2/17 - 2/22 South Africa

My first impression of Cape Town was that it was way too touristy. Our ship was docked in an area called the V&A Waterfront where 3 malls had been built and a bunch of expensive touristy restaurants were. I realized during this port that I was tired of doing the same things with the same people. Almost everyone on the ship just wants to drink and party their money away. It’s frustrating. And it seems that there’s no balance; SaS trips shield people from the realities of the countries we go to but they tell us that independent trips are too dangerous. So how are we supposed to experience anything real? Honestly the first impression of Cape Town was that it’s not the image we have of any part of Africa; it looks just like a metropolitan city anywhere except it’s surrounded by mountains. It’s a clean, beautiful city but it just wasn’t what I expected.

Anyways, on the first day we went to the diplomatic briefing and waited around for the officials to exchange American dollars to African rand. Once we got off the ship, we walked around and found random things we needed; I got malaria prevention pills for really cheap, paid way too much for aloe, and Victoria and Lindsey signed up for shark diving. After that we found a taxi to take us to Long Street where the main tourist info center was and we could buy tickets for the rugby game that we had heard about. We got there and while we were waiting I bought a Coke at the café from a really nice man named Dave; he was telling me about places I should go and things I should be careful of. Something hit me right then that bothered me. Even though Dave’s the one who sold me the Coke, I noticed that his Caucasian superior was the one who ran the cash register; she wouldn’t even let him take my money. Even though Apartheid has been gone from South Africa for some time there’s still racism even though people claim there isn’t. We had interport lecturers (all 4 of them white and upper class) that said there was more equality in South Africa than in the U.S. but I think their perception of equality and some of ours are different. It wasn’t just Dave; there wasn’t a single white taxi driver, crafstman and I never saw a white person in the township I saw. South Africa’s population is 80% black yet the 20% of whites are the ones that are in control and are prospering. It’s sad that this is happening but even worst is that the white people of privilege here are ignorant to the things that are around them. Our interport student lecturer talked to one of my classes and when someone asked her a question about the townships and rural schooling, she had no idea. She’s lived here her entire life and has never been to a township or a rural school; it really upset me at first. But then I thought about how little of my own country I’ve seen so I guess I have no place to judge.

Anyways, after we left the information center, we just walked up Long street going into stores (that were really expensive) and checked the area out. Rhina and I got gelato and strolled through Green Market Square. Side note: I never realized how uncomfortable I get in small spaces until I walked through the marketplace in Morocco. Thus walking through the market square made me anxious because each cubicle is only like 3 feet from the other and there’re rows and rows of cubicles. I bought a small drum there and at some point an older man kind of awkwardly grabbed at Rhina and I; not in a perverse way but he just kind of draped his arm around us. It definitely freaked me out because I was already unnerved so I booked it out of there. We regrouped and found a taxi to take us back to the ship. The ride was hilarious. Our driver was younger and had a swanky CD player that played videos of the songs. As we were driving back, listening to music and stuck in traffic all of a sudden we all started laughing; the song playing was repeating “Barack Obama”. It turns out that there’s a group in Africa that loves Obama so much they wrote a song about how much they like him! We couldn’t stop laughing, especially when we saw the video that went with it. We asked the driver a bunch of questions about Obama and music in general and he obligingly answered.

We got back, ate dinner and changed for the SaS trip to the theater to see Freak Country. We met outside and loaded a very ghetto coach bus to drive to the University of Cape Town where one of the theaters was. We had some appetizers and drinks provided when we got there and met a former SaS professor who was a company director. The play itself was weird; it’s not that it was bad it just didn’t really do anything. It left most people confused as to why they had ended where they did. I think it was under-acted because I felt as if it could have been good and made sense if there had been more emotions. I talked to a couple people on the bus after and we talked about how discontent we were with SaS trips and the port cities in general; that things hadn’t lived up to what we had anticipated. I got off the bus really unhappy with things in general and was planning on going to bed regardless of what people were doing but everyone had already fallen asleep when I got back so it worked out.

Day two: Sooo much better. Maybe it’s because of the people I was with or what we did, but today was awesome. After breakfast we decided to go see about the City Sightseeing tour; it ended up being the best thing. Basically you buy one ticket and you get to go around Cape Town –which is huge –and stop at all the highlights. The best part is a different bus comes every 20-45 minutes depending on the stop and after you’ve looked around, you get back on to go to the next stop. The buses themselves are red double decker buses –like in England –and there’s an audio commentary while you drive around to all the different places.

The first place we got off was Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens; it’s a huge reserve where most of South Africa’s indigenous plants are present. We walked around for an hour or so and then had a delicious lunch at the restaurant on the grounds. I had a spicy egg dish; not African but it was still really good. I also had the world’s most amazing real hot chocolate; sooo thick and creamy. For 3 people, lunch was only $20! So we got back on the bus and got off at the next stop which was…

World of Birds &Monkey Jungle. It’s an animal reserve/ sanctuary set up so that you actually walk through the cages where all the birds are; they’re not very skiddish so you can get really close. And the second part is similar only there’s a small fence around the pens of the penguins, meerkats, ostrich, etc. and cages around the monkeys. After that was…

The Imizamo Yethu township. A township here is basically a huge area of poor people living in shacks and really cruddy conditions. We had a guided walking tour just through the main street of the township. The first house was one of the shacks and he showed us this woman living with her husband and 3 children in a horribly hot cramped and dirty shack; it only had one room. They had electricity and appliances and such but everything was dirty and old and there was no running water. For some odd reason her children found my ear piercings amusing. After that we walked up further and saw a shabeen which is a bar type of area for people to hang out; they serve liquor to those who are 18 and older and they have a jukebox and a pool table up on beer boxes and crates. It’s also a sort of shanty shack. We also saw the water pump and porter potties where people walk up to 10 meters to come to. There were women there doing their laundry in a basket. After that our guide told us about a giant housing project that the Irish had started a few years earlier. They had come and built 500 houses in just a few days and they have a goal of building 10,000 houses in Cape Town before 2012. We went in to see one of these houses and comparatively, it’s much better than the shacks. The houses are solid and clean and they all have electricity and running water. After that house we walked past a small convenience store build shack style and run by a Somali family; our guide said that there’s been a great influx of Somali people in the townships in the past couple of years. The last stop in the township was the community and health center that the Irish also built during their project. Inside there were people selling homemade goods; the most impressive of these were the t-bag art. These women dry used tea bags, take out the leaves and decorate the bags to make beautiful things with and the leaves to make paper. I bought myself a small t-bag purse; I couldn’t help it. After that we went back to the bus and…

Just rode around on the bus for an hour; it took us along the back side of Table Mountain where some of the beaches and rich communities are. The views were breath-taking. There are 10-story buildings built right on the beaches but the road was cut into the mountain above that so you can still see everything. Cape Town also has a development rule that above a certain line on the mountain, you can’t build up; they want to preserve the image of the mountain. However, rich people don’t like being told they can’t build on the rich side of the mountain so the houses overlooking the road and beach are incredibly cramped together because of all the people that keep building in the tiny spaces. So on our drive we saw Houts Bay and Camps Bay and their beaches and a bunch of baking people on the beaches before we made it back toward the waterfront where the ship is.

