Brazilian Birthday Shenanigans: Brazil pt 1

Our time in Rio made every second of those 14 days worth it. Although my birthday really is the 12th, we started celebrating before the first day of port because all of my friends had different plans for most of Brazil. Basically I milked my 21st birthday as much as possible, because after all, you only turn 21 once and why not celebrate it for an entire week?

The Highlights:

Day -1 Nov 7: Fancy Dining with all my faves

Day 1 Nov 8: snooze fest of a field lab, penthouse party in Copacabana

Day 2 Nov 9: acai deliciousness, climbing a mountain and dying, Christ the Redeemer, friends

Day 3 Nov 10: literally flying over rio (hang gliding) hippie market, girls night out

Day 4 Nov 11: heading into the AMAZON ….. To be continued

The deets:

Day -1 (last day of the 14 day voyage)

The birthday began with fancy dining onboard the MV. To those who don’t know, the best meal you will have all of Semester at Sea is fancy dining on the ship. You reserve a table ahead of time with your friends, agree to pay 30$, and eat in a separate room with linen napkins, champagne, and all that rigmarole. My friends and I had not done anything so civilized in a while, well actually probably since beginning the voyage. I almost didn’t recognize them all cleaned up after 14 days at sea letting appearances slide toward shambles. Here’s a pic of everyone at the table:

Here’s a shot of a few of the crew looking pretty snappy if I do say so myself.

The food was also amazing. Five courses and dessert.  Take a look!

I absolutely loved this meal because it was all of my favorite people together with good food to boot. We all couldn’t stop smiling the entire meal. It was also interesting to walk around the ship afterwards because people literally didn’t recognize me with straightened hair looking like a functioning human, let alone a real girl for once. (I usually stick to a messy bun, sweats, and a t-shirt onboard)

Day 1:

Unfortunately I had a field lab the first day, but luckily it was my last one. It was for finance class… joy of joys. Anyway, we headed off to the US Consulate to hear speeches from two SMEs on Brazilian economy – a US Commerce Service representative and a State Department Officer.  We were pleasantly surprised with how interesting it was and it helped us to get a quick take on the intricate and highly nuanced system of government in Brazil.

Then we set off to lunch at Cais Do Oriente, a fabulous steakhouse. It was a beautiful restaurant:

Here we were served my second best meal on SAS, more steak!!

We also got to try the Brazilian soda Guaraná – a sweeter version of ginger ale.

After such a large lunch, everyone wanted to pass out for a decent nap, but sadly we had to do that during our third stop of the lab the Brazilian Development Bank. To be honest, I can’t recall much because it was more of a 2 hr power nap than anything, but they sent us the 75 billion slide power point, so I will definitely be reading that as soon as possible. I just love finance.

Finally, we were free!! My friend Aidan and I set off to go meet the owner of the penthouse we had rented out for the night to throw a huge birthday party for myself and a fellow SASer. We had a bit of apprehension because Airbnbs are notoriously hit and miss, but as soon as we arrived, all my fears were assuaged. The house was beyond fantastic. 6 bedrooms. 12th floor. View of Christ the Redeemer from the balcony. 1 block from Copacabana beach. 5 seconds from a grocery store. Really chill host who even offered to share his food and alcohol. It could not have worked out any better.

We claimed rooms and then headed to grab a quick meal at a ‘by the kilogram’ restaurant a block away called 686. It was quite a random assortment of food, but really good.

Then we met up with everyone back and the house and enjoyed a fabulous night. I had SO much fun and everyone I love on SAS made it over to at least stop by. I can safely call it the best birthday party ever.

Day 2:

The next morning we woke up surprisingly early and bee-lined for a café with acai. If you don’t know what that is, you’re missing out. After two years in Los Angeles, I have become quite familiar with the Amazonian berry and the much-crazed acai Bowls at various juice bars, but let me tell you, acai in Brazil is the real deal. Nekter and Pressed have nothing on Brazilian asci. It was delicious. Here’s a pic before I put fruit and granola on it.

They make a smoothie like dish with the berries and you can add granola and fruit as well. We found that almost every café on the street carried acai, so this was just my first of many times tasting it in Brazil.

After packing up our things at the penthouse, we set off on what ended up being quite the wild goose chase to climb to Christ the Redeemer. Three of my guy friends and I – Mark, Rory, and John (who we all call Bama because he’s from Alabama) – caught a cab from Copacabana to our hostel for the next night to drop off our bags before the hike.

As we were getting out of the cab, another one whizzed by too closely and clipped the side of ours. The other driver pulled over, got out, and proceeded to yell at us in Portuguese. From my handle of Spanish, I could understand that he wanted us to pay for the damage, although we all agreed it was not our fault. Eventually, we conveyed our apology for his erratic driving and escaped the situation with our money and our belongings in tact. We dropped off our things at the hostel – El Misti Hostel – which I would describe as passable. It provided a safe place to sleep and that is about as much as I would give it.

Then we made our way to the metro station a block down the road and bought tickets to the stop closest to the Redeemer. After arriving at that stop, we realized we were still a bit away from our final goal. We then took another cab to the bottom of the tram station that takes groups of people up to the top of the mountain.

We attempted to buy tram tickets, but learned that it was sold out until 4:00 that afternoon. We had planned on meeting up with other friends for dinner and going out that night, so we unfortunately did not have enough time to wait for that tram and hike down afterwards. After running into some other SAS kids, we learned that if we took a quick bus ride, we would end up at the trailhead to hike up the mountain, but the hike was apparently a bit difficult. Our group all agreed this would be ideal, and set off to hike. We had no idea how big of a commitment we had just made.

So far, we have several errors in judgment that I would like to highlight: 1) brining no water for a hike of questionable distance 2) blatantly ignoring the warnings of other SASers that the hike would be rather “strenuous” 3) beginning said hike in the middle of the afternoon and arguably the very hottest time of the day.

I guess all I can say here is you live and you learn. The hike ended up taking us about 1 hour and 15 minutes, which is much faster than the advertised 2 hours, but it could not have been further from a walk in the park. Most parts of it were so steep that we had to use tree roots to crawl up the “path” and one section had a long chain nailed to the wall to assist climbing up. Honestly, the word climb would probably be the more apt term to describe our experience. By the end, my legs were on the verge of giving out completely and all of us were just dripping in sweat. During one of our few rest breaks we did happen to see several small monkeys in the wild and it was really cool, if not a bit scary. They kept jumping on Rory’s GoPro, so that made me a bit nervous.

Of the several hundred people we encountered at the Christ the Redeemer viewpoint, not a single other one had attempted the climb up. At the top, we bought two bottles of water each and sat on the ground for a bit before braving the last several flights of stairs to get to the lookout point. The view took my breath away and made all the preceding events 100% worth it. Take a look:

We spent a good amount of time taking photos and marveling at the amazing views.

After a bit, we decided to head back down and luckily ran into a couple of friends who gave us their tickets for a van ride to Copacabana from the top. They had decided to hike down – the much more logical and intelligent decision relative to ours – and didn’t need the last half of their round trip tickets on the ride-share vans. Rory, Bama, Mark, & I hopped in line and caught a van shortly after to our hostel area.

We arrived after not too long and tooled around the market at the beach. After our own stench became too much, we headed to the ship to clean up, grab some free (slash already paid for) food and meet up with the rest of our friends.

That evening, we headed into Lapa, the nightlife hub of Rio and had a blast roaming around the street market underneath the Arcos do Lapa – an aqueduct- and stopping at some bars.

 (pic from google btw)

Yet again, what makes these nights so fun is the amazing people I get to spend them with. My friends and I could probably have sat on a street corner for the entire time and still had a blast. Exploring Rio was even more fun.

 

D3:

We began our last full day in Rio, with one of the most amazing things I have ever done: hang gliding! My good friend Jess had been talking about hang gliding nonstop on the 14 days at sea and she booked it for us as soon as we found wifi the first day. As we drove to the jump site, I could almost see the excitement. Everyone kept exclaiming “We are going hang gliding now!” and we all were surprisingly chipper for 9:30am after a night out.

The weather was absolutely fabulous and I could not wait to fly! After signing the forms and paying, we all split up into our guides’ cars to head up to the jump site, high on Pedra Bonita. Jess and I ended up in a car together with our two guides in the front. To call this vehicle a car is actually quite generous, as it was more of a rickety, popping engine with 4 wheels. As we headed up and up towards the jump site, my fear of jumping off a cliff quickly faded and was replaced by my fear of this sad excuse for a vehicle breaking down completely. The narrow and incredibly steep road seemed to really challenge the car as it jolted and wined upwards. We crawled up the hills, quickly passed by every single other vehicle on the road. Jess and I kept joking that we were more likely to die in the car than hang gliding.

