I love this place. Have I said that before? I am having a really great experience here for many reasons. I loved studying about the Vietnam War in high school so I love being able to be here. It is just mind blowing to see some of this place and think about it all in context of a war. Also, I have met up with a guy who graduated from my college. A family that lives near the university sponsored him to go to school there... anways, it's a really great story and I can share it later. I flew from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi and am spending the next two days with him and his wife. Tomorrow, I will visit Ha Long Bay which is supposed to be absolutely beautiful.
I don't know when I will be able to post my stories or pictures from Vietnam, but I will do it as soon as possible. After we leave Vietnam on Tuesday morning, we will only have two days before we arrive in Hong Kong. I will stay in Hong Kong for a day and leave early the second day for Beijing. The ship will leave Hong Kong and sail to Shanghai and I will catch up with it there. I couldn't pass up Beijing and I am sure that I will stay extremely busy enjoying every minute Asia. The next month is going to be crazy busy and so much fun. I may be hard to get in touch with and distant from my end on the blog, but keep checking in. I never know when I will find time for the internet or when the internet will find me. Stay tuned...
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Worm Salad!
Just kidding. It wasn't wormy at all. I don't know what it was, but I ate it and I would probably eat it again. It didn't taste too bad. When you go into another country eager to try street food, you have be adventurous and willing to take some risks. So far, I have eaten goat, ostrich, shark, sheep intestines, hogwort?, and several other things that I didn't ask about. For those keeping count, not everything "tastes like chicken." Goat, for instance, is really really chewy. I am getting pretty good with those chopsticks though. The locals in Viet Nam are impressed!
Easter at Cheshire Home
This is my friend, Yuzadi. We talked for about two hours and had some great conversation. I just thought it would be fun to share this one. You can read more about the Cheshire home and my visit there in the posting about Malaysia.
Sunrise again!
After we got off of the train, we had to take the ferry back to the island. (Penang is split into two parts: one is on the mainland of Malaysia, the other is an island.) Once we got off of the ferry, we had to walk back to the ship area and take a water taxi (tender) to the ship since it wasn't docked. On the way to the water taxi, I snatched this shot of the sunrise on Sunday. Happy Easter!
sleep? what's that?
So... we made the train for the ride home! We purposefully booked the overnight train so that we could get the most time in Malaysia. The idea was to sleep on train. We were warned that train was not a first class experience, but we didn't care. We thought, "how bad could it be?" Really, it wasn't that bad. But it is not too conducive for sleeping. It was loud, bumpy, and it kept stopping at other stations along way. I think I got about two hours of sleep on a 9 hour train ride. Eddie fell asleep a little early and Ashley and I stayed up and had some good laughs. I met a boy from Iran who had snacks! He had a lot of chips and he was just as awake as we were. He probably brought me 5 different kinds of chips. It was funny and if you aren't laughing now, wait for the pictures. Speaking of pictures, this one here is three of us (obviously) once we got off the train in Penang around 5:30am. We look about as well rested as we felt.
KL Tower
This tower, from the outside, looks strikingly similar to the Space Needle in Seattle. At the top, there is a restaraunt that rotates. It was pretty expensive, so we went with the cheaper option and had lunch at 1:30 to save some money (although it was a decision to splurge!) Funny how things turned out in the end, but we really got a great deal! Here we are on top of the world!
THEME PARK!!!
This was the crazy fun indoor theme park (inside of a mall). I have never been to Mall of America, but I'm pretty sure that this one would take the trophy. We didn't make it to the mall until 8pm and place shuts down at 10pm. They women that sold us the tickets thought we were ridiculous for paying for a day ticket when there were only two hours left, but it
was only $10 and that roller coaster looked like too much fun to pass up. Turns out, it wasn't even the best ride in the place. There was one that had us all shook up and feeling like we were getting too old for this find of fun. It was great fun while it lasted, but we didn't even last the full two hours. Oh, and can I just say... doing bumber cars with Malays was perhaps the most fun "cultural" experience yet! They really know how to hit ya.
Observing...
Just another shot of me. This one is from the observatory at the planetarium. It was a pretty good view. I took this one myself... just in case you couldn't tell.
Fun at the Planetarium!
Why didn't I go to space camp when I was little? Ashley, Eddie, and I had so much fun at the planetarium. We weren't so sure about it from the looks of things because we had to walk a little while in the rain to get to it. THEN, there was a million stairs to climb, and they were slippery. But, we bought tickets for a movie about the human body (not sure how it was relevant to the outer space, but we thought it sounded intersting). We had almost two hours to blow before the movie played so we spent plenty of time acting like kids on pretend rocket ship equipment. In the photos, I am "walking on the moon" and hanging out on an astronaut toilet. When we went to the movie theater, we were pleasantly surprised to find it was an omnimax (and it only cost $2!). The funniest part was watching a flick about the human body on a screen that big. Like popping zits in lifesize isn't gross enough... try watching it a thousand times bigger!!! ha ha ha!!
