The 6 Month Late Wrap-Up

Now before you say anything, yes I know this post should have been done months ago, but true to Hannah fashion, of course I procrastinated (see “travel journal that is blank after my adventures in Greece” for more details).

My Semester at Sea voyage ended more than 6 months ago (6 months and 16 days to be exact, but who’s counting…), and this post was on my mind from the moment I stepped off of the ship. With my cabin all packed up, final ‘see you laters’ said, and the voyage officially done, I guess I felt like this blog was the final thing I could hold onto from the most incredible semester of my life. But then I realized something pretty major:

SAS will never be over.

All of the memories created and all the lasting friendships made, how could it be? Semester at Sea has turned into much more than a semester long adventure, it is a community of open-minded, adventure-seeking individuals who will forever be connected by shared experiences had all over the world. If I ever start to forget that, I don’t have to look much farther than the SASHoles group chat that blows up my phone or the frequent notifications from our FA15 Facebook page. The strangers that grew into family will always be there, whether you just need advice or a place to stay or familiar faces to travel with.

Semester at Sea is and always will be singlehandedly the thing that changed my life the most, and for the better. From even before the moment we returned to the US, I could tell I had changed in ways I never thought I could, and I learned more about myself than I knew was possible. I suddenly became worlds more independent, learned that my longing and love for travel is my main driving force in everything I do, and that I am capable of so much more than I ever could have imagined. I learned that there are things about myself that I love, including my willingness and wanting to be present, and while there are things about myself that I wish I could change, self love is a much more powerful thing than self loathing. I learned that yeah, I am a mama’s girl, but thats OK because moms rule (and everyone misses them while they’re away from home, even if they don’t admit it)! I learned that the quality of friendships are worth so much more than the quantity, and that traveling together is hands down the best way to see if you’re compatible (if not, you’ll figure it out pretty quickly…). I learned never to take anything for granted, because there is someone out there who would love to have the opportunities presented to you. Be generous and kind to those who need it, and especially to those who might not deserve it. Don’t be afraid to be spontaneous (but also safe!), I guarantee some of your best memories will come from the times you had no damn clue what you were doing or where you were going. The list goes on and on and on…

I have to admit, the reverse culture shock of coming back to the US scared the crap out of me. How could I go from doing something so incredible to going back to the life I had before? I changed so much in the time I was away that I was terrified everything would be exactly the same and I would hate it. And while it is true that between myself and the environment around me, I was the one who had done the changing, it wasn’t as horribly difficult as I had anticipated. Yes, I got the same questions over and over again, and yes, I gave the same answers almost every time (“How was your semester abroad?”, “What was your favorite port?”, “Did you experience any culture shock?”, “Meet any cute boys?” (This answer varied…)), but there was a point where I longed for these questions. Any excuse to talk about SAS, I would take it. I also got extremely lucky and made friends with people I can turn to and talk to about anything, so when I’m missing our home away from home, I know I can always reach out. I got lucky again with the support system I had waiting for me. They willingly (or not so) listen to my rants and raves about my awesome adventures and have never once complained about it, just have lovingly called me annoying. So while I won’t deny it’s incredibly hard to adjust, I think I got pretty lucky.

So while my Semester at Sea might have ended 6 months and 16 days ago, it will never really be over. With each new place that I travel and as I see more and more of the world, SAS is always at the back of my mind. It truly was the start for me. I learned so much about so many things, and it sparked a drive and determination in me that will only slow down when I’ve seen as much of the world as possible. I feel comfort whenever I look out to the ocean, and no matter how far away I get, it will always be not only my safe haven, but also my home.

Here we are, 4 continents and 12 countries later. I have never laughed so hard, learned so much, and fallen in love so fast. To everyone who made SAS FA15 all that it was (and is), thank you. To all of the friends I made along the way, I love you more than the depths of all the oceans combined, and I couldn’t be more grateful that such an amazing life experience brought us together (I now have friends from all over not only the country but the world, how crazy cool is that??). To everyone at home that puts up with my endless raves about my time abroad, I wish I could say I’m sorry… And to the people who made it possible for me to even think about going (here’s looking at you, mom), I can never repay you for all that you have done. You gave me the biggest opportunity to grow and learn that I have ever had, and nothing could mean more.

It’s not a boat, it’s a ship. It’s not a cruise, it’s a voyage. It’s not a goodbye, it’s a see you later. Oh, and Sentwali, we feel pretty damn good.

Semester at Sea video!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-r0R2-58X2g

The Week That Changed My Life

The only place on the itinerary that I’d actually been to before and it ended up at the top of my list. Again. Since my family went to Costa Rica in the mid-2000’s, I’ve loved it and longed to go back, so when I found out that it was the last port of the voyage, I couldn’t wait.

On our first day in port, we went on a field program to go zip-lining! We went up into the mountains and arrived at one of the prettiest places I had ever seen. The course was 12 lines through the forest with some of the most incredible views! Zip-lining really takes it out of you, so by the time we got back we all were exhausted, so we ate dinner and passed out. Little did I know that the next day would start the most incredible experience of my life…

Before all of the field programs were out, I had heard of a potential program where we went to a wildlife refuge and worked alongside biologists to help turtles, take measurements, and learn all about the species. I never felt especially strongly towards turtles but I did read The Last Song and had always dreamed about helping little baby hatchlings make their way to the ocean, so I knew I had to do it. While I recognize now that that was probably a weird reason to be attracted to the program, I’ve never been so thankful for Nicholas Sparks. This experience honestly changed my life and educated me on so much, which is more than I could have ever hoped for.

To begin with, I should say that we were insanely lucky on our timing. Only about 0.001% of the population will get to experience all that we did over those 3 days, so I feel extremely fortunate for the experience and I think about it every single day.

