Salvador, Brazil April 27, 2010

Day 1
So we arrived on a holiday (this was a common trend either holiday or Sunday) so as tourists we were very visible and easy targets for muggings. There were about 14 on the first day. 2 students were mugged at knife point and others didn’t really know what happened because it happened so fast. This definitely made me nervous and a little hesitant to go out at times. The first day I just walked around in the upper city and ate some lunch and bought a pair of flip flops. I also witnessed the production of the FIFA world cup dance that Brazil is doing. Olodum were the performers and some students jumped into the video. I also sat with Midhun and watched the rain before heading back to the ship to pick up Debbie for dinner. We went to a pretty nice restaurant where I had this good ravioli. I was able to figure most of the menu out thanks to my limited knowledge of Spanish.

Day 2
In the morning I visited the women’s precinct. The detective talked at length with us about domestic violence and sexual assault in Brazil. I liked that they had a specific unit and space to work with women. There was a holding cell for the men that are convicted of the crime. There were 24 men there at the time we visited with the longest one being there for 3 months. They are held there before being taken to a regular prison. They are kept separated because they would be killed in regular prison. In 2006 the Maria de Pena law was enacted that made crimes punishable by law. Overall, there were many similarities to what we consider to be Domestic Violence and sexual assault in the US and how we work with survivors. We also got a tour of the precinct before heading back to the ship.

Once back on the ship we ate lunch and received the sad news that the Abowitz family was heading home because Kathleen’s father took a turn for the worst. So after that I didn’t feel like going out so I went back to my cabin and slept and worked on a gift for their going away gathering later that evening. It was sad to say goodbye but I am glad they made it home in time to say goodbye. Their daughter Maddie was upset she missed the Alumni Ball but will someday appreciate that she got to say goodbye to her grandpa. Later that night I had a great conversation with Debbie and Ally and they got to meet Ahmad on Skype!!! Oh, and I danced in the rain.

Day 3
Beu Machado Kindergarten- This was one of the best visits I had with children. When we arrived we walked around to each of the classrooms and sang songs to the children and then they sang to us in Portuguese. They were so darn cute. The school was started when babies were being left on this couples’ doorstep. They needed funds to take care of these children so throughout the years they have received donations to have a pretty good facility. The children that attend are from single mothers who work during the day. The children are 1-5 years old and are fed 4 meals a day and bathed and take classes. When the mothers pick them up in the evening they only have to play with them or put them to bed. This was a great program. We broke up into groups of 3-4 to have more time with the classes. I helped a few kids write their letters and then we got to play with play dough and color. I also met a little girl named Emily. In the afternoon Debbie, Ali and I walked around the old city for awhile and I saw this cute little record store. If I knew what things sounded like I probably would have bought something.

That evening I was on duty so I stayed in my cabin and went to sleep around 9. Everyone else went out to eat (not all at the same places though). When they got home they knocked on my door to say hi. Ali and Debbie were in a car accident and we had Ali get checked out because she hit her head. That was pretty scary and they were even parked with no other cars around. If she had gotten out of the taxi she would have been killed. So we stayed up and talked for awhile about life. I’m going to miss them.

Day 4
Today I went to the Capoiera (spelling?) school. This is a dance martial arts form that you really have to learn how to read the person you are dancing with. There is a group of musicians that play and the dance is different with each pair that dances. There is a circle and the pair dance in the circle. I really enjoyed watching the performance. After that I headed back to the ship to eat before heading over to Ithaparika Island. We took the fairy to meet Midhun, Debbie, Stacey and Laura. We ate lunch/dinner and drove around the island before heading back to the ship. I got a little sea sick, luckily Stacey had dramamine.

Day 5
Today was the last day in Brazil. I walked around with Midhun and Debbie and ate lunch up in the old city again. We looked around some shops but didn’t see much. We started working around 4 hoping there wouldn’t be too many drunk students returning to the ship. There were a fair number and about 6 who were late. So needless to say we have had a lot of meetings since being back on the ship. The last sunset was beautiful as the rain poured down. Very magestic.