Petronas Twin Towers
These are the tallest twin buildings in the world. One of them is slightly taller than the other making it the third tallest building in the world. We tried to make it to the sky bridge because its free, but they only give out a certain number of tickets each day and we went too late. They were sold out.
One World Artist
So the artist we met at the National Art Gallery was incredibly talented. He was using ink pens to recreate pictures he had of his travels around the world. On the right is one small piece of his final product. When he is finished, he will have drawn one kilometer of drawings that depict various sites and monuments from all over the world. His theory is, "We are all one family, separated by culture. One world, one family." And all in one kilometer. When he completes the kilmeter, he will be in the Guiness Book of World Records.
Restroom fees
In Malaysia, but not only in Malaysia, you have to pay to use the restroom. It's about 20 cents, but if you want toilet paper, you have to pay more. I learned to take my own. Ready to go kleenex packs were really worth investing in!
Eye on Malaysia
Eye on Malaysia is really similar to the London Eye. It's basically a ferris wheel in which you can see the entire city from. Eddie was scared of heights which made it even more fun for Ashley and I because we got to make fun of him.
Bus ride to KL
Here is Eddie and I on the bus. Ashley, Eddie, and I left for Kuala Lumpur (KL) on our first night in Malaysia. We missed the overnight train and were stuck then with the overnight bus. We left Penang around midnight and arrived in KL just around 5:30 am. The air conditioning worked well... too well. We were freezing cold, but we managed to get a little sleep. We dedicided not to miss the train for the ride back to Penang!
Sunrise in Malaysia
This is the sunrise from the day our ship pulled into port. It was a pretty one and hard to choose the best shot for posting on the blog!
MaLaySia!
I had the time of my life in Malaysia. I didn’t do too much the first day as I was still recovering from the cold I received while in India (bad souvenir). I was up for the sunrise, went back to bed, and slept until the early afternoon. Our ship was not able to dock in Malaysia so we anchored near the docked and used a lifeboat as a water taxi to get people from the ship to land (this process is called tendering). The early tenders were reserved for people who had trips to be on and flights to catch. I didn’t feel bad about sleeping so late because I wouldn’t have been able to get off of the ship anyway. I made it out after lunch and went to use the internet to attempt to make some plans. I couldn’t find much that made sense. Plane tickets were too costly and the bus schedules varied. I looked into catching a train to Kuala Lumpur but couldn’t really figure out how to read the rail schedule. I gave up and decided to just “go with the flow” of things and be adventurous again. I went back to the ship in time for dinner and ate with some friends who had been out on trips all day. Ashley, a friend here, hadn’t had a good day on her trip so we decided that it was time to have some fun. I told her that I wasn’t able to figure out too much as far as traveling within Malaysia, but that we should ask the locals who were on the ship at the time. They told us that there was one more train to Kuala Lumpur that would leave at 10 pm. We ran downstairs, packed our bags, grabbed Eddie to come with us, and then got stuck waiting for 30 minutes for the next water taxi. We didn’t make the train that night but were able to catch a taxi to the bus station. We bought tickets, boarded the bus, and started our unplanned adventure. The bus was crazy and we arrived, finally, to K.L around 5:30 in the morning. We got a room in a hostel and slept for a few hours. We spent the next three days in K.L having so much fun. We did some touristy stuff, met some really interesting people, shared some American food and drinks with a guy from Holland at Hard Rock Café, went to a theme park that was inside of a twelve story mall, and survived a day playing in rain as we made our way around that wonderful city. At the National Art Gallery, we met a man who had traveled the world and is now drawing replicas of his photos to make a 1km piece of art made up of many canvas rolls. He had great insights to travel and theory behind the human race. He made quite an impression on me as a person, and his art work was incredible. I just stood there gawking at it wondering why I struggle with stick people.
We didn’t plan a thing and it was probably the most fun I have had, ever. I told Ashley at one point that I felt like I had waited my whole life for this. As a kid, you tired of the rules and secretly wish that there was no one around to tell you what you could or could not do. You just wish that you can go wherever you want and do whatever you want. That was exactly what we did. We were fortunate enough to take the overnight train back to Penang. We wondered how it would be, but it was pretty fun as well and I met a guy from Iran who kept feeding me chips. He was great. I have a lot of funny pictures from that train ride. It is not too suitable for the best sleep of your life, but again, we arrived about 5:30 in the morning, caught the ferry from the mainland back to the island, and walked back to the ship just as the sun was rising on Easter morning.
I had a box (Easter basket) waiting for me when I returned home. I ate some breakfast, showered, and got some sleep. When I woke up, I grabbed lunch and then headed out to Cheshire Home, a residential rehab facility for handicapped people between the ages of 12 and 45. There, I met a 25 year old man and we just sat and talked for about 2 hours. I shared some things with him such as postcards and Easter candy. He was a wonderful person to meet and has a great attitude about life. I still think about him often.
