This is going to be the trip of a lifetime

I am so excited for this trip that it is basically all I talk or think about. I have never been out of the country (except for a short cruise when I was 8), so this is the best opportunity for me to see so much of the world in three and a half months. We will go to 12 different ports in one semester. These are countries that I have been researching and googling since I decided to go on this trip. The entry below shows our specific itinerary. I am the most excited about seeing the pyramids in Egypt. Other than that landmark, I am also intrigued by experiencing so many different cultures, ways of life, and people. I love people and hearing people's stories, so this should prove to be a unique opportunity to do just that. We have been sent a field program that outlines various excursions that we can do while in port. There are many opportunities to visit orphanages, children's homes, and do service visits; these are the Semester at Sea sponsored trips that I am the most excited about.

I am doing this trip for several reasons:
- to learn about different cultures
- to visit different countries
- to learn what it means to be a citizen of the world
- to learn about myself
- to be independent for the first time in my life (sorry mom, dad, tyson, and everyone, but I am actually excited about taking this voyage by myself - i need it - that is not to say that I won't miss you tremendously or that I am not incredibly nervous/scared/anxious, but I need to do this and I will be home and you will be waiting for me and I can't tell you how thankful I am for that)

there are other reasons that led to my decision to participate in this program, but these are the specific ones that come to mind.

I hope that this blog will serve as a tool for my family and friends at home to keep up with what I am doing. I also want for this blog to enlighten people about the world around them and force you (whoever you are reading right now) to consider things from a global perspective - America is NOT what it's all about - it's just a part of it all. I appreciate the freedom I have been afforded as an American, but I am also very excited to see things from another perspective, I want to know how a farmer in rural India feels and how they are affected by global issues and how they in turn affect those issues. I am a political science major, so some of this is deeply political, as well. We live in a global society in which we are incredibly interconnected and need to understand this fact in order to function in it properly.

This is my promise to be less ethnocentric (that is a big word that means that people from a particular culture or country, say America, believe that their way of life is superior to others or majorly influences all other ways of life). My goal in this blog is also to reveal aspects about the rest of the world that can only be experienced by being there - something you can't get from a newspaper or television program. Yes, i will tell all of you that are interested about my daily adventures and my huge sea adventure, but I also hope to provide information and insight into the more personal and specific details of the individual cultures that I will be so blessed to experience.

Thanks for reading this rather lengthy introduction to what I hope will be a thorough and interesting discussion of my time abroad.

God Bless!!!

Semester at Sea Itinerary

August 27th, 2007 - Decemeber 7th, 2007Destination

Ensenada, Mexico - Depart: Monday, 27 August 1700

Honolulu, Hawaii - Arrive: Sunday, 02 September 0700
Depart: Sunday, 02 September 2300

(Cross International Dateline; Lose one day)

Yokohama, Japan - Arrive: 12 September 0800
Depart: 13 September 2400

Kobe, Japan - Arrive: 15 September 0700
Depart: 16 September 2200

Qingdao, China - Arrive: 19 September 0800
Depart: 20 September 2300

Hong Kong - Arrive: 23 September 0800
Depart: 24 September 2300

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam - Arrive: Thursday, 27 Septemer 0800
Depart: Tuesday, 02 October 0600

Bangkok, Thailand - Arrive: Thursday, 04 October 0800
Depart: Monday, 08 October 2300

Chennai, India - Arrive: Monday, 15 October 0800
Depart: Friday, 19 October 2300

(Transit Suez Canal on Tuesday, 30 October)

Alexandria, Egypt - Arrive: Wednesday, 31 October 0800
Depart: Sunday, 04 November 2300

Istanbul, Turkey - Arrive: Wednesday, 07 November 0800
Depart: Sunday, 11 November 2300

Dubrovnik, Croatia - Arrive: Wednesday, 14 November 0800
Depart: Sunday, 18 November 2200

Cadiz, Spain - Arrive: Friday, 23 November 0800
Depart: Tuesday, 27 November 2300

Miami, Florida - Arrive: Friday, 07 December 0800