Gone from Ghana and Neptune Day

Me at Elmina Castle a 2nd time and Kakum Nat'l Park canopy
September 25
Ghana Day 4

I forgot to talk about my ‘exciting’ taxi ride back to the ship last night. Fred got us a taxi (there were four of us) and on the way back we were stopped at a police barricade. The police officer leaned in and him and the driver began talking in another language. When he wasn’t letting us through I knew something was up. Then the guard said, “License. Let me see your license.” Apparently the driver did not have a license (I get the feeling many of them don’t). So our taxi driver gets out of the car and walks away, out of sight. Meanwhile, the four of us are just sitting and waiting. I asked the guard if we should find another cab. He told us no. The driver reappeared and began talking furiously with the cop. A man walked over and introduced himself as the brother of the guard who was an off-duty detective visiting his brother. He gave us his card and told us to call him if we were in trouble. The driver peaked inside the car and opened the ashtray which revealed a wad of money. I was pretty sure this meant a bribe. He later grabbed some money and slipped it discreetly to the cop who let us pass. We didn’t really feel that we were in danger through any of this.
Today I was signed up for Kakum National park and Elmina Castle (again). We left the boat at 6am so needless to say I tried to sleep on the 3 hour drive. We first went to Kakum which was a large jungle with a high tree canopy and is famous for its canopy bridges. The bridges extended from tree to tree 1,100 feet and were about 100-130 feet in the air. After walking the bridge we took a brief hike back during which I caught a short glimpse of an anteater which (after consulting Wikipedia) might have been a scaly Pangolin. Our tour guide told us it was an anteater (it had just fallen out of a tree) though I barely got a look at it. For all I knew it was a large lizard with a short tail.
We left Kakum and went to Elmina Castle (which I’d already been to) where I filmed additional footage for my documentary class. One thing I missed the first time here was there’s a roomful of bats that are hanging from the dungeon ceiling. There’s guano all over the floor and it smelled pretty bad. We left Elmina and headed back to the ship. When we got back to Accra, everyone had the same idea of getting rid of their cedis. There were a ton of chocolate, plantain, water, and sugar cane venders that rushed up to our bus. I bought a lot of Ghanaian chocolate from them for all of you back home.
We made our way back to the ship only a little late which didn’t matter. I’ve already told you what I think of Ghana and how it is a really friendly country. It does have a corrupt side to it as well as a good deal of poverty. However, that doesn’t mean the country is hopeless. They have heavy development here and after Obama’s visit they appear to be ready to make a lot of progress. It’ll be interesting to see what happens to Ghana in the future.
The next day we were at sea and crossing the equator for the first time. This meant it was Neptune Day. “Neptune” and his wife (it was the ship’s captain in green body paint and a wig and his wife) came aboard and initiated us, poliwags (people who’ve never crossed by sea), through bizarre rituals. All of us had some colorful substance (I’m still not sure what it was but it washes out) poured over our head. Many people brought swimsuits but some of us (myself included) had shorts and a t-shirt (my roommate had pants). After we had the stuff poured on us we jumped into the pool which after a while got a reddish-brown color. We then had to kiss a fish, were dubbed “shellback”, and then had to kiss the king’s ring and the queen’s hand. Then people had their heads shaved which is a common tradition on the boat. Even some girls had their heads shaved. I did not have my hair shaved but I was really debating it. Now there are a lot of chemo-patients, cult members, and white supremacists walking around the ship. Hopefully when we get to our next stop, Cape Town, South Africa, they don’t think we’re a bunch of white supremacists.

"I'm Trapped Inside a National Geographic Documentary"

September 24
Ghana Day 3

First off, this post is shorter so its a good one to read (I know all of my previous posts are insanely long so here's a break). Tomorrow's post should be short too. I'm writing this post 2 days after it happened.
I think I might be under the influence of some anti-diarrhea pills (I took some just in case after eating the local food at Fred’s) while I write so if there are some discrepancies, don’t blame me. Today, I’m signed up to for what is called the Torgorme Village experience. I got on the bus and met one of my friends on the bus who was also on the trip. The bus headed north-east, passing through really pretty countryside. There were large rock hills with trees covering them. Our first stop that we came to after about an hour and half of traveling (we went away from traffic so it wasn’t too bad) was the Torgorme village. The village was located in a forested area. Upon entering the village itself, we were greeted by hundreds of kids who ran up to the bus waving to us. They were all genuinely excited to see us. We walked under the canopy of some trees which were in front of their village center where the villagers were waiting to greet us. I remember there were a man and a woman on the microphone: the man was saying ‘Akwaaba’ (welcome) and other things in their language while the woman constantly shouted “You are welcome” (constantly).
As we walked to take our seats, we walked around the edge of the circle where the elders and chief shook our hands. While we were entering, some local children were playing the drums. Most children were wearing their school uniforms but others had colorful dresses and sashes. After sitting down they welcomed us with a dance by some of the local children who were accompanied by drums. It was about this time that I realized I felt like I was in a National Geographic program. The chief could not speak directly to us for some reason and therefore had someone else read his welcome to us. There were more welcome statements and then a dance in which we all joined in, dancing around in a circle. Then there was a ceremony in which we were given tribal names and a pot with our names on it and a bracelet. My name was Yao (based on the day of the week I was born) Mawutor- Mawutor meaning “God’s Own” which was kind of a letdown because I wanted something like “Brave one” or “strong”. Anyway, we sat and enjoyed the children dancing for us. While sitting, there was a fight that broke out between two of the tribe kids (about 8 years old). Surprisingly the elders didn’t seem to notice or if they did they didn’t care (eventually a girl stopped it). Also, some kids were messing around with an elderly woman who had danced earlier. One thumped her on the back of the head and she turned around and started whipping them with her stick while the kids ran away laughing. After the ceremony we played around with the kids for a couple minutes and left with kids chasing us. I only got to see a limited view of the village itself but it looked like it had decent housing (everything I describe about other countries is relatively speaking).
After this we drove to lunch which was at what I think was a military school or something (it had a mess hall however the premises were completely empty). We had a rice ball and a peanut soup with chicken in it (it looked like what we had at Fred’s the night before) and jollof rice. After this we drove to what is called Shai Hills reserve which is a vast region with the large rock outcroppings covered in trees. The surrounding are of these hills are mainly tall grasslands with trees scattered around (it looked like the Africa you see in movies). We drove around for a few minutes and went to one of the hills. We hiked up it and went into a cave that was once used by a tribe (they were driven out by the British) and was now occupied by bats. There were a lot of flies (everyone freaked out because we thought they were mosquitoes) and parts of the cave were covered in guano (bat crap). We left the cave and headed back to the bus. While leaving the park we spotted some antelope way off in the distance. We left the park and went to a different section to see if we could see some baboons. We walked through a small (empty) community where some baboons apparently frequented, but did not see any. We eventually did see some on a side road but only a short glimpse. We got back on the bus and drove back to Tema.
Fred told us the day before that we could return to his house if we wanted to and to bring a few others. We got back to the boat and I asked my roommate if he wanted to come and he agreed. Also, my friend Pat came along to (he had dinner with friend the night before I did). Our bus shuttle ran an hour late, but we eventually met him at the gas station and he took us the five minutes to his house. His oldest sister Olivia made the same dish I had the previous day for the people who weren’t there the day before. I got yams and beef which tasted way better than the other dish which wasn’t that bad but really strong. His mom was awake to talk to us and she told us that she was a seamstress. One of the girls in our group bought some bracelets and the mom restrung them for her. We all talked for a while longer and then eventually said our goodbye’s to the gracious family and left to head back to the shuttle. Originally, my roommate, Pat, and I were going to find an internet cafe so I could finally upload my pictures. However since there was only one more shuttle and we didn’t want to have to grab a cab, we decided to take the shuttle. We said our goodbyes to Fred by shaking hands. One thing I forgot to mention was after you shake hands with people, you snap your fingers with theirs. We all got on the shuttle and went back to the boat. Its amazing the different kinds of people you meet. I met Fred through word of mouth and everyone sort of passed him around and he didn’t seem to mind one bit. There are very few people in the United States who would invite random tourists (especially one’s as loud and obnoxious as we were) into their homes. I know I’ll probably never see my friend Fred again but I have his Facebook and hopefully we’ll keep in touch. Tomorrow I have a field trip to Kakum National park and the Elmina slave castle (again).

