Girl Meets World

Here I will detail my semester abroad on the MV World Odyssey with Semester at Sea

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🍺I came here for the beer (and the gram)🍺 (at The Guinness Storehouse)

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Last Days on the MV World Odyssey

Our last days on the ship were a whirlwind. I had two finals projects and one more final exam to finish up before I could begin to worry about packing. The last day of classes, when all the projects and finals were done, it was time for the alumni ball. I went straight from class back to my cabin to start getting ready, with a short intermission to finish a paper I forgot about. Once we were all ready Delaney, Alana, and I headed to the Berlin Restaurant with our seating tickets. They had redecorated the restaurant with nice table clothes and fancy plates to make a nice dinner for everyone. When we entered the restaurant we were given one glass of champagne for a toast. For dinner I had fried Brie cheese, cream of broccoli soup, salmon, and baked Alaska to finish us off. After dinner we watched a slideshow, put on by our ship photography Ben, showing our entire voyage. It was much more emotional than I had expected it to be. After spending time with some friends we headed back to our rooms to pack all of our bags so they would be ready for the 11am pick up. I don't know how I accumulated so much stuff but it made it very difficult to pack. It also didn't help that one of my suitcases that I brought on the voyage broke and I was working with one less bag. I stressed Delaney out because I kept putting off my packing and didn't finish until 11 am when the bags were being picked up. After the bags were taken, we really had nothing to do until our convocation. We sat around discussing the voyage, signing people's journals and maps, and getting our last photos. At convocation we listened to our deans and some students and a SAS alum. When that was over Thato, Olga, and Alana stayed and spent our last hours together before finally falling asleep probably around 2 am. At 7am Delaney and I headed to breakfast before taking our last trip through immigration on the ship. When it was finally our turn to disembark, we grabbed our carry on bags and got in line. When we got to the door, the gangway disconnected and broke causing us to wait another 30 minutes for someone to fix it. Once off the ship Delaney's parents picked us up and brought us to London. Ps

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Last Days in Morocco

If you're still reading this then I'm sorry that I stopped posting forever. Well I'm pretty sure Morocco only lasted 30 seconds. Upon arrival in Marrakech we headed to our Riad in the medina. The riad is similar to a bed and breakfast. The Riad was down a small side street and had a big unmarked door. We entered the road and were greeted by a living area and small pool surrounded by the rooms. Our room had just enough space for the bed and our suitcases and a small bathroom to the side. The owner of the riad, Hassan, greeted us with some "Moroccan whiskey" (a mix of green and mint tea with lots of sugar) and told us to feel at home. The following day we went outside of Marrakech to do some shopping. We stopped at a rug store, where they workers were very persuasive. They had rugs ranging in size and material. He continued to tell us that the price was "democratic" so the more we bought the lower the price. Much to his chagrin I only bought one rug and it was for my parents. After, we went to an Argan oil cooperative. Here we were able to see how Argan oil is made. You can also use the oil for cooking or just to eat, similar to olive oil. That night in the Riad, we sat in the common area and enjoyed some wine and wifi. Our last full day in Morocco we headed to Ouarzazate. Delaney bought a beautiful tea set at the silver workshop. We went to some more shops and a Kasbah before heading back to Marrakech. Our last dinner in Marrakech was an amazing chicken tajin made by Hassan at the Riad. Our final day consisted of making the long drive back to Casablanca and spent some time at Starbucks before getting on the ship. Ps

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ιreland, wнere ι looĸ lιĸe тнe people and тнey can acтυally pronoυnce мy naмe #ireland #wherestheleprechaun #imnotthatginger #butitscommonhere (at Cliffs of Moher)

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Staying in my castle waiting for my Prince Charming #ashfordcastle (at Ashford Castle)

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Thank you Morocco #Sas #studyabroad (at Marrakesh, Morocco)

