Day 2 in Spain: Arcos and Ronda

Today I went on a tour of Arcos and Ronda, called the White Town Route.  These cities, among many other cities in this area, have white washed buildings and create beautiful scenery and even more beautiful cultures.  I actually found out that the white houses denote people who are poorer in the towns and the unchanged authentic fascades on the houses denote those who are rich in the city.

 

We started by driving to Arcos.  On our way we passes several sunflower fields (see the picture below).  I guess Spain exports a lot of sunflower seed oil, hence all the fields. This is a wonderful thing to export because it creates beautiful countrysides of vivid yellow sunflowers. 

 

Arcos was beautiful.  In Arcos there are two churches: St. Mary's church and St. Peter's Church.  St. Mary's was actually built ontop of  a Mosque during the Spanish Inquisition (more common than you might think).  St. Peter's church was built in the 18th century.  St. Mary's was named the patron church of the city and when this happened those who attended St. Peter's refused to say "St. Mary," so when they prayed they would substitute all "St.Marys" for the words "St. Peter."  Religion is very engrained in the Spanish Culture. 

 

After Arcos we took a 1 1/2 hour drive to Ronda.  We ate lunch in a local restaurant and then explored the city.  The city sits ontop of a cliff created by the 3rd Ice Age, the ice actually created a 300 meter gorge.  This gorge is gorgeous with green trees and waterfalls.  The city was beautiful and great to walk around in.  In the city there is the first bull ring and home to the famous bull fighter Pedro Romero.  I got to stand in the middle of the bull ring--So cool!! 

 

My day exploring other parts of Spain was wonderful and I can't wait for my trip to Seville!!

Day 1 in Spain

Today was amazing and I don't even know where to begin.  My tour started at 9 so we loaded the buses and first drove around Cadiz.  It is claimed to be the oldest city in western Europe and you can see by all the varying styles of architecture.  There are buildings from the Phoenicians, Romans, and Moors.  Some of the highlights of this trip was the visit to the archaeological museum where they have a male and female sarcophagi from 5th century BC.  They were Phoenician and since the Phoenicians were known for trading by boat all over the Mediterranean they picked up some ideas from the places they traveled, like Egypt and the sarcophagus. 

 

We also visited the new cathedral which was very interesting too.  Half of the cathedral is built in the baroque style with oyster stone (the native stone of Cadiz) and since it took so long to finish the top half of the cathedral is built with lime stone and in the neoclassical style.  Unfortunately the limestone is not holding up very well and chunks are falling down.  But don't worry there are nets to catch the chunks before they hit your head!! 

 

We had lunch during the Siesta time ( 1-3 pm).  We ate at a cafe/bar right in the plaza of the new cathedral.  The food was so wonderful, we had tapas (or little appetizers), sangria, a pork dish and some chocolate cake.  Lunch lasted a total of 2 hours, this is totally normal for Spain because they are people who work hard but love to relax and enjoy life equally as hard. 

 

The other really cool thing I got to see was the watchtower.  Cadiz is known for its many towers (over 160 towers in the city), but this tower is the tallest and original.  Once we climbed almost to the top of the tower we stopped in a black out room.  In the room has a contraption which used mirrors and magnifying technology to project real time images of the surrounding skyline.  It was incredible, it looked like a movie, we saw clothes waving in the wind
 , cars driving by, an occasional bird, and of course all the monuments and churches on the skyline.  Then we proceeded to the top of the tower for some of the most beautiful views of the city. 

After my tour was over I had about 45 minutes to change and rest a little before my Andalusia Flamenco night began.  We took buses to a place called El Sotillo in the south of Cadiz province.  It was very rural and beautiful.  Once we stepped off the bus we were served wine or beer under beautiful flowering trees.  Then we proceeded to the bull ring to watch the entertainment.  We saw flamenco dancers charming an Andalusia horse, a Andalusia horse performance, and of course an amateur bull fight(meaning they use a smaller bull than the real bull fights and do not kill him).  It was beautiful and majestic all at the same time.  Then we went into a little hacienda for tapas and sangria and more flamenco with live music of course.  The evening concluded with all of us joining the flamenco dancers on the dance floor.

I had a wonderful first day, experiencing so many aspects of Spaniard culture and life.  I can't wait to see what today has in store for me.

Some Pictures From Spain

Hello Everyone,

They have free internet in Cadiz so I was able to upload some pictures. More descriptions will follow soon. Talk to you all soon!!

Kira


One of the main exports in Spain is Sunflower Seed Oil, the side effect: beautiful fields and many picture opprotunities (And yes I did take this picture!!)

The Home of Bull Fighting-Ronda

Amanda and Me in the Bull Ring

Flamenco Night

Amateur Bull Fight

June 18, 19, 20, 21

Life on the ship has proven to be very interesting. Through out the day students attend classes, which sounds obvious but just thought I’d remind all of you that this educational and not just for fun!! Everyone goes to Global Studies class at 9:20 in the morning. This class focuses on the history of the Mediterranean and is actually very informative and pertinent to what we will see soon.

Every night they offer lectures on several different topics. I have attended them every night and they prove to be really helpful. One I went to was about how to travel with a discerning eye. The next night I went to a discussion where a student from Barcelona did a Q &A for anyone who is interested. Then I went to a discussion on what will surprise me in Spain, and the next night was a discussion on how Spain went from Dictator to Democracy. All have been really helpful and led by very knowledgeable people. One of the speakers was actually knighted by the King of Spain for his dedication to Spain in America.

