In Front of the Whole Ship

I woke up with 15 minutes to spare before piano tutoring. I quickly got a bowl of cereal before tutoring began. Aldin and Genavieve seemed to learn much faster today than usual, which really pleased me. It is really satisfying when you see progress in someone you are teaching. Keeping their attention using the black keys as bait works magic on them. Before classes started I did some last minute organizing of thoughts for the history midterm. Comedy class was awesome as usual and the others commended me on not using an accent today (I don't really believe that before today, I've always used a strange accent). The History midterm went well, but my hand really hurt at the end because writing two essays in an hour and fifteen minutes is not very easy. After a lunch of the normal pasta, I headed out to Dean David's office where I was able to use his internet to get pictures for my presentation. With the short time I had I was only able to get half of the needed pictures before I had to go. I went to the computer lab where Balaji let me use his computer (since he has unlimited internet) to find the rest of my pictures. That's when I realized that I forgot to put the pictures from Dean David's computer on my flashdrive, so I had to find those pictures again and look for the rest. It took longer than I expected. In the middle of it all, Balaji and I spotted flying fish soaring out of the water from underneath the ship. It was pretty cool, but Balaji took it to a whole new level. He was freaking out with excitement and had his face glued to the window to see more. It's amazing how excited he got over this and how I was simply thinking "They are just fish, and I've seen them before." I finished putting together the presentation just before the "Dinner with a Professor" event. I ate with Professor Tim Wood, who is a zoologist researcher, teaching "Disease and Healing" and "Food for Thought" on the ship. He was quite a pleasant man and very friendly. We (along with the others at the table) shared background stories, talked about his travels in India and how amazed he was by his experience there, about our travels in the other countries, and our aspirations for the future. After the safari at Aquila, I have gained an interest in Zoology, and I questions Wood about his profession, the research he does, and any advice for possible aspirants. At 6:50 I took my leave and made a short stop at Aldin and Genavieve's dinner party for their tutor's. When I got to classroom 2, I was astounded by the number of tutors they had. They had tutors for everything from math and science, to PE and playtime. That is when I really realized how many people you need to take care of just one child. I remember something my mom always says, "it takes an entire village to take care of one child." How right she is. I went back to my room, where I got physically and mentally prepared for preport. I started feeling tense and a bit nervous. I really began to think about it and realize that I would literally be the center of attention of the entire ship for the duration of my presentation. That thought was quite nerve-racking. But soon, time came and I headed up to deck 6, Union. Preport started with Balaji and Sunila opening with a violin and singing performance (respectively) which was very beautifully done and soothing to my edgy nerves. It was then my turn. Dean David introduced me to the audience, I got up to the podium, and I looked upon everyone. Literally the whole ship was watching me right now. My heart was pounding so hard I thought it would come out of my chest. I took a deep breath and started the presentation. It turned out so much better than I imagined. I calmed off the more I talked, and soon it felt as if I was just advising a few people. The computer I was presenting on froze in the middle for sometime, so there was this 3 minutes awkward period when we were trying to fix it. I had a great time presenting and talking about India, its culture, food, and travel tips. I was able to make people laugh (quite a bit actually), ooh, and aah and I finished too much applause. I felt really good, and then I found out that I went over my allotted time by..... a lot. I felt really bad because this pushed into other's time, and the audience seemed much less interested in the other presentations by Sneha and the interport lecturer. However, everyone I talked to told me that I did an amazing job and that the info I gave was very helpful and needed. Balaji and Sunila closed off the preport (30 minutes late) performing Vande Mataram. As I walked to our sea meeting for the sea olympics, I got a lot of "good job"s and "great presentation"s along the way (it felt good that people were really appreciating what I did. I was unfortunately too late to the meeting for chips which had run out (many of the audience at the preport just left after my presentation). This was I think our first sea meeting all semester. I signed up for the sustainable art team which was going to make a sculpture out of trash. Some others and I began designing the sea banner and I was chosen to draw a "sea god" (a triton if you will), on it. I found out more about the lip synching group, and decided to join them instead (I couldn't do both since the times conflicted), and I was very happy that I made that decision. We went down to the open area in front of our LLC Tara's room next to the stairs and began choreographing and dancing to "Bye Bye Bye" by N'SYNC and "Telephone" by Lady Gaga. It was so much fun doing this and it really reminded me of Freshman Dance at UCSD Sangam Culture Show. The dance was coming out quite well and many of other sea members watched us and gave us positive feedback. People just had a really good vibe going and it was great since it felt like the same vibe during the first few days of the voyage. When we were deciding outfits, many people dared me to wear a dress for "Telephone" under my "Bye Bye Bye" outfit. Surprisingly I was actually kind of up for it, but then we decided on a different outfit. I met a lot of people in my sea today, which was cool because I knew so few of them before this. We decided to call it quits on dancing once we had a rough 2-minute dance routine going and the clock turned 1. Before going to bed, I stood outside my room and had a lengthy conversation with Dennis about the voyage, what it's meant to us, and how we feel like we've changed so far (both of us felt that we got more comfortable with ourselves and really discovered many social skills we never knew we had). Around 2 it was time to go to bed. We would be losing 30 minutes tonight, quite unique (it is India afterall) from the previous 1 hour loses. I am really excited for tomorrow. This is going to be lots of fun
-Nimish
October 20, 2010

