Tour of the Ship!

Here's the You Tube link for a tour of the MV Explorer done by yours truly:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SftCiBif550

Enjoy!!!

Finally...picures!

We made it home after a long day of traveling. It was great and strange to be back in the USA. Still processing and adjusting everything.

I finally have some pictures for everyone!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=137358&id=602112687&l=9d79f6041d
^ is the original album with a lot more.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=165203&id=602112687&l=fa7e2cffe6
^200 more!

Remember you don't need a Facebook to view!

The End

So it’s finally here: the end.  I can’t believe it.  Exams are over (I got all As, of course) and last evening we had the Alumni Ball, which was kind of a SAS prom.  The dessert buffet was the best.  I’m officially a Semester at Sea alum.  Hard to believe.  In my mind it still seems like yesterday I was just leaving the Philadelphia airport on a cold, January morning.  Now, in two days, I’ll be back at that airport, but now it’s spring.   My voyage around the world is over.

So, I literally sailed around the world.  From California, I went to Hawaii, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, India, Mauritius, South Africa, Ghana, Brazil, and now back home to the USA.  Three continents in about three months- scary.  Sitting out here on the deck looking at the ocean, it all seems surreal.  Did it ever really happen?  Where did the time go?  Of course, these are silly questions.  It did happen, but it all feels like a blur.  So, now I have to get used to the fact that I’ll be back in reality, not the suspended reality that I’ve been in.  Back to working, “real” school, driving, and all that good stuff.   Hopefully, it will be a smooth transition for me.  I think it will.

These past three and half months I think I’ve really grown as a person.  I no longer look at things in such a narrow view, rather I see things on a global perspective.  Reading CNN.com a few weeks ago there was an article about an earthquake in China.  As soon as I saw this my mind flashed to the streets of Shanghai and my time there.  In December it would have flashed to I have no idea.  Maybe a picture of China on the map.  Maybe the Great Wall.  Maybe nothing.  I don’t know.  I do know that I will be doing that for pretty much every country I’ve been to.  These countries are no longer just places on the map or in the news.  I have memories, and feelings associated with them.  To me, they are real.  I’ve been there, I’ve eaten the food, and met the people.   Now, I’ve only scratched the surface of the world, true, but all of this is a major start.  In January the only international destination I’d ever been to was Bermuda, if you can call it that.  So to sum all this rambling up: am I the same person that left on January 16?  No.  I’m a worldly, traveled individual, with a different perspective on a lot of things.   Take Obama for example.  Despite the fact that I don’t politically agree with a lot of stuff he’s done, I see him in a different light.  In both Ghana and Brazil our ship docked in ports where slave ships docked hundreds of years ago.  In these very same ports, African slaves have hundreds of atrocities committed against them and God knows how many other horrible things done.  Knowing about the slave trade is one thing, but knowing that you may be walking on the very same roads that slaves traveled on is very, very different.  In Ghana, also, I met and spent a great deal of time with a native Ghanaian.  He showed me around, helped us break the language barrier, and so much more.  If he’d been born a few hundred years ago, he’d have been a slave.  So to bring all this back to Obama, I really see what he means to the African people, and can relate because I was there.

Invariably, the question I will get asked by so many people when I’m back home will be: “Nick! What was your favorite country?”  The only answer I can think of for that is: “That doesn’t really put it into perspective.”  It’s not just about one country; it’s the knowledge that there’s a world out there.  So, the only people I think I’ll ever be truly able to relate all this with will be the people I sailed around the world with.  Not that we’re better then the average Joe, but we’ve experienced it all together, can understand, and will forever have that bond that one time we sailed around the world together. So, I hope I didn’t ramble too much and that makes a once of sense.  I think it does…

If you ever hear a college student talking about going abroad, recommend to them Semester at Sea.  I’m so glad I choose this over spending a semester in one country.  I’ll never, ever get to travel like this again.  If you ever come across $30,000 and want to do Semester at Sea, become a Lifelong Learner.  They’re older folks who are on the ship with all of us and can experience it.  It’s worth it. Trust me.  You also realize that traveling on a ship is the best way to travel.  There’s something special about sailing into a country, hearing the ship’s horn blow, docking, finally getting off and seeing the ship.  Way better then flying. 

We arrive in Ft. Lauderdale on Wednesday, and I can’t wait.  I can’t wait to be home, eat American food (cheesesteak anyone?), see my family and friends (Vino’s guys? Can’t wait!), drive, and just be back into my normal life again.  A good song that sums up how I’m feeling right now is “Last Days” by Sugar Ray.  It’s on You Tube if you want to hear it.   These last few days on the ship I’ve declared “cruise ship days.”  That means laying out reading, drinking smoothies, and just enjoying the ocean. 

So, first and foremost, I’d like to thank my parents.  Not only for paying for this voyage, but for letting me travel around the world and supporting my decision to do this.  I’m sure they were nervous at some points.  I don’t have kids, but I imagine knowing that one is going to all these crazy countries could make you bite your nails occasionally.  I love you, and will see you on Wednesday.  Secondly, I’d like to thank Dr. Nick Uliano Cabrini College’s Study Aboard director.  Without his advice and words of wisdom, I might not have decided to do this last summer.  And lastly, I’d like to thank so many people for reading this blog!  From the e-mails I’ve gotten and what my parents have told me a lot of people are!  I’m glad I could share this voyage with so many people.  I hope my writing and attempts at humor didn’t fail every time.   If you want, e-mail me: djd4598@mac.com.  Once I get back home, I’ll be practically living on the Internet, uploading pictures.  I’ll post the link to my Facebook album (you don’t need a Facebook to view them!) and I’ll also upload a tour of the ship, done by me, to You Tube. 

Now, I’m bracing now for some tearful goodbyes, happy reunions, and long day of traveling on Wednesday.   Think of the last day of a vacation (how you just want to be home) times a thousand.  Lots of luggage, lines and complicated customs procedures.  See everyone soon and again thanks for reading!  Check back for the pictures and video links!

The Rest of Salvdaor...

My last four days in Brazil were okay at best.  Unfortunately, I got some kind of food poisoning and was cooped up in bed for a day and a half.  Not the best way to spend time in port, but oh well.  I got through seven countries without having any type of stomach issues, despite constant warning from the ship’s doctor. 

On my second day I had a very interesting tour of three different schools in Brazil.  We went to a local community school, in a very rough neighborhood in Salvador.  This school survives off of $6,000 from a charity in Switzerland.  All of the teachers are volunteers and the school is mainly seen as a haven for kids in the neighborhood.  The kids put on a dance show for us and it was great!  The second school was a public one in a more middle-class neighborhood.  It was a high school and Brazil has a very interesting system regarding students and college.  All high school students are required to take a test, kind of like an SAT.  Riding on this SAT is a lot.  If the students get a certain mark, they are admitted to public university for free.  We learned a lot about more about the school system in Brazil and how the system is divided between Catholic schools and the public ones.  The last school we visited was another public high school in a more sinister neighborhood.  This school was actually founded as a project to educate Brazilians about their different heritages, Portuguese and African.

In the afternoon we went to a gorgeous beach.   We had a relaxing afternoon and evening on the beach, ending with a beautiful sunset.  We then got Aci, a berry concoction straight from the Amazon.  It was delicious, and best of all it’s one of the healthiest things you can eat.  It’s sold in the U.S., but it’s also very, very expensive.  I’ve seen it in health food stores.  We went back to the ship early, as we were all exhausted.

On Friday, I went to a nursery school for a visit.  All working mothers in the neighborhood the school’s located in (not the best one) can have their children stay here for free while they are at work.  We got to meet all of the kids, aged 6 months to 5, and then spent about two hours playing with them.  They were the cutest kids I’ve ever seen!  I know us being there meant the world to them and I was grateful to give my time. 

From Friday afternoon to Saturday evening I was sick.  I have no idea what I ate, but something didn’t agree with me.  Not the most interesting stuff to write about, but like I said, I consider myself lucky not to have gotten sick in any previous ports.   I know people on board who have been in multiple ones. 

Saturday evening was the first time I got off the ship and we went to dinner at a local pizzeria.  I was happy that my appetite had finally returned and dinner couldn’t have been more delicious.  Sunday, we spent our time walking around different parts of Salvador, and buying souvenirs.  It really is a gorgeous city and I wish I could have seen all it has to offer.  Hopefully, I’ll get back here one day. 

So, now we’re off to Florida and home.  I can’t believe it.  Seeing “Salvador to Ft. Lauderdale” on my room’s television screen is so strange.  I will write one final post about a bunch of different things- after I get through finals.  I am still in school here…

Salvador Day 1

We arrived in Salvador, Brazil on Wednesday, April 21 (two weeks from day we’ll be arriving in Florida…so crazy!) at 8 AM.  Customs didn’t take long at all and we were off the ship by 10 AM.  Our plans for the day were nothing but wandering around the city.

Salvador had a different feel from any city we’ve been to so far. I can’t put my finger on it, but it was very different.   There’s Lower Salvador and Upper Salvador, Upper is where we spent the majority of our day.  You have to take an elevator to get in between the two, which I think is pretty cool and very different. Several of my friends who’ve been to Europe say that it reminded them of European cities.  I’ve never been to Europe, but could easily see how correct they were; you can definitely tell that a European power controlled this country.  Everywhere there were cobblestone streets with little shops, cafes and multi-colored houses.   We spent a good deal of time going in and out of different shops and then got lunch at one of the cafes. 

