IncredibleIndia?

        I have put off the writing about India, because I am unsure of where to go with this blog. Prior to arrival a professor talked about the frustrations of India he had experienced while serving in the Peace Corps. He stated that this is a country of true complexity-where no generalizations can be made. It is also the land of constant sensory stimulation and culture shock. One statement, that held very true was there is no escaping India, you can’t go hide in a resort and not take part in the culture. It is everywhere and in everything. I then knew that India would pose both insight and questions.
When stepping off the boat in Chennai, I quickly became overwhelmed with the sense of humidity and heat. We were also greeted with many interesting, but not so kind smells. Walking down the gang way I knew that these next six days were going to be an experience.
Once getting through immigrations we were greeted by a plethora of rickshaw drivers. Attempting to negotiate a price was a game we were forced to learn as the week went on. We set off as a group to see a Hindu Temple. The intricate artwork and traditional practices were very intriguing to just stop and observe. There are many rules to be observed within the temple, such as you must walk in the clockwise direction around the grounds. As I set and took in the sights, I realized that the Hindu religion is so much more than a religion, it is a way of life. People’s lives revolve around the traditions and practices. After that we headed to a market/ mall. It reminds me of the J-town Mall but you can bargain in it. After getting a feeling of what India had to offer, we decided to get lunch. My friends and I broke down and got Pizza Hut. You may be wondering why in the hell I would eat pizza while in India, but I have tried so many new foods over the past 2 months that I was craving a small piece of home. On the other hand though, we did get a Indian pizza. It had spicy chicken and all of these crazy spices. I don’t know if it was that pizza, or the taste of pizza in general, but it was out of this world. After an amazing lunch, we headed back to the ship to gather up our bags and head to the airport.
I had heard through various sources that an independent trip to the Taj Mahal might not be the best decision, but I did it anyways. A group of 10 friends loaded into a six-seater van and where on our way. Sitting on top of each other for an hour and a half in a non air-conditioned van gave us an idea of the next 3 days. Upon arrival to the airport I looked at my boarding pass and saw that in all the hustle and bustle I had booked the wrong flight home. Instead of booking it on the 25th with the rest of the group I was headed home on the 24th.  If you know anything about me, you would have known that a panic attack was in the near future. I am proud to announce that the exact opposite situation occurred. I approached the counter with the mindset that this will work out and there is nothing that I need to get bent out of shape over. After much back and forth with the attendant at the counter, she was able to get me on my friends supposedly booked flight for a great deal. I could not have been more relived. Also, our flight had been delayed so I was not pressed for time at all in the airport, it worked out rather beautifully. Finally after a 2-hour flight we arrive in Delhi. This chaotic travel is a great parallel to the country of India, you never know what to expect. After checking into the hotel, we got a few hours of sleep before we were up and on our way to Agra.
Bright and early we hoped in the van with our drivers for the next 3 days and were on our way to the Taj. As we drove down the road, the obvious signs of complete desuetude and poverty hit you in the face. There was absolutely no avoidance. Take a scene of Slumdog Millionaire and I was standing in the middle of it. While most Indians argue that they don’t enjoy that movie because of the way their country is portrayed, it is in many areas very accurate. I felt sick inside as I reflected back on my life at home and how comfortably I live. I had a great deal of time for reflection, the 4-hour van ride turned into 6.5 hours.  We made a few pit stops along the way and visited some of the sights right inside Agra. We then stopped for lunch and then finally arrived at the Taj. I have always read that this is to be one of the Wonders of the World, and believe me it was. I hope that I one day marry someone who will build a memorial this nice in my honor. We were able to go inside and see all of the beautiful hand cut stones and the amazing architecture that had been constructed over the 22 year time period. We then headed to Agra Fort and learned a great deal about the history of Northern India. This semester I have become much more engaged in the history of the entire world and past events such as trading and colonization. Being able to interact with these places has made all of these ideas much more tangible and in return much more intriguing. We then checked into our hotel for the night, had dinner and then all hung out and played cards. One thing I can tell you about staying in non-western hotels, is that they are very different from Hiltons or your hotel of choice. In India, no one uses shower curtains. The bathroom is tile floor and the water just lands wherever. You also have to ask for the hot water to be turned on upon check in. Electricity has the potential to go out whenever as well.  It is not at all what we are used to, but that is all part of the fun.
