Tuesday, December 05, 2006

bummer

these last few days are hard... the process of packing is going slow and we had to take all of our stuff down from the wall this morning. It is very strange to go into our room now... nothing on the walls, it is almost like we just moved in and we have yet to go around the world.

anyway... before I get too emotional...

I've put up some more pics from around the ship that I haven't had the chance to put up yet.
http://joeandjoy.com/ship2/index.html

I'm off to pack up some of the books I've bought back... not fun but someone has to do it.

joe

Saturday, December 02, 2006

España

Arriving in Spain was very bittersweet. I was in full denial that we were docked in our last international port. Having been to Spain previously, I didn’t have the same feelings of anticipation that I had for all of our previous ports. However, our experience in Spain exceeded my expectations in many, many ways.
We arrived in the port city of Cadiz at 0800 on 11/23. Joe and I decided to explore the city of Cadiz and planned to rent a car the following morning. It was wonderful to step out into the streets of España, hear the beautiful Spanish language, and peer out onto the Atlantic Ocean! I could hardly believe that we were on the edge of the Atlantic.
We wandered around the streets of Cadiz and ended up at a sweet little restaurant for lunch with our friends, Alden & Kate. We drank a few generous mugs of beer, ate many small sandwiches (only 1 Euro each!), and found ourselves out on the streets in the middle of Spanish siesta. I am so intrigued by the timetable in Spain… breakfast between 10 & noon, lunch between 3 & 6, and then dinner after 10pm. I think I could get used to that lifestyle in the summer months, but it’s a little tough in the winter months with so little daytime sunlight. Anyway – we went with the flow and found ourselves eating many lunches post 4pm.
So… calling the following morning “scary” or “an adventure” is an understatement in my book. Joe had booked a rental car in Cadiz, but it turned out that the rental company was actually a few miles up the coast, north of Cadiz. No big deal, right? We had the option of taking a bus ride up there, or taking a ferry to the northern end of the Bay of Cadiz. Heck, why not take the ferry, right? WRONG.
So, when you picture a ferry, what do you see? I see a large, stable vessel, often with the capacity to hold many, many people and a significant number of cars, trucks, etc. No.
This was not one of those ferries. It was a very small passenger ferry that held – at maximum – maybe 100 people? I’m not sure. But, again – no big deal, right? WRONG.
Joe and I were the only passengers on the ferry on this particular morning, and let’s say that it was bit windy outside. Thinking nothing of this fact, Joe and I decided to sit in the front row seats of the ferry for our 25-minute ride across the bay. OH MY GOSH. I am not kidding you when I say that this ferry ride made any other boat experienced seem tame. The wind was out of control, and the waves & swells would – literally! – launch the entire boat into the air, CRASH down on the sea, rock back and forth at disconcerting angles, only to be launched again – sometimes sideways – into the air again. I was NOT loving it. I was hanging onto my seat with clenched fists, letting out the occasional whimper, and holding on for dear life. Beyond the fact that I was scared out of my mind, my stomach started to lurch in every direction, too. Joe was trying to calm me down, (unsuccessfully) but he eventually started feeling the effects, too. SOMEHOW, I made my way to the back of the boat by shimmying along the handrails so I wouldn’t fall down. Twenty-five minutes have never seemed so long. I have dubbed this ferry the “Scary Ferry” also known as the “Scawy Fewwy” (say this in a little kid voice).
The good thing about the Scary Ferry? Nothing on our gigantic ship seems scary anymore. Hurray! So, after gathering what was left of our stomachs and lying down for a bit, Joe went to get our car and off we were to Sevilla!
We didn’t arrive in Sevilla until the late afternoon and spent much of our time trying to locate the hotel we had booked online. We knew the hotel was located approximately 10 minutes outside the heart of downtown, but we had printed out the wrong directions and found ourselves totally lost on small cobblestone streets in the center of the city.
Since Joe speaks a teeny bit of Spanish, he was able to ask a few people for directions to our hotel. After many unsuccessful attempts, we finally found it! It turned out to be a fantastic hotel – our room was a two-level loft with hardwood floors! Pretty cool.
So, once we were settled, we went back into the city to meet our friends at the main Cathedral. I love looking at old cathedrals in Europe. The detail and architecture are so beautiful and so powerful. If you look at Joe’s pictures, you’ll see pictures from far above the city. These are taken from the very top of the tower in the Cathedral. A very beautiful place, but I’ll let you make your own determinations from the pictures.
We concluded our evening by attending a traditional flamenco performance. I didn’t know quite what to expect, but I figured it would be a good time. As we were standing in line to purchase tickets, a man (named Jeff) asked Joe about his SUNY New Paltz fleece jacket. Joe explained that he doesn’t actually work at SUNY New Paltz but at UC Santa Cruz. This lead into a long discussion about student affairs, and it turned out that Jeff was in the same field, working at a university in Switzerland. But, there’s more. After sitting down and sipping our sangria, Joe mentioned that we were with a few friends on Semester at Sea. “Oh yeah, I did Semester at Sea in 2001,” says Jeff. WHAT?!? Isn’t that amazing? We’re at a random, small, quaint flamenco show in the middle of Spain, and he just happens to not only have been a staff member on Semester at Sea, BUT he was also wearing a Semester at Sea t-shirt under his sweater. Small world.
