Finally final day in Vietnam

3/31/09
24:00

I am going to finish Vietnam right now.

So on my final day in Vietnam I wanted to do something cultural.  The ship has a list of things to do independently while in port and Disha had seen something about a university visit to meet Vietnamese students.  She wrote down the name and Lia, Disha and I each hopped on a motorcycle taxi and asked them to take us to the address.   Our drivers took us to the correct address, but it wasn’t a university it was a middle school.   After talking with a school official for a bit, he gave our drivers an address for an actual university and they took us there.  This detour caused a discrepancy over the price for our rides, because motorcycle taxis are not metered…obviously.  We eventually got a relatively good price and headed into the university grounds.

We picked a fabulous day to visit this university, whose name escapes me at the moment.  They were holding a festival in the courtyard, there were booths of student projects, artwork, research.  It was actually kind of similar to a science fair.  We walked into the courtyard and all eyes were on us immediately.  I can’t imagine what people were thinking.

As we passed one booth, some girls offered us this drink.  And it was delicious.  It had some molasses-like texture mixed with water and then they put peanuts in it.  Yummyyy.  After the girl offered us this drink, other students saw that we were friendly and approachable and began to come and practice their English on us or take our pictures.  One guy took us to his booth and showed Lia how to tie really complex knots.  She struggled. We walked to a few more booths and then Disha exclaimed, “Hannah they’re painting over there!”

Well, we couldn’t NOT go over and check it out. Disha, Lia and I picked up a brush and began painting rudimentary pictures of our ship, or the world, or flags.  At this booth, one student introduced herself to us.  Her name was Nyung (sp) and we became fast friends.  She spoke English pretty well and is 20 years old, like all of us.  She was the sweetest girl.  So nice, always smiling, mild-mannered.  She watched us paint and then she saw me taking pictures of other students’ artwork.  She went over to one of the students who had painted the picture I was photographing and asked if I could have the picture.  She gave it to me and it is now in my art journal. How nice is that?

While Disha was painting she befriended a guy named Tan.  He told her that his name means “new” and her name means “direction.”  New direction.  I like that.  Very symbolic of the relationship Vietnam holds with the US, I think.

Once we had finished with our painting masterpieces, a bunch of students came out dressed in black holding long, wooden sticks and gave us a karate-fighting presentation.  And then another student sang a few songs.  So much talent.  Sooo glad we went to this school.  We asked Nyung if she would give us a tour of the university and she happily complied.  Students were playing carnival-like games in another courtyard.  Everyone was so joyous.  Nyung showed us the science wing of the school, as she is a chemistry major.  We walked past the parking lot that was brimming with scooters and bicycles.  As we toured the campus, Nyung told us about her family: two older sisters, one younger sister and one younger brother.  Her older sisters have both finished school, one studied to become a teacher and the other majored in economics. 

Lia and Disha wanted to get in some last-minute shopping on this day as well, so we told Nyung our intentions and she wanted to accompany us.  I’m pretty sure she didn’t have any classes that day.  Nyung took us to a really nice mall but since this trip, regular malls have become way too expensive for our standards so we only browsed there.  Then she took us to a store that was kind of like a Vietnamese Walmart.  On our way to this store we passed a store selling bubble tea/juice.  Bubble tea is the best thing ever.  You can get many different flavors of juice or tea and then there are big tapioca balls at the bottom of the cup.  We asked Nyung what her favorite flavor was and she said chocolate so we each got a chocolate bubble tea.  Soo good.

After our bubble tea stop, we decided to head back to the marketplace to do some cheap, cheap shopping. We all had gifts to buy and Lia and I wanted to buy big, fake Northface backpacks for our Japan travels.  The market was crazy as usual.  Hectic. The aisles in between shops are miniscule, which is fine for tiny Vietnamese people...but not for me.  Everyone was trying to squeeze past me.  I kept saying “uh oh traffic jam,” and Nyung laughed every time.  I loved making her laugh.  She was just so nice. 

Also vendors were hassling us constantly, “What do you want?  T-shirt?  I have t-shirt..sit down…try on.” Shut up.  Lia and Disha aren’t very good at saying NO.  If I don’t want something I just say no and keep walking, but they slow down and look around and then get roped into difficult situations.  One time a vendor held on tightly to Lia’s arm when she tried to leave without buying something.  I had to pry her fingers off.  After this situation I told Lia and Disha never to point to something they wanted, just to use their eyes. Disha walked around pretending she was blind.  Nyung loved that. 

After we had done a sufficient amount of shopping, while Nyung patiently supervised our transactions, we stopped at Pho24 for lunch.  Pho is a type of Vietnamese soup with noodles and meat.  You eat it with chopsticks and let me just say I am horrendous at using chopsticks.  I am usually a pretty fast and big eater, but chopsticks prevent my typical eating habits because I can only pick up like one noodle at a time and it takes me 5 minutes to pick up that one noodle.  Nyung thought my chopstick skills were hilarious.  We treated Nyung to lunch and thanked her profusely for coming with us.  There were hugs and e-mail exchanges.  And we said our farewells so we could go pick up our dresses.  Stupid dresses.  I don’t even want to write about that anymore, because I have spent enough time devoted to that dumb dress that didn’t even turn out well.

But I am so so so so happy that we met Nyung and that she spent the day with us.  She was so kind and helpful and open with us.  Do you think students in the US would just walk up to some stranger on their campus and show them around their school and city?  I seriously doubt it.  But now I want to do that.

Disha and I headed back to the ship, while Lia went off to run an errand for a friend from home.  We dropped our bags off and ran into Keith, Steve, and Hussain.  Disha and I had to go back out in the city one last time to pick up our dresses after the last alteration (last mention of stupid dresses) and Hussain wanted to come with.  The stupid dresses (now last mention) weren’t ready so we decided to go get more bubble tea.  We are obsessed.  The tailor directed us where to go and we set off to find bubble tea.

Well, I think the tailor had a lot more work to do or something because this bubble tea was like 2 miles away and since we thought it was close we had decided to walk.  We finally found a place that sold bubble tea, I don’t know if it was the place the tailor had in mind.  Disha and I got passion juice and Hussain got kiwi juice.  We liked Hussain’s better so we also bought kiwi and Hussain wanted to try strawberry so he got that.  A treat for later, right?

Our time was running out so we decided to take a taxi back to the tailor’s.  We saw a guy on a motorcycle who was accepting money from this woman so we approached him asking for a ride.  He listened to us and seemed to be nodding along.  We showed him the address we needed to go to and then asked if we could get another motorcycle taxi for Hussain or if we could all fit on his bike.  He, then, promptly started his bike and drove off.  Didn’t even look back.  We were all like, “What just happened?”  I don’t know if we offended him or if he even was a taxi.  It was nuts.  And hilarious.  So then we just took a regular taxi, picked up our stupid dresses and headed back to the ship, bubble tea in hand.

Great day.  Vietnam was awesome.  I would like to go back and do less shopping and more exploring.  Who’s with me?

I cannot finish this entry for the life of me

3/29/09
6:25

I can’t sleep anymore so I decided I would finish my Vietnam blob before we arrive in Hong Kong.

For the third day and night, Greg had found a homestay on Wikitravel in Mekong, so I joined him and some others on this trip.  Great group.  It was Greg, Caroline, Lia, Disha, Taylor, Brendan, this kind of weird guy named Mike, and Brendan’s roommate Skyler.  Brendan and Skyler were a hit.  Hilarious.

So at 7:45 the third day we loaded up a minibus with out friendly, English-speaking tour guide named Tan and began our 2-hour ride to Mekong.  As usual everyone tried to use the ride as a way to catch up on sleep, but to no avail for Disha and me.  We sat in the very back, so basically the bumpiest spot of the bus, and we felt every single bump.  I got so much air. It was crazy.

Along the way we stopped at a Cao Dai Temple.  Disha had gone to THE Cao Dai  Temple the day before, and although she said the one we saw wasn’t as cool she said it was still a good example.  The arched ceilings of the temple were painted sky blue with white stars and dragons.  The pillars are wrapped with colorful dragons.  There were altars to Hindu gods, Buddha, and Jesus.  It was so colorful.  And detailed.  And each Cao Dai Temple has this much detail. It made me think about the architects and artists that design each one and how long it takes them to create every unique detail.

After the temple we arrived in Mekong and we hopped on a river boat and traveled along the Mekong River.  We saw the houseboats of the fishermen, and we floated down natural canals.  We stopped on Ben Tre (Coconut) Island, which has the most coconuts than any other place in the country and listened to traditional Vietnamese songs.  Vietnamese music is very unique and the instruments they played were unlike any I had ever seen before.  There was a two-string guitar/banjo, a 5-string guitar with much deeper grooves in the neck, and some other instrument that was basically like a vertical stick with strings.  While in Vietnam I realized that Vietnamese people are very willing to sing if given the opportunity, and for the most part, they are very good at singing.  Our tour guide, Tan, asked us to sing to him while we were on the riverboat.  We sang Backstreet Boys, J. Lo and Ja Rule, you know….the classics. 

Then we went to the home where we would be staying.  We were all expecting a nice family atmosphere, with little kids running around everywhere.  We were excited to hear about life along the Mekong Delta, and to converse about Vietnamese culture.  Our imaginations got the better of us, I guess.  We arrived at the small house and the hosts greeted us.  They spoke very little English and the most interaction we had with them was when we first arrived and shook hands and when they served us meals.  There were separate living quarters for the guests along the house.  It looked like a porch, basically, with eleven beds/cots covered with mosquitos nets…thank god. We were not the only travelers staying there, either.  There were some French tourists and possibly some British tourists as well.  They didn’t really interact with us either, though.

