Croatia, Greece, kayaking adventure, and reflection

The past three weeks have flown by! We are currently docked in Varna, Bulgaria. Since the last time I wrote we have been to Croatia and Greece. Croatia is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. The old town of Dubrovnik was really neat to see. The city is surrounded by a large wall which definitely made it feel like we stepped back several centuries in time. The first day we were in Croatia; Trevor, James and I walked around the outskirts of the city in an attempt to find lunch and new clothes. Unfortunately, our clothes were not back yet from being washed on the ship. We were all sporting bathing suits since that’s all we had to wear. After walking for miles, we finally stopped to eat at a pizza place. James had to eat quickly so he could get back to the ship for a field trip with his class. Given the path we took to reach the restaurant, however, James missed the trip by 5 minutes! James accidently went back on the wrong side of the harbor. While James was walking aimlessly around the harbor, Trevor and I went to find clothes at some local shops. The first shop we went into was a yachting store. After seeing the $300 towel, we decided we probably should find another place to shop. Closer to the harbor, we ran into a mall! We shopped around for a while, but couldn’t really find clothes we would feel comfortable wearing back in Lubbock. We weren’t real sure how well men capris would be received. I have a feeling my dad wouldn’t approve.  The only item I ended up getting was a red tie. When Trevor and I went back to the ship, I noticed my back felt really wet. Turns out my water bottle sprang a leak and saturated everything in my backpack including my camera  Once we got back to the ship; we decided to take a bus into Old Town. We walked around the city walls and ate at an awesome restaurant called Marco Polo. Trevor and I split a meat platter that was the best meal I had eaten on the trip! That evening, James and I went out to an internet café to check our email accounts and Skype home. James also had to submit more secondary med school applications. The next day, the three of us took a day trip south to Montenegro! We almost slept in and missed our trip. We got dressed and packed in two minutes and made it out to the bus. I’m really glad we made it! Trevor and I sat together. Poor James had to sit with drunk Marielle…she has been hung-over every trip we have been on with her. As we traveled, the bay was definitely gorgeous. Our first stop was at an old town called Kotor. We walked around there for a while and then loaded back up on the bus to travel up the mountains. The trip up the mountains is probably the craziest ride I have ever been on. The mountains were extremely rocky and steep. There was only enough room for a very twisted one lane road. Our bus driver sped up the mountain like there were 5 lanes. We had to slam on the brakes several times, narrowly avoiding head on collisions with cars traveling down the mountain. The view from the top of the mountain made the journey worthwhile. After snapping a few photos, we traveled on to another town where we ate lunch. We were all really hungry since we had not eaten breakfast so lunch was delicious! At lunch, we got to know Meredith and Kenzi. James and I went out with them and their roommate Madeline once we got back to Croatia that night while Trevor and Jessica went to the orchestra. When we got back to our rooms, our laundry was there! It was like Christmas in July! I have never been so happy to have clean clothes. James and I went with Meredith and her crew to the ocean to swim and jump off cliffs. It turned out to be a really fun night. James and I taught them how to two-step. We also met two locals: Jacks and Tonka. They were both our age. We talked to them for about an hour about Croatia and their stories during the war. Jacks had to move with his family outside of the country for several years for safety purposes when he was younger.