Holy Crap, Ghana was a long time ago April 27, 2010

So I’ve been busy and slacking on my blog as you have noticed. Here is what I can remember from Ghana. If I had my journal upstairs with me this would be easier but here goes.

Day 1
We arrived on a Sunday again so most things were closed. The field office had to arrange shuttles to get to Accra because it was about a 45 minute ride there. Cindy, Aaron and I decided to take a taxi (we think it was a taxi but more likely a personal car) and head to Accra to walk around. The drivers weren’t too familiar with the area so we drove around for a bit before stumbling upon a market. As soon as we arrived there the shop owners wanted us to go to all of their shops. So the first one we went to a group of men sat us down and played the drums for us. They were really sweet and didn’t really pressure us to buy things. After that we walked around to the other shops that people came to take us to. There were some really pretty things but at this point in the voyage I know I have limited space for more gifts and I was tired of bargaining. We managed to leave the market with a few guilt trips that ended with Cindy buying these two beaded masks that somebody might like.

Then, we decided to walk down the street and see what was around. This was the only port where people asked for my e-mail address. So far I haven’t heard from anyone. We made it down to look at a lighthouse and the beach before catching a cab to the grocery store. I had been looking for natural peanut butter and found some. Yay! We tried to find someplace to eat for dinner but because it was Friday most things were closed so we took the shuttle back to the ship for the evening.

Day 2
OSU Children home. I was a trip leader for this experience. This responsibility can sometimes be frustrating and this time it wasn’t really the students that were the problem. It felt like the organization didn’t know we were coming. The head woman was supposed to be going on leave and was called in to talk to us about the home. There were over 150 children living there who were either orphans or were taken from their homes because of abuse. We were supposed to help paint some of the dorms but that never happened. We played with the kids for awhile before lunch and when we came back from lunch it was nap time for most of the younger children. So we had to specifically ask for what we could do since we couldn’t paint. We ended up just hanging out with the kids that were around.

I sat with Asu who was a little girl who had a disability. She couldn’t talk or walk but could drag herself against the concrete. She smelled like she hadn’t been bathed in days and her diaper hadn’t been changed in awhile. So we passed rocks back and forth to one another and she laid on my lap while I stroked her hair. She seemed really excited to be near the other kids so we scootched along to be near them. Each time they would move to a different location she was determined to be near them. At the end of the visit I had to bring her back up to where I found her with the 2 other little boys who also had disabilities. She looked so heartbroken and angry. It was so hard to leave. I felt like my heart was being ripped from my chest. I ran back and gave her the rocks we were playing with and hugged her. I think that was the moment that sticks out for me the most on this voyage. I’m still thinking about her and how she is doing.

Day 3
Torgorme visit- I wasn’t sure exactly what was going to happen on this trip when I signed up. I thought we would be meeting the people….and we did sort of. We shook hands with all the elders in the community as the entire village gathered around. We were there to participate in a naming ceremony. As part of this you are welcomed into this community as your second home. It was an honor but with it comes this sense of responsibility. The part that makes me sad is that we didn’t get to interact with the community after the ceremony. We did get to dance a little with the children when we were pulled up but I felt like we were just another tour group going in and being swept out. I wondered how the community felt about this ritual being done with outsiders. Some people seemed genuinely excited to meet visitors while others looked like their community was being invaded. Some of the students were being disrespectful with their cameras again which makes me upset.

After the village, we went to eat at a mess hall before going to see some baboons. They were adorable but I was a little weary about being around them since Cindy had the experience of them taking off with her backpack in South Africa. Next, we headed to the caves to climb up inside and on our way we saw antelope. Of course I sang the song.

Day 4
On the last day I participated in a Habitat for humanity trip. We took the bus almost 3 hours to this community and worked moving sand from a deposit to the floor of the house. We had a good time singing and doing some good hard work. I wish we could have spent more time there getting more done. We ate lunch and headed right back to the ship so we could leave.

