Cappuccinos, Coquettes, Churches, and Clubs.

That’s what the first day Barcelona, Spain had in store for us.

I would recommend to everyone who has the opportunity to travel to another country, to first set eyes on it at sunrise. Every port, I wake up for sunrise as we sail into the harbor and catch our first glimpse of the beautiful new land I’m about to explore. This port was no exception, I woke up at 6am just as the sun was coming up. It was a great way to start off a long, action packed day.

The ship was cleared a little later than we expected, so we finally departed into the city around 11am. Hope, Emily (another UVA student we met on the voyage), Elsie (a marine biology student from Maine) and I all got in a cab to visit Emily’s friend, Marissa, who has been living in Barcelona for the past 4 years. Armed with a map, a few euros and some broken Spanish phrases, we frantically searched for Marissa’s apartment in a more alternative part of the neighborhood. When we eventually found it, we were extremely hungry, so we were happy to hear that Marissa wanted to show us around town and take us to a local Spanish restaurant. Marissa has an adorable 8 month old baby girl, so we strapped her in a stroller and headed out to explore.

It was great touring around the city with a local because she knew all of the history and culture of the town that we never would have discovered just walking around ourselves. We learned that most people in Barcelona live and never move away, so she lives within 2 blocks of her husbands family. The neighborhood is traditionally more independent- especially about their Catalonia roots. Marissa took us to a local olive oil shop, some fun clothing stores, and helped us order some of the best cappuccinos around. I’m not usually a huge fan of coffee, but it tasted a lot like coffee cake and wasn’t too bitter. Marissa’s baby is one of the most well behaved children I have ever seen, so it was easy to continue walking until we reached the restaurant.

 Much like I tried to do in Germany, my goal for this trip was to try everything before I found out what is was, so I ordered off the menu a “coca con jabon et queso” and a pitcher of sangria. All of the food was to die for. The bread was fresh, the tomatoes were sweet, and a coca is just bread with ham and cheese melted on top. The group also ordered a sample plate with all sorts of seafood delicacies and traditional Spanish food. Though I wasn’t a huge fan of the mussels, I did LOVE the coquettes. Coquettes remind me so much of hush puppies but with more of a gooey center. They can have anything in them ranging from pork, to salmon, to just cheese. It was by far my favorite snack and my southern self wants to bring them back just to compare them to the comfort country cookin’ of hush puppies.

We ended our local tour by going to Sagrada Familia church, designed by the world renowned architect, Gaudi. Apparently he the entire church has symbolic Christian themes, but it was difficult to decipher what the amalgamation of ideas was supposed to represent. With lizards crawling down the sides of the walls, piles of fruit topping off steeples and the nativity scene wedged between angels and dripping concrete that looked like teeth, I wasn’t sure if it was a stroke of genius that the church came together, or if it was an epic fail. The church is still being completed, a century later, and it seems each façade has a different theme depending on the time period of gothic architecture to modernism and geometric shapes. I was so surprised to find such a unique building in the center of European city, but apparently his work is all over the town.

We topped the evening off after practicing siesta and taking a nap, by watching the Spain vs. Portugal soccer game at a local pub called “Dusk.” Spain won, which made the night that much better. Though Barcelona is the team of choice around here, everyone has a love for their national team. I’m bummed we won’t be here to watch the finals of the Euro Cup where Spain will play either Italy or Germany.

From Dusk we got in a cab and went to a EuroClub. Having never really been clubbing before ever, I had no idea what to expect. I honestly came in with the expectation of something like an exaggerated frat party, complete with dubstep music and crowded rooms. Boy was I wrong. The club we went to was named Opium, apparently one of the better clubs in the area, just along the beach. I was right about the loud music, there certainly was that, but it was a huge open space, flashing strobe lights in one room, with the others glowing different colors of blue, orange, yellow, pink. Shots were being taken on every surface, though they were expensive and drinks were 13 euro a piece. I personally stayed away from the pricy drinks because I was fairly overwhelmed, and only found a bit more chill scene when going outside where one could buy a table for a couple hundred euro. Had I been in a different mind set, it could have been fun, but knowing I needed to get up for snorkeling at 7 made me keep my wits about me- which I was so glad I did because 6 people had their iphones stolen and one person was mugged at knife point in the club! All in all, a fairly overwhelming place in my opinion. I probably would stick to the bars and other fun venues rather than hit the clubs every night… but personally I just prefer meeting people rather than wandering around a loud club. Still, it’s well worth experiencing once and I now have a whole new respect for Europeans who can rage at clubs till the sun comes up.

