sweet disposition

Things are about to get real...

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 08:28:46 -0800

…those of you who have graduated college know what i’m talking about. We’re about to graduate and enter the REAL world, all the uncertainties we’ve faced throughout college, are all about to become that much more REAL. Its a scary time. Despite desire to keep my life organized and pretty for those on the outside, in reality I don’t have it all together. This is the point. We (thankfully) are not meant to have it all together! This is where God comes in: God calls us to focus on him- to realize his hand in our life. I can’t do it on my own and until i stop fighting that, God is unable to work in my life the way He desires. The reality is that he is in control not me.

I should be living a life not in my own control or of the world’s standards but a life so devoid of myself that it points solely to Jesus.

As graduation continues to creep closer and closer and my fears of the real world, of life after college, and of leaving my comfort zone become more real God is gently pointing me to this truth:

“The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him” Nahum 1: 7

Our relationship with God is not about saying or doing the right things, its not about having it all figured out, its about the journey of walking hand in hand with him, and trusting him in all things.

Something to consider

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 15:58:48 -0800

If being in college has taught me one thing, its definitely time management. My mind is often going a million miles a minute between school, work and everything in between. I get stressed, sick of studying, run out of money and frustrated when things don’t go the way i planned, just like the next person. Life in college, and in general, is filled with times like these. One thing I don’t make enough time for is giving thanks to God. Despite having stress and daily struggles, I also have a God with immeasurable love who provides, time after time. A God who provides for me to be at Baylor, to be blessed with community, and to have a passion for life. Despite God’s provision I forget something very important-giving thanks. I mess up-he shows grace, I lose sight of Him-he gets my attention and gently brings me back. Psalm 107 is a perfect reminder of why we should continually give thanks, it is an example of God’s unfailing love and his desire to bring us back.

Beginning with, you guessed it, a reminder to give thanks to the Lord, it lists about 15 examples of God redeeming his people. Each time they cry out, God provides- he delivers them, just like he delivers us.

What blew me away came at the end of the passage in verse 43:

“Whoever is wise, let him heed these things and consider the great Love of the Lord.”

We are not meant to live a perfect, cushy, comfortable life with no troubles. If this were the case we would really ignore God and his provisions, we would have no reason to give thanks. There will be troubles and God will provide. Each time God provides for me, I am reminded of his love and faithfulness, but for how long? The next time I feel troubled do I immediately give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love? - unfortunately the answer to that question is not always yes. God is teaching me to give thanks in all circumstances, because he really does provide, and that is something we need to consider. We need to continually consider the great Love of the Lord. Viewing life through this lens becomes more joyful and filled with hope-that’s the kind of life I want to live. To not focus on troubles or sadness, but to thank God for his love and all that he has done.

Our God provides. Despite repeated mistakes. Despite us forgetting. Despite our complaints. Despite our attitudes. Our God provides-That is something to be thankful for.

Consider this: The Lord has a great love for us and he will provide.

It’s as simple as that.

Who is really in control?

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 09:38:54 -0700

Sometimes i like to pretend like it’s me. I have my whole life under control, I go to school, have a job, friends- normal things a 21 year old girl does. Then there’s times like these where God gently calls me back to reality. Reality is i am absolutely not in control, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. The creator of the universe, the stars, the fish in the sea, created me too. And he desires an intimate relationship with me. While at times i feel as if I am in control of my life, (I get to decide where I move after college… etc) it is really a matter of if I will accept God’s calling on my life and choose to walk with him daily, even with the little things. It is humbling to be reminded of how much I am NOT in control, and honestly I am thankful to not have to bear that burden!

Even in the minute details of our day- God is calling us to look to him. Last week at least four separate times i looked in my bathroom for a specific face wash. I looked over and over, in the same spots, hoping for it to show up, maybe I would remember where I actually put it… but with no luck. Finally, frustrated, I blurt out to my roommate, “I cannot find this! I’ve looked everywhere, where could it be?!” I looked down right after I said that and where was it? Right in the place I was looking at that exact moment. I don’t know about yall but from experience I know God has a sense of humor, even in the little things like not being able to find face wash he is demonstrating his presence in our life. He was gently reminding me to turn to him for even the smallest things. All i needed to do was be calm, and once again recognize that God is in control. I find myself always trying to fix things, to organize them, to control them when God calls us to do the opposite. I am not called to control things, I am called to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this world. I will mess up, many times, often unfortunately, but God is our sustainer in all things and He is more powerful than we can put into words. His power is made perfect in our weakness- So why should i worry? Instead of worrying or controlling I will simply love people. Be a light in this world, and when I do mess up i know that I have nothing to fear because Christ died for us even while we were still sinners.

”But because of his great love for us, rich in mercy, God made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in sin, it is by grace you have been saved”

Ephesians 2:4-5

Look to him when you feel stressed about a test, worried about a deadline or simply unfulfilled because he is patiently waiting for us.

God is calling us to so much more than the things of this world that we often get distracted by:

“We were each created to change the world for someone, to serve someone, to love someone the way Christ first loved us”

- Beth Clark, Kisses from Katie

As for me I am blessed and thankful to have a God who loves me without fail, when I mess up and when I try to take control- this is a learning process after all.

Costa Rica!

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 08:34:00 -0800

Costa Rica!

New Year, New Uncertainties

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 08:32:19 -0800

2011 is finally coming to a close. As people began to talk about New Year’s resolutions it got me thinking. This year has been an incredible time of change for me in so many ways. Countless people and situations from this year,have molded me into the person I am today. A couple more exciting semesters at Baylor and an incredible summer abroad with Semester at Sea have made 2011 an unforgettable year. If I only had to take away one lesson from all my experiences it would be God’s faithfulness and hand over my life. Although a new year brings new uncertainties, I will have peace as I continue to put my trust in God: Isaiah 14:27 “For the Lord almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back.” Often we find our selves flailing around attempting to make our selves be better, or be someone who society dictates that we should become. I struggle with this as much as the next person, but I’m learning to accept who God has made me to be, a person in His image… what an amazing opportunity that is! Insignificant stresses such as what are you going to wear (guilty of this one), who will you hang out with, what will you do, and things of that nature are not important compared to our opportunity as Christians to be the hands and feet of Christ in this uncertain world. I was blessed to be able to participate in building 4 houses for precious families here in Costa Rica. The family I built for is definitely one I will remember for years to come. They were a fairly young couple who migrated to Costa Rica from Nicaragua. They had been living in their old house for 4 years and had two absolutely adorable children, Dillon a very energetic two year old, and Christopher a 25 day old baby. The house they lived in previously was made of tin, and honestly was smaller than my closet. The only thing they could fit in there was their bed and a small dresser. In two short days we were able to change their lives forever and honestly I am changed as well. I will never forget them inviting us into their new house for the first time, the family was so joyful they couldn’t even speak, but their 25 day old baby was lying in the middle of the new bed we had given them. Now these two children have a safe place to grow up, knowing the love of God. No matter how many times I’ve built a house, every time God teaches me something new and meaningful. I bonded with the family over the two days as I attempted to get to know them and practice my Spanish, and I was continually reminded of God’s immense love for this family. We were able to demonstrate to this family, who didn’t really know Jesus, how much he cares for them, and how he is working through others to bless them. God does this same thing for us continually, and often we are too distracted to realize it. As I think about what this new year may bring, I am reminded, that there may be uncertainties, and I may not always know what God is planning or in which way he will move, but I do know this: “God works for the good of those who love him” so I have no reason to be afraid or stressed. Rather than having a new years resolution to work out more or eat less sweets I will resolve to do this: “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again” 2 Corinthians 5:14. I resolve to serve God in everything that I do, to not let things of this earth distract me or get in the way, and to continue to strive to be Jesus’ hands and feet to serve those around me in any way that I can. As a new year comes around and new growth I pray that you continue to rely on God’s timing rather than your own, if the creator and builder of the whole universe is in control, and has our best interests at heart what is there to fear? Happy new years from here in Costa Rica!! I love yall so much and thanks for being a part of my life!

