I Kissed a Fish and I Liked it...

4 more days until Cape Town! I am so STOKED for South Africa!  I’ve heard it’s many voyager’s favorite port.  On the first day I am hoping to hike Table Mountain with a bunch of my friends and hopefully go to a winery in the afternoon.  The second day I have an extremely early FDP (faculty directed practica- sort of a field trip for class).  I’m going to Robben Island (jail where Nelson Mandela was held for 18 of his 27 years in prison).  We’re actually taking out the first ferry of the day, which is at 6:45AM, and we get to ride out with all of the staff of the island.  I watched Invictus again yesterday and they visit Robben Island as well and it got me really excited for tat trip.  I should be back around 2:30PM that day and then I’m hoping to explore Cape Town a bit before I leave the next day. 

The 5th of October thru the 8th I am doing an SAS trip called “Pilannesburg Game Reserve and Johannesburg”  It’s a 2 hour flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg and on the first two days we’re going to see Nelson Mandela Square and Museum, the Apartheid Museum, and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The other two days were going on game drives through the reserve and we’re staying at The Bukubung Bush Lodge.  Sounds fun!

The day after Ghana we started class yet again…

On Sunday we got out of class for a while so we could go outside to celebrate the crossing of the Equator.  We actually passed over the equator and the prime meridian at the same time! It was pretty cool! So we were at 0 degrees latitude and 0 degrees longitude at the same time! Woo!  I’m officially in the Southern Hemisphere!

Today we had the formal celebration of the crossing of the equator.  We call it Neptune Day.

We were all awoken at 7:30AM with cymbals clashing, people cheering down the hallway, and nocks on our doors.  I drug myself out of bed and went up for some breakfast before the festivities.  Then, everyone headed up to the pool deck, deck 7.  When I got there it was already really busy and the whole ship was crowded around the pool.  A long line of people dressed up in face paint and nautical attire marched up from the 6th deck and stood in front of the pool.  We all took an oath and cheered. Part of the Neptune Day festivities is to have “fish guts” (a green, slimy concoction of who-knows-what) poured over your head before you jump into the poor (the water in the pool was replaced with saltwater).  The line was huge so I opted to wait and wander over to the area where everyone was getting heads shaved.  SO many girls did it!  I was not about to do that, but I really applauded the girls that did.  People will hair down past their waist were suddenly bald and it was just bizarre.  I’d say that the amount of guys and girls shaving their heads was pretty even.  I knew a couple of people that did it. 

I changed into a swimsuit and shorts and had the fish guts poured over me.  I proceeded to jump into the pool (so gross) and when I got out I had to kiss a fish (yes, a REAL fish) and kiss the rings of the Neptune king (dean of the ship) and queen (assistant dean).  [Don’t worry- I have a video of the whole thing… embarrassing, haha]

Before these events we were all called “Pollywogs” and now that we have gone through the ceremony we are all official “Emerald Shellbacks”! Yay!

Oh, but the dumb thing is, they scheduled the midterm for Global Studies (the class that everyone on the ship takes) for tonight… So I’m going to continue studying now. Ugh.

Just a side note:  It’s getting harder to write detailed blogs.  I find myself not being able to describe my experiences all that well and saying to myself “you just had to be there, I can’t put it into words”.  As time passes, everyone on the ship becomes a community and I think that I would be completely confused if I were reading this at home.  When I come home, I’ll do my best to articulate the events and feelings I’ve ad here, but I don’t think anyone could truly understand it all unless they were here with me.

Love,

Newly appointed “Emerald Shellback” Michaella  ☺

(Oh and in my first post about Ghana, I made SO many mistakes.  Haha I was really tired.  I can’t really fix them though because I update this blog via email.)  :P

Akwaaba

"Akwaaba" means "Welcome" in the traditional Ashanti language in Ghana. 

So where did I leave off about Ghana?  Oh, before the water village, that’s right…

Well I got up really early on Friday to grab some breakfast (the only meal that is actually any good on this ship, haha) and I went down the gangway to get to the bus.  The ride was about 2 hours from Takoradi to Nzuezlo, where the water village was.  The last 30 minutes in the bus were VERY bumpy because we were driving on dirt roads that were very rutted out from the rainy season. 

We all got life jackets (even though the water wasn’t that deep…) and had to pay “camera fees” (tourist trap).  I got into a canoe with my roommate, Nathalie and our friend, Jacob and a LLL lady (life long learner- an older person on the ship who isn’t taking classes).  We had a local rowing us in the back and it took about an hour to get to the water village by canoe.  The canoe trip was awesome, but I wanted to row and they wouldn’t let me.  ☹ 

The water village was pretty cool.  All of the buildings were on stilts and they sat on top of a lake.  I have mixed feelings about this whole trip because walking around in the village felt really strange.  I think there were WAY too many people in our group (80 SASers) and I felt like we just came into the village like it was a zoo and bombarded them.  The walkway was very small with houses on both sides.  People were staring at us as we walked by and we were stepping over their laundry, which was laid out along the walkway.  We got to a room at the end of the village where we all sat down and met with the village elder.  He had a translator and he told us a little aobut the village.  It was built there for strategic purposes- protection from their enemies.  Now there are about 300 people living there and they get around 300 tourists a week! That is crazy!  Before we got up we were asked to donate to the school fund for the village, which made me very skeptical, but I donated as not to be rude… We were only at the village for 20 minutes before we got back into our canoes and rode back to land. 

Oh, side note:  in the little stand that was selling drinks and snacks in the water village where we first arrived, they were selling small, packaged cookies called “Obama Biscuits” with Obama’s face and the American flag on the packaging.  Just thought it was funny.  They love Obama in Ghana.  He and his family had come to visit in July of 2009 and they are very proud of that fact. 
Well all in all the water village was just an awkward experience.  The architecture of the place was neat, but I did feel like we were invading on their lives. 

