LOCATION: GHANA
TUESDAY: So my day was supposed to start off early, however the ship didn’t get cleared for people to get off the ship until later than we though. I had lunch on the ship with Jordan, Flo, and Kristen (who has livedi n Ghana for 3 months teaching a few years ago). After we got some food in the tummies, we made our way off the ship to take our first steps in Ghana. The shuttle bus runs every hour from Tema, the city where were docked, to Accra, so we made sure to get there exactly at 12. Unfortunately we had to wait for a bus to get there for an hour. We got on at 1 and were finally underway. Even before getting out of the port gates my eyes were going crazy taking everything in. On the right was a covered picnic area where tons of people were sitting around, and on my left was a man taking a piss right off the road. I could tell this day out would be quite interesting. Out of the gate I saw women walking around with all sorts of stuff on their heads and shacks that families lived in that were in absolute shambles. The drive there was kind of crazy, buses must have the right of way, because whenever we came up to another car in front of us the drive laid on the horn and the other car quickly got out of the way. At the toll plaza, in between the lanes there were kids selling candy and chocolate and another woman with a box of some sort of snacks on her head. Every car we passed looked at us, and gave a very friendly wave. When we got closer to Ozu, the town that the bus let us off in, there were people on the side of the streets coming up to the window selling anything you could ever need; mops, batteries, magazines, some sort of ab work out machine, and DVDs/CDs. All the way along the road were little shops set up selling all sorts of Ghana merchandise, as well as some art. Getting of the bus was a complete rush. The roads are packed with cars, and tons of people trying to sell you something. Little boys walked around with ply wood, covered with sunglasses on their head. Whenever they came up to one of us, they’d stand the board and ask us to take a look, their own little portable shop. We ventured down the road, running into tons of SASers all bargaining with people in the streets for bracelets, t-shirts, watches, and key chains. My favorite item was a Ghanaian style t-shirt, with Obama’s face ALL over it. (It had matching pants and a dress too if anyone wants me to run back and grab a pair!). We took in the sights and walked along the road until we decided we’d check out the arts market. To get there we took a “tro tro” a long van-like bus that they cram tons of people on. First we had to find a single one that didn’t have people coming out the windows and doors. The tro tro in itself was an experience, on our way we picked up a number of people and dropped off a few too. Again, at every stop there were women with water and fans on their head, and kids selling gum and candy trying to push into the window for you to buy. We had a nice man in front of us tells us when to get off for the arts market. He walked us almost all the way there as his office was on the way. This market was SOO different than Moroccan souks. Down each hall there were people showing you their products and asking you to come in and see everything. They said “looking is for free, you need something for your mom? She big or small? Oh she’d love this dress or these earrings or necklace.” If you were taken in to see their paintings you saw ALL OF THEM. Some were pretty cool with bright colors and abstract images. Jordan and Kristen both got really cool ones. If someone got you inside to look at their stuff, they’d corner you in and all of their family will bring by things to show you. It probably took us a half our to get through one of the allys, little did I know, the entire place was a maze of shops like that. EVERY STORE you walked by someone comes out and says “Oh friend! Come in!” It was an interesting but really fun time, we went into one women place named Mami who joked around with us and bartered telling us that she makes all the jewelry and certain wood or beads are more expensive than others. We got a great picture with her, exchanged e-mails, and her brother next door gave us his face book info! Ha ha. The other girls spent all their cedis they took out, but I took my time getting a bunch of stuff for only 30 cedis, I’m quite the barterer! At one point Kris and I got separated from Flo and Jordan and while looking for them, every person was convinced that our friends were just down the way towards their shop. (they figured that every single white person there had to be the friend we were looking for) Eventually we found them though. We got a taxi back to the gas station where the bus picks up from in just enough time, well barely. The bus for the welcome reception was pulling out and in the street but luckily there was traffic and we were able to jump on! The welcome reception was pretty cool but I didn’t know many people there, of which were primarily girls. I think there were like 5 dudes out of 150 people. Everyone was just coming back from different places showing each other everything they got until the party started. We had a performance from the dance class at the school which was something I’ve never experienced before. It was cool, but crazy movements to drum beats and stuff. The “honorable head of education” or something of Ghana was there and spoke to us briefly. After we all got up and were served some pretty good food. We had beef and chicken kabobs that were really good, and really spicy. We mingled around talking to the students from Ghana asking them about class and things about them and what they do around the area for fun. We talked to one kid who was working for the US Embassy in Ghana which was pretty cool. I heard one of the city tours went by it today and said it was HUGGEE. It had heli pads and satellites and stuff, and there was strictly no pictures. She said it defiantly looked like they were doing more than we thought there. In all it was pretty interesting, they asked us a lot about SAS which was a concept they’ve never heard of before. I was very happy to go back to the ship, which feels like returning home, more and more along the journey. Tomorrow is an early morning for all sorts of fun!

