Alana in Ghana

Update: I am now an emerald shellback. The day before we arrived in Ghana, our ship crossed the prime meridian and the equator at the same time, putting us at 0 degrees latitude and 0 degrees longitude, also known as the middle of the world. This might me a maritime secret that I shouldn’t be divulging, but there is a buoy in the middle of the ocean right at that point. Captain Kostas blew the horn and we circled around the buoy!

Julianne and I went arrived in Ghana blindly- no solid plans and questionable phone service. Im actually not sure how everything worked out the way it did, but we ended up with actual VIP service and the best local experience. 

Juj’s pharmacist at home is from Ghana and connected us with her family friend in Takoradi. She said they had stuff planned and not to worry. The morning we got to port we had no clue what was going on, so we hopped on the shuttle and figured once we got to the port gate we would get in a cab and go somewhere. Her phone started working and Mr. Manful (the family friend we were supposed to be in touch with) texted saying “give anyone around the port my name, they’ll find me.” Clue number 1, when anyone tells you that, they must have made it big. Mr. Manful turned out to be the head of immigration. After just a short introduction, he left us sitting in his office for an hour. When he came back he introduced us to Daley and Frances and sent us off. 

The first day we stopped at a few beaches and got accustomed to Ghanaian culture. We tried fufu, a common lunch dish of soup and meat that you eat with your right hand. I’m pretty sure there was goat in it with its skin still on. After a good first day, they drove us back to the ship. Because they were immigration officers who had cleared our ship that morning, they were able to drive us all the way up to the gangway. Door to door service. Daley picked us up later that night and took us to a local sports bar but naturally we ended up at a funny bar with al the SAS kids. 

One key take away from Africa is that time functions very differently. The next morning they told us they’d pick us up at 10 and we didn’t leave the ship until 1045. Anways, we drove 3 hours to a national park with a 200 meter long canopy walk. With a humidity of probably 100% we were all dripping but the views were so cool. After that we had another local lunch and Juj and I started to get the hang of the right hand eating thing. 

The next day was Easter so we assumed that we’d be on our own as they all alluded at having plans, so we said goodbye and thanked them for everything. 2 hours after getting back on the ship Daley texted saying to be ready for “poolside” the next day, so our plans were back on. On Easter Sunday, they brought us to a nice outdoor pool where we sat and watched Daley attempt to learn how to swim. I really appreciated the chance to spend relaxed time with locals and hear about their lives. We said goodbye for real that night, as the ship was traveling overnight to Tema. 

Major side note: I befriend the medical swing on board who complimented my Michigan hat because he went to med school there. Fast forward to the NCAA championships and Larry got one of the IT guys to stream the game live for us in Kaisersaal. Since the game was at 1 am Ghana time, I slept from 10 to 1 and Zoe and I got up to watch the game from 1-330 am. 

The last day in Ghana I had a field class for my Global Health class. 

This whole day was an experience. Our professor is from Iceland and the cutest little person. She was so excited about our agenda for the day and kept running the plans by us. We started at the Tema General Hospital. I have so much to say about this and it was such a learning experience. That afternoon, we went to the University of Ghana for a lecture from a Public Health professor. 

Our last long stretch on the ship is between Ghana and Morocco. They’re starting to prep us to re-enter the real world. In typical Semester at Sea fashion, they moved up the crew talent show because were nearing a storm and they needed all hands on deck. 

Wish me luck. Apparently there are 20 foot swells coming our way. xx

South Africa

Capetown felt so far away at the beginning of the voyage and all of a sudden its over and we’re on the way to Ghana. In comparison to Vietnam, Myanmar and India- Capetown was a very different type of port experience. Our port and terminal was right next to the V and A Waterfront, an outdoor mall area. We got off the ship the first day, walked there and then ubered to meet our friends studying abroad in Capetown for brunch. Before we actually met them, I made Rachel, Caster and Zoe just stand in Woolworths (think Whole Foods) just for a few minutes to appreciate the beauty of a market. 

Two disclaimers before I get further into this. We ubered literally everywhere and there were multiple meals where I ordered two or more dishes. 

We met Emily (shoutout Olin for being the best Capetown tour guide) and a few other girls studying at UCT for brunch. We had the best pancakes and were so happy to see avocado. After we ate, we brought them back to the ship. Emily was so impressed with the “details” of the ship and how there are random German painting on every wall. She’s my only friend not on SAS that will ever see the ship so thats a pretty cool accomplishment. After the tour and introducing them to all of our favorite crew members, we walked down Long Street, had afternoon drinks and went back to the ship to change for the night. We met a big group of people at Cafe Caprice, a restaurant/ turns club on the water where we had dinner before being bombarded by 400 SAS kids. 

