Barcelona Days 3 & 4

Yesterday had a late start, as our group could not agree on what our plans were. After quite the period of deliberation, we headed out into the city. We walked along the sea, stopping for some ice cream, before we decided to explore the Gothic Quarter. The architecture was incredible. Walking around and looking at the buildings is one of my favorite parts of traveling. After the Gothic Quarter we happened to find this gorgeous park. It was honestly the most beautiful park I have ever been to. We relaxed in the shade, listening to the birds chirp and the swarm of children play. It was refreshing. Fortunately, the city of Barcelona had wifi in the park, so I was able to call my parents and talk to them. I miss them a lot. We stayed at the park for about an hour, and then went to the Picasso museum. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought the collection of Las Meninas paintings was so interesting It was an enormous collection of paintings all based off of one original painting. Very, very neat. We wandered back through the Gothic Quarter on our way back. I love seeing all of the narrow streets with the laundry hanging off all the balconies.

 

We returned to the ship for a siesta (which is absolutely necessary in Spain...I don't know how the Spanish maintain this lifestyle!), and I thought I was going to stay in for the night, but I got suckered into going out. My compromise to myself was that I was going to go out, eat some tapas, have a drink, and then come back early to sleep. Well, we got mojitos from an adorable, hole-in-the-wall restaurant, and instead of going home I got dragged to a bar. As we were leaving, we were approached by a promoter for this huge event that a lot of SASers were going to. It was the Kaskade concert (whom I had personally never heard of, but apparently he's somewhat of a techno god), and according to the promoter it was going to be, "the hottest party in Barcelona." I wanted to go home, but somehow I got peer pressured into going to the concert! This event was literally straight out of a movie. 3,500 people, techno, strobe lights, etc. It was ridiculous. I'm glad I went to experience Spanish nightlife with my friends, but that was enough clubbing for me for a while. We didn't get back until 5:30am!!!! I kept saying all night I didn't want to be out late, and we ended up being out SO late. Like I said, I had a fun time, but that kind of stuff isn't my priority for this trip. I want to experience the cultures, the history, the cities, not get drunk and go to clubs everynight like some people.

 

Today was our last day in Barcelona :( I spent it getting tapas for lunch (I had a pesto, mozzarella, and ham sandwich), followed by some shopping at these markets along the sea. I found a really cute silk dress for 19 euros. It is black and white and has sort of a paisley design to it. I was happy with my find. I had to hurry back to the ship to make it in time to my Doctors Without Borders lecture. It was very interesting. The lady was telling us about how they provide psychosocial support during humanitarian crises. She has served in countries all over the world, and it sounds absolutely fasicnating. They work with people that are faced with war, poverty, natural disasters, immigrants/emigrants/refugees, widespread diseases (like HIV-AIDS), etc. In theory I would love to be selfless enough to work for a program like that, but I honestly don't know that I could handle living in a tent in the middle of a third-world country. I have great admiration for the people who do programs like Doctors Without Borders.

 

Tonight we took our voyage picture with everybody out on the deck. I'll be a little speck somewhere in the picture. They played an actual movie (The Kids Are Alright) tonight in the Union, which I was watching on the TV in my cabin, but it cut out about 20 minutes in. I was super bummed because I would love nothing more than to just vege out and watch a movie right now. They rarely play movies on our TV's. It's usually documentaries looping for different classes, or even just blank channels.

 

We should be embarking from Barcelona anytime now. I'm sure we're waiting on a few people who missed dock time. I'm sad to be leaving Barcelona. I've had an incredible time here. It really is a beautiful city. I feel that there is still so much more I could have seen. I guess that means I'll just have to come back sometime, right? But for now, onto the next adventure: Adios Espana, Buon Giorno Italia!

Barcelona Day 2: Montserrat

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DADDY!!!!!! I hope you have had a great birthday, and that you did something fun!!!

 

Today's trip to Montserrat was outstanding. We got up early, running on little sleep, and took an hour long subway/train ride out to Montserrat. We accidentally got off a stop too soon, but it was rather fortunate because we walked through an adorable Spanish town and ate lunch at an equally adorable cafe. Once we finally got off at the correct stop, we then proceeded to take a skylift up the mountain! Imagine a ski lift (a closed in one you can stand in) going to the highest peak of an enormous mountain. The view was breathtaking. I am so glad we got to ride it. It took us about 5-10 minutes to reach the top and arrive at Montserrat. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Montserrat is a very old monastery way up on the top of the mountain. It is incredible. The thought that it was hand-built all the way up there blows my mind. We explored the grounds. There were a bunch of trails you could hike. They were all long and steep, and I left my inhaler on the ship, so I didn't want to risk it, but some of my friends went up them. We went inside the basilica, and it was beautiful. There was a corridor filled with candles. I bought one, and lit it for my Nana and my Uncle Art because I knew this was something they would have loved to see and been a part of. The whole place really was incredible. The view off the mountain was unparalleled. You could see for miles and miles, with a nice view of Barcelona in the distance. On the train ride home, I was talking to this nice family, and it turned out they were from Woodridge, which is close to Aurora! What a small world!

