GREETINGS FROM GHANA!!!!!!
I have had one of the most amazing, most simple days I have had in my life. Today I arrived in Ghana, went to Cape Coast for two hours, then headed back to Takoradi, went to dinner, and went to a bar for thirty minutes. This simple, yet exhilarating day, has been amazing.
Let start with the beginning of the day.
We arrived in Takoradi around 0800. It took about two hours to clear us to get off the ship. I did not wake up until 1040AM for I knew that this would be the case, and we did not get off the ship until 11AM. Hannah, Kelsey, Dennis, Kevin, and I planned to head off to Cape Coast to cruise around and see the Slave Castle in Cape Coast. The immigration officials ended up taking a long time to clear all the passports, which we needed if we are heading outside of Takoradi. While we waited, we headed into the market center to find some Cedis (currency of Ghana). We walked around for about an hour and then decided to head back to the ship to hopefully find our passports waiting for us. We called two taxis, for Veronica had joined us into the city but did not go with us on our journey to Cape Coast, and Veronica, Kelsey, Hannah, and Kevin piled into one taxi and Dennis and I got into another. Our taxi driver decided to take advantage of us tourists and drive us the opposite way of the port (he thought we said “Polytechnic Center” instead of “Port”…….hmmm…..). We ended up arriving at the port, but he had raised the price to 4 Cedis instead of 2 Cedis (the currency exchange is 1.4 Cedis = $1 US). Dennis and I paid it because we did not want to bargain at that point. We got back onto the ship and ate lunch, I had to take my second Malaria pill so it was worth the extra time. Lunch was fantastic, fried chicken and potatoes with éclairs as dessert. Finally, after finishing up lunch, we decided to head to Cape Coast, the five of us. We piled into one taxi to take us to the “Cape Coast Bus Station,” since every city has their own bus station. Side note: EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. in Ghana is the friendliest, kindest, most helpful people you will ever meet. Period. The taxi driver dropped us off at the bus station. The bus station by the way, is a hole in the wall, in the middle of run down buildings, on a dirt path, and in a place you would NEVER suspect there to be a bus station. But yet, there it stands in all its glory, with the smallest buses waiting in front. I wish I had taken a picture but I did not. We walked up to the counter, and I asked the guy for 5 tickets to Cape Coast. He then proceeded to ask whether we wanted a small bus or a big bus. I first asked for a small bus, since it was more personal. He then said, “Ok, two sixty Cedis.” My mind processed this as two hundred forty Cedis. I said in my mind, “HELL NAH!” (it actually ended up being 2.60 Cedis but I did not realize until after we had left) So we asked for the big bus, which was 2.40 Cedis. We bought the tickets and boarded the “big bus.” I put “big bus” in quotations for this reason, it was not a big bus like you would find back in the USA. This bus had twenty seats, crammed together. I proceeded to the back of the bus with Kelsey and Dennis, Kevin, and Hannah sat in separate spaces (when Dennis boarded, this lady on the bus told him to sit next to her, for he was her husband, we all had a good laugh). This was one of the most rewarding, interesting, and awesome bus rides I have ever done. Although we were crammed together (our bus tickets by the way were pieces of paper ripped off from a bigger piece and had 16 written on), baking hot inside, it was still a very exhilarating ride. We passed villages between Takoradi and Cape Coast, had little kids run next to bus waving at us (Ubruni in Ghanaian means “white man.” It is an awkward experience being in a country where you stick out like a sore thumb, everyone looks at you, not because you are a tourist, but for the color of your skin. Having kids look at you as if you are an attraction, an alien almost since white men are a rarity in Ghana. An interesting culture note). The villages we passed were amazing, active and full of jostling and bubbly life. Everyone seemed to be in the greatest moods they ever experienced. Me being the outgoing self I am, made friends with a man in front of me. He described the villages we passed, talked about futbol, and that he lives in Cape Coast. We stopped along the route to Cape Coast and Dennis and Kevin had to get off in order to let people off. Locals tried to steal their spots, but the driver shooed them off, and the driver almost drove off, leaving Kevin and Dennis, but everyone on the bus yelled and allowed the two of them back on. We stopped at checkpoints police erected, to catch speeders and make sure buses are not overcrowded. At these stops, masses of women approached with baskets balancing on their heads the bus and proceeded to sell people items. Water in plastic bags, bananas and plantains. Money was being passed over people’s heads, arguing with how much the prices are and what the change is. A very interesting sight to behold.
We arrived in Cape Coast about 2 hours after leaving Takoradi. The man I made friends with helped us to find a taxi, told us the price, and how to get to the castle. (I found, like I stated in one of my earlier posts, that by saying Thank You, Meh-Dah-Say, in Ghanaian, you make more friends than you can ever have. You have to embrace their culture and attempt to speak and respect their language, and that my friends and family, goes a LONG way) We arrived at the castle about 30 minutes before it closed for the day. We walked around and took some pictures and waited for the last tour to take place (5 Cedis for the tour). When the tour guide finally appeared, we began one of the most affecting tours I think anyone can ever take. (ur tour guide, Francis, would later become a friend, a good friend, but more on that after the tour) The tour consisted of walking the courtyard, explaining why the castle was built, for the Atlantic Slave Trade, who it was built by, the British, and what went on. After explaining and setting up the history of the castle, we toured the Men’s Dungeon. I cannot even begin to explain the rush of emotions that flowed over me as we toured the dungeons. In each room, only three of the smallest “windows,” might as well be cracks, we made to let in light and air. The rooms were crammed with over 300 slaves, and each room had the width to fit maybe 80 people comfortably. There were a total of five rooms, for a grand total of 1,250 slaves crammed into a tiny area. They would defecate, pea, sleep, socialize, and die in these small areas they were crammed into. They would have to wait maybe, 2-3 months before the ships finally arrived to carry them to the New World. The emotions that ran through me…No man, or woman, should ever have to endure what the Africans endured within the walls of this castle. After touring the male dungeons, we headed to the women’s dungeon. The women’s dungeon consisted of one room, three slits for air and light, almost a replica of the male’s dungeon, but a lot smaller. The women and small children were kept in this area. Same thing as the men, they would defecate, pea, sleep, socialize, and die in these small areas they were crammed into. After standing in this room for a little and listening to Francis speak, we walked towards the “Door of No Return.” This door signified that the slaves that walked through these doors, would never return to their homeland, see their families, and live a peaceful life ever again. We walked back into the castle, and for the last stop, we toured the “Death Cell.” This cell contained the slaves that would fight for their independence within the confines of the castle, sometimes killing British soldiers in the process. These brave men, were thrown into this tiny room, with no windows, no cracks for air, nothing whatsoever to give them feeling of the outside world, and left in here to die. They were given no water and no food. Francis turned the lights off after pointing out that on the ground of the cell, were marks, not from years of wear and tear, but from the prisoners, who after enduring so much pain and frustration, took their anger out of the ground, and tore it up with their shackles. I began to shed tears in the darkness, and a little writing this, that is how powerful of an effect this cell had on me. We sat in silence for 10 seconds for the prisoners who died in this cell and for all the others who had to endure such brutal conditions.
After finishing the tour, we stood around with Francis afterwards talking about where we are from and what we do. We told him our plans for the rest of the night, how Dennis, Kevin and I were heading back to Takoradi (since we had Habitat for Humanity today, September 23 [the first half was written last night when I got back from the bar, I wanted that “fresh off the press” and I am now finishing up now]) and that Kelsey and Hannah were staying in Cape Coast for the night. Francis was so kind in that, he took us to the front of the castle, hailed two taxis, told one to take the two girls to a great hotel within Cape Coast, and the three of us to the bus station. Francis decided to ride with us and make sure everything went ok. He went and asked at the bus station if there were any buses, which there was only one left but 2 seats available and about an hour away from Cape Coast. He suggested we wait, but that we were taking a gamble that someone would get off and another seat would clear up. So the three of us decided to take the taxi back to Takoradi, which ended up being 35 Cedis, very cheap, and 5 Cedis to the bus station, so 40 Cedis total. Francis decided to ride ALL the way from Cape Coast to Takoradi and back to Cape Coast with the taxi driver, Ramsey. I thought this was one of the most amazing aspects about the Ghanaians and Francis. The Ghanaians will help you no matter who you are, it is as if you are a long lost friend that they have not seen in years. Francis and I conversed on the way back to Takoradi; we talked about schooling (he is a Tourism major in Cape Coast) in Ghana, what the government is like, how the economy is doing, the history of Ghana of its independence (Ghana was the first African country to gain its independence, and did it without conflict), and many other topics. Francis said that he is making his way into the USA within the next couple months and was hoping that Dennis and I would help him out in his travels when he comes, so we swapped information, we gave him our e-mail addresses and face book and same with him to us.
After arriving in Takoradi, another group; Amanda, Amy, Jen, Kate, Bria, and us 3 decided to eat out at a place called Captain Hook’s, here in Takoradi. This place was supposedly the hideaway for Ernest Hemingway. It was kind of pricy, but it was great food all in all. After finishing up dinner, Jen, Amanda and I headed out to a bar across the street, Ocean Bar. It was not that fun, we left after about 30 minutes. The very first minute inside, I began to drench myself in my sweat. SASers had already been here for a couple hours. It was mass orgy on the make shift dance floor the SASers had created. I even got hit on by the prostitutes stationed in the bar. She piched my elbow, winked at me, raised her eyebrows and nodded her head towards the door. It was an experience. Jen, Amanda and I left soon after.
That was my first day in Ghana. One of the best days I have ever had. I love Ghana and will fully enjoy the entire time in this wonderful country. Tomorrow I will write about what happened today (September 23rd). I hope all is well to whomever reads this.
Until my next post,
“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
-Mahatma Gandhi
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
GHANA TOMORROW!!!!!
Hey Everyone:
ONE MORE DAY UNTIL GHANA!!!!!!!!