We got back and I had dinner on the ship (for some reason food on the ship is better when we are in port than when we’re at sea).  I took a nap and went out to the duty store, where everyone was drinking.  I came back early and went to bed.  I’ve had a cold for a while and I was not feeling well and I was tired. 

On my last day in Ghana I got up and looked around the ship for the friends I was going to go out with for the day.  I knocked on their doors and no one answered, so I edited pictures for a while and I was angry because I thought they had left without me.  Turns out that they were all still sleeping so when they got ready we headed out to the market that was just outside of the ship. 

There were lots of beautiful things for sale like jewelry, fabric, dresses, jerseys, woodcarvings, drums… I got a hand carved wooden giraffe for my collection, a Ghana soccer jersey, and a small painting.  Everything was pretty cheap and, between Morocco and Ghana, I’m getting pretty good at bartering.  Too bad you can’t do that anywhere in the US.

I got back on the ship early to avoid dock time (if you are late for on-ship time you are docked 3 hours for every 15 minutes you are late, essentially you can’t get off until 3 hours after everyone else does at the next port), to relax, and to catch up on schoolwork.  School is picking up and I actually have assignments due now.  I still wasn’t feeling great so I bought a smoothie and sat on the 7th deck and read in the sun.  ☺

So I would recommend Ghana to everyone! It was such a warm (literally and figuratively), welcoming country and it was really beautiful- from the canopy walkway over the rainforest to the kids playing soccer barefoot in the mud.  Everyone should experience something like that in his or her lifetime.

M

You're Probably Missing Me By Now...

So why don't you send me a nice ICE CREAM CAKE on the ship?  :)  hahaha

 Click here -->     http://www.semesteratsea.org/?option=com_setcontrol&form=9&Itemid=1020 

Or if you're really feeling nice you can send me a nice spa package, haha, but I don't really see that happening...

Click here -->      http://www.semesteratsea.org/?option=com_setcontrol&form=10&Itemid=1091

Miss you guys!  We're leaving Ghana in 2 hours, then 7 straight days of class before we get to South Africa!  (Safari in South Africa, I'm SO excited!)

Love,
M

Ghana: Land of the Happy

I just want to begin by saying:  I LOVE Ghana!  It is most definitely my favorite port so far.  ☺

Yesterday morning I woke up and we had docked in Takoradi, Ghana.  I couldn’t sleep much the night before so I got up around 9:15 and had a granola bar and got ready for my day trip that was leaving at 10.  My trip was with SAS and it was an FDP (Faculty Directed Practica- I am required to do a couple of these for my classes) called “Castles and Slave Dungeons”.  We all got on the busses (such a big trip, we had 3 tour busses…) and headed off to the Elmina Castle.

The bus ride took about 90 minutes and on the way there we drove by many small towns and villages.  SO many people would see the bus, stop what they were doing, and wave to us.  It was amazing.  Especially coming from Morocco where people would avoid looking at you or talking with you at all costs.  There were so many kids around the schools playing in their uniforms together.  When our busses would drive by they would run towards the bus and smile, wave, and some even flexed for us, haha.  ☺  So cute.  There were also women out and about everywhere. 

That was also a huge difference from Morocco, where you rarely saw women out and about and it was almost impossible to find a woman working outside of the home.  The people in the towns had little stands where they sold various products and services.  Everyone was outside and women were walking along the street with huge bowls of water pouches or fried plantains.  It was so cool to see.  I can’t believe I’m really in Africa.  I know Morocco was Africa too, but this seems much more like the Africa that I had pictured.

When we got to the castle and got off the bus a bunch of townspeople came up and asked some of the SASers to write their names down (I did not do this).  A lot of people in the group wrote their names down…

We went into the castle and followed out tour guide through the hallways and courtyard.  He told us about how the slave prisoners were kept.  It was very humbling and to think that this was where so many had lived and died in the era of slavery.  One especially harrowing scene that the guide described to us was when all of the women would be marched out from the dungeons and were made to stand in the courtyard.  The governor would come out of his private residence on the top floor and stand on a balcony overlooking the courtyard.  He would select a woman that he wanted to have his way with and she was immediately bathed, usually in front of everyone, and sent up to the governor’s residence.  He would rape her and sometimes she could become a servant for him afterward.  If she became pregnant, she would often be freed. 

We went into the female and male slave dungeons and both were very small, hot, and cramped.  Some of the people in my group were crying and really emotional.  So when we came out of the castle and were walking to the bus, all of the people who had written their names down were bombarded by people selling them seashells on which they had written their names and “Welcome to Ghana” or something of the sort.  Haha.  We drove on the bus to the place where we were going to have lunch.  I think it was called “Coconut Grove Resort” or something.  It was very touristy, but really nice and pretty.  We had a buffet of traditional Ghanaian food on the beach.  It was really good.  I had some yams, fried potato, some sort of chicken, rice, and a few other things.  During lunch a group was drumming and dancing and it made for a nice lunch.  We walked along the beach and got back onto the bus for the second half of the afternoon. 

We arrived at the second castle, The Cape Coast Castle, and it looked pretty similar to the first one.  We went on another tour and it was pretty similar to the first.  It was another sobering experience.  After we got back to the ship I showered, regrouped, and ate dinner.  Then a couple of friends and I went to the duty-free, which is literally 10 feet from the ship, and bought some snacks and juice. 

