India from Joannes Eyes
Of all of the places we have been thus far, India defies description for me. Imagine a country that is home to three times the number of people as the US, but only they are living in a third of the space. Picture the disparity between the rich and the poor to be far greater than what is seen in the US.
We arrived in the port city of Chennai. We had been warned that it would be crowded, people would be all over us and we would see things we have never seen in the US. For us in our strata at home, we can remain fairly insulated to the plight of the poor. We may see the occasional homeless person and it is fairly easy to avert your eyes or not walk on that street. In India everywhere you look people/ families are living on the streets. Beggars are all around and begging is the only way of life for millions. There is traffic, crowds, pollution, trash and noise. There is a smell that is a mixture of sweet flowers mixed in with putrid sour smells. We had heard about this and it was very easy to see all of this when we arrived. As you might be thinking now, if this is true, why would anyone go to India?? It must be so disturbing and depressing. I was prepared for those feelings and was even a bit scared to witness this place, but I somehow felt that it was important for me to see this country that has such a rich history. I thought perhaps in seeing this troubled society that I would somehow be shocked into activism or action and maybe this was something that I needed. How do I describe what I came to see, to know and ultimately to absolutely love enough to truly wish to return? Let me tell you about our visit and perhaps you will come to understand.
During our first day, Kevin had arranged a faculty directed practicum to a place know as “One Roof.” It is basically a for profit concept that franchises internet cafes in poor rural small towns. Once the credibility is established, the vision of the program is to use the sites as a gathering place to train people in computer skills, provide them with health information and the like. One of Kevin’s colleagues’ husband is one of the founders and his wife (also in HIV work) plans to launch some AIDS awareness education programs from these locations throughout the world. Hence, this is how we came to know about one roof. It is a wonderful concept.
We arrived there on a Sunday afternoon with a small group of students. We traveled about an hour out of town. As Kevin said, “the journey was worth the price of admission.” All of our way throughout India, I absolutely loved seeing the villages and observing the people. It is not uncommon to see a Ox pulled cart next to a motor scooter with a woman riding side saddle in a colorful silk sari holding a baby on her lap. You see families toiling in the fields in brightly colored clothes. Women carry baskets and all kinds of things on their heads. Small children carry their baby siblings. Yes there are cows roaming in the roads and no one seems to take notice of them. You see families walking everywhere, children, young folk, old folks. When we arrived at One Roof, we were greeted so warmly by a group of their village who were the workers at this facility. Each of us was given flowers and our heads were painted with the red dot and they placed a gold dot on our throats as their way of greeting us in Indian fashion. Clearly this was a poor town, but there was nothing about this welcome that would indicate that they could not afford to show hospitality for their guest. We were offered cold drinks and cookies while they shared with us about their business. They eagerly answered our questions and they took pictures of us. I would bet almost as many folks took pictures of us in India as we did of them. We were a bit of an attraction wherever we went. We were always treated with warmth and as though we were friends they had not met yet.
After the sharing of the business concept, one of the workers invited us out to see his home, which was basically a cluster of shacks next to rice fields. When we got out there he wanted to give us some pulled up rice plants and paid an old man on the road to treat all of us to coconut milk which we sipped with straws right from the coconut. Clearly these were not rich people, but it was so important to them to make us feel welcomed and we all left feeling all the richer because of this encounter. I tell you these details just to try to give you a sense of what we experienced consistently and throughout India. There is contentment, calm, a peacefulness of the people that is not seen in the US. They have so much less than we do. Their lives are so much more challenging than ours, but they still smile, still take time to enjoy what they have. It is a sense and feeling that is hard to put to words.
Our first night we went to a reception hosted by the local University. We listened to some music and watched some traditional dancing. The next morning was an early calling. Kevin and I were leaders on a SAS trip to the Taj Mahal. Along with one other adult, we took seventy students to Delhi, Agra and visited the Taj Mahal. We started the day at 4AM with our flight to Delhi. As part of the experience, we then traveled by train in the middle of a very warm day on a non air conditioned train for four hours to the ancient town of Agra. The train ride was such a treat. With the windows open we rolled through many villages, traveled across the plains stopping at dozens of stations along the way. I was struck by the beautiful colors and beautiful faces. Women carrying babies and baskets full of all sorts of things on their heads. We saw homes made of mud and straw along with shacks made from old train cars. We watched folks tilling in the fields and washing their clothes in the river. There were carts being pulled by animals. Just all sorts of new and wonderful sites were there to observe. We were also quite the sight for them being the only non-Indians on the train. There seemed to be a constant flow of traffic through our train car and in some cases folks were looking for excuses to get a look at us. Folks were selling Chi tea, foods, trinkets and all sorts of things. There were many poor folks begging and diseases that I couldn’t even recognize. By the time we arrived, we were covered in dirt, but somehow India seemed to have literally and figuratively gotten under our skin.
The next day we were able to view the Taj Mahal at sunrise and again at sunset with visits to beautiful ancient forts in between. It is a site that is so spectacular. I know our pictures can not begin to do justice, but the images will remain in our memories forever. We returned late that night to Delhi, but this time by an air conditioned express train. That night quite tired from our very full day, Kevin and I wound down over a beer at the bar and were treated to some local hospitality by the bar tender who showed us “bar tricks” which were basically puzzles with tooth picks. It was a fun slice of local color.
The next day we did the whirlwind tour of Delhi. Unfortunately we did not have more time as it appeared to be a very beautiful city much like our own Washington D.C. with very beautiful Parliament buildings and open spaces with spectacular monuments. It is far more a modern city than Chennai. It was quite amusing to see the roaming of the cows mixed in with the traffic and the crowds. The cows are unfazed by the cars. We were fortunate enough to have time to spend at the Gandhi Museum. It was such a wonderful tribute to his life and to his work. I was again struck by the ability of one person to make such a huge impact on the world with such simple non-violent y. tools…
Our last day, we decided to skip our planned organized trip to take a day to really explore the city on our own. Kevin was amazed at my calm as we rode in the powered trishaw weaving in and out of the most insane traffic I have ever seen. The horns go constantly as sort of a steady conversation and there are very few traffic lights but somehow folks manage to make their way across town. We did our share of shopping including buying some spectacular fabrics to cover my couches and chairs and also buying a wonderful hand tied silk rug. I am excited to be able to bring a part of India home with me to become part of my home. While shopping we again were treated to such hospitality that remains the most impressive part of India to me. One seriously woman invited us to her home for lunch, but when we declined she made sure that we sat and enjoyed a cup of Chai Tea with her. The guy that we bought the rug from walked us to a place for lunch and then came back in a half of an hour to help us find our way back. We really were made to feel welcome and it was more than a feeling that it was because they wanted us to spend our money. It was a feeling that it was just the way people should treat one another.
I know that India is far from a romantic and perfect place. Millions of people live in their streets and go to bed hungry every night. You are born into a cast and you will most certainly die within that cast. Wives and husbands are still chosen for you. There is evidence of poor health care, disease and malnourishment everywhere. Somehow in all of this hardship, there is this sense of acceptance and of peace that I have not seen in the states. I believe we could both learn and teach one another much to bring a better quality of life to both countries. As I stated when I started, my experience sort of defies description. I only know that I miss India and wish I could come to know her better.
Namaste
Joanne
Friday, April 6, 2007
Malaysia and Alissa
Hey everyone,
Before I begin my entry on Malaysia, I would like to tell you about the April Fools joke that the ship doctor decided to play on everyone during global studies that day. Before class started, he came on the mic saying that he had been up all night dealing with two people on the ship who were found to have Leprosy. He said that it was a weird strain that could spread fast and that one of the main symptoms is the softening of the cartilage in you nose and ears, so that we needed to check and make sure that we were still fine. In the mean time, I was freaking out with my heart beating really fast because as it was I was sick with a cold and terrified that I possibly got something worse in India. I was even so suggestible that I believed that the cartilage in my ears felt softer than usual. Well after he let this go on for a few minutes, he said that this sort of problem usually occurs on a certain day every year and this is when we all remembered that it was April Fools Day. I was so relieved, but it took a few minutes for my heart to return to its normal pace. Anyways I hope you enjoyed this brief story and now I will tell you about Malaysia.
When I arrived in Malaysia, I had no idea what to really expect since I hadn’t learned much about it while growing up. On entrance, I learned that Penang is actually an island, and the island looks like a turtle. The only way to get to the mainland is by ferry or by taxi along the 3rd longest bridge in the world. Another aspect of Malaysia, which is new on this journey, is we had to take a tender boat to shore instead of just docking. This made it a lot more difficult to get on and off the ship. For my first day in Malaysia, I went on an orientation of the island. Our first stop on this tour was the Butterfly Farm. In this farm, there were butterflies everywhere. They were so large and so beautiful. I had never seen anything like it. At this butterfly farm, there were also other types of animals such as reptiles, insects, and weird pig-nosed turtles. It was very interesting. The next stop on our tour was the Snake Temple. At this Buddhist temple, snakes are found on the altar as well as in small trees around the temple. It was a little creepy because at all times I was scared that a snake would just slither around at my feet but luckily, they all stayed off the ground. The next stop of the day was for lunch at a local Chinese Restaurant. The food that was served to our table, almost all contained seafood. I even accidentally ate fish that I thought was fried chicken with sweet and sour sauce. I had two helpings before I discovered that it was fish and then I was done with my meal for the day, since I do not enjoy eating seafood. After leaving this restaurant, we continued on to the largest Buddhist Temple in South East Asia, called Kek Lok Si Temple and Pagoda. In order to get to this temple we had to climb many steps that went through tourist shopping. Upon almost reaching the top, there is a little pond known as Liberation Pond where hundreds of turtles live. The reason there are so many turtles here is because people buy the turtles and then bring them here to let them be free. It was very cool. Finally, after a few more steps we reached the temple and pagoda. The temple was beautiful because there were many Buddha statues and very pretty art and architecture. After spending about twenty minutes at the top, we went down to the bus and continued to the next stop on the trip. The next stop was the botanical gardens where we walked around for a little bit and learned some information about the trees and animals. At these gardens, there were tons of very cute monkeys just running around. After the botanical gardens there was one more stop to a clan house, but unfortunately the tour was running about 1½ hours late so I had to get off at the dock to go back to the ship for a trip that I had signed up for the night that I really did not want to miss. My roommate Sheryl continued onto the house and said that it was very cool, but I enjoyed my night activity as well. I went to a welcome reception at the local college, Universiti Sains Malaysia. At this reception, we were welcomed with a 45-minute shadow puppet performance, which was very fascinating. I had never seen a performance like it before. After the performance, we were allowed to go behind stage to see how the performers use the puppets and to see all of the instruments that they were playing during the performance. All of the students were very nice and fun to talk to. After the performance, they served us local snacks and then we departed to go back to the ship. After this long exciting day, I was exhausted and went to bed.
The next day I slept in until about 11:00, then got ready for the day, and had some lunch. Sheryl and I had absolutely no idea what we wanted to do that day so we went to the field office desk to try to get some ideas. We wrote down three places to go see and then we went back to our room to discuss the plan for the day. We felt very lazy and weren’t sure if we actually wanted to do anything. By about 2:15, we finally got the energy up to go across to the dock where we planned on just walking around. Once we got there, a cab driver convinced us to go with him so we did. The first stop we went to was two Buddhist temples that were across the street from each other. The first was the temple for the happy Buddha and he definitely looked happy. When walking around this temple there was a wishing pool that had a revolving statue sort of thing that had bowls, each with something you would wish for. The one I decided to aim for was good health since I had a cold. I made it in the bowl, and when I was done, I turned and immediately tripped two or three times. It was absolutely hysterical. After viewing this temple, we went across the street to see the other temple that had a massive 800-foot long sleeping Buddha. This temple is for people who have been cremated and there urns can be placed underneath this sleeping beauty. It was very interesting. I guess this was sort of the Buddhist cemetery. After the temple, we had originally planned on going to the shopping mall, but while in the taxi we decided that neither one of us actually wanted to shop, so we instead decided to go to a Batik Factory and then to Penang Hill. The Batik Factory makes very interesting cloth by using wax to make the design and then a paint brush to color the rest of the fabric. These fabrics were absolutely gorgeous, but when Sheryl and I went in to possibly buy something, it was more expensive than we were willing to pay. After this factory, we went to Penang Hill, which is a very tall mountain in Malaysia. In order to get up this hill you either have to hike for four hours or take a trolly on the funicular railway, which takes about a half an hour. We decided to take the trolly, where we happened to run into one of the professors from the ship, with his wife, and two kids, whom Sheryl tutors on the ship. We spent our time with them on the hill while we marveled at the view of the whole island. After spending 45 minutes atop the hill, we went back down on the trolley. On the way down, we were able to see a bunch of monkeys swinging around in the trees. It was pretty amazing. Once we reached the bottom of the hill, we took a cab back to the port with the family that we had run into. It was nice to have the security of other people when we got down the hill and had to find a cab. Once I got back on the ship I had dinner, did some homework, and then went to sleep. Sheryl and I were very proud of our adventures this day because we both were very unmotivated and tired that morning and really didn’t know what to do. We ended up doing all three things that we had listed on our paper earlier that day.
