Kelsey's Semester at Sea

My Next Steps...

2010-06-30T00:10:00.006-04:00

Hello SAS-followers!

So it's been awhile since I've posted on this blog! Mostly because the busyness of life has caught up with me... and my SAS life is growing further into the past everyday. This honestly saddens me quite a bit. SAS has become such a HUGE part of my life. I miss so much about it... and often wish I was living that sailing-exploring-cultures life everyday again. But SAS is not something just of my past... no, it has affected my everyday living. It's amazing how differently I think now just because of one semester around the world. I can't even explain my thoughts any more because they have become so normal for me. Yet I get angry at how others think and see things because it is so narrow-minded and selfish. Oh, how traveling will affect how you think and live...

And so how has it affected me? I want to be a servant... I want to live a life that is beneficial to others... And I am drawn to this servant life in another culture... So... here it goes...

I will be doing voluntary service in Kathmandu, Nepal for one year!

This service opportunity is through Mennonite Central Committee's SALT (Serving and Learning Together) program. I will be teaching English at a multicultural Christian school and helping out at a church in the beautiful Himalayan-filled country nestled between China and India. This is my planned assignment... but I'm just excited to reincarnate into a new culture, embrace it, and let God use my gifts however is beneficial to the Nepalese culture. I start SALT orientation in Akron, Pennsylvania on August 12th and fly out to Nepal on August 19th, 2010! My SALT term ends at the end of July, 2011.

I will keep a blog for my year in Nepal. You can find it at: http://kelseynepal.blogspot.com/

I truly appreciate your dedication to my blog and look forward to sharing the Nepalese culture with you! Please come join me on my journey in Nepal!

Global Community

2010-03-01T14:56:00.007-05:00

Changing Perspectives of a Global Community

An old Indian lady rides on the back of her husband’s rickshaw. A Moroccan nomad walks through the Sahara Desert guiding his camel. A young Chinese boy barters silk scarves with locals to make money for his family. A United States high schooler cheers on the sidelines of a football game. A South African man living in a township shack fights for his rights taken away by apartheid. Each of these individuals makes up the global community on Earth just as equally as the other. The global community consists of every breathing person that lives on planet Earth, no matter any individual or cultural differences. The eyes of a South African, Indian, and U.S. citizen show a portion of the world’s perspectives.

Webster Dictionary provides a book definition of the global community. It defines global as “involving the entire earth.” Whatever it is that one says is global, it is inclusive to the entire earth. It may not eliminate anyone because of socio-economic status or race. It is all inclusive to everything on the earth. However, this definition does exclude anything beyond our planet. Sorry, Martians, but you’re not part of the global community! Webster defines community in a few different ways. First, it is “a group of people living in a particular local area.” In this case a global community would be a group of people living on the entire earth. Second, community is “a group of people having ethnic or cultural or religious characteristics in common.” This definition is quite unique to our world since it consists of such a variety of ethnicities, cultures, and religions. However, say the rumor is true about Martians on Mars and aliens on other planets. The cultural similarities on planet Earth would be quite similar in comparison to those on Mars. Third, it is defined as “a group of nations having common interests.” Sometimes these interests seem so far from one another to actually be common, but maybe they are closer than we realize. The world’s problems mostly stem from groups of people wanting their own land to live on and to survive with as much as possible. Whether this means they colonize countries in Africa or Incan tribes fight off explorers, people share a common interest of wanting land and wanting to survive. Fourth, community is defined as “a group of interdependent organisms inhabiting the same region and interacting with each other.” This definition would not have been applicable to our world two hundred years ago (or even before that). But since curiosity of discovery developed people on Earth have interacted with one another and even become interdependent. Our economic worlds have become so intertwined that if a nation fell through, the whole global economy would be thrown off. According to Webster, the global economy is inclusive to every living thing on our interactive, interdependent, cultural, world.

Webster’s Dictionary provides a unified political perspective of the United States. The Christian perspective, however, differs slightly. Before Jesus time on Earth it was believed that the most important people were those in high status. However, Jesus knocked this belief to the streets. He defied cultural norms by entering dirtyness of healing lepers and eating dinner with tax collectors. He extended the Christian community outside the box that people were used to. After Jesus death and resurrection he extends the Christian community even further. He commissions his disciples to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). All nations, all people, are to be included in the Christian community. The global community becomes a Christian community through Jesus’ commissioning. The Christian perspective approaches the idea of a global community differently than Webster’s U.S. political perspective in that it contains a purpose for each being on the Earth. The poor in societies are not just here taking up space. They are, just like the rich in societies, God’s beautiful created children made to love and praise God. This perspective challenges the idea of the reasoning behind a global community. Are we a global community because we all share the same soil, as Webster would claim? Or are we a global community because God created our land and our lives with a purpose? The Christian perspective creates a global community with not just existence, but a reason to our existence.

The global community has constantly been stretched since the beginning of time. It has developed because of people wanting to discover and own land. Once upon a time people lived in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas (and who knows where else!) without any knowledge that the others even existed. But they slowly became aware and took advantage of discovering new territory. Starting in the 15^th century the European empires expanded to the Americas where they took over the natives without much thought. Isbister describes it as “the most genocidal imperialism the world as known” (Isbister, p. 68). Here in our own country that has taken such pride in diversity and acceptance was in fact a killer of diversity and acceptance. Imperialism does not stop there though. Africa was the next target. Innocent locals were named as property and sold to labor in the Americas. In the 18^th, 19^th, and 20^th centuries countries went on to take ownership of not just people, but entire land masses (Isbister, p. 72-80). Mainly the British, French, and other European countries decided they had the right to name African and Asian countries and draw borders, dividing native tribes of the land. Then the fight for land truly started. The Africans wanted their land back. The Europeans did not want to give it back. The American settlers made their home there killing of natives. And Asians constantly pushed borders. What a mess this global community had become. The first oblivious-to-the-rest-of-the-world natives in each region now were aware of each other in a competing way. They had a chance to become aware of one another in a peaceful and respectful way but chose to invade one another’s being instead. The constant stretching on the world’s people both benefited and caused losses throughout the world. With both losses and costs in all nations, the world is finally realizing that they have become interdependent on one another through these interactions.

Our tour bus dominated the tiny dirt roads as we weaved in and out of a South African township. How out of place were we? Not only because of socio-economic and cultural differences, but because some of my country’s ancestors were the reason these people lived like this. In 1806, the British colonized South Africa. Apartheid, the issue of segregation based on race, developed and still remains an issue today. We walked the dirt alley ways (I use this term instead of streets because it emphasizes how narrow they were) lined with metal-scrapped homes and immeasurable trash. Just two hours before we had been driving through the city highways that were surrounded by sky-scrapers. Was it really possible that there was this huge of a difference between the British cities and African townships located in the same region? This incredible separation did not seem fair. We cannot know if the Africans would be living this poorly if the British had not colonized, but we could observe that their poverty was emphasized because of the British power. In 1994, apartheid supposedly ended as the races were able to start mixing in political and governmental positions. The government even promised to give every family that lived in a tiny township shack a slightly larger cement-block home. This promise not only meant better living conditions, but also the possibility of more freedoms. The government started building homes and the Africans were sharing more equality. But then the government ran out of money and could no longer afford new homes. They broke that promise and apartheid continued. The separation between African and British qualities of living were significant.

How would a South African living in a metal-scrapped shack see the world? Quite unjustly. With little money, they receive little education. With little education, they learn of only what they see around them. So they understand community to be a mix of races where one race rules the other. The dominating race can have basically all the riches they want while the poor race has the shirt on their back. Because of their limited knowledge, this is how they must assume the rest of the world is. They do not have the chance to learn otherwise, because, honestly, would the British power want them to know that other Africans have freedoms? A South African’s view of “community” means harsh injustice. With this injustice, though, the members of a township pull together and build their own community. They struggle with hardly being able to eat, find work, or buy clothes together. They become a collectivist society amidst the individualistic society. In South Africa, wealth means knowledge, but poverty means wisdom. Even though the South Africans have been oppressed, they have learned how to pull together and live in community. Their view of the world may be limited to the injustice around them, but they have learned interdependency along the way.

Vietnam: a name that, when mentioned, provokes a wide variety of feelings in many people. But that is how the world sees Vietnam. How does Vietnam see the world? China, France, and Japan fought over the land for hundreds of years (Isbister, p. 113-116). The Vietnamese constantly tried to fight back, sometimes winning and sometimes losing. Finally in 1954 Vietnam gained freedom from France but then split into North and South. The United States entered as another power trying to force the country into its own ways (Isbister, p. 115-116). The people of Vietnam for centuries were fighting to keep their own land. They wanted to live with their own power and to say what they wanted for once. But so many countries believed they had the better ideas. A fight for freedom would force one to question what is really right. Do I have confidence in the way I think things should be? Do these other countries have previous experience and, therefore, know what is the best way to live? Risking freedom means seeking answers to questions. The history of Vietnam led the people to see the world as conceited powers that took away rights of others. They were forced to learn how to survive and pull together as a country. The Cu Chi tribe in Southern Vietnam built an underground tunnel system, looking similarly to human-size ant farms. When the U.S. fought on their grounds, innocent Cu Chi members were targeted. This underground system kept them safe. So they lived underground in small 2’x3’ tunnels for a couple of years. They could have easily given up but instead they were creative and found a way that they could survive. The Vietnamese people used oppression to be creative, pull together, and survive. Now about forty years later, the Vietnamese people seem to be enjoying their independence, even as a communist society. Their view of a global community has probably changed from oppressive and controlling to exploring independence.

A person in the United States stereotypically has a very closed-minded perspective about the world. It is usually full of ignorance and carelessness for those living in other countries. It seems, though, that the next trend is to grow awareness of other countries. Tom Sine spoke about the world becoming more global and our generation adapting to these changes. I like to believe that I have a head start on the trend. My awareness grew increasingly as I traveled with Semester at Sea. I now think and perceive things not just with American eyes, but also with African, European, and Asian eyes. We are quite fortunate in the United States to have such easy access to foreign and cultural knowledge. Not only can we learn basically as much as a country is willing to give out, but we also are privileged with easy travel access. English is currently the most national language which allows us to get around and speak with people throughout the world. I place learning about other countries with high importance. However, other countries do not have access to this knowledge and travel like we do. Do they have this same responsibility then? It is not fair to say that everyone in the world should be globally knowledgeable if they do not even have the resources to do so. It may then become our responsibility to make them aware of the global community.

The global community is understood in as many different ways as there are sets of eyes on the earth. Through the U.S. political and Christian views, we can conclude that the global community is all-inclusive to every being on planet earth with a purposeful presence. South Africans, Vietnamese, and United States people provide three different ways of viewing the world according to one’s access to knowledge and what they experience as a culture. As the global community keeps changing, perspectives will as well. May we never stop analyzing wisdom from and perceptions of a global community.

Video of my Travels

2010-01-27T23:35:00.004-05:00

A compilation of a few of the videos I took along my voyage around the world.

Enjoy!!!!!!

(And let me know if you'd like to watch a higher quality version :) )

Transitions

2010-01-17T23:09:00.006-05:00

It's been about a month since I've been home... ended my SAS journey... entered my "last" port. But yet SAS is still such a HUGE part of my life everyday. There's hardly a moment I'm not thinking about it, the things I saw, did, learned... it's ingrained in me. Over Christmas break anytime I was dazing off my family would ask, "Where are you now?" because most likely I wasn't tired (or was, but that wasn't why I was dazing off), but just back in my dream that I had lived for the past 4 months. Anyway, I'll give a brief (the briefest brief yet) of my last week on the ship.

Lovely late nights with friends... staying up til the wee hours of the night enjoying our last days at sea with each other.
Hip-hop dance group: we got together for about 2 hours every night just enjoying dancing and laughing with each other. I dearly love that group.
Ambassador's Ball: we all got snazzy-ed up, had a fancy dinner, and danced the night away. My hip-hop group started the Ball off with a step and dance performance we had put together. That night was just so much fun. The theme song was, "Tonight's gonna be a good good night"... and it was... a bittersweet but very good night.
I arrived in San Diego on Dec. 14th. Our ship pulled into port and we saw a line of parents waiting outside the gates for us, including my mom! It was a very welcoming site. And then I was filled with all sorts of emotions... extremely sad to leave my "home", excited to see my mother and everyone else back home, sad to leave my friends, excited to see my growth over the past semester as I entered a once familiar land... and many more that I just simply can't put into words. But let me tell you, it was so hard yet so wonderful all at the same time.
I sat in my porthole for my last time. I LOVED that special spot.
Cleared the ship, took ALL my luggage, exited the port gates, and ran into the arms of my mother. It was a beautiful reunion. :) In fact we were so excited to see each other that she embraced me as I was still lugging around all my bags. Haha but the warmth of the hug was larger than the weight of the bags. We just gleamed at each other for a long while after that :)
Said goodbye to most of my friends (who I WILL see again!) and spent the rest of the day in San Diego with my mom and SAS friend Lizzy. We went to the San Diego Zoo, which is quite impressive. We also ate at an authentic Mexican restaurant, considering we were about half an hour from Mexico, and were serenaded by a guitarist. We explored part of a cultural strip and then headed to bed for our early flight the next morning.
We flew from San Diego to Texas then landed in Dayton, Ohio. Then there was another wonderful reuniting. Mom and I walked quickly then rounded a corner... and saw Dad and Denise. I ran! A security guard said to me, "Kelsey, they've been waiting for you." How did he know I was Kelsey you might ask? Well, Denise and Dad made my return pretty obvious! Dad was on the left and wore a sweatshirt reading, "KEL" and then Denise on the right wore one reading, "SEY" and they both held signs welcoming my return. Haha. I ran up and we had a very loving embrace. Oh to be in the arms of the ones you love most.
The next few days I got to see my grandparents, Celina friends, and Bluffton friends as well. It was wonderful. So wonderful. Yet SO weird. Turns out people drive on the right side of the road here. AND I don't have to ask "Do you speak English" before talking to someone. Oh, AND I can understand conversations all around me. It's rather strange, really.

So how is it to be back? Oh, boy. Honestly, I hate to admit this, but it's been very emotional. I miss Semester at Sea a TON. I miss constantly looking forward to our next country, preparing for what we will do, and then being stimulated every single second of the day. I miss going to sleep at night thinking about the thousands of things I'd observed and learned that day. Actually I had a difficult time falling asleep when I came home for awhile and I think it was because I was missing that bedtime ritual of reflecting over my exciting day. I'm slowly getting back on schedule now. So while I'm missing so many things (I'll mention more in a second) I do love many things that I'm around again. Like an abundance of love from my family and friends. I'm so blessed by the social support God has given me. So it goes back and forth each and every day. But I guess 2 really great things (traveling + loving friends and family) in opposite parts of the world will do that to you :)

I'll share with you some things I miss and some things I now love:

Things I miss:

-being rocked to sleep on the ship

-sitting in my porthole and looking out at the never-ending ocean

-being surrounded by people who love to travel

-being stimulated every second of the day

-learning the traditions, beliefs, actions, etc. of cultures

-hip-hop dance group

-talking with people who can talk about the depths of the cultures because they've seen it and understand it already

-my friends and the crew

-the blasting ship horn

-looking outside during class and seeing the ocean

-not knowing hardly anything the day will bring

-the adventure

-learning all different types of world music and dances

-choosing to accept the challenges in a country

Things I now love:

-having friends and family much closer by

-taking up my own plate after meals... lol

-washing my own laundry in a washing machine!

-knowing SAS will forever be a huge part of my life

-seeing the growths and changes in me

-having a very different perspective on life than when I left

-being able to share my stories

-having "free"internet

-having weekends and weekdays that actually make sense

-having a bigger picture of the world and seeing things that remind me of the places I've been

-exercising on stable ground

-looking up cultures and world news every day... multiple times every day lol

-discovering a passion and finding ways to live it out everyday

-learning how I've grown and been stretched and the yearn to keep being stretched

Well, I think that's enough for now. I will still be blogging because my trip is not done... Nope... San Diego was not my "last port." In fact I have many more to come. Everywhere we go has the opportunity to be a port. A port means we enter in with a humble heart and learn as much as we can. We take out a knowledge for that area and a respect to do whatever is best for them. I'm a global citizen now. I live my life daily to serve those around the world. There are small and big ways to do that. But no matter the case, I want to constantly live in a way that benefits others. Although I've been in denial, I'm finally admitting that my Semester at Sea journey really is done... but only physically. Internally it will never be done. It's a part of my life that I will continue for years to come. We'll see where that leads :) lol. But what I do know is this:

My thirst for traveling was not quenched... it only grew bigger.

So my journeys are just getting started :)

Coming Home

2009-12-23T14:53:00.004-05:00

pulling in to San Diego!

the flags representing all the countries the MV Explorer has visited

the family and friends awaiting their beloved travelers

look on the left-hand sign... see 2 white posters? then a light pink person in the middle? that's my mom :)

spending my last moments on the ship in my porthole window...

reunion with Mom!

polar bear at the San Diego zoo

back in Ohio and reunited with Denise!

Hawaii: Extra Day in O'ahu!

2009-12-23T14:42:00.004-05:00

the large waves that provided us an extra day in Hawaii :)

surf competition at North Shore beaches!

probably a big name...

9-Time World Champion... Kelly Slater!

check out that little surfer dude... then check out the huge waves!!!

Hawaii: The Big Island

2009-12-23T14:23:00.003-05:00

Hilo

waves!

Volcanoes National Park... a crater

dried lava in a crater

the group! standing on dried lava!

lava tunnels... where lava once flowed!

SAS's 5K for the $100 Solution!

1st mile: for water in India!

SAS $100 Solution 5K!

Hawaii: O'ahu Island

2009-12-23T14:11:00.004-05:00

U.S.S. Arizona peaking out of the water

Pearl Harbor Memorial

Hula Workshop!

Getting ready to JUMP OUT OF A PLANE!!!

SKY-DIVING IN HAWAII!!!!!!!

out smooth landing

Japanese Home Stay

2009-12-23T13:54:00.004-05:00

my absolutely wonderful host family in Japan

MV Explorer in Kobe, Japan

trying to help cook with Yuko... TRYING lol

Yuko and Hiroshi's beautiful jazz duet and So laughing on the side

tour of a tea house

Backpacking through Japan

2009-12-23T13:29:00.005-05:00

Kyoto

Kyoto Buddha as a peace memorial for those that died in WWII

Autumn in Kyoto

Geisha in Kyoto

gardens

Tokyo fish market

1 of the 5 lakes beside Mt. Fuji

Mount Fuji!

me excited to see Mount Fuji!!!

Tokyo... I may be a bit underdressed :)

Shanghai, China

2009-12-23T13:16:00.003-05:00

view of the city from my porthole

gardens in a park in the city

gardens

the old city streets.... view from... a Dairy Queen :)

Hong Kong, P.R.C.

2009-12-23T13:06:00.003-05:00

Botanical and Zoological Gardens in center of city

View of Hong Kong Island from Kowloon Island at night

Giant Buddha with friends on Lantau Island

pulling into Hong Kong during sunrise

Aloha, Hawaii!

2009-12-10T18:07:00.004-05:00

(more pictures below!)

Hawaii… 8 islands of mountains, volcanoes, white sand beaches, clear ocean water, hula dancing, and big-wave surfing! And for my usual country random facts: The islands were first discovered by Polynesians 2,000 years ago and then the Tahitians 900 years ago. Hawaii became the U.S.’s 50th state in 1959, just 50 years ago. The Hawaiian alphabet consists of 13 letters, 5 vowels and 8 consonants. Pineapples are in fact NOT native to Hawaii. It is believed that if you take lava or rocks away you will be cursed until you send it back!

Hawaii was a great final port for me. It eased us back into the United States’ culture, but was still quite different. I found myself still trying to convert prices even though the American dollar is used. My mind was trying to figure out what side of the road is correct to drive on. I think I finally figured it out! When I would ask locals a question, I found myself first wanting to say, “Do you speak English?” The bus systems spoke English right away and signs were in English. There were so many restaurants I knew and free shuttles to Wal-mart! The biggest “reverse culture shock” was turning on my phone! It hadn’t been turned on since August but I remembered how to use it! Haha. I could talk to my family and friends and actually send them pictures of what I was seeing! I’ll admit though, it was weird having it on. I really enjoyed my 4-month long break from phones and internet. It forces real communication and makes you focus on what is directly in front of you rather than these technological distractions. Hawaii was a good ease back into familiarity while still holding a foreign culture.

We pulled into Honolulu on O’ahu Island at 6:00 am Friday morning. I went to breakfast as we were waiting for the ship to be cleared and EVERYONE was on their phones! It was a sight that literally has not been seen on this ship thus far! As soon as the ship was cleared my friends and I headed off to find our bus stop. The bus system in Hawaii is great. It costs $2.25 to go anywhere on the islands and stops at many visited places. We rode it to the Pearl Harbor memorial, right in the Pearl Harbor Bay where it was attacked about 68 years ago. We watched a movie that explained what led into the attack and then the attack itself. As we watched it, us SASers realized the route we had just traveled on ship from Japan to Hawaii was the same route the Japanese took 68 years ago leading into the Pearl Harbor attack. That was a bit eerie. We were also at the memorial 3 days before the anniversary of the attack. After the movie we took a boat ride across to a building in the middle of the water. It sits over the U.S.S. Arizona, the largest ship shot down in the attack. About 1,000 people went down with it and many still remain uncovered. Parts of the ship peaked out of the water and the top layer could be seen just a few feet below the surface. Bright colors of oil rested at the top from 400,000 tons that are still in the ship. We took the boat ride back and the reality of the attack hit me. 2,000 people died just in that single day. It was strange… I had been in Vietnam, Japan, Hawaii… so many places of war… yet I was just a smiling tourist traveling around. Such different memories and emotions each country holds for different people.

That afternoon I went to a Hula workshop in Waikiki! The dance is actually more difficult and precise than it appears! Hula dancers keep their legs bent the whole time, so those thighs really get a work-out! The reason hula dancers move their hips back and forth is to mimic the waves. It is the same with the hands. There are a few different types of hula dancing depending on the island and people. I really enjoyed learning hula moves in this workshop!

That evening we looked around an international market and walked through the streets of Waikiki. Then we had the most beautiful walk along the ocean. I couldn’t believe how clear the water was—even when it was dark! The sand felt SO wonderful on my feet. We just sat and stared out at it for awhile. I was so happy in this moment… I was with some of my favorite people from the trip, sitting on a beach in Hawaii, after seeing so many parts of the world. It was just truly amazing to look at the realities of what is happening… and what has happened. For a late dinner we ate at a local restaurant called Dukes. It was named after the first surfer that made the sport huge world-wide. I had the most delicious Hawaiian pizza with pesto sauce, bacon, and pineapple. For dessert we treated ourselves with amazing ice cream from Baskin Robbins… oh the things you miss from the U.S. ☺ Although the bus system is handy in Hawaii, it’s also not very dependable… so we waited at the bus stop for about an hour until our bus came. But it got us back to our ship nice and safely after a very wonderful day in Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, and Waikiki.

Now, Saturday is one of my favorite days ever… I WENT SKY-DIVING!!!! Yeah- you read that right! I jumped out of a plane and free-felled towards the earth and loved every second of it!

It started very early in the morning with 8 of us. A bus picked us up outside our port and we drove about an hour to the north side of the O’ahu Island. We signed papers that clearly warned us of how dangerous sky-diving is… on the bottom of each of the 8 pages said in big bold letters, “WARNING: YOU MAY BE INJURED OR DIE!” I know I know… but my tandem instructor doesn’t want to die either… and the skydive company has obviously been in good business… so the chances of that happening are slim… heh… ☺ While we waited for our turn we watched many others land… oh man, the landings. Some landed gracefully on two feet. Some ski-ed across the grass on their butts. Some slid forward and took a mouthful of grass. Others landed too soon and their instructor toppled over them. Note to self: carefully do as the instructor says!

