Taiwan

“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware”

            ~Martin Buber

Taiwan was a source of a lot of mixed emotions for everyone on the ship. Disappointing because it was the alternative to Japan, which everyone was very excited about. Exciting because it was an unexpected stop. Sad because it was our last foreign country and that means our voyage was coming to an end….but I must say it was quite a pleasant surprise for me. We were so unprepared for this country because it was such a last minute decision, so getting off of the ship that first morning was like jumping into a cold pool. It was cold and rainy so walking around was not at the top of our list. Megan, Erica, Jill, Jenny and I wandered around trying to figure out how to get to Taipei, the capital city, from Keelung where we were docked. Taiwan is in the same boat as Hong Kong in that they are technically a part of China, but have their own government, currency, etc. Still, we were used to Mandarin being used since we had been in Shanghai only a few days before. That is not to say we are experts in any way, but it was at least similar to what we had been doing before. We finally got on a train and made our way to Taipei. It is a big, bustling city with lots to see and do, so we got started on our list of places to stop. We first got lunch at a little pizza restaurant. The waiters spoke very good English, so they helped us with directions, and we found our way over to the Peace Park. This is the sight of a lot of different monuments and museums. The main one, though, was the 228 Memorial, where the February 28^th massacre took place. It is a beautiful monument and everyone was there to pay their respects, so it the mood was very somber. The Sun Yat-sen memorial hall was also in the Peace Park so we walked around the pagodas and the beautiful lake he had built in his honor. We then walked down the road to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and National Concert Hall. The Memorial closely resembles the Lincoln Memorial, with a huge square and stairs leading up to the Statue of a huge Chiang Kai-shek sitting in a chair. The square was filled with dance and cheer teams who were practicing for a big competition coming up. One of the groups we talked to was practicing singing and dancing to Katy Perry’s ‘Firework’ song and they thought it was hilarious when we jumped in with them. They explained the competition and how nervous they were. One girl said they practice all day every day! Megan and I also decided to jump in on a break dancing group, which was probably even funnier. I’m sure the sight of two white girls (one of which was bald) doing the running man and the sprinkler in the middle of their circle was hysterical. They danced with us though and we had a great time! =)

We got on the MRT (subway) and headed over to Taipei 101, which is the second tallest building in the world. None of us really wanted to pay to get up to the top, so we just stood at the bottom and gawked. Next item on our list was food, of course. We really wanted some of Taipei’s famous Mongolian Barbeque, so we got directions and took a cab to the restaurant….then we ate way too much. It was one set price for unlimited appetizers, drinks, meals, and deserts so we definitely got our money’s worth. The food was delicious, of course, and we decided to go to a night market afterwards to walk it off. It took a while to find it, but when we finally got close enough we knew right away that we were there. I don’t know if you have ever smelled stinky tofu, but let me tell you there is a damn good reason they call it that. We walked around gawking at the giant fish eyeballs, various kinds of animal feet, and all sorts of other weird stuff. AT that point we were exhausted (partly from holding our breath half the time), so we headed back to the ship. The next morning we decided we needed a break from the city, so I jumped on a train with Erica, Jill, Meghan, Jenny, Kenji, and Michael, and headed to Wu Lai. Wu Lai is a little mountain town that is famous for its hot springs. When we arrived we were so relieved to be in fresh air and a quiet little village. We crossed the river and walked up to a temple where they explained to us that they were setting up for the birthday of one of the Goddesses. We watched the performers practice, said happy birthday to the goddess, and went back down to the village. There was one big long street that was full of food and craft vendors, so as you probably already guessed, we ate. I ate more street food than I have this entire trip, and every bite was delicious…even when I had no idea what I was eating. We ate tons of fresh mochi, candied strawberries and tomatoes on a stick, dumplings, corn with some strange (but yummy) sauce, and all sorts of other things. They even had wine tasting at most of the little shops. It was a lot of fun exploring new foods and walking through this little village, but by the end we were tired and ready for some hot springs. The way they do hot springs there is they pump water from the springs into private tubs that you rent out by the hour. We walked up to a big waterfall and had some tea next to the falls. As we were walking back down we stopped at multiple spas, but none of them had tubs big enough for the seven of us. We finally found one in the basement of a little spa. It was hilarious figuring out how it all worked, but we finally got it. Michael bought some of the better wines we tasted and we relaxed in the tub and listened to music. It was beautiful and relaxing and wonderful! We would’ve liked to stay in Wu Lai but it was so expensive, so we went back to Taipei and found a hostel. We got one room for the seven of us, went out to dinner, and had a great night just goofing around in town and at the hostel. One things for sure I love my friends and I love that we can have fun no matter where we are. The next morning we slept in for the first time in I don’t know how long, which was so nice! We spent the rest of the day exploring Taipei a little bit more and walking around a GIANT market. The last day was finally sunny so it was a lot more pleasant to walk around and explore. It was kind of a sad day, though, because we couldn’t help but think that this was our last day in a foreign country =( Its very strange that this voyage is almost over! I absolutely can’t believe it went by so fast! Still we made the most of our last day and had a really great time before getting back to the ship. Lots of laughs and lots of memories that will never be forgotten. Taiwan was definitely a beautiful place, and I only wish we had more time to see more of the island.

Taiwan Slideshow 

China: Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai!

“I see my path, but I don’t know where it leads. Not knowing where I’m going is what inspires me to travel it”

~Rosalia de Castro

We arrived to a chilly, but beautiful view of the Hong Kong harbor. It was really a breathtaking sight, and it is unbelievable the way they packed so many buildings into an area that size. Our mission was to find The Giant Buddha. We started in what we thought was the right direction, took a ferry to what we thought was the right island, and ended up getting very lost. It ended up working out perfectly, though. We grabbed some lunch in a little restaurant and walked around the town a little bit. We really had no idea where we were going, so we had a good time wandering around. We were all so mesmerized by the hustle and bustle of the city. We finally found out where the bus station we needed to be at was, and after a few attempts, figured out how the system worked. To get on these mini-busses you wait in a line down an alley and get on as more busses come. We made our way over to Stanley Market, which is a not so little outdoor market with tons of clothes, knock-off designer bags, and everything else you could imagine. After an afternoon of bargaining and resisting urges (so much harder than it sounds in markets like that), we decided to try to find our way to The Peak, where we could look out at the whole city. We jumped on a bus and made our way downtown. After another nice little stroll around the town, we got on the tram and had a very steep ride up to the top of the Peak. There was a big (expensive) mall at the top with plenty of areas to view the spectacular view of the city. There was supposed to be a lightshow that night. Hong Kong has lightshows that are listed as the brightest lightshows in the world in the Guiness Book of World Records. Unfortunately they took a night off that night so we didn’t get to see the show, but the view was still incredible. It was absolutely freezing up there, but it was well worth it! The buildings in Hong Kong are so cool and colorful! That night we needed to find a hotel for the following night. We got very lucky and found a cheap hotel near the airport, and booked it right away. Of course we were a little bit nervous because it just sounded too good to be true, but it was just for one night so we figured we could make it through.

            The next day we decided to try round two on our search for the big Buddha. The ship was leaving that night for Shanghai, but we weren’t joining it, so we packed some bags and hit the town again. Megan, Erica, Jill and I decided that this time we would take the MRT (Subway) to the right island, and got off to find a gondola that was going to take us to Buddha. The gondola ride was very long, and we went way back into the mountains and up a peak. We walked through a cute (and very touristy) little village and finally made it to the Po Lin Monestary. After climbing a long staircase we were right at the feet of the Giant Buddha. It was spectacular! He was so massive, and being back in the mountains was so tranquil. We sat there with our mouths hanging open for quite a while before we returned to the gondolas to meet some other friends. We made our way over to the hotel we had booked the night before. When the bus came up on a quiet little beach town and we saw the sign for our hotel, we couldn’t believe our luck! The hotel was nice for the price we were paying and it was right on the beach. We checked in and explored the small town for some dinner. We wandered into a cute little outdoor Chinese restaurant and had a surprisingly delicious meal. We woke up early and walked around the beach a little bit before we had to go to the airport to catch a flight to Beijing. We were doing a trip to the Great Wall of China with a tour company called the China Guide, so we had to get to Beijing to meet them. Erica and Megan were on an earlier flight than Jill and I, so after they left we walked around the mall that was near the airport.  We found an outrageous clothing store, it was like a carnival walking around and looking at all the clothes. Its hard to explain the things we saw, but I can assure you we were pretty much doubled over laughing the whole time. We even had a bathroom dancing party….believe me, Jill and I can manage to have a great time no matter where we are. =)

After a three hour flight we arrived in Beijing and met our tour company. Its strange, but even though Hong Kong is still technically a part of China, they have different governments, different currencies, and different languages, so it was like arriving in a whole new country. There were a lot of other SAS students that were on this trip with us, of course we got stuck with the ones that felt the need to pack their portable speakers and blast techno music all the way to the hotel, at the hotel (all night), and…well actually not so much in the morning because they were all so incredibly hung-over they couldn’t even remember their belongings when we left. I’m not kidding, one of the guys actually walked up to the front of the bus and said “I don’t think I have my passport, in fact I think I left my whole bag. I’m not sure I can’t remember much about this morning”…this was as we were on our way out of Beijing and to the Great Wall (apparently monkeys are people too).

