Portugal

Lisbon, Portugal 

Hello everyone! My first post that isn’t on time! We only had one day in between Portugal and Spain and with hearing the news of not going to Morocco during that day, it made for one busy day. Because of the recent protests in Casablanca, we can’t go to Morocco anymore. It’s very bittersweet; I was so excited for my camel trek through the Sahara Desert with my friends, but I don’t want to be put in any danger as an American. Instead we get two extra nights in Spain and we will be going to the Canary Islands for two days. Not a bad trade off! :) So now I am writing about Portugal in Spain... let’s head back a few days...

Ahhhh.... how sad I was to leave Portugal. It is such a beautiful country, full of a dynamic history, great food, incredible beaches, and amazing look-out spots. For this port I felt more prepared because we had three days between Belgium and Lisbon. I was able to fully digest the country and prepare for my time there. What also tremoundsley helped me was that my teacher brought in the inter-port lecturers (a Portuguese lady and her American husband who has been living in Portugal for 20 years) to speak to our class. Some of my brief notes from them are as follows: 

• Modest culture: aware golden age is over; humility 
• Not Modest about their food: have to be fresh  
• Beef; Meat (grass fed); game dishes; wild boar; rabbit; lamb
• Wine; reds, Green u ver (sparkling); after dinner glass
• Barrio Alto: where college kids hang out
• They don’t iniatate conversation but they will love it if you do; reserved socially 
• Can’t be on the phone when you’re with people; carry a conversation 
• New generation: more progressive 
• Current Divorce rate - 50% 
• No divorce (illegal) until 1975 

....POWER: Wealth=Power (Portugal)

• Monopolies: Certain families have a lot of wealth/power
• Not all politicians come from these families 
• Socialist policies

- Under Order: Nation, Family, God--”Holy Trinity” 

- Salizar: every class stays where they are--no changes

• Exemplifies the beauty of rural life 
• Propoganda 
• Tax structure: Scale 
• Reconstructured tax system: hard not to pay taxes 
• Pay taxes same way as pay water
• National health system
• Government run school system 

COLLECTIVISM

- Salizar: Anti-Women

• He forbid all women’s rights movement 
• Replaced them: “The works of the charitable Mother” 
• All about woman as a mother
• Father=provider 
• Civil code stated hierarchy within the family 
• Church and State working together: 
• Virgin Mary=mother
• Jesus, God=father 

PEACEFUL COUNTRY

• Changes since 40 years ago (Fall of Dictatorship) 
• Don’t riot: when protesting they are very angry (self-aware) 
• Police are usually not present; sometimes even join in 
• Great feelings towards Military: Military took down dictatorship 
• Revolution: Left wing Middle rank Military (20’s-30’s years old) 
• Immediately: Republic Process 
• Anti-war country: likes peace 
• Lisbon: 2 million, 20% of population 
• Porto: industrial area, commerce, north of Portugal 

The inter-port lecturers made my experience in Portugal much richer because I was aware of the country’s past, cultural norms, favorite dishes, and places to go. With their help, I was ready to step foot in Portugal. Last Wednesday I looked outside to take my first look at Portugal. The first thing I saw was the Golden Gate Bridge! It looked exactly like it. (My tour guide later told us that the same American man who made the Golden Gate Bridge made the bridge in Lisbon) The next thing I saw was the famous Jesus Statue in Brazil. Was I in Brazil? Nope! Another replica. 

The first day I had a required field lab with my class (The Economic History of Globalization). As we grouped by the ship, a lady arrived who would be our tour guide for the day. We first walked to an old sea vessel that the Portuguese used to explore the world in. I thought it wasn’t fun to be on our ship when the ocean was crazy but this would have been unbearable! This ship was tiny. Forty men would have to work the ship, with the Captain and the Scribe. If there were less than 12 men on the ship, they would not be able to come home because they needed at least 12 men to be able to operate the ship. The tour guides told us that many times the way they would get their crew would be by getting men really drunk at night, and then they would wake up on the ship with nowhere to go. The men ate hard bread and pork, and drank wine for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They used the ocean water to clean everything. Wind patterns were very important for the Portuguese sea-men. Whenever they wanted to go to the southern part of Africa, they first would sail to Brazil because of the wind patterns. Half way through the presentation, an elderly lady who didn’t speak English started pointing some of us out and we were told to her follow her. I was chosen to be the Captain’s wife, which meant I had to wear a heavy, orange dress with sleeves five feet long; I even got a crown! Then we had to act out a scene where the Captain asks the King and Queen of Portugal if he can sail to Brazil. 

