Final Days of Semester at Sea
Hopefully I can get a few more posts up after this one about China and Japan and possibly Vietnam.
First and for most, sorry to the few people still reading who wanted to hear about China and the first part of Japan as well as Vietnam. Next time you see me, just ask and I can tell you about it through my pictures taken. It’s probably better if I describe Yokohama in person: it was the most beautiful city I’ve ever seen- Tokyo was nice too…
So tomorrow I’m going to be back in San Diego and I’ve gotta say I’m more than ready to be back. I’ve missed all my friends and family and learned to appreciate them even more. The past week and a half has been hell with essays and final exams. After Japan, there’s really not too much to look forward to except home and that doesn’t come soon enough. Anyway, life on the ship has become kinda surreal. For me, the last day of college semester is always surreal. There’s an empty feeling around because people are staying in their rooms and a lot of the things around the ship like decorations and fliers and stuff are being taken down. I went around the ship taking pictures of different places and asking friends for pictures and videos from certain places.
Semester at Sea has no doubt been the greatest experience of my life (I feel like I’m writing another essay here). It will be interesting to see how I’ve changed (if I’ve changed) by going back to America. Each country held great experiences for me that I’ll probably never forget. Whether it was visiting the Rock of Gibraltar and seeing monkeys in Spain, visiting souks (markets) in Marrakech with people I only just met, being invited into a local’s house in Ghana and making great friends from the Ghana university, getting a firsthand look at townships in South Africa and struggling up Table Mountain, relaxing on a catamaran in Mauritius and climbing a hill shaped like a thumb, getting a culture shock in India from the students and rural areas as well as seeing the amazing history there I had no idea about and seeing their future, seeing my family again in Vietnam and crawling through Cu Chi tunnels and going up the Mekong Delta, going to Hong Kong and China and seeing the massive modernization there and exploring the urban jungle, going to Japan and exploring the beautiful, clean cities and staying with a nice Japanese family, or finally coming back to America and trying to find the non-tourist areas, all of these countries gave me a really clearer picture of the world and where it is today and how it GREATLY differs from our comfortable sphere of America. I’m not going to do the guilt trip “be thankful for what you have thing” but realize that some people struggle to earn a living and often work harder than us.
Next Day: (I’m writing this on the car ride home) Today I got off the ship fairly painlessly except for a few delays. I spent the last few hours with my friends just talking and joking. It was hardly in my mind that I would never see them any of them again. That happens a lot in life and if there’s one thing the death of my dog Peabody taught me it to remember the great times with others, as cliché as it sounds. Anyway, I was not expecting to get off the ship so soon so while I was playing minesweeper with my friends, the announcement came and my roommate and I rushed back to our room. My computer and some other small things were unpacked so I rushed to get those packed and ran downstairs and unloaded immediately.
My parents found me in the crowd right outside the dock. It was great seeing them again. We went to lunch in Old Town, San Diego and had Mexican food. This whole time everything was feeling so surreal. It is incredibly strange to be back in America. From the way the waitress talks and serves food, to the homeless people right outside the restaurant, to the Christmas music playing and the feeling of wanting to be back on the ship to continue sailing around the world (possibly to South America), its indescribable being back. The only way I think I can accurately describe it is like in Lord of the Rings: Return of the King when after all the adventures they finally return, I think I feel like Frodo…or Sam, but not as fat. After this initial shock of being home, I’ll need to start looking forward again. I could probably write a post that is longer than India or Ghana here about all my experiences, everything I gained, and what I’ve felt. To sum it up its been amazing and I will continually look back at all the people I’ve met and all the places I’ve been and all the unique experiences I’ve had. Anytime you see me, ask me about a country or something and I will happily tell about it.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Biking in Hilo and Surprise
December 7
Hilo, Hawaii Day 4
Today, my roommate, one of my other friends, and I went on a bike ride. We left the ship and took the shuttle to Wal-Mart. We walked 10 minutes to Mid-Pacific Wheels bike shop and rented mountain bikes. We asked the 2 guys there for road recommendations and they suggested riding along the coast for a bit and then taking a scenic route. We rode out of town and along the coastal highway. We stopped briefly to look across the bay at our ship and then moved on. We crossed a bridge with a river under it that flowed to the ocean and to our left we could see an older bridge and a high, prominent bunch of pine trees that looked really cool and out of place. We decided to try and make our way over to the bridge and the forest if we could, though we had no idea how. We started out by making the first left possible which took us into a neighborhood. We turned left again towards what we thought was the general direction. After a few minutes we came across a promising sign that said “Narrow Road”. We continued on and found ourselves leaving the neighborhood and entering a forest and heading downhill. As the road turned we saw the old bridge we had wanted to get to ahead. We stopped for a while and looked around and then rode a little further up. There was another bridge but this one we got off our bikes and looked underneath. There was another river that flowed under it that ended with a tall waterfall. There were also a lot of spiders and slippery rocks. We went back on top of the bridge and spotted a rusty gate that had a grass-covered road leading uphill. We took our bikes up a little ways and hid them behind some bushes and climbed up the hill (there were no ‘No Trespassing’ signs or anything). When we reached the top of the hill we realized we were in some sort of grove of nut trees (we though maybe macadamia nuts). We thought we might be on private property so we left for back down the hill.
We grabbed our bikes, got back on the road, and rode further. We rode under the original bridge we had been on and then turned a corner and got an even better view of the coast. Below we saw surfers in a little cove outside of where the river emptied into the oceans. We followed the road up and it took us back to the main road. We continued on up the main road and passed a large cemetery with what looked like a Japanese name. The guys back at the bike shop told us there wasn’t much along the road except houses and stuff until we got a convenience store called “Pinky’s”. Around there was supposedly a place where we could get lunch. After riding 2 or 3 more miles we came across Pinky’s and found a place across the street called “Baker Tom’s”. It was a roadside store that was run by an elderly couple. They served a popular Hawaiian food called malasada which is pretty much a larger donut but with various fillings such as Canadian bacon w/ cheese, pepperoni and cheese, raspberry, etc. For lunch we stopped here and I had 2 pepperoni pizza malasadas. They were really good and later I found out that they had them on the other islands as well. I decided to ask the owners couple a really random question. The last time my family and I were in Hawaii, we also went on a bike ride and at the base of one of the hills was a roadside stand called “Puka Dogs”. The concept was pretty much a hot dog/sausage put into a French roll that had been baked on the inside. Anyway, I asked the couple if they knew anything about the business and whether it took off. They said they had no idea. After saying goodbye to the elderly couple we crossed the street to Pinky’s and got some more water. We then went further down the road where after a few minutes we came across a sign for the scenic route. We turned on to it and it became a downhill road with a dense canopy above. We enjoyed the downhill while it lasted and after riding through the forest emerged at an overlook that had a kind of trailhead. We then rode down the trail and found that it split into a botanical garden that you had to pay to get into. We just walked further and found a small, abandoned cove that we hung around at for a while. We found a coconut and set about trying to de-husk it (which took a while) and then finally broke it open and drank the coconut milk inside which was really fresh. After chilling here for a while we grabbed our bikes and walked them back up the trail. We then road back through the forest area and got back on the main road.
We biked back the whole seven miles to town fairly quick. When we got back into town we found a shaved ice place and bought some shaved ice. We ran across a lot of fellow SASers and talked to them for a while. We then rode back to the bike rental, dropped our bikes off, and started to walk back to the Walmart to catch the shuttle. While walking I started talking to my roommate about the game Dungeons and Dragons, which he plays back home with his friends. The more he described it, the more I wanted to play it. When I get back home I was thinking about trying to force my friends to play, so we’ll see how that goes. We got back to the Walmart just in time for the shuttle and took that back to the ship. By this time it was about 3 or 4 and on-ship time was 6pm. I just stayed on board and hung out till dinner. As it turned out, dinner was a Hawaiian BBQ which was really good. During dinner, there was an announcement that we would have an important meeting later that night in the union. I didn’t pay much attention to what it could be. There is a storm between us and San Diego so I thought we might stay off the island for a day before going on. During the meeting, it was announced that we were going to let the storm pass before we continue on. As a result we would go back to Honolulu. What’s more is that they are going to let us get off the ship again for the day. So now I am planning on hiking all day tomorrow when we get back to Honolulu on Oahu. This completely blew my mind and I thought it was really cool that they were doing this. So now there is going to be a Hawaii Day 5 which I’ll have to write about. What luck!
Hilo, Hawaii Day 4
Today, my roommate, one of my other friends, and I went on a bike ride. We left the ship and took the shuttle to Wal-Mart. We walked 10 minutes to Mid-Pacific Wheels bike shop and rented mountain bikes. We asked the 2 guys there for road recommendations and they suggested riding along the coast for a bit and then taking a scenic route. We rode out of town and along the coastal highway. We stopped briefly to look across the bay at our ship and then moved on. We crossed a bridge with a river under it that flowed to the ocean and to our left we could see an older bridge and a high, prominent bunch of pine trees that looked really cool and out of place. We decided to try and make our way over to the bridge and the forest if we could, though we had no idea how. We started out by making the first left possible which took us into a neighborhood. We turned left again towards what we thought was the general direction. After a few minutes we came across a promising sign that said “Narrow Road”. We continued on and found ourselves leaving the neighborhood and entering a forest and heading downhill. As the road turned we saw the old bridge we had wanted to get to ahead. We stopped for a while and looked around and then rode a little further up. There was another bridge but this one we got off our bikes and looked underneath. There was another river that flowed under it that ended with a tall waterfall. There were also a lot of spiders and slippery rocks. We went back on top of the bridge and spotted a rusty gate that had a grass-covered road leading uphill. We took our bikes up a little ways and hid them behind some bushes and climbed up the hill (there were no ‘No Trespassing’ signs or anything). When we reached the top of the hill we realized we were in some sort of grove of nut trees (we though maybe macadamia nuts). We thought we might be on private property so we left for back down the hill.
We grabbed our bikes, got back on the road, and rode further. We rode under the original bridge we had been on and then turned a corner and got an even better view of the coast. Below we saw surfers in a little cove outside of where the river emptied into the oceans. We followed the road up and it took us back to the main road. We continued on up the main road and passed a large cemetery with what looked like a Japanese name. The guys back at the bike shop told us there wasn’t much along the road except houses and stuff until we got a convenience store called “Pinky’s”. Around there was supposedly a place where we could get lunch. After riding 2 or 3 more miles we came across Pinky’s and found a place across the street called “Baker Tom’s”. It was a roadside store that was run by an elderly couple. They served a popular Hawaiian food called malasada which is pretty much a larger donut but with various fillings such as Canadian bacon w/ cheese, pepperoni and cheese, raspberry, etc. For lunch we stopped here and I had 2 pepperoni pizza malasadas. They were really good and later I found out that they had them on the other islands as well. I decided to ask the owners couple a really random question. The last time my family and I were in Hawaii, we also went on a bike ride and at the base of one of the hills was a roadside stand called “Puka Dogs”. The concept was pretty much a hot dog/sausage put into a French roll that had been baked on the inside. Anyway, I asked the couple if they knew anything about the business and whether it took off. They said they had no idea. After saying goodbye to the elderly couple we crossed the street to Pinky’s and got some more water. We then went further down the road where after a few minutes we came across a sign for the scenic route. We turned on to it and it became a downhill road with a dense canopy above. We enjoyed the downhill while it lasted and after riding through the forest emerged at an overlook that had a kind of trailhead. We then rode down the trail and found that it split into a botanical garden that you had to pay to get into. We just walked further and found a small, abandoned cove that we hung around at for a while. We found a coconut and set about trying to de-husk it (which took a while) and then finally broke it open and drank the coconut milk inside which was really fresh. After chilling here for a while we grabbed our bikes and walked them back up the trail. We then road back through the forest area and got back on the main road.
We biked back the whole seven miles to town fairly quick. When we got back into town we found a shaved ice place and bought some shaved ice. We ran across a lot of fellow SASers and talked to them for a while. We then rode back to the bike rental, dropped our bikes off, and started to walk back to the Walmart to catch the shuttle. While walking I started talking to my roommate about the game Dungeons and Dragons, which he plays back home with his friends. The more he described it, the more I wanted to play it. When I get back home I was thinking about trying to force my friends to play, so we’ll see how that goes. We got back to the Walmart just in time for the shuttle and took that back to the ship. By this time it was about 3 or 4 and on-ship time was 6pm. I just stayed on board and hung out till dinner. As it turned out, dinner was a Hawaiian BBQ which was really good. During dinner, there was an announcement that we would have an important meeting later that night in the union. I didn’t pay much attention to what it could be. There is a storm between us and San Diego so I thought we might stay off the island for a day before going on. During the meeting, it was announced that we were going to let the storm pass before we continue on. As a result we would go back to Honolulu. What’s more is that they are going to let us get off the ship again for the day. So now I am planning on hiking all day tomorrow when we get back to Honolulu on Oahu. This completely blew my mind and I thought it was really cool that they were doing this. So now there is going to be a Hawaii Day 5 which I’ll have to write about. What luck!
Monday, December 7, 2009
Hawaii: Arizona, Snorkeling, Skydiving and Volcanos
Hawaii: Arizona, Snorkeling, Skydiving and Volcanos
December 4, 5, 6
Honolulu to Hilo, Hawaii Day 1, 2, 3
I have a new post for Japan before this one so don't forget to read that one. We’ve spent 2 days in Honolulu and left the second night and arrived in Hilo the next morning (this morning). I’ve been to Honolulu on Oahu once before already and remembering it being nice but really touristy. It’s even more touristy today but still nice. We arrived in Honolulu early (we got an announcement over the speakers at 5:45am) and I got ready for the day. I had no plans but I wanted to see the Arizona memorial at Pearl Harbor again because I felt like I didn’t fully appreciate it the first time I was there years back. I talked to some friends who said they were going to head there so I readily went along with them. Our ship was docked right next to Aloha Tower and pretty close to the downtown area. We all started talking about how great it was to be in a place where there was Americans again (though many people here were Asian). Seeing exclusive American stores and nothing but English really stressed how close to home we were.
We found the bus and took it to the museum and main area. Our tickets were free so we got in line to watch a movie about Pearl Harbor and then boarded a boat that took us over to the memorial itself. As you all know, it sits perpendicular over the Arizona and it slowly leaks oil. They have a huge list of names of all the people on board who died in the explosion. The next boat came and picked us up and took us back to the main area. We walked around the museum for a little bit and then left for the ship again. We were all tired but I had been really wanting to go snorkeling so I called my mom and asked her if she remembered good spots to snorkel. The famous Hanauma Bay (which I had visited once before when I was much younger) was fairly close and I got two of my friends to try and come with me to snorkel. Unfortunately, we got confused with directions (I was pretty sure where I was going but they caused me to second-guess myself) and ended up walking through a lot of Honolulu/Waikiki and swimming at a beach which was also nice. Later that night, we came back to the ship and went out with more of our friends and went to dinner. We walked around a town center-type area and went to an upper local restaurant. Afterwards we walked around trying to find a Walmart to by food. While walking I noticed that Honolulu wasn’t as nice as it could be in some parts and some streets looked very shady and poor. Eventually we came to Walmart and my friends bought welcome necessities such as Pringles, Coke, candy, etc. When we were done there we bought a cab ride back to the ship.
The next morning, my roommate and I were signed up to go skydiving. Yes, that’s right- skydiving. We signed up a little before Japan and were really looking forward to it. I honestly was not feeling nervous at all but was expecting to when I was in the plane about ready to jump. A large van picked 11 of us up at the ship and took us to an air field at the north shore of the island. We watched a short video with a lawyer with a humorously long beard telling us that if we die we can’t sue them or any of that stuff. We then waited for a few loads of people to go and then we got our harnesses on. I was not nervous at this point but was getting really antsy to go. Since this was my first time I was obviously going to go tandem with myself strapped to someone. That someone was a guy named Troy. The thing about all the skydiving guides is that most seemed middle-aged to fifty, sported ponytails, and had a very surfer-like outlook on life. My roommate E was strapped to a younger guy who had not gone to high school. He said being a skydiving instructor was a neck-down job (you don’t have to use your head). Anyway, they called our names out and went out to the end of the landing strip. The plane pulled right up to us and we loaded on one by one. It was a tiny plane with 2 narrow benches stretching about 8 feet inside. You straddled the bench in front of your tandem guide while the rest lye on the floor. One person was getting video taken of them so they had 3 camera people filming them.
After the last person got in, we close the door and the plane began to take off. It took us the whole runway to get up and we didn’t take off till the grass at the end. Right after we took off they opened the side door of the plane so we could look out. I thought as soon as they did this it would freak me out but I was surprisingly calm. I was also surprised when I realized how calm I was. I thought I’d be jittery and asking questions and stuff but I just looked out the door and the window and enjoyed the view. Troy had an altimeter watch and I watched as we went from 5,000 feet to 8,000 feet to 14,000 feet. As we got higher, everyone started getting strapped to tighter to their guide. Finally, the pilot said we were ready to go and they slid the door open. Still I was not really nervous, but just ready to go. The first guy (also SAS) who had the cameramen with him got ready to go. Two of the cameramen hung out the side of the plane and the guy sat in the doorway with his guide. And then at the same time they all flew out. The next people left, this time with only one single jumper hanging on the side. Then the next. Then the people in front of me. Troy told me to start scooting to the door. On the ground they told me to cross my arms and arch my back as soon as I leaned out. We got to the doorway and I stuck my legs one at a time out the door. Looking down, I saw my feet and then a 15,000 foot drop to the ocean below. Troy was positioning himself behind me and I continued trying to take in the sight. Finally, he started the countdown 3..2..1.. and then slowly we started leaning out and then there was a sudden acceleration of me plummeting at 120mph towards earth. The directions they gave me completely went out of my head after we jumped. Luckily, you really have no choice but to arch your back. My hands were out but I quickly realized that I had to have them folded and did so. Finally he tapped me and said I could hold my arms out. The wind was pretty violent and I opened my mouth for a couple seconds and it was immediately dry. I had goggles on so my eyes were fine too. We shot down and freefell for about 50-60 seconds. Before going up he told me a lot of people tend to look down and miss the view. I remembered this and looked up and saw the mountains and beaches and forests. It was a really nice day too because it was really clear out and still morning. When it was time to deploy the shoot he told me to hang on to the shoulder straps. I was told that the jolt was really violent so I braced for the worst but really it was just a sudden slowing. I have to admit, though, it was really hard on the groin area. Troy asked me if I wanted to do some spinning and stuff and I said yeah. We spiraled for a while down and I felt the g-force start to kick in like a rollercoaster. We then did a stall in the air by accelerating down and then quickly pulling up. Before I knew it we were right above the air strip and we did one last quick turn down. We then hovered above the ground before landing on our feet (many people land on their butts apparently). I have to admit I thought it would be way more thrilling (no that it wasn't). I really wish I had been way more nervous because that adds to the buildup and climax of the whole thing. Anyway, thus ended my first skydiving experience. We got certificates and paid and then caught an early shuttle back.