Before going back to ship, I wondered around Penang with Eddie and Jocilyn, my roommate on ship, and ate some street food. I’m not at all sure what I ate, but I started getting the hang of those goofy chopsticks and it really didn’t taste too bad. I took a picture of my plate because the noodle things looked like thick, juicy, white worms. But I ate ‘em.
We headed back to the ship and got ready for classes the next day. Our ship did not leave until early morning for some reason or another. I definitely want to go back.
We didn’t plan a thing and it was probably the most fun I have had, ever. I told Ashley at one point that I felt like I had waited my whole life for this. As a kid, you tired of the rules and secretly wish that there was no one around to tell you what you could or could not do. You just wish that you can go wherever you want and do whatever you want. That was exactly what we did. We were fortunate enough to take the overnight train back to Penang. We wondered how it would be, but it was pretty fun as well and I met a guy from Iran who kept feeding me chips. He was great. I have a lot of funny pictures from that train ride. It is not too suitable for the best sleep of your life, but again, we arrived about 5:30 in the morning, caught the ferry from the mainland back to the island, and walked back to the ship just as the sun was rising on Easter morning.
I had a box (Easter basket) waiting for me when I returned home. I ate some breakfast, showered, and got some sleep. When I woke up, I grabbed lunch and then headed out to Cheshire Home, a residential rehab facility for handicapped people between the ages of 12 and 45. There, I met a 25 year old man and we just sat and talked for about 2 hours. I shared some things with him such as postcards and Easter candy. He was a wonderful person to meet and has a great attitude about life. I still think about him often.
Before going back to ship, I wondered around Penang with Eddie and Jocilyn, my roommate on ship, and ate some street food. I’m not at all sure what I ate, but I started getting the hang of those goofy chopsticks and it really didn’t taste too bad. I took a picture of my plate because the noodle things looked like thick, juicy, white worms. But I ate ‘em.
We headed back to the ship and got ready for classes the next day. Our ship did not leave until early morning for some reason or another. I definitely want to go back.
India
It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. Well, it really wasn’t even the best of times. Before arriving in India, the administration and faculty on ship try to prepare you for India in the sense that it is often the country to offer rich cultural experiences and some of the most profound sights of people, poverty, and foreign life. I was so excited to go to India, and for no particular reason. For me, it was just always one of those places you hear a lot about and think about going to. After the on ship warning of something along the lines of “If India doesn’t offer you the life-changing experience you’re looking for, then none of the countries will.” I was so excited to see so much and be utterly amazed by something. I felt ready to see things that would make my heart hurt, stomach churn, and the tears come falling down my face. I expected India to be like this, but it wasn’t. And to be quite honest, I was a disappointed.
India turned out to be the place where I felt more targeted as a female, as a tourist, as a “rich American,” and as a white person. Each of those has their own story. A friend and I hired a rickshaw driver for the first night and the following day. We knew it was risky, but thought to ourselves that we were on this adventure and were ready to be adventurous. For a night that started off so fun and so promising, it really turned out to be a big miserable catastrophe. The took advantage of us as people, lied to us more times in one night than I can count sheep at night, and cheated us out of a lot of money. Now, the traveler in me is trying to stay calm and remind myself that this could have been expected and that “it’s all a part of the experience” (that phrase haunts me now). In the end, after demanding that he take us back to the ship in Chennai, my friends and I ended up there around 4am, perfectly safe, but soaking wet from the midnight rains. As we arrived at the ship, about 100 students saw our tired, jaded, wet faces as they prepared to leave for their fantastic four day trip throughout India, including a visit to the Taj Mahal. And that was just my first night.
The next day, I didn’t exactly run off the ship with anticipation to do anything. I had vague plans to visit the Taj Mahal, but they didn’t work out. Later in the day, a group of us went to visit a temple and later grab some dinner. (Dinner in India is relatively late, between 8 and 11pm.) Even the temple visit didn’t go so well. Shortly after we arrived, a man approached another girl and I and asked us what we knew about the temples and we, being experienced from our adventure the night before, shooed him away expecting that he only wanted money. Minutes later, the other people that were with us, not knowing that we just “got rid of him” began talking with him and agreed to let him walk around with us and offer his knowledge about the temple, religion, etc. After one lap around the temple, he said that we each owed him 100 rupees (an obscene amount for India). He began shouting at us as no one paid him. My friend and I knew the deal and had gotten ourselves out of it earlier on. We left the temple immediately to avoid him and I ended up having to steal my shoes back from the shoe keeper who was harassing the people with us for money for “watching their shoes.” (You can’t wear shoes in the temple, so we all had to leave them outside the area. After all of that, we never got to actually go inside of the temple. It was ridiculous.
