Luck o'the Irish.

Wednesday night was neat because I was able to slip into a debate held by a club on the Trinity college campus, and I really enjoyed my evening.

Thursday I decided to try the same thing again, so I left the ship around 7:30 headed into Dublin. I went straight to the Trinity campus too find something to do. I hadn't been on campus but ten steps when I saw a sign for a 7pm Christian Union club, so I followed the arrows and found a group of students just settling in to listen to a lesson from a girl in her thirties. This was the second Christian Union (CU) meeting of the school year, and folks were very welcoming. After a 30 minute teaching on biblical freedom I joined the group for coffee and cookies, where I met a lot of neat people. I met a girl from NYU who was really nice, and the president of CU, a chap named Gavin. They introduced me to many other students, all of whom were very welcoming. When I explained how I came to be in their CU meeting most of them laughed and found it crazy, but they were happy I'd come regardless. Gavin and I decided to get lunch on Friday and set up a time and a place to meet.

The next day I met with Gavin and a few of the students I'd met the evening before, and we talked over lunch and laughed about silly Irish or American things. As we left the restaurant Gavin asked if I'd seen the Book of Kells yet. If you've never heard of it, the Book of Kells is a copy of the four gospels, intricately crafted by Scottish monks in the 8th century. Anyways, I hadn't seen the book. Gavin offered to take me to see it, so I went. There were just three of us at this point, but we skipped the  line and walked right into the exhibit. The volume itself is absolutely magnificent-page after page of detailed artwork that must have taken a painfully long time to create.
We finally said goodbye and I headed back to the ship. It was bittersweet. I'd made new friends and yet I had to leave them so soon.

The interesting thing about this encounter was the timing of it. On Thursday afternoon I was spending time with my Resident Director (RD). Her name is Dani and she is really neat. We were just sitting around on the ship enjoying some downtime and talking about life as we have been known to do from time to time. I told Dani that I was increasingly frustrated by the lack of Christian community on-board the ship. We have a Christian Club that meets together on the ship, but scheduling anything on the ship is a messy ordeal because people tend to forget when meetings are, etc. I've missed a few of the meetings myself (along with everyone else it seems). Seemingly randomly, I walked into a situation where other people wanted to talk to me about my faith and hear my story. Having the chance to spend even an hour or two with other believers was so refreshing. On the last day we were together, I asked Gavin how I could pray for him and for the students of CU, and he told me that the most present challenge they face is that of engaging a community of believers. On a campus of 17,000 students, Gavin and a group of about 50 students comprise the only Christian club on campus. I come from a campus that is also about 17,000 students, but the campus ministry I attend (one of many) has 300 people each week.
In one fell swoop, the Lord showed me two things:
1. Christians all over the planet are struggling to form community. In Ireland or on a cruise ship, growing a community of believers is something that takes work and intentional discipleship. It doesn't just happen that people come together the way I've always seen it happen at App state or in Raleigh.
2. I have been given a really special opportunity at App State over the past three years, and I am excited to re-engage with the RUF community at school when I get back in the Spring. I guess I've always taken campus ministries for granted. Seeing a student-led group learning and growing together in their faith has given me a renewed appreciation for my campus minister back home.

After Wednesday night's debate I thought that my experience in Ireland couldn't get any better, but I was wrong. Thanks be to God for the ways he has chosen to open my eyes to his work in my life and in the lives of others around me.

P.S. So over the whole touristy, beaten-path thing.

Always lost like Robert Frost,
Cam

So Sas...

    I'm going to spend this post explaining a little ship terminology we have started using and some stories that make it relevant. Here on the ship we use the term "So SAS" to refer to any occasion that completely fulfills the educational and experiential goals laid out by the Semester at Sea program. Usually these events are completely spontaneous, involve interaction with locals, make Type-A folks nervous, and offer unexpected learning experiences. Sometimes, SAS is as a joke to refer to situations that were the antithesis of the things above. The club we infested in Berlin was referred to as "So SAS", as were a few other disgraceful instances I heard about. However, the term SAS isn't really a joke-it is just a way of quickly describing experiences that would be worthy of one of the neat pictures that decorate the walls of the MV Explorer.

For example, in Belgium I hopped off the ship with two friends and no plans. The only thing we knew we wanted to do was climb to the top of a museum in Antwerp that has a patio with a view of the city from the tenth floor. We started off for the museum and arrived around 9:45. On top of the museum we met a (relatively) local man from the Netherlands named Jonathan. We asked him about his favorite things to do in the city, and he gave us a list of his top five must-do things for Antwerp. We thanked him for his time and proceeded to do everything he told us was worth doing over the course of the day. From chocolate to the train station to a printing museum etc. etc, we checked off all of the items on Jonathan's list before heading back to the MV Explorer that evening. We hit a few big landmarks, but we were also able to visit lesser known locations that we wouldn't have found without our buddy Jonathan. To be sure, it was a very SAS day.

