2/16
One more day left in Namibia- that thought just makes me really sad. I’m not ready to leave yet. We spent the day in Walvis Bay since we didn’t have much time and went to this great restaurant that was on stilts in the lagoon. So cute. Tim got an ostrich steak and it was so good! Tasted a lot like cow but just knowing it was ostrich was pretty great haha. We just walked around, got more groceries and then hopped back on the ship. It definitely was not enough time in this place, there is so much more I want to do. People rode atv’s and went sand boarding and I would absolutely love to do all that! Plus frequent bathroom breaks would be something nice to not have to deal with on a next trip. I don’t care if you are grossed out by that, I am so open about it now.
I just loved the people. They were all so friendly, every single one of them. Even our cab driver who wasn’t a real cab driver and tried to rip us off. It’s a fascinating place. And there’s so much we didn’t see. I’m really happy we got to see two very opposing sides of it, but there is so much more. The HIV/AIDS rate is at 23% and their unemployment is extremely high too. It is a suffering place and we didn’t experience much of that besides a few kids begging on the streets. Tyler and I had a long talk about this boy who had come up to him asking for his food that he was eating for lunch and Tyler didn’t give it to him and he’s really regretting it now. We could go days without eating but this little boy probably didn’t have much longer, he probably already had been going days. If he was at the point of surrendering his pride to beg, he probably really needed that food. And it made me think about bartering with these vendors, I wouldn’t pay 200 Namibian dollars and would make them lower it to 100- that’s 10 dollars. What is that to me? But it means so much to them. I know I was getting ripped off but maybe they really needed it. And I just go spend that 10 dollars on alcohol later that night? It could have maybe gone so much further for one of them. I guess that’s just like giving to the homeless in America. You just never really know.
On a lighter note- Tyler might have been the funniest thing I’ve ever seen tonight. He was so drunk he didn’t even realize he had gotten on the ship and when we woke him up he thought he was still on his tour bus. Ah gosh we got some of it on video but it was hilarious.
Bye bye Namibia! Only a day at sea and then we’re in Cape Town, so freaking excited!
Our global studies professor told us that if you liked Namibia, you will love South Africa, and if you loved Namibia, you will be blown away by South Africa. I cannot wait. Plus tomorrow is Taco Tuesday and that means so much to this ship, we’ve been begging for it. Wahooooo
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
"Shit Mouth"
2/15 Swakopmund
So we got back to the ship, showered (much needed) and took a cab to Swakopmund, a German town just like 30 minutes away. It was adorable. It was right on the coast and was a beach town but with areas of cobblestone and cute buildings. We walked around and found a market with vendors selling all kinds of things made out of wood- like masks and statues and bowls- and tons of jewelry. They were so friendly but extremely aggressive- even worse than Morocco, which I didn’t think possible. Got some presents and then we walked down to the beach and walked along until we found this bar/restaurant where we were meeting friends – The Tiger Reef. So beautiful and so cool, it was right next to the water and the ground was all sand so everyone walked around barefoot. Only parts of it were covered and it was all thatched roof style and just had a bunch of picnic benches all around, it was such a great place. And we had the BEST chicken burgers with this awesome sauce and fries like none other that were covered in this Cajun seasoning. I want one so bad right now, my mouth just started watering. And the best draft beer I have ever had for 12 Namibian dollars – that’s $1.20 for a huge mug. And a classic Namibian drink is vodka and crème soda, which is bright green and so strange, but so good.
Basically, we started drinking at 6 and didn’t leave until around 1 so you can imagine how that was. The place was full of locals early on and we were able to talk with a lot of them. Plus, the girls we met up with had met some guys from South African so we talked to them for a really long time. It’s one thing to learn about the culture and the things going on while in class, but to be able to sit and ask them questions about it and see their perspective and reactions to it all was so fascinating. And the South Africans were some of the most racist people I’ve ever met- one of them hands down THE MOST racist person I’ve ever met. It was ridiculous. But we had a really long talk with them about the apartheid and the crisis in Zimbabwe and it was so interesting. The racist guy- Jeff- would tell us how he will just shoot at black people for no reason, it was insane. And we met a man that had grown up in the bush and had never seen sunglasses before. It’s those little things that really ground you.
A few of them taught me some words in Afrikaans and in Zulu, but sadly and not surprisingly I don’t remember any of them. Plus they were making fun of me because apparently I’m awful at the clicking. It was so cool to sit and talk to the locals though, they were so friendly and had the most fascinating things to say. But as it got later, more SAS people showed up and the whole dynamic changed, but still so so much fun-it was a really great night.
Albert
We met this man Albert who wanted to buy us shots and we sat and talked with him for a little while. He was from Walvis Bay and was such a nice guy. He has crippled arms and he kept saying to us how grateful he was that foreigners actually looked at him like he was a normal person, which wasn’t the case with people in Namibia. He was so passionate about how nice we were and how much we smiled and how we longed for a romantic man who will treat us right. We kept responding with of course, how could we not want that and be like that and he kept responding with the that’s not the case here- the woman here aren’t like that. And he repeated over and over that he could never find a woman that loved him for who he was and he couldn’t leave because he didn’t have the money to do so. I think this sounds like he was hitting on us, but he wasn’t at all. I can’t explain well enough the things he was saying and the passion behind it all. It was really sad but really made me appreciate the freedom and the love I have. I don’t really have anything that holds me back, I can love anyone I want to, I can love period. I will marry a man who loves me for who I am, not for what I look like. I can leave at any point, yet I don’t even have the need to. I live a very blessed life. I have no restrictions and I have hope for my future. Albert had no hope. He knew this was his life and it could never change. We take so much for granted and we complain about our lives in the silliest ways- we have no reason to complain or to be unsatisfied with life. Albert made a really big impression on me.
Basically, I love Swakopmund and cannot wait to go back! It was the cutest town and we definitely did not have enough time there.
So we got back to the ship, showered (much needed) and took a cab to Swakopmund, a German town just like 30 minutes away. It was adorable. It was right on the coast and was a beach town but with areas of cobblestone and cute buildings. We walked around and found a market with vendors selling all kinds of things made out of wood- like masks and statues and bowls- and tons of jewelry. They were so friendly but extremely aggressive- even worse than Morocco, which I didn’t think possible. Got some presents and then we walked down to the beach and walked along until we found this bar/restaurant where we were meeting friends – The Tiger Reef. So beautiful and so cool, it was right next to the water and the ground was all sand so everyone walked around barefoot. Only parts of it were covered and it was all thatched roof style and just had a bunch of picnic benches all around, it was such a great place. And we had the BEST chicken burgers with this awesome sauce and fries like none other that were covered in this Cajun seasoning. I want one so bad right now, my mouth just started watering. And the best draft beer I have ever had for 12 Namibian dollars – that’s $1.20 for a huge mug. And a classic Namibian drink is vodka and crème soda, which is bright green and so strange, but so good.
Basically, we started drinking at 6 and didn’t leave until around 1 so you can imagine how that was. The place was full of locals early on and we were able to talk with a lot of them. Plus, the girls we met up with had met some guys from South African so we talked to them for a really long time. It’s one thing to learn about the culture and the things going on while in class, but to be able to sit and ask them questions about it and see their perspective and reactions to it all was so fascinating. And the South Africans were some of the most racist people I’ve ever met- one of them hands down THE MOST racist person I’ve ever met. It was ridiculous. But we had a really long talk with them about the apartheid and the crisis in Zimbabwe and it was so interesting. The racist guy- Jeff- would tell us how he will just shoot at black people for no reason, it was insane. And we met a man that had grown up in the bush and had never seen sunglasses before. It’s those little things that really ground you.
A few of them taught me some words in Afrikaans and in Zulu, but sadly and not surprisingly I don’t remember any of them. Plus they were making fun of me because apparently I’m awful at the clicking. It was so cool to sit and talk to the locals though, they were so friendly and had the most fascinating things to say. But as it got later, more SAS people showed up and the whole dynamic changed, but still so so much fun-it was a really great night.
Albert
We met this man Albert who wanted to buy us shots and we sat and talked with him for a little while. He was from Walvis Bay and was such a nice guy. He has crippled arms and he kept saying to us how grateful he was that foreigners actually looked at him like he was a normal person, which wasn’t the case with people in Namibia. He was so passionate about how nice we were and how much we smiled and how we longed for a romantic man who will treat us right. We kept responding with of course, how could we not want that and be like that and he kept responding with the that’s not the case here- the woman here aren’t like that. And he repeated over and over that he could never find a woman that loved him for who he was and he couldn’t leave because he didn’t have the money to do so. I think this sounds like he was hitting on us, but he wasn’t at all. I can’t explain well enough the things he was saying and the passion behind it all. It was really sad but really made me appreciate the freedom and the love I have. I don’t really have anything that holds me back, I can love anyone I want to, I can love period. I will marry a man who loves me for who I am, not for what I look like. I can leave at any point, yet I don’t even have the need to. I live a very blessed life. I have no restrictions and I have hope for my future. Albert had no hope. He knew this was his life and it could never change. We take so much for granted and we complain about our lives in the silliest ways- we have no reason to complain or to be unsatisfied with life. Albert made a really big impression on me.
Basically, I love Swakopmund and cannot wait to go back! It was the cutest town and we definitely did not have enough time there.
Camping in the Namib Desert
2/14 and 2/15 Camping
Happy Valentines Day! I’m in Africa…what the heck! We had a diplomatic briefing when we got to the port and right after we all ran out to the decks facing the dock to see the young girls choir that was there to greet us. Oh my gosh. I was crying. It was incredible. There were probably twenty of them, all dressed in traditional African dresses and were singing and dancing for us. They were precious and so full of life and you could tell they were thrilled to be performing for us. I just found out that they live about four hours away and this was the first time that most of them had ever seen the ocean! It was so powerful and finally hit me that I was actually in Africa. It was one of the best parts of this trip.
We headed out to walk around Walvis Bay and ate lunch at this cute café outside- we had a burger and a coke for 3 bucks, the exchange is awesome. It’s a pretty small town so there wasn’t much to do but we did find a grocery store to stock up on snacks. It’s really interesting to see 730 students take over a small town. After lunch we walked back to the ship to take off on our camping and star gazing adventure. An hour and a half later, after a 4x4 drive along the coast and then inland past dunes and sand and cliffs, we arrived at our campsite in the middle of the Namib Desert. There were about 70 of us total so our campsite consisted of 35 tents, 2 people in each, that outlined our site in an L shape, a cliff acting as the other border and inside of it were two areas for campfires and a large tent with tables for dinner. But I have to explain more. This wasn’t squat without toilet paper and rough it up camping- this was much more luxurious. The tents had two beds, yes serious beds, with a duvet and sheets, the dinner tables were covered in linen cloths and plates and silverware. We had a staff who picked up after us and a bar with alcohol. It was kinda ridiculous.
We didn’t have anything planned so we hiked up to the top of a cliff right on the other side of our site. It’s hard to get used to being in the desert and seeing absolutely no green but it was really cool. And we had absolutely no plans which at first is hard to handle because on the boat and at port we have constant activities so you feel like just sitting around is boring but it was great to just sit and relax and just be. And we only really knew two other people in our group so we had a chance to just sit and talk and get to know people really well- the more trips we go on, the more people we meet and the smaller the ship feels. So we just sat around and played cards and talked the whole afternoon and then around dinnertime a local band came to play for us. It was 5 guys, probably our age, and they played the drums in some songs and others they just sang acapella, it was incredible. They had great voices and had little choreographed dances, I feel like they are an African boy band. One of them was very attractive, it was great- We’ve been missing out on looking at beautiful faces (there just aren’t very many attractive men on this boat). They sang to us for about an hour and after we went to talk to them and someone asked them something about songs they knew that we would know and they sang the Gladiator song. Holy cow, it was amazing- It gave me chills.
Dinner was all local Namibian dishes- we had some strange pasta, potatoes, rice and lamb stew- it was really different but so delicious. Ohhh my and the desert he called “pudding” but it wasn’t what we think of as pudding- it was more like a mushy cake that was really sweet and there was a cream to pour on top. It was amazing, I want the recipe. Oh and there was salad, which we were told not to eat lettuce or any fruits or vegetables unless they were cooked, but I think we all just assumed these would be okay since it was such a nice trip… but no. I think our entire group got sick. But luckily it didn’t hit Perez and I until after we got back to the ship the next day so we didn’t have to deal with it while in the middle of the desert. It’s funny how open you are about that kind of stuff when you are traveling with people. The rest of the night was spent around the campfire just talking and sharing stories. Namibia is the best place for star gazing in the world so we were stoked to be going on this trip -and guess what happens… It’s cloudy. And it is only cloudy 5-6 times a YEAR in Namibia- seriously, what are the odds? But I guess those things happen right? There was a little section where the clouds disappeared for like 10 minutes so we were able to see some stars then and it was absolutely gorgeous- more stars than I’ve ever seen. A game of never have I ever, of course, and then bed time.
We woke up at like 8 the next morning for breakfast – yogurt and granola, the yogurt could have definitely been another contributor to our sickness- and were told the vans were gonna come pick us up at 11ish so we just sat around some more and waited. Time was going by pretty slowly, none of us had showered even though we’d been sweating a lot, we didn’t get much sleep and the sun was already beating down on us. So Perez, Collin and I decided to make up this card game called Swakopmund after a town that we passed by on our way to our site. Our driver told us it literally means “shit mouth” so we thought it’d be perfect to add in an element of shouting dirty or obscene words. I’d say it’s a combination of Speed and Tourettes and is just ridiculous. 11 came around, no vans, then 12, still no vans. Luckily we had our game to keep us entertained. I can’t wait to bring it back home and teach everyone. But it also might not be as fun as we thought it was while we were stranded in the middle of the desert. 12:15 vans finally show up but there weren’t enough for all of us so a group of about 20 of us stayed behind and waited for more to come and we finally left by 12:45 I think. We were supposed to be back at the ship at 12:30- this trip really didn’t go exactly as planned but oh well, it happens!
Happy Valentines Day! I’m in Africa…what the heck! We had a diplomatic briefing when we got to the port and right after we all ran out to the decks facing the dock to see the young girls choir that was there to greet us. Oh my gosh. I was crying. It was incredible. There were probably twenty of them, all dressed in traditional African dresses and were singing and dancing for us. They were precious and so full of life and you could tell they were thrilled to be performing for us. I just found out that they live about four hours away and this was the first time that most of them had ever seen the ocean! It was so powerful and finally hit me that I was actually in Africa. It was one of the best parts of this trip.