We ate dinner and just decided to walk around the waterfront to see if there was anywhere to dance later on. Rhina, Maggie and I made some phone calls –I got to talk to everyone at home! We then went walking through the mall and I finally found a decent-sized bottle of sunscreen with more than 30 SPF –it’s kids sunblock but I’ll take what I can get. We walked up to the cinema at the top of the mall and discovered there was a gay pride film festival going on. We had just missed the showing but there was a reception going on and 2 women saw the group of us walk in and immediately shouted “lesbians?!”, really excitedly and Maggie and I played along and shouted lesbian back to the dismay of Rhina and D. lol They told us to grab a drink and mingle but we decided to pass cause we had missed the movie and D kind of gets uncomfortable around gay men so we didn’t want to leave him out. We finally decided that none of really felt like going out or spending money on drinks so we went back to the ship and played dominoes for an hour or so before calling it a night.

Day three: We woke up early and went to breakfast. I went off to the post office to send out some post cards and a small package. After the post office, D, Rhina and I went off to the City Sightseeing bus stop to get on the red line bus which follows a different route than the one we were on the day before. In general, the first hour of the tour was really boring; it mainly did a few circles around the central part of the city where a lot of the shopping happens. We eventually got to the cable car station to get to the top of Table Mountain. There was a huge line but it went relatively fast so it wasn’t bad. The cable car is pretty sweet; it rotates while it goes up. At the top station the height is about 1200 meters above sea level. Rhina D and I walked around a bit and took some pictures. The view was muggy but amazing; I took a ridiculous amount of pictures. During out little walk, D and Rhina found out how petrified I am of bees when a giant bumble bee came near me and I panicked and started crying. After about a half hour, we went back down and caught the sightseeing bus to Camps Bay to have lunch. We ate at a restaurant recommended to us by the sightseeing company. I had a sushi combo, a crab cake plate and sticky toffee pudding with a local hard cider; all of it was amazing.

After lunch we got back on the sightseeing bus and headed back to the ship. We took a nap and got up to grab something small to eat to hold us over and headed out for the rugby game. We took a big taxi with some other people to get to the stadium; the traffic was crazy and our driver was cruising through traffic, fitting in tiny places you wouldn’t think a vehicle that size could fit. Once we got to the stadium we found our seats just in time for the game to begin. In case you’re wondering why we decided to go to a rugby game, rugby is huge here in South Africa; it’s what baseball and football are to Americans. Apparently, Morgan Freeman was there because they showed him in one of the private boxes. Craaazy cool. Anyways, the game was awesome; the home team won by 3 against the Australians. After the game some of us stayed behind because Victoria wanted to try and get an autograph –and maybe an invite to the after party –but no such luck.

So we got outside and found that people from our group were still waiting for taxis. Someone had called the man who had dropped us off earlier and when he came we somehow fit 13 people into the mid-size SUV. It was uncomfortable but quite hilarious. We spent a few minutes trying to decide where we were getting dropped off before people decided to go to Long street where all the clubs are. I got out at the club with them only to try and find an ATM to take out money so I could pay a taxi to take me back to the waterfront. We waited 10 minutes before we finally got in this club called Chrome and I immediately found an ATM inside, took money out and left the club; I was getting more and more irritated the longer I stayed with the big group because I didn’t have a lot of money left and the last thing I wanted to spend it on was booze. Also I had no desire to dance that night; I just wasn’t feeling that great. So I left and found a taxi on the corner and took it back to the waterfront; the driver was really nice and talked to me in French when I told him I was from Canada. The taxi drivers always ask where you’re from and I’ve learned that saying your Canadian in foreign countries is much better than saying your American; they’re not as likely to try and rip you off. So I got to the waterfront and tried to make a phone call but I couldn’t get my phone card to work so I just walked back to the ship. I got to my room, called Meredith with what I had left of my ship-based calling card and went to bed. I didn’t even hear Rhina come in at 2am.

Day four: Today was completely chill. Rhina, D and I all slept in until lunch. We ate and went out to find a few souvenirs at the craft market right on the edge of the waterfront. On the way there we stopped at the media store and I bought Hercules; yes the Disney cartoon. It was only $7 and it’s one of my favorites. We mostly spent the day window shopping. Rhina got her hair braided and I found knitting needles and yarn! I’m super excited to knit again. After the craft market we headed towards one of the malls intent on finding Melissa’s; it’s a small café with the world’s yummiest hot chocolate made with Nutella.

However, we got distracted on the way there because there was a children’s dance competition going on in the amphitheatre outside of the mall. We stayed and watched most of it; some of the kids were amazing! There were 8 year old boys who could pop-n-lock like nobody’s business. Crazy. The only downside of the performance was that one of the girls had a wardrobe malfunction and ended up flashing half the audience; common sense would have told her to NOT come out on stage in a bikini top that barely covered her nipples. Also, at one point of the 45 minute performance this older creepy guy started hitting on me; he asked me where I was from and if he could have my number because he liked me. Creeper. I immediately went to D and Rhina’s sides and squished between them. I never know how to react when I’m hit on by perfect strangers so I generally ignore them and run away but this one was just more awkward than normal because he had been standing next to me for a couple minutes beforehand and even when he was talking to me I wasn’t looking at him because I didn’t want to encourage him. It was weird.

Anyways, after the show we went in and had hot chocolate at Melissa’s. Amazing. Naturally after having said delicious hot chocolate we went to the grocery store right next to Melissa’s to buy stuff to make hot chocolate while on the ship; I’ve been paying $2 for one on the ship so buying the stuff separate is a much cheaper option. Once we had gotten a few snacks, we went back to the ship to eat dinner. After dinner we went back out to try and find free wi-fi because we had seen some students sitting on the edge of the hotel property right near the ship and internet on the ship is very expensive to buy. We tried near the hotel but Rhina couldn’t get a signal so we went to the information center to find out where else there was wi-fi in the waterfront area. We ended up going to a café nearby but it also wouldn’t work so we finally gave up. On the way back to the ship, Rhina stopped to buy a book she had wanted. The rest of the night consisted of Rhina, D, Victoria, Mike and I watching Hercules and Wedding Crashers and calling it an early night.

Day five: Today was much the same as yesterday. We slept in until lunch and then went out last-minute souvenir shopping. I bought more yarn and found something for mama, dad and keshia. Afterwards we just came back to the ship so we could get started on our homework. I got 2 of my 8 art entries done and will probably spend the next 2 days working on them; the entries take me forever but it’s going to be so worth it when I bring it home.

All in all, Cape Town was pretty great. I only wish I had been able to see more than just stores outside of the waterfront. We were really limited to what we could do since we would’ve had to leave the waterfront every time we wanted to do anything not touristy and even outside of the waterfront area, most things were shopping oriented. Since my friends and I decided we didn’t want to waste all our money shopping or boozing, there really wasn’t a whole lot for us to do. Add in that Cape Town is HUGE and very commercial, I think most people didn’t get out of South Africa what they were hoping to. I know I didn’t but I don’t know how I could have; I would’ve had to have left Cape Town and gone out into places that Semester at Sea deems unsafe. It’s sad but so far on this trip I feel like I’m walking through a zoo version of each country; we see things but through bars. Especially before this port, the SaS staff tried to kind of scare us I feel to keep us from being too adventurous. They say it’s for our safety but I feel like you can’t really experience something if you don’t put yourself out of your comfort zone, and thus far SaS is like bubble wrap; the opportunities they’re giving us by landing in certain ports or arranging certain trips is keeping us in a comfort zone. Yet at the same time, they’re telling us to try and do things of substance. It’s hard to explain all of this but I feel the need to try and explain some of what my friends and I are feeling. Anyways, we’re off to Mauritius where we’ll land for only about 12 hours and then India for 5 days. We’re expected to have rough seas the entire way to Mauritius (which is 4 days away) so wish me luck; I had my sea legs but I think 5 days on land might have reversed the process. We’ll see. Much love all!

