More photos!

Flamenco in Barcelona!

Leaning Tower of Pisa

The beautiful Cinque Terre

Hiking through Vernazza

Trevi Fountain

Colosseum

Boat Tour of Croatian Islands

Kate and I

Third Jump!

Cats eating sardines

Kate and Leianna

The Acropolis

Red Sand Beach on Santorini

Cliff Jumping in Croatia

Black Sand Beach

Oia

Dinner in Oia

Amazing Sunsets

Meghan, Ashley and I

Gorgeous Greece!

We arrived into the port of Piraeus yesterday morning and traveled to the Acropolis and the flea market nearby. The Acropolis was absolutely amazing to see and unbelievable to think that the ruins have been there for 2000 years. Oh and the rumors are true: conjunctivitis (also known as pink eye) is going around the ship. And the latest victim? This girl. I woke up yesterday, on the morning of our first day in Greece with a swollen eyelid and a delicious goopy substance covering it. I made it into the medical office on the ship at 7am and was prescribed a heavy duty small bottle of eye drops for a mere 27 dollars. Worth it. My eye is completely back to normal now thank goodness!

Anyway, most of the students on the ship were traveling to the island of Mykonos for our time in Greece, but I didn't really feel the need to experience more night life and I have always dreamed of seeing Santorini. So Meghan, Ashley, and I took the 7pm ferry out last night and arrived in the beautiful island of Santorini around 1am. We had been able to book a hotel using our internet time on the ship and we love it. We are currently at the Hotel Perissa a few minutes away from the Black Sand Beach and have a relaxing and eventful day ahead of us! More later. Love you all.

Photo Update from Croatia!

Croatia was so amazing and absolutely beautiful. I'll have to write more about my time here later but I thought I should try to upload a few photos while I have internet!

On the ship

Breakfast in Barcelona

La Sagrada Familia

Ice Bar

Park Guell

La Boqueria Market

Pompeii

The most delicious pizza ever in Naples

Capri

Mt. Vesuvius

Congratulations!

I just wanted to say a quick word of congratulations to one of my closest friends Kelsey Waidmann for becoming Kelsey Davis! The description of her wedding was absolutely beautiful and I cannot wait to catch up when I get home and hear every detail. I'm so happy for both she and Evan and I know they have an eternity of happiness ahead of them. Love you Kels!

Procrastination..

My apologies for the slow blogging! I will post the remaining four days of Italy as soon as possible! And we will be in Croatia tomorrow! I'm really excited for my fdp to a village with a folk show included. It should be great fun. And just email me to mmwilliams@semesteratsea.net anytime to chat some more!

Ciao Italia!

Italy was absolutely beautiful! The first three days the ship was docked in Naples before moving up to Civitavecchia. I was able to experience so much throughout the seven days but of course, unable to experience it all. I have decided that it will be necessary to return someday and travel to all of the places I didn’t get to this time. I saw some of the most incredible and beautiful places I have ever seen and experienced a few trials as well. Transportation was challenging to figure out and we had quite a few mishaps with trains, buses and metros. Having never previously traveled outside of the country, I had unrealistic expectations for simple directions to desired sites and fast paced public transportation. I will now be so much more knowledgeable if I am able to return to Italy someday. I learned to accept that nothing goes perfectly smooth according to plan and to focus on all of the positives. I think the best way to convey my week in Italy is to give a brief overview of each day so here it goes!