I also can easily see why there’s such a problem with mudslides in Brazil.  While we were eating lunch, it POURED rain.  There was a good ten to fifteen minutes of nothing but a straight downpour.  It was crazy…I’ve never seen rain like it.  It was actually very cozy sitting in a café drinking hot, Brazilian coffee (very good but I can’t wait for my cup of Wawa Joe when I get back home) watching the rain pour.  Lunch turned into an hour and a half affair due to the rain.  

When the rain finally ended, we got on with our day.  We went into a Catholic church, St. Francis, for a tour.    This was the most beautiful church I’ve ever seen.  The statues, paintings, Crucifixes- everything was so ornate and detailed.  I could not get over it.  No church I’ve even been into at home even comes close to what this one was like.  It also was huge.  They had whole rooms devoted to the Stations of the Cross, different Brazilian or Portuguese Saints, and the Blessed Mother.  In addition to the main church, there were two very large chapels.  I was in total awe of everything.   

After touring the church, we got lucky.  They were filming a music video for the World Cup on one of the streets we wandered onto.   This video will introduce Brazil when the world cup rolls around.  So we all got to be in the music video for the World Cup (which hopefully will appear on YouTube) and got interviewed for a local news station.  Well, I didn’t get interviewed but some of the other SASers in the group did and they were going to show footage of all of us, in the video, on TV that night.  So, while I was at dinner, Salvador residents were seeing my mug on TV. 

That night we went to a local place for dinner right on the beach.  The restaurant was a little pricey, but the atmosphere was awesome.  I got Portuguese pizza, and it was the best pizza I’ve ever had.  There’s something very different about the crust/dough.  It was delicious. 

Sadly, the only thing about Salvador I didn’t like was how venerable I felt at different points during the day.  The city is known for frequent muggings and petty theft.   We hadn’t been in Brazil for four hours and we heard stories that fellow SASers had been mugged.  I know we all stick out like sore thumbs, but still that was quick.  At several points I just felt unsafe and decided not to go into certain streets for fear of getting mugged.  I definitely think this is the port where I need to be the most careful.  At least it’s the last one and I didn’t feel this way anywhere else.  Not too bad. 

So aside from the muggings, I’m looking forward to spending the next four days in South America (my third continent!).  I have two service visits to different schools in Salvador and then I have no idea.  Everyone who I’ll be spending the time with is low on cash.  So we’re going to see how much we can do in Salvador with spending the least amount of money!

Last Destination...

We arrive in Salvador, Brazil tomorrow.  I was planning on going to Rio, but my bank account told me otherwise.   So, I’ll be spending five days in Salvador.  One of the inter port students on the ship told me Salvador is a much better place to see what Brazil is like.  It’s not as touristy and very authentic. I’m excited.  I have two service visits to schools planned and I’m looking forward to them.

The last five days have been nothing but schoolwork.  Everyone on the ship is pretty much just doing homework, getting those last assignments done.  I was proud of myself and got done what needed to be done.  I still have two exams to prepare for after Brazil, which aren’t going to be so much fun.  So the last stop of my journey begins tomorrow!  It’s going to be great! 

The Rest of Ghana

My second day in Ghana was one I’d been looking forward to for a while.  I visited the Morning Star School, a private school in Ghana.  It’s a religious, K-9 school with just about 1100 students.  Unfortunately, only the ninth graders were in that day.  The rest of the student body was on vacation.  The ninth graders were in to prepare for a government test that will determine if they go to high school or not.  It’s different in Ghana.  In 9th grade, all the students take a standardized test and then depending on how they do on this test, they will be gain admission to a high school, which is 10-12.  So there’s a lot of pressure to do well.  We spent a good three hours with the school’s headmistress and she told us pretty much anything we wanted to know.   The school reminded me A LOT of a Catholic grade school.  Religious paintings all around, prayers in the classroom, and I dunno it just did.  There also was a poster in the library that said: “Shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”  This poster was in my 7th grade classroom and half the people on the trip said they’d had this exact poster in one of their grade school classrooms. 

I had a chance to have a conversation with several of the ninth graders there and they just reminded me of me when I was in eighth grade.  They told me they loved it because they were the “kings of the school.”  They also were nervous about going to high school the next year and would be parting with students they’d known since Kindergarten.  I felt the exact same way in eighth grade.  King of the school, nervous about high school, and sad about parting ways with the St. Philip Neri Class of 2004, most of the whom I’d been with since Kindergarten.  Funny that Western Africa reminds me of this.

The headmistress took us on a tour and answered our questions.  One thing that is very different from private schools in the U.S. is that Ghanaian private schools get no funding from the government whatsoever.  They are completely dependent on the tuition.   Private schools, however, are the top rated schools in the country.  The headmistress said: “No public school comes close.”  I’d like to think she wouldn’t be lying (especially since the school is a religious one) and from some of the things she was telling is it would make sense.  Very interesting stuff.  The headmistress also told me she’d love for my future students (I’m an education major) to be pen pals with one of her classes.  That’s going to look good on my résumé one day. 

After the school visit, I returned to the ship and then was headed out for the evening.  We were fortunate to meet a Ghanaian named Nii (pronounced “knee”) on the first day and Nii was no ordinary Ghanaian.  He has a bit of a history with SAS.  In between every port we’ve had an inter port student.  A college student from a university in the next country we’re visiting sails with us from one port to the next.  This student will talk in lectures, answer our questions about the country, gives us good things to do, and stuff like this.  Nii was the Ghanaian inter port student from the Fall 2009 SAS voyage.  He ran into us on the street and told us and we couldn’t believe that we’d run into him.  He sailed with the MV Explorer from Casablanca to Accra last time she went around the world. 

Anyways, Nii wanted to help us SASers out again.  He had taken my friends all around Accra while I was visiting the school and was hanging out with us again at night.  He drove us to the resort we were heading to, Big Millys.  It was a forty-five minute drive from Accra and on the coast.  It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, but it was a great time.  It basically was a village hotel.  We had a great night there and Nii spent the night with us.  He was fun to talk to and I just couldn’t believe that he was going out of his way to help us so much.  We’d only met him about 24 hours before. 

The next day Nii arranged for us to have a Ghanaian style brunch, again going out of his way to help us.  The food was very spicy, but good and ultra fresh.  I think they may have killed the chickens and caught the fish that morning.  Afterwards, Nii took us to some secluded beach areas and I got a chance to swim in the Atlantic Ocean.  I still can’t believe it was the Atlantic.  This is the ocean I swim in every summer and have hundred of memories because of, but this time it was the other side.  I don’t know if it’s a feeling I can describe with words.  I felt at home in it and swimming today was unlike any of the other swimming I’ve done on this trip.   This probably makes no sense at all, and like I said above words just can’t describe it. 
So, it was a great evening and day getting to know Nii.  He had really interesting things to say and I really learned a lot about Ghanaian people from him.  I still CAN NOT get over how hospitable he was to us.  Hopefully, I can be the same way to a tourist in Philadelphia one day. 

Another interesting thing happened when I was traveling with Nii.  One the way to Big Millys, he took us to an off the beaten track restaurant.  It was a little joint run by a family.  The woman who served us and cooked our food had on a very interesting t-shirt.  It was a Catholic school’s basketball jersey.  It had the name on the school and a bunch of sponsors on the back- the exact same kind I used to wear in grade school.  The funny thing is I remember donating these old jerseys and seeing people donate jerseys exactly like them at church!   You’d always hear they went to African nations and I saw with my own eyes that they really do!  The lady told us jerseys like these come in every so often from U.S. Catholic organizations and are sold at a used clothing store for what would amount to $.25.   Nii said the region we were in relies on clothes like these because it’s the only kind the sellers can afford.  It was just so crazy and strange to see. 

Nii took us back to Accra and we headed back to the ship.  It was sad to say goodbye to him (we couldn’t see him the next day because he had classes) and I have his contact information so we can keep in touch. I spent the evening on the ship, as I was completely exhausted.  The heat, 3 hours or so of sleep the night before, and swimming drained me. 
The next day I didn’t do too much.  I headed into Accra and got some souvenirs, including an awesome African shirt, and spent a few more hours walking around the city.

Ghana was a different country.  The people here are very laid back, and very welcoming to Americans, which was so nice.  However, I didn’t really like the fact that it was so hot.  I can deal with the heat, but imagine walking around a big city where there’s running sewage everywhere, and it’s 100 degrees out.  Not the best smell in the world.   Also, a hidden price developing nations like Ghana are paying is traffic.   If you think traffic is bad in the United States, it’s ten times worse here.  The roads are terrible because there’s just a lack of basic road infrastructure.  Nii was going all over the place to get on to the highway.  There were very few labeled entrances and exits.  You just drove on a dirt road until and went into traffic.  Imagine 100 cars doing this at a time and then imagine the traffic problems that would create.   We spent a lot of time sitting in traffic.   

So, now we’re crossing the Atlantic Ocean and off to Brazil, our last port of call.  I cannot believe there’s just 21 days left on this voyage.  I have no idea where the time went.  Hawaii and Japan seem like another lifetime ago.

Western Africa!