The Kayaking Adventure
The next day; James, Trevor and I decided to rent kayaks to travel to the island across from Dubrovnik. We ended up renting two kayaks for a total of four hours. Trevor and I were initially in the two-seater. Half way to the island, James and I switched kayaks. Once we were getting close, James and Trevor’s kayak became hard to balance. All of a sudden, they flipped their kayak! I was really nervous about the situation because my phone was in the “water proof” bag in their kayak which was now drenched. They finally gathered up all the stuff that was in their kayak and got back in. They flipped about four more times before we were really close to the island. After the fourth flip, I decided to switch Trevor spots because I was convinced my phone was drowned. James and I flipped the kayak twice more before we reached land. The last time we flipped, our flip flops and life jackets scattered everywhere. I usually don’t get too frustrated, but I was getting pretty aggravated about the situation. Since my camera had died the first day, I really did not want my phone to be dead too. When we got to land, Trevor and I pulled the kayak up to drain it. While we were draining it, James went to find/gather up all our stuff that had washed ashore. Trevor and I were convinced the first time the kayak flipped was James’ fault. We thought the kayak had filled up with water once it flipped the first time which consequently made it hard to balance and led to us flipping it more. With this logic, we did not bother to look for any holes in the bottom of the kayak… The good news was my phone was still dry. The bag was thankfully very resilient. We walked around the island for a while and went swimming at a little swimming hole. After resting up, we decided to kayak around the island some more to find a nicer beach. Little did we know what adventures awaited us. James and I got the two-seater kayak again. Trevor took the one-man kayak. We switched all our bags to Trevor’s kayak in case we flipped the two-seater again. As we kayaked around the island, James and I realized we were sinking lower and lower into the water yet again. The kayak became hard to balance, especially with the waves of the Adriatic Sea rocking us back and forth. It didn’t take us long to figure out that we needed to drain our kayak again. As luck would have it, at the same time we realized we needed to get to shore we were kayaking past a nude beach. The sites there were anything but pleasant. We now had a dilemma on our hands. We really did not want to stop there, but our sinking kayak was reaching what you would call situation critical. With every stroke we took, the middle of our kayak would dip slightly under water. After seeing some of the sites, James and I decided kayaking past the nude beach would be worth the risk. We sent Trevor ahead of us to find a good place to run aground. James and I quickly paddled around the nude beach to a rock where we proceeded to drain the water out the bottom of the kayak. While the kayak was draining, I searched for holes and quickly found our problem. The bottom of our kayak had a substantial hole. There was no way we were going to be able to make it back across the sea to Dubrovnik without sinking. It was a good half-hour paddle. After analyzing the situation, I decided to shove my t-shirt up the hole to possibly cover it up. I pulled my shirt through as far as I could and tied a knot in the top. The only problem with this plan was the rest of the shirt was stuck beneath our kayak. Since the hole was on the left side, our kayak constantly wanted to pull to the left and go in circles. Although paddling was considerably more difficult, the t-shirt effectively plugged the hole! We finally made it back to Dubrovnik. The guys at the kayak stand gave us a refund for the faulty kayak. It turned out to be quite an adventure. We went back to the ship that evening to rest!
The bus was really crowded on our way home. I got separated from James and Trevor and ended up missing the stop we were supposed to get off. I got off at the next stop and walked back. On the way, I ran into Alexis and her friends sitting in the harbor watching the sunset. It was beautiful! That night, I found an internet café to Skype home.
The next day, I went to Old Town by myself to send off postcards and find a painting. James was snorkeling and Trevor was sleeping in. I walked in and out of many stores and kept running into Rich and Deb Resling. They were looking for artwork as well. They both have worked with Semester at Sea for a long time. It was really neat to get to know them better. They invited me to come visit them at their place in Colorado next fall. I really hope I will be able to go. The three of us finally stumbled across a really nice art studio. After talking with the artist for a while, I ended up splurging a little on a really nice painting. I can’t wait to have it framed at home! Once we got our paintings, I traveled back to the ship so that I could go on my snorkeling trip that afternoon. There were 24 of us who went. We rode a boat to a nearby island where we got our snorkel tubes and flippers. They took us in two different groups. While the first group went, my group laid out on the beach. Our group finally got to go. We loaded up in the boat and headed out near another island. Once we got there, we all grabbed our stuff and jumped in. Unfortunately, once I was a ways away from the boat, my snorkel tub broke. I was breathing in sea water instead of air. One of the guides got me a replacement. Life was much better after that, but I still could have used a longer tube! As we swam alongside the island, our guides pointed out an old torpedo at the bottom. It was the coolest thing we saw. Many people in our group dove underwater to swim under a cave. It was pretty deep so I didn’t venture into it. Soon it was time to go. We loaded up and headed back to the ship. That night our ship left for Piraeus, Greece! We had two days of class before we reached Greece!
Greece