We headed out to walk around Walvis Bay and ate lunch at this cute café outside- we had a burger and a coke for 3 bucks, the exchange is awesome. It’s a pretty small town so there wasn’t much to do but we did find a grocery store to stock up on snacks. It’s really interesting to see 730 students take over a small town. After lunch we walked back to the ship to take off on our camping and star gazing adventure. An hour and a half later, after a 4x4 drive along the coast and then inland past dunes and sand and cliffs, we arrived at our campsite in the middle of the Namib Desert. There were about 70 of us total so our campsite consisted of 35 tents, 2 people in each, that outlined our site in an L shape, a cliff acting as the other border and inside of it were two areas for campfires and a large tent with tables for dinner. But I have to explain more. This wasn’t squat without toilet paper and rough it up camping- this was much more luxurious. The tents had two beds, yes serious beds, with a duvet and sheets, the dinner tables were covered in linen cloths and plates and silverware. We had a staff who picked up after us and a bar with alcohol. It was kinda ridiculous.
We didn’t have anything planned so we hiked up to the top of a cliff right on the other side of our site. It’s hard to get used to being in the desert and seeing absolutely no green but it was really cool. And we had absolutely no plans which at first is hard to handle because on the boat and at port we have constant activities so you feel like just sitting around is boring but it was great to just sit and relax and just be. And we only really knew two other people in our group so we had a chance to just sit and talk and get to know people really well- the more trips we go on, the more people we meet and the smaller the ship feels. So we just sat around and played cards and talked the whole afternoon and then around dinnertime a local band came to play for us. It was 5 guys, probably our age, and they played the drums in some songs and others they just sang acapella, it was incredible. They had great voices and had little choreographed dances, I feel like they are an African boy band. One of them was very attractive, it was great- We’ve been missing out on looking at beautiful faces (there just aren’t very many attractive men on this boat). They sang to us for about an hour and after we went to talk to them and someone asked them something about songs they knew that we would know and they sang the Gladiator song. Holy cow, it was amazing- It gave me chills.
Dinner was all local Namibian dishes- we had some strange pasta, potatoes, rice and lamb stew- it was really different but so delicious. Ohhh my and the desert he called “pudding” but it wasn’t what we think of as pudding- it was more like a mushy cake that was really sweet and there was a cream to pour on top. It was amazing, I want the recipe. Oh and there was salad, which we were told not to eat lettuce or any fruits or vegetables unless they were cooked, but I think we all just assumed these would be okay since it was such a nice trip… but no. I think our entire group got sick. But luckily it didn’t hit Perez and I until after we got back to the ship the next day so we didn’t have to deal with it while in the middle of the desert. It’s funny how open you are about that kind of stuff when you are traveling with people. The rest of the night was spent around the campfire just talking and sharing stories. Namibia is the best place for star gazing in the world so we were stoked to be going on this trip -and guess what happens… It’s cloudy. And it is only cloudy 5-6 times a YEAR in Namibia- seriously, what are the odds? But I guess those things happen right? There was a little section where the clouds disappeared for like 10 minutes so we were able to see some stars then and it was absolutely gorgeous- more stars than I’ve ever seen. A game of never have I ever, of course, and then bed time.
We woke up at like 8 the next morning for breakfast – yogurt and granola, the yogurt could have definitely been another contributor to our sickness- and were told the vans were gonna come pick us up at 11ish so we just sat around some more and waited. Time was going by pretty slowly, none of us had showered even though we’d been sweating a lot, we didn’t get much sleep and the sun was already beating down on us. So Perez, Collin and I decided to make up this card game called Swakopmund after a town that we passed by on our way to our site. Our driver told us it literally means “shit mouth” so we thought it’d be perfect to add in an element of shouting dirty or obscene words. I’d say it’s a combination of Speed and Tourettes and is just ridiculous. 11 came around, no vans, then 12, still no vans. Luckily we had our game to keep us entertained. I can’t wait to bring it back home and teach everyone. But it also might not be as fun as we thought it was while we were stranded in the middle of the desert. 12:15 vans finally show up but there weren’t enough for all of us so a group of about 20 of us stayed behind and waited for more to come and we finally left by 12:45 I think. We were supposed to be back at the ship at 12:30- this trip really didn’t go exactly as planned but oh well, it happens!
Friday, February 13, 2009
Thankful
2/11
I went up to deck 7, the top deck, to get some alone time. There is really none of that on this ship - we are constantly surrounded by people - and it makes things hard sometimes. So here I am, escaping to sit underneath the stars and reflect. Just a single chair against the railing and in front of me is the endless sea. Above me, the stars shine with such brilliance it is breathtaking. The moon is so low to the horizon that the clouds that hover there are hiding it, but its light is spewing out of the top. The stars disappear ever so slightly as the smoke rises from our ship, but appear again as it passes. The water is so still, the ship only slightly rocking. But the wind blows persistently and with strength.
We honored the slave trade as we passed through the Middle Passage today. Some did so by staying silent the entire day, others by observing a moment of silence and reflection that night. We had an open forum to reflect on it and the twenty or so people that did not speak that day were all seated in a circle in the middle of the Union, dressed in all black, still in silence. We spent five or so minutes in silence, the entire room, with “Amazing Grace” playing on repeat, and words flashing on the screen with the history of the slave trade. And then, the silence was broken and those who had not spoken all day stood up to speak of their day and their reflections. It was so incredibly moving. At the end, we held hands and sang “Amazing Grace” together and I felt the need – and the desire – to stay silent for a while after we left. Many cried and it moved all of us to really think about our history- this is a part of us all, no matter the color of our skin. I encourage everyone to take some time, to stay silent, and to think about our history. Think as if you were the one who was pulled away from your family, from the life you know, and thrown onto a ship where you received little food and water, you couldn’t speak because no one could understand you and you feared death. Most of those crossing the Atlantic with you will die, and if you are lucky enough to make it, you are thrown into the property of a stranger and forced to work. Your liberty, your freedom, your dignity are all stripped away. Your life is changed forever. This doesn’t even cover half of it. Take some time and honor those that endured these hard times, for this is a part of us all. And be thankful for everything that you have- never take anything for granted.
It’s weird to look out at the horizon, at the sea roaring by me, and to think that at point, there could have been a ship carrying slaves to their new lives. Here I am, looking at the ocean in awe, yet they could not have done the same.
And I am being spoiled rotten on this ship- there are people waiting on us, i never have to lift a finger. How different my experience is than what they went through- it's unbelievable.
I’m overwhelmed. That is the only word I can use to describe how I’m feeling. I’m overwhelmed. I am constantly being challenged- the life I know is being questioned; my future is being questioned- what is my purpose in this world? God is completely in the middle of it all and although I have so many questions, I know He is guiding me. I know I am finding my place in this world, in this world that is so much bigger than me, and I am so excited to know what God has in store for me. Already, although it’s only been three weeks, I know my life is changed forever. I can’t go back home and not want to make a change in this world. I’ve seen it, I’m experiencing it and I’m learning so much that I am forever changed. It’s so overwhelming and there is so much tragedy and need being thrown at me, but I am so thankful for this opportunity. I don’t deserve any of this; God is blessing me in so many ways. I can’t say thank you enough. Thank you to God, thank you to my parents! I can’t believe I am here. Thank you.
I went up to deck 7, the top deck, to get some alone time. There is really none of that on this ship - we are constantly surrounded by people - and it makes things hard sometimes. So here I am, escaping to sit underneath the stars and reflect. Just a single chair against the railing and in front of me is the endless sea. Above me, the stars shine with such brilliance it is breathtaking. The moon is so low to the horizon that the clouds that hover there are hiding it, but its light is spewing out of the top. The stars disappear ever so slightly as the smoke rises from our ship, but appear again as it passes. The water is so still, the ship only slightly rocking. But the wind blows persistently and with strength.
We honored the slave trade as we passed through the Middle Passage today. Some did so by staying silent the entire day, others by observing a moment of silence and reflection that night. We had an open forum to reflect on it and the twenty or so people that did not speak that day were all seated in a circle in the middle of the Union, dressed in all black, still in silence. We spent five or so minutes in silence, the entire room, with “Amazing Grace” playing on repeat, and words flashing on the screen with the history of the slave trade. And then, the silence was broken and those who had not spoken all day stood up to speak of their day and their reflections. It was so incredibly moving. At the end, we held hands and sang “Amazing Grace” together and I felt the need – and the desire – to stay silent for a while after we left. Many cried and it moved all of us to really think about our history- this is a part of us all, no matter the color of our skin. I encourage everyone to take some time, to stay silent, and to think about our history. Think as if you were the one who was pulled away from your family, from the life you know, and thrown onto a ship where you received little food and water, you couldn’t speak because no one could understand you and you feared death. Most of those crossing the Atlantic with you will die, and if you are lucky enough to make it, you are thrown into the property of a stranger and forced to work. Your liberty, your freedom, your dignity are all stripped away. Your life is changed forever. This doesn’t even cover half of it. Take some time and honor those that endured these hard times, for this is a part of us all. And be thankful for everything that you have- never take anything for granted.
It’s weird to look out at the horizon, at the sea roaring by me, and to think that at point, there could have been a ship carrying slaves to their new lives. Here I am, looking at the ocean in awe, yet they could not have done the same.
And I am being spoiled rotten on this ship- there are people waiting on us, i never have to lift a finger. How different my experience is than what they went through- it's unbelievable.
I’m overwhelmed. That is the only word I can use to describe how I’m feeling. I’m overwhelmed. I am constantly being challenged- the life I know is being questioned; my future is being questioned- what is my purpose in this world? God is completely in the middle of it all and although I have so many questions, I know He is guiding me. I know I am finding my place in this world, in this world that is so much bigger than me, and I am so excited to know what God has in store for me. Already, although it’s only been three weeks, I know my life is changed forever. I can’t go back home and not want to make a change in this world. I’ve seen it, I’m experiencing it and I’m learning so much that I am forever changed. It’s so overwhelming and there is so much tragedy and need being thrown at me, but I am so thankful for this opportunity. I don’t deserve any of this; God is blessing me in so many ways. I can’t say thank you enough. Thank you to God, thank you to my parents! I can’t believe I am here. Thank you.
Be The Change You Wish To See In The World
2/10
Okay so Global Studies was fascinating today. We learned about Zimbabwe and the crisis going on there- the woman doing the lecture was born and raised in Zimbabwe before moving to the States- I didn’t realize anything that was/is going on there. I knew there was some type of corrupt government issues with the elections happening recently but I had no idea the extent of it all. I will have to write about it again when I have my notes in front of me so I can write down exact details but there is a huge inflation rate and people are having to flee to South Africa or Zambia. The water is completely poisonous and is causing cholera to spread. There are basically no more schools or hospitals, even though at one point Zimbabwe was flourishing with fantastic institutions- the teachers pay more for a bus fare to get to the school than their salary would pay them so they had to stop going- most people couldn’t make it to their jobs because of this- so the schools and the hospitals fell apart. We saw a picture of a cholera clinic and it showed upturned buckets with a slab laid across them as beds. That’s it. The country is in extreme poverty and disarray.
Okay, now I have my notes. In 1980 when Mugabe took office, he was the Nelson Mandela of his time, he had no animosity and kept whites in his government. He brought hope for the continent, he brought calm and peace, and Zimbabwe was the bread basket of Africa. At this time, the Zimbabwe dollar was equal to the US dollar. But then disaster struck. In 2000, the inflation rate rose well above 231 million % annually. Unemployment reached 80% and 1/3 of the population fled across the border to South Africa or Zambia. A lot of the population was actually driven off the land by the government because it seems Mugabe wanted to depopulate his land, mostly of the poor people. Inflation rose so high that higher and higher bills were being created, one million, ten million, one billion, one hundred billion notes. Ten billion Zimbabwe dollars bought 20 loaves of bread at one point, and three weeks later, that same amount bought less than half a loaf. We were shown a picture of 100 billion Zimbabwe dollars set next to 3 eggs- this is how much these eggs cost. Then in August 2008, as inflation still got higher and higher, we were shown a picture of a huge pile of bills, like there had been a bank robbery, next to four tomatoes. In January 2009, inflation had reached 89.9 sextillion %. Have you even ever heard of sextillion? I haven’t. It is 10 to the 21st power. This made Zimbabwe the first country in the 21st century to hyperinflate, meaning inflation rate tops out at a minimum of 50% per month. After July 2008, they just stopped counting because it was rising too much. January of 2009, the 100 trillion note was launched. Yes, trillion. This was beyond belief, no one could cope anymore. This is when people stopped going to work because bus fares were costing more than their salary. Awful. The Unity government is to be inaugurated this week and Tsuangirai (is that the right spelling? I hope) is to be the prime minister. Mugabe will remain President, as he refuses to step down. After all he has done to this country, after the high hopes for him (they thought he would be another Nelson Mandela) and the extreme let down -and he refuses to step down. Yet, the country won’t do anything. They are too peaceful to riot, they assume that things will just approve and they don’t seem to try and fight it. And the rest of Africa has paid no attention and has not done anything but sit back and watch. The South African President has finally recognized they need to help, at least financially, proposing to make the South African Rand the common currency but Mugabe has not accepted yet. Desmond Tutu doubts the unity government will work and believes the only solution is to get rid of Mugabe. He is calling the community to use a “threat of force” to get him to step down. But will they?
It’s just awful. We freak out when the US unemployment rate is above, what, like 4%? And here it reached 80%, if not higher. And we complain when the gas prices rise a dollar, when inflation rises a little, but we have no idea. It’s so sad. And it made me really frustrated that I hadn’t heard of this before. How does that happen? How is it that the world is going through so much, suffering through so many different things, and we are not taught it? I feel like I do a pretty good job of searching for world news and trying to keep up, although I don’t seek it out as much as I should, but I still can’t come across something this awful. I just don’t understand why it’s so hard to hear about this. Why isn’t this made a bigger deal? But I could probably say that about so many other things happening. I could say the same thing about Darfur. Or how about Namibia? We were learning about its history and learned about a genocide that killed 250,000-300,000 people. Did yall know about that? Have you ever learned about that? Because I sure haven’t and I am blown away. I was legitimately angry.
