My final day in Spain was fairly uneventful. A few friends and I spent the majority of the day shopping around town. Every morning the city of Cadiz hosts a farmers market with all the fresh meat, fish, and fruits you could want. Except for strawberries! I looked everywhere and couldn’t find any. So much for my quest to eat strawberries in every country! I wish I could have bought a few bags of grapes for future snacks but we are not allowed to bring unopened (or fresh) food back onto the ship. We did, however, buy some fresh Churros. They were amazing! We bought a huge bag for only 2 euros. We couldn’t even eat all of them!
After we finished all of our shopping we decided to find some free wifi. My friend Kathy and many other SAS students were busy using skype. Although I’d heard of the program, I’d never actually used it. It’s really simple to use. I created my account, put some minutes on my account, and called my parents within minutes of downloading the program. It was sooo good to hear my parents voices! I wanted to call my sister but she was already at her job by that time. After everyone’s computers ran out of battery power we bought some ice cream and walked back to the ship. I’m currently waiting for the ship to set sail in about an hour. I think I’ll go to bed pretty soon after that. I have a 9 o clock Global Studies class tomorrow.
Observation #1: The biggest difference I noticed in Spain was with the transportation. The majority of streets within the inner city are very narrow. Most of them do not have (or have a very small) sidewalk. Cars and motorbikes drive fairly slowly and people are just expected to move out of the way when they see them coming. Other than that, people walk in the middle of the streets.
Observation #2: Unlike in America, the majority of stores do not open until 10 pm. Also, most stores close between the hours of 2:00-4:00/5:00 pm. This time in Spain is considered “Siesta” or nap time! My only real comment on this is: BEST. IDEA. EVER. I would love to have an expected time everyday to catch up on sleep.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
Day 2 and 3 of Spain
Day 2: Old cities of Arcos and Ronda
Today started at 9 am. We got on the bus and drove about an hour to the city of Arcos. The first thing I noticed about the city is that it’s built high up in the mountains. As is typical of Spain, Arcos had a grand old Catholic Church. Outside of the church, we saw the two cutest dogs! One looked like a tiny Yorkie. Yankee is probably three times his size! That’s how small he was. Someone asked and the guy said he was four months old. As I mentioned, the town is built on a hill. The church’s balcony looks out over the road WAY down below. It would have pleased even a balcony snob like my mother :).
The first thing we did in Ronda was eat a typical Spanish lunch at a restaurant called Sol Y Sombra. The tour wasn’t very expensive so I didn’t expect much of a “real” lunch. I was pleasantly surprised when we were served a full 3 course meal! First we ate some type of soup with rice and bread. The entrée was pork with some type of sauce. Custard pudding was served for desert. I’m not a huge fan of pork, but this was delicious!! I wish we could have eaten more of it!
Ronda is most famous for it’s history of bullfighting. Many of the locals claim that the “art” of bullfighting was created in Ronda. It just so happened that today was the last day of one of their festivals and a bull fight was planned for later that day! Banners were hung all around town and flowers placed on all of the statues of past famous bullfighters. Everyone was dressed in their best clothes. We saw many beautiful rich ladies wearing old Spanish dresses and veils. They rode on horse carriages through the city and into the arena. It kind of reminded me of a parade. I did some shopping and bought a shirt that says “Espana” and a few postcards. We arrived back to the ship around 7:30 that night. A ton of people are going back out to party tonight but I’m going to bed. I’m just not the type of person that can stay out until 4 in the morning and then get up and start the day at 8.
Day 3: Seville
The day started with an early wake up call at 8:00 am. I got up to eat breakfast (no raspberry yogurt today, just plain) then got ready for my day trip to Seville. The ride took about an hour and a half. I tried to take as many pictures of the countryside as I could, but I (along with everyone else on the bus) kept nodding off.
When we reached the city, we took a walking tour of the Alcazar which showcases the Muslim influences on Seville. This historic fort was built by the Moors in 913 and remained under their control until Fernando III (Christian) took over in 1248. Although it was originally a fort, it was later used as a palace. The place was huge (and we didn’t even get to see half of it, I’m sure.) It was one of the prettiest places I’ve ever seen. The blue and gold Arabic colors on the wall mix beautifully together. Of course, no palace would be complete without large and luscious gardens with fountains. Not just fountains, but pounds where multiple ducks had made their home. The ponds were even filled with fish! My words don’t really do the place justice. I’d advise everyone to look at my face book pictures once I’m able to upload them.
