Blessed with a wonderful day!

I just had the best day on the ship I've had so far! We're on the
equator, cruising down the Amazon river and we notice land on both
sides of us. The river gets narrower and narrower and we're
surrounded by rainforest! We see a few canoes full of natives waving
to us with their paddles. My roommate, Julie and I went up to dinner
and caught the sunset, just in time!

I met a really sweet girl from Shanghai. I've met the most
interesting, diverse people here. It's wonderful. There was zumba
today. I have been waiting so long for it. I'm obsessed with Zumba! I
got in the front row and had the time of my life dancing away to the
addicting latino music. The instructor is from Brazil-how cool?! It
was the best Zumba class I've ever been to. Such a blast!

After dinner I headed to bible study. I was excited to finally meet
some Christians! There were 5 of us and one boy who was curious and
wanted to observe (pretty cool!). Everyone was so great. I just got
came back from watching a movie with a couple girls I met at the bible
study. They're so sweet and so much more like me than most of the
people I've met so far. I feel so blessed tonight! There was a preport
meeting where delegates from the embassy in Brazil spoke. It was so
interesting hearing about Brazil from them! Afterwards the 2 new
girls I met and Andrea and I went to the first worship service. Oh,
it was so great, and very needed! We sang some familiar, great songs
and there was a nice message. There were about 20 people there,
including wives of faculty and life long learners.

After the service we went up to the pool deck which is the popular
hangout spot. I played a couple games of ping pong and socialized for
a bit. We saw a moth that was bigger than my hand! We're about to see
some crazy animals!

I'm feeling very motivated and the plan is to wake up to catch the
sunset and then do another Zumba class at 7am! So not Kathryn Krick, I
know! We gain an hour of sleep tonight because we set the clocks back.

I'm grateful for this great day and all of the blessings that came
with it! Can't wait for Brazil!

Entering the Amazon River

So I just checked our status, and the ship is currently at 0 degrees
latitude, meaning we are on the equator! The sun sure did feel real
hot today. I have successfully not been sunburnt. I have an "end of
the summer as a lifeguard tan" ALREADY. its crazy! I'm not complaining
one bit :) So this is life on the ship for me..there are A days and B
days. A days I have class at 10:45, get lunch, have class at 1, done
by 2:15 so I head out to the pool for a couple hours and grab a
smoothie. B days I have class from 9:20 until 12 and then I'm done.
Today we did yoga on the deck viewing the amazon river. Then dinner,
and last night I worked on an essay, but tonight I chatted with Andrea
on the deck at the front of the ship, watching the water (amazon
river) by moonlight. We then headed to the pool deck which was PACKED
as it was pub night (drinks are served, but not more than 3 per
person). I haven't gotten a drink card and I probably won't because
drinks are so expensive on the ship. So yeah, thats what the typical
day has been like so far. I enjoy it, though its really strange never
leaving the ship for days at a time. You realize how small the ship
really is. There are only about 3 places to hang out (one being the
pool deck) with 500+ students. Not a whole lot of options. Needless to
say, as much as we enjoy the daily sunbathing, we are all very anxious
to reach Brazil. We entered the Amazon River this afternoon. All of
a sudden the blue water turned to a murky brown. The ship is no longer
rocking. The Amazon River is one HUGE river. Tomorrow we should see
land on either sides. We're supposed to see a bunch of exotic
animals. (Parrots, pink dolphins, toucans and other cool birds). The
Amazon Rainforest has 20% of the worlds species in it! Hopefully I see
a bunch of cool monkeys :) I'm not sure what exactly the plan is for
Brazil. We're there for 4 days. The first evening I'll watch and
learn how to make a three course Brazilian meal as a required field
trip for my Anthropology of Food Class. I might go on a 2 day river
boat tour where I'd see a bunch of cool animals and visit natives. I
think we sleep on hammocks on the boat. Apparently the exchange rate
is really good in Brazil so we're hoping to do a little bit of shopping.