WEDNESDAY: We were up at 6:15 for a really quick breakfast, but it turned into a mad rush to grab food and go. There were probably 6 trips leaving at 7 so the dining room was open early, with just a bunch of pastries. So that was a huge mess as everyone grabbed a bite and made our way to the buses. Our trip had 2 big buses and one 20 person safari painted one that Missy, Casey, Steph, Steve, me, and a bunch of other San Diego peeps. We ended up leaving at 7:45 and starting our way to the monkey place. We didn’t get there till 11, so we were all ready to hop off the bus. We got there and walked around back towards the bathroom were TONS of cute little monkeys running around and jumping from tree to tree. The little ones were scratching each others backs and just staring at us. They all had creepy red eyes and really long tails, so funny looking! We all gathered for a tour of the town we were visiting and made our way through the dirt paths lined with thrown together houses. Along the way we saw tons of adorable little kids, some curious about these 30 white people roaming around the town, waving to all of us and smiling for pictures, but the littlest children especially started crying when everyone walked through. Every family had a few goats along with a few little kids running about.  We saw a number of classes taking place at schools of every level around the town. We got a special showing of the talking drums that are used to signal break time, lunch, and the end of school, each with a different beat. We were shown around to all the farming lands and saw pineapples, mangos, bananas, plantains, and yams. We were also able to see weavers working to make scarves on a huge loom. We made our way back to our starting point and were all given mini bananas to feed the monkeys. If you hold on tight and walk up to a tree with it, they’ll peel it and take a piece from your hand. Weird little creatures, but it was pretty cool to see them swinging from branches in their natural environment. Before leaving the township we were given an AWFUL sandwich for lunch and were able to hang out with the kids in the community for a little.

After the monkeys, we loaded up the bus again to drive another hour and a half to the falls. At the base was a cute little village selling all sorts of woodwork and jewelry. We started our hike, we were told that it took about 45 minutes to the falls, but it was really easy terrain. Along the way the guide pointed out a coco plant which he climbed up a tree to grab and let us taste the inside. It defiantly did not taste like chocolate! It kind of looked like the inside of a coconut. To try it, you pulled off a pieced and sucked on it, but I did not find it enjoyable at all. Along the way we saw a centipede. Cool, but really creepy crawly looking. So, we eventually made it up to the base of the waterfall and before we could even see it we felt the spray of it. As we got closer it got stronger and when we saw it, all went crazy taking pictures and peeling off our clothes, trying to get into the water. This was the coolest experience; walking in towards the water coming down you had to walk backwards because of all the spray pelting your face and eyes. The closer you got, the stronger it became until it felt like hail pounding on my back. I can’t wait to show you the pictures, this was an occasion that my water proof camera was super clutch. The walk down was boring as we were all just trying to get back on the bus to the AC.  When we hit the road it was 4:30 and we has some serious distance to cover in order to get back to the ship. We had traveled so far north of Accra, that just ten minutes over the mountains was Togo. The bus ride home was only exciting because of the VERY bumpy ride on both pavement and dirt roads. It was bad enough for our little bus, we all would turn around and cross our fingers that the huge tour busses wouldn’t flip over because of the ridiculous pot holes in the road. Other than that, we finally got back at 8 and quickly grabbed some dinner since we totally missed it, and they had stayed open special for our trip getting back so late.

THURSDAY: Today I went on my castles and slave dungeons trip. We were bused up to Elmina, a Cape Coast fishing village where we were given a tour of Elmina castle. The building is the oldest European building below the Sahara, and it kind of looked like it. It was situated right on the water as it was an integral part in the African slave trade. We were shown the cells that were for women and the ones for men. We were also shown the “door of no return” where slaves would be transported from and sold to countries all over the world. After, we went to Cape Coast castle, another significantly known for its influence in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Our tour brought us through the slave dungeons where hundreds would be packed in with horrifying conditions, only to await a journey that many never survived. The day we traveled around these castles was SOOO hot. The views of the water front were gorgeous and Elmina was the craziest market I’ve seen so far. Boats were traveling in and out, filled to the brim with fish, waiting to be sold to the hundreds of people along the inlet. The smell was even worse than Morocco, which nobody thought could be possible. From our bus, the fishing area looked like a huge mass of colors. Thankfully this trip made it back to the boat on time, only because we cut out our traditional Ghanaian lunch, and were substituted with another horrible sandwich that had some sort of hot dog, tuna, and egg, all smooshed between two soggy pieces of bread.

When we got back we all decided to meet up at 9 for the shuttle into Accra, along with the rest of the ship. We filled two big tour buses of people going into the city to play for the night. Probably a hundred of us billowed out of the buses and onto Oxford street, the main strip. We all parted ways, only to meet up with a huge group of us at a place called Venus. From that bar we could see a huge club on the top of a building almost right above us, lit up with pretty pink lights. The WHOLE party made its way over there to find a really really cool club, with the top floor as an open terrace looking over the city. So cool!  Even cooler than that was getting a ride in the back of a policy/security guard truck all the way to the boat from Accra. But not really… our friend Casey had a little too much to drink and they had to escort us back to the ship. Good for a great story though!

