ESPANA!!!!!

So I have had an AMAZING time in Spain over the past four days and now I'm back on the ship getting ready to leave for Morocco.  I spent a lot of the first day wandering around Cadiz with friends. The first thing we did was go get some cafe con leche and then wandered through various stores to figure out our phones and get a good traveling bag. I found a nice one for 6 Euro which I used for basically my entire time in port. We stopped for lunch and tried the Sangria but unfortuntely the cafe served mostly Italian food so I just had some pasta. We went to the Cathedral in Cadiz for about 3 Euro which seemed so huge at the time. The vaulted ceilings and incredibly gold and silver adornments were ridiculous. We got to go into the cript and see some more of the various religious artifacts and items on display which I have many pictures of. You could climb the tower for 4 Euro but we decided against it and returned to the ship. That night I went to the Flamenco trip with SAS which was amazing! As soon as we arrived they gave us sherry and other drinks. We entered the arena and watched flamenco dancers perform with horses and a bloodless bullfight with a young bull. I really don't think I would be able to handle a legit bullfight. After that we headed inside for some tapas and watched the flamenco dancers perform on the wood floor. This was possible some of the most amazing dancing I have EVER seen. I have several videos that I will have to aspire to someday. They even had some audience participation which was fairly amusing.

The second day we left at 9 AM for Seville on a SAS trip which took around an hour and half on a bus to do. The first place we went to was the Cathedral which is the largest Gothic Cathedral in the World! The inside was absolutely amazing with vaulted ceilings even higher than those in Cadiz and tons of paintings, statues, and other artifacts in gold and silver. Christopher Columbus's tomb was actually located there as well as his legitimate son. We climbed the 34 ramps/ floors to the top of La Giralda or the tower in the Cathedral from which you could see all of Seville. I had a little bit of land legs and vertigo so I definitely didn't stay up there long, but it was really cool to see all of what I did in that short time. I actually saw a woman with a baby stroller going up there as well and all I could think was that she must of legs of steel! We then went to the Alcazar where the tiles of the Islamic design were so intricate and the arches were gorgeous. It was so bright and colorful, because it was the palace there. There were several beautiful tapestries and paintings in several of the rooms, and even places where Columbus supposed planned his trip to the "New World". The best area by far was the gardens which stretched incredibly far and had tons of fountains. We climbed to the second floor of one of the walls and viewed the entire gardens from there. After the Alcazar we went shopping in some smaller shops then got lunch at this nice hotel restaurant. This was probably one of my favorite meals in all of Spain. We had so many tapas and bottles of wine shared among the table that I was incredibly full even when desert came, although I definitely ate that! After lunch I met up with Kelly and Claudia to drop off my stuff at the hostel. We searched to find tickets to the Cirque show that was in town, but it was sold out. We decided to go to the stadium and got tickets to a soccer game between Seville and Valencia which was absolutely AMAZING!!!!!! Their cheers were hilarious and we saw the home team win in the last minute of the game, and the crowd rioted! We waited too late to go get dinner so we had to go to a McDonald's but it was good to get some American food I guess. After that we met up with some other SAS students among some Germans and Australians from our hostel to go out to a couple of clubs in Seville. We actually ran into some Moroccans while we were out and they told us that Marrakech is amazing so I am very pumped!

The third day was a lot more calm because I went back to the Alcazar with my friends because they hadn't seen it yet. It was actually nice because I got to explore the gardens a little bit more which was nice. I could actually explain some of the rooms to them which was kind of neat as well. After that they went back to the Cathedral, and I stayed outside to do some journaling for my class and listen to some street music which was so cool. While we were searchign for lunch we actually came across a Texan who works in Seville as an English teacher and a tour guide. He directed us to a really neat place for lunch, but they didn't have any churros so we went down the street a bit. They were absolutely delicious and thoroughly clogged my arteries! We then wandered to a the bus and then took the 2 hour train back to Cadiz. We got some great Arabic food there which was really nice and the servers were really sweet there. After that I went to a local bar with 2 friends and my roommates which was fun because I haven't hung out with them for several days because we were all in different areas. There we found a large group of SAS kids and had a good time.

