From Ryan:
Day 1
We arrived in Malaysia on April 2 and were excited to go into port. Our ship was not able to dock in port, so they had to lower the life boats to transport us to and from the shore. We used this method for our whole stay in Malaysia. So we get off the boat and are welcomed by a hot, humid, and very sunny day. We had a few hours until we needed to catch our flight to Kuala Lumpur so we walked around the waterfront area. Within walking distance was both Little India, and China Town. We went out with Jenny, Julie, and Sami, and looked around the Indian shops, but we had just come from India so we did not need to buy anything. We ate at an Indian restaurant and took it easy until we had to leave. We then caught two taxis to the airport and were on our way to Kuala Lumpur, a major metropolis. We were planning on staying at the Ritz Carlton, but it was the same price to stay at the Mandarin Oriental, which was right next to the Petronas twin towers, which are the most amazing buildings I have ever seen before. Split between everyone we shoved in the room it was very cheap. That night we all got dressed up, I wore my Kuta, the dressy Indian wear. We went to a huge mall and ate at an awesome Thai place. We then went out to a main street that had about 10 different clubs lining it. We stopped at club Aloha, one of the more expensive ones, but got in for free. There they had a DJ, live band, and lots of dancing and TV’s. After awhile of dancing, we met back up with the people we came with, and they got us into a free VIP underground section of the club. Juan and Eddie were able to get two tables inside the club that were covered in a coral looking structure. It was our private little party, but we also got down on the dance floor. After that we went back to the hotel and ended up ordering some very tasty room service.
Day 2
We planned to wake up early and see the Batu Caves, Lake gardens, and place where the King resided, but ended up leaving the room at around 12. Thus, we went out in the town to shop and see some locals. Since we were in the city area there was also a China town, and Little India. In China town we found a shop that had many different things we were looking for, like ping pong balls for the ship, and arts and crafts things for Erika’s Ambassador’s Ball thing. They also had hand made Chinese art, and we ended up buying a piece for very cheap. It then started to rain in the afternoon and the locals said that it usually does that, but stops in the evening. They were right. Later that night we went to the shopping area at the bottom of the twin towers, and ended up splitting away from our group to have dinner and a movie. By the way, to go to the movie theatre only cost 2 US dollars, and they are just like the ones in the US, with stadium seating. We saw a movie that my roommate had seen in India and recommended. It was called “Namaste London” and was cool to see a different cultures style in movies. We then ate and went back to the hotel. We were able to get a little sleep, but the rest of our group did not show up till 4 am, again. This time we did manage to wake up and get an early start.
Day 3
We all woke up and headed out for the Batu Caves. There we say a huge statue of the Deity Shiva, a Hindu God. We then saw a bunch of Hindu architecture and were amazed at its intricacy, and wide array of colors. As we made our way up the 220 steps to the top to see the Temple, monkeys were surrounding us and looking at what we had in our hands. I was not able to get pictures and video till after it happened, but one of the monkeys stole our friend Sami’s purse, emptied it out, and stole her children’s books she just bought. It then climbed a post and threw them down after reading and biting them. She got all her things back, but was terrified of the monkeys and had me carry her bag when we went back down the steps. It made for good entertainment. Next we made our way to the Lake Gardens were we went to a butterfly farm. There were thousands of butterflies and I was able to hold a lot of them. There were also turtles, fish, and frogs there. Inside we were able to see a lot of different butterflies and exotic insects and bugs from around the world. It might sound lame, but I actually had an awesome time. We then made our way to a palace, I forget what it is called, but it is where a Kinglike person lives and it is guarded by two soldiers on horses with guns. They were like the soldiers in London, and were not able to move. We took pictures with them, and their horses. After that we went shopping some more and then made our way back to the air port. After flying back to Penang we went back to the boat and went straight to bed.
Day 4
In the morning we got up and went to a beach about 30 minutes away. Our driver was really cool and helpful telling us about Malaysia and things to do. I have his card if anyone reading this needs a good driver some day. It was a very nice beach, and there were many things to do there. It was a tourist area, with hotels, but it was not crowded on the beach. We saw people on sea doos in the ocean, horses walking up and down the beach, and ATV’s also going back and forth along the beach. We hung out, ate lunch, and bought a few things at the local market. After that, we had some time to kill, and some Ringotts we needed to spend, so we went horseback riding on the beach with Clair and Nicole, and then Erika and I went Sea Dooing. It was very cheap, and a lot of fun. Later, we split a cab with Erika’s roommate Grace and her friend Kelsey back to the ship. We got there early and had time to eat at a local place. The restaurant was cooking their food out front, and Erika saw a rat run by; and that’s when I knew the place would be really good. I got fried noodles and chicken, and it was amazing, and extremely cheap, maybe around 2 dollars. We then went back to the ship where we waited in line, got our bags checked, and took a lifeboat to the ship.
We had a great time in Malaysia, and met a lot of inspiring, and eye opening people. At one of the restaurants we met a family of three that were from the US, but now the dad is a teacher in Malaysia. He is a part of an awesome program, and it really opened our eyes even more to the realistic possibility of working abroad.
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
India
India
I was looking forward to India the most of any port on this voyage. I was determined to make it to the Taj Mahal no matter what. We had a group set up that we were traveling with; Ryan, Dustin, Kevin, Clair, Jenny, and I were all planning on flying to Delhi, taking a train to Agra and back to Delhi, flying to Varanasi, and then flying back to Chennai. We were going to travel very extensively in only five days. We had tried to book all this in Mauritius but due to many different problems, were unsuccessful. A few days before, we were able to find an airline that we could book online called SpiceJet. We booked a flight to Delhi and to Varanasi but this particular airline did not fly directly to Chennai so we decided to wait and purchase our ticket at the airport. Risky I know but everything turned out amazing.
Day 1:
We arrived in Chennai and were able to get off the ship at 11 but since Ryan and I had an SAS trip at 1 pm we decided to just stay on the ship, pack for the next few days, and get some lunch. I was very excited for this trip because it was a service project to one of the poorest areas of Chennai to help improve the community. The people of this community are called the Dalits, also known as the untouchables and are part of the lowest caste system. So we took a bus to the area and as soon as we got off children swarmed us placing strings of jasmine over our necks and in our hair. They would ask us our name and want to take pictures with us. They were so giddy and excited to see us and absolutely adorable. We walked through the village to the school and were given a welcome ceremony with a traditional dance and music and were then put to work. Ryan and I were in a group of five that had the task of painting all the chalkboards in all the classrooms. The kids kept coming up to us and talking and taking pictures. I really liked the kids. After a few hours, we had to leave. But before we did an Indian reporter took pictures of us and we were in the next day’s newspaper. I haven’t seen it though. After saying our goodbyes, we went back to the ship and cleaned up since we were covered in paint, before finding Sami, Anna, Kevin and some others to go out to dinner. My first experience on a rickshaw was awesome. These tiny three- wheeled vehicles whiz you dangerously around the city while you’re hanging on for dear life. While driving, I saw many motorcycles with whole families of four riding them! I’ll have to show you guys pictures. Anyway, we went to this really nice hotel where they had live entertainment. We saw beautiful Indian dancers and musicians and a man with parakeets told our fortunes. Not to mention the food was awesome. Ryan said it was his favorite Indian food ever. We were given papadum, Indian crispy bread, with a bunch of different sauces including coconut, ginger, and cilantro. We had a bunch of different curries and masala, bread, and rice. Amazing. We really wanted desert after dinner so we found some chocolates for sale. We misread the price and thought they were extremely cheap so we were piling our plates but it turned out to be more expensive than we had hoped. We all had a good laugh. After our late dinner, we went back to the ship since we had to be up pretty early. Oh and this time, we fit all eight of us into one rickshaw, that was our record.
Day 2:
Ryan, Dustin, Kevin, Clair, Jenny, Tiffany, Tina and I all met at 5:15 to rake the train to the airport. It was so much cheaper and more fun than taking a taxi. Tiffany and Tina were going to Bombay but their flight was at the same time ours was. Our first order of business when we arrived at the airport was to find a flight back to Chennai. There were no direct flights so we ended up having to book a flight to Delhi and the Chennai. All of our flights together cost around $300 and we did the whole trip for over $400 which is less than a third of the SAS trip. I was pretty happy with that. Anyway, after we landed in Delhi, we made arrangements to leave for Agra, which is the city where the Taj is located. Since the train wouldn’t get us there before sunset, we hired a van along with four others to take us there, drive us around while we were there, and take us back to Delhi. It was less than $30 a person which turned out to be cheaper than the train, yay! We desperately tried to reach the Taj before sunset and our driver was weaving in and out of traffic to help get us there but no such luck. We just checked into a hotel, which by the way was really nice. We ate dinner downstairs and half of us had a buffet while the other half ate at the restaurant. The buffet was amazing. This was my favorite food of the whole trip. There were yummy salads and soups and so many different Indian dishes as well as Chinese dishes and the deserts were to die for. After dinner, we packed up our leftovers and gave them to people on the street outside the hotel. They were very nice and thankful. We then walked around the shops in the hotel and ended up talking to a guy that worked in the store for three hours! This guy thought I looked Indian which was weird because I kept getting this everywhere I went. Even when I got off the ship the Indian official asked if my parents were Indian. It was actually pretty cool. Anyway, Jenny, Ryan, and I learned so much about from this guy about pashminas and different scarves and carpet weaving it was actually very interesting. He told us about his life in Kashmir and working in Agra. His stories were amazing. He also told us of how he was dating a girl for eight years, never kissed her and then she broke up with him. This was four years ago and he is still very sad over it. Last time he went back to Kashmir he saw her with a baby and he has never been back. We also had discussions about God (he is Muslim) and peoples’ emotions and many other things. He was reading Jenny like a book but I won’t get into that. We all really enjoyed talking to him and before we knew it, it was past one in the morning. We said our goodbyes and exchanged contact info before heading to bed.
Day 3:
We met our drivers at 5:30 to go see the sunrise at the Taj. I was so excited I can’t even tell you. For those of you that don’t know, the Taj Mahal was built by an Indian leader for his wife when she died giving birth to her 14th child. He loved her so much he built her a magnificent tomb. The saddest part of the story is that he actually saw the Taj for the last time when he was in prison (he was put there by his own son). It felt so surreal when I first saw the Taj. We immediately began taking pictures. It was so beautiful. The white marble was so magnificent in the sun. We were definitely being silly and taking pictures while we were jumping and Ryan even did tucks in font of it. It was almost like a big photo shoot. Some guides were telling us very interesting things about the Taj. It is actually an Islamic structure, not Hindu as many people might think. So the gardens reflect that. The water and geometry of it is very Islamic. The minarets, or columns, of the Taj are actually tilted outwards in case of an earthquake; they will not fall on the main structure. There is also script written on the building that becomes larger the higher it gets and forms an optical illusion because it all looks the same size. The most interesting thing I learned was that all the workers that built the Taj, thousands of them, had both of their hands cut off upon completion so that they could not replicate it. This was confirmed by a few different guides but I still don’t want to believe it. After our morning at the Taj we were taken back to Delhi to catch our flight to Varanasi. We stopped and ate lunch at what was I’m sure a tourist trap because it was a big building with an eating area, little shops and restrooms in the middle of nowhere. Everything was so expensive but I did get a free bindi because again the guy thought I was Indian. Anyway, we arrived at the airport with plenty of time for our flight. However, we decided to order ice cream at the last minute and we barely made the plane. Everyone had boarded and we were still waiting on our ice cream and of course we couldn’t leave it! Now, it’s a little ridiculous. Also, the shuttle had to wait for Jenny because she did not have a tag on her bag and they wouldn’t let her on the plane without one. Very nerve wrecking but a funny story now. When we arrived in Varanasi, we found drivers for our stay. Our guy was kind of untrustworthy though. He was taking us to his friends’ shops to buy things but we didn’t. We found a crappy place to stay and ate dinner. Some of us decided to go shopping down this really busy street. By the way, there are cows everywhere. The streets are so crazy people and cars just let the cows and bulls stay in the middle of the road. So while we were walking down the street we often had to make our way around them. The cows were fine but the bulls definitely scared me. Anyway, Ryan and Dustin got Indian outfits and us girls got some shirts. Oh and Clair and I got the cutest red jeweled shoes. I’m pretty excited. After shopping, we went back to the hotel.