2/14 - 2/16 Namibia

We arrived in Walvis Bay, Namibia on time at 8am but had to wait for them to process all of our passports and we went to our first diplomatic briefing. During the briefing we were told a little about Namibia and some useful tips on how to stay safe. After the briefing we still hadn’t been cleared so most people went out to listen to the girls’choir that had come out to welcome us. They were down off the gangway but they had amazing voices that carried up to the decks. The girls were from a primary school in the area and they sang beautifully. After about an hour they cleared us to leave if we didn’t need our passports; D, Rhina and I decided that we would take the chance traveling without them because we weren’t going too far.

So I got in line to leave while Rhina went back to get her other passport so she’d have an ID with her. Well while I was waiting in line Tanmoy saw me and asked where Rhina was; I was ready because Rhina had told me that he wanted to come with us, but we didn’t want him with us. So I told him that she had gone to her room to get something but that we were peacing out right after. He insisted that he was coming with us; I told him that it was just Rhina D and I because we didn’t want to be bogged down by people and he still kept saying that he was coming with us, so I gave up arguing and I figured I would let Rhina and D handle him. They got in line behind me and I whispered to Rhina what had happened; she got irritated but she thought she could leave him behind once we got off the ship. No such luck. At that point if he didn’t get that he wasn’t welcome in our group, he would deal with the repercussions; Rhina doesn’t front with anyone so she let him know non-verbally that he wasn’t welcome during the entire 2 days he was with us. Sucks for him; I have no sympathy because he's an arrogant, chauvinistic male who likes to argue. 

Anyways, so we walked to town to catch a taxi. Thankfully this time it was only about a 10 minute walk in wonderful warmth; it was sunny and about 80 degrees the entire time we were in Namibia. First impressions of Walvis Bay were good; no one looked at us with contempt and the city itself is clean and welcoming. We very quickly hailed a taxi and negotiated for the man to bring all 4 of us to Swakopmund for 100 Namibian dollars ($10 USD). We got in and took off. The drive was amazing; I’ve never been in a desert so it really struck me. I’m in southern Africa, thousands of miles from home; I’m really doing this. You’re probably thinking it’s weird that it took me until now to actually get my head around that but it was just the enormity of driving 110 km through a landscape that borders the ocean to the left and mountainous sand dunes for as far as the eye can see on the right. It was dazzling. No one really talked during the 20 minute drive, we just soaked it all in. We got to Swakopmund and were dropped off on the main road.

Rhina had brought a map and a copy of the guidebook that told us of hotels and hostels. We went to an ATM first and then went in search of a hotel or hostel to drop off our bags before we went frolicking. We found one right off the main street that had a bar and restaurant attached with dorm-style beds for $110 Namibian. Coincidentally, there was an adventure company also attached to the hotel. Side note: one of Namibia’s largest industries is tourisms so they offer a variety of desert adventures and sports. So we went in and met Angelique, the receptionist, and talked to her for a while. We told her what we wanted to do, found out prices and times and were able to book camel riding for that afternoon and dune boarding for the next morning. After that we walked around a little, looking at shops and eventually decided to get lunch at a German pub/restaurant. Side note: for those of you that don’t know, Namibia used to be a German colony so the German culture is very much still a big part of Namibian culture; the country’s only been independent since 1990. So we sat down and all ordered something we’d never had before; Rhina and I ordered beer, snails, bratwurst and steak madame all to share. Soooo good. All of it. I can’t wait to upload my food pictures once I get home; I’ve had some amazing food in every country.

After lunch we went back to the hotel to catch our cab to the camel farm; it was about 10 minutes outside of town. As we pulled in, we saw 4 camels getting ready to go for a walk; I got sooooo excited cause I can’t remember being that close to camels ever. While we waited for the 2 people to come back from their little walk, the woman who owned the farm put scarves on our heads and told us a little about her and the farm; she showed us her tortoises and let me hold the baby one. When the camels came back, she introduced us to them and we mounted them just like you would a horse. I named mine Consuello cause I couldn’t remember what his actual name was; he kept nibbling on D’s pants. It was a lot of fun; really similar to riding a giant horse. Its fur was rough; it felt like straw more than fur. It was only a 15 minute trek but it was still fun; the entire thing, including taxi, cost us $200 Namibian.

When we got back, we decided to go up to the bar above the hotel to play pool and have a drink. We got bore so we decided to walk around for a while before dinner; everything was closed except the supermarket so we walked down to the beach. I picked shell pieces and pretty rocks and played in the sand. We came back and decided to go to the restaurant a few buildings down from our hotel. It was a pizzeria but they had lots of other food. I tried baked muscles and fresh oysters, ordered Swakup pizza (which had ham, salami, mushrooms and cheese) because it was the cheapest thing but I got to try Rhina’s Oryx burger; we were told that Namibians love wild game and Oryx is one of the most popular. Everything was delicious as usual. After dinner we went up to the bar to dance off dinner. Or so we thought. People here don’t really dance; it might’ve been because the DJ was kind of crappy and kept playing American music but we eventually decided to start the dancing with a bunch of other SaS students that had made their way to the bar. People were getting drunk quick; the big thing here are shooters and they were all $10 Namibian ($1!!) and there were tons of them. Yummm. Me, Rhina and D were exhausted though so we didn’t drink that much; we had like 5 or 6 shooters in a couple hours and finally decided that we wanted to crash so we’d be rested for our sand boarding the next morning. We were all really thirsty but we were too lazy to go down the street to buy bottled water so I bought soda to quench my thirst and Rhina and D drank the nasty tap water; we were told not to but when you’re thirsty you don’t care. So we finally pass out around midnight or so.

Day Two: We woke up around 8:30 and lazied a bit before getting dressed. I ate cold pizza for breakfast and put on sunscreen before leaving; I knew the sun was going to be as hard and hot as the day before. So we get down to the adventure office and meet two other guys that are going with us; they’re on vacation from South Africa. Talk them up a bit while we go out to the dunes.

We get there and there are 4 other vehicles, almost all full with SaS students; typical. So we get snowboard boots, helmets and boards; for those sledding, they get a helmet, gloves and elbow pads. The first thing we do is just strap in to make sure the boards and boots are a good fit. Then we start walking. Pure hell. The dune is huge and we have to walk to the top. The sand is soft so it’s always slipping and moving. The guides had warned us that the first trek is the worst. I ended up at the end of the line and was ok with it; it took about 20 minutes to reach the top. Finally get to the top as the instructor is explaining how things are going to work. First thing we do is wax our boards; they have to be waxed each time you go down. They throw on a glob of wax, you rub it in with your hands, throw sand on it and rub the sand off; wax on, wax off. Then we line up at the top of the ridge and strap on our boards, waiting and watching as our instructor shows us how to go down the dune slowly. It’s similar to snowboarding but so much easier and less painful. We start by going down facing the dune and not away from it; it’s safer that way. I made it down relatively quick AND without injury. It was so much fun! I couldn’t wait to do it again.

