Becca is Still OK

To reassure everyone, Becca is alright. JoEllen decided on the name of
the title based on our crazy cab ride conversations from last night.

So today we went to France! The part of Spain we are in is considered
the Basque Country and we went to a part in France that is also part of
the Basque area. I have been to Paris before and this was way different.
The first city was Biarritz and it was along the beach and had an
amazing view from basically everywhere. It was a cute little town in the
country and nothing like the city in Paris. We had a lot of free time
and walked and wandered. JoEllen and I of course found a bakery and got
croissants. Croissants are the theme of this trip so far. So far 4 for 4
countries with croissant tasting so far (England, Portugal, Spain, and
France). The ones from France were huge and the best out of all of them!
After we had lunch and then were bussed to Saint Jean de Luz. It wasn't
as pretty in my opinion and was pretty dead because of basically a
siesta. We went off with our friend Becca and 2 more girls. And... wait
for it... got lost. It is actually really hilarious now, but at the time
not so much. Not even 1 out of the 5 of us were paying attention.
Luckily Becca speaks French and was able to get us back to a landmark we
had passed coming in. I am sure it was a sight to see when all 5 of us
were frantically running to the bus (20 minutes late) and laughing. We
then had to find our trip supervisor and guide who went out looking for
us. We could not stop laughing at how embarrassing and stupid it was.

Currently we are getting ready to sleep soon and our room looks like a
laundromat. We have bags filled with jeans and sweatshirts and other
things we can't wash in the sink to go out to the laundry room. The
laundry bags aren't that huge and it isn't that bad to wash small shirts
and underwear in the sink. We also have the entire clothes line in the
shower stuffed with tank tops, t-shirts, and underwear. JoEllen is
currently hanging dresses and tops on what are supposed to be towel
hooks in the bathroom. I have socks on the seat of a chair and her yoga
pants are on the back. And I have a t-shirt drying over a table top.
JoEllen is retooling bobby pins as clothes pins and something just fell.
Safe to say all of the floor space in our room with be soaked tomorrow.
It's like a peasant/hobo/laundromat.

Tarsals, Travels, and Tapas

So I am sure everyone is dying to know about my foot. I had to wake up earlier this morning and head the the clinic where they did x-rays of my toe. Going by how the fingers are named it would be my pointer toe? On my right foot, but anyway I couldn't take the pain anymore of walking on it and it was weirdly veering in the wrong direction. Turns out it is not broken, so I have still never broken a bone ever (fun fact). But I did a good job in jamming/spraining it. So another week of walking could of broken it. It's easier to tell people I just broke it then explain. It gets taped to my middle toe and now they are best friends basically and I have 4 toes this way.

Apart from the toe fiasco, we arrived in Bilbao Spain (part of Basque Country) at 8am this morning. I had a field lab for Anthropology of Food. I was so excited for this lab and was really disappointed. We took a tour of the old city, talked to a chef, and visited a market. The market included smelly fish and lots of pig. As most know I love pigs and I saw a straight up pig head just sitting on the counter! I could have cried, but yes I took a picture to show. After the market we had a tapas tasting and although I tried them I can't say I liked them. Tapas which they also called Pintxos (in Basque) where pieces of meat, cheese, and fruit on pieces of bread. Kind of like appetizers but served usually between 9-11pm with drinks. 3 out of the 5 we were given had mayo on them which I do not like at all. One had seafood , which I still did not like. One of the tapas had fruit on it and what everyone assumed was cheese. I was convinced this grey "cheese" that I just tried was liver or some other organ. I was right. So I tried lots of mayo and liver. I began taking everything off so I basically had a bread tasting. I tried though. After we toured restaurants but not really. It was like just looking at different dining rooms and we were all bored to death. We were also hungry after the tapas and stopped in a bakery. It was not as good as the croissants we had in Lisbon.

Once we came back we ate dinner and got ready to go back out around 8. We went back to the old town and met up with some friends on the shuttle. We jumped from bar to bar, which are actually sort of restaurants for them because they eat dinner at 9-11pm. I tried some white wine and loved it and at the next place I had amazing sangria. The other 2 girls that JoEllen and I were with wanted to go back sort of earlier because of excursions tomorrow. We all had a really good time, got a little tipsy, made more friends, and got ice cream! Tomorrow we are off to a field program to the South - Western part of France. That makes 11 countries and 12 cities! Buenas noches!

Bye Lisboa!!

So right as I sent that message, the engine turned on and the boat is
starting to rock so basically I'll be distracted during class as we are
probably going to pulling away soon.

I Love You Portugal !