Greece was a much different experience than the other countries we had been to. The first day we were there, the metro was on strike. The rest of the time, taxis were on strike. This made traveling very difficult. The strikes and protests have been going on for a long time and almost caused us to not travel there at all. Piraeus and Athens are two of the dirtiest cities I have ever been to. Sadly, there is graffiti everywhere. The first day in Greece, I participated in a field trip to the Acropolis in Athens with my Freedom of Speech and Religion class. We had studied Socrates a great deal before reaching port. It was really neat to see the streets he roamed and asked everyone about what was fair and just in the world. The Acropolis was neat to see, but I probably enjoyed the Acropolis museum more. We walked around the museum for a long time. Once our tour was about over, we learned that Hillary Clinton was going to be holding a press conference there. We watched the museum staff set all the cameras and seats up. Sadly, we had to leave before she came out. It was really cool she was there at the same time we were. After we returned to the ship, we found out that the US Women’s soccer team was playing against Japan in the World Cup Final that night. We ate supper on the ship. James, Alex and I went out with a big group to a pub in Piraeus to watch the game. Trevor went with some of our other friends to see the premier of Harry Potter. The game was really good. The US team definitely outplayed Japan. The game ended up going to penalty kicks, however. The US team fell apart and lost the game. Although we were all disappointed, it was still a really neat experience. We all ate gyros for supper at a nearby restaurant. They were delicious! The next day, James and I went on a field trip to Delphi. The trip was three hours each way. I slept in the back of the bus the entire way both directions! We left a half hour late because of the taxi and bus strike that was going on. We got to stop at a monastery on the way which was really cool. It was for the Eastern Orthodox Church. There are four monks who live there. Our tour guide, Vicki, was really good. She explained to us the differences between Catholicism and Orthodoxy. She also explained the significance of all the symbols in the church. Once we finished there, we went to a restaurant for lunch. We ate a plethora of Greek food which was really good. We traveled on to Delphi after we ate. We went through the museum first. After going through there, we walked up through the ruins. We saw the Temple of Apollo and trekked up the mountain to see the stadium. The view of the valley was incredible. After sleeping the whole way home, James and I ate supper on the ship. I went out to the port to find internet so I could Skype home. The third day, James and I went into Athens to find souvenirs and artwork. We walked around for the majority of the day. I ended up getting a t-shirt and a tie. We ate a late lunch at the Hard Rock Café. I ordered a steak there. Although it was one of the worst steaks I have had, it still tasted amazing to eat a steak! On our way home, it was really sad to see some of the poverty in the streets. We passed by a community of people who looked extremely poor. Little kids were running around naked and a mother was washing her child with a water bottle she repeatedly filled up at the fountain. Sites like those make me feel extremely blessed to have the life and family I have. It also makes me want to help others have the same opportunities I have been blessed with…more on that later. That evening, I uploaded a bunch of photos to Facebook. As determined as I was to work on my papers for school, I got caught up in conversation with Alexis and her roommate which took up the rest of the evening. The next day, James and I slept in until lunchtime. We wrote papers for our classes during the afternoon. That evening, we went with Alexis, Annie and two of their friends to the mall/movie theatre to see Harry Potter. James and I ended up buying a couple cheap polos that were on sale. Annie and Alexis caught me up with what had gone on in previous Harry Potter movies so that I would not be totally lost during the movie. The movie ended up being really good. The only bad part was that it was a little long. By the time it ended, it was after 11:00. The six of us went out to the bus stop and waited for a bus. After an hour and a half, none had come. Since there were no taxis, we had no choice but to walk home. Alexis and I found a couple locals to ask directions. They were very nice and pointed us in the right direction. Before we left, we grabbed a quick bite to eat at McDonalds. The walk ended up lasting two hours. We were quite a long ways away from our ship. I was glad we were in a decent sized group. We were definitely the only Americans walking through that part of town. Piraeus is really run down with abandoned buildings and stray dogs everywhere. I walked in the front of the group to scout things out. James and the other guy with us brought up the rear to make sure we weren’t being followed. Though it was pretty sketchy, we stuck together and finally made it back to the ship around 2:30. Since there is a 7 hour difference between Greece and home, I Skyped my parents and uploaded photos to Facebook until day light. James and I slept in until lunch again the next day. Once we woke up, we went to the grocery store to stock up on snacks. We also bought some artwork outside of the port. I ended up buying another camera at the duty-free store. I was hoping my old one would come back to life, but it never did. We left Greece that evening and headed toward Bulgaria. That night, we went through the Bosphorus Straits. Istanbul was incredible to see at night! It looks like such an awesome city! I can’t wait until we stop there!
On the way to Bulgaria
On our way to Bulgaria, we had two days of class. My professor for Politics and Poverty was not on board. She took her son to Turkey to be treated since he was really sick. We had a guest lecture for her class the first day. The second day, we worked with our groups on our poverty profiles. My group has to develop a poverty profile for Bulgaria. We have to identify the different groups of impoverished people and define the severity of their poverty. Once we have this established, we have to look at the government policies and international efforts to alleviate poverty and determine how successful they are. Then, we will finally make a proposal of changes we feel will help eliminate poverty in Bulgaria. I’m really excited about this project, but it’s going to take a lot of time to complete!
The night before we reached Varna, I had another dinner with my extended family. We have met several times throughout the voyage. We got to share an ice cream cake with another extended family that night which was delicious. It was my second piece of cake since I had some earlier to celebrate Liz and Emma’s birthdays. My extended family is having a game night between Bulgaria and Turkey which should be really fun. The Administrative Office is also having “special dining” in the captain’s dining room after we visit Turkey. I’m really excited for that.
Bulgaria
