The Five Towns

Livorno, Italy

Last time I was here, I was a trip leader for a tour-de-Italy, visiting almost every possible tourist destination in Italy over the course of six days. Meanwhile, the rest of the RDs were off exploring Cinque Terre, 5 tiny villages on the northwest coast of Italy. Cinque Terre literally translates to the five towns. You can hike in between the villages and it makes for a lovely adventure.

As soon as we arrived, I headed for the train station. I had to change trains in Pisa, so I thought I might as well stop and get a look at the leaning tower. When I turned the corner and the tower came into view, my first thought was, “Yep, it’s leaning.” It almost looks fake, cartoon-like, like someone drew it into the skyline as a joke. Apparently, you can pay to go to the top, but not wanting to contribute to the further lean of an Italian national monument, I declined. Also, I would rather spend my Euros on pizza and gelato.

Upon arrival in Le Spezia, the step off point to get to Cinque Terre, I checked in at the visitor’s center to plan my route for the next day. The only thing was, I neglected to check if the hiking trails between the towns were actually open. Apparently they had been closed since October due to landslides. A cab driver also informed me that it was going to cost half my budget to get to my hotel, which was a ways outside the city. I had a Skype interview that evening and had chosen this hotel based on the reviews that it had good wifi and that I could get a private room. After finding some clarity over a hot fudge sundae, I finally figured out how to get to my hotel, only to find that my computer didn’t start and that I had no other way to get back into town as the last bus left into La Spezia left an hour before. I managed to email them from my iPod and hope to goodness that they let me reschedule.

The next day, when I arrived in the first town, accepting my fate that I would have to take the train in between instead of hiking like I’d planned, I ran into one of my students who had stayed on for the Enrichment Voyage. She was travelling with her best friend and grandpa in tow. They had checked in at a different visitor’s center and had gotten insider information that one of the trails, while technically closed, was actually hikeable so off we went. We hiked in between Corniglia and Vernazza. While there were a lot of literal ups and downs, the ocean views and view of the other towns in the distance made it all worth it. 

A few notes...

Monte Carlo, Monaco

A few notes about Monaco…

1.      People here have more money than they know what to do with, well, at least more money than I know what to do with.

2.      You can buy stamps without also buying postcards which does you absolutely no good if you’ve already overpaid for postcards at a place that didn’t sell stamps.

3.      4.50 Euros is not enough money to buy you a seat in a street side creperie when it’s raining. Those four tables are reserved for people who are ordering more than just crepes and coffee. I could even wait for my order under the canopy. The waitress had me go stand across the street and wait until my order was ready. So I proceeded to enjoy my crepe and coffee in a covered alleyway with 19 other people who I presume had also been shunned in a similar fashion.

4.      I almost took a bus to France just because I could. I didn’t, but I could have. 

Is this real life?

Barcelona, Spain

I've heard Enrichment Voyages are a different animal. Enrichment Voyages are Semester at Sea’s version of a cruise, a combination of entertainment and education. I’d been asking around to folks who had done them, but I wasn't quite sure what to expect. From the moment we checked back in to the ship, I knew things were going to be different. The boys, their mom, and I decided to create a list of all of the things that were different between academic semesters and Enrichment Voyages. I've also added in a few of my own. Since I won’t have internet for a few weeks (see number 3), please consider this a (relatively) comprehensive list.

1.      The Age Old Question: Sailing as a Resident Director with a ship full of 20 somethings (or 18, 19, and even 17 year old somethings) has a tendency to make you feel old. Really, really old. Every time we play that game, “I was in ­­____ grade when this song came out,” I lose. But walking into the welcome session tonight for the Enrichment Voyage, I felt that I definitely would have won that game. In the past 24 hours, the average age of passengers on the ship increased by at least 40 years. They had an event for single travelers to meet and mingle in Glazer Lounge. I was slightly curious, so I poked my head in the door. Once I saw that everyone in there were old enough to be my parents, I took a sharp left and pretended like I was really headed for the bathroom the whole time. Talk about embarrassing.

2.      Food, glorious food! The first change I noticed was the quality of the food. I’d heard that the food budget was 30% bigger for Enrichment Voyages. Ergo, the food should be 30% better. When you've been eating pasta, pork, and potatoes for the past 106 days, anything is an improvement. I walked into the Garden Lounge and the first thing I noticed was the fruit! Fruit! On the ship! It does exist! Piles of apples, oranges, and bananas as far as the eye could see. It was wonderful. Downstairs in the Deck 5 Dining Hall, which is usually a buffet line, is set up like a fancy dinner, complete with 10 utensils per place setting (we counted) and a menu where you can select your own five course meal. I feel under dressed just being there.