 

Once I got back to the ship, I knocked out. After about four hours of the deepest sleep I've had in a very long time, my friends and I got ready, and headed out to Las Ramblas. We found a nice local restaurant away from the tourist traps. They gave us a free glass of sparkling wine, and even though I don't like red wine, I thought it was very good. I ordered a sandwich, which was a steak burger with a fried egg, havarti cheese, bacon, and lettuce on it. It was absolutely delicious. The quality of the food in the Mediterranean is just something you can't find in America. I'm going to go broke on food alone. One of my roommates (Kendra), our friend (Caroline), and I broke away from the group and explored on our own. We walked through Las Ramblas and came across the plaza, where there is currently a protest being held. Spain is going through a terrible recession at the moment. Their unemployment rate makes the US's look like nothing. There are people camped out in the plaza, living in tents (some people have even built tree houses!), and having demonstrations. It was so interesting. I wish I could have understood what all their signs were saying, and what the man making a speech was saying, but it was all in Catalan.

 

Day 2 in Barcelona has been a success. I love it here. I love Europe so much. I'm still dealing with how surreal it is that I'm in Spain, I can't even comprehend at this point that this isn't it, that this is merely the beginning. This voyage has really just begun, and it has already changed me in the most profound ways. I am so fortunate.

Hola Espana!

I'm in Spain!!!!

 

Yesterday was quite an adventure! Once we were cleared and allowed to debark from the ship, my friends and I walked a LOOOOONG way through Las Ramblas (the main "touristy" area in Barcelona) looking for bicycles to rent to explore the city. We hopped on the subway and went to see Sagrada Familia, a phenomenal, intricately detailed, unfinished church 100 years in the making. It was incredible. It is still be constructed today. I have never seen more detail in a piece of architecture in my life. I can't wait to post pictures.

 

After visiting the Sagrada Familia, we went and got lunch at a local cafe. Tasty! While we were waiting for our food, I ran down the street to a Starbucks to pick up wifi so I could call my parents with Skype Mobile. It made me so happy! I was getting a little homesick not being able to talk to them at all. My friends finally found bikes to rent, but I had to leave early to be back on the ship for my field program. I took the subway back to Las Ramblas, and wandered around by myself for a little while. It was nice. I had some time to myself to take everything around me in and reflect on what it all means for me. I hopped on the shuttle and got back on the ship.

 

The field program I went on last night was the flamenco performance with dinner. PHENOMENAL. I had the best time. The food was delicious, and it just kept coming! First they started out with salad, followed by paella, then chicken and vegetables, and finally dessert. They served wine with the meal, and then a glass of champagne with dessert. The paella was amazing. So delicious! The dancing was incredible! It was so fast paced, so colorful, so impressive. They used the castanettes! These dancers were so talented. Great food and great dancing, what more could a girl want?

 

After the flamenco show we came back to the ship just as our friends were going out to dinner (they eat dinner after 10pm in Spain!!), so we tagged along, and ended up eating ANOTHER paella dinner! There was a huge group of us eating paella and drinking sangria outside by the sea. It was wonderful. We got back to the ship around 2:30am, and I crashed. It was a fabulous day in a fabulous city.

 

I just got back from a busy morning/afternoon. I really need to take a nap, so I don't crash and burn, but I will update later tonight about my adventure to Montserrat today! I am loving Spain!

Barcelona--Stay tuned!

I sat down to try to write my blog for the day (I've been very good about updating every single day!), but I am so exhausted that I can't even form words in my brain. I had an incredible day in the beautiful city of Barcelona. I will tell you all about it in the morning. It is 3am here in Spain, and my brain and my body are shutting down for the night. Stay tuned!

What a Wonderful Day

Today has been a GREAT day!

 

I got a 92 on my Global Studies exam!!!!! I am THRILLED! Most people got C's/B's, so I'm feeling really good. My adolesence exam wasn't too bad. There were a few questions I was a little confused about, but overall I think it went well too.

 

I got my claws out in Race, Class, and Gender today. Some girl said that she thought women should be paid less because they have to leave work to have kids. She also said that women should be paid less because men have riskier jobs, such as construction, while women are in education and nursing. I couldn't believe that came from a woman. It was really shocking to me. My hand immediately whipped into the air. I made my points that not all women plan to have children, men could also stay home with the baby, and that women work in construction and vice versa.

 

Tonight was the first Dancers Club meeting!!! It made me SO happy!! There were people who did all different kinds of dance, even some I had never heard of. We're going to be doing different types each meeting. I also found some girls who really like tap, and even though we don't have our tap shoes, we're going to get together and tap. I'm so so so excited!! I miss dance so incredibly much, more than I realized I did. Tonight I felt alive in a part of myself that I haven't in a very long time. I'm going to be sad when I get back to Aurora and there's nowhere for me to dance.

