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Havana, Cuba and Meeting with Fidel

December 7, 2002 in Personal, Semester at Sea

I never got around to writing anything about my time in Havana. It was right at the end of the trip and we were all pretty world-weary from so much non-stop travel. We were able to visit Cuba because we were entered from Brazil and not directly rom the US and were were also an educational – not tourist – organization that was hosted by the University of Havana.

I spent one of my days touring some of the old forts and lighthouses along Havana’s coast. I was a bit surprised at how similar they were to other fortifications I had toured in the US. As I had throughout the trip, I enjoyed the history of it all – particularly the former headquarters of the revolution – but by that point, I was a little tired of seeing so much history. I was ready to be home.

One evening, we were invited to spend the evening – all 600+ of us – with Fidel Castro. For nearly 4 hours el Presidente droned on about nothing at all. When he opened it up for questions, he was asked about the state of healthcare in Cuba, the assassination plans on both sides during the Kennedy years. He went on and on about progress and partnership without really saying much of anything. The high points of the evening came right at the end when one of the more courageous asked Fidel for a hug – which he got – and another asked him to autograph his passport. To which Fidel relpied, ”I’ll do it but I’m not sure if you’ll be allowed back in to your country!” You can’t say the man doesn’t have a sense of humor.

After the audience with Castro, we were invited to an all-night party on him. From what I heard it was quite a good time. I’m not the party type and I was running pretty tired so I took the motor coach back to the ship. I also felt the injustice of such a lavish event being held when the Cuban people went without so much. Just imagine how that money would’ve been better spent to make some real difference.

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Back on the Atlantic

November 25, 2002 in Personal, Semester at Sea

Well, Brazil was an ok port. Yeah, it was just ok. I didn’t go on any of the big trips to the Amazon or Rio so I just stayed in Salvador for the most part. I went to Praia do Forte to check out the sea turtle project where they are trying to increase the population of the turtles. I also went to the Afro-Brazilian Museum in Salvador – everything was in Portugese and no one spoke English, which made for an interesting time. I went on a ship-sponsored trip to see a performance of traditional Brazilian religious dances. It was pretty cool with almost constant drumming for about an hour, good food, and a form of martial arts/dance called capoeira. I only watched the show and they wore me out from all the energy they expended. I went shopping one evening and that was pretty much it. At this point in the trip, like I said before, I’m ready to be done. I wasn’t too impressed with Brazil. The old section of the city was quite beautiful but there wasn’t much that really excited me or made me want to come back. It’s sad to say but it was just another port. Overall, I think most of the rest of the ship had an amazing time but for me it just wasn’t as great as it could’ve been. It wasn’t as bad as it sounds though. I don’t regret being there. I also don’t feel like I missed out on much by staying on the ship for a couple of days. My roommates were gone for 2 nights and I had the room to myself for once. I watched a few movies, got some work done at a casual pace, and I was able to recover somewhat from the past week straight of work. Now the fun begins. We have 10 days until Cuba and in that time we have our last few days of class, Thanksgiving, and finals. It will be a lot of work but it will be done before we know it. And to think, Thanksgiving is in a couple of days. It’s my first Thanksgiving away from home and it’s going to be served buffet style in the dining hall. How wierd is that?!? It will certainly be an experience though. I’ll be with some good friends and dining somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean or Caribbean. How many people can say that? (Well, other than the 950 or so other people on the ship with me!) It will be fun.

Well, this will be my last Voyage Log until after I get home. With everything that will be happening in the next 2 weeks – finals, Cuba, packing, driving home – I won’t get the chance to write again. But do not fret! I will post all of my pictures and thoughts on Cuba and the trip as a whole before Christmas. I will be home around the 12th of December if anyone wants to email me again or anything. I will be thinking of you all as I make my way northward and I can’t wait to see you all again upon my return. Best of luck to all of you with finals and papers and I wish you all Happy Holidays, safe travels, and I send my love and thanks for all of the support and love you’ve shown me as I’ve been on this amazing journey! Take Care! and God Bless! Until I return…

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Atlantic Ocean: Day 8, Salvador Tomorrow!

