A Voyage of Discovery

I don't know what to think about India. I'm confused about what I've seen and frustrated about what I've been through in 3 short days. I had a great day on the first day and even yesterday was good. But today through me off -- especially when our rickshaw driver demanded a lot of money from us, we refused, he got so angry that he hit a little beggar boy - the boy was trying to sell us qtips.. i didn't want any so for the first time since being in any country, I gave him some money to just have him leave us... before he left, the rickshaw driver lashed out for no reason, hitting the boy. The poor boys stuff fell all over the road. When he went to pick it up, the rickshaw driver hit him again. By that time, we were furious. We offered the rickshaw driver our money (a lot less than he wanted) and he said no, so we walked away after helping the little boy pick up his things. The boy was crying and I don't think the image is ever going to leave my mind. He was so upset. We gave him some money but he was walking away sobbing. It was one of, if not the, meanest things I have ever seen. We went back into the mall and went out a different exit to avoid our rickshaw drivers. They refused the money from us so they never got paid. It's been a crazy day.

Things like this cause me not to like Chennai. I know I shouldn't generalize - but it's so hard not to. Many of the people here are only after your money. That's all for now - tomorrow I leave for a village stay so I hope it changes my mind about everything.

In Myanmar, dark skin means you work in the field, light skin means you work in an office.

They cover their faces in tree paint.

Here is what I have lined up for India:

We will be able to depart the ship on Sunday morning and stay in India from Sunday - Thursday. Thursday night we have on ship time at 9pm.

Sunday from 1-6pm:

“On this trip we will experience rural India, interact with locals and visit a farm. We will depart by motor coach for a visit to an Indian village where we will observe village life, visit village homes and interact with the residents. We will also visit a small working farm to observe the difference between the village and farm life. We will be served Indian snacks.”

Sunday from 6:30 - 10pm:

“This is an excellent opportunity to meet Indian students, experience a traditional dance performance, and enjoy Indian snacks. You will travel by motor coach to the reception area where you will be given a traditional welcome with sari-clad ladies offering flower buds, applying kum-kum (red dot or sandalwood paste on the forehead) and sprinkling rose water. Enjoy mingling with the invited guests from local universities in the outdoor atmosphere of a local fair. Along with sampling the tempting snacks, you may learn how to tie a sari, have a design painted on your hand with henna paste, and observe a Bharata Natyam dance demonstration. Bharata Nayam is the subtle and sophisticated dance-art of Tamil Nadu. It is a dynamic and very precise style of dance. The dancer presents a story at several levels of meaning using a variety f complex body postures and movements, hand and arm gestures, and facial expressions. A dancer needs substantial knowledge and appreciation of the thematic and philosophical context of Indian myth and legend as well as a thorough grounding in technical skill. The meaning of a portion of the dance will be interpreted for you and some of the movements, gestures, and facial expressions will be explained. You will also have the opportunity to buy Indian clothing and costume jewelry.”

Monday from 2 - 6pm:

“On this visit to Bala Mandir orphanage in Chennai, you will meet and interact with the children. You may also talk with orphanage personnel about the problems of poverty and childcare in India. You will be provided with coloring books, picture books or other materials to aid your interaction with the children. These materials will be donated to the orphanage upon your departure. The price of this practicum also includes a donation to the orphanage.

Wednesday 8am - Thursday 12pm:

“The Bridge Education Services Trust is a non-profit voluntary agency devoted to improving the conditions of the Dalits (“Untouchables”) in Tamil Nadu and the Chennai region. You will depart on a 1.5 hour journey on the scenic East Coast Road to the Dalit Delta Training Center, located at a picturesque spot, to learn about their current work and the advances that are being made, and to participate in an informational question and answer session. The Dalit nursing students and Dalit village community organizers/volunteers will present a reception including a cultural program. After lunch, the group will be divided into smaller units, and each unit will travel to a Dalit village for an overnight visit. You will get a first-hand look at the caste system that, though illegal, still structures rural society. Your sleeping quarters will be very basic, probably the floor of a community center, with no running water and no indoor toilet facilities. In the morning, there will be additional opportunities to interact with the people in the village before your return to the ship.”