Our fears were soon realized as the car turned toward one final steep hill.  It gave one last sputter and stopped completely. We giggled awkwardly in the back seat as our driver coasted off the road and pulled the emergency brake. Here is a shot of Jess in front of our fabulous ride:

what struggles…

As you can see, things were not going well. Luckily, there were many other guides with much more reliable cars and they came to our aid not long after we stopped.

Then there was nothing between the jump and us.

We arrived to the rest of our group already involved in a flurry of activity preparing for flight. Guides unfurled the sails of the hang glides (is that what it’s called?) and their assistants fitted the next victims with helmets and crash suits. I finally realized exactly how dangerous this activity was and how completely and utterly SOL I would be if anything went wrong.

As I stood on the takeoff ramp, I became even more acutely aware of the possibility of falling to my death.

We were all pretty amped and a little nervous, so I don’t think we fully appreciated the beauty of our vantage point.

After watching almost all of my friends successfully sprint into empty space and survive, it was my turn. My guide, Matty, kept reminding me, “Chin up, loose grip, strong woman.”

He turned to me, after we finally got strapped in and checked twice and asked, “Are we ready to fly?” Despite the butterflies flurrying in my stomach, I responded with what I would like to think was a resounding, “Hell yeah.”

We ran down the ramp for about 20 feet then the ground fell away beneath my feet. We soared over the trees and through the clouds. For the first minute, I’m pretty sure I just sat in awe with my mouth wide open. Then I began to take in the sites of the city, the favela, the beach, the park. Even the favela was beautiful. The silence while flying in the air was shocking and absolute. After the hustle and bustle of a city like Rio, the vacuum of sound was pure bliss.

We flew for about 10 incredible minutes then we came down to land on the beach to a crown of onlookers. Not one of my friends could keep a smile off of their faces for a single minute afterward. Jess was all grins for the rest of the day and so was I.

After everyone landed safely, we headed out to a market we affectionately deemed, “hippie market.” We spent a good deal of time roaming around pursuing the wide array of goods and purchasing souvenirs for loved ones back home. As evening fell, my friends Lucy and Jessy and I headed off to meet up with the group of kids that would be traveling on our Amazon riverboat excursion and the rest of our friends went in different directions for the remainder of their overland plans.

I’m going to leave it here for now, because the Amazon deserves a post all to itself. Even though these days didn’t technically encompass my real birthday, I count them all as heady contributions to the celebration. Honestly after these few days in Rio I was already ecstatic about how my birthday had turned out. Who gets to enjoy a fancy meal with some of their best friends, a mansion party, hiking Christ the Redeemer, and hang gliding for their 21^st birthday? And then I got to head into the Amazon as well! I really cannot explain how lucky I felt to have been able to experience everything that I did and I also am kind of bummed that every birthday after this will probably be a bitter disappointment. Oh well. I am obsessed with Rio and I really want to return sooner rather than later. All I can say is dear Rio, you did my 21^st birthday well.

 

Off to the Amazon to get down and dirty with nature. To be continued…

xo

 

One is Silver and the Other’s Gold: Italy

**awkwardly late post sorry about it**

Picture your best and oldest friends.  The ones that saw you when you had your fat phase or your mouth full of metal braces. The ones who were with you when you got caught sneaking out and the ones whose phones contain so much blackmail of you, your congressional dreams can never be realized.  Now picture those people with you in one of the most historic cities in Italy.  Think about exactly how amazing and unreal that could be.  Then understand that is exactly what I did for this port.

Two of my best friends from my hometown are studying abroad in the beautiful Florence and I got the opportunity to visit them this port!  This was exceptionally exciting because our voyage originally wasn’t routed to Italy. We had to change the Itinerary when Ebola broke out in Western Africa.  Although I still am disappointed I did not get to travel to Ghana and Senegal, I am overjoyed I got to spend a few days with two of my favorite people, Allie and Lara.

Unfortunately I had a field lab the second day, so that put a bit of a wrench in things, but it all worked out just hunky-dory anyway.

The highlights:

Day 1: Moroccan Stomach Virus (terrible), Wifi, Errands, Beach in Civitavecchia

Day 2: Field Lab to a Vineyard – wine tasting for school, The Reunion

Day 3: Sandwiches from heaven, Florence Market, Piazzale Michelangelo, Date with my Al Pal

Day 4: train to Florence and all aboard the MV

The dirty details:

D1:

I woke up bright and early as planned, ready for an entire day of being a tourist extraordinaire in Rome, but unfortunately ended up with my face in the toilet.  It appears Morocco needed to give me one more parting gift.  Besides losing a bit of weight, there was nothing glamorous about this stomach virus.  Although I was nearly in the clear, I decided to forego Rome, as I have traveled there with my family, and opted for a more restful day in our port city of Civitavecchia.

After some rest, I willed myself to head into the city in search of wifi and stumbled upon one of my guy friends already in a café.  I took care of a number of things online including course registration, booking an Amazon trip for Brazil, getting my now-monthly dose of social media, and some online banking.  Please try to understand how precious wifi is and think of us kids stuck on the MV explorer next time you do a Google search in your spare time.  I would KILL to just look something up on Google whenever I wanted… I digress.

When the rest of our friends made it back from Rome, we rendezvoused on the beach and took in the sunset with some vino tinto – minus me – stomach virus, remember?  Although I was feeling much better. One of my friends and I both had field labs, so we started to head back earlier than everyone else because we had an on-ship curfew of midnight in anticipation of the morning lab.

Honestly, we probably would not have made it back in time, save for two Italian port-security men, who offered us a ride in the security car.  During our ride back, they invited us out to the bars, but we politely declined, as we had to be back to the ship.  Thank goodness chivalry isn’t dead in Italy.

D2:

Today we headed out in our European casual for a grueling and academically stimulating field trip to a vineyard.  Yeah, sometimes I have to remind myself this is school and we have lots of real work to do. J But actually, the lab was quite interesting given the circumstances.  My Entrepreneurship course, along with a number of others, had originally planned for a Field Lab in Ghana, so my professor had to scramble to pull together something remotely related to our class in Italy.

We ended up visiting an independent publishing house, an organic olive oil factory/ farm, and a lovely vineyard.  We enjoyed delicious Italian pizza for lunch and we also got to taste some fruity red wine and freshly made olive oil.

After that, we hightailed it to the train station to head off to Florence.  We took a short train into Rome and transferred to a bullet train north to our final destination.  I had planned on meeting up with Allie – best friend ever – in the McDonald’s of the Florence train station.  My SAS friends and I got off the train and ordered some food.  As we finished, I still had seen no sign of Allie.  We gave up after a bit and decided to head to our hostel and search for wifi to contact Allie and meet up elsewhere, then I saw two familiar faces jaunting towards me.

I immediately ran across the station and embraced both of my friends, laughing with a smile from ear to ear. Even now I grin looking back on my excitement.  To my great pleasure, both Allie and my other longest friend, Lara, were there to visit me!! Originally, Lara had told me she wouldn’t be in town that weekend, so I just expected Allie.  I am not sure how to convey how amazing and out of this world this was.  Allie, Lara and I have been friends since the sixth grade. We still talk fondly of our awkward junior high fazes. To spend a weekend in Italy with them, where they live, for a stop on my travels around the world on a gigantic cruise ship, well… surreal is probably the best way to describe it.  I felt as if it all was too good to be true.

I parted ways from my SAS friends for the night, in order to fully immerse myself in the company of my old friends.  We excitedly caught each other up to date on the rest of our summers – we hadn’t seen each other since the 4^th of July – and then about current goings on in our respective study abroad programs.  I got to meet all of their roommates in their apartment and we all bonded over a bottle of wine – or several 🙂

Then, it was off to enjoy Florence, in a way only old friends can, at the local watering hole, Uncle Jimmy’s and then off to Karaoke at Red Garter.  The highlight though, was getting Nutella croissants at a Secret Bakery.  We walked into a dark alleyway and knocked on a door, from which a hand extended and traded us coins for croissants.  It was magical and amazing!  I believe there are four in Florence, but I could not tell you where or it wouldn’t be a secret would it? I can safely say this was one of my favorite nights of semester at sea.

D3:

We woke up bedraggled and exhausted, but still in awe of the fact that we were all together in Italy.  Lara had to head off to catch a plane to visit her family in England, so Allie and I spent the day shopping and exploring Florence.

We got sandwiches at the best sandwich shop in the city.  An Italian subway, but much, much better.

After tooling around the markets of Florence and getting one too many pieces of clothing at the many shops, we headed back to Allie’s apartment for a much-needed nap.  We woke up feeling refreshed and decided to head out to Piazzale Michelangelo to watch the sunset.

