essay #3

Ahoy,

My final essay from class: 

They wear no masks. They bear no capes. They humbly perform their services throughout the day. They command no great certificate of achievement for a simple greeting is all the gratification they need. Much like the heroes of great comic books, the shipboard crew falls into the shadows of the walls only to come out when crushed ice is absent or soap needs replenishing. The great heroes aboard the MV Explorer aren’t the courageous students that braved the stormy waters, they aren’t the courageous faculty sent to wrangle the rowdy students, nor are they the courageous children sent to battle boredom at sea. No, the heroes aboard the MV Explorer are the crew that clean the cabins, serve the food, bus the tables, wash the laundry, shine the stairwells, and so much more no one ever knows about.

A tiny placard sits dangling off the shelf, it reads a name. It is the name of the cabin steward. The cabin steward is this guy that comes out at seven in the morning because it’s his job to be out there that early even though no one is awake at such an ungodly hour. He sits on his cart as the single student tiptoes out her door. His face, displaying an expression of boredom, lights up to greet her at said ungodly hour. All morning, he waits for students to clear their rooms. Given the demographic of this ship, that might not happen for hours, in which case he continues to sit on the edge of his cart with his chin resting on his hand, elbow on his knee, waiting, wishing for them to wake up so he can get to tucking those sheets more than snugly into hospital corners.

Upstairs, the crew has been at their business for several hours now. Before the break of dawn, the chefs have woken up to cook for the crew who has to eat before the shipboard community does. After the crew eats, they have to begin preparing the scene for however few early birds arrive. The clinging and clanging of plates and metal shout the news out to the students that breakfast is approaching. Follow the noise and smell of freshly baked pastries to find canned fruit and potatoes. Breakfast – quite arguably the best meal of the day. Consumers must arrive early to snag the good cereal. Orange juice, a staple of the breakfast of champions gets doled out before the bum hits the seat. The waiters wind their way around the tables and people to pridefully place that glass within the reach of sleepy, uncoordinated hands. Before the blink of an eye, that plate has disappeared and she still wanted that fork.

They’re always cleaning. Always shining. Always waxing. The smooth circular motions of their hands seem to dance in concert with each other. Just seconds later another student has stamped their fingerprints onto that shiny surface. They smile and continue their work. They continue shining the stairs that inevitably never stay pristine for long. Every so often, there is that student that opts to slide down the banister rather than grip the banister. Somewhere on the ship, the butt-shine method is making the crewmember whose banister that was smile. For once, his hard work will not be smudged, for a few seconds at least. 

For nine months out of the year, they live on the ship. They live most of their lives away from their families. They live through weekly phone calls for updates on how much of their salary the hormonal teenage boy has spent or what new career the non-committal teenage daughter has chosen. They keep pictures in their wallets to tide them over until they can get to Internet in port. Somehow, they always manage to find a connection. They give up their time to serve the voyagers aboard so that their children can have a future with their family for more than three months out of the year. Despite all of this, they seem to love their job.

Everyday they greet the voyagers with friendly smiles and a jovial “Hello.” A lot of times, they make the effort to know names. Upon entrance, she gets bombarded with greetings and requests to hold her tray or bring her juice. It was a busy day as she fought with a waiter over whether she could get her own dessert. “You guys are paying to go on this trip. We are getting paid to work.” Heroes come in many shapes and sizes, but it’s not everyday you get to know the person behind the disguise. You should get to know a hero today.

gratingly cheesed,

jt

and so my summer ended, more than once

Ahoy,

We were stranded on the ship for the longest time. They had told us we would start debarking at 1000 hours. I don't think anyone left until 1200 or 1300 hours. But I think we all appreciated those extra moments with each other. Though some were jonesing for real coffee.
I went through customs without a delay. They only asked us to fill out these cards. There was no x-ray to check my contents. They just took my word for it and I rolled on out of there. Charlottesville was hot and sticky.
And then hurricane weather seemed to strike Charlottesville. My flight home was delayed. And it was like the whole ship was stranded at the airport. We had probably all said 5 good-byes to each other by then. SAS at the airport. If I'm going to be stranded at the airport, I'm glad I found the friends I did.

desparingly land-locked,
JT

last days on land

Ahoy,

We woke up later than we had anticipated, but it was worth it. We set out for Fes sometime close to late morning. The train ride was almost 4 hours, but it was air conditioned. Arrival was around 1430 and we caught a taxi to the souks and where a lot of other tourist things were according to our guidebook. The last train back to Casablanca was about 1900. We walked around the souks and wandered our way to a tannery shop. It was super stinky. Later, we found out we were supposed to get some mint leaves to hold to our noses. There were these kids that kept trying to be our tour guides. They would tell us to follow them and we would just turn in the other direction. We stumbled our way into a wood museum I no longer remember the name of. What was so cool about Fes was that it didn't feel so touristic. There was significantly less hassling. The spirit of the place was so different from most everywhere else we had been. We left around 1900 because we didn't think we would find much to do at night. A tour guide said there wasn't anything interesting at night either.

