Spain

Let me paint you a picture. I’m seated in the shade beneath a parasol in the middle of a busy, sun-lit plaza, facing an enormous and ancient cathedral. The local Spaniards are shuffling through, some riding bikes and others leisurely walking by. An old man is playing an acoustic guitar, with an amplifier reverberating the music across the square as it blends into the background of our conversation. There’s a chilled glass of beer in my hand and the waiter brings out a pitcher of Sangria for us to share, along with a simple sandwich of cured ham and tomato spread. I look across our three tables of new friends, and we all seem to share a similar sentiment. I think I captured it pretty well when I looked around and said, “I like Spain.”

When I saw the itinerary of my trip for the first time, Spain was not one of the countries that really caught my eyes. When I thought about Spain I had vague notions of it being similar to Mexico, possibly with some good burritos or margaritas to look forward to. Four days later, I can easily say that it’s one of the enjoyable places I have ever traveled to, if not (for now) my favorite place on earth. No matter where you go, your eyes can’t avoid being captivated. The cityscape is vibrant and colorful: the architecture intricate and representative of thousands of years of diverse cultural influences. The weather is always perfect; the sky bright and sunny, staying light out until well after nine o’clock. The people seem to understand a rhythm of life that’s foreign to us – walking through city in broad day light, people are out on the alleys engaged in conversation, having a drink or two here and there while they go about their day. Most shops close from two to four for siesta, and dinner doesn’t really get going until after nine and often lasts for several hours. Meals are typically light, simple and fresh; a common thing to do is to hop around to various bars (more like little cafes than American bars) for tapas, which are basically small appetizers. Anyway, here’s a rundown of my four days in Spain.

Day One
Got off the ship and walked through the town pretty much aimlessly, looking for an ATM at first and then stopping at the train station to buy tickets for the next day’s trip. We stopped at a bar along the street where I had churros and a café con leche (a small cup of coffee with hot milk). We stumbled into a plaza in front of the Cathedral of Cadiz, which was pretty much everything I expected of European architecture and then some. I won’t even bother trying to describe it but it was nothing like I’d ever seen before (that came to be true for just about everything I saw in Spain). We had lunch in the plaza, which is still one of my favorite moments from Spain. When you’re eating at a bar or café here you never feel rushed – people commonly take a few hours to eat a meal and the waiter will never bring you the check until you ask for it. After a beer and some sangria we were all feeling great, and after we paid the waiter brought us all a free shot of this amazing caramel-flavored liquer – looking back on it, I’d say that was probably the enjoyable lunch of my life. We toured the cathedral and walked up the tower, which is the highest point in Cadiz. You could see the roofs of houses all the way to the coast, and the blue water stretching out in almost every direction. We walked along the coast and next to the beach, which was packed with locals, and then explored an old, empty castle that was sitting at the edge of the beach. We continued walking through a gorgeous public park that had statues and amazing landscaping – there were flowers and bird cages, and even a small waterfall. After the park we continued walking through a garden along the street, and stopped back at the ship for a quick shower and dinner. Most of my friends had bought tickets to a flamenco show, so I walked down to the bus and found that they had extra tickets. We took a bus out of Cadiz to some remote bullfighting ring, where we watched flamenco dancers and a bull fight (not a real one unfortunately – the “bull” was actually still a calf). They invited us into the saloon for drinks and some appetizers, and treated us to a second showing, which was absolutely incredible. It went on for probably an hour – I was sitting about five feet from the stage drinking a sangria while three women in bright red dresses danced to live traditional flamenco music. Once they were done they started playing music and the saloon turned into a massive dance floor. I guess they were trying to play music we could actually dance to, but I felt like they were making fun of us when they started playing the Macarena… but we all danced to it anyway. Took the bus back and went out to a local bar where we hung out until around 2am, then got lost trying to walk back. We came across a beach so we decided to take a quick stop and swim, and then got back after about an hour of walking (though the beach was actually 10 minutes away). I made it to bed at around 3:30am, set my alarm for 6:45 to catch the train, and immediately fell asleep after what seemed like a week crammed into a single day.

