Now that I've taken the "long way" across the Atlantic, I'm gonna refer to airplanes as Time Machines from now on, because compared to a ship they truly are. Seriously- you can't really appreciate how huge the world is until you slowly drift across it at about 15 nautical mph. We actually ended up a bit ahead of schedule due to the relatively good sailing conditions most of the way (apart from last Thursday, a few hundred miles from the coast- that got pretty exciting), and cut the engines off completely for a few minutes today. It was a deafening silence, and really made us aware of all the ambient engine noise that we've since learned to tune out. Anyways, to what I've been up to the past ten days:
I really can't complain about ship life. Leading up to this, former students' biggest complaint has been the food they serve on ship. Well, if that's the biggest gripe they have, then it's smooth sailing from here. It's obviously not great stuff but it's infinitely better than Newcomb, even if the variety isn't astounding (we're in the middle of the Atlantic, so I think I can cut the dining staff some slack). I'll definitely appreciate the weekends even more now, having lived through essentially an eight-day school week with the same three classes every day. On the bright side, my classes seem manageable enough, and all interesting. Anthropology of Tourism is really giving me a new perspective on traveling and being more mindful. A lot of what we talk about in class refers to "third world" or tropical tourism, but many of the same principles apply to Europe, as far as how to make your time abroad as meaningful as possible. I'll be keeping some travel logs of what I do, where, and what I think of it. Also need to talk to local people about a variety of things, so that'll be an interesting challenge for my spanish skills (severely limited) and their english skills (probably as good as mine- you take that for what it's worth).
Despite the fact that I actually had a fair amount of reading to do on the way over, it was definitely an experience I'll never forget. It was strange to essentially be back in First Year, where everyone you meet is new and willing to hang out. The pool is really more of a pond that people sit around and occasionally stand in, but it's definitely the social focal point of deck 7. "Pub Nights" are always fun, too- haven't taken advantage of this as much as some people have, and it's pretty humorous to see how drunk that people get (or more likely, act) after the limit of three measly cans of beer or three comically small glasses of wine. Also, I swear some people have been tanning more than they have been in class, studying, or sleeping combined. Of course, 90% of the students on here are just aiming for grades better than C- here so that the get course credit- but us UVA kids have the enviable situation of whatever grades we get being carried into our GPA. So that could be a blessing or a curse depending on how I do, and I'm doing everything I can to make sure it's the former. Anthro has the most reading for any course that I've heard of so far, as well a lengthy paper due two days after leaving Italy, but I've been under crazier time constraints before and it's one of those classes that's worthwhile enough for me to suck it up.
Apart from flying fish (awesome) in the Caribbean, packs of dolphins near our wake, a whale (which I only saw pictures of, sadly), and amazing sunsets, there really isn't a lot of scenery crossing the Atlantic. On Friday we could see the Azores in the distance, but it was really too hazy on the horizon for it to be terribly dramatic. Entering the Strait of Gibraltar, on the other hand, was truly epic. Africa to our right, and Europe to our left- it's a sight to see after looking at nothing but ocean and sky for more than a week. We were flanked by numerous massive tankers and container ships, all funneling into the relatively narrow 8 mile wide opening between the two continents. Pretty much nobody realized that we'd be "bunkering" (getting refueled) in the Strait until it was announced the day before, so everyone was pretty excited that we'd be able to see the famous Rock of Gibraltar, as well as the continents we'll be in for the next seven weeks. The tanker that came to refuel us swiftly floated over, tied up less than 15 feet away, and sat there for the next several hours until we were good to go (some time after dark). I wish I could post pictures of all this, but it'll have to wait til I have unlimited wifi. When that will be, I'm not sure.
Pretty much all classes had midterms either yesterday or today, and ever since the last classes wrapped up, everybody's been in a fervor discussing their plans for Barcelona. Mine are pretty wide open as of right now, apart from a ticket on the last night to see Kaskade, a famous DJ, play a show at the infamous Opium Mar (a super-sized club in the middle of Barca). It seems like everybody on the ship bought a ticket on the way over, so it'll be a rowdy night, for sure. Everybody's worried about the pickpocket situation, which is obviously a real threat but not if you're smart and aware. Last year apparently 62 people were pickpocketed while the ship was in Barcelona, so maybe we'll have the distinguished honor of topping that mark. I guess that's one way to contribute to the economy...
I was part of a team who won third place in The Amazing Race: SAS Edition- just like the tv show, with riddles and all. We finished just well enough to make top three, meaning we get to be part of the first 24 people (8 on each team) to leave the ship. Out of an entire population of about 900, that's quite a significant cut to the front of the line. But, that also means I need to be up rather early, and therefore need to at least try to sleep. Barcelona doesn't get going at night til about 1AM, after all, so I need to get rested up for some absurdly late nights. I'll probably not be able to write again til I say hasta la vista to Espana.