We somehow made it back to the ship and were ready at 4am for Shark Cage diving pick up. For funny stories on this topic feel free to contact me directly. After a 2 hour drive, we got to Gansbai and got onto a small boat that took us out to the middle of the ocean. After living on a ship for 2 and a half months already, this was the most sea sick/naseous I’ve been (maybe for a few different reasons). The men on the boat started throwing fish guts and dangling fish heads over the side of the boat to attract sharks. We were the first group to get in the cage and even though the water visibility was pretty low, we saw 3 huge great whites swim by. It was actually just as cool to watch the sharks from the top of the boat because you could see their heads come out of the water as they tried to bite the dangling fish head. 

After getting back to the ship, showering, and finding the best smoothie place called Kauai, we packed up and checked into our Air BNB, a perfect little house looking over the water. I could have stayed there for years. That night we went to dinner with Emily, had amazing ice cream and saw more of University of Cape Town. 

We found a restaurant called Kleinskys, and had bagels, lox, & cream cheese !!!!!! Then we drove to Lion’s Head, went on a great hike/rock climbing expedition to get to the top and see full 360 degree views of Capetown. For the rest of the afternoon we walked in the city center, shopped, went to Kauai again, found an amazing shoe store, and went to two more markets to load up on snacks and chocolate covered matzah. That night we had reservations at a restaurant called Bungalow, which my phone told me was only 0.5 miles away from our Air BNB so I decided we could walk there. One of the very few times we didn’t call an uber and actually needed one, so we were 25 minutes late to the reservation but we made it and that’s all that matters. 

The next day, we ventured a little bit out of Capetown and made three big stops. First we went to Kirstenbosch Botanical gardens, which had a beautiful tree canopy walk and grassy areas where we just sat for a while. Then we had an hour drive to Boulder Beach, where all the little cutie penguins just lay and waddle around the beach. We climbed over the boulders (omg it makes sense why it’s called Boulder beach) and sat in the water watching the penguins. I could have stared at them for hours but we continued on to lunch then Muizenberg Beach. Muizenberg is another beach town, with colorful little houses along the beach. It was super windy so we watched the kite surfers, got ice cream and headed back to CT. 

The next day we packed up early and went back to the ship to meet Caster’s cousin Bev. Caster had only briefly met her on the first day, but Bev was so excited to meet us and bring us to her house. We went to brunch with Bev and her sister Michele came. They were actually so funny together and it was a nice chance to relax and learn a little more about South Africa and get to know them. That afternoon we went on a wine tour in Stellenbosch, a beautiful winery about 45 minutes away from CT. We had a guide who drove us and explained everything. The first winery we had wine and chocolate and the second one was food and wine. It was actually the most fun afternoon-shoutout Zoe for finding the tour. 

We got back to Bev’s around 5 just in time for her kids and grandkids to come over for dinner. Picture this- 4 American girls who just got back from a wine tour, Bev’s whole Jewish South African family, home cooked food, minus Julianne’s stolen debit card- we were smiling and laughing the entire time. 

We had plans to go out that night and Bev forced us saying we’re only young once and pouring Zoe more beer, so we rallied, met everyone at UCT, and went to Boogies (equivalent to Skeeps but WAYY better music). It was so fun to be with Emily, meet her friends, and get to explore Capetown with their help. 

On the last morning, I went on a beach walk with Bev and her dog with Juj, Caster and Zoe jumped out of a plane. They came back alive, thankfully, we all had lunch together and Bev brought us back to the ship. We promised we’d come back to Cape Town for her and we were all so sad to say goodbye. 

We made it back before on ship time and now we’re on the way to Ghana !!!!!! xx

Neptune Day and Mauritius

    On March 7th, 2018, I went from a pollywag to a shellback. This might not mean much to you, but since we woke up at 4am to watch us cross the equator and then participated in the Neptune day festivities, it means a lot to me. To answer some of your questions: no, I didn’t actually see the equator, but I did see a red light flashing in the distance and yes, Neptune day is real thing. Search it on Wikipedia and they even give SAS a shout out. 

