Q & A

Summer Schedule Itinerary

Q: Where are you going?


A: I will be visiting:

• Nassau, Bahamas
• Bareclona, Spain
• Naples/Civitavecchia, Italy
• Dubrovnik, Croatia
• Athens, Greece
• Varna, Bulgaria
• Istanbul, Turkey
• Casablanca, Morocco

Q: What will you do on the ship?

A: There's gonna be a lot to do on the 600 ft cruise liner known as the MV Explorer. First and foremost, I will be taking the required minimum of three courses within the vessel's classrooms. One of them is a mandatory class called Global Studies, which will offer cultural information on the countries I will be visiting. My two other classes are Drawing and Acting. (I know, I'm really setting the bar high on this one). Thankfully I need random general ed units to fulfill my Bachelor's degree at SDSU, so I thought some easygoing creative classes would be the best move.

There will be a ton of other 'extracurricular activities' to participate in as well. There is a half basketball court on the side of the ship, as well as a pool, weight room, game room, etc. I'm definitely not worried about getting bored while sailing the 10 day journey across the Atlantic– there's gonna be about 700 other college students (including international ones) to hang out with. Awesome. 

Q: What will you do while in port?

A: What separates Semester at Sea (SAS) from other study abroad programs is that time spent in the foreign countries will be shorter, but I will be going to many more regions. I'll have about an average of 5 days in each country to rome at my leisure, so time is definitely of the essence. I do have a basic rundown of sites I want to see while in each country, but for right now it is a rough plan.

There's also pre-planned field practica run through SAS faculty that will serve as structured field trips. These include day trips from hiking to kayaking, as well as overnight trips that can last up to 4 days long. 

As of right now I haven't purchased any of these faculty-led trips, so I guess you can say I'm winging it. I like the idea of being completely spontaneous, it feels exciting. I've heard from former SASers that it's best to meet people on the ship that you like to hang out with, and that determined your independent adventures.

Spain

• Ibiza - I will be staying here for at least a night. I'll be checking out the beach/bar scenes and hit a club in the "dance music capital of the world"
• Wander down the famous boulevard known as "La Rambla"
• Visit the Gaudi Museum
• Go to a Flamenco show

Italy

• Oh man there is way too much to do in my country of roots! Venice, Rome, Florence, Pisa, Naples
• The Colosseum. I promise to stand in the middle of it and shout "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!" If you don't get this we're not friends.
• Pompeii: This has something that has interested me ever since taking history classes as a young kid. Definitely
• Pizza in Naples. Yup
• Cinque Terre. The famous national park

Croatia

• Cliff Jumping
• Kayaking

Greece

• The Acropolis
• Get a hotel in Mykonos, hopefully visit Santorini. Watch the sunsets
• Delphi?
• Try not to get stabbed in Athens