India!

India was an overwhelming and exhausting experience, in every sense. The first thing that I noticed about India was the smell when we arrived. All through our trip, the stink would come and go, but could not be ignored. Kendall and I had a few hours after we arrived and before we left on our trip, but we didn’t get off the ship. We used that time to rest up and pack. Then it was off to the airport, driving through Chennai. One of the first things I realized about India was how much they love to play and watch cricket. There were people playing it everywhere! Our flight to Delhi was about 2 ½ hours. We stayed at a beautiful hotel called The Ashok. When we got there, they greeted us with leis made of real flowers and little glasses of soda. Indian Fashion Week was taking place there and so there were all these fashion designers, press, and models walking around. There was even this mirror with “Welcome Semester at Sea” spelled out in flowers.

The next day we got a wake up call at 4:15 am so that we could catch an early train to Agra. We walked around an old palace that was built by the 3^rd mogul emperor of India. On the ground of one of the courtyards was a giant Parcheesi board. The emperor had people who would be the pieces and he would watch from his balcony as they played the game for him. Then we went to the Agra Fort. The emperor that built the Taj Mahal was imprisoned there by his son. He only ever saw the completed Taj from his prison cell. Then we went to see the one and only Taj Mahal! After China and the great wall, I'll have seen 2 of the 7 wonders of the world! This is a picture of my Friend Jen and I at the Taj.

The whole day we were being chased by people trying to sell us little trinkets and things. At first it was kind of fun to see what they had and to try haggling with them, but after a while it got really old. We had Pizza Hut for dinner, which was nice to have something sort of familiar after eating weird and usually very spicy foods. While we were all sitting down to eat, about 4 waiters stood in a line and then some music came on and they all started doing this choreographed dance. It was so funny! They also seemed amazed when someone told them that the waiters in the States don’t do that. After dinner, we had a train ride back to Delhi where we stayed the night. We had another early morning the next day as we had to catch our flight to Varanassi. Varanassi was an amazing city, a holy site for both Hindus and Buddhists. We got to see the site where Buddha preached his first sermon and the Ganges river. On the Ganges at night we saw a beautiful Hindu candlelight ceremony where they light candles and float them onto the river as an offering to the goddess Ganga. We also saw the burning ghat which is a crematorium. The hindus believe that if you die or get cremated by the river Ganges, then you will be free from the cycle of reincarnation, so people from all over India and the world come there to die or to cremate their loved ones. It was a very touching place. Because of the holy nature of the place, we weren’t supposed to take any pictures. One of our friends did though, and as soon as he took the picture his camera died. It started working again a while later after we were away from that place. That was pretty creepy. One of the weirdest things about India is the cows. In the Hindu religion, cows are considered sacred, and so the cows are allowed to roam free wherever they choose. There were so many cows just wandering down the streets. We even saw one just laying on the floor in a shop, and nobody was even noticing that it was there! We took rickshaws between the river and our hotel. That was quite an experience! On a lot of streets in India there are no lines to divide the lanes, and running a red light carries a fine about equal to $2.50. The driving is crazy! On our last day, we again had to wake up around 4:15am. We went on boats in the Ganges River to watch the morning bathing that Hindus do to cleanse themselves of bad karma. It was really interesting to see how the kids would just kind of splash around in the water, but some older people were much more serene and subdued in their bathing. I took this picture from the ghat (steps leading to the river) before we got in the boat.

We walked around Varanassi for a little while before we went back to our hotel, and then the airport. By this point I was running on very little sleep and very little food, and I wasn’t feeling well at all. After the first bumpy plane ride, I thought I was going to pass out. I was so sick! On the second plane ride, things just got worse and I had a fever. We didn’t get back to the ship until close to 11, and I was feeling so sick all I wanted to do was sleep. I managed to drag myself upstairs to buy a Gatorade, but I fell asleep before I could drink it. This morning I still felt sick, but I was doing a lot better. I took some more medicine and slept for a pretty long time. By the time Kendall was leaving to shop with some other people, I was feeling ok so I went with them. I bought a gorgeous purple silk sari (thanks mom!) and some other shirts and a cashmere shawl. Then we had to rush to the post office to get there to buy stamps before it closed. Our rickshaw driver offered to go inside and get our stamps for us, saying they cost 20 rupees each. When I looked at the stamps he brought back, I noticed that actually they were 15 each. That meant I had given him an extra 30 rupees (so that’s why he wanted to do it!) Since that is about equal to 50 cents, I didn’t really care and I just let him keep the extra money. He probably needed it much worse then I did. Then he took us back to the ship where Kendall and I had dinner. I’m still not feeling all that great so my dinner consisted of a few bites of a PB&J and some peanuts. Tomorrow is a no class day, which would be really exciting except I have to meet with a group and work on a project all day. Then we only have two days of class before we get to Malaysia!

Mauritius

This is a fun picture that we took on the beach of Me, Kendall, Tina, and Denise. We were taking the picture and then a wave came and got our shorts all wet right as we took the picture!