The people in Ghana were easy to connect with. There are more things I would like to do there and hope I get the chance to return.

Capetown, South Africa April 8, 2010

Day 1
We arrived in Capetown in the morning to the breathtaking view of Table Mountain. It is amazing to sit down at breakfast and see beautiful landscape…and not ocean. I started off my day helping the crew go through packages since I was the only staff member left on the ship when they were going through them. It was a bonding moment! Then, I met up with Stacey and her friend Trish for lunch at this waterfront restaurant where I had a great salad because we could drink the water in South Africa. After that I just walked around the waterfront and took in the community. There were different musical groups performing. As I was sitting there this guy named Trevor came and sat next to me and talked a little about his travels and such and told me where the movie theaters are located. The really exciting part of the day however was going to this 5 Rhythms dance workshop. On the ship I have been doing spiritual dance and the foundation of my friend Jenny’s work is based on the 5 Rhythms. It was a completely different experience that takes you through flow, staccato, chaos, lyrical, stillness.http://www.gabrielleroth.com/There were about 20 of us from the ship that went to the dance and the energy was so great.

Day 2
Operation Hunger http://www.operationhunger.co.za/-is a NGO that has many projects around South Africa that deal with thinks like malnutrition, HIV/AIDS and clean water sources. The organization finds communities in need like the squatter communities that come into the city to find work. The communities put up shacks and these larger communities form without having the resources to support them. So Operation Hunger works with the communities to asses their needs and how to achieve them. So while we were visiting we saw 2 different soup kitchens. The first one serves mostly the patients that go to the clinic that have HIV/AIDS or need other medical care. That clinic serves about 4 million people. Only about 200-300 people are served at the soup kitchen and it is usually just one meal a day. They don’t even have enough supplies to serve everyone at once. So the first round of people eat and then the plates are rinsed and the next group can eat. After visiting this soup kitchen we went to the Los Angeles community where Operation Hunger is working with one of the local supermarkets to provide enough meals for their soup kitchen. There had already been a needs assessment of the community and the next step that we helped do was help determine malnutrition amongst the children. So we weighed the kids and then plotted their weight and ages on graphs so we could see who was underweight. For the most part the girls were doing better than the boys. The girls are mostly kept around the house because the families are worried about their safety so they have more access to food than the boys. The boys are out all day playing soccer and being active. The soup kitchen in this community serves 1 meal a day 3 days a week. So some of the people in this community are only eating three meals a week which is very sad. We helped pass out food and talked with people and watched the kids do a dance performance. A man named Nqaba Mafikika has been working with the kids in the community to give them something to build their self esteem and give them a skill that might get them out of poverty some day. He has performed all over the united states and is giving back to the Los Angeles community. This was a very hard but heartwarming experience.

That evening for dinner I went to the Africa Cafe that was a family style restaurant that served food from several different African countires. The food was amazing and we got our face painted and the staff sang songs. This dinner was organized by one of the students who’s boyfriend was in town and he wanted us to meet him. I totally approve, his boyfriend was awesome.

Day 3
Cape of Good Hope and the Friendship Run
I started off today with running my first 5K. It was amazing. There was a group of us from the ship that decided to run. We met people from all over the world who came to Cape Town to run in the marathon that was happening the next day. The friendship run was a warm-up for people. Each country ran with a flag. The energy was incredible and I felt so connected to something larger than me. I ran with a woman named Page who is from the US but is working in health care right now in Cape Town until June. We ended the run with a little concert on the waterfront.

After this I headed out to the Cape of Good Hope with Stacey and Trish. The Cape is where the Indian and Atlantic Ocean currents come together. The view was amazing and we hiked up to the historic lighthouse. There were signs pointing to the directions of major cities around the world. During the day we also saw penguins at Boulder beach, ostriches, and other wildlife native to the area. We were hoping to see Baboons but were not that lucky or maybe we were lucky I’m not sure. Cindy and Jim had two climb into their car. The baboons opened up their doors, climbed in and grabbed Cindy’s backpack and ran off with it. They are looking for food. Apparently they saw like 100 baboons and they are really smart.