Anyways, we left the hotel that morning and went to the Forbidden City. It was the living place for the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties, which were the last two to reign in China’s history. It was called the forbidden city because it was forbidden for commoners to enter it. It was absolutely massive. Every time you thought “this has to be the biggest building here” you would walk through that building and find another one even bigger. We saw the gardens, the business buildings, and the living quarters. It took about 45 minutes to walk through the whole thing. The architecture was beautiful and it was fun hearing about the reasons why certain buildings were built the way they were, the symbolism of the statues, and the changes different emperors made during their time there. We then walked right across the street to Tiananmen square, one of the largest public squares in the world. It has a lot of museums as well as Mao’s tomb where his body is preserved. We did not go see Mao, but we had a good time walking around and looking at all the statues and monuments. We had some lunch before we went to the Silk Market. It was absolute insanity! There were floors upon floors of clothes, shoes, electronics, cosmetics, ski gear….basically anything you could imagine was there and it was cheap! That was probably the biggest exhibition of self-control I could have by not buying every last thing I saw. I’ll admit it, I did buy a few (probably knock-off) designer things, but it was fun bargaining our way through that entire market. Definitely an overwhelming experience. We started off again, with a much more crowded bus with everyone’s purchases, and went to the Olympic grounds. We got to see the bird’s nest and the water cube (from the outside). Finally, bursting with anticipation, we got on the bus to start our 3 hour drive to The Great Wall. It was dark when we arrived, and very, very cold. We ate dinner and went to pick up our sleeping bags, mats, and flashlights. It was about a 45 minute hike up to the actual wall, and it was along way up a lot of steep and unpredictable stairs. When we arrived we walked a little ways, past some groups that had already arrived (and started drinking) and made it to our tower where we would be sleeping. We had beers and snacks available and everyone was having an amazing time. We went to meet some of the other groups, listened to music, danced….it was basically a big party on the Great Wall. Eventually Erica, Jill, and I wandered off and sat and told ghost stories with a group of people farther down the wall. The next part of the story I will not tell in great detail out of respect for my friend, so here are the main points:

Some really drunk girls ran up to us asking for a phone, and told us that Gaby, one of my close friends on the ship, fell and was hurt. I ran over to where she was with one of our guides, and found her, very injured. She had fallen down the steps (and just to clarify, she had not been drinking). There were already a lot of people there trying to help her, two of which were medically trained. We pulled one of the doors off of the wall and used it as a stretcher. We had to carry her all the way down those stairs I mentioned earlier. When we finally made it to the bottom there was a van waiting for us. You can imagine our frustration when we were expecting an ambulance at the very least. We finally managed to get her into the van, and 3 students went with her to the hospital, 3 hours away in Beijing. It was very very frustrating because the driver did not understand that it was an emergency and kept trying to adjust Gaby’s stretcher when we just needed him to leave, and I could only imagine what they were about to face at the hospital. The first news I received the next morning was that she was in ICU and in a coma, and her mom was trying to fly out to be with her. It was terrifying to say the least. It is hard enough seeing a good friend in such a state, and hearing that news was even worse. Most of us were very shaken up and scared, but unfortunately some others were only worried about the fact that it bummed out one of the kid’s 21^st birthdays. I was honestly disturbed by the way that some of those people were reacting, both that night and the next morning. It is a horrifying thought thinking about what would’ve happened if she didn't have medically trained (and sober) peers ready to help her as fast as possible. Eric and Laura were absolute heroes, and I honestly believe that things would have turned out much different if they hadn’t been there along with the rest of us who were sober and ready to do whatever we could. Eric was one that went with her to the hospital, and he worked miracles in getting her taken care of and making the decisions that needed to be made. The latest news I have on Gaby is that she is now awake, breathing on her own, moving her legs, and even talking…my two favorite things she has said: “My name is Gaby, not Gabriella”, and “when can I go back to the MV Explorer?”. When I read those emails with the good news I couldn't help but cry tears of pure joy (unfortunately it was in the middle of Global Studies…oops). I can’t explain how thankful I am that she is recovering, slowly but surely, and that she started improving so quickly. She is an absolutely incredible human being. We always joked about how we were soul mates, and now I’m even more convinced than ever that we absolutely are ;)

Despite our worries, we knew that there was nothing more we could do at the time, so we continued with our trip, and woke up early the next morning for a gorgeous sunrise over the great wall and packed up our stuff for a hike. The hike was very hard, we were constantly going up and down and up and down on these massive stairs (you will see in the pictures).  But still, it was an unbelievable sight. The wall goes on forever. I couldn't believe how far into the distance you could look and still see watchtowers poking up! There were parts that were definitely untouched by renovations and were just crumbling bricks on a steep slant. 15 towers and an hour and a half later, we reached the end of the hike and our bus. It was 3 hours back into Beijing, and to our [sort of] dismay, we stopped at another market. Lucky for us this one wasn’t nearly as good, and we were so exhausted, both mentally and physically, that we did very little, and ended up getting a neck massage and reflecting. We ate dinner at an amazing little dumpling restaurant, and went to the train station. Our guide, Serena, said goodbye (she was probably so happy), and we got onto our sleeper trains. Erica, Jill, and I got into a compartment with one of the more mellow girls, Ally. Ally is hilarious, and I found out she is from Woodbury (where I lived for a few years in Minnesota). The sleeper trains were so cool! There were 4 beds per compartment and little TVs, and even a snack cart (I felt like I was in Harry Potter)! We woke up in Shanghai and finally made it back to the ship.

The view of Shanghai from the Harbor was so beautiful! The architecture there is unreal! We took our much needed showers and went to explore the city. When Jill, Erica and I are together everything is very relaxed. We really work well together, and end up just wandering until we find something good. Exploring without plans is the best way to explore. We saw a ferry about to leave so we jumped on. It ended up taking us across the harbor and to what seemed to be the business district. We had a great time just walking around and seeing what Shanghai was all about. We walked around and found ourselves in a very cute little park, where we relaxed for a while. We were still so exhausted from the Great Wall trip, so we went back to the ship and rested before we went out for the night. Once we got ready and ate dinner we decided to go out with some of our friends, Drew, Levi, and Allison. Unfortunately they were so stressed out just about finding a McDonalds (don’t ask me why, I don’t get it). So Jill, Erica and I said goodbye, jumped in a cab, and said “bar”. The cab driver definitely delivered. He took us to a street that was filled with bars. We found some other people from the boat and wandered into something that we thought might look interesting, with the intentions of only staying for a short while. Little did we know we were walking into the coolest bar we had ever seen! The décor, lighting and music was perfect! We were sitting there sipping on some drinks, when the floor behind the bar started rising, revealing some dancers. They sang and danced an entire Lady Gaga song, and we were just so surprised we didn't even know what to do. That act was followed by more singers, and a great Chinese rapper. This happened periodically throughout the night. We even tried out Mahjong…which none of us had any idea how to play. All in all it was a really great night, and it was so cool to see what Shanghai nightlife was all about. The next morning we went out to look for masks for the end of the voyage Masquerade Ball. Our intentions were to go to Old Shanghai where we had heard we could find some cool stuff. On our way some people about our age asked Erica to take a picture of them, which turned into a conversation, and the next thing we knew we were walking with them. They were from Xian, so they didn’t know much about Shanghai either, but we learned more than we ever could’ve hoped about China and culture. We were walking and they just steered us right into a little building. We sat down and they explained that this was a tea demonstration they had heard about. A waitress came in and started presenting us with different types of tea to try. She explained each tea, and taught us the rituals when drinking tea. This was all in Chinese, but luckily our new friends spoke at least some English, so we got a translation. Honestly it had all happened so fast and so unexpectedly that we were just in a trance. They were so funny and so excited to be spending time with us, as were we. The first cup of tea is for the Tea god, so it was poured onto his statue. You had to finish your cup of tea in three sips out of respect and for good fortune.  We tried about 6 different kinds of tea, all the while learning so much from our new friends. Fashion, history, poetry, you name it, they were eager to share about it. It was so cool that this had happened out of no where and we were having such a good time! They even bought us some souvenirs! As we were leaving they asked if they could buy us lunch, so that we could try real Chinese food. Of course we accepted, and we went to a small restaurant, where they ordered some of the best Chinese food I have ever tasted. Everyone says that American Chinese food is nothing like real Chinese food, but actually most of the stuff we ate was very similar to things I have had in the States (only much, much better). They brought us to Old Shanghai and we exchanged information and said goodbye. They were so nice and I am so happy we met them! We found out after we returned to the ship that a lot of people got scammed exactly the same way we met these people. Someone would ask you to take a picture of them, start chatting you up, invite you to a tea demonstration, and then leave you with a $700 bill. Apparently we got really lucky and these people not only paid for their portion, but they bought us souvenirs and lunch! We were on a major high from that wonderful afternoon, so we were practically skipping through Old Shanghai. It was really beautiful with all of its old architecture, and it had a big lake in the middle with massive Koi fish. We walked around, explored the shops, and eventually made our way back to the ship. It was really an amazing day, probably because everything was so unexpected.

