10.28.12
Let's go back to 10.12.12! It is on this day that the Fall 2012
Semester at Sea shipboard community became Emerald Shellbacks!
To start off, everyone is a "Pollywog," ie: someone who has not crossed
the equator via ship! Those who have already crossed are called
Shellbacks! On our voyage, we had some shellbacks (some who had been on
a previous SAS trip!), and it was really cool because a lot of the crew
got to participate with us! They were the Shellback Army, and we, as
pollywogs had to rise early for the festivities. Dean John and Dean Lisa
were King Neptune and Queen Minerva! It was really funny because they
both were dressed up, and DJ had green body paint allllllll over. I got
a picture and I can't wait to upload them! I e-mailed a few to Dr. M,
who also had DJ as her dean when she sailed, and she said that he hadn't
changed much in 12 years!! Though she said he didn't look as green on
her voyage! :P
We, the Fall 2012 shipboard community, awaited our fates on the 7th deck
by the pool. It was there where we saw 4 trashcans full of "fish
guts." They weren't really fish guts, it some green slime that to this
day, I still don't know what it was made from! (Though I'm hoping I
figure it out before the end of this voyage!
Well, once you get the fish guts dumped on you, you then jump into the
pool and swim across! After that, we had to kiss a fish (a real one!!)
as well as King Neptune's ring! Then we got salt spread over our head
and shoulders, to which we had then become shellbacks ourselves! I
hopped in with Danielle, since we're roomies! :) But it was awesome to
see everyone go as well, and even some of the new crew members got the
same treatment! The Staff Captain was the one who dumped the guts on
them. Afterwards, if people wanted, they could shave their heads from
the "Royal Barber"...I didn't though, I still have all my hair! There
were maybe 3 or 4 girls who shaved their heads completely, a lot of guys
did it (though most of their hair has already grown out) and then some
girls shaved part of their head too. Owen, the little 2 year old got
his head shave into a Mohawk first, and then all the way off...so cute!
Now, I mentioned earlier that we became "Emerald Shellbacks." Now what
does this mean exactly? It means that we crossed the equator at the
Prime Meridian! So we were at the exact center of the world for a few
minutes!! We had a latitude and longitude of 0,0 degrees! It's also
out of the way by a couple degrees, so most ships don't go through
there, and it's an extremely rare title! :)
I can't wait to upload pictures, you'll all love them!
Love your Emerald Shellback,
SH
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Friday, October 26, 2012
Taco Day Stats!
10.26.12
Keep forgetting to put this up, but these are so ridiculous I have to!
Below are the figures for the food consumed during Taco Day [10.4.12] (which also happened to be National Taco Day in the U.S.)
Number of taco shells - 1,600 shells
Pounds of ground beef - 130 lbs
Pounds of grated cheese - 50 lbs
Pounds of guacamole - 105 lbs
Pounds of sour cream - 50 lbs
Heads of lettuce - 68 heads
How crazy are these stats?! You can tell we were ready for a change haha. I'm also going to be upset if we don't get Taco Day again during this long trek to Argentina...
Keep forgetting to put this up, but these are so ridiculous I have to!
Below are the figures for the food consumed during Taco Day [10.4.12] (which also happened to be National Taco Day in the U.S.)
Number of taco shells - 1,600 shells
Pounds of ground beef - 130 lbs
Pounds of grated cheese - 50 lbs
Pounds of guacamole - 105 lbs
Pounds of sour cream - 50 lbs
Heads of lettuce - 68 heads
How crazy are these stats?! You can tell we were ready for a change haha. I'm also going to be upset if we don't get Taco Day again during this long trek to Argentina...
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Here Today, Ghana Tomorrow!
10.25.12
Alright, I know I've been slacking lately, so I'll be starting up a lot
with everything! I have lots to talk about! But tonight is just for
Ghana! :)
So I met this family on the ship. I first met Elena (she's 15 and a
dependent child) when she was sporting an NKU shirt! I immediately went
up to talk to her because I know I'm the only one from my campus here,
and it turns out she has a cousin who goes there! Well then we didn't
really talk because we didn't see each other. I randomly met up with
her family on the train in Portugal, and that's how I became involved
with the Freeman family! Harry is a psych professor here, and Grace is
his wife. Aside from Elena, they have two other children: Harrison, who
is 11, and Willa who is 8. Ever since Portugal, the Freeman's have
basically adopted me into their family. Since I had no plans for Ghana
aside from my field lab, I decided to hang out with Grace and the kids
the first day since Harry was busy.
I can't tell you the amount of times that Elena and I got proposed to
that day. I think it was over 5 each! It got to the point where Grace
would call me her daughter and that I was too young. That usually
worked! So basically the first day we just walked around Tema, and it
was pretty fun. We looked at the market, and Grace wanted to go down a
neighborhood, so I helped her convince the kids to go down as well. You
could tell they were uncomfortable, but they went along with it, and I'm
glad I got to visit! That night, much to my surprise, Grace invited me
on the ship to ice cream. She said that I had really helped her
children today and that it was nice that a college student wanted to
hang out with them. That surprised me because a) I felt like I pushed
them to do something they didn't want to do and b) they're a really cool
family-I'm surprised that not a lot of other people hang out with them
in port!
The next day I went to Accra with the girls. We went to the Accra
market on the beach. It was fun, but very overwhelming! Basically if
you said you would look at someone's "store" then you were practically
forced to buy something. I got a lot of cheap souvenirs that way...But
one really cool thing I got was a Ghanaian drum! I wasn't planning on
buying one at all, but we sat down in the shop and got a lesson on how
to play! It was definitely really interesting, and then they let us
pick the symbols we wanted carved on our drum! I picked a sun, meaning
Child of God, and what is considered "a snake climbing a palm tree," (it
doesn't actually look like that, it looks somewhat like a ladder) but
that means to do the unusual or the impossible. I thought they fit
well! I was getting irritated at the end because we hadn't eaten lunch,
and all we really wanted to do was get back to the ship to cool off and
eat (it was so hot!) so finally we were able to get away from all the
shop keepers in order to leave. That night we stayed near the ship, and
talked to one of the sellers who set up a market right outside our
ship! His name is B.A. and he taught us how to play a game called
"Umpay." It reminds me of rock, paper, scissors!
The third day was also pretty awesome. I hung out with Harry and
Harrison, and first we walked around again. We managed to go find the
Church of the Prime Meridian! There's a plaque there that shows where
exactly the Prime Meridian is, so we stood in both the West and East
hemispheres of the world at the same time! Then later that day, we went
to a soccer game. It was completely different from the one in
Portugal. First off, the tickets were only 5 Cedi ($2.50!). After we
got into the stadium, it was not what you would expect a soccer stadium
to look like. *Nate, Dad, and the rest of my family are probably the
only ones to get this reference.* The stadium looked like St. Monica's
field...only surrounded by a fence. So basically imagine a regular
soccer field, surrounded by a fence. That was the stadium. There were
only two areas to sit, and both were V.I.P. sections. These sections
were only 5 more Cedi, so we decided it would be fun to say we sat
V.I.P. and also we really just wanted the shade, because again, it was
so hot! Well the teams playing were Tema Youth vs. Accra Heart of Oak.