We at dinner that night on the waterfront at this place that has the biggest winebar in the world. I didn’t really enjoy my food and it was difficult for me to waste food after my visit with operation hunger. I had muscles that tasted bad and really yummy butternut squash.

Day 4
Wine Country-I know what you are thinking. You don’t drink wine. I know but there are amazing vineyards and people said that even if you don’t drink wine you should go…so I did. At the first winery there were Cheetahs there on a reserve. I stayed around with Debbie while she pet a Cheetah. They were so cute. At the next winery we had an amazing lunch. They bring you out a basket of food with potato salad, curried chicken salad, cheese, bread, dried meat, brownies (which I didn’t eat) and a number of spreads. The lunch was amazing and behind us was the view of a mountain with clouds rolling off it like water. Beautiful. At the 3rd winery I finally tried some wine. I bought to bottles of their Pinotage that is a specific blend specific to South Africa. I got a bottle for CLSI to share so get ready ya’ll. Since this was Easter Sunday a lot of the wineries were closed early so we headed back to the city for dinner at Mama Africa. This was a quaint environment and I had a great salad and butternut squash with lentils, cheese and chickpeas. Yummy. That evening I was exhausted and went to bed pretty early.

Day 5
In the morning I bought some fresh raspberries at the store and went to the movies at 9:45am to see “An Education”. It was an interesting movie but creeped me out with the older man seducing a high school student. Not appropriate. After that I decided I wanted to get a nice dress for the Captain’s dinner that was coming up. So I took a cab out to the Canal Walk mall which was a little overwhelming because it was huge and a ton of people. I was successful in finding a dress and earings. Score. I made it back on time to get the students on the ship. The wind was really bad so we couldn’t leave that evening and sat in port most of the next day while students had classes. We had rough seas for a bit but it is pretty calm now.

So overall South Africa has huge contrasts between rich (white) and poor (black and coloreds). Most of the service jobs are black people. At the beaches, restaurants, wineries there were pretty much only white people. There are still huge tensions from Apartheid that reminds me a lot of the United States and our race relations. There is a lot of mistrust of each other and the disparity between the Havs and Havnots is so visible. In the mix of this all is beautiful landscape and scenery. It has been my favorite port so far and see myself coming back to work here.

Mauritius March 28, 2010

Day 1
We arrived in the morning and I went straight to the theater to see if Debbie Deas and I could catch a movie. Guess what we arrived right as one was starting at like 10:30am. So I watched Atitha, my first Bollywood movie on the Big Screen. It was pretty good, funny at times and long. There was an intermission. After that we got some food at a pub and headed back to the ship so we could make the SOS children visit….unfortunately, there was some mix up in communication and the trip left early. So we went back to our cabins and chilled until it was time to go to some of our co-workers villa they rented on the north side of the island. We took a cab out there and I stayed for about an hour before I had to turn around and come back and be on duty. It was mostly a quiet night except for having to check on an intoxicated student every half hour until 4am. Ugh.

Day 2
I headed out to the beaches with Cindy, Midhun, Debbie and Amber. They went and did this underwater walk while I stayed on the beach and was freaked out by this crab that kept poking its head out of the sand. I finally moved to a bench to read my book for awhile. Then we ate some really good Indian food before heading back to the ship for on ship time. Everyone kind of came back at the same time so we had long lines to manage, some drunkeness but overall it was okay. So that’s all I did in Mauritius. It is a cool place to visit and so much more to experiences with all the different cultures there. Hopefully, I’ll get to go back someday.