The next morning I once again got to sleep in because my trip did not leave until 12:20. The trip for this day was a religion tour of Malaysia. The first place we stopped was at an Anglican Church that was created in memory of Captain Francis Light, who was the founder of Penang. Unfortunately, this church was closed for the day so we were only able to view it from the outside. The next stop was to Kuan Yin Teng, which is the Goddess of Mercy Temple. It is believed to be the oldest Taoist Temple in all of Penang. At this temple there was so much incense being burned that it was a little hard to breathe, but I made it through and was able to see all of the prayer and rituals taking place in the temple. An interesting thing that I learned about Chinese religions is that they sell all kinds of paper goods, such as clothes, cars, money, cell phones, computers, plus many others, that the Chinese can burn to give to their dead ancestors. They believe that once it is burned it goes into the realm of the dead. I thought that this whole idea was a little strange because a lot of stores were just selling items that were going to be burned. Anyways, after leaving this temple we continued down the street to the Hindu Temple, Sri Mariamman, which was also closed for the day. Even though we were not allowed to enter, I didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything because I had already seen so many Hindu temples in previous countries. The next stop, which was also right down the street, was at the Kapitan Keling Mosque. When we got there, I was scared that we weren’t going to be allowed inside because other groups from the ship had already attempted at going in mosques and failed. Luckily, the man in charge at this mosque came out and said that we were allowed in because we were traveling around the world to learn about all aspects of life in all the cultures, so he wanted us to be able to experience a mosque. He was very kind, told us all about Islam, and even offered us free books to learn more about the religion. Overall, I was so excited to learn more about Islam because for my religion class we had to write a paper about mosques and the religion and I had yet to be able to view a mosque, inside and out. After the mosque, we got back in our bus and continued to our last stop of the day, which was the Kek Lok Si Temple, which Sheryl and I had already viewed two-days prior. Since we had already climbed all the way to the top, we decided to take it slow and look at all the tourist stuff along the way. After staying at this temple for an hour and a half, the bus took us back to the ship. When I got to the ship, I had dinner, did a little homework, and then waited until Alex and his family arrived back from their 3-day stay at Langkawi Island. They finally came back at about 9:20 pm, and we then went up to the deck to hang out, enjoy some ice-cream cake, and to spend some time with Tyler an Sara before they had to leave the following day. It was very nice to see them since it has been a while. After hanging out for a couple hours we all went to sleep.
The next morning I was supposed to sleep in because Sheryl went on a service visit in the morning, but unfortunately all of the work I had to do kept running through my head so I woke up and got some homework done before going out for the last time in Malaysia. When Sheryl came back, we had some lunch, and then went back to shore to go to a tourist information center to get a souvenir map and then to go to an internet café. This was an adventure, because we kept having to ask for directions because the internet café was a lot further than we thought and we wanted to make sure we were on the right track. We finally found an internet café that was nice and cheap, only 3 ringits an hour, which is a little less than $1. I was able to check my mail as well as search for classes that I will be taking next semester. After spending an hour at the internet café, we walked back and tried to find a pay phone for Sheryl to use. Once we finally got to one, she unfortunately could not get the phone card to work, so we just went back to the ship. While we were out on the last day, it was a little scary because we had to cross several main streets and there are absolutely no traffic signals for people to cross the street at. Luckily, we were quick and made it across with no harm every time. Well this was my whole adventure in Malaysia. It was nice and relaxing, and I felt that I was able to enjoy the entire island of Penang.
Since it is now the day after I left Malaysia, there are a few additional things that I would like to tell you about our ship ride today. Well we started out so slow, at an average speed of only 9 knots per hour. Today the crew also had to do a man overboard drill, so they threw a life jacket overboard, turned the ship around, and sent a lifeboat out to rescue the life jacket. We then continued the day by just making turns for the most part. It was the strangest thing. I think they were trying to waste some time before going fast through the Strait of Malacca, which is where all the pirates are. Well finally at about 7:00 pm they sped the ship up to its maximum speed in the high 20 knot zone to quickly get through this dangerous pirate area of the water. We will probably be going this fast until tomorrow morning and then we will be bunkering in Singapore to refuel before finishing the journey to Vietnam. Anyways I hope that you have all found my stories interesting. Sorry that this has been another long entry, I just am doing so much in such a short period. Well I hope you are all doing well and I miss you all!
Love always,
Alissa
Before I begin my entry on Malaysia, I would like to tell you about the April Fools joke that the ship doctor decided to play on everyone during global studies that day. Before class started, he came on the mic saying that he had been up all night dealing with two people on the ship who were found to have Leprosy. He said that it was a weird strain that could spread fast and that one of the main symptoms is the softening of the cartilage in you nose and ears, so that we needed to check and make sure that we were still fine. In the mean time, I was freaking out with my heart beating really fast because as it was I was sick with a cold and terrified that I possibly got something worse in India. I was even so suggestible that I believed that the cartilage in my ears felt softer than usual. Well after he let this go on for a few minutes, he said that this sort of problem usually occurs on a certain day every year and this is when we all remembered that it was April Fools Day. I was so relieved, but it took a few minutes for my heart to return to its normal pace. Anyways I hope you enjoyed this brief story and now I will tell you about Malaysia.
When I arrived in Malaysia, I had no idea what to really expect since I hadn’t learned much about it while growing up. On entrance, I learned that Penang is actually an island, and the island looks like a turtle. The only way to get to the mainland is by ferry or by taxi along the 3rd longest bridge in the world. Another aspect of Malaysia, which is new on this journey, is we had to take a tender boat to shore instead of just docking. This made it a lot more difficult to get on and off the ship. For my first day in Malaysia, I went on an orientation of the island. Our first stop on this tour was the Butterfly Farm. In this farm, there were butterflies everywhere. They were so large and so beautiful. I had never seen anything like it. At this butterfly farm, there were also other types of animals such as reptiles, insects, and weird pig-nosed turtles. It was very interesting. The next stop on our tour was the Snake Temple. At this Buddhist temple, snakes are found on the altar as well as in small trees around the temple. It was a little creepy because at all times I was scared that a snake would just slither around at my feet but luckily, they all stayed off the ground. The next stop of the day was for lunch at a local Chinese Restaurant. The food that was served to our table, almost all contained seafood. I even accidentally ate fish that I thought was fried chicken with sweet and sour sauce. I had two helpings before I discovered that it was fish and then I was done with my meal for the day, since I do not enjoy eating seafood. After leaving this restaurant, we continued on to the largest Buddhist Temple in South East Asia, called Kek Lok Si Temple and Pagoda. In order to get to this temple we had to climb many steps that went through tourist shopping. Upon almost reaching the top, there is a little pond known as Liberation Pond where hundreds of turtles live. The reason there are so many turtles here is because people buy the turtles and then bring them here to let them be free. It was very cool. Finally, after a few more steps we reached the temple and pagoda. The temple was beautiful because there were many Buddha statues and very pretty art and architecture. After spending about twenty minutes at the top, we went down to the bus and continued to the next stop on the trip. The next stop was the botanical gardens where we walked around for a little bit and learned some information about the trees and animals. At these gardens, there were tons of very cute monkeys just running around. After the botanical gardens there was one more stop to a clan house, but unfortunately the tour was running about 1½ hours late so I had to get off at the dock to go back to the ship for a trip that I had signed up for the night that I really did not want to miss. My roommate Sheryl continued onto the house and said that it was very cool, but I enjoyed my night activity as well. I went to a welcome reception at the local college, Universiti Sains Malaysia. At this reception, we were welcomed with a 45-minute shadow puppet performance, which was very fascinating. I had never seen a performance like it before. After the performance, we were allowed to go behind stage to see how the performers use the puppets and to see all of the instruments that they were playing during the performance. All of the students were very nice and fun to talk to. After the performance, they served us local snacks and then we departed to go back to the ship. After this long exciting day, I was exhausted and went to bed.
The next day I slept in until about 11:00, then got ready for the day, and had some lunch. Sheryl and I had absolutely no idea what we wanted to do that day so we went to the field office desk to try to get some ideas. We wrote down three places to go see and then we went back to our room to discuss the plan for the day. We felt very lazy and weren’t sure if we actually wanted to do anything. By about 2:15, we finally got the energy up to go across to the dock where we planned on just walking around. Once we got there, a cab driver convinced us to go with him so we did. The first stop we went to was two Buddhist temples that were across the street from each other. The first was the temple for the happy Buddha and he definitely looked happy. When walking around this temple there was a wishing pool that had a revolving statue sort of thing that had bowls, each with something you would wish for. The one I decided to aim for was good health since I had a cold. I made it in the bowl, and when I was done, I turned and immediately tripped two or three times. It was absolutely hysterical. After viewing this temple, we went across the street to see the other temple that had a massive 800-foot long sleeping Buddha. This temple is for people who have been cremated and there urns can be placed underneath this sleeping beauty. It was very interesting. I guess this was sort of the Buddhist cemetery. After the temple, we had originally planned on going to the shopping mall, but while in the taxi we decided that neither one of us actually wanted to shop, so we instead decided to go to a Batik Factory and then to Penang Hill. The Batik Factory makes very interesting cloth by using wax to make the design and then a paint brush to color the rest of the fabric. These fabrics were absolutely gorgeous, but when Sheryl and I went in to possibly buy something, it was more expensive than we were willing to pay. After this factory, we went to Penang Hill, which is a very tall mountain in Malaysia. In order to get up this hill you either have to hike for four hours or take a trolly on the funicular railway, which takes about a half an hour. We decided to take the trolly, where we happened to run into one of the professors from the ship, with his wife, and two kids, whom Sheryl tutors on the ship. We spent our time with them on the hill while we marveled at the view of the whole island. After spending 45 minutes atop the hill, we went back down on the trolley. On the way down, we were able to see a bunch of monkeys swinging around in the trees. It was pretty amazing. Once we reached the bottom of the hill, we took a cab back to the port with the family that we had run into. It was nice to have the security of other people when we got down the hill and had to find a cab. Once I got back on the ship I had dinner, did some homework, and then went to sleep. Sheryl and I were very proud of our adventures this day because we both were very unmotivated and tired that morning and really didn’t know what to do. We ended up doing all three things that we had listed on our paper earlier that day.
The next morning I once again got to sleep in because my trip did not leave until 12:20. The trip for this day was a religion tour of Malaysia. The first place we stopped was at an Anglican Church that was created in memory of Captain Francis Light, who was the founder of Penang. Unfortunately, this church was closed for the day so we were only able to view it from the outside. The next stop was to Kuan Yin Teng, which is the Goddess of Mercy Temple. It is believed to be the oldest Taoist Temple in all of Penang. At this temple there was so much incense being burned that it was a little hard to breathe, but I made it through and was able to see all of the prayer and rituals taking place in the temple. An interesting thing that I learned about Chinese religions is that they sell all kinds of paper goods, such as clothes, cars, money, cell phones, computers, plus many others, that the Chinese can burn to give to their dead ancestors. They believe that once it is burned it goes into the realm of the dead. I thought that this whole idea was a little strange because a lot of stores were just selling items that were going to be burned. Anyways, after leaving this temple we continued down the street to the Hindu Temple, Sri Mariamman, which was also closed for the day. Even though we were not allowed to enter, I didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything because I had already seen so many Hindu temples in previous countries. The next stop, which was also right down the street, was at the Kapitan Keling Mosque. When we got there, I was scared that we weren’t going to be allowed inside because other groups from the ship had already attempted at going in mosques and failed. Luckily, the man in charge at this mosque came out and said that we were allowed in because we were traveling around the world to learn about all aspects of life in all the cultures, so he wanted us to be able to experience a mosque. He was very kind, told us all about Islam, and even offered us free books to learn more about the religion. Overall, I was so excited to learn more about Islam because for my religion class we had to write a paper about mosques and the religion and I had yet to be able to view a mosque, inside and out. After the mosque, we got back in our bus and continued to our last stop of the day, which was the Kek Lok Si Temple, which Sheryl and I had already viewed two-days prior. Since we had already climbed all the way to the top, we decided to take it slow and look at all the tourist stuff along the way. After staying at this temple for an hour and a half, the bus took us back to the ship. When I got to the ship, I had dinner, did a little homework, and then waited until Alex and his family arrived back from their 3-day stay at Langkawi Island. They finally came back at about 9:20 pm, and we then went up to the deck to hang out, enjoy some ice-cream cake, and to spend some time with Tyler an Sara before they had to leave the following day. It was very nice to see them since it has been a while. After hanging out for a couple hours we all went to sleep.