We arrived in Ghana at around 8 AM on Sunday, April 11.   Clearing the ship didn’t take too long and we were off of it by 11 AM.  It was like being back in India.  Our ship’s position- according to the TV in my room- is 00 Degrees or right on the Equator!!!   You can imagine how hot and humid it is…it’s completely draining!

Accra is about forty-five minutes away and luckily the ship has a shuttle service for us.  Where the ship is berthed is simply a harbor.  Nothing exciting.  We were spoiled by the harbors in Cape Town and Port Louis.  So, after several hours of waiting inside the ship we finally got on a shuttle and were in downtown Accra.  Walking around was fun and we didn’t go anywhere too special.  We hit a few markets and a nice place for ice cream.  The heat really is just unbearable and it isn’t the cleanest place.  It’s not India dirty, and the poverty isn’t as bad, but it comes very close.  Sewage running in the streets and trash is everywhere.  You also can see just how much “developing” this developing nation is doing.   It seems to be in a transition period.  Construction, billboards, and many other signs like this all spell out development.  I bet if I come back here in ten years Accra will be a very different city. 

For dinner we went to an interesting place called, ChurCheese.   It was a lot like Chuck E Cheese (I think that’s the spelling) back home.  It had a play area out front for kids and then an arcade inside.  Yes, a bunch of twenty-year olds really went here.  The dinner was good; I had pizza.  Ghanaian food is very, very spicy and I’m not too keen on that. 

The first thing I noticed about Ghanaian people is how friendly and pro-America they are!   One guy came up to us and just started talking to us.  He weaves bracelets and made one for all of us for free.  He just wanted to practice his English.  He told us about all of his friends in America, more likely tourists he’s met.  He really wants to go to the U.S., but he has the same problem many other people who I’ve encountered on this trip have: he can’t get a visa.  We spent about 2 hours talking and walking around with him.   As we were walking around a lot of other locals just came up and started talking to us.  They all just asked questions about America and they are especially interested on hearing about President Obama.  “He came to Ghana!” At least ten people told me today.

During the 2008 election there was a campaign poster for Obama that pictured his face and the word “Hope.” I’m sure you’ve seen it.  Here you really see just how much the word “hope” means.  Ghana was the central loading station during the slave trade.  A few hours down the coast are slave dungeons and you can go to ports where the slaves were loaded for their journey to the Americas.  These nice, friendly people that I met and spent a good part of my day with would have been slaves a few hundred years ago.  The fact that the United States of America, the only superpower in the world, now has a black president (after a long history of putting down black people) truly is a source of hope for the people of Ghana, and something they should be proud of.

Tomorrow I’m off to a Ghanaian school and I’m very, very, very excited to see another foreign school.  Then we’re going to Big Milly’s, a resort.  It has beaches, sun and fun.  Something like that.  The beaches here are supposedly gorgeous and I’m excited to swim in my old friend, the Atlantic Ocean.   It’s also going to be a very cheap few days.  A taxi ride anywhere in the city costs 5 cedis, which is about $3.  We booked a suite at this resort and it’s costing everyone less then $10 for the night. 

Journey to Western Africa

We ended up leaving Cape Town about 24 hours later then we were supposed to due to high winds.  So we’ve pretty much sped the entire way to Ghana.  Luckily the Atlantic has been pretty calm so we didn’t experience any problems. 

Everyone is trying to get all their class work done (I mean we are in school right?) as the deadlines for everything are fast approaching.  No one wants to talk about the fact that we just have twenty-five days until we are in Florida. 

One evening during the trip to Ghana, we had a fancy dinner on the ship to celebrate a bunch of people’s birthday.  This is when the ship truly felt like a cruise ship.  Everything was fancy.  The silverware, glasses, dishes, and the food was delicious!  I knew there was really good food on the ship somewhere.  It was a five-course meal, for just about $5 a course, which isn’t too bad at all. 

So tomorrow we dock in Ghana.  I’m going to a Ghanaian school, which I’m very excited about, and the rest of the days I don’t have any really organized plans.  We are, however, going to a hotel about an hour from Accra, the capital, where the best suite in the hotel is just about $60 a night.  Divide that by 8 and it’s under $10 a person.  There’s beaches and bunch of other awesome things close to this hotel, which should be pretty awesome.  Seeing that where we’ll be in Ghana is few degrees north of the Equator, the beach seems like an awesome idea!   

The Rest of Capt Town...

The rest of my time in Cape Town went so quick I can’t believe it’s already over.  On Thursday we hiked Table Mountain, which is the mountain that overlooks the city.  It was like climbing a giant Stairmaster. If you can, Google “Table Mountain” and you’ll see what I mean.  It’s literally a straight climb up to the top.  At various points, I felt like I couldn’t go any further. We stopped a bunch of times to get our breath back.  We made it to the top in about two and a half hours.  It was an awesome feeling getting to the top after such a rigorous climb.  Looking over the city was a great reward as the views of Cape Town from the top were unreal.    The ocean, also, seemed to stretch forever from the top and it looked like you could see Antarctica, but I doubt it.  I got some awesome pictures.  We had a much-needed lunch at the top at the restaurant that’s up there and then took a cable car down (thank God). 

That evening we hit the nightlife of Cape Town.  The main street that all the clubs and bars are on is called Long Street.  We went to an Irish pub for a few drinks and then went to another club in a different area of the city.  The club we tried to get into was called “Tiger, Tiger.”  We were denied entry because of our shoes.   I had on polo, jeans, and sneakers.   The dress code is based off of your footwear, which is very odd.  We ended up going to another club, and we met some South Africans there.  It was a fun night out on the town.

The following day, Friday, I had a trip scheduled to the famous wine lands of South Africa.  We drove through them and stopped in the town of Stellenbosch.  It had dozens of little shops, cafes, and restaurants along the main road.  It was also set perfectly behind mountains, which really added to the atmosphere of the town.   We walked around for a bit, but a lot was closed because it was Good Friday.   We then got to cycle through the town and wine country.   It was a great twelve-mile bike ride through the town and the wine lands.  They were absolutely gorgeous!   It was so scenic and probably the best bike ride I’ve ever taken.  My usual route through Wissahickon Valley Park in Philadelphia has nothing on it.   We ended up at the Solms Delta Estate, a local winery.  We had a nice lunch and wine tasting.  I’m not really a big wine fan, but these were really good.

As soon as we got back to the ship we went to Lion’s Head Mountain, another mountain overlooking Cape Town.  We didn’t hike all the way up it, but just high enough to see the sunset.  It was an amazing sunset, and again the views of Cape Town and the ocean were unreal. 

That evening we went out for dinner with my friend’s friend who lives in South Africa and is studying here.  I got the chance to have an interesting conversation with her boyfriend (I couldn’t spell his name if my life depended on it), who is a native of South Africa.   He had some really interesting things to say about life in South Africa as a black now that apartheid is over.   He said he still feels a lot of racism towards him and that it still is very much present throughout the country.  He was eleven when it formally ended and during his youth he never would have been allowed in a restaurant such as the one we were eating in.  He did say that he thinks the country is on the right track to fully accepting and tolerating everyone, but like anything, it will just take time.    It was really cool to spend as much time as we did with them because they really were able to give us a neat look into what life in Cape Town is like. 

The next day we took a drive out to Cape Point, where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet.  The drive was long but we had a really nice taxi driver named Adiel.  I’m butchering the spelling.    He was a really chatty guy and he had some really fascinating things to say about religion, life in South Africa, and the economic downturn.  I gave him my e-mail address so hopefully we’ll stay in contact.  Before we stopped at Cape Point, we stopped at Boulder Beach, it’s called Boulder Beach because the entire beach is basically a series of boulders right on the water.  It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to swim here but we saw penguins!  There were hundreds of them roaming the beach.    I was able to get inches away from them, but I didn’t think petting them would be the best idea.  When you got this close, they just stared at you and twisted their heads in a funny way.  They didn’t run or seem to mind that we were invading their homes.   They were so cute and I really wanted to take one back to the ship with me. 

After the beach we headed to Cape Point.  It was an amazing drive up the coast towards the point.  It was a thirty-minute walk (up hill) up to the actual point.  The view was amazing.  You could literally tell you were looking at two oceans at once.    The Indian Ocean was to my left, calm and peaceful, and to the right was the wavy, and rough looking ATLANTIC OCEAN!!!  It was truly a shocking sight.  I couldn’t believe I was looking at the only ocean in the world I was familiar with before January 17.   Home isn’t too far off.  Actually, New York City, was about 12,500 kilometers away from Cape Point.  (There was a sign at the top.)  So Philadelphia’s even closer.   Cape Point was amazing and reading all of the history inside of it was also fun.  Supposedly, the Flying Dutchman haunts the waters off of Cape Point, hundreds of sailors have claimed to see this ghost ship.  Maybe I’ll see it.   There was also a lot of interesting WWII history surrounding Cape Point.   Watchtowers were at different points on the bluffs overlooking the ocean; used to keep and eye out for German ships.  

After Cape Point, we went to the Cape of Good Hope.  The Cape of Good Hope is the southwestern most point on the continent of Africa.   It was pretty cool and there were baboons everywhere.  They roam around the Cape Point National Park (where all of this stuff is) and there were “Danger! Wild Baboons!” signs everywhere.    We parked to take pictures of them and a baboon actually ran right next to another parked car, reached in the open door, and stole a bag of chips.   We watched the entire thing happen, from the safety of our car, and the looks on people’s faces when the baboon reached inside were priceless.  The baboon (it was a female with a baby on the back) then went up the hill and enjoyed the bag of chips.  Truly priceless.  We also saw ostriches wandering around everywhere. 