Then it was finally our turn to go up! I met my instructor and I got all harnessed up. The only directions I was given was how to jump out of the plane: bend your legs, tilt your head back, arch your back, and smile at the camera! Haha. We hopped on the back of a truck that took us to our plane. It had just refueled—sweet! We all piled tightly in the small airplane- 4 SASers, 4 tandem instructors, 4 photographers, and 1 pilot… and up we went! We flew upward for 15 minutes with the most spectacular view! Oh the island was GORGEOUS! Mountains, ocean, waves, and I could even see to the other side of the island! After we got to 14,000 ft it was time to JUMP! I was the first to jump… oh boy. But I was SO excited, hardly any nerves at all! We stood there in the door of the plane, knees bent, head tilted backward, and all smiles. Then I JUMPED!!! And down we free-fell 4,000 ft for 50 seconds at 120 mph! Oh, I LOOOOOVED it! It was like I was flying (or more like failing to fly lol) with my arms spread wide feeling the freedom! The air was strong so my face made goofy expressions. Oh, the view was just incredible, just incredible. Then the parachute was pulled and we were jerked around until the chute got smoothed out. We peacefully glided around, twirled, and enjoyed the amazing scenery. When we were about 30 seconds from landing, my instructor finally told me how we were going to land… haha. We approached the ground, I stuck out my feet, he touched ground, he told me to stand, I stood, and we barely had to run! It was honestly a perfect landing! No mouthfuls of grass, no butt-skiing, and no injuries! Oh, sky-diving was just soooo great! I was ready to go do it again! Haha. I really do want to do it again… possibly multiple times. Skydiving is just AMAZING! I would highly recommend it for anyone who loves heights and a thrill. I’d also recommend you do it somewhere with beautiful scenery. Skydiving itself is fun, but if you add on a beautiful place, it’s a breathtaking experience!

We were sailing to the big island overnight so we had to be back on the ship by 5:00 pm. So when I got back I spent some time walking around Honolulu, viewing the waterfront, and enjoying the Christmas decorations.

That night on the ship I went to the last get-together for the Life Long Learners because some of them were leaving in Hilo, including two that I had worked quite a bit with ☹ and then had hip-hop dancing (which I’m REALLY loving).

We pulled into Hilo on the Big Island at 8:00 am on Sunday morning. The Big Island is less populated and has volcanoes and craters. A group of us spent the day at Volcanoes National Park. We first drove around the perimeters, but we ran into a roadblock… turns out that 2/3 of the park was closed due to the lava emitting toxins. Also turns out that this happens more often than it doesn’t happen. We were still able to hike an amazing route though. We walked through the Hawaiian jungles that first went on the perimeters of a crater and then we went down into it. We walked over a HUGE area in the crater that was purely hardened lava. It was just amazing. You could see where the lava had folded, then hardened, and broken into huge pieces. There were also deep cracks where hot steam came out of from the lava underneath. It is often rainy/steamy/foggy around this park because of all the heat underneath. After hiking through the crater, we walked into a Hawaiian rain forest- amazing! This led us to lava tunnels—caves where lava had once flowed. It was just incredible to think that huge lava streams used to flow through where we were walking. We then hiked the perimeters of the crater back. By this time I was soaked. I gave up on being dry and instead embraced the rain ☺

We stopped at a beach on our way back. You need to realize though that there are no natural sand beaches on the Big Island. They are all hardened lava rocks, which creates such a beautiful shoreline. We stopped at one for a while and just enjoyed the view. That night we found some food and a live jazz club. These couples were just dancing away to the music! Then we found a lava rock beach and took in our last night in port. Huge waves crashed on the rocks around us and I sat with my favorite people from the voyage. I couldn’t have asked for a better last (ish) night.

Monday we decided to explore Hilo. We looked in some shops, walked the streets, viewed an art gallery, walked through a farmer’s market, and hung out in a park. We also went to a kava restaurant. Kava is a root that is made into a tea drink. It has a very relaxing effect. We then walked along the beach and got some shaved ice, the real Hawaiian good stuff.

That afternoon SAS put on a 5K Fun Run to raise money for the $100 Solution in Ghana, India, Vietnam, and Hong Kong. I have never loved a 5K so much… because it was so personal to me. I have such a strong attachment now to each of these places, particularly the needs of these places. 300 people from SAS participated, that’s more than half! It was on the last day for a conclusion of our voyage… to always remember those around the world that are in desperate need for just the basics in life. To always remember how easy it is for us to improve the quality of life for another human being. The purpose of the 5K is what is most dear to my heart from my voyage around the world.

The last moments on the Big Island were spent at a nearby hidden beach. Again we just sat along the rocks, watched the crashing waves, and took in the moments. It was so peaceful, but very emotional. I can’t believe this journey is almost over. I can’t believe these 11 countries I once hardly knew I now have experienced and know pretty well. I can’t believe my long anticipated semester is nearly finished. I can’t believe that I will no longer be walking on foreign ground. But I do know this… my travels are not finished, they have only begun. Traveling and learning cultures has become an addiction… it has become a part of my being. Every place I visit from now on will be a “port”… as I will so graciously take it in and let it change me. I’m not saying goodbye to a journey, I am welcoming in a new way of life.

I climbed back up those 3 flights of gangway one last time, had dinner, and awaited our disembarkation. Then we got an announcement of a community-wide meeting for an itinerary change. We all met together and a surprise was announced. The seas were incredibly rough and would be dangerous to sail on. The captain wanted to avoid the storm, but thought maneuvering around it would be too difficult… so… we were going to sail back up to Honolulu and have a free day there! The room broke out in hootings and hollerings! What a surprise! Originally Tuesday was going to be a Study Day on the ship because Wednesday was a finals day. Originally they weren’t going to let us off the ship so we would study, but they decided that we were mature adults that could make our own decisions. So that last day wasn’t a last day… I still had another day in Hawaii!

Tuesday we woke up to pulling back into a port that was quite familiar… Welcome back to Honolulu and O’ahu Island! Once the ship was cleared my friends and I made our way to a bus stop. The bus took about 2 hours, but it was along a very scenic view of the island: mountains, ocean, and beaches! And I brought homework along and was quite productive on that bus ride ☺ We then arrived at North Shore- a very beachy area where Triple Crown Surf Competition was being held! This is a BIG competition, especially this particular day! The waves were 40-50 ft tall, the highest they’ve been in 6 years! We found ourselves a nice seat along the sandy shore and watched the surfers attempt these huge waves. They looked so tiny in those monstrous waves! There were some big names there too- like Kelly Slater who is a 9-time World Champion Surfer! It was a beautiful day out, and I REALLY enjoyed the fact that we had an extended day in Hawaii so we could watch this big surfing competition! After a few hour-long heats we made our way back to the bus stop and rode the bus 3 hours back to the ship. Yes, I was academically productive on the bus ride again ☺.

I got some studying and paper-writing done… and hip-hopped danced as well. We’re working on a routine for the end of the voyage and are learning some sweet stuff. We meet every night we’re on ship and I am loving this group. We did not pull out of Hawaii that night. It was up to the Captain’s discretion of when would be the safest. So I woke up this morning (Wednesday) to still being in Hawaii! Sadly though it was a finals day and we weren’t allowed to leave the ship. So I took 2 of my finals and am feeling pretty good about them, despite spending the day before in Hawaii at a surf competition. We pulled out of the port around 4:00 pm and I sat in my porthole typing this post. I can still see the Hawaiian mountains far in the distance. The next 5 days consist of: a study day, another finals day, reflection/re-entry programs, the Ambassador’s Ball (dance), convocation, and arriving in San Diego. I’m sure they’ll be filled with many emotions, laughs, and tears from everyone.

So how am I doing right now? At this moment I’m very excited. I’m excited to see my family and friends who I’ve really missed. I’m excited to spend these last 5 days with my SAS friends that I’ve come to love (and finish classes…). And I’m excited about these past 4 months… how they’ve changed me… how they’ve shaped me. In a way it’s a blessing that we had an additional day in Hawaii. That last (or what I thought was my last) walk on the ship in Hilo was quite a downer… I was incredibly sad this was all over. But then, SURPRISE!, one more day in port! But isn’t that how life goes? It’s not worth getting too sad over, there’s always a next stop, more excitement, and more life-changing experiences. I expect to visit more ports, more countries, more cultures. My voyage isn’t ending… this was just an introduction to my travels.

Alright, despite my optimistic view right now, I know I am bound to have some difficult emotions these last 5 days. I guess some prayers might be good to ask for. I’m not sure if I will have time to post again before I disembark the MV Explorer, so the next time I post I may be home. I can’t wait to see you all. It means a lot that you’ve kept up with my travels. Friends are really all you need to get by in life, and I’ve been overly blessed with quality friends and family. So cheers to these next 5 days… and I’m looking forward to seeing you all SOON! ☺

Sailing Across the Pacific Ocean

2009-12-04T19:32:00.004-05:00

The MV Explorer! Our first spotting of it at 7 am in Kobe (Japan).

MY HOST FAMILY in Japan!!! Such a great experience!

ME AND MOUNT FUJI!!!!

This first one is a panoramic view of our sunrise entrance into HONG KONG... so beautiful!

After 10 days of sailing across the Pacific Ocean, we are finally about to arrive to Hawaii! We had our last classes and I just finished one final. So how about before I take the rest of my finals I take a break in Hawaii? Sound like a plan! Ha, what a dream… but it’s actually happening!

We crossed the international dateline and gained a whole day! So I had two November 28ths, 2009. Kind of cool, huh? But even though we gained a whole day we’ve lost about 6 hours since Japan! Now I’m 2 hours behind the west coast and 5 hours behind home.

Thanksgiving! It was a unique one here on the ship. We actually had classes on Thanksgiving… and it will probably be the only Thanksgiving I ever have with classes (unless I’m study abroad again). The crew cooked us up traditional Turkey Day food and it was pretty tasty. It even included ICE CREAM! Mmm! I did miss being with my family and friends, but thankfully I have friends on the ship that have become my “traveling family.” It was interesting to process what I’m all thankful for… my goodness, after seeing the world we have an incredible amount of things to be thankful for! But at the same time, it seems almost wrong to be so “thankful” about all the excess I have. Maybe instead we should be thankful for the quality of life we have. I am thankful for the opportunities that lie ahead that will benefit from my excess and knowledge of the world. My friends and I went around the table and each said something we’re thankful for… I said that I am thankful that I have been privileged to see all the internal beauty in each of the country’s people. It’s such a unique beauty… each country is different… but there is no doubt internal and external beauty in people all around the world and I’ve been so blessed by all of them.

I attended SAS’s 1st Annual Celebration of Service! It is to acknowledge all the service trips SASers went on and the development of the $100 Solution. It seems our voyage has been emphasizing how important service is to each of us and how much it is needed throughout the world. We are hoping to increase SAS’s mission of service for following voyages. How great would it be if some day when the MV Explorer pulls into a port, the people know that their quality of life will soon improve? The MV Explorer first carried cargo… When it combined with SAS it then carried ideas… Now it is time that the MV Explorer carries hope.

My personal faith has been on an interesting path since the voyage started. Up until this past week I had absolutely no fellowship with any Christians, which was a bit difficult since I’ve been used to being surrounded by Christian family and friends my whole life. But this was good for me… It allowed me to really dig into questions, such as other religions vs. Christianity and what faith means to me personally. And God started really coming alive… my faith is at a very different place than where it was a few months ago, but it’s a great place. (I’d love to discuss this with anyone once I’m back!) So then this past week I found 2 bible studies and a Thanksgiving worship service on the ship. It was SO wonderful to worship God through music again and hear people talk about God and the Bible and this trip from a Christian perspective! I’m just still so thankful for these happenings! But the happenings and my thoughts are definitely better to discuss in person so if you’re interested, just ask me about it in several weeks!

To close this post, I’d like to share 2 Bible verses with you. I think they are a reflection of God’s purpose for my voyage around the world…

“Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.”

-Galatians 6:4-5

“He gives you something you can then give away,

which grows into full-formed lives,

robust in God,

wealthy in every way,

so that you can be generous in every way,

producing… great praise to God.”

-2 Corinthians 9:11

Perceptions of People with Disabilities Around the World

2009-12-02T07:28:00.002-05:00

Waaaay back in August I wrote in my blog that one of the things I was going to do in each country was learn about how people with disabilities are viewed. I talked with multiple people from each country asking how their country perceives and helps people with disabilities. I also asked about their awareness on mental health and the availability of therapy. Conveniently, I just wrote a paper for a class using my collected data and thought I’d share it with you. I REALLY enjoyed studying this as I traveled the world and was surprised by certain patterns that developed along the way. I hope as you read it you may find it interesting too.

I walked through a hallway and saw a little Indian boy sitting on a small chair. His arms and legs were disgustingly skinny and his head limply laid against the wall. He stared far off into the distance, that is until I kneeled beside him. Even though he could not understand my English he stared deep into my eyes and then gleamed one of the biggest smiles I have ever seen. This 9-year-old boy, although appearing to be 4 years old, had spinal bifida and mental retardation. He was fortunate to have been put into a home for the disabled where they challenge his physical and mental strengths. But how would his life be different if he was born in a different country? He would be treated differently by the general public, possibly not have a place to stay, and have differing rights and financial support under the government. By visiting ten countries over this past semester, I have been able to study how mental and physical disabilities are viewed and treated throughout the world.

The world is surprisingly mostly accepting of those with disabilities. In previous years, a person with a disability had been seen to be a destruction to society and worth nothing. However as technology has taught us more about disabilities, countries have evolved to accept people with disabilities into their culture with little or no judgments. However, I found the biggest factor inhibiting full acceptance into a society is whether the country is undeveloped or developed. Developed countries have the financial stability to provide opportunities to the disabled. They open group homes and schools specialized for the blind, deaf, and physically disabled. They also are able to offer psychologists to the mentally distraught. For example, Spain, a developed country, includes free sessions with a psychologist for anyone with life insurance. Spain also has a lottery in which the money goes towards helping give jobs and financial support to those with disabilities that hinder their abilities to work. Because Spain is a developed country, they are able to financially support those with disabilities.

On the other hand, undeveloped countries usually care to help, but just do not have the funds. For example, Morocco does not have the financial capabilities to give to the disabled. However, Muhammad VI made many efforts to get this going. He made a button with his face on it and sold it for $1. He wore it and everyone else wanted to do as their king was doing, so they bought buttons too. All the money went to a foundation to help people with disabilities. When their leader took initiative, small amounts of money contributed to a great cause. Muhammad VI was admired for finding a way to help this population even though their governmental system lacked the abilities. Ghana surprisingly differs from most undeveloped countries. They have a public health welfare system directed towards people with disabilities. They have group homes for the day and/or night and specialized institutions for a variety of disabilities. Even though Ghana is undeveloped, they have taken their importance on family and friends and made an extra effort to include even those who are disabled. South Africa, a country with a unique history and present standing, is both developed and extremely undeveloped. The British developed the land into cities and are able to help the disabled by giving them $100 a week, although this is still not enough to get by. As for the undeveloped parts, many still live in townships and struggle just to get by. They are focused just on helping themselves everyday that they are not able to also help a person who is disabled. Whatever the upper/middle class gets in South Africa, it is much less for the lower class. The divide between developed and undeveloped countries in providing for people with disabilities stands on the ability to give financial support.

As people taught me about their countries’ stance on people with disabilities, I began to notice a pattern: The first disability to be focused on is blindness, the second is the deafness, and the last are the more life-constraining disabilities such as cerebral palsy, Down’s syndrome, mental retardation, and Spinal Bifida. The lottery in Spain originally focused on just the blind, and then began to expand to other disabilities. Japan focuses most on integrating the blind into society. They include Braille on a few of the yen bills and some directory signs. They also play music when the crosswalk is green so they know when they can safely cross. Vietnam has opened a few schools for the deaf in both low and high-class areas. Hong Kong was the most handicap-friendly nation we visited, as they had signs for the handicapped all over and also made walkways and buildings handicapped accessible. Although the development of which handicaps are focused on first seems unfair to those on the bottom of the list, it makes perfect sense for developing nations. Offering schools and aid for the blind and deaf are not nearly as expensive as it is for those with more physical and mental disabilities. Wheelchairs and daily care are much more pricey than including Braille on a monetary unit.

Countries seemed less aware of mental health issues than physical disabilities and, therefore, take less action. When I asked about mental health, most representatives of each country brushed the question off. I could be interpreting this wrong and realize that maybe they simply did not understand what I was asking or did not know how to answer. However, I think they did understand and their answer actually reflected the country’s view. Many undeveloped countries are hardly aware of the different mental disorders and how to deal with them. Physical disabilities are obvious because you can see them, but not only can you not see a mental disorder (for the most part), to admit that one mentally has “something wrong with them” has not become a comfort topic in most countries. The mental disorder that most countries were aware of is depression. Ghanaian people, even though an undeveloped country, already is taking action on mental health issues. Their most treated disorder is depression. I am unaware, though, whether this is because the population experiences depression more than any other disorder or this is simply the disorder that the country is most aware of. Morocco, on the other hand, knows for a fact that their most common mental health issue is depression in women. Moroccan women have been oppressed into the feminine role for years. But now some of those women are rebelling and becoming more highly educated and fending for themselves. But this fight is not free. It costs them some of their mentality, pushing many of them into depression. A man told me a story: a doctor came to a school for free and the women swarmed around him. They each awaited their turns then each, unknowing that the others were sharing the same pain, described the stress tension in their backs. The doctor could only wonder if this was from all the weight they had been carrying. They are not free persons, but see their husbands and women around them enjoying freedoms and become depressed when they realize their inhibiting lifestyle. Morocco does offer therapy to these women, however it is at a financial cost. Those in Spain can see a psychologist for free, and depression is less of a problem there. China and Japan have an extremely high suicide rate. Both cultures are driven very much by success, not leaving much room for daily encouragement or mental concern. But it does leave room for depression, which some chose to end. Depression is the most widely known mental disorder among the countries we have visited and the therapy offered for disorders widely varies in availability and cost.

The greatest factor among the variability in views and action for people with disabilities that I noticed is this: Values reflect care. I will share four countries whose values reflect their care for the disabled population. Mauritians, confined to their own small exclusive island, highly value family. As a man told me, “No matter the case, people will always have a home.” If a person is born with a disability into a family, the family will no doubt love that child just like the other children. They will take care of that child in their household until they are no longer physically able. They will then move them into a home for the disabled. The home I visited had members in the 60+ range. The nonexistence of young members shows how dedicated families are to keeping a family member with a disability within the family for as long as possible. The government also keeps people with disabilities in check. If the person is 60% incapable, a doctor will check them one time a year for free. They are given a pension of $90 per month and get free services at hospitals but must pay for private practices. If a person becomes physically injured, the government still offers them help of $3000 for a year. When asked how valuing family came about, a man answered, “The British left us with only sugar cane farms. Nothing else. So we were forced to help each other in all areas. We help each other because we don’t have any one else to help us.”

Japan, a third way around the world from Mauritius, places value in multiple places. They do treasure family, but they also treasure success. Therefore, their jobs are very important to them. If something distracts them from this job, they are likely to give it up. If a person with a disability is born into a family, the family will most likely give him/her away to a group home. The family is too busy working that they are not able to appropriately take care of the child. Even though the family values success, they still care enough to give them a home where they can be given more direct attention.

India’s view on care for the disabled has been changing over the years. Traditionally, each family struggled enough to just get by every day that they would leave the person with a disability at home while they went out to try to make money. This left the person unfed and unkempt with either a caretaker or no one at all. The family would still include that person as a member of their family and love on them, even if they weren’t able to provide adequate care. However, India is becoming a wealthy nation, though still divided, and has pushed these previous actions mostly aside. The government itself is still not able to afford programs for the disabled. Instead, it is individuals and groups who are taking action. I visited Missionaries of Charity Orphanage, one that Mother Teresa opened to take in any abandoned children and care for them, including both disabled and nondisabled. They will literally take those left at the doorstep or found abandoned on the city street. Another orphanage I visited, Samarpana for the “Deaf and Spastic”, specializes in the mentally and physically disabled. There are similar homes specified for the physically disabled who are not mentally challenged. These homes provide schooling and challenge them every day to learn more. They also offer physical treatments that challenge their bodies’ capabilities. It is not unusual to see people walking who could not walk for the first 10 years of their lives. Other programs believe in orienting people with disabilities into the community. They believe they should not be kept separate but integrated with the “normal” population. They provide free education and care for the day even though it is dependent on volunteers since it is not government-funded. India is changing their disparities to become more accepting of people with disabilities, teaching them, and integrating them in as a part of the normal population.

Vietnam is an interesting case. As a purely communist country for many years, the Vietnam government had an authoritative say in institutions dedicated towards people with disabilities. In fact, the government guaranteed a place for people with disabilities in society and gave them a purpose. However, recently the government has become a free economy/market. This has allowed people to become greedier and want more for only themselves, causing people with disabilities to be pushed aside and placed at the bottom where they receive little. They are not able to fend for their own rights, so their potential is reliant on individuals to start schools and homes. And luckily, individuals have taken the initiative to give them a place again. They have built specialized schools and also are trying to integrate them with “normal” children. The value placed on people with disabilities in Vietnam is highly dependent on the communist government’s actions.

All around the world each country views people with disabilities and takes action to provide for them differently. Depending on which country a child may be born into will determine if they are given a home, cared for, and schooled. The world as a whole is increasing their knowledge on disabilities and also learning how to better care for them. Even though each may be developing at a different pace, it is great to see that the world is at least taking great strides to notice and provide for people with disabilities.

Sources:
Various citizens (tour guides, family members, government officials, taxi drivers, etc.) from Spain, Morocco, Ghana, South Africa, Mauritius, India, Vietnam, Hong Kong, China, and Japan.

Kanichiwa, Japan!

2009-11-27T09:09:00.004-05:00

Kanichiwa. Watashi no namae wa Kelsey desu. Ohio kara kimashita. Hajimemashite!

(Translation: Hello. My name is Kelsey. I’m from Ohio. Nice to meet you!)

Japan, our last foreign country, was such a great experience. I think I’ve said this about every country… but it is SOO true for each one! I’ve been overly blessed to have such wonderful times in each country. Japan has a very rich traditional culture and westernized contemporary culture. From tea ceremonies, geishas, pagodas, and hot spring baths to fancy bidets, high fashion, jet trains, and flashy lit up signs, Japan knows how to be awesome. And in addition, it was AUTUMN there! So the leaves were changing colors and it was SOOO beautiful!

I woke up early on Friday morning and looked out my porthole… and there was MOUNT FUJI! This was such an amazing sight! No big deal… just Mount Fuji through my cabin window off the coast of Japan… ha! By the time the rest of SAS was awake Mt. Fuji had fallen too far off in the distance to see anymore… so I was VERY lucky. As we ate breakfast and pulled into Yokohama’s port terminal, we were greeted with traditional Japanese Taiko drummers. What a wonderful greeting for our first sights of Japan! Our clearing process was a bit different and more complex this time though. We were each required to individually go through a long process of immigration and customs in the port terminal. This delayed us a bit and we weren’t totally cleared until about 11:30 am… then it was time to explore!

A little background first: the ship stopped twice in Japan, first in Yokohama and second in Kobe. My friends and I decided to backpack around Japan the first 3 days and then meet the ship in Kobe. Our original plan was to visit Mt. Fuji the first day, Tokyo the second, and Kyoto the third… however, something we’ve quickly learned about traveling is that you MUST be flexible and always willing to change plans. The bus to Fuji was going to take much longer than our travel books said and we probably wouldn’t get there until after dark, which was actually only 5:30 pm. So we switched our days around and made it so we could still do everything. Day 1 Tokyo, Day 2 Fuji, Day 3 Kyoto… Anyway…

Our first steps in Yokohama caught us SOO off-guard. IT WAS SO QUIET!!! This couldn’t be an Asian country!? But it was! Japan is completely different from China, Vietnam, and India. People don’t honk their horns (I may have heard a horn 3 times over the entire 5 days… compared to hearing a horn 3 times in about 20 seconds in other Asian countries!), they talk very quietly if at all in public places, they dress VERY fashionably, and they have this calm peaceful aura to them. Having been in China just 3 days earlier, we were blown away by the differences viewed already. We made it to the Yokohama Train Station and WHOA…. Their train/subway/bus systems are incredibly complex! Especially to foreigners who don’t know any Japanese, can’t read their characters, have no idea how their systems even work, and can’t figure out how to work the ticket machines. The train systems were probably one of our biggest challenges. It sounds silly, but think about it… coming from a small town where subways don’t even exist for at least 150 miles away and who has only ever been guided through them, trying to figure it out is hard enough. Then you add on that it’s all in Japanese characters that are nothing like English. Then add on that it’s in Japan, which has more lines and colors on the map than possibly anywhere else in the world. BUT… we worked through it and figured it out! We boarded the train (or we at least prayed it was the right train) to Tokyo! About 45 min later we arrived! YAY! Not only did we accomplish the grueling system, but we were in TOKYO!

