Apparently I don't know how to add photos. I'll try again. Enjoy!
Monday, January 28, 2008
Free wifi!
So I'm getting free wifi right now, and I don't have much time. We have to go to the ship tonight to leave Puerto Rico, and if we're late by just 15 minutes, we get 3 hours of "dock time", which means once we get to Brazil, we have to wait an extra three hours before we can head into the country. So I'm going to post pictures mostly.
Bio Bay wasn't as good as I thought it would be. I was picturing some obsurdly glowing mass of liquid, and it wasn't. I was going to buddy up with my friend in the kayak to get to Bio Bay also, but apparently there weren't enough kayaks, so I had to go with a tourguide, which was pretty anti-social. El Yunque rainforest was fun, but to be honest it was really similar to the Jaguar Reserve in Belize, which I have been to at least 10 times. We went to Luquillo Beach today too, and it was beautiful. Grant and I went to a casino yesterday. He won $30 and I lost $20. Eh, oh well.
I finally get to post some pictures. Enjoy!
Bio Bay wasn't as good as I thought it would be. I was picturing some obsurdly glowing mass of liquid, and it wasn't. I was going to buddy up with my friend in the kayak to get to Bio Bay also, but apparently there weren't enough kayaks, so I had to go with a tourguide, which was pretty anti-social. El Yunque rainforest was fun, but to be honest it was really similar to the Jaguar Reserve in Belize, which I have been to at least 10 times. We went to Luquillo Beach today too, and it was beautiful. Grant and I went to a casino yesterday. He won $30 and I lost $20. Eh, oh well.
I finally get to post some pictures. Enjoy!
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Peurto Rico! Day 1
Finally back on land! I can’t stress enough how much the ship moves, and once you’re finally used to it, you end up going on land and getting a mild case of land sickness. But it’s worth it.
I convinced Grant to get up with me this morning to have breakfast with my friend Kevin and me (yes, that is correct grammar) and watch the sunrise while we pulled into San Juan, Puerto Rico. A lot more students were up before 7 in the morning than I thought would be, considering most of us go to sleep around one or two We cleared customs by nine and were free to roam old San Juan. We all started out in a giant mob and eventually dispersed to the corners of the city. We went to the old forts and the White House equivalent in Puerto Rico, which is pretty neat. The big group chiseled down, and then some of my friends learned a valuable travel lesson…
TRAVEL LESSON ONE:
It doesn’t matter if someone is bleeding to death with missing limbs. DO NOT GIVE ANYBODY MONEY.
That seems simple enough. Well, this nice looking man came along who seemed to be in distress. He asked us if we spoke English, and we said yes. He then proceeded to tell us how he and his father were just mugged in some neighborhood (we were actually warned not to go to this neighborhood, La Perla, in our briefing) and had to go to the emergency room to get stitches on his face. The man, who claimed to be the Attorney State General of Wisconsin, said that he had to pick up a cab asap to the emergency room so he could pick up his father and make a boat ride that was scheduled to leave in a half an hour to where they were staying, at the Southeast part of the island. He had been “robbed” of his passport, credit cards, identification, etc, and he needed $25 for a cab. The man did actually look beat up, but I didn’t believe him. Well, my friends did. I didn’t give him any money, but some of the people I was with gave him $25. The man was pretty convincing, especially at the end, because some of my friends offered him more money, but he refused to take more than $25. I then felt a little guilty after he left that I didn’t fork over any cash, but we met a lady who worked in the government building and told us it was a scam. Yeah, it could have been prevented…
The man was wearing sunglasses and a fanny pack. If he was “robbed”, shouldn’t those have been stolen too?
He did have some scars on his face, but none looked fresh.
He seemed relieved that we spoke English, which is not exactly uncommon in Puerto Rico…
You just shouldn’t trust people like that in general.
I really wanted to take his picture or something, but the idea slipped my mind after a while. Well, the lesson is, don’t trust people who want money. Yeah.
We then proceeded to have lunch and go to a cock fight. Yes, a cock fight. It’s… interesting. The place was alright, but I thought the fighters were a little cocky. They’re brave too, which is good. It wouldn’t be a good fight if they were chicken. But it really is just… weird. I can’t really say that I enjoyed it, because I didn’t really know what was going on, but I don’t really regret going either. It’s a cultural experience. Just one of those things that you have to do. Well, I’m going to Bioluminescent Bay in a half hour. I’ll tell you about it later. Peace!