Our next stop was the Cathedral of Seville. It is the third largest cathedral in the world and houses the remains of Christopher Columbus. I didn’t know this, but he apparently requested to be buried above ground. His tomb is in the main room and is held up by four large bronze statues. Another impressive feature of the cathedral is it’s fully accessible bell tower, called La Giralda, which offers an amazing view of the city (hah, I sound like a travel brochure!) Before we started to ascend, I was unsure how many flights of ramps (there were no stairs, just ramps) we would have to climb. That’s probably a good thing. The total ended up being 34(!!) flights of ramps. I have officially strengthened my leg muscles for the year. However, the view at the top was totally worth it.
Around 1:15 we took a tour of the old Jewish Quarter and ate lunch. I’ve officially decided that I love Spanish food. We were served a sample platter with all types of different cuisine: chicken, ham, pork, bread, watermelon, asparagus, squid. Yup, I ate squid today! It was surprisingly yummy! After lunch we headed back to bus and drove back to Cadiz. Although the tour was great, I don’t feel that one day in Seville was enough. We toured much of the historic side of Seville, but didn’t get to see much of the modern side.
After the tour, I went to a park and used my laptop for awhile. I also watched the local kids play soccer. It’s amazing how many little kids are still out at 9 and 10 at night.
Sorry if this entry has a ton of typos and mistakes with grammar. It’s almost 11:30 and I am exhausted!
Today started at 9 am. We got on the bus and drove about an hour to the city of Arcos. The first thing I noticed about the city is that it’s built high up in the mountains. As is typical of Spain, Arcos had a grand old Catholic Church. Outside of the church, we saw the two cutest dogs! One looked like a tiny Yorkie. Yankee is probably three times his size! That’s how small he was. Someone asked and the guy said he was four months old. As I mentioned, the town is built on a hill. The church’s balcony looks out over the road WAY down below. It would have pleased even a balcony snob like my mother :).
The first thing we did in Ronda was eat a typical Spanish lunch at a restaurant called Sol Y Sombra. The tour wasn’t very expensive so I didn’t expect much of a “real” lunch. I was pleasantly surprised when we were served a full 3 course meal! First we ate some type of soup with rice and bread. The entrée was pork with some type of sauce. Custard pudding was served for desert. I’m not a huge fan of pork, but this was delicious!! I wish we could have eaten more of it!
Ronda is most famous for it’s history of bullfighting. Many of the locals claim that the “art” of bullfighting was created in Ronda. It just so happened that today was the last day of one of their festivals and a bull fight was planned for later that day! Banners were hung all around town and flowers placed on all of the statues of past famous bullfighters. Everyone was dressed in their best clothes. We saw many beautiful rich ladies wearing old Spanish dresses and veils. They rode on horse carriages through the city and into the arena. It kind of reminded me of a parade. I did some shopping and bought a shirt that says “Espana” and a few postcards. We arrived back to the ship around 7:30 that night. A ton of people are going back out to party tonight but I’m going to bed. I’m just not the type of person that can stay out until 4 in the morning and then get up and start the day at 8.
Day 3: Seville
The day started with an early wake up call at 8:00 am. I got up to eat breakfast (no raspberry yogurt today, just plain) then got ready for my day trip to Seville. The ride took about an hour and a half. I tried to take as many pictures of the countryside as I could, but I (along with everyone else on the bus) kept nodding off.
When we reached the city, we took a walking tour of the Alcazar which showcases the Muslim influences on Seville. This historic fort was built by the Moors in 913 and remained under their control until Fernando III (Christian) took over in 1248. Although it was originally a fort, it was later used as a palace. The place was huge (and we didn’t even get to see half of it, I’m sure.) It was one of the prettiest places I’ve ever seen. The blue and gold Arabic colors on the wall mix beautifully together. Of course, no palace would be complete without large and luscious gardens with fountains. Not just fountains, but pounds where multiple ducks had made their home. The ponds were even filled with fish! My words don’t really do the place justice. I’d advise everyone to look at my face book pictures once I’m able to upload them.
