I was so sick i didnt get a pic with it :-( but i have plenty of it....:-) Someone else may have a pic of me wit it tho.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Croatia, the best by far....
July 6th & 7th
On the 6th we had a day at sea, so besides classes not much was accomplished. I do not understand why I get so extra sleepy in Global studies it is so extra weird. I go to breakfast and am wide awake then in global studies comes an I CAN NOT keep my eyes open. I had dinner with my extended family as well. An extended family is the “family” you have on board. You are chosen by a family and basically they comfort you and are there for you to speak with whenever you may need them. Shaun who is an assistant student dean is my “daddy” his wife Kelly is my “mommy” and her mom phyllis is my “grannie” or nana as she prefers and I have two “sisters” Amiah and Aubrey. This family is actually African American so I am happy to be a part of it. Shaun actually sailed on a previous voyage so he understands the struggles a as well.
On the 7th we got of the boat for Croatia. This is the BEST country we have been at by far. This country is FULL of beautiful beaches and I hardly saw any pollution. I had a Semester At Sea Trip called City Orientation, Churches, Maritime Museum and Aquarium. This trip was nice we basically took the coach bus to the city walls, which was put into place to protect the city when it was at war. If you stand at the top of the walls you can literally see the whole city and even more. All of the houses in the city have the same beautiful red roof so the view is spectacular. After the tour we all came back to the boat and walked around the city trying to get a feel for it. At about 9pm half of the entire city went to a club called EASTWEST. I can honestly say this may have been the most beautiful club I have been too. It surpassed what I felt about LOVE In DC. When you walked in it was completely white and you walked into a restaurant lounge area but everything was basically hoisted to be outside then when you walked through they had a red/orange theme room and a bluish/purple room, it was just something you have to see for yourself, as you continued to walk through you came to the private beach with cabanas. We all had a great time on the beach and it was just amazing on how much these countries pride their appearance. A few of us decided to go jump in the water just for the fun of it and it was beyond warm. Further down on the rock a few people also went topless because it was a nude private beach :-)…..
That night was just a perfect first night because we were all together having fun and it just proved that as my mom always points out times have changed. The music was diverse the people partying together was diverse and everyone was happy being together in a foreign country I am so willing and ready to experience the next 40+ days that we have left.
July 8th
Today I finally slept in, oh how good that felt!!!! When ii say my body is drained I am drained especially since we had not got in from the night before until 4am and I did not go to bed till 7am. A big group of us decided to go to the island of Lopud. Never ever did I imagine that I would be island hopping. When we arrived to the island we saw plenty of familiar faces and they told us of a beautiful beach on the opposite side of the island. We trekked and trekked and trekked and about 45 minutes and we were finally there, never was I so happier to see a beach! This beach was EXTRA salty and the waves were extremely strong it definitely pushed me over multiple times. We chilled on the beach until it was basically time to just leave to make a quick stop for some Croatian food even though we only ended up getting pizza and to make the last shuttle back to the city of Dubrovnik, Croatia. I do not know how the rest of you feel but after swallowing so much salt it made me beyond sleepy. The group of about 40 SAS’ers were on the shuttle back and we made it back around 9pm and the majority of my group wanted to party but I decided to stay behind and do my homework so that in Greece I will not have to do any homework and I can keep up on my blog! Hehehe
July 9th
Today at 8am (another reason I decided to skip the party last night) I had a SAS trip to the children’s orphanage of Dubrovnik and hospital. This trip was nice but the orphanage only had 13 children which was a bittersweet thing. Bitter because the trip had about 30 students so for a good majority of time most of us just sat around and talked and drew because we did not want to overwhelm the children by having 5 adults towering over them especially when we had complete language barriers. The sweet part of the deal, was that this was an orphanage for children who are not treated correctly by their parents, so this shows that the number of reported abused children in the city was extra low because last year at this time is was an approximate 70 children. After the orphanage we went to the hospital and it was the same deal except there were only 9 children. Once again a bittersweet trip.