However, last night was so SAS I don't want to even compare it to that day in Belgium. I headed out around 8 into Dublin alone, intent on finding a quiet bar, a corner booth, and some wifi. As I passed Trinity college I decided to stroll through campus, recalling that my architecture professor mentioned the old school earlier in the week. Several buildings appeared busy, so I walked into one that was the location for various club meetings on campus. A few minutes later I was seated in the audience of a debate of The Hist (Trinity College History Society, Est. 1770) on the Israel-Palestine conflict. The debate was chaired by an Irish senator named David Norris who has worked on human rights issues around the world since the early 1980's. It was an interesting experience to say the least. Following the debate, everyone headed upstairs to socialize in their 'clubhouse' room. I introduced myself to a few people and after a discussion of American presidential potentials they invited me to grab drinks nearby. I spent the better part of two hours in a tiny Irish pub sipping Guinness with random students from Trinity college while discussing the weaknesses of various political philosophy.

So SAS.

Anne Frank, D-Day, and everything else.

Well it has been an exciting week!
Last Sunday we landed in Belgium to spend three days in the Benelux region. I spent much of the first day wandering around the port city of Antwerp, visiting museums, enjoying a cultural festival that was being held, and testing various Belgian foods and drinks.
Naturally our first stop was in a chocolate kitchen recommended to us by a man traveling to Belgian from Amsterdam. Belgian chocolate was highly impressive, as I had expected it would be. It probably helped that I was very hungry when I go a chance to eat it though.

Later in the day I visited the train station of Antwerp, which is one of the most incredible buildings I have ever had the chance to stand inside. The building is very large, and the scale of it dwarfs anything you could put in the building. In fact, even trains rolling to the end of their tracks appear as if they are toys rolling into the station.

After waffles, fries, beer, and more chocolate I wrapped up the day by taking a walk across the river to watch the last few rays of sunshine fall on the MV Explorer, the ship I've come to call home over the past month.

The following day I hopped on a bus to Amsterdam, took a boat tour of the city, and visited the Anne Frank House. Being there in the house where Anne Frank and her family hid was incredibly moving. I haven't read Anne Frank's Diary since early in high school, and I don't remember much of the content of the diary. However, what I do remember is the innocent worldview that Anne Frank's writing conveyed. Knowing that Anne died in Auschwitz brings to light the stark contrast between the innocence of a child and the horrendous acts of the holocaust. It seems impossible that humans are capable of treating each other in such a way, yet I am constantly reminded of ongoing genocides in Africa and the Middle East. Unfortunately true evil is still present on our little blue dot, and I believe it always will be.

After visiting the Anne Frank House I toured the city with a few friends for several hours. We got lunch on our way to the southern end of the city; stopped at a cafe in the red light district for free wifi, and then caught our bus back to Antwerp. The following day I went into town to pick up a few souvenirs and eat breakfast before the ship left at noon.

The next day we arrived in Le Havre, France. I traveled to Gold, Sword, and Omaha beaches along the S. Normandy coast. Yes, there were five areas of beach attacked on D-Day, but I didn't make it to them. Many artifacts have been preserved from the D-Day landings given the fact that it happened more recently. The museum there at the western end of Gold sector is full of uniforms, weapons, and gear from soldiers who landed on the beaches on June 6, 1944.

The neatest site I visited was Ponte du Hoc, the location of a German outpost taken by Army Ranger who scaled 100-foot cliffs in order to accomplish their mission. The determination and bravery it must have taken to storm those beaches is something I think most people in the 21st century (myself among them) cannot even comprehend.

The last two days in Le Havre were more leisurely and not so somber. I rented bikes with several friends and toured the city, eventually making our way to a series of trails on cliffs above the port. From these cliffs we were able to see the entire harbor and across the water to the southern coast. Many concrete bunkers still remain on the cliffs above the city, spaced out every few hundred yards. As much as the city of Le Havre itself was rebuilt after the Germans destroyed it on their way out, much of the military infrastructure still remains in the area. Massive concrete slabs with rusted out gun mounts sit atop the ridge around the city as silent reminders of a past that did not include crepes and cider stands along the pebble beaches.

The last day in France was one of the best I've had on the trip so far. I joined a few friends on a bus to Étretat, a small coastal town about an hour north of Le Havre. A hike along the edge of the cliffs revealed view painted by Monet and Van Goh. Spectacular white cliffs accented by stone archways and pillars stepping towards the sea. After lunch I decided I needed to swim around the beautiful rocks. A few friends joined me as I swam out to a series of boulders just below the white cliffs. The water was cool and clear, and small schools of fish swam around me as I made my way further into the ocean. The entire scene was just picture-perfect. I swam in the sunlight with friends, while a few other stayed behind and drank cider and ate bread on the beach. Definitely one of the best days of the trip thus far.

Today we are en route to Ireland, where we will spend four days before setting sail for Portugal. I will try to get some pictures here as soon as I can, although it could be a few weeks. Until then!

The Last Three Weeks (In a Nutshell)

I'll just go ahead and apologize now for not posting updates earlier. I lost my login credentials and it has taken me a bit of time to get them back.

