Senegal

Haven't been able to get on the internet much, security is a big issue so we can't caryy computers around much, same with cameras. I hope to get some pictures when we are doing our projects. The project I am a part of is Urban Agriculture, we are working on a container garden at a hospital, and trying to set one up at an orphanage. We are working in conjunction with SYTO, a group of Senegalese university students. The garden at the hospital is run by a US Peace Corps volunteer who we are also working with. I am definetly excited to get to the actual site and start working! The sail over was alright, but we had headwinds (so we couldn't use sails, and had to motor) most of the time, which usually happens like 1% in the trade wind area. Christmas was fun, we did a secret Santa, I knit a toque and I got a little anchor charm made of copper wire for my necklace as well as a canvas bag for my knitting stuff. Not much time until I'm home, but that also means saying goodbye to first semester students, which is a little sad.

This is the first from morocco

Morocco

Tunis was great, and morocco has been one of my favorite ports so far; we got to ride camels to a campsite where we stayed overnight, as well as getting to jump off of sand dunes, which was fun. I haven't had much time on the Internet so I'm going to upload a bunch of tunis pictures, then some from morocco. Hanukkah was cool onboard, the polish engineers made latkes and Dina made challah.

Tunis

Tunis was pretty interesting, we saw salt flats, the place where the first scene in Star Wars (the one with blue milk) was filmed, what the roach motels (roaches included) were like when we stayed out for a night, and many neat Roman ruins including an amphitheater and a temple. I particularly liked the Roman ruins, some of the architecture was very impressive. A small country, we toured a majority of it, but still definitely worth coming to.

Arrived in tunis

Took my first step on Africa this morning, making it the fifth continent I've been to, which is definetly awesome. I'm not really sure what to expect, but we've been told that women aren't supposed to smile, expose their shoulders or move within a foot of a man, otherwise it will be considered sexual advances and the men here are apparently very agressive. The sail over wasn't especially eventful, but Mr. Cleland started a team chess ladder and the competition is pretty intense.

Malta

Malta

Malta

Malta

Malta

Malta

Malta

Malta

Malta

Malta

Istanbul

The main thing to do in Istanbul, that I've seen, is walk through the Grand Bazaar, with it's thousands of near identical shops, and get yelled at, sung to and generally inimidated. I also had the opportunity to take a ferry to the Asian half of Turkey and although it was very similar to the European side, I'm well on my way to 5 continents in 5 months. We also just found our today that we are taking part in a homestay program tomorrow with a local high school, it should be cool to see how they live here. We are also touring the big attractions, although the Hagia Sophia somehow didn't make the list. Most people are already antsy to get back to sea, myself included. Istanbul, although highly anticipated, isn't exactly what we had thought it would be like. That's not to say, however, that it's many Mosques aren't beautiful or it's culture rich, just that it was overhyped. It could also be my 2 in the morning mentallity, being up for gangway watch dampens even re most cheerful spirit.

Corsica!

Corsica is a really beautiful place, we just did a five hour hike and saw all sorts of neat views as well as the plant that grow around (cactii among other things). The sail here was amazing, we saw a comet, hundreds of shootin stars, hurricane force (80 knot) winds, a squall and we got to swim in the Med. Definetly my favourite sail so far. The storm we encountered had us up against the aforementioned winds, 20 foot waves and a wall of rain for about 5 minutes (sounds like Vancouver, I know). The boat was rocking so much that it woul tilt all the way till the rail is under water, then tilt the other way and all of the water would rush across the deck, drenching those of us on daywatch. Thankfully it was warm water; it ended up being really fun. I didn't really get any pictures during the sail but I'll upload my pictures of Corsica and also the crafts I'm currently working on (a necklace with a charm from each port, a knitted balaclava)

Last day in Portugal

Today I am going to Porto, the second largest city in Portugal. Although Portugal has been fun, it's just about time to get moving to Corsica. Midterms are coming up right after so we are all a little anxious, but I think I will do well. My averages in physics, math and bio are currently about 95, 97 and 96 respectively, but due to the way Nova Scotia runs its curriculum is kinda weird, so midterms are worth 50% of your midterm mark, and then that combined midterm mark is worth 25% of your final mark, with 25% being your averge during the second half of the year and 50% being one final test. 80% of that test is written and (no matter which class) 20% is oral. I, personally, find oral physics a bit weird but to each his own.

Lisbon

In Lisbon today, some cool stuff here. We found this one castle with a crazy view of the entire city, still need to put the pictures onto the Internet. Everyone onboard is already thinking if their parents and malta.

Aveiro

Today we went to a museum of Portugese cod fishing, which happened mostly in Newfoundland. Interestingly they felt very strongly about one of their sailors having beaten John Cabot on his voyage, although I'm sure the Italians feel the same way. Afterwards we listened to the Canadian ambassador to Portugal discuss relations between our two countries. It was so stuffy that even the town's mayor, who was also in attendance, was starting to nod off near the end. All in all a very educational day.

Portugal

Just got into Portugal after 8 hours of Customs inspections! Pictures tomorow if I get a chance. Had a great thanksgiving off the coast of Spain, which was definetly cool.

Just forgot to mention

On the way over to Ireland we passed close to another tall ship called the Bounty. Apparently it was the ship used as the black pearl in the Pirates of the Carribean movies, which was really cool. Also before being able to disembark in Dublin we had to pass a lines test, which means that I am now able to tell you where the outer jib jigger and t'gallant bunts are.

GeoTagged, [N53.34471, E6.26727]

GeoTagged, [N53.34471, E6.26727]