Our next stop was the Cathedral of Seville. It is the third largest cathedral in the world and houses the remains of Christopher Columbus. I didn’t know this, but he apparently requested to be buried above ground. His tomb is in the main room and is held up by four large bronze statues. Another impressive feature of the cathedral is it’s fully accessible bell tower, called La Giralda, which offers an amazing view of the city (hah, I sound like a travel brochure!) Before we started to ascend, I was unsure how many flights of ramps (there were no stairs, just ramps) we would have to climb. That’s probably a good thing. The total ended up being 34(!!) flights of ramps. I have officially strengthened my leg muscles for the year. However, the view at the top was totally worth it.
Around 1:15 we took a tour of the old Jewish Quarter and ate lunch. I’ve officially decided that I love Spanish food. We were served a sample platter with all types of different cuisine: chicken, ham, pork, bread, watermelon, asparagus, squid. Yup, I ate squid today! It was surprisingly yummy! After lunch we headed back to bus and drove back to Cadiz. Although the tour was great, I don’t feel that one day in Seville was enough. We toured much of the historic side of Seville, but didn’t get to see much of the modern side.
After the tour, I went to a park and used my laptop for awhile. I also watched the local kids play soccer. It’s amazing how many little kids are still out at 9 and 10 at night.
Sorry if this entry has a ton of typos and mistakes with grammar. It’s almost 11:30 and I am exhausted!
Saturday, September 5, 2009
The wonderful portside town of Cadiz
Hola!
My roommate and I woke up at about 6:30 this morning and headed up to breakfast. Breakfast was really good this morning. They had raspberry yogurt!! This may not seem like a big deal to anyone else, but they usually only have cherry and “plain.” Finally a change of food!
Everyone was outside trying to get pictures of the port but, It was still dark so most of the pictures came out blurry. All you could really see were a ton of lights in the distance. We finally docked at about 08:00 and Ali left to go on a trip to the Spanish coastlines plus a visit to Gibraltar. Their group was the first ones off. I left the ship with my friend Kyle around 9 to go explore the city. We were soon joined by his other friend, Cal. We walked around for about half an hour until Kyle told us he had to go back and leave for his “Churches of Cadiz” tour. We walked as fast as we could, but we just couldn’t make it in time. So we headed back to the city to explore and find a place to eat for lunch. We spent a good 3 hours walking around the town and beaches. The beaches are absolutely gorgeous! There is a long stone walkway from one of the old beaches out to an old fort, San Sebastian, which was built to protect the city against an invasion from the French. It was a good 10 minute walk out to the fort! Kyle dubbed it “The Little Wall of Spain.” The actual fort was closed so all we could do was get to the gate and turn around.
The Cadiz city orientation started at 13:00 and I didn’t want to miss it, so we tried to stay close to the port. Of course, things never go quite as planned and we got a little lost. We ended up almost on the other side of Cadiz (the town itself is not that big.) Luckily, we realized we were going the wrong way and hurried back the way we came. I got to the orientation meeting with about 5 minutes to spare. Whew!
The description of the tour says “part bus and part walking.” What they didn’t mention is that the bus portion lasts about 10 minutes and the other 3 hours is walking! We went to a lot of really cool sites. We saw the old official Cathedral of Cadiz and even went into the crypt. Halfway through the tour we were allowed some free time in a local market for shopping. I didn’t have time to eat lunch, so I was really hungry and decided to try some “local cuisine.“ I can officially say that chocolate gelato ice cream tastes wonderful in Spain :). The best part of the tour was visiting the Museo De Cadiz. In the Archaeological department they had a sarcophagi and an old reconstructed pit with skeletal remains. I took about 20 pictures of that. It was awesome!