Upon our arrival, Tan took us over to a little man-made canal to fish with bamboo sticks.  Skyler and others caught little baby minnow fish that the hosts cooked for dinner.  We were pretty hungry for dinner, even though we had had a great traditional-style Vietnamese lunch.  Lunch was deep-fried elephant ear fish, served whole, head and everything.  Various fruits, including jack fruit and Vietnamese apples.  Spring rolls.  I tried everything, even though I’m not a big fish person.  And you know what?  I liked it.  Dinner at the homestay was very similar to lunch, except we also got this pancake-like thing we rice and pork in it….delicious.  Also, the hosts helped us make our fresh spring rolls so they actually stayed together and looked like a spring roll instead of a clump of rice paper and fish falling apart.  Prawn and shrimp were served too.  I enjoyed that as well.  I guess I might like fish after all.

After dinner we went on a coconut leaf torch light walk to the riverbanks.  Everyone played with fire…pyros.  It wasn’t that late, but we were tired after our day of traveling.  Oh I forgot to mention that after lunch we went on a bike ride to the village markets.  The bikes broke down about every two minutes.  My kickstand was constantly falling down and dragging and my breaks were…nonexistent.  It was comical.  So anyways we all hopped in our netted cots.  Covers were unnecessary since it was still blazing hot.  It had been a sweaty day and it was going to be a hot night.  I’m sure we smelled looooovely. 

Once we were all in bed, we decided to tell stories.  Brendan and Skyler definitely had the best stories.  I’m not going to repeat their stories because they are a little graphic, but they were hilarious.  I’m glad those boys came.  They provided constant entertainment.  It was also nice to have Greg’s friend Dan on the trip.  He told us all of his SAS stories from his voyage two years ago.  We asked if it changed his life and he said he wouldn’t be volunteering in Cambodia had he never done SAS.  There ya go.

I slept pretty well, apart from waking up once or twice thinking I was covered in insects.  We awoke at 6 for an early bike ride with Tan.  Tan was the man.  We called him Tan Man, Mister Tan, Master Tan, and if you were Disha, who is HORRIBLE with names you may have called him Tin Plan.  We called ourselves the Tan Klan.  I don’t know how Tan felt about this, but I think he enjoyed it.

Quick interruption right now.  It is 7:11 am and I am watching the ship pull into port in Hong Kong. First there is rolling hill covered with dark green trees and shore is line with shacks standing on stilits, and then to the left there is skyscraper upon skyscraper.  It’s like a quick bit of nature and then concrete jungle.  Crazy.

Okay back to the story.  Morning bike ride, quick breakfast of rice bread and jelly and fruit and then back onto the riverboat.  I’m pretty sure everyone slept on this riverboat ride.  At one point I looked around and all heads were doing the sleep headbob, some people’s faces were covered with the rice hats they had purchased.  Typical tourists.

Soon we arrived at Unicorn island and tried delicious honey tea, banana wine (which tastes nothing like wine, much more like strong strong whiskey), and an assortment of fruit candies like dried bananas dipped in sugar, water coconut dipped in sugar…lots of fruits dipped in sugar.  Mmm mmm good.

After the taste test, a python was brought out.  Lia held the little one and Skyler held the huge one.  Daring.  Then we went to get coconut candy.  We saw the candy-making process, got a free sample, and then I bought 3 packs of candy.  Peanut coconut candy, chocolate coconut candy, and banana coconut candy.  I’ll try and save some for all of you at home….can’t make any promises.  Just kidding.  I got it solely to give to loved ones.  I did eat a few though…you know how I am.

Now when we were observing the coconut candy-making process, Skyler and Brendan saw a crate of coconuts that had been chopped in half.  They immediately took out two coconuts and began acting out the scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail when the king is pretending to ride a horse and his servants tap coconuts together to sound like a horse galloping.  I died.  They are so funny.

After this adventure we went to a little canal on the island that barely had any water and yet was filled with boats.  We hopped in one of these tiny boats, just a bit bigger than a regular canoe.  Two Vietnamese women paddled, one in front and one in back.  Their paddles dragged in the mud the whole time, and we there were several traffic jams that we had to squeeze through and we got stuck in the mud a few times too.  But it was a very, very enjoyable ride.  Brendan, Disha, Skyler and I were all in the same little boat.  We named her Bertha.  As we coasted down the canal, I saw plenty of mudfish, you know those fish that have legs?  Are they called mudfish?  Well, I saw a bunch of those and also these tiny little baby crabs.  I pointed out one of these crabs and Skyler burst into song, “Crab people Crab people, taste like crab, walk like people.”  This is from an episode of South Park.  And it became the theme song of the day. 

The canal opened up back into the Mekong River and we hopped back on the riverboat.  We got back on our mini-bus and began the drive back to Ho Chi Minh City.  Along the way we stopped at a Bonsai garden and ate a vegetarian lunch, that is, if you consider squid a vegetable.  While at the garden little kids came up to us constantly trying to sell us postcards.  I kept saying “no thank you, I don’t want them” and one little boy said, “Why you no want?”  and I said because I didn’t need them and he asked why.  We continued with this game for a while until I got on the bus.  This was a common occurrence throughout Vietnam.  Children and adults hassled us to buy postcards, gum, anything and everything.

Again on the bus ride home I sat in the back and got bumped and jostled about the entire ride back.  No sleep.

Back in Ho Chi Minh, Disha and I went to go pick up our dresses.  We tried them on and something was not right.  At that point I knew I had to give up on the idea of my dress being perfect and accept that it wasn’t going to work…at all.  It was too big even though it was supposed to be fitted through the bodice, the back wasn’t that low even though I wanted a low back…I looked like a little boy who was crossdressing.  They fitted me for some alterations but I knew then it wouldn’t work.  When I came back the next day I tried it on and it still didn’t fit, and now I am stuck with a dress that is way too short, kind of baggy, and makes me look like a little boy.  Maybe I’ll give it to Liv for dress up…in like 7 years.  Oh well, I tried. 

That night I went out with Lia, Disha and Kendra and we had a fabulous night.  We first stopped to get Lia’s dress fitted.  Her dress was beautiful and perfect.  I hate her.  Once we finished with dresses (and let me tell you by this time I was sooooo over dresses) we went to this bar across the street from the tailor’s.  We all got tasty little drinks and then we took a cab over to this local bar we had heard about on Wikitravel.  I am sooo glad we went there.  It was called Acoustic Café and it was jam-packed with locals, not SASers, when we got there at 11pm.  A band was playing American songs.  We heard three Vietnamese singers who sung the American songs perfectly, no accent, right on key.  We sang along, loudly, since we knew all the words.  Kelly Clarkson, P!nk (again), the song called “Knock on wood”…I think that’s what it’s called.  So many good songs.  The bar closed at 11:30 which was kind of bummer so we went outside and ran into the female singer who belted Kel Clarks.  We introduced ourselves, took a picture, and got her e-mail and facebook.  Score!

3/30/09
10:42

Tried to finish Vietnam blob yesterday….got distracted with Hong Kong.

So after Acoustic we went to a club called Volcano, which was horribly awkward and empty and stipclub-esque.  So we left in a hurry. We walked around the city and heard live music coming from the top of Sheraton so we went to hear it, but it ended right when we got to the top.  Everything closes early.  Everything except Apocalypse now.  So we went back to that club.  It was more packed than the first night.  I could barely move.  It was basically a mosh pit and all these bros were broing out on me and I was get clobbered. So Disha, Kendra, the med students Greg and Ben and I walked home to the ship.  Overall it had been a good day.

I want to devote enough time to my final day in Vietnam to capture how awesome it was, so I’m not going to bust it out right now.  However, I am in Hong Kong right and I LOVE IT HERE. Yesterday was amazing.  I am so glad Mere is here and knows her way around.  I love Hong Kong.  I don’t want to leave tonight.

Dong D-Dong Dong Dong

3/28/09
21:44

All my friends from home are aware of my brief P!nk stage during the seventh grade (brief being the operative word… I am not still obsessed with P!nk…) Well, blasting over the speakers prior to the diplomatic briefing was P!nk’s “This is my Vietnam.”  I don’t know how fitting the song actually is to Vietnam as it is about P!nk’s parents difficult divorce, but I guess they couldn’t find any native Vietnamese music so P!nk’s angry lyrics sufficed.

Once the briefing was finished, I ventured into the streets of Ho Chi Minh City, previously know as Saigon, with the intention of getting a formal dress made.  My ship brother Steve designed dresses for Disha, Lia, and me and we wanted to get them made inexpensively while in port so we can wear them at the Ambassador’s Ball on the ship.  So Steve, Hussain, Keith, Alex, Disha and I went in search of a good yet cheap tailor. 

We stopped at a place called Mangrove and Steve helped us pick out fabrics and then he explained his vision to the tailor.  I picked a midnight blue and a grey-blue for my dress with black straps.  I didn’t have high expectations for this dress, however, because I had heard girls from previous voyages had been disappointed with the outcome of their dresses.  This last sentence is foreshadowing….just to let you know.  Luckily the dress was only $35 US so I didn’t waste a fortune.  Anyways, after we had our dresses all squared away the tailor told us to come back in 3 days to pick up the dresses.

We stopped for lunch at a place near the tailor’s and then went to Ben Than Market, which is this huge market selling t-shirts, food, sunglasses, jewelry, dresses, and more.  There are all kinds of smells.   Fish, incense, durian (a horrible fruit that smells rank that we tried in Thailand based on the advice of others…never again.)  The boys wanted to get suits made so they stopped to get a good deal at one vendor in the market, and Disha and I perused the many many stands.  I bought a few trinkets for friends and a few t-shirts for myself.  Thank god I bought these t-shirts because I have no clean clothes right now.  Laundry day was 2 days ago and I still haven’t gotten my clothes back yet and we arrive in Hong Kong tomorrow.  Soo it looks like I might have to wear a swimsuit.  Get ready China!