It’s 3pm on October 12th. Our ship is still docked in Myanmar. I just finished looking through some of the pictures I have taken here in Myanmar. I have so many thoughts about my time here so I figured I might as well start this entry. I found out today that Myanmar is (supposedly, a professor told me) the poorest country on our itinerary, even poorer than India. Myanmar Is the third poorest country in Asia: Thailand and Laos are even poorer.

I’ve been on the go since Sunday morning. I’m going to try and talk about my experiences but I doubt I’ll be able to talk about everything. Some things I saw just can’t be described in words.

Sunday morning we flew on a propeller plane to Heho Airport, near Inle Lake. It was a Semester At Sea sponsored trip that I bought on the first day I arrived on the ship in Mexico. It was expensive, but well worth the money. There were two groups of about 25 students each-- not too bad. We separated from the other group for most of the trip which was really nice -- the less people, the better.

What we did in Inle Lake over a 3 day period:

Rode the boats around the lake. The boats are small wooden boats and they fit 5 people in each boat.
Visited the floating villages on both canoe and regular boat. The canoes hold 2 people plus 2 rowers (the rowers are the owners of the boats, usually a father and young son or mother and young daughter). The floating villages are basically a bunch of houses in the middle of the lake. Some float, some are on stilts. People get around by canoeing everywhere since there is no ground to walk on besides the floor of your house.
Visited a monastery with novice monks.
Visited a jumping cat monastery where monks train domestic cats to jump through small hoops.
Rode Trishaws ( I think that’s what their called ) which are bicycles with little carts on them. They hold two people and the bike driver.
Visited the floating gardens. The floating gardens are exactly what you would imagine, they are gardens which float on the lake. We saw a variety of veggies including tomatoes and corn. They grow on dirt grass mounds which sits on the water.
Visited markets that sell vegetables and random necessities.
We went to the Pagoda festival which is the most famous festival of the year in Inle Lake and surrounding areas. We watched the leg rowers compete in boat races.
Myself and 3 other people rented bikes and rode around the village. We rode through the flood waters and through very poor areas. We rode through a rural area before coming to a stop because cows were blocking the path. All of the locals waved to us, smiling, laughing, pointing.
During our time in Inle Lake it rained more in a 24 hour period than it had in 52 years. You can imagine the amount of flooding I witnessed. You can also imagine how soaked I was. We were all drenched for most of the time we were there, except on the last day when the sun came out. While on the boats traveling throughout the lake we had umbrellas but the boats didn’t have covers. We were soaked from head to toe.
One time our boat broke down and we had to be towed by another boat to the dock. When we docked, we couldn’t find our group but instead were face to face with about 20 intense Myanmar government officials. That was scary at first, but eventually we found our group who had been forced to wait inside of the bus (which was forced to move off the main road) for us because of the military presence.
We ate tons of good food. Most of our meals consisted of about 7 different things… soup, rice, pork, chicken, seafood, fruit, vegetables.

Inle Lake is a huge lake nestled in between wide open grasslands and mountains on both sides. The people are really poor but were so friendly towards us. They live in their small communities, work as farmers, fishermen and some work in the different shops including silk shops, tea shops, cigar shops. Everything is rural, there are no big cities near Inle Lake.

In Myanmar there are absolutely no Atms and only a few (And I do mean, a few… probably less than 10) hotels in the main cities accept credit cards.

Once we got back to Yangon on Tuesday night I spent the night on the ship. The next morning I woke up early for a Buddhist Meditation and Feeding Ceremony trip.

