Malaysia, Simply Asia!

Malaysia! A country I had absolutely no expectations going in to, down to the point of having absolutely no plans. But I couldn’t be more pleased with these last five days. Now, when you hear what all I did in port you might think “Really? That’s how she chose to spend her time in port?”And I’ll admit it wasn’t the trip I had in mind, but it was definitely the trip I needed at this juncture of Semester at Sea.

Malaysia is a different port from all the others because of the docking process. The ship can’t pull up to a pier, so we have to take tenders to shore –essentially, our lifeboats. Our first experience of the tender process was terrifying. That first morning it was basically monsooning outside, which equals rough waters. So to get on the tender we had to stand on a small deck on the side of the ship and then step onto the tender. This would have been fairly simple, were it not for the fact that the tender was rising a foot above and falling a foot below the stairs. So two crew members held our arms on the deck and then when the timing was right we stepped onto the tender and were grabbed by another crew member. But the tender wasn’t sanctuary. Instead it was more like a sauna –100 people crammed into a boat that is sealed up so that it could survive in the middle of the ocean if necessary, not really made for air circulation. It only took about 5 minutes to get to shore, but it took 15 minutes to load the boat and more to unload depending on how close to the door you sat. Plus it only left the ship on the hour and the pier on the half hour; there was a lot less pit stops on the ship than normal, to say the least.

So after we survived the tender, my friends and I braved the downpour to find a place to eat. We happened upon a food court with a bunch of kiosks of vendors selling different foods. We were so excited because this was the first country they didn’t warn us about the street food, so we went to town. The other incredible part? Each meal cost only one US dollar. That’s what I like to call a deal. I honestly couldn’t tell you what I ate, but I can tell you it was so good I went back every day and tried something new and equally delicious each day. Best discovery ever. After the meal it was still raining, so where do you go on a rainy day? The mall! I could see Mom rolling her eyes when I told her I went to the mall, but it was still a cultural experience! For instance, going into stores was really unnerving because they employees would follow you around wanting to help you, but conditioning in the US has made me think that means they think I’m going to shoplift. In the evening I went to the Welcome Reception; it was cool, but definitely not up to par with what I’ve heard about the ones in the other countries –everyone was very unsatisfied with the SAS day trips this country, I think they need to work with a new tour agency. I got to see a shadow puppet show at the reception. We couldn’t understand half of it because it was in Malay, but the comedic break in the middle was an American trying to get directions from a Malaysian, I liked that they were poking fun at us. It is a very neat art form.

The next day I spent in Little India –yes, even though I had just spent 5 days in India. It was worth it though. I got to get all the souvenirs I didn’t think to get in India, and more things that just weren’t available in India. Monday is the Festival of Lights, so they were selling all kinds of decorations, it was neat to see. My friend got a Punjabi suit at a store that made a sari for Miss Universe that she wore in the competition. Mid-day we went back to the ship for an hour break. We ended up on the tender with all the mail coming in; it was really neat to see all the packages and the huge sack of mail, and the crew kept joking that we could take what we wanted. In the evening I just went out for a nice meal at a place on the water near the pier and headed in early.

Friday was spa day. That’s right, I went to a spa, and every single minute and dollar spent was fabulous and worth it. After so many trips of carrying my huge backpack everywhere, my back was aching walking around. I got an hour-and-a-half massage, a body scrub, a milk bath, and a pedicure. The place was gorgeous too. It was tucked away in the hills with an ocean view surrounded by huge lush trees, just fabulous. That night we went to a restaurant/club right by the pier on the water. We had the best time when people asked us where we were from, because we could just point to the ship. Too cool.