The next morning we jetted off to Japuir, the pink city. Most of the buildings in the city are built out of a stone that has a very pink tint. We stopped at a The Palace, this building is the longest building in the city and is comprised of 3,000 windows. We also were able to go to this amazing conservatory. This was home to the world’s largest sundial. Seeing how a single man was able to make all of these amazing calculations was so fascinating. We now are so reliant on computers and calculators that we would never sit and take the time to do all of these calculations.  We also went to Amber Fort where we rode elephants. This was a neat experience. These creatures are HUGE. We then did some shopping and headed to our next hotel.
The next morning we woke up before the sun rose and headed to a tiger reserve and did a morning safari. We did not get to see a tiger, but we saw a leopard, a ton of monkeys, antelope and peacocks. After that we made our way back to Delhi to catch our flight home. The flight home was much less eventful and went rather smoothly.
On the last day I experienced the perfect rainy Sunday. We had planned to go to the open air market but it was pouring. So a small group of us jumped in a rickshaw and headed back to the mall. We did our last minute shopping and saw a Bollywood film. The movie was hilarious. The greatest part of all was how they portrayed Americans. Every American was either a slut or a hick, there was no in between. We then headed back to the ship, I was exhausted. India had taken everything out of me.
That is enough about my itinerary. There are a few things that I will never forget about India. First and foremost the driving, it was absolutely bizarre. More often than not there is not even a middle lane in the road. People don’t pay the least bit of attention to road signs or signals. They pass as if there is no tomorrow and it is unlike anything I have ever witnessed. Also the food, the 1st three meals it was great, and then it started to all become the same, and by the end I was not even able to look at non. Non is almost like a tortilla and is served at every meal. You use it to soak up all different types of curries and sauces. One thing that you don’t find a lot of in the north is meat. We were vegetarian for those three days. I just am unsure of how the people eat non with every meal.
As I reflect back on India, I am still unsure of what I think. I might be one of the few on the ship that did not fall head-over-heels for this country. I often think that India made me a person that I did not like being. I was never very comfortable and I never received the same warm welcome as everywhere else. I often had to argue with rickshaw drivers and was even called a greedy white American. I feel as if there is such disparity between classes is so tangible that change is far from happening. I felt so much hope for Ghana, but lacked that sense here. The people seemed so downtrodden that it was painful. I often wonder if I felt a lack of comfort and welcome because the poverty level caused so much pain, or if there is another underlying reason. I am still very confused. As I talk to people on the ship they talk about how great of an experience they had as they stayed in their 5-star Semester at Sea hotels and I wonder what side of India they saw that I didn’t. As we drove past the slums and families sleeping on the ground and in bridges, I cried, I would consider it far from amazing. I can tell you one thing for sure, India reaffirmed one thing, I am one of the luckiest girls in the world. I have an amazing family, a wonderful education, a financial security blanket, and a comfortable place to live. My world was challenged by India. In Ghana I felt a call to action, but in India on the other hand, I had no idea where to turn. One portion of India is booming in the industrial world, but most is just being completely ignored.
On a lighter note, last night we had the crew talent show. Our crew is made up of the most amazing people in the world. They clean our rooms, feed us, do our laundry and always are looking out for us. This ship would go nowhere without them. Usually we are only able to see them in their work attire as they are not permitted to socialize with the voyagers. Last night they gave us a show. They preformed everything from Frank Sanatra to John Mayer to Achey Breaky Heart. It was fantastic. It was so much fun for us to be able to see them in a completely different light, having so much fun and being their true selves.
We are so close to Singapore, we will be there in the morning. We will be there for 2 days and then have a day until we get to Vietnam. Asia is going to be VERY quick. I hope that all is well back home and can’t wait to see you all.

Sea Olympics 2010!