We then headed to Simon’s Town, a few miles away from Cape Point.  We had a delicious seafood lunch here and then walked around the little town.  This town was awesome.  It reminded me of Sea Isle City, New Jersey.  Walking up and down the main street was just like walking up and down Sea Isle’s Promenade.

We then headed back to the ship to relax for a bit before heading out again.  We went out to Cape Town’s casino, where I won over $500 playing poker.  Okay, just kidding about that.  I did win 100 Rand playing poker, which is roughly about  $15.  Pretty good if you ask me.   The casino was awesome and was just like ones in Atlantic City.  I realized while I was there it’s going to be weird being back home (in a month!) and not being able to legally go to places like casinos and bars. 

The next morning, Easter Sunday, we went to church.  We accidently went to an Anglican church (it’s Easter, and I say you get credit for just trying, especially when you’re in Cape Town), which is kind of funny if you ask me.  I thought we were going to Cape Town’s Catholic Cathedral, the Cathedral of the Flight into Egypt (as I discovered later in the day), but we ended up at the Cathedral of St. George the Martyr, the Anglican one.  I was a little mad it wasn’t a Catholic Church (I really want to get to a mass abroad), but the mass was so similar to a Catholic Mass that if I really couldn’t tell the difference.  The cathedral and the service as well, were both beautiful.  I am going to make a serious effort to get to a Catholic Mass in either Ghana or Brazil.   I spent my last few hours in Cape Town shopping for more much-needed souvenirs at the waterfront right by the ship. 

I LOVED Cape Town.  It’s a little gem at the bottom of Africa.  I had no idea what to expect from this city, and I genuinely fell in love with the city.  The temperature, at the moment, was perfect.  It was like late September, early October weather (in Philadelphia) and was a great break from the constant summer we’ve been in.  There’s also so much to do here.  We were only here for five days, and I didn’t do everything the city had to offer.  I think we could have been her for two weeks and still not have done it all.  

So now we only have two more ports of call and my trip around the world is rapidly coming to an end.  Professors are talking about finals and I’m e-mailing my parents about May 5.  Nuts.   We did get a little extra time to look at Cape Town though.  The ship was supposed to set out at 8 PM on Sunday, but because of high winds the port was closed.  Hopefully by morning we will be back at sea and headed to Ghana. 

Happy Easter to my family!  It was strange not being home to celebrate it with you!  Love you and see you in a month!

South Africa!!

We arrived on the actual continent of Africa (Mauritius was an island so it doesn’t count ;) )  around 8 AM on Wednesday, March 31 (how did we get here?) and the water coming in was so rocky.   They warned us ahead of time but my wake up call this morning was the ship rocking violently back and forth.   It took Customs about an hour to clear the ship and we were off and walking around by 10 AM. 

The area where the ship is berthed is beautiful.  It’s basically a touristy waterfront.  The ship is in front of a gorgeous looking hotel and there’s a mall, restaurants, shops and so much else right outside of the ship.  It’s really, really nice to have because Cape Town basically shuts down after 5 PM (after business hours) and most people head home.  The waterfront is pretty much a bustling area of activity anytime of day.  We walked around just exploring the area.  It reminded me of the waterfronts in Port Louis, Mauritius and Hong Kong.  It also reminded me of Cape May, New Jersey.  I think it’s funny because I thought of Port Louis and Hong Kong first and then Cape May as an afterthought.  Never thought I’d do that.   
We got lunch at a delicious diner.  Yep, a good old-fashioned diner.  I had a cheeseburger, fries, and a milkshake.  It was the best meal I’ve had in a while.    After lunch we made a stop at a grocery store.  The grocery store smelled exactly like Acme and I thought I was at home for a minute. 

Our next stop for the day was a tour of Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was once a prisoner. It was a scenic thirty-minute ferry ride from the dock to the island and I got some great pictures of Cape Town on the ride.    The island, oddly enough, was beautiful.   What once was there isn’t so beautiful.  The buildings there are all remnants of the political prison, during the apartheid years, that was there.  Our tour guide, once an anti-apartheid activist, also had been a prisoner there.   His descriptions of life on the island were horrifying.  The cells were 6 feet by 4 feet, with a pot and five blankets which was your bed.  Your meals depended on whether you were black, colored (in South Africa a colored person, even today, is a person with both white and black heritage), or Muslim.  A menu was still standing- can’t imagaine how they survived off of it   The prisoners were all forced to mine limestone, daily, and many of them (including Mandela) have eyesight problems because of the glare.  We also saw Mandela’s cell.  We had a few classes on apartheid and its consequences on South Africa; standing in the cells and just walking around the jail was very eerie.   It was so strange to think that Mandela himself once was here and so much of South Africa’s modern history is inside of that building. 

On a more cheery note, we saw penguins!  Troops of them randomly would be walking around parts of the island and we saw once which was definitely lost.   At least a dozen seals were also swimming in the harbor next to our ship! 

For dinner we went to a traditional South African restaurant with my friend’s friend who lives here in Cape Town.  There were two men playing African drums in the restaurant and they played the neatest versions of some American songs.   The menu was all over the place and I settled on an interesting chicken dish.  It was good, but very, very rich and filling.   I also had the most delicious calamari appetizer.  

I really enjoyed my first day in Cape Town.  It reminds me of any big city in the US, except with Table Mountain (I’m hiking up it tomorrow) behind it.   There’s lots of traffic (they drive on the wrong side though!), skyscrapers, malls, gangs (unfortunately), and it’s just a very, modern city.  Another plus is that the water here is 100% okay to drink.  This is such a HUGE relief!  Like I said in one of my India posts, I will never, ever look at a glass of water the same way again.

Madagascar and More Rough Weather...

Just two more days of sailing until we reach South Africa!  The waves are crazy again and I’d forgotten what rough seas were like.  I kind of like it because when it’s too calm you forget you’re at sea.    Apparently, rounding the Cape of Good Hope is where hundreds of ships have met their doom while sailing.   I guess the Indian and Atlantic Oceans don’t like each other too much.  A few days ago you could make out the coastline of Madagascar and then tonight the coastline of South Africa became visible.  Pretty neat stuff. 
We’re staying close to the shore because the seas are so bad the farther away from land you go.    

We’ve been planning South Africa and it already seems like it’s going to be a whirlwind of activity:  Robben Island, Table Mountain, Cape Peninsula, wine tasting, winelands, and hopefully to a church on Easter Sunday.  

Also, happy birthday to me!  I turned the big 2-0 on March 27. My friends and I had a nice dinner on the ship and are going to celebrate it again in Cape Town!  Thanks for all the Facebook messages and e-mails everyone! 

La Isla Bonita

I’d never heard of the country of Mauritius until I saw the SAS itinerary about a year ago.  This island is absolutely incredible!  It is total paradise.  Those really are the only words I have to describe it.   Even though we were only here for thirty-six hours, I was fortunate enough to see two very distinct sides of this little republic in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

We docked in Port Louis, Mauritius a little after 8 AM on Tuesday, March 23.  Customs were no problem and people were happy to get off the ship.   We walked about a mile from the port to the center of town.  It reminded me a lot of Hong Kong, mainly because waterfront was the most prominent area of town.  Shops, bars and cafes dotted the waterfront area.   We walked around the town and got a delicious lunch at an English Pub.  There were a lot of cultures here on the island- African, Indian, and French.   Mauritius has influences from all over since the island is basically a colonial melting pot.   Because of its location, it was a hot spot for the colonial powers.   Most if the influence is French, who controlled it for a long time, but the British always wanted it (and controlled it at some points) because of its closeness to India.  

That afternoon I got to see another side of Mauritius: I went to an SOS Orphanage Village outside of Port Louis.  It was a good drive from where the ship was and the country definitely changes once you get out of the city proper.  The neighborhoods we drove through looked pretty rough.  The orphanage was at the base of these gorgeous (and humongous) mountains.  SOS (we couldn’t figure out what it stood for) is a group that had orphanages all over the world.   There are around ten houses where roughly eight kids live inside the “village.”  There is one “mother” in each house who takes care of the children and basically raises them.  The house I went to had kids from five years old to twelve in it.   Most of the children are there because their parents are addicts or were victims of domestic violence.    We had a really interesting conversation with one of the mothers.  She just wanted to work there because she loved children.  She was in her mid-twenties, loved her job, had no plans to leave, and was embarrassed that her English wasn’t that great.  She was one of the nicest women I’ve ever met.  After our chat with the mother, we went outside and just played with the kids.  I’ve worked with a lot of kids over the past few years, but I’ve never seen kids like these orphans.  One boy, who was about eight, and whose name I have no idea how to pronounce, just sat next to me and took my arm and put it around him.  All he wanted was for me to give him a hug.  He loved my camera and wanted a piggyback ride the entire time.   We played soccer, duck-duck goose, and other games with these kids for about an hour.  My friend (the little boy) kept saying to me: “stay here mister, don’t go.”  It was really hard to say goodbye and some of the kids actually got on the bus and tried to get us to come back and stay with them longer.  The good thing is that SAS visits this orphanage almost every voyage.   This also shows that no matter how beautiful a place is problems still exist.

