This is hysterical...

Turkey

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and school is as hectic as ever. I don't think I have ever been this stressed during a semester. In fact, yesterday, I got so stressed out that I threw up. I know, gross, but it happened. Although the majority of my "break" will be spent working on ads or doing projects on my computer, I am so ready for the big day of Thanksgiving! For the past five years, my cousins and I have banned turkey on Thanksgiving (pause for gasps). This is not because we are trying to go against the grain, make a statement, or because we do not like turkey. We boycott the poultry on this day because we know what lies ahead, vats of turkey salad. Every Friday after Thanksgiving, my Mamaw takes all of the leftover turkey and makes it into the most mouth watering, crunchy, sweet turkey salad you have ever had. Pecans, relish, mayo, and turkey along with her special touch... incredible. Because of this great treat, we give up turkey so that there is more turkey for turkey salad. I am too hungry to write anymore at this point, but I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

I would go gay for Taylor Swift...

Skip forward to like 6 minutes because thats where it starts.

Funny/Strange Words

if they aren't funny at first, just say them over and over again until they start to sound really weird:

goat
croissant
equestrian
mars
folks
yodel
tinsel
laminate
algae
fork
snort
ficus
curtsy
poop
boob
tingle
toilet
pinto
easel
porridge
meal
leak
lint
eel
purple
nose
posse
mouse

that is all for now.

Knees

I really hate knees. Although they serve a good purpose, they are the ugliest part of the body. If there was one way to describe them it would probably be bulbous. I don't really know what that word means, but I think that it really summarizes knees. More than knees, its knee caps. The protrude from the body and look weird if the legs are held straight. It is possible to lessen the ugliness by keeping the knee bent. But you can't have both knees bent unless you are sitting or are really uncomfortable, so one leg always looks ugly when you are standing. I find knees extremely unfortunate.

Political Stance

I typically like to keep it light on this blog, but I can't help but argue a point when it comes to the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes. While marijuana is often seen to be demotivating and completely disabling, it has many health benefits. It helps with sleep, anxiety, nausea, and helps people relax from the stressful, American life. On top of all this, marijuana is not addictive at all. If it is compared with other legal drugs, such as oxycontin, it is miles ahead of the game. Oxycontin is a great pain medication, however, it is extremely addictive. So, why can we allow such an addictive drug to be distributed and not allow a non-addictive drug? Your answer might contain a concern for people driving under the influence of marijuana, but that argument is flawed. Legal drugs, like oxycontin, or even alcohol, are highly dangerous to take when driving. If we can get by with a simple statement on a bottle that reads "do not drive or operate machinery while on this medication," what is so different about weed? Furthermore, weed is a highly lucrative business, bringing in billions of dollars every year. We are in a recession, and this could save our asses. Just a thought.

Dream Car

Most people hope for something fancy like a Lamborgini, an Aston Martin, or a Ferrari when it comes to their dream car, but not me. My dream car is a Jeep Wrangler. I have always wanted one, since I was like 10 when "Clueless" came out. I want it to be white with a tan soft top, or yellow with a black soft top. I would want it to be the "Sport" edition, not because of the features it provides, but because "sport" is written in really cool font on the side of the jeep. When I got my first car, my parents were really close to getting me the jeep of my dreams, but then decided that a 4Runner would be safer. I am not complaining, I love my car (her name is Rudy), its just, I REALLY want a jeep (hint hint, wink wink, Christmas list...).

Twitter

Okay, so I finally gave in and got a twitter. I am not happy about the situation. For months I have been an avid hater of this social networking site. It seems stupid, but really its just a shit ton of fun. I get to express my every thought whenever I want to people who might care less or might think it is the best thing they have ever heard. It is an excellent waste of time and I love it. Ugh, I can't believe I love it. Why did I do this?

Advertising as Art

Agency: TBWA

Location: Portugal

In this campaign from BIC's permanent markers, a series of ads were created to show how the markers are as permanent as a tattoo. They include both beautiful design and photography.

Agency: Ogilvy & Mather

Location: Shanghai, China

This campaign for Unicef blows my mind. It is absolutely brilliant. The time that was taken to paint the children exactly like the background astounds me. The kids actually look invisible. This ad doesn't even need words.

Agency: Fallon

Location: London

The Sony Bravia "colour. like no other." campaign is my favorite commercial campaign series to watch. They are beautiful and astonishing because they are all real, not computer generated. I think that is what makes this piece art; it makes what might seem impossible, possible; it brings color to life. Again, no words are needed.

Agency: Ogilvy & Mather

Location: Toronto

Dove really hit a home run with this commercial. It hits the nail on the head in regards to how the media is effecting young women nationwide. The ad is both useful and beautiful, and in my opinion art because of both its beauty and usefulness, but also because no words are needed. The words may make it more powerful, but the message would still come across without them.

Agency: Widen and Kennedy

Location: Portland, OR

I like how this campaign shows the dreams and desires that are so common among those who are on opposing teams. It brings "enemies" together. Kind of shows the world how similar we all really are, even if they are being paid millions of dollars to play basketball. It is a novel idea. The ad differs from those previously posted because words are key here. The words and the visual in this case are equally important because of the context; they have to talk together so that the visual will work, but they also have to say the same things for the message to come across fully.

Laps

When I bring up a lap, I am not referring to one time around the track, or one trip down the pool. I am actually talking about that disappearing entity known as your "lap." What is a lap really, and furthermore, does a lap exist? A lap is only present when one is sitting and the waist is bended, most likely the person is creating a 90 degree angle between their torso and the thighs. In this instance, the lap is usable for another person to sit on, dance on (if you are into that), or to merely rest your hands or a magazine. The issue of the laps validity as a thing is questioned when the person stands. At this 180 degree angle of the body, there is no existence of a lap. Where did it go? One might argue that the lap still exists, it is just not useful while standing, but I think it may be the most brilliant trick a person can play. Can't you just see a magician threatening to make a person in the audience's lap to disappear, and then just asking them to simply stand up?BRILLIANT!

In Reflection...

I am excited to come home, but I can imagine I will miss it here a lot. Its interesting how quickly the ship becomes home to all of us. Upon seeing the ship after a grueling hike on Mount Vesuvius or my long trip in Egypt, I remember thinking “ahhh, finally, I am home!” At this point, I cannot imagine not going somewhere new each day, experiencing a culture entirely different from my own, and being utterly swept up. I was looking at the map Autumn and I hung in our room, charting our voyage as we went along, and it astounds me how little of the world we actually saw. Sure, its more traveling than most people will do in their lifetime, but its so little in the grand scheme of things. It makes the idea of global citizenship even more relevant in my mind, because we are a part of the world, not just the USA.

There are a lot of little things about the ship I will miss. For instance, I love walking around and seeing all of the different t-shirts and soccer jerseys for each of the previous ports that people wear everyday. I will miss passing Delroy at the Piano Bar and giving him a hard time for working too much. I will miss getting my mealtime calls from my friends to meet on Deck 5 (I will not miss the food!). I enjoy my ritual of walking into the dining hall and getting hand sanitizer from the strategically placed dispensers. I will miss not being able to go out on the deck and sit for hours, starring into the never ending abyss. I will miss hearing Dia come over the intercom everyday, always starting with GOOD EVENING (or AFTERNOON) VOYAGERS, giving us the latest statistics on our progress and announcing the evenings events. I will miss the little bit of satisfaction of reading the dean’s memo everyday for what movies will be playing that night.

I will really miss the environment on the ship. Everyone here is really geared towards learning. If SMU held the same optional seminars that are held on this ship, they wouldn’t have even half the number of people who show up. I thought, surely, it would die off by the end, but it didn’t! Every “Explorer Seminar” was packed. The seminars ranged from discussions on Human Rights, to architecture in Spain, to entrepreneurship, to the Hip-Hop culture in Morocco, to female circumcision and human trafficking issues the world is facing. I will miss going to pre-port before we get to a new country and trying to guess the population amongst other statistics for a bag of M&Ms, or hearing our crazy on-ship doctor talk about wearing condoms and avoiding travelers diarrhea (included but not limited to: Turkey Trot, Pharaohs Revenge, and the Moroccan Mudslide).