These last couple days have been tiresome, and last night I was going to finish up Spain, but I had a 5 page paper due today, so I thought it was a good idea to finish that up instead. So let’s finish up Spain:
Monday. Katy and I decided to make a day trip to Sevilla. We woke up around 8AM and headed to the train station after pulling out money from the ATM around 9AM. We were planning on catching the 9AM train, but Katy had to get money exchanged, and I had to find an ATM which both took awhile to do, so we ended riding on the 10:05AM train. The train ride was not that bad, about 2 hours. Upon arriving in Sevilla, we went to the tourism desk and received a map. With my Boy Scout skills I was able to orient the map with the sun and we started to head the direction (we hoped) towards the downtown area of Sevilla. After an hour of walking we finally, and to my relief otherwise I would have looked real dumb but I was fairly certain, reached the downtown area. We decided to explore and find a restaurant. We found one, and I ate another meat dish, which again, like all Spanish food, was awesome. Katy had a tomato soup-esque dish (cannot remember the dish’s name) which tasted like pureed salsa, but was good anyways. Immediately following lunch, we traveled through the city, trying to find the cathedral. After walking along the river, we found the minaret on the cathedral (an odd event, as if you did not know, cathedrals do not have minarets. This cathedral was at one time owned by Muslims, and therefore had the minaret introduced onto the cathedral) We toured the cathedral, a majestic creation. All the cathedrals I have been to, they are all majestic in their own way. This cathedrals main focus point for me was, in the center of the cathedral, a room had been constructed to portray aspects of Jesus Christ’s life, all made of gold. This creation reflected and glittered in the sunlight and lights that were shining upon it. An interesting fact about this cathedral, is it is the supposed resting place of Christopher Columbus, in which the tomb was erected in a part of the cathedral. Katy and I then decided to climb the massive minaret. The hike up to the top was well worth the exercise. The minaret gave a complete panoramic of the entire city of Sevilla. After finishing our tour of the cathedral we decided to make our way to the last “touristy” area of Sevilla, which was the Place d’Espagna. It consisted of a brown building, encompassing an island in the middle which had a fountain sprouting water from it. On the walls facing the fountain were inscriptions and tile work of the multiple provinces and cities of Spain, a great work of art. We left soon after and walked back to the train station to head back to Cadiz. On the train ride, Katy and I shared life experiences and views we have on certain issues, in which we kind of had the same opinions, and I think because of this she kind of became one of the closer friends I have on the ship. We got back to the ship pretty early, then headed out to dinner with another friend that I have gotten closer with, Kevin. The three of us, since most of the other people in our little circle of friends from the ship had gone on overnight trips, headed out to a wonderful restaurant we found right on the waterfront. I found the wine that I ordered a few nights previous, the San Diego one, and ordered a bottle meanwhile, Katy and Kevin ordered a large pitcher of Sangria. We had fun that night. I am telling you now, the Sangria tasted exactly like soda (we went back the next night and got the recipe, I will explain more in the next paragraph about the next day). After the fun time we had at the restaurant, we headed to the bar right next door, and Katy and I ordered a Sex on the Beach. Yes, it is a girls drink, but if you tasted it, anybody would drink it. We had a fun walk back to the ship, which was about twenty blocks away, then it was a good night world once on the ship.
Tuesday. Kevin, Katy, Kevin’s roommate Matt (his nickname is Asian-Canadian-Jewish Matt since we have two Matts) and I decided to take another day trip out to a small town about 3 hours by bus outside of Cadiz, Ronda. We arrived into Ronda after our 3 hour bus ride and soon after began our trek into the city, since we had only about four to five hours to explore to catch the last bus. We began our journey into the city center, which the day before there was a HUGE festival, since there were still balloons hanging from the buildings (if you have seen my pictures on my face book that is why all those balloons are above my head) We were hungry so we sat down at a café on the main boulevard, which there were not any cars driving, but massive amount of people walking up and down the pathway. At this café we ordered Chocolate con Churros, which. Was. Amazing. I do not know why we do not have this back in the states. If we had this, it would be for sure a hit. The churros reminded me of funnel cakes, but the hot chocolate, was real chocolate, none of this just-add-water hot chocolate. It was one of the best desserts of all time. We also ordered a plate of meat and sheep cheese. After this meal, I could see myself eating sheep cheese and meat for the rest of my life. This small and simple meal was one of the best meals ever, next to the Carne al Toro (which I never got to have again, but oh well, Le Pauvre) After completing our lunch we walked up the street to the top of the street. At this point we had spent about an hour and a half, and decided to walk the other way. We walked into a store, (we had been into a couple already), and we were all wondering why there was nothing in Ronda except for shopping, for all we had seen was shops. I decided to head out the shop and saw the pictures at the front of the shops. I looked through them and saw an amazing bridge overlooking an enormous gorge, then noticed at the bottom of the picture it said, in big red letters “RONDA.” We were all just stupefied. We were going to leave Ronda without seeing what makes Ronda, this bridge which overlooks a gigantic gorge. (Again since I cannot post pictures from the ship, check my facebook if you can). We then ran into where we could see it. It was an awesome sight to behold. The landscape the bridge overlooked was wonderful and peaceful. We took loads of pictures from an area you can hike down and look up at the bridge. The funny part about the hike down, was there was a Spanish man holding a boom box, blasting Elvis Presley. After staring into this mesmerizing sight, we headed back to the bus station, since we did not have much time left before the last bus left for Cadiz. We sat on the bus for another 3 hours back to Cadiz. On this ride, I told Katy, Kevin, and Matt about my favortie Mexican taco shop in San Diego, about the Korean place, Jeong Won, where I eat all the time and about when they get to San Diego, I will take them to these places. Just writing about it makes me miss these foods. Mmmmm. I am hungry, too bad dinner is in 3 hours….
The last night in Cadiz, the day we went to Ronda, was spent out. The group of friends I have been hanging out with and I went back to the restaurant from the night before. We ordered three pitchers of Sangria and my bottle of wine. We had a grand ole time at this restaurant, socializing, having great drinks, and tasty food. I went to the bathroom and on the way back I noticed the owners of the restaurant watching futbol. It was Argentina v. Spain, (Spain lost 3-0). I sat and watched with them and noticed that Casillas (the goalkeeper and my hero) was not playing. “Donde esta Casillas?” I asked. They replied, to the best of my knowledge that it was a friendly and none of the starters were playing. I asked the guy in our group who spoke Spanish to translate, and that is what he told me. We then began to talk to each other, told them I was American, and that “yo soy portello” (I am a goalkeeper) and “te amo Casillas” (I love you Casillas), which I thought meant I love Casillas but they took it in good fun, for they thought I said I love you to them. The Spanish speaking guy in our group got the recipe to the Sangria, (Red wine, Prosecco, Brandy, Triple sec liqueur citron, orange juice, oranges and a couple of lemons, and sugar. Since I will be 21 when I arrive back in the states, I am going to attempt to recreate this masterful rendition of Sangria) and the wife of the owner took a liking to me for when we were leaving, instead of a handshake, I had seen locals kiss each other of the cheek for when they departed. I pointed to my cheeks and made the kissing sound, she laughed and we parted as if we were old friends. It was a great experience and one I will always remember. After leaving the restaurant we headed to O’Donahue’s, a pub around the corner and decided to have a few more drinks. I had a Guiness and a free shot, for I sat and talked with the bartender for awhile. After experiencing two cultures, Moroccan and Spanish, I feel as if you give in to their culture, and you treat them like human beings, instead of foreigners who care nothing of Americans, they open up to you and enjoy that you enjoy their culture. This is based upon my experiences with the waiter from a few nights previous, the owners of the restaurant who gave us the recipe to the Sangria, to the bartender at O’Donahue’s, to Omar from Casablanca, and to my tour guide from the nomad trek. When you head into a foreign country, you need to go in with no expectations, and wait to be surprised. You must also respect their culture (for there are people on the ship who all they care about is going to every country, and just getting drunk, and to be able to say they have partied in countries around the world. Our little group calls them, “SASholes.”) After leaving the bar, the other Matt in the group and I went out to the clubs, while the rest headed back to the ship. I danced the night away, with a lot of people from SAS. Matt and I left the clubs around 430AM, (the clubs did not even open until 3AM). We were buzzing around this time, so we had no clue where we were. My Boy Scout instincts said lets just sit down. I watched the stars for about 30 minutes, watched where the stars were going (for EVERYTHING rises in the East and sets in the West) and knew exactly how to get back to the ship. Thank You Boy Scouts (Eagle Scout by the way). The minute my head hit the pillow, I passed out. I did not wake up until about 1400 the same day. I went out and got some things done before we had to be back on the ship before 1800. We left Spain at 2000 and headed for Morocco, which we got there the very next day.
That is the end of Spain for you, and I think I am all caught up. Had my last class before our small Spring Break, the next four days, IN GHANA!!!!!!! I am looking forward to Ghana very much. We had a man on board, who is responsible for helping to write some of Ghana’s present constitution, and his humor is EXACTLY like that of my soccer coach, Eddy, who is from Ghana. Friends and I have some plans on what to do. For the first day we plan on heading to Cape Coast and see the slave castles, and other sites. The second day I have Habitat for Humanity. The third day is open at the moment, but hopefully I am going to head to Kakum National Forest. Then the next day we leave. I will update you on Ghana the minute I am done, no more of this two weeks later stuff I just did for Spain.
I hope all is well to all my readers, update you in four days.
Until my next post,
“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or we find it not.”
-R.W. Emerson
ONE MORE DAY UNTIL GHANA!!!!!!!!
These last couple days have been tiresome, and last night I was going to finish up Spain, but I had a 5 page paper due today, so I thought it was a good idea to finish that up instead. So let’s finish up Spain:
Monday. Katy and I decided to make a day trip to Sevilla. We woke up around 8AM and headed to the train station after pulling out money from the ATM around 9AM. We were planning on catching the 9AM train, but Katy had to get money exchanged, and I had to find an ATM which both took awhile to do, so we ended riding on the 10:05AM train. The train ride was not that bad, about 2 hours. Upon arriving in Sevilla, we went to the tourism desk and received a map. With my Boy Scout skills I was able to orient the map with the sun and we started to head the direction (we hoped) towards the downtown area of Sevilla. After an hour of walking we finally, and to my relief otherwise I would have looked real dumb but I was fairly certain, reached the downtown area. We decided to explore and find a restaurant. We found one, and I ate another meat dish, which again, like all Spanish food, was awesome. Katy had a tomato soup-esque dish (cannot remember the dish’s name) which tasted like pureed salsa, but was good anyways. Immediately following lunch, we traveled through the city, trying to find the cathedral. After walking along the river, we found the minaret on the cathedral (an odd event, as if you did not know, cathedrals do not have minarets. This cathedral was at one time owned by Muslims, and therefore had the minaret introduced onto the cathedral) We toured the cathedral, a majestic creation. All the cathedrals I have been to, they are all majestic in their own way. This cathedrals main focus point for me was, in the center of the cathedral, a room had been constructed to portray aspects of Jesus Christ’s life, all made of gold. This creation reflected and glittered in the sunlight and lights that were shining upon it. An interesting fact about this cathedral, is it is the supposed resting place of Christopher Columbus, in which the tomb was erected in a part of the cathedral. Katy and I then decided to climb the massive minaret. The hike up to the top was well worth the exercise. The minaret gave a complete panoramic of the entire city of Sevilla. After finishing our tour of the cathedral we decided to make our way to the last “touristy” area of Sevilla, which was the Place d’Espagna. It consisted of a brown building, encompassing an island in the middle which had a fountain sprouting water from it. On the walls facing the fountain were inscriptions and tile work of the multiple provinces and cities of Spain, a great work of art. We left soon after and walked back to the train station to head back to Cadiz. On the train ride, Katy and I shared life experiences and views we have on certain issues, in which we kind of had the same opinions, and I think because of this she kind of became one of the closer friends I have on the ship. We got back to the ship pretty early, then headed out to dinner with another friend that I have gotten closer with, Kevin. The three of us, since most of the other people in our little circle of friends from the ship had gone on overnight trips, headed out to a wonderful restaurant we found right on the waterfront. I found the wine that I ordered a few nights previous, the San Diego one, and ordered a bottle meanwhile, Katy and Kevin ordered a large pitcher of Sangria. We had fun that night. I am telling you now, the Sangria tasted exactly like soda (we went back the next night and got the recipe, I will explain more in the next paragraph about the next day). After the fun time we had at the restaurant, we headed to the bar right next door, and Katy and I ordered a Sex on the Beach. Yes, it is a girls drink, but if you tasted it, anybody would drink it. We had a fun walk back to the ship, which was about twenty blocks away, then it was a good night world once on the ship.
