Day Five (last day in Brazil):
Gina and I discovered that we had black out shades the night before, and we didn’t set an alarm, so we woke up to phone call from Idin at noon! The three of us got ready really fast and went out to explore the city one last time before leaving Brazil. I bought the one thing I am attempting to collect, a flag. We went grocery shopping as well, trying to stock up on snacks because we have 9 days at sea and who knows what kind of food they will have in Ghana! On ship time was 3:00pm, so we got back to the ship at 2 and shared stories and pictures with all our friends for the rest of the day.
Brazil is an amazing country. Completely different worlds between Manaus and Sao Paulo, and it was fun to experience a little of both! This is not the last time I will see Brazil, but maybe for a few years! It was a tearful goodbye, as I suspect it will be with every port.
Now that I’ve bored you to death, go enjoy the snow for me! It’s hot out here in the middle of the ocean!
Monday, January 31, 2011
Last Day in Brazil
Day three and four.
Day three/four:
We woke up around 1:00 and got ready for the day. Caue’s mom, Solange, made us Brazil’s typical dish: Feijoada. We ate a ton of it, and relaxed for a little while. It rained for most of the afternoon, so we stayed in with Caue and his family. Luma, his sister, taught us how to make brigadeiro… the most delicious chocolate desert. Later, Luma and her boyfriend Renato took us to eat ice cream. We tried some strange flavors. Alexa had corn flavored… that was the most interesting! On our way back to Caue’s, this guy heard us speaking English and was like “Americans?!?!” His name was Brent and he was studying abroad in Sao Paulo. He happened to live right next door to Caue, so we made plans to meet up at the Pub on their street a little later. We ended up hanging out with him that night and the whole next day.
That night, we got all dressed up and went to this amazing place called Skye Bar. It is a rooftop bar with a 360 degree view of the city. It was very “posh” as Renata says. (yes, by now you’ve realized that there are a million Renato’s and one Renata, it’s hard to keep up, I know! Hahah) So we were up there, drinking our $26R coctails, pretending to have money, when we heard and saw two American guys. One of them looked a little familiar, but I always see people that I think look like someone else so I didn’t think anything of it. I was having a conversation with someone else at the time, So Alexa went up and started talking to them. About 10 minutes later, I went over and introduced myself. Rian and Alex were their names, and they were from Baltimore. We talked for a while when I asked what they were doing in Brazil. They said they were in a band playing a few shows in Sao Paulo. “Anyone I would know?” I asked. “Uhm… maybe…” Rian said. “Well what’s your name?” “All Time Low.”
Let’s just say that I kept my cool on the outside, but was FREAKING out on the inside. Caue and I had just been listening to them before going out that night! What are the chances! I have loved them for a while… and to meet them randomly on a rooftop in Brazil… CRAZY. So we hung out with them for a while, and a few more of the band members came up and introduced themselves. Later on, we went back to our group and silently freaked out. After about 5 minutes, I realized that the lead singer, Alex Gaskarth (whom I’ve been in love with for years. I’m determined to marry him… I promise haha) was sitting directly across from me. He was talking to people, so I didn’t want to bother him. Brent finally talked me into going up to him at the end of the night, and I had an awesome conversation with him! He was really interested in SAS and just really sweet overall. He kissed me on the cheek twice (we were in Brazil, that’s what you do! Haha) and we said our goodbyes!
So overall, it was an amazing amazing night! We headed back at around 2, and just talked for a few hours before going to sleep. The next morning, Babi (another Brazilian friend) was going to take us around the city because Caue had to work again. So we said our goodbye’s to Caue, which is always really hard for me, and then explored the city with Babi and Brent. We shopped around, got lunch at the city market, and then headed back to pack up and get to the airport.
