A Voyage of Discovery

I think I'm ready to go back to the ship and go around the world again with the people I fell in love with, the crew, the ship and the life. I miss everyone so much.

It's Saturday afternoon around 3:40pm. The time different is down to three hours from the East Coast, 6 hours from the West. I'm surprised at how slow the days are passing by. I've been on the ship now since Monday night. I feel like time is crawling! It probably feels that way since the ship has been rocking more than ever before. It's horrible. The sea swells and waves are ridiculous out here in the Atlantic. We had all heard rumours of the rough waters but none of us believed them. After all, it's been so calm for so long now. Most of the time, we can't even feel this ship moving. Well, the past three nights have been really bad. I've had to take dramamine each night just to calm my stomach. I hate taking dramamine because it knocks me out for hours. This rocking couldn't have come at a worse time: right in the middle of finals. It's already close to impossible to study on the ship, but throw the waves and rocking into it and it's just about hopeless. I have a big window and most of the time I have to keep the curtains shut because if I look at the swells I get even more sick. Anyways, enough complaining. The only thing left to say is that in 5 days from now, I won't have to feel the rocking and I'm definitely looking forward to that!

The Ambassadors Ball was a lot of fun and the food was amazing! We had a 5 course meal and I finally got to eat steak. I wore one of the dresses I had made in Vietnam. I'm saving my favorite for when I go to Steve's dance in January!

Last night was the ship talent show. It was really fun and some people on this ship are really talented. Watching the talent show made me realize just how much I'm going to miss the people on this ship. I've met some really great people. It's going to be really different going home and adjusting to life without 550 students always around me.

This brings me to my next thought: I serioualy can't believe in just a few days I'll be home. Everyone is nostalgic now -- it's strange. I mean, we all love the people we've met and the voyage and everything we've done, but by now we're all exhausted from a demanding academic semester, exhausted from all we've been through and encountered and I really think most of us just want to get home. I know I am pretty much counting the hours until I can fly back to California.

This is the longest I've been away from home. It's been over three months!

The hardest part about this trip, no doubt, is the lack of communication. It's so hard not to have internet when I want/need it and it's even harder not to have a phone. I feel so out of touch with the world, my family, my friends, Steve. It's been really tough adjusting. I still can't believe the ship charges so much for internet and phone calls... 40 cents per minute for the internet and $20 for 13 minutes on the phone. Ridiculous, yes? I've spent way too much money on internet and phone but my only alternative would be to just be completely homesick. At least checking emails and every once in a while making phone calls helps the homesickness.

I'd say I haven't really been homesick until the last two to three weeks. On one hand, I know it's going to be so hard to say goodbye to my friends and to the ship and on the other hand, I just can't wait to get home! I'm sure that is how everyone feels.

Anyways, today is a study day. Yesterday was the last day of classes. I've been studying a lot and when I'm not studying, I'm reading the Days of Our Lives daily episode summaries that I downloaded a few days ago. I was so bored (There really is nothing to do anymore except study) that I downloaded the summaries from August 27th to November 20th. That way when I get home I'll be all caught up Call it ridiculous, but I call it being bored and not knowing what else to do! There is only so much studying I can do!

It’s my last day in port and I’m just sitting down to type up a summary of Spain. It’s 1:30pm and a number of us just got back from Barcelona. I’ve been up since 4:45, had a flight at 6:55, a bus once I touched down in Sevilla and another 2 hour bus to Cadiz. Needless to say, I’ve been traveling for the past 8 hours, and I’m exhausted! But, alas, here I am in my cozy shipboard cabin, typing up a journal entry while my friends are sleeping and/or taking showers before we head out later tonight. On ship time is at 9pm so we figure a dinner and maybe some wine is necessary before we get back onto the ship. Weird to think that I won’t be able to have a glass of wine with dinner when I get back. For about a month, that is. Did I mention I’m turning 21 soon?

Barcelona was amazing and nothing like I expected it to be. I don’t know why I expected Spain to be so different, maybe it was because I was so culturally unaware before this trip, or maybe… well, I don’t know. The point is, Barcelona was like Paris. It was trendy, touristy, European and full of beauty. I will try to summarize my few days in Spain to the best of my ability!

