Spain - Madrid

Back on the ship!

 

We did it. We conquered Madrid.

 

From the beginning... We woke up on the second day and met in the main lobby at 6:30am to get the cab to the Jerez airport. There were 9 of us going and by 6:45am only about 4 showed up. I got on the phone and started calling everyones rooms to wake them up. I felt like Bob Bouchard, getting the ball rolling and making sure we get to the airport at the perfect time with 437 hours to spare.

 

I have a slight phobia of unkown airlines and so I was a little nervous to see what this thing was going to look like. It looked like a plane, so I got on. I slept the whole way except when we blasted out of the clouds with the engine screaming in my ear, nose diving and getting tossed everywhere. Europe has a slightly different landing technique and I definitely needed a full briefing on it before I was thrown from the sky. We touched down in Madrid and it was a beautiful day. We had to take the metro from the station to the hostel so I grabbed hold of the reins. I like doing things independently and proving to myself that I can navigate the world on my own...It was me doing the typical 35 mph long stride walk and 8 people scurrying to keep up behind me. My name is now "Mom." They were convinced we would have been in Syria if it was not for my super savvy 20,000 leagues under Madrid metro abilities.

 

The hostel we stayed in was called Cat's Hostel and it was great. I did booking for it and it was all of us in the same room. The hostel was as clean as one can get and I felt safe, which is all that matters. The first day in Madrid we got Tapas at an outside cafe. The theme of Madrid was "When in Rome." This lovely saying legitimized everything and anything we wanted to do. "That shirt is way overpriced..." "When in Rome." Sold.

 

Around lunch time everyday the people of Spain do whats called "siesta." They shut down their shops, leave work for a few hours for a cold beverage, nap and a little downtime.

 

Halfway through the day my Blackberry battery went on the fritz and so Jaclyn went on the fritz as well. It wouldn't hold the charge and kept dieing after 30 seconds which means I didn't hold my charge and died after 30 seconds. After a couple of hours it decided it was going to stop with the silly games and come back to life. My only explanation for this was that Sherry the B-Berry knew we were in Spain and being that it was mid day, participated in siesta.

 

After exploring the city we went back to shower and get changed for dinner and the night. We were hanging in the hostel bar when a guy from Massachusetts who moved to Spain a couple years ago sat down and chatted with us. He ended up taking us to a dinner spot and the food was AMAZING. I ate like a king the whole weekend.

 

The next and final day we explored the old historical part of the city and saw some spectacular buildings. The Palacio Royale and... some other stuff...yea.. it was cool. That night we went to THE place. Club Kapital.

 

Kapital is a seven story discoteque. It was insane. Every floor had a different music style. There was a movie theater. So much fun. In Spain you don't eat dinner until around 11pm and you head out around 1am. We got there around 1 and I would say that the place didn't fill up until 2. These people are loco! I could never do that every weekend. It was a great way to close out Madrid. We went to bed around 6am and woke up at 830 to catch the train to Cadiz. The ride was 5 hours and we all passed out the entire time.

 

I have not slept more than 5 hours in 12 days. I am going to die in my bed tonight.  We just left port and are headed to the Rock of Gebraltar to fuel up. There is supposed to be bad weather tonight and we were informed to secure our things! We get to Morocco February 2nd. I really enjoyed Spain but I am excited for all the African countries. Madrid was modern and reminded me of New York. I want to see something I have never seen before.

 

I am about to fall asleep on the keyboard, I feel my brain shutting down. Apologies for the lack of humor in this post... it would have taken too much out of me :)

 

Goodnight

Jaclyn

SPAIN Part 1

LAND HO!

We have finally, FINALLY made it to Spain.

Since my last post not much has happened because I was still going through the monotonous motions of ship life until today: Some highlights.

