The Fourth City: Dubrovnik—How I love thee!

            So before I get to my new favorite place in the world, I would like to share a ship event. As you may have noticed, we spent the 4^th of July, not in the USA. Needless to say, there was no pomp and circumstance, no fireworks, no bbqs. I spent the 4^th in Sorrento and while it was nice, not like spending the 4^th at home in the USA. Plus July 4^th is my mom’s birthday and she usually insists that we have bbq in honor of her birth (and the country’s independence J). The ship crew is so amazing; they served bbq on July 5^th on the night we all got back on the ship. The bbq started at 530pm, people started lining up at 4. It is so funny how meaningful the reminders of home can be when you are far away…

            Another interesting thing I forgot to mention in the last post, we ran into a group of black women in Sorrento. They were in Italy on a college trip. They were so excited to see other black people that one of the girls hugged Chela. Unsolicited and unannounced she embraced a perfect stranger. It was amusing but also understandable. As you traveled through Italy, there were very few black faces. Now don’t get me wrong these countries have deep-seated racism and xenophobia but many of the divisions are between ethnic groups. So to most outsiders, it looks like one white group hating another white group. The differences between the various ethnic communities are not as physically visible as the white black dichotomy that exists in our country. I think I wrote in a previous post that many of the faces, which look like mine, belong to African immigrants. Countries in Europe, like the USA has seen an increase in immigration from neighbors to the South. Much of this is due to economic opportunities and the fact that the European labor force cannot sustain itself. However unlike the US, many of these countries have had a homogenous population for centuries. They are not used to dealing with issues of difference in their public policies. So imagine every ugly thing that you have heard about immigrants in the US, then double it and you have the situation in many European countries. To aggravate matters more interesting, many of these immigrant groups do not have access to rights that we take for granted in the US. For instance, we met a young woman in Greece, she was born and raised in Greece, did all her schooling in Greece and by most cultural and societal standards is Greek. Except her parents were born in Sierra Leone. She does not hold a Greek passport and is not entitled to the full rights of a Greek citizen. It gives you pause…but I digress this post is about Dubrovnik…one final word: As a person of color wandering about these countries, I am always on heightened awareness. Whether or not it is warranted I don’t know but when you see so few people who look like you, it makes you wonder…ok, DUBROVNIK!

            I had ZERO expectations about Croatia. When I saw it on the itinerary, I thought, oh that should be an interesting rest stop as we navigate to the more interesting ports of Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Morocco. Boy was I wrong! We arrived in port at night, so I could not take in the city. When the sun rose, I took it all in and was more than amazing. Dubrovnik is beautiful, gorgeous, amazing, paradise-like.  I cannot come up with enough words to describe it. The water was the purest blue, the sky gorgeous and I sat in awe of its beauty. Several times during my time in this port, I just had to stop and reflect on the beauty that surrounded me. I don’t think my picture does it justice. Particularly after leaving the dirty, busy, bustle of Naples, Dubrovnik was like a breath of fresh air. Our interport student called it the Pearl of the Adriatic and she was not lying. Ok, enough superlatives!

            The first day in port, I set off by myself to explore the Old City. It’s such a charming little town that traveling by yourself presents no major challenges. In fact, in Dubrovnik, I did not even wear my money belt. That is how safe I felt. Anyway Dubrovnik has an Old City which is completely enclosed by a set of walls. These walls served as defense fortifications during days of old. They serve no functional defense purpose today but are still a wonder to observe. I wandered about the old city and took in the city. It is high tourist season in Dubrovnik so the city was jam-packed. There were miles and miles of stores. The Croatian currency is the Kuna. Yes, it is as fun to say, as it is to spell. I have to admit that in Dubrovnik, I spent my Kuna liberally. I think my desire to spend is directly connected to my love of the place. As I loved Dubrovnik a lot, I spent A LOT. In one afternoon I bought 3 dresses and two bags. Everyone knows that I do not lack dresses or bags in my wardrobe but I just could not resist. The prices were not any better than they were in Spain or Italy; I just liked this place better.

            So before my shopping spree, I ran into a group of 4 students. These four students are some of the international students on the ship. International students are one of the populations that I am responsible for in my position responsibilities but had not made any real inroads with as of yet. They invited and I accepted to spend the afternoon with them. We wandered through the town a little bit. We tried the traditional Croatian brandy. Before we got off the ship, everyone encouraged us to try the brandy. They swore it would be delicious and definitely an experience not to be missed. They were right on one of those assertions. It definitely was an experience. That brandy burned a path down my chest that nearly bought me to tears. It was just a sample to taste and I felt it. Hard. So after our alcohol adventure, we decided to walk the city walls. Walking the walls is THE thing to do when visiting Dubrovnik. Its sort of like climbing the Great Wall of China---but less so. So we embarked on the wall. Like many of the outdoor sites, there was no shade to be found on the wall. No shade at all. So it was hot. But the views from the wall are so inspiring that you don’t want to rush the process. I took so many pictures from the wall. You get amazing aerial view of everything. The students I was with have a tradition of taking jumping pictures. They did not let the fact that we were on a massive wall curb their jumping affection. They took several jumping pictures, which almost made my heart jump. But they were having so much fun; I could not really fault them. The wall took 1-1.5 hours to complete. It was great fun.

            Dubrovnik was preparing for the Summer Festival when we arrived so the city was alive with activity. On that first day, John McEnroe was playing a charity tennis match in the town square. A ticket costs 200 USD.  Needless to say, I found other diversions. But there was a festive energy in the air, which heightened our enjoyment of the city.

            During the first day, I signed up for an all day excursion with the students out to some of the surrounding areas of Croatia, away from Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik is beautiful but pales in comparison to its countryside. We first visited the town of Ston. Ston is a very teeny, tiny town but it was one of the first towns to be built according to a definite urban plan, Ston is enclosed by a wall, measuring 5km. that makes it the 3^rd most extensive wall in the world- not bad for a little town in Croatia rightJ it was impressive to see the wall but it was much too extensive to hike in the short period we were in the area. Ston is also home to salt fields. After Ston we set off for the island of Korcula. Korcula according to legend is the birthplace of Marco Polo but I don’t think they need him as their claim to fame. The island can compete with any place on earth on sheer beauty alone.  I don’t want to overwhelm you with words. Take my word for it, its gorgeous. In Korcula, we walked around the town and took in the sights, sounds and flavor of the place. It was pleasing! All of these sites were with a guided tour so a great deal was learned in the process. I think the most fascinating thing I learned on this trip was the genius behind the shape and structure of the city design in Korcula. When walking down the main street in town to the left you could always see the sea but to the right you could only see buildings. No sight of the sea. It is an island, you should be able to see the ocean at most every point, right? Nope, wrong! The buildings were intentionally built to capture the breeze off the ocean but to keep out the storm winds. The bad stormy winds are called Bora and are not a positive element---they are not something you wanted to stick around.  What an ingenious design! I am certain that other civilizations may have similar architectural designs to protect their homes from the elements. It seems the more “advanced” we become, the more we learn that the old folks had it right the first time around.