Castles and Real African Hospitality

View from Elmina Castle and Fred
September 23
Ghana Day 2

Today I was signed up to go on what’s called the Slave Dungeons and Castles. We left early in the morning (as usual) and drove 3 hours north (it probably would’ve been shorter if not for Ghanaian traffic which is just as bad if not worse than LA traffic). Outside the city like many other countries is not as nice as we saw along the drive out. However, I just wanted to point out that our definition of poverty is way different than their definition which is more basic. What we consider poor is average for them and nothing to be ashamed of. We drove further and saw some of the surrounding countryside which was nice. Our first stop was the Cape Coast slave castle which was situated on some low beachside cliffs. The castle was a dungeon primarily for slaves ready to be sent across the Atlantic, but also was a defensive stronghold against pirates and such. It was originally built by the Swedish in the mid 1600s and was captured by the English later and utilized by them.
Throughout the tour I was filming for my documentary class (I decided to get some footage of the castle. I really didn’t like filming because while you record you only focus on what’s in the camera and not what’s really around you. I wanted to look around and enjoy the tour but instead I had to get footage for my class. This caused me to fall behind a little and one of the tour guides started a conversation with me. It turns out he has an ancestor who was a slave there. It was a man who was part of a pair of twins: he was very strong and lived a long time as a slave and his twin brother died. I told him about my film project and he insisted that I film him. I ended up getting a really good, in-depth interview with one of the tour-guides (this was actually my original intention for this trip, except I thought I was too ambitious to actually get an interview). This was in fact the same castle that Obama visited and our tour guide was the tour guide of Obama. Around the castle was a fishing area and my tour-guide friend (named Enoch) told me that one of their past presidents was actually a fisherman like the kids (there were kids sorting fish nets) that were on the beach working.
After this, we continued on to lunch which was at Coconut Grove Beach Resort. As we drove there, we saw a massive amount of people (a couple thousand) congregating along a small water channel that lead to the ocean. It turned out to be a fish market. The fisherman brought their catch here and the women smoked the fish (the smell was strong) over grates. This was probably one of the most amazing things I’ve seen so far. The Elmina Castle (our stop after lunch) overlooked this human sea. Lunch consisted of sandwiches with seafood meats and hot dog slices and fries. We also got fresh coconut juice and a warm cocoa drink (cocoa being their main export) with lunch. The hotel was located along a beach that looked like it had been moved from the Caribbean. Palm trees in the sand, straw huts, smooth sand, humid weather and blue water really fooled me into thinking I wasn’t in Ghana, Africa anymore. Also, the hotel had an overgrown golf course with white-heron-type birds scattered about it.
After lunch we went to the Elmina Castle which was built by the Portuguese in 1482. According to Wikipedia, it is the oldest European building in existence below the Sahara. The fort was seized by the Dutch and was used for the Atlantic slave trade (it was later taken by the English and used for the same purpose). We got a similar tour as the one at the Cape Coast castle. We saw the dungeons, cells which were tiny but ‘housed’ hundreds at a time in one cell. The tour guides were very passionate and continued to make the point that the castles serve as reminders of the dark past of colonialism in Africa and they want the castles to prevent something like this ever happening again.
After the castle (I left out many details because I wanted to get to tonight), we drove about 4 hours back to the ship and I had a late dinner. I was planning on taking it easy that night because I’d had little sleep the previous night. A lot of people knew the local friend Fred, however I couldn’t find anyone who was going that night to have dinner with him, so I showered and got ready for an early sleep. However, I got a knock on the door and it was one of the girls who I went with the previous night around town with the students. She said she wanted to go to Fred’s house and need someone to go with. I was the only one willing and I told here I’d go with her. We left late actually, around 9:00 and met Fred at the gas station. Before this we decided to get some gifts (which consisted of cookies and (believe it or not) Obama Biscuits) for the family as was customary.
He led us back towards the bar from the first night and then a few minutes further to his home. Along the way we ducked into a bar to say hello to his sister (Ophelia) who was a waiter. At the bar there was a guitarist, keyboardist, and old man who looked like a blues singer hanging out. As we walked back down the street, Fred pointed out women along the street with short skirts who were (you guessed it) prostitutes. I was surprised by their commonality along the road (it was only this street that I’d seen them). What was interesting to me was I noticed to prostitutes stop one of the local girls and buy water from her. This was interesting because on one had you have the “risky” women of the night and on the other you have an innocent girl wearing traditional clothes. Both are trying to make a living but in completely different ways.
Fred lives in Estates, which are fairly nice homes (relatively speaking) but not upper scale. The household is extremely quaint and welcoming. Fred is the youngest sibling and lives with an elder sister and his brother/sister twins as well as his mom (who is a seamstress that makes bags to sell). The brother works for a roofing company, the twin sister of him works at a bar (we visited her on the way), and the sister does a lot of house chores. Besides me and the girl (Ashley from NY), there were 2 other girls who Fred had met earlier and taken around town and to the beaches, just like he did with my friends’ group the first day. We sat and talked with his family in his living room/dining room (it wasn’t a very big house at all) while his eldest sister made dinner for me and Ashley. She made us what is called ‘Banku’, which is a ball of mashed corn meal that becomes doughy, and a stew with beef and crab (a whole small crab) with tomato sauce and okra. The way you eat it is with your hands: you take some banku with your fingers and dip it into the broth and eat it that way. It was pretty spicy but not bad. I had a plastic bag filled with water (equivalent to one U.S. water bottle- apparently, you can get 30 of these decent sized bags of water for 1 dollar) along with my meal. I had dinner on the ship before hand because I had no idea I was going out and I didn’t want to offend them by not eating it all, so I ate as much as I could. To eat the grab you crush the abdomen with your fingers (it’s a small crab) and suck out the meats inside. The way Fred did it (and I tried the same way just for the sake of culture) was he ate the crab whole, exoskeleton and all. It was very crunchy.
It was late and the four of us (including the other SAS girls) missed the last shuttle so we had to get a cab. Fred felt skeptical of the cabs too so he hailed one and told him where to go, what price, etc. and also took a picture of his license plate, etc. After stopping for gas, the driver headed back for Tema along the coastal route. We stopped at a police checkpoint and the policeman on duty (instead of waving us through as they usually do) stopped us. He talked to the driver in a different language and they began to argue. I heard the word license and when I saw the driver not reach for his license, I knew this was not good. The police-guard told the guy to get out of the car, leaving us clueless in the car at the checkpoint. I wasn’t too worried because if something happened to our driver, we could easily grab another taxi. As it so happened, the brother of the guard was there (he’s a detective, but he was off duty visiting his brother) and he came over and talked to us as if the driver-issue was not even occurring. The guard continued waving people through while the driver paced. I asked if we would need to hail another cab and he said we might because they were going to arrest out driver. After arguing with the guard, our driver looked through his ashtray which had money in it which led me to believe he might bribe the cop. As it turned out, I was right. The driver grabbed some money from the tray, very covertly slipped it to the cop and we were on our merry way. The driver said that cops don’t like cab drivers, especially when they drive white people/tourists around because they think they’ll take advantage of them. The driver was nice and gave us a good price so this may support otherwise. This was a fantastic night when I truly got to experience Ghanaian hospitality. The kindness of these people is overwhelming and makes you wonder why they do it. The question, I found out on my own, is not why they do it, but why we (US) don’t do it. Ghana is an extremely hospitable country, but not the only one. The tour guide back at the Cape Coast castle invited me to come back to Ghana and stay with him (he was getting married next year apparently). The lesson here is everyone back home needs to open up a little and be more flexible… or invite Japanese tourists into their home and serve them food and confuse them. (As usual, something’s probably been left out. I’m writing this a day late like the last post. And too tired to spell/grammar check.)