The final stretch of the eight-day passage of the Atlantic Ocean, aka the passage of death, got a little crazy. There is a channel on our television that shows the exact location of the ship, coordinates, speed, temperature and so on. This is my favorite channel. It’s like getting a present everyday and never knowing what is inside. It starts with the power button, the red one of endless mystery. Basically, whoever chooses the soundtrack for this channel either thinks it is a funny joke or is seriously trying to invoke hysteria upon others. The first half of the voyage was a lot of techno, most likely pumped from the captain’s iPod. The closer we got to Spain the more Enrique Iglesias was forced through the speaker into my head. The day before we got to Spain, Caitlin and I were napping, for our Nap Club requirements, clearly. We woke around 3pm and laid in bed for a bit discussing how we don’t even want to get out of bed, we want to open our eyes and see Espana. Knowing it will never let me down I reach for the remote and get it started. Cabin fever has set in at this point and from the black box mounted high in our room comes Mambo #5, priceless. No lie, we flailed every limb, phalange and metatarsal on our bodies for a solid three minutes. We remixed it to make the lyrics a bit more fitting, “A little bit of Jaclyn in the sun, a little bit of Caitlin all night long...” The point is I needed off the ship immediately. I know it seems simple just to hit the magic red button again, but it’s the anticipation of “What could possible come on next?” that leaves me itching to get to the next track, before you know it hours have passed and I am left speechless.

Another fantastic moment to end the passage of death: Dean’s Top Ramen snot rocket. We were all sitting on the stern deck outside waiting for dinner to be served, once again it’s the little things that keep you going, and he decided the wait was going to be to perilous. He visits the snack bar and returns with Top Ramen noodles. We are all chatting and laughing when all of the sudden the impossible happens. The Ramen noodle takes a gravity defying turn in Dean’s throat, bypassing the esophagus and opting for the nasal passage. And it’s stuck. The question was to pick it, or blow it. That thing was shot like a cannon ball, and can still be viewed on the stern, deck five port side for all of those interested. Pictures soon to come.

So we made it to Spain. Today we got up really early to see the ship pull in at 0800, the time posted. We wake up, run outside to find out we have been here for hours, the water is brown and they are serving prunes on the breakfast buffet. GET ME OFF THIS SHIP. ☺

My feet touch land and off we go. My posse and I vs. Cadiz, Spain. We walked around all day and had the best coffee, tapas, cerveza, calamari, and sangria. My wallet started to bleed a little bit once we found the shopping district but good thing Daddy sent me with an endless supply of band-aids…right? :P

Cadiz is an adorable city. It is pronounced “Cadeeth” because to my excitement the “s” is pronounced with “th.” Venethuela. Barthelona. Themester at Thea. It is stuff like this that can keep Jaclyn endlessly occupied.

Later in the evening I went to a Flamenco and bullfighting show. The Flamenco dancing was amazing. When it came time for the bullfight I was a little bit nervous! I myself would never want to be in that ring and when they opened the door to unleash the beast, I was not impressed by the veal cow that came trotting out. It looked like a dog with antlers. How much did I pay for this? Seriously, put me in the ring.

TOMORROW: 9am Flight out of Jerez (yere-TH), amazing, to Madrid. I cannot wait for Madrid and I will be back Saturday to tell you all about it.

So far, this is the best semester EVER!

Thanks Mom and Dad.

Love,
Jake

Homesick.

I miss my friends.

I miss family.

I miss Alberto.

I miss this - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDaDX1MNMCU

I miss Towson.

Spain tomorrow, I need it now.

:)

-Jaclyn

Cabin Fever

Feeling slightly violent right now, I just wrote a long post and it got cleared.

Take 2.

It has been one week since I got on the ship and I am coming down with a case of cabin fever. Not that I am complaining because lets get real, I have nothing to complain about, but the repetition is getting to be a bit much. We are officially four hours ahead of EST and it is currently 9:45am on Sunday. We turn the clocks ahead again tonight. I just had my 8am Biomedical Ethics class with a professor who I love. I have never enjoyed 8ams, there isn’t much to like, but I found myself laughing at crack of dawn. My professor just discovered the wonders of PowerPoint lectures (welcome to the millennium?) and she thoroughly enjoys making shadow puppets, yes shadow puppets, on the screen.

