Summary
Overview
Dax Shepard and Monica Padman host Armchair Anonymous to explore crazy study abroad stories. Five callers share wild experiences ranging from a Pacific Ocean storm that nearly capsized their ship, to encounters with the Italian mafia, to Swedish drug dealers, to working in a Russian neurosurgery ward. The stories reveal the adventurous, dangerous, and transformative nature of study abroad experiences in the 1990s through 2010s.
Surviving a Pacific Ocean Storm on Semester at Sea
Blair shares her harrowing experience on Semester at Sea in 2005, when a massive storm hit their cruise ship in the Pacific Ocean. What started as an educational voyage around the world turned into a life-threatening situation with 50-foot waves, complete engine failure, and students packed together in emergency stations for 12 hours. Despite the trauma, most students continued the journey, which was rerouted to include flights between destinations instead of just sailing.
- 600 students sailed on a converted cruise ship from Vancouver, planning to visit South Korea, Japan, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, India, Kenya, South Africa, Brazil, and Venezuela
- Within days of departure, everyone was seasick with vomit trails in hallways and barf bags on every staircase
- A week into the trip, three storms combined into one giant storm with 30-50 foot waves that hit the bridge, shattered glass, and knocked out two of three engines
- Students were separated by gender and sat between men's legs for 12 hours while the ship rocked violently and they waited out the storm
- The Coast Guard towed the disabled ship back to Hawaii; the program then flew students between destinations for missed ports
- Blair's cousin met her future husband on the trip - they now live in Amsterdam with three kids
" Later on, I heard that if our boat had tipped just a few more degrees, we would have capsized. "
" The waves were 30 to 50 feet. Five story waves. This is a true nightmare. "
Locked in a Restaurant with the Italian Mafia
Rachel recounts a terrifying evening in Ischia, Italy in 2002 when she and four friends accepted wine from a table of men at a restaurant. What seemed like friendly hospitality turned sinister when they realized they were locked inside with a mafia boss known as "Papa Pertutti" (the father for everyone). The doors were locked from the inside, staff ignored their pleas to leave, and the men discussed taking them to Switzerland through secret tunnels.
- Five 20-year-old American women on a budget visited Ischia, an island near Naples known for hot springs
- A table of men aged 35-60 sent multiple liters of wine to their table, then invited them to sit and eat with them
- The leader was introduced as 'Papa Pertutti' (the father for everyone) - a mafia title the naive students didn't recognize
- When one student tried to leave for air, she discovered the heavy wooden doors were locked from inside with keys held by staff
- The hostel owner refused to call police, saying 'they own the police'
- The women eventually convinced the men to let them leave by saying they had to return to school on Monday
" They introduce us to the man at the head of the table. They said, he doesn't need a name. You just need to know that his name is the Papa Pertutti, which means the father for everyone. "
" I can't call the police. Why? Why? Why? Like, why can't you call the police? And he goes, well, they own the police. "
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