I remember when we jumped on the ferry the first day in Shanghai, Jill said something that really stuck with us: After sitting on the ferry for a little while, not talking, just watching, she looked over at Erica and I and said: “Hey guys, where do you think we’re going?” At the time it was hilarious and silly, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. Its really been the best way to describe this whole trip, and I hope the rest of my life. We had no idea where we were going to end up, but we were having fun getting there, and enjoying everything along the way. No stress, no asking other people for directions, just one foot in front of the other, laughing and absorbing the whole way. I don’t particularly know where the rest of my life is going, but I’m confident that I’m going to end up right where I’m meant to be, and I’ll enjoy the journey. Every now and then a map will come in handy, definitely some recommendations from those who know the area, but in the end its just about the adventure. Its about the random encounters that turn into more-than-memorable afternoons. Its about the times your laugh so hard your doubled over in the middle of the Olympic Gardens. Its about being so scared you just want to hide, but you rip that door off and march your friend down the Great Wall, because that's what needs to be done. It won’t always be pleasant, it won’t always be happy, but it will be worth it. Always learning, always changing, and always exploring, that’s how I want my life to be. So to my friends, family, professors, and mentors I would like to say:

“Hey guys, where do you think we’re going?”

I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure I want to know. =)

Hong Kong Slideshow

Beijing Slideshow

Shanghai Slideshow!

Vietnam!

“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing”
~Helen Keller


The view pulling up on Ho Chi Minh City was unreal. After a few hours on the Mekong Delta the sudden sight of skyscrapers and bustling city life was quite a shock. Erica and I went straight to the Airport after leaving the ship and got a plane to Hanoi. It was definitely not hard to find my uncle Pat at the airport, considering he towered over everyone else there (hehe). We drove the 45 minutes to his apartment in Hanoi and on the way passed a lot of rice fields, rivers, and amazing buildings. Most of the houses there are built very narrow, but very tall. This came from the period of French colonization, and people were taxed on the street space they used for their homes. So, they used as little street space as possible, but maximized the space by making the houses very tall. We arrived at the apartment, which was beautiful! My aunt and uncle live right in between two lakes one of which is where McCain was shot down and captured. We went out to a delicious little restaurant in the French quarter and ate A LOT of yummy Vietnamese food. It was so nice to be staying with family again and have free internet. You never realize how much of a luxury it is until you live without it for a while. Facebook is blocked in Vietnam, but I did get to Skype a lot of people! We woke up early the next morning and walked to the Pagoda right by the apartment. A Pagoda is a Buddhist Temple where people go to worship and make offerings. There were incents burning everywhere and beautiful statues and shrines everywhere. Ancestor worship is such a huge part of the religion, so there were offerings for people’s ancestors (a lot of sodas, beers, and candies), and places where people went to burn possessions of their ancestors as a form of prayer. We took a nice little walk around the lake and had our first lesson in crossing the streets. There are so many motorcycles and cars that there is never a point where you can just cross. You have to just step out into the street and walk slowly, without stopping, so that the motorcycles and mopeds can swerve around you. Its just as terrifying as it sounds. You really have to clear your mind and just force yourself to keep walking, because if you hesitate they are more likely to hit you. We then went downtown to look around the shops and eat lunch with my aunt. I can see why the number one killer in developing countries is respiratory diseases. The air was thick with dust and smog. Still, though it was very fun walking around and experiencing the markets. It was also pretty chilly, which was a nice change from the other ports! You could definitely pick up the communist feel from the loud speakers on every street. Every now and then an announcement would be made, I wish I was able to understand Vietnamese so that I could hear what they were announcing.
After lunch we went to the Women’s Museum. It had everything from Vietnamese customs in marriage and birth to fashion to womens’ roles in the war. It was very interesting seeing how important women were in the war, both as soldiers and as nurses. There are vast differences between the different ethnic groups and their customs in marriage and child birth. Some are very elaborate and others are very simple. Some favor girls and others favor boys. I never knew that there were so many different ethnic groups within Vietnam and how different they all were. After that, Erica and I walked around on our own. We found a cute little café, got some drinks, and shopped around. We even rode in a little bicycle taxi! It was a very fun and relaxing day!
The next morning a bus picked us up to go to Ha Long Bay. It was about a 3 hour drive through the country side, and it was cool to see some of the smaller villages and people working in the rice fields. Ha Long Bay was incredible. The pillars of rock sticking out from the green water are said to be formed by a dragon thrashing its tail around. Our boat had a small group on it, which was very nice. There were people from all over: Switzerland, France, Australia, and Poland. It was great eating dinner with everyone and sharing stories. The French family was very nice and very funny and Erica and I had a great time hanging out with them! We sailed around Ha Long Bay and went to a huge cave. We got off of the boat and walked around the cave, and even got to pet the good luck turtle (a rock formation that eerily resembles a perfect sea turtle). We then got into kayaks and paddled around the bay, through some caves and around the giants rising out of the water. It really makes you realize how small you really are when your looking up at these towering rock formations. It was a misty night, which made it seem like the perfect scene for a horror movie, but we sat outside and had some drinks and shared more stories with our fellow travelers. It was really nice being away from the giant group of SAS-holes (the name given to some of our shipmates by Brittany, the photographer). Not that they aren’t tons of fun, but when your on your own you really get to know new people and you get to absorb your situation more. In the morning we had a breakfast of pho and eggs (yum!), and went to Ti Top Island. It has a pretty little beach and 245 steps leading up to a temple at the very top. Needless to say the view was incredible! When we returned to the boat we had a cooking lesson and learned how to make spring roles….then ate them of course. The sun finally came out and we had a nice leisurely sail back into the port. Some backpackers joined our bus on the way back, and there was a lot of traffic, so it was a very long and cramped 5-hour ride back (with a very awkward encounter in which one of the French guys leaned into me and said “your neighbors are so loud” in French. Unfortunately one of the girls spoke French very well and understood everything). We finally made it back, got a pedicure across the street from the apartment, and ate more spring rolls (can’t get enough of them). My Aunt and Uncle went to an event at the Opera House with the Lord Mayor of London and some other dignitaries, so we were home alone. We were exhausted though, so we ended up just staying in, skyping, and watching movies (and eating way too many spring rolls).
The next morning we said our goodbyes and flew back to Saigon. Even though the cab driver nodded as though he understood us, we drove in circles for quite a while before we ended up just drawing a picture of a boat and he finally understood and we eventually made it back to the ship. We threw our stuff in our rooms and ran out again to explore Saigon a little bit before we had to get back on. We walked around Saigon Center and some other markets and shopped a lot more than we had planned to. I wanted to get a dress made, but I didn’t think I had time. Still, around 2 a lady talked me into getting a dress made and took us to her apartment nearby to pick out a design and get measured. Somehow she managed to do all that and get the dress finished within less than 3 hours! It amazing how fast they work! It was quite an experience, since I’m almost positive that apartment building served as a dress making shop (a tiny one), a home, and a cock-fighting arena. There were huge chickens in cages and a sand pit behind what looked like a moped shop…didn’t take long for me to put two and two together. When we got back to the ship it was pouring…for those of you who know me well, you know I was sitting on deck playing in the rain and splashing in the puddles. It was a lot of fun =) Vietnam was fascinating in a lot of ways. The culture, customs, and overall dynamics were so much fun to learn about and adapt to! The people generally just ignored us, but those that I was able to interact with were nice (I think, Vietnamese is a hard language to interpret…most of the inflections sound angry). I enjoyed it very much, and there is so much to see in all the different regions. I will definitely have to come back someday for a longer period of time and do some major exploring.