I met a girl named Bryana in the Bahamas. She is a music major
(voice). Her and I have found places on certain decks to escape and
sing. We're deprived of it, and it was so nice to do what we love and
what we miss! We're starting an acappella group. There are about 15
people signed up. There is a Christian worship service tomorrow that
I'm going to as well as a bible study. I can't wait for that!
Andrea's going with me!

I talked with Julie my roommate and Andrea about how we miss our
friends back home. Everyone on the ship is SO nice and extremely
friendly. That said, its hard to find those best friends that you
click with and are so much like you, such as friends back home. It's
only been 10 days, so theres plenty of time for that to come. It
really feels like we've been on the ship for much longer than 10 days!
Tomorrow I have classes, then Monday is Brazil day, and Tuesday we
arrive!

Oh, a couple of necessary things I forgot to mention about Dominica in
my last post is that the place we went that I called the "island but
really peninsula type thing" was Scott's head. You should google it
since I can't put pictures up for a while. And I mentioned that Ken
taught us that "whago" means "what's up," so every time Ken knew
someone as we were driving around (which was ALL THE TIME. He knows
everyone!) we would all yell "WHAGO" to his friends he was waving to.
He loved it and we loved it! It was seriously at least 20 times.
Little things you look back on that make you smile. :)

That's all for tonight. Time for bed.

Peace and love from the Amazon <3

Dominica..indescribable but I'll do my best!

I'm sitting in the lounge area, using an outlet instead of writing
this in my cozy bed since my cabin doesn't have an outlet (the
conjoining room does) and my suitemates are sleeping. I'm overly
tired, to the point of delusion, so this might come out a little
funky. It's so funny, everyone is walking around like zombies. We're
so exhausted from these past to days in Dominica.

Why I'm writing this now instead of sleeping is because I've been
dying to write about my incredible days in Dominica all day, and I
couldn't wait to share my experiences and didn't want to forget
anything. I've been on cloud 9 all day. I've just had this huge
smile on my face, you guys know it. The "Kat's in an insanely good
mood and nothing can bring her down smile" :) Me and the friends I
traveled around Dominica just cannot get over our time in the
beautiful island. All day we'd take turns saying "How is this real?"
Thats honestly the feeling that kept going through my head. I know
that it probably will, but I honestly cannot imagine having a better
experience than I just had. Everything was PERFECT.

So here's the story. We arrived in Dominica, pronounced "dah-mi-NEE-
kah". Not to be confused with the Dominican Republic. Most of you
probably haven't heard of Dominica. I hadn't either. The reason is
that it's very hard to get to (besides a cruise ship you have to first
fly to Puerto Rico). And its very untouched by the tourism industry.
You won't find a single large or chain hotel. Dominica is simply
nature basically untouched. Its one huge rainforest with luscious
greenery, palm trees galore, hot springs, gorges and even a champagne
reef. The mountains are insanely magnificent and beautiful. The
tallest mountain is 4,700 ft. Dominica reminded me a lot of Hawaii.
I've never seen a more beautiful place (Hawaii may be tied). It's
inhabited by basically all black people and very few original natives
(creoles). The island is poor, as are most caribbean islands. I
learned so much, I could go on and on...now for my experience there.

We got there at 8 AM Monday, while Ithacans were heading to their
first day of classes. ;) Bryana, Ryan and I headed into town at 8:30
and were on a mission to find a hotel for tonight. We were celebrating
Bryana and Kael's birthdays so we wanted to make it special. As we
were walking downtown searching for a hotel a nice native lady asked
us what we were looking for. She immediately called her friend and
said he'd be down in a minute. A couple minutes later a native named
Ken pulls up in a Roseau Valley Hotel Van. He tries to sell us on his
hotel and we ask him to bring us to it to see for ourselves. It was a
beautiful villa located 10 minutes out of town. The backyard had a
beautiful view of the "rainforest" covered mountain. It was cheap
also so we rented out the whole upstairs. We planned on going to Krazy
Koconuts for the night and said he'd bring us there for a good price,
so things were working out great!