First we went to the meditation monastery. To be honest, I didn’t really enjoy it too much. The Buddhist religion, to me, is a bit ridiculous. They focus upon suffering: They believe that all of life is suffering. They don’t differentiate between the poor and the rich. They believe that you should pretty much strip yourself of all feelings. They spend hours upon hours upon HOURS meditating. At this monastery they will meditate for their entire lives. They spend all day meditating, everyday! It’s nice to see another way of life, but on the other hand, I just think, what a waste. No monk is allowed to cook or garden or anything of the sort so every morning, very early, they head out and collect food from the villagers. Most of these villagers don’t even have enough food for their entire family but still, each morning the monks collect food that has been prepared for them. If you give food to the monks, it is believed that you will be blessed and have good things happen to you. The monks are all about Karma. They believe that the poor are poor for a reason and the rich are rich for a reason, which is why they collect food from even the poorest because they don’t really differentiate. It’s very strange. Anyways, we took part in a meditation ceremony which was interesting but mostly I just kept thinking about how lucky I am to live in America, where I learned about Christianity. In Myanmar there are 500,000 monks and 89.2% of the population here are Buddhist.

After the ceremony we headed to the novice monastery. This was my favorite part of the trip. Earlier this month I bought this specific trip for $50. Part of the money that each student on the trip paid went to funding a ceremony for the novice monks. When we arrived at the monastery there was a huge sign that said the food was donated by Semester At Sea. I got to present a basket to the head monks and then after, we all participated in handing out the food to the monks. Basically, 200 young kids were in a huge line and we handed out different foods to them. I used both hands as I placed the small Tupperware full of meat into their black pot that they carry around. It was so much fun to interact with the monks. After we distributed all of the food we went into the dining area where they were seated. One little boy kept looking at me and when I smiled, he got so embarrassed. Now, the monks aren’t really supposed to show emotion so when he kept getting embarrassed I kept laughing and his smile just kept getting bigger and bigger. He was adorable and couldn’t have been older than 8 years old.

After we visited with the boys we headed to eat some snacks that the monastery had provided for us. They gave us bottled water that had been blessed by the head monks for 31 hours. I kept mine. The local children (very poor) followed us around and watched our every move. After eating I got up and went to talk with them. I shook their hands (they love touching us) and took pictures of them and then showed them the pictures. Many people in Myanmar have never even seen cameras! They were so happy. After, we all headed to see the nuns. Three girls who spoke decent English already - they were around 16 years old - introduced themselves to a few of us. They decided to sing us a song and then asked us to sing. Five of us ended up singing Row Row Row your boat and then we sang Mary Had a Little Lamb and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. The SAS Camera man was on our trip so hopefully you’ll be able to see me singing these songs on the SAS Yearbook Video… the kids loved our singing and when we finished, about 20 of them sang the Myanmar National Anthem for us. My new favorite thing in these countries is interacting with the children. It is so rewarding. I love being able to make a child smile, especially these children in these countries who hardly have anything.

After the visits I headed back to the ship. Later that night I went into the main city and had dinner with some of the people I hung out with in Inle Lake. We went to a Thai restaurant and I can definitely say that it was the best food I’ve had since leaving California. It was cheap, too! Three of us ate a full meal for only $10 US total.
Later, my friend Kyle and I headed back to the ship on the shuttle. Our ship was docked an hour from the main city, Yangon. Semester at Sea had shuttles available for us -- an unlimited shuttle pass was $18 and the buses were air conditioned charter buses. Kyle and I had the bus to ourselves, lol. I guess most people wanted to stay out and party for our last night in port but I was more concerned about being able to get some sleep and wake up early for the trip I had today…

Today I went on a Local Life trip. We first went to the jetty and observed how the locals live. They are the poorest people I’ve seen so far (out of all of the countries). They don’t have much at all… most of their shacks only have straw roofs and no doors, they take baths outside in dirty water. Their kitchens are outside of their shacks. We saw naked children, children with completely torn clothes, starving dogs, poor women. It was intense. The children and village people followed us around the entire time we were there. The children were so friendly and just wanted us to take pictures of them and then show them… they had so much fun with us! After visiting the jetty we headed to two monasteries. Then, we took the pony carts to another village. We visited the local produce market and then we took the trishaws again -- I got to be in the front of the caravan on both the ponies and the trishaws, lol. We went into a local house to see how the people lived. These people had a better house than most of the other locals so I didn’t find the experience to be very rewarding. After, we went to a local tea shop and tried a variety of fried pastries.

By the way, I’m not totally sure if the bicycle type things I rode are called Trishaws. So don’t quote me on that, lol.