Kathakali dancers, India March 16, 2010

Yesterday I spent most of the day on the bus traveling to go see Kathakali dancers. They spend at least 8-10 years training for this. It is mostly young boys who do lots of eye exercises and perfecting their madras (type of sign language). It takes the performers about 4 hours to put on their make-up and costumes. They take rocks that they grind into a fine powder and mix it with oil and apply it to their face. In order to make their eyes red and stand out they put a medicinal seed in them. You should check out the pics on facebook. Typically a performance lasts from dusk till dawn and it tells a story. Each color face means something. I know green is a good character, white I think is also good and red I believe is bad. This performance used to happen in temples which is where we saw it. Though now it is primarily done in theaters. I was amazed by the chanting and the performance in general. They did a 2 hour performance specifically for us.

We also went to this place where there are three people left in the village who hand weave grass mats and use natural dyes. The lead craftsman is the last in the family to do this art because his son wouldn’t learn the craft. It is kind of sad that these mats are so beautiful and are now being replaced by machines that make synthetic plastic ones and people just buy them because they are cheaper. After we visited the shop we had lunch (Onam Sadya) at Kunju’s brother’s house. It is served in Banana leafs. There is a way of placing the leaf and an order of serving the dishes. . With rice, various kinds of dishes are served… curries, ‘upperies’ (things fried in oil), ‘pappadams’ (round crisp flour paste cakes of peculiar make), ‘achchars’ (pickles of various kinds), ‘payasams’ and ‘prathamans’ (Desserts). Fruits are also served, mainly plantain. It was really tasty!

Kanchipuram, India March 16, 2010

I took a two day Semester at Sea trip to Kanchipuram, India to visit a bridge school program called RIDE. Rural Indian Developmental Education program. The goal is to get children out of working in the mines and Silk factories. They also work to empower women and build communities.

Day 1,
We take a 2.5 hour bus ride with Mrs. Britto to get to the RIDE organization. When we arrive we are greeted by women who work for RIDE along with Mr. Jeyaraj (sp?) who is the co-founder of the program. We sat and had tea and cookies and put our things in our rooms before going to the school to meet the children. Semester at Sea has had an ongoing relationship with RIDE for 13 years. Some alums have donated money so they could build schools and have a place for the business and also a guesthouse for volunteers.

When we arrived at the school the kids were all waiting for us with flowers and huge smiles. They ran and took our hands and were so excited to see us. They showed us their classroom and sang us a song. The first round of children had all been rescued from child labor and go to school during the day and wear uniforms. Then, we went to the other classroom where the children still work in the mines and silk factories during the day and go to class for one hour in the evening. The children still wore the clothes they had on all day at work. The girls who were like 8 years old had on a ton of make-up. They showed us the projects they were working on (gave mini presentations). After that we went outside to play. We did hand games and threw a basketball around a circle. It broke my heart that the kids with the uniforms wouldn’t throw the ball to the “other” children at first until I kept throwing it to them. I’m not sure if they were all from the same cast or exactly the dynamic. I was happy that we made them laugh and smile.

Day 2
We headed to breakfast around 7:30 and then got on our bus to head to a rural village. The whole community welcomed us with drums and put Bindi’s on our heads and flowers in our hair. The women did beautiful Rangoli designs in front of their doors to welcome us. We then walked around and saw people’s homes. They usually had two rooms and housed up to 10 people. They showed us where they cooked their food and the different trees they had in their yards to support their family with food. The two main types of work in the community were making bricks (which they are using to make a temple) and rice farming. The children all went to school during the day. There is no running water and limited electricity. Cow’s in India are sacred so we saw a few in this community. After this we headed back to RIDE and ate lunch before heading to the silk shop. There some people bought Sris and scarves. I headed to the factory to see how they make them. The patterns were beautiful and it is all done by hand. No children were working there.

Sea Olympics….BANANAS March 8, 2010

So along with all the fun things I get to do on the MV Explorer sea Olympics is one of them. I live on the fabulous yellow sea. Though we didn’t place, we had a great time trying. Our sea captains Rebbecca and Casey were fabulous organizers with a ton of spirit. Woot. The dancers placed third for our Under the Sea lip sink performance. We had a great cheer “our sea is bananas B.A.N.A.N.A.S.” and had an intense battle with Extreme musical chairs. The kids were excited to throw wads of paper at the students. We had two yellow sea members make it to the final round before they were pushed about by someone on a different sea. Brutal. Jeff led us to victory in the pull-up competition with 30 pull-ups that he just easily cranked out.

