Royal Diamond Shellbacks are We

Yesterday we crossed the exact middle of the earth at 0 degrees latitude and 0 degrees longitude.  According to tradition we went from being a Pollywog to an Emerald Shellback (USA nomenclature), or a Royal Diamond Shellback (British nomenclature) in status.  There is usually a ceremony for sailors crossing the equator for the first time, and there are rituals that go along with this celebration.  On the Semester-at-Sea the tradition is to shave one’s head – both men and women.  Many of the students are planning on honoring this time tested ritual.  Once the ceremony is complete, a Pollywog receives a certificate declaring his/her new status as a Shellback.  A rarer status is the Golden Shellback, a person who has crossed the Equator at the 180th meridian (International Date Line). The rarest Shellback status, the one that we now hold, is that of the Emerald Shellback or Royal Diamond Shellback), which is received after crossing the Equator at the Prime Meridian.  When a ship must cross the Equator reasonably close to one of these Meridians, the ship's captain will typically plot a course across the Golden X so that the ship's crew can be initiated as Golden or Emerald/Royal Diamond Shellbacks (more information on the Pollywog to Emerald Shellback can be found in Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line-crossing_ceremony.  This is what happened yesterday as our Captain was persuaded to deviate a little from his planned course to cross at exactly 0^o 0^o 0^o latitude by 0^o 0^o 0^o longitude at 12:30 PM ships time (not sure what time zone we are really in).

In parting, I wanted to let all of you know that as part of receiving our new status as Emerald Shellbacks (we prefer the term Royal Diamond Shellback), neither Julie nor I plan to follow the tradition of shaving our heads.  The thought did cross our minds of just using Photoshop to make it appear like we shaved our heads, but the ships honor code and my lack of skills with Photoshop has prevented us doing so.

Memories of Morocco

Sept. 9 - Rabat

We arrived in Casablanca on Sept. 10 at 8:00 and finally got through the passport control about 11:00.  At about 1:30 we boarded the bus for a tour of the capital city of Rabat that is about 2 hours from Casablanca.  The main attraction was the King Palace and the casaba – the remains of the fort that protected the old city walled city of Rabat.  The King is in his early 40’s and has set a priority of modernizing the country starting with Rabat.  There is a considerable amount of construction taking place including a city rail line (something that Seattle could take a lesson from).

Sept 10 - Casablanca

Today we took the city tour of Casablanca to get a little orientation of the city. The streets were packed local citizens trying to get home for the feast to begin.  We had arrived at the end of Ramadan and at sunset people could break their month long fast (they only fast between sun up and sun down for the month of Ramadan).  The orientation took us by the 3^rd largest mosque in the world, Kings Palace, and a newer church with floor to ceiling stained glass.  We also drove by stately homes, shabby shacks, and streets named for famous French writers and authors.  We were reminded that Morocco was a French protectorate from 1912 to 1956.  Much of the architecture in in the country is French design.

One of the highlights of our stop in Casablanca was having dinner at Rich Café.  This is the café that was made famous in the movie Casablanca except in the movie the café was in a movie studio in Hollywood.  This café is a replica of the move icon complete with piano player playing 1940’s jazz, white table clothes and a wait staff dressed in the period dress of the 1940’s.

Sept  11 & 12 – Marrakech / Ourika Valley

Today we left for our first overnight trip to Marrakech and the Ourika Valley – a 3.5 hour bus ride south from Casablanca.  Our first stop was Majorelle Gardens.  A botanical garden filled with an abundance of plants from 5 continents.  The gardens were started by Pierre Berge’ and after his death Yves St Laurent took over the stewardship of the area and ashes were interned there according to his last wishes.   From the gardens we headed for the famous Marrakech markets with snake charmers and monkey handlers, and a souk with miles of winding streets and back alleys all lined with stalls selling just about anything you think you have to have.  The sellers are very aggressive and expect to dicker on anything you even look vaguely at purchasing.  We had lunch in the market area and headed for our hotel. 

After checking in we gathered for another bus ride to the medina (old city), walked through small alleys and streets and entered a small, nondescript door into a nice restaurant for dinner and local entertainment (a belly dancer).  The authentic Moroccan Food and wine were good and a good time was had by all.

The second day of the tour was travel to the Atlas Mountains and the Ourika valley.  We visited a Berber home.    The Berber tribes have inhabited this area for 1000’s of years.  The name Berber was a Roman name given to these peoples meaning barbarian.  The Berber home we visited was typical of all the homes in this area – stone floor, cushioned benches, no running water, kitchen with clay stove and two saunas for bathing.  The house also housed the family cow and burro just off the main floor. 



