Under the Weather- Vietnam behind me and China ahead

Hey all

I know you may be wondering why I haven't been updating since Vietnam like I usually would.

I've been pretty under the weather since the last day in 'Nam, and have spent most of my time in between it and China resting, hoping to recover. Tomorrow morning at 0800 we arrive in the amazing Hong Kong! and I'm so excited. Hopefully my immune system will start kicking ass and I will be able to enjoy it to its full extent. I'll be spending the first day in Hong Kong before leaving Day 2 for Beijing. There, I'll stay for 4 days in Tshingua University, one of the most famous and well-known universities in China. The Great Wall, forbidden city, golden palace, etc. etc. etc. will all be part of our fun for 4 days, before heading to meet the ship (which will have already left Hong Kong) in Shanghai on the east coast. I'll spend a day in Shanghai before leaving for Japan!


Vietnam was great. Instead of all the details, which I've only started to type up (sick), here's what I did in a more condense form.

Day 1: Cu Chi tunnels where Vietcongs had 200 miles of tunnels to fight the Americans. Met up with old friend Dan Schwartz, an AEPi brother from Syracuse and hung out late into the night at Vietnam's most recognizable club 'Apocalypse Now'
Day 2: Woke up and explored the city by motorcycle taxi (hop on the back!). Dan and I did lunch, shopped for entire seasons of american sitcoms for 5 bucks a piece (all ten seasons of friends plus all 7 seasons of scrubs for a whopping 9 dollars), went to the War Remnants museum, a very difficult visit about the American-Vietnam war.
Day 3-4: Took part in an independent trip I organized south to the Mekong Delta. We explored all over the Delta's many islands and even slept outside in cots under mosquito nets. It was an amazing experience
Day 5: Kinda sick, spent the day sightseeing around HCMC and exploring before hopping back on the ship.

Vietnam is a country, not a war... and it had never been more apparent to me until now. I will write much more later, but for now, that'll have to do.

Tomorrow, Hong Kong then into mainland CHINA!! I am SO EXCITED. Everybody cheer for my immune system and maybe I'll wake up happy.

Talk to you later in the week from Beijing!

Greg

Hey from Vietnam

Hey guys

Everything is great here in Vietnam. So different from every other port we've been to.

Just as an FYI, I will be heading south to the Mekong Delta region for 2 days tomorrow. A bunch of friends and I planned a 2 day trip with an authentic homestay tomorrow night. It should be a very local experience, I'm gearing for a wild time.

Given its location, I won't have access to cell or email. Mom, sorry I got disconnected from you today. The network kicked me off and I couldn't get it restarted (I tried for like 25 minutes). I will be sure to leave time on thursday to call and talk your ear off before leaving for China.

Love you all, talk to you in a few days,

Greg

Day 62. GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!!!

*note: Thailand blog was posted a few minutes ago. It is below this entry*


Hey!

Tomorrow is Vietnam.

Not much to say, but we're all very excited.

Today, the ship had a man-overboard drill. I will write more about it at a later date, but a 6 foot orange dummy was thrown overboard and then the announcement was made. The crew had no idea it was coming, and the ship executed a hard figure-8 maneuver and searched for the dummy. Then a lifeboat was lowered and the dummy was recovered as if it were a live passenger. Very amazing thing how our ship can turn on a dime and go back to save someone.



In Vietnam, I plan on seeing lots of things pertaining to the war and also traveling south to the Mekong delta with friends to navigate the rivers on a boat and stay with a family for a homestay one night.


It should all be amazing, and I can't wait to share it with everyone when I get back.

Talk to you all soon!

Greg

Days 56-60. THAILAND

       This entry needs to be prefaced, I feel. This is the halfway point of the trip. Literally. A day ago, between Thailand and Vietnam, I was exactly 180 degrees in longitude from my home in Baltimore. It’s impossible for us on the ship not to be affected by this… and we feel it in every sense.

        Thailand, therefore, is quite “on the other side of the world” as home. And I wrote it off as another developing second-rate nation in which problems abound. There are plenty of ports that looked like that, and for some reason- knowing very little about Thailand, I thought it would be like that.

        As I’ve said before, you can tell so much about a country from pulling into it. When I viewed our approach in the early morning on the 7th deck, this port already was unique. It was an industrial one, so I expected dirt and grime and sweaty men working in the heat with smog covering the air (see: Morocco). This place was immaculate, clean, shiny and ordered… very weird for what I thought would be an under-established nation.

        Thailand is far from my expectations. It is a super-developed, thriving nation that is safe, secure, beautiful and established beyond belief. I had such a great time.

        In fact, when I sat at home back in Maryland, looking out the window and dreaming about what stops in countries would be like, my stay in Thailand best fit that mold. I never took advantage of time more in my life than in these last 5 days, and did EVERYTHING I wanted to on my brief stint in the country.

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        That first day I disembarked the ship and arranged a van with some friends and Professor Jodi and his family (I tutor his son Ben in 8th grade math every other day) to the local harbor mall. With our excellent bargaining skills, we got our driver down to 100 Baht round trip per person (about 2ish dollars). The mall was ultra-modern, and the first thing I noticed was that the Thai people didn’t really notice us. In developing countries like India, Namibia, Morocco to some extent, white people and Americans are celebrities. We are stared at, walked by, pictures taken of, etc. In developED countries, we aren’t really gawked at. They’re too busy well, living, to stop and make a big deal about us. Think about seeing a group of Asians in the United States… I doubt it makes the 6 o’clock news.

        We had the most AMAZING lunch at this great little thai restaurant (I’m in love with thai food) before heading back to the ship to grab an SAS bus to the Pattaya Elephant village. The hour drive to Pattaya brought us one of the only Elephant parks in the world. Here, rescued elephants from old logging camps are raised and trained. We had the opportunity to feed them bananas (they like entire bunches of bananas, feeding them one at a time is a little like eating one rice kernel in a box of rice krispies at a time), and even ride them. What magnificent beasts. They are so large and so grand that it takes you a second to understand what you are actually interacting with. Their skin is rough and their tiny hairs are prickly. Their trunks fly about without hesitation, rubbing you and sniffing around for those elusive bananas. At the end of the trunks are two nostrils that tend to blow warm exhaled air at you a few times every minute. Riding the elephant and getting up on them was an experience in itself. The elephant lifts one leg and bends it, and you just step on its knee, and then it raises its leg and you swing your leg around its tree-trunk sized neck. It was a great time.

        When the village tour ended, my SAS-induced spontaneity kicked in. Instead of going back to Laem Chabang where the ship was located, I got a bunch of friends to just hop off the bus in Pattaya and go wherever we felt like going. Pattaya is kind of the stereotypical dingy beach town each country has (Atlantic City), except it’s much more intense. It’s one Oceanside road is wall to wall with insane bars, restaurants and Go-Go Bars. I should explain. Sex tourism, that is people coming to Thailand to have sex, is extremely prevalent. Some liberal estimates put it at 50% of all tourism. Go-Go bars are the mecca for those tourists. Girls with numbers pinned to their brassieres… or lack thereof…  dance on stage and interact with the customers and can be paid to do anything. Anything. If you want to know more information, you’ll have to invite me over or buy me a drink… but I’ll tell you this much, a ping-pong ball will never have the same meaning to me.

        To get back to the ship that night, we hailed Pattaya’s version of a “taxi.” This was a flat-bead pickup truck with two benches on either side of the flatbead. You open the hatch-back and just hop on in and the truck drives wherever. It was about 30 minutes of open-air ride back to Laem Chabang and a great night for all.

        The next day, I had an FDP (faculty directed practica) to Kon Lan, an island off the coast of Pattaya to go snorkeling. I know, school is so tough for me. We left at 0800, took a bus to the port where we hopped in the Aquanat, a small boat that sped off the coast towards Kon Lan, a paradise-looking island. We dropped anchor and split into two groups and snorkeled for 45 minutes at a time. We got to see tons of marine animals and coral that I won’t bore you with here, but you’ll have to take my word for it when I tell you it was beautiful. When we weren’t snorkeling, we were jumping off the 3rd deck of the boat in true American College Student fashion. It was kind of fun because in addition to our professor on board, the Academic Dean Reg Garrett and his wife and grandson were on board. I love SAS how you get to know and interact with people that are un-touchable on land campuses… I had some great talks with Dean Reg and his family, and tried to convince him to jump off of the boat with all of us (about 30 feet up). He decided against it, but I did get his grandson Jackson to jump.

        After an amazing Thai lunch and another snorkeling bout, we headed back to land, and to the ship before my second part of my stop in Thailand: BANGKOK.

        That night, Megan, Nate, Caroline, Alicia and I hopped in a cab and high-tailed it to Bangkok, about 2 hours to the north. We had already booked a great hostel called Lub d’ Bangkok down in the south part of the city. Bangkok is an amazingly large city. It is larger than any American city I’ve been to, including New York, because there is no end to its skyscrapers… they just go on and on and on. Lub D’, our hostel, is located in the Patpong night market area, one of the big backpacker areas of the city. The nights in Patpong were just like Pattaya. Walking through the bars, we were accosted by men offering “Ping pong show! You like Ping Pong show!?.” That first night, we met up with the UVA Medical students who went around with us bar-hopping and seeing what nights in Bangkok were all about. The city is so clean and orderly, yet its nightlife is the exact opposite… dirty and head turning. It was a lot of fun, I must say.

