September 2010
1 post
Home Sweet Home: Re-Entry Shock
So I’ve been home for about a week and Mom’s been pestering me to finish my blog. I know I should, and I didn’t just get lazy (or even busy), I just have been putting it off because I don’t want to think about this amazing summer being over. But now that I’m at the point where I’ve been in America too many days to convince myself that it’s just another...
August 2010
3 posts
Morocco! The land of dirhams, henna and cous cous
Ports are finished and our summer sailing the Mediterranean is ending. We are already a few hundred miles back across the Atlantic and will be arriving in the port of Norfolk in eight far too short days (even though most of them will be 25 hour days because of crossing time zones).
Things have been fun though. The first day back on the ship was the auction which raised over $31,000! Now is the...
Egypt: "Hey guys, let's play a game..."
“…Everybody take a sip of the tap water and whoever gets sick first loses! It’s like survival of the fittest!” –Margaret Johnston
As our Executive Dean John Burkoff would say, and has said several times on this voyage… We’re not in Kansas anymore. Egypt was a little more of a culture shock than most places we’ve seen this summer. The first day in Alexandria was especially shocking… but like...
July 2010
5 posts
Turkish Gametime!
Istanbul is one of the most incredible cities I’ve ever visited. It has so much history (it’s been through at least three names and several empires) and such interesting people and culture. And it literally is where East meets West. There are bridges over the Bosphorous Strait that cross from Europe to Asia (yes I did go to both sides). There are so many opportunities here to and its very recent...
It's all Greek to Me!
I always tend to write about the previous country during pre-port lectures in the next country… so I’m sitting in the Piano Bar watching The Voice on the screens hearing all about Turkey right now. (The Field Office is actually currently modeling appropriate attire in Istanbul… it’s quite entertaining.) But all I can think about is Greece. Greece Greece Greece. I don’t even know what to say. Five...
Four Days, Three Countries
No big deal.
Thursday: Kotor Bay, Montenegro
Friday: Dubrovnik, Croatia
Saturday: Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina
Sunday: back to Dubrovnik, Croatia
The four days I spent in the Balkans may have been my favorite so far (out of my so far 29 day journey). It was a whirlwind of international buses, tall city walls, crystal clear water, beautiful beaches, multiple currencies, multiple languages, passport...
When You Live On Our Boat....
You learn to adapt to things, adjust to living on water rather than solid ground, and learn the ways of the ship. And after awhile, things that were once annoying or strange become comfortable, familiar and endearing.
I realized I didn’t want this blog to just be a compilation of all my experiences in port. Although ports are a huge part of SAS, so is life on the MV Explorer, our floating home...
Ciao Italia!
With my glorious seven days in the land of wine, pasta and gelato behind me (and a Global Studies midterm in a few hours that I don’t really want/need to study for), I think it’s time to write about my experiences with the sights and flavors of Italia!
All I have to say is that I’m glad that I’m traveling the way I am and that I am now heading towards another new and exciting place (Croatia on...
June 2010
6 posts
Adventuras de Espana
One port down, six to go and this trip is already going too fast! We are back on the ship and almost about to dock in Italy for port #2 in Civitavecchia in a few hours.
Barcelona is such an amazing city, a blog will truly not describe how much I loved it. They warned us pretty heavily about all the things that could happen and I know people that dealt with it but I was lucky enough to have a...
Passing through the Straits!
Well, we have made it to the Mediterreanean and are scheduled to arrive in Barcelona sometime early early tomorrow morning! The whole atmophere of the ship has changed in the last 24 hours with the mounting excitement of everyone on board.
Yesterday about mid-afternoon, we were all alerted that the ship was passing through the Strait of Gibraltar and we could finally see land after 8 days of only...
Sailing, Sailing Across the Ocean Blue
First things first. Internet is highly restricted. Email is unlimited. I love hearing from everyone from home so shoot me a message! mereilly@semesteratsea.net :)
Well I am officially 8 hours ahead of West Coast time and nearly to the Straits of Gibraltar. We’re three days from Spain and I am having the time of my life already. I have been meaning to blog all week but between the restricted...
Embarkation Eve
Well here we are! Beautiful Halifax, Nova Scotia!
It took quite an ordeal to get here including cancelled flights, lost baggage, standby and some major rerouting, but Mom and I both got here safely, had a drink at a sports bar and spent the afternoon shopping.
I board the ship at 10:40am tomorrow (Atlantic Time, which is 4 hours ahead of California time) and I am so ready to take off! In the...
June has Arrived!!
Well here we are. It’s June. I leave in eleven days and my lovely ship departs two weeks from today from the beautiful port city of Halifax, Nova Scotia. I’ve been counting down months and weeks and days since I was accepted and confirmed for the program back in January, but in all the expectation, I really didn’t think when June came around I would actually be ready.
...
May 2010
1 post
Is it June 12 yet?
Countdowns can be dangerous things. The number is down to 38 days till I get on a plane and say goodbye to California for three months and I am getting more anxious and excited and just giddy every single day. Which makes it difficult to focus on anything else, like school. But the quarter is over half over, I am making final preparations and everything is looking good.
So here are the latest...
April 2010
3 posts
“Our field program of offerings will provide you with the types of experiences...”
– Last paragraph of my recent letter from Semester at Sea regarding the Field Program.
"Time to get excited!"
That was the first line of the most recent letter I received from Semester at Sea today. I actually received 3 letters from the program today. Not only did I receive my billing notice (which we aren’t going to talk about) as well as information about registering for classes (I’ll talk about that in a minute) but I finally received the most exciting thing: the Field Program Guide!!!!
...
It's All Coming Together!!
Spring break is over and I have one week of the quarter down! So now I am officially 11 weeks away from departure and getting RIDICULOUSLY excited! And I have some updates:
-Passport application is being processed after an interesting ordeal at the passport office over break with Mom. Haha. Let’s just say, we’re grateful to not be travelling with 7 children.
-Shots. Ewww. I did feel...
March 2010
3 posts
Getting Ready/Getting Excited!
So the blog is officially created! This is just one of the thousands of things I have to do before I leave in (ready for the countdown?) 3 MONTHS AND 5 DAYS! I’ll be starting to write occasionally here regarding all of my pre-travel preparations because quite honestly, my roommates are probably getting tired of hearing me always talking about it. (Kelsey and Becky, I love you for putting up...