Soooo yesterday both of our alarms went off early at 7:45 for our last
excursion in Portugal. I barely remember waking up and then the next
time we looked at the clock it was 11:30. Safe to say we missed the 9am
bus to our bike tour. I don't know if we could have done it anyway. So
exhausted and I think I broke my toe at some point in Portugal. It is
not swollen or bruised but damn does it hurt to put pressure on. Maybe a
sprained toe, that's how you prove you did exploring right?!

We made our way out to the city with some friends by 2 and wandered. We
found a McDonald's for WiFi and I finally got to say hi and make use of
What's App. We basically wandered and walked and wandered more, but we
actually knew where we were going. We stopped in cool shops that weren't
touristy. We actually got some really pretty tiles. Mine is all orange.
After that we stopped at a little bakery for the biggest croissants ever
... filled with chocolate. Then we re-found our friends and got drinks.
More green wine. We wandered some more and walked to Alfama, which is
the oldest quarter of the city and is filled with decorated streets,
hills, and cool little shops. After walking for a while we stopped for
dinner in the main square and I can't remember the name of the place.
The food was pretty good, but we got some more drinks. I had a mojito
and I definitely felt it. I really loved Portugal but we had to be on
board by 10pm.

Right now it is 7:50am and I have class starting at 8. Not sure what is
going on because we still haven't left port for Spain. It should take
two days to get there though!

Props to Magellan

High five to Magellan and Columbus because exploring the world is hard.
It is only our second country and we are exhausted, like beyond finals
week exhausted, after 3 days of programs in a row. Last night I
basically face planted into my bed and did not move all night because
when I woke up I was still laying the same. It was so hard to move.

So backing up, yesterday we had a tour to the village Sintra to see the
Pena palace. And we were tired for it because we were hanging out on the
deck until after 12 with a group of friends the night before. The day
was so nice until we got up the mountain, right when we got off the bus
it was chilly and started pouring. Luckily we had our umbrellas. The
palace was on a mountain and the bus could only take us so far. We
walked up a steep hill the rest of the way and it was so hard and so
steep. It was even more difficult because it was so wet. We made it up
and the palace was so amazing. The rooms were all decorated and still
had the original furnishings inside. It was so huge and elaborate. The
best part of Pena was the walls and ceilings. The tiles and designs on
the ceilings were so pretty. After Pena we took the bus to lunch and
were served wine, rice, and pork. And then we went to the beach in an
area called Cascais. It was a really cool little square and town along
the beach. We had free time to roam and the weather got really nice
again. We stopped at an ice cream stand and got alcoholic ice pops.
JoEllen had an ice cream bar with champagne swirled in it and I had a
Mojito ice pop with rum in the middle. It was a very good choice. Later
that night we walked to the big screen in a square where they were
showing the USA v. Portugal World Cup game. It was such a cool
experience and we also shared (and finished) a bottle of green wine.
Portugal and their green wine, it is so good! And then when we got back
we flopped and didn't move until this morning.

Today we woke up to the rain and were on our way to tile painting. I was
not that impressed with this tour as I was with the others. We took a
tour of an art museum and different crafting workshops. Besides the
tiles on the wall, the museum and workshops did not involve any tile
history or making. At the end we got to paint tiles finally and it was
OK, nothing really special but a cool souvenir. We made it back to the
ship and passed out. Now it is quarter to 7 and we are deciding what to
do for some of the night. Tomorrow is our last day in Portugal.

"The World is Our Campus"

"The World Is Our Campus" is printed on all of the maps that were given
away at the study abroad fair and the large map hung on all the cabin
walls. Today it was really true. This is one of the weirdest (in a good
way) school experiences ever and it is so insane that it is actually
happening and I am here. After class everyday we head up to the top deck
to read our homework and tan poolside. That's the best kind of school I
can think of. If it doesn't get anymore out of the ordinary from there,
we have our professors dining and tanning by the pool with us. How many
people can say that they tan with professors?! All of my professors are
really nice and relaxed. They care most about connecting the class with
the countries we will see. Like in my Northern History class we are
learning about the Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 and today I got to explore
Lisbon.

So that brings me back to the "World Is Our Campus". Usually at school
we have labs in separate rooms with beakers, test tubes, and dissection
kits (science major problems), but today I had a lab class in the
streets of Lisbon for about 8 hours. We were finally back on land after
a week at 9am and made our way to the bus which took us to a museum. It
was called the Meseu de Cidade (hopefully that is spelled right). We
saw old maps of the city and pictures form before and after the quake.
We saw different things that were uncovered from the wreck and how the
city was reconstructed after. We then had free time so we took off with
other students and walked around the city and got some euros.