Back in Nam

Singapore...Merlions and shopping malls

Coming fresh out of India, Singapore felt unreal. The city-state is absolutely pristine in every way. The architecture, the food, the stores, the streets, everything was flawless. People were very nice and the public transportation system was unbelievably efficient. We got off the ship, bought a pass for $8, and jetted around the city all day. Erica, Levi, Kenji, Steve and I had absolutely no plans and absolutely no idea where we were going, but we had a great time. The entire city is like one big shopping mall. There wasn’t a single place we went that didn't have a food court and more stores than you know what to do with. The architecture was fantastic! I can’t even explain it, you will just have to see in the pictures! It was a very strange sensation going from a country where the bathrooms were holes in the ground, to one where you could get caned just for spitting your gum out. There were so many signs around the city that told exactly what you CANNOT do. For example, you are not allowed to bring Durians on the subways…yeah they got that specific. Erica and I ate at a little Chinese restaurant with a very nice cashier, who was more than eager to hold up the line so he could give us some advice on places to go, both here and in Hong Kong. We walked around the biggest bookstore I have ever seen and ate a lot of different foods. China Town was as busy and exciting as we were expecting. They had these live infomercials going on. There were men standing on the streets with sham-wows and mops and microphones and they did a whole corny, info-mercialesque presentation. We went to the Marina Sands hotel and walked around the casino and the massive mall connected to it. After talking to a bartender, however, we got a different perspective. He told us: “Here, you either have a job, or you throw yourself off a building. That's it.” The cost of living is very, very high, and anyone who has been there can easily see why. All in all it was entertaining and beautiful, but creepily perfect. I would like so spend more time there (someday when I have a lot of money) and learn more about the culture underneath the malls and hotels.

Singapore Slideshow 

India

“Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white.” – Mark Jenkins

**This post was started right after India, but it took me until now to finish it, so the dates may seem a little bit weird

Today we had the day off from classes to reflect on India. One day is not nearly enough, in fact I don’t think even a lifetime is enough to process what I saw. My eyes have been opening wider and wider this whole trip, but I feel as though India has removed my eyelids so that I can never close them to the world again. It is going to be very hard for me to describe my feelings and the things I saw, but I’ll try my best.

I have had mountains of anticipation building up in me for India since I first signed up for this trip. You can imagine my excitement stepping off the gangway and into this mysterious country, one which I knew was going to change me forever. We jumped into a rickshaw right off the bat. Rickshaws are three-wheeled, open air, go-cart-like taxis. We quickly learned that wherever you want to go will come after the driver takes you where he wants you to go. For example, we stopped at his brother’s clothing store, and his mother-in-law’s sari shop before we got to the restaurant we wanted to go to. Turns out it worked out even better for us, because we were able to get some Indian clothes for the rest of our trip. Not to mention, the ride was extremely fun and we got to see a lot of Chennai on the way. Sitting in the rickshaw, wind in our faces, new images everywhere, my friends and I were smiling from ear to ear. The smells and the colors and the sights and the sounds were intoxicating. In India cars use horns…a lot. There was constant honking and swerving and chaos all over the streets. I was definitely a little nervous, but I knew it was part of the experience. That afternoon I went on a trip with one of the professors to visit some of the slums. The one we went to was a government housing complex, set up for tsunami victims and families from other slums in southern India. In a way I see that experience as preparing me for the rest of the week. At the time I thought walking around this particular village was tough. But looking back, the people there were lucky to be in that situation. The local government had provided them with not only homes, but also jobs and specialty training in the medical and textile fields. Kids were playing cricket at recess, and there were goats and cows, and what seemed to me to be very close families everywhere.  We visited one of the boys’ schools for a while. At first, they were all sitting very still and very quiet like robots. But when we started handing out stickers they turned into little boys again. We started playing word games, clapping games, and had some major thumb wars (I usually lost, they were good!). It was an incredible experience hearing them laugh and seeing those huge smiles on their faces every time they won, especially when we were sitting in a very hot, very small school house, with one chalkboard, a few books, and no desks or chairs. It’s hard to imagine going to school every day and sitting on the floor for hours, not to mention the heat! After being torn away from the kids (we all wanted to stay and play more, they were going to teach me cricket!), we went to see the compost area. The village has a program where they turn the trash into compost, and either use the very fertile soil to grow their own vegetables, or just sell the soil. It is a great way for the families to bring in their own income, from their own work instead of relying on the government. The goal, we were told, is to get these families on their feet again, and empower them to rise out of their situation. We also saw a woman, who was given a loan to start her own hair salon. She went to school, started a salon in the village, and is now the resident hair dresser. She is also taking in younger women and teaching them how to style hair. Our guide told us something that seems to be a common theme in every country we have visited so far: When you educate a woman, you educate a country. We saw all sorts of success stories like that, where people were given the tools to make their own livings based on what they want to do. It is a great program, and I was happy to hear that they were in the process of building more homes to add 28,000 more people to the already 25,000 strong village. It was very inspirational, despite the poor conditions they were living in. We all had an experience that was new to most of us; those who had cameras were pulling them out and taking pictures of us as we walked past. No one minded though, we just saw it as getting a taste of our own medicine. It doesn't seem like it would be a bog deal, but it was a very strange sensation being photographed by strangers.

            At 4:00 the next morning I was heading to the airport on a bus. We jumped on a plane to begin our trip around Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur. Once again, the plane was very nice and the food, movies, and drinks were free. We arrived in Delhi to nice cool, crisp weather, and the second we walked out of the airport, the crowds hit us like a brick in the face. It was Chennai on steroids! Cars and horns and people and cows EVERYWHERE! We were immediately greeted by our tour guide, Rameesh Anand, who, I would like to mention turned out to be the best tour guide ever. Right off the bat we started sightseeing. Delhi is beautiful and busy, with nice parks everywhere. We started at Qutab Minar, which is the tallest tower in India. It was originally a Hindu Temple, but was destroyed when Muslim rule was established in India. You can still see remnants of the Hindu statues that had been knocked down and replaced by carvings of the Quran. We drove around Delhi some more and saw the Embassies and the India Gate, which is a memorial commemorating soldiers who died in World War I (it looks a lot like the Arc de Triomph).  We had a delicious lunch of curry, naan, and everything else Indian you could imagine. There were these delicious little fried doughnut balls with honey sauce and ice cream, I want more! After lunch we drove to Rajghat, Gandhi’s memorial. It was very peaceful and beautiful. Out of respect you are required to take your shoes off, and the incense that were constantly burning were intoxicating. It was quite a relaxing experience.

            Next we went to Humayun’s Tomb. Humayun was a ruler of India, and was Shah Jahan’s great grandfather. His tomb is beautiful and massive, and it even includes small tombs around it for people like his favorite hairdresser! We made our way over to the hotel, where we were greeted with bindis for luck and flower leis. The hotel was beautiful, and after a huge and delicious dinner we were ready to catch up on some sleep. The next morning was an early one…partially because I couldn’t sleep, knowing we were going to see the Taj Mahal that day. At 5:30 we were on our way to the train station, weaving our way through crowds of beggars and cars, trying to keep our bags close to us. It was very intimidating and chaotic, but we made it. The train ride was beautiful, and we passed through beautiful countryside and the sun was bright, bright red as it was rising. Using the toilet was another story. In India, most of the toilets are just holes in the ground…trains are no exception. You can use you imagination about how dirty they were.  I can’t explain to you the excitement I felt when we finally arrived in Agra. I was practically sprinting off the train, I was so anxious to get to the Taj. However, that excitement was diminished pretty quickly. I thought I had seen the poverty already in India, but I had just barely scraped the surface. Immediately leaving the train station we were surrounded by children, probably between the ages of 3 to 12. No matter how fast you try to walk and how much you try desperately to “be deaf and dumb”, as our tour guide suggested, you can’t ignore the shockingly thin children begging at your feet. I had to force myself to get on the bus without a word, and try not to look out the window at the kids still standing outside begging for money. I had always heard about the street kids and the poverty here, but I never imagined that they would be so young. It was a hard realization to cope with, but I tried to process what I saw and keep moving.

