SPAIN!

Day 1
After we got to Cadiz early in the morning Nick, Laura, and I went to get some café con leche (or an espresso shot with steamed milk). After that I had an FDP for my psychology class, and then wandered around the town with a few people. We found a look out tower, the tallest one in Cadiz. It was absolutely beautiful, and you could see the fusion of old and new in the city. The whole city also smells like fresh bread, a smell you never get sick of. There are awesome door knockers here that look like hands! We also found the market that sold bread, fish, cheese, and meat. It smelled bad, but the food was awesome and fresh. At night I went to Flamenco night, where we saw amateur bullfighting practice and then a flamenco show. After Flamenco a group of us went out to the discoteque and el barro, where Semester at Sea students took over the establishments. We got back to the ship at about 1:45.

Day 2
After waking up early for breakfast Steph, Laura, Emily, Jeff, Ian and myself took the 1 hour 50 minute train to Sevilla. It is so weird being in the minority, and we really sensed that we stood out. At the ticket counter to buy the train tickets the couple behind us got mad that we were taking so long to order the tickets and he started to yell at us! It was so frustrating because we didn’t know what was going on and we were just trying to figure it out. The train is very confusing. You have assigned seats! On the train it was interesting to see the geography of Spain. There were rolling green grassy hills, farms, and spots of lush forest all within a few miles. Sevilla was absolutely gorgeous. Again, like Cadiz, it was a fusion of old and new culture and buildings, except more extreme. The new part of Sevilla is much like any other city in the US, but the old part of the city displays amazing buildings. My favorite two were the Plaza de Sevilla, home to the world’s fair, and Sevilla Cathedral, resting place of Christopher Columbus. I would try to describe the buildings but my words would not give them justice. We walked so so so far, and were all tired, so we sat down to get some ice cream and tapas. Ian and Jeff ended up staying in Sevilla overnight while us girls came home to the ship.

Day3
Today, so far, the group of us walked all around the city. We walked around the beach here and ran into two huge fortresses along the water where we could tour. After that we got some pastries and walked around some more. Tomorrow we plan to tour the new part of Cadiz before departing. :-(

Cadiz

I am in an internet cafe in Cadiz, Spain right now. It is such a beautiful city. The old blended with the new archecture is stunning. Tonight I am going to see a Flamenco show, and then tomorrow I´m headed to Seville (where I hope to upload a few pictures). Europe is amazing, and this is only our first stop! Miss you all!

Espana Manana!

 

Tomorrow I will be in Spain!  The whole ship is extremely excited to reach land, and since we have been learning about Spain for the past few days we can't wait to experience the food, culture, wine, art, ect. that we have been hearing so much about.  Other than taking notes for my FDP's (class requirements) I am all caught up on homework until after Morocco.  I just took a few pictures of everyone, or most everyone at least, in our little group that I have been hanging out with.  I hope to post them while in Spain.  We just all sat out on the deck and watched the sunset.  In fact, about 300 students were out watching the sunset.  Sometimes you need to savor moments like that.  It's something that happens everyday, yet we don't ever really notice it.  The only sunsets that we notice are those with bright oranges, pinks, and purples.  The sunset tonight wasn't colorful.  It was actually the most ordinary sunset that could possibly occur.  No clouds ... but as the sun slipped under the horizon its simple reflection on the water caused 300 students to pause for just a few minutes.  We are here, and this incredible experience is real.  Don't take any moment for granted.  Live, and love life.  It is the simplest moments that remind us that we are alive.  Now I am sitting in the Paino Lounge and there are people singing, playing guitar, and playing piano.  ALl of the students who were outside are now inside, all relaxing, just listening silently to the music.  We are the lucky ones, and I think we all know it.  I'll post again when I can, but it might not be until after Spain if I can't find an internet cafe.  ALthough I miss everyone tons, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now. 

 

"Do one thing everyday that scares you"

 

