So everything is going pretty good. All of my major independent trips are paid for and all of the Pre-Sale stuff is too. I have taken my immunization, actually I am in the middle of my week of the Typhoid Oral Immunization. I have a plane ticket to Nova Scotia, and a hotel. Now I just need to make some more money for some wiggle room, transfer some money into foreign currency, and pack.
I have 29 more days until I leave for Nova Scotia, so let me give you a little preview of what I have planned so far, and hopefully I do not get bumped off of any of the trips because of the lottery system thingy.
Nova Scotia- (Wed 8/26) en route from PHX stop in Newark and have dinner with my grandma and grandpa. Then (Thur 8/27) Do whatever I am supposed to do for Work Study, I am getting paid $4000 for this so they can make me do just about anything for this day. I will also go to the party that is in town to meet my fellow SASers and then finally after dreaming about this ever since I saw Road Rules Semester at Sea 10 years ago (Fri 8/28) the actually voyage will start.
Spain- So other than seeing the churches of Cadiz, I don't really have Spain planned out yet. I want to see a Bullfight and a crazy (loco) futbol match, and also hang by the beach. Hopefully in the 8 or so days it takes to get to Spain I can figure all of that out.
Morocco- I signed up for a trek through the Atlas Mountains and spending some time in Marrakech. Also hope to have dinner with a Moroccan family and spend a day in Casablanca.
Ghana- I signed up for the 2 day SAS trip to Benin and see an old slave port and a village in the middle of this one lake. I also want to go up the cape coast and visit some local markets in the Accra area. I am also do a service visit through Habitat for Humanity.
South Africa- I will be watching a play and doing some FDP's but I will also be going shark diving and jumping off of the highest bungey jump in the world (supposedly) also I want to spend some time in the townships and visit Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for a long time.
Mauritius- I dont know what I am doing, maybe snorkeling (but I dont like fish or being around them), but most likly just beach and relaxation
India- I am going to Delhi, Agra, and Varansai to see the Taj Mahal and a whole bunch of other stuff that I will go into further detail later.
Vietnam- Hopefully I am going to Cambodia and visiting Angkor Wat, but if not then I am taking a trip down the Mekong Delta. I am also going to the Cu Chi Tunnels and hopefully buying a cheap suit that I will let my kids wear to their proms when they come to that age.
*And yes I wore my dad's suit/tux from when he went to southeast Asia some 20 years ago.
China- I am super excited for china. I first start off with a day in Hong Kong, then fly to Beijing do some olympic sight seeing there then go to the great wall spend a night on the wall and then a hike and a zipline down then I am going Xi'an to see the Terracotta Warriors and then I am going to Beijing. Its a lot of traveling for 5 or 6 days but I am so excited for it.
Japan- I have not really organized Japan yet, I think it will be interesting to see Tokyo again. Last time I went when I was around 12 and had McDonalds for just about every meal because I did not like the other food. Hopefully I will get to do some homestays here.
Hawaii- It will be my birthday while I am there so I hope I can have a birthday party but we shall see about that. Other than that I will just try to relax.
And so thats basically it 109 days, potentially up to 14 countries, hitting all but 1 time zone (damn Central Time). So from now on I am to be short and sweat. Hope everyone is enjoying there summers.
Until next time,
Marcus