We made it just as the sun began to touch the horizon and the view was absolutely breathtaking.  Allie bought us a bottle of red and we sat with a few of my SAS friends that we had run into to take in the beauty of Florence as the day came to a close.  As soon as the sun dipped below the skyline, the clouds that had began to loom opened up and rain poured from above.  Everyone scattered, while Allie and I, Portlanders at heart, enjoyed the downpour and began the walk back to the city.

We enjoyed a fabulous meal at Yellow Bar.  We split a caprese salad and I got gnocchi, my favorite.

After some delicious gelato at Edoardo we met up with the rest of my SAS friends at the hostel we had booked for the evening.  We stayed at Euro Student Home, which was really a dreadful hostel, but it has a phenomenal location.

That evening we started at Shot Bar Café, where 1 euro = 1 dollar, and then headed to a club called FullUp.  Both places were quite fun and, but like most locales in Florence, overflowing with Americans and tourists.

D4:

We all woke up, to the sad feeling we get every last day of port.  Yes, we love traveling to new countries, but there are always things left to do whenever we depart.  We stopped at a café for breakfast and then Allie walked us to the train station.  Both Allie and I hate goodbyes, so we parted in front of the station.  It was bittersweet, but we both know we will see each other in December.

I’m so happy I got to see my two loving friends.  This experience made my time in Italy special in an entirely different way from other ports.  It was also so refreshing to spend time with such old friends.  I do love my SAS friends, but it is just a different bond.  I still have a hard time comprehending I actually saw Allie and Lara in Italy, while traveling with my SAS friends is a regular occurrence.   I appreciate both of these friends and I love them both differently, hence the title of this post.

That’s all for now, but stay tuned to hear about my 21^st birthday in RIO!

Ship Life 101: 14 daze at Sea

I recently realized a huge part of this experience is life on board the MV and I have not really documented anything about that – besides my great pleasure at finding it the last days of port.  So, during these 14 days at sea – which have so far been incredibly and surprisingly fun- I figured I’d give you a little insight into what makes Semester at Sea so special.

Typical Day on the MV

Every day is a bit different, but they generally consist of a few activities – as there are not endless possibilities on an 8-floor cruise ship.

Working Out:  The fitness room is small – 2 treadmills, 2 Stairmasters, a few ellipticals and some bikes – we have to sign up to use the machines a day ahead and we are technically only allowed 30 minutes on a machine.  I never sign up and just go for the mystery box workout- taking whatever machine is open.  Although sometimes running on a treadmill while there are 15 degree waves is not the best idea if you are worried about personal safety.  Other times I do fitness workout movies with friends.  I workout almost every day – as long as I still have clean clothes.  We also have an area of free weights on 7^th deck (Top Deck) that are decent as well.

These are shots of the Fitness Room and top deck weights.

Playing Soccer/Volleyball/Basketball:  I really just play soccer.  We have a SAS FC -Semester at Sea Football Club – that organized a 3 on 3 World Cup for the 14 days and my team, Yugoslavia, is currently top in our group!  The court is small, but games are really tiring because they are so fast paced.

Here’s a shot of our court:

Laying out:  This comprises the majority of my free time and maybe some class time…. Sorry mom!.. but this is one of the most amazing parts of the ship.  Here it is entirely acceptable to pull on a dress over your bikini and head downstairs for your hour of class, then come back up outside to your chair where you left all of your stuff.  The SAS dress code is basically as long as you’re mostly clothed, its good.  Makeup is optional, sweats are encouraged and slippers are more than appropriate.

This is a typical school day for us.

Games: We can checkout various cards and board games from the activities desk and a number of kids brought Cards Against Humanity.  Though, I’d recommend not playing Cards Against Humanity every single day because it gets old really quickly and you start to memorize the cards. Insider tip: they have an entire set of poker chips at the Activities Desk.  Although if you don’t like loosing money, I wouldn’t advise that as some kids are pretty serious about Hold ‘Em.

This is the Piano Lounge, where we hang out whenever it’s not warm enough to be outside.

Eating:  The best praise we give a meal is “This isn’t horrible.”  I think that should give you a general idea about the quality of food.  If you love pasta, starches, potatoes and mystery meat – then you’d feel right at home eating on board the MV.  I’ve started to view Balsamic, Tabasco, and A1 as food groups.  Sometimes for a change of pace, I buy food at the Top Deck bar, which is actually decent, but that can add up really fast.  Sorry wallet.

 

Our dining halls… rough life I know.

Snack Bar: I tend to hang out at the snack bar by the piano lounge, because I made friends with the crew when I had all my dock time.  It’s great to know the crew because they are really cool and can hook you up with certain things.  Sometimes I even get free hot chocolate!  ALSO: Snack Time at 10:00pm is a daily staple, as staying full with the horrid food is difficult.  Never underestimate a good PB&J sandwich.  Although I am not sure if I will ever be able to eat one again after this.

 

Hard Drive Sex: Exactly what you’re thinking.  Well… maybe not actually.  Movies and TV shows are a currency on the ship.  If you have a hard drive filled with good films, your value to the shipboard community goes up exponentially.  Who knows? It could even help you find SAS love.  Bringing ample supply is quite recommended.

Work:  I am a work-study student, so I have 2hr daily shifts in our computer lab doing IT Desk duty.  For the first few shifts, this entailed setting up people’s emails, but now it mostly is a mandatory study hour and social time.  It’s quite a chill job and I’d definitely recommend applying for it if possible to future SASers!

 

Oh and I almost forgot: Class! For that, I’d recommend downloading some iBooks – I have all of Harry Potter – or the game Peggle, which is the latest craze for students to pass time in class.  Classes are really hit or miss on the ship. Some professors require unreasonable amounts of work and some don’t give any.  No one really knows until the semester is underway.  Mine are right in the middle.  The hardest part is making myself go and actually doing the readings.

 

We also have loads of activities and events:

Movies & World Cafes:  Every night in the Union, which is the main theater/meeting room, there are ship-wide movie screenings and various talks about current events, interesting ideas, new ways of thinking, and unique cultures.

Neptune Day: When we cross the equator there is a huge celebration.  It’s totally a mystery though.  I’ll keep you posted on that – its tomorrow!

Halloween: Everyone dressed up in surprisingly clever costumes and we had a Halloween dance.  Unfortunately, it isn’t your typical raucous Halloween college party because students are limited on the amount of alcohol they can buy per night.  To combat this, a number of kids started hording wine in their water bottles so they could get a buzz going for Halloween.  Honestly I would say it wouldn’t be worth it because the dance was an hour and a half and there was no room to dance, but whatever floats your boat – hehe get it?

Friends and me on Halloween in our typical dysfunctional fashion.  I was riffraff… the rapper.  Yeah we didn’t have many resources stuck on a ship in the Atlantic, so I went with what I had.

Another thing we have to look forward to after Brazil is the Sea Olympics!  This is a day wide competition between halls with tons of invents including: hula hoop contest, tug of war, knockout, twister, relays, and much, much more.  I got elected to be a Captain of my sea (halls = seas) so I have been already working on our plan of attack with my co-captains.  Spoiler Alert: we are planning on winning.

So that’s a little insight into some of the activities that take up my time onboard the MV.  It doesn’t seem like much, but I love every minute.  One of the best parts is really just the amount of time I get to spend with all of my friends.  I found some amazing people on the ship and I keep meeting more every day.  We stay up way to late talking for no reason and find silly ways to occupy our time.  On the ship, we have danced in the rain, played improve games, made music, gambled, learned origami, played mafia, slept under the stars, stated clubs, held grape eating contests and many, many other things.  Some people on board complain about boredom, but my parents always told me “smart people never get bored,” (to which I always responded – “Well I guess I’m dumb”) But I thus developed the ability to continually find ways to entertain myself and everyone else seems to have done the same.

After all, we’re all in the same boat here.  🙂

I’m a Nomad: Morocco (Day 2-4)

So as a continuation of my last post, we have days 2 to 4.  Lots more great things happened and I can’t wait to share them!

 

To reiterate: Highlights

Day 2: bus ride from hell and/or Disneyland, seeing actual game of thrones land, riding a CAMEL, sleeping under the stars in the Sahara dessert

Day 3: back to the camel again, back to the bus again, coolest hostel ever, bartering our brains out in the marketplace and ending the night smoking hookah under the stars

Day 4: train the way we should have done it, a little more shopping, Great Mosque, back to the MV!