        We probably shouldn’t have gone out as hard as we did that night, because the Med Students, Megan and I had an early day the next morning. Megan and I were up at 6:40, and took a cab north to their hotel in the other part of the city. Together, we all walked to the River that runs through Bangkok and hopped a water taxi to Sriraj Hospital, the largest hospital in Thailand with 3,000 beds. Our entire day was spent the different departments and wards that made the hospital as amazing as it was. I was completely floored… the place was so developed and modern. It was nothing like the archaic medical facilities that I had thought it would be.

        One of the great experiences was the group I was with at the hospitals. It was Ben, My, and Greg, three 4th year medical students… Katie and Beth, 2nd year residents (already MDs)… Megan and I, undergraduate pre-medical students… and then Hugh and Dr. Milt, two physicians recently retired. There, in our group, we had the past, present and (hopefully) future of medicine mingling and learning from our counterparts across the world. When I got to the Emergency Department, I was completely floored. Working in the E.D. at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Maryland, I have a bunch of time logged on ER floors. I was taken aback by how similar things looked. Patients had the same look I see every shift I work- just looking for help and guidance, whether they are Americans or Thai. As this trip has taught me, though we all have our differences, we are mostly after the same staples in life: a family, a living, health. I almost broke down when I realized how real this was, right in front of my eyes.

        That afternoon, Megan and I took a boat all the way down from Sriraj to the south where our hostel was located and met back up with the group. Together, we all got our first Thai Massage. These make regular Swedish massages look like wimps.  The masseuse is interacting with you much more- she walks on you, stretches you, moves you around… using all of her body parts to manipulate yours. It was at times, very intense (similar to my Turkish Bath experience), but an amazing experience. I found myself just lying there for 30 minutes after it was over because it was like a workout. It was so good that I had to get another one 2 days later while I still had the chance to. When we were done with our massages, TastyThai, a famous Thai fastfood restaurant awaited, and then we all realized it was St. Patricks day. While we hardly need an excuse to go out to bars in port, we found a local Irish pub and had green beer til our little hearts was content.

       
        History and famous sights was my focus for the next day. Out of the other SASers at the hostel, only Michelle, a girl from York, PA hadn’t been to the big sights. So she and I hailed a tuk-tuk (kind of a tricked-out, nicer version of an Indian rickshaw) and rode all the way up to the north of Bangkok. There, we saw the Grand Palace and the Reclining Buddha… two of Thailand’s biggest claims to fame. The grand palace is unlike anything you’ve ever seen… a city of solid gold buildings and emerald rooftops that hold the king and all of the government buildings. You needed to be dressed conservatively (my shorts and t-shirt wasn’t enough) so Michelle and I had to ‘rent’ clothes at the entrance to wear inside.

        The reclining Buddha is a massive Buddha, like 40 feet tall and 200 feet long lying down relaxing. He rests in a temple called Wat Pho… and it was truly a sight to see. When Michelle and I returned to the hostel that afternoon, the pinnacle of SAS travel was reached. With no cell phones or other ways to contact each other, fellow SASers rely on a very intricate way to pass messages. At hostels, bulletin boards are one of these ways of archaic communication. There was a paper on there from friends to Michelle and I about a Thai cooking class to be set up that afternoon. We decided we were in and met up at Siam square (under the slumdog millionare poster by the smoothie place was the exact location given to us in the letter).

        What followed was the one of the most fun evenings I’ve had on the voyage thus far. We took the SkyTrain, a modern marvel in Bangkok that makes 2 hour drives into 15 minute rides to the easternmost station to meet up with our teacher, Mae. Mae picked up the 7 of us and took us to a local market where we bought vegetables, meat, and dessert to cook. She then took us back to her house where she, her husband and her mom as well as her two kids played host to our cooking evening. We all laughed and talked about everything while slicing, dicing and sipping on wine. Then, we split into teams of two and cooked 3 dishes in our Wok. They were Chicken with Cashews and vegetables, Veggie stir-fry, and Shrimp Pad-Thai. AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING!!! My taste buds just exploded for 5 hours straight.

        Better than the food though was the company. Mae and her family were so sharing and kind and by the time the evening was over, we were hugging, snapping pictures, exchanging emails and phone numbers and holding back tears. Walking back to the skytrain, riding home, and walking back to the hostel we all talked about how much we had taken away from the experience. Like I said, cultures are so different, but people are so starkly alike in their own unique way. Thanks to Mae and her family for reminding us of that fact.

        That night, we decided to hit up Kho San road, the main party area in Bangkok. The place was bustling early into the morning and a little cleaner as far as the go-go bars are concerned. Instead of Breast-heavy displays of human acrobatics, traditional drinking establishments were abounding with Thais and backpackers alike eager to share their stories.

        Our last day in Bangkok, I got another massage, grabbed lunch and made the trek back south to Laem Chabang to the ship. Did some shopping, and called it a day.



        Climbing the 48 steps of the gangway from Thailand, I felt a sort of guilt. Like I had said before, I wrote Thailand off as a developing 3rd world country. What I found was a people so vastly developed and confident in their ways, their cultures, and their traditions. They are so friendly and so welcoming, and its largest city is so eager to be explored by anyone who wants to.

        I feel that things that affected me negatively in the earlier part of the voyage go completely unnoticed now. I don’t even hear a language barrier, just go on acting through charades to communicate in the great language I call “human,” miming what I need to to get by. I no longer hesitate to strike up a conversation with my hostel-mates or even my waiter. Like Jim, the San Francisco teacher who took a month off to travel to Thailand “because it seemed interesting,” or Mae and her family, there is a lot out there to be learned and shared… its feeble to waste your time doing anything but.

        So, thanks Thailand. You were a wonderful host, and I can’t wait to return and explore even more.

       

Day 61. On our way to Vietnam, a ride on many levels.

*Note: Thailand Blog will be posted between now and tomorrow. It’s still being finished*

Today was an emotional one aboard the Explorer.

For the next few stops, we only have 2 days between leaving a port and arriving at the next one. This may sound like awhile, but for us, it’s grueling. We need to de-compress from the last port and get ready for the next one all in one. Doing this while carrying a full course load and trying to maintain normal things like health and sleep habits is definitely a challenge… but hey… we’re going around the world, right?

Prepping for Vietnam started this morning a very memorable Global Studies. One of our professors broke down crying when reading an account of a female soldier from the Vietnam war. This prompted our interport lecturer, a native Vietnamese man to get up and start crying about what happened.

This is troubling, because as Americans, our country’s army (justified or not) WAS the opponent of the Vietnamese a while ago. While it’s been awhile, and the people of Vietnam have strengthened their relations with the United States and it’s people, the remnants of the war are still visible in the country, and while it’s easy to move on home in the USA, people in the Vietnam are understandably slower to forget.

On a very human level, I plan on trying to rationalize the country, its people and its tumultuous history from a human level. These are people. People with great culture, histories, families and dreams, and they know what it’s like to suffer… but they also know how to heal. A story was shared with us about an American veteran who traveled back to Vietnam with his family years after the war ended. While walking down the street in Hanoi, his granddaughter in his arms, he was suddenly startled; across the street a man in a Vietcong uniform was walking. The last time he had seen a man like this, he would have had to fight, and his instincts returned after all this year.

Swept with fear, the American didn’t know what to do while the Ex-Vietnamese military man approached him on the street. The Vietnamese man grabbed him on the elbow and looked into his eyes. “Hello. Our countries used to be enemies many years ago… but now we’re friends.”

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This evening, after a hilarious cultural pre-port about Vietnamese culture, dress, customs, etc… the MV Explorer’s crew put on a “Crew Talent Show.” It was amazing. Our crew lives on this ship, signing 100, 200 or 300 day contracts. This ship is truly their home, and they are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. Over the past 50-some days,they have opened up their hearts and their stories with us, and I’ve gotten to know many of them. For them to put on a show to entertain us and show us some of their talents was really a treat for us.

Sparky, the AV guy who is so popular he’s a celeb on the ship wrote a song called “The Ship it Used to be,” which got the entire union sniffling and crying. It talked about how our voyage is half over and how much we have already learned about the world. It detailed how the crew felt about us and how they will miss us when we disembark in a few months. The 198 members of the crew sang, danced, juggled and performed stand-up comedy to much applause and enjoyment.


Tomorrow will be spent at B-Day classes and doing final preparations for Vietnam! I’m really excited to add a whole new dimension to my understanding of history. It will be a very developing experience for sure.

Back on the Ship on my way to Vietnam

Hey guys

I'm back on the ship from Thailand.