I convinced Grant to get up with me this morning to have breakfast with my friend Kevin and me (yes, that is correct grammar) and watch the sunrise while we pulled into San Juan, Puerto Rico. A lot more students were up before 7 in the morning than I thought would be, considering most of us go to sleep around one or two We cleared customs by nine and were free to roam old San Juan. We all started out in a giant mob and eventually dispersed to the corners of the city. We went to the old forts and the White House equivalent in Puerto Rico, which is pretty neat. The big group chiseled down, and then some of my friends learned a valuable travel lesson…
TRAVEL LESSON ONE:
It doesn’t matter if someone is bleeding to death with missing limbs. DO NOT GIVE ANYBODY MONEY.
That seems simple enough. Well, this nice looking man came along who seemed to be in distress. He asked us if we spoke English, and we said yes. He then proceeded to tell us how he and his father were just mugged in some neighborhood (we were actually warned not to go to this neighborhood, La Perla, in our briefing) and had to go to the emergency room to get stitches on his face. The man, who claimed to be the Attorney State General of Wisconsin, said that he had to pick up a cab asap to the emergency room so he could pick up his father and make a boat ride that was scheduled to leave in a half an hour to where they were staying, at the Southeast part of the island. He had been “robbed” of his passport, credit cards, identification, etc, and he needed $25 for a cab. The man did actually look beat up, but I didn’t believe him. Well, my friends did. I didn’t give him any money, but some of the people I was with gave him $25. The man was pretty convincing, especially at the end, because some of my friends offered him more money, but he refused to take more than $25. I then felt a little guilty after he left that I didn’t fork over any cash, but we met a lady who worked in the government building and told us it was a scam. Yeah, it could have been prevented…
The man was wearing sunglasses and a fanny pack. If he was “robbed”, shouldn’t those have been stolen too?
He did have some scars on his face, but none looked fresh.
He seemed relieved that we spoke English, which is not exactly uncommon in Puerto Rico…
You just shouldn’t trust people like that in general.
I really wanted to take his picture or something, but the idea slipped my mind after a while. Well, the lesson is, don’t trust people who want money. Yeah.
We then proceeded to have lunch and go to a cock fight. Yes, a cock fight. It’s… interesting. The place was alright, but I thought the fighters were a little cocky. They’re brave too, which is good. It wouldn’t be a good fight if they were chicken. But it really is just… weird. I can’t really say that I enjoyed it, because I didn’t really know what was going on, but I don’t really regret going either. It’s a cultural experience. Just one of those things that you have to do. Well, I’m going to Bioluminescent Bay in a half hour. I’ll tell you about it later. Peace!
Friday, January 25, 2008
Day One
I’m alive!
Things have been going great since day one (some sarcasm). After I met a few other Semester at Sea kids on my flights over to Nassau, we immediately bonded as about 15 of us had our bags lost by the airport. That’s a great way to start out a three month voyage. But everything eventually worked out, and my bag was returned about 30 minutes before the ship left the Bahamas.
It’s really odd living on a ship. Everything here is so fancy. We have maids that clean our room every day and waiters who serve us drinks during our mealtime. I feel bad, because I’m used to doing all of that by myself, but I suppose it’s not so bad… The ship rocks so much more than you would think, and a lot of people are starting to get seasick. I haven’t had to take anything yet, but apparently these waters are a class 1 out of 10 as far as roughness goes, so I’m thinking that I’ll probably have to use a patch or three once we start trekking to South Africa. Puerto Rico is tomorrow morning, which is our first port. I’m signed up to go on a trip to Bioluminescent Bay and El Yunque Rainforest/Liquillo Beach with Grant, my roommate. I’m so glad that Grant is on this voyage with me, because it makes meeting people so much easier. Those of you who know Grant should know why. We feed off of each other pretty well, as he says, and Grant is Grant. It’s tough to meet people too, because once you meet them, you never know when you’ll see them again, unless you set up a meeting time for the future. There’s no cell phones or facebook or anything, but I like it that way. The ship is huge, and if you want to see pictures, you can go to the semester at sea website, because those pictures are better quality than anything I would take. I’ll update sometime later. Take care!
Things have been going great since day one (some sarcasm). After I met a few other Semester at Sea kids on my flights over to Nassau, we immediately bonded as about 15 of us had our bags lost by the airport. That’s a great way to start out a three month voyage. But everything eventually worked out, and my bag was returned about 30 minutes before the ship left the Bahamas.