Never Ghana Forget and Welcome Mr. Obama

September 22
Ghana Day 1

Today we arrived in Ghana a little late at about 8:30am. After breakfast, my roommate and I headed down to our bus for the Accra city tour. We unloaded from the ship (I was the third student off the ship into Ghana if that means anything) and got into our buses. The weather was slightly humid but definitely not uncomfortable. We left after 10:00 and drove out of the port. We actually arrived in Tema, Ghana which is a port city about 30 minutes away from Accra the capital. They have a shuttle service that takes people between the port and a gas station in Accra.
On our tour bus on the way to Accra I saw a ton of cool things. First I saw the women and some men carrying baskets and assorted objects balanced on their head. We’ve all seen this in documentaries and movies, but it’s so cool to see in real life. Our tour guide, Ni, said it is a very habitual thing. Starting at a young age, Ni said he held water buckets on his head with 2 hands, then 1, and finally none. He said when he first realized he was doing it he got excited and dropped the bucket. Also, I saw a bunch of signs for shacks and small independent restaurants with religious “undertones”. This includes God’s Holy Light Barber Shop, God’s Century Batteries, (the list includes things from tires to Holy Mother’s Vacuums) and also a Coca-Cola sign that had an attractive African woman drinking a Coke and next to her in white letters it said “Fear God”. Throughout the day, also, as we drove through Accra, we saw many (gigantic) welcome signs for President Obama who had visited about a month earlier. Ghana is a ‘star’ of democracy in Africa and our tour guide told us that they just copy what America does (and it shows). Anyway, people here were (and still are) ecstatic about Obama and his visit. Also, they sell water in small plastic bags here on the streets which are fresh.
Our first stop was a monument/burial site of Kwame Nkrumah, the first leader of Ghana. We arrived a day after the centenary of his birthday in 1909. There was a large celebration the previous day. The area of the monument (which was quite large) was like a large private yard. After getting off the bus we spotted a statue of him which had been defaced apparently during a period in which he was not so popular (they said they got the head of the statue back but they’re still missing the arms). We walked to a fountain area which had statues of people playing horns with water shooting out of them. There were seven on each side to symbolize perfection. The statues led up to a large statue of Nkrumah in traditional robes pointing forward. The monument itself looks like a giant symmetrical statue- you can walk under it and inside is the grave of him and his wife next to him. We then went through a miniature museum which contained various photos of him with various influential people (Nelson Mandela, Mao Zetung (misspelled but who cares), Fidel Castro). Afterwards, we departed for a brief stop at the market and also to exchange money.
The venders are a lot more respectful and less persistent (that’s not to say they’re not persistent). The currency here is the cedi which is a little less valuable than the U.S dollar. We only got a brief chance to look around and got back on the bus for lunch. Our tour took us through the consulate/embassy area of the city. We had lunch at a nice hotel called Coconut Grove. Afterwards, we went to the W.E.B. Dubois center which was where he lived and is buried. Inside are pictures and private libraries, etc. We left heading for the university (I forgot what it was called). They actually have a pretty decent education system similar to ours with the different grades and levels. English is the primary language here and everyone speaks it.
The campus of the university was very much like a UC campus in California. We visited the ATM there, went to the book store, and then drove through the rest of it. It’s already a large campus and it only has buildings on a quarter of its land. The area surrounding the campus is also in heavy development. There are many large concrete structures that will be hotels like a Hilton Hotel. Anyway, my roommate and I decided to do this field program called the Welcome Reception which was an official welcome by a local university. We weren’t originally planning on it but I’m so glad I did because of all the Ghana university students I was able to meet. When we got dropped off by the bus, there was a brief welcome, followed by a cultural dance, and then food while we mingled with various students from the university. The first and really only student I met and talked to here was a first year named Albert Mensah. He said he was a computer science major that likes to do animation and wants to make video games. I told him I like to animate a lot too and we talked about animation, movies, etc. for a long time. My roommate (who wants to be a game designer) and my friend (who is a film major) joined the conversation and I could tell Albert was just as excited as we were to be talking with someone from a distant country that shares the same passions. When the reception was over, we exchanged emails and Facebooks (Facebook is very popular in Ghana) and my roommate decided to go back to the ship.
Accra is a completely different place at night. I had thought it was a mostly beggar free area in the city and during the day (for the most part) it is. However, at night white people are fair game for beggars and scammers (more about this later). Two girls asked me and my friend if we wanted to go to a certain part of Accra (called Osu) which was sort of like a main strip. We got dropped off by the bus after the reception and met up with some students we met at the reception who were going to show us around. We walked up the street and got some delicious fried plantains with ginger on them (one of the girls was determined to get some food from street vendors). We walked down a side street with our student friends who took us to a bar where we sat down and had a drink and talked. One of the students (Benjamin) and I got into a very deep conversation and talked about our lives from our respective countries. I asked him a ton of questions about education, culture, law (to me Ghana seemed safe during the day and very unsafe at night; however, Benjamin told me it is very safe at night and there are very few problems), family, friends, future career ideas, female relationships (people usually get married in their early thirties), traveling to America (many Ghanaians have been to New York and love it), and more. After we finished our drinks, we walked back towards the gas station to explore a little more before getting picked up. On the way back, I bought some lamb with ginger and pepper from a vendor (needless to say, it had a strong but good spiced taste (no diarrhea to speak of). It was cool looking down the streets all over because everyone had their food tables set up with kerosene lamps that illuminated their own tables. It took about 5 minutes to get back to the ATM.
There was a crazy “occurrence” while we were waiting for the girls to use the ATM (this before going to the bar). As we were standing in front of the ATMs, a huge amount of SAS students (who were all pretty inebriated and representing America loudly) were heading our way to use the ATMs too. At the same time a poorer-looking man came up to my friend and I telling us he deeply believes in God. He asked us if we believed in God and then said “Look friends. My name is Samuel and I have been starving for 4 days. Can I please have one cedi?” We thought there was no harm in one cedi and we made him assure us that he’d use it on food (which I think he would’ve). As my friend opened his wallet, the SAS group finally made it over to us and I saw many of my friends who were being led by a local guy who was 20 too. My friends introduced me to him and when I shook his hand he pulled me close and asked “Did that man tell you his name was Samuel?” (nodding towards the man). I told him yes (it was then that I was sure he was scamming my friend) and he asked if he told us he’d been starving for 4 days and I told him yes again. The local walked over to my friend and pushed him behind him and started telling the man about how he’d seen him try this before. A man who owned the local business next door who was standing in front of his shopped walked over and started to “escort” the man way from us. As he was being led away he asked our new local friend what he saw in the White man and said “They are only human beings. They are not Gods. Why do you think they are Gods?” to which our local replied “They are human beings. We are human beings. We are all human beings” (quite poetic). Before moving on I wanted to mention a thing about the locals- they are very protective of tourists. For example, I heard some girl that night had a man try and grab her purse and run, however some locals nearby instantly grabbed the guy and wrestled with him to get the girl’s purse back. Also, another girl who had way too much to drink (please don’t get the wrong idea about SAS) had just about passed out and was left behind by the group (this was later that night with a different group) so our local friend (his name is Fred) picked her up and took her back to the shuttle at the gas station (needless to say, some of you (specifically my dad) are scratching their heads wondering how dangerous these things were and I’m here to say that if you haven’t noticed in my writings yet, there are some extremely idiotic people on SAS whose sole purpose is to get ‘wasted’ every night in port and consequently forget everything from that night (sorry just venting here). I am not associated with any of these people.
ANYWAY, after the ATM-God-beggar, my friend decided to go back to the ship so it was just me and the two girls (yea) and the 3 students whose names were Benjamin, Kwadwo, and Kwadwo (both pronounced Kujo, they were both born on a Monday). We went to another bar (I didn’t get anything else to drink) and hung around. We were continuously talking throughout the night and having a good time. Later in the bar when an American rap song came on (‘Big Pimpin’ by Jay-Z), the three students taught me a cool dance that they use in the clubs (ask me when I get back to show you). When it was time to go we made our way back to the gas station to catch the last shuttle, only to find out that we were lied to and the shuttle left an hour earlier. Our only option was to catch a cab. The students told us we had to be careful because we (as tourists) didn’t know where they would take us. Luckily, the students were nice (and smart) enough to talk to the driver before us to tell him where we needed to go and negotiate a really decent (local) price for us (it sounded like they interrogated him as well- they said he was OK). So we got in the taxi and headed back to the port in Tema. The streets were empty (it was 12-ish and very foggy as it was a coastal route back). Because there was so much fog, it gave a really creepy look (don’t worry, mom, everyone had their brights on). The three of us made it back to the port gate safely (I think the locals don’t give the taxi drivers enough credit) where one of the security guards let us into the bed of a pickup truck and brought us the rest of the way back to the ship. I know a lot of this seems unorthodox and there’s no denying that it is, however it makes for a great, unique experience that I’ll probably never forget. The connections I made that day with the other students (Albert, Kwadwo, Kwadwo, and Benjamin) are indescribable and when you immerse yourself like this, you can’t predict what will happen but you’re assured a memorable experience. I only knew them for a night and we were talking in depth about each others personal lives. Everyone here is so welcoming (welcome is Akwaaba in Tre, the most common language after English) and treats you as their friend (you’d think that everyone was trying to get on your good side to sell you something). Speaking of selling, they always introduce themselves when asking you to buy from them. When people ask you how are you doing, they are really wondering how you are. Here a simple “Good” would not suffice whereas in America that’s the norm. I could go on about the hospitality but my next day (I’m finishing this on my second day because I was too tired on the first night to finish) was spectacular and truly a testimony of the legitimate welcoming nature of the Ghanaians. I’ll leave you with this till my next post: The first night, the local, Fred, invited myself and the two other girls to dinner at his house which his mom would prepare (the other SAS students had already had dinner with them that night) and we accepted. We’d only known the guy for an hour and a half and he was willing to let us into his house. I joked with my friends that when I get back to America, I’d be inviting foreign tourists to my house and have my mom making dinner for them. Hopefully I emphasize the previous point through my next point which I am too tired to type. It is truly amazing and indescribable and I can only hope I can do Ghana a ounce of justice.