    We were woken up at 7am by the dressed up crew banging drums and screaming in the hallways. “The voice” over the loudspeaker gave us 45 minutes to be ready and upstairs on 9. In order to properly conquer this task, they poured “fish guts” on us, which was actually just green juice, then we jumped in the pool, kissed a big dead fish, kissed King Neptune’s ring and that was that. For the rest of the day, people shaved their head, and every last person, even all the deans participated in this maritime tradition. 

    Since this is a combined blog post, I’ll give a little rundown on Mauritius as well because it was only a one day fuel stop. The Port Louis terminal was by far the prettiest port I have seen. I had my Global Studies field class, so I went with a big group to the Rotary Mural Club called CEDEM where we painted murals. CEDEM houses and takes in children from abusive or dangerous homes. They provide schooling and extracurricular activities. To create a more visually pleasing environment, they asked us to paint murals on the cement wall outside the building. The kids there were so excited to dip their hands into jars of paint and then smack them on the wall. 

    We were in Mauritius the day before their independence day, so there was a lot of celebrating and excitement around us. The people at CEDEM were incredibly hospitable; they gave us frosted cookies, chocolate croissants, and bread right when we arrived, and if anyone looked tired they just kept giving us more food. 

    After we said our goodbyes, we went to the beach for an hour. Beaches in Mauritius are gorgeous, really clear and warm water, its a must see. We came back to the ship that afternoon and had more food that the people from CEDEM sent with us. I’m telling you, it was actually unbelievable how many processed carbs they so graciously provided us with that day. 

    To add onto the eating habits, my extended family on the ship (a fun program for students and staculty to form ship families) had a ice cream sundae party on the pool deck. 

    The one day stop in Mauritius broke up our trip from India to South Africa. See ya there! xx

Nommin on Naan

Since I’ve started all my other blogs in chronological order, I thought I would mix it up this time and start with our last day in India. We got back from our field program at 12 the last night, so we woke up on the ship the last morning and got off to have one last day in Cochin. Rachel, Maggie and I ended up getting in a tuk tuk (motorized little vehicle) and told the driver we wanted to find a cricket game to play with some locals. We found a dirt patch where some kids our age were throwing around a ball. At first, they were a little hesitant about 3 girls in their workout clothes asking to play cricket, but we quickly started tossing around a ball and they taught us how to use the bat. It turns out that they were filming a short movie, so they asked us to be extras in the back of one of the shots, so now we’re Indian movie stars. 

    While very nice, Indian people can be very pushy. We didn’t have any plans for the day, so the tuk tuk driving ended up taking us to his friend’s shops and telling us to go inside and shop so we could help him and make his children happy. We bargained, tried on some fur coats and bought some last minute gifts. Our last stop was a small restaurant/local kitchen-  where we tried chai masala that at first we thought would break our good streak of no Delhi belly, but turned out to be really good. 

    Now to rewind back, we got to India early in the morning on the first day. After clearing immigration, we got in two taxis and went to Jewtown. Jewtown is a small, touristy area in Fort Cochin. Before 1948, there were about 5,000 Jews in Cochin. After the founding of the state of Israel, most of them went to Israel and today there are 5 remaining Jews in Cochin. We walked through the old synagogue in the center of town and stopped in some of the stores. All the stores had the same blue and white awnings that say “Shalom” on them and the storeowners stood outside yelling saying come in and shalom in their strong accents. Couldn’t have done India without asking Goldie 9 million questions, so thanks to her for being the best ever. 

    When on SAS, early wake up calls are just part of a normal day. We left at 330am the next day for our field program to Jaipur, Agra, and Delhi. By 345 am, I had already dropped my ship ID and lost it on the floor of the terminal and spilled an entire bag of my sweet potato chips into my bag, that my friends called my “diaper bag.” We flew from Cochin to Delhi, made a quick stop at a Starbucks in the airport, and got right onto a 5 hour bus ride to Jaipur. 

    After arriving in the late afternoon to Jaipur aka the Pink City, we walked through a bazar (market), bought more things I definitely don’t need, drove past the famous beautiful buildings on the main road, and went back to the hotel. 

    In pre-port before India, they told us multiple times to take 2 pepto before every meal, not eat vegetables and be very careful with water. At dinner that night, I had vegetables, drank from a pitcher of water rather than the unopened bottle, and had 3 bowls of ice cream. 