Today, my roommate Nathalie and I and our friend Howard decided that we wanted to go to Kakum National Park.  We got up at 6:30 and had breakfast and walked out of the port.  It’s a pretty long walk to the end and it was raining and we were all pretty wet by the time that we found a taxi driver to drive us for the day and to take us to Kakum.  We negotiated a good price and the taxi was so much nicer than the ones in Morocco.  It was about a 2 hour drive from port to Kakum and our taxi driver talked to us the whole time and he had some funny and interesting things to say.  We were asking him questions and he said that his favorite movie is Titanic and he loves to listen to R. Kelly, Puff Daddy, Michael Jackson, and Nelly.  Hahaha I was pretty tired so I was in and out of sleep.  When we got there it was only sprinkling and we had to wait a little while before we could start our tour.  Of course, a giant group of SAS students (which we kind of wanted to get away from) on one of the tour busses showed up and we had to do the tour with them.  It actually turned out really great. 
There was a short, but uphill hike to the area where the treetops began and, as we were hiking this, it started pouring rain.  It is the rainy season here in Ghana and the forecast is rain every day for the next week.  Anyway, we headed through the rainforest and got to the ladder that started the canopy walk.  Once I got up to the top, I was awestruck.  We were above the top of the trees and everything was SO green and it was raining.  It was amazing.  We crossed about 7 or 8 rope suspension bridges (like something out of Indiana Jones) and stopped at little decks built into the trees to take pictures.  It was raining so hard, but it made it so much more fun.  I would come back to Ghana just for that again.  ☺ I had the best time ever.

We left the Kakum forest excited, but hungry and soaking wet.  We had our taxi driver take us to a restaurant that one of our friends had told us about the day before.  It was on the water, with a pond with crocodiles on the side.  We got there and ordered and about 5 minutes later the same group of SAS students from the canopy walk showed up and they were served a delicious looking buffet of Moroccan food.  We watched and waited for our food to come, but it took a very long time.  Howard’s food came first, then Nathalie’s… I waited an hour for my chicken kabobs and when they finally came, they were measly and cold.  I ate a bunch of everyone else’s food and we walked around the pond and looked at the birds and the flowers.  Nathalie went bird watching with a group of SAS students for 30 minutes, while Howard and I went to the internet café to check email.  It didn’t work out too well, but I wasn’t too concerned. 

We had our driver take us back after that and he had some more funny things to say on the ride back.  He had watched a lot of American movies and was asking what a stripper was and what a gangster was.  It was interesting trying to explain those things, but Nathalie did most of the talking.
When we got out of the cab, we were immediately accosted and surrounded by Ghanaian men trying to sell us personalized bracelets with our names on them.  After being surrounded and not being able to leave, my friends and I bought bracelets and paid them only a little of what we had.  I got back to the ship and ate a quick dinner before rinsing off. 
Nathalie and I had been planning to go to the water village (houses on stilts and is only accessible by boats) tomorrow and we decided that we would just go on the trip independently.  Well, it turns out that we found 2 free tickets to the village in the ticket donation box with SAS.  That NEVER happens!  People crowd around like vultures to see if there are ever any donations in that box!  Haha.  So both of us are going on the Semester at Sea trip to the water village for free! (The trip originally costs $85).  Yippee!!!  ☺ 

In summary:  I really really am having a great time here in Ghana.  I love the people and I think they really are the nicest group of people I’ve ever met.  The weather isn’t even too bad and the food is good.  The scenery is beautiful and the transportation isn’t so bad either.  I would love to come back here one day.  Well I still have 2 full days here and I want to get some sleep!

Oh and the Ghanaian people love to talk about how they beat us in football during the world cup and I just think it's so funny.  They aren't mean about it, but they are so proud.  They LOVE their soccer here.

Michaella

GHANA time!

Only one more class until Ghana!  Thank gosh.  After 7 straight days of class from the end of Morocco until now, I am ready for a “break”.  We left Morocco on 14th and classes started up again on the 15th.  Classes really got going this week.  It hard because we have each class every other day.  One must really prioritize their time well to get everything done in time.  On the 16th I woke up for breakfast before global studies and ate outside.  The ship was stopped in the middle of the ocean just off the shore of Las Palmas in the Canary Islands.  A fuel tanker was next to us refilling the ship. I think fuel was expensive in Morocco so we opted to get fuel there.  I wish we would have gotten to go to the Canary Islands for a day, but it was cool even to see from far away.

I also got my copy of “Made for Goodness” by Archbishop Desmond Tutu signed!!! It was great and I even got a picture with him!  I was so excited after I got my book signed that I almost fell down the stairs! (Again… haha)  ☺

Tomorrow we arrive in Takoradi, Ghana!  I’m actually really excited.  A week ago I would have told you I that I knew nothing about Ghana and I was really apprehensive for this port.  Now, after talking to the inter-port student from Ghana and going to a couple of cultural lectures, I feel better.  The inter-port student, Rebecca, told us that Ghana is relatively safe and transportation is fairly reliable.  She said that the neighborhood villages in Ghana have great hand made crafts (unlike the mass produced “crafts” for sale in Morocco).  There are a lot of interesting places to visit around Takoradi and I’m hoping to do a couple of them.  I am going tomorrow, for one of my classes, to the castles and slave dungeons.  We’re going to Elmina castle and Cape Coast castle to tour the slave dungeons and the grounds.  I’ve heard it’s a great tour and it hits you hard.  (The Obama family recently visited these 2 sites in Ghana and they were very moved by the experience.) One thing that I know I must do while I’m here is visit Kakum National Park.  It is a park in the jungle where there are over 550 species of butterflies and birds and you get to walk along suspension bridges on the top of the trees.  I also want to visit a water village (I guess it’s called the Venice of Africa) where the only way to get around is by boat and all of the houses are on stilts.  Ghana also has great beaches and I would love to relax by the beach one day for a bit.  I thought it was interesting that Ghanians do not do many things with their left hands, like eat, wave, shake... because the left hand is associated with non sanitary practices.  I need to keep that in mind in public. 

I started taking my malaria medication today in preparation for Ghana.  I’ve heard it can give you really crazy, vivid dreams or night terrors.  Hopefully it won’t affect me too much.

Well I have to go to class now!  Maybe I’ll be able to Skype in Ghana if I find an internet café. 

Miss you guys! Email me!  mlrogers@semesteratsea.net

GHANA time!