The 5 days I spent in Thailand were quite transformative. I had no idea what to expect in Thailand, and was prepared for a developING country- and found a completely developed, cultural, unique, super-modern world. The sights were enough to make you cry, and the smells of the food were enough to keep you eating 24 hours a day (which I did).

From an Elephant trek to famous Thai massages to snorkeling off of Kon Lan, an island off the coast, to visiting the Grand Palace made of completely solid gold... my trip had it all, and I had some of the most memorable experiences of my voyage.

Read all about it tomorrow, after I can compose my thoughts into a piece on Thailand.

Til then, talk soon,

Greg

Hey from BANGKOK!

Hey guys

I just wanted to check in and let you know everything is amazing here in Bangkok. Our hostel, which runs for US$10/ night is amazing. It's rated the 17th best hostel in the world and it truly lives up. The accommodations are great.

Today, Megan, a pre-med student like me, and I went with the UVA Med students and residents to the largest hospital in Thailand for an 8 hour tour of... everything! It was INCREDIBLE to see this in a country so far from home. I think it was one of the most amazing days for me so far. Seeing an emergency room in Thailand (I work as an ER Scribe at home in the US) was such a unique moment for me, I loved it. We hung out with a few of the students yesterday night, and so far have deemed Bangkok the craziest nightlife in the world. If you need further evidence, you can email me directly, I'm not going to publish what I mean publicly :-).

Finally, tonight I got a true Thai Massage. I hate massages. Genuinely, I dislike them. This massage was so frickin wonderful. They literally walk on you and twist you up and come very close to beating the crap out of you, but it feels 10 times better than any massage I've ever had (including the Turkish bath with the 300 pound hairy man). I'm going back for another massage tomorrow. It's so cheap and so worth it.

Alright that's it for the updates!

Love from SouthEast Asia!!

Greg

**additional info from the last post**

1) I am still alive in Assassins. The game takes a pause while we're in port, but there are less than 100 people left, and I plan on sticking it out til the end.

2) UMD just beat #8 Wake Forest to advance to the ACC 3rd round. GO TERPS!

3) I'll have my comp with me in thailand. Emails go to GLessans@mac.com !

See ya!

Day 55. Here we go, Thailand

Funny how fast the world is flying by.

Tomorrow, we port in Thailand, a country that was not on my radar before this.

Thailand is a proud country. It is the only one in Southeast Asia not colonized by a European power. Also, it's the first country on our itinerary not colonized by a european country, so what you see is really what you get... it's authentic Thai through and through.

Thailand is a constitutional monarchy, and the king is highly revered by the nation at large. We were warned many times throughout the past few days leading up to thailand to always be respectful towards the king, and to never make deleterious comments toward him. Thais are so patriotic to their country, in fact, that when you go see a movie, the national anthem, by law is played before hand while the audience rises.

In the words of our professor who spent a year in Thailand, Thailand is a treat for all of the senses, not the least of which is taste. Thai food is supposed to be incredible, and I plan on gaining at least 7 pounds over the next 5 days in their world renowned pad thai noodles alone. I am so excited.

My itinerary is as plans:

Day 1: SAS Trip: Pattaya Elephant Village, hang out in Laem Chabang (where the ship is berthed) at night
Day 2: SAS Trip: Sri Racha Tiger Reserve, then hop a cab north to BANGKOK
Day 3: Bangkok. Hopefully meet up with the UVA med students and tour different ultra-modern hospitals in the city
Days 4-5: All of the sights in Bangkok, riding the famed Chao Phraya river, seeing the grand palace and golden buddha among hundreds of other unique opportunities in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

I should also note that in the past few days the exchange rate has swung in the dollar's direction: 1 USD is equal to 1 Thai Bhat.

I am so unbelievably excited to get off the ship to see the Thai culture. Unlike other places, this doesn't seem like a challenge to my enduracne or my safety, and I can truly relax and soak in a people that are proud of who they are, and proud of their differences.

Today at Logistical Pre-Port, Les and Luke made great points. We are over halfway finished with our voyage, and we can start to see what's happening. Things are changing, they have been, and it's becoming evident. We no longer look at a language barrier as a challenge, but a welcome opportunity. I no longer worry about where I'll sleep in an unknown city, instead, welcome the ability to plan on a whim and take whatever opportunity comes my way. And in traveling, it seems to be opportunity after opportunity.

Thanks for keeping up with me. Can't wait to share more.

Greg

Day 54. We're Halfway there.

I can't believe it.

The voyage that I've been looking forward to for so long is halfway completed. Today, at pub night, we had a crazy dance party complete with costumes. The whole place was rockin' and we were able to sing and dance with everybody halfway around the world from where we started. It reminded me of dancing at Senor Frogs in the Bahamas 54 days ago. There, we met eyes with eachother for the first time, completely unaware that 54 days later we would be in the Indian Ocean between Singapore and Thailand.

The MICE concert with Singapore was great. We all gathered in the union and were live on the radio, and got to scream hello to one of the smallest city-island-nations in the world. I couldn't believe we were actually there.

My plans for Thailand are pretty finalized. We got a great top-17-in-the-world-hostel in Bangkok for nights 2, 3 and 4. Day 1 I am going to an Elephant Reserve, and Day 2 I am going to a Tiger Village... some of the most reputable animal reserves in the world. Then, it's off to Bangkok, where I'll be touring hospitals with the UVA medical students and residents and checking out one of the most amazing cities in the world! Bangkok! I NEVER thought I'd be there!

It's so amazing to think where I currently am, and so sad to think the voyage is half over! We are all so lucky, and happy to be here and a part of SAS... 54 days later, who knows who we'll be.

Greg

Days 46-50. INDIA

        I don’t think I’ve ever been prepared to travel as much as I had been for India. Other countries on our itinerary, like Morocco for instance, stood out to me as surprises. I didn’t necessarily expect to see what I saw. For India, though, the build-up was immense. I was told months before my voyage even began about how different India is to Americans, and then numerous times throughout our travels, about how influential it would be. The five days I spent in 4 different cities from the traditional south to the westernized north was some of the most memorable days of my life. It’s not that I had a realization, or a mental breakdown, rather, a newfound understanding of a people entirely different from our own. Other countries, you can escape from; your hotel, any building can be refuge from the differences on the street. Not India. India is in your face. What Luke “the voice” said is completely true: from the time your feet hit the ground, to the time you’re back on the gangway, you are inescapable from India. It is there, and it is yours to deal with… not the other way around. Still, I had such an amazing time in the country. I can truly say I will never look at India, or this part of the world the same way again.

        The first thing you notice about India, and I hate to say it due to its negative connotation, is the smell. Waking up early on Thursday, there was a distinct twinge in the air. It’s not an odor, it doesn’t smell particularly like anything; it’s more of heaviness in the air that comes with a highly industrialized and way overpopulated area like Chennai. The air was as thick on deck 7 outside as it felt inside, and there was a noticeable blanket of smog over top of the city. At the bottom of the dock, police barricades were set up to block off an area for us in which to travel to and from the ship. Just on the other side of those barricades, crowds of drivers and merchants began to form.

        The first day, I had secured a spot on an FDP. For those who aren’t familiar with the 3-letter acronyms assigned to pretty much every SAS (see?) thing, FDP stands for Faculty-Directed-Practica. It is a field trip. Your professors organize trips to places that are relevant to their expertise, and then bring students along. Generally, you have to complete a certain number for each class. This one was a “Farm Visit” for Dr. Sarah Swank’s evolution class. Since we were berthed in a pretty industrial-looking port pretty far from the city, I decided to remain on the ship until the trip departed at 1230. I descended the gangway, and the heat and humidity hit me at once. I was in the south of India, and in case I didn’t yet realize it, the weather kindly reminded me. We boarded busses, which were far different from what coach busses back home look like. For one, the drivers sit in an enclosed space, sort of like a cock-pit of sorts. My guide later in the week told me that because of the crazy traffic, large-scale bus drivers have to have that privacy from distractions. That crazy traffic was about to be realized. Picture a monstrous bus, barreling down the street, weaving in and out of lanes, running red lights, stopping for absolutely nobody. Everyone, from the small Rickshaws to the minivans slowly weaved in and out of eachother. There was no such thing as standing still. While blinkers existed, they were replaced with horns and arms out of windows. It was impossible to hear yourself think, because a horn was blaring at every second.

        We drove for about an hour. The farm was only a few miles away as the crow flies, but with Chennai’s millions of people moving around in the heat of the afternoon it took a bit longer.