3.      Communication Challenges: As a Resident Director, we got a limited amount of internet. It was 15 times the amount that the students got, but limited none the less. On the Enrichment Voyage, you have to pay for internet. Which I pretty much refuse to do. In order to keep up with job things, I had my personal gmail synced to Microsoft Outlook on my laptop. Instead of just downloading the emails that are currently in my inbox, it proceeded to download every email that I’ve ever sent or received. Since 2005. When I opened my email account. Email number 2548 currently downloading…

4.      Cheers: There are a couple of different options if you’re looking to buy snacks on the ship. There is a Piano Bar that sells coffee and junk food and also a Pool Bar that sells burgers, fries, pizza, and ice cream. The snack food and French fries have all but disappeared. In their place? Booze. And lots of it. There seems to be quite a focus on alcohol this voyage. I felt that about my last voyage, but it’s usually because Resident Directors are on the receiving end of the after effects of college students drinking too much alcohol. At the welcome session, they made a point to inform everyone that just by paying to sail on an Enrichment Voyage, you, in turn, were helping to fund Semester at Sea for students during the academic semester. He said, “With every beer you drink, you’re helping support a college student.” I spent a good percentage of the last voyage watching other people drink at pub nights, talking about alcohol policy, trying to avoid hearing horror stories about drunken shenanigans in port, or living in fear that I was going to be sentenced to babysit in the drunk tank at 2am. I am getting mixed signals…

It Was Only Just a Dream

Barcelona, Spain

Today, after parting ways with the K family after Casa Mia, I headed off to La Sagrada Familia, Gaudi’s famous basilica. I missed it last time I was in Barcelona, so I was happy that I was able to fit it in this time around. Being the tourist destination that it is, I ran into several Semester at Sea students. Three of them I ran into were traveling with their parents. Two out of those three I didn't even know that well, but they came up and hugged me, grateful to see a familiar face from the ship. Seeing a familiar face reminded them that the past 106 days weren't a dream, that this incredible experience did actually happen. And that it did change their life in ways their families can’t even begin to comprehend. Unlike the family members that they were traveling with, I understood the complexity and cavalcade of emotions they were experiencing. And acknowledged their importance.

This was a stark contrast from yesterday where almost immediately after getting off the ship yesterday, I had a student ask me for packing tape and another ask me where he could find internet. Once an RD, always an RD. 

You forget how hard it is...

Barcelona, Spain 

Today, I put everyone in a cab (more like 11 cabs for 12 people) along with their 87 pieces of luggage and said my final goodbyes. Everyone else was off for a few fun filled days in Spain before heading off to another exotic locale in Europe or back to the States to continue their real lives or to start a new one with a new job in a new city. The final day on Semester at Sea is always weird. One of the Lifelong Learners who also sailed as a student compared it to the day a woman gives birth-you forget how hard it is. And she’s right. The prolonged cry fest as you stand at the gangway saying your goodbyes is one of the hardest, most awkward thing I’ve ever experienced. And I’ve done it twice. I was doing pretty well as far as keeping my emotions in check until one of my favorite four year olds comes up the stairs, runs across the room, and jumps up into my arms. She asked me to sign her journal (many college students were doing this as well) and after I asked her how we were going to keep in touch, she whispered in my ear, “We can write letters!” It was about the sweetest thing ever.

Now new Semester at Sea chapter begins. Today also starts my grand adventure as a nanny for yet another wonderful family from the Bay Area. Let’s call them the K family. I will be nannying for three boys: ages 4, 6, and 8 during the first half of Semester at Sea’s Enrichment Voyage. They have more energy than I quite know what to do with, but they are an amazing family and I am super excited to share this adventure with them. 

And in the end...

Casblanca, Morocco

I spent the last four days hiking through the Moroccan wilderness, sleeping on rooftops, and eating more couscous than I care to admit. Let me explain…

On my last voyage, Morocco was the last port. Kevin and I did a cool overnight trip where we got to spend the night in a Bedouin tent out in the Sahara and take a camel trek through some local villages the next day. (Riding a camel for that long sounds a lot more exciting than it actually is. The camel rash is a real thing. Trust me.) But we also spent about 20 hours on a bus over the course of 4 days so while I arrived home a bit car sick from all of the bus rides, the group who had done the Berber Villages of the High Atlas Mountains trip came back dirty, smelly, and satisfied. I heard nothing but great things about the trip from those on my last voyage and from a good friend who sailed the following semester, so when the opportunity to return to Morocco presented itself, I jumped at the chance. After a brief stop in Marrakech, we spent two days hiking through the High Atlas Mountains through some of the most beautiful country side I had ever seen. (Morocco, who knew?) Each day for lunch, we would arrive to this perfectly forested area, where our fabulous porters had set up a picnic spot and prepared some delicious food for us to enjoy. It was, by far, some of the best food of the entire semester. At night, we set up camp in a Bedouin Village, ate yet another wonderful meal, enjoyed each other’s company, and slept out on the rooftop underneath the stars. Four days after we started, we arrived back to the ship dirty, smelly, and satisfied, as promised. It was one of my favorite Semester at Sea experiences and an all-around great way to end the voyage. 

