The five days between Turkey and Morocco were full of classes, homework and a bunch of ship wide events. First, we had a Semester at Sea TEDx seminar night, with students and teachers giving all the lectures. My favorite was theater professor Drew Kahn’s talk about the Anne Frank Project at Buffalo State College, a movement that started with a performance of the famous show double cast to tell the story of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. Drew (besides having the coolest son ever-- 11 year old Nate is the most popular guy on the ship) is awesome, and it was really neat to hear about the way he turned this project for his drama students into a movement involving the whole school and taking him to visit Rwanda earlier this year.
Another night was spent with the Semester at Sea auction, a live auction following the silent auction that went on earlier in the day. Both are used to raise money for future SAS scholarships, and students, teachers and lifelong learners on the ship donated everything that was raffled off. Prizes included tickets to any Ravens game (minus the week they play the Steelers, of course) blowing the ship’s horn when we enter the harbor in Boston, and vacations/vacation houses everywhere from China to Nova Scotia to the Jersey Shore. Nicole won a trip for 6 for a week in China (we’re already planning a June 2012 reunion trip) but Al, Dice, Meg, Katie and I were outbid on the dinner with Karyn and Geoff onboard The World. Seeing as it went for over $2500, that’s probably best.
Two nights before we landed was the student talent show. There are rumors of a crew talent show happening some time before the ship gets to Boston, but no confirmation yet. Highlights of the show include a teacher’s son proving his place as the next child piano prodigy, a ukulele performance to Over the Rainbow/I’m Yours/Hey Soul Sister, slam poetry, and a song by a freshly clean-shaven (and surprisingly really attractive) “moustache Kevin.” Above all else, Nate definitely stole the show with his version of Justin Bieber’s Never Say Never, complete with choreography and backup dancers.
The other major source of discussion on the ship on the days between ports was the steadily growing number of people getting sick. The crew stepped up their normal water bottle washing and hand sanitizer policing while “Doctor Don” continued his talks reminding us of the importance of washing our hands (thanks, Doc). Although I’d stayed healthy when Megs, Katie, and even Dice got sick, this time I was the one who found myself the one not feeling well. I kept up with classes and things as usual, but after a few visits to the ship’s clinic we started having conversations about if it’d be smart for me to finish the trip. It was a really hard decision, but since I’d finished almost all my class work and we were nearing the last port, the clinic, my parents and I started making arrangements for me to come home from Morocco. The ship’s insurance is great, and decided to pay for both my transportation expenses and the cost of someone coming to fly back with me. Kate had some time off from work and all the arrangements were made for her to meet us our first day in Morocco.
It was neat to be up early and see my final sunrise shining on the Rock of Gibraltar as we headed into port, and after breakfast we headed off to check out the city. It was whole lot less picturesque and romantic than the classic movie would suggest, but it was fun to be in our least western culture. Candice had an FDP in the morning, but the four of us headed from the ship to the Hassan II Mosque. The third largest mosque in the world, the Hassan was an amazing mix of architecture, art and religion. Since it was Ramadan there were carpets down covering the gorgeous marble floors (on which 25,000 worshipers a day come to kneel and pray) but the Venetian glass chandeliers, Moroccan marble pillars, and 1,100 ton retractable gold leaf ceiling were more than impressive enough to make up for it.
We headed back to the ship for lunch, and (much to our surprise) were greeted at the port security gate by Kate! She had made the trip from DC to Paris and Paris to the Casablanca airport without much excitement, but got detained by port security for not having her security clearance or visitor ID. I said I’d go back to the ship and sort things out, but when the SAS security assured me things were being taken care of (and I realized lunch closed in 20 minutes) I headed to eat instead. Oops? Long story short, we got everything worked out and Kate was finally allowed on board.
We walked around a little more in the afternoon, checking out the medina and even getting some henna tattoos. On the way back we stopped by Rick’s Café, a restaurant built and made famous after Casablanca the movie, but after finding it closed decided to have dinner on the ship instead. I said my goodbyes to the dining room crew and moved my packed bags to Kate’s (much larger) room. The two of us made the mile long walk from the ship to the security gate to try to secure a taxi for our 6 AM trip to the airport, but after attempting to communicate our needs with a driver who only spoke French, decided we should probably start walking a little early to be safe. We met up with the girls for snack time, and after saying our goodbyes headed to bed.
Waking up at 5:15 was not the best feeling, but since time ticked away with no cab to be found we were glad we got an early start. We eventually made it to the main streets and got a car to take us to the airport, and after making it through security hung out and waited for our flight. After an uneventful 3 hours we landed in Paris, and a LONG 8.5 hours later (thank goodness for on demand movies and lots of airplane snacks) we were in DC. Kate made friends with an Algerian couple seated next to us who didn’t speak English (shocking), and spent the rest of the flight helping them order food, pick movies, and get a wheelchair when we landed. Mom and Dad met us post-customs, and after a quick dinner we said our goodbyes to Kate and started the drive back to Pittsburgh.
