So were getting close to South Africa and as we get closer I get more and more excited! I have 1 definite plan which is the Safari and another one which is still in the works. My friends and I might go Bungee Jumping because South Africa has the highest Bungee jump in the world (also one of the safest!). When in Rome? We shall see what happens. I guess you’ll have to wait until after South Africa!
My roomie gave me all of her country music! So happy because I had none on my laptop and I miss it so much. It is great for pretty much all occasions, to feel good, to mellow out… ahhh so happy J Getting new music is the best and now I can make a good Africa playlist for traveling!
The other day we had the SEA OLYMPICS! Which is a big tradition on Semester At Sea. The ship is split into 9 seas, about 70-80 people in each sea and they compete against each other in random events. The events started the night before with opening ceremonies. First each teams came out with their banner and showed some team spirit and then after each team demonstrated their team cheer. We were all pretty great and the team spirit for our sea was very high. Obviously since we are the Caribbean sea we are the Pirates of the Caribbean! Since our sea color was black we all wore black, supported face paint and people wore hats and eye patches. Before we left for the opening ceremony we all gathered in our hall and prepared to enter the Union (our large gathering space on the ship). we left and paraded to the union, our RD Kindra played a drum as we walked and we all sang “Yo ho, yo ho a pirates life for me” as we entered the Union and scared our competition as they were sitting in their seats. We got into our section of the Union and the ceremonies began. All over the union everyone was sitting in their seas and wearing their team colors. There was a little tension (nothing serious) between some seas, especially the Red sea and Mediterranean sea because the Red sea’s color was blue and the Mediterranean sea’s color was red. With this every time the Med sea came up to do something the red sea would yell at them for stealing their color. Of course it was in good fun. Our teams cheer was a mimic of the south African rugby teams cheer. If you have ever seen it it’s cool and has a lot of energy, everyone else did something fairly similar for their cheers. We got 2nd place in both events and #1 over all for the first night!
The next morning we got up early for a team breakfast (which no other team did) and then I went back to bed because events didn’t start until 10:30 and my first event was at noon. So at 11:00 I got up to go and cheer on our team at some events. One of the events was a frozen t-shirt contest of which you had to use your body to defrost a shirt and then each team member had to put it on. It was a close call and our team placed second. They tally up the events by points, first place gets 9 points, second gets 8 and so forth. We did really well in a lot of other events, my event the wet suit relay was cancelled because the seas were too rough so the pool was closed. I had lunch instead and then went to cheer on our team during the standup comic routine. Since the judges were our dean and advisors, most people went up and made fun of the judges but our team got creative. We have two British men in our hall and se we volunteered them to get up to the stage and sat on stools in “hipster” clothing and pipes. Another guy was in back with a drum. The idea was to make it feel like a poetry type reading. The idea was that they were going to tell jokes, mostly really sad jokes and after each one if no one laughed out team would snap our fingers or the guy would play on the drum. It’s kind of hard to explain in text so if you don’t get the picture I’m sorry. It was funny though and it got us first place. After I had the tug-o-war to participate in. My arms are still sore. In the tug of war it has to be 5 girls and 5 guys for each team. We were the 3rd team to go and we beat out or first competitor but lost to our second. We were able to place 3rd overall though so we still got 7 points overall for the event.
After the main events we had the relay race. In the relay there are 17 “stops” that need to be made. Someone with a Ping-Pong on a spoon passes it to the next person once the stop with a challenge is done. For example we started the race with a team member eating 6 saltines and then whistling. Once he whistled the person with the spoon/pingpong speed walked to the next station which was someone who built a house of cards and then once they finished the spoon went to the next spot. This went on for about 2 hours and me and about 10 other people cheered our team on the whole time and moved from station to station. We came in 2nd place and since it was worth double points we got 16 points for it! After we had synchronized swimming in the Union, people just did their routine on the stage because of the pool being closed. After there was the lip singing. Once this was all done the winning teams were announced and we placed 1st. It was a little magical for our whole to to run up to the stage and all cheer and celebrate. We all worked hard and we stayed strong as a team. Although it might seem silly it was a big deal for me then most others. Growing up I never stuck with a sport or got into a specific group, I kind of hung out with a lot of different people. with this I never got a “team” feeling or if I did we were never particularly a big deal. But for once I was part of a strong team with people I knew and was going on an amazing journey with and I was able to experience feeling united with these people.
Other than that it’s been quiet on the ship because there’s a lot of work to do before SA. Desmond tutu talked in my class about religion the other day and maybe I’ll write a post later about that because I took a lot of notes and he had me thinking about a lot of things regarding religion and race. Desmond tutu leaves the ship once we get to SA and then he will be going home with his wife. We all sad he is leaving but were still so grateful for him being here.
Other than that I have been good. I am enjoying classes for the most part and I am caught up on my classwork and all that jazz. Starting to see how much I miss home. Although the ship is definitely very homey for me now, I miss the familiarity of home and freedom. I hate feeling trapped and I am excited to jump into my car and go for a drive or go to the grocery store and know exactly what to expect. But at the same time I also know I am going to miss being on this adventure and having this opportunity when I get home.
Hope you guys are doing well!
Love
Casey
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