Ok, so I have been back in the US for a little over two weeks now. I wanted to write a blog a week ago but this new real world life that I have has gotten in the way.Im currently looking for a job (not going so well) and I've been trying to figure out how to get back into the swing of things.
When I first got back here, i had no idea what was going on! i didnt any of the new songs, none of the politics, nothing!!! the very first few hours after I got off the ship, my brain was soooooooooo scrambled! i couldnt understand why everyone was speaking english! i didnt understand where the heck i was! it was seriously the craziest feeling in the world. i had only been gone for 2 1/2 months but my world is soooo different now. i can honestly say that i look at things from a completley different perspective now. i dont want to make this final blog super long, but i just wanted to have an ending i guess. i am so grateful and feel so blessed to have experienced semester at sea. i have seen parts of the world that were once in my dreams. i have met and made bonds with people on almost every continent on our planet. the knowledge that i have gained i will seriously keep with me for the rest of my life. i hope that i have inspired someone reading this random silly blog, to explore the world in whatever way that they possibly can. my passion for travel has become a sort of addiction!! i want to see everywhere!!!!!!!!i think about the ocean every single day! i think about all the amazing places that i have never seen every single day! i never want to stop traveling and learning and I hope that i stay fortunate enough to continue to do what i love to do! but i think i need a job first.
anyway, i dont really have much more to say. thanks to everyone that has been reading this and experiencing this journey vicariously through me. im happy to be back! But I cant wait for the next adventure :)
Monday, September 7, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
Morocco
August 14, 2009
Day 1
My Moroccan experience was truly memorable. I am mesmerized by this country. I felt so relaxed and so at ease while I was in Morocco. I can’t really explain it. The first day we arrived in Casablanca we docked in this highly industrialized port with a bunch of storage bins and cranes and a whole bunch of other random masses of metal. So the scenery wasn’t very inviting at the beginning. But we went into town it was a completely different environment. The city is so peaceful. Maybe it was because I had just been in the chaos that is Cairo, I felt that Casablanca was so serene, but I really just felt so comfortable. We got in a cab with a driver named Eunice. Now, I haven’t really talked much about my foreign cab driver experience but BELIEVE ME I COULD GO ON FOR DAYS ABOUT SOME OF THE CAB DRIVERS I HAVE MET! So Eunice was this chubby man with a wife and two kids yet he offered Grace and my other friend Eliza 3000 camels for me to stay in Morocco with him and be his second wife. I really had to talk them out of accepting the offer. It was hard but luckily they told him no thanks. So we tell Eunice that we want to go around and see all the sites in Casablanca for the day. He tells us 30 dollars per person, we say no way and walk away. He pulls back up next to us and says “$20” I say no thanks and continue to walk. He pulls up again and says “15” I say 10 or no thanks. He thinks for a second then says….ok ok no problem get in. so we begin our adventure with Eunice for the day. He takes us to the Mosque for our first stop. It was the Mosque of Hasaan the Second and of all the 48792634827634872634 mosques I have seen on this trip, it was really, seriously, not even joking, the most beautiful mosque I have ever seen. The architect of this building was so amazing and the entire area surrounding the mosque was so peaceful and beautiful and inviting. We walked around the mosque for a while because we couldn’t go inside because it was during the call to prayer so we just sat and people watched for a while. After the mosque, we walked back over to Eunice and his little red cab. Oh did I mention that in Morocco they speak Arabic and French and a language that is basically Arabic and French mixed together? Well they do and did I mention that I speak neither French nor Arabic nor any other variation of the two? Well…moving right along, we tell Eunice that we want to go see these gardens we heard about that were supposedly very beautiful and he says “no problem, Ill take you after I go see my friend. He has carpets”. Now Im sure every one is wondering why he thought it was acceptable to go where he wanted to go while he was being paid by us to take us where we wanted to go, but I have learned that people across the Atlantic do what they want to do when they want to do it and you can either go along with it and be happy or go along with it and be upset. So being the people we are Grace and I and our new friend that we drug along with us on another random adventure of ours, went off with Eunice to go see his friend and his carpets. The carpet people ended of being the nicest people on the entire planet and we ended staying in this carpet place for an hour and half, talking, drinking tea and negotiating prices on silk carpets. so after we bought carpets…why I bought a carpet…I don’t know….we ask Eunice to take us to the gardens. He says ok, but do you want spices? I never really thought about if I needed spices or not…I guess I wouldn’t mind having some spices, I do like to cook….sooo…ok lets go look at some spices. So Eunice takes us to his other friend who has a spice store. We end up staying in the spice store for about an hour, talking, drinking tea and negotiating prices of spices. I got henna for the first time in a spice store. Im not exactly sure why but it looks really pretty. Im not exactly sure why there was someone in the spice store doing henna in the first place but I guess that’s cool and im not exactly sure why Eunice kept taking us every where but where we wanted to go. So after we leave the spice store, Eunice starts complaining about the time. “Eunice, you were the one who offered to take us to all your friends in the world” I said to him. “Well, ok, ok, no problem, just pay me 20 more dollars and we’ll go to the gardens” he says. “Eunice” I say, “You must be out your Moroccan mind”. I don’t think Eunice understood what type of Americans we are, I think he was used to the timid, scared tourist who would fall for anything and pay a bunch of money for nothing. We were not going for it. “Eunice, we will pay you your ten dollars now and you can go on your merry way” we said. “Ok Ok no problem, 10 dollars that’s it. Come on.” So then we got back in his little red cab. So as were driving he asks if we wanted some leather. Now, by now you would think that we would just say no to his offers, but the situation was just too too too too too funny to pass up on going to another friend of Eunice. So we went to a store that sold leather and a bunch of other souvenirs. We stayed in there for about 40 minutes talking about politics and the history of the Moroccan people, there was no tea but we got a free bracelet. This one guy asked me what part of Morocco I was from and when I told him I was American he yelled at me to stop lying. That was a little weird. After we left the leather place, we tell Eunice to just take us back to the ship because by that time , dinner was being served on the ship and we were starving to death. When we get to the port Eunice says “ok 20 dollars each”. “EUNICE WE ARE NOT PAYING YOU ANYTHING MORE THAN 10 DOLLARS SO STOP TRYING TO RIP US OFF!” This made him angry and he kicked us out the cab.
Day 2: We get up to go to the amazing city of Marrakech. We missed the shuttle to the train station so we had to wait outside the port to get a cab. We asked one of the security guards to call a cab for us and he sends out a general request over this little phone thingy he had and told us that a cab was on its way. So after about a 10 minute wait, we see a little red taxi swirving and swaying down the road and pulling up to where we were. Guess who it was…EUNICE. I could have died from shock/disbelief/laughter. Of all of the thousand and thousand and thousands of cab drivers in Morocco that could have picked us up to take us to the train station, we got Eunice…again. He gets out the car and says “are you not happy to see me ladies?!” He then goes back to Grace and asks her if he can give her some camels and chickens to make me stay with him…she thought about the offer again, but she said no…what a friend. So after he charges us way to much to get to the train station, we hopped on the 4 hour train ride to be remembered for all of my existence.
I have never been on any moving vehicle filled with so many people in my life. There were literally people sitting on top of each other, hanging out of the train, and sitting on the floor. The trains in Casablanca are the traditional European style trains with a hallway and booths with doors that seat about 8 people, like the train in the first Harry Potter movie…ok if you haven’t seen that, there like the trains in the Disney movie Anastasia…um….if you haven’t seen that their like the trains in the movie Casablanca J Anyway, I was sitting/standing on some old woman for about an hour. I held someone’s child for 15 minutes as the mother passed her luggage over our heads down the 2 foot wide hallway to her husband who was aaaaaaaall the way on the other side of the hallway. I finally got a seat after about an hour and half in a the cramped little booth with this family of four, an old sleeping woman and a 21 year old Moroccan girl named Iman who became my best friend. The big, burping grandmother across from me stared at me the entire train ride. Her two daughters stared at me too. Finally one of them started talking to me…in Arabic…that’s how I got my best friend Iman. She spoke English and started teaching me different phrases in Arabic and French that helped me a lot while I was in Morocco. I know how to say about six things in Arabic and I can say thanks and five in French. I don’t know why, but Arabic is much easier for me to grasped than French. Anyway, Iman told me the lady was asking me if I was Moroccan. I told her I wasn’t and she, like the man in the leather store, told me to stop lying. Iman told me that she said that its ok that I cant speak the language but to deny who I am is wrong. I didn’t know if I was suppose to laugh or have a serious moment so I just stared back at the lady for a while. After Iman told her that I was from America she just shook her head at me. It was an awkward train ride. Then the lady told Iman to tell me that if I wanted to eat at a good restaurant that she would take me and my friends where ever they wanted to go. During this time grace and eliza were in a booth a few feet up from me laughing and talking and having a grand old time, meanwhile, I am stuck in a hot, crowded mini room with a snoring old women in front of me, a huge, nose picking grandmother next to her, a woman who thinks I am denying my Moroccan identity, her sister who has been staring at me for 3 hours and her husband who from some unknown reason, had no fingers, only thumbs. Thank God for Iman. But regardless of all that, the train ride was one of the best times I had in Morocco. This blog is really really long. Im laying in my bed right now watching The Incredible so im just going to keep writing for a while. You can continue reading if you want, but if you want to take a break, ill understand. Actually, I think im gonna wrap this up. We got to Marrakech and I had such a great time. We went on a bus tour of the entire city, we ate buffet style outside next to the most random people ever. MOROCCO HAD THE BEST FOOD I HAVE EATEN THIS ENTIRE SUMMER HANDS DOWN. I AM IN LOVE WITH COUSCOUS AND TANGINE. PLEASE GOOGLE A MOROCCAN RESTAURANT IN YOUR AREA AND GO EAT THERE IMMEDIATELY. We saw snake charmers and monkeys and all this crazy, crazy, crazy stuff in this place called the Medina. There were 1897329874892374b stores selling stuff and people walking around trying to do henna on your hand and men throwing monkeys on peoples heads, not my head because I would be in jail right now for assault…there were drummers everywhere and great food and nice people and it was really wonderful. I really really really really loved Morocco. I had so many great conversations with local people and learned so much in four days. I feel like Morocco was the most relaxed country and the country that I got the best cultural experience out of. I’m glad it was the last country, I think it was a great way to end an amazing journey I had this summer. The best summer of my life. Im now back in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, with two tests and two papers ahead of me. Ill be back in America in 7 days. I have no idea how I’m going to assimilate back into American culture. I feel like I am going to have major culture shock. I’m not going to want to pay full price for anything ever again and I might to bargain at the mall or at the movies or some other inappropriate place and get escorted out by the cops. I don’t remember what it feels like to sleep in a bed bigger than a twin and I think I have forgotten how to speak English properly because for the past three months I have been speaking a mixture of English, sign language and whatever other language that was appropriate at the time. I am so excited to get home, but its bitter sweet. I cant wait to share all my pictures and stories that are too complicated to write. See everyone soon! I hope you missed me as much as I have missed you!
Day 1
My Moroccan experience was truly memorable. I am mesmerized by this country. I felt so relaxed and so at ease while I was in Morocco. I can’t really explain it. The first day we arrived in Casablanca we docked in this highly industrialized port with a bunch of storage bins and cranes and a whole bunch of other random masses of metal. So the scenery wasn’t very inviting at the beginning. But we went into town it was a completely different environment. The city is so peaceful. Maybe it was because I had just been in the chaos that is Cairo, I felt that Casablanca was so serene, but I really just felt so comfortable. We got in a cab with a driver named Eunice. Now, I haven’t really talked much about my foreign cab driver experience but BELIEVE ME I COULD GO ON FOR DAYS ABOUT SOME OF THE CAB DRIVERS I HAVE MET! So Eunice was this chubby man with a wife and two kids yet he offered Grace and my other friend Eliza 3000 camels for me to stay in Morocco with him and be his second wife. I really had to talk them out of accepting the offer. It was hard but luckily they told him no thanks. So we tell Eunice that we want to go around and see all the sites in Casablanca for the day. He tells us 30 dollars per person, we say no way and walk away. He pulls back up next to us and says “$20” I say no thanks and continue to walk. He pulls up again and says “15” I say 10 or no thanks. He thinks for a second then says….ok ok no problem get in. so we begin our adventure with Eunice for the day. He takes us to the Mosque for our first stop. It was the Mosque of Hasaan the Second and of all the 48792634827634872634 mosques I have seen on this trip, it was really, seriously, not even joking, the most beautiful mosque I have ever seen. The architect of this building was so amazing and the entire area surrounding the mosque was so peaceful and beautiful and inviting. We walked around the mosque for a while because we couldn’t go inside because it was during the call to prayer so we just sat and people watched for a while. After the mosque, we walked back over to Eunice and his little red cab. Oh did I mention that in Morocco they speak Arabic and French and a language that is basically Arabic and French mixed together? Well they do and did I mention that I speak neither French nor Arabic nor any other variation of the two? Well…moving right along, we tell Eunice that we want to go see these gardens we heard about that were supposedly very beautiful and he says “no problem, Ill take you after I go see my friend. He has carpets”. Now Im sure every one is wondering why he thought it was acceptable to go where he wanted to go while he was being paid by us to take us where we wanted to go, but I have learned that people across the Atlantic do what they want to do when they want to do it and you can either go along with it and be happy or go along with it and be upset. So being the people we are Grace and I and our new friend that we drug along with us on another random adventure of ours, went off with Eunice to go see his friend and his carpets. The carpet people ended of being the nicest people on the entire planet and we ended staying in this carpet place for an hour and half, talking, drinking tea and negotiating prices on silk carpets. so after we bought carpets…why I bought a carpet…I don’t know….we ask Eunice to take us to the gardens. He says ok, but do you want spices? I never really thought about if I needed spices or not…I guess I wouldn’t mind having some spices, I do like to cook….sooo…ok lets go look at some spices. So Eunice takes us to his other friend who has a spice store. We end up staying in the spice store for about an hour, talking, drinking tea and negotiating prices of spices. I got henna for the first time in a spice store. Im not exactly sure why but it looks really pretty. Im not exactly sure why there was someone in the spice store doing henna in the first place but I guess that’s cool and im not exactly sure why Eunice kept taking us every where but where we wanted to go. So after we leave the spice store, Eunice starts complaining about the time. “Eunice, you were the one who offered to take us to all your friends in the world” I said to him. “Well, ok, ok, no problem, just pay me 20 more dollars and we’ll go to the gardens” he says. “Eunice” I say, “You must be out your Moroccan mind”. I don’t think Eunice understood what type of Americans we are, I think he was used to the timid, scared tourist who would fall for anything and pay a bunch of money for nothing. We were not going for it. “Eunice, we will pay you your ten dollars now and you can go on your merry way” we said. “Ok Ok no problem, 10 dollars that’s it. Come on.” So then we got back in his little red cab. So as were driving he asks if we wanted some leather. Now, by now you would think that we would just say no to his offers, but the situation was just too too too too too funny to pass up on going to another friend of Eunice. So we went to a store that sold leather and a bunch of other souvenirs. We stayed in there for about 40 minutes talking about politics and the history of the Moroccan people, there was no tea but we got a free bracelet. This one guy asked me what part of Morocco I was from and when I told him I was American he yelled at me to stop lying. That was a little weird. After we left the leather place, we tell Eunice to just take us back to the ship because by that time , dinner was being served on the ship and we were starving to death. When we get to the port Eunice says “ok 20 dollars each”. “EUNICE WE ARE NOT PAYING YOU ANYTHING MORE THAN 10 DOLLARS SO STOP TRYING TO RIP US OFF!” This made him angry and he kicked us out the cab.