The game ended in a tie of 1-1. As we were walking back to the ship, a
local came up to us. He was yelling excitedly the entire time, "You
guys were on TV!" We had no idea what he was talking about until he
mentioned, "You guys were at the game right, at the park?" To which we
nodded, because he was definitely talking about soccer! The local then
repeated, "You were on TV! I remember seeing you and the little boy!"
(meaning Harrison!) So who knew?! Pretty neat that I'm able to say I
was on TV in Tema, Ghana!
The last day I had a field lab. It was not really what I was
expecting. We went to visit Friends of the Earth and then a fishing
village. Field labs are required for class, just to let everyone know!
Well, while we were at Friends of the Earth, we were lectured at...for 2
hours. I was expecting to learn about them, not what I had been
learning in class, so it was a little bit of a disappointment. The
fishing village wasn't much better. Basically we got off the bus and
walked around for a half hour...but the smell was so bad due to all the
dead fish. I felt so bad because most of us were having trouble keeping
lunch down, and I could only imagine how we looked to the locals. Rude,
ignorant, etc. It was definitely interesting to see how they dried the
fish and prepared it! They lay it out in the sun to dry, and there are
hundreds of boats in the lake! There were thousands of dead fish laying
out, and it was next to all their garbage and waste as well. Overall, I
was not happy with the field lab, but the fishing village was definitely
more educational than FOTE.
Well tomorrow I'll update more! Sorry everyone that I've been busy and
haven't had much time, but that should change now that we have 10 days
at sea! More updates tomorrow!
SH
Alright, I know I've been slacking lately, so I'll be starting up a lot
with everything! I have lots to talk about! But tonight is just for
Ghana! :)
So I met this family on the ship. I first met Elena (she's 15 and a
dependent child) when she was sporting an NKU shirt! I immediately went
up to talk to her because I know I'm the only one from my campus here,
and it turns out she has a cousin who goes there! Well then we didn't
really talk because we didn't see each other. I randomly met up with
her family on the train in Portugal, and that's how I became involved
with the Freeman family! Harry is a psych professor here, and Grace is
his wife. Aside from Elena, they have two other children: Harrison, who
is 11, and Willa who is 8. Ever since Portugal, the Freeman's have
basically adopted me into their family. Since I had no plans for Ghana
aside from my field lab, I decided to hang out with Grace and the kids
the first day since Harry was busy.
I can't tell you the amount of times that Elena and I got proposed to
that day. I think it was over 5 each! It got to the point where Grace
would call me her daughter and that I was too young. That usually
worked! So basically the first day we just walked around Tema, and it
was pretty fun. We looked at the market, and Grace wanted to go down a
neighborhood, so I helped her convince the kids to go down as well. You
could tell they were uncomfortable, but they went along with it, and I'm
glad I got to visit! That night, much to my surprise, Grace invited me
on the ship to ice cream. She said that I had really helped her
children today and that it was nice that a college student wanted to
hang out with them. That surprised me because a) I felt like I pushed
them to do something they didn't want to do and b) they're a really cool
family-I'm surprised that not a lot of other people hang out with them
in port!
The next day I went to Accra with the girls. We went to the Accra
market on the beach. It was fun, but very overwhelming! Basically if
you said you would look at someone's "store" then you were practically
forced to buy something. I got a lot of cheap souvenirs that way...But
one really cool thing I got was a Ghanaian drum! I wasn't planning on
buying one at all, but we sat down in the shop and got a lesson on how
to play! It was definitely really interesting, and then they let us
pick the symbols we wanted carved on our drum! I picked a sun, meaning
Child of God, and what is considered "a snake climbing a palm tree," (it
doesn't actually look like that, it looks somewhat like a ladder) but
that means to do the unusual or the impossible. I thought they fit
well! I was getting irritated at the end because we hadn't eaten lunch,
and all we really wanted to do was get back to the ship to cool off and
eat (it was so hot!) so finally we were able to get away from all the
shop keepers in order to leave. That night we stayed near the ship, and
talked to one of the sellers who set up a market right outside our
ship! His name is B.A. and he taught us how to play a game called
"Umpay." It reminds me of rock, paper, scissors!
The third day was also pretty awesome. I hung out with Harry and
Harrison, and first we walked around again. We managed to go find the
Church of the Prime Meridian! There's a plaque there that shows where
exactly the Prime Meridian is, so we stood in both the West and East
hemispheres of the world at the same time! Then later that day, we went
to a soccer game. It was completely different from the one in
Portugal. First off, the tickets were only 5 Cedi ($2.50!). After we
got into the stadium, it was not what you would expect a soccer stadium
to look like. *Nate, Dad, and the rest of my family are probably the
only ones to get this reference.* The stadium looked like St. Monica's
field...only surrounded by a fence. So basically imagine a regular
soccer field, surrounded by a fence. That was the stadium. There were
only two areas to sit, and both were V.I.P. sections. These sections
were only 5 more Cedi, so we decided it would be fun to say we sat
V.I.P. and also we really just wanted the shade, because again, it was
so hot! Well the teams playing were Tema Youth vs. Accra Heart of Oak.
The game ended in a tie of 1-1. As we were walking back to the ship, a
local came up to us. He was yelling excitedly the entire time, "You
guys were on TV!" We had no idea what he was talking about until he
mentioned, "You guys were at the game right, at the park?" To which we
nodded, because he was definitely talking about soccer! The local then
repeated, "You were on TV! I remember seeing you and the little boy!"
(meaning Harrison!) So who knew?! Pretty neat that I'm able to say I
was on TV in Tema, Ghana!
The last day I had a field lab. It was not really what I was
expecting. We went to visit Friends of the Earth and then a fishing
village. Field labs are required for class, just to let everyone know!
Well, while we were at Friends of the Earth, we were lectured at...for 2
hours. I was expecting to learn about them, not what I had been
learning in class, so it was a little bit of a disappointment. The
fishing village wasn't much better. Basically we got off the bus and
walked around for a half hour...but the smell was so bad due to all the
dead fish. I felt so bad because most of us were having trouble keeping
lunch down, and I could only imagine how we looked to the locals. Rude,
ignorant, etc. It was definitely interesting to see how they dried the
fish and prepared it! They lay it out in the sun to dry, and there are
hundreds of boats in the lake! There were thousands of dead fish laying
out, and it was next to all their garbage and waste as well. Overall, I
was not happy with the field lab, but the fishing village was definitely
more educational than FOTE.
Well tomorrow I'll update more! Sorry everyone that I've been busy and
haven't had much time, but that should change now that we have 10 days
at sea! More updates tomorrow!
SH
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Donate Maybe?
10.16.12
Hey! Today I'm going to discuss a little bit about my job on the ship.
