PCV: Paid Caribbean Vacation

We had our first global studies test this morning and I won’t lie, it was great. I cant say that I Aced it or know what I got but the best part was that after I finished my test, I was able to go back to my room and shower before I went to my next class. Everyone on the ship should thank Global Studies for giving me this time.
Last night was fun because everyone on the ship was up and studying for the test. I pretended to study as always and tried my best to stay distracted and try to help people as much as I could while pretending I didn’t care all at the same time. It was a daunting task to study but look completely bored at the same time. Usually I have trouble studying because well… I never do. Being the sociology major that I am, that was my first multiple choice test in almost a full year. I am so used to writing papers that it was almost foreign to me to see a list of 4 answers and be able to pick one of them having a 25% chance of being right. I liked my odds. I now know what to expect, so regardless of what my grade is, I know that I will probably need to prepare a bit more for the next one.
As expected last night was very quiet on the ship and cultural pre-port for Brazil was interesting. It gave me ideas to do lots of things during Carnival.
For those of you who do not know what Carnival is I’ll make it short and simple. It is the biggest party on the entire earth. It is similar to Mardi Gras in the United States where people are going crazy before fasting for Lent, but this is beyond Mardi Gras. Sorry, Mike but NOLA doesn’t cut it here. At anytime, there are an estimated 3 million people on the streets dancing, partying, singing, and talking! Most people know of Carnival in Rio de Janeiro because that is the most commercialized area, but it actually started in Salvador, Brazil. It has much more of an African base in Salvador and while Rio may be where everyone knows about, if you ask any Brazilian where they want to celebrate Carnival, most will tell you Salvador.
We are going extremely slow now because I guess we have to take a little longer so we do not get there too early. It’s frustrating because everyone is so excited to get there and start their adventures, but my guess is that we have paid for a specific time at the dock and we can not show up early or leave late without some sort of penalty. This is a shame but its business and that’s how it works.
The sunrise tomorrow will be over the Atlantic Ocean but I will still be up at the crack of dawn trying to get some pictures. I will try to put up some pictures tonight because I plan on sleeping very little and the internet is much faster when no one is one it. I realize I have been slacking with the pictures but it is hard because of how long they take to upload, not to mention the limited number of Internet minutes I get in the first place. I would use an Internet café in Brazil but there is a very good chance that I will not be able to find one because for Carnival the entire country basically shuts down.
I am going to play Carnival by ear with the pictures because supposedly there is very high theft here, so I might have pictures or I might not. Either way, someone will be dumb enough to bring a camera and lucky enough to make it work. That might be me, but either way, pictures I will have. Take care, stay warm, and continue to let me know how you’re doing because while it may seem like I'm all by myself out here, everyone will live it with me when I get back if these blog entries don’t suffice.

Location: very close to Salvador, Brazil
Latitude: 11° 39.31 S
Longitude: 36° 54.72 W