Gibraltar, Morocco Day, Disappointing news, and the Superbowl 2/1/09

The ship left Espana and went through the Strait of Gibraltar to get refueled. The waters were kinda rough, and it was raining, but it cleared, and I went up to the top deck to see the rock of Gibraltar. It was really cool. There were small boats all around us, and we could see the HUGE rock of Gibraltar. We were on the Europe side of the Strait, and Africa was only 8 miles away, so it was a pretty great view. Later that day, we had a pre-port meeting for Morocco the next day. We learned some important logistical things, but then we got disappointing news. We were supposed to arrive in Morocco at 0800 the next day (Monday 2/2/09), but the ship had not been refueled due to rough waters, so we were not going to arrive on Monday morning. Instead, we would probably arrive Monday late night, and our ship would be cleared by customs Tuesday morning. Which means we were going to lose one entire day in Morocco. I was really bummed out by the news, mainly because I was so excited to see Morocco, especially Marrakech. Also, Achal and I were on a SAS trip that was supposed to leave the first day. So we were going to lose one day of the trip, probably without a refund. It wasn’t very good news. But it was beyond our control.

Next was the Superbowl. The A/V team was trying hard to find a satellite feed of the game so we could broadcast it. Achal and I thought of using his Slingbox, and streaming the game through the internet. So Achal went to talk with the A/V team, and we finally got it to work. By 2300, several students were gathered in the Union, eagerly awaiting the game, including our administrative dean, who was a HUGE Pittsurgh Steelers fan. We hooked up the equipment, and as soon as the live feed came on the screen, everyone cheered. Yeah, Hemang and Abhi and Akshay, and everyone else involved, we got him a pretty awesome gift. Almost 700 people could watch the game because of Achal’s Slingbox. The game finally started. Since the ship has limited bandwith, the video quality was very choppy, but most people were happy enough to be able to watch it. After about 10 minutes into the game, they finally found a satellite feed from a local German station, and it had AMAZING quality, so we could actually see the game. Everyone was very happy, and we enjoyed watching the game. But of course, the game tipped into Pittsburgh’s favor, and I was very tired by the 4th quarter, so I went to my room and passed out. I only heard the next day that Arizona went crazy, got a lead, and lost it at the end, just like the Patriots did last year. Achal was really upset.