This time for Africa! MOROCCO!

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 18:56:02 -0700

Ive had so many firsts on this trip. First time time living on a ship, first time crossing the Atlantic, first time to Europe, Asia and now AFRICA! The song that defined our time was one of my favorites Waka Waka by Shakira. Shakira definitely sums it up nicely: This time for Africa! We were all very sad to realize that we were at our last port, where had the summer gone? But my time in Morocco was a perfect ending port. Our first stop in Morocco was Casablanca. I imagined Casablanca as in the movie, black and white, with cool markets and casinos and things of that nature but it is definitely not like that. It pretty much looks like any small developing city that you would think of. Its pretty run down, and the buildings are modern, not really what I pictured. Even though Casablanca wasnt as Romantic as I had pictured it, it was still really cool. The day we spent there was definitely interesting, and hot. We walked through all the souks admiring all the fake purses and such. The shopping was so so, what was interesting was the people. Morocco is a Muslim country as well and the people there were practicing Ramadan also. I noticed in the people here more of an agitation or frustration, Im assuming from the lack of nourishment and the heat. Just walking to and from the souks we saw two fights. We got out of there quick. We next walked to the gorgeous Hassan II mosque after their last king Hassan II. The mosque is very modern, but still with the traditional Islamic detailing with mosaics, and turquoise arabesque patterns. The cool thing about this mosque is that it is right on the ocean. After seeing this beautiful mosque, its interesting to learn in class that the time under Hassan II was called the years of lead, as it was a time of political oppression. After visiting the mosque we headed back to the ship to get ready for our special outing to Ricks café. Ricks café is a play off of the café in the movie Casablanca and it was so awesome. Its decorated just like the movie and has two different levels. It was interesting because pretty much all of Semester at Sea was there. We definitely splurged on dinner there so worth it! We all hung out and shared an awesome meal and some wine. The next day we headed for the train station ready to get to Marrakech or Marrake$ha as I like to call it. We had heard horror stories about the second class section on Morrocan trains and were told DO NOT TAKE THEM, people said there would be animals running around, it was cattle cars, there was no where to sit, very HOT, you would have to stand for the whole 3 hours, and things of that nature. About 16 of us, and a bunch of other Semester at Sea people were all at the train station trying to get there. Once I got up to the front of the line first class was sold out. So me and like 6 other people had to brave the animals and the heat. A little bit nervous we got on the train hoping for the best. We only had to share seats for a bout 15 minutes, other than it being a little warm, and some passengers didnt smell very good, second class was so not bad! So glad the rumors werent true. We got to Marrakech and all shared a great meal at the American Embassy nom. We then headed to our riad aka a Moroccan villa. So amazing. Basically we were staying in the Medina, or old city walls of Marrakech. We had to walk through a bunch of pathways in between clay buildings to get to our riad door. Our riad door was bright blue, with an awesome praying hand for the knocker. Once we entered Riad Papillon, all 11 of us were in heaven. They welcomed us with mint tea in precious little glasses. Hands down favorite part of the riad, free mint tea any time you want! There was an open courtyard in the middle with a pool, and lounging couches. All of the rooms were awesome and each had a different theme. The Riad was three stories high was a roof top terrace and lounge chairs. We all walked to the famous square Fnah in Marrakech, this square is the home to monkeys, snake charmers, and merchants. We had a rooftop dinner and enjoyed views over the square. Once we got back to our Riad we all hung out and listened to music and swam. The next day we slept in, were served a breakfast of coffee, mint tea, pancakes and omelets on the terrace we were in heaven. We all got ready to head out for a full day of shopping in the souks, we all did damage. The shops in Marrakech were awesome! Such cool stuff there. After a long day of shopping we went to dinner on the square, then hung out at the riad. The next day we woke up bright and early for my favorite part of Morocco camel riding!!!! We hired a driver Rashiid (I miss Rashiid) to drive us around for the day. They took us to the spot where the camels were chilling, which looked an awful lot like Palm $pring$. We all got on the camels, two to a camel, and I shared with Cassarah (the Turkish Asian pop star). Our camel was named Tiffarah Jamila Johnson. We all rode the camels in a line, with two precious baby camels following close behind us. They were my favorite part, watching them prance along next to their mother. After the camel rides some of us went to go to the Atlas mountains for zip lining! On our way up there the driver stopped us at this little building on the side of the hill. We got out and went in, not really knowing what to expect, but Rashiid got our back. It was this precious little shop where all these women were breaking nuts to make Argon oils. She explained the whole process of how they make the oil for foods, and how they make it for beauty products. They lets us try both kinds, and it was really fun to see all the women in a line breaking the nuts over rocks. We next went into the mountains so excited for ziplining! Apparently most people dont realize that you need to wear shoes for ziplining, because Allie and I were the only ones wearing close toed shoes. We tried to get them to bend the rules for us, but they wouldnt budge, so we couldnt go ziplining sad day. But we were all still really happy to have been able to visit the mountains and see more of Morocco. After ziplining we headed back to our riad, got some food and hung out. After eating dinner we spent our last night together chilling at the riad. This night I started noticing my throat hurting super bad, I took some advil and brushed it off after it started feeling a bit better. When I woke up the next morning, the feeling of knives in my throat was back. We all packed up, checked out of the riad, and headed to the train station. I was really sad to leave Marrakech, but my throat situation was getting worse. By the time I got back to the ship, I felt horrible and hadnt been able to eat all day. I went to bed at about 5 miserable all night and the next day. As soon as I went to the nurse, she took one look at my throat and exclaimed Oh my gosh! Youre throat is sooooo nasty looking. I told her how, I was sure that was true based on how horrible I felt. I gladly excepted antibiotics for strep throat bad timing considering Im taking finals right now. But I am now through with one final, and have one more to go! I cant believe this trip is coming to a close, but I wouldnt change any minute of it (with the exception of getting strep throat). So happy with all the friends I have met, the memories, the experiences, the knowledge and the growth Ive had. Please pray for me as I finish up the semester here and sadly say goodbye to every one!

TURKISH DELIGHT, ISTANBUL TURKEY!