After the first part of our field lab, we were all ready to eat! All 30 of us (including my teacher and his adorable wife) went to a cute, outside restraraunt. We were careful to ask if the bread, and little apetizers they brought out where complimentary or not, because our inter-port lecturers had warned us that this is common in Portugal. My tour guide was sitting next to me so I asked her what the Portuguese speciality is and she said rabbit! If I’m in Portugal, I might as well eat as a Portuguese right? Surprisingly, it was very delicious. It tasted like chewy chicken. I was proud I did it! 

Our lunch ended up being two hours! Not exactly what my teacher had in mind, but he, like the rest of us, enjoyed it. Afterwards we hopped in the bus to head over to the maritime museum. During the drive, our tour guide explained some notable points such as the President’s house. She said if the green flag was up he was in the building and it was! Presidents in Portugal are elected every 5 years and can be re-elected once. Their current president was a previous economics professor and then the prime minister. She also pointed out a beautiful looking castle, which was the main port for the ships, a French Cancer Research Institute, and much more. In the museum we saw how dominant Portugal was as a maritime country in the past. Being right on the Atlantic had its advantages. We also learned about how the Spanish and Portuguese argued over who owned what land, so the Pope divided the world in half, giving much of the western world to the Spanish and the eastern world (but including Brazil) to the Portuguese. This is why Portuguese is spoken in Brazil. The museum was U-shaped with the first part being special antiques such as smaller models of the ships. Then the other part had the authentic, huge boats in it. They were not your typical boats though; they didn’t have sails and the tops were open. The boats were beautiful! 

We took the bus back to our ship, and our tour guide told us that the earthquake in 1775 destroyed 1/3 of the homes and damaged another 1/3. We also got to see the wealthy part of Lisbon where many embassadors stay. She said that the cars aren’t allowed to park by the houses, but the police pretend not to see. I was sad to leave our tour guide! She was such a kind and great lady. She furthered my knowledge about Portugal and she even called her son and daughter asking where all the kids my age would be that night. Once I got back to the ship, I grabbed my stuff and then headed to the apartment with two of my friends who also had field labs that day. Once we arrived outside of the apartment, it was a little interesting trying to get inside. None of our phones would work without wifi, so I just started pushing the different buttons by the door until it opened. A Portuguese lady was standing on the first floor, but she told us our friends were on the third floor. The apartment was amazing! Right in the heart of Barrio Alto, it couldn’t have been more perfect. We all headed to a really nice spot where you could see the city. Afterwards we had a great dinner; I had steak and a delicious, brownie dessert. 

The next day we took the tram to Casais Beach. It was 30 minutes away from where we were staying, but we had heard from many Portuguese that all the good beaches were aways away. As soon as we got there we were starving, so we had lunch (I had spaghetti with veal) at another outside resturaunt. Then we had the day at the beach! It was so much fun. We even jumped off cliffs! Our guy friends had to had to help us up, but the hardest part was climbing up, because the actual cliff wasn’t too high. After the beach, we made our way back to the apartment to get ready for dinner. We had heard that the St. George’s catherdral had the best viewpoint for watching the sunset, but the time we got there it was already dark! Then someone in our group knew of a spot where you could see the whole city so we attempted to get there. It took way more time than we had thought, and by the time we got there we were all starving! It was already 11pm! (Which is actually normal dinnertime for the Portuguese) It was a beautiful view though and definitely worth the walk. Afterwards we found a little hole in the wall restaraunt with only Portuguese in it. A man who didn’t even work there but was friends with the owner served us the whole night. The time we made it back to the apartment, Rachel and I were beyond tired so we decided to head back to the ship with another girl who wanted to go back. It was nice to be home! 

The next day we only had a few hours before we had to be back on the ship. We decided to go to Esteril beach that my tour guide had recommended. It was breath-taking! It felt like we were on a tropical island. Portugal definitely is distinct from Northern Europe. While we were there we saw the Portuguese college students acting out a tradition from the 1200s. My tour guide had told me that I would see them all over the city. For two weeks, the upperclassmen wear black bottoms and white shirts (they look like they’re from the olden days) and the freshmen wear white T-shirts and have paint, lipstick, and stickers all over them. I had told my friends about this, but they all thought I was crazy until we saw them the first night! While we were at the beach they were all jumping in the water, but I’m not sure why. 

Overall, Portugal was amazing. I definitely could have had more time here; it flew by!Now I’m in Spain and I’m loving it! Kellen studied here for two months, two years ago and stayed with a host-family so she brought me and Brianna along to stay with them! I’m having so much fun here. Dinner is ready so I better go... until next time :) 

Love, 

Jamie 

Belgium, The Netherlands, and Germany...

Hi everyone back at home! How have you all been doing? Thank you to everyone whose been emailing me :) It’s so great to hear what everyone is up to at home. On the ship, computers are the new iPhones. During the day, people usually don’t leave their room without their laptop because email is our only connection to home! We do have a few free internet sites, but they’re not the typical ones we’d go on at home. I am trying to get better at checking the news site so I know what’s going on! 