November 19, 2002 in Personal, Semester at Sea

Hello once again from little ol’ me traveling around this great big world of ours! A lot has been going on in the week since Cape Town. This past Saturday, the 16th, we had our Ambassador’s Ball – the equivalent of a prom. We all got dressed up and showed off our fancy purchases and tailor-made outfits from Vietnam and other countries. I had a really great time. I love getting dressed up and spending time with such good friends.

Classes are starting to wind down. My first final is on the Tuesday after Brazil and my last will be a week later on the 3rd of December. Wow, finals already! I know many of you must be quite jealous since you still have another month or so before you get to be home with your families for the holidays. Thanksgiving is coming up next week! It’s hard to imagine that it’s already that close! Being out here on the ocean and running around in various ports, gaining an hour here and there, and not really having any time off so to speak it’s really hard to keep track of what day of the week it is any more, let alone what holidays are coming up. The only holidays I know of at this point that are coming up is that tomorrow is something like “Black Awareness Day” in Brazil. But I’m sure there will be a big “to do” onboard for Thanksgiving. From what I understand, we will not go without the traditional turkey with all the fixings. Granted, it will be served buffet style with around 750-800 other people but it will be nice in its own way.

I’m getting ready to be done. Senioritis is certainly kicking in for me. Traveling the world has taken a lot out of me mentally, emotionally, and physically and I’m just ready to be finished with classes and be home where I can just crash for awhile before heading back into the thick of things for my final semester at BU. This has been an amazing trip and I want to see more of the world. My only comment would be that I’m ready to be home. It’s been hard to be so detached from family and friends and because of all of the demands that come with traveling the way that I am with the constant routine of class and port I am ready for some time off. Brazil and Cuba – aside from the possibility of meeting with Castro, still uncertain – were not high on my list of countries I was looking forward to visiting. I pretty much have no expectations for either of them at this point and so, it’s somewhat bad to say but, I’m not that excited about them. Or perhaps it would be better to say that I am looking more forward to being home, meeting Garrett and being back with the familiar again for awhile. Bebo Norman – one of my favorite musicians whom I highly reccomend – wrote a song on his newest CD – that I picked up in Cape Town of all places! – that really spoke to me as to this feeling of wanting to be home. It says: “Yesterday it seems/ I traveled in a younger man’s clothes/ living out this dream/ and wandering through fields of touch and go/ moving on forever/ watching the distance fade away/ but now I just want to land…where the trees stand still.” But Brazil is tomorrow! I have pretty much no expectations of what it will bring. I know it will amaze me just as all the other ports have, each in their own way. I need to let go of the desire to be around the familiar, “where the faces look the same most every day,” and be open to what these next five days have to teach me about Brazil, its people, its culture, its history, and about myself. I will be amazed again!

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First Day After Cape Town, Back in the Atlantic Ocean

November 12, 2002 in Personal, Semester at Sea

I know in past ports I’ve done a little better about writing every couple of days about what’s been going on and what I’ve been up to but Cape Town was just so amazing! I pretty much stayed in Cape Town and didn’t take advantage of the trips to the African Townships that have their own distinct culture and heritage. I was told that they were quite meaningful for those who visited but if you went to a Dalit village in India, as I did, you would get much of the same impression of the poverty and social/racial inequalities present. After seeing a lot of the world’s poverty in the past few ports it was certainly a refreshing feeling to be in Cape Town, which is a fairly modernized city. In the waterfront area, where the ship was docked, it was quite touristy and the down town area was like many other cities in the US. Overall the city had somewhat of a Cleveland or Boston feel as you walked the streets. There was a charm that you find in little New England towns too. It was a great comfort to be there.