Day 4:
Today was another early morning because we had to wake up before sunrise to take a boat ride down the Ganga River. It was gorgeous; the sunlight on the temples was beautiful. It looked exactly like a postcard. Instead of explaining what I did, I am going to post an essay I wrote for my art and religion class that by the way I got 100% on! So here it is:
Sacred Ganga
I recently had the privilege of visiting the most sacred Hindu site in India; the Ganga river. I traveled to the city of Varanasi to view the ritual bathings and cremations that take place along the banks of the river. Many Hindus make pilgrimages here every year to bathe in the holy waters because it is believed that they will be absolved of their sins. Also, if one dies in the city of Varanasi and is cremated in the river, they are released from the cycle of rebirth. The highlight of my trip was a sunrise boat ride down the river. I was astonished at everything that I saw. In addition to the rituals that were taking place, I noticed many beautiful temples and sculptures lining the river. My time on the Ganga was eye-opening.
As I was floating down the river, I observed many different rituals. Many people trickle down the ghats, steps down to the river, at dawn to take a holy dip in the water. I saw people brushing their teeth with the water, washing clothes, and even swimming in the Ganga. One man was that was swimming near us passed a floating body seemingly without noticing. Our guide told us that the only people who do not get cremated are children, priests, and people who have been bitten by snakes. Rocks are tied to the bodies and they sink to the bottom of the river. After awhile, the rock becomes untied and the body will float to the top. It was shocking to me to see a body, and nobody else seemed to notice. Before long, we reached a cremation ghat. There was smoke rising to the sky and piles of firewood. There were many people witnessing the ceremony. I did not actually see any bodies because the part that was burning was partially hidden. There was a somber attitude from the people present and those of us that were merely observing. I knew about the sacred Ganga before I arrived but actually witnessing the rituals was astonishing.
There were also many temples and interesting statues lining the Ganga. The ghat that I walked down to start my boat ride was a good example of the river background. There was a long building painted with red and white stripes on top of red and white stairs. There was a temple on top of this structure painted teal, red, purple, and yellow. The architecture was very Indian, with decorative arches and round bulges at the top. Next to the temple were several hollowed out spaces with sculptures in them. Shiva was the focus of one of them but there were also cows, goats, and chubby men featured. It was very interesting to observe the art and architecture along the Ganga. Hinduism was evident even in the colors that were used. It made me think that the people that were participating in the ritual bathings could look up and have little reminders of their faith.
So many people travel to Varanasi every year and I also had the privilege to do so. I observed many different rituals that opened my eyes to another culture.
And here is a poem from Ryan that he wrote for his poetry class:
Ganga
I knew it was dirty
I knew there were bodies, both ashes and whole
I knew there was fecal
But I did not truly know
I saw the fires
I saw the shit
I saw the bodies
I think I felt sick
I don’t know how I felt
Or how I feel
It’s part of life
A life now made real
10 feet away
A back is exposed
Up and down but no where else to go
Day by day it’s only 10 feet away
Floating up and down, up and down
Till there is no more back to be found
Nothing that big to take it away
Only the tiny fish, and bacteria to decay
How long till it’s gone
I can’t believe it’s real
This life so different
How should I feel?
So I don’t know what else to say about the Ganga. It was definitely one of my favorite places because it pushed me way out of my comfort zone. Varanasi in general was probably the highlight of my trip.
After the boat ride, we went to a silk shop that was awesome. Varanasi is known for silk. Anyway, we were taken into this guys house and we sat in a circle and were given chai tea. Then this man displayed many silk items from shawls to duvet covers and pillows, to sarees. Between everyone in our group, we spent almost 1000 dollars. It was really cheap and we got a lot for our money though. After our shopping spree, we went to the city of Sarnath, where Buddha made his first sermon. We visited a stupa, a Buddhist place of worship, and a Janist temple. After this, we made our way to the airport for our flight back to Delhi. For our only night, Clair, Ryan, and I decided to go out in the city in search of a true Indian experience, hookah, but we settled for dinner. Our driver took us to this shop and we learned the art of carpet weaving which was so interesting. We then went back to the hotel and passed out.
Day 5:
We had an early morning flight back to Chennai. After we arrived in Chennai, we stopped at the ship to drop our stuff off before going out for the day. This was the only day we could visit the St. Thomas church so Clair, Jenny, Ryan and I went. Thomas, the apostle of Jesus Christ, traveled to India in the later part of his life. He was actually buried in this church. It was very interesting to see women in sarees doing the sign of the cross and things that aren’t traditionally Indian. We even met some Indian people who were advocates for AIDS and they were so nice telling us about what they were doing. We exchanged emails and pictures and since then we have actually gotten emails from them. I’ll show you guys pictures of the church but for future SASers, it is definitely worth the train ride. The view is beautiful and if you are Christian or Catholic, very worth it. After this, we went shopping. I didn’t buy much at Spencer’s plaza but I did think I lost my credit card. It was not fun. It turns out a couple days later Ryan found it in his money pouch. I told him to check like five times and he swore he did. Whatever, I’m happy. We went back to the ship a few hours early but then got off again in search of Chai tea with no success. I also spent some time at a shop outside the ship and bought a couple more things for people. We were the last ones there because it was so close to on ship time and the guy gave us a pretty good deal because we were the last customers. We almost got dock time!
India was amazing and it was definitely life changing. I can’t even begin to express how I feel or what I think and how I’m changed. Many people fell in love with India not because of the beautiful Taj or the party city of Bombay, but the people, the culture, the food. India pushed people to the limits. And I really do love India.
I was looking forward to India the most of any port on this voyage. I was determined to make it to the Taj Mahal no matter what. We had a group set up that we were traveling with; Ryan, Dustin, Kevin, Clair, Jenny, and I were all planning on flying to Delhi, taking a train to Agra and back to Delhi, flying to Varanasi, and then flying back to Chennai. We were going to travel very extensively in only five days. We had tried to book all this in Mauritius but due to many different problems, were unsuccessful. A few days before, we were able to find an airline that we could book online called SpiceJet. We booked a flight to Delhi and to Varanasi but this particular airline did not fly directly to Chennai so we decided to wait and purchase our ticket at the airport. Risky I know but everything turned out amazing.
Day 1:
We arrived in Chennai and were able to get off the ship at 11 but since Ryan and I had an SAS trip at 1 pm we decided to just stay on the ship, pack for the next few days, and get some lunch. I was very excited for this trip because it was a service project to one of the poorest areas of Chennai to help improve the community. The people of this community are called the Dalits, also known as the untouchables and are part of the lowest caste system. So we took a bus to the area and as soon as we got off children swarmed us placing strings of jasmine over our necks and in our hair. They would ask us our name and want to take pictures with us. They were so giddy and excited to see us and absolutely adorable. We walked through the village to the school and were given a welcome ceremony with a traditional dance and music and were then put to work. Ryan and I were in a group of five that had the task of painting all the chalkboards in all the classrooms. The kids kept coming up to us and talking and taking pictures. I really liked the kids. After a few hours, we had to leave. But before we did an Indian reporter took pictures of us and we were in the next day’s newspaper. I haven’t seen it though. After saying our goodbyes, we went back to the ship and cleaned up since we were covered in paint, before finding Sami, Anna, Kevin and some others to go out to dinner. My first experience on a rickshaw was awesome. These tiny three- wheeled vehicles whiz you dangerously around the city while you’re hanging on for dear life. While driving, I saw many motorcycles with whole families of four riding them! I’ll have to show you guys pictures. Anyway, we went to this really nice hotel where they had live entertainment. We saw beautiful Indian dancers and musicians and a man with parakeets told our fortunes. Not to mention the food was awesome. Ryan said it was his favorite Indian food ever. We were given papadum, Indian crispy bread, with a bunch of different sauces including coconut, ginger, and cilantro. We had a bunch of different curries and masala, bread, and rice. Amazing. We really wanted desert after dinner so we found some chocolates for sale. We misread the price and thought they were extremely cheap so we were piling our plates but it turned out to be more expensive than we had hoped. We all had a good laugh. After our late dinner, we went back to the ship since we had to be up pretty early. Oh and this time, we fit all eight of us into one rickshaw, that was our record.
Day 2:
Ryan, Dustin, Kevin, Clair, Jenny, Tiffany, Tina and I all met at 5:15 to rake the train to the airport. It was so much cheaper and more fun than taking a taxi. Tiffany and Tina were going to Bombay but their flight was at the same time ours was. Our first order of business when we arrived at the airport was to find a flight back to Chennai. There were no direct flights so we ended up having to book a flight to Delhi and the Chennai. All of our flights together cost around $300 and we did the whole trip for over $400 which is less than a third of the SAS trip. I was pretty happy with that. Anyway, after we landed in Delhi, we made arrangements to leave for Agra, which is the city where the Taj is located. Since the train wouldn’t get us there before sunset, we hired a van along with four others to take us there, drive us around while we were there, and take us back to Delhi. It was less than $30 a person which turned out to be cheaper than the train, yay! We desperately tried to reach the Taj before sunset and our driver was weaving in and out of traffic to help get us there but no such luck. We just checked into a hotel, which by the way was really nice. We ate dinner downstairs and half of us had a buffet while the other half ate at the restaurant. The buffet was amazing. This was my favorite food of the whole trip. There were yummy salads and soups and so many different Indian dishes as well as Chinese dishes and the deserts were to die for. After dinner, we packed up our leftovers and gave them to people on the street outside the hotel. They were very nice and thankful. We then walked around the shops in the hotel and ended up talking to a guy that worked in the store for three hours! This guy thought I looked Indian which was weird because I kept getting this everywhere I went. Even when I got off the ship the Indian official asked if my parents were Indian. It was actually pretty cool. Anyway, Jenny, Ryan, and I learned so much about from this guy about pashminas and different scarves and carpet weaving it was actually very interesting. He told us about his life in Kashmir and working in Agra. His stories were amazing. He also told us of how he was dating a girl for eight years, never kissed her and then she broke up with him. This was four years ago and he is still very sad over it. Last time he went back to Kashmir he saw her with a baby and he has never been back. We also had discussions about God (he is Muslim) and peoples’ emotions and many other things. He was reading Jenny like a book but I won’t get into that. We all really enjoyed talking to him and before we knew it, it was past one in the morning. We said our goodbyes and exchanged contact info before heading to bed.
Day 3:
We met our drivers at 5:30 to go see the sunrise at the Taj. I was so excited I can’t even tell you. For those of you that don’t know, the Taj Mahal was built by an Indian leader for his wife when she died giving birth to her 14th child. He loved her so much he built her a magnificent tomb. The saddest part of the story is that he actually saw the Taj for the last time when he was in prison (he was put there by his own son). It felt so surreal when I first saw the Taj. We immediately began taking pictures. It was so beautiful. The white marble was so magnificent in the sun. We were definitely being silly and taking pictures while we were jumping and Ryan even did tucks in font of it. It was almost like a big photo shoot. Some guides were telling us very interesting things about the Taj. It is actually an Islamic structure, not Hindu as many people might think. So the gardens reflect that. The water and geometry of it is very Islamic. The minarets, or columns, of the Taj are actually tilted outwards in case of an earthquake; they will not fall on the main structure. There is also script written on the building that becomes larger the higher it gets and forms an optical illusion because it all looks the same size. The most interesting thing I learned was that all the workers that built the Taj, thousands of them, had both of their hands cut off upon completion so that they could not replicate it. This was confirmed by a few different guides but I still don’t want to believe it. After our morning at the Taj we were taken back to Delhi to catch our flight to Varanasi. We stopped and ate lunch at what was I’m sure a tourist trap because it was a big building with an eating area, little shops and restrooms in the middle of nowhere. Everything was so expensive but I did get a free bindi because again the guy thought I was Indian. Anyway, we arrived at the airport with plenty of time for our flight. However, we decided to order ice cream at the last minute and we barely made the plane. Everyone had boarded and we were still waiting on our ice cream and of course we couldn’t leave it! Now, it’s a little ridiculous. Also, the shuttle had to wait for Jenny because she did not have a tag on her bag and they wouldn’t let her on the plane without one. Very nerve wrecking but a funny story now. When we arrived in Varanasi, we found drivers for our stay. Our guy was kind of untrustworthy though. He was taking us to his friends’ shops to buy things but we didn’t. We found a crappy place to stay and ate dinner. Some of us decided to go shopping down this really busy street. By the way, there are cows everywhere. The streets are so crazy people and cars just let the cows and bulls stay in the middle of the road. So while we were walking down the street we often had to make our way around them. The cows were fine but the bulls definitely scared me. Anyway, Ryan and Dustin got Indian outfits and us girls got some shirts. Oh and Clair and I got the cutest red jeweled shoes. I’m pretty excited. After shopping, we went back to the hotel.