The vendors at this market are intense.  They grab on to you and hold on tightly in order to keep you at their stand.  I had to pry one woman’s fingers off Lia one day.  They can be really friendly and make a deal “just for you” or they may slap you and tell you that they won’t ever sell to you if you come back.  That event actually happened to Hussain.  There is all kinds of bartering.  I have gotten pretty good.  And pretty cheap.  If a t-shirt was more than $2 US, I would just chuckle and move on.  I probably won’t buy any clothes ever again once back in the US.  I’ll go into GAP and be like, “$23 for a t-shirt?!  Is this a joke? I can get this for $2 in Vietnam.”  So just be prepared for that my American friends and family. 

I didn’t exchange any money into Dong, the Vietnamese currency, because they readily accept US dollars ($1 =17,000 Dong…lots of math).  I did partake in many a Dong joke, though.  A theme song of the trip was the “Dong Song” sung to the tune of Cysco’s “Thong Song”.  That Dong d-dong dong dong.  A direct quote from Disha was, “I’ll eat anything for one thousand dong.”  We got a hit out of that.  I love Dong.  I know, I know….that’s what she said. 

It is sweaty hot in Vietnam.  Constantly.  It doesn’t cool off at night, whatsoever.  If anything it gets hotter.  So after finishing our long day of bargaining and walking and sweating, we showered and got ready to go out.  Steve, Hussain, Keith, Disha, Alex and I went to a bar and played a game of pool and then went to this club called Apocalypse Now.  Pretty much every SASer on the ship was at Apocalypse.  They even had TV screens flashing a sign saying, “WELCOME SEMESTER AT SEA!”  Smart.  They definitely got their money’s worth from the SAS crowd.  We danced and drank there for an hour or two, but everyone was over the crowded, sweaty club scene pretty fast so we walked back at about midnight.  It was a nice walk home.  And it didn’t cost money.  I’m all about not spending a lot of money.  Even though I do.  Oh well.  When in Vietnam….when traveling the world….Carpe diem.

The next day I had a service visit to Da Thien School for Handicapped Children, which apparently gets the majority of its funding through a shipping industry along the river.  The headmaster of the school informed us that the children were either deaf or had Down Syndrome.  My friend, Taylor commented that she thought it looked more like severe autism rather than Down Syndrome. Despite the possible misdiagnosis, this service visit was a completely different experience than that in India.  The facilities were sooo much nicer.  It was a three-story school with spacious classrooms, a nice eating/play area inside, a kitchen, decent bathrooms, a playground/courtyard outside. The school also had enough staff to interact with smaller groups as opposed to eleven children per adult, which was the case at the orphanage in Chennai.

The students were very excited to see us.  They sang for us and we sang for them.  Then we colored, played games, sculpted with play dough, or blew bubbles.  I blew bubbles with one boy for about ten minutes.  Then the students went back to class and the school served us a HUGE lunch.  There was so much food.  And it just keep coming.  And coming.  It was traditional Vietnamese food.  It started off with deep-fried bananas and fresh fruit.  Next came fixings for spring rolls: rice paper, rice noodles, fish, shrimp.  Then there was this soup with pork in it, I think.  I tried almost everything.   It was pretty good too. 

When we left this school, I did not feel like bursting in to tears.  My heart wasn’t broken. 

Back on the ship, they were serving pizza and fries…so I had L2.  Then I went back out into Ho Chi Minh City with Lia, Taylor, Nate and Jordan.  Lia and Taylor wanted to stop at a dress shop to put in their dress/suit orders.  So I did that.  For the second day in a row.  I was sick of shopping and I wanted to do something cultural so after they had placed their orders, I told the group that I was going to break off.  Lia joined me and we went to the Vietnam War Remnants Museum.  It was really hard to see the travesties of that war. 

The museum is not elaborate but it is powerful in its simplicity.  It is basically one big room that is lined with pictures, quotes, and weapons from the war.  I am embarrassed by how little I know about this war.  Despite my ignorance, I was still overwhelmed with sadness while looking at pictures from the war.  Pictures of dead, naked babies.  Corpses of children.  Vietnamese soldiers being dragged behind tanks.  Disfigured children and adults from Agent Orange.  Barren land.  I went from picture to picture, read each quote or caption with tears welled up in my eyes, a lump in my throat.  This war was devastating.  And why?  Why?  So much destruction, so much death, what did it accomplish? 

Lia and I didn’t really talk much during our walk through the museum, but on our walk back to the main part of town we discussed our lack of knowledge, our confusion, our horror, our awe.  How can Vietnamese people even tolerate Americans?  Perhaps this museum was a bit one-sided, but I’m glad I saw the Vietnamese perspective.  It gave me a lot of respect for the people of Vietnam.  For their tolerance, perseverance, forgiveness.

There was section of the museum devoted to the artwork of children.  There were paintings and drawings of death, blood, guns, fear.  All in the innocent, imperfect, beautiful style that embodies children’s artwork.  There were also painting of peace, love, forgiveness.  Children are so good.  So good.

After our heavy afternoon, Lia and I took motorcycle taxis back to the ship.  One dollar for a trip back.  I realized how much I love riding on motorcycles.  From this point on I took a motorcycle taxi as often as I could.  This may not have been a smart choice, given the crazy traffic in Vietnam, but like I said…when in Vietnam.

Later that night I went out with Greg, Caroline, Greg’s friend Dan (a former SASer who is volunteering at an orphanage in Cambodia currently), one of the med students on board named Ben, Disha, and Lia.  We were all craving western style food and I finally got nachos.  I had been craving them after our human never served us nachos in Thailand.  They were nothing compared to the ones in Spain, but they still hit the spot.  After that, we roamed the night markets a bit and then Lia and I shared a motorcycle taxi home.

I have more to write about but I’m tired and we arrive in Hong Kong tomorrow.  I’m meeting up with Meredith Altenhofen, who is studying in Hong Kong this semester.  I’m really excited to see her and to have someone who has been in the city for a while to show me around.  I’ll be in Hong Kong for 2 days and then on the ship for two days and then in Shanghai for two days.  Very few people will be staying on the ship during that time…like 150 students.  Most people have Beijing trips to see the Great Wall and all that jazz.  It’ll be crazy to see the ship that empty.  I hear we get good food.  So that’s a plus.

More later.   Sorry for delays.  I’ll catch up sometime.

Bangkok

Okay soo continuing from my last post…we had our D1 (dinner 1) or rather the guys did, because our nachos were never delivered.  Then Lia, Hussain and I wanted to get Thai massages while Steve and Keith explored the island.  Our masseuses set up blankets and gave us a soft little pillow and we got our massages right on the beach.  It was so nice to hear the waves crashing and the soft voices of our masseuses speaking to each other in Thai.  My masseuse bent my body in all different positions and rubbed my back with this oil that smelled great and gave a kind of tingling sensation.  It was awesome. And it was like $6 USD for an hour.  Sooo nice. 

After our massages, Lia, Hussain, and I decided to run into the ocean one last time before we got ready for the night.  We sprinted in, then we walked out of the water and realized it was too cold to be out of the water without towels so we ran back in again.  These girls, possibly SASers but I didn’t recognize any of them, just nondescript white girls with brown hair, saw us running into the water.  They came over to us and go, “Did you guys just pee? Should I go out further?”  And we were like, “What?! No! We were cold….are you peeing?”  Then we saw Keith and Steve so we ran back out of the water, avoiding the possible encounter with that girl’s…warm spot, if you will.

We all headed back to the bungalow and got ready for the night.  The bathrooms in the bungalow were pretty cool.  The showers had no ceiling and a little garden next to it, so it was kind of like showering outside.  I wore my prom dress that night, I thought that would make you happy to know, Mom.

Once we were all in our nice duds and looking studly, we went and got D2.  We had kebabs, sweet corn, and garlic bread.  The kebabs were quite tasty but it was like three pieces of steak.  The corn was delectable.  The garlic bread was like eating cloves of garlic and bread….so not very good.  After D2 we went to get dessert and a bucket of Thai Redbull, whiskey, and Coke, a Thai specialty.  After a bucket or two, we all went to a hookah bar with some other SASers and watched a fire-spinning show and danced.  I don’t think we went to bed too late, but no one had watches so we didn’t really keep track of time at all.  And we were in Thailand on an island paradise…who needs watches?

The next morning I got breakfast with Steve.  I had a croissant, watermelon and dragon fruit.   Google that.  Very interesting.  Then Hussain, Lia, Steve, and I played in the water for another hour.  It started to rain while we were swimming but it was a warm rain and we didn’t want to get out of the water because we didn’t have our towels again and didn’t want to get cold.  Then it started thundering so we ran back to our bungalow.  It has rained in EVERY country we have been in.  The rain follows us.  But it never puts a damper (no pun intended) on our travels, sometimes it is kind of refreshing, in fact. 

As we were running back to our bungalow, Steve pointed out this giant Buddha that was like three stories high.  Lia and I were astonished and were like, “When did that get there?  What the hell? How did that happen?”  But apparently it had been there yesterday and Lia and I are really unobservant. 

We now have an ongoing joke that Lia vomited up the Buddha, because while in Ko Samet we all came up with excretory super powers. Why, you ask?  Because we are still little kids at heart.  So Lia can vomit objects.  Hussain can poo diamonds.  I pee ice.  Keith farts tornados. And Steve can excrete milk from his fingers.