It’s really odd living on a ship. Everything here is so fancy. We have maids that clean our room every day and waiters who serve us drinks during our mealtime. I feel bad, because I’m used to doing all of that by myself, but I suppose it’s not so bad… The ship rocks so much more than you would think, and a lot of people are starting to get seasick. I haven’t had to take anything yet, but apparently these waters are a class 1 out of 10 as far as roughness goes, so I’m thinking that I’ll probably have to use a patch or three once we start trekking to South Africa. Puerto Rico is tomorrow morning, which is our first port. I’m signed up to go on a trip to Bioluminescent Bay and El Yunque Rainforest/Liquillo Beach with Grant, my roommate. I’m so glad that Grant is on this voyage with me, because it makes meeting people so much easier. Those of you who know Grant should know why. We feed off of each other pretty well, as he says, and Grant is Grant. It’s tough to meet people too, because once you meet them, you never know when you’ll see them again, unless you set up a meeting time for the future. There’s no cell phones or facebook or anything, but I like it that way. The ship is huge, and if you want to see pictures, you can go to the semester at sea website, because those pictures are better quality than anything I would take. I’ll update sometime later. Take care!
Friday, January 18, 2008
Send me Love.
Everyone wants to be loved. I'm going to be gone for a long time, so if you want to show your love, you should send me a letter. That's all it has to be. Nothing fancy, just a letter saying you love me. And here's the catch: You send me a letter, I'll bring you back something from somewhere exotic. That's a pretty good deal. I think it costs 90 cents to mail a letter around the world (it's cheap!), and you'll get something cool out of it! I'm not sure what I'll pick up for you, but I'm open to suggestions. You can't send packages though, because apparently they'll get help up in customs or something. You have to write a lot on the envelope too. For info on how to address the envelope, etc. http://www.semesteratsea.com/voyages/spring2008/sp2008_communicatewship.html
Otherwise, here's mailing info!
Send by January 12:
Thomas Carpenter
C/O: MV Explorer
January 26, 2008
Cruise Plus Services & Sales
1760 Fernandez Juncos Avenue
San Juan, PUERTO RICO, 00909
Send by January 22:
Thomas Carpenter
C/O: MV Explorer
February 5, 2008
Oceanus Agencia Maritima
Av. Estados Unidos, 555, Room 712
40015-010, Salvador, BAHIA-BRASIL
Send by February 5:
Thomas Carpenter
C/O: MV Explorer
February 19, 2008
John T. Rennie & Sons
PO Box 702, 1 Thibault Square
8000 Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA
Send by February 16:
Thomas Carpenter
C/O: MV Explorer
March 1, 2008
Ireland Blythe Limited
Shipping Operations Department
No. 6 Dr Ferriere Street
Port Louis, MAURITIUS
Send by February 26:
Thomas Carpenter
C/O: MV Explorer
March 11, 2008
J.M. Baxi & Co.
3rd Floor, Clive Battery Complex
4 & 4A, Rajaji Salai
Chennai 600 001, INDIA
Send by March 5:
Thomas Carpenter
C/O: MV Explorer
March 19, 2008
Inchape Shipping Services SDN
4th floor Unit 4B
Wisma Saw Chong Thuah
39-c, Pengkalan Weld
10300 Penang, MALAYSIA
Send by March 13:
Thomas Carpenter
C/O: MV Explorer
March 27, 2008
General Forwarding Agency
5th floor Osic Building
8 Nguyen Hue Avenue
D. 1, Ho Chi Minh City, VIETNAM
Send by March 20:
Thomas Carpenter
C/O: MV Explorer
April 3, 2008
Inchape Shipping Services (HK) Ltd.
Units 1802-1805, 18th Floor
N° 3 Lockhart Road
Wanchai, HONG KONG – CHINA
Send by March 24:
Thomas Carpenter
C/O: MV Explorer
April 7, 2008
Penavico Shanghai
3/F 13 Zhong Shan Road (E 1)
Shanghai 200002, P.R. CHINA
Send by March 28:
Thomas Carpenter
C/O: MV Explorer
April 11, 2008
Inchape Shipping Services (Japan) Ltd.