Day 2: We get up to go to the amazing city of Marrakech. We missed the shuttle to the train station so we had to wait outside the port to get a cab. We asked one of the security guards to call a cab for us and he sends out a general request over this little phone thingy he had and told us that a cab was on its way. So after about a 10 minute wait, we see a little red taxi swirving and swaying down the road and pulling up to where we were. Guess who it was…EUNICE. I could have died from shock/disbelief/laughter. Of all of the thousand and thousand and thousands of cab drivers in Morocco that could have picked us up to take us to the train station, we got Eunice…again. He gets out the car and says “are you not happy to see me ladies?!” He then goes back to Grace and asks her if he can give her some camels and chickens to make me stay with him…she thought about the offer again, but she said no…what a friend. So after he charges us way to much to get to the train station, we hopped on the 4 hour train ride to be remembered for all of my existence.
I have never been on any moving vehicle filled with so many people in my life. There were literally people sitting on top of each other, hanging out of the train, and sitting on the floor. The trains in Casablanca are the traditional European style trains with a hallway and booths with doors that seat about 8 people, like the train in the first Harry Potter movie…ok if you haven’t seen that, there like the trains in the Disney movie Anastasia…um….if you haven’t seen that their like the trains in the movie Casablanca J Anyway, I was sitting/standing on some old woman for about an hour. I held someone’s child for 15 minutes as the mother passed her luggage over our heads down the 2 foot wide hallway to her husband who was aaaaaaaall the way on the other side of the hallway. I finally got a seat after about an hour and half in a the cramped little booth with this family of four, an old sleeping woman and a 21 year old Moroccan girl named Iman who became my best friend. The big, burping grandmother across from me stared at me the entire train ride. Her two daughters stared at me too. Finally one of them started talking to me…in Arabic…that’s how I got my best friend Iman. She spoke English and started teaching me different phrases in Arabic and French that helped me a lot while I was in Morocco. I know how to say about six things in Arabic and I can say thanks and five in French. I don’t know why, but Arabic is much easier for me to grasped than French. Anyway, Iman told me the lady was asking me if I was Moroccan. I told her I wasn’t and she, like the man in the leather store, told me to stop lying. Iman told me that she said that its ok that I cant speak the language but to deny who I am is wrong. I didn’t know if I was suppose to laugh or have a serious moment so I just stared back at the lady for a while. After Iman told her that I was from America she just shook her head at me. It was an awkward train ride. Then the lady told Iman to tell me that if I wanted to eat at a good restaurant that she would take me and my friends where ever they wanted to go. During this time grace and eliza were in a booth a few feet up from me laughing and talking and having a grand old time, meanwhile, I am stuck in a hot, crowded mini room with a snoring old women in front of me, a huge, nose picking grandmother next to her, a woman who thinks I am denying my Moroccan identity, her sister who has been staring at me for 3 hours and her husband who from some unknown reason, had no fingers, only thumbs. Thank God for Iman. But regardless of all that, the train ride was one of the best times I had in Morocco. This blog is really really long. Im laying in my bed right now watching The Incredible so im just going to keep writing for a while. You can continue reading if you want, but if you want to take a break, ill understand. Actually, I think im gonna wrap this up. We got to Marrakech and I had such a great time. We went on a bus tour of the entire city, we ate buffet style outside next to the most random people ever. MOROCCO HAD THE BEST FOOD I HAVE EATEN THIS ENTIRE SUMMER HANDS DOWN. I AM IN LOVE WITH COUSCOUS AND TANGINE. PLEASE GOOGLE A MOROCCAN RESTAURANT IN YOUR AREA AND GO EAT THERE IMMEDIATELY. We saw snake charmers and monkeys and all this crazy, crazy, crazy stuff in this place called the Medina. There were 1897329874892374b stores selling stuff and people walking around trying to do henna on your hand and men throwing monkeys on peoples heads, not my head because I would be in jail right now for assault…there were drummers everywhere and great food and nice people and it was really wonderful. I really really really really loved Morocco. I had so many great conversations with local people and learned so much in four days. I feel like Morocco was the most relaxed country and the country that I got the best cultural experience out of. I’m glad it was the last country, I think it was a great way to end an amazing journey I had this summer. The best summer of my life. Im now back in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, with two tests and two papers ahead of me. Ill be back in America in 7 days. I have no idea how I’m going to assimilate back into American culture. I feel like I am going to have major culture shock. I’m not going to want to pay full price for anything ever again and I might to bargain at the mall or at the movies or some other inappropriate place and get escorted out by the cops. I don’t remember what it feels like to sleep in a bed bigger than a twin and I think I have forgotten how to speak English properly because for the past three months I have been speaking a mixture of English, sign language and whatever other language that was appropriate at the time. I am so excited to get home, but its bitter sweet. I cant wait to share all my pictures and stories that are too complicated to write. See everyone soon! I hope you missed me as much as I have missed you!
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Egypt, my new second home!
August 2nd, 2009
In all sincerity, today was the best day of my life. I guess I should start from the beginning. I already told everyone about Alexandria. July 31st we took a 3 hour bus ride to Cairo. Wait let me tell you a little more about Alexandria. This city is totally crazy. I swear it is chaos, but some how , someway, it works. People drive all over the road, there is no such thing as stopping at a stop sign or a red light. No one is in a lane, the donkeys, horses and people walk in the middle of the street. Small children run across the road in front of cars and trucks and people park where ever they want to, including the middle of the street where other cars are still driving. The streets are crowded, its dusty and dirty but everything seems to have a rhythm. No one gets upset if they almost get hit by a car, people don’t seem agitated by the heat or all the other people next to them; they just go on with their day. Meanwhile, I am sweating to death and having a border line asthma attack from all the pollution. But I loved it. Ok back to Cairo. Now not many people know this, aside from a small group of people, but I am obsessed with ancient Egyptian art, history and culture. I used to…ok still do….watch every single documentary on the history channel, the discovery channel, the national geographic channel, pretty much any channel that is showing something about ancient Egypt…I watch it. I have read countless number of books about all the gods and hieroglyphics and I seriously, SERIOUSLY used to want to…and still do… be an archeologist and Egyptologist…The Indiana Jones movies are my favorite movies of all time….ALL TIME! When I was younger I used to collect rocks and pretend that I was finding some ancient, lost Egyptian treasure….ok I think I’m telling way too much information at this point. Anyway, the point that I was trying to make was, I was looking forward to going to Egypt since I was about 4 years old.
On our bus ride to Cairo, we saw some outrageous stuff. Shacks, little huts, people living under boxes and then literally, right next to a huge project building with linen sheets as a roof, I would see a huge, elaborate mansion. I have never seen poverty the way I have seen it in Cairo. People literally live with 20 people to a one bedroom apartment with no roof or windows. People live on top of trash dumps. There are 17 million people in the city of Cairo. I don’t know if you can understand how many people that is, but Cairo is only about 7 miles long. That’s like taking 100 people and putting them inside a Neon. Its crazy. The city is so dusty and crowded and busy and dirty and beautiful all at the same time. I cant really explain it. Its something you have to see and smell and touch. Our first stop on the trip was to the Egyptian museum. It was soooooooooo cool in there and me being the nerd that I am knew all the mummies and all the statues and most of the gods that were all over the place. Our tour guide, who was absolutely amazing, loved me. I could answer all the questions she asked us. I’m a loser. I know. I saw the gold…SOLID GOLD…mask of King Tut, I snuck a bunch of pictures. I probably shouldn’t write this, but its illegal to take picture of any antiquities that are inside a building in Egypt, so when you see my pictures of all the things that I took a picture of…inside a building…it wasn’t me. Anyway, after the museum we went to our FIVE STAR FREAKIN HOTEL THAT WAS ONCE A PALACE FOR THE WIFE OF I THINK NAPOLEAN THAT HAD A DIRECT VIEW OF THE NILE RIVER AND THE GREAT PYRAMIDS OF GIZA!!!!!!!!!! It was the nicest hotel I have ever been in. the food was amazing. I can describe the food because I might cry. It was that good. After we ate I forget what we did. It was a really long day. Ooooooooooooooooooh omg I remember!!! How could I have almost forgotten!! We went to the coolest light show in the world at the Giza Plateau in front of the Sphinx and the pyramids. It was this whole show with different color lights that illuminated the pyramids and the sphinx and told all the history of ancient Egypt. It was so cool. I saw a shooting star. It was gorgeous. There is seriously so much to tell. I cant write it all. I’m going to have to skip some parts.
The next day, I woke up a 430 in the morning to watch the sunrise over the pyramids. It was breath taking. I have had dreams of doing this. The fact that I actually sat there in front of the Pyramids and watched the sun rise perfectly against the side of the most magnificent man made object in the world, has not fully registered. I was able to check one more thing off my list of things to do before I die. After we watched the sunrise, we got to walk around the plateau and take pictures and touch the pyramid. Then the worst thing in the world happened. The camels showed up. I HATE CAMELS. WORDS CANNOT EXPRESS HOW MUCH I DISLIKE THOSE DIRTY UGLY NASTY, SPITTING, POOPING, PEEING SAND RODENTS!! They are so mean and disgusting. Sihfakhsfkahsfkjahskfjhakjsf afhakjhfskjas. Buuut, somehow I was talked into riding one by my lovely roommate, Grace Obando. It was by far the worst experience/most amazing experience ever…besides all the other best experiences of my life from this magnificent summer I have been having. I was borderline crying the entire time and I didn’t want to touch it so I was trying to balance my body without falling off, while trying to actually look at the pyramids that we were riding around and see the sphinx and not throw up. Grace has a video. It is absolutely hilarious. But no one will ever see it. After I jumped off the god forsaken camel, the best part of the day happened… I WENT INSIDE ONE OF THE GREAT PYRAMIDS!!!!!!! I WAS INSIDE ONE OF THE GREAT PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT! It was sooooo siiiick! You have to squat for almost 7 minutes to get the bottom where there is burial chamber. It was the hottest room I have ever been in ever. The sweat was literally dripping off of my face and the air was so thin but it was ridiculously amazing. There was graffiti on the wall from some Italian explorer from 1881. That’s all that was on the wall and there was one sarcophagus with hieroglyphics inside….yes I have pictures of all this…and no I was not allowed to take pictures of any of this. It was surreal. After the pyramids we went over to the Sphinx. I love the Sphinx, he’s so cool, and relaxed yet powerful. The structure of the Sphinx is mesmerizing. I stared at it for 20 minutes. The Sphinx has always been my favorite thing and now I have actually seen it up close and personal. It’s a beautiful thing. After all that playing around in the Sahara Desert, we went to have lunch and then we went to the Alabaster Mosque, which has the body of Mohamed Ali, the “father” of modern Egypt. The mosque was gorgeous and it had a panoramic view of the entire city of Cairo. I learned so much about Islam while we were there from our tour guide and I cant wait to get home and tell everyone I know about all the misconceptions and lies we hear about the Islamic religion. I talked about that a little in my blog for Turkey, but Egypt just solidified what I learned there. Anyway, after that we had dinner on the NILE RIVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Unfortunately, the Nile is not as beautiful as it used to be because of all the pollution and commercialization of Cairo, but the experience in itself was unbelievable. That was another thing I checked off my bucket list, eat dinner while cruising down the Nile. We had a belly dancer and traditional Egyptian folkloric dancers as entertainment while we ate. It was so nice. There was so much more but I’m skipping stuff.
Ok back to today, august 2nd, the best day of my life. This is a really long entry huh? Anyway, today we went to Memphis, which was the first capital of Egypt and the first established city in the entire world. I saw the most amazing statue of King Ramses the 2nd. It was huuuuuuuuuuuuge. Then we went to Sakkara. This is where my day became the best day of my life. We get off the bus and are headed towards the 1st step pyramid and first stone building ever made all over the world and I see all these men yelling and I see a couple camera guys. Then all of a sudden I see my idol. Now no one knows that this little Egyptian man is my idol, because I try to keep my inner dork to myself, but I met Dr. Zahi Hawass. Ok noooooooooooooo one knows who this is probably and if you do you are the coolest person ever. Dr. Zahi Hawass is the world renowned archeologist and the most famous Egyptologist in the world. He just gave President Obama a personal tour of all the sites of Egypt last week when Obama was here. He is an Egyptian who studied and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and is a freakin expert in this field. I have read 3 of his books and I watch every single documentary that I see on tv with him in it. when I saw him I was literally star struck. I have no idea why. I have met celebrities before, quite a few actually, and I have never been star struck, but Dr. Zahi Hawass…a guy that most people don’t even know, but should, and I am speechless. Well I got over being speechless very quickly and walked over and introduced my self to him and he asked me where I go to school and when I told him he got excited because he used to live in Philly for 20 years and I told him how excited I was to meet him and I felt like I was skipping through air. Meanwhile, everyone with me is like “Nexus, who the hell is this little old Egyptian man?” My tour guide was the only other person who was just as happy as I was. I was secretly hoping, all the way back in June that when I got to Egypt I would meet him. Then, because I had my camera, because I kept sneaking it into every single place that we went, I got to take a bunch of pictures with him and then when people found out who he was they wanted pictures too and since I was the only person in my group with a camera, because I snuck it in the temples and pyramids, I had to take a bunch of pictures of people who 5 minutes ago didn’t even know who my idol was…so I had a little attitude about that. But then I asked Dr. Hawass what was he doing at the step pyramids and he told me he was doing a show with one of Egypt’s most famous movies stars, this guy named Ramez Galal who is in love with me and Grace. So we took a bunch of pictures with Ramez and me and Grace got to get recorded for the show….AGAIN!!!...Ramez Galal asked us to repeat after him something like “Traveling the world with Ramez and Egypt’s Indiana Jones, Dr. Zahi Hawass!” Or something like that. I cant remember then he made us say it in Arabic which was really really cool and all the cameras were on us and everyone was watching and I was completely embarrassed/ ecstatic because I was standing next to Dr. Hawass! Hahahahahaha I am such a loser but I was seriously so excited I cant even describe it. Hopefully we’ll be on the show so look out for it on some channel…I don’t know which one, and while you’re looking for that, keep looking out for me jumping off a cliff in Croatia on the Travel Channel!!!