 

The details:

That 7:00 am alarm came far too soon and we stumbled around on the rooftop in the still-dark night trying to find the clothes we had laid out the night before.  Our breakfast was delicious.  Our coffee had ginger and cinnamon in it and is probably one of the most delicious cups of coffee I have ever had. We also had rolls and this amazing fried flatbread fresh from the stove.

We met up with the rest of the group, which turned out to be entirely Semester at Sea students, about 80 of them.  We piled into vans to begin what we thought would be a short drive to the desert.  Nope. Not at all. We could not have been more wrong.  We had unknowingly signed up for an all day drive to Zagora, which we affectionately dubbed the fake desert or baby Sahara because of its proximity to the real Sahara Desert.  It is right on the edge, but not as far out as literally in the middle of the dunes.

Not only was the drive exorbitantly long, but it also was on the most winding, narrow, crazy, guardrail-less, and lawless roads I have ever seen.  Our drivers did not hesitate to go halfway off the narrow concrete to pass slower cars, trucks, and bikers.  We zoomed through the Moroccan countryside on the most illogically zigzagged roads you could ever imagine fearing for our lives all the while.  I tried to capture it in a picture:

We stopped about every hour and a half for breaks and to buy more water.  I probably went through 9 Liter bottles in a day – we were in the desert remember?

We stopped at an authentic Berber Village that has been used in tons of movies and TV shows, most notably Game of Thrones!  Take a look

 

Then we had a lunch of more rice and couscous (food so nice they named it twice)

and continued on our merry way.  We made another quick pit stop for water before really heading into the desert. Here’s a shot of my two best friends and I in front of some mountains.

After almost an entire day of travel, we arrived to our final destination, some pit stop a bit off of the road.  Camels sat everywhere on the sandy ground, looking tired and grumpy.  Moroccan Nomads dressed in turbans and loose dress-like outfits milled around tending to both the animals and some nervous students from our group who already had begun to mount their rides.  My friends and I began to get anxious and joked that we were happy with the trip and decided we’d rather go back to the Riad instead.

The camels seemed incredibly unhappy and just as weary as us.  After getting our bags from the back of the van, our group stood around awkwardly until one of the nomads beckoned me forward to the front most camel.  I’ll admit I was quite freaked out, but I realized there were no other options at this point.  I had already committed.  So, without much grace or ceremony, I swung my leg over the camel, tried to get situated, and let the Nomad pull the rather large animal up to standing.

The rest of our group got on as well and we set off into the Sahara as the sun began to set over the desert.  Yes, that does sound picturesque, but it was also horribly scary because we really had no idea who any of these people leading us into the desert were and we did not know how far to the camp.

Riding a camel is probably one of the least comfortable things I have done in my life, but I fortunately got the one with a much larger carpet-like saddle, so I hunkered in for the long haul.  Eventually we all got used to the fact that we were on camels and began talking with the Nomads in garbled English/Spanish/French while taking way too many pictures.

 

After an hour and a half of bumping up and down on our camels, we finally saw a circle of tents and heard the unmistakable chatter of a group of Semester at Sea students.  The campsite consisted of 8 large canvas tents circled around a bonfire with a larger dining-hall like tent.  We also had a latrine tent further away with real toilets!  I wouldn’t go as far as calling it glamping, but it could have been worse.  Here is a pic of my friend in front of the campsite.

 

I can safely assume that all of us were quite excited to dismount our steeds and get some good food in our bellies.  As the sun set, we enjoyed a lovely Moroccan dinner of vegetables, chicken, couscous, and rice.  We finished the meal with tea and went outside to watch a small performance by the nomads.  Around 6 of the them played several songs on their Moroccan drums.  A couple of us got up and danced for a bit, but we tired quickly as it had been a long day.

My friends and I decided to sleep under the stars on the side of a dune, so we grabbed our thick blankets and picked our spot. The moon was full that night, so we didn’t even need flashlights.  Our chatter died down quickly and we all fell into a deep sleep on the velvety, soft desert sand.

 

D3:

We woke up literally at the crack of dawn to the sun rising and quite cold sand.

We changed and packed our belongings, then met everyone back at camp for a quick breakfast of rolls and coffee.  We all mounted our camels and began to head back to our vans.  Most of us were a little bit sore from our ride the previous day, so it was not without a bit of grumbling, especially from the boys.

We made it back to the vans and prepared ourselves to head back the way we had came.  It was another long day of driving, with a pit stop for lunch, but we made it to Marrakech in one piece.

When we arrived, around 4 pm, my roommate and I separated from our van to meet up with another group of people with whom we had planned on staying our last night in Marrakech.  Although we did not exactly know where the hostel was, we already knew the secret to navigating the maze-like alleyways of Marrakech and after asking 3 different helpful strangers, we finally made it to Riad Dia.  Take a look at the entrance to see why it was so difficult to find.

This Riad was even better than the one we stayed at previously.  I absolutely LOVED IT.  Yet again, we opted to sleep on the roof and we found all of our friends up top.  We all took much-needed showers after two days of the desert and set off for another evening in the Marrakech Night Market.

The market was just as amazing and magical as the first night, but it was even more exciting to see a few of my friends experience it for their first time.  We all had a blast bargaining, haggling, and giving the vendors trouble, while shopping for our various family and friends – yes Mom, I did get your Christmas present.  No, I will not divulge it here!

After some more street food, we headed back to the Riad, to smoke some Hookah, enjoy more Moroccan mint tea, and then tuck in for the night.

 

D4:

We woke up early to make it to the station well before our train because we refused to ride second-class again –as we still had PTSD from the back-to-back, standing room only, 100 billion degree train ride to Marrakech.  We bucked up to the $2 more first class fare and had literally the most opposite experience ever.  The train car was roomy, air-conditioned, and it had assigned seats!  We all passed out for the 3ish hours back to Casablanca.

After arriving in Casablanca, we headed to the market to finish off our supply of Moroccan dirham.  A friend and I mustered energy from somewhere unknown and also stopped by the Hassan II Mosque to get our last bit of tourist out before boarding the MV and heading to Italy.

The mosque was absolutely gorgeous.  Honestly, I want tile like it in my future house and everywhere I ever live.

 It was also overwhelmingly large.  Here’s a shot from afar.

After we tooled around the Mosque in utter shock at its beauty, the sun began to take its toll and we decided to make our way back to our floating home for some much needed shut-eye and good food.  As we negotiated for a taxi ride, a driver decided to take my scarf and wrap my head in a turban, so that was cool.

We finally got a deal and headed back to home sweet MV.

I absolutely loved Morocco because it was such a different experience than any other port.  This port was challenging and scary, but also very fulfilling and rewarding.  We really got to test our motto of: it all works out.  And it still does.  The people were so friendly and hospitable.  I mean how many people in New York or Los Angeles would stop what they are doing to walk you where you are going when you’re lost?  The only thing I did not like would be the Moroccan stomach virus I got shortly after boarding the ship.  But, if we are focusing on the positive, at least I lost 5 lbs?

Anyway the next stop was Italy and meeting some old friends 🙂 I love this trip more and more everyday and I never want it to end.

 

xo

Are we having fun yet?: Lisbon and Spain overland

To be honest, I may have had too much fun this port… but I believe it’s excusable as I needed to make up for lost time in Ireland.

I have learned that time flies on semester at sea in one of the most unique fashions. The few days we spend onboard seem like the blink of an eye and those we spend traveling feel like an eternity. I think we can attribute it to the sheer amount of activity and travel and of course unadulterated fun that we participate in during port stays. Regardless, Lisbon and Spain overland was the most fun yet! Although I am beginning to think I will say that about each successive port. Oh well. I guess this trip just keeps going up 🙂

The highlights:

Day 1: Lisbon, the best hostel ever, urban beach club

Day 2: Lagos, Rising Cock (not what you think), best burger ever

Day 3: rock climbing, booze cruise, picnic in the park

Day 4: bus fails, bus successes, Sevilla! Amazing new friend and an unlikely familiar face

Day 5: alcazar real, Mexican and Spanish food, Cadiz!

The details:

D1

The first day was rather uneventful as I had my last few hours of dock time, which basically consisted of sleeping in, eating and laying out in the scalding Lisbon heat on the top deck of the ship. Grueling punishment I know. Then I set out to walk around Lisbon and check into our hostel for the night.

We stayed at the HOME LISBON HOSTEL, which had been recommended to me by a fellow Trojan and did not disappoint in the slightest. It was an amazing hostel with great staff, good location, and fabulous facilities. After checking in, I walked around finishing some errands and shopping while struggling up the many cobbled hills of the city. Here’s a shot of the sidewalk.

Think San Francisco, but with exquisite cobbled roads and pathways, which no apparent organization or plan. I loved it. Then all my friends and I met up and headed to dinner nearby our hotel.

