Around The World in 109 Days

Coimbra University

2007-11-22T16:54:00.000-05:00

Portugal Football Game!

2007-10-11T14:02:00.000-04:00

Portugal - Day 3

2007-10-11T10:10:00.000-04:00

On our 3rd day in Portugal we took a trip to a winery out on the countryside. We got a chance to learn about how the harvesting of grapes and the production of wine has changed throughout the years due to the introduction of mechanization.

Wasting some time while we waited for our tour

Left - Our cameraman Josh playing with one of the dogs living at the Winery

Right - Three of our students relax outside

The first part of our tour was an explanation of the modern winemaking process, followed by a tasting of their wines. Some of the wines offerend had been award winners at wine tasting competitions around the world!

This little girl was the granddaughter of the owner of the winery and kept peeking through the bushes at us!

The next step was to head out into the sunshine to pick some grapes!

Left - Me picking my first bunch of grapes of the day!

Center - I had never seen (or tasted!) grapes straight off the vine

Right - One of our participant leaders, Dana, helping out with the harvest

This is about half of all of the grapes we picked. We ended up with about 12-15 buckets overflowing with bunches of the most delicious grapes many of us had ever had!

Then we dumped about 12 giant buckets of grapes into a huge stainless steel containment area and hopped in for some fun! It was slippery, mushy, cold, and AMAZING!

Apparently there is enough juice in 12 buckets of grapes to make at least 70 liters of juice! And for those of you who swear by Juicy Juice or Welches Grape Juice, they simply cannot compare to the freshly stomped grape juice straight off the vine!

The day ended in a feast of homemade bread, cheese, butter, and wine, all of which were made at the winery. Being able to step back in time and experiece something that was, for generations, almost a festival of community living, was incredible. Today a machine can harvest the same amount of grapes in one hour that it would take 12 employees to do by hand in a day. But nothing could possibly compare to spending time in the sun with friends picking, eating, and stomping the day away.

Portugal - Day 2

2007-10-03T22:21:00.000-04:00

September 14th was not only our second day in the country of Portugal, but our first day of our first AFP. An AFP is a program where students spend 5 of their 7 days in a country taking tours, going to lectures, working with organizations, and working as a group to study the country from the perspective of their learning circle. As a member of the Global Cultures and Social Change learning circle, our first day was spent listening to a lecture on Population Settlements, visiting the Cartography exhibition and library at the University of Lisbon, on a guided tour of Jeronimos Monastery and the Maritime Museum, and a stop at the Discoveries Monument.

This is a copy of the earliest known map of Portugal. The real version is in a museum somewhere, so the cartography center was unable to have anything but a copy. The museum held hundreds of copies of maps from all over the world, but on display were only historical maps of Portugal. They varied in age, size, and technology. At the conclusion of our tour, the University of Lisbon (where the museum is) presented each of us with a package of copies of each of the old maps of Portugal. The quality is beautiful and all of us have full intention of having them framed and displayed upon our return to our homes.

Jeronimo's Monastery was an incredible place to visit. The architecture was complex and beautiful, and though the buildings are no longer used as a monastery, the rich history behind the locations were very interesting. Above is an entrance of the monastery.

These images are of the church within the monastery. The art and architecture were absolutely gorgeous and it was exciting to finally understand what it is my Art History professor had been talking about during all of those long hours in the lecture hall! The church was interesting because one of it's main functions was that when men were preparing to journey out across the seas to explore, the final step they took was to go to the church for confession so as to be absolved of all of their sins in case they were to die. Therefore much of the minor architectural details had oceanic references in tribute to the sailors. This church is the only part of the monastery which is still active today.

The courtyard in the center of the monastery.

These images are from the only room in the monastery where monks were allowed to speak. The outside images are of glazed tile paintings. Glazed tile is an old art form in Portugal which is used to decorate walls both inside and outside of buildings. It is still used today. The center images is a painting of St Jeronimo.

The entrance of the Maritime Discoveries Museum. This museum chronicles the progression of maritime technology as well as Portugal's explorations of the world.

This map was just inside the entrance of the museum and had the routes of all of the Portuguese explorations on it, along with the lead explorer's name and the year of the exploration.