One strange thing about traveling across the Atlantic is that we have been advancing time zones almost every single night. It is strange but I guess better than adjusting to all 9 hours at once.

On the 20th I had a Bridge Tour, or a tour of the area which controls the ship, given by the Captain. It was incredibly informative and I even got a picture in the Captain’s chair, watch out Atlantic Ocean!! Will we were up in the Bridge we also spotted a small pod of Dolphins which was very neat since I hadn’t seen any yet. Later that night our ship passed through the Azores Islands in the middle of the Atlantic. Everyone was very excited to see land after so many days of nothing but blue waters. More dolphins were spotted while I watched the sun set behind the islands. Some people even claimed to have seen a sea turtle!

We are two days away from Spain and I can’t believe it. I’m so ready to see the wonders of Spain. Some of the places I will be going include: Cadiz, Arcos, Ronda, and possibly Seville.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Father’s Day!! And I’ll talk to you in my next update!

Kira

Day 4: The Mariner and the Alcatraz

You may never believe this, but today’s weather was wonderful. The sun came out just in time for lunch and allowed many of us to do our homework lying on the deck. I feel much like a true Mariner now as well, I think I’m getting my sea legs. And if you have ever read “The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner,” you might understand the significance of seeing an Alcatraz, or sea bird. They usually bring sailors good luck for it means that land is close. Although I doubt that is true in our case, I will still take the good luck and run with it. Maybe it was the Alcatraz who brought us nice weather???

My classes went well despite the incredible amount of reading I must do. I have to read two novels by the 20th of June, one is Earnest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, and the other is Cervantes’ “Little Gypsy Girl.” It’s a lot of reading, but the books seem intriguing so lets all hope I get through them quickly.

The Captain announced this afternoon that we have already sailed 770 nautical miles and have 2600 left to go before we reach Cadiz. In days that is equivalent to 5 days, but I am told that the boat is not traveling at full speed. The reason for this is that they want to give us class time.

Anyways, I will continue to keep you posted about any excited discoveries or adventures I have on the MV Explorer.

-Kira-

Day 3: Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat

Today was June 17th and our first day at sea. Our position, for anyone who cares, is Latitude 41º, Longitude 053 º. Basically this means that we are somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, closer to Halifax than to Spain.

Today was also Orientation, where all students attended workshops pertaining to conduct aboard the ship and beyond. This Orientation probably would have been more helpful if everyone on the ship was not sooo sick!! Many people just retreated into their cabin for the entire day. Supposedly we were in the middle of some kind of storm. Even ocean veterans, being aboard for 11 years, were experiencing sea sickness. It was a hard day, but my sea sick patch started to kick in so I did not feel so horrible, thank goodness.

I’ve been using my email account onboard and I just now realized how Elizabeth Bennet must have felt in Pride and Prejudice when she received mail. It is truly thrilling and allows you to connect to the person you are talking to in a much deeper way. So I guess you can call me the Elizabeth Bennet of the sea.

Tomorrow is our first day of classes and I look forward to seeing how they go and how difficult the work will be. Also, I hope for everyone’s sake that the ocean calms down a bit.

Talk to you all soon,

-Kira-

Day 1 and 2: June 15 and 16, 2009

Today proved to be much longer day than I could ever have anticipated. Flying from LAX to Toronto was not too bad, despite the plane not leaving LA until 10:30 pm, but the four hour layover from 6 to 10 am was difficult. Don’t forget Toronto’s clocks are four hours ahead of California’s, so if you do the math that means I was in the airport from 2 am to 6 am. I got quite exhausted but I finally made it to Halifax, Nova Scotia by 1 pm the following day.

After I arrived I took a shuttle into town. Sitting next to me was a man from Toronto, so as the bus dropped people off at their various hotels, my friend proved to more of a tour guide than a fellow passenger.

I arrived at the Commons Inn, in downtown Halifax, and met up with a girl I had met at CSUN early in the year. The hotel was adorable, blending into the colonial architecture seen all over Halifax.

What surprised me most about Halifax was how beautiful and green it was. With deep blue flowing rivers, surrounded by lush greenery I truly felt like I was in a Canadian Eden.

Sarah and I walked around Downtown Halifax, had a bowl of seafood chowder at a local restaurant, and retired for bed early in the morning.

Day 2 was embarkation day!! Boy was I excited to get to the ship, although my nerves followed close behind me. It was difficult to think that the friends and family which I love so much would only be able to contact me through email. But once aboard the ship and in my room I felt that I could muster the strength to replace the longing I was feeling with enthusiasm for all the places I soon would visit.

We set sail at 5 pm. It was so much fun to look at all the parents and past teachers waving and yelling “good-byes” to the ship. There was even a bag pipe band playing, which really was festive.

Then finally we were off into open waters. Well if no one has told you up until this point, I think that I have an obligation to tell you: The Atlantic Ocean is incredibly rough!! The realization that the Atlantic was rough did not hit me or my fellow land-mates until we had an all student meeting in the Student Union. The Union is a large place, but it is positioned at the front of the ship and gets the more motion than anywhere else on the ship. Only a couple of minutes of being in the room before, you guessed it, I got sick.

I retired back to my room once I realized that my sea sickness was not getting any better.
All I can really hope for is that tomorrow will be not as rough.

-Kira-
P.S. if you would like to email me, my email is kjconley@semesteratsea.net