SINGAPORE & SEA OLYMPICS:

This stretch between Vietnam and India has been a blast.  Even though we have classes, the deck is completely packed throughout the day with people sun tanning and jumping in the pool.  The second day at sea we anchored just off the coast of Singapore for the day as we refueled and had a material delivery.  There were huge tanker ships all around and small tugboats servicing them.  I have been reading Salman Rushdie’s book ‘Haroun and the Sea of Stories’ as well as listening to Shantaram on audio book.  I’ve never had so much time to relax and free read in my life.  I still can’t get over how great this nomadic lifestyle is.  This morning we cruised right by the shoreline of the Nicobar Islands just east of Sri Lanka.  There are over 500 islands while only 36 of them are inhabited.  The islands are known for their isolated inhabitants who despise visitors to the point of killing them.  We learned in class that anyone wanting to visit must obtain a very special permit from the Indian government.  We steered clear of the shipwreck off the shore and continued on our way.

The next day we had the much-awaited Sea Olympics.  I’d heard that this was supposed to be one of the best days on the ship and it definitely exceeded all of my expectations.  The ship is divided into Seas for laundry days, to provide order when disembarking the ship, and even to make smaller communities to meet people.  (I am the Caribbean Sea) We had an opening ceremony the night before and all the seas sat together wearing their respective colors and singing their chants while parading banners.  It was like summer camp for 20 year olds.  We woke up early on the day of the Sea Olympics and made our costumes.  The Caribbean Sea’s color was purple and we went with a Pirate theme so we cut purple Semester at Sea shirts and made swords out of cardboard.  It was a long day in the sun jumping around to different events such as ‘crab soccer’, ‘nail the sailor dodge ball’, synchronized swimming, and even tug-of-war.  I participated in the hour-long relay race at the flip cup station (I flipped the cup on the first try both times!).  Tammy played dodge ball and a represented us in chopstick race picking up ice cubes.  At the end of the day we had a huge barbeque on the top deck with baked beans, hamburgers, ribs, and more! 

The Caribbean Sea ended up getting last place I think, but we still had a blast!! Every sea performed their chants one last time at the closing ceremony and the winning torch was given to the Red Sea.  The prize is that they get to get off the ship first in Florida.  None of us ever want to leave, so we are happy getting off last.   Just a few more days until we port in India.  I can’t wait for this amazing adventure.  I’m positive I’ll have many stories to report.