With all this down time I try to keep myself busy so I have been hitting the gym pretty hard. The gym… a story in itself. Try to imagine a heeling ship swaying back and forth 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Now try to envision running a straight line on a treadmill, not happening. I have opted for the wussy elliptical machine where you can pretend your running while holding on for dear life. Living on the sea makes everyone look like they are drunk all day everyday, like pirates. I am sure if this were true, rum would be the culprit. It takes some getting used to, but it is completely acceptable to be walking and all of the sudden have a near death stumble with no one taking a second glance. We need to adapt this to land life, immediately.

We had an Open Mic night the other day. Some acts were amazing while some were… interesting. No joke, three guys came out and did a pretend double-dutch jump rope routine. I was left puzzled, but perhaps wanting more? I have a deep-rooted jealousy for anyone who can remotely sing. Essentially I sat there, reflected on my lack of talent, and left feeling spiteful. It really was a great audience though. I convinced my friend Jack to get up and sing because in my own words, “There are no haters here.”

We also had an activities fair and I believe I am joining the “24-Hour Pirate Watch Club.” Description: A vigilante group against pirates. Or, maybe I’ll stick to my guns and join the  “Nap Club,” most likely I will become president within the first week.

Lets talk about Edwin. Edwin is the man. Everyday Edwin comes into my room (hold on Dad) and vacuums, cleans, makes my bed, folds my clothes, does my laundry, replenishes my towels and leaves romantic notes. The note was along the lines of “Don’t take your make-up off with the white face towels.” Such a romantic Edwin is.

Come to think of it, I barely lift a finger on this vessel. Everything is done for you, Marissa I am sure will do the same for me when I return to western hemisphere. ☺

I have not seen anything but the MV Explorer and Atlantic water for 6 days now. Yesterday, I spotted a cargo ship in the distance; you would have thought I won the lotto. Oh, the small things of life.

We have had “Pub Night” every single night. You get up to 6 drinks a night and this is where you get to discover “that girl” or “that guy.”  You know, the ones that are holding on to immaturity until it is ripped from their white knuckled grip. As far as I am concerned, not to get too deep, I am here to see the world, better myself, and learn. “That guy” is there to save all drinks until the final seconds of pub night, slam them all to his face, put on that stupid “I am the man!” grin and try to impress girls. “That girl” will be the one who thinks he is oh so manly for doing such a daring act and they will live happily ever after. The art of people watching is an endless enjoyment. Seriously though, you can never tell if someone is stumbling from inebriation, or just getting tossed from the 45-degree heel to the right followed by the abrupt return to rest.

Well, the clouds have burned off and it seems to be another beautiful day. I have seen nothing but blue skies. It’s time to excite my melanocytes and get some vitamin D, aka tan.

Hostilla-waygo (Spanish? I took French, this will be interesting)
Jaclyn

Quick post..

If you click

http://www.semesteratsea.org/current-voyage/overview/current-voyage.php

then click the link above the map that says "View the Spring 2009 Voyage Map (Revised)>"

.. hmm or maybe you can just click that link...

But either way, it tells you our exact location and you can follow me on the map.

Love, Peace, Chicken Grease

Orientaton

I cannot believe that today is already the third day of my circumnavigation! We have had so many orientations and meetings, I feel like I am a freshman all over again.

Yesterday (Tuesday, January 20th) was a very long day. We had to be at a meeting in the union at 9am. The union is the main large lecture hall, which sits around 100 people. There are 700 of us so we all just fill in satellite classrooms and hallways and hope for the best... It lasted around 2 hours all together. We were introduced to faculty and staff and blah blah blah (that's basically what I got from it). After that we had a break for lunch. The food on the ship is GREAT. Besides being a non-meat eater, if you hand me anything else I am not picky. Bread and butter is a 32 oz. steak to me! They have so many vegetables, you might say I'm in veggie heaven.