Day 4:
Today was another early morning because we had to wake up before sunrise to take a boat ride down the Ganga River. It was gorgeous; the sunlight on the temples was beautiful. It looked exactly like a postcard. Instead of explaining what I did, I am going to post an essay I wrote for my art and religion class that by the way I got 100% on! So here it is:
Sacred Ganga
I recently had the privilege of visiting the most sacred Hindu site in India; the Ganga river. I traveled to the city of Varanasi to view the ritual bathings and cremations that take place along the banks of the river. Many Hindus make pilgrimages here every year to bathe in the holy waters because it is believed that they will be absolved of their sins. Also, if one dies in the city of Varanasi and is cremated in the river, they are released from the cycle of rebirth. The highlight of my trip was a sunrise boat ride down the river. I was astonished at everything that I saw. In addition to the rituals that were taking place, I noticed many beautiful temples and sculptures lining the river. My time on the Ganga was eye-opening.
As I was floating down the river, I observed many different rituals. Many people trickle down the ghats, steps down to the river, at dawn to take a holy dip in the water. I saw people brushing their teeth with the water, washing clothes, and even swimming in the Ganga. One man was that was swimming near us passed a floating body seemingly without noticing. Our guide told us that the only people who do not get cremated are children, priests, and people who have been bitten by snakes. Rocks are tied to the bodies and they sink to the bottom of the river. After awhile, the rock becomes untied and the body will float to the top. It was shocking to me to see a body, and nobody else seemed to notice. Before long, we reached a cremation ghat. There was smoke rising to the sky and piles of firewood. There were many people witnessing the ceremony. I did not actually see any bodies because the part that was burning was partially hidden. There was a somber attitude from the people present and those of us that were merely observing. I knew about the sacred Ganga before I arrived but actually witnessing the rituals was astonishing.
There were also many temples and interesting statues lining the Ganga. The ghat that I walked down to start my boat ride was a good example of the river background. There was a long building painted with red and white stripes on top of red and white stairs. There was a temple on top of this structure painted teal, red, purple, and yellow. The architecture was very Indian, with decorative arches and round bulges at the top. Next to the temple were several hollowed out spaces with sculptures in them. Shiva was the focus of one of them but there were also cows, goats, and chubby men featured. It was very interesting to observe the art and architecture along the Ganga. Hinduism was evident even in the colors that were used. It made me think that the people that were participating in the ritual bathings could look up and have little reminders of their faith.
So many people travel to Varanasi every year and I also had the privilege to do so. I observed many different rituals that opened my eyes to another culture.
And here is a poem from Ryan that he wrote for his poetry class:
Ganga
I knew it was dirty
I knew there were bodies, both ashes and whole
I knew there was fecal
But I did not truly know
I saw the fires
I saw the shit
I saw the bodies
I think I felt sick
I don’t know how I felt
Or how I feel
It’s part of life
A life now made real
10 feet away
A back is exposed
Up and down but no where else to go
Day by day it’s only 10 feet away
Floating up and down, up and down
Till there is no more back to be found
Nothing that big to take it away
Only the tiny fish, and bacteria to decay
How long till it’s gone
I can’t believe it’s real
This life so different
How should I feel?
So I don’t know what else to say about the Ganga. It was definitely one of my favorite places because it pushed me way out of my comfort zone. Varanasi in general was probably the highlight of my trip.
After the boat ride, we went to a silk shop that was awesome. Varanasi is known for silk. Anyway, we were taken into this guys house and we sat in a circle and were given chai tea. Then this man displayed many silk items from shawls to duvet covers and pillows, to sarees. Between everyone in our group, we spent almost 1000 dollars. It was really cheap and we got a lot for our money though. After our shopping spree, we went to the city of Sarnath, where Buddha made his first sermon. We visited a stupa, a Buddhist place of worship, and a Janist temple. After this, we made our way to the airport for our flight back to Delhi. For our only night, Clair, Ryan, and I decided to go out in the city in search of a true Indian experience, hookah, but we settled for dinner. Our driver took us to this shop and we learned the art of carpet weaving which was so interesting. We then went back to the hotel and passed out.
Day 5:
We had an early morning flight back to Chennai. After we arrived in Chennai, we stopped at the ship to drop our stuff off before going out for the day. This was the only day we could visit the St. Thomas church so Clair, Jenny, Ryan and I went. Thomas, the apostle of Jesus Christ, traveled to India in the later part of his life. He was actually buried in this church. It was very interesting to see women in sarees doing the sign of the cross and things that aren’t traditionally Indian. We even met some Indian people who were advocates for AIDS and they were so nice telling us about what they were doing. We exchanged emails and pictures and since then we have actually gotten emails from them. I’ll show you guys pictures of the church but for future SASers, it is definitely worth the train ride. The view is beautiful and if you are Christian or Catholic, very worth it. After this, we went shopping. I didn’t buy much at Spencer’s plaza but I did think I lost my credit card. It was not fun. It turns out a couple days later Ryan found it in his money pouch. I told him to check like five times and he swore he did. Whatever, I’m happy. We went back to the ship a few hours early but then got off again in search of Chai tea with no success. I also spent some time at a shop outside the ship and bought a couple more things for people. We were the last ones there because it was so close to on ship time and the guy gave us a pretty good deal because we were the last customers. We almost got dock time!
India was amazing and it was definitely life changing. I can’t even begin to express how I feel or what I think and how I’m changed. Many people fell in love with India not because of the beautiful Taj or the party city of Bombay, but the people, the culture, the food. India pushed people to the limits. And I really do love India.
Monday, April 9, 2007
Hello Everybody!
I miss you all and Happy Easter! Someone better have done the Easter egg thing with Iljahs because I was so sad that I wasn't going to be there. However Ryan and I did wake up for a sunrise Easter service by Archbishop Desmond Tutu! How many people can say that? IT was a Catholic service but still really cool. Anyway, thank you everyone for sending me letters! They made me so happy! Oh and the one with the hand was adorable! Well I'll let you get to reading cause there's a lot! Ryan finally made a post about Mauritius, it took a lot of begging! South Africa is done too, I did that one. Sorry it took so long. I have no more internet minuts and right now I am in Vietnam.
India and Malasia coming soon!
I miss you all and Happy Easter! Someone better have done the Easter egg thing with Iljahs because I was so sad that I wasn't going to be there. However Ryan and I did wake up for a sunrise Easter service by Archbishop Desmond Tutu! How many people can say that? IT was a Catholic service but still really cool. Anyway, thank you everyone for sending me letters! They made me so happy! Oh and the one with the hand was adorable! Well I'll let you get to reading cause there's a lot! Ryan finally made a post about Mauritius, it took a lot of begging! South Africa is done too, I did that one. Sorry it took so long. I have no more internet minuts and right now I am in Vietnam.
India and Malasia coming soon!
Sunday, April 8, 2007
This is from Ryan....
This is my first blog and I am so excited to tell you all about the amazing time we had in Mauritius. Before porting we were told that Mauritius was the port that in the past had the most occurrence or petty theft. I was okay with since in Brazil we had to worry about getting stabbed and robbed at the same time. It has the highest prevalence of theft because most students stay in villas which get broken into, and everyone’s things get taken.
Day 1
We start by showing up a few hours later than anticipated because of storms. The first thing we do is head into town to find the marketplace, and an internet café to book our flights in India. If you have not heard already, we pay about 40 cents a minute on the ship for slow internet access, unless it is in the very early morning. We were told the whole island had wireless capabilities, but my tries were unsuccessful. We find the café and run into problems with the multiple Indian airlines. Some stopped taking international credit cards due to fraud, and some needed an Indian address for mailing. We could go through Expedia, but the prices were twice as expensive. We leave with the plan to show up in India and get flights aligned at the airport in India. This tactic was successful in previous voyages. The whole time we are in a hurry because a group of students are leaving from the ship at 4:00pm to go the VILLAS at the beautiful city of Flic en Flac. There are about seven complexes within a mile radius, and each complex has about 20 villas within. The condos are side by side and completely surround an enormous rectangular pool with multiple bridges, rocks, and walkways. The set up was amazing and about 10 of the villas were all occupied with SAS students. You can probably guess how crazy it was with over 100 students from the boat with our own villas, and unlimited access to cheap alcohol. According to many students, Mauritius was our spring break. Erika and I were going to stay at the villas with all the SAS students, but realized it would be best to stay at another one with other friends because the first villas were going to be trashed, and were more likely to be broken into, and they were the next day. So we start out at the party villas and set our stuff down. We then walk to the beach and around town to see what there is. There are some small clubs, a casino, restaurants, and a supermarket, with an internet café. We eat at this very cheap to-go place and had some awesome pizza. We then run into our friends Sami and Dustin and they want us to stay at their villa which is safer, and only a walk away. So we go check out their place, meet up with some others and head out to the party villas to get our stuff to bring to the new villa. People are playing beer pong, swimming, walking/ running around, and there are all types of alcohol making its way around. There were over 100 students having a good time, but also getting out of hand, and being destructive. People were playing hockey with palm fronds and lightbulbs and chanting “USA” it was very disrespectful. After we found the other members to our group we were supposed to meet, Julie, Jenny, and Claire, we walked back to the other villa. Two other guys, Slava and Greg, also stayed at the villa. Luckily we went to the supermarket earlier that day so we could make breakfast in the morning.
Day 2
After Erika, Sami, and Clair made a delicious breakfast, we went to flic and flac beach and scheduled to take a catamaran out the next day. While on the beach, we were surprised to see a good amount of topless women. I think they were foreigners, except the ones with implants. We hung out with a lot of people and got the cheapest food from some stands nearby. We had coconut drinks, and when we were done they chopped it open so we could eat the inside. I then went back a few times to get some 20 cent ice cream and Erika got eight mini somosas for 40 cents. I also caught some crabs, but they were very small. It was a very relaxing day. A good break from always feeling rushed. That night we made spaghetti, chicken, garlic cheese bread, grilled vegetable salsa, and samosas.