However, I started climbing back up and saw D and Rhina; both of them were super nauseous and faint. Side note: those shooters the night before were deadly…there were 36 mixed shooters, all with different types of hard alcohol and Rhina and D had 6 different ones. Mixing liqueurs is never a good plan, and drinking unfiltered Namibian water after that is probably also not the best thing. So I sat with them for a while until they felt a little better, had some water and we went back up. We got to the top and they told us we could try dune sledding before our last run –almost everyone else had already gone down the dune twice so we were behind a run. For the sledding you lie face down on a thin, waxed, wooden board and pull the front up and slide down. It was crazy! They measured our speed and I hit 63 km! It’s like sledding but without the ice flying at your face and the cold lungs. So we walk back up and they tell us to get ready for our last run; we re-wax our boards, get in place and go down. I actually slid half the dune going straight down instead of side to side. Yay! Once we reach the bottom we head back to the trucks. I took off my boots because they were full of sand and made walking a pain in the bum. Get to the trucks, hand in our gear; there’s stuff for sandwiches and coolers full of soda and beer which everyone digs into. Load back up after lunch and head back to the hotel.

We knew we would have to wait until 6 for the dvd to be done so we decide to get changed and head to the beach. We stopped at the supermarket –the only store open –and bought water. Got to the beach and Rhina and I immediately jumped in; we had sand everywhere still from the morning. The water felt great; it’s about 70 degrees. I got out pretty quick though because the bottom is all little pebbles and I realized –as the waves carried those pebbles to the shore –that I had burnt the back of my legs at the dunes. I slathered myself in another coat of sunscreen once I got out of the water and laid out to dry. We kept watches because a local had already tried to walk off with Rhina’s sneakers and men had approached us, asking for money. We’re a very cautious group. We stayed about an hour and then decided to head back to shower before the dvd showing. We stopped to get ice cream. Yummy. Got back and we all showered; I was the last one and when I came out Rhina said the receptionist had asked us to leave. It was around 5:30 so I wasn’t surprised; they hadn’t given us a check out time but we knew we had been pushing our luck. Anyways, we head up to the dvd showing and ask the video guy if we can just get a copy of the dvd before the viewing and head out. He says yes so we grab our copies and find a taxi to bring us back; we wanted to get back to the ship before dinner ended at 7:30 and it was already 6:15 by the time we left. Anyways, we make it back to the ship and go straight to dinner. We ate, then napped, played dominoes (which I now rock at!) and crashed; Rhina, D and I had SaS trips the next morning.

Day 3: We woke up and had breakfast at 7:45. I went to the gangway, met the Seal and Dolphin Encounter group and boarded the shuttles. We got to the Mola Mola boat tour site and at the gate there was a group of Himba women selling bracelets; I bought one for a gift because they were beautifully made and asked the woman that I bought it from if I could take a picture of her and her son. Side note: we’ve learned about the people of the Himba tribe in class and the reason I asked to take a picture is because they cover their skin in red ochre; it turns their skin red and is interesting to see. There were also pelicans walking around the parking lot. Once we met our guide, we broke off into groups of 10 and boarded our ship. Our skipper’s name was Nico; a man originally from South Africa with a sweet accent. Even before we took off from the dock, a seal jumped onto the ship! Nico introduced us to him and said his name was Humphrey. He just wobbled right onto the bench where everyone had been sitting and made himself at home. Nico fed him fish that he kept in a bucket near the front; he told us we could pet him and of course we all did and took plenty of pictures. It took a few minutes to get him off; Nico had to keep throwing fish into the water for him to go ‘fetch’. We finally took off and Nico told us a little about the harbor and the seal colonies. We saw gulls, more pelicans and as soon as he slowed down –plop! –another seal jumped on. He was much bigger than Humphrey; Nico told us his name was Robbie and was one of the older seals around. We played with him a little and eventually kicked him off to go a little further into the bay. Nico showed us where one of the oyster farms were and explained how one of the ships has been jailed there for 3 years for dumping fish guts in the bay; fish guts deteriorate, create ocean pollution and don’t allow for other fish to grow.

Nico took us closer to the big seal colonies on the point and we went chasing after a bottlenose dolphin that we had seen from a distance. We also saw a mola mola –or sunfish –and were able to get relatively close to it. At one point, Nico also made the pelicans start flying after us right next to and above the ship; so cool. It seemed that every time we slowed down a seal would jump on the ship; the last one that came on –and the cutest –was Google. He was Nico’s favorite; he immediately butted Nico with his head, looking for fish. He also liked to hop up and hug him whenever Nico waved a fish. It turns out that Google is one of Robbie’s sons. After we got him off the ship –it took 3 tries –Nico sped off and we headed back towards the pier. Halfway there, Nico stopped the ship and took out drinks and snacks; there was Coke, beer and water as well as champagne and he had fresh oysters and a tray of snacks. Everything was yummy as usual. We went back and were greeted by Humphrey once again when we got close to the pier and once we debarked from the boat we boarded the shuttles and went back to the ship.

Rhina, D and I had made plans to meet and walk into town to find a post office. So after a quick lunch we made for town, found the post office and probably spent the better part of an hour between the post office and phone center, trying to get things done. Rhina bought a phone card from the post office that wouldn’t work even though the women in the post office kept telling her it did and I couldn’t send something because the post office didn’t carry envelopes. Next we went to the supermarket and bought a few snacks to hold us over until South Africa because we all hate paying $1 or more for a chocolate bar or what is usually a $ .50 bag of chips. By this point –and actually even before we left –we were exhausted from the past two days so we decided to walk back to the ship and just stop real quickly at the street vendors right outside the port. I bought a pretty necklace and earrings made out of wood and another bracelet from the Himba women for myself. Then back to the ship to nurse all my sunburns. I’m probably going to look absolutely ridiculous by the time I get back because as of right now I have burns on the back of my calves, my forehead (it’s swollen), one ear, my neck and two layers of burn on my shoulders and chest; I’m burning in patches. And no one chastise me because I’ve been putting sunscreen on religiously since we got to warm weather; apparently it’s just not strong enough this close to the equator. So the minute I step foot off the ship tomorrow in Cape Town, I’m going to find sunscreen with an SPF of at least 60. We’re in South Africa for 5 days and the only thing I have planned thus far is to go see a play, get to the top of Table Mountain, see a rugby game (the sport is huge here) and spend a day on the beach slathered in sunscreen. The rest is up to the spirit of adventure.

2/9 Ship Life Adventures

So from Morocco to Namibia is 8 days at sea. However, the trip was a little broken up by two things; on the third day we made port in Dakar, Senegal for bunkering (fueling) and experienced some of the warmest weather since we left the Bahamas. It looked like almost everyone had made their way to the back decks to enjoy the sunshine and warmth –the average temperate temperature here in February is 81 degrees and it was almost that while we were there. I got my first sunburn even though I was only out for about 2 hours altogether. Well worth experiencing warmth and sunshine. Sight-wise there wasn’t much to see; we weren’t allowed to get off the ship but from the decks we could see the fuel-holding tanks and what looked like a very industrial city sky line. In the distance, you could make out Gorée Island, which is said to have been a place where the slave-trade boarded it’s hostages. We spent about 6 hours fueling and then took off again

The other exciting thing that happened was we had what is called Neptune Day. This paragraph is what the administration sent us to tell a little about it.
“Crossing the Line, or Neptune Day, is an initiation rite celebrated in many navies. It commemorates a sailor's first crossing of the equator. The rite was intended originally as a test of new shipmates by seasoned sailors. The tradition dates back to the 16th century, and in the old days, the ship heaved to (that is, it set its sails so as to remain stationary) and the pollywogs were hoisted on the mainyard and dunked into the ocean 40 feet below; afterwards, shaving and other forms of blood letting took place. “

The captain (a funny British man) also sent all student the following e-mail to pre-face the day of festivities.