Saturday we attempted to hike Penang Hill. I say attempted because we never made it. We started off with a leisurely stroll through the Botanical Gardens, and we kept getting passed by dozens of joggers –apparently it’s the place to work out in Penang. We should have known what we were in for by the people stretching at the base of the hill. But still, we decided to take the more difficult but more scenic route up through Moon Gate. Five minutes in we were all drenched in sweat and panting. It’s not that it was really that difficult, but paired with the humidity it was deadly. And there were stairs. Lots and lots of stairs. And these stairs were definitely not carved into the hillside with my little bitty legs in mind. Not so much fun. After about an hour and a half in, we decided to turn back. We’re not sure how far we made it, but I’m sticking with halfway to make myself feel better. It was beautiful hiking through the jungle though. And at one point we came upon a troop of monkeys (is that what you call them? Or is it a pack?) and they were leaping all around us and above our heads in the trees, with the yittle babies clinging to the mommy monkeys. We just stopped and stared at them, while holding all our bags tight because they have a penchant for running away with them. We recovered from our work out at our food court, and then went to a different mall –this one was the hawker mall. We decided to walk there, and got horribly lost in Chinatown but made it eventually. It was worth it though, because I made the best purchases of my life. For $70 US total, I purchased the following: All 7 seasons of The West Wing –Seasons 1-3 of How I Met Your Mother –Seasons 1-4 of House –Seasons 1-4 of Numb3rs. That’s right. The West Wing set has one disc for each season. They came in boxes too and I’ve checked them all and they all play and are good quality. Apparently you can get them cheaper in Vietnam, but I don’t have as much time there and word is that the quality is iffier and there’s a greater chance they won’t work, so I’m more than content. What’s more, that night I went to Batu Ferengi where they have a night market and bought even MORE DVDs! I’m crazy, I know, but it’s totally worth it. For just $30 US I got: Season 2 of Psych –Season 1 of Gossip Girl –All episodes of Black Adder –The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. And they are all in fine working condition as well! I will never be bored on the ship again haha, but it’s going to be much harder to motivate myself to work. The night market was really neat –1 kilometer of stalls along the road, with lots of knock-off bags, watches, and DVDs, but some cool art as well and the normal tourist souvenirs. The truly best part of the night was getting back on the tender, because we were on it with a bunch of the crew coming back for the night, including my room steward Jesse and my favorite server Perry. It was really neat to see the crew in their street clothes and just having a good time with their friends. And it just warms my heart how happy they are when they see me –I got huge smiles and waves when they spotted me. They are the most amazing people ever. Oh, and there was a huge and hysterical debate between the different dining room staff about which floor was better to eat on (obviously deck 5 –Perry brings me dessert!).

So Mom isn’t totally disappointed, I did go to some temples this morning! We went to two Buddhist temples that were across the street from each other. One was Thai and has the famous reclining Buddha (if my internet was working right now I’d look up how long it is) and the other was Burmese and had a giant, gold sitting Buddha (again, if my internet was working I’d look up how tall it was). Both were absolutely stunning. The outsides of the temples are just so bright and joyous, just covered in intricate and ornate carvings. Then you get inside and the main focus is the Buddha, but then there are other small Buddha statues absolutely everywhere littering the temples. The walls behind the sitting Buddha were just covered in hundreds of identical Buddha statues. They had really neat candles for prayers that were pink lotus flowers. Behind the reclining Buddha was a mausoleum, with hundreds of urns of ashes in glass cases along the wall. The glass was etched with information about the person and usually had a picture of them on it as well, it was really neat to explore. Strangely enough, they were also selling orange monastic robes there. We tried to go to our food court one last time, but for some reason it wasn’t open and the rest of Penang was like a ghost town, so we just took the tender back and ate on the ship. It must have been fate, because they were serving fried chicken and French fries so I was in absolute heaven. This afternoon was spent relaxing, catching up on work, doing the blog and picture thing, and cleaning up the tornado my room turns into while in port. Luckily tomorrow is my sleep-in day, because it’s already 11 pm but more episodes of Psych are calling me! Someone help, I have an addiction. I’ll be going cold-turkey in 3 days though, because I’ll be in Vietnam! Crazy crazy whirlwind traveling has officially commenced!

Incredible India

They told us India would be like no other country we’ve visited, and they were right. Totally sensory overload, emotionally draining, and a physically exhausting itinerary made for an experience I have yet to fully digest. I’m going to format this blog a little differently than my past ones so you can get an idea of just how much I did in so little time. Each day felt like three days.