Day 1 - Mario, Jess and I took a bus straight to Sevilla once we got off of the ship. We spent the day in Sevilla visiting cathedrals and the main downtown area. As lame as we are, we ate lunch at Burger King and later had to stop at Starbucks! That night we ate Tapas (I liked it!) and then went to an Irish Pub and listened to Irish live music and hung out with some funny/annoyingly drunk Spanish men. One was absolutely in love with me, and even kissed my foot. He was awkward and it was an awkward night, but I had a lot of fun. We went to a few different bars, ran into a ton of SASers and about 30 students who are studying abroad from the Us -- all in all, it was a fun night.

Day 2 - This next morning we headed to the airport for our flight to Barcelona. Once in Barcelona, we headed to La Rambla, the most “hoppin” area in town, and looked for a place to stay. We ran into Jeanie and she invited us to stay in her apartment that she rented for a couple of days. We all went there to put our bags down. Later that night, the landlord was so angry that there were too many people staying there, so we just left our bags and headed out. Jess and I ended up meeting up with some of our guy friends for dinner at the Hard Rock Café (It was excellent and they were playing a bunch of Metallica) and then we went to an Australian Bar. At the bar, we met up with 2 guys that Jess knew from home. It was so weird because we randomly ran into them at the Barcelona airport. We ended up hanging out with them for a few hours and heading back to their Hostal with them, spontaneously at 3am, because we had no where else to sleep. They had a hostal with 4 beds so it worked out perfect, and I got my own bed!

Day 3 - We slept in until 11am and then headed out to start our day. Jess, Mario and I booked a hotel a couple miles away from the main district and got a good deal and a really nice room. It worked out well because the hotel was right across from the metro station! We went to the internet café and shopped and Jess and I went out for a nice dinner, just us two. I had amazing Sangria and it’s my new favorite drink. That night we went to the BARCELONA soccer game!!! It was so much fun and we had amazing seats… 4th row to the left of the net! Ronaldinho scored 2 goals! The crowds went wild -- I had such a good time.

Day 4 - Jess and I wanted to spend our day doing whatever we wanted. So, we slept in, met up with the boys and then went to the Picasso Museum. I love art. I never did until this trip -- I have absolutely fallen in love with anything artsy. I loved Picasso’s earlier work and I really enjoyed the museum. After the museum, Jess and I took the metro to the Zoo! This was so random of us! But, the zoo was fun and the animals were VERY active. I was surprised. They had a variety of animals and it was neat to change things up a little bit. We’ve been visiting so many temples and cathedrals and churches over the past few months that it was nice for a change. That night (which was last night) We met up with the boys again (Whenever I say the boys I am referring to Matt, Parker and Corey) and went to a nice dinner. I had such a good time just sitting and eating, overlooking La Rambla. The boys then had to catch the overnight train back to Cadiz, so we went our separate ways. Jess and I went back to the hotel and instead of going out and getting drunk like everyone else, we raided the gas station, bought a ton of junk food, and went back to our room to watch tv together and call our families! I was so happy to get to talk to my Mom and Grandma! We headed to sleep around 12:30 since we had to get up for the airport by 4:45am.

Day 5 (TODAY!) - I’m back in Cadiz now, on the ship, resting for a while before heading out again.
Spain is really neat, and I loved visiting, and I especially loved Barcelona. There is a lot of crime, apparently, and there is a lot of graffiti, hookers and gypsies, but it is still a beautiful city! I’m really happy I got to experience the Spanish culture, especially by attending the soccer game.

As for now -- I’m SO excited to get home in less than 2 weeks! I have 4 papers due, 4 exams, the Ambassadors Ball, the Talent Show and goodbyes beforehand, but I’m still excited! After 105 days, I’m going home…. Bittersweet. Bittersweet sums it up.

Ship Life!

November 21, 2006

This is me procrastinating. I have 4 papers due and 4 exams between Spain and Florida. I should be studying, but instead I’m taking a break and sitting in my room at 11:45pm, listening to Steph’s computer playing the 98 Degrees Christmas album. Steph bought some Christmas lights and a couple of ornaments from a store in Croatia. We’re trying to get into the Christmas mood. I think we’re both pretty excited about Florida & Christmas approaching so quickly. It will definitely be a bittersweet departure from my second home, the MV.

So a few minutes ago I got back from an awesome workout. I can say I’m in the best shape I’ve been in in a long time -- I can run longer and last longer on the Elliptical than ever before. I can’t wait to get home and start running in the mornings. Just to wake up early and head out in the cold December air. I will be so happy to just run on cement, rather than a treadmill, and to actually have grass and nature around me rather than ocean. Don’t get me wrong, I love the ocean, but some grass and maybe a bird or two in the air might be refreshing!