And then we were there. There was a long walkway to get to the entrance of the Taj Mahal. It was swarming with monkeys, camels, and people trying to sell you “unique” keychains “for a very good price”. They were definitely a constant presence, and we realized quickly that the second you say one word to them, even if its NO GO AWAY, your doomed. You really have to be deaf and dumb and completely ignore them. The monkeys were playing in the trees, it was a beautiful sunny day, and I was about to see the one thing I had been dreaming of ever since I did that 5^th grade project on the wonders of the world. We walked and walked, went through security, walked, and finally stepped through the entrance. I felt like a hurricane was blowing in my face with the blinding white and shocking grandeur of the Taj Mahal. Yes, I cried. I cried hard. I couldn't believe I was actually, finally there, at the real thing, the one and only. I think in twenty years I will remember that exact feeling. “The first time I saw the Taj Mahal I was a 20 year old college student, holding my best friends hand on the steps and crying my eyes out, trying hard to convince myself that I wasn’t dreaming. That this was real, that the sky was a perfect bright blue, and the sun was in the just the right position in the sky.” It really could not have been any more perfect. We spent a lot of time walking around, taking pictures, and just simply marveling. I really wish that I could do the feelings I had justice just by writing, but I think its impossible. After tearing ourselves away and surviving the hawkers again, we went to a little shop where they practiced a unique art form that can only be passed down from father to son. In fact, it is the same way the Taj Mahal was built. They carve marble and inlay it with precious stones, which they flake and shape themselves. We had a chance to watch them work and then tour the gallery.

            After another delicious lunch, we traveled to the Agra Fort. It is a beautiful sandstone fortress, with a hall of public audience that had walls lined with fragments of mirrors so that when the lamps hit them they look like stars. This is where Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his son for 8 years. There is a spectacular view of the Taj Mahal, the very monument he built for his lost love, from the room he stayed in. He died gazing at it, and was later buried next to Mumtaz Mahal’s tomb under the spectacular onion dome he built for her. The fort was spectacular and had peacocks (The Mughal symbol for wealth) and precious stones everywhere! We got back on the bus and had a long drive through the countryside before we finally reached Jaipur.

We first stopped in Sikri, which is an abandoned city that was once the capital of India. It is built entirely out of red sandstone, and even has a tomb for Emperor Akbar’s favorite elephant. The next morning we got up early so that we could get elephant rides to the Amber Fort. We drove through the Pink City, which was extremely busy. Its very strange seeing cows walking around everywhere, including into stores (seriously, I saw a cow walk into a store as though it was going to buy a sari). The elephant ride was so much fun! We made Drew buy a turbin (hilarious) and got some great pictures. Upon arrival at the fort some people played traditional music that was used to announce when dignitaries were arriving. We toured the fort and I was absolutely shocked by the spectacular views. We got to see a rug factory. They showed us how they weave the rugs and do block-printing. Let me tell you, this guy was a very good salesman, he had me considering buying a $500 rug for a second…then I realized I didn't have $500, so that's a good thing. We drove back through the Pink City and visited the Royal Observatory and the City Palace (Chandra Mahal). Both had ancient relics of early astronomy, textiles, weapons, and art. We spent the evening getting henna and shopping around our hotel in Jaipur. The next morning we were supposed to drive back to Delhi…instead we spent about 3 hours just trying to get out of Jaipur. The traffic was unbelievable, our tour guide even got out to direct cars (along with about 5 other people, so you could imagine it didn't work very well). When we finally made it to Delhi we had to cut out a lot of our original plans. We were still able to visit a Sikh temple though. It was beautiful, and an entirely new experience. The singing rang throughout the area on loud speakers, heads were covered, and shoes were off. We even ate some of the ceremonial offerings...which was a big, mushy clump of flower, sugar, and butter, served to us in our bare hands. Those with weak stomachs skipped that part. We also toured the kitchen, which is run completely by volunteers and donations, and provides meals to anyone who wants to eat with them. It is a lot like soup kitchens in the US.  We finished off our trip with Hi Tea, and got back onto the plane for a late flight.

We were all sad that it was our last day in India, but we jumped into some rickshaws and rode around Chennai. We did a lot of shopping, a lot of eating, and a lot of observing. We were eating lunch when some other SASers ran up to us with news about the Tsunami. We found a TV and watched as much as we could. We were all very shaken to say the least, but we just tried to enjoy our last few hours so we could get back to the ship and hopefully find out more about what was happening in Japan.

I know that this was a very brief and choppy synopsis of my time in India, but honestly I have been struggling with how I was going to write this. There is no way to do justice to the thoughts that ran through my head and the feelings I felt while there. I loved every second, good and bad, but a lot of it was very hard for me to process. It was chaotic, beautiful, terrifying, depressing, enlightening, friendly, puzzling, horrifying, and a million other things that I can’t find words for. Every stop so far has been amazing, but I think India takes the cake. My emotions were ripped back and forth, from trying not to break down in front of the street kids, to marveling at the Taj Mahal. Everything from shopping to using the bathroom was worlds away from anything I’ve ever known. I was so stimulated that I could barely sleep for more than an hour at a time for days after we left. It was truly an amazing experience, one that will never be forgotten, and I am eager to return. I hope the pictures help to support my stories! Love you all!

Slide show is below! The pictures are a little bit out of order, so bear with me!

India Slideshow!
Some more pictures from Ashton!

Mauritius!

“I do not want to get to the end of my life and find that I just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.”

~Diane Ackerman

Mauritius was beautiful! It is a very small island off the coast of Madagascar, very close to Réunion. Some of you may know it as the land of the Dodo birds. Of course, those have been extinct for a long time, but it was still kind of cool to be on the island where the last Dodo birds lived (there was a big mural of Alice in Wonderland, and the heroic Dodo that saved the other animals from her tears). Unfortunately we only had one day to spend there, but it was definitely a wonderful day. A group of us decided to go SCUBA diving at Flic-en-Flac beach. After a beautiful drive around the island, we arrived at a ridiculously extravagant resort. The dive company that works out of that resort opened especially for us (they normally don’t work on Sundays). We had a great dive, except the visibility wasn’t very good due to the heavy rains they had just a few days before. Still, there was lots to see, and the dive master was great! It felt so good to be under the water again, its been way too long since I’ve been able to dive. One thing that was hard to get used to was that they use steel tanks, instead of aluminum ones. It made me way heavier under water than I was used to! The official languages there are French and English, so I was able to practice my French a little bit. The majority of the population on Mauritius is Hindu, and just a couple days after we left they were having a big festival in honor of Shiva. We got to see people preparing their floats and decorations, the colors were unbelievable! The three dive masters we were with were all 6^th generation Mauritian, and they all had very strong opinions about France…they think French people are mean and too uptight, and the only affiliation they had with France was their French passports and the language. I heard that some French Creole was spoken, but I was hearing very proper French all day.

The reason we only stayed one day, rumor has it, is that a previous voyage basically drank the island dry and trashed almost an entire hotel. I was getting very upset knowing that we couldn’t stay longer just because of a previous voyage, I really wanted to spend more time there! Our people weren’t exactly role models either. The majority of students rented catamarans and got completely smashed.  Unfortunately, as we were standing in line to get back on the ship we saw a student being rushed out in a wheelchair…at that moment I thought that I had seen my first dead body. He was in very critical condition and no one knew if he would be able to be revived. Luckily one of the voyagers is an ER doctor, and they managed to keep him alive. He is still in Mauritius in the hospital, and we are not sure if they are going to allow him to return. I still don’t understand the mentality among some of the students that they have to get as drunk as possible as fast as possible in every port. I personally like actually remembering the countries I visit. I can only hope that India will wake some people up to the reason we are here and why it is so important to learn as much as possible, as fast as possible.

I am very, very excited for India. The day we arrive in Chennai there will be a cricket world cup match between South Africa and England. A lot of people bought tickets, and much to our British Global Studies Professor’s demise, a lot of people also bought South African Springbok jerseys.

