Only one more full day on ship. It’s wild how fast it actually went. I made some life long friends for sure and some friends I’ll probably never see again. It’s bittersweet really. I’m so hyped to get off this ship and see my family, but I’m leaving my entire summer family behind. It amazes me how many times I’ve called this ship home. It really is like a home. All the faculty, staff, crew, and LLCs definitely make this place home-y. It’s going to be hard getting used to real life again. So yesterday was the crew talent show, gender-bender event, and finals. Classes are over now and all that’s left to do now is transfer my grades. Tonight is the Alumni Ball, but all day long is filled with map signings and phone number exchanges. The ship is actually just mayhem. I love seeing all these people I’ve never seen before… two months later and I’m seeing people for the first time. Time to finish packing before they collect our bags for debarkation! See you Soon!

Hey everyone! I am officially out of Morocco and making my way to Boston! Morocco was a great time; I’ll post the blog soon! See you all in just about a week!

Day 1: My first day in Turkey started around eleven thirty in the after noon. I had a field trip for my Foods class that was titled “Foods of the Ottoman Empire & the Spice Market.” The trip didn’t sound uber exciting or anything but I had to do it for class so I obviously went. Oh most SAS trip they provide bus service, but this trip utilized the public transportation system. We took the tram over to Sultanahmet where the Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, Basilica Cistern, and the Ottoman Restaurant were located. Our only stop was as the Matbah restaurant. This trip was designed to understand the foods that Ottoman Sultans ate when they ruled Constantinople. We arrived at the restaurant and the entire area was set up for a cooking class. We were able to prepare our own replica Ottoman meals. Also, the restaurant manager called up the Turkish Fox News and they taped us and interviewed us. So I’m a Turkish celebrity. After we finished preparing our food we had to wait a half hour for it to cook so we left the restaurant and went to an art store next door. This type of art was unlike anything I had ever seen. This may be difficult to understand but I have a video that I’ll try to post later. The artist stood before a inch deep, 12X15 rectangular, metal tray. The tray was filled with water. He began by dropping dollops of paint in the water and using a metal utensil to move it around. After he performed this process for about 15 minutes he placed a plain piece of paper in the tray, patted it down, and peeled it off the water. The picture create was unlike anything I’d ever seen in my life. It was absolutely beautiful. We looked around the store for the rest of the time before returning back for lunch. The meal was absolutely delicious! We started off with an almond/yogurt based soup. Our appetizer consisted of hummus, an olive filled pastry, dolhmades, and eggplant. I enjoyed almost all of it. I just can’t seem to find the taste for olives – I just don’t like them. Our main course meal was next. It was half a cantaloupe filled with minced lamb and veal mixed with some nuts and rice. An absolutely delicious meal to say the least. Our next stop on the field trip was the spice market. The market is just vendor after vendor selling all types of teas and spices. I bought a bunch but I haven’t tasted them yet because they are shrink wrapped so they can be brought through US Customs. PS if you know anything about the customs process please email me and educate me because I have no idea. So I spent this entire time with Will and he had a field trip that was starting at 6:00 so we left the spice market and headed back to the ship around 5:00. The trip he had was explained as a hangout with Turkish college students. I thought it would be cool to talk to some natives so I paid to get onto the trip. WORST TRIP EVER. It was poorly planned and executed. We didn’t see ANY Turkish teens at all. The bus was too big to fit down a lot of the streets and it was just no fun. So after Will, Jackie, Justin, Thomas and I got back to the ship we met up with everyone else and headed out for the night. We started out at a bar called Splendor. Splendor had live Turkish music and a lot of locals. We spent a few hours here and then continued our journey. We were looking for a bar we read about online that was seven floors, and each floor played a different type of music. We got there… and we were the only people there. Completely dead. We spent an hour there, but mostly to decide where we would go next. We decided to go to a club. Our group was like 12 people at this point so it was inevitable that we would lose some. A cool thing about the club district of Istanbul is that they play a live feed outside their entrance so you can see which bars are popular and which are dead. We found a cool one and tried to get in but the group was mainly guys. The only girls there were me, Jackie, Gracie, and Whitney, and the other eight guys (Thomas, Russell, Sean, Moobs, Justin, Will, Alex, Chad). The guys were all standing in front and they wouldn’t let them in unless they were with girls, so we had to go in first – so strange. In Europe it is completely opposite from America. I found this out when I was in Bulgaria. When you go to clubs/bars in Europe the majority of people dancing are guys. Dancing on tables, dancing on bars, dancing with each