            After Korcula, we headed back towards Dubrovnik. Before making it back though we stopped in at a local vineyard. We had a great wine tasting, while getting a lesson on grape growing methods in Croatia. We tried a variety of wines. The tasting was organized so that in each tasting you would get a higher alcohol content. So the first glass had 12% alcohol followed by a 14% glass. The next two glasses were in the 20% range. The final glass they offered is known by many names such as firewater, moonshine, etc. The actual name is grappa and it contains 42% alcohol. I think the brandy I mentioned earlier and this liquor live in the same family. It was so funny the higher the alcohol content the more talkative the group became. It was a fun experience. You obviously do not leave a wine tasting drunk by any means but it is a pleasant way to end a long day. I have always wanted to go to a wine tasting back home and haven’t had the chance. Its funny that I would have such a desire fulfilled in Croatia. The experience reaffirmed my desire to go to visit vineyards in the States.

            Day 3 in Croatia, I left the country. Dubrovnik was the only port in which we were allowed to leave the country. I figured I should take the opportunity (no passport stampL)! So off I went to Montenegro. We visited two towns in Montenegro, Kotor and Budva. The tours and descriptions of both of those places were very rushed and I cannot say with any legitimacy that I learned anything new about Montenegro during this trip. The ride between Dubrovnik and Montenegro is only supposed to be one hour but the wait at the border crossing was excessively long. As a result we lost a lot of time, just hanging out on the bus. It made my excursion into another country less than ideal but hey what can you do. The drive was beautiful and Montenegro is as the guide books say, “a breathtaking image of mountains plunging directly into the sea” in some places.  Other than observing the physical beauty of the parts of the country we did get to see, I don’t really have much to reflect on here.  One of the cool things that happened on this trip is on the way back we took a ferryboat. By we I mean, me, 150 of my closest SAS friends and our coach buses all on a ferry. I know these exist car ferries exist in the States and in other parts of the world but I had not ever been on one before so that was a new and enjoyable experience.

            Later that evening the opening ceremonies of the Summer Festival was being held in Dubrovnik. The festivities would include speeches by the officials, a concert and fireworks. Plus EVERYONE entered the old city gates to be in the town. Thousands and thousands of people were milling about. When something like that is going on when you are traveling, you must be there! So Chela and I were off to take it all in. We did not know this but the public transportation was completely free that night. We made the mistake of buying tickets for the bus but oh well! I consider it a contribution to the economic well being of Dubrovnik. The buses were crowded. The Old City was crowded. You could barely move without bumping into the people next to you. For claustrophobe such as me, it’s a shock to the system, but hey you get over it! We wandered about and soon realized that part of the fun is just being there and people watching. We found a “quiet” out of the way spot to have a snack, watch the fireworks and most importantly people watch. We got pizza—there are lots of Italian influences in CroatiaJ. There were so many women out and about in spiky, mile high heels. While this may not be an issue in most circumstances, I forgot to mention that Dubrovnik is all marble and cobblestone. In addition many of the places (restaurants, shops, etc.) are at the top of these very steep, very high stairs. So watching women trying to navigate the unsteady terrain in their tiny outfits (and there were many tiny outfits) and spiky heels was quite an activity. There is not a pair of shoes or outfit worth twisting my ankle---sometimes these things are simply not practical. Hashanah. As I type this I must laugh because Ivet and I have had so many conversations about practical shoes. I never thought I would be an advocate. Oh how we change in our old age. The fireworks were nice. The meal was great and it was fun. It was clear that most people intended to be out and about until sunrise. I had a trip early in the morning so headed back to the ship shortly after the fireworks.

            The final day in Dubrovnik found me leaving the country once again. We had the opportunity to visit Medugorje, which is located in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Meugorje is the site of a sighting of the Virgin Mary by a group of young people. It is a big deal for Catholics. I’m not Catholic, why would I go? Well I thought it might be interesting and I would get another stamp on my passport. Boy was I disappointed. There was absolutely nothing of interest there for me. I had no interest in attending mass, seeing the site of the Virgin Mary sighting, and the town was tiny. Super tiny. I walked through it in 10 minutes. I was taking my time, looked through every shop 3 times. However most of the shops sold exclusively Catholic religion related things. I spent most of my time trying to find a magnet that did not have an image of the Virgin Mother on it. It was a nearly impossible task. I did manage to find one though. Plus they did not stamp our passports, coming in or leaving the country. I wont go so far as to say the day was a waste but I think there were more fruitful ways I could have spent my last day in Dubrovnik. Oh well, you leave and you learn. Major lesson learned—read the description for the trip and believe what they say.

That’s it for Dubrovnik!

A lovely little townJ I will for sure return. So I don’t say goodbye to Croatia, I say see you later!! 

Napoli: The 3rd City!

On Saturday, July 3 we arrived in Naples, Italy. Napoli was a striking departure from all of our previous ports. It was immediately clear that Naples was a working port city ripe with the mix of decay and bustle of an urban center. The population is EXTREMELY dense and compacted in a multitude of high-rise buildings. Napoli is the epitome of a concrete jungle. Immediate reactions to Naples--- dirty, dingy, noisy, big, and bustling. I don’t think we have any place in America that compares really. Maybe parts of NYC---but NY has gotten really clean of late—well in some parts!

            Upon arrival in Naples, I immediately left the city. Hahhaha. I am just playing; I did leave but only momentarily. I had a trip scheduled out to Pompeii. Pompeii is a unique archaeological site in that much of the ruins are in wonderfully well preserved condition. The city and all its inhabitants had the misfortune to be buried by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.  Volcanic material is an excellent preservative! It was both fascinating and macabre to visit a place, which is so fully intact and knowing the circumstances behind it, makes it even more interesting. An excellent tour guide who knew all manner of facts about the location accompanied us through the site. The tours are intentionally scheduled for the early morning because the site is lacking of ANY shade. It is therefore extremely hot and almost unbearably sunny. But if you reflect on the experiences of the last group of Pompeians, a little sun is a small price to pay. An interesting fact is that the community collected urine, particularly from men and used it for bleaching purposes. Urine was also used to do laundry. (The tour guide explained this but I forgot the reasoning- I think something to do with the ammonia properties of urine being good cleaning agents). Penises or depictions of male genitalia were considered symbols of fertility, good health and prosperity. There are images and sculptures of penis (penises? penIs?) were everywhere. These particular images were usually accompanied by something similar to a set of wings. It was funny that the vendors outside were trying to sell them. When we first saw them, we had not gone through the door so we did not know the significance. After the tour, several in the group immediately went outside purchased a couple penis statues! I did not buy one so please don’t ask me for itJ

            We were able to visit the gamut of buildings and establishments you might expect in a town. We entered homes of wealthy family, homes of families of less means, a Laundromat and many others. In many of these buildings, the beautiful mosaics and frescoes are still plainly visible thousands of years later. One building which we did enter that perhaps would not be part of a regular tour was a brothel or a luperteria. You could tell it was a brothel because as soon as you entered, you could see mosaics of different sexual positions. The guide described it as a menu of sorts. Inside the building, there were a number of very small rooms divided by barely a sheet. Modesty was not a priority. The students could not wait to take pictures inside the rooms. I think we spent the most time in that particular building. There were some small children in the group and they were quickly rerouted to other buildings in the tour.