Okay so I’m about to attempt to explain my last 6 days in Europe... lots of trains would be the theme of this trip. I’ve actually come to enjoy them; you get to see a lot of the countryside and it’s so peaceful. Some are really nice, while others seem like they’re from the 60’s. 

Day 1: We docked in Antwerp, Belgium which has historically been a major port for Belgium and the whole world. Rachel and I (my roommate) are in the same Intercultural Communications class and we had a field lab the first day. Our whole class got off the ship at around 9:30am and a bus was waiting for us. The tour guide was fantastic! He explained how the northern part of Belgium is French speaking and their typically a more relaxed culture, whereas the south is Flemish speaking (which is Dutch with a strong accent) and they’re usually more uptight. Brussels, the capital, is in the middle of the country and is a bilingual city. The three official languages of Belgium are Flemish, French and German (only a small percentage of the population speaks German in the eastern part of the country). It took about an hour to get from Antwerp to Brussels. Once we got there we walked around the city and our tour guide showed us this square of incredible buildings. There are huge statues and gold trim all over them. There are two statues that are pointing at each other, because as the legend goes one of the woman statues is pregnant and the men are pointing at each other saying it was the other who is the father. It’s true about the Belgian chocolates! Chocolate and waffles are everywhere! All of us just made it a part of the tour to get Belgian waffles. They were delicious! Ice cream, bananas, chocolate syrup, not exactly a breakfast meal but it was too yummy! Afterwards we headed over to the European Commission (The European Union’s executive branch). It was really neat to be there. We met with two employees of the European Union and we got to walk and explore a bit. The concept of the European Union does make sense; it helps a lot of countries and the European countries have realized how small they are compared to the superpowers of China, the United States, India, and Brazil, but together they are dominant. Also the lady who was our tour guide at the European Union told us that you have to be able to speak two languages to get a job in the EU, but if you ever want to be promoted you had to at least speak three. She spoke French, Dutch, English, and she said some German and Spanish. The two speakers mentioned this too; it made me feel so behind! This field lab took up most of the day, but we still had enough time to go out to dinner in Antwerp. Antwerp is a really cute city. There are tons of restaurants. I don’t know how they are still all in business! When we were trying to find a place to eat though, each restaurant had somebody standing out front trying to force people to eat there. That night we spent the night on the ship which was so nice! It’s great to have all of your stuff; we’ve been living out of our backpacks for too long. 

Day 2: The next morning Rachel and I woke up with the plan of going to Amsterdam for the day, and then taking the night train to Berlin. Two of our friends were going on a Semester at Sea trip to Greece, and another two wanted to go to Paris. We took the underground station to Damont- Antwerp Centraal Station. This train was very out-dated and rickety, but nevertheless we got there! The Antwerp Centraal Station is known to be the most beautiful station in the world. It’s 5 stories! We then got on a train to Amsterdam which was 1.5 hours. It’s interesting to think how one can travel so easily from country to country. The European Union has made this possible. On the train an elderly man practiced his English on me and Rachel. Everyone we encountered in Belgium spoke perfectly good English. You can definitely feel how important it is to Belgians to know many languages. Once we arrived in the Amsterdam train station, we booked our overnight train tickets to Berlin. We were so excited that we worked it all out! We even got tickets for an all girls room. Then we had the afternoon to explore Amsterdam. It was pretty crazy! There were people everywhere. Rachel and I felt like it we were in an unsafe part of the city, but we were really in the heart of the tourist area! We had pizza at an Italian restaurant that was so good! We hadn’t had pizza since getting on the ship so it was a real treat. Then we made our way over to Anna Frank’s house. Walking around in the rooms that Anne Frank lived in for 2 years in absolute darkness and quietness was surreal. It’s crazy they actually lived that way for so long. All the quotations and videos throughout the apartment were in English and Dutch which was obviously very helpful. Afterwards we walked back to the train station for our trip to Berlin. The train was leaving at 7pm and arriving at 4:30am. Rachel and I couldn’t believe we had accomplished everything we had wanted to do. I knew it was too good to be true... about 5 minutes before we were to leave, Rachel realized she forgot her contacts! She only had the ones she was wearing and she’s pretty much blind without them. We had to make a big decision in just a few short minutes; we agreed that it’d be best to go back to the ship and figure out another way to get to Berlin. I wouldn’t want her to be walking around Berlin blind! What’d be the point of that? Really I think it was a blessing in disguise because the train was not what we expected. There wasn’t any beds and it was tiny! We took a train back to Brussels, and then to Antwerp. We were so happy to be home! 