Interesting fun fact about Sau Paulo: Not everyone can drive every day. If your lisence plate ends with a certain number, you can’t drive past a certain time on a certain day. This day happened to be the day that Solange (Caue’s mom) couldn’t drive. So we said our goodbyes at the apartment and took a very expensive cab ride all the way to the airport. We met a few other SAS kids coming back from Rio at the airport, so one of the guys, Adam, got a cab back to the ship with us so we weren’t two girls traveling alone at night through Manaus! It helped with the cab cost too! Alexa and I scratched the idea of going out with everyone on the last night in Manaus because we were so exhausted and it was pretty late. I went back to the cabin and waited for Gina to get back from Rio to hear all her stories, and then we went to sleep finally!
Sao Paulo and Manaus, Brazil. January 23- 27. DAY ONE and TWO.
I’ve been getting all kinds of emails from home telling me to write more on my blog. Keeping up a blog is a lot harder than I thought! I have to balance my journal, blog, and emails (all very repetitive) with school work (lots of it) and having a social life! You’d think this would be easy… I live on a ship, what else is there to do? But no, it’s a huge challenge! I’ll write all about Brazil in one huge post, so get ready to spend some time reading!
Day one/two (they blend… no sleep):
After 1000 miles and three days on the Amazon River, we finally reached Manaus, Brazil! Once again, I was woken up by an earthquake in my cabin. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the feeling and sound of the engine turning on and off. Good thing it only happens when we pull into or away from port! The talk around the ship is that SAS has us port on Sunday’s for a reason. So far, the first day in every port (all two… hahah) is a Sunday, so nothing is ever open when we arrive! People say that it’s because they don’t want us going wild the first night, which makes sense… but so far the club owners have opened up especially for us.
I was only in Manaus for that first day, so I didn’t do much research on it. For all I knew it could have been a little grass hut village in the middle of the rainforest. To my surprise, it was a pretty decent city. Like I said before, everything was closed, so there wasn’t much to do. A group of about 15 of us planned to just explore for the day. The one thing we all really wanted to see was the meeting of the waters. We found a man that would take us there, so we piled into three cabs and headed out to the waterfront. Manaus was a bit difficult to get around because very few people speak English. We managed though, it’s amazing how much you can accomplish even with the language barrier. We got to the waterfront and paid 40 real to take a boat out to the meeting of the waters. It was interesting, but I’m not sure I would go see it again. We made our way back to land and found three cabs to bring us back to the center of the city. Rolando, Jojo, Idin and I decided to break away from the group because it was getting too complicated to make sure all 15 of us were still there. Everyone started splitting off after that too. We found a street that had been turned into a giant market. Finally, something that wasn’t shut down! We walked around looking at everything and finally came across a stand that had food. We were so hungry, and ate so much. It was 8 real for all the food you could fit on your plate. It was probably the best lunch I have ever had. Rice, black beans, beef, sausage, and fresh fruit juice.
After lunch and walking around a bit more, we ran into a few Brazilian guys on the side of the street making hand made crafts. One of them made me a beautiful blue wire ring. He put it on my finger and said “Aceito” (marry me) I laughed and kindly declined (but kept the ring! Haha). We stayed and talked to a few of them for a little while, and they were happy to practice their English! After a while, we headed back towards the ship. On the way back, we saw the most beautiful little girl waving to us. We went to say hi to her and her mother, and her mother saw that we had cameras and told us it was ok to take her picture. The little girl posed with her hands on her hips and smiled for us all. She wanted to take a picture with Idin, so I got one of the two of them, and she smiled so big when she saw it. When I showed pictures of her to friends on the ship, they fell in love immediately!
That night, Alexa and I made our way to the airport… we had a flight to Sao Paulo! Our plane was delayed and didn’t take off until around 12:30 or 1:00, and we were so exhausted. Thankfully, the plane was not full so we could have whole rows to ourselves to lie down and sleep. We made a friend on the plane, Renam. He was so cute, giggling every time he spoke English because he wasn’t sure if he was right. He was going to Rio to study for his master’s degree. When we got off the plane at about 6 am, we said goodbye to Renam and wished him luck, and then met Caue and his mom! Caue is one of my best friends, and is from Sau Paulo, so we were going to stay with him for a few days.
