Thank You

I just want to thank everyone who has followed my blog over the past few months. I hope you all enjoyed reading it, and please know your comments have all been much appreciated. And with that, this is me signing off until my next adventure!

School's Out

Classes have ended, and finals are over. In less than 12 hours we’ll be in San Diego, and back on US soil. It’s a strange feeling really. We have spent the past 3 ½ months at sea, and now we’re all going to get off the ship, and return our various parts of the country. It’s going to be very strange not to see thee people everyday. We’ve developed such habits, “wake me up for lunch”, and “See you at step tonight?”. And your friends are always only right up the hall.

Tonight we’re having a convocation for all those who are done with college once we get off the ship, as many of them have missed graduation at their home universities. It’s been a day of swapping pictures, trading contact information, and saying good bye. Everyone is filled with all kinds of emotions right now; excitement about seeing family, sadness over leaving friends, anxiety about going home. It’s impossible to sum up the past 100 days, other than to say, I wouldn’t have traded it for anything.

What's the Buzz?

The buzz around the ship right now is Burma. We were initially supposed to go to Burma, but it was taken off the itinerary. Archbishop Desmond Tutu said he wouldn’t sail with us if we were going to be stopping there. When asked a few days ago to explain why he refused to go to Burma, the Archbishop shed some light on the human rights violations that are currently occurring there. He also told us about Aung San Suu Kyi, the democratically chosen Prime Minister of Burma, and the world’s only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been imprisoned for 11 of the past 17 years because of the military junta's fear of her bringing about a revolution. She has asked that people not come to Burma, thus not support the economy. The Burmese government is the only one in the world that in 2006 used anti-personnel mines to terrorize civilians on a regular basis, the government is using starvation as a method of warfare, the military is suppressing political activity, there are attacks on human rights promoters and defenders, and there are plans to attack civilians and jeopardize their access to food.

A group of students sent a letter to ISE (Institute for Shipboard Education) inquiring about the decision to put Burma back on the itinerary for upcoming voyages, considering all the reasons not to. ISE replied saying that many students in the past said it was their favorite port, and that ISE uses a travel agent that is not linked with the government at all. The questions this raised on the ship though were what about the port fees? Don’t those go to the government? And many people travel independently, not going through the SAS field office. It was also brought to our attention that last spring’s inter-port lecturer from Burma was completely opposed to SAS going there. She wasn’t worried about the safety of the students, but the safety of the Burmese those students interacted with. So the question remains, why is SAS going back to Burma? It’s an ongoing discussion between students on the ship and those in the ISE office in Virginia.

To read more on the issues of Burma, check out www.uscampaignforburma.org

Hawaii

Yesterday we were in Hawaii, the most isolated population center in the world. Our final port. And our reintroduction to the US. It was strange to be in a port where everyone speaks English, and odd to be using American currency again. We didn’t have to do any conversions in our head when making purchases because everything was marked in US dollars. We were docked in Honolulu, where it is extremely touristy. It was like we went from being travelers, to tourists.

But it was a beautiful day, so we headed out, wandering around and checking things out in the area. We didn’t stay out too long before we had to be back at the ship to be picked up to go skydiving. Yes, I went skydiving yesterday. It was amazing! I was really antsy as we waited for our turn to go up in the plane. I jumped tandem with Jim, who has been doing this for years and was really cool. When it was our turn to go, we just tipped out of the plane, flipped in the air, and then started falling. It was such a crazy feeling, falling through the air. And then Jim let out the parachute, and we floated down. He even let me fly the parachute for a while. It was an incredible view.

After getting back on the ground, adrenaline still high, we went down to the beach for sunset and dinner. The sunset was breathtaking. And there were tiki torches lit all along the beach. We ate at a restaurant right on the beach with a live band and hula performance. It was an extremely relaxing evening. Then it was back to the ship, and back out to sea for one more week.

I think spending the day in Hawaii was an odd feeling for many of us on the ship. To be back in the US was weird. Watching everyone pull out their cell phones and make call after call I realized how much I’ve gotten used to not carrying a phone with me. (It takes 100 days to form a habit) I’ve gotten used to being able to just walk outside my room and have everything I need right there. There are a lot of little things that I think I’m going to have to readjust to.

Desmond Tutu Photo

It’s only taken my 92 days, but I finally got a picture with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He had an autograph/ photo session the other day.

Rocking and Rolling

We are on our 7^th straight day at sea. And the ship is rocking all over the place. Trying to walk down the hall is a quite a challenge. You think you’re doing fine, and then all of a sudden we hit a wave and you’re thrown into the wall. We had gotten spoiled with really calm waters and a lot of time in port.