After the museum we made it to lunch, which was so good. We had an
appetizer which they seem to bring out to everyone with the bread. I
don't remember the name though and it was basically beef in the
consistency of mashed potatoes and was fried, it kind of looked like a
mozzarella stick. For the actual meal we had steak called bife in a
butter and beer sauce. The beer made it not very greasy or buttery
tasting. It was really good. After that we walked the streets and alleys
and windy routes with a guide. We learned about the new city
construction after the quake. The best part was going underground in
museums to see uncovered walls and ruins of the original city dating
back to the 13th century that they just built on top of. I even got to
see a skeleton in the ruins. And I am in love with all of the blue tiles
and tile work here it's so amazing. Right now we are back in the room
and doing homework and relaxing!

Dropping Anchor in Portugal

Today we had classes and whatever that's not important. The important
thing is that it is beautiful out! Beautiful, sunny, and warm . We made
it right to the top deck after classes to tan and sit by the pool. We
are doing homework at the same time too. I wasn't going to blog until we
made it to Portugal on Saturday, but guess what its 2 on Thursday and we
are here! We can see land and this trip finally feels real. The second
country (besides flying into London) is visible! The town is so packed,
like buildings packed in next to each other. Now it is 2:20 and I am
starting again because we left to go watch the boat dock from the side.
Now we are officially docked in Lisbon, Portugal. We won't be getting of
the ship until Saturday still and then we will have a first field
program. For the rest of the day we have homework, sitting outside,
dinner, a pre-port meeting, and finally sleep!

Poppin' A Drammy

Yesterday we had orientation and it was basically all day and boring,
not going to lie. The food here is not really improving as it is
potatoes and pasta basically for lunch and dinner every day. It's not
bad, but there isn't much variety and a lot of carbs. So I'm hungry a
lot because I'm just burning through carbs. I did eat some chicken
finally for lunch though. It got pretty windy and rocky so we were all
walking around like drunks through the halls. JoEllen and I did not feel
so hot near dinner time and through 8. We did make a new friend though,
Mary. She is also from New Jersey and started talking because she saw my
Stockton sweatshirt. We hung out with her all day and plan to meet up
today too. We have met a few other nice people that we talk to and sit
with in classes or the halls.

The reason for the name of this post is because we went to bed around 9
and by 12 we were still up and hyper and laughing and dizzy. So we split
a Dramamine in half and very classy like said cheers. That's when I had
my first quotable moment (around the time of over tiredness) "I don't
want to wake up tomorrow because I am scared of breakfast." Yea most of
our talk included how we wanted more food and something other than pasta.

Today is our first day of classes and we woke up being rocked like
crazy, but we slept like babies because of the Dramamine. Our first
class was Anthropology of Food and it started at 8. We were exhausted. I
think i will really like it because it is science(y) and about
nutrition and cannibalism, which seems interesting. The other classes
seem alright. The teachers are nice, although I am not looking forward
to the economics class. Even though we were tired I was glad to be
finished with classes at 12. We do have a lot of reading to do and it is
going to be hard to get used to going to class every day until ports. It
is a lot nicer today and the waters calmed down around 3. I'm happy to
be going South and having warmer weather, so I'm of course out in my
bathing suit trying to tan. It's weird because if I were at home I would
be so dark already. Without the beach and hot humid weather, I am still
Casper looking. We are west of Spain and still North of Portugal but a
lot closer and may be there a day early. We went to the "campus" store
and I got the shirt that I think everyone will buy that has all the
countries were going to on the back. I also got a sweatshirt because it
is colder than expected and I only brought one. I always get blue or
grey or black, so I got tie dye to mix it up and because I couldn't pick
a color. And i FINALLY got a water bottle (orange of course) because you
can't take cups out of the dining hall so I've been only able to drink
during meals. Right now we are reading our books for classes (even
though we are having trouble figuring out what page we are on and
JoEllen is having wifi troubles and her books are stuck in the archive)
#KindleProbs.

Stalkin' the Ship

It took me a little while to get my email figured out. I have come to realize that it does not work in our cabin, which is why I am sitting in the hallway outside our door doing this. Anyway we have orientation today and not much going on. I wanted to share a link that my dad emailed to me. Of course he would find this. Basically you can follow the ship and see where we are! http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/home?mmsi=311705000&centerx=-71.0297&centery=42.3433&zoom=10&type_color=6