So far, the first two days in Bulgaria have been really fun! The first day, we went on a Jeep Safari all day. There were about 100 of us who went in about 15 jeeps. James, Alexis, Annie and I all got in the same one with two other girls. Trevor rode in Liz and Kelly’s jeep. Our jeep was really old. The roll bars were wrapped in yellow duck tape and there weren’t any seat belts to be found. It was probably the slowest jeep in the pack. Our driver didn’t speak any English which also made life interesting. We drove through Varna to begin with. Once we got outside of town, we darted off the road to climb a small mountain. We stopped at an overlook to see a really pretty view of the Black Sea and Varna. One of the jeeps broke down on the way so we had to wait on them to catch up. After our first stop, we traveled off-road for quite a stretch. We entered a gorgeous valley/farming community which reminded me a lot of our farm in Virginia. We stopped for pictures in a sunflower field which the girls loved. As we traveled through the countryside, we saw many different crops and livestock. We stopped for a honey testing. We also got to shoot air rifles at a target. Trevor and I decided to try our hand at it. As expected, I missed the target. Of course, Trevor made it right after I missed. When he came back to the group he looked at me and said “welcome to Texas b%$*#.” It was really funny. I have been claiming to be a Texan for part of the trip so he likes to remind me I’m not from there every now and then. After shooting the rifles, we continued on until we reached the place for the BBQ. The food there was a little undercooked, but delicious nonetheless. After dinner, we got a show from all the jeep drivers. They came out playing instruments. By the end of their performance, we were all up dancing and singing. It was great! After that, Alexis and Annie rode in a carriage ride which looked like a lot of fun! Our jeep driver picked us some fresh plums to eat on the way home. On the way back to Varna, we stood up in the jeep for the majority of the ride. It was beautiful to see all the sunflower fields with the Black Sea off in the distance. When we got back to the ship, we ate supper at the grill and then went out on the boardwalk for the night. The next day, I had a field trip with my Freedom of Speech and Religion class. It was titled “The Child and the State.” With this field trip, we were looking at Bulgaria’s policies toward orphanages and how humane they were. BBC came out with a documentary a couple years ago which showed the horrors of state institutions in Bulgaria which we watched prior to the field trip. Our first stop on the trip was at a government-run orphanage. We toured the facility and were able to interact with the staff there. At the end of our tour/briefing, we were allowed to play with all the kids who live there. Most were between the ages of 5 and 7. We had a blast! We were able to play with them for about an hour and a half. By the end, I was sweated wet. I started out with a sword fight and ended up playing soccer the majority of the time. The little kids had a big time. We couldn’t understand them when they spoke to us, but we had fun nonetheless. Toward the end of our stay there, a little girl came up and took my new camera away from me. I was going to let her take a couple pictures, but once she had it she took off! She was a little Houdini! She was snapping pictures everywhere. I chased her around for about 15 minutes. The whole time I was convinced she was going to break it. Finally, Alexis helped me track her down. We got our group leader to grab it from the little girl. She took close to 100 pictures, my camera was smoking hot! At the end, a bunch of the little kids took my Aaron Watson hat too. I had fun chasing them down through the sandbox. Once we left there, we took our bus to a privately run facility called Karin Dom. We ate a boxed lunch there and then had a similar tour. To begin the tour, we got to see an old Russian bunker that was used during WWII. We were able to climb in and tour around which was really neat. After that, we divided up into two groups and toured the facility. At the end of our tour, we got to hear a presentation from the founder of Karin Dom which was really cool! When we got back to the ship; Liz, Kelly and I all took naps before going out later that night. Today is our third day in Bulgaria. We will leave tomorrow night. Our next Port of Call is Istanbul! We will have five days there before sailing to Morocco!
Reflection
It’s hard to believe we are already at the end of July! This time next month we will be back in school at Tech. This voyage has truly been an amazing experience and I’m really glad Trevor and James decided to come on it with me! The three of us have become really close and made many friends along the way. None of us have any girlfriends just yet…I’m pretty sure most all the girls have boyfriends back home which complicates that situation a great deal. All in all, I don’t guess that is the reason we came on this voyage anyway 
As many things as we have gotten to do and see, one of the best things this voyage has done is it has given me the opportunity to think about my life and what I would like to do with it. At home and at school, it’s really easy to get caught up in everyday life and forget about the big picture. The past couple years, my goal has been to live out the life I believe in. After being on this trip, I now know a lot more about my beliefs and what that all means. First and foremost, I believe it’s important to realize how blessed we are to be given the opportunity live. To think about how many things had to happen for us to even exist is definitely humbling. I am truly thankful for my family and the opportunities I have been given. I remain confident in my belief that there is a Creator who provides us with a higher purpose. I believe there is a difference between right and wrong and that Jesus provides the most perfect example of how to live. With that said, I have been debating about what causes are truly worth living for. To me, it is the freedom we have in the United States. Because of my faith, I believe freedom is ultimately the most important thing we have to ensure. Through freedom of choice, we are all equal to one another. Unfortunately, many people aren’t able to enjoy that freedom, especially those outside of the United States and European Union. Those who live in poverty are some of the most distant from enjoying any kind of freedom. By continuing to learn about poverty and the factors which drive it, hopefully I will be able to help reform society and alleviate the problem. William Wilberforce said: “God Almighty has set before me two great objects: the suppression of the Slave Trade and the reformation of manners.” I believe that along with helping to reform society, I’ve been called to help suppress the poverty that is so prevalent in our society today.
Along with helping to fight poverty, I also take the relationships I have with my family and friends very seriously. I love our family farm and can’t imagine a more perfect place to raise my family when the time comes. I have been drawing steers all over my notebooks out of withdrawal. 
I’m really looking forward to the rest of the voyage and the fall semester that will follow! I hope everyone is doing well and will write soon.

