Blame it on the time zones!! :-)

I am sorry I have been such a ghost lately. Mom I promise you I am alive and well!! Whoohoo!! Alrighty were to begin? Chronological makes sense. I got an A on my global studies test!!!  Then there was school and cabaret (which has now been pegged as cabargay by Paul because it is all I ever do) and then South Africa!!!

Very possibly the coolest place ever! There was soo much to do and learn and the culture and social differences and everything about it was just amazing. Ghana just got kicked to the curb for favorite place we have been to. Its great because it just gets better and better. So here is a quick summary. The first day we arrive we woke up extra early and watched as we came into port, docked, and then watched the sunrise over the city. Sooo pretty. After having a diplomatic debriefing and being scared shitless by the man who spoke to us about the dangers in Cape Town, we mustered up the courage to leave the boat and climb Table Mountain. I say climb because that is exactly what it was, no leisurely hike for us. We somehow took the hardest path and it was basically stair master on steroids. The hike up was amazing and as we went through the gorge the clouds began to cascade down the sides of the mountain. The call it a tablecloth and that is exactly what it looks like. They are every petitioning to make it one of the natural wonders of the world. Once on top it was like “a ski resort” (you can tell Rachel is from CO), there was a cute little food court and shop and a gondola so you could ride down. The second day we went shark cage diving. Again soooo awesome!!!! The ride out on the boat was a little rough, but we all were able to make a joke out of it, I don’t think the guy who got sea sick thought we were very funny though. Within like 5 minutes we had a shark. For the entire day we saw 5 different great white sharks and they ranged from 9-12 feet. A couple times they jumped a little out of the water to get the bait, which was awesome, and once a tail hit the cage right by Rachel. They were so close and it was unreal in the cage because you felt oddly protected by the few bars in between you and this giant carnivore, but when they jumped you realized how close you were and how crazy that whole thing was. After shark cage diving we met up with Colleen, Erin’s aunt, and went out to dinner were we met her friends son Paul, who is our age, and his friend Sean. After dinner the two boys took us out to the cool college hang out for a Monday night. They were very funny ad would try to do impressions of our accents. Apparently all Americans are Valley girls and draw out their words and say like every other word. Day three we met up with Colleen again and she was our amazing tour guide. We went to Boulder beach were we aw the penguins, went to cape point and was at the 2^nd southern most point of Africa, there was one who had us beat by like 2 miles max. Also we were driving along the road and there were signs about danger Baboons and we couldn’t figure out why until about 2 minutes later when we came across about 15 baboons chilling in and on the side of the road. It was amazing the alpha male even came up to the car and stood on his hind legs and put his hands on the window and looked in at Amanda. We also went to an ostrich farm were Amanda and Larissa fed the ostriches, I was too scared by their weird creepy aggressiveness. The 4^th day we went san boarding, which is snowboarding on san dunes. It was very fun minus the fact that you had to hike back up the hill, and I fell really hard on my butt. :-( While we were there was a field trip of students probably like 12 years old, and they were chatting with us and loved the fact that we were American. It was funny because the boys were trying all of the huge hills with us and would make us go first and cheer us on and what not. Afterwards we met back up with Colleen where we Skyped our parents (I like to think that people other than my mom and Larissa’s mom reads this so for them it is another recap) and then surprised Erin!!! Once Colleen’s husband Craig got home we sat talked drank wine and ate pizza for the night. It was amazing to hear about the Apartheid from his point of view and just talk about worldly things. We were even so exhausted that we didn’t even go out when we got home. The fifth day we went to a township and rode around it on bikes. We stopped by a school were everybody sang and danced for us and then we played a fun game of soccer against the newly established girls team. The best part was the dancing because it is this crazy type of dance that the miners use to do and they were the boots and slap then and stomp and stuff. We learned a little, but it was probably a joke to watch us try. The final day in Cape town we did school work… we went on a wine tasting for class!! We know our lives are sooo hard. One of the vineyards was so beautiful that it inspired a new item on my bucket list. Own a vineyard!

After South Africa school took over our lives. I had 2 tests and a couple of papers due. It was a lot of stress, but it also made the time in between ports easier and seem shorter.  

After a rough week at seas (haha that’s so funny because nothing about this journey is worth complaining about) we got to Mauritius!!! It is what we as well as all of the crew and faculty call our spring break. Known for the dodo bird (like in the movie Up!) and their amazing beaches the European Hawaii was not a let down. We stayed at a beautiful resort were a bunch of our friends were staying and relaxed by the beach by day and partied at the bar at night. It was a perfect break before the long stretch to India.

Now that all of the details and logistics are over I am going to share some feelings (Amanda keeps saying that I am impersonal). So I have started a bucket list that is up to like 20 now. It includes a lot of travel items as well as things I hope o accomplish on this trip. I feel like righting it down will solidify it and make it more likely to happen. Also I have decided that for my 21^st year… which is in like 2 days!!... I am going to do 365 pictures, one for each day. I wish I would have started this for my trip, but better late than never. Somehow I am exhausted all of the time when I am on the ship. It may be from the rocking or it may be because I don’t sleep in port, but my excitement and adrenaline keeps me up, what ever the case it can sometimes be a battle. Especially the past couple of days, I have been Debby downer and not at full Madi level. I will be better soon, an I just think that its because my birthday is coming up and I don’t get to celebrate with my family and a majority of friends. We will make the best of it though, and I will be back in tip top share ASAP.

Sorry this blog was soooo long, I just had a lot of catch up to do. Hopefully you wont hurt me Susan I know you complain about Amanda’s being too long. We miss you all and love you all. Have great days!!!!