Viva Espana

Long live Spain!!

 

Sorry for the long pause in blog updates. Turns out theres alot more to do when you have a whole country to explore and only 3 days to do it! Everynight it was the choice between updating my blog/ checking my email or getting an extra 20 minutes of sleep. (Which when you're getting about 3 hours OR LESS a day, every minute counts!!)

 

Monday - Day 1 in Barcelona: Our boat docked at about 9:30 / 10 but I didn't get off right away because I had a field excursion (they're called FDPs here) at 11. I went to Montserrat - a monastery up on a BEAUTIFUL mountain that is also a shrine. The view was unbelievable and the moutain looks like a bunch of fingers. It also kinda looked like the "drippy" sand castles you make at the beach! The monastery was really impressive but there was so many people waiting in line to see the black virgin statue that was discovered there that we didnt get to see it. :( It was a really neat place tho and lots of people still go there on religious pilgimages! I got home around 4. We were suppose to go see a boys choir but that part of the trip got cancelled cause the boys werent coming til a few days later... Hahaha poor planning I guess!! And then me and my friends laid out and read (PS shoutout to Becca cause I'm reading the Hunger Games and shoutout to Catherine for the Kate Voegele cd - some of the songs are appropriately  nautical too! haha) until Amanda got back form her FDP. Then we got dinner on the boat to save money and then went out on the town to see what Barcelona night life was all about! My friend Melpat has been studying in Barcelona for a month, so she took us out to the spots where all the locals go. We went to a pub called the Black Sheep where you can get towers of Sangria and Beer for about 20euro. We don't have anything like it (that I've ever heard at least) in America, but they're very similar to El Salvadorian "torres." Ok, befor I continue there is something you should all know about Spain. They are about 4 hours later than us on everything. You dont eat lunch until 2 or 3. You don't eat dinner until 11. You don't go out to bars until 12. And the clubs dont even open until 1:30 or 2. So after The Black Sheep, we went to a club on Las Ramblas (the main street of Barcelona). It was so fun! When we got home, the sun was coming up. This is partially because it probably took us an hour to walk home! Our ship is about a 25 minute brisk walk to the Christopher Columbus statue which is at the foot of Las Ramblas and then the club is further up on the street and we had some straglers in heels. But the walk was very safe - really well lit and we were in a 7 person group too.

 

Tuesday - Day 2 in Barcelona: We slept in til about 10, got lunch on the boat to save money and then explored the city / took a bus

to the beach! (which by the by people here are very open and there were lots of exposed private parts - including a naked man which was the scariest thing I saw in Barcelona) We met Melpat there and we went to a place for Tapas (which are basically appetizers) I got these potato things with sauce on them (I cant remember the exact name). And they were good! Then we went back to the boat to hydrate with water (water in expensive in the city and we all ran out of the water we brought). We got ready early and went out to dinner to a really nice restaraunt. This euro exchange rate is killing me. We got a nice dinner - Vegetable Paella, and Cava  - basically Spanish champagne for 25 euro..which is almost 40 dollars! Ah.Then we walked around the marina until we got to the beach club area. A club promoter on the beach got us on VIP for a few of the clubs so we went to them because we A) didnt have to pay B) alot of other S.A.S.ers were going. Had another amazing time. Spaniards know how to dance and enjoy themselves (responsibly!) This time we got a taxi home because we were probably 4 or 5 miles from the boat.

 

