Nov 06

It’s my last day in port and I’m just sitting down to type up a summary of Spain. It’s 1:30pm and a number of us just got back from Barcelona. I’ve been up since 4:45, had a flight at 6:55, a bus once I touched down in Sevilla and another 2 hour bus to Cadiz. Needless to say, I’ve been traveling for the past 8 hours, and I’m exhausted! But, alas, here I am in my cozy shipboard cabin, typing up a journal entry while my friends are sleeping and/or taking showers before we head out later tonight. On ship time is at 9pm so we figure a dinner and maybe some wine is necessary before we get back onto the ship. Weird to think that I won’t be able to have a glass of wine with dinner when I get back. For about a month, that is. Did I mention I’m turning 21 soon?

Barcelona was amazing and nothing like I expected it to be. I don’t know why I expected Spain to be so different, maybe it was because I was so culturally unaware before this trip, or maybe… well, I don’t know. The point is, Barcelona was like Paris. It was trendy, touristy, European and full of beauty. I will try to summarize my few days in Spain to the best of my ability!

Day 1 - Mario, Jess and I took a bus straight to Sevilla once we got off of the ship. We spent the day in Sevilla visiting cathedrals and the main downtown area. As lame as we are, we ate lunch at Burger King and later had to stop at Starbucks! That night we ate Tapas (I liked it!) and then went to an Irish Pub and listened to Irish live music and hung out with some funny/annoyingly drunk Spanish men. One was absolutely in love with me, and even kissed my foot. He was awkward and it was an awkward night, but I had a lot of fun. We went to a few different bars, ran into a ton of SASers and about 30 students who are studying abroad from the Us -- all in all, it was a fun night.

Day 2 - This next morning we headed to the airport for our flight to Barcelona. Once in Barcelona, we headed to La Rambla, the most “hoppin” area in town, and looked for a place to stay. We ran into Jeanie and she invited us to stay in her apartment that she rented for a couple of days. We all went there to put our bags down. Later that night, the landlord was so angry that there were too many people staying there, so we just left our bags and headed out. Jess and I ended up meeting up with some of our guy friends for dinner at the Hard Rock Café (It was excellent and they were playing a bunch of Metallica) and then we went to an Australian Bar. At the bar, we met up with 2 guys that Jess knew from home. It was so weird because we randomly ran into them at the Barcelona airport. We ended up hanging out with them for a few hours and heading back to their Hostal with them, spontaneously at 3am, because we had no where else to sleep. They had a hostal with 4 beds so it worked out perfect, and I got my own bed!

Day 3 - We slept in until 11am and then headed out to start our day. Jess, Mario and I booked a hotel a couple miles away from the main district and got a good deal and a really nice room. It worked out well because the hotel was right across from the metro station! We went to the internet café and shopped and Jess and I went out for a nice dinner, just us two. I had amazing Sangria and it’s my new favorite drink. That night we went to the BARCELONA soccer game!!! It was so much fun and we had amazing seats… 4th row to the left of the net! Ronaldinho scored 2 goals! The crowds went wild -- I had such a good time.

Day 4 - Jess and I wanted to spend our day doing whatever we wanted. So, we slept in, met up with the boys and then went to the Picasso Museum. I love art. I never did until this trip -- I have absolutely fallen in love with anything artsy. I loved Picasso’s earlier work and I really enjoyed the museum. After the museum, Jess and I took the metro to the Zoo! This was so random of us! But, the zoo was fun and the animals were VERY active. I was surprised. They had a variety of animals and it was neat to change things up a little bit. We’ve been visiting so many temples and cathedrals and churches over the past few months that it was nice for a change. That night (which was last night) We met up with the boys again (Whenever I say the boys I am referring to Matt, Parker and Corey) and went to a nice dinner. I had such a good time just sitting and eating, overlooking La Rambla. The boys then had to catch the overnight train back to Cadiz, so we went our separate ways. Jess and I went back to the hotel and instead of going out and getting drunk like everyone else, we raided the gas station, bought a ton of junk food, and went back to our room to watch tv together and call our families! I was so happy to get to talk to my Mom and Grandma! We headed to sleep around 12:30 since we had to get up for the airport by 4:45am.

Day 5 (TODAY!) - I’m back in Cadiz now, on the ship, resting for a while before heading out again.
Spain is really neat, and I loved visiting, and I especially loved Barcelona. There is a lot of crime, apparently, and there is a lot of graffiti, hookers and gypsies, but it is still a beautiful city! I’m really happy I got to experience the Spanish culture, especially by attending the soccer game.

As for now -- I’m SO excited to get home in less than 2 weeks! I have 4 papers due, 4 exams, the Ambassadors Ball, the Talent Show and goodbyes beforehand, but I’m still excited! After 105 days, I’m going home…. Bittersweet. Bittersweet sums it up.