I feel like I’m seriously out of the loop. Earlier tonight I emailed Nate and it ended up turning into sort of a journal entry. Emailing him made me realize that wow, I really have been gone for 3 months and wow, I am going to be back in America soon. Crazy, isn’t it? Sometimes it seems like just yesterday I was sitting in my room, looking at the map on my wall, asking myself if I really was going to sail around the world.

While I’m all over the place, I guess I’ll update about last night! Last night was our charity auction. Basically, a bunch of people on this ship donate random things to the auction and then we have a silent auction and live auction. The live auction was so much fun! I won a bid for Piano lessons from this guy Aaron for $80 and Jess bought Soda and Appetizers on a 7th deck balcony for 8 people for $220. We decided we would get our friends together and gather on that balcony the second to last night on the ship. I don’t know when Aaron is going to give me lessons, but I get three half-hour sessions! I’m excited… he’s an amazing piano player and is always up in the Piano lounge on the 6th deck playing. I think the most expensive item up for grabs was 4 nights in Colorado. Someone won that for $2300 and someone also won 7 nights in Maine for $2100! Oh, get this -- Someone bought an inflatable globe that our dean uses during our Logistical pre-ports for $975 (You can buy them at the student store for $5 -- but I guess it’s the significance of the globe that matters), two people split the “First to get off of the ship in Ft. Lauderdale” for $1,300, my friend Parker was in a bidding war and ended up winning the honor of raising the American flag as we pull into Ft. Lauderdale for $875 & my friend Chris and his friend split the cost of over $500 to manually steer the ship for 5 minutes. Prices ranged from $50 to over $2,000. You can imagine that some of the students on this ship have a lot of money! And those were only to name a few! From what I’ve heard, we earned over $30,000 for charity last night. I’m not sure which charity the money will go to, but I, along with others, nominated Face Aids -- a US charity that focuses on spreading awareness and helping out African aids victims. There are a bunch of members of Face Aids on the ship.

Well, two days until Thanksgiving! We actually arrive in Spain on Thanksgiving. I will spend Thanksgiving in Seville with Jess and Mario. We plan on wine tasting during the day and then going to Tapas for dinner. That night we’ll spend the night in Seville and the next morning we have a flight to Barcelona!

Thurs - 23: Arrive in Spain, Train to Seville, Spend night in Seville
Fri - 24: 11:30am Flight on Iberia to Barcelona, Spend night in Barcelona
Sat - 25: Barcelona Soccer Game, Tier 2, Spend night in Barcelona
Sun - 26: Last night in port, EVER, Spend night in Barcelona
Mon - 27: Fly back to Seville, Get back to Cadiz, Enjoy last day in port, EVER…

After Spain, life will get hectic before Florida. So this is what I have going on:

Nov 28: Class - A Day
Nov 29: Class - B Day & Ambassador’s Ball
Nov 30: Class - Two Papers due for Psychology
Dec 1: Global Studies Final & Ship Talent Show
Dec 2: Study Day
Dec 3: Personality Psych Final, Abnormal Psych Final
Dec 4: Study Day
Dec 5: History Final - 2 History Papers Due
Dec 6: Packing/Convocation/Goodbyes
Dec 7: Arrive Ft. Lauderdale at 8am. Caspian Sea is 2nd off of the ship because we came in 2nd place in the Sea Olympics! I have a to Oakland at 7:20 which will get in before 11pm.

Mom’s birthday on the 8th!

So, there is my update. I just felt the ship rock a lot and it’s getting cold in my room -- time to get into bed. Tomorrow morning I have global studies & a gym appointment. Tomorrow afternoon I have history class and then tomorrow night… our last Logistical Pre-Port, EVER. Wow!

Spain on Thanksgiving. I will try and call the family… I sure hope I can!

If I don’t find a pay phone or for some reason cannot call, I seriously love you all and miss you a TON. I can’t wait to see you all in 2 weeks! Happy Thanksgiving!

So Thanksgiving is my second favorite holiday of the year. I'm a little bummed about not being able to spend it with my family. We get to Spain Thursday morning and then I'll celebrate my own Thanksgiving with my friends Mario and Jessica, the two I'll be traveling with in Spain. I'll be in Seville -- I can't complain too much!!

So while I have some readers, I wanted to say what I'm thankful for: My amazing family, my awesome friends and my good looking boyfriend

See you all in a couple of weeks! Time is flying by!