We left Puntarenas in the morning and drove about 3 1/2 hours to get to Ostional, one of the main nesting beaches for turtles in the entire world. When we got there, we met Andres, who boarded the bus with the biggest smile on his face welcoming us to the center. He told us immediately how lucky we all were to have gotten there when we did and said he had a surprise for us all, but wouldn’t tell us until later. With that on our minds, we all went into the center and met Yeudy, who we would also be working closely with over the next few days. We were also introduced to our host families and immediately taken back to our homes and fed. A lot. We had the classic Costa Rican meal of rice and beans, along with plantain chips and so much juice. We all then headed back down to the station and had a presentation where we met some of the other staff or others we would be working with for the following days. During the presentation, Yeudi let the surprise slip: the previous night had been the start of the arribada, or the arrival of thousands of turtles to the  beach. We all couldn’t believe it. Most of us had come just hoping to see maybe a few turtles, not thousands! After the introductions, we all headed out to the beach were we saw hundreds of turtles, and the sun hadn’t even set yet! (Turtles usually nest at night because the sand is cooler) We learned how to take measurements and record them as well as just getting to spend some time around the animals. After we went back to our houses for dinner and came back to the station about 7:30 pm to start our very first night shift. This is where it all really hit me.

That night, 71,000 turtles arrived at the beach. There were so many that you had to constantly watch where you were stepping to make sure not to trample one, which wasn’t easy with only red lights (they don’t disturb the turtles as much as pure white lights). We had night patrol from 8pm until 12am, but the time flew by. Each turtle laid on average 100 eggs and usually took about 10-15 minutes, with one exception… saggy tail. We had one turtle whose bottom part of her shell had been hit by a propeller or taken off some other way and left her tail saggy, thus the name seemed fitting. For saggy tail, it took about an hour for her to lay her eggs. It didn’t help that she fell asleep in the middle, but to each their own, it must be pretty exhausting to lay that many eggs…

DCIM108GOPRO

We only got about 6 hours of sleep that night because the next morning we woke up early to go to the beach to see the harvesting of the eggs. In Ostional, there is about 250 families that are allowed to harvest eggs. I know this is confusing, I didn’t get it in the beginning either. They’re harvesting turtle eggs? Why?? What does that do? There’s many reasons for the harvesting of these eggs and for only a limited amount of people who are allowed to. Since there is such a mass number of turtles that show up over the course of 3 days, they end up laying eggs in the same spot eggs were previously laid, causing the others to break and release different bacterias into the sand which could potentially destroy other eggs. Other turtles can also dig up and break eggs below. The limited number of people who are allowed to harvest the eggs also reduces the amount of poaching / makes it illegal. The eggs that are harvested then go to markets and are sold to be eaten, usually in sangria. Sooo, the harvesting of these eggs actually increases the potential of more eggs hatching and more turtles living! I’ll try and link some articles about egg harvesting at the end of the post so you can read up on it if you want, I found them super informative!

DCIM108GOPRO

DCIM108GOPRO

DCIM108GOPRO

Later in the day we walked down the beach and went to the home of one of the volunteers Dennis who taught us how to make turtle necklaces out of coconuts! They turned out amazing and are such an amazing reminder of the time we spent in Ostional! After that, we learned how to make corn tortillas from scratch. We ate them with cheese and I don’t know that I’ve ever had a more delicious meal. We all walked back to the station and had an information session about turtles and the beach, which was very interesting and explained a lot about the species! We walked the beach after which happened to be right at sunset, and was such an amazing sight. That night at 8, we had our second and last night patrol, which was much calmer this time. There was thousands less turtles, so we didn’t need to have a turtle bouncer on the clock the whole time (someone who literally lifted turtles and moved them if they were headed straight at us). While I did miss turtles running into my butt, it was nice to be able to just enjoy the moment and talk with our group more than the previous night. The highlight of this night for our group was finding a baby hatchling! We were able to walk it all the way to the ocean and watch it disappear into the waves.

The next morning we got up and walked the beach around sunrise, and the difference in the amount of turtles from the previous days was insane. This morning there was only about 50 turtles covering the entire beach, drastically different from the day we arrived. We then met up with the whole group and did a beach clean up where along with a lot of trash, we stumbled upon another hatchling. We tried to take it to the ocean, but with the sand being so hot, we don’t know if it made it or not, but we have hope! After the beach clean up, we all went to our houses and got our things and left Ostional for Puntarenas. This trip was one of, if not the most incredible things I have ever done in my life. I didn’t expect much out of it, but I gained so much knowledge and respect for all the efforts of the refuge and a new love for these amazing animals, I hope to go back and stay longer!

When I got back to Puntarenas, we went out to dinner to half celebrate / half sulk about the fact that it was our last night in port. We walked a few blocks to a restaurant called Don Mario’s, butt on the way it started pouring rain. At first we tried to hide out and avoid it, but it was more fun to just accept it and run through the rain. We were so soaked when we got to Don Mario’s that they gave us paper towels to dry off with, but we loved every minute of it! After dinner we walked along the beach and looked at the ship from port for the last night. The next day we all just did some final souvenir shopping and then headed back up the ship for the last time.

I couldn’t have asked for a better last port and Costa Rica will forever have my heart. I can’t wait to explore more of Central and South America in the years to come!!

Articles!:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/26/science/costa-rica-to-shield-sea-turtles.html?_r=0

http://theconversation.com/baby-sea-turtles-starved-of-oxygen-by-beach-microbes-38015

http://www.ticotimes.net/2015/09/09/crowd-tourists-costa-rica-prevent-sea-turtles-nesting

Andres Blog:

http://razaverde.com/

This is a post written when we were in Ostional with him, super cool and very important!!: http://razaverde.com/2015/12/24/ostional-refugio-para-quien/

 

PURA VIDA!

 

 

A Caribbean Escape

If there’s one thing I’ve learned on Semester at Sea, its how bad I am at procrastinating. We were in Trinidad and Tobago on Thanksgiving, and here we are in mid-December, I’m just giving you the dets. It may have been a little while ago, but I figure better late than never, so hold onto your seats, we’re in for a wild ride! (Also, I just finished my last final (yay!), so expect a few posts over the next few days!)