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 11:53:05 -0700

My experiences in Turkey were absolutely amazing! It is unlike any place I have ever visited in my life, and I seriously loved every minute of it. We had the opportunity to be there during the beginning of Ramadan, a special month of fasting through out the day for Muslim countries. People are not allowed to eat or drink anything during the day, not even water! Our ship was docked in a perfect location right next to the tram and all the main stops of Istanbul, so it was only a short walk to the Spice Market and Grand Baazar. Our first day in Istanbul we explored the many shopping options (Cassidy was in heaven). The spice market was awesome! It has all these spices, apple tea, chili, and a whole bunch of Turkish delight! Turkish delight is a yummy chewy treat that is made out of nuts and covered in powdered sugar. I didnt actually buy any of it but we loved going around to all the different shops asking what it was and can we taste it?. Literally all the stalls you walk by try to find some way to get you to stop at theirs. We had a countless number of people ask us if we were Australian. So me and my mates often said that were on holiday from Sydney. We also heard some funny pick up lines like excuse me are you from paradise?. While we were wandering through the spice market we experienced our first call to prayer. Over loud speakers a traditional Muslim prayer started playing and most of the shops closed up. As we walked around we got to see a group of Muslims kneeling in one street on their mats praying. Next, we bought our selves a kebab (my favorite part of Europe) or a sandwich from a huge slab of meat. We ate literally a million of these in Turkey and my favorite thing to do was to throw a bunch of the chili spice powder on the sandwich so nom. I was also happy to locate the American Embassy (McDonalds) very close to our ship. We then ventured to the Grand Baazar! This is a very famous and humungous market place with over 3,000 shops. As much as I love shopping it was completely overwhelming at first. The first hour I didnt buy anything I just looked around, once we all went and got a diet coke we were ready to shop! They had such amazing scarves, awesome multicolored lamps with floral designs, rugs, intricate jewelry, purses, gorgeous hand painted plates bowls, and mugs, and pretty much anything cool you would imagine being sold in Turkey. It was so awesome to see everything that was offered and to bargain a bit. After shopping for a couple hours we had to make it back for a field trip we had, which was called Whirling Dirvishes. In Turkey there is a movement called the Brotherhood of Dirvishes. They strive for direct communication with God or Allah. The way they achieve this is through spinning or whirling, basically entranced as a band plays music and sings. It was so interesting to witness. They would spin in their white prayer dresses for up to ten minutes at a time. Without falling! I attempted later to spin but got to dizzy The next day a group of about 20 of us woke up with a casual plan to meander over to Asia and get lunch. Not kidding. We just casually took a 1$ ferry across the Bosphorus strait to the Asian side of Turkey. It was my first time visiting Asia and I loved every minute of it! After we got back from Asia, we went to the Turkish baths. Ive heard that the Turkish baths are a must do, while visiting Turkey and they were not kidding! We definitely splurged on a nicer one but soooo worth it! It is separated by gender and once you get there you get a locker to put all your stuff and your clothes away. Me, Cass, Rene, and Allie all went into the actual bathing room in the black bottoms that they gave us, a miniature scarf/towel thing covering us up top, with no idea what to expect. We walked in the room and all just paused and went OH. It was a huge domed room with a big round marble slab in the middle. On the edges of the room there were showers. We had just walked into a room with about 25 half naked women. The Turkish women who were doing the bathing were definitely characters. But basically how it works is they scrub your whole body down really well in a soap bubble bath type thing, then they shower you and wash your hair, then its off to a hot oil massage. This was the best part. The massage was absolutely amazing. After the whole ordeal I couldnt help but feel extremely relaxed and blessed. Just living the life in Turkey. Needless to say, its hard to explain how awesome the Turkish baths are. So you just need to go see for yourself. That night a bunch of us went and hung out at a café for a while underneath a bridge, with a view of the Istanbul skyline. A bunch of the boys we went with actually go to Texas Tech so that was fun. The next day a whole bunch of us, about 20 again, all ventured out to go see the sights of Istanbul. We started first with the Hagia Sophia. It was built by Justinian and was originally a Christian church but was converted into a mosque. There were actually some really cool mosaics of Jesus in there. But honestly it was breathtaking as soon as you walked into the main room. There was all these amazing candelabras strung from the very top of the ceiling very low, and illuminated. We had to walk up a curving stone ramp to get to the second level to see the mosaics and to be able to look down onto the first floor. It was so interesting! We next visited the Blue Mosque which was somewhat similar, but this one is still a working mosque. We had to take our shoes off, cover our hair and shoulders and stay quite. It was definitely an experience I wont forget. Next we all decided to go get lunch at a little place I like to call El Toritos! This in fact was a legit El Toritos with you guessed it chips and salsa and fajitas! We had been dying for Mexican food so we were all so excited. They even gave us free Turkish apple tea which was amazing. El Toritos will always remind me of my time in Turkey and the wonderful people I experienced it with. Our next stop was the Basilica Cistern. Which is basically an underground worship space with huge columns, and water with pathways over it. It was super interesting down there. That night we went to Taxim square. There was a huge square and a big walk way illuminated with pretty twinkling lights. During the day this is a shopping street but at night people just meander around there. The amount of people that were there walking around was mind bottling (you know when your thoughts get all trapped in a bottle?) just kidding. But it was seriously mind blowing. There were thousands of people out and about strolling around! The next day was probably my favorite day. Rather than being on a strict schedule a couple of us slept in, and visited Golata tower. A tour right next to our ship that had 360 degrees views of all of Istanbul and the Bosphorus it was insane. Istanbul is a humungous city! We then wandered to a park in between the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia and had a kebab picnic there. I absolutely loved relaxing in the grass, and hanging with friends. We laid around for a while then went to visit the Topkapi Palace. It was a gorgeous palace, but a little expensive to actually go inside. So while Johnny ran inside the rest of us laid in a field of grass underneath beautiful trees in a big courtyard. Once again I loved just sitting there and being still and happy. On our way home we found another park, called Ottopark and wandered through that. It actually wasnt a park for cars although it might sound that way. It was so hot there, so it was fun to walk through the shade and look at all the trees. That night was sadly our last night in Turkey, but it was also the first night of Ramadan or Razmadan in Turkish. We decided to visit the Ramadan festival next to the Blue Mosque and get the full cultural experience. It was legit! There were little shops, yummy food, a crazy amount of people and they had a band playing. When we went to watch the band for a while they had a group of Whirling Dirvishes come out. The cool thing about this time is that a couple of them were little boys. One preciously chubby little boy was everyones favorite because he couldnt quite get the spinning part yet, and he kept looking around and moving when they were supposed to be still. Honestly you could see a clip of him end up on Turkish funniest home videos, I wouldnt be surprised. He was so precious! After the festival we decided to meander back towards the ship. All 25 of us took our time walking down towards the MV Explorer. Once we got to Golata bridge, the bridge separating us from our ship, we hung out there for a while not really ready to go back yet. We decided to stop underneath the bridge to hang out for a while and get a few drinks. We hung out for a while laughing and talking then we decided we should go pay, because we were the last customers on the bridge, all the other restaurants had closed up. We paid and began walking up the stairs to walk to the top of the bridge when we stopped in shock. THE BRIDGE WAS OPENING! At first we were all excited! IT was awesome to see the bridge open from the middle right next to where we were! How often does that happen? Then someone came to their senses. Our ship is on the other side. We cant get home now! Panic mode set in. We all ran to the top of the stairs to go ask the workers. Even though we were stressed about getting home we were dying laughing and blaming it on cassidys bad luck (annproblems). The workers told us that it would be 2 hours before the bridge would return back to normal. At this point it was about 3 in the morning and 10 of us were stuck in Istanbul on the wrong side of the bridge, with no where to go, and two hours to kill. What to do? We ended up going back to the restaurant we had been hanging out at and told him our situation. It turns out he had just become a co-owner of this place and would be there all night on security detail. He let us back into his restaurant turned on flashing lights, let us use his stereo system to play music, and got us a bottle of wine. We all just hung out and danced and laughed for two hours waiting for the bridge to open. It was seriously, hands down, the best night of semester at sea. I couldnt have asked to have been stranded with better people, and I definitely couldnt have had more fun. It was absolutely so much fun! Once we got back to the ship dawn was approaching, we only had about an hour until the sunrise so we all got cup of noodles, got our pajamas on, and lounged on the deck chairs until the sun rise. Although I was tired the next day, it was definitely worth pulling an all-nighter. The sunrise over the Bosphorus was absolutely amazing! Our last day in Turkey, was spent trekking back to the Grand Baazar one last time. Although we were all exhausted it was fun going back there and seeing every thing one more time, getting one more kebab before we headed back to the ship. Im sorry its been so long since Ive blogged but life at sea has been absolutely crazy. I only had a couple of days between Turkey and Morocco and about a million tests and papers to fit in. I got through them though, because God is good! Be looking out for a blog about Morocco soon! So thankful for my experiences in Turkey, hope you enjoyed this taste of Turkish delight!