other. Dancing is a male activity here so it was just strange that they weren’t allowed in without us. We stayed there for a while and then somehow we all ended up outside at the same time. We didn’t lose anyone. We all left together but some people wanted to go to another club and some just wanted to hang out at a hookah bar. So we split up. Whitney, Jackie, Gracie, Russell, Moobs, Chad, Alex, Will, and I went to a tea/hookah bar for the rest of the night. We ended up leaving around four because Will queened out. Will becomes a diva sometimes, and he was tired so he was being a diva. But we were all ready for bed at this point. I had been out of the boat for 20 hours, so I needed to sleep big time. Day 2: The second day was supposed to begin at 10am but Jackie, Whitney, and Gracie were basically dead. I woke them all up but we didn’t end up leaving until around eleven o’clock. Jackie insisted on a hangover cure – Burger King. After we ate, we headed over to the Grand Bazaar. The Grand Bazaar is three thousand small shops that Turks sell homemade goods from dishes, to carpets, to all types of trinkets. I bought a few things but then I met up with Thomas, Russell, Hawk, Moobs, and Will. I was going with them to the Turkish bath so I left the girls and stuck with the guys. We got to the Cagaloglu Hamam, which is on the list of 1 of the 1,000 places to see before you die. It is the number one bath in world. We got there early, but we were waiting for Annesley and Julia. So basically a Turkish bath is a place where you get exfoliated, washed, rinsed, and shampooed. I wasn’t sure what to expect but boy was I surprised. The rooms were obviously gender specific, so when Annesley and Julia got there we left the guys and went a different way. It was just us three girls and Thomas, Russell, Jamie, Sean, Justin, Moobs, and Will. We went into the room and they gave us a key to private rooms to get undressed and leave all our stuff. Literally, get naked and wrap a picnic tablecloth around you. Next we left the waiting room and went into the bathing room. As I stepped inside, my glasses fogged up and I couldn’t see anything. It was basically a sauna. When I finally cleared my glasses – NAKED WOMEN EVERYWHERE. So much nakedness. We saw some other SAS girls there and they were wearing bathing suits so we were confused. We were naked. At first we were thinking about putting underwear on, but everyone except the SAS girls were naked, so we just joined their custom. We sat in the sauna room until we were called individually. Now, its not like a massage place where you get a private room with mellow music. There was a large stone alter in the middle, a gutter system flowing around it, and sinks/wash basins on the outskirts. Annesley got called first. The alter was completely occupied by about 8 women, so her washer brought her to the side, sort of like in a corner. Next, Julia got called. She was placed on the alter directly in front of the other SAS girls. We didn’t know these SAS girls we just knew they were SAS. They were waiting to be called as well, but they were sitting right next to the sink. After Julia got her full body exfoliation she needed to be rinsed, and that was the closest sink. It was kinda funny to hear Julia talk about that afterwards. Lastly, I was called. I also, got to be on the alter, but I was on the opposite side as the SAS girls, and by the time I got called it seemed to have died down. There were far less people there when I got called. But before I got called I felt super awkward. I was like, I don’t even like being half naked during massages, now I have to be fully naked. Once I got to the table and just laid down like a helpless infant, it suddenly wasn’t awkward anymore. The weirdest part is seeing everyone else naked while you have a towel on. So, anyway, I got my exfoliation, and I got washed, and I got shampooed, and I got dried. Such an experience. It really was something extraordinary. I enjoyed it a lot, and I had super soft skin for like a week after wards. We were just chillen, hanging out in the waiting room, but the boys were calling us and yelling that we were taking too long. Apparently all seven of them finished before the three of us. Their explanation of the men’s bath was no where near as great as the women’s bath. After the bath, Julia, Annesley, and I went back to the ship to get ready to go out. I actually ended up leaving with Gracie, Jackie, and Whitney instead. But we all met up in Taxim Square. We went to some bar and just completely took over. There were so many of us that other people started leaving. There were at least 20 of us. The bar was right next to a live music bar and we were all just dancing in the street. One of the guys that worked at the bar danced with me and then gave me his number because obviously I’m going to call him. He loved me though. I was totally his favorite. We ended the night with wet burgers. Honestly I don’t even know what those are, but I ate them, and it was delicious. Day 3: The plan for day three was to sleep in and then go see the sights. We woke up for lunch and then headed out. Gracie, Whitney, Jackie, Will, Moobs, and I saw the New Mosque, the Blue Mosque, and the Hagia Sophia. First we went to the New Mosque, because we thought it was the Blue Mosque. The area was swarming with pigeons, and I was freaking out. We got to the door, took our shoes off and entered. The whole atmosphere is mystifying. We were there during a prayer and it really was incredible. Everyone seemed