Barcelona, Spain

      Today is my last day in Barcelona, Spain and we are about to load the ship. I’m currently at an adorable café - Katie and Nat, think Pinterest cuteness to the extreme! Tomorrow we are starting our two day voyage to Civitavecchia, Italy and from there we will take a train into Rome and stay in the city for a few nights. The streets of Barcelona remind me of Italy and the culture is similar to Mexico, but at the are very different! We spent four full days in Barcelona and it was the perfect amount of time to become well acquainted with the city. We made sure to do as much as possible, see all of the big sites, get lost in the back streets and eat at the local restaurants. We arrived the day that Spain played in the Semifinals for the Euro Cup. Being at a local restaurant when Spain won was a memorable experience!!  My favorite activity in Barcelona has been seeing all of the art and architecture. I loved seeing Gaudi’s work throughout the city! He often incorporated stories into his work, while blending the large variety of local architecture into his unique buildings. Sagrada Familia, the church he started, was breathtaking and is my favorite site that we went to. He spent the last 40 years of his life working on the church and now, after 130 years, only 60% of the building is finished. It is a constant work in progress and is completely funded by donations and entrance fees. We also went to the large, colorful park he created, Parc Guell. After getting lost in the Metro system, climbing the steepest and longest hill of our lives and stumbling upon adorable, tiny shops, we made it to the top of Parc Guell and spent hours walking around the beautiful park. The flowers were perfect and his sculptures, houses and common areas were full of color, mosaics and unique designs. To say the least, I’m slightly obsessed with Guell!

            We also went to the Pablo Picasso Museum. Each section of the art gallery was separated by his age and the style of work. It was fascinating seeing the progression of his style, the themes of his work and the variety of art he produced. At age nine he was creating masterpieces, I highly recommend Googling his early work! He was an art-prodigy, but started challenging his instructors and style art around age 18. Each room informed you of his life at specific ages and you could distinctly see the change in his work. To top it off, the museum was in part of the Gothic Quarter, in a gorgeous old building.

            Finally, I will leave you with some things that have surprised me about Barcelona. A) Bull fighting is illegal in the city of Barcelona, but they are having the Running of the Bulls next week! B) I knew they had later days than us, but I had a fun time experiencing dinners that lasted until 2am and city nightlife that was just starting at that time. C) The heat and humidity! Barcelona is having a heat wave and the week we are in the city is the predicted to be the hottest week they have all year! D) Lastly, the pickpockets. While in tour groups, at restaurants and just walking down Las Ramblas, the main street, we have seen pickpockets and have heard of dozens of IPhones, cameras and wallets getting snatched from our peers. I’ve been fortunate enough to not personally have a problem, knock on wood, so hopefully my last day keeps up this streak!

There were so many amazing moments and I wish I could tell you about each one!

-Click the pictures to enlarge!

La Sagrada Familia- and this is only 60% of what it will eventually be!

On top of Parc Guell

Parc Guell

Parc Guell

Parc Guell

Parc Guell- clearly I'm obessed

Happy birthday Mom! The Statue de Colon (Columbus) is behind me

Parc Guell- absolutely gorgeous! 

Love you all! xoxo Tori

Pictures... maybe

I don't know how the formal will look, but I'm trying to send pictures via email. Sorry if it looks funny or doesn't work!
I'll give you an update on Spain soon, it is AMAZING!

Land Ho

After 10 full days at sea we have finally spotted land! Last night we stood on the top deck for an hour, waiting to see the first glimpse of land. We passed through the Straights of Gibraltar and managed to make out a small strip of Africa through a large fog bank. In a few days I will post some pictures (I need to get off of the ship's internet to do that.)

I can officially say that I've completed 1/6 of my voyage, as well as 1/3 of my academic semester on this ship... and only after 9 days!! Unlike UO, we had class every day at sea with no weekends or block schedules. I had an architecture midterm on my ninth day of class! Although it is a rigorous study and class schedule, it is fully preparing us for the ports we are entering and allows us to have days off from class while at the ports. My architecture class has been studying a large variety of building that are mainly in Spain, Italy and Turkey. I visited some of the buildings in the past few years, so I really enjoyed learning the history of the building, as well as, the structural elements. It has given me a new appreciation for the ancient buildings I will be seeing again! The class has made me most excited to see the unique work of Antoni Gaudi (if you don't know his work, Google it!)

I am also in a Travel Writing class with a wonderful professor who has provided us with great readings from a large variety of sources. My favorite reading has been Mark Twain's Innocents Abroad, where Twain travels a similar route to the one that I'm on now. A few differences between Twain's voyage and mine is that his ship had three types of organs for the ship chapel and it took them over a month to cross the Atlantic. We have two pianos and a large variety of instruments and slowly crossed the Atlantic in ten days. My third class is Global Studies and it is taught by a hilarious Canadian professor who really brings history to life.