November 11, 2006 *Istanbul, Turkey*

I’m sitting here in my room on the ship, leaning up against my window eating Turkish Delight. It’s our last night in Istanbul. I loved this port city and I loved this country! We depart for Croatia in about an hour.

This was one of my favorite ports. I got to hang out with a much smaller group of friends and for the first time since traveling, I didn’t really leave the port city. We went out to bars three out of the four nights we were here. The night we skipped the bars was the night we hung out at Starbucks and talked for a while before heading back to the ship to get some sleep. Jess’s parents were in town and they took us out to dinner one night -- that was a lot of fun. A bunch of us took a ferry down the Bosphorus and stopped at a little seaside town. We walked around, ate lunch and then walked up to see castle ruins. One day I had an FDP (Faculty Directed Practicum) -- basically it’s a Semester at Sea day trip you take with your professor. The professor leading the trip will relate what we do and see to what we’re learning in class. This specific FDP was lead by my history professor and was titled, “Ottoman Capital.” We walked around the city and saw the Ottoman Capital walls, the castle ruins, different mosques and the spice bazaar.

Most of our days were spent doing whatever we wanted. We would stay up late and sleep in until 8 or 9 and then start our day. We went shopping a lot, ate good food and found Hookah Bars. We went to the internet café three or four times. Istanbul was really our time to relax and since we didn’t have any major plans, it was nice to do what we wanted, when we wanted without conflicting opinions on what to do. It’s hard traveling with a big group, which is what I do almost every port, so hanging out with just a few people was great.

The city of Istanbul is similar to any European city that I’ve seen. Which is basically cities in Germany and France. The streets are brick and some cobblestone, there are mosques everywhere, and the people wear dark colors. The Turkish men are actually really attractive and look a lot older than they are. The men really loved us “American Girls” and a bunch of the SAS girls loved them, too.

The weather in Istanbul is kind of similar to a Manteca winter. Sunny and 40-50 degrees daily but much colder nights. It was so strange to go from extremely hot and humid India to mild Cairo to really cold Istanbul. If anything, the weather is getting me really excited about going home in December. I’m looking forward to Christmas and my roommate and I have already started listening to our Christmas music.

The day after tomorrow we’ll be in Croatia. We’ve reserved a beach house for 4 nights and 5 days for 12 people. I’m really excited! The weather isn’t too great in Croatia right now but it will still be so awesome to hang out at the beach and in the awesome city of Dubrovnik. Our house has 5 bedrooms and each bedroom has a bathroom, a living room, family room, 2 kitchens, DVD/CD/VHS player, internet, washer and dryer and more. It has an ocean view and outdoor seating. It’s right near the water and right in the Old Town of Dubrovnik.

We are in the process of figuring out our Spain plans. Most of my friends and I are going to the Barcelona Soccer game on our last night in Spain. I’m so excited -- I’ve heard that the games are insanely fun. I can’t wait! So far our Spain itinerary looks like this:

Spain
Day/Night One - Cadiz, Sleep on ship
Day/Night Two - Morning train to Seville, Wine Tasting all day, Overnight Stay in Seville
Day/Night Three - Barcelona, Sleep in Barcelona
Day/Night Four - Soccer game in Barcelona, Sleep in Barcelona
Day Five - 6:55am Flight to Seville, Train to Cadiz, Spend day in Cadiz

So back to Croatia. We have 4 nights and 5 days and then we’ll be back on the ship. Once back on the ship, we have 4 days at sea and then we get to Spain where we will spend 4 nights and 5 days. THEN we’ll be on our final stretch home. Time is seriously FLYING by. Between Croatia and Spain we have the Students of Service Charity Auction on the ship. Between Spain and home we have the Ambassador’s Ball which is the biggest night on the ship. It’s a huge Prom like event where everyone gets dressed up, eats amazing food and has one last really special night on the ship.

As of right now I have less than 10 days of classes left and 2 days of finals. It’s hard to believe that the semester is coming to an end. It’s hard to believe that in 25 days I’ll be living a completely separate life…

As sad as I will be to say goodbye, I’m getting anxious to see my family and friends, oh and that boyfriend of mine (Hi babe) and to readjust to, well, life. I definitely have been living in a fantasy for the past 20 years and it will be nice to get home and live with a new outlook on life. I have heard numerous stories about people becoming really depressed when they get back to America after Semester at Sea. I’ve also heard that people have really hard times discussing what they saw and experienced with people.