Day 1- July 2
I had a field program through SAS (called an fdp) to the ancient ruins of Pompeii. Most of my close friends on the ship went on the same trip so we were able to walk through Pompeii together and listen to the tour guide. Our guide was a hilarious Italian woman who told us to call her Mama Nancy. She carried around a purple polka dot umbrella all day so it was pretty easy to spot her from afar. We were all given a walkie-talkie device to wear around our necks with a headphone attached in order to listen to her through her mic- perfect tourist attire! Pompeii is around 62 acres in size and still has so many streets, houses, fountains, and even fresco paintings intact. It is unbelievable to imagine a volcanic eruption devastating several entire cities with no warning beforehand. It was easy, however, to imagine the daily life from the layouts of the city streets and of the reduced height of the citizens from the doorways. We walked through a larger house with a courtyard and several rooms as well as a public bathhouse. I have seen photos of the preserved bodies, but it was amazing to see them in person and up close. Most of the bodies were in crouched positions with the arms raised as if to shield their faces. You can also vaguely make out the cringed expressions on their faces. We were so exhausted after Pompeii and headed back to Naples with the bus. Mama Nancy told us about a pizzeria called Brandi that is one of the oldest in Naples circa 1780. We walked around asking people for directions and one woman was on her way to the same street it was on so she told us to follow her. It was so nice. We never would have made it if she hadn’t led us there. It was amazing pizza though. Probably the best I had my entire time in Italy and I ate at least one a day! I ordered the traditional Marguerita pizza most of the time because it always sounded good. We headed back to the ship afterwards to nap, shower and get ready for dinner. And then we had more pizza!

Day 2- July 3
We started off by heading to the train station to buy tickets to Cinque Terre for the next day. Kate had an overnight trip to Capri and we were planning on going there after the train station. It was so difficult to find people who spoke English and could tell us the best route. And then the train schedules weren’t at the best times. But we finally figured it out that we would take the train to Pisa leaving Naples at 5pm on July 4th and getting there at 11pm. We figured we would just stay the night there, see the leaning tower of Pisa, and buy tickets in the morning to La Spezia, and then take a smaller train to the most southern town of Cinque Terre called Riomaggiore. We headed back to the ship to get ready and then took the ferry over to Capri. The whole island was so pretty and we had an amazing day there. We took a small boat tour around the island with a big group of SASers. We got to jump off and swim for a while too! The main disappointment was that the Blue Grotto was closed for the entire day because it was too windy and the water was too choppy. We still had such a great experience but I know that I need to return to Capri to see the Blue Grotto and go up to the smaller town of Anacapri.

Day 3- July 4
Happy Independence Day America! We had another challenging morning of taking the tram to the smaller train station to figure out how to take a train to Ercolano and then a bus up to Mt. Vesuvius. The hike was intense but now I can say that I’ve hiked to the top of an active volcano! The views were amazing and it was really cool to see the huge crater from where it exploded. We headed back to pack up and leave for the train station. Kate was napping when we got back to the ship. She had an amazing time in Capri and Anacapri. So then Tim, Jeremy, Kate, Mary, Cedar and I were off to Pisa and on to Cinque Terre! The six-hour train ride wasn’t too bad. I caught up on journaling and we all got to sleep for a while. We walked around for a while in Pisa and found a hostel for all six of us to stay at. It was 15 euro and really clean. Mary, Cedar, Kate and I got two private rooms with a queen size bed to share. And then Tim and Jeremy had a couple of other bunk beds in their room with other travelers. We got around 5 hours off sleep and free wifi to skype!

Espana!

