SPAIN!!

January 31st, 2009
Local Time: 2255 (10:55pm)

Hola! A few hours ago, I watched the ship sail away from Cadiz, Spain. I had some great times there, went way over my budget, tried some awful and some fantastic food!

The first day I spent in the port of call: Cadiz. Even better was the way we kicked off our time in España. A couple of girls and I went for a run around the edge of the water…watching the sun rise over this small town, weaving through streets we couldn’t find the names of or couldn’t pronounce! It was fantastic.

My roomie, Kara, convinced me to go to Seville as a little side trip. My wallet was skeptical but I’m very thankful that I went. Seville was gorgeous and interesting. I’ve never walked more in my life. I can’t wait for you all to see pictures of the Cathedral of Seville (the largest gothic cathedral in the world, up which Kelley and I ran 34 flights in order to see the top before closing), Alcazar, and of course…the FUTBOL GAME! That’s right—the semifinal Spanish Cup futbol (soccer) game with Seville hosting Valencia. Seville was in a must-win situation and scored the winning goal in the 89th minute of the game!! The crowd went WILD (not that it wasn’t insane already) and I think the old Spanish guy who couldn’t speak a word of English next to me and I bonded over the victory. It doesn’t matter how you spell the comments you make, facial expressions and arm gestures work wonders for effective communication. We learned the Seville song from some fans in front of us and listened to the crowd the entire game….they never once stopped singing or drumming. That drummer must have been exhausted!

I learned some life lessons in Seville as well: you can travel to some foreign city without hostel/hotel accommodations in advance and still survive the night with the new friend you made hours before buying train tickets together; enjoy getting lost because it might happen often; you’re better off not knowing how they make that “tapas” you just ordered because its going to taste a heck of lot better when you put it in your mouth.

The second half of my time in Cadiz proved to be much more taste-rewarding, thanks to Kara, who is the master of pre-port research and randomly choosing scrumptious food. I had amazing olives, bread, Sangria, not-so-amazing wine, but my favorite was called Tostada y Tomate (basically bread with a tomato spread) that I saw the guy next to us eating at the café our last day. I couldn’t understand everything he told us was in it, but I went for it, and it was sooooo good! And only 1 Euro (score!!). If anyone wants to have a Tapas Ciesta when we get home, I’m making that stuff for everyone. We also went into a pastry shop and told the employee to choose her favorite for us to try---best decision I’ve made besides going on this trip in the first place. (Don’t worry Mom, I am always asking about peanuts and other allergy items, and I’ve had my Epipen with me 24/7).

February 2, 2009
Local time: 1818 (6:18pm)

We’ve had an interesting change of events! First of all, we GAINED an hour of sleep last night, which was incredible might I add. Second of all, we have hit some rough weather. Gotta love the Mediterranean in winter. We were supposed to travel from Cadiz to the Strait of Gibraltar from Jan 31st to Feb 1st, bunker up to fill with fuel, and head out that day towards Morocco, arriving in Casablanca today (Feb 2nd) at 8:00am. However, because of the fog and crappy crappy mist, we could not bunker up at Gibraltar. This caused two things. A major delay in our arrival to Morocco and much more time spent surrounded by two continents and two countries. We got a great daylight view of Gibraltar (who gets to watch Gibraltar out the window while on the elliptical?!) and I got to put off my homework until today. Last night, as you all know, Superbowl XLIII was on. We got it through German satellite so not only did I get to watch it, but I got to listen to commentary in German, and the entire thing was…dun dun dun….WITHOUT commercials! I didn’t know that existed either!! Unfortunately, I didn’t stay awake for the whole thing. Because of the time difference, kickoff was a little after midnight and the 3:00am 3rd quarter was hitting me hard.

This morning was the first day we got to sleep in, at least until a pre-port meeting at 11:00am in the union. That would have been great except that I lasted 15 seconds before going back to my room and being seasick until 4pm. (yes, Nikki, I finally got sick and I will no longer be saying “I really hope we get in the middle of a thunderstorm!”) We had another lecture at 4, which I lasted most of and then gave in and put on the patch. So far, it seems to be working. After all, I’m functioning enough to write this! Yay! Mom and Grandma, I had wished you all were here, but Kara (who wasn’t feeling so well herself) mothered me back to the living. P.s. Our cabin toilets smell really weird and they get cleaned everyday, so who knows why!

The plan is to arrive in Casablanca tonight sometime. And until then, we just have last minute events going on like Open Mic Night and Interport Lectures. We also have major changes regarding some class requirements we do in port, since all of us lost a whole day of Moroccan activities. Who knows what will happen, but as we say on ship, “Assume positive intent” and “Be Flexible!”

Love you all, can’t wait to tell you more. As soon as I can upload pictures here or on facebook, I will.

From the African coast,

Kristina

P.S. Jason~ I met an Ashley from St. Thomas who has met you before. Small world! I’ll try to figure out her last name. She seems great and I think we’re going to hang together in Casablanca.

P.P.S. Nikki~ although the TVs were rolling Casablanca yesterday, due to seasickness, I have not watched it yet. But I got everyone excited for a Casablanca party, so we’re going to break out my DVD tonight and cuddle around my computer  Also, everyone that I know has heard of you now, and everyone’s copying the picture frame idea for Mom and Dad that you did. Way to go! (Funny part is, no one knows where they got the idea…and it was totally me)