FRIDAY: This morning I woke up to find another gross looking day in Ghana. Everyone was gone on different trips, so I met up with a couple of people who were going into Tema, the port city where we were docked. Again we found a crazy maze of market shops selling ANYTHING you could ever need. Clothes stores were right next to a butchers cart with pig feet stacked up and meat hanging from the roof, which was right next to a hair braiding shop. There is no place in town where you couldn’t hear music. Somewhere right outside the market where huge amplifiers that were pumping out some really cool Ghana beats. People were dancing in the streets and just having a good time in the middle of the day. So fun. We were on a mission to find a Ghana football jersey for one of the girl’s little brother, as well as some traditional food before heading back to the boat to set off. Along the street were tiny shops that may have 1 TV, and there were 20 people hanging out around it, trying to catch the football game that was going on. We were able to find a little place to eat and grab a few more Stars (Ghana beer) before peacing out of Ghana.

Elmina Fishing Village

Waterfalls!

LOCATION: MOROCCO!
THURSDAY: This morning arriving at the port in Morocco, was definitely not the prettiest sight. The only place they had for us to dock is in a huge industrial shipping area. The walk out of the port from the ship is a good 15 minutes, so SAS has provided a shuttle bus to take us back and forth. From the deck coming in we could see the mosque (the tallest mosque in the world) however, it was blocked a great deal by cranes and huge ships.

What a culture shock!!!. It was pretty crappy out and its drizzling so we weren't to keen on staying out long. We left around 10 i think, and after taking the shuttle bus out of the port, we made our way to the mosque. This was a little difficult as all the locals and taxi drivers and others hang out at the port entrance waiting for tourists come in. The other people who are out there are those getting in the morning shipment of sardines (biggest export of sardines in the world) so it smelled like dead fish as soon as we got off the boat and all the way into town, We got asked like 5 times if we needed a taxi or if we wanted someone to show us around and take us to the mosque. We were warned about this, people seem like their being helpful and then at the end charge you a crazy price for their service. We had a 10-15 minute walk to the mosque seeing the craziest sights. Tons of people were bombing around on mopeds and those bikes that have a motor. Some with huge carts attached to the front and some with trailers behind. When we got to the mosque though, it was beautiful. It was a huge plaza that is used for prayer, and also a humongous palace with amazing art and shapes and colors. On our way out of the mosque we saw a woman on the sidewalk, who made a fire, and had some sort of bird that she was picking apart and cooking.... only in morocco! After that we walked towards Medina which is a market place with tons of shops that sold tons of knockoffs. We saw people selling lacoste, polo, dolce and cabana, and tons of other little things. Other shops had weird little shoes, hookahs, tons of leather stuff and other knickknacks that were pretty cool. I think things will be better in Marrakesh, because its a bigger tourist place, so i'm waiting to buy stuff there. By the time we made it through some of medina we were hungry. The problem is that with Ramadan, nothing is open because they fast during the day. So we decided to go back to the ship for a free lunch. Unfortunately the shuttle that was supposed to pick us up never showed, so we had to walk 15 minutes back to the ship in the rain and missed lunch. Instead we went up to the pool deck and got some food at the grill.

After getting back to the ship earlier, we all had a really negative perspective on Morocco because of the initial culture shock. Its really a crazy feeling to be REALLY out of your comfort zone and placed in surroundings that you've never even knew existed. As we all had dinner on the ship we decided to go back out with a better out look and get passed all the stuff that made us uneasy. So at 8 we got a shuttle to the port entrance and started walking towards Rick's Cafe. (look it up online!) Its a really famous restaurant because it was a setting for the old movie casablanca. It was really cool, even though i've never seen the movie. On the way there we met up with another group of people, one guy and two girls, one of which goes to unh. We all went in together and got a big table to get some drinks and talk and relax. It was a big relief that it was so nice and we could all be at ease there. Three girls and I split a half bottle of red wine, we told the waiter to bring whatever he thought was the best. The boys got some Casablanca beer and ordered a couple of cigars too! After, Missy and I split a brownie sundae that was very very tasty. On our way out we saw a bunch of other students and teachers having some drinks together, which i think is pretty cool! We got back with no problem even though we missed the last shuttle and had to walk all the way to the ship again. Over all we all had a good time, and became a little more comfortable in new and strange situations. Also, did i mention we saw a car crash on our way to the souks (shops)! Not that exciting, but a car t-boned a taxi, must be normal cause they weren't that mad. Someone told us that the bus tour they were on this morning hit another car!! Soooo crazy!

FRIDAY: This morning at 8 AM we left Casablanca en route to Marrakech. The bus ride was a pretty long 4 and a half hours, but we did make a stop for bathrooms. On our way out of town, we made our way through the palm trees, slums, and dried up rivers. The scenery is amazing, everywhere I look are flat plains that stretch all the way to the mountains in the distance, with tiny shacks they call houses, and shepherds herding their sheep. Finally we made it to the place we were eating lunch. We entered finding that we had the whole place to ourselves. On the inside it looked like a huge palace, there were couches along all of the walls, and the ceilings had amazing details. We sat down to our second bottle of Moroccan wine and waited for the food to come. First came bread, and then came a huge platter of all sorts of food. There were all sorts of beans, some kind of salsa, and a really nasty looking/tasting meat mush. I have no idea what we were eating half the time, but we all put a little of each on our plate and soaked it all up with bread. In between this “salad” and the main course we had little in between meal. The next dish called “somosa” are chicken, meat balls, and cheese, all fried in a flakey dough, it was amazing. The main course came out looking like a volcano of food. On the outside it was cous cous and all sorts of steamed veggies, and on the inside beef and meat still steaming from being kept hot in the cous cous. When we thought we couldn’t eat anymore they came out with fruits and cookies for dessert.

