Lindsay's Semester at Sea Travels: July 2009

Thursday, July 30, 2009

I'M IN EGYPT!!!

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

The beautiful view I had while writing my blog this evening

My favorite graffiti near the port

The women singing with the bagpipe

My favorite looking horse they showed us. He was 18 years old

Riding a horse in Bulgaria!! I forget the horse's name though.

One of the roads we were driving on. I thought it was pretty

The man riding a horse on the side of the cliff. The dog is behind him and the lion is hard to see, but he's right under the front feet of the horse. The man also has a eagle on his arm, but I can't see it.

The holy water dripping off a rock in Madara.

The guide said it was safe to drink, so Stephanie and I drank some. Not one of our better ideas, but we didn't get sick, so all's well

Carly, Kaitlyn, me and Stephanie on Kaityn's birthday

We enjoyed the sign so much we had to take a picture with it.

The beach we were at and that little dot in the sky is once again maybe me.

Me parasailing

at least, we believe this is me. Alex was in charge of taking pictures and wasn't sure if this was me or not from shore.

A view from the beach at night

Our ship is on the left, the ship on the right is actually a restaurant on the beach

From left to right: Dean Michael (different from Dean Mike), a woman from the embassy who was on Semester at Sea in 1988, Depute Mayor, the head of the program in Varna and the Mayor is currently talking to us.

Bulgaria from the ship

I didn't wake up for sunrise in this port since they didn't tell us what time it would be and I felt I needed to sleep in a little, so this is what it looked like when I woke up.

I feel refreshed

Before Bulgaria I was beginning to feel a bit exhausted from everything. I was beginning to feel like I could never walk into another museum again. However, since Bulgaria doesn’t have any museums that I really needed to go to, I used this time to relax a bit and recharge. Now I am ready for Egypt!

Bulgaria is beautiful. It reminded me a lot of home. The area is green and mountainous and the people are very helpful and kind. The first day Maria and I decided to go explore the city for a few hours before I had to go on a trip in the afternoon. At one point we pulled out a map to find where we were and immediately a man comes up to us and starts speaking very quickly in a language we did not understand (later on we found out that he thought we were Russian). After making very confused faces at him we said English and he adjusts his language and asks if we need any help. He gives us directions and then stands and talks to us for a few minutes. He asks us about our ship and the crew which we have grown quite used to, then he goes on his way. We continue our walk and we had not walked very far before he comes walking up to us again. He explains that last year he graduated from maritime school recently and that he was looking for a job. He had been on his way to hand in some paperwork to some office, but they were closed. He was very interested in working on our ship, so we gave him the only information we could on the ship and the company and to prove he was who he said he was, he showed us his passport which says he works on ships. He then asked if he could walk with us a bit and we agreed. He took us to an amazing pizza place. They gave you a huge piece of pizza for only 1.5 Lev. You had to put the spices on it to get the full experience, though. When we were done he took us to the shopping areas and explained to us where to go and not go to shop. When we got to a phone store he had to go into we said goodbye because it was time to head back to the ship. We instructed him to get facebook and add us as friends and he instructed us to get Skype and add him. Then we headed on our way, getting only a little turned around.

In the afternoon a large group of us piled onto a few buses and went to a public building of some sort. When there the Mayor, Depute Mayor and a few people from an organization to prevent human trafficking talked to us. The explained what they were doing in Bulgaria to prevent this from happening to the young women and although it got a bit dry at times, it was really interesting. There were students there who answered some of our questions about what they do and how they help in this cause. After we took the bus back to the ship and Courtney and I went out to dinner in town. We returned to the ship so she could get on a trip and I went to shower and get dressed to go back out that night. Alex, Emily and I went out later that night to a bar on the beach and they drank while I buried both mine and Emily’s feet in the sand under a big pile of sand. After destroying the pile I made, we walked along the ocean before going back to the ship and going to bed.

The next day Alex, Emily and I went to the beach to spend the day. We rented an umbrella and went swimming and relaxed. I also went parasailing! I had been wanting to for so long and since the price was so reasonable I decided I needed to do it. Emily and Alex wouldn’t do it with me, though so I went alone. Two other SASers were also on the same boat as me, but I had never met either of them before. It was so beautiful and I hated to come back down. The decent was the most worrisome part because we had to land on the back of the moving boat. I was able to land on my feet, though and all was well. Shortly after I got back to our umbrella it was time for us to head back to the ship. It was Kaitlyn’s birthday so we had a nice birthday dinner and cake and were going to go out that night. Between things, I did have time to call Nano and wish him a happy birthday. That night a group of us went out to a bar to celebrate Kaitlyn’s birthday. It was a lot of fun and I had a delicious caramel milk shake that was unlike any shake I’ve ever had. I started to feel a bit dizzy while I was sitting there though, so they walked me back to the ship early and I proceeded to pass out on my bed immediately after hitting it and woke up a few hours later realizing I was still in a dress. I’m pretty sure that this was just a mix of lack of sleep, dehydration and too much sun since I felt fine the next morning.