Now please enjoy a simple explanation of cricket, as given to us by Professor Smith:

• You have two sides, one out in the field and one in;
• Each man in the side that's in goes out, and when he's out he comes in and the next man goes in until he's out;
• When they are all out, the side that's out comes in and the side that's been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out;
• Sometimes you get men still in and not out;
• When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in;
• There are two men called umpires who stay out all the time and decide when the men who are in are out;
• When both sides have been in and all the men have been out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game!

It can take up to five days

 Simple, right?

Slide show below!

Mauritius Slideshow!

South Africa!

“Do not lose hold of your dreams or aspirations. For if you do, you may still exist, but you have ceased to live.”

~Henry David Thoreau

I have always heard that Cape Town was breathtakingly beautiful. I promise you, not a single person was lying. We had a very interesting start to our trip. As we pulled in, the winds in Cape Town reached about 40 knots. The port officials would not let us dock, because it was too dangerous. So we waited, and waited, and waited and at midnight that night the winds still had not died down. Everyone just had to sit on the ship and look at Table Mountain in the distance, practically drooling with anticipation. We were finally able to pull in the next day around noon. We were all a little bit sad that we had lost an entire day, but also very excited to get out and explore. There were seals everywhere, and the view coming in on Table Mountain was incredible! It is such a gorgeous city! The port area was like Disney Land compared to our last few stops. There was a ferris wheel and a huge mall, and tourist stands everywhere offering you skydiving, bungee jumping, shark cage diving, and basically everything else you could imagine a major tourist destination to have. I had to remind myself that this was definitely not an accurate representation on South Africa and I tried not to get absorbed in the façade they had created. The first half-day was spent walking around Cape Town, shopping, eating, and most importantly…getting ready for U2!

The World Cup stadium where U2 played (the one where the semi-finals were played) was conveniently located right next to the port. I went with two friends, Austin and Drew, and we had a nice walk to the stadium. Just kidding, we were practically skipping there, we were so excited! The concert blew my mind. They opened with “Beautiful Day” and the entire crowd (I think the final count was around 78,000 people) went crazy. We had relatively good seats, definitely not on the field but pretty close to the front in the stands. Needless to say they sounded phenomenal, and Bono had some very inspiring words about how fantastic South Africa is and how we can all do our parts in fighting HIV/AIDS. I left the concert on cloud 9, just knowing that I had finally seen U2 live, and I still had 4 more days to play in beautiful South Africa. The Afrikaans accents sound very similar to Australian accents, only they role their r’s more…but don’t ever tell them that, they HATE Australia. Why? I was quickly informed that Australia is the rival of any and all South African sports teams.

The next morning we went to our new favorite restaurant (I must have eaten there 5 times before we left). It was a little coffee shop called Mugg and Bean….they had better food than any American restaurant I’ve ever been to, not to mention the best iced coffee I’ve ever tried. We then jumped in a cab and went to see Table Mountain. Just like in most of the other ports we’ve been to, the cab driver waited for us until we were ready to go, so convenient! We would have hiked the mountain, but we got a late start and it’s a very long hike. So we took a cable car to the very top. It was so gorgeous, and every now and then the wind would blow the cold clouds over us. The views were amazing…dry savannah and mountains on one side, and the beautiful ocean and Cape Town on the other. On our way back towards port we saw a restaurant called Rafiki’s. Since Drew and I were both obsessed with the Lion King, we decided we had to stop there. Once again, delicious food, delicious drinks, and a cute little bamboo balcony overlooking the city. After doing some more walking around and souvenir shopping, we went to the Two Oceans Aquarium. It was a beautiful aquarium, with a very strong focus on conservation. One of the exhibits that stood out was the shark exhibit. Next to it was a sign that said: “last year, 652 people were killed by chairs. 4 people by sharks. Last year, 791 people were killed by defective toasters. 4 people by sharks. Last year over 100 million sharks were killed by humans. Rethink the shark”

Those were some pretty amazing statistics…next to it there was a picture of a shark, which said: The ocean’s most dangerous predator. Then a picture of a lion, which said: Land’s most dangerous predator. Right in between the two was a mirror, and it said: Planet Earth’s most dangerous predator. Both of those exhibits really stuck with me. Its truly scary what we are doing to the oceans. It was a very relaxing and very fun day for sure!

The next day we got up early to catch our fight to Port Elizabeth. Here was the best part: apart from the ticket, everything was free on the plane. A free meal, free wine, free drinks, free bags, free everything. It made Americans look extremely cheap! So after an easy flight and a nice glass of wine, we arrived in Port Elizabeth and got on a bus to our safari. Kariega Game Reserve is a beautiful ‘little’ reserve. It is considered a small one, despite its 22,000 acres of reserve area. Before we even got off the highway we saw blesbuck and giraffes! All of us were expecting a small room with bunk beds and a bathroom…or something along those lines. Lucky for us, our ranger took us straight to our luxury chalets to freshen up before our first game drive. They were BEAUTIFUL! Amazing little cabins overlooking the reserve, with absolutely free range for the animals. We started on our first game drive that afternoon. I won’t lie I cried a little bit, just because I was so so so excited to see everything, and it was finally here! We immediately saw impala, blesbuck, wildebeest, and other beautiful grazers.    

Then, as we were driving down one of the paths, our ranger stopped suddenly and turned off the engine. A herd of elephants slowly made their way into our path. They came both on the road and through the trees so we were surrounded by wild elephants. Needless to say it was probably the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. One of the elephants got so close that her ear brushed up against my face. I was frozen stiff, I had no idea what to do. I know very well that these weren’t zoo animals, and they could easily kill me, so I just tried to stay still. There were about 3 babies with them, and they held onto the mom’s tail with their trunks, just like in The Jungle Book! =) We waited until they were done eating and started on our way again. We passed by lots of zebras, blesbuck, wildebeest, impala, and lots of other grazers. Then we came up on a group of Rhinos, the second of the “Big Five” (elephants were the first). They call them the big five, for those who are wondering, because they are the hardest animals to hunt, and therefore the five biggest game animals. They are: Rhino, elephant, buffalo, lion, and leopard. We watched the Rhinos for quite a while…it was especially entertaining to see the baby boy running around trying to play with the adults (an only child on a big lonely reserve). Rhinos are one of the most poached animals currently. Poachers often come in with helicopters, tranquilize a rhino, come down, cut the horn off with a machete, and leave the Rhino to bleed to death. It is really a horrible situation, for such an incredibly stupid reason. People pay thousands of dollars for Rhino horn, because they believe it is an aphrodisiac. 10 days before we arrived, poachers had killed a Rhino at the Kariega Reserve. Unfortunately they did not give the Rhino enough sedative, and it woke up before it could bleed to death. The vet had to put it down. Even worse, this was a new mother, and the baby was doomed without its mother. Fortunately they were able to send the baby to another reserve, and they hope he will be able to return within a year. It is truly a horrible and wasteful process, especially since the horn will grow back if cut at the right spot. Instead, they hack the entire thing off and kill the animals in the process. Its scary, because they have no idea how the poachers manage to get on the reserve, much less find the rhino. Because of the recent poaching, every ranger and staff member had to take a lie detector test to determine if they had any involvement.

We moved on, all of us so satisfied with our drive so far. We thought we were incredibly lucky to have seen so many animals. So, you can imagine how surprised and completely, out-of-our-minds excited we were when we found the pride of lions. They had just finished a kill, you could see the spare legs and fur laying around, and they were all taking a nap. We were about 30ft away from the closest female, and she was staring straight at us. The big male was laying in between his females and the young male on the other side….it was time for the teenager to move out. They were so beautiful and so powerful, and so unbelievably breathtaking. I couldn’t even ask questions I was so in awe. They are used to seeing the jeeps, but we were told not to make any sudden movements, as they would without a doubt defend themselves. You can imagine after a comment like that we were all glued to our seats. So, in one day we were fortunate enough to see 3 of the big five, missing only the leopard and the buffalo. We returned for an amazing dinner…including some warthog (yes I did feel guilty eating Pumba, but he was delicious), blesbuck, and impala. It was all amazingly delicious. I couldn’t get enough! I tried to wake up for the sunrise, but it was too cloudy to see it….lucky for me I was distracted by the monkeys playing on our porch. At 5:30 we went on our morning game drive. We saw buffalo (number 4 of the big five), lots of giraffes, monkeys, and lots of grazers. We had an afternoon walk, where we learned about the smaller animals and plant life on the reserve. I was feeling adventurous and tried some termites. They actually tasted pretty good. Like mint and thyme. We had another very successful afternoon drive, where we saw the lions again, as well as the very rare black rhino (there are only 2 on the reserve)! On each drive we stopped for drinks and snack, and always in the most beautiful places with the best views. We were fortunate enough to have the head ranger, Dean, as our guide, so he always knew the best places to go. He was hilarious and we had so much fun! I am seriously considering going back to work at that reserve. I felt so at home and the rangers are fantastic. Not to mention…coolest job ever!! I absolutely did not want to leave, but after an early morning drive and some hot chocolate, we got back on the bus to return to the airport, and then to Cape Town. I wish I could accurately describe the feelings I had looking at wild lions, giraffes, zebras, elephants, and everything else. Unfortunately I realize that it would be impossible to explain. I hope the pictures do it at least some justice, but honestly I am still on a high from that experience, and I feel that I will be for the rest of my life.