Day 2
Woke up to my alarm feeling like death, and rushed to get ready and then met up with friends to get to the train station. Took a 2-hour train to Seville – even with a hangover the train ride was amazing. It took us through the countryside in between cities, and I vividly remember the sun-flower fields stretching out for miles at a time. We took a cramped bus down from the station and checked in at the hostel. I was expecting it to be really sketchy like in the movies, but it turned out to be an amazing little place tucked behind a shopping plaza. We all had our own bed, the room had a nice shower, and the whole place was filled with students from our ship. We wandered through Seville, which is a much more modern city than Cadiz, going through shops and little alleyways. We stopped at a little restaurant for tapas – we all ordered by pointing at the menu and shared each dish. It was the most eclectic mix of foods I’ve had in a long time: prawns cooked in olive oil, codfish croquette, artichokes with garlic, and tuna “ventresca” with red peppers. We didn’t find out what ventresca was until we asked after the meal. The waiter drew a picture of a fish and gestured with his neck, and we soon figured out that we had all eaten tuna gills – some of the girls weren’t too pleased. I also boldly went for an iced coffee with my broken Spanish, and had a good laugh when the waiter brought out a hot cup of coffee with a glass of ice – I guess “coffee with ice” in Spanish didn’t translate well. We then wandered the streets some more, now with a map to guide us to the tourist attractions. And then… we came across the Cathedral of Seville, “Santa Maria De La Sede,” which according to the Guinness Book certificate inside is the largest cathedral in area in the world. This cathedral was absolutely stunning. As we found the place we were walking along an enormous wall and when we turned the corner, the view of the cathedral began to sprawl out with each step we took in the other direction. It’s one of the most massive structures I’ve ever seen, and yet it was designed with incredible detail – every doorway, column and wall were all adorned with religious carvings and sculptures. We sat outside looking at it in awe for about 15 minutes before getting up to go inside. As we walked around the block we realized we had only seen one side of it, and the tower on the other side was equally amazing. The inside of the cathedral is indescribable – I walked around with my mouth gaping open for probably an hour. The bronze altars, the pipe organs that rose up fifty feet in the air, the ceiling that stretched out above like the sky; one after another, I saw things that were just paralyzingly beautiful. This cathedral made the one I saw in Cadiz, which was in itself one of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen, look like a kid’s sand castle. Oh, and the tombstone of Christopher Columbus is also located inside. I walked up about 30 floors to the top of the tower and looked out across the city, then came back down and rested on a fountain in the middle of the square. We were all exhausted after the tour, so we stopped in an alley for a few beers, then returned to the hostel for a much needed nap. 45 minutes later we went out for dinner, where five of us ordered the bull tail: after my first bite I immediately regretted my decision. We wandered some more looking for bars, and about an hour later we found a place right on the river where you could sit outside on the wall. The place was packed with locals and I had one of the most memorable conversations of the trip with two guys who were just a few years older than us. They spoke about as much English as I do Spanish, and we spent about half an hour trying to communicate. He got really excited when I told him that I was from Hawaii and we took a bunch of group pictures. Feeling content we walked back to the hotel around 1:30am, but my long day came to a sullen end when a girl broke the news to me that Michael Jackson had died a few hours earlier. Really a sad ending to an incredible day.

Day 3
After waking up at the hostel we shopped around, then had a breakfast of churros with hot chocolate and a glass of what’s probably the best orange juice I’ve ever had. We walked through the city, had a beer near the river and then toured an ancient bull-fighting ring. Had a quick lunch of paella (a rice dish) and took the train back to Cadiz, and had about half an hour to rest at the ship before we headed out for the night. Had a nostalgic meal at Burger King to save some money, then walked around the city looking for a liquor shop. We found a tiny little place in a back alley that sold an entire bottle of wine for .90 euros (just to give you an idea of how cheap that is, I was paying 2 euros a beer just the night before) and got really excited – fourteen of us each bought a bottle and we headed down to the beach. We spent about two hours just sitting around, talking and drinking wine while watching the ocean; another one of my favorite moments in Spain. After we left, the group slowly disbanded as we walked around looking for a bar, and I walked back to get some much-needed sleep.

Day 4
I was exhausted after three full days of exploring Spain, and I slept until a friend called my room at 10:45am. Had breakfast on the ship and gathered a small group of four to head to the beach. We walked through the same park along the coast and stopped in a café in the middle of the park, where I tried a drink that someone recommended to me before. Called a calimocho, it’s half red wine and half coca cola – it seems weird but it was amazingly refreshing and got us all in a great mood. Once we got to the beach we swam and relaxed in the sun with a beer in hand. This beach was exactly what I imagined a European beach to be; a castle extending out from land on a stone bridge, colorful parasols decorating the sand, and small white boats floating in the distance. We had lunch at a restaurant right on the beach, and I noticed that all the locals were eating a plate of grilled fish prepared whole. I asked someone what fish it was: she replied, “sardina!” So I split a plate of grilled sardines with a friend along with some sangria, and this time I didn’t regret trying something new. It was a great example of Spanish food in general: lightly flavored, extremely fresh, and delicious. We then decided to walk across the stone bridge where one of us had gone jumping a few days earlier, although the low tide made it seem like that would be impossible that day. Arriving at the stone bridge we came across a bunch of Spanish kids doing flips off the rocks onto the sand, and after watching them for a while we walked across to the end of the bridge where a bunch of people were sitting around. The tide began to come in and the water quickly rose up the bridge, making it deep enough within a half hour. After seeing two guys jump in I decided it was safe, and took a running jump into the water twenty feet below. We spent the afternoon jumping, swimming and watching the Spanish kids do ridiculous flips. I have some awesome pictures of this to show when I get back. We had to be back on the ship by 6pm for departure, so we reluctantly left the beach and headed back towards the ship. Walking back through the city we all felt like we could spend the rest of our summer in Spain. We spent the night on the deck sharing pictures and swapping stories, watching the lights of Cadiz slowly fade away. Leaving Spain would have been a lot harder if it wasn’t for the thought that we’d be landing in Italy in a few short days.