We all were going a bit crazy with the constant class schedule, so we had 110th Sea Olymics. Each hall is a sea (my hall is the Adriatic Sea) and your sea compete in a different events. I decided to dive head first into the Sea Olympics and for the first time since 6th grade, I participated in a group dance performance- my team placed third! We won first in a hilarious synchronize swimming contest, second in a volleyball competition and third in a crossword race, which I participated in too. It was great getting to know my hall better! Although we have had fun bonding, after midterms and essays packed into a tight schedule, I think it is safe to say that we are ready to embrace Barcelona with open arms! I'm excited to walk for miles, see new things and architecture and try new foods (we have potatoes, pasta and bread every day.)

Tomorrow I will official enter Spain and hopefully thrive in the Pickpocket Capital of the World! Adios!

Lottery Ticket

I consider myself to be a pretty lucky person. I am living on a ship with great peers and amazing professors. My classes only have 20 students in them and are incredibly informative. I love knowing that I will apply the knowledge from my classes to the ports we visit and I actually can see how my learning is applicable! Everything about the ship is remarkable and there is nothing to complain about... except my luck.

             Apparently I lost my luck when I moved into room 4015 on the ship. I've never been seasick before, but the Atlantic Ocean has bigger waves than I've ever encountered. To stop the seasickness, I placed a scopolamine patch behind my ear. The morning after I put the patch on, I woke up and my vision was slightly blurry. I didn't think much of it, but as I sat in class my vision got worse and I had to hold my textbook far from my face to read it. In my next class, I became slightly nervous when I realized I couldn't read the book at all, but I felt reassured because I could see everything else in the room and could read words that had font at least two inches tall. I blamed the blurry vision on the rocking boat and motion sickness. But, as I asked about other people's vision I quickly realized there was nothing normal about the blurriness- at which point I practically sprinted to the ship doctor. I soon learned that a rare side effect of the patch is blurry vision. Apparently my eyes were over-dilated (they looked completely black) and they could not focus on the small text. The box for the patches talked about what to do if you have blurry vision, but ironically, that is printed in size 8 font and I could not read that due to the blurry vision. The doctor informed me that this happens to a very small percentage of people. Thankfully, after removing the patch my vision returned to 20/20 within hours.

        So that was weird. Today my vision was perfect and I didn't feel sea sick, but I encountered another rare occurrence. We use electronic key cards, like the ones at hotels, to open our cabin doors. Mine has been finicky from the beginning and it often takes me a few swipes of the card to open my door. My door opened this morning but when I tried to open it after dinner, it flashed red lights at me. I tried for five more minutes and finally found the cabin steward, but his master key wouldn't open the door either. We then got the head honchos to use an actual key that manually opens the bolt and I sat in my room, in fear of getting locked out again, until the official doorman came to fix it. The official doorman's name is Prince. During the half hour Prince spent fixing my door I found out a few things: he is from India, this is his fourth year being on a ship, the electronic door locks take six AAA batteries, and best of all, the batteries on our doors only die every 14 months!! Between the odds of getting blurry vision and a dead door lock, I think I should buy a lottery ticket. As they would say in the Hunger Games, "may the odds be ever in your favor," and trust me, the odds of weird things happening are definitely in my favor!

     A trip does not become an adventure unless you have the unpredictable happen to you. So now, I can official say I am on the adventure of a lifetime! 

Rockin'

       I have officially spent 24 hours on my ship, the MV Explorer! To say the least, crossing the Atlantic Ocean is much choppier that a cruise up to Alaska! If you sit in a chair you will constantly see people swaying as they walk down the hallways. I am already am a clumsy person and when that is added to a rocking ship, it results in me constantly falling into the walls, chairs and tables. I would not be surprised if I am covered in bruises by the time I make it back to Oregon. Besides the rocking, the boat is fabulous. We have over 530 students from 14 countries, but majority are from America. 

        I love everything about this program so far, but here are some of my highlights. I've become good friends with two girls that go to school in Boulder, CO. I first met them in the Bahamas as we floated in the blue water. We met up later and now spend the majority of our time together. I also love the atmosphere on the ship, everyone is eager to make friends and it is a very welcoming and fun environment. Lastly, I love the sunshine! Our classes start on Tuesday, in between all of our meetings today we would lay on the deck and chat with people. It is the best environment I could have asked for.

            I love fun facts, so here are some that I learned today:

                        -We have to call the MV Explorer a ship, not a cruise- apparently there is a huge difference and it offends the captain when you use the latter term.

                        -Our captain is from England and has a great accent. He has been navigating ships for nearly 40 years.