When we got back to the boat I decided to take a nap but that idea was ruined because NONE of my friends believe in taking naps while in port so Courtney and I decided to go to old town to go shopping. She and I had never hung out one on one, so this was really nice to hang out with someone new. We just got lost in the markets and even found a bar with free internet connection if you bought anything! The markets in old city are so relaxing, they way of life in these countries is all together relaxed. It is amazing how one in these countries I am just relaxed and feel as If I have no worries in the world. I hardly see anyone on their blackberries, I hardly see anyone arguing in the streets. People here are just so into the moment. When we got tired we eventually just went back to the boat and because majority of everyone was on the beach I got my nap until dinner. Yay!!!
Later on that night a group of about 20 of us decided to party it up again but only 8 of us went and got dinner. This was the best dinner I got from all of the restaurants I have been to. Everyone had something different I got a caprese salad (fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and a basil sauce.) This was literally the best caprese salad I have had even better then papa razzi. For my dinner I had a quarto formagi (I know I spelled that wrong) pizza. If you know me you know I love my cheese. After dinner there was a festival show in the town center of the old city and even though it wasn’t in our language we still enkoyed the opera and action scenes. When that got old to us we went to SkyBar and I had some liquor that was 140 proof, but it take like licorice so it was weird but even an hour left with only an amaretto sour I didn’t feel anything so maybe that was a good thing. As we had decided to leave we ran into a guy named Dahani Jones, hopefully I spelled his name correctly. We met him at EASTWEST the first day and did not think we would ever happen to see him again in a country like Croatia He was an NFL player and now he has his own television show on the travel channel, and he bought a bottle of Jagermeister for us to enjoy. We had multiple shots then decided to go because we were all beyond tired. I can say this was one of the best nights so far.
July 10th
I slept in today but not for much because by 11am I was off to SkyBar to get on the free internet, so if you have facebook make sure to check out my pictures. I took care of bank business and school things, having no internet lets me know how much I appreciate having it at my leisure at home and at school. After about three hours too many on the internet Tia and I decided to do the ONE thing Semester At Sea said don’t do. CLIFF JUMP! It was the greatest. I hate roller coasters especially how they feel when going down. But I was the first to go and TIa actually got me on video I will post it in Greece. It was so exhilarating. After Tia and I jumped we waited for nexus to jump and to our surprise Dhani was there and he winded up jumping too with the travel channel camera following him. They got Tia and Nexus not too sure if they got me as well. The water felt marvelous after I hit it from the 35 foot cliff. I would definitely do it again under the right circumstances. After that we came back to the ship so we would not be a part of the late comer running like the “dickens” to the ship. We made it back only 30mins before 6 which to me was actually pushing it. At 5:58 I went to the deck and a bunch of us yelled and screamed for the late comers to run and make it before they got dock time. This was a nearly perfect trip and I will definitely come back to Croatia, it is a must to do on my list.
July 11th
It is a sea day, nothing too exciting. Today I didn’t do much but tomorrow is another sea day BUT it is also Sea Olympics. I am beyond ready for it too. Nothing starts until 12pm and no classes all day oh the life! I love it love it love it
P.S. tomorrow i will tell you what events im doing. Im ooh sooo excited!!!!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Italy......
I am sorry I may not be able to post as often as I was before, but I have been extra busy with everything. Other than that I have been well. I had midterms I think I did well, hopefully I did.
On june 30th I got terribly sick, it was the worst. I could hardly breath, my throat basically closed up and nose running and was very weak. This was crazy being that the next day we were getting off to Italy.
On July 1st Nexus, Grace and I went off to Rome, the train station was beyond crowded. I literally slept the whole entire way as I sat on the train floor because it was packed to the tee. When we arrived we headed directly for the coliseum and that was more than beautiful, I wish I had understood a little more about roman times, because if so I think I would of really appreciated it a lot more. We saw plenty of ruins, had our first taste of Italian pizza, which I felt was good but could have been better. Then afterwards we met up with Tia an all of us along with Dustin went and looked for a hotel. The hotel was called Hotel Michigan, we had a room and it was very weird, one queen size bed, or shall I say box spring and blanket, then two twin beds. There was a big open window with no curtain or screen but it closed like it was a door. The door had no lock from the inside. The bathroom was very weird as well. They was a butt cleaner (I forgot the correct name), sink, toilet and shower all in one room with no separator. Even though it was very confusing it was still very enjoyable. After we were settled and felt clean enough to go out, Tia, Nexus, Grace and I went to this cute little restaurant where I got my gnocchi and they all got past and I found a great new wine. I thought Justin had put me on before but now this one was better it is called Frangolino.