The last day we slept in because we don't have a window in our room and couldn't tell how late it was. We got lunch at the first place we went to in port and I got some of the best gelato I have ever had next door to that. It was Ferrero Rocher and actually intensely tasted like candy which was really good. We tried getting to the post office for some stamps but it was closed by the time we got there. I'll have to send my postcards then. Let me know if you would like me to send you one in my e-mail and from where! I bought a new pair of earrings because the back fell off of my regular old studs. We then hung out for a bit in the square in front of the Cathedral with some other SASers and then finished off our Euro with some Sangria. We headed back and got on the ship so we didn't have a chance of being late and getting dock time. After working on my computer for a bit to load all of my pictures onto my hard drive and clear out my e-mail I grabbed dinner with Liz and ran into so many people and we all discussed what we did in Spain. Everyone had such an amazing time. I walked up with Taylor to see the ship pull away and we decided to make it a tradition to watch it pull away together. Tomorrow is a pretty long day with global studies and some pre-port lecture time which should be kind of long and annoying but its definitely needed. We're actually going to be loading up at Gibralter so I'll get to see that all day. Monday morning I arrive in Casablanca, Morocco which should be pretty fun. I'm going to explore Casablanca with Liz the first day and then the last 3 days I'm on a Semester at Sea trip to Marrakech and do some camel riding. I'm really excited and I'll update after I'm back on the ship from that! So far all FUN!

The Rain in Spain is mainly on the Plain!

So it is the night before we arrive in Cadiz, Spain and things are pretty crazy on the ship right now. I basically want to sum up what has happened over the past week on the ship. It seems like forever ago when I got on the ship! I actually really enjoy all of my classes. Global Studies is kind of boring and we have it every morning at 9:20 AM while we are at sea which can be a drag, but sometimes it is alright. I only have a couple tests for that class. A History of US Immigration Law is actually one of my favorites because my professor is hilarious. She has so many anecdotes and silly things that she talks about to relate to what we are going in class. She is possibly one of my favorite professor EVER! Sacred Sites is also very interesting but a big change for me considering I have never taken a class in art history or religion. World Dance is a lot of fun and is pretty easy in general, as far as school work and the actual dancing we do. At first it was really difficult trying to dance in the Union with the ship rocking as much as it was, but we have gotten better about it. Overall I am very happy with my classes. Unfortunately on A days I don't get lunch because my classes go straight through it, but I've been eating a granola bar instead.

 

The food on board has actually not been too shabby, it is just very repetitive. There's always salad, pasta and potatoes. It would be nice to change thigns up a bit but I don't want to pay extra for the some of the other food on board. The meals are major social time here on the ship. It barely even seems that we are taking classes, just doing a lot of reading and hanging out. I have met a few girls that are pretty cool. I met Liz on my flight to the Bahamas which was cool to know someone before I even saw the ship. I also met a girl named Claudia from South Carolina that I am traveling with in port. There are a bunch of other girls as well, but they are the ones that I spend a lot of time with.

 

Everyday life is very different from regular school for me. I actually have time to work out and stuff, although now I have switched from going to the gym to taking aerobic and yoga classes. They had a group of us tour the Bridge of the ship and I got to sit in the Captain's chair, along with a whole bunch of other actitivities. Every night there is something going on, from swing or salsa lessons, to an Explorer's seminar on Spanish food or using digital cameras. In between every port we have an interport lecturer that has a great deal of experience with our next port and the one for Spain was a professor of Spanish at UVA. He was really funny and once when I was having a conversation with him a man came up and videotaped us, which was kind of strange lol. One thing that I discovered is pretty nice is that when it is warm outside you can sit by the pool to do your homework, which is mainly reading. Definitely most relaxing!

 

I am doing several different programs on the ship. Extended family is where students get assigned to a member of the faculty or a Life Long Learner and they get dinner with them every now and then to be a family away from home. A lot of the adults on board have their own families and children on board as well. I am doing Vicarious Voyage which is a program where an Living Learning Coordinator and I share a classroom and they send us letters at different ports. We write back in a pen pal format and sometimes send neat little thigns from the ports to them as well. I have a 6th grade class in Edinburgh, NY which is cool because I might actually be able to visit it once I am back in the states. I am also part of the Ambassador's Ball planning committee which doesn't happen for a while but it a fun thing to just plan the party that happens at the end of our journey. Overall I have enjoyed the different acticvities they have had on board. They had an open mic night with lots of students performing and everyone was ridiculously talented!