Interesting Conversations

I woke up latish, which meant I had to go straight to classes and get no breakfast. In global studies we watched a movie about telemarketers and the training they have to go through. I felt sad for these trainees because they were college graduates and had to go through intensive personality-altering training and yet the company only accepted one person out of 15. I had to stop by Dean David's office to show my presentation information. He said that I had to keep my presentation within 10 minutes and that I had good info, which was a nice morale booster. In the garden lounge I got some studying done for history before having lunch with Elyssa, Jeff, John, and Jonelle. I joined Professor Ringrose later on, and chatted with him while asking some questions about the midterm. After that I worked an hour or two longer before realizing that I was actually done with my studying. I had all the info I needed on my study guide, which we are being allowed to bring. So I relaxed for a bit and watched a few episodes of How I Met Your Mother with Ben and Megan who had joined me shortly before. I also tried to submit my independent trip request form for China, but the site once again was not working. At dinner I had another interesting conversation with Balaji about his personal life, his personality, etc. Aaron asked him lots of questions about his background and family. That's one thing I've noticed in Aaron, and others on the ship, is that he always takes an interest in people and keeps his mind in the moment (in this case, in the conversation), which allows him to come up with more questions and be more interactive with people. One thing led to another, and I later found myself with Aaron, Tony, Matt (Singer), and Jason in Jonelle's room, where we had some rather interesting conversations about Japan and teen culture there. I always knew that Japan had some of the craziest vending machines, but apparently there are ones that sell used ladies underwear.... WHAT???!!! Japanese people are so ... interesting. The conversation continued in Jason and Tony's room, and around 9 I went to the Hip Hop Dance Workshop (which was being taught by Cicero, one of the RAs). I had a lot of fun dancing and learning the moves, and it really reminded me of Freshman Sangam Dance Practice back at UCSD (which made me a bit nostalgic). I did a little bit of work afterwards before heading back to my room. I also canceled my part with the "Lip Singing" performance, because I felt like I was not up for doing that and on top of it I probably would not do it justice. The midterm tomorrow should be fine, and that's kind of what is scaring me. I'm not worried (that tends to scare me, because I tend to stress out before tests) about it because we are allowed to bring an outline. And that kind of made me realize that I've gotten less scared of things while on this trip.
-Nimish
October 19, 2010

