Sunday, March 25, 2012
This has got to be the good life
Zip lining in the tree tops in South Africa
Showering outside under the stars in South Africa
Monday, February 6, 2012
10 Days Across the pond
Happy first wave day! All classes were cancelled today due to the waves. The ship is rocking terribly. People are getting sick everywhere including myself. I can’t complain because we had no class! We have never had class more then 2 days in a row. Is this real life? We are currently in a storm right now so the water is splashing all over the decks and on are windows. Everything is shifting in our rooms and I actually fell out of bed last night. It was so hard to sleep last night and when I finally did, a big picture in my room came crashing down on me. Having no roommate I had to laugh alone. Wave day is like a snow day, but when it snows you don’t usually vomit.
BRAZIL
Wow where to even start. Each port just keeps getting better and better! I loved Brazil and had an amazing time! I fell in love with Rio and the culture. I am not kidding when I say we did not sleep for 3 days. I really have no idea how we did it. I have drank more coffee this trip then I have in my whole lifetime.
DAY 1:
After sailing 2 long days down the Amazon we finally arrived in Manaus. We lost a few hours of sleep changing our clocks but that did not stop us from waking up at 7am. Right when we arrived we went on another boat that took us threw the town. I was shocked to see how poor the city was. When I pictured Brazil I always thought it was some tropical paradise, but boy was I wrong. Looking at the town from the boat, it looked crowded and the houses were basically falling down the mountain. After the hour boat ride we switched into another very small boat. The small boat was the boat that took us down the small areas of the Amazon. It was just like what you would see in the movies. Very green and very muggy. The whole time I held on to the sides. I thought I was for sure going to fall out of this small wooden boat that was going about 20 miles per hour. We saw tons of snakes, bugs the size of my hand, and alligators! It was so cool going down the Amazon. The people that lived on the water shocked me. It was so incredibly poor it was sad to sea. Houses were just floating in water. They looked abandoned but then you would see a baby come out the door and wave. It broke my heart to see people living in these conditions. The tour guide said that the people that lived on the river were some of the most generous people in Brazil. It amazed me that these people had nothing and were still so generous. When our tour ended we went to a floating restaurant with a traditional Brazilian food. The food was a lot better then it looked. After eating we had some time to kill before our flight to Rio so me and a group of kids walked into town. I have to say we lasted only 15 min. The town was packed and very dirty. We also did not feel very safe. They had separate subways for women because of the way men treat them. It was very weird and scary so we went to the ports bar and listened to Spanish music and hung out. At 9pm we left for the airport where our flight had an hour delay. The flight was 6 hours to Rio and all of us were so excited that we could not sleep.
DAY 2:
We arrived in Rio at 7am and we all were exhausted to say the least. Thinking we would go straight to the hotel and change and freshen up, SAS had another little surprise up their sleeves. What do you know ANOTHER hike….at 8am! A group leader met us and told us that we had to walk up this huge hill to the top of the mountain to get breakfast. I am convinced that different countries like to test Americans and see how much we can walk up an incline in 100 deg heat without passing out. When we got to the top of the hill we had a beautiful breakfast waiting for us. The restaurant looked over Rio. They had fresh fruits, breads, and cheeses. After we were done with our meal, what do you know we went on another hike! 2 miles all up hill. It was worth it though because when we got to the top we literally saw the whole city of RIO! We were as high as the airplanes that were coming in for landing. It was very cool. On our hike back down the mountain we met up with 5 more leaders. We were not sure why, but then they told us that they were taking us threw the slums. The slums are illegal towns built up in the hills of Brazil. Drug lords solely run them, and if you do not have an invite into them they can kill you. SAS as well as all of our teachers told us never to go into them so we were all confused why the tour was taking us threw them. The slums were absolutely terrible. Dogs and cats were everywhere. Houses had no doors or windows, and people were looking at us very funny. The smell in the slums is a smell I will never forget. It was so poor and run down it was hard to see something like that. It was defiantly not a place to ever go without a leader and a group. After our hike we went to the beach and relaxed. We met some American guys that were on vacation. They actually were from Chicago so we had much to talk about. The beach was breathtaking, minus all the men in Speedos. They definitely like to show skin in Brazil. After the beach we went as a group to a famous Brazilian steak house. Every second someone would come up to you with trays of meat. It was so much food but it was delicious! After dinner we actually went to an Irish pub where they were playing the Rollin Stones. We had a lot of fun but we decided to go to a more Brazilian club. We danced till about 5am then went back to our hotel and got a total of 35min of sleep.