This is what I wrote in my art class after I left Global Studies on the day we learned about the Namibian genocide:
“I am really angered by the fact that I have never learned about a genocide that killed 250,000-300,000 Africans in Namibia – nothing ever taught about that. Why? Why don’t we learn these things? I’ve learned about the colonization of Africa, why couldn’t they teach us about this genocide? I am seriously angry, it’s just not right. Isn’t this something we should learn about?
Maybe I did learn it at once but I don’t remember. If this is the case why wasn’t it made to be a bigger deal? I can’t remember, even when I’ve been talking about Namibia for months, and it doesn’t trigger any kind of memory of a genocide- it’s like the genocide going on right now, how long did it take for us to know about it? Does everybody even know about it yet? Why are these things not a bigger deal? Why do we treat them like they don’t matter to us? We learn about things when less people die- what makes those so much more important to us? Why can’t we learn about genocides- they are so important and such a big part of history? And this one is considered the 1st genocide of the 20th century and of the research I did on Namibia before coming on SAS, why didn’t I read about it? Or why didn’t someone know about it when I mentioned I was going there? It just boggles my mind and I am really bothered by it. I just don’t understand why these types of things are hidden from us. And how long until they do matter and we try to help, try to stop it? How long do we continue to let genocide happen while we are alive? Why is it still happening in Africa right now? It makes no sense at all. And I am so angry. I can’t understand why things are the way they are. How do we sit back and let that happen? When do we get involved? How long do we wait before it’s gone too far, it’s become too much? Hasn’t it gone too far already? It’s ridiculous, it really is. And it just pisses me off that we don’t care. Some do, but it’s obviously not enough. And here I am, doing nothing also. I can’t rely on someone else to get it started or to make all the changes. I need to start with me. What can I do? I need to figure it out. I CAN do that. If I’m this angered by it, I have to do something.”
There are so many unanswered questions and I ranted for a good while but you get my point. Now it’s time for a change.
Okay so Global Studies was fascinating today. We learned about Zimbabwe and the crisis going on there- the woman doing the lecture was born and raised in Zimbabwe before moving to the States- I didn’t realize anything that was/is going on there. I knew there was some type of corrupt government issues with the elections happening recently but I had no idea the extent of it all. I will have to write about it again when I have my notes in front of me so I can write down exact details but there is a huge inflation rate and people are having to flee to South Africa or Zambia. The water is completely poisonous and is causing cholera to spread. There are basically no more schools or hospitals, even though at one point Zimbabwe was flourishing with fantastic institutions- the teachers pay more for a bus fare to get to the school than their salary would pay them so they had to stop going- most people couldn’t make it to their jobs because of this- so the schools and the hospitals fell apart. We saw a picture of a cholera clinic and it showed upturned buckets with a slab laid across them as beds. That’s it. The country is in extreme poverty and disarray.
Okay, now I have my notes. In 1980 when Mugabe took office, he was the Nelson Mandela of his time, he had no animosity and kept whites in his government. He brought hope for the continent, he brought calm and peace, and Zimbabwe was the bread basket of Africa. At this time, the Zimbabwe dollar was equal to the US dollar. But then disaster struck. In 2000, the inflation rate rose well above 231 million % annually. Unemployment reached 80% and 1/3 of the population fled across the border to South Africa or Zambia. A lot of the population was actually driven off the land by the government because it seems Mugabe wanted to depopulate his land, mostly of the poor people. Inflation rose so high that higher and higher bills were being created, one million, ten million, one billion, one hundred billion notes. Ten billion Zimbabwe dollars bought 20 loaves of bread at one point, and three weeks later, that same amount bought less than half a loaf. We were shown a picture of 100 billion Zimbabwe dollars set next to 3 eggs- this is how much these eggs cost. Then in August 2008, as inflation still got higher and higher, we were shown a picture of a huge pile of bills, like there had been a bank robbery, next to four tomatoes. In January 2009, inflation had reached 89.9 sextillion %. Have you even ever heard of sextillion? I haven’t. It is 10 to the 21st power. This made Zimbabwe the first country in the 21st century to hyperinflate, meaning inflation rate tops out at a minimum of 50% per month. After July 2008, they just stopped counting because it was rising too much. January of 2009, the 100 trillion note was launched. Yes, trillion. This was beyond belief, no one could cope anymore. This is when people stopped going to work because bus fares were costing more than their salary. Awful. The Unity government is to be inaugurated this week and Tsuangirai (is that the right spelling? I hope) is to be the prime minister. Mugabe will remain President, as he refuses to step down. After all he has done to this country, after the high hopes for him (they thought he would be another Nelson Mandela) and the extreme let down -and he refuses to step down. Yet, the country won’t do anything. They are too peaceful to riot, they assume that things will just approve and they don’t seem to try and fight it. And the rest of Africa has paid no attention and has not done anything but sit back and watch. The South African President has finally recognized they need to help, at least financially, proposing to make the South African Rand the common currency but Mugabe has not accepted yet. Desmond Tutu doubts the unity government will work and believes the only solution is to get rid of Mugabe. He is calling the community to use a “threat of force” to get him to step down. But will they?
It’s just awful. We freak out when the US unemployment rate is above, what, like 4%? And here it reached 80%, if not higher. And we complain when the gas prices rise a dollar, when inflation rises a little, but we have no idea. It’s so sad. And it made me really frustrated that I hadn’t heard of this before. How does that happen? How is it that the world is going through so much, suffering through so many different things, and we are not taught it? I feel like I do a pretty good job of searching for world news and trying to keep up, although I don’t seek it out as much as I should, but I still can’t come across something this awful. I just don’t understand why it’s so hard to hear about this. Why isn’t this made a bigger deal? But I could probably say that about so many other things happening. I could say the same thing about Darfur. Or how about Namibia? We were learning about its history and learned about a genocide that killed 250,000-300,000 people. Did yall know about that? Have you ever learned about that? Because I sure haven’t and I am blown away. I was legitimately angry.
This is what I wrote in my art class after I left Global Studies on the day we learned about the Namibian genocide:
“I am really angered by the fact that I have never learned about a genocide that killed 250,000-300,000 Africans in Namibia – nothing ever taught about that. Why? Why don’t we learn these things? I’ve learned about the colonization of Africa, why couldn’t they teach us about this genocide? I am seriously angry, it’s just not right. Isn’t this something we should learn about?
Maybe I did learn it at once but I don’t remember. If this is the case why wasn’t it made to be a bigger deal? I can’t remember, even when I’ve been talking about Namibia for months, and it doesn’t trigger any kind of memory of a genocide- it’s like the genocide going on right now, how long did it take for us to know about it? Does everybody even know about it yet? Why are these things not a bigger deal? Why do we treat them like they don’t matter to us? We learn about things when less people die- what makes those so much more important to us? Why can’t we learn about genocides- they are so important and such a big part of history? And this one is considered the 1st genocide of the 20th century and of the research I did on Namibia before coming on SAS, why didn’t I read about it? Or why didn’t someone know about it when I mentioned I was going there? It just boggles my mind and I am really bothered by it. I just don’t understand why these types of things are hidden from us. And how long until they do matter and we try to help, try to stop it? How long do we continue to let genocide happen while we are alive? Why is it still happening in Africa right now? It makes no sense at all. And I am so angry. I can’t understand why things are the way they are. How do we sit back and let that happen? When do we get involved? How long do we wait before it’s gone too far, it’s become too much? Hasn’t it gone too far already? It’s ridiculous, it really is. And it just pisses me off that we don’t care. Some do, but it’s obviously not enough. And here I am, doing nothing also. I can’t rely on someone else to get it started or to make all the changes. I need to start with me. What can I do? I need to figure it out. I CAN do that. If I’m this angered by it, I have to do something.”
There are so many unanswered questions and I ranted for a good while but you get my point. Now it’s time for a change.
Just The Equator, No Big Deal...
2/10
Tyler and I went up to the deck today but it started raining! You’d think on a day we’re passing the equator it’d be all sun, but nooo. I guess this is why they chose to have Neptune Day the day before- so smart.
It poured but luckily it passed pretty quickly and the sun was out by the time we finished lunch. They made an announcement that we were moving at 25 knots and using all 4 engines at 85% and will probably reach 30 knots! We are on the fastest cruise ship in the world, weird huh? Perez HAD to point out that “What was the last fastest cruise ship in the world that used all their engines” oh right, Titanic, thank you! Luckily we’re at the Equator and not somewhere that would have icebergs right? When we went on the bridge tour, the man up there said he had never seen the ship use all 4 engines- I guess we are since the water is so calm. But they said to go look off the back of the ship because water is just shooting out and while we were out there we looked up to see a FULL rainbow circling the sun! It was absolutely amazing and our executive dean, who has been on many voyages, said he hasn’t ever seen anything like that before. It stayed for probably 5 or so minutes before fading away, I wanna know why this happens, it was so incredible! But the sun is out and it’s another hot, hot day!
We crossed the Equator around 3:15!! My first time ever to be in the Southern Hemisphere! It was so nice out, we laid out by the pool all day, but I guess being on the Equator has its drawbacks and my back got way burnt- whoopsies. Tyler Johnson might be my favorite person ever- and my new bestie. We are practically attached at the hip, he’s just amazing.
Themed pub night tonight- Decades. Tyler and I piled on all the tie dye and peace signs I own – which is quite a lot – and Perez donned her Captains hat and sailor attire and went as 1912, the year of the Titanic. She’s always so creative. And I think her mind is just permanently set on the Titanic. Dressing up always makes things more fun, who knows why.
Tyler and I went up to the deck today but it started raining! You’d think on a day we’re passing the equator it’d be all sun, but nooo. I guess this is why they chose to have Neptune Day the day before- so smart.
It poured but luckily it passed pretty quickly and the sun was out by the time we finished lunch. They made an announcement that we were moving at 25 knots and using all 4 engines at 85% and will probably reach 30 knots! We are on the fastest cruise ship in the world, weird huh? Perez HAD to point out that “What was the last fastest cruise ship in the world that used all their engines” oh right, Titanic, thank you! Luckily we’re at the Equator and not somewhere that would have icebergs right? When we went on the bridge tour, the man up there said he had never seen the ship use all 4 engines- I guess we are since the water is so calm. But they said to go look off the back of the ship because water is just shooting out and while we were out there we looked up to see a FULL rainbow circling the sun! It was absolutely amazing and our executive dean, who has been on many voyages, said he hasn’t ever seen anything like that before. It stayed for probably 5 or so minutes before fading away, I wanna know why this happens, it was so incredible! But the sun is out and it’s another hot, hot day!
We crossed the Equator around 3:15!! My first time ever to be in the Southern Hemisphere! It was so nice out, we laid out by the pool all day, but I guess being on the Equator has its drawbacks and my back got way burnt- whoopsies. Tyler Johnson might be my favorite person ever- and my new bestie. We are practically attached at the hip, he’s just amazing.
Themed pub night tonight- Decades. Tyler and I piled on all the tie dye and peace signs I own – which is quite a lot – and Perez donned her Captains hat and sailor attire and went as 1912, the year of the Titanic. She’s always so creative. And I think her mind is just permanently set on the Titanic. Dressing up always makes things more fun, who knows why.
Happy Neptune Day!
2/9
Are we really in school right now? We woke up this morning to people banging drums and blowing whistles up and down our hallway- we went outside to see that it was the crew, dressed up with shields and swords and aluminum foil wrapped around their heads. The first words out of Perez’s mouth as we laid their in bed, drums getting louder as they neared our room and then fading as they trotted up the stairs, “what a weird school we go to”. And how true it is. So, so weird. We were summoned, seriously summoned- the “voice” (the man who does all the announcements) called us “pollywogs” to the top deck- where we had to be “initiated” in order to pass the equator. The captain and some lady were covered in green paint and dressed up as the King and Queen of the Sea and the crew all had on strange white smocks and the same green paint covered parts of their bodies. All 730 of us gathered around the pool, yelling “aye” as we agreed to the many parts of our initiation- we were all to step into the mini pool to get “fish guts” and green slime poured onto us, then to kiss a fish, kiss the kings ring and then finally jump into the pool. Another tradition as part of this initiation is to shave your head, although it is definitely optional. A lot of guys did it and even a good number of brave girls- pretty impressive. So all morning we watched as people lost their hair, hung out on the top deck with music playing and the sun beating down on us. It felt just like a vacation. It was a day of relaxation. As we neared the equator, it got hotter and hotter laying by the pool, but felt so good to be out of the cold weather!
And we had a bbq! Hamburgers and ribs and hot dogs and corn and ice cream sundaes out on the top deck! Ahhh so good! And fresh fruit- everyone was in heaven! We hadn’t had food on the ship like this ever! It was a big treat.
Sorry to say this, I don’t want to offend anyone, but we kept saying how this day felt like a big middle finger to Pepperdine’s International Programs. We just feel like we are so meant to be here, although we were once so bitter and upset about not being able to go with Pepperdine. It’s a really great feeling to experience how well it has worked out. I just can’t believe this is really school, how is it possible?
Desmond Tutu’s former PA is on the staff on the ship and gave a talk about his life and what he has done, what an incredible man-he has such an inspiring spirit. He is a huge fan of SAS and has taught here on one of the past voyages (so jealous) so he usually gets on the ship on as many voyages as he can but she said he’ll be out of town when we get to Cape Town. I am so bummed, how amazing would it be to talk to Desmond Tutu! I think he needs to postpone his trip.
What’s funny is that we didn’t even pass the equator today haha I’m not really sure why they decided to celebrate it when we weren’t even doing it? I think we might be behind schedule or something- we stopped in Dakar, Senegal to get gas a couple days ago and I think we were there longer than we were supposed to be. We were docked next to this island that was used during the slave trade, it was pretty crazy to see the evidence from a time like that.
But we are just cruising through the Atlantic once again, traveling along the coast of Africa. School routine has set in again- we have a while on this ship before we reach Namibia. Luckily, the water is super calm, we are barely rocking and the weather is absolutely beautiful. It’s nice to be home again.