                        -This is not a trip, it is a voyage.

                        -Each hall has a Residence Director (RD) and unlike the dorms at UO, these RDs all have a master’s degree.

                        -I've met three Pi Beta Phi’s so far!

                        -We have completed 1 out of 9 days of our Atlantic Ocean crossing.

This voyage is wonderful so far! I'll give you another update later on this week. 

Bahamas

Today was my first and last full day in the Bahamas. Kaitlin and I spent the day on the beach meeting dozens of Semester At Sea students. There are students from all around the US and a few from Canada. After spending 20 years in cold, rainy Oregon, it was a new experience for me to make friends while floating in the warm ocean. The ocean is crystal clear and it is 90 degrees outside, so far I can't complain about summer school!

Leaving Oregon

        It's 4:30am and I am waiting at the PDX airport for my Pi Beta Phi sister, Kaitlin, who is going on Semester at Sea with me. Our final destination will be Freeport, Bahamas and the ship will depart from there on Sunday. It still feels unreal that I am about to travel to seven countries in 66 short days. In the past 24 hours I've gone to Eugene, taken a final, moved out of the Pi Phi house, celebrated an early Father's Day and finished packing. To say the least, I think my mom, dad and I are a little tired- but incredibly excited for the adventures that lie ahead!
        Some of you had asked for the mailing addresses for each port and I've attached a document below. It tells you the port and the suggested date you need to mail it by. They highly discourage food, heavy items, or other items that could get caught up in customs and have extra fees attached. I love you all and cannot wait to tell you about the adventures!

                                           Click to enlarge

Two Days Left

        I officially have two full days left in Oregon, and only one of those days is in Lake Oswego. Our bonus room has become a bit of a disaster zone as I've started to pack. In every document provided by Semester at Sea they say, "while packing, layout everything you plan on bringing. Then put half of it back in your closet." The rooms are tiny, but we are allowed to bring two large suitcases. My goal is to pack a large rolling duffle bag and bring an empty duffle bag for all the treasures and treats I buy.
        As I put off studying for my biology final I looked up Semester at Sea videos on Youtube. Below is a video that discusses the mission of Semester at Sea. The second video gives you a pretty good idea of ship life. Lastly, I've included the link to the Semester at Sea website, it's very interesting! http://www.semesteratsea.org/

The next video is a tour of the ship. It was made by students, so it is a little silly.

SAS Alumni

In the past week I've met with three different students who have been on Semester At Sea . Every initial concern I had about the voyage has been laid to rest. Here are some of the fun tips or ideas I've heard from the past travelers:
        -Wake up for the sunrise as you come into each port
        -Eat outside for every meal on the boat, enjoy the view!
        -Always have your camera on you
        -You'll barely spend any time in your room
        -Bring a world map for classmates to sign at the end of the trip
        -You don't have a cell phone, so sticky notes are your main source of communication with your peers
       -You can sleep when the two months are over!!
-
I'm just finishing up the majority of my finals and will move home on Friday, June 8th (Happy Birthday Katie) and within minutes head to Natalie's high school graduation. On Thursday, June 15th, I'll speed down to Eugene, take a biology final, and 12 hours later I'll be flying out to the Bahamas!
If I've learned anything in the past three years, it is that time flies by in the blink of an eye. That being said, I plan to do as many activities as possible and meet many new friends. I'll definitely remember what the alumni told me, you can sleep once you're back in America.

12 Days

Hi everyone,

In 12 short days I will begin the adventure of a lifetime. I'm about to set sail on the MV Explorer, a 700 person cruise ship that will soon become my home. This summer Semester at Sea will travel to seven countries in 66 days. We begin in Freeport, Bahamas and then sail across the Atlantic Ocean and visit seven countries in the Mediterranean. While sailing we will have classes every day, but when at port we have two to five days to explore each country! 

Mark Twain said it perfectly, 
      “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”  

Here is the itinerary:

Freeport, Bahamas   [Depart June 17]

-Sail across the Atlantic Ocean-

Barcelona, Spain   [June 27-June 30]

Civitavecchia, Italy   [July 2-July 4]

Naples, Italy   [July 5-July 7]

Dubrovnik, Croatia   [July 10-July 13]

Piraeus (Athens), Greece   [July 16-July 19]

-I'll be celebrating my 21st birthday while in Athens!-

Istanbul, Turkey   [July 21-July 25]

Casablanca, Morocco   [August 1-August 4]

Lisbon, Portugal   [August 6-August 9]

-Sail across the Atlantic Ocean-

Boston, MA USA   [August 18]

Click to enlarge photo

For more information about Semester At Sea click on the this website: http://www.semesteratsea.org/

Bon Voyage!