I'm currently sitting outside a catherdral in Cadiz on a beautiful sunny day. I can't think of a better place to sit and write about my trip in Spain!
First of all I'm so glad we went to Sevilla.
The old fashioned vintage feel and the history of the city was amazing. After wandering around for about 3 hours trying to find a place to stay we finally made it to a hostel, dropped our bags and went straight out for Tapas and CampoCruz (Sevilla's local beer). Once we'd had our refreshments, we spent the entire first day just wandering the city checking out local shops and landmarks. We watched the sunset over the river and hung out for a while in the parks along the water. We had big plans for the night but since we ate dinner around midnight we didn't make it out our first night there.
On thursday we did some more serious sightseeing. We walked around the university and the Gardens of Alcaczar and hung out around a fountain that quickly became our favorite meeting spot since it was right in the center of everything. On Thursday night we went to the Sevilla vs. Valencia football game. Let me tell you, the Spaniards LOVE their football. The game was intense and Sevilla score the winning goal in the last 5 minutes of the game. The energy was insane! After the game the security guards weren't paying attention and we got to go on the professional football field! Unbelievable. Then we danced and sang with some locals outside the stadium for about 2 hours and they gave us their championship scarves that all the Sevillans have. Perfect souveniers with a story. After a quick bite to eat we went back to our hostel to change and finally made it to the club at 3am. We stayed at Buddha bar until about 6am and then made our way home. The Spanish like partying about as much as they like football.
After a rough wake up call (and sticking to the moto "we'll sleep when we're dead") we headed out to see everything else we could find in Sevilla. We went back to the Catherdral and had the most amazing picnick lunch by the foutain. We bought fresh baguettes with meats and cheeses and some pastries and a bottle of sweet wine and just sat outside. It really was perfect. After meeting up wit Alex Goff (YAY!) made a plan to meet up later and then headed to the Plaza d'Espana. We were all really tired and grumpy from walking everywhere but I think everyone agreed once we got there that it was totally worth it. I've never seen such beautiful architecture in my entire life. Someone told us that one of the Star Wars movies was filmed there and I cana definitely see why. Intricate paintings on columns surround a central fountain with doves flying everywhere. Defintely and ideal movie set. At night we all headed to an underground Flamenco bar and saw some live music and local dancing. It was the perfect end to our Sevilla trip.
This morning we all tried to catch up on some of the sleep we missed out on while we were on th train back to Cadiz. Now its time to get back on the boat. We sail for one day tomorrow with a stop in Gibralter to refuel and then we'll be in Morocco on Monday!
I honestly can't believe this is only the first port, this trip has already been worth it.
Sea you later!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
SPAIN!!!
Docked in Cadiz, Spain this morning and Ive never been so happy to see land in my life! We got right on a train and after wandering for about 2 hours we finally found a Hostel in Sevilla! Its so beautiful here and we cant wait to explore! Ill make sure to update once we have had a chance to take a look around!
Ciao and Sea you later!
Ciao and Sea you later!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Greetings from the middle of the Atlantic Ocean! After standing on the dock and waving goodbye to the parents of people I didn’t know, we finally set sail and started this crazy trip! I want to provide you with some terms I’ve learned so that all of you can be politically correct when talking about what’s going on out here!
- It’s the “deck”, not the “floor”
- It’s a “ship”, not a “boat”
- It’s a “voyage”, not a “cruise”
So there you have it, now you can all be sailors like me!
So the bad news first, I am apparently a victim of sea sickness. Although the food has been better than I expected, I ate about 2 meals in the first 3 days that haven’t returned for a second round. The “Union” where we have meetings is at the front of the boat and is quite possibly worse than the Madhatter’s tea cup ride at Disney World. I kept getting sick after being in there, but they broadcast all of the events going on in that room to TV’s in classrooms around the ship and even in my bedroom (which is pretty sweet since I have a class that technically takes place in there). I was psyched when I figured this out. Then this morning I discovered that there is another smaller classroom in which my International Management class takes place in that has similar effects of nausea. Not so psyched about this. Needless to say that after finding out I accidentally signed up for a course for business majors (uh oh) and sitting in that room for an hour I spent some quality time in my munchkin sized bathroom. Not a fun afternoon. But now I have my sea legs and I’m feeling a LOT better.
On the bright side, this thing is unreal!
THE BOAT: Being able to walk straight (although walking “straight” on a rocking ship is a relative term) from class to the pool is a pretty good life. They broadcast the Presidential Inauguration all across the ship and had a big celebration for him with cake and non-alcoholic champagnes (which I quickly discovered after my time celebrating in the Union can have the same negative effects on a ship as drinking alcoholic champagne has on land…again, not so good). But…BARACK OBAMA IS OUR PRESIDENT! And let me tell you, these professors are NOT shy about their views. If I had a dollar for every time one of them told us the world was so proud of us I might not have any loans left after this trip. Ok fine, that’s completely untrue, but the attitude and atmosphere here is awesome. I immediately befriended a guy who on the first day wore a shirt saying “the only bad plant is a Bush”. We got along just fine.
