hello, its 9:15pm here and i'm sitting in bed. i got back on the ship around 5 because i just didnt feel like dealing with the indian rickshaw drivers anymore. they are everywhere and want to take you anywhere, even 100 feet away. today i went to the post office to buy stamps and then i went to the internet cafe where i went on for 2.5 hours and it only cost me 50rupees ~ slightly more than a $1. both of these places were within walking distance so i didnt have to deal w/ the crazy rickshaw drivers as much.
this has nothing to do w/ today's events but anna was flipping through the tv station because when we are in port we get a few of the local stations. apparently abc is the popular station in india and for some reason the superbowl from last year that the steeler's played and won was being aired. i'm not sure what's up with that. another thing, prime time india announched that semester at sea would be arriving in india, so everyone in chennai was expecting us and new who we were.
my homestay was great. we arrived at the train station around 10pm and were split into 2 groups ~ a group of 14 and a group of 18 ~ i was in the smaller group in a much smaller train car than then other group had, which was nice because it was more private. ours only had 20 beds, so there were only 6 indians on our train car compared to the other group that was surrounded. we didnt sleep too much on the train just because once we finally got on we suddenly werent tired. the train arrived in erode around 7am and the 2 groups were rejoined and split into 2 more groups. this time i went with the bigger group. we were taken to our host family which was pretty wealthy. the daughter inlaw ~ Purdi ~ said that the house itself was roughly 3/4 acres big, though it used to be 1 acre. after having the best tea i've ever drank, we went on a tour of the farm and then to the local elementary school. we also went on a tour of where sugar is produced from the sugar cane and where they make rope out of coconut shells. after that we went back to the house for lunch and a rest. then we went to a village market but i didnt buy anything because it was all of very poor quality. then we had dinner around 8 and sat around talking for a few hours. me and lindsay lucked out an go a bed that we shared while everyone else slept on mats on the floors.
we woke up at 6:30 and had tea again. we left around 8 to go to a school in Erode where we had breakfast. After breakfast we went to 2 temples, a weaver where i bought a few things for about $10. then we went to a school for the handicap where most of the children suffered from polio though a few others had other deformities. the polio vaccine only arrived in india 6 years ago. lunch was at 2:30 back at the school where we had breakfast. then some of the girls danced a traditional indian dance for us. then we went to a medicine factory which was kinda long and boring and then we 'meditated'. dinner was at 8 back at the school and then we back to the train station to head back to chennai. i slept pretty good on the way back though we were woken at 5am to get off the train.
everday in india has been a long one, so i have a feeling i will be sleeping in tomorrow because we have the day off from classes.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
India
horns honking
children laughing
people begging
dirt
everywhere
no skin showing
high temperatures
sleeper trains
picture taking
supermanny
1 acre houses
polio
dancing singing
colorful dresses
bargain
near head-on collisons
never happen
bikes, rickshaws, buses
cows
sugar cane and coconuts
vegetarian
squatter toilets
what's toilet paper?
hot tea
glass pop bottles
rupees
henna
hinduism
children laughing
people begging
dirt
everywhere
no skin showing
high temperatures
sleeper trains
picture taking
supermanny
1 acre houses
polio
dancing singing
colorful dresses
bargain
near head-on collisons
never happen
bikes, rickshaws, buses
cows
sugar cane and coconuts
vegetarian
squatter toilets
what's toilet paper?