When I got back to the ship around 5 o’clock my feet were killing me! I decided to go up deck and soak my sore feet in the pool. It felt WONDERFUL! After finally getting some food in my stomach, my friend Andrew and I decided to look for a free wifi spot to use our laptops. It turns out there is a park with free wifi about 5 minutes from the ship! It was awesome to finally use face book again. I tried to upload my pictures but it kept saying “error.” I’ll try again when I have free time on Tuesday. When our laptops died we decided to walk around and do some evening shopping. I bought 2 postcards and got a DBZ figurine out a small gumball type machine for one Euro. Leave it to me to find the anime in every country! I was exhausted by this point so we headed back to ship. My day ended with watching a documentary about the Christian/Jewish/Muslim influences on Spain.
Tomorrow I’m going to visit the old Spanish towns of Ronda and Arcos! I’ll be gone from 09:00-20:15 so the blog might be a tad late. I’ll do my best to get it posted by tomorrow night.
My roommate and I woke up at about 6:30 this morning and headed up to breakfast. Breakfast was really good this morning. They had raspberry yogurt!! This may not seem like a big deal to anyone else, but they usually only have cherry and “plain.” Finally a change of food!
Everyone was outside trying to get pictures of the port but, It was still dark so most of the pictures came out blurry. All you could really see were a ton of lights in the distance. We finally docked at about 08:00 and Ali left to go on a trip to the Spanish coastlines plus a visit to Gibraltar. Their group was the first ones off. I left the ship with my friend Kyle around 9 to go explore the city. We were soon joined by his other friend, Cal. We walked around for about half an hour until Kyle told us he had to go back and leave for his “Churches of Cadiz” tour. We walked as fast as we could, but we just couldn’t make it in time. So we headed back to the city to explore and find a place to eat for lunch. We spent a good 3 hours walking around the town and beaches. The beaches are absolutely gorgeous! There is a long stone walkway from one of the old beaches out to an old fort, San Sebastian, which was built to protect the city against an invasion from the French. It was a good 10 minute walk out to the fort! Kyle dubbed it “The Little Wall of Spain.” The actual fort was closed so all we could do was get to the gate and turn around.
The Cadiz city orientation started at 13:00 and I didn’t want to miss it, so we tried to stay close to the port. Of course, things never go quite as planned and we got a little lost. We ended up almost on the other side of Cadiz (the town itself is not that big.) Luckily, we realized we were going the wrong way and hurried back the way we came. I got to the orientation meeting with about 5 minutes to spare. Whew!
The description of the tour says “part bus and part walking.” What they didn’t mention is that the bus portion lasts about 10 minutes and the other 3 hours is walking! We went to a lot of really cool sites. We saw the old official Cathedral of Cadiz and even went into the crypt. Halfway through the tour we were allowed some free time in a local market for shopping. I didn’t have time to eat lunch, so I was really hungry and decided to try some “local cuisine.“ I can officially say that chocolate gelato ice cream tastes wonderful in Spain :). The best part of the tour was visiting the Museo De Cadiz. In the Archaeological department they had a sarcophagi and an old reconstructed pit with skeletal remains. I took about 20 pictures of that. It was awesome!
When I got back to the ship around 5 o’clock my feet were killing me! I decided to go up deck and soak my sore feet in the pool. It felt WONDERFUL! After finally getting some food in my stomach, my friend Andrew and I decided to look for a free wifi spot to use our laptops. It turns out there is a park with free wifi about 5 minutes from the ship! It was awesome to finally use face book again. I tried to upload my pictures but it kept saying “error.” I’ll try again when I have free time on Tuesday. When our laptops died we decided to walk around and do some evening shopping. I bought 2 postcards and got a DBZ figurine out a small gumball type machine for one Euro. Leave it to me to find the anime in every country! I was exhausted by this point so we headed back to ship. My day ended with watching a documentary about the Christian/Jewish/Muslim influences on Spain.
Tomorrow I’m going to visit the old Spanish towns of Ronda and Arcos! I’ll be gone from 09:00-20:15 so the blog might be a tad late. I’ll do my best to get it posted by tomorrow night.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Long post
Hey! I’m sorry that I haven’t had a chance to update my blog in a few days. It’s been a hectic last few days of classes. I’ll try to do better on updating the blog while we are in port.