For most people it’s been a pretty draining week, being the last week of classes. Everyone has exams, projects, and papers due. I’ve actually lucked out and had only a couple of field observations and one research paper to turn in this week. I’ve had one professor cancel our last field report, and another cancel our final, giving us extra points for attendance instead.

We’ve also been turning our clocks ahead a lot this week, almost every night we lose another hour. With the exception of Wednesday night, when we gained back 24 hours, having just crossed the International Date Line. So we had two Wednesday May 2’s. And we took advantage of that, celebrating a friend’s birthday with cake two nights.

Last night we had the Ambassador’s Ball. We all got dressed up and had a fancy dinner followed by dancing and an amazing dessert spread. It was a lot of fun. And nice to see everyone dressed up and not just wearing sweats. The entire shipboard community was out and about.

I’ve also been learning hula dance from one of the RDs who is from Hawaii. We’re going to be performing a traditional hula dance and a more modern dance tomorrow night during pre-port. It’s hard to believe that we’ll be in Hawaii on Monday. This stretch at sea went a lot faster than I expected.

Japan

Japan was amazing. It was such a busy 5 days! I hardly stopped to sleep. Communication was difficult, but that just made it interesting. We found ways to get by. The hospitality of people in Japan was incredible. I found that people were very willing to try and help you out, even if they didn’t understand you, in which case they found someone else who could.

Upon arriving in Japan, we had to have our temperatures taken to assure we were ok to get off the ship. They we were welcomed by a drum performance on the ship, and finally around noon were cleared to get off. We spent our first afternoon going to the train station to get bullet train tickets to Hiroshima and Kyoto for later in the week. We must have looked confused in the train station trying to figure out where to get the tickets we needed, because this little old man came up to us and asked if he could help. He was adorable. Later that night we got ready to go out for dinner, and on the train met Chris who’s from Norway and is studying in Japan right now. He had been at the ship earlier in the evening for a welcome reception with Japanese students. So he showed us around for the evening. We all went out to dinner, and then to a karaoke place. We got a room for the 5 of us, and then sang karaoke for a couple of hours. It was a blast!

The next morning I was up and on my way to Osaka. We spent the day walking around checking out the city, and visiting the castle that’s there. Later that evening we went to a baseball game in Osaka.

On our third day in Japan, I was up and checking things out in Kobe for a while. It’s amazing that you can walk into these shops that look tiny from the outside, but they go up for 6 floors and are packed with everything you could imagine. You can find everything from toiletries to televisions to Gucci bags. Then I had the chance to visit a Japanese home. Keiko, my host, was very sweet and welcomed us right into her house. We got to help her make lunch. I made tempura using chopsticks. It was the most difficult cooking experience ever! I also got to try on Keiko’s kimono. Talk about a process! There are about a dozen layers of things to put on. Talking to Keiko I learned that most women, unless they have their parents nearby who can help take care of their children, do not work once they’re married. Many women go to school, have a short career, and then by about 25 have quite their career and are stay-at-home moms while their husbands are out working long days to support the family.

Later that evening, we were off to Hiroshima via bullet train. Upon arriving in Hiroshima, Shea and I checked into our ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn, and then headed out to explore for a while. We actually ended up in an arcade. Arcades are huge in Japan. And it was amazing to see a bunch of men in business suits and ties playing games in the arcade around 11 on a Friday night. We played a couple of games, including DDR which Shea destroyed me at. Back at the ryokan, we used the communal bathroom that was on the floor, rolled out our beds, and watched some Japanese TV before going to sleep. Let me just say that Japanese commercials are the best. Everything is so exaggerated that even while we didn’t know what they were saying, we found them hysterical. I would advise anyone who goes to Japan to spend a night in a ryokan. It’s such a different feeling than being in a hotel.

We spent the next day in Hiroshima. We visited the Peace Park with all of its memorials. The park itself was beautiful. There was the Children’s Memorial where thousands of paper cranes were on display. There’s a story about a girl, Sadako, who had cancer as a result of the atomic bomb, and according to belief that folding 1000 paper cranes will make your wish come true, she folded cranes. Now students world wide will fold cranes and send them here. We also spent time in the Peace Museum. It was an incredible exhibit. Some of the displays were very difficult to look at. There were pictures of people very badly burned by the atomic bomb, and items that belonged to students who died within a day or two of the bomb being dropped. Reading about young children being burned and dying was awful. One of the most moving exhibits was a wall full of letters written by the mayors of Hiroshima since the dropping of the bomb to other countries every time there was any discussion regarding nuclear weapons. There were some spells where there was a letter written daily.