Day One -
0800: Arrive in Chennai. I didn’t get off the ship before my SAS trip because not knowing the city or what getting around would be like, I didn’t want to take any chances, especially considering the big bucks spent on this trip.
1430: Leave for the airport. We had an hour long bus ride to the airport, and my eyes actually hurt from trying to take everything in. The streets are crowded with rickshaws, cars, buses, trucks, people walking, and, of course, cows. And everyone is honking; it’s not a defensive thing like in the U.S., more like a rearview mirror –it says “Hey, I’m here so don’t merge!”But it’s an adjustment to hear horns going off and not automatically feel tense. The women in their bright colorful saris are such a stark contrast to the grey, worn-down, dirty city around them.
1700: Fly to Delhi. It amazes me that these small, local airlines who charge next to nothing for tickets provide better service than any major airline in the U.S. We received a full meal on every flight, no matter how long it was or what time it was. Our first flight had in-seat TV screens and everything, from movies to TV shows, was free.
2100: Arrive at hotel. We were greeted with flower garlands and red paste dots on our foreheads, and there was an incredible buffet dinner waiting for us. Naan is basically my favorite thing ever; I’m really going to miss having it with every meal. Our room had full cable, and we caught an episode of Indian Idol –it was kind of eerie, so similar yet so different because everyone was singing Indian folk songs (it was an audition episode).
2400: Bed!

Day Two –
0415: Wake-up.
0530: Arrive at train station. We hustled through the station to our train, the Shatabdi Express –we were running late because a couple people slept through their wake-up calls. The station was full of families and people sleeping or cooking breakfast. We quickly got sanctuary from the beggars in our train car and started observing. There were signs that said “Please do not spit,”yet it was okay to pee or squat off the sides onto the tracks. The trip was two and a half hours, most of which was not surprisingly spent napping.
0830: Arrive in Agra.
0930: Arrive at Fatehpur Sikri, the Red Fort. This was a beautiful palace made out of red sandstone in a deserted city outside of Agra built by Emperor Akbar. He built it to honor a Muslim saint who prophesized the birth of his heir. He had three wives –one Muslim, one Christian, and one Hindu (he himself was Hindu) –and the largest harem, some 468 I believe. Each wife had a different section of the complex and the architecture included signs to each of their religions. For awhile it was the capital city along with Agra because it meant so much to Akbar as the birthplace of his son, but it was eventually abandoned because it had no water supply.
1215: Arrive in Agra for shopping tour. We went to a higher end store that had gorgeous rugs, marble items, and silk items. It was more expensive than most of us were hoping for, but as our guide told us when you buy something on the streets you have no way to verify whether or not it’s real silk, but here you could be sure. I ended up buying a fabulous gorgeous silk bedspread for only $150. It ended up being quite the steal, because at our second shopping tour later in the week people bought them for $450! I’m in love with it –it’s already on my bed and makes me so happy with its bright colors and Indian designs.
1300: Lunch at Hotel Mansingh. This trip ended up being the trip of buffets. It was nice because we tried a lot of things, but it also meant we had absolutely no idea what we were eating. Meals at hotels also meant that I survived India without any form of traveler’s sickness! The hotel had some shops where I went on a scarf shopping spree. They also had shirts screen-printed that said “Welcome Semester at Sea!”Too funny.
1415: Arrive at Agra Fort. It was also built by Akbar, and also out of red sandstone! I guess he had a thing for it. All the Mughal emperors lived there. When Akbar’s son Shah Jahan took over, he rebuilt portions of the palace in white marble –can you guess what other building he built? Yep, the Taj Mahal; you know those Mughal emperors and their particularities about stone. Shah Jahan was later imprisoned there by his son; his portion of the palace fortunately overlooked the Taj Mahal, and he spent the rest of his life on the marble balcony staring at the building, supposedly. It’s a shame it’s so overshadowed by the Taj Mahal, because it’s a beautiful complex. Plus jealousy of the Taj Mahal is the reason Shah Jahan’s son locked him up.
1515: Arrive at the Taj Mahal. It’s hard to describe my experience at the Taj Mahal. You see so many pictures of it, yet seeing it in person is so different. Now, it was incredible to see, don’t get me wrong, but I’m glad we only had an hour there because really all there is to do is to look at it and take some pictures –it’s not a cultural immersion like other parts of this trip. We went inside to look around, but it was dark and so rushed because there was such a long line to get in. For your brief history lesson, the Taj Mahal was built in honor of Shah Jahan’s wife who died giving birth to his 14th child. She asked three things of him –to never remarry, to take care of the children, and to build a unique building to honor her. He certainly succeeded. She is entombed in the center of the building, and his son later entombed him with her as well. The reason all pictures of the Taj Mahal look the same is because the building is identical on all four sides. Another interesting fact is that the four towers surrounding it all lean slightly outwards, so that in case of an earthquake they would not damage the tomb. The walls of the tomb are inlaid in precious stones such as jade in floral and vine designs as well as calligraphy of passages from the Quran. The white marble of the building has been stained by pollution, so now cars are banned from within a certain perimeter of it, but it doesn’t make it any less stunning. Oh, but I should tell you, I totally outshown the Taj Mahal. So much so that an Indian family stopped me and asked to take their picture with me.
1900: Arrive at Hotel Mansingh for dinner.
2030: Leave on the Shatabdi Express.
2330: Arrive in New Delhi.

