I am now in the Southern Hemisphere

We are almost to Brazil! We have one more day of classes and then we land! I feel like I’ve been on this ship for months, and I cannot wait to get on land again. The picture I’ve posted above is of the equator, which we passed over yesterday. They made an announcement about it, but as you can see it looks pretty similar to the rest of the ocean. Today Kendall and I met our adopted family. It’s through a program on the ship where the faculty and lifelong learners can adopt a few undergrads. It was really fun and our “parents” seemed really sweet. They have traveled all over Europe. Last night there was a poetry reading where anybody could get up and say poems they had written. He surprised her by reading a sonnet that he had written for her. I hope I can be like them when I’m older. The older adults on this trip are absolutely amazing. We sometimes eat with this woman named Donna. We asked her where she had traveled to and she said “name it, I’ve been there” We got the replies back for our trip signup I got almost all of the ones I wanted. I’m doing a bunch of fun stuff that you will all get to hear about later! I’ll just tell you my Brazil plans for now. When we arrive, I’m doing what’s called the “Panoramic City Orientation” which is where we get a tour of the city of Salvador where we are landing. Then Kendall and I want to check out the big market that is there. That night I’m going to what is called “Bahia by night” which is dinner at a local restaurant followed by a show of the local culture. 80% of Salvador’s population is of African descent making it the largest African city outside of Africa. We get to see lots of cool things that the slaves brought over from Africa including Capoiera (dance fighting) and Candomble (Dancing African religion that was disguised as Catholicism so the slaves could keep practicing it). After that I hope I can see a little bit of Carnival festivities before heading to bed. The next morning I’m headed to Lecois, which is an amazing national park that I’m really excited about. We watched a video about it in one of my classes and there’s a small chance that I might find a diamond in the river we get to play in. Keep in mind that this is a very very small chance, but it would be cool! The thing I’m most worried about in Brazil in trying to speak and understand Portuguese. This is one of the countries where very few people speak English and from what I understand Portuguese is just different enough from Spanish to make communication difficult. After Brazil we have another long week at sea until we get to Cape Town, South Africa.

PS-Thank you Mom and Dad! I’m so glad that I’m getting to do this, it’s an amazing experience so far, and we’ve only just left!