Ok it seriously gets better. After all the hypeness with the cameras, Dr. Hawass quiets everyone down as says “As a special treat for all of you, I will allow you all to go inside the step Pyramid of Imhotep!” ISWEAR TO GOD I ALMOST PASSED OUT!! NO ONE IS ALLOWED INSIDE THE STEP PYRAMID. MY TOUR GUIDE WHO HAS BEEN DOING HER JOB FOR 15 YEARS HAD NEVER BEEN INSIDE THE STEP PYRAMID OF IMHOTEP. IT WAS LIKE A SCENE FROM A MOVIE I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT!! WE HAD OUR OWN ESORT INSIDE THE OLDEST MAN MADE BUILDING ON THE PLANET!!! I watched the man unlock the bolted door to get inside the pyramid. It was so exclusive that the lights weren’t even on. He had to turn the lights on inside the part we were allowed to walk through. It was truly truly truly truly amazing. I seriously feel so blessed. My group got to go inside an ancient pyramid that very few people are allowed to go in. it was so cool. Needless to say. I love Egypt. I knew I would but my time here has surpassed all expectations. I could not have asked for a better time. I am in love with this country, the people, the culture, the history, everything. I had the best time of my life. I really mean it this time. I don’t think anything can top this. And if it does, I might not come back to America. I think I’m done now. Next stop, Casablanca, Morocco…then AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In all sincerity, today was the best day of my life. I guess I should start from the beginning. I already told everyone about Alexandria. July 31st we took a 3 hour bus ride to Cairo. Wait let me tell you a little more about Alexandria. This city is totally crazy. I swear it is chaos, but some how , someway, it works. People drive all over the road, there is no such thing as stopping at a stop sign or a red light. No one is in a lane, the donkeys, horses and people walk in the middle of the street. Small children run across the road in front of cars and trucks and people park where ever they want to, including the middle of the street where other cars are still driving. The streets are crowded, its dusty and dirty but everything seems to have a rhythm. No one gets upset if they almost get hit by a car, people don’t seem agitated by the heat or all the other people next to them; they just go on with their day. Meanwhile, I am sweating to death and having a border line asthma attack from all the pollution. But I loved it. Ok back to Cairo. Now not many people know this, aside from a small group of people, but I am obsessed with ancient Egyptian art, history and culture. I used to…ok still do….watch every single documentary on the history channel, the discovery channel, the national geographic channel, pretty much any channel that is showing something about ancient Egypt…I watch it. I have read countless number of books about all the gods and hieroglyphics and I seriously, SERIOUSLY used to want to…and still do… be an archeologist and Egyptologist…The Indiana Jones movies are my favorite movies of all time….ALL TIME! When I was younger I used to collect rocks and pretend that I was finding some ancient, lost Egyptian treasure….ok I think I’m telling way too much information at this point. Anyway, the point that I was trying to make was, I was looking forward to going to Egypt since I was about 4 years old.
On our bus ride to Cairo, we saw some outrageous stuff. Shacks, little huts, people living under boxes and then literally, right next to a huge project building with linen sheets as a roof, I would see a huge, elaborate mansion. I have never seen poverty the way I have seen it in Cairo. People literally live with 20 people to a one bedroom apartment with no roof or windows. People live on top of trash dumps. There are 17 million people in the city of Cairo. I don’t know if you can understand how many people that is, but Cairo is only about 7 miles long. That’s like taking 100 people and putting them inside a Neon. Its crazy. The city is so dusty and crowded and busy and dirty and beautiful all at the same time. I cant really explain it. Its something you have to see and smell and touch. Our first stop on the trip was to the Egyptian museum. It was soooooooooo cool in there and me being the nerd that I am knew all the mummies and all the statues and most of the gods that were all over the place. Our tour guide, who was absolutely amazing, loved me. I could answer all the questions she asked us. I’m a loser. I know. I saw the gold…SOLID GOLD…mask of King Tut, I snuck a bunch of pictures. I probably shouldn’t write this, but its illegal to take picture of any antiquities that are inside a building in Egypt, so when you see my pictures of all the things that I took a picture of…inside a building…it wasn’t me. Anyway, after the museum we went to our FIVE STAR FREAKIN HOTEL THAT WAS ONCE A PALACE FOR THE WIFE OF I THINK NAPOLEAN THAT HAD A DIRECT VIEW OF THE NILE RIVER AND THE GREAT PYRAMIDS OF GIZA!!!!!!!!!! It was the nicest hotel I have ever been in. the food was amazing. I can describe the food because I might cry. It was that good. After we ate I forget what we did. It was a really long day. Ooooooooooooooooooh omg I remember!!! How could I have almost forgotten!! We went to the coolest light show in the world at the Giza Plateau in front of the Sphinx and the pyramids. It was this whole show with different color lights that illuminated the pyramids and the sphinx and told all the history of ancient Egypt. It was so cool. I saw a shooting star. It was gorgeous. There is seriously so much to tell. I cant write it all. I’m going to have to skip some parts.
The next day, I woke up a 430 in the morning to watch the sunrise over the pyramids. It was breath taking. I have had dreams of doing this. The fact that I actually sat there in front of the Pyramids and watched the sun rise perfectly against the side of the most magnificent man made object in the world, has not fully registered. I was able to check one more thing off my list of things to do before I die. After we watched the sunrise, we got to walk around the plateau and take pictures and touch the pyramid. Then the worst thing in the world happened. The camels showed up. I HATE CAMELS. WORDS CANNOT EXPRESS HOW MUCH I DISLIKE THOSE DIRTY UGLY NASTY, SPITTING, POOPING, PEEING SAND RODENTS!! They are so mean and disgusting. Sihfakhsfkahsfkjahskfjhakjsf afhakjhfskjas. Buuut, somehow I was talked into riding one by my lovely roommate, Grace Obando. It was by far the worst experience/most amazing experience ever…besides all the other best experiences of my life from this magnificent summer I have been having. I was borderline crying the entire time and I didn’t want to touch it so I was trying to balance my body without falling off, while trying to actually look at the pyramids that we were riding around and see the sphinx and not throw up. Grace has a video. It is absolutely hilarious. But no one will ever see it. After I jumped off the god forsaken camel, the best part of the day happened… I WENT INSIDE ONE OF THE GREAT PYRAMIDS!!!!!!! I WAS INSIDE ONE OF THE GREAT PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT! It was sooooo siiiick! You have to squat for almost 7 minutes to get the bottom where there is burial chamber. It was the hottest room I have ever been in ever. The sweat was literally dripping off of my face and the air was so thin but it was ridiculously amazing. There was graffiti on the wall from some Italian explorer from 1881. That’s all that was on the wall and there was one sarcophagus with hieroglyphics inside….yes I have pictures of all this…and no I was not allowed to take pictures of any of this. It was surreal. After the pyramids we went over to the Sphinx. I love the Sphinx, he’s so cool, and relaxed yet powerful. The structure of the Sphinx is mesmerizing. I stared at it for 20 minutes. The Sphinx has always been my favorite thing and now I have actually seen it up close and personal. It’s a beautiful thing. After all that playing around in the Sahara Desert, we went to have lunch and then we went to the Alabaster Mosque, which has the body of Mohamed Ali, the “father” of modern Egypt. The mosque was gorgeous and it had a panoramic view of the entire city of Cairo. I learned so much about Islam while we were there from our tour guide and I cant wait to get home and tell everyone I know about all the misconceptions and lies we hear about the Islamic religion. I talked about that a little in my blog for Turkey, but Egypt just solidified what I learned there. Anyway, after that we had dinner on the NILE RIVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Unfortunately, the Nile is not as beautiful as it used to be because of all the pollution and commercialization of Cairo, but the experience in itself was unbelievable. That was another thing I checked off my bucket list, eat dinner while cruising down the Nile. We had a belly dancer and traditional Egyptian folkloric dancers as entertainment while we ate. It was so nice. There was so much more but I’m skipping stuff.
Ok back to today, august 2nd, the best day of my life. This is a really long entry huh? Anyway, today we went to Memphis, which was the first capital of Egypt and the first established city in the entire world. I saw the most amazing statue of King Ramses the 2nd. It was huuuuuuuuuuuuge. Then we went to Sakkara. This is where my day became the best day of my life. We get off the bus and are headed towards the 1st step pyramid and first stone building ever made all over the world and I see all these men yelling and I see a couple camera guys. Then all of a sudden I see my idol. Now no one knows that this little Egyptian man is my idol, because I try to keep my inner dork to myself, but I met Dr. Zahi Hawass. Ok noooooooooooooo one knows who this is probably and if you do you are the coolest person ever. Dr. Zahi Hawass is the world renowned archeologist and the most famous Egyptologist in the world. He just gave President Obama a personal tour of all the sites of Egypt last week when Obama was here. He is an Egyptian who studied and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and is a freakin expert in this field. I have read 3 of his books and I watch every single documentary that I see on tv with him in it. when I saw him I was literally star struck. I have no idea why. I have met celebrities before, quite a few actually, and I have never been star struck, but Dr. Zahi Hawass…a guy that most people don’t even know, but should, and I am speechless. Well I got over being speechless very quickly and walked over and introduced my self to him and he asked me where I go to school and when I told him he got excited because he used to live in Philly for 20 years and I told him how excited I was to meet him and I felt like I was skipping through air. Meanwhile, everyone with me is like “Nexus, who the hell is this little old Egyptian man?” My tour guide was the only other person who was just as happy as I was. I was secretly hoping, all the way back in June that when I got to Egypt I would meet him. Then, because I had my camera, because I kept sneaking it into every single place that we went, I got to take a bunch of pictures with him and then when people found out who he was they wanted pictures too and since I was the only person in my group with a camera, because I snuck it in the temples and pyramids, I had to take a bunch of pictures of people who 5 minutes ago didn’t even know who my idol was…so I had a little attitude about that. But then I asked Dr. Hawass what was he doing at the step pyramids and he told me he was doing a show with one of Egypt’s most famous movies stars, this guy named Ramez Galal who is in love with me and Grace. So we took a bunch of pictures with Ramez and me and Grace got to get recorded for the show….AGAIN!!!...Ramez Galal asked us to repeat after him something like “Traveling the world with Ramez and Egypt’s Indiana Jones, Dr. Zahi Hawass!” Or something like that. I cant remember then he made us say it in Arabic which was really really cool and all the cameras were on us and everyone was watching and I was completely embarrassed/ ecstatic because I was standing next to Dr. Hawass! Hahahahahaha I am such a loser but I was seriously so excited I cant even describe it. Hopefully we’ll be on the show so look out for it on some channel…I don’t know which one, and while you’re looking for that, keep looking out for me jumping off a cliff in Croatia on the Travel Channel!!!
Ok it seriously gets better. After all the hypeness with the cameras, Dr. Hawass quiets everyone down as says “As a special treat for all of you, I will allow you all to go inside the step Pyramid of Imhotep!” ISWEAR TO GOD I ALMOST PASSED OUT!! NO ONE IS ALLOWED INSIDE THE STEP PYRAMID. MY TOUR GUIDE WHO HAS BEEN DOING HER JOB FOR 15 YEARS HAD NEVER BEEN INSIDE THE STEP PYRAMID OF IMHOTEP. IT WAS LIKE A SCENE FROM A MOVIE I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT!! WE HAD OUR OWN ESORT INSIDE THE OLDEST MAN MADE BUILDING ON THE PLANET!!! I watched the man unlock the bolted door to get inside the pyramid. It was so exclusive that the lights weren’t even on. He had to turn the lights on inside the part we were allowed to walk through. It was truly truly truly truly amazing. I seriously feel so blessed. My group got to go inside an ancient pyramid that very few people are allowed to go in. it was so cool. Needless to say. I love Egypt. I knew I would but my time here has surpassed all expectations. I could not have asked for a better time. I am in love with this country, the people, the culture, the history, everything. I had the best time of my life. I really mean it this time. I don’t think anything can top this. And if it does, I might not come back to America. I think I’m done now. Next stop, Casablanca, Morocco…then AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Alexandria, Egypt
I actually have access to the internet right now because I am in sitting in the second largest library on Planet Earth. The Biblotheca Alxendria in Alexandria, Egypt. I am in Egypt right now. It is so unbelievably crazy. This city is dirty, polluted, crowded, gritty and I love it. People drive where ever and however they want, people cross the street in the craziest ways and men are walking in the middle of the road pulling a donket with a wagon-full of watermelons. Its amazing. The people are so nice here, but you can definitely see the line between the "haves" and "havenots". We met this cab driver, named Mohamed Ali, I didnt believe him so I made him show me all his identification...he wasnt lying. He is taking us all around the city to see the highlights of Alexandria. So far we have seen the catacombs and the Pillar of some guy named Pompey. But all the touristy stuff does not compare to driving through the streets and seeing what the people who live here see every single day. I love it here. Its a real live, breathing, moving city. New York has nothing on Alexandria. I will never complain about the traffic in Philadelphia, New Jersey or New York ever again. I will never call a city in America dirty ever again and I will never complain about too many people in place again, because this is ridiculoius and from what Im told Cairo is ten times more congested, polluted and rough, so Im sure I'll love Cairo ten times more than I love Alexandria. Im appreciating getting away from the cities that thrive off of nothing but tourism. I cant read any of the signs here, the music is all in Arabic, the people are going to work, children are playing outside, the colorful clothing looks nothing like what we wear in America. I love it. Its so different. Ok well I must go now, Mohamed Ali is waiting for us outside and we're going to the Ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria next. Its not there anymore, they built something on top of where it used to be but it was once one of the 7 ancient wonders in the world. So needless to say, Im excited. More to come... Im going to see THE PYRAMIDS tomorrow. Peace!
