Cadiz, Spain: Day 1

I awoke at dawn yesterday morning to see the ship pull into the Cadiz port in Spain. After breakfast, I went with several people to wander the city. One of the first places we ended up was a store that held archaeological objects, including jewelry, pots, and sculptures dug up in Cadiz and other cities around Spain. I picked out a one-of-a-kind silver ring and placed it on its new residence—my right middle finger. We walked through an outdoor market selling meats, fruits, veggies, olives, and candy to a general marketplace with more shops and restaurants. I spoke Spanish to a Spaniard in Spain! It was very exciting for me, and although Steph and Jill have been perpetually annoyed by my Spanglish on the ship, they ended up grateful for me as I turned into their translator.

After three hours of exploration, I returned to the ship for a quick twenty minutes of rest before the Cadiz City Orientation (an SAS trip “strongly recommended” by my Spanish teacher—we have “field” requirements in each class). Jill and I boarded an air-conditioned bus for a half hour drive around the entire city, which is very small. The most notable thing I saw on the drive was the Cadiz Botanical Gardens, which I would like to return to. The rest of the drive included the new church, old church, prisons, castles, and ancient buildings. I found out that Cadiz is the oldest city in western Europe and for the first time (ever, I think) I wished I was at the Cadiz beach, which was beautiful and blue. When we departed the bus, I was at first nonplussed by the heat (30 degrees Celsius…conversions are beyond my knowledge) as we embarked on the walking portion of our tour. This portion was long and—unfortunately—a bit boring. We explored the exact same areas I had walked through earlier in the day and looked through (OF COURSE) two museums and a church. In the “new” (built in the 1800s) church of Cadiz, it is half Baroque and half limestone (as the top half was built at a later date). Because limestone is in no way immune to the heat and humidity of Cadiz, the ceiling is slowly falling apart and so a net has been strewn across the entire church. Underneath lies a crypt, a large maze of tombs and graves. It was cold (yay) down there but eerie, and as I watched my peers pose in front of the tombs, smiles plastered on their faces, I couldn’t help but grimace a few times. The church museum (really?) had no air-conditioning, like most of the stores, etc. in Cadiz, and so both the feeling and smell inside was incredibly unpleasant. This point in the orientation is when I mentally checked out, staring into walls and camping out next to the scattered fans. We walked for about a half hour longer, with the guide talking talking talking, until we arrived at the bus, which took us back to the ship.

After showers and naps, Jill, Steph, and I got all done up (something we later regretted as it elicited only intimidating stares) and went to dinner. We wandered the cobblestones in our heels (how do they do it?) until we came across a restaurant that looked good. My Spanish came in handy once again, as our waitress spoke almost no English. At 9:30 PM, it was only the three of us in an outdoor patio of about thirty tables. As the night and our dinner wore on, Semester at Sea students began to fill the restaurant until there was no table free. We had three delicious bottles of wine (four more people had joined us) at 12 euros—awesome!—each, and ordered seafood dishes as we are in a port city. We sat at the table for about three hours and I noticed that Jill and Steph were gone. They had met a group of Spanish boys and were trying—unsuccessfully, as they spoke no English—to flirt with them. They recruited me and I attempted to translate for about an hour before I made them return to the ship with me. It was 2 AM, and Jill and I had to be up at 7:30 to board the bus for our “White Town Route” excursion today. Steph left us at 4 AM for the SAS sponsored Barcelona trip and she will not return until Saturday.

A lovely first day.

Side note: I have found that I prefer to go out with only one or two people and leave behind my “SAS” character, as I detest the notion of my identity as a tourist, and try to refrain from speaking English too loudly as I would rather blend in as a Spaniard (which can certainly not be said of the rest of my shipmates).

Another side note: My camera broke and I have not been able to take pictures. Jill and Steph, however, have, and when I go to the internet café on Saturday I will edit these posts to add pictures to them. Check back then!