Happy Neptune Day!

                Ok, so today is a reading day on the ship. A reading day is when we don’t have class and get to have a day to relax and catch up of all the reading we have for our classes. Except, today was not a regular reading day.

                At 7:30 this morning the whole ship was awoken by faculty and staff members banging on drums, tambourines, and bells on every floor.  Not long after the noise started our Assistant Executive Dean came over the P.A. and told us all to get up, put on a swim suit or old clothes, and come up to the 7^th deck. So with a groan my roommate Hannah and I roll out of bed, put on our suits, and head up to the deck.

                Once we arrived there were tons of other students and lifelong learners there. It was almost as if we were having a party; with loud music, people dancing, and taking tons of pictures. We all gathered around the pool while the staff on the ship slowly brought up 4 trash barrels full of “fish guts”. We had to come up to the 7^th deck because King Neptune of the sea found out that we had crossed the Equator without permission. Therefore, we had to ask for forgiveness and permission to continue to cross. We started this journey as pollywogs and then turned into Shellbacks once we crossed the Equator. So this ceremony is to symbolize a sailor’s first crossing of the Equator. Before you cross it you are a pollywog, and after you cross the equator you are a shellback symbolizing that you (well I am) are an experienced sailor. This is practiced in many areas but is a Semester at Sea tradition.    

 The fish guts were really salt water, corn starch, and food coloring (I think).  One by one we each had these fish guts dumped on top of us and then we had to jump into the pool. Once we got out we had to kiss a dead fish, King Neptune and his wife’s rings.  Then we officially were Shellbacks! So I am an experienced sailor! YEAH :)

Another part of the tradition is to have your head shaved. Needless to say I did not shave my head but many students on the ship did. So now we have all of these bald experienced sailors on the ship. It was quite a morning.

Now it is time for reading day. I feel a nap in my near future, but also a day of homework. Oh and then tonight I am celebrating Hannah’s birthday with her! It is going to be a great day! :-)

  

My final day in Brazil

On the last day in port I did something that was truly an inspiration. I went with Destiny and Kara to a school for the deaf. At first our day started out really rocky. We got out of the port and needed a taxi to take us to the school. One problem (well actually 2) first, we didn’t have an exact address for the school and second we didn’t speak Portuguese to explain where we wanted to go. We met this very nice man who did speak English and was willing to help us describe where we wanted to go. Once we got into the cab the driver was fantastic! He spent a good half an hour with us trying to find the school. He even got out 5 different times to ask some of the locals if they knew where the school was. We FINALLY found it! The cab driver was just as excited as we were to finally be at our destination.

Once we got into the school we had just as many issues. I should first tell you that Destiny is deaf and Kara is her interpreter. So they were interested in going to see what the difference in sign was, and I wanted to go to have the experience of seeing other types of sign since I would too like to be an interpreter one day.  OK so back to the story….we had an awful time trying to tell the employees at the school what we wanted. We finally met a wonderful lady who spoke a little English. When we finally got across what we were wanting to do and done explaining why the people were so nice! The lady who spoke a little English started giving us a tour.

          During the tour we met two teachers who were both deaf. Once we introduced ourselves to them they were so happy and walked with us during the tour to talk to us all. I was behind a video camera for most of the time, but it was incredible to see how hard we all worked to communicate with each other. They were all so nice. While we were talking there came multiple occasions when our signs did not match up and we had to either fingerspell or go through the lady who spoke both English and knew Portuguese sign. ASL and Portuguese sign is very different! I wish that I could explain on here the differences but that is impossible because it is a visual thing. We figured it out every time though. I think the funniest part of it all was that any one time we could have as many as 4 languages going on at once: spoken English, spoken Portuguese, Portuguese sign, and ASL. It got very confusing at times, but most of the time it was just sheer enjoyment. This was honestly one of the most inspiring experiences of my life.  Even though it was a struggle to try to communicate this experience was something that I will never forget. I am so excited to go back to America and continue my education in ASL. This helps me solidify my passion not only for ASL but for students with disabilities. I cannot wait to show people in America (at BW in my ASL class) to show them how different the world of sign is in each country!         

