UPDATES-until Cape Verde. . .

Ok, back by popular demand....I am finishing the rest of my voyage blog. As you can tell (since I haven't posted since March) things got pretty busy and my blog's priority level dropped.
I will carry on from South Africa until the end of my voyage and maybe my travels in Europe after. Anyways, on to the good stuff.

This leg from South Africa to Cape Verde was the longest of the trip and I kept very busy. I went to a women's self defense class onboard (RAD) and it was so much fun. I am looking into getting certified when I get back to the states to be an instructor. We also had a few big events onboard that I helped coordinate this leg. Casino Night raised 1400 US dollars for the Hardship fund (for students with financial difficulties) and it was fun setting up and running the event. Everyone had fun playing jenga, Texas hold em, bingo and may other games. We also had the American/Canadian cultural show and I danced in the country line dance (TEXAS REPRESENT!) and in a Native American dance. It was fun being involved but also frustrating as the Americans fought quite a bit (ha).

We also had the first TSS WEDDING! I helped decorate all day (it was very hot since we were so close to the equator) but we had several mishaps with balloons and fabrics flying away. We did get it all set up (on the large Aft deck) and it was a beautiful multi-cultural ceremony. The bride and groom wore clothes from Thailand while the captain officiated. Then we had a Buddhist ceremony where we tied strings on each other to represent the union of marriage. Then we did a Moroccan dance that we have grown very fond of on the ship and then the TSS band sang. WE had a huge dinner outside on Lido Deck (while we were still sweating) followed by a champagne toast, throwing of the bouquet, and cutting of the cake. Then in the student center, students performed the Indian Bollywood dance, and an African dance. Then we danced the night away and it was an amazing day!

I also got to go on a "bridge tour" of the front of the ship and saw where they have all the navigation equipment and where they steer the ship from! I even got to touch the Captain's wheel! I also learned about all the procedures for ports, flags, and weather recording etc.

Lots of class this leg-gearing up for finals and diving deep. My favorite class, Intercultural Communication has been really interesting, learning about different peoples' and cultures' styles of communication (direct/indirect, emotional/restrained etc). After we took some tests, I am engagement (direct but emotional-which I think is pretty dead on for me, ha).

We also had Drag Idol hosted by our very own handsome Ryan Secrest. It was quite entertaining to say the least. Lots of boys came quite elaborately dressed as girls and it was hilarious. We danced the night away just to wake up to CAPE VERDE ISLANDS.