When this trip began, I knew exactly who I was and exactly what I believed, but it has all changed in just 67 days. I am still essentially the same person, but I have changed more than I ever expected. I understand now how important it is to reassess and seriously question your own beliefs, even if its frustrating. My thirst for knowledge has grown exponentially, especially when it comes to language. Traveling has become a need as opposed to a want. I learned how to be a traveler instead of a tourist, how to really adapt to a culture and understand that the world isn’t full of people just like me. I have been reaffirmed that the heart of life is good and that most people in this world are well-intended. I made some of the best friends I have ever had. It is hard to believe how quickly you get to know people when you travel together. I feel like I have known Sarah and Audrey my whole life and I am so excited that they live only 20 minutes from me in Dallas! Coming back to a place that is essentially the same as when I left it, I can’t help but be a little scared as to how I will fit. Don’t jump to think that I am a completely different person, its just that I have such new perspectives and have experienced so much, I can’t begin to think how I will be able to explain it to anyone. The only way I can describe it at this point is that this truly was the solitary, absolute, BEST experience I have ever had!

Its my BIRTHDAY!

August 15, 1989 may have been the greatest day in earth’s history. Why you ask? Well, isn’t it obvious? I was born on that extraordinary day 20 years ago. My birthday started off with 8 a.m. Oceanography class. I didn’t particularly want to get up for it, but I made the sacrifice as it was our last day of class. After that, I decided to relax and watch a movie. So many things started to go right from then on out. I had a hot stone massage that was absolutely incredible, followed by my philosophy class being out on the deck. Dinner that night was one of the best we have had on the ship, and my friends got me cookies that were fresh out of the oven, and we had cake! That night, we were informed that the ship’s lights would be turned off for star gazing. Sarah, Audrey, and I headed up to the starboard side of Deck 7, got yoga mats to lay on, and were amazed by the universe that hung in our reach. We are thousands of miles away from land in every direction, so I don’t know that there is any comparison to this kind of star gazing. It was one of those moments where everything makes sense, stress was instantaneously gone, and instead of feeling small and insignificant, oddly you feel full of purpose and meaning. It is so incredible to me that even when we are in the middle of the Atlantic ocean, this program can still provide us with those “once in a lifetime” experiences. Needless to say, I had a wonderful birthday!

You Shouldn't Drink and Drive Camels

In the nights leading up to our final port, we had a shipboard auction to help raise money for the scholarship fund. Everyone had number paddles and only four had stars on the back, which meant you got a free prize. I was one of those four! Woohoo, the prize was small, a thermos from Greece, but still awesome! Also, we had movie nights where Casablanca played. I watched it three times! I love that movie, and we were right around the corner from porting in Casablanca. Again, our first morning I woke up early and headed to the starboard side of the fifth deck dining room to get on my SAS trip. I had a lot of friends going on the trip so I was very excited. The morning was horrendously unplanned though and it took about four hours to finally get on the busses. There were 7 tour guides for 200 students, spread throughout 16 minibuses. My bus had a lot of the same people from my Egypt trip, so I was excited to hang out with them again. We spent 4 hours driving to Marrakech and stopped about 3 times along the way, each stop lasted a minimum of 30 minutes. It was kind of frustrating. After we finally got to Marrakech we had lunch in the main square and then had free time to go shopping. I got a sweet awesome CD of Arabic and French hip hop that I have been listening to religiously. That night we went to a Horse Fantasia which was fun, but kind of disappointing. The cool part lasted about 20 minutes of the 4 hour experience and was the riding tricks the horse riders did. They did handstands, jumped from one side to the other while the horses were galloping, it was crazy!

The next morning we had a 6 a.m. wake up call to drive to Zagora. Zagora was 8 hours away, not including stops. My bus leaders could possibly have been the most annoying couple I have ever met. The woman in particular was rude and fulfilled the typical Asian stereotype. I didn’t let this stop me from having a good time, it just made it more difficult. When we finally reached Zagora, we were informed that the nomads didn’t have enough camels for all of us, so we could only trek half way and then switch with people walking. Let me just say, it is the Sahara, walking in sand is difficult, especially in 130 degree heat. We finally reached the Nomad village after about 45 minutes and riding the camel was awesome! Walking really wasn’t all that bad. The village was so cool, and the Nomads immediately welcomed us with folklore dancing and singing. I got to dance with them multiple times! At 9 p.m. we had a delicious nomad dinner that resembled pot roast. It was scrumptious! Dessert was fresh watermelon that was incredible. After eating, Audrey and I laid out on the carpets around the campfire, and looked at the stars. I have never seen so many. It was so cool since we were away from all life forms and lights for hundreds of miles. The tents were very nice, each with 7 mattresses, which I was not expecting. Around 1 a.m. things started to go downhill. I was rudely awakened by a group of about 15 “SASholes” who were extremely drunk and running around, screaming, like idiots. Long story short, they were incredibly rude, offended the nomads so much that they actually left their tents and went and slept out in the dessert, a fight broke out, and eventually broke a tent beyond repair. It was so embarrassing for me and everyone affiliated with SAS because of them.

The next day we had a camel trek back to the busses. Let me just say, camels are much higher up than you think and they are like riding a really rocky horse. It was so much fun! I named mine Lila. When we made it back to Marrakech we were all excited to get off of the bus. Audrey and I went back to the market and bought some awesome souvenirs and presents. It was our last night in a foreign country, so we were a little bummed and still excited to come home. It was definitely an interesting trip, and although there were a lot of negatives out of my control, I loved Morocco! I would go back without a second thought. 

The next morning we went to the grocery story and stocked up for our 9 day trek across the Atlantic, back to America. It is really bittersweet, but I will wrap it all up soon! We made it back safely and now its time to head home!

Walk Like Egyptian

Alas we hit EGYPT! Porting in Alexandria, I woke up early to meet in the deck 5 dining room for my first real SAS trip. As 120 of us piled into the starboard side of the dining room, professors began to call out names and distribute passports. After what might have been the most inefficient process of handing out passports, we got on our busses and headed for Cairo! Little did we know, the bus we picked was to be our group throughout the entire trip. With none of my friends joining me on my trip, I was excited to meet new people. I really lucked out with the bus I got on because there were no “SASholes,” otherwise known as pompous, shallow voyagers. Our tour guide, Mohammad soon after named us “Crocodiles” which proved to be annoying by the end of the trip. After an hour drive, we had a delicious lunch at a hotel and then headed for the pyramids! I can not describe the overwhelming excitement you experience when you see this great wonder of the world. I honestly never truly thought I would be standing arms length from the Pyramids of Giza, but I was and I was in the moment! When we first got off of our bus we were surrounded by Egyptian men trying to sell us head coverings, papyrus, and cat statues. It was the most harassed I had been so far and I almost punched a few people. They would just put things on your head, and grab you by the arm, it was not pleasant. They would also say, “no charge”, give you something (even if you refused) and then ask you for money. Even when my friend Benjamin and I got pictures taken by a guard, he asked us for money. Luckily, we hadn’t hit an ATM so there was nothing we could do. Once we outran the beggars and camel owners, we were able to really take in the greatness of the pyramids. Once we had taken far too many pictures, we headed for our hotel. It was by far the nicest place I have stayed at on this voyage. It was just below Ritz Carlton status. My roommate and I got along, especially after we discovered our mutual love for Dave Matthews and Chelsea Handler. That night, we went back to the pyramids for the sound and light show. As cool as this sounds, it was not what I would have picked out to do. It should have been called, “creepy history lesson with laser beam show.” Exhausted, we headed back to the hotel.

A few hours later, we woke up to our 3:30 a.m. wake up call, got breakfast in boxes, and went to the airport for our flight to Luxor. By 9:00 a.m. we were visiting the Valley of the Kings. The Valley of the Kings is a huge excavation site where the tombs of Ramses II, Tutankhamen, and other famous pharaohs can be found. The tombs were insanely cool. The hieroglyphics on the walls were so well preserved and still held their original color. I was stoked for our next stop, the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut! The first time I learned of Egyptian history was when I played “Where in Time is Carmen SanDiego?” One level shows Queen Hatshepsut in front of her temple and you have to help her do a bunch of stuff so that she will help you find Carmen SanDiego. It was really surreal for me to see the temple I had first seen on a computer screen 10 year prior. As  if that isn’t enough, Queen Hatshepsut rocked! She was the first, and only woman pharaoh of Egypt. Next we went and saw the Colossi of Memnon (two giant statues of pharaohs) that was awesome. Finally we ate lunch at our hotel and had about an hour to rest. We then went to Karnak and Luxor temples. They were both filled with history and just too cool. We then had the rest of the night to recoup at our hotel before our 6:30 a.m. wake up call.