Wednesday September 2nd. I think…
Classes at Semester at Sea are starting to get into a normal routine. I’m enjoying most of my classes, except for global studies, and I don’t think any of them are too tough yet. I got lucky with good classes. So far, I’ve just had a ton of reading, but I know at least one class already has a power point presentation due tomorrow.
I didn’t do much during this afternoon. My “B” day classes are over at noon so I took a nap until about 3. After that I went up to the top deck and studied next to pool. As the boat swayed, the water would shift to one side. It sounded like the way the tide recedes on a beach. It was very peaceful.
I went to one of the explorer seminars that night. Explorer Seminars are an evening lecture and discussion held by either one of the teachers or lifelong learners. They usually hold 2 or 3 different seminars each night. The one I attended was about noticing not just the cultural differences in the countries we visit, but really paying attention to the similarities as well. When I returned to my cabin, I got sucked into some British documentary about fish and oceans and finally went to bed. After tonight there is only one more night of losing hours!
Thursday
Today was extremely hectic! The Vicarious Voyage program had it’s first informational meeting tonight at 1745-1845 so I only had 15 minutes to eat dinner. We didn’t do much at the meeting except meet our group members, and find out which classroom we are connecting with (if we didn’t already know).
Afterwards, I attended the second meeting of the Alcohol Free group at 1900. The majority of us are going on the Cadiz City Orientation and have Friday free. We are not quite sure what we will do on Friday yet, but I think we will probably find a good restaurant to eat at.
I hadn’t planned on attending the LGBT group, but a few of my friends decided to go at the last minute, so I went with them. I’m glad we decided to go. There were quite a few (about 25) people. The Dean of Students, who is gay, talked about his sailing many years ago and how a group like this would never have happened. It was sad to hear how alone he felt.
At 2000 I attended the mandatory cultural pre-port meeting, which is where someone from Spain lectures about what to expect form the culture. Afterward, I had planned to watch a movie in the Union about the Jewish/Christian/Muslim regions of Spain, but I was exhausted by the time it came on. It usually takes me awhile to fall asleep, but not tonight. I was out the moment my head hit the pillow! Also, tonight is the last night that we will lose hours for awhile. YAY!
Friday(today):
The first half of the day was a fairly routine “B” day. I finished all of my classes and then took a nap until about 1600. After that I did something very out of the ordinary. I laid by the pool to get a tan! I only laid out for about 5-10 minutes but I’m sure I’m still going to burn anyway.
We reach Spain tomorrow! And we don’t have to lose an hour tonight! Just as classes start to become routine, we take almost a two week break. We will be in Spain for four days (Saturday September 5-Tuesday September 8). We have ONE DAY before we reach Morocco. This day is appropriately titled “Morocco Day” and we will have all the usual meetings we have before reaching a country. Everyone will have Global Studies class that day but all other classes are canceled. We will arrive in Casablanca at 8 am on Thursday September 10th and stay until Monday September 14th. Unfortunately, it’s back to the regular class routine after that. We don’t reach Ghana until September 22nd.
Bye all! Next blog will be from Spain!
Wednesday September 2nd. I think…
Classes at Semester at Sea are starting to get into a normal routine. I’m enjoying most of my classes, except for global studies, and I don’t think any of them are too tough yet. I got lucky with good classes. So far, I’ve just had a ton of reading, but I know at least one class already has a power point presentation due tomorrow.
I didn’t do much during this afternoon. My “B” day classes are over at noon so I took a nap until about 3. After that I went up to the top deck and studied next to pool. As the boat swayed, the water would shift to one side. It sounded like the way the tide recedes on a beach. It was very peaceful.
I went to one of the explorer seminars that night. Explorer Seminars are an evening lecture and discussion held by either one of the teachers or lifelong learners. They usually hold 2 or 3 different seminars each night. The one I attended was about noticing not just the cultural differences in the countries we visit, but really paying attention to the similarities as well. When I returned to my cabin, I got sucked into some British documentary about fish and oceans and finally went to bed. After tonight there is only one more night of losing hours!
Thursday
Today was extremely hectic! The Vicarious Voyage program had it’s first informational meeting tonight at 1745-1845 so I only had 15 minutes to eat dinner. We didn’t do much at the meeting except meet our group members, and find out which classroom we are connecting with (if we didn’t already know).
