J'aime Montreal! Really, I LOVE Montreal! I'm seriously considering moving here...or spending some time here. This city is A-mazing. The architecture, history, people and general ambiance of the city is hard not to fall in love with. The streets are consumed by young people walking or biking to and from anywhere and everywhere. I have been inspired and have walked to and from almost every inch of this city. I also learned the metro system today. This place is just so user friendly! It's funny to think that I had such a misconstrued idea of what this place was going to be like. Being from South Florida you grew up with an almost negative perception of what Quebec is like because of the "snow birds" that flood our cities and beaches each winter. This place could not be more opposite than what I thought it would be. But I guess that's my first lesson on my journey to becoming a global citizen...don't assume you know what a country/city/region/person is like until you've experienced it first hand.
My parents and I arrived here Wednesday around noon. It was my birthday so we ventured out of our hotel to Viex Montreal (Old Montreal) for some lunch and birthday drinks. First mission...find Poutine. Poutine is a Canadian specialty made of french fries, gravy and cheese curds. yum yum yum! Aaand may I add, the dairy products here are absolutely delicious! There's a certain freshness and creaminess that just does not compare to anything I've ever had. I have been smothering my toast with locally made butter just to savor the taste!
POUTINE! A must have if you are in Montreal!
Well, I would love to tell you more, but you'll have to wait. It's 2:30am and I have to wake up early to board the ship in the morning! I will finish this post later. Tomorrow we set sail! aaah!!!
Good morning! It's finally here! My 26th birthday! Oh yeah and that other thing...you know that trip where I'll be traveling around the world. haha. The last couple of weeks have been a whirl wind! Emotions all over the place, lots of planning and lots of quality time with family and friends! I had my birthday/going away party over the weekend. It was a nice way to close out my time in S. FL.
I asked all my guest to donate kids' tooth brushes and school supplies instead of giving me presents. The turn out was overwhelming and the collected items will be donated to orphanages I will be working with in Ghana, South Africa, and India. I got so much stuff I had to bring an extra piece of luggage!
Speaking of luggage...packing was a bitch! No, really. I never imagined it would be so difficult, but when you have 4 month's worth of stuff it's kind of hard staying within airline regulations. I packed and unpacked about 10 times. I had to leave a lot of stuff behind, but oh well.
It looks like walmart exploded in my room! This is everything I took with me.
Well It's now or never...ready for the trip of a lifetime. First stop...Montreal!
The great rapper Notorious B.I.G. said it best; "Mo Money, Mo Problems."
Let me elaborate. Even before I applied to Semester at Sea I knew that I would definitely apply for the "Diversity Abroad" video essay scholarship. It's the only way that I would ever be able to afford this trip. The scholarship basically asks students to make a video and describe how a deep understanding of diversity makes us all more effective global citizens (check out my video essay below).
I'm proud and happy to say that I applied and I won one of the 5 scholarships paying 60% of my costs for the voyage.
I remember it was a long miserable day and I was driving home from night school when I found out the good news. I screamed and yelled and cried tears of joy while the cars beside I'm sure took me for a crazy person. It was one of the most exciting and happiest moments in this process and in my life.
That moment was tainted about a month later when my home school found out about the scholarship. They readjusted my financial aid and in turn I had federal money and state money taken away because of the scholarship. The disturbing part is that I did not have enough money to cover all my costs and money was taken away. To add insult to injury later on I was informed that I would not be receiving other financial aid that my home school had advised that I would DEFINITELY be receiving. I LOVE my home school and they have been amazing in every way, but they really screwed the pooch on this one!
Long story short I was 4 1/2 weeks away from the trip and finding out I was now $6000 short of what I originally thought I had. I panicked. I remember my stomach being in knots and my heart in my throat. All the hard work and sacrifice of working 2-3 jobs for the last 6 months down the drain. At this point I had already paid for visas, received vaccinations, and started packing. luckily I had copied SAS on all of my correspondences with my home school's Financial Aid Department and also had copies of documents where they listed incorrect information. Semester at Sea was gracious enough to help me out a bit and I'm grateful to them for it. If it wasn't for their generosity I would have had to cancel the trip. Although they weren't able to give me the $6000 they gave me enough to go.
I've had to completely rearrange plans and will be "Ballin' on a budget" but I'm looking forward to a change of pace and living a minimalist lifestyle. Everything happens for a reason and because of this I have been propelled to do more service trips while in port which will be more rewarding than anything I could ever pay for with money.