Once we arrived in Aswan, we immediately hopped on a bus and visited Philae Temple and the High Dam. On our way, most of the bus napped, and then was woken up to the sound of Mohammed saying “Crocodiles! Wake up crocodiles!” The High Dam was quite disappointing as I was expecting it to be like the Hoover Dam… lets just say, it was bout 1/16 the size of the Hoover Dam. Also, I forgot to mention that before we got off our bus at each site, Mohammed would say “Crocodiles, ready? ATTACK!” Its kind of fun. Anyways, we then headed to our hotel which was on an island in the middle of the Nile… SO COOL! Subsequent to our lunch, we had a Felucca ride down the Nile! It was awesome! The Nubian people who owned the Felucca had us up dancing to and singing traditional Nubian songs. I have video of the epicness. That night, we went to the bazaar by horse drawn carriage. I got saffron, presents, and postcards. On the way back, the carriage driver let me drive. It was both exciting and scary. I didn’t realize how fast the horses were going until I got up front. I mean, I thought they were trotting, it was a full on canter. Exhausted yet again, I immediately went to sleep when we got back to the hotel.

After a 7:00 a.m. wakeup call, we headed to the airport again for our flight to Abu Simble. Abu Simble is a huge temple that was actually carved out of a mountain. When it was discovered, it was completely submerged in water and the entire mountain had to be moved. How do you move a mountain? I do not know. The flight was well worth it even though it was incredibly hot, hotter than Luxor (where it was about 125 degrees F). Abu Simble is only 15 km from Sudan, so needless to say, we were about as far down as we could get in Egypt. After visiting the temple, we hopped back on a plane to Aswan where we had free time to rest at the hotel. The best experience yet happened after dinner. We had the option to pay $15 to got to a Nubian village. I, of course, quickly agreed! Let me first explain about Nubians. Nubians are a group of people who have their own language, culture, and no formal papers. To the government, they don’t actually exist and there are upwards of 200,000 of them. This means they do not have any form of health care options within Egypt, nor do rules really apply to them. They do, however, have their own form of government and are self-sufficient. Following our incredible boat ride down Nile, we got to the village. Going to the village was a lot more like being in stereotypical Africa as opposed to Egypt. The buildings were brightly colored and they had tons of camels. When we first arrived, we had a lesson in Arabic by one of the professors of the village. We then went to a home where they welcomed us with some of the most delicious tea I have ever had. They also served us bread with three different dipping sauces, one sweet, one salty, and the other an in-between… delicious! After eating and drinking, we were able to hold the typical Nubian pet… a real crocodile! It was really weird feeling, like somewhere between a dog and a snake. We then got henna tattoos by one of the girls who lived in the house. When we left, it was night time. The boat we came on had a roof, so we all decided to climb on top and star gaze while we rode on the Nile back to our hotel. I can honestly not describe how incredible that experience was. It was one of those moments that is both indescribable and impossible to capture with any type of media. When we arrived back at our hotel, we went to our last dinner in Egypt. There was a show of cultural dance and music and I was pulled up three times to dance in front of the whole restaurant. AWESOME!

The next morning we went back to the airport for our final flight to Cairo and visited the Egyptian Archeological Museum. Even though I tend to hate museums, this one was pretty cool. It had all of King Tutankhamen’s jewelry, coffin, and possessions. Reluctantly, we drove back to Alexandria, got on the ship, and set sail to Morocco.

Bulgaria...

Bulgaria sucked. It was like being at Myrtle Beach, but trashier. Wait for an update on Egypt because it was incredible. It may be a few blogs worth.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles... and Everything Else...

I have never taken so much public transportation in my life. I have already traveled by:
•       Taxi
•       Bus
•       Train
•       Plane
•       Ship
•       Water bus
•       Metro/Subway
•       Tender boat
•       Bike taxi
•       Tram
•       Trolley
•       Shuttle
•       Hydrofoil
•       Minibus
Transportation to come:
•       Camel
•       Raft
•       Horse
•       Safari Jeep

I never really realized how much my parents spent on vacations before this, especially transportation, but traveling this way is actually really fun. It gives so much insight into cultures and it is so cheap! It is also really liberating because you have to figure everything out on your own and you feel a great sense of accomplishment when you make it to where you want to go, safely. The biggest downside to public transportation is that body odor is significantly abundant, so sometimes it is difficult to breathe without gagging. The other downside is that it can get really cramped on the larger modes of transportation (buses, trains, subways, etc.) so you have to be really aware of your belongings, which isn’t too bad if you are a savvy traveler.

Istanbul, Turkey

Everything that happened after the epic concert:

Day 2 – After the crazy night before, I decided I would sleep until my heart was content, which ended up being 12:30 p.m. But, EVERYTHING in Istanbul was closed for a religious holiday so there was absolutely nothing to do, so I didn’t feel too bad about wasting half of my day. Sarah and Audrey were both gone on an SAS trip so Autumn, my roommate, and I , hung out and watched movies. It was nice to relax after the intense day of rocking my face off at the festival.

Days 3, 4, 5 – I can’t quite remember what day was which so this is just going to be a spilling of all the events in a non-chronological order. The Grand Bazaar is one of the main tourist destinations of Istanbul. They have everything from pacshmina scarves to handmade lights, carpets, and tapestries. It was a fun place to go because I love to barter. In fact, my main objective for Turkey was to buy a carpet, also known as a rug, because I regretted not getting one when I went last summer on my cruise of the Greek islands. The carpet store I found was very reliable and, of course, in true Turkish fashion, very hospitable. I did not plan on buying a handmade carpet because they are exponentially more expensive and I don’t really support how they are made. Anyways, I fell in love with this one rug that cost 900 Euro, or 1,200 USD. My bartering skills then kicked in and I got the rug down to 300 USD! The guy was really angry about making the deal, so I know that it was a good deal. Although I spent way to much money overall, I got a majority of my souvenir shopping done!

I believe it was the 3rd night that Sarah, Audrey, Autumn, and I decided to go see Harry Potter. When we arrived at the movie theater we were disappointed to find out the last showing started at 8:30 and it was already 9:15 p.m., so we headed out to find somewhere to get dinner. Right as we walked outside, we stumbled across a hookah bar. It was such a great atmosphere and, as usual, the Turkish people were super nice. Hookah is really fun, and not bad for you. Mom, I know what you are thinking, but its not. Anyways, we got double apple, which was really tasty. We also decided to get some Turkish tea. The tea comes in a bunch of different flavors, my personal favorite being kiwi. Aside from Hookah, backgammon is a huge part of the culture. While we were in the hookah bar, we made friends with the owner and asked him to teach us how to play. At first it was difficult to catch on because he would get frustrated with how long it took us to make a move, he would just do it for us. Eventually he left to serve other customers so we were able to really catch on. The next day I went back to the grand bazaar and got the most beautiful backgammon board and we have been playing it on the ship since. Actually, the first place we played it was right after we left the grand bazaar. We went back to the hookah bar, got some “tost” (pretty much a grilled cheese) and tea, and played on my backgammon board. Pretty cool story as to how I learned how to play!

While walking through the port one day, I met a guy named Volcan, who worked in customs, and wanted to exchange emails with me. Excited for another foreign friend, I of course said yes, and we have been emailing back and forth. I have been so taken back by the culture of this country. Everyone is so accommodating and so nice it is ridiculous. The people are so nice that if they came to the states, our culture would label them as creepy or “sketch”, but really they aren’t, it is just part of them to be extremely friendly.

The last day, Sarah, Audrey, and I got up early to see the famous Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia. They were both incredibly beautiful and, ultimately, like most things, indescribable. The Hagia Sophia (pronounced Haya, not Hag-ia), to my suprise, was originally a christian church, that later was turned into a mosque, and finally, a museum. Had we gone later that day to the Blue Mosque, around 12:00 p.m., Anne Hathaway was there. WHO KNEW!? A little disappointed I missed seeing her, but as I am not a huge fan of hers as it is, it wasn't too much of a disappointment. After all of our early sight seeing, we sat down for some lunch right near the ship because Sarah had an afternoon SAS trip to catch. Audrey and I decided afterwards to go grab our computers and head across the street to a small cafe with free wifi! I love getting internet, especially when it is free!

The one thing I will not miss about Europe in general is the constant bombardment and harassment a visitor will face when going to see “the sites” or in large shopping areas by tour guides and shop owners, respectively. I have never been told “I Love You” and asked “Will you be my beautiful customer?” so many times as when I was in the Grand Bazaar.