Wednesday - Day 3 in Barcelona: After getting 1.5 hours of sleep.... me and Amanda got up and went to our Medieval Templar and Castle FDP. Ok. I'm unsure if this trip was worth whatever amount of money we paid. We drove 2.5 hours (ended up being 3 cause the bus driver got lost...nice) to a castle that our guide that we weren't even allowed into. Later on we went in anyway. It was really confusing and I feel like he just told us alot of random stuff and didnt seem to know much about the castle or its significance. That being said it was really secluded and the courtyard was really pretty. Then we drove another 1/2 hour and went to a castle that had brand new wooden floors so I'm almost positive it was not historically significant and also it was bascially just one big brick rectangle. From there they made us put on costumes and participate in a medieval roleplay. This consisted of everyone helping this kid put on a Knight's outfit and taking pictures of him. My "outfit" was a money pouch...But then we had a really nice 3 course meal for lunch so THAT was nice! I think that the trip was really strange because they changed the itinerary 3 times since I got on the MV Explorer. I understand that conflicts arrive and they do the best they can but everything I went to was not even close to what the original description was! This was the trip that was suppose to have castles involving the Da Vinci code. Wah. And then we got back from our trip about 1.5 hours late. So I tried to nap until it was Spanish time for dinner. We got dinner on the move  - a baqette cheese sandwich, I promise it was worth 3 euro. Then we met up with Melpat again and headed back over the beach club area that we were at the night before. We went to a concert of DJ Kaskade at a venue called Opium. I was very tired so after about 3 hours of dancing, I was ready to relax. A few of the girls and I hung out on the beach (which is sorta still part of the club, its hard to explain)  until everyone was ready to go. We all bought these bright flashing rings and set up a meeting place and time so that we found each other when the concert ended. It worked really well - best euro I've ever spent! Again, took a cab home.

 

Thursday - Day 4 in Barcelona: Woke up at 10 and went to the Boqueria (a huge market - even better than York's central market!) and got fruit for breakfast. SO GOOD - no wonder people in Spain are so healthy! (also because I'm pretty sure everyone walks 50 miles a day in Barcelona haha) Then we figured out the metro and took it to Sagrada Familia - the church that is still being built b/c the famous architect Gaudi was hit by a bus when it started construction. The church was incredible from the outside but in the interest of saving money and what little time we had left, we did not go in. We explored that area of Barcelona for a little - they have the most incredible buildings there! Then we met our friend at McDonalds - not to eat but because theres pretty much only 1 on Las Ramblas. I felt like such an American asking "Donde esta McDonalds?" hahaha. From there, we went to get in all of our last minute shopping. We also got churros con chocolate at a Tapas bar. Yummm. Then after one last falafel from "Pita Hut" we made our way back to the ship. After we got on, I took a nap until dinner and then met my extended family for dinner again as a reall ynice way to end the time in Spain.

 

Spain set the bar pretty high! We completed 15/26 things on our bucketlist and started making one from Italy (where we'll be in TWO DAYS). I didn't get pickpocketed - Yay! But its still definitly a dangerous place. I heard one of the prof's little boys talking to another little boy about how they got robbed so theres no more ipod, iphone, etc. And one of my friends got mugged last night after she took a wrong turn home from the concert. She's ok tho and not too much was stolen. So thats good but definitly lesson learned - never go anywhere alone or take a cab.

 

Tomorrow we only have our 2 hour global studies class about Italy and then the "Sea Olympics"

 

 

Cya Spain!  

Cabin Fever

All is well on the MV Explorer but I'm ready for land!

Last night we met our "Extended Families." Its a really neat program you can sign up for that connects you with a couple other students and either a life long learner, staff or faculty and you sorta make your own family group out of it! It was really nice and I'm meeting with them again for dinner befor we get off the boat in Barcelona.

The boat however was not so nice yesterday. After dinner I had to take a bonine (motion sickness tablet) and I wore those pressure point bracelets. I ended up passing out about half hour after taking them at 7:30. Hahaha good thing there were no madatory meetings last night!! I slept for 9 and 1/2 hours last night. Totally didn't even study for my midterm which I had this morning because I just fell asleep. OoOopsiesS! But no worries Mome and Dad the test wasn't bad at all and allegedly there's a curve. Yay

But then after my test, I slept for another 1 and 1/2 hours, went to lunch and then slept for 3 more hours!! So I've got about 14 hours under my belt right now, though most of them were probably to make up for lost time and also because of the bonine.

Supposedly the boat has been extra dicey because we were so close to the opening of the Mediterranean. All of the water bottlenecks in the strait of Gibralter and gushes out, creating fast choppy waves.

Speaking of the strait of Gibralter - we are there now! Refueling for about 4 more hours right under the rock. Pretty exciting to not be moving right now. And even more exciting SPAIN IS IN 2 DAYS!

