06.30.09
Just because everyone keeps telling me to be safe…here’s a little something to calm your nerves.
I am always wearing my geeky travel money pouch when I leave the ship. This give the triple advantages that no one will steal my money, I haven’t been buying that much because I don’t want to get my money out from under my clothes, and all of my friends get a few laughs out of watching me almost flash all of Europe as I’m digging around under my clothes for the travel pouch when I do want to buy something.
I do not play on the ship’s railings…so therefore I will not fall into the ocean and subsequently drown. (Did you know that I would be sent home if I did this? They’re very intense with the rules here.)
I’m not drinking to excess and walking through unknown places at night like some of my ship mates. So there is very little chance that I will be robbed/abducted/anything else scary that could happen.
I have been using hand sanitizer religiously, they have automatic dispensers everywhere on the ship, so I have yet to contract a dishabilitating illness yet and do not plan on it.
I have been carrying my international phone with me at all times, and will use it in case of emergency. (Thanks Mom).
So don’t worry, I’m safe!
I signed up for the “Adopted Family” program on the ship so my “Shipboard” parents are Becky and Brad, a newly married couple from DC who are working as a learning coordinator and a tech guy, respectively. They’re super nice and I had dinner with them and my ship-brother and sisters tonight.
Tonight we are going through two islands at sunset: one French and one Italian, which are supposed to be very close together, so that will be really interesting to see. And tomorrow when I wake up we’ll be in Italy! I’m going to Rome for the three days that the ship is staying in Civitivecchia and then coming back to the ship to travel to Naples. I won’t have email access while I’m in Rome, so my next blog won’t be for a few days.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Funny flamenco picture...
06.29.09
So…I’m on the SAS blog.
http://sas-summer2009.blogspot.com/
It’s from my flamenco trip when the woman got me up there as a “volunteer” (yeah right, I don’t volunteer for public humiliation in front of a hundred of my fellow students, esp. dancing!). But it’s a pretty funny picture under “Spain in Review” or something of that sort.
So…I’m on the SAS blog.
http://sas-summer2009.blogspot.com/
It’s from my flamenco trip when the woman got me up there as a “volunteer” (yeah right, I don’t volunteer for public humiliation in front of a hundred of my fellow students, esp. dancing!). But it’s a pretty funny picture under “Spain in Review” or something of that sort.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Odds and Ends
06.28.09
Kate (my roomie) and I are finally realizing that we can stop trying to halt the inevitable flow our our belongings from attempted organization to our natural states of disorganized clutter. It's very nice, looking more and more like home everyday! We're putting maps up on our walls, along with pictures that we've picked up while traveling, by the end of the trip I'm going to be very attached to our room!
Tonight the Explorer Seminar I attended was for BeadforLife: a nonprofit organization that provides poor Ugandan women with an opportunity to lift their families out of poverty by making beaded jewelry out of recycled paper. The beaders are all women who are HIV+ or refugees and who can provide for their families and the orphans that they take care of with the money they get from their beading. The bracelets, necklaces, and earrings are all really gorgeous and the beaders receive fair trade prices for their jewelry. Also, any proceeds from sales go into programs that fight extreme poverty in health, housing, and education. It was really cool and I got a few of the bracelets...you guys should all go look at www.BeadforLife.org to see the video (? I think), pictures of the jewelry, and if you want to do even more good, you can host a bead party in your town or school...BeadforLife will send you a bunch jewelry for free and then you send back whatever money you get and leftover jewelry after it's done. :)
It's time for essays and tests, before Italy, and I'm also starting my intramural co-ed volleyball and soccer leagues! I don't know the guys on my teams...so that'll be interesting.
And I don't know if I've said anything about this before...but the ship's kitchen crew does these really cool sculptures out of the fruit leftovers (pineapples, watermelons, cantelopes...) after they've been cut up for us to eat. Usually they're flowers and the like, but today there was a sculpture of a puppy out of a melon!
Kate (my roomie) and I are finally realizing that we can stop trying to halt the inevitable flow our our belongings from attempted organization to our natural states of disorganized clutter. It's very nice, looking more and more like home everyday! We're putting maps up on our walls, along with pictures that we've picked up while traveling, by the end of the trip I'm going to be very attached to our room!