Monday, July 27, 2009
Bulgaria....aka Spring Break for Semester at Sea
Ok, this will probably be really short. But Bulgaria was the most random country I have ever been to. This was the first year that semester at sea has travelled to Bulgaria so we were kind of a test run. the only thing there was to do was go to the beach, go to water parks, get massages on the sand, go to thousands and thousands of clubs and beach bars and my favorite...bunjee jumping! i did not have any parts of the bunjee jumping business so dont worry world. but some of my other friends jumped off a freakin bridge with a string attached to thier ankles. all i did while i was here was go to the beach and the movie theatre to see transformers which was amazing!!!!! my favorite thing i did was go to this Bulgarian waterpark called AQUAPOLIS hahahahaha. it was the funniest thing in the whole world. there were a whole bunch of slides and floaty thingys and kiddie pools and it was sooo fun. it was also graces 22nd birthday so we partied like Bulgarian rockstars....if that even exists. I cant really say i would come back here but it was fun while it lasted. i am so super excited that in 2 days i will be in egypt. watching the scenes in transformers when they were in egypt made me scream from excitement. people in the theatre yelled at me in Bulgarian to shut up...i think. i dont really have anything to exciting to tell about bulgaria excpet that its beautiful and the people are a little wierd. they shake thier heads up and down for no and left to right for yes. me and grace had a really akward moment with this one guy in a convenient store because we wanted to know if he sold stamps and he said what we think was no but shook his head yes. we struggled for about 11 minutes then just slowly walked out with place with no stamps. we still dont know if he had them or not. well im pretty much done. egypt is in 2 days. i cant wait.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Istanbul!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 23rd
So I went to Turkey. It was amazing. Istanbul is such a great city. I had no idea that it is the 5th largest city in the WORLD as far as population goes! There are 15 million people there. 15 million. I don’t think there are that many people in Philly. I think I had the best cultural experience in Turkey. My day in Corinth, Greece was nice, but it was only one day. Everyday in Istanbul was a learning experience. I saw things that I have never ever seen in the states, ever. We were in Turkey for a long time in comparison to the other countries. Five whole days. Everywhere else has been four or three and a half. The first day in Istanbul I went to Capali Karsi or the Grand Bazaar. This place had 4000 shops. FOR THOUSANDS SHOPS THAT SELL EVERYTHING FROM HAND MADE SHOES TO SPICES TO JEWELRY TO SILK RUGS TO WATER PIPES TO ANYTHING! Now I really wish I could give you all a super detailed description of the activity in the Grand Bazaar but it is truly, truly something you have to experience for yourself. These people that work in there are grade A, first class, top of the line hustling sales man. I have been talking about my negotiating skills in all these blogs and I really feel that the other four countries have prepared me for the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey on July 18th 2009. I swear that these men, because they were all men, will cut you a deal and bargain with you about anything. I complimented one guy on his fancy shoes and he said, “ You like? I will sell them to you…good price”. I was puzzled. They were on his feet. What would he wear home? Anyway, I learned that the guys in the stores found it insulting if you didn’t price haggle them so I negotiated and bargained and walked away and got chased back and made all types of deals in the Grand Bazaar. It was soooooooooooo much fun. I spent the absolute least amount of money in Turkey and got the most from there than all countries combined. I seriously spent less than $130 in five days and have a bunch of really really really nice quality stuff.
Now the funnier stuff. These Turkish men looooooooooooove women. American, Brittish, Spanish whatever. It does not matter. They have lines and lines and lines for days. Everywhere we walked I heard so many different pick up lines. I will gladly list them:
Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?
Are you one of Charlie’s Angels?
I will be here waiting for you forever.
Your beauty is like the sun shine.
Don’t walk so hard, your stepping on my heart.
There were a bunch more but the scenario that tops the list was this one guy who owned a store that sold teas and spices. He came up to me and asked me where I was from and I pretended that I couldn’t speak English and I spoke Spanish to him. He said “oooh Spanish? Will you marry me? I will give your family 5000 dollars and one of my textile businesses.” At that point I had to cut the Spanish act and ask him was he freakin serious??? He OFFERED TO BUY ME FOR 5000 DOLLARS AND A BUSINESS!!!!!!!!!!! He was extremely serious. So I quickly said no and walked away. Then this other guy asked me to marry him too and I said yes if he would give me three leather pillow cases for 20 Lyra…which is about 15 dollars. I wanted them sooooo badly but they were 15 Lyra each. He agreed to giving me 3 for 20. So I think I’m married now.
I talked to so many people about the Muslim culture and why certain things were the way they are, how things used to be and how most of the things we see and hear in America are so wrong. The media is such a powerful tool that seriously abuses its power. I am so very thankful that I had the experience to immerse myself in a culture that is so politically, socially and religiously different than anywhere I have ever been. I met some of the nicest and insightful humans I have ever come in contact with in my entire existence. I went to the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque which are breathtakingly beautiful. The architect was so detailed and just gorgeous. When it is time to pray, there is announcement that can be heard anywhere and everywhere in the city. To hear the prayer in the streets or in a store or on the sub is just amazing. Their religion is such a part of their life but there is a definite line between church…well mosque and state. I thought that when it was time to pray that everyone stopped what they were doing to pray but if they are working or shopping or doing something necessary to sustain their way of living they don’t have to stop when the prayer sounds. Only the very very devout Muslims go to the Mosques at the five specific times. I don’t think any of this is making sense. I’m not really explaining this well. But the point I am trying to make is that a lot of people have preconceived notions about Muslim people, especially Muslim people in Turkey. Some of the stereotypes are every woman has to be covered from head to toe, everyone in the country is a strict Muslim, the men are oppressive, you have to be worried about “terrorists”….as if America isn’t the terrorist capitol of the world, and a whole plethora of other stereotypes. But the reality is the Muslim people are extremely tolerant of other peoples’ religions, I saw just as many catholic churches in Istanbul as I did Muslim mosques, women wore whatever they wanted, I saw many openly affectionate relationships all over the city. The women who were covered from head to toe were doing all of the same things that uncovered women were doing, the men were friendly and I rarely got treated badly or felt that I was being disrespected. I never ever once felt unsafe or uncomfortable or scared while being in Turkey. It was amazing. I loved it.
But, while all these things I said are true, there is still the other side of things that make some of these ideas of the Muslim world true. People in turkey are born Muslim, they have no choice, a lot of things that happen in the country happen without the say of the people. I learned while being here what it really means to be free and have freedom. I realized the freedom I have while talking to this old man on the street. He told me that people in Turkey are born with a past. He said that America isn’t burdened by its past because it is so young. While I disagree with him, I completely understand what he means. He is saying that many things that are in place are there because of what has happened in the thousands and thousands of years of religious history and war. I could not imagine what its like to be born with so many things in my life already chosen for me, my religion, my role in society, my husband (in some cases) and so many other things. Youtube, the online site, is banned in the entire country because some random video was made that criticized the Turkish government. That blows my mind. People don’t realize how crucial freedom of speech is, freedom of religion. Just freedom in general. America is the furthest thing from perfect but it does give its people the blessing of freedom. Now I really understand why so many people want to come here. Why they risk death just to get here. To have freedom is worth it to them. But many of us don’t even realize how important our freedom is. Ok I’m done. I’m actually in Bulgaria right now. I will be on the beach soaking up some more Mediterranean sun in a few hours. After Bulgaria I will be in the Motherland…Africa. I cannot wait. Bulgaria is my relaxation country. Egypt and Morocco need my full, undivided attention. Later.
So I went to Turkey. It was amazing. Istanbul is such a great city. I had no idea that it is the 5th largest city in the WORLD as far as population goes! There are 15 million people there. 15 million. I don’t think there are that many people in Philly. I think I had the best cultural experience in Turkey. My day in Corinth, Greece was nice, but it was only one day. Everyday in Istanbul was a learning experience. I saw things that I have never ever seen in the states, ever. We were in Turkey for a long time in comparison to the other countries. Five whole days. Everywhere else has been four or three and a half. The first day in Istanbul I went to Capali Karsi or the Grand Bazaar. This place had 4000 shops. FOR THOUSANDS SHOPS THAT SELL EVERYTHING FROM HAND MADE SHOES TO SPICES TO JEWELRY TO SILK RUGS TO WATER PIPES TO ANYTHING! Now I really wish I could give you all a super detailed description of the activity in the Grand Bazaar but it is truly, truly something you have to experience for yourself. These people that work in there are grade A, first class, top of the line hustling sales man. I have been talking about my negotiating skills in all these blogs and I really feel that the other four countries have prepared me for the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey on July 18th 2009. I swear that these men, because they were all men, will cut you a deal and bargain with you about anything. I complimented one guy on his fancy shoes and he said, “ You like? I will sell them to you…good price”. I was puzzled. They were on his feet. What would he wear home? Anyway, I learned that the guys in the stores found it insulting if you didn’t price haggle them so I negotiated and bargained and walked away and got chased back and made all types of deals in the Grand Bazaar. It was soooooooooooo much fun. I spent the absolute least amount of money in Turkey and got the most from there than all countries combined. I seriously spent less than $130 in five days and have a bunch of really really really nice quality stuff.
Now the funnier stuff. These Turkish men looooooooooooove women. American, Brittish, Spanish whatever. It does not matter. They have lines and lines and lines for days. Everywhere we walked I heard so many different pick up lines. I will gladly list them:
Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?
Are you one of Charlie’s Angels?
I will be here waiting for you forever.
Your beauty is like the sun shine.
Don’t walk so hard, your stepping on my heart.
There were a bunch more but the scenario that tops the list was this one guy who owned a store that sold teas and spices. He came up to me and asked me where I was from and I pretended that I couldn’t speak English and I spoke Spanish to him. He said “oooh Spanish? Will you marry me? I will give your family 5000 dollars and one of my textile businesses.” At that point I had to cut the Spanish act and ask him was he freakin serious??? He OFFERED TO BUY ME FOR 5000 DOLLARS AND A BUSINESS!!!!!!!!!!! He was extremely serious. So I quickly said no and walked away. Then this other guy asked me to marry him too and I said yes if he would give me three leather pillow cases for 20 Lyra…which is about 15 dollars. I wanted them sooooo badly but they were 15 Lyra each. He agreed to giving me 3 for 20. So I think I’m married now.
I talked to so many people about the Muslim culture and why certain things were the way they are, how things used to be and how most of the things we see and hear in America are so wrong. The media is such a powerful tool that seriously abuses its power. I am so very thankful that I had the experience to immerse myself in a culture that is so politically, socially and religiously different than anywhere I have ever been. I met some of the nicest and insightful humans I have ever come in contact with in my entire existence. I went to the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque which are breathtakingly beautiful. The architect was so detailed and just gorgeous. When it is time to pray, there is announcement that can be heard anywhere and everywhere in the city. To hear the prayer in the streets or in a store or on the sub is just amazing. Their religion is such a part of their life but there is a definite line between church…well mosque and state. I thought that when it was time to pray that everyone stopped what they were doing to pray but if they are working or shopping or doing something necessary to sustain their way of living they don’t have to stop when the prayer sounds. Only the very very devout Muslims go to the Mosques at the five specific times. I don’t think any of this is making sense. I’m not really explaining this well. But the point I am trying to make is that a lot of people have preconceived notions about Muslim people, especially Muslim people in Turkey. Some of the stereotypes are every woman has to be covered from head to toe, everyone in the country is a strict Muslim, the men are oppressive, you have to be worried about “terrorists”….as if America isn’t the terrorist capitol of the world, and a whole plethora of other stereotypes. But the reality is the Muslim people are extremely tolerant of other peoples’ religions, I saw just as many catholic churches in Istanbul as I did Muslim mosques, women wore whatever they wanted, I saw many openly affectionate relationships all over the city. The women who were covered from head to toe were doing all of the same things that uncovered women were doing, the men were friendly and I rarely got treated badly or felt that I was being disrespected. I never ever once felt unsafe or uncomfortable or scared while being in Turkey. It was amazing. I loved it.
But, while all these things I said are true, there is still the other side of things that make some of these ideas of the Muslim world true. People in turkey are born Muslim, they have no choice, a lot of things that happen in the country happen without the say of the people. I learned while being here what it really means to be free and have freedom. I realized the freedom I have while talking to this old man on the street. He told me that people in Turkey are born with a past. He said that America isn’t burdened by its past because it is so young. While I disagree with him, I completely understand what he means. He is saying that many things that are in place are there because of what has happened in the thousands and thousands of years of religious history and war. I could not imagine what its like to be born with so many things in my life already chosen for me, my religion, my role in society, my husband (in some cases) and so many other things. Youtube, the online site, is banned in the entire country because some random video was made that criticized the Turkish government. That blows my mind. People don’t realize how crucial freedom of speech is, freedom of religion. Just freedom in general. America is the furthest thing from perfect but it does give its people the blessing of freedom. Now I really understand why so many people want to come here. Why they risk death just to get here. To have freedom is worth it to them. But many of us don’t even realize how important our freedom is. Ok I’m done. I’m actually in Bulgaria right now. I will be on the beach soaking up some more Mediterranean sun in a few hours. After Bulgaria I will be in the Motherland…Africa. I cannot wait. Bulgaria is my relaxation country. Egypt and Morocco need my full, undivided attention. Later.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Greece!!!!!!!!!!!
July 17th. So people, how is America? The one thing that I have a problem with on this ship is that we have no current events updates. I have no idea what is going on in America. I missed everything about Michael Jackson, I don’t know what is happening in politics or anything. For all I know, America could be gone and no one would know on this ship. So can someone send me something cool that’s going at home. Nscook@semesteratsea.net. Now to the good stuff:
GREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECE! Beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful. This country is gorgeous. The first day in Greece, I went to Athens to see the Acropolis. Honestly, the Acropolis was not that great to see. The experience in itself was remarkable but the whole area was under reconstruction. There was scaffolding everywhere and it was the hottest day of the year in Greece that day. Of course the hottest day of the year would be the day that we decide to go the treeless, shade less waterless Acropolis. But the view from the top of the mountain was gorgeous and literally breathtaking. I saw the first Olympic stadium, the gate of Alexander the Great, the Agean Sea was behind us and all the beautiful homes whose rooftops were literally glistening in the sunlight. It felt like we walked for miles and miles and miles that day to get to all the sites. I think the fact that I have just been to Rome a week and a half before Greece, all the ruins and ancient sites kind of meshed together. I kept calling Athens, Rome and I think my brain was on ancient ruin overdrive. We walked around all the shops and neighborhood markets and we found this amazing, praise worthy establishment located on the corner of Matistraki…..it made GYYYYYYYYYYYROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am obsessed with Gyros. They are the best tasting thing on the planet, next to Gelatto, which, sidebar, Greece had none. I was very sad, needless to say, and the ice cream I did taste was so horrible I threw it away. So if you go to Greece, avoid the ice cream and buy thousands of Gyros. In Greece I realized even more how amazing of a bargainer I am. I talked down every single thing that I bought in Greece that wasn’t a gyro. I paid full price for nothing. I am an amazing negotiator. Thanks Greece for helping me to realize that. Ok so lets talk briefly about the Greek language, not so much the language, which is not thaaaaat hard to grasp, buuuut the LETTERS ARE OUT OF THIS WORLD! They still use the Greek letters and language from 4000 years ago. I am not exaggerating. It was so difficult to read. But I worked it out.