We then headed back to the ship where I met with a group to go on a
SAS field trip to the Emerald pool and tubing around a river. We went
up this insanely windy mountain (very similar to hawaii..like a
corkscrew). We then walked through a rainforest to this waterfall
that poured into an emerald pool (beautiful turquoise color). We
jumped into the natural pool from a rock and were in complete awe of
the beauty around us. We were swimming in a natural emerald pool in
the middle of a rainforest. UN.REAL. you'll see pictures someday
(hopefully sooner than may). This is where the whole "is this real
life" saying starts popping up a lot among all of us. It was on this
trip I met this girl that I REALLY clicked with named Andrea. She's
so so so sweet, christian and we have in a lot in common. THANK YOU
GOD. Prayers were answered asap. I was feeling super blessed at this
point. Then we went tubing down a river. Such a blast..there were
rapids and everything. It was like one of those tubing rafting rides
at an amusement park but the real thing, only on your own innertube.
They served us cocunut, mango, oranges and rumpunch afterwards.

We headed back to the ship for dinner and then caught a cab to our
adorable villa in the rainforest. There were about 20 of us there
having a grand time in the living area, huge balcony and whole
upstairs of the house before we called Ken to bring us to Krazy
Koconuts. We all squeezed into Ken's van, with me in the front next to
Ken. I talked to Ken during the ride and learned so much from him. He
is such a great guy. He drove us around and honked and said "whago"
which means "whats up" to his friends. (Which was everyone..such a
small island, he knows everyone). Ken loved us and we loved him. We
had so much fun talking and hanging with him. We went to Krazy
Koconuts after stopping at a local bar first. Tons of SAS kids were
at Krazy Koconuts..which was HUGE and awesome. Dominican people
really have good music. So much latino and reggae. I'm adding so much
to my itunes. We had a blast dancing and socializing. We then headed
back to the hotel while bonding with Ken some more. When he dropped
us off he started talking to Hannah, Ryan, Lindsay and I about love,
God, and how he lives his life. Man, he is an amazing guy. He talked
about how he loves everyone, and he feels so blessed to have what he
has and to live on this beautiful island. We were touched so much, and
overwhelmed by his heart, and just the amazing way he lives his life.
Lindsay was in tears after hearing what he had to say. God was doing
some pretty cool things. He told us he would take us to places the
next day and show us around the island. The next day (today) we took
him up on his offer. He stuffed 15 people into his car (people in the
trunk and all). Don't worry, they don't drive fast because there's
only curvy roads, and he was careful. He took us to probably the most
beautiful place I've ever been. I swear it was a taste of heaven. A
whole lot of "how is this real?" was heard again. Its hard to describe
it but basically on the coast were these magnificent angular beautiful
mountains and you look out on the sea and there's this thing that
looks like an island, but really there's a small strip of land that
goes out to it. On one side of it was caribbean water and the other
sides was the atlantic ocean. We swam in the caribbean part which was
the perfect temperature and the water was so clear. Un.real. We then
had a short hike up the "island type thing". I forget the name of
where we went was. The view...undescribable. I wish I could upload a
picture. I felt overwhelmingly blessed. Which reminds me, Ken says
what they say there is "bless" (kind of like God bless). A lot of
people are christian there and there were verses around a lot (backs
of cars and billboards). I loved it. Anyway we headed back down the
"island type thing" with ipod speakers and all :) And then Ken took us
to botanical fruit garden with a restaurant in the middle. Once
again.."how is this real?!" We picked grapefruits, cocoa, mangos,
passionfruit and oranges off the tree and ate them. YUM!!! We ate, and
then after an amazing day Ken brought us back to our ship. He so
badly wanted to bring us to the hot springs but we just didn't want to
risk being back late (you cant enter the next port for hours if you're
just 1 minute late). We got there an hour and a half early. I bonded
with Ken so much today (and last night). He swam with us, hiked with
us, ate with us (which was at his cousin/godfather's place). He only
asked for $20 from each of us. You must realize that is NOTHING..when
a cab is $5 per person for a 5 minute drive. He was probably one of
the kindest, most remarkable and inspiring men I've ever met! Also, he
talked about how he adored his 3 yr old son. The lifestyle here is SO
different. I commented on how much I loved his reggae music and he
said he'd give me his CD. Then others commented and he slowed the car
down and yelled at his window, "i need 5 CDs of the CD you gave
me" (to the store where he got his CD). Also today he said he'd show
us his son. So as hes driving through town he stops and yells out the
window directing the teacher to bring out his son. She carries him out
within seconds and puts him on his lab in the cab. He was so adorable
(pics eventually). Other amazing quotes by Ken I won't forget, when I
asked him how his morning was so far he replied "Blessed, man. I
dropped my son off at school." And today as we're hiking up the
incredible "island type thing" I go, so are you having fun Ken? He
goes, "I have fun every day man. I am happy every day." ...This is
how he lives his life. Incredible.