Another day at Sea

Since I did not have piano tutoring this morning, I woke up latish around 9:30. I felt so much better and rested. I went to classes. Comedy always makes me feel better, and today it was brought up that I apparently always do some sort of accent during my "skits." History was the same old, and after I met with Professor Ringrose to ask questions about the midterm study guide. He was very helpful, but it was still difficult to follow him sometimes even when he was explaining the information behind some of the questions. Lunch was also a good change... taco day again. It's not even like the taco (or taco salad for me to make it vegetarian) is that good, it just tastes so good after so many days of pasta, potatoes, and/or rice. I worked for a few hours down in the main dining hall, and I signed up for dinner with dialogue to have dinner with a faculty. I signed up for Professor Wood, the teacher of the "Disease and Healing," and "Food for Thought" classes. Dinner today was a simple matter of just plain old steamed rice, which was actually a nice change like lunch. It's interesting how I've just wanted plain food (plain rice, plain old pasta with marinara, etc) for meals. I ate dinner with Booby, and we talked about our plans in India. He was actually going to Mumbai with Aman, and so I gave him a few suggestions about Mumbai and India in general. After a great dessert of Orange Sherbet, I went back to my room to work. I realized that I was on top of things, which felt really good after three days of working on so many things. So I decided to take a break, and I hung out with Ace and Devon in their room (where they almost always are) until Sea Olympics Pep Rally. The Pep Rally was a lot of fun, and people were much more excited and spirited than I was expecting. Each sea did a skit to bash of the others and how off their own stuff. I thought it was a little unfair that the Nomer Sea had Griffin as their mascot, he is so adorable, and everyone loves him. Afterwards, they had sign-ups for the games. I signed up for Lip Singing, Orange, Pass, Dodge ball, and Sustainable Art (whatever that is). That is when I really realized how few people I knew in my hall. This will hopefully help me meet some of them. I finished up some work and called it a night around 1, which was my typical bed time on the ship.
-Nimish
October 18, 2010

Work Work Work

I was up early again. Even though I've been getting decent sleep (like 6 hours) I've still been feeling tired for some reason. I need a good break, like an actual weekend. I'm looking forward to India. After a quick breakfast with Utsav and some others, went off to classes. Sanchez was back on the ship and his eye was doing much better. But he wouldn't be teaching till after India. So in Global Studies, Maclamore talked about Indian culture a little but mostly showed pictures, Allard took off with Economics and never came back, and Aguilar gave a great and fascinating lecture about Indian Art and Architecture and discoursed meanings behind architectural features that I never knew (different sizes of domes on temples represent distance from Himalayas and the abode of God). Some people complained that his lecture was boring, but I found it one of the most interesting lectures I've had yet on the ship. I went for lunch down to the Main Dining Hall today to have lunch with Balaji and Sunila and some others they had invited. We talked more about India and its culture and had lots of salad and french fries. After lunch was over, I played some games (like "boxes" and Tic-tac-Toe) with Leo, who had joined us towards the end. Then it was time to get working on history again. After around 2 hours, Aaron came down to teach some of the kids Improv, and I joined them for a some time before getting back to my work (Aaron was a really good Improv tutor). I had dinner down in the Main Dining Hall with Nick and Howard, and then I looked for Dino to do econ homework with. I found him and others in the Garden Lounge, but they were leaving to go dye Alycia's hair. I had to stay behind to do econ homework, which made no sense and there were so many problems. On my way to the cultural explorer seminar I saw Allard who told me we only had to do 2 of the 14+ problems, which made things so much easier. I went with Aman, who I met at the seminar, down to his room and did the homework with him down there. I also met two of his friends who were also in our hall (Sabrina and Chelsea). I then went back to my room and did a little research about the India day trip. I fell asleep in the middle of it, and woke up feeling kind of sick. So I decided to call it early, and also canceled Piano lessons for tomorrow.
-Nimish
October 17, 2010