Ship Life!

November 21, 2006

This is me procrastinating. I have 4 papers due and 4 exams between Spain and Florida. I should be studying, but instead I’m taking a break and sitting in my room at 11:45pm, listening to Steph’s computer playing the 98 Degrees Christmas album. Steph bought some Christmas lights and a couple of ornaments from a store in Croatia. We’re trying to get into the Christmas mood. I think we’re both pretty excited about Florida & Christmas approaching so quickly. It will definitely be a bittersweet departure from my second home, the MV.

So a few minutes ago I got back from an awesome workout. I can say I’m in the best shape I’ve been in in a long time -- I can run longer and last longer on the Elliptical than ever before. I can’t wait to get home and start running in the mornings. Just to wake up early and head out in the cold December air. I will be so happy to just run on cement, rather than a treadmill, and to actually have grass and nature around me rather than ocean. Don’t get me wrong, I love the ocean, but some grass and maybe a bird or two in the air might be refreshing!

I feel like I’m seriously out of the loop. Earlier tonight I emailed Nate and it ended up turning into sort of a journal entry. Emailing him made me realize that wow, I really have been gone for 3 months and wow, I am going to be back in America soon. Crazy, isn’t it? Sometimes it seems like just yesterday I was sitting in my room, looking at the map on my wall, asking myself if I really was going to sail around the world.

While I’m all over the place, I guess I’ll update about last night! Last night was our charity auction. Basically, a bunch of people on this ship donate random things to the auction and then we have a silent auction and live auction. The live auction was so much fun! I won a bid for Piano lessons from this guy Aaron for $80 and Jess bought Soda and Appetizers on a 7th deck balcony for 8 people for $220. We decided we would get our friends together and gather on that balcony the second to last night on the ship. I don’t know when Aaron is going to give me lessons, but I get three half-hour sessions! I’m excited… he’s an amazing piano player and is always up in the Piano lounge on the 6th deck playing. I think the most expensive item up for grabs was 4 nights in Colorado. Someone won that for $2300 and someone also won 7 nights in Maine for $2100! Oh, get this -- Someone bought an inflatable globe that our dean uses during our Logistical pre-ports for $975 (You can buy them at the student store for $5 -- but I guess it’s the significance of the globe that matters), two people split the “First to get off of the ship in Ft. Lauderdale” for $1,300, my friend Parker was in a bidding war and ended up winning the honor of raising the American flag as we pull into Ft. Lauderdale for $875 & my friend Chris and his friend split the cost of over $500 to manually steer the ship for 5 minutes. Prices ranged from $50 to over $2,000. You can imagine that some of the students on this ship have a lot of money! And those were only to name a few! From what I’ve heard, we earned over $30,000 for charity last night. I’m not sure which charity the money will go to, but I, along with others, nominated Face Aids -- a US charity that focuses on spreading awareness and helping out African aids victims. There are a bunch of members of Face Aids on the ship.

Well, two days until Thanksgiving! We actually arrive in Spain on Thanksgiving. I will spend Thanksgiving in Seville with Jess and Mario. We plan on wine tasting during the day and then going to Tapas for dinner. That night we’ll spend the night in Seville and the next morning we have a flight to Barcelona!

Thurs - 23: Arrive in Spain, Train to Seville, Spend night in Seville
Fri - 24: 11:30am Flight on Iberia to Barcelona, Spend night in Barcelona
Sat - 25: Barcelona Soccer Game, Tier 2, Spend night in Barcelona
Sun - 26: Last night in port, EVER, Spend night in Barcelona
Mon - 27: Fly back to Seville, Get back to Cadiz, Enjoy last day in port, EVER…

After Spain, life will get hectic before Florida. So this is what I have going on:

Nov 28: Class - A Day
Nov 29: Class - B Day & Ambassador’s Ball
Nov 30: Class - Two Papers due for Psychology
Dec 1: Global Studies Final & Ship Talent Show
Dec 2: Study Day
Dec 3: Personality Psych Final, Abnormal Psych Final
Dec 4: Study Day
Dec 5: History Final - 2 History Papers Due
Dec 6: Packing/Convocation/Goodbyes
Dec 7: Arrive Ft. Lauderdale at 8am. Caspian Sea is 2nd off of the ship because we came in 2nd place in the Sea Olympics! I have a to Oakland at 7:20 which will get in before 11pm.

Mom’s birthday on the 8th!

So, there is my update. I just felt the ship rock a lot and it’s getting cold in my room -- time to get into bed. Tomorrow morning I have global studies & a gym appointment. Tomorrow afternoon I have history class and then tomorrow night… our last Logistical Pre-Port, EVER. Wow!

Spain on Thanksgiving. I will try and call the family… I sure hope I can!