Back to the story…we bummed a ride back on the SAS bus.  Free transportation hell yes.  On the bus ride back we made up several new sing-along songs.  One is “Let’s go fly Hussein”  to the tune of “Let’s go fly a kite” from Mary Poppins.  And another is “Your face is gonna be in porn” to “Camp Town Races Sing this Song.”  It goes like this:

Your face is gonna be in porn
Doo dah
Doo dah
Your face is gonna be in porn
You’re gonna be in porn

You’re gonna be in porn
You’re gonna be in porn
Thai guy took your picture and you’re gonna be in porn

You will probably hear it on America’s Top 40 in upcoming weeks.

Upon our return to the ship, we showered, unpacked, repacked and got a taxi bus to Bangkok.  I rode with Lia, Keith, Steve, Hussain, Bradee, Stacey, Chaz, Amanda, and Lindsey (I think it was Lindsey).  The ride to Bangkok is supposed to be about two hours, and we were in the van for four hours, because our driver got lost in Bangkok.  He got lost!  We drove around the city looking for our hostel for two hours.  It was insane.

We finally arrived at our hostel, called Lub D Bangkok.  Say that a few times.  It sounds funny…and dirty, but it means sleep in Thai.  This hostel was awesome.  It was $10 a night, had great facilities, comfortable beds, free WiFi, and the interior was really futuristically designed, kind of like a construction site.

After checking in, we went to get dinner because we were starving.  We all got chicken wings and individual Thai dishes.  Mine looked like ground beef…it wasn’t that good.  Steve ordered it for me…he made a bad decision. Then Steve and I shared deep-fried banana and ice cream.  That made up for the ground beef, I love deep-fried bananas.

We finished D1 and went to some night bazaars.  Everywhere we went vendors were offering sex and/or DVDs.  Women were throwing themselves at the guys.

Back at the hostel I took advantage of the free internet.  I was up until 3am.  Doing absolutely nothing.  Finally I went to bed in my women’s dorm.  We woke up early the next morning in order to get in the maximum amount of sightseeing.  First we went to a Hindu temple; next we went to the Grand Palace which is beautiful, everything is gold, and intricately painted and sculpted; then we went to the Reclining Buddha, which is huge and made entirely of gold except for the feet which are made of pearl.  After we saw all the sights we headed back to Laem Chebong port where our mobile home the MV Explorer awaited us.  This time our driver didn’t get lost.  His name was Bing. 

Before boarding the ship we stopped at the Harbor Mall and I had Dairy Queen.  They have DQ in Thailand.  No cookie dough blizzards, though.  I had oreo-coffee blizzard.  It wasn’t that good.  Nothing like Minnesota  DQ cookie dough blizzards. 

This post has taken me forever to write.  I’ve been to Vietnam and now I’m on my way to Hong Kong and I have only just finished my Thailand post.  So much to do, so little time.

Ko Samet

3/20/09
14:46

Thailand Day 3: Ko Samet

Mauritius may have been an island paradise, but we were only there for about 8 hours.  Ko Samet was an island paradise and I got to spend a whole day and night there.  Whaaaaat an adventuuuuuuuuure.

So Lia and I took a taxi to Bang Phe.  It was probably an hour-long drive during which Lia and I just talked about our lives, our families, our futures.  Then our taxi driver dropped us off at a bay, where a speedboat would take us to the island.  He took our picture before we got out, to “remember” us for the ride back to the ship.  So I’m pretty sure my face and Lia’s face will surface somewhere in Thai porn.  Score!

We sat around for our boat for a while, trying to spot the SAS buses carrying our friends.  We didn’t see the buses and then our boat arrived.  We hopped in with a British man and his Thai wife and her cousin who were on ‘holiday.’  Lia and I had gotten a little bit apprehensive about whether or not we would find our friends, so we asked our fellow travelers how big the island was and if it would be easy to find people.  Our British friend said that we were getting dropped off right along the main stretch of beaches where all the hotels, restaurants, and bars were, so back to carefree adventure mode.

The boat dropped us off a few meters out from the beach, so we said farewell to our helpful boat mates and walked barefoot in the white white sand on the beaches of Ko Samet.  The sun was beating down on us so we put our backpacks down under umbrella and ran into the ocean.  It felt amazing.  The water was clear and warm but not too warm, the sun was shining, the sand was soft.  Heaven.

Not too long after our dip, we saw Bradee so we asked where the SASers were staying.  Turns out Lia and I were only a restaurant or two away from the hotel where the SASers were staying so we began to walk down the beach.  Within minutes we saw Keith, Hussain (he spells his name with an  ‘a’ I found out), and Steve.  We ran over to them and we all decided to get some lunch.  I had very tasty chicken pad thai.  Surprisingly, though, I didn’t finish my meal.  Rare.  I guess I wasn’t as hungry as usual. 

After lunch, the boys took us to their room so we could drop our bags off.  We left the room clad in our swimsuits and weighed down with no belongings.  We were free. We went hurdling into the ocean and stayed there for hours.  It was sooooo much fun. 

Keith, Hussain, and Steve are best friends and they acted like little boys playing, frolicking, and splashing in the waves.  Lia and I loved being a part of their shenanigans.  I probably laughed the most in Thailand, compared to every other country.

We played in the water for a long time, until we decided it would be a good time to nourish.  None of us had any sense of time at all, so we realized it was a bit too early for dinner so we decided that it would be dinner one, or D1.  We walked down the beach and stopped at a place called Jep or something like that.  Hussain, Steve, and Keith ordered Thai dishes and Lia and I decided to split nachos because that sounded really really good.  They boys all got their food and we told them to dig in.  They finished their food and Lia and I had still not received our nachos.  We asked a passing waiter if our nachos were coming and he said yes.  More waiting. No nachos.  Finally Lia went up to our waiter/waitress…our human (we struggled to tell if this human was male or female) and asked the human about our nachos.  Our human said that s/he forgot to tell us that the restaurant didn’t have nachos today.  Forgot to tell us.  So Lia and I skipped D1.  But it was okay, no one could put a damper on how happy we were.

More coming from Thailand, but tomorrow I arrive in Vietnam.  Sorry it’s taking so long for me to update, but we only have two days in between port right now and I had a lot of art to do.  The next month is going to fly by.  We only have like 7 days of class or something like that.  Craaazy.

Thailand: How bizarre

Written in tidbits over 3/16-19/09

Second day in Thailanddddd.  I haven’t been off the ship yet today, but I’m going to hang out with tigers in an hour.  Can’t wait!

Yesterday I went to Pattaya Elephant Village.  The bus left at 1:30 so I slept in, painted some on my latest watercolor (I don’t like it very much right now), exchanged my US dollars into Thai Bhat ($1=35 Bhat), and ate lunch. It was a very relaxing morning. 

Then I got on the bus. A lot of people were going on this trip.  Caroline, Greg, Bradee, Stacey, Alicia, Steve, Disha, Keith, Hussein, Lia, the Megans, Charlotte, Kendraaaa….lots and lots of friends.  Soo popular right now. 

We arrived at the village after about half an hour.  As we got off the bus we were given Elephant Village stickers.  I got two.  Suckers. Then we headed into this arena-like area.  It was stadium-style seating but only 5 rows or so and then there was this huge open space of dirt and rocks.  The seating was separated from the field by a fence and twelve female elephants were just hanging their trunks on the fence.  I was about two feet away from them. 

As we entered the village some people had bought bunches of bananas and were now feeding the elephants.  You could hand an elephant one single banana or the whole bunch and she would just inhale everything.  Sometimes she spit out the stems, but for the most part, elephants don’t peel their bananas.  If you tried hiding a banana and the elephant saw it, she would go for it and stick her trunk right in your face.  I got a fair amount of elephant snot and spit on me. 

Their trunks are so cool.  They can separate a bunch of bananas with their trunks, they can pick up a coin from the ground, they can lift a person with it.  It’s crazy. 

After we finished feeding the elephants, one of the elephant masters began to tell us about the elephants.  He asked if anyone wanted to bathe with the elephants.  A bunch of people jumped at the opportunity, including Caroline.  She was in heaven.  Elephants are her favorite animals.  So about ten people got on the elephants and went over to this watering hole.  The elephants just walk right into the water and start dunking their heads, meanwhile there are SASers sitting upon their necks, screaming, laughing, and getting completely soaked.  White shirts were a bad decision.  Caroline’s elephant was the only one that didn’t really submerge herself into the water so Caroline was barely wet at all.  And ironically she had brought an extra pair of clothes, and no one else had.

Once everyone had dismounted their elephants, the head elephant master gave us all the opportunity to ride the elephants.  I walked up to my elephant and she raised her leg as a step and raised me up.  An elephant master was sitting on her back already and he helped hoist me up on to her neck.  And then I just sat and enjoyed the ride atop the gentle giant. 

After all 120 or so SASers had gotten their elephant ride, we came back to the arena.  The head elephant master told us all about the village and the elephants lifestyle.  He introduced us to one of the male elephants.  I think he said there were 33 elephants in the village and only 3 males.  Kind of like the ship… In the end, it is lady’s choice though.  If she doesn’t like the male elephant she won’t give him the time of day.  The male elephant we met apparently had his heart broken last year.  And elephants never forget.  How sad. 

The head elephant master went on to explain that there are more females in the village because they are more productive then males.  When males are in heat they have to be completely isolated or else…well hormones will get the best of them.