hot tea
glass pop bottles
rupees
henna
hinduism
Sunday, March 25, 2007
India - sorry things are a little out of order
Right now its 11pm here, 1:30 in Pittsburgh. My first day in India was quite an experience. We were warned that we when we got off the ship we would be bomb-barded by rickshaw drivers. Our interport lecturer also told us that it should cost no more than 60-70 rupees, for up to 4 people, to go to the center of the city from the ship. Approximately 41.5 rupees equals $1. Well the 4 of us, Mary Jo, Shay, Amanda, and I go out to the rickshaws and they try to tell that it’ll be 200 rupees per person. So we use our recently learned knowledge and started to bargain w/ them to get the price lowered. Finally, we agreed on 200 rupees total for our drive into the city, for the rickshaw driver to wait for us, and then bring us back. These rickshaws are the bike kind ~ a bike w/ a wagon, I guess you could say, attached to the back. Well we go maybe a quarter of a mile when they tell us we are switching rickshaws. We thought, oh okay, we’re switching because these ones are faster. These are like tiny cars but only have 3 wheels. This is where the fun begins
Our goal was to go to Fabindia and buy clothes. First unexpected stop was St. Thomas Catholic Church. This was okay w/ us. It was a really beautiful church and we watched a few minutes of the service. Then we went to unexpected stop 2, a temple. This was also okay w/ us. We walked around barefoot for a little bit because shoes are not allowed. The next 2 stops were also not where we wanted to go and we especially did not want to be there because they were very expensive shops. Finally we get to Fabindia after our drivers got directions from someone. After that they decided to take us to a few more unwanted shops. Then when we told them we wanted to go back to the ship, they had no idea where it was. Luckily we remembered passing a beach and memorial, so we told them to take us there. This beach was huge. It took us probably close to five minutes to walk from the edge of the beach by the room to the water’s edge. We later learned that there used to be building along the road there on the beach but the tsunami that hit a few years ago wiped everything out.
Finally we get headed back towards the ship, when the rickshaw drivers suddenly pull over on a non-busy street. They demanded we pay them then. We told them no because we weren’t at our final stop. Then they went on to tell us that it was 5000 rupees per person. We just laughed at them. They lowered it to 2000 each and we still laughed and said that wasn’t what we decided in the beginning. Soon 2 military officials start to approach us and they drivers hurried up and agreed to 500 rupees a piece and told us to they would take us back. It was on the ride back to where we originally switched rickshaws that we realized that the military officials would have sided w/ us and not allowed them to charge us so much. When they did drop us off where we had originally switched, we decided to walk the ¼ of a mile back. We were very frustrated. When we got back in line, we heard similar stories although none seemed as frustrating as ours.
At this point it’s almost 5:30, so when we got on the ship we went to dinner. We were going to be going to the Welcome Reception at the local university so we needed to get ready. At Fabindia I bought 2 Indian shirts, black pants to wear underneath, and a skirt. All for around US$30. Of course I wore one of my new outfits to the Welcome Recption. At the Welcome Reception, we were given a sugar cube to eat and then had the red dot placed on our foreheads. From there we were able to get henna tattoos, free soft drinks and authentic Indian food. They also were selling clothes and jewelry, so I bought 2 more skirts for about 230 rupees. The food was interesting. Well it was good, just not something I could eat on a regular basis.
So this was my first day in India. Hopefully the rest go much smoother. Oh yeah, I also saw a cobra that a man was keeping in a basket on a sidewalk in the middle of the city.
Our goal was to go to Fabindia and buy clothes. First unexpected stop was St. Thomas Catholic Church. This was okay w/ us. It was a really beautiful church and we watched a few minutes of the service. Then we went to unexpected stop 2, a temple. This was also okay w/ us. We walked around barefoot for a little bit because shoes are not allowed. The next 2 stops were also not where we wanted to go and we especially did not want to be there because they were very expensive shops. Finally we get to Fabindia after our drivers got directions from someone. After that they decided to take us to a few more unwanted shops. Then when we told them we wanted to go back to the ship, they had no idea where it was. Luckily we remembered passing a beach and memorial, so we told them to take us there. This beach was huge. It took us probably close to five minutes to walk from the edge of the beach by the room to the water’s edge. We later learned that there used to be building along the road there on the beach but the tsunami that hit a few years ago wiped everything out.