The next morning I was supposed to sleep in because Sheryl went on a service visit in the morning, but unfortunately all of the work I had to do kept running through my head so I woke up and got some homework done before going out for the last time in Malaysia. When Sheryl came back, we had some lunch, and then went back to shore to go to a tourist information center to get a souvenir map and then to go to an internet café. This was an adventure, because we kept having to ask for directions because the internet café was a lot further than we thought and we wanted to make sure we were on the right track. We finally found an internet café that was nice and cheap, only 3 ringits an hour, which is a little less than $1. I was able to check my mail as well as search for classes that I will be taking next semester. After spending an hour at the internet café, we walked back and tried to find a pay phone for Sheryl to use. Once we finally got to one, she unfortunately could not get the phone card to work, so we just went back to the ship. While we were out on the last day, it was a little scary because we had to cross several main streets and there are absolutely no traffic signals for people to cross the street at. Luckily, we were quick and made it across with no harm every time. Well this was my whole adventure in Malaysia. It was nice and relaxing, and I felt that I was able to enjoy the entire island of Penang.
Since it is now the day after I left Malaysia, there are a few additional things that I would like to tell you about our ship ride today. Well we started out so slow, at an average speed of only 9 knots per hour. Today the crew also had to do a man overboard drill, so they threw a life jacket overboard, turned the ship around, and sent a lifeboat out to rescue the life jacket. We then continued the day by just making turns for the most part. It was the strangest thing. I think they were trying to waste some time before going fast through the Strait of Malacca, which is where all the pirates are. Well finally at about 7:00 pm they sped the ship up to its maximum speed in the high 20 knot zone to quickly get through this dangerous pirate area of the water. We will probably be going this fast until tomorrow morning and then we will be bunkering in Singapore to refuel before finishing the journey to Vietnam. Anyways I hope that you have all found my stories interesting. Sorry that this has been another long entry, I just am doing so much in such a short period. Well I hope you are all doing well and I miss you all!
Love always,
Alissa
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Alissa's Adventures in India
Hey everyone,
I am sitting here the night before Malaysia reflecting on my travels through India. It is strange having such a short time between these countries. It has just flown by. Now for India; the first day started with a yoga demonstration by a yoga teacher in India. The demonstrators were very flexible and I have no idea how they got into some of the positions they got into. After the brief demonstration, we got to try out some of the positions. While trying this out I felt very inflexible but it was fun and relaxing. We even did a meditation after. I know you would be proud mom. Once the demonstration was over, I had some lunch until my next trip of the day left, which was the city orientation. On the city orientation, we first stopped at the St. Thomas Cathedral. This cathedral was gorgeous and underneath it was the tomb of St. Thomas, which we also got to go look at. It was amazing how beautiful this building was amongst all the poverty in India. The next stop on this orientation was to our tour guide’s home. It was a quaint little home with a couple stories and we got to meet some of her family. It was amazing that this woman took an entire busload of tourists into her home. She was very nice and trusting. At her home we enjoyed snacks, learned how to wrap a sari, as well as draw designs on the floor with powder, which is the way they design their fabrics. It was all very interesting. The last stop on this city orientation was to a Hindu temple. We walked around it for a little while and saw many people praying. There was also a prayer tree within the temple, which had little cradles and prayers for children. It was very cool. As we walked back to the bus we had a little time to shop and then we were off to go back to the ship. Once we arrived at the ship, we had to rush to eat dinner and then meet in the union for the final trip of the day, the welcome reception. On arriving at the welcome reception, we were greeted by students from India who placed bindy marks on our foreheads as well as on our necks. Then we entered into the place and there were people doing henna on our hands, local snacks we could try, as well as clothing and crafts to buy. I got henna on my hand, which has now faded away. I also bought a skirt that I was able to wear during my stay in India. At the reception, I was able to talk to some students from India who all seem to be studying some form of engineering. It was interesting to talk to them about their country and their studies. The last thing that happened at the reception was a performance by a dancer who was demonstrating Indian dancing. It was very good. I have learned that in every country we have visited it seems as if everyone can dance very well. This was the end of my night in India and all I did was go back to the ship to pack for my 4-day trip around India.
The next morning began very early at 3:40. We had to meet in the Union and then catch our buses to the airport. On arriving at the airport, we had to do the typical airport stuff, such as going through security. Security though was a little different then it is in the States. Men and women are separated into different lines and then when women are scanned for metal items, they are put in a secluded, blocked area and then another woman does the scanning. It was very interesting to see the difference between how men and women are treated. After a little waiting, we finally caught our bus that took us to the plane. This was also something different about the airports here, but the same as it was in South Africa. Once we got on the plane we got situated in our seats and were ready for takeoff. The flight attendants offered us a cold hand towel to wash our hands. Once we were ready to take off music started to play on the plane. I found this strange because I had never heard radio-like music on an airplane. This music lasted until we were at our cruising altitude, and then started up again before our descent. Once our plane landed, we were in Delhi, which was not our final destination for the day. We then had to catch a connecting flight to Varanasi another city in India, which is known as the holiest city for Hindu people. On arrival in Varanasi, we immediately went to the hotel where we had lunch, which was very delicious. After lunch, we took a bus to Sarnath, which is where the Buddha preached his first sermon. We visited the stupa and ruins of the ancient monastery in Sarnath. We also visited the archeological museum that had artifacts from the ruins, which included Hindu and Buddhist items. Once we visited the museum, we continued our journey to a Buddhist temple, which had beautiful paintings of Buddha’s life. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at the Indian Art Emporium, which was a store that sold all sorts of crafts. They even had some men making beautiful silk tapestries the old-fashioned way. It seemed very difficult and time consuming, but the end result was worth it. Overall, at this shop I did not buy anything because it was all overpriced and I think the only reason we went there was so that our tour guide would get a commission. All of the shopping places that our guides took us to in India were always overpriced and not worth buying anything at. Once we were done shopping, we returned to the hotel for dinner and to sleep. The last thing I would like to tell you about for this day is about the hotel. It was a Radisson and was very gorgeous. I felt a little strange staying there though because Varanasi was very poor and all the buildings were very worn down, and then all of a sudden was our gorgeous, modern 9-story high hotel. Anyways this day was very long and filled with exciting new things.
The next day in India began almost as early as the day before, with a wake up call at 4:30. We quickly had some drinks and cookies before going to the River Ganges for an early morning boat ride. The bus dropped us off a few blocks away and then we walked through the busy streets to the River. We then got on the boat, were rowed around the banks of Varanasi, and saw many Hindus bathing in the river, washing clothes, and partaking in the rituals to release their souls from the cycle of rebirth. We also saw where bodies are cremated and there was even a fire going which was burning one of the dead bodies. It was a very disturbing site, and luckily, I couldn’t really see the body. Another interesting part about this boat ride was that there were other boats that were like floating markets and sold jewelry and all sorts of other souvenirs. After an hour or so on the river, we got off the boat and we walked back to the bus. This task sounds easy, but it was so hard. There were people everywhere trying to sell us stuff and begging for money. There were also cows roaming everywhere because they are seen as holy in India to the Hindus, so people do not eat them and just let them do as they please. After this crazy morning, we returned to the hotel for breakfast. We then walked around a little to shop and then returned to the hotel to check out and leave for the airport. We arrived at the airport and left for our hour flight back to Delhi. Once we arrived in Delhi, we first went to the World War I memorial, which was very pretty. There was pretty much an arch, a fountain, and it just kind of looked like a park. We then drove on to view the Parliament building, which kind of looked like the capital building in Washington D.C.. Delhi, on the whole reminded me of all the monuments that can be found in Washington D.C.. After the little tour of Delhi, our tour guide dropped whoever wanted to get off for shopping at some outdoor markets. I got off and was happy to find a few souvenirs. After an hour or so at the market, Alex, Chris, Casey, and I caught a rickshaw to the hotel. This was our first experience on a rickshaw and luckily, the driver was kind and took us with no problems. The only thing that occurred on this ride, was that it was Gold Day for Muslims, so we were stopped for about 15 or 20 minutes while a huge group of Muslims paraded down the streets. This was very interesting, but fortunately, it did not go on for hours. Once we arrived at the hotel, which was absolutely gorgeous, we grabbed our bags and room keys and headed up to the rooms to settle in before dinner. This hotel reminded me of one that you would find in Las Vegas, with tons of shops and restaurants. After about 20 minutes in our rooms, we went downstairs to a restaurant in the hotel named Chinatown. The food at this restaurant was typical Chinese food that we are used to, so I had some rice, vegetables, sweet and sour chicken, and sesame chicken. It was all absolutely amazing. From eating so much of the same food on the ship, it is nice to have a good break every once in a while. Anyways, after dinner a few of us decided to put on our Indian clothes that we had bought, and then go on a photo shoot around the hotel since it was so beautiful. The pictures are very funny and you all have to see them when I get back. Anyways this fun ended the night and I went to sleep.
The next morning once again began at the early hour of 4:15 because we had to quickly get to the train station to catch our train to Agra for the day. The train station was kind of disgusting. There were a bunch of rats and it was just very dirty there. Luckily, I wasn’t too awake to notice too much. Once we got onto the train, I took a nap for the two-hour ride to Agra. On arrival in Agra, we stopped at a hotel for a bathroom break, and then went to Fatehpur Sikri. Fatehpur Sikri is a deserted city, filled with beautiful sandstone palaces. We walked around this area for about an hour and then we returned to the buses to go back to the hotel for lunch. After lunch, we relaxed in the hotel lobby for an hour. During this time, I bought a cheesy t-shirt that says Welcome Semester at Sea on the back, and I also watched a puppet show that a man in the lobby was putting on. It was very interesting. Anyways, after our time at the hotel, we continued touring more of Agra. We first went to the Agra Fort, which was absolutely gorgeous. Most of the fort is made out of the same marble that the Taj Mahal is made out of. From the fort, we could even see the Taj in the distance. It was very exciting and it gave us a preview of what was to come. On leaving the fort, we then went to the amazing Taj Mahal. It took a while to go through security to enter, but once we entered, a few of us closed our eyes until the whole Taj would be in view and then we opened them. The Taj was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. It seemed so unreal. I can’t imagine how someone constructed it. Supposedly the builder after he finished the Taj, he had plans of building a black Taj Mahal right across the river, but instead his son put him in jail so that he wouldn’t waste anymore money. We stayed at the Taj for about three hours, which was very nice even though it was extremely hot out. We were able to take tons of pictures. At the Taj, many Indians were asking to take pictures with us American girls. It seemed strange but I guess in all of these ports we have been asking to take pictures with all of the locals so I couldn’t refuse the pictures. At the Taj, we even were allowed inside. I didn’t know what to expect, but the only thing in there was the tomb of the builder and his wife, who it was made for. I never realized that the Taj was just basically a massive tomb. Overall, the day was amazing, and after we left the Taj, we went to Pizza Hut to have some dinner and returned to the train station for our trip back to Delhi. The train this time was about twenty minutes late so we had a good amount of time just standing around. It was a weird environment to be in. The military that night was doing a training program at the station so there were tons of military men and guns lined up everywhere. I had never seen so many military men in one place. I didn’t know if I should feel safe or scared that something was wrong. Anyways we finally were able to get on the train, and I once again slept through the two-hour ride. On arriving back at the hotel I packed my stuff up and then went to sleep.
The next morning started with a not as early wake-up call at 6:45. I quickly got ready to leave the hotel, had some breakfast and then headed to the bus to go to the airport. We waited at the airport for about an hour and then took the 2 ½-hour flight back to Chennai. The last thing I will note about the airplanes is that full meals are offered on every flight no matter what time of day it is. This was very cool because it showed that the airlines really cared about customer service. As you know, in the states we don’t even get a meal when we fly all the way across the country. Anyhow, when we got back to Chennai we went to the ship to eat some lunch, before doing a little more shopping in the area. To go shopping we had to catch a rickshaw, and this time we had a real adventure. We were able to get to Spencer’s Plaza with no problem, and our drivers waited while we shopped for an hour or two. While we shopped, one of the rickshaw workers followed us around to make sure that we wouldn’t leave without paying. After we were done at the mall, we went back to our rickshaws and thought we would be taken right back to the ship. Well we were in for an adventure, after about 5 minutes of driving, our driver pulled over and tried to convince us to allow him to take us to a little shop where he would be able to make some commission. We said no about a hundred times and were almost just going to walk away without paying. Finally after about 5 or 10 minutes of arguing a policeman came up to the driver and told him not to mess with us, so the driver finally agreed to just take us directly to the ship. After about another 10 minutes of driving we arrived at the gate area to the port and the rickshaw drivers dropped us off. Before we took the cars, we agreed on a price of 50 rupees a person, which is a little over $1. Once we arrived, they were trying to get us to pay $5 a person and we said no and just gave them what we had agreed on, plus 50 rupees more for each driver. We then had to walk for a little while through the port in order to get back on the ship. I was very excited to get back on the ship. It was strange that night; we went out on the seventh deck to watch people come back late, and once we got up there it was disgusting. The crew hadn’t washed the deck the whole time we were in India since we were trying to conserve water, and the air in India is very dirty and polluted. It was definitely weird seeing the deck almost completely black.