After seeing everything in Hiroshima, we went to Miyajima which is famous for its floating gate. It’s one of the top 3 things to see in Japan. When we arrived, it was low tide, so the gate didn’t actually look like it was floating. But it did by the time we left. Then it was back to Kobe. We ate dinner from a vending machine. It was quite interesting. You put your money in, choose which meal you want, and it spits out a ticket. You give the ticked to the waiter, and then sit down and he’ll bring your food out to you when it’s ready. Then we went out for karaoke again, and sang all night. I sang myself horse. I did more karaoke in Japan than I have in my life. Did you know that half the words in Mr. Roboto are actually Japanese?

On our final day in Japan, we went to Kyoto. We got to see a geisha show which was very exciting. They don’t perform all the time, so we lucked out that we happened to be there when we were. We also walked around a couple of temples. We probably shouldn’t have kept Kyoto for the last day. We were so tired by that point it was difficult to really take everything in. Maybe I’ll get back someday.

Overall, Japan was amazing. Public transportation was timely and easy to use. There were signs all over that had English that didn’t make sense. I actually felt really tall. And in the bathrooms, there would be squatter toilets, and then in the next stall over, there would be a western bidet toilet complete with a heated seat. Japan was comfortable, being similar in many ways to the States, but at the same time, a completely different experience.

China

I spent much of my time in China in Beijing. I went on a trip guided by a couple of students, Linda and Chi, from Renmin University in Beijing. We spent the first day flying from Hong Kong to Beijing, and making our way to the hotel which was right near the university, stopping only for a Pecking duck dinner. By the time we made it to the hotel, I was exhausted and just went to bed.

The next morning we were up early and on our way. Our first stop for the day was a jade factory. Jade is very popular in China and considered lucky. We were shown how to tell if the jade is real as opposed to just colored glass that you may purchase when buying jade on the street. If it’s real jade, it will scratch glass. After this stop, we went to the Ming Tombs. We didn’t actually see any of the buildings on the grounds, only walked a long path with statues along each side. It was a peaceful walk, with soft music playing out of the speakers along the sides. It was a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the city.

After lunch, we made it to the Great Wall. The Great Wall was amazing. It was so huge! And there were about a billion steps to climb up to reach the top. It was quite a workout! Unfortunately the air was very polluted the afternoon we were there, so the view from the top, while it was still amazing, was pretty gray. It was amazing to watch some women hiking the wall in heels. I don’t know how they did it. The steps were all different heights and I sure don’t think I could have done it in heels!

Later that night we went to Renmin University and spent some time socializing with students there. I had two girls show me around campus. They were so nervous and kept apologizing for not being able to speak English well, but I thought their English was great and kept telling them that. For the most part we were able to understand each other. If anyone should have been apologizing, it should have been me. I only know a couple words of Mandarin, I can’t carry on a conversation to save my life! It was amazing though how many people were out and about on campus. There were al kinds of people walking and running on the track and there were people dancing in the park.

The next morning, right after breakfast, we were off to Tiananmen Square. No one seemed to know what was going on that day, but there were a ton of cars parked in the square. It’s apparently one of the largest open public spaces in the world. We then crossed the street via an underpass and entered the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City was really huge, making it quite easy to get lost. In the afternoon we went to the Temple of Heaven. I think this was one of my favorite stops. There were people out all over playing cards, singing, selling things, and just relaxing. I found a park area that was beautiful and so relaxing. It was such a serene area in the middle of the city. Our night ended with an acrobatics show. The flips and tricks everyone was doing were incredible. We watched as 12 girls all piled onto a bike riding around the stage at one point. And it was just a normal bike, not oversized or anything. The English translations of what was being said up on the screen were rather funny. The message just didn’t quite translate right. I’m sure it was quite poetic in Chinese, but it was extremely corny in the translation.

Our final morning in Beijing was spent at the Summer Palace. I could have spent all day there. It was huge and relaxing. There was a pond with the most beautiful reflections I think I’ve ever seen. Wandering around the paths it was very easy to get lost. I think this was my favorite stop in Beijing. It was just so relaxing.

Everywhere we went there were tour groups being led by a guide with a flag, and all wearing the same hat. It was quite funny to see. We were also asked a lot by people if they could take their picture with us. So I’m in a bunch of random people’s photos.

Everywhere we went in Beijing there was construction happening in preparation for the 2008 Olympics. There was construction being done on the Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, and all over the roads. There are already a lot of vehicles, so during the Olympics something like 40% of the cars in Beijing will not be allowed on the roads because of all the extra people coming to the city.

From Beijing, it was off to Qindao to meet the ship there. We then had one day in Qindao, which I spent wandering around, using the internet for a while, and just being silly. There wasn’t a whole lot to do in Qindao, and we were so exhausted that we didn’t want to do a whole lot anyway.