A Dog from the Slums.....worth Millions

I woke up a little late for piano tutoring, but was able to get to the piano lounge just in time to catch Aldin and Genanieve before they left. Teaching these two (even though I've only been doing it for a short time now), has been very rewarding and engaging. Aldin is very excited to learn piano, Genanieve learns very quickly, and both of them have an intense desire to learn the black notes (that's what I use to keep attention: "We'll learn how to play to black notes if we learn this first" since they are so energetic that I sometimes have a difficult time keeping their mind in the practice). Tutoring them makes me think of Vira Aunti and bring light on how she must have felt teaching me when I was young and appreciate all she has done for me. After wards, I caught up on some emailing during my free time before classes, and organized my plans over the next few days (how I'm going to budget my time). For classes, Comedy was fun as always (we actually played games all class, which was awesome), and History was the usual. I had lunch with Kelsey, Amanda, Drew, and Jenn and we talked about Mauritius, video games, and roller coasters (it's sometimes interesting to trace a conversation after having it). I went back to my room to work on my History Midterm study guide (Professor Ringrose, was actually allowing us to bring our study guides as outlines for the test, so I just needed to do this properly and I would be all set for the test) and India Preport. I also reflected a bit about Mauritius: I need to stop traveling with just that group. It was as if my Mauritian experience symbolized all the things I've ever (in my whole life) wanted to do but couldn't do because of the uninterest and/or indecisiveness of others. I had dinner with Devon, Mariah, Ace, El, Andy, Luke, and another guy names Tyler. I enjoyed hanging out with another group. I need to do this more often. I also began thinking of maybe doing a day trip in India. One side of me wants to relax in India, but it's not every day I am in India with friends instead of family. I noticed that there were two Indian students sitting behind me that I did not recognize (there were only so many of us on the ship, I had at least seen all of them) and I deduced that they were the Interport students. After dinner was over with that group, a few of us went to that table and introduced ourselves to the interport students. Their names were Balaji and Sunila and both were from South Indian colleges. Balaji seemed very energetic and excited, and Sunila seemed to be more calm and had a classy-like yet positive attitude about things. We talked about India, culture and life there, and made plans to meet for lunch tomorrow. I went to the Mediterranean Sea's Basketball Tournament Social, but it was cancelled since there was no ball at the student life desk (someone had lost the one they had). So I instead went back to my room to work more. At 8:30, I went up to the Union to get free popcorn for the Slumdog Millionaire Movie Night. I missed free popcorn by 1 person, which really pissed me off since I got there so early, much earlier than others who had gotten the popcorn before me. I then decided to stay for the whole movie instead of half like I was planning before and so got a big bag of popcorn from the Pool bar. I watched the movie with Bria and Jenn. Watching the movie for the second time made me realize and more appreciate how good and well-made the movie is. At the same time I also understand all the people (especially Indian people) who criticize how the movie only shows the bad parts of India, as it kind of made India look like a particularly scary and dangerous place (every place in the world is like that in some way). After the movie was over (people cheering when the two protagonists were finally re-united), I headed back to my room to work more before falling asleep.
-Nimish
October 16, 2010

