One Year

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that 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 your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -Mark Twain

One year ago I left for my journey around the world with Semester at Sea. I still remain humbled and grateful for the chance to have the experience.

I'm goin' home!

Hi everyone!!
This will be my last blog entry. I’m going home tomorrow! I can’t believe this trip is nearly over. Tonight we have convocation and a slide show of the trip! After that it’s just hanging out, saying goodbye to everyone, and all that. We get into Miami at 8am and I walk off the ship around 2pm. After that you can CALL me again! I won’t have my Semester at Sea email address anymore after tonight so contact me in all the usual ways starting tomorrow!

Thank you so much to everyone who read my blogs, checked my photos, and sent me emails and letters along the way! It made my trip so much better to know I had people at home who care and missed me :-) I can’t wait to see you all again!

This is Jennie, signing off now. See you soon!
Lots of love

Oh, what a journey :-)

Hi all!
We left Costa Rica last night, and I’m now on my way home! What a journey it has been. Costa Rica was great! The first day we docked in Puerto Caldera which is pretty much just a port, not even a town there so there wasn’t a whole lot to do on the first day. Me and some friends just took a walk to see what there was to see, turns out there’s not much, haha. We went to a little beach nearby where some locals were hanging out, playing soccer, barbequing, things like that. So that was cool, it was just a nice relaxing day.

Then the second day the ship moved to a pier in Puntarenas, which isn’t a very big town either but it was slightly larger. So my second day I went with a friend to a national park called Carara where we got to just hike around in the rainforest! It was so cool! It was very pretty. We didn’t get to see a whole lot of exciting wildlife, but we saw a few things. We saw a little tucan in a tree, we heard Macaws but didn’t get to see any, and we saw a few huge iguanas and a small wild boar and a bunch of little lizzard things (and a partridge in a pear tree?! Wait no, we didn’t see that haha). Anyways the rainforest was awesome! Then we took a bus to a town nearby called Jaco, which was kind of touristy but kinda funky little place with locals everywhere too. We ate at a really good restaurant that had fish tacos and huge (14”) burritos! Haha. Then we just walked around Jaco for a while, and then had quite an adventure getting back to Puntarenas! We could either catch a bus or take a taxi back but all the taxi drivers wanted $50 or 60 in US dollars to take us back to Puntarenas and we didn’t even have that much with us. So we decided to take a bus instead but the first bus that came drove past us because it was so full they didn’t want to stop for 2 more people. Sigh. So we waited for another bus and while we waited we talked to a guy who was sitting at the bus stop. We didn’t have time to ask his name before our bus came but we talked to him a little, he was excited that we spoke English because he knew a little English and he wanted to practice, and I wanted to practice my Spanish so it was a very “Spanglish” conversation, haha. Anyways finally a bus came and it was only $2, way better than the taxis! So we took a bus, but the bus didn’t take us all the way to the pier where our ship was so then we had to figure out how to get to our ship, so I got to use my Spanish again. It would have been pretty tough otherwise I’d say and Elanor, the girl I was with said she was so glad I knew enough Spanish to communicate with the bus driver and taxi drivers and such. So that made me feel good :-) So after much confusion and trying to remember the word for ship in spanish (barco!) we finally made it back to the ship. It was a great but completely exhausting day, and I went to bed by 9 that night! Haha.

My third day in Costa Rica was full of adventures too! I did two SAS sponsored trips. The first was a canopy adventure tour of the rainforest. We rode through (or kind of above) the rainforest on a zipline! It was really fun. And it was calm enough of a ride for me to also enjoy the view on my way down! Haha. It wasn’t exactly thrilling like a rollar coaster or anything, but it was really fun. And a bunch of my friends were on the same trip so it was fun to do it with them. Then after that I went on a trip to go horseback riding! We went to a ranch that was kind of out in the forest also, and it was so pretty there. So we  rode horses around through fields and forest and everything, and it was great! We had a bit of a traumatic start to the horseback riding adventure when one girl’s horse wandered over to a tree and disturbed a beehive. The girl got stung several times and was pretty traumatized, as would I have been! So she didn’t end up getting to ride with us, but we made sure she was ok and then we went ahead while she stayed with the guide. She was doing fine by the time we got back  so we were glad that even though she didn’t get to go riding she was ok andit all turned out fine and it was a really fun day besides that! There were a few people on our trip who are very allergic to bees so it was good that this girl was not! So after that we headed back to the ship and were one of the last people to get on the ship before we left Costa Rica (we were the last SAS trip of the semester, aww)