Day 3: Rachel and I woke up and decided to go to the airport and see if we could catch a flight to Berlin. Again we took the underground train to the Antwerp Train Station, then we made it over to the Brussels Airport. Good thing for universal symbols such as an airplane or we wouldn’t have known we’d arrived. We talked to the airlines, and there was a flight to Berlin in an hour. We lucked out again! But soon after they told us they booked us on a plane that was already full, and we wouldn’t be able to leave for another 5 hours also the plane tickets were expensive for just one night in Berlin, so we decided against it. Instead we took a train to Brugge, Belgium. It is in the western part of Belgium. We arrived from the train station and started walking towards the center of town. We asked a taxi driver for a few recommendations for a place to stay. He gladly helped us and pointed us towards town. Then we walked into a random convenience store and asked him about our hotel options. As we read off the first one, the Park hotel, he excitedly told us he used to work there for 10 years! He called immediately and told them to save a room for two American girls and to give us a discount. He even gave me his business cards to give to the hotel receptionist, Rita. Once we got in our room we were so happy we had found such a nice place to stay for cheap. We then left our hotel and walked around the city and did some shopping before all the stores closed at 6pm. We’ve been running into that problem all over Europe! Afterwards we started looking for a place to eat, but every place we walked into it was absolutely quiet! People were eating in there, but everyone was whispering. We luckily found a lively place and I had the best spaghetti Bolognese of my life! The town was full of shops, restaurants, and lots of chocolate. Every other shop is a chocolate shop! It was nice to see so much of Belgium. I think it’s important to see more than one city in a country because you don’t just leave the country with one image. 

Day 4: Rachel and I woke up and enjoyed our complimentary Belgian breakfast. Then we had to decide if we wanted to go to Lille, France (just 45 minutes away) or Cologne, Germany (3 hours away). The hotel receptionist told us that Lille is a very small town, so since we were in Brugge (another small town) we decided on Cologne. Also I’m so fascinated by Germany, so I was beyond excited! It took about 30 minutes to get to the Brugge train station because we got a little lost. Once we got there, we booked our train tickets from Brugge to Brussels to Cologne. Unfortunately, the train to Brussels was delayed by 30 minutes, which made us miss our connecting train to Cologne, and we went to the wrong Brussels station because there are 3 of them. We could either take a 6:25pm train to Cologne or leave then but have 3 transfers, meaning 3 chances to miss a train! After our earlier experience, we decided to spend some time in Brussels and take the 6:25pm train. We had time to do a little shopping, see more of the city, have dinner, and eat another waffle. We happily made it back to the train station, to learn that our train to Cologne had been completely canceled! Instead we had to take a train from Brussels to Versences station, then an auto bus would take us to Aachen, followed by a train to Cologne. It was funny because it was us two surrounded by about 200 businesspersons trying to get to Germany. We all moved as a mob to the train station to the bus to the train station and off. Once we made it to Aachen, we were all confused on what train we were supposed to take. Rachel and I didn’t even realize we were in Germany until my phone texted me about international fees! I was in awe; I was in Germany! Angry Germans were yelling at the train-master. The poor man was so overwhelmed. Unfortunately, we couldn’t understand any of them, but an American man who knew German told us what to do. I felt so bad for a confused Korean girl and her older sister who couldn’t speak German and who could barely speak English. I could tell right away because she said “onea” meaning big sister. I was going to say “anae a se o,” but they ran off too quickly! We finally pulled up at the stop in Cologne (Koln in German) with a huge, beautiful cathedral right next to us. We took a taxi to the Crystal hotel that some Semester at Sea girls had recommended, but they told us that they were completely booked! We desperately tried the hotel next door, which actually was much nicer, but we were worried it’d be ridiculously expensive. The men at the front desk told us that they had a room available! Then they asked what we would like to pay for it. We were stunned; we didn’t say anything. Then he said the room was 150 euros, but he’d give it to us for 90 euros. We took it! It was a really nice room; there were two beds pushed together with chocolate waiting for us on the beds and there was wifi! I never realized the big deal about wifi until being abroad. We are all wifi addicts! It’s bad. We got another steal with this hotel though! I don’t know how we got so lucky both nights.  