Day 3
Last day we wake up early and catch a 1.5 hour ride to our private catamaran that is supposed to hold 25, and we only had 9. They took us to see a waterfall, and then snorkeling. We were able to jump over the railings of the boat into the water, and it was a lot of fun. They also stopped at a shallow reef area and we were able to snorkel. It was a lot of fun, and extremely funny. I only had a mask and I was doing just fine. Erika on the other hand gets in with her snorkel and mask and starts freaking out because she can’t breathe. After a few seconds she had the breathing thing down. Second, there was a little current in the water, so that was her next problem. She had trouble concentrating on swimming with all this plastic on her face, so they had to throw her the life saver ring, and I had to swim her back to the boat. Once there we gave her a life vest and let her loose. Once again she had the problem of floating away. I then proceeded to get a rope, tie it to the boat and then tie it to her vest. After that she was having fun, and it was hilarious to look down and see the rope tied to her, while floating with the life vest. It was so cute. After snapping a few pictures of her, we sailed to an island which had amazing sandbars and a lot to do. We get there and decide to get pulled by a boat on an inflatable bat looking thing. We fell off once, but that was the best part. We hang out some more and buy some souvenirs and then it was time to head off for some more sun, water and food. We ended up racing another catamaran back to shore and of course won. We then took another 1.5 hour ride back to the ship where we dropped our things off and then headed right back into port. We then ate food, made phone calls, and bought some last minute things. Mauritius was awesome and for anyone going there in the future I know the place to get a great deal on a catamaran. Actually, over half of our group got really bad food poisoning so I don’t know if it was such a good deal. Erika, Sami, and Greg were the only ones that didn’t really get sick.
We’ll keep you posted!
This is my first blog and I am so excited to tell you all about the amazing time we had in Mauritius. Before porting we were told that Mauritius was the port that in the past had the most occurrence or petty theft. I was okay with since in Brazil we had to worry about getting stabbed and robbed at the same time. It has the highest prevalence of theft because most students stay in villas which get broken into, and everyone’s things get taken.
Day 1
We start by showing up a few hours later than anticipated because of storms. The first thing we do is head into town to find the marketplace, and an internet café to book our flights in India. If you have not heard already, we pay about 40 cents a minute on the ship for slow internet access, unless it is in the very early morning. We were told the whole island had wireless capabilities, but my tries were unsuccessful. We find the café and run into problems with the multiple Indian airlines. Some stopped taking international credit cards due to fraud, and some needed an Indian address for mailing. We could go through Expedia, but the prices were twice as expensive. We leave with the plan to show up in India and get flights aligned at the airport in India. This tactic was successful in previous voyages. The whole time we are in a hurry because a group of students are leaving from the ship at 4:00pm to go the VILLAS at the beautiful city of Flic en Flac. There are about seven complexes within a mile radius, and each complex has about 20 villas within. The condos are side by side and completely surround an enormous rectangular pool with multiple bridges, rocks, and walkways. The set up was amazing and about 10 of the villas were all occupied with SAS students. You can probably guess how crazy it was with over 100 students from the boat with our own villas, and unlimited access to cheap alcohol. According to many students, Mauritius was our spring break. Erika and I were going to stay at the villas with all the SAS students, but realized it would be best to stay at another one with other friends because the first villas were going to be trashed, and were more likely to be broken into, and they were the next day. So we start out at the party villas and set our stuff down. We then walk to the beach and around town to see what there is. There are some small clubs, a casino, restaurants, and a supermarket, with an internet café. We eat at this very cheap to-go place and had some awesome pizza. We then run into our friends Sami and Dustin and they want us to stay at their villa which is safer, and only a walk away. So we go check out their place, meet up with some others and head out to the party villas to get our stuff to bring to the new villa. People are playing beer pong, swimming, walking/ running around, and there are all types of alcohol making its way around. There were over 100 students having a good time, but also getting out of hand, and being destructive. People were playing hockey with palm fronds and lightbulbs and chanting “USA” it was very disrespectful. After we found the other members to our group we were supposed to meet, Julie, Jenny, and Claire, we walked back to the other villa. Two other guys, Slava and Greg, also stayed at the villa. Luckily we went to the supermarket earlier that day so we could make breakfast in the morning.
Day 2
After Erika, Sami, and Clair made a delicious breakfast, we went to flic and flac beach and scheduled to take a catamaran out the next day. While on the beach, we were surprised to see a good amount of topless women. I think they were foreigners, except the ones with implants. We hung out with a lot of people and got the cheapest food from some stands nearby. We had coconut drinks, and when we were done they chopped it open so we could eat the inside. I then went back a few times to get some 20 cent ice cream and Erika got eight mini somosas for 40 cents. I also caught some crabs, but they were very small. It was a very relaxing day. A good break from always feeling rushed. That night we made spaghetti, chicken, garlic cheese bread, grilled vegetable salsa, and samosas.
Day 3
Last day we wake up early and catch a 1.5 hour ride to our private catamaran that is supposed to hold 25, and we only had 9. They took us to see a waterfall, and then snorkeling. We were able to jump over the railings of the boat into the water, and it was a lot of fun. They also stopped at a shallow reef area and we were able to snorkel. It was a lot of fun, and extremely funny. I only had a mask and I was doing just fine. Erika on the other hand gets in with her snorkel and mask and starts freaking out because she can’t breathe. After a few seconds she had the breathing thing down. Second, there was a little current in the water, so that was her next problem. She had trouble concentrating on swimming with all this plastic on her face, so they had to throw her the life saver ring, and I had to swim her back to the boat. Once there we gave her a life vest and let her loose. Once again she had the problem of floating away. I then proceeded to get a rope, tie it to the boat and then tie it to her vest. After that she was having fun, and it was hilarious to look down and see the rope tied to her, while floating with the life vest. It was so cute. After snapping a few pictures of her, we sailed to an island which had amazing sandbars and a lot to do. We get there and decide to get pulled by a boat on an inflatable bat looking thing. We fell off once, but that was the best part. We hang out some more and buy some souvenirs and then it was time to head off for some more sun, water and food. We ended up racing another catamaran back to shore and of course won. We then took another 1.5 hour ride back to the ship where we dropped our things off and then headed right back into port. We then ate food, made phone calls, and bought some last minute things. Mauritius was awesome and for anyone going there in the future I know the place to get a great deal on a catamaran. Actually, over half of our group got really bad food poisoning so I don’t know if it was such a good deal. Erika, Sami, and Greg were the only ones that didn’t really get sick.
We’ll keep you posted!
Hanging out in South Africa
I, along with the rest of the ship, was really excited for South Africa. This is the port that many people were looking forward to the most. The only thing I had planned for South Africa before I arrived was a one day safari and a township visit. The rest of the days I had sort of tentative “we’ll see what happens” kind of plans.
Day 1:
We arrived in South Africa with a beautiful view of Table Mountain. Many people had risen for the sunrise as we pulled in to port but I needed the extra sleep. My idiot self stayed up till 4 doing absolutely nothing but talking in the hallways. To say the least I was pretty exhausted. Anyway, the only thing Ryan and I were going to do was to explore the city and maybe get some definite plans down. Of course all this changed when some friends of ours told us they were going sky diving. Ryan talked me into tagging along to see if there was room for two more. We doubted they were going to say no to more money. Of course there was room for us and the whole drive down there I was trying not to think that I was about to jump out of a plane. When we arrived, everything moved so fast. (On a normal day, each instructor will make 3 or 4 jumps. While SAS is in town, there will be 15 to 20 jumps made per day. Needless to say they are pretty busy) After putting on harnesses and signing our lives away it was time to go. Ryan and I decided to go separately so after saying goodbye, he was up first. I was hoping to see him come down but it was my turn to go before he even landed. Sammy, Jenny, and I went together and crammed into a plane tinier than the one from Puerto Rico. It was about a twenty minute flight up with beautiful views of table mountain, Robben Island, and the gorgeous beaches. The funny thing was I wasn’t very nervous because the guy I was about to be strapped to was twice my age and hitting on me so I was a little worried about that. Anyway, we reached 9,000 feet and the door to the plane opened. I watched Jenny fly out of the plane and then it was my turn. I was strapped to the front of the guy so I was hanging out of the plane for a few seconds before he actually jumped. At this point, I was thinking wow, this is so unbelievably beautiful. I wasn’t even nervous. I used to get more nervous for cheerleading competitions! It’s really pointless to be nervous because you have no choice anymore, you will be jumping out of the plane regardless. So we finally flew out of the plane and there was that initial feeling of butterflies but that faded pretty quickly. The free fall was amazing. For thirty seconds I was falling to the ground at incredible speeds. I never had that feeling that the parachute wasn’t going to open. I just admired the view. Once the parachute was pulled, I was able to steer and do spirals and turns which were pretty awesome. After about five minutes in the parachute, we prepared to land. I was told nothing but, “lift your knees.” We were about to land and I could see Ryan on the ground yelling to me so I knew we both made it safe. Skydiving was so cool. After our whole group had jumped, we traveled back to the waterfront to eat lunch. By the way, South Africa has amazing vegetarian food but more on that later. We ate an amazing lunch which turned out to be pretty cheap since our dollar goes a long way against the rand. Ryan had an ostrich burger! After lunch, we shopped around until heading back to the ship.
Day 2:
Jenny, Julie, Zeona, Ceara, Ryan, and I woke up before dawn to go on a day safari at the Aquila game reserve. By the way, our driver’s name was Wolf, he was awesome. Upon arrival, we were greeted by a delicious buffet breakfast and champagne. The reserve was beautiful. It was decorated just like you would picture it would be. Wooden lodges with animal prints and everything. So cute. After breakfast, we were off on our safari. Half of us went on horses and half of us did quads since some quads were having mechanical problems. Ryan and I were on quads and we had so much fun doing doughnuts and jumps. Well, Ryan did the jumps. On our game drive we saw giraffe, antelope, buffalo, rhino, and elephant among others. They were so close to us! We saw hippos in the water cooling off and buffalo running around. I loved all the animals. But we still hadn’t seen the lions! We had to change vehicles in order to see them. They were in their own little area. I saw one male and one female lion. They were just chillin’ and didn’t do anything when they saw us. It was perfectly normal. David, you would have loved the lions. Anyway, when we returned to the site we were able to pet cheetahs! They were so cute! Apparently cheetahs are the only large cat that can be tamed. They were just like large house cats. After we were finished petting the cheetahs, we had a wonderful buffet lunch and swimming in the pool, before we headed back to Cape Town. When we got back, we went to this Mexican restaurant that became SASers’ hangout for our entire stay. It has better Mexican food than what I’ve had in Mexico! I went back to this place several times during my stay. I had an awesome vegetarian platter with giant nachos, mini burritos, rice and beans, yummy veggies; it was the best food ever! After our snack, we went to Long Street since it was Cape Town’s annual festival and it was the place to be in the evening. I was a little bummed out since it was pouring rain but we had fun nonetheless. Before we left, we made plans with Tiffany and Ana to go see the penguins the next day. Exciting!
Day 3:
In order to visit the penguins, we took a bus to a train to a taxi. It was much cheaper this way. The train ride was entertaining because while the guy was going around checking tickets, one guy didn’t have one. He was a white local that was sleeping on the train and he was being totally unreasonable. The train guys were so nice and gave him so many chances to show his ticket but this guy was on drugs or something because he started to get violent for no reason. After that, he was kicked off the train. This was happening right in front of us and we were all trying not to stare but it was hard not to. Crazy people. Once we got to Boulder Beach, we saw dozens of mini penguins waddling around doing the most adorable things. Ryan, being the idiot that he is, decided it was a good idea to pet one and ended up getting bitten! It wasn’t a big deal though, it didn’t even break his skin. I am actually the only one of the group that didn’t touch one. I was too scared. But the penguins let you get really close to them so we took lots of pictures with them. I loved the penguins. After our visit to the penguins, we ate dinner at an amazing restaurant in town. We were so starving we had appetizers, desert, and Ryan even had two entrees! Our waiter was really funny to because he was kind of making fun of us. Someone ordered a shake and he said, “should I just bring one out for everyone?” and we were like, why not? So he brought out four. It was fun. Afterwards, we went back to Cape Town on the train before going out for the night. We went to this cute little lounge that had a band playing. Future SASers need to go here, it was called Alba and it’s only a five minute walk from the ship. It has floor to ceiling windows with a beautiful view of the waterfront and our ship. We all had a great time.