Overall, China was a lot of fun. It was really cute to have these little kids coming up to us saying “hello.” They were all excited that they were able to say something in English to us. For the first time on this trip, I really felt the language barrier. We had to show taxi drivers the Chinese characters for where we wanted to go because they didn’t understand us if we tried telling them in English. I actually enjoyed the experience very much. I had to find other ways to communicate through hand gestures and facial expressions. It really is amazing how much you can communicate without words.

Hong Kong

Unfortunately I only had one day in Hong Kong, but it was amazing! I loved it, and will just have to come back. Who’s coming with me? We started our day by taking a tour of Hong Kong. Sadly, when we got to the top of the mountain to look over the city it was too foggy to see anything. We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around and exploring town. Later in the evening we went out for dinner at a Chinese restaurant nearby the port and then saw a light show. Looking across the bay we could see all the buildings of the skyline all lit up and for about 20 minutes they put on a light show. The lights on the buildings were all coordinated with each other and set to music. It was really cool. Then we took a walk to the night market to do a bit of shopping. Walking around I was reminded a lot of New York City. The buildings were all lit up and there were people out everywhere. While we were walking, it got really windy and all kinds of debris was blowing in our eyes. So sunglasses became quite handy. Once we got to the night market, I found that the people were extremely friendly. For a change I didn’t feel like everyone was trying to push me to buy things. I was able to just chat with people and ask them questions about what they were selling without feeling bad for not buying anything. It was quite enjoyable. One of my favorite things was that I could smile at people and they would smile back. I found everyone so friendly.

Here are some interesting facts about Hong Kong:

Hong Kong is part of China, but the people drive on the left side of the road as opposed to the right like China, and they have their own laws.

Because of the size population, it’s very expensive for grave sites, so there’s a constant problem of choosing between being buried and being cremated. The people here have come up with the 50/50 solution to this problem. They bury their dead for 7 years, and then dig them up and cremate them.

Green is a color for long life, and red is a color for good luck.

For good feng shui you should live with the back of your house towards a mountain and the front of your house facing water.

The equestrian games for the 2008 Olympics will be held in Hong Kong.

Good numbers are 8 which sounds like rich, and 9 which sounds like longevity

Bad numbers are 4 which sounds like death, and 7 which is the number of years a person is buried before they are cremated, and also the number of courses served at funerals.

Hong Kong has no welfare. If you don’t work, you don’t eat.

When “good” license plate numbers become available the government auctions them off and the money goes to charities.

And that sums up my day in Hong Kong. The next morning I was on a plane for Beijing.

Vietnam

When we reached Vietnam, we rode up the Saigon River for a couple hours before we reached port. It was a very pretty ride on a very busy river. We passed all kinds of boats and houses. When we finally made it to the dock, we were greeted by a group of parents and family, including my Mom, Dad, and sister Christina. It was really exciting to see them. So I spent the 5 days we had in Vietnam traveling with my family.

The first day we went to the market for a bit of shopping. Clothing and things were very cheap. However, the sizes are quite different than we’re used to. Vietnamese people tend to be much smaller than Americans, so if you normally wear a medium, you may have to purchase a large or extra large in Vietnam.

The next morning we were up bright and early and on our way to Hanoi. On our way to the airport we passed all kinds of people doing Tai Chi in the park. I couldn’t believe the number of people who were up and out at 5 in the morning. Hanoi was a great city. It was so busy with crazy traffic, mostly motor bikes. Crossing the street we were told to walk slowly, as the motor bikes would adjust and go around you. Sprinting across is where you’d get yourself in trouble. I think the image that sticks with me the most is that of women in business clothes wearing 3 inch heels riding their motor bikes down the road.

While in Hanoi, we visited the Hanoi Hilton which was a prison during the war. The Vietnamese refer to it as the American War rather than the Vietnam War as we call it. We also visited the Temple of Literature which was a school. Students went there and studied literature and moral behavior. An interesting fact I learned during our tour about the people here is that they tend not to be “religious”. People will go to pagodas and pray, but they may not know who the Buddha or other figures are. The majority of people in fact follow three religions at the same time: Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. They focus more on the moral aspects of the religions and less on the formalities like we tend to.

We also visited Halong Bay while in Vietnam. Halong Bay looked like a pirate lagoon. And the day we were there was pretty hazy, so it just added to the atmosphere. We spent a relaxing day on a boat in the bay stopping to walk through a limestone cave that had been carved out by the water. Watching all the boats at the dock was interesting. They all just crowd around, bumping into each other, and we walked through other boats to get on and off ours.