Afterward, we went on the pub crawl hostel by our hostel, which stopped at a few decent bars and ended at our ultimate goal destination: Urban Beach Club.

Although filled with semester at sea students, there still remained ample room for the rest of the fun-loving Portuguese, as the club is enormous. There also was an awesome face painter there.

 Overall, not quite the most blog-worthy night, but definitely a memorable one.

D2:

We woke up late the next morning, with barely enough time to make it to our bus to Lagos, a city on the southern coast of Portugal in the Algarve. Unfortunately I didn’t have enough time to do real sight seeing in Lisbon thanks to dock time, but that just means I guess I’ll have to return someday as wel. And you can be sure I will.

The bus got us in to the city late afternoon and we headed immediately for the much-acclaimed “best burger in the world” at Nah Nah Bar. Here’s a group shot I took of the crew waiting for our food:

We all got The Toucan Burger, and I’m not sure exactly what they put in it, but I can safely say they should not change a thing. The burger was everything I could ask for and more. It was delicious AND also quite large.

Then it was off to check into what had become a familiar name among the SAS kids, The Rising Cock. Yes the hostel was actually called Rising Cock – a clever reference to the Roster that is a symbol or Portugal. It is apparently the number 1 party hostel in the world and SAS took it over for the next 3 days.

The hostel certainly lived up to its reputation. It was also one of the coolest layouts for a hostel I’ve seen. There was the main location, organized like a typical hostel, with different rooms of a few bunk beds and an open hang out/living room area, but then it also consisted of several other apartments scattered a few blocks away. Essentially, by reserving with so many people, we had an entire apartment of 14 beds for my friends and I. The setup was perfect for our group.

That night we went on the pub craw organized by the hostel, leading to all the cute local pubs in this bitty, yet still bumping beach town with so many twisting alleyways.

D3:

We started our morning with breakfast cooked for us by the famous Mama of the Rising Cock, whom everyone refers to as Mama. She’s a lovely Portuguese lady who makes out-of-this-world crepes as breakfast for all the residents of the hostel. Then we headed to the beach, which was breathtaking.

We climbed all over the rocks, jumping in and playing in the ocean. Every few minutes we’d stop to pinch ourselves and ask if this was real life. Then we’d laugh and all rejoice over the fact that this can be called “school” hehe

After that, we grabbed a quick lunch of paninis before heading off to the Rising Cock booze cruise. Obviously that was everything you’d expect and more: unlimited liquor, party boat, and the open ocean.

I made friends with two of the workers on the cruise though and found them to be the most fascinating people. Charlie, an 18-year-old Aussie girl, had been working there for a few months when she ran out of money in Lagos and decided to stay. The owner of the hostel, a Portuguese American man, who’s mama was actually Mama, explained how he left his life in the United States to come pursue his dream of owning a hostel and has been doing that ever since.

Afterward, we headed back home for a nap before going out to dinner. We ended up just buying food at a market and enjoying a picnic in one of the many parks in Lagos and calling it an early night. The sunshine and booze cruise had really taken it out of everyone and a lot of us had early bus rides to Sevilla the next day.

D4:

Speaking of early bus rides, my friend Lucy and I, although we didn’t have tickets, decided to attempt to get on the 6:30 am bus to Seville because our room was waking up for it anyway.

We ended up sitting outside the bus, unable to communicate to the driver what we wanted or how we knew there would be kids who skipped the bus, watching it drive away. Hahaha oops. In the end though, it worked out even better because we got to get tickets on an afternoon bus chartered only for SAS kids and we had time to go to the beach!

We got some food at a bar on the beach and ended up talking to the petite Portuguese bartender for almost an hour about her life and it was eerily similar to mine. She – Silvia – asked my two guy friends and I what we were studying and they both replied “business” where I informed her I was business/computer science.

She went “me too! I guess the girls pick the hard majors.” Then she explained that she used to be a consultant in Lisbon. To which I replied, “Me too!”

She gave me a look of surprise then asked suspiciously, “What company?”

I told her and she looked utterly flabbergasted. Then laughed and responded “me too!!”

Mind. Blown.

Honestly what are the chances of that?

We talked about how she had a career in corporate for years, then decided to settle down with her boyfriend in Lagos and enjoy a less fast-paced life and how she was still deciding what to do now. She was so sweet and kind. We took a photo with her and my friend even invited her to come visit us haha.

I think we were just so enamored with her ability to pursue what she wanted in life. Anyway, Silvia, if you’re reading this, you rock!

Then it was time to head to the bus, which although was 5 hours or so, flew by because it was only SAS kids. We played games, sang songs, laughed and talked our way through the hours getting to know more people on the trip. I’m really glad we missed the early bus or I guess never got the chance to go on it, because this other bus was such a good time.

When we arrived in Sevilla, we checked into our hostel The Architect, which was another pleasant place, with a great area on the rooftop to hangout. We were all pretty wiped after so much travel, but we only had one night in Seville, so we headed out to explore the lively city.

We stopped at a Tapas bar for some sangria and of course Tapas. I got tortilla Espinosa, my favorite from Spain, and they comped me for my Spanish abilities. I. Love. Spain. Anyway then we just walked around the bustling city – whose streets were filled with people far past the time American bars usually close. It was fun to just sit by the river at a bar and talk to locals.

As we were strolling, we came upon some other semester at sea kids and I head a shocked exclamation, “Paige Kehoe??”

I looked around to find the source and discovered a girl named Kenzie from my high school lacrosse team whom I had not seen since literally graduation over 2 years ago.

What are the chances??

Apparently Kenzie is studying abroad in Morocco and her best friend from college is also on SAS, so she came to Sevilla to visit him. Mind. Blown. Again. Yet another unreal connection in an unlikely place.

It was fun to catch up and talk about old times and I still kind of don’t believe it was real.

My friends and I ended the night with the traditional Chocolate y Churros that I had missed so much since my time living in Spain. My friends were all shocked by how delicious it was. And I’m glad I forced them to try it, despite the late hours and disastrously high caloric content haha

D5:

The next morning we actually went to see the sights of Seville in the day. We stopped by the Real Alcazar, a beautiful cathedral and Christopher Columbus’ tomb. Seville is such an amazing city. I think we all wished we’d had more time to appreciate it. Yet again, another city I vow to return to.

At this point, I think I’m just going to need to travel for the rest of my life. I’m still unsure how I’m going to adjust back to normal life in one city, where I know the days of the week as opposed to simply A day or B day or port day.

The rest of the day consisted of travel and errand running in Cadiz and enjoying some Paella and Sangria before we had to be back on ship late afternoon.

I’ll admit that to those readers out there, this is perhaps been the least interesting post to date. Overall, the thing that made all of these seemingly mundane moments so meaningful was my friends. This port could probably be described as my most hedonistic and also the most people oriented. I attribute part of it to the fact that I missed a few days with everyone in Ireland and that our next stop is Morocco – much more of a cultural challenge and certainly less focused around socialization or clubbing by any means.

Lisbon and Spain were more of our European debauchery, but Morocco will be the biggest shock yet.

Off to Africa! xo

The port that wasn’t: Ireland

Well long story short, I did not get to spend as much time in Ireland as I originally would have liked. Due to a series of misunderstandings and unfortunate events and maybe a bit of poor judgment on my part, I landed myself with some dock time.

To make this a learning experience for all, don’t skip dock time. Ever. EVER. Even if you think you have moved it…

What even is dock time you ask? Well, let me tell you! It is mandatory on ship time during port stays as punishment for a variety of offenses. You can get dock time for trying to sneak things on the ship, being late to re-board the ship, skipping too many classes, missing Field Labs, basically anything that you really shouldn’t be doing. The lesson here is: you are the rule, not the exception. Unless you are 100% sure you are the exception. Here I most certainly was not. Whoops.

So during my slightly truncated time in the Land of Ire, here’s the scoop.

Highlights:

Trinity College, my very own bar, Guinness Brewery, CHIPOTLE OMG (or its European cousin), Dublin Oktoberfest

The details:

I spent most of my time wandering the city with my friend Matt, exploring small stores, pubs, and seeing the sites. We strolled through Trinity College, but didn’t feel up to spending hours waiting in line to see the Book of Kells, so we just enjoyed the college vibes that I did not realize I had missed from good old SC. I loved the lush green grass quads and towering historic school buildings. For those of you that are unaware, Trinity College is the Harvard of Dublin and another fun tidbit, one of our cab driver’s sons actually just started school there. Yay cabbie. Here’s a shot of the college quad and the line we opted out of

The next stop on our journey was a bar called Kehoe’s aka MY BAR. Here it is in all its glory:

We made a pilgrimage to my namesake (not really) and had a nice chat with the bartender there. He informed us that I pronounce Kehoe wrong and it is actually pronounced Keo, with an alternative spelling being Keögh. So thanks mom and dad for that one. He was actually incredibly kind and told us a couple of stores we should head to for shopping.