There is one last thing that I totally forgot to mention about my trip through India. The driving in India is the most insane thing you will ever see in your life. The lines on the street mean absolutely nothing. If there is a car in front of you that you want to go around you just go into the other direction lane and go around them. Even if a car is coming the other way shortly, you just hope that you make it around before the other car comes. Another thing about the driving is that the driver blows the horn almost constantly. It is so annoying. If you thought New York is bad you need to come and experience it in India. The driving in general was the strangest and scariest thing I have ever seen in my life and I would never want to drive there. Anyways it was nice to leave India, even though I had such an amazing time. Luckily, the only illness I contracted was a cold and I think it was mostly due to breathing in such dirty air. Sorry this entry has been so long. I hope you enjoyed reading it and Malaysia will probably be posted in a few days.
I love you all,
Alissa
I am sitting here the night before Malaysia reflecting on my travels through India. It is strange having such a short time between these countries. It has just flown by. Now for India; the first day started with a yoga demonstration by a yoga teacher in India. The demonstrators were very flexible and I have no idea how they got into some of the positions they got into. After the brief demonstration, we got to try out some of the positions. While trying this out I felt very inflexible but it was fun and relaxing. We even did a meditation after. I know you would be proud mom. Once the demonstration was over, I had some lunch until my next trip of the day left, which was the city orientation. On the city orientation, we first stopped at the St. Thomas Cathedral. This cathedral was gorgeous and underneath it was the tomb of St. Thomas, which we also got to go look at. It was amazing how beautiful this building was amongst all the poverty in India. The next stop on this orientation was to our tour guide’s home. It was a quaint little home with a couple stories and we got to meet some of her family. It was amazing that this woman took an entire busload of tourists into her home. She was very nice and trusting. At her home we enjoyed snacks, learned how to wrap a sari, as well as draw designs on the floor with powder, which is the way they design their fabrics. It was all very interesting. The last stop on this city orientation was to a Hindu temple. We walked around it for a little while and saw many people praying. There was also a prayer tree within the temple, which had little cradles and prayers for children. It was very cool. As we walked back to the bus we had a little time to shop and then we were off to go back to the ship. Once we arrived at the ship, we had to rush to eat dinner and then meet in the union for the final trip of the day, the welcome reception. On arriving at the welcome reception, we were greeted by students from India who placed bindy marks on our foreheads as well as on our necks. Then we entered into the place and there were people doing henna on our hands, local snacks we could try, as well as clothing and crafts to buy. I got henna on my hand, which has now faded away. I also bought a skirt that I was able to wear during my stay in India. At the reception, I was able to talk to some students from India who all seem to be studying some form of engineering. It was interesting to talk to them about their country and their studies. The last thing that happened at the reception was a performance by a dancer who was demonstrating Indian dancing. It was very good. I have learned that in every country we have visited it seems as if everyone can dance very well. This was the end of my night in India and all I did was go back to the ship to pack for my 4-day trip around India.
The next morning began very early at 3:40. We had to meet in the Union and then catch our buses to the airport. On arriving at the airport, we had to do the typical airport stuff, such as going through security. Security though was a little different then it is in the States. Men and women are separated into different lines and then when women are scanned for metal items, they are put in a secluded, blocked area and then another woman does the scanning. It was very interesting to see the difference between how men and women are treated. After a little waiting, we finally caught our bus that took us to the plane. This was also something different about the airports here, but the same as it was in South Africa. Once we got on the plane we got situated in our seats and were ready for takeoff. The flight attendants offered us a cold hand towel to wash our hands. Once we were ready to take off music started to play on the plane. I found this strange because I had never heard radio-like music on an airplane. This music lasted until we were at our cruising altitude, and then started up again before our descent. Once our plane landed, we were in Delhi, which was not our final destination for the day. We then had to catch a connecting flight to Varanasi another city in India, which is known as the holiest city for Hindu people. On arrival in Varanasi, we immediately went to the hotel where we had lunch, which was very delicious. After lunch, we took a bus to Sarnath, which is where the Buddha preached his first sermon. We visited the stupa and ruins of the ancient monastery in Sarnath. We also visited the archeological museum that had artifacts from the ruins, which included Hindu and Buddhist items. Once we visited the museum, we continued our journey to a Buddhist temple, which had beautiful paintings of Buddha’s life. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at the Indian Art Emporium, which was a store that sold all sorts of crafts. They even had some men making beautiful silk tapestries the old-fashioned way. It seemed very difficult and time consuming, but the end result was worth it. Overall, at this shop I did not buy anything because it was all overpriced and I think the only reason we went there was so that our tour guide would get a commission. All of the shopping places that our guides took us to in India were always overpriced and not worth buying anything at. Once we were done shopping, we returned to the hotel for dinner and to sleep. The last thing I would like to tell you about for this day is about the hotel. It was a Radisson and was very gorgeous. I felt a little strange staying there though because Varanasi was very poor and all the buildings were very worn down, and then all of a sudden was our gorgeous, modern 9-story high hotel. Anyways this day was very long and filled with exciting new things.
The next day in India began almost as early as the day before, with a wake up call at 4:30. We quickly had some drinks and cookies before going to the River Ganges for an early morning boat ride. The bus dropped us off a few blocks away and then we walked through the busy streets to the River. We then got on the boat, were rowed around the banks of Varanasi, and saw many Hindus bathing in the river, washing clothes, and partaking in the rituals to release their souls from the cycle of rebirth. We also saw where bodies are cremated and there was even a fire going which was burning one of the dead bodies. It was a very disturbing site, and luckily, I couldn’t really see the body. Another interesting part about this boat ride was that there were other boats that were like floating markets and sold jewelry and all sorts of other souvenirs. After an hour or so on the river, we got off the boat and we walked back to the bus. This task sounds easy, but it was so hard. There were people everywhere trying to sell us stuff and begging for money. There were also cows roaming everywhere because they are seen as holy in India to the Hindus, so people do not eat them and just let them do as they please. After this crazy morning, we returned to the hotel for breakfast. We then walked around a little to shop and then returned to the hotel to check out and leave for the airport. We arrived at the airport and left for our hour flight back to Delhi. Once we arrived in Delhi, we first went to the World War I memorial, which was very pretty. There was pretty much an arch, a fountain, and it just kind of looked like a park. We then drove on to view the Parliament building, which kind of looked like the capital building in Washington D.C.. Delhi, on the whole reminded me of all the monuments that can be found in Washington D.C.. After the little tour of Delhi, our tour guide dropped whoever wanted to get off for shopping at some outdoor markets. I got off and was happy to find a few souvenirs. After an hour or so at the market, Alex, Chris, Casey, and I caught a rickshaw to the hotel. This was our first experience on a rickshaw and luckily, the driver was kind and took us with no problems. The only thing that occurred on this ride, was that it was Gold Day for Muslims, so we were stopped for about 15 or 20 minutes while a huge group of Muslims paraded down the streets. This was very interesting, but fortunately, it did not go on for hours. Once we arrived at the hotel, which was absolutely gorgeous, we grabbed our bags and room keys and headed up to the rooms to settle in before dinner. This hotel reminded me of one that you would find in Las Vegas, with tons of shops and restaurants. After about 20 minutes in our rooms, we went downstairs to a restaurant in the hotel named Chinatown. The food at this restaurant was typical Chinese food that we are used to, so I had some rice, vegetables, sweet and sour chicken, and sesame chicken. It was all absolutely amazing. From eating so much of the same food on the ship, it is nice to have a good break every once in a while. Anyways, after dinner a few of us decided to put on our Indian clothes that we had bought, and then go on a photo shoot around the hotel since it was so beautiful. The pictures are very funny and you all have to see them when I get back. Anyways this fun ended the night and I went to sleep.
The next morning once again began at the early hour of 4:15 because we had to quickly get to the train station to catch our train to Agra for the day. The train station was kind of disgusting. There were a bunch of rats and it was just very dirty there. Luckily, I wasn’t too awake to notice too much. Once we got onto the train, I took a nap for the two-hour ride to Agra. On arrival in Agra, we stopped at a hotel for a bathroom break, and then went to Fatehpur Sikri. Fatehpur Sikri is a deserted city, filled with beautiful sandstone palaces. We walked around this area for about an hour and then we returned to the buses to go back to the hotel for lunch. After lunch, we relaxed in the hotel lobby for an hour. During this time, I bought a cheesy t-shirt that says Welcome Semester at Sea on the back, and I also watched a puppet show that a man in the lobby was putting on. It was very interesting. Anyways, after our time at the hotel, we continued touring more of Agra. We first went to the Agra Fort, which was absolutely gorgeous. Most of the fort is made out of the same marble that the Taj Mahal is made out of. From the fort, we could even see the Taj in the distance. It was very exciting and it gave us a preview of what was to come. On leaving the fort, we then went to the amazing Taj Mahal. It took a while to go through security to enter, but once we entered, a few of us closed our eyes until the whole Taj would be in view and then we opened them. The Taj was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. It seemed so unreal. I can’t imagine how someone constructed it. Supposedly the builder after he finished the Taj, he had plans of building a black Taj Mahal right across the river, but instead his son put him in jail so that he wouldn’t waste anymore money. We stayed at the Taj for about three hours, which was very nice even though it was extremely hot out. We were able to take tons of pictures. At the Taj, many Indians were asking to take pictures with us American girls. It seemed strange but I guess in all of these ports we have been asking to take pictures with all of the locals so I couldn’t refuse the pictures. At the Taj, we even were allowed inside. I didn’t know what to expect, but the only thing in there was the tomb of the builder and his wife, who it was made for. I never realized that the Taj was just basically a massive tomb. Overall, the day was amazing, and after we left the Taj, we went to Pizza Hut to have some dinner and returned to the train station for our trip back to Delhi. The train this time was about twenty minutes late so we had a good amount of time just standing around. It was a weird environment to be in. The military that night was doing a training program at the station so there were tons of military men and guns lined up everywhere. I had never seen so many military men in one place. I didn’t know if I should feel safe or scared that something was wrong. Anyways we finally were able to get on the train, and I once again slept through the two-hour ride. On arriving back at the hotel I packed my stuff up and then went to sleep.
The next morning started with a not as early wake-up call at 6:45. I quickly got ready to leave the hotel, had some breakfast and then headed to the bus to go to the airport. We waited at the airport for about an hour and then took the 2 ½-hour flight back to Chennai. The last thing I will note about the airplanes is that full meals are offered on every flight no matter what time of day it is. This was very cool because it showed that the airlines really cared about customer service. As you know, in the states we don’t even get a meal when we fly all the way across the country. Anyhow, when we got back to Chennai we went to the ship to eat some lunch, before doing a little more shopping in the area. To go shopping we had to catch a rickshaw, and this time we had a real adventure. We were able to get to Spencer’s Plaza with no problem, and our drivers waited while we shopped for an hour or two. While we shopped, one of the rickshaw workers followed us around to make sure that we wouldn’t leave without paying. After we were done at the mall, we went back to our rickshaws and thought we would be taken right back to the ship. Well we were in for an adventure, after about 5 minutes of driving, our driver pulled over and tried to convince us to allow him to take us to a little shop where he would be able to make some commission. We said no about a hundred times and were almost just going to walk away without paying. Finally after about 5 or 10 minutes of arguing a policeman came up to the driver and told him not to mess with us, so the driver finally agreed to just take us directly to the ship. After about another 10 minutes of driving we arrived at the gate area to the port and the rickshaw drivers dropped us off. Before we took the cars, we agreed on a price of 50 rupees a person, which is a little over $1. Once we arrived, they were trying to get us to pay $5 a person and we said no and just gave them what we had agreed on, plus 50 rupees more for each driver. We then had to walk for a little while through the port in order to get back on the ship. I was very excited to get back on the ship. It was strange that night; we went out on the seventh deck to watch people come back late, and once we got up there it was disgusting. The crew hadn’t washed the deck the whole time we were in India since we were trying to conserve water, and the air in India is very dirty and polluted. It was definitely weird seeing the deck almost completely black.
There is one last thing that I totally forgot to mention about my trip through India. The driving in India is the most insane thing you will ever see in your life. The lines on the street mean absolutely nothing. If there is a car in front of you that you want to go around you just go into the other direction lane and go around them. Even if a car is coming the other way shortly, you just hope that you make it around before the other car comes. Another thing about the driving is that the driver blows the horn almost constantly. It is so annoying. If you thought New York is bad you need to come and experience it in India. The driving in general was the strangest and scariest thing I have ever seen in my life and I would never want to drive there. Anyways it was nice to leave India, even though I had such an amazing time. Luckily, the only illness I contracted was a cold and I think it was mostly due to breathing in such dirty air. Sorry this entry has been so long. I hope you enjoyed reading it and Malaysia will probably be posted in a few days.