THE ROOM: My roommate’s name is Sonya. She’s from NJ and goes to University of Pittsburgh. Honestly, I’ve been in the room to sleep and shower and that’s about it (considering its size-pictures to come later-that’s really all you can do in here!).
CLASSES: So far, teachers could not be better. They are all so excited and have so many unbelievable stories to tell us. Classes won’t be easy, but it’s cool that we have so much time with our professors outside of class whether its meals or just hanging out on the ship. I think it will be a great experience to get to know them. AND one of my professors went to Madison! It’s called Service-Learning and it’s basically a class about how to set up volunteer programs in other countries, which for those of you who don’t know that’s exactly what I want to do. So I think that class will be great.
THE PEOPLE: Picture a freshman dorm in which you had to be screened to be insane enough to hop on a boat and travel around the world with 700 strangers. There you have it ladies and gentleman, the students on the MV Explorer. People are ready to talk about everything and anything. Also I’m not the only one who was told to bring games aboard for the slow times on the ship, so after listening to a kid with perfect pitch play every single song we could hum at him, a few of us played an intense game of Uno followed by and even more intense game of Slapjack until about 2am. I know it was 2am for two reasons:
#1) The bartenders came over and gave us free popcorn since we were the only people not in our cabins at this hour (I think that’s the only free thing I’ll be getting on this boat, so we decided that staying up late is the trick to snag some free goods)
#2) They broadcast the time change across the TV’s on the ship because for the next SIX nights we lose and hour of sleep EVERY night. We decided last night that we are circumnavigating the globe in the wrong direction. Apparently there’s even a spot somewhere along the route where we lose SIX hours in one night! I think eve trying to sleep that night is counterproductive.
There are also dance classes at night and so far we’ve learned how to swing dance and salsa. The boys on the ship definitely show up to take advantage of the 3:1 ratio they have in their advantage. Last night a bunch of us decided to sleep out on the deck. After spending the night telling riddles and jokes and making up songs with a harmonica (yes, this really is a floating summer camp) we finally tried to sleep. Unfortunately we were unsuccessful since it got really cold up there and a deck chair is only comfy to nap on when you’re tanning, so at about 4am we turned in. All of us needed some BIG naps today but it was definitely a good time. The stars out here are so bright!
SEA you later!
- It’s the “deck”, not the “floor”
- It’s a “ship”, not a “boat”
- It’s a “voyage”, not a “cruise”
So there you have it, now you can all be sailors like me!
So the bad news first, I am apparently a victim of sea sickness. Although the food has been better than I expected, I ate about 2 meals in the first 3 days that haven’t returned for a second round. The “Union” where we have meetings is at the front of the boat and is quite possibly worse than the Madhatter’s tea cup ride at Disney World. I kept getting sick after being in there, but they broadcast all of the events going on in that room to TV’s in classrooms around the ship and even in my bedroom (which is pretty sweet since I have a class that technically takes place in there). I was psyched when I figured this out. Then this morning I discovered that there is another smaller classroom in which my International Management class takes place in that has similar effects of nausea. Not so psyched about this. Needless to say that after finding out I accidentally signed up for a course for business majors (uh oh) and sitting in that room for an hour I spent some quality time in my munchkin sized bathroom. Not a fun afternoon. But now I have my sea legs and I’m feeling a LOT better.
On the bright side, this thing is unreal!
THE BOAT: Being able to walk straight (although walking “straight” on a rocking ship is a relative term) from class to the pool is a pretty good life. They broadcast the Presidential Inauguration all across the ship and had a big celebration for him with cake and non-alcoholic champagnes (which I quickly discovered after my time celebrating in the Union can have the same negative effects on a ship as drinking alcoholic champagne has on land…again, not so good). But…BARACK OBAMA IS OUR PRESIDENT! And let me tell you, these professors are NOT shy about their views. If I had a dollar for every time one of them told us the world was so proud of us I might not have any loans left after this trip. Ok fine, that’s completely untrue, but the attitude and atmosphere here is awesome. I immediately befriended a guy who on the first day wore a shirt saying “the only bad plant is a Bush”. We got along just fine.
THE ROOM: My roommate’s name is Sonya. She’s from NJ and goes to University of Pittsburgh. Honestly, I’ve been in the room to sleep and shower and that’s about it (considering its size-pictures to come later-that’s really all you can do in here!).
CLASSES: So far, teachers could not be better. They are all so excited and have so many unbelievable stories to tell us. Classes won’t be easy, but it’s cool that we have so much time with our professors outside of class whether its meals or just hanging out on the ship. I think it will be a great experience to get to know them. AND one of my professors went to Madison! It’s called Service-Learning and it’s basically a class about how to set up volunteer programs in other countries, which for those of you who don’t know that’s exactly what I want to do. So I think that class will be great.