Tonight the Explorer Seminar I attended was for BeadforLife: a nonprofit organization that provides poor Ugandan women with an opportunity to lift their families out of poverty by making beaded jewelry out of recycled paper. The beaders are all women who are HIV+ or refugees and who can provide for their families and the orphans that they take care of with the money they get from their beading. The bracelets, necklaces, and earrings are all really gorgeous and the beaders receive fair trade prices for their jewelry. Also, any proceeds from sales go into programs that fight extreme poverty in health, housing, and education. It was really cool and I got a few of the bracelets...you guys should all go look at www.BeadforLife.org to see the video (? I think), pictures of the jewelry, and if you want to do even more good, you can host a bead party in your town or school...BeadforLife will send you a bunch jewelry for free and then you send back whatever money you get and leftover jewelry after it's done. :)
It's time for essays and tests, before Italy, and I'm also starting my intramural co-ed volleyball and soccer leagues! I don't know the guys on my teams...so that'll be interesting.
And I don't know if I've said anything about this before...but the ship's kitchen crew does these really cool sculptures out of the fruit leftovers (pineapples, watermelons, cantelopes...) after they've been cut up for us to eat. Usually they're flowers and the like, but today there was a sculpture of a puppy out of a melon!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Back on Dionysus Deck
06.27.09
On Friday I hiked in Grazalema National Park, about two hours from Cadiz. We traveled there along the White Town Route; the rural villages were all white-washed to repel the hot Mediterranean sunshine. There were clusters of white houses were alongs ridgetops, in the bottom of valleys, and along a reservoir underneath the palm trees. We passed fields of sunflowers; I guess it's a major crop here? Grazalema is one of the most famous natural parks in Andalucia. The town that took its name is in the valley beneath it and used to be known as cadiz el Chico (little Cadiz); it was the second largest "city" in Andalucia at one time. It was also the provider of all the blankets used in the Civil War by the Northern army; every one of the soldiers had one of Grazalema's famous water-repellant blankets. The park area actually receives the most rainfall in all of Spain, as opposed to the rest of Andalucia, which is known for being really dry. There used to be a forest of cork trees, which were then harvested for economic purposes and replaced with pine trees. It was weird hiking up the mountain at first--I didn't notice that I was underneath the same trees as I hike under back home for a while. And when I did, it was such a weird juxtaposition of the familiar pine trees and the unfamiliar rocky hillsides that for the whole hike I was intrigued. The park authorities are actually replacing the pines, a fire hazard with the needles, with oak trees, one by one. The tallest peaks of the mountains were 165,000 and 155,000 m (?, I think) high. We didn't go up to the top of either peak (we had a very wide range of abilities in the group...some people had never even been hiking before! and others were complaining about their legs hurting when I was a little irked with how many breaks we were taking). It was SO nice to be off of the ship and out of the city; we could see far off villages, but they blended in so naturally to the landscape that it was simply relaxing and invigorating to be up on the hillside. Our guide was from Germany but has lived in Spain for a very long time; he was really interesting. He was telling me all about being a raw food vegan for a long time, and raising his three girls like that until they had to go to start school in Spain and were laughed at by the cheese-loving Spainards so they had to change their eating habits. He also told me that most of the people who bought land in the area around Grazalema were outdoor-enthusiasts and the main activity in the area was hangliding and paragliding. Grazalema is also home of the Pinsap tree, a "living fossil" pine that is a survivor of the past ice ages. After our hike we went into the village of Grazalema for a bit and I was finally successful at ordering entirely in Spanish! (Peach nectar, yumm).
Today I spent most of the day on the beach with some of my girlfriends, taking in the sunshine, sketching some local architecture, and just enjoying being by the ocean. I had gone on a long run along the parks and beaches that lined the shoreline in the morning, so it felt really nice to just relax after all of the (very enjoyable) exercise and walking of the past few days. I spent the rest of the time before boarding the ship wandering through Cadiz's streets finding lunch in the small grocerias (fruit and cheese) and getting helado (mango and dark chocolate!) and then going to explore El Parque de Genoves (a relaxing botanical garden between the ship and the beach along the coast).