BULGARIA: VAMOS A LA PLAYA.

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 11:54:01 -0700

I honestly had no idea what to expect in regards to Bulgaria, but Bulgaria is a very beautiful country, and I am blessed to have experienced it. An American ship, let alone a cruise ship has not docked in Varna, Bulgaria in over ten years, so we were definitely a spectacle to be seen. Our ship was docked right next to a gorgeous beach with fun restaurants and bars on it. It took less than five minutes to walk to the beach, needless to say thats how I spend most of my time in Bulgaria. Lounging on the beach is one of my favorite things to do. It was definitely nice to not have a lot of landmarks to go see, or to not be stressed about having time to see everything. Most people stayed in Varna and on the ship so it was fun to be able to see everyone around all the time, most of the nights we all spent hanging out on the beach together. While we were there, there was a huge sand volleyball tournament going on at the beach and that was also fun to watch. The first day as I was walking to the beach, my foot started bleeding. I had cut my foot on the beach in Mykonos, but it hadnt bled until then. I had been hobbling around on my foot for days, until finally I woke up at 7 am (horribly early) to go to the clinic hours on the ship. I hadnt cut my foot on a rock, I had stepped on a sea urchin! My foot is still a little sore, but after a lot of band aids, and Neosporin I can finally almost walk like a normal human. One of the nights we all went out to a club for my friend treys 21 birthday, in reality he turned 23. We all went to a club called Copa Cabana, which I was led to believe was salsa dancing (of course I was very excited). It was actually a Bulgarian rap concert the snoop dog of Bulgaria if you will. It was really funny to be there and see everyone singing along and taking videos of the rapper. We had no idea what they were saying but it was fun. The next day Cass, Megan, Rene, Allie, Cassarah and I all went on a field trip led through Semester at Sea to two different towns outside of Varna: Balchick and Kalikra. This day was definitely my favorite. We took a bus driving through the forests that over look the gorgeous coast line and beach of Bulgaria on the Black Sea. The Black Sea is in fact, not actually black, although Allie had expected it to be. Our tour guide was awesome, naming Mcdonalds The American Embassy. Sadly I did not make it to the Mcdonalds in Bulgaria even though that was my goal, oh well theres always Turkey. We went to Balchik first and went to the botanical gardens there. This botanical garden was absolutely gorgeous and is the second largest botanical gardens in Europe after Monaco. I tricked Rene into believing that they were actually called patanical gardens, a couple of days later she finally realized After we had a tour of the gardens, looked into the well that was supposed to show your future spouse, and got a tour of a palace we were able to walk through a cute little market place selling a bunch of cool souvenirs. Although I was tempted about all the cat themed items for purchase I settled on a very convincing pair of fake ray bans, fay bans if you will. I am still very excited about this purchase because I lost my favorite sunglasses at the beach. For the next stop on the tour we visited Cape Kalikra. With the ocean looming in all directions, Roman ruins, and a precious tiny chapel at the very edge of the cape, in honor of St. Nicholas, being at cape Kalikra was definitely a breath taking experience. Many historical battles have been fought on the cape and it was crazy to walk around on it. Off in the distance was what our tour guide called the communist memorial. About 6 transmitter towers that were used to block all western broadcasting, such as BBC, during the time that, that area was behind the Iron curtain, under communist power. I couldnt imagine being restricted from hearing the news and being able to have contact to other parts of the world. It was strange to think that only a few years back, those towers had been in use. After wandering around the cape for a while, we all had a drink and toasted as the sun was setting on the calm ocean. Our next stop was at a place called Fiesta Bulgaria for dinner and a show. We expected some dinner and traditional Bulgarian dancing, but it was so much more than that. It is Bulgarian tradition to great your guests with bread, salt and a special seasoning, so a woman met us at the door as we broke a piece of bread, dipped it in the seasoning then ate it. Once we got in there was a buffet with salad, peppers filled with rice, cheeses, breads, vegetables and feta! While we enjoyed the buffet, the show started with traditional Bulgarian dances. This was so awesome to see. They even got the crowd involved in a couple of the dances. While we hung out and ate, all of a sudden the show continued again. This time instead of wearing the traditional Bulgarian outfits, the girls were dressed in Las Vegas show girl costumes with feathers and stuff. It was so random. And then after that it got even more random. They next came out in country themed outfits and did a little jig to Cotton Eyed Joe. We were very happy to experience a little piece of Texas in Bulgaria. To continue on with the randomness two girls came out and did an awesome routine with about fifty hula hoops. It was very impressive: One of the girls hula hooped about 20 hula hoops at one time. Just when we thought the show couldnt get any more random you guessed it, a man came out and did a 5 minute performance in a human slinky costume that was in the shape of an X. Definitely wasnt expecting that. The best part about it was that the soundtrack to his performance was a Star Wars esque song. Needless to say you had to be there to understand how odd and funny it was. They followed that with a traditional Russian gypsy dance (which made me miss Kelly and Leah even more!). After dinner Bulgarias top dj did his thang on the turn tables. If you can, try to imagine an awkward eighth grade dance, then you can imagine fiesta Bulgaria. Regardless of that it was so fun and we danced our little hearts out to Waka Waka and YMCA. They ended the night with a traditional fire dance. A man and a woman did a traditional dance over burning fire coals. It was really interesting to see. On the way home our kooky tour guide Alexander the Great asked us to sing for him. While no one on the bus volunteered he asked if we wanted him to sing. Silence followed, and crickets until I yelled yeah sing! from the back of the bus. For about 15 minutes he sang a couple songs in Bulgarian, one talking about a forest. During those 15 minutes everyone turned around in the bus and stared at me for getting him to sing. After a while everyone loosened up and we all sang songs the rest of the bus ride home, of course I sang some Ke$ha and T-Swift. Although the show was very odd to say the least, I absolutely loved it and we had so much fun! It definitely was a fiesta, Bulgarian style. The next day, Cass, Rene and I went on a field trip to the Ship Hydrodynamics center. Lets just say it was the most painful field trip experience but it was interesting none the less. We learned about how they test model ships in wave tanks to see how they will behave under certain conditions. After the field trip I had about an 1 at the beach before I had to get back on the ship. Once we left the port we anchored off of the coast of Bulgaria. We spent the night hanging out on the top deck talking and playing cards. Today we stayed anchored off of the coast and had the day off of class. We laid by the pool all day, listening to country music and hanging out. My friends also succeeded in winning the basketball and volleyball tournaments. Our day off was called Turkey Day because we get to Turkey tomorrow! Turkey day was definitely a success and I loved relaxing with good friends and good times and a good view. PS DREW IS A KODIAC. RAWR.