Final Day of Morocco

Day 5 Morocco
Sept. 14

I’m writing this 2 days after my last day because I ran out of internet so hopefully I remember everything or at least the important stuff. I woke up midmorning and went to breakfast with my friend. We decided to walk around Casablanca because my friend was in and around Marrakech for all four days on a field trip. I showed him where the medina was and we walked through a little.
One crazy thing that happened was when we were walking past this one stall. This guy led us over to his stall (we were walking towards it anyway) and we started browsing his familiar merchandise. He told me to choose something and I chose a piece of pottery I had been eying. He gave me a ridiculous price and I told him the most I’d be willing to pay. Every sales guy I asked a price from previously always gave me an extremely high quote. However, you could always expect to barter him way down. This guy however refused to go any lower. My friend urged us to keep moving and by walking away I was expecting him to give me a better price (this had worked many times in the past). He grabbed me and gave me only a slightly lowered price that I also refused. I told him what I’d be willing to pay (6 bucks for some plates and a pot) and he said no. His mother was there and he kept telling me this was his mother and I told him I didn’t care (this guy was getting increasingly hostile). We kept moving and finally he said 6 dollars. Since that was an extremely good price I turned and handed him the 6 dollars (something in the back of my mind, which I should’ve listened to, told me to get the merchandise first before handing over the money). As I reached for the bag, he pulled it away from me. I asked him what he was doing and he told me it was a down payment. Before I could grab the money out of his hands he gave it to his mother. Lucky for me my friend was there (he’d been pushed out of the way by the sales guy) because while both mother and son (the guy was pretty old) were looking at me, my friend snatched the money out of the mom’s hand and we both walked quickly away. The guy swore at us but we didn’t really care.
After that, I felt like it had put a little damper on my Moroccan experience. We kept going through the medina. A lot of the stalls were closed but some were open. Just about all of the stuff we had seen before in Marrakech. There were also shops located in actual stores along the main street. While walking along here we noticed that there were a ton of hookahs. My friend and I wanted to buy one each and send it back to our friends at home, but when we walked to the post office, the guy really couldn’t understand me and we kind of gave up on the idea. We walked back to the ship and had lunch with my roommate. He hadn’t been out in Casablanca yet (he was on the same field trip as my friend to Marrakech) and so after lunch I went back out (I really try to maximize my time off the boat) into Casablanca for the final time with my roommate (I forgot to mention we had to be back on the boat by 6:00). Since I hadn’t gotten a clear quote on the packaging of a hookah, we went back to the post office. The guy gave me a quote that would’ve cost more than the hookah itself so I decided that I’d officially give up the idea. While walking back, we stopped by one of the souvenir shops (it had the same stuff in the markets but at fixed prices) and I saw the piece of pottery I wanted at the stall this morning (the one with the argument) and saw the price ended up being 270 Dh cheaper (that’s somewhere over 15 bucks) than the one at the stall. My roommate and I looked around the stall and found all the stuff we’d seen in the stalls for way cheaper. When we were at the cashier, the guy gave us a 50 Dh discount so we were happy about that and I felt like I got some closure on that morning’s event.
It was getting closer to the time on the ship and we walked back and briefly went through the medina. My roommate went by one of the stores on the main street and bought a painting. We walked back and got on the ship with a comfortable amount of time.
Reflecting on Morocco, it was an amazing experience. I had some preconceptions about Spain and so I wasn’t really caught off guard when I visited there. However, a place like Morocco, I had no idea what it would be like. It was only a few days before I went there that I knew they were mostly Muslim and very similar to the Middle East except for more Western tendencies. The whole Islamic aspect, like I said earlier, fascinated me. It’s such an intriguing subject that people often misconceive and get the wrong picture. I do have more respect for the Muslim culture. Seeing hundreds of people lined up to pray and then bowing down in front of the Mosque was awesome. There was a good deal of poverty there but much less relative to many countries. I can’t wait to (hopefully) have experiences like this in future countries that I have no preconceived ideas about. What’s crazy is all the types of people I’ll be seeing: I’ve already seen Europeans and Middle Easterners, but will also see Africans (not African-Americans – one girl already made this mistake), Indians, Asians, and white people in South Africa probably. I am specifically looking forward to Ghana, Africa which is our next stop. I know a lot of people want to see pictures and believe me when I say I’ve been trying. Every time I log onto my blog, right before I post, I’ve tried to upload pictures but with the exception of one time, it’s always failed. Our ship’s internet system is horrible and slow. So I’ll try again in Ghana and hopefully I’ll get some select photos up from past ports.

Marrakech and A Night of Firsts (but definitely not lasts)

Marrakech medina at night
Okay, so a TON happened to me the past two days and I feel like there was no real Day 2 and 3 of Morocco, just a 48 hour day. I’m on the top deck of the ship (at the end of day 3) with my friend who’s writing in his journal and this is really the first time I’ve been able to reflect on the past two days. Like I said a lot has happened and it’s going to be a long post. So I’ll try not to leave anything out but inevitably something will probably be omitted unintentionally. Btw, I’m reading this off of a cereal box I swiped from breakfast. Before I left for Marrakech, I had breakfast on the ship and my (rugby) friend had the genius idea of grabbing a couple boxes of cereal as snacks (which turned out to be a lifesaver) on the train. Anyway, I brought my school backpack w/ all my writing supplies but took out the notebooks. So the only thing I could write on was… an empty cereal box (I think I can attribute this to my years in boy scouts).
To catch up, after my first whole day, I was rushing to find a group to go with to Marrakech. The next day I had a trip to Rabat planned and I carefully weighed my options and decided Marrakech was more worthwhile (and I’m definitely glad I chose it). I wanted to stay overnight and have it overlap with my third day (which I had nothing planned-Wow, I just realized I have a lot of parenthesized sentences in my blog- you probably noticed this in my first post but its news to me) because I had nothing whatsoever planned for the rest of Morocco. So I had plenty of groups (including one of my Spain groups) going to Morocco to choose from. However, all of these were only staying for the day and I wanted to stay the night. To enlighten you, it takes about three hours to get from Casablanca to Marrakech by train.
I knew there were people on the boat that had to be staying for the night, but I couldn’t find them. Finally I went to what’s called the grafitti board which has come in handy in the past. The board is a large blank piece of paper which people can leave tips/helpful information for others, such as good/cheap restaurants or interesting sites, as well as pitch trip ideas for people who are interested. I wanted to see if anyone was staying the night in Marrakech so I started writing my message on the board. As I wrote there was a group of 4 people behind me and they were reading my note. They told me they were going to Marrakech. I asked if they were staying the night and they said yes and that they were going to buy their train tickets tomorrow. So I told my rugby friend (who if you remember I met while in line to go up to the Cadiz cathedral cupula) John that I found a group to go to Marrakech with because he mentioned he wanted to go. So the two of us met the other four people the next morning after breakfast in the main gathering area of the ship. They were all San Diego State students, including John. San Diego has over 50 students attending Semester at Sea- this is (I think) because the school used to own the SAS program. It’s amazing how everything just sort of ends up perfectly and works out as if planned ahead, although I have the idea it’s hard to go wrong when experiencing a country unless you go the road more traveled.
Anyway, we all went down the gangway with our backpacks (I packed a change of clothes, toilet kit, and water bottle) and saw we missed the shuttle out of the port which comes every hour. We were shooting for the 8:55 train to Marrakech (I’m going to call it Mkech) and ended up taking a taxi. There are 2 types of taxis in Casablanca: the petite taxi (2-3 people- I like to call it bite-sized) and the larger size which was a white Mercedes which carried 5 people or, in our case, 7 including Mr. Hakeem. The 10 minute ride was cramped, but like I said it was only a 10 minute ride. Another thing that I wanted to mention was the ease of getting a taxi in Morocco. There was a taxi waiting outside the ship, waiting for anyone (with money). Notice how I left out the word “trying” when talking about finding a taxi. In Morocco, there is no ‘trying’ to get a taxi. Before you know you need one, before you’re even in the country, even before you’re born, you have a predestined, predetermined taxi waiting for you in Morocco. A golden chariot with golden wings, silver wheels and a man named Abdul holding the reigns. Our driver, who went by Hakeem, insisted that when we come back from Mkech, “You call me, eh. I drive you around at night and give you good price. We go to club, pick up girls, and have lots of drinks and girls and dance.” As intriguing as Mr. Hakeem’s offer was, I was pretty sure I would have to skip.
We got to the station, bought our tickets and went out to the platform with a comfortable amount of time till the train arrived. I could spend a lot of time talking about what I saw on the train, but I’ll limit it to highlights (which include goat herders). The train ran through more parts of Casablanca before leaving the city. I got to see a few more slum sections and some apartment buildings. One thing my friend pointed out is the amount of satellite dishes affixed to the apartments. Mounted on the sides and tops of these buildings are dozens upon dozens of satellite dishes, I would assume to get better channels (I always thought Food Network was more important than standard of living…plus Giada Laurenis is hot- yes this is relevant). After exiting the city it was mostly desert (desert as in rust colored dirt and lots of rock outcroppings, not Lawrence of Arabia desert) with scattered goat/sheep herders and farming tents. Lots of cactus, which I’m pretty sure they use to mark boundaries. We crossed over an oasis which was cool. After 3 hours we finally made it to Mkech. We decided to look for a hotel first and bought maps of the local area.
The train station looked really nice and new and we found that when we left the train station, the surrounding area was also really nice (this is relatively speaking with Casablanca). The buildings and walls all had a reddish-tan color to it. There were also palm trees interspersed in the plaza area in front of the train station. We walked down Hassan II Ave. and while looking for hotels found that most of the main drag area is really nice. There are some horse taxis walking up and down the streets, giving rides.
We eventually found a hotel, dropped our stuff off, and went to the medina which was full of souks (markets). The shopping here was more leisurely than Casablanca shopping had been. We walked through and I bought an I Love Morocco shirt as well as souvenirs for those back home. I saw two separate fights in the souks, both were shop owners and both were yelling and grabbing but no punches and ended with both walking away. The markets had similar things to Casablanca’s such as jerseys, pottery, jewelry, etc. however there were more spices, oils and organic things. Its cool because there were donkeys towing carts throughout the markets. We eventually walked into the main square area where there were (you guessed it) more stalls. We walked along the perimeter and looked for a place to eat dinner. While walking I heard that distinguished snake charmers pipe and I looked over and what should I see but… a cobra. It was one of the most bizarre things I’ve encountered on my trip which really adds to the experience. Also, there were monkeys on leashes. A funny (funny now, scary then) story about this is when we first spotted them, we stopped to look (big mistake) and the guy holding the leash grabbed his monkey and started walking over to us (I think PETA would be having a conniption fit). We started walking away and the guy threw his monkey on the shoulder of one of our group. We were freaking out because we thought it had AIDS and stuff. The poor guy was pretty spooked and I don’t blame him.
We were all pretty tired and went back to the hotel and dropped off our stuff and napped for an hour. We then went back over to the square and had dinner on an elevated balcony that looked over the market. Everybody had couscous and chicken or pizza, while I tried what’s called tajine, which comes in a flat pot with a conical lid and is baked insanely hot in an oven. Inside was chicken with olives and a lemon which gave it a nice sweet taste that went really well with the countless spices in it (the Diarrhea gods must favor me because I haven’t suffered its dark hand yet, despite the risky foods I’ve had…but I know its coming). Before eating, though, there was a prayer (I’m not sure if I talked about this before, but there’s five prayer times a day) right before sunset emitted through loudspeakers on the minarets of nearby mosques. That was freaking amazing- I felt like I was on a CNN news article about Iraq, with the atmospheric chanting in the background giving you that Middle-Eastern feeling… Ya, just like CNN except without the bias. This was yet another element that added to my Moroccan experience. Sitting out on the balcony looking out on the markets with the snake charmer’s playing their hypnotic tunes in the background made a really cool, hopefully unforgettable atmosphere. What was really cool is because of Ramadan and all the fasting, after sunset the loudspeakers come on again and while I wasn’t looking, a bunch of new food stalls appeared in the middle of the square probably for everyone breaking fast.
After dinner, (Mom, close your eyes for this next part) we (myself included) wanted to find a hookah place and relax for a little bit. I was very adamant about trying hookah here. One of our deans who is kind of a campy guy, raved about two things: Hookah in Morocco and getting naked in Japan and taking a bath. I’ve been pretty set on trying it and was really just waiting for a comfortable setting. We walked past a mosque and it was stunning to see hundreds of people lined up for prayer and the Imam reciting prayers. Then they kneeled down in unison and began to pray which totally blew my mind. This was the stuff you only see in the news and to experience it in real life gave me a totally new perspective of their religion. I’m sure most people would have changed opinions of Islam if they saw they’re rituals and ceremonies.
We walked around town and (by this time it was dark) asked a small business owner in front of his store where to find hookah and he gave us a real local location. We went behind this nearby club and went down an escalator into an underground shopping area which sold pirated movies, PSPs, iPods, etc. and turned another corner and found a really nice hookah bar. It had trees inside and a really cool atmosphere which was complemented by the fact that it was only locals. We sat down, got cokes, and waited for the waiter to bring the 2 hookahs we ordered. When they came, my friend John went first (I was the only one in the group who hadn’t tried it before) and then passed it to me. By Mr. Clinton’s standards, I did inhale and it was really nice. I know I’m building this up in this post but really it wasn’t a huge deal to me. It was an awesome experience that I look forward to trying with my friends (and brother) back at home (again, and not just for my mom’s sake, it really was just a good experience that I thoroughly enjoyed). We actually smoked a good deal too and left after about an hour and a half. We went back to the hotel and went to bed. The hotel was really nice and the beds were comfy and green.
Day 2, the next morning we had breakfast at the hotel which was a croissant and loaf of bread and coffee. We heard about a park that had monkeys so we decided to head monkeyward (apparently that’s a word not recognized by Microsoft Word) and find the park. It was a very long walk but we got to see more of the city so no one complained. Not surprisingly, I haven’t heard anyone so far on the trip complain about walking. I was talking to someone about dinner about how I was curious to see how many miles we all walked throughout the trip. Anyway, along the way we saw some camels and we wanted to get our pictures with them but didn’t want to right them. I think I forgot to mention that the currency here in Morocco is the Dirham which 7 or 8 Dh equal 1 US dollar. We each paid 10 Dh to get on a camel and to have pictures taken. After that we continued down this incredibly long street/walkway and it finally we came to the park. It’s at a stall in the park that I bought my brother Sean a souvenir which I’m sure he’ll like. I’m sorry to say Sean that your souvenir can’t kill someone like the samurai sword from Japan you got me, but… that doesn’t mean your birthday present won’t be able to kill someone. Unfortunately knives and swords aren’t allowed onboard so I’ll have to figure something out.
Anyway, we walked through this really nice park and came to this large manmade pool of water that had some (nonfunctional) waterjets in the middle. We walked around it and focused on seeing monkeys we went into a grove of unknown trees adjacent to the pool. We walked through this area, which was monkeyless, and ended up in a neighborhood (nothing like neighborhoods in America). It was a nice morning walk so no one was disappointed we didn’t see monkeys (although it would’ve been nice). We walked through some streets in the city and got a behind the scenes look of Mkech. It’s not in the best condition but way nicer than Casablanca. After an hour of walking we finally made our way back to the train station and caught a train back to Casablanca. The way I see it, Marrakech really contributed to my Morocco experience and I am very glad I went. I’m sure it would’ve been nice had I not gone, but Casablanca (I’m not the only one who thought this) became old after the first day and kind of constricting.
When we got back to the ship, we all said goodbye. Its weird thinking of how you formed really good relationships with people in only a day and a half and then you only just see them around. As we were boarding the ship, the buses from the official Mkech/camel ride field trips on which my roommate and friend were onboard arrived at the port and the three of us met up. We all had nothing planned so after dinner someone suggested hookah and we all said yes. For my roommate it would be his first time and as a newly converted hookah smoker I convinced him to come along. The three of us walked 15 minutes out of the port to get to the main street and from there we really had no idea of where to find hookah. As we walked down the street, people saw my Morocco shirt I was wearing and said, “Ah, Morocco! I like!” We asked one guy randomly about hookah, or shisha, and he was apparently a friend of one of the Filipino crewmates and took us free (sometimes they scam you into paying for information) to a local hookah bar with low prices. Again there were no SAS students and just locals. I finally got a chance to try the mint tea Morocco is well known for and it was pretty good. We smoked for a while and talked about the trip, reflected on life, and joked around about crappy movies, namely “Manos the Hands of Fate”. And the cost of this amazing night was 40 Dh (or 5 dollars). We walked around a little bit and then made our way back to the ship. I attempted to write in my blog but I felt like Jack Nicholson’s face. I know there’s stuff I didn’t write on my cereal box but whatever, I think I covered the important stuff. One thing I wanted to mention is the number of cats that roamed around Casablanca and Marrakech. So concluding this post, Marrakech was great and really gave me a better insight of Islam and its people. I’ll save my final thoughts of Morocco for the next post. Till then, keep flossing and don’t forget to brush.