Italia in three days! Adios Espana!
On Friday I hiked in Grazalema National Park, about two hours from Cadiz. We traveled there along the White Town Route; the rural villages were all white-washed to repel the hot Mediterranean sunshine. There were clusters of white houses were alongs ridgetops, in the bottom of valleys, and along a reservoir underneath the palm trees. We passed fields of sunflowers; I guess it's a major crop here? Grazalema is one of the most famous natural parks in Andalucia. The town that took its name is in the valley beneath it and used to be known as cadiz el Chico (little Cadiz); it was the second largest "city" in Andalucia at one time. It was also the provider of all the blankets used in the Civil War by the Northern army; every one of the soldiers had one of Grazalema's famous water-repellant blankets. The park area actually receives the most rainfall in all of Spain, as opposed to the rest of Andalucia, which is known for being really dry. There used to be a forest of cork trees, which were then harvested for economic purposes and replaced with pine trees. It was weird hiking up the mountain at first--I didn't notice that I was underneath the same trees as I hike under back home for a while. And when I did, it was such a weird juxtaposition of the familiar pine trees and the unfamiliar rocky hillsides that for the whole hike I was intrigued. The park authorities are actually replacing the pines, a fire hazard with the needles, with oak trees, one by one. The tallest peaks of the mountains were 165,000 and 155,000 m (?, I think) high. We didn't go up to the top of either peak (we had a very wide range of abilities in the group...some people had never even been hiking before! and others were complaining about their legs hurting when I was a little irked with how many breaks we were taking). It was SO nice to be off of the ship and out of the city; we could see far off villages, but they blended in so naturally to the landscape that it was simply relaxing and invigorating to be up on the hillside. Our guide was from Germany but has lived in Spain for a very long time; he was really interesting. He was telling me all about being a raw food vegan for a long time, and raising his three girls like that until they had to go to start school in Spain and were laughed at by the cheese-loving Spainards so they had to change their eating habits. He also told me that most of the people who bought land in the area around Grazalema were outdoor-enthusiasts and the main activity in the area was hangliding and paragliding. Grazalema is also home of the Pinsap tree, a "living fossil" pine that is a survivor of the past ice ages. After our hike we went into the village of Grazalema for a bit and I was finally successful at ordering entirely in Spanish! (Peach nectar, yumm).
Today I spent most of the day on the beach with some of my girlfriends, taking in the sunshine, sketching some local architecture, and just enjoying being by the ocean. I had gone on a long run along the parks and beaches that lined the shoreline in the morning, so it felt really nice to just relax after all of the (very enjoyable) exercise and walking of the past few days. I spent the rest of the time before boarding the ship wandering through Cadiz's streets finding lunch in the small grocerias (fruit and cheese) and getting helado (mango and dark chocolate!) and then going to explore El Parque de Genoves (a relaxing botanical garden between the ship and the beach along the coast).
Italia in three days! Adios Espana!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Spain Days 1 and 2: Cadiz and Sevilla
06.25.09
Espana!
Qualifier: there are pictures of everything, I just have to get them from my friends cameras b/c my Canon is acting up.
We pulled into port early Wednesday morning. I tried to get up to watch the Spanish coastline appear, but of course I woke up too late :) I spent all of yesterday in Cadiz, the port town that we're docked in. It's very small for a city. In the morning I went on a beach walk for my physical oceanography class that we learned about the Coastal Landforms and Processes in Cadiz from a local geologist who has written many papers on the subject. It was very informative, and very hot. But I enjoyed standing on the boardwalk while we listened to the lecture and it was a good way to see the city a little bit right off the ship. In the afternoon I walked around with a large group of my friends and explored the city...we found a bunch of cute plazas and walked through countless narrow streets lined with apartments and shops. Most of the upper stories had balconies filled with flower pots. We went up into the tower of the cathedral and had an Amazing view of the city before we walked out along the Paseo Fernando Quinones to see up close the ancient fortress that used to guard the city. There were locals all over the rock sea wall that connected the shore to the fortress and also all over the beaches. Everyone here is so tan and lively, and at the same time you can tell that they're enjoying their day and just taking their time. And it's SO sunny here! I'm already getting tanner (even though I'm putting on SO much sunscreen and even wearing my very trendy (ha ha) red sunhat). In the evening I went to a flamenco show at a local place. The dancing was so intense; the sound of their heels was deafening at points and you could feel the passion for the dance when they were performing. At the end of the show they took "volunteers" from the audience...and they grabbed me out of my seat! (I had dressed in my silk flowing skirt from Haleiwa, as opposed to all the other American girls who were dressed super squarish) so I got to swirl my skirt, flick my hair and try to move hands in the odd way that the flamenco dancer was moving hers. I guess it was pretty funny. After the show ended we went out and had sangria with the nurse from our ship and the art professor...it was a very interesting night.