Barcelona was such a great experience. Sorry to have waited so long to blog. There is so much to do in so little time. I went on an SAS trip to Montserrat, which is a beautiful Benedictine monk retreat in the mountains. The cathedral was stunning and we sat in the pews for a short service in Latin. The next day Mary, Cedar, Kate and I traveled to La Sagrada Familia- a cathedral designed by the architect Gaudi. Construction began in the 18th century and is predicted to be finished in 2080. The detail both inside and out was amazing. We tried to find Park Guell (a park also designed by Gaudi, full of mosaics and unique buildings) but the directions were confusing. We traveled around the city using the metro. It was simple, safe and clean so it was perfect. That night, we all went to a bar made completely of ice. They give you a puffy silver jacket and gloves to wear before you enter and you can only stay inside around half an hour because of the temperature. It was so cool! The walls, ceiling, benches, table, decorations, even the glasses were made of ice. We made it to Park Guell the third day and also climbed a huge hill overlooking all of Barcelona. I will try to update with pictures sometime in Italy. The four of us went to a flamenco show that we had reserved tickets for the previous day. It included tapas, which are basically smaller portions of dishes or snacks, and a glass of sangria. I didn't really know what to expect of the flamenco performance, I just imagined women dancing in extravagant dresses. But it turned out to be one of our best experiences in Spain. The guitarists, male singers, and both the male and female dancers conveyed so much passion and emotion through their body movements and facial expressions. And we sat in the front row! Our last day in Spain, we strolled up and down the main street La Rambla. We went to La Boqueria, the outdoor marketplace, and discovered just how little of the animal the Spanish waste. I realize that I am being ethnocentric of their culture, but I was slightly more than a little surprised to see the entire pigs, chickens, sheep heads, hooves, cow tongues and stomach for sale. I loved all of the bright fruit stands though! We ate at a little lunch bar in the middle of La Boqueria that a local told my friend Rosie about. It was delicious. And a man named Manuel who was sitting right next to us had a conversation with us in basic Spanish and kissed us all on both cheeks goodbye. He was so sweet. Over the four days, I tried seafood paella, tortilla de patatas, manchego cheese, chocolate con churros, sparkling wine, and sangria of course. We only had one day in between and then we just arrived in Naples, Italy today! I went to the ruins of Pompeii today and tried my first real Italian pizza! I will update with more soon!!

Ship Life!

I am in love with the MV Explorer! I got used to the rocking motion and the sounds of the engine in our room really quickly and know I absolutely love being on the ship. The endless ocean view surrounding us is indescribable. I wish I could post a photo, but even then it wouldn't be able to capture it. There are large windows in all the classrooms, so it's really easy to stare out into the distance (while fully paying attention of course). It's also amazing to be able to walk out of any door to stand on a deck overlooking nothing but ocean as far as you can see. I found a quiet study area right on the back of the ship on the outside area of deck 5. The back of the ship is the calmest so it's very peaceful. My Religions of the Modern Mediterranean and Intro to Cultural Anthropology courses are really interesting. And the Global Studies course that everyone takes is nice because it incorporates elements of the history of all the countries we will be visiting. As of right now, I am 6 hours ahead of California time and I believe we'll be 9 hours ahead by the time we reach Spain. Which is only 5 days away! I can't believe it. We lose yet another hour of sleep tonight, which will be the third night in a row... Zombie mode activate! It's really difficult to complete all of the required readings for the classes each night, participate in any social aspect of the ship, and get enough sleep. So far, sleep has been the main priority for me. We go to all three classes every day so it's really easy to fall behind. And our midterms are right before we get into Spain, so study groups come highly recommended by the faculty. I went to a presentation on dining out in Spain last night. It made me more excited to hear about all of the foods to eat and what to stay away from.. Spaniards enjoy eating bull testicles and barnacles apparently. The most exciting news about recent food on the ship: brie cheese was served with lunch the other day (so good on the dinner rolls) and pineapple upside down cake squares for dessert! I had 2 at lunch and 2 at snack haha. I signed up for the dependent child care program (babysitting for the faculty's kids) and the extended family program where you are matched up with a lifelong learner and a few other students to have several "family dinners" on the voyage and have a support system. I also signed up for yoga club (my friend Ashley is instructing), ASL club (Meghan is instructing), Argentine tango lessons, and Harry Potter Club! I'm hoping I'll be able to fit most of them into my schedule..

Officially En Route to Spain!