We arrived in Trinidad and Tobago on Thanksgiving, which was pretty weird. We had a Thanksgiving meal the night before, so that made the fact that we were in the Caribbean on Thanksgiving feel a little more normal. I had a field program that day with Habitat for Humanity which felt pretty fitting for it being a holiday of thanks for us. There were 2 groups, one built a septic tank, and mine painted a house… I can’t complain. Either would have been super rewarding, but not having to be digging holes in the mud and direct sunlight for the whole day was pretty nice. We learned a little about the family whose house it was: a mother with five children who had been struggling for a while, and to know that all of our work, even thought it might have been a small contribution, would eventually create something that would be so appreciated felt pretty dang good. If you ever come on SAS or just have the opportunity to travel, I would definitely try and do some non profit work while your abroad. It was probably one of the most rewarding things I did this semester and I wish I had done some other ones along the way!

Later that night, the tourism department of Trinidad put on a carnival for us and some of their university students. We went to a steel drum yard and watched an amazing drum performance by one of the countries top teams, ate local food and danced for hours. I have such a new appreciation for the steel pan, it makes some pretty amazing music, some you wouldn’t expect too! The food was also great, I didn’t try the shark because I couldn’t get past the shark part, but I heard it tasted like chicken, so I guess that gives you some insite… It was an amazing night and something that I’m not sure I would have had the chance to experience anywhere else!

The next day was kind of a chill out day. We went to one of the areas we had passed the night before on the way to the carnival and had some pizza and went and looked at some shops. We found a little pharmacy with snacks that had advent calendars, so naturally I bought one. We started them the day we got them even though it was in November, but it worked out that there was only 24 days left from that point, so we’ve just been counting down to the day we get back to San Diego (only 3 days left!!). In the spirit of keeping up the streak, it rained on our last day in Trinidad, so we headed back a little early and just used the wifi in the port to call our families!

Overall, I’m not sure about the Caribbean. The people were so kind and the whole island was very laid back, but I think we didn’t have enough time there to really do much or immerse ourselves in the culture. Would I go back? Probably, I mean it is the Caribbean, but there’s just so much in this world to see I’m not sure if I’ll be there again in the near future.

Thats all for Trinidad and Tobago, get ready for Costa Rica, it was a pretty action packed port, coming soon (I promise this time for real!)!

The Land of the 10-Year Visa

Brazil, Brazil, Brazil! What an amazing place. I know I say this a lot, but Brazil has been one of the countries on the top of my ‘to go to’ list for as long as I can remember. If you don’t believe me, ask my mom. I’ve always wanted to go and she’s never wanted to, so we’ve had many discussions about it over the past few years… Luckily, we both got the best of both worlds, I got to go and she just had to listen to me talk her ear off about all the amazing experiences I had! It’s a win-win if you ask me. I’m so so so glad their visas last for 10 years, it gives me enough reason to go back!

On the first day, we got a later start due to immigration and money exchanges and didn’t have much of the day left, so we ended up heading over to the mall so we could see some of the city and some shops. The mall was super cool, they had all of their Christmas decorations up, which was enough to make me act like a 5 year old on their birthday. Luckily all of us are a pretty spirited crew, so we all took pictures of the trees and decorations, it was great. We had lunch at a steak house which had great burgers and chicken strips, it was the perfect first meal in Brazil! We stuck around the mall for a few hours (and used the wifi, no shame), and then headed back to the ship, where we did not know what was about to hit us. Earlier in the morning when we had just arrived, immigration told us that they were taking our passports off the ship to check them all. What we were later told was that it was going to take at least a day to get them all back. Without our passports, we can’t travel within the country, check into hotels, fly, basically anything unless you were staying in Salvador where we ported, which less than about 100 people were. Walking back onto the ship was like walking into a mad house. People were fighting with the crew members asking them why they gave the embassy our passports (they had to or else we would all be stuck on the ship, so that was kind of frustrating to watch..) and how they could get them back, and so on. It was the most crazy tense environment I have ever been in. People who were doing field programs got their passports back first because they were booked through SAS (me included), but a lot of people had to reschedule flights and lost a lot of money. This experience really revealed how ugly some people can get in stressful situations. I was shocked at how some students were treating the staff and crew when the issue wasn’t with them at all, they have no influence on the situation at all. I understand that there was a lot of money and time on the line, but there is never any reason to treat others so disrespectfully, especially when they are doing the best they can. The situation worked itself out, people were able to expedite passports or make other plans, and every passport was back on the ship the next morning.

The second day, I had a field program that lasted until the last day and that went to Rio and Iguacu Falls, and was definitely one of the most incredible things I’ve ever had the chance to do. We flew from Salvador to Sao Paulo to Rio on the first day, getting into our hotel right before we left for dinner. We went to a restaurant right across the street from the Copacabana beach, which is even cooler in person! I remember seeing shots of it from above on TV when I was younger always hoping I’d get the chance to go, and I can’t believe I did! After dinner, we went to one of the most popular places in Rio, the Rio Scenarium, a renovated vintage shop turned into a night club with a live band playing samba type music. The mood in the building was so happy and excited, everyone was dancing, you couldn’t help but move your feet! We stayed for about an hour before all the travel we’d done that day hit us fast and hard.

The next day was probably one of the coolest on the voyage so far and was the day I got to cross ‘visit the Christ the Redeemer statue’ off of my bucket list. We rode a cogwheel train up the mountain to reach the statue, and when we got there my jaw was on the floor the whole time. The statue is so beautiful and the views overlooking all of Rio were just as incredible (sorry, I’m running out of descriptive words, I know its annoying, just bear with me). From the top you could see all around the city, including the main beach and Sugar Loaf, something I’m still kicking myself for not getting to. I didn’t really know how I would feel seeing the statue and being in such a special place because I don’t share the religion of many that go there, but I realized I didn’t have to. The statue is such an amazing thing, I didn’t feel that it was purely a place to visit for the religious aspect. I’m so grateful I had the opportunity to make it there, it really is something I’ll never forget! Later that day we ate dinner at a Brazilian steak house, buffet style but they walk around with different meats on sticks and cut it directly on your plate for you, it was so cool. It was a pretty penny for that meal, but when in Brazil, do as the Brazilians do!

