A Welcome to My Blog

Hellooo.....

I started a blog today.

Let me explain a few things about it:

1. Marfar, far away is a clever pun because when I was really little I pronounced my name "Marfar" and because I'm going abroad next semester hence the "far, far away."
2. It is my hope that this blog will help me tell people I care about what's going on in my life, particularly when communication will be limited next semester. You can read it if you want. I know that at least a few people will: my mom and dad, my grandparents, Katie and Pete, Kendra, Robbie... YOU?

With those two things in mind, I think I'll just write down a little info about Semester at Sea and then go back to not doing my homework.

I leave on January 17th for Nassau, Bahamas. I'm going to be flying with Ali a girl from Portland who I met through Abby Crumpacker, our mutual family friend. Abby has been on Semester at Sea multiple times while her husband was the dean. Ali and I went out to tea over Thanksgiving break and I'm really excited to know someone who I'll definitely have things in common with. We check in on the ship on the 19th and then depart for our first destination Cadiz, Spain! After that it's Naples, Italy - Istanbul, Turkey - Alexandria, Egypt - Chennai, India - Bangkok, Thailand - Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam - Hong Kong, People's Republic of China - Shanghai, People's Republic of China - Kobe, Japan - Yokohama, Japan - Honolulu, Hawaii - and Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala. Whew! Then we return to the United States (Florida) at the very beginning of May (I forget the date). We study and take classes every day that we're at sea, between ports and then when we arrive in port towns we get usually about four days to explore. The classes I'll be taking are a Global Studies class which is mandatory for all students, Studies in Poetry, Marine Biology, and U.S. Foreign Policy. I'm basically taking this opportunity to study things I'm too intimidated by at Pomona. As for what I'll be doing in port towns, I'll probably see several friends from school and maybe from Portland along the way. My friend Juan may visit me in Italy (he'll be in Vienna) and my friend Mark is in Hong Kong all semester so we'll be going out for dim sum. Also, I'll be doing some activities hosted by Semester at Sea in the ports, like going to an "Elephant Village" in Thailand and seeing the Cu Chi Tunnels in Viet Nam and witnessing a Sufi Dervish ceremony in Istanbul and going on an overnight trip to Cairo, in Egypt to see the pyramids and the Sphynx. All of these excursions will be led by Semester at Sea professors or by local professors chosen by Semester at Sea.

How on earth will I prepare for all of this? I don't know!!! I have all my books ordered... For the class part. But packing is going to pretty much be hellish. And terrifying. Plus I'm trying really hard to save money right now... do you have any jobs you need me to do? But it's mostly coming together. I'm really really really excited. And I'm excited to have this blog through which I can share it with all of you!

I'll have pretty limited internet access on the ship. I'll probably do most posts while in port so I can go to internet cafes and spend as much time as I want that way. You can reach me via an email address that Semester at Sea will give me that is unlimited or send me stuff to... some address that I don't know yet.

I think that is all I have to say right now. I'll probably post a little more before the trip about the process of getting ready for it? I don't know. That could get boring. We'll play it by ear, ok?

So welcome to my blog!

Martha