Day 5: After having another complimentary German breakfast (ham and cheese), we had the day to explore Koln. Everything in the city is very convenient. It was about a five minute walk to Kolner dom, a Catholic cathedral. It was made in 1000 AD and absolutely stunning. It was so tall and Rachel and I hiked all the way up it! After just a few minutes of walking we got winded. I even started getting scared from how high it was and I thought I wasn’t afraid of heights! I don’t know how we made it up there, but it was definitely worth it. Once we got to the top we could overlook the whole city. It was so beautiful and serene to be so far up with barely anyone around. After we made the easier walk down, we went into the inside of the cathedral. There were tons of people speaking all different languages. It’s truly magical to be in a place like that. I lit a candle for my Grandma Keel to get better and another for Matt in the AirForce. We walked all around and then sat down in the bleachers. I taught Rachel how Catholics kneel on the lower wooden bench to pray after Communion. All those years of Catholic education paid off! It was nice to have a moment to pray and reflect on the many experiences and adventures I am having right now. After the cathedral it was shopping time! I didn’t want to leave Germany without getting those retro European shoes. Definitely my favorite buy. Like all the places we had been in Europe, they were playing American music. We even saw a store called “Forever 18,” so I asked if it was affiliated with “Forever 21,” but it wasn’t! Rachel and I then had lunch at a quaint little place. We had a bit of a language barrier with our waitress, but she was so sweet! I had a traditional German sandwich consisting of ham, cheese, and bread. Then I had chocolate mousse and a hot cocoa. I found that in Germany not everyone spoke English or their English was not as good as the Belgians. In Belgium they are forced to learn more than one language because the have 3 official languages, and it seemed like English was the common language. After lunch, Rachel and I really wanted to find a WWII site or memorial, but it was more difficult than one would have though! We asked tons of Germans, including the information center and we got very vague answers. I don’t think in the aftermath of the war, they really wanted to wipe their slate clean and start fresh. Eventually, we were pointed in the direction of the old Gestapo headquarters in Koln. It was spooky being there. It was all underground with low ceilings. The prisoners were people who went against the Nazis either through the Communist youth movement or some other way; they were not Jews. The only thing the prisoners were allowed to do was write on the walls. So all of the walls have inscriptions on them that you can read. There weren’t many people visiting the headquarters, and at one point I was alone in the room that they would torture people in. I was really freaked out. Then as I walked around the corner Rachel was right there; I was so scared! I’m really glad we saw it though. Then we walked to “old town” to have dinner. After that we went back to the hotel to pick up our bags then we headed to the train station. We had some time to kill, so we went into a cute souvenir shop. We wanted to know what all the postcards said, so we asked the German girls working there, but they had trouble figuring it out! They said that there is a funny language in Koln that some people used to speak but they didn’t really know it well. We then made our journey back to the ship from Koln to Brussels to Antwerp. When we were close to Antwerp a Belgian man talked to us for 30 minutes. He wanted to know all about what we thought about the upcoming elections, what were doing on the ship, if how lived was the same as they depicted on television, and so much more. He told us how he had to know English if he wanted to watch the t.v. or play video games because they were all in English. We eventually made it back to the ship late, late that night. The next day we finally had time to sleep in! The first time since getting on the ship and we needed it. We were completely exhausted. Traveling is draining, but so much fun! 

As I reflect on the last month in 10 European cities and 5 European countries some similarities stick out to me. 

1. You have to pay to use a public restroom; it ranges from 1-2 pounds/pence
2. Everywhere you go, they are playing American music 
3. The UK is looked at similarly to the United States in the way that we supposedly only care about ourselves and want to stick to our own country
4. Restaurants will let you sit there after eating for as long as you want, not bringing the bill until you ask them to; there’s no rush 
5. Everyone speaks another language unless you speak English; the United States, the UK, and Ireland do not put an emphasis on learning other languages 
6. There are barely no trash cans all over Europe; it’s random but it’s true! 
7. European credit/debit cards have a chip in it whereas American cards do not; some places won’t even take a card without a chip 

I’ve truly enjoyed Europe so much! I have two more European stops- Portugal and Spain. It’s going to be amazing! Out of all the places I’ve been I definitely will go back to Uncle Jim’s barn in Wendover, but I could see myself living in Germany. I definitely need to see Berlin! I’ve heard it’s beautiful and so clean. I think there is something about the German energy and their drive that attracts me.

Now I’m back on the ship for three days before Portugal. We all need some downtime to regain our energy, but I cannot wait to be in Portugal. I hope everyone at home is doing well! I miss you guys! If you see Matt before he leaves tell him good luck :) 

Sending my love from the coast of France....

Jamie   

The United Kingdom

Oh my gosh, the UK was a world-wind! So much craziness happened; where do I even begin? I’m warning you that this blogpost is really long... so if you don’t want to read the whole thing, I would say the end is the best part! :) 

Okay I will begin; we arrived in Southampton on Wednesday. I went with two of my really good friends (Kellen and Ko) to Stonehedge with a group of 20 Semester at Sea kids. We first walked from the ship for 20 minutes to the bus station, then took a 40 minute bus to a tourist location, then a Stonehedge tourist bus for 20 minutes. Stonehedge is a famous, mysterious rock formation that no one knows why or how it was made. It was beautiful and so peaceful to be there. Afterwards we got on a bus that took 3.5 hours to get to London! It stopped a lot too, but we were all sleepy and took naps. 