I did eventually see Harry Potter and was thoroughly disappointed.

I will definitely be going back to Istanbul. It may even be my favorite stop yet! The thing I loved about it most was the culture, if that wasn’t already made abundantly clear. The culture was finally rich and distinctive. It was so easy to feel and sink into, it really gave great insight into the country as a whole.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Pictures have been posted on my facebook for Spain, Italy, Croatia, and Greece. Turkey pictures will be up in the very near future! Also, if there is a particular souvenir you would like from either Egypt or Morocco, email me and let me know and I will be happy to bring it back for you!

31 days until I return to America! Miss and love you all!

Rock n' Coke 2009 Istanbul!

I can’t even begin to describe this day. It was absolutely incredible. I went to one of the biggest festivals in Turkey, the Rock n’ Coke 2009 Istanbul Festival! First, let me just say that I have the some of the best luck in the universe. I was really concerned on how to get to the concert and who to go with. To my surprise, both Sarah and Audrey already had tickets to go as well! This took care of who to go with… then we just had to deal with how to get there. If you have never been or looked at a map of Istanbul, it is the biggest city in Europe, so we had no idea where the concert was or how long it would take to get there. With our great luck, we met a group of people going to the concert, one of them a Turkish native and his father works for Coca-Cola. With that being said, we were able to get on a private minibus that took us to the Asian side of Istanbul, 45 minutes away right to the entrance, all for only $10 USD. We arrived at the festival around 12:00 p.m. and immediately got free cokes and bought some lunch. We then wandered from tent to tent where we got free t-shirts, bought a few t-shirts, listened to music, played guitar hero on a big stage, sang karaoke, and soaked in the atmosphere. We also got chips on a stick which are full potatoes that are cut and spiraled around a stick, then deep fried and sprinkled with your choice of seasoning. I got BBQ, Mexican Chili, and Cheese Onion on mine, it was delicious. We decided to chill for a few minutes and in that time we started talking to some of the locals who were attending the concert. We met a photographer and she gave me all of her info, she said I could come work for her someday, so I will be keeping in touch with her! I also made another Turkish friend who visits Dallas a lot and got her info so that she can come hang out with me there!

Now, on to the actual concert part. It started off with a Turkish band called Aylin Aslim, then the Howling Bells, and another Turkish band, Emre Ayden. After those bands finished, the crowd cleared out quite a bit so we decided to go up and wait at the front. Ends up we stood front and center for the next 7 hours. It was insane! We saw Juliette Lewis, Jane’s Addiction, Duman (the biggest band in Turkey), Nine Inch Nails, and The Prodigy! I can’t even explain how incredible it was.  Not only did we get to stand up front the entire time, we met a ton of more people, including two guys, one who worked in an ADVERTISING firm, and one who was a small business owner. We met one of the bouncers, named Alp, who had gone to LSU for school and then moved back to Turkey. He was super cool.

It was so cool how well the night worked out. The two guys we met were really cool, trustworthy people and bought us drinks and food all night and would bring it to us so we didn’t lose our places. Of course, we were really smart about it, switching off and on, drinking what they gave us to make sure it wasn’t drugged or anything. We also met a bunch of guys who were some of the best “moshers” I have ever seen and were incredibly nice. It was great meeting all of these guys because I tend to attract creepers and they would protect me from them.

The music was so different to what I normally listen to, but I loved it! I was always kind of scared of the “hardcore rock” crowd, but the people ended up being so real and nice, not scary at all! Being in the front, the bouncers would occasionally bring out water hoses and spray everyone down. Since Alp knew me, he would literally spray me right in the face so that I was drenched from head to toe by the end of the night. I still can’t believe how close I was the artists last night. O, and I got a guitar pick from Duman, the biggest band in Turkey! Go me! We then met up with the rest of the SAS crowd, got on our private minibus, drove back into Europe, and arrived back to the ship around 4 a.m. What a crazy day?!

Greece

Day 1 - Back to Athens! It is so cool that one year ago, I found out about Semester at Sea in this very port of Piraeus, Greece and I am back actually on the ship this time. Another great thing was that I really remembered Athens and how to get around… well, at least in certain areas. Audrey, Sarah, and I set out for Athens early in the morning. As we searched for the metro, we started to get frustrated early on. We found a place for lunch in Piraeus and regrouped our selves. We found out the metro was actually about a 30 minute walk from the port. Finally making it into Athens, we got to the Placa where the best, flea market shopping is. I got tons of souvenirs, found my artwork for Greece (I am getting artwork in every country I go to), and even found some jewelry for myself! We then caught a  tram that looked like a “choo-choo” train to get to the acropolis. I decided to skip the acropolis as I had just gone a year ago and wasn’t all that impressed the first time. While they explored the acropolis, I hung out below, got an orange slushy and people watched. It was great! About 45 minutes later, Sarah and Audrey came disappointingly down the hill as the acropolis didn’t live up to the hype. We then went to catch the tram and go to dinner. For dinner we went to Politico! Politico was my favorite restaurant from last summer because it has the best hummus I have ever had. It was still a good as I remember! We then found a great internet café, made some Skype phone calls and leisurely surfed facebook. Exhausted, we decided to head back to recharge for the next day on the ship.

Day 2 in Greece was a trip to Delphi through SAS for my philosophy class. We traveled by bus for three hours to Delphi. When we got there I was taken back by the history of the place. I took tons of pictures for the voyage book and finally got a great place to use my wide-angle lens, I was excited! Before the three hour trek back to the ship, we stopped for lunch near Delphi where I had one of the best meals of the trip. We started with these little spinach pastries that were incredible and then was followed by chicken and rice that was cooked to perfection. Dessert was super fresh watermelon.

That night, Sarah, Audrey, Tim, Dan, Nesthy, and I decided we wanted to go out in Athens. We first went to a karaoke bar in Piraeus where Audrey and Nesthy blew us away with  their amazing voices. Sarah and I made an embarrassing attempt to sing “Wannabe” by the Spice Girls. After that, the night ended up being a bust and we didn’t find a good place to go out to. In our cab ride back, the driver showed us where all of the clubs actually were and we felt like fools since they were very close to where we started. The driver also dared us to name the 12 Greek gods/goddesses for a discount. We got 10 out of 12 and I offered up about half of them, so, I was still satisfied.

Day 3 – Audrey, Sarita (Sarah Cogdill), LaSarah (Sarah Morgan), Tara, and I headed to Hydra Island by hydrofoil. The island was super authentic and was not one I had visited in my previous trip to Greece. The whole island was completely free of motor vehicles, everything was done with donkey’s or wheelbarrows, SO COOL! It was quiet, yet rich with culture. The shopping on the island was somewhat expensive but great. For the first couple hours we walked around browsing the shops and taking in the simplicity of life on the island. We then decided to get an afternoon snack. I had been craving a crepe the whole time so I ordered a chocolate and strawberry crepe. Unfortunately, the crepe pan wasn’t working, so I had to settle for a waffle… tough life, I know. It was the best waffle of my life. No exaggeration. It was absolutely incredible. The chocolate was thick and creamy, and the strawberries tasted like they had just been picked out of the most perfectly ripe field. I cannot describe it other than if heaven was a dish, it would have been that waffle. After we were full on waffles and coffee, we decided it was time to go cliff diving and cave swimming. The water was even better than Croatia, which I could not believe was possible! Jumping off of the cliff was so much fun and the cave was awesome. I got some great pictures of myself underwater with Tara’s underwater camera.  Sarita tends to hurt herself constantly and pulled a leg muscle while jumping off of the cliff so she was content with laying by the beach for a while. Audrey and I decided to go wander some shops and find a good place for dinner. We ran across this restaurant that had the most incredible view. It was right on the water and overlooked where the sun would set. The only downside was that it was really expensive. We had discussed earlier in the trip wanting to have a really nice dinner and then decided that this would be it. We convinced the other three to go and we ended up getting the best seat in the house. Our table was jutted off from the rest of the restaurant and was just indescribable. I had the catch of the day which was a succulent sea bass with roasted vegetables and fresh lettuce. We split two bottles of wine and had great conversation. It was one of my favorite nights of the trip so far. Afterward, we went bar hopping around the island and laughed the night away.
Tara headed in early and when I got back she was asleep. I quickly changed and got into bed. The small air conditioning unit above her bed then started pouring water. She didn’t wake up, so I put some towels down and turned the A/C off. This proved to be awful later in the night as I woke up sweating.