Today I went to Sevilla with three of my girlfriends. I passed out on the bus ride there, but not before I saw the fields of sunflowers that we were passing through! Sevilla was everything that I thought Spain would be...there were tangerines on the tangerine trees lining the streets, we pulled into the city through a promenade lined with palaces, palm trees were everywhere, the sun was shining brightly, the skies were a clear blue, all of the buildings were bright pastels and everything was alive! We saw the Catedral (basic catholic cathedral, pretty lame I thought, except for the stone carvings of Noah, the animals, the ark, and God (?). a before and after scene. that was pretty sweet.) but then we walked up to the top of the Giralda (the cathedral tower) and saw the WHOLE city view. there were domes covered in blue ceramic tiles, red top buildings, patches of palm trees, elaborately carved towers and rooftops, and swimming pools and laudry dotting the local rooftops. It was an amazing view. (and both only cost 2 euro total!) Then we went to the Real Alcazar (au gratis!)...it's this gorgeous palace that is a mixture of archaelogical styles. It was so peaceful from the moment we stepped through the gates. The tiles on the walls and floors were elaborate and the columns, walls and ceiling were really elaborately carved to look like scrollwork. I can't give it justice...I thought it had a lot Muslim influence, if that helps at all. There are pictures, you will see. then we went into the gardens...I could live there. Even though it was in the middle of the town you couldn't hear any urban noise...only the birds singing and water flowing. It was lined with tall walls covered in ivy and was so big that we couldn't ever find the end of it! There were peacocks, and rose gardens, hedges cut in elaborate shapes, tall trees (palm and deciduous), bright purple flowers on the end of stalks, dirt lined paths, fountains, statues...I could have stayed in there all day! Before we came back to Cadiz for the night we went to see the Plaza de Espana, a huge semicircular palace like place, it looked like they still used it but we couldn't figure out what for. They made the small pillars holding up all the railings from ceramics! Also the steps and parts of the walls. it was gorgeous. Today I tried: tortilla espaignola and queso manchego. The tortilla espaignola (a regional potatoe and egg tortilla0 was a bit greasy, I think it had more eggs in it than most do. The queso manchego was delicious! slightly nutty, a bit dry, and perfect with our jar of sangria! tomorrow I'm hiking in grazalema national park for the whole day...someone put their ticket in the free box, so I get to go on it au gratis!
My Spanish is allright. I can say pretty much whatever I want to, for the most part I don't understand people talking to me...but one of my new friends is fluent...so that's okay!
Espana!
Qualifier: there are pictures of everything, I just have to get them from my friends cameras b/c my Canon is acting up.
We pulled into port early Wednesday morning. I tried to get up to watch the Spanish coastline appear, but of course I woke up too late :) I spent all of yesterday in Cadiz, the port town that we're docked in. It's very small for a city. In the morning I went on a beach walk for my physical oceanography class that we learned about the Coastal Landforms and Processes in Cadiz from a local geologist who has written many papers on the subject. It was very informative, and very hot. But I enjoyed standing on the boardwalk while we listened to the lecture and it was a good way to see the city a little bit right off the ship. In the afternoon I walked around with a large group of my friends and explored the city...we found a bunch of cute plazas and walked through countless narrow streets lined with apartments and shops. Most of the upper stories had balconies filled with flower pots. We went up into the tower of the cathedral and had an Amazing view of the city before we walked out along the Paseo Fernando Quinones to see up close the ancient fortress that used to guard the city. There were locals all over the rock sea wall that connected the shore to the fortress and also all over the beaches. Everyone here is so tan and lively, and at the same time you can tell that they're enjoying their day and just taking their time. And it's SO sunny here! I'm already getting tanner (even though I'm putting on SO much sunscreen and even wearing my very trendy (ha ha) red sunhat). In the evening I went to a flamenco show at a local place. The dancing was so intense; the sound of their heels was deafening at points and you could feel the passion for the dance when they were performing. At the end of the show they took "volunteers" from the audience...and they grabbed me out of my seat! (I had dressed in my silk flowing skirt from Haleiwa, as opposed to all the other American girls who were dressed super squarish) so I got to swirl my skirt, flick my hair and try to move hands in the odd way that the flamenco dancer was moving hers. I guess it was pretty funny. After the show ended we went out and had sangria with the nurse from our ship and the art professor...it was a very interesting night.