Berber House Kitchen





Berber Sauna




Berber House Main Room

The lady of the house provided fresh mint tea, homemade bread, honey and butter for all 39 guests.  After leaving the Berber village we stopped at an herbal factory were we got a lecture of the value of a number of local plants and herbs and their medicinal qualities.  Now that we smelled just fine from trying on 20 different herbal concoctions we boarded the bus and headed for Casablanca.



Hostess making tea


Sept 13 – Casablanca

We jump a cab and headed for the grand mosque to take an tour.  This mosque, 3^rd largest in the world, is 20,000 square meters will hold 25,000 worshipers with a court yard that will hold another 80,000.  99% of the material used to build the mosque is from Morocco.  The French Chandeliers and the titanium doors are the only exceptions.  It is really a work of art. 


Sept 14 – Casablanca

Ship sails today for Ghana.  We took the morning doing a final walk through some of the shop in the local market and picket up a few, must have items. 

Today is Sunday, and on the ship, it is business as usual.  There is no weekend on board as far as classes and the computer lab while we are at sea.  Class days are divided into A days and B days.  About half of the students attend a given class on the A days and the other half attend the same lecture on the B days. Weekends are not recognized.    When we are in port, all classes and services like the computer lab and library are not staffed.  This type of schedule works well for this environment but it seems to be difficult for both the Profs and students.  For instance, classes were started the day after we left Halifax and continued for the7 days we sailed to Spain.  Then classes were suspended for 5 days while we were in port in Spain, and because is only take a day to go from Spain to Morocco, the classes did not resume for another 6 days while we were docked in Casablanca.  It was like starting school for 7 days and then having an 11 day spring vacation.

It has been an interesting working in the computer lab and a bit different than I had imagined.  Not sure just what I had envisioned, but I was off the mark.  The ship has a satellite connected internet and an intranet.  Students can send email and access class notes from shared drives via the intranet.  When they want to get at their home email or access things like YouTube then have to attach to the internet.  Each environment has different userids and passwords.  There is a wireless network throughout the ship, but because the cabins are all metal, wireless connection from there is spotty, and that’s being kind.  The printers in the computer lab are networked and work about half of the time.

 Probably the biggest challenge is the variety of computer equipment and operating systems that came aboard with the students and the paying passengers call lifelong learners. About have of the students have Macs ranging from brand new to about 5 years old.  The other half have PC computers in about the same age.  Most of these computers have the original operating system still running on them.  On the PC side that give us XP, Vista and Windows 7 along with Office 2003, 2007 and 2010 to contend with.  The same is true for the Macs.  We also see iPads, iPhones, Blackberries and a variety other cell phones all trying to connect to the internet.  The students for the most part are pretty self-sufficient and generally computer savvy.   This is not true for the faculty and the lifelong learners most of which are over the age of 50.  All in all we are continually busy in the computer lab working and reworking connection and printer problems and occasionally helping people scan documents and set up PowerPoint presentation.  I was told this was going to be a “cake walk” job – NOT, but the experience both on and off the ship is great.

Adventures in Spain

 Sept. 4 - Cadiz, Spain
 

Cadiz, Spain



Cadiz

We arrived in Cadiz, Spain around 8:00 AM and docked at berth in the Port of Cadiz to start our 5 day country visit.  Our first tour was a city orientation of the old and new parts of Cadiz.  Sun, our tour guide, took us to the central cathedral, public parks and gardens, the natural history museum, and pointed out the local fish market.   It was our first tour and Dave’s first time at being a bus leader.  Being a bus leader has a perk of a free tour.  It also makes one responsible for making sure that all the people that started the tour were also present at the end of each stop and were accounted for at the end of the tour.  Dave decided there was too much accountability required for the benefits of a free trip and is revaluating any further part time jobs as a bus tour leader.

 

Solid Silver "Float"



The cathedral was notable for several reasons – it was started around 1250 and gold and riches from the new world were unloaded and after 1492 the treasure of the local area were significantly increased.  One of the interesting artifacts stored in the cathedral was a ceremonial “float” that is carried even today in local festivals.  This float is made of 2000 Kilograms of silver and takes 12 men to wheel this behemoth through the streets of Cadiz. The other notable reason to become familiar with the Cathedral was that is the highest part of old town Cadiz and all roads pretty much in the square where it is located.  It worked great for us as we negotiated the narrow, winding streets of the old city.