Suite Life on Deck

Today we woke up and packed everything up to go down to catch our
shuttle outside of the hotel. We got our name tags and boarded the
shuttle around 8:45. It honestly looked like driving through New Jersey
for the hour and a half ride, lot of farms and cows. It wasn't a very
exciting ride until we got a first sight of the ship. We made it to the
docks around 10:15 and we were through security and were on the ship by
11. We went through check-in and then made it up to our room. We are all
the way at the end of the hall. The only room past us is an emergency
exit. The room is small, but not extremely, it is a nice size to live in
for 2 and a half months. Our luggage got here super fast so we were able
to unpack. No more living out of a suitcase for us. We met our neighbors
to the other side and they seem really nice. We had lunch and got our
email fixed and of course took a nap. Around 5 we had to gather in our
muster stations to practice an emergency drill. Those life jackets are
so attractive, at least they are my favorite color; orange. There we met
a lot more people. It is now 7:20 and we just finished dinner. The food
is buffet style, not that great but not terrible either. At 8 we have an
introduction meeting and the ship leaves at 9 tonight! Tomorrow we have
an orientation before classes start the next day. Once we leave tonight
we are on our way to our first port; Lisbon, Portugal!!

Taking on London!

After a much needed nap we got up and headed for the tube. We took the Piccadilly Line to Piccadilly Circus and basically walked and walked around London for 4 and a half hours. We had Swedish meatball sandwiches (our first food of the day besides our 7am in flight muffins). We wandered and took touristy pictures at phone booths and old buildings. We kept walking and found Big Ben and the London Eye, which was cool because we weren't really looking for it. We stopped so I could get an "I love London" tshirt and keychains (we want to collect one from each country). Of course we sat and people watched before heading a long way back to the Piccadilly Line. We stopped at a pharmacy and a food store and picked up some Europeanish candy. Like a Kit Kat with peanut butter?! So good. And of course croissants and I got blackcurrant juice which I loved the last time I was here. We didn't get lost at all and now we're back at the hotel to get ready for tomorrow!! 

What's Good London?

We made it to the airport yesterday and through security and on our night flight to London without any problems.The flight felt so long and we're so tired. We walked like 10 miles I think in the airport and terminals (maybe more, I'm probably exaggerating, but it never ended). And our bags are so heavy! It's only 10:50am right now so 5:50am at home. We are at the hotel and laying down. It is raining! So much for sunny and 70 :( Once we get energy I think we are going to adventure out into the city for a while before crashing for the night. Another long day ahead of us tomorrow!! See ya. 

Bye USA

I CANNOT BELIEVE HOW FAST IT HAS COME! I've always wanted to study abroad and now it's here. My flight leaves tonight at 7:30pm. While I'm so excited (why I'm doing this instead of sleeping) I'm also nervous. But who wouldn't be a little nervous?! I finished packing and got it all in one bag and at the right weight. So proud. I can't believe it's here. Just one more day of finishing last minute things before I'm off to the airport in the afternoon. It's been real TR!! This girl is going international! See you "across the pond" in London. 

Packing!

I am 3 days away from leaving! And almost over this cold that I got at the perfect time of course. I'm not that excited or nervous yet because it hasn't really hit me. I have always wanted to study abroad and I don't think it's actually going to hit me until I'm boarding the plane! It just doesn't feel real yet! 

Yesterday I began packing and hopefully today I will be (almost) finishing. Of course I am making a housewide mess. It's hard trying to pack your life into a bag. My next post probably won't be until I am either done packing or I'm on my way to the airport. That last sentence got me excited there. See ya! 

Contact Me Abroad!

So I am leaving in 12 days!!

There will plenty of ways to get in contact with me! These are in a random order as I think of them...

1. Download the app called What's App. It is free for a year and whenever and if I get WiFi I can use it to text you! (If you have an iPhone, I should be able to text or face time other iPhones as well as use social media if I get WiFi.)

2. E-mail me! My e-mail for the ship is: blaire.ennis.su14@semesteratsea.org. If you send to my school e-mail or personal e-mail address it will all be fowarded to that address, so hopefully I won't miss anything. 

3. I will have an international cell phone to call my family! So family and close friends, if you see a strange number at a weird hour of the day PICK UP!! 

4. Then there is my blog which you are on right now : http://blairealyson.blogspot.com/

You should add your e-mail and "follow" my blog so you will get an e-mail every time I make a new post!

5. (My favorite number) Google Doc! JoEllen and I have created a Google Doc that includes our entire schedule! So for our family and friends, feel to print it out or link it so you can see what we are doing each day!! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AjstCmgVc-qrdG5Ed3NGVVl2MFB1ZEYzeHo0SnhqSmc&usp=sharing#gid=1

Hopefully the Google Doc and blog will be useful for communicating because along with traveling the world I will be trying to disconnect from the USA to immerse myself, as much as I can, in Europe and Scandinavia. So don't expect too many e-mails or social media updates! Follow me around instead!!