Buenos noches!
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Ten Days Later: Finally in the Mediterranean
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Bahamas!
Well it's barely been 24 hours, but they've been some very busy hours. On Wednesday morning, woke up at 4am to catch the connecting flight to Atlanta, then the final leg down to Nassau. Let's just say that by 4pm that yesterday I was feeling exhausted...
Pretty much right after getting to the hotel, my parents and I took one of the buses down to the Port area to see the ship (from afar), the Straw Market (wall to wall vendors selling Bahamian crafts and typical souvenir junk), the Queen's Staircase, and the infamous Senor Frog's. On the bus, the three of us were surprisingly the only three tourists aboard. The people who live here are very friendly- whenever somebody got on the bus, they'd announce "good afternoon!" to the other riders, who responded in kind. Imagine that on a city bus or the metro in the US- can you? Not a chance, not even in friendly ol' Virginny.
I quickly realized the reason we were the only clueless tourists on the bus was that almost all of the others were filing back onto their massive cruise ships at the docks. The downtown area is bizarrely empty after the ships load up. The Queen's Staircase, one of the most famous landmarks, was literally deserted when we made our way to it. The top of the Staircase was just as empty, apart from a group of bored-looking local kids and a pack of feral dogs (though they looked friendly enough to me!). It was scorchingly hot out, so maybe fewer locals were out-and-about than usual, but there's no question that the population of this place rollercoasters up and down as cruiseships come and go during the day.
Today has consisted of waking up early again (thankfully not 4am early), getting breakfast then taking a shuttle down to one of the local snorkel/scuba companies. My un-certified status and my lame sinuses prevented scuba from being an option, but I feel like snorkeling at the Bahamas is just as good. Tons of coral formations, tropical reefs and fish, sharks (!) as well as a sunken plane and ship. Because of how warm and crystal-clear the water is, many movies have filmed their underwater scenes here, from James Bond to Jaws (the third sequel, at least...). One of the workers said that their dock area was the town from Flipper, and surprised me further by saying that Elijah Wood was in that movie. Going back to the "sharks" part: the snorkelers were able to get in the water and, holding onto a rope, watch sharks and other giant fish swarming a feeding area near a shipwreck about 30 feet below. We were told to keep out arms and legs from moving too much, lest we attract the attention of the friendly fellows swimming beneath us. After everyone climbed back on, the crew used some fish as bait, which instantly lured the sharks and fish up to the surface. The captain then speared one of the fish, whose blood triggered a feeding frenzy. One girl, who had a waterproof digital camera, had the guy shoot video holding it under the surface right next to the bait. Talk about some AWESOME footage! They were Grey Reef Sharks ("only" 8-10 feet long, with babies closer to 4 or 5), which are certainly nothing like Great Whites but their agility as they swerved and lounged at that poor wounded fish was still pretty remarkable. Next on the checklist? Shark cage- but that'll have to wait for another time
Since snorkeling, I've just been relaxing at the hotel, and finishing up some last minute required reading (literally every student around is reading the same book, too... pretty amusing). Tonight all the parents that made the trip down get to go on the ship to tour and have some food, while me and likely a ton of other SASers trek down to Senor Frog's. Thanks to the closeness of "C" to the beginning of the alphabet, my boarding time is 8:20AM, which means waking up at about 6:30 (These early mornings just won't leave me alone!) so I'll have to be efficient at Frog's later, since rolling back to the hotel at 5am would be a poor choice indeed
Til next time, when I'll be aboard my Summer home
Pretty much right after getting to the hotel, my parents and I took one of the buses down to the Port area to see the ship (from afar), the Straw Market (wall to wall vendors selling Bahamian crafts and typical souvenir junk), the Queen's Staircase, and the infamous Senor Frog's. On the bus, the three of us were surprisingly the only three tourists aboard. The people who live here are very friendly- whenever somebody got on the bus, they'd announce "good afternoon!" to the other riders, who responded in kind. Imagine that on a city bus or the metro in the US- can you? Not a chance, not even in friendly ol' Virginny.
I quickly realized the reason we were the only clueless tourists on the bus was that almost all of the others were filing back onto their massive cruise ships at the docks. The downtown area is bizarrely empty after the ships load up. The Queen's Staircase, one of the most famous landmarks, was literally deserted when we made our way to it. The top of the Staircase was just as empty, apart from a group of bored-looking local kids and a pack of feral dogs (though they looked friendly enough to me!). It was scorchingly hot out, so maybe fewer locals were out-and-about than usual, but there's no question that the population of this place rollercoasters up and down as cruiseships come and go during the day.