        There, I was introduced to Arul , who welcomed us to his farm. His farm was situated on 70 acres of land just outside of the main city of Chennai, but just inside its legal limits. As he put it, the farm used to be in the middle of nowhere. Back in the 70s, it took a mile-long paved road to get to the farm. But now, the city has expanded so much, that it’s practically downtown just outside of his gates.  The farm was an interesting experience. Because of the mass modernization, Arul told us that he makes very little on his actual farming, and instead earns his living through his Bed & Breakfast and tourist program he has next to the farm. Still, his 70 acres are used for everything from Cattle grazing to Coconut trees, and was very interesting to walk around and see the agricultural side of India. The greatest part of the day, though, was visiting the adjacent agricultural village to Arul’s farm. We boarded a flatbed trailer made out of bamboo and 2 wheels, and pulled by a 2 oxen, and bumped along for a few minutes. As we drove through the village toward the local elementary school, soon a crowd of people was walking behind our trailer, yelling, jumping and shaking our hands out of excitement. When we got to the school, it was uproar. Kids were so excited to see us. In India, they learn English and American phrases so that they are ready for a globalized world, and you could see their fascination putting this learning to practice. I would wave and say “Hi!”, and the entire lot of them would reply “Fine! How are you!?” and then reach out their right hands to give a handshake that they had obviously learned in school.

        I went through the masses of kids at the school to a classroom, and saw an English lesson on one of the chalkboards. The teachers stopped class to let the kids visit with us, but I was invited in to the classroom where I saw what they were learning. The numbers 1-10 were on the board with “One, Two, Three.. etc.” written next to them. The teacher spoke very little, broken English, and through her, I managed to explain I was from the United States. She lit up, and grabbed a map, and asked me to point where. I pointed to DC, and you could see in their eyes that they didn’t believe somebody could actually exist somewhere so far away on the map. I wanted to say that the feeling was mutual, that I couldn’t believe I was standing over *here* on the map… in India! But I kept my mouth shut, and went outside to play with the kids. They wanted to see us dance, so we pulled out some of the best American digs we know… The Hokey Pokey, and the Macarena. They’re both cultural faux pas in the states, but rural southeast India, we were a frickin’ hit. The kids were so wonderful and polite, and put a smile on my face that didn’t come off for awhile. With so much poverty in India (that you’ll hear about next), seeing beautiful, smiling kids who are getting an education was a needed replenishment to our spirit.

        Arul also showed us how workers climb up a coconut tree to cut down the coconuts. The trees are nearly 75 feet tall, and they climb up there with no harness or safety equipment. Basically, you have a loop of rubber around your torso, and one around your feet, and through a highly complex motion of bending and twisting, you make it up the entire tree using the friction between your loop and the tree bark as your only help. After he did it, they offered any of us the chance to try. Seeing as how nobody else was volunteering, and it would probably be awhile until I was back at Arul’s farm, I took the chance and tried it. I could only get about 5 feet off the ground. If that, before I almost fell and broke my face- but I survived. In the end, a bunch of us ended up trying, and I even convinced my professor to try it. When you don’t stop encouraging, almost everybody gives in… haha.

We returned that night to the ship through the chaos of Chennai traffic, and I took the evening to get packed and showered for my adventure the next day

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“Please note: This is a rigorous itinerary involving a lot of traveling and early morning departures. “

        That’s what was in our field guide when I signed up for CHE 20: Taj Mahal & Varanasi, my 4-day adventure through India. The disclaimer proved to be quite accurate.

        0345 was the time at which the trip began. The 70 of us met in the ship’s union, and met up with John, our trip leader, and the world-famous Physician’s Assistant who makes the hilariously educational health presentations at Logistical Pre-Port. We got our itinerary, our boxed breakfasts, and headed down the gangway as a group in the early morning to board our first bus. The busses took off to Chennai Airport, where we were given our boarding passes, and were told to clear security. With the Mumbai terror attacks in the recent memories of every Indian nationwide, security is intense. Everyone is individually screened, and your bags are rummaged through indiscriminately. Not that it matters much, but it just accounted for a bit more time. We boarded our plane not too longer, and were off for our first destination, the capital of India, New Delhi. We were only in New Delhi for an hour or so, we would return the next day… our purpose in ND was only to connect to our first major stop on our itinerary, the holiest city for the Hindu religion, Varanasi.

        ** I truly think that you can’t understand India without a working knowledge of the dominant religion, Hinduism. It permeates every action and every space… why the amount of begging is skyrocketing and the amount of crime (pick pocketing, rapes, fights) is near-zero for tourists is explicable with only one thing: the Hindu religion.
        Hinduism is almost 8,000 years old, and maintains that every body is just a shell for a spirit, a soul if you will within it. When the body dies, the spirit moves on, and is re-incarnated into another organism. This could be human, dog, bird, or centipede, and everything in between. Depending on how you lived your life dictates on the complexity of the organism to which you are assigned after death. IF you make it to human, you have the ability to escape the cycle of birth-rebirth-birth-rebirth, that you have been doing for possibly hundreds or thousands of years. If you live your life with good karma, never hurting others, lying, cheating, etc., then you can die and achieve “nirvana,” the escaping of the cycle.

        Most importantly though, Hinduism maintains that every thing has a place in the world. When you think about it, it’s quite interesting. In the eyes of a Hindu, from the beggars to the businessmen, the dogs to the cows, we’ve all been in each other’s place at one point in our existence.

        Varanasi is to Hinduism what Jerusalem is to the Jews. It is home to the river Ganges, the holiest body of water in the Hindu religion. When one dies, they are cremated, and if lucky, they are cremated on the banks of the Ganges, and then spread within the river. While still alive, it’s said that bathing in the Ganges cleanses the soul of any sins committed. Of course, with the staggering statistics about germs and grime in the river, I asked my guide how anybody could justify getting in a body of water so dirty that it can literally kill you. Rajj, a practicing Hindu replied that “with faith, people will do anything.” How true, I thought.

        Our first day in Varanasi was spent in a city orientation of sorts, driving around to get the feel for it. Varanasi is so unlike anything my eyes have ever seen. It makes the traffic in Chennai look like that inside an American gated community. The streets are unpaved, and the busses and cars alike swerve back and forth. Fender benders are no cause for concern, and unlucky pedestrians die hourly, not daily. The entire city has a tint of red to it, in its archaic brick architecture. The intersections of roads have no signals, just large circles with a police officer in the middle. He does not direct traffic, just looks on. If you act out of line in the intersection… whatever the hell that could mean… he steps into the circle and whacks you with his 8-foot long bamboo stick. Most drivers are driving bike-rickshaws or motor scooters, so are susceptible to his whack. I felt bad every time I saw them do it (often).

        SAS put us up in a great hotel in the middle of the city, and we spent the arrival getting situated and unpacking for our day-long stay in Varanasi. We had an amazing lunch, with some amazing, spicy food. India is known for their intense blends of spices that they put on everything from chicken to their bread. Taking a bite of the chicken was an incredible experience, and my mouth didn’t realy know how to process the flavors. Comically, when I commented to one of the servers that it was spicy, he misunderstood me, and said “no… we knew that the Americans were coming today, and only put on half-recipe.” So you can see, that if they used whatever the “full recipe” is, I would be without a tongue today.

        That evening, I had one of those moments that makes everything else in your life come to a grinding halt. There were a few of them in India, and this was the first. Our tour busses took us from the hotel down to the middle of the city into a large park. We parked, and all around us were 72 2-passenger bicycle rickshaws. We were to pick one, and then they were to take us all the way to the River Ganges, where we would meet up with the group. Now I’ve been on a bicycle, and I’ve been in Varanasi traffic, but I’ve never been driven by a bicycle *in* Varanasi traffic, and I was pretty anxious about the idea. Jill (my co-star from “No Land”) and I hopped in rickshaw number 40 and held on tight. Between the two of us,  there was very little “cheek room” and we found ourselves laughing as we gripped on for dear life. Then the rickshaw driver stirred to life, and dragged us into the traffic, then hopped on his bike and started to pull us. It was incredible. Cars, motorbikes buzz by you, only a foot or so from your outside-facing ear. People walking, cows trotting, vendors vending, dust and smells from the city blended into one in the open road as the sun slowly set, casting a dark red tint on the sights. I spent the entire ride just looking around, watching the views fly by me. It was clear that they were as interested in me as I was in them. Picture 72 rickshaws with white kids rolling one after another (though it got more broken up in traffic) on a local street… they were curious as to what I was doing on their turf. Going through the traffic circles was like approaching a jigsaw puzzle scattered on the floor. Up in the distance, you see vehicles, people, animals meshing into two directions; it seems impossible to pass with all limbs in tact; then as you get close, a small sliver of path appears from nowhwere, and you fly into the toilet bowl-traffic circle. You bump into eachother, banging wheels and honking or ringing your bell until you take your exit and regain moving in one direction on a new road.

        We finally reached our destination, the River Ganges. This was the first time I had seen the river, and instantly knew why this was the most holy sight in Hindu following. From street level, a huge decline, probably a few hundred stairs proceeded down to the banks of the river. The reason for the slope, I’d find out later is that in the rainy season, the river rises almost all the way to the street level, flooding all that we would be descending in to that first night. We walked down toward the banks to see the evening worship that Hindus do to the Ganges river each and every day. A building adjacent to the ceremony sight opens their roof to tourist groups such as ourselves, and we went up there to get a good view of the service. The entire atmosphere was overwhelming. I divided my time between taking in the sights and sounds that were happening around me, and looking at my fellow students faces. We were all undergoing the same thing, and it was visible on each and every one of our faces: not one of us ever knew that such an evening existed on the planet; and didn’t know what to think of what we were seeing. Giant platforms were erected in font of the river on which men stood and performed in unison tributes in the river’s direction. Fire, incenses, bowing, spinning and dancing took place while a group sang, played and drummed over a loud PA system. All the while, pilgrims bought groups of flowers bunched together with flammable gel in the middle, and released these burning tributes at the banks of the river, which floated down, tiny lights floating down the river in the night sky as far as the eye can see. Incredible.