The hotel that we originally had booked was in a really bad area. Brianna went there first and sad it was very scary! So her and the other Brianna booked a hostel that many Semester at Sea kids were staying at. Once Kellen, Ko, and I got to London, we went straight to our new hostel- The Generator Hostel. Let’s just say it’s not the nicest place I’ve stayed before. The room had 2 bunk beds for the 5 of us and we didn’t even have enough room for us to stand at the same time. If you were sitting on one bed and then stood up, you’d be on-top of the other bed. We tried to make the best of it, so we ate dinner and went out with some of our friends. This is when I lost my phone! Aw I was so sad. 

The next morning I woke up phone-less, just wanting to get out of this hostel. The Briannas, Kellen, and I went to Buckingham Palace. There was such a huge crowd! They changing of the guards was happening full of singing, marching, and horses. Afterwards I said goodbye to my friends and started off on my independent journey! Ah! I jumped into the cab and went back to the hostel to pick up my computer because my friends said I could probably transfer my information from my computer to my new phone. Then I found the Apple Store. It was literally the largest Apple Store in the world with two levels; I asked!! After talking to the workers for some time, we finally worked it out that I could get a UK iPhone and put a Sim card in it. After getting my phone up and running, I tried to look up flights to Scotland, but I figured I should just get myself ready and head over to the airport. I again got into a cab and went back to the hostel. There were no towels in the hostel, and I couldn’t find any to buy, so I had to buy paper towels to use!!! That was an experience! Once I got all showered and ready, I packed up all my stuff and went over to the Tube station. The receptionist was very nice and told me exactly how to get to Heathrow airport. I went on the Piccadilly line all the way there and got off at the Heathrow airport, Terminals 1,2,3 and 5. Once I got there, I made my way over to Aer Lengus. The tube receptionist had told me they have flights to Scotland, but they didn’t. They told me to try British Air so I did. Unfortunately, they told me there was no more spots available, but I could do stand-by. The only thing about that was there was no guarntee I would get on a flight and it was a ridiculous amount of money to fly to Edinburgh and back. He suggested taking the 6 hour train ride instead. I called Mr. Ross and told him about my situation. He said they’d be happy for me to come on the train, but he made a good point that he didn’t want my whole experience in the UK to be on a train. I was able to easily call Mr. Ross because he too has a UK phone, but getting ahold of my friends with US phone numbers was very difficult. My phone just wouldn’t let me call any of them. I really wanted to go to Rachel’s uncle’s house at that point. She had told me earlier that she wanted to come, but before my plan was to go to Scotland. In the end, I emailed Matt who called Kellen who called Rachel. Then Rachel called me on her uncle’s landline number and gave me directions. I scribbled them on a piece of paper and set off for my journey to Uncle Jim’s! 

I wasn’t completely sure I knew where I was going, but I knew that I was going to make it there. I had to get on the Heathrow fast-track station which was about 40 minutes to the Paddington Station. From there I was to walk to Marlebone Station. This was the tricky part. I thought it was only 5 minutes away, but people kept making it seem like it wasn’t that far, but trust me it was! Also it was getting dark and it wasn’t the safest part of London. But rest assured, I made it to Marlebone Station! At this point I was confused what I had written down for the last leg of the trip. I called Rachel and told them where I was. I had to get on the Alyssbury train, but get off at Wendover. Once I was on the train, I kept checking the screen to make sure I didn’t miss it. All of the sudden I was at my stop, the doors opened, and Rachel was standing there waiting for me! It was one of the happiest moments of my whole life, no exaggeration! My 10 hours of running around England by myself were over. 

We walked to meet Uncle Jim who was so warm and friendly! Then we hopped into his Land Rover “Defender.” I was just so happy to be with Rachel and her Uncle! As I was telling them all about my day, I noticed the streets became smaller and smaller and there were very tall bushes on both sides of the street. The street got so narrow that there was literally only enough room for one car with maybe 4 inches on either side. All of the sudden we see headlights coming towards us! I really do not know how the two cars drove past each other. 

Once I walked into Uncle Jim’s “barn,” I could not have been happier! It was the cutest house with candles lit and music playing. It was already about 9:30pm by this point, but they had waited for me to have dinner. We had steak mixed in with pasta, and for those who know me know I hate vegetables, but these vegetables were so good I ate every single one of them! I only had a sandwich the entire today, so it was exactly what I needed. They showed me around the house, and then we watched an English reality show called “An Idiot Abroad.” These two famous British guys send a random guy from England to travel around the world. It’s so funny though because he hates traveling and the two men make him do outrageous cultural things. While Rachel and I were snuggled up on the couch watching the show, Uncle Jim brought out a delicious chocolate dessert. Then he went to bed and I called my dad on the landline. It was so nice to talk to him and it’s really cheap on the landline. After, Rachel and I went to our room which was up the black spiral-whirl in the furnished attic; it had the most comfortable bed in the world!!! 