This is what this trip is supposed to be about. Not being a tourist.
REALLY learning about the culture. Interacting with natives. Going out
of your comfort zone, and being blown away in a positive way because
of it. I can't believe this incredible of an experience happened at
the FIRST port. We were all so touched and so overwhelmed by the
PERFECT experience we had. We can't see how it can get better than this.

When Ken dropped us off and we said goodbye he gave us his contact
info. Hopefully we can send him a postcard and then keep in touch when
we can get on Facebook again. When I said goodbye to him I was
genuinely sad. I made such a great friend and really influenced and
inspired me. So blessed. So blessed.

So I get back to the ship and I'm on a cloud. These past days were
just unbelievably perfect. Julie (my roommate who is WONDERFUL) and I
get dinner together and these 2 old ladies (probably late 70s or 80s)
sit down next to us. They're sisters and are lifelong learners. How
cute?! We had a great time chatting with them. One was a pilot. Martha
said, "you have so much to look forward on this trip." "I've just been
so blessed in this life I can't believe it." We chatted with them for
about an hour. The day just kept getting better.

Now we're somewhere between Dominica and Brazil. We reach Brazil in 6
days i believe. I was sad to leave Dominica. I definitely want to come
back to Dominica someday. I'm the only one left in the lounge. Its
1:20AM. The ships rocking again and I'm loving on it...I think I may
work on a ship someday :) haha I'm loving life. I tell you what
though, its awfully hard to do school work when you have an experience
like that and 500 students all around you at all times to share
experiences with and just share your joy with! I had a long
conversation with a kid named Matt after almost beating him twice in
ping pong.

I'm headed to bed now. Thanks for reading this crazy long post. I just
couldn't leave anything out. I'm having the time of my life already :)

Love <3

First 2 days of classes!

Well today was the 2nd day of classes. It feels like I've been on the
ship for so long now. I can't believe its only been a few days!
Yesterday I had Popular Music around the World. We're required to go
on 2 field trips for that class. They sound so fun! They're both in
South Africa. One is an intimate hip hop performance! (They'll be
performing for just us) and then they'll invite us into their homes
for dinner and socializing! And the other is similar, but Jazz music
instead! Yesterday I also had World Theater and Performance and the
trips I'll be doing are seeing a Japanese theater performance and a
dance performance in India. Today I had anthropology of food. The
field trips I'll be doing for that class are a Japanese tea ceremony
and most likely cooking a 3 course meal in the amazon in Brazil. I
had Global studies as well and I love the professor. He's so
engaging. I learned so much! And we learned about Dominica-where we'll
be arriving in a few hours and it was just so fascinating!