Back in Hanoi we took a tour of the site where Ho Chi Minh’s body rests. We also visited a market which was crazy. There was food out everywhere; raw meat left uncovered and unrefrigerated at some stands, vegetables spread across the ground, live seafood in buckets, and cooked food at other stands. It would have never been considered even close to sanitary in the States. But I have to say the craziest thing I saw during my stay in Vietnam was the motor bikes with live pigs tied on the back.

We spent our last day in Vietnam at the Mekong Delta. We took several different boats through the rivers. I felt like I was in the jungle. It was amazing the way people are just out on their little boats and they’ll load you up and paddle you down the river. It’s a lot of work. It was such an intricate maze of paths through the trees. I could have been taken to the exact same place eight times in a row and probably wouldn’t have known the difference. We stopped at several different spots in the delta for tea, lunch, and coconut candy making. We saw the coconut candy being made from start to finish. It was pretty much an open kitchen surrounded by trees with people making the candy and a dog running around.

Another interesting thing about Vietnam is their houses. They're all built really tall and skinny in a row. The people used to have to pay tax based on the width of the front of their houses, so they started building them skinny and tall. I really liked them.

So that about sums up my Vietnam experience. I said good bye to my parents and sister, and was on my way to Hong Kong.

Pirates?

They’re not just in the movies! Pirates actually exist today. On our way to Vietnam, the night we went through the Strait of Malacca, Captain Jeremy sped the ship up to about 26 nautical miles per hour, the fastest we’ve gone thus far. There were also supposed to be extra crew members on lookout for the night. (Although Captain Jeremy said he has never seen a pirate ship, and doesn’t know what they look like) There are apparently frequent pirate attacks in this area, but only one occurrence of a pirate ship attacking a passenger vessel. Unfortunately we did not see any pirate ships. I was hoping to see some pirates. I think it would have been fun. It would have made a great story anyhow. But for now we are sailing safe and pirate free.

Malaysia and Singapore

It’s taken me a little while to get to writing this. I’ve spent the past three days trying to catch up on sleep. It’s been quite an exhausting trip. And we had no break at all, but jumped right back into classes after Malaysia.

So anyway, we arrived in Malaysia last Monday. We ported in Georgetown, on the island of Penang off the northwest coast. I only spent one day in Malaysia, and didn’t make it off the island. But it was a really nice place. I went on an island orientation tour which was a great way to see a lot on the island for having only one day there. We first went to a butterfly farm where my red shirt seemed to attract all kinds of butterflies. Our next stop was the snake temple. This is a Chinese Buddhist temple that has live snakes around the alter. The snakes were so calm, lying on wooden frame things up around the alter. After a Chinese lunch, we stopped at another Buddhist temple. This one was a whole complex. To get to the top, we walked past all kinds of shops and even a few restaurants. I could have spent all day exploring this temple and shopping. I had never seen anything like it. It was more than just a temple. Our final stop was a park where many people go to relax or take a leisurely walk after work. It was a real nice, relaxing place, with monkeys wandering all over, much like we see squirrels all over the parks in New York. Later that night I went to a welcome reception with Malaysian students. They put on a shadow puppet show for us. These shadow puppets are quite intense. They have moving joints that the puppeteer controls with the sticks they’re attached to.

Tuesday morning I was off for Singapore for a few days. Singapore is the cleanest city I have ever seen. It was a great trip. The road that we drove from the airport had a divider of potted plants that could be moved out of the way in 45 minutes so the road can be used as a military airway. After checking in to the hotel, we were given a tour of Raffles landing site and Clarke Quay. We took a bumboat ride down the river past all different kinds of architecture. We also saw the mer-lion fountain that is a symbol of luck in Singapore. Later that evening I had a chance to meet up with Seth, who graduated RPI last spring and is now in Singapore for grad school. He showed me all around. I experienced the MRT, which is the nicest, cleanest subway I’ve ever seen. There’s no eating allowed on the MRT, and with the hefty fines for littering, there’s no trash either. We also wandered around China town for a while.

The next morning we took a trip to Sentosa Island where we got to pet stingrays, saw a pink dolphin show, and spent time in a wax museum. The museum was quite interesting as it went through the history of Singapore and the different cultures that are present there. There’s a real strong Chinese culture, as well as Indian, Malay, and some British influence. Later that afternoon I headed down to the East Coast Parkway to rent a bike for a while, and discovered not only could you rent bikes, but you could also rent rollerblades. So I rented a pair of rollerblades, and skated along the coast for a couple hours. It was a really pretty area. I would love to be able to go and skate there every day. Then I met up with Alicia who’s studying at Singapore Polytechnic for the semester. Seeing her dorm was interesting. Everything is so open. And there were racks with clothes all over the place since they don’t have dryers in Singapore. We spent the rest of the night out dancing.