We left Mauritius last night. The people on the ship spent the last week or so talking about how wonderful Mauritius is and how it’s like a Heaven on Earth. That made me expect for it to be the most beautiful place I had ever seen. I had some fun, but the place was a bit overwhelming. Before we even got off the ship, we could smell molasses from the molasses company that was right by our ship. They use that molasses to make rhum. No, I didn’t misspell rum, that’s what they call it. The first day, we arrived about 4 hours late so my trip was cancelled. This was a trip where I was going to visit a hospice, and I was really upset that I couldn’t go. Kendall and I went with our friends Tina and Katie to the market and then we had dinner at a really good steak place. The second day we did the volcanic island tour. We got a lecture on the geologic and social history of Mauritius, then we drove around the island stopping at certain craters formed by volcanoes. There were some truly beautiful sites. My favorite was a lake that is a holy place for the Hindu people of Mauritius. There were statues of their gods, incense, and people performing rituals which were all amazing. We got our foreheads painted to symbolize our third eye, and the man that did them was saying that it was for things like health, prosperity, and liberation. There were also some monkeys there and lots of kittens. There were a bunch of fish in the lake that people were feeding bread to, and the kittens stood by the edge of the lake and tried to catch the fish. It was pretty cute. We had lunch at the most beautiful restaurant I’ve ever been to. It was open-air with a gorgeous view of the ocean. We also saw sugar cane plantations and salt making places. They take ocean water and put a thin layer into a brick pool. Then, when the water evaporates, they have salt. Our last stop of the trip was to a beach. I found some really beautiful sea glass that I wanted to keep, but they wouldn’t let me take it on the ship, because it could be a weapon. They didn’t even care that the edges were not sharp at all or that they let the girl behind me bring in empty glass bottles, which would make much more effective weapons. I was pretty angry about that. Yesterday was our last day, and it was my favorite. I went to an adventure park which was basically a big ropes course, but most of the things were pretty low to the ground (10-15 ft.) I finished almost the entire course; I skipped one obstacle because my body was just too tired. We had smoked marlin sandwiches for lunch, which were really good. Then we went to flic en flac beach. It was really pretty and I went swimming with two people from CU who I met earlier in the day. We got back to the ship, showered, and then went to dinner. We found a Pizza Hut, and I was so excited! The breadsticks were pretty small and weird, but the pizza was good. They did give me ketchup with the pizza though, which was interesting. I had like 500 rupees left over, which is close to 15 dollars. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to exchange them in India or at home, so I bought like 15 sodas. I asked for 6 Diet Pepsis and the woman thought I was saying the wrong number or that she was misunderstanding me. She showed me 6 fingers and was amazed when I said yes. It was pretty funny. I had a few minutes left on my phone card, but the lines were ridiculously long to use the payphones and it is really bad news if you’re late getting on the ship, so I decided just to come back with a few people.

Today is Sea Olympics. Whoever wins gets to get off the ship first when we get in to San Diego. Our team hasn’t been doing so well at most of the events. We lost at dodgeball, tug-o-war, and juice pong. Kendall and I played Dean Mike Says. I got third place! We are the Red Sea, so our RD got everyone Santa hats to wear. It’s nice to have a break right after a port, but I would much rather have had the break in the middle of the week. Starting tomorrow we have class for 6 straight days. Classes are hard to go to, but there’s not much else to do on the ship besides sleep, so it’s easier than at school. The gym is also much easier to get to since it’s just up stairs. I’ve been working out like 5 or 6 times a week since February 9^th, and I’m very proud of myself. I don’t know if I’m losing any weight, but I can feel how much healthier I am which is encouraging. Before we get to India, we only have to put our clocks ahead twice. The weird thing is that one of the time changes in only 30 minutes. Also, the day we get to India is the halfway point of the trip. That’s exciting and sad at the same time.

Hopefully this part of the trip will be calmer than the last part. We had to a void a major storm which is what caused us to be late to Mauritius. Even though we avoided the main part, the winds and seas were still pretty rough. I got so sea sick that they had to give me a shot. It made me feel better, but mostly it just made me sleep through practically a whole day. I bought some sea sick patches from the clinic though, so I think that will help the situation a lot. Wish me luck on the next 6 days!

Cape Town, Part 2

We were supposed to leave Cape Town at 11 last night. Because of the winds, we had to wait until early this morning to get to the refueling station, and we are still sitting in port. We still have to go to classes today though, which is hard since we can see the beautiful city outside. So much has happened since I last posted my blog that this is going to be a pretty long entry I think. As it turns out our “safari” to Kagga Kamma was not actually a safari. It was on a private game reserve, and was really fun, but we didn’t get to see any of the big 5. The big 5 are animals you look for on safari and include elephants, rhinos, leopards, zebra, and giraffes (I think). We did see ostrich, blue wildebeest, bontebok, springbok, dassies, eland, and oryx. We also saw rock paintings done by the San people (bushmen) between 200 and 6,000 years ago. If you look above my head in the picture, on the left is something they aren't sure what it is, but it appears in more than one spot. On the right is a picture of the people moving since they were nomadic.