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The next morning we drove around Rio stopping at some of the most notable sites in the city. We stopped at the arena the opening games of the Olympics will be held next summer, the spot where Olympic city will be, and my favorite, the stretch where Carnival takes place. It was one long stretch of road with a line for the start and another on the other end for finish, all surrounded by seats. I never realized just how long it took for each act to go, the first people could have already crossed the finish line (at least half an hour away from the start) while other members of their team were just starting out! We also were able to see some of the outfits worn in previous Carnivals, all beautifully made but also very heavy. When Carnival takes place, it is usually very hot and humid, and our guide told us it isn’t unusual to see performers passing out due to the weight and heat! We saw some amazing things in Rio, but that concluded our time there, and we were off to Iguacu Falls! The flight took about 2 hours, and when we arrived we were taken to our hotel and then told to put our stuff down and come back so we could head to dinner at a place called Rafain, a dinner and show restaurant. The restaurant was another buffet style place, but was very elegant. The dinner was great, but the show was even better. It was a cultural show, highlighting types of performances from three countries that surround the falls, Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. The performances were so fun and energetic, it was such a great show! When I get wifi next, I’ll try and include some clips of the different dances.

The following day, we went to the falls! It started out with us walking to the falls and walking out onto a walkway that was almost under part of them. Our guide said we would get a little wet, but that was the understatement of the year.. we got soaked. It didn’t matter though, because about 2 hours later, we would be taking a boat ride where every inch of us would get wet. To get to the boats, we rode through the jungle in jeeps for 45 minutes, and when we got there it immediately started raining. But! Weather changes all the time in the rain forest, so it cleared up in about 5 minutes, and we all loaded into the boats. When I say boats, I mean boats that are more like rafts with chairs, they were great. We headed out to the falls, and after about 5 minutes for pictures, our driver headed straight towards the falls, getting us far enough under them that there wasn’t a part of my body that was dry. We went through a couple different times, just to make sure we were all soaked well enough, and then headed back to the forest. That was again, probably one of the coolest experiences of my life. Yeah, I was wet and cold for a couple more hours, but I would do it again right now! That night we were all pretty tired, so some of us just ordered pizza and then hit the hay, we had a 2:30 am wake up call for our flight back to Salvador the next morning.

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When we got back to Salvador, I was again greeted in a surprise way by my friends, this time they were filming me walk onto the ship and asked someone they found in the hallway to run up and give me the biggest bear hug he could. #blessed. Allie’s dad and sister had met her in Brazil, so we got to talk to them for a while before they got off which was nice, and then we headed off!

Brazil was definitely one of my favorite places I have ever been, and I know I’ll go back soon! Forever thankful for that 10 year visa!

The African Breakdown

Crossing another continent off the list! We made the stretch from Europe to Africa where we first stopped in Morocco for 5 days, then headed to Senegal for 4, and man did we have some times. Some fun, some I’m not sure I’d go back and do again, but times were had. 
Our first day in Morocco I had a field lab for my Adolescent Psychology class, which was probably one of the coolest things I’ve done on Semester at Sea. We met up with students our age who are going to college in Casablanca and spent an afternoon just talking with them about their lives. There are so many stereotypes and generalizations about Morocco and live there, it was amazing to be able to talk to people our age and see how they feel about some of them. We talked to them about relationships and love and how traditional we thought it all was, which for our generation seems to be very similar to ours in the United States. One girl even said “We’re exactly like you, we don’t want to be tied down, we just want to party!” I loved it. So many things I thought were realities going into the lab were completely busted by the time we left, and I got to learn about life in Morocco directly from Moroccans, which is something I will never forget. 
The second day we traveled to Marrakech, about 5 hours out of Casablanca. We first stopped at Majorelle Gardens, created by Yves Saint Laurent at his residence in the city. The gardens were amazing! Everything was so vibrant but so calming at the same time, I understand why he used it as an escape… After the gardens we went to a market with a old university in the middle, which was such a beautiful place. The market and streets surrounding it we relatively poor, so the property felt slightly out of place, but that made it even more incredible. We were able to see the dorms where students used to live, and let me tell you. They were tiny. The doorway was about as tall as my elbow, and the rooms themselves were about the size of most bathrooms. Our guide told us the rooms were so quaint and the space was all very communal because it was used to foster relationships and to make students spend time with others outside of their rooms. After our university visit, we went to lunch at an authentic Moroccan restaurant where we were served couscous, chicken, many traditional appetizer type of dishes as well as fruit for dessert all while a live group performed traditional music. Incredible. We made our way with full stomachs to the markets of Marrakech, which were another experience in themselves. There were snake charmers, monkeys, horse drawn carriages, and that was all before the market even started. We then went to the spice market, which smelled great, I wanted to buy everything they had, but the ship doesn’t allow spices on, so it was all such a tease… We ended the day with the long drive back to Casablanca and back to our floating home!

   
    
   

    
    
 
The next day, Devan and I walked around the city during the day before heading to a Moroccan family meal that night. We had such an incredible opportunity to eat with families who had prepared dinner for us that night, and it was again something I’ll never forget. We drove about 45 minutes to the outskirts of Casablanca to meet our family, a mother and daughter, where they invited us into their home for dinner. We talked and talked about everything from education to gender roles to holiday celebrations and I again learned so much about life in Morocco. All of the people I met in Casablanca were some of the most grateful, joyful people I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting and I feel so fortunate to have had the time with them that I did!

   

 
Pro Tip!: if you ever go to Morocco, or most places in Africa, DONT drink or use the water! I’m sure you would be told this by a doctor or others, but just don’t do it. Also be wary of ice! I had a blended drink from Starbucks (I know, I know, let’s not talk about it), and felt a little funky afterwords. I didn’t get as sick as some others on board thankfully, the food poisoning was realll, but just be careful! 

