Day 10. Spain Day 1. Habla Ingles?

Wow. Just wow.

 

I awoke at 6:00 AM and climbed up to the 7th deck forward, where I couldn't contain my happiness. There were lights, blinking buzzing humanity just a few miles ahead. The Explorer had slowed to a crawl and we all huddled in the freezing Spanish winter morning as out journey across the ocean reached its final few minutes. We watched as a small craft flew out towards us and all of a sudden hooked-up with us. I caught a quick glimpse of a man jumping from the small boat to our ship before the craft buzzed off towards the lights again. The Harbor Pilot (the man who got on) proceeded to help Captain Jeremy and his team in the process. Miles became mile, mile became yards, and soon we were seeing actual humans on the dock below us.

 

The ropes that had moored us to port in Nassau were (literally) shot out at the pier where teams of men pulled on them and fastened them to massive stone hinges in the ground. The thrusters were fired and the space between us and land was closing fast. The crew lowered the gangway in what was slowly becoming a sunrise and the ship's decks exploded in cheers and applause as the first crewmember layed his foot on the ground. We were on land.

 

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My purpose was clear this morning. Get tickets to Madrid. Where I come from, nothing is certain until it's over, so after meeting up with everyone at breakfast, Bradee and I hustled to the gangway on deck 5 to get in line to get off the ship. We were like one of the first 5... it was great. After customs cleared the ship and the announcement was made, down we went toward the dock. We hit land, and it felt very cool. I know, I know, it sounds rediculous, I've been on land every day of my life except for like the past 9, but still, you don't know what you got til it's not there anymore, right?

 

But no time to celebrate, there was work to do. "Perdoname, donde esta el estacion del tren?" I asked to about 400 spaniards, inquiring as to where the train station was. We hustled there and got in line for tickets, everything was going great- until I got up to the window. I prayed that the answer to the question: "Habla ingles usted?" (do you speak english) would be yes... no dice. Smugly, and almost as if she kind of enjoyed it, the woman behind the counter smiled "no."

 

okay, plan B... "esta alguien aqui que habla ingles un poco?" I asked ( is there anybody here who speaks a little english?)... again, she smiled. I smiled back. She was testing me, and she won: "No," she squeaked out.

 

I looked at Bradee, we both knew what we were in for. "Ok," I smiled "necesitamos viajar a madrid- we need to travel to madrid." We SUFFERED through buying tickets, with my broken spanish coming back to me in bits and piceces. Eventually, 20 minutes, 2 declined credit cards, and 300 angry Spaniards behind us in line later, we had our billetes- our tickets. The entire time I was standing there, I felt the floor shifting beneath me. At one point I had to excuse myself to get some water, I thought I was going to vomit. The docs call it 'reverse sea-sickness' and it hit me very hard very fast. I was okay though, the tickets were booked.

 

Now, I could relax. It was time to see Cadiz, pronounced CAH-dees. Bradee ran back to the ship, and I met up with the rest of the gang. Lia, Nate, Taylor and I sat down for a wonderful breakfast of Churros con Chocolate in the beautiful plaza San Juan. We recessed to the ship to grab a map, and then took off exploring. We had the most amazing day. We saw all of the sights by foot, laughed, had lunch (complete with un poco Sangria), climbed two towers and 1 cathedral and really got a feel for it. My initial inhibitions gone (I had to get back in the travel game), I made conversation with everyone and when they responded in english, I smiled and told them I don't speak english. They went along with my game- who am I kidding- and I had some great Spanish conversations. My friends were floored by my chutzpah- haha.

 

Cadiz is the gateway to ancient Spain. Constructed, at the earliest over 2,000 years ago by Romans, Cadiz is steeped in European and Spanish history. It was where one of the first Roman theatres was built, and it still remains the sight of the original Spanish Constitution, ratified in 1812. It's also home to Spain's Mardi Gras which is taking place in 2 weeks... damn, we just missed it. The city seems like a mixture between an ancient metropolis (tight, stone corridors, predominantly foot traffic) and an up-and-coming modernity (new, high skyrises and towers). It's home to some beautiful churches, and is literally wedged between two shores of the Atlantic- it's tiny! and beautiful! From the top of one of the Torres (towers) we could see both sides of the peninsula and the ship moored across the way. It was a neat sight.

 

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Tonight I took part in a FDP (Faculty-Directed-Practica), called Andulucan Flamenco Night. We boarded busses and went to see flamenco dancing and a bloodless bullfight. It was very interesting, but at times a little hard to believe. You could tell it was for tourists, is what I'm saying. For instance, when the 'bull' came out, it was so little and puny that the crowed went 'awwwwwwww.' Somehow, in the late 1500s when the Matadors of old Spain were put in the pen with a raging beast of a bull, I don't think the crowd's reaction would have been like that... you know what I mean?

 

On the upside, I was exposed to Flamenco music, which is truly amazing. It's not rehearsed, it's just played, and that's a tough thing for westerners to grasp. The dancers get so into the music it's incredible, all emotion just fades from their face and they just go along with whatever the guitarist and singer come up with. The percussion is provided by the dancers wildly banging their feet, legs and clapping their hands. It was very eye-opening.

 

Okay, that's it for now. I'm up in 7 hours to hop on a train to.... MADRID!!! It's there for 2 days and back home to 'ol shippy.

 

Please don't hesitate to email or call, would love to hear from you while I have the ability in Spain.

 

Love Greg.

 

P.S. Hey to Ms. Berman's 6th grade class in Virginia! They have been paired up with me in a program called Vicarious Voyage, and we'll be corresponding all throughout the semester as they follow me around the globe. Good to have you guys on board (ha, on board... get it?... good night.)