When we got to Caue’s house, we took a nap while he went to work. We slept for a few hours, and then Renato and Lilian came to pick us up! I met them the last time I was in Brazil, they are two of Caue’s good friends that I have since become friends with. They took us around the city, first to buy Havaianas! We walked around for a while and then went to Renato’s place, so we could see the view from his 19th floor balcony. I had only seen it at night time, so this was a cool new view for me as well as Alexa! We then went to a really nice outdoor restaurant to eat Acai! This stuff is sooooo delicious. We then went to Ibirapuera Park, the cities biggest and nicest park. We walked around and took some pictures there before heading back to Caue’s apartment. Caue got home soon after and we had dinner and drank Caue’s dad’s caipirinhas. He makes the best. Caue had a bunch of friends come over to hang out, and we eventually made our way to a club called Clash and danced the night away. We came back at about 5 in the morning and slept well into the next day!
Monday, January 24, 2011
January 21, 2011. Amazon, Birthday, Brazil!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Ship Life So far
Life on this ship is actually way cooler than I thought it would be. I thought it would be boring, with not much to do, but that is not the case. Because we don’t have internet or tv or phone or anything, we are forced to make our own fun. I love this. Some times I’ll just hang out and talk at the piano bar, or I love spending time out on the 7th deck by the pool. I meet the coolest people by just walking around talking to people. I have class every day until 13:30, and then I have the rest of the day I have free to do whatever. I have homework, but not a ton yet. A lot of reading to do though! The water has been pretty rough today and last night, and a lot of people are pretty sea sick. I am one of the few lucky ones who don’t get sea sick one bit. Things were flying across rooms last night it was so crazy, and I was just fine. It rocked me to sleep like a little baby. I love it! It’s funny to watch people walk though, everyone looks extremely drunk.
Yesterday when people were starting to get back onto the ship, a lot of people were pretty intoxicated, so I couldn’t tell if they were walking like that because of the ship rocking or because of the rum. Hahaha So I was sitting in the piano bar with Kayla and this guy walked up and asked if we minded if he played the piano for a little while. I couldn’t tell if he was serious, or if he was just going to go bang on some keys. We told him that of course we didn’t mind. He went over to the piano and Kayla and I continued our conversation. To our surpise, this kid is like freaking MOZART. Most incredible piano playing I have ever heard. I turned around and just stared for like ten minutes. I was legit melting. When he was done playing, he came over and sat down with us. He introduced himself and asked where we were from. CRAZY STORY: we go to school like 5 mins away from each other. His name is Hasan and he is the most amazing piano player I have ever heard.
I love moments like these, meeting such interesting people just because no one knows anyone so everyone is so open. Ok, dinner time! Email me to keep in touch: lcsutherland@semesteratsea.net
Dominica January 16 and 17, 2011.