From the restaurant we traveled to go ride camels! We hung out for a little while at the place while our heads were wrapped with a turban. While we waited for the first group to get on and take off on their camels, we played with the cutest little puppy. Our half of the group got in vans and drove to a Berber village where we were expected for tea. We all sat down in a huge room with cushions all over the floor where we were served steaming mint tea, and pastries.  We had a performance by a few of the men in the village, who played the drums, and a banjo looking guitar. The other group riding camels arrived shortly after so we could switch up and get a camel ride back. The scariest part was being on the camel when it goes to stand up! You think your definitely going to go head over heels over its head, or tumble backwards. Once up though, it was so cool! A bunch of people complained of the camel behind them biting their leg, but my guy rested his head on my thigh the entire way as I pet his head. We were taken though the Berber village, across the desert scattered with palm trees. We saw other kids getting four wheel tours covered mud, tons of goats, and the cutest children who all waved to us from below. One of the kids made a camel from a piece of straw and gave it to a girl behind me. Our parade of camels sang Disney songs the entire way and tried to teach our guide a little something; in return, we attempted to pick up a little tune from him.

We all slept on the hour bus ride to the Hotel Opera where it took forever to check in 100 of us students. We had some much needed time to relax a little, skype, and wander around the city a little bit. We had dinner at 8 and I happily stayed in for the night while everyone went out to find out what nightlife was like in Marrakech.

SATURDAY: We started with another early morning of tours all around Marrakech. We began the day at the Koutoubia Mosque, but everyone was more interested in the tons of stray cats roaming the area. We hopped back on the bus headed to the Saadian Tombs. Here lay members of the Saadi dynasty whom was send to be descendants from Muhammad himself. The gardens surrounding the building were beautiful. It was a rough visit however with the number of tour groups walking through, in addition to the heat. After this we went to a government run market place that was all within one building. It was packed with absolutely everything! I was able to find a camel Christmas tree decoration and a few little things with the 100 dirham I had. From there, we were all excited to sit down and have lunch. Once again we had the same meal structure that we had enjoyed yesterday.

From lunch our last stop was the Medina in which, as a group of 40, we made our way through the maze of soukes, people, trash carts, delivery carts, and mopeds always beeping behind or in front of us. Deep into the maze we were brought to a traditional Berber  pharmacy. In a big room, with all for walls decorated with jars of every color, we were given an overview of different spices and herbs that were used for everything from….. We were able to smell and test each of the remedies that we were taught about. It was such a cool experience! After this, we were given free time, in which will walked around in small groups discovering the hidden treasures in each shop. I came out very successful in buying a beautiful scarf that I was able to barter down to 100 dirham. This in US dollar is $12.50. I believe that’s all I came home with that day. The medina was the coolest thing ever. From orange juice vending carts, food vendors, and performers who are either charming snakes, or trying to through a monkey on your shoulder in hopes that a friend will take a picture that they can charge you for. By this time, it was certainly time for a quick nap back at the hotel before dinner and a show. The place we went to, Chiz Ali, and I don’t even know how to begin describing it. When we came into the area where the performance takes place, we we're greeted by probably 15 men on horses on either side of us. Nobody really knew what to make of that, but it was pretty cool. When we entered the building and walked through halls to the stage area, we were serenaded with live music, belly dancers, some women making weird singing-ish sounds. We we're escorted into the eating area where people were having full meals, but our entry only included one drink. Anyway, after I split a bottle of wine with a couple people we hung out while dancers and signers and funny men played music. Before the show started we took our seats around the huge out door ring. While we were waiting a man was walking around with a camel, one of the guys hopped on and got a ride, which was pretty funny. During the performance we saw everything from fire breathers, acrobats on horses that were galloping super fast, more guys playing with fire, a belly dancer, and fire works. The whole thing was pretty cool, i had no idea what to expect, but it was fun!