Cheers,
Brandon

Off to Croatia!

Well, I guess I’m not the best at this blogging thing…I will try to do better! To this point, we have been kept busy with classes and touring around Spain and Italy. Currently we are sailing around Italy toward our next stop in Croatia. We have one more day of class before we dock in Dubrovnik. The voyage has been awesome so far! We meet new people every day and the classes are definitely educational. The ship is really nice and strangely starting to feel a little like home.

To catch everyone up, we had 8 straight days of class while sailing across the Atlantic before we reached Barcelona. It was a pretty tough stretch for most of us academically since we don’t take any breaks for weekends. By the time we reached Spain, I already had taken two mid-term exams. We lost an hour 6 of the 8 nights which made us all pretty sleepy. That said; it was a really exciting time. We met new students and families everyday throughout the halls and at our meals. It seemed there was always something going on in the evenings. We were assigned to extended families which was a great way to meet new people. My extended family has met for numerous meals since  Meals have been really good for the most part. Breakfast is definitely the best.

I have to make a little confession…I know this probably doesn’t surprise my parents too much, but I had to invest in a new alarm clock. The office where I work changed the time when the Deans Memo is distributed from 17:00 in the evening to 7:30 in the morning. This meant my hours changed from 15:30-17:30 to 7:30-9:30. The room James and I are staying in has no windows and is pitch-black anytime the lights are off. This combined with limited sleep and a quiet alarm clock led to Brandon not always waking up on-time. Thankfully, the new alarm clock has worked magnificently since.
Barcelona was a really neat city! We got to spend 4 days in port. James, Trevor and I stayed on the ship each night and toured throughout the day. The first day we were there, I attended a lecture for my Freedom of Speech and Religion class. It was titled “Traditional Islamic Clothing.” There are some countries, such as France and to some extent Spain, which ban people from wearing a face veil. Though the face veil is part of the Islamic religious culture, some women are forced to wear it by men. On one side, banning people from wearing the face veil limits their freedom of religion. On the other, if women are forced to wear the veil, their freedoms are being oppressed. It was definitely an interesting debate.

