Dear friends and family,
It's official - the voyage is only two short months away! Already I'm feeling nervous and anxious, but mostly just excited, as the chance to experience so many new cultures and adventures draws closer.
Preparations are well underway. This month I've tackled visas to Ghana and Brazil, the yellow fever vaccine, my medical checkup including prescriptions for malaria meds and other less pleasant things, and I've registered for the classes I'll take on the ship. Now it's time to plan all my excursions in port!
SAS has just released the field program options, which is a list of SAS-planned activities that you can do in the different cities in which we port. Basically, it's a guide to all the fun tourist attractions and activities in the cities.
So I wanted to address this for the first and final time, because it's something that people have asked in response to the trip: what do you really get to see as a tourist for three months?
And so, the answer: I've always known that I wanted to study abroad, but as the time came to make a serious decision, I was a bit torn. On the one hand, I could go someplace such as France, become immersed in the language and culture, and truly be able to say that I am fluent in French. On the other hand, I have dreamed about Semester at Sea for a long time. The value is less the time you spend in each country, although that is incredibly important, but instead the true global experience. Seeing so many countries at one time offers the chance for comparison, and this comparative lens leaves a lasting impression of the way lives differ around the globe. As I believe I've mentioned before, I wanted to approach the trip with the lens of freedoms of women worldwide. There is no better way to understand women's positions in the world than by getting the big-picture snapshot sixteen countries will provide.
In addition, even as a tourist I feel it's important to see some of the sites I plan to visit. Many of the places on the agenda have incredible historical significance. In Germany I plan visit a concentration camp and the Holocaust Memorial; in Ghana, we have the opportunity to visit slave dungeons; in Cuba, to interact one on one with local students. These places are incredibly important and I will get to experience, appreciate, and learn from them.
Finally, there's no better time to see as much of the world as possible than when you're young! (so they say.) So now you know - Semester at Sea is the program for me, tourist or not.
In the meantime, I've been enjoying our nation's capital, Washington, DC, during my summer internship. Two months of DC, and then three months of whirlwind world travel... wish me luck!