Kenryu Bldg, Room 502
6, Kaigon-dori, Chuo-ku
Kobe-shi, Hygo-ken 650-0024, JAPAN
Send by April 8:
Thomas Carpenter
C/O: MV Explorer
April 22, 2008
Inchape Shipping Services
521 Ala Moana Blvd. Suite 256
Honolulu, HI 96813
Send by April 26:
Thomas Carpenter
C/O: MV Explorer
May 3, 2008
R. Smyth & Co S.A.
500 M. Norte del Super Santiago
Rio Segundo
Alajuela, COSTA RICA
Otherwise, here's mailing info!
Send by January 12:
Thomas Carpenter
C/O: MV Explorer
January 26, 2008
Cruise Plus Services & Sales
1760 Fernandez Juncos Avenue
San Juan, PUERTO RICO, 00909
Send by January 22:
Thomas Carpenter
C/O: MV Explorer
February 5, 2008
Oceanus Agencia Maritima
Av. Estados Unidos, 555, Room 712
40015-010, Salvador, BAHIA-BRASIL
Send by February 5:
Thomas Carpenter
C/O: MV Explorer
February 19, 2008
John T. Rennie & Sons
PO Box 702, 1 Thibault Square
8000 Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA
Send by February 16:
Thomas Carpenter
C/O: MV Explorer
March 1, 2008
Ireland Blythe Limited
Shipping Operations Department
No. 6 Dr Ferriere Street
Port Louis, MAURITIUS
Send by February 26:
Thomas Carpenter
C/O: MV Explorer
March 11, 2008
J.M. Baxi & Co.
3rd Floor, Clive Battery Complex
4 & 4A, Rajaji Salai
Chennai 600 001, INDIA
Send by March 5:
Thomas Carpenter
C/O: MV Explorer
March 19, 2008
Inchape Shipping Services SDN
4th floor Unit 4B
Wisma Saw Chong Thuah
39-c, Pengkalan Weld
10300 Penang, MALAYSIA
Send by March 13:
Thomas Carpenter
C/O: MV Explorer
March 27, 2008
General Forwarding Agency
5th floor Osic Building
8 Nguyen Hue Avenue
D. 1, Ho Chi Minh City, VIETNAM
Send by March 20:
Thomas Carpenter
C/O: MV Explorer
April 3, 2008
Inchape Shipping Services (HK) Ltd.
Units 1802-1805, 18th Floor
N° 3 Lockhart Road
Wanchai, HONG KONG – CHINA
Send by March 24:
Thomas Carpenter
C/O: MV Explorer
April 7, 2008
Penavico Shanghai
3/F 13 Zhong Shan Road (E 1)
Shanghai 200002, P.R. CHINA
Send by March 28:
Thomas Carpenter
C/O: MV Explorer
April 11, 2008
Inchape Shipping Services (Japan) Ltd.
Kenryu Bldg, Room 502
6, Kaigon-dori, Chuo-ku
Kobe-shi, Hygo-ken 650-0024, JAPAN
Send by April 8:
Thomas Carpenter
C/O: MV Explorer
April 22, 2008
Inchape Shipping Services
521 Ala Moana Blvd. Suite 256
Honolulu, HI 96813
Send by April 26:
Thomas Carpenter
C/O: MV Explorer
May 3, 2008
R. Smyth & Co S.A.
500 M. Norte del Super Santiago
Rio Segundo
Alajuela, COSTA RICA
Welcome!
Welcome to my blog!
I will try my very best to periodically make updates as to where I am/what I'm doing, and maybe even post some pictures if I can. As you probably know, this Spring semester I will be traveling with Semester at Sea all around the world on the MV Explorer. We will be visiting numerous countries, which I have so conveniently layed out for you on the left, in order of arrival, so you can have an idea of where I'll be going. I leave this coming Tuesday (the 22nd of January, 2008) to trek out to the bahamas, and I arrive back in Florida on May 9th. I'll update again soon with contact information, if you want to send me love, and I will miss you all!
Wishe me luck!
I will try my very best to periodically make updates as to where I am/what I'm doing, and maybe even post some pictures if I can. As you probably know, this Spring semester I will be traveling with Semester at Sea all around the world on the MV Explorer. We will be visiting numerous countries, which I have so conveniently layed out for you on the left, in order of arrival, so you can have an idea of where I'll be going. I leave this coming Tuesday (the 22nd of January, 2008) to trek out to the bahamas, and I arrive back in Florida on May 9th. I'll update again soon with contact information, if you want to send me love, and I will miss you all!
Wishe me luck!
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