DAY 3:
Waking up at 7am was brutal but we did it. We took a train up to one of the 7 wonders of the world, the Jesus statue. It was gorgeous and a lot bigger then I expected. On the train ride back down a Brazilian band got on the train and started playing music for us. It was so cool riding down an open window train with a live Brazilian band playing for us. It was a party in a boxcar. The statue ended up taking the majority of the day since we had salsa lessons at 7. The group and I went out to dinner then took salsa lessons. It was so much fun! Dance is a huge part of the Brazilian culture. The dance in Brazil is so romantic and fun. Definitely a lot different then dance in the states. We finished our night in one of the world’s top 10 bars. It was a blast. We ran into other SAS kids and hung out with them. We had to be ready to leave for the airport at 7am and we got back to the hotel at 6:50am. We had to fly back in our clothes from that night. Needless to say we were all very exhausted. It was two crazy nights out. When we got back to the ship it was like a ghost town. Everyone was sleeping. I went to bed at 5pm and woke up at 8am the next day. It was a very exhausting trip but it was some of the best days I have ever had. We were always on the go and I loved it. Rio was beautiful! It was like night and day compared to Manaus. I wish I could of spent more time in Rio but I was very excited to get back to my little cabin and twin bed =)
SHOUT OUT to pit and Dionne for sending me the most inappropriate, sassy, most hilarious emails. Thanks guys. AH you keep me young.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
NOTE: I only get 2 hours of free Internet on this trip! Please email at paige.codilis.s12@semesteratsea.org . It is free and it is like text messaging to me. I miss you all and want to hear about what is going on in the states so email me! If you don't email me don't expect gifts. =)
Life on the boat
Hellllo from the middle of the ocean! So basically I am having the time of my life! Everyone is so friendly and I have already met some great friends. It turns out that my roommate never showed so I have a room to myself! It’s very nice. The boy next to me also has a room to himself so him and I have been playing lots of Uno. Most of the kids on this ship are from California or the East Cost. Not many people know what Mizzou is or where it is even located. The other day we had a book discussion by the pool. Everyone is so relaxed here and wants to learn. I think its safe to say this will be the only time in my life I will be in class with Cornell and Brown students. All the teachers are so smart and interesting. My writing teacher is one of the top editors at the New Yorker. My classes are so fun and interesting. It is a nice break from Mizzou classes. All the kids are so well traveled and down to earth. It is cool to be with kids like me who love the outdoors and traveling. We had pub night the other night. Everyone LOVES pub night. It is not all fun and games though. The classes are a lot of hard work but I don’t mind because they are so interesting. The food on the boat is ok. I am not sure how much more pasta I can eat. The ship is just like a vacation! They have a gym, spa, and much more. They also clean our room’s everyday and make our beds and do our laundry. They also offer classes like zumba and kick boxing. As I am writing this I am sitting on the top deck looking out at the ocean drinking a cup of coffee. Now this is the life!
Dominica
We left our first port 3 days ago. Dominica was amazing! It is a small Caribbean island. Having been to many islands, I would have to say this was one of my favorites. It was beautiful and the people were amazing. I can honestly say this is the happiest I have even been! Anyways let me tell you about my first port! When we first arrived I had an 8am river tubing tour. They first took us on a short hike to a waterfall where of course I was the first one to just jump in. Then they took us to a river with crazy rapids. We were a little nervous when the tour guide grabbed a huge knife and told us to hop in our tubes and follow him. It turned out to be a little rough but a lot of fun! We stopped along the way and sang songs and told jokes (They love to sing songs). I met so many cool kids on the tour. After our tour was over me and a group of kids went into town and grabbed drinks and tried to grab food but the food sucked. We then found this bar right on the water with dollar bottles. We were having a blast listening to reggae and drinking together. Then we saw a dock and decided to take our drinks and jump off the dock. It was so relaxing a fun. We met a lot of Europeans that were on vacation and hung out with them. Later that night we rented a hotel and went out. The locals are so nice here and love to party. The laws on the island are crazy. You can drink and drive and go any speed you want, but if you litter you can get a $5000 fine or 1 year in jail. A group and I decided to go to a club called crazy coconuts. It was filled with sas kids. We had a blast! Then the next day we had to be up at 7am for another tour. I love to hike but not hung-over. We went on a hike threw the rainforest. I am not kidding when I say it was one of the hardest things I have ever done physically. 