            We visited the major square and marketplace,  Mt. Vesuvius still lurking in the background. In one of the squares, there were two small glass cases. Contained in these cases were bodies. The bodies are eternally fixed in the position they were in at the time of the eruption. One of the students asked if the Pompeian’s had any chance of surviving, if they could have outrun the catastrophe. The sad and short answer: no they could not. There was nothing they could do but crouch in horror as they were engulfed by volcanic material. It was a sobering thought. There was also a storage space where they kept other materials found in the excavation: dishes, tools, etc., the trappings of everyday life. I have one last disturbing thing to share. In one of the storage room, there is a glass case containing a dog. It was obvious the dog had been tied up. In his final moments, we can imagine that he was trying to break free of his ties. He is therefore contoured up in a weird shape, struggling to be free. Ok, that is it for disturbing stuff.

            The Pompeii trip was over by 1pm and we were on our way back to the ship. After such a hot and draining morning, a nap was definitely in order. So I took one! Its sort of funny that you get to these countries and you think the last thing you will want to do is sleep. Perceiving sleep to be a waste of your precious, limited time in these countries. But our pace is so frantic this summer that rest is often in short supply. We are in a new country, every 1-2 days, that takes it tolls. I have taken the motto that I have to listen to my body, so if I am tired, I sleep. Napoli will be there when I wake up. Plus I will be able to enjoy the city 100 times more if I am well rested.

            Upon waking up, a group of colleagues and I set out to explore. Upon closer inspection my first impressions of Napoli were confirmed. It is big, it is dirty, it is crowded but…….. it has a charm all its own. We saw some of the historical monuments and wandered through the shopping districts. The city has a frantic energy about it that reminds me a lot of New York. We ended up having pizza at the place, which reportedly invented the pie. The name escapes me but it was DELICIOUS. As we tried to get there, all the locals seemed to be in agreement that it was the best place to go. We even stopped at a restaurant to ask for directions and the waiter enthusiastically pointed us in the direction of this establishment. We thought, this place must be really good! We arrived at 7pm and the place was doing a steady business. By 8pm, there were lines of folks waiting to get in. this restaurant was also notable in my mind because it had the BEST bathroom I had found so far in my travels. As I indicated in my last post, I did not know how important bathrooms would be to me. I am now take note and even pictures of bathrooms. Its weird I know! But oh well. After enjoying a splendid meal, we tried to get back to our ship as rapidly as possible. I am all for exploring urban landscapes but Naples is like any other major metropolis—scary after dark, if you don’t know where you’re going. I tried to express to my colleagues that now is not the time to take pictures or make friends with the locals. I think they got it.

            The next day, we took the train out to Sorrento. Naples serves as a jumping off point for a number of destinations. Sorrento was a 1-2 hour train ride away. It cost 4 euro round trip (maybe 8 euro- my mind is playing tricks on meJ). If Naples is New York City, Sorrento was like Long Island. Quiet, less crowded, and clean. As we traveled on the train it was interesting to see the buildings get lower in stature, be spread further apart from each other and see more green spread throughout. Sorrento was lovely little town. It was little. We managed to see everything in less than 4 hours. We took a walk along the old city walls and saw magnificent views of the coastline. There were lovely shops and some of the best gelato I had in my time in Italy. I had great mango gelato in Greece that is in competition for the best gelato EVER. That was all for Sorrento. We came back to Napoli and found our way back to the ship.

Day 3 in Naples found me on a quest for pasta. I had eaten pizza everyday during my time in Italy. I wanted to have a taste of pasta before leaving Italy. It is only right! One of my colleagues went with me and we found a cute restaurant with outdoor seating. We sat and people watched and enjoyed our meal. I had gnocchi. It was great!

            Such was my time in Naples. Not very adventure filled but a wonderful experience all the same. One of the major things I noticed about Naples is that there was graffiti everywhere. Even on a monument and on the major squares. Similar to the other ports, the trains were a common canvas for graffiti art. Barcelona seemed to be pretty white washed and too clean, I believe contrived was the word I used.  Napoli swung way in the opposite direction and on first glance seemed to lack some of those infrastructural supports. It was clear that this was a city in economic decline but it also seemed to have quite a bit of economic activity. Napoli is one of the busiest ports on the Mediterranean but I imagine those jobs are not enough to sustain a city of that size. When I have time, I would love to investigate further some of the economic challenges facing the Neapolitans. Stay turned………. But for now, Ciao, Ciao, Italia….to Croatia I will go. 

A tale of four cities: Roman Holiday!

Friends, Romans Countrymen, lend me your ears….or at least your eyes!! 

Anyone get the Julius Caesar reference? Yes, I know, I am a nerd. Anyway welcome back to another exciting installment in the chronicles of Sendy’s travels. This entry is devoted to our 2nd port: Civitavecchia---I think I have finally learned the proper pronunciation. Civitavecchia literally means Old Town. Civitavecchia or Civi for short is the port city for Rome. Rome or RomaJ, the Eternal City, the seat of one of the greatest empires in the history of mankind is an endlessly fascinating place. I was lucky to spend four days in the region and overall my experiences were more than marvelous. {I think I will need to come up with new adjectives for this trip/journeyJ}

            We arrived in Civitavecchia on the morning of June 29th. As I woke early to observe the docking process in Barcelona, I felt comfortable skipping it this time around.  I did however take my traditional first sighting picture immediately upon waking up.  {it was not at all a scenic view}

We arrived in Italy on a national holiday so we did not have a diplomatic briefing on that day. Our Italian interport student jokingly remarked that Italians have more holidays than days when they work. Whether or not this is true I have no evidence to contradict. He is a native so I will have to take his word on it. But I could be ok living in a place that has a lot of holidays. Means there are many traditions to observe. Anywho, I digress as usual. After a brief customs process, we were allowed to disembark. Chela, 3 of our colleagues and myself had decided the previous night that we would go into Athens on Day 1. So off we went…….

Now the first thing you should know is that there are 730+ people on the ship. Once the ship is cleared ALL of those people feel compelled to leave the ship at once. Unfortunately Civitavecchia had only the one train station so anyone wanting to leave to go to any other part of Italy had to leave from the train station. My travel companions and I predicted there would be a long line at the train station so purposively left a couple hours after the mass disembarkation. Despite waiting for a couple hours, there were still massive lines at the train station. We waited in line for close to 30 minutes to buy a ticket to Rome. The ticket was 9 euro and included round trip transportation to Rome, as well as 24-hour access to the bus and metro system in Rome. This leads me to a major observation about all our ports so far. They have had excellent public transportation systems. They are structured in such a way to encourage public transport. Why would anyone in his or her right mind go to the trouble of driving into Rome with a system set up in such a way? It makes it exceedingly easy to get around at very low costs. So most American cities/regions have A LOT to learn. Also the integrated nature of the transportation system is comment worthy. I could not imagine SEPTA having such a fee structure that effectively and cheaply integrated the regional rail and the city systems. Anyway back to the story…

So after our long wait to purchase a ticket we waited almost another hour for the train to arrive. I was in good company so the time flew by. Plus this whole journey has really expanded my capacity for being flexibility. What’s a one-hour wait? Phew, easy breezy.