After lunch we had hours upon hours of other meetings but Caitlin and I decided to head back to the room. I heard a fabulous rumor that all things that take place in the union are broadcasted to our room T.V.'S... Let's just say I found one of lifes best kept secrets! We laid in our beds and watched the meeting aka fell asleep immediatly and woke up in time for dinner :) When we walked into the dining hall we heard a lot of "are you guys alive?" Yes we are alive, don't be jealous that we have the key to life on the MV Explorer. We shared our secret and maybe gained a bit of fame :P

Before we "died" in our beds (as Marcus would say.. "We were depressed" haha!) They got satellite feed of the inauguration. The fact that everyone on this ship is trying to see the world, teach, learn and spread hope that globalization can close the gap of tribe means by default we are all liberal and Obama lovers. We are also college students so I guess that helps also.. Quite the Obama demographic we are. It was astounding how during lectures we all talk, text and doze off, but when this inauguration was playing 1000 people sat in silence. Obama's speech was amazing. Inauguration speeches are known for being morale boosters filled with fluff and clouds with silver linings.. he kept it real. I think we need more of that. In the words of Obama, we choose hope not fear.

After dinner we had a champagne toast and cake party to the new president, were not joking around about this! As we walked up to get our champagne we see them putting away the empty bottles of alcohol removed "champagne" aka the O'douls of champagne aka carbonated water. We toasted and one of my friends ran to the balcony and vommitted... The ship was KICKIN last night. Almost everyone I know is having serious sea sick problems. I absolutely love the feeling and as they're all green sitting in chairs I was up doin the macarena (for some reason it was being played over the speaker system! Ha!)

We turned our clocks back an hour last night, and we do it again for the next 6 nights! It is definitely going to hit us. We are 3 days into the Atlantic and have about 5 left to Espana.

Today (Wednesday, January 21) was the first day of class. I was in biomedical ethics and my professor was telling us how she grew up on Long Island. So, of course I do a double fist pump in the air followed by a standard "woo!" She asked me where, I said Northport, and she said "that's where I am from!!" My response was "No you're not!" Hahaha

She lives on Highland Ave... Aka the backyard of every house I grew up in. Small world.

Well, I am about to grab lunch and then lay out on the pool deck for the rest of the day. Tough life, I know.

Jac

P.s. Missu
P.p.s. Jennifer Maletto have the most amazing 21st birthday ever!! I miss you so much and I wish I could be there to hold your hair back.. Get it girl, werk mama!

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Just Left....

Hello landlubbers

We JUST left Nassau, Bahamas! I cannot believe that this is finally happening after planning this since August.. I showed up the boat with 4 HUGE bags and everyone was laughing haha I am the worst packer in the world and I did not leave one thing behind. Whatever, when I am rounding the bottom of Africa I won'y be saying "Damn, I wish I brought that black patent leather belt.." OH, CAUSE I DID!! :)

I had my first meal on the ship and it was not half bad. Of course I was the big loser who had to go to the "Vegetarian" section and pick up the lettuce and hummus wrap.. but it was fabulous!!!

In eight days I will arrive in Cadiz, Spain.

It's insane how open everyone is to meeting people. I have already met a couple people are going to be my solids for the trip. We all booked the same flight from port in Spain to Madrid. I hear Madrid is an amazing city so I definitely cannot wait to cross the Atlantic already!

Classes don't start until Wednesday so we are just doing a lot of orientation things for the start. A couple hours ago we had to dress in warm clothing and do a practice safety boat drill. They sounded the alarm, and we had to stand outside with our vests. I am lifeboat A1, so I named our clusted of 150 A1 Steaksauce, only the strong survive.

Just saw my Dad and Sister as we were leaving and I remember turning to my friend and saying, this is crazy, I am having a moment.

Ta ta for now.
Jac

P.s. The boat is rocking like CRAZY!!
P.p.s. Missu K*