3 Weeks...and Counting!

Field Programs have been posted and it was a little dissapointing. I did not get the Varanasi trip OR the Amazon trip. I am still not quite over the fact that I will not be going to the Amazon. I feel like there is a tiny hole inside of me :( It's a bummer that SAS cannot accomidate all of our wants and needs, but that is a difficult task for 700 people! Instead I will be headed to Rio de Jeniero in Brazil and Jaipur in India. I'm still very excited for all of these trips - I am very privilaged to be able to experience all of this at my age. Plus, I'm pretty sure I'm going to be headed to the Amazon when I explore Peru someday.

Christmas was a very happy time for me this year! My whole family was in town and I got a ton of stuff for SAS! Backpack, sleeping bag, sandals, watch, journal, camera...I'm pretty much set. I have a TON of stuff left to do before I head out. I just made a massive list of everything I need to do and need to buy...along with everything I need to pack! It was a fun day. Well, I don't have anything else to report. 22 days!

Holy Moley!!

Alright kids! I have 53 days until I fly on out of here...and I'm just a tad bit freaking out! I have a week of class and a few days of finals left for this semester. I had no idea that this semester would go this fast! I was expecting it to go on forever giving me ample time to prepare my mind for what is coming next. It is strange for a 21 year old to admit this, but I am going to miss my family like crazy and I'm already having a hard time grasping what it will be like to be away from them for 100 days! I'm just thankful that I will have a good long summer with my family when I come back.

Anyway, here's an update on what is happening with SAS:

• I signed up for pre-sale Field Programs a week ago, which was surprisingly difficult to do! I ended up signing up for a couple of smaller things in Puerto Rico (because it is our first port) but the BIG ones I signed up for were: Amazon in Brazil, Safari in South Africa, Delhi/Varanasi/Agra in India, and Cambodia!! I'm not guaranteed any of these trips, but I will find out which ones I get in a few weeks.
• I am currently taking the oral Typhoid vaccine! Oh fun!
• My mom and I started making packing lists.

Here's the time difference between Montana and all of the countries I will be in:

• Bahamas: 2 hours ahead
• Puerto Rico: 2 hours ahead
• Brazil: 3 or 4 hours ahead (depends on where I'll be going)
• South Africa: 8 hours ahead
• Mauritius: 10 hours ahead
• India: 11 hours and 30 minutes ahead
• Malaysia: 14 hours ahead
• Vietnam: 13 hours ahead
• Hong Kong: 14 hours ahead
• China: 14 hours ahead
• Japan: 15 hours ahead
• Hawaii: 4 hours behind
• Costa Rica: Same time!

Last but not least, if your feeling extremely "nicole-sick" one day then you can send me mail!!! Here is the list of where to send it and how soon you should send it out!

San Juan, PUERTO RICO Phone: 1 787 982 8888 Fax: 1 787 982 8890
Cruise Plus Service & Sales1760 Fernandez Juncos AvenueSan Juan, PUERTO RICO, 00909 Send it out: January 12

Salvador, BRAZIL Phone: 55 71 3241 4990Fax: 55 71 3243 5633
Oceanus Agencia Maritima Av. Estados Unidos, 555, Room 712 40015-010 Salvador, BAHIA-BRASIL
Send it out: January 22

Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA Phone: 27 21 419 8660Fax: 27 21 421 6984
John T. Rennie & SonsPO Box 702, 1 Thibault Square8000 Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA
Send it out: February 5

Port Louis, MAURITIUS Phone: 230 202 70 40Fax: 230 208 5814
Ireland Blyth Limited Shipping Operations Department No 6 Dr Ferriere Street Port Louis, MAURITIUS
Send it out: March 16

Chennai, INDIA Phone: 91 44 252 12032Fax: 91 44 252 43813
J.M. Baxi & Co. 3rd Floor, Clive Battery Complex4 & 4A, Rajaji SalaiChennai 600 001, INDIA
Send it out: February 26

Penang, MALAYSIA Phone: 60 4 2623 245Fax: 60 4 2627 989
Inchcape Shipping Services SDN 4th Floor Unit 4BWisma Saw Chong Thuah39-c, Pengkalan Weld10300 Penang, MALAYSIA
Send it out: March 5