Tuesday. Kevin, Katy, Kevin’s roommate Matt (his nickname is Asian-Canadian-Jewish Matt since we have two Matts) and I decided to take another day trip out to a small town about 3 hours by bus outside of Cadiz, Ronda. We arrived into Ronda after our 3 hour bus ride and soon after began our trek into the city, since we had only about four to five hours to explore to catch the last bus. We began our journey into the city center, which the day before there was a HUGE festival, since there were still balloons hanging from the buildings (if you have seen my pictures on my face book that is why all those balloons are above my head) We were hungry so we sat down at a café on the main boulevard, which there were not any cars driving, but massive amount of people walking up and down the pathway. At this café we ordered Chocolate con Churros, which. Was. Amazing. I do not know why we do not have this back in the states. If we had this, it would be for sure a hit. The churros reminded me of funnel cakes, but the hot chocolate, was real chocolate, none of this just-add-water hot chocolate. It was one of the best desserts of all time. We also ordered a plate of meat and sheep cheese. After this meal, I could see myself eating sheep cheese and meat for the rest of my life. This small and simple meal was one of the best meals ever, next to the Carne al Toro (which I never got to have again, but oh well, Le Pauvre) After completing our lunch we walked up the street to the top of the street. At this point we had spent about an hour and a half, and decided to walk the other way. We walked into a store, (we had been into a couple already), and we were all wondering why there was nothing in Ronda except for shopping, for all we had seen was shops. I decided to head out the shop and saw the pictures at the front of the shops. I looked through them and saw an amazing bridge overlooking an enormous gorge, then noticed at the bottom of the picture it said, in big red letters “RONDA.” We were all just stupefied. We were going to leave Ronda without seeing what makes Ronda, this bridge which overlooks a gigantic gorge. (Again since I cannot post pictures from the ship, check my facebook if you can). We then ran into where we could see it. It was an awesome sight to behold. The landscape the bridge overlooked was wonderful and peaceful. We took loads of pictures from an area you can hike down and look up at the bridge. The funny part about the hike down, was there was a Spanish man holding a boom box, blasting Elvis Presley. After staring into this mesmerizing sight, we headed back to the bus station, since we did not have much time left before the last bus left for Cadiz. We sat on the bus for another 3 hours back to Cadiz. On this ride, I told Katy, Kevin, and Matt about my favortie Mexican taco shop in San Diego, about the Korean place, Jeong Won, where I eat all the time and about when they get to San Diego, I will take them to these places. Just writing about it makes me miss these foods. Mmmmm. I am hungry, too bad dinner is in 3 hours….
The last night in Cadiz, the day we went to Ronda, was spent out. The group of friends I have been hanging out with and I went back to the restaurant from the night before. We ordered three pitchers of Sangria and my bottle of wine. We had a grand ole time at this restaurant, socializing, having great drinks, and tasty food. I went to the bathroom and on the way back I noticed the owners of the restaurant watching futbol. It was Argentina v. Spain, (Spain lost 3-0). I sat and watched with them and noticed that Casillas (the goalkeeper and my hero) was not playing. “Donde esta Casillas?” I asked. They replied, to the best of my knowledge that it was a friendly and none of the starters were playing. I asked the guy in our group who spoke Spanish to translate, and that is what he told me. We then began to talk to each other, told them I was American, and that “yo soy portello” (I am a goalkeeper) and “te amo Casillas” (I love you Casillas), which I thought meant I love Casillas but they took it in good fun, for they thought I said I love you to them. The Spanish speaking guy in our group got the recipe to the Sangria, (Red wine, Prosecco, Brandy, Triple sec liqueur citron, orange juice, oranges and a couple of lemons, and sugar. Since I will be 21 when I arrive back in the states, I am going to attempt to recreate this masterful rendition of Sangria) and the wife of the owner took a liking to me for when we were leaving, instead of a handshake, I had seen locals kiss each other of the cheek for when they departed. I pointed to my cheeks and made the kissing sound, she laughed and we parted as if we were old friends. It was a great experience and one I will always remember. After leaving the restaurant we headed to O’Donahue’s, a pub around the corner and decided to have a few more drinks. I had a Guiness and a free shot, for I sat and talked with the bartender for awhile. After experiencing two cultures, Moroccan and Spanish, I feel as if you give in to their culture, and you treat them like human beings, instead of foreigners who care nothing of Americans, they open up to you and enjoy that you enjoy their culture. This is based upon my experiences with the waiter from a few nights previous, the owners of the restaurant who gave us the recipe to the Sangria, to the bartender at O’Donahue’s, to Omar from Casablanca, and to my tour guide from the nomad trek. When you head into a foreign country, you need to go in with no expectations, and wait to be surprised. You must also respect their culture (for there are people on the ship who all they care about is going to every country, and just getting drunk, and to be able to say they have partied in countries around the world. Our little group calls them, “SASholes.”) After leaving the bar, the other Matt in the group and I went out to the clubs, while the rest headed back to the ship. I danced the night away, with a lot of people from SAS. Matt and I left the clubs around 430AM, (the clubs did not even open until 3AM). We were buzzing around this time, so we had no clue where we were. My Boy Scout instincts said lets just sit down. I watched the stars for about 30 minutes, watched where the stars were going (for EVERYTHING rises in the East and sets in the West) and knew exactly how to get back to the ship. Thank You Boy Scouts (Eagle Scout by the way). The minute my head hit the pillow, I passed out. I did not wake up until about 1400 the same day. I went out and got some things done before we had to be back on the ship before 1800. We left Spain at 2000 and headed for Morocco, which we got there the very next day.
That is the end of Spain for you, and I think I am all caught up. Had my last class before our small Spring Break, the next four days, IN GHANA!!!!!!! I am looking forward to Ghana very much. We had a man on board, who is responsible for helping to write some of Ghana’s present constitution, and his humor is EXACTLY like that of my soccer coach, Eddy, who is from Ghana. Friends and I have some plans on what to do. For the first day we plan on heading to Cape Coast and see the slave castles, and other sites. The second day I have Habitat for Humanity. The third day is open at the moment, but hopefully I am going to head to Kakum National Forest. Then the next day we leave. I will update you on Ghana the minute I am done, no more of this two weeks later stuff I just did for Spain.
I hope all is well to all my readers, update you in four days.
Until my next post,
“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or we find it not.”
-R.W. Emerson
GHANA TOMORROW!!!!!
Hey Everyone:
ONE MORE DAY UNTIL GHANA!!!!!!!!
These last couple days have been tiresome, and last night I was going to finish up Spain, but I had a 5 page paper due today, so I thought it was a good idea to finish that up instead. So let’s finish up Spain:
Monday. Katy and I decided to make a day trip to Sevilla. We woke up around 8AM and headed to the train station after pulling out money from the ATM around 9AM. We were planning on catching the 9AM train, but Katy had to get money exchanged, and I had to find an ATM which both took awhile to do, so we ended riding on the 10:05AM train. The train ride was not that bad, about 2 hours. Upon arriving in Sevilla, we went to the tourism desk and received a map. With my Boy Scout skills I was able to orient the map with the sun and we started to head the direction (we hoped) towards the downtown area of Sevilla. After an hour of walking we finally, and to my relief otherwise I would have looked real dumb but I was fairly certain, reached the downtown area. We decided to explore and find a restaurant. We found one, and I ate another meat dish, which again, like all Spanish food, was awesome. Katy had a tomato soup-esque dish (cannot remember the dish’s name) which tasted like pureed salsa, but was good anyways. Immediately following lunch, we traveled through the city, trying to find the cathedral. After walking along the river, we found the minaret on the cathedral (an odd event, as if you did not know, cathedrals do not have minarets. This cathedral was at one time owned by Muslims, and therefore had the minaret introduced onto the cathedral) We toured the cathedral, a majestic creation. All the cathedrals I have been to, they are all majestic in their own way. This cathedrals main focus point for me was, in the center of the cathedral, a room had been constructed to portray aspects of Jesus Christ’s life, all made of gold. This creation reflected and glittered in the sunlight and lights that were shining upon it. An interesting fact about this cathedral, is it is the supposed resting place of Christopher Columbus, in which the tomb was erected in a part of the cathedral. Katy and I then decided to climb the massive minaret. The hike up to the top was well worth the exercise. The minaret gave a complete panoramic of the entire city of Sevilla. After finishing our tour of the cathedral we decided to make our way to the last “touristy” area of Sevilla, which was the Place d’Espagna. It consisted of a brown building, encompassing an island in the middle which had a fountain sprouting water from it. On the walls facing the fountain were inscriptions and tile work of the multiple provinces and cities of Spain, a great work of art. We left soon after and walked back to the train station to head back to Cadiz. On the train ride, Katy and I shared life experiences and views we have on certain issues, in which we kind of had the same opinions, and I think because of this she kind of became one of the closer friends I have on the ship. We got back to the ship pretty early, then headed out to dinner with another friend that I have gotten closer with, Kevin. The three of us, since most of the other people in our little circle of friends from the ship had gone on overnight trips, headed out to a wonderful restaurant we found right on the waterfront. I found the wine that I ordered a few nights previous, the San Diego one, and ordered a bottle meanwhile, Katy and Kevin ordered a large pitcher of Sangria. We had fun that night. I am telling you now, the Sangria tasted exactly like soda (we went back the next night and got the recipe, I will explain more in the next paragraph about the next day). After the fun time we had at the restaurant, we headed to the bar right next door, and Katy and I ordered a Sex on the Beach. Yes, it is a girls drink, but if you tasted it, anybody would drink it. We had a fun walk back to the ship, which was about twenty blocks away, then it was a good night world once on the ship.