Are we really in school right now? We woke up this morning to people banging drums and blowing whistles up and down our hallway- we went outside to see that it was the crew, dressed up with shields and swords and aluminum foil wrapped around their heads. The first words out of Perez’s mouth as we laid their in bed, drums getting louder as they neared our room and then fading as they trotted up the stairs, “what a weird school we go to”. And how true it is. So, so weird. We were summoned, seriously summoned- the “voice” (the man who does all the announcements) called us “pollywogs” to the top deck- where we had to be “initiated” in order to pass the equator. The captain and some lady were covered in green paint and dressed up as the King and Queen of the Sea and the crew all had on strange white smocks and the same green paint covered parts of their bodies. All 730 of us gathered around the pool, yelling “aye” as we agreed to the many parts of our initiation- we were all to step into the mini pool to get “fish guts” and green slime poured onto us, then to kiss a fish, kiss the kings ring and then finally jump into the pool. Another tradition as part of this initiation is to shave your head, although it is definitely optional. A lot of guys did it and even a good number of brave girls- pretty impressive. So all morning we watched as people lost their hair, hung out on the top deck with music playing and the sun beating down on us. It felt just like a vacation. It was a day of relaxation. As we neared the equator, it got hotter and hotter laying by the pool, but felt so good to be out of the cold weather!
And we had a bbq! Hamburgers and ribs and hot dogs and corn and ice cream sundaes out on the top deck! Ahhh so good! And fresh fruit- everyone was in heaven! We hadn’t had food on the ship like this ever! It was a big treat.
Sorry to say this, I don’t want to offend anyone, but we kept saying how this day felt like a big middle finger to Pepperdine’s International Programs. We just feel like we are so meant to be here, although we were once so bitter and upset about not being able to go with Pepperdine. It’s a really great feeling to experience how well it has worked out. I just can’t believe this is really school, how is it possible?
Desmond Tutu’s former PA is on the staff on the ship and gave a talk about his life and what he has done, what an incredible man-he has such an inspiring spirit. He is a huge fan of SAS and has taught here on one of the past voyages (so jealous) so he usually gets on the ship on as many voyages as he can but she said he’ll be out of town when we get to Cape Town. I am so bummed, how amazing would it be to talk to Desmond Tutu! I think he needs to postpone his trip.
What’s funny is that we didn’t even pass the equator today haha I’m not really sure why they decided to celebrate it when we weren’t even doing it? I think we might be behind schedule or something- we stopped in Dakar, Senegal to get gas a couple days ago and I think we were there longer than we were supposed to be. We were docked next to this island that was used during the slave trade, it was pretty crazy to see the evidence from a time like that.
But we are just cruising through the Atlantic once again, traveling along the coast of Africa. School routine has set in again- we have a while on this ship before we reach Namibia. Luckily, the water is super calm, we are barely rocking and the weather is absolutely beautiful. It’s nice to be home again.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Some Thoughts
4/6
Morocco really touched me. It opened my eyes to a lot of things and made me really think about some stuff. Here are some things that I still can’t stop thinking about-
-Obama Around the World
I feel so blessed to be traveling the world at a time like this. I thought it was going to stop after we were able to watch the Inauguration in the middle of the Atlantic, but I am still seeing it everywhere we go. Anytime we would say we were from America, we would get a response of a raised fist and a shout of “OBAMA!”. The people in Marrakech were so happy and so excited about it, a few even said congratulations to us. And they would talk so badly about Bush- one of our taxi drivers even said “Bush-shit”. He also asked us if we were happy about it and we said yes of course, are you happy? And he responded with we are more than happy, we are proud. It still brings me chills. I am very proud.
If a foreigner was to come to America – say from Morocco- would we respond with a congratulations for their king or whoever their ruler is? We don’t even know who their ruler is! And yet the entire world is excited for ours and for America. They respect us. That’s what I could feel from them when we said we were from America – respect. We were not regarded as dumb Americans as I had assumed we would be, instead we were respected. It was incredible to see the influence that it is having around the world. I am so excited to be able to experience this and to be traveling right after the election. It is truly a blessing.
-Soy Chai Latte?
We had a long talk about the prices on the train back to Casablanca and how it compares to the US. I spent 110 durham which is probably close to $120 or $130 the entire three days we were there. And we started thinking about how much we could get for $4.50, or the price of a soy chai latte from Coffee Bean (which we have been missing so much). It’s disgusting how much more that money could do in this country, or in other countries for that matter. And yet, how often do we go to Coffee Bean or Starbucks and throw that money down like it’s not a problem. Those places have become so social for us and we don’t even think about the money we are spending on a warm drink that lasts us 10 minutes. But then I see how far that money could go over here, how it fed me easily for one meal, and a great meal at that, and how I could feed people who don’t have food with that instead of feeding my own 10 minute satisfaction. These are the things that I will take back with me from this trip. I hope I never forget that.
-Who are you?
Perez and I had a long talk last night, asking the question who are you? Really, who are you? Not the stupid answers like I’m a Pepperdine student, so and so major, I’m in this sorority – why is it that we use those things to define who we are? When we meet new people, how do you introduce yourself? And what questions do you ask people? Where are you from, what school do you go to? What trip are you most excited about? Why is it we think that’s who we are? Have you ever just sat for a while and thought about who you are? How do you define yourself? It’s complicated and frustrating but I think it’s worth your time. Who are you?
Morocco really touched me. It opened my eyes to a lot of things and made me really think about some stuff. Here are some things that I still can’t stop thinking about-
-Obama Around the World
I feel so blessed to be traveling the world at a time like this. I thought it was going to stop after we were able to watch the Inauguration in the middle of the Atlantic, but I am still seeing it everywhere we go. Anytime we would say we were from America, we would get a response of a raised fist and a shout of “OBAMA!”. The people in Marrakech were so happy and so excited about it, a few even said congratulations to us. And they would talk so badly about Bush- one of our taxi drivers even said “Bush-shit”. He also asked us if we were happy about it and we said yes of course, are you happy? And he responded with we are more than happy, we are proud. It still brings me chills. I am very proud.
If a foreigner was to come to America – say from Morocco- would we respond with a congratulations for their king or whoever their ruler is? We don’t even know who their ruler is! And yet the entire world is excited for ours and for America. They respect us. That’s what I could feel from them when we said we were from America – respect. We were not regarded as dumb Americans as I had assumed we would be, instead we were respected. It was incredible to see the influence that it is having around the world. I am so excited to be able to experience this and to be traveling right after the election. It is truly a blessing.
-Soy Chai Latte?
We had a long talk about the prices on the train back to Casablanca and how it compares to the US. I spent 110 durham which is probably close to $120 or $130 the entire three days we were there. And we started thinking about how much we could get for $4.50, or the price of a soy chai latte from Coffee Bean (which we have been missing so much). It’s disgusting how much more that money could do in this country, or in other countries for that matter. And yet, how often do we go to Coffee Bean or Starbucks and throw that money down like it’s not a problem. Those places have become so social for us and we don’t even think about the money we are spending on a warm drink that lasts us 10 minutes. But then I see how far that money could go over here, how it fed me easily for one meal, and a great meal at that, and how I could feed people who don’t have food with that instead of feeding my own 10 minute satisfaction. These are the things that I will take back with me from this trip. I hope I never forget that.
-Who are you?
Perez and I had a long talk last night, asking the question who are you? Really, who are you? Not the stupid answers like I’m a Pepperdine student, so and so major, I’m in this sorority – why is it that we use those things to define who we are? When we meet new people, how do you introduce yourself? And what questions do you ask people? Where are you from, what school do you go to? What trip are you most excited about? Why is it we think that’s who we are? Have you ever just sat for a while and thought about who you are? How do you define yourself? It’s complicated and frustrating but I think it’s worth your time. Who are you?
Casablanca and the Titanic
4/5
Still in Morocco, but sleeping on the boat. We got to sleep in! It felt so so good! But we still had an afternoon left so we caught a taxi to the mosque in Casablanca, it’s the 2nd largest in the world! And it was absolutely stunning! Amazing architecture and so detailed. We couldn’t go inside until after 2 and it was only 12:30 and raining and cold and extremely strong wind so we didn’t want to wait that long- too bad. So after taking a ton of pictures, we just headed back to the ship, ready to sail. The ship was buzzing with stories of everyone’s trips and excitement in seeing friends again. As 2000, our sail time, approached, we all changed into sweats and gathered on the wooded areas of the ship. The ship had to go around the same corner we came in on, stabilizers turned off again, which last time had caused a ton of rocking, plus it was still stormy, so we knew we’d be in for a fun tumble on the wood floor. Well, I was expecting a little sliding one way and a little the other way, but oh no, it was much much more! We were in the Union, which is the giant classroom, and we were in the square of wood in the middle, with the chairs surrounding us- we’d never seen the chairs in here move, even though it was probably the rockiest place on the ship. The floor was covered with people, not much space to move. The first wave came and we were okay but by the 3rd, I had fallen over and by the 4th I was flying across the square, no joke. I was on the outside of the circle and had flown into the chairs and had people piling on top of me. And then we flew to the other side. Soon the chairs were moving and hitting people! It was seriously getting dangerous. I never expected us to fly around that much. At one point I was holding onto a pole, watching as people flew past and down past me (yes, it seemed like it was below me) and I felt like I was on Titanic. It was insane! Yet, so so fun! One guy broke his wrist, another messed up his foot when he ran into the piano haha. We got some video footage of it and I can’t wait to post it, it’s hilarious. But after the fun, we just started to feel a little seasick so we headed back to our room to lie down.
Ummm our room was in complete disarray. Our beds had separated from the wall and mine was all the way on the other side, near the door. Part of the bedside table had reached the middle of the room and toppled over, everything inside of it spilling out. The two chairs and the table were also near the door, on top of just about everything we owned. When the captain had said secure your belongings, we thought putting it on the floor was fine, but instead putting it on the floor meant that the furniture was now on top of it. Perez’s computer was underneath the table, but luckily it was fine. It was chaos. But we had been wanting to put our beds together so this just started the process for us! So now here we are, with a queen bed haha.
But unfortunately, we start class again tomorrow. Its been so long I don’t even remember what we were doing. I guess it’s time to read. And now 9 days on the ship again. Let’s hope we don’t’ get seasick!
Still in Morocco, but sleeping on the boat. We got to sleep in! It felt so so good! But we still had an afternoon left so we caught a taxi to the mosque in Casablanca, it’s the 2nd largest in the world! And it was absolutely stunning! Amazing architecture and so detailed. We couldn’t go inside until after 2 and it was only 12:30 and raining and cold and extremely strong wind so we didn’t want to wait that long- too bad. So after taking a ton of pictures, we just headed back to the ship, ready to sail. The ship was buzzing with stories of everyone’s trips and excitement in seeing friends again. As 2000, our sail time, approached, we all changed into sweats and gathered on the wooded areas of the ship. The ship had to go around the same corner we came in on, stabilizers turned off again, which last time had caused a ton of rocking, plus it was still stormy, so we knew we’d be in for a fun tumble on the wood floor. Well, I was expecting a little sliding one way and a little the other way, but oh no, it was much much more! We were in the Union, which is the giant classroom, and we were in the square of wood in the middle, with the chairs surrounding us- we’d never seen the chairs in here move, even though it was probably the rockiest place on the ship. The floor was covered with people, not much space to move. The first wave came and we were okay but by the 3rd, I had fallen over and by the 4th I was flying across the square, no joke. I was on the outside of the circle and had flown into the chairs and had people piling on top of me. And then we flew to the other side. Soon the chairs were moving and hitting people! It was seriously getting dangerous. I never expected us to fly around that much. At one point I was holding onto a pole, watching as people flew past and down past me (yes, it seemed like it was below me) and I felt like I was on Titanic. It was insane! Yet, so so fun! One guy broke his wrist, another messed up his foot when he ran into the piano haha. We got some video footage of it and I can’t wait to post it, it’s hilarious. But after the fun, we just started to feel a little seasick so we headed back to our room to lie down.
Ummm our room was in complete disarray. Our beds had separated from the wall and mine was all the way on the other side, near the door. Part of the bedside table had reached the middle of the room and toppled over, everything inside of it spilling out. The two chairs and the table were also near the door, on top of just about everything we owned. When the captain had said secure your belongings, we thought putting it on the floor was fine, but instead putting it on the floor meant that the furniture was now on top of it. Perez’s computer was underneath the table, but luckily it was fine. It was chaos. But we had been wanting to put our beds together so this just started the process for us! So now here we are, with a queen bed haha.
But unfortunately, we start class again tomorrow. Its been so long I don’t even remember what we were doing. I guess it’s time to read. And now 9 days on the ship again. Let’s hope we don’t’ get seasick!
Marrakech: Mint Tea and Market
4/4
So after little sleep, we woke up to rain and cold, but we weren’t about to let this hinder any of our adventure. We had a breakfast of mint tea, orange juice (freshly squeezed and so yummy) and crepes (for so cheap, just like everything here). We walked around the market some more, bought some CD’s, yes Moroccan CD’s, they are amazing, went to the train station to buy our tickets back to Casablanca because we decided to head back tonight instead of waiting until the next morning. We just didn’t want to sleep like that again and because we can’t go out at night there’s not much we’d be missing out on. And then shopping in the market became our mission for the day. We kept running into SAS people as we were walking through and Bobby pushed me into a man holding a monkey and the man grabbed me and put the monkey on me so I really had no choice. I got some great pictures but the man wanted 100 durham for it! So we had to argue and I finally just gave him $1 and walked off. Then a man harassed Perez because he claimed she took a picture of him and wanted money, but she really didn’t. We had to argue and one of the boys with us yelled at the guy and the guy walked off yelling “Fuck you!” -Funny the words that carry on to a different culture. But we saw the man later, when it was just three of us girls and we apologized and gave him some money and he was super nice and let us take a bunch of pictures with him (it’s the one that I put up on my facebook right now).
So there are five times during the day when they pray and each time it is signaled by a loud voice on a speaker all throughout the city. The call to prayer. It’s really fascinating; it even woke us up at 6 in the morning when it went off. Because the merchants can’t really leave their stuff they are selling they don’t actually stop at all, but we did see a bunch of people running to the mosque to get inside to pray. It was pretty amazing to see.