We were able to see some of the townships on the way back, which was very interesting. I would have like to be able to visit them, but I guess I will have to do that next time. The safari was absolutely incredible, and Cape Town was so beautiful. There is so much more that I want to do there and I absolutely have to come back soon! To be honest I loved every second of it, but I felt much more connected to the people in Ghana. As we were leaving Cape Town I felt like I was leaving a vacation, and leaving Ghana I actually felt like I was leaving close friends. Overall, Africa was good to me. I loved every second of every minute of every day. SO many incredible experiences in such a small part of an incredible continent. I will return, I have absolutely no doubt in my mind about that. Besides, I HAVE to go back since I didn’t get to see the leopard. =) I’ll miss Africa a lot, but I am excited for my adventures in Asia! Love you all!

The Friends I Met on My Safari:

Cattle Egret

Great White Egret

Reed Cormorant

African Jacana

Blackshouldered Kite

Yellow Billed Kite

Ostrich

Secretary Bird

Cape Weaver

White Stork

Black Bellied Glossy Starling

Warthog

Bushpig

Cape Grysbok

Giraffe

Buffalo

Elephant

Oribi

Nyala

Impala

Black Backed Jackal

Vervet Monkey

Blesbuck

Common Reedbuck

Burchells Zebra

White Rhino

Black Rhino

Blue Wildebeest

Red Hartebeest

Bush Buck

Hippopotamus

Kudu

Water Buck

Lions

Slideshow is below! Works best with the Circle of Life playing behind it!

Safari and Cape Town =)

Ghana

“The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it”

~W.M. Lewis

Ghana stole my heart. From the second we arrived I felt welcome and comfortable. The day we arrived I took a tour with SAS to the castles and slave dungeons. We saw Elmina castle as well as Cape Coast Castle. It is very hard to describe the way it felt to stand in the slave dungeons. Being in the exact place where millions suffered, waiting for their fates, was chilling to say the least. My friend Jill and I didn’t say a word to each other the entire time. It was horrifying, powerful, and extremely educational. The Atlantic Slave Trade is a topic covered in every social studies class from elementary school on, but there is absolutely no way to really get a sense of their horrible conditions until you see it. We were locked into two dungeons. The first was used for soldiers who were drunk or misbehaving. There was light, and plenty of windows to allow air circulation. The next one was used for slaves who misbehaved or tried to revolt. The only source of air or light was through the very small hole in the metal gate. It was absolutely suffocating, and the scrapes in the walls from shackles and nails made you feel like you were in the middle of a horror movie. It was completely terrifying, but I think it was an important experience. We also saw the men’s and women’s dungeons, and the tunnels finally leading to “the door of no return”. This is where those that survived the dungeons were brought to board the ships. We were told that the dungeons would be packed with hundreds of people, which was unimaginable, because we were feeling claustrophobic with about 25 of us. It was an incredibly powerful experience, and images of brands and shackles are still burned into my mind.

Our spirits were lifted, however, by the locals outside of the dungeons. One young boy gave me a seashell with my name painted on it, and another guy gave me a bracelet. We also learned how to play some instruments that were kind of like maracas. I had fun exchanging key chains and stories with people, and everyone was very nice. The next day I went on a canopy walk in Kakum National Park. It was absolutely gorgeous! The bridges were very high up, and very narrow and wobbly. I’m not going to lie, I felt a lot like Indiana Jones. I could’ve done that all day, I was having so much fun! We weren’t able to see too many animals, because all of the forest elephants and monkeys are nocturnal. We then went to eat lunch (delicious Jalof rice…I couldn’t get enough) and listen to the bamboo orchestra. The music was beautiful and the dancing was amazing! The dancer pulled some of us up to learn one of the dances. Yes I did go up, and yes I had the time of my life! They were kind enough not to completely laugh at us trying to do their dances…again, amazingly nice people.

            The next day I went to habitat for humanity. It was very fun and a very rewarding experience. I definitely plan on getting involved with more projects in the future. I was put on plaster duty, so by the end of the day I was completely covered in mud and cement. I think I got pretty good at it by the end of the day though! Some of the kids from the village came to eat lunch with us. One of the boys was about 14 years old, and he had skipped school because he had to go get water for his family. The well is about a two mile walk, so it took the whole day to get enough water. I think one of my favorite parts about the trips I did was the drive there. There is so much to see just looking out the windows. Women carrying amazingly large baskets on their heads, children bathing out of buckets right in front of their houses, people pulling in giant fishing nets on the beach. It is such a different lifestyle there, and it was beautiful to see the way they live. We passed by some villages that were entirely made up of grass and mud huts, with no electricity, no running water, and goats running around everywhere. To us, it seems so different, maybe even primitive, but to them it is all they know. I loved watching the kids wrestling with each other, playing soccer, and just smiling from ear to ear.

            We went to the beach the next day, which was quite an adventure. In Ghana you can hire little busses called tro-tros. Normally they hold about 10 people…our group had 16. Somehow we managed to squeeze everyone into one and made it to the beach. The tro-tro drivers stop all the time to do errands or talk to friends. On the way to the beach, our driver stopped to get himself some fried plantains, dropped off his recycling, and paid off the cops so that he wouldn't get fined for having too many people. The beach was incredibly beautiful and the water was so warm! I got stung by jellyfish a few times, but I was so enthralled by the beach and the people that I barely noticed. We brought some candy and gum and passed it out to some of the kids. They sat with us for hours, playing with our ipods and our cameras. We played soccer, and rock-paper scissors, and tag with the kids, it was so much fun! I even tried to balance one of the little girl’s baskets on my head….I was horrible at it, but it made her laugh pretty hard! We ate fried lobster and drank fresh pineapple juice, I was in heaven!

Throughout our time there we made good friends with the vendors that set up at port when we got there. They all had amazing memories, and they knew exactly who you were and what you wanted to buy every time you walked past. That night, Jill and I hung out with some of the guys and learned how to play drums. It was definitely addicting! I spent hours learning different beats and songs! Finally, at 1:30 in the morning we went back to the ship with swollen hands and amazing memories. Jill has been wanting to get dredlocks for a while, so our last day was mission day. I had some souvenirs to buy, and we needed to find somewhere for Jill to get her hair dredded. Luckily right out of port we ran into a friend I had met a few nights before, named Elvis. He completely took care of us all day. He took us to the bank, the post office, and found someone who would do Jill’s hair. For the rest of the afternoon we sat on the street, ate tiger nuts, and talked about our lives while about three people worked on Jill’s hair. Elvis was hilarious and very nice. When I kept thanking him for helping us out so much, he told me “you don’t have to thank me, we all need each other, it's the way it should be”. How true is that? I found myself shocked at how friendly and helpful every one in Ghana was, but really they have it right. It should be like that everywhere! My experience in Ghana was incredible to say the very least. I was sad leaving the other ports, but this time I actually felt like I was saying goodbye to friends. I absolutely intend to go back someday. I learned and saw some amazing things, and I fell in love with the people there. American guys definitely need to learn some things from Ghanaian men…they know what romance is, that's for sure! I wish I could show everyone the things I learned and felt while I was there, but I know that won’t be possible. Just know that I loved it in so many ways! =) Next stop South Africa! Miss you all!

Slideshow is below =)

Ghana Slideshow!

