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!