 

We have had several meetings to prep us for Spain and I'm getting really anxious and nervous. For one I don't speak a word of Spanish so I'm worried I'll be lost, but I will have other people with me so that should be fine. I am going to explore Cadiz the first day then go to a Semester at Sea, SAS, trip to see some flamenco and a bullfight. the next day I leave early for Seville with one of the Professor's to see the Alcazar among others. I plan on sdtaying there and meeting up with some girls. The next day we will either spend in Seville or possibly traveling to Granada to see the Alhambra. Saturday we have to be back on the ship by 6 so we can leave for Morocco. I'll update my blog Saturday night so that I can detail everything that happened in Spain. During the meeting they made me incredibly nervous about possibly getting pick pocketed or loosing things, but hopefully it'll be fine. Wish me luck!

The Atlantic

It has been an extremely hectic last couple of days, but at least I haven't gotten sea sick! We left Cortland at 9:30 pm and didn't actually get to LaGuardia until about 4 am, one VERY long drive. I was so nervous on the flight from NY to Ft. Lauderdale because I don't know anybody actually going on Semester at Sea. We found out our flight was canceled in Ft. Lauderdale and were forced to sit there for about 5 hours until they gave us a new flight out of Miami. I met a girl on that flight named Liz who is from Wisconsin. We got to Nassau pretty late so we didn't get to see too much. We just hung out at the cafe and pool bar before heading to Senor Frogs to go dancing. Overall the one night we spent in the Bahamas was pretty cool. The next day I woke up so early because I was so pumped to get onto the ship. After waiting in line for around 2 hours I finally got on and went to my room, 3117. It is a triple but it is actually larger than the other rooms on the ship which is good. My roommates are cool, Megan is from Wisconsin and Cassie is from Florida. Classes have been pretty cool and I especially like my Immigration Law professor because is she so funny and sweet. She teaches at Touro law for most of the year. I have been working on getting some of my trips together for once we are in port. We actually got to see the Obama inauguration which is awesome because I thought we would miss it. We had a party to celebrate it as well. So far things have been pretty boring as far as Orientation went. We had to sit in the Union basically all day and listen to them introduce everyone on staff and explain the rules over and over again. It hard to remember peoples name so I think I have actually introduced myself to the same people more than once because we had the same conversation. The other night when I was trying to work on my computer there was this kid playing the guitar and singing and then another kid just started playing the piano with him almost like a jam session which was pretty sweet. We had an activities fair where we sign up for different things and then they showed Dark Knight last night. So far it was been pretty fun. The food is really good, but because of that I have actually been hitting the gym almost every night. I still have one class left to do which I am so excited for, World DANCE!!!! The teacher seems fairly nice, but we shall see. One of the Academic Deans actually just came up to me and asked if he could interview me to put on the website or something. He asked about the trips I've planned and such which was kinda strange but cool. I think I have figured out how to e-mail my posts to my blog so hopefully that'll work. I miss everyone so much but I have a feeling this semester is going to fly by!

Final Touches!

So I'm in Cortland, NY right now getting all of my stuff together with packing and hoping that I'll have enough or not too much stuff for the next 108 days +. Since my last post they have changed the itinerary for our Spring 2009 Voyage because of trouble in the Gulf of Aden. They took off Italy, Turkey and Egypt but replaced them with Morocco, Namibia, South Africa and Mauritius. It is now:
~Arrive in Nassau, Bahamas 1/18
~Depart on the MV Explorer 1/19
~Cadiz, Spain 1/28-1/31
~Casablanca, Morocco 2/02-2/05
~Walvis Bay, Namibia 2/14-2/16
~Cape Town, South Africa 2/18-2/22
~Port Louis, Mauritius 2/17
~Chennai, India 3/05-3/09
~Laem Chabang (Bangkok), Thailand 3/15-3/19
~Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 3/22-3/27
~Hong Kong/Shanghai, China 3/29-4/03
~Kobe/Yokohama, Japan 4/06-4/10
~Honolulu, Hawaii 4/19-4/20
~Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala 4/28-4/30
~Arrive in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 5/6