        After the ceremony, we headed back up to the street, grabbed our rickshaws and headed up for a 30 minute ride back to the busses. The hotel set up an amazing dinner for us outside, and anticipating *normal* American student behavior, they brought in a full bar (extremely rare in India) and DJ and dance floor. They had forgot, however, that we had been up since 3:00 in the morning, so it was eat, and then sleep for the vast majority of us.
       


        Our second day on the trip, we were treated to the second of those “stop. Think. Realize” moments in life. We woke up at 5:00 AM, and headed to the banks of the river again to board small boats and ride the River Ganges to witness one of the oldest, most unchanged traditions in human history. Pilgrims descended upon the river before sunrise to bathe, cleanse and be around the river. More importantly, as I mentioned before, it is the final resting place for Hindus lucky enough to die at the river. Dead bodies, hundreds a day, are brought to the banks of the river and burned, cremated, and then released into the river. It’s a wondrous tradition that has continued since the beginning of… well recorded history. Almost 8,000 years. No words will do justice floating down this river with the sun arising in the background. I will say, though, that probably the best pictures I’ve ever taken in my life were shot that morning. It was an emotionally exauhsting morning, floating the river and then walking through the city for an hour or so. Beggars, maimed children, lepers, all of the stuff that you don’t want to hear about was there that morning to show us the darker side of a nation, the kind that only exists in horror movies and bad dreams. We were prepared, though, and took from each unfortunate sight a sort of understanding of how lucky we really are in comparison. A process of de-ignorance happened to each of us.

We visited another historical sight, the place where Buddhism was created. Buddhism is a subset of Hinduism, split off by… you got it… Buddha, when he sat under a tree for a number of years and reached what he called enlightenment. This all began when Buddha gave his first sermon in Varanasi at a temple. We visited that temple and walked around the entire area to get a feel for it. I was talking to a friend and remarked that it’s interesting that while this place didn’t mean anything to me specifically, it is the Jerusalem of these peoples.

        After a visit to an archaeological museum of Varanasi, we headed to the airport and flew to New Delhi, where things changed immediately. Where Varanasi is a view into the past, the history of India, New Delhi is the present, the future. The seat of government, New Delhi serves as the capital of the largest democracy in the entire world. It is home to the parliament, the embassies and the Indian war memorial, IndiaGate, all of which we were able to see. It is also much more modern. Nightclubs are in more demand, shopping malls, movie theatres, large hotels are in actual existence. We were taken to the Ashok Hotel, one of the most amazing in all of India. We were welcomed with fresh flower necklaces and fresh dye to put the ceremonial ‘dot’ on each of our foreheads. We had a great buffet dinner in the hotel before retiring to bed for some much needed sleep




The next morning started a day that I had dreamed about for as long as I can remember; destination: the Taj Mahal. We transferred from the hotel to the Delhi train station where we fought through the absolute madness of the crowds to get to our platform. At 6ish, we boarded the Shatbadi Express train east to Agra, the sight of the Taj Mahal.

The Taj Mahal is one of the seven modern wonders of the world, but its story is hardly known. Some 400 years ago, Shah Jahal, the ruler of India fell in love with a beautiful woman, known to us as Mahal. Their love was intense, and they made 3 promises to one another. If she died, Shah Jahal promised to 1) never re-marry 2) guarantee that one of their 14 children would become the next king and 3) that the Shah would build an everlasting monument to their love together. Mahal died in childbirth with her 14th child, and Shah Jahal was overcome with sadness. He took applications the world over for his monument to his wife, the Taj Mahal, before choosing the current design.

To me, this was a completely surreal adventure. I’m glad we were there for nearly 3 hours, because it took me almost 2 to realize where I was. Approaching the monument, you could see it off in the distance, and then when you walk in, it’s just there. Right in front of you. Seeing the Taj was an incredible, mesmerizing experience. You’ve seen the picture of the Taj Mahal probably 1,000 times in your life, and I have too. To be standing in front of it, to touch it, to watch the sun set over it, to walk in it, walk on it… it was so surreal. We just stood, in awe, for awhile.

As the sun set, a sort of silence fell over the thousands of tourists there. Especially with us SAS students, who know how fleeting every moment is, we realized how special it is to be there and how long it would be, if ever, before we returned.

We returned from Agra and the Taj by the same train we came, and arrived back to our home in Delhi at the Ashok hotel.

The following day, it was time to return to Chennai by way of flight. Upon arrival, it was only 2:00 pm, and I couldn’t justify getting back on the ship just yet… a full 4 hours before on-ship time. I probably should have, since I smelled like death and was even more tired… but I couldn’t bring myself to. I’m glad I didn’t because it was such a good, quick experience. A few friends and I got off the bus at the Spencer Centre, one of the main malls in Chennai and spent an hour or so shopping and looking around. We then fulfilled one of the last rites of travel to India, and took a motor rickshaw, a sort of 3-wheeled covered contraption through the busy city streets of Chennai back to the ship. I looked around, took one more whiff of Indian air, and ascended the gangway, a much more understanding person then I was 5 days before.


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India is a wordless place. My dad told me something like that when he visited for the first time, and it’s true. India doesn’t have the luxury of space like we do in the States. For that reason, homes are made everywhere, from fields to underpasses, and it’s a tough thing to see. Yes, the negative stuff is there: poor, maimed children do come up to you and beg. People do try to sell you EVERYTHING at EVERY TIME no matter where you are… and it certainly wears on you. However, I think that it’s their culture. If Morocco seemed like it was an “in your face” culture, India puts it to shame; there is just no comparison.

The people are so unique. They are so proud of their heritage, their country, and their culture. Also, they are honest. While I walked the streets with fear in other countries, the philosophy of Hinduism and good will keeps violent crime and horrifying scams in India at a complete minimum. The people mean well, want an honest living, and don’t wish much harm on you. More so, they are friendly, welcoming, gentle, and kind… it was a privilege to be in their country and to understand how different this world can be. India will be with me forever, in its natural beauty and its debilitating poverty. It is truly the biggest difference thus far from westernized culture I’ve ever seen in my life, and certainly on this voyage.

Finally, I’d like to repeat something many people have said to me. Everybody should go to India. You will understand why when you’ve gotten back, but you should go, and see what life is like on the other side of the world. I promise, you’re in for a great surprise.

Day 53. Into the Strait of Mallaca

Hi all

*my apologies for still no India blog. It is coming along, and is near completion. It's a lot to write, and I just don't want to spit something out real fast. Thanks for your patience!*

So The Explorer entered the Strait of Mallaca today. The strait is a narrow stretch of water, only 500 miles long that runs Northeast to Southwest, and connecting the India Ocean with the Great Pacific. At times, the strait is only 1.5 miles wide, so shipping traffic is intense, and we can see a lot of different ships around us in all directions.

"Over 50,000 vessels traverse the strait each year, carrying one-quarter of global trade.  Oil from the Persian Gulf states moves eastward to the oil-hungry economies of China, Japan, and South Korea.  In turn, their goods move westward to India, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.  The strait is not only narrow, it is also shallow.  In places the depth is only 25 meters (82 feet) and large supertankers must avoid it by going south around Sumatra and finding deeper routes through the Indonesian archipelago.   The size limit for vessels able to pass through the Strait of Malacca is called the “Malaccamax”; any ship larger than the MalaccaMax must find an alternative path.  The Strait of Malacca was notorious for piracy, and to some extent still is, but a crackdown by the Malaysian, Indonesian, and Singapore navies beginning in 2004 has made the strait a much safer channel than it was."

Still, we can't help but notice that precautions have been taken aboard the Explorer. There are firehoses on different parts of the deck, we've been told in case someone would try to board the ship. Additionally, the other day, the crew ran an exercise. Over the loudspeakers, we heard "Captain Morgan, please report to your reception" three times. I found out today that that is the signal that the ship is facing external attack, and the crew was just preparing. It was just a drill, mom... there are no pirates... yet.

There are a group of medical students and 2 residents who are on board with us now from the University of Virginia. I had dinner with them tonight with a few other pre-med kids, and we talked about everything from the MCAT to which electives are the best to take when. They're great guys and girls, and I hope to get to know them better. Me and a friend are hoping to travel with them in Vietnam to different hospitals to see what's going on medically abroad.

The only other news, is Jill and I struck again at the ship's Karaoke night. We were supposed to do a perfectly choreographed "I'm real" by J-Lo and Ja Rule, and even had the costumes to go with it. When we got up there, though, we faced a sad reality- the song unfortunately wasn't available. Never ones to back down from a challenge, Jill and I hobbled through "I will survive," still decked out in stilletos and gangsta rap gear. Everyone got a kick, and we saved face. It was a lot of fun.

