August 28, 2008
Well this morning has been quite hectic, but here I am in Nassau, Bahamas at the Atlantis Resort waiting to be able to check into my hotel room for the night. I started off this morning waking up at 330 AM at an RV campground in western Indiana. We then drove an hour to Chicago O’Hare. (For those of you who do not know, my parents are in transit between Portland, Maine and Portland, Oregon. I traveled with them part of the way across the country and they dropped me off in Chicago to catch my flight.) As we started on our way to Chicago, I looked at my plane reservations and to my surprise, my flight left at 6 AM, NOT 7AM! (I guess I learn from the best Uncle Robb!) Thankfully there was no traffic so early in the morning. My dad’s driving helped cut off a few minutes as well. We arrived around 515 AM and I thought for sure they would not let me on. But we had a very nice ticket agent who let me right on. I made it about 5 minutes before final boarding call. It wasn’t exactly the way I planned on starting this trip, but I arrived in the Bahamas on time and so did my luggage. Ironically, I ended up sitting across the aisle from another Semester at Sea (SAS) participant who split a cab with me to the hotel. And now I am sitting here continuously thinking about how lucky I am to have the opportunity to circumnavigate the globe while obtaining credits for school. Speaking of school, I thought that most of you would enjoy hearing a little bit about the courses I will be taking on the MV Explorer (the SAS ship). I am taking five classes on the ship, two of which will count towards my degree at Willamette.
1) The Rise of Asian Powers: This class is one of the required core classes on the ship that focuses on the political and economical aspects of Modern Asia and explains the history behind the rise of the Asian Powers.
2) Globalization and Underdevelopment: I have never taken an anthropology class, but this course sounded very interesting. The curriculum focuses on the challenges of underdeveloped countries. I am hoping this class will give me a very different view on the countries we are visiting.
3) Global Costumes: Believe it or not, this will count for my art credit at Willamette. In this drama class I will be creating art that is specific to the regions of the world we are visiting. We also study the different styles of costume used in rituals and theatre.
4) The Science and Politics of Environmental Change: I am not a big fan of politics, but I thought this class might be a little more up my alley since it has a biological twist to it. Hopefully this class will give me more insight into the political systems of foreign countries and how they are dealing with the dramatic environmental changes.
5) Ethnobotany: I think this will be my favorite class because it is very focused on biology. In this class, we examine how plants are used in different cultures (rituals, medicine, food, etc.) This is counting as a biology elective for me.
These classes span across a lot of topics, but this will allow me to maximize my experience in each of the countries I visit. My goal on this trip is to immerse myself in all the different cultures rather than just be a tourist. So yes that does mean that you may hear a story or two about me eating unique local cuisine! Well I guess that is about all for now because it is time for me to check in!