Only one more class until Ghana!  Thank gosh.  After 7 straight days of class from the end of Morocco until now, I am ready for a “break”.  We left Morocco on 14th and classes started up again on the 15th.  Classes really got going this week.  It hard because we have each class every other day.  One must really prioritize their time well to get everything done in time.  On the 16th I woke up for breakfast before global studies and ate outside.  The ship was stopped in the middle of the ocean just off the shore of Las Palmas in the Canary Islands.  A fuel tanker was next to us refilling the ship. I think fuel was expensive in Morocco so we opted to get fuel there.  I wish we would have gotten to go to the Canary Islands for a day, but it was cool even to see from far away.

I also got my copy of “Made for Goodness” by Archbishop Desmond Tutu signed!!! It was great and I even got a picture with him!  I was so excited after I got my book signed that I almost fell down the stairs! (Again… haha)  ☺

Tomorrow we arrive in Takoradi, Ghana!  I’m actually really excited.  A week ago I would have told you I that I knew nothing about Ghana and I was really apprehensive for this port.  Now, after talking to the inter-port student from Ghana and going to a couple of cultural lectures, I feel better.  The inter-port student, Rebecca, told us that Ghana is relatively safe and transportation is fairly reliable.  She said that the neighborhood villages in Ghana have great hand made crafts (unlike the mass produced “crafts” for sale in Morocco).  There are a lot of interesting places to visit around Takoradi and I’m hoping to do a couple of them.  I am going tomorrow, for one of my classes, to the castles and slave dungeons.  We’re going to Elmina castle and Cape Coast castle to tour the slave dungeons and the grounds.  I’ve heard it’s a great tour and it hits you hard.  (The Obama family recently visited these 2 sites in Ghana and they were very moved by the experience.) One thing that I know I must do while I’m here is visit Kakum National Park.  It is a park in the jungle where there are over 550 species of butterflies and birds and you get to walk along suspension bridges on the top of the trees.  I also want to visit a water village (I guess it’s called the Venice of Africa) where the only way to get around is by boat and all of the houses are on stilts.  Ghana also has great beaches and I would love to relax by the beach one day for a bit.  I thought it was interesting that Ghanians do not do many things with their left hands, like eat, wave, shake... because the left hand is associated with non sanitary practices.  I need to keep that in mind in public. 

I started taking my malaria medication today in preparation for Ghana.  I’ve heard it can give you really crazy, vivid dreams or night terrors.  Hopefully it won’t affect me too much.

Well I have to go to class now!  Maybe I’ll be able to Skype in Ghana if I find an internet café. 

Miss you guys! Email me!  mlrogers@semesteratsea.net

What to Say About Morocco...

Well it was completely different from anywhere I have ever been, that’s for sure. 
I wrote about my first day in Morocco and getting henna-attacked on my last blog so I’ll start after that.  The next day (Friday 9/10) I went out with some friends to walk around Casablanca and to eat lunch.  We ended up eating at a nice Moroccan restaurant called Le Fleur (I can’t spell or say anything in French so I don’t know if that is right).  It was really good food! I had chicken cous cous and my friends had beef tagine which was also amazing.  I also had a Coke and the bottle was in Arabic so I saved it!  After lunch, we walked around the city a bit more and we saw “Rick’s Café”, which is a bit tourist attraction in town (it’s a copy from the movie “Casablanca”).  It was only built about 7 or so years ago and I wanted to eat there, just to say I had, but it was expensive and you needed reservations. 

In the afternoon, I went on the Casablanca city orientation tour with SAS.  A couple of my friends went and we were lucky enough to be on the same bus as Desmond and Leah Tutu.  ☺  The tour took us first to the beautiful Hassan II mosque close to the port where we walked around outside and gawked at the details and design of the building.  Archbishop Tutu and his wife didn’t have a camera with them so my friend Krystal was their personal photographer at the mosque.  So cool!  We drove to a some fancy government buildings and then we drove through the “Beverly Hills” of Casablanca.  We saw the home that Winston Churchill had once lived in.  We stopped for milkshakes (SO good) and mint tea (also amazing!) on the shore where all of the resorts were.  After that we stopped at a church with really wonderful stained glass windows from floor to ceiling.  While we were in the church Archbishop Tutu and his wife sat down and prayed for about 5 minutes.  It was cute.  We finished the tour and headed back into Casablanca to have dinner.  We walked around the city trying to find some good Moroccan food.  In a couple of places we went into, the room was filled with only men and when we walked in they just stared at us.  We decided not to eat there, haha.  We ended up eating in a sort of “Moroccan diner”.  I had brochettes de filet (I think?), which is like a kabob with steak, French fries, and a Coke.  The kabob was excellent and I saved the glass Coke bottle because it was in Arabic. 

The following day 4 of my friends and I decided to venture to the big market city of Marrakech.  We got up and took a taxi to the train station.  We made sure to barter with the driver for the trip before getting into the cab because they will greatly increase the rates for tourists.  We got into the cab and it wasn’t 5 minutes before the cab comes to a slow stop in the middle of an intersection.  We all sat in the car wondering what was happening.  After moving the car slightly out of the way of the intersection (we were still in the middle of the street with cars barely passing us on both sides) the driver proceeded to try to start the car for 10 minutes.  Luckily we had left a good 90 minutes time for getting to the train station (which was only about a 10 minute cab ride away).  After the 10 minutes another taxi driver drives up and the two are speaking Arabic, so we don’t have a clue what they are saying.  The second driver gets out a large container of
what was hopefully fuel and pours it into the tank of our taxi.  Our driver still had a hard time starting the car, but he finally does, but I think he was driving in 5th gear the whole time and only going like 30MPH. I don’t think that anyone in the country really knew how to properly drive a stick shift vehicle.  Haha. 