Tomorrow, preparations for Bangkok reach critical mass... and I plan to figure out my plans in their entirety. We also arrive in Singapore tomorrow, just to bunker off of the coast.

OH! I forgot to tell you. The ship has a band, called MICE (Mobile Interactive Computer Ensemble) that has been making computerized songs and playing them in different ports. Well, the University of Singapore heard that we would be in their waters tomorrow, so they have arranged an international drive-by concert. At 12:30, our ship will broadcast an interactive performance featuring all of us in the union on our laptops, and that broadcast will be picked up by the national radio station in Singapore, and broadcast all around the country! The University will, in turn, then play something for us. It should be a great time, and we were sent a copy of the fliers that they have put all around their city! It's so cool! I'll let you know how it turns out.

Talk to you from the end of the Strait tomorrow. That is if we don't get sunk by pirates.

Greg

Day 52. Post-India Assassins

First, my India blog is coming along nicely. I had an incredible 5 days in a country that altered my perception of the world outside my 'bubble' of the US forever. It was a tiring, but worthwhile 4 days of traveling, and I'm happy to be back on the ship. I should finish up the blog tomorrow, and it'll be posted right here.

Ship life is back to normal, except for one thing, which I'll get to in a second. The crew is diligently cleaning up after India. The ship was caked in dirt and grime from sitting in the Indian harbor for 5 days. Everything from the carpets to the windows showed signs of dirtiness. The crew, though, is amazing. Every inch of the Explorer's carpets is being steam cleaned. The glass and brass is being shined, and every deck and window power-washed. It already looks like new.

Alright... so excitement. The ship has begun playing a game called 'Assassins'. For those who don't know, this is a real-life, role-playing game that goes on 24 hours a day. 234 of us signed up to play, and a few days ago the "Grand Master Assassin (head of the game)" sent us our first assignment. Each of us was given one name to 'kill.' You make your kills by throwing or touching your victim with a sock. There are certain exceptions: not during class, not in the library, etc... but it's pretty simple. Once you kill that person, you get their assignment, and you have a new person to kill. Of course, one person out there is looking for you... and you don't know who it is. Here's the catch, the "Grand Master" can assign immunities at any time during the game. For instance, the first day, we were told that if were wearing un-matching shoes then we were 'immune' and could not be killed. The immunities can, and do, change at any time. Right now, wearing a cape... yes, a cape... grants you immunity. The last man standing at the end wins it all.

Of course, if you know me at all, you know how intense I am taking the game. I'm already tracking down my 4th victim, and have yet to be conquered. The ship has exploded with excitement about the game. When an email comes out with a new immunity, about a quarter of all people on the ship get up and RUN to their cabin to get their immunity. You see, the times at which the immunities change is where you're most vulnerable... if you can catch your victim off guard, then victory is yours.

It's a great game, and even more fun because, well, you can't escape it. It's not like you can get off the ship, you know.

Other than this, life is great. We are approaching ominous Day 54... the halfway point of the voyage. I can't even bear to think about it. For now though, the seas are beautiful and calm, and we are approaching the Strait of Mallaca for our approach to Eastern Asia. We were informed the other day that we will be stopping for 8 hours in Singapore to get fuel (bunker), before heading north to Bangkok! We are busy planning our time in Bangkok, and can't wait.

For your information, the ship's clock pushed forward 1.5 hours since India. With daylight savings time in the US, we are now 11 hours ahead of the eastern US.

Look for the India blog tomorrow!

Greg.

Day 45. The Last Day of my Life before I was in India

*Note: for some reason this didn't post when I sent it to the blog 2 days ago. Here it is. I'm in India now, and it's amazing. I'll write soon*

Day 45. The Last Day of my Life before I was in India

I'm sure you've all arrived to places by airplane multiple times. I have, we all have. The scene always is the same: you prepare for landing, you land, the stewardesses welcome you to whatever airport you've arrived into, and then they open the door. The door always looks more or less the same, and just like that, you've arrived in another place in the world. Just like that. But at least for me, it's hard to connect that arrival with the departure city you left out of- it feels like you're in a different world. You remember boarding, then you disappear in the clouds, then you land. It's difficult to connect the dots. There's something very different about this voyage, arriving into different ports by ship. You see, we remember every point in between those dots. While on a map you see a dot in Mauritius, a line, and then a dot in Chennai, India, I see 5 days, calm oceans, dolphins, sunsets, Olympics, classes, exams and weather. It's easier for us to connect those dots, to understand the relationship- geographical, cultural, climactical, similarities and differences between two individual points when we see every point in between.

A lot has been said about the impact India has on westerners. A survey by Semester-At-Sea of alumni from the past 98 voyages has found that India was the port that most people remember as most influential. We've heard the stories on board of mental breakdowns in the streets, of students returning to the ship different then they left. It's daunting and a little unnerving, but it's what we signed up for, I suppose.

At logistical pre-port, Executive Dean Les McCabe made a great presentation, as he always does the night before arrival in port. I want to share with you the story he shared with us.

Nearly 10 years ago, Les, his wife Susan, and children Erin and Ryan arrived on the SS Universe Explorer (the old SAS ship) in Cape Town, South Africa. During their port stay, they met a woman named Mavis who was vending goods on the pier near the ship. "We were drawn to the life within her," Les said, "she radiated life out of her." Mavis was born in a township in South Africa, and was determined to get out. She sold goods to tourists in order to make whatever little money she could, dedicated to setting an example for the extremely impoverished community in which she grew up. Les and the family ended up getting to know her during their stay, and exchanged information. When they returned to the United States, the McCabes stayed in contact with Mavis. They wrote letters to one another swapping news and stories. Mavis was running into trouble, Les said, because the government was trying to oust the vendors from the area. The McCabes were concerned for their friend, whom they had become quite close with. Les even wrote a letter to Mavis to give to the authorities on behalf of Semester At Sea, saying that people like Mavis were a benefit to the port area. Susan and Les even discussed having Mavis come to the United States for a little while to figure out what to do next. But things were changing, and the McCabes moved from Pittsburgh to Virginia, and lost contact with Mavis. Months without communication turned to a year, which turned to 8 years. A woman who had meant so much to Les' family had faded into oblivion, and they had no idea where or how she was.

Now, in 2009, the McCabes returned to Cape Town as a family aboard a new ship. This was last week. They hadn't spoken to Mavis in 8 years, and hadn't seen her in 10. They did all they could, talking to shopkeepers and vendors who were in the popular craft markets. They asked all around for Mavis, but nobody had even heard of her. On the last night in Cape Town, the 4 of them were returning to the pier in a taxi and got to talking to the cabbie. The cab remarked that he had been in Cape Town forever, and remembered the last 3 SAS ships, dating back to the 80s. "It was clear he had been there for a long time," Les said. In a long shot, Susan asked the cabbie if he knew the name Mavis. "I laughed," Les said. It was as long a shot as any. The cabbie turned around and beamed. "Of course I know her!" he said. He informed them that she had a great store at the base of Table Mountain. They were ecstatic, and determined to set out early the next morning, the last day in South Africa to visit her.

The next morning, they hailed a cab to take them to Table Mountain. Glowing, they walked into the store of a long lost friend… but she wasn't there. It was Sunday, and Mavis would be in church like she was every Sunday of her life. But her cousin was there, and he offered to leave a message at home for Mavis to say she had visitors. He dialed, and to his complete shock, someone picked up. He handed the phone to Susan, who identified herself to the voice on the other end of the phone. All that followed, Les said, were tears. Mavis had, for the past 8 years, gone out to the ocean every week and looked out and prayed. Not for world peace, but for the opportunity to one day reconnect with, as she called it, "her American family." That Sunday, she had a feeling she should remain at home, instead of missing church for the first time in a long time.

The family and Mavis reconnected at the wharf, and spent the entire last day together. Tears abounded, Les said, as a chance encounter 10 years ago turned into a life-defining relationship. Les made it a point to tell us to go out and find the innocuous person who is out there in India, or Thailand, or Vietnam, and not to be afraid to give of ourselves. The story was quite moving, and quite unbelievable. It just goes to show how long and how far human connection can last.

Now, our turn. We'll arrive in India tomorrow morning at 0800 in Quay 5 of the Madras harbor. We'll dock on the Port side. At logistical pre-port, Luke "the voice" Jones called India impossible to escape. You cannot physically leave the gangway without feeling the emotions that take much longer to surface in other countries, he said. "It's a culture of contrasts," Luke went on, with beautiful architecture and horrible slums, with wonderful beaches and saddening environmental destruction, with order among millions and chaos as well. I, for one, cannot believe that tomorrow I'll be there. I still look at the world map hanging in my cabin, and look at the Indian Ocean as "over there." I have to remind myself it's "over here," and that the US is "over there."

