Who gets to live this life? For one brief moment, WE did!
Dr. Dan Garvey, Semester at Sea Spring 2017
Netherlands: The faculty and staff sailed from Bremerhaven, Germany, and arrived in Amsterdam to prepare for the embarkation of all other voyagers. After a very long day of meetings, we headed into the city. Tim and I became friends with the sociology professor (Justin) and his husband (Edvan, who is Brazilian and teaches Portuguese). They lived and taught in Arkansas, but are moving to Brazil after the voyage. The four of us walked from the ship to town and wandered into a random pub and decided to have a beer. As it turned out, this was the first stop on a pub crawl where if you order a beer in the following three bars, you earn a free t-shirt. We spent the next several hours visiting and walking all over Amsterdam finding the other three pubs where we did, indeed, earn our t-shirts! By the end of the pub crawl, we were several miles away from the port, so we took an Uber back to the ship. What a blast that was for this old woman who had never ever done anything like that before. Our friends will be lifelong – I really hope they come to the cabin next summer for a visit. Our port in Amsterdam was just the first of many with Semester at Sea, but I remember feeling overwhelmed at the variety of opportunities I have been granted.
When previous voyagers are asked what their favorite ports have been, the majority have said, “The Ship!” You may wonder, “that isn’t a port on your itinerary,” but it is, in fact, the favorite place. We will end up spending just over 50 days on the ship. I’m amazed at the genuine love and joy that abounds everywhere! It’s not been stress or conflict-free by any means, but there is no other university experience like this anywhere in the world… a truly unique experience!
As the students, lifelong learners, and distinguished guests boarded the ship, I was notified that Dr. Dan Garvey and his wife, Barb, were on the first leg of our voyage. If you remember, Dr. Garvey was the Executive Dean on Sarah’s SAS voyage in 2017 and the inspiration for my personal motto of “chasing verbs.” Meeting him was a highlight of the entire semester. His story is one of determination, inspiration, and brilliance. He and Barb invited Tim and me for dinner, conversations in the Chappy (faculty/staff lounge), and informal chit-chats over coffee. In reference to voyaging on Semester at Sea, Dan stated, “Who gets to live this life? For one brief moment, WE did!”
Portugal: While in Portugal, we visited beautiful churches, drank great coffee, and consumed Portuguese wines and foods of all sorts. I think we both agree that the salted cod dishes and various pastries were our favorites. We toured the castles, museums, and churches in Sintra, Cascais, Azureira, Benfica, and Lisbon. We’ve walked and walked and walked some more. The stone streets are paved in black and white tiles in various designs in the small alley-way streets, along the roadsides, near monuments/churches, and in parks. Rather than trying to figure out public transportation throughout the semester, we have been happy walking – many days over 10 miles.
The food has been the best part of most countries, and Portugal certainly didn’t disappoint! We took a farm-to-table tour where we walked around an organic farm and tasted foods right off the vines, then were treated to an unusual but tremendous lunch at the farm restaurant. One of the main dishes was beetroot spaghetti. On our last night in Lisbon, we went to a traditional Portuguese Fado (a music concert with one acoustic guitar, one Portuguese Guitarra [Fado guitar], and one vocalist in a small restaurant venue). The Fado guitar is a plucked string instrument with twelve steel strings, strung in six courses of two strings similar to the banjo. Our meal began with bottled water, wine, cheese, fresh bread, and fresh olives. That was the best part of the meal, as far as I was concerned. Our second course was a full meal with salad, potatoes, and meat. Neither one of us could finish our plates. The dessert was an all-you-can-eat buffet of six homemade treats. Of course, we tried a bit of them all. We had coffee and brandy with our dessert. I’d never tried brandy, but I really enjoyed it combined with the espresso and sweets. The music made the night special.
Morocco: As the ship pulled into port in Casablanca at sunrise, we sat on the deck enjoying breakfast. Once we made our way through the immigration process, we disembarked the ship and boarded a train to Marrakesh. We found our way to the Old Medina and to our humble hostel in the old city center. Our first meal in Marrakesh our first night was so good that when we returned to the city three days later, we chose the same restaurant for another great meal. We left Marrakesh early the next morning for a three-day excursion to Merzouga Dunes (near the Algerian border). Throughout this tour, we stopped along the way as we traversed the Atlas Mountains and into the Sahara Desert where we went sand boarding, rode camels until sunset, enjoyed a traditional meal and music, slept in tents, and rode camels again at sunrise. At one point, it rained – in the Sahara Desert – for the first time in eight months! Our tour also included visits to the Ben Haddou UNESCO site, Todgha Gorge (near Tinghir), and a Berber village (known for its weavers). Throughout the trip, we often saw the same Arabic writings on the side of various mountain sides that translated as “God, Country, King.” Our small tour group became great friends along the journey. The twelve of us were from five different countries and three continents and ranged in age from the 20s to 60s. Three fifteen-hour days in and out of a small van didn’t stop the stories, music, jokes, and laughter. We were fortunate!
We spend another night in Marrakesh walking around the Old Medina observing life for the locals. The next morning we took the train back to Casablanca. We visited the Hassan II Mosque, which is the largest mosque in Africa. The calls to prayer in every village we visited were broadcast throughout the day and evening, leaving an indelible mark. Who gets to live this life? For one brief moment, I did.
Chasing Verbs 