It was a fun day which also fell on my birthday. So I got to wear yellow, dress up in recycled materials (with headlights), have lots of people sing happy birthday to me, got to chant, eat ribs and talk to Ahmad on the phone. I’m glad to be 28! Woot.

Vietnam March 8, 2010

So Vietnam was a little different than the rest of the ports I have been going to. I did not visit as many landmarks but tried to soak in the culture. I spent less time behind my camera and more time observing and trying new things.

On the first day we arrived in Vietnam we set out to eat Pho ( a really yummy noodle soup). We ate at restaurant that Bill Clinton ate at called Pho 2000. We did a little big of shopping at the market and learned how to cross the street. This sounds like an everyday ordinary task….but it’s not. You have motorbikes, bicycles, tour buses and cars all coming at you with limited traffic laws that are occasionally enforced. You look both ways set your pace and people go around you. Holy crap batman I am still alive!

The second day I took a trip to the Cao Dai temple that was about 10km from Cambodia. The temple was beautiful and we learned a little bit about the Cao Dai religion that combines elements of major religions and philosophies. We were able to intrude on the service by watching from the upstairs balcony. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to stay too long and really be present there because we went directly to the Cu Chi tunnels after that. For me this felt very much like a novelty rather than a memorial to the war. In Vietnam they call it the American war. I felt really somber walking around a place where so many people were killed. I tried going into a tunnel but got too claustrophobic and had to get out. I can’t imagine the number of Vietnamese living there for long periods of time. The tour guides had a definite pride describing the traps that killed American soldiers. At the end of the trip they had a station set up where you could shoot different guns and the most disturbing part of the trip was how many of the students wanted to fire a gun in a place where so many people were killed by them. Sadness….

My Adventure
For the next two days I ventured with Courtney to Bhin Chao to visit the hot springs. We didn’t know exactly what we would find but the website looked pretty cool. We started our journey on a motorbike taxi. I was a lot nervous getting on the back of the motorbike. It was actually pretty cool though and I didn’t feel completely unsafe. ***In Vietnam you negotiate the price you are going to pay for the ride before you leave which a few of us didn’t do once during this trip and paid 20.00 for a 2 minute cab ride back to the ship….anyway.

We arrive at the bus station and get our tickets and people were eager to show us where to go. When we got on the bus the driver made a woman get up and move so we could sit up front. It felt a little uncomfortable taking someone’s seat but no matter how much we protested they made us sit there. Vietnamese people are really hospitable. So we take this 2.5 hour ride to this smaller town and get dropped off near the resort but we are not sure where it is exactly. The swarm of guys wanting to take us there was a bit overwhelming, but this woman came in and helped us get a ride. So Courtney and I jumped on two motorbikes and headed to the hot springs. There was a few minutes where I couldn’t see her and I had a total internal freakout moment about human trafficking.

We finally get to the hot springs and we give the men our US dollars (most people take them in Vietnam). So one of the men was running somewhere that we thought was to exchange the money into Dong. We had worked out with the guy with the cell phone, or so we thought that we would call him the next day when we were ready to take the bus back. So we went to explore and get some food cause we were hungry. What we didn’t know was that this place was sort of like an amusement park resort type place. So you could boil eggs in the water and there were rides for little kids, karaoke and other things. So after we eat lunch I said, “I wonder if the motorbike guy was trying to tell us that the main entrance and information center was at the front.” So we walk back to where we began and as we get closer we see the taxis waiting there for us. Oh crap we started thinking we didn’t get the point across that we were calling them.

We finally make it to the front desk and make a reservation at the hotel and give the guys a few extra dollars for waiting around. So far we are definitely stupid American travelers. So we go put our stuff in our room and decide to go swimming because it is about 94 degrees out and then we will head to the hot springs later in the evening when it is cooler out. So we take a step into the pool and it isn’t a pool but the actual hot spring water that they put into a pool. Ahhhh, so we soaked in hot water in hot weather for about a half hour before deciding we would go get a massage.