I write this not for sympathy but because I want future SASers to be aware and stay on top of their paper work. If your school has a consortium agreement please be sure to ask (and GET IT IN WRITING) what they are agreeing will transfer over as far as credits and financial aid award goes. If I hadn't been stalking my accounts like a crazy ex-boyfriend I may have noticed these things going on when it was too late. So make sure to keep everything in check and don't let anyone or any circumstances stop you from achieving your dreams.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
1 month from today we'll depart from Montreal towards Morocco. 111 days later we will end our trip here at Port Everglades, Ft. Lauderdale, FL. We'll be new people with endless stories to tell.
In one month I will be waking up at the butt crack of dawn on my 26th birthday to catch a flight to Montreal. 2 days later I will embark on the trip of a lifetime!
I have already started packing and buying last minute supplies. Reality is starting to set in!
My whole life is supposed to fit into these 2 bags? At least Stella fits!
The past week has been a very productive one. I'm happy to say that as of an hour ago I'm officially done with the summer semester! It was a gnarly one! I nearly failed my algebra class, which put this entire trip and my future as a student at NSU at jeopardy. Blood, sweat and tears...lots of tears later...I managed to pass. I've never been so happy with a "C" in my life!
This is my happy jump
In addition to my achievements at school this week I also got my physical and medical history form done for Semester at Sea. However I was totally mentally unprepared to get some of my travel vaccines in that same doctor's visit. I cringed as the nurse assumed her position and aimed at my arms as if she was playing a game of random darts. Hep A and Typhoid in my right arm, TDaP in the left. My doctor also provided prescriptions for Malarone (Malaria pills) to be taken while I'm in Africa and other affected areas and Cipro to be taken if I catch some sort of weird bacterial stomach situation. Interesting random fact...Cipro is also used to treat Anthrax. Great! Totally prepared for anything. I have my appointment at the Health Department tomorrow to get my Yellow Fever (Yellow Card) vaccine. I will not be allowed on this trip if I don't have it. I also found out I will have to go back to my primary doctor for more shots. Not excited as my arms were so sore this week I did not sleep for 2 nights. But the pain is well worth it!
Lastly the highlight of this past week was meeting up with a few of my future shipmates! We had a little South Florida meet up in downtown Ft. Lauderdale (where our voyage will end) last Sunday. We had dinner together and had the opportunity to meet a girl who had been on the Spring 10' voyage of SAS. We grilled the poor girl for like 2 hrs but it made us that much more confident in going forward with this trip. Between the vaccines and meeting my shipmates it really put things into perspective...this is real...this is REALLY happening!
My future shipmates and I in downtown Ft. Lauderdale
Ever since I was a little girl I dreamed of traveling the world. Hiking the Great Wall in China, seeing the Taj Mahal and having a life changing experience at the Ganges River in India, tasting the spices and sipping mint tea with locals in Morocco, trying on a Kimono in Japan, and seeing the island of Cuba first hand and not by what we are being fed by the media. I thought to myself, "Maybe one day if I win the lotto I will get to do these things" or eventually I would save up enough money to do one or 2 of these things. NEVER in my wildest dreams did I ever think that I would have the opportunity to visit all of these places in one trip. In a little less than 2 months all my dreams will come true as I embark on the journey of a lifetime aboard the M/V "Explorer" as a student on the 107th voyage of Semester at Sea. We will circumnavigate the globe in 111 days making stops in 13 different countries and traversing the Panama Canal. The ship departs from Montreal, Canada and the voyage ends nearly 4 months later in my hometown of Ft. Lauderdale, FL. In between we'll be making stops at the following ports:
Casablanca, Morocco
Tema, (Accra), Ghana
Cape Town, South Africa
Port Louis, Mauritius
Chennai, India
Penang, Malaysia
Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam
Hong Kong / Shanghai, China
Kobe / Yokohama, Japan*
Hilo, Hawaii, USA
Puntarenas, Costa Rica
Traverse Panama Canal
Havana, Cuba**
Aaaah! Its still all very surreal at times. This blog will serve as a diary as I prepare for the trip, documenting my adventures, experiences and feelings while exploring the world and as a communication tool for everyone I'm leaving behind at home. Phone calls will be very few and far in between but at least you'll all know I'm alive and kicking!
<3 Ionna
Disclaimer: As this is my diary sort of speak, there will be no filter about some of the things I say, I did, felt, and think of. I also have a sick sense of humor. With that being said my thoughts, actions and writings do not reflect those of my employer, school, and parents/family. And unless your name is God, don't judge! Just saying ;)