A Day of Realizations

I was up by 7, ready for the day ahead. I was excited for the hike to the waterfall, but first I needed some breakfast to energize myself. At breakfast, I saw a number of our group members, but they did not look so hot or excited. They were not up to go hiking since they felt too tired from yesterday. This made no sense to me because all we did yesterday was go to the beach and .... drink (at least they did). I really hate alcohol sometimes, because it gets in the way of so many things, especially in a port like Mauritius where we only have two days and that is a place where we may never come to again. I despise when your trip plans are dependent on other's "feelings." I went to check on Dino, hoping that at least he would be ready to hike, but he was also too tired from last night. The group decided to just wander around the city. I couldn't go hiking by myself since it was the last day and it was not very close, and I didn't want to go to the beach again, so I did not really have a choice but to stick with them. So Michaella, Dino, Johnny, Nathalie, Nick, Krystal and I headed out to the waterfront, where we split between people who wanted to get internet, and others who wanted to go elsewhere. I stuck with the internet guys (Jacob, Nick, and Nathalie), but while they got internet, I wandered around the building and checked out the soveigner stores there. I got postcards and other such craft items, and saw a very tight store that had large models of ships. Nathalie and I went to the nearby post-office to get stamps, which was on the side of the city's old post-office which was now a museum. Around 11, we went to a restaurant right next to the Grillhouse from yesterday to get lunch. We ran into Ben, Megan, and Howard who were doing their own thing (smart, because groups of 3 or 4 are always best), and Kathleen and Chris who joined us. I got a pizza which tasted really good since it was my first pizza since leaving Halifax. Many of the others did the same, or got sandwiches or paninis. We then went to a nearby mall, and while looking at the various cart craft-vendors we immediately got separated again. Not willing to look for the others or wait around for them, Nathalie, Nick, Dino, and I went to the city's market, and wandered the streets for the next hour or so. The market was not very big and sold a lot of knick knacks (like plastic containers, shoes, toys), but it gave us a better feeling for life on the island. One thing that really tripped me out was the vast number of Indian people in this country. Not only that, but these Indians were speaking in French or Creole with each other, and not in Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, or any other Indian language. I've never seen or heard of anything like this anywhere else. I also noticed here, and in other countries, that the most common street vendor product is shoes/slippers. These things were everywhere. Fortunately we found a few complexes/sections of the market that had touristy-products. Bargaining, however, was relatively difficult here I felt. Since the area was so touristy, it was more difficult to bargain because there were so many tourist who were probably so dumb that they would pay the full-first price or just barely bargain at all. When we reached the end of the street, we turned back and headed to the entrance of the market. There, Dino and Nick said they just wanted to go to the waterfront to get some stuff from the soveigner shops there. When we got there, Nathalie and I got separated from the two of them, but they had made of number of suggestions that they were tired and were just going to head back to the ship after that. So after considering our choices in front of us, Nathalie and I decided to just wander around the rest of the city and down random streets. We started by just walking around the port and all the complexes in that area. The day seemed more humid and warmer than yesterday, and all the boats we saw along the side of the port looked great in the bright sun. We also went back into the market area, and walked along the side streets towards the mountains. The city was very nice and pleasant as it had a very relaxed and peaceful environment. We got some more pineapple which was as delicious as yesterdays. We walked past stores, parks, factories, and even a Hindu temple. After wandering through another market like area, we found ourselves back at the waterfront. There, we spent our last remaining Rupees until it was time to head back to the ship. After taking a watertaxi, we got back to the ship with 45 minutes to spare, and there was already a long line. We were a little worried about not getting back on in time, however we easily made it with 25 minutes still to spare. It was pathetic to see a number of students coming back drunk, and even one who was a leg injury. After turning in my postcards, I went to dinner which was barbeque, so not great for me. But I say ice cream, and it was Pistachio ..... but with eggs....... GOD DAMMIT!!! At least the chili and fruit were good. I found myself having dinner with Mariah and her friends Ace (who I sat with on the bus ride from the Halifax airport to our hostels/hotels) and Devon (who was feeling much better but embarrassed from yesterday. We talked about our love for How I Met Your Mother and made plans to watch a movie later that day. Some good news we got was that they canceled Post-port meetings, which only made since practically everyone did about the same thing: beach, drink, relax, chill out, etc. I went to Ben's room to watch a few episodes of HIMYM before I headed back to the aft to watch us leave. I got to the back of the ship with 15 minutes to spare before undock time (8pm as usual), but I found us already moving. The one time I don't come to watch us undock 30 minutes before time, and they decide to leave early. I was kind of angry, but after all the frustrations of today, I thought maybe this was a sign: You won't get things you want a lot of times, so you have to be adaptable. I went to Mariah's room and chilled out with her and her friends (Andy, Luke, Devon, Ace, Suzah, and El) for some time. I had met Andy before, at duty-free in Ghana with Amy, and Luke last night at the sports bar with Dino. We then watched Lion King in Devon and Ace's room (with Luke and another friend, Gabe). It was pretty unreal to think that I met most of these people just in the last day or two, and I was already hanging out with them and watching a movie with them. Afterwards, I took my leave and went back to my room to catch up on journaling. I had received three emails earlier today from three different people on why I was not posting anymore blog entries for a long time. The simple answer: I don't have that much time right now (I'm caught with school, trips, and meeting more people). I also have a lot of work ahead of me: a history midterm, preparing for preport, and journaling, Mauritius, however, provided me with a much needed break, and I would love to come back sometime, but to be real, it is highly likely that I may never be able to come back. This place has caused me to realize many things. One thing I did realize/learn here in Mauritius: I need to meet more people so that I am not tied down by others and have more options in front of me. Plus, it's just nicer to know more people. Mauritius could have been a lot more fun if I hadn't been tied down by the actions of my group and had known more people doing things more pertaining to my interests. It wasn't like I didn't have a good time, I just know that it could have been better. But as Yash told me, you will have a "negative" experience eventually, but it will teach you a lot. So that's two for me now: Ronda trip and Mauritius. But he did not lie when he said that they would teach you a lot, because these two experience really have taught me a number of important things. So here's to meeting more people!
-Nimish
October 15, 2010