We went out to dinner. I couldn’t read the menu and finally just ordered something. It wasn’t bad, but sure had a surprise spice in it that set my mouth on fire about half way through my plate. The rickshaw driver we had hired asked the waiter to ask us if we would buy him some dinner. We did. He ordered it to go and we all paid, and then left. On our way back to the ship, he pulled his rickshaw over to the side of the road and asked us to grab the food out of the back. He gave the food to a little girl who hesitantly approached the rickshaw as he called to her. She took the food from him and ran back to the sidewalk, by a man who shared a blanket with her, and we drove off. THAT made me think. I thought about how much we had agreed to pay him for the time we hired him. I thought about how much that little bit of food actually cost and that those people were going to share it. I wondered if it would be their only meal for the day. I wondered if the driver knew those people. Were they his family? Did he see them sitting there and give it to them for another reason? I will never know. But it astounds me to think about the possibilities that lie there. When we got back, we went to pay the driver the price we had agreed upon before we got into the rickshaw. He laughed at us, asked for more than ten times as much, and got angry when we refused to pay it. I, putting aside the feelings of what I was thinking about, was angry that I was about to be ripped off AGAIN! I know that these people are working hard, that they are much poorer than poorest people I live by, but I still didn’t have the money to fork over to them just because they thought they could get it out of some ignorant Americans. We refused to pay more than we agreed and the man refused to take the money. We walked away from him and he left us alone. He never took our money for that four hour hire. I think he expected us to feel bad and eventually offer more, but we were just irritated.
The next day I had an overnight trip to a village to in Kancheepuram. The trip was to visit RIDE, an organization that works to get kids out of child labor and back into the public school systems. The trip was good and I had a good time. We visited one of the bridge schools on the first day. I had a great time interacting with the kids, even though one of those little rascals had sneezed in my mouth while we played the camera game. I played “slap hands” with a few of them (that’s what I am calling it, but I am referring to the game where the other person has to move their hands from on top of yours before you can slap them). We had some great food at our accommodation. We slept in an open room in the guest house of the RIDE organization. The next day, we got up early and had good food at breakfast. It was then that I started to really feel the effects of that sneeze in my mouth. My throat was soar and I knew I was getting sick. I knew right when the kid sneezed, it was inevitable. We went to a village and walked around with many of the locals as they gave us a tour of the place they all call home. We saw the laboring work they do, the animals, the kids, and the things they call houses. Some of them weren’t too bad, some of them were. Everyone in the village was extremely welcoming of us and excited for their kids to meet Americans. Many of us had things to give away. I gave out several pens (I can’t believe what a huge hit those things are), yo-yo’s, and some postcards and notebooks from school.
We went back to RIDE for lunch (delicious again), and then stopped at a silk shop (that doesn’t sell products of child labor) before heading back to this ship in Chennai. On this trip, I was able to see how tedious of a job it is to run a silk weaving loom and actually make something. It is incredible. I also learned the harsh reality of Indian traffic as I watched a girl nearly get run over by a motorbike while trying to cross the street to use the bathroom at a Shell station. Crossing the street in India is perhaps the most dangerous thing to do there. Seriously. **Oh the things we do for regular toilets.
India turned out to be the place where I felt more targeted as a female, as a tourist, as a “rich American,” and as a white person. Each of those has their own story. A friend and I hired a rickshaw driver for the first night and the following day. We knew it was risky, but thought to ourselves that we were on this adventure and were ready to be adventurous. For a night that started off so fun and so promising, it really turned out to be a big miserable catastrophe. The took advantage of us as people, lied to us more times in one night than I can count sheep at night, and cheated us out of a lot of money. Now, the traveler in me is trying to stay calm and remind myself that this could have been expected and that “it’s all a part of the experience” (that phrase haunts me now). In the end, after demanding that he take us back to the ship in Chennai, my friends and I ended up there around 4am, perfectly safe, but soaking wet from the midnight rains. As we arrived at the ship, about 100 students saw our tired, jaded, wet faces as they prepared to leave for their fantastic four day trip throughout India, including a visit to the Taj Mahal. And that was just my first night.
The next day, I didn’t exactly run off the ship with anticipation to do anything. I had vague plans to visit the Taj Mahal, but they didn’t work out. Later in the day, a group of us went to visit a temple and later grab some dinner. (Dinner in India is relatively late, between 8 and 11pm.) Even the temple visit didn’t go so well. Shortly after we arrived, a man approached another girl and I and asked us what we knew about the temples and we, being experienced from our adventure the night before, shooed him away expecting that he only wanted money. Minutes later, the other people that were with us, not knowing that we just “got rid of him” began talking with him and agreed to let him walk around with us and offer his knowledge about the temple, religion, etc. After one lap around the temple, he said that we each owed him 100 rupees (an obscene amount for India). He began shouting at us as no one paid him. My friend and I knew the deal and had gotten ourselves out of it earlier on. We left the temple immediately to avoid him and I ended up having to steal my shoes back from the shoe keeper who was harassing the people with us for money for “watching their shoes.” (You can’t wear shoes in the temple, so we all had to leave them outside the area. After all of that, we never got to actually go inside of the temple. It was ridiculous.