The next day I went to Corinth which was honestly the best day I have had at Semester at Sea. It was the most random thing for me to go but I took some advice I got and found my way there. I had to catch the metro to Athens from Pireaus, then from Athens a train to some other place then another hour train to Corinth, then a bus to Ancient Corinth. But it was so worth it. When I got to ancient Corinth it was so peaceful. It was so completely off the beaten path. I did not see any tourists and I definitely didn’t see Semester at Sea people. The only people that I saw when I got to the ancient sites which had the Temple of Apollo and all these artifacts, was one family from Sweden and that’s it. No one was there. I loved it. It was the nicest, most memorable cultural experience I have ever had. I ate at this aaaaaaamazing restaurant and had chicken souvlaki dish. Im not even going to waste my time and try to describe the meal I ate. It was that good. Then I walked around the little shops and just talked to all the people. Everyone was so friendly and wanted to know where I was from and how I liked Greece. Another side bar, very few people that I have had conversations with in Europe think I’m American. Its so funny. Here is a God’s honest list of all the ethnicities I have gotten while being in the Mediterranean: Spanish (from Spain), Swedish, Portuguese, Dominican, Turkish, Moroccan, Canadian…?, South American, and my favorite, Brazilian. I’m leaving something out but these are the ones I can remember. As soon as I finally tell them I’m American they don’t believe me. And the next thing they yell is “BARACK OBAAAMAAA”!!! I think its so cool. But then it hits me that these people all the way on the other side of the ocean know who my president is and I sadly, but honestly, don’t even know what type of governmental structure they have. It is mind blowing. You don’t realize how much of an impact America has in the world until you are outside of it. I am actually embarrassed about my ignorance on a lot of things in the world. We are so focused on ourselves that we neglect the issues of the world unless is has to do with money or some mundane event that has no significance to anything. It is a problem that the Greeks no Barack Obama and I don’t know whether they have a president or a prime minister. Since I’m on the topic of my cultural experiences, which I haven’t really talked about much on my little blog, I have noticed that I get treated very differently in these countries than some of my friends on the ship that are darker skinned or even the ones who have that “All American” blonde hair, blue eyes look. Its very interesting to observe how people change the way they treat others depending on where in the world they think you are from. I, fortunately and unfortunately, get treated way better and have encountered a super lower level of racism, rudeness, or any other negative thing that comes with being a tourist, in comparison to my friends who seem to, visually, fit into a stereotypical box that some of these Europeans have made important. I realize that it is obviously because of the way I look, the color of my skin and my hair and my facial features, that I can “pass” for a lot of things that I am not, but it is crazy how looking a certain way, dressing in certain clothes, being a certain skin color really dictates how a group of people treat you. I have learned that a lot of issues we see in American are just as prevalent over here, if not worse. I talk about social constructs and issues dealing with race, class and gender as well as the global impact of the American culture in the world everyday single day in class so I really don’t want to write too much more about it on here. So I digress. Back to Greece. I went a gorgeous island about an hour off the coast of Pireaus, the water was clear for miles and it was waist deep and the perfect temperature. I didn’t want to leave but unfortunately, we had to. I don’t really know how to describe what I experience while I’ve been here. It is just too much to put into words. Everything is so enlightening. I am learning so much in ways I never thought I could and from people, places and things that I only dreamed and imagined coming in contact with. I loved Greece. I know I will be back, just how I know I’ll be back to all the countries I have visited. I didn’t get to see a lot of the places that I wanted to while in Greece but I honestly don’t even care because that just leaves me with something to look forward to the next time around. I really need to stop writing these blogs so late because I get so tired! I’m actually in Turkey right now. Well in the waters off the coast of Turkey. I am waking up at 5 in the morning…in four hours to watch us pull into Istanbul. I am so completely excited I cant describe it. I am so ready for a change in culture. Tomorrow will be the official shift between the Western world and the “other” world. We will no longer be in Christian dominated society. The things that, while being European, are very much standard ways of living for us Americans, will be completely different in the last four countries of this voyage. I cant wait to truly truly experience something so different than what I’m used to. Greek and Italy and Spain and especially Croatia were so amazing and so beautiful but I am so ready for Turkey, Bulgaria, Egypt and Morocco. Im going to sleep now. I have to wake up soon and watch the sunrise over the Hagia Sofia in Istanbul, Turkey….doesn’t that just sound out of this world????
GREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECE! Beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful. This country is gorgeous. The first day in Greece, I went to Athens to see the Acropolis. Honestly, the Acropolis was not that great to see. The experience in itself was remarkable but the whole area was under reconstruction. There was scaffolding everywhere and it was the hottest day of the year in Greece that day. Of course the hottest day of the year would be the day that we decide to go the treeless, shade less waterless Acropolis. But the view from the top of the mountain was gorgeous and literally breathtaking. I saw the first Olympic stadium, the gate of Alexander the Great, the Agean Sea was behind us and all the beautiful homes whose rooftops were literally glistening in the sunlight. It felt like we walked for miles and miles and miles that day to get to all the sites. I think the fact that I have just been to Rome a week and a half before Greece, all the ruins and ancient sites kind of meshed together. I kept calling Athens, Rome and I think my brain was on ancient ruin overdrive. We walked around all the shops and neighborhood markets and we found this amazing, praise worthy establishment located on the corner of Matistraki…..it made GYYYYYYYYYYYROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am obsessed with Gyros. They are the best tasting thing on the planet, next to Gelatto, which, sidebar, Greece had none. I was very sad, needless to say, and the ice cream I did taste was so horrible I threw it away. So if you go to Greece, avoid the ice cream and buy thousands of Gyros. In Greece I realized even more how amazing of a bargainer I am. I talked down every single thing that I bought in Greece that wasn’t a gyro. I paid full price for nothing. I am an amazing negotiator. Thanks Greece for helping me to realize that. Ok so lets talk briefly about the Greek language, not so much the language, which is not thaaaaat hard to grasp, buuuut the LETTERS ARE OUT OF THIS WORLD! They still use the Greek letters and language from 4000 years ago. I am not exaggerating. It was so difficult to read. But I worked it out.
The next day I went to Corinth which was honestly the best day I have had at Semester at Sea. It was the most random thing for me to go but I took some advice I got and found my way there. I had to catch the metro to Athens from Pireaus, then from Athens a train to some other place then another hour train to Corinth, then a bus to Ancient Corinth. But it was so worth it. When I got to ancient Corinth it was so peaceful. It was so completely off the beaten path. I did not see any tourists and I definitely didn’t see Semester at Sea people. The only people that I saw when I got to the ancient sites which had the Temple of Apollo and all these artifacts, was one family from Sweden and that’s it. No one was there. I loved it. It was the nicest, most memorable cultural experience I have ever had. I ate at this aaaaaaamazing restaurant and had chicken souvlaki dish. Im not even going to waste my time and try to describe the meal I ate. It was that good. Then I walked around the little shops and just talked to all the people. Everyone was so friendly and wanted to know where I was from and how I liked Greece. Another side bar, very few people that I have had conversations with in Europe think I’m American. Its so funny. Here is a God’s honest list of all the ethnicities I have gotten while being in the Mediterranean: Spanish (from Spain), Swedish, Portuguese, Dominican, Turkish, Moroccan, Canadian…?, South American, and my favorite, Brazilian. I’m leaving something out but these are the ones I can remember. As soon as I finally tell them I’m American they don’t believe me. And the next thing they yell is “BARACK OBAAAMAAA”!!! I think its so cool. But then it hits me that these people all the way on the other side of the ocean know who my president is and I sadly, but honestly, don’t even know what type of governmental structure they have. It is mind blowing. You don’t realize how much of an impact America has in the world until you are outside of it. I am actually embarrassed about my ignorance on a lot of things in the world. We are so focused on ourselves that we neglect the issues of the world unless is has to do with money or some mundane event that has no significance to anything. It is a problem that the Greeks no Barack Obama and I don’t know whether they have a president or a prime minister. Since I’m on the topic of my cultural experiences, which I haven’t really talked about much on my little blog, I have noticed that I get treated very differently in these countries than some of my friends on the ship that are darker skinned or even the ones who have that “All American” blonde hair, blue eyes look. Its very interesting to observe how people change the way they treat others depending on where in the world they think you are from. I, fortunately and unfortunately, get treated way better and have encountered a super lower level of racism, rudeness, or any other negative thing that comes with being a tourist, in comparison to my friends who seem to, visually, fit into a stereotypical box that some of these Europeans have made important. I realize that it is obviously because of the way I look, the color of my skin and my hair and my facial features, that I can “pass” for a lot of things that I am not, but it is crazy how looking a certain way, dressing in certain clothes, being a certain skin color really dictates how a group of people treat you. I have learned that a lot of issues we see in American are just as prevalent over here, if not worse. I talk about social constructs and issues dealing with race, class and gender as well as the global impact of the American culture in the world everyday single day in class so I really don’t want to write too much more about it on here. So I digress. Back to Greece. I went a gorgeous island about an hour off the coast of Pireaus, the water was clear for miles and it was waist deep and the perfect temperature. I didn’t want to leave but unfortunately, we had to. I don’t really know how to describe what I experience while I’ve been here. It is just too much to put into words. Everything is so enlightening. I am learning so much in ways I never thought I could and from people, places and things that I only dreamed and imagined coming in contact with. I loved Greece. I know I will be back, just how I know I’ll be back to all the countries I have visited. I didn’t get to see a lot of the places that I wanted to while in Greece but I honestly don’t even care because that just leaves me with something to look forward to the next time around. I really need to stop writing these blogs so late because I get so tired! I’m actually in Turkey right now. Well in the waters off the coast of Turkey. I am waking up at 5 in the morning…in four hours to watch us pull into Istanbul. I am so completely excited I cant describe it. I am so ready for a change in culture. Tomorrow will be the official shift between the Western world and the “other” world. We will no longer be in Christian dominated society. The things that, while being European, are very much standard ways of living for us Americans, will be completely different in the last four countries of this voyage. I cant wait to truly truly experience something so different than what I’m used to. Greek and Italy and Spain and especially Croatia were so amazing and so beautiful but I am so ready for Turkey, Bulgaria, Egypt and Morocco. Im going to sleep now. I have to wake up soon and watch the sunrise over the Hagia Sofia in Istanbul, Turkey….doesn’t that just sound out of this world????
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Olympics!!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 12th !!!! Today was another awesome day!!! It was our Summer 2009 Sea OLYMPICS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Every floor has different halls called “Seas”. These seas consist of the Baltic, Aegean, Mediterranean, Yellow, Adriatic, Red, Bering, Arabian and my sea, the best Sea THE CARRIBEAN SEA!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were the Pirates of the Caribbean….cute right…I know. Every team had to wear a specific color for their sea and our color was orange. Not y favorite, but I made it work. We made up a chant, we had posters, people painted their faces, we had a mascot ( a girl down the hall dressed up as the most amazing pirate ever in life, I gave her my huge hoop earring which was the icing on the cake). The Olympics had 10 ridiculous events where each sea had to compete against each other to gain points. The events were synchronized swimming, Pictionary, paper boat racing in the pool, tug of war, jeopardy, lip sync competition, dodge ball tourney, relay race and Sea Makeover.
I was a proud member of the Silver Medal Winning Synchronized Swimming team. There were six of us in the little pool and we reenacted the theme song to Captain Planet. Do you remember that song?
“Captain planet, he’s our hero. Gonna take pollution down to zero. He’s our powers magnified. And he’s fighting on the planets side. We are planeteers and you can be one too. Cuz saving our planet s the thing to do. Looting and polluting is not the way. Here what captain planet has to say!!! Blah Blah Blah…THE POWER IS YOURS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
I was water of course. It was golden. I have videos, but there are too embarrassing to show, so don’t ask. We lost by 6 points. I was very upset but the other team did back flips into the pool and carried some guy above the water in a yellow banana float, so I guess we really couldn’t compete with that. I also was a proud member of the jeopardy team. Which was a joke. We didn’t win. Lets not talk about that….but my shining moment! The LIP SYN COMPETETION! I was none other than Scary Spice from the Spice Girls. I made my hair as big and curly as I could possibly get it. I was no longer Nexus…I transformed into Scary Spice. Me and 4 other girls performed the most amazing rendition of the Spice Girls Classic “If You Wanna Be My Lover”. I was the best one. The judges even said so. There is also video of that. But you will never see it! Overall my team came in 2nd place out of all the teams so I was very happy! We should have won , but unfortunately we got disqualified from the boat racing competition because our team member’s elbow hit the water as he was being held by the ankles over the pool blowing his boat across the water with a straw. I love Semester At Sea. I really really really love it. I played fake Olympics on a ship in the middle of the Mediterranean in July on whatever day of the week it is. I seriously have no idea what day it is. I know the actual date but I have no clue if its Monday or Friday. It doesn’t really matter either. I like not knowing. I t shows me how unimportant some things really are.
Tomorrow I will be in Greece. I wrote a list one time of the top 20 places I wanted to go to before I die and Greece was top five. For some reason I never ever thought I would actually make it here. But in a few hours, 7 to be exact I will be in Athens, Greece. Its unreal. This whole trip is a dream. It has to be. Its too incredible to be real. Tonight the moon was red. RED. And it looked like it was sitting on top of the water. I was literally looking at a red moon at eye level. I didn’t have to look up to see the moon. It was right in front of my face. I don’t know what was going on but it was mesmerizing. I seriously stopped in my tracks and just stared at the red moon. At first I didn’t think it was real, but the people with me were staring at it too so it had to be. I also saw a shooting star tonight for the first time in my life. I’ve always missed them or saw the very last sparkle of one, but tonight, next to a red moon, I saw a shooting star. Needless to say I made a wish. I really need to go to sleep. I never sleep here. Its horrible. But there is always something going on, something to talk about, something to look at. I just cant get to sleep at a decent time. Its 2:26 in the morning right now, its only 7:26pm yesterday for you all. It is so weird. I’m in the future to whoever is reading this hahaha. The past was fun, enjoy it while you’re there. Trust me, I will have some more stories as soon as I get back from beautiful, beautiful Greece. Peace to the Middle East and a bottle of hair grease.
I was a proud member of the Silver Medal Winning Synchronized Swimming team. There were six of us in the little pool and we reenacted the theme song to Captain Planet. Do you remember that song?
“Captain planet, he’s our hero. Gonna take pollution down to zero. He’s our powers magnified. And he’s fighting on the planets side. We are planeteers and you can be one too. Cuz saving our planet s the thing to do. Looting and polluting is not the way. Here what captain planet has to say!!! Blah Blah Blah…THE POWER IS YOURS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
I was water of course. It was golden. I have videos, but there are too embarrassing to show, so don’t ask. We lost by 6 points. I was very upset but the other team did back flips into the pool and carried some guy above the water in a yellow banana float, so I guess we really couldn’t compete with that. I also was a proud member of the jeopardy team. Which was a joke. We didn’t win. Lets not talk about that….but my shining moment! The LIP SYN COMPETETION! I was none other than Scary Spice from the Spice Girls. I made my hair as big and curly as I could possibly get it. I was no longer Nexus…I transformed into Scary Spice. Me and 4 other girls performed the most amazing rendition of the Spice Girls Classic “If You Wanna Be My Lover”. I was the best one. The judges even said so. There is also video of that. But you will never see it! Overall my team came in 2nd place out of all the teams so I was very happy! We should have won , but unfortunately we got disqualified from the boat racing competition because our team member’s elbow hit the water as he was being held by the ankles over the pool blowing his boat across the water with a straw. I love Semester At Sea. I really really really love it. I played fake Olympics on a ship in the middle of the Mediterranean in July on whatever day of the week it is. I seriously have no idea what day it is. I know the actual date but I have no clue if its Monday or Friday. It doesn’t really matter either. I like not knowing. I t shows me how unimportant some things really are.