We walked through the Ginza, which is a popular strip in Tokyo. It was filled with high-end shops, restaurants, galleries, and LOTS of fashion. The fashion part is actually kind of funny… since we set out that day thinking we were going to Fuji, we were by far not dressed appropriately for Tokyo. We got lunch at Café Excelsior and continued walking the streets of the Ginza. Everything is pretty expensive so we got the feel of Tokyo by walking around and observing. We checked out a local market and some beautiful pottery stores. As soon as it was dark the bright lights on all the outdoor signs came on. Neon all around! Tokyo is quite a city! If you’re looking for a place to shop and by fashionable clothes, this is your place to go.

Saturday started at a nice and early 4:30 am. That may not be so early for all of you, but come on, I’m a college student! We see this time at the ENDS of our nights! We wanted to see Tokyo’s fish market- it is one of the largest in the world. So we followed the directions we had been given and arrived at Tokyo Station an hour later… but then found out that it was at a different station that required several different trains and subways to get to… See, one of the things that we were “warned” about is that the Japanese is so incredibly nice and helpful. The thing is, they will direct you whether they actually know or not… and turns out that we happened to get directions from one of them that didn’t quite know. Haha. But hey, it’s okay! We’re in Japan and no matter what problems you come across you’re still in a foreign country experiencing pieces of that culture!

So after traveling a bit further and 2 ½ hours later, we finally made it to the fish market! Haha. As we were walking out of the subway we could actually smell the fish, no joke! The fish market itself was a very cool thing to experience. One-person shipping trucks were constantly zooming around delivering stock to their stand. Stand after stand after stand had sea creatures that you wouldn’t even know existed. It was almost like they took an entire section of the ocean, drained it, and plopped it here in Tokyo!

We found our way back to Toyko Station, grabbed breakfast, and hopped on our bus to Mt. Fuji! The trip was supposed to take 2 hours… but it took just a tiny bit longer… actually about 5 hours. So again we had to rearrange our plans. We were mostly worried about getting back to Tokyo in time to catch our overnight bus to Kyoto. If it took 5 hours again we would miss the bus. So we changed our ticket time and location and then had only a short amount of time at Mt. Fuji, but hey, some is better than none!

We walked through a small quaint mountain town to one of the five lakes around Fuji. Oh, what a beautiful site with a line of mountains behind it! Then we rode a cable ropeway up a side of a mountain for the most beautiful view of Mt. Fuji. Oh, it was SO beautiful! Snow capped the top, a lake at the bottom, multiple colors of changing leaves, and rows of mountains on its right side. We caught it right at the perfect time: sunset! The sun set behind the rows of mountains and illuminated the snowy Mt. Fuji. Ah, the site just is still so vivid in my mind!

Sadly it was already time to leave. Our bus back only took 3 hrs compared to 5 and we made it with time to spare! We explored a different part of Tokyo that was similar to the Ginza: shops, restaurants, fashion, and lights! Then we arrived at our overnight sleeper bus.

The sleeper bus was quite an interesting experience… I’m SO glad it happened - haha. The 5 of us were on the bottom of the two floors in a room with 3 others. It looked like a normal double-decker bus but the seats reclined further. One of our new neighbors walked in: he’s your classic cartoon guy- plops the chair back right into Lizzy’s lap and is out within 2 minutes. He’s snoring LOUDLY, wakes up and talks to himself, and makes a cow-chomping noise. Haha. Then our last 2 neighbors arrived and sat behind us. This cute 30-something Japanese couple was taking advantage of being behind everyone and out of site… but not out of hearing! So you got 5 American college girls, a cow-chomping snorer, and frisky lovers all snuggly close on a bus for the next 8 hours. Haha. Seriously though, it gave us so many laughs that it was by far a great experience.

We pulled into Kyoto Station at 6 am on Sunday morning. Kyoto is a large city with many traditions still occurring. We first walked to a Buddhist Temple that is the largest wooden temple in the world. Although I am a Christian, I think there are philosophies within the Buddhist religion that are great for people to live by. We then walked through the more traditional part of town. We saw another temple and walked through its gardens and viewed its worship areas. Then we saw a beautiful pagoda along old city cobblestone streets. We looked through some of the shops and then had our first geisha spotting! There are about 100 geishas left in Kyoto and 1,000 in Japan. These evening entertainers provide a nice meal and tea, music, and other Japanese traditions for men (but as the travel books told us, they are not prostitutes). They were beautiful in their kimonos, white-painted faces, and fancy hair and makeup. But I must say, I don’t know how they walk in those sandals and while taking such tiny steps! Next we saw a large stone Buddha. It was built as a memorial to all those lost in the world war… it was a reminder of peace even through losing loved ones. Behind it we climbed a mountain with many many gravestone markers. I must say, the temple and mountain were completely calming… birds were chirping in the trees, music focused on chants, water trickled… the fact that it was worship in nature had a very relaxing and peaceful effect. We spent the rest of our time in Kyoto walking through old streets, viewing a few more temples, and walking through a gorgeous park. We even saw a just-married couple walking out of a temple! It had started raining in the afternoon and so in the evening we sought shelter (and maybe some food) in a McDonalds. Even though it’s American-based, it still has different food options, like the Shaka Shaka Chicken I ate. We walked through the new Kyoto and then made our way back to the train station.

We took a train to Kobe, which took about an hour. Then we went on our search for somewhere to stay. There are expensive options of hotels… or cheap options of hostels, capsules, love hotels (otherwise known as hourly hotels… but can still be used for cheapos like us for a sleeping quarters), internet cafes, and karaoke bars. Actually many SASers chose these cheaper options. We tried finding one before we got to Japan, but it was quite difficult considering we don’t have free internet on the ship and we couldn’t call until we were there. We walked and searched and walked and searched but many places were full already. We finally found the winner! A hotel had ONE room left with one double bed for 7500 yen ($75 bucks)! YAY! So the 5 of us squeezed into this tiny little room… 2 people slept on the bed and then the other 3 of us slept on the tiny 3-ft space between the bed and walls. Haha. However, the night wasn’t quite done yet. Karaoke (pronounced as Kaw-lo-kee in Japanese) was founded in Japan about 40-50 years ago and then spread to other countries… so we HAD to do it! It’s different in Japan though. A Karaoke building has tons of small rooms that you rent out by the hour. In it is a wrap-around booth with a T.V. in front of it. So it isn’t public like ours, but instead is only for the group that you come with. So Aleks, Nat, and I spent an hour in the small room, found some songs we knew, and sang it up in the mics! Haha—it was such a fun time!

The next morning we headed out early to board the ship as it pulled in to Kobe. We were so happy when we saw it! We had just successfully backpacked around a foreign country! Our independent traveling skills have grown from the beginning of the semester and I now feel quite confident in backpacking mostly anywhere! After breakfast and repacking my bags, I headed for a very memorable experience: a Japanese homestay!

All of the host families and SASers gathered together in the terminal. The families each held up a personalized sign with their students name on it. Across the room I spotted the cutest sign: “Welcome Ms. Kelsey Smith” being held by the cutest little smiling boy. My family was SOO wonderful: Hiroshi the father, Yuko the mother, and little 3 yr old So the son. Hiroshi spoke English very well and Yuko could understand and speak some of it. And little So was always jumping and smiling all over the place. The large group of families and students played a few ice-breaker games and then we headed out. We ate lunch at a place with udon noodles and toppings such as shrimp, chicken, octopus, and veggies, all of which I ate. Mm, it was good! We then drove an hour to Osaka where they live. I was quickly learning why we had gotten paired up together. We both loved music! And they specifically have an interest in jazz music! It was too perfect! I really enjoyed just talking with them about the Japanese culture, music, art, and just life in general. They were so easy to talk to and so very nice. We then went to a gathering for the Osaka host families. The program it’s through is called HIPPO. It teaches up to 10 languages and offers homestays in Japan AND countries all over the world. It was a perfect match for SAS! So the gathering consisted of introductions, music, games, and stories of our adventures thus far. I even got to show my host family on a map where I live in the U.S. Hiroshi had studied SAS before I arrived and showed the exact route around the world we had taken!

After the program ended we broke back into our individual families. We drove to their home in Sakai, an area in Osaka. It was on a city street beside many other houses. The front appears small but it extends far back. Hiroshi, Yuko, and So live on the 2nd and 3rd floors, his mother lives on the first floor, and his sister’s family lives next door. They were constantly making sure I felt at home, having me sit, showing me pictures of the surrounding area, and letting me play with So. Hiroshi’s mother, sister, brother-in-law, and niece came in to meet me. Oh, they were such joyous people! They were so smiley and had the most wonderful laughs. They didn’t speak much English…which made for a very funny conversation. It went as follows:

Fam: [In broken English] “Where are you from?”
Me: “I’m from the U.S.”
Fam: “Oooooooh! [In Japanese] Where in the U.S.?”
Hiroshi: [Translating for me] “They want to know where in the U.S.”
Me: “Oh. I am from Ohio.”
Fam: --very confused looks—
Me: --confused that they’re confused… then I realized what was happening--- “Oh! I mean Ohio the state! Not Ohayo as in ‘Good morning’!”
All: “Oooooooh! Hahahahahaha!”

It made for quite a good laugh! There were a few other times throughout my time in Japan that I had to clear up that I meant Ohio in the U.S., not as a Japanese morning greeting! Haha.

In the meanwhile Yuko was cooking dinner both at the stove and the dinner table. She was cooking Tako Yaki, which are food balls with octopus and some veggies inside. She had me try to flip the balls over with a toothpick, but it showed that I was not a pro like her! Dinner was DELICIOUS (Gochisosama!). Tako Yaki was quite good… who knew I’d like octopus so much?! We also had sushi & rice, squid tentacles, raw salmon and other fish. They spoiled me with dinner!

Such a beautiful moment occurred after dinner. Considering how much they like music, they have an electric piano! So we went upstairs and showed each other our stuff! Yuko had piano books so I played a little out of those. And then I played the one song that I will always have memorized: “Turkey in the Straw” because of my grandpa Clendenen ☺ So I played it for them! Haha. And then it was their time to show off, and they were so good! Yuko played a few songs that were just gorgeous. And then they played a duet! Oh my goodness, I LOVED their duet! And not only did it sound good but when they messed up they would look at each other and laugh. So was playing with his truck and rolling it across the keys to add a few extra high notes haha. This musical connection meant soooo much to me. I haven’t gotten to really express myself through music the past 3 months… and that’s difficult when it’s normally so big in my life. So that evening not only did I get to express myself on the piano, but I also got to engage in conversation with two others that hold music so closely to their hearts. It was just so wonderful.

The next morning I woke up so happy… I had just slept in an incredibly comfortable bed, had gotten more hours of sleep than I had combined in Japan so far lol, was in JAPAN, and was going to spend the day with my new Japanese family. Breakfast was quite delicious: egg and seaweed spirals, rice patties with seaweed, and apples.

We headed out for the day to view some sites of Osaka. We first stopped at Nanshuji, a Zen Temple, that was incredibly beautiful. We walked through many gardens, a stone garden, listened to water trickle through a bamboo pole, and viewed the buildings They were each so calming and peace-inducing. We then went to the Tomb of Emperor Nintoku. It is a mountain cut like a keyhole with 3 motes around it. People are only able to view it from the outside. It is quite intriguing and quite scenic for a grave. We then went to Hochigai Shrine, a Shinto shrine. We saw little girls dressed up in kimonos awaiting a ceremony similar to our baptism. We then went into a teahouse restaurant. They gave us a tour of its facilities: the balcony overlooking the city and another keyhole-shaped mountain moted tomb, a traditional style room, a garden, and multiple views of a teahouse. We got to watch a lady prepare green tea, which is very precisely done. And then we ate some sweets! Mine was… ice cream! Haha. It had both green tea and vanilla ice cream, green tea jello, rice balls, sweet soybeans, and green tea whipped cream. After our sweets we went to lunch ☺ haha, I like this order of eating! Lunch was quite good as well… rice topped with chicken and egg. We then started our drive back to Kobe as it was soon time for me to board the ship. We drove by a castle and then stopped at a Sake Museum where we tried a few different flavors. It was very tasty. Once we were back at the port I had to say goodbye to my family. I was not ready to say goodbye and really hope I see them again someday… either in Japan or the U.S. From backpacking during the Autumn season to having a marvelous homestay—I had such a quality experience in Japan.

A jazz-ish band played along the terminal as the ship pulled out in the rain. I waved goodbye to my last foreign country (for awhile at least). Now we have 10 days ---WHOA--- before our last stop in Hawaii. The seas have been nicely rolling for the past few days. We have our last 8 days of classes and one final before Hawaii, which means many papers are due and studying needs done. I hope I am able to catch some good reflection time as well… to fully take in my travels around the entire world…

I hope you are all doing very well. I hope you had a spectacular Thanksgiving, ate up some yummy food, and were reminded of the MANY reasons we have to give thanks. I’ll write more later on my Thanksgiving happenings, but know that I am truly thankful for you.

As my Japanese family would say, CHEERS!
Sayonara! ☺

Ni Hao, China!

2009-11-18T22:24:00.003-05:00

Our China visit consisted of 2 stops in Hong Kong and Shanghai. I was actually just in Hong Kong this past May when I went with BU to China for 3 weeks. However, I still had a spectacular time and much different experience. The BU trip did not go to Shanghai so that was a new place for me. China has a very deep culture because it has been around for thousands of years. It’s so interesting to compare China and the U.S. on a cultural level… the U.S.’s culture reaches a few hundred years while China’s wanders back much further. I enjoyed being surrounded by this culture again that I had grown to love only a few months ago.

HONG KONG:
Hong Kong is much different from the rest of China, especially rural China. It was colonized by the British and only handed back over to China about 10 years ago. Therefore a strong British influence is still observed today. For example, they drive on the left side while the rest of China drives on the right side… they also drive much more quietly than the rest of China! The geology of Hong Kong is sooo beautiful… It consists of several different mountainous islands. The main Hong Kong Island has many tall skyscrapers built closely with fancy landscaping and very clean roads and grounds. Kowloon Island is across from the main island. It is filled with many buildings and shops but not quite as tall as the main island. Lantau Island is a bit further away and is focused more on natural landscaping than the others.

Sailing into Hong Kong was soooo beautiful! I woke up extra early to watch the sunrise as we sailed between many mountainous islands. It was neat to arrive by ship this time around rather than plane! About 2 hours later we docked at Kowloon Island with a wide view of the main island—Wow, it was astonishing!

As soon as the ship was cleared, my friends and I took off. We took the infamous Star Ferry across to the main island then took a 30-min ferry over to Lantau Island. We pulled right into the dock that I had been on so many times in May! In fact, I could see across the bay where we had stayed at a Methodist Church Camp on the side of the hill along the beach! It brought back many good memories with my BU crew ☺. We then grabbed a quick bite to eat and caught a bus to take us to the other side of the island. The drive was just beautiful showing off the white beaches along the shore. After about 45 min we arrived at our destination… The Big Buddha! (This, in fact, is its title lol). It is the world’s largest sitting bronze Buddha at about 45 meters high. He sits with one arm up in the “Native American ‘how’” position. On the sides of him sit 6 smaller statues of ladies kneeling and offering gifts to him. It is a very impressive statue, especially because of its position at the top of a mountain surrounded by distant waters. I took a jumping picture with it (you know how those are popular nowadays) and it looks like I’m high-fiving Buddha’s raised arm! Haha! Then we took the bus and ferry back to arrive back on the main island.

We walked along the skywalk and then took the 100 yr old tram up the side of a mountain to arrive at Victoria’s Peak, which overlooks the city and waters of the Hong Kong islands. At the top is a mall with shops and restaurant that overlook this beautiful and famous view. At this point we ran into a SASer with the 2 new Japanese interport students who then hung out with us for a while. I got to talking with the students and it turns out that one of them had spent time in the U.S. I asked where and she said Ohio! I asked where in Ohio and she said ST. MARYS! Whoa, what a small world that I would meet a Japanese girl in Hong Kong, China who had spent time in a city 10 minutes from my hometown in the U.S.!

We took the ferry back across to Kowloon Island where we had a beautiful view of the Hong Kong Light Show. This show consists of the many buildings that put colored lights up in patterns to music and lasers making designs in the sky. It was very impressive! We found a late dinner at a local Chinese place and ate authentic food. This was good and bad depending on who you ask and what they ate lol. But it was surely very different from Americanized Chinese food! That concludes our first day in Hong Kong. Even though I’d been there before, I still thoroughly enjoyed it as I hadn’t seen the Big Buddha and I was traveling more independently than the last time. It was neat to go to a foreign country where I’d been before and compare my traveling maturity since then.

The second day was another fun and ultra-cheap day! 4/5 of the SASers left on trips that explored parts of China that would then meet up with the ship in Shanghai. However, my friend Natalie and I decided to stay on the ship in between ports. I decided this since I’d just been to China 5 months ago and could save a few extra dollars this way. It proved to pay off, which I will explain when I get there! That morning I went and found internet in a mall so I could upload pictures to my blog from South Africa to Vietnam. I hope you all enjoyed them!

Nat and I then headed out for our 2nd and last day in Hong Kong. We took a ferry over to the main island and found the Hong Kong Botanical and Zoological Gardens (free of charge!). It was sooo beautiful! It sat in the center of the city and is kept up very well. There were many different types of trees, plants, and flowers. They also had many types of birds and monkeys! We really enjoyed watching the monkeys jump around their cages! So many of their animals come from all over the world… including a very special animal from the U.S…. a Procyon lotor… aka a RACCOON! Can you believe that? They have raccoons in a zoo on the other side of the world! Ha! It sure gave me a good laugh. There were also Japanese children on a field trip that kept yelling “HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!” to the turtles. If anyone ever goes to Hong Kong, I’d highly recommend this beautiful zoo and garden!

Next came our adventure I like to call Sky-Scraper Upping! We wanted to go to the top in the tallest skyscrapers. When we would walk into the buildings, security officers would be scattered throughout to guide people like us. They would point up and say in their cool accents, “Up?” haha. They would check our bags, document our passports, and hand us visitor lanyards that we swiped on our way up. Even the elevators were made for tourists, as there were only 2 buttons: one for the bottom floor and one for the top floor! We succeeded in “upping” in 2 of the tallest and most unique buildings in Hong Kong: The Bank of China and the International Finance Company (IFC). The IFC is the actual building they used to tape one of the Batman movies! The views on top were soooo beautiful… looking out over the water onto Kowloon Island while also seeing the rest of Hong Kong Island.

The last couple hours were spent just walking around Kowloon Island at night. We stumbled across a night market, Chinese models in a photoshoot, and ended in a fun pouring down rain. We went out on the 8th deck as the ship pulled away from the islands. It may have been wet, but it was still very pretty watching the city lights layered on the mountainous islands.

You might find this interesting… before we pulled away we had a lifeboat drill with all 95 of us on the ship. We have these periodically where we practice lining up for the lifeboats in our hott life-jackets as if in an emergency (Titanic, anyone?!?!). Well why would we need to do a drill with only 95 people? Supposedly they were checking each cabin to make sure there were no stowaways!

That night I sat in my porthole window and read from the Bible… the scripture came sooo alive to me. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians how a gift had been given to him and now he had to share that gift with others. And it so many times mentioned “the world.” Hearing “the world” has such different meaning for me now that I’ve traveled it and seen it… I feel like SAS has been a gift that God laid on my heart to partake in… and now it’s my turn to use God’s gift for others’ benefit. I’m not exactly sure what this consists of yet, but I just need to continue to follow God’s leading through the rest of my SAS journey and listen for what it may be.

2 DAYS SAIL:
95 people compared to 650 is quite a change! But, oh, was it nice! There were quite a few awesome happenings:
• Quiet/Alone time! It’s nearly impossible to find quiet or alone time on the ship normally… so this was the time to take it in!
• Piano-playing! There are 2 pianos on board, both of which are in VERY public places constantly filled with people. Playing piano is personal to me, not usually for show, so I hadn’t played yet on the ship. So I sat down at that piano 2 nights and played for the first time in 3 months for 2 hours! Oh, it was sooo wonderful!
• Fancy dinners! We can buy these for $25 anytime, but since we were such a small group, they gave them to us for free (even with different food options) 2 nights! And mmm mmm it was GOOD!
• Free massage! The Wellness Center had us pop balloons for a free something. Originally I won a nail re-polish but I traded it for a free 15-min foot massage! Yup, a FOOT massage… here I go changing again! And it felt sooo good!
• Karaoke party! We had this dancing party in the Faculty/Staff Lounge which students are not allowed in! It is located in the prime spot… the front of 7th deck with the most beautiful view of the ocean on the entire ship. And there we were just singing and dancing around in it!
There was only one negative to these 2 days… the weather! The area between China and Taiwan is known as the Bloody Passage for a reason! The ocean was REALLY rocking, from bow to aft. This creates lots of loud noises and lots of random shaking and jolting. So much for catching up on lost sleep! But nonetheless, these 2 days were quite enjoyable… especially since it was my first 2 days in a row having nothing! It was like a weekend!

SHANGHAI:
We pulled into a wide Chinese river early Sunday morning and after about 2 hours arrived in Shanghai. We, again like Hong Kong, had such a beautiful view of the city. On one side of the river sat a nice park with buildings and on the other side sat high skyscrapers, including the 2nd tallest building in the world. It took awhile for the 95 of us to be cleared, surprisingly, but once we were cleared we were off the ship! Oh, the weather was initially sooo wonderful! It was like Fall weather in our jeans and sweatshirts! This was a nice change from the 90 degree weather we’d been having in about every port! However, the weather kept getting colder and colder the longer we spent in Shanghai, and I definitely did not bring winter clothes!

Nat and I walked across a couple of bridges and many streets to get to the main part of the city. We viewed an area called “The Bund” which is basically old city buildings lining the river that cuts through Shanghai. There’s a lot of construction right now, but when it is finished there will be a nice wide concrete path right along the river and the Bund. Next we went to the Yu Garden, which is a 5-acre park in the middle of the city. It was very pretty. Next to it was a 5-story market, wow! We whisked through it in search of some birthday gifts for our friend, Aleks. We were pretty stoked when we found a 2-Yuan store (everything was about 25 cents!). Next we walked through the Old City filled with traditional landscaping and buildings and many shops. We had fun looking through the stores and markets. We came out of a grocery-type store and at the same time saw a big red flashing sign that read “DQ DAIRY QUEEN.” We both let out a HUGE DEEP GASP, shockingly looked at each other, and raced over. Haha. We ate it on the 2nd story and overlooked the people walking through the Old City streets. Oh, how wonderful! A great site and SUCH a great taste, even in cold weather! We finished our blizzards, looked around a bit more, and then started the journey back to the ship. We saw some tunnels on the map that go under the river to the other part of the city and decided to check them out. The first one we searched and searched for but never found (maybe that was because of all the construction…). The second one was specifically for sightseeing tourists and was made up similarly to Disneyland! We then headed back to the ship and waited for the rest of our friends to get back from their trips. As I mentioned earlier, we were shopping for Aleks’s birthday because it was her birthday the next day. So that night we went out and celebrated for her. The joke of the night was that it was no big deal… we were just celebrating her birthday in CHINA. Lol.