“SUBPOENA to all POLLYWOGS,
You are hereby requested to appear before the ROYAL COURT OF THE REALM OF NEPTUNE, in the DISTRICT OF EQUATORIUS, because it has been brought to the attention of HIS HIGHNESS, NEPTUNE REX through his trusty SHELLBACKS, that the good ship M/V EXPLORER is about to cross the equator and enter those waters accompanied by passengers who have not acknowledged the sovereignty of the RULER OF THE DEEP.

THEREFORE be it known to all Slimy Pollywogs that The Royal, King NEPTUNE REX, Supreme Ruler of all citizens of the deep, will, with his Secretary and Royal Court, meet in full session on board the offending ship M.V. EXPLORER on the 9th day of February, A.D. 2009 at 0900 on Deck 7 aft, to hear your defense.
 Regards,
-King Neptune and His Royal Court”

So we were woken up at 7:30 by the crew marching through the halls, all dressed in togas and tin foil helmets, banging on drums and chanting something. After breakfast, we all met on deck 7…all 800 or so people. It was re-stupid. No one could see but thankfully they used microphone so we could at least hear. The crew escorted “Neptune”and his queen up to deck 7 –Neptune was actually our captain painted green and wearing a hula skirt and a crown. lol The rest of the faculty, staff and life-long learners were all dressed up too. Next the “voice”, or our Dean of Student Affairs, announced what was to happen for all of us to pay our respects to King Neptune. We had to have green gunk poured over us, kiss a big fish, kiss the King’s ring and shave our heads. It was all optional but it was hilarious. I was one of the first to get gunked and kiss the fish. Then I waited in line for about an hour to get my head shaved; there were a lot of guys and a few girls doing it but they only had 3 shavers going and then 2 women just cutting hair. Our last count was 11 bald girls and 83 in all, I believe. A lot of the guys were doing it because it was a free hair cut; girls did it for different reasons.

There were quite a few girls who cut their long hair to donate or shaved their heads for the thrill of it, just to say they did. My reasons were different than the first time I cut my hair short; in eighth grade it was all about being different (yet copying P!nk) and getting attention. It was almost glamorous for me. When I shaved my head this time it was for different reasons. It was to test myself and to prove a point. Statistically I have a high chance of getting some sort of cancer at a young age; that doesn’t scare me because I know that I’ll be strong enough to fight it. But it means that I will lose my hair someday and when that day comes I don’t want the first thing that crosses my mind to be “oh no I’m going to lose my hair”. I am not that woman. The second reason sort of goes along with that, especially after hearing so many of the girls on this ship tell me why they won’t shave their heads; I don’t want to be that woman, that person, who allows something as trivial as hair to define them. My hair does not define me as a woman or a person; my actions and my words and my soul do. There’s a song by India.Arie that describes it best and these are some of the lyrics:

“I am not my hair, I am not this skin, I am not your expectations;
I am not my hair, I am not this skin, I am the soul that lives within.

Does the way I wear my hair make me a better person?
Does the way I wear my hair make me a better friend?
Does the way I wear my hair determine my integrity?
I’m expressing my creativity

Breast cancer and chemo-therapy took away her crown and glory
She promised God if she was to survive she would enjoy everyday of her life
On national television her diamond eyes are sparkling
Bald headed like a full moon shining, singing out to the whole wide world”

So shaving my head was more symbolic for me –I needed to test the strength of my character. So I may not be as aesthetically pleasing as I was when I boarded this ship but I actually feel more confident and stronger (as cheesy as that sounds) and that’s what’s important to me.

So after the ceremony most people just chilled on the decks to bake –it was wonderfully warm. The second best part of the day was dinner. Sidenote: the food on the ship isn’t the best –most people subsist on PB&J and fruit. It’s not that it’s bad, it just it all tastes the same –kind of like Aramark. Anyways, dinner was amazing. All you can eat burgers, hot dogs, bbq ribs, corn on the cob, ice cream &fresh fruit. When they make you pay $2 for a burger at Deck 7 you appreciate it when they’re included in dinner instead. The rest of the day was pretty chill. The only problem people are having now is finding clean clothes. Whoever told me that I had packed too much *coughMomcough* was lying; everyone here brought like twice the clothes I did and now I’m screwed (along with many others) because laundry takes like 5 days to process and I’m out of clothes! So I’ve been wearing my skirt for like 3 days because I have nothing else. I just wash it in my shower every other day. Just another ship life lesson/adventure. We have 3 days until Namibia; I’ll be writing when I get back on ship February 16th. Thanks for reading! Lovess!

Morocco 2/2 - 2/5: The Bipolar Port

So we got to Morocco about 12 hours late because the seas were too rough for us to fuel in Gibraltar so we had to wait until the water calmed down. We got here at night but they couldn’t let us off the ship until someone had come to check all of our passports so we stayed on the ship until morning. We ate breakfast early, hunted down our passports and were one of the first groups off the ship which is good cause my friends had to catch the train. Well I got off the ship with them and started walking with them thinking I would just wander around Casablanca alone because they were all going to Marrakech but I had an SaS trip that night so I couldn’t. Well I ended up turning around because the smarter part of me –and my friends –said that I couldn’t walk around Casablanca alone because we had been told in Logistical Pre-Port that women shouldn’t walk around alone…it wasn’t safe. So I went back and walked around the ship looking for people I knew to walk around with. Couldn’t find anyone. At this point I’m starting to get pissed and sad because I’m in a different country but because I’m a woman I can’t walk around alone so I’m stuck on the ship. BS right? So I end up writing a few emails and sketching an entry for my art journal. I thought I was going to be stuck on the ship for the entire day so I thought I would go see if anyone had donated any day trip tickets. I end up finding Candace and a few other people I know getting ready to leave so I jump in with them. Yay group to walk with.

Wrong. There’re like 12 people…doing anything with 12 people in a group is useless. First off, we walk to the main port gate…a mile away from the ship. Ridiculous. The entire time we’re walking, there are men cat calling and beeping at us and hounding us to get a taxi. We finally get to the beginning of the city and we have to stop for most people to get money at the bank…that took a half hour. Oh and sidenote: the driving here is insane –there are lines on the roads and speed limits but nobody pays any attention to either. Crazy. Anyways we get walking again…every other person stops to look at something or take a picture. Eventually when someone says they’re hungry, we split up. I end up with 3 other girls; Zoe is one of the professor’s daughters and then there was Laura and Phoebe. I didn’t much care who I was with. So the 4 of us go into a “French”café that serves French, Italian and American food because it was that or KFC. Better than nothing right? So we order pasta and pizza and chat a little. The food wasn’t amazing but it was cheap so it’s all good. We finish and head for the Medina, which is the market place where we were told to go to experience the Souks. Side note: everything I had seen and smelt until this point was dirty and raunchy so I didn’t really know what to expect. I was already uncomfortable because it felt like every man that saw us looked at us like we were dirty or made crude faces and gestures. So we walk into the Medina and it’s a bunch of little booths squished together…the ground is either cobblestones or dirt…it smells like sewage and food. We start walking through. I apparently was one of the few that listened during pre port cause I knew not to make eye contact with anyone, especially vendors; Phoebe either didn’t know or ignored that little tidbit of information. She was smiling at the men and looking at everything; I think she got ripped off every time she bought something and she bought quite a few things. She didn’t bargain with them –which is how the souks work –and she just kept taking pictures and being a right out blundering, ignorant American twit. I wanted to smack her. So all the while we’re wandering, Zoe and I are getting more and more uncomfortable; there are almost NO women here and the paths that the booths are on get closer and closer. Eventually Zoe and I look at each other –after Phoebe buys yet another thing and touches one of the salesmen on the arm –and we’re like we need to get out of here. Except there are no signs pointing the way out and we don’t have a map. The Medina is huge and confusing. I decide to follow an arrow I see because it looks like a way out. Phoebe says “aw but that way looks boring”; there were less people and no stores. Zoe and I start walking. We eventually come to a more populated street but it’s still not on our map so I look around and notice the Hassan Mosque…it’s the biggest thing in the city. I tell them we should head that way cause we can get to the ship from there. We walk for a while, and eventually get to the Mosque, take some pictures and head in the direction of the port. It was a longgg walk so when we get close, we decide to stop to get something sweet to eat; the café only had croissants so we order Moroccan tea. Amazing. It’s green tea with Saharan mint and sugar. We finish that –while watching Drowning Mona in English –and head toward the ship. Finally get there. Enough time for me to freshen up for dinner with a Moroccan family. Needless to say I hadn’t been impressed at all yet so I didn’t really know what to expect.