It felt so surreal to be waiting in line and then to actually walk up to the ship to board yesterday. It took around an hour total. Not too bad, but the Bahamian heat was not very forgiving (aka dripping sweat). Oh and I forgot to post in the Bahamas entry, but a gallon of gas there costs $5.50-$5.75. Crazy right? Kate and I were so lucky with the room we were assigned on the ship though. Our Minnesota friends Ashley and Meghan boarded the ship a day early for work study and let us know that they saw our name tags on our room. We paid for economy- the cheapest option- and got a cabin on deck 3! And we are only one room away from theirs. Such exciting news. The only thing is that it’s right over the engine so it’s a tad loud and we can feel the vibrations haha. But we absolutely love it, and it’s so nice being unpacked and organized. Last night consisted of lunch, a lifeboat drill, dinner, and then a welcome meeting and meetings with smaller groups according to the deck you’re on. We have been getting to know a lot of nice people around the ship too. Today, we have meetings scheduled from 9am to 9:30pm. The main room that everyone will take Global Studies in and in which they have lectures is called the Union. You can feel the motion of the rocking ship really easily in the Union and in the front of the ship in general, so it’s really difficult to stay awake. Kate and I went back to the room after the first couple of lectures and discovered that they’re already broadcasting them on our cabin TVs. We were happy to relax in our room and watch. My free email is mmwilliams@semesteratsea.net, so email me as much as you all want! I will update soon with another entry.

Hellooo Bahamas!

Nassau is incredibly beautiful! Clear, turquoise colored water with soft white sand. Right when Kate and I got to the hotel, we saw our two roommates from Minnesota- Ashley and Meghan- waiting for us. It was perfect. We went up to the room to shower before heading down to the beach. The weather is very humid here, so I'm showering a lot more than usual! We got coconut drinks on the beach from a local, but he kind of ripped us off with the price haha. Ashley also found a dead floating starfish in the water. (Yes we are sure it was really dead. We even checked with a local.) After a few necessary photos, Ashley decided she wanted to keep it. We were told we would have to cut it open and extract all of the insides for it to not smell horrible but we thought we would let it dry out on our balcony for a while. Unfortunately, the decomposition became too much so he had to go.

Meghan, Ashley, Kate and I

 We have met a lot of people going on the voyage with us these past three days, especially from our hotel. Everyone has seemed really nice, but the majority do seem to be preoccupied with alcohol.. We got really lucky with the group of girls we met on the first day. We love our hotel roomies Ashley and Meghan, the girls are hilarious. We also met Mary and Cedar from Colorado and Rosie from socal. It was pretty exciting that we all get along so well. We went to dinner at Senor Frogs last night (and there again tonight for an SAS meetup), downtown to the straw market this morning, and of course the beach everyday. The currency is really neat looking here and is a dollar per dollar to ours, so you get mixed change when you pay with cash. The only downside to this mini 3 day vacation is how expensive everything is. We haven't wanted to spend too much on food, so we've only eaten 3 real meals here. Other than that, poptarts, goldfish, and dry cereal have been staples in our diets. We board the ship tomorrow morning and cannot wait! It goes by last name so my time to board is 11:30. We also found out that Kate and I will officially be roommates and our room is one door down from Ashley and Meghan's on deck 3!! Greatest news ever. I will be able to email everyone from my free SAS email on the ship so expect to hear from me soon! Oh and I tried fresh conch salad, scorched conch, and conch fritters. Pretty good! And I was the only person to get mosquito bites and I have around 8 huge ones on my legs and arms.

Ashley, Meghan, Cedar, Mary, Kate and I

New hats at the Straw Market

Ashley and starfish

Rosie, Kate and I at Conch Fritters restaurant

Final Countdown

In as little as an hour and a half, I will be off to Nassau, Bahamas. I am currently sitting at the Philadelphia International Airport with my fellow voyager Katie Dutra. The goodbyes were harder to make than expected, but once on the plane, reality finally set in and most of the anxiety was replaced with excitement. After looking forward to this voyage for the past year and imagining what it would be like to be on the ship and in the countries, it still hardly feels real that the time has come to embark on the MV Explorer. I know that this summer will be full of so many new and exciting experiences and sights to see. I am determined to fully appreciate every moment and I can only hope that time won't pass by too quickly. I promise to update with entries as often as possible and with photos when I can access wifi in the ports. Internet time is limited on the ship and I won't have use of my phone, so I will post my free Semester at Sea email (easiest way to contact me) as soon as they are assigned. I have to admit I am looking forward to being disconnected from my world for a bit. Well that's all for now. I will post photos of the Bahamas before departing on the 17th!

