RAIN!!!

There was a shower for the first time today since the voyage began.

 

That's right, today was the first inkling of rain in the last 35 days!!!

 

Welcome to Turkey.

Turkey Day

Greece is done. 4 countries, just like that, are done. anyways, today was "spirit day" and Turkey Day at the same time. no one cares about that at home, but it is fun.

 

put it this way. pink bandana. pics are to come.

 

 

anyways, time for Greece stories. If you get a chance to visit Delphi, go to it. it is epicly awesome, and it is worth every penny to visit. there is a reason that the gods were said to live there, and that is because it is the most beautiful site you will see in all of greece.

 

THe nightlife is pretty cool, too. lots of drinks. fun times. '

 

the overnight trip to Agoris and Olympia was the best overnight trip ever. well, it was the first one, but let's be real. if all of them are going to be just like that, then i did well in picking overnight trips. we played Mafia (card game) and ate the best food ever and all of that fun stuff.

 

 

anyways, i'm going to keep this short from now until the end, with the exception of the last week of the voyage. there is so much going on here that 1. it's hard to keep in contact with those at home, and 2. for those at home to keep in contact with me. seriously, email or something? it's like i am off the grid completely. not cool.

 

jvramdass@mail.semesteratsea.net

 

anyways, i'm going to head out. the peeps are wondering why i am in a pink bandana, and i do have to tell them. peace out.

 

jeff

No Bores today

Croatia is beautiful. or, i should say, was beautiful. for, i am already in greece.

 

War Photos Museum was awesome. you all need to go to croatia just to see it.

 

Delphi is the coolest place so far.

 

the friends on the ship laugh that i already have 4000 pictures already. i didn't upload the 1st half of greece yet.

 

it's going to be fun.

 

yesterday was 1 month since i began sas, and the 13th was 1 month since i left for canada. sunday, i'll be 1/2 done with this. it's crazy.

 

 

anyways, i'm heading out to athens in a bit, so i'll see you all later.

 

oh. and if any of you all want to email me and let me know what is going on in the real world, drop a line. jvramdass@mail.semesteratsea.net

There are some things that I need to figure out. For instance, why is it that I got 9/11 flashbacks when I was visiting Pompeii, but there was nothing wrong going to the war photo’s museum in Dubrovnik? Maybe someone can help me figure out that.

Anyways, I’m in Dubrovnik, and it is much more beautiful here in one day than it was in most of Italy (with the exception of Capri and Siena). I’m only keeping about 60% of the pics that I am taking, and the other 40% are getting deleted.

Kayaking tomorrow with friends, and I will leave you all with this.

SAS is really the best experience I have ever gone to in my life, ever. Well, maybe with the exception of Alaska 2007

 

Until next time.

Jeff

Locals and Gelatos and Holes, OH MY!

I’ll keep this story short, but I figure this is the type of stuff that happens on SAS:

So back in Spain, we met this guy named Larry. He was a local there relocated from the states… and the world for that matter, and Mel and I began to talk to him one night. He was telling us about the real Barcelona, the parts that most of the tourists would never have known about. He also told us about the stories that happened while he was exploring the world in order to try and find himself.

One of those stories included a Gelato store by the Pantheon in Rome. He claimed that this gelato was the best he ever had in his life ever. He told Mel and I that if we only did one thing in Rome, that it had to be to go to this gelato store. He gave directions that only a local would give (in that it consisted of “turn down this street” and “don’t pass this way” instead of specific map-like directions that would be found in a tour guide or otherwise) before we left Barcelona.

That was Saturday night. We left Barcelona on Tuesday. Got to Civitavecchia (the port that is an hour outside of Rome) on Tuesday. Explored the Civ and other outlining areas on Tuesday, and went to visit the beautiful city of Siena on Wednesday. It wasn’t until Thursday that I ended up in Rome. We visited the major sites through an SAS trip, and then visited the ones we couldn’t see with Ally (who we met that day) and Tim (who is in my Public Performance class) at night.

Now for a quick sidebar about these sites:

1.       The Coliseum is HUGE

2.       The Vatican and St. Peters Basilica are also HUGE! It’s much bigger than we thought it would be, or bigger than any of us could ever imagine.

3.       The Sistine Chapel is a lot smaller than we think, and the famous painting of Adam that is there is, comparatively speaking, really really really smaller than what we expect it to be.

4.       There is a hole in the roof of the Pantheon. How the fuck did that hole get created?

5.       The entire city is lined with numerous paintings, statues, and other forms of art, with each piece taking at least months, if not years, to create. Why do we only know of the famous ones? (pictures of proof is coming in the end of August)

6.       NO, SERIOUSLY! THERE IS A HOLE IN THE PANTHEON! HOW DID THAT GET CREATED?

 

Anyways, back to this story. We get to the Pantheon, and life is good. Then, we look for the Gelato store. There were two in the general direction, but one of them seemed like Gelato was a secondary food choice (almost any store that serves food in this country serves gelato) while the other seemed like a legitimate gelato store.

We get there, we order the gelato, and I can honestly say that it was the best gelato that I have ever had in my life ever. I will return to Rome just to get this Gelato. It was that good.

There is one more detail that ties everything together. There was an English speaking family that walked into the store while we were enjoying the proof of an existence of a higher power. They were asking what the good flavors were, and our group (Tim, Ally, Mel, and I) said that every flavor is nothing short of greatness. We began to talk more, and we found out these details.

1.       They’re not only American, but are from Pittsburg (where Ally is from)

2.       They were also told that this store was the best gelato in the entire country of Italy (a fact that I will now defend until my death)

3.       The father, a 40something year old man as of now, did Semester at Sea when he was in college. So did his brother, and so will his kids.

Let’s think about that for a second. The odds of finding a local in Barcelona who spoke English was okay at best. Him telling us about the gelato… meh. Us going to the same gelato place was more meh. Us finding a family of a person who did Semester at Sea before during the time we’re docked in Rome? Almost nonexistent.

The point of this story is that you never know what you are going to find when you explore the world. You never know how small this world is, nor do you know how small this world could be. Think about this as you go through your summer, and start exploring your world around you.

Maybe you can find yourself in the process. I have just about 50 days left, and I’m still in the process of finding myself.

Hope all is well.

Jeff