so invested and spiritual. I have never seen anyone at a church be as invested as they were. It was so interesting to watch the precise movements of everyone. Literally, it was the most specific movements, almost as precise as cheerleading motions, if you can make such an analogy. We left after the prayer ended because we were just so intrigued. We made our way over to the tram and took it to the Hagia Sophia. The Hagia Sophia was originally constructed as a church, but after Ahmet conquered Constantinople the Hagia Sophia was renovated to be a mosque. Then after a bunch of years they changed the mosque into a museum. Its not the type of museum that holds relics its just a building that was preserved and is beautiful. All of Istanbul is truly beautiful. The Hagia Sophia, or Ayasofia, is walking distance to the Blue Mosque, so we went over there. The Blue Mosque is the famous mosque in Istanbul, but I enjoyed the New Mosque much better. It was beautiful and all, but the New Mosque just had a certain gene Sequa. It was really exquisite. We met up with the rest of the guys for a bit and then we went back to the ship to nap. After our nap Russell and I went to meet the guys back at their apartment. We got to Taxim Square but the guys were eating so we walked around for a while. We met up with them for dessert. We were to a place called Modo. We ordered a huge chocolate fondue and then individual desserts. And it was freakin delicious. So it was just Russell, Thomas, Jamie, Sean, Will, Hawk, and I. Yup, the usual, me and a bunch of dudes. So they had rented an apartment for the week, and we were pretty dead from the last two nights so we just went to their apartment to watch a movie. I couldn’t tell you which movie, because I fell asleep before it started. At about 3:00 Justin woke me up to take me back to the ship because I had an FDP in the morning. Day 4: So I had to do a field trip for my acting class called “Theater of the Oppressed.” I thought it was a theater in Turkey that we were visiting. However, it was a workshop. We were there for a few hours, we played some games, and I learned some more acting techniques. I really enjoy structured acting, I wish I had learned more about it at a younger age because I might actually be good at it. After my trip I needed to find a way to meet up with the guys – thank God Thomas has a phone. They went to the city walls – but apparently it wasn’t very cool. I met them at the fountain near the Blue Mosque. That area is just beautiful. Our first stop was at the Topkapi Palace. It was built a long time ago for the rulers of the Ottoman Empire. It’s a museum now, filled with jewelry, robes, swords, shields, and other cool stuff. I’m not super interested in museums in general, but it was pretty cool. I was just super tired, and I needed to sleep. I was feeling sick and I just wasn’t happy. We went to the Basilica Cistern next. It was pretty interesting. It was an underground aqueduct. That was basically it, nothing special. But it was cool. We then went back to the apartment to just hang out. We were supposed to see the Whirling Dervishes but I fell asleep and everyone else was playing an intense game of Giant Card Kings Cups. I woke up and I still wasn’t feeling too hot, but we went to dinner for Julia’s birthday. We went back to Moda to eat, and it was pretty good. We were too full to get dessert but it was still great. After we ate we went back to the apartment to hang out for a bit before we went to meet up with the rest of the world. We finally got out for the night and we went back to Splendor. We listened to some awesome Turkish music and hung out with some Turkish people. It was really great. A little later on, Jamie asked to borrow the guitar and he played some original songs, and some sing along songs. We sang Hotel California, and some other fun stuff, and strangely, all the Turkish people knew the words ad sang along with us. It was really an experience. The night didn’t end great, but I won’t get into that via Tumblr. But I did get back to the ship and got a nice sleep. Day 5: Will asked me to go with him to the bazaar to help pick out a carpet. So we left after lunch and went shopping. We found a really great rug and I haggled like a pro. The originally 600-lira rug ended up costing Will 450 thanks to me. I didn’t buy anything though. I just accompanied him. After the Grand Bazaar we went to the Spice Bazaar. I bought a lot of stuff there. I got a bunch of spices and teas to bring home. It was pretty fun. We went back to the ship dropped our bags and then went across the street to a café. We went online for a bit and had some Turkish desserts: Turkish cream puffs, Turkish delight, Baklava. We had it all. It was a good time. So I loved Croatia and I want to go back, but I NEED to go back to Istanbul. This place is just incredible. I love it here. Now I’m on my way to Morocco and I get there on August 8. It’s the last port… =/ I’m sad to leave but I’m definitely ready to come back home. The classes here are really hard. Well, the curriculum isn’t hard, but I have a test in Global Studies on August 4 that has information all the back to July 1. And considering we only had 6 days of class in July the material was spread out very thinly. It is super hard to keep up with work – thank god I took acting. People that are taking two academic classes are really swamped, but Acting is saving me. Can’t wait to see you all – please email me so I have some connection! Love you all! See you in two weeks!

