Cerca de España!

Ahoy!

All's well aboard the MV Explorer. Today was filled with sunbathing and swimming on the seventh deck of the ship. Quick dips in the small salt-water pool made the 80 degree temperature much more bearable. Don't worry, I was reading for one of my classes! At some points along our course today we were within a hundred or so miles of some Portuguese islands! I looked, but was told the average human can see a mere 30 miles before the curvature of the earth makes it impossible to see beyond!

I am really enjoying my classes: History of Jazz, Multicultural Detective Fiction, Operations Management, Global Studies (which the entire boat takes, in one of two sections) and Business, Government and Society. In the latter three, some aspects of social responsible business, sustainability or environmental consciousness are present. I am so glad to be honing in on what I really want to learn about. In some of my upcoming projects I have formed groups and/or topics that also coincide with learning about my interests on a global scale.

We have only two more days of class left before our first port stop in Spain! We will be porting in Cadiz, Spain at 0800 on Saturday morning. From there my roommate Casey and I, as well as another friend from USD, Stephen, will head to the airport in Jerez de la Frontera. We will take a one hour flight to Madrid, and check in to the seemingly luxurious Hotel Best Western Arosa, along the popular Gran Via, in the bustling area of El Centro! Two girls from our sorority at USD will meet us at our hotel for a bit of sightseeing and tapas, likely. From there we plan to meet up with more friends for dancing! Sunday is a big tourist day, we plan to see as much of Madrid as possible! Then have a big dinner with all of the Theta's who are studying abroad in Madrid. Our last night in Madrid is sure to be a good one, and our final morning will be spent seeing what we could not the day before. Monday afternoon we will fly back to Jerez de la Frontera, and return to Cadiz, where I'm sure we will be able to find something to occupy us in the evening hours! Our final day in port will be spent visiting a solar wind farm for a professor led FDP (Faculty Directed Practicum), a field trip of sorts. We will have a few spare hours before returning to the MV Explorer and embarking for Casablanca, Morocco.

Hopefully we will be able to upload pictures from an internet cafe in Spain, if not I will try in Morocco.

Stephanie@Sea