Morocco!

Morocco was awesome!!!! The first day (September 3rd) Rachael and I woke up early to see our arrival to Port of Casablanca. After standing outside and taking some pictures for a while we went down to the dining room and got breakfast. We then went to the union for the diplomatic briefing, although I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be there or in classroom 3, since we were early anyway I sat with Rachael for a while. Eventually I had to go to the meeting place for my FDP; we had to wait there a while until the ship was cleared but as soon as it was we were the first ones off! Dry land at last! We went straight to the bus and went to the Hassan II Mosque, which is the second largest mosque in the world. I was very surprised at the fact that we were allowed to take pictures when we were inside, so I have some pictures that I never expected to be able to get. Rachael was nice and let me borrow a head scarf since I sadly left mine at home. But it was really cool going through the mosque and seeing the amazing craftsmanship both inside and outside. I can’t imagine how much work building that was, each tile was handmade and placed. Once I got back to the ship I met up with Rachael and we got lunch then hoped on the City Orientation bus, it was nice being driven around and getting acclimated to a city we had never been to, we got to get out and walk through a market although there was a lot of stuff closed because it was Saturday and Ramadan had just ended. When we were brought back to the ship we met up with Allison and went out to try and find a place to eat. We were provided with a shuttle to and from the port gate to the ship but many times it was easier to just walk. I was surprised we were allowed to walk through the port because it is a working port and there were all sorts of ships coming in and out getting loaded and unloading goods. We ended up eating at a hotel restaurant but only getting appetizers and a large bottle of water. Between the three of us we spent 160 dirham (including tip) which equates to about $21, not bad for a college student budget. We went to bed early because we knew we had to wake up at 4:15 to leave for our camel trek.
Day 2 started bright and early (VERY EARLY) we got outside and Cassie (the girl who organized the trip) came out a few minutes later and we all walked up to the main gate (the shuttle had hours, it wasn’t going to start for several hours yet). We got up there and got on the buses and then picked up all the stragglers that don’t understand punctuality. We then began what ended up being the longest bus ride and coolest adventure ever (maybe I should note here that I am safe and currently on the ship and we are officially in transit to Ghana now). Our first stop was Marrakech which was about 3 ½ hours away. We picked up the rest of our group who had gone the day before by train; at this point we were told we were 7 hours away from our camels. Many people bought snacks and drinks at a little shop nearby and we loaded back onto the buses (at this point the time had changed to 8 hours away). According to the itinerary that we were given we were going to stop at some cool historical places so we figured that’s why it was so long until we got to the camels. Our next stop was a stop for lunch that we found out while eating wasn’t included in the trip, while it wasn’t expensive it was a little annoying to find out we had to pay more money and I was glad I had plenty of extra money. We were told after lunch that our next stop was 3 ½ hours away (some people wanted to buy alcohol). So we kept chugging along crossing the Atlas Mountains and getting some beautiful Moroccan scenery pictures. We finally stopped and again were told 2 ½ to 3 hours until we got to our camels. Long story short it was 14 hours from actually leaving Casablanca to actually getting on the camels. We were supposed to ride the camels into the sunset in the Sahara desert but we didn’t get there until 8:00 at night and it was already dark. Personally I think we got a better deal because we got to ride by moonlight and see all the stars. We finally got to the camp and were given dinner (which was included) and then sat around a campfire and listened to our hosts play music on their drums and sing. It was really cool and I will never forget this trip. The next morning we had a wake up call at 5:45 to see the sun rise over the dunes. It was really pretty and I got some amazing pictures. We then ate breakfast and packed up our stuff. There weren’t enough camels for everyone to ride back to the buses at the same time so some of us waited until the camels had come back. I was in the group that went very last and we got the bonus deal because we got to ride the 4x4 about a quarter of the way and met the camels that were coming back for us. We then got on the buses for our incredibly long journey back. We made fewer stops and everyone made sure to be back on the buses in a timely manner the second day so it went much faster. I think it was about 8-9 hours to Marrakech and then we split up as a group. There was a fairly large group that wanted to stay there because there is a good night life and Marrakech is catered to tourists. Meanwhile there was another group (which I was a part of) that wanted to just get back to Casablanca and get on the ship. So we had about an hour of free time until the vans came and picked us up and we drove about 3 ½ hours to Casablanca. We even managed to convince the port authorities to allow our van to drive us all the way to the ship so we didn’t have to walk since it was later then the shuttles ran.
Day 4 was our last day in Morocco and Rachael and I decided to let ourselves sleep in for a little, we really didn’t have much planned we just wanted to walk around Casablanca a little and be back at the ship well before on-ship time. So we went out and happily found a shuttle right outside! We first walked to Rick’s Café (duh who wouldn’t?) and found out that it wasn’t open for another hour and a half so we walked back to the market area and looked in shops and for the first time bought something other than food. I bought a cute little camel that is made out of leather and a keychain that is the shape of the traditional Moroccan shoe but also it is the color of the flag and has the star on it. It also says Moroc on it which is how they write Morocco. My other purchase is puzzle box which you have to move different parts to get the key out then move some more parts to find the keyhole. Many people bought them (although from the people I have talked to I have gotten the best price so apparently I am good at haggling!) so I ended up getting one that seems really nice and it’s made with cedar wood so it smells really good! We got some really yummy ice cream and called that breakfast since we hadn’t eaten yet and then walked back to Rick’s Café. The food there was too expensive so we just got coke which was still fairly pricey. We then walked back to the ship and stopped at a snack shop and got more coke and orange juice which we wanted to take on the ship and a pistachio ice cream bar. We ate the ice cream while walking to the ship and when we got to the ship we found out we couldn’t take the drinks on-board even though they hadn’t been opened yet because they were twist caps instead of cans. So Rachael and I sat near the check-in point and drank it before officially getting on the ship. We then went and turned in our passports because we didn’t really plan on getting off the ship anymore. Instead we went and took naps and just hung out until dinner time when we ate our first real meal in 2 ½ days.
Today classes started again and everyone is walking around like drunken zombies, we have a lot of rocking and we are all exhausted. I have already had one class and I have another after lunch. We have 5 more days at sea and then we do this all over again in Ghana. At least we don’t have a time change coming up (maybe not at all I believe Ghana and Morocco are in the same time zone!!!), until the next update enjoy this incredibly long update on the last 4 days of my life.