Tomorrow I will be in Greece. I wrote a list one time of the top 20 places I wanted to go to before I die and Greece was top five. For some reason I never ever thought I would actually make it here. But in a few hours, 7 to be exact I will be in Athens, Greece. Its unreal. This whole trip is a dream. It has to be. Its too incredible to be real. Tonight the moon was red. RED. And it looked like it was sitting on top of the water. I was literally looking at a red moon at eye level. I didn’t have to look up to see the moon. It was right in front of my face. I don’t know what was going on but it was mesmerizing. I seriously stopped in my tracks and just stared at the red moon. At first I didn’t think it was real, but the people with me were staring at it too so it had to be. I also saw a shooting star tonight for the first time in my life. I’ve always missed them or saw the very last sparkle of one, but tonight, next to a red moon, I saw a shooting star. Needless to say I made a wish. I really need to go to sleep. I never sleep here. Its horrible. But there is always something going on, something to talk about, something to look at. I just cant get to sleep at a decent time. Its 2:26 in the morning right now, its only 7:26pm yesterday for you all. It is so weird. I’m in the future to whoever is reading this hahaha. The past was fun, enjoy it while you’re there. Trust me, I will have some more stories as soon as I get back from beautiful, beautiful Greece. Peace to the Middle East and a bottle of hair grease.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Croatia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 10th, 2009 11:12 pm my time so….5:12 pm your time….DOBER DAN!!! That means hello in Croatian. Now, I know that I said Spain was great. I remember vaguely saying I was in love with Italy. But seriously, all jokes aside, I am infatuated with Croatia. This is the nicest place I have ever been to in my whole existence. I know that I say that a lot but this place is incredible. It is absolutely gorgeous. A lot of people don’t even know where Croatia is and I hope it stays that way so tourists (Americans) don’t come here and destroy the place. I have been on the most beautiful beaches in the world. These are some of the nicest, most laid back people alive and the scenery here is ridiculous. There are tree covered, sand less beaches, mountains, grass, forests, hills, ocean, everything, all that pretty stuff we see on the discovery channel and on the cover of Travel Magazine . I can not explain it. It’s just gorgeous here. And the best part of all of this is……………….for every 1 US Dollar you get 5 Croatian Dollars called Kunas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Soooooooooooooooooo clearly we were all ballin out here in Croatia! I felt like a millionaire. But I think I only spent maybe 100 dollars the entire time here because everything is so ridiculously inexpensive!
The first day we got to Dubrovnik, I had a tour of the City Walls. This place is located in the “Old Town” of Dubrovnik, which is amazing! The walls are built all around the border of the town and you can see all the coral colored rooftops of people’s houses and all the walls overlook the crystal blue Adriatic Sea. After the city walls tour we just walked around the town. There were so many markets and events going on and everyone is so nice and helpful and they speak English which is cool too. This blog writing thing is hard. Im trying to tell a story but I really just want to list all the amazing things I did while I was in the best country in the world…aka Croatia….
I went to the Island of Lopud which has most beautiful beach and scenery alive or in existence or whatever. Its about 40 minutes off the coast of Dubrovnik. The water is clear as a bathtub. Oh fyi it is ridiculously hot here. Like 1000000 degrees.
I went to a Croatian festival where I saw a Croatian Opera, a Croatian play and traditional folklore dancing. This was all an accident of course. We kind of just stumbled into it.
Semester at Sea as an entity is banned from a club called East West which is located right on the beach, because we, excluding myself, so I should say they, destroyed the place from dancing all over all the furniture and everything. That was probably the most ridiculous night of my life. That’s another story in itself. Maybe some other time.
I went to another island that had no sand, just huge rocks to lay on in the middle of the Adriatic Sea that is full of wild peacocks everywhere which was sooooo incredible. I jumped off the rocks in to the sea which was so much fun. But the weird part was we were next to the part of the beach that was, unbeknownst to me J a nudist beach….in more detail, an elderly nudist beach, so there were some moments where if I looked in the wrong spot at the right time I had a problem. But that island was amazing. It was called Lokrum. I loved it.
I went cliff diving off a 45 foot cliff in the sea on the side of a restaurant that had the most amazing view in the whole wide world. It took me about 56008349839274 hours to finally do it but I did it and it was amazing!!!! Grace is going to be mad, but I don’t think she will read this anytime soon so I’m going to tell everyone this story which is the funniest thing ever….the day of our City Walls tour, Grace, my roommate here and at school, for those of you who don’t know who my little Gracefurd is, jumped off the cliff too but a much higher one and she thought she was soooo cool that she decided to jump off the cliff in her clothes because she didn’t have her bathing suit, soooo this genius jumped off and when she hit the water she sat down into it and split her shorts right up the middle and her butt was hanging out for the rest of the day hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This was after our city walls tour so we all had to walk back on the bus to go back home…well back to the ship which is now home and everyone saw her polka dot underwear!! It was hilarious!!!! I love her!!!
Anyway, we met Dhani Jones who used to play for the New York Giants but now he has a show on the travel channel where he goes to all these random countries and tries all their sports and dare devil type stuff and he’s kind of my new best friend now and me and my friends are more than likely going to be on the Croatian episode on the Travel Channel jumping off the cliff because he was filming when we got there and the camera man filmed each of our jumps. So……look out for that. Hahahhahaha I love life!!! Croatia is amazing! Please whoever is reading this… try to visit. It’s the best place ever. I don’t feel like writing anymore. Oh but wait. I made a vow that I will never eat ice cream ever again in the United States of America. I know this is a shocker to most. BUT IM SERIOUS. After this trip, ice cream will never be the same. I don’t want to disappoint myself by eating that crap we call ice cream. So, world, I will never ever ever eat ice cream in the US of A again. Thanks. This has been a public service announcement.
I know that im leaving out a lot of stuff but there just so much that happened and too much to write and I’m the fastest typer in the world…so this is all I can do.
Hvala vam e dovidenja! (Thank you and goodnight in Croatian, don’t worry about pronouncing it)
Monday, July 6, 2009
Italia
July 5th 2009!!! Bonjourno!!!!!! Happy Belated Birthday America! Ok everyone I have soooo many stories to tell about Italia! Which is my new favorite country. I haven’t had anytime to write on this thing and I don’t even know where to begin. But here goes my attempt to tell you about the best five days of my life!
We pulled into Italy on July 1st into a port/city called CIVITAVECCHIA!! Now lets try to pronounce this: SIV-IT-TA-VEK-EE-YA…take a second to practice….ok moving on….as soon as we got there I got off the shipped and hopped on the first train to ROMA!!!!!! Omg I love Rome, I seriously seriously seriously love Rome! We took an hour train ride, that was probably the most crowded train I have ever been on in my whole life, I stood the whole time, but it was worth it. When we got to Rome, I was immediately in love. There were so many different types of people and food and shops and everyone was dressed soooooooo nice!!! I loooooooooooooooooove Italian fashion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! well, not everyone was dressed so nice, I saw some ridiculous outfits hahahaha, but overall it was so nice to look at all that Rome had to offer.
Because my roommate and I are the least organized people alive, we didn’t have a hotel or hostel booked before we got to Rome, so we kinda figured we would just wander around until we found one. Soooo, we just started to walk, with aaaall our stuff on our backs. The streets of Rome are amazing. Its so strange to see modern shops and stores and restaurants intertwined with ancient ruins that I have read about and seen pictures of in all the stupid history books I’ve had to read. Of course, or first stop was food. We had some extremely good pizza at this little hole in the wall place and then…..my favorite thing in the entire universe……GELATO. THIS IS MY FAVORITE THING EVER INVENTED. ITS BETTER THAN THE LIGHT BULB, THE AIR PLANE, SLICED BREAD, EVERYTHING! Its Italian ice cream, but I swear it has to be made with special ingredients from God. I ate so much gelato in Rome its actually embarrassing. This stuff come in every single color, flavor, size, smell, everything. Omg I love that stuff. After that we walked towards the Colosseum. I almost passed out when I saw it. You don’t even realize that these ancient ruins will just pop up out of no where. I was literally walking down a street that had stores selling flags and shoes and all these random things, then I turn the corner and BAM! The freakin Colosseum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Im still in shock that I saw it. I know so many people that have seen it while on vacation or something but its soooo different to study these places in such detail, take test on the information, dissect the history behind the structures, learn who built it, who was in power while it was built, how much it cost, why it was destroyed, then go see it. I cant put it into words, but its just incredible. The place is huuuugue. I can only imagine how immaculate it was before it was destroyed. We walked around the whole area around the colosseum and saw all the ruins and palaces in the area. It was crazy. People literally lived in apartments across the street from the colosseum. There view out their window EVERY SINGLE DAY is the Colosseum… I thought I was cool because I live on Broad Street in Philly….guess that’s out the window. We went the Roman Forum which is still sp preserved. It started raining and it was so cool to be stuck under a 3000 year old ruin while it pouring down rain. After we left there, when the rain stopped, the most dreadful thing in the world happened. MY CAMERA DIED. It just died on me. Shut off and did not turn back on. At all. I could have cried in the middle of the piazza. But luckily I had my phone so I got some shots on there. We walked all around Rome, we saw the gorgeous Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, all this cool stuff.
After about 12 hours of being homeless we finally found this run down, beat up hotel called Hotel Michigan. I walk in and the guy just looks at me and says nothing. So I look at him for a little and then the phone rings and he answers it. So I stand there while he has a wonderful conversation for about 7 minutes, clearly any other time I would have left the building, but my feet were throbbing, I was exhausted and everyone was half a second from passing out on the couches in the lobby. So finally he gets off the phone and says “Prego?’ I think that means what do you want, thank you, hello, goodbye, your welcome and something else in Italian because they say it for everything. So I responded, “ Can I sleep here?!” I was irritated by that point, like why else would I be standing at the desk at 1 in the morning. Anyway, he tells us the price for 4 people for one night in a double room. He said 100 euros, I said can I see the room…he said….ok…so we followed him back to the room. He opened the door and I almost burst out laughing. I asked him again the price for the room and he said 100 euros….i said….how about 80? He said……ok. Hahaha. I think he was drunk but whatever. So let me tell you about this room. The window faced a wall. Not one piece of furniture matched. There were three beds in the room all hard as rock. HARD AS ROCK. The closet door was hanging off the hinges and the best part………….the BATHROOM! The shower was nothing more than a hose with a shower head attached to the end with a drain on the floor. There was no tub or curtain and the shower was 5 inches from the shower so you could use the bathroom and shower all at the same time is that’s what your into. There was a fan in there that turned on when you turned on the light and it sounded like 1000 old men snoring. Needless to say this room was amazing. We had the best sleep ever and laughed so hard our stomachs hurt.
The next day grace and I left our other two friends while they went to see the leaning tower of Pisa. We went off to the Vatican. I really cant put into words how beautiful the Vatican is. I really really cant describe it. The art I saw was magnificent. The architect of each room was spectacular. Skipping all that stuff…let me get to my favorite part. The SISTINE CHAPEL. OMG IT WAS GORGEOUS BREATHTAKING AMAZING SPECTACULAR STUPENDOUS SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPEALIDOIOUS ADAKJDHKAJSHDKJASKHASKJFHAKSFAK! I was in shock. The room was huge every inch of the place was covered in beauty from floor to ceiling. I cant believe a human created such magnificence. I almost got arrested by Vatican Police because I was taking pictures but I sweet talked my way out of the whole jail in a foreign country thing. I advise everyone to try to go to Rome before they die, at least once. After seeing all that cool stuff we went to St. Peters Basilica. The largest church in the entire world. It was ridiculous. Every inch of this place had an angel or a saint or a picture or some type of ornate detail. I think I could literally spend weeks inside that place in order to see everything in there. Gorgeous. The nuns were singing when I walked in and I almost cried. It sounded so beautiful and it echoed throughout the entire church. I really wanted to see the pope but we were too late for mass. As we were we leaving, we walked to the main doors in the lobby area and the sky started turning all grey and it started thundering and lightening. I really think it was the loudest thunder I’ve ever heard. Then all of a sudden it started pouring!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Like hard core rain. But the sun was still peeking through the clouds. Then, the most magnificent sight I could have possibly seen happened while I was standing at the door. It started hailing! The hail was the size of baseballs. It was ……I cant describe it. It was just amazing. All of Saint Peters Square cleared out. There wasn’t one single person to be seen. It was amazing. I watched a hail storm in St Peters Basilica in July. It was unreal. I cant really write anymore…it has taken me almost 3 days to write this. I’ve been really busy. But ill try to stay on top of this blog thing a little better…im getting complaints. Ill be in Croatia tomorrow. They are known for having the most beautiful beaches in the world. So im pumped.
Omg omg omg I almost forgot to tell you about CAPRI! The most gorgeous island I’ve ever been to. I feel like everything is the most something I’ve ever seen or been to or heard or whatever. But its ok. I loved Capri. It was beautiful. I’m moving there when I become a millionaire. And I will be a millionaire. Basically Italy rocked. Bye everyone. More after Croatia.
We pulled into Italy on July 1st into a port/city called CIVITAVECCHIA!! Now lets try to pronounce this: SIV-IT-TA-VEK-EE-YA…take a second to practice….ok moving on….as soon as we got there I got off the shipped and hopped on the first train to ROMA!!!!!! Omg I love Rome, I seriously seriously seriously love Rome! We took an hour train ride, that was probably the most crowded train I have ever been on in my whole life, I stood the whole time, but it was worth it. When we got to Rome, I was immediately in love. There were so many different types of people and food and shops and everyone was dressed soooooooo nice!!! I loooooooooooooooooove Italian fashion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! well, not everyone was dressed so nice, I saw some ridiculous outfits hahahaha, but overall it was so nice to look at all that Rome had to offer.
Because my roommate and I are the least organized people alive, we didn’t have a hotel or hostel booked before we got to Rome, so we kinda figured we would just wander around until we found one. Soooo, we just started to walk, with aaaall our stuff on our backs. The streets of Rome are amazing. Its so strange to see modern shops and stores and restaurants intertwined with ancient ruins that I have read about and seen pictures of in all the stupid history books I’ve had to read. Of course, or first stop was food. We had some extremely good pizza at this little hole in the wall place and then…..my favorite thing in the entire universe……GELATO. THIS IS MY FAVORITE THING EVER INVENTED. ITS BETTER THAN THE LIGHT BULB, THE AIR PLANE, SLICED BREAD, EVERYTHING! Its Italian ice cream, but I swear it has to be made with special ingredients from God. I ate so much gelato in Rome its actually embarrassing. This stuff come in every single color, flavor, size, smell, everything. Omg I love that stuff. After that we walked towards the Colosseum. I almost passed out when I saw it. You don’t even realize that these ancient ruins will just pop up out of no where. I was literally walking down a street that had stores selling flags and shoes and all these random things, then I turn the corner and BAM! The freakin Colosseum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Im still in shock that I saw it. I know so many people that have seen it while on vacation or something but its soooo different to study these places in such detail, take test on the information, dissect the history behind the structures, learn who built it, who was in power while it was built, how much it cost, why it was destroyed, then go see it. I cant put it into words, but its just incredible. The place is huuuugue. I can only imagine how immaculate it was before it was destroyed. We walked around the whole area around the colosseum and saw all the ruins and palaces in the area. It was crazy. People literally lived in apartments across the street from the colosseum. There view out their window EVERY SINGLE DAY is the Colosseum… I thought I was cool because I live on Broad Street in Philly….guess that’s out the window. We went the Roman Forum which is still sp preserved. It started raining and it was so cool to be stuck under a 3000 year old ruin while it pouring down rain. After we left there, when the rain stopped, the most dreadful thing in the world happened. MY CAMERA DIED. It just died on me. Shut off and did not turn back on. At all. I could have cried in the middle of the piazza. But luckily I had my phone so I got some shots on there. We walked all around Rome, we saw the gorgeous Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, all this cool stuff.