We all met in the Union to break up into groups and get our family assignment. I ended up in a group with 6 people that I didn’t know with a with a host woman named Mounia. First off, I should preface this by saying that the families hosting SaS students are parents of children that attend a private “American”school in Casablanca called George Washington Academy. So when we got off the ship with our host, we had to meet her friend at the main gate because her car only fit 4. We met Sofia and drove towards the nicer part of Casablanca to the Hotel Suisse –1 of 2 Hotels that the family owns. And we’re talking marble and fountains and valet parking –incredible. So we sat and had Moroccan tea while we chatted and got to know one another. Sofia has 2 children and Mounia has 5 and they’ve both lived in Morocco all their lives. Everyone in their family speaks 3 languages; Arabic, French and English. Even the 9 year old little girl we met speaks all three languages fluently.

So we went to their apartment –which is a big open suite-like place –and met their extended family as well their neighbors. Everyone was soooo nice; they all greeted us with a kiss on each cheek. When we first sat down in their living/dining area we were introduced to everyone and were asked a bunch of questions while we sampled traditional Moroccan pastries. Saad –the husband –told us that Moroccans generally had an insatiable sweet tooth. After talking for a while we started dinner which began with these yummy fried wonton things and a bunch of salads and salsas that we ate with traditional round bread, baked fresh. After that, one of the servants brings out this dish that looks like an upside-down funnel –the funnel part comes off and inside there were mini chicken meatballs with eggs all baked in a sauce that reminded me a little of taco meat. After that they brought out the largest bowl of couscous I’ve ever seen in my life and we ate it like they usually eat all their food –right out of the bowl. The couscous itself wasn’t the delicious part; they had baked squash, zucchini, cabbage, onions and beef and put it on top and then served it with these two sauces; one was a pepper sauce that was the salty component and the other was this sweet mixture of caramelized raisins and onions. To die for. But oh it wasn’t done. After they cleared the couscous, they brought out a giant bowl of fresh fruit, a pan of flan and a brownie cake. It was one of the best meals I’ve ever had.

After dinner we sat down to talk some more and look at the yearbooks of the kids; we also were all pleased –and surprised –to find out that they all have Facebook! So we all added each other as friends so we could keep in contact. Mounia also showed us her and Saad’s wedding pictures and they told us how they met; they’re a beautiful couple. The pictures were amazing; a traditional Moroccan wedding is 7 days long and there’s a different dress for each day. I couldn’t believe how extravagant everything was. It was around midnight when we all realized it was long past our return time. Mounia gave us all hand-crafted cloths as gifts and gave us all her phone number and contact info, inviting us to call her and Sofia the next day if we wanted to go shopping and meet for lunch. I wasn’t able to but a few of the others did and they spent the entire day with them, getting hennaed, shopping, hanging out, etc. So before we left we said our goodbyes and took tons of pictures with the family and we all took cookies with us to smuggle back onto the ship; they don’t let you bring anything that isn’t sealed but we all got past security no problem. Yay. So after we got back, I found Candace to see what time we were leaving in the morning because we had made plans to meet some of our friends in Marrakech. Finally bed.

Marrakech: I woke up at 5 to finish packing and get ready. We were supposed to meet at 5:30 but people were late so we didn’t end up leaving until 6; we had to catch the train at 6:50 and like I said before, it’s a mile just to the main gate. So in the dark of the morning and in the most disgusting humidity I’ve felt in a while, we started speed walking like our lives depended on it. We would have been willing to pay a petite taxi but there were none at that hour so we booked it to the main gate. Found a taxi as soon as we saw one and took it to the station; we got to the station 10 minutes before the train left. So I was the only one who hadn’t bought a ticket the day before so I bought a first class ticket (cause that’s what the rest of the group had done) for 125 durham (roughly $12USD) and boarded the train. I took my jacket off and was disgusted…I was drenched in sweat but it would have been completely inappropriate for me to change so I just dealt with it. I figured if I didn’t smell I was fine. Settled into my comfy seat and got ready for the 3+ hour ride. I was in a comfy seat in a cabin that had 6 seats; there were 2 businessmen in the cabin with me and 2 other people boarded at other stops. I apparently was exhausted because I fell asleep hard for over an hour of the trip…I never sleep on trains or anything. Woke up, had a Coke and got to Marrakech around 10:30.

I came to find out, however, that we didn’t actually know what we were doing; we hadn’t made any concrete plans to meet anyone at a specific time or place. This was fine except we spent the next hour sitting in a McDonalds figuring that out. I ate the pastries that I got from my host family because I refused to eat American food in a different country. So eventually we called our friends and found out what hotel they were at and went about getting a taxi there. It was a crazy ride to the Medina. Get there and climb up to the hotel (it was on top of a restaurant/ café place) and find our friends waiting there for us. Except they’re getting ready; they were supposed to stay another night so we would all be there together but they didn’t have a very good time the day; they got harassed, pick-pocketed and watched some horrible things happen. So their new plan was to just go to a Hammam close by and then take a train back. I really didn’t care about being in Marrakech because it’s all shopping and bargaining and I had only really come to meet up with my friends so I decide to go with them rather than stay the night. We found a few Hammams and checked them out; eventually we found Riad Isis in a back alley and all agreed it was the nicest and cheapest.

One of the best experiences I’ve had so far; for less than $30 (300 durhams) I got a “bath”which included a wash of black eucalyptus soap, a body scrub, my hair washed, a clay rub and a half hour oiled massage. The bath happened in a sauna-like room with this heated tile seat and the woman rinsed us off using a children’s bucket. During the massage they dimmed the lights and had soft music playing. It was amazing and completely revitalizing; it was worth 7 hours spent on a train, that’s how good it was. We did all this in pairs so Rhina and I went together and we’re both shy so we kept our underwear and bra on; the woman made fun of us. Everyone came out eventually and we all looked like lazy, sated cats. A few of the girls got waxing done too cause it was so cheap. Once we were all back together, we realized we had missed the intended 3pm train but we knew there was another one at 5pm so we headed back toward the center of town. Stopped to get some postcards and exchange money and we finagled a taxi driver to bring us all (there were 7 of us) back to the train station in 2 taxis for 10 durhams each. Every time you want to take a taxi, you have to negotiate prices with them before you get in or they rip you off. Anyways, get to the station about a half hour before the train leaves and I realize that I haven’t eaten all day and neither has anyone else; it’s 4:30. Unfortunately, there’s only McDonalds and KFC so I cave in. I was so hungry I barely tasted the food. I had a Big Mac with deluxe potatoes (wedges) and a diet Coke. So good. Oh and I got curry sauce to dip my potatoes in…sooo yummy. I wish the U.S. had some.