Cupping
I had my first introduction to cupping, something I will never try again…..So Courtney says, my friends in LA always get cupping done you should try it. So I sign us up for 30 minutes of cupping and a 45 minute massage. So I’m laying on the bed expecting relaxation when the woman comes in with Tiger balm. As she begins rubbing it into my skin I get that icy/hot feeling…..then comes a hot cup on my back, okay I think I can take the heat. But then, the suction, she keeps pumping and sucking my skin up into this cup. As this first one was being applied I kept thinking to myself, I have a half hour of this, OMG Courtney I didn’t know it was going to be painful. So I got a really good lesson of being present with my body that day and mind over matter. Next to me I could hear Courtney being chopped and slapped during her massage and knew this was a healing session and wasn’t remotely close to relaxing. So I basically paid someone to beat the crap out of me. I think I’ll hold off on massages in Vietnam!

After our massages we ate dinner. Everything Courtney tried to order was not available. So we pointed to the Tamarine (sp?) shrimp hot dish on the menu and some greens. So as the Gekos gather on the ceiling we notice our server bringing over a huge plate of seafood. We look at each other and then the menu and know that he thought we pointed at something else. Needless to say we ate a whole lot of unrecognizable seafood that could have fed 10 people. Ugh, another mistake under our belt. So to help our digestion Courtney and I looked for the natural hot springs, soaked our feet in a footbath and then went back to the hot springs and chatted for awhile. The moon was full and the night was peaceful because almost all the day visitors were gone by now. We ended the evening with a winter melon tea and a movie on TV. (Also, there was a Geko friend somewhere in our room)

Day 2 at the spa
We got up and took a mud bath before our travel back to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh) We soaked in a hot tub and slathered ourselves with warm mud that totally looked like brownie batter. We baked in the sun for about 15 minutes and then soaked in the tub. So after we got in we noticed a shower. And we were thinking to ourselves….selves should we have showered this mud off before getting in the tub? We still don’t know! After this we put more tiger balm on our skin to make us sweat, drank some water and power walked back to our room to check out and meet the motorbike taxis to take us to the bus. There isn’t a station per se it just kind of stops randomly. We finally get to the stop and over the next forty minutes people just keep piling on the bus. It was a 24 passenger bus that crammed 43 people! There was a brief period of time that I had to sit on Courtney’s lap. People were definitely interested in watching our every move. So we smiled and waved and said hello and watched the scenery all the way back to Saigon.

Debbie comes back!
She got back in the evening from home and we took her out for some food and shopping and tried to help her cram as much of Vietnam into a day and a half as we could. The next day we got manis and pedis and I got an Aui Dai and other odds and ends that will be given as gifts when I return home. We hunted down the post office and I found out there was a movie theater but I didn’t have time to watch a movie in Vietnam. Oh, well. We also went to this really cool cafe where I ate pad Thai and drank this chocolate drink with sweetened Condensed milk. Sooo yummy!

So that about sums up Vietnam. There are a lot more little things that I’ll try to share in conversations. Next stop….India

Global Studies-hearing from Vietnam Vets February 25, 2010

Today in our global studies class we had two people share a little bit about their experiences during the Vietnam war. I was really impacted by what they shared. Though they didn’t go into details of the brutality they witnessed I could feel their raw emotion. It is amazing to me the forgiveness they have been able to give to the government, what they did to other people and what was done to them. It was a humbling experience that will I’m sure play a role in my visit to Vietnam. Both men have been back to Vietnam since and love to see the difference from when they were there during the war. So today I’m thinking about my brother and his service and hope when he goes to Afghanistan he returns safe in every sense of the word.