I love you all,
Alissa
Friday, March 23, 2007
Mauritius
Interesting things while at sea:
Due to high winds, our ship did not leave Jetty 2 until the following morning. We then waited at a bunkering station in Cape Town until about 3 pm, when our ship was full of fuel. The stretch from Cape Town to Mauritius was the roughest seas we have encountered thus far. We were forced to change paths to avoid the rough seas attributed to a cyclone about 400 miles off the coast of Madagascar. When we finally arrived in Port Louis, Mauritius we were 4 hours late.
Mauritius:
We spotted Mauritius on the horizon and it became clearer and clearer that this was going to be one of the more beautiful places that we would visit. The contrast of beautiful beaches with high green mountains was quite amazing. We arrived in Mauritius at about noon and we (Alex, Alissa, Jay, Casey, Chris, Joanne and Kevin) were able to roam around Port Louis for a couple hours before meeting Venkat and Meliga. They are the parents of Valma, one of Joanne’s co-workers from St. Jude. We sat with them for a while discussing everything about Mauritius from politics to energy policies. They are both so well informed about the island, have such interesting life stories (Venkat was a member of parliament and principal of a school) and made perfect guides. After our firing squad of questions, they took us on a walking tour of the city. We visited the garden and craft market, fish market, Chinatown, and walked up to the citadel (a fort overlooking the city). Mauritius is a great mixture of cultures; a blend of African, French, Indian, and Chinese that is unique to the world. It was a bit more Indian influenced than I was expecting and turned out to be a good prep for India. After seeing the Parliament building, Supreme Court, and City Hall of Port Louis, we separated from Venkat and Meliga and decided to crack and get some Pizza Hut. We were all at a point were we just needed some food that was familiar and greasy. After this we went to a local sports bar for drinks and brownies. It was just what the stomach had ordered.
The next morning a taxi driver that had been arranged by Venkat and Meliga met Joanne, Kevin and me. We traveled around the Northern side of the island. Every bend seemed to be more scenic. We passed beautiful beaches and beach towns, sugar cane fields and small fishing villages and could not help stopping every few miles to take pictures. We even came across a water ski course that had me wishing I had a boat, a rope, and my ski with me. We then stopped at a small tourist village that sold trips to Ile de Cerf, a nearby island known for its snorkeling, waterfalls, and water sports. We took a powerboat out to the island and then made arrangements to get a personal boat for some snorkeling. The water was a clear, beautiful blue-green that made seeing an assortment of corals, fishes and other marine species quite easy. We stayed out for about an hour watching all the various colorful fishes and corals. After we were exhausted, we headed back to the island for a delicious lunch. We met up again with our taxi driver after our return voyage on a small rickety boat powered by a 5 hp engine. Our return voyage was quite amusing because it was raining quite a bit and because of this the driver decided to go the shorter route but ended up getting us beached on some shallow waters. Luckily we could be freed by a combination of men jumping out of the boat and pushing and a bit of luck. We then headed to through the interior of Mauritius to the Venkatasomy’s house for some drinks and “snacks”. Meliga was so kind, providing us with a full meal of traditional Mauritian snacks. We returned to the ship and amazingly the taxi was only $40 for the entire day; imagine that in Los Angeles.
The following day the Venkatasomys met us with a van to tour the city. We had a whole van as Gary and Diana, Jay, Alissa, Joanne and Kevin, Gloria Rudolf (my Anthropology Professor), and I all decided that this would be a great adventure. We went through the middle of the island to the water reservoir where we noticed a flat tire. I guess my weight just was too much for the tire to handle. The flat tire was replaced by an even more flat spare tire. We decided to wait for the van to fill up the spare tire at a nearby Hindu temple. There is a hundred foot bronze statue of Shiva, the Hindu god of creation and destruction. The temple was above a lake with stairs down to statues of the three main gods and space to pray. It is one of the holiest Hindu sites outside of India and was quite beautiful. Our hour-long wait was a great opportunity for me to discuss religion and physics with Venkat (a physicist by training). After getting a scenic, albeit indirect, drive we stopped at a fancy restaurant that overlooked the ocean. There was a beautiful wood deck with tables and a 180 degree view of the ocean. The food was fantastic but the view was definitely the best part of the restaurant. The restaurant was next to a museum of wood and its many uses. It was actually a pretty cool museum that had examples of all the forms that wood can take, from boats to furniture to instruments and much more. After visiting the museum, we headed to Flic en Flac beach. We went swimming at the favorite Mauritian beach for about an hour until it began downpouring. We parted ways with the Venkatasomys after driving back to the ship and boarded the ship to head off India. I would like to thank the Venkatasomys very much for being so welcoming and informative.
Things I’ve Learned In Mauritus:
-Rough seas can be quite uplifting, especially for food.
-Politicians don’t like clever people.
-Flat tires happen in Mauritius too.
-Coral does not make nice sand.
-Monkeys like to show off for an audience.
-You can abandon your gender, but not your sex.
-U-turns on a cliff are an acceptable maneuver.
-We must do all we can to avoid perpetuating the American stereotype.
Due to high winds, our ship did not leave Jetty 2 until the following morning. We then waited at a bunkering station in Cape Town until about 3 pm, when our ship was full of fuel. The stretch from Cape Town to Mauritius was the roughest seas we have encountered thus far. We were forced to change paths to avoid the rough seas attributed to a cyclone about 400 miles off the coast of Madagascar. When we finally arrived in Port Louis, Mauritius we were 4 hours late.
Mauritius:
We spotted Mauritius on the horizon and it became clearer and clearer that this was going to be one of the more beautiful places that we would visit. The contrast of beautiful beaches with high green mountains was quite amazing. We arrived in Mauritius at about noon and we (Alex, Alissa, Jay, Casey, Chris, Joanne and Kevin) were able to roam around Port Louis for a couple hours before meeting Venkat and Meliga. They are the parents of Valma, one of Joanne’s co-workers from St. Jude. We sat with them for a while discussing everything about Mauritius from politics to energy policies. They are both so well informed about the island, have such interesting life stories (Venkat was a member of parliament and principal of a school) and made perfect guides. After our firing squad of questions, they took us on a walking tour of the city. We visited the garden and craft market, fish market, Chinatown, and walked up to the citadel (a fort overlooking the city). Mauritius is a great mixture of cultures; a blend of African, French, Indian, and Chinese that is unique to the world. It was a bit more Indian influenced than I was expecting and turned out to be a good prep for India. After seeing the Parliament building, Supreme Court, and City Hall of Port Louis, we separated from Venkat and Meliga and decided to crack and get some Pizza Hut. We were all at a point were we just needed some food that was familiar and greasy. After this we went to a local sports bar for drinks and brownies. It was just what the stomach had ordered.
The next morning a taxi driver that had been arranged by Venkat and Meliga met Joanne, Kevin and me. We traveled around the Northern side of the island. Every bend seemed to be more scenic. We passed beautiful beaches and beach towns, sugar cane fields and small fishing villages and could not help stopping every few miles to take pictures. We even came across a water ski course that had me wishing I had a boat, a rope, and my ski with me. We then stopped at a small tourist village that sold trips to Ile de Cerf, a nearby island known for its snorkeling, waterfalls, and water sports. We took a powerboat out to the island and then made arrangements to get a personal boat for some snorkeling. The water was a clear, beautiful blue-green that made seeing an assortment of corals, fishes and other marine species quite easy. We stayed out for about an hour watching all the various colorful fishes and corals. After we were exhausted, we headed back to the island for a delicious lunch. We met up again with our taxi driver after our return voyage on a small rickety boat powered by a 5 hp engine. Our return voyage was quite amusing because it was raining quite a bit and because of this the driver decided to go the shorter route but ended up getting us beached on some shallow waters. Luckily we could be freed by a combination of men jumping out of the boat and pushing and a bit of luck. We then headed to through the interior of Mauritius to the Venkatasomy’s house for some drinks and “snacks”. Meliga was so kind, providing us with a full meal of traditional Mauritian snacks. We returned to the ship and amazingly the taxi was only $40 for the entire day; imagine that in Los Angeles.
The following day the Venkatasomys met us with a van to tour the city. We had a whole van as Gary and Diana, Jay, Alissa, Joanne and Kevin, Gloria Rudolf (my Anthropology Professor), and I all decided that this would be a great adventure. We went through the middle of the island to the water reservoir where we noticed a flat tire. I guess my weight just was too much for the tire to handle. The flat tire was replaced by an even more flat spare tire. We decided to wait for the van to fill up the spare tire at a nearby Hindu temple. There is a hundred foot bronze statue of Shiva, the Hindu god of creation and destruction. The temple was above a lake with stairs down to statues of the three main gods and space to pray. It is one of the holiest Hindu sites outside of India and was quite beautiful. Our hour-long wait was a great opportunity for me to discuss religion and physics with Venkat (a physicist by training). After getting a scenic, albeit indirect, drive we stopped at a fancy restaurant that overlooked the ocean. There was a beautiful wood deck with tables and a 180 degree view of the ocean. The food was fantastic but the view was definitely the best part of the restaurant. The restaurant was next to a museum of wood and its many uses. It was actually a pretty cool museum that had examples of all the forms that wood can take, from boats to furniture to instruments and much more. After visiting the museum, we headed to Flic en Flac beach. We went swimming at the favorite Mauritian beach for about an hour until it began downpouring. We parted ways with the Venkatasomys after driving back to the ship and boarded the ship to head off India. I would like to thank the Venkatasomys very much for being so welcoming and informative.
Things I’ve Learned In Mauritus:
-Rough seas can be quite uplifting, especially for food.
-Politicians don’t like clever people.
-Flat tires happen in Mauritius too.
-Coral does not make nice sand.
-Monkeys like to show off for an audience.
-You can abandon your gender, but not your sex.
-U-turns on a cliff are an acceptable maneuver.
-We must do all we can to avoid perpetuating the American stereotype.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Alissa and Mauritius
Hey everyone,
It’s been a while since the last time I have written. Sorry for the delay, but after South Africa the waters were very rough and I stayed in bed most of the week. Since Chris has given a detailed look at what we did in South Africa, I will skip right to Mauritius. The day we arrived in Mauritius, we were 4 hours late due to the cyclone nearby, so I missed the excursion that I had planned for that day. I was supposed to go on a hike in the mountains and swim in waterfalls. It probably would have been a lot of fun, but instead I just walked around the port. I was happy to do this because Thursday was really the only day that I would be able to see the markets and the main city. As we went ashore, a group of us, including all of the Malottes met up with Maliga and Venkat, the parents of someone Joanne works with. We first relaxed at a hotel with them and enjoyed some conversation about Mauritius. Then we left the hotel and walked around the city. This included looking through the marketplace, going in a fish market (which smelled really bad especially since I hate fish), walking up to a fort, walking through China town, and looking at all the beautiful buildings Mauritius has to offer. Once we were done walking through the city, Maliga and Venkat left to go home and the rest of us had dinner. Joanne and Kevin ate at a Chinese restaurant, I ate at a little fast food place, and everyone else ate pizza from Pizza Hut. Once all the kids were done eating, we had to wait for Joanne and Kevin so we decided to go into a Sports Bar restaurant and have some brownie sundaes. They were delicious!!! Once we were finally done, we took a water taxi back to the ship and went to sleep.
The next morning I had a trip planned through Semester at Sea entitled Rainbow Culture and Religion. This was an all day thing and I got to see so much of Mauritius. The first stop was to a Hindu temple that was absolutely gorgeous. We were not allowed inside the temple, but we still could see and learn a lot about this religion. The next stop was to a Church, in which a service was taking place. I felt a little awkward and rude in the Church because our group was tourists taking pictures, and the people in service were trying to pray. The church was very beautiful though. After the Church, we then went to an Islamic Cultural Center. At this center, we got to learn about how Islam came to Mauritius and one of the guys who works there gave us a short presentation on the religion as well as on the purpose of the center. The next place we visited on this day was a Buddhist temple. In this temple, a woman was lighting incense. I don’t exactly know why though. Anyways, after visiting this temple, we drove up to the fort that I had seen the previous day, but I was able to see a different side of it. From the fort, you are able to see pretty much the entire port city. It was a great view! Once we left the fort, we finally went to lunch at a traditional Muslim cuisine restaurant. I ended up eating pasta because the rest of the food had cinnamon in it. The pasta I had though was very good and kind of spicy. The Muslims really know how to add tons of spices to all of their food. After quenching our hunger, we continued our journey on the island to the Eureka Colonial House, which is a house that has been left in its original form, and it demonstrates the homes that the English generally lived in on the island. I of course loved this stop because walking through any house amuses me. The next stop was at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute, where we looked through a museum that explained the history of Mauritius. At this institute, we also looked through an art museum that had very interesting art. The last thing we did on this trip at this institute was watch a Hindu interpretive dance demonstration. The dancing was great and I even recorded some of it. Finally, at the end of the day we returned to the boat where I met up with Alex, Jay, Sheryl, and Kasey.