Can I just say that I love it? I work with 8 other students and our
boss. We're split into 3 groups, one working on the Auction, one
working on the Ball, and then there's Tucker, Jared, and I who are
working on the Shipboard Drive.
The Shipboard Drive is the week-long fundraiser that occurs between Rio
de Janeiro and Manaus. This is slightly ironic. Did you know that our
tuition does not cover the cost of the entire voyage? Guess where we
would end our voyage if we just sailed to where our tuition
stopped...that's right: somewhere in Brazil!
How do we get from Brazil back home? Donations from Alumni and
families! Basically, Jared, Tucker, and I are working to raise
awareness of how important it is to pay it forward and donate back to
Semester at Sea. We have a couple themes:
1. Mind the Gap- In London, on the underground tube station, it
always tells people to "Mind the Gap." The Gap is a little space
between the walkway and the tube. Well, we have a gap ourselves, and
that's to get from Brazil back home. So people have minded that Gap for
us, it's our turn to help another voyage.
2. $12 for the F '12 voyage! We're asking family and friends
to donate $12 or increments of $12 for our Fall 2012 voyage! We
calculated that if everyone on the FB page gives a minimum of $12, it
would be well over $200,000!
One way the 3 of us raised some awareness for the Shipboard Drive is
getting up in front of the entire shipboard community the night before
we got to Ghana. We did a couple trivia questions before, but this time
we decided to do a parody. We got up there and talked a little bit
about our themes, and at the end we all said at the same time, "Donate
maybe?"
Yes. We did do a complete parody to the song "Call me Maybe." There's
about 8 videos going around, so don't worry, everyone will have the
opportunity to see it! It's absolutely hysterical, and it went really
well with everyone! Our boss had it video-taped too. I'll post the
lyrics later so everyone can sing to it! (We're going to try to auction
them off, autographed of course, and I don't want people to have easy
access to them before we do!)
I was actually in a market in Accra when that song came on again...it
took me an entire verse to realize I was singing our version and not the
real version haha!
I hope everyone will donate for us as well, and I'll try to post one of
the videos I have next time I get free wifi! Miss everyone!
SH
Hey! Today I'm going to discuss a little bit about my job on the ship.
Can I just say that I love it? I work with 8 other students and our
boss. We're split into 3 groups, one working on the Auction, one
working on the Ball, and then there's Tucker, Jared, and I who are
working on the Shipboard Drive.
The Shipboard Drive is the week-long fundraiser that occurs between Rio
de Janeiro and Manaus. This is slightly ironic. Did you know that our
tuition does not cover the cost of the entire voyage? Guess where we
would end our voyage if we just sailed to where our tuition
stopped...that's right: somewhere in Brazil!
How do we get from Brazil back home? Donations from Alumni and
families! Basically, Jared, Tucker, and I are working to raise
awareness of how important it is to pay it forward and donate back to
Semester at Sea. We have a couple themes:
1. Mind the Gap- In London, on the underground tube station, it
always tells people to "Mind the Gap." The Gap is a little space
between the walkway and the tube. Well, we have a gap ourselves, and
that's to get from Brazil back home. So people have minded that Gap for
us, it's our turn to help another voyage.
2. $12 for the F '12 voyage! We're asking family and friends
to donate $12 or increments of $12 for our Fall 2012 voyage! We
calculated that if everyone on the FB page gives a minimum of $12, it
would be well over $200,000!
One way the 3 of us raised some awareness for the Shipboard Drive is
getting up in front of the entire shipboard community the night before
we got to Ghana. We did a couple trivia questions before, but this time
we decided to do a parody. We got up there and talked a little bit
about our themes, and at the end we all said at the same time, "Donate
maybe?"
Yes. We did do a complete parody to the song "Call me Maybe." There's
about 8 videos going around, so don't worry, everyone will have the
opportunity to see it! It's absolutely hysterical, and it went really
well with everyone! Our boss had it video-taped too. I'll post the
lyrics later so everyone can sing to it! (We're going to try to auction
them off, autographed of course, and I don't want people to have easy
access to them before we do!)
I was actually in a market in Accra when that song came on again...it
took me an entire verse to realize I was singing our version and not the
real version haha!
I hope everyone will donate for us as well, and I'll try to post one of
the videos I have next time I get free wifi! Miss everyone!
SH
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Mt. Teide!
10.14.12
Hey everyone! So, I'm pretty disappointed that we didn't end up going
to Morocco, but I made the best of the Canary Islands! We knew before
Spain that we were unable to make it to Casablanca, due to the tensions
in Northern Africa, but Danielle's dad sent her some pretty cool things
to do in the Canary Islands. We decided to go hike up Mt. Teide, the
world's 3rd tallest active volcano! Danielle and I went with Colleen,
Amy, and part of my "extended" family on the ship: Ann, Dale, Pete, and
Mike! Dale and Ann are my "parents" and Pete and Mike are their
biological sons, so my "brothers." We couldn't get a permit to hike to
the very summit unless we stayed the night at the Hostel that was
located about 500 m from the top. So we stayed the night :)
The hike up the first day was pretty intense. It was pretty much dead
silent except for us talking, which was weird because when we saved our
breath for hiking, the only noises were the crunching of our boots.
However, the hike itself was great...every view was breath-taking, and
you wouldn't think that a bunch of rocks would be amazing, but the
sights were absolutely gorgeous!
We saw dried lava flow from the last time Mt. Teide erupted, which was
in 1909! It took us a good 4 or 5 hours to hike to the hostel, and we
stopped for lunch on the way up! Once we reached the hostel, we had to
wait because they didn't actually opened until 5pm, and we got there
about 3:30pm! So to pass the time, we ate some snacks, we played
Frisbee, and honestly, Danielle, Colleen, Amy, and I found a pretty
comfortable rock in the sun and took a nap too haha. So yes, I have
literally slept on a volcano before!
While at the hostel, we talked to some pretty cool people! Tom and Adi
were two guys from London we met. Adi decided to sleep outside, in the
cold, in his sleeping bag, because he "didn't drag that thing all the
way from London for nothing!" That night, the moon was ridiculously
bright, but it was so amazing! There were a ton of stars to see as
well. I wish my camera could pick them up, but alas, it doesn't. :(
The beds were pretty comfortable, and there were 3 rooms that had 16
beds each. One bathroom for guys, one for girls. No shower, and zero
trash cans! We had to carry everything with us! Even though the beds
were comfortable, I couldn't sleep well because of either altitude
sickness (headache) or because I was too excited!
We woke up late, but it was still really early, at about 5:15am! Then we
made the trek up to the summit. It was pretty cold, but if you kept
moving, it was pretty hot. Amy and I ended up getting ahead of the
group, which Mike and Pete caught up with us later. It was also
somewhat difficult seeing the trail with only the moonlight, even though
it was so bright. I was thankful for my headlamp I bought before the
voyage!
Pete, Mike, Amy, and I got up to the cable car line, which lead to the
summit, and surprisingly, there was a pretty nice trail up to the top!