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Casablanca, Morocco

We arrived in Casablanca, Morocco at 7:30 am and had a long immigration wait and a safety briefing from an officer from the Us consulate. While Morocco is very good at combating attacks against tourist, and westerners specifically, it is still prevalent. By the time we got off of the ship it was 1 in the afternoon. Delaney, Alana, and I were met by our tour guide for the week just outside of the port. We were all hungry so we asked him for a local place. He took us through a small market filled with meats and vegetables then down a side street. Your typical tourist would have walked right by and thought nothing of it, but our tour guide knew this was a good place. He stopped in the side street and asked if we wanted to sit in the sun or "shadows" and looked around at the open plastic tables. We decided to sit on the shade and got a nice table with a plastic Finding Nemo table clothe and two metal cups. Since yesterday was Friday, we were able to get couscous which is what we all have been craving. Our guide ordered for us and got us a bottle of water. The man took our order then ran to one of the women in the market to buy the bottle of water. He then came back with a large water and one cup for the three of us to share. We passed the cup around and enjoyed our meal. With the dishes we got a glass of milk. We have been warned to not consume to much dairy to avoid getting sick so I asked our guide what it was --it looked a little different than I'm used to. Before he answered, Alana tried to make eye contact with me and mouthed that the milk was bad. Our guide then informed us that you typically drink the milk with the couscous, but it wasn't normal milk it was fresh sheep milk. I decided to try it because it is common practice and, let's be honest, just to say I tried it. Well Alana was right, it kind of tasted like liquified sour yogurt, but it wasn't thick like milk, it had a very watery texture and was thinner than a fat free milk. When our guide left the table to take a phone call, Alana said she had to try not to gag when she drank it so that she wouldn't look rude since he drank his entire glass. I, of course, forced Delaney to at least try a sip so she knew what we were talking about and then we just left it sitting there. The rest of the day was very relaxing. After checking into the hotel, we got in our necessary time with wifi and I finally posted photos on a Facebook--something I haven't done since Japan. That night we had a similar dinner, minus the sheep's milk. After dessert, we sat talking while drinking Moroccan tea and then headed back to the hotel. This morning we had the opportunity to visit the Hassan II Mosque. It is the third largest mosque in the world and is open to the public for tours in between morning prayers. The UN was able to come and help during its construction and after seeing how incredible it is, they wrote a formal request for it to be open to the people. Now it is a mosque for the people and they do multiple tours a day. The entire mosque has great religious significance; the width, height, and length combined adds to 365 for every day of the year, the are 24 gates for every hour of the day and it was built in 6 years, similar to how God built the universe in 6 days. In total the mosque can hold 80,000 people outside and more inside. The mosque is only completely full during Ramadan and we were able to see a picture of what it looks like. Now we are at a Riad in Marrakech about to go and get some dinner Ps

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Did you really go on SAS if you didn't take this picture? #Sas #flag #flashedtheocean #maybethecanaryislandstoo

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Slave Castles and Dungeons

The second day in Takoradi was a very heavy and emotional day for everyone. We did the Slave Castles and Dungeons program. *the following post includes some grotesque parts of our history and will most likely be hard to read* Through this program we were able to go to two different castles, Elmina and Cape Coast Castle. We had guided tours through both and all I could think was how hard it would be to tour these every day. We visited the holding rooms for male and female slaves, the punishment rooms for male and female, the churches that were ironically located directly above the dungeons, and the governors living area.  For both castles the men's punishment cell was one that no one survived. They were small cement walled rooms with no windows or source of ventilation. At Cape Coast, there were three different doors that locked the slaves in. Our guide explained that they would be in here without any food or water and no one lasted more than two days due to suffocation or killing themselves.  The women's punishment cell was slightly better. There's had a small window that allowed for minimal ventilation and they had a second chance. When their captors saw fit, they would come and demand sex from a woman, if she said yes she would leave the cell, if not she would be left there to die.  If she said yes she would be taken to a room where, no matter how many men there were, she would be required to do whatever they wanted for however long they wanted. In each punishment room, once our group was all in, the guide would close the door for less than 5 seconds so we could get a glimpse of what it was like.  Due to a smaller number of female slaves, the rooms where they were kept were significantly smaller. They had no bathroom area and no matter what time of month they were forced to stay in the small room and make their own place for a bathroom. The only time they were allowed out, was when they were being used as a sex slave or if they were pregnant. Once pregnant they would be held in a better area until they gave birth. These babies were able to have a better life and be educated because they were half British. The baby would be taken from the mother the second she gave birth and then she was thrown back into the dungeon.  These rooms had minuscule barred windows that allowed a small amount of fresh air and often sea water that would come in.  The men were split into different rooms based on their stature. Big, strong men were held together in a room and weaker men in a different. These rooms seemed small when our group of 30-40 were in there, then our guides told us 200 men were held in there at a time. The men's dungeons had a small gutter style place for a bathroom. In order to get to it, the slave would have to convince everyone in their row to move with him. If they wouldn't move he would have to do everything there standing due to the fact that they were shackled by their necks, wrists, and ankles.  A few of the rooms had small standing areas at the very top where either a soldier would stand or an African spy would stand to make sure no one was planning to rebel. If anything was heard there would be consequences, such as the punishment rooms.  In each castle, we saw the "door of no return". This door would lead the slaves to the ship that would take them to anywhere that needed them. No slave that ever walked through the door came back. The doors were incredibly small and narrow to insure that slaves would go one person at a time.  The governors living area was big, even for today's standards, and our guides told us that it is bigger than most of the houses that are seen today in Ghana. After slavery was abolished, these castles and dungeons were used for illegal slavery for another 30 years.  Everything was very difficult to see and it was hard to hear so much detail about this time in our history. However, I think it is very important that I saw it. It would have felt wrong to pass up that opportunity no matter how difficult the experience was for me.  PS