Sea Olympics

To ensure the ship community comes together, Semester at Sea hosts the Sea Olympics every voyage. As a member of the prior champions on Spring 2010, the "Red Sea," I had high expectations of my Sea, the Bering Sea, as we dressed in as much green as we brought and drew eye back marks on our faces to intimidate the other teams. For the opening ceremonies, we boastfully sang our chant "Green Trees, Green Grass, Green Team will kick your... *followed by claps*" and "We are the mean, green, fighting machines!"

As many of you know, I have a love for Asian culture, so my team recruited me to compete in the Chopstick Challenge. After the opening ceremonies, I headed to my event to move 70 beans from one bowl to another using only chopsticks. The competition was heated, and I moved those beans they almost jumped out of the bowl, but we ended up getting fourth! I was extremely proud of the other 2 girls who competed on my team with me.

Other events that day were volleyball, word find, and dodgeball. Dodgeball got incredibly intense with bodies and arms flailing about, maneuvering large flying balls. There were tears and laughter, and sadly our team didn't place. This year the Sea Olympics were split into two days (during the evening), so the first update of the scores that night put the Bering Sea in 2nd place!!

The second day of the Sea Olympics was by far my favorite. It started out with great performances on the 7th deck of synchronized swimming. Guys and girls flipped and flopped around the water to songs of "Under the Sea," "I'm Sexy and I Know It" and the opening song to stepbrothers. Some of the best moves were when people spit water out of their mouth and each person peeled off in time with the music. The other event that was my favorite was the Lip Sync. I participated as a background dancer for Bering Sea to which we did a cute rendition of "Surfin' USA." A lot of dances included guys dressed up as girls dancing around to Spice Girls or I'm a Barbie Girl, but my absolute favorite was by the Red Sea that payed tribute to the great N'Sync. One girl in their sea was a great choreographer, who taught half their sea moves to "Dirty Pop," by far the best song they have.

Each team worked hard on the events and had some really creative events, so when the winners were announced I am proud to say that Bering Sea ultimately got the bronze! The gold went to the Agean Sea on the second deck and the silver was third deck Carribean Sea. I think what was the coolest part was that every one was really into it- students, teachers, and the dependent families on board. Even though the events were really silly, we had a great time together and I met a lot of cool people on my deck and we still walk around with our "green pride."

First Day of Classes

Feeling like a first year again, this voyage has been filled with firsts. Though I have sailed twice already, it never ceases to amaze me how much I feel like a first year all over again when I’m on the ship. I have to meet new people again for the first time, complete with awkward conversations about where people are from, their major, and year. I will say I learned from Rush a few good conversations starters like, if you could be a breakfast food what would you be, or would you give up chocolate for the rest of your life if you could wake up perfectly primped every morning? With only 26% of the student population on board this summer being guys, the other 74% women have really like the latter question- most giving up chocolate without batting an eye.

But although the social firsts have been numerous, I’m technically here to study while at sea, so today was a first for classes. I would be lying if I tried to hide the fact that I am a complete nerd and love the first day of classes. I went to bed an hour early just to make sure I didn’t miss them (even though my first class wasn’t until 11am…) This year’s course load consists of Investing in a Sustainable Future (taught by my father), Environmental Communications, and the typical Global Studies course that everyone aboard the ship must attend.

Investing in a Sustainable Future is my favorite class so far. I’m trying to be unbiased because I think my dad is one of the most engaging and funny professors I’ve ever had, but in all reality- he really is. He could make learning about algae fun- in fact, he does in some of his courses about bio-algae fuel. I normally expect the first day of class to be all about the syllabus, but of course my dad jumps right into the material explaining the IPAT equation and how our environmental challenges actually present unique and exciting opportunities for business to help solve problems in innovative and profit-reaping ways. As this is ultimately what I would like to do with my life, this class is clearly the most interesting for me. (Even the 3 readings and a video I had to watch for homework tonight were riveting!)