Tuesday. Kevin, Katy, Kevin’s roommate Matt (his nickname is Asian-Canadian-Jewish Matt since we have two Matts) and I decided to take another day trip out to a small town about 3 hours by bus outside of Cadiz, Ronda. We arrived into Ronda after our 3 hour bus ride and soon after began our trek into the city, since we had only about four to five hours to explore to catch the last bus. We began our journey into the city center, which the day before there was a HUGE festival, since there were still balloons hanging from the buildings (if you have seen my pictures on my face book that is why all those balloons are above my head) We were hungry so we sat down at a café on the main boulevard, which there were not any cars driving, but massive amount of people walking up and down the pathway. At this café we ordered Chocolate con Churros, which. Was. Amazing. I do not know why we do not have this back in the states. If we had this, it would be for sure a hit. The churros reminded me of funnel cakes, but the hot chocolate, was real chocolate, none of this just-add-water hot chocolate. It was one of the best desserts of all time. We also ordered a plate of meat and sheep cheese. After this meal, I could see myself eating sheep cheese and meat for the rest of my life. This small and simple meal was one of the best meals ever, next to the Carne al Toro (which I never got to have again, but oh well, Le Pauvre) After completing our lunch we walked up the street to the top of the street. At this point we had spent about an hour and a half, and decided to walk the other way. We walked into a store, (we had been into a couple already), and we were all wondering why there was nothing in Ronda except for shopping, for all we had seen was shops. I decided to head out the shop and saw the pictures at the front of the shops. I looked through them and saw an amazing bridge overlooking an enormous gorge, then noticed at the bottom of the picture it said, in big red letters “RONDA.” We were all just stupefied. We were going to leave Ronda without seeing what makes Ronda, this bridge which overlooks a gigantic gorge. (Again since I cannot post pictures from the ship, check my facebook if you can). We then ran into where we could see it. It was an awesome sight to behold. The landscape the bridge overlooked was wonderful and peaceful. We took loads of pictures from an area you can hike down and look up at the bridge. The funny part about the hike down, was there was a Spanish man holding a boom box, blasting Elvis Presley. After staring into this mesmerizing sight, we headed back to the bus station, since we did not have much time left before the last bus left for Cadiz. We sat on the bus for another 3 hours back to Cadiz. On this ride, I told Katy, Kevin, and Matt about my favortie Mexican taco shop in San Diego, about the Korean place, Jeong Won, where I eat all the time and about when they get to San Diego, I will take them to these places. Just writing about it makes me miss these foods. Mmmmm. I am hungry, too bad dinner is in 3 hours….
The last night in Cadiz, the day we went to Ronda, was spent out. The group of friends I have been hanging out with and I went back to the restaurant from the night before. We ordered three pitchers of Sangria and my bottle of wine. We had a grand ole time at this restaurant, socializing, having great drinks, and tasty food. I went to the bathroom and on the way back I noticed the owners of the restaurant watching futbol. It was Argentina v. Spain, (Spain lost 3-0). I sat and watched with them and noticed that Casillas (the goalkeeper and my hero) was not playing. “Donde esta Casillas?” I asked. They replied, to the best of my knowledge that it was a friendly and none of the starters were playing. I asked the guy in our group who spoke Spanish to translate, and that is what he told me. We then began to talk to each other, told them I was American, and that “yo soy portello” (I am a goalkeeper) and “te amo Casillas” (I love you Casillas), which I thought meant I love Casillas but they took it in good fun, for they thought I said I love you to them. The Spanish speaking guy in our group got the recipe to the Sangria, (Red wine, Prosecco, Brandy, Triple sec liqueur citron, orange juice, oranges and a couple of lemons, and sugar. Since I will be 21 when I arrive back in the states, I am going to attempt to recreate this masterful rendition of Sangria) and the wife of the owner took a liking to me for when we were leaving, instead of a handshake, I had seen locals kiss each other of the cheek for when they departed. I pointed to my cheeks and made the kissing sound, she laughed and we parted as if we were old friends. It was a great experience and one I will always remember. After leaving the restaurant we headed to O’Donahue’s, a pub around the corner and decided to have a few more drinks. I had a Guiness and a free shot, for I sat and talked with the bartender for awhile. After experiencing two cultures, Moroccan and Spanish, I feel as if you give in to their culture, and you treat them like human beings, instead of foreigners who care nothing of Americans, they open up to you and enjoy that you enjoy their culture. This is based upon my experiences with the waiter from a few nights previous, the owners of the restaurant who gave us the recipe to the Sangria, to the bartender at O’Donahue’s, to Omar from Casablanca, and to my tour guide from the nomad trek. When you head into a foreign country, you need to go in with no expectations, and wait to be surprised. You must also respect their culture (for there are people on the ship who all they care about is going to every country, and just getting drunk, and to be able to say they have partied in countries around the world. Our little group calls them, “SASholes.”) After leaving the bar, the other Matt in the group and I went out to the clubs, while the rest headed back to the ship. I danced the night away, with a lot of people from SAS. Matt and I left the clubs around 430AM, (the clubs did not even open until 3AM). We were buzzing around this time, so we had no clue where we were. My Boy Scout instincts said lets just sit down. I watched the stars for about 30 minutes, watched where the stars were going (for EVERYTHING rises in the East and sets in the West) and knew exactly how to get back to the ship. Thank You Boy Scouts (Eagle Scout by the way). The minute my head hit the pillow, I passed out. I did not wake up until about 1400 the same day. I went out and got some things done before we had to be back on the ship before 1800. We left Spain at 2000 and headed for Morocco, which we got there the very next day.
That is the end of Spain for you, and I think I am all caught up. Had my last class before our small Spring Break, the next four days, IN GHANA!!!!!!! I am looking forward to Ghana very much. We had a man on board, who is responsible for helping to write some of Ghana’s present constitution, and his humor is EXACTLY like that of my soccer coach, Eddy, who is from Ghana. Friends and I have some plans on what to do. For the first day we plan on heading to Cape Coast and see the slave castles, and other sites. The second day I have Habitat for Humanity. The third day is open at the moment, but hopefully I am going to head to Kakum National Forest. Then the next day we leave. I will update you on Ghana the minute I am done, no more of this two weeks later stuff I just did for Spain.
I hope all is well to all my readers, update you in four days.
Until my next post,
“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or we find it not.”
-R.W. Emerson
Friday, September 17, 2010
From the Open Sea!
Bonjour Mes Amis!!!
We have been at sea for almost three days now, and I figured I would attempt to finish up Spain. First off, the friends I have made on the ship are almost my second family. I see them, twenty-four hours, seven days a week. I have learned so much about them, and the same with them about me. I have also, as friends back in San Diego have told me not to, told them why February has twenty eight days. That little tid-bit of information is known by ANYONE that has ever met me. Why? I think it is an amazing fact that no one really knows, and we live by this silly fact year after year after year. (To keep it short, February has twenty eight days due to Augustus, who was jealous in the fact that Julius Caesar had his own month (July). So Augustus named “August” after himself. The thing was, August had less days than July and Augustus could not have it, so he stole days from February and added them to August so August and July had same amount of days. Intereeeesting)
The group of friends that I made have incorporated another guy, Dennis. Dennis is a cross-fit trainer in Boston, Massachusetts. Cross-fit involves doing everyday activities and involving them in strenuous workouts. For example, today we had to do 75 sit ups, 75 leg jumps, 75 leg runs while in a pushup position, 75 push ups, and 75 crawling under someone. It was hard. This training is strenuous and gets you pumped. Dennis by the way is jacked. If I were a woman, O man. Anyways, we have created a group of about 15 of us who will do this everyday. Ladies and gentlemen, Drew will be working out. HALLELUJAH.
Ok ok ok ok, time to get onto Spain.
So last when I left off in Spain I had explained the first day. The second day in Spain I went on a couple mile hike in Grazalema National Park, about a two hour drive outside of Cadiz. We met a local guide who lives in what are called “white cities,” in which, as you may have guessed, are painted white, but are situated in the mountains, and are very small villages. On the drive in to meet up with our local guide, we would see nothing but greenery, with the trees and bushes all in bloom. Then out of no where, BLAOW, white city. I really fascinating sight to behold. Around noon we begin our hike. I have my camelbak on and we start on our journey. We would stop every once in awhile for the guide, who needed a translator, to explain wildlife facts about the country side. One of the more amazing facts he pointed out was the abortion plant. This plant look like a regular tree, but it stays green the entire year. When food gets low, the deer and other animals would come to this plant and eat it, causing the deer to not give birth. It is mother natures remedy to overpopulation in times when food is scarce. It even works on humans, for the locals from hundreds of years ago used to use it to cause a woman to miscarry. The scenery was gorgeous. Pictures on my facebook have been posted from the hike so you can see them. After about three hours of hiking we made it back to our bus to take us back to the ship. After arriving back at the ship, a group, my normal group, the one I hang out with now, went out to eat that night. We aye at a local restaurant and made friends with the server. I had a couple Jack and Coke along with a dish prepared and served in a skillet. It was not as great as the night before, in which I had the Carne al Toro, but it was good. After leaving the restaurant, we tried to find the clubs, again. As we were walking, the server we had made friends with found us on the street, pulled over, talked with us and recommended a club. FINALLY. So we searched again for the club. We started with a group of about, nine, and then only three of us, Amanda, Hannah, and I, were determined to find a club. We found the club after an hour of searching. The thing was, we head the music blaring so I approached. I noticed no one was inside. Hmm, this is curious.
I asked the guy, “Las personas?”
“Nada.”
“Porque?”
“[something in Spanish] domingo.”
I turned to Amanda and Hannah and said, there is no one inside because it was Sunday. We found out later Sunday is the only day of the week the locals do not go clubbing. Yippee to us.
Monday. Katy and I decided to make a day trip to Sevilla.
Ok I am tired, I will finish up Sevilla tomorrow. Sorry, long day, strenuous workout, I am pooped.
Until my next post,
“Laughter is a cement of friendship. Laugh lines are life lines. Humor is the soaring spirit of humanity”
- Marvel Harrison
We have been at sea for almost three days now, and I figured I would attempt to finish up Spain. First off, the friends I have made on the ship are almost my second family. I see them, twenty-four hours, seven days a week. I have learned so much about them, and the same with them about me. I have also, as friends back in San Diego have told me not to, told them why February has twenty eight days. That little tid-bit of information is known by ANYONE that has ever met me. Why? I think it is an amazing fact that no one really knows, and we live by this silly fact year after year after year. (To keep it short, February has twenty eight days due to Augustus, who was jealous in the fact that Julius Caesar had his own month (July). So Augustus named “August” after himself. The thing was, August had less days than July and Augustus could not have it, so he stole days from February and added them to August so August and July had same amount of days. Intereeeesting)
The group of friends that I made have incorporated another guy, Dennis. Dennis is a cross-fit trainer in Boston, Massachusetts. Cross-fit involves doing everyday activities and involving them in strenuous workouts. For example, today we had to do 75 sit ups, 75 leg jumps, 75 leg runs while in a pushup position, 75 push ups, and 75 crawling under someone. It was hard. This training is strenuous and gets you pumped. Dennis by the way is jacked. If I were a woman, O man. Anyways, we have created a group of about 15 of us who will do this everyday. Ladies and gentlemen, Drew will be working out. HALLELUJAH.
Ok ok ok ok, time to get onto Spain.