Purple is the way to be, we are Aegean Sea. Today the ship took part in a ship-wide Olympic games, and they were a blast. Each hall is divided into a “sea” and is given a color. Deck 2 was coined the purple Aegean Sea.  We have been preparing for events all week, and truth be told, I did not think our sea had a chance in the world. Each sea has been competing in a sustainability war; to see who can use the least amount of bath towels. This was one of the major events along with the banner painting and a chant. These events were judged prior to the opening ceremonies this afternoon. Our sea painted our bodies purple and it was pure madness on the way to the Union. In the union every sea did their chant and then the games were commenced by Desmond Tutu, let me tell you he is a riot.
        After that we were off to take part in the afternoon activities. These games included orange pass, Horse, crab soccer, jeopardy, sustainable sculpture and many many more. The two biggest games of the day were synchronized swimming and lip synch. Both of our routines turned out fantastic. In the water we had a nautical routine and it placed 2nd overall. The highlight of the day though was the lip synch performance. Our team had a mix of pop songs and they were fantastic. They won the game and preformed for the entire ship to night at logistical preport.
        Going into the closing ceremonies we knew we were neck in neck with the Caribbean Sea. Knowing that we were so close was a shock to everyone and we were so nervous. No one in our sea believed that we would even stand a chance of being crowned the champions. If you win the games your sea is the 1st sea off in San Diego, which is a big deal because customs can be quite tedious. They announced that our banner had come in 1st and that our lip synch had also won, so we knew that it would come down to the wire. It ended up that the Caribbean Sea won, which was a huge disappointment. The Aegean Sea put up a great fight and I had a fantastic day. I am still upset that we lost, but overall it was one of the most fun days we have had on the ship. I am so proud of deck 2.
        Tomorrow morning we will be in India and I will be catching a flight that night to Delhi to see the Taj Mahal. I am very anxious for India, but believe that it will be an awesome experience. I can’t wait to write all about it when I get back on the ship in 6 days. Until then, I love you all and miss you tons!

Welcome to the MV Explorer

        I feel that I have not blogged lately, so I decided to write a little about what a day on the ship is like. The MV Explorer is a beautiful home. She is always shining and more importantly always welcoming us home after being away for several days.  On the ship there are 7 decks. The top deck, is one of my favorite, it is the pool deck. On beautiful days like today, we live out there in our swimsuits and try to soak up all those beautiful late-October rays. Today, we crossed back over the equator on our way to India and it is in the mid-80’s and gorgeous. While I love this very long extended summer, I am sort of missing fall football weather. There is no Friday night football, shorts and sweatshirt days, and crunching of leaves. On the bright side I am tanner than when I left the wonderful mid-west. So back to the ship, also on the 7th deck is the pool bar, a place for us to grab snacks outside of mealtime. More and more people are eating their meals up there, because one can only eat so much pasta and potatoes. Upstairs is also the gym. It is a small gym, but it will suffice. It is weird because you have to sign up for a time the day before, due to limited resources. Working out also poses it challenges, trying to run on a treadmill as the boat rocks, is a sight in its self. It has become much easier with time, but at the beginning there were a few instances where I feared my life.