The next day we let up to Aleks what she wanted to do since it was her birthday. Funny enough, she wanted to check out the Yu Garden and Old City, just as Nat and I had done the day before! Haha. We were actually fine with it because there aren’t a ton of “must-sees” in Shanghai. Our other options would’ve been going to the zoo (which we can do in the states), view a Buddhist temple (which I’ve seen many of in China), or go up a skyscraper (which costs about $15 USD each). So this option was by far still a good deal. We walked over the 2 bridges, down the Bund, through the Yu Garden, around the 5-story markets, and through the Old City. We ate lunch at a very interesting local stop. It was almost like a food court, but you take a try and walk through each place taking whatever you’d like. We all shared so we could try a variety of things (of which we really didn’t know what they were when grabbing them). They were… interesting, to say the least. Lol. One thing I’ve learned about real Chinese food is they like to stuff things with more things… it makes it an interesting experience, that’s for sure! We then continued our route from the day before… and got some more DQ! Haha. You gotta stock up on it when you can, geesh! We finished walking around the Old City and decided to head back to the ship. It had been raining ALL day, was windy, and was VERY cold from this weather combination. By the time we got back we were completely soaked and could barely move our cold legs. It felt really good to warm up! And what a reminder that at least we have a place to go where we can dry off and warm up.

We then found out that the ship’s disembarkation had been delayed because of big swallows in the ocean. So now we didn’t have to be back on the ship til 11:00am on Tuesday and the ship would depart at 2:00pm! Awesome! So we got more time in Shanghai!

We got up early the last morning to finish exploring Shanghai. We first scouted out some “Skyscraper Uppings” but didn’t succeed as easily as Hong Kong. We were going to “up” the big ones across the river, but it was so overcast that the tops were in the clouds and therefore closed! Instead we went into some shorter local places but they didn’t allow “upping” for fun. We then went to the popular Nanjing Road and walked along it for a few hours. It was filled with little and big shops, coffee shops, malls, restaurants, and anything else you can imagine. The majority of it was blocked off from vehicles and had a little sightseeing train running through. We took a break from the cold and got some incredibly rich hot chocolate. We also got to try out a new item: a tennis ball that always comes back to you! It is connected to an elastic string on a weight and you hit it over and over. It was really cool! We also saw people couple dancing, which is popular in China in public spaces, and stopped to watch them. As we stood there taking pictures a man came up to me and asked me to dance. How did he know I was the one in the group that liked to dance?! Of course I joined him and tried picking up on the polka-waltz-twirling moves. Oh, no matter how goofy and uncoordinated I looked, it was so much fun! Too soon it was time to head back to the ship and board for disembarkation. I sat on the 5th deck studying and watching as we sailed down the river away from China.

We have 2 ½ days between China and Japan. That first night was VERY ROUGH--- literally. The waves and swallows were HUGE. This makes it difficult to do anything- sleep, shower, change clothes, eat, study… ugh, it’s just not fun at all! But luckily it has now calmed down a lot and is very livable. We arrive in Japan tomorrow already! I can’t believe it’s already here and is our last “foreign” country. We still have Hawaii, but it’s technically part of the U.S. even though its culture is much different. My friends and I are traveling independently in Japan, so I’m sure I’ll have plenty of good stories for you!

I hope you’re doing well and staying WARM!
My blessings to you.

Halloween and Vietnam pics!

2009-11-11T22:03:00.006-05:00

cruising down a canal to the Mekong Delta! LOVED THIS RIDE!

oh my gosh-- did I really do this?!?!

horse carts pulling us through a village (sorry it's sideways!)

taxi'ing a sweet motorbike ride!

my two kids from Vy 8 School for the Deaf at the zoo!

Nat and I crawling through the Cu Chi Tunnels...

a Vietnam War Memorial with stones for 10,000 Vietnamese bodies... only a small fraction of all the deaths

a large Cao Dai Temple

at the Vietnamese School for the Deaf and "Dumb"... this girl was incredibly cute

Water Puppet Show!!! What an experience...

sunset on the MV Explorer....

"Thriller" performance at Halloween! I know... I'm a pretty scary zombie :)

my friends and I dressed up for Halloween!

India continued

2009-11-11T21:44:00.002-05:00

Indian Hindu Temple

poor housing along the Chennai coast still damaged from the hurricane a few years ago

the MV Explorer! --- my beloved home for a semester!

the cutest 8 yr old boy at the Samarpana Handicapped Orphanage in India

a man that has gotten in the pottery industry through RIDE to prevent his kids from having to work

India pics!

2009-11-11T21:35:00.002-05:00

victim of chid labor... i was playing ball with her at school that they are daily encouraged to attend

at school to fight child labor.... they were playing with snow! which they've never seen!

performers from 100th celebration

a wonderful evening with my new Indian friends!

Missionaries of Charity Orphanage --- one of Mother Teresa's in Chennai, India

Mauritius and on Ship

2009-11-11T21:29:00.002-05:00

the ocean on the day of the Sea Olympics.... so completely calm!

sunset from the ship :)

Mutli-colored Earth in Mauritius

Nat and I in front of Shiva in Mauritius

view of Mauritius from the back of our ship!

South Africa to Mauritius pics

2009-11-11T21:04:00.003-05:00

laying on the beach in Mauritius!

Mauritian Grand Bai Beach!

Mauritian Market

Grand Bassin Children's Village

on top of Table Mountain in South Africa!

Sing Chao, Vietnam!

2009-11-11T00:22:00.002-05:00

What a country… It has such a personal history with the U.S. yet have moved on and live fully each day. Vietnam was a wonderful country to visit and I had a fabulous time there. Yet there were intense moments as realization hit of what has all taken place on those grounds, and I will share those with you as I tell you what I all did.

Vietnam has a history of fighting for independence, yet are always struggling to win it. The French colonized them for a hundred years and China also fought for power. Vietnam split into the North and South when they achieved independence from the French. America stepped in to “help” and solve the disputes… and there is much controversy from here on out. After standing on Vietnamese grounds and hearing stories from young and old, American and Vietnamese, I have a continued interest in the Vietnam War. If anyone has personal ties to this issue I would love to discuss it more. It’s still a sensitive subject for Americans, however the Vietnamese have moved on and it is only a part of history now to them. The war ended and the North took over the South, uniting Vietnam into a communist country. They are still an independent communist country today, and from my experience, are simply happy to finally be their own country under their own rule.

Tuesday morning we pulled into the Mekong River early for a 3-hour ride into Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as “Saigon”). This was so beautiful… with canoers fishing, dirt being transported, and some small villages along the shore.

As soon as the ship was cleared my friends and I ventured into the city for a self-tour. The first challenge was crossing the street. Oh, this may sound silly at first… but Vietnamese traffic is another world! There are more motorbikes in Vietnam than any other country- it is simply how people travel- and they don’t really follow many traffic rules. We were advised first on the ship how to cross a street: look to make sure no one was immediately coming, step out, and just walk at a steady pace and the thick traffic will go around you. Don’t hesitate or change pace. Drivers will read you and adjust their route right around you. So we came to a street to test this strategy… and succeeded! The celebrated the first few times we successfully crossed streets! Haha. And then it just started coming natural that we step off and nonchalantly walk across the dense traffic lol. We took a stroll through the Ben Thanh Market, which is HUGE, and saw live sea creatures, internal organs (liver, intestines, who knows what else), jewelry, and cheap DVDs. We continued our tour and viewed the Reunification Palace, which is where the independence treaties were signed.

We then went to the War Remnance Museum. This was just… honestly, difficult to go through. There were very gory pictures showing innocent villagers ripped to pieces, terrified kids who had just lost their parents, last few pictures soldiers had taken seconds before they died, the effects of Agent Orange (a terrible nuclear toxin that thousands were exposed to) and has on many generations (handicaps, deformed bodies, bodies shaped where they have to crawl like a dog, huge foreheads with small lowerheads, disfigured bodies, lack of limbs, etc.), soldiers laying and dying in their blood, US torturing the Viet Congs and vice versa. I honestly couldn’t even believe they were showing some of the pictures that were up. But I guess it shows the truth to guerrilla warfare and this controversial war. It ended with a children’s drawing contest on the topic of “What a Unified World Means to You.” A small light was shed at the end of the dark journey through these kids’ drawings. Then we walked outside… onto this ground where these pictures had taken place, surrounded by people who had been a part of the war… I’m honestly still trying to process it all.

We continued our tour (we may or may not have taken a detour to get ice cream…) to see the town cathedral. 10% of Vietnamese practice Catholicism, as the French had brought it over when they colonized it. We also viewed the Post Office, which is actually very large and beautiful, and searched, but failed, for the Botanical Gardens.

The weather was very hot with a few quick downpours throughout the day. We didn’t realize these downpours were short, so during the first one a vendor sold us these stylish polka-dotted ponchos for 10,000 dong (less than 50 cents). We definitely looked good with those on! We thought we REALLY looked like tourists then, but we saw lots of motorbikers with ponchos on, even polka-dot ones! So then we felt like we fit right in and were just embracing their culture through polka-dotted ponchos ☺ haha.

We had dinner at a local spot and it was very tasty. That evening we went to a place that ended up being quite a unique cultural experience… a Water Puppet Show! The puppets showed Vietnamese life with farming, fishing, etc. but popping up in water. Musicians sat on the sides of the stage and also talked for the water puppets. I took some videos that really show its uniqueness. It’s one of those events that you’re glad it happened because it’s cultural, but you’re okay if it never happens again. Haha…

Wednesday morning I went on a SAS service trip to a school for the disabled. We first met with the principal who told us about his school. It is for deaf and “dumb” kids. “Dumb” isn’t offensive in Vietnam, it simply is the category for Down’s Syndrome, mental retardation (MR), ADHD, etc. The kids come from very poor families, but it doesn’t cost them anything since it is government owned. They will graduate at about 16 or 17 and then go on to get jobs. Then it was time to interact! I spent a few hours in a classroom for the young children with Down’s, MR, and ADHD. What a wonderful time! One girl just loved to laugh and would mimic everything I did. Another girl liked playing with the Frisbee I brought. One boy liked to wrestle and play ball. Another boy REALLY liked to climb me haha. One girl was really shy, but I eventually got her to warm up and play ball. They had loooots of fun with stickers too. I couldn’t have asked for a more enjoyable time.

That afternoon my friends and I went to a spa since they are really cheap in Vietnam! Oh, how relaxing! I got an hour massage and hour facial, which were just amazing… and yet adventures too! Once I understood what they lady wanted me to wear, she just stood there and watched as I changed! Then when she started the massage she climbed onto the bed and straddled my back! She pulled down my underwear and included my entire bare butt in the massage! Ha, wow! But I embraced the awkwardness and just enjoyed the massage with an understanding of the cultural differences. I really enjoyed the facial, as it is the first one I’ve ever had. I felt soooo relaxed after those 2 hours! They finished it with time to sip tea and just relax in a comfortable chair.

That evening we spent exploring Ho Chi Minh City more. I actually grabbed the fabric I had bought in Ghana with intentions of getting a dress made and took it to a Vietnamese tailor! So now I have a beautiful sundress from Ghanaian fabric but made in Vietnam!

Thursday I went on a trip that explored Southern Vietnam. We drove a few hours then ate a delicious authentic lunch. We then went to a Cao Dai Temple, which is a unique religion to Vietnam. It combines the philosophies behind Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, and Confucianism to form this religion called Cao Dai (pronounced Cow-Die). They worship each deity for what good it brings to the world. The women wear all white and the men where either all red, blue, yellow, or white. They believe that animals and nature are like our siblings, so they don’t eat animals and they try to have “jungles” surrounding the temples. The temple was HUGE. We went into the balcony to watch the service take place. Solemn music was played while the Cao Dai followers walked in one by one. The service consisted of continued music, some gong hits, and much meditation, bowing, and worshipping. It was very interesting.

Our next stop was a war memorial where they have tombstones for 10,000 Vietnamese from the war, only a small fraction of the many that died. Seeing so many markers helped me visualize how many deaths there were. This is where I started to really wonder about our activity in the war. Was it right to intrude on their dispute? And how did the South Vietnamese feel about it? Were they thankful that we had tried to help even though we lost? Were they mad that we pushed ourselves on them and didn’t even win? Where they angry that we possibly made the war worse and deaths more than what it should’ve been? I’m sure it is different for each person… but now it is over and the Vietnamese have moved on… They showed absolutely no signs of hostility towards us. The only markers I saw still from the war were 1) memorials like this and the museum, 2) the Cu Chi Tunnels, which comes next, and 3) beggers on the street and people in disabled homes that are physically still affected by exposure to the Agent Orange toxin.

We then went to the Cu Chi (Koo Chee) Tunnels. Again, we were truly on the grounds where the war was fought. It didn’t get any more real than this. Years ago the Cu Chi people were being chased through these trees and killed on this soil… so to help protect themselves they built an underground tunnel system. They lived in these tunnels… yes lived, including sleeping, eating, urinating, studying, and, as our tour guide said, rotting. The tunnels run for an estimated 200 miles all over the area layer upon layer. They also included many traps so they could quickly escape from Americans. The Cu Chi people had to stay within their own “neighborhoods” because each one was booby-trapped according to the people living there. If they were above ground and freaked out, they had the chance of hurting themselves if they went into their neighbors’ unknown trapped grounds. Our guide first took us to a spot in the woods that looked normal to me. Then he brushed off some ground, uncovered a wood piece, picked it up to reveal a small hole, placed his body in the hole, picked the wood piece up, put leaves back on top of it, and closed himself in this hole. It was as if he was never there. This hole provided for a quick escape when they were being chased and it appeared as if they had just disappeared into thin air. We then were shown a trick door. It looked like normal ground once again, but when one stepped on it the door flipped revealing a huge pit with spikes sticking straight up ready to quickly pierce whoever fell in. Another hole was shown to us that connected to a tunnel that opened up in the middle of American camps (Americans placed a Base right on top of the tunnels without ever realizing it) in which the Cu Chi people would go in and shoot them in the middle of the night. We then saw an anthill, which was used to stick a hollow bamboo pole in that allowed them to get fresh air into their tunnels. They then showed us a row of many different traps that were used… this was true guerrilla warfare, and honestly, the Cu Chi people were geniuses with this system. Then it was time for us to crawl through the tunnels. The part we went through was the tunnels’ typical size, about 2 ft wide and 3 ft high… which meant we were on our hands and knees in a very DARK space. The tunnels weaved around, up and down, and connected to other tunnels as well. I can’t even imagine living in those… literally, there is not room to live. And it was incredibly hot in tiny spaces with tons of people. But it saved their lives from innocent killings. This was just an incredible, very real experience. In addition, I was reminded that the American soldiers fighting were about 22 years old, my exact age. I can’t even begin to imagine being on that ground for a much different purpose than I was. Wow, just simply… WOW.

Friday I went on a service trip to a school for the deaf and then took them to the zoo! We first went to the school, which is in District 8, the poorest section in Ho Chi Minh City. The kids range on how much they can hear and talk. They get a late start into school so they graduate after 5th grade when they’re about 20 years old. We interacted with them for a while, playing different group and individual games.

Then it was time to take them to the zoo! They were SOOO excited and had SOOO much energy. When we arrived they literally jumped off the bus and started running towards the elephants. Their running didn’t calm… they literally ran the whole day from animal to animal because they were so excited—yet this makes it pretty exhausting and difficult for their group leader! There were all kinds of animals in the zoo. The kids would look at them for maybe 2 seconds, if not 1, then run off to the next animal lol. After a half hour we had already seen the entire zoo! Although this was a great trip and I really enjoyed it, the language barriers were an issue… we not only couldn’t speak Vietnamese, but the kids also can’t hear. So when they were running in opposite directions we couldn’t yell after them to get their attention. You must actually run and catch up to them and then try to gesture slowing down or to go in the other direction. So it made for an exhausting and interesting day… but definitely still rewarding. These kids were so excited to go to the zoo… so excited to hang out with foreigners… so excited to hang out with older kids (I mean… young adults) and I felt so blessed by their energy and presence.

Saturday I went on a trip to the Mekong Delta. It was awesome! The Mekong River is the 10th largest in the world and runs through 4 different countries. Along the way we stopped at another Cao Dai Temple, but much smaller than the other one, and also walked through a local non-touristy market. Meat-cutters were just sitting on top of their tables beside their meat, some even in hammocks! When we arrived to the Mekong River Delta we got on a big boat that held our entire group of about 40 people. It took us for a ride and then we got off and walked through the “jungles of the Delta” to a small hut where they showed us how they make coconut candy. We then got on carts that hold about 5 people that are pulled by horses. They took us through a couple of villages on dirt paths and we waved to the friendly locals. We then walked to a hut where we had snack time. We tried many different exotic fruits and nuts while listening to village music performers. And then…. they showed us a giant snake and offered to let people hold it! A few people out of our group did hold it… including me! Oh my… Our guide placed it on my shoulders and in my hands… oh my goodness! And then he got distracted, walked away, and sat down as I was holding this huge snake! Eventually he realized he was in the middle of something and came and got the snake off me! haha. Oh, what an experience!

We then walked to a small river feeding into the main Mekong where we got on canoes! So there we were… floating on a Mekong canal, 4 in a row, wearing Asian straw triangle hats, as our river guide stood rowing on the end. Oh, it was just sooo wonderful. I love being so close to water and just gliding through it… and that’s surely what we were doing, but in Vietnam! How awesome. When it ended we were dropped off canoe by canoe onto a floating dock (granted, not like ours for sure) that the larger boats tied to. However, as the more people got onto this tiny thing, it started going under! The lady with the nearest large boat said that it wasn’t our boat so we couldn’t get on… but our guide wasn’t around and we didn’t know where our boat was! Then one more person stepped on and we all started sinking! So we said, hey lady we’re jumping on your boat temporarily! Deal with it! Haha! So we did, and no one sunk lol. The Mekong River is NOT a safe place to go under in and thankfully we stayed mostly dry! Eventually our guide came, unaware of all that had just happened, and we found our right boat lol.

The boat took us to lunch in a hut in the jungle. Mmmm mmm it was GOOD. The first dish was a large cooked fish propped upright! The waitress scraped it and put it in a thin wrap with rice noodles and leaves. That was one tasty dish! After lunch we headed back on our bigger boat to cross the delta one last time to get back on the bus. Once we were back in Ho Chi Minh City, sadly it was time to board the ship. However, we didn’t disembark until early the next morning, which was the first time we’ve done it this way. It’s because it was night out and the Vietnam Port authorities refuse to let ships venture out of the long Mekong River when it is dark. That morning I slept very lightly and kept waking up to look outside my porthole to watch Vietnam pass by.

I really loved Vietnam and felt my time there was spent as best as it could be. However, I want to tell you about 2 things that were of slight difficulties for me (note that these are very petty and more silly things opposed to the seriousness of being on war grounds).

1) $1 USD is equivalent to 17,500 Vietnamese Dong… now, we’ve had to constantly do calculations in every port whenever we buy something, eat, pay a taxi, etc…. but they’ve been in 1.5s, 7s, 10s, and 50s, but 17,500?!?! That took some getting used to!
2) They drove on the right side of the road! Can you believe it?! It felt so weird! Yes, I said the RIGHT side felt weird… The last few ports they drive on the left side so when I finally get used to it, Vietnam switched back on me! It’s probably going to be smart if I don’t drive for a few days when I get back to US… just so I can get reused to the driving rules!

So Vietnam was a wonderful and intense experience.We had 3 days on the ship and tomorrow we arrive in Hong Kong! I’m excited because I was just there in May and feel pretty familiar with it. Many SASers are taking trips to Beijing, Xi’an, or the Great Wall and meeting the ship in Shanghai. However since I was just to these amazing sites 5 months ago, I decided to stay on the ship and save a few Yuan. I’m excited to see a country that I spent a month in and really fell in love with!

Blessings to each of you ☺

Over the Andaman Sea and through the Strait of Malacca

2009-11-02T08:11:00.001-05:00

Hello all! How has your past week been? I hope it’s been swell. Mine has gone by quickly… filled with 6 papers in 4 days and lots of reading… and of course, a few fun things.

• I saw Jupiter! The sky was clear and the ship bow turned of its lights so any takers could view the Eastern Hemisphere near-Equator night sky. Beautiful.

• My ship family got together – it was filled with girly things… painting nails, watching The Office, and looking at Indian Vogue magazines. Their Vogue is a bit different than ours…

• The ship’s crew put on a talent show! Boy, they are quite talented! Singers, dancers, comedians, painters, and more dancers filled the stage for quite a fun night.

• Halloween! This is interesting on a secluded ship… people really had to be creative with outfits considering we only have limited supplies that we boarded with 2 months ago! I went as a zombie… because… my hip-hop dance group performed Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” dance! Yeah, that’s right! Nearly every ship community member was packed into the Union dancing at the Halloween party. All of a sudden the lights started to flicker and creepy growling sounds came on. Then we zombies creepily crawled on, “Thriller” started to play, and everyone cheered as we performed the dance. Oh, it was SO much fun!

• After the dance party was over, my friends and I headed outside to look out at the night as we passed through the Strait of Malacca. This strait runs between Indonesia on the southern side and Malaysia and Thailand on the northern side. Oh, what a creepy night for Halloween! Heat lightening stroked far in the distance, continually lighting up the ocean and silhouetted ships. The water was completely calm… almost too calm. To top it off, we were in fact in pirate territory once again, but even closer than when we were in the Indian Ocean. Crewmembers constantly did rounds on every corner of the ship, looking to make sure no small boats were growing near and no armed pirates were climbing on. We freaked ourselves out a few times seeing small boats come closer to us and wondering what would happen if we actually got attacked by pirates. A few times the captain would pick up speed to make sure we escaped any possibilities of pirates. Our nerves were calmed knowing our ship is one of the fastest in the world (seriously, it is!) and that the crew was on high watch. And obviously we made it through since here I am typing to you. How realistic of a Halloween night!

• We had another fuel stop… this time in Singapore! So this time around we were chilling between Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand… pretty sweet!

• We have been preparing for Vietnam the past few days. It is definitely still a sensitive subject for some on board, understandably. We’ve had factual lectures and heart-felt discussions about the Vietnam War and its effects on both the U.S. and Vietnam. It’s especially neat to have people from Vietnam with us who also share their perspectives. Our time in Vietnam will surely be humbling for everyone.

After hearing many people’s stories about their time in India and also living on the ship, I began to really think about how we spend our time conversing with others. A man shared a story from India in which he rode in a rickshaw around Chennai. At the end, his driver thanked him… because now the driver’s family was able to eat that night. A girl told a story about her taxi driver. He offered to take her to his house to meet his family. Although this is a risky situation, she did and he sincerely just wanted his family to meet an American and show her his life. Every day crewmembers on board serve us lunch, fix our classrooms, and clean our rooms and hallways. The rickshaw driver, taxi driver, and crewmembers all serve us… but they have lives outside of these jobs. They have families they care about feeding at night. Their basic needs are not guaranteed like most of ours are. Our priorities are so different… we get caught up in drama and silly daily things, while they are struggling just to survive. Why can’t we cross over these differences and show a sincere interest in their lives? They are honored when we get to know them as more than just their taxi driver or food server. And they are so much more than just that simple role their job title gives them. So how do you spend your time conversing? Do you take time to know people outside of the role you see them as? Do you talk to them in a sincere and encouraging way? I hope that we can all look past titles, seeing a person for who they really are and willingly make an effort to show our appreciation for their presence.

We port in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam tomorrow morning. We enter the Mekong Delta at 8 am and will travel 3 hours up to dock in the port. I’m looking forward to sharing my experiences with you.

I’m currently reading “Finding Calcutta: What Mother Teresa Taught Me About Meaningful Work and Service” by Mary Poplin. I’d like to end by sharing one of her prayers with you and hope that you find yourself meaningfully repeating it.