It took us a little bit to hike up there, because it became really steep
and so it was a bit more difficult to climb up. When we got there, it
was still well before sunrise, something we didn't expect to happen. I
guess I shouldn't underestimate myself so much! haha. Anyway, it was
absolutely freezing up at the summit...it was dark, we weren't moving,
and it was just cold! Who knew the top of an active volcano would be so
cold? And our only sources of heat were sulfur vents...we smelled
amazing, let me tell you haha.
I had on two pairs of sweatpants, a pair of shorts, a long sleeve
tshirt, a short sleeved tshirt, and a hoodie, and gloves, and I was
still absolutely freezing! Then it took the sun what seemed like much
longer to rise than normal. This might have been because we were above
the clouds! However, even though I thought I would freeze, the sights
were definitely worth it! The shadow on the other side was stunning,
and we saw both the sun and the moon up in the sky together! I'm glad I
was able to make it to the summit, since it was my first time hiking
anything that high before!
We took the cable car back down to make sure we made it back to the ship
in time, and that took about 10 minutes. Made our accomplishment seem
like nothing...awesome hah. But all in all, the experiences were the
best, and I had a great time! All for now!
SH
Hey everyone! So, I'm pretty disappointed that we didn't end up going
to Morocco, but I made the best of the Canary Islands! We knew before
Spain that we were unable to make it to Casablanca, due to the tensions
in Northern Africa, but Danielle's dad sent her some pretty cool things
to do in the Canary Islands. We decided to go hike up Mt. Teide, the
world's 3rd tallest active volcano! Danielle and I went with Colleen,
Amy, and part of my "extended" family on the ship: Ann, Dale, Pete, and
Mike! Dale and Ann are my "parents" and Pete and Mike are their
biological sons, so my "brothers." We couldn't get a permit to hike to
the very summit unless we stayed the night at the Hostel that was
located about 500 m from the top. So we stayed the night :)
The hike up the first day was pretty intense. It was pretty much dead
silent except for us talking, which was weird because when we saved our
breath for hiking, the only noises were the crunching of our boots.
However, the hike itself was great...every view was breath-taking, and
you wouldn't think that a bunch of rocks would be amazing, but the
sights were absolutely gorgeous!
We saw dried lava flow from the last time Mt. Teide erupted, which was
in 1909! It took us a good 4 or 5 hours to hike to the hostel, and we
stopped for lunch on the way up! Once we reached the hostel, we had to
wait because they didn't actually opened until 5pm, and we got there
about 3:30pm! So to pass the time, we ate some snacks, we played
Frisbee, and honestly, Danielle, Colleen, Amy, and I found a pretty
comfortable rock in the sun and took a nap too haha. So yes, I have
literally slept on a volcano before!
While at the hostel, we talked to some pretty cool people! Tom and Adi
were two guys from London we met. Adi decided to sleep outside, in the
cold, in his sleeping bag, because he "didn't drag that thing all the
way from London for nothing!" That night, the moon was ridiculously
bright, but it was so amazing! There were a ton of stars to see as
well. I wish my camera could pick them up, but alas, it doesn't. :(
The beds were pretty comfortable, and there were 3 rooms that had 16
beds each. One bathroom for guys, one for girls. No shower, and zero
trash cans! We had to carry everything with us! Even though the beds
were comfortable, I couldn't sleep well because of either altitude
sickness (headache) or because I was too excited!
We woke up late, but it was still really early, at about 5:15am! Then we
made the trek up to the summit. It was pretty cold, but if you kept
moving, it was pretty hot. Amy and I ended up getting ahead of the
group, which Mike and Pete caught up with us later. It was also
somewhat difficult seeing the trail with only the moonlight, even though
it was so bright. I was thankful for my headlamp I bought before the
voyage!
Pete, Mike, Amy, and I got up to the cable car line, which lead to the
summit, and surprisingly, there was a pretty nice trail up to the top!
It took us a little bit to hike up there, because it became really steep
and so it was a bit more difficult to climb up. When we got there, it
was still well before sunrise, something we didn't expect to happen. I
guess I shouldn't underestimate myself so much! haha. Anyway, it was
absolutely freezing up at the summit...it was dark, we weren't moving,
and it was just cold! Who knew the top of an active volcano would be so
cold? And our only sources of heat were sulfur vents...we smelled
amazing, let me tell you haha.
I had on two pairs of sweatpants, a pair of shorts, a long sleeve
tshirt, a short sleeved tshirt, and a hoodie, and gloves, and I was
still absolutely freezing! Then it took the sun what seemed like much
longer to rise than normal. This might have been because we were above
the clouds! However, even though I thought I would freeze, the sights
were definitely worth it! The shadow on the other side was stunning,
and we saw both the sun and the moon up in the sky together! I'm glad I
was able to make it to the summit, since it was my first time hiking
anything that high before!
We took the cable car back down to make sure we made it back to the ship
in time, and that took about 10 minutes. Made our accomplishment seem
like nothing...awesome hah. But all in all, the experiences were the
best, and I had a great time! All for now!
SH
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Hoping for another Red October!
10.13.12
I finally have enough time to talk to everyone for a little bit, and I
don't know what I want to say! There are too many things, and I want to
space it out so that I don't post more than once or twice a day! (That
way everyone doesn't get too overwhelmed!) :)
Honestly, the thing that's most on my mind right now? Baseball. My dad
has been keeping me updated recently (thanks dad!) and it's a big deal
aboard the ship. I can't tell you how many people have either a) been
coming up to me asking if I've heard what happened (like with
yesterday's game!!!), or b) that they now want the Cards to take the
title again, either due to hatred of the Giants (love the Dogers fans on
the ship haha) or because of how crazy this entire post season has been!
There's one person on the ship, Ben (a Yankees fan), and today we ran
into each other...the first words? Congratulations and did you hear
what happened?!
I'm going to be getting a lot of use out of my two Cards shirts, along
with my only Cards hoodie haha. I'm crossing my fingers for another Red
October! Maybe the Rally Squirrel will make a comeback as well lol. I
also kinda want it to be the Cards and the Tigers in the WS...round 2,
six years later!
Anyway, tonight I'm eating dinner with my extended family, so I'm pretty
excited about that! Tomorrow I'll post about Mt. Teide! If I space it
right, I'll only have to do one blog a day between now and South Africa :)
Anyway, off to eat dinner!
SH
I finally have enough time to talk to everyone for a little bit, and I
don't know what I want to say! There are too many things, and I want to
space it out so that I don't post more than once or twice a day! (That
way everyone doesn't get too overwhelmed!) :)
Honestly, the thing that's most on my mind right now? Baseball. My dad
has been keeping me updated recently (thanks dad!) and it's a big deal
aboard the ship. I can't tell you how many people have either a) been
coming up to me asking if I've heard what happened (like with
yesterday's game!!!), or b) that they now want the Cards to take the
title again, either due to hatred of the Giants (love the Dogers fans on
the ship haha) or because of how crazy this entire post season has been!
