We're so close to Manaus, Brazil -- yet so far...

It is 12:27 pm and I am just waking up. I was supposed to wake up in time for breakfast and meet some folks... but obviously that didn't happen. I definitely stayed up with the guys until 3:38 am just talking... well they did most of the talking. Hahaha. But I woke up feeling kinda frazzled and lost. Dunno why it took me a minute to get orientated again... I looked around and my roomies were gone too so I was almost questioning where the heck I was... Today is a reading day. We have no classes so after a long time, yesterday actually felt like a normal friday for us. No one wanted to go to bed early haha. After my two classes, there were a whole bunch of programs. “Ask the Sexperts” turned out to be a hoot. You wrote a question on a sheet of paper and it was answered (anonymously of course). So many people came than they anticipated that they had to get two amps and mics so everyone could hear. Hahaha. It was an interesting program... always interesting to hear what people are thinking. They did have to remind folks not to make some comments and snicker about certain questions asked because it came from people sitting next to us or somewhere in the room. Made sense to me, a respect thing. There was a “Managing Homesickness” workshop and some other stuff happening... didn't go to those though. I thought I was going to the Open Mic when I walked in the Union and sat down... turns out it would start an hour later, so I had to sit through this panel discussion about Brazil with the wife to the Ambassador of Brazil, some other folks and the folks that came on the ship when we stopped from Brazil. It would have been interesting if I didn't have to hear all of it again. The Ambassador's wife and the main lady doing all the talking had spoke to my International Perspectives on Family Violence class earlier that day. I didn't want to leave because if I went back to my room, I wouldn't necessarily get back early in time to grab a good seat for Open Mic... Open Mic, let's just get to it. So once that last panel ended, everyone piled in. I shot to the front row with Ross. It was a informal Open Mic. By that I meant there glitches, there was comedy, there was some talent but most of all, it was a fun event to watch. The first “act” wasn't an act at all. The girl they called up had in actuality signed up her sorority sister, so she was dragging her on stag. After we watched her struggle and get her there, we listened to them go back and forth. Home girl wasn't going to sing...finally Julie (LLC) stepped in and took the mic and gave it to the emcee to continue with the show. The second act was Mya who was the girl I met the day of work-study (she was the first on the ship, I was the second hehe). She sung and played her ukelele. The following acts were mostly duets- one of was an original for SAS with the melody from Grease. Hahah. Then there was a pair who sung “Lucky” (by Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat), another did a duet called “Fast car” and the dude played the piano. The girl had a beautiful voice but she held back a lot. One kid did a few lines from Shakespeare so he had some girl from the audience stand on the chair and be his Juliet hahaha. My friend Darlene (who is from Elizabeth, NJ close enough to NY hahaha) had everrrrrryone laughing. I took pictures but I wish I had recorded it especially since I was in the front row.  She did Lady Gaga “Bad Romance.” She had two guys (one on her left, other on her right). They did all the rolling around and she was all in character and stuff. They all had dark eye makeup.. Man, she sold it. It was freaking hilarious. I am telling you, everyone was falling out of their seats laughing. She got a standing ovation at the end... I don't think I cried that much from laughter in a while. (It is now 14:05 pm -I am continuing this blog after dashing to lunch. I got there by 12:55 and lunch ends at 1 so I was happy =) Had to get some food in my system and take this malaria medicine -Doxycycline and ended up running into some folks and eating together...) but back to yesterday...

Yeah, then some other group did the titanic song (it was comical) she was doing some mock ballet moves and this dude on stage with her was equally as funny. One of my professors for Music & Cognition performed two fiddle pieces (one from someone in Texas, another from Kentucky). That was cool and people started line dancing in the aisles haha. Another kid played and sang an original song he had just wrote a day ago. Let me just say he is an amazing guitar player.... and that's it...That should cover it. Haha. Everyone was supportive though. It takes a lot to get up there. A girl named Rosa did a phenomenal original piece of poetry which made you question the world and stuff.  She had great stage presence and it was captivating. Had goosebumps! She was also the only person who did poetry and/or had actual “talent” hahahaha. Everyone who signed up for the Open Mic was doing in the spirit of jest... so I definitely woulda been a buzz killer too. Hahaha. Uhh, let's see who else...I think that just about covers it... Oh wait, we had a rapper in our midst. This kid (whose birthday was also yesterday) decided to recite a rap he wrote earlier. He put this really funky fast techno beat on and was having trouble keeping up with it hahahahaha. He kept starting over and cursing in the mic hahaha. Finally, he gave that up and just recited a rap he knew off the top of his head. Very amusing, but that's SAS for ya. So yeah, that concluded the first official “Open Mic.” Minutes afterwards, “Club Union” started. Let me tell you, it was wack. Hahahaha. I guess that should be comforting to those who think this is a party ship. You can't really have an amazing party on a moving ship... especially when there are so many different types of people and the source of music was one random dude's ipod... hahaha. He had some good songs, but SAS is diverse in terms of musical interests... so after sticking around for a bit, lots of folks left.. It was only from 10-12 pm anyway. So yeah, folks milled around the piano bar and sat playing games. I went up to the main dining room and ran into some folks playing spades. I went back to the LLC office to grab some games (Swap and playing cards). Swap is similar but different than Uno...the goal is to have less cards... with certain cards, you have the luxury of taking someone's hand and/or changing the direction of folks passing their hands. There is a slap card which was a funny card to throw down because it creates a spirit of panic and paranoia for future slap cards. Hahaha. By the way, the slap card is intended for everyone to slap the pile, last person has to take a card from the person who tossed it down. Again, the idea is to have less cards. So yeah, here we (myself, Abbie, Maria, Elsa, Elisabeth and two other folks whose names escaped me at the moment), playing this rowdy game with foreign looking cards. The circle kept growing and folks wanted in on this game. It seems the whole ship was wandering around or waiting around for what was next... No one wanted to go to sleep because it made little sense to.... Saturday we had a free day (well a “reading day”) and Sunday we would be in Manaus so no class until sometime next week or after port!!! Haha. So we started playing other games like Egyptian something, blackjack etc. Ended up walking around a bit. Chatting with folks and playing Swap again in the rooms. All around a cool day although I was mostly withdrawn verbally so unless I was doing stuff, Obai and Ian kept asking if I was ok. I felt I was. I mean, I didn't know what else to say...