When I got back to the ship it was a little after noon. I had not expected to be back this early and I had it in the back of my mind to attempt to go to Hanauma Bay. So I got my stuff packed really quick and went to the right bus. I got off at a transfer stop and waited for the transfer line. While waiting, I asked a lady to confirm my directions to Hanauma. We started talking about SAS and I told her I was originally from Long Beach. It turns out she went to CSU Long Beach and dormed really close to my house. When my bus arrived I got on and saw some other SASers who I found out were also going to Hanauma Bay to snorkel. Hanauma Bay was the last stop so we got off there and walked down to the entrance. After paying admission we had to watch a short movie about the bay and then we walked down to the beach. We got a good view of the entire bay which was enclosed in an old volcano caldera. We rented snorkels and fins and snorkeled for a little bit. Unfortunately, the people I was with took a while to get ready and took a break 15 minutes after we got in. We eventually went back out and snorkeled a little more. I began to recognize the area from when I was there years back. I saw many types of fish but I seem to remember there being more way back. It was really cool to see all the fish, but it seemed like the reef had been warn down a lot. Before I knew it, it was time to go because we had to be back on the ship by 6 and it was almost four. We returned out gear and began walking back up the hill. While walking up I looked over the edge and saw three people snorkeling following a sea turtle. We went back to the bus and caught it back to the ship. We made it 30 minutes before ship time (we weren’t really rushed or anything) which was probably the closest I’ve come to dock time. We left later that night and arrived in Hilo the next morning.
I woke up today and got ready for my field trip to the Volcano park. We drove up 4,000 feet to the Kilauea caldera and walked around a small visitor center for the surrounding volcanoes. After looking around, we got back on the bus and headed to the Kilauea caldera outlook. It was sprinkling lightly but everyone stayed in the visitor center. Visibility of the caldera was low unfortunately because of the ‘vog’, or fog caused by volcano steam. After walking through the center I took a quick hike along the edge of the caldera and looked around by myself. There was a volcanic vent that had just recently spouted and was causing excessive vog for Hilo. I then speedwalked back to the bus and we left for our next stop which was a steam vent, caused by rainwater hitting rocks that were heated by underground magma. We then left for another overlook, this one much clearer than the previous one. We walked along a short trail and were picked up by the bus at the end. We were then taken to a lava shoot that was pretty massive. We walked briefly through jungle to get to it and then walked over a deep gorge to enter it. It was a long tunnel that extended about 400 feet. We exited the shoot and got back on the bus. Our guide told us she had a narrower shoot in her back yard that goes pretty far up the volcano. She then took us to the downtown area of Hilo where we drove through Banyan Drive which was a street where famous people, including Babe Ruth, had planted Banyan trees, all of which very large now. We drove through the downtown area and then returned to the ship.
At this point, I had no idea what I was going to do. I had tried earlier to get on my roommate’s trip which lasted all day so I could avoid this dilemma. However, it was 1 o’clock and all my friends were elsewhere. I decided I wanted a good Mexican burrito and so I decided to head out and grab a taxi for the downtown area. I saw there was a free shuttle for us that drops off at Walmart. I got on and was dropped off at Walmart. I walked around looking for a Mexican restaurant. I asked a woman in a store called Hilo Hattie if she knew where one was. She pointed me to the nearby mall where I had a burrito. The store Hilo Hattie was based on a woman called Hilo Hattie who was a singer, hula dancer, and entertainer. My guide on the volcano trip said she was a world celebrity and also performed for the local population as well as disabled audiences. I had no further plans so I headed back to the shuttle. While heading back, I saw one of my friends getting out of a taxi. I wanted to go to some sort of outdoorsy thing so he suggested Rainbow Falls which he had earlier visited. He offered to come with me and so after going through Walmart and him getting Pizza Hut, we called a cab and drove to Rainbow Falls. They were pretty tall and there was a massive cave behind the falls. This was my friend Drew’s third time being here today. While I was looking at the falls, Drew took a picture of a family for them. What I did realize was that there was an SAS girl with them. It turned out to be a girl, Jenn, who I had snorkeled with at Hanauma Bay the day before. Apparently, she went to church that morning but went to the “wrong” church, misled by her GPS unit. She ran into an Asian family (I say Asian but they were really Hawaiian with Japanese influence) who took her to their church. After church, they took her around Hilo, gave her lunch, and took her caroling with them. We ran into them at the falls and they invited us to have dinner with them at their church. We had no plans whatsoever so to us this was literally a Godsent. They dropped off the rest of their family and came back and picked the two of us up. While we waited for them to return we walked around the falls. I can’t remember if I mentioned it in previous posts but Drew is partially deaf and night blind so we walked around for a little bit with him holding my shoulder while we walked in the dark. When the lady, Margaret, returned, we got in her car and left for the church. She had her 2 grandchildren (5 and 7) in the back seats. They were very quiet and so naturally I asked them what they wanted from Santa. They perked up and I discovered one of them was going through a train phase so he wanted a Lego Train for Christmas.
We got to the church which was small and quaint (mom, if your reading this, its just like Saint Paul’s). We went into the hall where there were about ten women and men, just about all Asian or Hawaiian. We were served Portuguese bean soup, salad, garlic bread, and plenty of deserts, many of which they received while caroling. While eating, we discussed our various travels and I soon realized how good it was to be in the company of English speakers who could fully comprehend your story and understand your perspective. What was funny was at one point all the elderly Asian women started talking about football and the Cowboys earlier loss. We talked about how great it was that we had all met and that it was pretty lucky (especially for me). After helping to wipe down the tables, we were taken back by one of the ladies that was somehow associated with Margaret and knew Jenn. I told my friend Drew on the short ride back to the ship how it surprised me that we were taken in like that in America (granted it was by a Church, specifically United Church of Christ). In many of the countries, people invited us into their stores or into their homes and gave us meals. After all these times, I said to myself people in America were too distrustful and would be hesitant to invite people to their house. For people like in Ghana and India (I was invited here but didn’t go), they felt obligated to offer hospitality, even to people who were obviously more well off than them. Its probably a matter of circumstance that we’re not that welcoming of strangers. It might because people in other countries are forced to live closer than people in the U.S. who have their own personal space. Whatever the case may be, I was not expecting to get such a great experience (though it wasn’t a home) like this in America. We got back to the ship around 6pm and I am relaxing for the rest of the night. I am planning on going with my roommate and a friend to rent bikes and go biking somewhere (we don’t know where yet). I like Hilo a lot more than Honolulu already (though admittedly there’s more to do in Honolulu). It’s a lot more quaint and less touristy and I get the feeling the locals are less hostile towards the tourists. Btw, I’m really going to make a concerted effort to write post for Yokohama, Shanghai and Hong Kong. I might leave out Vietnam because I think half the people who read the blog were there.
December 4, 5, 6
Honolulu to Hilo, Hawaii Day 1, 2, 3
I have a new post for Japan before this one so don't forget to read that one. We’ve spent 2 days in Honolulu and left the second night and arrived in Hilo the next morning (this morning). I’ve been to Honolulu on Oahu once before already and remembering it being nice but really touristy. It’s even more touristy today but still nice. We arrived in Honolulu early (we got an announcement over the speakers at 5:45am) and I got ready for the day. I had no plans but I wanted to see the Arizona memorial at Pearl Harbor again because I felt like I didn’t fully appreciate it the first time I was there years back. I talked to some friends who said they were going to head there so I readily went along with them. Our ship was docked right next to Aloha Tower and pretty close to the downtown area. We all started talking about how great it was to be in a place where there was Americans again (though many people here were Asian). Seeing exclusive American stores and nothing but English really stressed how close to home we were.
We found the bus and took it to the museum and main area. Our tickets were free so we got in line to watch a movie about Pearl Harbor and then boarded a boat that took us over to the memorial itself. As you all know, it sits perpendicular over the Arizona and it slowly leaks oil. They have a huge list of names of all the people on board who died in the explosion. The next boat came and picked us up and took us back to the main area. We walked around the museum for a little bit and then left for the ship again. We were all tired but I had been really wanting to go snorkeling so I called my mom and asked her if she remembered good spots to snorkel. The famous Hanauma Bay (which I had visited once before when I was much younger) was fairly close and I got two of my friends to try and come with me to snorkel. Unfortunately, we got confused with directions (I was pretty sure where I was going but they caused me to second-guess myself) and ended up walking through a lot of Honolulu/Waikiki and swimming at a beach which was also nice. Later that night, we came back to the ship and went out with more of our friends and went to dinner. We walked around a town center-type area and went to an upper local restaurant. Afterwards we walked around trying to find a Walmart to by food. While walking I noticed that Honolulu wasn’t as nice as it could be in some parts and some streets looked very shady and poor. Eventually we came to Walmart and my friends bought welcome necessities such as Pringles, Coke, candy, etc. When we were done there we bought a cab ride back to the ship.
The next morning, my roommate and I were signed up to go skydiving. Yes, that’s right- skydiving. We signed up a little before Japan and were really looking forward to it. I honestly was not feeling nervous at all but was expecting to when I was in the plane about ready to jump. A large van picked 11 of us up at the ship and took us to an air field at the north shore of the island. We watched a short video with a lawyer with a humorously long beard telling us that if we die we can’t sue them or any of that stuff. We then waited for a few loads of people to go and then we got our harnesses on. I was not nervous at this point but was getting really antsy to go. Since this was my first time I was obviously going to go tandem with myself strapped to someone. That someone was a guy named Troy. The thing about all the skydiving guides is that most seemed middle-aged to fifty, sported ponytails, and had a very surfer-like outlook on life. My roommate E was strapped to a younger guy who had not gone to high school. He said being a skydiving instructor was a neck-down job (you don’t have to use your head). Anyway, they called our names out and went out to the end of the landing strip. The plane pulled right up to us and we loaded on one by one. It was a tiny plane with 2 narrow benches stretching about 8 feet inside. You straddled the bench in front of your tandem guide while the rest lye on the floor. One person was getting video taken of them so they had 3 camera people filming them.
After the last person got in, we close the door and the plane began to take off. It took us the whole runway to get up and we didn’t take off till the grass at the end. Right after we took off they opened the side door of the plane so we could look out. I thought as soon as they did this it would freak me out but I was surprisingly calm. I was also surprised when I realized how calm I was. I thought I’d be jittery and asking questions and stuff but I just looked out the door and the window and enjoyed the view. Troy had an altimeter watch and I watched as we went from 5,000 feet to 8,000 feet to 14,000 feet. As we got higher, everyone started getting strapped to tighter to their guide. Finally, the pilot said we were ready to go and they slid the door open. Still I was not really nervous, but just ready to go. The first guy (also SAS) who had the cameramen with him got ready to go. Two of the cameramen hung out the side of the plane and the guy sat in the doorway with his guide. And then at the same time they all flew out. The next people left, this time with only one single jumper hanging on the side. Then the next. Then the people in front of me. Troy told me to start scooting to the door. On the ground they told me to cross my arms and arch my back as soon as I leaned out. We got to the doorway and I stuck my legs one at a time out the door. Looking down, I saw my feet and then a 15,000 foot drop to the ocean below. Troy was positioning himself behind me and I continued trying to take in the sight. Finally, he started the countdown 3..2..1.. and then slowly we started leaning out and then there was a sudden acceleration of me plummeting at 120mph towards earth. The directions they gave me completely went out of my head after we jumped. Luckily, you really have no choice but to arch your back. My hands were out but I quickly realized that I had to have them folded and did so. Finally he tapped me and said I could hold my arms out. The wind was pretty violent and I opened my mouth for a couple seconds and it was immediately dry. I had goggles on so my eyes were fine too. We shot down and freefell for about 50-60 seconds. Before going up he told me a lot of people tend to look down and miss the view. I remembered this and looked up and saw the mountains and beaches and forests. It was a really nice day too because it was really clear out and still morning. When it was time to deploy the shoot he told me to hang on to the shoulder straps. I was told that the jolt was really violent so I braced for the worst but really it was just a sudden slowing. I have to admit, though, it was really hard on the groin area. Troy asked me if I wanted to do some spinning and stuff and I said yeah. We spiraled for a while down and I felt the g-force start to kick in like a rollercoaster. We then did a stall in the air by accelerating down and then quickly pulling up. Before I knew it we were right above the air strip and we did one last quick turn down. We then hovered above the ground before landing on our feet (many people land on their butts apparently). I have to admit I thought it would be way more thrilling (no that it wasn't). I really wish I had been way more nervous because that adds to the buildup and climax of the whole thing. Anyway, thus ended my first skydiving experience. We got certificates and paid and then caught an early shuttle back.
When I got back to the ship it was a little after noon. I had not expected to be back this early and I had it in the back of my mind to attempt to go to Hanauma Bay. So I got my stuff packed really quick and went to the right bus. I got off at a transfer stop and waited for the transfer line. While waiting, I asked a lady to confirm my directions to Hanauma. We started talking about SAS and I told her I was originally from Long Beach. It turns out she went to CSU Long Beach and dormed really close to my house. When my bus arrived I got on and saw some other SASers who I found out were also going to Hanauma Bay to snorkel. Hanauma Bay was the last stop so we got off there and walked down to the entrance. After paying admission we had to watch a short movie about the bay and then we walked down to the beach. We got a good view of the entire bay which was enclosed in an old volcano caldera. We rented snorkels and fins and snorkeled for a little bit. Unfortunately, the people I was with took a while to get ready and took a break 15 minutes after we got in. We eventually went back out and snorkeled a little more. I began to recognize the area from when I was there years back. I saw many types of fish but I seem to remember there being more way back. It was really cool to see all the fish, but it seemed like the reef had been warn down a lot. Before I knew it, it was time to go because we had to be back on the ship by 6 and it was almost four. We returned out gear and began walking back up the hill. While walking up I looked over the edge and saw three people snorkeling following a sea turtle. We went back to the bus and caught it back to the ship. We made it 30 minutes before ship time (we weren’t really rushed or anything) which was probably the closest I’ve come to dock time. We left later that night and arrived in Hilo the next morning.
I woke up today and got ready for my field trip to the Volcano park. We drove up 4,000 feet to the Kilauea caldera and walked around a small visitor center for the surrounding volcanoes. After looking around, we got back on the bus and headed to the Kilauea caldera outlook. It was sprinkling lightly but everyone stayed in the visitor center. Visibility of the caldera was low unfortunately because of the ‘vog’, or fog caused by volcano steam. After walking through the center I took a quick hike along the edge of the caldera and looked around by myself. There was a volcanic vent that had just recently spouted and was causing excessive vog for Hilo. I then speedwalked back to the bus and we left for our next stop which was a steam vent, caused by rainwater hitting rocks that were heated by underground magma. We then left for another overlook, this one much clearer than the previous one. We walked along a short trail and were picked up by the bus at the end. We were then taken to a lava shoot that was pretty massive. We walked briefly through jungle to get to it and then walked over a deep gorge to enter it. It was a long tunnel that extended about 400 feet. We exited the shoot and got back on the bus. Our guide told us she had a narrower shoot in her back yard that goes pretty far up the volcano. She then took us to the downtown area of Hilo where we drove through Banyan Drive which was a street where famous people, including Babe Ruth, had planted Banyan trees, all of which very large now. We drove through the downtown area and then returned to the ship.
At this point, I had no idea what I was going to do. I had tried earlier to get on my roommate’s trip which lasted all day so I could avoid this dilemma. However, it was 1 o’clock and all my friends were elsewhere. I decided I wanted a good Mexican burrito and so I decided to head out and grab a taxi for the downtown area. I saw there was a free shuttle for us that drops off at Walmart. I got on and was dropped off at Walmart. I walked around looking for a Mexican restaurant. I asked a woman in a store called Hilo Hattie if she knew where one was. She pointed me to the nearby mall where I had a burrito. The store Hilo Hattie was based on a woman called Hilo Hattie who was a singer, hula dancer, and entertainer. My guide on the volcano trip said she was a world celebrity and also performed for the local population as well as disabled audiences. I had no further plans so I headed back to the shuttle. While heading back, I saw one of my friends getting out of a taxi. I wanted to go to some sort of outdoorsy thing so he suggested Rainbow Falls which he had earlier visited. He offered to come with me and so after going through Walmart and him getting Pizza Hut, we called a cab and drove to Rainbow Falls. They were pretty tall and there was a massive cave behind the falls. This was my friend Drew’s third time being here today. While I was looking at the falls, Drew took a picture of a family for them. What I did realize was that there was an SAS girl with them. It turned out to be a girl, Jenn, who I had snorkeled with at Hanauma Bay the day before. Apparently, she went to church that morning but went to the “wrong” church, misled by her GPS unit. She ran into an Asian family (I say Asian but they were really Hawaiian with Japanese influence) who took her to their church. After church, they took her around Hilo, gave her lunch, and took her caroling with them. We ran into them at the falls and they invited us to have dinner with them at their church. We had no plans whatsoever so to us this was literally a Godsent. They dropped off the rest of their family and came back and picked the two of us up. While we waited for them to return we walked around the falls. I can’t remember if I mentioned it in previous posts but Drew is partially deaf and night blind so we walked around for a little bit with him holding my shoulder while we walked in the dark. When the lady, Margaret, returned, we got in her car and left for the church. She had her 2 grandchildren (5 and 7) in the back seats. They were very quiet and so naturally I asked them what they wanted from Santa. They perked up and I discovered one of them was going through a train phase so he wanted a Lego Train for Christmas.
We got to the church which was small and quaint (mom, if your reading this, its just like Saint Paul’s). We went into the hall where there were about ten women and men, just about all Asian or Hawaiian. We were served Portuguese bean soup, salad, garlic bread, and plenty of deserts, many of which they received while caroling. While eating, we discussed our various travels and I soon realized how good it was to be in the company of English speakers who could fully comprehend your story and understand your perspective. What was funny was at one point all the elderly Asian women started talking about football and the Cowboys earlier loss. We talked about how great it was that we had all met and that it was pretty lucky (especially for me). After helping to wipe down the tables, we were taken back by one of the ladies that was somehow associated with Margaret and knew Jenn. I told my friend Drew on the short ride back to the ship how it surprised me that we were taken in like that in America (granted it was by a Church, specifically United Church of Christ). In many of the countries, people invited us into their stores or into their homes and gave us meals. After all these times, I said to myself people in America were too distrustful and would be hesitant to invite people to their house. For people like in Ghana and India (I was invited here but didn’t go), they felt obligated to offer hospitality, even to people who were obviously more well off than them. Its probably a matter of circumstance that we’re not that welcoming of strangers. It might because people in other countries are forced to live closer than people in the U.S. who have their own personal space. Whatever the case may be, I was not expecting to get such a great experience (though it wasn’t a home) like this in America. We got back to the ship around 6pm and I am relaxing for the rest of the night. I am planning on going with my roommate and a friend to rent bikes and go biking somewhere (we don’t know where yet). I like Hilo a lot more than Honolulu already (though admittedly there’s more to do in Honolulu). It’s a lot more quaint and less touristy and I get the feeling the locals are less hostile towards the tourists. Btw, I’m really going to make a concerted effort to write post for Yokohama, Shanghai and Hong Kong. I might leave out Vietnam because I think half the people who read the blog were there.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
East and Further East: Japan
Sorry to everyone who's been expecting a post. I have been sick as well as busy with exams and essays. I actually wrote this post right after leaving Japan and haven't been able to post it because I haven't had internet. So a lot of the following might be outdated.