“Dear Jesus, help us to spread your fragrance everywhere we go. Flood our souls with your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess our whole being, so utterly, that our lives may only be a radiance of yours. Shine through us, and be so in us, that every soul we come in contact with may feel your presence in our soul. Let them look up and see no longer us but only Jesus! Stay with us, and then we shall begin to shine as you shine; so to shine as to be a light to others. The light O Jesus, will be all from you, none of it will be ours; it will be you, shining on others through us. Let us thus praise you in the way you love best by shining on those around us. Let us preach you without preaching, not by words but by our example. By the catching force, the sympathetic influence of what we do, the evident fullness of the love our heart bears to you. Amen.”

Namaste, India!

2009-10-30T01:10:00.005-04:00

“Namaste” (nah-mah-stay) is said during an Indian greeting in which one’s hands touch palm to palm and held near the heart while the head bows with respect. I found South India to constantly be greeting me with a warm and respectful welcome. I had such a great time in India and already am wanting to go back to see and do more!

1/6 of the world’s population is in India. 2.1 billion people live there with diverse cultures and many different languages. 4 main religions are practiced: Hinduism (most predominant- 150 million people), Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. Christianity arrived in 52 AD with St. Thomas and is now practiced by 2.5% of the population. India is a place where some of the earliest philosophical texts, dialogues, and discourses were developed. Muslims repeatedly invaded and then ruled from 11th-18th centuries. When the Islam Empire declined, the British rose into power. They instituted educational systems, built industries, developed infrastructures, and made English the connecting language. However, their colonial rule was oppressive and India was demanding self-rule. Ghandi fought for civil liberty with nonviolence and believed in greater courage than retaliation. India became independent from Britain in the 1940s but then had an uneasy relationship with Pakistan. Today there are 300 million people in deep poverty that live on less than a dollar a day. India is a land of great diversity… where cows roam the streets freely, rick-shaws haul around travelers, 4-member families hold on tightly to their motorcycle, beautiful women walk around in saris with a jewel on their foreheads, deities and temples are found throughout cities, and barefeet and dirt line the streets…

Friday morning, soon after we docked, I attended a yoga demonstration since this is the land where it all started. A lady spoke while 2 of her students showed us their moves. Man, are they flexible and disciplined! It has such a calming and relaxing effect to those who have mastered it.

That afternoon I went to Missionaries of Charity Orphanage in Chennai. Mother Teresa started and worked with Missionaries of Charity starting in her 20s and for the rest of her life. She developed children’s homes, elderly homes, homes for the dying, and soup kitchens all throughout India. I felt so privileged to see an orphanage that she had started! The gated building houses about 5 sisters 25 children. We first went up to the prayer and worship room. On the wall there was a wooden carving of Jesus on the cross with the words, “I THIRST.” Below it was an alter that said, “DO NOT FEAR I AM WITH YOU.” There was also a Bible written in Hindi with colored pictures. The rest of the time was spent hanging out with the children and sisters. The children were all abandoned, either at the doorsteps or on the streets. Many of them have mental and physical disabilities. We brought things to play with them, such as coloring books and bubbles. They go to school everyday but had this day off because we special visitors were coming. They were all so joyous! And smart too! I worked with 2 girls on word-finds that were in English and they found nearly every word (keep in mind that they were mentally challenged…)! It was such a wonderful atmosphere to be in… you could just feel God’s presence. The sisters had a complete calming and sweet persona and the kids were just filled with joy. I think Mother Teresa would be happy with her Chennai orphanage!

That evening my friends and I were blessed by the generosity of a local Indian family. A sweet couple from my home church contacted their cousins in India about my arrival. So that evening we met up with their cousins for a most enjoyable time. Well, first of all I should tell you about our rick-shaw ride before meeting them. They first pedaled 2 of us to the gate but then we needed to pick up 2 more of our friends. So we piled 4 of us onto this rick-shaw that’s surely not made to hold all of us! 1 of the 2 seats broke so lap-seats it was! Well, we were a bit heavy for the peddler so 2 of his friends stood on both sides helping push! We were ready to jump out and walk to take him out of his agony, but then we arrived! So anyway, we found our new friends and were off in a vehicle made to actually hold all of us lol. We first stopped at a local market and shopped some. It was a bit different than the U.S.: when you find something you want, a form was given to you but they delivered the item; then after all your shopping was done you took these forms and paid for it all; then you took that receipt to another desk and picked up all your items. It was neat to be in a local’s market rather than tourist market. Then we went to the beach—WOW! It is the 2nd largest beach in the WORLD! It goes on for what seems forever and is also very wide! We walked to the water and it was just beautiful at night! We then went to dinner for our first taste of real Indian cuisine… and mm mm mmm, it was GOOD! I really enjoyed being shown around and engaging in conversation with them. It was a great contribution to my time in India.

Saturday morning I attended a celebration for SAS—you see, the voyage I happen to be on is SAS’s 100th voyage! So this was celebrated in India at a college. We arrived to people dressed in costumes who put (REAL!) flower leis around our necks. They also gave us tea and biscuits (cracker/cookies), which I found to be quite common in India. They then put on quite an impressive performance for us. Young and older children and college students had prepared numerous traditional to contemporary dances. This includes a finale of outstanding female hip-hoppers and also 3 girls singing Michael Jackson’s “Billy Jean” a cappella! They were all impressive performances to celebrate SAS’s 100th voyage.

I then went on a 2-day trip with the RIDE (Rural India Developmental Education) Program. It strives to fight child labor in the rural areas by educating children and providing parents with jobs. We drove into southern India and first went to one of the RIDE schools. There were a few large classrooms with no desks or chairs inside and a large garden. The kids put on a performance for us with singing, dancing, and acting. We then got to play with them for awhile… duck duck goose was a hit—when I joined, a boy decided to “goose” me and then have me chase him around the circle at least 5 times rather than sitting in his new spot. Haha. We also tossed balls AND played with snow… yes, I said snow! Our trip leader is a science teacher and brought this powdery stuff that grows into snow when it gets wet! These kids were having so much fun with it because they’ve never seen snow before! That night we ate dinner while talking to the founder of RIDE. I learned that these kids we had just interacted with are victims of child labor. Their parents send them to work in the quarries, which makes $1.50 a day for the family. Their parents don’t quite understand why education is so important but rather see their children laboring as more important and financially successful. Many times the parents try to get jobs but employers would rather higher children, so the kids are literally the source of the family’s income. The RIDE program goes to homes each day to try to convince the kids to come to school that day rather than work. The turnout at school differs greatly each day. Many times the only incentive to go to school is that they will actually be fed a meal that day. So we learned that the RIDE program is trying to convince a culture of their values that they are having trouble understanding.

The next day, Sunday, we got to see the other end of the spectrum of the RIDE program—it’s emphasis on adult labor which in turn allows for child education. We first stopped at an old temple and deity statues. We then went to a village that I really enjoyed. RIDE has helped provide loans to allow parents to get businesses started. They warmly welcomed us with prayers and blessings and of course… tea and biscuits. We got to tour the village president’s house and speak with his family. I’ve learned that I really enjoy any village visits I’ve gone on! We then went to another village where we saw a father’s pottery-making business and parents’ food-making business that RIDE started to fight child labor. We then went to a silk-weaving factory with the same cause. This was really impressive, especially seeing a sari being made because it was with real gold! In each place we had the chance to support their businesses by buying pottery or silk clothing. This trip was fabulous because it focused on a huge problem in India and how they’re working to fix it.

That evening I met up with some of my friends and we headed into Chennai. Our taxi drivers really wanted to help us and also really wanted pictures with us lol. We went to City Center mall, bought movie tickets, and shopped in a bookstore. The taxi drivers insisted on taking us back because it’d be hard to find a taxi later at night. So they picked us up and enjoyed teasing us on the way back to the ship. We were asking them cultural questions, including what the driving age is in India. So after answering he asked us if we wanted to drive the car! Uh, definitely not! Especially since they drive on the left side! But he kept jokingly insisting that we drive the taxi and it gave us some good laughs.

On Monday morning, I went on an SAS Service trip to Samarpana Orphanage for the Handicapped… this was a REALLY great experience! They house, take care of, and teach abandoned people with mental retardation, Down’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, and spinal bifida. They gave an extremely warm welcome with handshakes and golden smiles. First we worked, then we played. My job was cutting nails! Yes, finger nails AND toe nails! For those of you who don’t know, I do not like feet at all, so the toe nails was a big step for me! These feet walk barefoot constantly on dirty Indian grounds and toenails haven’t been cut in awhile… but isn’t that what service is all about? Breaking through our uncomfortability to benefit another? And it really did benefit them… not just physically but mentally too. Since they’re living in a group home they don’t get a lot of one-on-one attention. So simply by focusing on them, touching their hands and feet, they were feeling loved. I truly enjoyed this service work. We then had time to interact with them for a while. Oh, what joys they are! I tend to be drawn towards those that are overlooked… so my friend and I played with 2 little boys that had spina bifida, moderate-extreme mental retardation, and couldn’t talk. Oh, they were such joys! They just had the best smiles that you can only return with a bigger smile. They then had classes and were divided into mental capabilities. I was in the room with the lower-functioning and my favorite little boy. I was so impressed by him! He had learned a puzzle of shapes and colors and would point to where each piece belonged! WOW! There were some boys that came in the room to bicycle. I later learned that one had been the first member of the orphanage and couldn’t even walk when he first came. They each impressed me with how driven and joyful they were. They not only were happy to have Samarpana as a home, but they had built a strong family connection with the others that were there too. It was a most enjoyable time at Samarpana Handicapped Orphanage.

Once we arrived back on the ship, I met the Vietnamese interport student, Anne, and we invited her to join us for the rest of the day. We went back to City Center mall for our afternoon movie. It was spoken in Hindi but didn’t even have subtitles, so it was quite interesting. Bollywood films in general are quite interesting. After 1 hour and 45 min, “Interval” came on the screen… we couldn’t believe it was only intermission! But nonetheless, it was a neat cultural experience to watch an Indian film where we could only guess what was going on. Lol. We also shopped because we wanted some styling Indian clothes… so I found some for my first clothes I’ve bought!

Tuesday morning I went on a trip that focused on the socioeconomic problems in India through a program called MCDS (Montfort Community Development Society). I really like their diligent goals: provide a community for children with disabilities, fight against child labor, provide support and supplies for poor schools, empower women through self-help groups, train youth for self-employment and social awareness, provide a school for drop-outs and failures, improve water/hygiene/dental/physical health of the area, provide care for the elderly, and grow awareness with other networks. We went to the slums on the outskirts and where the tsunami hit the worst 5 years ago. We saw a 1-room school for the children and also talked with the women’s self-help group. We saw another school, walked through the local market within the slums, and viewed the care facility for the disabled. They took one of their students to the Special Olympics a few years ago in Ireland and she won a gold medal! Oh, she was so proud lol. Just as I’d seen in the orphanage the day before, they were all so happy to be there. MCDS focuses on not just providing a building for the disabled, but a community as well where they are integrated with others without disabilities. This is a fabulous program that has developed strongly and already changed many lives.

The rest of my last day I spent with my friends around Chennai shopping and site-seeing.

I was very sad to say goodbye to India. I’ll admit, I was a bit nervous about my time there… but it turned out to be one of my favorite countries. Its wide diversity has created such a rich culture. And they’re so welcoming with an unspoken respect. I had a wonderful taste of South India… and hopefully someday I will see the rest of India. What a tremendous country!

I am now on the ship for 6 days… Next stop: Vietnam.

I hope you are all doing well—may you find many blessings this week!

Sailing Through the North Indian Ocean

2009-10-24T09:45:00.001-04:00

We have spent the past 5 days sailing north in the Indian Ocean… and I can gladly say that we didn’t get attacked by pirates! As much as this is a joking matter, it’s actually quite serious. Our voyage was originally supposed to go through the Mediterranean Sea to Turkey, Croatia, and Egypt, then on to India. But because of the pirate attacks in the north-western parts of the Indian Ocean, our route got redirected to go around Africa up to India. I think our new route was just as great, if not better. I REALLY enjoyed Africa and am thankful we got to go there. And I’m also thankful that we escaped any possibilities of a pirate attack!

We had classes 4 of the 5 past days. On the free day we had Sea Olympics! Each “sea” (which is equivalent to a dorm floor) competed in different activities all day. I represented the Balearic Sea in “Dean Byron Says” which is SAS’s version of Simon Says. Sadly, I didn’t win… I got out when I was too quick to give the person next to me a massage and forgot that Dean Byron didn’t say to! Haha. Out of about 10 seas though, the Balearic Sea came in 3^rd! Whoot! That same day was the prettiest day we’ve had on the ship yet. It was about 85 degrees out and the ocean was so smooth and calm; it looked like glass! The past few days the ocean has bee so incredibly calm. In fact, so calm that the ship hasn’t rocked me to sleep like my body is used to! The crew cooked us a BBQ the night of the Sea Olympics (which was delicious!) and there was the most beautiful sunset yet. Colors were splattered all across the sky with fluffy clouds and a beautiful reflection on the ocean. WOW. So it was a BEAUTIFUL day!

I went to a seminar by a guy who was finishing a documentary on the health in Nepal. He had been working as a videographer in Washington and just got stuck in the rut, wanting something more. He found a group of people who were heading out to Nepal to hike the Himalayan Mountains. He joined them this past April and his life was changed. Nepal is one of the poorest of the poor areas, living on $2 a day with medical care hours away. We watched his 90 min almost-finished documentary and were shocked. They visited the villages of Nepal and talked about what they could do to help. They then climbed the mountains of the Himalayas as a fundraiser. This money sent 3 students to medical college who will go back to their villages and provide useful health care. I feel so blessed to constantly be hearing stories about how people are taking action on poverty throughout the world. We each have so much we’re capable of doing. We each have ways to help the impoverished.

My mom pointed out that people might be interested in hearing how SAS prepares us for each port. There are numerous ways. Our individual classes right before a port normally focus on that country. For example, my 2 Global Music classes this past week have discussed music in Northern and Southern India. We also have a class called Global Studies that every SAS student takes. They bring in inter-port lecturers that will speak numerous times in class prior to arriving. These lectures are normally about economics, politics, and any major issues. For example, prior to arriving in Mauritius we learned about how small islands are most affected by global climate changes. There are also 1-2 inter-port students that are on the ship a few days before arrival. They go to our classes, hang out, and give advice about their country from a 20 year-old’s perspective. 2 nights before arrival we have Cultural Pre-Port, which our dean, inter-port lecturer, and inter-port students put on about the culture of their country. The night before arrival we have Logistical Pre-Port, which our dean, doctor, field office workers, and assistant dean put on to cover the logistics of the SAS trips, health, and basics of the country. We are given a “Green Sheet” which has all the information about where we’re ported, telephone numbers, currency rates, transportation info, etc. on it that we are recommended to keep with us at all times. The morning of port we sometimes have a Diplomatic Briefing in which the country’s diplomats welcome and advise us. Lastly, most countries will provide a hospitality desk on board with maps and people to answer questions. So as you can see, SAS makes sure we are prepared for each country through a variety of ways.

Well, we port in Chennai, India in the morning. I’m very excited for this port. I hope your past few days have flooded you with blessings.

Bonjour, Mauritius!

2009-10-22T20:40:00.004-04:00

What a beautiful island! Each country never ceases to amaze me. Mauritius may be small and unknown, but I am happy to tell you how “rich” it actually is. Mauritius is a “tossed salad” in the Indian Ocean. Africans, French, Indians, British, Dutch, and Chinese all share this island with a deep respect and interdependency with one another. For a quick history lesson, the Arabs first discovered the desolate island but never settled it. Then the French came and brought along Africans as slaves. The British later came in and pushed out the French colonialists. Once the African slaves were freed, a large population of Indians (which now makes up 50% of the population) and a small group of Chinese (now 3% of population) came to live in Mauritius as well. English is the official language, French is the most spoken language, and Creole is the first learned language. A variety of religions, Hindu, Muslim, Christianity (mostly Catholicism), and Buddhism, are all practiced. The island is volcanic and has a number of craters. Its number one industry is tourism, followed by textile. It takes about one hour to drive from the farthest side to the other. The Mauritian cities have a European style with some tin-pieced homes (like South African townships) on the outskirts. The core value in Mauritius is family.

As we pulled in on Thursday morning we had a gorgeous view of the mountainous island. In fact, it looked like a mini Cape Town! Once the ship was cleared, a few friends and I headed into Port Louis. However, our ship was docked a ways from the waterfront so a land taxi or water taxi were recommended. So we hopped into a water taxi for the fun little ride to the waterfront. The water taxi was pretty sweet- a small antique-ish boat with car tires tied all along the outside. It felt good to be closer to the water in comparison to when we’re on the ship. And the water was beautiful! Definitely a bit cleaner than Grand Lake ☺ We then went on into Port Louis to get our first feel of what Mauritius was like. We acquainted ourselves with the city: a beautiful mosque, lots of markets and street vendors, China Town, and Mauritian restaurants on the water. To save some money, we decided to try to walk back to the ship… which we learned quickly why SAS recommended us taking taxis instead! It took about 45 min and went through the industrial part of the city. But it was neat to see the outskirts of the city and it felt really good to just be able to walk after being confined to a ship for a few days.

That afternoon I went on an SAS trip to the Children’s Village of Beau Bassin. What a cool place with a dazzling concept: give abandoned children homes and a “family” to grow up with. Children are sent there if they are abandoned, their parents go to jail, etc. and move into a house with a mother, auntie, and about 7-12 other kids of all ages. They live in the children’s village their entire childhood until they are able to move out and live on their own. They go to school just like everyone else and fortunately now have a family to come home to. They always have kids around to play with and have a “mother” as a role model. It is government-owned, which pays for 50% and corporations pay for the other 50%. It is also highly supported by Mauritians who constantly send support, including presents at Christmastime. We spent the first 10 min learning about the village and then the next few hours to talk to the families and play with the kids. I visited the home of one family that currently has children ages up to 18 and are getting a 2 yr old brother next week, which they were all excited about. We also hung out with the kids, playing games and laughing. The kids love being there and they truly feel like it’s their home.

Friday morning/afternoon I went on an SAS Service trip to several different locations. We first stopped at the church and tomb of Father Laval. He came to Mauritius when the slaves were freed to help take care of them and start a Catholic church. We then went to Gayasing Ashram (Home) for the elderly and disabled. This was a very lovely place… As I mentioned earlier, family is VERY important to Mauritians. They take care of their members until they are no longer able to, in which they are then sent to a home. This Ashram held the elderly and disabled and took care of them very well. They were all very happy to be there. We were given a tour of the facilities and then interacted with a few of them. Each staff takes care of about 8-10 elders. The men with disabilities had a chained fence with barbed wire around their home, where as the women didn’t have anything at all. They told us this was because the women are more tamed. Haha. The numerous facilities were very welcoming and surely provided a good home for each person. After that we visited a small hospital. It is especially known for massage therapy… They help a French boy who has been paralyzed for many years. His mother brings him to this hospital to get a massage 3x a week. He is now able to talk well and walk some. They are proud of his success and want others around the world to know about their hospital. We then went to Cite le Cure neighborhood to visit Teen Hope, a school for underprivileged and troubled children. Although many of these children are drop-outs and rebels, they seemed to be very happy at this school. They are taught at the pace of their classmates and learn in fun ways. We interacted with them through a translator and drawing pictures. So a funny thing happened during this time… Some kids asked if that was Britney Spears and pointed to ME! HA! Wow… Anyway… They then put on a singing and dancing presentation for us and then quickly grabbed us to dance with them! They taught us Sega dancing (Sega is a Mauritian-style of music. It’s similar to Reggae and the dance moves are similar to belly dancing.) and we attempted to learn it. I really enjoyed these visits because it reiterated how important family and friends (and American pop artists) are to Mauritius.

I then met up with my friends and we took a 40 min taxi ride to Grand Bai, which is on the north coast of Mauritius. Our taxi ride was pretty fun. We talked with the taxi driver about his favorite music, which included Michael Jackson… so he got out a Michael Jackson CD and we jammed to it on the way. Haha. When we told him he could put back on his Indian Music (mostly because we can hear MJ anytime we want!) he said, “No! Not for you!” haha. Anyway, we’ve been told that you can’t go to Mauritius and not spend time on the beach, so… that’s what did in Grand Bai! The sand was white and the ocean was a soft blue-green. We later watched the sun set over the Indian Ocean on the Mauritian Grand Bai beach ☺ BEAUTIFUL! We ate dinner at a Mauritian/French restaurant… might I add that I had a banana-mango milkshake that they made FRESH and it was AMAZING! After dinner we ran into some locals on the beach that were jammin’ with a guitar. We talked with them for awhile and ended up hanging out with them for quite a few hours. They sang us some songs and taught us more Sega dancing. Mauritians and the whole continent of Africa are just sooo welcoming and friendly. They are incredibly giving and warm to whomever they run into. This entire day was definitely one of my favorites in my lifetime so far!

Saturday, the final day, was a good last day. 2 friends and I wanted to see more of the natural sites of the island. The hospitality desk on SAS bartered with us and we ended up getting a personal tour guide driver for only $20 USD for the entire day! This is a great deal considering the SAS trip was over $100… And what a BEAUTIFUL tour it was! We first stopped at a crater that is estimated to be 700,000 years old. Then we went to a giant Hindu Shiva statue that is the largest outside of India. We then went to a sacred lake with a Hindu temple on the coast. We were blessed in this Eswarnath Shiv Jyotir Lingum Temple and marked with red paint on our foreheads. Our tour guide took us to several different overlooks of the beautiful ocean and waterfalls. We then went to Black Gorges National Park that had a very long waterfall. What a beautiful day for it- a rainbow shone beside it! We then went to a Mauritian phenomenon called the 7-Colored Earth. Because of chemical processes, several layers of the earth have 7 different colors. It was just amazing and very beautiful! There were also some giant tortoises nearby that were pretty cute, I think at least! The day tour ended with a drive along the west coastline. And then it was time to board the ship and say farewell to Mauritius. As usual, my friends and I went on the 8th deck to watch Mauritius fall away in the dark of the night.

I hope all is well with you! ☺

Tears through the Indian Ocean

2009-10-15T06:33:00.000-04:00

“The real voyage of discovery consists not [only] in seeing new landscapes,

but in having new eyes.”

–Marcel Proust

When boarding the ship and saying goodbye to a country, we SASers re-enter into this comfort world… we go to classes, study for exams, work, hang out with friends… the world that we have come to know as “home.” But our comforts had just been stretched as we were out in a country. Sites that widely opened our eyes had just been surrounding us, humbling us. We claimed to “never be the same ever again” because of what these countries were just showing us. But as easy as it is to go up the steps to board the ship, those changes easily evaporate as we re-enter our comforts, our home, our normalities. I hate this… I absolutely hate this. I don’t want to be temporarily changed… I want my eyes to remain wide open and for me to re-adapt my life to these changes. As much as porting then sailing then porting then sailing can be a downfall (because we re-enter our “home” and those changes slip our mind), it is also a gift… When we forget the first time, we still have another port that will re-open our eyes again. If we forget a second time, we will still have another port to peel those eyes back open. During this period of time at sea between South Africa and Mauritius I have found myself to be more consumed by what I’ve seen off the ship. Those temporary changes are becoming permanent, I can only hope at least. I am finding myself to be more emotional… as images of Torgorme village, South African townships, Habitat’s new homes, and many others keep popping up in my mind. Just thinking about it gets me teary-eyed… And to think that I’ve only seen a tiny portion of all the world’s brokenness… So bear with me as I get more emotional… grasp on to my emotions and take the journey for yourself… be affected too…

I’ll share with you a few of the events that have triggered my tears…

First, Amy Biehl, a young American, went to South Africa to work with the Peace Corp in the early 1990s. Her passion was to help with the black’s struggle against apartheid. Amidst the riots and violence, Amy was pulled out from her car in 1993 and stoned to death by 2 black men who had mistaken her for their white oppressors. She had been in South Africa to help with the terrible never-ending struggle, but was killed. Her parents understood their daughter’s passion and didn’t want it to die with her physical death so they established the Amy Biehl Foundation Trust. The foundation continues their daughter’s work fighting against the effects of apartheid. In addition, they met the 2 men that killed their daughter… and forgave them. Those 2 men now help lead the Amy Biehl Foundation. We too should take advantage of the power of reconciliation and contributing to others’ passions.