After 5 days in Morocco and 4 days at sea, we reached Dakar. Now, I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t some major culture shock that happened during my time there. Senegal is one of the poorest countries in the world, so you have to imagine just how different it was from home but also from previous ports. Tourism isn’t a big source of income in Dakar, so when they heard we were coming, they definitely pounced. Immediately when we exited the port, there were people waiting to take us places in their taxi or offering us help and then walking with is for miles. While it sometimes was helpful, it was hard to tell if they were doing it out of the kindness of their heart or if they wanted something in return. 

The first day, we walked around the town for about 2 hours and by the end we were so overwhelmed that we walked back to the ship to have lunch and ended up staying on for the rest of the day. It was just so emotionally draining and exhausting trying to be aware of everything that was going on around you while being in a new place that we all needed a while to rest and recuperate. There ended up being quite a few people on ship, so we all hung out by the pool (my first time! There just isn’t enough time normally with classes and work) and taking it easy. I don’t think that it was a waste of a day or anything like that, I think we all just needed time to relax and adjust to the new country. 

The next day I left for a three day safari which would take up the rest of my time in Senegal. This was an experience. We were traveling to Niokolo Koba Park, which was on the other side of the country, so we knew it would be a long drive, but it ended up being a little longer than expected. We thought maybe 8 hours, but we ended up driving for 12 there and 12 back. We also had vans that held about 25 people, which were a cool experience, but ours lacked in the air conditioning department… There basically was none, and we suffered a bit in that 90 some degree weather, but we got it figured out and just opened some windows, it was great. 

On the way to the park on the first day, we stopped at another safari about an hour outside of Dakar, which was probably the highlight of the trip for me. We were able to see giraffes, zebras, ostriches, bulls, and a few other smaller animals like turtles and deer! After this, we drove to the national park. When we got there they had made us dinner which we all scarfed down and then we were shown our rooms. We stayed in round cement structures that had a bathroom behind a little wall and air conditioning that was on for a few hours during the night thankfully! It was still in the 80’s during the night and even though it went off at around 4 am, it was still nice to have! 

   
    
 
The next day, we went on two safari’s around the property, one in the morning and one around dusk. Unfortunately, it wasn’t really the time of year where many animals were around, so we only saw some monkeys (many joined us for lunch, one even ran on the table and took some bread, that little rascal) and a few deer, but the property was really beautiful, so just driving around it was great. We also got to see a leopard, but he was deaf so they keep him enclosed so he has a better chance of survival! Since it was wet season in Senegal, the paths the safari vehicles drive had some pools of water in which two of the cars got stuck in. The first one was towed out by another car, were the second ones tires were so deep in the mud they had to dig around it, put a piece of metal under it to make it easier to back out, and our group pushed it out. It took about 45 minutes, but it was actually pretty fun.. I wouldn’t have used that word to describe it going in, but looking back, it actually was pretty fun (or funny, I can’t really tell). After our last safari of the day, we headed back for dinner and all ended up going to bed around 10 pm that night, safaris and the African sun really wear a person out…

   
   
The next morning we got up at 5:30 and started the drive back to our ship! In every port on the last day, you are required to be back on the ship before 6 or you get dock time (you have to spend a certain amount of time on the ship in the next port, not something that most people want to do). Luckily we were on a field program, because we got back that night at around 7… One of the highlight of my trip would have to be getting back to my room and showering all the dust and Deet off of me, I don’t know if I have ever felt cleaner after that shower. Also, my friends made me a welcome home card, so that was pretty great too. 

   
   
Overall, the field program didn’t go as planned and there were quite a few complaints, but I’m so grateful to the field lab and all of the workers for organizing the trip and I wouldn’t take it back! People can get pretty ugly and ungrateful during times like these, so its important to keep in mind that things don’t always go to plan and no one is to blame for that! It was the first time in Senegal, so there were bound to be bumps in the road, but we all survived and should be grateful we got to experience things most others never will, regardless if they weren’t what we thought they might be. 

That Time SAS Kids Started the Wave at a Futbol Game

Ever since watching The Cheetah Girls 2 and seeing my four favorite cheetahs strut down the streets of Spain, I’ve waited for the chance to go. While I didn’t take a Cheetah Girls tour (I’m starting that tour, look for it in Barcelona soon), I had some amazing experiences in Spain, and it might just have moseyed on up to my top 3 favorite countries list. Spain, you sneaky one, you.

We started in Valencia, which was a beautiful city. It was less touristy than Barcelona was and seemed to go at a little more leisurely pace, which I know we all definitely appreciated after going and going for over a month. The first day we took it easy (the cold going around the ship had caught up with most of us, bleh) and walked around a big market with things like fresh produce and meat as well as huge bags of fresh potato chips for less than $3 that were one of the most incredible things to ever happen to me, I can’t lie. After the market we stumbled on the downtown area on our way back to the ship, so we looked at some stores there, my favorite was one with a life sized cow statue outside, it was great. I rang its little cowbell and got some stares, maybe some glares, but such is life. The second day in Valencia we stopped at the aquarium and the centers around it, which was very impressive; the buildings are huge and are one of the main tourist attractions in the city. We didn’t go in because we’re broke college students who experienced some sticker shock when we got there, but even just seeing the buildings was good enough for us. We ended up at a mall where we shopped a little, but mainly we just ate McDonalds. I know, I know, so cultural, but sometimes all you want is something that reminds you of home, as sad as it may be that McDonalds is that for us. But it was great and I don’t regret it at all, so all is well. That was basically it for Valencia! It was nice to just have a couple of days to chill out. That night the boat was moving to Barcelona, so we just decided to travel with the boat this time, Italy was enough for us..