November 23, 24
Japan Day 3, 4
So I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted and I’m sorry to all the people who have been checking the blog for a new post. I know I am missing all of Vietnam (where I had an amazing time with my parents and brother), all of China, and the first 2 days of Japan but hopefully I can start on them soon. After we leave Japan later tonight, we will have 10 days of straight sailing to Hawaii. This means that Japan was our last foreign country visit and now it’s on to the US. It’s sad because Japan went by so fast that I feel I barely experienced it though the experience I did have with it was amazing. After I finish this post on Kobe, hopefully I will find time to start on Yokohama and then Shanghai, Hong Kong, and if time allows and Allah is willing, I can get to Vietnam.
Before I left on Semester at Sea, I had signed up for a Japanese homestay in Kobe. I had been looking forward to this trip through Semester at Sea and now that it had finally come, I was really excited. We had just arrived in Kobe on the ship from a one day sailing from Yokohama. Japan consisted of these 2 ports (Yokohama and Kobe) where we spent 2 days in each. We did a similar thing in China where we spent 2 days in Hong Kong, sailed for 2 days, and then arrived in Shanghai (in each of these places including Japan we arrived one day and left the next). At 11:00am, I went out into the terminal to find my host family. I looked around for a minute before spotting a woman and her son holding a sign with my name on it. My host mom’s name was Hiromi Kawasaki and her son’s name was Hiro. Hiromi told me she also has a daughter named Satoka. I later found out her husband was on a golf trip and would be back later that night. Hiromi also told me that my original host family was unable to have me because there was a swine flu threat with one of their daughters (it turned out she was healthy). While we waited she frequently asked for clarification on English words, including aurora (as in aurora borealis). We then received a very awkward welcome from one of the Japanese organizers. She was very nervous and would laugh and then bow and then laugh and then bow. Finally, another lady welcomed us and then we played a game. There was a song we sang and then someone would say a number and we had to get into a group with that number of people. After we finished the game I left with my family in Hiromi’s black Mercedes. She lived in a town outside of Kobe and near Osaka (it was about a 30 min. drive).
We stopped at a small Japanese park/garden/museum/teahouse. I got to see the process of how they pickled foods. I also got to see a small Japanese garden with a lantern and small pond (it looked a lot like someone’s backyard). We left the garden and went out front to where there was a small food store (it looked like the equivalent of a Trader Joe’s). I got to try some pickled vegetable and some sort of ‘snail’. We then left for Hiromi’s home. The entire ride to their house was interesting: we started out listening to Abba and half way through started listening to Ricky Martin (who wasn’t as bad as I once had thought). There house is situated on a hillside outside of Osaka in what they said was the richest part of Japan. We drove uphill through a very nice neighborhood and eventually came to the Kawasakis’s house which was 2 stories and high up on the hill. Upon entering the house, we had to take our shoes off (wearing slipper’s was optional). I thought it was interesting comparing this ritual in a Japanese house to other houses in countries such as Ghana where shoes were the last concern. I set my backpack in the guest room (which had no bed in it- I slept on a large cushion bed (more later) and then went upstairs and talked with the family. I met Satoka who had been studying for school the next they (neither of the kids had school as it was the Japanese labor day). I explored the house for a little while Hiromi prepared lunch. We ate Udon noodles and curry for lunch which tasted great. Randomly, they had a Rubix cube sitting in their family room and I solved it for them after lunch which impressed them very much (it took me forever to solve). I then sat down with Hiromi in front of a world map and we talked about the places I had been in the previous months and the places she had been. She then asked me about many English phrases and what certain words meant. I relaxed for a little bit after that and then we went to a nearby park and met with one of the other homestay families, the Tanakas who were housing a friend of mine, Marcus, who is in my film class and coincidentally, also plays Rugby. We played soccer with Marcus’ homestay father and his 3 sons (he also had a little daughter who played off to the side). The 3 sons were 12, 9, and 6 (I think) and their friend Seya was there. We started off by playing keep away with the ball, then soccer (football) and then soccer tennis which was kicking the ball back and forth in between in a square. The boys were very good at football but also very rowdy and energetic. After we played at the park we left for their house to hang out. We were greeted by the mom of the family who was getting ready to prepare dinner for us (minus Satoka and Hiromi who were back at home). We washed our hands in a sink in their entry room and then entered their family room/kitchen. We played with the Japanese toy called kendama (Wikipedia it). We sat at the table and using raw meat “squeezed” (the mom asked me what motion it was) by the middle son together. We then were given circles of flat dough, put the meet in it and made gyoza (dumplings) by putting water on the edges and folding them up. We all folded the dumplings for a while and then Hiro started preparing a noodles dish by cooking some sort of meat and then adding lettuce, sauce, noodles and fish into a cooker. After removing the noodle dish, the mom started steaming the dumplings.
Meanwhile, we all started playing with the kendamas and spinning tops. This was all very reminiscent of spending the night at a friend’s house (play, play, eat dinner, play some more). They had a Christmas tree in their living room as well (I talked to Hiromi who said the Japanese celebrate commercial Christmas). We then sat down for dinner and had the dumplings, noodles, a rice cake (literally a cake made of rice) because it was Marcus’ birthday in 2 weeks, rice balls with tuna, and more noodles and pizza that a family friend had brought over (the pizza was absolutely amazing). After dinner, we cleared the table and started to make origami. We made paper cranes, hats, boxes, and the middle brother gave me a lesson on how to make paper shiruken (ninja stars). After making origami we arranged our creations and took a picture with them. As a gift, Marcus and me were given all the origami. We then got ready for desert which was interesting. They brought out a bowl of cut-up fruit such as tangerines and pineapple (the fruits you would find in a fruit cocktail) and in the middle of the bowl was a carbonated lemon drink. The middle brother had a piece of paper which was rolled into a funnel shape and had candy inside. He then let the candy drop into the bottle and the drink started to fizz over into the bowl of fruit (like adding Mentos to coke). We then ladled the fruit and the lemon soda into cups and ate it. After desert we played Jenga (or Tumbling Towers) which caused a huge amount of excitement from the kids (they were going crazy when people pulled blocks out). Just when I thought the night was over, the parents pulled out a pinata for Marcus’ birthday and we all were blindfolded and swung at the piñata (I completely missed). After breaking the piñata we brought all the candy over and shared. I’m sure there’s more to the night that I’m forgetting, but it was incredibly fun and I felt like I was a little kid again with my friends. I remember saying to myself ‘some things never change’ all night, mainly considering brother rivalry and other things.
After that, Hiromi picked me and Hiro up and took us home. Hiromi left to pick up her husband and I watched a little Japanese TV with the kids. When she returned, I got to meet Mr. Kawasaki who was a surgeon. Later, I took a bath and Hiromi made a bed for me on the floor of the guest room. The bed was a large pillow/blanket as a mattress, a sheet to cover that, a main blanket, and a pillow. The whole house (especially the bottom floor) was very cold, however the bed she made was very warm. I talked briefly about comics (manga) with Hiro earlier and he brought me 2 comics with a popular Japanese character named Doraemon. I read one of the comics for a while and found it unintentionally hilarious. The premise is a robot cat from the future who visits his friend’s grandfather as a kid and him and the grandfather (as a child) have lots of weird adventures. The book starts out with Doraemon and the grandson hiding in the kid’s desk and surprising him and telling him he’s going to hang himself in 30 minutes and be burned alive (later he gets his shirt caught on a tree and is burned by a hot bath). After reading a couple chapters of this, I went to bed.
The next morning I got up around 9:30. Hiromi helped me make a small Japanese breakfast which consisted of an egg cooked in a square pan and rolled up. I ate it with lettuce and rice. After this we cleaned the house for the 2 other nearby homestay students and their families to come over. I vacuumed the top and bottom floor of the house. Then the other 2 students came over: Marcus with his host mom and a girl who was also from Long Beach named Monica who came with her host mom. The women got out their calligraphy sets and we painted some Japanese characters including the character for mountain, trees, heart, and river. We used coal based paint and learned how to write our names in the character language Kanji. While we were painting, my original host mom and her 2 daughters arrived and I got to meet them. Her last name was Takahashi. While we continued painting the host moms started preparing lunch which consisted of rice with shredded seaweed, hot dog buns with a small hotdog and fried chicken in them, and a vegetable stew. When we finished most of the stew they added the rice into it and called it a risotto.
After lunch, I grabbed my stuff and we all got into separate cars and drove a little bit down and along the hill till we came to a hillside temple. Marcus had gone to his family’s school or something so it was just mine and Monica’s families at the temple. The temple had a central, large staircase that started toward the parking lot and went straight up to the actual temple. All the trees on the hillside (and throughout Japan for that matter) had autumn colors and the cherry blossom trees had red leaves. At the base of the stairs, below the parking lot was a small shrine. On the walls of the small structure hung the one thousand paper cranes as well as traditional Japanese sandals. We started to climb up the stairs to get to the top where the main temple was. On the way up we saw some grave stones of “ancestors”, some of which had bibs (as in baby bibs) on them. At the top, there was a well with water coming out of a dragon statue’s mouth. There were ladles for dishing water and washing your hands with it. We also were supposed to rinse our mouths with water but I accidentally drank it. We walked up to the temple where a family was chanting a prayer. There was a statue of Buddha made of wood with many bibs on it. The tradition was to rub the statue wherever you might have pain. So if you had stomach pain, you would rub his stomach, etc. Much of the coating of the statue had been worn away by excessive rubbing. The host moms I was with all rubbed his eyes. We then went to the large bell and all of us pulled the rope attached to the hammer which rung the bell. It was very loud and they later told me they could sometimes here it from their houses. We went back down to the parking lot where there was a pond with a bridge to a small island in the middle (it was blocked to the public). Monica commented on how similar it was to the Japanese Gardens back in Long Beach and how our moms used to take us there when we were little.
Hiromi forgot her phone at the house so went back and then we left to meet the others at the train station. We parked the car and then went into a small store where we bought a few things. I spotted a Pokemon toothbrush cap that I thought my friend Keith would like so I bought him that. We then walked from the store to the train station nearby. The host families gave us directions to get back to the ship by train. The three of us reluctantly then said goodbye to all of our host families and waved goodbye. We got on the train and left. We got off that train and transferred to a different train where we met up with other homestay students. In total it took us about 15 minutes to get back by train. We got back to the ship around 5 and I looked around for anyone who wanted to go back off the ship one last time but couldn’t find anybody willing so I stayed on board.
In my opinion, this was a great way to end my last foreign country on SAS. The Japanese family I stayed with and the other families I met were all amazing people who I realized were not very much different at all than US families. It was a lot of fun interacting with the kids and seeing how they entertained themselves. It kinda sucks knowing that my next stop is the U.S. but every moment in Japan was totally worthwhile, even the strangeness that was downtown Tokyo. Hopefully I will have a chance in the near future to talk about Yokohama and my day trip to Tokyo. Yokohama was extremely beautiful and it looked like it was morning (no joke) all day until late in the afternoon when it got dark really sudden. Anyway, I have a lot of work the next few days so we’ll see how it all goes.
November 23, 24
Japan Day 3, 4
So I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted and I’m sorry to all the people who have been checking the blog for a new post. I know I am missing all of Vietnam (where I had an amazing time with my parents and brother), all of China, and the first 2 days of Japan but hopefully I can start on them soon. After we leave Japan later tonight, we will have 10 days of straight sailing to Hawaii. This means that Japan was our last foreign country visit and now it’s on to the US. It’s sad because Japan went by so fast that I feel I barely experienced it though the experience I did have with it was amazing. After I finish this post on Kobe, hopefully I will find time to start on Yokohama and then Shanghai, Hong Kong, and if time allows and Allah is willing, I can get to Vietnam.
Before I left on Semester at Sea, I had signed up for a Japanese homestay in Kobe. I had been looking forward to this trip through Semester at Sea and now that it had finally come, I was really excited. We had just arrived in Kobe on the ship from a one day sailing from Yokohama. Japan consisted of these 2 ports (Yokohama and Kobe) where we spent 2 days in each. We did a similar thing in China where we spent 2 days in Hong Kong, sailed for 2 days, and then arrived in Shanghai (in each of these places including Japan we arrived one day and left the next). At 11:00am, I went out into the terminal to find my host family. I looked around for a minute before spotting a woman and her son holding a sign with my name on it. My host mom’s name was Hiromi Kawasaki and her son’s name was Hiro. Hiromi told me she also has a daughter named Satoka. I later found out her husband was on a golf trip and would be back later that night. Hiromi also told me that my original host family was unable to have me because there was a swine flu threat with one of their daughters (it turned out she was healthy). While we waited she frequently asked for clarification on English words, including aurora (as in aurora borealis). We then received a very awkward welcome from one of the Japanese organizers. She was very nervous and would laugh and then bow and then laugh and then bow. Finally, another lady welcomed us and then we played a game. There was a song we sang and then someone would say a number and we had to get into a group with that number of people. After we finished the game I left with my family in Hiromi’s black Mercedes. She lived in a town outside of Kobe and near Osaka (it was about a 30 min. drive).
We stopped at a small Japanese park/garden/museum/teahouse. I got to see the process of how they pickled foods. I also got to see a small Japanese garden with a lantern and small pond (it looked a lot like someone’s backyard). We left the garden and went out front to where there was a small food store (it looked like the equivalent of a Trader Joe’s). I got to try some pickled vegetable and some sort of ‘snail’. We then left for Hiromi’s home. The entire ride to their house was interesting: we started out listening to Abba and half way through started listening to Ricky Martin (who wasn’t as bad as I once had thought). There house is situated on a hillside outside of Osaka in what they said was the richest part of Japan. We drove uphill through a very nice neighborhood and eventually came to the Kawasakis’s house which was 2 stories and high up on the hill. Upon entering the house, we had to take our shoes off (wearing slipper’s was optional). I thought it was interesting comparing this ritual in a Japanese house to other houses in countries such as Ghana where shoes were the last concern. I set my backpack in the guest room (which had no bed in it- I slept on a large cushion bed (more later) and then went upstairs and talked with the family. I met Satoka who had been studying for school the next they (neither of the kids had school as it was the Japanese labor day). I explored the house for a little while Hiromi prepared lunch. We ate Udon noodles and curry for lunch which tasted great. Randomly, they had a Rubix cube sitting in their family room and I solved it for them after lunch which impressed them very much (it took me forever to solve). I then sat down with Hiromi in front of a world map and we talked about the places I had been in the previous months and the places she had been. She then asked me about many English phrases and what certain words meant. I relaxed for a little bit after that and then we went to a nearby park and met with one of the other homestay families, the Tanakas who were housing a friend of mine, Marcus, who is in my film class and coincidentally, also plays Rugby. We played soccer with Marcus’ homestay father and his 3 sons (he also had a little daughter who played off to the side). The 3 sons were 12, 9, and 6 (I think) and their friend Seya was there. We started off by playing keep away with the ball, then soccer (football) and then soccer tennis which was kicking the ball back and forth in between in a square. The boys were very good at football but also very rowdy and energetic. After we played at the park we left for their house to hang out. We were greeted by the mom of the family who was getting ready to prepare dinner for us (minus Satoka and Hiromi who were back at home). We washed our hands in a sink in their entry room and then entered their family room/kitchen. We played with the Japanese toy called kendama (Wikipedia it). We sat at the table and using raw meat “squeezed” (the mom asked me what motion it was) by the middle son together. We then were given circles of flat dough, put the meet in it and made gyoza (dumplings) by putting water on the edges and folding them up. We all folded the dumplings for a while and then Hiro started preparing a noodles dish by cooking some sort of meat and then adding lettuce, sauce, noodles and fish into a cooker. After removing the noodle dish, the mom started steaming the dumplings.
Meanwhile, we all started playing with the kendamas and spinning tops. This was all very reminiscent of spending the night at a friend’s house (play, play, eat dinner, play some more). They had a Christmas tree in their living room as well (I talked to Hiromi who said the Japanese celebrate commercial Christmas). We then sat down for dinner and had the dumplings, noodles, a rice cake (literally a cake made of rice) because it was Marcus’ birthday in 2 weeks, rice balls with tuna, and more noodles and pizza that a family friend had brought over (the pizza was absolutely amazing). After dinner, we cleared the table and started to make origami. We made paper cranes, hats, boxes, and the middle brother gave me a lesson on how to make paper shiruken (ninja stars). After making origami we arranged our creations and took a picture with them. As a gift, Marcus and me were given all the origami. We then got ready for desert which was interesting. They brought out a bowl of cut-up fruit such as tangerines and pineapple (the fruits you would find in a fruit cocktail) and in the middle of the bowl was a carbonated lemon drink. The middle brother had a piece of paper which was rolled into a funnel shape and had candy inside. He then let the candy drop into the bottle and the drink started to fizz over into the bowl of fruit (like adding Mentos to coke). We then ladled the fruit and the lemon soda into cups and ate it. After desert we played Jenga (or Tumbling Towers) which caused a huge amount of excitement from the kids (they were going crazy when people pulled blocks out). Just when I thought the night was over, the parents pulled out a pinata for Marcus’ birthday and we all were blindfolded and swung at the piñata (I completely missed). After breaking the piñata we brought all the candy over and shared. I’m sure there’s more to the night that I’m forgetting, but it was incredibly fun and I felt like I was a little kid again with my friends. I remember saying to myself ‘some things never change’ all night, mainly considering brother rivalry and other things.
After that, Hiromi picked me and Hiro up and took us home. Hiromi left to pick up her husband and I watched a little Japanese TV with the kids. When she returned, I got to meet Mr. Kawasaki who was a surgeon. Later, I took a bath and Hiromi made a bed for me on the floor of the guest room. The bed was a large pillow/blanket as a mattress, a sheet to cover that, a main blanket, and a pillow. The whole house (especially the bottom floor) was very cold, however the bed she made was very warm. I talked briefly about comics (manga) with Hiro earlier and he brought me 2 comics with a popular Japanese character named Doraemon. I read one of the comics for a while and found it unintentionally hilarious. The premise is a robot cat from the future who visits his friend’s grandfather as a kid and him and the grandfather (as a child) have lots of weird adventures. The book starts out with Doraemon and the grandson hiding in the kid’s desk and surprising him and telling him he’s going to hang himself in 30 minutes and be burned alive (later he gets his shirt caught on a tree and is burned by a hot bath). After reading a couple chapters of this, I went to bed.