The five of us the night before had decided that we wanted to go back to the Sports Bar Restaurant because we had noticed on the menu that they had Mexican food, which we have all been craving along the entire voyage. At the restaurant, I ordered chicken enchiladas, which were very good. The interesting thing about this meal though was the rice and beans that came with the enchiladas. The rice was very plain tasting and the beans tasted like barbecue beans instead of a Mexican flavor. It was all pretty good though and helped in satisfying my need for Mexican food. Once we were done with our main course, we ordered the brownie sundaes once again since they were so delicious the night before. After finally completing our meal, about two hours later, we took a water taxi back to the ship and relaxed the rest of the night.
The next day, our final day in Mauritius, I tagged along with Alex’s family to tour the southern part of the island with Venkat and Maliga. On this tour, the first place we stopped was at a lake, which we ended up finding out that the reason for this stop was a flat tire. This was funny because as you heard from Chris we got many flat tires on our safari. In addition to the flat tire, when the driver tried to change it, the spare tire was even flatter. Due to this, the driver dropped us off at a Hindu temple, where we stayed for an hour until he returned from fixing the tire. The Hindu temple was very interesting and we saw a massive statue of Shiva, one of the major Gods in this religion. Once we left the temple, we went and saw some waterfalls in a few different locations. At one of the sites, a monkey walked up on the wall to about 4 or 5 feet from us. It was very cool and a little intimidating. After the waterfalls, we went to a restaurant that was on the same mountain that had a great view. The restaurant was good, but had very small portions. Once lunch was over, we walked down to a museum that a man created who was a very skilled woodsman. The museum contained stuff he had made. Once we finished looking through the museum, we left the mountain and continued to drive along the island. We stopped at a grocery store where I bought some snacks. It was pretty amazing, I bought three packs of cookies and 5 glass soda bottles for only like $3. I should have stocked up on more food, but with the currency exchange, it seemed a lot more expensive. In Mauritian rupees, this cost 92, which seems like a lot more than $3. Anyways after the grocery store, we continued to our last stop, which was Flic-n-Flac beach. This beach was pretty and the water was very clear. While walking along the water, we noticed some sea urchins as well as some small sand crabs. This helped dissuade me from entering the water. After about 45 minutes at the beach, it began to rain so we departed and went back to the ship. Once on the ship I just did homework for the rest of the night, just in case I would be unable to due to extreme rocking again.
The next day on the ship, we did not have classes because we had Sea Olympics, which is when each of the seas (halls) competes in different events for the prize of getting off the ship first. Unfortunately, my sea tied for last so I will most likely be one of the last people off the ship. This kind of sucks, but maybe when the day comes they will change it a little and it won’t take as long as expected. Well that’s all for me for now. We are back to calm seas, which is really nice because I can actually get work accomplished.
I love and miss you all!
Alissa
It’s been a while since the last time I have written. Sorry for the delay, but after South Africa the waters were very rough and I stayed in bed most of the week. Since Chris has given a detailed look at what we did in South Africa, I will skip right to Mauritius. The day we arrived in Mauritius, we were 4 hours late due to the cyclone nearby, so I missed the excursion that I had planned for that day. I was supposed to go on a hike in the mountains and swim in waterfalls. It probably would have been a lot of fun, but instead I just walked around the port. I was happy to do this because Thursday was really the only day that I would be able to see the markets and the main city. As we went ashore, a group of us, including all of the Malottes met up with Maliga and Venkat, the parents of someone Joanne works with. We first relaxed at a hotel with them and enjoyed some conversation about Mauritius. Then we left the hotel and walked around the city. This included looking through the marketplace, going in a fish market (which smelled really bad especially since I hate fish), walking up to a fort, walking through China town, and looking at all the beautiful buildings Mauritius has to offer. Once we were done walking through the city, Maliga and Venkat left to go home and the rest of us had dinner. Joanne and Kevin ate at a Chinese restaurant, I ate at a little fast food place, and everyone else ate pizza from Pizza Hut. Once all the kids were done eating, we had to wait for Joanne and Kevin so we decided to go into a Sports Bar restaurant and have some brownie sundaes. They were delicious!!! Once we were finally done, we took a water taxi back to the ship and went to sleep.
The next morning I had a trip planned through Semester at Sea entitled Rainbow Culture and Religion. This was an all day thing and I got to see so much of Mauritius. The first stop was to a Hindu temple that was absolutely gorgeous. We were not allowed inside the temple, but we still could see and learn a lot about this religion. The next stop was to a Church, in which a service was taking place. I felt a little awkward and rude in the Church because our group was tourists taking pictures, and the people in service were trying to pray. The church was very beautiful though. After the Church, we then went to an Islamic Cultural Center. At this center, we got to learn about how Islam came to Mauritius and one of the guys who works there gave us a short presentation on the religion as well as on the purpose of the center. The next place we visited on this day was a Buddhist temple. In this temple, a woman was lighting incense. I don’t exactly know why though. Anyways, after visiting this temple, we drove up to the fort that I had seen the previous day, but I was able to see a different side of it. From the fort, you are able to see pretty much the entire port city. It was a great view! Once we left the fort, we finally went to lunch at a traditional Muslim cuisine restaurant. I ended up eating pasta because the rest of the food had cinnamon in it. The pasta I had though was very good and kind of spicy. The Muslims really know how to add tons of spices to all of their food. After quenching our hunger, we continued our journey on the island to the Eureka Colonial House, which is a house that has been left in its original form, and it demonstrates the homes that the English generally lived in on the island. I of course loved this stop because walking through any house amuses me. The next stop was at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute, where we looked through a museum that explained the history of Mauritius. At this institute, we also looked through an art museum that had very interesting art. The last thing we did on this trip at this institute was watch a Hindu interpretive dance demonstration. The dancing was great and I even recorded some of it. Finally, at the end of the day we returned to the boat where I met up with Alex, Jay, Sheryl, and Kasey.
The five of us the night before had decided that we wanted to go back to the Sports Bar Restaurant because we had noticed on the menu that they had Mexican food, which we have all been craving along the entire voyage. At the restaurant, I ordered chicken enchiladas, which were very good. The interesting thing about this meal though was the rice and beans that came with the enchiladas. The rice was very plain tasting and the beans tasted like barbecue beans instead of a Mexican flavor. It was all pretty good though and helped in satisfying my need for Mexican food. Once we were done with our main course, we ordered the brownie sundaes once again since they were so delicious the night before. After finally completing our meal, about two hours later, we took a water taxi back to the ship and relaxed the rest of the night.
The next day, our final day in Mauritius, I tagged along with Alex’s family to tour the southern part of the island with Venkat and Maliga. On this tour, the first place we stopped was at a lake, which we ended up finding out that the reason for this stop was a flat tire. This was funny because as you heard from Chris we got many flat tires on our safari. In addition to the flat tire, when the driver tried to change it, the spare tire was even flatter. Due to this, the driver dropped us off at a Hindu temple, where we stayed for an hour until he returned from fixing the tire. The Hindu temple was very interesting and we saw a massive statue of Shiva, one of the major Gods in this religion. Once we left the temple, we went and saw some waterfalls in a few different locations. At one of the sites, a monkey walked up on the wall to about 4 or 5 feet from us. It was very cool and a little intimidating. After the waterfalls, we went to a restaurant that was on the same mountain that had a great view. The restaurant was good, but had very small portions. Once lunch was over, we walked down to a museum that a man created who was a very skilled woodsman. The museum contained stuff he had made. Once we finished looking through the museum, we left the mountain and continued to drive along the island. We stopped at a grocery store where I bought some snacks. It was pretty amazing, I bought three packs of cookies and 5 glass soda bottles for only like $3. I should have stocked up on more food, but with the currency exchange, it seemed a lot more expensive. In Mauritian rupees, this cost 92, which seems like a lot more than $3. Anyways after the grocery store, we continued to our last stop, which was Flic-n-Flac beach. This beach was pretty and the water was very clear. While walking along the water, we noticed some sea urchins as well as some small sand crabs. This helped dissuade me from entering the water. After about 45 minutes at the beach, it began to rain so we departed and went back to the ship. Once on the ship I just did homework for the rest of the night, just in case I would be unable to due to extreme rocking again.
The next day on the ship, we did not have classes because we had Sea Olympics, which is when each of the seas (halls) competes in different events for the prize of getting off the ship first. Unfortunately, my sea tied for last so I will most likely be one of the last people off the ship. This kind of sucks, but maybe when the day comes they will change it a little and it won’t take as long as expected. Well that’s all for me for now. We are back to calm seas, which is really nice because I can actually get work accomplished.
I love and miss you all!
Alissa
Monday, March 12, 2007
South Africa
Friday, March 2, began at about 6 with a sunrise over Table Mountain. It was a beautiful sight to see and what was more amazing was that it was clear. Table Mountain is a flat-topped mountain in Cape Town and is famous around the world for its uniqueness. We took some pictures, ate some breakfast and watched the ship pull into port. We then went to the student union for a diplomatic briefing by the United States consul in Cape Town, who discussed safety concerns in South Africa. We were then welcomed to Cape Town by the Premiere of the Western Cape (like their governor). He spoke very eloquently of trying to bridge the gaps that separate religions and cultures and to create a peaceful society free of terror and fanaticism. Both Archbishop Tutu and the Premiere have helped build my faith in faith. After the ship was cleared we (family minus Tyler (Hey Ty, we still love you!), Alissa, Jay, Casey, Gary and Diana) headed up Table Mountain via taxi then cable car. This was a gondola like contraption with a 360 degree view of the mountain and city of Cape Town. We ate lunch atop the mountain and then went for a two hour long to the highest point on Table Mountain. We took the cable car back down and then took the taxi to the ship where we ate dinner. Next, Alex, Alissa and I went to The University of Cape Town for an evening of theatre. Alex and I saw Truth in Translation and Alissa went to Everyone Else. Truth in Translation is about the translators’ perspective of The Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It was a very moving play and truly showed the important role that Archbishop Tutu played in the peaceful end to Apartheid. It was quite hilarious because the translators made fun of the Archbishop and he was in the house watching and laughing along with everyone.
The following morning Alex, Alissa and I went on an SAS trip to Cape Point and Cape Peninsula (Cape of Good Hope). We first stopped at Hout Bay, a small fishing town where we purchased some souvenirs and enjoyed the scenic views. We then headed to the Cape of Good Hope, but unfortunately it was raining and we could not see much of anything. Next, we headed to a nearby beach to check out the penguins that had moved in just 13 years ago. They were quite cute, waddling around and posing for pictures. After that, we headed to a seafood lunch (mussels, fish and crabs). Alissa was unable to stomach the seafood platter and decided to get the steak instead. It was not until she was completely done with it that she found out that it was not beef steak but ostrich steak. What an adventurous girl! We then headed back to the ship, had dinner and decided to go out to a few bars on Long Street with some friends from the ship. Unfortunately the night ended up abruptly when Alex had the camera stolen. It was a frustrating experience, but did not ruin our time in South Africa.
The next morning we began our safari journey. We had a 2 hour flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg followed by a 6 hour bus ride to Thornybush Game Reserve. We were greeted by our rangers in their land rovers and taken on a wild Disneyland-like ride to Thornybush Game Lodge. This place was the epitome of luxury. We were welcomed with the most delicious iced tea and a fabulous dinner. The lodge is not enclosed so we had to have night porters take us to our rooms for fear that there might be a large animal on the path.
The next morning began with a 5 am wake up call. After our first of seven meals for the day, we hopped on the land rovers and began our journey. The land rovers were open topped with a spotter on front (July) and a ranger driving (Greg). Our group consisted of some new people, Alessa and Kristin, and the usual suspects, Alissa, Alex, and me. Our first day was a bit humorous. Our first sighting was a cheetah, a rare find in the wild. We saw several bucks and then were hot on the trail of a few rhinos. July and Greg got out to look at some prints left by the rhinos and found them at the river bed. We then raced off to the river bed where we got stuck in the sand. Alex and I got out and helped July and Greg push the land rover out of the rut, but by the time we were free, the rhinos had disappeared. We then went off in search of an elephant, but upon seeing it got a flat tire. After changing the spare tire we returned to the elephant, saw some giraffes and then headed back to the lodge. After a hearty breakfast, we went on an hour long walking safari. Greg pointed out a few smaller animals and some important plants to know in case we were lost in the savannah. After a nice long nap (where we were visited by some baboons), we headed out on our second game drive. Here we saw some more bucks, a heard of elephants and stumbled upon a younger male lion. One of the elephants walked briskly to within a few feet of July. Unfortunately, we had nowhere to go because there was a large tree behind us. July was forced to pull out his machete and Greg had to rev the engine before the elephant chose a new path. When we saw the lion a similar close encounter occurred when the lion decided that the tire would make a cute play toy. Fortunately we were not blocked in and could simply back away quickly. The lion then attempted to snag a wildebeest but was unsuccessful. Oh, did I mention we got 2 more flat tires before heading to our sundowner. On the day we got stuck in the river bed once, 4 flat tires (1 happened during lunch), 2 near death experiences and yet we still had an absolutely amazing day.