Myanmar was a life changing experience, as was Vietnam and China. I took so many pictures and I know once I get home I’ll be able to better explain what I witnessed and took part in.

Right now our ship is traveling at a slow pace and we’ll be in India by Sunday. I have two days of classes and then 5 days in India followed by 10 sea days before Egypt. We’re almost half way done with the voyage.

We got our India pamphlets today. Before each port we get a pamphlet filled with everything we need to know about India including currency, safety, port information, traveling information, things to do in the main cities, etiquette, food, Atms, climate, government, people, language, religion, business hours, communications, tipping, electricity, clothing, taxis, behavior and so forth. In this pamphlet, it says, “India is the country that has brought the most varied responses from SAS participants. Reactions, both positive and negative, tend to be very strong. One way or another, you will be changed by India. It is impossible to be unmoved as India tends to overload the senses and present a somewhat overwhelming diversity. You will be exposed to the contradictions of the incredible beauty with the crushing poverty, of intense daily personal worship with hygienic practices which do not fit with your experiences….” On the last page, there was a poem written by a Fall 1990 SAS student.

Don’t give to the beggars, they said,
So I didn’t, and my heart ached
As I turned and walked away
From a 4 year old starving child

Don’t give to the beggars, they said
So I hid my money and walked away
From a thin mother and her two children,
Carrying all my packages…

Don’t give to the beggars, they said,
So I pushed away the little children
Don’t give to the beggars, they said,
So I laughed and nervously as a leper
Clutched at my friend,
Laughed because it was easier
Than to cry

Don’t give to the beggars, they said,
So I walked for blocks,
Trying to ignore the kids at my side
Running away instead of staying to help

Don’t give to the beggars, they said,
I thought I hadn’t, but I was wrong…
I did give, each and every time…
A part of me, naïve to the pains of others,
To the horror of others.

I gave them my innocence,
And they gave me their pain
And after India,
I will never be the same.

I really don’t know exactly what to expect but I do have a feeling that I’m going to be one of the students with positive reactions. I’ve heard from several people now that India is the most life changing port. I’ll update as soon as I get back on the ship on October 19th.

Last night as we pulled into port, some locals were standing on the dock waiting for us. There was a Welcome MV Explorer banner waiting, as well. It started to rain but Brent and I decided to deal with it. We stayed up there together overlooking the port and the locals for about 30 minutes. Then we headed inside for our US Dimplomatic Briefing... basically, a Us Consulate man comes in and talks to us about safety, crime, food, money, etc. We froze our butts off because we were drenched from the rain.

Rain doesn't faze me anymore. Today we were rowing around a floating villiage in canoes getting poured on but Chris and I didn't care and he actually had our rower stop to let him out so he could help some of the locals pull a tree out of the water.

I absolutely love traveling. I love getting to see the world...

Well it just started down pouring so I better go get my rain poncho (It's bright pink, by the way)! Ahhhh! More later

So we will be in Myanmar today around 6pm. Get this: Myanmar is 10.5 hours ahead of New York. Not 10, but 10.5. We gained 30 minutes last night. Crazy, huh? I guess four other places in the world have half an hour time zones.

Anyways, Today during Psych I looked at the window and we were surrounded by about 40 small fishing boats. They looked like pirate boats so you can imagine how everyone was getting excited/freaked out. Oh, also, after we left Singapore we were escorted by military vessels for 2 days because of the pirates. Fun, huh? Students were able to volunteer for pirate watch and they were given walkie talkies and binoculars.

That's all for now! I just had a rediculous global studies test... I've been studying for three days straight and I'm exhausted. I had three tests between Vietnam and Myanmar... now I need to relax and enjoy the sun that has finally appeared through the rain clouds.

I’ve spent the past few days trying to think of what to write in this thing. I know I promised to keep an online journal but for some reason, when I sit down to type up my entries, most of the time the words just won’t flow.

We left Vietnam last night and well, I think it’s a good time to start writing. I have so much to say about Vietnam and I don’t really know where to begin.

I feel like I have been living in a bubble for the past 20 years of my life. I never really concerned myself with the world. As a matter of fact, I think I thought America WAS the world. Of course I knew that there were other places and that people were different, but did I really, honestly care?