After the orphanage we regrouped at the ship and then went out for a nice dinner at a great seafood place on the waterfront.   We walked around the town, and it reminded me of another place I’d been.  A few years ago my family cruised to Bermuda and Port Louis, at night, reminded me of Hamilton, Bermuda.  We also went to a really cool bar that overlooked the waterfront and saw some of the ship’s crew there.  It was neat to see them outside of their jobs on the ship. 

The next day, Wednesday, was really what gives my definition of paradise to Mauritius.  My friend booked a catamaran for fifteen of us in Grant Bay, which was about twenty-five kilometers away from Port Louis.  The catamaran left from the bay and it was about an hour ride out in the open ocean to another island.   This island was pure heaven.  I thought the beaches in Hawaii were nice but this one was ten times nicer.  The sand was white and the water was crystal clear. We got to snorkel and see all kids of fish (including eels) and then lay out.  The sand felt like mud beneath your feet and it wasn’t unbearably hot.  The water temperature was also perfect.   We had a delicious BBQ lunch provided by the friendly staff of the island.  The island and beaches literally “looked like a screensaver” to use a quote from a movie. It’s a beach you’d see in a magazine, on television, just not it real, everyday life!   It was an amazing afternoon and then the catamaran headed back to the bay, but first stopped in front of Gunner’s Quoin to let us off so we could do some more swimming.  Gunner’s Quoin is a HUGE bluff/ island that overlooks the ocean.   It was really nice to be out in the open water swimming.  I realized how much I miss swimming and am looking forward to taking a nice long swim when I get home.   I also realized that I’ve now swum in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans! 

I mentioned that Mauritius has a long history of colonial occupation.  As we were sailing on the catamaran, I thought of how what it would have been like to have sailed here back in the 1700s when the world was unknown.  Unimaginable.  The bluffs and islands in the area of the ocean were amazing and it would have been so much fun to have had more time and just explore them like the old sailors did.

The only negative thing about Mauritius is that things cost exactly the same as they do in America, because the island’s economy is based on tourism.  I’d figured this when I saw the pictures from Google Images and just reading up a little on the island.  There was a cruise ship docked behind us from South Africa.  I actually met several of its passengers in the post office and they told me some great to things to do in South Africa, which I’ll be in a five days!    A taxi driver also told me that ships from all over Europe dock in Mauritius, with the Queen Mary II, one of largest ships in the world, docking there just this past Saturday. 

Prices aside, I could have stayed on this little island for another few days, months, or maybe even a year.  It really is paradise.  Mark Twain once said: “You gather the idea that Mauritius was made first, and then heaven, and that heaven was copied off Mauritius.”  I think he’s dead on.  The Madonna song, La Isla Bonita, also matches the description of this island perfectly.

So now we’re off to South Africa.   We’ll be rounding the Cape of Good Hope and into the Atlantic Ocean, for the last leg of my journey.  Crazy.

The Southern Hemisphere!

We officially crossed the equator at around 4 AM on March 18.  I was up for it and there really is a big line going across the Earth.  Just kidding. There’s no line and I wasn’t even up for it…no one knew about it until the morning when we saw the ship’s position.   Kind of disappointing.  But it was very exciting to know I was in the Southern Hemisphere and that I’ve officially been in all four hemispheres.   
       
The water, also, looks a lot different for some reason.  I can’t put my finger on it but there’s something different about it, as well as the sky.  The sunsets the past few evenings have been absolutely gorgeous.    The water temperature is also hovering around 86 degrees Fahrenheit and it’s been around 90-100 daily.  I wish we could just stop the ship for a few hours and all jump in and swim around!  I don’t know if that would be such a good idea, because I have a feeling these are shark-infested waters.   So far I haven’t seen any sharks, but I have seen dolphins, sea snakes, whales, and flying fish.  There’s a lot more sea life around here then there has been on any other leg of the trip.  Pretty exciting. 

We only have a few more days until we get to Mauritius and everyone’s excited to just get to the beaches and relax!

Delhi, Agra, the Taj Mahal, Jaipur/Goodbye Asia

I left for the trip I was probably most excited for on SAS on Friday, March 12.  We had to be up by 4 AM for our flight to Delhi.   The flight was pretty standard, just like flying in the U.S., but the airport was a lot different.  We got off the plane and we were in the middle of the runway.  There was no terminal there to walk out onto.  We had to take a shuttle from the plane to the actual airport.   We then met up with our tour guide and headed for a much needed breakfast. 

The first thing I noticed while driving through Delhi was how the city contrasted itself.  There were slums, homeless people, and then a beautiful office or apartment building.  It was just strange.    Our first stop were the remains of a Mughal fort.  It was an enclosed structure with a tower, and mosque.   Just like when I was in Japan and China, you could just feel the history radiating off of the building.  They are hundreds and hundreds of years old and the awesomeness of them is amazing. 
We then proceeded to Humayn’s Tomb.  This is a tomb built in the same style of the Taj Mahal and was an excellent prelude to it.  The buildings were in the same style and the gardens leading up to it were beautiful.   There were a lot of Indian tourists as well as Westerners. 

Finally we then got to the hotel, the Shangri-La.  It was a five-star hotel in the middle of Delhi.  SAS trips really put you up in some nice places and you get your money’s worth.  This hotel also shows how much contrast is in India.  You had a five star hotel and only a few yards away were homeless people.  You feel guilty staying in such a nice place, eating as much food as you like at the buffet, and then there are starving people visible.   Still, I enjoyed myself while there and the buffet had lots of American food and I realized how much I missed it.   I got to bed early as we had another early wake up call the following day. 

We were up again at 4 AM and had to catch a train to Agra, where the Taj Mahal is located.  Getting into the train station was an adventure; poor and homeless people wanting money or food mauled us until we got on the train.   The train ride was okay, only because we were in air-conditioned first class seats.   Second class had open windows and they looked like mini villages.  There were tons of people inside and at every stop there were security guards getting people off of the second-class cars.  The ride there was interesting.  We passed through a lot of countryside, and saw a lot of different things.  People were “squatting” everywhere relieving themselves, as anywhere is a bathroom in the Indian countryside.  I’ve also never seen so much trash piled up everywhere.   We arrived in Agra a little after 8 AM and had a breakfast at another five-star, gated hotel in Agra.  The breakfast was excellent, but you again felt guilty after seeing such poverty and homelessness coming into the city.    From the top floor of this hotel you could see the Taj and it was a great way to warm up for it.

After breakfast we finally headed to the Taj.  We got there and were again mauled by street hawkers and homeless people.  Our tour guide (a bit of a character) just had us cut in line so our group could stay together.  He just did it and didn’t seem to think anything of it.  We cut in front of Indians, and if the situation were reversed (Indians cutting in front of Americans in the U.S.) I don’t think it would have gone down so well with the Americans in line.     Those we cut in front of didn’t seem to care and were probably thinking “arrogant Americans.”

After we got past security we all headed straight for the monument itself.   When I was actually staring at it I had to pinch myself to make sure if was really happening!  I mean this wasn’t a picture online or on a postcard…this was the real thing!  It’s just there, adorned in splendor in the sun, staring at you.  The water in front of it makes it look even more perfect and it truly is one of the wonders of this world.  Staring at it is an awesome sight and there really are no words to describe it. 

We took pictures with the help of the gardeners there and then walked around the building.  It was neat to walk inside but a bit of a let down.  Inside isn’t that great; just a bunch of empty rooms with a tomb in the middle.  The building from the outside is a much better view.  I took plenty of great pictures I will upload them all…hopefully in Mauritius. 

We left the Taj and headed to the Red Fort of Agra.  It literally is read and was a pretty awesome fort.  It was used by the Mughals and again by the British when the occupied the country.  After the Red Fort, we went to a marble factory.  The same marble that was there was used to build the Taj Mahal.  I would have loved to buy some of it, but it was over $100 for almost everything in the place.  And it’s worth it.  Some of the tables and bigger pieces take eight years to build.  Definitely a fine art. 

After the marble factory, we had lunch at the same hotel as breakfast and then headed on a five-hour bus ride to the city of Jaipur.    The bus ride was interesting and we again were able to see a lot of the countryside in India.   We also stopped at the Abandoned City on the way there.   The city was build as a home for a Mughal emperor, but he moved to Agra when he discovered that the water there wasn’t drinkable.  Speaking of water, there was a pool in the middle of the city and the water was green.  I mean really green and it looked toxic.  This Indian boy did a dive in for us and we were all shocked.  I mean this water was the most disgusting water I’ve ever seen in my life.  He thought nothing of it and just smiled and wanted a tip from us.  

We then continued on our drive and it was getting dark by then and most people just napped or listened to music.  Traffic on the streets of India is crazy…nothing compared to Vietnam.  There are auto-rickshaws (the most fun way to travel), cars, motorcycles, and animals.  Dogs, cows, camels, and pigs just roam the streets and people look out for them.   I have no idea how the driver made it three days without hitting anything.  It definitely is a skill.  