So last when I left off in Spain I had explained the first day. The second day in Spain I went on a couple mile hike in Grazalema National Park, about a two hour drive outside of Cadiz. We met a local guide who lives in what are called “white cities,” in which, as you may have guessed, are painted white, but are situated in the mountains, and are very small villages. On the drive in to meet up with our local guide, we would see nothing but greenery, with the trees and bushes all in bloom. Then out of no where, BLAOW, white city. I really fascinating sight to behold. Around noon we begin our hike. I have my camelbak on and we start on our journey. We would stop every once in awhile for the guide, who needed a translator, to explain wildlife facts about the country side. One of the more amazing facts he pointed out was the abortion plant. This plant look like a regular tree, but it stays green the entire year. When food gets low, the deer and other animals would come to this plant and eat it, causing the deer to not give birth. It is mother natures remedy to overpopulation in times when food is scarce. It even works on humans, for the locals from hundreds of years ago used to use it to cause a woman to miscarry. The scenery was gorgeous. Pictures on my facebook have been posted from the hike so you can see them. After about three hours of hiking we made it back to our bus to take us back to the ship. After arriving back at the ship, a group, my normal group, the one I hang out with now, went out to eat that night. We aye at a local restaurant and made friends with the server. I had a couple Jack and Coke along with a dish prepared and served in a skillet. It was not as great as the night before, in which I had the Carne al Toro, but it was good. After leaving the restaurant, we tried to find the clubs, again. As we were walking, the server we had made friends with found us on the street, pulled over, talked with us and recommended a club. FINALLY. So we searched again for the club. We started with a group of about, nine, and then only three of us, Amanda, Hannah, and I, were determined to find a club. We found the club after an hour of searching. The thing was, we head the music blaring so I approached. I noticed no one was inside. Hmm, this is curious.
I asked the guy, “Las personas?”
“Nada.”
“Porque?”
“[something in Spanish] domingo.”
I turned to Amanda and Hannah and said, there is no one inside because it was Sunday. We found out later Sunday is the only day of the week the locals do not go clubbing. Yippee to us.
Monday. Katy and I decided to make a day trip to Sevilla.
Ok I am tired, I will finish up Sevilla tomorrow. Sorry, long day, strenuous workout, I am pooped.
Until my next post,
“Laughter is a cement of friendship. Laugh lines are life lines. Humor is the soaring spirit of humanity”
- Marvel Harrison
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Finishing up Morocco
Greetings from the open sea!
We are back at sea, off to Ghana, had class yesterday and again today, and again for the next five days, yippee! So, back to where I left off from:
Zagora. We finally made it around seven, eight at night. Our crazy teacher who led our expedition (we had to be on the bus exactly at the time she said, otherwise she would leave us, seriously, we almost left one person who was in the bathroom) got our tour guide, Idris, to take us to the Saharan dunes. We got to see the sunset over the dunes, play on the dunes, and take pictures. The sand is soft, soooooo soft. When you step into it you sink about a foot. Our bus, bus numero dos, got to places first, everywhere, the places we ate for lunch on the drive up and back, the dunes, the nomad camp, and back to Casablanca, I say this because as we were leaving the sand dunes, bus numero uno drove in, they did not get to see the sunset or anything. After leaving the dunes, we headed to the nomad camp for the night. Upon waling into the camp, the nomad were standing singing, welcoming us into their village, or campsite. The group I was hanging out with: Ellie, Kevin, Chrissy, Matt, and Cookie (it is her nickname), we all chose our tents to sleep in for the night then headed out into the communal area where the nomads had stopped singing and were now sitting. I got stop mint tea from a little stand they had propped up, free of charge, and went to sit next to the nomads. Ten minutes after sitting and socializing with others that I had met on the bus ride over and the group I was kind of with, the nomads started singing again. It was unreal. I had never heard or experienced their type of music or singing. There was one among the nomads that seemed like he was having the time of his life. When the music started picking up a faster beat, he would make strange noises, indescribable on the blog, and nothing that I have heard before. He would walk around as well and pick up girls and bring them up to dance with him. The nomads stopped abruptly since bus numero uno finally arrived and they wanted to sing the welcome song for them as well. After everyone had arrived, a big number of us sat right in front of the nomads, listening to, what I am guessing, was a pretext they sang before every song. This pretext consisted of four of the men, two singing and then the other two answering back to the first two. The two guys with drums then started up another fast beat and then the group of about nine men and two women began singing enthusiastically again. One of women would turn her tongue sideways and do the famous yell among the nomad people. Then the other woman, started dancing towards us, and picked up everyone and, I do not know if you have seen it, but in Prince of Egypt, the cartoon about Moses from some years ago, there is a scene where they all start dancing in circles, holding hands, and just go around and around in circles until the song stopped. Well, that is exactly what I got to do with everyone. It was an unreal experience. The entire time within the camp I kept pinching myself to make sure I was not dreaming or anything of the sort, After dancing, we went into the communal tent, the largest one of the entire premises and ate another amazing dinner. I met some new people after deciding I was going to sit at a different table that the group I was already friends with. What I like about SAS is how friendly we, the students, are with ourselves. I can go up to anybody and introduce myself, and immediately continue a conversation for a long period of time, possibly even make new friends. Since we all came on this to travel and experience the local cultures that we are visiting, (although there are some who, when we are in port, do not want to do anything but drink, and find clubs, and say they have partied in countries around the world, but I say to that, why do what you can do EVERYDAY and ANYDAY in the states, and not do what you cannot do?) that we are all outgoing and willing to make new friends. Upon completion of dinner, a great number of us laid out outside under the stars, some brought their beds, others, like me, just laid on the rugs on top of the soft sand with just a pillow. Rashid, my tour guide came over to where I was and we began to talk about the Moroccan and Islamic culture. It was interesting to here what he thought about us, about how Islam works and how it applies to not just their religion, but also daily life and government. He also brought up the pastor in Florida, who was going to burn copies of the Koran, He said how, he personally and most of the people he knew, did not care about him burning the copies. To him, it is more important for him on the inside, for him to know and understand the Koran in his mind, than for some man to burn copies of the religious text. Koran, in Arabic, means to recite, so he was telling me that people memorize the Koran and that the book is just a medium for them to memorize it, it is just a book. There are other copies that people can read, but it was more important for him to know, and experience the Koran outside of just a book. The conversation I had with Rashid was enlightening. After our conversation, all of those who stayed out under the stars just stared up, and some of them had never seen so many stars before either. I explained how to find the north star, thanks to Boy Scouts and Astronomy 101. After hours just staring into the sky, I finally fell asleep and woke up the next day to the calls of roosters and camels barking at each other. We ate a great break, hard boiled eggs, bread, and honey. We then got onto the camels following breakfast. Let me tell you something before. Before getting on the camels we found out that we were only going to be on them for only an hour. All of us groaned and complained that we were on there for such a short amount of time. Once we got on, O-N-C-E we got on, we were ecstatic that it was only an hour. Camels are not comfortable. Especially if you are a guy. Especially if you sit on the hump. Especially if you have ridden a horse before. When a horse walks/runs, the leg in the front goes forward and the opposite leg in the back goes forward with it, creating a level area on the saddle when you, except when it runs because you are popping up and down. On the other hand, when a camel walks, when the front leg goes forward, the leg right behind it, NOT the opposite, goes forward as well, creating a rocking motion. This rocking motion, on top of a hump, creates a very uncomfortable ride. I became friendly with the man who guided us along the path, speaking French since people in Morocco speak mainly French and Arabic, and learned that my camel’s name is Toto (I do not think we’re in Kansas anymore Toto, HA!). I also learned that this is his livelihood, bringing tourists on camels, his camels. The five that he lead were owned by him, and most of the others are owned by the hotel in the region. Side note: I wore a camelbak on the back of a camel. Get it? Funny eh? Anyways, after the ride, we got off (I wore the pants, and I will attempt to get them to be worn in San Diego, and be cool about it.) and got back on the bus for another eight hour ride back to Marrakech. We get back into Marrakech around six in the afternoon, the rest of the day is to us. The group I was with decided to get some pizza, which was awesome, and then head to the market at night. The market at night, is a complete different atmosphere than the one during the day. Instead of snake charmers and men with monkeys, it is groups of men playing music, kids with carnival-esque games. All the stores are open.
I wanted to buy a flag, (I like to collect flags), and this guy tried to help me, he said “Stay right here I will be back in two minutes, wait.” As if it were rehearsed, there he was, with two flags, but gigantic ones. I said they were too big and thanks anyways. We began to walk away, and he comes running up to me with a smaller flag, a tiny itty bitty one. Again I said it was too small for what I was looking for, and he made me follow him to another shop. This time the guy showed a flag the right size, the problem this time was the star in the middle, (the Moroccan flag is red, with a five pointed star in the middle, and one of the tips facing upwards), was a little off center, but the star was not aligned correctly. I told him, and he got mad and shooed me away. You really think I was going to buy a flag that was not even the correct flag? Instead, I bought some Arabic music and a friend of mine bought a knock off Rolex. We walked back to the hotel and called it a night.
The next day, we headed back to Casablanca. Oh, I did not mention what happened the previous. When we were heading back from Zagora back to Marrakech, my stomach began to growl, not from not eating, but from something most travelers in other countries begin to fear. Yes you guessed it, Travelers Diarrhea. I held it, for over three hours. That has to be some type of world record for once I arrived in the hotel, HAAAAALELUJAH!!!! HAAAAALELUJAH!!!!! I gave the throne a new paint job. A friend of mine gave me ammodiom, it worked but it was as if there was just a cork in my butt, holding it in for later. Once I got back to ship though I took my medication and alls better, thanks for the concern everybody.
Now being back in Casablanca, I showered and passed out. The next day was our final day in Casablanca. A group of us, the regular group; Ellie, Kevin, Andy, Chrissy, and Katy (the girl whom I went to Sevilla and Ronda [which I will write about once I am done with Morocco]) went to the Hassan II Mosque, which is the third largest mosque in the world, second to one is Saudi Arabia, and third to the one in Mecca (for the one in Mecca HAS to be the largest one in the world). I have seen cathedrals in France, Spain, England, but the mosque in Casablanca had no comparison. It was wonderful. The inside was gorgeous. If you check my face book, the pictures are all on there, since I cannot send pictures on here while at sea. After visiting the mosque, I went back to ship, got my laptop, headed out to where free WiFi was, talked with my mother, and then left Casablanca at 2000. 1800 was On-Ship time, (On-Ship time is when EVERYONE has to be on the ship, if you late, every fifteen minutes you are late, you get dock timed an hour. Dock time is you just cannot get off the ship for the duration of your “dock-time.”) so I tried to get back by then.
Well, I have got class in ten minutes (it is 1405 here) so I will leave the rest of the Spain posts for a later time. Wish the best for anyone who is reading, and I will post the rest of Spain online in the next day or two.