I'll be visiting Varanasi, home of the famous Ganges River. If you read my itinerary, you know I'll be sailing at sunrise along the river, the most holy place for Hindus. Some facts and figures: 70,000 pilgrims arrive at the Ganges daily. 400 Cremated bodies are pushed aboard floating pyres into the Ganges daily. 9,000 cattle are laid to rest in the Ganges annually. Some saddening facts: the river contains 10,000 times the amount of acceptable fecal matter in which to bathe, according to the CDC. 300 Million gallons of sewage are poured into the Ganges on a daily basis. In the most shocking statistic I've ever heard: 1/3 of ALL deaths in India are a result of water from the Ganges river.

Pre-port was also hilarious as usual. John, the Physician's Assistant on board is just as good at comedy as he is medicine. His presentations are cryingly hilarious. In today's he topped even himself when, all of a sudden, the Chicago Bulls introduction theme song started playing, while the word T-R-A-V-E-L-E-R-S D-I-A-R-R-H-E-A was spelled slowly on screen before "WE WILL DEFEAT YOU!!" appeared over top of it. I don't recall us laughing this hard on the voyage yet. We went through all of the prophylaxis and treatments for "Delhi-Belly" and hopefully I won't get it. Apparently, as my Dad will tell you, it's pretty common.

Well, that's all I can muster out this late evening. I'm excited to experience India through my own two eyes, and promise to let it come over me and not hold back. And yes, Mom, I'll be safe. I will be in Chennai all day tomorrow on a day-trip to an Indian farm with my Evolution class (kick-ass field trip, huh?). I should be able to write tomorrow evening before I take off on my whirlwind 4-day adventure through the North of India starting on Friday.

Thanks for reading. Talk to you from INDIA tomorrow.

Greg.

Day 44. A Passage to India.

       Today was a busy day. For one, I was able to complete my last paper due before India, which is a huge relief. I had a great day in Biomedical Ethics class today. We finished watching Ms. Ever’s Boys, a factual movie about the horrors of the Tuskegee experiment in the middle of the 20th century. For those who don’t know, Tuskegee was a town in the US where 432 Black males with Syphillis were studied under the false pretenses that they were receiving treatment. In reality, no treatment was being given, and they were being watched to see how their bodies would react. To syphilis. Which had already been studied. Anyway, the disgust of the trial which killed around 300 men led to major reforms about Informed Consent and human experimentation in the United States. It was an interesting discussion.

       Another great thing about classes on the ship is the ability to do whatever whenever. For instance, our biomed class wanted to squeeze in one more class before India, so we all met up on the top deck under the stars at 7pm and had class there. I doubt I’ve ever studied biomedical ethics on the top deck of a moving ship before-haha.

       We also had our cultural pre-port on India tonight. There, our 3 inter-port lecturers (one professor and two college-aged students) told us all about the odds and ends of Indian society and culture, what to do and what not to do. Here are some interesting facts:

- India is the world’s largest democracy. With 1.2 billion people, the whole of India accounts for 1/6 of the world’s population in a country roughly 2/3 the size of the United States
-India’s made up of 28 states, each with its own language, food, culture, and dress
-The official animal of India is the tiger. It’s official bird is the Peacock
-India is 82% Hindu. Christianity, Buddhism, and Sikhism are the runners-up
- The Taj Mahal, India’s most famous landmark was constructed under orders from Shah Jahan in 1653. It was a tribute to his wife, and it took 22 years and 20,000 workers to complete. At the end of construction, the Shah didn’t want the workers to ever build anything again, so he cut off all 20,000 pairs of hands. True story.
-Bollywood, India’s Hollywood is the most productive movie-making town in the world. In 2003, they produced 877 feature and 1177 short films. That’s almost 8 films released daily.
-The Indian flag is 3 horizontal stripes and a crest, or chaka in the middle. The Saffron stands for courage and selflessness, the white stands for peace and truth, the green for prosperity and fertility. The wheel in the middle stands for justice, and has 24 spokes, one for each hour in the day
-Chennai, our port of call, has 8 million people. Its vastly overpopulated, and social scientists don’t believe a solution is yet figured out. Just to compare, Baltimore has 600,000 people in a LARGER area then Chennai. Insane.

As one of our student inter-porters told us, navigating the streets in Chennai is a “peaceful coexistance between men, women, cows, goats and donkeys. You don’t walk,”she said, “you get pushed.”


I know some of you asked to hear what I’m doing in India…so here it is below. I will be doing a SAS day trip on day 1 to a farm in rural India with my evolution class, and then a 4-day marathon through the north of India to Agra, New Delhi, and Varanasi. It’s incredible. Here is the 4-day itinerary:

This trip combines the bustling city of Delhi, the majesty of the Taj Mahal, and the "eternal city"of Varanasi, one of
the most important pilgrimage sites in India. Located on the banks of the sacred River Ganges, Varanasi is the holy
city of the Hindus. Often called "the heartbeat of India,"it is the oldest inhabited city in the world. Varanasi has
been a center of civilization and learning for over 2,000 years. Here you can observe the ritual bathing in the Ganges
at dawn, a practice that has continued virtually unchanged over the centuries. Please note: This is a rigorous
itinerary involving a lot of traveling and early morning departures.

Day 1: Transfer by motor coach to the Chennai airport for your 2_-hour flight to Delhi. Upon arrival, transfer to
the domestic airport for your flight to Varanasi. Once in Varanasi, proceed for a tour of Sarnath, located six miles
outside of Varanasi. Although the ancient city of Sarnath lies in ruins, it is as holy to Buddhists as Varanasi is to
Hindus; Buddha preached his first sermon here. See the stupa and ruins of an ancient monastery as well as the new
Buddhist temple. Then enjoy lunch at the hotel before an optional shopping tour with your guide at the Indian Art
Emporium. Later, return to the hotel for dinner and overnight. (Box B, L, D; area hotel)
Day 2: Following an early-morning wake-up call, depart the hotel and drive to the banks of the River Ganges before
sunrise. Board a boat and sail along the river to witness a spectacle of religious practice that has continued
unchanged over centuries. At dawn, pilgrims converge at the holy waters for the ritual immersion and prayer to
release their souls from the cycle of rebirth. This is one of the most memorable experiences of a visit to India. Then,
continue your city orientation of Varanasi. The oldest living city in the world, it has been a center of civilization and
learning for over 2,500 years. Visit some of the major temples and walk through narrow lanes flanked with shops
selling, among other things, the famous Benaras silk, for which Varanasi is known. After breakfast at the hotel,
proceed to the Archaeological Museum and explore the large collection of ancient art before heading for the airport
(where you will have lunch) and an afternoon flight to Delhi. Upon arrival, enjoy a city orientation. Visit the Birla
Temple and a Sikh Gurdwara. Drive along Rajpath, the ceremonial avenue, past the War Memorial, Parliament
House, and the Rashtrapati Bhavan (Presidential Palace). Dinner and overnight at the hotel. (B, L, D; area hotel)
Day 3: The early morning finds you aboard the train, heading toward Agra. A boxed breakfast will be provided. 
Upon arrival, drive to Fatehpur Sikri, with its red sandstone palaces which are remarkably preserved. An optional
shopping tour, with your guide, is available at that time.  Following lunch at the hotel, drive to Agra Fort to view the
halls and palaces of the Mughals. Then visit the fabled Taj Mahal where you will have the opportunity to view the
Taj Mahal at dusk. Return to the hotel for dinner before departing on the train for your journey to Delhi. Overnight
in Delhi. (Packed B, L, D; area hotel)
Day 4: After breakfast, proceed to the airport for your return flight to Chennai. (B)


That’s it for tonight. I’ll be back in tomorrow with final details before India!

Greg.

Days 42-43. Look Ma, It's a real School!

Semester At Sea is, actually, a semester.

 

I know, it's hard to believe to you all; and it's 10 times harder for us. Imagine taking college classes with 9 or 10 day breaks interspersed throughout the semester. It's pretty challenging to stay focused!

 

Luckily, the professors are all in the same boat (no pun intended) with us. They, too, are experienceing the travel fatigue and lack of continuity that we all get. That being said, SAS does a great job of actually being a credit-earining college campus, and our classes hold us to that. I had 2 papers and 2 tests in the past 5 days, which explains my slow blog writing... tomorrow, I turn in a paper for my media studies class on an anti-abortion ad I spotted in Spain and then it's smooth sailing (again, no pun) for awhile before any more serious things are due.

 

The professors have been pretty good and helpful with getting all of the work done, and I find with nowhere to go... you can't leave the ship... it's easy to get your work done if you just pick a quiet place and focus.

 

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India is close, and everybody is feeling it. There is definitely a sense on board that is different from any other port that we've gone to. Before we sailed into Cadiz, Spain, excitement abounded on board. Before docking in South Africa, a sense of wonder and disbelief took over everyone including myself. However, with India, it's a little bit different.

 

From everything I've heard about SAS, I hear the most about India. It seems to be the place that all students remember as that pinnacle in the voyage where everything about their understanding of the world changed. Certainly, I've seen it in people I know, in my Dad, who returned from India with a sort of inexplicable silence, a disbelief of what he saw. I think, on some level, we are all cautiously skeptical of what waits on the other side of 5 days in the country.