SERVE ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 04:37:02 -0700

I have been praying a lot lately about the idea of Love. Not of marriage and all that but the idea of just loving people. I have met soo many different people on this amazing journey, and most have been great, but honestly some people are just hard to deal with. I think that pretty much any one can relate to that. There will always people that are hard to love, hard to have compassion for and definitely hard to have a good attitude about. I have definitely been guilty of being negative about some people and God has put it on my heart to change my attitude. I should not stay simply complacent with this negative attitude. He has been challenging me to just simply LOVE his people. To be friendly to them, to serve them, to love them. These people that Ive been living on this ship with are Gods children, as much as I am, and they deserve His love too. I am now striving to throw off any negative attitude I have of people, and just get back to what is important: being an example of Gods love and presence in peoples lives. I have been thinking about this a lot and these verses are a perfect reminder of our duty of being examples of Gods immense love for us: No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 1 John 4:12 You my brothers are called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge in the sinful nature: Rather serve one another in love Galatians 5:13

GREECE: MEET ME HALFWAY

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 04:36:01 -0700

Greece definitely represents a lot of history, culture, and beauty; right now it even represents political turmoil with all of the strikes going on. We have had a hard time getting around Athens because of the taxi strike conveniently taking place during the exact days we are here. But for us Greece represents our halfway point on Semester at Sea. This makes me sad! None of us want this trip to come to an end. This trip ending means back to reality, back to my job, full time classes, full time theta. It will be interesting to re-adjust back to Baylor life. I am of course up for the challenge but any way back to Greece! We were able to have five days to explore Greece and it was awesome! The first day I had a field trip called Sights of Athens and the Acropolis. We piled into buses and they gave us a tour of the city before taking us up to see the Acropolis and the Parthenon. On the tour of the city I got to see the Olympic soccer stadium! So legit. I also saw the worlds only stadium made up of entirely marble. The first modern Olympics were held here! Next stop on the tour was the parliament building and the tomb of the unknown soldier. There are two guards in traditional dress that stand watch over the tomb. Every hour on the hour they do a little dance, step, thing to switch places. After they are done, another soldier comes over wipes the sweat off of their faces (with the same towelgross) then they are ready to take pictures with people. You can only take pictures with them two people at a time max. My friend Olivia had the bright idea of pretending to blow a kiss at him for the picture. She went on the right side of him so I had to go on the side that was closer to his security hut. BIG MISTAKE. He immediately stomped his feet, then lifted the bayonet he had in his hand with the sharp point jutting towards my face. The other soldier yelled and needless to say I quickly moved. I guess I am just used to movies (like that one Mary Kate and Ashley movie, Passport to London) where people joke around with guards. Not these ones they were all business. After my brush with death we moved on to drive through more of Athens then we finally got to the Acropolis! The Acropolis was awesome! So much history and significance there! After seeing so many pictures over the years it was crazy to stand next to the Parthenon, at the heart of it all. From the Acropolis you have a 360 degrees panoramic view of the city. It is unreal. Since my camera has been broken I have been actually blessed to actually experience the sights, and really notice things rather than focusing on taking pictures. Once my field trip was over a bunch of us went out to dinner at an adorable restaurant right on the marina. We all got chicken Souvlaki a traditional Greek food. Sooo yummy! The next day we woke up painfully early at 5:30 to catch our ferry to Mykonos! Our plan was to meet every one at the gangway at 6 am to walk to the ferry. The ferry leaves from the exact opposite side of the bay so it was a long trek. After waiting for a while at the gangway Rene and Megan were MIA so I ran to call their room. Their alarm hadnt gone off. We had to hurry there to print out our tickets so we decided to meet them there. Imagine me Allie, and Cass basically running with our big backpacks, sweating, tired, looking very rough, and extremely stressed hoping that Rene and Megan made the ferry. We all made it on to the ferry in one piece, thank God, and we were joined by a lot of SASers. Once we got there the plan was to try to find internet so I could get the address of the hotel because I forgot to write that down (my bad). But there was nothing around the port so we hopped on the first bus we came across (such a God thing). The bus took us to the next port, not very far from where we were, but there was a hotel hospitality office right next to where the bus stopped. We decided to go in and ask if they new where our hotel was. Not only did they know, they called the hotel for us and arranged for them to come pick us up. Our hotel was absolutely perfect. It was a cute little white building with blue accents of course, in a less crowded part of the island. There werent many other people staying at our hotel so we pretty much had the infinity pool to our selves and the beach was right across the street. Once we got settled in we went to lunch and got Souvlaki again nom. Then went to the pool all afternoon! We got ready and went into Mykonos town for another great dinner on the water and to hang out for a while. It took us a while to catch the right bus, but finally we made it to town. There are a bunch of restaurants right on the water, and right as we walked up all the power went out. It was really funny because it happened literally right when we walked up. However, it really was not funny because we were starving. The power came on about twenty minutes later and we had an awesome meal. We had Greek salad, and gyro plates. I am getting hungry just writing this because the food was so good! People who know me, know that I am a very plain eater, and it is shocking that I ate, and even enjoyed a Greek salad! I now love Greek salads, but especially feta. Once again most of my blog consists of describing food but oh well sorry not sorry. The next day we slept in, sat by the pool for a bit, then went into town to get a Gyro pita. The town has adorable shops located in all these little walkways, between buildings. There was so much to look at in the town. We were so excited when we ran into our good friends Erik and Serkan, because they had told us they were not coming to Mykonos. We decided with them to take the bus to the other part of the island Paradise. It took us about an hour to find the location of the bus but it was really fun, we got to see more of Mykonos town, and we kept running into people on the way. We finally made it to Paradise beach and went to this beach bar called Tropicana, that was voted the #2 beach bar in the world by the travel channel. We hung out there, danced and swam it was awesome! We then made the trek back to our part of the island, got some dinner then went to bed, exhausted. They next day we had to catch a ferry back to Athens, and as we were paying and checking out of the room we discovered that it was 50 Euros less than we had thought. PRAISE JESUS. I am reassured that God will provide me the means to finish out this trip and I am so thankful. We made it back to the ship, and relaxed a little bit before going to a karaoke bar near the port. It was seriously so much fun! I really dont think Athens was ready for us. Cassidy, Rene and I sang Sweet Home Alabama, Ladies Love Country Boys, and Mine by T-Swift. The tiny karaoke bar was filled with SASers and people sang things like Creed, Backstreet boys, and Whitney Houston. It was definitely a memorable night. The next day we had to be back on the ship early, so we went to get coffee at an internet café, got some snacks at the grocery store and headed back to the ship. The port would not be completed with out going up to the seventh deck to watch the ship leave, and wave goodbye. Goodbye Acropolis, goodbye gryos, goodbye Athens, goodbye first half of the trip, hello Bulgaria, Turkey and Morocco and finishing off this amazing journey with a bang.

found my italy blog! (thanks lisa)