Today I went to Sevilla with three of my girlfriends. I passed out on the bus ride there, but not before I saw the fields of sunflowers that we were passing through! Sevilla was everything that I thought Spain would be...there were tangerines on the tangerine trees lining the streets, we pulled into the city through a promenade lined with palaces, palm trees were everywhere, the sun was shining brightly, the skies were a clear blue, all of the buildings were bright pastels and everything was alive! We saw the Catedral (basic catholic cathedral, pretty lame I thought, except for the stone carvings of Noah, the animals, the ark, and God (?). a before and after scene. that was pretty sweet.) but then we walked up to the top of the Giralda (the cathedral tower) and saw the WHOLE city view. there were domes covered in blue ceramic tiles, red top buildings, patches of palm trees, elaborately carved towers and rooftops, and swimming pools and laudry dotting the local rooftops. It was an amazing view. (and both only cost 2 euro total!) Then we went to the Real Alcazar (au gratis!)...it's this gorgeous palace that is a mixture of archaelogical styles. It was so peaceful from the moment we stepped through the gates. The tiles on the walls and floors were elaborate and the columns, walls and ceiling were really elaborately carved to look like scrollwork. I can't give it justice...I thought it had a lot Muslim influence, if that helps at all. There are pictures, you will see. then we went into the gardens...I could live there. Even though it was in the middle of the town you couldn't hear any urban noise...only the birds singing and water flowing. It was lined with tall walls covered in ivy and was so big that we couldn't ever find the end of it! There were peacocks, and rose gardens, hedges cut in elaborate shapes, tall trees (palm and deciduous), bright purple flowers on the end of stalks, dirt lined paths, fountains, statues...I could have stayed in there all day! Before we came back to Cadiz for the night we went to see the Plaza de Espana, a huge semicircular palace like place, it looked like they still used it but we couldn't figure out what for. They made the small pillars holding up all the railings from ceramics! Also the steps and parts of the walls. it was gorgeous. Today I tried: tortilla espaignola and queso manchego. The tortilla espaignola (a regional potatoe and egg tortilla0 was a bit greasy, I think it had more eggs in it than most do. The queso manchego was delicious! slightly nutty, a bit dry, and perfect with our jar of sangria! tomorrow I'm hiking in grazalema national park for the whole day...someone put their ticket in the free box, so I get to go on it au gratis!
My Spanish is allright. I can say pretty much whatever I want to, for the most part I don't understand people talking to me...but one of my new friends is fluent...so that's okay!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Land Ho! (ha ha)
Tomorrow morning I’ll be in Spain! It’s highly unlikely that I will be awake and enjoying the beautiful view of Cadiz when the ship is pulling into port…I’m planning on being asleep in bed still, enjoying my first day of “sleeping in” (til 8) since I got on board. I finally finished my essays for my psych midterm tonight, and I’m ready to go to bed. Today before preport lecture we had a bellydancing class in the Union (front of the ship, huge lecture hall). It was really fun, and extremely interesting when people started trickling in for the required preport to find the entire front floor covered by girls learning to move like non-whites. I liked it. The weather was AMAZING today! The first really good day since Halifax…super warm, sunshine, and no major wavage. Yay for the end of motion sickness!
FYI: The average ocean depth on Earth is 12,000 feet deep.
The deepest known ocean depth is Marianna’s Trench at 35,000 feet deep.