Okay so I had no idea what to expect from Bulgaria but I accept Bulgaria as the replacement for Egypt because I had an AMAZING time. I’m really finding myself some great friends and people I’ll really miss! Day 1: I woke up pretty late because I was still sick and needed some extra rest. I went to lunch on the ship to see what everyone was doing for the day. I met up with Jordan, Michael, Jamie, Sophia, and Camille at lunch and we all went to the beach for the day. Day drinking to the max and tanning like none other. A totally chill out day that I really needed. We went back to the ship for dinner and a nap. I never got around to napping because I just don’t like wasting time on sleep – but I met up with Mike Young at dinner to see what his plans were. I ended up going with him and a hundred other people bowling. It was fancy bowling – blazers and minis all around. The place wasn’t a fancy place, we just thought it would be fun to do that – and it was. After pre-gaming at the bowling alley we grabbed some drinks from the supermarket and made our way to the beach. We partied for a bit on the beach with a ton of other sasholes and then we went to a club called Xtravaganza. Europe is about ten years behind on music and they only play American music. Think Linkin Park, Nelly, and Shaggy. The DJ at Xtravaganza was TERRIBLE. Every six seconds he would stop the music and start talking in Bulgarian. I hated it. I hated it so much I left. I ended up back at the ship around 3:00am and went to sleep. Day 2: Another sleep in day for me. I went to lunch and I saw Patty and Kandice and they were going with Juliana to swim with dolphins, ride horses, and jet ski. Obviously I was going with them. Funny thing about that day was we didn’t actually do any of it. We ended up at Golden Sands beach but Megan and Candice didn’t want to lay on the beach and neither did I, so we went shopping. I didn’t actually buy anything but window-shopping is just as fun. As we were walking around we were stopped by some club promoters. They were selling pub crawl tickets and were trying to recruit us. Candice was so into it, so I told her I’d go with her. We ended up getting six tickets and a whole bunch of us went. It was literally a BLAST. We got entrance into five clubs and I danced on five bars and got five shots and gave high fives all around. We had a ton of fun. With lots of pictures to prove it. After the pub crawl we headed back towards the ship to see what all the sasholes were doing. Everyone was at a place called Copacabana but everyone was leaving because the Bulgarian mafia showed up. Apparently you don’t want to mess with those people so we walked on the beach for a little bit and went back to the ship to sleep. Day 3: I got up around ten and called Jess to see what we were doing. Jess, Lyndsi, and I took a trip back to Golden Sands for a shopping/beach day. I bought a really awesome dress and some gifts for people back home. We went to the beach for a little bit but the sand was filled with bugs and Lyndsi got some really bad bug bites in Mykonos and didn’t want a repeat of it so we left. We went back to the ship for naps and dinner. Again I couldn’t nap so I played dress up for hours with my new “one skirt many ways.” Around ten o’clock Jess and I thought it would be a good idea to get ready and go out. We had no plans but to have a good time so we just left with that idea. We walked down the beach and stopped by a restaurant called Happy and had some finger foods and drinks. Bulgaria is just a big party place at night. The day life is pretty light but the night life is pretty crazy. There are a ton of bars down the beach so we just bar hopped for the rest of the night before going back to the ship. Day 4: The last day in Bulgaria I was supposed to go with Jess and Lyndsi into the town to the market but I ended up sleeping until lunch and they left earlier. So I ran into Matt Mooberry at lunch and asked what he was doing. The plan was to go bungee jumping off the bridge. it was me Matt, Sean, Whitney, and Sarah. We got all the way to the bridge and the line was like five hours long. We were so not up for waiting that long so we made a pact to wait till Morocco. Whitney was all about going to get a tattoo so we got a taxi into town and searched for a place called Lucky Seven. As we were walking I decided that I wanted a tattoo as well. When we got to the shop they told us it was a free piercing with every tattoo so obviously I had to get a piercing. You’re all just going to have to wait and see how it turned out. We were at the shop for about four hours. By the time we left it was after five. We needed