Cadiz

After being at sea for 7 days,  (which seemed like a whole semester) the MV Explorer docked in Cadiz, Spain. I was ecstatic and did not sleep the night before, rather spent it watching movies, playing spades and planning trips once I arrived in port. It was such a beautiful site to see, that is, LAND! (I've been on cruises before however nothing this long and its not something you are prepared for. I've had many sleepless nights, partially due to seasickness, others caused by anxiety and just excitement, though I found myself often taking a nap after my classes because each night an hour was lost. My 8am classes have technically become 4am classes.

Cadiz was the first port and my was it an amazing city! Beautiful beaches, vibrant nightlife, delicious food and people, bullfighting, flamenco dancing and much more! My first day I left the ship and got lost in the city, seeing local markets, Cathedrals, and museums. Many of my friends decided to leave for either Barcelona, Madrid (northern Spain) or Ibiza, which is Europe's party island. Something about 30,000 drunk Europeans on an island solely for the purpose of being drunk and partying didn't appeal to me so I opted to stay in the southern region. After two days I felt like I had seen all Cadiz had to offer, so I would later venture to Seville, then Cordoba and Grenada.

 

Sunset over the Atlantic ocean

Every night around 18:00, (we now use military time), deck 6 and 7 of the MV Explorer fills up with chatty students discussing their plans for the upcoming ports as they chow down on a variety of options for dinner. To my surprise the food is usually always quite tasty as I routinely find myself making more trips to the buffet line to fulfill my hunger. 

I can always be found outside deck 7 at a table in the back corner of the ship.

 Something about eating under a sunset really makes me smile.

Where am I?

Fall 2010 Itinerary/Calendar

Destination	Arrive Depart	Day	Date	Time
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada	Depart	Friday	August 27	1700
Cadiz, Spain	Arrive Depart	Saturday Wednesday	September 4 September 8	0800 2000
Casablanca, Morocco	Arrive Depart	Friday Tuesday	September 10 September 14	0800 2000
Takoradi , Ghana	Arrive Depart	Wednesday Saturday	September 22 September 25	0800 2000
Cape Town, South Africa	Arrive Depart	Sunday Friday	October 3 October 8	0800 2000
Port Louis, Mauritius	Arrive Depart	Thursday Friday	October 14 October 15	0800 2000
Chennai, India	Arrive Depart	Friday Wednesday	October 22 October 27	0800 2000
Singapore	Arrive Depart	Sunday Monday	October 31 November 1	TBD TBD
Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam	Arrive Depart	Wednesday Monday	November 03 November 08	0800 0600
Hong Kong / Shanghai, China	Arrive Depart	Thursday Tuesday	November 11 November 16	0800 2000
Kobe / Yokohama, Japan	Arrive Depart	Friday Tuesday	November 19 November 23	0800 2100
	(Cross International dateline, add one day)
Honolulu / Hilo, Hawaii, USA	Arrive Depart	Friday Monday	December 3 December 6	0600 2000
San Diego, California, USA	Arrive	Monday	December 13	0800

Thank you Diversity Abroad for choosing me as one of the 2010 $12,000.00 winners!!!

The Westin

After a day of travels: (5am-4pm), I finally reached my destination. It was good seeing some SAS students in the airport and on the shuttle bus to the hotel, but I didn't feel the need to introduce myself just yet. The dark shades probably were indicative of "don't speak to me," but no shade, I was tired from traveling and from being out the night before at Rare. To my pleasant surprise, my room was a business suite. The room was HUGE!!!!

Canada/Customs

I left my home at 5am, arriving at Atlanta Hartsfield International at 5:30 for a 7:55 flight to LGA. There I had a connection for a direct flight to Halifax, Canada. My first flight was great, on time departure, comfortable seating...I fell asleep before take off. On the otherhand, my connecting flight,well.. it was from NY so what could be expected other than delays delays delays. It baffles me that New York only has one runway for landing and taking off. I was forced to sit and wait for over an hour on the plane with no air-condition and the smell of wet human. (We all know that smell, don't we?) I can't stand it. If it rains and that causes you to smell sour then something is wrong my friend!
Eventually we taxied to the runway and took off. After landing in Canada I went through customs, who then sent me to immigration where I was questioned and scrutinized for over 2 hours! (where they do that at???!!!)

What part of tourism/ student did they not understand?

Rare

My last night in Atlanta was spent with friends and special individuals who came out to celebrate my success at Rare, Tapas Restaurant in Midtown. The food was delicious and drinks were on point. Shout out to those who came! I recommend the lobster macaroni, pomegranate martini and for dessert, indulge in the peach cobbler w/ vanilla ice cream.