FYI: The average ocean depth on Earth is 12,000 feet deep.
The deepest known ocean depth is Marianna’s Trench at 35,000 feet deep.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Passed land last night! Who knew that was there?
06.21.09 Not much going on at sea...went to all my classes today, read a bit while enjoying the fresh sea breeze from the Atlantic (ie. it was a bit cold outside, and my friends and I were some of the only ones out on deck), met a bunch of fellow Carribeaner's (my hall neighbors) at our get-to-know-each-other. I joined the community service club on board...we'll be working on making the service trips to the orphanages and children's hospitals better for the SAS'ers and the children. I have my test in Abnormal Psych due the day we get to Spain, so I started working on that. None of the activities have really started yet, so other than just hanging out I haven't done much :)
Saturday, June 20, 2009
School on a Saturday?
o6.20.09
The sea has calmed down! Today there was barely any rocking...it made it much easier to pay attention in class without the room tilting back and forth and all other directions imagineable. The clouds even cleared for most of the afternoon, I went outside on the back deck with my friends to read for class. Tonight I'm going to a meeting for a service group: it said that we'll get to help plan and organize the service trips that SAS offers. After that there's going to be a talk about Spain from one of the Spanish profs. Some of my friends are going to Sevilla when we're in Andulacia, so I may end up going there with them one day. I didn't really do much today besides classes...So sorry this is so boring, I promise it'll be more exciting when I get off this ship!
I saw 3 pods of dolphins today!
The sea has calmed down! Today there was barely any rocking...it made it much easier to pay attention in class without the room tilting back and forth and all other directions imagineable. The clouds even cleared for most of the afternoon, I went outside on the back deck with my friends to read for class. Tonight I'm going to a meeting for a service group: it said that we'll get to help plan and organize the service trips that SAS offers. After that there's going to be a talk about Spain from one of the Spanish profs. Some of my friends are going to Sevilla when we're in Andulacia, so I may end up going there with them one day. I didn't really do much today besides classes...So sorry this is so boring, I promise it'll be more exciting when I get off this ship!
I saw 3 pods of dolphins today!
Friday, June 19, 2009
From somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic
06/19I've found friends to go to Marrakech, Cairo, and Roma with me! And since Cadiz is only in a few days my friends and I have been planning what we're going to do each day...it's making me really excited! We had an "activities fair" for the voyage and I signed up to be in Students at Sea (a service organization) which will help organize the orphanage visits, to work with the children on the ship (I want to teach them how to play soccer!), and for IM sports volleyball and soccer. Those meetings start tomorrow...I hadn't realized but after this first week of classes then we only have about one day at sea between each port. So the profs are piling on the readings and hw and I have my first midterm in three days! But I got signed up for all the of field programs that I wanted to take, and my in-port assignments sound fun. For Physical oceanography I'm making wave observations and Beauford scale measurements. And part of that assignment is to take pictures of waves! ha ha. we keep on having to go an hour forward each night to stay with the time changes, so I'm REALLY tired and keep on having to go to bed earlier than I'd like to. But I keep on meeting new people and I love my classes so it's all good!
P.s. My PO prof said we went over the average deepest part of the Atlantic basin today!
P.s. My PO prof said we went over the average deepest part of the Atlantic basin today!
At sea- North Atlantic Ocean
06/18/09
It’s been crazy settling in on the ship. It seemed so large from the outside but, despite getting lost almost every where I go, it seems very small now that we are at sea with no land in sight. I got about 3 hours of sleep in Halifax on Monday night before boarding the ship on Tuesday morning. I was one of the first one because my name is towards the beginning of the alphabet, so I got to catch up on my sleep for a few hours before my roomie got here. I have an inside cabin towards the aft of the ship on the third floor. It’s not as small as I thought it would be and has a huge mirror on the wall opposite the door which opens it up a little. But it’s still a bit claustrophobic when I think about being in the middle and bottom of this ship. I’m sure I’ll get used to that.
There are 7 floors on the ship: 2,3 and 4 are sleeping levels with the hospital and random service areas also. Levels 5,6 and 7 have the dining areas, decks to bask in the (currently non-existent) sun, and the classrooms. There’s also a library, computer lab, spa, workout center (more on this in a bit), tiny swimming pool and multiple bars to get snacks and drinks from along with tons of lounges inside.