    It just so happens, that we were in India in perfect timing to celebrate Holi. Holi marks the beginning of spring and is celebrated kind of like we celebrate New Years Eve, except for the throwing of vibrant color powders on people in the streets. They brought us to a field- think mini Coachella and Color Run- and that’s exactly what it was. As a tradition, you rub color on people’s face and say “Happy Holi.” Of course this turned into squirting each other with water guns, throwing the powder, and dancing along to local Indian music and dancers. It was all fun and games until we got back to the hotel and had an hour to shower and eat lunch. Our bathroom floor looked like a crime scene and Maggie and I couldn’t get the red color off our faces for close to three days. 

    That afternoon we took jeeps up to the Amber Fort, an ancient Mughal castle. Another special Holi treat is a marijuana milkshake. As we drove up the winding streets and dodged cows in the middle of the road, our jeep driver pulled over so we could watch them make the drink. Men were mixing two big metal vats serving out a green milky liquid. Little kids were running up with cups waiting to get some of their own. Mia and Sage, 2 ship kids, were fully fascinated by the young boys their own age trying some.  

    The next day we woke up for a 3 hour train ride to Agra to see THE TAJ. Avery and I decided we want to live there, the intricacies and architecture is just as stunning as I thought it would be. After taking pictures and walking through the inside, we sat on the platform in the middle and just took it all in. One of my favorite moment so far. 

    Our last night, we arrived in Delhi and hung out in the rooftop bar of our hotel for little. The next day we basically just did a bus tour of Delhi, stopping at Ghandi’s memorial and a replica building of the Taj. We drove past the President’s house and parliament building. Delhi is definitely the most modern city we visited, clearly very influenced by colonial ruling. 

    I think this brings us back full circle, to the last day of the trip. India was a crazy, wild experience. Had I come from the US just to India on a trip, I think I would have had a different reaction to what I saw, smelled and tried. Yes, we spent much of our time traveling, but given India’s size and incredible culture, its impossible to see everything in the 6 days that we had. 

    Stay tuned for the next installment, which will cover the exciting events of Neptune Day and our one day stop in Mauritius. 

Myanmar !!!!

To be deep and thoughtful for a moment, it is crazy to watch the power of language or no language at all unfold right before you. In all of the ports we have been so far, there have been people who speak English, vendors that take US dollars, and signs with English words. As foreign travelers, we are incredibly lucky to speak English and have this advantage. On the other hand, we don’t need words or any language to interact with people- instead, we only need a small woven ball that Rachel bought in a village to start a pickup game of soccer with some guys outside the airport in Bagan who spoke no English at all.  

Now, back to reality. Another country down and its almost March. Myanmar was special, eyeopening and really hot. We had a slight detour: one of the crew members had a medical emergency so we stopped in the middle of the ocean and waited for a small Burmese ship to pick him up. I obviously watched the whole time from the 7th deck, as they transferred him, the surgeon on board, and one other passenger onto the small ship. He came back two days after and thankfully is doing well. 

Because of the current events and previous civil wars in Myanmar (previously known as Burma) there was some concern about traveling there. I felt really safe the entire time and found the people to be welcoming and positive. 

Anyhoodles, we docked at a port about an hour away from Yangon, so the first day we took the shuttle to the city and walked around. Its hard to explain what Yangon is like- some parts look just like a city you would expect and other parts are really run-down. None of us had service or any clue where we we going, so we ended up having lunch in restaurants with a view of the whole city, along with about 500 other SAS kids. We walked through a few markets and the city center and ended up at the famous Strand Hotel for high tea. We ordered a hamburger and then Myanmar style high tea. We finished the burger in 3 minutes, but the high tea meal took a little longer due to the interesting smelling salads and fruit jelly. 

The next morning we woke up at 5am, met Wah Wah, our amazing tour guide and left for the airport. Shoutout to Emma for making it through another flight on a propeller plane! Bagan is an ancient capital of Myanmar. We saw about 5 incredible and unique pagodas, two with insane gold stupas and solid interiors. We took a horse carriage through the desert, which is literally scattered with pagodas. After lunch and ice cream, we checked into our hotel, which was beautiful. Then, we took a small river boat to another side of Bagan where we explored two villages. The first stop was at a weaver’s hut, where we saw intricately woven bamboo. We ended up playing in the back dirt alley for almost an hour with a bunch of kids that kept running up and joining. The next stop we saw cotton being made by women who work 7 days a week, 8 or 9 hours a day. The colors and weaving were brilliantly done. On the river boat back we watched the sunset right above us. 