There's one person on the ship, Ben (a Yankees fan), and today we ran
into each other...the first words? Congratulations and did you hear
what happened?!
I'm going to be getting a lot of use out of my two Cards shirts, along
with my only Cards hoodie haha. I'm crossing my fingers for another Red
October! Maybe the Rally Squirrel will make a comeback as well lol. I
also kinda want it to be the Cards and the Tigers in the WS...round 2,
six years later!
Anyway, tonight I'm eating dinner with my extended family, so I'm pretty
excited about that! Tomorrow I'll post about Mt. Teide! If I space it
right, I'll only have to do one blog a day between now and South Africa :)
Anyway, off to eat dinner!
SH
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Mind the Gap and Donate Maybe!
10.7.12
Soooo I'll write about the Canary Islands soon, but I just wanted to
give everyone a quick update on ship life!
I've been pretty seasick this stretch, and am actually combating a
severe migraine at the moment, but other than the occasional
seasickness, ship life has been pretty fantastic. I've had a couple
tests, I got a B+ on my Global Studies exam, which isn't bad, and idk
how I did on the other.
The weather has been pretty awesome, aside from a few rain storms, and I
think that, along with the seasickness is what's making me get
headaches/migraines occur recently. I'm excited to be getting into
Ghana tomorrow!!
When I'm not seasick, I've been out tanning or playing in the pool with
the little kids, it's been a ton of fun! I'm actually starting to get a
tan! Wahoo! :)
The main reason I'm writing this blog though, now that the performance
is over, is because of my work study. Me, my friends Tucker and Jared
are all part of the Alumni Development and Assistant work study team!
Well, us 3 are working mainly on the Shipboard Drive.
The Shipboard Drive is a week long fundraiser that occurs during the
stretch at sea from Rio to Manaus. We have a couple themes this year,
and one of them is "Mind the Gap." (As in, the take from London's
Tube!) Did anyone know that the tuition we pay doesn't actually cover
the cost of the entire voyage? We would, ironically, have to end our
voyage somewhere near Brazil if we stopped when our tuition did.
This is where Alumni and others come in- donations from everyone
(particularly Alumni) help "Mind the Gap" from Brazil to get us back
home to the United States! So basically, Jared, Tucker's and my job is
to get people pumped about the Shipboard Drive, and to help raise
awareness so that we can all become those Alumni that help other SASers
during their future voyages.
One way we did this is by a little performance at what we call
"Logistical Pre-Port." This is where attendance is mandatory and
everyone has to be in the Union in order to hear about the field labs,
important health concerns, as well as attire and any general information.
Our performance happened to be a parody to the song "Call me Maybe."
Only our title was "Donate Maybe." We had a phenomenal turn out, even
though we dropped a couple lyrics in the moment. Either way, it was a
fabulous hit, and I can't wait to show everyone the video that Colleen
recorded!!! We're hoping to possibly do more of these, because of how
well it turned out!
That's about all I have to talk about! I can't wait to show everyone,
but I have to hit the hay because my migraine is really bad...I'll be
honest when I say I'm surprised I was able to go up on stage and sing
with the boys because of how poor I feel. :/ Either way, Ghana
tomorrow, and I'm super excited!
You'll hear more updates soon!
SH
Soooo I'll write about the Canary Islands soon, but I just wanted to
give everyone a quick update on ship life!
I've been pretty seasick this stretch, and am actually combating a
severe migraine at the moment, but other than the occasional
seasickness, ship life has been pretty fantastic. I've had a couple
tests, I got a B+ on my Global Studies exam, which isn't bad, and idk
how I did on the other.
The weather has been pretty awesome, aside from a few rain storms, and I
think that, along with the seasickness is what's making me get
headaches/migraines occur recently. I'm excited to be getting into
Ghana tomorrow!!
When I'm not seasick, I've been out tanning or playing in the pool with
the little kids, it's been a ton of fun! I'm actually starting to get a
tan! Wahoo! :)
The main reason I'm writing this blog though, now that the performance
is over, is because of my work study. Me, my friends Tucker and Jared
are all part of the Alumni Development and Assistant work study team!
Well, us 3 are working mainly on the Shipboard Drive.
The Shipboard Drive is a week long fundraiser that occurs during the
stretch at sea from Rio to Manaus. We have a couple themes this year,
and one of them is "Mind the Gap." (As in, the take from London's
Tube!) Did anyone know that the tuition we pay doesn't actually cover
the cost of the entire voyage? We would, ironically, have to end our
voyage somewhere near Brazil if we stopped when our tuition did.
This is where Alumni and others come in- donations from everyone
(particularly Alumni) help "Mind the Gap" from Brazil to get us back
home to the United States! So basically, Jared, Tucker's and my job is
to get people pumped about the Shipboard Drive, and to help raise
awareness so that we can all become those Alumni that help other SASers
during their future voyages.
One way we did this is by a little performance at what we call
"Logistical Pre-Port." This is where attendance is mandatory and
everyone has to be in the Union in order to hear about the field labs,
important health concerns, as well as attire and any general information.
Our performance happened to be a parody to the song "Call me Maybe."
Only our title was "Donate Maybe." We had a phenomenal turn out, even
though we dropped a couple lyrics in the moment. Either way, it was a
fabulous hit, and I can't wait to show everyone the video that Colleen
recorded!!! We're hoping to possibly do more of these, because of how
well it turned out!
That's about all I have to talk about! I can't wait to show everyone,
but I have to hit the hay because my migraine is really bad...I'll be
honest when I say I'm surprised I was able to go up on stage and sing
with the boys because of how poor I feel. :/ Either way, Ghana
tomorrow, and I'm super excited!
You'll hear more updates soon!
SH
Thursday, October 4, 2012
TACO DAY!!!
10.4.12
Sooo basically best. day. ever.
We had Taco Day for lunch!!! There were NO potatoes, and there was
tortilla soup as well!!!
Basically all you need to know about my day :)
SH
Sooo basically best. day. ever.
We had Taco Day for lunch!!! There were NO potatoes, and there was
tortilla soup as well!!!
Basically all you need to know about my day :)
SH
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Spain/Madrid!
10.3.12
I'm getting good at this, now that I have more than one day in between
sea and ports! :) haha. Still have to wait on pictures of all the blogs
though, sorry everyone!
Anyway, the point of this post was to let everyone know about my times
in Spain! The first day I honestly just walked around Cadiz, and
Danielle, Amy, Colleen, and I all stumbled upon a parade that apparently
only happens once a year! It seemed like it was a religious parade, but
we didn't get the name.
The second day was the day all of us went to Madrid! Dr. M has a friend
who lives there, his name is Michel. Well, Dr. M met him on HER voyage
back in the day when they sailed to Cuba. Michel then moved to Madrid
and has been there ever since!