to be on the ship by six o’clock and we still needed to buy postcards. Clearly getting postcards trumps getting on the ship. We ended up having to run back to the ship and we swiped our cards literally one minute before dock time. The workers were all cheering for us to swipe our cards so we didn’t get dock time. It was awesome! All in all Bulgaria was a fun time. Way better than I expected it to be. I was not ready for this to be one of my favorite ports but I was pleasantly surprised by this place. Aside from the fact that the people who work in Bulgaria were some of the nastiest people I’ve ever met this place was pretty awesome. Bulgaria is definitely not at the top of my revisit list but it was fun where I was, with the people I was with.

We have arrived in Bulgaria! I’m still feeling sick - I haven’t gone to class - but I’m not going to sit around and mope. I’m going to go out and explore this cryptic place. If you haven’t received a post card from me and you want one just email me at LMigliorisi@semesteratsea.net I have send a TON out so there might be one on the way but if not make sure you send me your address because time is winding down! Only 27 more days! Aside from being sick I’m having the time of my life! Sorry for all of you who aren’t happy to see me happy but this is the trip of my lifetime and I’m going to live it up. So I’m not sure who was involved with that package sent to me but it was amazing! Thank you thank you thank you! You really thought of everything! I ate almost all the food already though - I’m gonna have to restock in Bulgaria. But really - it definitely made me feel a whole lot better after my Mykonos blow out. Seriously though, email me! I like talking to you guys =D Love you all! See you soon!

So I still have some terrible strep but we are now on our way to Bulgaria and it is imperative that I get better. Which means that I am not going to any classes today. In fact, I made an appointment for a massage and a facial. However, if I’m feeling up to it I will be going - those of you who know me, know that I HATE missing class. So because I was sick Greece don’t have any real good stories but here’s a recap. Day 1: I had a field trip to the Theaters of the Acropolis. I was not impressed. I expected a whole lot more than I was given. It was cool, no doubt, but honestly, if I didn’t have a tour guide explaining what everything was I would have has no idea. I know the whole fun of old places is the ruins but the ruins just aren’t doing it for me. I guess I expected more after seeing the Colosseum, because the Colosseum (from the outside) looks pretty well in tact. After we left the theaters we had about an hour to just walk around the city and do whatever we wanted. So in Italy there’s a bunch of gelato shops which is great, but in Greece there are Greek Yogurt shops. (So much better than frozen yogurt.) I got myself a nice order of Low Fat Greek Yogurt, Orange honey, sliced almonds, and walnuts. It was ahhhhhhh-mazing! So this field trip was all of my acting class. The first scene I had to do for this class was with Jessica and after that we became pretty good friends. We are a lot alike - but not too much that I want to kill her. I spend the whole day with her - well actually all of Greece with her. After the Acropolis trip we were starving so we went out looking for food and the intent to see Harry Potter afterwards. As we were walking around we noticed that everything was closed. It was reallllly annoying to go to place after to place and see everything shut down. We thought it had something to do with the riots and whatnot (because all the taxis were on strike because of the riots). We finally found this gyro place (ps I’ve never had a gyro) and we ate there because it was literally the only place open within a 25-minute radius walk. Well, this place turned out to be amazing. Not just the food. The guy that was working there sat down with us and had hours long conversations. He told us everything from his past, to his family, to Greek history, to Greek alphabet, to playwrights. This man was the first real local that I have had the blessing to connect with on this trip. I’ve heard other people’s stories about locals but this guy was my story. I was really amazing at how interested he was in his culture and history. Well we ended up staying there for a few hours and missed Harry Potter - but - sorry Alexx - it was definitely worth it. Day 2: Jess and I left the ship at 6:45am to catch a 7:25 ferry to Mykonos. Mike Young had booked a room for us at this cool little apartment complex but after the five hour ferry ride and the half hour bus ride we