The next morning was an early wake up call for hot air ballooning. Wah Wah was so excited to come with us. Hot air ballooning was more graceful and calm than I expected. We were literally floating above Bagan, watching the sun come up and illuminate all the pagodas scattered around. It was honestly one of the most amazing experiences. We landed on a sand bank and our pilot Nick form the UK said that its tradition to have champagne after every balloon flight, so naturally we all had 3 glasses before 8 am. 

After a breakfast buffet and some time to pack up, we left the hotel to see two more temples. We stopped at a market, bought another pair of loose pants for $3 (honestly a life saver for multiple reasons). That afternoon, we went to a monastic school in a very poor village. We met with a monk for a few minutes. He shared with us his intentions in running this school: that students should have a Buddhist and academic education to become competent leaders and capable of making decisions. SAS has visited this school in the past and as a tradition, they always bring donations. We helped pass out new pencils, pens and toothbrushes to the children. The kids were so happy to receive these gifts, they all bowed and thanked us saying “jei zu ba.” 

We got to the airport and found out that our flight was delayed. With no Wifi and very, very limited food options, we started a game of pick up soccer outside on the dirt. We had no way to communicate with the airport workers that started playing with us and they were yelling in Burmese, so we nicknamed them Kobe, Beckham, Tip, and Fountain. We made it back to Yangon and said bye to Wah Wah. 

On our last full day we had a tour of Yangon. Our tour guide was kind of odd and didn’t really speak but saw the Schwedegon Pagoda, the biggest and most famous pagoda in Yangon. We had a great lunch, saw some fossilized teeth in the Yangon National Museum and hit our breaking point. That night we stayed in  an amazing hotel that I found on Wikivoyage and booked over email. Honestly, I was concerned my plan would backfire but it turned out to be an amazing hotel, with a pool and working wifi. I opened my computer and didn’t even know what to do with working wifi. 

We had an early night, a full breakfast buffet the next day and relaxing by the pool. We took a taxi back to the ship and got lost a few times, but made it back with time to spare before on-ship time at 2000. Myanmar was definitely one of the most interesting and different places we have traveled to so far. Yes, some parts of the country and government are really backwards, but the people were so welcoming and the experiences were really eye-opening. 

Next stop: India.

If you’ve made it this far, thanks for being a #loyal reader. xx

Good Morning Vietnam

So far, this trip has resulted in the most physical injuries. Thank god I’m taking my malaria pills because my ankles swelled up so much that I had to take my shoes off and waddle around and start antibiotics to stop a staph infection. Zoe fell off her bike, totaling her crying count for the day at 3. The first time she cried was because she was too short to use the bikes so she had to get back on the bus. Also while biking, Fogel got distracted by a dog on a tuk tuk, fell off, and bruised her entire leg and has a cut on her hand. More dysfunctional stories to come later. 

Since we signed up for a field program to Cambodia, in the best been there done that manner, we only had one half day in Vietnam before we left. The first day we went to the Cu Chi tunnels, about a two hour drive away from Ho Chi Minh City. The tour guide gave us these bread rolls on the bus that tasted like challah. I think I had four of them. The tunnels are in a jungle area where meters of long tunnels connect and served as a military safe zone for Cu Chi natives during the Vietnam War. The intricate network took 20 years to build. American troops set up bases on top of the tunnels and didn’t realize until much later on that they were operating on top of fully functioning tunnels. We crawled through the tunnels, stopping to see an underground hospital, boardroom, and kitchen. 

That night we came back to the ship. We had a short dramatic episode when Fogel couldn’t find her passport picture needed for Cambodian visa. Frances (my best friend that works at the reception desk) gave her a passport picture of another girl that looked eerily like Fogel that was just sitting on her desk but then we got that taken away. Last resort was using Caster’s polaroid camera. An hour and a half into the drama, a girl walked by and told us she didn’t have her picture and that they can just get them at the airport. Game over. 

Cambodia wake up time was 4:15 am and we had a quick breakfast before going to the airport. Once we landed, Savy (our tour guide) picked us up from the airport and brought us to the Angor Wat Museum. There was a big room that had 1,000 buddhas. That was cool. We had lunch at a Cambodian restaurant, checked into the hotel (which was SO nice. When Emma approves thats when you know). That afternoon we went to EGBOk, a non-profit organization that takes Cambodian teens from extremely impoverished areas and teaches them hospitality and social life support skills. They set up 5 stations for us: scarf wrapping, spring roll making, bug tasting, lotus peeling, and banana root snacks. Zoe ate snake and a cricket, she said the snake tasted like jerky. Then they made and served us dinner and we had a huge dance party. 