After the educational portion of the show, the elephants did a few more tricks for us, showing off their strength, sitting down, rolling over, typical elephant tricks that make us ooh and ahh. Then we all rode the elephants one last time, but not bareback this time.  Instead there was a little bench-like thing strapped onto the elephants back.  I rode with Kendra, my roommate.  An elephant master sat on the neck of our elephant guiding her around the village path.  He was pretty funny.  He kept saying, “USA all the way! USA all the way!  Obaaaaamaaaaaa!”  Then he took my camera and took a bunch of pictures of Kendra and I on the elephant.  He was a good guy, I liked him.

When it was time to leave, a group of us decided we wanted to spend more time in  the city of Pattaya so the bus dropped us off along a main road in Pattaya next to the beach and a mall and several restaurants and bars.  Nate, Bradee, Stacey, Greg, Caroline and I walked along the beach until we found a restaurant where we wanted to eat.  I think it was called Mr. 99 or something like that.  Upon entering, I noticed all the waitresses in short red dresses, wearing lots of makeup.  I am pretty confident that over half of them were transgender.  The rest of the gang shared my sentiments.  No matter.

I ordered deep-fried vegetables, (everything is deep-fried in Thailand and anything that is deep-fried is good in my book) and some sort of tropical, fruity drink.   We sat around eating, talking, and laughing.  Once we finished our meal, we walked across the street to the beach and put our feet in the water.  Then we decided we would go find another restaurant or bar to hang out at for a while.  We came across this tiny bar called the Tiger Bar named after the Thai Tiger Beer.

What a bizarre experience we had at this bar.  We all sat down on stools around the counter and within seconds the bartenders took out games for us to play, like Jenga and Connect Four.  It honestly felt like we were at a carnival.  There were Christmas lights strung up everywhere that were flashing and blinking, and I was just waiting for the bartenders to give us prizes when we got four in a row.  I was so confused as to why they had all these games.  I mean little kids can’t drink, they can’t go to bars, is this a common thing at Thai bars?  It was so weird.

Along with the odd bar scene and the large amount of manly women, I also became aware of another commonality in Thailand: old, white men with tiny, young Thai women.  Creepy.  These couples were everywhere.  Thailand is kind of a racy place, in fact.  We learned all about sex workers in Global Studies in the days leading up to our arrival.  Very sad.  Young Thai girls, some no older than 13, become sex workers.  Some are sold into it, some see no other option in order to support themselves or their family.

While hanging out at this Tiger Bar, Caroline, Nate, Bradee, and Stacey befriended some of the bartenders, who were all women (I think).  They were all rather scantily clad and overfriendly with all customers, male and female.  To the best of my knowledge, these women were strictly bartenders, but one woman, Nan, told Caroline stories of men expecting more from her.  Nan said she works all the time, and she doesn’t really like her job, but it’s the best she can do.  During this entire conversation, Nan was flirting with both Nate and Caroline.  I had noticed she was a bit touchy-feely, but I didn’t realize how handsy she had been until Caroline informed me she was very uncomfortable and wanted to leave.

The whole situation was getting kind of weird and sad, so we decided to leave.  Then we went to a GoGo Bar.  I had read about these bars on Wikitravel and had no desire to go to one. Nate, however, wanted to go and experience Thai culture, and unfortunately this is a part of it.  I was extremely hesitant to go and expected/hoped it would be more like an actual bar.  How wrong I was. Probably one of the most uncomfortable situations I have been in, ever.  Older men watching young Thai women dance in next to nothing.  Black lights.  I truly wish I would not have gone in with them and I split off from that group very quickly after entering. 

I went to a Seven Eleven, which are everywhere in Thailand, and got snacks with the Megans and a girl named Michelle.  They were over the whole club/party/sex scene, as was I, and we decided to go back to the ship.  Caroline and Greg wanted to come with us too, so we got a “taxi” back.  I say taxi in quotes because it was basically a pick-up truck with benches to sit on along the side of the truck bed and a roof over the top.  The wind in my face was refreshing. 

Once back to the ship, I saw Kendra and Alicia sitting near the gangway at this little market that was set up right next to the ship.  I came over and sat with them and chatted for a while.  We saw pick-up truck after pick-up truck carting home SASers.  Soon I saw my friends Martha, Lia, Disha, Hussein, Keith and Steve.  They came over and we all sat and shared our Thai experiences thus far.  They had all been in Pattaya as well and I wish I would have traveled with them after the Elephant Village.  They weren’t scarred by the GoGo bars and they tried grasshopper which is something I wanted to do and never got a chance to.

Now for the first and second day in Thailand, I had SAS day trips and I was free for the following three days after.  Originally I was planning to go to Bangkok with Nate, Greg, Caroline, Lia and Alicia.  But after talking with Lia and Hussein and that group, I decided that I would break off from my initial group and have a spontaneous adventure.  Hussein, Keith and Steve were going on an overnight SAS trip to Ko Samet, which is this beautiful island off the coast of Thailand.  As great appreciators of free things, Lia and I kindly asked them if we could stay with them in Ko Samet and they obliged.  Lia and I still wanted to see Bangkok, however, so we made a reservation for the last night at a hostel in Bangkok.  This change of plans and act of total spontaneity more than made up for my poor choices earlier regarding explicit bar situations.

Second Day in Thailand:

So as I said in the beginning of this post, which I started writing 3 days ago, I went to the Sri Racha Tiger Zoo on my second day in Thailand.  This was another bizarre experience.  I was excited to see and play with baby tigers and I was under the impression that this was a sort of sanctuary for tigers, where the trainers loved them and bred tigers to release into the wild.  I was wrong.  I should have known that since it was called a zoo, it would make me sad as most zoos do.

This place was huge and just…weird.  It was like a carnival/zoo.  There were three animal shows: tiger, elephant, and crocodile.  I only went to the tiger and crocodile show, and I found them very sad and a bit disturbing.  The trainers did not treat the animals with love or respect.  I can only assume that the tigers had been treated very harshly all of their lives in order to submit to the trainers slaps as they did in the show. And the crocodiles were sedated during the show, so that the trainers could open their mouths and they crocs wouldn’t even react.  And then the trainers would drag the crocs around by their tails and poke them in the eyes.  I didn’t go to the elephant show because I didn’t want to see more mistreatment of animals.  However, there were elephants doing tricks outside of the Tiger Show arena.  These elephants were branded and chained to the ground. 

After the tiger show, Caroline, Fiona, Alicia, Bradee, Nate and I went to go play with tiger cubs.  We went into this building where there were at least 15 tiny baby tiger cubs in cages that were probably only 3x3 feet.  I was torn.  I wanted to hold the cubs, but I didn’t really want to support this place because they treated their animals so poorly.  In the end I paid the 150 Bhat to hold and feed a tiger cub and get my picture taken doing so.  I want a tiger cub.  I want to take all of those babies and put them back in their natural habitat, which is not some crazy petting zoo/circus in Thailand.

We explored the zoo grounds after our encounter with tiger cubs and we were continually amazed at how weird this place was.  We turned one corner and there was a bunch of camels and horses and deer milling about. Near that there was an orangutan sitting on a bench with a zoo employee.  Next to him there was a little fenced-in area with a bunch of bunnies.  Then there was a pigpen, with a dog in it as well, who apparently was friends with the pigs?  And nearby there was a cave with a woman who sits in there all day covered with scorpions, deemed the Scorpion Queen.  Her job is to sit in this man-made cave that is grimy and poorly lit, with forty or so scorpions clinging to her clothes.  Imagine that.  There was also the “Elephant Museum” which had several plastic elephant replicas and grammatically incorrect and poorly spelled signs about elephants’ evolution, diet, reproduction, and so on. 

I can’t even describe the odd juxtaposition of all these animals and amenities.  Nothing really fit.  Nothing made sense.  And it seemed as though only the SASers were troubled by the peculiar situation and mistreatment of the animals.  I can understand little kids being impressed by the tiger, crocodile, and elephant tricks, but I couldn’t understand why there were so many adults unaccompanied by children at these shows.  I didn’t get it.  How can they watch it without feeling guilt or sadness?  Granted I watched it, but I watched in horror, not awe.

After spending about 4 hours at the zoo, we were supposed to go to this place called Mini Siam for shopping and such, but a few of us just went back to the ship because we were exhausted and I personally needed some alone time to proceess the sad zoo.  Caroline, Nate, Greg, and Alicia were all heading to Bangkok that night as well, so they wanted to get an early start on their travels. 

The ship was empty.  I hung out in my room and painted.  Then Lia came back from her cooking lesson in Bangkok and we sat in my room, eating the chicken satay and peanut sauce she had made.  It was delicious.  Disha came over too and we stayed up late talking.  Then we remembered we had to get up early and we needed to pack for our Ko Samet adventure, so we said good night and I packed my backpack to the brim.  Lia and I begged Disha to come with us on our adventure, but she had other plans.  We were staying at the same hostel in Bangkok, though, so we would see her then.

The next day… Ko Samet.  Heaven.  Paradise.  Lia and I got up early, ate breakfast on the ship, and then walked out onto the port and got a taxi to take us to Ban Phe, where we would then take a ferry to the island.  But for now, I should sleep.  I think I’ve only gotten about 15 hours of sleep in the last 3 days.   

India Part II

3/10/09
12:49

India Day 4

Lia and I wanted to do a SAS service trip once we were back in Chennai, so on the fourth day we woke up early to try and get a place on the Samarpana Handicapped Home and Orphanage trip.  Some of our other friends had tickets for this trip like boy Taylor from Art of Living, and also girl Taylor.  There were several Art of Living’ers on this trip, in fact.  The bus had room for us, as well as two others who were trying to get put on the trip: Nate and Whitney. 

