09/30/09
Wednesday night I went to a seminar for HIV/AIDS 1 in 3. It was an awesome presentation given by interport student Bulelani. He actually works for a foundation called LoveLife. He explained how prevalent HIV/AIDS is in South Africa, the way of transmitting the virus, social factors, and prevention efforts. As I took a class last semester on strictly HIV/AIDS at Scranton it really brought it to life. As entering this country we needed to be more aware of our surroundings. With this type of virus and it’s rate of prevalence it can have an effect on some of us which in turn can affect the entire shipboard community. They do accept volunteers, and are encouraging more people to participate. So, I relayed the message back to my professor as Scranton and we’ll talk more about it come the spring semester.
10/1/09
Happy October! I cannot believe it’s already October. Today I had two classes as usual. In my international law class we talked about the United Nations and how many countries are eager to make changes to the current organization. It was a really interesting class and opened my eyes to a lot of issues around the world. Today also marked the start of presale #2 which is the countries of Vietnam to Hawaii! I do have major trips in most of the second half of the voyage so I only really am picking 2 day trips. Hopefully, I will get them and they are a trip to Mt. Fuji and a trip to a YMCA in Japan for a kindergarten and pre-school visit. I relaxed after classes in the afternoon until dinner. There was absolutely nothing on the movie channels except….. Hannah Montana. Unfortunately, I had to give in and watch it. Maria, I cannot believe I am even repeating that I actually have seen Hannah Montana the movie. Anyway, I went to dinner with my friends and then we had a cultural pre-port meeting at 8pm. This pre-port definitely got me really really excited for Cape Town. We dock in the waterfront they tell us it’s absolutely gorgeous. There are no buses, shuttles, or any of that needed in the port to get to Cape Town. Everything is to be found generally right there. They told us of some good restaurants to go to for some seafood! I am so excited you have no idea. They also told us places to shop, and bars to go to at night. We can even see the stadium that is being built for the World Cup 2010 which I really hope to get to!! Okay as for what I am doing in Cape Town. I am going to do a city orientation on the first day, the second day I have cape point and peninsula tour with SAS which takes us to the Cape of Good hope and a beach with penguins on it, and other fun things haha. The 3rd day I will be going to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela among other historical prisoners were held for many years. I have 2 free days to roam and do whatever I want. The last day I will be going on a trip called Operation Hunger we actually get to go into the townships which are the poorer areas of South Africa and see how they live. Some pretty cool stuff that I am really looking forward to! Oh and it’s been like 50-65 degrees lately, I am in complete HEAVEN! My kind of weather! I may have to break out the northface before China!
10/2/09
Today I had my last two classes prior to CAPETOWN! The day went by relatively slow, but I think it’s just everyone’s excitement including mine of arriving in South Africa tomorrow! I had lunch with my friends and caught up on some stuff this afternoon. I went to have dinner with my friends and it was awful so we went up to 7th deck to get something better to eat. I had a turkey sandwich that I have probably mentioned before. It’s practically thanksgiving dinner on bread. As it was sooo big I had to eat it with a fork, but it was amazing. (not like traditional thanksgiving, but I’ll take what I can get). After that we played Uno for awhile and then had another pre-port tonight for Logistics. We learned about the safety precautions that we need to take, don’t be stupid was our Dean of Student’s motto for the night. We also learned about our trip times/breakfast, current trip openings, etc. We are told it’s an absolutely amazing view as you pull into the port so I will be getting up at 7am in order to see it. I don’t have any trips until 1pm and as we are arriving around 8am I hope to get off early and explore! I’m sure you can tell I am very ecstatic about this port and I cannot wait to experience it! I’ll be sure to update when I can. Hopefully every few days if I have the time! Missing everyone!
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