            In general my trip to Brazil was amazing. I would say that in Dominica I felt like I was on vacation simply because we did all the “tourist” activities and were only there for two days. I feel like here in Brazil I felt like a traveler. I got to experience not only the touristy parts of Manaus, but I got to experience the local spots that tourist don’t get to or want to see. I also got to experience not only the happy and profitable side of Manaus, but I got to see the struggling side as well. The point of this journey around the world is to have a more open and less skewed view of the world that we are living in. I believe that in Manaus I got to start that journey. I got to see a less skewed view of what we think of the world. Yes, I got to see the Amazon and the Opera House, but I also got to see the Shanty Towns and the struggling school systems. This journey is going to be one that will stay with me forever. I knew that I would have the time of my life on this ship. This ship has a dream of having its participants help change the world,  but I had no idea just how much this trip would change me.    

Brazil days 2 & 3

                The Second day was just as fun as the first. On the morning of the second day I went out with my roommate and best friend on the trip Hannah. She and I went down town to just walk around and do a little shopping. The weather was hot; by 9 am it was well into the 90’s and really humid. Imagine a mid- July day but at 9 in the morning; that is kind of what it felt like. I really enjoyed getting to spend some quality time with her. I love how she and I can honestly say whatever comes to us and feel safe and comfortable enough to tell one another. God really put this wonderful person in my life at this point. She is my rock on the ship, well we are for each other and that is what makes us such great room mates. I couldn’t imagine having any other roommate on board.

 We both had field trips that day so we came back after lunch and got ready to go out into various parts of Manaus with other students.

                I went on two field trips to a local dance studio. The trip was about twenty miles away from the port so we did have a little ride, but I got see another part of the city. I got to see some of the Shanty Towns (towns that just pop up outside of cities that are full of people in poverty). It was a pretty drive and an eye opening one just simply because I got to see more than what the average tourist sees when they come to Manaus. Once I arrived at the dance studio I was instantly reminded at how much I love and miss dance. I met the instructor Miller (pronounced like Meellar) and we instantly got to dancing. The first class I had was a Brazilian dance class. Here we learned how to Lambda, Samba, and Salsa. We just learned a few steps from each dance but it was fun to dance to local music with some locals. That class lasted for about two hours. Then, right after that I took an Amazon Tribal Dance class! Oh my goodness, it was one of the best experiences of my life. In this class we learned 2 whole tribal dances. We got to dance to local music, with locals, and with local movement. These dances we learned were not only local to Brazil but local to Manaus which made them even more fun to learn. At the end of the lesson Miller and I were having a great time. It was so cool to see how we could communicate with one another just through our bodies. Dance can definitely be an international language. I had so much fun that I actually went back the next day to the same class just so I could experience it all again.

                The second day I went to class (which was my third day in port) Miller told me through an interpreter that I already knew the dances and I said that I didn’t care that I just wanted to experience them again! So I stepped into the back of the classroom to give the new students a good perspective of the dance they were about to learn. Miller started class and then stopped. He turned around, walked to the back, grabbed my hand, and led me to the spot right next to him. He asked me to help him teach the class! It was easier to teach since I already knew the dances and could translate the movements into English. It was so fun! He would start dancing and ask me to join then just stop so that everyone would be watching me do it. At first it was kind of embarrassing, but then when the class clapped it was an awesome feeling! The class went very smoothly. It was just as enjoyable as the first time I went.

                After class Miller pulled me and a few girls aside and invited us to a local club where he and the other dance instructors would be that night. So we went back to the ship, ate, got ready, and headed across town to this club. It was a great experience! Everyone was so welcoming at the club. Even though we could not speak Portuguese and they could not speak English we were still able to have a great time! Random gentlemen would come and just whisk us around the dance floor. In the middle of the night the singer would yell “Americanos!!!!” and motioned for us to come to the stage. Here Miller taught us some of their “line dances” which was so fun! I wish that clubs were like this in America. Everyone was so nice and welcoming. You could leave your purse on a table and no one would mess with it, it was okay to dance with anyone who was in the club, and everyone was just eager to teach us about their culture. It was just amazing! I feel like these words that I’m writing don’t really describe what I felt and experienced but it’s really the only way I know how to describe it.

                I would say that I stayed out way too late for being as tired as I was, but that I had the greatest night to date on this journey. I definitely know that Brazil is somewhere I will come back to if for nothing else but to dance!

Brazil day 1

On the first day in Manaus, I decided to go with a small group of people into down town. The four of us got lost, on purpose! We started by going to a bank. That was an adventure in itself. The ATM was in the middle of a really busy block full of locals. While we were waiting in line we found some other Semester at Sea people who were getting money too. When it was finally our turn we had the worst time trying to figure out how to work out the ATM machines. I was one of the first ones to figure out how on earth to work the machine and took out money. Once we all had what we needed we just started walking.