The third day I went on my trip with SAS to look at Bulgaria’s ancient roots. Our first stop on this journey was in Madara to see some caves and a really cool and huge carving on the side of a cliff of a man on a horse with a dog and a lion with him. It was really neat to see. Our next stop was at a stud horse farm. First thing we did was get off the bus and get on a few horse-drawn carts and they brought us to a riding arena. At the arena we had the chance to ride a horse (it was sort of like a pony ride). Luckily when I got on the horse they realized I could ride and handed me the reins and let me steer myself around the ring. I’m jealous of Katie though…she convinced them to let her take the horse for a trot around the ring. They fed us some weird cheese that no one liked except me and then we got back on the bus to drive about 2 minutes to the barn. While we were here they gave a “horse demonstration”. Possibly the lamest horse demonstration I’ve ever seen, but they were nice looking horses for Arabians (which are a big deal in Bulgaria, apparently). When we left here we went to a small museum to see a treasury and spent approximately 20 minutes there and then left for lunch.

Lunch may have been the highlight of the entire trip. We ate at and ethnological museum which was more of a living museum than anything else. We walked through these big wooden doors on this tiny street and it opened into a beautiful garden with a stone pathway to a wooden house. As soon as we opened the door a bagpipe started playing and these old women were standing down the path smiling at us. One of the women handed us some herb (I can’t remember what it was) for luck and gave us these tiny bottles of gin tied to a string to go around our necks. Then they led us to a few tables with a roof overhead to sit and look out at the garden. As we were eating the women danced for us and put on a skit which none of us understood entirely, but it was very cute anyways. They also sat there and knit, crocheted and spun yarn while we ate. The food was delicious. First course was salad with some really good cheese and fresh tomatoes and cucumber, yogurt, garlic and dill soup (I wasn’t crazy about this). Second course was chicken kabob striped from the stick with some tasty potatoes. Then before desert they taught us how to make the desert and gave us the recipe. Also, they took two people from our group to dress up and act out a traditional wedding. We danced with the women and celebrated. It was a lot of fun. Then desert was some filo dough with I can’t remember what all else, but it was so tasty. After dinner we walked around in the house and saw what each room would have looked like and we looked at what they had made. It was a great experience. As we were leaving they all sang for us again and said goodbye. We got back on the bus and headed back to the ship. That night we just watched a movie and hung out.

The last day Emily and I went exploring around the beach over at Golden Sands, but didn’t find anything to do, so took a taxi back to Varna to do a little shopping since she had worn a hole through her shoes and I still had a little Lev left (Bulgarian currency). I ended up getting some really awesomely comfortable pants and she got some pretty fantastic gladiator shoes. We eventually took a leisurely walk back to the ship so we had plenty of time before we had to be there, took a shower and hung out for a bit before dinner. After I finished my paper last night we did have time for some Firefly before sleep!

Today I had classes as usual for at sea days and we watched as we went through the Bosporus and passed Istanbul which so many of us miss so much. Today I found out that my Faith and Doubt professor may be leaving the voyage when we get to Egypt because of a death in the family. She is such an incredible teacher, it would be so sad to see her go. She said she was still deciding, but Dean Mike told her other class she was definitely leaving, so I’m not sure what’s going to happen. I’m happy her husband is here with her. Tomorrow we have classes again and then we’re in Egypt. I should go now and get some reading done and maybe write another paper before my hot chocolate date with Katie. Pictures are soon to come. I will probably use it to procrastinate a bit. I still have plenty of time though, so don’t worry. Enjoy your night

Thursday, July 23, 2009

A cool boat that left before us

In front of the Blue Mosque

Roof of Blue Mosque

Blue Mosque

Hagia Sophia

Inside Hagia Sophia

A view out the window in Hagia Sophia

Miniaturk

Giant me infront of the Temple of Artemis in Miniaturk

View from the top of the hill that the private car brought us to

The Grand Bazaar

Maria, me and Katelyn outside the Dolmabache Palace.

The gate to the Dolmabache Palace.

That guard stood so still (I never even saw him blink) and when you looked at him from the front it just looked like he had his hand, harmlessly behind his back. Then when you went around to the back you realized his hand was on a dagger the entire time. It was a bit terrifying.

Whirling Dervishes!

The band at the Whirling Dervish ceremony

One of the buildings in the Topkapi Palace.

The Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia as we pull into port

Sunrise over Istanbul

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Turkey is so much better than I thought it was going to be!! I love it here!

Hi everyone! I hope you are all doing well. Here is an update for the last 6 days. It will be long, so get ready…

Nothing exciting happened between ports. I did get my roommate to watch Dr. Horrible with me and I think she enjoyed it. The first day in port my plans got messed up a lot. One of the trips I had planned with SAS changed its itinerary and we were no longer going to the Hagia Sophia mosque which meant I had to see it on my own. So, I got up for the sunrise and that was gorgeous and it was even cooler that morning because as we got closer we were able to see the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and the Topkapi Palace. After seeing this, I went to bed since I did not have anything until 10 and that was on the ship. I went to a discussion on virginity testing and hymen reconstruction which should have been really interesting, but was a complete waste of time. They only told us things which we already knew and some people who were not in our class kept asking really stupid questions (yes, sometimes there are stupid questions). Then I was supposed to meet up with Emily and Justin, but they were late back to the ship. I waited a while for them, but decided I didn’t want to be on the ship anymore and got off the ship. I walked out and started going down this one road. After a few minutes, though I realized everyone on the street was a man and they were all staring at me, so I felt super uncomfortable and turned around and went back to the ship. Eventually they showed up and we went out to see the Topkapi Palace. The palace has been turned into a museum and is absolutely gorgeous. There were some gems in there that were like 2 inches in diameter. We also got to see a box where they keep the robes Muhammad wore and his sword and a bit of his beard. In another room they had a stick in a display case which they claimed was Moses’ staff…Emily and I were not convinced. There was, however a piece of the skull and the arm of John the Baptist.

We got back to the ship just in time to quickly change into nicer clothes in order to leave for a trip to a Whirling Dervish ceremony. This is a spiritual dance to beautiful music. It was very impressive. I took a short video of it and took tons of pictures. It was so gorgeous. When we got back our tour guide told us that there was a fantastic baklava place around the corner and he would take us if we wanted to go. Having just had Baklava for the first time in Greece, I was hooked and needed to go. He kept telling us that this was the best Baklava you can find in Istanbul. Justin and I decided to get one of each kind and then split each one and get some tea. They were all delicious. If anyone ever goes to Turkey, you need to go here!

The next day I went on a trip to see the palaces of Istanbul (other than the Topkapi Palace) which included going over to the Asiatic side of Istanbul. They were pretty cool. The first three were incredible, but the third wasn’t great. We went to the Dolmabache Palace, the Beylerbeyi Palace, the Yildiz Palace, and the Aynali Kavak Palace. The Dolmabache Palace was the most grand, but I think my favorite was the Yildiz Palace. While we were there a documentary for the History channel about the fall of the Ottoman Empire was being shot, so there was hardly anyone there except for the cast and crew. There were tons of lights everywhere though. When we were leaving there was a group of actors in their costumes and one of the men came up to Dean Mike’s youngest girl and picked her up and asked her if she would be his princess. Then there was some talk, and apparently they may actually want her at some point and it was pretty adorable.

That night Carly, Stephanie and I went out to Taksim Square to see the local night life. We just walked around for a bit on the busy streets and eventually sat down for some tea and snacks. We had something wrapped in an olive leaf which was phenomenal. After Stephanie attempted to finish her Raki (very, very strong alcoholic drink) and failed, we continued on our exploring. We were hoping to find some live music somewhere and did finally find a band playing outside of a bar. We stood nearby listening for a bit and eventually sat down. When we had been standing there was a man standing behind us (we assumed he was doing the same sort of thing we were) and when we sat he also sat. After a little while the man moved closer. The music was fantastic and they sang Perhaps (the intro to Coupling, the TV show) in Islamic, but the man started to make us nervous, but we figured it was still possible that it was all just a coincidence. However, when we got our check, so did he and when we got up to leave he started banging on the table, trying to get the waiter to bring him his change faster. We used this time to walk very quickly to the nearest taxi and jump in. We’re not entirely sure what he would have even tried since there was a lot of people around and the police were everywhere, but we still wanted to get out. We got back to the ship just fine and enjoyed a good sleep.

The next morning Maria, Carly and I went to the spice bazaar and the grand bazaar. We learned by trial and error how to haggle. Maria got a beautiful hand made rug from this one guy who brought us apple tea and sat us down in his shop and showed us tons of rugs. When we decided we’d bought too much stuff, we walked back to the ship in order to eat lunch then went for a walk in the direction none of us had walked in yet. There wasn’t much over there, so we sat in a park for a bit talking and eventually came back to the ship in order to shower, eat dinner and go back out to Taksim and meet up with a guy Carly had met at the bazaar who wanted to take us around. There were three of us and one of him, so he took us to a hookah bar and while Stephanie and Carly smoked, he and I played backgammon (I beat him the first round…he let me win though) and Carly played checkers with him. It was really relaxing. I can’t remember where he was from originally…it wasn’t Turkey. He lived in Istanbul because he was going to school here. After hookah, we went to an ice cream place which was tons of fun. The ice cream here is really thick and tastes a lot like mochi. You can flip the cone upside down and it won’t fall out or drip at all. By the end of the night we were getting a little annoyed by his getting annoyed with us, so we decided to leave early. We got back in a taxi and came back to sleep.