The next morning we woke up, had an amazing breakfast at the hotel buffet and hiked up to a small waterfall. After the hike and stopping at a small temple we had lunch up in a tree house. Next, we made our way to Angkor Wat, the largest religious temple in world. It used to be Hindu but turned to a Buddhist site and can hold up to 20,000 people. We climbed the vertical steps up to the 3rd level and views of the entire compound. Savy promised we could get ice cream, so after a quick ice cream stop we went back to the hotel. Everyone was hanging by the pool for a little, but Julianne and I left and took a tuk tuk into “downtown” Siem Reap. We shopped in the markets and wandered before meeting everyone for dinner and ending up at Pub Street (think New Orleans minus ten notches) with neon pink paint all over our faces. 

The next day, we woke up at 5am to watch the sunrise over Angor Wat. I personally thought it was slightly anticlimactic but I guess it depends who you ask. We went back to the hotel for another amazing breakfast buffet and went to pick up bikes. Let me preface this situation- first, I HATE bike riding, but I decided that SAS is a learning experience and that I was going to suck it up. Zoe couldn’t find a bike that was small enough so she had to get back on the bus and almost started crying. Before the bike ride even begun Julianne and I were already at the back of the group. There was plenty of falling and near death experiences. When one girl quit mid-ride, Zoe got off the bus and took her bike. After biking through some temples, we ended up in the middle of the jungle. The sand was so deep and I actually don’t think I have ever heard so many complaints in my life, and shockingly not many of them were from me. Rachel’s elephant pants ripped in like 12 different places and we saw a little boy peeing at the temple, which is definitely illegal in Cambodia. It was a long morning.

After the bike ride, everyone was so dead and tired we went straight back to the hotel and had a free afternoon. Julianne and I went back into town, had an amazing sandwich and gelato, then got a pedicure and 30 minute massage for 23 dollars total. We went to an interesting/odd dance show for dinner then to the airport. We flew on a small 2x2 propeller plane. Hearing everyone freak out on the plane was a highlight for me. I got a DQ blizzard at the airport so that was another plus. 

Back in Vietnam we made it to the ship by 1 am and were picked up in the morning at 8 am for a Mekong Delta tour. We drove two hours and got on a small motorized river boat. We saw floating markets, people living on their small boats, and the small homes on the side of the river. We got off and saw a rice/coconut factory and tried all these amazing snacks and candy, and of course bought the traditional Vietnamese straw cone hats. We got back on the river, drank from fresh coconuts (AMAZING) and went on a paddle boat down smaller canals of the river. We had a great lunch (a fried fish that still had its eyes) and spring rolls, among other things and came back to the ship. That night we went on a vespa food and drink tour. I think its safe to say that it was the actual best night for all of us. We each had our own vespa driver and a tour guide named Katty who was the coolest person ever. We went to two restaurants and two bars. The vespa part was so much fun- there is no regard for any traffic rules in Vietnam, so we were weaving in and out of traffic. Caster and I did a pass off her beer while on the back of our respective vespas. They dropped us off that night and we were incredibly sad to say goodbye. 

The last day we explored HCMC, going through a big market of tchotchkes, had lunch at Pho 2000 (Bill Clinton’s fav. ) and came back to ship, beyond exhausted but full and tired and happy. 

Fogel, a self proclaimed vegetarian, brought a cliff bar with her in her bag but would never eat it. One afternoon we distracted her, which is pretty easy to do, stole the cliff bar, and hid it from her. The next day when we asked her to look for it and she couldn’t find it and we told her we ate it. later that day we took a picture of the cliff bar behind her head and airdropped it to her. She still has no clue where the cliff bar is and this went on for days. 

Next stop Myanmar! But first, Sea Olympics. Go Red Sea lol. 

Brb Moving to Hong Kong

If you’ve ever seen the movie Groundhog Day, you’ll know that its about a man who wakes up and experiences the same day over and over again. It’s actually ironic that we were in China on actual Groundhog Day, because just like the movie I heard the same thing over and over again. Fogel kept talking about Guilin- if anyone is ever interested in going to the mountains where Avatar was inspired, Fogel is your girl. Rachel kept talking about her true love. Emma was in Super Bowl mode 4 days before. 