I slept on the 45-minute ride there, and then the bus stopped on a street on the outskirts of Chennai and we all got off.  We had to walk through back roads, past some unfinished homes with scaffolding made out of tree branches and to the orphanage.   There was garbage everywhere.  Piles and piles of wrappers, plastic bottles, food scraps.  Filth.  There are emaciated dogs and cows stumbling by.

We passed a sign reading: Samarpana, Home for Mentally Challenged and Spastics and shortly after we reached Samarpana.  All the residents were lined up at the doors and windows waving hello to us.  We took off our shoes, which is customary to enter most places in India, and walked into the home.  The program was started in 1995, and is now facilitated by five caretakers. Five people to feed, clothe, educate, and entertain 45 disabled children and grownups ranging from age 3 to 65, as well as some children without any disabilities but who can’t be cared for by their parents.  Most cases are considered hopeless; some of the residents will never walk or be able to communicate.  And yet they were so engaging.

All of the children and grownups were very excited to see us, and they would walk right up and touch us or say, “Hi.”  We were brought into the main playroom and the SASers began to play with the little kids, despite the language barrier.  We were given toys and such to assist our interactions.  At first, I was a bit uncomfortable, but I went over and sat by three children, two boys and girl, sitting in chairs because they couldn’t move on their own (they were called ‘flappy’ children by the founders).  The girl looked like an infant, but she was 7 years old.  Her limbs were twisted and thin, but her smile was illuminating.  I played with one of the boys, who was 9 but looked like a 3 year-old and probably weighed about the same as Liv.  His name was Suresh.  I would hand him a little tennis ball and he would hold it for a bit and hand it back to me.  That was pretty much the extent of his physical control over his body.  But he smiled and made eye contact.

After playing with everyone for about a half hour, all the residents lined up for their breakfast.  Then the SASers split up into groups to help out with chores around the home. My group was supposed to help clean up the kitchen, but the cooks were making lunch so they told us to wait in the playroom for a bit.  All of the residents had gone outside to play cricket and other games except, the three children that were sitting in the chairs earlier, including Suresh.  My group went to play with them.  I picked up Suresh and we walked around the room for a bit.  He noticed some of the SASers dusting the rafters in the ceiling and he seemed intrigued by it.  I brought him underneath the rafters so he could look up at them and everyone waved to him.  He smiled.  Then we played a game where I pretended we were getting showered with dust and had to spin out of the way.  We probably were covered with dust, but he smiled every time I spun him around.

I held Suresh for about 2 hours.  I tried to make him comfortable, but I have no idea if he was.  His body was so crippled, so twisted; I had to support his head.   I held his hands and he squeezed mine. He noticed my henna, so I pretended to draw henna on his hands.  He smiled. 

The SASers began to finish their designated chores and the kids began to filter back into the playroom.  At about 11:45 we had to leave, but we all gathered to take a group photo.  I held Suresh in the picture.  It was hard to say goodbye and I definitely felt like crying.  I’m tearing up right now. 

That orphanage was a hard thing to see, but I’m so grateful that I did it.  I want to try and work with kids in every country from now on.

When we got back to the ship, I ate lunch and changed clothes.  Lia, Taylor Boy, Taylor Girl, Nate, Jessica and I planned to go out and do some sightseeing and shopping in Chennai.  We split up into groups of three and each took a rickshaw to an outdoor bizarre.  There were street vendors selling saris, bangles, shoes, drums, fruit, books, and all kinds of plastic toys and trinkets.  People are hassling you constantly.  “Madame, you want a drum?  I’ll give you a good price.”  Beggars grabbing at your sleeve, throwing their babies in your face asking for food, for money, motioning to their mouths.  More filth everywhere.  And the smells.  India literally smells like TD in some places.  It’s pretty gross.

Jessica and Taylor Girl wanted to get henna so we stopped at this street henna artist.  These artists drew much more intricate designs than the ones Lia and I got in Dakshina Chitra and so we both decided to get the top of our hands and forearms decorated as well.  It cost 150 Rupees.  They do it so quickly and so perfectly.  I was impressed.

After our henna tats, our rickshaw drivers took us to some shops that give them commission for bringing customers.  You have to be very forceful if you don’t want to go to the shops and have a planned destination.  We allowed the drivers to take us to 2 shops.  One was a really pricey place, but we looked around nonetheless.

I was looking at chess set in the basement of the shop.  I thought it would be cool to get a beautifully carved Indian chess set for Dad.  I asked how much and the owner said, “$180 US.”  I was like, “Pssh I don’t have that much money on me.”  And he informed me that they take credit card and I was like didn’t bring that either.  Then his friend came over and flashed this intricately designed dagger and asked me if I knew what they did to people who didn’t buy anything.  He told me you either take out your wallet or lose a hand.  I told him I couldn’t afford the chess set, so he would have to take a hand but I couldn’t choose which hand.  My left had beautiful henna on it that was still drying and my right…well I’m right handed.  Then he clapped me on the back and told me he was kidding.  So was I, sir.

Lia and I kept up a witty banter with the storekeepers.  They told us they would give us great deals, so we would be like, “Buy one, get one free? Everything free?”  And then one guy was like, “Buy one, get me free.”  Good one.  Lia and I bought little trinkets that weren’t too expensive and then we took pictures with the storekeepers.  Then they let us use their sink to wash off our dried henna.

We had planned to go to this hookah bar called Mocha after this stop because our drivers told us it didn’t open until 5:30.  It was about 6, so we asked them to take us to Mocha now.  Our drivers told us that Mocha didn’t open until 6:30.  This sent up a red flag for Taylor Girl and Nate and they demanded to be driven to Mocha immediately.  Our drivers kept insisting on one more shop, but Nate was pretty steadfast and eventually they dropped us off.  We had to haggle with them over the price for driving us around for the day.  Nate was pretty upset, because they changed the price, they lied about Mocha being closed (it opened at 11am) and they also lied about the mall called Spencer’s being closed because it was a holiday.  Things got a little heated and we ended up giving them 150 Rupees per person. 

It was definitely an uncomfortable situation, but I wasn’t really upset.  You can’t let those things bring you down.  So we got a table at Mocha and Lia, Nate, and Jessica got hookah.  We ordered our food; I got a gratified (melted cheese, can’t say no to that) chicken sandwich with fries.  Lia and Taylor Girl got the same.  Everyone’s food came out except for Lia’s. We asked for it about 6 times and it still didn’t come.  The waiter came back again and I ordered a brownie dessert, and we asked for Lia’s food again and it still didn’t come.  I got my dessert and it still didn’t come.  Nate was pretty upset by this situation, but Lia handled it very well.  She was calm and patient.  She is a great traveler.  I’m so glad I spent so much time with Lia in India. 

Finally she got her food and then we got the check.  Lia stayed at the restaurant with some other SASers and the rest of us took one rickshaw home.  Two of us had to sit on laps.  Rickshaws are crazy.  They don’t stop for pedestrians, they just honk, they pass other cars and bikes with inches between.  It is exhilarating to ride in one. 

We got back to the ship and I took a shower because I was filthy.  I had worn my flats from REI with socks.  The socks were black on top and had a white line where the shoe straps were.  Then I took off my socks and the tops of my feet were black.  India is dirty.

Day 5

For my last day in India I planned to do more sightseeing and shopping in Chennai.  Lia, Hussein, Steve, Disha, Keith, Dave, Britain, Kendra and I took 2 rickshaws to the Shiva Temple.  Shoes aren’t allowed in the temple so we walked around this beautifully painted and sculpted temple with bare feet.  Clean.  There was a wedding going on.  The colorful saris are so beautiful.  We talked to some of the little kids in the wedding.  They kept looking at us and they finally came over to talk, but they were extremely shy.

Then we went back to Mocha for brunch and to take advantage of the free WiFi there.  After I finished eating Belgian waffles and an open-faced Spanish omelet that Kendra and I split and uploading pics, we all went to Spencer’s, which was open. 

I got gifts for friends and family and a T-shirt and toe ring for myself.  Then we took our final rickshaw back to the ship.  And on the ship, I remained.

There is no class today, so it’s homework catch-up and sleep day.  I slept in until 10:30, wrote e-mails, and now I’m finishing my India blob. Perhaps I’ll do some econ after this.

Moksha-Hindu word for Enlightenment

Written over the course of the last three days (3/7 to 3/9)
Day 2
Hot cocoa was served at 6:30 am, followed by our second Art of Living class session.  In this session we did various stretches, practiced breathing techniques again, listened to music and learned some life lessons.  At 8:30 we went to breakfast, which was toast and jam, a crepe-like bread with various sauces, a deep-fried potato and vegetable combination that looked like a donut, and more hot cocoa.  Another tasty Indian meal. 

After breakfast we had another Art of Living sesh for 2 and half hours.  In this course we learned a new breathing technique called Priya and we listened to and followed a tape of the breathing exercise narrated by Shri Shri Ravi Shakar.  I have never concentrated so hard on breathing ever before and it was surprisingly strenuous.  After we repeated this technique for what seemed like a really long time, we were instructed to lie down on our backs.  I was extremely relieved to lie down and relax after exhausting task of breathing.  Once I was lying down, I went into a sort of trance-like state.  I honestly couldn’t tell you where I was for that period of time.  I don’t think I fell asleep because usually I remember the dreams I have in a light sleep.  It was like I didn’t exist for a brief time. I thought nothing, I felt nothing, I was nothing.  It was a really cool feeling. I have never felt that before and don’t know if I will be able to achieve it ever again.  I became aware of my body once again when the tape instructed me to bring my attention to different areas limbs.  I felt heavy.  Then we were told to turn to our right side and finally to slowly sit up from the right side and open our eyes.    Next it was off to lunch.  We all left the yoga studio in a daze, comparing our own experiences. 