Finally we get headed back towards the ship, when the rickshaw drivers suddenly pull over on a non-busy street. They demanded we pay them then. We told them no because we weren’t at our final stop. Then they went on to tell us that it was 5000 rupees per person. We just laughed at them. They lowered it to 2000 each and we still laughed and said that wasn’t what we decided in the beginning. Soon 2 military officials start to approach us and they drivers hurried up and agreed to 500 rupees a piece and told us to they would take us back. It was on the ride back to where we originally switched rickshaws that we realized that the military officials would have sided w/ us and not allowed them to charge us so much. When they did drop us off where we had originally switched, we decided to walk the ¼ of a mile back. We were very frustrated. When we got back in line, we heard similar stories although none seemed as frustrating as ours.
At this point it’s almost 5:30, so when we got on the ship we went to dinner. We were going to be going to the Welcome Reception at the local university so we needed to get ready. At Fabindia I bought 2 Indian shirts, black pants to wear underneath, and a skirt. All for around US$30. Of course I wore one of my new outfits to the Welcome Recption. At the Welcome Reception, we were given a sugar cube to eat and then had the red dot placed on our foreheads. From there we were able to get henna tattoos, free soft drinks and authentic Indian food. They also were selling clothes and jewelry, so I bought 2 more skirts for about 230 rupees. The food was interesting. Well it was good, just not something I could eat on a regular basis.
So this was my first day in India. Hopefully the rest go much smoother. Oh yeah, I also saw a cobra that a man was keeping in a basket on a sidewalk in the middle of the city.
Friday, March 16, 2007
im here
okay, so i'm in mauritius now where we were told there was free wifi on the whole island. now that was a lie because no one can locate it. so now i'm wasting my time in an internet cafe, but i needed to catch up on a lot because i have no more internet minutes on the ship and i really dont want to pay another $100 for 250 minutes.
i finally feel like i'm out of the country. its wonderful. i will have to update more on this later. for now i'm going to go wander some more around the city.
hopefully i'll be able to post more pics at the next port. but dont get your hopes up.
i finally feel like i'm out of the country. its wonderful. i will have to update more on this later. for now i'm going to go wander some more around the city.
hopefully i'll be able to post more pics at the next port. but dont get your hopes up.
on my way to the unknown
Only one more day until we reach Mauritius. I have never been so excited to see land before. The Up until we left Cape Town the ship had only experience slight rocking. Now we are definitely experiencing rocking and rolling. Now I still haven’t gotten sea sick, but its getting to be really annoying sitting in the Union for Global Studies in the morning and feel the ship shake. When that occurs, you can hear everyone whisper “we’ve hit another whale”. I feel like I’m on a rollercoaster that just won’t stop. Now, don’t get me wrong here, I love roller coasters, but occasionally, I just need a break from that motion.
I think Sunday was the only day that wasn’t so bad and I think this is because how close we were to land. The day before, rumor has it, that we couldn’t be close to land because that area had Piracy problems, but then on Sunday it was okay to move closer. It was so strange to have cell phone service while the ship was moving. I obviously took advantage of this, but by only sending my sister random messages and an occasional one to my mom.
Today we passed Madagascar, but we never came close enough to see it. It was just on the other side of the horizon, or at least I would like to think that. This trip still seems very unreal to me. I still can’t imagine that I’m actually sailing around the world. Here I am in the Indian Ocean, almost half way around the world but it just doesn’t feel like it. Maybe, hopefully, it all seem more real when we reach India. I haven’t really experienced any type of culture shock yet. South Africa was very westernized, and Boipeba Island in Brazil gave me the feeling that I was just on vacation ~ being at the beach and having gourmet meals served to me for every meal just doesn’t let me feel like I’m in a third world country.
I think Sunday was the only day that wasn’t so bad and I think this is because how close we were to land. The day before, rumor has it, that we couldn’t be close to land because that area had Piracy problems, but then on Sunday it was okay to move closer. It was so strange to have cell phone service while the ship was moving. I obviously took advantage of this, but by only sending my sister random messages and an occasional one to my mom.