Day Three –
0600: Wake-up. It’s crazy to hear 70 college kids actually excited about waking up at 6 a.m., but it was a treat among the 4 a.m. wake-up calls.
0715: Leave for bus tour of Delhi. Among the things we saw was the India Gate, a war memorial for WWII. It was so eerily reminiscent of the lawn in D.C. –the monument on one end facing the government buildings on the other with a long lawn in between. We then drove past the Parliament house and the President’s house and all of the embassies. Outside of the embassies were dozens of red-faced monkeys. Monkeys are considered sacred, like cows, because of Hanuman, the monkey king in one of the Hindu holy books; the embassy workers even feed them every day!
1040: Fly to Varanasi.
1215: Arrive at hotel. We stayed at the Radisson –it was comforting American familiarity with an Indian twist. We checked in and had another buffet meal
1430: Arrive in Sarnath. This is the ancient city where Buddha preached his first sermon, and a required pilgrimage site for all Buddhists. We first visited a Buddhist temple that is a replica of one of the ancient temples destroyed by invaders. Outside was a statue of Buddha preaching to his five disciples. It was in front of a Boddhi tree –a tree from a cut of the original tree that Buddha sat under and achieved enlightenment –and plaques containing the text of his first sermon. Then we saw the ruins of the ancient monastery. The grounds were covered in ancient stupas. Most were stupas built as thanks for good things in their life, but there were two reliquary stupas that contained relics of the Buddha inside. No one really knows what relics are inside, but they could be anything from his robes to his hair to his fingernails. One of them was partially destroyed by invaders, but the other was a huge overwhelming dome building.
1700: Leave for the Ganges River. The streets leading down to the Ganges are so narrow and crowded that our bus would not have been able to fit. So our tour guide had 35 rickshaws lined up to take us down. There are two types of rickshaws –auto rickshaws and cycle rickshaws. We took cycle rickshaws. Two of us sat in the back and this scrawny Indian man hopped on to peddle. His looks were deceiving though, and he powered us along, cutting off other rickshaws left and right to bring us into the lead of the pack. The ride was terrifying but exciting. The edge of the rickshaw is only two inches or so. Meanwhile our driver is swerving into ongoing traffic and motorcycles and cars are honking and zig-zagging all around us. But as we went along children waved to us with huge smiles on their faces and the streets were lined with shops selling gorgeous saris that were incredible to look at. That night we witnessed an aarti –a worship ceremony –on the banks of the Ganges. I honestly couldn’t explain to you what I witnessed; I have no idea what any of it meant but it was beautiful to witness. There were raised platforms lining the river bank, each set up with a small table. There was a monk –or whatever the Hindu equivalent is –at each platform repeating the same motions. A chant was broadcasted over speakers, and the monks took incense and then tiers of flames and moved them around their body in a circular motion, stopping at the top of the circle to hold it up. Meanwhile they were ringing a bell with their other hand. I just Wiki-ed it, and apparently the aarti is an offering of lamps to the deities –makes sense now!
2000: Return to hotel. Dinner. Shower. Collapse.