 

The sunset tonight was the most breath-taking sight. I have never seen anything like it in my life. It didn't seem real. It didn't seem like anything that beautiful could happen in real life. The sun was firey red, surrounded by a blur of plum and tangerine amidst the powder blue sky. The ocean was still, nothing but gentle ripples. It moved and looked like silk. Near the boat the water was a deep navy, but out in the distance it was this glowing icy light blue. The light of the sun reflected off of the water, making it sparkle. Stunning. Absolutely stunning. I will post a picture of it ASAP.

 

I know I talk about this all the time, but I seriously can not mention it enough. I love my roommates so much. We are all so different, and yet we are a perfect match. I know the three of us will be lifelong friends.

 

When I wake up in the morning I will be in Barcelona. That is so surreal. My friends and I have set up some plans, and I can't wait to start exploring! Watch out, Spain, here I come!

Bunkering in Gibraltar

I could not get to sleep last night. At around 4:30am I decided to wander around the ship and go out on the deck to get some fresh air. My roommates and I woke up at 7:45am because we were told that we'd be in Gibraltar at 8am, but that was not the case, so I woke up entirely too early for nothing. We got to Gibraltar around 3pm. It was really neat being able to see Spain and Africa on both sides of us. I got a bunch of pictures. We stopped to bunker, and the interesting thing is that we didn't go up to a dock or a port. We just stopped further out in the water, and then a boat came out to us to deliver the fuel. I didn't know that's how they did that. We are actually still in Gibraltar right now, but I think they are getting the engines roared up and the propellers going because the who ship is shaking. For the next 32 hours we will be sailing up and around Spain to reach Barcelona! It is so soon!!

 

I survived my Global Studies exam! It wasn't bad. There were 25 questions. I felt iffy on 6 of them, but after talking to other people it seems that I got some of those 6 right. There's only one question I know I got wrong for sure. I'm feeling good about it. I think I got at least a B. Hopefully we'll get it back tomorrow since it was a scantron. I have my Adolescence exam tomorrow, which I need to shift my focus to now. Tomorrow will have been our 8th day of classes in a row, but it will be the last day of class until July 9th because we will be in Spain and Italy (no class during port). There's only one day at sea between Spain and Italy, and I think we're having the Sea Olympics that day, so no class.

 

Tonight I went to the Social Activists at Sea meeting. It was great. We talked a lot about microaggressions, gender-biased language, common terms with offensive origins, etc. Words and phrases like..."hey guys"...or..."chairman"...or..."retarded"...or..."that's so gay"...or..."the rule of thumb"...did you know that the phrase "the rule of thumb" originates from back in the day when men were allowed to beat their wives with a stick as long as it wasn't wider than their thumb? I had no idea. Very interesting stuff. We're going to do a project similar to the "Spread the Word to End the Word" campaign against the word "retarded," but we're going to use a lot of words and phrases. I'm going to be making posters to hang around the ship. I'm excited.

 

After the meeting my friends and I got together to start planning our adventures in Spain. I can't wait.

 

I'm officially in the Mediterranean. It's beautiful. 32 hours until Barcelona. Life is good.

 

ps Daddy--they served Indian food for dinner tonight! It made me think of you. I miss you very much!

My Youtube Debut, Global Studies, and Gibraltar

My dad emailed me today and told me that he found me in a video SAS posted online! How funny! I have not seen it, as we don't have access to videos on the ship. Apparently I'm somewhere around 2:55. Hopefully I don't look too embarrassing. I tend to always get caught at the worst times. I'm going to try to watch it when I get to Spain. Here is the link if you want to check it out:

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/SemesteratSeaChannel?ytsession=Lbqus2NQgjSyx1j3hxR8ZY0LEUR-1UevhcD5u3gJ-dCM2j3g9MgYYYZ8WHbfhn7ei72NHnO4S-oo4YSis0b3vuZzBPPguKk-IX_svRW2JQYH0RC6_biHGYqBKJTuUVfIVfUD8aPgBnmpB8eZUPVrhsteLE_d34QiKOsjPG4Q9zdMGwzCNONaWyS7XydHEmLMwxfphE-WwgWXMOB2P0MpHODHl0ZT4WxrhOuekV2O5JUAfgkKf9KAB-FzHzRJGoCrtF64EYE2oEwkR1_eRDtsXevM0OhEeSf2Qekswu1mU6A#p/u/0/fYL8eT9WSeQ

 

(Sorry that is so long...I can't hyperlink it in an email, and I've been updating my blog through my free SAS email account)

 

Today was a good day. It was our first "family dinner" for our extended families. I had a great time. My family was so cute. We're going to be getting together periodically thoughout the voyage. I'm excited. My "grandma" is absolutely adorable. I am so excited that she lives in St. Charles, IL.