After lunch, which was a very similar meal to that of the dinner the night before except there were fries this time, we were given some free time.  I bought various handcrafted trinkets, clothes, and art.  I’m pretty sure I wasn’t overcharged since the prices are regulated and also it always feels better to buy from the actual artist as opposed to buying the mass-produced items in stores.

I had to wrap up my shopping spree so I wouldn’t miss snack time at four.  This time snacks were fries with ketchup and chutney sauce and watermelon juice.  I have never had watermelon juice before and I would say it is darn good.  It was like they just squeezed it right from the watermelon into the cup.  That is, if you could squeeze a watermelon.  I doubt anyone could do that.  More like they drained the juice directly into the cup. Once we finished snacks we had another Art of Living session.  A four-hour session. 

In this session, we practiced all of the breathing exercises again but I didn’t experience the same trance-like state of being.  It could have been because I was more awake than earlier or it could have been because I was anticipating what I had experienced earlier.  Every time I would start to clear my mind and feel this sense of liberation, I would recognize it and be like, “Oh I’m about to have that feeling again,” and once I was aware of it, the feeling was gone.  It was still very relaxing and it allowed me to ponder, but it wasn’t the same as the first time.  Oh also, towards the end of the tape, fireworks started going off outside really loudly and they sounded kind of like gunshots and then dogs started barking like crazy…so if anyone was in a trance they snapped out of it pretty quickly.

We also had a discussion period in this session.  Veda, our teacher, had asked us to consider what makes us happy and what we will need in order to achieve happiness. I believe one thing that makes me happy is creating art and this trip has really helped me discover that.  As for what I need to be happy…I am very happy right now.  There are things I still want out of life, but I am not currently depending on them for happiness. Veda informed us that labeling happiness and the necessary means to achieve it, only postpones happiness.  If I need something in order to be happy, I am denying myself happiness in the present.  How true.  She told us to live in the present. 

One of my favorite things she said was, “This moment is inevitable, you can only choose how to react.”  I like that.  I will undoubtedly experience hardships in my life, but I can choose to see them as obstacles that will positively influence my life instead of dwelling on misery.

Veda imparted so much wisdom on me.  I’m just going to keep writing about all of the life lessons she taught me and then I’ll get back to the actual itinerary that we followed.  So she also asked us all to consider what we are responsible for in life.  I believe that I am responsible for myself, my attitude, my thoughts, my judgments.  I am responsible for me.  Most people said the same thing.  In response to this Veda explained that we take good care of the things we are responsible for, like ourselves, or our education, or our families, or our property.  Thus if we take responsibility for everything we will take care of everything.  Responsibility equals power.  If I say that I am responsible for the world and I treat it as such then I can do great things for the world.  If everyone takes responsibility for the world, think of the power to change it and make it better.  If all of India took responsibility for India they could clean up the mounds of filth, they could feed the hungry, house the homeless.  In turn, Veda told us that inaction is irresponsible.  This stuff blows my mind.

Another nugget of wisdom that Veda told us was to accept everyone, because the only one who is hurt by judgments is you.  By judging others, you miss out on having this unique person in your life.  Even if this person is annoying or mean or whatever, it is an experience that can help you appreciate all the good people in your life.  This statement makes me want to be more open and accepting.  I want to rid myself of judgment and preconceived notions.  I want to just see everyone as a person, like that’s Joe, just Joe.  Not like “oh that guy smells funky” or “he looks nerdy” or “he’s ‘bro’in out”. Just Joe.  So that is my new goal when I meet people. 

Okay…isn’t that intense?  Veda was so wise.  She was also really hard to read, though.  Sometimes she seemed like this grandmotherly character, sweet and kind.  And then at other times she was rather harsh and would scold us for inadvertently doing the practices improperly.  She scolded the class after the second time we did the Priya breathing technique because someone opened their eyes during it and another person didn’t sit up from their right side and other minor changes like that. She said these mistakes defeated the whole purpose.  She told us we were not giving 100% and that one should always give 100% because trying is harder than doing (more wisdom).

Anyways after the four-hour yoga session, we went to dinner, which was outside and we watched the fireworks that startled us out of our peaceful mindsets earlier.  I sat with Disha, Lia, new male friend Taylor, Hussein, Steve, and Keith for dinner.  Hussein, Steve, and Keith were also on my Kagga Kamma trip.  They are good kids. 

We sat around and talked and played silly camp games.  As we finished up our meal this mangy-looking dog came over and lied down near our table.  We decided to name the dog James.  Whenever the fireworks went off, James would run over and bark, protecting us.  Steve wanted to pet James, but James looked a bit flee-infested so Steve scratched James with an empty water bottle.  We all loved our new pet James.  Then the servers told us that James’ real name is Gobel…and Gobel is in fact a female dog.  We still called her James.  James “Gobel” Ubuntu. 

After dinner we played some more games and then went to bed.  I slept better the second night and I actually was cold when I woke up and put on a sweatshirt.  Sweatshirts are unheard of in India, so that was kind of weird.

Day 3
6am wake-up again.  6:30 cocoa.  7 to 8:30 Art of Living sesh.  We did some pretty enjoyable stretches this time.  We pretended to be a rural Indian woman and we stretched out her daily chores. Then we pretended we were monkeys and elephants and other animals and stretched like them.  Lots of silliness ensued.  Then breakfast, then a break, which meant a quick nap for me.  I was too lazy to take off my shoes and socks, which were filthy so I just slept with my feet hanging off the end of my bed.  Then another Art of Living session, then lunch, then a video of Shri Shri Ravi Shakar and his teachings, then more Art of Living. 

Thennnnnn we had another break in which I got my palm and wrist hennaed for 30 Rupees (50 Rupees=1 USD).  I also bought a necklace from a man who carves the emblems out of rock.  Veda had told each of us to buy or make a little gift for someone in the class, but we didn’t know who it would be for.  Lots of people got necklaces with glass-blown Ganeshas or teardrops because there was a glassblower in the village who made them in like 5 minutes for 25 Rupees.  I probably should have gotten one, but there was such a long line of people I kept putting it off and then I didn’t get one.  He was really talented, though.

At the next session we had 5 musicians come in and sing the teachings of Shri Shri blablblalba to us.  The music was all about love and loving everyone and everything.  The group that came was a man and four women.  They all had beautiful voices.  One kept the beat on a drum and another played mini symbols, even Veda played some chimes.  The man would sing one verse and we were instructed to repeat after him.  It was all in Tamil or Hindi or something but they told us it didn’t matter if we sang inaccurately or mispronounced the words as long as we gave 100%.  They sang some slow tempo songs, but then they picked up the tempo and one woman got up and started dancing in between all of us sitting on our mats and pillows.  We got up with her and started swaying and clapping and twirling to the music.  That part was great.  Everyone just let loose and danced. Gotta love the Indian music.

All the while, my henna was drying and I was struggling to not pick it all off.  When class let out, I immediately went to the bathroom to wash all the dried henna off.  Henna tats are beautiful.  The design was so pretty that when I got back into Chennai I found a tattoo place and got it outlined with actual ink.    So I got a real tat in India.  Probs not the safest thing to do, but when in India…

Lie.  No real tats.  Did I trick anyone?

Lia did buy a henna pack though, so I’m going to practice on her and then get really good and then set up a henna stand on the streets of India…or maybe not.

Once I had washed off the caked-on henna, I went back into the village area to get my palm read for 50 Rupees.  The palmist only spoke Tamil, so Veda translated.  She had to read my left palm, which is the one I got hennaed but apparently she could still read it.  Who knows.  The palmist asked for my name, my age, a flower (I picked a rose), and a number between 1 and 12 (I picked 8 my lucky number).  She then informed me that 7 is my lucky number and 8 is not a good number for me….wrong, but she got some things right.  She went on to say that I change my vision a lot (my intended major…), she said that I am artistic but that art will not be a career for me just a hobby (bummer). She said I will travel to all the places I haven’t been, but I will only travel there, I will never stay.  She told me all this without looking at my hand.  Then she took my palm and told me that I am a spendthrift (false), that I have a good life line and a good heart line but I will have some minor illnesses in life, nothing major.  She said that I will marry between the ages of 24 and 27 and that I will like my husband (she said like, not love).  She said that my husband will gain a lot by marrying into my family.  She said that I will help my family.  She said I will have 2 daughters and one son.  And I think that’s all.  Then she asked if I have any questions.  I asked about Nate and his success in life and she said he will be successful and he will always support me.  Thanks Nate.

So there’s my life in a nutshell.  She read pretty much all the SASers palms and she said a lot of the same things, but I found the vision changing and traveling quite pertinent to my actual life.  Most people had pretty happy lives to look forward to according to the palmist, everyone except for Lia.  The palmist said she had a weak heart line and that worrying would cause her headaches and heartburn.  Poor Lia.  Hussein got his future told by a parrot.  That was interesting as well. 

Then we had snacks of Indian-style onion rings dipped in chutney sauce and grape juice.  Again best juice ever.  Fresh-squeezed.

Then we went to our final Art of Living Class.  This was by far my favorite class.  Veda showered us with her wisdom and instructed us to continue our practices everyday and attend sessions in the US because they hold them in every major city.  She said if we do, people will notice a change in us because we will be so enlightened and loving.  I don’t think I will follow up on those instructions but I will use those breathing techniques to relax and relieve stress in the future. 