Brutally honest and very excited Day 7&8

Quick note, this was supposed to be 2 different blog posts but the internet was giving me trouble yesterday so I couldn’t post it. So now you get yesterday’s and today’s in one incredibly long, emotional post. I could have skipped putting yesterday’s post in here but I think everyone needs to hear it, to understand what is going on here. So the first part is a lot rougher to read then the second (I promise the second part is better) so just stick with it.

Ok time for a vent session. This is way harder than I thought it would be. I figured I would get used to the class schedule, just like any other semester, as soon as you get into the swing of things then it’s easy. But there is no swing of things, every other day we change our clocks, every other day we lose an hour. I wish I could change my schedule so I wasn’t required to be up so early everyday but I can’t. I feel anti-social because I go to bed so early but I can’t even function on the amount of sleep I am getting and end up sleeping more during the day. Because of these naps I spend all my time awake reading assignments for my next class. I am so used to working ahead but right now I am just keeping up, and barely at that. I even read during meals to try and keep up and that keeps everyone else away. I never thought I would have an issue with seasickness and I don’t even know if I still am. I know my body has never tolerated breakfast, at least not early in the morning and now everything is so screwed up. I feel like crap most of the day and I can’t wait till we get to morocco just so that we can be in the same time zone for a few days. But I know that as soon as the ship sails again the same thing will happen. December 13th is still way far away in the future, and I know the seas are calm for us, which I am so grateful for, but I hear that the pacific is worse, and that is a 9 day trip with just a few hours in Hawaii and then 9 days to Costa Rica. On one hand I am happy that I didn’t consider all the time zone changes, I don’t know why I didn’t think of them so I could prepare myself mentally, but I am glad that I didn’t because I probably would have scared myself out of taking this trip. I want to make the lifelong friendships that come out of this program, I want to enjoy activities but right now I am so swamped with reading assignments that I have no idea how I will ever do anything, so far I have only gotten two of my classes reading assignments mostly done, we don’t get weekends, how will I ever catch up? But even though all this is going on I still don’t want to go home, I believe in this program, I know I can do this, I know I will never forget this trip. But I don’t want to just remember the good times; this voyage is about discovering things about yourself so I want to remember this so I can look back and reflect. I am starting to realize just what a range of emotions this voyage will bring out, and I am not sure if I am ready for that or not. But that doesn’t matter now because it is happening now, it will not wait for me to think I am ready. Even though most of this is being written out of shear frustration, I am still having fun, I am just having a hard day today. But what makes it harder is the fact that I can’t get away, unless I want to jump ship of course (and no that’s not happening, I know I will get through) I realize as I write this that many people will expect to hear all the great things, they expect to hear that I am doing fine. In reality I am still a person who can get upset at times, I get scared, and there are times I want to go home. Part of the reason I started this blog was so that everyone could travel the world with me, and that means the good and the bad. I know I usually try to put everything in a light mood, and that is generally how I feel but sometimes I don’t feel like finding the humor in every situating (don’t worry this doesn’t happen too often), and this is one of those times where I am just being brutally honest about how I am feeling right now about all this. This is only day 7 and I wonder how I am going to get through but I know that right now things can only get better. And that is what I am going for, looking for the bright side. Like the fact that it is a beautiful sunny day, and I get to do my homework looking out over the ocean, hoping to see dolphins playing in our wake again.