Well we made it to the train station with plenty of time to spare.  We took the 10:50 train from Casablanca.  The train ride was miserable.  The train cars were set up facing each other (like the Hogwarts Express on Harry Potter, haha) and there were SO many people.  We had second-class tickets because they are so much cheaper and we were packed into the car like sardines.  There was no air conditioning and no circulation of air.  Some of my friends and other SAS students had to stand the entire 4-hour train ride.  When we made it into Marrakech, one of my friends discovered that she had somehow been pick pocketed 800 dirham. (exchange rate is 8.8 dirham = 1 USD).  Bummer. 

There was a McDonalds in the train station and we were all starving and hot so we got some food there.  It was worth it just to have a TOBLERONE MCFLURRY! So good! Haha.  In my anthropology classes we talk a lot about globalization and McDonaldization and it is always interesting to see how different countries have glocalized (taken a global commodity/ company and have adapted it for local circumstances and culture) restaurants like McDonalds.  There weren’t a lot of choices like in the US and everything was more expensive.  It was always packed with people every time we would walk by though. 

We proceeded to walk around and went past the walls into the inner-city.  Marrakech is more of a tourist destination than Casablanca and I could tell right away.  In Casablanca 90% of the women I saw on the street wore headscarves and traditional Moroccan clothing and you very rarely saw a woman out in the evening.  In Marrakech, the women were not as modest and many wore more Western clothing and did not cover their heads.  We got to the medina (market area) and we were instantly taken aback at how different it was.  I had never seen anything like it.  There was a large square with games going on in the center and booths selling orange juice.  There were also people playing instruments in funny costumes, snake charmers, and monkey handlers.  The men with the monkeys would have the monkey jump on unsuspecting passersby and would not remove the monkey unless you paid them.  The snake charmers would throw snakes onto people and also make you pay to remove them.  Luckily neither of these things happened to me because I stayed FAR away.  They even make you pay them if you take pictures of them, so I didn’t really get any good shots except for the few I took in secret. 

The square was surrounded with little shops with various souvenirs for sale.  Many of the shops were selling the same things like teapots, cups, bags, watches, stools, jewelry, clothing, and postcards.  I bartered for a nice outfit in one of the shops and the shopkeepers original offer was 450 dirham and I got the price down to 110 dirham.  ☺  I bought a couple of cheap leather bracelets, that I love, and some postcards.  We also got some fresh squeezed orange juice and dates from the street vendors.  We walked around and admired the shops and the masses of different people.  Then we ran into 2 of my professors, who happen to be married, and talked with them for a bit.  Later in the afternoon we were all standing in the middle of the medina and all of the sudden people started parting and a man ran by and he was followed by another man yelling at him.  They stopped right next to us and started punching and kicking one another. Then one of the men picked up a big rock and he looked like he was going to throw it at the other one, so we decided that it was a good time to leave.  We went back to the train station and got on the 9PM back to Casablanca.  We arrived back at the ship around 1:30 AM and I passed out.

Sunday, the 12th, I slept in a bit and then went to the gym on board the ship.  I have never sweated so much in my life.  In CO I rarely find myself sweating at all and this was bizarre.  We went out in the afternoon and strolled around Casa and went to the market there.  Things were cheaper in the market in Casa because there are less tourists visiting.  I got a couple of tea glasses and a small mirror.  I went back to the ship early because I was really tired and hot.  I think we watched Quantum of Solace that night and went to bed. 

The 13th I did much of the same thing and went to a hookah bar with a bunch of my friends.  On the 14th, we had to be back on the ship by 6PM and I like to get there about and hour early because the line is always long.  We got a taxi to take us to the mosque for the 11 o-clock tour.  It was SO hot waiting for the tour and inside the mosque it wasn’t much better.  The mosque is less than 10 years old and it is so detailed and beautiful.  It is built over the water so that the people can feel connected to the elements during times of worship.  In some rooms there were also pools of water and fountains for people to wash in.  We ate a small lunch and returned to the ship early to swim and prepare for class the next day.  After about 2 weeks of traveling on land, it felt weird to be on the ship for good for a while. 

All in all Morocco was a learning experience, but a good one at that.  It was very hot and being in such a strict and heavily religious environment really changes your outlook on some things. 

Here is a compilation of some of the terms used on the ship that I thought you might be interested in

Semester at Sea terms:

SAShole (pronounced sass-hole, yeah it’s inappropriate, but so true)-  someone who gives all SASers a bad name, mostly those who act like freshman who have never seen alcohol before or those who don’t realize that other cultures besides the arrogant American exist

Example #1:  the 2 girls who thought it was a good idea to sunbathe in their bikinis on the square outside of the mosque during Ramadan (it’s not okay ever, but especially not during this big religious holiday)

Example #2:  the guy that was in my group on the tour of the mosque who kept putting plastic bags on his head and screaming “Morocco!!!”  He also asked the tour guide if he could play a song on his iPod speakers in one of the prayer rooms inside of the mosque.

Example #3:  I wasn’t on this tour, but I heard that on the bus back from the Berber villages in Morocco there were girls at the front of the bus talking and complaining to the bus driver that they were hot and wanted to get back to the ship ASAP.  I guess the conversation went something like this, “Ugggh it’s so hot and I’m sweaty and gross.  I want to take a shower so bad!”  [Asking the bus driver →]  “Do you know what a shower is?” 

(Apparrently the reason why we only spend 1 ½ days in Mauritius is because past SASers have given us a very bad name there by laying on the beach, getting wasted, and causing all sorts of trouble.  Also, I have heard that this voyage is the first one in ten years to stop in Singapore because we were banned from going there because of bad behavior… Hmm)

There are countless more examples of these specimens of SASers. 