 

I've been studying for my Global Studies exam tomorrow. I'm less worried than I was before, but I tend to freak out about exams in general, so it'll be nice when it is over.

 

Exciting news! Tomorrow we are bunkering in Gibraltar!!! LAND!!!! Unfortunately, we are not allowed off the ship, but we will be stopping in Gibraltar to bunker (get fuel). The really neat thing is that the Straits of Gibraltar is only 8 miles wide, so we will clearly be able to see the Rock of Gibralter on one side of us and Africa on the other side!!! I can't wait to take pictures. I learned that the Rock of Gibralter is in "Spain", but it is British territory, so technically it is not in Spain afterall. I thought that was interesting! From what I understand, we will be arriving there around 8am tomorrow!

 

Tonight we are moving the clocks forward for the last time tonight! It will have been 6 consecutive days of losing an hour. I'm looking forward to finally being on a schedule and not feeling like a zombie everyday.

 

The ship has been extremely rocky today. At one point, I was laying in my bed, and the ship was swaying so much that my drawers were opening and closing!

 

I need to get back to studying and then get to sleep. I have to get up nice and early for the bunkering and to study some more!

Stress and Exhaustion

Stress and exhaustion are hitting me full force. We have been having 23 hour days for the past four days, and we still have two more hours to lose. We also have our first exam for Global Studies (the class everybody takes) on C7, in two days. It's crazy to think that we're having our first of three exams in the class after six days of classes. It's a ton of material. I have that on C7, my Adolescence exam on C8, and I just submitted a paper tonight. Work has also been really hectic because I was in charge of assigning 300 students and 55 Lifelong Learners/Faculty/Staff/Graduate Students into families for the extended families program. It took a long time, and things had to be constantly changed around. It's done now, which is nice. We have a family dinner tomorrow night with our new families. I'm excited. It's cute. I'm also dealing with the stress of trying to figure out my plans for Spain and Italy because we'll be in Spain in four days, and then we only have one day at sea between Spain and Italy. It's going to be a whirlwind. I can't wait.

 

My Global Studies professor held a review session tonight, which was nice. It definitely helped calm me down about the upcoming exam. I was envisioning something much worse. I don't know how to study for history, so hopefully I'm able to make it work. We went over some of the facts we learned about the ship (because they will be on the test), and I thought these were pretty cool: The ship is 600 feet long, and between students, faculty/staff, family members, and the crew there are over 1,000 people on board! Isn't that crazy?? I live on a ship with 1,000 other people! Insane. Also, the ship is registered in the Bahamas, so it is considered Bahamian territory, and on board we are under Bahamian law, the law of whatever port we are in (if we are in port), and the International Maritime Law. I thought that was pretty interesting too.

 

Today we passed by Azores, which is an island in the Atlantic owned by Portugal. I'm lucky because I just happened to look out my window right when we passed by. This was the first sight of land we've had since we left the Bahamas. Apparently other people saw dolphins and sea turtles too. I'm so jealous! I missed them. I'm pretty sure there was a volcano on Azores, but it was kind of hard to tell.

 

I signed up for a bunch of clubs and organizations. I'm really excited for the dancers group. The first meeting is on C7 (Sunday). I miss dance so much. I can't wait to let loose and move.

 

I seriously have the best roommates ever. I REALLY lucked out, especially with having three of us in this tiny cabin. I love coming back to the cabin after a long day (the days here seem to go FOREVER), and just being able to unwind, chat, and laugh with them. It's one of my favorite parts of the day. Surprisingly, it's 11pm and neither of them are back yet, but that's ok. I like having my alone time at night too. I think I'm going to try to go to bed now, and attempt at catching up on some sleep.Nighty Night world.

Field Programs/Practicum

Well, we did not win the Amazing Race...not even close, but it's ok. We had fun. They had us going all over the ship solving fancy puzzles and riddles. It was pretty intense.

 

I got my finalized list of field programs/practicum. I'm very excited! Here is the list:

 

Barcelona:

Flamenco at Night with Dinner

Doctors Without Borders: Mental Health Lecture

 

Civitavecchia:

Service Visit: Repubblica Dei Ragazzi

 

Naples:

Pompeii

Capri and Anacapri Day Trip

 

Dubrovnik:

City Orientation--City Walls

Montenegro Overnight

 

Piraeus:

Sights of Athens and Acropolis

Athens Pride: Gay Advocacy in Greece Lecture

 

Varna:

Salt Lakes of Bourgas, Healing Mud, and Nessebar

 

Istanbul:

Palaces of Istanbul and Asiatic Side

Virginity Testing and Hymen Reconstruction Lecture

 

Casablanca:

Rabat Half Day Trip

Mental Health Issues in Morocco Lecture

 

I had to cancel my service trip to the place for people with autism because they changed the date of one of my other ones, and it caused me to be double booked. They also canceled my trek through the Vulci Nature Park trip. I was looking forward to both of those, but it's ok because I have a pretty great schedule. I have to go to the lectures for my classes, but I think they all sound extremely interesting. I'm very excited to get to do all of these trips/lectures, and also travel independently as well.