   
   
The next morning we woke up in Barcelona, and when we stepped of the boat I was immediately in love. Something about that city is so magical, I hope everyone gets the chance to visit at least once in their life. We ventured down the main street called Las Ramblas, which was super touristy, but also super amazing. We were searching for churros and chocolate to have for breakfast (yes you did read that right, breakfast..perfect), and were just too eager and ended up sitting down at place that totally ripped us off. We each payed 8 euros for three churros and some chocolate… the guy had told us 4 which we thought was reasonable, but then he hiked it up at the end. It didn’t go over well, I’ll leave it at that.. But we did meet some great Polish men who decided to pregame for the FC Barca game by ordering huge beers at 10 am, so that alone was worth the money. After our super healthy breakfast, we walked about 4 miles to the Sagrada Familia, a church in the center of Barcelona created by Gaudi that has been a work in progress since 1882. Stupidly, we didn’t think the walk around the church and only saw the back of it, which while it was still impressive, wasn’t quite what we had expected.. We made our way back to the ship, stopping to pick up some FC Barcelona gear along the way to rep at the game later that night. We went to the game through a field program put on by Semester at Sea, which turned out to be the biggest one ever done with over 300 of us going! It was crazy, but so much fun! We had seats basically at the top of the stadium, and we ended up sitting between two groups of young boys from the UK who all played soccer, so they were very into the game and were very rowdy, so that made it so much more fun. Listening to their commentary throughout the entire game was one of my favorite things about the game. Some kids from SAS decided to do the American thing and start the wave with the help of the student soccer teams sitting nearby, which was one of the cutest things I have ever seen. They all ended up getting super into it, and while it didn’t really stay alive very long the first few times, people caught onto the idea and it ended up migrating down to the seats by the field and went almost all the way around the stadium (which holds almost 100,000 people, no big thang). That night was something I’ll never forget, I know that for sure. I’ll also never forget getting to see Neymar Jr. play, regardless from how far away. What a cool night.

   
    
    
    

 
The next day we went back to one of the shopping areas and looked around, stocked up on some snacks for the long stretches to come, and just walked around and explored the city! For dinner that night we went to a tapas buffet, which made me so happy, such a great idea! I love buffets and I wanted to try as many tapas as my stomach could hold, so it couldn’t have been better. We ended up having some sangria there, and then ended up walking around and finding another place with great mojitos, and then we ended up somewhere you’ll never guess…. McDonalds. We can’t help it, its open late and is always reliable, it just works out.. A guy from Ireland almost started a fight with a guy in the restaurant, so that was exciting. McDonalds my friends. What a wonderful place. The last day I had a field lab for my International Marketing class which was actually pretty great. We met with a man who is a head of communications at Edelman Spain who gave a presentation on Strategic Communication, which happens to be my major, so it couldn’t have worked out any better! It was also one of the most relevant things I have done for my major in a long time, so I really enjoyed it. After lunch we did a scavenger hunt around Barcelona for different marketing strategies companies use, which was fun until it started raining.. So far its rained on our last day in every port, so we’ll see if that trend continues!

   
    
 
That does it for Spain! I had such a great time, it was all I had imagined and more. Next time I go (crossing every body part), I have to go to all the Cheetah Girls spots and live my cheetah dream. I can’t wait.

** Its occurred to me that when I say ‘we’, you probably don’t know who I’m talking about. It may vary, but your best bet is that I mean Devan, Allie, Danielle and Jennifer, the main travel posse. I can’t remember if I have talked about them by name before, but I figured it was probably about time I do. Devan and Allie both go to University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, so if I come home with a mid west accent, blame them. Danielle actually goes to Chapman with me, we have the same major and have had multiple classes together, but never met until the voyage, and I’m thankful everyday that we go to school together because I don’t know how I would leave them all at the end of the voyage… And last but not least, Jennifer goes to school in Colorado and is great! I’ll try to insert some embarrassing pictures of them all when I get a chance so you get the visual of all my beautiful friends! Ok thats all, just thought it might be a good idea to let you know who the ‘we’ is in most of these posts! **

   (Jennifer, me, Allie, Danielle and Devan!) 

 (Just a regular picture of Devan; I realized that most pictures I have of Devan at her doing weird things, so just keep a lookout…)

  (When Danielle falls off the stool) 

(I also realized Allie and Jennifer are too photogenic for me to have embarrassing pictures of them, but just you wait…) 

Opa!

I broke a glass on my first day in Greece, so opa everybody!

Where to start with Greece. We ported in Piraeus which was a great location for getting to the metro and there were lots of little shops and restaurants nearby. The city itself is very compact and is mainly concrete without much green. We had a guide tell us that she describes the city as an old lady, not very pleasant to look at but extremely charming. I know many older ladies who are still more beautiful than anyone else I know, so I’m not sure her analogy was perfect, but I get where she is coming from.. The city was also one that was affected by the refugee crisis, and there were many groups of refugees all around the city. It was surreal to see in real life what I had been watching on the news for weeks and months before I left for this trip. It was extremely hard to see the amount of people who were on the streets and struggling while I’m taking part in such an amazing experience, it made me so grateful that I’m fortunate to have this opportunity and I definitely don’t take that for granted.

On the first day I had my field lab for Geography of Wine, which was probably one of my favorite parts of my time in Greece. We went to Kokotos Estate, a beautiful winery about 45 minutes from Athens. We met with the owner and the head winemaker who showed us around the property as well as explained the entire process of wine making and showed us the machines they use. Then they showed us the wine cellar which was filled with thousands and thousands of bottles of wine, as well as huge barrels of wine (each barrel could fill around 300 bottles!). After our tour, they took us back to the main building where we tried 6 different wines as well as ate traditional Greek food like spinach pies, Greek salad, meatballs, and pita bread. All the wines were produced by the estate and were incredible, we all would have brought multiple bottles back with us, but that no alcohol rule made that a little impossible… It was such a cool day, we all just hung out and drank wine at an estate in Greece, not many students my age can say they’ve done that. Plus it was worth 25% of our grade, so I’m definitely not complaining.

    
The next day was kind of a bust day.. We got lost looking for the metro station and ended up walking almost an hour and a half around the entire port. I’ve had better experiences. We ended up giving up on the idea of going into Athens that day and got lunch (and wifi) at a little cafe not far from the ship and then walked back and hung out by the pool for the rest of the day. Something that I think is important to say is that traveling doesn’t always go to plan, and that its ok to take a day to just take it easy. We all were kicking ourselves in the beginning for not experiencing as much as we could have that day, but in the end it was a perfect day and one that we all needed. Everything is so fast paced on the ship that its hard to find time to just rest for a little, so if that time has to come from in country time, so be it. Its important to be flexible and be ok with not going out and seeing everything you can cram into one day!