Today we passed Madagascar, but we never came close enough to see it. It was just on the other side of the horizon, or at least I would like to think that. This trip still seems very unreal to me. I still can’t imagine that I’m actually sailing around the world. Here I am in the Indian Ocean, almost half way around the world but it just doesn’t feel like it. Maybe, hopefully, it all seem more real when we reach India. I haven’t really experienced any type of culture shock yet. South Africa was very westernized, and Boipeba Island in Brazil gave me the feeling that I was just on vacation ~ being at the beach and having gourmet meals served to me for every meal just doesn’t let me feel like I’m in a third world country.
South Africa
I’ve definitely learned something during my stay in South Africa ~ I am not in shape, at all.
South Africa has been an amazing place, somewhere that I definitely have to come back to. This country is definitely full of diversity, everywhere you look. There are so many things to do here, that I don’t think a person could get bored living here. I only had the chance to be here a week, but every minute of it has been jammed packed with someplace to go or something to do.
The first day, Friday, I went to lunch at a place called Dodge where I discovered the wonderful world of Italian Gelato. After that we took a taxi to Table Mountain which we took the gondola up to because we didn’t have time to hike it. Although this gives me one excuse to come back here, I must hike Table Mountain. The view was spectacular. If you stood in just the right place, you could see both the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. Cars looked like ants and the ship looked like just a toy. That night 11 of us, including Matt’s parents, went to a Mexican Restaurant (I know we are in South Africa) but the food was amazing.
It rained all day, for the most part on Saturday. That was okay though, because I spent the majority of the day in a bus. I went to the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point with SAS. We walked to the lighthouse in the rain, but somehow I managed to stay dry. I also went to Boulder Beach where I saw African penguins and from there we went to lunch at a seafood restaurant where I ate ostrich. That evening I went out to dinner with some girls and a guy from the ship. We went to a sushi restaurant, where sushi and cocktails were half off. I don’t eat sushi, but I had chicken tempura, two sides, and a raspberry daiquiri for under $10.
On Sunday we were suppose to have rain, but we lucked out because it only rained about 10 minutes for us. I was quite lucky because I was cycling through the winelands today. Well the first cycling part was not through the winelands but more through a valley of a mountain. The first half was all uphill, so therefore the second half was downhill. Then when we got back to the bus, we had the option of riding in the bus for 5km, or biking. We decided to bike because this part was actually going to be going through the winelands and it was on the road, which made it a LOT easier. That afternoon, our guide drove us through some beautiful old Dutch towns. At the 2 wineries we stopped at, I had the opportunity to try 9 different wines, though I only tried the first 2 because I really don’t like wine. That evening, I went to the Codfather in Camps Bay for dinner with some of the same girls I went with the night before. This place didn’t have menus but rather you ordered directly from the kitchen what type of fish you wanted and then the size portion.
Monday, I just wondered around the V&A Waterfront for a little bit, and then I headed to the Green Market and Long Street for the afternoon. The Green Market was huge, but after awhile some of the stuff just all seemed to be the same. The walk back from Long Street to the ship was fun. We originally took a taxi there, but decided to walk back. We stopped at a book store and then a music store, and then Greg decided we had to stop at a wig store. That was an unexpected stop and buy for him. I didn’t really do much else that day, mainly just walked around the waterfront some more.
Tuesday. This is the day that I was really looking forward to. Back before I had even left, I signed up to go sandboarding independently with some people. Things were a bit unorganized at first, which really got to me since I like to have an idea of what’s suppose to be happening. But the girl who supposedly organized the trip didn’t know what was going on herself. Chaos. But anyways, when everything was finally together we headed out to the sand dunes with our guide. Now I’m horrible with names, so I cant remember what his was, except that he and the other guy with us were originally from England and both moved to South Africa during the last 5-10 years. Now sandboarding is basically just like snowboarding except for the obvious ~ its hot out so less clothing is needed and sand is softer than snow so it doesn’t hurt to fall. We were given snowboard boots and the sandboards and were off. They took us to the sand dune we would be spending our day at and we dropped off our backpacks and started the climb up the dune. The view from here was incredible. We were able to see Table Mountain easily, which is a fantastic view on within itself. We were given one on one lessons on how to sandboard which again is just like snowboarding. Fortunately for me, I was able to catch on quite quickly. I can’t now to be able to actually try snowboarding. The only bad thing about the sandboarding was having to walk up the dune each time and the wind blowing sand onto every part of your body possible. After the day was over and we headed back to the ship, there was sand everywhere. I still had sand on me after taking several showers, but still it was all worth it.