Greg was not as happy about the progress that he had made and vowed to make it up to us. He said he would show at least 3 of the big 5 game (cape buffalo, rhino, elephant, lion, leopard) the next day. Our first find of the new day were some zebras and giraffes. What interesting looking animals. We then saw a pride of lions that got within a few feet of the vehicle, but this time just passing by. We then spotted some leopard tracks and decided to work with another group to find the leopard. After a few hours of slowly closing in on the leopard, the other group spotted it. Unfortunately by the time we got there it had already disappeared. After another half hour we decided to head back to the lodge. Just as Greg was announcing our plans we turned around and zipped off to find the leopard. The other group had again caught a glimpse of the leopard and luckily it stayed in the tree long enough for us to see it. After another large breakfast and walking safari, we headed back to bed for a nice nap. The last game drive was going to be “the easiest” because we had already seen the hardest ones. Our first spot was of the cape buffalo; they are ugly animals that look like they have a greasy hair do that has the part right in the middle. We then finished our big five by spotting a rhino resting in the grass. They are such beautiful animals that have been around for so many years. To top it off, we ended with the hippos. After an elated sundowner, we headed back for our final dinner in the savannah. Even though I had my doubts about Greg and July, they turned out to be the best trackers and we were the first and one of only 2 range rovers on all safari trips to see all big 5 game.
The following morning we woke up at 6 and headed to the busses for our 6 hour drive to Johannesburg. We arrived back at the ship after our 2 hour flight to Cape Town and spent an hour waiting to get on. I had an awesome time on the safari, but the one frustrating thing was that the travel agency did not calculate the time it would take to travel from Cape Town to Thornybush and we missed 2 of our 6 game drives. That night I had dinner (crocodile and waterbuck) at a restaurant by the harbor and then went out to a bar with some friends.
The following morning was Kevin’s FDP (faculty led trip) to the Desmond Tutu HIV Center at the ________ Township in Cape Town. The family (minus Tyler) all went and it was a great opportunity to understand the severity of the issue and some very simple prevention measures that can be enacted to help curb the high rates of infection. There was a short presentation about the things that the Tutu Center is doing and a play from the local awareness group. We then went on a tour of the township. It really was like something you see in a movie or on those adopt-a-child commercials and I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed by the poverty. These living situations are not humane by any standards and have re-sparked my desire to work in politics to make a change. We are far too advanced a world to let so many people continue to be treated as though they are less that human. The one source of true hope was in the smiles of all the people of the township, especially the children. We must realize that these are people that share all the same feelings of happiness and sadness as us. After returning to the clinic for a tour, we returned to the ship where everyone seemed very moved by the trip. Alex, Alissa and I decided to spend our last few hours in Cape Town at the Green Street Market where we picked up some souvenirs. We then headed back to the harbor for some pizza and groceries and then hopped on the ship well in advance of the “On Ship Time”. After everyone had returned to the ship, the Kayelitsha Choral Group came and sang some choral music for the entire shipboard community. It is one of my favorite types of music and was absolutely amazing. South Africa is an amazing country; one with many problems, but also a place of great progress and hope. I encourage everyone to visit. I definitely plan to return in 2010 for the World Cup.
Things I’ve Learned In South Africa:
-There is a reason they call Table Mountain a mountain.
-The Cape of Good Hope is not the Southernmost point in Africa (Cape Agulhas is!)
-Ostrich tastes quite a bit like beef.
-It is not just a ride, that elephant is real.
-That hissing noise is not a snake, it’s a flat tire.
-That guy who had 5 flat tires and was stuck in a rut actually does know what he is doing.
-Crocodile does not taste like chicken! Yuck!
-Restorative justice can do more for a society that retributive justice.
-People in Africa are the same as people in the United States and need to be treated as such.
The following morning Alex, Alissa and I went on an SAS trip to Cape Point and Cape Peninsula (Cape of Good Hope). We first stopped at Hout Bay, a small fishing town where we purchased some souvenirs and enjoyed the scenic views. We then headed to the Cape of Good Hope, but unfortunately it was raining and we could not see much of anything. Next, we headed to a nearby beach to check out the penguins that had moved in just 13 years ago. They were quite cute, waddling around and posing for pictures. After that, we headed to a seafood lunch (mussels, fish and crabs). Alissa was unable to stomach the seafood platter and decided to get the steak instead. It was not until she was completely done with it that she found out that it was not beef steak but ostrich steak. What an adventurous girl! We then headed back to the ship, had dinner and decided to go out to a few bars on Long Street with some friends from the ship. Unfortunately the night ended up abruptly when Alex had the camera stolen. It was a frustrating experience, but did not ruin our time in South Africa.
The next morning we began our safari journey. We had a 2 hour flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg followed by a 6 hour bus ride to Thornybush Game Reserve. We were greeted by our rangers in their land rovers and taken on a wild Disneyland-like ride to Thornybush Game Lodge. This place was the epitome of luxury. We were welcomed with the most delicious iced tea and a fabulous dinner. The lodge is not enclosed so we had to have night porters take us to our rooms for fear that there might be a large animal on the path.
The next morning began with a 5 am wake up call. After our first of seven meals for the day, we hopped on the land rovers and began our journey. The land rovers were open topped with a spotter on front (July) and a ranger driving (Greg). Our group consisted of some new people, Alessa and Kristin, and the usual suspects, Alissa, Alex, and me. Our first day was a bit humorous. Our first sighting was a cheetah, a rare find in the wild. We saw several bucks and then were hot on the trail of a few rhinos. July and Greg got out to look at some prints left by the rhinos and found them at the river bed. We then raced off to the river bed where we got stuck in the sand. Alex and I got out and helped July and Greg push the land rover out of the rut, but by the time we were free, the rhinos had disappeared. We then went off in search of an elephant, but upon seeing it got a flat tire. After changing the spare tire we returned to the elephant, saw some giraffes and then headed back to the lodge. After a hearty breakfast, we went on an hour long walking safari. Greg pointed out a few smaller animals and some important plants to know in case we were lost in the savannah. After a nice long nap (where we were visited by some baboons), we headed out on our second game drive. Here we saw some more bucks, a heard of elephants and stumbled upon a younger male lion. One of the elephants walked briskly to within a few feet of July. Unfortunately, we had nowhere to go because there was a large tree behind us. July was forced to pull out his machete and Greg had to rev the engine before the elephant chose a new path. When we saw the lion a similar close encounter occurred when the lion decided that the tire would make a cute play toy. Fortunately we were not blocked in and could simply back away quickly. The lion then attempted to snag a wildebeest but was unsuccessful. Oh, did I mention we got 2 more flat tires before heading to our sundowner. On the day we got stuck in the river bed once, 4 flat tires (1 happened during lunch), 2 near death experiences and yet we still had an absolutely amazing day.
Greg was not as happy about the progress that he had made and vowed to make it up to us. He said he would show at least 3 of the big 5 game (cape buffalo, rhino, elephant, lion, leopard) the next day. Our first find of the new day were some zebras and giraffes. What interesting looking animals. We then saw a pride of lions that got within a few feet of the vehicle, but this time just passing by. We then spotted some leopard tracks and decided to work with another group to find the leopard. After a few hours of slowly closing in on the leopard, the other group spotted it. Unfortunately by the time we got there it had already disappeared. After another half hour we decided to head back to the lodge. Just as Greg was announcing our plans we turned around and zipped off to find the leopard. The other group had again caught a glimpse of the leopard and luckily it stayed in the tree long enough for us to see it. After another large breakfast and walking safari, we headed back to bed for a nice nap. The last game drive was going to be “the easiest” because we had already seen the hardest ones. Our first spot was of the cape buffalo; they are ugly animals that look like they have a greasy hair do that has the part right in the middle. We then finished our big five by spotting a rhino resting in the grass. They are such beautiful animals that have been around for so many years. To top it off, we ended with the hippos. After an elated sundowner, we headed back for our final dinner in the savannah. Even though I had my doubts about Greg and July, they turned out to be the best trackers and we were the first and one of only 2 range rovers on all safari trips to see all big 5 game.
The following morning we woke up at 6 and headed to the busses for our 6 hour drive to Johannesburg. We arrived back at the ship after our 2 hour flight to Cape Town and spent an hour waiting to get on. I had an awesome time on the safari, but the one frustrating thing was that the travel agency did not calculate the time it would take to travel from Cape Town to Thornybush and we missed 2 of our 6 game drives. That night I had dinner (crocodile and waterbuck) at a restaurant by the harbor and then went out to a bar with some friends.
The following morning was Kevin’s FDP (faculty led trip) to the Desmond Tutu HIV Center at the ________ Township in Cape Town. The family (minus Tyler) all went and it was a great opportunity to understand the severity of the issue and some very simple prevention measures that can be enacted to help curb the high rates of infection. There was a short presentation about the things that the Tutu Center is doing and a play from the local awareness group. We then went on a tour of the township. It really was like something you see in a movie or on those adopt-a-child commercials and I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed by the poverty. These living situations are not humane by any standards and have re-sparked my desire to work in politics to make a change. We are far too advanced a world to let so many people continue to be treated as though they are less that human. The one source of true hope was in the smiles of all the people of the township, especially the children. We must realize that these are people that share all the same feelings of happiness and sadness as us. After returning to the clinic for a tour, we returned to the ship where everyone seemed very moved by the trip. Alex, Alissa and I decided to spend our last few hours in Cape Town at the Green Street Market where we picked up some souvenirs. We then headed back to the harbor for some pizza and groceries and then hopped on the ship well in advance of the “On Ship Time”. After everyone had returned to the ship, the Kayelitsha Choral Group came and sang some choral music for the entire shipboard community. It is one of my favorite types of music and was absolutely amazing. South Africa is an amazing country; one with many problems, but also a place of great progress and hope. I encourage everyone to visit. I definitely plan to return in 2010 for the World Cup.
Things I’ve Learned In South Africa:
-There is a reason they call Table Mountain a mountain.
-The Cape of Good Hope is not the Southernmost point in Africa (Cape Agulhas is!)
-Ostrich tastes quite a bit like beef.
-It is not just a ride, that elephant is real.
-That hissing noise is not a snake, it’s a flat tire.
-That guy who had 5 flat tires and was stuck in a rut actually does know what he is doing.
-Crocodile does not taste like chicken! Yuck!
-Restorative justice can do more for a society that retributive justice.
-People in Africa are the same as people in the United States and need to be treated as such.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Joanne's thoughts on South Africa
If you have no concept of what Cape Town looks like, give yourself and treat and search for it on the web. It is one of the most beautiful cities that I have ever seen. The city is on the water and arising sharply behind it are some very spectacular granite peaked mountains. We arrived to the city at Sunrise and were able to witness the suns rays breaking through just above Table Mountain. We were all in awe and watched as the Flag of South Africa was raised on our ship next to our flag.
We had spent time in Global Studies learning about South Africa, but still being there made it hard to even imagine what it must have been like under apartheid. When Kevin was here thirty years ago, there were signs everywhere saying “no blacks or no colored.” We learned from the master and Nobel Peace Prize winner, “The Arch” about “Truth and Reconciliation.” He taught us why it was so important to know the real truth of what has happened and then to in doing so move on to forgive the person. This is done because Africans believe that we are all part of and belong to a greater whole. As such, retribution is not an option. It is an amazing thing and you can see that it was real. The South African’s were warm, kind, jovial and good natured towards us. They look forward to hosting “the student ship.”
As usual, when we arrived we hit the ground running. It was a sunny clear day with very little wind so we decided that a trip to the top of Table Mountain was a must. The mountain is often shrouded in clouds which they call “the table cloth.” There is a cable car like tram that brings you to the top weather permitting. When you get to the top there are many foot paths to take to get even more spectacular views of the Cape. Joanne, Kevin, Diana, Gary, Jay, Chris, Alex, Alyssa and Casey (a very nice girl that hangs out with this group) all joined in to hike the trails. The views helped to put into perspective just how many mountains and how much water surrounds Cape Town. Since it was such a clear day we could see forever. A great time was had by all and we managed to get off of the mountain before the winds and the clouds closed it down.