The next morning I got up around 9:30. Hiromi helped me make a small Japanese breakfast which consisted of an egg cooked in a square pan and rolled up. I ate it with lettuce and rice. After this we cleaned the house for the 2 other nearby homestay students and their families to come over. I vacuumed the top and bottom floor of the house. Then the other 2 students came over: Marcus with his host mom and a girl who was also from Long Beach named Monica who came with her host mom. The women got out their calligraphy sets and we painted some Japanese characters including the character for mountain, trees, heart, and river. We used coal based paint and learned how to write our names in the character language Kanji. While we were painting, my original host mom and her 2 daughters arrived and I got to meet them. Her last name was Takahashi. While we continued painting the host moms started preparing lunch which consisted of rice with shredded seaweed, hot dog buns with a small hotdog and fried chicken in them, and a vegetable stew. When we finished most of the stew they added the rice into it and called it a risotto.
After lunch, I grabbed my stuff and we all got into separate cars and drove a little bit down and along the hill till we came to a hillside temple. Marcus had gone to his family’s school or something so it was just mine and Monica’s families at the temple. The temple had a central, large staircase that started toward the parking lot and went straight up to the actual temple. All the trees on the hillside (and throughout Japan for that matter) had autumn colors and the cherry blossom trees had red leaves. At the base of the stairs, below the parking lot was a small shrine. On the walls of the small structure hung the one thousand paper cranes as well as traditional Japanese sandals. We started to climb up the stairs to get to the top where the main temple was. On the way up we saw some grave stones of “ancestors”, some of which had bibs (as in baby bibs) on them. At the top, there was a well with water coming out of a dragon statue’s mouth. There were ladles for dishing water and washing your hands with it. We also were supposed to rinse our mouths with water but I accidentally drank it. We walked up to the temple where a family was chanting a prayer. There was a statue of Buddha made of wood with many bibs on it. The tradition was to rub the statue wherever you might have pain. So if you had stomach pain, you would rub his stomach, etc. Much of the coating of the statue had been worn away by excessive rubbing. The host moms I was with all rubbed his eyes. We then went to the large bell and all of us pulled the rope attached to the hammer which rung the bell. It was very loud and they later told me they could sometimes here it from their houses. We went back down to the parking lot where there was a pond with a bridge to a small island in the middle (it was blocked to the public). Monica commented on how similar it was to the Japanese Gardens back in Long Beach and how our moms used to take us there when we were little.
Hiromi forgot her phone at the house so went back and then we left to meet the others at the train station. We parked the car and then went into a small store where we bought a few things. I spotted a Pokemon toothbrush cap that I thought my friend Keith would like so I bought him that. We then walked from the store to the train station nearby. The host families gave us directions to get back to the ship by train. The three of us reluctantly then said goodbye to all of our host families and waved goodbye. We got on the train and left. We got off that train and transferred to a different train where we met up with other homestay students. In total it took us about 15 minutes to get back by train. We got back to the ship around 5 and I looked around for anyone who wanted to go back off the ship one last time but couldn’t find anybody willing so I stayed on board.
In my opinion, this was a great way to end my last foreign country on SAS. The Japanese family I stayed with and the other families I met were all amazing people who I realized were not very much different at all than US families. It was a lot of fun interacting with the kids and seeing how they entertained themselves. It kinda sucks knowing that my next stop is the U.S. but every moment in Japan was totally worthwhile, even the strangeness that was downtown Tokyo. Hopefully I will have a chance in the near future to talk about Yokohama and my day trip to Tokyo. Yokohama was extremely beautiful and it looked like it was morning (no joke) all day until late in the afternoon when it got dark really sudden. Anyway, I have a lot of work the next few days so we’ll see how it all goes.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Why No Posts Recently
Hey everyone, I'm sorry I haven't been writing recently. All through Vietnam I was with my family and had no chance to write. I had 2 days after Vietnam to China, both days I was busy with school. I did have 2 days between Hong Kong and Shanghai but I was extremely unmotivated. THe last night of Shanghai I got really sick and I've been recovering since (I just had a fever and now I have only cold symptoms...mom). I have one day between Yokohama and Kobe and hopefully I'll get to it then.
Today we got into Yokohama and me and 2 of my friends took a day trip to Tokyo which was really cool. We're not sure what we're doing tomorrow but probably something in Yokohama. Anyway, sorry to evveryone who has been faithfully checking the blog- I will try to get a more full post up when I have more time.
Today we got into Yokohama and me and 2 of my friends took a day trip to Tokyo which was really cool. We're not sure what we're doing tomorrow but probably something in Yokohama. Anyway, sorry to evveryone who has been faithfully checking the blog- I will try to get a more full post up when I have more time.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Rural India and School/Home Visit
October 26, 27
India Day 4 & 5
I am writing this post the day before we get to Vietnam. I still have one more post that I’ll try to finish before I arrive.
I had an early breakfast and my roommate and I got on the bus to go on a rural India trip. We drove out into the countryside of India and arrived at our first stop which was (you guessed it) a temple. The temple was like just about every other temple I went to except it was smaller and there was a monkey there which climbed to the top of the temple. Next to where our bus was parked was a large pool of water (like the ones at other temples) where people washed themselves and their clothes and goats laid on the stairs surrounding the pool. We left this temple area and went further out into the countryside to a rural village which our tour guide told us had a population of 5,000. We were first welcomed by a lady who was like a town caretaker. She gave us a blessing and we headed down the road where we were shown the local watering hole. Our guide said that the village kept this water clean for drinking and other uses. As we stood there, a villager came and took some water in a large vase. We walked further down the road and a lady gave us a tour of her home. We were served tea (black and chai) and shown through the house. There was a living room and a room with a sort of shrine. We left the house and walked back up the street to the front of a woman’s house. There she showed us how they made art on the ground using ground up rice and lyme. Throughout India you would see white, symmetrical designs on the ground in the shape of stars or flowers. She started out by putting dots of the white on the ground and used those as a blueprint for her design. Some of us got to try, but the designs ended up sloppy and nonsymmetrical.
After this, some wagons pulled by oxen arrived and gave us a ride to another part of the village. The wagons first took us out to some rice fields where there were women bent over planting rice shoots. The fields were muddy and flooded with water from a large well adjacent to the field. There were trenches along the fields’ edge that carried water shot from a hose at the well to the rice fields. We watched the women plant rice for a while and then we were allowed to plant rice. We took our shoes off and stepped into the mud. They gave us some rice shoots and we (poorly) began to plant. The strategy was to plant each one equidistant from the adjacent ones, but everybody’s ended up uneven. We got out of the field and washed off at the well and got back on the wagons which took us to yet another part of the village. From the wagons, we saw many different types of homes from concrete structures to wooden huts. We came around the corner and saw a huge grove of coconut trees. There we were given coconuts to drink. A man who lived next to the grove gave us a demonstration of how they got the coconuts. The man had a harness that he leaned back in for support as he climbed up the tree. He used his feet to push him up the tree and within seconds made it to the top about 30 feet up. He cut one coconut and let it fall to the ground. They then let us try though we didn’t go as high. Some of us tried (myself included) and we all struggled greatly. My thighs hurt after trying to climb. We got back on the wagon and rode back to the bus. We then drove to a nearby school. We were greeted by the principal and taken to one of the classrooms. It was hot inside and we were all crammed inside. The kids were between 16 and 17 and studied various subjects such as accounting and economics (among others). When asked what they wanted to be, they said lawyers, government official, cops, and accountants. Education in India is similar to the US in that they have a grade school. However, after this they take a test that determines what subject they will study. We left the school and headed to our next stop which was the Dakeshina Chitra cultural center. We had lunch and then watched a movie about some of the various cultures in India. The rest of the afternoon we were given a tour of the grounds which had authentic structures from the various cultures and exhibits about them. We saw numerous demonstrations such as the making of silk cloth, glass sculpturing using a heated torch, and pottery making. There was a small market inside that we shopped at for a little and then we left.
We got back to the ship a little after 6pm. My roommate and I and one of our friends decided to go to the Citi Center that night (this was our last night in India). We caught a rickshaw to the mall and had dinner on the top floor (it was Arabic food). We then walked around the mall and shopped around for a while. We left and caught another rickshaw back to the port. I don’t know if I mentioned this before but every time we left or entered the port we had to show them a form we had called a Shore pass. In previous countries all we had to do was flash our SAS ID and we were allowed in.
The next day was our last day in India. I was set to go on a trip to one of the colleges and visit an Indian home. The school ended up being the school of the students that were at the welcome reception on the first night so I ended up seeing a lot of the same people from that night. We were greeted by the students and given a rose. Someone had made a floral design on the floor using dyed salts. We went upstairs to a conference room where we were spoken to by the president of the school and his staff. The school itself was called SRM Easwari Engineering School. We were then given a tour by the students of their facilities. We first stopped off at a computer lab that had a class in session. We were taken to several other computer labs representing the Computer Science/Engineering aspect of the school. We were then taken to an engineering lab which had machines and electronic devices set up for tests and stuff. The students I was with (or rather the students that followed me the time I was there) told me that their classes are separated into a class session based on theory and a practical session in which they apply what they know. They said that in order to graduate you had to work on a project that showed what you knew. We were then taken downstairs to some dental facilities which were fully operational and full of locals receiving tooth-work. I was told that all the dentists here were students with the exception of those doing surgical work (which we saw and could walk right up to and watch). I asked some of the students I was with what they liked to do and they said play video games and cricket. We then had lunch which consisted of different types of rice, curry, and other assorted sauces. Indian food is really cool in that you can mix everything together using your hands and it tastes awesome. Like Ghana, you eat with your hand. After eating with the students we said goodbye and left the school.
We then headed to our second stop which was a home visit. The home turned out to be that of a well off Indian woman (her husband was at work). We were greeted at her gate by herself and her 2 dogs, one of which was a beagle and the other was an extremely fat beagle-mix, which I thought was cool. We went inside the house and sat and introduced ourselves. We found out that we had previously met her son who was a student at the school we just visited. We received a tour of her house, which was three floors high. We then hung out on the second floor and she dressed one of the girls in a formal sari with the help of one of the maids. She also dressed up one of the guys in a man’s formal garb. We then went downstairs and had some snacks and talked for a while. After conversing with the lady for a while, we left and went back to the ship. We boarded the ship one last time and departed later that night. Every night in India I was extremely exhausted. It’s a great place, even though it is a country that is very different from the U.S. Despite the fact that it is not a very clean country and there is a ton of poverty, it is improving quite a bit. It seems like its going to take a while for it to clean itself up, but there’s no doubt that it is still full of great, interesting people. It was really cool seeing the Hindu religion first hand and all the historical structures of the area. It was also cool buying things for really cheap prices. It’s a fascinating country that I can’t really describe. Tomorrow I’ll be in Vietnam where my parents and my brother will meet me. I’m really looking forward to seeing them again. (again, no spell check, etc.)
India Day 4 & 5
I am writing this post the day before we get to Vietnam. I still have one more post that I’ll try to finish before I arrive.
I had an early breakfast and my roommate and I got on the bus to go on a rural India trip. We drove out into the countryside of India and arrived at our first stop which was (you guessed it) a temple. The temple was like just about every other temple I went to except it was smaller and there was a monkey there which climbed to the top of the temple. Next to where our bus was parked was a large pool of water (like the ones at other temples) where people washed themselves and their clothes and goats laid on the stairs surrounding the pool. We left this temple area and went further out into the countryside to a rural village which our tour guide told us had a population of 5,000. We were first welcomed by a lady who was like a town caretaker. She gave us a blessing and we headed down the road where we were shown the local watering hole. Our guide said that the village kept this water clean for drinking and other uses. As we stood there, a villager came and took some water in a large vase. We walked further down the road and a lady gave us a tour of her home. We were served tea (black and chai) and shown through the house. There was a living room and a room with a sort of shrine. We left the house and walked back up the street to the front of a woman’s house. There she showed us how they made art on the ground using ground up rice and lyme. Throughout India you would see white, symmetrical designs on the ground in the shape of stars or flowers. She started out by putting dots of the white on the ground and used those as a blueprint for her design. Some of us got to try, but the designs ended up sloppy and nonsymmetrical.
After this, some wagons pulled by oxen arrived and gave us a ride to another part of the village. The wagons first took us out to some rice fields where there were women bent over planting rice shoots. The fields were muddy and flooded with water from a large well adjacent to the field. There were trenches along the fields’ edge that carried water shot from a hose at the well to the rice fields. We watched the women plant rice for a while and then we were allowed to plant rice. We took our shoes off and stepped into the mud. They gave us some rice shoots and we (poorly) began to plant. The strategy was to plant each one equidistant from the adjacent ones, but everybody’s ended up uneven. We got out of the field and washed off at the well and got back on the wagons which took us to yet another part of the village. From the wagons, we saw many different types of homes from concrete structures to wooden huts. We came around the corner and saw a huge grove of coconut trees. There we were given coconuts to drink. A man who lived next to the grove gave us a demonstration of how they got the coconuts. The man had a harness that he leaned back in for support as he climbed up the tree. He used his feet to push him up the tree and within seconds made it to the top about 30 feet up. He cut one coconut and let it fall to the ground. They then let us try though we didn’t go as high. Some of us tried (myself included) and we all struggled greatly. My thighs hurt after trying to climb. We got back on the wagon and rode back to the bus. We then drove to a nearby school. We were greeted by the principal and taken to one of the classrooms. It was hot inside and we were all crammed inside. The kids were between 16 and 17 and studied various subjects such as accounting and economics (among others). When asked what they wanted to be, they said lawyers, government official, cops, and accountants. Education in India is similar to the US in that they have a grade school. However, after this they take a test that determines what subject they will study. We left the school and headed to our next stop which was the Dakeshina Chitra cultural center. We had lunch and then watched a movie about some of the various cultures in India. The rest of the afternoon we were given a tour of the grounds which had authentic structures from the various cultures and exhibits about them. We saw numerous demonstrations such as the making of silk cloth, glass sculpturing using a heated torch, and pottery making. There was a small market inside that we shopped at for a little and then we left.
We got back to the ship a little after 6pm. My roommate and I and one of our friends decided to go to the Citi Center that night (this was our last night in India). We caught a rickshaw to the mall and had dinner on the top floor (it was Arabic food). We then walked around the mall and shopped around for a while. We left and caught another rickshaw back to the port. I don’t know if I mentioned this before but every time we left or entered the port we had to show them a form we had called a Shore pass. In previous countries all we had to do was flash our SAS ID and we were allowed in.
The next day was our last day in India. I was set to go on a trip to one of the colleges and visit an Indian home. The school ended up being the school of the students that were at the welcome reception on the first night so I ended up seeing a lot of the same people from that night. We were greeted by the students and given a rose. Someone had made a floral design on the floor using dyed salts. We went upstairs to a conference room where we were spoken to by the president of the school and his staff. The school itself was called SRM Easwari Engineering School. We were then given a tour by the students of their facilities. We first stopped off at a computer lab that had a class in session. We were taken to several other computer labs representing the Computer Science/Engineering aspect of the school. We were then taken to an engineering lab which had machines and electronic devices set up for tests and stuff. The students I was with (or rather the students that followed me the time I was there) told me that their classes are separated into a class session based on theory and a practical session in which they apply what they know. They said that in order to graduate you had to work on a project that showed what you knew. We were then taken downstairs to some dental facilities which were fully operational and full of locals receiving tooth-work. I was told that all the dentists here were students with the exception of those doing surgical work (which we saw and could walk right up to and watch). I asked some of the students I was with what they liked to do and they said play video games and cricket. We then had lunch which consisted of different types of rice, curry, and other assorted sauces. Indian food is really cool in that you can mix everything together using your hands and it tastes awesome. Like Ghana, you eat with your hand. After eating with the students we said goodbye and left the school.
We then headed to our second stop which was a home visit. The home turned out to be that of a well off Indian woman (her husband was at work). We were greeted at her gate by herself and her 2 dogs, one of which was a beagle and the other was an extremely fat beagle-mix, which I thought was cool. We went inside the house and sat and introduced ourselves. We found out that we had previously met her son who was a student at the school we just visited. We received a tour of her house, which was three floors high. We then hung out on the second floor and she dressed one of the girls in a formal sari with the help of one of the maids. She also dressed up one of the guys in a man’s formal garb. We then went downstairs and had some snacks and talked for a while. After conversing with the lady for a while, we left and went back to the ship. We boarded the ship one last time and departed later that night. Every night in India I was extremely exhausted. It’s a great place, even though it is a country that is very different from the U.S. Despite the fact that it is not a very clean country and there is a ton of poverty, it is improving quite a bit. It seems like its going to take a while for it to clean itself up, but there’s no doubt that it is still full of great, interesting people. It was really cool seeing the Hindu religion first hand and all the historical structures of the area. It was also cool buying things for really cheap prices. It’s a fascinating country that I can’t really describe. Tomorrow I’ll be in Vietnam where my parents and my brother will meet me. I’m really looking forward to seeing them again. (again, no spell check, etc.)
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Cricket and Midgets
October 25
India Day 3
On the third day of India there were no field trips scheduled. Many people were on multiple day trips to the Taj Mahal and elsewhere so last night while I was hanging with some friends the ship seemed really empty. Four of us decided to go to the Citi Center mall tomorrow and try and see a movie or something. The next day after lunch we started walking from the port in the general direction of the Citi Center (I was really just tagging along so I didn’t know exactly what we were doing). Originally we were going to catch a taxi (not a rickshaw because there were four of us) but we ended up walking further than we intended. From the entrance to the port we were followed by 2 rickshaws. We walked outside the port area and along a park (still being followed by the rickshaws). We decided to walk through the park to try and lose them; however they just parked their rickshaws and followed on foot. In the park we saw some female guards taking a break under a tree. I think someone said 5% of the police force is female (we saw quite a few all over the city). Also while we were walking out of the park we came across a small pickup cricket game that some kids were playing.