Day 4:
I was really excited today because I had as SAS trip to Bo Kaap for a cooking lesson. Ryan didn’t get the trip until the last minute so I was happy because it was our 2 ½ year anniversary. Anyway, Bo Kaap is Cape Town’s Muslim area. We were taken to a museum to learn about the history of Bo Kaap. It was really interesting because we learned about festivals specific to the area that had influences from Carnaval. We saw photos from everyday life to wedding ceremonies and places of worship. We also saw some artwork. Next, we were taken to a spice shop where we learned the typical spices used in Cape Malay cooking as well as some of the ingredients. This shop even had frankincense and myrrh like in the Bible! I bough this really good trail mix kind of thing but it was spicy and really good, I wish I would have bought more. After this, we were taken to a local woman’s house for lunch. Her name was Sooray, she was so nice and her house was beautiful. First she served us a welcome drink made from rose water and tapioca I think, it was really good. Next, we were each given a strip of filo dough and taught how to fold somosas. She fried these up along with some pakoras that were so yummy. The next part was my favorite; we rolled out dough to make Indian bread, roti. It is very similar to naan. We were also taught what spices to put into a curry dish. Sooray made chicken curry though. Ryan said it was different from Indian food but still really good. I had something similar to a quesadilla made with two pieces of roti bread with cheese in the middle. Sooray told me her daughters eat them with a certain sauce but she was afraid it would burn me. After Ryan told her that I pour hot sauce all over my food on the ship, she gave me some. It was really good and really garlicky, my favorite! While we were eating, Sooray told us some of the traditions in her town. Her daughter is engaged and since it was the groom’s family that threw the wedding, Sooray held the engagement party. She also talked about how many children inherited their parents’ cute, colorful houses in Bo Kaap and selling them for money that is usually gone within a few years. As a result, Bo Kaap is becoming less and less Muslim. After saying goodbye, we left to go back to the ship.
Ryan and I decided that this was the only day we could hike Table Mountain, so we bought the makings for a picnic and we were off. We went to a tourist information center and asked what times the cable cars went up and down. The last one was scheduled to leave at 7:30 pm (key point). Our taxi driver dropped us off at one of the easiest trails that he said we would have no problem finishing in time. It was 5 pm when we started hiking and we were off to a good start. Let me tell you this was one of the hardest things I’ve done in my life! Some parts were fairly easy but a good portion of the hike was climbing huge rocks. I took many breaks but towards the end we were just trying to make it on time so we could catch the cable car down. That was the hard part. I was seriously thinking we weren’t going to make it to the top and I was picking out good places to spend the night. And then, on top of it all, it started to sprinkle. It was already freezing cold and now it was beginning to rain, I was not happy. After about two hours, we reached the top. I was so relieved we weren’t going to have to stay the night you don’t even know. However, we soon realized everything was shut down. All the restaurants and restrooms were closed not to mention the cable car wasn’t running. I didn’t even know what to do. We had no time to think and we had to start climbing down because the sun was about to set and we were warned about how dangerous it was to hike the mountain at night. It was just our luck that the sun was setting on the other side of the mountain so we had almost no light anyway and the majority of our hike down it was pitch black. This might make a good story now but at the time I was scared out of my mind and I thought we were going to die. This may sound funny but I was crying at some points. Needless to say we made it down safely and I was ready to kiss the ground. (I didn’t though). We soon realized we had another problem. Although we had hiked down, there were still another few miles of road to make it to the base of the mountain. No cars came up that late much less taxis. So we just started to walk down. The one car we did see was stopped taking pictures of the view with a tripod. We talked to these people and they turned out to be students from a film university. They offered to rake us down the mountain when they were finished. They dropped us off at this restaurant that was pretty good and we had them call us a cab to take us back to the ship. It had been a pretty long day so we decided to call it a night.
Day 5:
I woke up thinking we had our township tour so we got ready to go. It turned out that the tour was the next day so instead we made plans to go to the winelands. Another couple, Princess and Carl, wanted to come with us so we hired a driver to take us to the winelands and also a restaurant in the treetops that was supposed to be really cool. The driver we hired was Wolf, the same guy that took us to the safari. His car fit 8 people so we found Renee, Roberto, Eric, and Hunter to go with us to lower the price. The winelands were about 45 minutes away but the drive was so beautiful. The first place we went to was my favorite. It was in the town of Stellenbosch and it was so pretty. There were trees everywhere surrounding a lake and we were taken into a beautiful white building for the actual tasting. We all sat around a wooden table and were given a list of the wines they had and we were to choose six that we wanted to try. Princess immediately asked for the sweetest wine and I loved it! It tasted just like grape juice! I wrote down the name of it! The other ones I ordered were good also. I wanted to buy some, especially a bottle of merlot to take home for Mami. I was so sad we weren’t allowed to bring any on the ship. Some people, not from our group, shipped some home but it was too expensive and many of these wines are available in the states anyway. We also ordered cheese and crackers with our wine, it was so much fun! Not to mention that it was about a total of six bucks for all the wine and cheese, pretty cool. The second place we went to was more formal. We were all given the same wines and we stood instead of sitting. We were told about each wine. Our last was their award winning merlot blend that I didn’t think was anything special. This place was nice but I definitely enjoyed the first place more. After this, we went into the town of Stellenbosch to a coffee shop to hang out before our reservations at Molo, the restaurant I was talking about earlier. The town was so awesome. It is the second oldest town in South Africa, after Cape Town, and the buildings were beautiful and there were little shops up and down the street. This is where I bought my favorite purchase of the entire trip. Now I had heard about these giraffes from previous voyages and I had seen them all around Cape Town but they were pretty expensive. Here, I found one that I loved for about 50 US dollars. My giraffe is taller than I am with a reddish color and he is so cute. The people at the store were so nice. There was a woman who we exchanged emails with and wanted us to come back she was really nice. She gave Ryan, Renee and I each a little gift from the store. The guy in the store fixed my giraffe for me and I was so happy when I bought it. I put it in the back of the van to take back to the ship. We then went to Molo for dinner. This restaurant was probably the most beautiful restaurant I’d ever seen. Everything was outside and tents were covering the eating area. There were performers and waterfalls. It was amazing. I’m thinking oh no this is going to be expensive but it wasn’t bad and it was totally worth it. We even treated our driver to dinner. For future SASers, you need to call up Wolf, he is amazing! He is actually an actor as well and was in Blood Diamond. He has a big movie coming out that I can’t wait to see! Anyway, there was an awesome buffet with lots of vegetarian food. And the desert was to die for! I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this local desert called malva pudding but it is great! I’m going to learn how to make it at home. I didn’t even tell you the best part! So since this place was outside and South Africa gets pretty cold at night, they put blankets on each chair! It was perfect! I had such a wonderful time at Molo. This was probably my favorite day in South Africa.
Day 6:
Today was our township visit that was supposed to last all day. It was described as a visit, service project, and African dinner experience. Pretty exciting. The program was through this Christian organization called Africa Jam. Our guide met us by our ship and took us all to the Khayelitsha township. Along the way he explained to us that the apartheid still had effects on the communities in South Africa. During the apartheid, people were put into three categories. Whites, coloureds, and blacks. The coloured people were pretty much everything else and people of mixed races. The coloureds more closely resembled the whites so they were given more privileges. I was told that both Ryan and I would have been considered coloured. During this time, tests would be done to tell if someone was black or coloured. If you had curled eyelashes or your hair was really springy or you had a wide nose, you were black. There were some that were able to pass. Once it was decided what category you were in, it was written on a card that you had to carry with you at all times. Anyway, the communities are still primarily of one race. The whites live in the rich areas while the blacks live in the townships. The coloureds live somewhere in between but still poor. Anyway, we were taken to a coloured community to eat a snack kind of like a sub sandwich that Ryan said was delicious. On our ride to Khayelitsha our guide told us more about his community. There are different tribes in the township that identify themselves by doing something to each member. For example some people make cuts in their faces and he had half his pinkie finger cut off. Also, in order to be considered a man in their community, they need to go through this few week process where they start out by circumcision. For the next few weeks you are to fend for yourself, not use any medication or communicate with anyone. Pretty intense. Anyway, we arrived at the township and we were introduced to kids that were going to take us around their homes. Ryan and I along with two other girls were taken around by a guy named Weja, and his friend Neo. They were really cool. Weja was teaching me to say things in Xhosa and I was teaching him to say things in Spanish. We went to Neo’s home to see his family and where he lived. They were really nice. He had a month old brother that I got to hold. He was adorable. It was so weird being in their house. They had 3 rooms, a kitchen, living room, and bedroom, and all were very tiny. The house was basically a shack made out of tin and cardboard. It’s really sad. The whole town is littered with trash everywhere. After our visit at their home, we were taken to a little store where we bought drinks, it was so hot out and I was dying of thirst. Ryan also had fatcake, which was thick, greasy, fluffy bread filled with liver. His words. Weja and Neo just let their wrappers fly into the wind when they were done. I guess they don’t even think twice about littering. Sanitation is a big problem here also. There’s a truck that comes around every 4 days to collect waste but often families don’t wait that long. They’ll just dump it out somewhere. When you think about it, waste can pile up pretty quickly with a big family in a small space. Anyway, we met back with the whole group and did some acting exercises. All I have to say is that these kids are very talented. We got a lot of stuff on video so I’ll show you all when we get back. We also had to do some acting; we got into pairs and made fun of our guides in a friendly way. After this we said our goodbyes and took plenty of pictures. I forgot to mention that everytime we went outside the little kids would run up to us and hug us. They were so adorable. They wanted us to take pictures of them. This is where I wish I had my Polaroid camera. Next was our African dinner experience. I had no idea what to expect and I was completely blown away. We were taken to thi really nice house on the shore where there was a live band playing awesome music. It was Africa Jam’s band and many of the songs were written by people involved with the organization. Our little part would have been illegal 15 years ago because there were whites, blacks, and coloureds together. I could write for pages about this day but I need to stop here. Overall, seeing the townships was amazing.
Day 7:
Today was left open to shopping. It was great. We went to a little market where we got a couple of souvenirs. I’m actually most excited about something I got Titi Yvonne because she collects these. Anyway, we didn’t find a whole lot here so we went to the mall. This mall is huge. One guy said it was the largest in Africa but I’m not sure about this. Many of the stores were expensive but I found a few where our dollar went pretty far. I got a pair of jeans for like six bucks. We ate dinner at this garlic lover’s restaurant, it was wonderful. The mall was fun. I had my veggie platter from the Mexican restaurant one last time before we had to be on the ship. I even ordered malva pudding for desert and ate it in line. We made it on the ship with plenty of time and I was sad to leave South Africa. : (
I had a wonderful time in South Africa. It was totally not what I expected because it was very westernized. I didn’t feel like I was in Africa at all except maybe on the safari. It could have been California. I know that you will all love South Africa if you come. There is just so much to do. I was here seven days and was constantly on the go and I still feel like I didn’t do everything I wanted. I know that I will come back here someday. Everyone wants to. Some of my friends have already made plans to come in January and work with Africa Jam. Cape Town was awesome.
I, along with the rest of the ship, was really excited for South Africa. This is the port that many people were looking forward to the most. The only thing I had planned for South Africa before I arrived was a one day safari and a township visit. The rest of the days I had sort of tentative “we’ll see what happens” kind of plans.