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 02:49:07 -0700

IF EATING CARBS WAS MY JOB,

I would be a millionaire. One of my favorite things about Italy was definitely the food. I probably spent a million dollars on food while in Italy, but it was so worth it: amazing pizza, pasta, gelato bread and wine. I’m pretty sure we got gelato an average of twice a day, some times three. Sorry not sorry. Not only did I get to eat amazing food, I can now officially say I have backpacked through Italy. The night before we got into port our group of 7: Cassidy, Rene, Megan, Ally, Serkan, Drew and myself got together and decided the cities we would go to. We decided on Rome, Florence and Pisa. We had to wait until the second day in port to leave for our adventures so the first day in Italy a group of us traveled south to the town of Sorrento. We literally walked off the boat, had no idea where we should go, picked somewhere on the map and went with it., and I was so happy with our decision. I absolutely fell in love with Sorrento. It is seriously gorgeous. A quit little town built into the cliffs right on the ocean with breathtaking views and yummy food. I also enjoyed lathering sunscreen on an elderly woman who asked me to help her out in Italian. She gave me the spray bottle so I sprayed it onto her back, thinking I wouldn’t have to rub it in, I was so wrong. As my friends laughed and took pictures there I stood rubbing sunscreen on some random lady’s back, on a cliff in Sorrento Italy, I guess I can’t complain. After Sorrento we went back to Naples and explored there a little. A lot of people have told me that Naples is gross, so I was not expecting much, but they were not exaggerating. The streets smelled of urine and there were huge piles of trash everywhere. But they do have great pizza! (you may be noticing a theme here…I loved the food) Despite all this we were able to have a nice dinner with a group of semester at sea people (okaykyle), of course followed by gelato. Finally we were able to leave Naples and head to Roma! After we got settled into our place in there, we all had a great dinner and explored the gorgeous buildings around our area. The next day we woke up, all donned our red, white and blue outfits for 4th of July, even though Megan is now mysteriously Canadian, and set out to explore Rome. We decided on doing a hop on hop off bus tour of Rome and it was awesome! The first monument we went to was a gorgeous white building made for the first king of Italy (I cannot remember the actual name of it). After exploring this we went and looked at Trajan’s column. One of my favorite parts of our group was our spontaneity: we spent about twenty minutes all dancing to a flute player, next to these monuments, oh don’t worry we have it on video. Next we went to the Pantheon. Such an amazing building. It is a round building with an opening at the top called the oculus. The oculus is completely open and when we were there an amazing beam of light was streaming into the pantheon. After stopping to eat again, of course, we went to the Coliseum. This was probably my favorite part of Rome, although it’s hard to choose just one part. We convinced them we were students from Spain in order to get the student discount and spent an hour in there just exploring. There is so much history in Rome and the coliseum is such a big part of it. I also feel very connected to it thanks to my good friend Lizzie McGuire, who performed a concert there once. This is what dreams are made of… definitely sums up Rome! We of course stopped at the Trevi fountain (my bff lizzie went there as well). As legend has it if you throw a coin over your shoulder into the fountain and make a wish it is bound to come true. Legend also says if you drink from the fountain you are bound to return to Rome, so naturally I did both. In all seriousness, the Trevi fountain is gorgeous, the sculptures are so detailed and there is so much going on. While we were there a cute couple was there taking their wedding photos… totes presh! After a great day of sightseeing in Rome we went out for our celebratory Fourth of July dinner… AMURICA. After getting a great feel for Rome, we moved on to Florence. We took the slow train to save money (four long hours) but it was so worth it because we had a lot of fun on the train and got great views of the gorgeous Italian countryside. Florence is awesome! It is definitely somewhere I want to go back to. We hung out a lot in the piazza by the Duomo. There is so much to see there we didn’t get to all of it, but I’m sure I’ll be back (thanks Trevi fountain). I was bummed because we were going to see the statue of David, but the line was 3 hours long, so we decided we wouldn’t have time. But by the grace of God, we happened to be walking by about 20 minutes before closing… and no line! We got in and I was amazed by how tall David is, and how much work Michelangelo must have done to create that amazing statue. He is set up on about a 6-foot block of marble and just towers over the entire room. You are not allowed to take pictures of the statue, but we had fun trying to snap some without the security guards looking, since Lorenzo told us if we could get one without him seeing then it was okay. I also loved Florence because we stayed in an apartment, in an amazing bed and breakfast in a crazy house at the top of the hill. We had our own little terrace with 360-degree views of the surrounding countryside; I just kept thinking of how blessed I was to be there. The next day we headed down to Pisa. We got off the train, had a great little picnic in the grass near the tower, took our “holding up the tower pics,” and then got back on the train to head back to the ship. My last day in Italy consisted of an awesome trip to Vatican City. We ended up paying for a tour so we could skip the lines, which was so worth it since the line was at least 3 hours long. Once again so much history there it was overwhelming, but I am so glad I finally got to go there. The Sistine chapel was absolutely mind blowing. My other favorite part of the Vatican was how intense St. Peter’s Basilica was. There really are no words to describe the Vatican other than you have to go see it for yourself. It is something, catholic or not, that everyone should experience. All in all I absolutely loved Italy! Love the food, love the people I traveled with, love the experiences, oh and did I mention I love carbs?

Did i mention i’m obsessed with croatia?

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 09:37:31 -0700

Did i mention i’m obsessed with croatia?

HOPE

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 19:00:01 -0700

As I was getting ready to go on a field trip exploring the sights of ancient Athens, I began thinking about the idea of hope. Hope is my middle name and it means a lot to me, but I got to thinking about how I have such a great hope in Jesus Christ, but many people do not know this kind of hope. The hope that I have in Jesus Christ is the best thing that has happened to me in life. I have met many people while on this great trip that do not believe in anything and have no hopes for anything in the future. This makes me very sad, despite all of my shortcomings and failures Jesus died on the cross for me and loves me just the same. He is made perfect in our weakness. This gives me a hope for a future with Him. As I was reading my bible this morning I came across these verses that spoke to me: 1 Peter 1:3-7 Praise be to the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by Gods power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come to you so that your faith-of greater worth than gold- may be proven genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed While we all struggle with different things, Im definitely worried about money right now as I travel, what we all need to remember is that we have an amazing reason to be hopeful! Everything is in Gods hands, in reality we have nothing to worry about! We are part of a living hope and I couldnt be more thankful.

CROATIA: THE HIDDEN GEM

Sat, 16 Jul 2011 14:38:02 -0700

Croatia is by far my favorite port so far. It is absolutely amazing! So I am a goob and I accidentally deleted my Italy post (so depressed.seriously sooo depressed). So Im going to just give a little summary: If eating carbs was my job My favorite thing about Italy was definitely the yummy food and being able to eat gelato five times a day. I got to see all of Rome, Florence, Sorrento and Pisa. Italy is just an awesome place and I hope I get to go back some day. The Vatican was awesome, the Coliseum and the Trevi fountain were my favorite and of course seeing David, hes sooo tall. My other favorite park was having a picnic next to the leaning tower of Pisa. So many good times, great friends, great food, and a once great blog post that got deleted. Oh well. You win some you lose some. All in all Italy was amazing. Back to Croatia: seriously the hidden gem. Everyone needs to stop what they are doing and go there! It is absolutely gorgeous! The port of Dubrovnik is surreal. It has crystal clear green water and a backdrop of rolling hills and precious little white houses all with red clay roof tiles. All the houses on the backdrop of the green hills were so fun to look at; I was in awe every time I looked around. The first day in Dubrovnik, Cassidy, Rene and I had a field trip up to one of the traditional villages in the hills near Dubrovnik for a folk show. It was a place calls Osojnik and it was very quaint. About 70 kids piled into buses and we made the trek up to the little village. Once we got there we got a tour of their church then headed to one of the villagers houses. We were greeted there with orange slices covered in sugar (so nom) and their traditional Brandy. Just Brandy straight up. Probably the grossest thing Ive ever tasted. After we all got settled in. The people whos home it was did a traditional Croatian folk dance for us. We all then joined in and danced around it was while the man played the music. So much fun! After the dancing we went down stairs and they had little strips of bacon that we cooked over an open fire using reeds. Seriously the best bacon Ive ever had. Rene and I definitely ate our share of it. Sorry not sorry. They then served us their wine from their vineyards, and we hung out while enjoying more bacon. After a while we went into a cellar, which had a bunch of tables and had an amazing dinner of salad, pork and potatoes. Needless to say I love to eat, therefore I loved this field trip! After the field trip we went back to our ship to gather our things and head to Old Town, Dubrovnik. Our ship was docked in the new part of Dubrovnik, but Megan, Cassidy, Rene, Allie and I all stayed in an apartment in the middle of Old Town. Old Town Dubrovnik is an old medieval town fortified by huge walls that have a pathway along the top. Once you pass through the main gate it feels like youre entering another time period. Stone streets and buildings make up the inside of the city. There is one main street with shops and restaurants lining it, but as you go down the side streets there is much more where that came from. My favorite part of this city is the fact that they have gorgeous fountains throughout the city. Not just for decorationpeople drink out of them, fill their water bottles, and wash their faces. So awesome. It was about 100 degrees every day, supposedly the hottest it has been in Dubrovnik in 100 years. As hot as it was there it was nice to have unlimited access to water. Old Town is located right on the water and the next day we woke up and went cliff jumping on the outside of one of the city walls. To get to it you have to walk to the back of the city, walk through a tiny passage way then down a bunch of stairs. The place where we went cliff jumping is actually a bar called Café Buza. This isnt your average bar. Although there were some people up at the bar, most of us made the hike down to the bottom and hung out down their cliff jumping or tanning on the rocks. The water there is so salty that its very easy to float, so we just hung out in the water all day relaxing and loving the view of the island of Locrum that is right off of the coast. The next day a bunch of us went on a charter boat all day that took us to three different islands off of the coast of Croatia. At each island we were able to get off and swim and hang out. The third island was definitely my favorite. They let us jump off the top level of the boat into the water and we had a great time doing that. Of course, me being very clumsy, later, when the boat was slippery because we had been coming on and off wet, I slipped and fell down like two steps, landed on my back, and slid down part of the boat. Of course during this time everyone was on the first level of the boat and was either laughing or asking if I was okay. One guy even yelled Oompah. Needless to say I was embarrassed, until like 2 minutes later when Cassidy, who is even clumsier than I am, slipped down a different set of stairs. We were all laughing soo hard. Cass and I got our picture next to the Caution: slippery when wet sign. And we definitely learned our lesson. That night we went out to dinner for my precious friend Amys 21 birthday. Finally on our last day in Croatia, we went back to Café Buza and went cliff jumping again. I seriously avoided going back to the ship for as long as possible. On ship time is 6:00 pm and I think we got there at like 5:45. I absolutely loved staying in Old Town and walking around within the city walls, drinking from the fountain, swimming in the gorgeous water, and just hanging out with people. There is so much more to talk about, but all I can say is I am already anxious to get back there. I will definitely be going back to Dubrovnik one day, and you should definitely do the same. Whatever you do, do not miss out on the hidden gem!