Some of the model ships showing the progression of ship technology

Two figureheads from the front of Portuguese caravels. The one on the left is from the ship sailed by Vasco Da Gama, the most famous of the Portuguese explorers.

This image is of a giant map which has been inlaid in the ground outside of the Discoveries Monument. This monument is dedicated to all of the great Portuguese explorers who traveled the world in search of new places. This section of the map is, in case you can't tell, the east coast of the USA! Also, if you note where my foot is, I'm basically standing on where I am today!

These are images of the most important part of the Discoveries Monument - the statues of the famous explorers.

A guard of the home of the Portuguese president.

Our tour guide passing out a famous Portuguese dessert made out of sugar and eggs, then topped with cinnamon and powdered sugar. Delicious!!!

Portugal - Day 1

2007-09-25T15:25:00.000-04:00

Portugal - A country of discoverers

Arriving in Portugal was incredible. Regardless of the architecture, the history, the language, and the lifestyle, we were just excited to finally be back on land again! Our first day in each port is a free day, and we took complete advantage of this! A group of us headed out to be modern discoverers in this country which had seen so many before us. We took the metro to the city center and began our exciting, and exhausting exploration.

(Left to Right:) Josh (our onboard cameraman), Adriano (Brazil), Me!, Hannah Lena (Germany)

???, Natalia (Brazil), Mareike (Germany)

Some Portuguese graffiti. The graffiti in this city was incredible - even better than in Greece. All of it was very deliberate and meaningful (even if the meanings are sometimes a bit controversial). Note the bottom righthand image of a Nike symbol out of which a plane is flying into two towers. Up close these towers say "Lisbon Towers". Next to it was more graffiti which I have recently been told said "We Want Tragedy" in Portuguese

A group of boys were strategically placed through the city center playing accordians while their little dogs held small buckets in their mouths to collect change. One of the dogs even howled (sang!) along with it's owner as he played. They stuck to the city center in order to increase the amount of income they could make from tourists.

This man was the owner of a small shop selling fresh fruits, vegetables, drinks, etc. on a small sidestreet in Lisbon. We bought our lunch from him that day - Only 2.60Euros for about 6 pieces of fruit, 2 small loaves of bread, and a humungous bottle of water! It was one of the best meals I have ever had.

Some interesting parts of Lisbon were it's cable cars (remeniscient of those in San Francisco), it's cemetary (which contained not only these interesting graves with wooden crosses, but also above ground mausoleums which had glass doors so that visitors could actually look in and see the coffins), the age of the buildings and doorways, and the appearance of the roads. Most of them were narrow, cobblestone, winding, and extremely steep. The doorways were always interesting shaped - some tall and extremely narrow, others short and fat, almost always looking as though they had extended their welcoming hand to years and years worth of visitors and residents.

Sometimes we just need to have a little fun!

I like these two images for the main reason that both of these students, Natalia and Adriano, are from Brazil. For those of you that know a bit about world history, Brazil was conquered by the Portuguese hundreds of years ago, hence Portuguese being the Brazilian national language. If you look into the sunglasses of each of these two you will see the city of Lison and a national monument reflected (respectively). To explore the country of Portugal through the eyes of someone who had been conquered and had their history changed drastically is something I could not possibly begin to comprehend or imagine.

Things to remember about living on a boat...

2007-09-24T20:32:00.000-04:00

Number 1:
If you ever get sick, there is always a way to evacuate you! For example, this Italian Coast Guard team came for a sick student. With engines on all sides of the ship, it could maneuver in any direction and was able to come up along side our ship, and within about 5 minutes, evacuate both the student, an accompanying staff member, and all of their luggage.

Number 2:
Never go swimming when the weather is bad! Note the fact that I was actually standing vertical when this shot was taken, it was the boat the was leaning sideways. Take a close look at the water level in the pool!

Number 3:

When you are an extremely fair skinned person who has not seen sunlight in anything but a tshirt and shorts for the past 5+ years, DO NOT fall asleep in the sun while studying... This happened on the 3rd day of the voyage, with this picture being taken about two days after that, and now at the beginning of week 3, I am STILL dealing with it's after effects!

Number 4 (and most importantly!):

ALWAYS WEAR YOUR LIFE JACKET! During drills at least! But don't worry... the fear on their faces is purely dramatic!