            After our long wait we were fortunate to board an express train to Roma. We arrived in the city in less than 40 minutes. During the ride, I was able to observe the beauty of the Roman countryside. Absolutely breathtaking. It was a mix of clusters of high-rise apartments mixed in with agricultural farmlands. We did not stop once during the ride but through the train window I was able to observe quite a bit of graffiti on buildings, on some of the trains, and at the various train stop stations. It was interesting to see because it reminded me a bit of NYC circa 1980s. I had noticed some graffiti in Barcelona but it seemed to be exponentially more visible in Roma/ Civitavecchia. It is quite possible that I saw more in Italy because we were located outside the tourist zone and had to travel into those areas, whereas in Spain, we were dead in the middle of tourist central. Tourist areas tend to be kept squeaky clean by the municipal governments. Just some thoughts, no real evidence to support the hypothesisJ always a researcher! Ok back on topic…….

            We arrived in the Stazione Termini (the main train station) and immediately set out to find those sites, which make Rome famous. My first impression of Rome upon leaving the train station: BUSY! Taxis and cars whizzed by and it had the same energy of any major city. However it did not take long to find the jewels, which set Roma apart. After a short walk, we stumbled across the famous Spanish Steps. They were quite a sight to behold. As it was already quite hot, I did not walk up the steps. Think the Rocky Steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art times 3 or 4. But it was beautiful to observe the steps at the bottom. Like most tourist sights in the high season, there were massive amounts of people and street vendors in the area. There were people trying to sell you everything from sunglasses, hats, handbags, parasols to other kitschy games. Its funny because at all the sites I’ve gone to so far—regardless of Spain, Italy, Croatia---they are all selling the same thing. Its like they all are working from the same supplier. Who knows, maybe they are?

            Close to the Spanish Steps is the Via del Condotti, where many of the famous and not so famous Italian fashion houses are located- Dolce & Gabanna, Gucci, etc., etc. I obviously cannot afford anything on this street so I quickly moved on to areas more in my income bracket.

            We took the train to a new area of town to check out the Trevi Fountain. The fountain is massive and has been in existence since 1735. Can you imagine just walking around something that existed for almost 275 years? You think that’s old, wait until you hear about some of things I’ve seen. The fountain is famous and the tradition is that you throw some money over your left shoulder while making a wish. Of course, I did that. Can’t tell you my wish or it won’t come true…. well I’ll tell if you ask real nice! After the Trevi Fountain we wandered about until we found some food. We found this cute bar/tavern, which was running a special of a pizza, and drink for about 7 euro. When they say drink they also include soft drinks, beer or wine. Cool, right. They obviously have a different relationship with alcohol than we do! Please note there is no such thing as free water in Europe. If you order water, it will likely be bottled. Took me by surprise in Spain but in Italy, I was an old proJ anyway, we ordered two pizzas and some drinks. Our grand total for lunch for five people about 18  euro. You cannot beat that! And the pizza was AMAZING! This was my first taste of authentic Italian pizza and I have to say we, in the US, got it wrong. It’s so different. Much lighter, much tastier! Plus our waitress, Lucy was super friendly and made for a wonderfully warm experience.

            After lunch, we moseyed around a corner to find gelato and stumbled into the Pantheon. Yes, the pantheon of Ancient Roman fame. Right in the middle of the street. Surrounded by modern conveniences a building, which has existed for thousands of years. Can you believe it? Neither could I! It was so surreal. I found the whole visit to Rome to be surreal. I could not believe I was there and having those experiences. The building was magnificent to behold and the pictures simply do not do it justice. When we arrived, the building was closed but just being in front of it was enough for me. We then set off to find the Coliseum. A short bus ride (yes a public transit bus) we found ourselves in front of the Coliseum or IL Colosseo as its known by the locals. It was another impressive building. I take back what I said about not liking architecture. I did not like Gaudi and that type of architecture but the ancient stuff I could look at all day. To think that before they had motorized power sources or any of the building and construction tools we have at our disposal today, these places were able to create such beautiful and awe inspiring monuments is truly remarkable. Now granted, I realize that many of these buildings were built on the back of slaves and some pretty horrendous tactics were used for those who did the building, but it still gives you pause.

            I did a tour of the Colleseum. Thus far, it has been the only building I have paid to enter. It was amazing. The steps were steep and to imagine the 100,000s of Romans who entered the building on a regular basis for the games was interesting. The tour guide shared that the spectators were beat with whips to encourage speedy entry into the building. Not like today where people take their time to get to their seats at an event. There was order in the Roman Empire! Hahaha! Anyway our tour guide also explained in grim detail the number and extent of the games’ causalities. Several thousands of fighters and animals were slaughtered for public entertainment. Makes our fascination with reality TV seem tame in comparison, right. It was H-O-T though and before long the heat took its toll. After the tour, we had only one more stop before calling it a day. One of my colleagues is a devout catholic and wanted to get tickets for the papal audience, which would be held the next day. So off we went to Vatican City….

So technically I visited two countries in one day. The Vatican is a sovereign nation. Like all the other nations thus far, they failed to stamp my passport. Boo! Anyway we took the train to Vatican City to pick up the tickets. While I am not Catholic it was interesting to enter St. Peter’s Square, see the Basilica and observe the beauty of the area. As it was a Catholic holiday, the Festival of Saints Peter & Paul, the entire area was full of different clergy people- priests, monks, nuns, friars of various orders. It was kind of cool to see such a variety and obvious presence of religiosity. We waited while the tickets were procured. Every Wednesday, the Pope does a mass on the square to which millions of people attend. I returned to Vatican City on Wednesday and saw the throngs of folks but quickly walked in the other direction. My colleague who did attend the papal audience described the event as life changing and transformative.

            As I indicated earlier, the Coliseum is the only site where I paid the entrance fee. As such I did not enter the Vatican, see the Sistine chapel or any of the associated galleries. I’m sure it would have been nice but as I have limited interest in art museums (in general), compounded by the fact that you aren’t allowed to take pictures inside and that I have very little interest in Catholic history, I thought my time in Rome could be better spent elsewhere. I also don’t like to stand in lines so the 2-hour long waits to get into these buildings were not something I was up for. Rome is definitely a city I would visit again; perhaps I will catch these sites then.

            After getting the tickets we stopped for dinner. I had lasagna and a glass of vino—when in Rome…... my meal was delicious. We made our way back to the metro to catch the train back to Civi. When we got back to the Stazione Termini we realized our train was scheduled to leave in a few short minutes. If we missed this train we would have to wait for at least 1 hour. So we ran. I don’t mean a light jog or power walk. I mean a full out, heart racing run. I don’t run. Well I do run but it usually within the comfort of an air-conditioned gym on a treadmill. Not across a crowded train station. We ran to meet the train. And when we got to the track, the train was there waiting. And there it sat for another 10 minutes!  Can you believe that? After all our exertions the train waited for 10 minutes. Oh well, I’m sure it was in someone’s benefit. This time around the train was not express and stopped at every single stop between Rome and Civi. The ride back took about 1 and half hours.