At 7:00 on the first morning that we were in Dominica, my room started rumbling like it always does when the engine turns on or off. I’m in the back of the ship, so I’m pretty close to the engine. I jumped out of bed (well, ok I stumbled) to look out the window. Outside, there was the most beautiful, lush, green mountainous island. It was raining when I looked out, but I didn’t even care. Once I got up to the garden lounge to have breakfast, it had stopped raining. I was meeting with a group of 30 other students who all singed up for this tour (Bumpiing tour) that Tram set up for us, and handed off to Jojo when she left. When we walked off the ship and down the stairs to the dock, it really hit me. This is happening. This is my life right now. Most of the time, I feel like I am in one big dream… but it’s really happening. So when we get down to the dock, I stopped and stared for a few minutes. This island is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I couldn’t have even imagined something so amazing. The way the sun makes all the green shine with the water from the rain or waterfalls is incredible. It’s almost magical how beautiful this island looks. We met our tour guides right at the port, Levi and Gary. Right away, they were so friendly and I could tell it was going to be a fun day. Kayla and I sat in the front of the van with our driver, Gary, and the whole van was singing along to Bob Marley. Driving through the mountains to Titou Gorge was so amazing. I took video for a little while of driving and singing, but my camera died. I’m going to steal Francisco’s photos of the whole trip because he had an underwater camera and he got some incredible photos when we were swimming through the gorge. Titou Gorge is where parts of Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed, and it was the most spectacular place. We all swam through it and got to the end where there was a waterfall that you could climb up (with someone pulling you up because the current was pretty strong) and then once you got above it, you were in another pool of water above your head. We hung out up there and took some pictures, and then one by one jumped off the waterfall back down into the gorge. Someone actually took a picture of my tattoo that says “Jump first, fear later.” How fitting! So after Titou Gorge, Gary and Levi took us to Trafalgar falls. They are twin waterfalls up in the mountains with hot springs around the base. We were all making our way through the string of hot springs, when Gary asked for the adventurous people to follow him. He told us we were going to make our way up to the actual base of the larger waterfall to swim in it’s pool. To get up there, you have to scramble over boulders, rocks, and streams, and it’s all really steep and slippery. In between all the larger rocks were those smaller rocks that hurt your feet. We were all barefoot and in our bathing suits, so needless to say I have some battle wounds. I felt like a monkey trying to get up and over all those rocks. Once we got up though, it was the most breath taking view and feeling. I felt like I was inside a movie. The only way I can think to describe it so you can picture it is like Pandora (from Avatar). It was so lush and green and tropical… with the sun catching the mist from the waterfall just right and everything was glistening. It was the most beautiful sight I have ever seen in my life. Coming down from those rocks… that is a whole different story.
We explored the island some more with Gary and Levi, and then before they took us back to the ship, they made a detour and took us to this place where you could look out over the entire city and ocean. It was sunset, and so amazing. We all took a bunch of pictures, and at that moment I was almost glad I didn’t have my camera. When I have my camera, sometimes I forget to see things with my own eyes. It was refreshing to really take in the beauty of this whole day. Gary dropped us off at the ship and gave us his number in case we wanted him to take us out that night. We all ended up going to this bar called JR’s or JD’s or something like that, and it was SO crowded and you had to wait in line for like an hour just to get one tiny drink, so all the taxi drivers told us that Crazy Coconuts (or Club 91) opened up just for us. There was a mad dash to get there. Idin and I lost part of our group in the rush, so we ended up taking a cab by ourselves and then met up with everyone at the club. We all had an awesome night, I met so many new people and got to hang out with people I had talked to previously. We ended up seeing Gary there, and he offered to take us back to the ship when ever we were ready. He stayed sober all night so that he could drive us back. It never ceases to amaze me how friendly all the people that I have met so far can be. We danced the night away and then ended up going back to the ship.
The next day, we went to find an internet café to try and upload some pictures. Then for the rest of the day, we just wandered around the island shopping around in some little markets and got lunch at this place called “The Garage.” We waited about an hour or more for our food, so by the time it came we all devoured it! On ship time was 6pm, so we all went back at around 3 or 4 and then relaxed and watched the sunset from the ship. I got some amazing pictures of the island at sunset, and looking through them I am constantly asking: “is this really my life?”
Saturday, January 15, 2011
JANUARY 13th, 2011- first full day at sea.