Athens, Greece

2007-09-20T17:33:00.000-04:00

Athens was incredible. It's been over two weeks since I left there, but it has left a distinct mark in my mind. The different areas of the city were completely different from one another, and very rarely did any of them match the preconcieved notions I had in my mind.

Upon arriving, the first thing I did was take the train from the airport to Syntaegma Square and searched for about 20minutes, with over 100lbs of luggage, until I found my way to my hostel. It was an adventure to say the least, but the help of a friendly local sent me in the right direction. Located in Plaka, an old part of the city, it was called The Student and Travellers Inn. I stayed in a small room with enough bunk beds for 8 people which had a window looking out over a small garden in the center of the hostel:

Contrary to some slight fears I had before arrival, it was actually alot of fun being there! I met a couple of the people living in the room with me and there were so many stories to tell. It actually turned out that one girl staying there was going to be participating in The Scholar Ship as well so it was amazing to get a chance to talk about someone else in the program.

After falling asleep for about 3 hours to shake off some jetlag, it was time for me to head out adventuring! I think that the best way to get to know a culture is to walk it's streets. I grabbed my trusty map (completely written in Greek!) and headed out. I decided that my best bet was to just walk until I got myself thoroughly lost, and then figure out where I was and find my way back. I made my way around for about 2 hours before deciding to turn around and make my way back, and here are some of the more interesting things I saw...

The most expected things I saw were some of the ruins of ancient Greek society:

Although I think it is incredibly important to understand the history of a culture in order to understand it's present state, I must say that the ruins were not able to hold my attention for long. I was more interested in seeing the local people in their daily lives and attempt to understand the sort of world that they live in today.

Next came the people and the local culture:

On the left are some riot police due to a demonstration/rally that was being held in Syntaegma Square night I was in town. Unfortunately, since the protestors were shouting everything in Greek, I'm not sure what cause they were supporting. I heard mumblings through the crowd that it was in response to the poor reactions to the outburst of wildfires which had overtaken the country just days before my arrival. In the center is an example of part of an open air market in Plaka. On the right is the wall of a bar in town which was lit only by the lights behind the different colored bottles.

On the left here is an example of what I deemed an "interesting" fashion choice by a local Greek woman. On the right is an image of an average street in Plaka. The road were very narrow and very few were open to vehicle traffic. Most people walked from shop to shop in order to get what they needed.

Up next is a man who was selling nuts on the street. He often had to deal with pigeons trying to get his food, so he had made a sort of whip out of a thin, supple piece of wood in order to scare the birds away when customers came by. In the center is an image from the local pet store. The entire exterior was covered with bird cages, rabbit cages, hampster cages, etc. What was most interesting though was that many of these cages were open or, in the case of these two little birds, there were no cages at all. I'm not quite sure how they kept the birds from flying away or the rabbit from hopping away, but they all seemed quite content to say on their perches as people came by to shop. The last image was quite interesting to me due to the fact that because of my education and having learned so much about ancient Greece throughout the years, I had this picture in my head that the city wouldn't be as modernized as it was. If you notice there is a Converse shoe display to the left, a motorbike to the right, and a Coca-Cola machine in the background. Talk about globalization!

I think that the most interesting thing for me in Athens was the grafitti:

"One Nation Under One Groove" and "Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow

"Fight Back"

Overall Greece for me was really interesting. Most people spoke English (or at least the shopkeepers did!) so it was quite easy to make my way around and get what I needed. Though there were alot of things that I didn't like (the city was incredibly dirty being the main thing) I would definitely like to go back and spend some more time exploring the country. I really only had about 24 hours there, and I was asleep for probably half of that! It's rich history is paralleled by it's expansive and interesting present culture and is defintely worth learning more about.

The best part of living on the ocean? The view!

2007-09-19T17:48:00.000-04:00

My whole life, I have never lived by the ocean. During my semester in New Zealand was on the coast, but still in the middle of the city. I love the mountains, and will probably spend the rest of my life living in woodsy places, but I have now come to love the water. I think my favorite thing about the ocean is that even though you might think that it would become monotonous, every day is something different.