Day Four –
0430: Wake-up.
0500: Return to River Ganges. At this hour the streets were less crowded, so our bus could drive farther and we walked the rest of the way. All along the road dividers were people sleeping or waking up to beg from us. Most of them were old or crippled; many of the old come to Varanasi because if you die there you automatically achieve moksha –the liberation of the soul. Down at the river we boarded a boat and sailed down and back to witness all the different religious practices that take place there. The Ganges is considered sacred by the Hindus. It is a required pilgrimage, and washing in the river is supposed to release their souls from the rebirth cycle. There were different ghats –basically docks, but steps leading down to the river, not raised walkways) –for different people; there was one specifically for widows, and one where the Muslims washed. They don’t believe the river is sacred, but they just wash there; I don’t know why on earth they would think that was a good idea –the water is polluted with chemicals from factories and a dark, murky, oily brown with trash and corpses floating in it. I don’t really understand why the Hindus would not want to protect and clean the river if they consider it so sacred. The most shocking moment of the morning was seeing a bloated, grey corpse of a child floating just inches past our boat. I’m sorry if this image was hard for any of you to read, but it was even harder for me to see. Pregnant women and children under eight are not cremated; instead their bodies are simply disposed of in the river. At each end of the section of ghats are cremation ghats –one for the poor and one for the rich. The bodies are carried up on stretchers wrapped in gold paper (at least at the rich ghat). They are covered in sandalwood and the pyres are burned until the body is cremated. Part of the ashes is then thrown into the Ganges. This ceremony is also only attended by men. Afterwards we were supposed to see some of the major temples of Varanasi, but the recent terrorism has tightened security and so one we could not enter and the other we had extremely limited time.
0845: Breakfast.
0945: Shopping tour. We went to a silk shop where we saw the old and new methods of making silk. Both processes were extremely intricate, but the old way was so impressive. It takes two people to work the looms. One man sits above and selects different strings to separate and pull back that then dictate the pattern; this pattern he has completely memorized. Another man sits at the loom and throws spools of the silk through and then tightens the weave. Afterwards we had the option of going to a bead store. I bought some bangles that are so tiny –they barely fit over my hands, and I have to use lotion so they will slide over, but they’re so pretty. There were also women upstairs doing henna so I got a design from my wrist to two fingertips. It made packing very difficult though!
1200: Leave for airport. We had lunch at the airport –can you guess? That’s right, another buffet! So strange. We had 3 very long hours before our flight; travelling without an iPod sucks.
1700: Arrive in Delhi. Another 3 hours until our flight to Chennai. After our twenty hour days, this was pretty miserable.
2300: Arrive in Chennai.
2400: Arrive back at ship. There were five buses coming from the airport around the same time; this means 180 people waiting in line to have their bags checked and to go through security. AKA Hell. At the security check-point of the port, our bus was behind two others and we were all absolutely devastated at the thought of hours in line standing, holding our bags because the ground is too disgusting to set them down. Somehow, though, our driver knew a shortcut and we arrived to an empty pier. I’ve never been so excited in my life.

India is not just another country, it’s another world. A fascinating world, but one that I am content with my time spent there. I very much enjoyed experiencing it, but it will be nice to go to a country that is less overwhelming where I don’t feel so nervous travelling. I won’t miss having to hold my head up and walk past beggars, cripples, and vendors without saying a word, because even to smile is a sign to them that they can eventually break you down and get money. I won’t miss having to ignore children as they tap my arm and move their hand from their belly to their mouth, indicating hunger. And I can’t say I’ll miss the smell either. The dirt just seeps into you without you noticing; I washed the scarves I wore throughout the trip in the sink today, and the water turned brown. Our hallways of the ship are covered in cardboard, and the tables and bars on the outside deck are encased in plastic. I will, however, miss the food; the ship’s food is even more bland and boring than it was before after a week in India.