We went out to dinner. I couldn’t read the menu and finally just ordered something. It wasn’t bad, but sure had a surprise spice in it that set my mouth on fire about half way through my plate. The rickshaw driver we had hired asked the waiter to ask us if we would buy him some dinner. We did. He ordered it to go and we all paid, and then left. On our way back to the ship, he pulled his rickshaw over to the side of the road and asked us to grab the food out of the back. He gave the food to a little girl who hesitantly approached the rickshaw as he called to her. She took the food from him and ran back to the sidewalk, by a man who shared a blanket with her, and we drove off. THAT made me think. I thought about how much we had agreed to pay him for the time we hired him. I thought about how much that little bit of food actually cost and that those people were going to share it. I wondered if it would be their only meal for the day. I wondered if the driver knew those people. Were they his family? Did he see them sitting there and give it to them for another reason? I will never know. But it astounds me to think about the possibilities that lie there. When we got back, we went to pay the driver the price we had agreed upon before we got into the rickshaw. He laughed at us, asked for more than ten times as much, and got angry when we refused to pay it. I, putting aside the feelings of what I was thinking about, was angry that I was about to be ripped off AGAIN! I know that these people are working hard, that they are much poorer than poorest people I live by, but I still didn’t have the money to fork over to them just because they thought they could get it out of some ignorant Americans. We refused to pay more than we agreed and the man refused to take the money. We walked away from him and he left us alone. He never took our money for that four hour hire. I think he expected us to feel bad and eventually offer more, but we were just irritated.
The next day I had an overnight trip to a village to in Kancheepuram. The trip was to visit RIDE, an organization that works to get kids out of child labor and back into the public school systems. The trip was good and I had a good time. We visited one of the bridge schools on the first day. I had a great time interacting with the kids, even though one of those little rascals had sneezed in my mouth while we played the camera game. I played “slap hands” with a few of them (that’s what I am calling it, but I am referring to the game where the other person has to move their hands from on top of yours before you can slap them). We had some great food at our accommodation. We slept in an open room in the guest house of the RIDE organization. The next day, we got up early and had good food at breakfast. It was then that I started to really feel the effects of that sneeze in my mouth. My throat was soar and I knew I was getting sick. I knew right when the kid sneezed, it was inevitable. We went to a village and walked around with many of the locals as they gave us a tour of the place they all call home. We saw the laboring work they do, the animals, the kids, and the things they call houses. Some of them weren’t too bad, some of them were. Everyone in the village was extremely welcoming of us and excited for their kids to meet Americans. Many of us had things to give away. I gave out several pens (I can’t believe what a huge hit those things are), yo-yo’s, and some postcards and notebooks from school.
We went back to RIDE for lunch (delicious again), and then stopped at a silk shop (that doesn’t sell products of child labor) before heading back to this ship in Chennai. On this trip, I was able to see how tedious of a job it is to run a silk weaving loom and actually make something. It is incredible. I also learned the harsh reality of Indian traffic as I watched a girl nearly get run over by a motorbike while trying to cross the street to use the bathroom at a Shell station. Crossing the street in India is perhaps the most dangerous thing to do there. Seriously. **Oh the things we do for regular toilets.
Mauritius
Mauritius was a great place for relaxing. It has, by far, the prettiest beaches I have ever seen. The sand is white, the sea shells are clean, the water is see through and so blue it takes your breath away (and almost looks green sometimes), and there aren’t so many people that you can’t enjoy yourself.