Part 1) THE BOAT

2007-09-19T16:28:00.000-04:00

First things first. This is my new home: The MV Oceanic II. She is one of the last remaining classic transatlantic (and in our case transpacific) ocean liners still in existance. She has sailed under many different names, the current being The Scholar Ship, but has had the same captain for over 30 years. She was picked for our program due to the incredible amount of public space available on board, along with larger and more comfortable rooms for the students. Fun Fact: The Scholar Ship program was within hours of signing a contract to use the original Love Boat as the ship when our boat, then called The Mona Lisa, came onto the market! Though we only have a student body of approximately 200 students, this ship could actually hold over 400 more passengers. Due to the large amount of beautiful wood interior, the MV Oceanic II will have to be decomissioned in 2010 as there is a large fire hazard and it would cost the owners over $70million to refit the boat.

At port in Portugal with a beautiful sunrise

Portugal with the 25th of April Bridge in the background

Our first day off the boat since Athens!

Gangway

My friend Sebastian from Sweden in front of the stack of our ship. Originally this stack had a large painting of the Mona Lisa on it (due to it's previous name) and TSS had to pay extra to the owner for repainting over it!

The bow (front) of the boat. Unfortunately we aren't allowed in this part of the boat and we can only see it through the windows of the Starlight Lounge

The Aft deck. This is the stern (back) of the boat and it is a common space for us all to use as we please

One of our MANY lifeboats - we love these!

This is our Pirate! (and Sebastian trying to perfect his Arghh!)

Day 14

2007-09-19T16:22:00.002-04:00

WOW. I cannot even begin to explain how ridiculously amazing this past week in Lisbon has been. It feels as though I haven’t been able to stop for even a second to catch my breath and take a break from all of the excitement, much less update you all on what I’ve been doing! Luckily for you, we are now back on the boat and in the midst of a two hour waiting period between the time that the last passenger/crew member returns to the boat and the time we can actually debark from the port. That being said, I am going to attempt to recap you all on not only the crazy events of the past seven days, but also some details about the rest of ship life now that I can actually add in pictures! So get ready for some heavy reading because this could DEFININTELY take a while!

Day 6

2007-09-13T16:22:00.000-04:00

9/10/07 19:45 (At Sea)

It's day 6 and it seems like just as we are feeling like we are settling in, things are going to chance dramatically again. In preparation for docking in Portugal in just 3 days, today was our first Port Orientation day. We first met as a large group in the morning to go over the logistics of entering a port, and then throughout the day we met with our Learning Circles to discuss our Academic Field Programs, or AFPs. Every student is enrolled in a Learning Circle, which is similar to a major or a concentration. We have International Business, International Communication, Sustainable Development, Worlds of Art and Culture, and Global Culture and Social Change, just to name a few. As a member of the Global Culture and Social Change circle, I will be able to do many different things including studying cartography and attending a lecture on Population Settlements at the University of Lisbon, participate in a grape harvest at a local vineyard/winery, and visit Coimbra. Those activities, along with a few others, will take place over the course of five days in port, which leaves us with day 1 and day 7 free to explore the city of Lisbon as we please. I have signed up to participate in a shore excursion on day 7 called "Above and Below Portugal" which is a guided tour around the city of Lisbon. On day one I will have the chance to explore the city on my own, and of course find a phone and an internet cafe to get in touch with all of you back home! Tonight, we will be having a Cultural Cafe in which we will all have the chance to learn a bit of Portugese, listen to Portugese music, learn Portugese dancing, and get a more fun look at the culture as a whole. I can't wait to finally get a glimpse of what my life will be like for the next week!

Day 4

2007-09-13T16:15:00.001-04:00

9/8/2007 - 11:20 (At Sea)

I'm in my room, getting ready for bed after my 3rd full day aboard the ship, and I am exhausted. We had our first classes today, which were incredibly fun, and we are continuing to become more and more comfortable in our oceangoing home every moment. Yesterday we completed our on board orientation, which basically means I now know the answer to just about every question you could possibly ask about living on the boat with us.