The next day we woke up and had English tea, bananas and cereal. Rachel and I sat outside, and Uncle Jim went to work. We then went on a walk through the English countryside. It was breathtaking! We first went through this forestry area and came upon  a bunch of cows just hanging out. Rachel and I walked up really close (closer than I’ve ever been to a cow before) and one of the cows pawed at us! Jim later told us it was actually a bull! Good thing we got away! Then we walked into a cute little pub. There was no on one in it. Uncle Jim said that after the UK banned smoking in pubs, a lot of pubs have been closing. Afterwards we made our way back to the house. The countryside was full of open fields, green grass, and blue skies. 

We came home to the barn and took on the task of taking a bath with one of those shower-heads that look like a phone. There is only one bathroom in Uncle Jim’s house and no shower! At first it was difficult, but it was fun! Before we left for town, he made us a bacon sandwich with chips. This was real bacon! Then we went into town in Alyssbury, but on the way we stopped at a cemetery that had people dating back to the 1700s! The town was a lot bigger than I thought; it was the about the size of Los Gatos. We went to Melrose market and shopped for our Paella dinner! On the way back home, we went into the Full Moon. It was a pretty large pub with outside seating (because of the smoking ban). Uncle Jim made us have pork scratchings, shrimp fries, and bacon fries. He said the real pork scratchings sometimes still have hair in it! EW!!! Before dinner we played English football; the rules were you get 10 chances to make the p-q. It was fun to play soccer again! 

Then it was time for our masterpiece! Uncle Jim loves to cook, but he insisted on Rachel and I doing the honors. I let Rachel be the chef, and me the sue-chef, but it surprisingly ended up switching. I’ve honestly never cooked anything in my life, so this was all new to me! We made a famous Spanish dish called Paella that you cook in a huge pot. I can’t even remember all of the ingredients; there was too much! Some of them are onions, tomatoes, red/green peppers, scampi, shrimp, sausage, beef, sauces, rice, and so much more. It took about an hour to cook and it’s definitely a tricky meal to make. I actually enjoyed cooking! It was so much fun and Uncle Jim more than enjoyed it. Rachel and I were very proud of ourselves. Also before dinner he taught me the proper way to open a bottle of wine; it’s pretty tricky! Hopefully, I remember how to do it. 

After dinner we watched the preliminary World Cup with Great Britain versus a small European country. We then flipped through some channels, and thankfully we found “An Idiot Abroad.” This show is so funny! Once again Uncle Jimmy brought out a delicious dessert for us. We were so spoiled! That night I called my mom and it was so nice to hear about everyone! I even got to say hi to Grandma Keel. Then we went to sleep for a last night at the barn. 

The next day Rachel and I woke up knowing that we sadly had to get back to the ship. We didn’t want to leave Uncle Jim’s! I wish we were still there. Hopefully, I’ve been able to somewhat capture what was so nice about staying at the barn, but it’s difficult to do so. We had the best time ever! It was so peaceful and I learned so much from Uncle Jim. He’s such a smart man. He worked in London for years until he had his son and moved out to the countryside. He said that most English families do the same. He had a law practice there and he still works with the same clients. He told me all about the school system in England. All children go to grammar school until they are 10, then they take a test. If you score 92% or better, you get to attend a very prestigious prep school that the government pays for. If you’re the other 91% you too can attend government-funded schools, but they are very subpar. For this reason, most parents send their children to prep schools which are usually $50,000 a year! This is how it is until you’re 18. At that time, you take another test to get into university. Uncle Jim was saying if you don’t get into one of the top universities, it’s pretty pointless to go to college. For this reason the amount of people who go to college is significantly lower than in the United States. These people will get internships or start working. Thankfully his son passed the test! He also told me about the current situation in Europe, Greece, the British monarchy, and so much more. I also asked him multiple times what he considers himself. It’s confusing with the British, English, United Kingdom... it’s not very clear-cut. He said that his nationality is British, he is a British citizen, but he considers himself English. When I asked him another time he said it always changes; it depends on the context. 

I had so much fun with Rachel at Uncle Jim’s “barn” in Wendover. I have such a soft spot for it now. Staying at Uncle Jim’s made me realize how the little things in life are most important. His washer was in the kitchen, there was only one bathroom, and we had so much cooking, playing soccer, and chopping wood. I wrote down his email because I told him many times, whenever I come to England I am visiting him! He is very happy to hear that. It was such a unique experience being there. Everyone can see London, but how many times in your life can you stay with someone in the English countryside? Semester at Sea told us in the beginning of this voyage that this trip is about the people of the different countries we are visiting. I now know what they mean. Besides all the great memories that I’m taking away from the United Kingdom, I’m taking away the promise to myself to get to know the locals of each country and try to learn how they live, think, and act. This is what will make me a more globalized citizen. 