Then Veda told us to break up into groups of 5, randomly.  My group was Taylor, Keith, Jessie, and Charlotte.  Veda told us that we would each have to tell a story for about 5 to 6 minutes, a story that only the individual herself knows.  Do you know what story that is?  My life story.  Veda told us to be open and share with our circle the things we can’t share with our parents or families.  She told us the importance of friends. So we went around the circle and told our life stories.  It was pretty cool to hear four relative strangers entire past in five minutes.  Once we had finished, Veda told us that we were now bonded as friends forever.  I like that.

Then we played a game where we had to walk as fast as we could around the room as music played and when the music stopped we had to grab whoever was closest to us and compliment them.  We did this for a few minutes and then Veda told us we were playing wrong.  Haha. She said that we were walking to slow.  Her exact words were, “This isn’t a slow-walking competition.”  Can you imagine?  So then we walked faster.  Then she told us we were still playing wrong.  When we partnered up one person would compliment the other person and vice versa. But apparently we were supposed to try and be first to pay the compliment and whoever said it first got 5 points.  We played one more round and then she said we should stop.  I got 5 points.  I don’t know what that means exactly. 

Veda had us play this game to teach us to be generous with compliments.  She told us that people always express disbelief when complimented, and accept criticism without question.  She told us that the mind remembers the negative, so we should recognize that and discard it.  Think positively. 

Then we did another game where we each got a balloon and blew it up and we went outside and played “Don’t touch the ground” with the balloons.  Pretty much the greatest balloon game ever.  As we were blowing up the balloons I was like let’s go play Don’t Touch the Ground Tag with these.  And then we did.  This activity was to teach us to live and act freely as children do.  To live joyfully.  Children have no boundaries, no fears, no worries of what others are thinking.  At least not right away.  Not until they learn to fear, to stick to the norms. So much wisdom. I keep remembering more and more as I write.  This is a crazy long post. 

Let me see, then we did another activity in which we sat across from someone and looked into their eyes and accepted them as who they are, no judgments.  Then we closed our eyes and Veda moved us around so we opened our eyes with a new partner. And we repeated the process.  Then we walked around with our eyes closed for a while, bumping into each other and dancing to the music.  Then we sat down and meditated for a while.  Veda told us to imagine ourselves as babies looking up at our parents, then imagine ourselves at 2, then 5, then 10, then 20, then 30, then 40, then 50, then 80.  She told us to think about what was/is/will be important to us at each of these ages.  It changes.  This made me realize that all my worries and problems are only temporary, which is why I shouldn’t be worried about them.  So cool.  Then we exchanged gifts.  I got a “chunky monkey” candleholder.  It immediately reminded me of Molly for some reason.  So Molly…look forward to an Indian candleholder upon my return.

Then we had our last dinner, we said our goodbyes to the staff, to Veda, to James and James’ partner Cindy Big Balls. Cindy Big Balls was a male dog, who we emasculated with a feminine name just as we had given the female dog Gobel a manly name, but soon we realized Cindy had very large testicles, thus Cindy Big Balls.  Sooo mature right now.

Then we hopped on the bus and drove about a half hour back to Chennai.  I had thought that we were in the middle of nowhere because the village seemed so secluded, but we were surrounded by restaurants and shops and other tourist attractions.  Go figure. There were neon lights everywhere.  We arrived back to the ship at about 10:30 and I took a shower that I desperately DESPERATELY needed.  Kendra was on a trip to the Taj Mahal so I had the room to myself.  It was nice to sleep on an actual mattress and to be clean.

I’ll write about my time in Chennai later.  Digest this post for now.

The Art of Living

3/7/09
23:44

Well friends and foes, you may have noticed that I was kind of freaking out on Thursday when I arrived in India.  If you didn’t notice…I was freaking out.  Thus far, my tweakage was unwarranted.  I may feel otherwise had I not been on a SAS trip, but India has been quite pleasant and introspective for me and I’ve enjoyed it.

I set foot on Indian land at 11:30 am on Thursday, Day 1, and hopped right on a bus.  Traffic here is definitely different than anything I’ve seen before.  They drive on the opposite side of the street and there are motorbikes, rickshaws (tiny, three-wheeled cabs similar to golf-carts) and cows weaving in and out of the nonexistent lanes.  Craziness.

The bus made three stops in the city of Mamallapuram, while on the way to Dakshina Chitra village where we would be staying for the next three days.  The first stop was at a beautiful, religious monument carved out of stone, depicting the ancient tale of how the Ganges River was formed.  Next we stopped at the Five Rathas, which are stone-cut shrines shaped like chariots or animals that the gods rode.  Our final stop was at the Shore Temple, which is also a rock-cut temple that is right near the shoreline.  Each site was gorgeous.  I am still amazed and astonished by someone’s ability to carve such beauty into stone, especially thousands of years ago.  One mistake and it’s all over…there’s no eraser in rock. 

At about four we arrived at Dakshina Chitra village.  The brochure describes it as “a non-profit, community service project of the Madra Craft Foundation for the promotion and preservation of the cultures of the diverse people of India with emphasis on Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.”  It was a very interesting place, indeed. 

Upon entering we were each ‘dotted’ with red dye on our third eye.  Then we were led through the arts center, past all the artisans and the crafts they were selling and to our living quarters.  There were five rooms of four girls in the building I stayed in. I roomed with 3 other girls: Disha, Charlotte, and Katherine.  They were great roomies, all very nice. 

Each room was pretty sparse, just 4 beds and ceiling fans (quite necessary in India) and a bathroom. My room, however, did not have a bathroom so my roommates and I had to use the communal bathroom.  Ah the communal bathroom, more accurately described as a squatting hole, a urinal, and a bucket of water to shower with.  Living the life.  Ironically, the 7 guys on the trip had actual toilets in their rooms as well as air conditioning.  Bastards.

After getting settled into our rooms we had snacks and juice.  The snacks were simosas, which are like deep-fried potatoes and veggies and orange juice.  Very tasty.  The OJ was the best OJ I’ve ever had.  I think they literally squeezed the juice from an orange right into the glass, no additives, just straight-up orange juice.  Once we scarfed down our snickie snacks, everyone headed over to the yoga studio for our first session.  The classes were taught by an older women named Veda and held in a beautiful brick building with a high conical ceiling and lined with windows to increase airflow.  I loved seeing the light of day change while in that building.  We often were able to see dawn to day and dusk to night. 

The first class was an hour and a half long and we learned some breathing techniques and postures from the teachings of Shri Shri Ravi Shakar (forgive my spelling in this entry).  The first technique had three stages that should be repeated 6 to 8 times and was called Pranayama.  The second breathing technique was Bhastrika and should be done three times with 15 to 20 repetitions.  Then Veda gave us each pen and paper to answer three questions:

-What are you looking for in life?
-What are your worries?
-What do you hope to get through this class?

Once we answered these individually, we were let out of class and went to dinner.  It was a traditional Indian-style sit-down dinner.  The food was delicious.  It was all vegetarian and utensils were limited so I ate with my hands as Indians typically do.  Only the right hand, though.  I forgot about that part until I looked over at Veda, who was sitting next to me.  I watched her for most of dinner and copied what she did.  She noticed and she smiled silently. 

Dinner consisted of chapatti bread and several vegetables sauces and pastes, fried cauliflower, spicy rice, and sweet rice soup with raisins and nuts for dessert.  Everyone in the group was very quick to try the food, despite constant warnings about the prevalence of Traveler’s Diarrhea (TD) for visitors to India. I vowed not to get TD.  I mean can you imagine…TD and a squatting hole.  I don’t even want to think about it.  Well luckily no one got sick at all.  I knew we wouldn’t.  It’s all about the power of the mind. 

After dinner, we went outside to listen to an Indian story-teller, who has traveled with the Semester at Sea program before.  Her name was V.R. Devika.  She told us creation stories, love stories, and tales of the Hindu gods.  Everyone’s favorite Hindu god to hear about was Ganesha, the god with an elephant’s head and son of Shiva and Parvati.  As the story goes…

Parvati wanted to bathe while Shiva was out of the house and she wanted total privacy so she created a little boy out of the dust particles on her hand.  She told the little boy to guard the door and make sure no one came in while she was bathing.  Then she took a bath.  Soon Shiva came home and the little boy said, “You can’t go in the house, Parvati is bathing.”  Shiva was very angry because it was his house and he demanded the boy to let him pass.  The boy told him that he had to honor his promise to Parvati and refused to let Shiva by.  So Shiva cut off the little boy’s head and barged into his house.  At this point Parvati and just finished bathing and she came out of the house to find her mangled creation.  She was devastated.  “How could you do this?” she asked Shiva. “I made that little boy, I loved him, he was my creation.”  In order to appease his distraught love, Shiva sent out a servant to fetch a head to replace the one he just decapitated.  Shiva’s servant went out and found a sleeping elephant and chopped off his head and returned.  And that is how Ganesha got the body of a man and the head of an elephant.

Devika was a great story teller and we kept asking for just one more.  Story-telling is a lost art in America.  Bring it back.  After story time, we all headed back to our rooms to get ready for bed.  My skin was layered with sweat, dirt, bug spray, and sunscreen, but I wasn’t into the whole shower with a bucket of standing water option so I just washed my face, brushed my teeth and hopped into bed.  Or hopped into ‘wooden block’ as we called it.  The mattresses were not all that forgiving and creaked with every move.  Also there weren’t nets over the windows, which needed to be open in order for the heat to be bearable so we each had to douse ourselves with mosquito repellant before bed.  Common occurrence.  I stayed awake for most of the night and was already awake at 6 o’clock when the alarm went off. 
 
More to follow…

Docked in India

3/5/09
10:01

In India. Haven't left the ship yet. Leave in about an hour. 

I am so on edge right now. My heart is beating fast, adrenaline is flowing. I can't really explain it.

Here goes nothing!