Sunscreen Application

Good Morning Team,

I woke this morning at about 7:00 am, and was down on the docks by 7:20 asking if anyone needed any daywork. Unfortunately no one needed any help yet again, so I took advantage of the time and went and read some scripture on a nearby beach for a bit, then came here and hopped on the internet. Here is a picture from this morning.

I have also re-realized recently the importance of thorough sunscreen application. It seems like every season I have to learn this stupid lesson. We came off the beach two days ago, and by the time I had gotten in the shower that night, I had a wonderful red patch on my back, near my armpit, and an oblong star like shape on my sternum...cool. I have no idea how my attention to detail can really be that poor, but somehow I find a way.

Today will probably be low key yet again. I'll probably go to the beach, read some Sherlock Holmes (which is really good by the way), and if i'm feeling really crazy, I might even send a postcard. Also, there has been a new tradition of playing basketball down on the docks with the Philipino crew of one of the boats, so that may go down later tonight.

Groundhog Day

Hey All,

I hope everyone is having a good Sunday wherever you are. Things are not much different here in Antibes, Fr haha. I mentioned to Matt and Rob the other day I felt like it was Groundhog Day with Bill Murray here. Granted every day looks different to a degree, but it is like Walk the docks-go to the beach-check the internet-eat, or maybe walk the docks-check the internet-eat-go to the beach haha, so you know what I mean. We have not had any luck with employment yet, but we are talking about changing our strategy this week and splitting forces over the different ports. There are several docks in the area (Cannes, Antibes, Monaco) that we could separately go to on our own, which could forseeably grant us more luck, so we'll probably give it a shot. Outside of that nothing is really new except a new found love for Jimmy Buffett, go figure. Please keep me posted with inns and outs of your life and i'll do my best to keep you all updated as well! Take Care

Unpreparedness+Little Money=Bad Idea

Haha ominous title eh,

So today is day 3 without work here on the yachting scene in Antibes, France. It has been a steep curve learning the inns and outs of this industry, and remarkable how inadequately prepared I could really be for this. Aparently we have arrived toward the end of the season here (literally people have said "well why did you come here?") and the day work we have been trying to find is quite scarce (incredibly lucky people find it twice a week). On top of that there is this rediculous certification called an STCW 95 which qualifies people to be deck hands upon a ship. Conveniently this certification in Fort Lauderdale, Fl is a booming 825$, but here in Antibes is about 1200 euro (which is a copious amount of dollars). With all this being said, we (I) are in somewhat of a monetary pinch at the moment, go figure. Literally people have completely separate resume's for their yachting career, and mine doesn't really translate well (college diploma=pretty meaningless). We are addressing other options for things to do in a couple of weeks that could be free, but even in that I wouldnt be suprised if I had to cut my trip short. Mom and Dad, if you're reading this, I may need emergency evacuatory funding haha, but seriously. I have also been having some bouts with homesickness and unsettledness while here, which has been an interesting thing to learn about myself. I find myself really missing things I dearly love (friends, family, North Carolina, DC, the English language spoken), but truthfully I really feel like God has me here for something, so I gotta stick it out until I feel different. Outside of all that, I have my health and there are worse places to be trapped in than the South of France. I went to Monaco yesterday, it was cool.

In Nice!

Bonjour All!

Since my last post, we have had some pretty miraculous moments take place, which I cant even begin to describe via blog, but really neat stuff nonetheless. We were on our way to meet one of Robs friends for dinner last night, and stopped for directions, finding that we had a nail in our tire. So the one thing we didnt have insurance for on the car was the tires...go figure. So we end up finding a tire shop down the road (which was closing) and had the guy take out the nail and patch up the tire for 10 euro which beats the heck out of the 90 we would have likely had to spend through the car rental. After a sweet dinner, we headed to the Airport and spent the night there to leave Dublin this morning at 6:20 and arrive in Nice, Fr this morning. Once we got here we made our way to the hostel to find that they were all booked and wouldnt have room until next monday? which needless to say was somewhat difficult to hear. We ended up checking back about 10 minutes later to find that 3 spots had opened miraculously, and we were luckily there to fill the holes. Tomorrow we will begin looking for the work we are going to need to sustain our time over here, so prayers are great haha. I miss you all and hope you are well.