Ho Chi Minh City, VIETNAM Phone: 84 8 823 1052Fax: 84 8 824 2996
General Forwarding Agency5th Floor Osic Building8 Nguyen Hue AvenueD. 1, Ho Chi Minh City, VIETNAM
Send it out: March 13

HONG KONG Phone: 852 2746 7312Fax: 852 2744 3240
Inchcape Shipping Services (HK) Ltd.Units 1802-1805, 18th FloorNo 3 Lockhart Road Wanchai, HONG KONG - CHINA
Send it out: March 20

Shanghai, CHINA Phone: 86 21 6323 1350Fax: 86 21 6329 1519
Penavico Shanghai 3/F 13 Zhong Shan Road (E 1) Shanghai 200002, P.R. CHINA
Send it out: March 24

Kobe, JAPAN Phone: 81 78 391 3046Fax: 81 78 391 3105
Inchcape Shipping Services (Japan) Ltd. Kenryu Bldg, Room 502 6, Kaigan-dori, Chuo-ku Kobe-shi, Hygo-ken 650-0024, JAPAN
Send it out: March 28

Honolulu, HAWAII Phone: 1 808 599 8604Fax: 1 808 599 1950
Inchcape Shipping Services 521 Ala Moana Blvd. Suite 256 Honolulu, HI 96813
Send it out: April 8

Puntarenas, COSTA RICA Phone: 506 440 2000Fax: 506 442 8862
R. Smyth & Co S.A.500 M. Norte del Super SantiagoRio SegundoAlajuela, COSTA RICA
Send it out: April 26

And there you have it! This post took me a long time!

3 Months To Go!

Well, I have been really busy this last month with all of the never ending SAS paperwork! I sent in my Visa applications a couple of weeks ago, along with the various release forms - the forms that indicate who should be called in case, you know, I die. :) Tomorrow I am getting my vaccination shots and malaria medicine! I also made flight reservations to Nassau on the 21st of January and back from Miami on the 10th of May. It's all coming up so quickly. This semester is going faster than I thought it would. Even though we still have three more months until departure, I feel overwhelmed with all of the preparing I have left to do!

On another note - I got into all of the classes I wanted!! I am both excited and nervous about taking these interesting classes on the ship. They are all classes I wouldn't be able to take at UM, but I have a feeling that they are going to be a lot harder than classes at UM. Not only are they taught by outstanding professors from all over the world, but they will be fast paced seeing as we will be in port half the time. Every class that I am in will require a lot of in port, hands on work - which will be unlike anything I have experienced in Montana. I have always wanted to learn through experience, and now I finally get to do that! Well, enough babbling - here's a list and description of the classes I am registered for:

Global Studies: (required for all)

Anthropology: Magic, Religion, and Witchcraft (Upper Division)Professor Sidsel Millerstrom

Philosophy: Knowledge and Responsibility: International Perspectives (Lower Division)Professor John Wager

Communications/Public Health: HIV and AIDS Pandemic: the Communication Imperative

Welcome to my blog!

Hi everyone! Thanks for visiting my blog! I will do my best throughout the next few months to convey to you my experiences both on the ship and in the 12 countries I will be visiting. I will be traveling on a huge ship called the MV Explorer with 600 other students! While we voyage from country to country we will be attending classes as if we were on any other campus. We start in Nassau, Bahamas and from there we will port in Puerto Rico, Brazil, South Africa, Mauritius, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Hawaii, Costa Rica, and finally arrive in Miami!

I have never been more excited for anything in my life! This voyage will be such an incredible experience that will have, I am sure, and outstanding impact on my life. I'm majoring in Anthropology with an option in Culture. I originally wanted to spend a semester in Kenya, but my mom was too worried for my life, so she suggested Semester at Sea. I cannot say that I regret her suggesting this. Now, my mom can worry about me making my way through 12 countries, instead of just one!

I cannot wait to tell you all about my stories from each country! Please check in every once in a while because I plan on having pictures as well as journals.