We continued walking (with the rickshaws in hot pursuit) on the sidewalk where there were immense amounts of refuse and animal waste as well as what appeared to be human waste. We again thought we’d be clever by crossing the street so that the only way for them to get to us is by going against traffic. On the other side there was a large monument that we stopped to look at. When we took a picture of us a guard told us we weren’t allowed to and then welcomed us to the country. We continued walking along the street. Right as we were feeling confident that we lost the rickshaws, we saw a rickshaw a little ways up parked against traffic with the driver waiting for us. Our tactic thus far was to just ignore them and walk past. One thing we noticed while walking was the intense smell. It was probably one of the worst smells ever and when we crossed a bridge over water the smell intensified. The water looked absolutely dismal and there were all sorts of ungodly things floating in it and on its banks. On the other side of the street was the beach. We also passed a university whose buildings dated back to Britain’s occupation of India. We turned down a street we thought might take us closer to city center. We passed a gate where we saw a large field where an official game of cricket was being played (I don’t know if I said it in an earlier post, but cricket is absolutely huge here). We asked the guard if we could go in and watch the game and he said of course. We watched for a little bit and I realized that it might be more boring than baseball. While watching, the rickshaw drivers who were still following us came in and hassled us for a ride. They even showed us their credentials from past SAS students. We told them for the umpteenth time that we did not need a ride and surprisingly they listened. Up to the cricket field, we had already walked about 3-4 miles that day which meant they followed us that whole distance, starting back at the port entrance. Right next to the field was a train station where we saw 1 or 2 trains pass. We left after a short while and continued down the street where the street became lined with stores and a few stalls. We walked down here and saw a good glimpse of an average, non-residental, non-developed street. I really enjoyed just strolling down the street and looking at the various stores and observing the locals. When we reached the end of the street after about 45 mins. we turned and found a movie theater. We went inside where it was a little cooler and bought a soda. One thing I think I failed to mention was how hot it is here in India. They have an expression that the weather in India goes Hot, Hotter, Hottest. At no point (even at night) was it cool or cold. Whenever I would be outside for a field trip or just walking around, the weather was always insanely hot and I would be sweating like crazy. We left the theater (we didn’t see a movie) and decided to take a rickshaw the rest of the way (about 3 minutes) to Citi Center mall. When we got there we walked through all the levels and checked out most of the stores. When I was there with Aron the night before, we were very rushed and it was awkward because the 3 of them would just follow me and ask me if there was something I was looking for specifically (like I said, they didn’t know what browsing was). So we took our time and went through the various stores including one called Landmark which was like a mini Target. We went to the top floor and 2 of us had KFC outside of an Indian Chuck E. Cheese-type place with a little person dressed w/ a Donald Duck mask and a clown costume (extremely creepy).
After this the 4 of us caught a 2-passenger rickshaw back to the ship where we had dinner. Back in South Africa, my roommate bought a board game he’d played before called “Settlers of Catan”. We’ve been playing it almost every other day and that night we played in the Piano Lounge (just a normal lounge). The next day I was scheduled for a trip titled rural visit and cultural center. Almost all of my India posts are delayed by 2 or 3 days because when I came back to the ship in India, I’d be exhausted and writing 3 pages worth of blog was not a priority at the time. After I post this one, I’m going to start typing the next one (I say this like it’s a chore but it’s only because I’ve been sick). I’m writing this the second day after India and there’s a nasty cold going around which I’ve caught so I’m trying to lose it before Vietnam. Anyway, see you next post.
India Day 3
On the third day of India there were no field trips scheduled. Many people were on multiple day trips to the Taj Mahal and elsewhere so last night while I was hanging with some friends the ship seemed really empty. Four of us decided to go to the Citi Center mall tomorrow and try and see a movie or something. The next day after lunch we started walking from the port in the general direction of the Citi Center (I was really just tagging along so I didn’t know exactly what we were doing). Originally we were going to catch a taxi (not a rickshaw because there were four of us) but we ended up walking further than we intended. From the entrance to the port we were followed by 2 rickshaws. We walked outside the port area and along a park (still being followed by the rickshaws). We decided to walk through the park to try and lose them; however they just parked their rickshaws and followed on foot. In the park we saw some female guards taking a break under a tree. I think someone said 5% of the police force is female (we saw quite a few all over the city). Also while we were walking out of the park we came across a small pickup cricket game that some kids were playing.
We continued walking (with the rickshaws in hot pursuit) on the sidewalk where there were immense amounts of refuse and animal waste as well as what appeared to be human waste. We again thought we’d be clever by crossing the street so that the only way for them to get to us is by going against traffic. On the other side there was a large monument that we stopped to look at. When we took a picture of us a guard told us we weren’t allowed to and then welcomed us to the country. We continued walking along the street. Right as we were feeling confident that we lost the rickshaws, we saw a rickshaw a little ways up parked against traffic with the driver waiting for us. Our tactic thus far was to just ignore them and walk past. One thing we noticed while walking was the intense smell. It was probably one of the worst smells ever and when we crossed a bridge over water the smell intensified. The water looked absolutely dismal and there were all sorts of ungodly things floating in it and on its banks. On the other side of the street was the beach. We also passed a university whose buildings dated back to Britain’s occupation of India. We turned down a street we thought might take us closer to city center. We passed a gate where we saw a large field where an official game of cricket was being played (I don’t know if I said it in an earlier post, but cricket is absolutely huge here). We asked the guard if we could go in and watch the game and he said of course. We watched for a little bit and I realized that it might be more boring than baseball. While watching, the rickshaw drivers who were still following us came in and hassled us for a ride. They even showed us their credentials from past SAS students. We told them for the umpteenth time that we did not need a ride and surprisingly they listened. Up to the cricket field, we had already walked about 3-4 miles that day which meant they followed us that whole distance, starting back at the port entrance. Right next to the field was a train station where we saw 1 or 2 trains pass. We left after a short while and continued down the street where the street became lined with stores and a few stalls. We walked down here and saw a good glimpse of an average, non-residental, non-developed street. I really enjoyed just strolling down the street and looking at the various stores and observing the locals. When we reached the end of the street after about 45 mins. we turned and found a movie theater. We went inside where it was a little cooler and bought a soda. One thing I think I failed to mention was how hot it is here in India. They have an expression that the weather in India goes Hot, Hotter, Hottest. At no point (even at night) was it cool or cold. Whenever I would be outside for a field trip or just walking around, the weather was always insanely hot and I would be sweating like crazy. We left the theater (we didn’t see a movie) and decided to take a rickshaw the rest of the way (about 3 minutes) to Citi Center mall. When we got there we walked through all the levels and checked out most of the stores. When I was there with Aron the night before, we were very rushed and it was awkward because the 3 of them would just follow me and ask me if there was something I was looking for specifically (like I said, they didn’t know what browsing was). So we took our time and went through the various stores including one called Landmark which was like a mini Target. We went to the top floor and 2 of us had KFC outside of an Indian Chuck E. Cheese-type place with a little person dressed w/ a Donald Duck mask and a clown costume (extremely creepy).
After this the 4 of us caught a 2-passenger rickshaw back to the ship where we had dinner. Back in South Africa, my roommate bought a board game he’d played before called “Settlers of Catan”. We’ve been playing it almost every other day and that night we played in the Piano Lounge (just a normal lounge). The next day I was scheduled for a trip titled rural visit and cultural center. Almost all of my India posts are delayed by 2 or 3 days because when I came back to the ship in India, I’d be exhausted and writing 3 pages worth of blog was not a priority at the time. After I post this one, I’m going to start typing the next one (I say this like it’s a chore but it’s only because I’ve been sick). I’m writing this the second day after India and there’s a nasty cold going around which I’ve caught so I’m trying to lose it before Vietnam. Anyway, see you next post.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Lots of Temples and Dust in My Eyes
October 24
India Day 2
Today I went on a field trip to Kancheepuram and Mamallapuram. We got on the bus at 7:00 and headed outside of Chennai. After about 1 1/2 to 2 hours of driving we eventually made it to our first stop in Kancheepuram, a large town with many temples spread out throughout it, many dating to as far back as the 7th century. Our first stop was Kailasanatha Temple, one of many temples we’d see throughout the day. This particular temple was built in honor of Shiva and for the worship of Shiva. The temple is enclosed in a stone wall (everything is made of stone) and just about everywhere (on the walls and the temple itself) are many dragons, elephants, busts of other gods, and many other carvings. Each temple we went to that day had one or several tall layered towers. We had to take off our shoes (it was the same at all the other temples here) before entering the complex. While here I was filming for my next documentary for my documentary class (it’s a real pain to shoot because you can’t take the time to appreciate things- you only are worried about what you see through the camera- it sucks). A couple of us went inside the temple and there a priest invited us in. He took us into a small room and showed us a shrine. There was one carving on each of the 3 walls. The room was dark and only lit by a candle that the priest had. He held it up to the first statue of Shiva. When he held it above the carving, Shiva looked mad. When he held the candle below, Shiva looked happy. It was the same with the other carvings. We left walked around the rest of the complex (which wasn’t actually that large) and left.
We drove through more of Kancheepuram and arrived at our next stop which was another temple called Varadharaja Perumal Temple. Many of the temples we visited had its tallest tower over the entrance to the temple complex. The tower at this temple was over 100ft tall. The temple itself was built in 1053AD for worship of the god Vishnu. We entered the open yard area of the temple (the temple complex was much larger than the previous) and then walked into the temple itself which consisted of long, open halls with shrines throughout it. Unlike the previous temple, this was a functioning Hindu temple and there were many worshippers walking around the premises. We were not allowed in the main shrine (only Hindus). There was one shrine with several small statues of gods in it (for some reason it was in a large cage) and people walked around the statues in the cage while praying. There were several long hallways that stretched probably over a couple hundred feet. Along one hallway was several crazy looking statues of gods, including a cobra with many heads (it looked awesome), a fat guy with a moustache that looked suspiciously like Ron Jeremy, and a chicken/duck playing a saxophone. There were also more engravings of dragons as well as more shrines. There was also a tall golden post that stuck out from rose out of the temple (I don’t think it was actual gold). This was a flagpole that all the temples have. The temple layout was like a square with only the outer border being the halls and shrines. The inner section was a large pool of water that had a structure in the middle of it. I just found the Wikipedia page for this temple and it’s called Ekambareswarar Temple. It is a Vishnu temple and dates back to before 600 AD.
We put our shoes back on and left for the next temple called Vaikuntanatha Temple. It too had a large tower over its entrance however this one was covered in palm leaves and wood scaffolding (I don’t know why). We only went to one shrine in this temple. It had pillars with various engravings on it of archers, peacocks, and a god riding a horse or dragon. While I was filming here there was a priest who started talking to me and showed me a certain engraving. He also recited a long, memorized talk about the history of the temple which I did not understand fully but have on tape. There was another pool of water with the building in the middle. We left this temple and went to a silk store. The store was down a small walkway, on the side of which was a shed with a couple cows under it. While shopping at the silk store, we went upstairs to where 3 people were hand making silk apparel. The process looked very complicated, involving both hands and both feet (it looked very similar to playing the piano now that I think about it).
After buying silk, we headed to the Mamallapuram area. Before going to any temples we stopped off at a Radisson resort in the area for lunch. There we had a massive buffet with an amazing variety of authentic Indian food. There must have been at least fifty different items in the buffet and a huge desert selection. I can honestly say this was one of the best (if not the best) lunch on SAS thus far. After lunch we walked around the resort area for a few minutes. It is huge and has a swimming pool that stretches hundreds of feet like a small pond in the middle of the resort. We left the hotel and went to a series of rock carvings called Descent of the Ganges (all of these places are on Wikipedia, most with pictures) in the town. It was a massive outcropping of granite with engravings of elephants and many other gods on its face. There was also a shallow cave that I think was once a temple. There was also an attempt to make the outside of the rock look more layered and temple-like, but our guide said that they were forced to give up because the granite was too hard to work with. Still they somehow managed to carve beautiful carvings into the rock side. We then drove to another section of the town where there was a more intact temple called Pancha Rathas (type Mahabalipuram in Wiki and look under temples for a list) that was not part of a major rock outcropping but still carved from granite. This one had a full sculpture of an elephant and a lion as well as several full temples. All the temples of Mamallapuram date to around the 7th century.
We walked back to the bus where there were some markets along the way. There were also some beggars, one of which was a tiny woman that looked like all bones and had no hands and her legs were nubs. We left there and went a few minutes to the last temple of the day, the Shore Temple. This temple is apparently very well known and popular and, as its name says, is right next to the shore and overlooks the Bay of Bengal. When you think of Hindu temples, this is what you would picture in your mind. The temple consisted of two structures, one taller than the other, and was surrounded by statues of cows. We walked around the temple for a while and then headed back to the ship. The sunsets in India are very nice, but I think it’s because of the way the sun shines through the haze.
That night, E (my roommate), who had kept in touch with one of the Indian students from the reception, and I were picked up by Aron, a tech student, and his two friends and they took us around Chennai to see more of the city. Aron works as tech support for Rhapsody and is the guy you would call if you have a problem with your account. His friend who drove us was a son of a politician (he said he will never get in trouble with the police) and the other was a heavier Muslim guy named Mohammad Mujahideen (Mujahideen meaning “One Who Fights for Allah”). While getting out of the port area we asked Aron if he had any interesting stories of calls made to him from people with problems (I’d heard that many call operators have interesting stories). In the U.S. there would be some issue of privacy he’d be violating I’m sure, but he told us a story anyway. He said one time a man called with an issue that prevented his music account from working. The man told Aron that he had a brain hemorrhage and had about 20 months to live. He said that music was his life now and that all he wanted was lots of music and he needed to get this issue resolved. Area fixed his issue and gave him a $50 credit to his account for music. We stopped at the beach (it’s the second longest beach in the world) and walked towards the water which was actually further than we thought and we actually didn’t make it there (by this time it was dark). I asked the guys about the tsunami that hit a few years back and killed many in India, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia (and more) and they said that after the waves hit, the water came all the way up to the roads (the beach is very wide and the roads are very far from the water). Aron also said that after the waves hit a bunch of “black bodies” washed up on shore and thousands of bodies lay on the beach. They were eventually buried under the sand and they still lay buried there today (Aron commented, “Their bodies washed up and got were buried by the sand and that’s where they belong). While on the beach, I asked Aron (he’s 23) about the outsourcing aspect of India and what he thought about other countries outsourcing (in terms of the technology field). He said China has very good technical knowledge but can’t speak English well and lacks human resources. He said that Korea, Japan, and those countries have good customer service, etc., but do not have the best technical services. He told me India excels at both human resources and technical knowledge.
Aron is also a technical engineer (he’s actually not a student anymore) and just started an advertising business with the guy who drove us around (the other guys were 20 but I swear they looked at least 25- same thing with Aron). He said he has no business background, but also said no one can teach you business. He said the business was actually doing really well. It really makes me feel useless because I’m 20 and am struggling for career plans. Later, they took us to the Citi Center mall which was built by an architect who also worked in Dubai. The mall is not spread out like American malls, but is built more vertically and centralized. We got hot dogs there (surprisingly enough) with flavors like Buffalo BBQ and a Punjabi dog. We walked through the mall, stopping in a couple stores. They were eager to help us (perhaps too eager) and asked us when we were in a store specifically what we were looking for (I’m not sure they know the concept of browsing). We went into a store with a CD selection and bought some CDs by the guy who wrote the music for “Slumdog Millionaire” who is very popular in India. Speaking of “Slumdog Millionaire”, I found out that people have a negative view of the movie because they felt it misrepresented Indians as being mean and sinister. Earlier (before we got off the ship in India), when they were talking to us in pre-port, one of the Indian students said that many of the child beggars do actually work for gangs like in the movie.
We left the mall and drove to a small restaurant to sample some Indian food. Before we left the mall, they bought us sodas in cups. I took mine in the car with me because I couldn’t find a trash can. I was holding the empty cup in my and when Aron grabbed it from me, rolled down my window, and threw it out the window and said “This is India, buddy”. I was shocked to say the least. I guess now is a good time to tell you more about India’s cities. They are extremely dirty with trash all over the place. There are mounds of trash on the sides of the road and next to the sidewalk there is a lot of animal and human feces. Especially in the port area there is a lot of dirt and smoke and when a car drives by, a lot of it is kicked up and I have inhaled quite a bit of it. After the experience with Aron, I noticed people who would finish water bottles and just throw them to the side of the road. Driving to and from field trips in and out of the city, I see (and smell) the waterways and all the trash and filth that lines it. India really makes me appreciate America’s cleanliness and also the lack of poverty (this goes for all the other countries I’ve visited too). One thing I think I forgot to mention is that on the ship, the night before we arrived in India, the crew was busy putting down cardboard and plastic wrap on the carpet floor of the gangway deck because of all the dirt that is tracked in. My running shoes (the only shoes I dared to wear in India) are filthy and gray with dirt There’s also a lot of goats wandering the streets too. I washed my hands and face that night and the water was a dark brown from all the dirt that stuck to my face (anyway, more on this subject later).
Getting back to the Indian food we tried, we tried a Black Forest Cake which is popular here as well as a vegetable pie with spices in it (all of which was very good). The father of the heavier Muslim friend of Aron has a friend who manages the entire complex that the small restaurant (more of a cafe actually). His son was working there that night and was friends with one of Aron’s friends. The heavier Muslim guy was funny but also really rude as he would make fun of everything and everyone. I asked them where they thought India would be in 10 years. They laughed and didn’t answer. I then asked where they themselves would be in 10 years and the heavier Muslim friend said “Right here” pointing to his chair in the restaurant.
They drove us back to the port and we got back on the ship. One thing I wanted to quickly mention was how horrendous traffic is. The small motored rickshaws swerve in and out everywhere and come within inches of everything. Motorcycles do the same but are smaller and quicker. I cannot tell you how many close calls on a trip bus we have had with almost running into a rickshaw or motorcycle. Bus drivers drive their buses as if they’re motorcycles and swerve through traffic. All the bus drivers I’ve had so far (I’m actually writing this section of the blog 2 days after this day happened) drive into oncoming traffic in an attempt to pass slower cars. This would normally be ok if there were no oncoming cars. However, there are usually oncoming cars and we have forced a couple of them off the road because we did not fully pass other cars. Also, drivers in India depend heavily on their horns. Everyone uses their horns CONSTANTLY for any reason whatsoever. Anyone can get a license in India and it’s really easy to attain one. Most people ride motorcycles, sometimes fitting 4-5 people on 1 (just one) motorcycle. These are always families with small kids whom they squeeze onto the bikes. The way one of our guides put it, a motorcycle is a family vehicle.
Anyway, despite India’s many problems, I had an amazing day and feel like I’ve sufficiently covered the historical aspect of India. I’m writing the last half of this post 2 days after it happened. The next day I would get a great look at India’s city life and then today (Oct. 26) I got a great rural village look of India which is most of India. I’ll see how soon I can post my next 2 posts (which I might combine) plus my last day (when it happens). By the way, there is no way on God’s green earth I am going to reread/proofread what I just wrote. I’m too tired and I know there’s a lot of typos, etc, etc. blah blah you know the drill. Looking forward to another exhausting day in India!
India Day 2
Today I went on a field trip to Kancheepuram and Mamallapuram. We got on the bus at 7:00 and headed outside of Chennai. After about 1 1/2 to 2 hours of driving we eventually made it to our first stop in Kancheepuram, a large town with many temples spread out throughout it, many dating to as far back as the 7th century. Our first stop was Kailasanatha Temple, one of many temples we’d see throughout the day. This particular temple was built in honor of Shiva and for the worship of Shiva. The temple is enclosed in a stone wall (everything is made of stone) and just about everywhere (on the walls and the temple itself) are many dragons, elephants, busts of other gods, and many other carvings. Each temple we went to that day had one or several tall layered towers. We had to take off our shoes (it was the same at all the other temples here) before entering the complex. While here I was filming for my next documentary for my documentary class (it’s a real pain to shoot because you can’t take the time to appreciate things- you only are worried about what you see through the camera- it sucks). A couple of us went inside the temple and there a priest invited us in. He took us into a small room and showed us a shrine. There was one carving on each of the 3 walls. The room was dark and only lit by a candle that the priest had. He held it up to the first statue of Shiva. When he held it above the carving, Shiva looked mad. When he held the candle below, Shiva looked happy. It was the same with the other carvings. We left walked around the rest of the complex (which wasn’t actually that large) and left.