 

Countdown to Barcelona: 5 Days.

 

This morning I got up, put my swim suit and my sunscreen on, was all ready to go lay out before class (what a weird concept), got outside and it was CLOUDY. The one day I finally decided to do this! The deck was empty. Usually it's packed and sunny. My mission to get a tan is not going so well. It rained today, and rumor has it we're supposed to hit a storm tonight. We'll see how this goes...

Another Day on the Ship (C3)

(C3 is SAS's way of saying Class Day #3, which is today)

 

I had a great night with my roommates last night. They're names are Kendra and Amanda, and they are so much fun. We stayed up talking, laughing, telling stories, and watching the waves out our window until 3am (the clock went forward an hour). The waves were so big and the ship was rocking so much, that we decided to make a middle of the night adventure up to the deck to see the waves in action. It was pretty crazy. Laying in my bed I felt like I was going to flip over. The motions of the waves gave me a dream that I was being sucked up in a tornado last night. From what I've heard, a lot of people had very wild dreams too. I think it's interesting how the waves can do that.

 

I'm really glad that I'm taking Adolescence through Semester at Sea. All of the classes incorporate a global perspective into the material, and this is a class in particular where it is so neat to have that. Today we were talking about the definition of becoming an "adult," and what that means in different cultures and countries. We also talked about physical development and how even that differs among countries. It's nice to have a view into what others go through around the world, and how different it is from being an American. Race, Class, and Gender has become my favorite class. It's so interesting, and the teachers always start the class off with an interesting activity to connect to what we're talking about. Today they put 9 dots on the board (3 rows of 3), and asked us to connect them all without picking up the pen, only drawing four lines, and and only crossing a line once. The trick to this was that you couldn't stick to the confines of the "box," you had to go outside of it to make the lines. This clearly translates to thinking outside the box. We watched a video called, "What's Race Got to Do With It?" It's about students at Berkeley (my dream school...) in a class about race, getting into some deep topics. It was very interesting.

 

Tonight there is a presentation from an interport student from Barcelona about dining in Barcelona! I'm very excited! I can't wait to get some real Spanish food!!

 

We have a program called "Passport to LeaderSHIP," where you can go to a series of programs, and get stamps in your "passport." If you get one from each category, you'll get a gold seal on your diploma and an ice cream social/pizza party at the end. Sounds fun to me. The one I'm going to tonight is about Personality Types. I'm sure it will be a modified Myers-Briggs, and I already know that I'm an ENFJ (if I'm remembering correctly), but I still think it will be interesting.

 

The SAS Amazing Race is tomorrow! My friends and I signed up as a team. I'm not entirely sure what they will be having us do, but the winning team gets to be the first people off the ship in Spain! Wish us luck!

 

I've met even more people from Cincinnati on the ship. It's kind of blowing my mind. I love it. I've met a couple people from Illinois, but not very many.

 

Time to go to my personality program!

Lots of Waves Today

The boat is really rocking today. I feel like I am on a rollercoaster. I was just watching the waves out the window in my room, and they're a lot bigger than they have been the past few days.

 

According to the map on my TV, we are currently at Lat. 35 deg 13.28N Long. 49 deg 7.65W, if you'd like to look that up on a map. We've traveled almost 1400 nautical miles. Seven more days until Barcelona!

 

I worked for about 2 hours today, assigning all of the extended families. I was fortunate that I got this as part of my work-study job, because I was able to put myself in the family with the lady from St. Charles, IL. I am SO excited. Her name is Dottie, and she is absolutely adorable. I can't wait to have my new "grandma."

 

Classes were good today. In Race, Class, and Gender they started the class by giving us a small piece of paper with a sentence on it. We had to circle all of the 'F's we found in the sentence. There were 6 total, but a lot of people missed 3 of them because they skipped right over the 'F' in the word "of," which appeared 3 times in the sentence. The purpose of this exercise was to show how we miss things in our lives. The 'F' in "of" is not as prominent as it is in other words, much like minorities in our society. This was then connected to how we miss things with gender (ex women not being called on in class), race (ex there not being darker "flesh colored" bandaids for those with darker skin), class (ex not noticing the name on the nametags of bus boys in the dining hall), and sexuality (ex not having a public restroom for those who don't identify as male or female). I thought it was a neat segue into an interesting topic. In Global Studies, there was a guest lecture from another professor about archaeology. It was very interesting. It was frustrating though because I got to class late (I only have 5 min between Adolescence and Global Studies), so I ended up finding a random seat toward the back. I was trying to pay attention and take notes, and everybody around me was talking and passing a game around. It made it really hard for me to concentrate. I suppose I found the downside of the lecture hall.

