My Lifetime Valentine

This was the first Valentine's Day I've had a boyfriend.  In elementary school, it didn't matter I never had a special "friend" because the games, mandatory class valentines, crafts, and candy covered up February 14th's true meaning. Even in middle school, I could care less about having a boyfriend since most middle school boys were pretty disgusting (sorry guys). But, ever since I hit high school, Valentine's Day has been an almost dreaded holiday.  I've loved exchanging flowers and gifts with my girlfriends, but no matter what I planned with my friends, every Valentine's Day has reminded me how boyfriendless I actually am (well, up until now).

 

But the thing is, I've had a guy all along, a guy whose selfless love beats the love of my parents, my best friends, and even my current boyfriend.  You probably already know where I'm going with this, but that guy is Jesus.  Before I was even born, Jesus loved me enough to die for me, buying my ticket into heaven (if I choose to believe and follow Him).  I don't know about you ladies, but that gift is the greatest gift I've ever received from a man.  But Jesus didn't leave his gift there.  Instead of Jesus saying something like, "Yeah, I'm the best guy around.  No other guy can ever hold a candle to me," leaving us women to be disappointed by every other man we come across, Jesus taught men (and us) how to love.  1 John 4:19 says, "We love because He first loved us."  Our fathers, boyfriends, grandfathers, uncles, friends, and brothers show us love because of the example Jesus set on the cross.

 

I am always blown away by the incredible amount of love my dad, grandpa, and boyfriend give me. I'm a sinner; I sin all the time.  But, my dad, grandpa, and Nick choose to see past my sin and love me for who I am, just like Jesus. That blows me away. I'm also blown away with the amazing Valentine's Day my boyfriend planned for me.  Nick cooked an authentic Italian dinner, brought me flowers, made me gifts, and even watched The Vow with me!  It was by far the best Valentine's Day I've ever had, and I am so thankful Nick shows me love through the example of Jesus. But ladies, whether or not you also spent Valentine's Day with a significant other, remember that Jesus will ALWAYS be our lifetime valentine, no matter what. 

*Photo Credit: Jody Otabara

 

 

Reflection

Well, it's over.  My Semester at Sea voyage is over.  I'm home in my tiny town of Baldwinsville, seeing snow outside my window instead of bright blue waves and sleeping in a bed that doesn't rock.  I have no plans to travel outside of the United States anytime soon and strangely enough, I'm OK with that.  This past semester was a roller coaster of emotions: the good, the bad, the exciting, the disappointing, the funny, the uncomfortable, and so much more. I thought the highlight of my trip would be the many different countries I traveled to, but in reality, travel is so much more than the places you go or the things you experience.  It's about the people.  My voyage would never have been the same without the people I met and became friends with along the way.  It was my friends who taught me more about myself than sixteen countries ever could.  It was the people I met who made my semester amazing.  This is why I'm perfectly all right with staying in the United States for a while.  While my new friends are scattered all over the world, I still have many friends right here in New York!  And, there are still so many people here in Baldwinsville and Rochester who I don't know.  By eating at a new table in the dining hall or having coffee with a stranger, not only do I have the opportunity to meet new people, I have the opportunity to gain new perspective.  After all, perspective comes from the people, not from the places. I don't have to go to Europe or Africa or South America to gain new perspective.  By simply stepping a little out of my comfort zone here in the United States, the potential to travel is endless. 

"A journey is best measured in friends, rather than in miles."

Surprise!

Although Cuba was technically the last port on the Fall 2013 voyage of Semester at Sea, the fun didn't end there.  As a 50th anniversary surprise, we also traveled to...THE BAHAMAS!  We were given one full day to relax and unwind after finals in Freeport, and naturally, I chose to spend the day at the beach with friends. Here's just a few pictures from the day, all of which are credited to my friends since I just may have forgotten to put my camera battery into my camera.

  

 

All in all, spending the day in the Bahamas was a great way to wind down the semester! 

Once in a Lifetime

 

 

 After Brazil, the MV Explorer made its way over to Havana, Cuba!  Before coming onto Semester at Sea, I knew absolutely nothing about Cuba, so I wasn't overly excited about this stop.  But while preparing for our visit, I learned that the United States has an embargo on the country and as a result, most Americans aren't allowed to even travel to Cuba!  The only reason Semester at Sea could travel to the country is because our stop was for educational reasons.  And, before we even arrived in Havana, we had to drop family members of all faculty and staff in the Bahamas since they couldn't come into Cuba because they weren't technically part of the learning community.  So, I am extremely grateful that I was able to see and travel throughout Cuba!

When we got off the ship, we were immediately swarmed by the dozens of news crews waiting to interview the 500+ Americans miraculously allowed to visit their country.  Most wanted someone who could speak Spanish, so I managed to make my way past most (I got trapped in a 2 minute interview) of the overwhelming welcoming committee and onto the buses where our whole shipboard community would be traveling to the University of Havana.  Our day consisted of welcoming by professors and students, educational lectures, and cultural performances.  I decided to listen to a lecture on US and Cuban relations, and it was really interesting to hear a Cuban perspective on Americans.  Surprisingly, the lecturer (and the entire country's population, really) had hardly any negative feelings towards us Americans or the US.  The professor expressed his desire for the embargo to end, but in no way did he blame us.  He recognized both sides played a part in our "difficult" relationship, which I was certainly not expecting.  While I in no way can adequately explain the long history behind US and Cuban relations, if you have the chance, I encourage you to research some of the history, since it's actually pretty interesting!  