Sunset view from Ventorillo Rest.



One of the high lights of our visit to Cadiz was having dinner at two of the best restaurants in the city, or at least a couple of the best know.  Ventorrillo Del Chato and El Faro – Ventorrillo is the oldest family owned, continually operated in Northern hemisphere – started in 1735.  Food and wine were excellent.  Ventorrillo is located west of city center Cadiz along a beach several miles long.  We arrived at 9:30 just in time to watch the sun set into the Atlantic ocean.  Even at 9:30 we were the first people at the restaurant for dinner.  Everyone else shows up to start dinner sometime at 10:00 PM and continues until well after mid night. 

Sept  5 - Grazalema Natural Park



Grazalema Natural Park

Tour bus left the ship at 10:00 AM to start the 2 hour ride to Grazalema Natural Park.  We stopped once for a short break at Grazalema, one of the 29 white towns located in the valley of the surrounding mountains.  The term white towns is used because all the building are white washed a brilliant white to help keep the interiors cools.  We met our biologist guide, Pedro, and his interpreter, Anna, at Grazalema and road to the trail head together.  We started the hike with a moderate climb – NOT.  In the first mile, we gained about 400 meters in elevation and then the trail undulated up and down for the next 2.5 Kilometers.  We were in search for the rare Spanish Pine trees that grow in only 3 locations in Spain.  Julie kept asking why they had to grow at the top of the mountain.  Between the heat (38^o C), elevation gain, and very rocky, switchback path, Julie was not a happy camper for most of the hike.  By the end of the hike everyone was ringing wet and dead tired for the ride home.  A quick dinner, several Aleve, and a shower all was right with the world and the “Bataan Death March” of Spain had come to an end for Julie.

Sept. 6 - Santa Maria



Santa Maria


 



We caught the Ferry for a short 25 minute ride across the bay to the small town of El Puerto Santa Maria.  Santa Maria is a town that acts as a “bedroom” community for Cadiz.  It also houses a U.S. Naval base.  With the help of some local folks that spoke enough English to help us get pointed in the right direction to the center of town, we made our way to a local café for Chocolate de Churro.  Coffee served with fresh made Churro, a type of donut server hot from the deep fryer, with a cup of hot chocolate that is like warm chocolate pudding.  The best hot chocolate is one where the churro stands up by itself.  Santa Maria is a very charming, older city with wonderful architecture, narrow streets, a castle or two and of course a large cathedral.  We explored the city, had a beer and senorita paella – squid, prawn, mussels and rice.  Paella is supposed to be a requisite dish for one travelling in Spain.  After lunch we caught the ferry home and wondered over to the other must restaurant in Cadiz – El Faro.  The meal was very good, menu was in English, French, German and Spanish so we were able to understand what we were about to eat – crab stuffed pimentos with cheese and fried phyllo rolls stuffed with goat cheese, leeks severed with a sultana sauce.



Restaurant in Santa Maria



Sept 7 - Seville



Seville


 

Columbus' Remains

Up early today to catch an 8:00 AM train with one of the SaS professors and his wife for a 2 hour ride to Seville.  We wondered through Seville – another very pretty town a bit larger than Cadiz.  One of the interesting stops was the Seville Cathedral.  This cathedral was built on the top of the Mosque that was built in 1181.  In 1218, the mosque was consecrated as a Catholic Church.  The cathedral is the final resting place of Christopher Columbus ’ casket).  It also has a bell tower that provides those hardy enough to walk the 35 ramps to the top with a stunning view of the city.  Next to the Cathedral is the Royal Alcazar of Seville.  It is palace that contain a 1000 years of history of Muslim and Christian art and artifacts.

  

Sept 8

Last day in Spain – we leave for Morocco at 8:00 PM.  We had an easy day today, but managed to visit a large department store called El Corte Inglaise.  We were looking for small Spanish made items we could not find in the markets.  El Corte Inglaise is a department store on steroids that is something like a cross between Nordstrom and Fred Meyer.  As large as it was we were unable to locate anything that we were looking for and returned to the ship to start the next adventure – Casablanca here we come.