        Down a flight of stairs on the 6th deck you will find one of the main dining halls. Here we are graced with pasta, potatoes, and PB&J for every meal. At first the food was very good, but now it has become rather monotonous. I have become a huge advocate for peanut butter banana and honey toast. In this dining hall we can eat outside and watch the sunrise and set. Also many students convene in here at night to play board games or cards.  As we venture down the hall you are surrounded by classrooms, there are 9 in total. I have really taking a liking to all of my classes. I could get used to taking only 12 hours per semester.  I have 2 classes a day, on A day I take disease and healing a class about Eastern medicine, parasites, and immunology. This class is very different than any other biology class I have ever taken, but very applicable to the places we are visiting. Also on A days I have an English class called World Short Stories. This is my favorite class, the professor is amazing and I love going to class everyday. We read a short story for class each day and pick a passage to discuss with the class, once in class he calls on someone and we begin the discussion that carries on for the entire period. It is so nice not to have a teacher lecture or write on the board, it is all discussion based. On the other days, B days, I take Global Studies, a class the entire ship takes. Here we cover issues in a global sense such as education, crime, and human rights. We also take time to look in depth at each country we will visit, to grasp a sense of where they stand globally. In the afternoon I attend a class entitled Service Leadership. This class was one that I was very excited for, but has ended up causing much confusion. We are required to all carry out a service project while in a port. This concept is a great one, but the teacher’s expectations are not very clear. The articles we read are so informative and I know that I will use them as references in the future. They discuss the skills needed to be an effective leader in the work place and various tactics to creating a strong working environment. Back to the ship, also on the 6th deck is the computer lab and library. Both of these places have many resources for students to use.  In the front of the ship, is the Union, the large meeting space. Here is where we have global studies, but also pre-ports and explorer seminars. These various meetings cover many different topics from service in the Peace Corps to Child Slavery in Ghana. There is one or two of these meetings a night. They are very informal, but also informative. I have gained a great deal of knowledge from my peers and teachers on this trip. One funny thing about the ship is you can never escape your teachers. You go to class with them, eat with them, run on the treadmill with them and even drink a beer with them. Overall, I have made relationships with my professors like I have never done before. It is almost like I consider them to be part of my family.
        Down below these 2 floors there is not much going on. On the 5th floor is the main dining hall. It is just a bigger version of the one upstairs. From the 5th floor down are where all the cabins are located. My room is located on the 2nd floor outside. I am fortunate enough to have a window. If you are not on the outside you have no sense of time in your room when the lights are off, it is literally a cave.  My roommates name is Karli, she is from outside of Chicago, but goes to school at DePaul in downtown Chicago. We get along great. We do not travel much together, but when we are on the ship we hang out quite a bit.  As far as friends go, I have made so many from all over the United States. I have become involved in so many aspects of the ship it has given me a great base for various groups of friends. I have not found one solid traveling group, I have traveled with different people in every country. I love it that way! On the ship though, I have a group that I hang out with most of the time. We all eat at the same time, work out together, lay out together and rarely are apart. One thing you don’t have on the ship is a lot of alone time. Wherever you go there are people. It is nice to always know a familiar face and have someone to talk to, but it is very difficult to find that “you time”.
        This blog could go on forever because there is so much to say about our little home. I am going to try and make this a more regular occurrence so you can see a glimpse of my daily life, cool things on the ship, and things that I miss while being on the ship. I will write soon. Love and miss you all!

A Little Taste of Paradise!

Spring Break 2010 complete. We just celebrated the finishing of mid-terms, the 1st round of papers and all of the stuff that has to happen halfway throughout the semester. We were off the ship for less than 36 hours and I can say we made every moment count. Yesterday morning we pulled into the beautiful island of Mauritius, a small island off the coast of Madagascar. As the sun rose so did the level of excitement on the ship. Once immigration signaled the okay, we were off. Several friends and I jumped off the boat and headed to our hotel for the night. Many SAS kids, booked rooms at a beach resort, the Intercontinental. We lived the life of luxury for the evening. I have never stayed in a hotel quite like this before. The view from our rooms was breathtaking. After trying to absorb it all, 3 friends and I decided that we wanted to dive that afternoon.  We were able to find a company that would take us out on our own private dive. It was so amazing to be able to dive again. The marine life was so beautiful, but more than anything the visibility was unreal. I felt as if I was swimming in an aquarium. We dove for over an hour and I was in pure amazement at the end.  After the dive we went back to the hotel and met up with our friends who had stayed back. At this point, most of Semester at Sea was at our hotel. After getting ready, we walked out to the jetty and watched the sunset. The past several days, I have been fortunate to see some of the most beautiful sunsets. We took pictures, pictures, and more pictures. It was a masterpiece, there are no other words to describe it. We then hung around the pool bar for the rest of the night. There were so many students there from SAS it was unreal. We danced, we laughed, we sung, and we made memories that I will never forget. The sun started playing peek-a-boo, as we were heading in. I slept for a very short while, before I had the opportunity to Skype my family. I am telling you, whoever invented Skype was a genius. It was so wonderful to be able to see my parents face and have a real conversation with them. We talked forever and I did not want to hang up. It is so hard to find a time to talk being 8 hours apart. As they were going to bed for the night, I was getting up for the day. I was also able to talk to my housemates and sister. It was an absolute blessing to hear everyone’s voices.