Tomorrow means Casablanca! I can’t wait, not only for being on land (and laughing at how we all walk) but for the trips I have planned. Tomorrow I will be going to the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca; it is the 4th largest Mosque in the world. I am going there as a required trip for my Cultural Geography class and it will be my first introduction to Morocco. Then on the second day I will be leaving Casablanca and going out into the desert for a camel trek! I will get to spend the night in a desert camp with 90 of my closest friends (well by that point they may be my 90 closest friends), our camels, and of course the locals who live in the camp and are allowing us to come into their world. The following day I will be headed back to Casablanca, and will get to spend my fourth and final day with no plan as of yet. We have to be back on ship the 4th day and we leave that night headed for Ghana. Today has been much better then yesterday, I feel better, and we are entering into Mediterranean areas. The water is so pretty and there are very few waves today. I would say the water looks like purple Gatorade, but I am quite sure it doesn’t quite taste the same (although I haven’t actually tried it). The sun is scorching down on our ship so I might head out to the pool deck later to hang out there and maybe get some reading done, although so far from experience I end up watching the water and people far more then I actually get read. Fortunately I don’t have class tomorrow (NO CLASSES IN PORT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) so I don’t have anything pressing right now. Last night we had a cultural pre-port where we learned about the culture of Morocco, and attempted to learn some Arabic phrases, yeah didn’t go so well on the Arabic. Tonight we have the logistical pre-port where we learn about safety and when and where to meet if we have a SAS sponsored trip. I have one in Morocco, the Mosque. The camel trek we planned independently. I am hoping to find an internet café in Casablanca (someone mapped out the closest ones to port) and hopefully put some pictures up on facebook, I won’t guarantee anything yet so keep checking! I will definitely do a blog update at the end of Morocco, so check back in about 5 days to see if there is a new post!

Classes, seasickness and dolphins! Day 5

We are now on Day 5 and classes started the day before yesterday and we are officially out in deep ocean as of this morning when we left the Atlantic Shelf. With open seas comes the ever wonderful seasickness. I was so lucky has to have a slight case yesterday during my very first class of the semester. Apparently I didn’t look so good because my professor asked me how I was feeling and when I told her not so good she suggested I go to my cabin and lay down for a while so on my way down the seven billion stairs I stopped at the purser’s desk and got free seasickness meds and that stuff not only gets rid of the nausea but also makes you incredibly sleepy, also it was before 9am on our first morning post time change so I was already pretty tired regardless of going to bed fairly early. Fortunately I had enough brains to set my alarm for noon and was grateful for that 3 hour nap I got and when I woke up I felt perfectly fine and ate lunch and went to my second class. Another thing that worked out for me was both classes yesterday for me were taught by the same professor so I didn’t actually miss anything because she did the same introduction to herself and her expectations.
Now the way classes work here since we have so many port interruptions is that we have classes every day we are at sea. Even if it’s a weekend or a holiday (thus starting classes on Sunday) and it goes back and forth so we have “A Days” and “B Days” and we keep track by saying A1, B1, A2, B2, etc. So we have 6 days of classes before arriving in Morocco (so we get there the morning after B3). So my “A Classes are at 0800 I have Geography of International Development and at 1300 I have Cultural Geography. There are no classes from 1200 – 1300 so everyone can eat lunch and all classes end at 1600 and there is nothing really scheduled until 2000 so we have study time. My “B Classes” are at 0800 I have Japan’s Modern Story and at 0920 I have the required Global Studies which is more like a seminar type deal where we will have a bunch of other faculty come in and give mini-lectures based on their disciplines and their experiences in our upcoming ports.
Yesterday the campus store officially opened so I now have a voyage shirt with all the countries listed with their flags, a nice purple Semester at Sea sweatshirt and a really nice fleece SAS blanket! I also got sea bands after my slight attack of seasickness, so far they seem to work and if I can keep the seasickness at a bay by wearing bracelets that hit some pressure point instead of drugs that would make me so much happier. Tomorrow I have to start my malaria meds so hopefully I have no side effects with that (they include vivid dreams and imbalance….which could be interesting, maybe between the imbalance of a rocking ship and the imbalance from the meds I will be perfectly balanced).
My roommate and I have discovered that even though we are in the “dungeon” of the ship that there are perks. Such as our room doesn’t rock nearly as much as some of the upper decks, especially the rooms on the outside (we have an inside deck 2 room). We will also probably end up in great shape due to climbing the previously mentioned seven billion stairs to get to anything. But one drawback we have discovered is its very disorienting when we wake up in the morning because our clocks say 0700 but its pitch black still, so that is very weird.
Now the last bit of news I have is that today, at dinner, I saw a pod of dolphins!!! It was so cool to see them jumping out of the water! Apparently people saw both dolphins and whales yesterday although I really do not understand how since it felt like our visibility was about 20 feet. We spent the entire day surrounded by fog. But we have been lucky to not be affected with rough seas from the hurricane. In fact Captain Jeremy altered our course slightly to the north so we would stay at least 600 miles away from the storm.
By the way we are crossing our third time zone tonight so in the morning we will be 3 hours ahead of home (New Jersey). Also it kind of stinks having multiple 23 hour days in a row.