arrived to a complex that every other SAS-hole was at. Lucky for us - those SAS-holes were our friends but we didn’t know we were staying at the same place until we got there. After we checked out everyone’s rooms and got changed we went out for some food. Mykonos is very limited on taxis we walking is the best option. However, the whole island is just filled with hills - STEEEEEEP HILLS. It was literally a hike to get up to main road from our valley apartment. Right at the top of our hill was a nice outdoors restaurant so the twelve of us sat down and get some food. I ordered linguine with some sort of greek tomato sauce, chicken, and eggplant. It really was delicious but my throat hurt so bad that I couldn’t swallow it at all. I took maybe five bites. Jessica ordered a dish of hummus so I ate a bunch of that instead. It was delicious just super painful. The restaurant was adjacent to a mini mart so all the guys went in and bought a ton of alcohol. Everything you could think of. We went back to the apartments to hang around for a while and wait for the night. When we got back my throat got exponentially worse. It hurt to talk, to swallow water, even my own spit. I felt like shit. I just wanted to have a good time so they told me to drink some whiskey because apparently when babies have teeth coming in people rub whiskey on their gums to numb the pain. Sure enough it worked. I only took one shot - like I was just taking cough syrup - and I felt a whole ton better. The interesting part about Mykonos is that the sun doesn’t set until nine o’clock. So we left the house around eightish and the sun was still blaring - and I actually got a tan. We were walking in search of a place called Paradise Beach because there was some sort of concert going on and it was going to be like a big party. We ended up hiking for like an hour across the island. We ended up at some bar that only had tables for dancing on and people that were basically naked. Obviously this was the destination for our night. We hung out danced around and sobered up. No one (expect Will) was drunk by the time we left. See, Will is an interesting person. When he gets drunk he does some really weird stuff. For instance, he ate a tube of toothpaste because it made his breath smell better than just brushing his teeth, and Will stays drunk a lot longer than anyone I know. I got some sweet videos of Will dancing on one foot. Day 3: Jess and I decided to rent a quad to get around the island. It was like twelve euro each and we had the quad for twenty-four hours. We rode around literally all day long and we honked at every dude that past us (but usually they honked first). It was a whole lot of fun driving one of those things. So we originally got our quad with Buffalo Mike and we were all planning on riding into the city to check out all the cool sites and do some shopping. But Mike was going a lot faster than us cause there was less weight on his ATV and we couldn’t keep up with him and we lost him. So we ended up in the city by ourselves which was fine too because we went into EVERY SINGLE SHOP WE SAW. It was great. I bought more stuff in Greece than I did in every other country combined. We went back to the apartment to drop all our stuff off and when we got there we found Mike Young (DC Mike). So we hung around with him for a while and then went off in search of an ATM. We ended up driving around for another four hours. We saw a sign for Super Paradise Beach, which is where everyone else went that day so we followed it. We got to Super Paradise – but it was pretty lame. We were trying to leave but the hill was like an eighty-degree incline and our quad wouldn’t go. So I got off and walked while Jess rode the quad. We made to a less steep part of the hill and we were able to make it up the rest of the way. THANK GOD. We rode all the way into town and finally found an ATM. Got some money and went back to the apartment. When we got back Mike Young was freaking out because this girl Taylor was passed out in one of the rooms that was under his name – and we didn’t know her. Tara and Danielle left her there and went to get their ferry back to the ship so Mike had to take responsibility for her. We ended up staying in the whole night, which was fine because that night was the epitome of my sickness. I was feeling almost as bad as last summer when I had mono. I even thought it might be mono – but its strep. Day 4: I was supposed to spend the whole day and another night in Mykonos but I was feeling so shitty that I just couldn’t stay. Jess and I went into town to buy some ferry tickets and went back to the apartment. The quad was due