Wednesday, I did another FDP for a class and went to the Cape Flats Nature Project. This was actually pretty interesting and I did learn quite a bit about the conservation issues that Cape Town is enduring. Here is just one more excuse as to why I could come to Cape Town again, to work for the Urban Biodiversity Conservation program. I don’t really feel like going into details because for anyone who isn’t a environmental bio major, the stuff would be pretty boring.
Thursday was our last official day in South Africa. I did some last minute shopping in the morning and then I went to Robben Island that afternoon. Now I definitely started second guessing myself as to why I was going to visit an island that was formerly a prison, when I couldn’t wait to leave home so I could get away from visiting the WCP weekly. But in the end I was glad I went. I originally was by myself when I went, which I didn’t have a problem with. I figured with there being over 800 from SAS in Cape Town, there was bound to be at least another SASer going to Robben Island and if not, then I could just randomly meet some other tourist who was also visiting. Well it turns out that there was a small group of SASer’s going as well. So I ended up going on the tour with them and I actually did talk to some man for awhile on the ferry ride who is a travel photographer from Boston. The whole idea of Robben Island being a former prison seemed very surreal because it only closed within the last 15 years. Learning the history of the island first hand from former prisoners is definitely something I’m grateful for seeing that most museums anyone goes to these days just have historians, who weren’t really there and didn’t really know how the people felt, giving the tours. I spent the rest of my last day in Cape Town just wondering around the Waterfront before heading back to the ship.
It was a bit upsetting to be leaving such a wonderful place with such wonderful food and such wonderful Italian Gelattos. I almost forgot, I made it a point to eat a gelato everyday, because they were so cheap and so delicious. So it turns that due to “high winds”, our ship was able to leave the port to go bunker that night. We didn’t end up moving until early the next morning and we didn’t actually leave Cape Town till Friday at 5pm. Now that was torture. Going to class and eating ship food when Cape Town was right outside the ship.
South Africa has been an amazing place, somewhere that I definitely have to come back to. This country is definitely full of diversity, everywhere you look. There are so many things to do here, that I don’t think a person could get bored living here. I only had the chance to be here a week, but every minute of it has been jammed packed with someplace to go or something to do.
The first day, Friday, I went to lunch at a place called Dodge where I discovered the wonderful world of Italian Gelato. After that we took a taxi to Table Mountain which we took the gondola up to because we didn’t have time to hike it. Although this gives me one excuse to come back here, I must hike Table Mountain. The view was spectacular. If you stood in just the right place, you could see both the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. Cars looked like ants and the ship looked like just a toy. That night 11 of us, including Matt’s parents, went to a Mexican Restaurant (I know we are in South Africa) but the food was amazing.
It rained all day, for the most part on Saturday. That was okay though, because I spent the majority of the day in a bus. I went to the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point with SAS. We walked to the lighthouse in the rain, but somehow I managed to stay dry. I also went to Boulder Beach where I saw African penguins and from there we went to lunch at a seafood restaurant where I ate ostrich. That evening I went out to dinner with some girls and a guy from the ship. We went to a sushi restaurant, where sushi and cocktails were half off. I don’t eat sushi, but I had chicken tempura, two sides, and a raspberry daiquiri for under $10.
On Sunday we were suppose to have rain, but we lucked out because it only rained about 10 minutes for us. I was quite lucky because I was cycling through the winelands today. Well the first cycling part was not through the winelands but more through a valley of a mountain. The first half was all uphill, so therefore the second half was downhill. Then when we got back to the bus, we had the option of riding in the bus for 5km, or biking. We decided to bike because this part was actually going to be going through the winelands and it was on the road, which made it a LOT easier. That afternoon, our guide drove us through some beautiful old Dutch towns. At the 2 wineries we stopped at, I had the opportunity to try 9 different wines, though I only tried the first 2 because I really don’t like wine. That evening, I went to the Codfather in Camps Bay for dinner with some of the same girls I went with the night before. This place didn’t have menus but rather you ordered directly from the kitchen what type of fish you wanted and then the size portion.