So Michel and I had been e-mailing back and forth about making a visit,
who all I was traveling with, etc. But when we actually got to Madrid
around 6:00pm...I realized that I had absolutely no idea what he looked
like, and he didn't know what we looked like. I was wearing my SAS
hoodie, but other than that, I had hoped we would look enough like lost
Americans that he would realize who we were.
So we wait...and wait. I thought to myself how much it was a leap of
faith to not only be traveling to visit someone I had never met, but
also the girls for trusting me and Dr. M enough to go with me. I prayed
that we wouldn't be let down!
Well we waited about a half hour and we were going to just get a taxi to
his house (he said it was about 5 minutes away) but something told me to
wait a few more minutes. Which actually happened to pay off! The four
of us were standing by the taxis, and I happened to look down into the
train station through the window. That was when I saw someone walking
around with head phones, and as they turned around they pointed at me!
Bewildered, I pointed to myself, and the guy held his hand up. I didn't
understand, so I shook my head no, and put up 4 fingers, because there
were only 4 of us waiting haha. Well then he moved his arms and I was
the only one of us who made the connection that he was imitating the
rocking of a boat, so I burst out laughing and put my thumbs up!
The story gets even better, because we were supposed to be staying with
him, but he quickly tells us we are going to a hotel tonight instead.
You have to understand all of us were thinking that this was strange,
but sure. After we get to the hotel and put our stuff down, we went
back to the lobby where Michel was waiting for us. He then explained
his shower was broken and it was getting fixed in the morning. When we
had some free time later that night, we were saying that this was
ridiculous because we've been a night without a shower before, but it
was still a really nice gesture.
That night we went out to dinner with Michel, and a friend Raul (works
with Michel). I can't remember what Raul's friend's name was, but it
was a fun night. I didn't know if I would like Spanish food, so I was
pleasantly surprised when I liked everything I tasted. (Except for the
wine, I'm not a big fan of red wine). We had Spanish ham, cheese,
tortillas, and some sort of steak. It was an excellent meal!
Michel gave us his house key so that we could get into his apartment the
next morning, since he had to work. Well, we get there, and Michel
practically has a feast waiting for us! It was delicious! We had
chocolate cereal, Nutella, this really great cornish bread that I ended
up actually buying to take back to the ship, and all sorts of fruits!
Much better than any breakfast I've had on the ship!
Then that day we all decided to roam around Madrid. The only thing we
really did was we went up in this tower (I can't remember the name) and
the view was great! It was similar to the view in Portugal, except for
everything was closer. Aside from going up in the tower, we basically
just walked around, did a little shopping, visited a couple squares. It
was a nice day out, and it was nice to have a relaxing day in port.
For dinner, after Michel got off work, we went to a wine tasting place.
I liked the white wines better than the red, but I tried a little bit
of wine from a bottle that costs 300 Euros! We all then went to a Cuban
restaurant, so that we get both the taste of Spain and the taste of
Cuba. Again, I liked almost everything I tried, but there was vinegar
on my carrots or something and I couldn't eat them haha.
Michel had to go back to work that night, so me, Amy, Danielle, and
Colleen all went out to a Salsa Club with Raul and his friend Roberto.
Colleen was the only one out of us who knew how to salsa haha. She
attempted to teach me, Danielle, and Amy but I doubt I retained it lol.
Raul and Roberto weren't bad dancers either. The best part of the
night I think was when a song came on that the only way I can describe
it is by saying it's the Spanish Cha-Cha slide. It was fantastic, except
for we had no idea what we were doing!
Our last day in Madrid was short, and I felt so bad because Michel, who
had just worked all night, stayed up to show us a few of his favorite
spots in this really pretty park. We were relaxing on one of the park
benches, and he started to fall asleep! I felt really bad because he
totally should have just gone to sleep and kicked us out, but didn't.
We said our goodbyes early so that he could finally get some rest.
Madrid was a lot of fun, and I'm glad I got the opportunity to meet one
of Dr. M's friends from her SAS voyage! Thanks again Michel, if you're
reading this, for letting us crash at your place and for everything you
showed us! I can speak for all of us when I say we had a great time!
Keep in touch!
SH
I'm getting good at this, now that I have more than one day in between
sea and ports! :) haha. Still have to wait on pictures of all the blogs
though, sorry everyone!
Anyway, the point of this post was to let everyone know about my times
in Spain! The first day I honestly just walked around Cadiz, and
Danielle, Amy, Colleen, and I all stumbled upon a parade that apparently
only happens once a year! It seemed like it was a religious parade, but
we didn't get the name.
The second day was the day all of us went to Madrid! Dr. M has a friend
who lives there, his name is Michel. Well, Dr. M met him on HER voyage
back in the day when they sailed to Cuba. Michel then moved to Madrid
and has been there ever since!
So Michel and I had been e-mailing back and forth about making a visit,
who all I was traveling with, etc. But when we actually got to Madrid
around 6:00pm...I realized that I had absolutely no idea what he looked
like, and he didn't know what we looked like. I was wearing my SAS
hoodie, but other than that, I had hoped we would look enough like lost
Americans that he would realize who we were.
So we wait...and wait. I thought to myself how much it was a leap of
faith to not only be traveling to visit someone I had never met, but
also the girls for trusting me and Dr. M enough to go with me. I prayed
that we wouldn't be let down!
Well we waited about a half hour and we were going to just get a taxi to
his house (he said it was about 5 minutes away) but something told me to
wait a few more minutes. Which actually happened to pay off! The four
of us were standing by the taxis, and I happened to look down into the
train station through the window. That was when I saw someone walking
around with head phones, and as they turned around they pointed at me!
Bewildered, I pointed to myself, and the guy held his hand up. I didn't
understand, so I shook my head no, and put up 4 fingers, because there
were only 4 of us waiting haha. Well then he moved his arms and I was
the only one of us who made the connection that he was imitating the
rocking of a boat, so I burst out laughing and put my thumbs up!
The story gets even better, because we were supposed to be staying with
him, but he quickly tells us we are going to a hotel tonight instead.
You have to understand all of us were thinking that this was strange,
but sure. After we get to the hotel and put our stuff down, we went
back to the lobby where Michel was waiting for us. He then explained
his shower was broken and it was getting fixed in the morning. When we
had some free time later that night, we were saying that this was
ridiculous because we've been a night without a shower before, but it
was still a really nice gesture.
That night we went out to dinner with Michel, and a friend Raul (works
with Michel). I can't remember what Raul's friend's name was, but it
was a fun night. I didn't know if I would like Spanish food, so I was
pleasantly surprised when I liked everything I tasted. (Except for the
wine, I'm not a big fan of red wine). We had Spanish ham, cheese,
tortillas, and some sort of steak. It was an excellent meal!
Michel gave us his house key so that we could get into his apartment the
next morning, since he had to work. Well, we get there, and Michel
practically has a feast waiting for us! It was delicious! We had
chocolate cereal, Nutella, this really great cornish bread that I ended
up actually buying to take back to the ship, and all sorts of fruits!
Much better than any breakfast I've had on the ship!