As of right now, I don’t know what I’m going to do when I get home. I don’t know if I’m going to want to tell people every detail because no matter what I say, nobody except the people on this ship will know what I went through, what I saw, how I felt. And do I really want to explain everything? Will that take away from what I’ve seen? And already now (we were just talking about this yesterday) I feel as if it’s hard talking about certain things. How do I go about explaining myself when someone says “So how was it?”

Amazing.
Incredible.
Life-changing.
Best three months of my life. EVER.

Well, I still have 25 days to figure out what to tell people and to fully digest what it is I’m doing right now. I live on a ship and I’m traveling the world. Sometimes, I still don’t think this is really happening.

It’s slowly hitting me. In 4 weeks I’ll be off of this ship and at home. I’m starting to dread our final day more than anything. I’m dreading leaving the friends I’ve made and the amazing semester I have spent abroad. Last night we were walking the streets of Alexandria and I told my friends that I never thought I would be dreading leaving the ship. I thought I‘d be ready to leave. The first month of the trip was hard adjusting to culture shock, life on a ship, traveling in general, tough classes and not really having a phone or internet. I thought that 3 months would be enough time away. Now I’m to the point where I don’t even want too much contact with anyone else except the people on this ship. I am over that “missing” stage, I am over the “it sucks to not have a phone” stage and I’m over the “I need to get online” feelings. Now I just want to live every last moment on this ship and in port to the fullest. We have Turkey, Croatia and Spain left. And then we have finals, packing and Florida. It’s so crazy to think about.

I had quite possibly the best overall time in Egypt. I saw so much, spent quality time with friends and enjoyed every moment in port.

We spent our first day traveling to and around Cairo. The ship was docked 2 hours from Cairo, at a small port city named Adibiya. I had previously purchased an SAS trip with 5 of my friends and over 150 other students. We all packed up and loaded onto a coach bus. The Camera man (SAS has it’s own camera man, Andy, who films everything that goes on in port and on the ship. He picks an SAS trip and follows the students around and films everything) Andy was on our bus so we got to be on the camera a lot during our time in Cairo. Once actually in Cairo we went to the 4000 year old Step Pyramids and the Egyptian museum. At the museum we were able to see about 15 real mummies as well as King Tut’s jewelry, clothing and casket . It was an experience, that’s for sure. That night we took a dinner cruise around the Nile. The food was buffet style and included entertainment (Belly dancer and singer). After dinner we headed back to our 5 star hotel (It was right by the Pyramids, has a HUGE pool with a swim up bar, 5 restaurants, very nice rooms, and a Hookah bar. I roomed with Kat and we had a view of the Pyramids. It was the nicest hotel I’ve ever stayed in.

The next morning we were at the Pyramids by 5:30am. It was cold and windy out but very worth the early morning wake up call. We ended up staying at the Pyramids for a little over 4 hours. We got to explore the 3 Pyramids and the Sphinx. Before we left we took a Camel ride around the 3 Pyramids -- that was so much fun! The Pyramids are not “touristy” at all and are actually very well kept. They are out in the desert and while standing next to the big Pyramid, you can see most of Cairo in the distance. Since we arrived so early, SAS students were the only people (Besides the few tourist police and men selling postcards and what not) at the Pyramids until about 9am.

Upon leaving the Pyramids, we went to Mohammed Ali’s Mosque and then to the Khan al Khalili Bazaar. At the Bazaar we shopped around and then the 6 of us girls stopped for Arabic coffee and Sheesha. Sheesha = Hookah! After hanging out for a while we met back at the buses and headed for lunch on the Nile. After lunch, we went back to the hotel and hung out for the rest of the night. Jess and I went swimming in the pool and then we all got ready for dinner at the really nice hotel buffet. That night we hung out by the pool with all of the other SAS students staying there. We had a hookah bar at the hotel and we of course took advantage of the close location.

The next morning we slept in until 8 and went to breakfast, then headed to the Bazaar again. That afternoon we took the bus back to the ship and just hung out on the 7th deck until we were too tired to stay up. I think we were all in bed by 10pm.

The next morning I woke up to watch us enter the Suez Canal and then we laid out for most of the day. The crew prepared a really nice dinner for us since there were only about 100 students on the ship. Transiting the Suez canal is optional for students. Once in Adibiya, you can leave the ship and do what you want in Egypt (Can go anywhere, do anything) for 6 days. On t

Pyramids at Sunrise

The Dean and the Captain on Halloween --- I was a Mermaid

Jess and I being cultural

Pyramids, again!