Ship-goggles- This was written on the back of one of the pictures in my friends room (Side note:  each cabin has a framed picture on the wall where, at the end of each voyage, the inhabitants of the cabin write advice and things they learned so that future voyagers will have some heads-up.  We looked at our advice on the first day we arrived and it was pretty funny… I will elaborate later)  Anyway, ship-goggles (like beer-goggles) means that after 40 or 50 days into the trip, people will start to look more attractive than they actually are and some people make bad decisions under the influence.  Hahaha

Bubbles- is my new nickname given to me by some of my friends on the ship.  It stemmed from me being cheery most of the time and my random spurts of energy.  One of my friends is nicknamed Giggles and we sound like the Power Puff Girls, haha.

Drunk deck- on deck 7 at night when alcohol is served, this is where all of the “cool” kids hang out.

We?ll Always Have Espana

I know this is late, but I got really busy with planning for and traveling in Morocco. 

Spain:  September 4- 8, 2010

The ship got into Spain on Saturday, the morning of the fourth.  Kelsey and I proceeded directly to the train station and luckily made it there and got our tickets to Seville just before the huge crowd of about 200 SAS students showed up.  Some of them waited in line for almost 2 hours for their train tickets.  We did have to wait for about 30 minutes.  I was feeling pretty queasy possibly from switch to moving constantly on the ship to not moving at all, or possibly from the heat in the train station.  After we had our tickets, we got some water and waited for our train.  At that point, the bag that I had all of my overnight supplies and clothes in broke and I was left awkwardly carrying around a very heavy broken duffle. 

The train ride was great, except for some obnoxious SAS students who thought it wise to have beers in the morning before boarding the train and some that brought their beers onto the train… We got to Seville and transferred to the train that would take us to Madrid.  Once arriving in Madrid, Kelsey and I walked around lost for a long time trying to read the maps and look for our hotel.  We found it after about an hour of walking and lugging my broken bag around the city.  The hotel was really nice and was in a great location.

We asked the hotel concierge for some suggestions as to where we should go for food, shopping, entertainment…  We made our way to the Metro station and bought a 10 ride pass. Upon arriving in our first stop, Sol, we walked around for a bit, admiring the grand architecture and the cobblestone streets.  We had a snack at a little “bar” (bars are everywhere and they are not bars like in the US, they serve tapas and coffee) and walked around the city some more.  We went to the Palacio Real around sunset and took some beautiful pictures.  We had dinner outside around 10 or 10:30, which is the normal time that most people in Spain eat dinner (yikes!).  Kelsey and I had a nice talk and got to know each other.  We had bread, salad, queso manchego and red wine (which wasn’t my favorite at all, haha). 

The next day we had a goal to go to El Rastro, which is a huge market on Sunday mornings in the middle of town.  We took the Metro to where we thought it was and started walking around and couldn’t really find it.  We walked through the Plaza Mayor, which was so gorgeous, but very touristy and crowded.  While we were walking and still looking for El Rastro, Kelsey’s shoe broke, so we gave up trying to find the market and instead looked for some new shoes for Kelsey.  After we found some suitable shoes, we stumbled upon a really nice indoor food market called El Mercado de San Miguel.  They had so much delicious looking food like fresh fruit, olives, meat, seafood, wine, bread, cheese, croquettes, chocolate, and baked goods.  I bought some fruit, olives, and a little calzone sort of thing filled with beef.  It was probably the best meal I had in Spain.  In the late afternoon we went to the Prado museum because it was free from 5 to 7.  I saw some of the paintings that I had heard so much about in European History, like “the Fourth of May” and a lot of crazy Goya paintings.  In the evening we ate at a really delicious vegetarian restaurant in the middle of a square.  I had some gazpacho and a Coke (ahh Cokes with real sugar, mmm). 

On Monday we got up and went straight to the Reina Sofia.  We saw some really amazing art like Picasso’s “Guernica” and many other Picasso pieces.  I really loved all of the Dali pieces as well.  My favorite painting was definitely “A World” by Angeles Santos Torroella.  They let me take pictures of all of the art so I’ll put some up eventually. We explored some other parts of the city for the rest of the day and ate in a small bar for dinner.

The next day we got up early to catch the train to Seville.  When we arrived in Seville it was mid morning so we had tortilla Espanola con jamon e queso (soooo good).  We took a bus that was supposed to take us to the cathedral of Seville, but I guess we got off on the wrong stop and we ended up walking around confused for a while.  When we finally found the cathedral we paid (I convinced them to give me the student price, even though I am not a student in the EU, haha) and went inside.  It was HUGE and really elaborate.  We walked around Seville the rest of the afternoon and bought some souvenirs.  I got a Real Madrid banner and a pin for my collection.  We also went to the post office and we had to wait in line for about an hour to mail our postcards. 
We decided to take an early train back to Cadiz and relax the rest of the evening. 

Once I got back to the ship I showered and unpacked.  I found out that the cathedral in Cadiz has free wifi so we all went there to use the internet for a while.  Later a bunch of SAS people all went to a little bar to have drinks and dance. 

On my last day in Spain I walked around the flower market in the square and went to Carefour (grocery store) to get some snacks (I did not have much luck…).  The ship departed at 2000 and headed straight to Morocco. 

So all in all Spain was really nice and a great “easy” start to this voyage.  I dug up a lot of my Spanish and I was able to communicate pretty darn well.  The public transportation was pretty good and reliable and people were generally really friendly.  Spain was not exactly as I was expecting, but it was a great experience.  It really got me excited to one day go to Italy and use my language skills there!  Because if I can get by with the little Spanish I know in Spain, then I think I will be just fine in Italy! ☺ 

Well I hope everything is going great in Colorado, or wherever you are.  Send me emails.  I will try to write back as soon as I can.  And I will try to upload some pics, but I cannot do that on the ship because of the limited internet.