I have quite a few of the trips in port already planned out which is very exciting. They are a Flamenco and Bull Fight the first night in Spain. The next day I will be heading out to Seville and Cordoba to see the Alcazar. In Morocco I have a trip where we go stay in a nomadic village and ride camels into Marrakesh. I will be going on a safari in Namibia for basically the entire time I am there. Once I am in Cape Town I plan on going to Robben Island and then a play that night called Freak Country which is pretty neat. The next day I leave for my "Adrenaline Rush" in which I will be cage diving with great white sharks off the coast followed by bungee jumping off of one of the highest points in the world, the Bloukrans Bridge. I plan on hiking up Table Mountain and rappeling down which is also another trip that powers up that adrenaline. The last day I want to do a service visit, possibly going to one of the Townships in Cape Town that Semester at Sea puts on. Once I arrive in India I plan on doing a tour that involves obviously the Taj Mahal but also the city of Jaipur, which is known as the Pink City fo its Pink looking architecture. I haven't planned too much for Thailand but there were a couple of trips I can buy once I am on the ship that seemed interesting. A visit to the Sri Rancha Tiger Zoo, to the Pattaya Elephant Village and then possibly to the Nong Nooch Village for some traditional Thai food and dancing. In Vietnam I have a really special trip planned through Semester at Sea where I will leave pretty much as soon as I arrive for Cambodia to see Angkor Wat and Phnom Penh. I have talked to several alumni and they said that this is probably one of the best trips available. It will leave me with about a day or two in Ho Chi Minh City at the end. In China I will spend one day in Hong Kong and then the second day leave on a flight for Beijing where I will be staying at Tsinghua University. There I will be seeing a lot of the ultimate tourist attractions in China including the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, Summer Palace, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven and Some of the 2008 Summer Olympic facilities including the Bird's Nest. After this trip I will have one day to spend in Shanghai before I board the ship for Japan. Once we arrive in Japan I am hoping to meet up with one of my old suitemates Toshie from Geneseo. I know I definitely want to spend some time in Tokyo but other than that I am leaving it fairly open ended. In Hawaii the only thing I have planned is ski diving on the second day which is going to be so COOL!!! In Guatemala the only trips I really have planned are hopefully visiting one of the Free Trade Coffee Farm and then hiking up and camping on top of some of the highest Volcanos in Guatemala. Whew that was a lot os thigns planned!

I'll only be taking 4 classes which is a very light load for me and I'm lucky because I got all of the classes I wanted/needed. They are the Global Studies class that everyone on the ship has to take every day at sea (we have class every day that we are at sea), A History of U.S. Immigration Law, A World of Dance, and an Art History course called Sacred Sites.

I did get a World phone for the voyage but as one might expect it is quite expensive so PLEASE only call me if you REALLY need to talk to me. Definitely do NOT text my number over the next couple of months because we will feel the pain on the phone bill for a while after. I love you all but the last thing I need is some random text messages while I'm in Vietnam. You can e-mail me anything you want. I'm not sure if I get a Semester at Sea e-mail account, but I do know that we have free e-mail access so send me all you want! My yahoo account is sylvierocksmysocks@yahoo.com. If you want to send me some postcards let me know and I'll send the address you would have to send it to for that port.

I am really pumped and nervous for this journey! I'll be living in a triple on the ship which means probably quite cramped quarters but it was a lot cheaper so we went with it. We don't find out who our roommates are until we get onto the ship which is kinda nerve racking but I'm sure it'll be fine.

Right now it feels like about 40 below zero in C-land, NY but it is apparently supposed to be clear on the day we fly to Nassau so hopefully we won't get delayed. Mom is coming with me down there to see me off because she has a 3 day weekend. My Dad will be picking me up in Ft. Lauderdale and driving me up the coast from there which should be an adventure in itself! I'm ready for 75 degrees and warm beaches, LET'S GO!!!!!