The ship arrives in Dominica tomorrow at 8am. The plan is to explore
Dominica with a group I've been hanging out with until 1. Then I'm
going on a tubing and Garden pool visit. I'm very excited for that.
Dominica is covered with a beautiful tropical rain forest and has big
mountains, beautiful waterfalls and hot springs! Can't wait! I think
we're staying in a cabin for the night and celebrating a couple
birthdays.

Its been sunny everyday. The past couple days I've hung out by the
pool after class. Life on the ship is so wonderful. I'm really
enjoying the rocking of the ship! I've never slept better.

I just had a really good, long chat with my roommate, Julie. She's so
great. We're pretty different from each other but we get along really
well and have had really great conversations. I'm starting to learn
that a huge part of this experience is going to be breaking out of
your comfort zone and not doing things that are normal and what you're
used to. Its really easy to do the comfortable, settling into a group
thing. We spend so much time with each other (even though its only
been a couple days). We're stuck on a ship together, and the ship is
actually pretty small. I'm learning that it will be so much better to
spend time with different people, meet as many people as you can, and
to not hang out with the same group of people all of the time. Thats
the norm, and thats what we're used to, so its really hard to break
free from that. I've noticed that doing that isn't really cutting it
for me so far, and I need to dig deeper and meet more people (above
the acquaintance level). There are so many great people to meet here,
and its never been easier to meet and spend time with them.

I feel like I'm learning a lot already and we haven't even reached our
first port yet. I can't wait to see what Dominica brings!

Friends back in NY-miss you and love you so much. Being away from you
and around different people makes me really appreciate you guys and
feel even more blessed to have you in my lives. Wish you were here
right now! Good luck in school tomorrow Ithaca loves!

The Voyage has begun!

I'm on a boat! I'm currently on the way to Dominica now. I've been on
the ship for 2 days but it feels like a lot longer. It already feels
like home. I had an interesting start yesterday. I was going on the
internet for the last time in the hotel lobby half an hour before I
was going to get my bags and grab a cab to the ship when my touch pad
on my computer stopped working. I tried to not completely freak out
and assured myself everything would be ok. I tried to carry all my
luggage down to the lobby, which was a very long walk since Wyndham
hotel is huge. Bad idea. I don't know what I was thinking. I was
going to meet a couple friends I met in the Bahamas so we could share
a cab, and I figured I didn't have enough time to call for some help.
Luckily a couple SAS girls saw me struggling and helped me carry my
luggage. Once I got to the dock I waited in line with my friends Don
and Matt who I've been hanging out with in the Bahamas since Monday.
We waited in line for about an hour and we finally got on. It was an
easy quick process once we made it to the front of the line.

I signed up for an economy room which means that they put you in
whatever rooms are left and most likely a crew room which is much
smaller than the already small regular cabins, no window and bunk
beds. I lucked out and ended up in a suite! Its 2 rooms that are
connected. My room has this nice big window with a nice cubby area in
front where you can sit. Its so nice! And our room is connected to
an even bigger room (without a window though). And we share a
bathroom which surprisingly doesn't seem too small. One of my suite
mates is from Ithaca. The chances?! All of my 3 suite mates are so
nice. I really like my roommate, Julie!

Everyone on the ship is SO friendly. Its such an awesome community.
Its just the coolest thing all living in one place. The ship is
lovely! The food is great! We were supposed to set sail yesterday at
noon but there were 28 students in Ft. Lauderdale waiting on their
Passports and Visas so we delayed our embarkation to 11. That then
was moved to 12 today. We set sail at 12 today but only to come back
by 5 to FINALLY pick up the last of the students we were waiting on.