Until my next post,
“I think wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow”
-Anita Desai
We are back at sea, off to Ghana, had class yesterday and again today, and again for the next five days, yippee! So, back to where I left off from:
Zagora. We finally made it around seven, eight at night. Our crazy teacher who led our expedition (we had to be on the bus exactly at the time she said, otherwise she would leave us, seriously, we almost left one person who was in the bathroom) got our tour guide, Idris, to take us to the Saharan dunes. We got to see the sunset over the dunes, play on the dunes, and take pictures. The sand is soft, soooooo soft. When you step into it you sink about a foot. Our bus, bus numero dos, got to places first, everywhere, the places we ate for lunch on the drive up and back, the dunes, the nomad camp, and back to Casablanca, I say this because as we were leaving the sand dunes, bus numero uno drove in, they did not get to see the sunset or anything. After leaving the dunes, we headed to the nomad camp for the night. Upon waling into the camp, the nomad were standing singing, welcoming us into their village, or campsite. The group I was hanging out with: Ellie, Kevin, Chrissy, Matt, and Cookie (it is her nickname), we all chose our tents to sleep in for the night then headed out into the communal area where the nomads had stopped singing and were now sitting. I got stop mint tea from a little stand they had propped up, free of charge, and went to sit next to the nomads. Ten minutes after sitting and socializing with others that I had met on the bus ride over and the group I was kind of with, the nomads started singing again. It was unreal. I had never heard or experienced their type of music or singing. There was one among the nomads that seemed like he was having the time of his life. When the music started picking up a faster beat, he would make strange noises, indescribable on the blog, and nothing that I have heard before. He would walk around as well and pick up girls and bring them up to dance with him. The nomads stopped abruptly since bus numero uno finally arrived and they wanted to sing the welcome song for them as well. After everyone had arrived, a big number of us sat right in front of the nomads, listening to, what I am guessing, was a pretext they sang before every song. This pretext consisted of four of the men, two singing and then the other two answering back to the first two. The two guys with drums then started up another fast beat and then the group of about nine men and two women began singing enthusiastically again. One of women would turn her tongue sideways and do the famous yell among the nomad people. Then the other woman, started dancing towards us, and picked up everyone and, I do not know if you have seen it, but in Prince of Egypt, the cartoon about Moses from some years ago, there is a scene where they all start dancing in circles, holding hands, and just go around and around in circles until the song stopped. Well, that is exactly what I got to do with everyone. It was an unreal experience. The entire time within the camp I kept pinching myself to make sure I was not dreaming or anything of the sort, After dancing, we went into the communal tent, the largest one of the entire premises and ate another amazing dinner. I met some new people after deciding I was going to sit at a different table that the group I was already friends with. What I like about SAS is how friendly we, the students, are with ourselves. I can go up to anybody and introduce myself, and immediately continue a conversation for a long period of time, possibly even make new friends. Since we all came on this to travel and experience the local cultures that we are visiting, (although there are some who, when we are in port, do not want to do anything but drink, and find clubs, and say they have partied in countries around the world, but I say to that, why do what you can do EVERYDAY and ANYDAY in the states, and not do what you cannot do?) that we are all outgoing and willing to make new friends. Upon completion of dinner, a great number of us laid out outside under the stars, some brought their beds, others, like me, just laid on the rugs on top of the soft sand with just a pillow. Rashid, my tour guide came over to where I was and we began to talk about the Moroccan and Islamic culture. It was interesting to here what he thought about us, about how Islam works and how it applies to not just their religion, but also daily life and government. He also brought up the pastor in Florida, who was going to burn copies of the Koran, He said how, he personally and most of the people he knew, did not care about him burning the copies. To him, it is more important for him on the inside, for him to know and understand the Koran in his mind, than for some man to burn copies of the religious text. Koran, in Arabic, means to recite, so he was telling me that people memorize the Koran and that the book is just a medium for them to memorize it, it is just a book. There are other copies that people can read, but it was more important for him to know, and experience the Koran outside of just a book. The conversation I had with Rashid was enlightening. After our conversation, all of those who stayed out under the stars just stared up, and some of them had never seen so many stars before either. I explained how to find the north star, thanks to Boy Scouts and Astronomy 101. After hours just staring into the sky, I finally fell asleep and woke up the next day to the calls of roosters and camels barking at each other. We ate a great break, hard boiled eggs, bread, and honey. We then got onto the camels following breakfast. Let me tell you something before. Before getting on the camels we found out that we were only going to be on them for only an hour. All of us groaned and complained that we were on there for such a short amount of time. Once we got on, O-N-C-E we got on, we were ecstatic that it was only an hour. Camels are not comfortable. Especially if you are a guy. Especially if you sit on the hump. Especially if you have ridden a horse before. When a horse walks/runs, the leg in the front goes forward and the opposite leg in the back goes forward with it, creating a level area on the saddle when you, except when it runs because you are popping up and down. On the other hand, when a camel walks, when the front leg goes forward, the leg right behind it, NOT the opposite, goes forward as well, creating a rocking motion. This rocking motion, on top of a hump, creates a very uncomfortable ride. I became friendly with the man who guided us along the path, speaking French since people in Morocco speak mainly French and Arabic, and learned that my camel’s name is Toto (I do not think we’re in Kansas anymore Toto, HA!). I also learned that this is his livelihood, bringing tourists on camels, his camels. The five that he lead were owned by him, and most of the others are owned by the hotel in the region. Side note: I wore a camelbak on the back of a camel. Get it? Funny eh? Anyways, after the ride, we got off (I wore the pants, and I will attempt to get them to be worn in San Diego, and be cool about it.) and got back on the bus for another eight hour ride back to Marrakech. We get back into Marrakech around six in the afternoon, the rest of the day is to us. The group I was with decided to get some pizza, which was awesome, and then head to the market at night. The market at night, is a complete different atmosphere than the one during the day. Instead of snake charmers and men with monkeys, it is groups of men playing music, kids with carnival-esque games. All the stores are open.
I wanted to buy a flag, (I like to collect flags), and this guy tried to help me, he said “Stay right here I will be back in two minutes, wait.” As if it were rehearsed, there he was, with two flags, but gigantic ones. I said they were too big and thanks anyways. We began to walk away, and he comes running up to me with a smaller flag, a tiny itty bitty one. Again I said it was too small for what I was looking for, and he made me follow him to another shop. This time the guy showed a flag the right size, the problem this time was the star in the middle, (the Moroccan flag is red, with a five pointed star in the middle, and one of the tips facing upwards), was a little off center, but the star was not aligned correctly. I told him, and he got mad and shooed me away. You really think I was going to buy a flag that was not even the correct flag? Instead, I bought some Arabic music and a friend of mine bought a knock off Rolex. We walked back to the hotel and called it a night.
The next day, we headed back to Casablanca. Oh, I did not mention what happened the previous. When we were heading back from Zagora back to Marrakech, my stomach began to growl, not from not eating, but from something most travelers in other countries begin to fear. Yes you guessed it, Travelers Diarrhea. I held it, for over three hours. That has to be some type of world record for once I arrived in the hotel, HAAAAALELUJAH!!!! HAAAAALELUJAH!!!!! I gave the throne a new paint job. A friend of mine gave me ammodiom, it worked but it was as if there was just a cork in my butt, holding it in for later. Once I got back to ship though I took my medication and alls better, thanks for the concern everybody.
Now being back in Casablanca, I showered and passed out. The next day was our final day in Casablanca. A group of us, the regular group; Ellie, Kevin, Andy, Chrissy, and Katy (the girl whom I went to Sevilla and Ronda [which I will write about once I am done with Morocco]) went to the Hassan II Mosque, which is the third largest mosque in the world, second to one is Saudi Arabia, and third to the one in Mecca (for the one in Mecca HAS to be the largest one in the world). I have seen cathedrals in France, Spain, England, but the mosque in Casablanca had no comparison. It was wonderful. The inside was gorgeous. If you check my face book, the pictures are all on there, since I cannot send pictures on here while at sea. After visiting the mosque, I went back to ship, got my laptop, headed out to where free WiFi was, talked with my mother, and then left Casablanca at 2000. 1800 was On-Ship time, (On-Ship time is when EVERYONE has to be on the ship, if you late, every fifteen minutes you are late, you get dock timed an hour. Dock time is you just cannot get off the ship for the duration of your “dock-time.”) so I tried to get back by then.
Well, I have got class in ten minutes (it is 1405 here) so I will leave the rest of the Spain posts for a later time. Wish the best for anyone who is reading, and I will post the rest of Spain online in the next day or two.
Until my next post,
“I think wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow”
-Anita Desai
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
GREETINGS FROM CASABLANCA, MOROCCO!!!!
GREETINGS FROM CASABLANCA, MOROCCO!!!!
Asalamu-Alikom! (peace be upon you)
Where to begin for Morocco. We arrived in Casablanca on Thursday, September 9th around 1200PM. We lost two hours on the way over, which aided my much needed sleep after Spain (I will finish writing about Spain after this post, I wanted to write about Morocco since I am here). Upon arriving in Casablanca, a couple friends and I wandered the streets. We found the medina, the old part of the city that is usually barricaded by walls and has a huge market contained within it. The medina was a culture shock for me. When we walked in, there were shops EVERYWHERE, selling everything from purses to shirts to pants to postcards to small trinkets and hookah sets and jewelry. This area is a shoppers paradise. We started walking around and a man approached us. The first thing he says to me, “How many camels do you want for this fine lady next to you?” All I could do was laugh at first, (he said it as a joke), and then said that she was priceless. Two girls, Amanda and Kelsey, and I ended up splitting up from the rest of the group since a huge group did not work very well in the market place. After splitting up, the man that said the camel comment ended up giving us a tour of the entire medina. His name, Omar. He was a sailor, can speak over seven languages fluently, and knows a great deal about the medina. He brought us to shops that had great prices, he even bargained for us (I found out later that in the medina there are people that do what he does and bring you his friends’ shops, and expects a reward for his efforts at the end, Omar was not like this. He never once asked for a tip, he knew EVERYBODY, and even invited me to his house for dinner [I did not accept because this was at a time when I was still freaked out by him]) Omar brought us to the food market within the medina, this was the most fascinating aspect of the entire medina. They had fruits, veggies, nuts, berries, meat from freshly slaughtered cows hanging from the rafters, and live chickens in which they weigh them right in from of you then slice off the heads right there. I have never seen anything like this, ever. What Omar did as well for us, he got us some mint, he told us that the mint is used for when you cannot handle the smells within the food market, you just sniff the mint and everything is A-OK. I ended up buying some pants and a shirt, and I am telling you, the pants are the most comfortable clothing you can ever wear. We went to dinner after spending about two hours at the medina, and went and got something to eat. I had Tagine Kefta, which is really really good.
