Spain

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!