 So today I got to sleep in, yay! And so far it’s been an uneventful day. I got a couple grades back from professors, so far it’s looking like I’ve passed all my classes :-) so that’s good. And we had a meeting for everyone on the ship about the disembarkation process when we get to Miami, which will be early morning on December 14. Only 3 more days on the ship after today, wow! I can’t believe it. I’m excited to get there though. My mom is meeting me in Miami which I’m so excited about! We’re spending that night there and then she’ll fly back to Colorado while I fly to Michigan for a few days, and then coming home! I’ll be home in Boulder on the 19th of December. In time to enjoy the Christmas season and festivities! I can’t wait for the cold weather, and hopefully some snow when I get back to Colorado! I’ve been in hot, humid weather for almost the whole trip with the exception of Africa and Japan!

Tonight is the ambassador’s ball, which should be very fun! We get all dressed up, have a fancy dinner, and there’s dancing and lots of fun! Tomorrow we’re going through the Panama Canal, which will be cool too! I’ll be sure to go outside and take pictures. Speaking of pictures I’ll hopefully post some of my Costa Rica pictures on Flickr tonight or tomorrow and take a few more of everything going on these last few days on the ship. The rest of my time on the ship before Miami will probably be packing and repacking to try to fit everything I’ve got into a few suitcases and boxes, and saying goodbye to friends. Like I’ve said many times, it’s been an amazing journey and I can’t believe how lucky I’ve been to get to do this. I’ve been around the world, and I can report back that it’s a great place! :-) Every last place we went had great people, tasty food, fun things to do and see…

My favorite port was South Africa. The friendliest people were probably the Japanese. The weirdest food I ate was stingray in Malaysia (it was delicious!). The biggest culture shock was India. The most beautiful thing I saw was the view from the top of Table Mountain in South Africa. The most unexpected thing was being invited to stay with an Indian family for a night and meeting Desmond Tutu. And I’ve got a lot more favorites and firsts I can share with everyone when I get home if you’d like to know. And you should all send me emails while I’m still on the ship so I have something to read in case I get bored! Haha. After December 14 I won’t have access to my Semester at Sea email address anymore so you all can email me at kinimaleka@hotmail.com again, or Facebook, or call me!!

That’s all for now I think. I’ll probably write at least one more blog before my journey comes to an end. In the meantime I hope everyone’s doing well. I hope finals are going well for those of you taking finals right now, and I can’t wait to see you all soon!!

As the journey comes to an end...

Hello everyone!
Once again, it's been a while since I've blogged! That's because I've been busy taking finals and writing papers. But now that's all done! We're in Costa Rica now! Amazing :-) We're leaving Costa Rica Tuesday night, then we spend a few more days at sea going to Miami and then, well, my journey around the world comes to an end. Wow. It's gone by pretty fast. I've only got a week left! I'm pretty excited about coming home too though. I'm excited for Christmastime in Colorado! It's one of my favorite things ever, and I'm glad I won't miss it! I miss everyone and everything about home. I'll be sad for this trip to be over but excited for whatever next adventures come my way after this one!

In case some of you were wondering if I actually AM on a ship, not just teleporting from each country to the next, I've posted some pictures from on board the ship so you can all see what it's like! I'll probably take and post some more on our voyage to Miami. In the meantime I'll be enjoying Costa Rica and working on a slideshow of my photos and just enjoying my last week on Semester at Sea!'

I'll write more in the next few days!
I love and miss you all, and can't wait to see you soon!! :-)

Thanksgiving in Hawaii and Death by Wal Mart!