 

I have about a million pages of reading to do tonight, and all I want to do is go to sleep...not to mention we're losing an hour again tonight! This whole changing the clocks every other day thing is really difficult! Off to read I go...

Tired

Today is kind of a rough morning. I am not feeling well. My stomach is upset, and I'm just exhausted. I am feeling the stress of school as well. I was assigned 60 pages of reading yesterday to do for today (and that's just for two of my classes! I was lucky and didn't get any homework in one of them). This program is going to be a lot of work. Don't be fooled by the fact that I'm traveling on a ship, I've got some rigorous school work ahead of me.

 

I just went and signed up for the field program trips for Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Morocco. I signed up for eight (two in each country), and I know I will for sure get four of them, as they have no maximums. The others I will be put into a lottery for, so we'll see if I get any of them. I really hope I do. I was very lucky with the lotteries the first time around for Spain, Italy, and Croatia. Once I know for sure which ones I will actually be going on, I will write about them.

 

I think I am going to try to go take a nap. I have to work at 11, and then my first class is at 12:15. I hope my stomach feels better. I have a long day ahead of me.

I Survived the Bermuda Triangle!

First and foremost, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, DADDY!!!! I wish I was there to celebrate with you, and hope you have a wonderful day! I love you and miss you!

 

We were told that we officially passed through the Bermuda triangle today! We survived! Woo-hoo!

 

Classes started today! I had a great day! Here is a rundown of how they went:

 

Adolescence:

This seems like it is going to be a great class! My professor started off the class by having us each introduce ourselves and tell something stupid we did as an adolescent that was really memorable! She seems like a great professor, and I think the class will be a lot of fun. I'm excited about the material we are coving.

 

Global Studies:

I survived my first lecture hall experience! It was interesting! The concept of having to watch my professor on a TV screen is a little baffling, but it wasn't too bad! For our common reading we read a book called Triumph of the City, which was basically an entire book explaining why cities are the greatest thing in humanity. Today in class, we discussed how the MV Explorer/Semester at Sea community in itself is a "city." It was interesting. I learned a lot about the ship's efforts to be green and how we are a self-sustaining community. I was thoroughly impressed, to be honest. Some examples of the ship's green initiative are the towel reuse program (the stewards will take your towels to be washed if you put them on the floor, you can leave them on the hooks to reuse them, thus saving water consumption), there are no food trays in the dining halls (saving water consumption because they don't have to be washed), most of the materials for the classes are online (saving paper), etc. It's really great. It's a big deal on board.

 

Race, Class, and Gender:

I am SO excited about this class! There is a main professor and then a TA. The professor is white, and the TA is black. To introduce themselves, they had 16 facts on the projector, and asked us to write down which one we thought the facts were about. I caught on pretty quickly to what they were doing--not only were they introducing themselves, but they were showing how affective racial stereotypes are. It was a neat way of starting the class. This class seems like it is going to hit some pretty intense topics, and I am incredibly excited about it. I'm very into social justice issues.

 

I found out yet ANOTHER responsibility I will be getting for my work-study job! We have on board an "extended families" program, where the students can form families with the Lifelong Learners (the retired adults on the voyage) and the dependent children of the workers on the voyage. I get to help set up and run this program!! I'm so excited! I already was planning on participating in the program, because I'd love to have a grandparent figure in my life (I have no living grandparents). There is a Lifelong Learner in particular that I would love to be my "grandma" because she lives in St. Charles, IL (about 20 min from Aurora!), and if we became really close, it would be so much fun to have a "grandma" to go visit while I'm at school at home! I'm very excited that I got the opportunity to be involved with this for work-study. I feel so priviledged to be a work-study student. Only about 25% of people that applied for a work-study job received one. I am so fortunate.

 

I have met SO many people from Cincinnati!!! It is so exciting! I have come across at least over 10 others. In fact, there are a couple girls from Sycamore who are good friends with some of my friends from The Studio! I thought that was so cool!

 

Tonight is the involvement symposium! I can't wait! I am going to sign up for clubs and other programs on board. I love being involved. Before then, I need to get a jump start on my homework! I don't have too much compared to other people, but we have all of our classes everyday, so I have to get it done tonight.

 

I still can't fully comprehend the fact that I'm on a ship in the middle of the ocean. The swaying of the ship is calming (especially when I'm sleeping), but it is very disorienting when trying to walk. Everyone looks so silly when they are walking in zig-zags because the ship is moving. I have yet to fall, so I feel that is an accomplishment.