I'm a little nervous for Spain tho because they have the worst pick pockets in the world - even worse than Naples (they're 2nd worst...so happy to be going to the 2 top pick pocketing cities on earth). According to my one Professor, last year when SAS made this trip, 10% of the students were pickpocketed THE FIRST DAY. Whatttttt. And he said he personally saw a girl get thrown onto the street when a thief on a motorcoach grabbed her purse (that was around her shoulder) and yanked it off her - taking her face first into the pavement... Ummmmmm. So basically I'm just gonna cry and put everything in my underwear or the bottom of my shoe or that super akward money belt I bought.

As for an update on the rash - it has spread to my stomach, but is less severe overall. So yay!

Wish me luck & I hope all is well in the US - specifically BelleVernon, York and of course Lansdale.

 

Not Enough Hours in a Day

But really, there aren't! Since we've been losing an hour almost EVERY NIGHT, SAS students are basically living in terms of 23 hour days.Tonight we lose another hour. We lost an hour last night and the night before that and the night two nights befor that.  Right now it is 3:10 pm. So by signing up for an 8am, I sorta signed up for a 4am that will eventually turn into a 2am or 1am. !!

 

All is well at see. We passed the Azores (sp?) and tho I was in class and didnt get to see them, it is comforting to know that we are only about a day away from land now.

 

Something funny for my York friends: you know that Redmans Lake water thing in York on the way to the MD border? Well there was randomly a picture of it in my water treatment book. No description. No explanation. Just a picture of York. So strange!

 

I just got in from laying out - its getting colder outside! Our global studies teacher actually told us he saw it snowing yesterday so I didn't lay out but as it turns out, he just saw the foam from an upper deck that the crew were cleaning....

 

Last night I participated in the ship's Amazing Race. It was basically an 8 person really really hard scavenger hunt. And more than half the boat played so things got real intense real quick. My team's name was Team Team. HAHAhAh we thought we were so funny.

 

I have not been sea sick since that one time when I was just really hungry lol but I do have a rando rash on my back! Which appeared the one day i WASNT in the sun. And its getting itchier and covering 40% of my back. So I'm just not gonna let it see the sun for a few days and I'm gonna wash all my clothes and hopefully it goes away! My guess is maybe the detergent they use on our sheets? Because I got it the day after they changed them...typical me!

 

We have out midterms in either 2 or 3 days and then we pass through the Strait of Gebralter and see the rock with all of the apes on it and THEN! We finally! port! in! Barcelona!

 

Well that is all for now.

 

<3 Vicki

 

 

Rock the Boat, Rock the Boat Baby

So, "Brush Up on Spanish" ended up being more like "You better be fluent in Spanish cause you're not allowed to speak english and on the first day you have to talk to a partner in the preterit tense".... so I dropped it! Best decision of my trip so far considering I wasn't going to transfer it anyways!

 

All of my other classes are fascinating so far. For my water class, we have to pick 1 aspect of water and compare it in 2-3 of the different countries we are porting in using field experience. And for my Green Urbanism class I'm almost done the next week's worth of reading becuase the book is SO GOOD.

 

Today I didn't do too many exciting things other than what my normal schedule is everyday but tonight at 2000 (aka 8 pm - ah I know the ship is on military time) I went to a program on dining out in Spain! And shoutout to my Dad - the guy talked ALOT about Tapas bars. :)

 

Also shoutout to my Dad for it being fathers day in the recent past. And speaking of the recent past Happy Birthday to my big sissy Alyssa for turning 23!

 

Short post today but I have lots to do homework wise! And also we lose another hour of sleep tonight

 

Love you all <3 Vicki

 

 

PS two good jokes I just learned from my dear friend Kaleigh.

 

 

1. Q. What did the hotdog say when he croseed the finish line first?

 

A. I'm the weiner!!

 

 

2. Knock knock.

 

Who's theres?

 

Freep.

 

Freep who?

 

No thanks.

 

 

  

 

 

First Day of School

And it's not over yet!

 

So far I had my first 1/2hr of feeling sea sick this morning, but no worries - I held myself together and felt much better after breakfast. (So then I was thinking maybe I was just really hungry..lol)

 

Started the morning off bright and early at approx. 6:45 (but we lost an hour of sleep so it was more like 5:45 body time). Got breakfast with my roomie at 7:30 and then went to my first class at 8:00.