We drove through more of Kancheepuram and arrived at our next stop which was another temple called Varadharaja Perumal Temple. Many of the temples we visited had its tallest tower over the entrance to the temple complex. The tower at this temple was over 100ft tall. The temple itself was built in 1053AD for worship of the god Vishnu. We entered the open yard area of the temple (the temple complex was much larger than the previous) and then walked into the temple itself which consisted of long, open halls with shrines throughout it. Unlike the previous temple, this was a functioning Hindu temple and there were many worshippers walking around the premises. We were not allowed in the main shrine (only Hindus). There was one shrine with several small statues of gods in it (for some reason it was in a large cage) and people walked around the statues in the cage while praying. There were several long hallways that stretched probably over a couple hundred feet. Along one hallway was several crazy looking statues of gods, including a cobra with many heads (it looked awesome), a fat guy with a moustache that looked suspiciously like Ron Jeremy, and a chicken/duck playing a saxophone. There were also more engravings of dragons as well as more shrines. There was also a tall golden post that stuck out from rose out of the temple (I don’t think it was actual gold). This was a flagpole that all the temples have. The temple layout was like a square with only the outer border being the halls and shrines. The inner section was a large pool of water that had a structure in the middle of it. I just found the Wikipedia page for this temple and it’s called Ekambareswarar Temple. It is a Vishnu temple and dates back to before 600 AD.
We put our shoes back on and left for the next temple called Vaikuntanatha Temple. It too had a large tower over its entrance however this one was covered in palm leaves and wood scaffolding (I don’t know why). We only went to one shrine in this temple. It had pillars with various engravings on it of archers, peacocks, and a god riding a horse or dragon. While I was filming here there was a priest who started talking to me and showed me a certain engraving. He also recited a long, memorized talk about the history of the temple which I did not understand fully but have on tape. There was another pool of water with the building in the middle. We left this temple and went to a silk store. The store was down a small walkway, on the side of which was a shed with a couple cows under it. While shopping at the silk store, we went upstairs to where 3 people were hand making silk apparel. The process looked very complicated, involving both hands and both feet (it looked very similar to playing the piano now that I think about it).
After buying silk, we headed to the Mamallapuram area. Before going to any temples we stopped off at a Radisson resort in the area for lunch. There we had a massive buffet with an amazing variety of authentic Indian food. There must have been at least fifty different items in the buffet and a huge desert selection. I can honestly say this was one of the best (if not the best) lunch on SAS thus far. After lunch we walked around the resort area for a few minutes. It is huge and has a swimming pool that stretches hundreds of feet like a small pond in the middle of the resort. We left the hotel and went to a series of rock carvings called Descent of the Ganges (all of these places are on Wikipedia, most with pictures) in the town. It was a massive outcropping of granite with engravings of elephants and many other gods on its face. There was also a shallow cave that I think was once a temple. There was also an attempt to make the outside of the rock look more layered and temple-like, but our guide said that they were forced to give up because the granite was too hard to work with. Still they somehow managed to carve beautiful carvings into the rock side. We then drove to another section of the town where there was a more intact temple called Pancha Rathas (type Mahabalipuram in Wiki and look under temples for a list) that was not part of a major rock outcropping but still carved from granite. This one had a full sculpture of an elephant and a lion as well as several full temples. All the temples of Mamallapuram date to around the 7th century.
We walked back to the bus where there were some markets along the way. There were also some beggars, one of which was a tiny woman that looked like all bones and had no hands and her legs were nubs. We left there and went a few minutes to the last temple of the day, the Shore Temple. This temple is apparently very well known and popular and, as its name says, is right next to the shore and overlooks the Bay of Bengal. When you think of Hindu temples, this is what you would picture in your mind. The temple consisted of two structures, one taller than the other, and was surrounded by statues of cows. We walked around the temple for a while and then headed back to the ship. The sunsets in India are very nice, but I think it’s because of the way the sun shines through the haze.
That night, E (my roommate), who had kept in touch with one of the Indian students from the reception, and I were picked up by Aron, a tech student, and his two friends and they took us around Chennai to see more of the city. Aron works as tech support for Rhapsody and is the guy you would call if you have a problem with your account. His friend who drove us was a son of a politician (he said he will never get in trouble with the police) and the other was a heavier Muslim guy named Mohammad Mujahideen (Mujahideen meaning “One Who Fights for Allah”). While getting out of the port area we asked Aron if he had any interesting stories of calls made to him from people with problems (I’d heard that many call operators have interesting stories). In the U.S. there would be some issue of privacy he’d be violating I’m sure, but he told us a story anyway. He said one time a man called with an issue that prevented his music account from working. The man told Aron that he had a brain hemorrhage and had about 20 months to live. He said that music was his life now and that all he wanted was lots of music and he needed to get this issue resolved. Area fixed his issue and gave him a $50 credit to his account for music. We stopped at the beach (it’s the second longest beach in the world) and walked towards the water which was actually further than we thought and we actually didn’t make it there (by this time it was dark). I asked the guys about the tsunami that hit a few years back and killed many in India, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia (and more) and they said that after the waves hit, the water came all the way up to the roads (the beach is very wide and the roads are very far from the water). Aron also said that after the waves hit a bunch of “black bodies” washed up on shore and thousands of bodies lay on the beach. They were eventually buried under the sand and they still lay buried there today (Aron commented, “Their bodies washed up and got were buried by the sand and that’s where they belong). While on the beach, I asked Aron (he’s 23) about the outsourcing aspect of India and what he thought about other countries outsourcing (in terms of the technology field). He said China has very good technical knowledge but can’t speak English well and lacks human resources. He said that Korea, Japan, and those countries have good customer service, etc., but do not have the best technical services. He told me India excels at both human resources and technical knowledge.
Aron is also a technical engineer (he’s actually not a student anymore) and just started an advertising business with the guy who drove us around (the other guys were 20 but I swear they looked at least 25- same thing with Aron). He said he has no business background, but also said no one can teach you business. He said the business was actually doing really well. It really makes me feel useless because I’m 20 and am struggling for career plans. Later, they took us to the Citi Center mall which was built by an architect who also worked in Dubai. The mall is not spread out like American malls, but is built more vertically and centralized. We got hot dogs there (surprisingly enough) with flavors like Buffalo BBQ and a Punjabi dog. We walked through the mall, stopping in a couple stores. They were eager to help us (perhaps too eager) and asked us when we were in a store specifically what we were looking for (I’m not sure they know the concept of browsing). We went into a store with a CD selection and bought some CDs by the guy who wrote the music for “Slumdog Millionaire” who is very popular in India. Speaking of “Slumdog Millionaire”, I found out that people have a negative view of the movie because they felt it misrepresented Indians as being mean and sinister. Earlier (before we got off the ship in India), when they were talking to us in pre-port, one of the Indian students said that many of the child beggars do actually work for gangs like in the movie.
We left the mall and drove to a small restaurant to sample some Indian food. Before we left the mall, they bought us sodas in cups. I took mine in the car with me because I couldn’t find a trash can. I was holding the empty cup in my and when Aron grabbed it from me, rolled down my window, and threw it out the window and said “This is India, buddy”. I was shocked to say the least. I guess now is a good time to tell you more about India’s cities. They are extremely dirty with trash all over the place. There are mounds of trash on the sides of the road and next to the sidewalk there is a lot of animal and human feces. Especially in the port area there is a lot of dirt and smoke and when a car drives by, a lot of it is kicked up and I have inhaled quite a bit of it. After the experience with Aron, I noticed people who would finish water bottles and just throw them to the side of the road. Driving to and from field trips in and out of the city, I see (and smell) the waterways and all the trash and filth that lines it. India really makes me appreciate America’s cleanliness and also the lack of poverty (this goes for all the other countries I’ve visited too). One thing I think I forgot to mention is that on the ship, the night before we arrived in India, the crew was busy putting down cardboard and plastic wrap on the carpet floor of the gangway deck because of all the dirt that is tracked in. My running shoes (the only shoes I dared to wear in India) are filthy and gray with dirt There’s also a lot of goats wandering the streets too. I washed my hands and face that night and the water was a dark brown from all the dirt that stuck to my face (anyway, more on this subject later).
Getting back to the Indian food we tried, we tried a Black Forest Cake which is popular here as well as a vegetable pie with spices in it (all of which was very good). The father of the heavier Muslim friend of Aron has a friend who manages the entire complex that the small restaurant (more of a cafe actually). His son was working there that night and was friends with one of Aron’s friends. The heavier Muslim guy was funny but also really rude as he would make fun of everything and everyone. I asked them where they thought India would be in 10 years. They laughed and didn’t answer. I then asked where they themselves would be in 10 years and the heavier Muslim friend said “Right here” pointing to his chair in the restaurant.
They drove us back to the port and we got back on the ship. One thing I wanted to quickly mention was how horrendous traffic is. The small motored rickshaws swerve in and out everywhere and come within inches of everything. Motorcycles do the same but are smaller and quicker. I cannot tell you how many close calls on a trip bus we have had with almost running into a rickshaw or motorcycle. Bus drivers drive their buses as if they’re motorcycles and swerve through traffic. All the bus drivers I’ve had so far (I’m actually writing this section of the blog 2 days after this day happened) drive into oncoming traffic in an attempt to pass slower cars. This would normally be ok if there were no oncoming cars. However, there are usually oncoming cars and we have forced a couple of them off the road because we did not fully pass other cars. Also, drivers in India depend heavily on their horns. Everyone uses their horns CONSTANTLY for any reason whatsoever. Anyone can get a license in India and it’s really easy to attain one. Most people ride motorcycles, sometimes fitting 4-5 people on 1 (just one) motorcycle. These are always families with small kids whom they squeeze onto the bikes. The way one of our guides put it, a motorcycle is a family vehicle.
Anyway, despite India’s many problems, I had an amazing day and feel like I’ve sufficiently covered the historical aspect of India. I’m writing the last half of this post 2 days after it happened. The next day I would get a great look at India’s city life and then today (Oct. 26) I got a great rural village look of India which is most of India. I’ll see how soon I can post my next 2 posts (which I might combine) plus my last day (when it happens). By the way, there is no way on God’s green earth I am going to reread/proofread what I just wrote. I’m too tired and I know there’s a lot of typos, etc, etc. blah blah you know the drill. Looking forward to another exhausting day in India!
Friday, October 23, 2009
India! What a country!
October 23
India Day 1
We arrived in Chennai (also known as Madras), India around 8:00 this morning. Our first sight of civilization was a small wooden boat riding along next to our ship with a few fisherman on it. The night before at our logistical pre-port meeting, we had been warned that India will be completely different than anything we’d experienced before. Up to this point I’d been hearing throughout SAS that India is the “riskiest” port and craziest as well (whatever that meant). After breakfast, I went to a Diplomatic Briefing (US consulates come in and talk about India) on the ship and also watched a yoga demonstration. My roommate and I were on the same trip (City orientation) and had till 1:00 to do whatever. We went out with another group of SAS students and left the port area. The first thing I noticed was the amount of dirt. There is litter as well but it’s not as prominent as the dirt that covers the road, the side of the road and the sidewalks (which only tourists use). Immediately after leaving the port we were bombarded by rickshaw (3 wheeled taxi bikes) drivers asking us if we needed a ride anywhere. We were primarily trying to find an ATM to get rupees (about 45 rupees to 1 USD) and had to ignore the taxi drivers. We found the ATM and afterwards decided to see if we could find a nearby market. We left the area of street where the taxis were at but came to a small stretch where there were child beggars (if you’ve seen “Slumdog Millionaire”, it was a lot like that). This country is full of persistent people: taxi drivers, child beggars (actually all beggars too), and store clerks. We were constantly warned to ignore the child beggars. I didn’t feel bad saying no to them but I felt bad they were in that situation. Many rickshaws and motorcycles zoomed past us as we walked down the road. We failed in finding a market but we did see a lot of the nearby area. My roommate and I decided we were too low on time and caught a rickshaw back to the ship (it was more of a motorized, tri-wheel car). Our driver, named Rama, pulled out postcards, photos, and letters from previous SAS students from earlier voyages talking about how nice a guy he was. It was like he was giving us his resume (I’m not sure how qualified you have to be to drive a taxi). We got back to the ship and had time for lunch before our trip.
We got on the bus and left on the city tour. After driving around for only a few minutes, I started to think I was in a different world. The streets were crowded and condensed, the buildings were worn down and the side roads had lots of trash in them. From the bus you could see many beggars on street corners. Our guide told us that many of the woman share babies that have been slightly starved with each other to get more sympathy for money. Our first stop was St. Mary’s Church which is the oldest Anglican church East of the Suez and the oldest British building in India. We walked from the bus to the church and walked around the church’s garden before entering the Church itself. There was a service going on inside but we were able to walk through the back of the church. We went back to the bus and headed to our next stop which was a building with different levels that sold silk saris (traditional Indian wear- Wikipedia it) and other souvenirs. We then left and headed to the next stop St. Thomas Church which was another church established assumedly during the British occupation of India. After this we went to another souvenir store, this one with a rug store and coffee shop attached to it. We browsed some more and then one of the guys who worked there gave us a demonstration on how a rug was made and the various tools involved as well as the setup. A rug that was about 6 ft by 10 ft takes 4 1/2 years to make. After the demonstration we went out to our bus, however on the other side of the street what should we see but a cobra charmer. After taking many photos, we proceeded on to out next stop which was a Hindu temple. While driving down the road, we spotted it from a couple blocks away- it was very tall. It was layered with statues of gods and scenes depicting gods and their stories. It was also extraordinarily colorful. Before entering through the gateway (which was beneath the massive tower which was not the actual temple) we had to remove our shoes. Taking off my shoes and walking on streets of India w/ only socks was a cool experience. Upon entering the temple, you first see a building in front of you where some priests are blessing people with fire. People walk around and spontaneously kneel down and say a prayer. Many people were just sitting around and hanging out while others stood in line to get into a certain shrine. One shrine had the god Ganesha who has the head of an elephant and uses “rats as his vehicles”, rats representing agility. There were statues of cows all over the place, cows being very sacred to Hindus (I wondered if “Holy Cow” derived from this). After walking around for a while, we left and drove back to the ship, getting a small taste of Indian traffic.
I planned on going to a welcome reception field trip with some friends so as soon as we got back we got on another bus that took us to a hotel where the reception was. There we were welcomed by musicians as well as college students putting the Hindi dots on our foreheads. Students from one of the local colleges hosted the reception and we were immediately greeted by them. The students were from a school of technology and engineering and were going to be heading for jobs such as tech support and computer engineers. Talking to them, I realized they were going to be the people I call when my computer malfunctions or I have other technical issues. We recently got a lecture about outsourcing in India and this was a prime example of it. Our tour guide earlier said “Many people in the U.S. are blaming us for taking their jobs, but India is just doing what it has to help its people.” We talked to the students for a while, asking them about their education system (which sounds way more efficient than ours) and India in general. The rest of the reception consisted of having Indian food (Amazing!), henna tattoos (I was going to get an “I Heart Mom” one, but we ran out of time), shopping, and a dance showcase of Hindi dancers. This was extremely fascinating they used their body to dance in ways I’d never seen (it was very outlandish), but also used their faces to make different expressions to show different emotions (the way I’m describing this is making it seem like any other dance, but really it was very cool). They told various stories through the dance with the accompaniment of singing and music. The dances themselves were very hypnotic to me and I kind of dazed off for a while. When we entered the reception area at the beginning they gave us flower necklaces made with jasmine flowers which are apparently edible. Throughout the performance I snacked on flowers which tasted like green beans. I ate my necklace as well as my roommate’s necklace (as strange as that sounds). We left around 10pm and got back to the ship. As usual, I know I left some stuff out so when I remember it I’ll probably add it to the next post. India is incredible so far and I have absolutely no idea whatsoever what the next few days hold for me. I got to get some sleep now so good night.
India Day 1
We arrived in Chennai (also known as Madras), India around 8:00 this morning. Our first sight of civilization was a small wooden boat riding along next to our ship with a few fisherman on it. The night before at our logistical pre-port meeting, we had been warned that India will be completely different than anything we’d experienced before. Up to this point I’d been hearing throughout SAS that India is the “riskiest” port and craziest as well (whatever that meant). After breakfast, I went to a Diplomatic Briefing (US consulates come in and talk about India) on the ship and also watched a yoga demonstration. My roommate and I were on the same trip (City orientation) and had till 1:00 to do whatever. We went out with another group of SAS students and left the port area. The first thing I noticed was the amount of dirt. There is litter as well but it’s not as prominent as the dirt that covers the road, the side of the road and the sidewalks (which only tourists use). Immediately after leaving the port we were bombarded by rickshaw (3 wheeled taxi bikes) drivers asking us if we needed a ride anywhere. We were primarily trying to find an ATM to get rupees (about 45 rupees to 1 USD) and had to ignore the taxi drivers. We found the ATM and afterwards decided to see if we could find a nearby market. We left the area of street where the taxis were at but came to a small stretch where there were child beggars (if you’ve seen “Slumdog Millionaire”, it was a lot like that). This country is full of persistent people: taxi drivers, child beggars (actually all beggars too), and store clerks. We were constantly warned to ignore the child beggars. I didn’t feel bad saying no to them but I felt bad they were in that situation. Many rickshaws and motorcycles zoomed past us as we walked down the road. We failed in finding a market but we did see a lot of the nearby area. My roommate and I decided we were too low on time and caught a rickshaw back to the ship (it was more of a motorized, tri-wheel car). Our driver, named Rama, pulled out postcards, photos, and letters from previous SAS students from earlier voyages talking about how nice a guy he was. It was like he was giving us his resume (I’m not sure how qualified you have to be to drive a taxi). We got back to the ship and had time for lunch before our trip.
