Sometimes it rains in a gangesters paradise

Let's ma-rock-n-roll kids! Oh dear where do I even begin.. We docked in Casablanca in Thursday and enjoyed two days of constant rain here before deciding to dip out for Marrakech. But before we left we did enjoy an amazing dinner with a Moroccan family as well as a tour of the city by bus (which made for perfect napping conditions).

Ive come to the conclusion that people in Casablanca are simply pumped about their mosqu, Mosque Hassan II. Its the third largest in the world and can holf 105,000 people at once.

Okay on to the good stuff... so we catch a train to Marrakech, are just chillin when this man walks into our train car and starts talking all about himself and asking us questions, etc etc. He in vites us to dinner with his family that night, which somehow turns into he *must* show us the high atlas mountains and the berber villages there. Needless to say; a roach infested hotel, $250 rug, ten cups of green tea, one violent camel, a watermelon, an impropmtu back massage, a spin out in the middle of the street and one traditional Moroccan Ramadan dinner later, we made it back to our swanky hotel alive and out of money haha. What a day.. a word for the wise.. dont let an invitation to dinner turn into a kidnapping.

Were back *safely* in Casablanca now, leaving tomorrow for another week at sea before Ghana. Hello to everyone and thanks for checking out my blog!

cheers,

chelsea

Sevilla, Spain

After an adventure of a time trying to get to Sevilla from Cadiz, take a cab to god knows where, ask for directions in piss poor spanish, find my hostel, check into said hostel, locate my friends.. aye yay. Even so, I had a great time in Sevilla. Its much more metropolitan then Cadiz with an actualy subway system, shopping all over the place and a million more people. And they have these cool bikes you can apparently check out and ride around and the return wherever.. very tempting. And it was hot- yesterday we figured out it was 105 degrees! We spent the day walking all around the city, went down to the river, checked out the university, shopped, saw the cathedral and tried to buy bus tickets to return to Cadiz but ended up with tickets to some random city called Tarifta (?). That was kind of a bite to sort out haha, I dont think the ticket counter guy really liked us after trying to exhange them haha. In the end we did make it back to Cadiz this morning and are leaving for Morocco tonight : ) Adios Espana!

"Donde estas all the toucans?"

Sept 5th- Took a hike (literally) at Grazalema Nat'l park
Two hours of an obnoxious tour guide chattering nonstop about sailboats and highways and all sorts of happy bullshit later.. we finally make it to this nature park. Needless to say I could have done without the bus stalling out on a hill while I was sitting in the last row haha. So we set out on this 12 km hike that should take 4 hrs, and I realize I will have to be the one to break the ice in our group of not so happy campers. Who signs up for a hike and doesnt like to hike? ha. I like to think they were jazzed up by my asking the guide lady in all seriousness where all the toucans were.. afterall.. this was a nature hike. And I had even brought a box of frootloops nicked from breakfast that day to use as bait. Well she looked at me as though I had three eyes.. I guess sarcasm isnt as easily detectable in your second language.. who knew? Nonetheless.. the hike turned out to be a good time and the capri suns we all discovered in our boxed lunches sent the group into a christmas morning-esque frenzy haha.

Yay finally finally weve gotten somewhere! Pulled into Cadiz, Spain this bright and early this morning.. Spain is so cool! It still hasnt set in that Im actually in a different country haha.. even though its so different from the US here. Here are a few pics from Cadiz... pics from Seville to come!

on a side note.. go gators today!

The pirates life for me

hey everyone!

sea life is a little bit different from normal life.. a few examples:

1- teachers never have to say "turn off your cell phones"

2- running on the treadmill is like trying to run on a balance beam

3- no need to have a beer.. everyone stumbles around like a drunk anyway

4- fall back occurs every night

5- pb and j hasnt been this hot since second grade

6- smuggling cereal or any food out of the dining hall ewual major bragging rights

basically this is my life at sea.. intend to get up for breakfast, which ends at 8:30, end up sleeping through it. get up for class, walk 30 second to the piano bar which is now a classroom. go to lunch and get the food from the main line, but end up going back for pb and j and a glass of whole milk anyway. go to another class or take a nap on deck 7. next take part in any number of the following activities..check some emails, workout, lay around like a slug, take another nap like a major slug, read tons of homework, possibly do some of that homework or walk around and look like youre doing something important. dinner is the served ungoldy early (5:30).. then afterwards take part in the same activities as the afternoon offered, haha, watch the sunset and look around for anything that might hint we are approaching civilization like a barge, boat, wildlife etc. then go to bed way too late, lose an hour of sleep like usual, then get up and do it all again. needless to say i am rather pleased that our trans-atlantic crossing is over : )