Yesterday was a whirlwind of emotions to say the least. I thought I was going to cry or be extremely upset saying goodbye to my parents when I got on the ship, but surprisingly I wasn’t! I mean, it was sad, but I was just so excited to finally get on the ship that I didn’t even take the time to think about it. I got on the ship and found my little box… I mean cabin. Gina was already all unpacked, and I didn’t even know where to begin. We found Idin’s room, because he is really close to us! We wrote a post-it that said “3133… see you there” and stuck it on his door. I wish you could hear his accent. He is from Iran (I think I’ve said this before…) and has the greatest accent. I don’t even know how this got started, but when we hung out with him in the Bahamas, it became out joke to always try and say “see you there” in his accent. I’ll get a video someday, you need to hear it. So we went to lunch out on the deck, and met some more people. After lunch I finally came back and unpacked… it was a nightmare. The ship was supposed to set sail at 5pm, but because of all the storms back home, they had to hold it until 8:30. They thought they were going to hold us until midnight, but everyone finally got in. We had one meeting before we set sail last night, and it was honestly the most awkward thing. Most of us were extremely exhausted, so when the speaker told us to close our eyes (she was doing some sort of meditation thing) just about everyone fell asleep. I ate dinner with 9 of the people I met in the Bahamas. It was nice to have a somewhat… family dinner. After dinner, Greg wanted to teach me how to play cribbage, so we went up on the 7th deck by the pool with some people to try and play… but the wind was trying to steal our cards. We sat up there and talked until 8:30, when everyone came outside to say goodbye to the Bahamas and our families. It was the most incredible feeling seeing the ropes come up and watching the shore get further away. We had some more meetings last night, and went to bed pretty early. The water was a bit rough last night and this morning, so everyone has been trying (but most, not succeeding) to getting their sea legs. My cabin is at the back of the ship, so the noise of the engine puts me right to sleep. A lot of people don’t like it, but I need that white noise to sleep. The rocking of the boat was an interesting feeling, but everyone will tell you that it makes us all SO tired. I slept for a good amount of time last night, and I still feel like I could sleep all day. Today, we are pretty much spending all day in the union for orientation. I sat with Idin, Gina, Gavin, and Drew all morning in the first part. Gina and Idin fell asleep so eventually they just went back to the room. I dozed off a few times, but forced myself to stick it out. We’ll see how the rest of the day goes. We just figured out that they stream what is going on in the Union on our tv’s in the cabin… so if I really can’t handle it (the rocking is the worst in the union, by the way) then I’ll come back and listen from bed! I’ll be uploading pictures when I’m in port because we can’t upload pics on the ship. Classes start in the morning, and I’m very excited! I got all my books yesterday, and there are SO many. This is definitely not going to be an easy semester… but that’s the great thing. I’m going to be challenged in so many ways and I can’t wait. Alright, that’s all for now! I’m going up on the pool deck to see nothing but ocean.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
These days are starting to blend together.
We had planned on yesterday being a pretty relaxing day, and for the most part, it was. Until about 4:30… but lets start at the beginning. We took our time waking up and getting ready and headed to the beach. When we got outside the hotel, Aaron was there and told us that the ship had arrived in port and you could see it if you walked down to the water! They all made bets that I would freak out when they told me, and then cry when I saw it. I freaked out yes, but did NOT cry! Hahah It’s just so surreal seeing the ship we are going to be living on! So after we saw the ship, we layed on the beach for a while, and then planned on going parasailing, but changed our minds last minute. We went to eat at this little local fast food place called Imperials (it’s the cheapest place we can find… we eat there all the time now) and then cam back and hung out here. Tram and Rolando got in at about 5, and I was so so so excited! Rolando went to his place on Paradise Island before I could “meet” him, so we took our time getting ready and then took the water taxi over. That was an awesome way to go, let me tell you! Kayla asked the driver if he wanted her to drive because he seemed a little… off (She jokes a lot) and he goes “noo baby, you are too sober to drive” We got to sit on the roof of the boat, which was so awesome! So here is the… fun part of the day. Once we got onto Paradise Island, we literally walked for about 2 hours trying to find the place that Rolando was staying. We finally found it, and he was just leaving to go somewhere with his roommate, Idin. We were so lucky to get there when we did! We hung out in their AMAZING condo for a little while, before walking back (BAD idea) to the towne to get food at imperial. By this time, there were about ten of us. All in all, we walked about 4 hours yesterday… I guess it’s good training for what’s about to come! After dinner, Tram, Rolando, and Idin and I took a cab (why we didn’t do this earlier is beyond me…) back to their condo to meet their other roommate, Francisco. When we got there, Francisco was standing outside with another SAS kid, Drew. It was very cool to meet both of them! We hung out at their place for a while, and Gina came over for a bit with her friends. Oh—somewhere in all of this, I got my hair braided on the beach (these days are starting to blend together, bare with me). My braids were really hurting my head and giving me a constant headache, so I was going to take them out, when Idin asked if he could do one. So, Idin and Francisco ended up taking all my braids out. It was actually really funny, two guys concentrating so hard on my braids.