Monday, I just wondered around the V&A Waterfront for a little bit, and then I headed to the Green Market and Long Street for the afternoon. The Green Market was huge, but after awhile some of the stuff just all seemed to be the same. The walk back from Long Street to the ship was fun. We originally took a taxi there, but decided to walk back. We stopped at a book store and then a music store, and then Greg decided we had to stop at a wig store. That was an unexpected stop and buy for him. I didn’t really do much else that day, mainly just walked around the waterfront some more.
Tuesday. This is the day that I was really looking forward to. Back before I had even left, I signed up to go sandboarding independently with some people. Things were a bit unorganized at first, which really got to me since I like to have an idea of what’s suppose to be happening. But the girl who supposedly organized the trip didn’t know what was going on herself. Chaos. But anyways, when everything was finally together we headed out to the sand dunes with our guide. Now I’m horrible with names, so I cant remember what his was, except that he and the other guy with us were originally from England and both moved to South Africa during the last 5-10 years. Now sandboarding is basically just like snowboarding except for the obvious ~ its hot out so less clothing is needed and sand is softer than snow so it doesn’t hurt to fall. We were given snowboard boots and the sandboards and were off. They took us to the sand dune we would be spending our day at and we dropped off our backpacks and started the climb up the dune. The view from here was incredible. We were able to see Table Mountain easily, which is a fantastic view on within itself. We were given one on one lessons on how to sandboard which again is just like snowboarding. Fortunately for me, I was able to catch on quite quickly. I can’t now to be able to actually try snowboarding. The only bad thing about the sandboarding was having to walk up the dune each time and the wind blowing sand onto every part of your body possible. After the day was over and we headed back to the ship, there was sand everywhere. I still had sand on me after taking several showers, but still it was all worth it.
Wednesday, I did another FDP for a class and went to the Cape Flats Nature Project. This was actually pretty interesting and I did learn quite a bit about the conservation issues that Cape Town is enduring. Here is just one more excuse as to why I could come to Cape Town again, to work for the Urban Biodiversity Conservation program. I don’t really feel like going into details because for anyone who isn’t a environmental bio major, the stuff would be pretty boring.
Thursday was our last official day in South Africa. I did some last minute shopping in the morning and then I went to Robben Island that afternoon. Now I definitely started second guessing myself as to why I was going to visit an island that was formerly a prison, when I couldn’t wait to leave home so I could get away from visiting the WCP weekly. But in the end I was glad I went. I originally was by myself when I went, which I didn’t have a problem with. I figured with there being over 800 from SAS in Cape Town, there was bound to be at least another SASer going to Robben Island and if not, then I could just randomly meet some other tourist who was also visiting. Well it turns out that there was a small group of SASer’s going as well. So I ended up going on the tour with them and I actually did talk to some man for awhile on the ferry ride who is a travel photographer from Boston. The whole idea of Robben Island being a former prison seemed very surreal because it only closed within the last 15 years. Learning the history of the island first hand from former prisoners is definitely something I’m grateful for seeing that most museums anyone goes to these days just have historians, who weren’t really there and didn’t really know how the people felt, giving the tours. I spent the rest of my last day in Cape Town just wondering around the Waterfront before heading back to the ship.
It was a bit upsetting to be leaving such a wonderful place with such wonderful food and such wonderful Italian Gelattos. I almost forgot, I made it a point to eat a gelato everyday, because they were so cheap and so delicious. So it turns that due to “high winds”, our ship was able to leave the port to go bunker that night. We didn’t end up moving until early the next morning and we didn’t actually leave Cape Town till Friday at 5pm. Now that was torture. Going to class and eating ship food when Cape Town was right outside the ship.
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