If I don’t find a pay phone or for some reason cannot call, I seriously love you all and miss you a TON. I can’t wait to see you all in 2 weeks! Happy Thanksgiving!

So Thanksgiving is my second favorite holiday of the year. I'm a little bummed about not being able to spend it with my family. We get to Spain Thursday morning and then I'll celebrate my own Thanksgiving with my friends Mario and Jessica, the two I'll be traveling with in Spain. I'll be in Seville -- I can't complain too much!!

So while I have some readers, I wanted to say what I'm thankful for: My amazing family, my awesome friends and my good looking boyfriend

See you all in a couple of weeks! Time is flying by!

November 11, 2006 *Istanbul, Turkey*

I’m sitting here in my room on the ship, leaning up against my window eating Turkish Delight. It’s our last night in Istanbul. I loved this port city and I loved this country! We depart for Croatia in about an hour.

This was one of my favorite ports. I got to hang out with a much smaller group of friends and for the first time since traveling, I didn’t really leave the port city. We went out to bars three out of the four nights we were here. The night we skipped the bars was the night we hung out at Starbucks and talked for a while before heading back to the ship to get some sleep. Jess’s parents were in town and they took us out to dinner one night -- that was a lot of fun. A bunch of us took a ferry down the Bosphorus and stopped at a little seaside town. We walked around, ate lunch and then walked up to see castle ruins. One day I had an FDP (Faculty Directed Practicum) -- basically it’s a Semester at Sea day trip you take with your professor. The professor leading the trip will relate what we do and see to what we’re learning in class. This specific FDP was lead by my history professor and was titled, “Ottoman Capital.” We walked around the city and saw the Ottoman Capital walls, the castle ruins, different mosques and the spice bazaar.

Most of our days were spent doing whatever we wanted. We would stay up late and sleep in until 8 or 9 and then start our day. We went shopping a lot, ate good food and found Hookah Bars. We went to the internet café three or four times. Istanbul was really our time to relax and since we didn’t have any major plans, it was nice to do what we wanted, when we wanted without conflicting opinions on what to do. It’s hard traveling with a big group, which is what I do almost every port, so hanging out with just a few people was great.

The city of Istanbul is similar to any European city that I’ve seen. Which is basically cities in Germany and France. The streets are brick and some cobblestone, there are mosques everywhere, and the people wear dark colors. The Turkish men are actually really attractive and look a lot older than they are. The men really loved us “American Girls” and a bunch of the SAS girls loved them, too.

The weather in Istanbul is kind of similar to a Manteca winter. Sunny and 40-50 degrees daily but much colder nights. It was so strange to go from extremely hot and humid India to mild Cairo to really cold Istanbul. If anything, the weather is getting me really excited about going home in December. I’m looking forward to Christmas and my roommate and I have already started listening to our Christmas music.

The day after tomorrow we’ll be in Croatia. We’ve reserved a beach house for 4 nights and 5 days for 12 people. I’m really excited! The weather isn’t too great in Croatia right now but it will still be so awesome to hang out at the beach and in the awesome city of Dubrovnik. Our house has 5 bedrooms and each bedroom has a bathroom, a living room, family room, 2 kitchens, DVD/CD/VHS player, internet, washer and dryer and more. It has an ocean view and outdoor seating. It’s right near the water and right in the Old Town of Dubrovnik.

We are in the process of figuring out our Spain plans. Most of my friends and I are going to the Barcelona Soccer game on our last night in Spain. I’m so excited -- I’ve heard that the games are insanely fun. I can’t wait! So far our Spain itinerary looks like this:

Spain
Day/Night One - Cadiz, Sleep on ship
Day/Night Two - Morning train to Seville, Wine Tasting all day, Overnight Stay in Seville
Day/Night Three - Barcelona, Sleep in Barcelona
Day/Night Four - Soccer game in Barcelona, Sleep in Barcelona
Day Five - 6:55am Flight to Seville, Train to Cadiz, Spend day in Cadiz

So back to Croatia. We have 4 nights and 5 days and then we’ll be back on the ship. Once back on the ship, we have 4 days at sea and then we get to Spain where we will spend 4 nights and 5 days. THEN we’ll be on our final stretch home. Time is seriously FLYING by. Between Croatia and Spain we have the Students of Service Charity Auction on the ship. Between Spain and home we have the Ambassador’s Ball which is the biggest night on the ship. It’s a huge Prom like event where everyone gets dressed up, eats amazing food and has one last really special night on the ship.

As of right now I have less than 10 days of classes left and 2 days of finals. It’s hard to believe that the semester is coming to an end. It’s hard to believe that in 25 days I’ll be living a completely separate life…

As sad as I will be to say goodbye, I’m getting anxious to see my family and friends, oh and that boyfriend of mine (Hi babe) and to readjust to, well, life. I definitely have been living in a fantasy for the past 20 years and it will be nice to get home and live with a new outlook on life. I have heard numerous stories about people becoming really depressed when they get back to America after Semester at Sea. I’ve also heard that people have really hard times discussing what they saw and experienced with people.