After meeting Seth for breakfast Thursday morning, I met back up with the group, and we headed back to the ship. Since we couldn’t actually dock the ship, we were taking lifeboats from ship to shore, so it took nearly 2 hours to get back on the ship, at which point I decided it wasn’t worth trying to go back out in Penang.

So now, after three days at sea, we are arriving in Vietnam.

India

I’m not sure where to even begin talking about India. It was an awesome experience. In the 5 days I spent here, I saw so much.

When we arrived on Sunday we all had to meet face to face with immigration officers who came onto the ship. While this whole process was going on, I went to a yoga demonstration that was happening in the union. I couldn’t believe how flexible these people were. I now believe it’s possible to bend in any way you can imagine. Following that, a few of us headed out to do a bit of shopping for Indian clothing in Chennai. We took a motor rickshaw, which was an experience and a half. A motor rickshaw is a motorized vehicle that has 3 wheels and no doors. The traffic here makes anything you would possibly see in the states seem calm. There were rickshaws all over the place, mopeds filling the street, a handful of cars and buses, and everyone’s horns were beeping all the time. There are lanes, but no one stays in them. People are just all over. And no one stops for you. If you’re trying to cross the street, you had better be watching out, because you will be hit. Later that night we went to a welcome reception with some local college students. Just about everyone I spoke with was going to school to become an engineer. So it was almost like being back in Troy. Almost.

The next morning I was up early, bag packed, and on my way. We flew to Varanasi for the first part of our trip. Airport security was much less of a hassle that at home. It was interesting though, when we got there and put our bags on the conveyor belt to be scanned, the men went through the metal detectors that were out in the open, and the women had to go through the ones behind the curtain.

Upon arriving in Varanasi, we went to Sarnath which is where Buddha preached his first sermon. There were monks praying and it was quite peaceful. Except for the hawkers who were constantly trying to sell you things. Everywhere we went there were people shoving things in your face trying to sell you something. It was overwhelming at times.

The next morning we got up and went on the Ganges River at sunrise. We saw people coming down to bath in the river. It was crazy to watch because the water seems so dirty, and yet this is where some people take their daily bath to feel clean. We also saw cremation happening up the river a little ways. In the Hindu religion the Ganges River is holy. Dying in Varanasi and being cremated at the river is a way to break free of the cycle of rebirth on this earth. Looking at the shore from the boat, it was truly beautiful. There was so much going on and people all over. Despite the poverty, the colors were so vibrant. You could just see life happening up on the shore.

From Varanasi we flew to Delhi and took a train to Agra. While in Agra we first visited the fort where the man who built the Taj Mahal was imprisoned by his son. He had built the Taj for one of his wives, but in doing so he left his family and country with no money. One of his sons from a different wife gained control and imprisoned him. From the fort you had a great view of the Taj Mahal. It was almost like a tease. He could see the Taj from a distance, but couldn’t be there. After visiting the fort, we made our way to the Taj itself. It was absolutely incredible. I can’t get over how big it is. We had a few hours there so were able to just sit back and relax and take it all in. The intricacies of the stonework are amazing. There are all kinds of colored stones inlaid in the marble. I don’t know what else I can say about it.

As a whole, it’s difficult to digest India. I saw the Taj Mahal and all its beauty, such a huge expensive building. But then right outside the gate there is so much hardship. I saw more physical disfiguration than I think I ever have as a result of malnutrition. I saw a man in the train station with elephantitus in his feet. His feet looked like giant blow up toys, they were jut huge. Yet, here he was, this crazy problem, homeless, and when asked if his condition made thing more difficult, he simply said it was a gift from God. His attitude on life was incredible. Just about everywhere you went there were people begging. The most difficult was when you had kids coming up to you. And it wasn’t only kids, but kids carrying babies. It was heartbreaking. India was dirty. But it was so full of life. I don’t think India ever sleeps. Even when we were out at 4 in the morning to catch a train the streets were alive. You saw some people in tattered clothes and other in beautiful bright colored sarees. Overall, India was just an incredible experience. There is so much more I could say about my time in India, but I will leave it at that for now.

Preparing for India

It’s been a really busy week here at sea. It started off with the Sea Olympics; a day of games and competition amongst all the seas. We are divided into seas based on where we live and who our Resident Director is. I’m on the Yellow sea. We started the day off strong, but soon fell behind. I participated in the lip sync competition which was a hoot. Myself and 5 others put together a mix of songs including Circle of Life, Barbie Girl, All Shook Up, Ghostbusters, and Happy Days. It was quite a random mix. We ended the day coming in 5^th of 10. So that means we will be the 5^th group to be able to get off the ship once we get to San Diego.