After about 12 hours of being homeless we finally found this run down, beat up hotel called Hotel Michigan. I walk in and the guy just looks at me and says nothing. So I look at him for a little and then the phone rings and he answers it. So I stand there while he has a wonderful conversation for about 7 minutes, clearly any other time I would have left the building, but my feet were throbbing, I was exhausted and everyone was half a second from passing out on the couches in the lobby. So finally he gets off the phone and says “Prego?’ I think that means what do you want, thank you, hello, goodbye, your welcome and something else in Italian because they say it for everything. So I responded, “ Can I sleep here?!” I was irritated by that point, like why else would I be standing at the desk at 1 in the morning. Anyway, he tells us the price for 4 people for one night in a double room. He said 100 euros, I said can I see the room…he said….ok…so we followed him back to the room. He opened the door and I almost burst out laughing. I asked him again the price for the room and he said 100 euros….i said….how about 80? He said……ok. Hahaha. I think he was drunk but whatever. So let me tell you about this room. The window faced a wall. Not one piece of furniture matched. There were three beds in the room all hard as rock. HARD AS ROCK. The closet door was hanging off the hinges and the best part………….the BATHROOM! The shower was nothing more than a hose with a shower head attached to the end with a drain on the floor. There was no tub or curtain and the shower was 5 inches from the shower so you could use the bathroom and shower all at the same time is that’s what your into. There was a fan in there that turned on when you turned on the light and it sounded like 1000 old men snoring. Needless to say this room was amazing. We had the best sleep ever and laughed so hard our stomachs hurt.
The next day grace and I left our other two friends while they went to see the leaning tower of Pisa. We went off to the Vatican. I really cant put into words how beautiful the Vatican is. I really really cant describe it. The art I saw was magnificent. The architect of each room was spectacular. Skipping all that stuff…let me get to my favorite part. The SISTINE CHAPEL. OMG IT WAS GORGEOUS BREATHTAKING AMAZING SPECTACULAR STUPENDOUS SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPEALIDOIOUS ADAKJDHKAJSHDKJASKHASKJFHAKSFAK! I was in shock. The room was huge every inch of the place was covered in beauty from floor to ceiling. I cant believe a human created such magnificence. I almost got arrested by Vatican Police because I was taking pictures but I sweet talked my way out of the whole jail in a foreign country thing. I advise everyone to try to go to Rome before they die, at least once. After seeing all that cool stuff we went to St. Peters Basilica. The largest church in the entire world. It was ridiculous. Every inch of this place had an angel or a saint or a picture or some type of ornate detail. I think I could literally spend weeks inside that place in order to see everything in there. Gorgeous. The nuns were singing when I walked in and I almost cried. It sounded so beautiful and it echoed throughout the entire church. I really wanted to see the pope but we were too late for mass. As we were we leaving, we walked to the main doors in the lobby area and the sky started turning all grey and it started thundering and lightening. I really think it was the loudest thunder I’ve ever heard. Then all of a sudden it started pouring!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Like hard core rain. But the sun was still peeking through the clouds. Then, the most magnificent sight I could have possibly seen happened while I was standing at the door. It started hailing! The hail was the size of baseballs. It was ……I cant describe it. It was just amazing. All of Saint Peters Square cleared out. There wasn’t one single person to be seen. It was amazing. I watched a hail storm in St Peters Basilica in July. It was unreal. I cant really write anymore…it has taken me almost 3 days to write this. I’ve been really busy. But ill try to stay on top of this blog thing a little better…im getting complaints. Ill be in Croatia tomorrow. They are known for having the most beautiful beaches in the world. So im pumped.
Omg omg omg I almost forgot to tell you about CAPRI! The most gorgeous island I’ve ever been to. I feel like everything is the most something I’ve ever seen or been to or heard or whatever. But its ok. I loved Capri. It was beautiful. I’m moving there when I become a millionaire. And I will be a millionaire. Basically Italy rocked. Bye everyone. More after Croatia.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
The Rock of Gibraltar
June 28th, 2009
Today we stopped for fuel in the Strait of Gibraltar. This is literally the crossroads between Africa and Europe. Let me explain to you my morning. I got up to have breakfast and I sat on the outside deck to eat it. To my left was the Rock of Gibraltar, I hope you all have heard of this place, if not google it, and on my right was Morocco. I was looking at Africa. I was in between Europe and Africa. Like, I have seen Africa. This doesn’t even make sense or sound real to me. The ship was so close to Gibraltar and Morocco I could have jumped out and swam to either continent. I keep using the word amazing and keep saying everything I see is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen in my life, but all this stuff just keeps getting better so I can’t help it. I just want you to visualize standing on a ship with Spain and Gibraltar about 500 yards away from your left side and then Morocco, Africa 500 yards from your right side. It’s breath taking. It’s surreal. We are now officially in the Mediterranean Sea now and the sun is so so so so so so so close and so so so so so so hot. Everyone knows that I don’t tan easily, but I sat outside to read and I had my book on my lap and now I have a book tan line across my legs. I look like an idiot. The water is greener than green and as a clear as a pool. Well, I have two papers I need to write so I’ll write more later in the week! Bye.
Today we stopped for fuel in the Strait of Gibraltar. This is literally the crossroads between Africa and Europe. Let me explain to you my morning. I got up to have breakfast and I sat on the outside deck to eat it. To my left was the Rock of Gibraltar, I hope you all have heard of this place, if not google it, and on my right was Morocco. I was looking at Africa. I was in between Europe and Africa. Like, I have seen Africa. This doesn’t even make sense or sound real to me. The ship was so close to Gibraltar and Morocco I could have jumped out and swam to either continent. I keep using the word amazing and keep saying everything I see is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen in my life, but all this stuff just keeps getting better so I can’t help it. I just want you to visualize standing on a ship with Spain and Gibraltar about 500 yards away from your left side and then Morocco, Africa 500 yards from your right side. It’s breath taking. It’s surreal. We are now officially in the Mediterranean Sea now and the sun is so so so so so so so close and so so so so so so hot. Everyone knows that I don’t tan easily, but I sat outside to read and I had my book on my lap and now I have a book tan line across my legs. I look like an idiot. The water is greener than green and as a clear as a pool. Well, I have two papers I need to write so I’ll write more later in the week! Bye.
Spain
June 27th 2009-Im in my room with Grace and Kyla watching Wall-E! This is the best movie ever fyi…anyway lets talk about ESPANA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AMAZING…BEAUTIFUL…CULTURAL…NOT SO GREAT FOOD…HOT AS HECK…AMAZING! I have only been in Europe for about 4 days and I am in love with it. I can now completely understand why some people come over here and never come back. America seriously has it all wrong. We actually suck in a lot of ways. Don’t get me wrong, I love my country, but we have almost everything backwards. All the buses here run on natural gas, the trash cans are all equipped with recycling bins and glass bins all in one, so there is no excuse to litter. The streets are so clean, people leave work in the middle of the day to actually spend time with their families and pick their children up from school. Imagine that. From 2-6 pm its siesta time and everything shuts down and people go home to nap or just sit and relax and have tapas which are little tiny food platters that are extremely cheap. It’s a beautiful thing. Also these people party so hard. NYC sit down. The clubs DO NOT OPEN UNTIL 3 IN THE MORNING! At midnight everyone is just sitting and relaxing and talking in the plazas with their little half naked children and dogs without leashes running around. Its beautiful. I love it. Spain is absolutely gorgeous. I had the most amazing time here. I can barely find words to tell you about it. So it all started like this….a whole group of us…about 10 or 11 stayed up alllllllllllllllll night and when I say all night I mean all night. We were awake for the ship pulling into the port of Cadiz….pronounced CadiTH…..it was beautiful. We literally watched the sunrise over the city and even in the port where all the ships and tugs boats go, the water was clear blue. The air here is so different and all the colors on all the buildings are so vibrant despite them being hundreds of years old. The first day here me, Grace and this other girl hopped on the bus to head towards our first destination: Cordoba…pronounced Coor-Dough-Ba…say coor really fast then doughba together…does this make any sense? Anyway, this city was amazing. It is a small town about 3 hours away from Cadiz. I have never seen so much remnants of Islamic, Jewish and Catholic art and influence as intermixed as this city had. There were so many monuments and statues and buildings and Mosques, or Mezquitas en espanol, and they all had different styles of art mixed into the same structure. I don’t really know how to describe it but it was amazing. It was beyond amazing. Grace and I wandered around this Alcatrez/castle thingy where there were about a million rooms and all these orange trees and flowers and old paintings. It was craaazy. We have 100090989798797986 pictures…people will see them eventually. We stayed in this gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous hostel….please throw out the whole stereotypes about hostels because they are not true. This place had tiled floors and a private enclosed courtyard with those little booty cleaners in the bathroom. It was just amazing. After we saw all there was to see in Cordoba we headed to Seville which aside from New Orleans is my favorite place I have ever been to in my 22 years of life. Ew that sounds so old. Buuuuuut speaking of OLD!!!.....
After Cordoba we went to Seville ON MY BIRTHDAY!!!!! This place is breathtaking. It has so much culture and art work and sites to see and I think I went everywhere!!!!!!!!!! My favorite place was the THIRD largest cathedral in the whole entire world, the Cathedral of Christendom , which had so much Islamic design to it which I thought was funny. Europe is so interconnected and I find it amazing. Anyway. This was the MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE I think I have ever seen. Please google this place and look at the pictures. I don’t know when ill have time to upload the pictures on the internet so please just go look them up now. Every single inch of this place was detailed in different scenes of the Bible, different Saints, and one part was, from ceiling to floor, dipped in GOLD! Well I think it was gold, the people who worked there didn’t understand my broken Spanish and I couldn’t remember how to say gold, soooooo I don’t really know what it was covered in but I swear it was gold. Anyway, this place was unreal. It was built in 1400 something and guess who’s tomb is in there, being held by these 9 foot tall men on all four corners, CHRISTOPHER FREAKIN COLOMBUS! I don’t really know if I believe he is really in there but it was amazing to see. We stayed in another cool hostel that night and the people there were soooooooooooooooooooooooooo nice. I met people from Ireland, south Africa, germany, Italy and France. We ended up all traveling together to the sites in Seville and I learned so much from these people. Its awesome to hear the perspectives of people from completely different cultures than me. Anyway, I partied my heart out in Spain. I don’t think they will forget me and the people I was with. I promise you all I wasn’t crazy and dumb but I don’t think I have danced so hard ever. We got made fun of by some of the Spaniards because we left the club at 530 and they were just beginning to party. I’m sorry but I could not hang with them. I need to sleep sometime before the sun rises.
Um, side bar, I can not believe Michael Jackson died. So, im not even going to speak on it too much. Its just crazy that he died on my birthday and its even crazier how I found out from two girls from Sweden who spoke NO ENGLISH while standing in line for the bathroom. I guess that just shows how much he impacted the world. RIP Mike.
Ok, back to Spain, there is just so much to tell, but I think ill wrap it up. I was thoroughly disappointed with the food here. Im going to give the country the benefit of the doubt and blame it on the fact that Im on a budget and couldn’t buy a really nice meal, but I really don’t think that was it. Everyone said the food was no bueno. And also, these people are not the friendliest in the world, I guess it’s because they knew we were Americans. But despite that I LOVED SPAIN! ILL BE BACK! Next stop: Italy.
AMAZING…BEAUTIFUL…CULTURAL…NOT SO GREAT FOOD…HOT AS HECK…AMAZING! I have only been in Europe for about 4 days and I am in love with it. I can now completely understand why some people come over here and never come back. America seriously has it all wrong. We actually suck in a lot of ways. Don’t get me wrong, I love my country, but we have almost everything backwards. All the buses here run on natural gas, the trash cans are all equipped with recycling bins and glass bins all in one, so there is no excuse to litter. The streets are so clean, people leave work in the middle of the day to actually spend time with their families and pick their children up from school. Imagine that. From 2-6 pm its siesta time and everything shuts down and people go home to nap or just sit and relax and have tapas which are little tiny food platters that are extremely cheap. It’s a beautiful thing. Also these people party so hard. NYC sit down. The clubs DO NOT OPEN UNTIL 3 IN THE MORNING! At midnight everyone is just sitting and relaxing and talking in the plazas with their little half naked children and dogs without leashes running around. Its beautiful. I love it. Spain is absolutely gorgeous. I had the most amazing time here. I can barely find words to tell you about it. So it all started like this….a whole group of us…about 10 or 11 stayed up alllllllllllllllll night and when I say all night I mean all night. We were awake for the ship pulling into the port of Cadiz….pronounced CadiTH…..it was beautiful. We literally watched the sunrise over the city and even in the port where all the ships and tugs boats go, the water was clear blue. The air here is so different and all the colors on all the buildings are so vibrant despite them being hundreds of years old. The first day here me, Grace and this other girl hopped on the bus to head towards our first destination: Cordoba…pronounced Coor-Dough-Ba…say coor really fast then doughba together…does this make any sense? Anyway, this city was amazing. It is a small town about 3 hours away from Cadiz. I have never seen so much remnants of Islamic, Jewish and Catholic art and influence as intermixed as this city had. There were so many monuments and statues and buildings and Mosques, or Mezquitas en espanol, and they all had different styles of art mixed into the same structure. I don’t really know how to describe it but it was amazing. It was beyond amazing. Grace and I wandered around this Alcatrez/castle thingy where there were about a million rooms and all these orange trees and flowers and old paintings. It was craaazy. We have 100090989798797986 pictures…people will see them eventually. We stayed in this gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous hostel….please throw out the whole stereotypes about hostels because they are not true. This place had tiled floors and a private enclosed courtyard with those little booty cleaners in the bathroom. It was just amazing. After we saw all there was to see in Cordoba we headed to Seville which aside from New Orleans is my favorite place I have ever been to in my 22 years of life. Ew that sounds so old. Buuuuuut speaking of OLD!!!.....