The next day, Tram and I pretty much spent all day on Paradise Island, not even knowing where the boys were. It’s our joke, that we spend all day going back and forth between the islands. And the boys come over here to wait for us, and then we take too long so they go back and then we go over there and then we come back and so forth and so on. So yesterday, we got dunkin’ donuts because it was cheap and Tram had never been to one before! We then tried to wave a taxi down, but no one would pick us up! Normally, when you walk around the streets, taxi’s wave YOU down to ask if you need a ride, but then the one time we actually tried to do it ourselves, no one would stop! So we finally got over there, and Idin wasn’t answering my texts, so we went up to their condo and sat outside their door for a good hour. It was actually really fun. We tried to pick the lock… didn’t work. Finally they came back, and we met their 4th roommate max, and hung out with them for the rest of the night (until my parents got here). We hung out by their amazing pool, and sat in the hottub. Well, I had my clothes on so I sat on the edge. We took a bunch of pictures, and in one of them, Francisco and Idin tried to pull my into the hottub. I went in a little bit, but caught myself! I hate being in wet clothing! My parents got here later that night, and took Rolando, Tram and I out to dinner on Paradise Island (I told you, we go back and forth so many times). After dinner, Tram and Rolando and I went back to his condo and started to watch a movie. About 30 mins into the movie, Tram told us she was going home. This is something we had been battling with her for a while, and she finally made the decision. I won’t lie, I cried. Tram and Rolando are more than just SAS friends for me, we are super super close and I can’t picture myself doing this trip without one of them. We can’t tie her down though. It’s going to be hard for a while, but I know I’ll make more amazing friends on this trip. Alright—time to explore the island! I can’t believe I’m getting onto the ship tomorrow!!
(Pictures of all of the above will be up here soon!)
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Bahamas day two: Jan 8th, 2011.
It’s the morning of day three, and I’m loving the Bahamas. I still can’t believe I’m walking around in shorts and a tank… in January! So amazing! So yesterday I woke up pretty early and waited for the boys to get up to start our day. When everyone was up, we decided to go walk around and see the straw market. It was pretty crowded, but very cool! We didn’t really stop and shop, we just walked straight through to the back, to get to the water where all the ships are docked. It was the first time I was seeing the water in the daylight, and I was in absolute awe. It is the most beautiful aqua color, I just want to jump in and live in it! We were walking alone and found this glass bottom boat tour, and decided it would be a fun idea. It was a small boat, and it took us around paradise island, showing us all the famous people’s house. We saw Oprah’s house, Mick Jagger (I think), Tom Cruise… just crazy famous people. When we were out there, Tom told us that he has actually been on Tom Cruise’s yacht, with Tom Cruise… insane! The tour guide’s name was Angelo, and he was a pretty cool guy. At one point, he stopped the boat and put the anchor down and started feeding the fish. We saw some awesome fish, a lot of snappers (the kind we ate the other night…) Tom and Bruno decided it was a good idea to jump in and swim under the glass bottom so that we could take pics of them with the fish. I was so envious, I wanted to jump in so badly but I didn’t have my suit and I hate being in wet clothes. They said the water was amazing. When we were out there, we saw a whole different side of the island that we would really love to explore. A few of us (depending on how much money we have left!) want to rent scooters and go find some back roads and explore! We all decided that we’d try to do one cool thing a day, so that we weren’t blowing all our money in one spot. I swear I feel like I’m going to be broke before I even get on the ship! It’s really just the food that I hate paying for though, I can’t wait to get on the ship and not have to spend money to eat! So after the boat, we walked around for a while, and then came back for a bit and relaxed in the room. We met up with Kayla and then went to spend some time on the beach. I got sucked into THE ultimate tourist trap and got my hair braided. I feel so silly and I feel like I look so weird. The guys say it looks awesome though, so I’ll take their word for it and leave them in for a few days at least. After the beach, the boys went to buy some wine and then we all hung out on the rooftop deck talking and having some wine. We left to get dinner at this really good Bahamian fast food place down the street (we’re going for cheap!) and then hung out some more on the roof. We had an awesome time just talking and laughing and getting to know one another. Bruno still cracks us all up. He blames any kind of weird thing on “it’s a cultural thing.” It’s so funny when he chimes in with his little “bruno-ism’s” We’ve all decided that we are going to make a movie about Bruno and all the funny things he says. It’s going to be called “Bruno liiiikes this.” After a while of hanging out on the roof, we all went to walk Kayla back to her hotel and then Tom and Alex went to a local bar, and Ben and I went to go sit by the water. We ended up staying there for a few hours just talking about literally everything. When we got back to the room it was 3am and Tom and Alex had just gotten back too. I slept really well last night, but woke up pretty early again! I wish I could sleep in here!