We stayed at another five-star hotel in Jaipur, the Ramada.  It was nice and even nicer to get to sleep after such a long day of traveling.   The next day was total surprise to me.  We rode elephants!!!  It had been on the itinerary and I remembered reading it when the guide told us what we were doing, but it was a surprise.  We rode them up a hillside where there was yet another Mughal fort.   They were awesome animals and it was so cool to actually ride them.   The only negative thing was the smell.  Not that pleasant.  I also got a lot of cool pictures with the guys playing music with the cobra snakes.   After that we went back to the hotel and had the afternoon off.  Most people just wanted to sleep and I was one of them.  I took a nice nap and then had a great evening with my friends on the trip.  We relaxed at the hotel and enjoyed a few drinks at the bar. 

We left early in the morning for our flight to Cochin where the ship was.  The flights took forever as the two cities we were going to had terror warnings.  A terrorist attack had been foiled in Mumbai the day before and Cochin was/still is under a high terror alert.   Rumors were spreading all over our group that we weren’t going to be able to get back to the ship, that the ship wasn’t docking in Cochin and all other sorts of crazy things.  There really was a terror warning and security was heightened everywhere, but we didn’t have a problem.  Just shows how easily rumors get started. 

It was great to get back to the ship.  We relaxed for a little and then headed out to see a Bollywood movie.  The movie was entirely in Hindi, with no English subtitles, but it was funny to watch and try to piece the story together.   It was an action/love/musical all in one.   Two characters fell in love mixed with gunfire and singing.  The singing was a little different but interesting.  It was also interesting to see how conservative the film industry is in India.   No kissing, sex, and barely any skin was shown by any of the characters in the entire film, which is very different from movies in this genre (love) in the U.S.    Seeing a movie is also A LOT cheaper.  Tickets, popcorn, and a drink cost about $2.  A nice break from the $20-25 you pay when seeing a film at home. 

The next morning we took an auto-rickshaw drive around the city of Cochin and saw various parts of city.  The city’s main industry seems to be the resorts.  Signs were everywhere for resorts that are located inside of the city.  It really is a perfect resort town: tropical, hot, and right on the ocean.  It would be a nice to take a vacation there one day. 

So as my time in India comes to a close, I have mixed feelings on the country.  It is a country of majesty, history, and amazing architecture.  There also is a different side:  poverty, homelessness, garbage, running sewage, and helpless children.  I got a nice mix of all India has to offer.  I’ve also really seen how privileged we are in the United States.  We have so much compared to these people.   It’s hard to ignore children begging for food and mothers with babies begging for anything.  I’m glad I saw it and again, I’ve seen just how easy and blessed I have it.  My everyday problems seem meaningless compared to the problems of the people here.  

So we’re officially done with Asia!  I can’t believe it.  We’ve been to Japan, China, Vietnam and India…where did it all go!?!?  We now set sail for Africa and are heading home.  Our first stop is Mauritius and I’m really excited for this little island off the coast of Africa.  I had no idea how to pronounce it or even that is existed until about a year ago when I saw the itinerary for SAS Spring 2010.  Google Image “Mauritius”  and see what comes up.  It’s going to be a nice break there before we’re actually on the African continent.   Only six days of ship life until we arrive!

Hello India...

We arrived in India around 8 AM on March 11.   The neatest thing happened as I was having breakfast outside as we were pulling into the harbor: we went right by a group of Indian fishermen who were all waving, ecstatic that we were there!   They were waving frantically and just looked happy to see the Explorer pulling into Chennai or Madras as it was called.

Customs took a long time and we finally were able to get off the ship at around 12.   Our only plans for the day were a walking tour we’d found per a recommendation from a former SAS student.   The port was very, very dirty and it was about a mile walk from where the ship was berthed until we got out.  That was kind of a pain as there was oil, dust and all kinds of disgusting things around us.  We were literally swarmed by auto-rickshaw drivers wanting to take us places.   It was very overwhelming and hard to handle at some points.   You just have to say NO very emphatically, several times, and they get the picture. 

The first thing you notice while walking around is how dirty the country is.  Garbage is everywhere.  Men are urinating ten feet away from you and it’s no big deal.   This probably has been the only time I was really just shocked so at what was going on.  I mean it’s gross.  Bathrooms don’t have toilet paper (we carried it) and clean water is a true commodity.   When we went to lunch we got bottled water and it wasn’t sealed.  We spent at least ten minutes deciding whether or not it was just a super glued cap.   Some people were brave and had some but I didn’t.  I just had sodas.  I will truly, truly never look at water the same way again back home.   We really do take for granted the cleanliness of our water.  It comes out of the sink and it’s just there and perfectly fine.  Here it’s not.  I washed my hands in a bathroom to get the sweat and dirt off and then hand sanitized them.   We will be brushing our teeth with bottled water in any hotels we stay at while on the Taj trip.  It’s something we take for granted back home, I know I said that before but I’ve honestly never thought about it.  Up until now sealed bottled water was no problem to find.  Here it really is a rarity and just different.   Bathrooms too.  Think of the dirtiest, little gas station bathroom that you would hate to have to go in and then multiply it by a thousand.  Even that dirty, little, gas station bathroom is 1000x nicer then the toilets in India.  Talk about culture shock. 

When I told people about my SAS trip before I left I got a few curious looks when I said India.  I mean it is undeveloped, ridden with poverty, and homelessness..why would anyone go there, right?  I’m glad I’m seeing this.  I really cannot imagine looking at things the same way back home. I really see how blessed we are and how much we take for granted. Families are cramped into little makeshift tents with rags as the bed: no electricity (I hate when the power goes out in the summer…it’s the end of the world without that air-conditioner), no chance in hell there’s running water (the shower takes forever to get hot…such a pain), and no anything.  Just their little tent, and yet the people seem happy.  Twice kids came up to us today and hugged us with the biggest smiles on their face.  For no reason other then the fact we were American.  Parents had their kids look at us, wave and just stare.  Our lifestyle to them is one of a king and queen, and compared to theirs it is.  

We really just spent the day wandering, and taking the entire city in.   All of us were going to the Taj and we wanted to see what “real” India was like before we got the tourist side.    We also met an auto-rickshaw driver who had postcards, and letters from former SAS students.  He was a really friendly guy and tagged along with us for a good portion of the day.  His names is Jalhal (I’m butchering the spelling) Hussein, but “not like Saddam Hussein he’s a bad guy.  US kill him.”   He said all of Chennai looks forward to SAS coming.  I think he was serious.  People certainly did seem to know us, and where we were from.  Chennai is almost always a port of call on all fall and spring SAS voyages. 

So I have to be up at 330 AM for my trip to Delhi and the Taj Mahal.  I’m so excited.  It’s a four-day, three night trip and I promise to get an update here right when we get back.  I’ll also have one and half days in the city of Cochin in western India.  We meet up with the ship there...I'm excited/nervous to see what the rest of India is like.

The Indian Ocean

We officially made it through the Strait of Malacca even though there was a terror/pirate warning issued by the Singapore Navy for all ships traveling through.   The warning was mainly for oil tankers, but like anything, it got blown out of proportion on the ship and rumors were spreading like wildfire.  People were saying our ship was getting a naval escort or that we were altering our course…totally crazy!   We did see a lot of little dinghies that looked suspicious but they probably were just fisherman.  

Yesterday was one of my best days on the ship.  We had the “Sea Olympics,” which is a series of competitions that take place on the ship.  It was a fun day off from classes and the day ended with a delicious BBQ and everyone was outside watching the beautiful sunset.  Afterward pretty much everyone on the ship crammed into the little pool.  There had to be at least two hundred students in a pool that’s maybe ten meters by ten meters.  It was awesome!  The crew had trouble getting us all out when the time came to close the pool. 

Another thing that hit me today, as I was eating outside looking at the ocean, is that I’m sailing through the Indian Ocean!!!  This is a place that has only ever been a blue area on a map to me!  Luckily the sea’s been very calm and it’s been perfect weather:  sunny with no clouds in sky!    We also were able to get a good look at the Nicobar Islands as we head towards India.  These islands officially belong to India and no foreign citizen is allowed on them. It's a shame because they were pretty and would be a fun vacation spot.

We arrive in India this coming Thursday and the excitement all around the ship is building!  

Singapore!?!

There’s a station on our cabin television that gives us the exact location of the ship, our speed, and our route.  When I turned it on after we left Saigon, it read “Saigon to Singapore.”  What?  We’re going to Singapore was my immediate reaction.  I had heard that sometimes SAS makes surprise stops along the way.  Rumors immediately began floating around the ship.  Some said we were losing one port and gaining Singapore and some were crazier than that. 

The real reason we were docking in Singapore was so the ship could refuel.   We docked on Friday morning at around 7 AM and we could get a pretty good view of the city, but not a good enough view to take any decent pictures ☹ We spend the entire day anchored there as the ship refueled.  It was neat to be in the area and seeing all the different types of ships go in and out.  Singapore is one of the busiest ports in the world and you can definitely tell. 

So now were heading through the Strait of Malacca and on our way to India.  We should get a pretty nice view of the Indonesian and Malaysian coastlines, as part of the strait is only 1.7 miles wide!  All we have to watch out for is pirates...

Last Two Days in Vietnam...

My last two days spent in Vietnam were a blast!  On Monday, March 1 (I can’t believe it’s March already…where did the time go??? It’s still January in my mind…) I had a trip to the Mekong Delta.  It was a nice, scenic drive from the port to the Delta.  I got a good look at rural Vietnam; saw rice paddies and other farms along the way. 