My classes so far seem pretty exciting. My International Communications class is a core class which all undergraduate students have to take, but in groups of about 15-20 students. My professor is a crazy American with a love for Star Trek and bad sarcastic humor. But the class concepts are good enough that I don't think I'll hold that against him! The course is designed not only to learn how to converse and interact with people of different nations, cultures, and backgrounds, but also to help us to define and recognize our own personal beliefs, values, attitudes, and biases. My second class is Leadership for Sustainable Development. I think that this class will be, by far, the one I am most interested in. Not only is the subject material incredibly interesting - adding a leadership component to a subject which is so prevalent in today's world - but the class also contains the most diverse group of students of any class on board. Out of the 12 of us, there are only 3 countries being represented by two students each, and the other 6 are all from different places. Having this much international influence in one classroom has, in just one class period, created a dynamic that I've never seen before in my academic career. We have students who are interested in everything from the survival of the rainforest, to aiding in the development of so-called under-developed communities, to the reversal of over-development in certain countries. Most exciting is our professor, Chris Brown, who is an expert in the field of sustainability. Originally from Ghana, Professor Brown has taught and studied in numerous countries around the world, and brings an excitement to the classroom. We are encouraged to debate and ask questions, and so far we've mastered both of those skills!

Probably the most difficult thing about studying in a transnational community in which we do not want to limit anyone's ideas is to try to make sure we are all using the same vocabulary. This forces us to not only be very articulate in our ideas, but also to be willing to ask questions when we don't understand something. Though in the States we assume that articulation and asking questions is common practice, here it is so much more important and relevant. What is good though is that we are all very aware of the situation we have put ourselves in and we are working very hard towards creating our own intentional community and culture which is based on trust, openness, acceptance, and willingness to be vulnerable. Even in all of my years working in my summer camp community, I have never seen such a diverse and open community as we have here. Walking down the hallways and across the deck, everyone says hello to everyone. Entering the Coral Dining Room (where we have our lunches and dinners), it is common for students to sit anywhere and with anyone. If there is an empty seat, it doesn't matter whether you know the rest of the kids at the table, or if you are in the same learning circle, or even if you are the same ethnicity; everyone is welcome.

In a couple of days we will be participating in our orientation for our port study of Portugal. We are all really looking forward to finally getting out into the world and experiencing a new country. Though we're all so excited to be here, we're all a bit curious about when cabin fever will begin to set in!

Day 2

2007-09-13T16:13:00.000-04:00

9/6/2007 - 10pm (At Sea)

Well, I've made it. My transnational learning experience has officially begun. I boarded the inaugural voyage of The Scholar Ship yesterday at approximately 12pm and have been going nonstop ever since. Move in day was a blur of unfamiliar faces, names, places, and procedures. Living on a ship, while it may sound glorious, is extremely different from life in a dorm room or in your home. I have to share 13 sq ft with a total stranger for 4 months is, to say the least, daunting and cramped! Currently we have 2 cot sized beds, a small night stand, a small tv, 2 arm chairs, a bathroom with a shower/bathtub, sink, and toilet, and 2 small closets just big enough to fit all of our stuff. Oh yes, we also have a porthole! Picture in your head the size of 13 sq ft... For most people that is the size of a bathroom, or maybe a home office. Then add in all of the furniture, two 20-yr-old college girls, and all of their stuff for 4 months! (We each have a 140lb weigh limit for belongings if that tells you anything...). And just think - this is a $500 upgrade from the smallest rooms which are about half the length and are on the interior of the ship, and therefore have no window! Of course, with a measly $5000 one could upgrade to a suite, which has two ridiculously large picture windows, a small kitchen space with counters, cabinets, and a fridge, 2 couches, 2 twin size beds, 2 walk in closets with a mirrored dressing area, a tv twice the size, 2 desks, a stereo, and a bathroom with jacuzzi tub. All of this is then separated by a number of large curtains in case one student wanted to sleep while the other entertained in another area of the room. Talk about financial and social differences huh? Now none of that is to say that I'm not happy with what I have. I've never really needed much space to live comfortably (must be all those summers living outside in platform tents with 3 other people!!) and so I'm actually quite comfortable.

Once settled into my living situation, it was time to go exploring and to meet some new people. I can honestly say that this is one of the most inviting environments I have ever lived in. It is rare that approximately 300 people from so many different social, cultural, financial, ethnic, and geographical backgrounds can be put in a space and, within 24 hours, be completely comfortable with one another. I shook so many hands and saw so many faces that I actually only remember about 10% of people's names. But no worries, with 4 months together, I am sure that we will become comfortable with each other very quickly.