I realized that last paragraph gave away more of my nerdy tendencies than I had intended to let on, so I will back off on the next two course descriptions. My environmental communications class is new for me because UVA does not explicitly offer communications courses. My professor is nationally well-known and the Dean of the Communications school at Elon, so I am excited to soak up any knowledge I can from him. He also had a professional career in PR, so I may have to whip out my networking skills that McIntire continuously has urged me to use. Global Studies is my least favorite class, but I suppose a necessity. This year it seems to be taught less by rotating faculty, but instead by a single Canadian professor. He speaks well, and tells history in terms of engaging stories… but unfortunately it is located at the front of the ship and usually results in me nodding off to sleep… hoping that I don’t snore.

The classes this summer seem like they will be more work l than I anticipated, but its all fun and interesting, so I doubt it will really feel like work when I can do my readings on the deck in a swimsuit, and write papers listening to the quiet crash of waves against the port side of the ship.

Freeport, Bahamas

This year I was fortunate to set sail from Ft. Lauderdale to Freeport, Bahamas 3 days before the students arrived because my father is on the faculty. Returning to the ship for a third time, it was a great way to come back to a place I feel like is my second home. For three, warm sunny days I was able to lie on the deck and get acclimated on the ship again, all alone. Though I love the ship when it is full of friendly faces, there is something peaceful about being able to look out at the harbor or the sea without anyone else around.

When we docked in the Freeport Harbor, there wasn’t much to do. Skye and I tried to walk to the beach from our location, but were constantly approached by random vans stopping to ask what we were doing. We excitedly said looking for the beach to which they laughed and said we were a long ways away, about 6 or 7 miles. Unfortunately the friendly Bahamians could not drive us anywhere because they were on the clock, but it was a good thing they gave us a heads up, or else we would have walked for miles- and ended up extremely burnt!

We did have a slightly more successful outing when our parents got off with us. This time we stayed within harbor, looking for dinner. My Dad was adamant about trying conch, the local delicacy of fried or breaded meat from the pretty yellow and pink shell you always see at the beach. He settled on a little shack close to the ship that sold conch in hush puppy form with spicy sauce on the side. Though I’m not usually a fan of oysters, mussles, or anything of the sort, I tried the fried treat. No surprise it was very rubbery in texture with a lack of flavor, but I was glad I tried it nonetheless.

When the students arrived, I quickly forgot about being in the harbor and tried to meet as many new people as I could. Confidence and blindly approaching people seemed to be the best tactic to insert myself into conversations- and I met a lot of great people. As we set sail and said goodbye to Freeport, headed for Barcelona, I couldn’t help but think that the 539 students who just boarded will be some of my best friends for the next summer semester.

How to Pack Your Whole Life into One Suitcase

So as I am preparing for what is probably my last Semester at Sea voyage, I started browsing through the Facebook group to see what was interesting my new shipmates. I noticed a lot of them had questions about what to pack, what trips to take, how the food was etc... Blogs are really the best way to gain as much information about the voyage as possible without actually speaking to a past voyager directly, or experiencing the ship for yourself. Most blogs are chalk full of fascinating stories, jaw dropping pictures and fun anecdotal lessons that any future voyager or friend back home would love to read... but tips on packing seem to get lost in the shuffle. So here's some tips about what to pack and how to pack for each voyage I have been on (because packing for each voyage is different!)

1. BRING A BLANKET and SWEATSHIRT
The first tip that goes for all three voyages (semester, maymester or summer) is that the ship is cold. The sheets and covers on the bed are nice, but having an extra blanket is great to add a layer and fairly easy to pack. I'm not saying bring your entire comforter from your bed, as nice as that would be, but a blanket that you can sleep comfortably with or trudge up to the 8th deck for stargazing would be ideal. A sweatshirt is also an important thing to have because at night it sometimes is a bit windy or class can be chilly.

2. BRING MAGNETS
If you want to make your cabin a little more personalized and homey, or put up postcards and pictures from your travels, then bring magnets. Tape is not allowed on the walls, and nails can't get through the metal. Decorating your room (even just a little bit) is a fun way to make the semester or summer long voyage your own, though the maymester is so short and you spend such little time in your cabin that it may not be as necessary. Still, it is fun to hang up postcards or a map and trace your progress around the globe!