The next day was spent getting Internet at this hotel across the street from the port in Casablanca. And also Rick's Cafe - after the movie was made. They had Casablancalooping on television screens. I also went hunting for stamps, which the post office did not have. I had to go searching for this kiosk around the corner and down the street. Morocco is a place I would want to go back to, but the port entrance was so far from the ship. It was a good half hour or more by foot to get out.

tramplingly sullied,
JT

left behind

Ahoy,

Our last and final port was Casablanca, Morocco. We left a few days ago. I'm in the midst of a flurry of papers and tests, but while I'm trying to stay awake in class right now...

Friends and I left for Marrakech on the first day there. We packed to stay for one night in Marrakech. The train ride was almost 4 hours long and it was deathly hot. There was no air circulation and the seats were vinyl. As we got closer, the mercury climbed. Someone had told me it had been 140 degrees recently in Marrakech. The taxis were such a hassle to deal with. It would take more than 20 minutes to negotiate something that was far from reasonable. Public transit was not something that was available to us. The buses don't stop, people just clamber on. There are these petit taxis that only let 3 people on, when there are obviously 4 seats. I hate taxis in Morocco.

We got there and found a hotel that night right on Djemma el fna. We slept on the roof terrace. The drum circles were going on until late into the night. The room was nice, but the air conditioning wasn't working. It was so nice and breezy on the roof. It even got chilly during the night. So I heard that it was up to 140 degrees in Marrakech the day before. It was dry heat, but still not fun at all. We woke up and it was hot and sunny again. Djemma el fna looks completely different during the day. It's so bright and lit up at night. The snake charmers and monkey tamers are out during the day. Storytellers and drummers come out at night.

We didn't do a lot of tourist things the next day. We rented bikes and rode around the city. It was a lot of fun to be seeing the city by bike. We arrived back to Casablanca that night on another hot 4 hour train. We went to Fez the next morning.

blaringly burnt,
JT

final stop

Ahoy,

While I'm on the subject of procrastinating... We're leaving Morocco right now. We are on our way to Norfolk, Virginia, USA right now. I just felt that I needed to put that out there. I'll be back with Casablanca, Marrakech, and Fes, but for now, you just need to know that I'm coming back home.

astonishingly secured,
JT

last stop

Ahoy,

We were stopped in Gibraltar today for refueling. For the first time in a long time, humidity was nonexistent. It was glorious. We'll be in Morocco tomorrow. Four days in Morocco. Nine days across the ocean. I'll be home soon.

On a side note, I think my laptop is crooked now from when I dropped it the other day. It doesn't sit flat on the table-top anymore.

On another side not, I think I relinquished my room to my roommates. I technically should only have one, but I think I've acquired multiple from my roommate's friends who are in there more often than I am. And I'm almost never in there for more than 5 seconds other than to sleep because they are always in there. And they are always in there because I'm never in there. It's a feedback loop.

I saw dolphins today.   

salutarily inadequate,
JT

tourist Egypt

Ahoy,

Cairo is where the Pyramids are. I went to see them on the 2nd day in Egypt. We also saw the Sphinx. Seeing these monuments reminded me of a story my city planning professor told us. She said a friend of hers lived in Vegas and everyday he would park his car in the Sphinx parking lot. He eventually went to go see the actual Sphinx in Cairo and was sorely disappointed. He said it was so small. His idea of the original was completely distorted from having been exposed to the fake so often. I guess I'm glad I had not been exposed to the fake. I thought the Pyramids and Sphinx were quite impressive. 

The tour guide told us that it would not be worth it to pay to go into the big pyramid because you would just be in an empty room with blank walls and getting down there is incredibly stuffy and claustrophobia inducing. She recommended we go into the small one that is free. I did that. It was just so gosh-darned stuffy in there, but I wasn't sorely disappointed like she warned we might be. 

The tour guide also warned us about the vendors. They were VERY aggressive and persistent. She told us that they would give you something as a 'free gift' and then expect something back. And if you didn't give them money, they would start speaking to you in a manner that would be not as nice as they had been. Someone told me that a vendor hurled a pack of postcards at someone's head. She also warned us about the camel riding people. If we stay still long enough, they would pick us up and put us on the camel and refuse to let us down until we paid. Avoid the camel dudes. I did end up riding a camel at the 2nd stop where the camel rides are at a fixed price. She recommended riding a camel there.

Our final stop was at the Archeological Museum with King Tut's stuff. It was this mammoth ginormous whale shark of a place. There is so much stuff in there, and none of it is well kempt. There was no air conditioning, which you think would be there because it would preserve the artifacts better. It was so humid and hot in there. All those artifacts are just going to crumble to bits so much faster. There was so much stuff, but I felt like I was looking at the same things over and over again.

anticipatingly anxious,

JT

gaining speed

Ahoy,

We're traveling at about 19.5 knots. The most efficient this ship goes is at 21 knots with two engines running. The fastest is about 30 knots. We'd been traveling mostly at 15 for most of the Mediterranean because it's all so close to each other. We're going to Morocco now and there are 5 days between Egypt and Morocco. So let's recap Egypt a bit before I get too far away.

Egypt was so different from all the other countries we visited. You can definitely tell the poverty is there, the lack of infrastructure. It's all so third world. So different.

~ Security was heightened extensively in this city. We had to have our passports checked 3 times before we actually got out of the port. The police are everywhere but they are still probably all corrupt.

~ All the buildings look way sketchy and run down. They're mostly incomplete. The tops have metal and rebar sticking out. My tour guide told me it's because if you live in Alexandria for more than 10 years, you start to qualify to pay taxes if your house is finished. So people just never complete them to avoid taxes.

~ It's a Muslim country. Dress was way conservative. Women had their hair covered, wore many layers, some only showed their eyes. Men wore long pants and t-shirts at the very least. Even though it was 100 degrees. Women were never alone or out in the street without a guy. It was very gendered.

~ The vendors only spoke to men. It's funny how in the States, vendors talk to the women. And the guys always look over to the girls to, in a way, ask for permission, but in Egypt, the men make all the calls.

~ Trash is everywhere. They don't have a system for waste disposal or something. The streets are so dirty. I felt like I could contract 20 different diseases from just looking at the payphones. People just take it and toss it into the rivers. The city streets are the landfills. It's disgusting.

~ Traffic has no rules. There are lines nobody follows. There are a few lights no one follows. Nobody signals, they just go. They honk. All the time. They honk just out of habit. It's such a normal thing here. People just jaywalk across the highway. They cross the street whenever they feel like it. It's insane.

~ The air is so polluted here. Coming into port, we could see the layer of smog. I slept on the deck that night. Did I mention that already? We woke up to the sunrise over Africa. Then we went right back in and slept some more. It got so wet overnight from dew I guess. Everything else got moist.

~ The kids were always asking "What's your name?" Then they would giggle sheepishly and shy away. People stared at me and giggled with their friends. I guess I look funny to them.

~ The taxi drivers are so exhausting to deal with. You can never tell if you can trust them, and they most likely are giving you a jacked up price. There are so many right outside the port and they all bombard you before you've gotten past security. It's very hectic, and before you know it, you're in a taxi and you have no idea what happened.

Alexandria was fun, despite how I"m describing it. It was a good experience and I liked that it wasn't as touristy as other ports. Am I giving you an idea of what Egypt is like? I'll talk about Cairo next.

chronologically mismatched,

JT

which country?

Ahoy folks,

We've been going through this so quickly that all the places seem to blend together. I often find myself blanking on which country we're in and which one we just came from. This is common among most people too, so I'm not the only strange one. So I'm just going to confirm right now that I'm in Egypt. Egypt. We just came from Bulgaria. We are now in Egypt. Alexandria. 

It didn't quite sink in that I was in Egypt until we saw the Pyramids in the distance. It was my second day in Egypt that I went to see the Pyramids in Cairo. Before that, you could have guessed that Alexandria was just like any other third world country. It's an extremely dirty, busy, hectic, dirty metropolitan. Very dirty. They must not believe in trash cans or something because there are just piles of trash in the street and canals. It's disgusting and terribly poorly kempt. I'd been forewarned it would be really dirty, so it didn't shock me so much as astonish me at how much trash can accumulate in the streets. It's awful- the poverty and conditions in which these people have to live.

I guess that was a bit depressing, and it is. I'll be back about the Pyramids and stuff later.

trivially important,

JT

Bulgaria in passing

Ahoy,

We're on our 2nd day at sea to get to Egypt. We left Varna, Bulgaria and passed through the Bosphorus Strait yesterday.

What did I do in Bulgaria? There really isn't much to do in Varna. It was all about water sports and beaches. The beach was right next to port. The bars and clubs were on the beach. Everything is about the beach. It was sandy, but I'm so over beaches. There's this whole strip called Golden Sands that is all restaurants, bars, gift shops, resorts - like Las Vegas - very appropriate for tourists.

There was a big park just next to the beach that reminded me of Central Park, just because of its sheer size. All along the waterfront was beach and resorts. The park followed along the same path. I went on two trips with Semester at Sea. The trips were really good, unlike trips in the other ports, but Varna had not a lot to do on my own.

There was a sad zoo, dolphinarium, terrarium, aquarium, planetarium in the park. The zoo had a large variety of animals we wouldn't see in the States, like a camel, different birds, rams, yak, llama... But there was usually just one, and they had very little space. They had no toys or any sort of enrichment, stimulation or entertainment. Sometimes they had no shade. It was only 1 lev, so they probably don't get enough money to make it nicer. The dolphinarium was small and overpriced. The dolphins only did a cool trick twice and there was no finale. I don't think the planetarium was ever open. There is a lot of graffiti in Varna. There is graffiti all over the planetarium. The aquarium was way tiny and more expensive than the zoo, but it was still only 4 lev. The exchange rate is about $1 = 1.35 lev.

The trips I went on took us to the Petrified Forest, which is a pile of rocks in the desert. It was still cool. The rocky monastary used to house monks in caves on this cliff. They would climb up ad down this cliff everyday to each room. The objective was to separate the body from mind. They wanted to disregard materialism and just be spiritual. We visited the Botanical Gardens in Balchik. It was so pretty and colorful. There was a fortress in Kaliarkra with spectacular views. This was super-cool. I'm so sick of churches and beaches. They ended our night with a dinner and a show in the forest. The show was so over the top. It began with some traditional stuff and as the night progressed, they had less and less traditional dances. The dancers got increasingly sluttier, wore less clothing. It seemed as if these performers used to work at strip clubs. It is probably what a Vegas burlesque show is like. It was hilarious. So much fun. This kind of experience is unlikely with SAS (Semester at Sea) trips. They are never this much fun.

There was not much to do at all. We ventured into the city center and there was a market and some churches, but not much else. I'm so sick of churches and mosquues anyway. No wonder Bulgaria is only partially integrated into the EU. They don't even play football. It was communist until pretty recently. My tour guides remembered growing up communist. I don't think I would have a reason to come back to Bulgaria, but by all means, if you like beaches and drinking, come on down.

increasingly disillusioned,
JT

anchored offshore

Ahoy folks,

As of noon today, we've been anchored off the shore of Bulgaria, which according to the schedule we're not supposed to arrive until tomorrow. So for now, we can look but we can't touch. So I thought I'd take this moment in limbo to yammer about Turkey, from which we daparted last night at 2330 hours.

We were docked in Istanbul for 5 days. At the pre-port meeting, they told us about how if we (girls) show skin above our wrists or ankles, we would get mugged or raped. They described it as an invitation to guys. They warn us like this at every pre-port, and I'm starting to not believe them. So I ask around, read some books, and discover that Istanbul is just as safe as any other major city. Surprise. But I did find that it is a very gendered city. I rarely if ever saw any women swimming at the beach or in the ocean. It's all guys that are out in the street. The guys fish, swim, dive right off the docks. So there are just all these shirtless men sitting or standing around the parks and waterfront. Not a woman in sight. There are guys sitting out the stoop in the street, no women around. There are women that do the whole cover their hair thing, and there are a few that dress in all black with only their eyes showing, but there were definitely casually dressed women. The covered hair garbs were not the majority by any estimations.

I went to a carless island again.It was one of the Prince's Islands and I couldn't tell you its name, but I can tell you it's the second stop on the fast ferry. They didn't have donkeys, but they did have horses and carriages. This was a really small island. This island had a lot of restaurants, grocery stores, bike rentals, but not as many souveneir shops as the carless Greek island. It was really quaint and cute. We ran into a bike rental with a tandem for rent, but we didn't have enough time left on the island to rent it.

There are two bridges in Istanbul that connect the Asian side to the European side. Istanbul is the only city in the world to be on 2 continents: 77% in Asia, 23% in Europe. We were docked right next to the pedestrian bridge. The top level is available for vehicles in addition to a walkway, but the bottom is only for people. It is a long stretch of restaurants, hookah bars, cafes and seating. Getting across the bridge gets you to all the bazaars and a lot of markets and shopping.

The Grand Bazaar. Is HUGE! There are so many vendors. Words cannot describe the magnitude of this place. You could spend days there and never see all of it. It's so easy to get lost and never find an exit. We only spent our time in one section: the gifts and souveneirs part. Everybody pretty much sells the same things, so it makes me wonder how it is possible for them to maintain this livelihood when the competition is so fierce. Everybody's selling what you're selling. You're supposed to haggle. They'll tell you a ridiculous price at first, and then they'll ask what you can offer, and then they'll laugh at you, and then you'll walk away, and then they'll start shouting lower prices at you. It isn't quite as low as you would like, but it's pretty easy for them to drop some lira. Their currency is lira ($1 = 1.5 lira). The spice bazaar smells amazing. They have all these colorful and gorgeous piles of spices, teas, coffee, Turkish delight. It's so overwhelming to all your senses.

They're all trying to get you to buy from them. If you even look in their direction, they will think you are interested. If you approach their merchandise, they will talk to you as if you will buy from them, but most of the time I'm just looking. They are super aggressive. One right after another: "Do you want to buy something you don't need? Can I help you spend your money? Come take a look in my shop....." By the end of the day, I felt like a broken record, "No, thank you. No, thank you..." I had said that so many times, the words had become meaningless and automatic whenever he so much as looked at me.

There are mosques everywhere. Five times a day there is a call to prayer and each mosque has at least one tower from which somebody sings the call to prayer. So you can pretty much hear the prayers from all over the city. It's kind of cool. We drove by a mosque one time and everybody was lined up perfectly straight like it was choreographed, but it wasn't - and that's why I thought it was so cool. Talk about coordination and devotion. All the guys were on one side and all the girls were across the street. They're not allowed to pray together.

I also watched Harry Potter. There were Turkish subtitles, but I would have watched it in Turkish too.

Istanbul's been trying to get into the EU for years now, but Germany and France are objecting. Part of the reason is that most of the people are Muslim and in Asia. This is the most impoverished country we've been to thus far. The tour guide said they're really feeling the economic crisis right now. Istanbul was fun, but if you've seen one mosque you've seen them all, and I'm not much of a church person to begin with. Although there were these cool underground cisterns that they used for water storage back in the day.

shockingly humid,

JT

funny stuff

Ahoy,

Story 1:

Two nights ago, I got back to the ship and my roommates are in my room. Notice how I've become accustomed to plural roommates (I should only have one). So I go back up to check my e-mail. I lollygag with an extra-long reply to B probably about nothing. I go back down. Still there. I hop in the bathroom because I need to do laundry. I soap them and leave them to soak in the sink. I get in the shower and do the usual. I turn off the water to soap myself because I"m trying to save water. I'm done soaping and I turn the shower back on. Only, no water is coming out. I ask my roommates to call the front desk and inquire. They tell me the water is shut off from 0000 until 0430 for maintanance. I'm standing in teh showered all sudsed and soapy as I ponder what I should do about my soapy self since water is not an option.

Story 2:

The Grand Bazaar is supposed to be ginormous and crowded and haggling shop-owners. I found that it is. You are comstantly being bombarded with someone trying to get you into their store. They try to talk to you, try to interest you. The questions I kept getting were,

"Where are you from?"

"Japan?"

"Korea?" 

I say, "Chicago."

"No, originally."

"Chicago."

"Originally."

"Chicago."

"Originally."

"My parents are from China."

One time, I got, "Africa? Cambodia? Malaysia?" I get mostly a lot of "konichiwa." I get the ocassional "ni hao." They're so curious.

Story 3:

We were on a carless island off the coast of Istanbul. My friends got some lemonade and we sat down to drink it. I'd been smelling this bread since we got off the ferry. We went into the shop and smelled. We asked what their best bread was. He didn't understand.

"Best, good, tasty, yummy..."

cricket, cricket

Then we do the rubbing tummy and "mmm" thing.

He points his thumb behind him, "Next door."

We bought his bread anyway, and then we were off to look for tzaziki to go with it. We walked into more than a handful of grocery stores. No one knew what we were talking about. We come across a deli and ask the guy. The guy pulls over his bicycle rental friend who I guess knows more English. They dont' understand.

We try to explain the dip, "Yogurty sauce, spices, white, creamy, dip, for bread... with chopped cucumbers..."

All of a sudden," Oh! Cucumber! Yes! Oh! Cucumber! Market. Vegetables. Fruits. Cucumber. Over there."

We do not want cucumbers. We continued our search.

hopingly sleepy,

JT

checking in

Ahoy,

Some landmarks here to consider:

A. We're on the last day of our 5th port.

B. I'll be going home in about a month and one day.

C. We're past the halfway mark.

Yay! Study time! I'm kidding. No one studies while we're in port, even though it is probably necessary.

alarmingly regulated,

JT

it's all Greek to me

Ahoy,

I know I've spent this whole class not paying attention, I know I should have spent this whole class paying attention, but I really want to talk about  Greece. It was such a better port than Croatia. I'm told if you go to Greece, you have to go to the islands. The islands are like a whole 'nother country. I only went to 1 of them, but it was amazing. First I'll talk about the mainland, since that was not as awesome.

Piraeus was out port, and it was 10-20 minutes from Athens. Athens and the Acropolis/Parthenon were cool. A lot of people were disappointed, but I don't think I was. It doesn't look as grand as you imagine it to be, but I don't think I had such high expectations.

There were ancient ruins (cool old stuff), but what was truly disheartening were the Olympic ruins. This is a term I''m coining, not anything technical at all. They aren't actually ruins, I just think of them as such. There were so many public spaces and parks in Piraeus and Athens. And they were all in such horrid shape. And you can tell all these places used to be monumental and awe-inspiring at some point not so long ago. But they've become so overrun with litter, no one would dare sit on the grass or benches. The grasses are all overgrown and trashed. It's awful. It's awful to think that they spent so much time and effort to develop these cities to use for two weeks. And then after those two weeks, neglect ensues. It's scary to think that there are cities all over the world with these wastes of space leftover from the Olympics. I've known some of the pros and cons about the 2016 Olympics coming to Chicago. I know that this is usually what happens after the Olympics. I've read about it, imagined it. I know that new and big facilities need to be built. There are urban planners that study specifically how an Olympic event affects cities. I know that it's a big event and cities need to be entirely revamped to accomodate it, but I had never seen the aftermath. Experiencing the spirit of the streets after the event had been over was a bit disheartening. There are pros and cons for if the Olympics do come to Chicago. It would so regrettable if Chicago were left in ruins like in Piraeus. It was just really interesting to see and feel the legacy and grandeur that was once very prevalent and is in a sense, fading into the sands of time.

Enough of my rambling. I'm usually pretty sure you guys get bored and lost when I start talking stuff about urban planning/sustainable development.

All the signs were in Greek. All the Greek I know is out of equations from physics problems, which is not a lot considering my grade in that class. A lot of people spoke English.

I stumbled upon a farmers' market type place that had a very Chinatown feel to it. The guys were yelling out prices and aggressive about selling you stuff. I hadn't really encountered that anywhere else. And the stores were mostly for housewares and normal stuff. There were practically no tourist shops, which were a welcome surprise. There were lots of snack shops that had things of crackers, peanuts, candies that you weighed out. And the coffee shops where you pick what blend and they grind them for you. I hate coffee, but it smelled sooooo good in these places. There was a prominent local feel to this part of the city, a nice change from the others. 

We went on one of the school field trips out to the desert and mountains. There was so much driving. We drove out 2 hours to stop for 20 minutes at the Corinth Canal (so cool!). Drove close to another hour to get to Epidaurus for this ancient concert stadium with excellent acoustics. We stopped to look at this castle and fortress. We went to Mycanae to visit (possibly) Agamemnon's Castle. It was really pretty up there. You could see to the waterfront and all the mountains around the area. There were so ginormous! They think it was Agamemnon's because he was important, and they think it was someone important.

The food in Greece has been the best by far. The bakeries all smell so good and have so much stuff. I wish I could eat whole bakeries. The bread was delicious, spinach pie, tzaziki, more bread, hummus, cakes - all of it was amazing. Nothing was not good. I'm told the ouzo was gross, but I didn't have any.  

Hydra was amazing! It's a car free island. No cars except for a few city owned trucks and a fire truck. They walked, biked, or rode donkeys (which I did). These donkeys were somewhat regal. They could carry a lot of weight, but their legs were so skinny. They looked like they were well taken care of. We got there by ferry at around 2030 and asked around for hotels. We found one right on the harbour for 20 euros each. It was such a nice hotel with a great view, and for only 20 euros. Some people had gotten hostels in the middle of nowhere in Rome for more than that. We climbed some mountains and it was so beautiful up there. The shops and restaurants were open so late on Hydra, whereas at Piraeus stuff had closed by 2000. There was a really casual and relaxed feel to the island.  

decidedly returning,

JT

been there, done that

Ahoy main-landers,

Croatia was a welcome change from Spain and Italy. For a few hours. In terms of safety, Croatia was excellent. A lot of people said that they felt very safe walking around at night and not like they had to be constantly on the guard. Dubrovnik, our port, is a resort town and I got real tired, real fast of all the beaches and gift shops. Everything and anything to do here involved beaches or partying. Something like 90% of the population in the city is in tourism. Isn't that ridiculous? You have to wonder what local life and culture is like when it's all packaged so neatly for our consumption, or if there is one.

Dubrovnik is another one of those cities with an old city district that is walled. It's always so ridiculous to me that people back then thought a wall would be sufficient enough to keep people out. A wall. A wall? People can climb up, knock down walls, make a hole through walls. Really? You expect to keep your enemies out? And it is also very limited in space. Population has to grow eventually. These walls are going to be limiting.

Food was not impressive, but I do appreciate how cheap the gelato was. The scoops were way larger than in Spain and Italy. And it was only about $1. It's actually 7 kuna everywhere, but I was in a shop when it was 5 kuna (=$1), I guess because it was busy. So the next day I see that it's actually 7 kuna. I told the lady that it was 5 kuna yesterday. She went in the back, came out, and said okay. Yes! And there was also good bread. But I've always been a fan of bread.

Also, did I mention how beaches in Croatia are awful? People keep saying how they're so nice, but they're not! Far from it. They are all rocks that are painful to walk on. I don't care about acupressure, it hurts. I'm really not enjoying the salt-water. I know I dive in salt-water, but I'm diving. I'll dive anywhere. I don't want to go to a salty beach. I like freshwater.

Croatia ate my rashguard. It's tragic. I left it on the beach chair behind me. A friend and I tried to get a sailboat to rent. After a 30 minutes walking, we're on a highway type of road now. We ask someone and they tell us it's about 5 miles away. So we turn around and go to try to rent a kayak. The guy asks us if we want to die today because it's choppy. And plus he only does group kayaking tours. So then we settle on a beach to go snorkeling. We find the beach, but this beach is choppy too. We end up just splashing around and collecting sea-glass for a bit.

We left the beach around 1. I remember exactly where I left my rashguard. I can see it in my mind. It was white on the white beach chair behind me. I left it there to dry in the sun. It was stupid. So stupid. And when we left, I only checked the chairs we were sitting on. It was stupid. And we didn't go kayaking after because it was still choppy, so I didn't think about my rashguard. There were so many ways, times I could turn around to get it because we were still in the area for a while. There were so many ways I could have remembered before we left the beach. So many things I did that were stupid that resulted in Croatia eating my rashguard. I bought that one about a year ago and hadn't used it until then. And the one day, first time I decide I'll actually go to the beach, will be the only time I'll use it. I hate the beach. Now I'm going to get skin cancer and die.

falteringly attentive,
JT

essay

Ahoy,

My 2nd essay for my writing class. It's been welcome change not to write with the requirement of 60 in-text citations and Ecology formatted sources.

I’m spoiled. I’ll admit to it. My mom had notified me on occasion, but I always took it business as usual. I had Barbies, I had LEGOS, I had those Disney cups from McDonald’s, and, my gosh, the teeny Beanie Babies! I look back at how I grew up, and I don’t think it was about the toys or other material items that were so coveted as to get buried with the dust bunnies in my closet. I remember how I grew up in the neighborhoods of Chicago and how I became a product of the Chicago Public School system. I see now that I was spoiled by the diversity I encountered there.

Chicago put itself on the map during the Industrial Age. Jobs multiplied and so did the population. My city became the great ‘melting pot’ of North America. Polish, Irish, Korean, African, Mexican, Chinese, Italian, Greek – everyone wanted a piece of Lake Michigan trade, Midwestern wealth, the American dream. Chicago reined the rest of the world onto its streets. And for that, I am spoiled.

Diversity was never anything to which I paid attention. Diversity had always been at my doorstep and school hallways. My neighborhood was overrun with Hispanic, African, Italian, and Chinese children. And for anyone who visited today, they wouldn’t be able to tell what kind of mish-mashed, hodge podge neighborhood I live with Italian restaurants spilling into Chinatown and Chinatown spilling onto Mexican neighborhoods spilling into African neighborhoods. I remember swatting at the piñatas at my neighbor’s birthday parties every summer and biking through Greektown, Mexican neighborhoods, and Chinatown to get home after school. Diversity was a commodity that had always been at my disposal. It was a concept that I never realized was so prevalent in my upbringing until I noticed I had left it at home like the watch on my bookshelf.

Something was amiss as I strolled down the cobbled streets of Spain. I felt the curiosity in the eyes of everyone passing by. The spectacle I had made of myself by existing on these streets dawned on me with every blatantly turned head that wished the human anatomical capabilities allowed its neck a 360˚ turn. I never thought I would, but I felt as if they thought I was exotic. From the way they stared at me, Spaniards must be as likely to see a Chinese person as they are to skip a siesta.

They stared- all of them. Even the handful of Asian shop-owners whose stores I stumbled into stared. I was now a full-on, all day, free ticket show as I brushed my hair behind my ears, adjusted my sunglasses, drank from my water bottle. Drivers and motorists disregarded the road for a heart attack moment as their eyes met mine. The little Chinese girl followed me through her dad’s store as I peeked around shadows on the shelves. Her pigtails bobbed to follow my movements. Never had I been so conscious of every little movement. The fascination and surprise in her glimmering eyes saddened me to see. Diversity was a luxury that was not hers. Rarely did she encounter someone that wasn’t Spanish, or looked like her. I grew up spoiled.

I realized in Spain how lucky I was, not to have Megazords and stuffed canines, but to have diversity.  I remember the elementary school that was of Irish origin and my high school of African origin – both of which contained American students- American students that were African, Chinese, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Polish, Russian. I could map the world with my classmates.

Chicago is a unique city. I never knew this more than when I was across the ocean. What I looked like never became more definitive of who I am than when I was across the ocean. Where I came from had never become more clear to me than when I was across the ocean. Spaniards weren’t judge-mental, they weren’t prejudiced. I could tell from the nature of their gleaming eyes and the sheepish smile that crawled across their faces as they realized I wasn’t oblivious to their staring. There was no one-way mirror. But it wasn’t too often they saw people like me. It must not be too often they see people unlike themselves. That’s too bad. I came to know that part of the value in growing up in Chicago was that I probably saw people like them when I was two. I probably saw people like them and everyone else everyday after.

obligingly yours,
JT

in class

Ahoy summer vacationers,

I stayed up too late last night. Thus I know I will have trouble staying awake in global studies today, so I will write to the blog while he talks. Everybody in the computer lab was from my sustainable communities class because obviously we are all excellent students that don't procrastinate like a scaredy cat's suicide. Let's take a minute and talk about:

1. the moon last night. It was this sharp red crescent that was beautiful. Did anybody see that? It was hanging low in the sky like you could reach out and touch it. For me, it was also set against glimmering city lights at night. Gorgeous.

2. my bug bites that seem to be increasing daily. I feel like I'm getting 2 new bug bites everyday. I have this one on the inside of my elbow that feels like its constantly itchy because of its location. I keep getting bit on the ship. Wouldn't you think it would be more likely for me to get bit outside on land?

3. my tan that seems to keep getting darker. I hate it. I need more spf! In Canada, all the sunblock was 30 and above. In Europe, I've been finding 6 and 10. There are rare occasions that I'll see a 30, but they are like an endangered species. I hate being tan. They should make a de-tanner. I would use it.

Okay, I'll stop blathering now.

troublingly deprived,
JT

still gone

Ahoy,

We've had the grand total of one day between each port. We're seeing and doing so many things so quickly, I feel like there's never any time to absorb/reflect/remember it all. I know I'm terribly late on this blog posting thinger. I have not mentioned Croatia and we just finished Greece. I have two papers to write for tomorrow. R wants me to cut his hair soon. I know I'm behind on a shit-ton of reading. And Croatia ate my rash-guard, which I'm most upset about. But for now, I'm going to have to leave it at this because I really need to go do homework and cut hair. I just thought it would be appropriate to check in and confrim that I'm still alive. And I have all my original limbs, though they are regrettably a much darker shade than when I got onboard. I don't know if anybody actually reads this, but I promise I'll post on Croatia and Greece ASAP.

boilingly chilled,

JT

weather

Ahoy,

It came quick. It came hard. It came without warning. Street vendors scrambled to cover up their paintings. They were not waterproof. Waiters and busboys scurried to cover up or bring the tables and chairs back inside. Everyone wore the same squinty eyed expression to protect their eyes from the dust as their hair blew in the wind. Newspapers and other miscellaneous street litter flurried in the air. Floating arms poked out to pull the clothing line and windows back in. Tourists hurried to abandon the once crowded piazza. Clouds had covered up the sun. Darkness fell across Rome. Pitchforks and golfballs fell from the sky. Lightning clattered. Thunder boomed. This was exactly what the day needed.

Oh, how I love thundershowers. I don't remember the last time I was witness to one, but it had been too long. Twice I was in Rome, and twice I was there for the raining relief to a hot and sticky day. Oh, how I love thundershowers.

satisfactorally white-capped,

JT