        Before too much longer the cab was there to pick our group up. We decided to head out on a catamaran for the day.  Today was something spectacular. We took an hour and half boat ride to an island, had lunch, snorkeled, and goofed off. The ride there and back was just spectacular. I have found my new favorite color, the blue of the Indian Ocean. IT was like nothing I have seen before. It was so opaque you could look down and see coral several meters down. This was an all day event and before we knew it we had to be back on the ship. We jam packed these two days, but it was well worth it. Mauritius is a place I will always remember, and hopefully one day will step back on to the island of paradise!
        We are now on our way to India! I have no idea what to expect, but I know I am in for a treat. We have 6 days on the ship, so I will be busy these next few days trying to catch up on school and sleep. As far as blogging goes, I am going to make it a goal to blog a little more than just after ports. This will allow me to better explain what living on a ship is like. Days on the boat seem a little repetitive to us, but there are definitely some stories worth sharing. Hope all is well! Love and miss you all!

Cape Town has stolen my heart!

Cape Town South Africa
        Recovery mode starts now! South Africa welcomed us from sun-up to sundown, or maybe more like sun-up to sun-up for 6 days straight. I left Cape Town feeling on top of the world. This city presented such an awesome experience that I KNOW I will return one day, maybe even for an extensive time period. It is hard to pick a favorite port, but I would say this is the front-runner for now.
        Upon arrival I was awoken to the most beautiful sunrise over Table Mountain. I knew it was going to be an amazing week. After the clearance of the ship, I took off. Several friends and I caught the tram up to the top because we were afraid if we did not get up there fast enough the “tablecloth” would leave only one option: hike up and down. We made it up just in time to get some awesome pictures and soak in all the beauty of the city. It was amazing to look around and see Robben Island, the World Cup Stadium, and the big blue ocean. We were then standing in the clouds, and it started to get pretty chilly. We asked a few people on the top how to get down and the directions were pretty vague, but we thought we would see others. Well we got a little turned around on a fairly big mountain. After a couple hours of hiking we ran into a group from S. Africa and we had missed a turn and we had traveled way out of the way. Welp, the only way to get down from there was to hike all the back to the top, so we did. Luckily this group was heading the same way and took great care of us. We ended up hiking further than if we would have hiked up and back, but we had an absolute blast. After heading back to the ship and grabbing a quick shower we were out for our 1st night in the city. We had a blast out, we went to a Cuban bar and danced all night.
 Early the next morning we arose and I had a meeting with Andre, the man from Youth for Christ who we would be working with for my service leadership class. We then headed out to Boulder Beach. Four of us headed to the train station to take an hour train ride down the coast. It was a beautiful ride full of picturesque views. We got off the train in Fish Hoek and transfer to a bus, but as we walked off the platform the bus pulled away. We then had a half-hour to explore the little village, and we found this amazing cupcake shop. We chatted with the owner and she does it all. She gave us these cookies with nuts, white chocolate, and dark chocolate chips. It was so delicious. We finally made it down to Boulder Beach and explored the little market, and swam with the African Penguins. Once we got home we went to dinner at the little café in the mall right next to port and headed to the pub to meet up with friends.