Here today, Ghana Manana =)

Saturday February 5^th, 2011

“The real voyage of discovery lies not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes”

~Marcel Proust

It has been nine days since we left Brazil, and everyone is itching to get off the ship tomorrow in Ghana! I’m not going to lie, though, it’s been a very fun nine days! It was my friend’s 21^st birthday a couple of days after we left Brazil, so we surprised her with a nice dinner. The ship offers these specialty dining nights that you can pay extra for. It was so worth the money! We had a five course meal complete with champagne, paté, and some amazing soufflé (makes you wonder where they’ve been hiding all this gourmet food)! I have been taking a lot of time to reflect on everything I have experienced so far, and what I am about to see as we travel further and further around the world. I have had some amazing discussions with professors, staff, even Captain Jeremy, about everything I’ve seen and the fire it has sparked in me. Sailing down the Amazon was definitely amazing! There was so much to see, and it was pretty cool waving at people in their tiny little fishing canoes. After 2 days of smooth sailing up the Amazon, we were all a little bit nervous about crossing the big, bad Atlantic. It really hasn’t been bad at all. The Atlantic Ocean was good to us. Even through some storms the water stayed calm! It has definitely been a pleasant surprise, since we were all bracing ourselves for some major rocking. Some people got bit by monkeys in Brazil, so I’m sure they haven’t been having the best time, considering the long series of rabies shots they are going through right now. And a few other people were on IVs (lets just say they had a bad case of “Brazil Belly” and they were all dehydrated). But so far no serious disasters!

            I have had some very thought provoking classes the past few days. In my environmental science class we talked about wealth and quality of life. My eyes are really opening to how extremely stressed we are as Americans. When most of the rest of the world is just happy if they get dinner that night, we are worried about the next car we want to buy and what the latest fashion trend is. We always want bigger and better and faster, the thought of starving or extreme thirst would never even cross any of our minds. But for so many people that's all they know. Here we are preaching to other countries how they should live and how they should protect the environment…they are probably thinking “yeah when I can live like Americans maybe I will have energy to think about conserving resources”. Its really scary how wasteful we are, and we don’t even realize it, because that's just the norm in the US. In Dominica if you don’t have food one night, you can walk right over to your neighbor’s house and they will gladly share with you, not as a favor, just as a way of life. If I walked over to my neighbor’s house in Colorado Springs and asked if I could eat dinner with them tonight they would think I was crazy. We are so absorbed with this every man for himself, constant competition lifestyle that helping out a neighbor without getting something in return in just out of the question. It made me think of swimming class in 9^th grade. I remember getting in the pool and complaining about how cold it was. The teacher told us that if we just relaxed our muscles, our bodies would warm up faster, because when you tense up you are just making it worse. Maybe that's what we need to do. Just relax our lives. We are so tense and competitive, maybe if we just relaxed, helping out anyone in need wouldn't seem like such a burden. If we weren’t so obsessed with being the richest or the skinniest or the smartest, we could step back and realize that while I’m eating a dinner that could feed a family of five, some little girl in Nepal is waking up and praying that today is not the day that she gets sold into sex slavery. Those are real things. They aren’t just scary stories. Every day 30,000 children die of completely preventable causes, starvation, malaria, thirst…these are all things that we could prevent. Yet when 3,000 Americans die in one day, wars are waged, millions upon millions of dollars are poured into funds that go to the affected families….millions of dollars that could have easily saved 30,000 children every day for months. These children also lost loved ones, usually their entire families. Only these kids don’t have the state of New York to provide grief therapy and compensation, in fact they don't even have a meal for the day, or shoes to wear. I’m not being insensitive towards Americans affected by 9/11, but the fact of the matter is even without all of the donations, each family involved would have received more in compensation than most people in the world will ever see in their lifetimes. The UN calculated that if the wealthiest countries of the world donated 0.7% of their GNP, we could end poverty the world over, The United States, the great and benevolent world power….yeah we managed to scrape together 0.1% of our GNP. I honestly don’t even think that people would notice that 0.7% went to starving children in Africa. We would still be waking up and getting our Starbucks, driving our SUVs, and coming home to a fridge full of food and prime time TV. These are things that I have been thinking about a lot lately, and yes, its been a very frustrating few days of realizations. Luckily there are some amazing and inspirational people on board to help me work through the confusion and frustration.

One in particular is Andrew Briggs, who is an SAS alumni who saw his calling in Uganda. He started a non-profit called Freedom in Creation. They set up schools in refugee villages for escaped child soldiers and slaves. There are actually more slaves today than there were during the Atlantic Slave Trade! He helps them recover through art therapy. He then takes their artwork and displays it around the world in galleries and cafés. The money he raises at these benefits goes directly towards the school and the village, and they use it to install fresh water wells for the village. Many of these children escape horrific wars and terrible conditions only to contract cholera or hepatitis from unclean drinking water. Meeting these amazing people helps me to breathe a little bit easier, and reminds me that there is so much hope and opportunity out there. Anyways there was my rant that has been running through my head the past nine days.

We were able to get a tour of the bridge (where the boat is operated), which was very cool. It was great to be right in front of the ship and see how everything works. The Captain even came up to talk to us and answer some questions. He is very nice and very funny. My favorite thing he said (when asked if he ever gets bored, and if he ever gets off the ship in port) was “well I’m the boss so I can do whatever I want….they say that absolute power corrupts, but I think absolute power is rather neat” (in a British accent). He is very funny and a firm supporter of the Semester at Sea program. I was also adopted! We have a program called extended families, where lifelong learners adopt students. I have a single mother. Her name is Evelyn, shes from Austria and has all sorts of interesting stories. My sister’s name in Emma and she just graduated high school, so this is her first college experience! Evelyn is so sweet she always calls my room to wish me luck on tests and we all get dinner together every now and then. It's a lot of fun!

And then there was Sea Olympics…. Each hall is considered a different “sea”. I am a part of the Mediterranean Sea, and every year since the very beginning of SAS, Sea Olympics has been held. It was incredibly fun. We had an opening ceremony, and every sea had to come up with a cheer or two and present their banner. The next day was all events. I don’t think I have ever laughed so hard. The events included synchronized swimming, hula hoop, crab soccer, wheelbarrow race, card stacking, and so so many more. Everyone was very spirited and EVERYONE was wearing their sea’s colors (GO GREEN!). All of the students represented seas around the world (i.e Red Sea, Yellow Sea, Baltic Sea, Bering Sea, etc), and then the lifelong learners (the older group on our voyage) were the Sea Salts, and the faculty and dependants were the Luna Sea (pun totally intended). Let me tell you, the Sea Salts’ synchronized swimming team was absolutely hilarious. Imagine four older guys in speedos, doing a very graceful routine to the Star Wars theme song. In fact there wasn't a single routine that didn’t have me on the floor laughing. I was very impressed. It was such a fun day, and at the end they announced the winners. The grand prize was getting off the ship first when we arrived in San Diego. We didn’t win, but you can be sure I had the time of my life.

Dean Dan was so impressed with how spirited we were (AKA extremely loud and competitive), he is having the Super Bowl streamed to the ship tomorrow night! Everyone is very excited, it should be a fun night! I’ll be watching the game with all of you…only I’ll be watching it from Africa! And just to put the cherry on top, he also told us last night at the “State of the Ship Address” that he wrote a letter to Bono, who will be in South Africa when we get there (yes I already have tickets to the U2 concert in Cape Town), asking him to come sail with us for a few days. When I asked about it he said….”yeah how do you write a letter like that? It took me forever! But I came up with…’Dear Bono, I am writing to you from the middle of the Atlantic Ocean’…that way he will have to keep reading!” Cross your fingers for us! We may be fortunate enough to have Desmond Tutu and Bono on the ship with us….talk about a double whammy! Work is going really well, we are planning out a really cool ball for the end of the voyage. I am slowly getting used to being in class on weekends, and then having a whole week off to, ya know, explore AFRICA! We also lose an hour about every other day…I am 10 hours ahead of Hawaii right now! So weird! Its mid afternoon here and no one Hawaii is even thinking about waking up yet! I also have a special Valentine this year…Hershey’s chocolate. The shipboard community is getting together to send “hate mail in a heart”. Not as mean as it sounds, but basically a couple of girls came up with the idea to send valentines to the big wigs of Hersheys to ask them to join the movement against child labor in cocoa plantations. A lot of us participated and Hersheys is definitely getting a lot of valentines this year!

I am very, very excited for Ghana, and everything to come, my friends are beyond amazing and my classes are eye opening! Still happy, still learning a lot, still missing you all…but WOW I love it here! =) More to come! Thank you all for reading! It means the world to me!

Short slideshow below =)

Some pictures from the boat