I LOVE the swaying of the ship. My cabin is at the front of the ship
so it rocks the most. I've been hanging out with the crew I met in
the Bahamas a lot of the time. I'm trying hard to meet as many people
as I can though. It's a lot of fun meeting so many new people.
Classes start tomorrow. I have Global music and World theater and
performance tomorrow. We signed up for clubs today. A friend and I
started an a cappella group. Hopefully people sign up! I signed up
for yoga, zumba, bible study and I want to sign up for a bigbro/sis
thing because there are 35 children on the ship (faculty and life long
learner's kids).

We had orientation basically all day today. A lot of us were falling
asleep. The rocking of the ship makes you sleepy! We have 2 days of
classes and then Monday we arrive in Dominica. I signed up for a
tubing down a river trip. I'm very excited! Pretty psyched for
classes to start tomorrow since they sound like so much fun.

Thinking of Ithaca friends who are moving back very soon!

Miss and Love you all at home! <3

Boarding the ship in 1 hour!

The day is here. I'm in the hotel lobby about to get my bags and meet up with friends I met don and Matt to take a cab to the ship! I've been having a blast here. It's so beautiful. I've met so many people. Everyone is great! Mom and dad left this morning. I'm posting from my iPhone because all of a sudden my computer isn't letting me click on anything. I'm trying not to freak out. Hopefully it'll be an easy fix. Im so excited to board the ship. Can't believe the day is here. Gotta run. Love and miss you all at home!

The time has come...

I'm sitting here in my bed next to my purring kitty for the last time for 6 and a half months.  I keep saying I can't believe it.  Time moves so fast its starting to really scare me.  I know these next few months will be by far the fastest yet!  So all of my bags are packed and are successfully under 50 lbs. It is currently 12 degrees here in Andes and I am SO happy to be in 75 degrees and sunny weather by 3pm tomorrow!  Our flight leaves in less than 11 hours! Mom, Dad and I are leaving from La Guardia in NYC which means we have to leave the house at about 4:30am.  That's in 5 hours!...Guess I better get some sleep.

Here we go!

P.S. how ironic that the cruise ship near Italy sank today..all over the news. I'm not worried..now mom on the other hand...

11 Days.

11 Days. 11 days and I will be in the Bahamas. 15 Days and I will be boarding the MV Explorer, my new home for four months. Also, I turned 21 two days ago.  Life has never felt so unreal.  But it is indeed real, and I am very excited about it.  I know it will not feel real when I'm packing my bags, leaving my house, boarding the plane or checking in at the Wyndham Hotel at Nassau.  I think it will only feel real when I walk onto the ship for the first time and find my cabin and meet my roommate(s).

It's a really strange feeling going away for four months and not knowing anyone that will be with you.  Sure college was kinda like that but there was Facebook, texting, skyping, you name it.  It's like you never left your friends and family at home.  Internet is basically nonexistent as well as very expensive on the ship.  There won't be much communication with people at home.  All of this is scary, but even more that that..its exciting.  I love meeting new people! Being in a situation where no one knows anyone is so fun and so rare.  I'm in for some big and exciting changes!

I had an amazing 21st birthday.  About 20 of my friends came to my house at Ithaca and we celebrated New Years and my birthday together.  My friends mean so much to me.  It was really hard to say goodbye.  I won't see most people for about 8 months since I'm staying in San Diego until my internship in Los Angeles (May 22-July 31).  Hilary was the last to leave.  I've never had such a sad goodbye.  She lived on the other side of my wall...and looking back I think thats the biggest reason why this semester was the best semester yet.  She's one of my best friends and I love her so much.  I'll really miss you Hil. :(

This is my first blog post ever! I know how crazy busy I will be but I really hope I can take the time to write about all my adventures and stories.  I'll really miss all my friends, and I hope you guys will enjoy hearing what I'm up to.  I'll be thinking about you guys all the time.  As soon as I know my Semester at Sea e-mail I'll let you all know and then please e-mail me constantly :)

There's been a whole lot of preparation for this trip, but its all finally done and the time has come!  All thats left to do is pack...oh boy! :)