The delta was a totally different view of Vietnam then I got in Saigon.  The people there seem so simple and so far removed from modern city life.  Most of the roads weren’t paved and they were farmers or shop owners.  The houses were all made with wood.  We took a ferry ride to two of the different islands.  The first island we sampled different kinds of fruit grown on the island (all delicious) and took a ride through the town.  The ride was really neat because we sat on the back of wagons drawn by horses.  The town was just so simple and like something out of a movie.  We then went to a coconut candy factory and we watched them make all different kinds of coconut candy.   This factory was unlike anything I’d ever seen; it was basically a pavilion in the middle of the jungle we were in.  There were coconut trees all around.  The candy was delicious!!  It’s basically a coconut paste that is made from coconut milk and you can get it plain or with things inside it.  I really like it with peanuts.  I got two packets, but I doubt they’ll last me past India.   At the shop they also had the most bizarre wines I’ve ever seen.  There was snake wine and scorpion wine I’m guessing.  The snake wines literally had a dead snake (it was a cobra) inside the bottle.  There were other selections that featured a snake and a scorpion inside the bottles.  They were giving out samples but I didn’t try it…too exotic for me.

After the factory, we took a jungle boat ride (I don’t really know how else to describe it) down a stream.  This was amazing.  I was literally in the jungle on a boat.  There were snakes and eels all around the boat.  It really reminded me of the jungle boat ride in Disney World (which my cousins and family love!) but the real thing!  I don’t know why I keep comparing things to Disney World- I think it’s because of the heat. Our next stop was a nut place where they had all different kinds of nuts and things made from coconuts we could sample.  They were good, but not good enough to buy.  We also got to take pictures with a Python snake.  I literally had a snake around my neck!  I think I held it too close to its head because he didn’t seem to like me too much and kept trying to get away.   Our day ended with a delicious seafood lunch and then we headed back to the ship.  That night we found another good place to eat in Saigon and spent more money on DVDs.  

Our last day in Vietnam was probably one of my most favorite days on SAS so far.  I got the chance to visit a Vietnamese elementary school.   Being a future elementary school teacher, this visit was awesome for me.   We first had a meeting with the headmaster of the school and the Youth Union Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (there is one in every school and his/her job is to make sure that the school is following the Party’s message), which was very interesting.  They welcomed us and then we were able to ask any questions we wanted about the school and how it was run.  It contained about 1600 students, 140 staff members, grades 1-5 and every subject is taught.  Everything that is taught, however, is pre-approved and under strict control by the Party.  The teachers really have no flexibility to deviate from the approved coursework.   It was also sad to learn that any type of Special Ed inclusion is not present. 

After the meeting we split up into groups and visited the individual classrooms.  The first thing I noticed about the students is how perfect their cursive was. It was impeccable- it looked like computer print.  It puts my own cursive to the ultimate shame.   The other crazy thing was that the first graders’ handwriting was the exact same way.   I was BLOWN AWAY by this.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone in the US with handwriting as neat as these little Vietnamese first graders.   The other thing that I noticed was the content of the subjects seemed to be much harder.  Second graders were multiplying mixed numbers and improper fractions when we walked into the classroom to say hello.   They also have a 9 hour school day- 7:15am-4:15pm.   

The most fun and moving experience for me was how these kids treated us.  We were rock stars to them.  We walked in and they were having recess out in the yard and they all yelled “hello” and many came over to hug us.  They all wanted to test their English and see if it really worked. You could really see their little eyes light up when we said “hello” back or answered what our name was.  Every single student wanted us to write our names somewhere in their notebooks.  They just came up to us and would shove their notebooks and pens in our faces wanting us to sign our names. The students also seem to follow a rigorous English learning program and many of the older kids could carry on conversations with us.  I was almost embarrassed to say “no” when they asked me if I knew any Vietnamese.  Words cannot even describe how impacting this experience was to me and how excited I am to bring it to my own classroom someday. I took lots of pictures- pictures of the students, their handwriting, and me with a group of them! I tried to upload pictures in Vietnam but it didn’t go so well.  The Internet in the country was horrible.  For some reason, I don’t think India will be much better.

I really liked Vietnam.  It’s a country with so much history, friendly people, cheap DVDs, clothes and food, motorcycles, jungles and heat.  It really was a great port of call.  Before I set sail, I never really gave the country much thought.  I really enjoyed my time here and hopefully will one day get to come back and see northern Vietnam.   

So now we’re off to India.  We have just about a week of sailing before we arrive.  It’s going to be a nice break!  I can’t believe we only have one country left in Asia!  Where did it all go?  It really was quick so it’s good to now have a week to reflect and think back to everything we just experienced over the last few weeks. Think of me sailing for the next week…hopefully the seas will be as calm as they have been.  The crew recently opened up the pool on the top deck.  It’s really nice to be laying out in the sun and then just being able to cool off…it’s been a HUGE problem up until now.   I know, I know we SAS students have such a tough life…haha just kidding! 

Good Morning Vietnam!

We docked in Ho Chi Min City (or Saigon as it is still called here) at around 9 AM on Friday, Feb. 26. It was a five-hour sail up the Saigon river to the port. The first thing everyone noticed was the drastic change in temperature...it's been 100 degrees the past couple of days!

My first stop was the Chi Cu Tunnels, which were tunnels used by the North Vietnamese during the war. They hid here to avoid US forces and stay safe during aid raids. The tunnel network expands hundreds of miles over the countryside. It was really strange to be walking around the location and just thinking that the Vietnam War actually took place right here. Bombs were dropped, soldiers died, and so many other terrible thing happened right here. I actually got the chance to crawl through the tunnels. I don't know how the soldiers did it. It's crazy. The tunnels were just about 2 ft by 2 ft. We literally were crawling on our hands and knees through the system. I only went about 30 meters before I had to get out because it was just too small. I can't imagine how the North Vietnamese lived inside. They had everything in these tunnels- kitchens, living areas- and babies were even born inside. The tunnels also have a shooting range that really adds to the overall experience. You're walking around getting the tour and there are gunshots going off. Pretty realistic. We did the shooting range and I shot an AK-47.

That night we went out for some Vietnamese food. I have to say that so far Vietnamese food has been my least favorite. The meals we've had so far have been hit or miss. The meals that "missed" have some weird flavor in them that is very minty. I don't know what it is. The food also is sooo cheap compared to home. A meal for eight people was just around $30.
We also went to the night market. It was crazy. I thought China's markets were good, but I couldn't believe how much stuff they had for sale. The sellers LOVE US dollars (actually everyone in town does) but you show them dollars and they're willing to sell you almost anything. I got a nice polo shirt for $5. Sorry Mom, even Khol's doesn't have that kind of discount. I also got many, many more DVDs for $.50 each. They have everything!

The next day we had plans to go to the beach, but the ferry was sold out and the wait was too long so we decided to explore more of Saigon. We ended up buying even more DVDs and getting massages. I actually got a massage from a blind man. There's this place here that has blind masseuses. The massage was excellent, and I really have to give this guy (and everyone there) credit. Very impressive. The massage also cost $2 for an hour. We regrouped back at the ship and then got another, pretty good dinner and then got massages again. I mean when else will I ever get a massage for $5 an hour? It's crazy. Back home a good massage is like $85 an hour.

Crossing the street here also takes some getting used to. The drivers just don't stop. During our pre-port, we were told to just walk across the street and the cars will move with you. There actually are very few cars. It's mostly motorcycles. The first time crossing was crazy. It's scary! I'm a pro at it now and you really just have to be confident and not stop because they do move with you. So keep that in mind if you ever head to Saigon. The motorcyclists are also friendly and for $4 they will pretty much take you anywhere. So in Saigon I accomplished two "firsts": shooting a gun and riding a motorcycle.

On Sunday, we went to the Vietnam War Remnant Museum. This was probably the most depressing aspect of my trip so far. The museum is all from the Vietnamese side, obviously, and really paints a different portrait of the war. We also had a really emotional Global Studies class on the Vietnam War (the day before we berthed in Saigon) and that combined with the museum was a lot to take in. During class, two vets spoke about the war and their feelings on it. We also heard from two people who were heavily involved in the anti-War movement in the US. The veterans were both in tears (and so was pretty much everyone). Their stories were absolutely heart wrenching, I can't think what it must be like for them to be here in Vietnam now after having been through the War. It was also heart wrenching to be in the museum and see the Vietnamese kids' pictures who were affected by Agent Orange. So definitely a different side and perspective. As I was watching the ship sail into Saigon, I was just thinking what it would have been like if I'd come here just about forty years ago at age 19. I would have had a totally different experience (to say the least) in Vietnam then I'm having now.

So we still have two more days in Vietnam. I'm going to the MeKong Delta and I'm going to visit an Elementary School, which both should be really fun. I'm also definitely down for another massage and some more DVDs!

Hong Kong!

We got back to the ship at around 1:30 PM on Sunday, February 21 and getting back and seeing “home” was such a good feeling.  It was really nice to be back in my little cabin and just back on the ship.  We didn’t spend too much time on the ship though.  The ship was berthed at mall, which also was the pier…it was a very different harbor then any of the previous ones.   The mall was very, very Americanized.  We went to lunch at California Pizza Kitchen.  It was nice to have American food again, especially pizza.  (I’m very excited to have a cheese steak again on May 6.) 