That evening Kevin and I went out with some other shipboard friends to a jazz supper club on the water. We ate well and listed to some very talented jazz players. At one point we were sent a bottle of wine from one of Kevin’s students and our adopted son. Nice! FYI, we have four officially adopted shipboard kids and several others that the boys call their orphan family. We even had a game (and candy) night pitting our adopted family, against the orphan family against another family. It was fun. Our kids’ orphan team beat us all. The young people that we have met really give you tons of hope for the future.
On Saturday, Joanne and Kevin were met by new friends from Johannesburg, John and Sue. We met them while on Safari last year and we stayed in tough via email. John and Sue came down to spend the weekend with us and to show us around Cape Town. Day one of the weekend was very raining. We decided that Wine Tasting would be a good wet and cool weather activity and drove out to a beautiful little winery in the town of Pearl. We sat inside a beautiful stone cellar and a woman just kept pouring. It was a very fun thing to do. South African wines are extremely good and by our standards very cheap. Unfortunately we are limited in what we can bring on board so we only ended up bringing a few bottles the whole time. We had fabulous Italian food that night and I thought of the Moreno’s as I ate some yummy Pasta Carbonera. On Sunday, the sky had cleared and we were able to begin seeing some of the sights. John and Sue picked us up early and off we went. We went to Cape Point, which is the site of where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. It is also an area where many ships have gone down due to rough seas. More on that later. On our tour we drove through some quaint villages and also went to a Penguin refuge area. The African Penguins are small and not much taller than 18 inches. Very cute! That night we had a yummy meal at a water front restaurant (you looked out on our ship) and bid our sad goodbyes to John and Sue who have promised us a visit to California. Siblings I have offered your hospitality as well if they want to tour the coast.
Monday we began our bike trip of the wine lands. We had this image of rolling hills with frequent stops to taste wine. Our guides, Peter and Marge, were our ages or older and they were serious bikers. There idea of an easy ride is thirty miles of riding per day including some very steep hills. Unfortunately due to rough seas and illnesses, Kevin and I were not in our peak shape as we had hoped. We did manage to hang in there for day one and then asked for more wine, less bike for the remainder of the trip. The scenery that we saw was so beautiful. It is like seeing El Capitan of Yosemite but on all four sides of you and with grapes and vineyards in the valley and climbing up the mountain. I hope a few of my photos will do it justice. In my mind, I have inscribed it. It was great to be out doors and on a bike again. We did have a chance to really see the class difference at work in these days. In Africa, during Apartheid, folks were divided into White, mixed colored and then black. Clearly the whites have the wealth, the colored are their laborers and there is very little evidence of blacks in the Wine areas. The towns are clearly for those with money. There were fancy shops, fancy restaurants and if you did not know better you would think you were in Napa. We did indeed enjoy our stay and did take advantage of the many good foods and cheeses and wines. Interestingly, this stop was the first nights that we spent away from the ship since we departed. Wednesday night we met a former colleague of Kevin’s who is presently living in Cape Town. She, Diana and Gary and us, went to a well know game restaurant, where we sampled all kinds of game meats. We even ate Crocodile and Ostrich along with Antelope, Kudu and others I can not even remember. I must say, it was one of the best meals that I have had. The meats were tender, not gamey tasting and sort of like the best steak you had ever had. I am seriously contemplating going vegetarian (along with Solar powered) when we return, so I decided this was really a unique opportunity that I should not pass up. Talk about Carnivorous!
Our last day in Cape Town was a sobering one. We now had a chance to see the South Africa we had expected to find. We were invited guest of a local township (mostly consisted of Blacks) where there is the Desmond Tutu HIV centers. Kevin led a group of students and Chris, Alex and I got to tag along. The community we went to houses about 30,000 residents. Down the street from it looks as though you are in Simi Valley or a nice beach town. This township was given very small plots of land where the government ran electricity and water. The people have made homes from anything they could find. Mostly they have used pieces of old rail cars. As the area has grown, folks keep adding families to their tiny plot of land and have also spread out to the wet lands where there is not water or electricity. The government along with some foreign aid has built a health clinic, an HIV center, a community center, a school all within this township area. People clearly have very little. Some are lucky to be employed as domestic workers in the wealthy neighborhoods, but unemployment and diseases are high. The main diseases they battle are TB and Aids with both at very high levels within this community. We were impressed to see the things that had been done, but so saddened to see that humans must live in such substandard conditions. The community appreciated our visit and welcomed us. The kids came out in marching band costumes and greeted us. Members of the community walked us around. We were even invited in to some of the makeshift homes and shops. We had brought some small gift for the school and also donated some money for the clinic. It is already too small for all of their needs, but it is very clear what good work they are doing. I believe we will continue to adopt them as one of our causes when we return.
That afternoon we went to Robin Island, the site of imprisonment for Nelson Mandela and other political activists. What a place of horrors. Basically the prisoners, we sent into a bright stone quarry and made to use a chisel and hammer to make materials for cement. They would not allow them to wear any protection on their eyes and as a result many (including Nelson Mandela) lost most of their vision. They allowed them two letters per year of which they censored heavily. We heard over and over again while in South Africa, how important we were to their freedom. They clearly have huge gratitude for the pressures the world placed on them to make a change. They know it would not have occurred with out our help. So the next time you think you can not possibly make a difference with something so trivial like boycotting goods, know that you can and that you have and that there is a whole nation in our debt because people stood up.
We are once again on ship. We hit our biggest seas thus far when going around the Cape. There were ten foot swells causing the boat to lift off then slam down. I joined the patch behind the ear and the wrist bracelet club. Sea sickness is not a pleasant feeling. The nurses were walking around with back packs full of crackers and anti nausea medications. Fortunately, it was a day off from School. Kevin and I spent much of it in bed. Fortunately today the seas have calmed and everyone is feeling much better.
My neighbor has just invited us over for happy hour prior to a planning committee dinner meeting for the Sea Olympics, some bracelet making, followed by a Sea Party, so I will sign off for now
We had spent time in Global Studies learning about South Africa, but still being there made it hard to even imagine what it must have been like under apartheid. When Kevin was here thirty years ago, there were signs everywhere saying “no blacks or no colored.” We learned from the master and Nobel Peace Prize winner, “The Arch” about “Truth and Reconciliation.” He taught us why it was so important to know the real truth of what has happened and then to in doing so move on to forgive the person. This is done because Africans believe that we are all part of and belong to a greater whole. As such, retribution is not an option. It is an amazing thing and you can see that it was real. The South African’s were warm, kind, jovial and good natured towards us. They look forward to hosting “the student ship.”
As usual, when we arrived we hit the ground running. It was a sunny clear day with very little wind so we decided that a trip to the top of Table Mountain was a must. The mountain is often shrouded in clouds which they call “the table cloth.” There is a cable car like tram that brings you to the top weather permitting. When you get to the top there are many foot paths to take to get even more spectacular views of the Cape. Joanne, Kevin, Diana, Gary, Jay, Chris, Alex, Alyssa and Casey (a very nice girl that hangs out with this group) all joined in to hike the trails. The views helped to put into perspective just how many mountains and how much water surrounds Cape Town. Since it was such a clear day we could see forever. A great time was had by all and we managed to get off of the mountain before the winds and the clouds closed it down.
That evening Kevin and I went out with some other shipboard friends to a jazz supper club on the water. We ate well and listed to some very talented jazz players. At one point we were sent a bottle of wine from one of Kevin’s students and our adopted son. Nice! FYI, we have four officially adopted shipboard kids and several others that the boys call their orphan family. We even had a game (and candy) night pitting our adopted family, against the orphan family against another family. It was fun. Our kids’ orphan team beat us all. The young people that we have met really give you tons of hope for the future.
On Saturday, Joanne and Kevin were met by new friends from Johannesburg, John and Sue. We met them while on Safari last year and we stayed in tough via email. John and Sue came down to spend the weekend with us and to show us around Cape Town. Day one of the weekend was very raining. We decided that Wine Tasting would be a good wet and cool weather activity and drove out to a beautiful little winery in the town of Pearl. We sat inside a beautiful stone cellar and a woman just kept pouring. It was a very fun thing to do. South African wines are extremely good and by our standards very cheap. Unfortunately we are limited in what we can bring on board so we only ended up bringing a few bottles the whole time. We had fabulous Italian food that night and I thought of the Moreno’s as I ate some yummy Pasta Carbonera. On Sunday, the sky had cleared and we were able to begin seeing some of the sights. John and Sue picked us up early and off we went. We went to Cape Point, which is the site of where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. It is also an area where many ships have gone down due to rough seas. More on that later. On our tour we drove through some quaint villages and also went to a Penguin refuge area. The African Penguins are small and not much taller than 18 inches. Very cute! That night we had a yummy meal at a water front restaurant (you looked out on our ship) and bid our sad goodbyes to John and Sue who have promised us a visit to California. Siblings I have offered your hospitality as well if they want to tour the coast.
Monday we began our bike trip of the wine lands. We had this image of rolling hills with frequent stops to taste wine. Our guides, Peter and Marge, were our ages or older and they were serious bikers. There idea of an easy ride is thirty miles of riding per day including some very steep hills. Unfortunately due to rough seas and illnesses, Kevin and I were not in our peak shape as we had hoped. We did manage to hang in there for day one and then asked for more wine, less bike for the remainder of the trip. The scenery that we saw was so beautiful. It is like seeing El Capitan of Yosemite but on all four sides of you and with grapes and vineyards in the valley and climbing up the mountain. I hope a few of my photos will do it justice. In my mind, I have inscribed it. It was great to be out doors and on a bike again. We did have a chance to really see the class difference at work in these days. In Africa, during Apartheid, folks were divided into White, mixed colored and then black. Clearly the whites have the wealth, the colored are their laborers and there is very little evidence of blacks in the Wine areas. The towns are clearly for those with money. There were fancy shops, fancy restaurants and if you did not know better you would think you were in Napa. We did indeed enjoy our stay and did take advantage of the many good foods and cheeses and wines. Interestingly, this stop was the first nights that we spent away from the ship since we departed. Wednesday night we met a former colleague of Kevin’s who is presently living in Cape Town. She, Diana and Gary and us, went to a well know game restaurant, where we sampled all kinds of game meats. We even ate Crocodile and Ostrich along with Antelope, Kudu and others I can not even remember. I must say, it was one of the best meals that I have had. The meats were tender, not gamey tasting and sort of like the best steak you had ever had. I am seriously contemplating going vegetarian (along with Solar powered) when we return, so I decided this was really a unique opportunity that I should not pass up. Talk about Carnivorous!
Our last day in Cape Town was a sobering one. We now had a chance to see the South Africa we had expected to find. We were invited guest of a local township (mostly consisted of Blacks) where there is the Desmond Tutu HIV centers. Kevin led a group of students and Chris, Alex and I got to tag along. The community we went to houses about 30,000 residents. Down the street from it looks as though you are in Simi Valley or a nice beach town. This township was given very small plots of land where the government ran electricity and water. The people have made homes from anything they could find. Mostly they have used pieces of old rail cars. As the area has grown, folks keep adding families to their tiny plot of land and have also spread out to the wet lands where there is not water or electricity. The government along with some foreign aid has built a health clinic, an HIV center, a community center, a school all within this township area. People clearly have very little. Some are lucky to be employed as domestic workers in the wealthy neighborhoods, but unemployment and diseases are high. The main diseases they battle are TB and Aids with both at very high levels within this community. We were impressed to see the things that had been done, but so saddened to see that humans must live in such substandard conditions. The community appreciated our visit and welcomed us. The kids came out in marching band costumes and greeted us. Members of the community walked us around. We were even invited in to some of the makeshift homes and shops. We had brought some small gift for the school and also donated some money for the clinic. It is already too small for all of their needs, but it is very clear what good work they are doing. I believe we will continue to adopt them as one of our causes when we return.
That afternoon we went to Robin Island, the site of imprisonment for Nelson Mandela and other political activists. What a place of horrors. Basically the prisoners, we sent into a bright stone quarry and made to use a chisel and hammer to make materials for cement. They would not allow them to wear any protection on their eyes and as a result many (including Nelson Mandela) lost most of their vision. They allowed them two letters per year of which they censored heavily. We heard over and over again while in South Africa, how important we were to their freedom. They clearly have huge gratitude for the pressures the world placed on them to make a change. They know it would not have occurred with out our help. So the next time you think you can not possibly make a difference with something so trivial like boycotting goods, know that you can and that you have and that there is a whole nation in our debt because people stood up.
We are once again on ship. We hit our biggest seas thus far when going around the Cape. There were ten foot swells causing the boat to lift off then slam down. I joined the patch behind the ear and the wrist bracelet club. Sea sickness is not a pleasant feeling. The nurses were walking around with back packs full of crackers and anti nausea medications. Fortunately, it was a day off from School. Kevin and I spent much of it in bed. Fortunately today the seas have calmed and everyone is feeling much better.
My neighbor has just invited us over for happy hour prior to a planning committee dinner meeting for the Sea Olympics, some bracelet making, followed by a Sea Party, so I will sign off for now
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