Day 4 – The group got up and headed to breakfast before we had to catch our hydrofoil back to Piraeus. I started my day with a sorbet smoothie and toast. It was incredible, as usual with my meals in port. After a few more hours of roaming around, Audrey and I went to catch the hydrofoil. On our way we stopped to buy crepes for lunch that were insanely good, again, as usual. We both were dreading getting back on the non-air-conditioned, cramped boat, but were completely surprised when the boat was much nicer than the first time and we had a table and really nice, wide, uncrowded seats. Along the ride, the national new was shown on the TV and to our surprise, there was Semester at Sea! So cool! Upon arriving back in Piraeus we went to a local grocery store and stocked up on snacks for our rooms to save us from the vial ship food. I spent the remainder of the day uploading photos, hanging out in Sarah and Audrey’s room, writing postcards, and having some resting time.

Today on the ship has been stressful at best. As I am excited to be in Istanbul tomorrow, I will have four papers due between Turkey and Bulgaria, which is only one day so I have to get them done now if I don’t want to do them while in Turkey.

Croatia

Croatia was absolutely incredible. I had no idea what to expect before visiting the country, and it absolutely blew me away. The city was really cool because it was guarded by huge, “castle-like” walls. The view from the walls was astonishing. The water was crystal clear with beautiful greens and blues. I spent the majority of the first day running around with my trusty travel buddies, Sarah and Audrey, as well as another Sarah, Tim, and Dan. We ate delicious, Croatia pizza (they are known for their pizza), had some amazing gelato, and walked the city walls with fresh squeezed orange juice. After walking the walls, we decided to wander the backside of the city and found a small restaurant on the side of a cliff that had a stairway down to the ocean. This was were a bunch of locals were hanging out and cliff diving (basically a sport in Croatia). After seeing the water was safe to jump into, the cliff jumping commenced. That night we followed dinner on the ship with going out to a club called East West. It was fun. The end.

The next day, Sarah and I decided we wanted to go to Bosnia. We walked around for a good hour trying to find a bus to Bosnia and after many failed attempts, we decided to give up and find an island. We looked at a map, pointed to an island, and went. The island was insane! It is called Locrum and is the national park of Croatia. As we walked on the unpaved path past wild peacocks, we found a beach… a nude beach. Since we are both always up for new experiences, we decided to go. The beach proved to be, well, lets say, interesting. It was mostly men which made us a little uncomfortable, but we got use to it. We climbed the rocky beach over to peak of the island and found a mostly, private area to lay out in. The view was nothing short of perfect and the waves crashing on the rocky shore was all you could hear.  In a moment of stupidity, I decided I wanted to climb down and get in the ocean. In my defense, there was a ladder used to get into the water, however, the ocean was really rough, so the waves were about my height, or higher once I got down to the bottom. A man from above shouted, “You shouldn’t go there” right as I was being thrashed by a tsunami like wave. At this point, I had pretty much figured that out, turned around, stuck up my thumb and said “thanks!” Sarah could not help but laugh at me… for the next 20 minutes… Both “you shouldn’t go there” and “thanks (with a thumbs up)” is part of our daily conversation now.

So, after my near death experience, we headed back towards the main beach to go swimming. The water was perfect. A few minutes later, three extremely attractive men anchored their boat right in front of us. As Sarah and I had gotten out to dry off, we immediately decided we should get back in. We swam up to the guys playing water polo and asked them to teach us how to play. I was actually really good at it! After playing water polo and talking with them for about half an hour, we missed our ferry so the guys offered to give us a ride back to the old city in their boat. As I have a wonderful judge of character, I had no reservations about these guys, they were really trustworthy (trust me and don’t tell me to be careful on this one…). We got out, dried off, got in the boat and headed toward the mainland. On the way, we found out that one was a doctor and one was an entrepreneur who had a laundry service that served the entire island. They then dropped us off and asked us to meet them later that night at a local bar. We quickly ran back to the ship to tell Audrey our story and to get ready to go out. It was exciting to know where the locals go because we were really tired of going to clubs that were run over by SAS kids, otherwise known as SASholes (just kidding). I have found that talking to locals is one of my favorite things to do in these countries as they give the best insight into the culture of the society, plus, it is really interesting to find commonalities between myself and someone who lives on the other side of the world from me. When we went out after dinner, we ran into the guys and had a great night.

The next morning I got up to go on a kayaking trip for my oceanography class and was excited to find out that both Audrey and Tara were in my same group! I decided to go with the advanced group in the sit in kayaks and we kayaked over to Locrum Island. ☺ After swimming and snorkeling for a while, we kayaked back to the beach we left from. The total kayaking experience was about 4 miles or so. After the upper body workout, we got in a lower body workout when we had to hike back up to the bus from the beach. We went up about 300 steps to get to a hill to hike up another hill. Exhausted, Audrey and I decided we would have a chill night and go to use computers in a nearby internet café. After skyping for an hour, we both got hungry and asked some locals where the best pizza in town was. We went to the suggested Mia Culpa and had the best tuna pizza in the world! It was so incredibly good!

The next morning I got up to go kayaking, again! Audrey had planned an independent trip and a few people dropped out so, luckily, I got a spot even though there was a long list of people that wanted on the trip. Ends up, the trip was booked with the same company we went with the day before and I had the same group leader. He was awesome though, so I was fine with it. The trip was much longer and much better. This time, we got to kayak all the way around Locrum Island with a break in between. During the break, the group went to a restaurant where I had the best salad I have ever tasted. It was fresh corn, beans, lettuce, prosciutto, cheese, oil and vinegar. I can’t even describe the freshness that was the corn. IT WAS SOOOOO GOOD.  After our second kayak trip, Audrey and I only thought it right to go back to Mia Culpa for dinner. I was then on a corn kick, so we split a margarita pizza (cheese pizza) topped with corn. Delicious! I then rapidly ran back to the ship in order to finish postcards and get them in the box before 6 p.m. Even though I was able to finish them, most read “I miss you, love, Kelly.” As this was true for everyone I was sending them to, I wish I would have had time to expand more.

One day of classes and the SEA OLYMPICS until we are in GREECE!

Italy!

While in Italy for a second time I visited two cities I had previously been to, Rome and Venice, and three places I had not, Naples, Pompei, and Mount Vesuvius.

Day 1
The morning began with the typical announcements from one of our Dean’s saying “Good Morning Voyagers…” Followed by the days instructions for disembarkation. After receiving my passport I was packed and ready to go. I met up with my newly found travel buddies, Athena and Amanda, and we headed for the train from Civitavecchia to Rome. After waiting at the train station for 30 minutes in the hot sun, the train finally arrived. With no seats left on the extremely crowded train, we stood without any air-conditioning for the hour ride into Rome. Once we made it to Rome Termini, we quickly set out to find our hotel, which luckily was not far. Well, that is to say, it wasn’t far before we got horribly lost. Eventually, we found it, hoping to find our friend Whitney who had a SAS trip into Rome earlier that morning. While awaiting her arrival, we decided to eat some lunch outside the hotel. We all got pizza and it was of course incredible! Two hours after our meeting time, Whitney still had not shown up. We decided it was in our best interest to leave a note and head in to Rome as we only had ½ a day to see it. As I had already seen Rome, it wasn’t as big of a deal to me, but I did understand how they would want to make it there. We headed strait to the Metro and got off right in front of the Coliseum. In my previous visit to the Coliseum, I did not go inside, so I was excited on this trip to do that. After being hounded by 30 people inviting us to pub crawls that evening, we made it inside. It was truly incredible. I can’t describe the feeling of being in the middle of so much history in one place. During our visit rain began to pour from the sky for about 1 hour, keeping us in the walls of the Coliseum. Afterwards we explored the forum and the surrounding historical areas. It wasn’t until 10 that night that we returned to find Whitney sitting at a restaurant outside our hotel eating for free because she made friends with the owner. He then proceeded to give us free glasses of the house champagne and then we left for a good nights sleep. Athena and Amanda had a 6 a.m. flight to Venice making them leave at 3:30 from our hotel. We talked about them staying with us in Venice at our hotel as Whitney and I were sharing a room there but never made any definite plans.