Second, there are “Explorer Seminars” every night on the ship in which people can lead a seminar on whatever topic they choose. One that I attended this past week was called, “Living Life on the Extreme.” What does this extreme living consist of? Living life to the full, loving what you do, and doing what you love. But the reason this seminar was so meaningful was because of who was delivering the message. Lynn is a SAS Life Long Learner partial voyager. She was a student here many years ago and has been a partial voyager other times. About 15 years ago she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. Her daughter was just 2 years old and as she told us, “[Her] daughter will never know what she was really like.” This degenerative disease with no known cause or cure is slowly taking away her once known mobilities. This was the first seminar she has given since the disease started taking away her voice. But although Parkinson’s is slowly deteriorating her life, she is not letting it win. She shared with us her “6 Steps of Happiness” and how she twists every battle into something positive. She encouraged us over and over to do what we love and we will truly be happy. Words like this are said a lot… but when they come from a lady who has reasons to be negative, the phrase comes alive with much more meaning. So as Lynn says, live your life to the full… doing what you love.

Third, the distribution of wealth in the world is sickening. It is way too easy for the U.S. and other developed nations to be ignorant about how vast poverty is in the world. As I’ve been spending time with these impoverished areas, I’m becoming quite disgusted with my own life. Why do I complain about the lunch food… when I am at least guaranteed a lunch? Why do I complain about a school class… when I at least am being educated? Why do I think I need one more sweatshirt… when so many don’t have even one? Why do I care if my shoes match my outfit… when many are concerned about even having clothes and shoes to wear? Why do I spend money on ice cream… when that money could feed a family? Why have I learned about these things but not taken initiative to do something about it? We have so incredibly much… so much more than most of the world… and so much that could help that world. $100 could give an entire village clean water for 5 years. Half my wardrobe could quadruple the wardrobe of 3 families. The money I spend on needless snacks in a week could feed a family for a month. It’s sickening… Why am I, why are we, ignorant and selfish in this world? Why do we hold back from sharing this wealth, from distributing a portion of our materials to those that truly need it? Mother Teresa once said, “God does not create poverty; it is created by you and I because we do not share.” The world is an uneven playing field, but we have the capabilities to level it. And it’s not even hard. It’s so easy for us to do this… The things I excessively want… are exactly what many people need. My little can give others much… Our little can give other incredibly much…

We port in Mauritius tomorrow morning. It’s a tiny little island in the Indian Ocean just east of Madagascar. Shiplife these past 6 days has been filled with the norm… classes, midterms, work, friends, trip-planning, Salsa, Flamenco, Hip-hop dancing… but lots of thoughts too. I hope that my thoughts may become your thoughts now too...

:)

Molo (click), South Africa!

2009-10-11T22:09:00.002-04:00

This is a greeting in Xhoso, one of the many dialects of South Africa. It is especially interesting because there is a “click” of the mouth when words are spoken.

South Africa is quite a country… There has been so much turmoil there for so many years. White people colonized it and totally overruled the blacks, taking away all freedoms and drawing strict barriers between the groups. The blacks were forced to live in shacks made out of scrap metal and wood in townships while the whites developed the city and lived in nice homes. This huge gap, called “apartheid,” (uh-PAR-tide) only widened and there is now literally a 3rd world country and 1st world country co-existing in South Africa. Many blacks fought back… but failed. You may recognize the name of Mandela, who got thrown into prison for about 30 years on Robben Island but continued fighting for black rights. In 1994 Mandela was released from prison and was voted in as the 10th president and 1st black president of South Africa. This was anticipated as the end to apartheid, although it’s very obvious it is not. The government promised the townships that each shack would be replaced with a small cement home. Many were started but left unfinished. Today the majority of 79% Africans are still living in metal shacks in undeveloped townships and 9.6% whites are in nice homes in the developed city. South Africa has one of the highest crime rates. 1 in 5 people have HIV and 1 in 3 children are malnourished. This statistic really got me: A South African black girl has a higher chance of being raped than being literate… Apartheid, extreme poverty, unfair treatment, crime, rape, HIV- they aren’t problems of the past in South Africa… They are still every day struggles for the majority of the population. The land is gorgeous, the people are wonderful, but the problems are extreme.

As usual, I will share my days and experiences with you.

Saturday morning many of us woke up early to watch what we heard was going to be the most beautiful sunrise out of all our ports. And it most definitely was! As soon as I woke up I looked out my window and could see the distant shoreline filled with mountains. Then on the 7th deck we had the most glorious view of Table Mountain with the sun rising beside it. WOW. I also spotted a few seals jumping in the ocean as we pulled into port! (So far I’ve seen whales, dolphins, and seals jumping around in the ocean!) We pulled into our reserved dock, which was so close to Table Mountain. I could see one of the side mountains from my porthole and the entire Table Mountain from the back decks of our ship.

As soon as the ship was cleared, we headed out. We explored the area of Cape Town called Waterfront, which is actually where the port is located. Here we saw the very developed wealthy part of South Africa. As one of my friends who was in Cape Town earlier this year kept saying, this was not South Africa… We had the entire day free so a few of us decided to do one of the “musts” of Cape Town, a tour of the winelands. The drive there started showing us the contrasts in South Africa… beautiful mountains, very nice houses, then thousands of shacks beside thousands of shacks, then beautiful rolling hills where wine was produced. Our first stop was at Zevenschwat and second at Saxenburg. This area had tons of wineries and winelands, definitely a top production for Cape Town. Our guide, Stanley, was a cute short older man who was just plain silly. We were also on the tour with a couple from India and a lady from France. This mixture made for good conversations and fun laughs. We passed zebras, ostriches, and antelope on the way to the 2nd wineland. So here’s a funny little story: Stanley, our guide, stopped so we could take pictures. He asked if my 2 friends and I would want our picture taken with the zebras in the background. We said yes and he started “focusing” the camera. With his sillyness he kept saying, “3 ladies… and a ZEBRA!... 3 ladies and a ZEBRA!” After about 5 min he finally had finished his photography masterpiece. The Indian man chuckled and said, “You might want to check the quality of that picture.” We looked at the picture and laughed hysterically. Stanley most definitely got that zebra in the picture! But he missed 2 ½ of our heads, mostly getting only our chests! So we kept joking around and called the picture, “3 chests and a ZEBRA!” (I apologize for any inappropriateness to any youngsters… I guess this blog is rated PG!)

As our tour continued Stanley showed us the only strawberry in Cape Town (aka a giant sign in the shape of a strawberry advertising a farm) and then brought us to a cheetah reserve. However we missed it’s closing by 10 min so we could only see the cheetah through fences. But, from this tour I sort of had my own “African safari” in which I got to see zebras, ostriches, antelope, and a cheetah!

On Sunday I took a tour of Cape Peninsula and Cape Point. Cape Town (there are many different “Capes”; don’t get confused!) sits on the northwestern side of the Peninsula and Cape Point is on the very southern tip. We drove along the western coastline that was just gorgeous with mountains, beaches, giant rock boulders, and ocean. This area of Africa is known for sharks… and I’m about 95% sure I saw a shark fin peep out of the water! Towards the southern part of the peninsula is a national park and reserve for the impressive wildlife of flora and fauna (baboons, ostriches, etc.). At the very tip is Cape Point consisting of a lighthouse on a mountain looking over a gorgeous coastline. This is where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans are said to meet! On our way back around the eastern side of the peninsula we stopped for lunch on Boulder Beach. There are 2 really cool things about this area: 1) there are HUGE rocks lining the white sand beaches, and 2) there are African PENGUINS! We spent time watching them play around with one another in their natural environment. They were just too cute. It was a neat tour of the southern tip of Africa.

Later that evening we spent time at a local market where the locals sold whatever goods they specialized it. It was so neat to see the different artwork that they paint representing their land. They guaranteed us “closing prices” and “the best price for you, lady!” Haha. We also walked around the mall in the Waterfront area. Since crime is so high in South Africa, SASers were advised to stay only around Waterfront or Long Street at night. So although these were more touristy areas, they were safer and also had some good live music. We had met 2 local men the night before who cook food for those getting off work in the middle of the night. We ended up conversing with them this night for 2 hours! These conversations really shed a light on the country. They were quite talkative and openly shared their views on politics, apartheid, government, economics, pollution, disabilities, and the list goes on. They even talked about Obama! (Side note: Every place we’ve visited so far has mentioned something about Obama to us Americans! Ha. Either we’re walking down the markets and they yell “Yeah, Obama!” when they see us, or we see a Hotel Obama or Obama crackers, or they try to sell something to us and say that Obama bought it when he was there. Lol). They were quite excited to be able to share their stories and their land’s history with us foreigners. And those conversations are the ones that teach you the most.

On Monday I attended a program that taught us about Operation Hunger, which is a South African organization that focuses on the malnourishment and health of the people in townships. Operation Hunger is an incredible program. They have 5 different areas that guide their work: wellness, nutrition, food gardens, water, and relief. They seek to increase each of these in specific townships. They set up soup kitchens to feed kids a meal a day, hippo water rollers to provide clean water for townships, rainwater harvesters to collect clean water for townships, vegetable gardens to teach and feed others, nutrition classes, trauma/stress/coping with HIV/AIDS counseling, and many others based on what is needed most. The great thing is that there are people in Operation Hunger who are willing to help and serve their time to help those in need. The sad part is that their funds run out and they no longer have resources to care for them. SAS took 3-day trips with Operation Hunger while in South Africa. It cost us each $29 and with that they are now able to sponsor a new township that we visited. This township was definitely impoverished, just like many others… We started at the church where the town’s children were brought. We helped measure their height, weight, and arm circumference and then calculated whether they are undernourished, average, or overnourished. You can guess that most were undernourished. They take these measures once a month to watch the progress and determine what they can do to improve the health. We then went to a pre-school (it is in one of my posted pictures)… It was a small cement block building with one main room, one desk, 4 tiny chairs, and a slide as a playground. This school was to hold all of the children in the township. However, it holds much less than that on an average day. It costs $5/week for a child to go to school but these families couldn’t afford that… Therefore, their children didn’t go to school. For those that did, they learned from 2 caring unpaid teachers with the limited supplies they had… there was one shelf that held everything, all the toys, paints, books, etc. They were so short on supplies that when we asked what they needed, they couldn’t even find a pen to write a list down. The hearts to teach these kids are there… but the money and supplies are not.

We then all piled back onto our safe comfortable bus to go eat our guaranteed fulfilling lunch. This “satisfying” time of the day left me so unsatisfied. It just wasn’t fair… I was just in this village where they barely have enough to get by, and here I was comfortably eating a packed lunch. They needed it so much more than me… Our leader let us know that we would be going to another township after lunch and then helping out at a soup kitchen. Any uneaten food could be given to those at the soup kitchen. This was the perfect opportunity to take action on the changes going on inside me. I ate enough, but then saved the rest for those that actually needed it. To me it was another box lunch… but to them it was like a grand buffet.

We arrived at the next township, which was in even poorer condition than the previous (I posted a picture of this one as well), but also a more common condition than the other. We walked along the outskirts and then through the little spaces between the homes in extreme disbelief that these people really lived this way. They took scrap pieces of metal and wood and built a house that somehow withstands some weather (definitely not rain or strong winds). Most people had some sort of metal fence or barbed wire blocking the crime from coming into their homes. Loads of trash, metal, broken glass, poop, and tin cans lined the ground. I have never seen anything like it.

We then moved on to a “soup kitchen”… but not one like you’d think. A black lady who had a bit more money felt called to still help out her fellow neighbors. She built a small nice house right on the edge of the township, cooked soup in her kitchen, and had the school children over every single day to feed them their one meal. That day we joined her, and I have tears just thinking about it again. When we showed her all the food we had gathered from our lunches, she was ecstatic and so excited to see the kids eat more than just soup. We helped her prepare it all in the kitchen and then eagerly awaited for the kids. They started gathering but were impressingly patient for the food and more excited to talk with us! The soup kitchen lady gathered them all together then had them “perform” for us… they sang so sweetly, both fun and serious praising-God songs. It was very touching that these same kids, some with amazing voices, were living in those metal homes we had just seen. Then it was time to feed them, and oh the joys! They swarmed towards the food and were so excited to also get an apple slice and sandwich with their soup! We continued to play and talk with them as they ate. They kept wanting us to take pictures of them and got the greatest kick out of themselves when they looked at it. We were pulled away too quickly when it was time to go. So many wanted hugs goodbye. Watching them eat as we left was so humbling… I would share and give my meal everyday with an African child if I could…

After my day on Monday, I was so ready to work and do something to give to the townships. It was very convenient that I had signed up for Habitat for Humanity this day. As I mentioned above, the South African government promised to give each family in a shack a cement block home but then never finished this project. Habitat for Humanity has been working to build these homes so families can move out of tiny shacks into an “upgraded” longer-lasting home. Semester at Sea and each SAS Habitat worker sponsored a new house in a township. We started it on Monday and it was finished by Thursday! The house was being built right in front of the family’s blue shack. The new house was about 20’ by 20’ and made out of cement blocks. The family was entirely deaf but just so sweet. They were so gracious for our work. We had a great group of workers and Habitat leaders. The leaders were just full of energy and always singing. (Here’s a shout-out to Shining Through!:) They even sang Siya Hamba but changed the lyrics to, “We are building in the light of God, we are building in the light of God!” One of the most fun jobs was using the house floor to mix the “daga” (the mixture that holds the cement blocks together). The leaders’ cheers to get us pumped about it went, “DAGA DAGA DAGA!” and we’d respond, “OY OY OY!” I learned a few days later that the Habitat leaders also live in shacks in townships… but they choose to build others houses rather than themselves. Wow. By the end of the day the walls had moved from being about ¼ done to all the way to the roofline!

We had taken our lunch break in the middle of the day but were instructed that we must eat on the bus otherwise the kids would come up to us. The bus didn’t stop that. The kids ran up to the sides and stared at us while we ate. Some even held out their hands… Ugh, so heart-breaking. But thankfully again, any food we didn’t eat was given to the family, leaders, and kids. After lunch we took a tour of the township. Many of the “upgraded” houses had been built in front of the shacks already. As we walked around, kids gathered and started clinging to us. I had the sweetest girl, Flamenka, attach to me (there’s a posted picture of us). After awhile she jumped on my back and we had fun together. On our walk back she laid her head into my back and started singing the sweetest song. I sang some with her and then she sang to me. It was one of the most beautiful sounds I’ve ever heard. She was a hard one to say goodbye to! What another humble day spent in the townships…

On Wednesday, a friend and I went out and explored more of Cape Town. We saw many old pictures of historical Cape Town, including African tribes and the industrialization of the city. We also fell into conversation with a sweet African lady. She was excited to tell us about African traditions and how important God is to them. Later a larger group of us went to a place on Long Street called Mama Africas, which was sooo cool! It had live music, a band called AbAvuki. They had 3 marimbas, a drummer, a cowbell/drummer, and a singer. The marimbas were really unique in that they didn’t have any “black keys.” So basically all the music was in one key. They had so much fun dancing around, pulling us up on stage with them, and singing their lungs out.

Thursday morning was spent finding a place with internet and then uploading pictures to my blog ☺ If you have any questions about any of the pictures or blogs, email me at kjsmith@semesteratsea.net! So after that, a group of us rushed to Table Mountain (that’d be 7 of us in a tiny taxi… haha, fun times!). We took a cable car up to the top and, oooooh, what a view! This mountain is just plain awesome. It’s basically flat on top, hence the name Table, but reaches out into the ocean and is normally covered by clouds. We could even see our ship from up there! We all cheered with oreo cookies up top lol. I wish we could’ve spent more time up there, but it was time to head back to the ship so it didn’t leave without us! We made it back in time with even a few min to run to the grocery store and spend our last bit of change. As always, we watched the ship pull out of the harbor. The sun had already set and Cape Town was all lit up.

As soon as we pulled out the ship started REALLY rocking… It soon started hitting the roughest waters. It felt like a constant earthquake. However, it calmed down the next morning and has been pretty decent since.

We have had 2 days of classes so far (yup, you heard that right, class on a Saturday!) but have a study day tomorrow then 3 more days of classes until we’re in Mauritius! I will post again before we port. Keep taking care everyone, and enjoy the pictures!

South Africa

2009-10-08T06:44:00.004-04:00

working with Habitat for Humanity in South Africa

touring a township and 2 of our new friends :)

working on the Habitat house--- the lady is in the family that it is for.

working hard!

Habitat for Humanity in South Africa... before we started

children with Operation Hunger... we joined them after school and prepared/fed them their meal for the day... very humbling.

Squatter camps in South Africa... this is most of the population minus the extreme wealthy. 2 worlds in one country...

the Pre-school we visited

African penguins on Boulder Beach!

Cape Point! You are looking at the meeting point of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans!

Cape Peninsula coast in South Africa

the mountains of South Africa

I've been blessed with the most wonderful friends on SAS (and I mean really really blessed)! Clockwise starting on my right: Mary (glasses), Lizzy, Natalie, Aleks, and Tiffany

The view from our ship! Whoa! That's Table Mountain and Waterfront.

sunrise as we approached South Africa... That's the world-famous Table Mountain. Gorgeous!

Ghana & Neptune Day

2009-10-08T06:24:00.004-04:00

Neptune Day! That guy would be our "King Neptune" aka... our Captain of the ship!

Ghana Drumming and Dancing workshop

on top of the highest peak in Ghana! Mount Afadjato!

the view of Ghana from Mount Afadjato!

my host mother in Torgorme village and another SASer

Torgome village and the wonderful kids... one of the best experiences of my life

my 2 favorite buddies in the village

the kids taught me how to dance African-style!

these kids got RHYTHM!

the ceremony they put on for us! lots of impressive dancing!

Morocco & Spain

2009-10-08T05:42:00.006-04:00

that'd be a camel... with a nose ring!

morning trek

Sahara sunset

camel trekking in the Sahara!

that's me! ON A CAMEL!

RIDING A CAMEL!

camel trekking in the Sahara :) (I'm not in this pic)

The High Atlas Mountains! Amazing!

Chez Ali performance in Morocco

Moroccan musician

Marrakech markets

Left side: Morocco, AFRICA... Right side: Spain, EUROPE!

Gibralter, Meditteranean Sea, Atlantic Ocean

Friends and I saying goodbye to Spain on our home, the MV Explorer!

Friends in Spain

Plaza de Espana in Seville, Spain

Spanish white villages

Grazalema Mountains - Spain

friends!

Flamenco night --- flamenco dancinc, horse taming, and amatuer bull-fighting... AWESOME!

Spain & Nova Scotia

2009-10-08T05:20:00.004-04:00

Cadiz, Spain beach

Windows in Cadiz

My friends and I hanging out in Spain

Semester at Sea finally disembarking from Nova Scotia!

Nova Scotia

Sailing Along the South-Western African Coast

2009-10-02T23:36:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow I’ll be in South Africa!

It’ll be for 6 days, our longest port yet! This past week on the ship has been filled with many fun and meaningful things:

• Last Saturday we crossed over the Equator! This is a pretty big deal when done by any water vehicle. We awoke to our joyous crewmembers marching up and down the hallways playing loud instruments. It reminded me of senior night/morning at band camp! We were all summoned up to the 7th deck for the Neptune Day Ceremony. The marching crew band led on King Neptune and his wife—aka our Captain covered in lime green paint, long white wig, and a hula skirt… he looked a lot like King Triton in The Little Mermaid! When one crosses over the equator for the first time by boat, they must be “initiated”… dum dum dum… So one-by-one we got red and purple gew poured on our heads, jumped in the pool with our clothes on (unless you put on a swimsuit knowing what was going to happen… but I missed that memo… lol), kissed a fish (4 times for me… one was a Spanish kiss on both cheeks! haha), knelt to be dubbed, kissed the queen’s hand, and then finished by kissing the king’s ring with deep gratitude. Once one is initiated, they get their head shaved and all hair is off! So right now as I’m writing this, I have a bald head! All my hair is GONE! It feels a little weird, but it’s a lot less to take care of! So we just have a bunch of baldies running around the ship now ☺ haha, what a sight and what a FUN day!

• Crossing the Equator means the season changed! I jumped from Summer right into Spring! And believe it or not, even though we’re this close to the Equator it’s actually the coldest it has been yet!

• I played in Intramural Volleyball! Team Sparkles played our first game very well… We won the first one, lost the 2nd, and then lost the tie-breaker. But for having no warm-ups and having not played in quite a while, we sure put up a good fight! And all that matters is that we had fun, and we most definitely did… with a few laughs included ☺

• I attended a seminar titled Global Citizenship… As we’re traveling and seeing so much of the world, we’re realizing what it means to be a global citizen: becoming aware of the worlds problems and compassionately doing what we can to help. SAS has developed a program called $100 Solution. They met with Ghanaian Rotary members and asked what they could use $100 for to better their society. After much discussion, they decided that what was needed now are fans in schools. There’s a 50% attendance rate because of how hot, stuffy, and crowded Ghanaian schools are. One of the members matched the $100 for $200 total… and with that they were able to buy and install ceiling fans for 720 students. When SAS was in the schools they saw how crowded and uncomfortable the children were with a 3 kids to 1 desk ratio. The rotary members decided that they should do a fundraiser to buy more desks to increase comfort and attendance. They went back to their board and by the next day had raised enough money to give them desks. $100 Solution focused on the immediate needs and took action with this “small” amount that we just throw around. Now these students can learn in a more comfortable environment and enjoy school. Programs like this show us what it is to be a global citizen: no longer being ignorant to the rest of the world and finding responsibility in helping others.

• I have continued going to Salsa dancing and also joined a couple of other dancing classes—Hip-Hop and Flamenco! How neat to learn world dances while traveling the world!

• These ocean waves aren’t like Grand Lake’s! They are getting pretty big and this boat is really rocking! While crossing the Atlantic, we were tilting from right side to left side, which made it pretty hard to walk straight and difficult to avoid running into people and walls. But now while sailing along the West/South African Coast the boat is rocking from front to back! This makes it seem like you have a TON of pressure being pushed on to you and then it changes quickly to seem like you’re walking on the moon! And these intense alternating movements occur several times a minute! My cabin is 2nd in from the front of the ship, where it feels the waves the worst. My body is adapting to sleeping with this movement and even wakes up sometimes when it stops! I also live on the 4th deck, which is fairly high. We’ve had some waves splash our window! I’ve heard that it’s the worst going around the tip of Africa, but then it should get a little smoother.

Well, we arrive in Cape Town, South Africa tomorrow morning! We’ve been learning about the apartheid (separate-ness) there between the wealthy minority whites and poor majority blacks. I’m excited to be exposed to this and learn more.

Oh, by the way, I and many others opted out of the head-shaving. My short blonde hair is still sitting on my head… haha! Gotcha!

Wimoweh wimoweh, o wimoweh wimoweh…

Kels

A new video has been posted from Semester At Sea in Ghana. I'm not in this video, but it will give you a glimpse of the culture in Africa! http://www.ise.virginia.edu/video/F09/vid_4.html

Akwa’aba to Ghana!

2009-09-28T22:24:00.005-04:00

Translation: Welcome to Ghana!

This statement perfectly describes the Ghanaian people- very friendly and excited to welcome everyone into their country. Ghana gained independence from the British about 50 years ago and was the first African colony to do so. English is the common language along with many different village dialects, such as Ga, Asante, and Ewe. Accra is the capital and biggest most-developed city in Ghana. The rest of the country is made up of small/big villages, plains, and mountains. The people have so much spirit in them! They are unbelievably talented at balancing everything on their head. Babies are wrapped on the backside of women in fabric. Pottery is hand-made by village women. Chiefs sit on thrones during village ceremonies. Goats run around wild. Free time is spent dancing and drumming. 69% of the country is Christian and 17% is Muslim. Store names are influenced by Christian titles on almost every sign. The atmosphere is relaxed, fun, and filled with laughter. Oh yeah, and Ghana is tremendously amazing!