City of Refuge

Accra, Ghana

Today I participated in a service visit at the City of Refuge Children’s Village outside of Accra. Now, I know I’ve talked to you about these so-called service visits before, but this one actually had a service component. Shocking, I know.

The City of Refuge is an organization who seeks to rescue children who have been trafficked into the fishing industry. It also serves children who have been orphaned or abandoned. They have rescued about 80 kids since their founding in 2007. 35 kids currently live on site. They are really quite an amazing organization and in relation to the work that they do, there is nothing they haven’t thought of. They originally founded a school to serve the children who lived there, but saw a need in the community for all local children to have access to schooling. So they also run a school that currently serves 120 children from around the community. They are also in the process of building a high school for when the children age out of the current school. They also do outreach in the villages, employ single mothers who are most at risk for selling their children into trafficking, have installed a water purification system where they bag water for local people to sell, provide immunizations to community members, and the list goes on. While some people were off put by the religious nature of this organization, I was incredibly impressed at the attention to detail that was given to every aspect of these children’s lives. The founders, Stacy and her husband Johnbull, are incredibly inspirational people who make you realize that with a dream and some hard work, indeed anything is possible. To learn more about the City of Refuge Children’s Village, the amazing work they’re doing, and how you can help, please visit their website. 

A machine gun?

Torgome, Ghana

Today, I had the opportunity to do a homestay in a traditional Ghanaian village. I was really excited to learn more about the local life of people here in Ghana and while that did occur, much of the experience turned into something else entirely.

It’s been a constant conversation on the ship about giving gifts to local children, be it money, candy, or otherwise. Yes, it makes us feel good for a few seconds when the kids are happy to see us, happy to pose for pictures, and happy to take what we have. But what are the long term effects of American tourists coming in, showering these children with candy and trinkets then leaving just as quickly as we came? What does this say about Americans and what local kids should expect when they meet them? I was told that the children in this village were explicitly told not to beg and if caught doing so, they got in big trouble with their parents. Children would come up to us when no one was looking and whisper, “Give me a pencil.” Each time it happened, it cheapened my experience that much more. While there weren’t any kids in the household I was staying in, I felt that these children weren’t interested in interacting with us, they were looking to get something out of the deal by us being here.  A pencil, a sticker, something they can call their own or barter with if the need arises. This interaction in particular, was especially disturbing.

Kid: Give me a pencil.

Me: No

Kid: Give me money.

Me: No

Kid: Give me a machine gun.

Me: A machine gun?

Kid: Yes

Me: No

Now if constantly asking for pencils and candy says something about what we’re putting out there as Americans, what on Earth does asking for a machine gun say about us? I haven’t the foggiest.

Go for the Beads

Takoradi, Ghana

Today, we did a tour of the highlights of the Takoradi area in Ghana. This included a wide variety of experiences-everything from a national park known for its series of suspension bridges over a rainforest to touring two slave castles. You read that right. Slave castles.

Let’s start with the good news first, shall we? We drove about two hours to Kakum National Park. It is a National Park chock full of rainforest and suspension bridges. My friend Willard ended up behind a young girl, who as it turns out, is deathly terrified of heights. There was a series of 7 suspension bridges, each one slightly more terrifying than the next for someone who is afraid of heights. At first, Willard was just offering words of encouragement to help her across. Then she asked me to walk in front of her, still keeping him behind her. We did our best to talk to her, in order to keep her mind off of things. She was dressed in her Sunday best, complete with fancy patent leather shoes, perfect for church or, you know, traversing rope bridges over top of a rainforest. We learned her name was Benedict and it was her 12^th birthday.  Some birthday gift for someone who is afraid of heights, if you ask me. It went from, “Hey, let’s walk across some rope bridges!” to a really sweet memory that I won’t soon forget.

Now for the not so fun, albeit important, part. We also visited two slave castles, the Cape Coast Castle and the Elmina Castle. Both of these were where poor, unsuspecting Africans await their fate as slaves to be taken to Europe and America. Sure, you learn about slavery in school, but it seems so far removed from life as we know it. To see where people, actual human beings, were kept as slaves and sent off to an unknown fate in a faraway place was sobering to say the least. Some of these people were captured by the Europeans and some were even sold to the Europeans by their own people, tribes who had lost in civil war to an opposing tribe or debtors who were paying off their debts via indentured servitude. Sometimes the most impactful and important parts of our history are hardest to comprehend.

On a less depressing note, we learned a fun fact about the laws of attraction in Ghana. Our tour guide told us that the sound of kissing is not a turn on in Ghana, but rather it’s the sound of women’s beads clanking together that is a real turn on for men. So if you’re looking to hook a hottie in Ghana, go for the beads.