Afterwards, I attended the second meeting of the Alcohol Free group at 1900. The majority of us are going on the Cadiz City Orientation and have Friday free. We are not quite sure what we will do on Friday yet, but I think we will probably find a good restaurant to eat at.
I hadn’t planned on attending the LGBT group, but a few of my friends decided to go at the last minute, so I went with them. I’m glad we decided to go. There were quite a few (about 25) people. The Dean of Students, who is gay, talked about his sailing many years ago and how a group like this would never have happened. It was sad to hear how alone he felt.
At 2000 I attended the mandatory cultural pre-port meeting, which is where someone from Spain lectures about what to expect form the culture. Afterward, I had planned to watch a movie in the Union about the Jewish/Christian/Muslim regions of Spain, but I was exhausted by the time it came on. It usually takes me awhile to fall asleep, but not tonight. I was out the moment my head hit the pillow! Also, tonight is the last night that we will lose hours for awhile. YAY!
Friday(today):
The first half of the day was a fairly routine “B” day. I finished all of my classes and then took a nap until about 1600. After that I did something very out of the ordinary. I laid by the pool to get a tan! I only laid out for about 5-10 minutes but I’m sure I’m still going to burn anyway.
We reach Spain tomorrow! And we don’t have to lose an hour tonight! Just as classes start to become routine, we take almost a two week break. We will be in Spain for four days (Saturday September 5-Tuesday September 8). We have ONE DAY before we reach Morocco. This day is appropriately titled “Morocco Day” and we will have all the usual meetings we have before reaching a country. Everyone will have Global Studies class that day but all other classes are canceled. We will arrive in Casablanca at 8 am on Thursday September 10th and stay until Monday September 14th. Unfortunately, it’s back to the regular class routine after that. We don’t reach Ghana until September 22nd.
Bye all! Next blog will be from Spain!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
A2
This blog is meant to be an accurate record of my journey. That includes both the good and the challenges.
First the challenges.
For perhaps the first time in my life, I am experiencing true homesickness. Nobody here has heard of Truman or Kirksville. Although I often email, not being able to hear my families voice (or bark/meow) has really hit me hard. Many people on this voyage most likely learned how to deal with homesickness during their normal “on land” college years. I, however, was never more than 5 minutes away from home while at college.
The other “challenging” aspect is the schedule. We are losing hours almost everyday. Yes, we will eventually gain all the hours back but that will be on the return voyage. It is this exhaustion that has prompted this somewhat negative blog post. Tonight is the first night of the voyage that we will not change the clock. People is the dining room all cheered when the announcement was made during lunch. After tomorrow, we will again lose hours for the next two days. I knew I’d be grateful for many things while on this voyage, but finally having a full 24 hour day was not one I expected. Despite losing hours, the days seem to be extremely long. It’s been said in other blogs, but you truly have zero sense of day or time while on the ship. I know it’s an “A” day but that’s about it.
Now on to the good!
My vision has returned to normal and I don't feel seasick without the patch. Yay!!
My multicultural detective fiction class was really interesting today. My teacher was born in Spain so he knows all about it firsthand. We talked about how much has changed in the last 30 years or so. Such as becoming more industrialized and moving from a dictatorship to a democracy. It was really cool to get a first hand account of someone who has lived through it.
The best part of the day was the BBQ to celebrate the 100th voyage! We had all types of food: burgers, hotdogs, baked beans, ribs, coleslaw, etc. It was the first time since we set sail that I felt really full. SAS also set up a huge banner in the 5th floor for everyone to sign. It will apparently be auctioned off at the end of the voyage. Well, It’s midnight and I have an early class tomorrow so I’m off to bed. Goodnight!
First the challenges.
For perhaps the first time in my life, I am experiencing true homesickness. Nobody here has heard of Truman or Kirksville. Although I often email, not being able to hear my families voice (or bark/meow) has really hit me hard. Many people on this voyage most likely learned how to deal with homesickness during their normal “on land” college years. I, however, was never more than 5 minutes away from home while at college.