In just three short days I will be in Malaysia! I’ll be travelling entirely differently there, staying in the port city and doing almost everything on my own. I still have almost no plans there, but I’m assuming my time will include a lot of temples. Hopefully between classes and work I’ll have enough time to recover from my marathon sprint through India. As always, I send all my love to your side of the world. Do everything you can these next 18 days to ensure it’s a side of the world I’m happy to return to.

I'm in India! Right now I'm waiting for my travel documents to maybe go out in Chennai for an hour or two before leaving for my trip to the Taj Mahal and Varanasi.

But, the main purpose for this short blog is to say: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISS KATHRYN! Way to finally join us in the world of not-teenagers anymore! I hope your day is absolutely fantastic. I wish I could call to sing you Happy Birthday, but hopefully this will suffice. I love you and miss you girl!

Go ninja, go ninja, go!

I’m halfway to India! I thought this part of the trip would seem a lot longer, but it has actually seemed to go by pretty quick. That’s partly because half of the days were spent building up to the Sea Olympics, which happened today! Forewarning: This blog entry extremely biased to the Bering Sea.

Yesterday we had the Opening Ceremony. Bering Sea had the color green, so we decided to be the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! We made masks for everyone and did our cheer to the theme song:

        SAS Bering turtles!
        SAS Bering turtles!
        SAS Bering turtles!
        Portside on the fourth floor!
        Bering power! (fist punch)
It was pretty bad ass. We also got some good “Go ninja! Go ninja! Go!” chants going on. We kept it sweet and simple, just like our team. We didn’t go into this expecting to dominate, and no one else really expected us to either. Butttt.....

The morning started out really strong for us. I was part of the Olympic Relay, doing the Orange Pass. We had our technique down pat and flew through it, and ended up winning first place for the entire relay, which also had three-legged race, wheelbarrow race, and fireman’s pass. Then we took first in the work-out relay, which no one expected because our hall has the smallest guys on the ship. Volleyball also took first place! Dana secured our place in the lead, winning hula-hooping and limbo.

The afternoon did not go so well, unfortunately. The human knot, which I was in, was a failure. It wasn’t even a real competition. Two teams had figure out “the secret” to the human knot, so they got it done in 10 seconds. The judges wouldn’t listen to us that if it was a real, random human knot that would be impossible, so those teams went on to the final round. But in the final round, the judges decided they did it too fast, so they made them re-do it with a random knot. Yeah, real fair there. So we didn’t even get a chance to see if we could really compete. Then we didn’t win anything else the rest of the afternoon. Before synchronized swimming with 5 events left unannounced, we were in first place up by 2 points.

Our synchronized swimming team was awesome! Unfortunately the event had to be done in the Union because the water was too rough for the pool to be filled. But the Bering Sea’s routine was one of the only ones that you could imagine being done in the water. A lot of the teams forgot the “appropriate for all ages” rule as well - Bering Sea was throwing up a lot of “awkward turtle” hand signs.

At the beginning of the Closing Ceremonies, they told us that Yellow Sea and Bering Sea were tied for second before the Synchro event. We were sitting across from each other in the Union, which made things really tense. Arabian and Caribbean tied for third. And, unfortunately, we came in second. Apparently we didn’t even place in Synchro, while Yellow got first place, which everyone - even people in other seas - have told us is completely ridiculous. We definitely got gypped. We’re pretty bitter right now, to say the least. First place gets first off the ship in Miami, but we don’t get anything for second place. Not cool. The good thing is that the competition really brought our sea together - along with the fact that we all walked around the entire day in green shirts so you could really figure out who was on your hall.