On Day 2 in this port, I went back to Rome but this time on a SAS trip. I was a trip leader so it was free trip to the city in an air-conditioned coach. I like the public transit but there’s something to be said for door-to-door service. The trip I was leading was “Rome on your own,” so the trip basically consists of a ride there and a ride back. No itinerary and no responsibilities for me as a trip leader, other than assuring that everyone is on the bus on the way back. So this was my favorite travel day thus far! I got to set my own schedule, walk at my own pace and only see the things I wanted to see. I decided to walk instead of taking the train, which would allow me to see more of the city. The bus dropped us off right outside St. Peter’s Square. I saw the lines for the papal audience and walked the other way. I decided to walk across the Tiber River (well I crossed a bridge!) and down the Via del Corso.             The Via del Corso is an avenue with lots of shops and restaurants and along the way I was able to see more sights. These shops were more in price bracket and I was able to buy some souvenirs to take back home, some for me, some for loved ones! As I strolled along the Via del Corso I heard languages from all over the world. I must admit that during that day I was able to get around with very basic Italian language skills. I know how to say hello, thank you, good-bye, do you know how to speak English, and how much does this cost. On those few words I was able to navigate all by myself. I did not know how to say “where is” but whenever I needed directions I would approach someone, say hello, smile real big and point to my handy dandy map. I had no problem getting around. Hand gestures and pointing were also useful tools! So I walked down the Via until I came across The Vittorio Emanuele monument. These massive monuments are so amazing to see at the end of these broad avenues and busy squares. Close by was the Coliseum and Roman Forum. Once I got back to the Coliseum, I felt I had traversed the city a great deal. I hopped on the train and went to the area surrounding Vatican City. I wandered about until it was time to meet my trip participants. We went back to the ship, safe and sound.

In general if I can help it I spend nights on the ship and try to eat on the ship as much as possible—within reason of course. I want to have a good experience but don’t want to spend unnecessary dollars. What can I say the ship is like my home base!

Day 3 found me taking it real easy. Rome is very tiring. Very, very tiring. I was exhausted after two days of exploration. I slept in, ate a late breakfast on the ship. About mid-morning, we (Chela, a couple of students and myself) found our way to a market in Civi. I didn’t buy anything but it was nice to see the fresh produce and vegetables. Plus the typical flee market stuff. Nothing too interesting to buy. I did try to buy a banana and the vendor gave it to me for free. I thought that was nice. I also tried Mozzarella di Buffala. That’s mozzarella cheese made from buffalo milk. It was good. It had a different texture than regular mozzarella. We’ll see if I can find it in the states. Also while walking around Civi, we noticed vending machines, which dispensed condoms outside of the pharmacies. I thought this was an interesting public health initiative and wondered if the Italians had done any studies about the effectiveness of these machines in curtailing the incidence of pregnancies or STIs in their communities. Who knows? But interesting. I wonder if US cities are prepared to implement similar programs and how successful they would be? Am I the only one who thinks about these things? I’m a nerd, I know! That was pretty much it for Day 3.

Day 4 was totally different than the other two days because it found me traveling through the Roman countryside. In the handy dandy free box, I found a ticket for a trip to Tuscia and Tarquinia. These were two towns in the country that were part of the Etruscan empire. It was nice to travel through the idyllic countryside and see the agricultural farmlands. We visited Tuscia first, which was really empty because everything was closed for the mid-afternoon siesta. We were able to see beautiful views of the area however. They were also having a lavender festival so the smell of that fragrant herb filled the air. In Tarquina, we walked through the old town and observed small town living. It was quite a big difference from the hustle and bustle of Rome and had its own unique charm. At the end of our visit, we were taken to a local Enocota, where we were able to sample some local wines and have appetizers. It was delicious. We went back to the ship and soon thereafter we left Civi to make the 6-hour sail to Naples. Why we had two ports in Italy is beyond me.

            Overall I found Rome and Civi to be beautiful, delightful and charming. I enjoyed them 3 times more than I enjoyed Barcelona. I felt they were more authentic, less contrived. Granted Rome was very touristy and catered to the tourist set. But their sights were considerably more impressive and more in line with what I find exciting when I travel. One of things I am quickly learning is what I like and what I don’t like, even more than before. Lots of self-revelations! One other thing before I go….

As a result of my travels, one thing that I am truly grateful for is the American public restroom. First of all, there are no seats in any of the toilets I visited in Spain and Italy. Wait, I lie I found one toilet throughout all my travels with a seat. It’s in a little pizzeria in Napoli. Considering that Naples itself is a little rough city, finding such a nice bathroom was a pure blessing. Also they make you pay to use the restroom in some public places. We took the train into Rome and we all really had to pee. They charged like 80 cents Euro to pee. We held it! Ridiculous I know. Anyway, next entry, Napoli!!!

Ciao,

Sg

A tale of four cities: Barcelona!

Written 7.8.2010

            I am a lucky woman. At this very moment, 12:32 AM on July 8^th, 2010 I am sitting in Dubrovnik, Croatia. The ship made good time and we arrived 8 hours earlier than anticipated. As a result, we are at this very moment berthed in the dock. We cannot get off the ship however until tomorrow morning when Immigration & Customs will come onboard and clear us for disembarkation. So as I look out my window I can see cloaked in the darkness, the outlines of the Croatian homes and roads nestled on the hillsides. I would take my customary arrival picture but it is much to dark to see anything in the picture. So, I have gotten ahead and behind all at once. As you may have noticed it’s been a while since I wrote. Since my last post entry I have officially become an international traveler and have experienced through all my sensory receptacles the best of Barcelona, Spain, Rome, Italy and Naples, Italy. We have docked in those three ports. And I must say it has been more than amazing…I have done a poor job of chronicling these experiences in this space but I hope to rectify that problem immediately! Starting now………………….

            Barcelona is a beautiful city, full of history, architectural wonders, and a strong cultural heritage. We arrived on the morning of June 24^th, after nine very long days at sea. I got up early to watch the ship come into the harbor. The ship typically comes into harbor at the crack of dawn. The ship is usually making its approach at about 630-7am. As this was the first port, many people on the ship woke up to watch our arrival to Espana! I will attempt to detail the process below. It was amazing to watch it happen in Spain but it’s the same process for all of our ports.

            The first step in the process is that a little boat comes alongside our ship. This boat is called a pilot boat and on that boat is a pilot. The pilot boat comes alongside our ship and the pilot jumps out of the boat and onto our ship. All this happens while both vessels are moving. It is really cool to see.  The pilot comes onboard to help the Master (the captain of the ship is known as the Master) and the crew bring the ship into the port. This process I am told happens with any big ship that is entering a port. So in short time, the ship is guided into the harbor, the anchor is dropped and we are docked. The last few minutes as the ship comes to a stop are often very rocky and you can literally hear and feel the ship glide into those last few meters. Once the ship is berthed, the customs and immigration folks come onboard to inspect the manifests (the list of passengers), passports and make any inquiries regarding passengers. By international law or practice, the customs and immigration officials are within their rights to demand to see, face to face, anyone on the ship. Thus far, the immigration and customs process has been relatively easy and there have not been any interrogations. The whole ship is usually approved carte blanche and is cleared for disembarkation. Concurrent to the customs and immigration folks coming onboard the whole shipboard community has a meeting with a member of the United States Consulate/Embassy. This meeting, called a diplomatic briefing is mandatory for everyone. During this meeting the diplomat talks about the politics and economics of the country we are entering. They also discuss the relationship between the U.S. and that country and other things of note. In all the ports thus far they have also included information about safety and security concerns and what folks need to be aware of. In Spain, the diplomat spent significant time talking about the widespread occurrence of petty theft, pick pocketing and scams particularly of tourists. The previous night the shipboard community had a logistical pre-port meeting were many of these same security issues were discussed at length. Despite these NUMEROUS warnings, many of the students were pick pocked or the victim of petty crimes during their time in Spain. Mostly because of poor decision making and not using the good sense that God gave them. Anyway, I digress. So the diplomat does their briefing and at the conclusion of their talk and a Q& A session, the ship is fully cleared. At this point passengers can leave the ship.