China was really different than I expected it to be. We got to the Shanghai port early in the morning and you barely see across the water because of all the smog. The streets seemed really quiet- I expected there to be people everywhere. Our first day in Shanghai we went to a huge market under the museum. We spent a while there and had a great first lunch. The best part of the market was following the ladies into their back rooms and watching them take out huge bins of bags and wallets. That night we went to an amazing dinner overlooking all of Shanghai. Even though it’s really hard to see during the day, once the lights come on at night there’s a beautiful sky line. We went to a bar on the top of a hotel after and got an even better view of the city. It was fun to see SASers out. As Rachel would say, it was an outter body experience. 

We slept on the ship that night. Side note- I thought I would get off the ship and never turn back but trust me the feeling of showering and sleeping in my cabin is the best one ever. The next morning we got up and went to a very cool modern art museum. After a lot of deliberation and a solid 30 minutes of not being able to get a cab, we made it back to the ship with a 10 minute turn around time. We finally made it to the airport and got on a flight to Beijing. Emma and I got McFlurries and they were honestly amazing. 

The next day, our Beijing tour guide Ray picked us up from the hotel. Ray was amazing. He kissed Alana (yes there is another Alana) on the cheek that night when we dropped us at the airport. Ray brought us to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Beijing is a huge city and I wish we had more time to explore, but it was really helpful that we were with a guide who had a ton of information to share with us. The Forbidden city spans miles long and was built for the emperor and his 1000 closest advisors only. The buildings were beautifully built and there is so much history involved with the Forbidden City. However, it was unbearably cold and we ran back to the bus. Our next stop was an great traditional lunch before scaling the Great Wall. Ray ordered for us and the favorite dish of the meal some fried shrimp with sauce. 

I really didn’t know what to expect from the Great Wall, but seeing if from a distance as we were driving up gave me chills. We took a small chairlift up to the top. The view was incredible. The wall was built to keep watch over Mongolians and other invaders. Ray was the best tour guide and photographer and really answered all of our questions. He dropped us back at the airport that night and was sad to say bye. 

After a long flight and really long day we landed in Hong Kong. Many of you might know that I have been obsessed with Hong Kong, so I was most excited to see everything. We started the next day walking from our hotel to “Times Square.” Hong Kong was incredible because one street felt like NYC, the next like the most quintessential Chinese city, with a little bit of San Fransisco. We went to an incredible dim sum lunch and then stumbled into a Chinese medicine shop. Fogel found a girl to translate her and Fogel talked to the woman who then prescribed her some tea to drink, but we never went back to pick it up. But yolo it was for the experience. I dragged everyone to this huge mall to track down incredible frozen yogurt. I’m obsessed with Hong Kong. From the island we went across to Kowloon and walked through more markets there. I got a sweet potato bun from a stand on the street and it was insane. 

That night we went to Yardbird (amazing food- still thinking about the cauliflower and all the yakitori) and went out with a few girls studying abroad in Hong Kong. We went to LKF, a street literally lined with bars and people just standing outside on the street drinking and hanging out. We ended up meeting more SAS people in a club, that according to a local is where all the celebrities go. Still obsessed with Hong Kong. 

The next morning Emma and I went to brunch and I shopped alone before meeting everyone for lunch. In the middle of lunch Fogel went to 711 and got sweet potato mochi. Incredible. We took a cab up to the top of Victoria’s Peak. It was a rough ride for everyone (videos to come on that one), once we made it though the view was pretty incredible. We took the tram down and it was like an optical illusion. The side of the hill is lined with trees and with all the vertical buildings and a steep slope it felt almost like we were falling. After that we took a cab to Soho and met Doug and Adam, two expats who live and work in Hong Kong. I’ve explained this encounter a lot, but Fogel, Rachel and I left making a promise we’re going to live together in Hong Kong one day. We ended the night with an amazing dinner at a place called Ho Lee Fuk. 

The last day in Hong Kong I had a field class for my nutrition class. We went to a tea tasting house in the morning and brewed and tried a few different teas. We had an amazing dim sum lunch, walked through a market where I obviously found ice cream, and practiced tai chi in the middle of a plaza. All these people started talking pictures of us and two little kids stood next to me and tried to follow the tai chi master William while their mom was taking pictures. Its crazy that 20% of my grade was just showing up for the day. 

See ya after Vietnam!