I'm sitting here trying to think of what to write on my first blog and all I can think is "Oh my God I'm going on a big boat".  This is the phrase I used to explain Semester at Sea to 3-year-old Nathan, and somehow it's now the only description I can think of.  With just 9 days to go before I leave the States, I'm starting to feel a tingling sensation as the word "boat" leaves my mouth and my hands jump up frantically from my sides like I just hit the bingo jackpot.

I'm going on a trip around the world that will take 100 days. Fifty days will be spent on the sea, playing pirate until 3 am and waking up for an 8 am psych class.  The other 50 will be spent on land, in countries I nor any one in my family has ever been to before (my mother can't even point most of them out on a map, lol).  We depart from the Bahamas, arriving first in Venezuela, then Brazil, South Africa, Kenya, India, Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Japan, followed by a one day stop in Hawaii on the way back to the US.  We debark in San Diego where I will proceed to have my favorite, and surely most missed, American meal; a cheeseburger from Hodad's in Ocean Beach!

I can't even describe how excited I am.  I've signed up for three 4-day trips to the Brazilian Amazon, a safari to Maasai Mara in Kenya, and one intense trip in India to Agra, Delhi, Varanasi, and the Ganges River.  Needless to say, I’m bringing a lot of deet with me and a thousand dollars worth of film.  The rest of the days in port I'll be going to orphanages, children's homes, villages, farms, markets, temples, monasteries and other amazing places. hopefully I can stay away from the more touristy places and see the real country; its people and culture.

I chose Semester at Sea because of the uniqueness of the program. I've been abroad to New Zealand and Sri Lanka, but a ship traveling to so many countries cannot be turned down.  I learned about it when I was in high school and that's when I decided I was doing it.  You know how they say you can do anything you set your mind to?  It's so true.  Sometimes you have to take out zillions of dollars in loans, but there's a way to do everything.   That said, I also have to mention that most of us are extremely privileged.  Even growing up a minority and considered too poor to pay taxes, I still had everything I needed.  I always had food, housing and an education.  I guess I never felt poor because I knew when I grew up I was going to go to college, be rich and have everything I wanted.  Maybe I only have the first one down so far, but here I am, about to head out on a voyage less than 1% of the world's population will ever take.  We all know the state the world is
in, but let me tell you it's one thing to hear statistics about the starving children in the world while you sit comfortably in front of your TV, and another to walk into a home the size of your king size mattress and realize the seven of them must sleep huddled together on the bare floor.  I caught this slap of reality while I was volunteering in Sri Lanka.  I'm anxious about what else the world will reveal so I can finally experience it as reality, not just a distant concept.

I'm planning on taking tons of amazing pictures during my trip to put on my website, www.vanessaruiz.com.  As always, I strive for images that speak of truth and fantasy, of life and death, of need, desire and fulfillment.  Photography is the most important thing that I do, I hope to do justice to those people, things, and places I photograph on this trip, and that is my first priority. I also expect to have a better understanding of the world the next time I step foot on American soil... like I said, I want the world to be a part of my reality.  The last big thing on my list is volunteering!  I have to go to at least one service visit per country, minimum. I have a lot of trips planned already.  It's going to be harder in the countries where I'm taking the big four day trips because I'll barely have time to do one visit, but I should get a few trips in all the other countries.  I still have to find places to volunteer in Hong Kong and Japan so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

It seems like I’m going to be extremely busy!  I hope I can squeeze in those 12 credits of class, lol.  I'm taking abnormal psychology, small business management, women in religion, and global studies.  I’m excited about all of them.  It's amazing to think how much the classes will be enhanced by a global perspective.

...Oh my God, I'm going on a big boat!!!