"That's as good as cash. That's an IOU." -Dumb and Dumber

IOU for one (1) blog post
-This IOU is good for one multiple paged post
I feel bad that I'm not posting tonight, but I got halfway through my post and am exhausted. I will post for the past 2 days, covering my time in Marrakech, plus one for tomorrow. Tomorrow is my last day in port and I'm getting an early start. I will say a few things:

• Marrakech was amazing
• I have a lot of souvenirs for friends and family (Hopefully I can buy amazing souvenir(s) for my friends tomorrow
• The past two days I had some 'firsts', as well as many unforgettable experiences
• Richard Nixon is not dead; he is merely resting his eyes

I feel bad for the short post so I'll give you a quote from one of my favorite movies- "Jaws".
"Quit playing with yourself Hooper!!!" -Quint

Now here's another quote from one of my all-time favorites: Jurassic Park.
"Genetic power is the most awesome force the planet's ever witnessed, yet you wield it like a kid that's found his dad's gun. "
Hopefully this satisfies your appetite until tomorrow, when, Allah willing, I might have more pictures uploaded.

Mo-Rock-On Day Out (get it)

September 11
Morocco Day 2

Hopefully by now you are all used to my Shakespearean style of writing. I forgot to mention that it was raining all day yesterday and was really humid. Also, while I was going through the medina yesterday, I tried some of their famous, sugary pastries and they were amazing. Also, whenever I am in port, I am not taking classes as is no one else on the ship.
I went to bed last night not knowing what I was going to do today. My only plan was to see if I could grab a spot on one of the field trips. If someone doesn’t show up to a field trip, people are chosen to take their spot (depending on how early you show up). So I showed up to a thing called “SOS: Children’s Village visit” and got added to the list. People didn’t show up so I was allowed to go. Honestly I didn’t care if it was good or not, I just wanted to be out in Morocco.
We left via small shuttle buses and drove out into the outlying area of the city. There are some slums outside of Casablanca. There were goats in random fields as well as stray dogs walking all over the place- it was very reminiscent of Mexico. Our first stop of two was not at all what I expected. It was a private school called George Washington Academy. I’ll be damned if there was ever a man named George Washington born in the middle-east. What I found out is it is a very Americanized school for kids from all over. This included, to my surprise, American kids, Canadians, French, as well as Moroccan and others. What they said was that a lot of the teachers enroll their kids, which is the reason why there were so many kids with American accents. We got a tour of the premises, which turned out to be an oasis in Morocco. They had cutting-edge Macs as well as a fully stocked library, a paved track and field, varied lunch menu, and quality staff.
We had lunch there in the cafeteria and left for the next school. The next one was nice as well bus definitely not as nice. This one was meant more for orphans but accepted kids fortunate to have parents. After a brief tour of their facilities, the kids were beginning to get home from school (I guess some of them lived on the premises). I’m pretty sure that everyone who signed up really wanted to interact and play with the kids. One kid brought out a soccer ball (sorry, football) and schooled a lot of us college kids. After watching the kids play, we left and got back around 5:00 ish. I debated whether to go to my Rabat trip tomorrow (which was only $35 and 4 hours long) and decided I really wanted to go to Marrakech. A lot of people are planning on going tomorrow and I am meeting a group tomorrow at 7:30 and am going to skip the Rabat trip (I’ve heard from multiple people that Marrakech is amazing).
And that’s about it for today- I know, it was a pretty limited day. Yet for some reason I am exhausted and its only 10:00pm. So no matter what, I’m going to make sure I’m experiencing Morocco tomorrow, be it Marrakech or if that fails Rabat. I’m going to take a train probably around 8:45 ish. Its weird that I have nothing else to write… So how’s everybody back at home?