The other “challenging” aspect is the schedule. We are losing hours almost everyday. Yes, we will eventually gain all the hours back but that will be on the return voyage. It is this exhaustion that has prompted this somewhat negative blog post. Tonight is the first night of the voyage that we will not change the clock. People is the dining room all cheered when the announcement was made during lunch. After tomorrow, we will again lose hours for the next two days. I knew I’d be grateful for many things while on this voyage, but finally having a full 24 hour day was not one I expected. Despite losing hours, the days seem to be extremely long. It’s been said in other blogs, but you truly have zero sense of day or time while on the ship. I know it’s an “A” day but that’s about it.
Now on to the good!
My vision has returned to normal and I don't feel seasick without the patch. Yay!!
My multicultural detective fiction class was really interesting today. My teacher was born in Spain so he knows all about it firsthand. We talked about how much has changed in the last 30 years or so. Such as becoming more industrialized and moving from a dictatorship to a democracy. It was really cool to get a first hand account of someone who has lived through it.
The best part of the day was the BBQ to celebrate the 100th voyage! We had all types of food: burgers, hotdogs, baked beans, ribs, coleslaw, etc. It was the first time since we set sail that I felt really full. SAS also set up a huge banner in the 5th floor for everyone to sign. It will apparently be auctioned off at the end of the voyage. Well, It’s midnight and I have an early class tomorrow so I’m off to bed. Goodnight!
B1
I started my other two classes today: Global Studies and History of Ancient China. History of Ancient China should be a fairly exciting class. It’s obvious that the teacher is very passionate about Asian history. Global Studies was alright. We talked about foreign outsourcing which was an interesting topic, but it’s my earliest class and the loss of sleep is starting to catch up with me. Not only that, the class is held in the main lounge at the front of the ship where you can feel the ships rocking more than any other place. It was a real struggle to stay awake. Luckily, I was done with all of my classes by noon so I decided to do what I do best: NAP!!!
Student activity groups are finally starting. I attended the first “Alcohol free voyagers” group meeting. There were about 10 of us in attendance and we decided to go to a Flamenco Dance lesson in Spain.
The day ended with my roommate and I watching Finding Nemo on our small t.v. I don’t think I’ve mentioned anything about our T.V. yet. We get 6 channels. The first channel displays the ships location, how fast we are going, how many miles we’ve traveled, etc. Channels 2, 3, 5, and 6 all show a different movie or documentary every day. Channel 4 shows the “Dean’s Memo,” which is basically SAS’s version of the carnival capers. It shows all the activities for the day, reminds people to keep their cabin clean, has meal times, etc.
Tomorrow SAS is holding a “100th voyage kickoff party.” Apparently there will be barbeque and a “mash up” dance where we wear mismatched clothes. After eating the same food for multiple days, I’m extremely excited for something different. Tomorrow is also the last day to sign up for trips in Ghana, South Africa, Mauritius (pronounced like vicious, the “T” makes an sh sound fyi.), and India. I only signed up for few trips which I will post when I find out which one I’ve been accepted for.
Student activity groups are finally starting. I attended the first “Alcohol free voyagers” group meeting. There were about 10 of us in attendance and we decided to go to a Flamenco Dance lesson in Spain.
The day ended with my roommate and I watching Finding Nemo on our small t.v. I don’t think I’ve mentioned anything about our T.V. yet. We get 6 channels. The first channel displays the ships location, how fast we are going, how many miles we’ve traveled, etc. Channels 2, 3, 5, and 6 all show a different movie or documentary every day. Channel 4 shows the “Dean’s Memo,” which is basically SAS’s version of the carnival capers. It shows all the activities for the day, reminds people to keep their cabin clean, has meal times, etc.
Tomorrow SAS is holding a “100th voyage kickoff party.” Apparently there will be barbeque and a “mash up” dance where we wear mismatched clothes. After eating the same food for multiple days, I’m extremely excited for something different. Tomorrow is also the last day to sign up for trips in Ghana, South Africa, Mauritius (pronounced like vicious, the “T” makes an sh sound fyi.), and India. I only signed up for few trips which I will post when I find out which one I’ve been accepted for.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