CHENNAI, INDIA

It’s my last day here in Chennai and I’m full of thoughts. I have seen so much in these 5 short days: What I’ve seen is life changing. Now that I’ve been exposed, there is no way I’ll ever be able to live my life thinking the same way as I did before I came here. I’ve seen things that some people in American can’t even fathom seeing. Whenever I think of the world, I won’t be naïve like I used to be and think of America… No, the world is so much more than where I come from. We’re the privileged, and they are the ones who struggle daily to survive, the beggars, the orphans, the lepers, the hungry.

I like India. But I’m so confused about what I have seen here. I’ve seen poverty like I never thought was possible. People are everywhere - all over the streets, all over the parks, the beaches, even the port. People sleep on the sidewalks, they wash their clothes in the gutter, they hang their clothes to dry anywhere. You can walk down the street and see a number of homeless people… some have tents set up right on the side of the road where they sleep with their families. Some children walk around naked. Others walk around with torn clothes and no shoes. There is trash everywhere. There are also cows and goats scattered around the city -- they roam around freely, just like the stray dogs that are everywhere.

Last night I was on the phone to my Dad inside the gates where the ship is docked and about 50 feet from me was my ship and about 10 feet from me, on the other side of the chain link fence, was a homeless man sleeping on the pavement. A few feet from him was the other man. They really are everywhere. It’s the saddest thing I’ve ever seen.

The poverty is everywhere. But then you have the so called “normal” areas of Chennai. The mall, for example. They have a normal mall with normal stores like Levi, Guess and Nike. They have a food court with Pizza Hut and Subway. It’s so strange to be surrounded by American stores in one tiny spec of the map in Chennai and walk outside of the mall and become surrounded by homeless people, everywhere. I know in other countries we’ve witnessed poverty, but not like in India. I think the reason why it stands out so much in India is because of the huge contrast: You have the working middleclass at the mall and then 10 feet outside you have a homeless beggar who sleeps on the sidewalk at night. In Myanmar the people have so little but they can survive off of the little they do have. They don’t require a lot to live besides the basics of food, water, shelter, clothing. Also, in Myanmar I don’t remember if I ever saw a homeless person. There were villages with tiny huts where sleeping/living quarters were 6x6 feet but there weren’t homeless people sprawled out all over the place.

(Side Note: In India, there is a caste system that still exists today. The caste system is made up of four different social classes… the Dalit people, formerly known as the “untouchables” are so low that they aren’t even in the social system… supposedly, they are the lowest of the caste system, but they aren’t officially apart of the caste system. They are the fruit and vegetable pickers, or the people who find other odd jobs to bring in money for food. The Dalit situation has been brought to the UN many times and some progress has been made, thanks to the UN, to help the Dalit people rise above their struggles. Still today, every hour two Dalits are assaulted. Every day, three Dalit women are raped, two Dalits are murdered and two Dalit houses are burned. And these are only the crimes that are officially reported. These people are treated HORRIBLY and only because they are the poorest and have to find odd jobs to survive).

In India, 30% of the population live in poverty and that in India means that 30% of the people, regularly, go without a meal for the day. Can I even begin to understand what that is like? No, I can’t. But from seeing such poverty, I have become aware. And awareness, in my opinion, can lead to change if you use that awareness correctly. I don’t know how I will use what I’ve learned once I return home - but you can bet that I won’t forget anything. Last night in a Dalit village we sat in a circle of 35 and lit a candle. As we lit the candle, the Indian Doctor who brought us to the Dalit village told us that lighting up that candle meant lighting up the world and lighting up the world will shine a light on the poverty that is overlooked every single day. This meditation we participated in really helped me to believe that one person can make the biggest difference. We all touched the lives of some very underprivileged people last night.

My Dalit Village trip was my favorite trip so far (With SAS) and was one of the best trips I've EVER taken. There were times last night when I had to step back and take everything in and doing so brought tears to my eyes on more than one occasion. There are times when I would swallow hard while realizing that we in America have it made. We have everything we could ever want and need and more - we take advantage of it on a daily basis. We spend when we don’t have the money, we eat when we’re full, we go where we please, we waste food, we waste electricity, we waste water. In the Dalit village - they don’t have enough food to get them through the day. They don’t have money unless they make it that day. They can’t become full, they can’t go where they please because probably 99% of them don’t have cars. They can’t waste food because they have themselves and their animals to feed. They have cows and goats for the milk, they have chickens for the eggs and they have stray dogs everywhere. The dogs are skinny and you can see their ribs. They don’t have enough food to eat and they can’t get spade because nobody has the money to spay them.