The next day I headed out with the members of my leadership team to the school that we would be serving at. We had planned to help serve food that day, but upon arrival we were told that the food had not arrived and they would not be serving food today. Andre said that this could be the only meal that the children get for the day, so we decided we were going to make sure they had food. While brainstorming a plan to get the children food, it arrived. We were so relieved, but the gas did not, and it would not for 2 more days. So Joe and I talked with Andre and we asked him to find out where the school gets the gas and put a rush order on one, and he did. At last, the kids had a meal. We played with the kids and talked with the teachers. One of the 4th grade teachers that we would be working with later in the week challenged us; he told us he wanted us to make the world bigger for the kids. All the kids know is the farm and school. The beach, which lies 10 minutes from the village, is a foreign concept, and only has 1 child out of 40 been to the library. While we already had a plan to do a lesson on dental hygiene, back to the drawing board it was. We were hoping to use the bus to take them to the library, but due to new regulations in S. Africa this was out of the question.  We decided to think about it and hope to come up with a plan. We then headed to the farm to see the village where the families working on the farm live. Here the farmer provides his workers and family housing, which is nearly nothing, but more than sleeping on the streets. We also got an interesting sighting. We saw the slaughtering of a cow with a pic ax. Seeing the internal organs made me rather queasy and uncomfortable. The farmer gives the villagers a cow each month for themselves and the slaughtering was a communal activity. Everyone was around watching as if it was a sporting event or art form. After returning back to the ship, a couple of us worked to prepare for the next couple of days. We headed out on the town for another night and met some awesome students studying in Cape Town from Australia. They were an absolute blast and I am know dying to get to Australia and see this awesome place.
Early, early the next morning my friends Megan and Dallas and I caught the ferry to Robben Island. It was a wonderful ferry ride with quite a few dolphin, whale, and penguin sightings. When we arrived to the island we boarded a bus and headed around the island with a tour guide. He was very informative about the rich history of South Africa and predominately the apartheid.  He had so much to share about the political activists that were housed here, but the highlight was definitely being able to hear from an ex-prisoner. Listening to his story made me very uncomfortable, but it was such a testament to the inhumanity that these people suffered from. We were able to see the jail cell that Nelson Mandela was confined to for 18 years, it was heart wrenching. After getting back from that amazing experience, we had arranged for a group of students to come with us to the SOS children’s’ village in Cape Town. We ran around and played with the children forever and had an absolute blast. We let them play with our cameras and played soccer until the sun went down. It was an awesome day but thoroughly exhausting. Also, on the way home our van broke down on the highway so we set on the hill and waited for it to be fixed while 4 police cars worked to help us. It was an adventure in its self.
The next day was our big day, we were headed to the school to give our presentation. Our morning got off to a little of a rough start as we had a few more transportation issues but we finally made it to the school right after the 1st class had started. We did our presentation on leadership for the kids, we aimed to establish hope and a sense of worth in these children. Our second class went off without a hitch. The children were much more receptive and we had a fantastic time. We then headed back to the port to pick up another group of students to head to the farm. At the farm, we played soccer with the kids and did arts and crafts. We also did a small presentation on dental hygiene and gave them toothbrushes and toothpaste we had collected on the ship. We then went to the water tap and did a group brushing and the kids LOVED it.  Overall, I think our project was a success. That night we went out for a celebration on the beach and saw the sun rise. It was so beautiful and I was with the best group I could ever ask for.
On our last day in port we took it easy. We ate some breakfast and did a little shopping. We then headed to lunch and found a Cape Town original called a Gatspy. Two of my guy friends decided to try the full-house torpedo, and it literally weighed 10 lbs. It was a heart attack waiting to happen. On this sandwich was steak, egg, lettuce, French fries and a special sauce. It was hilarious watching them attempt to finish half of it. I have never seen anything quite like it. We did a little shopping at a street market with local artisans and then headed back to the mall to Skype. This was so nice to hear my family’s voices. Not being able to talk to them for over a month was a challenge. E-mail is just not the same. I was so excited, I just did not want to hang up. We got back on the ship and bid a farewell to Cape Town. I went to bed so early that night in attempt to regain much of the lost sleep.
Cape Town is a place that I will never forget. I have found a group that is amazing and I love to travel with. While South Africa did not provide as much personal growth as Ghana or Morocco, I enjoyed myself so much. I believe that it was a nice break from always feeling so stretched out of my comfort zone, and that it was much needed. South Africa as a country has so much potential. The world cup was an evident booster and has provided much nicer city transportation and improved many infrastructures. With this said, the remainders of the apartheid are still evident. The colored people are still living in conditions less than that of the whites. So like in any country there is still work that needs to be done.
Hope all is well back in the states and thanks for all the kind words I have been getting. They are so nice to read and make it feel as if I am not so far away. Miss you all tons!!
All my love
Jordan