Today has consisted of waking up early again (thankfully not 4am early), getting breakfast then taking a shuttle down to one of the local snorkel/scuba companies. My un-certified status and my lame sinuses prevented scuba from being an option, but I feel like snorkeling at the Bahamas is just as good. Tons of coral formations, tropical reefs and fish, sharks (!) as well as a sunken plane and ship. Because of how warm and crystal-clear the water is, many movies have filmed their underwater scenes here, from James Bond to Jaws (the third sequel, at least...). One of the workers said that their dock area was the town from Flipper, and surprised me further by saying that Elijah Wood was in that movie. Going back to the "sharks" part: the snorkelers were able to get in the water and, holding onto a rope, watch sharks and other giant fish swarming a feeding area near a shipwreck about 30 feet below. We were told to keep out arms and legs from moving too much, lest we attract the attention of the friendly fellows swimming beneath us. After everyone climbed back on, the crew used some fish as bait, which instantly lured the sharks and fish up to the surface. The captain then speared one of the fish, whose blood triggered a feeding frenzy. One girl, who had a waterproof digital camera, had the guy shoot video holding it under the surface right next to the bait. Talk about some AWESOME footage! They were Grey Reef Sharks ("only" 8-10 feet long, with babies closer to 4 or 5), which are certainly nothing like Great Whites but their agility as they swerved and lounged at that poor wounded fish was still pretty remarkable. Next on the checklist? Shark cage- but that'll have to wait for another time
Since snorkeling, I've just been relaxing at the hotel, and finishing up some last minute required reading (literally every student around is reading the same book, too... pretty amusing). Tonight all the parents that made the trip down get to go on the ship to tour and have some food, while me and likely a ton of other SASers trek down to Senor Frog's. Thanks to the closeness of "C" to the beginning of the alphabet, my boarding time is 8:20AM, which means waking up at about 6:30 (These early mornings just won't leave me alone!) so I'll have to be efficient at Frog's later, since rolling back to the hotel at 5am would be a poor choice indeed
Til next time, when I'll be aboard my Summer home
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
T Minus Seven Days
Months ago when I was thinking ahead to the four weeks that I would have between exams ending and SAS beginning, it seemed like I'd have too much free time to handle. As it turns out, it flew by pretty damn fast. That's not necessarily a bad thing- it just means I've been busy. Getting out on the water a bit, fishing, reliving high school soccer days by watching my school's Regional Tournament run, and I was even fortunate enough to see some friends who I haven't seen nearly enough since college started. Despite being a bum for the past month, at least I've been active.
On the travel side of things, I've been pretty good at preparing/shopping for things in small spurts over the course of the month, but had yet to really pack anything until today (What, did you think I could avoid procrastination completely?). With pretty much everything packed except for clothes, now I'm kind of at a loss for what to do. The organization emailed everybody today, telling us to "mentally prep ourselves for the journey", or something like that. I've been away from home for a long time before- a three week roadtrip from Montana down to Nevada back in 2004 and several shorter instances since then- but 68 days takes the cake. The obvious difference is being "alone" (if one ignores the 700 other students and 300 other crew/faculty) vs with family. Having been through college for three years, though, this isn't really that big of a deal to me. For someone fresh out of high school, I can see it as being a bit more daunting. I'm not sure what kind of prepping I should be doing, so I guess I'll just keep doing the same ol things I've been doing since wrapping up the semester, and continuing to not freak out about the trip.
For the record, I am VERY excited... just not stressed
On the travel side of things, I've been pretty good at preparing/shopping for things in small spurts over the course of the month, but had yet to really pack anything until today (What, did you think I could avoid procrastination completely?). With pretty much everything packed except for clothes, now I'm kind of at a loss for what to do. The organization emailed everybody today, telling us to "mentally prep ourselves for the journey", or something like that. I've been away from home for a long time before- a three week roadtrip from Montana down to Nevada back in 2004 and several shorter instances since then- but 68 days takes the cake. The obvious difference is being "alone" (if one ignores the 700 other students and 300 other crew/faculty) vs with family. Having been through college for three years, though, this isn't really that big of a deal to me. For someone fresh out of high school, I can see it as being a bit more daunting. I'm not sure what kind of prepping I should be doing, so I guess I'll just keep doing the same ol things I've been doing since wrapping up the semester, and continuing to not freak out about the trip.
For the record, I am VERY excited... just not stressed
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