SUNDAY: This night, I had my dinner with a Moroccan family that I was reealllly looking forward. In all the experience was amazing! I was in a group of 8 people, 1 boy, 1 70-year-old life long learner, and 6 girls. We were picked up on the ship by the mother of the family and taken off to meet the rest. I don't remember their names, but it was 2 boys (8,13) and the dad, and a friend of the family who spoke English. The kids are currently at an American school called George Washington Academy, which is taught all in English, so they helped as translators. We all pilled into 2 cars, 7 in each! I didn't know what to expect while driving out of the city, but the little boy told me it was a really nice part of Casablanca. We pulled into a gated community with gorgeous split family home.  The street looked like it could be in California with palm trees and pretty architecture. We were greeted at the front door by grandma and ushered into their make shift dining room. The had just moved in a few months ago and were doing work on the big rooms in the house. The table was set for 12 and as soon as we sat down food poured out of the kitchen. We started with a traditional Moroccan soup that tastes like tomato and veggies, but was sooooo good. Women kept coming in and out of the room with so many plates of food that we soon couldn't fit any more and had some stacked double high! At first I thought that these women were her sisters or something and had helped her cook, but it turns out, when I went down into the basement they have a whole nother kitchen where the maids prepared the food and had a little room to them selves. I have a hard time trying to explain the food we ate to you because there was a little of everything, and some of it I have no idea what I was eating. In morocco, pastries are really popular and they had probably 10 different kinds, some stuffed with sweets and some stuffed with meats. There were egg roll type thingies with seafood. There were crepes made with butter and honey. There was almond filled puffs, there were grilled cheeses, hard-boiled eggs, dates, apricots, and all sorts of other stuff that I had no idea what they were, but I made sure to try them all! We were completely stuffed as we sat enjoying a cup of coffee. After, the family showed us their home ,which was beautiful, they had a swimming pool, 3 bedrooms, a balcony, a really nice kitchen, a kitchen in the basement for the live in maids, and quaint little yard. We went outside to have a cup of the famous mint tea and enjoy more little treats like cookies. We all sat there digesting when they told us it was now time for dinner!!! We were all verrrry confused because we thought we ate everything there was to eat. During Ramadan, Muslims fast during the day, no food or water, and at sun down he or she can break the fast and eat. So thats why as soon as we got there they served tons of appetizers type treats, saving the real meal until a little later. We went back in to have some bread and some sort of meat dish, but I was way to full to eat. Out of politeness I had a few bites and it was soo good,  I kind of wished I saved more room for that and the small salsa-like salad they brought out. During the whole meal we chatted about different things ranging from our questions about Ramadan and their daily lives, and in turn they asked us about the ship and what we were learning. Some how we got onto Michael Jackson, and the little boy got super excited saying he had a MJ movie that he watches. haha. So we all went up to his room to watch his live performance of MJ, and danced around as the boy busted out some moves to Billie jean!! Soon, Paula, the old lady was ready to go, so we all gathered again back downstairs to take pictures together and to give them our gifts. Some of the girls brought lindt chocolates, one girl brought a bunch of American candy, the kids were LOVING the skittles haha. The little boy finally pulled out my gift which was an American flag bandana, and was a little confused what to do with it. We folded it up and put it on his head and he LOVED it! He wore it the rest of the night and told us that tomorrow he would wear it to school! We got back to the ship a little while ago and promised the family a tour, but the security guard was being a bitch and told us that we can't have any visitors after 8, so they'll be coming back tomorrow after the kids get out of school. The younger boy is so excited to see the pool and our rooms and the cafeteria! I have great pictures of all the food and the family that i need to put up!

MONDAY: This morning at 10:30 I had the hip hop thing this morning what was pretty cool but not exactly what i was expecting. It was mostly a Q and A with this girl who was involved in the hip hop movement in morocco. She did a little free styling with my jazz teacher beat boxing haha. it was priceless. I have a clip of it on my camera that i'll toss on-line. She doesn't have a CD out yet, but I got her face book stuff and I told her that'd I'd look out for it in the future. You should look at the site (www.ilovehiphopinmorocco.com) and read about it. I'm going to try to find one of he other groups CDs. I just ate lunch and met my "ship family". I have the cutest little couple, Gretchen and Ray Fifer, who I'll be having dinner with tomorrow night and then once a week meeting in their cabin to just chat. They’re an amazing couple who have been on 5 voyages prior to this one! I look forward to meeting with them more often and hearing all the tips and advice they probably have for us. Side note: In the face book group for the Fall ’09 semester there was a woman who we was super helpful in tons of advice and suggestions.. that woman was Gretchen!!

After that  I just wrapping up everything in port. I got stamps and post cards. Other than that we had some dirham to spend, so casey, missy, and I went down to the market area. First we stopped at the best western to get internet time, but turns out you need some code, so we just sat and had a cup of tea. After that we took our time going through the market. Missy needed sunglasses cause she left them on the train from Marrakech. So we all helped her find some cute ray band aviators that we talked down to 80 dirham. I found cool shirt that’s white and kind of baggy that has really pretty embroidery on it that I got for 120 dirham, which is equivalent to 15 dollars. We also looked around for bootleg movies, preferably ones in English and not French. We came across the hangover but no one had it in English, I guess we'll just have to wait for Vietnam for that one! I found a silly chick flick, 17 again, that I got for 4 dirhams, which is like 50 cents. Casey and I were also on a mission to find some good Moroccan hip hop. After the girl, Fati, talked to us at the i love hip hop thing, i offered to show her around the ship. I asked her whos CD i should buy, and she recommended this one group that i don't remember the name of. Casey and I were able to find that cd, and another one that was a mix of 4 other groups that were on the i love hip hop movie we saw. Between the two of us we got 2 for 50 dirhams, and we'll put both of them on our computers. Their super ghetto though, ha  ha, their prtty much just mp3 burned cds, in a plastic bag and a print out piece of paper for the cover. We headed back to the ship to get back in time for my Moroccan family to come visit. Our group from last night was waiting in the lobby and they never showed up... which kind of sucked. While we were sitting there though one of the girls, riley, and i were asked to do an interview with a few other students about morocco. Turns out the interview was for a magazine, the equivalent of Americans GQ haha, so we just talked a little about our experience in port and our views on morocco. I guess we'll have a pic in the mag too, the photographer were taking some awful candids though!