After that, it was back to classes for a 6 day stretch. At least this time the ocean was really calm (eerily calm at times) but we could actually be productive. Step aerobics was much easier this past week, and we got to watch the sun set every night during class so that was really awesome. We also saw a bunch of dolphins yesterday playing in the wake from the ship. And we’ve crossed the equator again this past week, so we’re back in the northern hemisphere. We have also turned our clocks ahead another hour and a half. I find that interesting, that India is off from other time zones by the half hour. So we’re now 9 ½ hours ahead of New York.

Beyond that, we’ve spent a lot of time preparing for India. We’ve been told it’s going to be quite a culture shock; the most difficult port we’ll encounter. We’ve been advised to dress conservatively, but to wear light weight cotton clothing because it’s going to be hot. We’re going to go out and purchase some real Indian clothing on the first day so we have some more appropriate attire. We have also been told to be prepared to be dirty. We’ve been conserving water all week on the ship because once we get in to port, we may have to ration it. Tonight in pre-port we were given all kinds of heath precautions like Pepto-Bismol before eating, don’t drink any water unless it’s bottled under an international brand since the locally bottled water is often dirty, use bug spray with deet, and be sure to be taking malaria medicine. We were also given a demonstration on how to use the squat toilets, and advised to carry tissues with us since in many of these toilets there is just a bucket of water to clean your left hand in after wards. So it should be an interesting experience. But I’m ready!

Food for Thought

(As presented by Dean Mike in Global Studies)

The world as a whole is experiencing population growth. There is also a lot of poverty in places such as India. In the industrialized Western world, a common way of thinking is that population growth causes poverty and environmental degradation. This raises the question, what causes population growth? Maybe the causation is in fact the other way around. Poverty and environmental degradation cause population growth. This then raises the question, what causes poverty and environmental degradation? Perhaps it’s not so much of a causation effect as a correlation between the two.

At the same time, when looking at overpopulation, the common Western attitude is that we need population controls in places like India where the population is growing at the fastest rates. India has a growth rate of 2% and will soon be the most populous country on the planet. The attitude is that they’re irresponsible for having so many children. If we can control population, we will better preserve our planet and its resources. But consider this: the average, environmentally conscious American consumes 100 times that of a poor Indian. So maybe we’re targeting the wrong area for population control. From a consumption perspective, it would be more beneficial to the planet to reduce the number of people who consume the most, not necessarily the number of people in the most crowded areas. In reality, who are the irresponsible ones?

Think about it.

Mauritius: Home of the Dodo

We had a delayed arrival into Mauritius due to rough weather, but that sure didn’t stop us! Since some of the early trips were cancelled, once we finally got off the ship, a few of us headed to the beach for a couple hours. Then I went to a multicultural evening event. Mauritius is truly a mixture of many different cultures including Indian, Chinese, Oriental, and Creole. We were greeted by a group performing traditional Sega dance and were served cocktails. Then we moved inside the restaurant for a Creole dinner and dance performances, followed by dancing of our own. It was a great way to begin our stay in Mauritius.

On Friday I went on a trip around the city that explored some of the diversity of the island. We visited a Tamil temple, the Muslim Cultural Center, a Catholic church, and a Chinese pagoda. To walk into the temple we had to take off our shoes. We stopped by the river for a Muslim lunch, and then proceeded to a colonial house. The house had over 100 doors and was huge. While here we were told about the Creole and Franco-Mauritian history on the island. Finally we arrived at the Mahatma Ghandi Institute where we saw an Indian dance performance. After the performance, one of the instructors was asking me where I went to school. I told her in the US, but she wanted to know the name of the school. When I told her Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, she actually knew it. Her son had been accepted there, although he chose to attend a different school. But I was amazed that she had even heard of it. So I thought that was pretty cool.

On my last day in Mauritius I went to Adventure Park Chamarel. This was essentially a high ropes course. We were strapped into harnesses and crossed through the trees on bridges. There were also nets to walk across, ropes to swing from platform to platform, and a zipline. It was a blast. And a real workout. My entire body hurts today. After that, we spent some time relaxing at the beach before heading back to the ship. We then took the water taxi across the harbor to the waterfront for dinner and last minute shopping before getting back on the ship for another week at sea.

Are We There Yet?

We are on day 5 of 6 at sea between South Africa and Mauritius. This stretch of the journey has been rough though. The water’s been pretty rough and the boat is rocking all over the place. The captain has pulled us off course a couple of times to bring us in closer to land where the water is a bit calmer. Lying in bed at night all of a sudden it feels like the bed drops out from under you, and then you hear big crashes and things slamming around. Walking around the ship is an adventure in itself. You walk down the hall, the boat shifts, and everyone slams into the wall. I’ve got bruises from walking into things! And the rocking has added a whole new element to the step aerobics class I’m taking. We all keep missing the steps, and it’s all we can do not to fall off them.