We wandered the covered tent once more, but this time searching for things we wanted to buy. It’s all about bartering here, even the merchants know it. One man even laughed at us when we walked off when he wanted 400 durham for a scarf and called us back saying no no this is how the game works- I say a price too high, you say one too low and we work through it. You usually end up at 1/3 or a half of the price they originally want. I got a great ring for 110 durham, a bracelet for 70, a scarf for 80 and these amazing shoes for 150. So a total of 410 durham, which is about $41. Such a great deal for what we got – it’s all so beautiful! Now since there are just three girls in our group (not 9 like there were before), we didn’t stand out as much and we were able to talk to a lot of the locals. They loved asking where we were from and the man I bought my shoes from flexed his muscles when I said California and I realized he meant Arnold haha it was awesome. The people are so friendly! It’s amazing how much English they speak also. It’s primarily Arabic here, but a lot of French is spoken as well. Perez wanted a shirt and the man wanted 150 durham for it but she literally only had 100 and he wouldn’t back down. She goes “well, how about a handshake” and he was like “how about a kiss on the cheek” so he got one from all of us and he knocked off 50 durham haha. I don’t know why because a kiss on the cheek in greeting like that is so normal to their culture but I guess from Americans it was worth something. Hell, if that’s all it took to knock off 50 durham, I’d do it more often! Just kidding… kinda.
We spent a full day walking through the tents, broken up so we could get some lunch at another high terrace in the market – this one had a view of the city and was stunning. We had more couscous and targine and mint tea, of course, and dessert of tangerines, stems and leaves still on, like it had just been picked. They were absolutely delicious. Before we knew it though, we had shopped the whole day and it was time to get to the train station.
Three hours later and a conversation with some locals in broken English and French (which Perez speaks really well) and we were in Casablanca. But this city scares the crap out of us so we just jumped in a taxi that took us straight to the ship. I wanted to run I was so excited to see our home! We took a long, hot shower (we hadn’t showered our whole trip, it wasn’t much of a shower and we were worried about the water) and got in comfy sweats and lounged freely on our beds. It’s times like these when you realize how great we have it and how much we take for granted. How much we now appreciate a shower, warm water, CLEAN water, a warm room, a clean bed- it’s ridiculous how quickly we forget to appreciate things like that!
Today was a much better day- the first day I felt unsafe and I was scared the whole time. But today I felt much more comfortable and really enjoyed talking to the locals and learning more about the culture. I really like Marrakech, it was beautiful in a very different way and a place I never thought I would see. It was really incredible but I was ready to leave. Glad to be back on the ship.
So after little sleep, we woke up to rain and cold, but we weren’t about to let this hinder any of our adventure. We had a breakfast of mint tea, orange juice (freshly squeezed and so yummy) and crepes (for so cheap, just like everything here). We walked around the market some more, bought some CD’s, yes Moroccan CD’s, they are amazing, went to the train station to buy our tickets back to Casablanca because we decided to head back tonight instead of waiting until the next morning. We just didn’t want to sleep like that again and because we can’t go out at night there’s not much we’d be missing out on. And then shopping in the market became our mission for the day. We kept running into SAS people as we were walking through and Bobby pushed me into a man holding a monkey and the man grabbed me and put the monkey on me so I really had no choice. I got some great pictures but the man wanted 100 durham for it! So we had to argue and I finally just gave him $1 and walked off. Then a man harassed Perez because he claimed she took a picture of him and wanted money, but she really didn’t. We had to argue and one of the boys with us yelled at the guy and the guy walked off yelling “Fuck you!” -Funny the words that carry on to a different culture. But we saw the man later, when it was just three of us girls and we apologized and gave him some money and he was super nice and let us take a bunch of pictures with him (it’s the one that I put up on my facebook right now).
So there are five times during the day when they pray and each time it is signaled by a loud voice on a speaker all throughout the city. The call to prayer. It’s really fascinating; it even woke us up at 6 in the morning when it went off. Because the merchants can’t really leave their stuff they are selling they don’t actually stop at all, but we did see a bunch of people running to the mosque to get inside to pray. It was pretty amazing to see.
We wandered the covered tent once more, but this time searching for things we wanted to buy. It’s all about bartering here, even the merchants know it. One man even laughed at us when we walked off when he wanted 400 durham for a scarf and called us back saying no no this is how the game works- I say a price too high, you say one too low and we work through it. You usually end up at 1/3 or a half of the price they originally want. I got a great ring for 110 durham, a bracelet for 70, a scarf for 80 and these amazing shoes for 150. So a total of 410 durham, which is about $41. Such a great deal for what we got – it’s all so beautiful! Now since there are just three girls in our group (not 9 like there were before), we didn’t stand out as much and we were able to talk to a lot of the locals. They loved asking where we were from and the man I bought my shoes from flexed his muscles when I said California and I realized he meant Arnold haha it was awesome. The people are so friendly! It’s amazing how much English they speak also. It’s primarily Arabic here, but a lot of French is spoken as well. Perez wanted a shirt and the man wanted 150 durham for it but she literally only had 100 and he wouldn’t back down. She goes “well, how about a handshake” and he was like “how about a kiss on the cheek” so he got one from all of us and he knocked off 50 durham haha. I don’t know why because a kiss on the cheek in greeting like that is so normal to their culture but I guess from Americans it was worth something. Hell, if that’s all it took to knock off 50 durham, I’d do it more often! Just kidding… kinda.
We spent a full day walking through the tents, broken up so we could get some lunch at another high terrace in the market – this one had a view of the city and was stunning. We had more couscous and targine and mint tea, of course, and dessert of tangerines, stems and leaves still on, like it had just been picked. They were absolutely delicious. Before we knew it though, we had shopped the whole day and it was time to get to the train station.
Three hours later and a conversation with some locals in broken English and French (which Perez speaks really well) and we were in Casablanca. But this city scares the crap out of us so we just jumped in a taxi that took us straight to the ship. I wanted to run I was so excited to see our home! We took a long, hot shower (we hadn’t showered our whole trip, it wasn’t much of a shower and we were worried about the water) and got in comfy sweats and lounged freely on our beds. It’s times like these when you realize how great we have it and how much we take for granted. How much we now appreciate a shower, warm water, CLEAN water, a warm room, a clean bed- it’s ridiculous how quickly we forget to appreciate things like that!
Today was a much better day- the first day I felt unsafe and I was scared the whole time. But today I felt much more comfortable and really enjoyed talking to the locals and learning more about the culture. I really like Marrakech, it was beautiful in a very different way and a place I never thought I would see. It was really incredible but I was ready to leave. Glad to be back on the ship.
So Much To Say About Morocco
4/3
We’re here!! We got off the ship by 8:30 and had a long, long walk out of the pier, surrounded by men trying to rip us off for a taxi. We had a long talk about safety with a former cop who is on our boat and he probably scared us more than was necessary. We are not to look men in the eyes because that means you want to have sex with them… awesome. So we’re passing large crowds of men and you have to make sure and keep your head down or they will harass you even more, plus you have to be aware of pick-pocketers, which is a huge problem for foreigners in Morocco. I’m not gonna lie, it was terrifying. We walked for probably 30 minutes before finding a taxi that was not a rip off – 30 durham, which is like $3, the exchange is great- and made it to the train station. Their driving is not driving, we almost hit like 10 cars on the way to the train. The lane lines are ignored, even ones that separate cars going one way from another, so we’d be in an oncoming lane sometimes. It doesn’t seem like there are any traffic laws and cars will just stop in the middle of the road to talk to another car next to them. There is a definite sense of community here. We bought 1st class tickets to Marrakech for 125 durham - $12 about- and our train was almost full of SAS people, everyone had the same idea to head to Marrakech. We had no plans except for getting there by train- should be interesting.
It was about a 3 hour train ride, my first train ride really ever. The countryside outside of Marrakech was absolutely beautiful- green hills, covered in pink and yellow flowers. But then we would hit an area of poverty, mud houses and trash littering every plant and fence. But then we would hit an extremely rich area- there is no sign of a middle class here, just extremely wealthy or extremely poor.
Made it to Marrakech, grabbed a map and found a hotel that sounded like a good name (yes, we went off a name), plus we had a girl in our group who had been here before so she knew it was in the market area where we would want to be a lot. Well, that hotel was way too expensive so we walked across the market area to find one much, much cheaper – 80 durham a night, yes that is $8. It honestly didn’t look bad at all, you walk back into a beautiful courtyard, which led to another even more beautiful courtyard, so we were satisfied. We dropped our things and headed out into the market – people were everywhere! There are vendors and street performers and people scamming you into taking pictures of them or their monkeys or their snakes (yes, there were cobras all over) and then making you give them money for your pictures. It was a huge square of chaos, but so fascinating also. We found a place for lunch and sat outside – it was a little chilly, but sunny and we could look out into the square. We had couscous with chicken and targine or tagine, which was chicken and potatoes (that turned out to be French fries instead) in this crazy flavorful sauce. So very different from anything we know, but still so good. And they drink mint tea here like crazy and it’s so delicious! We didn’t even get close to finishing our meals and these 3 little girls came over, carrying cookies to sell and I thought they were trying to sell us some so I kind of waved them off but we realized they were wanting our food we weren’t eating. So we gave them bread and they started to grab everything we hadn’t eaten and piled it into the bread. They took all the pieces of chicken that I didn’t want to eat because they looked gross or unappetizing- it made me realize how wasteful we are, especially our food. They were so thrilled to get food that they didn’t care what it was. The waiter came out and I was afraid he was gonna yell at me because in the US they would never let you give your food away like that right at the table, but instead he came over and helped the little girls dish the rest of it into their bread. It was amazing and really hit me pretty hard.
We just walked around the market the rest of the day. It was a huge covered area where vendors are set up one after the other with everything you can imagine – scarves, light fixtures (that I’m still thinking about they were so beautiful), jewelry, clothes, shoes, fabrics, bags, spices, nuts, meat (in one we could see the live chickens in the back and the dead ones for sale in the front, it was real special), cow and camel heads hanging… seriously everything you could want. We got lost inside because of how big it was, it just goes on and on. The smells were probably the most vivid for me- they were constantly changing. You smell incense and you take a step and smell soap and then turn your head and you smell leather or spices. It’s just all around you, it was incredible, and so intense.
We have to be really careful about pick-pocketing here- you can tell when people are observing you to see if you’re a good target and you can feel when people are following you. Some people will even just scrape your backs or stick their hand in your pocket, trying to find anything. Luckily, we were warned about it so we had everything hidden away safely. Still freaked me out though, I wasn’t about to have my camera taken from me! It was in my bag but they can easily come from behind you and cut the straps off and run. I was tense the whole time.
It’s funny, we thought we’d be obvious Americans, and don’t get me wrong, we stood out big time, but we learned that they can’t distinguish us from Europeans, and British accents and our accents are very similar to them. Anytime they’d ask where we were from, they’d guess Spanish for me, and would be amazed when we said America. Most of the time they responded with a fist raised and yelling OBAMA which was just awesome but I’ll talk about that later – or they’d look at Perez and say no no you aren’t American, you China haha they would never believe her. Or we’d just be walking by and they’d say China, Japan! It was very entertaining. They’re not used to seeing many Americans here I guess. And when we pass people in the market place, they say hi in every language they know until you respond.
It was starting to get dark so we got out of there and were walking around outside in the market and stopped to see why a crowd was gathered around a street performer, but left quickly when we realized this was prime for pick-pocketing, we even saw men in the back of the group looking at peoples belongings, ready to take it away. We walked around a little bit and then tried to find a hookah bar but the man we asked thought we were asking him for hashish in an apple so we decided it probably wasn’t the best to keep asking around for it. We decided it was too unsafe for us to be walking around at night, it got really scary, so we went up to a terrace restaurant that overlooked the market and got more mint tea and some food and just sat up there and talked for hours and watched all the things happening below us. It was much more comfortable to be up there, to be able to look at people without being afraid of what could happen.
Our sleeping situation turned into a very interesting one. We started to freak ourselves out about how unclean this place was, and we had been warned about bed bugs and scabies so we decided to wrap our entire body from head to toe, literally, my head was wrapped in a scarf, my bra and shirt still on with a long sleeve tshirt on over it, tucked into my sweatpants, which were tucked into my socks. We didn’t want to sleep in the sheets or under the blanket so I used my tiny travel blanket instead and woke up freezing multiple times throughout the night and uncomfortable from sleeping in such a tight ball (there was no heater in our room). And when we were going to bed there were all kinds of noises outside and I started freaking myself out, thinking someone was gonna barge into our rooms or something. So I really didn’t sleep much that night haha but good news, no bed bugs or scabies! Crazy to be thrown into a culture so different from anything I have ever know. And so different from Spain, which we had just been in two days before. It’s a place that I still can’t find the right words to describe it, even after all of this. It’s unbelievable.
We’re here!! We got off the ship by 8:30 and had a long, long walk out of the pier, surrounded by men trying to rip us off for a taxi. We had a long talk about safety with a former cop who is on our boat and he probably scared us more than was necessary. We are not to look men in the eyes because that means you want to have sex with them… awesome. So we’re passing large crowds of men and you have to make sure and keep your head down or they will harass you even more, plus you have to be aware of pick-pocketers, which is a huge problem for foreigners in Morocco. I’m not gonna lie, it was terrifying. We walked for probably 30 minutes before finding a taxi that was not a rip off – 30 durham, which is like $3, the exchange is great- and made it to the train station. Their driving is not driving, we almost hit like 10 cars on the way to the train. The lane lines are ignored, even ones that separate cars going one way from another, so we’d be in an oncoming lane sometimes. It doesn’t seem like there are any traffic laws and cars will just stop in the middle of the road to talk to another car next to them. There is a definite sense of community here. We bought 1st class tickets to Marrakech for 125 durham - $12 about- and our train was almost full of SAS people, everyone had the same idea to head to Marrakech. We had no plans except for getting there by train- should be interesting.
It was about a 3 hour train ride, my first train ride really ever. The countryside outside of Marrakech was absolutely beautiful- green hills, covered in pink and yellow flowers. But then we would hit an area of poverty, mud houses and trash littering every plant and fence. But then we would hit an extremely rich area- there is no sign of a middle class here, just extremely wealthy or extremely poor.
