Land ho!

Hi folks!
Writing to you from the Bow (front!) of the ship on the 7th deck. Michelle is dozing in front of me and it makes me laugh. I come up here to write and she comes to sleep. We make such the good pair. Cat Stevens is on the ipod and the wind is still whipping my hair around like mad, which means I won’t be able to brush it in the morning. Aaron, where are you when I need you?

We will be in Cadiz, Spain bright and early tomorrow morning and I couldn’t be more ready to get off this ship. I want to navigate the cobblestone streets and talk with my hands to people who don’t speak English. That will be so great! On the itinerary as of now is our pre-port briefing before we are allowed off into the country, and then I plan on exploring the city of Cadiz. I would also like to find an Internet café so I can upload and post some pictures to this Blog. I know you all want to see some pictures, because my descriptions don’t do some things justice. At 1830 hours (6:30pm) tomorrow night I will be making my way to a bullfight and flamenco show. Not sure what to expect there, but if they ask for volunteers (for flamenco, not bullfighting!) I will raise my hand and learn how to flamenco – I’m doing this for you, Mama, I hope you know that! :P

Then after that I will probably celebrate my birthday in some shady underground bar with dim lights and creepy men. Just kidding. Don’t flip, Moni. I’ll be safe!

Then on Thursday Michelle and I are planning to find a bus (because trains apparently don’t run through where we want to go) to a place called Ronda. It’s supposed to be a completely Muslim village on a huge cliff overlooking the sea. I asked my professor (the New Yourka) what there is to do there, and he replied, “Well, it’s not what you’re going to do there, but what you’re going to see.”
He would say something abstract like that, but I totally understood. Then he mentioned that there was sweet nightlife, like topless bars. He actually said that, and I had the hardest time keeping a straight face. Do girls even go to topless bars, aside from the ones who..er..work the place? And do I look like the kind of girl who would go to a topless bar if they did? And here I thought we had a connection…writers are such sketchy people.

We might get together with some people on Friday and hit up Seville, which is supposed to be pretty cool, too. I wanted to hit up Madrid or Barcelona, but they are too far away for the amount of time and planning it takes to spend the night and get there. Don’t worry…Venice will certainly make up for places that we didn’t get to in Spain. ;)

I may not be blogging for a few days while in Spain, but I will do my best to recall every detail when I get around to it (minus the topless bars. Ack.)
Hasta la Vista, (baby)!
A.