Day 2
The day was all about getting to Venice. I, unfortunately, had a different flight from the rest of my travel group including Whitney, Audrey, Sarah, and Tara. I got up around 8:30 to get to the Rome, Fumicino airport for my 12:10 flight to Marco Polo Airport in Venice. I took the train and arrived at the airport in a very timely fashion. I checked in, had a window seat, got to my terminal with some delicious breakfast, and simply waited to board for 2 hours. By 11:45 I was concerned as why we were not boarding yet. I checked the monitor and it still read “Venencia” and was my flight number. 12:10 rolled around and the screen all of the sudden said some other obscure city. I then went to the monitor on departures and found that my flight had just left. After a slight panic attack, I found where I needed to go to try to get a new flight. Luckily, the woman was very understanding since there was no announcement made in English about the gate change and didn’t make me pay for the second flight. I really lucked out and still had a window seat, and furthermore, no one sat in my row! It was beautiful. I then got off the plane, caught the public water boat, got to the island Lido where I was staying, and found my hotel. It was so liberating and exciting to travel by myself and figure it all out so easily. I immediately checked in and took a nice long shower, I dried my hair, got all ready, and hoped that the rest of my group had arrived. After they hadn’t I decided to go get some food. Lido was incredible, it was quiet and quaint, it wasn’t touristy because it was mostly locals who lived there. I found a restaurant on the main strip and had the best gnocchi I have ever eaten with a glass of red wine. I made friends with the waiter and he told me some good places to go while in Venice. When I got back to my hotel, Sarah, Audrey, Tara, and Whitney had arrived! As they had not eaten yet, we walked Lido for a while and then found a great little restaurant in the back of town.  We saw the sunset over Venice and had a wonderful night.

Day 3
 We wandered around Venice all day long. I did, unfortunately, get heat stroke and started violently shaking for a while until I rehydrated. Then I was fine for the rest of the day and got some amazing pictures. That night, we returned to our culturally injected restaurant in Lido where I had the best Lasagna I have ever tasted.

Day 4
4th of July!!! We started the day at the beach in Lido and then had to leave due to flights to Naples. It was weird to be in Italy on the 4th since no one else was celebrating, but I did have a beer in the airport while I waited for my flight. My flight, unfortunately, was an hour later than everyone else, but I made it to the ship safely. Naples was probably the sketchiest place I have ever been, but we still went out to celebrate the 4th. Getting there was interesting as the port is in the sketchiest part of Naples. We walked for a good mile before we found a cab and then piled about 7 people into the 4 person taxi. Needless to say, it was interesting. The night was super fun and I met a ton of people.

Day 5
Started far to early for following the previous night. I purchased a day trip for Pompeii that started at 8 a.m. with my great friends, Sarah and Audrey. Upon arriving in the historically rich Pompeii, we promptly ditched our tour group and explored on our own. If you don’t know much about Pompeii, it is a booming city that was covered by an explosion from Mount Vesuvius in 78 CE. It was incredible to see how the ash had preserved the city. We actually snuck into the restricted areas (sorry mom) and it was incredible! There were all of these underground tunnels that connected the whole city! After walking through the majority of Pompeii and the incredible “Mystery City” we decided to hike Mount Vesuvius. After arguing with the train ticket vendor who was trying to sell us an excursion, waiting 45 minutes for a train, and taking a 30 minute bus ride, we made it to our hiking destination. The smell that the flowers created was absolutely astonishing. I have never been so overwhelmed with such an illustrious scent before in my life. It is indescribable. The whole area was covered in yellow and purple from all of the flowers. We made it to the top after a grueling hour hike and were taken back by the huge crater we stared into. After tons of picture taking, we decided to pull a Garden State and yell off the top. With a 1, 2, 3, the three off us screamed at the top of our lungs off the side of the volcano.

Also, I hiked through Pompeii and Vesuvius not only in one day, but I did it in flip flops. BAMF.

There is so much more that happened in the port, but these experiences are just that, experiences, its not something you can describe or detect, its something that you live through, and it has been the best thing I have ever done.

It is only one day at sea and in classes, until we hit Croatia! 

A Glimpse into Life on the MV Explorer

Even though there are 721 students and at total of 1050 people, the community is very close on the ship. Every day we get a "Dean's Memo" including how far we have traveled, how far we have to go, movies that are playing, seminars that are being held, and any important information. My favorite piece is the Rumor Ranger. Here is the one for today:
Rumor Ranger addresses rumors in our community. Submit to: adminoffice@semesteratsea.net

 ALMOST A RUMOR: I don’t know if this is a rumor or a question but here it goes.....I was told that when visiting the Vatican your arms legs and toes had to be covered. When we go on our tours of Rome is someone going to clue us in beforehand so that we are appropriately dressed?

Great Question! Many of these details will be covered in tonight’s Preport and in info from the Field Office. But, yes! You are right about shoulders and knees being covered. You may add a shawl to cover your upper arms if wearing a sleeveless top, but you must leave it on while touring the Vatican. Shorts or short skirts are not acceptable. Knees must be covered, so wear longer skirts or pants. From the information available this morning from the Field Office, sandals are OK.

Rumor #1: Is it true that the stabilizers were turned on because Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez is onboard? Is that why the ship is jerking instead of rocking? Rumor Ranger Response (with comments from our Captain): The Stabilizers are IN and have not been in use since leaving Gibraltar. Use of the Stabilizers depends on weather conditions - to be precise - the sea state, not on Loretta Sanchez. And the term is ‘pitching and rolling’ not jerking. I guess that Loretta called Neptune directly and made some arrangements regarding weather improvement.

Rumor #2: I was eating dinner with a big group of people tonight, and a whole bunch of them said that there were a lot of kids that came back from Spain with STD's. They also said that the boat has run out of like Chlamydia antibiotics, and that anyone who has it now will not get help until Italy. Someone also said that if you have it, you are asked not to go to class. Is this true??? Rumor Ranger Response: According to the medical team, this rumor is categorically false.

Rumor #3: I heard that a SAS girl was arrested in Turkey for possession of marijuana and is still in prison awaiting trial after two years. Is any of this true? RRR: While there are strict laws pertaining to drug violations in Turkey, this rumor is unfounded.

Rumor #4: So, it’s circulating around the ship that four students never made it back to the ship in Spain and that we had to leave them behind. Plus, we don't know where they are or if they'll meet us in Italy because they never contacted anyone...are we missing students? RRR: This rumor is false but it is true that a few students were significantly late returning to the ship and will feel the sting of dock time in Italy.

Delayed Rumor from Spain: Is it true that in Spain, waving at a Spaniard (like when we wave to say hello) means that you are "available and interested"? I waved at two elderly men on a motorcycle and they both looked totally shocked and excited. I then heard that waving in Spain isn't quite what it is in America. RRR from our Spain expert, Professor David Gies, via email: “As the Spaniards might say, ‘absurdo.’ No truth to it at all. Trust me, hookers look like hookers in Spain, too”.

Spain

Spain was incredible! The first day, we docked in Cadiz. Cadiz is ranked as the cleanest city in Europe. The city was beautiful and retained a lot of Spanish culture. In the first morning back on land, I ran around the city, snapping pictures, shopping, drinking sangria, and eating paella. It was glorious. That night, I went to a Flamenco Show through Semester at Sea. It was a private show, just for us, and a free glass of sangria. The show was emotional, fun, and showed a huge piece of Spanish culture. I find it so difficult to describe the feeling you get while in Spain. It is so much more than the sights, it’s the smell, the feeling, the people, and overall, the culture (Caroline, I am sure you had this issue with France as well!).

The following morning, at 6 a.m., I arose to get to the Jerez airport to fly to Barcelona! The cab ride was bout 45 minutes and as soon as we got there, we tried to check in. This didn’t happen since the airport didn’t open for another 45 minutes! After waiting for our flight for two more hours, we were finally on our way. Arriving in Barcelona at 11:00 a.m., we jumped off the plane, and headed for the next form of transportation to take us to our hostel. Did I mention that we were traveling with a group total of 12 people? I will never do that again. It is ridiculously hard to travel with that large of a group because everyone wants to do something different. After hopping three different metro trains, we ended up at the head of Las Ramblas, one of the most famous streets in Barcelona. Our hostel, was on the street, but happened to be on the other end. Finally, after much frustration from constantly stopping to look at maps, my friend Tara and I decided to go off on our own and leave the group behind. I personally didn’t care, I was happy being lost, as long as I was lost in Barcelona (Amanda, you would have been flipping out). The buildings are incredible; they are made out of beautiful stone and are simply grand.