Oh, the Places I Will Go!

So I thought I would post some further detail about the places I will be visiting. I don't have many concrete plans, but I did register for eight Semester at Sea directed field programs. Some of the ones I signed up for will also fulfill a requirement for different assignments in my classes. The first stop on the itinerary is Nassau, Bahamas where I will be staying at the Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort with three other girls going on the voyage. I can't wait to be relaxing on the beach! Unfortunately, I will be missing the momentous 20th birthday of M.Chinn on June 15th, but I have already promised that I will make it up to her with amazing souvenirs and gifts upon my return. 

Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort

La Sagrada Familia- Gaudi's Cathedral

We will then board the MV Explorer on June 17th, and embark to Barcelona, Spain. I plan on exploring the city and especially the works of famous architect Antoni Gaudi. I also have a day trip through SAS to Montserrat Monastery, a beautiful Benedictine monk retreat in the mountains. In Italy, I plan on traveling to the island of Capri, the city of Rome of course, and to Florence and Cinque Terre. My only scheduled trip is to the ruins of Pompeii. The day after we depart from Italy, one of my best friends will be getting married back home. The date of July 9th was chosen just recently, and even though I won't be there for the actual day of the wedding, I am so very excited for Kelsey. I know that they have a lifetime of happiness ahead of them and so much more. I do get to attend her bridal shower this weekend, and hopefully we will be able to skype on the day before her most special of days. I am extremely excited for Croatia and plan on touring the city walls in the old city, perhaps kayaking around the island of Lokrum,  and hopefully traveling to either Montenegro or Mostar. I also have a trip to the Osojnik village which includes a traditional meal from a host family and a folk show. 

Cinque Terre, Italy

Dubrovnik, Croatia

For Greece, I hope to tour Athens and the ancient Acropolis, and I would love to visit Santorini and perhaps another island. I'm not exactly sure what to expect in Varna, Bulgaria (still really bummed they had to replace the Alexandria, Egypt port), but I do have two SAS trips scheduled: one is a service visit to an orphanage and the other a visit to a Bulgarian village. Istanbul, Turkey is sure to be amazing. I will see the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, and the Grand Bazaar. I also want to experience a traditional Turkish bath. And I have a two day trip scheduled to Cappadocia!  So excited. 

Santorini, Greece

Cappadocia, Turkey

Camel Trek in Morocco 

In Morocco, I am participating in the three day trip to Marrakech, with a camel trek in the Palm Groves. I have also read that the market places and the Jardin Majorelle are must-sees. I still have to book my flight home from Boston, and I hope to stay overnight to explore a little. This summer is sure to be unbelievable! Only two weeks away!

Eighteen.

My temporary home for the summer.

The number of days until I leave for the most amazing experience of my life thus far has reached eighteen. Time has flown by so quickly since I applied for the study abroad program called Semester at Sea a little over a year ago. What started out as an unbelievable dream will so soon become a reality. In less than three weeks, I will fly to the Bahamas to depart on the MV Explorer en route to Spain, Italy, Croatia, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey and Morocco. I figured that a blog would   be the best way to keep in touch with friends and family and to update everyone on my travels, so here it goes. As of right now, I am filled with excitement of course, but also anxiety. I still have a lot to prepare for with the necessary packing and planning for the 70 day adventure. I will also be taking three classes on the ship: Global Studies, Religions of the Modern Mediterranean, and Cultural Anthropology. I know that my experiences both on the ship and off exploring and applying firsthand what we will study in the classroom setting will open my mind and change my perspective of the world entirely. I am so grateful for this opportunity and for the greater appreciation that comes with all of the hard work it has taken me to get here. I would also like to thank everyone who has supported me including my entire family, my good friends Madison Chinn and Kelsey Waidmann (along with the entire Waidmann family- they have been so wonderful!), the boy Todd Seydel, and the generous donation of the Lincoln Rotary Club as well. I will be forever grateful to all of you.