 

Exactly three weeks ago I hopped on a plane from RDU in Raleigh, NC and flew to Heathrow in London. After a few days aboard the MV Explorer docked in Southampton our ship left for St. Petersburg, Russia, where we spent three days before leaving again. Sailing back down the Baltic coastline past Estonia and Latvia, eventually we made our way to Gdansk, Poland. After two days in Gdansk I took a bus to Berlin with friends where we spent a few days enjoying the city before traveling north to a little fishing village near Rostock, Germany called Warnemünde. It has been a long few weeks.

 

I haven't quite figured out how I want to format these posts, so today I am going to try to just to a quick top-10 list from the past three weeks.

 

10. My roommate is not lame (woo!)

I had no idea how the rooming situation was going to go because I got a random roommate. I was a little nervous about living with someone I didn't know, but my roommate turned out to be really neat. We share a lot of the same interests and friends, so we spend a lot of time together. We even traveled across Germany together last weekend.

 

9. Classes are very interesting.

I am taking classes on International Relations, Democracy Around the World, World Architecture, and Public Health. My professors are very knowledgeable and have spent a good deal of time working in their respective fields. All four of my professors are very helpful and I have really enjoyed working with them so far.

 

8. Foreign Food

On the ship we eat ship food, which won't kill you. Off of the ship I have had the opportunity to try a lot of different local foods and drinks. In Russia I had several traditional meals, and the same was true in Poland. In Berlin I had a different experience because many of our meals were rushed, but we still managed to find interesting meals (Greek, Bavarian, etc).

 

7. Making New Friends

The first few days on the ship felt like freshman year all over again. Everyone wanted to meet everyone else and make as many new friends as they possibly could. That is still the case, actually-I meet new people every day that I haven't had the chance to interact with before. I made new friends at breakfast today. It is great.

 

6. St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg           

The first port we stopped in was St. Petersburg, Russia. I spent two days in the city seeing the sights, and I have to say that the most beautiful building I saw the entire time was St. Isaac's Cathedral in the center of the city. Sure, the Winter Palace is pretty, sure the Church of Spilt Blood is neat and made me want ice cream, but the truth is that the enormity of St. Isaac's was astounding and it left me filled with awe. Google the building if you get a chance. It is magnificent.

 

5. Traveling from Berlin to the MV Explorer

My roommate and I had to get back to the ship a day earlier than the folks we were traveling with, so we left Berlin on Monday afternoon headed north through Rostock to Warnemönde. Once we were out of Berlin the country opened up and we were amazed by the beautiful farmland and wooded regions we got to pass through. After spending two days in East Berlin it was a real joy to get to see a more natural aspect of Germany.

 

4. The Last Night in Germany

On the bus from Berlin we met three other SAS students who were also headed back to the ship. We all made it to the ship and decided to grab dinner in the little town nearby. After dinner we took a walk down the riverfront all the way to the edge of town where we put our feet in the Baltic one last time. I spent some good time there on the white sand, in the dark in reflection as the rest of the group headed back to the ship. There was nothing particularly special about that night, but it was a reminder that simply being the places we are and have been is an experience that will have an impact on us for the rest of our lives.

 

3. Seeing the Berlin Wall

I'll do a post on a few eye-opening moments a little later, but suffice it to say that putting my hands on the Berlin Wall and seeing how it divided the city was an incredible experience and I learned a lot from it. Just within my lifetime, Berlin has changed drastically and I got a chance to see the city it is now.

 

2. Visiting Gdansk

After the Second World War, Gdansk, Poland was destroyed. 90% of the infrastructure had been demolished by various air raids and bombing runs. Despite that, the town that it is today is incredible. Full of art, architecture, music, commerce, shipping, and everything else a good city should have, the two days I spent in Gdansk were probably my favorite two days of the trip so far. On our first morning in town I had Polish food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. After a quick stop in a local market we visited St. Mary's Cathedral, a massive brick structure with a long stairway to the top of the bell tower. I could go on and on about Gdansk, and I probably will later, but for now I need to move on.

 

1. Visiting Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp

There aren't really words I can use to adequately describe what happened at Sachsenhausen during WWII, and the truth is that even if I could describe it adequately I wouldn't. I spent most of the day thinking about the world that we live in and human nature. I know that is vague and I am sorry. The truth is that every single person who visits a place like that cannot leave without confronting his or her own image of what the world looks like. I left feeling a mixture of sadness and frustration. The toughest part of the whole experience was remembering that the same crimes are being committed elsewhere on the globe today. Not only that-but knowing that those crimes are and were committed by people. The exact same species of people I belong to. I don't understand how people could do that to one another, but to know and really understand that it is possible is appalling.

 

 

            So that is a quick recap of my time in Russia, Poland, and Germany. It feels like a year since I first climbed the gangway up to the MV Explorer, and at the same time I know it will be over in a flash. God is good and he has provided me with a really neat chance to see the world and grow at the same time. I am always up for an adventure, and while I may have been apprehensive when I first flew away from home, I can say with confidence that this experience is and will change me forever. I am so thankful for this opportunity, and I can't wait to see what Belgium has in store (besides waffles, naturally).

 

-Cam

 

P.S. I promise to do a better job of publishing updates now that I have my posting information figured out.