So now that I spent so much time detailing what telling you about the logistics of it all, you probably want to know what I did and my experiences while in Barcelona. Well here it is………….

Barcelona is located in the Catalonian region of Spain. The Catalans have aspirations of separating from Spain because they see themselves as a separate nation. Most Catalans identify more strongly with their Catalan heritage than a Spanish one. Native Barcelonans prefer to speak Catalan than Spanish---although they do know how to speak Spanish.  The signs in Barcelona were primarily in Catalan. The culture is evident. This strong identity is so evident that Spain won a world cup game and there were very few people in Barcelona celebrating. Whereas in Madrid, the whole city had a party for the win. So that was cool to see and witness.

On the day of our arrival in Spain, I spent the majority of the time close to the ship. One of my work related projects is working with the Inter-port students. Inter-port students are students who are native to the countries we are visiting who join the shipboard community for the purpose of increasing our understanding of their home country. The students join us the port prior to their home country and travel with us to their homes. So the first day in Spain, I was waiting for the Italian inter-port student to arrive. Luckily, SAS had contracted for a shuttle bus to provide transportation between the ship and the main commercial district. I rode the bus to the main area, Las Ramblas and spent most of the day walking around and exploring. Las Ramblas is a large pedestrian boulevard, which snakes through the middle of the city. There are shops, restaurants and places to buy souvenirs along the road. There are also street performers. This is a place where a lot of crime occurs because of the density of tourists in this space. If you come to Barcelona, you will spend some time along the Ramblas. I hooked up with a group of graduate students and just strolled down the street. We ended up seeing a couple of Gaudi’s famous buildings and a bar named Obama. Obviously took a picture of both but I was considerably more interested in the Obama bar than the Gaudi buildings.

            Gaudi is a famous architect who designed a bunch of buildings in Barcelona. Who cares? Apparently everyone else and their momma but me. The lines to take pictures and view these buildings wrapped around the block. I was happy to see them but did not have any transformative experience at the sight of them. I have come to the realization that I am not that interested in architecture. I felt a bit sacrilegious telling my traveling companions, “No, I don’t want to walk a mile and half to look at a bunch of gaudy buildings. I don’t want to hike a hill to look at them and I definitely am not spending money to go inside.” Needless to say, I found other activities to occupy my time. Again, I digress; the first day was pretty low key. Oh one other thing about Barcelona is that one of the major plazas contains a monument to Christopher Columbus. Want to guess my thoughts about that? Boo! Yeah I know Christopher crossing the Atlantic turned out all right for the Spanish but he wins no awards in my world so a momentous monument in his honor was less than impressive in my mind.

            Day 2 in Barcelona found me on a SAS trip to Montserrat. Montserrat is a monastery located way up high in the mountainsides of Barcelona. The views going up the mountain were absolutely breathtaking and it’s hard to put into words or capture in pictures. I took a couple of videos and only that comes close to capturing the beauty and awe of the mountainous region. After spending a day in the urban center of Barcelona, it was wonderful to retreat into the natural beauty of the surrounding countryside. Once you get up to a certain point in the monastery, you get off the bus and you can hike up higher on the mountain. You also can enter the monastery. I did this trip with Chela and we chose to enter the monastery first. There were lots of clergy, nuns and monks wandering about. The grounds of the monastery were beautiful although it was overrun with tourists from all over the world. The monastery is famous not only for its location but also because it is home to the Black Virgin Mary. I did not get a chance to see the Black Virgin because the lines were so long but if I ever find myself in Spain, I will visit Montserrat again and hopefully see the Black Virgin. Now as you know I have limited interest in the Black Virgin as a religious symbol or icon. I am more interested in the existence of a Black figure given the largely negative perception held of the Moors (Muslims) and most people south of the Spanish border by Spaniards.

            This brings me to another topic….race and Spain. In general there were not many black people in the part of the country we were. The black people I did observe were primarily street vendors who seemed to largely originate from the Continent. While I did not feel unwelcome in Spain I did not necessarily feel welcome. I don’t want to impose my American sense of race relations to a different context but I don’t think Spain is a country I would feel comfortable traveling through by myself. Maybe just me but that’s my sense.

            So Montserrat was beautiful, hope you were able to see my pictures in the slideshow. I included comments so you know what you are looking at.

            After Montserrat, we came back to the ship and hung out for a little bit. We were able to find two free tickets to another SAS trip called Barcelona at Night. Before telling you about this trip I must tell you that the students who make it on this trip in general, have MONEY! It costs 10,000-15,000 for the summer voyage. Granted a number of students get scholarship and other financial aid to finance the expense but this is by no means a voyage that a typical working class family can afford to finance. As a result, some of the elements of the experience are taken for granted. Students were required to purchase their trips back in April. However once they came onto the ship and made new friends, they suddenly had other plans. Their non-refundable trip tickets became disposable to them. When that happens students have two choices, they can either donate their ticket to the free box for any other member of the shipboard community to pick up or they can try to sell them. Being the frugal woman that I am, I often check the donation box for trips. I am lucky to have a friend who is equally as frugal. So to continue the previously started story, we found two free tickets for an excursion that night. So who looks a gift horse in the face? Not us! So off we went. It was awesome. We visited Mont Juic where many of the Olympic complex was built for the 1992 summer games, including the torch. It was cool. From a certain point on Mont Juic you can see breathtaking views of the entire city. From that vantage point, I was able to take an awesome picture of our ship docked in the harbor. Our free trip also included a tour of Spanish Village--- this constructed area in which architecture from all over Spain was contained. That also was nice to get an overview of how different buildings are constructed in the country. It felt a bit like a Disney World set. But oh well. The Spanish built this area specifically for a World Exposition Fair. After that we drove by Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia. His unfinished masterpiece that is still in construction. They have been working on this building since 1882. I still don’t get what is taking so long. Just call the building finished and be done with it but oh well! The final stop on our evening tour was the fountains for a beautiful night show. It was lovely.

Day 3 I did some shopping for souvenirs on the Ramblas. We also visited the Bocquiera, a famous market. We also were able to find a flea market. It was nice to go to the flea market and have interactions with some regular folks away from the tourist drags. I did not buy very much but it was nice to visit a different part of town.

Day 4, we wandered around a mall and got some cool Spanish treats. A good time was had by all.

So my overall impression of Barcelona is that it’s a nice city. However it felt very manufactured and fabricated to me. A little contrived. Many of their major tourist sites were conceived as part of international events, the Olympics or a number of World Fairs. As a result, much of their city is relatively new or renovated. I like that to a certain extent but I like my cities with a little more authentic flavor. I am confident that such areas exists in the city but in my short time I was not able to witness too much of it. Barcelona did have much more graffiti than I would expect from a similar city in the US but I found similar issues in Italy.

Some rituals or things that I am doing during my journey that I think you might find interesting.