We had orientation yesterday so I got to get to know a few people in my small discussion group really well when we met for 2 hours in the morning to talk about Amartya Sen’s “Identity and Violence” book that discusses perceptions of people and culture worldwide, how we group people by religions and other classifications, and how we group ourselves. It’s a really good book and I recommend it to everyone! Our discussion group got a little into the discussion especially when we started talking about how to stop violence in the world and two of the guy were super vocal about how the only way the world will be a good place is if America stays in control as the leading world power with all the force and that if we lose that standing then the world is going to become a terrible place. It was hard for me to listen to people saying that along with some of their other views (such as a global economy being another critical way in which the violence will stop. I countered this with the local farmer who loses his life’s work when a huge company comes in with their genetically modified crops and offers a lower cost that the local people take because it’s a good deal. The guys said that this farmer could just go and work for the huge company. Sigh…I expressed concern at this, but didn’t want to get into an all-out brawl so steered conversation elsewhere). But I met a few really cool people in that group…one guy plays piano and can still play with a broken thumb; another plays soccer and snowboards; another is pursuing a PHD in kinesiology and was accepted to be a tumbler for Cirque d’ Solei (?) and Cirque d’ Mer when he was only 16!
I love my classes so far! I have Physical Oceanography every morning at 8 followed by Global Studies at 9:30 (I just stay in the same classroom and watch it on the TV b/c GS is held in the Union which is in the front (and very rocky) part of the ship. My PO class sounds really cool; I think I’ll learn lots of observational techniques and it will be interesting to see it applied directly to the areas we’re going through. My prof is this amazing, energetic guy who grew up surfing off the coast of California and as such uses only surfing pictures for example…he even talked for a while about surf photographers under the waves and how the motion of the waves permit this. Pretty sweet stuff. My GS prof is super into what he does, a history PHD, and is a bit flamboyant and very easy to pay attention to. At 13:35 I have Abnormal Psych taught by a prof who was born in England; he has a slight accent still.
It still is weird getting used to taking classes in a classroom that tilts all directions constantly during the lecture. And to having my PO prof looking out the window during the whole lecture when he’s talking about waves. I like it though.
My roomie is really chill. We’ve been hanging out a lot: you’d all love her! She’s from Connecticut, goes to Uconn, and is a Sociology major. She’s 22 and really friendly. Also…short and blonde….people think we’re sisters, ha ha.
The weather’s been kind of terrible since we’ve been on, but the sun’s out now, and for a while I felt allright, but then I got a headache so I put on a scop. Patch and I’ve felt fine since then! I’m planning on going out on the deck and lying on a chair and reading for my classes later this afternoon.
Probably the most interesting sea-experience I’ve had to far is running on the treadmill. It was fine for most of the time, but last night when it was very stormy outside (raining, biggish waves) and most people were sick, I was running on the treadmill and almost fell off a few times. I guess I’ll just have a very strong core body when I come back from trying to stand up straight all the time! When I’m walking down the hall it looks like everybody’s drunk b/c they’re staggering around every time a wave goes under the ship.
I spent the afternoon reading my text books for tomorrow’s classes, trying to catch all the sun I could while it was in between clouds.
That’s all for now from the middle of the Atlantic…miss you guys!
It’s been crazy settling in on the ship. It seemed so large from the outside but, despite getting lost almost every where I go, it seems very small now that we are at sea with no land in sight. I got about 3 hours of sleep in Halifax on Monday night before boarding the ship on Tuesday morning. I was one of the first one because my name is towards the beginning of the alphabet, so I got to catch up on my sleep for a few hours before my roomie got here. I have an inside cabin towards the aft of the ship on the third floor. It’s not as small as I thought it would be and has a huge mirror on the wall opposite the door which opens it up a little. But it’s still a bit claustrophobic when I think about being in the middle and bottom of this ship. I’m sure I’ll get used to that.