WEDNESDAY: MORROCO DAY!
On our one day of travel between Spain and Morocco we had no classes and dedicated the day to our cultural preport and logistical preport. We spent most of the day anchored in the straight of Gibraltar positioned right in the middle between Spain, Gibraltar, and Africa! A huge oil tanker came up beside us and secured itself to the MV Explore, and started the 8-hour process of filling the tank. Then only other time we do this is in Singapore. While the girls and I were watching the boats hook up, the guide boat down below was eyeing us which was super funny. We waved back and took some pictures it was great! He asked us to get off the ship and come to Gibraltar with him ha ha. That was about it for Morocco day, I will definitely have more to talk about when we get to Casablanca!

Location: Spain (not currently, got a little behind in my posts due to SO much going on!)

FRIDAY: The night before the ship was due to arrive in Spain, a bunch of us took our pillows and sleeping bags up to deck 7 to watch it come into port at 6 AM. We pulled out a bunch of lawn chairs and played catch phrase and listened to music. By 2 AM, one of the other girls and I were ready to go down to our own beds, knowing that if we didn’t get some good nights sleep we’d be very unpleasant the next morning. It’s a good thing too, it started to drizzle on them at 4 and at 5 the crew washes down all the decks. The next morning, Missy and I were up at 7 anyway to watch as Cadiz got closer and closer. Unfortunately the sun wouldn’t rise until 8, so it was all in the dark, but the lights of the city were still really pretty.

SATURDAY: After getting off the ship in Cadiz, along with a whole bunch of other students, our first stop was the bus station to grab tickets to Seville the following morning. Getting that out of the way, our group of 8 trekked a few minutes across town to check in at our hostel for the night, Casa Carcol. It was quite an interesting place. I believe the woman who greeted us at the door, a “free spirited” braless, hairy woman, runs the place. It took some time for all of to check in, having to deal with passports and such. No worries though, two of the girls, one of which studied in Spain during the summer, knew where to pick up some beers and what kind to get. We all sat in the hostel sipping 40oz. Cruz Campos, taking our time to find out where we would find the best beach. We finally set out up a narrow ally that led us straight to the coast, which was the most beautiful sight. We all set up camp on the beach and hung out until we were hot enough to go into the water, which was like bath water. A nice little change from the east coast Atlantic. We had a really nice afternoon swimming and hanging out. There being 500 students invading Spain, we had a big group together on the beach, enjoying our first port, and the beginning to our journey. Around 1, one of the girls, Lauren and I went to grab some lunch at a place call Rayulea, before the whole city started siesta. Lauren is the girl who has spent a total of two semesters in Spain, so it was nice to have her Spanish skills. My one-year of Mrs. Erikson’s 6th grade Spanish class didn’t get me very far. After we ate we decided it was time for a siesta ourselves. We went back to the beach briefly to grab our things and let everyone where we were going, before walking (about 20 minutes) back to the ship. If felt really good to have a clean shower, a nap, and a little free dinner before heading out for a night on the town. We heard that the beach area, along the coast was the place to be, so we made our way over there, stopping at a few bars along the way. We were told that in Spain, people don’t even start partying until 12 or 1, and don’t end until like sun comes up, so we knew we’d have a long night ahead of us. When we got to the strip, every bar/club we went to was packed with SAS kids, with a few locals here and there. As the night went on, we jumped around to different places, mostly talking to each other and getting to know more people on the ship. Around 3:30, we made our way home to the hostel and feel asleep quite quickly.

SUNDAY: We all struggled awake and made our way to the bus station, grabbing bread and pastries and water on our way. Not much to report on for the hour and a half ride to Seville, except I knew I was back in Europe with all the roundabouts! When we got in, we made it to the hostel no problem and were super surprised to see how nice it was. I was in a dorm style room with 5 others as I had book later than the rest of the group, but the other 6 had a room to themselves, which was nice to leaving my bags in, knowing that they were the only ones with keys. We got a little settled, and of course the first thing I did was take out my computer and make use of the free wireless to video chat with Jay. The first time seeing his face in a week was REALLY nice, even though I woke him up at 6 AM his time to chat!