Just Chillin with the Fish

Two nights ago was one of the most fun nights so far on the ship.  Because Swing dancing was such a big hit the night before, there were student led Salsa dance lessons last night.  After that we all played cards in the Garden Lounge (also a cafeteria during meal hours) and then, having to loose another hour of sleep, went to bed.  It is funny to think that we have lost four hours so far, so we are four hours ahead of everyone at home.  Doing it progressively isn’t that bad though, and with coffee in the morning I feel well rested!  Yesterday was another full day of classes, followed by relaxing outside and then watching a documentary entitled “Finding Face” at night.  One of the producers of the documentary is our video guy on the ship!  The documentary is about acid attacks on women in southern Asia, focusing on Cambodia.  It was a hard hitting film, especially because we are going to that area.  Also, the documentary hasn’t been released yet because they still need to ensure the security of the people/families involved and promote it through various media outlets.  We are only the second group of people ever to be shown the film, the first group being the Fall ’08 voyage.  After that, although we had all planned to go to pub night, we all went to bed.  Right now I am sitting in the Piano lounge in between breakfast and Global Studies.  We are rocking more today than we have been ever before and it is actually fun.  We look out on the horizon and count the bars on the outside decks to see how high and low the horizon goes from our perspective!  Oh the little things in life.  After Global I’m relaxing some more, maybe playing cards, eating lunch, and then napping and taking a shower.  LOVE LOVE LOVE being rocked to sleep.  It is glorious.  Oh life is hard, life is hard.

 

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the number of moments that take your breath away…”

Some Morning Words

To sail is not a way to get from Point A to Point B, there are faster means for that.  It is a way to experience the vastness and complexity of the world, to savor the insignificance of the individual, but to yet understand the fire that ignites the human spirit. 

Hey everyone!  The rest of my day yesterday was someone uneventful.  A large group of us ate dinner together and we managed to stuff 16 people at only two tables.  I think we sat there for at least an hour, just talking and getting to know each other better.  After dinner we went our separate ways, expect for Jeff, Nick, and myself who went to the Piano Lounge to do some studying.  An hour later Laura, Colleen, Jill, Colin, Jeff, Nick, and myself (I know their names don’t mean anything yet but I’ll post pictures when I can) all met up in Laura’s room and watched Wedding Crashers on a computer.  Laura’s room is an inside room so she had a third bed we pulled out of the wall to give us more sitting space.  It was a fun time.  The rest of the 16 who ate with us went to the Union to watch a movie that they were showing on the big screen.  It is cool to find a group of people who isn’t eager to rush to Pub Night.  I hear the “Pub” is fun, but I am just happy that my new friends don’t have to engage in drinking in order to have fun.  Today I woke up at 7am, but we lost an hour so it felt like 6am.  Today was also the first day that I got up in time for breakfast.  They stop serving breakfast at 8:30 so most people miss it, but since I have an 8am class I figured why not, and I just skipped my shower this morning.  I had orange juice, fresh fruit, scrambled eggs, and a small and extremely yummy bran muffin.  I wasn’t hungry for lunch so I only had some pinto bean soup.  Yum.  I had all 4 of my classes today and was done that by 2:50 and have been studying and doing homework ever since.  My hall doesn’t get internet in our rooms because of the fireproof doors so we all sit out in the hall to get online and to email and to access our Intranet system (ship wide system).  It is funny I am actually done my homework for the next two days now so tomorrow I plan to lay out at the pool, something almost everyone has done except me!  I am going to meet some people for dinner now, and then we are going to take swing dance lessons in the union!  It works at well because there are an even number of guys and girls in my new group of friends, so we are all forcing the guys to play along! HAHA!  Tonight is open mic night at the “Pub” so I think we are going to go there after.  Should be fairly entertaining!  Including the day of departure we have been on the ship for 5 days, and we only have 4 more days to go until Cadiz.  We are all excited and anxious to see what the first port brings.  The first day in Cadiz I am doing an FDP (faculty directed practicum) called Observational Learning.  It is a requirement for my Cognitive Psychology Class.  That night I am doing another FDP that is not required for any my classes but that I am using as an elective FDP for one of my classes that is more lenient with the FDP requirements (all classes have field requirements, some require you to do the FDP’s for that particular class, some require you to do any 3 FDP’s taught by any professor, and some classes require you just to write papers on anything you want write on).  So the FDP that I am taking that night is a Flamenco Night which should be amazing.  The rest of my 3 days in Spain my friend Chris from home and I are taking a train to Seville and just doing whatever!  Miss ya!

 

 

I didn’t post this blog yet because I didn’t have time to get to a place that had internet in the ship, but now I am done dinner.  I forgot to say that today is Nick’s (from Cabrini) birthday so last night before I went to bed I wrote “Happy 20^th Birthday Nick!” (one letter per sticky note) and put it on his door.  At dinner his mom must have bought a cake because they brought him out a ¾ of a sheet cake…it was hugeeeeee!  So yummy though.  After dinner we laid out on the deck and relaxed on lounge chairs in the dark before swing dancing.  Dancing was so much fun.  There were about 75 of us, and they are going to have classes every week!  Anyway, I’m about to play cards in the Piano Lounge and then there is open mic night and the “Pub”!