The first day in Mauritius, I had a ticket (someone gave it to me for free!) to do a Blue Safari and Marine Conservation trip. There are only ten places in the world where you can experience the blue safari submarine. We first stopped at a beach and watched a presentation about conserving marine life (interesting, but boring…). The marine life around Mauritius is absolutely beautiful. I was able to see it for myself, underwater! That’s where the Blue Safari comes in. We took a small boat away from land to a vessel that was anchored in the ocean. From there, we boarded the submarine that took us about 35meters underwater to see all the pretty fishies! (There is a picture somewhere on here of me getting into the submarine.) It was hard to get good pictures because the water made everything look blue, however, the pictures almost look black and white because they show so little color. The windows were also pretty thick, so the quality of my pictures weren’t great either. It was awesome to see in person, though. We spent about 30 minutes in the submarine and came back up, then went back to land where we received a certificate (souvenir!) for our dive. I am glad that I was given the ticket because the cost of this trip was just over $100 (that included the transportation and a box lunch). However, I did not think it was worth that amount of money and was really glad that I hadn’t actually paid for it. Too bad for those who did, but they seemed to enjoy it. Later that day, I went with some friends to a street market in Port Louis. I didn’t really like it all. They weren’t selling anything worth buying, it was over-crowded, and really hot and stinky. I only bought a bottle of water. L
The second day was absolutely incredible. It was my ideal perfect day. (This one was also free, and also expensive!) I had never been on a sail boat before so I was really excited for the catamaran. I dropped my towel down on the front, lathered on the sunscreen, and we sailed out into the crystal blue waters of Mauritius. Right away we saw dolphins swimming in the water and we soon stopped for snorkeling. Now, I am not much of a swimmer. In fact, I still have to hold my nose when I go under water. However, I was excited to snorkel (something else I had never done before) and wasn’t going to let my lack of water breathing skills stop me. I started by getting in and swimming around for a while. Then, I attempted to snorkel. I’ll admit, I freaked out a little. Not being able to breathe, in the middle of the ocean and about 65 feet away from the catamaran was a little scary. Meanwhile, I just wanted to see the fishies underwater. I couldn’t even manage to just have my face on the water with the goggles on. I did get better at that though, just long enough to see a few things. I stuck with it, closer to the catamaran, and was finally able to stay underwater long enough to see the beauty of it all. There were millions of black and white striped fish all around me and I didn’t even know it. The colors of the coral and other plants are so vibrant! I am getting some pictures from someone who had a camera they were able to take underwater. The fish are so colorful, though. They really looked just like the ones who helped find Nemo! We spent the day laying out in the sun, listening to good music, snorkeling, and eating some delicious (an understatement) Mauritian food. Our guides even cooked it on the catamaran. It was a great day and I had a lot of fun. I could do it every weekend, and I said at one point that I was thinking about buying a catamaran after retirement.
The rest of my stay in Mauritius, several friends rented a villa and I stayed with them in Grand Baie (on the Northern coast). There was a rather huge mix-up in getting the whole thing arranged, but in the end, everyone had a good time.
While in Mauritius, I also visited a village called Bambou. It is set up much like a community. There are several houses each with a “mother.” There are classrooms, playgrounds, and a few other facilities. Children that live there are either orphans or are children who the courts ordered away from their parents for various reasons. The village keeps the children through the age of 18 if they are not given a home before then. Often times, the village keeps the children for most of those years and when the child leaves, they often keep in close touch. We toured the village and played with many of the younger children for a while. Like children from the other countries, they are amused, amazed, and intrigued by our cameras. A young girl (her picture is on the blog) in a yellow dress took my camera for a while and took so many pictures. She was having so much fun with it. However, the battery died and she became a little disappointed. I looked at the pictures later and they were so random. She had taken numerous pictures of the sky and the ground, as well as pictures of people who seemed to have lost their heads or half of their bodies. It gave the phrase “point and shoot” and a whole new meaning. There was also a young boy who seemed upset about everything. He wasn’t interested in much and just looked sad. I sat with him for a while, trying to cheer him up by showing him some things I had in my bag. He smiled, finally, when he got his hands on an ink pen I had and it was the most profound moment. (It makes you really think about the simple things in life.) I gave him a little notepad and he started to write his name. I was very impressed because this little boy was so young.
The last day, I went to the beach before leaving Grand Baie. We stuck it out through the rain and I wondered to myself… what exactly are the signs of a tsunami? The bad weather passed slowly and when we made it back to Port Louis, I spent the rest of the day relaxing, using some internet to post pictures, and eating out. Before rushing back to the ship, I was able to make a few phone calls. It’s always nice to hear the sounds of home.