The group re-gathered and we set off to find the cheap tappas restaurant that was suggested by the front desk of the hostel. We wandered around, popping into little tourists traps to grab post cards and things, slowly making our way to our destination. When we found it, we made our way up a few flights of stairs, with dining on each floor, until we got to ours to sit down. Luckily they had both English and Spanish menus or I would have had a very tough time. Looking around at other plates we say different tappas, some with eggs (that we later found out was quail eggs) and others with the Spanish ham that I was told I have to try, which I did. Not for me though, I don’t know how to describe it, but it was like leathery, thinly sliced bacon.. but gross. I also had a dish of tomatoes with oil which I though would be good, but wasn’t. In the end, at least I had a good glass of Tinto de Verano, a Spanish summer wine that has a little sparkle/bubble to it. After lunch we meandered around the area, looking at the Cathedral, which we would visit the next day, and checking out little shops on our way back. It was definitely siesta time when we got back, a shower and a nap is always good around 4 in the afternoon.

Around 7 one of the girls ran into my room and told me to get dressed really fast cause there was a bull fight going on and we had already missed the first half. I’m surprised we all got ready so quickly, and out to the curb for a taxi. At first the language barrier was a tough to get across that we wanted to go to the bull fight. Sign language always get the point across though, we put two pointer fingers up on either side of our head and the drive said “ahhhh toro!!!” Both taxi cabs made it to the stadium and hurried to find tickets, I’m not sure who exactly who was giving us tickets, but a man had them in his hand and told us to follow him. He tried to get 20 euros from each of us, but we knew better cause we heard of other students getting in for 12 euro. He again tried for 15, but as we walked away he took our offer for 12, and we all ended giving him 10. Walking to the stadium was amazing, I had no idea what to expect, but when I walked in, it was a huge oval shaped stadium surrounding the ring in which the action was happening. We can in just after the 3rd bull was pulled away. Tons of SAS kids were there and they gave us a brief warning about what exactly we were going to see. After seeing 3 fights, most of the students had left because they said they couldn’t watch anymore. Soon enough, the first bull was released from the gate. The first “round” started with the matador’s banderilleros, or flagmen assistants. These guys, in bright colors were the first to tire out the bull, and allow for the matador to observe the bulls behavior. At the sound of a trumpet, the next stage began, this time with picadors (lancers) on horse who’s aim was to pierce the muscle on the back of the bull to straighten its charge, tire its neck muscles, and lower the bulls head in preparation of the next stage. It was sad to see this part, although the horses were protected with a mattress like covering, it was blinded and rammed by the bull. In one of the fights we saw, the horse actually fell over onto its back It took 5 men to hoist him up since all the protection disabled him to stand up on his own. The third section, banerilleros each attempt to put 2 razor sharp barbed sticks into the neck to further the loss of blood and weakening of muscles. At the time, you can tell that the bull is tiring and becoming clumsy with its charges. This is when the matador uses the red cape, luring the bull into a series of passes. Each one the closer, the more impressive. The maneuvers show his control of the bull and set up for the final estocada (thrust of the sword). For the matador, the goal is to have the bull in a charging position where he can stab in between the shoulder blades, piercing the heart. The crowd cheers and as the toro is dragged off by horses. The matador then circles the ring, sometime thrown hats or fans which he kisses and throws back. In one of the fights, the matador paraded around the ear of the bull, as a trophy. Later when we went to the bull fighting museum the next day, we learned that a this level of fighting (which is comparable to the minor league) being awarded a trophy is very uncommon.

After all of this we had dinner in a beautiful part of the city that lies on the river. We ate dinner right on the water, being serenaded by Spanish men playing the guitar, as well as a very old woman with no teeth who pretty much just yelled and strummed the guitar a few times. After dinner, we stayed along the river to go to a bar that we knew a few SASers were at. It being Sunday, there were no locals out. At the place we were hanging out at it was probably 15 SAS kids and 4 locals. It was nice to have the whole bar to ourselves, but not that exciting. Some how the time went fast, and it was 2 and the bar was closing. On our walk back, only a few bars down, were TONS of SAS people being kicked out of the bar cause it was closing. I ran into Missy and Andrew who had gotten to Seville that after noon, and planned to stay awake until their train at 6 AM the next day. Smart kids, why pay for a hotel when you only be sleeping in it for 4 hours!

MONDAY: When we all were up and ready to go we went to a café down the street for breakfast. Although technically we had missed breakfast, they still brought out some eggs, Spanish ham, toasted cheese sandwich, and the most amazing glass of OJ. It was actually juice from an orange as opposed to the fake stuff we get everywhere else. This was our day to explore; we saw the cathedral, which was impressive from the outside, but amazing on the inside. I had never seen such extraordinary detail and elaborate walls, ceilings, and alter. You could spend all day in there examining all the vastly different designs. After the cathedral, we went to the gardens, I can’t say which one, turns out there are many. We explored for a while, always running into more SASers. Next we made our way back to the Plaza de Toros de Ronda. After seeing the flight, we had tons of questions and the museum tour we took was really interesting. There are so many different aspect of the sport that I had never noticed. I didn’t know there was a point system, and matadors are judged on their positioning of the bull as well as their style. One really interesting fact I learned is the female bulls pass down the trait of intelligence. For bulls that are raised to fight, it has to be separated from its mother soon after birth. This is because the female bulls and smart, duh, and open their eyes when charging. If a bull used for fighting learned this from his mother, he would be deadly in the ring. I wish I had gone to the museum first, the fight would have been a lot more interesting if I had understood the rules and dynamics of the game. After this, even though we were all getting tired, we went to the Plaza de Espana. The architecture of this plaza was amazing. Currently, the buildings are use for government mostly, and each building represents the provinces in Spain. There was a really cool use of blue in contrast with the brown of the building. In the heat of the summer, and the drought in southern Spain, the moat was dry to the bone. I got a really cool fan from a man selling them in the square. After, we took some time to hang out just taking the views.