P.S. As you can see, I didn’t have much time to be spending in an internet café so I can’t upload any pictures for now, but I’ll try to post some when I can.

Ship Life

Where to start… right now I’m in my cabin, resenting myself for waiting seven days to make the first entry since I boarded the ship and began the voyage across the Atlantic. Departing from Halifax seems like a lifetime ago, and what I remember since then seems like a whirlwind of new faces, names, and events.

Living on the sea is, to say the least, a drastic change from my usual life: my bed rocks up and down while I sleep, the clock moves forward an hour each night, and the whole day takes place no farther than 5 minutes from my room. The transition though really reminds me of freshman year – being suddenly thrown into new surroundings with nothing familiar around you, and basically starting over: new friends, new routines, a new way of life. It’s a lot of fun once you get over the initial awkward phase of not knowing anyone. The people I’ve met here are probably the best part of this trip so far. I wasn’t sure what kinds of people would show up to a trip like this – most people I’ve known have spent their whole lives in one country, and traveling to 8 countries in one summer at the age of 21, in my opinion, takes some balls and an adventurous spirit. I was half-expecting this to be a huge party-boat, but I was surprised and pleased to quickly find out that I was absolutely wrong. The students here are generally intelligent, hard-working, open-minded, and well-traveled. When I tell people I’m from Hawaii almost everyone tells me about their experience there – most of the people I’ve met since high school can’t even pronounce Kihei (my hometown), but in the past 24 hours I’ve met two people who have actually been there. Already I’ve hung out with a student from Saudi Arabia, had breakfast with a kid from Pakistan, and sat next to a girl from South Africa in class. And best of all, every single student here shares my excitement for traveling abroad.

The professors here are equally amazing. I didn’t really think about this before but I can’t even imagine the level of competition there is for a position teaching on a cruise ship that travels across the Mediterranean in the summertime. And naturally, every professor I have is absolutely brilliant, engaging, and fascinating. One is a Cornell grad with a PhD from U of Chicago, another a business professor at UVA, and the other is a quirky clinical psychologist who’s worked and lived in London, South Korea, Japan, Guam, and an endless list of states in the US. The Global Studies professor in particular is one of the most interesting lecturers I’ve ever listened to – he’s probably the first person to ever get me excited about history, and already I’ve sensed a profound shift in my understanding of the globe and the places in which I’ve lived or traveled to.

Most of the day is taken up with class and readings, but I’ve been able to find time here and there to exercise on the deck while watching the ocean pass by, have meals with friends or at least friendly-looking strangers, and lay in the sun while listening to music. At night the ship gets lively at Pub Night up on the top deck, even though we’re only given three drinks per night. We’ve been getting around this by storing drinks in containers and saving up for small parties in the cabins.

Tomorrow: Spain. There was a presentation last night on Spanish food and I’m ecstatic thinking about all the stuff I want to try. I’ll be spending the day in Cadiz, then the next day my plan is to take a train up to Seville, and then on to Cordoba. No real plans about what to do but I’m hoping to watch a bull fight and definitely walk around the city hopping around through Tapas bars. I’ll try to find an internet café along the way and try to upload some pictures if I have the time.

Japan to Halifax

After waking at 4am at my grandparents' home in Saitama, Japan, I traveled by car, then train, then bus to Narita Airport, and went on to endure a grueling and sleepless 30-hour journey from Japan to Halifax where I'll be boarding the ship for the first time later today.

In Narita I randomly chatted up an American guy sitting next to me who looked like Santa Clause on a Carribbean vacation, who turned out to be a college professor/traveling writer/sailing enthusiast badass. Hearing about my plans he told me the story of a Robin Graham who sailed around the world alone at age 16, and whose historic sailboat "Dove" he had come to acquire. He kindly wrote me a good-luck letter during the flight and handed it to me in Chicago. Random encounter but meeting interesting people like this is one of my favorite things about traveling.

I got into Halifax at 10pm and even though I hadn't slept for over a day, I had trouble sleeping and woke up at 7:30, after which I went downstairs and had an awesome Canadian breakfast next to a scenic lake. With three cups of coffee and ham in my system I'm feeling pretty good, and since my taxi will be here to take me to port in 15 minutes I should probably stop writing now. The day I've been waiting for is finally here.

My Journey

I’ll be using this blog to record my voyage on the summer program of Semester at Sea, as I travel to eight countries in 67 days. From Halifax, Nova Scotia, the MV Explorer will take me across the Atlantic and through the Mediterranean Sea, stopping at ports in Spain, Italy, Croatia, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Egypt, and Morocco before returning to the US. Prepare to be jealous, and enjoy!