That night we saw the Hong Kong light show right out on the pier.  It was awesome; all the skyscrapers light up…it’s really neat.  It made me feel like I was in Disney World for some reason.  It probably was the change in temperature; Shanghai was about 35 degrees and Hong Kong was 75.  Afterwards, we took a ferry (very Disney World-ish also) to the main island and walked around downtown Hong Kong.   We didn’t really have any aim or purpose so we decided to head to Victoria Peak, a mountain which overlooks the city. 

We took a tram up to the top of the mountain and found a great spot off the walkway to just sit and take in the view.  You could see all of Hong Kong Island from the top and just like the view from the financial center everything looked miniature.   After that we headed back to the ship and got so much needed rest. 

The next day we just went over to Hong Kong and took a double-decker tramcar across the entire city.  It was really cool because it was the first time I took a double-decker anything.  The city was neat, just different from Shanghai.  I can’t really explain it.   You could definitely see the British influence on the island.  They drive on the opposite of the roads and there are British flags everywhere.   We also went to a really neat computer store.  It was actually about fifty computer stores crammed into three stories.  It was total insanity and awesomeness.  We got a great lunch at a little, local restaurant and then headed back to the ship early because everyone wanted to got use the mall’s free Wifi.  I uploaded lots of pictures…check them out!!  The link’s below!

For dinner that evening, we went to a floating restaurant called Jumbos.  It was really neat- you had to take a ferry to get out to it after a pretty long bus ride from the city.  The island it was located off of was called Aberdeen.  It was a little pricey (by HK standards…what you’d pay for a meal at Olive Garden), but the atmosphere was definitely worth the extra money.  
My final day I spent in Hong Kong I went to Lantau Island.  It was about a thirty-minute drive from Hong Kong city and is the least populated island that is under Hong Kong control.   The drive was beautiful.  We went through a very mountainous region and the view was so picturesque.  We stopped at a beach and I put my feet in the South China Sea!  There also was a funny sign at the beach that read: “The sharp trap nets are temporarily out of order.  Sorry for the inconvenience.”   I guess sharks are a problem.  After the beach was a stop at the Tai O fishing village.  The village was really cool.  The way of life in this village is completely different from life back home or any kind of life I’ve ever seen.  It made me really excited to see what life’s going to be like in places like Vietnam and India.   We took a ferryboat ride through the village and saw pink dolphins! 

After the fishing village, we went to the Buddhist Monastery on the island and also at the top of a mountain.  The monastery, Po Lin, is the center of Buddhism in Hong Kong.  The world’s largest outdoor Buddha (85 feet tall) is on top of the monastery.  It was an awesome sight.   We walked around the monastery, and even got a chance to see some monks.  After the monastery, we took a five mile cable car right down from the monastery.  It was really neat to go over the mountains and see the view of the island, the bays, and even the HK airport.  Definitely a great trip!

So now I’m off to Vietnam, the first non-developed country on the trip.  I’m excited to see the history that’s there, and really just see what life’s like in a country that’s not as well off as China, Japan or the U.S.  Definitely going to be a little shocking.  I mean just to hear the words “cars are rare in the streets of Ho Chi Minh” is strange.  We get into Vietnam on Friday, February 26.   It’s going to be over 100 degrees…don’t know if I’m excited yet for that.  India’s going to be worse.

I also realized as I was crossing off days on my calendar that my trip is already 1/3 over!  Where did the time go???       

China Is Incredible

I have a lot of catching up to do…the time in Shanghai/ Hong Kong just flew by and now I’m off to Vietnam.  Crazy.
The ship departed for Hong Kong on 2/19/10 and my friend Ben and I had decided to not sail with it (you always have that option in countries where the ship berths at multiple ports) and spend a few extra days in Shanghai. I’m glad we did because the city it awesome and there’s so much to do. 

We stumbled upon the “E-Best Shanghai Hotel” during our hotel search (we tried the Marriot but it was $250 a night) and it was only about $7 a night.  This was an unbelievable price for a pretty decent hotel (it definitely wasn’t the Ritz) but it was about as nice as a Holiday Inn.   Our accommodation expenses for the three extra nights in Shanghai were only $21, not bad.
As I said above, there’s so much to do in Shanghai.  Our first night there we went out with two of the SAS Chinese exchange students.  One, Maz, was from Shanghai and it was awesome having him with us.  He took us to a mall near his home and we had a nice dinner with about six other SASers.  The district we were in was really nice, and it had a totally different feel from the places I’d been in Shanghai so far.  

One thing I thought was really interesting was the questions Max was asking me about life in the U.S.  He was under the impression that the police would just come to your house for really trivial things, such as stealing music from the Internet.  It was really interesting to talk to him about life in the U.S. 

After dinner we went to a very, very inexpensive karaoke bar (compared to Japan) and then headed back to the hotel.  Our primary method of transportation around Hong Kong was taxis.  A thirty-minute cab ride cost about $12.  It was really good because the subway system in Shanghai was awful.   We always end up taking a taxi to the station or having to take a taxi to our destination from the station.  I was surprised for such a developed city that the subway system was so inefficient. 

Our next day away from the ship was probably my favorite.  We went to the Shanghai World Financial Center, the third tallest building in the world, but it has the highest observation deck.  We were 492 meters up.  The view from the top was insane.  The other skyscrapers were literally dwarfed and looked miniature from the observation deck.   Something that was interesting to note was that the majority of the skyscrapers and buildings we were in are only about ten years old.  From what different locals and tour guides said, the city is constantly under construction.  I’d definitely agree with that statement.  The city is gearing up for the 2010 World Expo, which begins in May, and construction is everywhere.  Another skyscraper is also being built, one that will be taller then the SWFC.  There were constructios crews everywhere and everything is scheduled to be done by May, when the Expo begins, and China is once again on the world stage.  One of my tour guides earlier in the week said that in Shanghai construction always ends when they say it will end.  A little different from construction jobs back home. 

That night we went to dinner in a district near the Shanghai Times Square and the district, for some reason, reminded me of Stone Harbor, but really, really cold.   The shops, restaurants and overall atmosphere just made me think of Stone Harbor.  It was weird.  The dinner was great.  The restaurant seemed like a nice middle-class restaurant you’d fine in the U.S., like Ruby Tuesday, but for the price of a value meal at McDonalds. Afterwards we walked around a little and just took more of the city in. 
On our third and final day away from the ship we headed to the Shanghai Zoo.  There were so many animals!  We saw tigers, lions, all kinds of monkeys, polar bears, black bears, sun bears, giraffes, jackass penguins (that’s their real name), wildebeest, foxes, and PANDAS!!  The pandas were my favorite part.  The zoo was really big and really nice, much nicer then Philadelphia’s. 
The rest of the day we spent on Nanjing Road getting some more not-needed trinkets from the sellers there.  I love how the people haggle with you!  I got a pair of really nice Oakley sunglasses and a Gucci wallet (both are definitely real ha). 

The next morning we had a 7:45 AM flight to Shenzhen, just to the north of Hong Kong.   The flight was only about two hours and then another two for the bus ride into Hong Kong.  The actual time on the bus was only about forty-five minutes but clearing customs in Hong Kong took forever.

China really is an amazing country.  Before going in, I definitely had a preconceived notion of this country.  Now I did just see Shanghai, which is one of their most developed cities, but it wasn’t anything like I thought China was like going in.  There were so many stores, hotels, and restaurants you’d never know it wasn’t a capitalist country.  I really don’t know what I was expecting in China, but it definitely wasn’t this.   The only time I felt like it was a communist nation was when I couldn’t get onto Facebook & YouTue (they really do block both sites) and seeing the guys in green uniforms everywhere at night.  They just stand on street corners and look like classic communists, but are surprisingly pretty friendly.   We also got a chance to watch some Chinese world news (in English) on the hotel’s television.  It was interesting to see the news and what the Chinese perspective on the different issues were, especially the Dali Lama.  The Chinese have very unfavorable views about Obama’s meeting (and pretty much every other President’s  meeting), but one of the clips we watched was very, very interesting.  It was a talk show type deal with a host, and then the issue and some commentators.   There were three people speaking on the issue and one of them was a younger guy, only about thrity or so, and he was the “voice of the new generation.”  His stance on the issue was this: both nations should just forget about the Dali Lama.  China should just let the U.S. meet with him and the U.S. should not make such a big deal about it and both countries should work out the bigger, more important issues, like world energy problems, the environment…the list goes on and on.  I have to say I agree with him; compared to the problems the world has the Dali Lama seems so insignificant.  It’s a surprising view for a Chinese citizen to have and even more surprising to be on television, because all Chinese television has to be pre-approved by the government.

I also really see how important it is for the U.S. to have good relations with this country, something that is continually being stressed in Global Studies on the ship.  Just thinking of Shanghai and how the majority of the city developed in ten years, you can see China’s power and economic growth.  I mean they pretty much built Philadelphia in ten years.   The people also love Americans!  We had three people just randomly start talking to us and ask us how their English was.  Little kids would just look at us and say “hello.”  If we said “hello” back they’d giggle and be in shock that they said it right!

I would definitely advise going to China and checking this incredible nation out and seeing for yourself what I mean about everything.  There’s really no words that can adequately describe what I mean.  When I return (I definitely am), I want to see Beijing and the Great Wall.  Hong Kong had an entirely different feel, but I’ll save that for tomorrow!