 

My 8am is Green Urbanism which is pretty freaking cool cause its all about the sustainable (and non sustainable) aspects of cities; and how the structures and layouts of citiies affect behaviors and lives.

 

Then I went right into my Global Studies class that everyone has to take. The main point of the course is to learn about all of the different countries befor we visit them so that we have a better understanding of their culture/ history but today we learned all about the ship we're on - the MV Explorer. That was actually really interesting becuase they talked about all of the different regulations, why we're registered as a Bahaman ship, how they treat the waste, how much fuel we use, etc.

 

And thennn I went to the gym. And my gym I mean the closet with no air ventilation and so many sweaty people. You have to sign up for 1/2 hr slots because of it's size. It was so hot though!! I'm about to buy a fan in Barcelona and put it in there just so that no one dies!

 

Then I got lunch. I had cream of vegetable soup, a salad and egg & olive salad on rye bread. Yumm

 

After that I layed out and read my 100+ pages of reading that I had already been assigned..

 

The reading for my Green Urbanism was on waste pollution and water pollution. It basically talked about how cities can't handle their own waste so they usually try to export it to other poorer places (whether that be in the US or in developing countires) . It also talked about different waste and water treatment option, and their pros and cons. Plus the book which is called Sustainable Urban Development (by Wheeler) is nice because it's a collection of different articles by different authors and theyre all written so that they're really easy for non-technical people like myself to understand.

 

I read some of my Global Studies but it was a struggle.

 

Then I went inside and didn't recognize my self becuase I look like a Mexican!

Heeheh a slight exaggeration.

 

Thennnnn I had my Water Sanitation and Supply class.

Ok so the teacher that was originally suppose to teach it had a family emergency last week so he bailed. But the substitute prof seems awesome. He was teaching on the May-mester and they just asked him to stick around for the next 2 months and he agreed. I can't wait til I'm retired and can pull that off!

 

But thats gonna be a crazy class, very informal (in a good way), very malleable, and very independent.

 

I just had dinner and in 10 minutes I start my Brush up on Spanish class and then head to the activities fair!

 

Peace love and miss you all,

Vicki

I'm On a Boat

Yep! I made it on the boat!! (Except technically its a ship with boats on it..)

 

I've officially been onboard for 33 hours.

 

The Bahamas was great until the lock on our door didn't work so we had to change rooms. And then my dad and I went to the casino for a while because we got a promotion card for 5 FREE dollars to play with. But it was very confusing and also unsucessful!

 

I got on the boat yesterday around 8:30 with no problems! Then I met my roommate (who is from California, but was born in Poland and is fluent - I know, right?) and lots of others, ate lunch with everyone (which was really good and very vegetarian / pescatarian friendly), unpacked, participated in the lifeboat drill, got my email and internet set up, layed out for a lil bit and went to a few general meetings.

 

Also, to anyone that was involved in taking the "passport style picture" of me or taking me to walmart to print it - HAHAHAH they blew up the picture and used it as my photo id. I would post a picture but it would use all of my internet bandwith. Wah.

 

To the best of my knowledge we've exited of the Bermuda triangle, but I'm unsure.

 

We have been in safety/community/informational/boring/long/dark meetings all day. Don't get me wrong, it needs to be done, but I definitly have a sorry case of "fanny fatigue."

 

Something to think about - since we are going east, we lose an hour of sleep every other night basically due to time zone changes!

 

Tonight is one of those nights we lose an hour and tomorrow is the first day of classes! I have a Green Urbanism class at 8am tomorrow, Global Studies at 9:20, a Water Supply and Sanitation class at 4:15 and then a 1credit Brush Up on Spanish class at night. VERY excited.

 

Dinner is in 1/2 hour. Yay I'm hungry. :)

 

Best,

Vicki

 

 

PS Email me at vlbisio@semesteratsea.net. Email to that account is FREE for me to access. I also get FREE incoming texts, so you can text me after you email me so I know its worth checking.

 

Bon Voyage

I'm leaving America in approx. 10 hours. Is this real life?