Mauritius... have you heard of it before?

I was up and ready at 6am, and headed to deck 7 stern. There was the island, not really big as I could see the entire island without having to move my head much. It was a glorious day: bright and sunny outside, water that was crystal light blue, and the sun was shining light beautifully off of the island. What a perfect day for Jacob to have his birthday. I enjoyed the beautiful weather as we moved at a crawling pace (there were times when I was not sure if the boat was moving at all). Around 7, the pilot boat arrived and directed us into the port, and by 7:30, we were docked to Mauritius (30 minutes ahead of schedule). The port was not very big; it was sort of deep but not that wide at all. Aside from our ship, there were no big ships inside of the port area. There were a few anchored outside, most likely tendering. I had breakfast of the usual cereal with the group and we finalized what we were doing today. We were requested to be seen by the custom officials for interviews, and I was one of the first to be seen by them. They were all Indian! It’s really strange to see such a thing outside of India; I don’t think there are any countries outside of India dominated to this extent by Indians, aside from Mauritius. I went to Ben’s room, where Ben, Nick, Howard and I chilled and talked, and watched the diplomatic briefing from the TV. We were too lazy to go, and after the bad one in South Africa, we were not really motivated to go to it. I dozed off for a few minutes in the middle of it, since I did not get a lot of sleep last night. Soon after the briefing was over, around 9:30, the ship was cleared and we made our way to exit the ship. Even the port was not that big/busy, if we wanted to get to the city and avoid a 20-30 minute walk, we had to take a water taxi. The first few ones were filled to the brim, and we sailed over to the waterfront area. The taxi stop in the city was right in front of a shopping center, and the city itself seemed like a pleasant medium sized city. There were no tall buildings, but there were a number of high rise buildings. We spent the first 30 minutes trying to find an ATM for us to withdraw money, which we found in a mall like place across the street from the port entrance. Then we had to figure out how to get to Grand Bay Beach. Near the port entrance we ran into Tesia and Aaron, and they joined us in our endeavor. We found multiple taxis for all of us, and we made our way to the beach. It was quite a beautiful drive with some great scenery. There were sugar cane farms everywhere and in the distance were some small mountains. Also on the radio was a horrible remix of Black Eye Peas’ “Tonight is Going to be a Good Night.” Within 20 minutes, we were on the Northern side of the island… Grand Bay. Getting out of the taxi, I notice the beautiful water. Crystal clear blue with a gradual transition from light to dark as the water got deeper; and small sail boats all along the coasts. The beach itself was not very large, more like a park with trees next to water. The city along the coast was a cute little town with a small road and buildings no taller than three stories. The first thing we did was search for a restaurant. Half of us wanted to go to this one place, but the other half did not (because in all honesty, it was quite pricey, even for American standards). So the other half of us (Dino, Mariah, Aaron, and I) went out to search for another place, and came upon a Chinese restaurant that was more reasonable, and we made ourselves comfortable and filled our stomachs. Fried rice was a simple yet tasty break from ship food, something really needed (I really can't wait for food in India). Alyssa (my extended sister) and Lander later ran into us at the restaurant and joined us. We had a good talk, a lot about how our group is split into sub-groups and other such topics. Towards the end of the meal, we noticed the other half of our group walking on without out. It makes me really sad sometimes that our group has these sub-groups (ex: what I call the Crystalline Lattice) because it really kills the mood and awesomeness of the situation sometimes. Once we were done eating, we headed out too, hoping that we would find the others (I honestly didn't care too much of finding the others), and