February 20th, 2006
Well, it's the last day in Cape Town. I really
enjoyed this port. From going to see Penguins, to going on a Safari and
proposing to my girlfriend, I must say that I've had a great time. I
spent most of today simply relaxing and recovering from my safari. I
spelt in, did some homework, and hung out with kristy for the most
part. Its actually funny how fast things spread on this ship. From the
small group of people on the Safari, a huge rumour was able to spread
about how 'two people on it got engaged' lol. I'm pretty sure there
isnt a single person on the ship who doesn't know about Kristy and I,
and thats quite an accomplishment, lol.
Kristy went to Robben Island this morning so I maybe just hung
out alone which was nice. Its not often we get time for ourselves on
this ship (I mean everyone, not just Kristy and I). Then this afternoon
Kristy and I did some shopping, and went out to dinner. We went to a
really nice steak house and had some great food. I had steak, Kristy
had chicken, and then we both had a milkshake for dessert! It was
Delicious!
This evening we were entertained by a local police
choir. It was really nice, but kind of ruined by the fact that half of
our ship came back absolutly wasted. Like I'm not even kidding,
probably half the ship is completely drunk, some being loud and stupid,
others throwing up in the halls, others passing out. So this choir was
trying to sing and a bunch of people were talking and just being plain
rude. The music was very nice in the end however, so at least that
worked out, lol.
Its now time for my final thoughts on Cape Town.
Well comming here this was the number one port I wanted to get to and
it definatly lived up to my expectations. The safari was amazing, the
town was great and entertaining, and the sights were beautiful. You can
clearly see the effects of colonization by the brits however. There is
still the rich, mainly white, upperclass, and the poorer, mainly black,
lower class. The place near where we were is nicely dressed up for
tourists, but it certainly isn't how much of the country is like,
with lots of poverty, disease, and one of the highest countries for HIV
(In fact, in Durban where we were, up to 70% of people have HIV, and is
the number 1 killer there). Things are getting better however, and
conditions are still improving. In 20, maybe 30 years things will be
alot better, but there is still a long ways to go.
Well, I suppose that is it for now, as I am
exhausted, and really just need to go to bed (Its 12pm local time, 5pm
home time, lol). So yea, I shal type up some more in the next couple of
days I hope! Until then!
Ciao!
February 22nd, 2006
Bonjour!
Well, as per usual while at sea, not a whole lot
interesting is going on. I have class and lots of work to do (This week
I have 3 essays and 3 exams due.. yes, I will have no life, lol).
Classes are still going well, and everything is still as it should be.
We did our final trip selection period today (For day trips from
Vietnam to Japan, so nothing expensive, lol). I guess the only thing
that is new is that we had a lifeboat drill today, so I guess thats
exciting. Well, no, its not all that exciting. In fact, its actually
rather quite boring, but thats allright, lol. Umm..... what else.... um
yea, I guess that really is it, lol.
Oh, btw mom, since you asked the final course
list/schedule for the summer doesn't come out until March 15th
(Possibly even later) so it will still be a while until I know which
courses I wil want to take (Well I guess that is only about 3 weeks
away, but you know what I mean, lol) so yea, no worries, I'm on top of
it, lol.
Oh and Dan, you and I will still have to negotiate
on the whole 11 cows thing, lol. I do beleive that the number of cows
slightly depends on the quality of the girl, and I am only getting
Kristy after all, so.. ya know.... lol (Hopefully Kristy won't get a
chance to read this, lol, jj). If anyone wants to know what I mean
about this (I dont know if I or Kristy mentioned about it in another
post) talk to Dan, lol.
All my love to my family and friends!
February 24th, 2006
Happy Birthday Kristy!!!!! (I doubt she will ever read this, but thats ok, its the thought that counts, lol)
So first of all I just wanted to thank everyone who
has emailed Kristy and I in support of our engagement. I really
appreciate it. Oh, also thanks for keeping up with reading what we type
up. Its nice to know that we have a fanbase back home, lol. Oh btw mom,
In an email to Kristy you said that you emailed me, I just checked and
didnt receive anything (Unless your talking about that postcard? Btw, I
wouldnt worry about sending those postcards because I still have to pay
to receive them, which kinda sucks, lol. So yea, I would just email me
regularly, but its up to you really).