Then that day we all decided to roam around Madrid. The only thing we
really did was we went up in this tower (I can't remember the name) and
the view was great! It was similar to the view in Portugal, except for
everything was closer. Aside from going up in the tower, we basically
just walked around, did a little shopping, visited a couple squares. It
was a nice day out, and it was nice to have a relaxing day in port.
For dinner, after Michel got off work, we went to a wine tasting place.
I liked the white wines better than the red, but I tried a little bit
of wine from a bottle that costs 300 Euros! We all then went to a Cuban
restaurant, so that we get both the taste of Spain and the taste of
Cuba. Again, I liked almost everything I tried, but there was vinegar
on my carrots or something and I couldn't eat them haha.
Michel had to go back to work that night, so me, Amy, Danielle, and
Colleen all went out to a Salsa Club with Raul and his friend Roberto.
Colleen was the only one out of us who knew how to salsa haha. She
attempted to teach me, Danielle, and Amy but I doubt I retained it lol.
Raul and Roberto weren't bad dancers either. The best part of the
night I think was when a song came on that the only way I can describe
it is by saying it's the Spanish Cha-Cha slide. It was fantastic, except
for we had no idea what we were doing!
Our last day in Madrid was short, and I felt so bad because Michel, who
had just worked all night, stayed up to show us a few of his favorite
spots in this really pretty park. We were relaxing on one of the park
benches, and he started to fall asleep! I felt really bad because he
totally should have just gone to sleep and kicked us out, but didn't.
We said our goodbyes early so that he could finally get some rest.
Madrid was a lot of fun, and I'm glad I got the opportunity to meet one
of Dr. M's friends from her SAS voyage! Thanks again Michel, if you're
reading this, for letting us crash at your place and for everything you
showed us! I can speak for all of us when I say we had a great time!
Keep in touch!
SH
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
More fun times in Portugal!
10.2.12-
Hey everyone! I just wanted to begin by saying Happy birthday to both
my little cousin, Evan, and my guinea pig Irene! :) Evan is going to be
perpetually 13, because I feel way too old when his birthday comes
around! Irene is one today :)
Anyway, on to discussing more about Portugal!!
The whole time I was in Portugal, I never traveled with the usuals: Amy,
Danielle, or Colleen. It's not like we got into an argument or
anything, but we just had different things to do on different days, and
honestly I had just as much fun hanging out with other people, and I'm
probably going to do that more often!
Well I made a promise to one of the Lifelong Learners, Barbara, that I
would go to the Oceanarium with her and another student, Tanya, the
second morning...I was exhausted because I had been out the night before
with Adan, Eugene and Brian, but I went with them instead of going to
the beach with the girls.
I expected more out of the Oceanarium...It's claim was it was the
biggest Oceanarium in Europe (maybe even the world). So I definitely
had high expectations for this place. However, when I was walking
through, I wasn't too impressed. The most they had going for them was
the giant tank, which could be seen from anywhere in the Oceanarium.
But it didn't seem like they put much effort into any other exhibits
really. The penguin exhibit was the second best, but only because if I
wanted to, I could've reached out and petted them. All the exhibits
aside from the giant tank were pretty small...I thought that the Newport
Aquarium was much better, because they put more into all of their
exhibits and have penguin shows, and play areas, etc. So while I know
people who loved the Oceanarium, I wasn't too impressed.
That night though, definitely made up for it! A spur of the moment
decision, I got a couple guys to go with me to the Lisbon soccer game!
It was Sporting vs. a team from Switzerland. Zach and Matt were the two
I went to the game with, and we actually ran into a few other SASers
there as well.
The game was SO much fun! We saw a couple yellow cards, and even a red
card! The final score was tied at 0-0, but the fans during the game
were so crazy. There were fans for Sporting on opposite ends of the
stadium, who were literally chanting back and forth to each other, in
perfect unison. The rival fans were just as loud, if not louder than
the Sporting fans! The game was definitely intense!
Zach and I got into the game by buying a cheap jersey for Sporting! I
have some good pictures of us in our jerseys :)
The last day of Portugal was pretty relaxed, I honestly just found some
free wifi and talked to my parents for a bit!
Overall, Portugal was definitely a great port, and probably one of my
favorites! I'll update about Spain soon! :)
SH
Hey everyone! I just wanted to begin by saying Happy birthday to both
my little cousin, Evan, and my guinea pig Irene! :) Evan is going to be
perpetually 13, because I feel way too old when his birthday comes
around! Irene is one today :)
Anyway, on to discussing more about Portugal!!
The whole time I was in Portugal, I never traveled with the usuals: Amy,
Danielle, or Colleen. It's not like we got into an argument or
anything, but we just had different things to do on different days, and
honestly I had just as much fun hanging out with other people, and I'm
probably going to do that more often!
Well I made a promise to one of the Lifelong Learners, Barbara, that I
would go to the Oceanarium with her and another student, Tanya, the
second morning...I was exhausted because I had been out the night before
with Adan, Eugene and Brian, but I went with them instead of going to
the beach with the girls.
I expected more out of the Oceanarium...It's claim was it was the
biggest Oceanarium in Europe (maybe even the world). So I definitely
had high expectations for this place. However, when I was walking
through, I wasn't too impressed. The most they had going for them was
the giant tank, which could be seen from anywhere in the Oceanarium.
But it didn't seem like they put much effort into any other exhibits
really. The penguin exhibit was the second best, but only because if I
wanted to, I could've reached out and petted them. All the exhibits
aside from the giant tank were pretty small...I thought that the Newport
Aquarium was much better, because they put more into all of their
exhibits and have penguin shows, and play areas, etc. So while I know
people who loved the Oceanarium, I wasn't too impressed.
That night though, definitely made up for it! A spur of the moment
decision, I got a couple guys to go with me to the Lisbon soccer game!
It was Sporting vs. a team from Switzerland. Zach and Matt were the two
I went to the game with, and we actually ran into a few other SASers
there as well.
The game was SO much fun! We saw a couple yellow cards, and even a red
card! The final score was tied at 0-0, but the fans during the game
were so crazy. There were fans for Sporting on opposite ends of the
stadium, who were literally chanting back and forth to each other, in
perfect unison. The rival fans were just as loud, if not louder than
the Sporting fans! The game was definitely intense!
Zach and I got into the game by buying a cheap jersey for Sporting! I
have some good pictures of us in our jerseys :)
The last day of Portugal was pretty relaxed, I honestly just found some
free wifi and talked to my parents for a bit!
Overall, Portugal was definitely a great port, and probably one of my
favorites! I'll update about Spain soon! :)
SH
Monday, October 1, 2012
Everything is ALWAYS up a hill in Portugal!
10.1.12-Happy October!!
So thanks to whoever gave me suggestions for the palace name-it didn't
tell me who wrote it haha. But I'm pretty sure it is the Pena National
Palace, I definitely remembered the Pena part, but I couldn't remember
the name (probably because it was in Portuguese!)