It was really interesting to see the way that they went from using their fingers to using brushes to make more details and also how they crushed up different rocks to make the paint. Our guide explained that the shaman would go into a trance and would then paint what he saw. We also got to look through a pretty powerful telescope and see Saturn, the nebula that’s in Orion’s belt, and the moon. He pointed out the Southern Cross to us which was pretty cool to see since you can’t see it in the US. It was a fun time, and I’ve decided that I’ll have to go on a safari in Kruger Park the next time I’m in South Africa. Hopefully it won’t be too long before I can come back! The day after we got back from Kagga Kamma, Kendall and I went on a service visit through a program called Africa Jam. This is an amazing Christian program where they go into schools in the townships (the poorest areas) and give kids opportunities to better themselves. They have after school clubs like a band and a drama group so that kids can have somewhere to go and stay out of trouble. Also, they host leadership camps and tell kids that it doesn’t matter what their past is like because they can do what they want with the future. Our guide had been changed by the program, and he is now planning to go to college with the financial help of the program. This experience touched me so much, because we got to meet and hang out with kids (10-18) who were so full of hope and vitality even though they were living in such conditions. This is a picture of me with some of the girls. They love having their picture taken!

A few of them took us to their homes, and the ones who went with Kendall and me gave us chicken feet to eat. We tried them, and then gave the rest to the kids to finish up. It wasn’t as bad as I’d expected, but one time eating chicken feet was enough for me. The day after that, Kendall and I went to Robben Island in the morning. I saw 2 pairs of penguins, and 1 penguin on his own. The jail was pretty interesting, but so was the history of the entire island. I didn’t expect to see a small village on the island. After we did that, we had “the sandwich” for lunch. The sandwich is a chicken club sandwich at a little café that everyone had been raving about. It was actually pretty good, but I can’t say what makes it special, you just have to try it sometime. After lunch we went to Green market. I love markets because of all the fun things there are, but I am so bad at bargaining. I’m getting better though. I got something for 200 rand that started at 800. I know that sounds like a ridiculous amount of money, but it’s less than $30 US. Yesterday was our last day exploring Cape Town. Kendall, PT, Emily, and I went on a wine tasting tour with 2 other SAS girls and a British woman named Nikki. We stopped at five wineries and had between 5 and 6 wines at each place. It was a really fun day and a great way to end our time here. I really wanted to buy a few bottles to ship back home, but it was going to cost between 300 and 400 US dollars just for shipping, so I gave up on that idea pretty quickly. I know that this blog can’t really express what Cape Town is, so let me just say how much I love it here. Brazil and Puerto Rico were fun to visit, but I would love to live in Cape Town if I could. The people and the scenery are all so beautiful, and I feel drawn to this place in a very weird, but strong way. Tomorrow is a no class day, and then we only have 4 days of class before we get to Mauritius. I have a trip planned for all 3 days we’re there, and I’m really excited about all of them. Now it’s time for my intro to world religions class!

Cape Town, Part 1!

Anybody have a thesaurus handy? I really need some new words for amazing, awesome, and incredible. I feel like that’s all I have to say about things lately. This morning we woke up around 5:45 to watch us come into port. The wind was freezing, and everyone was exhausted, but the views of the sun rising over table mountain were well worth it. There were sea lions swimming around by our ship as we approached, and since we docked, I’ve seen tons of them. They’re so cute! As we came into port, the view of Cape Town with Table mountain in the background was simply stunning. The picture above is of me and my ship parents as we were coming towards Africa. Then it was time for breakfast and a nap while we cleared customs. When we were finally able to get off the ship about 4 hours later, Kendall and I walked with our new friends Emily and PT (they’re also from CSU) to a tourism office. We booked a wine tasting tour for Thursday. We get to visit 5 wine estates in the Stellenboch area, which should be really fun. Then Kendall and I bought tickets to go to Robben Island on Wednesday. We’re hoping we’ll also have time to take the cable car to the top of Table Mountain that day. We had a quick lunch at a pizza place in the mall, which served pizza with “chips” AKA French Fries. A homeless man asked if he could have the left overs before I through them out, and I wanted to buy him his own slice, but he was perfectly happy to take what we didn’t want. It was a really humbling experience. After that we went with a SAS group to the District 6 museum which memorializes all of the black people who were forced out of their homes during apartheid. Then we went to a few townships which are the poorer parts of Cape Town. They seemed really sad at first, but we saw some things that made it seem like things were starting to turn in a positive direction. We went to a community center that trains people in the arts, and then sells their artwork to help run the show. Then they provide support for the people as they start their own businesses. Here are some cute kids from the township.

We also drove by some major places of conflict during apartheid (such as where Amy Biehl was killed) and the hospital where the first heart transplant was done. Then we went to dinner and I had ostrich filet and springbok. I really liked the ostrich a lot. Now it’s bedtime because I have to leave in about 8 hours for my SAFARI!!! It’s only been one day and I’m already in love with Cape Town!