Four more days until India! I’m so ready for it, considering these next four days contain two midterms and a paper. We also got our second round of trips sign-ups. For those who are interested in looking at the itineraries on the SAS website (cough cough Papaw), my new trips are: PEN11 - Welcome Reception and Shadow Puppets; PEN27 - Temples and Mosques; HCM01 - Cu Chi Tunnels; SHA07 Suzhou; KOB03 - Hiroshima; COS16 Canopy Adventure. I had wanted to do Hiroshima independently, but it would have cut too close to the trip I’m planning with my friends - we’re traveling to Tokyo on our own, spending a day at Tokyo Disney, a day exploring Toyo, and then hit up Mt. Fuji before getting back on the ship. I still don’t really have anything planned for Malaysia, but no one really does so I’ll play it by ear. When we get to Malaysia the semester is halfway over, and it’s just going to fly from there!

I love hearing from you guys. All the wonderful comments about my blog and pictures mean the world to me, seriously. I love that no one’s complained yet about how much I write! I seriously think this is the longest blog in the history of SAS. If you have any questions, however random they are, let me know! I can tell you right now, the rumors about pirates are all false, but hysterical. No, we didn’t have a blackout to hide from pirates - they turned the ship deck lights out so that we could stargaze. No, we didn’t change routes to avoid pirates near Kenya - we had always planned to stop at Mauritius to bunker. I wouldn’t object to Orlando Bloom taking the ship hostage, though, so if someone can get on that....

Cruising Cape Town

South Africa started with a bang - literally. At 5 am we awoke to everything on our table sliding off onto the ground. Luckily we had our drawers taped shut or we never would have fallen back to sleep. Then at breakfast, the waters were so rough that at one point everyone’s plates slid off the tables. All the while we were sitting just outside the harbor because it was too rough to go in. Crazy. But the view as we pulled in was priceless. Cape Town reminds me a lot of Baltimore, if the Inner Harbor had mountains in the background, colonial-era buildings, and African bands playing along the waterfront.

The first day I stayed on the ship initially to listen to readings of three South African authors - don’t ask me their names, I can’t remember or spell them. Then I had a SAS trip to the District 6 Museum and the Langa township. You can’t really understand the severity of the townships until you see it. It was a strange mix of unspeakable poverty and incongruent wealth. No one in the townships has to pay rent, so sometimes people stay there so they can save money to spend on other things - like a Mercedes Benz, for instance. Then there is the incredible sense of community; because the homes were so small, children ended up having to play outside, so every adult on the street was in charge of making sure they were safe and behaving. And if one child was lucky enough to have a bike, they had to share with everyone. We got to see inside one of the men’s hostels - the men were moved here so that the government could have control over the population and still have people to do their dirty work. Three men lived in a room about half the size of my cabin; later, the government allowed their families to move with them, which meant that there were around 15 people per room. Most of those families moved out after apartheid ended because the conditions were so horrible, worse than anywhere else in the townships. They moved in the shanty towns, which were purposely set up on the edges of the townships along the highway. The government had built nicer homes along the edges, so that the view from the airport didn’t really show the injustice.

The second day my roommate Catherine and I explored the waterfront in the morning and then got a tour out to Cape Point in the afternoon. We stopped at Simon’s Beach to see the Jackass Penguins. We even saw a baby penguin hiding in its nest with its mom, and daddy penguin was outside guarding. They were all just hanging out watching us, totally unfazed that we were inches away from them. Then we went down to the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point, where the views were incredible. We saw some ostriches along the way - that means I have now seen an ostrich in every country so far haha. But the real entertainment was the baboons. There were around 10 of them on the side of the road, and some other tourists were tossing food out their window to them. The baboon was not content with that snack, so he jumped in their window and started going to town on their carrots and lettuce! The women jumped out of the van screaming, and the men were trying to shoo him out but he would not budge. Finally the baboon jumped out and tore apart the bag of carrots, and all the other baboons started fighting over the food. Security came and the baboon-feeder was trying to lie about what happened, but our tour guide ratted him out. It was hysterical to watch, but I’m glad it didn’t happen to me!

