Takoradi Ghana

hey everyone,
I am writing to you from Takoradi, Ghana. We are at lattitude 4 degrees and longitude .01 degrees. being on the equator as so, it is damn hot. You cant sit in the shade without sweating a waterfall. I suppose Brasil wasnt any better. If it werent for the ships freezing cold temperatures I would probably go insane.
This is a third world country and looks as such but Manaus was pretty poor as well. However, Takoradi makes Manaus seem clean, calm and safe. We walk through litter strewn streets getting our idea of personal space torn to shreds as men try to grab our wrists and to place bracelets there that they will later try to make us buy. You can see below the one stalking me and my friend maria all the way to the market.

A walk to the market is about a mile from the ship and in this heat it is hard not to get dehydrated. The streets reek so bad that I want to constantly throw up and the people harrass me no matter where I walk. People are throwing live goats and chickens into the backs of cars, legs tied. There are children running about grabbing at you and black and green foaming water on the streets. If thats not overwhelming enough, there are large holes in random areas of the street. one of my friends actually fell in one and had to get stitches on the boat. The whole ordeal was very difficult to process and not all that enjoyable.
Today, however, was much improved. We went out into the jungle and walked on canopy bridges which I will post a photo of when I get the pics from my friend. I left my camera on the bus... will never do that again. Got it back though. after that we went to eat lunch and watch the bamboo orchestra. They were spectacular and had us dance with them which was really fun but unbelievably hot. You have never felt hot until you have visited the equator.

Tomorrow I am going to see the old slave castles and dungeons. It should be educational and apparentally emotional. I may also be sleeping in the canopy of the congo on a platform or a few other things I probably shouldnt mention until they are done. If I do my mother might have a heart attack or something. I assure you I have a level head on my shoulders. I wont get into too much trouble but life is boring and pointless without a little risk!
In any case I believe it is my dear brother Zach's birthday! Happy Birthday bro! Below is a picture of your present. I bought it in Manaus! I know its the evening or something there but its actually night here and so I feel like I can say I hope your day is a good one!

Yes I got you a hammock. If you havent noticed, people at CSU like to get hammocks out when the weather is nice, but yours is way cooler than any of theirs. Not to mention im sure a girl wouldnt mind curling up in it! ok too far. ha ha. I love you little bro! have an awesome day!
Anyway, I hope you all are well. I still really enjoy getting email (gefuller@semesteratsea.net) So write me! I am now going to finish watching Sherlock Holmes (which you can tell is showing in my writing) and find a few people who I wish to speak with about plans for this week. Talk to you all later!


Genevieve Fuller

Manaus Brazil

Hey everyone!
We left Manaus a couple of days ago and should be in the open ocean by nightfall tonight. My time in Brazil was far more than I could of hoped for. Some of it were things I probably wouldnt have chosen to happen but probably made me a better person for it.
When we arrived in Manaus I did not expect such a large city to be in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest. Manaus has a population of about 1.5 million people. That number is crammed into a bustling, chaotic, rich city which bombarded my senses into the ground. A mountain girl from a quiet small town is more than overwhelmed by a large American city much less a foreign one. The streets of Manaus in most places are dirty, uneven and littered with garbage. The people are sketchy and try to con you out of your money or else pick pocket you. I made precautions against these and wasnt robbed but I know a significant amount of people who were. The boys of the city like to run around with knives and cut the camera strap around your wrist or neck and run off with your camera.
Other than that the people of Manaus are rich in culture and pride. They have many types of dance which I observed. I will make sure to show you some videos when I get back. There are a lot of sketchy people but there are just as many kind generous ones.
Anyway I got so sick of the city that I was super excited to finally be entering the Jungle. I had imagined going to the Amazon Rainforest since before I can remember. It was much more than I imagined. I got a lot of hands on animal experiance. I got to handle three-toed sloth, black Anaconda, and multiple types of small alligators or Caimen. (as seen below)