So we bought 2nd class tickets this time and squished into a cabin with a woman we didn’t know; poor lady. We were ridiculous the entire time, dancing and singing and being obnoxiously loud. I sang for the first time since I’ve been on the ship and found out that a bunch of my friends have producers as uncles; can we say connections? lol It was a fun trip back. I scribbled some notes on what I had seen and done so I could write this entry when I got back to ship. So we got off at what we thought was our stop and realized too late that it was the wrong one; Casablanca, just the wrong station. It took 10 aggressive taxi drivers laughing in our faces to realize something was wrong; we offered them 10 durhams and they all laughed or scoffed and went away. So we went inside and found out we had gotten off a stop too early (or late, no one really cleared that up) so we caught the next train coming through to the right station. Argued with a taxi driver who wouldn’t bring us to the ship for 10 durhams and eventually just walked away until the man came after us and said he would to bring us just to the main port in 1 big taxi; 7 people plus the driver in one car. We get to the gate and walk back; I slipped and fell off a curb and scraped my knee but we eventually got there. We hung out for a few hours and then I crashed; it was a long friggin day.

Woke up the next morning for breakfast and we all decided to go back to bed and meet at lunch, ready to leave. Slept for a few more hours, got up and ready, ate lunch and headed out to find Rick’s Café (for those who don’t know, it’s from the movie Casablanca); the only thing was that it was raining and really humid. Yuck. Had to take 3 petite taxis there because we couldn’t convince anyone to take more than 3 people and they overcharged us. Got there to find out that they weren’t letting anyone else in because it was almost closing time for them; at this point, I was grumpy because we had just wasted money and time doing nothing when all I had wanted to do was go buy a few things in the shops along the road to the Medina. So we decide to walk back towards that area of town. Well I don’t know how it happened again, but we had a complainer that managed to stick herself to our group. All she did was whine about how the rain had ruined her moccasins (who wears moccasins in the rain?) and that she was pissed and blah blah blah. Eventually we got to the center of town and left her with other people so we could go frollick in peace. I bought a bronze tea-pot (for decoration only) and a few scarves and a jilaba tunic (the traditional garb they wear here to cover themselves from head to toe…only mine was a short-sleeved shirt). Found a taxi willing to bring a few of us back to the ship and agreed on a decent price; except we freaked out halfway there because we didn’t think we had enough money. lol Someone found an extra coin and we were fine. Waited a half hour to board back onto the ship (everyone gets back from big SaS trips around 4 the day we leave) and went to start messing with my hair; we knew that a few days after we left Morocco we would be crossing the equator so I wanted to do fun things before I shaved my head for the traditional ceremony. First, I bleached it with bleach I had bought in Spain and I bleached a few strands of Rhina’s hair. Then we cut and buzzed the sides and back of my hair with my friend Thomas’clippers. Next Rhina died her streaks blue with color she had brought with her…she said I could us it if I wanted so I put a few streaks in. Except when I rinsed it out, it turned most of my hair this funky sea green color; good thing I didn’t really care. Eventually I cut what hair there was left so that I could mohawk it; it looked awesome. And then after watching the ship leave and a dance party in the Union, we all went to bed; we're at sea for 8 days before reaching Namibia.

1/28 – 1/31: Spain

Cadiz: What an amazing day! After having breakfast on the ship we out on deck to see the view; the sun was just rising so the sky was pinkish. The first thing you smell is, of course, the ocean but then there was a hint of citrus. Come to find out – and you’ll eventually see in my pictures – there are orange trees everywhere! So my friends and I got together and went off to explore. Not before in line for 45 minutes though – something was wrong with the electronic scanner so we had to sign out manually – 800 or so people at once. Halfway through they got the machine working and trips took off.
My first field practicum was called “Women in Cadiz” but it was really more of a general tour and not a historical account of women in the region. We drove around old Cadiz first – the “hand” of Cadiz – and then walked to specific spots. We went to the Archeological Museum where we learned a little about the long history. Cadiz was once called Galed and is one of the oldest cities in Europe. Originally settled by the Phoenicians and then by the Romans. After the museum we went to one of the many lookout towers (there are 128 just in Cadiz) where they had a telescope-like device to show the entire city on a screen. There were hundreds of narrow, glass stairs to get to the top of the tower. It was an amazing view, with ocean on almost all sides. After the tower we walked to the partial Roman theater that was only discovered around 1980. Crazy. We were able to walk down into it and the tunnels that ran underneath it. It – along with almost all of the older buildings and structures in the old city – was made of something they called oyster stone. It’s made out of shells and other sediments and was used due to its high durability; it withstands humidity and rain and all matters of precipitation. The coolest thing about coming out of the Roman theater is glancing around at that point and seeing the variety of architectural styles; directly next to the theater you can see the style from the Arabic migrants, then a Spanish style stone building with bright trim then a traditional Catholic cathedral and then the ocean. Amazing. Thousands of years of history standing next to one another – really close to one another due to the lack of space. According to our tour guide, there are no houses in old Cadiz due to its limited space but it’s all like 5 story apartment buildings.
Next we went and had a traditional Spanish meal. Phenomenal; hands down, the highlight of my day. It was appetizer after appetizer – tapas is what they call it here – and all delicious and uniquely flavored. There was amazing bread, potato salad made with olive oil and onions, fish pâté, fish and eggs mixed with something else, fried balls of ham and cheese, fried eggs and prawns, salad, and then the main course was sautéed onions and peppers and mushrooms and with a pepper sauce and a pastry with prawns baked into it. Delish! During lunch I was lucky enough to sit with the faculty and staff. Super nice people and they’ve all traveled extensively. After like almost 2 hours we headed out for a little walk before resuming the tour. I stumbled onto my friends during my walk so I opted out of the rest of the tour – museums and cathedrals are really only so interesting to me – and what a good decision. My friends are hilarious. They were just heading out to go to Castillo Santa Catalina. Except they ALL had to pee; the problem being that in Europe if you’re not a customer, you can’t use a bathroom. So we start walking and come to…an electric porter potty. Seriously brilliant and a little odd. From the outside it looks like a spaceship with the exterior look of a pole. You put .20 euros in and a sliding door opens and VOILA! Porter potty with sink. The seat has an automatic plastic seat cover and once you get out the toilet flushes and the capsule ‘sanitizes’ itself. Crazy. Continue on.
So we’re walking to the Castillo along the coast – which in most places around old Cadiz is bordered by rock walls – and so we look over the edge of the wall onto the rocks; cats everywhere! Literally at least 30 cats just from where I stood. Apparently Cadiz has a problem with cats so they just keep breeding and they live in colonies on the rocks, eating fish guts and trash, etc. It was sad cause they were all pretty cats and I hate seeing animals uncared for. I just kept thinking that if Matante Parise lived here she would adopt them or be one of the residents that come out and feed them. Oh and it seems that everyone here has a dog and they like to walk them.
So we finally make it to the main gate of the Castillo and start walking towards it – it’s like a ¼ mile walk on a cobblestone pathway/wall towards the middle of the bay (it literally sits in the middle of the Bay of Cadiz). There was a man on the beach finishing a sand sculpture of a crocodile. We get to the gate and it’s locked – apparently it’s only open during summer tourist season. So we just chill on the rocks and wall for a bit, take some sweet pictures of the water from the waves spraying up through holes in the rocks and then walk back to the ship. Quick dinner on the ship and change to go out to Flamenco night with like 200 other students. After a half hour bus ride into the country – during which something busted our windshield and left a bash the size of a softball – we get to a hacienda, all lit up and everything. We get off the bus and there are waters everywhere with drinks – wines (or vino) and sweet sherry made right in the area. They direct us to a small arena and we watch a few dances, a horse show, and then out came the bull for the bloodless bullfight. It was a baby bull so it was cuter than anything but that little thing could still run wicked fast. After the ‘fight’ we went in for the non-staged show. We sat in a candle-lit room and drank sangria and vino and ate tapas of cheese and meat strips. The dancing was phenomenal. The loud, ignorant, and some drunk SaS-ers were not. The dancers actually had to shush the room as one point. The dancers were so intense, as was the guitarist and singer. The man dancing was amazing – he never broke his concentration – and it felt like his eyes were burning into you. After the dancing we went back to the ship and got dolled up to go out. We actually ended up walking around in circles for about an hour before we actually got good enough directions to find a bar. Side note: I’ve learned that in Spain you have to ask at least 3 different people for directions before you get what you actually need and none of them know what any of the streets are called. So we finally found a packed bar where they had 1 euro beer and good music. We danced like crazy and all got good and tipsy – except for our designated walkers – and had an amazing time. Kat almost went off with a bunch of Spanish guys who apparently thought she was a prostitute but one of our friends took care of it. And then we all wandered back to the ship around 3am and passed out.