The first day in Mauritius, I had a ticket (someone gave it to me for free!) to do a Blue Safari and Marine Conservation trip. There are only ten places in the world where you can experience the blue safari submarine. We first stopped at a beach and watched a presentation about conserving marine life (interesting, but boring…). The marine life around Mauritius is absolutely beautiful. I was able to see it for myself, underwater! That’s where the Blue Safari comes in. We took a small boat away from land to a vessel that was anchored in the ocean. From there, we boarded the submarine that took us about 35meters underwater to see all the pretty fishies! (There is a picture somewhere on here of me getting into the submarine.) It was hard to get good pictures because the water made everything look blue, however, the pictures almost look black and white because they show so little color. The windows were also pretty thick, so the quality of my pictures weren’t great either. It was awesome to see in person, though. We spent about 30 minutes in the submarine and came back up, then went back to land where we received a certificate (souvenir!) for our dive. I am glad that I was given the ticket because the cost of this trip was just over $100 (that included the transportation and a box lunch). However, I did not think it was worth that amount of money and was really glad that I hadn’t actually paid for it. Too bad for those who did, but they seemed to enjoy it. Later that day, I went with some friends to a street market in Port Louis. I didn’t really like it all. They weren’t selling anything worth buying, it was over-crowded, and really hot and stinky. I only bought a bottle of water. L
The second day was absolutely incredible. It was my ideal perfect day. (This one was also free, and also expensive!) I had never been on a sail boat before so I was really excited for the catamaran. I dropped my towel down on the front, lathered on the sunscreen, and we sailed out into the crystal blue waters of Mauritius. Right away we saw dolphins swimming in the water and we soon stopped for snorkeling. Now, I am not much of a swimmer. In fact, I still have to hold my nose when I go under water. However, I was excited to snorkel (something else I had never done before) and wasn’t going to let my lack of water breathing skills stop me. I started by getting in and swimming around for a while. Then, I attempted to snorkel. I’ll admit, I freaked out a little. Not being able to breathe, in the middle of the ocean and about 65 feet away from the catamaran was a little scary. Meanwhile, I just wanted to see the fishies underwater. I couldn’t even manage to just have my face on the water with the goggles on. I did get better at that though, just long enough to see a few things. I stuck with it, closer to the catamaran, and was finally able to stay underwater long enough to see the beauty of it all. There were millions of black and white striped fish all around me and I didn’t even know it. The colors of the coral and other plants are so vibrant! I am getting some pictures from someone who had a camera they were able to take underwater. The fish are so colorful, though. They really looked just like the ones who helped find Nemo! We spent the day laying out in the sun, listening to good music, snorkeling, and eating some delicious (an understatement) Mauritian food. Our guides even cooked it on the catamaran. It was a great day and I had a lot of fun. I could do it every weekend, and I said at one point that I was thinking about buying a catamaran after retirement.
The rest of my stay in Mauritius, several friends rented a villa and I stayed with them in Grand Baie (on the Northern coast). There was a rather huge mix-up in getting the whole thing arranged, but in the end, everyone had a good time.
While in Mauritius, I also visited a village called Bambou. It is set up much like a community. There are several houses each with a “mother.” There are classrooms, playgrounds, and a few other facilities. Children that live there are either orphans or are children who the courts ordered away from their parents for various reasons. The village keeps the children through the age of 18 if they are not given a home before then. Often times, the village keeps the children for most of those years and when the child leaves, they often keep in close touch. We toured the village and played with many of the younger children for a while. Like children from the other countries, they are amused, amazed, and intrigued by our cameras. A young girl (her picture is on the blog) in a yellow dress took my camera for a while and took so many pictures. She was having so much fun with it. However, the battery died and she became a little disappointed. I looked at the pictures later and they were so random. She had taken numerous pictures of the sky and the ground, as well as pictures of people who seemed to have lost their heads or half of their bodies. It gave the phrase “point and shoot” and a whole new meaning. There was also a young boy who seemed upset about everything. He wasn’t interested in much and just looked sad. I sat with him for a while, trying to cheer him up by showing him some things I had in my bag. He smiled, finally, when he got his hands on an ink pen I had and it was the most profound moment. (It makes you really think about the simple things in life.) I gave him a little notepad and he started to write his name. I was very impressed because this little boy was so young.
The last day, I went to the beach before leaving Grand Baie. We stuck it out through the rain and I wondered to myself… what exactly are the signs of a tsunami? The bad weather passed slowly and when we made it back to Port Louis, I spent the rest of the day relaxing, using some internet to post pictures, and eating out. Before rushing back to the ship, I was able to make a few phone calls. It’s always nice to hear the sounds of home.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Update
I am currently in an internet cafe in Malaysia. I am trying to plan some cool stuff to do while I am here so I will post my stories from Mauritius and India another time. For the most part, the pictures are up to date. Enjoy!
India
This little boy was similar to the last. He had no idea what to think about anything I handed to him. My mom send these little yo-yos in a box she sent to Brazil. I gave him one of them and tried to show him how to play with it. He just stared at it with his mouth open. He was speechless.
India
This little boy had polio. I gave him a pen and he had no idea what to do with it so I drew a heart in the palm of his hand. He still didn't know what to think. I then gave him a little notepad from my school's bookstore and drew a heart on it. He then took the pen and started to scribble his art on the paper.
Child Labor Overnight
I went on an overnight trip in India to a child labor village near Kancheepuram. The first day, we went to a bridge school and played with the kids for about an hour. About half of the kids there are still working for factories.
India
Here is a beach in India. It's called Marina Beach and it is the second longest beach in the world. It's not, however, a desirable place to go. It's full of homeless people, trash, animals such as cows and goats, and it reaks of filth. But, then again, that was India.
Indian temples
This was the only temple I went to in India. I don't have the name of it with me right now and I can't seem to remember it. It was something I could barely pronounce, though.
Sunrise in India
Well, it wasn't really a sunrise. This was by far the best picture to choose from. The sky turned pink, then gray. It rained the whole time we were in India. No sun at all.