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Kakum National Park, Ghana

I wasn't really sure what to expect from Ghana and since our first port was very small, I went on field programs the first two days.  The first day was Kakum National Park canopy walk. We drove about 2.5 hours through rural Ghana before getting to the park. We hiked up to the canopy walk. The best way I can describe this canopy walk is that it was a long skinny metal ladder with a board nailed to it and net around it. That's what you walk on a few hundred feet above the ground. The whole time I was thinking how freaked out my mom would be because she hates heights. One of the kids with us was so terrified of the height that he refused to let go of the rope and slid his hands along the entire way. By the time we got to lunch he had two large blisters on each hand.  We got lunch at a resort called Coconut Grove and among other dishes they had French fries which were a fan favorite. If I had these back home I would think they weren't that great, but not having any for months really changes your opinion on how good some food is.  I also found out that apparently it was on the Ghana national news that Semester at Sea was coming. So not only were they expecting us, but some people left their homes to come to our two Ghana ports.  PS

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Until next time

Today was a great end to an amazing field program in Zimbabwe. A group of 21 of us got on a small tour bus at 6:30 and headed to the Lion Encounter. This is a program that was created in Zimbabwe to help aid the lion population. Here they take lion cubs and raise them in a semi wild habitat, meaning they still hunt as they would in the wild for their food, then they breed them and release the family into the wild. Through this they have been able to greatly help the African lion population from becoming obsolete. After a quick briefing and information, we started our walk towards the lions. Our guide warned us that we were walking in the wild so there was a chance we would see other animals and to be calm if we do. After about 20 minutes of walking we saw a boy and a girl lion cub. They are 22 months old and huge already. When we arrived they were relaxing and laying in the tall grass. One by one we each got to sit and pet the lions. After we all got time and photos we started our walk with them. The guide called me first to come alongside the lion and walk with him. He was so big and it was amazing. At one point he laid down in the grass and rolled around on his back. When he got up, the girl came running and jumped on her brother. I am still trying wrap my mind around the fact that I spent the morning playing with lions. It still feels so surreal. Now I am in the Johannesburg airport waiting to get back to Cape Town and trying to figure out when I can realistically go back to Zimbabwe. Ps

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Next stop Botswana

Yesterday we had a quick trip to Botswana. After crossing the Zimbabwe border we got into big open cars for our game drive. At first we were driving in a big paved street and would stop on the side of the road when we saw animals. This made me very apprehensive about how good a game drive could be from the side of the road. Then after about 20 minutes of driving, we took a turn into the Chobe National Park. Here we drove through the tall grass and I got the game drive I was hoping for. First we saw a big elephant in the distance. We tried to get a better angle but had to keep going. Throughout the three hour drive we had the opportunity to see a lot of impalas and giraffes up close. We also saw some vultures, water buffalo, and zebras, just to name a few. After the game drive we had a river cruise on the Chobe River, which splits Botswana and Namibia. This gave us a chance to see the animals who stay by the waters edge. Here we saw more impalas, a few crocodiles and many hippos, in and out of the water. The whole experience was so great. That night, once we were back in Zimbabwe, we went to a Boma dinner. Here there was traditional African drums, dance, and buffet style food. We got to try some Impala and warthog, which were both surprisingly delicious. Then we also got to try this worm/caterpillar thing, much less delicious. The worm is apparently something locals eat quite often and the best way I can describe it is it's like chewing on the shell of a sunflower seed for a while. It was weird and I will probably never eat it again but now I have a small certificate that says I did it. At the end of dinner they have us all bongo type drums and had us play with them then we all had a huge dance party. Ps

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Don't go chasing waterfalls

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Visiting Victoria Falls

Visiting Victoria Falls was incredible! Our hotel was only five minutes from the falls so we ate a quick breakfast and changed into clothes we didn't mind getting wet. When we got off the bus and onto the trail we could feel the mist from the falls. Our first viewing point was just a little teaser for what was to come. At the second which was a slightly better view there was more water coming down. We put on our rain ponchos and George, our tour guide, laughed and told us that we were just at the tip of the ice berg and there was a lot more water to come. Well, he knew what he was talking about and as we got to a viewing point that was directly in front of the main section of the falls, we were in torrential downpour. My mascara was covering basically all of my face except my eyelashes. Then there was so much water that I couldn't even keep my eyes open. By the time we got to the bridge, where the rain had subsided, I attempted to get the black smears of makeup off my face and assess the water damage. My camera was safely under my poncho and was the only part of my body that was not dripping. Right now the falls are at peak water flow. Due to this we were unable to swim in "Devil's Pool". This "pool" is an area just before the falls cascade down where you can swim up to the edge. This was something Alana had been dreaming of doing so she was pretty sad when she learned it was closed. We were, however, slightly less sad it was closed when George pointed it out. The water was coming down at a max speed of 60mph (slight chance he may have said kilometers per hour instead of miles .. But you get the point.. It was fast). After our walk, and changing into dry clothes, we grabbed some lunch then went to see Victoria Falls from a better angle. The sky. We arrived at a small building with three helipads outside. We were split into groups of six and sent up in the helicopter. It was about a 12 minute ride where we did big circles around the falls to get the best views. During our descent we flew over the national pack and saw some zebras and warthogs. After the helicopter ride, there was the option to buy a cd with photos. Unfortunately, the photos they took we from go pros that were mounted to the ceiling of the helicopter. So instead of having the opportunity to get cool photos from the ride, they were all very awkward close ups. Ps