Spain

It was crazy coming into our last port, knowing this was the last country we got to explore. However, it was really nice to finally be in a country where I could communicate. Because I speak Spanish with a Mexican accent, I found the Spaniards a bit hard to understand because they have such a different accent and different words for things, but aside from the little things, I had no problem. The first day we caught a train from Cadiz to the town of Sevilla, the birthplace of Christopher Columbus. We spent the day exploring the city center and the many cathedrals. In Spain, as in many other Latin American countries, the people take a very long lunch (the biggest meal of the day) at around two and then take a siesta (nap) before returning to work later in the evening. It was very nice to sit at lunch for hours without any waiter trying to turn your table. We sat and drank sangria (a Spanish fruit wine) after lunch for about three hours. That night, we stayed at a nice little hostel that night for about twenty dollars a person. The next day, we went back to the city center, and to Sevilla’s most famous cathedral. The place was massive. The ceilings were about 75 feet tall and decorated with scenes from the bible and the life of Christ. We saw the monument dedicated to Christopher Columbus, and at the bottom of it, the tomb where he rests. I remember having an eerie feeling in this place, the heart of Spanish Catholicism, standing next to Christopher Columbus. This is where so much of what we know today, much of what relates to us, religion, our landscape, our languages, the entire civilization of the Americas dates back to. This all dates back to the man lying in front of me. However, this was also the man who led boats full of conquistadors to these lands to eventually slaughter millions of native peoples, destroying lives, families, and culture. All in the name of the Holy. That evening, we caught our flight to Barcelona. I was in Barcelona when I was about ten years old, but I didn’t remember too much about it. The only thing I really remembered was visiting the Pablo Picasso Museum. We visited many of the works of Gaudi, one of Europe’s most respected architects and a legend in the field. My favorite was the Sangrada Famila (Family Blood), a Cathedral with the appearance that it is melting. Melting towers peak from the top of the building reaching about one hundred and twenty fifty feet. Barcelona is a very international city, and it reminded me a lot of home. I think my most blatant example of globablization occurred in Barcelona. Here we were, in Barcelona Spain, and we were eating at a Chinese restaurant. While eating, the restaurant was playing an American rap song, and at the end of the meal, I paid with some Chinese Yuan (Mainland China Currency) that I had left over in my wallet. They laughed, asked where I got it, and were happy to except it as a form of payment. My favorite part of Barcelona was the hostel we stayed in. The place was called ‘‘Kabul’’ and was located just off the main street. There were four floors of rooms, and the bottom floor, where the reception was, had four computers for free use, a pool table, a foosball table, tables and chairs, and a bar that sold one liter beers for three Euros, which was cheaper than anywhere else around. It was cool because everyone staying at the hostel would hang out in this area at night before going out on the town at around midnight or one. I met a lot of really cool people from all over the world, including a very interesting European man who I had a long chat with about my insights. He is in the process of writing a book, and asked me if he could quote me in his texts, so we exchanged information and gave him the okay for it. The second night we were there, I overheard a table of Portuguese speakers. Without hesitation, I went over and introduced myself in Portuguese and was invited to sit down. I spent the next four hours practicing my Portuguese with a group of seven Brazilians. They were so much fun and got me really excited for my trip there in a few weeks. We spent the majority of our time in Spain in Barcelona, but returned again to Seville the last day before taking our final train to Cadiz. I enjoyed Spain but I have to say I am glad I didn’t decide to spend a year there studying, I am more of a Latin America fan as opposed to a European. It was really sad getting back on the boat, as I knew it would be the last time I would ever get ON this boat again, and I know it will be overwhelming when the idea that the trip is over really hits me. I see my life, and the world in a different way than I did before I left. Seeing everything from the Pyramids of Egypt to the poverty of India has really changed my perspective on things. I have incredible friends on this boat that I will sorely miss with all of my heart, and can’t imagine a day without them right now. Most of all, I have learned a lot about myself, and even though I am still trying to figure out the complications of my inner being, I feel that this trip has helped my stars to a line.
I give my deepest thanks to my parents for providing me with this opportunity, my feeling is beyond appreciation, and to my entire family for giving me their unconditional love and support.
The incredible camera I got to capture so many of my lifelong memories is credited to my grandparents. Thanks so much. Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt LaVona, Uncle Jon, Mom, Dad, Marci, Grandpa Billy, Kelly, Linda Hoffman my habitat volunteer coordinator, Laura, Daniel, Mike, Bub, Alex, T, and Juan, thank you guys so much for making me feel at home when I felt more than a world away. I love you all very much. I will be posting a final assessment of the countries visited in time, so look for that. See you all very soon!

Croatia

We arrived in Croatia on a cloudy, drizzling morning. I remember waking up, and looking out the window at one of the many islands that speckled the coastline. The many islands contained sailboats and white stucco homes with Spanish style roofs. The first day, Mike and I decided to start walking to the old town, with no plans. We came across a bus station, and at that very moment, we decided to hop on a bus and drive five hours to a city north of Dubrovnik. The drive was beautiful, the highway paralleled the coast the hole way, and the combination of the landscape, Spanish style homes, and the beautiful ocean reminded me a lot of southern California. About two hours into the ride, to our surprise, we entered Bosnia, as it lied directly in our path to Split. We stopped for a bathroom break at a mini store in Bosnia, and I bought a coffee mug, just to say I got something from Bosnia. We arrived in Split that night around eight or so with no plans and with no where to sleep. In the bus station, a little old lady who was renting out a room in her home for the night approached us. The room was about 100 Kuna, equivalent to twenty dollars U.S. so Mike and I agreed. We had our own room, with two beds and a bathroom. The king size bed I slept in was very comfortable. There was a down mattress cover, down pillows, and a down comforter. We spent the next day exploring the beautiful beach town of Split. It was very cold, so the city wasn’t as lively as in the summer, but we still had a good time. That evening, we crossed back through Bosnia and continued to Dubrovnik. The next day, a few friends and I walked around the old town. Old Dubrovnik is a several hundred-year-old walled city that is still the heart of Dubrovnik life today. The weather was cold, but it only rained a few times. When it did rain though, it rained very hard. While in Dubrovnik, we noticed a large cross situated atop the steepest incline in the city. We got the idea to climb up to this cross, but we wanted to ask a local first if it was safe, because we had been warned to not venture to far off the beaten path as there were still live landmines buried from the Serbs a decade or so ago. After getting the okay from a few locals and a tour guide, we began climbing up to this cross. We first walked through little neighborhoods to get up to the highway that lined the side of the mountain. After crossing the highway, was jumped into the woods, to begin our climb. We fought through sticker bushes and pine trees for the first half hour or so, and then had to scale some large rocks. After about forty-five minutes we exited the woods and were about halfway to the cross. The last half of the exhausting hike was trekking up loose rock. We reached the top, turned around, and saw one of the most beautiful views I had ever seen. The water was turquoise blue, the palm treed islands scattered the coastline, and the brick buildings of the old city complimented the Spanish style homes outside the walls. The cross was about twenty-five feet tall, and behind it was ruins of some buildings. These buildings were once a Croatian military fort before this hill, along with the rest of the city, was bombed by Serbians in the early nineties. We explored these buildings, and even though the raid is fifteen years passed, it appeared as if had happened only yesterday. The soldiers beds were still tipped over, clothes were scattered on the ground, and many of the walls were littered with bullet holes and blood. The feeling in this place was really uneasy. The last day we just hung out in the old city and drank wine at one of the many outside restaurants. That night we saw a movie. We saw the new American movie ‘‘Rendition.’’ It was weird to be in a movie theatre again, especially watching an American film with Croatian subtitles. The movie was set in Egypt, and it was cool to see after recently visiting that country. However, some of the movie was in Arabic, and the English subtitles of the movie would overlap with the Croatian subtitles, making it hard to read. I would love to return to Croatia in the summer time, as I can only imagine how beautiful it would be. Manning a sailboat through the isles of Croatia is a new dream of mine.