Last night as we got back to the port gates, the same men who had been waiting there on the day we arrived smiled at us, waved at us and told us goodbye. They told us good luck, they said they would miss us. These men, these poor men who tried to get us to ride their motorcycles and rickshaws for $1 us dollar were now telling us goodbye in the most sincere way I’ve ever witnessed. It was very emotional for me. I wanted to turn back and promise them that I would come back some day, that I’d see them again. I don’t want to go back to America and become the same person I was… so wrapped up in my busy life, not having enough time to even stop and realize what I have, how lucky I am, what‘s going on everywhere else in the world. I do want to come back to Vietnam. Out of the 8 countries I’ve been to in my life, Vietnam is by far my favorite.

The people are poor. They are so poor. I took a 3 day trip to the Mekong Delta. We witnessed poverty like you wouldn’t believe. But one thing was certain: many of the people, despite their living conditions, were happy. They smile and wave at us Americans… the children jump up and down with joy, they want to touch our hands, they want to stand next to us. The Vietnamese seem to be very family oriented. They weren’t like the Chinese, who are forced to only have one child. The Vietnamese families had many children… boys, girls, pets!

I can’t really explain everything I saw and how poor they were and how sad their living conditions were. But what I can say is that despite everything I witnessed, I was impressed. I was impressed with their sincerity, their respect, their helpfulness. These are the nicest people I have ever come into contact with and I know I’ll never forget them.

On our second day on the Mekong Delta we headed to an orphanage. It was an overwhelming, emotional experience for me. The children ranged from ages newborn - 18 years old. There were 3 newborns. They all had birth defects. The oldest girl was 18 years old and was preparing for a test. If she passes, she’ll have the opportunity to go to college! About 98% of the children we interacted with were young boys. It was so, so heartbreaking. Many of them were dropped off at the orphanage because their families could not afford to take care of mentally and/or physically disabled children. The boys who did not have any birth defects seemed to really love us. We played with them, gave them candy, blew bubbles, took pictures of them and then showed them the pictures (they really liked that!). After our visit I learned that our visiting was very important in the development of the children because visitors very rarely come to this specific orphanage. When I first walked into the orphanage their were disabled children lying on the floors. They were very handicapped… At first I wanted to cry but then I went through a series of emotions: sadness, anger, curiosity… I wanted to help, I wanted to know why people give up their children, how they can give up a child, I wanted to know what was wrong with the children, how old they were. A lot of my questions went unanswered but that was okay. For a couple of hours, I got to brighten up the life of a child who barely has anything in the world.

Besides the orphanage, I witnessed a lot of other things. We took a bike ride around the Delta for 2 hours. We rode through a lot of mud, trees, villages, past a school, over bridges, etc. We were in what our tour guide called the “Amazon” minus the animals. According to our guide, the tigers, elephants and monkeys migrated to Northern Vietnam when the people came to live on/near the Delta. Anyways, the bike ride was so much fun. We got to see what real village life is really about. Most of the people live in small shacks. About 80% of the houses we saw were very small shacks with either tin or straw and wood roofs. Most of the houses had a dog out front and almost every single house had pet chickens or roosters. There were dogs running everywhere -- some even chased us on the bikes. Most just looked at us because they are so used to people on bikes… the Vietnamese usually don’t drive cars, but mainly motorcycles and bicycles. The hens and roosters seem to be very popular among the village people. It was so interesting to see all of these people living as they do. It really was like another world.

On the first night of our 3 day trip we all (22 of us) got to sleep in a cottage on stilts on the river. We slept on cots (8 cots to a room) with mosquito nets hanging over them. The locals performed a show for us - they sang traditional Vietnamese songs and played instruments. Our host family cooked an amazing meal and we all lounged around in hammocks afterward. Our cots weren’t uncomfortable at all. I was a little nervous about sleeping outdoors (there were no real doors) because of the mosquitoes and bugs but I drenched myself in deet and slept under a blanket even though it was hot out. The next morning we took cold showers (hot water isn’t available) and our host family made us all breakfast!