Mr. SAS
Mr. Semester at Sea (Mr. SAS) is another comepetition, but only for the boys (70% girls on the ship). It was pretty entertaining. This is a photo of all the contestants.
Crossing the Equator!
Later that night, after the Sea Olympics were over, we crossed the Equator again. This time, I made a sign (you can't reall see it in this picture), gathered some people, and headed up to the 7th deck for a photo. The girl next to me in the middle is my roommate, Jocilyn. We crossed back into the Northern Hemisphere around 9:30pm (2130) and were positioned at 77 degrees longitude, 0 degrees latitude. When we crossed the first time, into the Southern Hemisphere, we were at 37 degrees longitude. Funny!
Volleyball!
During the Sea Olympics, I played volleyball, of course! We won our first game, but only took fourth! It was one of the last events of the day. Volleyball on a ship was quite different than the way I learned how to play. I'm the one in green! Go Green! Go Aegean!
Sea Olympics
Traditionally, each voyage has what they call "Sea Olympics." They divide everyone up by where you live on the ship and each team name is given after the name of a sea somewhere in the world. Each sea is then given a color and from there we have a whole day of "friendly competitions." Apparently, the sea I live on has quite a record for winning but that didn't happen on our voyage. We took fourth out of 10 seas. The prize for first place is that your sea will be the first people allowed off of the ship in Miami. Who wants to be the first to leave the ship anyway? ugh! Regardless, it was alot of fun, one of the best days on the ship. This picture is of Ashley and I showing off our team spirit before the frist event.
And another
This little lady was so much fun. She loved my camera and loved having her picture taken, like so many of the others. She took my camera at one point, took a massive number of silly pictures, and ran the battery completely dry. She was so cute in her little yellow dress and so happy that we were there; it was worth not being able to use my camera for the rest of the day. There are plenty more good pictures to share when I get back.
Bambou Village
Another kid in the village. He was cute. Although he still needs a dentist, the black stuff in his teeth are Oreos! MMMM.
We are the children...
I LOVE THIS PICTURE! It is also from Mauritius and was taken at an orphanage village. This particular place was set up as a community and serves children and teenagers up to 18 years. They have homes with mothers, schools, and playgrounds. If you have to be an orphan, it seemed like a decent place to be. The kids there were great to interact with and I think that the two boys in this picture were actually brothers.
Snorkeling!
Here is what I learned about snorkeling... It is alot of fun and you can see some really colorful and neat marine life. Unfortunately, I am not any good at at it. Anything that involves my head being underwater does not usually turn out too great. I had alot of fun though and will have some good underwater pictures from other people!
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Catamaran and Snorkeling
It was an amazing day. I laid out on a catamaran and got to snorkel. We had great food for lunch and I applied extra sunscreen and still got burnt. I wouldn't have had it any other way. It was soooo much fun. I would do that every weekend and its got me thinking... maybe I'll buy a catamaran or a sail boat when I retire. This photo is of Vanessa and I. She's a cool girl!
Deep Sea Submarine!
There are only 10 places in the world where you can take a submarine below the surface to view marine life. In Mauritius, I was able to do this. It was fun, but hard to take pictures because they didn't turn out very well underwater!
OOO LA LA!
Mauritius is the place to go for the best beaches! The water is so clear, blue, and gorgeous. As you can see from this photo, it looks like paradise. I have labeled it my new "happy place!
Toga Party on the ship!
I live on the second floor of the ship. It's the basement really but we our resident director had a social and we all got together for a toga party in the faculty/staff lounge. It was a good time. In this photo is Cara, me, and Eddie.
good pic
This is another one of my favorite pictures. It was taked at Operation Hunger and it shows how interested in the cameras the kids are. They have never seen a photo of themselves and they love being able to pusht the buttoms and see their picture on the back.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Table Mountain
So, I have already described my hike up Table Mountain. I was so glad to be at the top! However, as I mentioned before, some of views on the way up were just as good, if not better. This photo in particular was taken on the way up. The photos I have from the top of the mountain show the other side of it. You can see those later.
Habitat for Humanity
Day 4 in Cape Town was the most amazing by far. Here is a picture of us working on the house. As you can see, it's nothing too super fancy but it sure is a step up from the shacks that surround it. This house was 45 square meters for Ethel and her family.
Operation Hunger
I had an amazing experience at Operation Hunger. It was Day 3 in Africa and this is one of many pictures of some of the kids I spent the day playing with. I have some cute videos of them singing as well.
Tic Tac Toe
Here is a photo, also from Day 2, with Branden. We played tic tac toe for quite a while. When we were finished, I gave him a small flip-open notepad that my school's bookstore had given me. I made him one last tic tac toe chart, and told him to have a ball! He was X, he likes x's.
Amy Biehl Foundation
These boys were so happy to have their picture taken. The Amy Biehl Foudation is described in the Day 2 posting on Africa.
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