After the lecture, we toured around Barcelona. We ate at a Tapas Bar our first night. Thus far, it is the best food I have had. Their calamari was incredible! We spent the next day exploring Barcelona. Gaudi’s architecture certainly stood out. His designs were truly unique, especially the Sagrada Familia. On our third day, we participated in a field trip called the Templar Medieval Experience. We rode a bus for two hours through the Barcelona countryside until we reached an old castle. Once there, we explored around for a while. After traveling to a second castle, we learned about the Knights Templar. After learning about their history, we got to reenact some of their traditions. By chance, James selected the Commodore card out of the hat. He got to play our fearless leader. Trevor didn’t have as much luck. He ended up being an infantryman. As for me, I really had the luck of the draw. I got to be the knight. I got to put on all the armor knights used to wear…over 60 pounds. I felt like a little kid in the candy store  The funny part was Trevor had to help put my armor on since he was theoretically of “lower rank.” It was great!
After our field trip, we came back and spent the night out on town. People in Spain don’t eat lunch until about 3:00 and don’t eat supper until 10:00. This made for some late nights. Most nights we didn’t make it back to the ship until around 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning. The last day we were in Barcelona, we went and found free wifi to upload photos, check email, etc. I also bought a piece of artwork. Since my house in Texas needs some decorations, I’m going to buy a piece of artwork from every port to help add a little color.

Once back on board, it was a short one day trip to Naples, Italy. During the day we were on the ship we had our Global Studies class. After class we all participated in various events for Sea Olympics. I made the championship table in poker but wound up fourth overall.
The next day in Naples; Trevor, James and I went to Pompeii and Herculaneum. It’s amazing how well preserved these cities were and to see how sophisticated the Roman architecture was by 79 AD. It’s hard to believe a volcanic eruption could cover that much land with ash. When we returned to Naples, we went out for pizza. The pizza in Italy is much thinner than in America, but it’s definitely delicious. The next day we went to a café for most of the afternoon where we Skyped our parents and grandparents. After that, we went shopping in some of the local stores. Trevor and I were running low on socks and underwear so it was out of necessity. That night we went to bed at a decent hour so we could wake up early to hike Mount Vesuvius.
The next day was awesome. We rode a bus part of the way up the volcano. Then we got out and hiked the rest. We were able to walk almost all the way around the rim. At the top, we could see for a really long ways. The Bay of Naples was really pretty! Mount Vesuvius is the most active volcano in Europe and certainly worth the hike. Once we got back to the ship, we had a 4th of July celebration on the boat while we sailed to Civitavecchia. We ate a ton of hotdogs and hamburgers.

The next morning we arrived in Civitavecchia. Trevor, James and I toured around the city for the first part of the day. After lunch, we found a beach where we spent the rest of the evening. The next day we traveled via bus to Rome where we toured the Coliseum and Vatican. They were both really neat to see. To be honest, there were so many other tourists there that it was not near as enjoyable as it could have been. After touring the Vatican, we went to check into our hostel. We spent the rest of the evening touring around the city with our friends Emma and Katie. I was really impressed by Rome. The ruins were really cool to see and the city was surprisingly extremely clean. We went into several Basilicas which were neat. One had an exhibit set up commemorating Galileo. I thought it was really neat since we have been studying him in my Freedom of Speech/Religion class. We also watched a guy paint a picture of the Coliseum which I bought to take home.

After one night in Rome, we traveled back to Civitavecchia the next evening. The following morning we participated in a cooking class at a nearby farm in Tarquinii. So far, it is one of the neatest things we have done. We got to make fettuccini from scratch! Mine didn’t turn out so swift, but with a little more practice I think I will have it down. After cooking, we got to tour their farm and vineyard which was educational. Then we headed back to the ship to sail to Croatia.

I believe that has hit all the major events to this point. It truly has been a great experience. My only complaint is there is no Dr. Pepper on the ship or in Europe . That will be my first purchase when I get back to Texas! Also, our laundry situation is a little iffy. They only do laundry when we are sailing. Since we have spent about two weeks in Spain and Italy; James, Trevor and I are about out of clothes. They collected laundry today so hopefully we will get ours back before we reach Croatia. If not, the three of us will be sporting bathing suits until we find some new clothes! I hope everyone at home is doing well and will write soon!