Love,
Michaella

Morroc- the Casbah

So I know I still haven’t written about Spain, but after spending 5 long days in Spain there is a lot to write and it’s taking a while. We left Spain on Wednesday, the 8th of September, and we got to Mocorrco on the morning of the 9th. We were supposed to have a day in between to prepare, but the schedule changed and the transition was quick. I’ll post about Spain later, but I want to post some things about Morocco while it’s still fresh in my mind.
First of all, I got a bit of a bad first impression of Morocco yesterday. After the ship briefing and a diplomatic briefing I was very excited to get into the country and experience something completely different. I bought a Rabat half day tour from Semester at Sea because it was really cheap and I thought it would be a good way to get to know the country in a safe and reliable way. The ship is docked in Casablanca and Rabat is the capital. The bus ride was about 80 minutes and I did a lot of thinking and people watching out of the window of the bus. Our guide was great and I learned a lot of interesting things about Morocco. Our first stop was at the palace. It was really gorgeous, but we only had 20 minutes there. I thought it was very interesting that the current kings wife was a commoner when he met her and after the were married, she was sent to the UK to learn how to be a royal lady. Haha. There are cats all over the place here and there were some sleeping on the windows of the palace. We got back onto the bus to go to the mausoleum where the royals are buried. It was really beautiful, but parts of it were only halfway constructed and never finished. I was walking back to the bus with the group and a bunch of ladies with henna paste came up and asked if we wanted henna tattoos. I said no to the first one and then another woman approached me. She grabbed my arm and started drawing designs on my hand and the whole time I was yelling “No, no, no!” When she finished she said “You pay now!” and I tried to walk away, but she had a hold of my arm. I could see the group walking in the distance so I asked her if she had change and she said yes. I gave her my 200 dirham bill and then I said “I want change”. She proceeded to tell me “Price two hundred”. At that point the tour guide came up and yelled at the lady and told her to give me change. Thankfully I got 170 dirham back. I know these things happen all the time, but I was sort of shocked. I felt a little better that a couple of people on the bus had also been henna-d against their will. We continued through a casbah and walked from the bus to the shore to look at the ocean. I got back to the ship and relaxed the rest of the night and had a lot of much needed sleep.

While we were riding in the bus I kept looking at the women walking along the streets in their traditional attire, complete with headscarves. Men were wearing more modern clothing. I was expecting more women to we wearing more modern western styles, but out of 100 women, only about 5 were. I’m not sure if it had anything to do with Ramadan, which ended yesterday. After the communal prayer at 7PM no one was on the street because they were all at home breaking the fast and celebrating. Today was the first day of Eed ( I haven’t a clue how to spell that) so most things were closed and we saw a big celebration in the city center.
Tomorrow is September 11, and as you probably know, a church in Florida is planning on burning copies of the Quran tomorrow for a protest. We have been warned by the US Embassy officials that there may be some counter protesting or some sort of outcry here tomorrow. I honestly cannot believe that someone would do such a thing. Especially a religious organization -it makes me sick. I find it odd, but amazing that I will be in a Muslim country on September 11. I know that in the US we have the right to free speech, but I can’t grasp why anyone would want to so blatantly insult so many people. There are so many different forms of Islam and so many different people who follow the Quran and this is going to insult all of them.
The embassy officials also showed a slideshow with some important precautions and information about Morocco. In a recent survey, countries were surveyed and asked if they have a highly favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable, or highly unfavorable view of the US. Only 16% of Moroccan people surveyed had a favorable view of the US. Everyone in the room was a bit stunned and it made everyone a bit nervous as to how we would be treated. On the other hand, the US and Morocco also have a very long- standing treaty of peace and free trade. After interacting with the locals here and talking to some in particular, I have learned that we need to separate the actions of the US government and the people from the US into 2 different categories. Everyone I met today welcomed us with open arms (I know part of it is the money we will spend here). Some even said “Oh, I love Americans. They are so great and nice!” Interesting. One of my friends is in a video journalism class and he interviewed a Moroccan family from Rabat yesterday. He said they were so friendly and told him that their favorite American movies were Braveheart, Troy, and Twilight. Hahaha.
So today I went on the Casablanca city orientation which was amazing and we got to see the beautiful Hassan II mosque here in town and a bunch of other gorgeous places. I took a lot of pictures and I will hopefully put some up if I can find an internet café.
Tomorrow I may go to Marrakesh and see the markets and the mosques there. I would like to do a camel trek, but I am not sure if I will get a chance to do that.
I have heard a lot about the fire in Boulder and that sounds crazy! Everyone better have taken pictures! I miss you all and I will try to update everything soon.
Love,
Michaella

Before Spain

Well I wrote this the night before we arrived in Spain (September 3) and I couldn't access the internet at that time, but here it is! I'm compiling an entry about Espana in the mean time and I will post it soon! If you have fb look for some new pics soon!

Spain TOMORROW! So Kelsey and I are traveling to MADRID! After we get off of the ship tomorrow morning we are heading to the train station to take a train from Cadiz → Sevilla → Madrid. We’ll be staying in Madrid until Tuesday, September 7. Wish me luck! And I’ll try to Skype with you all while I’m at the hotel if it has wireless. Keep in mind that I will be 8 hours ahead of you, but keep Skype on and look out for me! ☺ Night!

Obviously I was super excited... and for good reason- Spain is wonderful! Kelsey and I have had some minor mishaps already, but it's all a learning experience.

“I’m on a Boat!... Oh, sorry- Ship”

I am currently in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. I haven’t seen land in about 5 days now. What a strange feeling…
Recap of various events:

August 25: I woke up at 4AM to get my things together and say goodbye to my dad and Charlene and my grandparents picked me up so we could catch our bus to the airport. I flew from Denver to Toronto on an 8AM flight and after about a 4 hour layover I was on a flight to Halifax, Nova Scotia. I got to Halifax and the time zone is 3 hours ahead of Denver so I was not at all tired and by the time my grandparents and I had gotten the rental car and driven to the Waverly Inn. It was almost 10PM Halifax time, only 7PM Denver time… Eeek! It was within walking distance to the port and it was in a cute little half-historic, half-new construction area of town. I stayed up and Skyped for a bit with Jon, B, Hailey, and Molly back in Boulder.