The next day I headed out on my four day, three nights SAS trip to do a camel trek and spend a night with a Nomad camp. We started the day off with a three hour bus ride to Marrakech, which is a city south of Casablanca. Upon arriving in Marrakech, I was completely awestruck. The atmosphere surrounding the market, the streets was, I can even describe it in words. It is an event you would have to see for yourself. We arrived at the marketplace in Marrakech and ate at a restaurant in the medina. We ate kous-kous with lamb and a raisin-esque sauce over the top. It was if we were the gods of Olympus eating ambrosia. For dessert, we had a orange juice/puree carrot mix. It was not very good. After eating lunch our tour guides, Rashid and Idris took a few of us deep into the medina to a Berber Pharmacy. We had a sampling of spices used for medicinal and cooking purposes. I bought these black beads that are used to clear sinuses and headaches by putting them in a rag, heating the rag, and then sniffing the smell. (I thought it was a good idea since someone with a big nose like me needs something like this since I have a lot of space to keep clear) I also bought some mint tea. The mint tea here in Morocco is one of no comparison. It has been the best tea I have ever had, in my life. Period. After leaving we relaxed at our hotel for the night, and then after about an hour of this we headed out to the oldest Moorish house in Marrakech. I had. One of. The most. Amazing Meals. I have. Ever had. We ate Tagine Lemon Chicken (Tagine, since I did not explain earlier is a way the Moroccans cook their meals. It is a clay dish shaped like a pyramid with a hole on the top. They put the food inside, (the conical top is removable), and set it on a stove or fire. The steam escapes through the hole on the top.) The chicken tasted as if they had just gone to the market, killed the chicken, plucked it, poured the juices all over it, and put lemons over the chicken (which they did, the lemons). We (the group that went on this specific SAS trip was about 90 strong) were treated to a belly dancer show, I did not get chosen to go up and dance with them, but all in all it was a fun night. We celebrated some people’s birthday that night, in which they brought out a type of Arabic cake which had flakes of what seemed like Arabic bread with a glaze over the top. To finish the entire meal off, we had great music the entire night, and had the fabulous mint tea. The next day, we drove eight hours to spend the night with a nomad camp. The view on the way was superb. It is amazing how many people live in mud villages. There were so many I passed on the way to Zagora (where the nomad camp was). The scenery was spectacular, enough to keep you occupied and keep you awake. I slept for a little, however, but it was amazing no matter.
Ok well I am going to post this, I am too tired tonight to finish and I do not want to half-a** the rest, because the rest of the trip was the amazing part. So I will post this so you have an idea of what I have been doing with my time abroad. Good night everyone, I will finish up tomorrow.
Until my next post,
“Bitterness is like cancer, it spreads everywhere. Anger is like fire, it burns the whole way through.”
-Maya Angelou (I am pretty sure that it how it goes)
Asalamu-Alikom! (peace be upon you)
Where to begin for Morocco. We arrived in Casablanca on Thursday, September 9th around 1200PM. We lost two hours on the way over, which aided my much needed sleep after Spain (I will finish writing about Spain after this post, I wanted to write about Morocco since I am here). Upon arriving in Casablanca, a couple friends and I wandered the streets. We found the medina, the old part of the city that is usually barricaded by walls and has a huge market contained within it. The medina was a culture shock for me. When we walked in, there were shops EVERYWHERE, selling everything from purses to shirts to pants to postcards to small trinkets and hookah sets and jewelry. This area is a shoppers paradise. We started walking around and a man approached us. The first thing he says to me, “How many camels do you want for this fine lady next to you?” All I could do was laugh at first, (he said it as a joke), and then said that she was priceless. Two girls, Amanda and Kelsey, and I ended up splitting up from the rest of the group since a huge group did not work very well in the market place. After splitting up, the man that said the camel comment ended up giving us a tour of the entire medina. His name, Omar. He was a sailor, can speak over seven languages fluently, and knows a great deal about the medina. He brought us to shops that had great prices, he even bargained for us (I found out later that in the medina there are people that do what he does and bring you his friends’ shops, and expects a reward for his efforts at the end, Omar was not like this. He never once asked for a tip, he knew EVERYBODY, and even invited me to his house for dinner [I did not accept because this was at a time when I was still freaked out by him]) Omar brought us to the food market within the medina, this was the most fascinating aspect of the entire medina. They had fruits, veggies, nuts, berries, meat from freshly slaughtered cows hanging from the rafters, and live chickens in which they weigh them right in from of you then slice off the heads right there. I have never seen anything like this, ever. What Omar did as well for us, he got us some mint, he told us that the mint is used for when you cannot handle the smells within the food market, you just sniff the mint and everything is A-OK. I ended up buying some pants and a shirt, and I am telling you, the pants are the most comfortable clothing you can ever wear. We went to dinner after spending about two hours at the medina, and went and got something to eat. I had Tagine Kefta, which is really really good.
The next day I headed out on my four day, three nights SAS trip to do a camel trek and spend a night with a Nomad camp. We started the day off with a three hour bus ride to Marrakech, which is a city south of Casablanca. Upon arriving in Marrakech, I was completely awestruck. The atmosphere surrounding the market, the streets was, I can even describe it in words. It is an event you would have to see for yourself. We arrived at the marketplace in Marrakech and ate at a restaurant in the medina. We ate kous-kous with lamb and a raisin-esque sauce over the top. It was if we were the gods of Olympus eating ambrosia. For dessert, we had a orange juice/puree carrot mix. It was not very good. After eating lunch our tour guides, Rashid and Idris took a few of us deep into the medina to a Berber Pharmacy. We had a sampling of spices used for medicinal and cooking purposes. I bought these black beads that are used to clear sinuses and headaches by putting them in a rag, heating the rag, and then sniffing the smell. (I thought it was a good idea since someone with a big nose like me needs something like this since I have a lot of space to keep clear) I also bought some mint tea. The mint tea here in Morocco is one of no comparison. It has been the best tea I have ever had, in my life. Period. After leaving we relaxed at our hotel for the night, and then after about an hour of this we headed out to the oldest Moorish house in Marrakech. I had. One of. The most. Amazing Meals. I have. Ever had. We ate Tagine Lemon Chicken (Tagine, since I did not explain earlier is a way the Moroccans cook their meals. It is a clay dish shaped like a pyramid with a hole on the top. They put the food inside, (the conical top is removable), and set it on a stove or fire. The steam escapes through the hole on the top.) The chicken tasted as if they had just gone to the market, killed the chicken, plucked it, poured the juices all over it, and put lemons over the chicken (which they did, the lemons). We (the group that went on this specific SAS trip was about 90 strong) were treated to a belly dancer show, I did not get chosen to go up and dance with them, but all in all it was a fun night. We celebrated some people’s birthday that night, in which they brought out a type of Arabic cake which had flakes of what seemed like Arabic bread with a glaze over the top. To finish the entire meal off, we had great music the entire night, and had the fabulous mint tea. The next day, we drove eight hours to spend the night with a nomad camp. The view on the way was superb. It is amazing how many people live in mud villages. There were so many I passed on the way to Zagora (where the nomad camp was). The scenery was spectacular, enough to keep you occupied and keep you awake. I slept for a little, however, but it was amazing no matter.
Ok well I am going to post this, I am too tired tonight to finish and I do not want to half-a** the rest, because the rest of the trip was the amazing part. So I will post this so you have an idea of what I have been doing with my time abroad. Good night everyone, I will finish up tomorrow.
Until my next post,
“Bitterness is like cancer, it spreads everywhere. Anger is like fire, it burns the whole way through.”
-Maya Angelou (I am pretty sure that it how it goes)
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Spain Update
Hey All! GREETINGS FROM CASABLANCA, MOROCCO!!!
I am sorry that I have not been keeping the blog updated, the Spanish culture got in the way, and I will attempt at keeping it updated in the future. I am leaving on a camel trek tomorrow morning so again, you will not get updates everyday as I would like to, BUT, the minute I get back, I WILL spend that night finishing up Spain and tell you about Morocco.
So, Spain. Where to begin.
Saturday we pulled into port around 10:00AM. After about an hour of the customs agents going through everyone’s passport (did not get a stamp which was retarded) we were allowed to get off and explore. I had a trip planned with SAS to go to a sherry winery and have a tour and participate in a wine tasting. The winery, Tio Pepe, was located about an hour and a half outside of Cadiz. The tour lasted approximately five seconds. Seriously. The tour did not last long, there was hardly any talking, we rode on a little kiddie train (the one you would find in a mall which parents would take their kids on to amuse them since little kids L-O-V-E shopping) that took us around the premises. The area we toured was actually very beautiful as you can see from my pictures on facebook, which if they are not already on there they will be the next time I can find a free internet spot to hook up to. After the very short train ride, we got off and went into the holding area with a vast amount of barrels holding the wine, or sherry, to be honest I can not even tell you what the difference is but I can say that wine is much better than sherry. The holding area was interesting since I got to see firsthand how they store and age their sherry. After, we sat in a small picnic type area in which we got to taste the sherry. To be frank, I did not care for the sherry at all. It burned more than wine does, and the taste was not very pleasing. After about an hour here, we made our way to a ranch, where they breed Carthusian horses, a breed that is specific to the Spanish and of great importance to their history. We toured the ranch, saw pregnant mares, saw the young colts, and then we were treated to a show. This show, although I went in and out of sleeping, was really cool. The ranchers had the horses run around, do tricks, and presented the horses leading carriages. After all this was done, we headed back to the ship and returned around 1400, 1500. After returning to the ship, a couple of people I have become friendly with went out to the beach. I can only describe it as A-M-A-Z-I-N-G, not because the women (not from our group) went topless, but because of the environment. Whole families went out to the beach; grandma, grandpa, mom, dad, sons, daughters, they sat and ate together. The beach seemed like a huge family affair for the day, kind of what we do in states. The waves were fabulous, they broke very well, and they were about six feet. Great bodysurfing waves. The only negative comment I can say about the beach is the Atlantic Ocean, (my first time by the way in the Atlantic) is much saltier than the Pacific. We spent about four hours at the beach and returned to the ship around 1800 or 6:00PM. I passed out on the floor in my room, since I have a thing against sleeping in my bed when I am dirty. I did not take a shower because I was planning on going on a run, but that was a failed idea. I woke up around 2030 (8:30PM) took a shower then met a HUGE group (in hindsight this was not the greatest idea and it was not repeated) up in what is known as Tymitz Square on the ship, where the front desk and just a great meeting place, around 2130. We all headed out to find a local Spanish restaurant, sorry kids no Burger King or McDonald’s for me this trip. After about forty minutes searching for one we came upon “El Candil,” or the candle in English. It was here I had my first Spanish dish, and possibly one of the best dishes I have ever had. The dish, Carne Al Toro, consisted of olive oil, beef, French fries, and some spices. What made such a simple dish transform into a fiery fiesta of flavors in my mouth was how they prepared it. The entire dish was swimming in a sea of olive oil and juices from the meat. The meat, placed on one side, was spiced up and contained so many flavors that my mouth was in ecstasy. The French fries were sitting in the olive oil as well, but lightly salted with sea salt (earlier this day I found out how sea salt is obtained. There are these ditches they dig, not very deep at all since when they flood it with sea water they let the water inside evaporate and VOILA! Sea Salt is what is left over) andwere just amazing. I ordered some wine with our meal, Antonio Barbadillo Castillo San Diego (can you tell why I chose this wine? [being from San Diego]) and I fell in love with this specific brand. I still love the French wine but this Spanish wine was surprisingly tasteful. After eating, two girls, Amanda and Hannah, and I headed out back to ship to get some more people to add to our already big group, this is where my night turned into a, well, very interesting night.