On this night we had planned to go to a flamenco dancing at some world-renowned club, and we did go. However we got to the door and it was 60 euro each for the performance. As a group we weighed the pros and cons and decided that it was something we can always come back to Spain and see. We made our way back to Hostel Samay where a guided pub-crawl was due to leave shortly. For 8 euro, we went to 4 different bars, the last one being a “disco tech” and were given a free shot at each place. Of course our guide talked about the drinks that are especially good at each bar. One place was a bar, literally on the sidewalk of a street. It was a circle, and it served from each side. The second to last place we went to was a really cool outdoor bar. I think the entire ship was there. It was awesome, we all hung out for a while and had a good time. We took the entire party from there to the last bar we were scheduled to go to. There was a group of probably over 60 SAS people who followed us. Eventually the party had to come to an end at 3 AM when the bar closed down.

TUESDAY: HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAY! At 4 AM in Spain when I got back to the hostel I got on skype and was the first one to wish him a happy 21st at mid night! Then I finally went to sleep. Some how, our entire group slept through out alarms and at 10:30 were startled awake realizing our train back to Cadiz left in a half an hour. We booked it out of the hostel and to the train station. I’m pretty sure I left all my sunscreen, but at least I didn’t forget my cell phone like one girl in our group. We got to the bus luckily on time and waited in line to get on. The driver told us that we didn’t have the right ticket. We were so confused about how we tickets that weren’t for that 11:15 bus. Turns out, our friend Flo, who bought our tickets for us (cause none of us knew and Spanish) got a return ticket for Sunday, the day after we got there. We rushed back to the ticket office to see if they could do anything for us. Fortunately there was another train at 1 that would get us back to the ship on time. Unfortunately, we had to pay 11 euro again for a new ticket. Just one of those things that seems to always happen when traveling, the rest of the group had been freaking out, but it could have been a lot worse, I know that first hand. So we took our time having some breakfast (cheese sandwiches) and doing last minute things. I was able to get my post cards out. I did have to scramble for 3 euro though to get a Christmas ornament/key chain, I was all out of bills but dug enough change out of my bag to have enough. When we got back to the ship, everyone was in recovery mode after an exciting weekend. Its weird that the ship already feels like my home, and getting back to it and into my bed was the greatest feeling.

Location: 2066 nautical miles from Halifax, 602 to go until Spain

Its Thursday afternoon on the ship and I've just eaten lunch and finished classes for the day. this morning I had Global Studies and History of Jazz, both of which are slightly entertaining. The jazz professor especially, its fun to watch him get really into the music sames he play. He closes his eyes and bobs his head to every beat, occasionally adding in some air piano, drums, or saxophone. Classes so far haven't been too bad, a lot of reading though, and a 2000 word essay due tomorrow for the comparative history of women. ugh. Today I'm scheduled for a bridge tour at 1630 which should be cool to see how and where everything is operating from. I have most of my plans set for Spain. On the first night (Saturday) I found a bunch of girls that I'll be staying at a hostel with in Cadiz. Turns out they ran out of beds, so our whole group will be on the roof top sleeping in hammocks! Sunday morning we will either take a train or bus to sevilla where we will spend two nights at a hostel there (with the same group of girls.)

Finally everyone is adjusting to the rocking of the ship, I really don't even feel it anymore unless I concentrate on it. Also, everyone has found their sea legs and can (almost) walk in straight lines down the hall.

Tuesday night, there was a dance as well as pub night which had a mash-up theme. There we're quite some interesting out fits thrown together. The goal was to look at crazy and mixed up as possible, and many many people accomplished that. On that night everyone came to the bar and the line for drinks wrapped all the way around the pool. Because of the 3 drink limit, everyone ended up getting a drink and then getting back in line to drink it while waiting to get another drink.

I tried working out the other day which was interesting. I chose the elliptical which was my best bet of a machine I wouldn't fall off of. it was nice looking out the window at the sea and watching the rocking of the ship. You could definitely feel the movement though, as some times you we're falling forward, and sometimes you were falling back, trying to hold onto the handles to not get tossed off.

Everything else has been really good. Foods decent, people are nice, and the weather is great (some days). On the sunny days its impossible to find a chair on the pool deck cause everyone is in their swim suits, half reading for class, and half relaxing in the sun.

Anyway, I'll have more to write about once we finally arrive on dry land, and some pics to put up too.

Until next time, peace out.