Day 1:
We arrived in South Africa with a beautiful view of Table Mountain. Many people had risen for the sunrise as we pulled in to port but I needed the extra sleep. My idiot self stayed up till 4 doing absolutely nothing but talking in the hallways. To say the least I was pretty exhausted. Anyway, the only thing Ryan and I were going to do was to explore the city and maybe get some definite plans down. Of course all this changed when some friends of ours told us they were going sky diving. Ryan talked me into tagging along to see if there was room for two more. We doubted they were going to say no to more money. Of course there was room for us and the whole drive down there I was trying not to think that I was about to jump out of a plane. When we arrived, everything moved so fast. (On a normal day, each instructor will make 3 or 4 jumps. While SAS is in town, there will be 15 to 20 jumps made per day. Needless to say they are pretty busy) After putting on harnesses and signing our lives away it was time to go. Ryan and I decided to go separately so after saying goodbye, he was up first. I was hoping to see him come down but it was my turn to go before he even landed. Sammy, Jenny, and I went together and crammed into a plane tinier than the one from Puerto Rico. It was about a twenty minute flight up with beautiful views of table mountain, Robben Island, and the gorgeous beaches. The funny thing was I wasn’t very nervous because the guy I was about to be strapped to was twice my age and hitting on me so I was a little worried about that. Anyway, we reached 9,000 feet and the door to the plane opened. I watched Jenny fly out of the plane and then it was my turn. I was strapped to the front of the guy so I was hanging out of the plane for a few seconds before he actually jumped. At this point, I was thinking wow, this is so unbelievably beautiful. I wasn’t even nervous. I used to get more nervous for cheerleading competitions! It’s really pointless to be nervous because you have no choice anymore, you will be jumping out of the plane regardless. So we finally flew out of the plane and there was that initial feeling of butterflies but that faded pretty quickly. The free fall was amazing. For thirty seconds I was falling to the ground at incredible speeds. I never had that feeling that the parachute wasn’t going to open. I just admired the view. Once the parachute was pulled, I was able to steer and do spirals and turns which were pretty awesome. After about five minutes in the parachute, we prepared to land. I was told nothing but, “lift your knees.” We were about to land and I could see Ryan on the ground yelling to me so I knew we both made it safe. Skydiving was so cool. After our whole group had jumped, we traveled back to the waterfront to eat lunch. By the way, South Africa has amazing vegetarian food but more on that later. We ate an amazing lunch which turned out to be pretty cheap since our dollar goes a long way against the rand. Ryan had an ostrich burger! After lunch, we shopped around until heading back to the ship.
Day 2:
Jenny, Julie, Zeona, Ceara, Ryan, and I woke up before dawn to go on a day safari at the Aquila game reserve. By the way, our driver’s name was Wolf, he was awesome. Upon arrival, we were greeted by a delicious buffet breakfast and champagne. The reserve was beautiful. It was decorated just like you would picture it would be. Wooden lodges with animal prints and everything. So cute. After breakfast, we were off on our safari. Half of us went on horses and half of us did quads since some quads were having mechanical problems. Ryan and I were on quads and we had so much fun doing doughnuts and jumps. Well, Ryan did the jumps. On our game drive we saw giraffe, antelope, buffalo, rhino, and elephant among others. They were so close to us! We saw hippos in the water cooling off and buffalo running around. I loved all the animals. But we still hadn’t seen the lions! We had to change vehicles in order to see them. They were in their own little area. I saw one male and one female lion. They were just chillin’ and didn’t do anything when they saw us. It was perfectly normal. David, you would have loved the lions. Anyway, when we returned to the site we were able to pet cheetahs! They were so cute! Apparently cheetahs are the only large cat that can be tamed. They were just like large house cats. After we were finished petting the cheetahs, we had a wonderful buffet lunch and swimming in the pool, before we headed back to Cape Town. When we got back, we went to this Mexican restaurant that became SASers’ hangout for our entire stay. It has better Mexican food than what I’ve had in Mexico! I went back to this place several times during my stay. I had an awesome vegetarian platter with giant nachos, mini burritos, rice and beans, yummy veggies; it was the best food ever! After our snack, we went to Long Street since it was Cape Town’s annual festival and it was the place to be in the evening. I was a little bummed out since it was pouring rain but we had fun nonetheless. Before we left, we made plans with Tiffany and Ana to go see the penguins the next day. Exciting!
Day 3:
In order to visit the penguins, we took a bus to a train to a taxi. It was much cheaper this way. The train ride was entertaining because while the guy was going around checking tickets, one guy didn’t have one. He was a white local that was sleeping on the train and he was being totally unreasonable. The train guys were so nice and gave him so many chances to show his ticket but this guy was on drugs or something because he started to get violent for no reason. After that, he was kicked off the train. This was happening right in front of us and we were all trying not to stare but it was hard not to. Crazy people. Once we got to Boulder Beach, we saw dozens of mini penguins waddling around doing the most adorable things. Ryan, being the idiot that he is, decided it was a good idea to pet one and ended up getting bitten! It wasn’t a big deal though, it didn’t even break his skin. I am actually the only one of the group that didn’t touch one. I was too scared. But the penguins let you get really close to them so we took lots of pictures with them. I loved the penguins. After our visit to the penguins, we ate dinner at an amazing restaurant in town. We were so starving we had appetizers, desert, and Ryan even had two entrees! Our waiter was really funny to because he was kind of making fun of us. Someone ordered a shake and he said, “should I just bring one out for everyone?” and we were like, why not? So he brought out four. It was fun. Afterwards, we went back to Cape Town on the train before going out for the night. We went to this cute little lounge that had a band playing. Future SASers need to go here, it was called Alba and it’s only a five minute walk from the ship. It has floor to ceiling windows with a beautiful view of the waterfront and our ship. We all had a great time.
Day 4:
I was really excited today because I had as SAS trip to Bo Kaap for a cooking lesson. Ryan didn’t get the trip until the last minute so I was happy because it was our 2 ½ year anniversary. Anyway, Bo Kaap is Cape Town’s Muslim area. We were taken to a museum to learn about the history of Bo Kaap. It was really interesting because we learned about festivals specific to the area that had influences from Carnaval. We saw photos from everyday life to wedding ceremonies and places of worship. We also saw some artwork. Next, we were taken to a spice shop where we learned the typical spices used in Cape Malay cooking as well as some of the ingredients. This shop even had frankincense and myrrh like in the Bible! I bough this really good trail mix kind of thing but it was spicy and really good, I wish I would have bought more. After this, we were taken to a local woman’s house for lunch. Her name was Sooray, she was so nice and her house was beautiful. First she served us a welcome drink made from rose water and tapioca I think, it was really good. Next, we were each given a strip of filo dough and taught how to fold somosas. She fried these up along with some pakoras that were so yummy. The next part was my favorite; we rolled out dough to make Indian bread, roti. It is very similar to naan. We were also taught what spices to put into a curry dish. Sooray made chicken curry though. Ryan said it was different from Indian food but still really good. I had something similar to a quesadilla made with two pieces of roti bread with cheese in the middle. Sooray told me her daughters eat them with a certain sauce but she was afraid it would burn me. After Ryan told her that I pour hot sauce all over my food on the ship, she gave me some. It was really good and really garlicky, my favorite! While we were eating, Sooray told us some of the traditions in her town. Her daughter is engaged and since it was the groom’s family that threw the wedding, Sooray held the engagement party. She also talked about how many children inherited their parents’ cute, colorful houses in Bo Kaap and selling them for money that is usually gone within a few years. As a result, Bo Kaap is becoming less and less Muslim. After saying goodbye, we left to go back to the ship.
Ryan and I decided that this was the only day we could hike Table Mountain, so we bought the makings for a picnic and we were off. We went to a tourist information center and asked what times the cable cars went up and down. The last one was scheduled to leave at 7:30 pm (key point). Our taxi driver dropped us off at one of the easiest trails that he said we would have no problem finishing in time. It was 5 pm when we started hiking and we were off to a good start. Let me tell you this was one of the hardest things I’ve done in my life! Some parts were fairly easy but a good portion of the hike was climbing huge rocks. I took many breaks but towards the end we were just trying to make it on time so we could catch the cable car down. That was the hard part. I was seriously thinking we weren’t going to make it to the top and I was picking out good places to spend the night. And then, on top of it all, it started to sprinkle. It was already freezing cold and now it was beginning to rain, I was not happy. After about two hours, we reached the top. I was so relieved we weren’t going to have to stay the night you don’t even know. However, we soon realized everything was shut down. All the restaurants and restrooms were closed not to mention the cable car wasn’t running. I didn’t even know what to do. We had no time to think and we had to start climbing down because the sun was about to set and we were warned about how dangerous it was to hike the mountain at night. It was just our luck that the sun was setting on the other side of the mountain so we had almost no light anyway and the majority of our hike down it was pitch black. This might make a good story now but at the time I was scared out of my mind and I thought we were going to die. This may sound funny but I was crying at some points. Needless to say we made it down safely and I was ready to kiss the ground. (I didn’t though). We soon realized we had another problem. Although we had hiked down, there were still another few miles of road to make it to the base of the mountain. No cars came up that late much less taxis. So we just started to walk down. The one car we did see was stopped taking pictures of the view with a tripod. We talked to these people and they turned out to be students from a film university. They offered to rake us down the mountain when they were finished. They dropped us off at this restaurant that was pretty good and we had them call us a cab to take us back to the ship. It had been a pretty long day so we decided to call it a night.
Day 5:
I woke up thinking we had our township tour so we got ready to go. It turned out that the tour was the next day so instead we made plans to go to the winelands. Another couple, Princess and Carl, wanted to come with us so we hired a driver to take us to the winelands and also a restaurant in the treetops that was supposed to be really cool. The driver we hired was Wolf, the same guy that took us to the safari. His car fit 8 people so we found Renee, Roberto, Eric, and Hunter to go with us to lower the price. The winelands were about 45 minutes away but the drive was so beautiful. The first place we went to was my favorite. It was in the town of Stellenbosch and it was so pretty. There were trees everywhere surrounding a lake and we were taken into a beautiful white building for the actual tasting. We all sat around a wooden table and were given a list of the wines they had and we were to choose six that we wanted to try. Princess immediately asked for the sweetest wine and I loved it! It tasted just like grape juice! I wrote down the name of it! The other ones I ordered were good also. I wanted to buy some, especially a bottle of merlot to take home for Mami. I was so sad we weren’t allowed to bring any on the ship. Some people, not from our group, shipped some home but it was too expensive and many of these wines are available in the states anyway. We also ordered cheese and crackers with our wine, it was so much fun! Not to mention that it was about a total of six bucks for all the wine and cheese, pretty cool. The second place we went to was more formal. We were all given the same wines and we stood instead of sitting. We were told about each wine. Our last was their award winning merlot blend that I didn’t think was anything special. This place was nice but I definitely enjoyed the first place more. After this, we went into the town of Stellenbosch to a coffee shop to hang out before our reservations at Molo, the restaurant I was talking about earlier. The town was so awesome. It is the second oldest town in South Africa, after Cape Town, and the buildings were beautiful and there were little shops up and down the street. This is where I bought my favorite purchase of the entire trip. Now I had heard about these giraffes from previous voyages and I had seen them all around Cape Town but they were pretty expensive. Here, I found one that I loved for about 50 US dollars. My giraffe is taller than I am with a reddish color and he is so cute. The people at the store were so nice. There was a woman who we exchanged emails with and wanted us to come back she was really nice. She gave Ryan, Renee and I each a little gift from the store. The guy in the store fixed my giraffe for me and I was so happy when I bought it. I put it in the back of the van to take back to the ship. We then went to Molo for dinner. This restaurant was probably the most beautiful restaurant I’d ever seen. Everything was outside and tents were covering the eating area. There were performers and waterfalls. It was amazing. I’m thinking oh no this is going to be expensive but it wasn’t bad and it was totally worth it. We even treated our driver to dinner. For future SASers, you need to call up Wolf, he is amazing! He is actually an actor as well and was in Blood Diamond. He has a big movie coming out that I can’t wait to see! Anyway, there was an awesome buffet with lots of vegetarian food. And the desert was to die for! I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this local desert called malva pudding but it is great! I’m going to learn how to make it at home. I didn’t even tell you the best part! So since this place was outside and South Africa gets pretty cold at night, they put blankets on each chair! It was perfect! I had such a wonderful time at Molo. This was probably my favorite day in South Africa.