Morocco- Home of the McArabia

Hassan II Mosque at night with light pointing to Mecca
September 10
Morocco Day 1

I am now in Morocco. Spain was incredible and I know each country is going to be amazing but each in its own way. First off, we left Spain around 8:00 pm at night. The next day we were out off the Rock of Gibraltar. I think I mentioned in my post about Gibraltar that many ships, freighters and other boats are anchored offshore. The reason for this is this is where many ships refuel before setting off wherever. We spent most of the day after Spain refueling and then we left for Morocco which we would arrive at the next morning.
Before going to bed Wednesday night, I was extremely pleased to hear that we get 2 hours back. For me this means 2 more hours of sleep which you can imagine is very much appreciated. The next morning I woke up around 6am and looking outside my window I saw we were just passing the entrance to the port. I fell back asleep and when I woke up again around 7:30am we were docked next to some cranes and cargo crates. It all reminded me of San Pedro back at home. The window view from the boat while docked in Spain was not better by much. Hopefully future ports will have better views but I won’t hold my breath.
Just like in Spain, I had one of the first field trips which was the Casablanca City Orientation and therefore was part of the first group to leave the ship. We boarded a bus and met our tour guide (who’s name I could not pronounce and subsequently forgot). She wore the typical middle-eastern garb of women which is a long dress with a cover for the hair (the face is okay to leave uncovered now). Most women dressed like this but not all. As I said before, this was my first time in Africa ever and had no idea what to expect. Upon entering the city I first noticed the Arabic writing on the signs and then the French versions right below that. The buildings look similar to those you see in Europe except in slightly worse shape. I’m trying to see figure out how to describe the other buildings. They have a middle-eastern look, being made of concrete and rising a couple levels (you’ll probably see what I’m talking about in my photos). There is definitely a relatively good amount of Western influence here. This is probably due in part to the fact that Morocco has had extremely close relations with the U.S. since the late 1700s when Morocco recognized the US as a country in the 1780s. Morocco claims to be the city of tolerance, specifically tolerance of religion. There are synagogues apparently around town as well as a catholic church which we passed during the tour.
Very important point here: this month is Ramadan for the Muslim world. This is when they fast to gain insight. About everyone partakes and many restaurants are closed.
Our first stop was a beautiful city hall (I believe is what our tour guide called it). One word came to mind upon seeing the interior architecture: Intricate. From the tiles on the walls to the cedar wood panels to the stucko patterns that surrounded the inner courtyard, it definitely gave a middle-eastern feel. We then walked over to the large clearing in front of the king’s (King Hassan II) palace doors. The plaza-like area was lined with olive trees which are apparently almost in season. We walked back to the bus and drove further around town. I was really intrigued by the different aspects of all this Arabic culture (even though we weren’t exactly in the Arabian area) and was also extremely fascinated by all of it.
Next we went to the world famous Hassan II mosque, named after the king of Morocco (who is very favorable and well liked). It is the largest mosque in Morocco and the third largest in the world. It has the tallest minaret (tower) at 689 feet. In Morocco, the minarets of mosques have 4 corners, one of which always pointing to Mecca. A large part of the mosque was built over water because “Allah’s throne is on the water”. Upon entering the mosque, I couldn’t believe how massive the inside was. It was, by far, the largest interior to a building I had ever seen (it put English cathedrals to shame). After removing our shoes we walked inside for a while- I was trying to grasp the magnitude of it all. It can accommodate 80,000 people. The roof also separate to allow sunlight to enter and ‘cleanse’. There is also a powerful, green laser light (which I discovered while walking back at night) that serves as a reference point aiming towards Mecca (for those at home who wish to “follow along”).
We enjoyed lunch (or rather I enjoyed everyone’s lunches as I ate a lot of people’s unwanted sandwiches, etc.) and stopped off close to the water at a coast-side restaurant where some people got mint tea. Meanwhile, I went to the nearby McDonalds to see the differences in menus. Moroccan menus boast a variety of foods exclusive to the area, including the McArabia, pesto mozzarella nuggets, and the choco glace (a chocolate cake w/ ice cream and hot fudge over it- Amazing) which I tried. After leaving the area we went to a food market which was very similar to Spanish food markets (fish, seafood, produce, etc.) except we saw an entire swordfish on display (someone also said they saw a horse hanging too). After boarding the bus, we stopped at a souvenir store which actually sold authentic Moroccan items. I’m not sure what metal they used, but there were workers pounding designs into metals and making them into kettles and vases. There were knives, scarves, cedar wood containers and more for sale- I ended up getting a Moroccan fez hat.
The store concluded the tour and we headed back to the ship. A group of us from the tour wanted to check out the markets so we turned around and left the port. We walked down the street and already I knew I was going to get a better picture. A lot of people constantly stare at you as you walk by- it’s very unnerving. We entered the Medina which is (as we later discovered a maze of markets) a maze of markets quite easy to get lost in. It’s a bunch of narrow alleys lined with stores selling leather jackets, hookahs, and rugs (there was also no shortage of “I love Morocco” shirts). You feel a little nervous going through but the people are pretty friendly and try to get you to come to their store. Our group splintered up and then there were about 6 or 7 of us. We continued walking through and the markets (or souks in Arabic) opened up into slightly larger souks with produce, etc. Walking through (and also throughout the city) you see many men dressed in the typical middle-eastern robes (I forget what exactly their called but imagine the robes they wear in Iraq and all over the mid-east). We became a little nervous because people began to stare at us. The whole day, we did not see any other white people or tourists. There was no shortage of beggars and I even saw a woman leading her son who, I’m assuming, suffered from what I can only guess was leprosy. His face was very gnarled and unfortunately pretty graphic. I’ve never really ever felt uncomfortable looking at someone in real life. Eventually we emerged on a recognizable street and walked down it to find a restaurant. We stopped off at one called the “Les Fleurs” (The Flowers) and had a beer. Afterwards, we headed back to the ship and I decided to stay in. I’ve got nothing tomorrow but hopefully I’ll find a group to join. The next day is a trip to Rabat- the capitol. I have another day of nothing which I might try to do a day trip to Marrakech. The day after that is our last day. I’ll probably tell you more about the culture, etc. in later posts.

Night(s) Out on the Town and Farewell to Spain

September 7 and 8
Spain Day 3 and 4
Note: I got a few of my pictures up but not a lot. I’ll end up finding an internet café in Morocco (hopefully) and uploading the rest- I had a weak signal.
Yesterday, I got up around lunchtime and I met with some of the girls from the previous daytrip in one of the dining halls. We were going to go to one of the markets- I did not realize what I was getting myself into (girls + women’s apparel x cheap prices = sad Colin). We took a bus to New Cadiz which consists of tall apartment complexes and a lot of retail shops. The market was along the bay where there were stalls set up selling various fashion accessories and cheap jewelry. The girls spent about 20 minutes at a one of the stalls. Not that I’m complaining- I was glad I could join them. But while girls want accessories and purses and dresses for souvenirs, men (real men) want something cheap that looks cool and is meant to entertain you for, like, 10 minutes. There was nothing really that caught my attention- I more or less looked for souvenirs for the people reading this blog. After the market we went to the Spanish version of a Target store (while in there I really felt like I was back in America). After buying some stuff to bring back on the ship, the girls decided to go across the street to a fashion clothing store of some kind. I decided to leave the group, and I convinced the other guy with me to go back to old town with me.
We caught the bus back to Old Cadiz (I don’t believe they’re separate cities) and stopped off at a souvenir shop to pick up some postcards, again for people reading this blog. (If you want a postcard, or one from a specific country, email me your address.) After purchasing the cards, we walked through town with the intent of finding a market or something. While we were walking down one of the alleys, I spotted two of my friends walking down the next street. I found out they were heading for the market to by some supplies for back on the ship. We decided to join them and head to the market. It was a newer market and not the type we encountered earlier, so I got a 2 liter of lemon flavored soda which ended up lasting a couple hours. We then had lunch at a restaurant next to the place I ate lunch at yesterday.
After lunch, the four of us decided to walk to the beach at old Cadiz and hang out on the beach. We walked along the beach and found a bar. We bought some beers and hung out on the beach and talked about Semester at Sea and what we thought of it so far- we all concluded that we were really lucky to be here. It was as I was looking out at the really blue ocean and lying out on the beach that I had that same feeling as before that I was in the middle of a life-changing experience. We continued down the beach and made our way back to the ship. We then showered and decided to get dinner and then find a bar (I heard Spain has an incredible nightlife) and poke around town at night as it was officially our last night in Spain. We had dinner and walked around town and ended up walking along the beach.
The next day I woke up and around 1:00pm, my roommate and I went out to go to the cathedral plaza to check out this temporary exhibit in front of the cathedral. It was titled (in Spanish) “What if you could live in 125 years?” and I’ve got to say, after walking through, I still don’t know what it would be like to be 125. Aside from the fact that the whole exhibit was in Spanish, there were really a bunch of cool multimedia effects and displays. For instance, there was a projection of a fish pond on the floor and if you step on the water it would ripple and the fish would scatter if you stepped close to them. There was also a book that had a projected image on each page- and as you flipped the page the 3D image would adhere to the page.
After we finished the exhibit, we walked next door to the cathedral and decided to walk up to the top of the cupula (tower). There was a fellow SAS student there and I ended up spotting him 4 Euros so he could buy a ticket. The three of us walked up to the top up a spiraling, stone walkway. When we reached the top, I discovered it was well worth the hike up as we got to see a 360 degree view of Cadiz. We could see the boat as well as the various beaches we’d been to as well as a good view of the below plazas and squares. While taking pictures, I found out that the other SAS student, John from San Diego, was also a rugby player (I had a good feeling he played rugby).
After taking countless pictures we headed back down to go to the markets, which was something I had wanted to do. Walking through the market (which was indoors), I saw lots of seafood, including squid, octopus, and eels, as well as fruits and breads and other products. Afterwards we walked a little more through the town as this was our last chance to be in the city. It was about this time that I got that sentimental feeling you get when you realize you’ll probably never see something again, in this case Cadiz. After getting on the ship, I grabbed my computer and uploaded pictures and checked emails. I got back on the boat and about 45 minutes later it turned 5 (PM), which meant that you couldn’t get off the ship anymore and at 6:00pm, everyone has to be back on the ship. It’s about 6:40pm and we are scheduled to leave port for Morocco at 8:00. It takes one day from Spain to get to Morocco so I’ll resume the blog then. Hopefully the posts aren’t overwhelmingly long. So see you all in Morocco in like a day! (From now on, I’m probably not going to reread my posts because I’m too lazy, so again excuse grammar, etc.)