The flamenco show was fantastic! I cannot believe how fast the dancers move their feet and their bodies. The singers and guitar players are incredible, too. I was very, very impressed. It made me want to learn how to dance flamenco!
The following day was very rainy, so we spent much of the day in the Royal Alcazar, a beautiful palace once occupied by royal families. This place is incredible! The detail of the architecture, stone & woodwork, and gardens were absolutely gorgeous. As you look at the pictures, you will see the influence of Muslim design and Arabic writing throughout the Alcazar. It was so interesting to see the blend of Muslim and Catholic influences all over Spain. I’m not sure I would have appreciated this blending of religio-cultures quite as much if we had not just traveled through Egypt and Turkey.
I loved the city of Sevilla. It has a wonderful Spanish European feel and is very inviting. I wouldn’t mind living there for a year or so, get involved in a Spanish immersion program, and learn to eat dinner at midnight!
The next day we headed for Granada. Having never been to Granada, we felt that we should go the famous Alhambra Palace. The Alhambra is on a short list to become one of the “new” Seven Wonders of the World. We spent over 4 hours at the Alhambra, just taking in all of the architecture, history, gardens, ceramic tiles, and amazing views overlooking the city of Granada. I don’t have the patience to spend 4 hours at most historical sights, but this place was worth the entire afternoon. Wow. Take a look at Joe's pics.
We traveled back to Cadiz on our last day in Spain and found our friends at an outdoor café sipping mugs of beer and reminiscing about our amazing voyage together. Many students were in tears as they boarded the ship and swiped in their official shipboard ID into the on-ship computer. I was trying to hold it together, but I was feeling the same way. We’ve all been a big, interconnected family – for good times & bad – over the last 3 months. It’s hard to believe it’s coming to an end.
The mood on the ship currently is pretty quiet and solemn, as the students are busy writing papers and studying for finals. Some people have started packing, but I can’t bring myself to do that quite yet. It would mean that I have to drag myself out of full denial that I am leaving this ship, our floating home. There are so many things I will miss, they are almost too difficult to name, but I’m going to try – for my own sake – and hopefully you’ll enjoy them, too.
What I will miss:
1. Our cabin (#4055) with our little mini bathroom and super comfy bed.
2. Eating meals out on the back deck of the ship, overlooking the ocean and contemplating how amazingly lucky we are to be on this ship.
3. Waking up just in time for the last 5 minutes of breakfast, and seeing all of the others doing the same thing… dragging themselves into the dining hall in their PJs with bags under their eyes.
4. Gaining an hour - 24 times - over the course of our voyage!
5. Playing euchre, hearts, Texas hold ‘em, and spades up in the faculty lounge with Joe, JB, and Tim.
6. Eating all of our meals together with different groups of people, sharing stories from the different ports and planning new adventures.
7. Walking down the ship’s hallways during rough seas and seeing everyone swaying into walls, looking like drunk fools, and laughing at ourselves.
8. Doing an abs workout or yoga class on the 7th deck, overlooking the ocean & peering up at the big “Semester at Sea” logo on the side of the ship.
9. The excitement on the ship whenever we have “Taco Day!” for lunch.
10. Looking at the world map on the wall of our cabin, incredulous at all of the places we’ve been.
11. Never having to make our bed or do the dishes.
12. Bonding over such things as seasickness, the sound of our morning wake up call, and how long the iceberg lettuce has been sitting around.
Most of all, I’m going to miss the people. This voyage has surpassed my expectations in so many ways, and I never could have imagined how much I would MISS these people. There is something really special about living on a ship for 108 days. You get to know people in very different ways. I honestly feel as though I’ve been living in an alternate reality, a life that is an offshoot of my regular life, but one that has no basis or connection to my former life. I don’t want to walk away from these people. I know I don’t have to. My biggest goal, and simultaneously my biggest fear, is to keep this experience close to me – to walk around with it every day and not allow it to drift too far from my consciousness. I know I have been affected significantly, and that is a good thing.
Only 4 more days at sea.
I’ve got some hugging to do!!!
See y'all SOON!
Can't wait to see you in Ft. Lauderdale, Mama & Dad!!!

still rocking and a rolling out here on the Atlantic

Well our almost perfectly smooth voyage has ended... the Atlantic is paying us back for all the nice smooth seas we have had.

It is tough to even think about packing when you can't stand up, but it seems to be getting better and since we don't really want to pack, it is ok. Today is a study day for the students, first day of finals tommorow.

Had an amazing Talent show last night, we have a large group of talented folks on the ship and it was fun to watch.

The Spain pictures are now up and hopefully Joy will get to do her blog today.
http://joeandjoy.com/spain/index.html

Brian S. - thanks for the pictures... Jackson sure is cute
NO takers on the airport yet... I guess I should look up when we are coming in.... ok we get in at 1:50 p.m. on Dec. 10th into San Jose

Hope everyone is GREAT!!!