Anyway, now that I'm positive it was the Pena National Palace, I can
tell you all about my time there, as well as getting there! :)
I honestly didn't know what to do in Lisbon. I'll be real here, I
didn't even know what there was to do, aside from hearing beaches and
the Oceanarium. So I thought I'd beach it one day, Oceanarium the next,
and walk around the town on another day...I think I got one of those 3
things done haha.
Danielle, Amy, and Colleen were all doing this scavenger hunt through
Lisbon that SAS was hosting (it cost a lot of money and I just wasn't
too interested in it), so I didn't have anything to do the first day.
That morning, I ran into my friend Adan and he told me he wanted to go
see the Palace in Sintra. So I went with him, Eugene, and Brian for the
day. We all decided we wanted to hike up, I had been dying to hike for
a while now! But naturally, I forget just about everything I need to
hike. Hiking boots, water, snacks...I ended up buying snacks and water
and luckily I had my tennis shoes.
Little did we know that the Pena National Palace was on a mountain. So
we ran into some other SASers, who decided to take the bus up, but no,
we decided we were going to hike up to the Palace, and then hike to the
very top of the mountain to see the cross! (The name of the cross was
Santa something..)
I'll be the first to say that I'm a little out of shape. I haven't used
the exercise room on the ship because I'm afraid when a wave hits the
wrong way, I'll go flying...that would happen to me too! So it was a
pretty tough hike. It was also a good 2 hours up to the Palace. We get
there about 5 minutes after the bus who had taken our friends up did.
Which meant we had to have been at a racing speed, since we saw it drive
by us once!
The Pena National Palace was absolutely stunning. I will definitely
post pictures when I have the opportunity! It was so colorful as well!
There are bright yellows, oranges, grays, reds, everything! The
architecture was so unique, and when we went inside, it seemed like
everything was made for people who were much smaller than me! Not to
mention the decorations, but the view was breath-taking as well. We
looked upon all of Sintre, and we still had more to hike!
So we basically considered walking around the Pena National Palace
grounds our "break." Which wasn't a break because we were still going
up and down stairs, hills, everything! We quickly learned for our next
few days that everything we always want to do in Portugal and Lisbon in
general is "up a hill."
But we kept pressing onward to summit the mountain! Well, Adan is
apparently not too keen with a map, because we first ended up close to
the bottom again before we made our way back up to the Palace. We were
not happy with him haha. It's funny now that the day is over!
However, we finally made it up to the top of the mountain after another
grueling couple hours of hiking! We felt so accomplished because we had
reached the summit, and finally could rest. I have a picture of the
boys laying down on the rocks taking a nap! This was a well-deserved
nap to say the least!
After taking pictures, taking the view, and resting, the four of us then
made our descent to the bottom. But Adan, who knew he had so much
energy, because he really wanted to go to the Moorish castle. (I think
that's what it was called-it's on the same mountain as the Pena National
Palace). We humored him and went along, even though we were dead tired,
and of course, it was up another hill.
It wasn't as impressing to us, probably because we had just come from
not only the summit of the mountain, but the Pena National Palace as
well, but the view was still great! (The castle is lower than the Palace).
All in all, it was an amazing day, and I loved hanging out and hiking
with the guys! That night to celebrate we all went out to where the
locals go, and of course, it was also up a hill, but overall, it was a
great experience and I'm glad I got a chance to see it! :)
More Portugal in a little bit!
SH
So thanks to whoever gave me suggestions for the palace name-it didn't
tell me who wrote it haha. But I'm pretty sure it is the Pena National
Palace, I definitely remembered the Pena part, but I couldn't remember
the name (probably because it was in Portuguese!)
Anyway, now that I'm positive it was the Pena National Palace, I can
tell you all about my time there, as well as getting there! :)
I honestly didn't know what to do in Lisbon. I'll be real here, I
didn't even know what there was to do, aside from hearing beaches and
the Oceanarium. So I thought I'd beach it one day, Oceanarium the next,
and walk around the town on another day...I think I got one of those 3
things done haha.
Danielle, Amy, and Colleen were all doing this scavenger hunt through
Lisbon that SAS was hosting (it cost a lot of money and I just wasn't
too interested in it), so I didn't have anything to do the first day.
That morning, I ran into my friend Adan and he told me he wanted to go
see the Palace in Sintra. So I went with him, Eugene, and Brian for the
day. We all decided we wanted to hike up, I had been dying to hike for
a while now! But naturally, I forget just about everything I need to
hike. Hiking boots, water, snacks...I ended up buying snacks and water
and luckily I had my tennis shoes.
Little did we know that the Pena National Palace was on a mountain. So
we ran into some other SASers, who decided to take the bus up, but no,
we decided we were going to hike up to the Palace, and then hike to the
very top of the mountain to see the cross! (The name of the cross was
Santa something..)
I'll be the first to say that I'm a little out of shape. I haven't used
the exercise room on the ship because I'm afraid when a wave hits the
wrong way, I'll go flying...that would happen to me too! So it was a
pretty tough hike. It was also a good 2 hours up to the Palace. We get
there about 5 minutes after the bus who had taken our friends up did.
Which meant we had to have been at a racing speed, since we saw it drive
by us once!
The Pena National Palace was absolutely stunning. I will definitely
post pictures when I have the opportunity! It was so colorful as well!
There are bright yellows, oranges, grays, reds, everything! The
architecture was so unique, and when we went inside, it seemed like
everything was made for people who were much smaller than me! Not to
mention the decorations, but the view was breath-taking as well. We
looked upon all of Sintre, and we still had more to hike!
So we basically considered walking around the Pena National Palace
grounds our "break." Which wasn't a break because we were still going
up and down stairs, hills, everything! We quickly learned for our next
few days that everything we always want to do in Portugal and Lisbon in
general is "up a hill."
But we kept pressing onward to summit the mountain! Well, Adan is
apparently not too keen with a map, because we first ended up close to
the bottom again before we made our way back up to the Palace. We were
not happy with him haha. It's funny now that the day is over!
However, we finally made it up to the top of the mountain after another
grueling couple hours of hiking! We felt so accomplished because we had
reached the summit, and finally could rest. I have a picture of the
boys laying down on the rocks taking a nap! This was a well-deserved
nap to say the least!
After taking pictures, taking the view, and resting, the four of us then
made our descent to the bottom. But Adan, who knew he had so much
energy, because he really wanted to go to the Moorish castle. (I think
that's what it was called-it's on the same mountain as the Pena National
Palace). We humored him and went along, even though we were dead tired,
and of course, it was up another hill.
It wasn't as impressing to us, probably because we had just come from
not only the summit of the mountain, but the Pena National Palace as
well, but the view was still great! (The castle is lower than the Palace).
All in all, it was an amazing day, and I loved hanging out and hiking
with the guys! That night to celebrate we all went out to where the
locals go, and of course, it was also up a hill, but overall, it was a
great experience and I'm glad I got a chance to see it! :)
More Portugal in a little bit!
SH
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