Around Town and La Playa (Beach!)

September 06, Spain Day 2 (Dos)
Since most people are probably still reading my last post because it was so long, this next post will be a little shorter, mainly because today was a more relaxed day. First off, I didn’t get a chance to upload photos today but I will try to get them up before I leave. Cadiz has free wifi in its city squares so while we were touring around today you could see lots of locals sitting in the parks and town squares, including the one with the cathedral where they sat on the church steps.
Woke up at 10:30 and got ready for going to a Catholic mass in the cathedral. I think it began construction somewhere in the 1200s and they were saying various architects/artists contributed through the centuries, giving it a unique style. There was a large group of us: mostly girls as well as me and another guy (I didn’t complain). We walked around before mass started and then sat through the mass (in Spanish) at noon. After that we walked around the narrow streets and eventually found a place to have lunch. I ended up having roast chicken w/ chips complemented by a glass of Sangria (I liked the one my dad makes better). The girls ordered a big platter of paella (which I was guessing/hoping they wouldn’t finish. By the end of the meal I had eaten my chicken, paella w/ (large) shrimp, and a little pizza. Afterwards, we walked over to a gelato store and I bought a fresa (strawberry) flavored gelato.

We then decided to go to the beach (which was another thing I wanted to do). We headed back to the ship, changed, and headed over to the beach. The beach was literally in between the two forts I mentioned in my previous post (St. Sebastian and Santa Caterina). So after walking through the park and along the wall next to the bay, we eventually came to the beach. However, I could honestly say that I couldn’t even see the beach because it was so crowded. As it was Sunday, everyone brought their families to this small beach about half a mile in length. It was scattered with umbrellas and sunbathers. We eventually found a spot under a boardwalk type structure and went into the water which was sold but nice once you dunked yourself. I eventually noticed that it was acceptable for women to be topless (when I first saw it I had to do a double take). We laid back for a while tanning because the sun was so perfect (it was the first time I’d been under the ‘Mediterranean sun’ which felt like I was getting skin cancer as I laid there). We talked about how we all felt guilty because while people back in the U.S. are getting ready for classes and heading back to school, we are soaking up the sun in southern Spain (I wasn’t sure if were technically in the Mediterranean or Atlantic still).

We left the beach around 6-ish (which would look like 3:00 in the afternoon anywhere else) after swimming/sunbathing and then cut through town back to the boat (I don’t care about calling it a ship anymore) and had dinner, showered, etc. and then met up again at 9:00. We went out walking through town again and had more gelato. While I was eating my Oreo gelato, I was entertained by some Spanish guy who was shouting at nothing and no one. We walked further through the city and found a place where people who missed dinner could eat. I take after my dad in that I can’t sit still (especially while people eat and I don’t) while everyone is just talking and so the other guy and I walked a little bit more around the nearby city blocks.
After returning to the restaurant we all decided to retire early (12:00pm) for the next day. Its interesting because I have a feeling I’m going to be with different groups composed of different people probably everyday. It will be interesting seeing how my other free days work, as field program days are way more organized and purposeful.
Apparently Saturday night, a lot of people found nightclubs and stayed out till 6:00am in the morning. I’m not sure what I’m going to do tomorrow but I was thinking of going again back into town and finding the market and getting some souvenirs etc. and also seeing about going up into the cupula of the cathedral. I’ve been on my feet all day so I’m going to go to bed, probably till noon tomorrow or whenever housekeeping comes. Btw, too lazy to grammar/spell check so if anyone asks, Miss South Carolina wrote this.

Este es Spain, hombre!

Yes, they are real (that's what she said)!

September 5
Note: When I get back on Cadiz tomorrow I am going to upload all my photos to my Photobucket account so expect that soon…hopefully.
Today was my first day in Cadiz (pronounced Cah-deeth), Spain. We arrived in port around 0730 this morning while it was still dark. I had my first field program which was the Spanish Coastlines: Beaches to Gibraltar. I woke up at 6:40am this morning to be ready for the 8:00 departure time, which was delayed due to prolonged docking procedures. I am glad I did wake up early at the crack of dawn, though, because I was able to get a good view of Spain as well as the sunrise. Upon looking out my window after my alarm woke me at 6:40, the first thing I saw was the lighthouse’s light in the dark. I took a shower and when I came back out we were really close to port- I could see the cathedral from my window as well as the beginning of a spectacular sunrise over some silhouetted hills (wow, that sounds like something out of a poem). I went to breakfast with my roommate and met a couple other people who were going to be on the same coastlines trip. Afterwards, we both grabbed our cameras and went to the top deck and began snapping pictures of the amazing Spanish sunrise. Around that time they called people going on trips to get they’re passports. The reason we needed our actual passports is we were leaving the country, as part of the trip, to go to England (or rather a territory of England) believe it or not. Gibraltar is a province or territory of England.
Our buses left late at around 0900 and we drove through the edge of Cadiz, which really isn’t that large of a city. Some of the things I saw were very interesting and gave some insight to people’s daily lives. For instance, the first thing I noticed was the number of people I saw walking their dogs- not just in the morning but all day. I saw moms walking down the street with their kids in strollers, older residents walking up and down the beach, some taking an early morning swim, and we also came across a man taking his mentally handicapped son to the beach for the day. I also spotted rugby field posts on the beach, showing it does exist here in Spain, despite the fact that it is overshadowed almost completely by ‘football’. Speaking of football, the beaches here are never short of soccer goals as they appear on every beach. It struck me that people here (and probably all through Europe) live far more active lifestyles than back in the U.S. This makes me feel fat.
There were a few minor stops on the way to Gibraltar, the first of which were two Spanish forts (Santa Catarina and Saint Sebastian) in Cadiz built to protect the city from an English invasion. Though we only stopped for about five minutes to take pictures, we learned that they were made of what is called ‘oyster rock’ which is rock composed partially of shells (including oyster shells).
The city itself is a lot like other European cities (except smaller) in that old structures and buildings, etc. are incorporated into the urbanization of the city. For instance, a large wall constructed to keep the French out (I don’t blame them) now runs through the edge of town. It’s really cool how these elements from the past fit really well with the newer European architecture. Anyway, we continued driving south-east-ish and after stopping at the two forts and leaving Cadiz, our next stop was a small, beachside town (which I forgot the name of). We walked on a walkway by the beach for about 15 minutes, enjoying the views of the beachfront houses lined up down the shore. We headed further down on the bus and came to another beach called Bolonia- however this one had ancient Roman ruins. Though we ran out of time and didn’t get a chance to see them up close unfortunately, we did get another chance to walk closer along the beach which was enjoyable. Again, we headed further southeast towards “The Rock”.
Originally I thought that Gibraltar was just a really big rock that you look at from shore. It turned out to be an insanely gigantic rock with a population of over 30,000. As we approached I caught my very first ever glimpse of Africa off in the distance (it was the horizon line of Tangier) as well as the Rock itself which was indescribably large (think of, like, Louie Anderson, Rosie O’Donell, and John Madden rolled into one ungodly abomination and multiply that by one thousand…and then tell me what you get-I kinda want to know). Within the isthmus we could see a lot of scattered freighters anchored offshore.
Crossing the border into ‘England’ was easier than…stealing candy from a dead person? Literally we just flashed our passports and continued walking. The first thing we saw when we left the building was the English red telephone booth. The town itself didn’t look too much different than a Spanish town- it still had that small-town feel. The town was situated next to the steep, suicidal cliffs of the 1,400’ rock. We got on new buses and began to serpentine up the cliff. A testament to the smallness of the town is that they have a small airplane runway which is intersected by the main road- meaning you drive across the runway as if it were a road. Before leaving up the hill, however, I was surprised to hear the bus driver mention that closer to the top there were monkeys (specifically Barbary Macaques aka rock ape). As I looked out the window on the way up, I saw the first monkey which was nonchalantly sitting on a fence. We stopped off at the cave, which was a large, mostly natural cavern used by many throughout time. In Greek times, the rock was one of the Pillars of Hercules and also contained ancient documents. It was used by the Spanish as a hiding place from the English and was a bunker area during WWII. It was full of stalagmites and stalactites, and had the appearance of a rock that melted. Upon exiting (conveniently into the gift shop, not unlike Disneyland), there were many monkeys dashing around, apparently with no fear of humans. On the roof there was a mother monkey with her baby who was joined by a third that proceeded to courteously eat her back lice. I got an awesome close up picture with one.
We went back down the hill to have lunch in a small town on the cliff side. There was a huge square with restarurants and a long street with shops on either side. Four of us decided to eat at an English bar/pub called The Horseshoe. They serve shepherd’s pies and fish and chips and stuff. I had pot roast with Yorkshire pie and a pint of John Smith smooth beer. It was wild having an English meal on the Rock of Gibraltar.
We headed back across the border and back on the buses to the ship. We went straight back through cow pastures/farmland to Cadiz (which btw is surrounded by marshes). Back on the ship, two of my other friends and I decided to go into Cadiz just to poke around and find something to eat. We walked down small alleyways which yielded into large squares, usually with a church or theater. These alleys really remind you of where you are (the scooters zipping past also jog your memory). Our original intention was to find a bar and grab a local beer and watch the Spain vs. Belicia game. We didn’t find many bars showing it so we decided to grab a bite. We went from square to square, eventually settling on a square with tables next to a fountain and surrounded by restaurants. I saw that they had octopus (pulpo) on the menu and we ordered a dish of that. It was really small so we decided to get a pan of chicken Paella to split. It was amazing and after finishing we walked back along the stone wall next to the water. We saw two ficus large trees brought back from Africa by 2 nuns who planted them in a park over 100 years ago. We also saw a convertible full of Spanish matadors in their full bullfighting costumes, blasting music, obviously drunk and cheering at people, waving cigars in their hands. My God, if only the rest of the world was this awesome.
So far Spain is an absolutely stunning place with unique people and fascinating sights. I’ve only briefly covered it as it is practically indescribable and what is amazing is that it’s only my first day here. Again I’ll say I forgot some details but only minor ones. I’ve already planned to go to the cathedral tomorrow with some people (everything is just about closed Sundays). Spain already set the bar for the other ports really high and I’m excited to see what Morocco and beyond will be like.