August 26: I woke up and met my grandparents for breakfast and soon after we left to go to an old Canadian army fort. I think it may have been called the Halifax Citadel? It was very foggy and overcast that day and it rained a little bit on and off in the morning hours. We toured the fort for a while, which was somewhat interesting, but the Canadian army really wasn’t very exciting and didn’t get much action…ever. Haha. There were a bunch of men dressed up in Canadian uniforms walked around, yelled, and hauled cannons that didn’t work. After that we proceeded to walk around in Halifax and just get a feel for the city. We ended up eating in a nice little Greek restaurant. After that, as I recall, we went back to the inn and relaxed for the afternoon. In the evening we went to a pub down the block. That was really nice and reminded me a lot of England. Also, at the supermarket they sell British candy and chocolate! Cadbury!!! ☺ I have deemed Canada as a miniature Great Britain… sort of… but closer to America, with French randomly thrown in. Haha

August 27: Embarkation day! Breakfast, blah, blah… I went down to the pier around 10AM and I lugged all of my bags through security and onto the boat. I went back off the boat to have lunch with my grandparents and to say goodbye. We ate in a little Persian restaurant and the food was great. Back on the ship, I began to unpack and to decorate. My room is much bigger than I thought- probably a little smaller than a dorm room at CU. The walls are magnetic so I put up a bunch of pictures that I brought with me. My roommate is an Anthropology major at UCLA and she is very nice and we have been spending time together lately. Oh, and right when the ship started moving, I thought I would be fine (I was outside for the first hour or so in the breeze), but soon after I came inside I had a headache and I started to not feel well.

August 28: Orientation day. Ugh. That is how I would describe this day. I felt so sick this day, but I took motion sickness medication and it made me so unbelievably tired. When I wasn’t at an orientation lecture I was sleeping. I went to bed around 9 this night and slept ‘till about 9 the next morning. So far I have noticed that I have the weirdest dreams here! So vivid.

August 29: Classes started this day (Sunday!) and I barely made it through them. I felt awful. I could not pay attention in class because I was so sick and each time the boat rocked, I felt myself cringing. The waves were abnormally large this day so the rocking was terrible. I guess we were in a rough part of the Atlantic and we were going fast as to avoid a tropical storm in the South.

August 30: On Monday I started feeling like a human again. ☺ I went to class, took notes, didn’t have to nap, and socialized without feeling the need to curl up and sleep forever. Haha

So on A days (every other class day) this is my schedule:
12:15- 13:30 World Regional Geography
14:55- 16:10 Globalization and Local Cultures

B days:
9:20- 10:35 Global Studies (Not the most exciting class, but everyone on the ship has to take it)
12:15- 13:30 Anthropology of Tourism

So basically the classes aren’t too difficult and the professors have lowered the amount of work we have to do from what they planned on the original syllabi. Plus, we only have 22 days of each class… Haha. I think the program is something like 55% class time and 45% port time, which is pretty amazing. We also have a bunch of reading days (a concept that CU needs to adopt!!!) so there is no class even when we are at sea sometimes!
In the evenings a lot of the students go up to deck 7 (where the pool and the snack bar are) to hang out and on nights when the “bar” is open they all get ridiculous and drink. I have opted not to do so on the ship A. because it is very expensive, B. because all they serve is cheap beer and wine, and C. because we always have class the next day!

We have crossed over 3 time zones already on the ship! Now we usually have to advance our clocks one hour each night! It makes it hard to go to sleep. I haven’t tried the Melatonin, but if I have the same problem tonight I will. We are advancing our clocks ANOTHER hour tonight so we will be 7 hours ahead of Denver! Ah!

Last night I went up to deck 7 for the sunset and it was gorgeous. The sunsets seem to happen really fast because there are no
mountains. I took a bunch of pics.

Oh, and I have seen Desmond Tutu several times. He is the cutest little man I have ever seen. On one of the first days her was in front of me in the dining area and he was getting food for his wife who was sick. And I just saw him 5 minutes ago walking back from the gym with his wife. Surreal.

We get to Spain in 2 days! I think that when we wake up on Saturday we will be there! Ahh! My friend Kelsey and I are going to take a Train from Cadiz to Sevilla and then another to Madrid. We have reservations at a nice hotel in Madrid for 3 nights and we are just going to travel around the city. I hope to visit the museum where Picasso’s “Guernica” is and I think we are also going to see some flamenco. Our hotel is right next to the train station and within walking distance of a couple of famous parks. The dean of the school on the ship is somewhat obsessed with Spain and he was actually knighted by the king of Spain. He has been giving cultural lectures the past few nights about Spain. Last nights lecture was about the food of Spain and I am so excited to eat real food! Churros con chocolate for desayuno, tortillas Espana, tapas, gambas, seafood, flan… Mmm…

Food on the ship is less than appetizing, but not too terrible. With every meal they have some sort of dish made with pasta and something made with potatoes. The salad is sometimes green, sometimes yellow. I brought a lot of snacks with me from Halifax and I have been eating them quite a bit, probably too much. Don’t worry, I am staying healthy though.

I didn’t sign up for any Semester at Sea trips for Morocco and I still am not sure what I am going to do. I may end up buying a few small trips from other students selling their SAS trips (usually below the price they paid for them). I also might get together with a group and do a camel trek through Marrakesh. Not sure at this point.

Side note: it’s so odd to have the workers on the ship sort of “taking care” of you. At lunch and dinner they bus your plates and silverware for you and there are cabin stewardesses that come in everyday with fresh towels and they also make your bed.

I will upload pictures from Canada and of ship-life so far soon! ☺ Love you guys!

Sorry that was SO ridiculously long! I have been keeping a Microsoft Word doc of thoughts and adding to it periodically.

Oh! My email is mlrogers@semesteratsea.net if you didn't get the memo. I'd love to hear from you!