Vacation and Embarktion!

Here is a quick synopsis of my last two weeks. August 13th was my last night of work at the rodeo; it was bittersweet because I absolutely love working there, but on the other hand it was exciting because it meant I left the next day. So bright and early Sunday morning dad and I woke up and hitched up the trailer (in the pouring rain) and left New Jersey. We drove up to Maine and got a hotel room. Mom, Tim, and Ben boarded a train that night and we picked them up the next day after we had set up the camper in Bar Harbor. We spent 2 ½ days there visiting Acadia National Park and celebrating my 21st birthday! Then we went inland to Greenville near Moosehead Lake. There we went on a moose safari and saw 2 moose! We were really lucky because we saw both a bull and a cow! After days 2 ½ we drove up to Quebec City and spent 3 ½ days there. We got to see a free Cirque de Soleil show (it was a little sketchy sounding because it was performed underneath an overpass) but it was really awesome! We got to tour the citadel and we did TONS of walking. Then it was down to Montreal we went; we found a campground that was right on the St. Lawrence River which is the river that the MV Explorer had to travel down in order to get to Montreal. We spent 3 ½ days there and the first order of business was to go check Pier Alexandra to see if the ship was there yet or not. As soon as we saw the empty port we decided to take a double-decker bus tour of the city which was really cool. We also spent a lot of time walking in Montreal and in my opinion it is easier to get around in Quebec City than Montreal, but people speak more English in Montreal than Quebec. Finally August 25th came and early in the morning Ben woke up to go to the bathroom and saw the Explorer passing by! (Dad seriously thought they had changed the port because the ship wasn’t there yet). That night the whole family (except me) got to go on the ship to an info session and tour. I stayed at the campground, did some final packing, got a shower, and washed all my laundry.
Now the best day of all, August 26th! We left the campground early in case of traffic (we encountered more traffic in Montreal alone than the rest of our vacation combined) and got to the port an hour early but went up anyway and were able to unload, check my bags and get me through security in what I can only call record time. I believe it was only about 15 minutes between arriving at the port and walking onto the ship (at least that’s how fast it felt). I then had to go through a check-in process which was really fast and smooth and then I was set free to find my room. When I got to my room my luggage was waiting right outside the door so I dragged it in. My roommates luggage was already there and semi unpacked but she wasn’t in the room so I assumed (and I was right) that she was a work-study student that got to board the day before and therefore gets to help with the check-in processes. We then pretty much had time to explore around the ship until 1600 (4pm…gotta get used to military time now) when we had a lifeboat drill. So when the alarm went off we grabbed our life jackets and headed up to our assigned lifeboat, then they did roll call and we stood there very close together for a half hour until Captain Jeremy gave the all clear and we were allowed to take our life jackets back to our rooms. We left port at 1700 (do the math….that’s 5 pm) and were well on our way up the St. Lawrence and out to sea! We had an orientation meeting in the Union at 2000 and after that we had “Sea Meetings” we are split up into seas based on where our dorm is, so the sea meetings are kind of like hall meetings. After that my roommate and I came back to our rooms and cleared off our beds and went to sleep.
Today (day 2) we had to wake up and start a full day of orientation (last night was just the intro session). Orientation started at 0900 and we stopped for lunch at 1200-1330 we then resumed until 1600 when we were introduced to the professors and got a chance to meet with them and start to get to know them. Then it was dinner and next at 1930 we will basically have an activities fair and following that we have another sea meeting. Then tomorrow classes start (lucky me at 0800) and even better news tonight we lose an hour of sleep! Again lucky us; apparently we are going to have 23 hour days for almost the next week as we cross the Atlantic going from Montreal to Casablanca.