• -       I am collecting a magnet for each of my ports.
• -       I buy 2 bottles of wine or special liquor in each port--- I hope my dad keeps his promise to pick me up from Virginia. Otherwise I will have trouble transporting all this liquid on a planeJ
• -       I am sending a postcard to my family from each port. I am also sending postcards to friends at certain ports so be on the lookout for your postcard. If you would like to get a postcard but don’t think I have your address, please send it along.
• -       As we usually get into port early in the morning, I always take a picture out of the window of my cabin of the first site I see upon waking up. So I can remember my first site of each port.
• -       I try to catch a picture of the last sight of each port as we leave. Some of the pictures aren’t that clear but they remind me.

I think that’s it for Barcelona. I will work on uploading my Italy pictures and detailing my experiences there soon. I must admit now, {spoiler alert!!!} that I love Dubrovnik, Croatia!!! It is by far my favorite port so far. I will tell you more about that soon. 

Pictures from Espana

Ship Life: The Good, The Bad & the Ugly! - this is a LONG one!

Tomorrow at 8am, we dock in Barcelona---or Bothanlona, as I like to say. Ask me to say it for you when I get back to the states. It amuses me to no end. Anyway tomorrow we dock and the adventure truly begins. We are scheduled to have a diplomatic briefing at 9am with a representative from the U.S. Consulate in Spain. The ship is expected to clear customs and immigration shortly thereafter and will be allowed to begin our explorations!! Bad news………..we are likely NOT to get our passports stamped. The word is that they will likely clear everyone on the ship without passport stamps. I continue to be PEEVED by these developments! I guess I should be thankful that the USA has such great relations with all these countries that my passport is sort of like a blank check for travel but geez, this is getting in the way of my mementos!  One of these countries better stamp my passport. I think I will try going by the customs office tomorrow and see if I can get the agent to just stamp mine. Regardless, I will be in Espana tomorrow and I really don’t have much to complain about….so I’m excited can you tell????  Anyway,  this entry is intended to be a reflection of my life on the ship. I’m trying to talk about A LOT so I will try to break them down into categories.

The Ship: As I indicated in previous blog, the ship is great! There are seven decks (aka floors) of living space. The first level is completely off limits to the program participants as this is where the crew lives and has all their facilities. We have an AMAZING crew on the ship that takes care of everything on the ship not related to the program. So as I indicated earlier, we have a cabin steward, Edwin, who comes in every day and makes the bed, straightens up the room, puts fresh towels in and replenishes the toiletries…if I leave clothes on the chair, he folds them up neatly….its sort of like a hotel...I have thoughts about this, ask me about it when you see me! 

The second level of the ship has more participant restricted areas, along with a medical clinic and some student cabins. The third and fourth are all cabins inhabited by students and staff members. I am on the 4^th deck and I believe it’s the best because I am centrally located to all the good stuff on the ship. Directly above my cabin is the 5^th Deck Main Dining Area. This is the fanciest of the two dining areas and is often used for more formal events. Although it is also used for regular meals as well. Also on the fifth deck is Tymitz Square (named after a rich alum of the SAS program) where the various dean’s offices are located. Also located on this deck is the reception desk where I spend more time than I should buying phone cards to call home. Can you believe they sell phone cards for $20…..now how many minutes do you suppose one gets for that large sum of money…….13 measly minutes. Yeah, a little on the expensive side!!! I keep looking for the Caribbean Dream cards but they tell me they wont work on the shipL

Anyway deck 5 also contains some of the fancy cabins on the ship. Deck 6 also has a dining room which leads out to a outdoor dining area. It is very nice to sit out and have your meal alfresco on a sunny afternoon while watching the ocean waves! Deck 6 is the heart of the shipboard campus with the majority of the classroom spaces, the campus store, library, computer lab and union all occupying the remainder of this level.

Deck 7 is a very interesting space. On deck 7 you will find the wellness center which contains a spa. Yes, we have a spa aboard this ship. Crazy I know but I think I will get a massage before getting home. I hear their massages are wonderful. They are relatively reasonably priced- $55 for an hour. Also on Deck 7 are the nicest cabins on the ship. Sandra Day O’Connor and Julian Bond stayed up there when they were on board. The deans also have their quarters in this area. Cabins on Deck 7 have private balconies…..very fancy!! Deck 7 is also home to the faculty-staff lounge---students are NEVER allowed in this space. (well they are allowed by very special invitation). As it’s a forbidden area, all the students want to go in there. It doesn’t help that the deck has large floor to ceiling windows which provide excellent views for the faculty and staff. But also gives the students a perfect view of everything they are missing. …… sort of evil, I know. The students also want to come into the FACStaff lounge because it is the only place in the ship where alcohol is free flowing. Students are allowed to drink on the ship but in a very restricted fashion so they long to get drinks as easily as the faculty and staff do in the lounge. I personally do not spend too much time in the lounge because its in the front part of the ship…..the front of the ship is usually the most rocky when we are going through choppy waters. A final thing on Deck 7 is the pool. Yes, I said pool. It is a relatively small pool and I think I heard someone say during a tour that the pool water is filtered ocean water but im not sure. At the pool, lots of people lay out and work on their tans. As I am naturally golden brown I am not usually hanging out in this area. Well, sometimes im there but not really by my own desire. The pool deck is where a limited amount of alcohol (3 drinks) are served to students wishing to partake in adult beverages on certain nights from the hours of 9pm-11. I can explain the whole alcohol policy to you if you are interested.

Work on the ship: so since last august when I was offered this position, I have been explaining to people that this was my summer JOB….that while I would be doing some travel, my primary function on the ship would be that of staff member. Most people laughed when I said that and said yeah right.  Well I can report that I have been W-O-R-K-I-N-G hard. Since the students boarded the ship in Halifax, I have been working 10-18 hour days. If I get to bed before 2am it’s a miracle. My daily schedule has gone a little something like this:

 All members of the shipboard community are required to attend Global Studies class, in which we learn about the history, politics and culture of the places we will be visiting. The class begins at 9:15am and ends at 1030am.

After that I usually did some administrative work—send emails, catch up with folks, book rooms.1215-1500 (that’s 3pm to you land lovers!) I was in a student life meeting

1500-1730 I did more administrative work and preparation for my student meetings.

1730-2300 I had a slew of student meetings. I advise/lead/coordinate all the student groups related to diversity, multiculturalism and intercultural competency (its currently 11 groups).  I am also responsible for a “Sea” otherwise known as a floor, of 83 students. I also have an “extended” family of 4 students I meet with.

I am lucky to be working with 2 wonderful graduate assistants who do an amazing job supporting me but all this for 8 days straight takes its toll.

Despite this RIDICULOUS schedule I love working with diversity related student groups. There is something about sharing experiences with students who are often the ones left out in most circles that speaks to my soul.

In any case, I keep telling people that I will stop working once we reach Barcelona. As we reach Barcelona tomorrow, I’m doneJ ……I’m a workaholic so this is highly unlikely.