As to whats going on lately, um... not a whole lot,
lol. I've just been working hard and studying for all my crap. I am
fortunate that my ornithology professor puched back our exam until
after Mauritias, which is super because it will give me more time to
study for other things. Um... yea, I guess thats really all that new.
I suppose I could tell you about Kristy's b-day
despite the fact that she will probably talk about it as well. Um, I
guess I'll tell you what I got her. First I got her a small painting
and doll in Salvador which I had given to her a couple days in
advanced. I also bought her a gift certificate for an 80minute Hot
Stone Massage here on the ship, I'm sure she will appreciate that, lol.
I also bought her an icecream cake (If you tell the kitchen in
advanced,you can buy cakes for special events) and a bunch of us sang
happy Birthday to her and we all ate the cake. It was particularly
good, lol. Umm yea, what else. Oh a couple people (I.e. Jewel, lol)
boughther a manicure and decorated her door a little bit. A few other
people wrote happy birthday to her on her magnetic message board.
Um.. ok, I guess thats it for now. Besides Kristy's
b-day its business as usual! So yea, I shall talk with you later!
Au Revoir!
Bonjour!
Ok, so first thing, last time I tpyed anything I
forgot to mention that Maurituis primarily speaks french, so thats why
I said goodbye in french. I just thought I should clarify that, lol. (6
years of manditory French class finally comes in handy! lol, jj, I
barely remember anything, but still enough to get me around, lol)
So yea, today is day two in Mauritius so I thought I
would type some stuff up, and hopefully with technology permitting I
will be uploading 5 pictures with this post! Yay for you guys! lol.
Anything, not a whole lot happened today, I went into town and saw some
sights, and mainly hung around the ship and hung out. I got some
homework done and stuff, so that was good. This evening Kristy and I
went out for pizza and icecream. Yes I know, Im on the other side of
the world and still ate pizza (To make it even worse, it was Pizza Hut
pizza, lol), but its allright, lol, I really wanted a familiar taste
from home, lol.
Yesturday when we got here I had a bit more
productive day. Kristy was on a trip to visit some shelters and stuff,
and I didn't have much else to do so I went out with some other people
and walked the whole city (its a pretty small city, lol). We went into
china town, and saw city hall and a gorgeous garden area, so that was
fun. We then had some traditional indian food which was delicious!
Before I move on, I should tell you a little bit about Mauritius.(I'll
give you the coles notes version of it, lol) It was originally a
Dutch colony who then brought a bunch of black slaves. The Dutch then
abandoned it and then the French picked it up who then brought more
slaves. The English then defeated the French as per usual and then took
over the island, but not before they gauranteed all of the French
rights, religion, language, and laws and stuff (Hence why everyone
still speaks french). Following that however, a bunch of Indian
indentured workers came over and soon outnumbered everyone, which is
why Indians (People from India, bot native americans, lol) are still
the largest group (about 68% of Mauritius is of Indian decent). This is
why we were able to get some authentic indian food, in this ex-British,
ex-French, ex-Dutch colony that all speaks French. Confusing huh? lol
So yea, as I said I havn't done a whole lot that is
super exciting yet, and were only here for three days (We leave tomorow
night).But one thing I am super excited about is that Kristy, Jewel and
I along with like 100 other SAS'ers are going snorkeling in some of the
most beautiful waters in the world. I forgot to mention that the entire
island is surrounded by a croal reef, so I am really looking forward to
that! lol. So um yea, ok, I guess that is it then for now! I shall end
with some pretty pictures.
The first two pictures were taken in Brazil. The first is of Kristy and
I (Duh... lol) decked out in our Brazil stuff before we went to see the
soccer match. The second is a picture of the back of the ship at
sunset, and I thought it was pretty, lol.
The next couple of pictures are from South Africa. Two are from our
Safari and includes a picture of a monkey (They were sooooo cute, lol)
and some elephants (Also cute, lol). The third is from another
excursion that we were on where we saw a bunch of penguins (I think I
talked about it before, but heres a close of view of one of the
penguins! lol
Allright, thats it for now. Hopefully these pictures will upload
properly. I apoligize for them being so small, but I had to to be able
to upload them at all, lol.
Talk with all of you later!
Ciao!