back at 12:15 and the ferry was at 2:15. Before I brought the quad back I wanted to get some Mykonos sand. So we drove down the block to the beach and while we were there we saw this woman selling dresses and bathing suits and other cool stuff. We ended up spending a bunch of money there. But the stuff was pretty so I don’t care. Then I returned the quad and Mike drove me back to the apartment on his sports bike. So, Jess and I took an eight hour ferry back to Piraeus and I was passed out for the majority of the time. We got back to Piraeus and we were going to take a taxi back to the ship except the taxis are still on strike. So we had to walk. It isn’t a bad walk but when your sick and struggling to hold your head up its really hard. I got back to the ship finally and past out. Day 5: I woke up and the hospital was closing in like 4 minutes – so I ran down stairs as fast as I could. They told me I had strep and gave me medicine. This is how shitty I feel - I’m actually taking it. My head is pounding, my muscles ache, and I can’t swallow. But after the medicine I was feeling a lot better and I planned to go into the port store and finish off my Euros and try to check my email. When I was leaving I ran into Will and he was heading out there too, so we walked together. He was talking about going to some big market in Athens so I went with him. We walked around the market for about an hour and a half before heading back to the Explorer. I bought some stuff but nothing crazy cool. I still had more Euros left and I can’t use Euros in Bulgaria, Turkey, or Morocco so I had to spend them. So I bought this sweet bracelet and some souvenirs. Then I got back on the ship and we left. So Greece was probably my least favorite port, for obvious reasons. But we get to Bulgaria tomorrow and hopefully I’ll be feeling better by then. Not sure what there is to do there but I’m sure I’ll be pleasantly surprised. Talk to you soon! Love y’all! (EVERYONE ON THIS BOAT SAYS Y’ALL! ITS RUBBING OFF ON ME!)

Still sick! But I’m working on my Greece post - its just taking longer because I have ZERO pictures /= Expect a post sometime today =D

Hello all! Greetings from Greece. I just returned back to the ship from my overnight trip to Mykonos. I was supposed to stay another night (in fact I paid to stay another night) but I’m so sick I had to come back. That’s why I haven’t spoken to anyone - I can’t talk because it hurts too much. I can’t even swallow spit right now I feel absolutely miserable but I received a notice that I have a package which is brightening my night. Thanks everyone that has been thinking of me! Love ya!

So I finally decided that I like this boat. The first few ports were rough but honestly I don’t want to leave. I’m finally feeling like everyone else is. A few nights before Croatia Justin from my acting class helped me move the furniture in my cabin so that I could have a queen sized bed. I had fallen right between the two beds the first night so Achilles - my steward - put queen sheets on my bed. So now that everyone found out about my exclusive room everyone wants to hang out in here. Last night we had a movie night in my room. And it was the most contradictory Semester at Sea ratio. It was Russell, Jamie, Sean, Justin, and Me. We watched V for Vendetta - well, I fell asleep. We lost another hour of sleep last night. ITS KILLING ME! But we get to Greece in the morning which is awesome. I think I’m gonna camp out on the observation deck and watch the sunrise over the Acropolis. Tomorrow I have an FDP to the Theaters of the Acropolis with my acting class. And then on Monday I’m going to Mykonos and staying there until Thursday. I can’t wait

So tomorrow I get to Greece but I’m starting to actually like the life on the ship. Justin from my acting class helped me move the furniture in my room so that I could have a queen sized bed before we got to Croatia. When I got back on the boat after Croatia Achilles (my steward) put queen sized sheets on my bed so they won’t spread apart when I’m sleeping and fall through the middle. Since I now have the best room - we had a movie night last night. It was Russell, Jamie, Justin, Sean, and I watching V for Vendetta. Justin was on the floor but everyone else was laying in my bed. Such a funny sight! I fell asleep of course - and we also lost another hour of sleep last night. I’m starting to miss Staten Island less and less - SORRY! Yeah you should probably expect less personal emails/phone calls because I’m actually enjoying myself now. But since this is SCHOOL, I have CLASS now. This whole assignments/scene work/papers thing is really cramping my style.