Made it to Marrakech, grabbed a map and found a hotel that sounded like a good name (yes, we went off a name), plus we had a girl in our group who had been here before so she knew it was in the market area where we would want to be a lot. Well, that hotel was way too expensive so we walked across the market area to find one much, much cheaper – 80 durham a night, yes that is $8. It honestly didn’t look bad at all, you walk back into a beautiful courtyard, which led to another even more beautiful courtyard, so we were satisfied. We dropped our things and headed out into the market – people were everywhere! There are vendors and street performers and people scamming you into taking pictures of them or their monkeys or their snakes (yes, there were cobras all over) and then making you give them money for your pictures. It was a huge square of chaos, but so fascinating also. We found a place for lunch and sat outside – it was a little chilly, but sunny and we could look out into the square. We had couscous with chicken and targine or tagine, which was chicken and potatoes (that turned out to be French fries instead) in this crazy flavorful sauce. So very different from anything we know, but still so good. And they drink mint tea here like crazy and it’s so delicious! We didn’t even get close to finishing our meals and these 3 little girls came over, carrying cookies to sell and I thought they were trying to sell us some so I kind of waved them off but we realized they were wanting our food we weren’t eating. So we gave them bread and they started to grab everything we hadn’t eaten and piled it into the bread. They took all the pieces of chicken that I didn’t want to eat because they looked gross or unappetizing- it made me realize how wasteful we are, especially our food. They were so thrilled to get food that they didn’t care what it was. The waiter came out and I was afraid he was gonna yell at me because in the US they would never let you give your food away like that right at the table, but instead he came over and helped the little girls dish the rest of it into their bread. It was amazing and really hit me pretty hard.
We just walked around the market the rest of the day. It was a huge covered area where vendors are set up one after the other with everything you can imagine – scarves, light fixtures (that I’m still thinking about they were so beautiful), jewelry, clothes, shoes, fabrics, bags, spices, nuts, meat (in one we could see the live chickens in the back and the dead ones for sale in the front, it was real special), cow and camel heads hanging… seriously everything you could want. We got lost inside because of how big it was, it just goes on and on. The smells were probably the most vivid for me- they were constantly changing. You smell incense and you take a step and smell soap and then turn your head and you smell leather or spices. It’s just all around you, it was incredible, and so intense.
We have to be really careful about pick-pocketing here- you can tell when people are observing you to see if you’re a good target and you can feel when people are following you. Some people will even just scrape your backs or stick their hand in your pocket, trying to find anything. Luckily, we were warned about it so we had everything hidden away safely. Still freaked me out though, I wasn’t about to have my camera taken from me! It was in my bag but they can easily come from behind you and cut the straps off and run. I was tense the whole time.
It’s funny, we thought we’d be obvious Americans, and don’t get me wrong, we stood out big time, but we learned that they can’t distinguish us from Europeans, and British accents and our accents are very similar to them. Anytime they’d ask where we were from, they’d guess Spanish for me, and would be amazed when we said America. Most of the time they responded with a fist raised and yelling OBAMA which was just awesome but I’ll talk about that later – or they’d look at Perez and say no no you aren’t American, you China haha they would never believe her. Or we’d just be walking by and they’d say China, Japan! It was very entertaining. They’re not used to seeing many Americans here I guess. And when we pass people in the market place, they say hi in every language they know until you respond.
It was starting to get dark so we got out of there and were walking around outside in the market and stopped to see why a crowd was gathered around a street performer, but left quickly when we realized this was prime for pick-pocketing, we even saw men in the back of the group looking at peoples belongings, ready to take it away. We walked around a little bit and then tried to find a hookah bar but the man we asked thought we were asking him for hashish in an apple so we decided it probably wasn’t the best to keep asking around for it. We decided it was too unsafe for us to be walking around at night, it got really scary, so we went up to a terrace restaurant that overlooked the market and got more mint tea and some food and just sat up there and talked for hours and watched all the things happening below us. It was much more comfortable to be up there, to be able to look at people without being afraid of what could happen.
Our sleeping situation turned into a very interesting one. We started to freak ourselves out about how unclean this place was, and we had been warned about bed bugs and scabies so we decided to wrap our entire body from head to toe, literally, my head was wrapped in a scarf, my bra and shirt still on with a long sleeve tshirt on over it, tucked into my sweatpants, which were tucked into my socks. We didn’t want to sleep in the sheets or under the blanket so I used my tiny travel blanket instead and woke up freezing multiple times throughout the night and uncomfortable from sleeping in such a tight ball (there was no heater in our room). And when we were going to bed there were all kinds of noises outside and I started freaking myself out, thinking someone was gonna barge into our rooms or something. So I really didn’t sleep much that night haha but good news, no bed bugs or scabies! Crazy to be thrown into a culture so different from anything I have ever know. And so different from Spain, which we had just been in two days before. It’s a place that I still can’t find the right words to describe it, even after all of this. It’s unbelievable.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Letter from Magos!!
4/2
MAGOS THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR LETTER!!!
We got a letter on the ship from Magos today- she sent it over MLK weekend! Now THAT is dedication! Sweetest card and such a wonderful surprise! You don’t know how how much we appreciate that and we read it like 20 times already! We love you and miss you so much, thank you sweet girl!!!
MAGOS THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR LETTER!!!
We got a letter on the ship from Magos today- she sent it over MLK weekend! Now THAT is dedication! Sweetest card and such a wonderful surprise! You don’t know how how much we appreciate that and we read it like 20 times already! We love you and miss you so much, thank you sweet girl!!!
Seasick booo
4/2
Just got word that we still haven’t been able to fill up our gas because of rough seas (they only term it rough seas when things are flying off of surfaces- example: I was in the dining hall and trays were sliding off the counter and all across the floor) and waves like this are too dangerous for the boat that has to bring us our gas line. So they’re hoping that it’ll calm down before this evening and we’ll be able to get to Morocco by morning.
A little later in the day…
We were able to get gas by early afternoon and have made it to Casablanca! We can’t get off until tomorrow morning but at least we’re here! I got seasick today- the waves were awffuullll. Luckily no throwing up, probably because I didn’t eat anything to throw up, and could only eat some bread once we reached land and got more stable. Those patches really do wonders. Unfortunately, I couldn’t really get out of bed all day so Tyler Johnson, Perez and I walked Titanic haha not the best day to watch that kind of a movie, but still enjoyable!
But while we were at dinner, there was an announcement that we were rounding a corner and had to turn the stabilizers off, so “secure your belongings and hold on to yourselves” haha that sent a buzz through the dining hall! Practically everyone in there went back to their rooms to endure the crazy waves, and boy were they crazy! We would lose sight of the lights on the horizon completely as we tilted one way and then was looking at white water the next! It was absolutely insane! EVERYTHING on our counters flew off onto the floor, it was hilarious!
We had another open mic tonight- they had to improvise some kind of activities since we were supposed to be in Morocco today- and Perez got up there once again and sang another one of her songs. People are obsessed with her California in the Fall song (which she wrote for me, I must say), she’s become quite the little celebrity!
So sad that we lost a day in Morocco, but ooh well, I guess you have to be prepared for those kinds of things to happen! We’re hopping on a train to Marrakech early tomorrow morning with a big group (practically everyone on this ship has the same plan) and spending a few days there probably, we have NO plans besides getting on that train. It’s kind of exciting, yet we were given a long lecture on safety. I guess Morocco isn’t the safest place for tourists so we’re gonna have to be really careful but it should be a lot of fun! I really don’t know what to expect, I don’t know anything about Morocco! Please pray for us and our safety! LOVE
Just got word that we still haven’t been able to fill up our gas because of rough seas (they only term it rough seas when things are flying off of surfaces- example: I was in the dining hall and trays were sliding off the counter and all across the floor) and waves like this are too dangerous for the boat that has to bring us our gas line. So they’re hoping that it’ll calm down before this evening and we’ll be able to get to Morocco by morning.
A little later in the day…
We were able to get gas by early afternoon and have made it to Casablanca! We can’t get off until tomorrow morning but at least we’re here! I got seasick today- the waves were awffuullll. Luckily no throwing up, probably because I didn’t eat anything to throw up, and could only eat some bread once we reached land and got more stable. Those patches really do wonders. Unfortunately, I couldn’t really get out of bed all day so Tyler Johnson, Perez and I walked Titanic haha not the best day to watch that kind of a movie, but still enjoyable!
But while we were at dinner, there was an announcement that we were rounding a corner and had to turn the stabilizers off, so “secure your belongings and hold on to yourselves” haha that sent a buzz through the dining hall! Practically everyone in there went back to their rooms to endure the crazy waves, and boy were they crazy! We would lose sight of the lights on the horizon completely as we tilted one way and then was looking at white water the next! It was absolutely insane! EVERYTHING on our counters flew off onto the floor, it was hilarious!
We had another open mic tonight- they had to improvise some kind of activities since we were supposed to be in Morocco today- and Perez got up there once again and sang another one of her songs. People are obsessed with her California in the Fall song (which she wrote for me, I must say), she’s become quite the little celebrity!
So sad that we lost a day in Morocco, but ooh well, I guess you have to be prepared for those kinds of things to happen! We’re hopping on a train to Marrakech early tomorrow morning with a big group (practically everyone on this ship has the same plan) and spending a few days there probably, we have NO plans besides getting on that train. It’s kind of exciting, yet we were given a long lecture on safety. I guess Morocco isn’t the safest place for tourists so we’re gonna have to be really careful but it should be a lot of fun! I really don’t know what to expect, I don’t know anything about Morocco! Please pray for us and our safety! LOVE
Back Home!
4/1
Back on the ship- how weird that it feels like home! We both slept for a good 14 hours, you can tell that everyone is so worn out from Spain.
You know what I just realized- the day we went to Barcelona, we were on a ship, in a car, on a plane, on a train, and on the metro. I thought it was cool, I don’t’ know.
We are stopped in Gebraltar to get gas, but we aren’t able to get to land yet because there are so many other ships trying to get in too, leaving us to just keep circling the port, waiting and waiting. So we’re just hanging out on the ship, catching up on stories and learning about Morocco since we’ll be there tomorrow! We still have no plans, but I’m sure we’ll figure it out soon enough!
Back on the ship- how weird that it feels like home! We both slept for a good 14 hours, you can tell that everyone is so worn out from Spain.
You know what I just realized- the day we went to Barcelona, we were on a ship, in a car, on a plane, on a train, and on the metro. I thought it was cool, I don’t’ know.
We are stopped in Gebraltar to get gas, but we aren’t able to get to land yet because there are so many other ships trying to get in too, leaving us to just keep circling the port, waiting and waiting. So we’re just hanging out on the ship, catching up on stories and learning about Morocco since we’ll be there tomorrow! We still have no plans, but I’m sure we’ll figure it out soon enough!
Barthelona and Switch Blades
1/30
You know those faucets that you press down and you wash your hands until they turn off and you have to keep pushing it down? Yeah, that was how our shower worked.
Today was a full day of Gaudi- saw a bunch of his crazy architecture along our street and then headed to Parque Guell (I think that’s what it’s called) which is a huge park with more crazy Gaudi architecture, it was beautiful! An easy place to spend a good two hours without realizing it. Then we hopped on the metro to go see La Sagrada Familia, which is a cathedral that Gaudi started but was never able to finish and is still not finished. But it could possibly be one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen, and something I can’t use words to describe. We were able to walk around inside and I took tons of pictures (hopefully I can put those up soon).
Snack/dinner of Paella! It was delicious and such a Spanish meal, I had to do it. Except I couldn’t brave the entire shellfish they put in, and I mean the entire body, so I stuck with the vegetables. Took a siesta (I love this), and relaxed until a little before midnight and headed out for the night. In the other hostel our friends were staying in there were some girls from England who ended up coming out with us and they guided us to this dance club on the pier- so much fun! Except we wanted a real Spanish club and they kept playing all this American music! And not like current music, they had a Grease medley, cotton eyed Joe and Golddigger. Plus some 80’s of course. So odd, yet so much fun. We were the hit of that club.
Left to go to a different club and we were passing by their hostel so we decided to stop in and go to the bathroom and while most of us were inside, two of the girls with us were still walking around and two guys came up, one grabbed one of their arms and the other flashed a switch blade. Ummm yeah we decided it was time to call it a night. Nothing happened but we decided it was the safest idea to just head back and go to sleep. Kate Harris (best friend from home for those who don’t know) was in Barcelona, since she’s studying in Paris this semester, so I was gonna go meet her but because of this knife incident I couldn’t get to her! So sad, I’m so mad we were in the same place in SPAIN and we never saw each other. So we headed back around 330 to get a couple hours of sleep before getting up to catch our flight back to Cadiz. Sadly, our Barcelona trip was already over. I can’t wait to come back!
You know those faucets that you press down and you wash your hands until they turn off and you have to keep pushing it down? Yeah, that was how our shower worked.
Today was a full day of Gaudi- saw a bunch of his crazy architecture along our street and then headed to Parque Guell (I think that’s what it’s called) which is a huge park with more crazy Gaudi architecture, it was beautiful! An easy place to spend a good two hours without realizing it. Then we hopped on the metro to go see La Sagrada Familia, which is a cathedral that Gaudi started but was never able to finish and is still not finished. But it could possibly be one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen, and something I can’t use words to describe. We were able to walk around inside and I took tons of pictures (hopefully I can put those up soon).
Snack/dinner of Paella! It was delicious and such a Spanish meal, I had to do it. Except I couldn’t brave the entire shellfish they put in, and I mean the entire body, so I stuck with the vegetables. Took a siesta (I love this), and relaxed until a little before midnight and headed out for the night. In the other hostel our friends were staying in there were some girls from England who ended up coming out with us and they guided us to this dance club on the pier- so much fun! Except we wanted a real Spanish club and they kept playing all this American music! And not like current music, they had a Grease medley, cotton eyed Joe and Golddigger. Plus some 80’s of course. So odd, yet so much fun. We were the hit of that club.
Left to go to a different club and we were passing by their hostel so we decided to stop in and go to the bathroom and while most of us were inside, two of the girls with us were still walking around and two guys came up, one grabbed one of their arms and the other flashed a switch blade. Ummm yeah we decided it was time to call it a night. Nothing happened but we decided it was the safest idea to just head back and go to sleep. Kate Harris (best friend from home for those who don’t know) was in Barcelona, since she’s studying in Paris this semester, so I was gonna go meet her but because of this knife incident I couldn’t get to her! So sad, I’m so mad we were in the same place in SPAIN and we never saw each other. So we headed back around 330 to get a couple hours of sleep before getting up to catch our flight back to Cadiz. Sadly, our Barcelona trip was already over. I can’t wait to come back!