My first day, Tuesday, was spent traveling the streets of Tema. Tema is the city where we ported and is a suburb to Accra. My music professor had a friend who offered to show us around and get dresses made. We started by taking fun taxi rides to the market area. Then 20 of us piled in a Tro-Tro, which is a minibus taxi, and went to another smaller market area to look at different fabrics. I found such a beautiful one! We then waited for the tailor to show up… and waited… So then our group worked it out that we could go back to the ship and the tailor would meet us there. So we did and waited… and waited… and still no tailor by 5:30 pm. Needless to say, the tailor never showed up, we all had put off our plans long enough already, and we were ready to do something else. So on the downside, I never got a dress made and I could’ve done other things with that time. On the bright side, I got to see the streets of Tema, learn about Ghanaian time, and now have African fabric to make whatever I want! I then met up with some friends in Accra and we walked the streets checking out the vendors and talking with insistent sellers. We were getting hungry so we asked around to find a Ghanaian restaurant. But we kept getting pointed to American ones! We finally found one that had Lebanese food and settled for it. It turns out that there really aren’t Ghanaian restaurants because they all eat in their homes with their families. The restaurant idea is more European/American, so those are the only types of restaurants that are opened. We had fun and it was great to see the friendly city of Accra!

Wednesday and Thursday were filled with an SAS program called “Cultural Immersion”… and immersed I was! We got up bright and early and traveled 2 hours through beautiful plains with distant mountains. We crossed over the Volta River dam, which feeds the largest man-made lake in the world (it was actually man-made on accident). Our big tour bus squeezed through narrow dirt paths back to the village of Torgorme (To-go-may). As we entered the village, everyone was excitedly waving at us and kids ran towards the arriving bus. We were the center of attention and surely sticking out with our white skin! They led us into a village circle where a ceremony would soon take place. The kids were in awe of us and staring and grabbing our hands. The villagers, school children, elders, chief and his family, and our host families gathered around the village circle as well and the ceremony began. There was drumming and lots of dancing—mostly by the children! A girl read a poem and elders shared prayers. Then they presented each of us one-by-one with our new African Ewe (Eh-vay) name, a small hand-made pot, and a beaded bracelet. They give names according to the day one is born (not just for us, but for everyone in the village) and the family name. Each name has it’s own meaning too. My African name is Ama Kafui (Aem-eh Kaw-fwee), which means “Praise Him”. ☺ We then were presented to our host families. I was paired up with another SASer who is actually from Colombia. Our host mom is in maybe her 50s and has her family right next to her in the village. One of my friends was paired with the Chief! I was very happy with my match—it was authentic representing the norm of the poor in Africa. We then hung out with our own families for the rest of the day, which in our case meant the extended family. Their English was limited so we communicated through actions mostly. The children taught us their dances, which was just so much fun. In return they wanted to learn some of ours, so we taught them some quality dances: The Macarena, Hand-Jive, and the Chicken Dance! Haha. They loooved these! They taught us more of their games, which is how they spend most of their free time. They don’t have computers and video games, so they find fun in outdoor games and dancing. I found a lot of fun in these too ☺ They also really enjoyed having pictures taken of them and then looking at themselves since many of them don’t have mirrors. One girl climbed a palm tree to pick coconuts, then our mother used a machete to cut it open for us to drink! They couldn’t believe we had only ever had coconut water out of a can before! The kids also took us to the Volta River… and they were arguing over who got to hold our hands along the way. The kids just swarmed around us and would pet our arms in amazement. The afternoon had passed and it was now dinnertime.

Here is when I had my breaking point… Let me explain it to you. Our tour guide had our dinner catered from a local mess hall. The SASers got our food and sat down with our host families. But our families never went up to get food. We asked them if they had eaten yet (by this time it was about 8 pm) and they said no. We asked them if they were going to go get some food here. They said they weren’t allowed. In the meanwhile, the rest of the villagers had gathered around us, some playing the drums and dancing, but most others were standing and watching us eat…. Watching us-- who are traveling the world, who have different clothes to wear tomorrow, who have money to buy a camera, who are having a meal catered to us, who don’t even question if we’ll have our next meal… And they just stood there and watched us engaging in another luxury that we take for granted. When we were about done eating, we asked our families if they wanted the rest of our food. They graciously said yes and took the plates. The nearby kids saw this and ran up wanting some scraps too. We looked up at the food line that was still filled for us to have seconds. And then looked at all the faces around us who hardly get to have firsts, let alone seconds. I just couldn’t take it. One by one, some of us went through the line filling plates and bowls with food and then passed it down to our families. They placed the dishes on the ground and the kids snuck over so they could fill their tiny tummies. We went up for a few more rounds and our families filled a bowl so they could eat tomorrow. At the end of the night I was thankful to see that the leftovers were thrown in a big bowl and laid down for kids. There were so many of them and such little food, that they were like dogs fighting over a bone.

These moments have permanently changed me. I was so disgusted with myself and luxurious lifestyle for quite awhile. I will never take for granted another meal. Instead, I am finding ways that I can help this village have their basic needs met. SAS has already been taking action since we’ve been back on board to donate pens, pencil, paper, and extra currency to Torgorme village so the kids can learn in school. I’m brainstorming ways for once I’m back home to help more of their needs, such as food and clothing. I’ll keep you posted in case anyone is interested.

After dinner we danced with the villagers to the drums. I had a new little friend shyly attach herself to me. She would hardly let go of holding my hand or hugging my leg. She’s such a cutie. By 10 pm we headed to bed. Our home had 2 rooms. We slept in one that had 2 straw mattresses on the ground. I fell asleep that night in a sweet African village listening to the goats and woke up to the anxious roosters. What a wonderful day. What wonderful kids and wonderful families.

I woke up the next day to kids pounding on the door (the door lock was 3 bent nails twisted over the door) and then pushing open the window. They wanted to see how we foreigners slept! And oh were they laughing! I couldn’t understand them but learned later that they were mimicking our sleeping positions. We got ready and then our mom presented us with a long skinny fabric to remember them. Oh, there is no way I could ever forget them! We said our goodbyes, which was rather difficult. In such a short time these people had changed my life. Their simplistic enjoyment in life, their never-ending laughter, their light-heartedness, their constant open arms, their community that looked out for one another… they changed my life. As we left everyone waved goodbye and the kids chased the bus.

We then drove 4 hours on very bumpy roads through more villages and beautiful mountains. It was so bumpy… it was like we were back-roading in a tour bus! It was actually pretty fun, kind of like a free amusement park ride. We soon arrived to Mount Afadjato, the tallest mountain in Ghana. And we hiked it! The natural trail went basically straight up for 950 meters! But oh, the view was AMAZING! We could see plains, more villages, and far Ghanaian mountains on one side… and on the other side were mountains and waterfalls in Togo! So even though I didn’t go to another country, I could see yet another country! The hike down was a bit unnerving due to how steep it was. I sort of felt like George of the Jungle ☺

We continued on our way to Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary in the village of Hohoe. We walked to the outskirts of the village to what appeared to be your everyday African woods. We soon learned differently as the branches seemed to be jumping. It was monkeys! Our guide did a monkey call with his mouth and then held up a peeled banana. The monkeys jumped right down to the nearest branch and snatched the banana! More of them gathered and were ready to chow down. We each took a banana, unpeeled it, and held it up to a hunting monkey. They sometimes snatched it small piece by small piece, but the one I fed snatched half of it all at once! My banana was gone in only two snatches! These may have been the coolest monkeys I’ve ever seen. We then drove 4 hours back to the ship. “Cultural Immersion” was my favorite SAS trip yet… It’s immersion into authentic Africa taught me so much that has permanently changed me.

Friday I attended a Drumming and Dancing workshop at Noyam African Dance Institute. It sits on a hill in the village of Dodowa. 8 teachers and students who make up the program eagerly greeted us. Noyam’s 2 buildings were very simple. They were unfinished concrete structures with one large room made for performances and practices. They showed us the facilities and then soon started teaching us a dance! We also learned a song that would be sung as an intro to the dance. Then it was time to put it all together. The drummers played advanced beats and we performed! I felt like a true African then, now that I could groove to the beat. They made a Ghanaian lunch for us and then we learned another dance in the afternoon. Half the group learned the drum and gonkogui part and the others (and me) learned the dance. We got to perform it all together. Who knew SASers could jam?! They also taught us about the importance of the relationship between drums and dancers. They are interdependent on one another, carefully listening and watching what the other is doing. The drums signal when the new dance frame is to start. The drums watch the dancers to understand the depths of the music. The drums build layers upon layers and normally have a master drummer that cues the others. The dancers use full body movements representing war, laughter, fun, and emotions. Sometimes the rhythm is so advanced you wonder how the dancers even find the beat! I have a 7 min video of our performance and will put it up once I get back home. Friday was a wonderful way to spend the last day in Ghana through drumming and dancing-- the true heart of the united country.

Then back to the ship it was… It was hard leaving Ghana. I felt like my time was well spent and very fulfilling (yet heartbreaking), but I wanted more time! As usual, my friends and I headed to 7th deck as we sailed away from shore. When we were leaving the port workers waved goodbye to us. We yelled, “WE LOVE YOU, GHANA!” and they responded with lots of positive cheers and laughter.

So what’s up now? Well, Saturday was Neptune Day… you may or may not be aware of what that is, but it’s quite a big deal on any ship crossing the equator! And then 6 days of classes until we arrive in South Africa on Saturday. I will update you on my ship time in a few days. Until then, keep taking care and go dance to some rhythm!

ALSO ANOTHER NOTE: See the latest slideshow posted on the Semester at Sea website from Sahara (Morocco)! If you look closely you can see me in a few of the slides! http://www.ise.virginia.edu/video/F09/vid_3.html (Copy and paste this link into the web browser).

Sailing Along the West African Coast

2009-09-21T21:12:00.002-04:00

Location: 4 degrees N, 3 degrees W

Hello everyone! 6 days have gone by since we were last in a country and now there are only 16 hours left till we are in another! I’m VERY excited for our time in Ghana! This past week has been filled with classes, work, studying, and a lot of fun happenings.

I have a work scholarship with SAS, which was originally with the Campus Store. However, there were too many of us so some got switched over to other needed ship jobs. So last Tuesday, our first day back on the boat, I started my new job as the Life Long Learners Tech Helper. Life Long Learners are people of all ages who travel with SAS, sit in on or take classes, and explore the countries. Since they are of many different ages, they differ on levels of tech-savyness. I meet with them one-on-one in 2 one-hour sessions a day with whatever help they need on their computers, cameras, or iPods. I am enjoying this job a lot! It’s great to hear their stories and see their enjoyment in learning what we find easy on a computer. And they sure give me some good laughs! And I’d like to share some with you:

I’ve helped a few set up a blog and put up their first post. One lady (who is a hoot) said she’s going to subscribe to mine and then just plagiarize everything. Haha. If you’re reading this, hey Susan!

Another was going through her emails and found one titled, “How to keep your husband pleased when you’re old.” She started reading the first few numbers to me, and you can imagine how they might go... Haha! She was laughing hysterically and I didn’t know whether she or the email was funnier!

After a couple of sessions with another lady, she began to tell me how she wants me to visit her in California after SAS. Aww, how sweet! Then she went on to tell me that when I do, she’ll have her 22-year-old music/theatre major grandson show me around San Francisco. Haha! Then she threw a pitch on him! Haha! So she wants to set me up with her grandson.

I am participating in a program called Vicarious Voyage. A group of SAS students gets matched up with a U.S. classroom and the class vicariously lives through our travels to learn about the world. There are about 30 matches with SAS. My group has a 3rd grade class in Virginia! We got a packet from them and each of the 18 students wrote letters to their pen-pals! So I now have 3 new pen-pals ☺ They’re just adorable. One of them said, “My favorite color is pink. And for some reason I like dark blue.” Haha, what a crime ☺

Another SAS program is Shipboard Families. Staff and Life Long Learners can sign up to “adopt kids” and students can sign up to have an “extended family.” I met my new extended/adopted family for the voyage! There are 5 “kids” and our mom/auntie is an RA. She was a SASer 9 years ago! We all hit it off right away and had a game night last night. We’re already planning other things to do together. It’ll be a great shipboard family.

I’m in a club! It’s called Signing at Sea, a group to learn and use sign language! We had our first meeting and learned some general basics to start conversations. I’m so excited to learn another language on this voyage! Quick fact: Sign language is actually not universal. Each country has its own versions. Some signs may be similar, but we have our own, the Spanish have their own, etc. Also, people using sign have their own accents, just like we speak with accents. And lastly, we get to choose how to sign our name. You use the first letter of your name and then choose a gesture that describes something about you. My name is a K by the corner of my mouth because I laugh so much ☺

As we travel along the West African coast there have been quite a few dolphin spottings! Small groups of them will wave jump a little distance out from the ship. It is so neat to see them having fun in their natural environment!

SAS put on a Talent Show! The talent here would impress you! Some of the acts were a Michael Jackson tribute, Tahitian dancing, a comedian, and a man of many different accents.

The best part of the whole week took place two nights ago. A small group of us slept outside on the ship’s deck! It was just amazing. Looking up at thousands of bright stars… hearing the crashing ocean waves… watching heat lightening far off in the distance… talking with quality friends… and even seeing a shooting star! The night was cut short when we were shooed off the deck at 3:30 am because the winds were getting too strong. But that night was amazing and it will definitely be happening again!

This next comment is to all of you who know me quite well… You may be wondering about the ice cream situation here, since it’s a very important part of my life… The ship in fact does not have free ice cream. Whoa! I know I know, no worries, I’m still surviving. It costs about $3 a cup… and I fear of buying my first cup because I’m sure a second, third, fourth will come soon after. My goal is to not buy ice cream on the ship the entire semester. (Although we have had it as dessert 2x so far! You can bet I got it then!) As far as the countries go, I made it one of my goals to try it in each country… to compare ice cream styles of course! I was avoiding telling my SAS friends my craze over it in hopes that it would take my mind off it. Then I found out that my friends are just as obsessed as I am!!! Haha! We might’ve had it everyday in Spain… haha. I did better in Morocco; I only had it once! I guess since I’m so deprived of it on the ship I must make up for it in ports. Right? ☺

Well, it’s been a fun week on the ship and pretty busy (but a fun busy). I’m pumped for Ghana tomorrow, especially after our Dean of Students rapped about it last night. This ship knows how to have good fun! I’ll be very excited to share my Ghanaian adventures with you too! Until then, enjoy the blossoming colors in the trees and the sweet smell of autumn. Bye!

Salaam ou alaikum! Bonjour!

2009-09-17T20:52:00.002-04:00

Let me paint Morocco for you: Snake charmers in the town square. Street sweepers using long palm branches. Groups of women walking with only their eyes showing. A mosque highlighting the skyline. Belly dancers shaking their hips. Signs written in both Arabic and French. Five men playing small drums and singing. Friendly yelling in souks (markets) to barter beautifully painted dishes and wool carpets. Mint tea drinking at the end of every meal. Donkeys pulling carts filled with palm branches. Camels crossing sand dunes. Families ducking in the shade of their mud homes. This is Morocco, an independent Muslim colony from France. They speak both Arabic and French and seem more Middle-Eastern than African. 52% of the population is illiterate, with most of those being the older generations. They have the longest standing friendship agreement with the United States and were the first to recognize us as an independent country. They are 97% Muslim and very dedicated to their religion. Morocco is a unique and astounding country.

My first walk on Moroccan ground was the short distance to load the buses for a 4-day trip. 200 SASers filled 4 buses and we took off. Our first sights of Morocco came as we drove through the streets of Casablanca. We all experienced a culture shock, as we had been in its neighbor Spain 2 days before and they shared hardly any similarities. Casablanca was much more conservative, dirtier, and poorer. We drove through the country, which looked similar to the US but dryer, until we arrived at Marrakech, the most populated city in Morocco. It is neat to get out of the port city because it isn’t fair to base the whole country off of one city. Marrekech showed us this, as it had more painted mud buildings and was cleaned up a bit more than Casablanca. When we arrived 3 hours later we had a very nice Moroccan lunch. This is where we split from the cultural norms… It is Ramadan for the Muslims, in which they fast from both food and drink all day and then break it when the sun goes down. We were still fed, but just not being seen in the public eye. We learned that Moroccan food is one of the top 5 cultural foods in the world! And it was good, especially all the bread they gave us ☺. We then had time to spend in the souks (markets) in Jemaa el Fna Square. This is when I first spotted the snake charmers, which is just quite interesting. We couldn’t get too close though otherwise they’d trick you into paying 200 dirham, which is about $25. We walked through the souks taking in the all the different items they were trying to sell: beautiful dishes, tea sets, mini wood and leather camels, rugs and carpets (which they’re known for), clothing, etc. Then we felt a sprinkle… and another drop or two… then it started DOWN-POURING! The irony in this is that it rains 20-25 days of the year in Morocco, and we were lucky enough to experience one of them! The souks quickly took cover and shooed the shelter-seekers out of their shops. We ran through the flooding (and a little poopy) streets, which I honestly hold as a very fun memory. We later were taken to our hotel and had time to clean up our dirty feet and change for our night excursion.

Our evening was spent Chez Ali, a tourist-dependent show that modeled the traditional Moroccan folklore. It was… interesting. Sometimes it is hard to get past very touristy attractions because it just doesn’t seem authentic. But I had to remind myself that all tourist attractions develop out of truths. There was a very large arena that was surrounded by tented restaurants and groups of singing and dancing Moroccans. Many of them came into each tent as we ate dinner and performed a little more. Then there was the real show afterwards: in the arena there was a flame thrower, belly dancer, racing horses with white-dressed men that shut off guns, camel riding, and horse tamers/dancers. At the end they had “Aladdin and Jasmin” float across on a flying carpet and then an explosion of fireworks. So mostly everything was authentically driven except the very ending. Again, it was very neat to see this spectacle, but it just seemed to be a circus for tourists.

The next day we woke up early and started out on an 8-hour bus ride to head to the Sahara area. Much of the journey was spent driving through the High Atlas Mountains… how beautiful!!! As our buses drove on narrow streets on the sides of the mountains, we looked out and saw these barren clay-like high mountains. WOW! We also passed through the Mid Atlas Mountains, saw a Palm-tree-filled oasis, and many many small mud villages. We passed through Zagora… and then there was another great site: 100 camels approaching with nomads. We were then dropped off at the side of the road in the Sub-Sahara region. Ha! We all excitedly grabbed our things for the night and rushed over to the camels. Since we had such a large group, we walked for half of it and rode for the other half. And then I rode a camel! I RODE A CAMEL! (Sorry, it’s just a bit surreal for me yet ☺) This was just such an awesome experience, camel trekking with many of my new friends through the Sahara Desert. The getting up and going down was a little rocky for the camel, but very fun I might add. The ride itself was bumpy, but again, completely awesome! The nomads guided us to camp and we arrived at near sun-down. Camp had 25 tents for the students, 2 large tents to eat in, and then a really awesome bathroom (awesome as in zipped up stalls to a hole in the ground, but that’s a lot nicer than what I expected!). A friend and I went and watched the sunset on the top of a hill/dune with mountains surrounding me. It was an amazing site… I just want to keep that picture in my head forever! We ate dinner once the nomads could break Ramadan and then some of us went out to hunt for scorpions! We found one and it glowed in the black light. A few of us then went to go lay out on the dunes under the stars that were miraculously bright. Then something hilarious happened. Some nomads saw us and directed us towards a quality start-grazing spot. I was looking forward to them joining us so I could hear about their nomadic lives. But then I realized that wasn’t exactly what they were looking forward too… One beside me whispered asking my name, then laid down beside me but faced me instead of the stars, and then asked if I wanted a massage *eyebrow raise*! Oh wowsers! We soon got out of that situation and had quite a few laughs. We didn’t want to forget the star-gazing because nomads hit on us, so we just went and found another spot where some other SASers were. Ha, wow, what an experience! The view was so beautiful. With no lights for miles and miles the stars just shone so brightly. As it got colder and later we headed to sleep in our cozy little nomadic tents for the night.

The next morning we woke up early, ate breakfast, and then headed back out on the camels. We did some walking then riding, and it was still surreal to me. I was just gleaming up on that camel! Eventually we arrived back to the highway, loaded the buses, and said goodbye to our camels and nomad friends. It was then an 8-hour bus ride back to Marrakech through the High Atlas Mountains. The view was still quite breathtaking! When we arrived we were on our own for the night. A group of us walked the streets and then found a local pizzeria to dine in. We walked around a bit more, but not for too long because the streets aren’t safe for foreigners or girls at night. And I was 2 of those. So instead our group bonded over card-playing at the hotel.

The next day a group of us walked 45 min to the souks for a little more bartering, a supermarket, and a taxi ride. Soon it was time to meet the large group for the ride back to Casablanca. As much as I enjoyed the trip, it was nice to have some time to see the port city as well.

The last day started with a presentation called “I Love Hip Hop in Morocco.” We had watched a movie with the same title during pre-port. For this presentation a rising hip-hop female artist, Fati, came in to talk with us. This rising genre caused a lot of tension in Morocco. However, the artists pursued it because it was a way for them to express themselves. They compared it often to American hip-hop since that’s how they were inspired, but they don’t have the freedom of speech for the lyrics like we do. In addition, Fati is also female, which was looked down upon for quite sometime since women aren’t seen as equals in Morocco. She pushed through though and is now admired by many and inspired many others. The music itself is quite neat- they take an American rhythm and add a Moroccan (Arabic) melody line or vice versa. I think it sounds even better than our hip-hop music! It was a very neat presentation.

The last few hours before boarding time was spent walking the streets of Casablanca to get a better feel for what it was like. We went to the souks and saw the Mosque in the distance. It was definitely not enough time there, and I’m finding it’ll be that way in each country. I would’ve loved to see more of Casablanca, talk with more Moroccans, seen the Mosque, and gone to an orphanage or school. I’m quickly learning what I need to do in each country to make sure I feel my time was fulfilled. It was late evening when the ship disembarked and as usual my friends and I went to the top of the ship to watch the city lights fall away in the distance.

Now we are sailing back in the Atlantic paralleling the West African coast at 20 degrees North and 18 degrees West. We have 6 days of classes and then arrive in Ghana on Tuesday! I’ve already had a pretty exciting time back on the ship, but I will fill you in on those in another post ☺

As always, I hope everything is going well with each of you! I’m constantly reminded how thankful I am for all the support I have back at home! Thank you and have a good week ☺

Hola, amigos!

2009-09-09T21:54:00.004-04:00

I had such a wonderful time in Spain! Although I accomplished a lot in 4 days, it was surely not enough time! I don’t think I’ll be ready to leave any of the countries we port in!

On Saturday, I looked out my porthole in the dark only to see a flashing light coming from a lighthouse. LAND! What a marvelous sight this was! The pier with light was most likely Portugal! I went up to eat breakfast with my friends and excitedly watched land grow nearer with the sun rising behind it. We decided that this would become a tradition for every port! After the ship got cleared, we were able to finally walk our first steps on stable ground again! I then ventured around Cadiz (pronounced Cahw-deeth) with some friends. It was too early in the morning for the city to be alive yet. Spain runs on quite a different time frame than us. Their days start at about 10 am, they Siesta (meaning lunch and nap) from 2-5 pm, go back to work from 5-9 pm, then have dinner and go out until very late into the night. We made our way through the narrow alleyways that were filled with a variety of shops, stores, and zipping mopeds. We then walked the perimeters of the city bordering water. Cadiz is shaped like an arm with a hand. The old city is the hand and the new is the arm. We walked the “fingers” along the coastline that have beaches and 2 old castles. Spain definitely felt European, with the architecture of buildings to the flavor of ice cream. But it has this Spanish flair to it! That evening I enjoyed a very special “Flamenco Night”. A group of about 150 SAS students were taken to a Spanish farm in which we had our very own performance! It started in an arena with 2 female dancers who danced to a horse (I found this seducing horses to be very interesting). There was also a horse-taming spectacle and an amateur bloodless bullfight. We then moved inside of a restaurant where some of the best flamenco performers in the land were dancing right in front of us! The music sounded from a guitarist, female singer, and the clapping and stomping of the dancers. There were 3 females and 1 male dancing. Oh, I just can’t even describe to you how amazing it was! They were SOOO talented! I would love to learn it, but, wow, do they move quickly! They’ve got rhythm in their soles and hands and know how to shake! It was most definitely a very impressive first day in Spain!