3. BRING A PACK OF CARDS
Chances are someone in your group of friends will have one... but why not let that friend be you? Cards are a great way to meet people and relax on the 7th deck. They are lightweight, easy to carry, and everyone knows some sort of game (even if it's Go Fish or Slap Jack)

4 . DON'T FORGET ABOUT THOSE AT HOME

This piece of advice you can take if you'd like, but I would remember that although you're having a blast traveling, don't forget about those at home. It's easy to get caught up in the moment, or be home sick, so bring a picture of your special someone or family. It's nice to have and can be a talking point for visitors to your room. Also, send postcards to help document your trip and share your experiences- so get those addresses of your friends before you leave! It's one small thing that can mean the world to someone back home and enhance your own experience- especially if you send a postcard to yourself! You'll get it a few weeks after you get back most likely and it's a great random reminder of the voyage.

5. PACK LIKE ITS A SHORT TRIP
Depending on the length of the voyage the amount of clothes may vary, but in general I would say pack as if you are going on a trip for only 3 weeks, rather than months at a time. They offer fairly cheap laundry service every so often for your floor on the ship and I promise, you will not wear everything if you bring lots of clothes. However, do bring a variety of clothes. I would suggest some nice clothes for class and going into nicer ports, a few pairs of clothes you could potentially throw away (India turned most of my clothes brown) and a nice outfit for the end of voyage Alumni Ball -- (If you are going on a voyage that stops in Vietnam, it could be fun to have a dress or suit made however) Also be weary of packing appropriate clothing to visit countries or events that require special garments (i.e. mosques and temples require knees to be covered for women and pants for men)

Here is the list of things that I am bringing on my Summer 2012 voyage:

15 short sleeve t shirts

5 long sleeve tshirts

7 nice shirts

7 nice shorts

4 "throw-away" shorts

4 various pants

1 skirt

5 dresses

6 undergarments

21 pairs of underwear

10 pairs of socks

3 swimsuits

5 pajamas

1 pair of tennis shoes, 1 pair of flip flops, 1 pair of heels

Then of course I am bringing a blanket, sweatshirt, bath products, and an extra towel thrown in for good measure.

And yes... all of that fits in one large rolling duffle bag suitcase.

Dresden, Germany

Before I set sail, I just wanted to do a quick recap blog post about my most recent adventure in Germany. After Beach Week 2012, I jetted off to Dresden, Germany with my brother for 8 days. Part of his independent senior project, Skye chose me to go along with him to see how much German culture we could soak up in one week.

I don't know if any of you have seen The Buried Life on MTV (one of their better shows I must say) but we fashioned the trip along the same plot line- we had a list of 21 things Skye needed to try to accomplish by the end of the week, all revolving around the essential question of German culture.

It was an full, yet exciting week! We checked off almost all of the things on his list, visiting a German school the first day, touring museums, drinking beer and eating bratwurst, and (my person favorite) hiking in Saxonian Switzerland. The hike was up treacherous stairs and paths that led to climbing and extreme hiking up large rock structures. I found myself swinging from rock to rock at some points, praying that the metal handles were bolted securely to the rock faces.

Another highlight of the trip included attending an abstract/classical orchestral concert in the VW factory...the acoustics were phenomenal and I never knew a woman could play so many notes in one measure amidst the hanging metal bodies of in-progress cars.

Our day trip to Berlin was fun, though karma came back to bite us in Dresden for skimping on paying for train tickets in Berlin when we were caught by the transportation police and fined 40 euro each for having an invalid ticket. We certainly learned our lesson, but still had to call the parents and share our slightly frightening story. All in all, the lessons we learned were both academic and cultural... and all great lessons to keep in mind before departing on my next journey.











**We stayed with family friends, the Guenthers, who were great hosts and planned various day trips for us, helping us to pack in as much as we could during our stay there. Just wanted to informally send them a shout out and a personal thank you for making it a wonderful trip, and one I certainly won't forget with Skye. Oh, and their cat Carlo (originally named Adolf for his unique facial fur) deserves a thank you too!