Why DId We Think Tattoos in Spain Were a Good Idea?
1/29
Just a couple hours of sleep, a 35 minute cab ride and 2 hour and a half flights and we were in Barcelona! We hopped on a metro (this city has amazing public transportation- US needs to learn something from them) and stepped out onto a wide street, buzzing with people and full of energy. I’ve never seen anything like it. You take New York City, widen the streets, take out the giant amount of people, take away those people who bump into you and rudely stare at you, substitute skyscrapers for beautiful architecture and Gaudi’s crazy buildings, take away the unnecessary technology and you’ve kind of got Barcelona, at least in the area where our hostel was located. Our hostel was really nice- we shared a room with people from all over the world, some from Germany, one guy from China, and woke up one morning to guys from France sitting on the bed next to me.
So once we dropped our things off, we got some tapas, of course, one of our best meals for sure. We had planned on getting our tattoos in Spain, since it’s probably the safest country we’re going to for tattoos, so we decided this was our first stop today. We hopped on the metro, cruised around some streets trying to find the place and as we moved closer we were like oh this is a nice area. Stopped in front of the address and had to double check to make sure it was right- a black door with a skull and cross bones on it but sure enough this was it. Walked inside to loud, screamo music, a dark dark room with a woman with black hair and piercings around her nose and mouth behind the counter, on the phone, yelling at someone on the other end. While we waited for her to get off the phone we scanned the room and on the walls were examples of tattoos- yes, the majority of them were swastikas and hearts with knives through them. No big deal. I look to Perez and I’m like you need to talk because I don’t speak Spanish and I’m not about to get a tattoo by talking in broken Spanish. She is like a deer in the headlights. Thank GOD they didn’t have an appointment spot for us, I think we were more relieved at that than we were in the fact that we couldn’t get our tattoos like we’d been planning for so long. But bible verse tattoos in a place like this just did not seem right. We walked out and continued walking down the street, now seeing that the stores were carrying gothic items, like leather chaps and leather boots…studded belts…you get the picture. It was intense. We walked along La Rambla (a street kind of like the Santa Monica promenade) for a while and, needless to say, we didn’t calm down for a good 20 minutes we were so freaked out. We walked into a market, searching for color and happiness, but nothing could make us feel any better. We walked all the way down to the end where we hit the pier and walked along the water until we found the gothic quarter, which is completely different architecture and style than where our hostel is located. So we wandered and we got lost but eventually we found El Museo de Picasso which was incredible! It was so great to be able to see all of his works together and to realize that his crazy weird works weren’t the majority of his career. And we got to see all his recreations of Las Meninas, fascinating. At this point we had probably walked a good 3 or 4 miles and were exhausted and cold, so we hopped on the metro and got back to our hostel, found some internet and crashed for a couple hours. We had problems with phone service and couldn’t find the friends we were supposed to meet up with so we waited for a long time, but it doesn’t matter anyways since the Spanish don’t go out until after midnight. There was a funk band playing in our hostel and we enjoyed getting in some facebook time and then headed out to meet friends. A greeeat day!
Just a couple hours of sleep, a 35 minute cab ride and 2 hour and a half flights and we were in Barcelona! We hopped on a metro (this city has amazing public transportation- US needs to learn something from them) and stepped out onto a wide street, buzzing with people and full of energy. I’ve never seen anything like it. You take New York City, widen the streets, take out the giant amount of people, take away those people who bump into you and rudely stare at you, substitute skyscrapers for beautiful architecture and Gaudi’s crazy buildings, take away the unnecessary technology and you’ve kind of got Barcelona, at least in the area where our hostel was located. Our hostel was really nice- we shared a room with people from all over the world, some from Germany, one guy from China, and woke up one morning to guys from France sitting on the bed next to me.
So once we dropped our things off, we got some tapas, of course, one of our best meals for sure. We had planned on getting our tattoos in Spain, since it’s probably the safest country we’re going to for tattoos, so we decided this was our first stop today. We hopped on the metro, cruised around some streets trying to find the place and as we moved closer we were like oh this is a nice area. Stopped in front of the address and had to double check to make sure it was right- a black door with a skull and cross bones on it but sure enough this was it. Walked inside to loud, screamo music, a dark dark room with a woman with black hair and piercings around her nose and mouth behind the counter, on the phone, yelling at someone on the other end. While we waited for her to get off the phone we scanned the room and on the walls were examples of tattoos- yes, the majority of them were swastikas and hearts with knives through them. No big deal. I look to Perez and I’m like you need to talk because I don’t speak Spanish and I’m not about to get a tattoo by talking in broken Spanish. She is like a deer in the headlights. Thank GOD they didn’t have an appointment spot for us, I think we were more relieved at that than we were in the fact that we couldn’t get our tattoos like we’d been planning for so long. But bible verse tattoos in a place like this just did not seem right. We walked out and continued walking down the street, now seeing that the stores were carrying gothic items, like leather chaps and leather boots…studded belts…you get the picture. It was intense. We walked along La Rambla (a street kind of like the Santa Monica promenade) for a while and, needless to say, we didn’t calm down for a good 20 minutes we were so freaked out. We walked into a market, searching for color and happiness, but nothing could make us feel any better. We walked all the way down to the end where we hit the pier and walked along the water until we found the gothic quarter, which is completely different architecture and style than where our hostel is located. So we wandered and we got lost but eventually we found El Museo de Picasso which was incredible! It was so great to be able to see all of his works together and to realize that his crazy weird works weren’t the majority of his career. And we got to see all his recreations of Las Meninas, fascinating. At this point we had probably walked a good 3 or 4 miles and were exhausted and cold, so we hopped on the metro and got back to our hostel, found some internet and crashed for a couple hours. We had problems with phone service and couldn’t find the friends we were supposed to meet up with so we waited for a long time, but it doesn’t matter anyways since the Spanish don’t go out until after midnight. There was a funk band playing in our hostel and we enjoyed getting in some facebook time and then headed out to meet friends. A greeeat day!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
The Full Day in Cadiz
1/28
I woke up this morning, normal time of 7:40 while on the ship, only to open our blinds, expecting to see ocean for miles and miles, but instead screamed in shocked and excitement- LAND! I practically jumped away from the window, I couldn’t believe it! We were here! Plus, there was a very attractive Spanish man outside our window- but anyway- we were right on the dock, just a foot of water in between us.
We had breakfast on the ship, just like always but the dining hall was alive and buzzing, very unlike the usual quiet and emptiness on a day at sea. We made sure we had our secret pouches wrapped around our waists and tucked into our jeans (yeah, you laugh now at how dorky they are, but who will be laughing when we don’t get pick-pocketed) and walked down the gangway until we placed a foot on land- we touched Spain! My first step on a new continent, our first step on land in 9 days, the first step of our adventures.
We were doing a trip with SAS- Women of Cadiz- for our classes so we hopped on a tour bus around 10 AM and were taken around the city, along the coast, and then were dropped off to walk the rest of the day. We went to a couple different museums, which were fun but nothing spectacular- and a beautiful Cathedral. Cadiz is not the biggest of cities so they don’t have as much history as the others. We did see some Roman ruins though and that was fun. It was a beautiful city, very calm and relaxed, a great day overall.
Coolest thing I’ve ever seen- a camara oscura at the top of this tower we climbed to see the entire city. There are mirrors that reflect down to this large, shallow bowl-type thing, so you see the entire city. But not only does it capture the image of the city, but it’s MOVING too! So you’ll see cars driving by or people doing laundry or birds flying past the buildings. It was trippy at first but definitely a treat! I want one for my apartment in Malibu.
THE FOOD: Tapas are amazing. That’s all there really is to say for that. Incredible food. I absolutely love their way of eating. Breakfast is really light and usually just like a croissant or pastry-type (although they aren’t as sweet as they are in the US) and café con leche, which is SO GOOD! I am never going to be able to drink coffee in the US ever again. Lunch isn’t until 2:30ish and it’s their biggest meal. So we had basically a five-course meal of salad and all kinds of tapas, which come at different times throughout the meal so it turns into a 3 hour meal. And the wine is like water here- I literally finished my last sip and our waiter was behind me with a refill. And we even got desert and coffee at the end- although the deserts are small portions, as they should be, and are perfect size. It makes you realize how sickening the meals in the US are. No one eats too fast and you are able to try so many different things and not each too much. It’s about being social and relaxed, there’s no hurry to get away from friends. More tapas, a snack, at around 6, and then dinner isn’t until like 10:30 and it’s still a pretty small meal of tapas. Croquettas are our absolute favorite. We got them at any time we had tapas, which is like 3 times a day- they’re these little fried balls that usually have ham and chicken and potato. They are amazing! The food was probably my favorite part of Spain haha
After dinner, there was a place in the same square having a special 1 Euro beers so you know we were all about that. I love it here! One day down, three to go. It was already going by too fast.
I woke up this morning, normal time of 7:40 while on the ship, only to open our blinds, expecting to see ocean for miles and miles, but instead screamed in shocked and excitement- LAND! I practically jumped away from the window, I couldn’t believe it! We were here! Plus, there was a very attractive Spanish man outside our window- but anyway- we were right on the dock, just a foot of water in between us.
We had breakfast on the ship, just like always but the dining hall was alive and buzzing, very unlike the usual quiet and emptiness on a day at sea. We made sure we had our secret pouches wrapped around our waists and tucked into our jeans (yeah, you laugh now at how dorky they are, but who will be laughing when we don’t get pick-pocketed) and walked down the gangway until we placed a foot on land- we touched Spain! My first step on a new continent, our first step on land in 9 days, the first step of our adventures.
We were doing a trip with SAS- Women of Cadiz- for our classes so we hopped on a tour bus around 10 AM and were taken around the city, along the coast, and then were dropped off to walk the rest of the day. We went to a couple different museums, which were fun but nothing spectacular- and a beautiful Cathedral. Cadiz is not the biggest of cities so they don’t have as much history as the others. We did see some Roman ruins though and that was fun. It was a beautiful city, very calm and relaxed, a great day overall.
Coolest thing I’ve ever seen- a camara oscura at the top of this tower we climbed to see the entire city. There are mirrors that reflect down to this large, shallow bowl-type thing, so you see the entire city. But not only does it capture the image of the city, but it’s MOVING too! So you’ll see cars driving by or people doing laundry or birds flying past the buildings. It was trippy at first but definitely a treat! I want one for my apartment in Malibu.
THE FOOD: Tapas are amazing. That’s all there really is to say for that. Incredible food. I absolutely love their way of eating. Breakfast is really light and usually just like a croissant or pastry-type (although they aren’t as sweet as they are in the US) and café con leche, which is SO GOOD! I am never going to be able to drink coffee in the US ever again. Lunch isn’t until 2:30ish and it’s their biggest meal. So we had basically a five-course meal of salad and all kinds of tapas, which come at different times throughout the meal so it turns into a 3 hour meal. And the wine is like water here- I literally finished my last sip and our waiter was behind me with a refill. And we even got desert and coffee at the end- although the deserts are small portions, as they should be, and are perfect size. It makes you realize how sickening the meals in the US are. No one eats too fast and you are able to try so many different things and not each too much. It’s about being social and relaxed, there’s no hurry to get away from friends. More tapas, a snack, at around 6, and then dinner isn’t until like 10:30 and it’s still a pretty small meal of tapas. Croquettas are our absolute favorite. We got them at any time we had tapas, which is like 3 times a day- they’re these little fried balls that usually have ham and chicken and potato. They are amazing! The food was probably my favorite part of Spain haha
After dinner, there was a place in the same square having a special 1 Euro beers so you know we were all about that. I love it here! One day down, three to go. It was already going by too fast.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Cadiz
1/28
Sitting outside in a cute public area with free wifi (why doesn't America do that..dumb) checking facebook and having a chance to say hello to everyone I love! Such a cute area- cold but cute! Ordered some coffee, SO YUMMY!! definitely better than the US. Everyone here is so so friendly and so helpful! We went on a tour of the city and it has so much history and is so beautiful! Can't wait for Barcelona tomorrow!! Ah I'm in LOVE with Spain!!!!
Sitting outside in a cute public area with free wifi (why doesn't America do that..dumb) checking facebook and having a chance to say hello to everyone I love! Such a cute area- cold but cute! Ordered some coffee, SO YUMMY!! definitely better than the US. Everyone here is so so friendly and so helpful! We went on a tour of the city and it has so much history and is so beautiful! Can't wait for Barcelona tomorrow!! Ah I'm in LOVE with Spain!!!!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Almost to Spain...
1/27
We just went on a tour of the bridge,, pretty cool to see how everything works. Not quite like Titanic- no big, fun wooden steering wheel- it’s like smaller than a cars steering wheel and I wonder if they really ever use it.
We saw whales today! Two of three of them- they were a little far away but could still see them come up every 30 seconds or so. Finally, we see some kind of animal life! And there were birds- we’re still about 300 miles off the coast, where the heck were they going??
We’ll be in Spain tomorrow yayyy! I am so so excited! We’ll be spending the day in Cadiz, where the ship docks, and doing a city orientation for our classes- it’s actually a Women of Cadiz tour and we go to a couple of museums and see the Roman ruins so I think it’ll be really cool. We’ll spend the night on the ship and then we leave for Barcelona the next morning!
We’ve spent today catching up on sleep – lost another hour last night (that’s 6 23-hour days now) because we know Spain will be tiring if we’re not ready for it.
The sunsets have been amazing! My art professor has made a big deal out of really noticing the things around us and he wants us to write about that kind of stuff in our journal, which we have to turn into him for our midterm. He is much more concentrated on the trip than he is on teaching us art and wants to make sure we don’t only focus on the ports we stop in, but the journey as well. So I’ve been paying a lot of attention to the sky and the clouds and the waves and the sunsets. The waves are especially beautiful- the first few days were like choppy waves where you can’t walk straight down the hall and the ship rocks back and forth more quickly. Then there were a couple days of perfect calmness, kind of a weird calm. Now the past few days have been big waves- the ones that rock the boat but more slowly and at a bigger angle. Like there have been things falling off of our desk and drawers sliding open and closed. I never knew there could be so many differences in just the ocean waves and the way it affects the ship.