 



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Our blog is going live - at long last

We have finally gotten around to getting our blog started. This first post is a chronology of the first 12 days of our Semester at Sea adventure.  We arrive in Cadiz, Spain tomorrow at 0800 for a 5 day stay.  A summary of the trip so far follows.
Aug 23

We boarded a ship today to start the journey. The ship was big and ready for any kind of action the world could muster. As we were looking for our state room, an elderly gentleman asked if he could help us, and after explaining that we were with the Semester at Sea program he informed us that the ship we were standing on was the battleship Wisconsin. The MV Explorer was the smaller ship directly behind the USS Wisconsin.

The MV Explorer will be our residence for the next 109 days. After getting through security and having our 200 pounds of possessions delivered to our room, the next task was trying to store everything in a very small cabin. The first social activity was a meet and greets reception for the faculty and staff. There are 36 faculty and 38 staff members plus about 200 employees of the hotel group running the ship. We were very excited to meet people who were also enthusiastic and excited to get started. At 8:00 PM we pulled away from the wharf, and we were on our way. The first serious exercise, after everyone was boarded, was the Life Boat drill. It was gratifying to see that our life boat was just outside our cabin window. It blocks some of the view, but gives one a nice secure feeling as we rise each morning to see that the life boat is still there. It is sort of like watching the engines on your aircraft during the flight.

MV Explorer in Cadiz, Spain

Aug 24

Rock n’ roll – Here we go. We awakened around 6:30 AM to our cabin surfing back and forth. For Julie this was not a good sign. She rushed to the shower to ready for the events of the day to start and they did come. We went to breakfast, Julie with her small white bag in hand. Two bites of oatmeal, and that bag suddenly became her new best friend as she exited the cafeteria. She returned back to the cabin to sleep. Noon came quickly for her and bravely back into the cafeteria she went. Four bites of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a few spoonful of tomato soup went directly into her to-go bag. Back to bed she went. Dave brought her some toast and tea and walked her outside to the bow of the ship to watch the horizon and the waves. It was the best she felt all day. By dinner time Julie as really hungry. Even the bad spaghetti tasted good for the evening meal. After dinner we saw our first gorgous sunset with the sun slowly sinking into the sea. We took it as a sign of better things to come and an omen that Julie would soon not be dragging her little white bag everywhere she went.

Aug 26

After two days of high seas with waves of 8.5 meters (approx. 20 ft.), we slipped into Halifax about 8:00 AM. Julie has now acquired her sea legs and is ready for a little shore time. About 10AM the work study students and 62 Life Long Leaners boarded. This event was followed by a reception for the parents who were dropping off their students. It was an opportunity for parents, faculty and staff to meet and greet and hopefully allay fears of the parents about the fate of their children.

Archbishop Tutu and his wife also boarded the ship today. One of his memorable comments to the Executive Dean was “I don’t understand why everybody wants to talk to me - I‘m just a ghetto kid.” Perhaps he is just a little bit more than that.

Dave decided to take a Drawing 101 class after the professor made the boast that she could teach anyone to draw. Actually she said she could teach anyone to draw better than they do now. At any rate, the professor offered to go with him to purchase the necessary art supplies for the class. Off eywent to an art supply store in Halifax and spent an hour buying items that he was going to need for the class – about $150 worth. Makes one committed to staying with the class.

After a day of trying some of the local beer, we tried an upscale fish restaurant, McKelvies, in downtown Halifax,. It was very good. We finished off the evening walking the waterfront boardwalk back to the ship.

Aug 27

We had the opportunity to meet Archbishop Tutu today as he came into the computer lab to get his Mac configured for the ship. As Julie was introduced she said she was Dave’s wife. Archbishop Tutu shook her hand and in his nicest tone of voice corrected her by saying that Dave was her husband not the other way around.

Leaving Halifax, Canada

We spend the rest of the day exploring what we could of Halifax. Our day was cut short in order to be on the ship by 2:00 PM to be ready to depart for Spain at 5:00 PM. We left in sunny warm weather standing on Deck 6 watching all the student wave good bye to their crying and laughing parents below. Seven days from now we will arrive in Cadiz, Spain.

Aug 29

Classes start today. Julie is attending World Geography, Global Studies, and World Music and Disease & Healing. Dave will start his Drawing 101 class as well. In the evening we attend the social meeting with the lifelong learners (those passengers that paid full fare for the trip).

Sept 1

After 5 days at sea, we passed by Santa Maria Island – the western most island of the Azores. The Azores are  a 9 island chain with a population of about 350,000. They are a possession of Portugal. In addition to a few fishing boats, Julie also saw a half dozen porpoise frolicking around the ship.

Fishing boats off of Santa Maria

Santa Maria Island - Azores