Visa and Boredom

Soooooo, I just received all my visa stuff and everything looks A-ok. I seem to be having trouble getting my malaria meds b/c the UCSD student health center won't freaking pre-authorize it. FML. As to planned trips, I sent my stuff to my parents so that they and my grandfather can help pay for it. Hopefully, I get all the trips I want and don't get kicked out of a trip by the lottery SAS does when too many people want to do the same trip. If that is the case, I'll just do many indy trips. Also, I just contacted and booked the indy trip in China, so excited. Now I just got to figure out what the heck I am gonna do for a day and a half in Canada. I have absolutely no idea right now. Thankfully, I don't have to fly back or anything when I dock in San Diego. It is gonna be wierd to literally land where I started. Now all that is left is boredom and waiting in a sense. My work is really fun and stuff, but after work I got nothing to do but workout and plan more SAS stuff. Next week, summer school starts and that will begin my 5 weeks of craziness where I'll be in labs for approx. 30+ a week. It's funny how I want for summer to be over before I has fully began yet.

Field Programs and Stuff

Just saw that field programs can be ordered for SAS tomorrow. After realizing this, I figured out I never made a list of what things I wanted to do in each country, a bucket list for SAS in a sense. So pretty much I spent over 3 hours looking at all the field programs and seeing if any fit into what I want to accomplish while on this journey. I figured out that I want to go to Cambodia for sure. Still firm on the China trip as well, but a little confused why there is a travel gap between both ports. Are there classes between the ports or is it just free travel for people who didn't plan flights beforehand? Hopefully its the latter. Also, I came across the perfect travel idea that SAS sponsors while in Morocco where its a 4 day/3 night travel across the main oases in Morocco, including riding on Camels through the Sahara. Since I had no clue of what to do before then, I realized this was an awesome idea. So that trip looks like its in the bag as well. Hopefully, this is not too many big trips, but I want to do all of them and this is my only chance to do so. Also, I'm just planing to do a simple and cheap trip sponsored by SAS in Spain since I think Spain would be a place best to get to know more of the people who are traveling with me and go on crazy random journeys in cities nearby the port city. I think its the first one on the Spain trip list. While in Ghana, I planing to do some service work by helping either building a house or helping at an orphanage. In addition, I will check out a Health Care Facility to fulfill one of my two trips for on of my classes. After that, I will continue to go on spontaneous adventures in Ghana. Once in South Africa, I want to continue to do service work by doing Habitat for Humanity. Also, I will decide what to do later on for South Africa while at sea. Next, Mauritius will be place where I definitely what to see Volcano Island as well as possibly go snorkeling. After that just chillax, with any other random events that pass me by. Once in India, I've decided to continue to do even more service work by hopefully volunteering at an orphanage as well as going to a health clinic. Maybe I will randomly try to get to see the Taj Mahal in the process or plan stuff while at sea. In Vietnam, I will first do the Cambodia trip hopefully and then spend the final two days doing a bunch of other stuff which including getting a business suit for half the price that it is here in the U.S. China will include the EPIC trip of sleeping on the Great Wall and other amazing things. Japan will be where I'll go to the candy factory, go to downtown Tokyo to experience the nightlife, see mt. Fiji, ride on the bullet train, and eat amazing good food. FINALLY, Hawaii (which sadly I've never been to lol) is where I will go to do more snorkeling, see more volcanoes, surf, and go to Pearl Harbor. Dang this is gonna be a fun time. Hopefully, the classes on the boat won't buzz kill parts of it :P. The classes sound all really interesting. BUT REALLY, besides the big trips, all of my trip is up in the air. Here's to random spontaneous fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gettin Ready for SAS

For the last couple of days, I have been doing stuff that has made me want
to go to SAS. First of all, I started my vaccinations. I'm taking Yellow
Fever, Typhoid, Japanese Enceph., and Rabies. It's a steep price for all
of these but I want to make sure nothing goes wrong on the trip, even if
it feels possibly overkill. Also, it a good thing I'm doing all of these
vaccinations anyways since mosquitoes are EXTREMELY attracted to me. I
have had previous intense encounters where I would have a cloud of them
over me while the rest of my family had nothing. Thank god for Deet. Also,
I have started to cipher down my choices for the big trips I am taking.
The big China trip seems to be locked in already and has an amazing
schedule set up which includes sleeping on the Great Wall of China.
Hopefully, China will have stopped being paranoid over this swine flu BS.
Getting really interested in the Cambodia trip as well that SAS provides.
Right now I'm deciding whether to choose the Cambodia trip or the India
one. My amazingly sweet and generous Grandpa is helping to alleviate the
costs of these trips which makes me so happy. He truly is the nicest and
most generous person I know. But I am seriously stuck on deciding between
those two trips. I really want to see the Taj Mahal but at the same time
I've heard the Cambodia trip is a once in a lifetime opportunity. It feels
like everything that is going to happen on this trip is going to be a once
in a lifetime opportunity. In addition, I have just bought extra stuff for
my travel camera, bought new sunglasses, and hoping to buy new eyeglasses
since the ones I have right now are super worn-out and crooked. I'm
considering on waiting to buy my eyeglasses till I get back in December
since this trip will probably beat them up pretty badly. Finally, this
message is also my test to see if I can post these messages through e-mail
so everyone can enjoy them when I finally get to travel the world.
Hopefully, this works. Oh yeah, forgot to say that summer has started
really well and hope it continues that way even though OChem lab summer
school is pretty much a week away.