I miss you all in the states! I hope you’re missing me :) 

Love, 
Jamie

Ireland

Ireland! We’re back on the ship from Ireland. We had so much fun there. We docked in Galway on Friday. We were all so happy to finally get off the ship after 8 days/nights! Once we got off the ship, we searched for our hostel. After a lot of walking around we found it- the Kinlay Hostel. My first hostel ever! It was actually pretty nice. It was all 6 of us girls in the room. Then we went to an internet cafe. My friend and I used two computers and when we went to pay, we realized we only had debt cards, and you could only pay with cash. The manager was completely okay with us leaving to go get euros from the ATM. In the States they would never let you leave without paying! Afterwards, we went to lunch at the Boar’s head. We even tried the famous Guinness beer! It’s everywhere in Ireland, but it was disgusting! It was so dark, I think I had about two sips. 

The downtown area in Galway was really cute. It was full of shops, pubs, and people singing and dancing. It was such a great atmosphere. At our hostel, Rachel and I first met some Northern Irish boys. It was so interesting to talk to them, because Northern Ireland is not part of the Republic of Ireland; it’s part of the United Kingdom. They told us about the riots and how they like the Republic of Ireland much more. The boys were really nice and welcoming. Also at the hostel I met an Irish boy who gave me a full Irish history lesson. A lot happened in Ireland. All the kids seem to know a lot about their history and are very proud of it. They even know a lot of the American history. They kept comparing their history with ours. 

The next day we woke up for our 9:15 bus ride from Galway to Dublin. Of course we missed our bus! We couldn’t find it anywhere. We ended up taking a 10:45 bus to Dublin. It was a really beautiful ride from Galway to Dublin. It was so green and there were farms everywhere. Unfortunately, I didn’t stay awake for the two hour bus ride, but I still saw the beautiful scenery. Once we got to Dublin, we again walked aimlessly. That was kind of the theme for the trip. We stayed at the Maldran hotel! It was so nice, especially compared to the hostel. We had two nights in Dublin and we really enjoyed them! Dublin is a big city; it’s really different than Galway. Galway is a much smaller town. In Galway we ran into Semester at Sea kids all the time, but in Dublin we rarely did during the day. 

In Dublin we visited the famous prison that many Irish people were put in during the riots. Rachel, Kellen, and I really enjoyed it. They first showed us a video on the history of Ireland. It was really interesting to see how the prisoners were treated. I couldn’t imagine living like this. The tour guide told us that during the Potato Famine, people would commit crimes just so they could get food and shelter. Also we saw the St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It was breathtaking, and right next to it was a really nice park. That day we went on a tour bus throughout Ireland and it was cool to see so much of Dublin! 

The first day we were in Dublin, it was the day of the Notre Dame versus Navy game. It was so much fun to be there during it! Although the Irish could care less about football. It was such a cool atmosphere with the Navy there. Notre Dame killed Navy 50-10. I wish I could have gone, but we got there so late. At night we met a lot of guys in the Navy and even the Navy boxing team. Also we met some of the Notre Dame football players; they weren’t supposed to go out, but they snuck out anyways! The next day was a semi-final men’s soccer game which was a huge deal. The game was Mayo (a county in Ireland) versus Dublin. It was a huge upset that Mayo one. There were so many Irish in jerseys supporting their teams. 

The second to last day, when we were trying to leave the prison, Kellen realized that one of our other friends who wasn’t with us had her tour bus ticket. So we had to take the cab. It is true that all the cool stuff happens when things go wrong! We took a cab, and the driver told us all about Scanlan’s pub. Kellen’s last name is Scanlan, and her grandma said to go there and tell them that her last name is the pub’s name. He even stopped the meter and didn’t charge us to take us to the pub. He told us what to say and how to act around the Irish. He was so funny! Once we got to Scanlan’s pub, it was definitely different than all the other parts of Dublin we were in. These were real Irish and it was kind of ghetto. Everyone in the pub knew each other and as soon as we walked in they knew we were foreigners. They were actually really friendly! They all wanted to talk to us and asked us so many questions. This old man named Jimmy kept talking to us and it was hard to understand him because he kept speaking Gaelic. He even sang us an Irish song! 

When we were on our way to the Temple Bar area, we ran into another boy who gave us a history lesson. He even showed us these huge pillars that still had bullet holes in them from when the Irish and English fought! 

Overall Ireland was amazing! It’s one thing to see pictures and talk to Irish Americans, but it’s another to be there walking around Irish people. They are all so friendly and talkative! They just want to hear your story and know why you’re there. They are so trustworthy too. I really enjoyed Ireland and I hope to go back some day! Now we’re off to the United Kingdom. We’ll be there tomorrow morning! Miss you all at home!!