Sunday I went to Ratunga Junction! An amusement park! It was great. They have one of the highest log flume rides in the world, apparently, and some good coasters. Plus we got to see a hip-hop fusion dance performance and an illusionist haha. The dancers were actually really good, surprisingly. Their b-boys had some impressive moves and their popper could have held his own on SYTYCD. The illusionist was funny and a good entertainer, but I saw through all of his tricks. We also walked through the largest mall in Africa.

Monday the plan was to go up Table Mountain in the morning, but it was drizzling and the top was completely covered in fog, so we couldn’t go. So Ashton and I headed out to the winelands earlier. Our cab driver was actually born in District 6. She was one of the last families to move out in 1978. She took us to a tasting at Neethlingshoff Estates, and then we did a brandy tasting at Van Ryn’s. I am not a brandy fan, but it was quite the experience, learning to melt the chocolate in your mouth and then mix it with the brandy. We went to Moyo for lunch, and incredible buffet restaurant in treehouses and tents. Performers came and sang at our table and we got our faces painted. Then even gave us a free postcard that they then mailed for us! Talk about service! Right next door to it is a cheetah rehabilitation center; they take in cheetahs that have been hurt or cubs that have been abandoned. They had 5 baby cheetahs that were the cutest things ever.

Tuesday I went out to Robben Island. Our tour guide was one of the students arrested in the 70s. In the prison, they kept the older generation separated from the younger generation, and the political leaders from the others, but the convicts were kept with the political prisoners - go figure. It wasn’t until the 70s when the Red Cross started interfering that the convicts were moved. The Red Cross also stopped the practice of moving the political leaders from cell to cell so they wouldn’t get too comfortable or used to their surroundings. Even though the cells were right next to each other, they couldn’t talk, and their windows were barricaded so they couldn’t even see each other. The only time they could talk was when they were at work in the lime quarry - the guards were stationed up above, and the work was so loud they couldn’t hear. So the men took to standing in lines of seven, with the two on the end actually working to cover up the sounds of talking and the five in the middle just going through the motions. When someone was due to be released, they started memorizing information to take back to the mainland and spread around. The government didn’t know how the resistance movement was becoming so united when they were keeping such a close watch on the people on the mainland. They never suspected it was happening on Robben Island, right under their watch. More impressive than Nelson Mandela’s cell to me was the Robert Sobukwe house. He was considered public enemy #1, and yet his name is barely known, even in South Africa. He started the Pan African Congress, which led a protest against the pass books that every black person was required to carry. Even this demonstration, which effectively started the apartheid resistance, is not remembered in South Africa. The government considered him so dangerous that they built a house for him, away from the rest of the prison, and kept him imprisoned until his death. He could have a visit with a priest once every 2 months, and with his family once every 6 months. When he was dying from cancer, the government moved him to a prison on the mainland, but only because they feared if he died on Robben Island it would gain public attention and he would become a martyr. He died in a still violent South Africa, with little recognition for his accomplishments and without seeing his mission completed.

Wednesday was the day that overshadowed the entire trip in South Africa, because Archbishop Desmond Tutu came on board and I got to listen to him speak for an hour! It sounds silly, but there’s really no word better fit to describe him than adorable: he is a tiny man, and when he would make a joke he would cover his mouth, giggle to himself, and tiptoe around. He spoke about how wonderful young people are, and how we should be celebrating how many young people do good in the world, not concentrating on those who have messed up. The best part for me was when he talked about his experience on SAS; he said how much SAS changed him and made him a more caring person, showing him how interconnected we all are - if even Desmond Tutu came away from SAS a better person, none of us stand a chance (in a good way)!

Today I just went out for one more nice lunch and to spend the rest of my Rand. I made sure to get back on the ship early because all of the safaris start coming back at 3:30, and anyone not on a SAS trip is sure to get dock time if they’re stuck in that line. Now vacation time is over and it’s back to writing papers and reading, sighhhhh. Luckily I made some grocery store trips and stocked up on enough snacks to last me to India and beyond. I couldn’t last 11 days at sea without Simba chippies! I miss each and every one of you!