We got on the bus and left on the city tour. After driving around for only a few minutes, I started to think I was in a different world. The streets were crowded and condensed, the buildings were worn down and the side roads had lots of trash in them. From the bus you could see many beggars on street corners. Our guide told us that many of the woman share babies that have been slightly starved with each other to get more sympathy for money. Our first stop was St. Mary’s Church which is the oldest Anglican church East of the Suez and the oldest British building in India. We walked from the bus to the church and walked around the church’s garden before entering the Church itself. There was a service going on inside but we were able to walk through the back of the church. We went back to the bus and headed to our next stop which was a building with different levels that sold silk saris (traditional Indian wear- Wikipedia it) and other souvenirs. We then left and headed to the next stop St. Thomas Church which was another church established assumedly during the British occupation of India. After this we went to another souvenir store, this one with a rug store and coffee shop attached to it. We browsed some more and then one of the guys who worked there gave us a demonstration on how a rug was made and the various tools involved as well as the setup. A rug that was about 6 ft by 10 ft takes 4 1/2 years to make. After the demonstration we went out to our bus, however on the other side of the street what should we see but a cobra charmer. After taking many photos, we proceeded on to out next stop which was a Hindu temple. While driving down the road, we spotted it from a couple blocks away- it was very tall. It was layered with statues of gods and scenes depicting gods and their stories. It was also extraordinarily colorful. Before entering through the gateway (which was beneath the massive tower which was not the actual temple) we had to remove our shoes. Taking off my shoes and walking on streets of India w/ only socks was a cool experience. Upon entering the temple, you first see a building in front of you where some priests are blessing people with fire. People walk around and spontaneously kneel down and say a prayer. Many people were just sitting around and hanging out while others stood in line to get into a certain shrine. One shrine had the god Ganesha who has the head of an elephant and uses “rats as his vehicles”, rats representing agility. There were statues of cows all over the place, cows being very sacred to Hindus (I wondered if “Holy Cow” derived from this). After walking around for a while, we left and drove back to the ship, getting a small taste of Indian traffic.
I planned on going to a welcome reception field trip with some friends so as soon as we got back we got on another bus that took us to a hotel where the reception was. There we were welcomed by musicians as well as college students putting the Hindi dots on our foreheads. Students from one of the local colleges hosted the reception and we were immediately greeted by them. The students were from a school of technology and engineering and were going to be heading for jobs such as tech support and computer engineers. Talking to them, I realized they were going to be the people I call when my computer malfunctions or I have other technical issues. We recently got a lecture about outsourcing in India and this was a prime example of it. Our tour guide earlier said “Many people in the U.S. are blaming us for taking their jobs, but India is just doing what it has to help its people.” We talked to the students for a while, asking them about their education system (which sounds way more efficient than ours) and India in general. The rest of the reception consisted of having Indian food (Amazing!), henna tattoos (I was going to get an “I Heart Mom” one, but we ran out of time), shopping, and a dance showcase of Hindi dancers. This was extremely fascinating they used their body to dance in ways I’d never seen (it was very outlandish), but also used their faces to make different expressions to show different emotions (the way I’m describing this is making it seem like any other dance, but really it was very cool). They told various stories through the dance with the accompaniment of singing and music. The dances themselves were very hypnotic to me and I kind of dazed off for a while. When we entered the reception area at the beginning they gave us flower necklaces made with jasmine flowers which are apparently edible. Throughout the performance I snacked on flowers which tasted like green beans. I ate my necklace as well as my roommate’s necklace (as strange as that sounds). We left around 10pm and got back to the ship. As usual, I know I left some stuff out so when I remember it I’ll probably add it to the next post. India is incredible so far and I have absolutely no idea whatsoever what the next few days hold for me. I got to get some sleep now so good night.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
3 Days of Mauritius + Sea Olympics
October 15-17
Mauritius Days 1, 2, 3
First off, sorry this post is so late. I can’t give you a good excuse except that I’ve been really lazy lately. That said, I did get a chance to go to an internet cafe and post some more pictures of Ghana. When I get to India in 2 days, I’ll try posting more photos I selected from other countries on the Photobucket site.
We arrived at Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius, on the Oct. 15. This was our shortest stay in a country- we only stayed 2 nights in port. Mauritius is famous for the Dodo bird which went extinct in the 17th century. The island, located east of Madagascar, was originally settled by the Dutch and later the French and English. Today, it produces a lot of sugar cane and is a huge tourist destination (not as bad as Hawaii but similar). Most of the people there were of Indian descent but there were also a large mixture of Africans as well. 52% of the island is Hindu, but there are still many Christians and Muslims. Many people speak French here (English being the official language) but most speak Creole. Mauritius also has a Chinatown. It also has a form of music called Sega. For more information on Mauritius, just go to the Wikipedia page.
The first day I was signed up for the City Orientation field trip. The first stop of this was a botanical garden called Pamplemousses Garden. There was a monument to the first Mauritian Prime Minister, Seewoosagur Ramgoolam. Among all the plant life, there were giant water lilies (“large enough to hold a baby”), a palm tree that blooms after 60 years then dies, and also large exotic fruits. There were also giant tortoises and deer (enclosed) in the garden. We then drove around the city, seeing Hindu temples, a Chinese pagoda and the city center area. We then drove up a hill on the edge of the city which had a British fort on it. From up there, we could see a horse raceway which is the oldest race course in the Indian Ocean (about 200 years), the downtown area as well as the nearby waterfront area and the rest of the port. We then drove through the city again and back to the ship. However, we got back an hour and a half before we were supposed to (they later gave us a partial refund) and they then gave us a ride to the waterfront. My roommate and my other friend and I went to the craft market and had lunch at an English pub located by the water. My roommate and I then went to an internet cafe and after that walked around the rest of the waterfront. We then went through the central market and then into the mall. It rained off and on throughout the afternoon. During one of the breaks in rain, we walked 20 mins. back to the ship (getting lost in the port area). The rest of the evening I spent back on the ship.
The next day I had nothing planned but I was desperate to get out of the city so I went on a field trip to the nearby mountains to hike the second highest peak in Mauritius. We drove about 20 minutes into the countryside (it takes one hour to travel across Mauritius) where there were lots of sugar cane fields. We drove down a road through one of them and found the trail that led up the mountain. A few minutes after we arrived at the trailhead, a busload of mostly French tourists (all decked out in hiking spandex and hiking poles) arrived. We all started around the same time and I told the rest of our group (there were about 12 of us total) that we had to beat the (bloody) French to the top and prove America’s superiority in Mauritius. We all started as one mass but eventually the SAS group emerged in the front. The hike up wasn’t too bad but I still a good challenge. On the way up I would turn around and look at the view of the surrounding area. I could see almost to the other side of the island (only halfway up the mtn.). I realized how much Mauritius resembled Hawaii in terms of the similar rural regions, plant life, and also the heavy tourism in both places. When we got to the top (before the French who turned around halfway up the mountain) we could see that we were actually on a caldera of an old volcano. We could also see all of Port Louis (including our ship) as well as some nearby mountains, one of which has an enormous bolder perched precariously on its peak and looks very awkward. After resting at the top, we headed down and made it back to the buses fairly quick. Towards the end of the trail, one of our guides went ahead with a machete and cut a stock of sugar cane which he cut up for us to eat. We then had an amazing lunch (Indian curry and rice) at a colonial house whose backyard was a deep gorge with a river at the bottom. We changed into our swim suits and then went to the (apparently) famous beach Flic en Flac which means “Free and Flat Land”. The beach looked like something you’d see on the front of a postcard and later I did see postcards with the beach on it. We hung around on the beach for an hour and the got back on the bus and went back to the ship.
That night, my roommate and I went to the casino at the waterfront via water taxi (several boats taxied students from across the port where the ship was to the waterfront) and got 500 rupees to gamble with. We played only slots (we couldn’t do tables because I was wearing shorts) and we both won a few jackpots but that was after losing a good deal. In the end my roommate lost all his rupees and I turned in my remainder for half of what originally started with. We walked around the waterfront the rest of the night and found a live concert with Indian music and dancers that celebrated the Hindu holiday called Diwali (the next day). Across the bay there were 4 large silo-looking structures which at night become the projection screens for a sort of light show that goes on throughout the night (they usually have animations of whales, dolphins, and fish swimming). We went back to the water taxi dock and took the boat 5 minutes back to the ship.
The third day was our last day on the island and we left later that night. I was signed up for a catamaran snorkel trip which turned out to be amazing. There were a lot of people signed up for this trip and we had to take several buses. We drove about thirty five minutes to the docks where the catamarans were waiting. There were about 20 people on each catamaran and we had about 5-7 total. Our armada of catamarans sailed over as a group to a point further down the coast. While sailing, we began to enter deeper waters and a little later we spotted whales. They were most likely humpback whales. We sailed with them for about 30 minutes and then lost them. While sailing back they surfaced again very close to us. There were 2 massive ones and one small one. After seeing them for a while we went back up the coast to a reef where we snorkeled. It was an average snorkeling area: we saw schools of fish, angelfish, and urchins among many other fish. After snorkeling for 45 minutes we got back on the boat and had a nice BBQ lunch. We sailed a little down the coast to a different area where we tied up with another catamaran and anchored (we lost our anchor but the water wasn’t too deep so we got it back). We hung out on the deck for a while and a couple of us went back in to snorkel. One of the other snorkelers was a Marine Bio major and showed us some feather-duster worms (if you clap in front of them they hide away) and also spotted an eel. He tried showing me where it was and when I dove down to the spot on the rock where he was pointing, I failed to see the eel but out of a nearby hole, something emerged that changed from white to black. It was a small octopus I found by accident. We also saw brain coral and a sea slug. We got back on the ship and hung out for an hour and talked about how we were still in school somehow. We sailed back to the docks and got back on the buses. It took us about an hour to get back to the ship (traffic). During the ride I saw more of the outskirts of the city. For the most part it was average, but there were also some very nice homes and a couple slums (not many though). Tourism has really helped the island out and the 1.2 million residents of the island live fairly well. When we arrived on the ship we still had an hour before the time we had to be back on and I wanted to go back to the waterfront for postcards, but I decided I didn’t want to risk dock time. We left Mauritius around 9:00 that night. Mauritius was a very nice country, but it didn’t really have anything I had not seen before (it was a paradise if you were into the nightlife- imagine Hawaii with no drinking age). Still, I thought it was a great experience going there and had lots of fun.
A few days later at sea, we had what’s called the Sea Olympics. At the beginning of the voyage we were split into different teams and given names of seas (ours was Arabian Sea) as team names. The winner of the Olympics would be the first off the ship in San Diego. The events lasted all day and were mostly nonsensical events. I was supposed to do the pie-eating contest but that was later turned into a popcorn eating contest (popcorn is cheaper than whipped cream) and I and 3 other teammates had to eat popcorn which we all almost choked on. Also, someone had the great idea of further salting the popcorn so it was the saltiest popcorn I’d ever had and later I think I got kinda dehydrated (I had a bad headache for a while). I also did the first leg of a relay so that was fun. I’m pretty sure our team came in dead last overall but it was still pretty fun to participate in (my team spirit is awful). That evening we had a BBQ outside on the seventh deck. On the horizon was by far the coolest looking sunset I’ve ever seen. The pictures I took of it would not do it justice. Also, there was ice cream that night for desert which is rare (as is Taco Day) and so I took full advantage of that.
I’m interested to see how India will be. I keep hearing warnings from people who have been there before. When I get there, I hope to find an internet cafe and upload some more photos of the trip thus far.
Mauritius Days 1, 2, 3
First off, sorry this post is so late. I can’t give you a good excuse except that I’ve been really lazy lately. That said, I did get a chance to go to an internet cafe and post some more pictures of Ghana. When I get to India in 2 days, I’ll try posting more photos I selected from other countries on the Photobucket site.
We arrived at Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius, on the Oct. 15. This was our shortest stay in a country- we only stayed 2 nights in port. Mauritius is famous for the Dodo bird which went extinct in the 17th century. The island, located east of Madagascar, was originally settled by the Dutch and later the French and English. Today, it produces a lot of sugar cane and is a huge tourist destination (not as bad as Hawaii but similar). Most of the people there were of Indian descent but there were also a large mixture of Africans as well. 52% of the island is Hindu, but there are still many Christians and Muslims. Many people speak French here (English being the official language) but most speak Creole. Mauritius also has a Chinatown. It also has a form of music called Sega. For more information on Mauritius, just go to the Wikipedia page.
The first day I was signed up for the City Orientation field trip. The first stop of this was a botanical garden called Pamplemousses Garden. There was a monument to the first Mauritian Prime Minister, Seewoosagur Ramgoolam. Among all the plant life, there were giant water lilies (“large enough to hold a baby”), a palm tree that blooms after 60 years then dies, and also large exotic fruits. There were also giant tortoises and deer (enclosed) in the garden. We then drove around the city, seeing Hindu temples, a Chinese pagoda and the city center area. We then drove up a hill on the edge of the city which had a British fort on it. From up there, we could see a horse raceway which is the oldest race course in the Indian Ocean (about 200 years), the downtown area as well as the nearby waterfront area and the rest of the port. We then drove through the city again and back to the ship. However, we got back an hour and a half before we were supposed to (they later gave us a partial refund) and they then gave us a ride to the waterfront. My roommate and my other friend and I went to the craft market and had lunch at an English pub located by the water. My roommate and I then went to an internet cafe and after that walked around the rest of the waterfront. We then went through the central market and then into the mall. It rained off and on throughout the afternoon. During one of the breaks in rain, we walked 20 mins. back to the ship (getting lost in the port area). The rest of the evening I spent back on the ship.
The next day I had nothing planned but I was desperate to get out of the city so I went on a field trip to the nearby mountains to hike the second highest peak in Mauritius. We drove about 20 minutes into the countryside (it takes one hour to travel across Mauritius) where there were lots of sugar cane fields. We drove down a road through one of them and found the trail that led up the mountain. A few minutes after we arrived at the trailhead, a busload of mostly French tourists (all decked out in hiking spandex and hiking poles) arrived. We all started around the same time and I told the rest of our group (there were about 12 of us total) that we had to beat the (bloody) French to the top and prove America’s superiority in Mauritius. We all started as one mass but eventually the SAS group emerged in the front. The hike up wasn’t too bad but I still a good challenge. On the way up I would turn around and look at the view of the surrounding area. I could see almost to the other side of the island (only halfway up the mtn.). I realized how much Mauritius resembled Hawaii in terms of the similar rural regions, plant life, and also the heavy tourism in both places. When we got to the top (before the French who turned around halfway up the mountain) we could see that we were actually on a caldera of an old volcano. We could also see all of Port Louis (including our ship) as well as some nearby mountains, one of which has an enormous bolder perched precariously on its peak and looks very awkward. After resting at the top, we headed down and made it back to the buses fairly quick. Towards the end of the trail, one of our guides went ahead with a machete and cut a stock of sugar cane which he cut up for us to eat. We then had an amazing lunch (Indian curry and rice) at a colonial house whose backyard was a deep gorge with a river at the bottom. We changed into our swim suits and then went to the (apparently) famous beach Flic en Flac which means “Free and Flat Land”. The beach looked like something you’d see on the front of a postcard and later I did see postcards with the beach on it. We hung around on the beach for an hour and the got back on the bus and went back to the ship.
That night, my roommate and I went to the casino at the waterfront via water taxi (several boats taxied students from across the port where the ship was to the waterfront) and got 500 rupees to gamble with. We played only slots (we couldn’t do tables because I was wearing shorts) and we both won a few jackpots but that was after losing a good deal. In the end my roommate lost all his rupees and I turned in my remainder for half of what originally started with. We walked around the waterfront the rest of the night and found a live concert with Indian music and dancers that celebrated the Hindu holiday called Diwali (the next day). Across the bay there were 4 large silo-looking structures which at night become the projection screens for a sort of light show that goes on throughout the night (they usually have animations of whales, dolphins, and fish swimming). We went back to the water taxi dock and took the boat 5 minutes back to the ship.
The third day was our last day on the island and we left later that night. I was signed up for a catamaran snorkel trip which turned out to be amazing. There were a lot of people signed up for this trip and we had to take several buses. We drove about thirty five minutes to the docks where the catamarans were waiting. There were about 20 people on each catamaran and we had about 5-7 total. Our armada of catamarans sailed over as a group to a point further down the coast. While sailing, we began to enter deeper waters and a little later we spotted whales. They were most likely humpback whales. We sailed with them for about 30 minutes and then lost them. While sailing back they surfaced again very close to us. There were 2 massive ones and one small one. After seeing them for a while we went back up the coast to a reef where we snorkeled. It was an average snorkeling area: we saw schools of fish, angelfish, and urchins among many other fish. After snorkeling for 45 minutes we got back on the boat and had a nice BBQ lunch. We sailed a little down the coast to a different area where we tied up with another catamaran and anchored (we lost our anchor but the water wasn’t too deep so we got it back). We hung out on the deck for a while and a couple of us went back in to snorkel. One of the other snorkelers was a Marine Bio major and showed us some feather-duster worms (if you clap in front of them they hide away) and also spotted an eel. He tried showing me where it was and when I dove down to the spot on the rock where he was pointing, I failed to see the eel but out of a nearby hole, something emerged that changed from white to black. It was a small octopus I found by accident. We also saw brain coral and a sea slug. We got back on the ship and hung out for an hour and talked about how we were still in school somehow. We sailed back to the docks and got back on the buses. It took us about an hour to get back to the ship (traffic). During the ride I saw more of the outskirts of the city. For the most part it was average, but there were also some very nice homes and a couple slums (not many though). Tourism has really helped the island out and the 1.2 million residents of the island live fairly well. When we arrived on the ship we still had an hour before the time we had to be back on and I wanted to go back to the waterfront for postcards, but I decided I didn’t want to risk dock time. We left Mauritius around 9:00 that night. Mauritius was a very nice country, but it didn’t really have anything I had not seen before (it was a paradise if you were into the nightlife- imagine Hawaii with no drinking age). Still, I thought it was a great experience going there and had lots of fun.
A few days later at sea, we had what’s called the Sea Olympics. At the beginning of the voyage we were split into different teams and given names of seas (ours was Arabian Sea) as team names. The winner of the Olympics would be the first off the ship in San Diego. The events lasted all day and were mostly nonsensical events. I was supposed to do the pie-eating contest but that was later turned into a popcorn eating contest (popcorn is cheaper than whipped cream) and I and 3 other teammates had to eat popcorn which we all almost choked on. Also, someone had the great idea of further salting the popcorn so it was the saltiest popcorn I’d ever had and later I think I got kinda dehydrated (I had a bad headache for a while). I also did the first leg of a relay so that was fun. I’m pretty sure our team came in dead last overall but it was still pretty fun to participate in (my team spirit is awful). That evening we had a BBQ outside on the seventh deck. On the horizon was by far the coolest looking sunset I’ve ever seen. The pictures I took of it would not do it justice. Also, there was ice cream that night for desert which is rare (as is Taco Day) and so I took full advantage of that.
I’m interested to see how India will be. I keep hearing warnings from people who have been there before. When I get there, I hope to find an internet cafe and upload some more photos of the trip thus far.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Robben Island
October 8
South Africa Day 6 (last day)
I thought I would be tired of South Africa (and Africa in general) by now but I still want to see more. This will be my last day on the actual continent and I will miss Africa has a whole, from Morocco to Cape Town. There were 2 stories I forgot to write about that are short and funny. The first one is when I went to the soccer game, the 5 of us had water bottles (non-disposable) and they did not even allow empty ones. So we came up with a plan to hide them somewhere. We found a large paper bag amongst the trash along the street that used to hold fast food and we put our water bottles in there. Then we tossed it over a short fence nearby, where it was extremely hard to get to (even for us). We were all worried our bottles would be gone, but the way we saw it, even if they did get stolen it would make a cool story. When the game ended we found the spot at the fence that we tossed it over at and found that the bottles were still there and we retrieved them (with difficulty).
