Espana!

Things that happened before Spain....(that I can remember) We had an interesting discussion on the Declaration Of Human Rights and talked about if universal human rights even exist (an event sponsored by Social Justice club). Social Events also hosted the Blast From the Past Dance-everyone dressed up and it was hilarious! We danced to oldies until late. The night before Spain we had the cultural cafe (where people talk about the country we are about to visit and give tips/history/information etc.) and I was able to talk to the community about a foreigner's perspective of Spain, so that was fun.

The first day in Spain, Ryan and I went to Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia church and walked around Barcelona. It is a beautiful city, but everyone speaks Catalan so it was a little different than the Spain I am used to. We went to a panaderia and saw the main strip of Barcelona and some of Gaudi's famous houses. Then I exposed Ryan to traditional Spanish food (which he liked!) before returning to the ship so I could fly to the south to visit my Spanish family.

Pablo and I went to the airport together, since he was going to see his family in Madrid and I arrived later that night to Malaga. I was worried that my family might have forgotten me, but ALAS they picked me up! It was so good to see my brother and sister in law-Dory and Manuel and we talked a lot in Spanish. I got home that night to see my Mom and Dad (Mari Carmen and Manolo) and we had dinner before going to town to see the big Easter processions. It was an amazing procession of all the people dressed in the pointed hats and traditional Catholic attire (for Easter) and they carried all the scenes of Christ's life and Passion.

My other sister, Maria, and her boyfriend, Luis arrived and we climbed to the Sierra (the country/mountainside) for most of the day. It was beautiful and so nice to be outside. We also played a ridiculous game involving eggs (I brought it home!) that everyone should learn how to play. Then I had to say goodbye to my parents and Maria to go to Cordoba (about 2 hours away) with Manul and Dory.

In Cordoba, I went to school with Dory. She is a teacher at an elementary school and works with 6 year olds. That was the most fun day! I was exhausted but the kids were adorable and we had lots of fun. I taught the kids "Simon Says" and how to sing Row Row your Boat in English and they loved it. Then we went to the very famous Cordoba mosque/church with all the arches. The next day I went to lunch with Dory's teacher friends and to an "intercultural dance class" that the teachers at her school could attend. We learned the polka (which they claimed was American) and some other dances, it was pretty funny to watch all the older teachers dance. Then that night after dinner we went to an Arabic bath where you get a massage and go to pools of different water temperatures. It was very relaxing.

The next day I said goodbye to Dory and Manuel and flew back to Barcelona. As I was heading to find a bus back to the ship, Ryan surprised me!!! He almost missed me since my flight was delayed and I didn't have a phone, but I didn't know he was coming. We went back and ate paella (not as good as what I ate with my family!) and then got gelato. It was a good night!

My last day in Spain we intended to go to the Picasso musuem but ended up mailing boxes home and then spending the afternoon in the Gothic Quarter. Ryan was my tour guide since he learned during the week all about Barcelona. We were also filmed on the ship for some Spanish TV stations since we happened to go back to the ship during the day and no one else was around. So now we are famous! ha. Then we met up with one of Ryan's friends and he showed us around a little and we went to a big parque that is very famous and it was nice. Then we went back to the ship for ETL. Adios, Espana!

Cape Verde

Well the main thing about Cape Verde is that there is no VERDE there. We walked off the boat to discover a brown island. Truth be told, it turns out that the islands have not received rain in over 26 years, hence the lack of green.

We spent the day at the beach in nice COOL waters and found some little kids and played with them for awhile. They love getting their pictures taken and Ryan was throwing some of them around and it was a beautiful day. Julio, Pablo, Ryan, Me, Maureen, Brooke and Michelle spent the morning/early afternoon frolicking around and then we went into town to have lunch, where we proceeded to wait for 1 1/2 for our very simple food. Welcome back to Island TIME!

We walked around some and then that afternoon we went to another beach. (There wasn't a lot to do on the islands but eat or go to the beach). We enjoyed our 12 hour adventure and day of rest and then hopped back on the boat to continue the journey to Spain!

UPDATES-until Cape Verde. . .

Ok, back by popular demand....I am finishing the rest of my voyage blog. As you can tell (since I haven't posted since March) things got pretty busy and my blog's priority level dropped.
I will carry on from South Africa until the end of my voyage and maybe my travels in Europe after. Anyways, on to the good stuff.

This leg from South Africa to Cape Verde was the longest of the trip and I kept very busy. I went to a women's self defense class onboard (RAD) and it was so much fun. I am looking into getting certified when I get back to the states to be an instructor. We also had a few big events onboard that I helped coordinate this leg. Casino Night raised 1400 US dollars for the Hardship fund (for students with financial difficulties) and it was fun setting up and running the event. Everyone had fun playing jenga, Texas hold em, bingo and may other games. We also had the American/Canadian cultural show and I danced in the country line dance (TEXAS REPRESENT!) and in a Native American dance. It was fun being involved but also frustrating as the Americans fought quite a bit (ha).

We also had the first TSS WEDDING! I helped decorate all day (it was very hot since we were so close to the equator) but we had several mishaps with balloons and fabrics flying away. We did get it all set up (on the large Aft deck) and it was a beautiful multi-cultural ceremony. The bride and groom wore clothes from Thailand while the captain officiated. Then we had a Buddhist ceremony where we tied strings on each other to represent the union of marriage. Then we did a Moroccan dance that we have grown very fond of on the ship and then the TSS band sang. WE had a huge dinner outside on Lido Deck (while we were still sweating) followed by a champagne toast, throwing of the bouquet, and cutting of the cake. Then in the student center, students performed the Indian Bollywood dance, and an African dance. Then we danced the night away and it was an amazing day!

I also got to go on a "bridge tour" of the front of the ship and saw where they have all the navigation equipment and where they steer the ship from! I even got to touch the Captain's wheel! I also learned about all the procedures for ports, flags, and weather recording etc.

Lots of class this leg-gearing up for finals and diving deep. My favorite class, Intercultural Communication has been really interesting, learning about different peoples' and cultures' styles of communication (direct/indirect, emotional/restrained etc). After we took some tests, I am engagement (direct but emotional-which I think is pretty dead on for me, ha).

We also had Drag Idol hosted by our very own handsome Ryan Secrest. It was quite entertaining to say the least. Lots of boys came quite elaborately dressed as girls and it was hilarious. We danced the night away just to wake up to CAPE VERDE ISLANDS.