Hi!!!!!
It’s been a while sine I’ve had anything interesting to say! Haha. But the news from the sea is that we spent Thanksgiving in Hawaii! My photos are up on Flickr, so check them out! It was a great day. I’ve never been to Hawaii so I wish that I had more time to explore, but it was still a great way to spend Thanksgiving. I could tell we’d entered America again because of the giant SUVs, Hummers, and huge trucks driving around…haha. And we stopped at a grocery store to get some snacks. Most things were closed since it was Thanksgiving, but we went to Waikiki Beach and it was SOOO crowded! Apparently everyone else also thought it would be fun to go to the beach on Thanksgiving. Some students from my ship even had a Thanksgiving dinner picnic on the beach! Some friends and I rented a surf board and tried surfing! It was very fun, I wasn’t very good at it but we had a great time. One of the best parts about the day was that since we were back in the United States, I could call my family from my cell phone! It was so nice to talk to everyone, especially because it was pretty weird not to be home on Thanksgiving. So it was a great day. A nice relaxing break from writing papers and studying for finals.

Thursday night we had a Hawaii-themed dinner. There was barbeque chicken, fruit, and decorations…haha. It was funny. I’m not sure all the food that night was Hawaiian but it was nice of them to try :-) the soup was labeled “Hawaiian Corn Chowder”! Anyways tonight we’re having our Thanksgiving dinner now that everyone’s back on the ship. So I’m looking forward to that!!

Now I’ve got five more days until finals are over. Today is full of writing papers and finishing things up for the end of classes, then I start studying for finals. Sigh. It’s going to be a crazy 5 days, but soon it will be over and we’ll be in Costa Rica for a few days! I can’t believe I’m coming home in 2 weeks! The last few days when we’re sailing from Costa Rica to Miami will be crazy, trying to fit everything into suitcases and boxes to carry off the ship. I’m planning on giving away/throwing away some of the things I don’t need to bring back like a pair of pants and some shoes that I’ve pretty much thoroughly worn out on this trip. Hopefully I’ll have enough room in my bags for the stuff I’ve bought along the way! Most of which are Christmas presents :-)

Well I’m still working on getting photos of the inside of the ship to post so everyone knows I really AM traveling around the world on a ship, I’m not just mysteriously arriving in each country! That project might have to happen after finals though, which are over on December 4. In the meantime check out my Hawaii photos and keep writing me emails for me to read during study breaks!!

Oh, one last thing…Katie informed me of a ridiculous news story that gives me yet another reason to dislike Wal Mart… go check it out:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/business/29walmart.html?em

sailing...sailing...and two November 22nds?!

Hi everyone!
Today is the first November 22 for me…tomorrow will be the same day, all over again! We’re crossing the international date line, so we get to repeat Nov. 22! Today I don’t have classes, and tomorrow is a no class day for everyone, so it’s kind of like a weekend for me! But unfortunately I’ll be doing homework and writing papers most of the time. Sigh. But I just thought I’d take a little study break to write a short blog about how I’m in the middle of the ocean, on my way to Hawaii, and we’re having two November 22nds! haha…

We have 5 more days at sea, we arrive in Hawaii on Thanksgiving day! We spend the day there, and then we sail away again that night. So I’ll be spending my Thanksgiving on the beach hopefully! And apparently they’re making us a Thanksgiving dinner on the ship, yay! I hope there’s mashed potatos! And pie!! :-) I’ll be missing my family lots, but in just a few weeks now I’ll be home, and I get to spend Christmas with them. Speaking of Christmas, I just walked by the student store on the ship earlier and they were playing Christmas music! Yay Christmas season. I’m hoping there will be snow when I get home!

So not a whole lot is going on right now on the ship, everyone is writing papers and doing lots of homework. The weather outside is really nice! It’s sunny and not too hot. The seas are pretty calm which is good. I don’t remember if I mentioned about the day before we arrived in Kobe we had a crazy bad night where we had to put everything on the floor of our room because it was all falling off anyways. I’m hoping in the next few days to get some pictures of the inside of the ship and the nice ocean view! I guess most everyone at home is almost on their Thanksgiving break, so I hope you all enjoy your time off from work/school and please email me so I can have things to read during my study breaks! :-) I want to hear what’s happening with everyone at home! My email is jmturcios@semesteratsea.net

More photos!

My Japan photos are posted now!! Woohoo! Go look!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennieturcios/