'Stupid American'

Today is the first day since beginning on Semester at Sea that I felt I lived up to the stereotype of ‘stupid American.’ Of course, I have heard it said in some countries (at those girls drinking bottles of wine in the street) but I haven’t experienced it until class today.

 

We talked about the Arab Springs Global Studies today. If you are anything like me and didn’t know what this was, look it up. The information you will receive will be inspirational but also quite frightening to some. I think, as Americans, we are very self-centered in what is happening in our own country and what our military is doing. We fail to see what is happening elsewhere around the world unless we are involved in it ourselves.

 

After today, I very much believe that Americans tend to be anti-Muslim or anti-Arab. Some may not even realize they are this way. If we do know what is happening around the world, we feel threatened by it. We walk past our neighbors or acquaintances on the street and don’t dare smile at them or offer them a hello because they may be a ‘terrorist’. They are fitted with this stereotype because we give it to them. Terrorists are not only the ethnic or religious minority or Arabs and Muslims….keep in mind that Timothy McVeigh was a terrorist and he was white.

 

Overall, I was very disappointed with myself that I knew so little on what was happening in the Middle East and North Africa. These people have been holding demonstrations to gain a better life for themselves and freedom from oppressive leadership. All they want is a glimpse at what we have in America with democratic elections and freedom of speech. Instead of supporting them in their efforts and seeing the triumphs as inspiration, we judge and worry about what this will incur on us.

Spain!

Spain: Day 3

I woke up today feeling sick and had one of the worst migraines…so instead of getting up I decided to go back to sleep. The rest of the morning and afternoon was filled with going out to small cafes for cappuccino, sandwiches, and WIFI. I also spent some time completing drawings for my class on the ship.

In the evening a group of about 15 of us headed out to watch some traditional Spanish Flamenco. We spent the night out watching amazing dancers and drinking Sangria. Overall, the day was laid back and relaxing which is what I needed after a very busy trip.

Spain: Day 4

Today we headed out to a typical Spanish market. These run Tuesday-Sunday (closed on Monday because there is no fresh fish because they do not work on Sundays). Here we saw how the typical Spaniard shops for much of their food and how the market runs.

We also met up with Dacotah’s extended family “Mom” and her family and friends on the way to the market. She treated us all to hot chocolate (which is like hot chocolate pudding in Spain) and churros. It was delicious. Then we stopped at a supermarket and bought snacks for the long haul on the ship to Ghana and headed back to the ship where we relaxed and got ready for dinner out.

We went out to a small café/restaurant where we shared an order of Mixed Paella. It came with Prawns, Squid, Mussels, Spare Rib, and more. I was brave enough to try everything in the dish but was practically breaking a sweat the whole time…especially since my prawn was staring at me (yes, it had eyes!).

Spain: Day 5

We stepped off the ship into a thunderstorm….it was down pouring outside and after walking 2 blocks in the Spanish rain with a raincoat, umbrella, and boots I was soaked! Apparently it only rains 7 times a year in Spain and we happened to catch 3 days on our trip where it did. Because of this, Spain is not prepared for rain. They do not have drain systems in their roads and the water on the roofs pours down to the sidewalks. We were running through water up to our knees.

Due to the weather and the fact I am already sick we came back to the ship for a movie day and spent the day catching up on homework that had gotten put aside during our travels.

 

Spain: Day 6

We headed out today for some shopping before we had to be back on the ship at 6pm…

Back on the ship for the right now. Next stop...Canary Islands. And I bought some of the cutest gifts today! I also bought some god awful pants to wear in Africa...they're like gauchos but full pants. Very flowy...kinda look like a skirt. Will never wear them again after Ghana probably. But they were cheap so it's okay. Maybe I'll find a use for them someday. Or I'll donate them to the shipboard drive. And I bought a cheap/super cute purse for when I get home. Overall, very nice day of shopping in Spain.

Spain Port: Day 2 (Gibraltar)

Today I did something I swore I would never do….I held a monkey….but only partially by choice. We headed out this morning to catch an 11am bus to Algeciras and then caught another bus to La Linea. From here we were able to walk directly across the border into Gibraltar. On our way in we had to walk across the airport runway in order to make it to town. Once in, we stopped at a little Cuban restaurant where Lauren S. and I shared a Castro Platter which consisted of quesadillas, enchiladas, fried yuca, jalapeño poppers, and much more. The four of us (Brit, Lauren S, Lauren T, and I) also shared a Fishbowl Daiquiri. For those who don’t know what that is, it’s a Daiquiri in a glass the size of a fishbowl. On our way out we were all feeling it from the heat of the day, the spice of the food, and the alcohol from the daiquiri. We slowly made our way down to Main Street which is one of the best places for shopping…we were trying to find the cable cars to take us up to the top of the rock. Instead, we met the man who would be our tour guide, Al or Lionel (we are still debating about the name). He took us up to the top of the rock by van where our first stop was the Pillars of Hercules. These are basically a representation of the Rock of Gibraltar and the highest mountain in Morocco which form two pillars, one on each side of the Strait of Gibraltar. We continued on to St. Michael’s Cave where we were able to go inside and take pictures. Then we headed up to the very top of the rock where we first saw the apes. All of the apes who live at this spot on the mountain are apparently familiar with the tour guides and all have names. Once our tour guide stopped the van, several apes jumped onto it. We were all slightly nervous to get out but made our way hesitantly. Once we left the van, Lauren S. was immediately jumped on. It was one of the funniest and scariest moments of the day because we were unsure of what would happen. However, our tour guide assured us we were fine…as long as we didn’t show fear. HA! We were all jumped on at one point or another because we either got too close to the van or the wall. The ape I am seen holding in the photo is Elizabeth. Apparently she really liked me because she did not want to get down. From here we made our way to the Great Siege Tunnel which was used and built during World War II, took some pictures from the top, saw more apes, and headed back down to the bottom for a little tourist shopping and then a walk back out to the border and back into Spain. We then boarded a bus back to Cadiz and headed back to the ship for the night….but not after getting some really great pictures and one especially with our amazing/very informative tour guide!

Spain: Day 1

Today was educational, exciting, exhausting, informative, awe-inspiring, tiring, enlightening, breathtaking…..etc. I began my trip to Spain with a field lab for my Marine Bio class. We made our way by bus 90 minutes south to Tarifa where we were meant to board a boat right away to head out whale watching. Delayed by the fog, we made our way to the small Bamboo Café for lunch. After waiting nearly an hour for yogurt and toast, we then made our way to a Cultural Center with our group where we sat through a lecture on sustainable fishing practices in Spain and Morocco by a local marine biologist. From here, we finally made our way down to the harbor and boarded the boat that would take us out into the Strait of Gibraltar. After circling around the strait for nearly an hour and capturing pictures of the Moroccan coastline (as close as we’re going to get now), we spotted a pod of striped dolphins. We watched them and took pictures for a while until we started to make our way back north towards Spain. On our way back we spotted a group of pilot whales. A large amount of the group decided to swim under the boat where I was standing and hang out there (less than 10 feet away from me) in the water. After seeing only those two groups, we headed back to the Spanish harbor in Tarifa and boarded the bus again to head back to the ship. For being gone nearly 9 hours today, it does not seem like a lot happened. However, along with seeing whales and dolphins in the wild, I was able to collect some good information for my Marine Biology field write up and learned some very interesting things about sustainability of the world fish population. Overall, the day spent out was great. It was also the perfect day for a trip since shops in the town are closed on Sundays.