On top of the rocking of the boat, the work load has been intense this week. Everyone’s had multiple exams and papers due in the past couple of days. So we are all more than ready to get off this ship and enjoy some adventures on solid ground.

South Africa Part 2

The second half of our week in South Africa was just as amazing as the first. And just as busy!

On Tuesday morning I went to Robben Island. This is where the political prisoners were exiled to during the apartheid. Since many of the prisoners were well educated, and they all valued education, they held classes in prison and many of the prisoners left with the equivalent of two degrees. And not only did the prisoners educate each other, they also included the guards in these lessons, so the guards too increased their education. We were also given a tour of the prison itself by a former political prisoner. We saw the cell where Nelson Mandella had stayed, and had a chance to look inside other cells where there were brief stories about the person who lived in that cell. It gave me chills. On a lighter note, we also saw penguins on the island. They were cute.

The next day I visited the Amy Biehl Foundation. Amy Biehl was a young American who was stoned to death while helping in the struggle against the apartheid. Her parents began the Amy Biehl Foundation Trust which now runs programs for school children. We visited several different schools and saw various programs in action. There’s one program where the seventh graders read to the first graders and serve as role models. There is also an after school music programs where students learn to play the recorder and other various instruments. Some of the children performed dances for us that they were learning in their after school programs. We also saw the golf program in action where students were learning how to play the game. The Foundation is there to provide children an opportunity for safe and constructive after school activities as an alternative to drugs and violence.

On my final day in South Africa I visited St. James Mission School in Kalk Bay. We were greeted by the principal, Greg Gordon, and given a tour of the school. Then we had the opportunity to view classes in session. We visited the preschool where an instructor was teaching the children English through games and songs. All classes are taught in English, and for some of the children school is the only place they hear and speak English, so the program as the preschool helps prepare them. We also saw part of a computer class. The sixth grade teacher was working with the second graders to teach them basic computer skills. We visited the library which is in a trailer type building right outside the school. It’s very small, but the librarian told us they have 6,000 books. And she’s working on getting a couple of computers in there and switching to more electronic resources. The school also has a program to help kids deal with different issues such as anger management and sex. We sat in on a session where 7 boys were discussing anger. They were drawing pictures of what their anger looks like, talking about what makes them angry, and talking about times during the past week that they got angry or were able to avoid getting angry. They were very open and willing to share with each other. Because many of these kids are coming from poor areas, their parents often are just focused on making it day to day. So these sessions are there to help boost self esteem, and really get at things kids deal with every day. It was a great visit.

And that about concludes my experience in South Africa. There’s so much more I didn’t have time to do. I’ll come back someday!

South Africa!

South Africa is amazing. I have already decided I will come back someday. A week just isn’t long enough to do everything there is to do here. We are staying at the water front in Cape Town, which is an extremely touristy area. It’s beautiful though. Pulling in we were able to see the sun rising over Table Mountain.

On our first day here, I took a tour of Cape Town. We got to see the Castle of Good Hope and walk through the Companies Garden, where we stopped for tea. Many people here have an English accent. South Africa had first been under Dutch rule, and then had been under English rule. Later that night I went to the theater and saw a play called Everyone Else. It was about two sisters and their relationships with men. It was pretty funny. We spent some time after the play walking around the water front.

Saturday I was up and on my way to Breede River for an overnight rafting trip. The drive to the campsite was beautiful. The mountains all around us were incredible. Pictures don’t even do it justice. Upon arriving at the camp site, we were greeted by the river guides, and had a wine tasting before dinner. The river guides were mostly around our age. So after dinner we all hung out around a fire and chatted. It was interesting to talk to the river guides about school here. They take three years to complete their programs, but go to school from 8-5 Monday through Friday. And many of them take 6 months off during their studies to work and gain experience related to their field. On Sunday we were up early and headed out to the river. We paired up and paddled down the river in 2 person rafts. We paddled for about 5 hours, stopping along the way for lunch. For the most part we were paddling up a calm river, but there were some small rapids in places. This trip was amazing. We had a small group who went, and everyone was really cool. It was exhausting though. My muscles are very sore today.

This morning I was up and out to visit the Cape Wine Lands. This was very interesting. We visited three different estates. The first made sparkling wine and we had a chance to tour the facilities and see the entire wine making process. We then had a chance to taste some of the wines. At the second estate, we had lunch along with a wine and cheese tasting. At the final estate we had a brandy and chocolate tasting. I am definitely not a fan of brandy. The chocolate was great though.

So far Africa has been amazing. And I still have 3 more days!