Again, I am always amazed at how fast time flies on the ship. A few days ago we went to Mauritius, a small island country a little ways away from Madagascar. It was colonized by both the French and the British, and you could see influences from both. French and a French Creole is spoken there, and it was interesting to hear the French Creole, which is so prominent in many of the African countries. We only spent one day in Mauritius, and I filled my day with a catamaran cruise. We sailed on the catamaran to a small place called Gabriel Island. The catamaran was so awesome! In the front of the boat, there were two nets; one on each side, where you could lay down. The waves were massive, so it was almost as if we were body surfing on netting! Snorkeling was supposed to be included, but it ended up costing 1000 rupee. I was extremely disappointed in that, but we were surrounded by such intense beauty that I got over it quickly. There wasn't much tropical fish in the area anyway, just a lot of coral and rocks. We spent our time laying on the beach, and exploring a little of the entire island. There were black rocks that dotted the oceanside that originated from volcanic activity, and various exotic birds flitted throughout the sky. We enjoyed a lunch on the catamaran of an interesting salad concotion, barbecued fish and hot dogs. After lunch, we sailed back to the mainland and made our way back to the ship via bus. It was difficult for many to even get back to the bus though, because not many know how to control their alcohol intake. Not surprising, since Mauritius has only allowed SAS to stay in their country for one day now, compared to three days when they first started going there. Apparently past voyages have tainted our reputation, and it was sad to see that not many people did much to redeem it. It is fine to enjoy yourself, but when you are unable to contain yourself without any self-control, it gets to be a little ridiculous. Nonetheless, I had a great time in Mauritius.

 

The day after Mauritius was Sea Olympics, and each sea was decked out in their colors. I am in the Arabian Sea, and we were all sporting our dark blue colors. In the morning, we opened the day with each sea performing a chant and introducing themselves. Ours went:

A-R

A-R-A

A-R-A-B-I-A-N!!!!!

 

I participated in tug of war, taboo, and was supposed to do a relay race that ended up being cancelled. Synchronized swimming was hilarious. Our sea (Aria, Matt, Rob, and Eric), did a skit in the pool to "Barbie Girl," which should have taken first in my opinion. It was hilarious! At the end of the day, Arabian Sea ended up taking the bronze, third place, out of 8 or 9 seas!! Woo!! It was exciting for us, especially since we are the smallest sea with only 40 people or so, while many of the seas are made up of 70 or 80.

 

Today, we had our cultural pre-port for India, where we learned about food, shopping, culture, etc. We will be in India in two days! I am so excited! In lieu of India, we also had a Bollywood dance after the pre-port and danced for hours to Bollywood, techno, and American music. I am truly having the time of my life on the ship, and I can't believe that we have already taken midterms.

 

Life goes by so fast when you are having fun :)