I’m sitting in an internet cafe in Naples and i finally...

Sun, 03 Jul 2011 06:38:52 -0700

Sitges, Spain

I’m sitting in an internet cafe in Naples and i finally have a chance to load some pictures from Spain :) wayyyyy more pictures to come later.

BARCELONA!

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 09:21:03 -0700

The only way to describe Barcelona is AWESOME. Honestly it was a trip of a lifetime. It is very hard for me to put into words to describe our time there. If I keep throwing out words like awesome and amazing during this blog post, just know that I am not trying to be cheesy, its just that I fell in love with Barcelona. One of my favorite parts of Barcelona was the detail involved in all of the buildings. Almost every window has intricate stonework in the frames. Just looking at all the buildings alone is so much fun. Another way to describe Barcelona would be PICKPOCKETERS. They seriously stressed us about being careful with our stuff, being aware, and that 1 in 4 people get pick pocketed on La Rambla. La Rambla is the main tourist street with fun restaurants, shops, and prime people watching. This is where we stayed so we were pretty nervous about getting robbed. My Spanish teacher told me that last year on semester at sea 62 people got pick pocketed on the first day in Barcelona! On top of all that our cab driver to our apartment stressed the importance of being careful and informed us that we would probably end up getting bonked on the head and robbed. Not a fun way to start your first night in a strange city. We got up to the place where we were supposed to check in finally, and it was a little sketch. We then proceeded to freak out and weigh our options. Should we stay, or should we try to pay a cancellation fee and just lose that money we stood in this room for about 20 minutes trying to decide what to do. The lady that worked there was very nice but only spoke Spanish, so I had to be the communicator for our group. With everything that people had told us we started second guessing ourselves and thinking well maybe we should just split a cancellation fee, but since it was such late notice we would have had to pay the whole thing any way. I was nervous about our apartment being down an ally and us getting bonked on the head, (thanks taxi driver) but the lady informed me that it was down a busy street with a grocery store and restaurants so we decided to just go with it. As we were finally walking to our apartment we saw a familiar face, which made us feel a lot better. We ran into Courtney! He is one of the guys that work at the piano bar on the ship! He is from Jamaica and is awesome. We all joke about how were in love with him so it was really funny to run into him on La Rambla. After talking to him we made our way to our apartment. We get inside and the paper that they gave us at check in says we are on the second floor. So naturally, we go upstairs with our heavy backpacks to what we think is the second floor, but our keys dont work… We assume that the bottom floor must be zero then, so we make our way up to what would be the third floor in America. We quickly find out that this is actually just the first floor and make our way up another flight of stairs. Finally on the right floor we struggled with our keys for a good 15 minutes. One good thing about our apartment is that you had to unlock two doors to get to ours so that made us feel safe. The locks were so odd it literally took 5 tries to unlock them every time we would go there. Finally we got inside and all our doubts were gone! The apartment was so nice! Open, spacious, two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a little balcony, by the end of our stay there I felt like it was our home. We then got ready and decided to walk down La Rambla and find something to eat. While we were walking we looked into one of the restaurants and who did we see? Amanda Gee! She goes to Baylor with me and I work at the SLC with her. We were all happy to see each other so we decided to eat there. Since none of us have internet connections and or phones it is almost impossible to find people, so we were glad we ran into each other. We all ordered the traditional Spanish dish of paella, which is a rice dish with vegetables and chicken or fish. It was very yummy. After dinner we went out and hung out with a bunch of people from semester at sea. Earlier that day before we got to Barcelona, Cassidy, Rene and I had a field trip for our geo-hazards class. We had a pretty rough start to our morning: Cassidy and I woke up late, missed breakfast, almost missed the bus, couldnt find our group, Cassidy forgot her key and they wouldnt let her off the ship, but luckily the bus was late and we made it. We were able to start our time by traveling to Sitges just south of Barcelona, which is a very popular vacation destination. It is a gorgeous town right on the beach. We got to walk around the town for a while and have some free time it was awesome. Sitges felt a lot like Greece, with Spanish influences of course. A lot of the buildings were white with blue accents, and they were all very intricate. Another thing I loved about it was seeing all the vespas that everyone traveled around on. Our second day in Barcelona we woke up and did a bike tour of the city. It was seriously so fun! Our guide was Australian and he took us around all of the main sites of Barcelona and gave us the background information. One of our stops was the site of the old palace where Christopher Columbus convinced Isabella to let him search for the new world. We also went to the Barcelona cathedral, La Sagrada Familia (Gaudis famous church), through a gorgeous park and to the arc de triumph. After our tour we walked through Barcelona and looked around in all the shops. We also went to La Boqueria. It is a huge market off of La Rambla that had fresh fruit, meats, candy, nuts, seafood. It was so interesting to see everything. The next day we flew to Ibiza, a gorgeous island off the coast of Spain. We were eating lunch near our hotel when we ran into Semester at Sea people. We hung out with them and they told us where we should go while in Ibiza. We spent the whole day on the beach and it was really fun because we were the only Americans and people loved us. Were almost positive we saw Mike the situation there on the beach as well, which was really funny. Ibiza is known for having the best nightclubs in the world, so we got to experience that as well. We went to Space nightclub and it was seriously huge. There were about 1000 people there and someone said that it was a slow night for them. The next day we flew back to Barcelona and got back on the ship. Sad to see Barcelona go, but looking forward to a week of backpacking through Italy!