I did a night out in the jungle which consisted of anacondas, alligators, lilly pads the size of dinner tables, waterfall swimming, interaction with a poor family on a floating house and sleeping in a hammock with squirrel monkeys running about. It was only 100 Reals which is about 80 USD but I got far more than I thought. The family on the house boat we stayed with had 3 kids all under 7 years and only one room with no insulation or air conditioning. No electricity either. It was a long night that lasted from 5pm to 8am and only 3 hours of sleep. It was tough to deal with the cultural differences and shocks when you are so tired you feel like you are going to relax. Its easy to forget how some people live while in the comfort of an american home.
After that night I needed a whole day of sleep and recovery. But I eventually went back into town and got some amazing pizza, items to be disclosed in the next post and snacks for the long haul to Takoradi Ghana.
Tonight I have an "extended family" dinner. It is a group where the  older inhabitants of the ship are the mom and dad and they have a family of adoptive students. Its an optional support group sort of thing. I should probably leave and go do that now. I will post again once we arrive in Ghana. I will post Feb. 7th. Zach if you are reading this you better check it on your b-day. I will post a pic of your present!!

Genevieve

Enter the Amazon

Hey all!
Im so sorry that I havent been posting but I have been terribly sea sick. It has sucked because I have to catch up for my classes now! Well, as for Dominica we left on Monday. The first day we were there I went on a trip up to the north part of the island. In the car on the way we passed a beach where they shot Pirates of the Carribean 2. If you watch that movie, a majority of it was filmed on Dominica. The indians in the film were Carib Indians and were filmed at actual histoical locations. It was really cool. I took this picture on the side of the boat. I thought it was spectacular.

We went for a hike in the rainforest which was awesome.  I made a bunch of friends. This is from being on the hike. We ate fruit straight off the plants. I enjoyed the best banana and grapefruit of my life. It was a phenomenal experience. The people in Dominica are really friendly and helpful. Though their reason for acting so is obvious. They want the tourist dollar and will be as kind, and helpful as they need to be to win the american soul. The following picture is from the hike:

My time in Dominica was only two days but it was pretty enjoyable. It is completely boring compared to the things to come.
Right now, for instance, we are sailing our huge cruise ship up the amazon. I cannot describe to you what it feels like to talk about the amazon in my ecology class and then look out the window and see it with my own eyes. Its even wierder to be peering out at the amazon in the dark (its 10:00pm here) while i am writing this. I cannot wrap my head around where I am.
I miss you all so much and I really love getting emails so PLEASE EMAIL ME at gefuller@semesteratsea.net

The Caribbean!

Hey everyone, sorry it took so long to update this!! I have nno pictures uploaded onto my laptop right now. i have been seasick for the last several days. It has been a nightmare.
Anyway, I arrived in the bahamas about a week ago with my mom. We fed sting rays, waded with sharks, snorkeled and fed endangered exuma iguanas in the exuma cays It was spectacular, even without the free alchoholic drinks and food! We also swam with dolphins.
Now on the ship I am writing to you as we pass volcanic islands and watch boobies (birds) catch fish by diving. I am finally feeling less sea sick and can enjoy the people here which are easy to make conversation with. Tomorrow we land in Dominica. (pronounce the second "i" as "ee") I will wake up tomorrow and go on a hike through the rainforest.
It is hard to take classes on the boat. Its always moving so its hard not to get sick when taking notes. Its much easier once you get used to it. I already miss every single one of you and I cant believe this adventure is only beginning!
i can be emailed at gefuller@semesteratsea.net
i am trying to connect my colostate one to it
I need to go get ready for tomorrow, i will try and post pics next time!
Love you all!
Genevieve

And off we go!

 For Starters, I am not a English major nor do I care about grammar, spelling or any such things so please excuse any mistakes I make in this blog. It is meant to keep you up to date to what I am up to on my trip not to be fanciful and overly romanticized. I will have little time to write these posts so they will be concise and straight forward, which I hope you will appreciate being that you probably dont want to spend all day reading about me.

Saturday is the first step of my grand adventure abroad. For those of you reading this that dont know what the semester at sea program is then check out their website at www.semesteratsea.net. On Saturday me and my mom are flying to Nassau, Bahamas which is where the ship is docked. We are staying at a resort and enjoying the sun, sea and surf for a few days before I board on the 12th of January. This is the MV Explorer and my home for the next couple months.

I cannot even begin to describe how excited I am about this and cannot wait for it to begin. I hope that you enjoy reading about my adventure and I will see you when I get back!!