Almost more difficult than trying to keep straight the different people I am now surrounded by has been orienting myself to the ship. First there are the terms describing parts of the boat - the bow/forward (front), the stern/aft (back), the port (left), and starboard (right). Now, with my experience as a rower on my college crew team, I know these terms quite well and don't have too much trouble with them. Unless of course you are on the interior of the boat and have no windows with which to orient yourself! Once you figure out which way is which, it's then time to figure out the floors. From top to bottom, you have Lido, Riviera, Aloha, Baja, Coral, Dolphin, and Emerald. Lido and Riviera are the decks with food, student common areas, classrooms, 2 pools, a small fitness area with cardio machines facing out onto the ocean, a few decks, and lots of beach chairs! Then Aloha and Baja are residential (I live in Aloha 21 oddly enough!), Coral has our "resturaunt" aka cafeteria, Dolphin is the health center which has a full hospital, and a spa (?!) complete with massages, facials, manicures/pedicures, and a salon. Finally there is Emerald which is the main fitness center on board. With 3 saunas, a pool, a hot tub, free weights, 3 treadmills, 2 stair steppers, and a few weight machines, it has everything! Granted it is small and very hot and the first time I ran on the treadmill I almost died due to the rocking of the ship, but really we have it quite good here! We also have a small library, an academic support center, counseling offices, a bookstore complete with Scholar Ship bags, pens, clothing, picture frames, etc, a cinema which doubles as a lecture all, a "noise room" with drums, guitars, a piano, and has been designated as "quiet-hour free" so we can be loud in there as much as we want, a staff lounge, a student bar, a snack bar, AND (my favorite part) a giant statue of a pirate! I'm slowly finding my way through all of this craziness, and I can't wait for the day when someone announces that I need to be somewhere and I'll be able to get there without looking at a map of the ship, or checking to see which floor I'm on, or if I'm on port or starboard, fore or aft. Maybe someday...

Tomorrow is another full day of orientation and get-to-know-you's, and starting on the 8th we will finally begin our classes. So far we have two days, green and blue, which correspond to our classes. We have two classes each day, and alternate back and forth. Because of our port studies, we don't really follow the "5 days on, 2 days off" rule of contemporary schools. This week we have 2 blue days and 2 green days, followed by 5 days in Portugal for our first academic field program. Occasionally we will have days with no classes in order to have a break. This will happen mostly when we cross the Atlantic Ocean between Portugal and Panama (13 days), and when we cross the Pacific Ocean between Ecuador and Tahiti (10 days). Probably the craziest fact of all is that, on board our ship, we will not be able to experience November 2nd, as we will be crossing the international date line on that day! So, to everyone with a birthday on the 2nd, I'm sorry but I won't be able to celebrate in your honor as technically your day doesn't exist!
So even though all of this might seem like alot, I assure you, that was only a brief introduction to my life for the past few days! But not to worry, there will always be more updates :)

And So It Begins...

2007-09-02T20:03:00.000-04:00

It's hard to believe the journey that I am about to embark on. Tomorrow morning at approximately 5am I will be leaving the comforts of my home in Vermont to set out on the adventure of a lifetime. I will be participating in the inaugural voyage of The Scholar Ship, a 16 week academic cruise that will take me from Athens to Hong Kong, with many diverse and exciting stops along the way.
So I know what you're thinking... "While I'm stuck here working or going to school, she gets to sail around the world and play for a semester?! Thats so unfair!" But don't worry! While I fully intend to have an amazing fun time, I will be maintaining a full load of international studies courses while on board. I will attend classes while we are at sea, and participate in academic programs, shore excursions, and independant travel while in port.

And now for the exciting parts!
Here is my schedule so far:

Athens, Greece Sept 4-5
Lisbon, Portugal Sept 13-19
Panama City, Panama Oct 1-7
Guayaquil, Ecuador Oct 11-17
Papeete, Tahiti Oct 29-30
Auckland, New Zealand Nov 7-13
Sydney, Australia Nov 18-26
Shanghai, China Dec 7-13
Hong Kong/Macau, China Dec 18-19, 23

My classes:

Intercultural Communication
Global Issues
Global Cultures
Leadership for Sustainable Development

So there you have it. A little over 12 hours and I will be in the air, ready to take on the world! Wish me luck, and stay tuned for updates!