 

The campus store opened today, and bought a t-shirt that says "Summer 2011 Voyage" on the front with all the flags and names of the countries we are visiting, and then is says "Semester at Sea" along the sleeve. I also got an SAS blanket! It is so comfy! It's grey and sweatshirt material, and it says, "Semester at Sea" with the logo on it. I can't wait to use it in my dorm room at school!

 

I love it here. I feel that I have so many opportunities ahead of me. I can already feel myself changing and my mind opening. I am so lucky.

I'm at Sea!

Well, I am officially at sea! We are currently in the middle of the Atlantic! It is so unbelievably blue, like a deep royal blue. It's beautiful. We set sail yesterday evening. It was such a profound moment. There were parents, locals, and vacationers lining the docks, waving and cheering. The boat blew it's horn, and everyone lining the docks shouted a simultaneous, "Bon Voyage!" The students were all lining the decks, waving back to everyone in the Bahamas. As I felt the ship begin to pull away from the dock, and looked at the sea of people cheering us on, I became so overwhelmed with emotion. Tears started streaming down my face. This is real. This is actually happening. I'm setting sail on the adventure of a lifetime. Semester at Sea has been my dream for so long, and I truly can't believe it is actually happening.

 

Today has been full of orientation. We have been going since 9am, and won't be finished until 9pm. I had really bad motion sickness this morning, so I went to the medical center to get the free motion sickness medicine they have. Unfortunately, it made me SO sleepy (worse than Benadryl!). I literally could not keep my eyes open. I felt so bad, but I kept falling asleep during the orientation meetings! I wish I was able to upload pictures on the ship because my friend took a picture of me and the two people sitting next to me all three knocked out during one of the presentations. It is a hilarious picture. We have a break right now, but in 20 minutes we are meeting in discussion groups to discuss the common reading we did for our Global Studies class.

 

I found out another really neat responsibility I will be getting for my work-study job! On board, we have what are called "interport students." They are students from each of the countries we are visiting, and they are each only on small legs of the voyage. They're going to teach us about their countries and their cultures. My job is to be the student liason for the interport students! I get to meet with them, show them around, get them used to the ship, etc. I'm so excited! I think it will be really fun!

 

As we travel across the Atlantic, we are setting our clocks forward. Tonight we lose an hour. Classes also start tomorrow. We will have 8 straight days of classes (all 3 classes everyday), and then we will reach Barcelona! I'm excited to start classes. I'm really looking forward to the two I selected, and I think my Global Studies class will really prepare me for the countries we are visiting and give me ideas about what to visit.

 

I have to go to my book discussion now, but I will try to update some more later!

Boarded

I boarded the ship today, and lucked out with a Deck 4 room with a pretty big port hole! We had a meeting for the work-study students. I was told that I was going to be the assistant to the Outreach Coordinator, but ironically there is not an outreach coordinator on my voyage! I'm not entirely sure what my new job title is, but I am helping with their Global Ambassadors program as well as other projects that need help. I've made some friends, and I'm having a great time. I bought a really cool necklace as my Bahamas souvenir. Tomorrow we are working the regular student boarding, and then we set sail! It will take ten days to arrive in Barcelona. I won't have wifi, but I do have a free email account, which I can use to update this blog. Unfortunately, I will only be able to upload pictures while in port. Semester at Sea has it blocked because it eats up too much bandwith. If you would like to email me, the address is awevans@semesteratsea.net

(The MV Explorer)

Boarding the Ship Today!

I am leaving very shortly to walk to the port to board the MV Explorer!!! I am boarding a day early for work-study. We have a meeting tonight, and then we will be helping with the regular student boarding tomorrow! I am thinking they will let us off the ship tonight after our meeting, so I will have a little more time to explore the beautiful Bahamas.

I spent all day at the beach yesterday, and oh boy did I get sunburnt! I kept putting sunscreen on too! Day 1 of "Alissa's Mission to Actually Get a Tan This Summer" was not so successful. But just you wait, I will master the art of tanning, and come back a nice golden-brown!

We went to dinner at Senor Frogs, which is a CRAZY Mexican restaurant. They had a game of Name That Tune going, where if you knew the tune you had to run across the restaurant to tell the guy. Later the MC had 5 guys standing up on the bar doing a dance off! It was so funny! Dinner concluded with an enormous congo line throughout the restaurant with waiters pouring alcohol into people's mouths! It was insanity...I had never seen a restaurant like that before, and I definitely didn't have any idea what I was getting into when I entered the restaurant. I got tacos, and they were DELICIOUS! It was definitely an interesting experience. After dinner, we headed to the biggest resort on Nassau, Atlantis, to check it out. It was pretty spectacular. We walked and walked and walked through this hotel, and it never ended! There was a giant casino, the world's largest aquarium, stores, restaurants, etc. It was beautiful.

Well, it is time for me to head to the ship!! This is real! It's happening!!!

(Bahamas--first stamp of the trip!)

Hello from the Bahamas!