After wondering down Las Ramblas for another 20 minutes, we reached our hostel, Kabul. It was set in a beautiful square right off Las Ramblas. We walked up two flights of stairs to get to reception only to find out we needed Audrey, the girl who booked the 10-bed room. Luckily, they were not far behind and we were able to check in relatively easily. The hostel was so much fun! People were always hanging out, getting on the Internet, drinking beer, and socializing with all of the other guests. We met so many people. The next few days in Barcelona were spent sightseeing, drinking more sangria, eating more paella, and meeting tons of people. Spaniards also eat dinner at 10 p.m. which was difficult to get used to after living in a sorority house for a year where we eat at 5. Anyways, I love Spain, and I may move there! Sorry, Mom. You can come too if you want. 

Tomorrow we arrive in Civitivecchia, Italy, which is about 45 minutes outside of Rome. I will immediately find two things: 1) an internet café to upload pictures from Spain, and 2) a post office to buy stamps to send not only Spain postcards, but also Italy postcards. If you didn’t send me your address and you want to receive postcards, please email me at kacaldwell@semesteratsea.net and you will receive one from every country starting with Italy!

Turn Around

So I just had a complete, 180 degree, turn around on my day. Slowly my life is starting to put itself together. All of these people I have met are starting to realize that I am an awesome person… in  a very non-self-centered way.  I was invited to dinner by two different groups, ended up, I was already sitting with a new group of people. Two of the girls and I sat talking and laughing for about an hour and a half after dinner. I then ran into my good ole friend, Laura, who I am now traveling with tomorrow! We just got done with pre-port and it just sunk in what I am actually doing! WE ARE GOING TO BE IN SPAIN TOMORROW!!!!! I can’t believe it! I couldn’t  be more excited right now. I also just had a great convo with my oceanography professor. Its really unique how casual conversation is with faculty on this ship. Just thought I should give this update so people don’t think I am having a bad time. Stay tuned. What happens next should be epic!

Who cares what day it is...

Yesterday, was great! I laid out for 4 1/2 hours, only got burnt in a few areas, and just relaxed in between classes. I talked to some new people, and spent very little time in my room. Classes are still going well, I LOVE oceanography! My professor is awesome! Although, I was late today, he is always upbeat, still lets people take quizzes when they miss half the class, and doesn't publicly ridicule people when they get an answer wrong. Last night, I met with the group I am traveling to Barcelona with. They are all super chill, cool, fun people, so I am excited to travel with them. I am hoping to find a group to go to the Spain vs. USA soccer game tomorrow night in Cadiz. On Thursday, I have to leave the ship at 6:00 a.m. for my flight from Jerez to Barcelona. The airport is about one hour away from Cadiz and our flight is at 9:15 a.m. Hopefully I will have some pictures up in the next few days as I travel around Spain and I will be on Skype at times.

 

Although yesterday was wonderful, today hasn't been my best. I woke up late for my oceanography class, but still made it in time for the lecture to start, I just had no time to get ready for it. After global studies, I decided to go back to my room and have a much needed nap. We are now 6 hours ahead of the eastern standard time zone, and soon to be 7. I am so tired of being on this boat, constantly trying to find people to hang out with. I am so ready for this trip to REALLY begin, and I know it will tomorrow!

 

Also, today has been the first day I am truly homesick. Mostly because I have been thinking a lot about how great this experience would be if the people I love were with me. Although I will continue to think that throughout the trip, I think the feeling will fade once it starts. What I really believe this all boils down to is that my shoulders are on my nerves. If that caught you off guard, yes, I said my shoulders. I have a consistent pain and constantly have to rotate my arms and try to stretch out, or pop, my shoulder socket/rotator cuff. It keeps me up all night long, tossing and turning, throwing my arm up into the air, and shrugging my shoulders like a crazy person. This isn't new for me, I have had this issue mildly, and continuously growing in severity of pain, for the past 3 years. Just recently it has gotten to be truly annoying my everyday life.  For a real quick example, I have had to "loosen" my shoulder about 15 times in the duration I have written this blog... no exaggeration. If anyone has any insight into what is causing this, it would be of great help because I am tired of looking like I have a mild case of turrets (spelling?) syndrome or that I am obnoxiously stretching for a big game.

Day 6

First things first: HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!

Good news! Tonight is the first night we do not have to push our clocks forward an hour. It has been difficult living on 23 hour days. At this point, I am soooo ready to get to Spain it is unreal. Last night everyone flocked to the railings of decks 5, 6, and 7, to see the first land in 5 days! There is a group of islands right over the mid-Atlantic ridge and we saw two of them! It is so weird to think that these people live, literally, in the middle of the ocean, with no major land mass around. I sat out on the deck for a long time studying, taking pictures, talking, and thinking. One highlight of the night was seeing a group of dolphins! It was so cool. They actually will wait out in the open ocean to let the ship get ahead, and then take off swimming towards us, and ride the waves that the ship creates. O, and they have this thing about calling the ship a boat... I just don't get it, boats float, this large "thing" floats, why can't I call it a boat?! Its kind of like my sorority is with A-Chi-O vs. Alpha Chi. Who cares?! Semester at Sea's main argument is about as lame as "people will think you are A "Chi-O."I mean, wouldn't you have to say I am AN "A-CHI-O". The article changes everything. But, back to their lame argument... they say "you can put a boat on a ship, but you can't put a ship on a boat." WTF?!

Tonight is the summer soloist, so anyone who reads this, watch the sun set tonight. I have a fabulous plan to be sitting on the deck, having a glass of wine, and watching the sun sink slowly over the horizon! Tomorrow I am meeting with the group I am going to Barcelona with! I am hoping it will go well since I am traveling in the next three countries with the same group. We are two days away from Spain and the schedule is crazy after that. We will be in Spain for 4 days, then we will have 3 full days of sailing until we reach Italy. From then on we only have one day of sailing in between each port until we leave Egypt for Morocco.

On another note, there is a “block party” tonight that I plan to attend. I had to wake up this morning at 6:45, so I may be too tired to go. I unfortunately haven’t been able to work on my tan, but then again, neither has anyone else. I am really hoping tomorrow will be sunny… we are getting close enough to the Mediterranean that I think it will start to get hot and sun filled! I think everyone is getting cabin fever.

Day 3

11:00
Classes started today! However, unfortunately for me, not only do I have an 8 a.m., we move forward a time zone every day on our way to Cadiz. That means I lose an hour of sleep every night, so by the time we have our last day of classes before port, I will be getting up at around 2:30 a.m. EST. My 8:00 is Oceanography and, come to find out, is an upper level course. The room was jam packed which made taking notes very difficult. The professor is awesome though. He is very approachable, interesting, and fun to listen to. He reminds me a little bit of Bill Nye without all the corniness. My second class of the day is Global Studies. Everyone on the ship takes this class, including the faculty and staff. This would be awesome if there weren’t so many people. The class is held in a room called “The Union” and any overflow students go to different classrooms where the lecture is projected on a screen. When I got out of Oceanography, I immediately headed for the Union only to find out that it was already completely full. By the time I got back to the classrooms, they were basically full as well. I sat in one of the main common areas right outside of the cafeteria. Listening to a lecture out of a box and watching the screen is not fun or academically stimulating. I could barely see the slides, much less the professor. I could hear him, and he sounded interesting, but it was hard to follow exactly what he was talking about because of my inability to see the slides.

After a somewhat stressful morning, I decided it was time to pay the wellness center a visit. I signed up for an 80 minute “Seven Seas” massage. The description reads: relax and experience this unique massage that is a perfect blend of the following seven different healing massage techniques that are world renown: Lomi-Lomi, Shiatsu, Aromatherapy, Reflexology, Swedish, Reiki, and Thai massage. SWEET! I go in today for it at 2:30! I can’t wait because, although this trip hasn’t been as stressful as I thought, it has been very overwhelming. If the massage goes well, I plan to schedule a few more during the rest of the voyage so that they don’t get booked up before I can get in again. I also signed up to work out tonight at 9:30 on Elliptical Machine 4. I hope that #4 and I get along well, because I can see us having a future together.

While leaving the wellness center I ran into my SC friend, Laura. We went walked around for a while and then went out onto the deck and talked. We both have many common acquaintances. It is finally sunny out today and the seas are calming slightly.