 

Today, our interport lecturer, an esteemed professor in India shared about the long history of the nation. It's all part of the routine of learning about this port, but something about it is different. It's not an excitement for a spring break... it's a fear of realization. I'll make a point of posting the information we learn about India in cultural pre-port tomorrow night as well as my itinerary for the days in India tomorrow. We have 2 more days of classes before arriving in Chennai on Thursday.

 

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In other news, the ship had an intentional 'blackout' tonight. As we are within the tropic of Cancer, only a few degrees south of the equator, the stars are amazing, but often difficult to see with the lights of the ship. Between 2130 and 2330, the ship turned off all of its forward lights so we could gather at the bow and look up. I took one of those... 'wow, look where you are' moments as my friends and I gazed up at the stars. It was as clear as I've ever seen them. The Southern Cross is almost impossible to see as we approach the northern hemisphere, and by tomorrow night, it will be gone from the trip.

 

For now, it's off to bed. I'm excited to turn in my paper tomorrow, and then to get some much needed sleep before a grueling few days in port ahead of me.

 

Thanks for writing to me!

 

Greg

Day 41. SEA OLYMPICS.

       The Sea Olympics have long been a tradition aboard Semester At Sea voyages, and while they have morphed over the years, their purpose has rarely changed. Each student’s cabin on the ship is in an individual “Sea”full of about 70-ish kids and a “living learning coordinator”or LLC. There is also the “Oddy-Sea”full of the life long learners, faculty, staff, and their kids.

       When we boarded the ship from Mauritius, we grabbed some grub, and then got ready for opening ceremonies. There, Luke “The Voice”Jones was called up to “light”the Olympic torch and officially open the games. Of course, open flames on the ship are forbidden, so red paper was attached to a torch stem to signify the lighting. All of the seas were introduced to much applause, and then presentations of the team’s cheer, mascot and banner were presented to the judges.

       The next day, the Olympics, the games were in full swing. You may have a pictionary tournament going in the Union at the same time Tug-of-War happened on the 7th deck. Everything from a massive twister game to mashed potato sculpting, volleyball, dodgeball, limbo and synchronized swimming was fair game. Nate and I had the privilege of hosting the Spelling Bee, which was a lot of fun. We expected it be just the spellers and us in a room, but a good 50 or so people came out. In the end, professor Sergio won the gold medal for the Oddy-Sea, but it wasn’t without a fight.

       Some of the odds and ends of the day:
       -12 or 13-year old Abby beat out all of the competition and won the wall-sit competition in the workout relay
       -Exec. Dean Les McCabe was a common theme of the day. He appeared in a few teams’mashed potato sculptures. One time holding the globe and the other with his favorite word Ubuntu sculpted in front of him.
       -I forgot that the pool was salt-water and opened my eyes underwater during the synchronized swimming routine. Needless to say…it hurt.
       -The first word to get someone out in our spelling bee was “Celery”
       
       I had a lot of fun all day. With my times and memories on the Blue Team at CTT most of my life, I was busy leading chants and cheers, going crazy and making a fool out of myself for the benefit of the team. We had a lot of good time, but unfortunately that didn’t translate to the scoreboard. See, the Carribbean Sea was always close to getting a medal, but never actually there. And as you all know, close doesn’t get you points. We ended up coming in dead last with 1, that’s right,1 bronze medal. With teams raking in as much as 10 golds, 15 silvers and multiple bronzes…it was kind of embarrassing, haha. In terms of the Olympics, the Carribbean sea was Uzbekistan.

       In terms of competition, though, we definitely had the most fun. We became the loveable losers, the Chicago Cubs if you will, of the Olympics by about 2:00 pm, so everything became more fun and less serious. Our dodgeball team was unstoppable, our synchronized swimming team (of which I was on) was hilarious, and overall it was a great time being competitive with friends. Though I won’t be getting off the ship first in Ft. Lauderdale, the day was a welcome break to classes and the other stresses of life-at-sea (there’s not many, but there are some).

       The closing ceremonies were a nice finish to the day and one of the fun times the whole ship comes together. We had planned a lot for this day, and it was a lot of fun to see it come to fruition.

       Right after the Olympics, it was back to reality…kind of. I needed to punch out a 6-pager for my biomedical ethics class, so I hit the main dining room with chips and caffeine and didn’t get up til it was done.

Day 40. MAURITIUS

       I had an amazing experience on the island of Mauritius. I’m deeply sorry that I only had a day in the country, but really happy that I had a day there at all. Truly, I never thought I would find myself on the island of Mauritius in my entire life.

       I, probably like you, assumed Mauritius would be just like the beach episode in Friends, you know, the episode where Monica got her hair braided? I figured it would be…as you read in the above blogs…an island paradise that was touristy, and that’s it.

       It really wasn’t. It is a large, full functioning island with people, culture, business, traffic jams, mountains and valleys. Its amazing to step foot in a place you never knew existed and still find that human culture that ties us…even in the middle of the Indian ocean, there’s plenty of stuff that keeps us all on similar pages.

       From the ship, pulling in to port in the morning, it certainly looked like the Friends resort. We saw tropical coastlines with flowing hills and mountains behind them. A small skyline of tall office buildings (no skyscrapers) was visible off in the distance by a pristing harbor. The island looked like any other country as far as size goes, but you could tell the coastline was rounding in a much faster pace than, say, Namibia.

       I greeted the US Consul (yes, we have an Embassy in the island-nation of Mauritius) on board and we ushered him to the Union where he gave a diplomatic briefing. “I went to the wrong college,”was all he had to say. It’s a great thing to welcome people aboard the Explorer not 15 minutes after we pull into port. It reminds me how lucky we are and how amazing this program is when somebody who has never been aboard steps on. To see their amazement at the 700 students and 300 adults running around excited about being on land after a long stretch at sea reminds me…we’re pretty abnormal as far as college campuses go.

       Anyway, after debarking, I hopped in the SAS bus to take us to Adventure Park and Beach. The Adventure Park, or Parque Aventur (they speak French on the island), was way up in the mountains after an hour and a half drive with our crazy insane bus driver. Within 15 minutes of leaving the ship, we were involved in a fender-bender on the highway and then got pulled over by police 5 minutes later. Winding up the mountains in the north of the island with Evil Kenevil behind the wheel was definitely an experience. Let’s just say that seasickness has not given me the worst nausea thus far on the trip.

       We made it to the park, put on harnesses and were told we would be crossing rope bridges, and doing other challenge-course-like activities. With my 10-ish years of Camp Tall Timbers Challenge Course training under my belt, I felt I was prepared. I was for everything they threw at us, except the bugs. We got murdered by mosquitos and chigger bugs…causing me to pop a malaria pill as soon as I made it back to the ship. I, of course, was in the top-3 of most bites per square inch, but others had it even worse than me. The park was really cool, and it was definitely a unique experience, climbing, stretching, leaping from platform to platform, riding down the zipline, etc. We had a nice little lunch (chicken curry and rice) before loading the bus to go to the beach.

       Flic en Flac (actual name) beach was divine. White sand and water so clear you could see your feet. I bartered with a local for a beach umbrella (tropical sun= skin cancer) and we sat there watching the waves come in and sipping on Phoenix, the national beer of Mauritius. It’s actually really, really good. All the while, we talked to some of the locals who came and spoke with us and just relaxed. It had been a long week since SA. We walked into town and shmyed around, before loading the busses back to Port Louis.

       I convinced the bus driver to drop us off in town where we did some last-minute shopping and ate and drank before getting on the ship.After a bit we hailed a water taxi back to the ship.

       This was not a Baltimore water taxi. This was a guy with a boat slightly larger than a paddlboat with an engine. We had to hop in from the pier and he took us right down the harbor next to the ship. At that point, he drove us up to the wall of the harbor and there was a little ladder that we had to climb up to get on land. It was hilarious. We climbed it, and walked over to the gangway. I took a last look around, took in Mauritius and then boarded the ship. Waiting for us was a beautiful BBQ and sunset, and the opening ceremonies for the Sea Olympic games…but I don’t want to get ahead of myself. That’s next blog.

       Mauritius…you completely surprised me. It’s so amazing to find people, life, culture this far away from home. I never knew your name, and when I did I never imagined what I’d see would be…normal. It’s different in the way that all cultures are different, but you are all stunningly normal, happy, nice, congenial people. You make sure that we know that if only for 12 hours while sailing between South Africa and India. Lia said something interesting to me while we were walking back towards town…“you know, this will, for all intensive purposes be the 1 day of your life you spend in Mauritius.”

       I don’t know if that’s true, but it meant a lot to me. Whether or not I make it back to this island is irrelevant. What’s important is that if Mauritius, or this part of the world ever makes news, there will be at least 729 college students who can vouch for its existence. It’s not just a blip on the map. There are people, lives, business here. I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive myself for doubting that in the first place, but I know I won’t do it again.