Going with the Flow and gettting used to it all

I took some of these paragraphs from emails to friends and family but for the most part they're relevant.
I wanted to explain how it works when we go into ports. I only found out a few days ago because they just told us how to get ready for arrival. When we get into port we have a few options. The first is to go on what's called a field program which is something you sign up for before you leave the boat and consists of a pre-organized program. It could be things like "Tour of Cathedral" or “Hike to Something Mountain”. In the case of Cadiz, Spain, I signed up for the “Cadiz City Orientation” as well as “Spanish Coastlines: Beaches to Gibralter”. The first is a city tour of Cadiz and the second I think involves a hike and going to the beach, but I’m not sure. I also heard Spain has a really good nightlife so I kind of want to try and get into a club or something. You can also do what’s called an FDP (I forget what it stands for but a professor goes on the trip with you and leads the group). You could also go out on your own and walk around town. I’m pretty sure I can do this safely in Spain, but in Africa I’ve heard that the AIDS monster roams the streets, looking for new victims to kill.
I’m still trying to grasp the fact that I’m crossing the Atlantic- that big blue thing that took up most of the page in the back of my textbook back in 5th grade when I was learning geography. I'm really enjoying being out on the sea though and am finding each day more and more enjoyable. I just finished getting all my field programs set up up till India. I've met with and talked to all my professors and they are all extremely nice and understanding. I missed my first "WEst and the World" class a few days ago because I sat in on the wrong class (it was Comparative Politics so somewhat similar) and it wasn't till half way through that I realized I was in the wrong class (at that point I felt obligated to stay). The next day I was looking for my professor frantically because I had to sign up for some of his FDPs by noon. I eventually found him randomly while he was eating lunch on deck outside and he was really understanding. My Literature and Film professors are husband and wife and teach the class together (the husband looks like an Indian Groucho Marx- like spot on. All he needs is a cigar). They brought their kids too. My documentary film professor is really interesting and I've already learned a lot. He is an Academy Award winning documentary director. I don't even know my global studies professor's name.
Every once in a while when I'm on my computer I'll turn around and look out the window at the ocean and I still can't believe I'm more than half way to Spain. I've heard everyone saying the exact same thing. Everyone is really in awe and it’s difficult to grasp what is going on. I cannot believe how fast the days are going by. THis is the fastest I have ever seen days go by, which is a bad thing in this case. The fact that when I wake up and look out my window and see nothing but ocean is really cool. I was telling my friend Vince how trippy it was that when you look out at night on the water, unless the moon’s out (which looks insanely cool reflecting on the water), its like pitch black and you can only really, really slightly see the horizon. And then when you look down from your window at night all you see is like this black abyss- its totally mesmerizing and kinda scary in a cool way.
I've just about oriented myself to the ship so I'm not getting lost anymore. Once you explore the ship it’s not as big as you think. My room is just as good if not better than rooms I’ve had back at college. My roommate was nice enough to let me have the only desk which works for him because he just has his laptop in his lap (its one of those Netbooks, which a lot of people here have). The shower works great except the hot and cold water don’t correspond to the blue and red marks, so that “first hot shower” was actually freezing cold and sucked and I didn’t find out till later that our markings were mixed. I spend a lot of my free time hanging out in my room, watching Venture Bros., Superjail, and Flight of the Conchords. I also have the bible, that is to say Wikipedia, as a free website so needless to say this makes me really happy (you have no idea). We are allowed to have beer/wine onboard at a high price and a limit of three like every other day.
I wanted to save this part here for when I get closer to South Africa… but I have a horrible memory and would forget to write about it. Recently, I was talking to a professor about how I play rugby back home and he told me one of the other professors, also named Colin, likes rugby and that he's Australian. Earlier tonight we had a Spain orientation meeting and everyone met in the Union (the big auditorium) which is where my Global Studies class is taught (Quick note about Global Studies- everyone, including staff, etc. takes it in 2 separate sessions on alternating days). I sat down in the back and a professor sat next to me. I recognized him as the Professor (Colin) White because I saw his picture in the faculty display. I’d been wanting to meet him so I introduced myself and told him I played rugby in Socal on a club team as a wing and he said he played internationally as a wing as well. We talked a little more about rugby before the presentation started but it was really cool meeting him.
Besides friends, family, and the G.I. Joe cartoon series, I really miss rugby. I'm listening to some hard rock music and I really want to tackle/get tackled. It’s hard to exercise here even with good gym equipment and so I can’t really get thorough workouts. The boat sways all the time (which I’ve gotten used to really well) and so when you lift weights they sway to which is not good. I had a dream last night about playing rugby, but with obstacles on the field. Then I tackled Hillary Clinton (no joke) and a bunch of Ewoks came and treated me like a god. And I’m not even on the malaria medicine yet (malaria medicine is notorious for giving hallucinations and nightmares)!
The same thing happens every time I do a blog entry: I forget what I want to right about and what I want to cover. The main thing I’m trying to convey is I’m becoming more and more excited about everything within the next few months and I really want to share with people back at home what I’ve been experiencing here. I feel like if I didn’t, it would be really selfish on my part because I have this really good opportunity. I will add more pictures when I get to port as internet is limited and its like impossible to upload photos. Hopefully I'll get my Photobucket updated. One more thing I wanted to mention is my texting/calling is not working right now because apes run Verizon Wireless (no offense to the apes). Also, I’ve received emails but I’m not sure if people are getting my replies. So if you get an email from me PLEASE respond. Other than that, that’s about all I can remember I wanted to say. I apologize again for the poor order of things, but A) I’m lazy B) I don’t have a lot of time and I have a short attention span, and C) I’m lazy. I do miss home and everyone back in the U.S., but you’ll all be happy to know that I filled the gap where you, my friends and family, used to be with a delicious soft serve yogurt machine. Seriously, this thing is freakin awesome-wish you were all here.
.S. Keith, I really wish you and you’re camera were here. My camera can only take okay quality pictures. You would have no shortage of things to take pictures of- it’s a photographers paradise here.

The First Days...

My Itinerary


This post kind of goes over my previous post a little. I tried to upload a few more photos, but their internet is designed to suck up minutes, which are limited.

Today is the fourth day on the ship and my third day of having classes. The ship departed for sea the 28th at 5:00pm. Everyone was topside waving goodbye for the first hour or so. When we left the harbor and began to speed up, it got really windy and everyone went to the lower decks. The boat rocks side to side 24/7 but you get used to it. Every once in a while you’ll bump into the wall. My roommate is cool and attends college at Dartmouth.

Our cabin is pretty small yet cozy, probably because of the nice view we have from our window. The ship itself is incredibly disorienting- within the first 2 days I got lost more than 5 times. Also, I have to adjust to military time which is a bit difficult, not to mention the fact that we’ve lost 3 hours within the past 3 nights. The day we left we had a long orientation meeting and the next day, from like 10am to 8pm we had meetings. Two days ago (30th) was the first day of classes for everyone. I am taking “Documentary Film Production” on one day, and “ The West and the World”, “Global Studies”, and “Literature and Film” on the other.

The ship, the “MV Explorer”, is captained by Captain Jeremy. The ship, (I keep having to replace ‘boat’ with ‘ship’ for political correctness) has two dining halls, a bar/grill topside, a pool and gym, library, computer lab, and a spa which I don’t use…yet. Yesterday I used the gym which is nice but the weights feel heavier when you’re swaying back and forth. Meals are good if you’re not too picky. Alcohol in the form of beer/wine is available for raised prices. The past few nights I’ve just spent talking and hanging out with people on the upper decks. So so far it seems like its going to be a good trip. Our first stop, Cadiz, Spain, is only a few days away.
My itinerary:
1. Cadiz, Spain
2.Casablanca, Morocco
3. Accra, Ghana
4. Cape Town, South Africa
5. Port Louis, Mauritius
6. Chennai, India
7. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
8. Hong Kong, China
9. Shanghai, China
10. Yokohama, Japan
11. Kobe, Japan
12. Honolulu, Hawaii