Another treat of the day was a quick pit stop in Starbucks for a white girl’s Fall fantasy – pumpkin spice latte. I was ecstatic to learn they make it just as good in Ireland!

As we headed to the Guinness Storehouse, we passed through St Patrick’s Cathedral, which was another beautiful site in Dublin.

Then of course it was off to the mandatory Dublin attraction: The Guinness Storehouse.

It paled a little bit in comparison with the Heineken Experience from Amsterdam, but it was still a good time. We toured five floors exhibiting Ireland’s favorite dark beer and ended up at the best part of the place, the Sky Bar. With 360 degree views of Dublin and a bar with unlimited Guinness, it definitely made up for the less than exciting rest of the museum. Here’s a horrible panorama of the bar and a better shot of just the view.

To satisfy our empty stomachs, we headed to a place that we only knew through other SAS students’ rumors: Tolteca – apparently a mock chipotle. My childish exuberance for any semblance of Chipotle in Europe is rather embarrassing, but Tolteca did not disappoint! Take a look and you can see exactly how similar it is to Chipotle:

I love Tolteca. We actually sat exclaiming our unadulterated joy over having found such a magical place for a good 5 minutes after scarfing our burrito bowls. Also, sorry world for skipping out on Irish cooking – not really my cup of tea anyway.

The last stop during my time in Ireland was a mini Oktoberfest right by the ship. We reunited with a number of friends and tried some other Irish beers, while enjoying a semblance of the festival we missed by about a week in Germany.

Overall Ireland was short and sweet, but still a learning experience. I just figure that I will have to return to get the full experience and perhaps go to Galway or the Cliffs and explore the nightlife more. Until that day, I can look forward to an almost dock-time free Portugal and Spain!

This is Keögh, signing off.

the most picturesque city ever: Amsterdam (overland #2 pt 2)

Amsterdam is probably my favorite city we have been to yet! I loved the young vibes and the beautiful canals that are everywhere and also look unfortunately similar haha

The highlights:

Day 2(night): Reuniting with all of our friends

Day 3: Pancakes! I Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, the coolest apartment

Day 4: cooking real breakfast, Heineken Experience, seeing the city

Day 5: Anne Frank house, nursing my shopping addiction, lots of trains, scary times in France

Day 6: Field lab….. ugh

So we left off with Bryce and I finally catching another bus to Amsterdam and figuring out how to get to the hostel. Our hostel was Amsterdam Center Hostel. I would give it maybe 5 stars out of ten, but being as we really were there for only 10 hours before heading to the apartment we had rented through Airbnb the next day, I didn’t mind. The steep stairs were a bit difficult, but we had a room for all of our friends, so it worked out ok.

Bryce and I set out for our first night in Amsterdam, with only a hope that we would run into the rest of our gang. What did I say in my last post? It all works out. Well, it did! We ran into both groups of our friends while wandering the city and had an amazing time strolling around.

We did venture to the fabled red light district, but unfortunately no pictures allowed there. You will just have to imagine… if you even want to haha

Day 3:

The next morning we were up early to check out of the terrible hostel and venture around the city. A few of us decided to get breakfast at a place my friend Jazz (who goes to USC but is from the Netherlands!) recommended – Pancakes! Dutch pancakes are quite different than American ones, but just as good. Take a look:

Then we roamed around the city, in awe of the number of canals and amazing scenery. We stopped at the famous I AMSTERDAM sign and got a typical tourist picture

Then we headed off to the Van Gogh museum to get cultured. I absolutely adored the museum and Van Gogh catapulted himself to my favorite artist. My favorite piece in the museum was courting couples – (I got a pic from google because you can’t actually take them inside)

After that, we decided to go check out the apartment we had rented for the next two nights and were pleasantly surprised by its spaciousness and location. It was in a cool neighborhood called De Pijp, right next to a beautiful park. Unfortunately there was only one key and about 15 of us, so we made plans of times to meet back before going out that night.

Then we all headed off in different directions.  My friend Lucy and I walked all over and tried some amazing macaroons:

And we finally found a cheese store in which every single cheese was cut into sample sizes. We tried literally every single one and left with the Truffle Cheese. Filling your belly with Amsterdam cheese is probably one of the most satisfying things you can do in Amsterdam, just fyi.

Anyway, by then it was getting late, so we headed back to the apartment to get ready for the night. We rolled out with a huge group, which was a bit unwieldy, but also really fun and we stopped at a number of bars around Rembrandt Square and Dam Square.

Day 4:

The next day a few of our group headed off to Paris and the rest of us slept in for the first time in ages. We woke up to the smell of bacon as my friend Rory cooked a delicious breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast. I didn’t realize how much I missed my kitchen.

We got a late start, but at least we were rested and ready enough to head to the Heineken Brewery. There, my friends made me pay 19 euro for the Heineken experience, which we were all pleasantly surprised to find out was amazing and a great bargain. The experience included, tour of the brewery – which had so many interactive activities, options to do a motion simulator where you are brewed into beer, areas to make custom beer bottles with your name, or custom shirts. They also had a tasting of course and we got to play a beer pouring video game. It was actually a lot more difficult than you’d think.  All of us failed…

The last stop inside the brewery was an area where you could either exchange your tokens for two Heinekens or for a Heineken and an official pourer certificate. I opted for the certificate although it took me two tries to get a good pour haha

After that, we got to finish our tour with a canal cruise. Here’s a nice selfie of a few of my friends and I on the cruise.

That evening we played it low key because they all had early transportation the next day.

Day 5:

My friends all headed out early to bus to Paris, but I opted for a later train because I needed a more direct connection to get to Le Havre in a timely manner. I had a lazy morning, much needed after all that travel, then strolled around the city taking photographs in the beautiful morning light.

Then I went to the Anne Frank house, where they do not allow photos, or luggage for that matter. Because of the small spaces, you can only bring bags that you are able to hold on your front.  I really broke a sweat holding my 45 L backpack on my front… a bit of a rookie mistake.

Afterwards, I shopped and shopped and shopped. Amsterdam has an amazing assortment of stores and boutiques near central station. Then I caught a train to Le Havre, with a stopover in Paris.

My transfer in Paris was 45 minutes and I realized as we arrived that I had to navigate the metro to the other main station in the city. I began to get stressed when the metro ticket machine broke. This is where my new motto, It All Works Out, came into play. A random French man, who spoke English, asked me what I needed. I told him, “I just need a metro ticket,” He handed me one because he had ten.

After thanking him profusely, I ran to the nearest train, which happened to be the right one. It led exactly to the St Lazare station, my ultimate destination.

Once at the station, I bought some food and looked around for my train. A man in purple approached me and asked concernedly, “Parlez-vous français?” To which I shook my head. He tried again, “English?” I nodded warily.

He then asked me, “Are you alone?”

I gave him a look that probably said, I do not know you strange man. I would not tell you if I was or wasn’t.

He understood and replied, “I work here. You can tell me,” and he showed me his papers. I nodded, yes, I was alone.

He replied, “There has been a man following you for the past 10 minutes. Watch yourself and be careful.”

I looked around, scanning the crowds in the station, everyone hustling and bustling around me. No familiar faces in sight. I was getting a bit panicky when I noticed four Semester at Sea students sitting outside the train we would be boarding soon. I turned back to the trainman and replied, “I’m not alone any more! Thank you!” and ran over to sit with the SAS students.

I introduced myself, told them my story, and they all were equally as shocked as I. I ended up taking the train to Le Havre with them and everything was fine, but that was a bit of a nerve-wracking experience to say the least.

Day 6:

I had a photography field lab this day and we mostly tooled around Le Havre taking photos. I’ll spare you the gory details by letting you know Le Havre is probably one of the least exciting places I have traveled to in my days and leave it at that.

Next stop: IRELAND  (the homeland)

waffles + chocolate + beer + NATO: Belgium (overland #2 pt uno)

This begins a series of posts detailing my forays into the Benelux region – over what seems live a lifetime, but really only constitutes 6 days. I traveled overland (not getting back on the ship) from Belgium to the Netherlands to France. The trek took a lot out of me, but it probably was my favorite and most eventful port yet. Thus I am breaking it up by country again.

