claim it)

Christmas was wonderful at my home and actually relatively quiet even with my Aunt Marie in town :) I love you Aunt Marie! I got a lot of spending money, and gifts for Semester at Sea including the following : SAS Decal Sticker, SAS Red sweatshirt, Video Camera, SAS License Plate cover, SAS blue T-shirt and a portable 1TB drive among some other items :) I really didnt want all that. (I would be happy with the money for the price of everything but the 1TB Drive for my laptop :) I did get a watch but my mom is taking that back for other issues. I feel spoiled but i don't understand how my room feels like it is 40 degrees and out side it is about 70 degrees especially in winter time!! Welcome to San Diego Everyone! We are spoiled in terms of the weather. My grandmother however was moved from the nursing home to the hospital and now i worry for her health. I hope she recovers. My uncle is supposed to be in town this weekend. I am working a lot recently to hopefully get spending money for SAS. I think i will have plenty for the trip and I have so much to do before i go. I will have to prep everything for my parents to take care of while i am gone. Too crazy!!!!!!!

Anyways, for everyone out there!

(I don't claim this one either)





Middle of Finals

OMG!! Ha ha I haven't gotten much sleep during finals and finished a paper but i am also dreaming about SAS. I got an awesome scarf from my parents that has SAS on it already! (Thanks mom!) I hope i will have everything to be able to handle SAS next semester. I am counting down the days till i leave to the bahamas for some resting and exploring and I finished two more stories and thinking about starting a new one after finals just for fun and so i feel like i actually have a life other than work dominating my schedule all the way up to the bahamas. I feel rather sad that i will end my job at Zimmer Xcel in Sorrento Valley. Those people are some of the best individuals that i ever met at the place and i learned a lot from them but SAS is making me far too jittery and anxious. FALL SEMESTER JUST END SO I CAN LEAVE ALREADY! :)

Finals

Everyone has to be either going through finals or at least studying for them as i am this weekend. Please comment below to tell me how your finals are going  and even provide a few destressor tips for the rest that view our page. I am an accounting major and studying for finals is going to be a crazy adventure. I am literally studying like crazy to do well on my two accounting finals, my history final and my logic final. I need to do well on them. Anyways Comment! Tell me how your finals are going and also, who is having more frequent dreams about being on a boat? I have for like 4 weeks already. I must be over this semester lol.

(I don't claim this one)

Thought that this might humor you a bit.

Alright!!! Field Programs!

Hello to all!
The Field Programs are mostly up except for India at the moment. I am going to hopefully have a list of them for each country in a matter of days (Well okay by Thursday if I am that good.) I will update when I have a completed set of things that i am going to do. I am still open to side ideas that can fit around these.
Laters!

(I don't claim this one either)

http://www.semesteratsea.org/voyages/spring-2012/spring-2012-field-program.php

IPE FORUM AND VACCINES FOR SAS

Okay!
So I vaccines done last wednesday ( I was pretty busy) and i got the pneumonia, thyphoid, mennigitis, yellow fever and polio vaccine! Can i state for the record that it hurt!!!! I have a nice bruise from the Yellow Fever vaccine to prove it. (Maybe i will add a picture of it on later) Anyway....I just wanted to update that registration for the trips got changed to next tuesday 11/29/2011 so i will let you know what trips i will possibly be going on that i will register for in advance. PLEASE CHECK OUT MY OTHER PAGE FOR POEMS AND STORIES I HAVE WRITTEN! :) http://mdennywriting.blogspot.com/

Also what was going on this month was the IPE (International Political Economy) Forum at the University of Notre Dame between Friday 11/04/11 - Sunday 11/06/11

UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME PICTURES!!

 We got there really late but everything went well! I will post some pictures from the events. I had a good time but to be frankly honest, some of the school population can be rather stuck up and there really isn't much to do in the surrounding areas because let's face it. Other than Benedictine College being in the middle of nowhere (45 Minutes outside of Kanas City). South Bend is in the middle of nowhere! The teams competing in the Forum were Notre Dame, Benedictine and USD (Side rant: USD, SDSU & UCSD are two different schools!!!! UCSD = University of California San Diego  SDSU = San Diego State University and USD = University of San Diego! The people who get these mixed up need to really get that straight because i am tired of correcting people for the same thing over and over. Ok i am done ranting about that) Friday was a formal presentation by all the teams. Oh i almost forgot to tell you what the topic was! It was Gold Standard! The question was:
IS GOLD A VIABLE RESERVE CURRENCY? WHAT IS THE REAL VALUE OF GOLD?

PICTURE OF ALL THE TEAMS TOGETHER :)

THE USD TEAM

THE BENEDICTINE TEAM

THE NOTRE DAME TEAM

After all these teams presented then we all were divided up into four teams one person from each school was on a team and we had to give a presentation on a similar topic but different question about how gold affects the coporations financially and what coporations should do to help themselves

THE WINNING TEAM :)

I WAS ON THE WINNING TEAM WITH TWO OTHER FRESHMAN (Erin (Middle) and Sarah (Left))

Our Awesome title for the presentation? GOLD GOLD GOLD!! (Catchy isn't it? Well the judges liked it anyways and so did everyone else.)

IPE Presentation

OTHER TEAMS

The trip to Notre Dame was great and i had a good time overall but there is just nothing there. (No wonder they have a big night club on campus!) There really isnt anything special within proximity to the school and it's rather sad. The actual host of SIBC from Notre Dame was really not very personable. Minus that guy, the experience was fun but I am never doing a presentation on gold again. I wear platinum and silver! :)

Excursions and Classes

Hi Everyone!!
I wanted to provide a new update in regards to my classes and also in regards to excursions.
My Classes that i am taking :)

SEMS   2500-505: Global Studies
ARTH   3559 : East Meets West
SEMS   3500-502: Operations Management
RELG   1559-503: Religion and Human Experience in Global Perspective
A fifth class is tenative at this time and I will let you know once i get on board and am able to register for another class. (Hehe...thats not happening)

Thought it was entertaining but i was told by a few SAS friends on facebook that Macau is the Chinese version of Las Vegas, Nevada. Apparently it is because there are so many casinos there. I might go visit that place with a bunch of the SAS just out of pure curiousity to see what it is like. The excursions for SAS will not be put up until around the 23rd since registration is on the 29th of this month.
Bye for now!

UPDATE ON ITINERARY

Hi All!
 I wanted to update you on the Itinerary. Cuba has been cancelled and we won't be going there according to the email i received from SAS regarding the travel license to Cuba. I will let you know if there is anything additional that is needed. Thank you!
Link to Itnerary
http://www.semesteratsea.org/voyages/spring-2012/spring-2012-itinerary.php