Our second night was spent in a hotel in downtown Cain Tho, the largest city on the Mekong River. That night we all went out to a nice dinner and the next morning after breakfast we headed to the floating markets. The floating markets are basically a bunch of locals in boats. The boats are loaded down with fruits and vegetables… if you need carrots, you pull up along side of a boat selling carrots and you and the seller exchange money and goods. It’s really an amazing site to see. Our boat driver pulled our boat alongside a family selling pineapples and the family ended up slicing fresh pineapples for all of us. It was one of the greatest experiences.
Usually before the markets, families back up for 3-4 days and they live on their small boats for the time it takes them to get to/from the market and while they do their selling. We saw a lot of boats (remember, these are not big boats.. They are about 15-40 feet long, 6 feet wide) with 3 or 4 family members (including children) dogs and hens/roosters. I guess they pack up their whole family for these market selling outings. It’s really bizarre but so amazing to witness.

Once our trip ended, we headed back to the ship in Ho Chi Minh. Of course since it was our last night in Vietnam, a bunch of us went out. We went to a Karaoke bar where we all sang Karaoke together… the locals let us pick a few American songs to sing. They loved us! After, we headed to a few other bars. The Semester at sea people seemed to have gotten along great with all of the locals. On our last night, I rode a motorcycle. We needed to get to a place about a 15 minute walk away and everyone was hopping on the back of motorcycles. Usually, you pay 1-2 US dollars a person and the motorcycle men will take you were you want to go. Well, my friend Sam and I got onto the back of one. I was so scared! I screamed at first and the driver screamed, too. Mostly he was just laughing at me! Later that night I took another motorcycle back to the ship. This time, we all had to get on one by ourselves… so it was only me and the driver. He told me that he would remember me and love me forever and that me and all of my friends were very beautiful. I laughed and he laughed. I told him to drive slow because I was scared and he did! He was very nice! As much as I loved being transported for so cheap, I still feel bad that these people hardly make any money. Most of them wait on the corners of streets all day, just to transport other people.

Leaving Vietnam was sad not only because I loved the country and the people and the city but because I know that once we leave, these men and women will make even less money. At one point, Ho Chi Minh locals depended on Semester At Sea for income. They knew that twice a year students would arrive for 5 days and that during those 5 days, their businesses would flourish. Since then, Ho Chi Minh has become a tourist spot for many besides us and it has also become the home to a lot more people. The locals still love us, but they don’t necessarily depend on only us.

For an example, for 5 days straight, many of the semester at sea people (students, staff, crew, faculty) shopped. We all bought clothing, dvds, crafts, dresses. Me and my 6 friends bought 2-3 dresses each! I had two custom dresses made and bought one that was already made. My friend James spent well over $600 USD on gifts for people. My friend Whitney bought $350 worth of dresses and suits from the tailor. So, you can kind of see what I mean. ….. At the pottery place we visited, the average daily pay was only $8 and that was one of the nicer places to work.

I seem to be all over the place with my thoughts. Overall, Vietnam was amazing. It was my favorite port so far, I loved the people, the city, everything. Despite the communism, despite the poverty, despite the culture shock I experienced, I loved everything and I will definitely make an effort to plan another trip back to Vietnam later in life.

Kimono in Japan, Great Wall

That means where is it and we:ve been using that term more than any other words. Japanese are required to take English in grade school and college. In grade school you must speak English but in college you only write and read it. A lot of younger people can communicate with us a tiny bit but its better if you can write words down on paper. I:m so impressed at how many people can understand a few words... store, food, train, etc. They have a very hard time talking to you and most can:t help because they don:t know exactly what you want from them.

We travelled by bullet train at over 200mph at some times. We went to Hiroshima, Kyoto, Tokyo and Kobe. Tuesday night we slept on the ship but Wed and Thurs we stayed in Tokyo. Last night we stayed on the ship again... today we did some shopping and now here I am in an internet cafe. I will have a full update as soon as possible... until then, I:ll be on my way to China tonight and will be arriving on Tuesday. We:ll be in China for 3-4 days and then Hong Kong for 1.5! I:m SO excited Miss everyone!