I have arrived! I have not slept in over 30 hours, but I am in the Bahamas, wide awake and running on adrenaline! It is GORGEOUS here! I do not have much time to post, as I am about to run out the door to go to dinner, but here are some quick fun facts I have discovered:

1. Gas prices are $5.56!!! (Their money is equivalent to USD!!!)
2. They drive on the left side of the road, but they have the same cars we do (unlike in England).
3. The public buses are like extended minivans. When you want to get off the bus, you have to yell, "BUS STOP PLEASE!" Then he lets you off at the side of the road, and you pay when you get off, not when you get on!
4. Nassau is only 21 x 7 miles!

That's it for now! Hopefully I will update later tonight after dinner with a real post.

(This is where I spent my day today!)

Packing Madness

The time is quickly ticking away, and I am in the midst of the madness that is packing. There is stuff sprawled all over my living room, my bedroom, and various other areas of the house. It's everywhere! It is so stressful! I'm trying to remember to include everything I will need for the next 2.5 months, but at the same time I'm trying to cut what I think I need in half. I will only have a limited amount of space in my room, not to mention I'm sure I will end up coming home with twice as much stuff as I left with. I've packed all of my toiletries and misc. items, textbooks, electronics, and important documents. Mostly all I have left to tackle is clothing...which, unfortunately, is the scariest part of all! I can do it though.

(just the essentials)

I think my dad and I are going to get food from our favorite restaurant, Ambar India, as a final father-daughter hoorah before I leave. I'm pretty excited. Some of my best friends are coming over to say goodbye later this afternoon, and then I am heading out to Dayton tonight! This is all happening so fast!

I have to get back to packing, but I will update again once I'm in the Bahamas!!!

First Post!

I finally set up my Semester at Sea blog! For those of you who are not aware of what I am doing this summer, make sure to check out this website. I will be studying abroad through a program called Semester at Sea. I will be spending my summer on a ship that travels from the Bahamas, all throughout the Mediterranean, and then back into Boston. I am leaving in a couple days, and won't return until a few days before school starts back in the fall! Because I will only have very limited contact with everyone back in the States, I have set up this blog as a way for everyone to stay up to date on my adventures around the world! I would love for you guys to leave me comments as I begin posting about my experiences--it would be nice to hear from everybody back home!

Participating in Semester at Sea has been a dream of mine since I was 16 years old. I am still in disbelief that I have managed to make this become a reality. It truly is a dream come true, and I couldn't be more appreciative. With that being said, there are several people that I feel it is important to acknowledge and thank. The Aurora University community has been nothing but helpful in making this happen for me. Thank you, Heather McKane, Dianne Zmolek, and everybody else in financial aid, for doing everything you could to make sure I was eligible for and received as much financial aid as possible for this summer. Thank you, Ellen Goldberg, for going out of your way to make sure this experience could happen for me. Thank you, Dr. Franiuk, for taking the time to help me with my scholarship application essays. I was told that I received one of the largest packages of aid they awarded to any student, and I also received one of a handful of work-study positions. Thank you, Al Benson, for taking an interest in my story and writing an article about me. I look forward to seeing the finished result. Thank you to everybody else in my life, my professors, friends, family, bosses, co-workers, etc., for supporting me in my dream of participating in Semester at Sea, and for being there for me during the long and sometimes discouraging road to making this become a reality. It's finally here!

It is impossible to believe that I will be leaving so soon! My friend Christine is driving me up to Dayton Tuesday night, and then I will be flying from Dayton to Nassau, Bahamas at 5:30am! It's going to be an early morning! I will get to spend all of Wednesday and part of Thursday exploring and relaxing in Nassau before I board the MV Explorer (Semester at Sea's ship) Thursday afternoon. As a work-study student, I have to board the ship a day early to go through some training. The work-study students will also help run the regular boarding process for all of the other students on Friday. That evening, once all of the students have boarded, we will embark and set sail for a full week at sea on our way to our first destination--Barcelona, Spain!

(This is the resort I am staying at in Nassau!)

(The MV Explorer, my home for the next 9 weeks!)

I will be taking 3 classes this summer. The first is the required seminar, Global Studies: Art in the Mediterranean. I think it should be interesting. It is different from anything I would have chosen to take, but I think I will definitely get a lot out of it. The other interesting thing about this class is that it will be a lecture hall with 400 people! I have never had a class with more than 30 at AU, so it will definitely push me out of my comfort zone a little, and be a new experience! I will let you know what I think of being in a class of 400! The second class I'm taking is Psychosocial Development of Adolescents. This is the class I'm most excited about (go figure). My third class is Race, Class, and Gender. I'm pretty excited about this one too. Both of these classes have just 30 students. I'm looking forward to learning in a new environment, gaining new perspectives, and experiencing things I never would have imagined.

This summer is going to be the greatest experience of my life. I am certain that it will change me forever. I look forward to sharing it with you!