I’ve been home for two days now, and (since I don’t have much else to do) find myself doing a lot of lying around and looking through pictures. Its kind of crazy to think about all I did and saw this summer, and sometimes it almost doesn’t seem real. I’m SO thankful for the opportunity I had to go on this trip, and I think many of the lessons I’ve learned will continue to show themselves as I adjust back to everyday life. In some ways I wish I could have finished the voyage and returned with the ship to Boston on the 20th, but I know things happen for a reason and don’t have any regrets. I’ll probably blog another time or two with some post trip pictures and thoughts (and maybe a review of the bucket list goals), but I guess this is it as far as the play-by-play goes. There’s just over 2 weeks until school starts, which is plenty of time for a lot of Starbucks/Panera/Razzy Fresh dates! I’m getting used to having a phone and connection to the outside world again, so give me a call or text and we'll set up a time to catch up ☺
Another night was spent with the Semester at Sea auction, a live auction following the silent auction that went on earlier in the day. Both are used to raise money for future SAS scholarships, and students, teachers and lifelong learners on the ship donated everything that was raffled off. Prizes included tickets to any Ravens game (minus the week they play the Steelers, of course) blowing the ship’s horn when we enter the harbor in Boston, and vacations/vacation houses everywhere from China to Nova Scotia to the Jersey Shore. Nicole won a trip for 6 for a week in China (we’re already planning a June 2012 reunion trip) but Al, Dice, Meg, Katie and I were outbid on the dinner with Karyn and Geoff onboard The World. Seeing as it went for over $2500, that’s probably best.
Two nights before we landed was the student talent show. There are rumors of a crew talent show happening some time before the ship gets to Boston, but no confirmation yet. Highlights of the show include a teacher’s son proving his place as the next child piano prodigy, a ukulele performance to Over the Rainbow/I’m Yours/Hey Soul Sister, slam poetry, and a song by a freshly clean-shaven (and surprisingly really attractive) “moustache Kevin.” Above all else, Nate definitely stole the show with his version of Justin Bieber’s Never Say Never, complete with choreography and backup dancers.
The other major source of discussion on the ship on the days between ports was the steadily growing number of people getting sick. The crew stepped up their normal water bottle washing and hand sanitizer policing while “Doctor Don” continued his talks reminding us of the importance of washing our hands (thanks, Doc). Although I’d stayed healthy when Megs, Katie, and even Dice got sick, this time I was the one who found myself the one not feeling well. I kept up with classes and things as usual, but after a few visits to the ship’s clinic we started having conversations about if it’d be smart for me to finish the trip. It was a really hard decision, but since I’d finished almost all my class work and we were nearing the last port, the clinic, my parents and I started making arrangements for me to come home from Morocco. The ship’s insurance is great, and decided to pay for both my transportation expenses and the cost of someone coming to fly back with me. Kate had some time off from work and all the arrangements were made for her to meet us our first day in Morocco.
It was neat to be up early and see my final sunrise shining on the Rock of Gibraltar as we headed into port, and after breakfast we headed off to check out the city. It was whole lot less picturesque and romantic than the classic movie would suggest, but it was fun to be in our least western culture. Candice had an FDP in the morning, but the four of us headed from the ship to the Hassan II Mosque. The third largest mosque in the world, the Hassan was an amazing mix of architecture, art and religion. Since it was Ramadan there were carpets down covering the gorgeous marble floors (on which 25,000 worshipers a day come to kneel and pray) but the Venetian glass chandeliers, Moroccan marble pillars, and 1,100 ton retractable gold leaf ceiling were more than impressive enough to make up for it.
We headed back to the ship for lunch, and (much to our surprise) were greeted at the port security gate by Kate! She had made the trip from DC to Paris and Paris to the Casablanca airport without much excitement, but got detained by port security for not having her security clearance or visitor ID. I said I’d go back to the ship and sort things out, but when the SAS security assured me things were being taken care of (and I realized lunch closed in 20 minutes) I headed to eat instead. Oops? Long story short, we got everything worked out and Kate was finally allowed on board.
We walked around a little more in the afternoon, checking out the medina and even getting some henna tattoos. On the way back we stopped by Rick’s Café, a restaurant built and made famous after Casablanca the movie, but after finding it closed decided to have dinner on the ship instead. I said my goodbyes to the dining room crew and moved my packed bags to Kate’s (much larger) room. The two of us made the mile long walk from the ship to the security gate to try to secure a taxi for our 6 AM trip to the airport, but after attempting to communicate our needs with a driver who only spoke French, decided we should probably start walking a little early to be safe. We met up with the girls for snack time, and after saying our goodbyes headed to bed.
Waking up at 5:15 was not the best feeling, but since time ticked away with no cab to be found we were glad we got an early start. We eventually made it to the main streets and got a car to take us to the airport, and after making it through security hung out and waited for our flight. After an uneventful 3 hours we landed in Paris, and a LONG 8.5 hours later (thank goodness for on demand movies and lots of airplane snacks) we were in DC. Kate made friends with an Algerian couple seated next to us who didn’t speak English (shocking), and spent the rest of the flight helping them order food, pick movies, and get a wheelchair when we landed. Mom and Dad met us post-customs, and after a quick dinner we said our goodbyes to Kate and started the drive back to Pittsburgh.
I’ve been home for two days now, and (since I don’t have much else to do) find myself doing a lot of lying around and looking through pictures. Its kind of crazy to think about all I did and saw this summer, and sometimes it almost doesn’t seem real. I’m SO thankful for the opportunity I had to go on this trip, and I think many of the lessons I’ve learned will continue to show themselves as I adjust back to everyday life. In some ways I wish I could have finished the voyage and returned with the ship to Boston on the 20th, but I know things happen for a reason and don’t have any regrets. I’ll probably blog another time or two with some post trip pictures and thoughts (and maybe a review of the bucket list goals), but I guess this is it as far as the play-by-play goes. There’s just over 2 weeks until school starts, which is plenty of time for a lot of Starbucks/Panera/Razzy Fresh dates! I’m getting used to having a phone and connection to the outside world again, so give me a call or text and we'll set up a time to catch up ☺
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