Day 6:
Today was our township visit that was supposed to last all day. It was described as a visit, service project, and African dinner experience. Pretty exciting. The program was through this Christian organization called Africa Jam. Our guide met us by our ship and took us all to the Khayelitsha township. Along the way he explained to us that the apartheid still had effects on the communities in South Africa. During the apartheid, people were put into three categories. Whites, coloureds, and blacks. The coloured people were pretty much everything else and people of mixed races. The coloureds more closely resembled the whites so they were given more privileges. I was told that both Ryan and I would have been considered coloured. During this time, tests would be done to tell if someone was black or coloured. If you had curled eyelashes or your hair was really springy or you had a wide nose, you were black. There were some that were able to pass. Once it was decided what category you were in, it was written on a card that you had to carry with you at all times. Anyway, the communities are still primarily of one race. The whites live in the rich areas while the blacks live in the townships. The coloureds live somewhere in between but still poor. Anyway, we were taken to a coloured community to eat a snack kind of like a sub sandwich that Ryan said was delicious. On our ride to Khayelitsha our guide told us more about his community. There are different tribes in the township that identify themselves by doing something to each member. For example some people make cuts in their faces and he had half his pinkie finger cut off. Also, in order to be considered a man in their community, they need to go through this few week process where they start out by circumcision. For the next few weeks you are to fend for yourself, not use any medication or communicate with anyone. Pretty intense. Anyway, we arrived at the township and we were introduced to kids that were going to take us around their homes. Ryan and I along with two other girls were taken around by a guy named Weja, and his friend Neo. They were really cool. Weja was teaching me to say things in Xhosa and I was teaching him to say things in Spanish. We went to Neo’s home to see his family and where he lived. They were really nice. He had a month old brother that I got to hold. He was adorable. It was so weird being in their house. They had 3 rooms, a kitchen, living room, and bedroom, and all were very tiny. The house was basically a shack made out of tin and cardboard. It’s really sad. The whole town is littered with trash everywhere. After our visit at their home, we were taken to a little store where we bought drinks, it was so hot out and I was dying of thirst. Ryan also had fatcake, which was thick, greasy, fluffy bread filled with liver. His words. Weja and Neo just let their wrappers fly into the wind when they were done. I guess they don’t even think twice about littering. Sanitation is a big problem here also. There’s a truck that comes around every 4 days to collect waste but often families don’t wait that long. They’ll just dump it out somewhere. When you think about it, waste can pile up pretty quickly with a big family in a small space. Anyway, we met back with the whole group and did some acting exercises. All I have to say is that these kids are very talented. We got a lot of stuff on video so I’ll show you all when we get back. We also had to do some acting; we got into pairs and made fun of our guides in a friendly way. After this we said our goodbyes and took plenty of pictures. I forgot to mention that everytime we went outside the little kids would run up to us and hug us. They were so adorable. They wanted us to take pictures of them. This is where I wish I had my Polaroid camera. Next was our African dinner experience. I had no idea what to expect and I was completely blown away. We were taken to thi really nice house on the shore where there was a live band playing awesome music. It was Africa Jam’s band and many of the songs were written by people involved with the organization. Our little part would have been illegal 15 years ago because there were whites, blacks, and coloureds together. I could write for pages about this day but I need to stop here. Overall, seeing the townships was amazing.
Day 7:
Today was left open to shopping. It was great. We went to a little market where we got a couple of souvenirs. I’m actually most excited about something I got Titi Yvonne because she collects these. Anyway, we didn’t find a whole lot here so we went to the mall. This mall is huge. One guy said it was the largest in Africa but I’m not sure about this. Many of the stores were expensive but I found a few where our dollar went pretty far. I got a pair of jeans for like six bucks. We ate dinner at this garlic lover’s restaurant, it was wonderful. The mall was fun. I had my veggie platter from the Mexican restaurant one last time before we had to be on the ship. I even ordered malva pudding for desert and ate it in line. We made it on the ship with plenty of time and I was sad to leave South Africa. : (
I had a wonderful time in South Africa. It was totally not what I expected because it was very westernized. I didn’t feel like I was in Africa at all except maybe on the safari. It could have been California. I know that you will all love South Africa if you come. There is just so much to do. I was here seven days and was constantly on the go and I still feel like I didn’t do everything I wanted. I know that I will come back here someday. Everyone wants to. Some of my friends have already made plans to come in January and work with Africa Jam. Cape Town was awesome.
Thursday, March 1, 2007
The Girl from Ipanema, Brazil!
I enjoyed Brazil. It was no Puerto Rico though! It was awesome to just observe all of the locals celebrating Carnaval. It is really a huge deal in Brazil. Many of the locals are off work for that entire week, banks and post offices are closed. Everyone is in the Carnaval spirit. So what we did…
Day 1(my birthday):
As soon as we got off the ship, we were greeted by Afro-Brazilian women in white dresses that tied ribbons on our wrists. According to the religion of Candomble, when these ribbons fall off, three wishes will come true. (Mine fell off the third day and my wish didn’t come true) After getting currency, we walked down the street to the Mercado Modelo! This market had everything from jewelry to paintings to statues to clothes. Ryan bought a beautiful painting of the city and guys doing capoiera in the street. Capoeira is a Brazilian form of martial arts. You see people everywhere doing it in the streets. So after our purchases, we decided to have lunch. Ryan and a few others (Sam, Wendy…) had a huge seafood platter so he was in heaven. I ordered rice and beans, surprise surprise! It was really good though. After lunch, a few of us went into the upper city. Basically, Salvador has two levels with an elevator connecting them. The price to take the elevator was equivalent to 2 and ½ US cents but we only had to pay on the last day since during Carnaval, it’s free. The upper city is beautiful. There are beautiful cobblestone streets, old, colorful buildings, and gorgeous churches. Not to mention the shopping. Since we were leaving for Rio the next morning, Ryan found it appropriate to buy a Brazilian speedo! Some of the girls we were with bought Brazilian bikinis but I just couldn’t see myself wearing one (I did get one later though and it is really cute). As we were walking down the street, we ran into a parade! There were people dressed in crazy costumes dancing down the street. I was so excited and looking forward to more parades that night. After some more exploring, we went back to the ship for dinner and to freshen up (It was so humid in Salvador we were sweating all day).
Later that night, we went to the upper city and turned right. Apparently, we weren’t supposed to do this because right = danger. Anyway, the streets were so packed with people we could barely get through. There were parades down the street called trios electricos, which were huge, open, buses filled with people wearing matching shirts that paid to be on the float. Everything was so crazy. I was a little disappointed because I was expecting to see people in elaborate costumes dancing but it was basically a huge party with drunk, sweaty people stepping all over us. Some of the men were trying to kiss the girls but no one did anything to me. I suppose it was because I was hanging onto Ryan the whole time. We left relatively early since we had to leave for the airport at 4 the next morning.
Day 2:
After just two hours of sleep, we left for the airport for our flight to Rio de Janeiro with two others that were on our flight. (The night before was a nightmare because I checked my e-mail and the hostel had sent me an e-mail saying that they were overbooked and had to deny us even though we already had confirmation! After deliberation, we decided to just go since we had already paid for the flight. If worse came to worse, we would stay up all night!) When we arrived at the hostel, it turned out to be fine. She did say that there was a problem because they had overbooked, but luckily there were beds available. So we set our stuff down and walked 3 blocks to Copacabana beach. Let me just tell you it is not what you imagine when you hear Copacabana. Although the landscape was beautiful with views of gorgeous hills, the beach itself was packed. We had to weave in and out of people to get to the shore. I’m guessing that since it was Carnaval, so many people were off work and school, they went to the beach. Not to mention all the tourists. It was still pretty though. We walked along the shore in our new bathing suits (I had on a skirt though). Seriously, EVERYONE wears speedos and tiny bikinis; from 3-year-old little girls to old white haired women. There are actually quite a few in thong bikinis as well. It is quite a sight.
After hanging out on the beach, Ryan and I ate and went to Pao de Acucar, or sugar loaf. Pao de Acucar consists of two hills connected by a cable car. The view from up there is absolutely amazing. We stayed until sunset and took some really pretty pictures. We even went down the hill a little into this little forest complete with monkeys. It was pretty cool. When we returned to our hostel, we found other SASers! We all went out together to explore Rio’s Carnaval. It definitely wasn’t as crazy as Salvador, thank the Lord. There were still people on the street dancing but it was more toned down. I was happy because there was an art fair and a little market. There were beautiful original pieces for very cheap. We looked around and decided to come back the next night to buy them since we had to take out more money. Since Ryan and I were so exhausted from lack of sleep, we separated from the group and went back to the hostel.
Day 3:
We woke up later than we wanted because we were so exhausted. The other SASers at the hostel were trying to get their flight changed to get to Salvador earlier because they enjoyed Carnaval there much more. I was thinking the opposite. I wanted to stay in Rio because the night before we had missed the Samba parade. The Samba parade is the main Carnaval event in Rio and probably all of Brazil. There are different “schools” that participate in the parade and they spend all year preparing. Thousands of participants dress in elaborate costumes and dance all night. So I was really sad that I missed it the night before and really wanted to see it. Our flight was scheduled that night at 11:40 pm. We figured we could postpone our flight until the next morning and just stay up since we had no where to stay anyway. The girl at the front desk at the hostel was helping us but in the end, the hostel ran out of the cheap tickets to the parade and only had $150 tickets. We were actually thinking of doing it but since we would have to go straight to the airport, we would be carrying all of our paintings. So in the end, after wasting a few hours, we stuck with the original plan. : (
Since we had gone to Copacabana the previous day, we decided to go to Ipanema. I really like Ipanema. The beach was still very packed but it was cleaner and very unique. The sand near the shore was flat and then there was kind of a dip so that there were a couple of inches of water that just stayed there. People set up there chairs there so it was really cool. Ryan wants to come back so he could skin board there. After eating at a cute restaurant, we took a taxi to Cristo Redentor (Christ the redeemer). On our way up, we were passing through rainforest and amazing views. Our guide was telling us all about the mountain, Cordocovo, in which the Christ is perched. Apparently a couple years ago, they had professional skateboarders from all over the world skate down the mountain. He also said that the Christ is a mosaic, and the tiles are replaced every twenty years. And the most interesting, the Christ was built 33 times the size of a man. When we finally reached the top, the view was amazing. And Jesus was huge! Rio is such a beautiful city. We were looking down on beautiful green hills, city lights, and gorgeous beaches. It was surreal. We stayed up there until the sunset gazing down at the city.
After our guide took us down the mountain, we caught a bus to Copacabana (where our hostel was) in an effort to save money. Well it cost us a whole lot of time because it was going around the whole city and was stopping first in a very popular destination for Carnaval so there was an immense amount of traffic. After about an hour and a half, we got off and took a taxi which took about 10 minutes. Ridiculous. We immediately went to the art fair to buy our art. It was 10:00 and our flight was scheduled to leave in less than two hours. Ryan went one way to buy the ones he wanted and I went another. The previous night, I had fallen in love with a painting that was only 80 reals, less than 40 USD, and I was pretty sure I could talk them down, only the stand was gone! I was so sad. Anyway, altogether, we ended up buying 6 pieces of art for around 150 USD. Which is really good. After our little shopping spree, we hurried to the hostel, picked up our stuff, and hailed a cab. It was almost 11 pm! We got to the airport in time, checked and made our flight on time and everything was fine. When we got to Salvador, we took a taxi straight to the ship and passed out.
Day 4:
We had planned with a few others to go to this little island called Itrapeca, but we woke up too late. We were on our way to the market, when a group of students asked us if we wanted to go to the beach. We stuffed 8 people into a taxi to flamenco beach! It was a cute beach with little restaurants. I even got a coconut and drank the juice out of it so that was exciting. One of the restaurants there was serving whole fish and whole crab which was pretty unappetizing. After the beach, we just went to the market and the upper city, bought some more souvenirs for all of you, and went back to the ship for dinner. When we got there, Sam and Ami (who is also a Gamma Phi) were looking for some people to go to an all you can eat barbeque restaurant. Ryan really wanted to go but I didn’t really want to pay all that money for a bunch of meat so I ate on the ship. I did end up going to have desert though. The restaurant was really interesting. Each paying person gets a little card to put by their plate with a green side and a red side. When the card is green side up, waiters come around offering various kinds of meat. When the red side I up, it means you don’t want anymore food. They had all kinds of meat from chicken hearts to veal as well as more traditional kinds. There was even a buffet with sushi, bread, cheese, and salads. After the meal, a desert cart comes around and you can pick what you want. That was the best part! We decided to do Carnaval that night and this time turned left. It was supposed to be the biggest night since it was the night before Ash Wednesday but hardly anyone was out. I was disappointed again because there were no parades. We went back pretty early.