Justin has a friend here in Turkey who owns three hotels and a rug store, so yesterday we went to get meet him. We went to his hotel in the morning for breakfast and they served us a traditional Turkish meal. It was called a Turkish omelet. It was unlike any omelet in the states. The consistency is more like tomato sauce. It has egg, tomato, spices and cheese. We also had some bread, honey, two kinds of cheese and a plate of cucumbers and tomatoes with spices. Justin’s friend was very nice. He goes by the name of Joy (not sure how he spells it). Joy arranged a private car to take us to see the city. The driver was someone who worked in his hotel and was very nice. His name was Hakan (unsure of spelling here too). He didn’t tell us where we were going, but Joy promised us we would enjoy it. He brought us up a hill at the tip of the Golden Horn (a river) to see a beautiful view of Istanbul and drink some apple tea (have I said how delicious this is? Because it is wonderful) and talked. Then we got back in the car and headed down the hill to a glorious place called Miniaturk. This is a place where they have put out tons of miniature versions of important places in Istanbul (and a few from abroad). The Hagia Sophia mosque came up to around my shoulders. When we were done with this Hakan was waiting to take us back to Joy’s hotel. We had lunch there and Hakan showed us Joy’s other hotels and then we went off on our own to see the real Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. Hagia Sophia was a bit disappointing. It was incredible, but there was tons of scaffolding on the inside. They’re working on taking down all of the plaster which for many years has been covering the original mosaics. It was neat seeing them, but I wish the scaffolding hadn’t been taking up most of the floor. The Blue Mosque was much more what I had been expecting. It was beautiful. We sat on the floor near one of the pillars for a while just looking around. Eventually we took the tram back to the ship in order to change. That night Joy took the three of us and three life long learners from the ship out to dinner on the roof of a restaurant. We ate some delicious food as we watched the sun set over the city. We had some appetizers and we all let Joy order for us. My favorite appetizer was eggplant salad with yogurt. For an entre I had a beef kebob and Emily got lamb on top of the same eggplant salad and yogurt. I ate quite a bit of hers since she wasn’t feeling well. Desert was some sort of cheese and bread thing that was fried and with honey (I think). Apparently you can only get this in a few places in all of Istanbul and this place is ranked one of the best. It was a grand evening and if Joy ever comes to Vermont I am to take him out to dinner someplace. We decided to make it an early evening though and came back to the ship to watch the Life Aquatic and go to sleep.

This morning I woke up early and went on a SAS trip to see some more mosques and a museum. We got to see the Blue Mosque again and the Eyup Mosque. There isn’t really anything exciting to say about that. It was fun, and really cool, but not much to write about. When I got back at 1 I ate a quick lunch and Emily and I headed out in search of a Turkish bath house. Eventually we found one near the Grand Bazaar. It was incredible. We went into a big room with lots of people and lied down on this warm stone in a very warm, wet room. After lying down for a bit, a woman came over and scrubbed us down with some soap that smelled incredible. Then we were each brought over to a sink where they sat us down and washed our hair. Afterwards was my favorite part of the entire experience. I went into the jacuzzi (which was really just a warm bath) where there was tons of young girls swimming around. As soon as I got in they swarmed around me and asked me where I was from and what my name was. We were laughing and playing in the water. The smallest one of the group reached out her hand and I took it and she jumped up on my back and I gave her a piggy back ride around the pool. Then a few others wanted the same. They kissed me on my cheeks and told me I was beautiful and we laughed. Eventually I had to go, though and try to find Emily (who had been separated from the beginning). I found her outside and we went up and changed. Since we were near the bazaar we decided to go back in for some last minute haggling. We each ended up getting a beautiful lamp for a very reasonable price (mine was 20TL). However, when we tried to get back we took a wrong turn and got very lost. We had to be back on the ship before 6, otherwise we’d get time taken away from our next port. After a long time of searching we finally decided to get a cab. We were able to get to the port with only 30 minutes (a bit too close).

Tonight I will go to bed early so I can write a paper tomorrow and eventually have a rehearsal for Vagina Monologues. I’ll try to post pictures soon. Maybe tonight, but I am getting very tired. I hope you all have a great evening!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!