So after a long day of last minute errands, a good home cooked vegetarian dinner of my favorite meal - eggplant parmesan & a good goodbye bonfire....I'm really leaving.

Also, I packed. Okay it took SO LONG. I HATE PACKING.

But, I am in shock and aw of "Space Bags."


Example: This is the amount of clothes I deemed necessary to my trip.  (hehe oops!)

Okay so then I took about 1/3 (probably more like 2/5 actually, but hey who's counting?!) of the clothes and shoved them into this "large" space bag.

 I sucked all of the air out with a vacum.... and wah-lah!!

Hahahah I know this last picture seems like it isn't completely necessary but I wanted you to understand that all of the stuff you saw on the dresser  (and MORE!) fit into 3 of these bags and then shrunk to this size. I know, right! Space bags are the greatest invention since sliced bread.

*Side note - my fingers look mad weird.


Anyways at this point I am "apprehensive" as Catherine would put it.
I'm a little nervous, a little excited, a little hey-lets-just-get-this-whole-thing-over-with, a little wow-68-days-is-a-long-time and a little good-riddance-america.

I will miss my family, my friends, my boyfriend, my guitar, my house, my room and some foods (typical). But I know that what I will gain from this is honestly invaluable and I should really get all that I can out of it.

Wait, I feel really rude because I definitely just forgot I have a fish. I'll miss her too.. hahah

I'll update more in the next couple of days...if I make it through the Bermuda Triangle....!!

But until then - here's the link to a virtual tour you can take of the MV Explorer. If you have nothing to  do, check it out.

Bon Voyage,
Vicki

Less than 3 days

I still haven't packed.
Not one single thing.
But I've been very productive otherwise! I've bought things I needed, ordered lots of euros, said some goodbyes, done some school things and checked the Semester at Sea homepage and facebook page 6 millions times a day.
I basically just have to to pack and read the common reading - Triumph of the City.

BAHAMAS IN THREE DAYS... if I ever pack!

I won't post again until I pack,
Vicki

The Countdown Begins

I cannot believe that I leave for my Mediterranean adventure in sixteen days - mostly because there is still so much to do before I leave for the Bahamas!!


First of all, I have get the hold taken off my York College account so that they'll release my transcript...ooopsies! I didn't know about their key return policy for special office keys, I swear! Then, I have to make dentist and quest lab appointments that I've been forgetting to do for approximately...the entire time I've been home. Friday and Saturday I'm running my family's portion of the neighborhood garage sale (hey, its a big deal here). Sunday and Monday I'm working at my beloved job as a diet aide at a nursing home (can't complain though - they let me snag some hours even though I'm only working 7 or 8 shifts all summer!). The next weekend I'll be heading to York for the York College SIFE summer planning retreat! And then, before I even know it, I will be boarding a plane with my dad to Nassau. 


But before that happens...I have to do all things actually pertaining to the trip itself like planning what I want to do in each country.  I'll be leaving from a port in Nassau, Bahamas; traveling to Barcelona, Spain; Naples / Civitavecchia, Italy; Dubrovnik, Croatia; Piraeus (Athens), Greece; Varna, Bulgaria; Istanbul, Turkey; Casablanca, Morocco; and ending up in Boston, MA. For a more detailed itinerary, click here! I also have to go out and buy all of the random traveling things I don't have such as a money belt, really light pants, power adapters, Euros, sunscreen and aloe. I still have to call my bank and give them a heads up that I'll be overseas so that they don't freeze my account. I have to read 100 pages of Triumph of the Cities, our voyages common reading. I need to say goodbye to my boyfriend, friends and family. But the task that will take me the longest is packing.


Heres how I feel about packing: negatively. I do not like being forced to fit everything I might need into the confines of a suitcase or two. I like to over pack. This is scary because I can only bring my suitcase and rolling duffel and my Northface bookbag and a purse (to be fair, all 4 of those things are jumbo sized) to last me 68 days!  I will keep you updated on the "packing situation."


Since it is nearly midnight (which means its almost only FIFTEEN days until I set sail!!!) I'm gonna get some shut eye so I can start checking off my long to do list!


Dulces sueños, 
Vicki