Hong Kong February 25, 2010

Day 1
Today I traveled with Midhun, Debbie and Nilifur to Lantau Island. It was absolutely beautiful. We took a bus up to the Big Buddha and Po Lin monastery. It was such a beautiful experience being around spiritual things. There were over 200 steps to get up to the Buddha and there were people there from what seemed like all over the world. We watched people burn incense and pray. On our way out we flipped a coin to see if we were going to see a fishing village or take the cable car down to the subway station. So the cable car won and it was a great thing because the view was outstanding. We came over the mountains, through the fog and then it opened up to the water and the city. Truly magical.

Then, we headed on the subway (Nilifur is hilarious and we had a quote book of the things she said) which was a different experience than Japan. People did talk and at that moment it wasn’t overly crowded. We made our way to the tram where we took to Victoria Peak which had an amazing view of the city at night. We stayed for the light show that wasn’t that impressive. It was much better from our ship on the night we were leaving. After that we took a trip to the night market that has a ton of stands set up with trinkets galore. I by this time was tired, cranky and hungry after not eating all day again made Debbie and Midhun take me home. I totally passed out as soon as I got back.

Day 2
I got up and wandered around Kowloon (where we were docked). I went to an art museum that had a great piece on time and space with a lawn chair and sustainability. There were great works of calligraphy and antique pottery which dude would have loved. When I finished there I walked along the Promenade which was also the walk of stars. I saw stars for Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. Bruce Lee also had a bronze statue and there were lots of guys taking their picture in front of it. I continued my journey not quite knowing where I was going. I ended up at a little outdoor cafe. I ate some Ramen Noodles with dumplings and drank sweet Rose tea. Very yummy.

While I wandered I checked out the way the city changes from its touristy section to small food shops with roasted pigs waiting to be eaten. I came across the women’s market, jade market and Kowloon gardens all without trying. I did get lost for awhile and tried to find my way back. I definitely passed this one shop like three times. I also almost made it to the tunnel to get to Hong Kong Island. Around that time I met Albert. He was trying to get me to purchase a custom fitted suit. I declined but had a conversation with him about Semester at Sea. He moved to Hong Kong from India and loves the fast pace and long hours. He was very helpful and pointed me in the direction of home.

Two of my goals of the day were to find the post office and the time and location of a movie since that is one of my goals for each country. I didn’t reach my goal but knew of a general direction of the theater and a name. So when I got back to the ship I was trying to find more information when Debbie came and told me her grandfather had passed away. My heart broke for her knowing what it’s like to lose your grandpa. So I found Midhun and we worked with Debbie to get her home. To take her mind of things for a little while we ate at this really cool restaurant. We split some duck in an orange sauce, spring rolls, and dumplings. Very tasty. I miss her

Day 3
Midhun, Cindy and I went with Debbie to the airport. It was actually a pretty drive and we had some good laughs about the tiger babies and massages with happy endings. When we got back to Kowloon I tried to again check out movie times and they weren’t listed yet. So Midhun and I were going to go to Hong Kong Island to the longest escalator in the world and met up with Aisha on the way. She’s one of the medical students who just joined our voyage and is awesome. We had a good time looking at Soho which is very much like it is in NYC. On the way down the escalator we stopped at a cafe type place for brunch that seemed to be mostly English people. I had some breakfast people and a milkshake!

So then my next adventure was to go to this movie. So we make our way back to one of the places in the mall we saw a theater. In Hong Kong different movies play on different days and on different times. So….I had looked at the wrong day and there was no movie there I wanted to see. Midhun wanted to go see the Stanely market so I took the fairy back to Kowloon and went to the movie theater I found earlier in the day because the cab driver told us where it was. The movie I wanted to see was playing at the other theater that was down the street and to the left. By the time I got there I was five minutes late for the movie and they wouldn’t sell me the ticket. The only thing that was playing at that point was called 14 blades. So I went. Though it was a bit violent it was a good movie that had some pretty cool fight scenes. I tried to read the subtitles without watching the gore. Very difficult.

So that about wraps up my time in China. It was a great experience and would love to go back. I’m hoping next time I’ll get to see the pink dolphins that really do exist. I thought Midhun was lying to me. lol.