** also apologies for the lateness – ship wifi did not work at all in Ireland

The highlights (of Belgium):

Day 1 – September 14th: surviving the apocalypse and ending up in Antwerp, Belgian delicacies, mystical alleyway, turn up on a Sunday at a karaoke bar and a gay bar

Day 2 – September 15th: field lab to Brussels for Global Security – waffles round two and a visit to NATO, getting lost at McDonalds on the border of Belgium and Netherlands

Day 3-5: Amsterdam – next post!

The details:

Day 1:

Another port, another early morning. I met with a small crew of friends at 9:00am to explore Antwerp, our port city and one of the biggest cities in Belgium. Our plan constituted of searching for Waffles, Chocolates, and Beer – preferably in that order. To our dismay, however, the people of Belgium do not rouse from their post-Saturday night stupor until much after 11:30 or 12:00 – we even saw a club that contained a few people still on the last leg of their nights out around 9:30.

We were walking around an entire city essentially devoid of all life, except for small hoards of Semester at Sea students. It was quite an eerily and disorienting experience. We felt as if the world had ended and the only living survivors were SAS kids.

It took a while, but eventually we found the only waffle shop in all of Antwerp that opened before 11:00am, Désiré de Lille, along with every other person from the MV – and we ordered.. take a guess? Some Belgian Waffles.

  As you can see, mine was absolutely amazing. Belgian waffles are a bit crunchier than American ones, so at first I did not think I enjoyed it, but after the second bite I was hooked and about 2 seconds later I had cleaned my plate ☺

Then we set off to explore the city- that Sunday was a carless Sunday – literally no cars were allowed in the city. It happens once a year in Antwerp and we lucked out to arrive on that day. We saw tons of festival booths being set up promoting bike riding and being green. We also stopped in for a bit of Dutch mass in the main cathedral. Unfortunately, we neglected to realize the service would be entirely incomprehensible to us, until we sat down, but luckily we were not too far up and could sneak out quietly.

After, we wandered around until we found the oldest house in Antwerp, called Vlaaikensgang. (your guess about pronunciation is as good as mine here). A few Belgian students that visited the ship had told us about it beforehand and typed the name in my phone. From the outside, it just seemed like any old alleyway, but inside it was astounding.

Of course, the next stop on our self-led city tour was chocolate shops. We visited several, before all buying lots of truffles. I’ll just say, Belgian chocolate really lived up to its reputation.

 

Fun Fact of the day: Antwerp is named after the myth of a giant who used to cut off the hands of people who could not pay to enter and throw them in the ocean. Ant means hand and werp apparently means throw or throwing. So, of course we bought some Antwerp chocolate hands as well.

Then, we then stumbled upon antique market

We tooled around before our stomachs began to gnaw, so we decided to break for some Sushi, for a change of pace. Yes, I know, Belgian Sushi? Sketchy. But actually it was not at all. I finally satisfied my craving for sushi – which was quite big, being I previously lived in Los Angeles, home to some of the best sushi ever. I am here to say, Belgian Sushi is just as good as any I’ve had before.

We found the day of no cars festival had finally begun and people were cleaning bikes in one of the coolest ways I had ever seen

After that, we tired of being tourists and decided to go local – aka start drinking beer. We stopped at a small pub right outside the festival in one of the main squares. We tried a couple of beers as a group and unsurprisingly enjoyed them all. Here is a shot of my friends at the bar ☺

Then here are the beers:

Some cherry one – Lindemans

Triple Karmeliet

And lastly De Koninck

If you ever go to Belgium, I’d recommend all three. After a few beers, we all realized how long of a day it had been thus far and headed back to the ship for a quick rest before taking off for the night.

Leave it to hundreds of semester at sea kids to figure out exactly how to have a rowdy night in a random port town on a Sunday. I believe the owners of the only open bars – a Karaoke Bar and a Gay Bar – were pleasantly surprised or abhorred with the amount of business they received that evening. I called it an early night though because I had a field lab the next day.

Day 2:

Meet my class at 9:30 with all my stuff for overland travel. I’m sure I looked a bit odd in business casual and a backpacking bag on my back. We took off for Brussels on the tour bus and everyone almost immediately passed out. Our tour guide led us around the city, seeing their huge statue tribute to atomic energy – back when it was viewed more positively I think and a ton of beautiful architecture.

As we were walking, we passed a restaurant called Drug Opera. Everyone had a bit of a chuckle about the name, until our guide led the group right up to it – apparently we were eating lunch at the Drug Opera. To this day, I have absolutely no idea why it is called that. But I swear it really is:

Lunch was, of course, waffles.

Then we headed to NATO, where we got to listen to two amazing speakers discuss the recent Wales Summit and the Russia/Ukraine conflict. I’d tell you what we learned, but then I’d have to kill you… well, not really, but you’d probably be a bit bored. I myself was completely overjoyed and enthralled.

By the end of the lab, a few other students and I checked out from the bus back to Antwerp and detoured to the Brussels train station to catch our various rides to Amsterdam. We are now allowed to check out of field labs at the end, and not ride the bus back to the ship, so that was essentially a free trip to Brussels, which worked out perfectly for my bus to the Netherlands.

I met my friend Bryce at the train station and we hopped on a eurolines bus to Amsterdam. About halfway there, we made a pit stop at a gas station and the driver informed us we had 15 minutes. Bryce and I, absolutely famished as we both had been in Field Labs all day, stopped at the McDonalds right by the gas station to grab dinner. Unfortunately fast food isn’t so fast in Europe because apparently it took longer than 15 minutes. To our dismay, we walked outside, chicken tenders and smoothies in hand, to an empty parking lot.

Immediately, we turned to each other, too shocked to be angry, and both uttered some form of expletive. Then we started thinking about plan B.

The situation: we were stuck at a McDonalds in maybe the Netherlands, maybe Belgium, with around 40 euro on us. I had my passport. We both had our phones. And we had chicken tenders. Location:

The obvious conclusion was: head to the nearest bar and start drinking. Just kidding! First, Bryce drew the word ‘Amsterdam?’ on a sign. We sat outside the station, hoping someone would be heading in that direction.

Then, I pulled out my phone and started looking up the emergency number for our bus company – thank you so much mom and dad for giving me an international phone plan! I called the number and got through immediately.

I went, “So, a friend and I are traveling from Brussels to Amsterdam and we just got left by our bus.” The operator barked a laugh and replied knowingly, “The McDonalds.” Apparently we were not the first to have made this mistake, and undoubtedly we will not be the last.

Luckily, another bus was headed our way in an hour and the other driver could hold our bags at the station in Amsterdam for us. Here is where our new SAS motto comes in to play: IT ALL WORKS OUT. Really, it does. Anyway, we mulled our “misfortune” out over a few beers and caught the next bus to Amsterdam, where our bags were waiting for us at the station and our friends were waiting at the hostel.

I just need to reiterate: it all works out. Throughout all of our travels, in some bizarre way or other, everything always works out okay. Time and time again, we think the worst has happened, but we all go back to our motto: it all works out, and it does. Try it sometime. Positive thinking really does work.

On to Amsterdam… To Be Continued!

Deutschland: Germany (overland pt 2)

I spend the second half of my overland trek in Germany with a much larger group of friends. We took Berlin by storm and had a fabulous time.

The highlights:

Sunday September 7th: reunite with more friends, bike Berlin, Reichstag, clubbing in Berlin

Monday September 8th: switch hostels, make chocolate bars, walk around the city clubbing in Berlin

Tuesday September 9th: meeting the train and touring around Rostock

The details:

Day 3:

We left off the last post during the transfer from Poland to Germany. Three trains later and we arrived bedraggled and probably a bit smelly in Berlin. Our friends had switched up our hostel reservations, so we set off to meet up with 8 others who had opted to train directly to Berlin to go to a music festival the day before. We excitedly reunited and caught each other up about our separate travels the past two nights. Then we headed off to rent bikes and ride through Berlin before we came back to check into our hostel.

For 10 Euro, we had our bikes all day and I’m so glad we did. First stop on the impromptu bike tour was Checkpoint Charlie and Currywurst. My friend Jessy and I were on the verge of serious Hanger (Hungry-anger) as we hadn’t really eaten much that day due to our multiple train rides.

Currywurst, bratwurst covered with ketchup and curry, with a cold Berliner beer set us straight and was just what we needed to fuel us for our self-led bike tour.