The second story was on the day we hiked Table Mtn. When we got to the top, while walking along the ridge to the very top, we saw people holding a banner for the Gynecologist and Obstetrician Association posing for a photo. My friend John ran up to get a picture of them.
Anyway, today (my last day in Cape Town) I had a ticket to go to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela had been imprisoned for some years as well as a number of political prisoners. I did this trip by myself and walked over to the ferry about 8:00am. I boarded the catamaran and we left at 9. The waters were pretty rough but the boat cut pretty quickly through the bay and out to the island (about a 25 minute ride). We docked and got on board buses. Our guide was the epitome of eccentric- he was an older Indian man who was part of the PAC (Pan African Congress) at one point and now did tours. The tour guides for the actual prison grounds were former political prisoners. The Indian guide had an accent of heavy English, Dutch and African (I would guess). The bus first took us to the small lodging of Robert Sobukwe (former leader of PAC). He was very influential in that he once told all of S. Africa to march on police stations nonviolently. Thousands followed and the police fired back, causing the beginning of a revolution. The island was also once used as a leper colony and we passed the leper graveyard. We stopped along the rocky shore facing Cape Town to get some photos of CT. The view here was incredible and clear (you could actually fully see Table Mtn. which hadn’t happened since our first day). We then passed a large gun emplacement that was intended to be used during WWII but wasn’t finished till 1947. Our guide gave Obama a tour when he came over (still a senator) and joked with him that the cannon was a WMD that they were hiding. We also passed a limestone quarry where Mandela was forced to work. Our guide said the sediment got in people’s eyes and now nobody can use a flash on Nelson Mandela because his eyes are so sensitive.
Here he also talked about education on the island. He said many of the prisoners left with 3 PhDs because of how determined they were to educate themselves. Mandela told his fellow prisoners that when they did get out they’d have to be extremely educated so they could run the country effectively. Some of the guards while stationed there earned a PHD. We were running low on time so when we got to the actual prison area, our ex-prisoner guide gave us an abbreviated version of the tour. He said he was put on Robben Island for blowing up a political outpost (no one was killed) when he was 19. He said he’d been “sick” ever since he arrived there (he coughed right after he said this). He took us through the number assignment area (everyone had a number, not a name). He told us that they could write 2 letters a month and they couldn’t contain anything compromising. Likewise with incoming letters, they sometimes had sections actually cut out (with scissors) and were sometimes only left with the greeting part and the ‘sincerely’ section. He also told us his dad came to visit him once and the security guards shot his dad 8 times just for attempting to visit (apparently he survived). He said when he found out, he was sick and had trouble walking.
We then moved on to the yard where they spent time hanging out and gardening. Mandela convinced the prison to let them garden. Aside from growing grapes and apples, they also used the garden to hide literature and other things. They said one way they communicated with an adjacent yard was by splitting a tennis ball, enclosing a note and after resealing it, hitting it over the wall into the next yard. In this way they all stayed connected and informed each other of certain things. Mandela said it was important to befriend the guards. Some of them sympathized with them and snuck in ‘contraband’ for them. However, they would have to start over the befriending process frequently because guards were completely replaced every 2 years. As we were leaving, the guard said how he was glad to see Africa improving and said he cried after he voted. His final message (just like at Ghana’s slave dungeons) was that something like this must never happen again.
We walked back to the boat and boarded. The ride back to Cape Town was very quick and we offloaded onto the waterfront. After finishing Robben Island, my intent was to find and buy a Springboks rugby jersey before leaving SA. The whole week I had been finding places that sold them and bouncing back and forth between places comparing prices and looking for the right sizes. I went from a store at across the waterfront to the mall (Victoria’s Wharf) and ponged my way between a couple stores that sold the jerseys. After trying to find the right size and the best price (you have no idea how much thought I put into this) I finally decided to by one from a sports store. I returned to the ship and uploaded pictures. After finishing this post, I’m hoping to find internet (a reliable source) and post 2 more posts as well as put more pictures on Photobucket. Wish me luck. (again no spell check)
South Africa Day 6 (last day)
I thought I would be tired of South Africa (and Africa in general) by now but I still want to see more. This will be my last day on the actual continent and I will miss Africa has a whole, from Morocco to Cape Town. There were 2 stories I forgot to write about that are short and funny. The first one is when I went to the soccer game, the 5 of us had water bottles (non-disposable) and they did not even allow empty ones. So we came up with a plan to hide them somewhere. We found a large paper bag amongst the trash along the street that used to hold fast food and we put our water bottles in there. Then we tossed it over a short fence nearby, where it was extremely hard to get to (even for us). We were all worried our bottles would be gone, but the way we saw it, even if they did get stolen it would make a cool story. When the game ended we found the spot at the fence that we tossed it over at and found that the bottles were still there and we retrieved them (with difficulty).
The second story was on the day we hiked Table Mtn. When we got to the top, while walking along the ridge to the very top, we saw people holding a banner for the Gynecologist and Obstetrician Association posing for a photo. My friend John ran up to get a picture of them.
Anyway, today (my last day in Cape Town) I had a ticket to go to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela had been imprisoned for some years as well as a number of political prisoners. I did this trip by myself and walked over to the ferry about 8:00am. I boarded the catamaran and we left at 9. The waters were pretty rough but the boat cut pretty quickly through the bay and out to the island (about a 25 minute ride). We docked and got on board buses. Our guide was the epitome of eccentric- he was an older Indian man who was part of the PAC (Pan African Congress) at one point and now did tours. The tour guides for the actual prison grounds were former political prisoners. The Indian guide had an accent of heavy English, Dutch and African (I would guess). The bus first took us to the small lodging of Robert Sobukwe (former leader of PAC). He was very influential in that he once told all of S. Africa to march on police stations nonviolently. Thousands followed and the police fired back, causing the beginning of a revolution. The island was also once used as a leper colony and we passed the leper graveyard. We stopped along the rocky shore facing Cape Town to get some photos of CT. The view here was incredible and clear (you could actually fully see Table Mtn. which hadn’t happened since our first day). We then passed a large gun emplacement that was intended to be used during WWII but wasn’t finished till 1947. Our guide gave Obama a tour when he came over (still a senator) and joked with him that the cannon was a WMD that they were hiding. We also passed a limestone quarry where Mandela was forced to work. Our guide said the sediment got in people’s eyes and now nobody can use a flash on Nelson Mandela because his eyes are so sensitive.
Here he also talked about education on the island. He said many of the prisoners left with 3 PhDs because of how determined they were to educate themselves. Mandela told his fellow prisoners that when they did get out they’d have to be extremely educated so they could run the country effectively. Some of the guards while stationed there earned a PHD. We were running low on time so when we got to the actual prison area, our ex-prisoner guide gave us an abbreviated version of the tour. He said he was put on Robben Island for blowing up a political outpost (no one was killed) when he was 19. He said he’d been “sick” ever since he arrived there (he coughed right after he said this). He took us through the number assignment area (everyone had a number, not a name). He told us that they could write 2 letters a month and they couldn’t contain anything compromising. Likewise with incoming letters, they sometimes had sections actually cut out (with scissors) and were sometimes only left with the greeting part and the ‘sincerely’ section. He also told us his dad came to visit him once and the security guards shot his dad 8 times just for attempting to visit (apparently he survived). He said when he found out, he was sick and had trouble walking.
We then moved on to the yard where they spent time hanging out and gardening. Mandela convinced the prison to let them garden. Aside from growing grapes and apples, they also used the garden to hide literature and other things. They said one way they communicated with an adjacent yard was by splitting a tennis ball, enclosing a note and after resealing it, hitting it over the wall into the next yard. In this way they all stayed connected and informed each other of certain things. Mandela said it was important to befriend the guards. Some of them sympathized with them and snuck in ‘contraband’ for them. However, they would have to start over the befriending process frequently because guards were completely replaced every 2 years. As we were leaving, the guard said how he was glad to see Africa improving and said he cried after he voted. His final message (just like at Ghana’s slave dungeons) was that something like this must never happen again.
We walked back to the boat and boarded. The ride back to Cape Town was very quick and we offloaded onto the waterfront. After finishing Robben Island, my intent was to find and buy a Springboks rugby jersey before leaving SA. The whole week I had been finding places that sold them and bouncing back and forth between places comparing prices and looking for the right sizes. I went from a store at across the waterfront to the mall (Victoria’s Wharf) and ponged my way between a couple stores that sold the jerseys. After trying to find the right size and the best price (you have no idea how much thought I put into this) I finally decided to by one from a sports store. I returned to the ship and uploaded pictures. After finishing this post, I’m hoping to find internet (a reliable source) and post 2 more posts as well as put more pictures on Photobucket. Wish me luck. (again no spell check)
!Khwa Ttu Route and San culture
October 7
South Africa Day 5
Today I had a trip called the !Khwa Ttu Route which I had signed up for. My friend Pat was signed up for it as well but neither of us knew what it was about. The trip started at 10:30am so I had a little time to kill after breakfast. The last day (tomorrow) I intended on going to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned. I speed walked over to the ferry and bought a ticket which includes a tour. I then went back to the ship, grabbed my laptop, and went to the adjacent hotel to steal some internet to post yesterday’s blog. After that it was time for my trip and I grabbed a rain coat because it was supposed to rain (which it did later). There is a lower peak called Lionhead below Table Mtn. and apparently whenever it is covered in clouds, it always rains. There were a little over 20 of us which ended up being a nice number. The bus drove over an hour during which it began to rain hard. When we got to !Kwha Ttu, it stopped raining. The !Kwha Ttu (the exclamation is actually a click) is a cultural conservation center for the Khoisan people (bushmen). The Khoi (I’m pretty sure I spelled it wrong) and San people are actually different people (they wanted to make this clear), the San being more nomadic.
The premises used to be a farm but was bought by the association and converted to a cultural center. The barn was turned into a very nice reception center/restaurant/souvenir shop. We went into a photo gallery and then a backroom with a TV. On a whiteboard the man showed us the different tribes (?) and the different clicks (we all failed miserably). They then showed us a video talking about the photo gallery (there were also displays w/ history, practices, etc. here). What they had done was taught the surviving San people (I’m assuming that was who they were- they were ‘modernized’ however and have become integrated into society) how to use cameras and had them document their lives including practices, arts, and traditions. The resulting photos were made into a gallery which they felt represented them effectively. After this, we broke for a 2 hour period, during which we could do whatever on the premises. After this we would go on a tour and receive a demonstration of the San traditions. My friend Pat and I walked through the gallery for a while. While everyone else went to lunch, we then found a small pathway that led down the hill that the center was on. Along the path were signs telling about the various flora along the path, many of which were used as herbal remedies for diabetes and high blood pressure. We also came across a small cluster of huts around a fireplace (we would see another one later on the tour). We walked back to the reception area and into the restaurant which was really fancy and relatively cheap. Here I got the chance to eat Springbok steak. It was absolutely amazing (lean but extremely flavorful). After this we looked around the gift shop and then around 3pm we got on a covered wagon pulled by a tractor. While we were having lunch it briefly rained so the seats were wet. Luckily they gave us blankets to sit on. It was cloudy yet still patches of sun came through (it gave that really cool effect where you can see the rays of light from the sun). We went along a dirt road and got a spectacular view of the grounds. We were not far from the ocean at all and all the surrounding plants (though desert flora) were green and gave a lush look. In the distance we could see ostriches, zebras, and a large herd of springbok. We went down the road a little longer and then we went on a short walk to a small hut village. Along the way our guide showed us a trap (snare) and how it worked. It was mostly for catching birds or smaller animals and he said when he’d catch something and bring it home to his mother when he was young, his mom would tell him how great a hunter he was. He also talked briefly about hunting and about how he trained his dog to kill steenbok (small, springbok-like) and how his mom would yell at him for it but still take the meat. He then showed us the usefulness of an ostrich egg. There was one half-buried in the shade of a tree. They drill a small hole in the top and fill it with water. They then bury it and come back after a hunt or something and they half cool water. Apparently, you can actually stand on an ostrich egg at some point.
When we got to the hut village we were greeted by a San lady who spoke to us only in a language with the clicks in words. She showed us how she makes beads for necklaces and accessories out of ostrich eggshell. She also told us how they skinned the springbok and used every bit. They also have bow and arrows which they told us they used to wound the animal with poison and let it die overtime while they chase it. The hunters make small bows for their sons to practice. The ‘clothes’ they showed us were very exposing. They consisted of a piece of springbok hide and usually only had a flap for the front and the nothing to cover the rear. They said woman would sometimes accidentally expose themselves while dancing (the lady told us this while doing a crazy dance and laughing). The more they told us about the bushmen’s past lifestyle, the more they sound like native Americans in that they used they’re surroundings very effectively and wasted nothing. We got on the bus after the demonstrations and headed back to the center to leave. On the way back it began to rain (at an angle) heavily and then stopped after we got back. Also on the way back we got a much closer look at the zebras and also the herd of springboks who darted away amazingly fast when we drove by (springboks are probably one of my new favorite animals).
We immediately left upon getting back to the center and made good time back. The drive back was really scenic, especially with the sunlight coming through the clouds onto the surrounding landscape. We got back a little after six and I had dinner and went with my roommate to find internet. For some reason the places many of the places that offered internet had weak networks or were too fancy for us to get into. While searching we went by the theater and decided to see District 9 (my roommate hadn’t seen it and I wanted to see it again after visiting S. Africa) later that night. We eventually found a pizza place and I was able to upload some Ghana photos onto Photobucket (they may not have actually made it on because the upload timed out). We went back to the ship, dropped our laptops off, and saw the movie. The movie seemed more real than the first time I saw it (despite the aliens running around), however I think I enjoyed it more the first time seeing it. We got out around 12:30 at night. Tomorrow morning (or this morning) I’m catching the ferry to Robben Island (assuming the conditions are okay). After that, who knows.
South Africa Day 5
Today I had a trip called the !Khwa Ttu Route which I had signed up for. My friend Pat was signed up for it as well but neither of us knew what it was about. The trip started at 10:30am so I had a little time to kill after breakfast. The last day (tomorrow) I intended on going to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned. I speed walked over to the ferry and bought a ticket which includes a tour. I then went back to the ship, grabbed my laptop, and went to the adjacent hotel to steal some internet to post yesterday’s blog. After that it was time for my trip and I grabbed a rain coat because it was supposed to rain (which it did later). There is a lower peak called Lionhead below Table Mtn. and apparently whenever it is covered in clouds, it always rains. There were a little over 20 of us which ended up being a nice number. The bus drove over an hour during which it began to rain hard. When we got to !Kwha Ttu, it stopped raining. The !Kwha Ttu (the exclamation is actually a click) is a cultural conservation center for the Khoisan people (bushmen). The Khoi (I’m pretty sure I spelled it wrong) and San people are actually different people (they wanted to make this clear), the San being more nomadic.
The premises used to be a farm but was bought by the association and converted to a cultural center. The barn was turned into a very nice reception center/restaurant/souvenir shop. We went into a photo gallery and then a backroom with a TV. On a whiteboard the man showed us the different tribes (?) and the different clicks (we all failed miserably). They then showed us a video talking about the photo gallery (there were also displays w/ history, practices, etc. here). What they had done was taught the surviving San people (I’m assuming that was who they were- they were ‘modernized’ however and have become integrated into society) how to use cameras and had them document their lives including practices, arts, and traditions. The resulting photos were made into a gallery which they felt represented them effectively. After this, we broke for a 2 hour period, during which we could do whatever on the premises. After this we would go on a tour and receive a demonstration of the San traditions. My friend Pat and I walked through the gallery for a while. While everyone else went to lunch, we then found a small pathway that led down the hill that the center was on. Along the path were signs telling about the various flora along the path, many of which were used as herbal remedies for diabetes and high blood pressure. We also came across a small cluster of huts around a fireplace (we would see another one later on the tour). We walked back to the reception area and into the restaurant which was really fancy and relatively cheap. Here I got the chance to eat Springbok steak. It was absolutely amazing (lean but extremely flavorful). After this we looked around the gift shop and then around 3pm we got on a covered wagon pulled by a tractor. While we were having lunch it briefly rained so the seats were wet. Luckily they gave us blankets to sit on. It was cloudy yet still patches of sun came through (it gave that really cool effect where you can see the rays of light from the sun). We went along a dirt road and got a spectacular view of the grounds. We were not far from the ocean at all and all the surrounding plants (though desert flora) were green and gave a lush look. In the distance we could see ostriches, zebras, and a large herd of springbok. We went down the road a little longer and then we went on a short walk to a small hut village. Along the way our guide showed us a trap (snare) and how it worked. It was mostly for catching birds or smaller animals and he said when he’d catch something and bring it home to his mother when he was young, his mom would tell him how great a hunter he was. He also talked briefly about hunting and about how he trained his dog to kill steenbok (small, springbok-like) and how his mom would yell at him for it but still take the meat. He then showed us the usefulness of an ostrich egg. There was one half-buried in the shade of a tree. They drill a small hole in the top and fill it with water. They then bury it and come back after a hunt or something and they half cool water. Apparently, you can actually stand on an ostrich egg at some point.
When we got to the hut village we were greeted by a San lady who spoke to us only in a language with the clicks in words. She showed us how she makes beads for necklaces and accessories out of ostrich eggshell. She also told us how they skinned the springbok and used every bit. They also have bow and arrows which they told us they used to wound the animal with poison and let it die overtime while they chase it. The hunters make small bows for their sons to practice. The ‘clothes’ they showed us were very exposing. They consisted of a piece of springbok hide and usually only had a flap for the front and the nothing to cover the rear. They said woman would sometimes accidentally expose themselves while dancing (the lady told us this while doing a crazy dance and laughing). The more they told us about the bushmen’s past lifestyle, the more they sound like native Americans in that they used they’re surroundings very effectively and wasted nothing. We got on the bus after the demonstrations and headed back to the center to leave. On the way back it began to rain (at an angle) heavily and then stopped after we got back. Also on the way back we got a much closer look at the zebras and also the herd of springboks who darted away amazingly fast when we drove by (springboks are probably one of my new favorite animals).
We immediately left upon getting back to the center and made good time back. The drive back was really scenic, especially with the sunlight coming through the clouds onto the surrounding landscape. We got back a little after six and I had dinner and went with my roommate to find internet. For some reason the places many of the places that offered internet had weak networks or were too fancy for us to get into. While searching we went by the theater and decided to see District 9 (my roommate hadn’t seen it and I wanted to see it again after visiting S. Africa) later that night. We eventually found a pizza place and I was able to upload some Ghana photos onto Photobucket (they may not have actually made it on because the upload timed out). We went back to the ship, dropped our laptops off, and saw the movie. The movie seemed more real than the first time I saw it (despite the aliens running around), however I think I enjoyed it more the first time seeing it. We got out around 12:30 at night. Tomorrow morning (or this morning) I’m catching the ferry to Robben Island (assuming the conditions are okay). After that, who knows.
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