6 miles all up hill and not to mention it was down pouring so everything was slippery. The hike lead us to one of the most beautiful/ biggest waterfalls I have ever scene in my life. It was well worth the hike. When we got to the waterfall our tour guide asked us who wanted to jump from a 40-foot jump. I could not say no. The motto of this trip is YOLO. Everything we do someone says it. I was nervous to jump off the fall but someone yelled YOLO (you only live once) so I had to jump. So yes, I jumped from 40 feet! It was the scariest thing I have ever done. We had to climb up the side of a mountain barefoot literally just holding on to branches. I cannot believe they let us do it. The whole time I was shaking thinking I was going to slip and die. I am so glad I jumped it was awesome! I got a picture of it. It was the coldest water I have ever been in. Then after we swam around for a while, we had to climb back up to the top to hike back. I was climbing up huge boulders that were so slippery. I got pretty cut up. It was so hard to climb up these rocks. When I finally got back up to the top we had to hike back. The hike back was just as hard. I don’t even know how to explain this hike. We were climbing over branches and rocks in the rain trying not to slip. I was so dirty and cut up by the end. At the end we got free beer that was much needed. It was very adventurous and I am glad I did it. When our whole day hike was over we had to get back on the ship. The ship was a ghost town last night. Everyone was in bed by 8. We were all so tired. It is so funny how even though we all were so hung-over the next day, we all got up and did what we had to do. I am very sore today from the hike. Dominica was amazing. Our next stop is Brazil. I will be taking a small boat down the Amazon River then I am flying to Rio. Rio is supposed to be nuts right now b.c they are getting ready for carnival. The world’s largest carnival. I am so excited!
DAY 1
After a tearful goodbye I have set sail! Right when I got on the boat as I was checking in I met a girl who went to IU and we have about 6 mutual friends! It turns out I actually had met her once before at little 5. Small world. When I got to my cabin I was actually surprised how big it was. I was expecting a lot smaller of a room but it really is not that bad. I have a big window and the view is amazing. The beds are questionable but hopefully that will encourage me not to nap. When I got to my cabin and saw the letter from the captain I got a tear in my eye. He put a quote on the letter that said, “ Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in you sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” This quote seems very appropriate for this trip. But the reason I got a tear in my eye was because the quote was by Mark Twain. Mark Twain was from Missouri and from the town where my roommate is from. Miss you Caryn.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
And I'm off!
I have finally made it to the Bahamas! I have not set sail yet but I am already having the time of my life. Last night was one for the books. When I finally got here I right away made a new friend. Him and I went to a fish fry and met even more kids. We all then went to Senor Frogs and had a blast. Looking out on the water and seeing all the ships lit up with a Margarita in my hand I could not help but laugh. Is this really school?! On the way to the bar our cab driver decided to make a pit stop....at the police station. Having to deal with cops on my first night was interesting! My cab driver got in a fight with another driver and had to go to the police station while my friend and I sat in the cab and waited. While we waited I just kept thinking how this would happen to me. It all turned out to be ok in the end. Just some crazy cab drivers! Tonight I get to meet most of the kids at a dinner. Everyone I have met so far has been so interesting. Some of these kids are so well travelled. We set sail tomorrow at 5pm and I can not put in to words how excited I am!
Shout out to Melissa Murphy- First person to bookmark my blog! Miss ya!
Shout out to Melissa Murphy- First person to bookmark my blog! Miss ya!
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Friday, January 6, 2012
Cheers!
I have been hearing stories from both my brother and my sister for years about SAS. Finally It's my turn to tell the story! I have been looking forward to doing this trip since 7th grade and I can't believe I am getting ready to go. 11 days and counting. I am very excited to start my journey. Besides just cruising and snoozing I will be looking forward to my adventures. From riding in a canoe down the amazon, working in refuge camps, petting elephants, drumming with a tribe, tasting the best wines in South Africa, river tubing in Dominica, sky diving, and much more I can say I have a fun semester ahead of me. What I am mainly looking forward to is working in an orphanage in Cambodia that my sister visited on her SAS trip. The orphanage has special meaning because my family has made it a part of their lives the past few years. My family and I strongly believes in their mission statement which is EGBOK. Everybody's gonna be ok. All the paper work is finally done and now all I have to do is get 105 days worth of clothing in ONE bag! I guess this is why they all say its going to be a " life changing experience".
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