The next day, my group of friends and I decided to go on a Semester at Sea trip to a baseball game!  While I'm not a huge sports fan, it was fun to travel outside of Havana to experience a little bit of everyday culture!  As expected, I ate quite a bit of food (ice-cream), took a gazillion pictures, and participated in the wave.  Unexpectedly, I was caught off guard in the bathroom when I realized Cubans don't use toilet paper, took a bite out of a hot dog that tasted like cold bologna, and received cookies instead of my change at the concession stand because they ran out of change.  And, at the end of the game, we were able to go out on the field and meet the teams!

Since I couldn't do any souvenir shopping because of the US embargo, my third and final day in Havana was spent going to a small chocolate museum/café (where they sold hot chocolate for only 50 cents!) and exploring the center of town.  While I wasn't able to do a lot in Cuba, I fully enjoyed our last "real" port!

 

  

 

Brazil: In Pictures

Christ the Redeemer statue

Corcovado view

Copacabana Beach

 
 

Salvador's Old City

 

 

 

Good luck ribbons

 
The Upper City

Adios...For Now

After 12 full days at sea, I was more than happy to finally make it to Buenos Aires, Argentina!  This wasn't one of the ports I was most excited for, and so I came into the country with no plans whatsoever.  However, I am SO glad I didn't plan anything because sometimes, just wandering around a city with no concrete plans is the best way to get a feel of the culture and to come across little nooks and crannies unknown to most tourists!  I think this is why Buenos Aires ended up being one of my favorite ports so far, and I'm excited to share with you all why! 

1)  Buenos Aires is full of small, unique neighborhoods that each have a different culture and feel.  My first day was spent in the neighborhood, La Boca.  When I heard La Boca was known for colorful buildings, delicious food, tango in the streets, outdoor restaurants, and amazing shopping, I knew that the 3 hour walk each way would be worth it...and it definitely was!

 
2) Buenos Aires is known for its DELICIOUS food.  Although Argentina's specialty is beef, I decided to go along with the Italian immigrant influence and eat the mouth watering Italian food ALL THE TIME.  Not only that, but Buenos Aires knows how to do its' caramel.  It's called dulce de leche, and if you're ever in Argentina, you'll become addicted.         

3) Buenos Aires had a crazy resemblance to New York City.  Considering NYC is one of my favorite places in the states, I loved feeling like I was somewhere familiar, while also still feeling like I was in a foreign country.

4) Art was everywhere!  If you know me, you're probably wondering why that matters to me, considering I get bored after spending more than five minutes in an art museum.  Well, the art that I saw in Buenos Aires was not only unique, but had significant purpose.  For example, while exploring Buenos Aires, I visited Lanin Street, a entire street dedicated to the artwork of a famous artist, Marino Santa Maria.  Marino has made almost all the buildings and houses on this street into works of art, using mosaics or painted designs, in order to make the previously gloomy street full of life and color!  It was the by far the coolest "art gallery" I have ever seen.  And, after Marino showed me around Lanin Street, I made my own mosaic with his guidance!


5) Argentina, like most South American countries, has the nicest weather!  For our whole stay, the average temperature was around 85 degrees!  It's safe to say that after my sunburn wore off, I was left with a pretty nice tan!

6)  Buenos Aires prides itself on having an extremely high literacy rate and placing high value on books, reading, libraries, and bookstores.  Considering I love to read, I fell in love with El Ateneo, a bookstore created out of an old theater where anyone can come and read for as long as they'd like, regardless of whether or not they make a purchase! 

Overall, I had the BEST time in Buenos Aires, Argentina!  Although it's "Adios" for now, I sincerely hope I will be saying "Hola" to Buenos Aires again in the near future!





P.S.  For some reason, my email wouldn't let me send pictures with this post.  I'll add the pictures as soon as I can!
         

A Whole New World

If you've been keeping up with my blog, I'm sure you're all wondering by now if my "study abroad semester" actually includes any studying or if it's just a vacation around the world.  Well, with only about 2 weeks left in the semester, I figure I should probably clear that up and explain what a typical day looks like for me on board the MV Explorer!  I'm taking 4 classes this semester- Women in Literature, Marine Biology, World Literature, and Experiential Writing.  I also have a "campus" job this semester, working with the dependent children (children of the faculty and staff) on board.  Typically, when I'm not in class or in the dining hall, I can be found working with any number of the 22 kids on the ship.  While this may not sound like a difficult semester compared to your semester back home, I hope you can believe me when I say this has been the most difficult semester of my time in college, by far!  My professors are tough, my classes are challenging, and my job requires a lot of time.  Most of my free time is spent doing homework, and I can honestly say that I've never done more writing in my entire life!  All of this is why the ship class week is usually only 3 days, instead of the typical 5 days at colleges and universities back home.  This semester is challenging for every single student on board, so after 3 class days, if we haven't already arrived in a new country, we'll have a study day with no classes or work obligations so we can catch up on our class work.  And for every single country on the itinerary, the ship has 2 different seminars, cultural and logistical pre-port, to prepare us for our time in country.  Cultural pre-port focuses on the history and culture of the countries, while logistical pre-port gives us the practical, safety information for each port.  So, I have no problem filling up my time with classes, country preparation, and my work study job!


              

                                                                      
Even so, I still make the time to have fun on the ship, although ship fun is a little different than what we would call fun back home!  Here on the MV Explorer, it's common to walk around and see people playing Sardines, sunbathing, playing cards, knitting, hanging out with the dependent kids, swimming (in the very tiny pool), having movie nights, and jamming out on the piano, guitar, or African drums.  We don't have internet access/Facebook (unless you pay a ridiculous amount), TV, or phones to talk to people back home, and so, we really have to make our own fun.  But because of this, the relationships made on the ship are so much stronger than most relationships back home, for the most part.  I can't even begin to imagine how much I'm going to miss my new friends once I get back home!


   


But for now, that's typical life for me on board the MV Explorer!  After being on Semester at Sea for so long, it's going to be hard to adjust back to life at good, ol' Roberts!