Author Archives: sam
Heartfelt Goodbye
As the ship pulled away from Ghana the group of street vendors whose booths were set up right next to the ship, many of whom were drum-makers, ran and grabbed a bunch of drums and kettle bells and Ghana flags and started an impromptu drum and dance send-off on the edge of the port terminal. […]
A Bright Future for Ghana
For our last day in Ghana we visited Father’s Home Care Ministries. It was founded 10 years ago by a Ghanaian man named Frances who felt God was calling him to become a father. At first he wasn’t sure what that call to fatherhood really meant, but after a couple years of prayerful consideration he […]
Carry On, Ghana!
Ghanaians are incredibly skilled at carrying things on their heads. We learned that they start doing this at a young age because it allows them to carry much heavier objects for longer distances than children can support with their arms. We saw children of all ages and sizes carrying everything–wood-framed glass boxes full of bread, […]
P90 Botwaeku
Another part of our village stay included a performance by a professional troupe of Cape Coast drummers/dancers/fire-eaters/acrobats called Botwaeku Dance Ensemble. Drumming for a living creates some pretty impressive arm muscles. Dancing/acrobatics for a living produces some pretty impressive muscles all over your body. As with any performance art, sometimes still images do not convey […]
Kofi Baako and Esi Dadzie Come to Visit
On our second day in Ghana, Shannon led an overnight SaS trip to the village of Atonkwe for a Cultural Immersion experience. We arrived in the village early in the morning and were immediately greeted by Chief Na Na and his council of village elders. We all received Ghanaian Fante names in a traditional naming […]
Cape Coast Castle and Slave Dungeon
On our first day in Ghana, we hired a taxi driver to take us to the town of Elmina to visit the Cape Coast Castle and Slave Dungeon. It was a very moving experience for us. The injustice and evil of the whole concept of slavery is appalling in and of itself, but to stand […]
Guided by the Best
We need to tell you a little bit more about our fantastic guide, Mohammad, pictured with us and another great guide, Hossein, below. Three guides helped us throughout our trip, but Shannon and I spent the most time hiking with Mohammad (the one with the orange hat). This guy was a walking, talking, joking encyclopedia […]
The Hotel of A Thousand Stars
After our time in Marrakech, we spent the next three days hiking and visiting Berber villages in the High Atlas Mountains. We learned from our guides that the term “Berber” actually comes from the word “barbarian” and was a derogatory term given to all non-Arabs in northern Africa. Most of the villagers themselves don’t know […]
Posted in Travel
Tagged Atlas Mountains, Berber, gite, hiking, Morocco, SaS, Semester at Sea
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Good Luck, Long Life, Good Baby, Good Sex
The bulk of our time in Morocco was spent on a 4-day Semester at Sea trip to Marrakech and then into the High Atlas mountains, and we loved every second of it. We were a little anxious about the logistics of leading a trip with 60 people on it, but a combination of fantastic Chleh […]
Posted in Travel
Tagged animals, Morocco, SaS, Semester at Sea
Comments Off on Good Luck, Long Life, Good Baby, Good Sex
Skype-ing at the Cathedral
One of the students’ favorite things about Spain was the fact that less than a 5 minute walk from the ship, the city of Cadiz offered free high speed wifi in the plaza of the cathedral. During academic voyages, crew and students pay a hefty fee for Internet usage on the ship, so this plaza […]