"Here I go again on my own..."

Sorry for being cheesy and quoting Whitesnake in the title. Well since I have nothing else to do while still stuck on the island that is long, I’ll share with you some fun facts about this trip so I can stop explaining myself over and over and over… (just kidding. You know that I love to talk about myself.) Well, here’s the lowdown on Semester at Sea:

Through the University of Virginia, the MV Explorer is the fastest passenger cruise ship with 7 decks. The bottom four decks are cabins or what I personally call them: closets. The room is quite literally the size of my closet at home. Well I won’t have as many shoes with me so I’ll deal. Plus I can only bring one suitcase. I’ll survive. I’m a strong woman. A strong shoeless woman, sadly. Here’s to roughin’ it and becoming less materialistic! (And less vain for those of you who know what I’m talking about... buzzzzzz) You can see the rest of the boat here. There are lounges, dinning halls, classrooms, library, store, pool and gym. Though the program has been around for over 30 years, the Explorer was built in 2002 to act as a “floating university.” Like all other Universities, SAS has semesters with classes aboard the ship. They offer all types of classes from business to art & music to political science to biology to my favourite – anthropology. My classes for Spring ’07 are: Anthropology (Gender, Class, Race-Ethnicity and Social Change); School and Society; Mysticism and the Religious Experience; and Global Studies 101. All students on the ship (around 700 students from all over the globe) take Global Studies 101 which is geared to all the countries we are visiting. We have different professors to teach us the language, history, politics, culture, religion, and geography of each port. Now as for the ports – we are stopping at:

Nassau, Bahamas
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Salvador, Brazil
Cape Town, South Africa
Port Louis, Mauritius
Chennai, India
Penang, Malaysia
Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam
Hong Kong
Qingdao, China
Kobe, Japan
Honolulu, Hawaii
San Diego, California

I fly down to the Bahamas with Caitlin on January 31st and chill in Nassau until we move onto the boat on February 4th. When I get to CA mid-May, I’ll fly back to New York. (I’m crossing my fingers that my olds and my maggot will fly to San Diego and meet me for a nice little family vacation!! Yes, Mummi and Poppy and Maggie – pleeeease?!)

We stay in each port for 3-6 days. We are not limited to the ports; I will be traveling elsewhere in the country with SAS excursions as well as independent trips (or as the cool kids say – “going indy”). SAS offers trips from safaris to rainforest hikes to service visits. My classes also require field studies from each port geared toward what we learned in class. Caitlin and I will also being doing a study “Of the Boat, On the Boat” (heheheh) We will also be trying to befriend Desmond Tutu who is living on the boat with us for the whole 100 day voyage. It’s so amazing – and random – that we have a Nobel Peace Prize winner living on the boat with us. I read his book entitled "God Has a Dream: A Vision of Hope for Our Time." Him and I have a lot to discuss.

So that’s all folks. I am in the midst of packing, scrambling for money at work, and saying ‘see ya later’ to friends & family. Oh, as well as trying to help my mother cope with the fact that she’ll never know exactly where in the world her daughter is. And that I can’t call four times a day. The best she’ll get now is four times a month (you gotta deal with it woman!)

As for me, I know there is no way to mentally prepare for this voyage. Since Peru, I’ve learned that the only way to deal with things is to take them as they come with awareness. No matter what, I will try to stay positive and never become disappointed in anyone or anything (including myself). Regrets have never existed in my life and they certainly will not start now. I’ve been waiting for this trip for several months and this “go-with-the-flow” attitude (to quote Maria) is all I can do to prepare. Therefore – I am ready.

[To be honest, I was born ready.]
Here I come world! Watch out!
Infinite XOs – Amanda Panda

PS – Send me emails! PandaQT2@aol.com
PSS – Send me letters! Go here and read instructions. The arrivals dates needed to send mail are here.

PSSS - Please do the above mentioned tasks to keep me informed with your world. I'd lurve you forever!
PSSSS – If you are one of my desperate friends begging for a postcard, I am more than willing, just send me an email with your address because I am a dumbbell and probably lost it.

PSSSSS - And don't worry Ma, I won't forget your thimbles. Try not to lose them. Courtney can't just send you another one this time.

PSSSSSS - Camille, be a good sister and don't forget to send me postcards from BOTH Paris and Madrid.

PSSSSSSS - And I won't forget to get something 'funky' for you Dana, my big sis.

PSSSSSSSS - I also expect frequent postcards and emails from my fellow travelers: Casey, Davey, Court, Tawny, Maria, Dani Double D and Uruj (haha ilu)