Yesterday myself and 30 other SAS students spent the day at a Nursing School. The students were all girls who had been taken out of a Dalit village and had been given the opportunity to study Nursing and live at the school for free. The company that gives them this opportunity is a Non-profit working towards helping the Dalit people rise above their “social class” and become educated. Education leads to power is one of their mottos. The girls welcomed us with open arms and performed an entire welcome reception for us full of dancing, singing and a skit. We learned all about the Dalit people from a Doctor there who works at the school. We ate an amazing lunch that they made of us and later on in the day we had a throw ball match with the girls. Throw ball is similar to volleyball but instead of hitting the ball over the net, you catch it with only your hands (it can’t touch your arms or body) and throw it back over. It’s fun!

After leaving the school we headed to a tiny Dalit village about 45 minutes away. The Village stay was probably the best experience of my life. This is when I had a hard time holding back the tears. When I stepped out of the van and was greeted by about 50 local village people, shaking my hand, saying hello, jumping up and down, dancing, playing bongos, all for us, the Americans who came to visit. An elderly woman greeted us with wet face chalk, she placed three dots on my face and then women greeted us with flower water, putting their fingers into the water and then sprinkling the flower water onto our foreheads. The people were ecstatic. I’ve never seen anything like it. Once us students got over the initial shock of being greeted in such an extraordinary way, we started walking. We spent about 45 minutes walking 400 feet -- each few minutes the village people would stop, start dancing and then another woman from one of the families would come and put flower water on our foreheads. I think it was a welcome blessing. Then, once we all had gotten some of the flower water, the women would dump it on the ground in front of us. Once it was dumped, then we could proceed forward. This happened about 15 times. All the while, the village people were stopping to shake our hands, hold our hands, the children were amazed to see their faces after we’d taken pictures of them -- all they wanted was us to take a picture and then to show them. Not one of the village people had a camera or anything of the sort. Once we reached our destination, which was a small stage with chairs around it, the village people performed an amazing welcoming ceremony. I was truly touched last night. These people, who have so very little, gave us more than I could ever ask for. They decorated with Christmas lights and even had a couple of speakers. They performed dances, they sang, they showed so many talents… juggled fire, did back flips, a couple of magic tricks. These people must have worked SO hard to plan this night. They served us fresh coconut juice still in the coconut and home made chai tea. After they performed for us for about an hour, we all decided to do something for them. So, we all got on the stage and did the Hokey Pokey! We did it a few times and got the village children involved. They loved it! Then, we sang our National Anthem and Amazing Grace. They loved everything. After the welcome ceremony ended, we went up to the roof to do the meditation. The meditation was the perfect ending to an amazing day.

Last night we slept on top of the roof that we meditated on. It was a small roof made of brick with walls about 3 feet high around it. We spread our sleeping bags out and after we ate our box dinners, we laid under the stars. From 10pm to 5am it rained for 5 minutes, twice, dogs barked for an hour and a half, a man threw up around 3am, bugs crawled all over us (I put more deet on than I thought possible) and I saw 2 shooting stars. You can bet I felt filthy the next morning, but it was worth it. Oh, did I mention there are no bathrooms in the village? Yep, you go behind a bush. It was a crazy experience. But we were all so proud of each other for roughing it and for having this amazing opportunity to live like the villagers. This morning we got to see some of the village huts. We went into about 10 of them and saw how tiny they are and really got to see how these people live. The families usually had two huts - One was their “house” and it varied in size, usually the living area was about 10x10 and had a few clothes hanging inside, a calendar, a small mirror, mats and blankets for sleeping and maybe a small area for cooking inside. Some of the families had a small area for cooking outside. A couple families even had really old Tv’s. I don’t know if they even work, but I was surprised to see them. The second hut was usually a small hut for the cows, to keep them from the rain. Some families even had a special area for washing, some didn’t. Most probably just go outside in the bushes and wash themselves with buckets of water. Oh, most houses had some water jugs and bags of rice. The roofs are made out of wood and dead leaves from coconut trees. The leaves are strong and they look good for repelling water. After visiting the homes, we again received a small chai tea. It was so good -- I’m glad I finally got to taste real chai tea. We then got to just hang out with the village people for about an hour and a half. We played so many games with the children (Hokey Pokey, Down by the Hankey Pankey, London Bridges, Head, shoulders, knees and toes). We took pictures with all of the kids and the families. One girl even brought a Polaroid and took pictures of some of the families and gave them their pictures. Most had never had a picture of their family before so you can imagine how special that was for them. When it was time to leave, the Doctor from the School of Nursing (He escorted us to the Village but hadn’t stayed the night) had left some small gifts for us with the village people. They gave us small Indian calendars and small little brass candle holders, just like the ones we had lit the night before during the meditation.

