Until Semester at Sea, I suppose you could say I took land for granted. I mean, when you’re constantly walking, running, skipping, jumping, gallivanting, or otherwise verb-ing on it, you don’t really think about how nice solid ground is underneath your feet. That being said, we spent nearly all of yesterday morning lazing about and refueling the ship off the shores of the capital of the Canary Islands, Las Palmas. A Spanish territory located 100 km west of Morocco, the Canaries are a major tourist destination for many Europeans. When they announced we would be stopping, I had this surge of excitement. When I woke up and looked out the window, I was thrilled to see a city on the water within swimming distance (except nothing is really swimming distance on Semester at Sea—if you fall overboard, you go home). Colorful houses built into hillsides and taller buildings dotted the landscape. Behind the city were even mountains. It was all very calming in a way; the ocean gets boring after a while and land usually doesn’t randomly shift as you are walking on it, unless, of course, there’s an earthquake or something.
We couldn’t leave, though. We couldn’t go out and explore this city and landscape before us. The captain was merely teasing our land-loving souls. I have to thank him, though, because it probably wouldn’t have been enough time; we all would’ve wanted to see more. I suppose that’s what Semester at Sea is trying to do to us students: tease us with little snapshots of each country without giving us the full taste. People had all sorts of different experiences in Morocco than myself—exploring cities like Rabat and Fez, staying in an authentic Berber village, going on a camel trek that didn’t take an entire day to drive to, among others. The sense of adventure is infectious and intoxicating on board.
Last night, I attended a lecture by Adam Braun, SAS alumni and founder of Pencils of Promise, a non-profit devoted to building schoolhouses for children of developing countries. Extremely inspiring, Adam told us his story, how Pencils of Promise came to fruition, how we can make the most out of our time on SAS, and how to keep the lessons we learn from it in our lives following the voyage end. It seems a bit premature to be thinking about the end, but I hope that I can keep the things I’ve already learned alive and fresh when I return to CC. While it’s scary to think that we won’t “fit in” upon our return to America, at least according to Adam, I’m looking forward to more ephemeral experiences that fall under the metaphysical more than anything else. Morocco was a scary and confusing place, but I really enjoyed it. Outside one’s comfort zone is where the magic happens.
My favorite point of Adam’s? You may be safe, but I am free.
No comments:
Post a Comment