Almost there! 14 days

In just 2 weeks I will be embarking from Montreal! It seems so surreal that this is actually happening. So whats going on? I am 99% packed (woohoo!!!!!!!) and I just have a few things left to print off (confirmations for trips) and I have been slowly saying my goodbyes. I am officially finished at 2 of my 3 jobs and only work one more night at the other. So its really close now to the end of my summer but the beginning of a journey.

This past week has been consumed with more things then I want to count. First (and perpetually) was packing; then Thursday was my twin brothers 18th birthday ( Happy Birthday Tim and Ben!); then tonight was Ben's Eagle Ceremony (highest rank possible in the boy scouts). So maybe we were a bit crazy to plan all this at the same time. And if all that isn't enough my 21st birthday is Tuesday! August is always hectic in our house due to 3 birthday's in 5 days but this year we add in an Eagle ceremony and preparing to travel around the world. I'm not sure if I have time to sleep anymore.

I also found out today that I got all the presale trips that I wanted. Presale trips are trips we want to take through SAS that happen in the first 4 ports and any overnight trip throughout all ports. So I am going to a mosque in Morocco, doing a Habitat for Humanity project in Ghana, Going to a monkey village in Ghana, going to the Univeristy of Mauritius, and taking a cruise on Ha Long Bay and visiting Hanoi in Vietnam (Mom will be joining me on this one!!!). When we get on the ship we sign up for the rest of our trips from Malaysia through Costa Rica, which for me will be a couple things in Japan and snorkeling in Hawaii!

So Close! 22 days!

Although its 21 days until my mom, dad, and brothers get to board the ship.....

I have been informed that it is time to do another post so here goes. My room looks like a bomb went off in it, I am close to being done packing. As in all my school supplies and essentials are packed and my clothes are about 90% packed! This is awesome because I still have tons of room! I have my backpack, which my computer and other electronics will go in and 1/4 of my clothing (a freaking huge) suitcase left. So plenty of space for the last of my stuff. On a side note for anyone planning on using the spacebags that you are supposed to roll the air out.....don't sit on the bed and roll them, they get slippery and you will take a nose dive to the floor so be safe fellow packers!

On another note my foriegn currency came in today! I ordered money for Morroco, South Africa, Malaysia, India, Viet Nam, China, Japan, and Costa Rica. I couldn't get money for Ghana, Mauritius or Cuba (can't imagine why...) So now I have my starter fund, and I must say I now think American money is the ugliest, but that could just be the excitement of holding all this awesome money in my hands.

So now its off to try and see about getting the camper ready. Anyone interested in helping come on over. Otherwise Peace out!

Packing! 33 Days

I can't believe the ship sails in just 33 days! I feel like it was just yesterday we were in the 200 day range (back in January) and I felt like I would never be leaving. But now I am just a month away from sailing around the world. That means that I am up to my eyeballs in in my suitcase and piles of stuff ranging from shampoo to notebooks to clothes. Also I finally got my passport back yesterday! I now have my Ghana, India, and China visas in my possession!!!! I have also finished my shopping (I think), my medical forms are done and sent in and have been marked received. I do believe that I am done sending in paperwork to SAS.
Along with packing comes all the planning, so right now our living room is looking more like a giant map as I have maps for all of New England, Canada, soon to have New York and New jersey spread out, also there are tour books and camp books all over the place also. This is because my family is awesome and doesn't want to go straight to Montreal, we are going to camp our way up. I am also planning things to do in each country, whether its independent travel (not by myself but with a million of my soon to be new best friends) or required ones for classes. Along with planning my own travels I am working out the logistics of my mom visiting me in Vietnam and what we want to do there along with flights and hotels for her. And the last part that I have to plan is in December my dad will be picking me up in Florida, so that is one last thing to get finalized before I leave. Did I mention that I leave in 3 weeks?
So this was my fast update before I have to go get ready to go to work soon (job one of three). Thanks for checking in. Peace out