THE PEOPLE: Picture a freshman dorm in which you had to be screened to be insane enough to hop on a boat and travel around the world with 700 strangers. There you have it ladies and gentleman, the students on the MV Explorer. People are ready to talk about everything and anything. Also I’m not the only one who was told to bring games aboard for the slow times on the ship, so after listening to a kid with perfect pitch play every single song we could hum at him, a few of us played an intense game of Uno followed by and even more intense game of Slapjack until about 2am. I know it was 2am for two reasons:
#1) The bartenders came over and gave us free popcorn since we were the only people not in our cabins at this hour (I think that’s the only free thing I’ll be getting on this boat, so we decided that staying up late is the trick to snag some free goods)
#2) They broadcast the time change across the TV’s on the ship because for the next SIX nights we lose and hour of sleep EVERY night. We decided last night that we are circumnavigating the globe in the wrong direction. Apparently there’s even a spot somewhere along the route where we lose SIX hours in one night! I think eve trying to sleep that night is counterproductive.
There are also dance classes at night and so far we’ve learned how to swing dance and salsa. The boys on the ship definitely show up to take advantage of the 3:1 ratio they have in their advantage. Last night a bunch of us decided to sleep out on the deck. After spending the night telling riddles and jokes and making up songs with a harmonica (yes, this really is a floating summer camp) we finally tried to sleep. Unfortunately we were unsuccessful since it got really cold up there and a deck chair is only comfy to nap on when you’re tanning, so at about 4am we turned in. All of us needed some BIG naps today but it was definitely a good time. The stars out here are so bright!
SEA you later!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Road Rules
Yesterday I got a flat tire and was able to change it myself. Sadly, this picture is not what I looked like while doing it. Still, I think now I'm ready to take on the world.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Virgin Seas: The Itinerary
There's a scene in "Armageddon" where Oscar (Owen Wilson) turns to A.J. (Ben Affleck) during the space shuttle take off of their mission to save to world and says:
"I'm, like, 98% excited, and maybe 2% scared. Or maybe it's backwards. Maybe I'm 98% scared, and, like, 2% excited. But that's that makes it so great---I'm so confused!"
I'm not off to save the planet, but I get you, Owen.
With that said, here it is. The final itinerary:
Nassau, Bahamas
Depart-Monday19 January-1700
Cadiz, Spain
Arrive-Wednesdau 1/28
Depart-Saturday 1/31
Casablanca, Morocco
Arrive-Monday 2/2
Depart-Thursday 2/5
Walvis Bay, Namibia
Arrive-Saturday 2/14
Depart-Monday 2/16
Cape Town, South Africa
Arrive-Wednesday 2/18
Depart-Sunday 2/22
Port Louis, Mauritius
Arrive-Friday 2/27
Depart-Friday 2/27
Chennai, India
Arrive-Thursday 3/5
Depart-Monday 3/9
Laem Chabang (Bangkok), Thailand
Arrive-Sunday 3/15
Depart-Thursday 3/19
Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam
Arrive-Sunday 3/22
Depart-Friday 3/27
Hong Kong/Shanghai, China
Arrive-Sunday 3/29
Depart-Friday 4/3
Kobe/Yokohama, Japan
Arrive-Monday 4/6 (AND TURN 21!!!)
Depart-Friday 4/10
(Cross International dateline, add one day)
Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Arrive-Sunday 4/19
Depart-Monday 4/20
Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala(Antigua, Guatemala City)
Arrive-Tuesday 4/28
Depart-Thursday 4/30
(Transit Panama Canal - Sunday, 03 May)
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA
Arrive-Wednesday 5/6
What a trip.
"I'm, like, 98% excited, and maybe 2% scared. Or maybe it's backwards. Maybe I'm 98% scared, and, like, 2% excited. But that's that makes it so great---I'm so confused!"
I'm not off to save the planet, but I get you, Owen.
With that said, here it is. The final itinerary:
Nassau, Bahamas
Depart-Monday19 January-1700
Cadiz, Spain
Arrive-Wednesdau 1/28
Depart-Saturday 1/31
Casablanca, Morocco
Arrive-Monday 2/2
Depart-Thursday 2/5
Walvis Bay, Namibia
Arrive-Saturday 2/14
Depart-Monday 2/16
Cape Town, South Africa
Arrive-Wednesday 2/18
Depart-Sunday 2/22
Port Louis, Mauritius
Arrive-Friday 2/27
Depart-Friday 2/27
Chennai, India
Arrive-Thursday 3/5
Depart-Monday 3/9
Laem Chabang (Bangkok), Thailand
Arrive-Sunday 3/15
Depart-Thursday 3/19
Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam
Arrive-Sunday 3/22
Depart-Friday 3/27
Hong Kong/Shanghai, China
Arrive-Sunday 3/29
Depart-Friday 4/3
Kobe/Yokohama, Japan
Arrive-Monday 4/6 (AND TURN 21!!!)
Depart-Friday 4/10
(Cross International dateline, add one day)
Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Arrive-Sunday 4/19
Depart-Monday 4/20
Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala(Antigua, Guatemala City)
Arrive-Tuesday 4/28
Depart-Thursday 4/30
(Transit Panama Canal - Sunday, 03 May)
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA
Arrive-Wednesday 5/6
What a trip.
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