PHRATT STARZ

Sat, 25 Jun 2011 05:35:03 -0700

Imagine a world without weekends, and no land for that matter. That is what we have been experiencing. Because we are able to have so much time in the ports we have to have class every day while at sea, lets just say I have officially written a two and a half page paper comparing violence in two literary works completely in Spanish. Needless to say Im feeling pretty accomplished. Two days until Barcelona and it is starting to feel actually real. The other night we were able to participate in the Amazing Race, or should I say the Amazing run up and down the stairs a billion times, but it was super fun! There were 60 teams of 8 and we each had to figure out 18 clues and riddles, with the first three teams finishing getting off the boat in Barcelona first! Unfortunately we did not place, however had there been a costume contest we would have definitely gotten first. We had six girls and two boys (thanks 70-30 girl to guy ratio) and our team name was Phratt Starz. We all got decked out in our frat gear, chanted WE FRAT HARD and finished off our costumes with the jammy pack, or a fanny pack with speakers. TFM. Even though we didnt win, running around the ship, bumping j-beibs (my man) was really fun. It has been really fun to look outside and see a bunch of dolphins and people have even seen whales! Keeping my fingers crossed that I get to see one too. Yesterday we entered a period of very rough seas. If I thought I felt sea sick before, I didnt know what I had coming. Everyone got sea sick yesterday, and one teacher even had to end his class early because he couldnt handle it. Its really funny walking around the ship and attempting to walk in a straight line. Its very hard. I seriously run into walls every time Im walking around and Cassidy tripped up the stairs yesterday and injured her pinky once again Its also a whole other challenge to do elliptical on the ship. Not only are you getting a good work out you feel like your fighting for your life. So hard to keep your balance while the ship is moving so much, seriously I almost fell of off of it last night oops. Yesterday we passed the Azor islands, which was really exciting, except for the fact that I slept through it. If you imagine how tired you feel when youre in class all the time, try to imagine have a boat rock you to sleep on top of the fact that youre already tired. Naps are definitely an integral part of life on the ship. I took a great two-hour nap yesterday and later on a great 1 hour nap. They have been trying to get us used to Spain time, so we have been losing an hour every night for the past 5 nights. As I am writing this it is 10:20 am SAS time, and only 1:20 am California time. Thats one thing that will make the journey back less depressing, even thought SAS will almost be over, we will also be gaining hours, and much needed sleep every day. Today we are stopping for 5 hours to refuel in the straight of Gibraltar. The thought of being able to see land, and a city and buildings, and people and cars all sounds very exciting. People on land, do not take advantage of this! The food on the ship is pretty good, but after the 8th day in a row of eating pasta and potatoes for lunch and dinner, oh and sometimes rice, I am seriously craving some variety in my diet. Namely I want Chic Fil A. I have no idea why I keep craving that of all things, probably because its soo yummy but I wont be eating that for a while. We keep hearing about the infamous Taco night and how amazing it is, but it hasnt come, we keep hoping for it to come, but at least we have that to look forward to while on the ship.

A FLOATING CITY

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 23:42:03 -0700

Cabin 3096 is what I like to call my home these days. Life on the ship has settled in to a definite routine and I am loving every minute of it. Ive been through two full days of class and so looking forward to Barcelona in a couple of days! I am taking a global cities class, a natural disasters class and a Spanish literature class. The Spanish literature class is definitely kicking my butt already: pero es necesario para llegar a ser fluente. It is crazy to think that I am writing this from somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. Being in the middle of the ocean theres never a lack of breathtaking views. Weve seen a couple groups of dolphins and someone saw a whale today! I am so blessed to be able to take part in this amazing program. Only a couple of days in I can already tell I will never forget the people and experiences I will have here. My days are usually my three classes in the morning then spending the afternoon hanging out with everyone at the pool on the top deck, such a hard knock life I know. I cant get enough of laying in the sun and staring of into the vast ocean. Its a constant reminder of how powerful and creative God is. Im also loving getting to know all the people here, especially all the Thetas on the ship! So many of us on reppin theta in the middle of the ocean. The boat has been pretty rocky. Its really funny to pass someone in the hallway because it is almost impossible to walk in a straight line. The first two days at sea I was definitely feeling sea sick. At this point I am more accustomed to the swaying and I dont feel dizzy or sick anymore. There is a window in Cassidy and my room and I love to stare out at the waves first thing in the morning, before reminding Cass WERE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN! ON OUR WAY TO BARCELONA! We still dont really know if I have to keep repeating that to myself. It is real life and I am finally able to navigate my way around the ship: theres about ten classrooms, two dining halls, a library, computer lab, spa, workout facilities, basketball court, and a coffee bar. The MV Explorer has become my floating city,

Sailin'

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 00:33:04 -0700

Today was absolutely exhausting but so wonderful. After shoving everything back into our suit cases we took a taxi to the port this morning. Luckily Rene and I had the same call time so we went together. Pulling into the port and finally viewing the MV Explorer was a great feeling. I couldnt wait to get on the ship and explore. Little did I know that wouldnt be for a while. Stuggling to carry all my bags (of course I brought way too much stuff) Rene and I walked down the line, with no end in sight. The line to be signed in and have our luggage checked took about two hours. That was two hours of standing in line with a 50 lbs bag on my back and pulling another one, extreme humidity and the sun beating down on us. Finally we made it through the line and I got my very own Semester at Sea ID! Finally stepping onto the ship after two years of looking forward to this was the best feeling. I met Cassidy in the room and she had already been there for hours. Our room is awesome! We already feel like this is our home after only one day. Everythings all put away and we have set sail! It was awesome to stand on the top deck with all the other students as we started to leave the port of Nassau. Sad to leave the beautiful Bahamas I am so looking forward to Barcelona! The ship is moving pretty fast and you can definitely feel it more intensely on the higher decks. Little did I know I do get motion sickness but Ive taken medicine so hopefully ill get my sea legs soon! After a full day of settling in, boat drills, and community meetings we are finally experiencing our suite life on deck, and loving every minute of it.

BAHAMAS

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 12:04:02 -0700

After a grueling red eye flight from San Diego to Newark, New Jersey and another connecting flight we have made it to the Bahamas! Honestly there is no other word to describe this place besides beautiful. We were all so excited to finally make it here after planning this trip for months. We had one little set back which was that Amanda’s bags didn’t come but she’s hopefully getting them today. Once we found a taxi -cab we were happy to enjoy the song “I am a friend of God” while viewing the beautiful scenery the whole way to our hotel. After finally checking in to the Sheraton Palms we spent the day relaxing in the crystal blue water and had meeting people. So far I have learned that there are no shortage of characters, who are attending Semester at Sea. I can’t wait to get to know people better! Everyone here is very outgoing which I love so it’s very easy to meet people. We also had the chance to meet students who just got back from the May minimester of semester at sea and they had only good things to say, describing it as something that changed there lives. We had an interesting night last night to say the least. Five of us hopped on the local bus to go down to an area called Fish Fry, which has a bunch of local restaurants on the water. The restaurant was definitely authentic Bahamian and we were excited to try out the odd menu. After waiting an hour for a server to come we decided to go downstairs in the restaurant and remind them that we were there. The host apologized and worked really hard to get us a table downstairs, where hopefully we had a better chance of being served. Unfortunately that was not the case. Twenty minutes pass by and still no one. We decided to go find another restaurant. As soon as we walked outside we were met by a very pushy cab driver who gets commission by bringing tourists to a certain restaurants. We decided to try the next one since we got all the way there but that one we weren’t sure if we wanted to risk eating the food there. They say the third times the charm and in this case that was true. We decided to pay for a cab and go eat at one of the restaurants at the water walk in Atlantis. It has always been my dream to stay there so it was fun to actually see it. We had a really good meal and walked around and enjoyed all the shops and music. The five of us also walked through the grounds, by the amazing pools, the shark tanks, the aquariums, and the beach. Needless to say Atlantis is amazing, but it also costs a fortune. Therefore, we returned back to the Sheraton exhausted after running all day on 2 hours of sleep and passed out. All in all I had an amazing first day down here. I honestly can’t believe that this is really real. I really am doing Semester at Sea and it’s finally beginning!