Leaving was hard. These people touched my life in so many ways I never thought possible. Their smiles, even, were so special. They opened up their lives for us. This opportunity was a once in a lifetime chance to see how some of the poorest people (homeless people not included) live on a day to day basis. It was so life changing… I can’t even explain thoroughly how I was touched by what I experienced.

Kat, Sam and I got the address of one of the men from a family whose house we got to see. We’re not sure if we can read every letter, but we’re going to do our best to send the village some things when we get home. The village people did not ask for a single thing except for Pens. Many of them asked for a pen… we gave what we had, which wasn’t a lot because when you visit a village you don’t think of bringing pens to give out… Now I know what I will definitely send when I get home. Also, we’re going to send some pictures and I know I am going to find out how I can make donations to these Dalit villages. Also, while the Doctor was there, the village presented him with a letter and petition they had written out. Apparently, because the village is so rural, they haven’t received some of the benefits that most Dalit villages have received. The Doctor previously worked for the UN so he has a lot of ties to the Indian government. Hopefully this village will see some of the benefits (including a bigger water well) in the near future.

My time in the Dalit Village was the best time I’ve spent on any SAS trip, or any trip back home. I had had a negative view of India before I went to the village, but now my opinions have changed. I know that India is different and poor and underdeveloped, but that shouldn’t lead to a negative opinion from people. My experience with the rickshaw driver was bad, but I’m not going to let that ruin my time here. No, India wasn’t my favorite port, I didn’t even enjoy the port city. But my life has been changed by what I saw here, and that means more to me than anything.

On the other days in India I shopped and had a great Thai dinner. I fed wild monkeys at a temple near the beach in Mamallapuram, a wild monkey even climbed onto our ship at one point! I saw where Doubting Thomas stayed and did some of his work, it’s a church here in Chennai which was later named “St. Thomas Church”. I met Indian students at a welcome reception, I wore a traditional Indian Dance Sari, I ate Indian food. I truly got to experience another culture.

Sometimes, when we’re all together, us girls will just stop to remind each other that “Hey, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we’re going around the world!” It’s something we often say to put things back into perspective. When someone says that, we usually all stop and think for a minute before continuing the conversation. It never ceases to amaze us. Before I left for this voyage I thought I knew what an amazing opportunity it was, but even now as I only have 4 countries left to visit, I am still in awe of everything Semester At Sea has to offer.

In three hours we depart India and head for Egypt. We’ll be at sea for 10 days -- classes every day except for this coming Sunday, the 22nd. We have our Sea Olympics which is a MAJOR event here on the ship. I’m participating in two events and I can’t WAIT (The Events of the day include tug o war, synchronized swimming, obstacle course, scavenger hunt, suck n blow, root beer pong, flip cup, hair styling contest, dodge ball, volleyball, hot dog eating contest, and more) Plus we have a talent show and an opening ceremony where each sea gets to perform an opening dance. We’re the Caspian Sea (Hey-Oh!) and our colors are camouflage. Whichever sea wins the Olympics gets to have dinner with the captain in the faculty lounge and the FACULTY serve you your food and I believe the winning sea also gets to get off of the ship first in Florida. That could be a good thing, but sad as well. Our sea is psyched… we’ll definitely be either the winners or come in second place. Not to mention, our RD is the head of the Sea Olympics. Whoo hoo.

So I’ll be busy studying but also busy preparing for our awesome day on Sunday. Also, on Sunday it’s Steve’s 21st birthday, just so you know. Hi babe!

I better go turn in my passport before we depart or else I’ll get dock time (2 hours for like every minute you’re late… they are so strict about that!). Hopefully I’ll be able to use a phone in Egypt. Using the phone was easy here because it was right outside, but so difficult with the time differences and I always found myself running out of Rupees (Indian Currency) before I got back to the ship. No rupees, no phone time!

Final thought? A quote I saw plastered here in Chennai on a billboard: “Everyone always thinks of changing the world, but rarely thinks of changing themselves”

At the front of the ship...

Bridge Tour...

Looking for whales (No luck yet!)...

Out and about in Kobe, Japan...

Village children in Myanmar

Me, James and Sam at the Great Wall

Black and White Night (We made our own theme)...