                The first place we stopped at was the Teatro Amazonas; the local Opera House. The architecture in this building was something you would only thing to see in pictures. Much of the architecture was influenced by the European. The ceiling in the auditorium was painted similarly to that of the Sistine Chapel. There was an interesting story about the auditorium. When it was first open there was obviously no air conditioning and so the seats were made with whicker so that the flow of what little air was in the building could flow better. On the tour of the Opera House our tour guide was telling us about all of the different European influences that were in the building. Almost all of the furniture was brought over, all the floors were made from European woods, and most of the paintings were done by European artists. One thing that was pretty funny would be in the Ballroom. First, the Ballroom was my favorite part of the tour. The floor was made with two colors of wood to symbolize the meeting of the waters in the Amazon River. This floor is also made with no nails or glue. It is simply made with grooves that fit together perfectly. The funny part was in one of the only original paintings done by a local of Brazil. In this picture it has these magnificent gigantic trees from the Amazon and then some squirrels. Yeah, squirrels; which don’t exist in Brazil were in this painting in down town Brazil. The Opera House is definitely somewhere that I want to return to someday.

                Right outside of the Opera House was a monument called the Plaza of St. Sebastion. Here is a monument that coincides with the Catholic Church across the street from it. The floor of this “mini park” also has black and white tiles to symbolize the meeting of the waters again. This monument was strangely located in the center of Manaus surrounded by buildings. It was a perfect place to get away from the street vendors and all the noise that normally comes with a big city.

                We also walked around the local market. A lot of the things that you could buy were things that you could find in America. I think the most entertaining thing I found was hello Kitty and Power Rangers note books! I almost bought one just to say I bought Hello Kitty in Brazil. Once we dodged around the street vendors, the fruit stands, and random people and children on the street trying to lure you into a corner store in an ally we found yet another park. This park was breath taking. The park had small ponds (kind of like the ones in Greenville’s park) surrounded by native trees and shrubs. The park was full of locals just people watching. I think that some of the people there thought we were crazy because we just kept walking around in circles taking pictures and saying how beautiful the park was. It was again in a very strange place but gave a restful twist to the hustle and bustle of the city. It was a comforting place to just sit and rest for a moment. The sound of the water, the rustle of the trees in the breeze, and the soft sound of children running around made this small park in the middle of Manaus almost feel like home.

                Right across from the park we found a museum that used to be the old police station for Manaus. Inside it gave us the history of almost every aspect of the state of Amazonas. I think the most interesting part was the coin collection. They had coins from all over South America and the world. It was so intriguing to see how money has changed over time. The museum also showed us the history of the police and military in Manaus. It was cool to see how similar and yet how different our western culture is compared to that of Brazil.

                During my time in Brazil I tried a variety of local foods. I tried some of their native fruit, ice cream, juices, and main dishes. Most of their fruit was good. Much of the fruit you have to peal which is actually good for tourist because when they rinse they obviously do that in water and some people can have bad reactions to water in other countries. A lot of their fruits have a million seeds in them. Fun fact: one of their fruits is actually used to make cheddar cheese yellow! So cool right :) I also tried their ice cream which had the texture of gelato. All of the ice cream flavors were in Portuguese so we just pointed to what we wanted. I got a chocolate ice cream, some caramel type ice cream, and an Ishua ice cream (which is a native fruit). I think the only one I didn’t really like was the Ishua one because it was kind of gritty. The juices were good too. I had one that kind of tasted like pineapple juice but it had something else in it that I couldn’t quite figure out. Finally the main dishes were amazing! We went to this restaurant called Ki-Temprera; a local place that a few people had told us about. No one in the restaurant spoke any English and most of the menu was in Portuguese. So when we ordered we only knew what type of meat we got and we just pointed to something on the menu. We got whatever got, and boy was it good! I had a chicken dish that had four cheeses melted on top with rice and some sort of steamed and sautéed vegetable. I think we were all a little nervous about what we would get but it was really quite good. The people in the restaurant were very friendly and more than willing to help in any way that they could. We recommended this place to anyone and everyone that we knew! My first day was great! I can’t wait to tell you all about the rest of my time in Brazil!                 

Superbowl!!!!

Hey everyone!

So I will try to post something about Brazil tomorrow, but tonight I am
watching the SUPERBOWL!!!! The ship paid to have it broadcasted live for
us here on the ship! So pumped. GO PATRIOTS!!!!!!

Hope everyone is having a great February so far! Enjoy the snow ( if you
have any) and make a snow angel for me! :-)