Away from Galway

Hey All,

We ended up going up the Cliffs as expected to be met with a lot of fog, so we ended up going back to Galway for one more night and crashing with our friends there. The next morning we said good bye to Galway and headed back to the Cliffs for one more shot at seeing them. When we got there, there wasnt even 100 yards of visibility, but after waiting it out, the sky ended up clearing up really nicely and provided a great hike for us. After spending some time walking to an old castle thing and back (about 5 miles), we came back to the car, and headed south to a tiny town called Annascaul. Annascaul is the home of a man named Tom Crean, who was an anartcic explorer on several expeditions, including the Endurance with Sir Ernest Shackleton. When his exploration days were over, he came home and opened a pub called the South Pole in, so we went and checked it all out. Afterwards we ended up taking this random road which took us to Lake Annascaul which is a beautiful lake tucked in this massive valley. There we parked and slept in the car again, and had a pretty incredible view when we woke the next morning. Today we took a tour around the Dingle penninsula and will either drive back to Dublin tonight or tomorrow morning. At any rate, all is well and I hope it is there too. Love, Blake

In Galway

Hey All,

Sorry for the brevity of the post earlier, I am still getting used to paying for internet and these euro keyboards, so please forgive my poor punctuation. As stated we arrived in Galway, Ireland two days ago, and have called this home for the past few nights. The first day we pretty much just walked around a lot and eventually ended up meeting up with that guy Guion, who took us to a legit Irish pub that plays "Trad" or Traditional Irish music which was sweet. That night we all ended up sleeping in our rental car (a VW Golf) and uncomfortably woke the next morning either due to uncomfort or smell. That day we did a lot of laying low in town, and ended up meeting some neat people in the process. There was a man who is trying to be a Franciscan monk who was passing out tracts who I started a conversation with, who ended up inviting me out to lunch and we talked about Catholecism and his Irish upbringing over some Chowder which was really great. That night we ended up getting in touch with one of Matts contacts and have now gained a floor to sleep on which is a HUGE upgrade needless to say. Today we woke up, hooked up with Guion, and drove northwest for the day to a beautiful town called Clifden. Clifden is a quaint that seems to be nestled right in between a harbor on the Atlantic and farm country, so the views were pretty remarkable. We roamed around a bit there and then settled down in a little cafe with a book and tea and took some time to relax which was quite theraputic. We came home, ate dinner, and are fixing to head to bed shortly. Tomorrow morning we will sleep in a bit, then travel south to the Cliffs of Mohers for the day (see picture). I hope this finds all of you well, take care.

The Road to Galway

Hey All!

We safely arrived at Dublin airport at quarter till seven this morning, five hours ahead of eastern standard time. The flight was fairly painless, and all bags arrived as expected. We didnt really have a plan regarding our schedule here in Ireland, so instead of burning a day in Dublin, we decided to rent a car and drive across the island to Galway. The drive was very scenic, and took about 2 hours, which beats the bus ride we had originally planned on (both fiscally and in time). When we arrived here, we got out and walked around a bit, tried to contact some friends here in Galway, then ended up going and taking a nap over on the side of the road. Eventually we woke up, walked around a bit, and finally got in touch with one of Matt and Robs friends from Chapel Hill who has been here studying the music and film scene. Galway is known as the center for the arts here in Ireland, and has proven to be a unique experience.

Time in Cary

Well I decided to come home, in Cary, NC where I grew up, and spend some time at the house with the family before my departure on Sunday.  The time here in Cary has been good, a little wild trying to ensure I see everyone I want to, and tying down loose ends before the trip.  I got to sit down and grab lunch today with a good buddy I graduated with named Russell Warriner.  While other people have graduated and gotten jobs at various institutions, gone to grad school, or maybe did a little of both in a fellows program, Russell was the liaison for the University of North Carolina school system in Shanghai, China at Fudan University.  I didn't know what Fudan was either, but apparently is viewed as the Stanford of Chinese universities, so needless to say Russ is kinda a big deal (he's gonna be mad I wrote that, sorry Russ, you are).  So at any rate, we got to catch up on the ins and outs of our past year out of school, and the unique experiences we have been able to enjoy.  Russ is now speaking Chinese, and more importantly developing some really neat relationships with many students at Fudan.  It is really just remarkable the differences he was explaining that exist at a very basic social level between America and China.  Something even as simple as culdesacs (sp*) and mowing the lawn are luxuries not afforded by the majority of Chinese citizens.  Needless to say our conversation has just gotten me even more excited about the trip to Europe, and the opportunity to meet people who have been raised in a completely different culture, and likely see things very different than me.  Russ had to drive up to Boone today to meet with the good people of Appalachian State University, so we concluded our talk, had a quick hug in the parking lot, and split for our cars.  Before I could pull out, I saw Russell run back and tap on the window, telling me he nearly forgot, and had a present for me.  "Oh, ok" I said to him, not really knowing what exactly that could mean, but I hopped out of the car and met him holding some sort of package wrapped in Chinese newspaper.  "Should I open it now?" I asked Russ, to which he responded "yeah, sure" knowing he would have to explain.  So I pull off the well layered newspaper to find this little package of something that looked strangely like vacuum sealed lung butter, "What is this?!?" I ask Russell, and with a huge grin and eased demeanor he responded, "Chicken Feet".