Our group of 10 college students biking over Berlin must have been a bit of a sight, but it was so fun. We rode by lots of sections of the Berlin Wall, stopping to appreciate the artwork here and there, then ended up at the Reichstag – Germany’s parliament building. It just so happened that day was the only day in the entire year that the building is open and free to visit for the public. How serendipitous! The entire edifice was amazing. Lots of the bricks inside are covered with writing originally from the soldiers when they took back Berlin from the Nazi regime. Although we personally couldn’t read it, we were told most of the notes were either names or declarations of “(name of person) was here on the day of victory!” Then we went up to the top of the building, which is a huge glass orb. We had a sweeping view of all sides of Berlin.   Here’s a shot of our crew in front of the building:

We hopped back on our bikes to ride a bit through a park and by the holocaust memorial, then ended up at an open air food cart market so we could grab some dinner. Good news, German Indian food is just as good as any. Then we went to return our bikes and finally check in to our hostel. It was called The Grand Hostel and we really enjoyed it. We somehow fit 10 people into a four bed, two room loft. I had never seen a hostel organized into lofts like that, but it worked out quite well for our group.

We then set out to see if Berlin truly lived up to its all night, every night party reputation. I have to say that for a Sunday we had a fabulous time. We took the metro over to an area where there are a number of clubs and ended up at a decent one called Matrix, filled with kids from SAS, and a number of other travelers. We danced until the wee morning and came home exhausted.

Day 4:

The next morning we had a bit of a rude awakening, as we realized we forgot to book the room for another night and had to checkout at 11:00. We woke up at 10:50. But a few members of our group had already left to catch a train back to the ship as they had field programs the last day in port.

Mobilizing five other people to rouse from their sleep is not too difficult when the alternative is being kicked out in pajamas. I called another hostel that had been recommended to me and we set off via underground to The Circus Hostel – another awesome place that was circus themed and had everything in English. We lucked out and had a room all to ourselves as well. Here’s a shot of the entrance to the hostel. 

After getting to the hostel, we had a pit stop for breakfast at a delicious French café and then went shopping. Some of us didn’t plan on staying the extra day and hadn’t packed enough clothes. Then we explored the neighborhood, which looked surprisingly like Portland, very trendy, but we loved it.

That afternoon, we walked across the city to make our own chocolate bars at the Ritter Sport chocolate store! 

For something like 3 Euro, you can pick milk, white, or dark chocolate and three ingredients to put inside your custom chocolate bar. To those of you who know me at all, you realize how much of a sweet tooth I have. I felt I had just found heaven on earth. I selected coconut flakes, vanilla biscuits, and rhubarb, per the suggestion of the lady at the cash register.  Here are some shots from the process!

As we waited, we tried another Berlin custom delicacy, Berliner with rot – no, not literally rotting beer, but raspberry! Absolutely delicious. Here’s a picture of the sweet red beer with still quite a bit of foam… the server seemed kind of embarrassed about her pour… regardless, the beer was great.

We ate our chocolate bars and strolled around shopping and exploring more of Berlin, then headed back to the hostel to get ready for another night out. As tired as we were, we had learned of a few more clubs we needed to see as they had been closed Sunday.

The group rallied quite well and we had a fun time dancing to great music, mostly at a club called Tresor. We came back a bit earlier though because the next day we had booked an 11:00am train to Rostock, where we would meet our floating home.

Day 5:

As I typed this, I sat on a train whisking through the German countryside, as my friends all laid like fallen soldiers, exhausted, but happy and likely in need of a good shower and cleaner clothes. Here’s a pic of them all looking homeless in the train station J

I would love to return to Berlin again someday- preferably not arriving by night train. I would probably even enjoy living there for a bit. The city pulses with youth and vibrancy, coupled with unique history and pieces of the Berlin wall sporadically throughout. I loved Berlin, but I am definitely ready for a good night’s sleep in my own bed.

Next stop: Belgium, Amsterdam, and France!

P.S. I still a little bit can’t believe this is real life

All aboard the MV

As I write, we zoom towards Russia, the first destination of this adventure. In the past 5 days I have learned so much, met hundreds of new people, and enjoyed every minute!

It finally feels real, as the ship rolls beneath me and I sit in my newly filled and decorated room, exhausted from my second day of class. I have arrived for my semester at sea and it only gets better from here 🙂

The short:

Friday 22st – Embarkation! Boarding the ship a day early with work study students & going out in Southampton

Saturday 23nd –Working all day for full ship embarkation, opening session

Sunday 24rd – Orientation all day – finding hidden treasure, activity fair

Monday 25th – First day of A day classes

Tuesday 26th – First day of B day classes

The details:

It all felt pretty surreal as I woke up not long before I needed to catch a cab to the airport and head out for the ship. I rushed to cram everything back in my half unpacked suitcases and made my best attempt not to forget anything. I arrived at the Heathrow Hilton quite early and hung out with a number of the students also waiting for shuttle check-in at 12:30. Everyone had great stories to tell and incredibly different backgrounds, so conversation flowed quite easily as we excitedly met the people we’d be living with for the next 4 months. The shuttle to our port in Southampton took about an hour or more – to be honest I had no concept of time because I was so caught up in meeting everyone and talking about where we were all from, what work study we had, where we were over summer, and our plans for various ports. There were around 30-40 students in total, a nice and more intimate group – as we learned the next day when the 600 or so other students joined us.

We got to Southampton, a quaint English town, and arrived at the correct berth shortly after. First we had to get our passports checked, then go through a carry on/backpack security check– similar to TSA – and then on to the gangway to get on board! We could not see the ship until we exited the security building, so a flurry of selfies and photos ensued.

Five floors seemed like a long way to walk up a wiggly gangplank, but I navigated it, gave my SAS ID card – passport for basically anything on the ship – to the security guard to scan and arrived on the MV. I dropped my bags off in my room, 4th floor and quite small, but at least it has a window. I had no roommate yet, so I wandered around the ship with a group of students, exploring every nook and cranny. It felt like a huge ship, though it’s only 8 floors, but it soon became a lot smaller when the rest of the students arrived the day after.

We then attended several orientations for our jobs and I got trained about the IT help desk and computer lab policy. We only have 2 hours of free internet for the entire journey. Yes. The entire journey. 2 hours for 108 days. But we quickly learned several things: 1) the internet is spotty at best 2) there are a number of free sites we can access with the onboard intranet – including our SAS email addresses, but no facebook 3) that is part of the fun.

After blowing though my internet time pretty quickly and accomplishing next to nothing due to slow loading times, I realized I can get by quite fine without it – minus Greys Anatomy, RIP Netflix. On SAS we are all in the same boat, literally, and part of this adventure is figuring out how to get along and entertain ourselves without the aid of much technology. Yes, we have been playing lots of Cards Against Humanity.

The first night on board, SAS permitted us to get off the ship and we took Southampton by storm. We had about 20 people going out, so we broke off into smaller groups to tool around to the number of bars on one of the main streets. These small groups were much more ideal for actual conversations and we all made fast friends. I am so glad I got to board early and meet all of those students.

The next day came far too fast and much too early. I woke up around 6:30 to unpack because I had been so busy the day before I ran out of time. I did not want my roommate coming in to my bags exploded all over the room. After breakfast, I congregated with the rest of the IT student workers and we began the process of helping all the newly boarded students configure their emails to the ships intranet servers, honestly, not that strenuous off a task, but people seem to love us. So far I have been called “genius”, “amazing”, “the best” and, my favorite “IT girl”, one guy even asked if he could tip me… but I guess that’s what I get when I apply for a computer lab work-study. The other workers are really great and the work is not too terribly demanding.

Everyone stayed up way too late meeting other people, playing games and talking, so early morning orientation came far too soon. Fortunately, we figured out the orientation was screened in our rooms and hid out with a group of friends to watch it. The afternoon consisted of more orientation information sessions. That evening we had an activity fair and everyone signed up for way too many clubs, myself included. Again, we stayed up until the wee hours playing card games and talking, but it sure helped us meet cool friends.

The next two days consisted of classes, eating, working, and hanging out. We realized just how much free time we were going to have. My classes and my professors are awesome. I even have a professor from USC! Funny how I came all the way over to a completely different country and I still manage to find a class taught by an SC professor.

Tonight was the first night students had drink vouchers. The incredibly long line of students waiting for a 4$ tiny cup (I swear it was 4 oz tops) of wine was pretty entertaining. It seems people were quire desperate for a drink after 4 days cooped up on board the MV, but quickly learned the maximum 3 was not enough to get anyone remotely close to intoxicated. I opted for $1.50 ice cream instead, which I believe was a much better deal and equally as satisfying on the rocky boat. I still get disoriented when the ship sways a bit too much for my liking or I realize how fast we are moving across the water.

Today we also traversed the Kiel Canal (pictured above), so we saw lots of Danish and German countryside and several tourists waving at us. We’ve traveled over 400 nautical miles so far! I will try to upload pictures with this post, but again – the wifi situation is a doozy. Four more days at sea until our first stop – Russia! I’ll post in a bit about plans and some interesting insider tidbits about the ship. Time for bed now. Goodnight world.