On Sunday, I took a trip to the Grazalema Mountains. We drove through white villages on the way, which are towns dedicated to pure whiteness in every structure. They’re such a beautiful site! The mountains were another amazing site! Our stick-shift tour bus had quite an adventure weaving in and out of the tiny roads (and rolling backwards…), but eventually we made it to our drop off point, thankfully, safely. We hiked for 4 hours in the Reserve portion of the mountains that are only permissable with a guide. The horizon seemed to be so far in the distance showing many many miles of rural Spain. What an amazing site and hike!

That evening a group of us went to find a nice little outdoor café for dinner at the normal time of 10:30 pm. It was enjoyed with background music of street performers and a non-English-speaking waiter (the way it ought to be! Good thing I took 2 years of Spanish in HS!). We all ordered differing dishes and tasted one another’s. There were 11 of us so we had quite the food selection! We didn’t know what one of the dishes was and the texture caught us off guard, so we went and looked it up later… It was fish ovaries!!! I can’t say it was terrible, but I also can’t say I’d ever order it again! The night was topped off with a beautiful walk along the sandy Cadiz beaches.

On Monday, my friends and I wanted to take an independent trip to Seville (Suh-vee-ya), which is a bigger city than Cadiz. We got up early to catch a 2-hour train ride to the city. We saw the impressive Plaza de Espana, beautiful gardens filled with palm trees and fountains, and tried helado (surprise surprise, that’s Spanish ice cream ☺). We then toured the Cathedral de Seville, which is the largest cathedral in Europe! And, boy, that was obvious. It had such ornate structures and so many rooms filled with treasures (literal gold), sculptures, and paintings. We then journeyed through the Real Alcazar, which was the King’s palace. This “home” was the biggest mansion I’ve ever seen! Not only were their so many rooms, but the garden was humongous too! It even included a tree maze! It was a wonderful day spent in Seville with quickly growing friendships.

Tuesday, my final day, was spent exploring Cadiz more. By then I felt as if I knew it pretty well! We went to the “mercado” (market) to see all the fresh seafood, meat, fruit, and cheese being sold. The three of us also bought some Churros. We thought that ½ a kilo would be about right, but soon learned that was way more than we expected or could even eat! It made for some good laughs as we sought out other SASers to get rid of our excess breakfast! As soon as I felt comfortable in Cadiz, Spain, it was time to go already. It’s amazing how quickly one can feel at home in a new country.

SAS staff let us go onto deck 8 for disembarkation! This means it was VERY windy! But yet sooo much fun. You’d never guess that wind can sort of be a “toy” to play with! We watched Spain fall away in the distance as the sun began to set. It was hard to imagine that we had really just spent time there when it now seems more like a dream.

Today has been dedicated towards orienting for Morocco. We port there tomorrow morning! And you guessed it, my friends and I are getting up early to watch the sun rise as we approach it. Today we also had quite an amazing view! We took a pit stop at Gibraltar to fuel up the ship’s 4 tanks. Have you ever heard of this country? Look it up! It’s basically a country on a huge rock! It’s quite a beautiful site and was actually a trip for some of the SASers. For lunch and dinner we had the neatest surroundings in close proximity: the 3 countries of Gibraltar, Spain, and Morocco; the 2 continents of Europe and Africa; and the 2 bodies of water of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean! I just can’t even tell you how breathtaking this was! And there we were eating dinner as if it is just normal to be nestled between 2 continents, 3 countries, and 2 bodies of water! That is a site I will forever remember.

After losing 6 hours this past week, we gain 2 tonight! It is much needed because I’ve had so much to catch up on today amidst getting ready for Morocco! I leave tomorrow morning for a 4 day trip to Marrakech and a camel trek in the Saraha ☺ HOW AWESOME! Spain one day, Morocco the next… I just can’t believe this is reality for me right now, but I’m loving it oh so very much! I hope things are going well for each of you! I will update you in a few days!

Buenas noches! Y Dios te bendiga!

Kelsey :)

Espana Es Manana!

2009-09-05T22:13:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone! After 8 days of sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, we are finally very close to Spain!

As of 11:00 pm on Friday night we are currently located at 36 degrees N and 9 degrees W, which is just right of the coast of Portugal. We have not spotted land yet… it is a rather humid day which limits the distance we can see, but we have seen a couple of ships (our signs of life!) proving to us that we are very close! We have had 2 intense meetings on Spain the past couple of days- about its culture, do’s and don’ts, safety, and other basics. We learned that if we wear white socks with sandals some places won’t let us in, and that even if you are a vegetarian you must try their ham! We port at 8 am tomorrow morning (Spain-time that is) and our adventures begin! I, and everyone else on the ship, am VERY excited!!!

We just finished our 6th day of classes. I’m truly enjoying them! It is so neat to have “homework” that involves digging around in other cultures. How many teachers have sent their students off to another country to really learn the things they teach in class?! I’m such a visual and do learner, that this is truly a great way for me to learn. For classes I will be studying the music and family/marriage life in each country, along with disabled children’s home and stopping-hunger projects… all for class! Yet these are all things I would want to study anyway! It is just too good to be true!

I’ve learned a few additional things this week:

1- The Atlantic Ocean is HUGE! It’s just so hard to fathom! When you travel for 8 days on the one of the fastest ships though, it sure helps me visualize its vastness! It’s neat to travel by ship instead of plane because it really makes the earth, water, and continents seem connected. I’ll admit though, I’m ready to walk on land! That leads into my next point…
2- We’re all walking like we’ve had a few too many drinks! These Spaniards are going to wonder what’s wrong with us! We’re all walking pretty funnily, running into each other and into walls, tripping over our own feet… it’s sure been funny to watch and try to get used to!
3- This ship once felt huge but now it seems so small! Everything takes place on 2 floors and students live on 2. It takes me about 1 ½ minutes to walk to class and about 2 minutes to get to the dining hall. And I thought Bluffton was a small campus ☺

I’ve also had the privilege of meeting lots of new people! I’ve been blessed to get closer to a few others that share similar values with me. As you can imagine, this makes the voyage even better as we’re traveling at sea and in port. Tomorrow we are getting up early to watch the sun rise as we pull into the port of Cadiz, Spain. It’s time for my eyes to start widening… I’m ready for discomfort to be my comfort… It’s time for ESPANA!

Embarkation Day Slideshow!

2009-09-04T03:07:00.003-04:00

Hello All! This is Kelsey's sister, Denise, reporting for her tonight. So I have to tell you all a funny story. The other day our parents went to look at the SAS website to see if there was any new information up about the current SAS voyage. They clicked on the "Embarkation Day" slide show in hopes that they would maybe see Kelsey in a few pictures, and all of a sudden, her voice is on their computer! So here is the website to watch the slide show and see pictures of check-in at Halifax, Nova Scotia!

http://www.ise.virginia.edu/video/F09/vi d_1.html

Click here to see more up-to date information on the voyage!

Kelsey will be landing in Spain on September 5! I'm sure we'll be hearing more from her in the near future!

Bon Voyage!

Crossing the Atlantic!

2009-08-30T19:09:00.002-04:00

Ahoy!

Location: 42 degrees N, 48 degrees W, Atlantic Ocean

I’m currently sitting in my porthole window looking out at the beautiful clear blue-green water with absolutely no land in sight. It’s GORGEOUS and I can’t believe I’m finally here! All the prep work for this trip was most definitely worth it! I’m enjoying this all so very very much!

I’ll pick up from where I left off last ☺

My flights up to Halifax, Nova Scotia went very smoothly. My family drove me to Columbus, Ohio very early on Wednesday morning to the airport. I got on my connecting flight in NYC and landed safely in Halifax. While boarding in NYC, I scoped out the room wondering whom else might be on SAS and actually met a few! After landing, I talked more with the SASers and ended up hanging out with them for awhile. I was going to stay in a hostel that first night, but a couple of my new friends offered for me to stay with them in a hotel. That sounded more fun and safer, so I did—I got to hang out with them for the night and then slept on a chair! The next morning was check-in for the student workers (that’s me!). 83 of us boarded and moved in our belongings. I met my roommate, Lauren, who is also a senior psychology major. The rest of the day consisted of folding shirts for the campus store for about an hour, and then getting to explore Halifax more! Nova Scotia is beautiful! But I’ll talk more about it in a minute.

Friday was the big day for the rest of the student body to move on. I got to work check-in, which I actually really enjoyed since I got to greet all my peers with a friendly smile. After work finished, we explored Halifax one last time, kissed the ground (not literally lol), and then boarded the ship. At 1700 (I really need to get used to using military time!) we disembarked! HOW EXCITING! We all piled at the rear of the ship on all the deck levels and waved goodbye to the parents. Some bagpipers came to play music on shore as we sailed away. We were finally moving! We ate supper that night slowly watching the shore fall away in the distance and then eventually couldn’t see it at all… and haven’t for 3 days now! Let me tell ya, it’s weird not seeing shore for this long… but the ocean is sooo beautiful! Yesterday consisted of informational orientations all day and today (yes, Sunday) we start classes. I’m actually very ready for classes to start… I’m in the mood to learn again, especially in this worldly campus!

I’ll tell you a little about the ship life. There are 521 students and 900 total people on board. Other than the students, there are crew staff, professors, RAs, and Life-Long Learners. We have students from 15 countries and staff from 27 countries. This means that we have a VERY diverse group, both culture and age-wise. It’s very neat to see everyone come together for the same mission. The ship itself seemed huge at first but now seems much smaller. It’s actually mini-sized compared to those real cruise ships! I was supposed to be on the 2nd deck (the cheapest!) but they moved me up to 4th, which is a lot nicer and more spacious (I got it for the same price though), because we have a smaller student body this semester. They are using the 2nd deck as quarantine in case the Swine Flu breaks out… So that’s a bit of comfort and discomfort at the same time! Everyone is VERY friendly! I’ve met soooo many people and have honestly enjoyed each one! Everyone is just so excited to finally be here! It’s been very easy to make friends because of this.

I’ll now tell you a little about Halifax, Nova Scotia! It’s very beautiful, that’s for sure. A couple of my new friends made comments on how it is very similar to Maine and the other New England states, which makes sense since it’s not far from them! It is a city on hills with an industrial and touristy bay. The food was very similar to the US’s, with maybe a few small differences. I had ice cream (that’s a shocker, right? Haha) that was very unique! It was cold-stone style but they mixed fudge in instead. My choice was mint ice cream with brown sugar fudge… it was very tasty! Night musicians played bag pipes with accompanying drums (well, pots and pans) along the dock, all dressed in kilts too! The Nova Scotians were very friendly as well! I thought that there would be more French-speaking signs and people around, but it seemed predominantly English-speaking instead. The land was beautiful with many many trees and rolling hills. The atmosphere was just very calming, laid-back, and relaxing!

Well, I am heading off to my first day of classes! I hope everything is going well for all of you as you move back to school, start classes, and continue working! Talk to you later ☺

Setting Sail!

2009-08-29T14:04:00.006-04:00

My flight on Wednesday went well, and I arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia will all my luggage in hand. I actually met a few girls in the airport who were also doing SAS. They offered me to stay in their hotel room (compared to the Hostel I was originally planning on staying in). So we all went out to dinner in Nova Scotia, and that night I slept in a chair! On Thursday we checked into the ship and after folding T-shirts for my job in the bookstore, a group of us went out and explored Nova Scotia some more!

Yesterday at 17:00 we set sail from Halifax, Nova Scotia and are heading across the Atlantic Ocean to Spain! Below are a few pictures of my room:

Our porthole in our room! Because of "fixing parts of the ship", I got moved from 2nd floor up to 4th floor! This room has more room and a bigger porthole!!! And there's even a ledge before the porthole that could be used as a sorta-bench... AWESOME! That is Halifax in the background.

View of the room looking from the window to the door.

View of the room from the door. My bed is the one on the right. My roommate boarded the ship as well on Thursday. Her name is Lauren, and is actually a psych major too; this is her last semester before graduating.

I'm just REALLY loving this! Like, it's just so cool! And everyone I've met has been friendly... which I just love! I just love what's happening... seeing cultures, studying abroad, surrounded by new ppl, seeing cultures, seeing cultures, being around water 24/7, viewing cities on foot... it's just great!

One last American day

2009-08-25T09:15:00.015-04:00

Hey, how's it going?

I depart tomorrow. I depart tomorrow. I depart TOMORROW...

I can't believe that this trip is finally HERE. I have been planning it for a year and a half now, and I can't believe it's TOMORROW already! I've had a wonderful time at home these past few weeks... including a surprise "Happy Birthday / Bon Voyage" party last night from my family and friends. It was absolutely wonderful to have everyone together and see some Bluffton friends whom I hadn't seen much since school let out and won't see for a while longer. But let me tell ya, the "goodbyes" are the hardest part, or as I was corrected last night, the "see you laters." I am completely excited right now. Very very excited, just sad to say "see you later." I have such wonderful family and friends, and they sure make it hard to leave them for a few months! But I am so excited for what is to come as well!

I am planning on doing a few things in each country to be able to compare and get a better idea of the world in its entirety.

I will take a picture looking out my porthole in each country, with the porthole as a frame.
I will take a picture of the cuisine.
I will take note of their bathroom style (sort of gross... but still interesting, eh? lol)
I will try to find a music gathering and video record part of it.
I will use that country's greeting in my blog post (note my American ones so far :) )
I will ask about how they view people with disabilities. I am wanting to work with this population as a career, and I find it very interesting about how the idea of a "disability" is much more culturally-defined than we realize. I'm excited to be able to compare it across the globe.
I will share my adventures and the things I find most interesting!

My sister introduced me to a song while I was in China that explained my feelings during the experience. The song has become my theme song for preparation and as I start my adventures on SAS. It is called "The Perimeters of Me" by Dividing the Plunder (now called Ellery).

Perimeter of Me

Your wind is mighty - it bends the backs of trees

Moves among the fields along these Pennsylvania streets

We've come to know as highways - they can take us anywhere

But all we know is where we're going

And how fast we're getting there

Well, the world outside my window is shaming me again

With the things I haven't seen cause I've been writing about them

The sky's a waiting witness to the truth I would possess

But I've forgotten all its mystery in my quest for second best

And I want to live with wider eyes,

There's far too much to see

To think of nothing else

But where I've been and where I'll be

I've been longing for the freedom

That is waiting silently

In the life that's just beyond the small

Perimeter of me

Your rain is mighty, it weathers mountainsides

It raises the Ohio 'til it looks a mile wide

And I think that I have crossed it on this bridge a thousand times

And haven't even seen Your river from the corner of my eyes

Well, I'm frightened by how easy it can be to live so long

Going from one thing to the next thing,

To the next 'til months have gone

And you realize you have really not done anything at all -

At night you fall asleep believing

You've just climbed so you could fall…

And I want to live with wider eyes,

There's far too much to see

To think of nothing else

But where I've been and where I'll be

I've been longing for the freedom

That is waiting silently

In the life that's just beyond the small

Perimeter of me

And I don't believe that who I am

Is something I can find

It's whatever I create

With what I do with all my time

It's who I choose to love

With all my heart and strength and mind -

And whether I believe that what I have

Is really mine…

And I want to live with wider eyes,

There's far too much to see

To think of nothing else

But where I've been and where I'll be

I've been longing for the freedom

That is waiting silently

In the life that's just beyond the small

Perimeter of me

I'm ready to widen my eyes... to see beyond the small perimeters of me...

Here I go :)

Countdown: 2 weeks!

2009-08-12T11:36:00.001-04:00

Hello!

I officially depart for Canada in 2 weeks from today to board the MV Explorer! I can't even believe the time is about here! I'm filled with so many different emotions, but mostly positive ones... like a whole lot of excitement! For my first post, I would like to give you a little more basic information on what exactly I am doing and how to keep in touch.

Semester at Sea (http://www.semesteratsea.org/) is an academic program that combines studying and traveling around the world. This style of education is unique: "a life-changing study abroad experience allowing one to explore the world's fascinating cultures while learning in an academic environment." 521 students along with professors and crew workers will live together on a ship. While it is traveling from port to port, I will take classes that will transfer back to Bluffton. When we arrive in each port, we get to go explore! Exploration opportunities are offered through SAS, but a large portion is done independently (but in groups of course, Dad). I have a quickly-growing interest to engage in other cultures after spending this past May in China. I left China really wanting more, so it's too perfect that I'm spending a semester embracing quite a few cultures!

We will be visiting 11 countries in 109 days... Wow! This is what our route will look like:

On August 26th, I will be flying to Halifax, Novia Scotia. I, and all other workers, will board the MV Explorer the morning of the 27th and I'll start my job in the campus bookstore. On the 28th, everyone else will board and we will disembark that evening!

1st stop: Cadiz, Spain - Sept. 5-9

On the 5th, I will be attending an event called "Flamenco Night," which includes bull-fighting, cow taming, and a horse and flamenco spectacle! After that show, there is a second show which lets audience members participate in Flamenco dancing (you know I'll be down there!)

Independent possibilities in Spain include going to Gibraltar, sites in Cadiz, Bajo de Guia, and learning how to surf!

2nd stop: Casablanca, Morocco - Sept. 10-14

From the 10th-13th, I will be taking a trip called "Marrakech & Camel Trek in the Sahara." It consists of exploring the city of Marrakech, seeing a folklore show and horse fantasia, viewing the dunes and mud villages of the Sahara, eating dinner with nomads, tenting out in the Sahara Desert, and camel trekking through the Sahara (Whoa! I'm really pumped for this!).

On the 14th I will attend an event called "I Love Hip-Hop Morocco," which is required for a class but also sounds interesting!

3rd stop: Accra, Ghana - Sept. 22-25

From the 23rd-24th, I will be going on a "Cultural Immersion" trip. We will spend time in the African village of Torgorme, in which we will see and participate in traditional drumming and dancing, see pottery-making, hear folktales and stories, be given names, stay with a family (I'm really a fan of homestays and being immersed in a culture rather than only being a tourist and not taking time to learn and understand a culture), view Ghana's sacred monkeys, climb Afadjato Mountain, walk through a rainforest, and having a picnic lunch at the Tagbo Falls.

Other Possibilities include: visiting a school and attending a drumming and dance workshop.

4th stop: Cape Town, South Africa - Oct. 3-8

Possibilities include: hiking Table Mountain, working for Habitat for Humanity for a day or two, visit Operation Hunger (learn about feeding programs, visit squatter camps, and talk with the children of farm workers), and "!Khwa Ttu Route" which visits the San village and views the beautiful mountains around it. I'm also interested in some bigger adventures... We'll see :)

5th stop: Port Louis, Mauritius - Oct. 15-17

Possibilities include: going to a park and zip-lining across the tree-top canopy, visiting a children's village (literal village- few "moms" in charge of many abandoned children), serving at a children's center, and visiting Pamplemousses Garden.

6th stop: Chennai, India - Oct. 23-27

From 24th-25th, I will be attending "Child Labor in Rural India: Overnight Village Stay." It will teach us about the RIDE program that helps children leave the silk-weaving industry and provides mothers with more stable and good jobs. We will also get to view temples and talk with the people this program has impacted.

Other possibilities include a (free!) yoga demonstration (India is where Yoga all started!), visiting Missionaries of Charity Orphanage (which Mother Teresa founded and worked at for many many many years!), and visiting a Disable Children's Home.

7th stop: Ho Chi Mihn City, Viet Nam - Nov. 3-7

Possibilities include: visiting a school for disabled, squeezing through the Cu Chi Tunnels and seeing the Cao Dai Temple, exploring the Mekong Delta, and going to the Hy Vong 8 School for the deaf and taking them to the zoo!

8th stop: Honk Kong, China - Nov. 11-12

On the 11th, I will attend "Asian Culture and Mental Health." After visiting China this past May and seeing all the pressure that is put on children and the high suicide rate, this topic really interests me! Oh, and it's also required for a class... But I'd go to it anyway!

Other possibilities include: visiting the Hong Kong Museum of Art and going to some markets. Many of the SAS students will take off to other parts of China to see Beijing, Xi'an, and the Great Wall, but I will stay on the ship since I just saw these sites a few months ago :)

9th stop: Shanghai, China - Nov. 15-16

Possibilities included: visiting Yu Garden, Suzhou, Zhujiajiao, and seeing an acrobatic performance.

10th stop: Yokohama, Japan - Nov. 20-21

Possibilities include: a Japanese home visit, climbing Mount Fuji and Hakone, going to Landmark Tower, Harbor View Park, Sankeien Garden, and even Tokyo.

11th stop: Kobe, Japan - Nov. 23-24

On the 23rd-24th, I will be doing an overnight homestay with a Japanese family. I'm excited to be able to first-hand compare the Chinese and Japanese cultures since I'll have had close interactions with families in both countries.

Other possibilities include a Japanese students' reception, and seeing Todaiji and Kiyomizu Temple.

12th stop: Honolulu, Hawaii - Dec. 4-5

Possibilities include: seeing Diamond Head, hiking through a rainforest, doing a hula workshop (oh yeah!), and snorkeling.

13th stop: Hilo, Hawaii - Dec. 6-7

Possibilities include: hiking through the Wailuku River State Park, Akaka Falls State Park, surfing, and a few other adventures... :)

14th stop: San Diego, California - Dec. 14

It's SAS's final stop... I'll get to fly to home and see the people I will have missed for so long!

My classes are:

World Music
Controversial Issues in Psychology
Sociology of Marriage and Family
Global Studes

COMMUNICATION:

Although we only get 2 hours of free internet access the entire semester, they also give us FREE email back and forth to home. That means that we can still chat! As long as the email does not exceed 50 KB and has no attachments, my probable email for the semester will be:

kjsmith@semesteratsea.net

Send me an email! I'd love to keep in contact with you, hear about your life, and share in my adventures!

I have also had a few people ask me about air-mail. Here is a link that will explain when and where to send mail:

sending air-mail

Well, I think that about summarizes everything... for now at least! If you have any questions or comments, leave them on this post or shoot me an email at smikja@bluffton.edu (this email is for the next 2 weeks, then it will switch to the other one). I hope you are having a great summer and soaking in the sun!

Kels

Kelsey's Semester at Sea

My Next Steps...

Global Community

Video of my Travels

Transitions

Coming Home

Hawaii: Extra Day in O'ahu!

Hawaii: The Big Island

Hawaii: O'ahu Island

Japanese Home Stay

Backpacking through Japan

Shanghai, China

Hong Kong, P.R.C.

Aloha, Hawaii!

Sailing Across the Pacific Ocean

Perceptions of People with Disabilities Around the World

Kanichiwa, Japan!

Ni Hao, China!

Halloween and Vietnam pics!

India continued

India pics!

Mauritius and on Ship

South Africa to Mauritius pics

Sing Chao, Vietnam!

Over the Andaman Sea and through the Strait of Malacca

Namaste, India!

Sailing Through the North Indian Ocean

Bonjour, Mauritius!

Tears through the Indian Ocean

Molo (click), South Africa!

South Africa

Ghana & Neptune Day

Morocco & Spain

Spain & Nova Scotia

Sailing Along the South-Western African Coast

Akwa’aba to Ghana!

Sailing Along the West African Coast

Salaam ou alaikum! Bonjour!

Hola, amigos!

Espana Es Manana!

Embarkation Day Slideshow!

http://www.ise.virginia.edu/video/F09/vid_1.html

Crossing the Atlantic!

Setting Sail!

One last American day

Countdown: 2 weeks!

http://www.ise.virginia.edu/video/F09/vi d_1.html