There are 7 floors on the ship: 2,3 and 4 are sleeping levels with the hospital and random service areas also. Levels 5,6 and 7 have the dining areas, decks to bask in the (currently non-existent) sun, and the classrooms. There’s also a library, computer lab, spa, workout center (more on this in a bit), tiny swimming pool and multiple bars to get snacks and drinks from along with tons of lounges inside.
We had orientation yesterday so I got to get to know a few people in my small discussion group really well when we met for 2 hours in the morning to talk about Amartya Sen’s “Identity and Violence” book that discusses perceptions of people and culture worldwide, how we group people by religions and other classifications, and how we group ourselves. It’s a really good book and I recommend it to everyone! Our discussion group got a little into the discussion especially when we started talking about how to stop violence in the world and two of the guy were super vocal about how the only way the world will be a good place is if America stays in control as the leading world power with all the force and that if we lose that standing then the world is going to become a terrible place. It was hard for me to listen to people saying that along with some of their other views (such as a global economy being another critical way in which the violence will stop. I countered this with the local farmer who loses his life’s work when a huge company comes in with their genetically modified crops and offers a lower cost that the local people take because it’s a good deal. The guys said that this farmer could just go and work for the huge company. Sigh…I expressed concern at this, but didn’t want to get into an all-out brawl so steered conversation elsewhere). But I met a few really cool people in that group…one guy plays piano and can still play with a broken thumb; another plays soccer and snowboards; another is pursuing a PHD in kinesiology and was accepted to be a tumbler for Cirque d’ Solei (?) and Cirque d’ Mer when he was only 16!
I love my classes so far! I have Physical Oceanography every morning at 8 followed by Global Studies at 9:30 (I just stay in the same classroom and watch it on the TV b/c GS is held in the Union which is in the front (and very rocky) part of the ship. My PO class sounds really cool; I think I’ll learn lots of observational techniques and it will be interesting to see it applied directly to the areas we’re going through. My prof is this amazing, energetic guy who grew up surfing off the coast of California and as such uses only surfing pictures for example…he even talked for a while about surf photographers under the waves and how the motion of the waves permit this. Pretty sweet stuff. My GS prof is super into what he does, a history PHD, and is a bit flamboyant and very easy to pay attention to. At 13:35 I have Abnormal Psych taught by a prof who was born in England; he has a slight accent still.
It still is weird getting used to taking classes in a classroom that tilts all directions constantly during the lecture. And to having my PO prof looking out the window during the whole lecture when he’s talking about waves. I like it though.
My roomie is really chill. We’ve been hanging out a lot: you’d all love her! She’s from Connecticut, goes to Uconn, and is a Sociology major. She’s 22 and really friendly. Also…short and blonde….people think we’re sisters, ha ha.
The weather’s been kind of terrible since we’ve been on, but the sun’s out now, and for a while I felt allright, but then I got a headache so I put on a scop. Patch and I’ve felt fine since then! I’m planning on going out on the deck and lying on a chair and reading for my classes later this afternoon.
Probably the most interesting sea-experience I’ve had to far is running on the treadmill. It was fine for most of the time, but last night when it was very stormy outside (raining, biggish waves) and most people were sick, I was running on the treadmill and almost fell off a few times. I guess I’ll just have a very strong core body when I come back from trying to stand up straight all the time! When I’m walking down the hall it looks like everybody’s drunk b/c they’re staggering around every time a wave goes under the ship.
I spent the afternoon reading my text books for tomorrow’s classes, trying to catch all the sun I could while it was in between clouds.
That’s all for now from the middle of the Atlantic…miss you guys!
Monday, June 15, 2009
Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada)
I already lost my camera lens cap (Don't worry Katelyn, I'll figure something out), realized I forgot about three other things, and got to my hotel a few hours late....but....my bags are here and I'm ready to board the ship tomorrow a.m. bright and early! Don't worry Mama, no one's tried to kidnap me yet :)
Sunday, June 14, 2009
1,2,3...Takeoff!
I'm leaving tomorrow for my Semester at Sea trip, studying for two months around the Mediterranean, harsh right? And I'll do my best to update this blog daily with pictures and stories of all my adventures...so if you want to check in on me over the summer, this is the place to do it! I'll have limited email/facebook time so I may not be able to write people back on those, so if I don't write you, I still love you! :)
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