Because we keep losing hours, the sun isn’t rising until after 9 now and it’s so weird- definitely makes it harder to wake up in the morning. But it’s always beautiful.
We just went on a tour of the bridge,, pretty cool to see how everything works. Not quite like Titanic- no big, fun wooden steering wheel- it’s like smaller than a cars steering wheel and I wonder if they really ever use it.
We saw whales today! Two of three of them- they were a little far away but could still see them come up every 30 seconds or so. Finally, we see some kind of animal life! And there were birds- we’re still about 300 miles off the coast, where the heck were they going??
We’ll be in Spain tomorrow yayyy! I am so so excited! We’ll be spending the day in Cadiz, where the ship docks, and doing a city orientation for our classes- it’s actually a Women of Cadiz tour and we go to a couple of museums and see the Roman ruins so I think it’ll be really cool. We’ll spend the night on the ship and then we leave for Barcelona the next morning!
We’ve spent today catching up on sleep – lost another hour last night (that’s 6 23-hour days now) because we know Spain will be tiring if we’re not ready for it.
The sunsets have been amazing! My art professor has made a big deal out of really noticing the things around us and he wants us to write about that kind of stuff in our journal, which we have to turn into him for our midterm. He is much more concentrated on the trip than he is on teaching us art and wants to make sure we don’t only focus on the ports we stop in, but the journey as well. So I’ve been paying a lot of attention to the sky and the clouds and the waves and the sunsets. The waves are especially beautiful- the first few days were like choppy waves where you can’t walk straight down the hall and the ship rocks back and forth more quickly. Then there were a couple days of perfect calmness, kind of a weird calm. Now the past few days have been big waves- the ones that rock the boat but more slowly and at a bigger angle. Like there have been things falling off of our desk and drawers sliding open and closed. I never knew there could be so many differences in just the ocean waves and the way it affects the ship.
Because we keep losing hours, the sun isn’t rising until after 9 now and it’s so weird- definitely makes it harder to wake up in the morning. But it’s always beautiful.
73% Girls
1/27
Yes, it is true. 73% girls. Awesome huh? And of those 27% male, mmm not so many that are absolute quality guys. And none that are very attractive. I think my moms wish of me meeting some Spanish man and falling in love will maybe come true after all.
Perez and I are getting along great, we live really well together. And by live I mean spend just about every minute together. It’s sad when I’m in class all day and never see her. She’s amazing, has such a wonderful heart AND makes me laugh all the time. The only time I could say she’s been difficult is in the morning when she yells at me because she doesn’t wanna get out of bed and blames me for her tiredness haha which then just makes me laugh. Or the times she yells at me in her sleep- she can be quite snarky when she’s asleep. But I am so thankful to have her here with me; she is enhancing this experience that much more.
Our cabin already feels like home. We have pictures and quotes and sticky notes ALL over our walls, plus a large map of the world with our voyage traced out with string. Since the ship is all metal we can put magnets just about everywhere (and no tape is allowed) so we stick everything on our walls to make it feel more homey-and it’s definitely working. Plus, we get to see our lovely friends from homes faces every single day, which makes us really happy.
Our cabin is the first one right off of the main stairwell and we’re right on the corner- which is nice for a lot of reasons. Our room is bigger for one. And we put a dry erase board out on our door with a picture of us on it and anyone we meet is like oh yeah I walk by your room all the time -It’s in a good spot for people to come by.
Oh and we’ve already been termed “The Ashleys”- basically since the first people we met. But our good friends are starting to learn to use Ferg and Perez, although it’s taking a little time for it to catch on. Whenever I use it, because I’m so used to saying Perez, people just don’t understand it. But it makes it a lot easier for people to remember us.
Yes, it is true. 73% girls. Awesome huh? And of those 27% male, mmm not so many that are absolute quality guys. And none that are very attractive. I think my moms wish of me meeting some Spanish man and falling in love will maybe come true after all.
Perez and I are getting along great, we live really well together. And by live I mean spend just about every minute together. It’s sad when I’m in class all day and never see her. She’s amazing, has such a wonderful heart AND makes me laugh all the time. The only time I could say she’s been difficult is in the morning when she yells at me because she doesn’t wanna get out of bed and blames me for her tiredness haha which then just makes me laugh. Or the times she yells at me in her sleep- she can be quite snarky when she’s asleep. But I am so thankful to have her here with me; she is enhancing this experience that much more.
Our cabin already feels like home. We have pictures and quotes and sticky notes ALL over our walls, plus a large map of the world with our voyage traced out with string. Since the ship is all metal we can put magnets just about everywhere (and no tape is allowed) so we stick everything on our walls to make it feel more homey-and it’s definitely working. Plus, we get to see our lovely friends from homes faces every single day, which makes us really happy.
Our cabin is the first one right off of the main stairwell and we’re right on the corner- which is nice for a lot of reasons. Our room is bigger for one. And we put a dry erase board out on our door with a picture of us on it and anyone we meet is like oh yeah I walk by your room all the time -It’s in a good spot for people to come by.
Oh and we’ve already been termed “The Ashleys”- basically since the first people we met. But our good friends are starting to learn to use Ferg and Perez, although it’s taking a little time for it to catch on. Whenever I use it, because I’m so used to saying Perez, people just don’t understand it. But it makes it a lot easier for people to remember us.
Just another day
1/26
I’m sick of being on the ocean, I’m not gonna lie. We woke up this morning to pretty big waves, which means annoying rocking, like the kind where you can’t do simple things without falling over or dropping something. We even woke up with things on the ground today- it must have been bad last night. We’re feeling a little nauseous today too which is never fun- I haven’t really felt seasick this whole time but today is not the most settling feeling. I’m ready for land- I hate to say that, because I know I should be appreciate every little detail of it, but I need a little break from the open ocean. Or should I say my body needs a little break, particularly my stomach.
We’ll reach Spain in just two more days! I am so excited- we’ve been learning about Spain, the culture, the history and the sights in Global Studies the past couple of mornings and it just makes it that much more appealing. This trip has felt like we’re just staying on the ocean (and thank God we’re not, right?)- we’ve gotten into a routine of classes and hanging out on the ship and it feels like it should just continue this way. But I think once we reach Spain it’ll change the whole experience of it all. Even with a giant map in our room and our journey mapped with a piece of string, it still doesn’t feel like we’re actually stopping anywhere. The ship is real now, but the traveling isn’t yet. It’ll change everything.
The time change is killing us. We have now had 5 23-hour days- last night being one of them- and it makes it so hard to get some good sleep in. Plus, when the water is TOO rocky, it makes it hard to sleep. Last night I couldn’t sleep and I just assumed that it was because my mind was racing too much or because I had taken a power nap at like 4 but then I overhear people at breakfast talking about how they couldn’t either- it seems that whenever I sleep well, so does everyone else, and when I sleep poorly, so does everyone else. There is something so soothing about the rocking sometimes, but at other times it’s just disturbing.
I’m sick of being on the ocean, I’m not gonna lie. We woke up this morning to pretty big waves, which means annoying rocking, like the kind where you can’t do simple things without falling over or dropping something. We even woke up with things on the ground today- it must have been bad last night. We’re feeling a little nauseous today too which is never fun- I haven’t really felt seasick this whole time but today is not the most settling feeling. I’m ready for land- I hate to say that, because I know I should be appreciate every little detail of it, but I need a little break from the open ocean. Or should I say my body needs a little break, particularly my stomach.
We’ll reach Spain in just two more days! I am so excited- we’ve been learning about Spain, the culture, the history and the sights in Global Studies the past couple of mornings and it just makes it that much more appealing. This trip has felt like we’re just staying on the ocean (and thank God we’re not, right?)- we’ve gotten into a routine of classes and hanging out on the ship and it feels like it should just continue this way. But I think once we reach Spain it’ll change the whole experience of it all. Even with a giant map in our room and our journey mapped with a piece of string, it still doesn’t feel like we’re actually stopping anywhere. The ship is real now, but the traveling isn’t yet. It’ll change everything.
The time change is killing us. We have now had 5 23-hour days- last night being one of them- and it makes it so hard to get some good sleep in. Plus, when the water is TOO rocky, it makes it hard to sleep. Last night I couldn’t sleep and I just assumed that it was because my mind was racing too much or because I had taken a power nap at like 4 but then I overhear people at breakfast talking about how they couldn’t either- it seems that whenever I sleep well, so does everyone else, and when I sleep poorly, so does everyone else. There is something so soothing about the rocking sometimes, but at other times it’s just disturbing.
Schedule on the Ship
1/26
Here’s a little tid bit of my day so you can get an idea of our daily routine on the boat:
Our schedule goes by A and B days- The only way I know today is date-wise, and day of the week wise- is because of a calendar we put up in our cabin. Other than that I only know that it is B3. You rarely ever see any date posted somewhere on the ship.
0740 our alarm goes off
0742 my phone alarm goes off because Perez usually doesn’t wake up to the first one- and when I say usually I mean never.
0750 another snooze alarm goes off and we finally make it out of bed- especially necessary if we had lost an hour that night because of a time change
0800 crawl to breakfast, barely awake, where Alan (our buddy on the crew) has our normal table by the window waiting with coffee and orange juice
0830 we’re back in our room, usually sending emails and relaxing
0920-1035 Global Studies, which everyone has to be at each morning- the big auditorium (The Union) is at the front of the ship and rocks much more than the rest so it’s easy to get sick- so we sit in a classroom instead and watch it on the TV
My A days are free of class after this so I usually head up to the deck and read for class (that’s all our homework is, lots of reading) or hang out around the ship, get stuff done, random things usually. A list of group work outs just came out- pilates, yoga, aerobics (oh yes there is Jerns, but it won’t be the same as Suz)- so I’ll have to check those out.
My B days are quite different-
1045-1200 Intro to Art (Art History)
Grab a sandwich in the dining hall and eat on the way to my next class
1215-1330 International Service-Learning
1335-1450 Dumb English Lit (you can tell how much I love this one)
Usually a nap is thrown in there somewhere before dinner when we get a chance
1800 Dinner
and then various night activities – they have things like swing dance/salsa lessons or movies or seminars (like we had one on Obama’s race speech and how he relates to MLK- awesome) or just hang out in the lounge and play catch phrase, random things like that
Also, we’ve signed up for lots of clubs so we’ll have meetings for those- that yet to come
2130ish Pub Night is each night, held on the top deck- the only time people actually get dressed up a little bit and a prime time for meeting everyone- you’re only allowed 4 drinks, I guess for safety reasons (they’ve had a kid fall overboard because he was so drunk) – or we’ll just hang out around the ship, there’s always lots to do and lots of people to meet so we’re never really bored or sitting around without much to do
Also-there’s a court that is basketball on B days and volleyball on A days- adds loads of fun to our evenings. And there’s a work-out room, which surprisingly we’ve been using haha try running on a rocking ship, super fun!
Here’s a little tid bit of my day so you can get an idea of our daily routine on the boat:
Our schedule goes by A and B days- The only way I know today is date-wise, and day of the week wise- is because of a calendar we put up in our cabin. Other than that I only know that it is B3. You rarely ever see any date posted somewhere on the ship.
0740 our alarm goes off
0742 my phone alarm goes off because Perez usually doesn’t wake up to the first one- and when I say usually I mean never.
0750 another snooze alarm goes off and we finally make it out of bed- especially necessary if we had lost an hour that night because of a time change
0800 crawl to breakfast, barely awake, where Alan (our buddy on the crew) has our normal table by the window waiting with coffee and orange juice
0830 we’re back in our room, usually sending emails and relaxing
0920-1035 Global Studies, which everyone has to be at each morning- the big auditorium (The Union) is at the front of the ship and rocks much more than the rest so it’s easy to get sick- so we sit in a classroom instead and watch it on the TV
My A days are free of class after this so I usually head up to the deck and read for class (that’s all our homework is, lots of reading) or hang out around the ship, get stuff done, random things usually. A list of group work outs just came out- pilates, yoga, aerobics (oh yes there is Jerns, but it won’t be the same as Suz)- so I’ll have to check those out.
My B days are quite different-
1045-1200 Intro to Art (Art History)
Grab a sandwich in the dining hall and eat on the way to my next class
1215-1330 International Service-Learning
1335-1450 Dumb English Lit (you can tell how much I love this one)
Usually a nap is thrown in there somewhere before dinner when we get a chance
1800 Dinner
and then various night activities – they have things like swing dance/salsa lessons or movies or seminars (like we had one on Obama’s race speech and how he relates to MLK- awesome) or just hang out in the lounge and play catch phrase, random things like that
Also, we’ve signed up for lots of clubs so we’ll have meetings for those- that yet to come
2130ish Pub Night is each night, held on the top deck- the only time people actually get dressed up a little bit and a prime time for meeting everyone- you’re only allowed 4 drinks, I guess for safety reasons (they’ve had a kid fall overboard because he was so drunk) – or we’ll just hang out around the ship, there’s always lots to do and lots of people to meet so we’re never really bored or sitting around without much to do
Also-there’s a court that is basketball on B days and volleyball on A days- adds loads of fun to our evenings. And there’s a work-out room, which surprisingly we’ve been using haha try running on a rocking ship, super fun!
Welcome!
Welcome to my blog! Now you can follow me as I travel around the world on Semester at Sea. Unfortunately, Perez and I’s other website that we created before the trip isn’t going to work out so this is gonna substitute that. We only get an allotted number of minutes of internet (and it’s not much at all) until we have to start paying way too much for more and that website was taking of too much of that.
We are able to get email at all times while on the ship though so please please email us! We absolutely love hearing from everyone at home and are thinking about you tons so it makes our day so much better when we get some emails, just to hear from you and to hear what is going on back home! Thanks for visiting!
Ferg- anferguson@semesteratsea.net
Perez- alperez@semesteratsea.net
We are able to get email at all times while on the ship though so please please email us! We absolutely love hearing from everyone at home and are thinking about you tons so it makes our day so much better when we get some emails, just to hear from you and to hear what is going on back home! Thanks for visiting!
Ferg- anferguson@semesteratsea.net
Perez- alperez@semesteratsea.net
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