Twenty Days and Counting

Christmas has passed and most of my gifts were for my trip, including some clothes I picked out, travel items like luggage tags and locks and an international plug adapter. My favorite gift, though, were two rolls of Charmin "To Go" toilet paper! Definitely a necessity! I still have to sort out if or what type of cell phone I will be using during my travels, as well as visiting the travel clinic to get prepared with vaccinations for Africa.

I'm getting more and more nervous as the trip nears - my main fears are: Will I be prepared enough (with the right type and enough stuff)? And, will I do and see enough in each country? I really don't want to be stuck thinking, "Man, I should have brought that or brought more of that" or "Man, I should have did or seen that". But, then again, I guess I should stay positive and realize, as one of my friends said, any opportunity to see anything in the ports we will be visiting will be a great opportunity. And, I'm sure I could always find things - like shampoo, etc., while I'm in port. I'll just take a few deep breaths and I'll be fine.

Oh, and I was kind of busy with school and forgot to mention that on the Thursday before Finals Week I met with four other Penn State students that will also be on the ship (from this point those also participating will be called SASers). One girl, Meghan, actually works in the Business Division of the Daily Collegian - go figure! We met at Chili's and had some good discussions about different things everyone is doing - like the usual year/major/where are you from questions, classes being taken on the ship, trips signed up for, etc. - so, it was nice to get to know at least four people who will be on the trip a little bit better.

I also found out from the SAS Facebook group that at least one other SASer will be on my flight from Pittsburgh to Nassau. I'll be leaving Jan. 18 on US Airways flight 2683 at 10:35 a.m., which connects to flight 1975 in Charlotte, NC from 12:07 to 1:15 p.m., then arrives in Nassau at 3:30 p.m. I'll be staying at the Towne Hotel that night near the docks where the MV Explorer, the Semester at Sea ship, will be located (also because it was the cheapest I could find!). In the morning, I have to arrive at the dock around 8:30 a.m. (technically 8:40), since the arrival goes alphabetically by last name.

I thought I would post this link to the Semester at Sea Web site (if it works - it's a PDF) that contains information about mailing things to the ship (I like to get letters :oD) and the exact class schedule and port calendar as well as the time differences for each port, which might be handy in contacting or keeping track of me.

Calendar and Communications information

Books and Map

I bought my books today online. The Semester at Sea has an option to send them directly to your cabin once you order them, instead of lugging them in your, well, luggage. So, I thought that sounded like a pretty good deal - even though they turned out to have a $93 shipping fee. But, hooray, now I'll have a gift waiting for me when I get to my cabin!

Here, as promised, is the new map with our ports in AFRICA:



Semester At Sea map

It Began In Africa

Whoa!! I found out on Tuesday that because of the incidents involving pirates in the Gulf of Aden around Somalia, the Semester at Sea decided to change its itinerary. We are now going to Spain the traveling down the EASTERN COAST OF AFRICA! So, our stops in Italy, Turkey and Egypt have been replaced by stops in Casablanca, Morocco; Walvis Bay, Namibia; Cape Town, South Africa; and Port Louis, Maritius. I am still stunned. This almost makes the trip better, given that I may someday be able to travel to Italy, but Namibia might not be at the top of my vacation list. I'll post a new map soon. Three more days at Penn State and then, the trip will soon follow (Christmas, pah, I'll see your Chistmas and raise you a trip around the world!!)