My Favorite days on the ship:

So overall I found ship life to be both exhilarating and confining. Its amazing to know you are off heading somewhere wonderful with such a relatively small group of people. However being on a seven level ship with a group of people for eight days can be so stifling. I think I definitely had a case of cabin fever several points during the voyage. Some things that helped lift my spirits:

• -       talking with my boo through MSN chat or briefly on the phone
• -       Hearing from my mom and sisters. Calling my dad for Father’s day.
• -   chatting with family and friends.....if you are on MSN chat, Gchat, or FBchat and you see me online, please say hey! I love hearing from folks back home. {thanks MG for chat time!}
• -       Videos and pictures of my nieces (thank God for FB!)
•       Passing through the Azoros (a series of small islands off the coast of Europe). We passed by them on the morning of 6.19. although we we quite a way from the coast it did my soul good to know that we were not alone on this big ocean. It can sometimes feel very isolating not to see another vessel or sign of life for several days. I could see small clusters of homes perched on the hills. Although it felt like the middle of nowhere to me, someone called it home and that helped settle me.
•      10pm sunset on that same night. On this same night I saw the beautiful image of sea, sky and land, I also was able to witness a beautiful sunset at about 10pm (2200!)! that is so late, I know but it was a nice breezy evening and the colors of the sky hitting the ocean water were simply magnificent.
•      Random sightings of marine life: so I don’t like to look out into the ocean that often because on the choppy days, looking into the water made it worse…..but on some of the calmer days I was fortunate to catch glimpses of dolphins, flying fish, a big starfish and whales. Amazing to see them in their natural habitats out in the middle of the ocean. Really makes you pause to consider the magnitude of God’s power. Just being surrounded by water prompts celestial reflections and I am so blessed to have these opportunity to take this all in. so often in our busy industrialized lives we become disconnected from God’s magnificence as represented by the natural world. It is so very amazing to be in its presence daily! Really helps you to feel reconnected to nature. I must admit however that I will be very happy to be back in a very industrialized solid land tomorrow!

• -       Yesterday, June 22 we passed through the Strait of Gibralter. AMAZING!! I know I use this word a lot on this blog but that’s because so much of it is, truly amazing and no other word will do as an expression of all that is going on. So we passed through the strait at about 4pm. It was an event for the entire shipboard community. Everyone came out to check it out. It was amazingly windy on the front of the ship, felt like a wind tunnel and people had to hold on or risk being thrown about. But the feeling of having Africa (Tanger, Morocco) on one side and Europe (Gibraltor, Spain) on the other was absolutely awe inspiring. I don’t think I can fully capture it in words. I took a video, will try to post but in case it doesn’t ask me for it when I get home. Carved into the ground on the Moroccan side as you entered the strait there was some Arabic writing. None of the people around me read Arabic but we were able to find out later that the writing translated to : God, Country, King. One of the Saudi students aboard the ship explained to me this is significant because this is the order in which Moroccans will strive to lead their lives: by following God, then county and then the King. I thought it interesting.

• -       Its interesting how the color of the water changes with the temperature. When its cold out, like when we were in the North Atlantic right outside Canada, it was so very cold and cloudy, the water was a dark gray color. Now that we have reached the sunny Mediterranean, the water is a smooth, glassy blue. It is so gorgeous and really makes me want to get out there and start enjoying Barcelona!!!

-       I must go now, its late (we are 6 hours ahead of EST) and so much to do on the morrow. Ta ta for now! I will try to update more regularly now that we are in port. I don’t want to lose my memories so will try to capture them soon after their occurrence: )

Minus a stamp & Beaver Tails!!

I apologize for the delay in posting, life on board this ship is hectic! Please find below one of two blogs I intend to post before reaching Barcelona on 6.24. I have pictures to add to this but because the internet is so slow on the ship I decided to post without pics. Will add pictures soon. I miss and love everyone, please leave comments and thoughts!! Four days until Barcelona!!!! 

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We arrived in Canada in the early morning of June 14. I am very lucky to be in a room with a window so immediately upon waking up I saw land! I have never been so excited to see buildings and the various trappings of a dock before in my life. Although the trip to Halifax from Ft. Lauderdale was relatively short, 4 days, I grew tired of being on the ship for such a length of time. So I was so very excited to look out the window and see land! As has become my habit, the first thing I did was take a picture of what I was seeing out of my window. I literally started jumping up and down at the sight of land. Anyway, I think you get the picture……well if you don’t here’s the picture of what was outside my window upon arrival to Canada!

 So it took a little while before we could get off the ship because there was some confusion about whether or not each person individually had to go through customs. After about an hour or so the ship got the all clear and we were allowed to disembark the vessel (like my use of nautical talk?). One of the major reasons I was so excited about this trip was because of the lure of EIGHT stamps added to my passport. Don’t you know those sneaky Candians didn’t stamp our passports. I tell you I was bit peaved but oh well, just gives me another reason to come back to Canada, although I doubt I will make it back all the way to Halifax again.

 a group of us decided that we had to pick up some stuff and go explore Halifax. Being the frugal shoppers that we are we set off to find the nearest Walmart---who goes to Canada and then looks for Walmart…a bit embarresing I know! But before embarking on our Walmart quest we went looking for Beaver Tails….what are Beaver Tails you may be asking. Whatever you’re thinking is probably wrong and likely to be very similar to what I initially thought. Beaver Tails are a doughy, deep fried concoction of warm, cinnamon sugar goodness! It’s a local favorite and we walked almost a mile along the waterfront to get some. Let me tell you, it was worth the walk. I had one, wanted to get a 2^nd one but figured my arteries might rebel. Here I am enjoying a Beaver Tail!!!

                                    

So after consuming two day’s worth of calories. We got directions on how to take public transportation to Walmart. For $2 we got to ride through Halifax and see beyond the area immediately surrounding the port. We saw typical suburban/urban detached homes, a beautiful botanical garden and this gorgeous church. We rode the bus for 20 minutes out to a shopping mall area where we found the Walmart, Best Buy and all the typical stores you find in a shopping district. They took our USD in the store and it was almost impossible to tell we were in a different country. The one tell tale sign of Canadian was that all the items in the store were labeled in English and in French. One of my friends asked about that and I had to gently remind her that French is also an official language of Canada.

We only really got to enjoy Halifax for a few hours because we had to get back to the ship for some meetings…. (I had lots and lots of meetings on the ship-some more enjoyable than others)…but one thing that did happen to me which is worth noting is that my phone broke. For the specific purpose of this trip, I had purchased a quad band phone to use. When I got to Halifax, I was able to make a couple of phone calls but then all of a sudden the phone stopped working. I have a couple of theories on what happened but the important thing is the phone was dead. I started FREAKING out because while I was at sea I was not able to send or receive any calls and I was really looking forward to talking to folks when I reached port. I was so upset about the whole thing and tried to figure out a solution. Since we had such a limited amount of time in Halifax, I would not have time to go back out to get a new phone, battery or charger. NEEDLESS to say I was freaking out when thinking about the possibility of not having a phone to contact my family and friends for the duration of the trip. But then I thought what if I contact the folks where I purchased the phone to see if they could help me. So I emailed them that same day and explained the situation. In a few hours I got an email back from them. They offered to send me a new phone, charger and battery to BARCELONA! Isn’t that AMAZING. So I ordered this phone from a company called Travel Ready Phones on EBAY. They were wonderful!!! They communicated well with me, answered promptly, gave me tracking information for the phone. I found out the phone reached Spain on Friday so it should definitely be at the port by the time I reach Barcelona! How excited am I? ESTACTIC!!

Such was my time in Halifax. It was marked by a lack of a stamp, beaver tails, Wal-Mart, a broken phone and a very considerate merchant. AMAZING!

The students boarded the ship on June 15, 2010 beginning at 8am. We set sail at 5pm and the adventure has begun! Next blog: Life on a Ship, the good, the bad and ugly!