walked along the beach. The beaches were fabulous, with soft sand, great waters, and there actually were not a lot of people. There were, however, a lot of resorts along the beach front (I heard there were around 200 of them on the island, which is pretty ridiculous for some a small island), which was kind of annoying since entire stretches of coast were occupied by private beaches for these resorts. After some 15 minutes of strolling the sands of these great beaches, we finally found the rest of our group. They had parked in a secluded beach that was quite small (in a good way) and had very nice waters that were shallow yet swimmable. Some of them were sunbathing, the others were playing in the water. I dropped my stuff, took off my shirt, ran to the water, and dove in. The water was not cold at all. It was actually quite pleasant, but very salty. Probably because the water was shallow, and the Indian Ocean is the saltiest ocean in the world. We had a good time in the water for like an hour or so. We did all sorts of things: just talked, tackled each other, threw each other into the air, had shoulder fights, and tried to make towers and pyramids. Doing these last two was so difficult (only us guys attempted). We had a number of almost-there towers/pyramids, otherwise we failed miserably. But it was awesome fun. The others in our group (the girls) and on the beach watched us like we were stupid, but who cares. After a while, we got out of the water to enjoy the sunny weather. Aaron and I occupied some seats that were there, ad we passed out for some time (like 30 minutes). When I woke up, I felt wonderful. I generally don't nap, but napping like that in the sun felt so good. This port is a real break for us from classes and crazy traveling. This was like an actual weekend. Ben and I decided to go exploring over some rocks (which were black and so quite hot), with Michaella deciding to follow us shortly after we left. We came upon a rock outcropping into the ocean, and took turns going to the tip and getting pictures. From there we also got a great view of a long stretch of coastline, which was very Hawaii-like: fantastic waters with a short sand beach, and palm trees lining coast. Back at our beach, I dove back into the water with Nick for a few minutes before we decided to leave. We made our way back to the place where we got dropped off by the taxis. Along the way we ran into a Hindu temple. I felt drawn to it, and I went in and paid my respects to the Gods inside. That was my first time in a temple in quite some time, so it felt good as I got this home-like feeling. We also got some pineapple that was cut like a lollipop and very delicious, sweet, and juicy. We decided to take the bus back because it would only take a few more minutes to get back and was considerably cheaper than the taxi. Back in Port Louis, we separated into two groups again (you see a pattern?) since some wanted to go straight to dinner while the rest of us wanted to get back to the ship and change before getting dinner to celebrate with Dino. Showering on the ship felt refreshing, and we left again for dinner somewhere near the port. We agreed upon a grillhouse and we began celebrating Dino's birthday there. While many of the others enjoyed something very meaty (like a steak or ribs), I had some tasty vegetarian curry, which was quite good, but nowhere near as good as Indian food (god I cannot wait till India). I saw a number of other friends going out that night, and I felt like joining some of them, but I had to stay with DIno since he is my pal and it was his birthday. After dinner, we went to a sports bar that was attached to a Pizza Hut, and the others had a few drinks. They did not get drunk but they were definitely tipsy or beyond. a number of people Dino knew, Devon and Luke for example, bought him drinks even though he was done after the drink he got for himself. I had met Devon before that like once or twice and always had said hi to her whenever we ran past each other in the hallway, but I had my first real conversation with her that night. Around 12, I decided to call it a night and headed back to the ship. Tomorrow will be fun, but got lots to do: stamps, postcards, soveigners, and hiking to the waterfall. Can't wait for that waterfall.
-Nimish
October 14, 2010