As of right now, I don’t know what I’m going to do when I get home. I don’t know if I’m going to want to tell people every detail because no matter what I say, nobody except the people on this ship will know what I went through, what I saw, how I felt. And do I really want to explain everything? Will that take away from what I’ve seen? And already now (we were just talking about this yesterday) I feel as if it’s hard talking about certain things. How do I go about explaining myself when someone says “So how was it?”

Amazing.
Incredible.
Life-changing.
Best three months of my life. EVER.

Well, I still have 25 days to figure out what to tell people and to fully digest what it is I’m doing right now. I live on a ship and I’m traveling the world. Sometimes, I still don’t think this is really happening.

It’s slowly hitting me. In 4 weeks I’ll be off of this ship and at home. I’m starting to dread our final day more than anything. I’m dreading leaving the friends I’ve made and the amazing semester I have spent abroad. Last night we were walking the streets of Alexandria and I told my friends that I never thought I would be dreading leaving the ship. I thought I‘d be ready to leave. The first month of the trip was hard adjusting to culture shock, life on a ship, traveling in general, tough classes and not really having a phone or internet. I thought that 3 months would be enough time away. Now I’m to the point where I don’t even want too much contact with anyone else except the people on this ship. I am over that “missing” stage, I am over the “it sucks to not have a phone” stage and I’m over the “I need to get online” feelings. Now I just want to live every last moment on this ship and in port to the fullest. We have Turkey, Croatia and Spain left. And then we have finals, packing and Florida. It’s so crazy to think about.

I had quite possibly the best overall time in Egypt. I saw so much, spent quality time with friends and enjoyed every moment in port.

We spent our first day traveling to and around Cairo. The ship was docked 2 hours from Cairo, at a small port city named Adibiya. I had previously purchased an SAS trip with 5 of my friends and over 150 other students. We all packed up and loaded onto a coach bus. The Camera man (SAS has it’s own camera man, Andy, who films everything that goes on in port and on the ship. He picks an SAS trip and follows the students around and films everything) Andy was on our bus so we got to be on the camera a lot during our time in Cairo. Once actually in Cairo we went to the 4000 year old Step Pyramids and the Egyptian museum. At the museum we were able to see about 15 real mummies as well as King Tut’s jewelry, clothing and casket . It was an experience, that’s for sure. That night we took a dinner cruise around the Nile. The food was buffet style and included entertainment (Belly dancer and singer). After dinner we headed back to our 5 star hotel (It was right by the Pyramids, has a HUGE pool with a swim up bar, 5 restaurants, very nice rooms, and a Hookah bar. I roomed with Kat and we had a view of the Pyramids. It was the nicest hotel I’ve ever stayed in.

The next morning we were at the Pyramids by 5:30am. It was cold and windy out but very worth the early morning wake up call. We ended up staying at the Pyramids for a little over 4 hours. We got to explore the 3 Pyramids and the Sphinx. Before we left we took a Camel ride around the 3 Pyramids -- that was so much fun! The Pyramids are not “touristy” at all and are actually very well kept. They are out in the desert and while standing next to the big Pyramid, you can see most of Cairo in the distance. Since we arrived so early, SAS students were the only people (Besides the few tourist police and men selling postcards and what not) at the Pyramids until about 9am.

Upon leaving the Pyramids, we went to Mohammed Ali’s Mosque and then to the Khan al Khalili Bazaar. At the Bazaar we shopped around and then the 6 of us girls stopped for Arabic coffee and Sheesha. Sheesha = Hookah! After hanging out for a while we met back at the buses and headed for lunch on the Nile. After lunch, we went back to the hotel and hung out for the rest of the night. Jess and I went swimming in the pool and then we all got ready for dinner at the really nice hotel buffet. That night we hung out by the pool with all of the other SAS students staying there. We had a hookah bar at the hotel and we of course took advantage of the close location.

The next morning we slept in until 8 and went to breakfast, then headed to the Bazaar again. That afternoon we took the bus back to the ship and just hung out on the 7th deck until we were too tired to stay up. I think we were all in bed by 10pm.

The next morning I woke up to watch us enter the Suez Canal and then we laid out for most of the day. The crew prepared a really nice dinner for us since there were only about 100 students on the ship. Transiting the Suez canal is optional for students. Once in Adibiya, you can leave the ship and do what you want in Egypt (Can go anywhere, do anything) for 6 days. On t

Pyramids at Sunrise

The Dean and the Captain on Halloween --- I was a Mermaid

Jess and I being cultural

Pyramids, again!