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Bahamas day one: Jan 7th, 2011.
So it’s the morning of my first full day in Nassau. I got in at about 5:30 last night, and Ben (an SAS kid from Montana) was waiting for me at the airport. We stayed there for about an hour to wait for the other guy we are staying with, Tom. When he came through the gate, he was wearing a SAS hat. This is such a good idea! Everywhere we go, we see college-aged kids and wonder if they are doing SAS or not. If we walk around with Tom though, everyone knows we are doing it! So I got literally no sleep last night... I hate sleeping in a new place, but I'll get used to it. When we got to the hotel, we met up with a few other SAS kids, Bruno and Kayla, and Tom’s (non SAS) friend Alex. We put all our luggage in out tiny room, and walked around the city trying to find a place to eat. It was kind of fun walking around not knowing where we were going... we just looked for bright lights and walked towards them. The locals are so friendly here! This guy Matthew took us under his wing and walked us to all his favorite restaurants and told us what was good and what wasn’t. We ended up walking in circles, and finally decided on eating at this place called “Goldie’s.” They have “Barracuda” on the menu, and Matthew said to “eat at your own risk, man” He told us that some kinds are poisonous, but they are the sweetest fish in the sea, so you have to take your chance and try it anyway. Bruno, Tom, and Alex were going to try it, but they were all out. We ended up all getting fried snapper, but mine was the only one that had the head cut off. We had this awesome waitress that taught us how to eat the fish head, and everyone pretty much devoured the whole thing, eyeballs and all! I don’t think I’ve ever even eaten fish, I’m not going to eat the head on my first try! The fish was actually really good, but I wasn’t too hungry. We walked around some more after dinner and came back to the room by like 9:30 and talked until 1 and went to sleep. So far, I love the friends I’m making! The boys are all really nice, and Kayla is so fun! Bruno is absolutely hilarious. He is from Brazil, so he doesn’t speak perfect English and has a very strong accent. He always says “Bruno likes this” and the entire group of us just laugh. Actually, pretty much whatever he says is hilarious and he has us almost crying with laughter. It’s 8:30 in the morning, and Tom and I are the only ones awake. We’re about to go wake the others up so they don’t miss the free breakfast in the hotel, and then we are going to try and find some sort of grocery store to buy bread and pb and j... food here is really expensive, but everyone serves the exact same thing... you just have to try and find the cheapest place. All the restaurants have the prices outside on big menu boards... but once you are inside and get the real menu the price is jacked up. I’ll try to keep this blog up as much as possible, but internet on the ship is limited. I think I’m going to write out a bunch of blog posts on word, and then post them all at the same time. Maybe country by country? For now though, here’s my first post!
Ben eating a fish head
"Bruno liiiikes thiiiisss"
ps. I left my little camera at home. Mom and Dad are bringing it out when they get here on Monday, but for now, my phone will have to do! haha