I was scheduled to hike up Table Mountain – the dominant feature of the Cape Town landscape – on our second day there. Unfortunately, when I got up that morning I was really sore from wandering the city the day before and I was feeling a little under the weather – a result of living in an enclosed environment and breathing the same air as all of the rest who have been sick. So I slept for another few hours and went out to tea with Dean Lloyd and took the cable car up to the top of the mountain later. The views from the top are breathtaking and I can only hope that the pictures can do justice to it. I wandered further into the city on Day 3. I walked the botanical garden, museum, university area for most of the morning to get a feel for the place. It was amazing. That night I called home for the first time since Vancouver. I got to talk to my entire family, including Garrett! I said hello and he made one of those uniquely baby sounds. Even though I’ve seen pictures just hearing him made his existence for me that much more real. I can’t wait to see him in person and, as Chris (my brother) says, Garrett can’t wait to meet me either. What a brother I have! It was great to hear all of their voices again! I haven’t felt homesick at all on this trip; there’s been too much to see and do to feel homesick. I’ve been missing them terribly and can’t wait to be with them again, though. But I don’t want this all to be over either! On Day 4 my friends Valerie and Samantha and I took a tour through the Stellenbosch wine region. It was a lovely afternoon of driving through the countryside and tasting some good wines with some good friends. I would highly reccomend that you give South African wines a shot – those of you over 21, of course. I’ve gotten hooked on sparkling wine myself, it’s good stuff. Some of the white wines were pretty good as well. A good time was had by all and I am so thankful that I got to be there with such good friends.

Cape Town is a wonderful city and will certainly be towards the top of the list of places for me to return to. Many of us could see ourselves even living and working there for a little while. The people we encountered were such a joy. We are even going to try to keep in touch with one of our waiters who was so eager to share experiences with us and learn about the US and tell us about Angola, where he’s from, and his impressions of Cape Town and school and all of that. I am so amazed by everything that I’ve seen and done! I still can’t fathom the fact that I’ve been to so many places and experienced the beautiful diversity that is all around me. And I’ve only scratched the surface. I’ve only gotten a taste of each port and I will definitely be returning and branching out to other countries as I travel throughout the rest of my life. I can only hope that you all have the opportunity to catch a glimpse of how the greater world works and find the beauty of everything that is out there. My thoughts are with you and I can’t wait to see you all and share what I’ve seen and hear what’s happened in the past months. But first, Brazil is calling and I must answer!

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Less Than 2 Days from Chennai, India

October 12, 2002 in Personal, Semester at Sea

I’m not sure what to write this time. As I think I’ve said before, the pace we keep is quite rigorous. Sure, we only have classes between ports but the time spent in each country is quite exhaustive mentally, physically, and emotionally. And it will only be more emotionally draining in India. To compensate for the constant traveling and the tiredness we all feel, we got to gain an extra hour last night and we get another hour and a half tonight! It’s such a treat!

Another bonus would be my friends. Though the first month or so was rough because it seemed like so many people were making friends left and right while I was still spending much of my time alone, through day trips and classes, meetings and chance encounters I have developed a pretty great group of friends. In some sense, it’s a new situation to me. I am not quick to make friends and I was scared to be tossed in with 600 other people in a closed environment. But the proximity and shared experiences we’ve had have certainly made a community out of us. I’m really enjoying it!

I got my trip selections the other day for the remainder of the semester. I pretty much got everything I wanted minus a small trip in Kenya that I can do independently without too much trouble. I still have my two-day safari planned for the end of October in Kenya,  our executive dean is trying to arrange some sort of meeting with Desmond Tutu who will be in Cape Town when we’re there. I signed up for a trip to cycle through the winelands of South Africa but a friend of mine didn’t get into the trip so I’m going to sell off my ticket so we can do something else. I’m going to be going to see Bahia by night in Brazil. There, we will see some dance demonstrations and other entertainment. And, finally, I’m going to be visiting some colonial fortresses in Havana. To fill the rest of my time I am planning on seeing a lot of different things independently where possible. I think there is still a group that is going to try to do a trip into the forest canopy in S. Africa. I know some people are going sky diving there but I’m thinking that I’ll opt out of that one. I’m thinking of using Brazil as a time to relax for at least part of the time. And depending on his schedule, we might get to see Castro in Cuba. So, even though we are past the halfway point for ports and quickly coming to the 50-day mark of our 100-day voyage there is still much to see and do and I’m eagerly awaiting it all.

Though this is all great fun, I do miss you all. I miss going to a regular service and all of the programs at Marsh. I’m actually listening to the “Sending Forth” tape I was given last May – Thank You Hope! I miss all of the great friendships that have formed over the past 3 years in Boston and those that I’ve formed elsewhere throughout my comings and goings. I carry all of you with me as I continue on around the world. I know that there will be much to share when I return. But until then, I hope you are all having as much fun as I am and that you find as many blessings as I have.

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