After Cordoba we went to Seville ON MY BIRTHDAY!!!!! This place is breathtaking. It has so much culture and art work and sites to see and I think I went everywhere!!!!!!!!!! My favorite place was the THIRD largest cathedral in the whole entire world, the Cathedral of Christendom , which had so much Islamic design to it which I thought was funny. Europe is so interconnected and I find it amazing. Anyway. This was the MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE I think I have ever seen. Please google this place and look at the pictures. I don’t know when ill have time to upload the pictures on the internet so please just go look them up now. Every single inch of this place was detailed in different scenes of the Bible, different Saints, and one part was, from ceiling to floor, dipped in GOLD! Well I think it was gold, the people who worked there didn’t understand my broken Spanish and I couldn’t remember how to say gold, soooooo I don’t really know what it was covered in but I swear it was gold. Anyway, this place was unreal. It was built in 1400 something and guess who’s tomb is in there, being held by these 9 foot tall men on all four corners, CHRISTOPHER FREAKIN COLOMBUS! I don’t really know if I believe he is really in there but it was amazing to see. We stayed in another cool hostel that night and the people there were soooooooooooooooooooooooooo nice. I met people from Ireland, south Africa, germany, Italy and France. We ended up all traveling together to the sites in Seville and I learned so much from these people. Its awesome to hear the perspectives of people from completely different cultures than me. Anyway, I partied my heart out in Spain. I don’t think they will forget me and the people I was with. I promise you all I wasn’t crazy and dumb but I don’t think I have danced so hard ever. We got made fun of by some of the Spaniards because we left the club at 530 and they were just beginning to party. I’m sorry but I could not hang with them. I need to sleep sometime before the sun rises.
Um, side bar, I can not believe Michael Jackson died. So, im not even going to speak on it too much. Its just crazy that he died on my birthday and its even crazier how I found out from two girls from Sweden who spoke NO ENGLISH while standing in line for the bathroom. I guess that just shows how much he impacted the world. RIP Mike.
Ok, back to Spain, there is just so much to tell, but I think ill wrap it up. I was thoroughly disappointed with the food here. Im going to give the country the benefit of the doubt and blame it on the fact that Im on a budget and couldn’t buy a really nice meal, but I really don’t think that was it. Everyone said the food was no bueno. And also, these people are not the friendliest in the world, I guess it’s because they knew we were Americans. But despite that I LOVED SPAIN! ILL BE BACK! Next stop: Italy.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Day Before Spain!!!!!!!!!!!
June 23rd, 2009 the day before we dock in beautiful Espana!!!!!! Right now I’m sitting in my room on the floor, of my own room mind you, with three people on my bed, two people on Graces bed, two people in the two chairs in our room and Grace is sitting on the floor, of her own room mind you, and I’m just going to type away. My birthday is in two days FYI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is so surreal that this time tomorrow I’ll be in Spain. Ill be in the oldest city in all of Europe. Cadiz. It is located in the southern part of Spain in the region of Cadiz. The proper way to say it (because you know I’ve been practicing my espanol) is Cadith….stress the “th” hard core. Anyway, this is crazy.
In the class that the entire ship has to take, Global Studies, we are learning all the history about the countries we are going to and I am now a borderline expert in Spain. Ok not really, at all, but I know some stuff about some stuff now. Its soooooooo weird to study these countries in the classroom and the textbooks and then to be able to go actually see them is unreal. But hey im not complaining. Ill have tons of stuff tomorrow. I don’t even know why im awake right now. Goodnight. Happy Early Birthday to me!
In the class that the entire ship has to take, Global Studies, we are learning all the history about the countries we are going to and I am now a borderline expert in Spain. Ok not really, at all, but I know some stuff about some stuff now. Its soooooooo weird to study these countries in the classroom and the textbooks and then to be able to go actually see them is unreal. But hey im not complaining. Ill have tons of stuff tomorrow. I don’t even know why im awake right now. Goodnight. Happy Early Birthday to me!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
i saw some freakin dolphins today
Hello world….June 21st my time June 20th your time…right now im listening to Uptown by Drake and Lil Wayne….IM OFFICIALLY IN EUROPE!!!! So today was another beautifully amazing day. It was about 70 degrees with a small breeze and the sky was so low I felt like I could touch it. I slept through my first two classes this morning because 1. The time moved forward an hour YET AGAIN and I didn’t adjust my clock 2. I don’t have a window in my room so there is no freakin sunlight 3. I turned off the alarm clock and 4.the ocean rocked me to a deep deep slumber again. But its ok because my teachers live on the 5th floor so I just knocked on their door and asked them what I missed.After I finally got up, I made it to my last class, bullsh*tted a quiz, got 100 on it and then went to lunch lol. Let me tell you all about the food here. We have potatoes at every meal. EVERY MEAL. I didn’t realize that potatoes could go with everything, but it does. There is always some type of fish, vegetarian dish and brown colored meat, salad and pasta and it all taste ok at first…but you think about it later….not so good. But im surviving, I guess that’s the goal. Um breakfast is from 700 to 830 lunch is 1200 to 130 and dinner is from 530 to 800. It’s a rough life. I don’t eat anything after 6 everyday. Im starving. Its bad.
But more importantly….I saw a cod of DOLPHINS!!!!!!!!!!! Yes cod is the proper term, at first I said a herd of dolphins but I quickly got corrected by one of the professor’s seven year old daughter. It was soooo beautiful. There were about 11 of them and they were all jumping in the air and I was screaming like a lunatic. We saw land today for the first time in 4 days. There were these two random islands smack in the middle of the atlantic ocean. One was called Corzo and the other one right across it was called Flores. They were absolutely gorgeous and they were literally in between North America and Europe. Once we passed through them we were officially in European waters. The population of both islands combined was 400 people. I have no idea how they live there or what they eat or who they reproduce with but apparently it works. It was so surreal standing on a ship looking at these islands that were created by a volcano that was smoking as we sailed past it. There were no roads, no airport, a clump of houses near the coast. No telephone poles, no wires, nothing. We literally saw the entire island as we past it. Every side of it. People actually live there and I’m sure they are some of the happiest people in the world. When I tell you there was nothing there, I mean NOTHING. They were in the middle of the ocean!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The middle!!! How the f did they get there? It was so cool.
After all that excitement, I had a meeting…o let me tell you…somehow I am a program assistant on this damn ship. I applied for work study and got it and I thought that I would just be working in the library but noooo me and 7 other people are freakin program assistants. What that means is I am the assistant to one of the 8 living/learning coordinators on the ship who are basically our councelors/ra’s and I help them with whatever they need to do. But my boss is amazing and she lets me do what I want so I got to run my own meeting and do my own thing. Soooo I thought I was going to come here and just be a regular student doing regular things…but no…I ran my own meeting today for students interested in service learning which is a way they can combine what we learn here and do some type of community service in the countries we go to and on the ship… aaaaaand I kinda think I started my own student organization today lol I just cant get away from doing stuff like this!!! But I love it so whatever. Im actually tired and don’t really feel like writing any more so I think ill stop now. Ill be in spain in 3 more days and then the good stuff will really begin. FYI MY BIRTHDAY IS IN 4 DAYS SO I EXPECT SOME “HAPPY BIRTHDAYS” I ALSO ACCEPT GIFTS SO PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU NEED MY ADDRESS. THANK YOU. Oooo and if you love me please email me. It would really nice to hear from civilization. My email here is nscook@semesteratsea.net
Also, the sun didn’t set here until about 10 at night. It was amazing. I think I might sleep on the deck tonight and watch the sun rise from the water. Yeah that sounds nice. Goodnight/good morning world.
But more importantly….I saw a cod of DOLPHINS!!!!!!!!!!! Yes cod is the proper term, at first I said a herd of dolphins but I quickly got corrected by one of the professor’s seven year old daughter. It was soooo beautiful. There were about 11 of them and they were all jumping in the air and I was screaming like a lunatic. We saw land today for the first time in 4 days. There were these two random islands smack in the middle of the atlantic ocean. One was called Corzo and the other one right across it was called Flores. They were absolutely gorgeous and they were literally in between North America and Europe. Once we passed through them we were officially in European waters. The population of both islands combined was 400 people. I have no idea how they live there or what they eat or who they reproduce with but apparently it works. It was so surreal standing on a ship looking at these islands that were created by a volcano that was smoking as we sailed past it. There were no roads, no airport, a clump of houses near the coast. No telephone poles, no wires, nothing. We literally saw the entire island as we past it. Every side of it. People actually live there and I’m sure they are some of the happiest people in the world. When I tell you there was nothing there, I mean NOTHING. They were in the middle of the ocean!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The middle!!! How the f did they get there? It was so cool.
After all that excitement, I had a meeting…o let me tell you…somehow I am a program assistant on this damn ship. I applied for work study and got it and I thought that I would just be working in the library but noooo me and 7 other people are freakin program assistants. What that means is I am the assistant to one of the 8 living/learning coordinators on the ship who are basically our councelors/ra’s and I help them with whatever they need to do. But my boss is amazing and she lets me do what I want so I got to run my own meeting and do my own thing. Soooo I thought I was going to come here and just be a regular student doing regular things…but no…I ran my own meeting today for students interested in service learning which is a way they can combine what we learn here and do some type of community service in the countries we go to and on the ship… aaaaaand I kinda think I started my own student organization today lol I just cant get away from doing stuff like this!!! But I love it so whatever. Im actually tired and don’t really feel like writing any more so I think ill stop now. Ill be in spain in 3 more days and then the good stuff will really begin. FYI MY BIRTHDAY IS IN 4 DAYS SO I EXPECT SOME “HAPPY BIRTHDAYS” I ALSO ACCEPT GIFTS SO PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU NEED MY ADDRESS. THANK YOU. Oooo and if you love me please email me. It would really nice to hear from civilization. My email here is nscook@semesteratsea.net
Also, the sun didn’t set here until about 10 at night. It was amazing. I think I might sleep on the deck tonight and watch the sun rise from the water. Yeah that sounds nice. Goodnight/good morning world.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Im finaly on the ship...my new home
OK everyone!!! June 19th, 2009…1:30 my time…whatever time that is. Im listening to Kanye West Say You Will…The moment you have all been waiting for!!!! I am so sorry for the delay! Things have been quite crazy here in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean :) Ok Ill set the scene for everyone so they can picture my freakishly awesome life right now!! Its 1:30 in the morning here, but really 9:30 where most of you are. I am literally smack in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The last captain report said we are 1000 miles away from the nearest land mass and about 1000 miles away from Cadiz, Spain which is our first stop in this journey. Im stiiting in my little cute room with smaller than small beds, smaller than small tables, a smaller than small tv and smaller than small drawers for both me and Grace…Im actually looking at Grace right now…it’s a little weird. Anyway , this ship is so f-ing awesome!!! Words don’t really do it justice. There are seven decks. Each has something different on it. We have class all over the ship and in the most random places. I sit on the floor next to a piano in one class and then in a little tiny chair with 30 other people in another class and I couldn’t be happier about it. This is truly one of the most amazing things I have EVER done in my entire life and its only day 3. I have met so many incredible people from all over the country and I know that many of these people will be life long friends. Oh I almost forgot to tell you all…the ship is 77% female 23% male. WTF? 43% of the people are from Colorado, 23% are from California and the rest are from somewhere else…needless to say…the whole diversity factor I’m used to in uuuh EVERYDAY LIFE is noooooot here….but its cool. Im learning a lot of random stuff from these West coasters.
Anyway…we haven’t even gotten to a freakin country yet and I am loving this! The water literally rocks me to sleep every night. Its beautiful. Its amazingly beautiful. Some people have seen dolphins and whales following the ship...I havent seen any but Im patiently waiting. Thankfully, I have not gotten sea sick at all but there have been hundreds of people dying! Some chick threw up in the damn hallway. I was a little pissed about that but I just stepped over it and kept it moving….oook, I helped her out a little…then I kept it moving. Anyway, my classes are the sh*t, these teachers here are amazing! Temple needs to step their faculty game up in a serious way because these professors are on another level. I love you Temple but I have never been challenged like this before. OOOOh so youre allowed to drink on the ship here no matter what your age is right, so of course these 18 19 20 year old kids from freakin Kentucky and Kansas and the little ski towns of Colorado are getting it poooooooooooooooppin out here in the middle of the Atlantic. I went to one of the outside deck food areas around 2 in the morning yesterday to get some water and there was a full blown Maxi’s on a Thursday night or Draught Horse on a Wednesday or a Friday in Old City or a Sunday night in NYC going on! Mind you everyone on the ship has to take the same morning class at 8 am. I really feel like an old hag because I just looked at the foolishness and went inside… Im saving my recklessness for these foreign lands I’m about to divide and conquer..ok not so much divide and conquer, more like observe, participate, absorb and appreciate. Anyways…more to come. Im sory for the delay but I promise there will be more and more as the trip goes on.OMG MY F-ING GOODNESS I FORGOT TO TELL YALL! TELL ME WHY I ONLY HAVE 2 HOURS AND 5 MINUTES OF INTERNET TIME FOR THE ENTIRE TRIP! THATS ALL WE GET. NOTHING MORE NOTHING LESS AND IF WE WANT MORE WE HAVE TO BUY IT! Needless to say I will be using this internet time wisely so please dont curse me out if i dont update as requently as I would like too.
I love you all and I miss you all and I wish and pray that everyone can experience something as amazing as this at least once in their life. Shout out to Antonio lol..mind your business if you dont know who that is and you dont. Later.
Anyway…we haven’t even gotten to a freakin country yet and I am loving this! The water literally rocks me to sleep every night. Its beautiful. Its amazingly beautiful. Some people have seen dolphins and whales following the ship...I havent seen any but Im patiently waiting. Thankfully, I have not gotten sea sick at all but there have been hundreds of people dying! Some chick threw up in the damn hallway. I was a little pissed about that but I just stepped over it and kept it moving….oook, I helped her out a little…then I kept it moving. Anyway, my classes are the sh*t, these teachers here are amazing! Temple needs to step their faculty game up in a serious way because these professors are on another level. I love you Temple but I have never been challenged like this before. OOOOh so youre allowed to drink on the ship here no matter what your age is right, so of course these 18 19 20 year old kids from freakin Kentucky and Kansas and the little ski towns of Colorado are getting it poooooooooooooooppin out here in the middle of the Atlantic. I went to one of the outside deck food areas around 2 in the morning yesterday to get some water and there was a full blown Maxi’s on a Thursday night or Draught Horse on a Wednesday or a Friday in Old City or a Sunday night in NYC going on! Mind you everyone on the ship has to take the same morning class at 8 am. I really feel like an old hag because I just looked at the foolishness and went inside… Im saving my recklessness for these foreign lands I’m about to divide and conquer..ok not so much divide and conquer, more like observe, participate, absorb and appreciate. Anyways…more to come. Im sory for the delay but I promise there will be more and more as the trip goes on.OMG MY F-ING GOODNESS I FORGOT TO TELL YALL! TELL ME WHY I ONLY HAVE 2 HOURS AND 5 MINUTES OF INTERNET TIME FOR THE ENTIRE TRIP! THATS ALL WE GET. NOTHING MORE NOTHING LESS AND IF WE WANT MORE WE HAVE TO BUY IT! Needless to say I will be using this internet time wisely so please dont curse me out if i dont update as requently as I would like too.
I love you all and I miss you all and I wish and pray that everyone can experience something as amazing as this at least once in their life. Shout out to Antonio lol..mind your business if you dont know who that is and you dont. Later.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
May 7th...trying to get this blog thing going!
OK, I set up this blogging account so I can keep everyone updated with my life while I'm at Semester at Sea....so uuum...more to come!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