The 2nd Tia and I went to see the Pantheon, and walked around Rome, finished buying our souvenirs’ and doing the “touristy” things. We took the train back to the port and I do not like how neither of the two times did anyone check our tickets. I feel as if it was a waste of time buying them but just to be safe we did anyways. Tia and I decided to walk around and see what we could find just by exploring the city, and we came upon a stage play in its dress rehearsal. They were doing select scenes from the hit musical CATS and they had other little things as well. They danced to Nelly, Akon and even Beyonce. It was just strictly amazing When we got back we basically just chilled walked along the shore looked at the stars and I got the best gelato I have ever had ARMERTTO, everyone knows how much in love with armertto sour I am and this just made me fall in love even more. It was about a group of 12 of us and we got stares like crazy. I finally saw another African decent person and she was eager to smile, so I am assuming that not too many African Americans or straight white people are seen in this area.
On the third it was a good day, I I went to the market saw all of the fresh foods, meats and fish being chopped and taken apart these people do not waste a single thing from these animals. I purchased a lot of different gifts and items for different people. It feels good to buy things for other people. Then a group of us were going to go see Pisa but it was 22 each way, so we decided to let that go. We eventually just walked around and we enjoyed the city. I am really happy we stayed we talked to locals and just learned the meaning of bring an Italian. They are sooo chill here, not in a rush like Americans. They even have siesta here where everything is closed from 2 untll 4pm, where they can rest and eat with their family. America needs to adopt this! J Other that that my days are beyond great.
July 4th!
I woke up in ITALY! How many Americans can say that. Naples is a quite interesting city. I expected our voyage further in to be what I saw in Naples. When we stepped off the boat it had a slight order but nothing out of the ordinary being that we are directly on water. When Tia and i got to the end of the gate two fellow SAS’ers were kind of shook up and told us firmly stay on the boat or go on SAS trips because it was not safe and they were only out if the boat for 30minutes. Now I am not from the worse neighborhood but I think I know how to handle myself in a city, so i was not scared. The moment we stepped away from the boat area we learned that there were no crosswalks so everyone is literally own their own with crossing the streets. Tia and I were stared down by literally everyman we passed by. It seems acceptable here for men to talk to the women as they please. We found a little hole in the wall type place and had real Italian pasta. I am sad to say to, that the places I have been to NY have better tasting pasta, maybe it is the spices but I was not thoroughly impressed. I later on went out with Jordan Geon and Merritt and I bought these MEAN Italian leather shoes, it was a splurge but it was worth it 100%! That night we attempted to go out but the traffic is way too crazy to just walk around and everything happens so quickly as well.
July 5th
Capri and Anacapri is BEAUTIFUL! I had an SAS trip today and it was to these islands. The ferry was an hour long and besides a guided tour we got to have some free time. I even bought and tasted lemonchello. It is a drink specifically made in Italy. These islands are known as where the rich and famous come for retreat in Italy. We saw pictures of Mariah Carey, Neyo, Diddy, Jay Z and even Beyonce. Of course they had the common LV, Gucci, Prada stores available but also plenty more boutiques to choose from. I took a single person chair lift up to the top of the mountain and this maybe the prettiest thing I have ever seen, we were so high up we were among the clouds and pictures cannot do justice it was just something you had to experience. We went to the beach as well, I did not get into the water but it was a rock beach, this is the first time I have ever been to one. At first I felt annoyed because it was hard to lay on the rock but then I thought its better than having sand all through your stuff. And the water was CLEAR you can see straight to the rocks without a problem……
When we got back to the boat they had a “Fourth of July” party. The food was great, hot dogs, burgers, ribs, corn on the cob, baked beans, macaroni and potato salad and more! A big cake too. The decorations were really nice too, I kind of felt like I was back home celebrating with friends. Otherwise it was nice. Tomorrow we are back on the boat for a day and then off to Croatia, not much planned there but we will figure it out…
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