October 5, 2014

¡Hola! ¡Estoy en España!

Here’s a slight change of pace… thanks to my high school Spanish class I can halfway understand a word or two when I hear people talking in this country! Although, it’s a bit limited, and people in Spain DO NOT speak as slowly as the people in those learning videos who say, “¿La biblioteca?”

The MV Explorer has been docked in Cadiz for two days and I will soon be returning to Spain for round two by visiting Barcelona. Yesterday I added another country to my repertoire by exploring the rock of Gibraltar (stay tuned for details).

Last night’s Spanish experience didn’t really go to plan, but nevertheless it was fun. Word on the water was that an off-Broadway rendition of The Lion King was playing in town. Everyone on the ship was stoked for a Spanish production that we could understand because who doesn’t know the story of The Lion King? To make it even better, the production was free! So we all got a little dressed up and ventured to the theater.

With an address in hand we walked downtown while enjoying the Spainish beauty.

We walked some more. And a little more. And eventually a sweat began to arise with the humidity. After using the supreme power of cross-cultural communication bequeathed to us by my friend, Carrie (who, thank God, just happened to be a Spainish major) we finally made it to the theater. There was a line. A long one. We stood for a while and then realized where we were: a college campus. The reason it was free was because a college drama department was putting it on. Oh well. It was free and in Spainish. So we waited some more. After finally reaching the front door, it was shut in our faces due to lack of seats. No Español Hakuna Matata for us.

The evening wasn’t a total bust. We hit a local restaurant for some delicious tapas.

Today I had a field lab for my energy class. To be honest, it wasn’t the most exciting day in port.

I went to an old tidal mill, a wind farm, and an experimental facility that is working on converting human waste products to usable energy. That was interesting and all, but I could have thought of a few better ways to spend a day in Spain that looking at… human waste. The wind farms held some nice views though.

By the time the lab was over I had a couple hours to explore Cadiz with my friends, Conor and Bree, before on-ship time. We snapped photos and marveled and even got a little lost, which is always the best way to discover new things. Here are a few cool shots I took.

The little time I had exploring was just enough to give me a taste of the culture that Spain had to offer. I’m seriously excited to come back to Barcelona in the near future so I can experience it in full.