We all decided to meet at the cathedral in the middle of Cadiz, but the other group never showed, so the two girls, and the other three girls we picked up, Mandy, Elissa and Jen, and I joined up with this other group of guys and decided to walk around and attempt at finding a bar and a “discotheque.” As we were walking around we came across an interesting crowd. We first met up with a kind local who pointed us to where he thought they were (as it turned out the OPPOSITE way we were supposed to walk). We walked for about twenty minutes then ran across some locals who were fishing with their kids, mind you it is about 2AM in the morning. (The culture in Spain is much more laid back than that of the states. The Spanish go out to eat around 10:00PM, they stay until maybe midnight, then they head out to the bars. After the bars they head to the clubs if they are up to it, and the clubs do not even open until 2AM.) After the fishing families a man called us over, thinking he figured we were looking for a club we went over. Instead of telling us where the clubs were, he decided to try and sell us cocaine and take us back to his house because he was having a “siesta.” We walked away soon after. After about another hour and a half of walking we were fed up trying to find the clubs so we called a taxi and headed back to ship. The next morning, we found out there was one right near where we ended up, and it was great. Oh well, I went out the last night in Cadiz and went clubbing, save that for when I talk about that one. Ok well since I have to wake up tomorrow morning and head out on my camel trek with a nomadic tribe. Sorry again that I am not keeping this updated as much as you would like, but trust me, when I get back I will explain all my stories.
Until my next post,
“Do what you love, love what you do.”
-Unknown (heard by Cali whom I hung out with today when we shared our favorite quotes)
I am sorry that I have not been keeping the blog updated, the Spanish culture got in the way, and I will attempt at keeping it updated in the future. I am leaving on a camel trek tomorrow morning so again, you will not get updates everyday as I would like to, BUT, the minute I get back, I WILL spend that night finishing up Spain and tell you about Morocco.
So, Spain. Where to begin.
Saturday we pulled into port around 10:00AM. After about an hour of the customs agents going through everyone’s passport (did not get a stamp which was retarded) we were allowed to get off and explore. I had a trip planned with SAS to go to a sherry winery and have a tour and participate in a wine tasting. The winery, Tio Pepe, was located about an hour and a half outside of Cadiz. The tour lasted approximately five seconds. Seriously. The tour did not last long, there was hardly any talking, we rode on a little kiddie train (the one you would find in a mall which parents would take their kids on to amuse them since little kids L-O-V-E shopping) that took us around the premises. The area we toured was actually very beautiful as you can see from my pictures on facebook, which if they are not already on there they will be the next time I can find a free internet spot to hook up to. After the very short train ride, we got off and went into the holding area with a vast amount of barrels holding the wine, or sherry, to be honest I can not even tell you what the difference is but I can say that wine is much better than sherry. The holding area was interesting since I got to see firsthand how they store and age their sherry. After, we sat in a small picnic type area in which we got to taste the sherry. To be frank, I did not care for the sherry at all. It burned more than wine does, and the taste was not very pleasing. After about an hour here, we made our way to a ranch, where they breed Carthusian horses, a breed that is specific to the Spanish and of great importance to their history. We toured the ranch, saw pregnant mares, saw the young colts, and then we were treated to a show. This show, although I went in and out of sleeping, was really cool. The ranchers had the horses run around, do tricks, and presented the horses leading carriages. After all this was done, we headed back to the ship and returned around 1400, 1500. After returning to the ship, a couple of people I have become friendly with went out to the beach. I can only describe it as A-M-A-Z-I-N-G, not because the women (not from our group) went topless, but because of the environment. Whole families went out to the beach; grandma, grandpa, mom, dad, sons, daughters, they sat and ate together. The beach seemed like a huge family affair for the day, kind of what we do in states. The waves were fabulous, they broke very well, and they were about six feet. Great bodysurfing waves. The only negative comment I can say about the beach is the Atlantic Ocean, (my first time by the way in the Atlantic) is much saltier than the Pacific. We spent about four hours at the beach and returned to the ship around 1800 or 6:00PM. I passed out on the floor in my room, since I have a thing against sleeping in my bed when I am dirty. I did not take a shower because I was planning on going on a run, but that was a failed idea. I woke up around 2030 (8:30PM) took a shower then met a HUGE group (in hindsight this was not the greatest idea and it was not repeated) up in what is known as Tymitz Square on the ship, where the front desk and just a great meeting place, around 2130. We all headed out to find a local Spanish restaurant, sorry kids no Burger King or McDonald’s for me this trip. After about forty minutes searching for one we came upon “El Candil,” or the candle in English. It was here I had my first Spanish dish, and possibly one of the best dishes I have ever had. The dish, Carne Al Toro, consisted of olive oil, beef, French fries, and some spices. What made such a simple dish transform into a fiery fiesta of flavors in my mouth was how they prepared it. The entire dish was swimming in a sea of olive oil and juices from the meat. The meat, placed on one side, was spiced up and contained so many flavors that my mouth was in ecstasy. The French fries were sitting in the olive oil as well, but lightly salted with sea salt (earlier this day I found out how sea salt is obtained. There are these ditches they dig, not very deep at all since when they flood it with sea water they let the water inside evaporate and VOILA! Sea Salt is what is left over) andwere just amazing. I ordered some wine with our meal, Antonio Barbadillo Castillo San Diego (can you tell why I chose this wine? [being from San Diego]) and I fell in love with this specific brand. I still love the French wine but this Spanish wine was surprisingly tasteful. After eating, two girls, Amanda and Hannah, and I headed out back to ship to get some more people to add to our already big group, this is where my night turned into a, well, very interesting night.
We all decided to meet at the cathedral in the middle of Cadiz, but the other group never showed, so the two girls, and the other three girls we picked up, Mandy, Elissa and Jen, and I joined up with this other group of guys and decided to walk around and attempt at finding a bar and a “discotheque.” As we were walking around we came across an interesting crowd. We first met up with a kind local who pointed us to where he thought they were (as it turned out the OPPOSITE way we were supposed to walk). We walked for about twenty minutes then ran across some locals who were fishing with their kids, mind you it is about 2AM in the morning. (The culture in Spain is much more laid back than that of the states. The Spanish go out to eat around 10:00PM, they stay until maybe midnight, then they head out to the bars. After the bars they head to the clubs if they are up to it, and the clubs do not even open until 2AM.) After the fishing families a man called us over, thinking he figured we were looking for a club we went over. Instead of telling us where the clubs were, he decided to try and sell us cocaine and take us back to his house because he was having a “siesta.” We walked away soon after. After about another hour and a half of walking we were fed up trying to find the clubs so we called a taxi and headed back to ship. The next morning, we found out there was one right near where we ended up, and it was great. Oh well, I went out the last night in Cadiz and went clubbing, save that for when I talk about that one. Ok well since I have to wake up tomorrow morning and head out on my camel trek with a nomadic tribe. Sorry again that I am not keeping this updated as much as you would like, but trust me, when I get back I will explain all my stories.
Until my next post,
“Do what you love, love what you do.”
-Unknown (heard by Cali whom I hung out with today when we shared our favorite quotes)
Friday, September 3, 2010
Getting Ready for Cadiz, Spain tomorrow!!!
Hey All!!!! (0:50 local time)
Tomorrow we dock in Cadiz, Spain! I am just flabbergasted and swarmed with excitement for tomorrow. To begin tomorrow there is an escort boat to come get us and bring us to our spot at the dock. The pier we are staying at is the “Muelle Marques De Comillas.” We dock at exactly 8:00AM and then we have to wait about thirty mintues for the Spanish customs agents to check everyone’s passport. After that is all said and done for, I leave right after for a day trip to Jerez & Hierro Del Bocado for a winery visit and wine tasting (write the review on this on Sunday, I will explain why in a minute).
I will be back at the ship around 2PM and then a group of girls and one or two other guys and I will head out to explore the city. We plan on finding a restaurant, tapas bar, a regular bar or pub, and a club to go to for later that night. After exploring we all plan on heading down to the beach and just hang out for the day. At around 830PM tomorrow night, a HUGE group, and when I say huge, I mean about twenty girls and maybe eight guys will head out for night life in the city. We plan on going to the restaurant we found (the Spanish, as we learned the last couple days in seminars about Spanish culture from our dean, [Dean David who is an amazing individual] they eat dinner very late in the evening, around 9PM, eat until about 11PM maybe 12AM. Then they go out to tapas bars/pubs, (tapas are eateries in which you order very small dishes almost appetizer-ish and you just chill your friends/family, have a few drinks). After they are done at the tapas bars/pubs, they head out to the clubs around 2-3AM. Tomorrow the group that I am are planning on repeating this almost to the detail. I will write about our adventure on Sunday since I probably will not be back in the room until early Sunday morning.
We do not resume classes until eleven, yes I said it, ELEVEN days from now. This is one huge spring break! Class for five six days, then off for eleven? Man, I have a rough life.
Sorry to end early but I am waking up early so I can see us dock and as you can see, I have a big day and night planned so the next time I will write is Sunday, so see you Sunday!!!!
Until my next post,
“Anticipation can heighten the moment while expectations can dampen it.”
-Marvel Harrison
Tomorrow we dock in Cadiz, Spain! I am just flabbergasted and swarmed with excitement for tomorrow. To begin tomorrow there is an escort boat to come get us and bring us to our spot at the dock. The pier we are staying at is the “Muelle Marques De Comillas.” We dock at exactly 8:00AM and then we have to wait about thirty mintues for the Spanish customs agents to check everyone’s passport. After that is all said and done for, I leave right after for a day trip to Jerez & Hierro Del Bocado for a winery visit and wine tasting (write the review on this on Sunday, I will explain why in a minute).
I will be back at the ship around 2PM and then a group of girls and one or two other guys and I will head out to explore the city. We plan on finding a restaurant, tapas bar, a regular bar or pub, and a club to go to for later that night. After exploring we all plan on heading down to the beach and just hang out for the day. At around 830PM tomorrow night, a HUGE group, and when I say huge, I mean about twenty girls and maybe eight guys will head out for night life in the city. We plan on going to the restaurant we found (the Spanish, as we learned the last couple days in seminars about Spanish culture from our dean, [Dean David who is an amazing individual] they eat dinner very late in the evening, around 9PM, eat until about 11PM maybe 12AM. Then they go out to tapas bars/pubs, (tapas are eateries in which you order very small dishes almost appetizer-ish and you just chill your friends/family, have a few drinks). After they are done at the tapas bars/pubs, they head out to the clubs around 2-3AM. Tomorrow the group that I am are planning on repeating this almost to the detail. I will write about our adventure on Sunday since I probably will not be back in the room until early Sunday morning.
We do not resume classes until eleven, yes I said it, ELEVEN days from now. This is one huge spring break! Class for five six days, then off for eleven? Man, I have a rough life.
Sorry to end early but I am waking up early so I can see us dock and as you can see, I have a big day and night planned so the next time I will write is Sunday, so see you Sunday!!!!
Until my next post,
“Anticipation can heighten the moment while expectations can dampen it.”
-Marvel Harrison
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