Cheers!
-Brandon

Crossing the Atlantic

Life aboard the MV Explorer couldn’t be better. I have met so many new friends and learned a tremendous amount in the short four days we have been at sea. Currently, we are in the middle of the Atlantic. We should be in Barcelona this time next week. We have gone through all of our orientation meetings and two full days of classes.

Sailing has really been neat! Many people have been sea sick from all the waves, but to this point, James, Trevor and I make a trio of superb sailors. It’s really fun walking up and down the halls…it’s like bumper cars especially when we hit bigger waves. Running on the elliptical has been more of a challenge…I did get to see a whale jump though when I was working out on Saturday.

As far as activities go, I got to board the ship a night early so I could meet my boss and help with the Parents reception before we left. I was given a crash course of where everything was on the ship and then got to give “campus” tours to several groups of parents. The first tour went well. The second one not so much…we ended up at the front of the ship instead of the back. It was a lot of fun though and thankfully, I now have a better idea of where everything is at.

Everyone I have met so far has been incredibly nice. The faculty and staff are great and it has been really easy to make friends. We have close to 700 students on the voyage. The guy: girl ratio is a little lopsided. About 26% of the 700 are guys…Trevor, James and I can’t really complain about that  The academic dean of the ship received his PhD from Oxford so he has been very informative. We all have had a lot of fun meeting each other. The staff are very strict about alcohol, drugs, etc. No one to my knowledge has been in any trouble yet, but we were told 3 people got sent home from the last voyage for ignoring their substance abuse policy.

Class wise, I love both of my political science classes. We have been given a lot of reading to do but I really like the books. Poverty and Politics of Development has been my favorite class so far. 20,000 people die each day due to living in poverty… It’s hard to imagine that close to half the world lives on less than $2.00/day and 1/5 of the world lives on less than $1.00/day.

The food has been much better than I expected. We have a big breakfast every morning and actually had some steaks tonight for supper. The only downer is there is not any Dr. Pepper. I will certainly be drinking a lot of that when I make it back to Lubbock.

There is definitely something peaceful about being in the middle of the ocean. We don’t have to worry about cell phones or emails out here. Attending class and meeting new people is all we have to worry about. I’m very excited about the rest of the trip and looking forward to our first stop in Barcelona. Feel free to email me at bpreeves@semesteratsea.net I have free access to that account. I will write again soon!

Cheers,
Brandon

Preparing for the trip of a lifetime

It's hard to believe how fast summer is already flying by! A 1,500 mile journey home and short stint of working on the family farm has flown by. On June 14th, two of my best friends and I will fly to the Bahamas to begin the trip of a lifetime. James Walls, Trevor White and myself are participating in a program called Semester at Sea where we will sail across the Atlantic with 750 other college students to study for the summer. We will be stopping at several ports once we reach the Mediterranean and should visit 7 countries in all. I know it probably sounds like 750 college students on a cruise ship would be trouble waiting to happen. While we will certainly enjoy the trip, the program is run by the University of Virginia and will be heavily focused on academics. We will take classes while we are sailing and then be able to explore/participate in class projects at each different port.

All of us are signed up to take 9 credit hours. We are all required to take a Global Studies course which transfers as a Art History class. The other two classes I am signed up for are political science classes titled "Freedom of Speech and Religion" and "Politics and Poverty." I was also fortunate to earn a job working for the Administrative Office on the ship during our voyage which I am very excited about.

As I begin packing and preparing for my trip, I can't help but think how blessed I am to have this opportunity to travel the world with two of my best friends. I am truly thankful for the support my parents, sister, family and friends have given me as well as Texas Tech University. I look forward to sharing all of our photos and experiences and wish I could take each one of you along!

The past couple years education has been one of my top priorities. I see this trip as a tremendous opportunity to learn more about the world and my place in it. I love learning about the roles government and religion have played in history and what role they play today. While I know I will never have all the answers, my ultimate goal is to live out the life I believe in. Right now, I believe that is solidifying my values and beliefs concerning what the roles of government and religion in society should be among other things. I can't wait for the adventure to begin :)