The third day a group of us went on a field program to the American College of Deree for a university exchange. We got to tour the campus, which was beautiful and kind of reminded me of home, as well as watch a few presentations given by a student and a teacher about different topics such as law in Greece, all were very interesting. It was another one of those places that I found myself thinking “I could definitely go to school here”. Plus, the US Olympic team used the schools athletic facilities for training when the Olympic games were in Athens, so I could potentially swim in the same swimming pool as Michael Phelps did if I went there. Pretty casual. No big deal. I could have fainted right then and there when I found that out.

     
The fourth day we finally made it out to Athens to see the Acropolis, this time we took a hop on hop off bus because those our quickly becoming one of our favorite ways to see and get oriented with the cities we go to. Plus it was easier to find than the metro, and our track record with that wasn’t too hot. While I’m definitely glad I saw the Acropolis, I don’t know that I would go back. The whole site is basically always under construction because it’s ruins and needs to be kept up with, which I understand, but I would almost prefer that they just let the ruins decay how they would naturally. With all the construction, you can’t really get a feel for how it once was or once looked, it just looked like a big construction site. An impressive construction site, but still.. After the Acropolis, we stumbled upon a street full of restaurants and sat down at the first one we saw (after a waiter jumped on us and convinced us, which I wouldn’t always recommend, but it worked out in our favor this time). It was called God’s Restaurant, and let me tell you, it was definitely heaven on earth. I had the most amazing Greek salad I have ever had along with some incredible pasta with fresh pesto and tomatoes. Before we left, the manager sent us all free little glasses of ouzo, an alcohol that tasted like liquid black licorice, so nice and totally unnecessary, but that’s Greek hospitality! Also, no mom, I didn’t drink it all, I’m not a black licorice fan, so it worked out in your favor.. After that great experience, we found a little ice cream shop that was the oldest in the area we wondered into. The lady working there was so friendly and was so interested to find out about Semester at Sea, it was so cute. I love seeing reactions from people in other countries when we tell them what we’re doing, its such a foreign idea for most of them. But back to the ice cream.. it was perfect. I had nutella cake and tiramisu which has quickly become my regular wherever we end up, I would highly recommend it. After the rough day we had had earlier in the week, this day was perfect!

      
    
 The last day was a quick day because we had to be on the ship by 6, which basically means we get there around 4 or else stand in a long line, so we shopped in some of the stores and had a great (and super cheap!) lunch at a place called Street Souvlaki, which was a great last experience with real Greek food! I had a vegetable pita wrap with french fries topped with feta cheese. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

  
That was about it for Greece! I’m not sure if I would go back to Athens anytime soon, but I can’t wait to come back and go to the islands, thats the dream! My post for Spain will be up soon, I 100% promise this time! The short time we had between Greece and Spain was a little rough for me (like 3 tests plus more reading than I’ve done in years), so that’s why this one is so late, but NEVER AGAIN! I pinky promise!

Have a great day!!

A Croatian Vacation

Croatia. Where to even start. I have been to a decent amount of places in my time on earth, but Croatia definitely makes my top 3 list. I don’t know if its the fact that I went in without knowing anything about the country that made it so charming and exciting or if it was that I was so ready to be in another country, but either way, I had such an incredible time. Compared to Italy where we were going and going, being able to relax and just enjoy the little things in Croatia was the perfect way to spend my five days in country.

One the first day, we went out to explore Dubrovnik and ended up taking an open top city bus tour, which was pretty perfect. We missed the first bus because we couldn’t see where it stopped, but luckily we were right next to a grocery store called Konzum, which would soon become our second home for the duration of our time there… After we bought baguettes and crackers and teas (lunch of champions for sure), we hopped on our bus and spent an hour and a half driving around the city. We got to see the buildings all around to the Old City and learned about some of the history behind it all. There was so much beauty in a country that had endured so much destruction from the Homeland War in the 90’s. Since the war was so recent, it was interesting to walk around the city and see how people still are affected by the war and how feelings towards other groups of people are still very hostile and not accepting. 

   
The second day we all headed to the beach in the Old City, which was about a 45 minute walk away form the port, so that was an experience in itself, those shin splints from 5th grade came back real fast. We walked all through the walls in the city and found this little beach called Banje Beach that had the most amazing clear blue water and was overlooking the entire Old City. We hung out there for most of the day and then headed back to the ship for the rest of the day. We also ate ice cream twice that day, but whose counting.

   
 On the third day we headed to Bosnia! It was about a three hour bus ride, one spent at border control, but it was such a beautiful trip no one minded. We went on a field program with SAS to Medugorje, a Catholic pilgrimage site, which was beautiful but its taken me a little to process how I truly felt about it. I wasn’t raised Catholic, so being at the site felt almost like I was intruding or interrupting on a very special moment. While most people had an amazing experience immersing themselves in their faith, I felt I had an experience just watching people get in touch with their religion. I don’t think I’ll ever get the opportunity to travel to Bosnia again, so being there and getting to see the beauty of the country was something I’ll never forget.

The fourth day was pretty relaxed, we just slept and rested from the hiking done in Bosnia (the hike up to the site was something else, it was all rock and straight up and down, and 90 year old do it! Crazy). We also spent quite a while by the Internet cafe picking up wifi to social media and talk to parents, then we headed on over to our favorite place… Konzum, could you guess? The US dollar is so powerful in Croatia, everything ended up being super cheap, so we all stocked up on toothpaste and shampoo and chocolate, it was perfect. I think shampoo turned out to be around 3 dollars, chocolate was less than 1, it was like heaven on earth. The next morning we decided to be adventurous and try out kayaking.. kind of a mistake. The water in Croatia tends to be pretty rough in the morning, and we went at 9:30 on a day it was forecasted to rain.. good choices. We got onto the kayaks and headed to a hidden little beach with some good snorkeling spots and had about an hour there. When it was time to head back, the wind and waves started to pick up and we were really bobbing about, so our guide decided not to take us around Lokrum, an island a little ways off the coast of Croatia. We headed back to where we got onto the kayaks, and the waves were really going. Our guide handled them like a champ and was totally fine, but the rest of us, not so much. At one point, we turned to each other and said “I think I might be kayak sick?”,. We were. After we all got out of our kayaks we had to take a breather and sit for a while. After we got our land legs back, we headed to get ice cream because what else are we supposed to do. If you’re ever in Croatia, go to Dolce Vita in the Old City, the ice cream there is out of this world. After that we spent the rest of our money at Konzum and headed back to the ship!