Random thought: While in the dining room for lunch we were watching a ton of girls walk out onto the deck in bikinis to tan. I never really got that... or understood it. One of the girls at our table told us she does it to get a little “golden” but burns easily so it never works well for her, but that she wouldn't mind being browner like a caramel... Kayla and I just looked at each other... like hmm. Hahaha. I can't relate haha. She also said that some of these girls are used to doing it back home (tanning salons) that I guess its a psychological thing. I guess we are entitled to our own things... I just found it interesting... Skin cancer is prevalent but ehh, what we would do just to get a little browner hahaha. No but it created a fascinating conversation. We started asking her questions trying to comprehend. Anastacia was just shaking her head and kinda laughing. I mean, as Kayla pointed out. We will be in Brazil for almost a week, and let's not forget we are not only going to Ghana but to South Africa as well. Those places, you won't have much control. Everyone will get darker. It's inevitable. So while we are still sailing the Amazon and looking out at the jungle and brown muddy-like water. Add the fact that it is muggy outside and difficult to breathe due to the humidity... and add the huge beetles and moths flying around.... why anyone wants to tan is absurd but that's what its all about. Learning and letting people be. Haha. Yesterday, Obai said that the guys went out to play basketball on the deck and he saw a big mosquito already playing, so they said they got next and waited indoors 'til it left. Hahahahaha. Some other folks have had stuff land on them and they freaked out. Anastacia said a moth the size of her fist sat on her shoulder and she was screaming til it flew. Went back to her room sprayed bug spray then went back out on the deck hahahahaa. There are a lot of dead bugs scattered especially near the pool but it's only a small intro to the creatures of the Amazon! I can't believe I am going to be spending 4 days and 3 nights in a village and sleeping in a community longhouse. The fact that my professor doesn't know much more than we do and he's the one who set it up is kinda alarming... but hey its an adventure... and since I am going with him...he's responsible for getting me back in one piece! LOL.  He told us we are going to bring some construction stuff so I am assuming during the course of our stay we will be helping build something for them. We are bringing 3 “in destructable” soccer balls as well. By “in destructable” I mean just that. It's a new campaign (google it) happening across the nation. It is in efforts to give children the means to practice soccer as much as they want (and for those who can't afford it in indigenous communities) to always have it. It deflates if ran over by cars/trucks/ or whatever vehicle.. but quickly regains its form from what I hear. Isn't that amazing? I tell ya, we are quite a society. Anyhow, we'll be bringing some of those since soccer is the pastime of the Brazilian people... it's also because right now the kids and teens are out of school (this is their summer) so we will be the spectacle and surrounded by a ton of folks with more than enough time to make us feel uncomfortable hahaha. It's gonna serve as a gift (for staying in their respective village) and as a conversation starter... But to get to this place we have to drive 100 miles or 3 hours into the jungle. Mind you, to get to Manaus from the Amazon River, we have been traveling 1000 miles inland. So talk about pure isolation... we will literally be in the middle of nowhere and living in the jungle with these folks for 4 days. I'm terrified but excited. More terrified though. I keep looking at my 100% Deet and silently thanking God. Hahaha. It smells terrible but I pray that it protects me from the wilderness. This isn't like Stockton, which was 1600 acres of pinelands... with some bugs here and there. This is the freaking Amazon. Common people, experts, historians STILL don't know the names and species of everything in the waters or jungles here. There's a reason for that!!!!!!! Technically, we would be in Manaus already, but we are so much earlier than anticipated. We weren't scheduled to arrive until tomorrow at 8 am. The ship has dropped down to moving less than 10 knots. It's ridiculous actually because we are creeping and the diagram clearly shows how close we are. They are going to stretch it out. I am assuming it's because docking costs an obscene amount of money??? I don't know but we definitely should be there by this afternoon. Let's see how they work this out... I am the only dork in my room (I think) so I am going to go find folks and mingle!