Seville: We got up around 6:30, ate breakfast, and took off for the train station. We took the 8:50 train to Seville along with a bunch of other SaS-ers. When we got to Seville it was a little ridiculous; we were a group of about 20 or so people just looking like dumb tourists in the terminal. Everyone wanted to do something different so we were trying to figure out who and where and what and so finally just decided to walk and find a hostel. During the walk a bunch of people decided to split up. A few friends and I went back to the train station to find out about trains to Granada and put our stuff in a locker until we came back. We caught a bus to what we thought was old Seville but ended up on the wrong bus so we just stayed on the bus for the ride until we got to the end of the route, which was kind of close to where we wanted to be. It was past lunch by the time we got off the bus so we found a little restaurant near old Seville and had a delicious meal for 6 euros; I had pasta and fried little fish and flan. If it wasn’t for D and Rhina we would’ve been lost the entire trip; the areas we visited weren’t English-speaking friendly so we depended on their fluency in Spanish a lot. Anyways, after lunch we headed into old Seville to find the Cathedral where Christopher Columbus was buried. We found the church and a bunch of stores. I walked around while some people went in the church. Then after what seemed like hours, we all headed back toward the bus stop. We stopped along the way to have some ‘chocolate con churros’, which is the most amazing hot chocolate in the world and some hot, donut-like pastries. We got back to the train terminal and found out that there wasn’t a train to Granada so we just went back to Cadiz; we figured staying at the ship would save us money and we would try to go to Granada the next morning. Well when we got back to the Cadiz terminal and checked for trains to Granada we found out that it was going to be a pain to try and get back on time so we were bummed but decided to look for something else to do before we went out that night. It was around 9pm and we hadn’t eaten dinner yet so we went to try and find somewhere for food; everything was closed! Finally we found this little place that was closing but the old man who ran it said he would keep it open just for us. He was funny – he told us this story about why he had a menu special called the “Obama Meal”. Side note: Spain’s times for when places are open, suck. Seriously, things are open at like 11am until about 1 or 2 then they close for ‘siesta’ until like 5pm. Then things are open from 5-9pm and then they close again and the bars open around 10 or 11pm. It’s ridiculous. Anywho, so we ate a yummy dinner; French fries and calamari or beef, and then we went out until about 3am and came back with a ton of energy and decided to hang out for another hour, playing truth or dare and just talking.

Jerez de la Frontera: So we slept in the next morning but we had decided to go to a little town nearby called Jerez de la Frontera to go to an Arabic Bath. So after eating on the ship we went to the bus station to catch the next bus. While waiting for the bus Victoria and I decided to have a café con leche and chocolate. Badddd plan. I felt so sick by the time we got to the bus terminal in Jerez that I thought I was going to puke. Their coffee is sooooo strong. Ick. Anywho, we got a map and started walking toward the Baths, stopping at a store on the way so that I could pick up something to settle my stomach. There were sooooo many orange trees here! It took forever to find the baths; mostly because the Spanish suck at giving directions and it wasn’t on the map we had but eventually – after asking for directions from like 4 different people – we found the baths and my 4 friends all went in for a bath and a couple of them for a massage too. I didn’t want to spend 27 euros on it so I decided to go walking around while I waited for them. It was such a great feeling just walking around a beautiful old city in Spain; I got whistled and looked at a lot because I’m a white girl walking around in a t-shirt (during what is their winter) and clearly not knowing where I was going. It was really cool though cause I saw some very different areas – not tourist-y at all. And I met some really nice people; a man who handed me a glass of sherry even before I had fully walked into his store, an older gentleman who let me use the bathroom in his café, a man who spoke broken French who helped me with directions and some kids who wanted to talk English to me. I walked back to the baths and my friends and I walked to the nearest bus terminal to catch the bus back to Cadiz – we felt really proud that we had found our way around a non-tourist city and experienced something no one else had done. When we got back we knew to go straight to the restaurants before they closed so we found one that was definitely aimed more towards tourists and ate this rice stuff that wasn’t as good as everything else I had eaten; really bland. So we go back to change before going out. We hurried so that we could exit through the close port gate that closed at 11pm; well we got there 10 minutes before and they had already closed so we did what any lazy American would do…we jumped the fence. We went and did a little bar hopping running into a bunch of students from the ship and I ended up walking back early cause I get sick of the bar scene and 3 nights in a row had been enough. Showered and crashed. I spent the next day looking for souvenirs, bought myself a scarf, sent Meredith a present, walked through the open-air market and bought a kilo of fresh strawberries for 2 euros since nothing had been open for late breakfast. We had lunch on the ship, walked around a little more until I found Dramamine and a calling card then went and used the pay phone near the ship to call Mer. Talked for a few minutes and then back to the ship to eat dinner and get ready for Morocco.
And now it’s Morocco day and we’re sitting near Gibraltar waiting for the seas to calm so we can bunker for fuel. I had to work a lot today and all I’ve done otherwise is sleep and journal and do laundry. You see, I packed a lot less clothes than most people and so I had to wash my clothes in the shower/sink by hand today because they only do laundry here every 2-3 weeks. Longggg friggin process but at least I have stuff to wear in Morocco. The women on the ship have been told that we have to dress very conservatively while at port because it’s a primarily Muslim country and showing too much skin or bringing too much attention to yourself can be dangerous; in which case I’m glad I at least packed the few long-sleeved shirts I did. Today was long but because of the rough seas we have a little bit of extra time before we make port in Morocco; it’s screwed up pre-booked trips but I’m personally thankful for an extra 12 hours to recuperate and get caught up on stuff like homework. I hope everyone’s safe and happy and you’ve enjoyed my ridiculous account of 3 days of insanity. I loved every minute and can’t wait to experience some real culture shock; Spain was too touristy for my taste so I’m really looking forward to getting to Morocco. I love and miss you all and can’t wait to tell you more.