18:36
I just got an email that out of 35 people, I have been accepted to be a part of the voyage photography book staff, and so was my roommate!!! I am so excited! I also had my massage and it was wonderful! The only downside to the massage was that when she did the head massage part, she got oil all up in my hair. Ugh, I had class right after too, so I looked like a big grease ball. Its all good though. Tonight was the first real meal I have eaten in the past three days! We had spaghetti with marinara. O, and on that note, I haven’t eaten any meat, whatsoever, the past three days. Crazy! Today at lunch, though, I basically only ate lettuce because the only dressing they had was French, and I am not a big fan. The rest of the food was sucky, but whatever, I am not on this trip for the food haha. I met two girls from SMU, one was nice, and one was, well, lets say, … quiet. But, the nice one is named Kendra and we had actually facebooked before we came, just never met in real life.

Day 2

16:00

Today was quite interesting. We had orientation, which started at 9:00 am. Who would have guessed breakfast only lasted until 8:30? Needless to say, I missed breakfast. Then we had a series of sessions ranging from ship safety to counseling availability to the honor code. I am really excited to start classes tomorrow! I am just ready to have a routine and have a solid place to meet people. Unfortunately, while on the ship, we have class every day, including weekends and holidays (not that there are many holidays in the summer time). But I guess its fine since we will have such long port stays.
The ship is so rocky today. We have hit a big storm so I haven’t been able to start my tan ☹. But its all good, I will have plenty of time this summer to lay out. Tonight we will lose an hour of sleep as we move into the next time zone. And the same is true for the next four nights… talk about your jet lag!
22:00
I am having to work off of the computer lab computers because my internet in my room doesn’t seem to be working. We had an extracurricular fair tonight where I signed up to be on the staff of the equivalent to yearbook book. I also signed up for “the extended family” program. It sets up a little family to hang out with on the ship including professors, students, and the life-long learners. In addition to these I signed up for a bible study and morning meditation which I am very excited about. At the fair I met a girl named Laura from Greenville, SC! She went to Greenville High and now goes to Clemson! I'll update again soon!

Day 1

12:00
So today was embarkation and move in. I met my roommate who is from Athens, GA and attends UGA. She is really nice, kind of quirky, but very fun. She is easy to get along with. Unlike me she has two stuffed animals… one, a beaver, named, ironically enough, “Beaver,” and two, a cat, which in a very creative endeavor she named “Kitty.” I must say that the name “Beaver” reminds me of Chelsea Handler and how she refers to her private area as a beaver. Despite our creative differences, I think we will be very good friends.
16:15
The ship just set sail and we are on our way to Cadiz! I am having trouble finding people to hang out with, but overall am having a good time. I have met a lot of people, but without phones or texting, it is hard to meet back up unless you just continually hang out. I have a hard time adjusting to situations like this. While I was on the deck, watching the ship set sail; I looked over to see a familiar face. There he stood, still 5’6” with a head of orange hair, was the one and only, Clark Barber. It was crazy that A. he is here and B. he is here! The last time I think I saw him was at a Halloween party in 8th grade when he dressed as our crazy vice principal. 
21:00
So I feel a lot better and super excited about this whole trip. We just had our first community meeting where we were introduced to the entire faculty, staff, and crew! On a side note, as the crew was being introduced, captain and all, I made a joke, saying “well, who is sailing the ship?!” and got a laugh out of the whole room! I know it’s little, but you can’t help but be proud of yourself when stuff like that happens. Anyways, everyone who is working on the ship seems to be full of life and really seems to care about the students. We also were informed that this 99th Voyage of SAS is the first to have a full enrollment. Some other stats of interest about the ship’s population:
•       20% come from California
•       299 schools are represented
•       77% female to 23% male :’(
•       The top three schools represented are UVA, Pittsburg, and Colorado-Boulder
There is a grand total of 1,050 people on the ship, 721 of us being students.
I have already started to meet some really cool people, so hopefully that will continue!

A Little Slice of Canada

Today we went to Peggy's Cove. The main attraction was a lighthouse that you will see in the following video of pictures. We ate lunch at the lone restaurant where we had some of the best seafood chowder I have ever tasted! Since this is the first video I have made, please excuse its imperfections. I set sail in 2 days and I am so excited I can hardly stand myself!

I took this video as we ate dinner. We sat outside in the perfect 78 degree and sunny weather drinking a glass of wine and eating a slice of pizza. The two guys were very friendly and asked me to upload the video on YouTube.

Nova Scotia!

I just arrived to Nova Scotia and I am officially 4 days away from boarding the MV Explorer! It took about 8 hours to pack one large duffle bag and my backpacking backpack (pretty good if you ask me :)). I was up until about 12:30 packing last night and had to get up at 4 a.m. this morning to get to the airport. Luckily, we were able to get an earlier flight to Nova Scotia from Newark so we didn't have a 4 hour layover in the airport. Since we were all very tired, we spent all day in the hotel, so I am getting a little bit of cabin fever. Nova Scotia is not what I expected so far. It is really rainy and cold, and kind of gloomy, but hopefully it will get better! I am getting kind of nervous about the whole trip, but I am mostly just really excited! Be watching for a video soon! Thanks for following!

YES!

If you have seen Yes Man with Jim Carrey, you know the word. Yes! The strategy is, for those of you feeling trapped, for you to say "yes" to every opportunity that presents itself. Personally, I adopted this way of life early on, however, over the last year, like my socks, I lost it. I have felt confined for quite some time, so recently, this movie inspired me to get back to my old way of life. I have been saying "yes!" to everything. Since, I have gone to a private, rooftop party on Greenville Avenue's hottest club, had to buy everyone a round of drinks, been to three concerts, stolen a street sign, played on a playground sober, met tons of new people, and started to teach myself Arabic. I feel like I am getting back to me again, like I can conquer anything in the world. So, to anyone who reads this blog, say YES today and start changing your life. You won't regret it. Some of the things may seem trivial, but if you really do get "stuck," this is a great way to get out and keep moving. 

P.S. Over the summer I will be using a different blog address for all of my travel updates. It is kellycaldwellsas.blogspot.com. I hope you will follow me around the world! 

Lines

Demitri Martin did a bit on this once. He talked about lines and how they can change objects. For instance, take these cups of coffee I drew:

A regular cup of coffee.

With these squiggly lines it becomes a hot cup of coffee. 

Now it is a loud cup of coffee. 

Now it is a fast cup of coffee.

This is where you get out of the way when you hear a loud, hot cup of coffee flying fast toward your face.

Lines change everything.

Head's Up

Hey everyone! I hope you will follow me throughout my summer abroad on Semester at Sea. This seems like the easiest outlet to share pictures, videos and experiences with everyone. I leave on June 16th from Halifax, Canada. My itinerary includes:

* Cadiz, Spain
* Naples, Italy
* Dubrovnik, Croatia
* Piraeus (Athens), Greece
* Istanbul, Turkey
* Varna, Bulgaria
* Alexandria (Cairo), Egypt
* Casablanca, Morocco
* Norfolk, VA, USA

Thanks!

Skydiving

One of the most influential moments in my life was in November of 2008 when I went skydiving! Here is my personal video of the trip and please watch the sheer fear that takes over my face at the beginning of the video (^_^)

Window Attack

Have you ever noticed that when someone looks at you from another car, you will feel their stares and look back. In this video, my friend Caroline and I tried to harness that and channel it into scaring the shit out of people. The idea is that she will duck down, I will do the staring, and then as soon as the look she throws herself onto the car window. Enjoy, and DO try this!

Hydroponic Farming

Hydroponic farming is my personal business idea that I  think will not only make me a fortune, but it will also cure world hunger. Hydroponic farming is a method to grow planets using a mineral, nutrient rich solution. It can be completely organic, pesticide free, and largely yields more produce than regular farming. For instance, an acre of potato farms may produce 2 tons of potatoes, while an acre of hydroponic potato farming yields 70 tons of potatoes! My idea, is to harness this technology and bring it straight to the grocery store. If we made stackable, tractor-trailer size pods of hydroponic farms, grocery stores could have fresh produce all of the time. Mini pods could be used in coffee houses and the coffee shops could have super fresh coffee beans. This would reduce costs of shipping and increase the amount of organic, fresh produce in the market. The pods wouldn't need much more than water and electricity to run after the initial set up. Furthermore, not only would our society benefit, for every 10 that are purchased, 1 will be sent to a country in need. 

Top 10 Favorite Album Covers

Many may not know that I am a collector of vinyl records. More than the music itself, I am really interested in the photography and graphics the album covers display. I tend to like things that are colorful, simple, and look antique. Here are my top 10: