Hola from Madrid, Spain!

Hello Mrs. Simpson's class!

Can you believe that I'm coming home in two days? I can't! I am very excited to get to see my family and Bancroft again!

I have spent the past two weeks in Madrid, the capital of Spain. It's a beautiful city!



This is the town hall! It used to be the post office as well.



My uncle and his family, who I'm staying with, love watching soccer (or football, as it's called in Europe). They took me to a live game and we sat only six rows away from the field. People love soccer here just as much as Canadians love hockey!

Something that I think that is very different from home is the Spanish concept of the day. Most stores don't open in Madrid until around 10 AM, and then close for the "siesta", or lunchtime/nap time, around 2-4 PMish. And then it doesn't get dark until around 10 PM, and that's when most people eat dinner. It isn't very common for the streets and restaurants to be busy until midnight!

Just over two days from now I will be home! Mrs. Simpson and I are hopefully going to figure out a time for me to come see you guys before the summer begins. Can you believe that this is the last entry I will write to you guys? I've hope you've enjoyed reading about my adventures around the world as much as I have enjoyed writing them.

See you soon,
Rebecca

Hello from Glasgow!

Hello Mrs. Simpson's class!

The last place I was in was Glasgow, Scotland! I was lucky enough to be able to stay with a good friend of mine named Rachel. It was so much fun having someone show me around their city. Glasgow is the biggest city in Scotland, even though it's not the capital. It is a beautiful city, but it rains every day there! That was the only thing I didn't really like about it.



This was when we spent some time exploring a botanical garden. One day we traveled to small town called Balmaha to go hiking up a large hill called Conic Hill. From there we had a fantastic view of Loch Lomond. In Scotland lakes are often called lochs - you may remember this from Loch Ness, where the famous Loch Ness Monster lives.



This is what Loch Lomond looks like!

Scotland is the second last country I am visiting. Right now I am writing this from Madrid, Spain, where I am staying with family. It is very sunny and warm here, much warmer than Scotland!

Hello from London!

Hello Mrs. Simpson's class!

It's rather strange not to be writing this on the MV Explorer, but rather I am sitting in my friend's apartment in Glasgow, Scotland! I think I'll take a couple minutes and tell you about London.

We disembarked the MV Explorer for the last time in Southampton, which was about an hour drive away from the Heathrow Airport. It was sad saying goodbye to many of my friends, but I am hopeful that I will see them again one day.

From the Airport we took the Underground into the central of London. London is a huge city! It has been a settlement for over 2000 years and currently has a population of over 8 million people. The Underground, or 'The Tube', is the oldest underground rail system! It is incredibly efficient for getting around London.

I saw many famous places in London that you probably recognize! See if you can guess what they are before I tell you!



How about this? It is Tower Bridge! It was built in 1886 and is one of the most iconic sights of London. The River Thames flows through London, so there are many bridges to cross it.

Or this?



This is Big Ben! It is a famous clocktower attached to the Parliament - did you know England has a very similar political system to Canada? That is because ours was modeled after theirs! Also, although many people call the clock tower itself Big Ben, Ben Ben itself is actually a bell inside the tower! You can also see the London Eye in the background. It is a famous ferris wheel.

Or how about this?



This is Buckingham Palace, where the Queen of England herself lives! You know the lady on all of our coins? That's her. When we visited, the flag at the top was raised, meaning she was there.

Finally, how about this building?



It is Shakespeare's Globe! If you remember, I am a theatre student so it was very cool for me to get to see a Shakespeare play performed here. This is not the original Globe, as it was demolished in 1644, however it is a close approximation of what William Shakespeare and his fellow actors would have performed in, very close to the spot where the original playhouse once stood.

As you can tell, I got to visit a lot of awesome places in London. It is a city with so much history and culture so I can't wait to go back one day and see more of it. In a few days I'll tell you about my time in Scotland!

Salam from Morocco!

Hello Mrs. Simpson's class!

The MV Explorer just left our final port, Morocco! In Morocco the vast majority of people are Muslim, and many people speak both Arabic and French. Sometimes they spoke Spanish too!

The ship landed in Casablanca. It is famous for having the third largest mosque in the world, called the Hassan II Mosque. It was beautiful both inside and out!



These are what the windows inside look like!



A couple friends and I traveled on the train to Marrakech, a city on the edge of the Sahara Desert. It felt like being in a fairy tale! In a large square called Jamma El Fena there are snake-charmers, monkeys, and magicians. At night the square filled with these food vendors and we ate the most amazing food.



A common food in Morocco is tagine. It is a style of cooking where food is placed in a clay triangle pot and placed in a fire. I tried a couple different kinds of tagine and they were all very good! Also something famous in Morocco is mint tea! It is very sweet but very yummy. I drank a lot of it.



We stayed in the medina in Marrakech, which means 'Old City'. Most cities in Morocco have medinas, where the city is oldest and is surrounded by walls. The streets are very narrow and it is very easy to get lost in the alleys, it is like a maze. Fortunately, many locals are willing to give you directions.



Finally, we traveled to Rabhat, which is the capital of Morocco. We spent a lot of time looking at the ocean, and we even went surfing! It was cold, but we were wearing wetsuits so we stayed warm.

I am very sad that Morocco was the last port for Semester at Sea. The next time I get off the ship I won't be getting back on again! We arrive in London in three days, and I just finished writing all my tests for my classes. Next time I write to you I will be in London, England!

Bridge Tour of the MV Explorer!

A couple days ago I went on a tour of the bridge of the MV Explorer! The 'bridge' is the command center, where they steer the ship from! Normally students aren't allowed to see the bridge, but the tours let us see how the ship works.



There is always one or two crew members whose job it is to look out at the ocean with binoculars, all the time. There is a lot of fancy electronic equipment that lets the MV Explorer crew see ships in the distance, but sometimes machines don't work, so there is always one person using their eyes to make sure we are safe!

This is the view from the bridge!



While we were up on the bridge the ship was on auto pilot so no one was actually steering! This is what the steering wheel looks like.



Below is a picture of the nautical flags. They all mean different things. Also, when we arrive in a different country we are required by law to hoist the flag of the country we are arriving in!



Finally, they let us try on a Captain's hat! What do you think? Do you think I could be a Captain one day?



Tomorrow we arrive in our final port, Morocco! I am very excited but also sad that it is the last stop on Semester at Sea before we disembark the ship. I can't wait to tell you about my adventures in Morocco in a couple days!

Akwaaba from Ghana!

Hello Mrs. Simpson's class!

The MV Explorer is sailing away from our second last port, Ghana! Ghana is on the west coast of Africa, with a population of approximately 24 million people.

The first day I was in Ghana I got to work with an organization called Pencils of Promise. Pencils of Promise helps build schools in rural communities that can't afford to. Without these buildings, students go to school under trees outside. We got to see a completed school that Pencils of Promise built, as well as help with one still under construction. It made me think about how thankful I am for having grown up in a country where I can go to school in a building, with chairs, desks, school supplies and everything else that you need to learn.



The next day, my friends and I traveled to a city called Cape Coast. In Cape Coast there is a very famous castle. There was a horrible time in human history when people enslaved others just because the colour of their skin was different. Europeans captured Africans and treated them very badly, taking them to the Americas, although many of them died before they even arrived. The Cape Coast Castle is a place many of the slaves were held before being put on ships.



Although it looks beautiful, we also saw the dungeons where many Africans died. Even though history like this might be sad or not fun to learn, it is still important to remember so that we can stop something like this from ever happening again.

Also in Ghana I got to meet up with an old friend of mine from Bancroft! Rebecca Malloy was my babysitter when I was little but now she is working in Ghana. We hadn't seen each other in 10 years so it was cool to find her again on a beautiful beach in Ghana. We talked about what we miss about Bancroft and Canada, but also how awesome Ghana is.



That's all for now! I have a couple special pictures for you that I'll post in a few days. Meanwhile, I have a lot of homework to get done!

Molo from South Africa!

Hello Mrs. Simpson's class!

I just spent the past week in South Africa! It is an incredible place, and possibly one of my favourite places so far! I got to do and see so many things, but I feel like I barely scratched the surface. I think I want to go back one day.

When I woke up the first morning in South Africa, I saw this outside my window! I had a perfect view of Table Mountain. Table Mountain surrounds Cape Town, the city that we were docked in. Can you guess why it is called Table Mountain?



Here's another view of it.



Later in the week, I would hike up this mountain! It took about 3 hours and I was exhausted at the end. However, there was a cable car that took us back down the mountain in 3 minutes.



From the top of Table Mountain we could see all of Cape Town and we could even see the ship!

One day I took a train to visit a small town called Simon's Town. It is famous for a national park called Boulder's Beach that is home to an African Penguin colony! These are an endangered species of penguin that only live along the coast of Africa.



They were very cute and a lot smaller than I thought they would be, only as tall as my shin. However, you are not supposed to touch them because they will bite you!



There were a lot of cool things to see, but there were also a lot of important things to learn in Cape Town.

For many years in South Africa, people were told by the government where they had to live based on the colour of their skin. This was called apartheid. People fought to end this system but the government threw them in jail for many years. This includes a famous man named Nelson Mandela. He was imprisoned for 27 years before he was released! He then became the President of South Africa and worked to reverse all the bad things that were done during apartheid. It is important to remember that this wasn't very long ago! Mandela was elected in 1994, a year after I was born. Your parents probably remember this being on the news.

I traveled to Robben Island, the prison where political prisoners were kept for many years. I got to see Nelson Mandela's cell, where he lived for 18 years.



Something fascinating about South Africa is that there are eleven official languages! It is a very diverse place with many different people. One of the languages is Xchosa - but you don't pronounce the "X", because it is a clicking sound you make with your tongue! It is a tricky language for people to learn because of the clicks. An easy word is "molo", it means "hello"!

Is there still snow in Bancroft? It was colder in South Africa, I often had to wear a sweater, but we are now sailing closer to the equator again, where it will be much warmer again. I wish I could send the warm weather to you!

Questions from Myanmar, Neptune Day, and Mauritius!

Thank you for all your questions! I'll do my best to answer them.

1. In this picture there are pagodas! Pagodas are the type of temple I was talking about. I took that picture while standing on top of another pagoda at sunrise (certain types of pagodas you can climb up). Here's a closer view of one of the pagodas.



2. In Myanmar the money is called 'kyat' (pronounced 'chat'). Approximately 985 kyat equals one US dollar! This is what kyat looks like. The bill I'm holding is 1000 kyat, so just a little more than a dollar or a loonie.



3. We rode all over Bagan with the scooters! We drove on the paved roads which were smooth, but the dirt paths on the plains were dusty and sandy. At one point we even got stuck and had to run alongside our bikes while pushing them through the sand!

4. The monks with the red robes were everywhere in Myanmar! And we were allowed to go basically everywhere they were. Quite often they were just visiting the temple as well.

- - -

1. For the first few hours it felt very, very strange to have my head shaved! Yes, my head feels very cold sometimes! I carry a scarf with me so if I am cold in my classes I can drape it over my head. And yes, because of the sun my skin is rather tan but my head was white! Now that my hair is growing back it looks less strange. Yes, I've still been using shampoo mostly because I don't know what else I would do. When I go out in the sun I am very careful to make sure I am wearing a hat so that it isn't boiling on my head! Here is a picture of what I look like now, a week after shaving it all off- I'm holding up my Semester at Sea ID card to compare how much hair I once had!



2. Yes, it felt strange to kiss the fish. It was cold and slimy. It wasn't that strange to kiss my professor's hand because everyone was doing it! It was just part of the fun. And I knew it wasn't going to be fish guts because we had seen them already dump it on a bunch of people before we went. If you want to see more pictures, here is an article on the Semester at Sea website with pictures of King Neptune and all the crazy stuff that happened that day (if you look closely I'm actually in it- I'm wearing a blue tank top and jumping into the pool)!

3. Hmm, the temperature differs a lot. While we were in the Indian Ocean it was very warm, close to 25-30 degrees. However, now that we are farther away from the equator and getting closer to Africa, it will be about 15-20 degrees. When we sail back up to Ghana I think it will get warmer.

- - -

1. It was a lot of fun to go swimming with my friends on the beach! We didn't go very far out because a lot of boats were moored very close to the beach, and there was a roped off section to show us where it is safe to swim. The water only went just past my waist. Because of the rain, all the sand had made the water very cloudy, so we didn't see any fish. I'm grateful we didn't see any whales or sharks, I might have been scared!

2. I think my favourite country so far has been either Vietnam or Myanmar. Myanmar was very beautiful and unique but I met so many wonderful people in Vietnam so I think it is a tie. I still have a few more countries to go!

3. The rain was very hard at times! We were soaked in seconds. Other times it wasn't as bad.

4. For lunch in Mauritius I had this wonderful traditional Mauritian sandwich! I don't remember its name because it was in French, but it was covered in cheese and onions and tomatoes. It was very tasty.



- - -

I love answering your questions! In two days I will be in South Africa. We are actually sailing very close to the shore, so I have been able to watch South Africa go by from the windows in my classes.

Questions from Myanmar, Neptune Day, and Mauritius!

Thank you for all your questions! I'll do my best to answer them.

1. In this picture there are pagodas! Pagodas are the type of temple I was talking about. I took that picture while standing on top of another pagoda at sunrise (certain types of pagodas you can climb up). Here's a closer view of one of the pagodas.



2. In Myanmar the money is called 'kyat' (pronounced 'chat'). Approximately 985 kyat equals one US dollar! This is what kyat looks like. The bill I'm holding is 1000 kyat, so just a little more than a dollar or a loonie.



3. We rode all over Bagan with the scooters! We drove on the paved roads which were smooth, but the dirt paths on the plains were dusty and sandy. At one point we even got stuck and had to run alongside our bikes while pushing them through the sand!

4. The monks with the red robes were everywhere in Myanmar! And we were allowed to go basically everywhere they were. Quite often they were just visiting the temple as well.

- - -

1. For the first few hours it felt very, very strange to have my head shaved! Yes, my head feels very cold sometimes! I carry a scarf with me so if I am cold in my classes I can drape it over my head. And yes, because of the sun my skin is rather tan but my head was white! Now that my hair is growing back it looks less strange. Yes, I've still been using shampoo mostly because I don't know what else I would do. When I go out in the sun I am very careful to make sure I am wearing a hat so that it isn't boiling on my head! Here is a picture of what I look like now, a week after shaving it all off- I'm holding up my Semester at Sea ID card to compare how much hair I once had!



2. Yes, it felt strange to kiss the fish. It was cold and slimy. It wasn't that strange to kiss my professor's hand because everyone was doing it! It was just part of the fun. And I knew it wasn't going to be fish guts because we had seen them already dump it on a bunch of people before we went. If you want to see more pictures, here is an article on the Semester at Sea website with pictures of King Neptune and all the crazy stuff that happened that day (if you look closely I'm actually in it- I'm wearing a blue tank top and jumping into the pool)!

3. Hmm, the temperature differs a lot. While we were in the Indian Ocean it was very warm, close to 25-30 degrees. However, now that we are farther away from the equator and getting closer to Africa, it will be about 15-20 degrees. When we sail back up to Ghana I think it will get warmer.

- - -

1. It was a lot of fun to go swimming with my friends on the beach! We didn't go very far out because a lot of boats were moored very close to the beach, and there was a roped off section to show us where it is safe to swim. The water only went just past my waist. Because of the rain, all the sand had made the water very cloudy, so we didn't see any fish. I'm grateful we didn't see any whales or sharks, I might have been scared!

2. I think my favourite country so far has been either Vietnam or Myanmar. Myanmar was very beautiful and unique but I met so many wonderful people in Vietnam so I think it is a tie. I still have a few more countries to go!

3. The rain was very hard at times! We were soaked in seconds. Other times it wasn't as bad.

4. For lunch in Mauritius I had this wonderful traditional Mauritian sandwich! I don't remember its name because it was in French, but it was covered in cheese and onions and tomatoes. It was very tasty.



- - -

I love answering your questions! In two days I will be in South Africa. We are actually sailing very close to the shore, so I have been able to watch South Africa go by from the windows in my classes.

Bonjour from Mauritius!

Hello Mrs. Simpson's class!

A couple days ago I spent the day in Mauritius! Do you remember where Mauritius is on the map? It's a very small island east of Madagascar. It is a very beautiful place, but unfortunately when the MV Explorer was there, it was raining! It rained all day but my friends and I didn't let that stop us from having lots of fun. Below is what the island looked like right before it started raining.



To get out of the pouring rain, we visited the Natural History Museum. Something very special about Mauritius is that it is the only place in the world where the dodo bird used to live before they became extinct. Because they had no natural predators on the island, the dodos became a fat, flightless bird! When Europeans landed on the island, they were very hungry from having spent months at sea, and it was very easy for them to hunt these birds.



This is what scientists think the bird looked like. It is actually quite big, about a metre tall. At the museum there was a complete skeleton. There are only a couple other museums around the world that have dodo skeletons.



Unfortunately, by 1700, less than eighty years after Europeans had first seen a dodo bird, it was extinct. This is partially because humans ate them, but also because Europeans brought animals, such as rats and monkeys, to Mauritius that ate the dodo bird eggs. Later, humans would realize that the dodo bird demonstrates how we can destroy the natural world if we're not careful. We have to work hard to preserve nature and it's inhabitants.



After the museum, my friends and I wanted to go swimming, even though it was raining! The Indian Ocean was a turquoise colour and was very warm.

Something interesting about Mauritius is that everyone speaks French! This is because, like Canada, Mauritius was once a French colony. I wish I remembered more French from when I was in school, it would have been very helpful.

Wow, you have so many questions! I'll do my best to answer them soon.

Neptune Day!

Dear Mrs. Simpson's class,

Yesterday was a very special day on the MV Explorer! We passed through the equator, the imaginary line that divides the world in half. This part of the Earth is closest to the Sun, so it has been getting very warm. Crossing the equator on a ship for the first time is an important moment for all sailors, because you turn from a land-dwelling "pollywog" into a "shellback".

This was a fun day to celebrate how far we have traveled. One of my professors dressed up as "King Neptune", the king of the seas. He was painted green!



First, we had "fish guts" poured over our heads- don't worry, it was only coloured water! Then we jumped into the pool, and when we climbed out, we kissed a fish and the ring on King Neptune's hand before being knighted as shellbacks! You didn't have to do anything if you didn't want to, but it was a lot of fun if you did!

Finally, one of the other optional traditions is to shave off all your hair. And guess what? I did that!



So now I am bald, along with many other students on the MV Explorer! Many boys shaved their hair, and about 10 girls did. It feels very strange because I have never had my hair this short before. You can ask Mrs. Isaak what she thinks about her daughter having no hair! We'll see how long my hair grows before I visit you again in June.

Do you think you would kiss a fish? Do you think you would shave off all your hair?

Namaste from India!

Hello Mrs. Simpson's class!

A few days ago the MV Explorer left India. India is the 7th biggest country in the world, and has the second biggest population in the world (with over 1.2 billion people), and it is actually called a subcontinent!

The ship docked in Kochi, which is on the south-west tip of India. However, I flew up north to visit some of the most famous places in India.

Do you recognize this place?



It's the Taj Mahal! It is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and was built between 1632 and 1655. It is made of white marble. I think I remember us talking about it when I visited in December. Although it may look like a palace, it is actually a tomb. Inside there are two coffins. A ruler named Shah Jahan built it in memory of his wife, so it is also considered a symbol of love!



This is a picture of me sitting under one of the arches on the outside of the Taj Mahal. It's huge! Also, before you walk on the white marble, you have to put these special coverings on over your shoes! This is to protect the marble from becoming damaged over time.

Something interesting about India is that a large number of people are vegetarian. Many religions in India disapprove of eating meat, especially beef, because cows are considered sacred! So when you are walking around the streets, you will see cows wandering everywhere. People feed them all the time and everyone driving a car is very careful not to hit them. It is a very strange sight.



I have a lot of homework to do so this entry is going to be a little bit shorter. However, something really exciting happened on the MV Explorer today! I'll do my best to tell you about it soon!

More answers!

1. Yes, I got a little bit seasick when the ship was rocking. On the
ship they offer seasickness medication that helps settle your stomach
and I took some of that. I wasn't as sick as some of my friends though
because I didn't throw up.

2. My friend's class in Vietnam was an American history class! The
teacher is American and the class was in English. When I was there they
were learning about World War I and II. The Vietnamese students are
learning English so the teacher spoke very slowly and repeated herself
to make sure everyone understood. I took a couple notes on interesting
things she said, but I had already heard most of it before!

3. I saw a few dolphins while the ship was arriving in Hawaii but I
haven't seen any whales yet! My professor told me that when we get close
to South Africa we will see a lot of whales.

4. Ice coffee tastes like very cold, very sweet coffee. They add a lot
of milk and sugar so it tastes yummy! I normally don't like coffee but
because it was so hot in Vietnam the ice tasted especially wonderful.

5. It is very tricky to pronounce my friend's name! It took me a long
time to get it right. Ngan is pronounced sort of like "nugun", but you
have to try to keep the sound flat and in the back of your mouth.

6. Ngan tried really hard to teach me Vietnamese but I wasn't very good
at it! It is a tricky language. "Xin chao" is pronounced "Sin chow" and
it means hello! "Cam on" is pronounced "Gam un" and it means thank you.
I taught her the word "stupendous" because it is one of my favourite
words in English.

7. My Vietnamese friends taught me how to eat the duck egg. You crack
the top with a spoon and then scoop out the insides. It surprised me
because it tasted a lot like a normal egg! The texture was a lot like a
hard-boiled egg.

8. It is very difficult to decide my favourite food! I liked a lot of
the food I have eaten. Hmm, I think if I had to pick one food it would
be odon in Japan. Odon is warm soup and noodles with fried chicken. It
was perfect when we were walking around in cold Japan.

Thank you for all your questions! I love answering them.

In three days I will arriving in India. Do you remember me showing you
pictures of the Taj Mahal? I am so excited to go see it!

Rebecca

Mingalaba from Myanmar!

Hello Mrs. Simpson's class!

Myanmar/Burma is a very interesting place. An author named Rudyard Kipling once said that it is "unlike any place you know about". From what I saw, this was true!

For many years, Myanmar was a military dictatorship. Do you know what that means? The government was run by the military and no one was allowed to say anything bad about them, even though they were very mean to the people. A famous Burmese woman named Aung San Suu Kyi was not allowed to leave her house for 15 years because she disagreed with the government! Only in the past few years has Myanmar started to become a democracy. We are lucky to be born in a country where we are allowed to say what we think and vote for who we think should be in charge.

You may wonder why sometimes I call the country Myanmar and sometimes I say Burma. Burma was the name of the country for many years, but it was renamed Myanmar in 1989. Some people think it is not right of the government to rename a country, so you will often hear people say both.

The MV Explorer stopped in Yangon, which has a population of about 5 million people and is the biggest city in Myanmar.



This photo was taken at a place called Schwedagon Pagoda. A pagoda is a type of temple for a religion called Buddhism.

Do you see the boys in red robes in the picture? They are Buddhist monks! Approximately eighty percent of the population of Myanmar are Buddhist. It is very common for young men to be a monk for a couple weeks in their life. They shave their heads, wake up very early, must ask other people to give them food, and are not allowed to eat after noon. However, we also saw a lot of monks with smart phones and iPads taking pictures! It felt strange to see someone dressed in a very old fashion with very new technology.

On my third day I traveled with my friends to Bagan. Bagan is an ancient city in Myanmar. During the 11th to 13th century, over 10,000 Buddhist temples were built! Now, only about 2200 remain.



When we climbed to the top of a temple and looked across the plains and all the pagodas at sunrise and sunset, it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.



At sunrise, many tourists pay to be taken above the plains in a hot air balloon.



Because it is very expensive I didn't get to do that, but I did get to see the balloons in the sky every morning!



One of the ways we got around Bagan was horse cart. We would tell a driver where we wanted to go and then bargain for the price of him taking us there. Another way we traveled was electric bikes. It took us a while to learn how to drive them but it was so much fun! They were perfect for zipping around on the little dirt paths between the temples.



Myanmar is going to change a lot in the next few years as more and more tourists arrive to see the beautiful country. I am very glad I got to visit now before it changes too much.

I'll do my best to answer your questions before I arrive in India!

Rebecca