And that’s our second port done! Croatia was one of the most incredible places I have ever been and I really didn’t want to leave. I felt like I just scratched the surface with everything the country has to offer, and I can’t wait to go back! We’re now about to arrive in Greece (WHAT!) tomorrow morning, and I’m pumped. Ask anyone, Greece has been on the top of my travel list for as long as I can remember, so I can’t believe it’s actually happening.

I’ll try and update soon, hopefully with some general ship life stuff that hopefully will be interesting to everyone!

Hannah

Ciao Italia!

Hi, my name’s Hannah and I’m officially the worst blogger ever. After I posted my last little ramble, I totally forgot to include some kind of important information, so here it all is: first and definitely most importantly, we aren’t going to Istanbul anymore. I know, I know, it’s super sad, but! Instead, we’re going to Croatia!! We got here on the 29th and had 5 days to hang out and see things and do stuff, its been amazing. Two of my best friends from home (hi Julie and Gabi, special shoutout to you) have both been there this year, so its excited to follow them and see all the great things they talk about! The only thing is the amount of time it takes us to get there.. To sail from Italy to Turkey would have taken four days, but Croatia happens to be a decent amount closer than Turkey. Since we have to have class sometime, we are still taking four days to get there… That means we average about 10 mph when we aren’t anchored in the Mediterranean Sea (yes, that happened). Although it was slow going, I’d take it over 21 foot swells any day. I think that’s about all the updates I have, so lets just jump on into the rest of my time in Italy. Here goes nothing…

I got out of my field program in Cinqueterre on Tuesday the 22nd and headed back to the ship. The plan was to leave at 7, catch the shuttle to the train station and catch the 7:45 bus into Rome. We waited for the ferry, and it came, but the driver looked at us shook his finger, and drove away. Needless to say the night wasn’t off to a great start. But we remained positive and trekked 40 minutes to the train station. By the time we got there, the train had left and the next one was at 8:45. Still not that bad, so we bought tickets and hung out at the station. We found four other girls traveling to Rome on the same train, so we all grouped up and made the 1 hour ride into the city. When we got to Rome, we still had to get to Sorrento by way of Naples, so we looked for a train that would take us there. By now it was around 10:30, so we were all ready to get moving and get to our hostel. When we looked at train options, we were pretty dumbfounded.. It was 43 euro to take the bullet train and get there in one hour or pay 11 euro for the normal train that was scheduled for 5:30 in the morning the next day. We figured that we might as well get to Naples where we had a place to sleep, so we (sadly) emptied our pockets to pay for the train fare. The train was nice, it was only one hour so it went by quickly even though we were all in separate parts of the train. We got to Naples safely, then thought we were going to be able to take a train into Sorrento. Those trains stopped running at 11, so of course we missed those too. BUT! We all remained hopeful.. until we stepped outside the train station. If you live in the bay, you’ve probably experienced the Tenderloin in San Francisco. Imagine that, times 5, at midnight. It wasn’t my top choice of places to be, but hey, whats a little danger, am I right? I was wrong, and we were all pretty terrified. We managed to get over the fear and think logically about what we could do, and we found a nice taxi driver who worked with us on the price to get to Sorrento, which was about an hour away because we knew people there and had a place to stay. We knew the taxi driver was safe because his car was licensed and he was very nice and helpful, so it all worked out. When we got to the hostel, they said they didn’t have any room for us, which was just the cherry on top of the whole evening. We panicked for a couple minutes, then one of the girls we were with went up to check the room. Turns out there were 5 beds open, so I’m not sure about all the confusion, but definitely double check before you give up on certain hostels! It was amazing, it looked like a super nice hotel, just with 12 beds in a room! What an experience. It was one of the craziest nights I’ve had, but we all stayed calm and positive during the whole process. You learn a lot about yourself when you travel so independently, I know I already have changed from when I started this semester 3 weeks ago.

The next morning we finally connected with our friends staying in the same hostel (spotty wifi doesn’t make a great conversation tool..) and decided to head to Capri for the day. We took the ferry over to the island, which was very touristy, but also very charming. The water was so incredibly blue and all the buildings and alley ways were beautiful. We took a cable car type of rig up to the top and saw panoramic views of the island and the bay, it was amazing. We found a little restaurant off the beaten path that had super good pizza, pasta and wine, it was great. As we were walking out, one of the cooks sold another one weed, but thats a story for another time.. Great food, great people. All good things. After lunch we just walked around some more, got lost within the streets, and then took the cable car back down!

   
    
 As amazing as the day was, we were all flooded with happiness when we saw the ship! Our ferry from Capri docked right next to our home, and we all just ran towards it (and maybe cried a little), it was such a fun moment. On the last day, we went out into Naples for a bit, got caught in a massive rain storm and were completely soaked, and then got back on the boat ready to sail off to Croatia! It was only 6 days in Italy, but it felt way longer. I had such an amazing time on my field program to Cinqueterre, but the last few days in Naples were a lot to handle, so it was nice to have a place to come back to that was familiar and comfortable.

Now we’re almost at the end of our time in Croatia (I know, late post, I’ll try not to let it happen again!), and I’m loving every minute of this adventure! I’ll post again ASAP, Croatia is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been, so I have some things to say about it for sure. Tomorrow we are going kayaking and snorkeling, then heading off to Greece! I can’t wait.

Hannah