Day 5:
Today we planned on going to Itrapeca again but one look outside changed our plans. It was raining! So we wandered around the city, visited some churches, and ate our last taste of Brazilian food. The church we visited is called Sao Francisco and it was breathtaking. It was very gaudy. There was a lot of gold, chandeliers, carvings, and at least twenty images of Jesus on the cross. It was really pretty. We then had lunch. Just a note, the restaurants are not like they are in the US. Every single one that I went to in Brazil take FOREVER to serve you. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. We just walked around before returning to the ship.
Ending note on Brazil:
I am so glad that I got to experience what I did in Brazil. It was a different experience than our first port though. I almost wish that it wasn’t Carnaval because there were so many tourists and the locals aren’t as friendly or willing to talk. There was also more of a language barrier. In Puerto Rico, I felt very connected to the people and everyone was absolutely amazing, whereas in Brazil, I felt like a tourist. I felt different in Rio however, and if I had to do it again, I would definitely spend more time there. Although I’m glad I got to experience Carnaval in Brazil, future SAS voyages should travel to Brazil when it’s not Carnaval.
Well, I love you guys and I'll update soon!
Love,
Erika
Day 1(my birthday):
As soon as we got off the ship, we were greeted by Afro-Brazilian women in white dresses that tied ribbons on our wrists. According to the religion of Candomble, when these ribbons fall off, three wishes will come true. (Mine fell off the third day and my wish didn’t come true) After getting currency, we walked down the street to the Mercado Modelo! This market had everything from jewelry to paintings to statues to clothes. Ryan bought a beautiful painting of the city and guys doing capoiera in the street. Capoeira is a Brazilian form of martial arts. You see people everywhere doing it in the streets. So after our purchases, we decided to have lunch. Ryan and a few others (Sam, Wendy…) had a huge seafood platter so he was in heaven. I ordered rice and beans, surprise surprise! It was really good though. After lunch, a few of us went into the upper city. Basically, Salvador has two levels with an elevator connecting them. The price to take the elevator was equivalent to 2 and ½ US cents but we only had to pay on the last day since during Carnaval, it’s free. The upper city is beautiful. There are beautiful cobblestone streets, old, colorful buildings, and gorgeous churches. Not to mention the shopping. Since we were leaving for Rio the next morning, Ryan found it appropriate to buy a Brazilian speedo! Some of the girls we were with bought Brazilian bikinis but I just couldn’t see myself wearing one (I did get one later though and it is really cute). As we were walking down the street, we ran into a parade! There were people dressed in crazy costumes dancing down the street. I was so excited and looking forward to more parades that night. After some more exploring, we went back to the ship for dinner and to freshen up (It was so humid in Salvador we were sweating all day).
Later that night, we went to the upper city and turned right. Apparently, we weren’t supposed to do this because right = danger. Anyway, the streets were so packed with people we could barely get through. There were parades down the street called trios electricos, which were huge, open, buses filled with people wearing matching shirts that paid to be on the float. Everything was so crazy. I was a little disappointed because I was expecting to see people in elaborate costumes dancing but it was basically a huge party with drunk, sweaty people stepping all over us. Some of the men were trying to kiss the girls but no one did anything to me. I suppose it was because I was hanging onto Ryan the whole time. We left relatively early since we had to leave for the airport at 4 the next morning.
Day 2:
After just two hours of sleep, we left for the airport for our flight to Rio de Janeiro with two others that were on our flight. (The night before was a nightmare because I checked my e-mail and the hostel had sent me an e-mail saying that they were overbooked and had to deny us even though we already had confirmation! After deliberation, we decided to just go since we had already paid for the flight. If worse came to worse, we would stay up all night!) When we arrived at the hostel, it turned out to be fine. She did say that there was a problem because they had overbooked, but luckily there were beds available. So we set our stuff down and walked 3 blocks to Copacabana beach. Let me just tell you it is not what you imagine when you hear Copacabana. Although the landscape was beautiful with views of gorgeous hills, the beach itself was packed. We had to weave in and out of people to get to the shore. I’m guessing that since it was Carnaval, so many people were off work and school, they went to the beach. Not to mention all the tourists. It was still pretty though. We walked along the shore in our new bathing suits (I had on a skirt though). Seriously, EVERYONE wears speedos and tiny bikinis; from 3-year-old little girls to old white haired women. There are actually quite a few in thong bikinis as well. It is quite a sight.
After hanging out on the beach, Ryan and I ate and went to Pao de Acucar, or sugar loaf. Pao de Acucar consists of two hills connected by a cable car. The view from up there is absolutely amazing. We stayed until sunset and took some really pretty pictures. We even went down the hill a little into this little forest complete with monkeys. It was pretty cool. When we returned to our hostel, we found other SASers! We all went out together to explore Rio’s Carnaval. It definitely wasn’t as crazy as Salvador, thank the Lord. There were still people on the street dancing but it was more toned down. I was happy because there was an art fair and a little market. There were beautiful original pieces for very cheap. We looked around and decided to come back the next night to buy them since we had to take out more money. Since Ryan and I were so exhausted from lack of sleep, we separated from the group and went back to the hostel.
Day 3:
We woke up later than we wanted because we were so exhausted. The other SASers at the hostel were trying to get their flight changed to get to Salvador earlier because they enjoyed Carnaval there much more. I was thinking the opposite. I wanted to stay in Rio because the night before we had missed the Samba parade. The Samba parade is the main Carnaval event in Rio and probably all of Brazil. There are different “schools” that participate in the parade and they spend all year preparing. Thousands of participants dress in elaborate costumes and dance all night. So I was really sad that I missed it the night before and really wanted to see it. Our flight was scheduled that night at 11:40 pm. We figured we could postpone our flight until the next morning and just stay up since we had no where to stay anyway. The girl at the front desk at the hostel was helping us but in the end, the hostel ran out of the cheap tickets to the parade and only had $150 tickets. We were actually thinking of doing it but since we would have to go straight to the airport, we would be carrying all of our paintings. So in the end, after wasting a few hours, we stuck with the original plan. : (
Since we had gone to Copacabana the previous day, we decided to go to Ipanema. I really like Ipanema. The beach was still very packed but it was cleaner and very unique. The sand near the shore was flat and then there was kind of a dip so that there were a couple of inches of water that just stayed there. People set up there chairs there so it was really cool. Ryan wants to come back so he could skin board there. After eating at a cute restaurant, we took a taxi to Cristo Redentor (Christ the redeemer). On our way up, we were passing through rainforest and amazing views. Our guide was telling us all about the mountain, Cordocovo, in which the Christ is perched. Apparently a couple years ago, they had professional skateboarders from all over the world skate down the mountain. He also said that the Christ is a mosaic, and the tiles are replaced every twenty years. And the most interesting, the Christ was built 33 times the size of a man. When we finally reached the top, the view was amazing. And Jesus was huge! Rio is such a beautiful city. We were looking down on beautiful green hills, city lights, and gorgeous beaches. It was surreal. We stayed up there until the sunset gazing down at the city.
After our guide took us down the mountain, we caught a bus to Copacabana (where our hostel was) in an effort to save money. Well it cost us a whole lot of time because it was going around the whole city and was stopping first in a very popular destination for Carnaval so there was an immense amount of traffic. After about an hour and a half, we got off and took a taxi which took about 10 minutes. Ridiculous. We immediately went to the art fair to buy our art. It was 10:00 and our flight was scheduled to leave in less than two hours. Ryan went one way to buy the ones he wanted and I went another. The previous night, I had fallen in love with a painting that was only 80 reals, less than 40 USD, and I was pretty sure I could talk them down, only the stand was gone! I was so sad. Anyway, altogether, we ended up buying 6 pieces of art for around 150 USD. Which is really good. After our little shopping spree, we hurried to the hostel, picked up our stuff, and hailed a cab. It was almost 11 pm! We got to the airport in time, checked and made our flight on time and everything was fine. When we got to Salvador, we took a taxi straight to the ship and passed out.
Day 4:
We had planned with a few others to go to this little island called Itrapeca, but we woke up too late. We were on our way to the market, when a group of students asked us if we wanted to go to the beach. We stuffed 8 people into a taxi to flamenco beach! It was a cute beach with little restaurants. I even got a coconut and drank the juice out of it so that was exciting. One of the restaurants there was serving whole fish and whole crab which was pretty unappetizing. After the beach, we just went to the market and the upper city, bought some more souvenirs for all of you, and went back to the ship for dinner. When we got there, Sam and Ami (who is also a Gamma Phi) were looking for some people to go to an all you can eat barbeque restaurant. Ryan really wanted to go but I didn’t really want to pay all that money for a bunch of meat so I ate on the ship. I did end up going to have desert though. The restaurant was really interesting. Each paying person gets a little card to put by their plate with a green side and a red side. When the card is green side up, waiters come around offering various kinds of meat. When the red side I up, it means you don’t want anymore food. They had all kinds of meat from chicken hearts to veal as well as more traditional kinds. There was even a buffet with sushi, bread, cheese, and salads. After the meal, a desert cart comes around and you can pick what you want. That was the best part! We decided to do Carnaval that night and this time turned left. It was supposed to be the biggest night since it was the night before Ash Wednesday but hardly anyone was out. I was disappointed again because there were no parades. We went back pretty early.
Day 5:
Today we planned on going to Itrapeca again but one look outside changed our plans. It was raining! So we wandered around the city, visited some churches, and ate our last taste of Brazilian food. The church we visited is called Sao Francisco and it was breathtaking. It was very gaudy. There was a lot of gold, chandeliers, carvings, and at least twenty images of Jesus on the cross. It was really pretty. We then had lunch. Just a note, the restaurants are not like they are in the US. Every single one that I went to in Brazil take FOREVER to serve you. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. We just walked around before returning to the ship.
Ending note on Brazil:
I am so glad that I got to experience what I did in Brazil. It was a different experience than our first port though. I almost wish that it wasn’t Carnaval because there were so many tourists and the locals aren’t as friendly or willing to talk. There was also more of a language barrier. In Puerto Rico, I felt very connected to the people and everyone was absolutely amazing, whereas in Brazil, I felt like a tourist. I felt different in Rio however, and if I had to do it again, I would definitely spend more time there. Although I’m glad I got to experience Carnaval in Brazil, future SAS voyages should travel to Brazil when it’s not Carnaval.
Well, I love you guys and I'll update soon!
Love,
Erika
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Hello everybody!
So you guys need to check facebook pictures. I posted Puerto Rico, Brazil, and a surprise album...Just a little explanation for the surprise album- Today was Neptune Day. Neptune Day is a little ceremony that happens whenever anyone crosses the equator by sea for the first time. So we got woken up by all the RD's dressed up banging on drums and everyone was directed to the pool deck. The tradition is to get "fish guts" dumped all over you, jump in the pool and then kiss a fish. And the final tradition is to shave your head. Not everyone does it but a lot of the guys do and a surprising amount of girls. The girls usually donate their hair to locks of love. Well, I hope that explains it!
So you guys need to check facebook pictures. I posted Puerto Rico, Brazil, and a surprise album...Just a little explanation for the surprise album- Today was Neptune Day. Neptune Day is a little ceremony that happens whenever anyone crosses the equator by sea for the first time. So we got woken up by all the RD's dressed up banging on drums and everyone was directed to the pool deck. The tradition is to get "fish guts" dumped all over you, jump in the pool and then kiss a fish. And the final tradition is to shave your head. Not everyone does it but a lot of the guys do and a surprising amount of girls. The girls usually donate their hair to locks of love. Well, I hope that explains it!
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